This volume contains three of the most significant Irish catechisms ever printed, which are similar and often compared to the Penny Catechism of England and the Baltimore Catechism of the United States.

The first is The Most Rev. Dr. James Butler’s Catechism, first composed by the great Archbishop James Butler of Cashel in 1775 and approved for national use by all the bishops of Ireland. It served Irish Catholics in various editions for 150 years, both in their own nation and abroad (especially in Canada and the United States).

The other two are a pair of texts "ordered" by Ireland's famous National Synod of Maynooth: The Catechism Ordered by the National Synod of Maynooth (1884), and its simplified form for children: The Short Catechism Extracted (1891).