The Donegal Highlands. Dublin: Murray, [1866]. First Edition. Pp, xx, 248. With map of Co. Donegal folded in at back. Original cloth boards with some wear to spine, upper cover with title in gilt. Contents pages in good condition.

A detailed account of the author’s travels throughout Co. Donegal in the latter half of the nineteenth century. This first edition was published in 1866 without attributing the author. A second, recast and enlarged edition appeared posthumously in 1895 under the title Illustrated Edition of The Donegal Highlands, published by Sealy, Bryers and Walker.

James McDevitt was born in Glenties, County Donegal, in 1831. McDevitt was a native Irish speaker and a keen promoter of the language. He was also actively supportive of the tenants’ rights agitation in Donegal, particularly in the wake of the Derryveagh Evictions of 1861. The Donegal Highlands was written when he was a young priest, several years before his elevation to the episcopate.