54 
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 
Less beautiful as a work of art, yet having the ad vantage of a well- 
marked history, is the bell-shrine of St. Patrick, enclosing the old iron 
bell supposed to have belonged to the patron saint of Ireland, and of 
which a record exists dating as far back as the sixth century. The 
shrine, which is a jewelled case intended for the preservation of the 
bell, appears to have been made at the end of the eleventh or beginning 
of the twelfth century. These interesting relics are the property of 
Charles Todd, Esq. , who has offered to dispose of them to the Academy. 
It is to be hoped that we may be able to secure them. 
Two features connected with our Library deserve your attention. 
The first of these concerns our collection of the Transactions of 
other learned societies. It is, as you know, one of the most impor- 
tant functions of a public library that it should possess a collection, 
as complete as possible, of books which, though of the highest value 
to the student, are, from their great size and cost, seldom found in 
private libraries. Conspicuous among such works are the Transactions 
of learned societies. "We have therefore for some time past been en- 
deavouring to form, principally by exchange, a collection of past and 
contemporary publications of the chief bodies throughout the world 
engaged in scientific, literary, and archa3ological investigations. In 
this we have succeeded to a very considerable extent, and already a 
large number of such publications are, soon after their issue, available 
to readers here. 
The other point connected with our Library, which I wish to notice, 
concerns our collection of Irish manuscripts. The library of the Eoyal 
Irish Academy possesses, as you are probably aware, some of the oldest 
extant manuscripts in the Irish language. These manuscripts, which 
are necessarily of great philological importance, we are anxious to make 
available to the student of the Celtic languages, not only here but at a 
distance. AYe have therefore undertaken the printing of accurate litho- 
graphic copies of the chief of our MSS. — a task which has been com- 
pleted in the case of the Leabliar na h-uidhre, the oldest non-ecclesiastical 
Irish manuscript now in existence. A lithographic fac-simile of this 
important manuscript now lies on the table. I may mention, as a 
proof of the interest excited by this publication among scholars resident 
at a distance, that our distinguished countryman, Mr. AYliitley Stokes, 
has, from this lithographic copy, completed an edition of one of the 
fragments contained in the Leabhar na h-uidhre, the contractions ap- 
pearing in the original text being replaced by the letters in full, and 
the whole being accompanied by a translation, of the accuracy of which 
the well-known philological skill of the editor is a sufficient guarantee. 
I now come to speak of that which is the true indication of intel- 
lectual life in such a society as this. I mean the Papers read before 
the Academy, and printed in our Transactions and Proceedings. 
"We must not disguise from ourselves the truth, that, however we may 
succeed in the other departments of which I have spoken — in accumu- 
lating an admirable Library — in storing our Museum with archssolo- 
gical treasures — if we fail here, we fail in our most important func- 
