BLESSED BE THE HOLY WILL OF GOD A morning prayer of Connemara; it has been heard in many places in Galway, and Dr. Hyde heard it in Roscommon. The will of God be done by us. The law of God be kept by us. Our evil will controlled by us. Our tongue in check be held by us, Repentance timely made by us, Christ's passion understood by us, Each sinful crime be shunned by us, Much on the End be mused by us, And Death be blessed found by us, With Angels' music heard by us, And God's high praise sung to us, For ever and for aye. -- Anonymous (19th century) - Translated by Douglas HYDE (1860-1949), academic and cultural revivalist. Son of a Church of Ireland clergyman, brought up first in Co. Sligo and then, from 1867, at Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon, both areas rich in antiquities and where some spoken Irish survived. He entered Trinity College in 1880, switching from an initial course of divinity to law. Though not the founder of the Gaelic League, HYDE became its first president in 1893. He was professor of Irish at University College, Dublin, a member of the Irish Free State Senate from 1925, and first president of Ireland 1938-45. HYDE published extensively, drawing both on oral tradition and on manuscript sources. His most important collections included "Love Songs of Connacht" (1893), and "The Religious Songs of Connacht" (1906). He collaborated with YEATS and LADY GREGORY on a number of theatrical productions. His political sympathies were nationalist.