IN recording these few brief memorials of noted Irishwomen, it will have been seen that I have quoted largely in many instances. I considered it better to do so, preferring to give generally accepted and valuable tested criticisms, with which I agree, rather than the same sentiments embodied in my own words. In every particular, where it has been at all practicable, original documents have been consulted. Nevertheless, it should be borne in mind, that my information in the majority of cases has been derived from so many varied sources, and so devious have been my wanderings through literature in search of it, that it would be impossible for me to enumerate all the works I have referred to. Some of the details may appear to be scant, yet these volumes represent the result of some years of reading.