Identifier: journalofroyalso00roya (find matches)
Title: Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
Year: 1916 (1910s)
Authors: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Transactions Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Proceedings and transactions Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Proceedings and papers
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Publisher: Dublin, Ireland : The Society
Contributing Library: Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive

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and have been even republished ; but no architect,antiquary, or historian of the least standing has ventured to say aword in its defence since the time of its publication. George Petrie was a man of a very different type, and, thoughmany of his conclusions may be traversed (especially as to his tendencyto antedate buildings and to neglect the study of the Romanesquestyle in other countries), his methods were scientific and logical, notmerely wild conjectures based at best on irrelevant analogies. He 1 The Buddhists of Persia expelled by the intolerance of the Brahmins and thepersecution of the rajahs had fled to our genial shores (Phoenician Ireland, pre-face vi). 2 Dublin Penny Journal, 1833^4, vol. ii, p. 362 ; vol. iii, p. 410. This is attri-buted to Petrie, but he had (as appears in the preface) given up the editorship; thenew editor, P. D. Hardy, m.r.i.a., seems to accept the responsibility, and apologises,but only for the bad taste of the Big Ass note. Plate V) (To face page 22
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GEORGE PETRIE(From a Daguerreotype) PRESIDENTS ADDRESS 23 had the advantage of being helped by a great and original scholar,John O Donovan, who, in the middle fields of Irish Literature, pos-sessed an encyclopaedic knowledge, erring, like Petrie, in confining hishorizon too much to Ireland. His (Petries) essay naturally won theprize offered by the Academy and has since been the inspirer of thescientific movement in Irish Archaeology. Petrie, unlike Vallancey,gained no unshaken realm ; he was a High King with opposition.His most formidable opponent was Sir William Betham—formidablerather from honest conviction and from his official position as UlsterKing of Arms than from his research or exact methods. Bethamsmore ambitious works are now rarely glanced into, and to mostantiquaries are unknown. His chief work, Etruria Celtica (1842), isfull of the strangest assertions. He regarded a lamp ring as amariners compass, the Etruscan inscription, with its personal names,being read as Irish,

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