Larger English-Irish dictionary by Timothy O'Neill-Lane
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| Larger English-Irish dictionary |
the first edition of this work, which was published in 1904, did not go far enough in the direction I had intended, and the great mass of material collected by me during twenty years, at a cost of about;£2,500, could not be fully utilized, owing to the fact that I had other onerous duties to perform in connection with the post I held in Paris at the time.
Besides this, there were financial difficulties, as I did not get anything like the support I anticipated. The same want of support has followed me in the present undertaking, the magnitude of which may be to some extent estimated when I mention that during my travels through the Irish-speaking districts I had. made notes on half a million slips of paper, which had to be arranged, collated, and co-ordinated before I could commence the text, and for each letter of the alphabet, a fresh arrangement was necessary.
The MS. of the new edition when completed ran to about 5,000 quarto pages. The book itself consists of 1,748 pages, and the printer's bill amounts to £1,200, in addition to;£750 spent on compilation and in passing the dictionary through the press.
My great aim has been to supply students of Irish with an exhaustive guide to the various shades of meaning of each word, and, where possible, giving examples of its use drawn from the highest authorities, and also from native speakers who are so lavish in the use of proverbs and wise old saw^s to drive their meaning home, thus giving a clear insight into the mental attitude of the people, together with some idea of their manners and customs, their character, and their philosophy of life.
In order that nothing should be wanting to secure accuracy, I have had the proofs read by various Irish scholars. I am particularly indebted, in this respect, to the late Professor J. C. Ward, of St. Eunan's College, Letterkenny; Rev. Martin O'Donnell, Professor of Irish, St. Jarlath's College, Tuam; Rev. C. Short, Carrickmore, Co. Tyrone; who read all the proofs from beginning to end. I am also indebted to Dr. J. P. Henry, Rev. Thomas Boyle, J. P. Hannon, and Rev. Luke Donnellan, who read a portion of the proofs. I beg especially to return thanks to Father Donnellan for the loan of the Books and MSS. referred to in the text, and from which I have drawn innumerable illustrative examples.
Publication Date: 1917
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