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PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED AND EMBRACING

COMPLETE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF THOSE WHO AT HOME AND
ABROAD HAVE SUSTAINED THE REPUTATION OF IRELAND
AS THE LAND OF SONG AND STORY

WITH

COPIOUS SELECTIONS FROM THEIR WRITINGS

BY

REV. D. O. CROWLEY

President of the Youths' Directory

INTRODUCTION BY

THOMAS R. BANNERMAN

"Carmine fit vivax virtus, expersque sepulcri,
Notitiam seræ posteritatis habet."

THE fame of great and noble deeds,
Wing'd with his matchless lore,
The poet's pen sends echoing down
To Time's remotest shore.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

1892

64698

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1892, by

D. O. CROWLEY,

In the Office of the Librarian at Washington, D. C.

Electrotyped and Printed by P. J. THOMAS, 505 Clay St., San Francisco, Cal.

PREFACE.

N presenting this volume to the public, the editor

IN

claims for his share no other merit than that of accuracy in the biographical data which have been collected from different sources at the cost of considerable time, and not without labor. All other merits belong to the gifted children of the Gael whose life-trials and triumphs he has endeavored to portray.

Irish literature is not wanting in collections of songs and ballads. It is admitted on every side that the songs of Erin stand unrivaled; and both in quantity and quality her ballad-poetry ranks next after that of Scotland. But, up to a very recent date, comparatively little has been done towards preserving biographies of those to whom she is indebted for such priceless treasures. A few books have of late been printed in the United States with a view to remedy this defect; but they are all so bulky and, in many instances, so badly bound as to render them useless, except as works of reference. Besides, the price of those tomes is so high that it places them beyond the reach of the mass of our people.

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