G I L H K RT — Irish BibliograpJi;/. 



121 



tlie Church of England, forms of prayer, and other religious matters. 

 The translations from English and Latin are stated on the title-page 

 to have been made by John O'Kearney. The title-page also tells us 

 that the book was printed at the cost of John Ussher, Alderman of 

 Dublin, at the head of the Eridge, with the privilege of the great 

 Queen Elizabeth. [Kearney, the translator, was treasurer of the 

 Cathedral of St. Patrick, Dublin, and in his translations from the Irish 

 he is said to have been assisted by Nicholas Walsh, Eishop of 

 Ossory.] 



Of this book no copy is to be found in Ireland.^ Through the 

 liberality of the Curator of the Eodleian Library, and the kindness of 

 Mr. E. Madan, I am able to lay before the meeting facsimiles of the 

 title and other pages of tliis very rare book. 



Some time since, on examining the papers of Archbishop Parker 

 in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, a broadside came 

 to light containing an Irish poem printed in the same year and in 

 the same house with the book I have just described. The subject 

 of the poem is the Day of Judgment, and the author's name is 

 given at head as . . . MacCrossan. Neither the poem nor its 

 author is mentioned in any [of] our books. To the authorities at 

 Cambridge I am indebted for the photograph of the poem now laid 

 before you.^ 



Having, I fear, detained the meeting too long, I shall only ask leave 

 to add a few observations on books printed before 1600 which contain 

 notices in relation to Ireland. 



Of these one of the earliest is the Dittamondo of Eazio Dberti, 

 printed at Elorenco and Yicenza towards the middle of the fifteentli 

 century. 



It is not generally known that Giovanni Eatista Cinthio, the 

 eminent Italian dramatist and novelist, composed a tragedy in five 

 acts, the scene of which he laid in Limerick, described as " Limirico 

 citta nobile d'Hibernia." Among the dramatis person{E were the King 

 of Ireland, his general, chamberlain, and herald. The chorus was com- 

 posed of men of Limerick. This tragedy, entitled "Arrenopia," 

 was printed at Yenice in 1583, with the ])ortrait of the author on the 

 back of the title-page. 



1 There are only three copies (at present) known to exist : one in the Bodleian 

 Library, one in the British Museum, and one in the Library of Lincoln Cathedral. 



- Photographs of this unique broadsheet are in the National Library of Ireland 

 and in T.C.D. Library. It was also printed with a translation by Mr. John 

 McNeill in No. 103, Vol. ix., of the Gaelic Journal, January, 1899. 



