The Round Towers of Ireland; or, The History of the Tuath-De-Danaans

Author of “The Round Towers of Ireland.”
THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND
THE HISTORY OF THE TUATH-DE-DANAANS
BY HENRY O’BRIEN
A NEW EDITION
WITH INTRODUCTION, SYNOPSIS, INDEX, ETC.
London: W. THACKER & CO., 2 Creed Lane, E.C. Calcutta: THACKER, SPINK & CO. 1898
750 Copies only of this Edition have been printed for Sale and the Type distributed, of which this is No. 324.

“When all is dark, who would object to a ray of light, merely because of the faulty or flickering medium by which it is transmitted? And if those round towers have been hitherto a dark puzzle and a mystery, must we scare away O’Brien, because he approaches with a rude and unpolished but serviceable lantern?”— Fraser’s Magazine for August 1835.
The heartburnings of suspense, with which most young authors are familiar, soon began. Four days after his essay had been sent in, the Academy issued a third advertisement, requiring all the essays to be taken back, and extending the period of preparation by an additional month, “so as to admit of the receiving of other essays on said subject, and for allowing the authors of essays already given in to improve and enlarge them.” O’Brien afterwards saw fit to attribute this fresh delay to a cause very different from that alleged; but just then, being persuaded that his triumph was merely postponed, he reconciled himself as best he could to the infliction, and calmly waited for apotheosis. Six months more passed by—wearily enough, we may be sure; and then, one direful morning, just at the close of 1832, came news that the premiums had been adjudged as follows:—“£50 and the gold medal to George Petrie, and £20 to Henry O’Brien, Esq.”