('Irish Alphabet and Catechism') is the first printed book in the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

, and also the first in

Gaelic type Gaelic type (sometimes called Irish character, Irish type, or Gaelic script) is a family of Insular script typefaces devised for printing Early Modern Irish. It was widely used from the 16th century until the mid-18th century in Scotland and t ...

. Meant as a Protestant primer, the book was written by John O'Kearney or Kearney (), a treasurer of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. It includes a short section on the spelling and sounds of Irish. The lengthy full title translates to ''Alphabet of the Irish language and Catechism, that is Christian instruction or teaching along with certain articles of the Christian rule that are proper for everyone who would be obedient to the law of God and the Queen in this kingdom. Translated from Latin and English into Irish by John O'Kearney''. The production of this book was part of a larger endeavour by

Irish Protestants Protestantism is a Christianity, Christian community on the island of Ireland. In the 2011 census of Northern Ireland, 48% (883,768) described themselves as Protestant, which was a decline of approximately 5% from the 2001 census. In the 2011 ...

to print the Bible in the Irish language so that the common person could read it. The book was printed on a

press Press may refer to: Media * Publisher * News media * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press TV, an Iranian television network Newspapers United States * ''The Press'', a former name of ''The Press-Enterprise'', Riverside, California ...

which was set up in the home of Alderman John Ussher (

Early Modern Irish Early Modern Irish () represented a transition between Middle Irish and Modern Irish. Its literary form, Classical Gaelic, was used in Ireland and Scotland from the 13th to the 18th century. Classical Gaelic Classical Gaelic or Classical Irish ( ...

: ). Ussher, who was a well-known Dublin Protestant, also paid for the venture. The last paragraph on the cover page states the location and date of the printing: "", which translates to 'Printed in Gaelic type in Dublin at the expense of master John Ussher, alderman, t his houseover the bridge, 20th day of June 1571'. Though the printer's identity is unknown, it is possible that William Kearney, a nephew of John Kearney was the printer. Although 200 copies of the book were originally printed, only four known copies survive. In 1995, a copy of the book was bought by

Trinity College Library The Library of Trinity College Dublin () serves Trinity College, and is the largest library in Ireland. It is a legal deposit or "copyright library", which means that publishers in Ireland must deposit a copy of all their publications there ...

Dublin for £47,700 ($76,463) at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

References

External links

Digital images of the entire book
Digital Collections,

Library of Trinity College Dublin The Library of Trinity College Dublin () serves Trinity College, and is the largest library in Ireland. It is a legal deposit or "copyright library", which means that publishers in Ireland must deposit a copy of all their publications there ...

L Safe 1.22
Image of the title page
Trinity Access Research Archive (TARA), Library of Trinity College Dublin

Cregan Library, St. Patrick's College Irish non-fiction books 1571 in Ireland Irish-language education 1571 books Irish-language literature Irish literature Texts in Irish Christian theology books {{Ireland-stub

See also

References

External links