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PREFACE.

This Catechism was originally printed in modern Roman type some sixty years ago for the diocese of Cloyne, by the Rev. Canon Schmiddy, under the direction of Dr. Keane, who was then Bishop of the diocese. In 1901 it was republished in the older Roman, or Gaelic typo, with a vocabulary, by Canon O'Leary, and it has since been used in many parts of Ireland. The present edition gives the questions and answers and the prayers in Simplified Spelling according to the pronunciation of Canon O'Leary. It is hoped that this new edition may be a help in teaching the Catechism in Irish to thousands of children and adults. It should prove a great aid to students in memorising the Catechism, and thus lighten the labour of both teachers and pupils.

This edition contains everything that the previous edition contained except the vocabulary. It also contains some additional prayers supplied by Canon O'Leary to make the book complete for use in the bilingual schools in which the Catechism is taught in Irish. These additional prayers include short acts of contrition, faith, hope, and charity; morning and evening prayers; grace before and after meals, and a prayer to the guardian angel.

Those who use this book as a key to the older editions should note that Canon O'Leary has altered a few words to bring the language more into conformity with the usage of the present day. He has substituted dreaum for drong, heachuint for sheachnadh, a ghinean for a ghnidhean, adaváil for admhughadh, pé peacy for gidh b'iad peacai, and made some other alterations. Some slight alterations in the text were also necessary to bring the