SOME OTHER WORKS BY THE AUTHOR. GEOGRAPHY FOR AUSTRALIAN YOUTH, 1845. GEOGRAPHY OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. BUCKLEY, THE WILD WHITE MAN. DISCOVERY OF PORT PHILLIP. BUSHRANGERS OF VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. EARLY DAYS OF MELBOURNE. ASTRONOMY AND GEOGRAPHY FOR YOUNG AUSTRALIANS. NOTES OF A GOLD DIGGER, 1852. AUSTRALIAN GOLD DIGGERS' MAGAZINE, 1852. JOHN BATMAN, THE FOUNDER OF VICTORIA. DAILY LIFE OF THE TASMANIANS. Illustrated, IOS. LOST TASMANIAN RACE. MIKE HOWE, THE BUSHRANGER. LILY OF TASMANIA. WESTERN AUSTRALIA. RESOURCES OF QUEENSLAND. CLIMATE AND HEALTH IN AUSTRALASIA. BRITISH COLONIES AND THEIR RESOURCES. FRENCH COLONIES AND THEIR RESOURCES. FIRST TWENTY YEARS OF AUSTRALIA. ROMANCE OF THE WOOL TRADE. EARLY STRUGGLES OF AUSTRALIAN TRADE AND THE PRESS PORT PHILLIP SETTLEMENT. Illustrated, 155. ALSO PYRAMID FACTS AND FANCIES. EGYPTIAN BELIEF. MORMONS AND SILVER MINES. OUR NATIONALITIES. ORION AND SIRIUS, &c. PREFACE. IRELAND, whether viewed from an antiquarian or an ethnological point of view, is one of the most interesting countries in the world. It is not the less an object of attention from the fact, that in its early history there are traces of nearly every kind of pagan belief. It is curious that its literary treasures should have been so long neglected. Of late years, thanks to literary and scientific societies, including the new association fostered by Sir C. Gavan Duffy, Irish MSS. have engaged much thoughtful investigation. The author of this work, conscious of the importance of inquiry into ancient faiths, has collected such information upon Irish religions as a lengthened course of general reading has thrown in his way, since it may benefit those who have less leisure or opportunity for research. He is content to state various views, presented in quotations from writers, rather than to put forth any special conjectures of his own. Examinations of old myths and folklore will often throw light upon current notions of nationalities. This sketch of the ancient Irish mind might help to confirm the conviction that Religion, in the sense of a reverence for something beyond the individual, has been |