AN GAOḊAL.
129
fore the last consonant or conson¬
ants of the nominative form; as,
bás, death, báis (bau'-ish) death's,
of death ceann capaill, a horse's head
58. Words of the SECOND declen¬
sion form the genitive by adding
e to the nominative form ; as, láir,
a mare, láire. (lau'-rĕ) of a mare.
59. Words of the THIRD declen¬
sion form the genitive case by add¬
ing a to the nominative form; as,
am, time, ama, (om'-ă) of time.
60. Words of the FOURTH declen¬
sion, have the genitive case the
SAME as the nominative; as, bainne,
milk, braon bainne, a drop of milk.
61. Words of the FIFTH declen¬
sion form the genitive case by add¬
ing some consonant ; as, gaḃa a
blacksmith, gaḃan, of a blacksmith.
The above is the way in which
we know the declension of a noun,
if we have before us the nominat¬
ive and genitive cases singular.
62. We can also, in most cases,
conjecture the declension of a noun
from the termination of the nomi¬
native case alone, thus :
Words end either in a vowel or
a consonant. Words ending in a
vowel belong to the 4th or 5th de¬
clension ; words ending in a con¬
sonant belong to the 1st, 2nd, or
3rd declensions We can go farth¬
er than this.
63. Most words ending in a
consonant preceded by a, o or u,
belong to the FIRST declension.
Most words ending in a consonant pre¬
ceded by e or i belong to the SECOND
declension. Most words ending in a
vowel belong to the FOURTH DE¬
CLENSION.
Most words of the THIRD declension
belong to a few classes easily known
by their terminations. The words of
the FIFTH declension are not many
and are remembered without much
difficulty.
64. From the above notes we can
arrange the declension of the follow¬
ing words already given in the lessons
I. Decl. aol, arán, asal, árdán,
bád, bás, breac, beul, ceann, ór.
II. Decl. aill, aimsir, áit, carraig,
caṫaoir, coir, coróin, obair, sac.
III. Decl. balla, baile, bainne, coir¬
ce, buille, cóta, cuisle, píopa.
LESSON IX.
65. We shall now give examples
showing the declension, in the simp¬
lest form, of words in the five declen¬
sions. We shall afterwards go into
the declensions with more detail.
(To be continued).
The Rhode Island Irish Language Society hav¬
ing passed resolution laudatory of Bishop O’Donn¬
ell's exertions in the Gaelic cause, the Right Revd
Bishop sent the following acknowledgment. —
Letterkenny, Co Donegal,
July 26 1866.
Dear Mr. Henehan — Perhaps the best way I can
acknowledge the resolutions of your society is to
tell you what is being done for preserving the Irish
tongue. For many years past the language of our
country has received special attention in the dioce¬
san Seminary of Letterkenny. It is carefully taught
by the masters in St. Emmon’s, and every candidate
for entrance into the ecclesiastical colleges is exa¬
mined orally by the bishops on his knowledge of the
native tongue. On public occasions, whether poli¬
tical, local or religious, the Irish language is not
forgotten. Rather it holds the place of honor as it
ought. Then a still more hopeful indication is giv¬
en by the fact that the teachers in our primary
schools have joined the preservation movement with
great earnestness. As one result of their action, the
Board of Education may be expected before long to
give the Irish language a far more prominent place
on the school programme than it has hitherto occu¬
pied,
I may add that on Friday night in the House of
Commons, our Irish members had a good debate on
the need to encourage the native tongue in Irish
schools.
With many thanks and best wishes to all the
members of your society, I am, dear Mr. Henehan,
sincerely, yours,
✠ PATRICK O'DONNELL,
Bishop of Raphoe.
