Vlll 



strained to refuse admission to the Public. A responsible Curator and 

 an Attendant will be absolutely necessary before the Public can again 

 be admitted ; but the Academy have no funds applicable for these pur- 

 poses, and therefore the £200 per annum, recommended by the Com- 

 mittee under head No. 3, is indispensable. 



The greater and more valuable portion of the collection has been 

 brought together by the contributions of private individuals, and the sub- 

 scriptions of Members of the Academy. The arrangement, registration, 

 and cataloguing, so far as they have advanced, have been in a great 

 measure gratuitously executed. To continue these works by private 

 energy would be impossible, in consequence of the growth of the col- 

 lection, and the increased desire of the Public for access to it, and in- 

 formation respecting it. The interests of Archaeological Science demand 

 that the arrangement and cataloguing should be completed as promptly 

 as possible, and this cannot be expected when the work is done by vo- 

 luntary exertion. 



From time to time private Collections of Irish Antiquities, of great 

 value, become available for purchase, which ought to find their place in 

 the Archaeological Museum of Ireland. The Royal Irish Academy is 

 entitled to expect from the liberality of Parliament the funds required to 

 secure for permanent custody in their Museum such important illustra- 

 trations of our National History, which ought not to be removed from 

 this country, and could not with propriety be deposited elsewhere. 



LIBKAEY AND MSS. DEPARTMENT. 



Under head No. 4, the Parliamentary Committee recommended — 

 " Salary to a Library Clerk, with cost of Books and Binding, £200 per 

 annum." Prom want of means to provide such a Clerk, absolutely ne- 

 cessary for the safety of the Books and MSS., the Council have been 

 obliged to close the Library to the Public. The £200 recommended 

 would scarcely suffice to meet the current expenses of the Library — 

 including Salary to Clerk, Binding, purchasing Scientific and Archaeo- 

 logical Journals, and completing, from time to time, the deficiencies of 

 special departments of the Library. 



The Academy's Library contains MSS. of high importance ; the 

 Transactions of most of the learned Societies of the world ; numerous 

 unpublished Maps and Drawings ; and, through the recent Donation of 

 the valuable Library of the late Charles Haliday, the Academy now 

 possesses the most complete and extensive collection extant of works of 

 every class connected with Ireland and Irish affairs from early times to 

 our own day. 



The Academy, as we ha^e already stated, at present receives a 

 sum of £200 per annum, to be expended in the " Salary of an Irish 

 Scribe, and in cataloguing and printing Irish MSS." Much valuable 

 work has been already done in preparing Irish texts and translations 

 for the press, and in continuing the Catalogue of Irish MSS. ; but the 

 whole of the £200 is absorbed in transcribing, translating, and catalogu- 



