Excerpt from Standish O'grady: Selected Essays and Passages At school and in t.c.d. I was an industrious lad and worked through the curriculums with abundant energy and some success; yet in the curriculums never read one word about Irish history and legend, nor ever heard one word about these things from my pastors and masters. When I was 23 years Of age, had anyone told me - as later on a Professor Of the Dublin University actually did - that Brian Boromh was a mythical character, I would have believed him. I knew absolutely nothing about our past, not through my own fault, for 1 was willing enough to learn anything set before me, but owing to the stupid educational system Of the country. I knew Sir Samuel Ferguson and was often his guest, but knew him only as a kind, courteous and hospitable gentleman; no one ever told me that he was a great Irish poet. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.