In the small volume to which these pages are prefixed, an attempt has been made to present such a collection from the lyric wealth of Ireland as would fulfill two distinct important functions - the furnishing to all readers a fairly adequate opportunity of judging Irish character as it is shown in the most self-revealing of all means of expression; and the providing Irish readers with a book that, in its scope and completeness, might take rank on their shelves with Gavan Duffy's "Ballad Poetry" and the "Spirit of the Nation". This twofold aim, ambitious though it be, has been kept steadily in view; every song, ballad, or lyric is by an Irish writer, upon an Irish theme, and clearly Celtic in thought and feeling. Wherever possible it is one, also, that has actually been popular among the peasantry, who have always been the depository of the song, music, and story, that are now finding securer keeping in printed books.