Trinity College Library, Dublin, yesterday acquired the first book printed in Irish.
This book, Abidil gaoidheilge & caiticiosma (ABC & catechism), printed in 1571, is only the sixth item known to have been printed in Ireland and was purchased for £48,000. Only four copies of the book are recorded and that purchased by TCD was the only one in private hands, coming from the collection of the Marquis of Bute. Trinity’s copy is the only one in an Irish library.
The publication of the Abidil in 1571 saw the use of the first specially cut Irish type. This was cut under the supervision of John Kearney, the treasurer of St Patrick’s Cathedral, at the expense of Queen Elizabeth. Kearney, in his preface to the book, told the reader that the pure and perfect type would open the hitherto closed road to knowledge.
The Abidil, which was handed over in the presence of the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, will be on public display in the Long Room of Trinity College.
Irish Times,
23 May 1995