AN GAODHAL.
141
the Gael, so that on his arrival he should meet with
it wherever he travels. Let Gaels act accordingly.
The learned professor admires the Gael for what it
has done — he knows what it is ; should he ask why
every Irishman does not get it, What answer could
be given to him ?
7 Vavasur Place, Vavasur Square,
Sandymount, Dublin, 17 Nov. '91.
A shaoi ionmhuine,
Cuirim triobhlóid ort arís, óir d'
athruigh mé m'áit-chómhnuidhe arís, meas¬
aim go bh-fuilim cosmhúil le na h-Arab¬
aibh ó phós mé bean, ag gluiseacht go síor¬
ruidhe ó áit go h-áit, acht is dóigh liom
go m-beidhead am' chómhnuidhe 's an áit
seo air feadh tamaill fhada.
Do chuiris comaoin mhór orm 'nuair
a chlóbhuail tú na dánta a chuireas chug¬
at, níor mheasas gur fiú an dadamh iad,
acht is tú an breitheamh is feárr; iarr¬
aim ort má fheiceann tú locht air bith
am' sgríbhinnibh, go leasóchaidh tú í, ó
táim cho fad a g-céin uait.
Cuirim dánta eile chugat. Deun do
thoil leo, agus go soirbhighidh Dia thú agus
d' obair thíoramhail.
Do chara dhíleas,
R. Mac Shearraigh Gordon.
O'Curry's Lectures,
ON THE
MANUSCRIPT MATERIAL OF ANCIENT IRISH HIS¬
TORY.
LECTURE V.
[Delivered June 19, 1856.]
(Continued, from p. 108.)
The following passage from the Rev. Dr. O'
Conor's Stowe catalogue will show, among a thou¬
sand others, how cautious we ought to be in recei¬
ving, as facts, opinions and observations on sub¬
jects of this difficult kind, written hurriedly, or
without examination. In describing No. 3 of the
Stowe collection of Irish manuscripts, page 50 of
the catalogue, the writer says:
"Folio 50. An Irish chronicle of the kings of
Connaught, from the arrival of Saint Patrick, with
marginal notes by Mr. O'Conor of Belanagar, writ¬
ten in 1727. This chronicle begins from the arri¬
val of Saint Patrick, and ends with [464. It was
transcribed from the ancient manuscript of the
Church of Kilronan, called The Book of Kilronan,
to which the Four Masters affixed their approba¬
tion in their respective hands, as stated in this co¬
py, folio 28."
Now it is plain that the reverend doctor has ad¬
ded to the words of his grandfather here, or that
the latter, which is very improbable, wrote what
was not the fact, — namely, that he drew his chro¬
nicle of Connacht kings, from the coming of Saint
Patrick to the year 1464, from the Book of Kilro¬
nan, since we have it on the authority of the Four
Masters that this book, not of the church of Kil¬
ronan, but of the O'Duigenanns of Kilronan, went
no further back than the year 900, or nearly 500
years after the coming of Saint Patrick.
To sum up, then, it would seem that this old
manuscript in the Stowe collection, must be a
fragment of one of the books which the Four Mas¬
ters had in their possession, namely, the book of
the O'Mulconrys, which came from the earliest
times down to the year 1505, and which was, pro¬
ably, added to afterwards, like the Annals of Uls¬
ter, down to its present conclusion ; or the Book
fo the O'Duigenanns, of Kilronan ; and if the el¬
der O'Conor was correctly informed, and that he
is correctly reported by his grandson, it was with¬
out any doubt the latter. We must observe, how¬
ever, that the elder O'Conor, in his list of his own
MSS., when he calls this book the Annals of Con¬
nacht, speaks of it as compilled in the Cistercian
Abbey of Boyle.
It is remarkable too, that we find in this book,
at the end of the year I410, the following entry, —
“Marianusfilius Tethei O'Beirne submersis est on
the 14th of the kalends October. Patin qei scrip¬
sit.” Now there is little doubt that this "Patin,"
was Padin [Padeen] O'Mulconry, the poet, who
died in the yaer 1506.
Again, we find the name of Nicholas O'Mulcon¬
ry at the end of the year 1544, in such a position
as to induce the belief that he was the writer of the
preceding annal, or at least, as in the preceding
case, of the concluding part of it. So that if the
elder O'Connor be correct in his own written words,
this book really consists of the Annals of Boyle,
or else a fragment of the Book of the O'Mulconrys;
but that book came down but to the year 1505. If
we had the original manuscript to examine, it could
be easily seen whether these were strange inserts¬
ions or not; and I only desire to put these facts
on record here from O'Gorman's transcript, ho¬
ping that they may be found hereafter useful to
some more fovoured and accomplished investiga¬
tor.
To some of my hearers, the minute examination
I have thought necssary to make before them, of
the identity and authority of the several important
manuscripts which have engaged our attention,
may, perhaps, have seemed tedious. Yet it is not
merely for the sake of thus recording in a perma¬
nent shape the information which I have collected
on these subjects that I have taken this course. It
is chiefly because the earnest student in this now
almost untrodden path of historical inquiry (and I
hope there are many among my hearers who des¬
ire to become earnest students of their country's
history), will find in the examples I am endeavou¬
ring to trace for him, of the mode in which alone
our subject must be investigated, the best intro¬
duction to a serious study of it. And it is only by
such careful canvass of authorities, by such jeal¬
ous search into the materials which have been han¬
ded down to us, that we can ever hope to separate
the true from the false, and to lay a truly sound
and reliable foundation for the superstructure of a
complete history of Erinn. For the present, you
will remember, I am occupied in giving you an ac¬
