The labours of the late lamented Eugene O'Curry have made this an easy task.

He took to his work a critical acumen not often attained by the self-educated, and a noble patriotism not often maintained by the gifted scions of a country whose people and whose literature have been alike trodden down and despised for centuries.

The result of his researches is embodied in a work[1] which should be in the hands of every student of Irish history, and of every Irishman who can afford to procure it.

This volume proves that the _early_ history of Ireland has yet to be written; that it should be a work of magnitude, and undertaken by one gifted with special qualifications, which the present writer certainly does not possess; and that it will probably require many years of patient labour from the "host of Erinn's sons," before the necessary materials for such a history can be prepared.
The manuscript materials for ancient Irish history may be divided into two classes: the historical, which purports to be a narrative of facts, in which we include books of laws, genealogies, and pedigrees; and the legendary, comprising tales, poems, and legends.

The latter, though not necessarily true, are generally founded on fact, and contain a mass of most important information, regarding the ancient customs and manner of life among our ancestors.