Long Book of
Leithghlinn, or Leithlin; the Books of O'Scoba of _Cluain Mic Nois_
(or Clonmacnois); the _Duil Droma Ceata_, or Book of Drom Ceat; and
the Book of Clonsost (in Leix, in the Queen's County)."

[Illustration: (A) MS. in the "_Domhnach Airgid,_" [R.I.A.] (temp. St.
Patrick, circa A.D. 430.)]

[Illustration: (B) MS. in the "_Cathach_," (6th century MS attributed to
St. Colum Cille)]

Happily, however, a valuable collection of ancient MSS. are still
preserved, despite the "drowning" of the Danes, and the "burning" of the
Saxon. The researches of continental scholars are adding daily to our
store; and the hundreds of Celtic MSS., so long entombed in the
libraries of Belgium and Italy, will, when published, throw additional
light upon the brightness of the past, and, it may be, enhance the
glories of the future, which we must believe are still in reserve for
the island of saints and sages.[11]

The list of works given above are supposed by O'Curry to have existed
anterior to the year 1100. Of the books which Keating refers to in his
History, written about 1630, only one is known to be extant--the
_Saltair-na-Rann_, written by Aengus Ceile De.

The principal Celtic MSS. which are still preserved to us, may be
consulted in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, and in the Library
of the Royal Irish Academy. The latter, though founded at a much later
period, is by far the more extensive, if not the more important,
collection. Perhaps, few countries have been so happy as to possess a
body of men so devoted to its archaeology, so ardent in their
preservation of all that can be found to illustrate it, and so capable
of elucidating its history by their erudition, which, severally and
collectively, they have brought to bear on every department of its
ethnology. The collection in Trinity College consists of more than 140
volumes, several of them are vellum,[12] dating from the early part of
the twelfth to the middle of the last century. The collection of the
Royal Irish Academy also contains several works written on vellum, with
treatises of history, science, laws, and commerce; there are also many
theological and ecclesiastical compositions, which have been pronounced
by competent authorities to be written in the purest style that the
ancient Gaedhilic language ever attained. There are also a considerable
number of translations from Greek, Latin, and other languages. These are
of considerable import