well-known abstract of the History of Ireland, (written in the native Gaelic, about the year 1630, and translated into English about one hundred and thirty years ago).
Dr. Keating had before him numerous invaluable Irish records and books of great antiquity, many of which have since been destroyed or carried off by the English conquerors, whose policy has always been to obliterate every record of Ireland's national greatness and ancient culture, and cast discredit and ridicule on what could not be controverted. I may here quote a striking paragraph from Prof. O'Curry's work on "The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish." (Vol. 2, page 354):—
"It is very unfortunate that the important poem here referred to [an ancient Gaelic poem mentioned in the 'Ogygia,' describing an Irish school of war in the third century] is not to be found in any of the MS. collections known to us; it is only known to exist among those locked up in England in the custody of Lord Ashburnham, by whom Irish scholars are not permitted to examine treasures properly belonging to our own people; but the legal ownership of which is at present, unhappily vested in a stranger, unsympathizing alike with our pursuits as Irishmen, and with those of the literary world at large. In this poem there is, probably, much calculated to throw light on the subject of education in ancient Erinn."
Prof. O'Curry's work was published in London in 1873; and this precious Irish MS., locked up by an ignorant English lord, has never seen the light to this day.
