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«<o.9 



l&arfaari CTollEgc Itbrarg 




FROM THE G 



ERNEST BLANEY DANE 



OF BOSTON 



# 



IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 



*■* 



m 



IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 







r 11) («) A.^iT'Bn/ liicni-e-- Cri&Do tbfi) pjT^n 



IRISH 



ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES, 



BY 



SIR WILLIAM BETHAM, F. S. A. 



(TLSTBR KING OF ARMS OP ALL IRRLAND, KBBPRR OF THE RECORDS OP 

THE LATE PARLIAMENT OF IRELAND, DEPUTY KEEPER 

OF THE RECORDS IN BIRMINGHAM TOWER, IN HIS 

MAJESTY'S CASTLE OF DUBLIN, <&C. <S:C. 



PART I, 



** Hibernia medio inter BrilanniAin atqtie Hi^paniam sita, et Gallico qnoque mari 
opportnna. Solum caelumqne et ingenia onltunqne hominnm hand multum a Britan* 
nia dilfernnt. Melius aditus portusque per coinmercia et negotiatores cognita." 

TACITUS. 

*< gi de veritate scandalum aninitur, utiliun permittitur na»>ci scand^lum, qnam 
pt Veritas relinquatnr." 

ST. AtTGUSTINJ5. 



DUBLIN: 
WILLIAM CURRY, JUN. AND CO, 

AND HODGES AND M^ARTHUR ; 

LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN, LONDON ^ 

DANIEL LIZARS, EDINBURGH. 

1826. 



C-^JU- W^D.% 



/ ^ 



JUL 7 1916 









to 



HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS 



AUGUSTUS FREDERICK, K. G. 

DUKE OF SUSSEX, <&c.<&c. 

Sir, 

Having, at the suggestion of your Royal 
Highness, undertaken the task of bringing 
before the Public an account of a curious 
Irish relick and MS. which I had the honour 
to submit to your Royal Highness's inspection, 
on which occasion you were pleased to express 
a strong feeling of interest on the subject of 
Irish Antiquities^ — I have presumed to claim 
your Royal Highness's protection for this 
First Part of " The Irish Antiquarian Re- 
searches." 

* 

And have the honour to be. 

With great devotion and respect, 

Your Royal Highness's 
Faithful and obedient humble Servant, 

W. BETHAM, Ulster. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

I. INTRODUCTION 3 

II. LsABHAR Dhimma — Antient copy of the Gospels 

. — Visitatio Infirmorum — Venerable Bedo: — Antient 

«..■...< • • ■ ' 

Irish Church — Memoir of the O'Carrols 39 

III. The Caah — Psalter of St. ColuMbkill — 
Memoir oF the O'Donells 109 

IV. The Mbbshac 213 

V 

V. Memoir of the Antient History of the Geral- 
DINES, the White~Knight, the Knight of Glynn, 

and the Knight of Kerry ••••••••••••••.• 221 

VI. Antient (^(t^r^ and Documents of eminent per- 
sons, with Autographs .••••••••..•••••. 236 



PLATES. 



/ 



Page. 
PLATE I. St. Matthew, 60 

11. St. Mark, 52 

III. St. Luke, 64: 

IV. Emblem of St. John, 58 

V. FacSimUe, To fqceihe Title. 

VL Dumna's Box, 39 

Vn. Top of the Cash, 109 

VIII. Fac simUe of the Psalter of Columbkill, 112 

IX. Top of the Meeshac, 213 



ERRATA \ 

Page 78, line 1, for m ogradu, read sua gra4u 
1T6, — S, (oT give, letid gave. 



IRISH 



ANTIQUARIAN BJSBEARCHES. 



INTRODUCTION. 

JIN the course of those investigations and 
arrangements, which my official duties have from 
time to time rendered necessary, I could not fail 
to observe, how little is known of the true history 
of Ireland. Notwithstanding the « irreparable 
losses, by fire and other destructive casualties, of 
many ancient, valuable, and important documents> 
there still remain many consecutive series' of 
rolls and other evidences sufficient to preserve 
the chain of history unbroken. I saw in the 
smcient records ample materials to enable the 
historian, not only to investigate the public events 

* 

and elucidate the p<ditical machinery of those 
remote periods which succeeded the invasion of 
Strongbow, but also to pourtray the true state of 
the country as to the administration of its ]aws> 

B 



4 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

the character of its government, and the degree 
of advancement it had attained in agriculture, in 
commerce, and in the arts. 

The best Irish History is but a meagre detail 
of events, chiefly military, gathered from chro-' 
nicies, and preceding historians, in which errors, 
mistranslations, and absurdities are recapitulated* 
and perpetuated, leaving the mines and quarries 
of truth, the original records of the country, and 
the interesting remains, which demonstrate the 
accuracy or falsehood of legendary history, 
almost entirely unexplored. Military events are 
the misfortunes of a country ,^ although they 
may produce more immediate, and generally 
more decisive effects on the fate of a nation, 
than the gradual and peaceable march of com- 
merce and the arts, yet, to posterity, statistics 
are much more useful and important, as they 
exhibit the effects of good or bad government, 
and the energies and enteiprise of the people. 

The state of Ireland from Strongbow^s conquest 
to about the end of the reign of Richard II. 
is generally considered as a continued struggle 
between the conquerors and conquered, a state of 
perpetual warfare and anarchy, yet, among the 
records in Birmingham Tower, are preserved the 



IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES 5 

rolls of the pleas before the justices itinerant, who 
held the assizes in most parts of Ireland with the 
same regularity as they were held in England 
during that period. The records exhibit striking 
proofs of the rapid progress made by the first set- 
tlers, in the introduction of the laws and customs 
of England ; even, as early as the reign of John, 
baronial courts were held with great regularity 
and precision, and the country appears to have 
been in a state indicating the presence of settled 
government The first Edwards drew supplies 
of men, money, and provisions from Ireland, 
for their wars in Scotland and France ; great 
quantities of wheat-flour, wheat, bran, barley, 
oats, peas^ malty beery salt heefy and salt fishy 
were sent to their armies, and even red wine 
was among the supplies sent from Dublin to 
the king's ai'my in Scotland,* as well as large 

* In the account of John le Decer and Thomas Colye, 
citizens of Dublin, on the great Roll of the Pipe, it appears 
that they supplied the king's armies in Scotland with the 
foHowing articles : ...Flour, 131 quarters 1 bushel ; another 
parcel...lldcrannocks; Bran, 1 15f quarters ; Wheat, 1,147 
quarters 1 bushel ; Feas, 8 crannocks ; Malt flour, 1 cran- 
nock and 7 bushels; Oats, 501 crannocks 10 pecks; Hed 
Wine, 66 hogsheads and 1 pipe ; Beer, 66 hogsheads ; and 
that tbey paid for the freight of the same £153 78. 2d. 
Great Roll of the Pipe, 28 Edw. L A.D.1229— A crannoct 
was 16 bushels, or 2 quarters. 



^ masB AHnouAitiAif mcsEARcnoi* 

sums of money to ttke wardrobe and treasu^ 
ry of England ; great quantities of wooi were 
abo annually exported to the continent, on whieb 
duties were paid. The amount of the Nova 
Cusiuma duties paid on the eKpoitatioii <^ wo<^ 
from the Ifith ok April, 1278, to Micbaelmaa, 
in the same year, in all parts of Ireland, was, 
£2194 10s« 6id.— and from Michaiehnas, in 6tti 
Edward I. to the feast of St. Dents, 9th of 
October, a period of <mly ten days, it amounted 
to £3247 Os. Sld.'k The wine imported to Ire- 
land from the 51st of Henry III. to the 11th of 
Edward I. 1266 to 1282 in £ve ports paid for pri- 
sage no less a 8um than £l798.t 



min^Aam Toiler. 

t The account on the pipe roll of the eleventh year of 
Edward I. A.D. 12S2 is as follows : — 

Compotos Theobald! lie Botiller de EVisa YinorvHa % festa 
Sancti MichsiellB uido Tegni (regis Henrici LI. us^ite sd 
idem festum anno regni Begis Ed«^ardi I. andecimo. 
For 1^ 1 tOBs >of ^ae, imported at Waterfosd, 382 
!288 do. do. «t DfQ^beda» 676 O 

8 do, do* atDiuBgaryan, 16 

70 do. >do. at Limerick, 140 

342 do. do. at Dublin, 684 O O 



•»• 



899 £1,798 O 

The prisage was one ton before the mast^ and one behind. 
Two pounds on each ton of wine appears to have been paid 
on the above, in lieu of prisage^ 



IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 7 

The Parliaments or Legislative Assemblies of 
Ireland were held with equal regularity, and the 
ancient constitution of land baronies continued 
there unaltered, when the Barons wars^ during 
the reigns of John and Henry UL had totally- 
changed the constitution of the Upp^ House of 
the Legisliitcire of England by the introduction 
of personal honours ; it appears by a record 
that in 1366, it had not then been the law or 
custom of Treland to summon any one to Parlia« 
ment but those who held by baronial service. 

WALTERO L'ENFAUNT MILITfi D% EXONERANDO.^ 

Hex. Thesaurario et baronibus de Scaccario sue 
Hibemie salutem. Supplicavit nobis, per petitionem 
suam justiciario, et aliis de consllio nostro, in terra 
nostra Hibemfe, exhibitam, dilecttis et fidelis tioster, 
Walterus L'Enfannt miles, ul cum ipsetanqnamteftiens 
per baroniatn, pro eo qnod non vemt ad Parliamentam 
nostmm apud Dubliiiiam ultiino t^ntum ; pro«t per 
breve nostrum summonitus fuit, graviter amerciatus 
extiterit, prout per quandam inquisitionem, inde ad 
prosecotionem ipsius Waltm, euper pnemursis, coram 
prefato justiciario nostro <*aptam est compertum ; sibi 
' amerciamentum predictum pardonare de gratia nostra 
dign^u^mus. m quia, per prefatum justiciarium nos- 
trum, recordatum et testificatum existit, quod per 
inquisitionem predictam, ad petitionem et prosecu- 



» > I . * ■ ■ ■* 



Rotolus Patens^ 6l> Edwaxd III. 



8 IRISH ANTiQUARUN RESEAH^HfiS. 

tionem ipsius Walteri, ut predicitar,captaoi est; com- 
pertum ipsum Walteram per baroniam nollatenas 
tenere, et non est jaris seu consuetadinis in dicta terra 
nostra, hactenus usitate, quod aliqui, qui per baroniam 
non tenuerunt, ad parliamenta nostra summonere, sea 
occasione absencie sue ab eisdem amerciari deber^it, 
de gratia nostra speciali pardonamus eodem Waltero 
amerciamentum predictum. Et ideo vobis mandamua 
quod demandas quas erga ipsum Walterum, ratione 
amerciamenti predicti, per summoniciones scaccarii 
predicti, in dies fieri facias, omnino supersederi, et 
ipsum inde erga nos totaliter exonerari, et acquietas 
esse facietis. 

Teste, &c. apud Cork, xii. die Junii 

Anno quadragesimo. 

Per petitionem de Consilio. 

In the early Rolls of the Pipe of Edward I. the 
Nova Custuma are stated to have been granted 
by the Magnates of Ireland^ which probably 
included the Commons as well as the Lords. The 
account on the Roll of the 3d year of that King 
is headed as follows : — 

Compotus Nove Custume Dm. Regis concesse 
per Magnates Hibernie SfC. 

There is on the Plea Roll in Birmingham Tower 
of the 53d of King Henry III. 1268, the most 
ancient Irish Act of Parliament extant, which 
fully proves that the Commons had at that time a 






lUlSlFt ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

very important share in the legislation, it is as 
follows : — 

*^ Provisum et statutum est de eonsilio Domini 
" R. de Ufford Capital. Justic. Hibemie et 
'* aliorum fidelium Domini E.* qui sunt parte 
^^ de ejus eonsilio, et de consensu omnium magna-- 
*^ turn et totius communitatis Hibemie ^ quod una 
et eadem mensura eujuslibet generis bladl, 
una et eadem lagena, una et eadem pondera, 
una et eadem ulna, sint de cetero per totam Hi- 
'* bemiam. sieut in civitate London. « constituta et 
" approbata, &c." 

By this statute^ the legislature of Ireland pro- 
vided for a uniformity of weights and measures^ 
so early as the year 1268 ; no trifling indication 
of settled and good government. 

Having carefully examined the rolls of the 
Pleas of the King^s Courts, the Pipe Rolls, 
or public accounts, now among the records of 
Birmingham Tower, as well as most of the antient 
miscellaneous records in other places, and many 
ancient MSS. in Trinity College, Dublin, and 
made a genealogical and historical abstract of their 
contents, a task which has occupied me for nearly 

* Edward I. was Lord of Ireland for some time beford 
his father's death. 



10 IRtSH ANTIQUARlAM RfiSfiARGHES^ 

twenty years^ and having had the good fortune, by 
purchase to acquire possession of many valuable 
MSS. aome of which are of (iie nature of records, 
ifts well as>i having in my official custody tb» most 
antient, curioos, and inteceatuig recMda of Irdand^ 
I have been induced to believe that the occasional 
publieatioa of original documents^ or essays on 
particular portions of Irish history and antiqui- 
tiesi» would be aec^tabJe to the public. 

1 have ahotKer, an irresistible motive^ the 
undertaking was suggested to me by a Royal 
and Illustrious Personage, who, taking a great inters 
est in the antiquities of the United KiDgdom, 
lam^ftted that so little had been don^ to elucidate 
tile Antiquities of Ireland. His Royal Highness 
the Duke of Sussex, whose splendid collection of 
ancient Biblical MSS. is perhaps, the finest in 
the world, certainly of any in the possession of 
an individual, having expressed a wish to see the 
box and MS. which forms the subject of the 
following essay, I had the honour of laying 
it before His Royal Highness, who was pleas- 
ed to say that an account of it ought to be given 
to the public. In obedience to this suggestion, I 
commence my irish antiquarian researches, 
with an account of this interesting MS. and 
the Box in which it has been preserved » 



iRtStl Al4tiaUARIAK RfiseARCSE^. 11 

The state of Ireland, at the periods pre- 
ceding the existence of written testimony, is 
only to be ascertained from the remains of art 
which exist upon or may be discovered below 
itg surface: They are silent but interesting and 
instructive teachers. A people capable of the 
prdduction of worics which exist only in a state of 
civilization, cannot justly be' declarfe^d barbarous 
by the verdict of posterity. The face of Ireland 
is covered with military earth- works and antient 
masonry ; massive articles of the precious metals, 
of exquisite workmanship, are frequently disco* 
vered by the peasantry in the bogs and elsewhere* 
I had, a few years since, offered ine for sale by a 
peasant, one of those singular articles described 
by General Vallancey in the fourth volume of his 
Collectanea, which weighed thirty-six ounces of 
pure gold.* Very large and massive fibulae^ and 
other ornaments of silver, are of frequent occur-^ 
rence, and instruments of antient brass are every 
day turned up by the plough and the spade. 

The historians of antient Ireland are condemned 
for the gross absurdities tiiat fill their pages i 
there is more justice than liberality in the criti* 
cism ; the early history of every nation is like my 

» ■ » ■■ ■ 1 1 ■»■ . ■ I . ..1. ,1 — ^__ — . — ,__^ 

"^ A kind of double bell. 



12 RUSH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

Lord Peter's coat, so patched and disfigured by 
modern inventions and exaggerations, that it is as 
difficult to discover the truth of the one as the 
texture of the other. It is the business of the 
historian, and antiquary^ coolly and dispassion- 
ately to examine those chronicles by the evidence 
which remain, to give to truth its due weight, 
and to fiction its just rejection — not unadvisedly 
to condemn the whole. 

That Ireland was well known to the antients is 
proved by the best authorities. Dionysius, in his 
Geography, mentions the two islands of Britain, 
one, towards the east, called Albion, that towards 
the West lerne. Ptolemy says the same. Apu- 
leius, in his book De Mundo, on the authority, as 
he says, of Aristotle and Theophrastus, speaks of 
two British Isles, Albion and lerne. Eratos- 
.thenes, librarian to Ptolemy Philadelphus, 260 
years before the Christian era, states the distance 
of Ireland from Celtica or Gaul. Polybius, 
Ptolemy, and others, speak of the islands of 
Britain as the largest in the world, namely Albion 
and Ibemia ; Strabo speaks of Ireland as scarcely 
habitable from its coldness. Claudius styles it 
Glacialis lerne ^ icy Ireland. Julius Caesar, in 
his Commentaries,, describes Ireland as lying to 
the west of Great Britain ; and Catullus calls 



IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 13 

Britain (i. e. Ireland), the remotest island. Di- 
odorus Siculus, cotemporary with Caesar, calls 
the inhabitants of Irin Briiones, as being of the 
same Celtic origin with the Britons : Plutarch 
speaks in the same manner. In short all the 
antient authorities agree in considering Ireland 
one of the British Islands colonized by CeltaB. 
We must therefore conclude that, as the antients 
always included Ireland among the British Islands, 
whatever they said respecting those islands, 
generally, must apply to Ireland as well as 
Britain. 

Ireland is studded with the remains of churches 
of the early ages of Christianity, some in very 
perfect preservation. In many, the rude stone 
covering points out, by its runic inscription, the 
place where rest the mortal remains of the founder. 
These are objects of great interest and deserve 
investigation . 

A high degree of civilization above their neigh- 
bours has been claimed by the Irish, without 
fixing the period when it existed ; might not that 
character be justly applicable to Ireland, shortly 
after the province of Britain was overrun by the 
Saxons, who were invited over about the year 
449 ? The Irish people who had been instructed 



14 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

and civilized by the introduction of Christianity 
from Britain, and the continued intercourse for 
two or three centuries with that polishqd Roman 
province, were free from the effects of the inroads 
of barb^rian^, and would be infinitely superior in 
refinement after that province fell under the de^ 
basing and unciyilizing power of the Saxons ; 
although much inferior while it continued a part 
of the Roman Empire, and consequently would 
acquire among those barbarians the reputation 
of a learned and polished people^ especially as 
they were indebted to the Irish for instruction. 

The contiguity of Irels^nd would naturally sug- 
gest it as an asylum, in his adversity, to the peace- 
able British scholar. There is every probability, 
also, that some of the present Irish tribes are of 
British origin, especially the 0*Byms of the coun- 
ty of Wicklow, whose name imports their origin. 
— It is in old writings generally spelled O'Bryn 
or O^Brenagh and Brenagh which is the Irish 
word for a Briton ; they occupied the country 
opposite the coast of Wales, and possibly 
emigrated at this period. That Ireland was 
found to be barbarous at the coming of the Eng- 
lish, if true, is no argument against her former 
civilization ; the inroads of the Danes, and other 
northern barbarians, gave abundant cause for 



IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 15 

such an effect, especially as these hordes had pro- 
verbially a most implacable hatred to learning. 
The continuance for one century of the hostile 
incursions of a savage people^ is sufficient to bar- 
barize the most polished nation, by compelling 
them to abandon the peaceful arts for those of war. 

Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, 
vol. I. p. 9; sec. 4. says " It is universally admitted 
*^ that there wer^ Christian congregations in Ire- 
" land before the mission of Palladius, vv^hich took 
place in A;D. 431, of which, were there no other 
proof, the testimony of Prosper forms sufficient 
evidence, for in his chronicle of that year he says 
^^ that Palladius was sent to the Scots believing in 
Christ, that is, as he inform^ us elsewhere,, to the 
Scots living in Ireland. But how ^ or by whom^ 
the Christianjaith was first introduced it is im- 
^^ possible to determine.'^ 

Although it may be in these diays impos^bl^ 
to produce positiye evidence how, ^d by whom^ 
Christianity was introduced, yet, as it is admitted 
that Christianity did exist in Ireland before the 
mission of Palladius^ it is certainly desirable to 
throw as much light upon this most interesting 
subject as can be obtained by the concentration 
of such scattered evidences as are extant, and to 






cc 



16 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

draw such inferences and conclusions tts the pre- 
mises, when laid down, will justify. 

St. Paul himself, in the Epistle to the Romans, 
(c. 15. V. 24.) expressly mentions his intention of 
preaching the Gospel in Spain. Clement who in 
scripture, is called the fellow labourer of St. Paul, 
and was Bishop of Rome, in his epistle ad- 
dressed to the Corinthians, informs us, ** That St. 
^' Paul having preached the word both in the east 
^^ and in the wesiy acquired the fame of illustrious 
'^ faith ', and having taught the whole world right- 
^< eousness, and having come to the boundary of 
" the west, suffered martyrdom under the gover- 
*^nors." 

St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, in the second 
century, affirms that the apostles propagated 
Christianity to the boundaries of the worid, and 
particularly specifies the Iberians and Celtic 
nations ; and as Ireland, unquestionably, was one 
of the latter, we may reasonably conclude that 
Irenaeus included that country amongst those to 
whom the gospel was preached by the apostles. 

Tertullian also in the second century, in his 
book (Adversus Judoeosjy affirms that the regions 
of Britain inaccessible to the Roman arm 9, were 
subject to the Gospel of Christ. 



IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 17 

Theodoret (in 4th 2d Timothy, v. 16, 17, and 
p. 1, 16), affirms that St. Paul having been dis- 
missed by Nero, on his appeal, " went into Spain, 
and brought the light of his doctrine to other 
nations, and to the islands which lie in the 
ocean /' consequently to Britain and Ireland. 



(( 
(( 
(( 






Venantius Fortunatus (1. 3. De Vita Martini)^ 
points out the British Isles as those alluded to : — 
Transiit (scil. Pa^ul), oceanum, vel qua facit 

insular portum, quasque Britannis hahet quas- 
qvs ultima Thule.^^ 

Nicephqrus (lib. i. c. 1.) affirms that ^* one of 
" the apostles obtained Lybia by lot, another the 
" remotest regions of the ^ocean and the British 
« Islesr 

Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (Magde- 
burgh Cent. 1 1. ii. c. 2.) intimates that St. Paul 
preached the Gospel to the Spaniards and 
Britons. 

In the Greek records it is affirmed that Aris- 
tobulus (mentioned Rom. xvi. v, 10.) was or- 
dained bishop by St. Paul, and sent into Britain. 
(Menceis Grcec. ad 15m, diem Martii.J St. Paul 
mentions Aristobulus in his greetings to Timo- 



18 IRISlt AKTlQUARtAN RESEARCfi^* 

thy written from Rome. He e^so meotions Pu- 
dens, Linus, and Claudia. The Apostolic Con-* 
stltutions state (I. Tii. c. 47.) that Linus was 
ordained the first Bishop of Rome by St. Paul -, 
and we learn from Martial, that Ctaiidia^ wife of 
Pudens, mother of Linus, was a Priton ; so thefe 
are grounds for believing that Britain, and even 
Ireland, was indebted to St. Paul for the blessings 
of the gospel. 

Claudia, Rufe, meo nubit Peregrina Pudenti : 
Macte esto tsedis, 6 Hymenaee, tuis. 

Martial iv. Epig. 13. 

Claudia caeruleis cum sit Ruffina Britannis 
Edita cur Latise pectora plebis habet ! 

Ibid. xi. Epig, 54. 

Gildas, the British historian, who wrote about 
A. D. 546, says that the gospel was preached in 
Britain before the years 62 or 63. 

Three British bishops, a presbyter and a deacon 
attended the Council held at Aries in ^ France, 
under Constantine the Great, a. d. 314, viz. 
Eborius Bishop of York, Restitutus Bishop of 
London, and Adelphius Bishop of Colchester* 



IRISH AMTifQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 19 

That the British church held communion with 
the orthodox catholic church at the time of the 
celebrated council of Nice, held in Bythinia, A.D. 
325, is manifest from the general epistle sent forth 
by the emperor Constantine the Great to all the 
churches of the empire in communion with the 
Catholic Churchy (Euseb. i. 3. de Vita Constant. 
c. 18). British bishops also attended the council 
of Sardica on the confines of Mysia and Thrace, 
A. D. 347. (testibus Athan. et Hilar, and So- 
cratesy li. i. c. 6. et li. v. c. 2\.J 

British bishops attended the Arian council held 
at Ariminum in Italy A.D. 359, but we learn from 
Facundus Herminianus that they were free from 
the taint of the Arian heresy. 

St. Chrysostom bears express testimony that the 
British church maintained the doctrines of Christi- 
anify handed down from the Apostolic ages, 
(Oper. torn. vi. Orosc. Savi/ian. p. 636). 

Bede infoimsus that the form of church govern- 
ment in Ireland was episcopal, and that the Scottisli 
(Irish) hierarchy was identical with that of the 
British. 

The account given of the introduction of Chris - 

D 



20 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

tianity into Ireland ia the Irish annals, is very 
meagre and unsatisfactory ; but it is not inconsist? 
ent with the idea that Ireland had a knowledge c^ 
Christ long before the inis^on of St. Patrick. 

The great anxiety of the ancient Irish for the 
preservation of their copies of the Holy Gospels 
is strikingly evinced by the religious care and vene- 
ration with which they enclosed them in cases of 
the most durable wood ; generally yew or oak, 
which soon acquired a sanctity of character as the 
depositories of holy writ, and were then placed 
in boxes of brass or copper, plated with silver 
richly gilty embossed with scriptural devices, the 
effigies . of saints and bishops, and ornamented 
with settings of polished chrystals, amethysts, lapis 
lazuli, and other gems. 

Many of these evidences of eariy Irish piety 
still exist in excellent preservation: I have seen 
four boxes, two of which I possess j another was 
given to the museum of Trinity College, DuWin/ 
by Mr. Kavanagh, of Borres, in the pounty of 
Carlow, in whose family it was handed down from 
very remote ages. The late General Vallancey 
gave a very fantastical account of this box, which 
he called the Liath Meisicith and Liath Fail^ or 
stone of destiny ; it contains a few membranes 



IRISH Aia*IQUARIAN RESEARCHES; 21 

of vellum, on which are, written prayers for the 
«ick, and extracts from the Sqriptures^ 

: The fourth box is called the Caah, and canp^ 
into the possession of the late Sir Neal O'Donel, 
Bart, on the death of the last male descendant of 
the branch of that ancient and princely family 
which followed the fortunes of King James II. . It 
contains an ancient vellum MS. of part of the 
New Teistament, said ^ to have belonged to St 
Cplumbanus, who was of the O'Donel . family. 
On a future occasion it is my intention to give a 
more full description of this curious and interest- 
ing relief, wdth plates of the box, of the inscrip-v 
tions, and, I should, be well pleased to be able to 
add, of the MS. itself. 

The Corp Nua, or Corp naomk, of the abbey of 
Tristemagh, mentioned by Sir Henry Piers ip the 
History of Westmeath, published by the l^rfe 
General Vallancey, is, no doubt, a casie for. a 
MS. which it probg^bly still contains ; the con- 
tents, being unknown, it has long, by superstitious 
ignorance, been looked upon as a merereiwk, and 
is supposed to contain the corp naom Ay or holy 
body of some saint. As these boxes became injured 
by time, they were repaired by driving into them 
long brass pins, which often perforated the MS. to 



22 IRISH AMnQUARIAH RE8BARCHBS. 

its great iqary; and the aperture, where the book 
was inserted^ being closed up, the real contents 
became a mystery, and were forgotten, and the 
most absurd and ridiculous stories promulgated 
respecting them, by interested individuals, ot 
superstitious votaries. 

The Rev. Dr. O'Conor, in his appendix to the 
first volume of the catalogue of the MSS. in the 
library of His Grace the Duke of Buckingham, 
gives an elaborate and learned account of an in- 
teresting and important MS. Irii^ Missal, of 
very ancient date, inclosed in a similar box:, 
discovered in Grermany by Mr, Grace : how it 
came there is not known : but Doctor O'Conor 
says — " We are inclined to think that it was car- 
ried to the Irish monastery of Ratisbon, by some 
of those Irish who carried donations thither in 
1130, from Tirdelhach O'Brien, king of Muns*^ 
ter, as stated in the Ghronicon Ratisponense, 
transcribed by Stephanus Vitus, and quoted by 
Gratianus Lucius, and by Ward." As there is 
no plate representing the box, or fac*simile of the 
writing of the MS. it is not easy to form a correct 
notion of either ^ descriptions alone afford but a 
vague and confused idea. 

The contents of the MS. consist of a copy of 



IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 23 

the Gospel of' St. John, and a cursus or ritual 
of tlie ancieQt Irish Churchy which he states to be 
veiy differ^t from that of Rome, and to contain 
none of tlie additions introduced in later ages 
into, the latter ritual The box which incloses 
the MS. is set with egg-shaped polished chrystals, 
and ornamented with a representation of the pas- 
sion, &c. &c. 

It is much to be lamented that this able essay 
has been printed only for pHvaie circulation. It 
diffuses the light of day on a period, hitherto, oif 
almost perfect darkness. His Grace has cer- 
tainly conferred an important benefit, by prints 
ing the catalogue of his inestimable MSS. and 
by presenting copies thereof to the public libra- 
ries; he would have added much to the obli- 
gation, if this admirable essay had been pub* 
lished for public sale, with fac-simile plates of 
the MS. and the box. I cannot resist giving the 
following long but interesting extract, it so per- 
fectly accords with that part of the ritual con- 
tained in my MS. : — 

^^ The Irish church, though united, in articles of 
" revealed faith, to the church of Rome, as a centre 
*^ of unity, was in every other respect independent, 
'^ down to the year 11 62, The first act of hostility 






24 IRISH ANTIQUARUN RESEARCHES* 

*^ to that independence, was committed by the Danes 
^' of Dublin ; who, from deep-rooted national anti^ 
^' pathy to the Irish, refused to acknowledge the 
^^ jurisdiction of Armagh, and therefore promised 
*^ obedience to the see of Canterbury. This na- 
^^ tional quarrel first suggested to the court of 
^^ Rome, the facility of subduing both. But no 
^^ Irishman ever raised his voice in favour of this 
subjugation, before the arrival of St. Malachy 
O'Morgair from Rome, in 1 1 38. A legantine com- 
mission had been granted to Gillibert, of Limerick^ 
*^ who wrote a book in 1090, maintaining that every 
'^ missal different from the Roman is schismatical ; 
^^ but not one Irish ecclesiastic was found to support 
^* him in that controversy. Perceiving, therefore, 
^^ that nothing could be effected by such odious 
^^ instruments as the Danes, the legantine commis- 
^^ sion was granted to St. Malachy : but whether he 
" was too much of an Irishman — or whether his 
gentle manners disqualified him for the turbulent 
task of altering the discipluie of a whole nation; 
though he was honoured wiUi the pall, he resigned 
his commission, and returned to Claravalle — too 
happy to die in that peaceful solitude, and in the 
" arms of his excellent friend St. Bernard, A. D. 
1148. The task of subjugation was reserved for 
Cardinal Paparo, and the Council of Kells, in 
1162, That some salutary regulations were enact- 



ed 

<( 

(€ 









€( 
(( 



IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 25 

" ed in that synod, cannot be denied — ^but that it 
entailed a foreign yoke on Ireland, which has, if 
not solely, at least most powerfully contributed to 
exclude the Irish from the benefits of full political 
*^ and religious liberty to this very day ; he who 
" cannot observe, must be disqualified from judging 
" of historical events. The advantages gained by 
*^ the synod of Kells, were yet found inadequate to 
" the attainment of entire success ; and the people 
of Ireland still adhering to their popular institu- 
tions. Pope Adrian IV. felt the necessity of issuing 
" his celebrated bull, which* was transmitted to 
" Henry II. several years before the Anglo-Norman 
^' invasion. The object of Alexander III.'s Bull 
" was in substance the same — ' to enforce the acts 
" of the synod of Kells by arms, to make Ireland 
subject to England, by papal donation, and to 
reclaim barbarians to the principles of Christi- 
anity.* 

" Other differences between the Roman and Irish 

Missal'' 

" All those parts of the Roman Missal which 
^* precede the seventh century, are quoted by SS.' 
^* Ambrose, Augustine, Chrysostom, and others of 
'^ the fourth, fifth, and sixth, and agree in substance^' 
" and for the most part verbally, with the same parts 









€< 
€< 



26 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

<^ of the Irish ; but all the improvements in the Ro- 
'< man Missal, all festivalsr and prayers that haire 
'< been added to it since the tenth century, are want- 
ing in tlie Iiish. Thus, for instance, the prayer 
Deus qui humanas substantia:, which is recited 
when a few drops of water are mixed with the 
^^ wine, is missing in the Irish ; the ceremony itsdf 
is entirely omitted, as of human institution. The 
prayers which immediately follow the ofiertory in 
^^ the Roman Missal, are also wanted in the Irish ; 
*^ so is the laioaboy and the prayer, suspice S. TVi- 
<* nitas, which follow it : nor are the bread and wine 
" ofiered separately, but simuitaneoudy ; and yet 
^^ all these prayers are described in the Roman Mis- 
*' sal, by Micrologos — ^and the bread and wine are 
" ofl^d separately ever since." 

Of the two boxes in my possession one is the 
subject of consideration in the following pages, the 
other shall heareafter be described '; although the 
MS. it once contained is now wanting, yet it 
bears an inscription in the Irish language, to 
this effect, ** Brian the son of Brian of the sea 

shore of Moy caused me to be covered, A. Dni. 

ccccciii. (&0Z) in the month of- ^'* I was 

very anxious to have included an account of it 
in this part of the Antiquarian Researches, but 
I have not had leisure to give it the consideration 






IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 27 

its importance requires, nor was I able to have the 
plates prepared without deferring the publication 
of this part too long. 

Considering the opinion of the late General Val- 
lancey on the box, presented to the Museum of 
Trinity College Dublin, by the late Mr. Kavanagh 
of Burres, as given in the essay published in 
the fourth volume of his Collectanea to be very 
erroneous, I requested my learned friend, Mr. Ed- 
ward O'Reilly, the author of the Irish Dictionary, 
and the Secretary to the Ibemo-Celtic Society, to 
give me his ideas on that subject, which he has 
done in the following letter, and agreeing with him 
in the view he has taken, with his permission, I 
add it to this attempt to explain the true use of 
these curious remains of antiquity. 

'' Dear Sir, 

^* As you expressed a wish for my opinion on an 
article, in the fourth volume of the Collectanea de 
Rebus Hibernicis, on what the author of that arti- 
cle has called the " Liath MErsiciTH,'' I have 
agaih read over that little tract, and now sit down 
to communicate lo you such observations and 
remarks as have occurred to me on reading it. 

" The box, of one side of which the learned 
General has given us a drawing, and which he 

£ 



28 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN H£gSARCHE8. 

has denominated *' Liath Meisicith,* is evidently 
of the same description as those two very curious 
and valuable boxes now in your possession ; and 
that in possession of the O'Doneli family, a draw- 
ing of which you have given in your pedigree of 
that illustrious tribe. And the '^ loose sheets of 
vellum, on which are written extracts of the Gos- 
pels and prayers far the sick, in the Latin language 
and Irish character,'^ which the erudite author in- 
forms us were contained in that box, are exactly 
similar to the book contained in one of your boxes; 
with this difference only, that your box contains 
an entire copy of the Gospels, together with prayers 
for the sick, and the GeneraFs box contained only 
extracts. The learned author further informs his 
readers that, in the sheets of vellum that he de- 
scribes, " There are also some drawings in water 
colours of the apostles, not ill executed." Draw- 
ings resembling these are also in the copy of the 
Gospels contained in one of your boxes. Hence, 
from the similarity of the boxes and of their con- 
tents. 1 think it may be safely concluded that 
they were all intended by our Christian predeces- 
sors for the same purpose, namely, as cases to 
preserve the sacred Gospels, and to stand upon the 
altar during the celebration of mass and other 
divine offices of the church. 

" The learned General further informs us, that he 



IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 29 

was ^^ favoured with drawings of several boxes of 
this kind, fabricated since Chnstianity, being or- 
naEQ^nted with crucifixes/' but he adds, '^ this 
has no marks of that kind, and appears to be the 
Druidical Luth Meisicith^ or Lxath Fail, in 
which they pretended to draw down the Logh, 
the essence of spiritual fire, a,nd presence of Aesar 
(God) whenever they consulted this oracle." Here 
he seems to think that the absence of Zr crucifix on 
the box, is a proof that it was therefore ^the Liath 
Meisicith or Liath Fail ; and that it was an oracl% 
in which, when they consulted it, theif pretended 
ta draw down, the Zo^^^ the essence of spiritual 
fire and presence of Aesar (God)." We are not 
told who were the ^^ they*^. thai ^consulted thisiOrar 
cle ; but firom its being called ^5 The Druidical 
liath JSd^sicith, or Liath Fail,^' we may conclude 
that by ^^ they^^ the author n^ant the Druids. 



iQ 

- J 



I shall noti9top toenquire whethenor not there 
were any Druids in Ireland ; but I must declare 
my opinion^ that the General was rather hasty in 
forming his conclusion on this subject The box 
itself, nor any of the ornaments vidth which 
it is embellished, are sufficient to justify him in 
giving it the appellation of *' Liath Meisicith/* 
which he says is the same as the " Liath Fail/' 



30 IRISH ANTIQUARUN RESEARCHES. 

^ Let US inquire what is the Liath Meuucith of 
of which the learned Greneral says so much ? 
What language is its name derived from ? What 
Irish author ever used the word Metsicith ? Which 
of the Irish books ever mention the name ? I have 
no hesitation in sa3dng that the word is not Irish ; 
and as I have with great attention read a great 
number of Irish MSS., much more, perhaps, 
than the erudite author had ever consulted, for the 
purpose of collecting words for a second edition 
of my Irish dictionary, I am positive that no such 
word as Meisicith, occurs in any of our ancient 
books. But the learned General says that ^ Liath 
Meisicith" is the same as " Liath Fail," by which 
he means I suppose^ the Lia Faii, of which every 
Irishman, at leaist^ has heard something. Now 
what was, or what is, for it still exists, the *' Lia 
Fail?" All our Irish historical writers, ancient 
and modem, tell us that it was a large stone of 
extraordinary virtues, brought into Ireland by the 
Tuatha-de-Dannann colony from Loghlinn, which 
in their invasion of Ireland preceded the Milesian 
colony from Spain. The Leabhar Gabhaloy or 
Book of Invasion, contained in the book of Lea- 
can, in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, a 
copy of which is also in my collection, and the 
Leabhar Gabhala^ the original which is now in 
my possession, and which was compiled by the 



IklSH ANTtQUAtllAN RfiStlAROfiES. 3 1 

O'Clery's, famous antiquaries, who were employ- 
ed in the compilation of the Annals of the Four 
Masters^ relate from the authority of several very 
eariy authors, many curious particulars respect- 
ing the Lia Fial. One of these facts is, that from 
the Lia Fial Ireland received its name of Innis 
Fail. For this fact, the authority of Cionaoth 
(Kinay) O'Hartigan is quoted thus : 

" ?4f) ClOC f^Ojt fZXjJSit) WO 6j f ^Jl, 

^<it 'p-ajl ttjle 'poit ejftjf)." 

LITERAL TRANSLATION. 

From the stone on which my heels are placed, 
Ireland is named Innis ("ail ; 
Between two shores of the powerful flood 
The plain of Fail extends over Erin/* 

" Another fact is, that the monarchs of Ireland, 
from the time of Lughaidh (Loo-ee) Long-hand, 
of the Tuatha-de-Dannan race, A. M, 2764, to 
the time of Muirceartagh, (Murkertagh,) the son 
ofEarca, A.D. 613, were all inaugurated on the 
Lia Fail, which until that period, was kept with 
great care at Tara, in Meath, the chief seat of the 
Irish monarchs. But during the reign of Muir- 
ceartagh, Fergus, his brother, having established 



32 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESfiARCHESi 

for himself a kiogdom in Alba, or, as it has been 
since called, Scotland, procured from his brother 
the loan of th^ Lia Fail, that on it be might, witil 
the greater solemnity, be inaugurated king over 
his new possessions. ; The stone wa^/^ever re* 
turned to Ireland, but remained in ScoUanda and 
each succeeding King of Scotl^d was i^rowned 
thereon, until Edward I^ of England invaded 
that country, A. D. 1296, and carried off with him 
into his own country the Scottish Reg^a^ among 
which was the Lia Fail, From that penod to the 
present day it has remswed in England^ and ever 
since the reign of James I.^ has continued 4o serve 
the purpose for which it was so long used in Ire- 
land and Scotland ; the Kings of England from 
his time down to the present sovereign haying been 
crowned on it. 

" There was a prophecy relating to this stone, 
that wherever the Lia Fail should be preserved, 
there a prince of Scottish, that is Irish race, should 
reign. Hector Boetius in his History of Scotland, 
quotes a distich or rann from the old poem alluding 
to that prophecy thus : 



IRKH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 33 

LITERAL TRANSLATION. 

** The Scotic tribe, a noble race, 
if the old prophecy lie not. 
Wherever they find the Lia Fail, 
Shall ei^joy the sovereignty,^' 

Another extraordinary quality ascribed to this 
stone was, that when a prince was to be inaugu- 
rated upon it, if it was the will of heaven he should 
reign, the stone emitted a sound ; but if on the 
contrary it was silent, the candidate for the sove* 
reignty was rejected. This extraordinaiy story, 
however incredible, is told in the O'Clery's In- 
vasions thus : — 

^Z Itt5^j6. ^Yi t)0 %eiYe/it> ^ cec p'jf^ tyo 
teibf6p)%e ^t^et) :S^mXM^ lo^UtnfUfe^ 
CO })S;ifnYip jewe C^tjt"^, ac^xy t)oc ^p jej- 
t^e^t^r^jji^ j^fiotn i^Oxtojtjttjj 6 ym AlVe. XLiip 
h^ tyeAtioAt) fto j^B lotya zocz jrjco, ^c-4V *><> 
Apt)ACZAZAp cixw^zA j-^cl) J060JI jt)t> ^jtn- 
Tll^ t)a jewe coyvnoe^zzA do utjt*iiie-<tt> 6 

" From Falias came the Lia Fail that was in 
Tara with Lughaidh. It emitted a sound under 
every king that took possession of the kingdom 
of Ireland, from the time of Lughaidh Long-hand 



34 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

to the birth of Christ, but it never afterwards 
emitted a sound under any king. For the de- 
mon who resided in it became dumb ; and every 
idol lost its power at the time of that illustrious 
birth, which was bom of the Virgin Mary." 

" I have been thus prolix in the account of the 
Lia Failj to shew what it really was, and that 
you may see that neither the box described by 
the General, nor the " large Crystal" in "the cen- 
tre of the lid," could be the Lia Fail, or Liath 
Fail as he calls it. As for the Liath Meisicith, 
the ancient Irish never knew any thing about it ; 
and I am convinced the name was never thought 
of by any writer until it appeared in the " CoUec* 
" tanea de Rebus Hibernicis." 

"Having now, as I conceive, satisfactorily shewn 
that the name imposed on the box by the learned 
author was of his own creation, and not applicable 
to the thing itself j I shall endeavour to demon- 
strate that he has mistaken the uses for which it 
was intended. He says " the box represents the 
Roman Thuribulum, in which the Jncense burnt 
during the sacrifice. Several drawings of these 
may be seen in Montfaucon." Now I have often 
looked into Montfaucon, and I cannot see the 
least resemblance between the box he treats of or 
those in your possession, and the Roman Thuri- 



IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 35 

bulum^ except that they are all of an oblong, 
shape. The Thuribulum , was open at top, the 
box he describes is not, neither are those in 
your possession, nor the one he alludes to, as men«, 
tioned by Sir Henry Piers, in his history of the 
county Westmeath, nor that in the possession 
of the O'Donel family, all of which, it is evident, 
were intended for the same purpose. Now the 
fonn of these, and the materials of which some of 
them are composed, render th^m unfit for the pur- 
pose of burning incense* One of your's is lined 
with wood, and the one described by Sir Henry 
Piers is '^ no more than a small piece of wood 
shaped somewhat like a bible of the smaller vo- 
lume, laced about with laces of brass, and on some 
parts studded over on the one side with pieces of 
crystal all set in silver, set or chased into the 
wood and fastened with nails, some brass and 
some silver ; on the other side appears a crucifix 
of brass." Hence it is, I think, from this and 
from the form of all the boxes, that the box men* 
tioned by the learned General could never have 
been used for burning incense ; and the figures of 
the crucifix which appear upon all the boxes, ex* 
cept the ope described by the General, prove that 
they were not of pagan origin, and therefore that 
those, or any boxes of a similar kind, could not 
have been used by the Druids, or by any one 
else for burning incense, or for any other purpose 

F 



3d IRlSfi AMttQOARlAN R^ftfiAACHfiSU 

eieintiected with pagaaistn^. But/on thier-conQlliy, 
from the fragments and copies of the Gospel thut 
hiave beeii found in sUch of the bc^ikel^ sis hdirf sSiy 
thing remaining in them; it is pi^tty <i€ttsSii . Biiit 
were intended for cases to preiser^ the copies dO^iS 
works of the Evangelists, and tostand 6)i the.dtttr 
as I have already tHentioned*. 



■ J I 



t 



^^ As for Che idea of the Droids^ ditawing down 
•* the Zo^A, the essence, or spiritual fil:e, by the 
" Liath Meisicilh Or Liath Fail," it b ^ Ittiighablfe' 
that' I am afraid I shodd render myself ritficuloos 
if r were to giv6* it any serion^* attention; 

« It ttow remahis fot itie ottTy td tekfe tteticfe of ^ 
some of the Irish etymolojgies given by- the learn* 
ed author, froiti which he derives his "«*^Lf«th Mel- 
stckh." Speaking (at pa;ge^ 14)^ of thi <*y^tal 
strife inthe centre of the bokj hk <slay6, " thfef is 
th6 >/w/c^/' and to the entire boS'he gives the ^ 
title of '' Liath Meisicith,'' At page 19 he app8^ 
thi^^latffertitle tothestotte bnly, thds, <* th^ crjrdtil ^ 
stone in th^ centi^ is nao^d Liath Meisicilh; oi" 
the! magical stone of speculation ! I T ai^ thir 
n&irte he derives from ** Liaih, that is Liih, a g6m;" 
and "^ Meisiy that is Dealbha Sitbbhe^a, that i^- 
Meisi fflgnifies magical represenftktiotis ;'' an'd 
again, ** Meisi a judge, fiSiiries, ghosts, bobgobltnis ;'* 
and a little further on he teUsUdth^t ><^ith is ^ 



imm m^iwAmkv ^f&s^jsmgm^ ^ti 



yfcifflat" Now Jut fttthU I am of oipmm that 
&«i9 j^^jHiuah $$FQr. bteiMied with wme tm% 

Jl^l^Ki^tai^ly ;$^iiSes a gw^ ibut liath, do^s not. 
M^i« sigalfies aiudge^ an uapK» «xid it is lako, 
hy cmr ancient glossographers, explaineil by the 
words DeaiMa Sit^^hmrny buj; these words can- 
not by any w^ans b^a^r th^ interpretation which 
the General gives tbem^ in the words, ^^ magical 
T€|)reafa^tieu9is/' The literal meaning of these 
words is, as I have given it In my dictionary, fisorjf^ 
or supernatural appearances, apparitions, spirits. 

** The learned author further says that " Mais 
and Meisi Jtave 1>oth the* same isignificafion in 
irish^ viz. DraoicHieatfit, tha* is Druidism^^ Now 
ihislsflaeoiTCct; Ms&s and Meisi have not by ^sxy 
^neans'the same i^gnificafion, and they cannot by 
the raosit inge£tious torturer of Irisb words, ever be 
made io carry the signification of 3>raoidheacht or 
Dfuicfism. The word Cith which the General 
says sign^es ^ a vision,** does not by any means 
signify a supernatural appearance, a spectre, a 
phantom ; nor have I ever seen in any Irish manu- 
script the word Cith used to signify sight or the 
faculty of seeing, although I have often met the 
verb Ckithim, I see. 

^* It would be only a waste of time to pursue this 
subject further. I shall therefore only add, that 



/I 






IRISH 

ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 



LEABHAR DHIMMA.* 

COLGAN, in his Ada Sanctorum, published at 
Louvain in 1645, vol. I. p. 16 & 17, gives a sin- 
gular account of the miraculous writing of a copy 
of the Evangelists, by a person named Dtmma. 

He says there were many saints of that name 
among the antient Irish Christians, particularly 
two, who both flourished in the early part of the 
7th century. One was bishop of Connor, and 
died about the year 658, as stated by "Ware in his 
list of the bishops of that diocese, the other 



* The Book of Dinmia. 



40 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 




rated for his skill in penmanship^ and 
ivas of the district of Helia, or Elt/y in Munster^ 
afterwards called Ely G" Carroll j from its being 
O'CarroU's country. The latter Dimma*s conver- 
sion wad attributed to the miraculous power of 
St. Cronan, the founder of the abbey of Roscrea, 
which is situated in the county of Tlpperary and 
in tlje country of Ely O'Carroll. Cronan died, 
according to Colgan and Lanigan> about the year 
-619^ or at latest 621, and was buried in his 
newly founded abbey. In digging a foundation 
for a new church at Roscrea last summer^ the 
^covering stone of his grave was discovered^ bear- 
ing this simple ii^scription-— 

CRONAN. 

Cdgan states, that both Dimmas were men 
-of eminent lea,piing and of holy lives^ and quotes 
£:om an old writer of the life of Cronan, the fol- 
lowing; st(Hy ; — 

■»..'... .... 

)!|rbe J^lessed J[^th(^ Cronan requested a cer- 

*^aiii sqibe tQ inak;e him a copy of the FQt^r 

Evangelists. Now this writer was called Dimmay 

,and wa9 unwilling to write for more than one day. 

r-Then, says the saint, write until the sun goes 

dovni. This the writer promised to do, and the 

saint placed for hjjp^ ^ seat to write in : but by 



divine grace and» jiower, St. Grbnan caused the 
rays of the sun to shiiie forty days and forty nights 
m that plaofe, abd Neither W^ the wiiter fatigued 
with continual labot(r> nbr did'he feel the want 
of food, or drink, oridecfi, but he thought the fbit^ 
days and nights were but one day, iandih that 
period the fbuf EVailgelists were indeed- liidt s& 
wdl as correctly writtenl Dinatfta havitfg finii^* 
ed the book^ felt day and night ai^ befbre, and 
also/ that eating, and drinking, and steefMng w^ - 
necessary and agireeable ad hitherto; ^nd h^' 
was then informed by the^ teligidu^' men who^^' 
wer« with St/CitmaH^ that be had writteii ibr tb«f^ 
space of forty days and forty nights WithOiit 
darkness, whereupon they returned thanks to the 
power of Christ, 



^ Acta Saii«i09rtMft---Joli.ColgaBi>Loii¥am> 164^1k«-T0iii. Iv 
pp. 16, 17, 

*' De Saneto Dinum^Epistxpo; Conkarewsiex divenisi 
f Pranunciatur hie hujos sancti yiri Htteratunx peritiay^ 
Tits sanctimoma, e^'Utraqae«tialil6iibGB(dicari videtu^in vit4 
S. Gfonanilloscreensts, in qiiai etmatratuT^ qnod Diitt^scrip-^ 
toi^peritUB ro^tus A Sancto Abb&te-CronaQ6;tit sibl lib^um 
scriberet ETangelioram ; spatio quadi^Cb^trta tdf ^k^in/qti)!^ s!^ 
noctis interpolatioiie, sine ull^v aHmenii, vel de»fdtig4tidni^v 
fanqnain diem unam tradu:icit, libriun, ut vir dei inteiideb&t^ 
totum transcripserit. Mirabile hoc fact nni merifid S; Citki^nl> 
author vitee ej asr tribtfit ; ego utriusqae meritis, cttm aMbb fttie^ 
rint Tirtutibus eUri, tribueodotii cen)^. Ipisiiid'ti^tufBti' 
suthoris verba placeat audire exc. 8. Vitae Cronani. 



43 IRISH ANTIQUARUN RESEARCHES. 

Such is the notable story told by Colgan, who, 
with lionest simplicity, thought Dimma ought to . 
share the credit of the miracle with Cronan, as . 
both had " act and par t^^ as Paddy would say, in. 
the performance. The legend is not, however, . 
without its use. It enables us to identify the M.S. 
now under consideration, and to fix the period at 
which it was written, with almost unerring accu* 
racy. This circumstance is most important^ as 
the Irish written character being nearly the same 
at the present day as at the earliest period, we have . 
not those striking features which so much assist, 
our judgment in deciding the age of an English 
or continental M.S. 



*' Beatus pater Cronanus quendam scriptorem rogavit ut 
sibi quatuor scriberet Evangelia ; ipse jam scriptor Dimma 
vocabatur, et nolait scribere sancto nisi uno die. Et ait ei 
Sanctus : scribe sine cessatione^ usque dum sol tibi occubuerit. 
Hoc scriptor promisit. Et constituit ei sanctus sedem scriben- 
di ; sed gratia S. Crbnani di vinaque vir tute ac poten tia radium 
Bolis quadraginta diebus et quadraginta noctibus indesi- 
nenter in illo loco fecit semper esse^ et nee scriptor lassus 
erat tanto tempore^ nee tarn continuo labore tsedium habuit, 
nee desiderio cibi vel {K)tus, sive somni gravatus est. Pu- 
tabat enim tempus quadraginta dierum et noctium unum 
diem fuisse : et hoc tempore quatuor Evangelia, non tarn 
bond^ quam veraci littera scripsit, et ipso die sensit noctem et 
esuriem : perhibentesque ei viri religiosi cum S. Cronano, 
quia ipse scripserat spatio quadraginta dierum et noctium, 
sine obscuritate^ gratias Christi potentise egit, et alii qui ibi 
erant." 



LEABHAiEt DHMMa^ 43 

. Most legends are supposed to have been in- 
vented by the ingennity, or* to have proceeded 
from! ( the ^dreaoas^; of ascetics who imagined they 
promoted the cause of religion by such ' absur- 
dities; but this legend of Messra. . Orohan and 
Diouna, had^ts c^'igiii in the simple fact, that 
the said Dimma, without the aid of a miracle, 
wrote a copy of the four Evangelists for the 
^foresaid Crdnan; and the M& has, mirabile die- 
/% <!k>me dowii ii^ * very ^tolerable, ^preservation to 
th$se. our days; ' . ..,.. .^ , 



: J 



He signs his name at the end of' the bodrk, 
^^Dimma mac Nathij^ Dimma the son of Nat hi. 
He was a relation of St. Cronan, whose grand- 
father was also / named iViaM/; ' Whatever might 
have been Diilinia^s anxiety to promote religion, 
and he appears, to ha^e been a pious man, he 
expected only to do so ia the tusual way,; by 
increasing the number of the copiieis of the holy 
Gospels, and spreading the knowledge of the 
blessed truths therein contained, for he condfudes 
the whole with two lines 6f Irish poetry, in- which 
he^decfeires 'he undertook thelabourfor "thesanc- 
tifi^ion of souls, hoping jth^y might acqtiire 
thei^by the kingddm ofheaveo-'^ . . » 
/ ■ .. I .. , ' ■■ . • 

This MS. has been preserved in? "a brass box, 
richly plated with silver, which Thady O'Carroll, 

G 



44 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

chief of Ely O'Carroll, who lived about the 
middle of the 12th century, caused to be gilt, 
and Donald O'Cuonain, afterwards bishop of 
Killaloe, (by Ware, called O'Kennedy,) repaired 
about the year 1220, as will more particularly 
apjpear in the detailed description hereafter 
given. 

« 

The MS. and box were preserved in the abbey 
of Roscrea until the dissolution of monasteries, 
when they came into lay hands, and were at length 
bought by Henry Monck Mason, Esq., LLD. 
M.R.I.A. from Dr. Harrison, of Nenagh, in Tip- 
perary, and from Mr. Mason I purchased them. 

Mr. Mason exhibited them some years since to 
the Society of Antiquaries of London, and after- 
wards, on the 24th of May 1819, laid them before 
the Royal Irish Academy, with an essay under 
the following title : — 

^' Description of a rich and ancient box con- 
taining a latin copy of the Gospels^ which, was 
found in a mountain in the county of Tipperary^ 
and is now in the possession of Henry Monck 
Mason^Esq.y LLD. M.R.LAP The essay was 
read and afterwards published in the transactions 
of the Academy. 



LEABHAR DHIMMA. 45 

I feel it impossible to acquiesce in this state-, 
ment although given even by so respectable 
an individual as Mr. Mason, 'but conclude that 
he has been imposed upon in the story of the box 
and MS. being found in a cave of a mountain ; 
where it is obvious the latter could not have 
remained a month without decomposition, unless 
the same miraculous power protected as was said 
to have created it, I confess I should just as soon 
believe ojie as the other* 

Mr. Mason's essay is very short, and enters 
but little into the subject, he does not even guess 
at the writer of the MS. or advert to the history of. 
the box, he gives a plate of one side of the 
latter, and an imperfect copy and translation of 
its inscription, with a few observations on some 
passages in the Gospel of St. Mathew, col- 
lated with certain copies of the vulgate and 
with MSS. of the Gospels in Trinity College, 



* There is also a paragraph in Mr. Mason's essay, which 
requires observation ; he calls the beautiful office for the 
Yisitation of the sick therein contained. General Prayers for 
the Dead, Mr. Mason is a gentleman deservedly of 
great black letter reputation, and will no doubt be quoted 
hereafter as authority ; an error of so much importance, 
committed by such a person, is a serious evil. He did not 
examine this part of the book with his usual care and atten- 
tion. 



40 IRISH ANTiaUAlUAir ttfiSEAftCHES. 

Dublin, enough to excite cufiosity biit not to 
satisfy it. ' It is but just, however, to say, that 
he professes to do no mora than to give ia. x^urso-^ 
ry view, and. my reason for Ikiaking these observa** < 
tions ife to justify niy«elf in again taking up the 
subject. ' ■ " 

I shall not observe on the MS. as a version 
of Gospek, or ekamiiie whether, as the writer 
of the life of St. Cronan says, *^ veraci littera 
scripsity^ but merely consider it as an antient Irish 
MS. in which character it possese» great interest.* 
It is, perhaps, the only Irish MS. extant, of iduch 
remote siiitiquity, intended as a portable book for 



^ jyir. Mason .conclaves the MS. to have be^n written in 
the 9th century from ,the similarity .of its character to the 
Book of Durham in the British Museum. At that nme the' 
Irish chdrkcier* had been introduced into 'England, and was 
in common use; but as it had b^en iised in Ireland; foe 
centuries before, this similarity is not sufficient to shake the 
evidence I have brought forward in support of its true 
date. Mr. Mason will, I trust, pardon my giving the 
following interesting extract from his essay : — 

"There is in this book a very extraordinary various 
reading, on which I think it .necessary to enlarge. After 
the 48th verse of the 27th chapter of St. Mathew, the fol- 
lowing is inserted : '^ alius autem captd lancea pupungit 
latus ejus, et exivit aqua et sanguis.'' He next proceeds, 
" Jesus autem damans, &c." This reading, which is to be 
found in four Greek MSS. in the Ethiopian version of the 



LBABH4R.JWB[lMjtfA. 47 

the serrice'of the priest ou hia esterutai d^ti^s. q| 
visiting'thesick, :&c. The coatineutal copiea of 
the jGiDspels of those early ages of Chrktianity, 
are. written ia the large: uncial chai;acter, and. are 
o£^reat hulk y such is the splendid MS. comoionr 
ly called the book of SttC^lumh Kill, which,. Dr. 
0' Conor, in hi3 ,e^say hefore alluded to, supposes 
t6 have been lost, but Ihave igreat pleasure in 
luting it to hjB sqife.,in the library. of Trinity Col- 
lege, Dublin; before the dissolution of Mon^Sr, 
teries, it was in the Abbey of Kells in the county 
of Meat h., Jt is a maignificent specimen of antient 



-n-i-rr 



N^w Testf^xpenl^ ajxd in t]3e works of St. Chrysostom, does 
not occur in the vulgates which Sabbatier has published, or 
in any of the four Italic texts of Blanchini. Its history Is 
curious as it is related by -Wetst^h. In the time of Pope 
Clepo pat y. this additional ver^e was very-geperally receiv-* 
edi but .that i)Qntiff, considering it to cpntain heretical doc- 
trine> that our Saviour had been wounded l^efore hid death, 
ad this text imports, condemned it at the Council of Vienna 
holdenip the year Id^ll. 

■ ' » , . > » 

*' The text rested indeed upon the' slightest authority, ex- 
isting only in four MSS. of the hundreds (xJllated by Mill; 
Wetstein.-and their predecessors, and in the above works 
alluded to. I find it in several of the most ancient vulgate 
copies .that were written in Ireland, and exist in the College 
Jjibrary, as in A. 1. 5. and' A. 4. 6. ■; it is also in some: 
others. Birch, asserts in his edition of the Gospels, that it 
is to be found in the Vatican MS. one which is surpassed 
by none in antiquity, and by few in importance ; but I doubt 
the fact, for, were it the case, it would not have escaped the 
knowledge and notice of Wetstein, who does not mention it.*' 



48 IRISH ANTiQUARUN RESEARCHES. 

writing. Dimma's book has evidently been hasti- 
ly written j the first four pages are much better 
and smaller written than the remainder, which bear 
marks of haste, having been written without lines j 
a singular circumstance in an old MS. y initial 
words are in the uncial character, as the begin- 
ning of the Gospel of St. John, the words. In 
principio erat. It tnay be asserted with confi- 
dence to be the MS. on which the legend is 
founded. 

The box is of brass, and has been frequently 
repaired ; the most antient part . is certainly 
coeval with the MS. On one side the silver 
plating is engraved with precisely the same or- 
nament as the illumination in the MS. One end 
is open for the insertion of the book, the silver 
plating at the other, is divided into four com- 
partments, of which the centre is partly lost, but 
appears to have been formed of four circles, as are 
the two compartments on either side of it ^ on each 
of these is a lion rampant fairly chased, the outer 
compartments are parallelograms, the dexter 
charged with a lion passant, the sinister with a 
griffin passant. The one side has the remains of 
a silver plate, engraved with the ornament above 
alluded to, the other appears to have had an ob- 
long entablature, the upper part of which is gone, 
but seems to have been charged with lions, the 



LEABHAR DHIMMA. 49 

feet of which are still remaining ; at the two ends of 
the entablature are two shields, like those before 
described, each charged with a lion rampant. The 
top* of the box has been most injured, and has 
been repaired by the late possessor ; there is a 
probability that there were on it some inscriptions, 
whose loss is to be regretted; part of the old 
tracery silver-plating still remains, as well as a 
large oval piece of polished chrystal, shaped like a 
cuirass^ an ornament found on all boxes of this 
description^ and eight settings of lapis lazuli. 

The bottom has a representation of the passion^ 
with the two Marys, one on each side the cross, 
which, with the connecting silver-plates, has been 
richly gilt; on the rim is the following inscription 
in Gothic characters : — (See plate VI J 

TATHEUS o'kEARBUTLL BEIDEEV METPSUM 
DEAURAVIT DOMINUS DOMNALDUS OCUA- 
NAIN CONVERBIUS ULTIMO MEIPSUM RES- 
TAURAVIT: TOMAS CEARD DACHORIG IN 
MINSHA ^ 



C€ 



Thady O^ Carroll Boy'\ caused me to be 
gilt — the Lord Donald O^Cuanain, the 



* It is not easy to decide which is the upper side of the 
box ; this tenn has been adopted to facilitate description. 

t Yellow-haired, 



50 IRrSH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

coadjutor to the bishop, lastly restored 
me, Thomas was the artist who decO" 
rated thiS' precious relic/* 

Thady O'CarroU Boy was prince of Ely about 
the Dpiiddle of the 12th century) and I>04iald 
O'Cuanain was bishop of Killaloe, from the year 
1230 to 1260. At the time he repaired the^^x 
he was only the Corb,"^ or Coadjutor, and con^ 
sequently must have^ done it previous to the 
year 1230, when he became bishop of Killaloe; 
he y^ C9&^ by Wsxe I^onald O' Kennedy. 

' -• • • .^ ' t 4 ' 

— * ■ V 

If aaiy additional evidence W2i)A wanting tb Iden- 
tify this MS. it is supplied by -its al^Mays .having 
cwitinued in the Citetody whdre ii ought t& be 
found, Thus, wfe jfind it in the 42th century ^e- 
ceiving its gilding from Thady O'Carroll, Lord of 
Ely, and a farther repair froiil 'Ddnald, coai^Htor 
bishop' of Ely, i. e. Killaloe, before the year 1230. 
And even after the" dissolution, it cbntihiies in 
the sanie countiy, utitil it cafriie td Mr. Mason 
from Nenagh. CoXg'dLa says, in a note on the pas- 
sage before quoted, that Dimma was of Munster, 
of the district of Helia^ f ' 






* Converbius. 

•|- Et utraqtie etiam subindicari videtur in vita S, . Cronani 
Rascreensis, c. 4. banc damus ad 28 Aprilis, & quod de 



LEABHAR DHIMMA. 51 

This MS. is of the small quarto size, is seven 
inches high, and five and a half broad ; it contains 
seventy-four membranes, of which St. Matthew's 
Gospel occupies fourteen and a half, St. Mark's 
eleven and a half, St. Luke's twenty-three and 
a half, the Office for the Visitation of the Sick 
two, and the Gospel of St. John twenty-two and 
a half. 

> 
There are effigies of the three first Evangelists, 

at the beginning of their respective gospels ; (see 

plates I. II. III.) and at the beginning of that of 

St. John, is the representation of an eagle, the 

emblem associated with that Evangelist, it is 

singular in its iformation. — (Plate IV.) 

At the end of the gospel of St. Matthew is this 
inscription ; — Finit, OflOjc bO bjnini>4 flObf^ttlb 

t>|to t>oni 4:^\xx btn 

Pray for Dimma who wrote this book, and for 



praesenti Dima in ea videatur fieri mentio, ex pluribus 
fiindamentis opinor primo, quia ambo floruemnt eodem 
tempore, circa anno 620. Secundo etiam in regionibus 
confinibus Mediae et Heliae, adde quod S. Dimanus fuerit 
ex ipsa Momonia cuju9 pars est Helia. Tertio, singularis 
peritiae & sapientiae laus quae adscribitur S. Dimano, affinis 
est arti bene scribendi, quae S. Dimano in vita S. Cronani 
adscribitur. — Acta Sand, Tom, /. 17. 

H 



52 lUISH ANTTQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 



The last word I haVe not been 



able to itnake out. 

At the end of the gospel of St. Mark :-^Pinif, 
amen, deo gratias ago. — OftOJC t>0 bjn)tt14.^— 
Pray for Dimma. 

At the end of the gospel of St. Luke : — Rnit, 
amen, deo gratias ago, — OftOJC t)0 bJttlW-dt) 

t>iYl!^tx toj^ftafCfijfexib hie libep ^V^T tM 
41) wu jt) vcttjbet)OJti.—?i wet).— Proy Jot 

JDimman^ of Dissiduy for whom this booh was 
writieny and for the soul of the writer. — Ami^n: 



* This translation my friend, Mr. Edward O'Reilly, has 
corrected from the following : — *' Pray for Dimman nflHssi- 
du, who wrote Ms book, and thai his soul may rest in ha/ppi-^ 
ness^* although it now militates against the idea that the 
book was written for St. Cronan, yet^ a9 there can be no 
doubt of the writer, it is still sufficient for all historical 
purposes. Dimma was a scribe of eminence, and wrote 
many books ; the Dimman of Dissidu, for whom this was 
written, was possibly the bishop of Conor, who flourished at 
the same time. My object is to elucidate truth, not to es- 
tablish any particular hypothesis. 



*». 



Then follbWfe the dftice for the Visitatioti of the 
Sick, [the most valuable part of this most singu- 
larly curious and interesting MS. 

VISITATIO INFIRMORUM. 

^^ Oremus fratres dominum deum nostram fio 
fratre nostro N. quern dun ad praesens malum lan- 
goris adulcerat quern eum dpmini pietas cselesti^- 
bus dignetur curare medicinis qui dedit animam 
det etiam salutem. per dominum nostrum. 

'^ Deum vivum omnipotentem cui omnia oper^ 
restaurare confirmare facillimum est fratres caris*^ 
simi pro fratre nostro infirmo suppliciter oremus 
quo creatura manum sentiat creatoris aut in repiUT 
niando aut in recipiendo in nomine suo pius per 
opus suum recreare dignetur. per dominum nos- 
trum. 

*^Domine sancte pater universitatis auctor omni* 
potens seternse deus cui cuncta vivunt qui vivifi- 
cas mortuos et vocas ea quae non sunt tanquam 
ea quae sunt. Tuum solitum opus qui es artifex 
pie exerce in hoc plasmate tuo. per dominum. 

" Deum in cuju&manu tam alitori viventis quia* 
vita morientis fratres dilectissimi deprecemur 



* Sic originale* 



54 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

quod corporis hujus infirmatem sanet etiam animae 
salutem praestet quod quod per meritum non 
meretur misericordiae gratia consequatur orantibus 
nobis, per dominum. 

" Deus qui non vis mortem peccatoris sed quod 
convertatur etiam vivat huic ad te ex corde con- 
verso peccata dimitte et perennis vitae tribue gra- 
tiam. per dominum. 

''Deus qui facturam tuam pio semper donares 
aflfectu inclina aurem tuam supplicantibus nobis 
tibi ad famulum tuum. N. adversitate valitudinis 
corporis laborantem placitori respice. Visita 
eum in salutare tuo etiam caelestis gratiae ad medi- 
camentum. per dominum. 

'' Si in hilc vita tantiim, in Christo sperantes su- 
mus : miserabiliores sumus omnibus hominibus. 
Nunc autem Christus resurrexit a mortuis primi- 
tiae dormientium, quoniam quidem per hominem 
mors: et per hominem resurrectio mortuorum, Et 
sicut in Adam omnes moriuntur : ita in Christo 
omnes vivificabuntur.* 

' " In illo die accesserunt ad eum Sadducei, qui 
dicunt non esse resurrectionem : et intierrogaverunt 

I _ J I , . f^ • 

* Epist. I. Cor. XV. 19. 




tU IC J% g 



eoin. , 'fiiepfpondens aatem Jesos^ iUis : ^erratfe, ne- 
sdentes. :Bcr^al^ Beque virtutem dei. In resur- 
loctione emm neque nabeiit, zieqae nubeolar: 
sed enint sidut -angeli in coelo. De resnrrectione 
autem mortuorum non legistis quod dictum ^^et, 
a dec, dicente vobis: Ego sum deus Abraam, 
deiis:Isaac, dbti& Jacob, non deus mortnoram 
sed Viventium. Atidientestnirbaer adniirab«!KtuFiQ 
doctrinam ejus.* 

^'Divino magibterio edoctii -ettain divinainstitu- 
tione firmati audemus dicere. Oredb ^in ^Beiim 
patrem omnipotentem. Credo etiam in Jesum 
Christum filium ejus. Onedo et in spiritum sanc- 
tum. Credo (in) vitam post mortem. Credo me 

rejstirgere.f 
# 
*' Ungo te de oleo sanctificato in nomine f^ini- 
tatis^ quod salveris in saecula saeculorum. 

*' Concede nobis famulis tuis quod orantes cum 
fiducia dicere ineiteam'Ur Tiiter hoister :^^ 

" Infirmus canii si potest si fioit'piiHsdWa ^Jus 
canit sacerdos. 



• Matt. xxu. 23—29—^3. 

t For fieiotteiUeof tiyspeuM^g^soeplater Vr3. 






r 
I 

; 



I 



I 
/ 



/ 



* 



« 



tf 



6ft IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 



€€ 



Agnosce domine verba quae prsecipisti. Ig- 
nosce presumptione quia imperasti ignorantia est 
nobis Don agnoscere meritam contumacie noa 
servare paeceptum quo jubemur dicere pater 
noster :— 

*' Libera nos domine ab omni malo et custodial 
nos semper in omni bono. Christe Jesu auctor 
omnium bonorum qui regnas in saecula. 

'^ Pax et caritas domini nostri Jesu Christ! ^it 
semper nobiscum. 

^' Hie pax datur ei etiam diets. 

'* Pax etiam communicatio sanctorum tuorum 
Christe Jesu sit semper nobiscum. — Respondii 
Amen. 

*^ Das ei eueharistiam dieens. . 

^^ Corpus etiam sanguis domini nostri Jesu 
Christi filii dei vivi conservat animam tuam in vi- 
tam perpetuam.f 



«( 



Post adsumptum ait. 



* Sic originale. 

t For fac simile of this passage/ 8«e plate V. 2. 



LEABHAR BHIMMA. 57 



a 



Agimus dec patri omnipotenti gratias quod 
terrenae nos originis atque naturae sacramenti sui 
done in celestem viyificaverit de motatione. 

** Item ora/io— Ostende nobis Domine, miser — 

** Converte nos deus salutum* nostrum et fir- 
mare praesta salutem nostrorum^ qui regnas in 
saecula saeculorum. 

** ^iV.— Calicem salutaris vos invocabo :: — 

^* ^c— Fortitudo mea yos in salutem : — 

" Ac. — Refecti Christi corpore etiam sanguine 
tibi semper dicamus : — 

. ^^ Ac, — ^Laudate dominum omnes gentes vos in 
fin — - 

*^ Ac. — Sacrificate sacrificium justi vos in do- 
mino : — 

*^ Tunc signas etiam dicis pax detur. 

*' Benedicat tibi dominus et custodiat te con- 
servat vultum tuum ad te quod det tibi pacem. 

♦ Sic origixiftle. - 



as IRISH AMXIQIUIIUli BBBEARCHES. 

^ Respondei.^^'Devts tibi g^tias aginpius per 
quern miDistoia sancta pelebran^iud et a ie doofei 
sanctitatis de|>oscimus qui regnas in saeoula.^ 



■ n. . . 



On the last membrane at the end of the gospel 
of St. John, a part of which is torn and wanting^ 
is, Finii, Amen, -^Dimma Mace Nathiy'^ land 
the following two lines of Irish poetry : — • 

itutm Mz cet) t>idh)lly 



<c 



I now cease from my labor^ having continued 
tt with unremitting assiduity Jor the sancti- 
f cation, of souls, hoping they may dwell in 
thy kingdom.'^ 



I am chiefly indebted to my learned and valued 
friend, Mr. Edward O'Rielly, for the decypherin^ 
and translation of the Irish sentences. 



I I 



* I have purposely avoided punctuation, except where a 
point in the MS. denotes the end pf a sentence, and in the ex- 
tracts from St. Matthew, and the Epistle to the Corinthians, 
which agree verbatim with the Venetian vulgate, published in 
1574. I have also collated several chapters of the gospel of 
St. John, and find them to b^ y^TJ nearly the same as the 
Venetian. 



■J - 



» •• *■ 






« -* 






* 



■It 



y ^ 0' ^ r. 9 s V ^ 

M 









* » 



# 



4k 

¥ 



4 



I 






> 

f 



t . 



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- .1 









69 



VENERABLE BEDE. 



In order that we may be able to appreciate 
the true value of the foregoing most interesting 
document, it is necessary that we should know 
some thing more of the history of the church of 
Irdand in those early times ; for the better attain- 
ment of this object, I insert the following extracts 
from the ecclesiastical history of venerable Bede, 
which contain the substance of every thing that 
excellent author says, respecting Ireland, as well 
civil as ecclesiastical: his testimony is above 
suspicion^ and entitled to our full credence. His 
prejudices had a bias against the conclusion^ 
which his testimony compels us to draw. 

BOOK I. CHAP. I. 

" And afterwards, when they (i. e. the Britons,) 
from the south, had in their possession a great 
part of the island, it chanced that the Picts, a 
people coming from Scythia, as is said, travelling 
by sea, in a few long ships, the wind driving them 
along the coast of Britain, blew them on the 
north coasts of Ireland, which they found inhabi- 
ted by Scots, and of whom they besought permis- 
sion to settle on some part of that island, but 

i 



00 IRISH ANTIQUARUM RESEARCHES. 

they could not obtain their request. This island, 
next to Britain^ is the largest island of the ocean^ 
and lies westward of Britain. But^ although 
it runneth not so far northward^ it is much far- 
ther westward than Britain, jutting towards the 
north parts of Spain^ having the main sea between 
them. The Picts, as I have before said, having 
arrived with their navy in Ireland, requested 
permission of the inhabitants to settle therein. 
The Scots answered that the island was not large 
enough to contain them both, but we^ said they, 
can give you counsel what is best to be done. 
We know there is another island, eastward of 
us, at no great distance, which is visible to us in 
fine weather ; you may go and inhabit it, and if 
you meet with resistance^ we will assist you. 
Whereupon, they sailed for Britain, and settled 
themselves in the north parts thereof, the south 
parts of Britain had been occupied before. The 
Picts having no vnves, requested of the Scots to 
be allowed to marry their daughters, which the 
latter agreed to, on the condition, that whenever 
the matter was doubtful, they should choose their 
king of the woman's house, rather than the man's, 
which order the Picts observe to this day, as is 
well known. In process of time, after the Br i^ 
tains and Picts^ the Scots also settled in Britain 
among the Picts. They came from Ireland under 
Reuda, their general, and by friendship and their 



TEMERABLfi BEDE. 61 

i^H^irds, they established themselves in that coui^* 
try. From this general they are called the Dalreu- 
dinij for^ in their language^ Daal signifies a part. 

^^ Ireland exceeds Britain in breadth, and in sala^ 
brity, and, serenity of climate, so much . that snow 
rarely remains more than three days on the 
ground, and no one ever saves hay in the sqmmer^ 
or builds sheds for their cattle in v^^inter. No veno- 
mous reptiles are to be seen^ or can live there, for 
often serpents have been brought from Britain, and, 
as soon as they drew near the land, and breathed 
the air, they died ; nay, all things coming from 
that land is a remedy for poison : this we have 
observed, that when certain men have been bitten 
by serpents, the scraping of books, which had 
been in Ireland, and having been given to them in 
water to drink, the swelling of their bodies ceased, 
and the force of their venom was abated. The 
land is rich in milk and honey, and is not destitute 
of vines, and abounds in deer, fish, and fowl. 
This. is -properly the country of the Scots, out of 
which, as we have said, they added the third 
nation to the Britons and Picts« 

/ y . • * 

•' ' ■ . ■ ' > 

*^ There is a large arm of the sea which, of old 
time, separated the Britons from the Picts, which 
from the west runs far into the land, where, at 
this day, there is a large well fortified city • of the 



02 IRISH ANTIQUASUar RESEARCHES. 

Britons, caDed Aicluith^ on the north sidcrof 
which^ the Scots, as we have said, have settled 
and made it their country/' . 

BOOK I. — CBKF. Xni. 

'*In the year of the incarnation, 4&3> tkb 
younger TheodosiUs, succeeding Honorius,^ waB 
the forty-fifth emperor after Augustus, and reigned 
twenty-seven years. In the eigth year of his reign» 
Palladius was sent to be the first bishop of the 
Scots, believing in Christ, by Celestine, tlje Pon- 
tiff of the Roman Church." 

BOOK II.-^CtirAP. fV. 

^* A.D. 605, Lawrence succeeded S. Austm^ as 
bishop (of Canterbury,) who had ordained him 
before his death thereto* He not only anxioosly 
laboured to support the chtirch, newly erected 
among the English, but also laboured afi^ a farue 
pastor to the church of^ the Britons, ^4^«ioM^iaiu 
habitants of the Britain, and also to the'^dks, 
who inhabited the adjoining island of iirelaitlf. 
For, when he knew that the life and profession of 
the Scots, in their aforesaid country, as well as 
the Britons, to be very unecclesiastical, in many 
points, especially as they celebrated Easter out of 
due time; but, as I have before taught, , thejr 
thought they ought to celebrate and observe the 
Lord's resurrection from the 14th moon to the 



20thy he, witfauhis biiethren^ .tke, other bishops, 
wrote to them aa exhortatoiy ^pi3t]e> heaeechiog 
them to observe and keep the, unitjr. and ipeace of 
the catholic observation, which was used in the 
church of Christ over the universe. ThQ beginning 
of the epistle was as follows : — 



.^ .•:• 



(C 



To. their beloved lords jmd- f^ethrm^ the 
bishops and abbots of all Scotlandy Lawreneej 
Melitus, and Justus, bishop^^the servants of 
the servants of God. . ... ..> . 

^^ When the see apostc^Ci ^ c^t daea pta.ihe 
*' whole orb of the universe, sent w to these n^- 
'^tern parts to preach the gospel :topagaaJ&ftio»$, 
*^and directed us to enter this isle, which is 
"called Britaiiii. We held in great J^etr^a^ the 
sanctity both of the Britons ajad th/9 S^^ts^ias we 
believed they walked .ac;cording to the jm^o^iner of 
"the universal ichurch ^ we maw know the Biilxttis 
"do not, but we thought better of the. Scots. We 
" have since learned from bishop Qagamus^ when 
"he came to this land,;and also from Columboo, 
"the abbot, when in France, that the Scots lifi^ir 
"«o/ with the Britons in their conversation, for 
"bishop Dagamus, when he came to us, would mi 
^^only not eat with us, but would not so much as eat 
'^his meat in the house where we were" 






04 IRISH AMTIQUARIAK JU9BEARCHES. 

** Lawrence, and the other bishops, sent lettem 
to the British priests, by worthy messengers, m 
which he anxiously besought them to adopt and 
conform to the catholic unity ; but how much he 
succeeded, the present times declare/' 

BOOK II. — CHAP. XIX. 

*^ A.D. 634, pope Honorius sent letters to the 
Scots, whom he understood to err in keeping 
Easter, exhorting them earnestly not to esteem 
their own small number wiser than all the church 
of Christ, either antient or modem, of the whole 
world, who agree in keeping the same Easter, as 
has been decreed by all the bishops in synods 
and general councils. 

'* John, who succeeded Honorius, when he was 
nominated and elected bishop of Rome, for the 
correction of said errors, directed letters of great 
authority and learning, clearly proving that Easter 
Sunday ought to observed from the 15th moon, 
to the 21st, as was decreed by the council of 
Nice. He also warned them of the Pelagian 
heresy which he understood was springing up 
among them. The beguining of the epistle was as 
follows : — 

" To the most dear and holy Thomian, Colum- 
ban, Chronan, Diman^ and Baithan^ bishops^ 



VENERABLE BEMS. 65 

and to Chronan, £rnian, Laii^raD> Scellan, and 
Segian, presbyters ; to Saran, and the rest of the 
doctors and abbots of the Scots : Hilarus, ^he 
arch-presbyter, keeper of the holy apostolic see, 
John, the deacon, in the name of God elected and 
chosen bishop of the holy see, John, the chief 
secretary and keeper of the see apostolic, and 
John, also a servant of God, and a councillor of 
the same see. The letters which ye sent to pope 
Severinus of holy memory, have not been an- 
swered, because the pope departed this life be- 
fore their arrival. We have opened said letters, 
in this vacancy of the holy see, lest you 
should remain in ignorance on so great a ques- 
tion, and that it should be undiscussed amongst 
you. In which letters we have read and observed 
that certain people of your province, contrary to 
the right faith, attempt to renew an old heresy, 
refusing very ignorantly our Easter, in which 
Christ was offered, our true paschal lamb, to God 
the Father, intending to celebrate the same with 
the Jews in the 1 4th of the moon," &c. 

BOOK III. — CHAP. ni. 

** A.D. 635. Oswald, shortly after he came to 
the crown, (of Northumberland,) being desirous 
that his people should be instructed in the 
truths of the Christian faith, whereof he had 
great evidence of the truth, by vanquishing 



66 IRISH AMTKHOASUN RBflEARCHES. 

his barbarian enemies. Hesent-ta-theHOhief of ibe 
Scots, among wbom, in his exile, he had fe- 
ceived tht saci^tinent of baptism, bb did the (M*^ 
di^rs who were with him, Teqaesting them to' 
send him a jta^Ute, by wt)OS€f preaching abd naU' 
nistry the English, whom he tuled, might be. 
ilistructed in the gifts, and receive the siacramentB - 
of the faitfi^of our Lord. Nor were those things/- 
whi<ih he desh^d, denied or withheld from him*- 
Bishop Aidan; a man of great meekness^ godliness, • 
modesty, tuid piety, having a great zeal fcM* God,: 
although' n^t according to knowledge, foi" he kept 
Easter Sunday from the 14th day after' the change - 
of the moon, until the 0Otb, according to theeos- 
tom of his country, as we hate before mentioned : 
for the north part of Scotland^ and tbe^Pidfai, cele- 
brated Easterin the same manner, thinkmg they' 
followed the* written advice ofAnatolius. How- 
justly, those who are iskilful i<i the Christian religioa 
are not ignorant. -The Sco*s, who * lived ' in the^ 
south part of Ireland, iid vised by the apostolic 
see, had long- since learned to celebrate Easter- 
according to universal rule. 

" "When Aidan arrived, the king appointed him 
to be bishop of Holy Island, as he desired. This 
place, by the flowing of -the tide, is twice a 
d^y made an is)and^>and as often by the rece- 
ding^ of the v^ter, mftde "part of the main land. 






ir-- 



VBNSRABLE BVXm. 67 

ByJ^ advioe of tlus good bishop, tiie king b^emg 
ever ready to follow it, the church of Chrii^ was 
much enlarged in his dominions : and, whereas, 
the bishop was unskilful in the English tongue, and 
the king undeiratanding the Scottist^ by i^ason 
of hia long exile in Irdand, when the bishop 
preached the faith of Cbri$t| the king inteirpre-^ 
ted the heavenly word to his generals and sub« 
jacts, which was a gratifying and [leasing sight. Fo? 
a loBg ^mQi vaany persons can^e from Ireland 
ixktf> the Ei^Ush pirovipces of Britain, under the 
government of king Oswald, with great devotion, 
tOi pleach the gospel of Christ, and baptising all 
wbo beU^ed. Churches were buik in convenient 
jplacea, and the people gladly assembled together 
to hear the word of God. Of his great bounty, the 
king granted lands and possessions for the foun- 
^atioei of rel^ous houses, and old persons, as 
weU as young children, were trained up by the 
Scots in the observance of regular discipUne, for 
they wcnre, fof the niost part, monks who came to 
ixreacb. Aidan was a monk of the island called Hii, 
which house was, for a long tinae, the chief of all 
the religious houses of the nortliern Scots and 
Picts, which were subject to it. The island, ia* 
deed, belongs to Britain, being separated from it 
only by a very narrow arm of the sea, but, by 
free gift of the Picts, >^bo inhabit that part of Brii- 
tain, it was granted lately to the Scottish monks, 

K 



68 IRISH ANtlQUARUN RESEARCHEST. 

in reward for their virtuous preaching the faith of 
Christ/^ 

BOOK in.—CAAV. IV. 

'^ A. D. 563. Columba^ a distinguished priest 
and abbots both by his habit and holy iife^ 
came from Ireland to preach the word of God to 
the Picts who dwelt in the north parts of Britain^ 
that is, to those who were separated by those 
tremendous mountains from the Picts who dwett 
in the more southern parts, who had long before 
abandoned idolatry, and embraced the true faith, 
which was preached to them by the reverend aiid 
holy bishop Ninia, a Briton, who had been duly 
and regularly instructed in the true faith at Rome^ 
&c. 

'^ Columba came to Britain in the ninth year 
of the reign of the potent Brideus, the son of 
Meilochon, king of the Picts, and by his learning 
and example, converted that nation to the faith, 
for which service the aforesaid island was given 
him to found a monastery. The isle is not large, 
but about sufficient for the support of five fami- 
ties, according to the EngHsh estimation. His suc- 
cessors keep it to this day, and he was buried 
there, aged seventy-seven years thirty-two aftar 
he came to preach in Britain. 



VENERABLE BEBE. 64) 

*^ Before he went to Britain^ he founded a noble 
monastery in Ireland^ which, from the great 
quantity of oaks in the neighbourhood, is called, 
in the Scottish language, Dearmachj that is to say, 
the Jleld of oaks. From both these monasteries 
many religious houses, both in Britain and Ire- 
land^ were founded by his disciples, of all which 
the monastery in the island is the chief house. 

** This island was always governed by an ab- 
bot, who is a priest, to whom the whole country, 
and the bishops themselves were, after a strange 
and uncommon custom, subject, according to the 
example of the first doctor, who was not a bishop, 
but a priest and a monk. Many things are written 
of his life and actions by his disciples; but we 
know certainly that he left successors of great 
continence, distinguished charity, and holy life. 
In observing the feast of Easter, they trusted to 
uncertain guides, and it is not surprising, consider- 
ing that no man sent unto them the decrees for the 
keeping thereof," 

BOOK III.— CHAP. V, 

^* From this island, therefore, and from this 
monastery, was Aidan sent to instruct the, English 
in the faith of Christ: at the time that Sigenius 
was abbot, he accepted the office of bishop," &c^ 



fO IRISH ANl^aCTARtAtt It&BeAftCHES. 

BOOK m. — CHAP. XVI — XXV. 

*'Finanus, a holy man from Hy, succeeded 
AidaD, and was bishop Of Northumberland a 
long time. He built a church on Lindisfam, 
(Holy Island) for the bishop^s see, not of stone, 
but of oak wood, with thatch, as th^ Scotch cus- 
tom was. 

*' A. D, 652. A great controversy arose about 
the keeping of Easter. The bishops of Kent and 
France asserted that the Scots observed Easter 
Sunday contrary to the rule of the univen^ 
church} and among them Ronan, a Scot by- 
birth, but well instructed in the rules of the church 
in France and Italy, and therefore a sitrenuous 
defender of the true keeping of Easter, who dispu* 
ting and arguing the matter with Finanus, induced 
many to embrace the truth, but could not prevail 
with !FHnan himself," but rather exasp^ated him, 
for he was a hasty petulant man, and thu$^ made 
him an avowed enemy to the cause of truth. 

" A.D. 664. After the death of Finanus, CoU 
man succeeded him in the bishopric, who was 
also sent from Ireland. In his time, the contro- 
versy began to increase, and also about other 
variances, by which many began to fear and 
doubt, lest, though bearing the name of Christ, 
they had run in vain y for Oswin being educated 



and baptized among 4he Scois^ and well acquainted 
with ^eir tongue, thought their manner of ob* 
servance most consistent with the truth ; but Ale* 
frid, the king's son, having been taught by the 
learned Wilfrid, preferred his opinion io the tra^ 
ditions of the Scots. To him the prince gave a 
monastery of forty families, in a place called 
Inbrypum, which had been in the possession of 
l^e Scols> who chose rather to surrender and give 
up the possession than change their accustomed 
observances. 

" It was determined to hold a synod to decide 
the question of Easter, the tonsure, and other 
ecclesiastical matters, at a monasteiy called 
Strenaeshalch. To this synod both th^ kings; 
Oswin and Alcfrid, father and son, attended. 
Colman, and his Scottish clergy, Hilda, the ab- 
bess of Strenaeshalcb, and her company, with 
Gedda, the venerable bishop, lately consecrated by 
the Scots, and king Oswin on one side; king 
Alcfrid, Agilbert, the bishop, with Agatho and 
Wilfred, priests, and James and Ronan on the 
other side, 

^^ King Osi^n premised that it behoved those, 
who served God, to keep one order and rale, and 
not to vary in celebrating the sacraments, who 
all looked for one heavenly kingdom, but ^at the 



72 IRISH ANTIQUARUN RESEARCHES. 

truth should be searched out, and followed by all : 
he commanded bishop Colman to declare his 
opinion first 

« -. -'.if 

*' The bishop answered 2 — The Easter I have 
observed J I received from my ancestors^ who sent 
me here to be bishop : ali our fathers, virtu* 
ous men, beloved of God, are known to have so cele^ 
brated Easter, and that it may not seem to be a 
matter to be despised or reprobated, it is the same 
which was observed by the blessed St. John, the 
disciple whom Jesus loved, and of all the churches 
founded by him" 

My object being merely to shew the state of 
the Scottish or Irish church at this period, I 
shall not enter into the arguments on either side, 
further than to state, that Wilfrid appears to have 
silenced, but not convinced Colman, by, asking 
him if he set up the authority of Columba and 
the Scottish fathers against that . of St. Peter, to 
whom our Lord said, ' Thou art Peter, and upon 
this rock,* Sfc. The king asking Colman if our 
Lord really said those words to Peter ? He an- 
sered in the affirmative ; and again being asked, 
if he could produce any such special authority to 
Columba, answered in the negative. The king then 
said he would not question the authority of such 
a porter, lest he should shut the gate against him. 



VENERABLE BEDE. 73 

Whereupon Colman, being conquered in argu- 
ment^ gave up his bishopric rather than his prin- 
ciples, and returned home, taking with him his 
followers. This controversy took place in the 
year 664, thirty years after the Scots had been 
bishops in England ; Aidan having governed the 
church seventeen years, Finanus ten, and Colman 
three years. Colman carried with him the bones 
of Aidan. 

« 

BOOK iir— CHAP. xxvn. 
*'A.D. 664. This year ^as a great eclipse of 
tiie sun on the 3rd day of May, about ten o'clock. 
There was also a great pestilence, which depopu- 
lated first a great part of the south ' of Britain, 
reached Northumberland, and destroyed a great 
many people, and, among the rest, Tuda, the 
bishop who succeeded Aidan, who was honorably 
buried in a place called Paegnalaech. This plague 
extended to Ireland, where there were a great 
many young English noblemen, and others of a 
lower class, under Finanus and Colman, the 
bishops, for the purposes of study, and to live 
strictly, and some of these became ecclesiastics, 
and others attended the houses and cells of their 
teachers, pursuing their studies. These the Scots 
entertained liberally and kindly y giving them not 
only their board and lodging without charge^ but 
books. Among the noble English were two young 



74 IRISH ANTIQUARUN RJB8EARCHES. 

meD> esteemed above the rest, Edilhum and 
Ecgbert^ the first was brother to that man, be* 
loved of God, Edelhuqo, who, m the age follow- 
ing, lived in Irelandybr learning saie, and retunii^ 
ing to his comitry, was made bishop of Lindisse^ 
(Lincoln.)" 

BOOK ¥.-rHCHlP. IX. . 

'< This Columba was the first preachor of the 
faith of Christ to the Picts who dwelt beyond 
the mountains to the north, and the founder of 
the monastery of Hy, which was in great rerer- 
enee among the Scots and Picts. Golimiba is 
now called by some Calumeelly of a combination 
of the words Gdla and Columba." 

BOOK v.— -CKAP^ XTI. 

^' A.D. 701. At this tkne a great many of the 
Scots in Ireland, and also Britons, adopted, by the 
grace of God, the true observance of Easier 
taught by the catholic church. Adanmanus^ a 
priest^ abbot of Hy, being s^it by his prince 
to Alfred, king of the English, and remaining 
some time in England, observed the ciinonical 
rites and ceremonies of the church, and being 
sharply admonished by the learned^ that he 
should not presume to live contrary to the univer- 
sal church, either in keeping the feast of Easter, 
or in any other decrees, be they what they may, 



ViSNiRABtS Bfidfi. 75 

his couhfry lleing s6 silnali, and the people so 
few, and seated m furthest e Wner of the Worid, he 
preferred the tfttstoitas of the English church to those 
of his own y and When he returned he endeavoured to 
induct thote of thi^ island of Hy to adopt the broad 
beaten paHh of truth, but he did not succeed. 
Whereupon he sailed fot Ireland, where he, by 
pi^achiiig and exhortation, prevailed upon many, 
that w6re n6t under the dominion of Hy, to re- 
ceive the linMy of the chufch. He afterwards, re- 
turning to Ms island, again attempted to pre- 
vail on the brethren to adopt this general obser- 
vatibta, but coakf 6ot succeed. He shortly after 
felt *ick fitod died/' 

BOOK v. — CHAP. XXI. 

^' A.D. 610. Naitan, king of the Picts, adopted 
the Roman ob^rvance of Easter. 

^^ A.O. 716. Not long aftelr, the Scottish monks 
who inhabit the island of Hy, with all the monas- 
teries under their jurisdiction, adopted the canon- 
ical 6biervance of Easter, and the right manner 
of ecdeiaMtical tonsure." 

As Bede d^lares the British and Iriish churcTieiS 
held cbmriiumcm of feith with each other, H ii 
li^essaty to detail briefly some leading points of 
the history of the British, in order to understand 

L 



76 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

rightly that of the Irish church. In the fourth 
chapter of the first book, A.D. 156, he says that 
Lucius, king of Britain, wrote to pope Eleutherius, 
desiring, that by his commandment, he might be 
made Christian, and that his request was grant- 
ed, and the Britons embraced the faith, which 
they kept incorruptly till the time of Diocletian. 
This, I consider, means that the king, and his 
people, having embraced the Christian faith,, 
wished for an ecclesiastical establishment by the 
appointment and consecration of bishops. 

From the above period he speaks of the unin- 
terrupted succession of the British church until 
the Saxon invasion. A. D. 430, book i. chap. 13, 
he says Celestine sent Palladius to Ireland, to the 
Scots believing in Christ. In the next chapter, 
in speaking of the Britons, he says that not only 
did the laymen but the clergy give themselves 
up to all manner of intemperance^ &c. &c. and 
were punished by a plague. 

A. D. 696. Augustine was sent over to the 
English, who, A.D. 603, set about to bring the 
British church into the unity of practice of the 
church of Rome, but they refused to acknowledge 
him as their archbishop, or to adopt the Roman 
ritual: on which Austin prophesied that they 
should incur severe punishment, which Bede says 



' ANTIENT IRISH CHURCH. . 77 

was fulfilled ' by Edelfred^ the Saxon king,' who 
^^maximam gehtis perfidtB strdgem dedii ; slew 
this perfidious people with great slaughter at Car- 
leon, (St' David's) and then goes on to exult in 
destruction of the British monks, whose crime was 
praying .gainsttheiriovade,,, adding, "therefo,* 
he commanded his soldiers to attack them, and 
so vanquished this detestable host, not, however, 
without considerable loss. And so was completed 
the prediction of St; Austin, and this perfidious 
people suffered death because they refused and 
despised wholesome advice and eternal salvation 
when it was qfferecl/* It will be seen in the fore- 
going extracts that Bede asserts the Scots church 
to be in unity with the British, having the same 
ritual, and they are equally stigmatized as heretical 
schismatics. 

The following answer of the abbot of Bangor, 
in Wales, to Augustine, is taken from Spelman's 
councils, p, 108. 

^^Responsio Abbatis Bangor ad Augustinum 
Monachum petentem subjectionem Ecclesse 
Romanae. 

^^ Sit notum et certum vobis, quod sum us nos 
omnes et singuli obedientes et subditi ecclesiae 
dei et papas Romae et unicuique Christiano pio 



78 IRISH 4MTiaUABIAIi R6SEi|tCHES. 

ad amandum unamquemqae in su ognadu oimpt 
charitate perfecta ^t ad juvandum ununxquemqu^ 
ex iis et verbo et faeto fojre filios dei ; Et allam 
obedientiam quam banc non scio debitam ei 
quern vos nominatis papam yd patrem pstitram 
vindicari et postulari : seid obedientiam banc 
sumus nos parati dare et solvere ei et cuique 
Christiano in aeteroum. Prsaterea sumus nos sub 
gubernatione episcopi Caerlegionis super Usca^n 
qui est superintendua sub deo supejr nobis ad 
faciendum nos.sei^are viam spiriiualemV 

St. Patrick is mentioned in the martyrology of. 
Bede as follows : 

" "Martins — XVI. Kal. Apr. — In Scotia S. 
Patricii Confessoris, — Eodem die obitus S. Ger- 
trudis virginis." 

Let us now examine what other evidence is to 
be had on the subject 

After archbishop Ussher^ whose great learning, 
talents, and research into Irish antiquities^ place 
him above all others, has decided St. Patrick's 
mission in the affirmative, the subject should be 
approached with great deference and respect, for 
so high an authority : but this feeling may carry 
us too far j no g€;nius, however exalted, or learn- 



ANTiENT mim qhurgh; 79 

log, howey^ profoundi is e&titled to implicit sub^ 
iaiasiop> should [MBclade investigation, or sbut 
the door against inquiry. 

The Rev. Dr. Charles O'Conor, whose learn- 
ing and acquirements certainly render him 
a first-rate authority, has brought forward new 
evidence on this subject, in the third letter of 
Columbanus, p. 48, et seq. He justly condenms 
references to legenda as evidence, and says, ^' io ' 
quote authoritieSy in support of a, disputed Jaciy 
which are not, by both parties^ admitted as authen^ 
tie, is only to demonstrate a lack of logic and a 
lack of sense J^ He triumphantly disproves "the 
libelous charge of want of candour and misquo- 
tation brought against archbishop Ussher, by an 
incautious and careless writer, and regrets that 
no Irish pen had done it before. Did not the 
silence of the admirers of that illustrious prelate 
rather prove it to be unnecessary ? 

Dr. O'Conor gives a copy of the letter written 
by the archbishop to Camden, which he collated 
with the original, now among the Cotton MSS. 
in the British museum. Julius, c. iii. he (Ussher) 
says, *^ touching St. Patrick, I gave him (Ryves) 
good leave to discredit, as much as he list, the 
pack of miraculous miracles which later writers 
had fastened on St. Patrick, kut in no wise to 



80 IRISH ANTIQUAttUN RESEARCHES. 

touch the credit of that worthy man himself j nor 
to question his succession to Palladius, nor to cast 
him into lower times, contrary to the consent of 
all writers that ever make mention of him ; and 
to this end, / shewed unto him what I had gathered 
together to this purpose, in a treatise which I had 
lately wrote,' at the request of Dr. Hampton, late 
lord archbishop of Armagh. You may easily see 
what little the testimony, or rather the silence, of 
so late an author as Flatina is, may carry, to 
bear down the constant agreement of all our 6 wn 
writers. The objection would be far more specious 
if it were drawn from the silence of Bede. . Yet 
have I seen in Sir Robert Cotton's library, an an- 
cient fragment, written before the time of Bede, 
wherein St. Patrick is not only mentioned, : but 
made to be as antient in time, as hitherto we 
have believed him to be. It was found among 
Mr. Josceline's papers, &c." 

Dr. O'Conor says he has carefully perused 
and examined the Josceline MS. to which Ussher 
thus refers, and adds, " Ussher certainly mistakes 
in making this MS. so antient. I have examined 
it minutely, and take upon me to state decisively, 
that it is not older than the ninth century. But 
yet Ussher's argument holds good if the author 
wrote before the days of Bede; and that he did, 
is admitted jiot only by Spelman, but by Mabillon, 



ANTIEKT IRISH CQDRCH. :. 81 

in his .excellent work, De Liturgid GalUcana. — 
See Cotton MS, Nero, A. 1 1, with my MS. work, 
entitled Bibliotheca Hibernico-Gottoniaua, in 
Stowe library. 

« 

*^The following extract from the life of St. 
Columba, . written by Cumian, one of .his disci- 
ples, very soon aftet the death of his patron, A.D. 
696. * Patricius namque primus Hiberni^e apos- 
tolus avum proavumque (Columhas) Fergusium 
nempe et Conallum benedixii.^ " Dr. O'Connor 
gives this as indisputable and undoubted authorit if y 
because this antient life is expressly referred to by 
Adamnan, who wrote above half a century, before 
the death of Bede. // was published imperfectly 
by Colgan, perfectly by Mabillon. — Saec. Bene- 
dictinorum. 

** Another curious passage relating to St. Pa- 
trick, is observable in the Paschal Epistle of the 
younger Cumian to Segenius, abbot of Hyona, 
which was written a whole century before Bede 
wrote his history, and precisely in the year 640. 
In this learned epistle of one of the most learned 
fathers of the Irish church, the venerable author 
objects to the time of celebrating Easter day at 
Hyona, as repugnant to the cycle which, says he, 
our holy pope St. Patrick introduced into Ireland. 
I have compared the original MS. in the Cotton 



82 IRISH H^NTIQUjailAIPr lOSEAItCHES. 

Kbrawy, Vitel. A. xii. with Ussher^s edition in hii 
SyUoge ad. ann. 640, and hay^ found it ad acca* 
rate, as all Usher's editions most deddedly are; 
even in controversial passages which make against 
himself. Long before Bede*s time, St. Patrick is 
ilientioned by AdaMnan in the very preface to 
his life of Columba,^ which^ next to Su}piciiks 
Severios's life of St^ Martiii of Tom^s^ is* one of 
the most valuable fMeces of biography th^ all (S^ 
middle ages can boa)st of. — Quidam pr(fsefyiu's 
Briio S. PATOicft mscipulus; 

^' There is a fifth v^ valdable aatbenrity for th6 
mission of St. Patrick, &c. There is extant a MS. 
in the Irish characters,* whith is above Okie thod* 
sand years old,entitled^ff^ijb^(>^eirmm Benehorinse. 
It was discovered by Cardinal P. Boromcso;- in tfee 
antient monastery of Bobio, in Italy ; from whence 
it was t^nsferred to the Ambrosian libritry at 
Milan, where it now is, number x. Ktera c. Mura- 
tori shewed it to Montfancon, who^ alter a n:iintite 
investigation, pronounced it abovie one thoiksand 
years old^ and rejoiced that now, at last^ in spite 
of all objections, the reality of St. Patrick's ihis- 
sion to Ireland was placed beyond the reach of 
controversy. Muratori relates that it was carried 
into Italy from Ireland, by a celebrated Irish 
monlcj who travelled to Pavia in the time of Char- 
lemagne. Now this MS, the venerable antiquity 



of which is attested by the four greatest diploma- 
tists of the last century, by Montfaucon, MabiHon, 
Muratori, and Reunart, contains a hymn in honor 
of St. Patricky master of the Scots. *-^^^ Hymnus 
& Patrieii, magistri Scotorum.^ 

^X sixth coeval authorify, equally uttknowii 
to our writers, which historically proves St. Pa- 
trick's mission, is that of an anemymous monk, 
who was eye witness to the death of St. Gertrude, 
and wrote her life, published by Mabifton, ia the 
second age of his annals of the Benedictines. 

'^ I have wond^dd also that our writers haive 
not quoted, on this subject, the following lines' 
written by Alcuin, who was preceptor to Charle- 
magne, and, next to Bede, the most learned father 
of the Saxon church. 

** * PatriciuSy Kieranus, Scotorum gloriof gentisy 
^ Atque ColumbanuSy Comgallus, Adamnanus, 
^ PrcBtlari patres* "* 

^ St. Patrick is mentioned also in a Saxon ver- 
sion of the life of our Connaugfat countryman, 
the martyr St. Purseus, the original of which I 



» 



See his metrical life of Willebrord,, published by Gale, 
iScriptores post Bedam« Oxon. 1691. 

M 



S4 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RfiSEARCHES. 

have proved> in my prolegomena ta the Irish an*-, 
nals^ to have been written in 66&/^ 

Dr. O'Conor sums up the whole with the foU 
lowing sentence : ** I shall here content myself with 
observing, that if all these authorities and MSS. 
in which St. Patrick is expressly mentioned, were 
destroyed, the laws of just criticism forbid, that, 
after the lapse of so many ages, and the destruc- 
tion of so many monasteries and libraries as for- 
merly existed in Ireland, before the Danish inva- 
sion, the silence alone of such authors as remain^ 
(supposing such silence) should be admitted in 
evidence to overthrow a national tradition so imi- 
versal in every part of Ireland, Scotland, and 
Man, so immemorial, and so incorporated, as that 
of St. Patrick is,, with the traditionary usages, 
names, anniversaries, monastic ruins, and popular 
manners of one hundred millions of Irishmen who 
have existed since his time." 

I should be well pleased were I able to say 
the evidence adduced, and the arguments made 
use of by Dr. O'Conor, had satisfied my mind on 
this important subject, as it appears to have done 
his own. I confess I am inclined to doubt the 
accuracy of my own judgment when I differ from 
such a man on such a subject ; I shall, however, 
make some remarks, not so much with a view to 



ANTIENT IRISH CHUECH. 85 

refute the positions laid down, as established, by 
Dr. O'Conor, as for the purpose of supporting 
what would appear to be the truth, by an lexaniin- 
ation of the evidence on both sides, and £rst for 
the affirmative. 

Dr. O'Conor, in some degree, destroys the 
authority of the fragment mentioned by Ussher, 
by proving it to be of the ninth century ; the ad- 
mission of Spelman and Mabillon that the author 
wrote before the time of Bede, is argument^ not 
evidence. 

The extract from the life of St. Columba, by 
Cumian, published by Coigan and Mabillon^ is of 
no better authority than the hymn of St. Feich, 
unless an original MS. of greater antiquity than 
Bede can be produced in support of it. 

Of the paschal epistle of the younger Cumian 
to Segienus, written in 640, speaking of the cycle 
which Si. Patrick introduced into Ireland,! am not 
able to collect whether Dr. O' Conor quotes from 
an original MS. but it appears quite irrecon- 
cilable with Colman's declaration in 664, that 
his Easter, which was different from the Jtoman, 
Was received from his ancestors. 

Adamnan's mention of St. Patrick^ in his life of 



86 IRISH i^^IQUARIAN lUSSEAECJEJES. 

I' 

Columba, 19 of doubtful authority^ and looks very 
like an interpolation ; " S. Patricii disoipuius," 
— ikree words only of Ireland's apostle ! ! 

The fifth evidence adduced by Dn O'Gonorj 
the Bobio MS. the Antiphonarium Benchorense^ 
containing the " kymnus S. Patricii magisiri 
Scotorum,*^ is certainly a very .interesting docu- 
ment, and well worthy of investigation ; but before 
we give" it place and weight, as evidence, we 
ought to know something more of it ; it is hardly 
fair to demand credence for a document, about 
which we possess so little information, and that 
little sa unsatisfactory. There is a fac sio^e 
plate opposite p. 66 of his work, but he doei^ not 
tell U5 what it is of> we are left to conjecture if of 
the Bobio MS, ; it is not of the hymnusS. Patncii, 
nor is a copy given of that document. He tells us 
that Muratori shewed it to Montfaucon, who pro- 
nounced it above one thousand years old^ and re- 
joiced that it placed the reality of St. Patrick's 
mission beyond the reach of controversy. I should 
rejoice on the same account, if it really proved 
this fact, and if a copy of the hymn had been 
given, and the MS. itself proved to be worthy to 
be ranked with unquestionable evidence. Not 
having access to the work of Muratori, or of 
Gerbertus, I cannot say how far the Bobio MS. 
is admissible afi evidence, or if admitted^ how it 



AumMim tmm ^momcB. 37 

bears on tlid c^se. The works aboVe mentidil^d 
are not of tommon occurrence, are not even in th6 
library of Trinity College j when, therefor^^ Dr, 
O'Conor brings fbrward this MS, as evidende, 
and expects implicit credetioe and acceptance^ 
we are entitled to have it proved to bci worthy of 
credit : a dopy of the hyein itself^ and a fad 
simile D6t only of the MS. but of that piurtlcalar 
part of it which we are to receive in evidence, 
should have been given. I do not charge Dr. 
O'Conor with want of candour; I believe him 
incapable of the slightest attempt to mislead, or 
to give even colour to an argument, or a quotas 
tioli, which he does not conscientiously believe it 
demands ; but can we dispense with whkt just 
criticii^m demands,, even in his favour,^ or can 
we^ therefore^ attach tbat weight to this MS. which 
perhaps it might be entitle to, if we were better 
acquainted with it^ or aidmit that it ptoves any 
thing? 

The sixth authority of Dr. O'Conor, the life of 
St. Gertrude, by an anonymous monk, comes 
under the description of authorities not admitted 
by both parties^ and;^ therefore, is of no weight. 

The lines from Alcuin, if supported by better 
evidence, might have some weight, but are a fea- 
ther in opposition to the testimony of Bede. 



^ miSB AKTIQUARUN RESEARCHES. 

The life of St. Furseus is liable to* the same 
objection ; we have it not in courty and therefore 
cannot judge of the weight of its evidence ; we are 
not even told what it says. Dr. O'Conor says 
that he has examined the authorities on this sub- 
ject, critically, in another place. I am not aware 
that the world have been favoured with his work, 
except a chosen few, perhaps \ I have not had the 
good fortune ever to see a copy of his Irish 
Annals. 

The tradition of so many ages, so universal in 
every part of Ireland, Scotland, and Man, so 
interwoven with the usages, names, and monastic 
ruins of a hundred millions of Irishmen^ is very 
strong, and entitled to great weight, but tradition, 
unsupported, has never been admitted as evi- 
dence; neither will the laws of just criticism 
admit such tradition before, not only the ^i- 
lence of Bede, but what he says, and gives of 
the sayings of others ^ whom he introduces to 
our acquaintance, especially when he tells us of 
facts which render the truth of St. Patrick's mis- 
sion almost impossible. The same kind of 
arguments would support the once universally 
received British fable of the descent of the 
Britons from the Trojans, as given by Geoffrey 
of Monmouth, and others, or the history of St. 
George and the dragon. 



ANTIENT fRIira CHURCH. 89 

Let us now see what conclusions we must 
draw from Bede's testimony, which is admitted 
on both sides. 

It 13 scarcely to be credited that Bede, who 
mentions Palladius, the ixcisuccessful missionary, 
to the Scots, would have been silent with respect 
to the mission and brilliant exploits of the success- 
ful and wonder-working St. Patrick, who had not 
been dead two hundred years, and whose fame 
must have been the theme of Scottish eulogy, 
had they ever heard of his name. Bede says 
too much about Ireland and her Scottish inhabi- 
tants and clergy, to suppose . he would not have 
said more, had he known more; and I cannot 
conceive it possible that St. Patrick could have 
deserved such celebrity without his knowledge, 
and had he heard of him, that he would have 
passed him over in silence. 

Bede next says, that Lawrence, the successor 
of Augustine, not only laboured as a true pas- 
tor to the English, but to the , British church, « 
and to that of the Scots, who inhabited the ad- 
jacent island of Ireland, which were both very 
unecc/esiasticai in many points^ and therefore 
wrote letters to the Irish bishops, stating that 
they ^^ differ not with the Britons in their con- 
" versation^for bishop Dagamus^ when he came to ^ 



90 IRISH JUniQUASUM AfiftfiARCHES. 

^' mSy would noi enlif net eat with us, but would not 
^ ^o much as eat kis meat in the house where we 
« were.*' And again, in the year 634^ pope Ho- 
norius wrote letters to the Scots, exhorting them 
not to think their small number wiser than all the 
churches^ of Christ. Another lett^ was sent by 
Johp, the successor to Ho&oviui^ on the same 
subject. In neither of these letters is there aoy 
pejN-oach against the Scots for having left the 
feflth and observance said to> be established amoc^ 
th^m by a Roman missicmary only one bundled 
anil fifty 3/^ars before, but they are eautioned not 
to think themselfes wisev ttmn the universal 
church; DO allusion wha^tevev is made to tlbdip 
being indebted to Ronoe for thefaith^ oia.W(H^ 
ss^d^ about St. Patrick ! 

I» tiie first paragraph of book iii. cha|i. iiL 
after praising Aidan, he says, that tiie nortb pai^ 
of Scotland, (Ireland) and the Picts, celebrate 
Easter i» the same manner, thinking they followed 
the ad?iice of Anatolius. The Scots,, vihoi liised io 
the south part of Ireland^ adxiised by^ the' apostoiio 
S'^y had long since learned to celebrate Master- 
accoi^ding^ to universal rule. Here is evidence 
that the Roman see did advise the south of Ire*^ 
landy and the adivice was followed ; but the north, 
which was the theatre of the alledged exploits of 
St. Patrick, had at that time either rejected Paila- 



dins/ and tbe other missionaries of Rome, or they 
had not been sent to them. The Northumbrians^ 
and among them Bede, must have been well ac-- 
quainted with Ireland and its traditions, their king, 
Oswald, having lived there ix^ exile for many 
years, was there converted to Christianity, and 
baptized. 

■ - t . • _ - t 

4 ■ ' ■ ■ . ' ' " - . . ^ .' 

. . r . / --; 

There As a very^ remarkable p^assage in which 
Bede, book iii..chap. iv. see extracts, p. 69^ says, 
"In observing the feast of Easter, they trusted 
to? uncertain ^ycles^ and it is not surprising, 
considering that nor man sent uniQ them the 
decrees for,, the keeping, t^er^qf^^ f* In iemr 
pore quidem summ<B Jesiivitatis ,^ dubiQS circulos 
seguenteSyUtpote quibus Iqnge ultra orbem posit is 
nemo, synodalia Paschalis observantice decreta 
porrexerat ; tantum ea quc^ in propheticis, evan^ 
gelicis et apostoticis litjsris discere poterant pietatis 
et castitatis opera diligenter observantes* Per* 
mansit autembujusmodipbservantiaPaschalis apud 
eos tempore non paucOy hoc est, tksque ad annum 
dominicceincarnationis HXb^ per amos \5>0.^^ Bede 
speaks here of the island of Hyona, but his obr 
servation equally applies to Ireland, and he - 
positively asserts that there was no mission from 
Rome, but they, the Scots, diligently obser-* 
ved the precepts to be found in the writings of 
the prophet Sy the gospels ^ and the apostles. Where 



9S IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

then was the cycle introduced into Ireland bjr 
St. Patrick ? 

A. D. 664. Bede gi\res a long and very circum- 
stantial account of a synod held at Strenaeshatch> 
about the Easter controversy, which is given 
shortly in the extracts, and not necessary to be 
here repeated. It should, however, be recollected 
that this took place not two hundred years from 
the alledged time when St. Patrick was in the 
zenith of his glorious acts. In that synod, we 
have an Irish bishop speaking, and what does he 
say ? — Nothing about St. Patrick, not even hi» 
name. Had Colman been aware that it was from 
St. Patrick Ireland received the faith, would he 
have hesitated to charge the Roman church with 
variance with its own ordinances ? would he not 
have said, how is it that St. Patrick, a missionary 
from Rome itself, taught our forefathers this faith, 
and that not two hundred years since? and, 
again, the Easter we keep, and the faith we hold, 
must be the true faith and true Easter, for we 
have not changed them, and they must have been 
the faith and Easter of Rome when St. Patrick was 
sent to preach the gospel to our fathers? Such recent 
occurrences as the conversion of Ireland by St. 
Patrick, must have been, in Colman*^s time, as 
fresh in the recollection of the Irish Christians, 
as the usurpation of Cromwell, or the abdication 



ANTIENT IRISH CHURCH. 93 

of James is with us at this day. But what says 
Colman ? — Why, that he received his Easter 
from his forefathers, and that it was the same 
as W€(S observed by St.Johnj and ail the churches 
established by him^^ and he never mentions Si. 
Patr^L What conclusion can a rational mind 
draw from this, but that the decrees of the first 
general council held at Nice in the year 325, re- 
specting the period when Easter should be ob- 
served, had not been heard of in Ireland until 
Colman's time, consequentiy that the mission of 
St. Patrick from Rome in 433, is absolutely nega- 
tived; for he would doubtless have introduced 
the Roman observances and the Roman faith. 
Bede gives evidence of an uninterrupted succession 
of bishops in the British church from A. D. 160. 
In addition to this he says, Palladius was sent 
to the Scots believing in Christ. Is not this an 
admission of the existence of Christianity in Ire- 
land previous to the period of St. Patrick's mis- 
sion ? Who were those Christians ? We are also 
told that the Irish pagans rejected Palladius. Is 
it not much more probable, that he being sent for 
the express purpose of bringing the Irish Christians 
into subjection to the Roman pontiff, and to 
unity of practice with the church of Rome, the 
Irish Christians, who were then as much attached 
to the faitii received from their ancestors, ss their 
descendants were in Bede's time^ refbued.ta admit 



94 IRISH AimQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

Palladius as their bishop, and expelled him from 
their shores? 

With respect to the appearance of St. '^Patrick'-s 
name in Bedels 'Martyrologyj it i^ alteged by 
Cave^ that the text of that work> ihcotomott use^ 
is interpolated. The passage^ mentioning St. Pa- 
trick isf not c^iirily' sftigmafize^ by Cave as an 
interpolation, but iny man, who is accustotioM 
to coiisider the vdue and' weight ^ of ^videni^fe^ 
tvoiild, if he received it at rill, -^receive with 'great 
suspicion, an Extract -from ' a -work admitted to 
be interpolated, especially when that ptocsi ^m 
not corrobbrated by -other testimony, • of an tott* 
questionable character. 



: J 



A martyrology; U^e Battle Abbey roll, diT aH 
s, holds dut' Ihie greatest temptatibii X(S the 
interpolator J the forgery i^ easiest to be committed, 
and most difficult of detection. In this caite; all 
that was to be done was the insertion af the five 
words. In Scotia S. Patncii Confessoris. If this 
entry were genuine, would this meagre sentence 
have been all the notice which would have been 
taken of Ireland's apostle? 



95 



O^CARROLL. 



The following brief sk^tidh of this di^dtinguished 
sept will be found useful to illustrate the history 
of Dimma's box and MS. as will also an account 
of the temtoiy of Helia, or Ely, afterwards csdled 
Ely ©'Carroll. - 



'»•■■ ^ 



i.i 



The family of O'Carrotf, a^ordiiig to tH6^Irish 
antiquaries, are descended from Kean, the *tWrd 
son of OlioU Olum, king of ^ Munster. Tiege, the 
eldest son of this Kean, was a distinguished 
warriot, who, by killing ibbkttle his three riv^s, 
procured for Gormac Ma« Art; king 6f Ulster, tfie 
monarchy of Ireland. Cormac rewarded him 
with a grant of land in Connaught, called Lurgny 
Gallen, and Culavin, he paying to- the kihg of 
Connaught, and his isuccessors, 150 milcli cows 
in May, 100 beeves, and 100 barrels of mead, or 
metheglin, at Alhallontide yearly for ever. He 
had two sons, Conla, and Cormai Qaleng, to 
the latter he gave the letdds of Lut^y Oallcfn, 
now called the barony of Grallen, in the county of 
Mayo, and Culavin, which were possessed by his 
descendants the 0*Haras and O'Garas : Conla^ 
the eldest son, posse$sed the lands afterwards 



96 miSA ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

called Duthec-Eile, i. e. the estate of Eile,^ from 
Eile Ridhearge, of which his descendants were 
styled kingSy there being no other title of honor 
in use in Ireland before the coming of the English. 

Cearbhuill, the twelfth, according to some, and 
the sixteenth, in descent, according to other autho- 
rities, from the above Eile, gave name to the sept 
of the O'CarrolIs, i. e. the descendafUs ofCearb-. 
huilL The tenth in descent from him was Tiege, 
or Tatheus, O'Cearbhuill Boy, king of Eile, who 
caused the box of Dimma to be gilt, died 
about the middle of the twelfth century, and was 
succeeded by his son, 

Maolroona O'Carroll, or O'CearbhuiU, king of 
Eile, was succeeded by his brother, 

Donald O'GarroU, who was king of Ely at the 
coming of the English under Strongbow, and 
from him are descended the principal houses of 
this family. 

Maolroona O' Carroll, whose daughter, Grace, 
or Grania, was married to Ulick Burke, Lord of 
Clanrickard, and was mother of Rickard Sassa- 
nagh Burke, the first earl, joined with O'Brien, 

* Some authorities derive the name otherwise. See here- 
after. 



0*CARROLL. 97 

and others^ against the English government 
and gave them much trouble. He died A. Dl 
1632. His son, Fergonamuin, or Ferdinando, 
O'CarroU, who succeeded his father as O'Carroii, 
concluded a treaty with Leonard Lord Gray, lord 
deputy of Ireland, 12th June, 1638, by which he 
consented for himself and his successors, the 
O' CaxToWs, capiianei deHly O'Carroll, to pay the 
king 12d. for every carucate of land in Ely 
O'Carroll, one hundred and twenty marks on the 
nomination of the chief, and, on, general host- 
ings, to supply the chief gbvemor of Ireland 
with twelve horsemen, and twenty-four foot men, 
all well equipped for war, with provisions for forty 
days, at the expense of O'CarroU 5 that on all 
joumies to those parts, they should supply the 
lord deputy and suite with provisions for three 
days ; that the lord deputy should be supplied with 
provisions, by O'CarrolI, for eighty galloglasses,' 
for three months every year, and be permitted to 
make a road, or roads, through Ely O'CarroU at 
his pleasure. In 1548, Teige caoch O^Carroll, 
son of Ferdinando, called by Sir James Ware, 
petty king of Ely, routed the English out of his 
country, but afterwards submitted, and was ere* 
ated baron of Ely in 1632,* which he did not 
long enjoy, having been slain by his own sept. 



* I have not been able to find the record of this patent. 



98 IRiSH ANTIQUARIAN BGSBARCHES. 

headed by hm kinsman ; and competitor, . Ca^ir 
O'CarroU, , who was afterwards slain, by, WilKam 
Adbar O'Carroll, younger brother of Tiege^ whp 
was knighted, , 30th Marct^ . 1667, and . ma^e 
gpyernor of Ely, and captain of his nationj^jby 
Sir Henry Sidney, lord justice of Ireland. Sir 
William died 29th April, 1579. Hi& natural ^on, 
Sir Cahff, or Charles, 0*CaT'oU,;Waa,knightedH 
Sir John Perrott, lord deputy, in ,1634. .;,^ 



i» ^ 



Sir Mulrooney O'Carroll, son of Sir William, 
waa knighted by Sir George Carew, lord ^deputy 
of Ireland, j^t Dublin jCa$li^,,,SjL,J9ines's day, 
l^t March, ,1^03,^ibeing thadajr of the^pronatipn 
ofking JamQ^J.. ; . , ^ 1 ^ 



1 i 



T. Roger O'Carroll, son and heir of Sir.Mnli^o^oney^ 
was ousted out ; of his estates by Crom.welL,he 
having attached himself to the king's ^party, under 
the Duke of Qrmond ; but his eldest son and b^ir^ 
Charles O'CarroU was in great favour .with kings 
Charles II. and Jam^ IJ. who were potable 
to restore him to his paternal estate ; tlie latter 
made him grants of large tracts of land oQ,jthe 
Monoccasy river in the province of Maryland, in 
North America, which was divided into three 
manors, of 20,000 acres each, and called, after 
the possessions he had lost in Ireland, viz. Ely 
O'CarroU, and Doughoregan. The third was 



EWr O'CAIIRQU. 99 

called Caitoldtpn* This g^tleman was also made 
attorney-general of the province, and his estates 
are stUl in the possession of his grandson, Charles 
Q'Garroll, , of Garrolston, Esqv aged 90 years, 
whbi^ father and himself have been members of 
the senate of that. state. Mary, the daughter of 
the last tnentioned Charles, was married to Rich- 
ard Catop, Esq.^ of the state . of Maryland, by 
whom she was mother to her excellency Marianne, 
the present Marchioness of Wellesley, and three 
other daughters, . Elizabeth, Louisa- Catharine, 
(Lady Half vey/) and Emily. ' 

-Sir James Carroll, wl>o: was: mayor of Dublin, 
wasj knighted by Sir Arthur; Cliichestei", lord de- 
puty at Loghroer, the 30th of September, 1609. 
His father, Thomas' O'Carroll, being oppressed by 
the chief of his family, came to live in Dublin. 
Sir James Carmll had a grant of the abbey 
of Baltinglass, and was ancestor to the, present 
high sheriff of the county of Wicklow, Henry 
Gliffitha (Carroll,) of Ballymore, Esq. 

Donagh, or Dennis O'Garr oil,, descended from 
Dionogh.O' Carroll, brother to Mubooney 0!Car- 
roll, chief of his name, who died in 1532, was 
possessed of the estates of Modejeeny and Buplyi- 
brack, in Tipperary, and was ousted by Cromwell. 
He married O'Kennedy's daughter, and had thirty 



100 IRISH ANTtQUARlAN RISSfEARCHES. 

sons, whom he formed into a troop, of horse, and 
presented to the Duke of Ohnond, for the ser- 
vice of king Charles I. On the restoration^ 
John, his son> had a grant of lands at Killury, 
in the county of Galway, where he married the 
daughter of O'Crean, by Margaret, the daughter 
of Lord Athenry. His eldest son, James CarroU, 
was ancestor to the family of Killury j Daniel, 
his second son, entered into the military service 
of the king of Spain^ and was made a knight of 
the order of St. Jago. He was afterwards, through 
the interest of the Duke of Ormond, made a 
lieutenant-colonel in the British service, by queen 
Anne, in which he rose to the rank of lieutenant- 
general, obtained permission to bear the insignia 
of the order of St. Jago in England^ had 
sflso the style of Sir Daniel, and was colonel 
of a regiment of horse. . His grandson, John 
Whitley O'CarroU, was British resident at Saxe 
Weimar, in 1804. 

I find three other O'CarroUs, John, Donagb, 
and Kedagh, obtained grants of lands in Con- 
naught, from king Charles II. in compensation 
for their losses in Leinster. From them are 
descended the families of Springhill, Tirlogh, 
Ardagh, Carragh, and Dunmore, in the county 
of Galway; Forthill, in the county of Mayo; 
and Doraville, in the county of Clare. . The other 



- ELY O'CARROLL. 101 

pnncipal families now existing, are those of 
Emmell, in the King's County ; Thurles, B^liin- 
garry, Nenagb, Littlefield, and Annemead, in 
Tippferary; Rockfield,in the county of Wicklow; 
and Coolroe, &c. in the county of Garlow. John 
Carroll of Stephen's-green, Esq. late M.P. for 
New Ross, is the representative of this last family. 
Owen Carroll represented the King's County^ in 
king James's parliament in 1689. 



ELY O'CARROLL. 



. " Ely, or Helia, an extenave district compre- 
hended in the present King's County, and the 
antient patrimony of the distinguished tribe of the 
O'CarroUs, from whom, as being lords paramount 
of the district, it was called Ei/e ui ChearbhaiH, 
(Ely O'CarroU) is generally supposed to derive 
its name Ely from Eile Righdhearg^ (Ely red-arm) 
the eighth in descent from the celebrated OlioU 
Olum, king of Munster, who, according to the 
annals of the Four Masters^ died A. D. 234, and 
Sadhbhy (Sawv,) daughter of Conn, of the hundred 
battles, monarch of Ireland. In this opinion 
concur almost all our antient genealogists, as 
does also the learned O'Flaherty, in his Ogy gia ; 
yet^ there is reason to believe that this opinion is 
not well founded. In an antient vellum MS. in 
my possession, in the hand writing of Adam 



f ' 



102 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

O'Cianan, (O^Keenan), a celebrated Irish a^tiqua- 
ly, we are told that the districts of Efly and O wuy 
were so named from JEli and Uaiihne, (Ely and 
Owny) two daughters of Eochaidh, (Eohy) son 
of Luchta, kibg of Mmister, one of our kntient 
lawgivers, who flourished abbut the time of 
the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The 
author describes these districts as lying east 
of the Shannon, stretching firom north to south ; 
and he tells us that he copied the article ^^ from 
the book of his great master, John O'Dugan." 
This John O'Dugan was the chief poet of the 
O^Kellys, of Hy Maine, and a fiunous aistrono- 
mer, topographer, and historian, who died A. D; 
1372. To those who know the works and the 
reputation of O'Dugan, as an Irish scholsur and 
antiquary, little doubt will be entertained of 
his credibility, and Adam (yKeenan was a writer 
of nearly equal celebrity with his master. The 
authority of these writers, even with those who 
do not know their real merits, must have the more 
weight, when we consider that Ely O'CarroU com- 
prehended but a small portion of the antient 
Ely. We find adjoining to Ely O^CarroU, on the 
south, the territory of the O'Pogartys, called 
Eiie ui Fhogartaigh, (Ely OTogarty) now com- 
prised in the modern baronies of Upper Ormond, 
and Eliogurty, in the county of Tipperary, the 
latter of which baronies still preserves the antient 



ELY O*CARR0LL. 103 

name. Again^ on the east of Ely O'CarroU, we 
find Eile ui Mhordha^ (Ely O'Morha) part of 
the antient inheritance of the eminent family of 
th^ O'Mores, princes of Leix^ in the present 
Queen's County. That the district of Ely was 
known by that name long before the birth of 
jBiYe Ridheargy one of O'CarroU's ancestors, 
from whom it is supposed^ as above mentioned, 
the name of Ely was derived, is further confirmed 
by (lie (act, diat our antient historians, when treat- 
ingof the reign of the monarch, Cormaa Mac Art> 
tell us, that wh^ that prince applied to Teige, son 
of Ciad, son of'Oliott Olumv for assistance against 
Fergus, black-tooth, the' usurper of his throne, 
Teige was then in great powef and authority, 
^* in the territory of Ely.** :Now Eile Ridhearg 
wajs the siK:th in descent from Teige; therefore^ 
the district in which Teige lived in such power^ 
and which was then called Elyj could not be so 
called from Eile Ridhearg, who did not live for 
six generations after the time that Teige flourished. 
As a further proof that O'Dugan and O'Keenan 
were right, with respect to the origin of the names 
and the situation of the districts of Eli and 
Uaithne, (Ely and Owny) we see the latter name 
still preserved in the present barony of Owney, 
in the county of Tipperary, situate as described 
in O'Keenan's MS. written long before Irehmd 
was divided into baronies. 



104 IRISH ANtlQUARUN RBNlARCHBi, 



**But whether the district of Ely derir^d its 
name from £/f, the daughter of Luchta, kiny of 
Munster, or from Ei/e Ridhearg^ the prince ^ 
that district, and ancestor of the family of th% 
Leinster O'CarroUs, is but of little consequence 
to that celebrated tribe. It is indisputable that 
they were, in very early ages, the supreme prince^ 
of the entire district; and in more modern times, 
when simames became hereditary, gave their 
patronimic name to that part of the district which 
they then possessed, apd which, from that cir- 
cumstance, was called Ely O'Carroll. When 
they were kings of the entire dislrict, and even 
since they became lords of Ely O'Carroll only, 
they had under them several very famous tribes, 
of which the O'Meaghers, and the O'Delany -s 
were not the least eminent Of the patriotism, 
piety, and prowess of the chiefe' of the O'Carrolls 
of Ely, the annals of Ireland teem with abvoidant 
proofs," 

* Such is the account given of the district of Ely, 
by Edward O'Reilly, whose great learning, and 
valuable MSS. in the Irish language, eminently 
qualify him to give ns correct information on 
matters of Irish antiquities, in addition to which, 
I have only to say, that in 1621, the territory of 
Ely 0*Carroll was then found, by inquisition, 
to consist of the pasture lands of Bally crinass. 



. ELY 0*CABROLL. 1 05 

Rosscullenagh, and Drumcan^ extendil^ Ifo ^e 
lake of Laghagh, commonly called Laghagli^mil-* 
live^ and bomided on the west by the lands calleU 
Laghengarken, and oa the east joimng or near 
Clencrokin, was always called Ely O'Carroll, and 
liad never been measured or surveyed. The 
tx^Mntain land was found to extend jfrom the 
lake of li^ghangerah^ to a hole called Polle Dowa, 
and from th^£9M^ in a south easterly direction, to 
the Slieve BlooiniMiaatains, which are the limits 
between Ely O'Carrofi^ud upper Ossory, and 
meet at a village called Garrjn^^ 4or Scully's land. 



O'CARROU'S TREATY WITH HENRY VHT. 

" Concordia facta inter Regem et 0*Karroll 
Capitaneum patriae Ely 0*KarrolL 

^^Haec Indentura facta xii. die Junii, anno 
xxxmo Illustrissimi Domini Regis Henrici 
Octavi, inter potentissimum et metuendissimum 
dominum nostrum Henricum octavum, ex una 
parte, et Fergonamuin O'Karroll nunc principalem 
capitaneum patriae Ely-O'KarroU, ex altera parte, 
testatur, concordatum, concessum, et conventum 
fore inter dictum illustrissimum dominum regem 
nostrum et prefatum Fergonamuin O'Karoll, per 
praesentes^ et predictus Fergonamuin 0*KarolI 



106 IRISH AimQUAIUAH RESEARCHES. 

coBcedkty pro. se et h^r^dibus et succeasoribm 
suis, O'KaroUs^: quod Ipsi, et eorum qiiiiUbet^ qui 
erunt capitanei . dictae p^.tJri6^ Ely O^KqrroU^ du- . 
racitibus vitia suis; naturalibu3, solvaat aut 
solvi faciant, dicto. serenisi^mo regi post^o, baere- 
dibus, et sucoessoribus $m9, AngUas r^gibus^ duo- 
decim denarios de . qu&Ubet camcatS. terras , infra 
dictam patriam Ely O'KaroU, j^t eosden^ .deaaoiios 
soivendosesse subthesauno^ gutgeQpraii recep^o^, 
dicti serenissiaai regis nostri, infra, banc terrani 
Hiberniae^ vel . tal^bus,. quibus iile. ordin^jbit.pro 
receptionew ^uadeixi, # ^d iusun^ dicti \dopiini npi^i 
potentissimi, heredum et successorum suorum, 
simul in anno ad festum sancti Petri ad vincula. 

** Praeterea prefatus Ffergonamnih O'KaroU, 
per presentes^ concedit ; prefato domino xegiv pro 
se, heredibus et suecessoribus suis . O'KanroIISf 
qui erunt capitanei" dictae patriae Ely O'KaroU, 
deputato domino regis pro tempore exiBtesite) 
quam saep^ quotiescunque ipai, et e<»um quiUbet, 
enmt facti, SLve nominati, capitan^, aut facti the 
O'Karolly solvent pro praedictft su^nonoiinatione 
ad eundem dominiun regem centum; et viginti 
bonas et legales marcas. 

" Praeterea idem . Fergonamuin O'XaroU per 
praesentes concedit eidem domino regi, pro se 
haeredibus et successoribus suis 0*KaroIis, quod 



ELY 0*CARR01iL. 107 

ipsi et eprum quilibet, qui erunt 0*Karolis, et 
capitanei praedictae patriae Ely O'Karoll, invenire 
debent regis deputato, pro tempore existenti, ad 
omne commune viagium, anglice vocatum a gene- 
ral hosting^ quod erit constitutum per regis depu- 
tatum et concitium, duodecim bonos et legales 
equestres, et viginti quatuor bonos et legales 
turbarios, ben^ ornatos, secundum formam belli, 
cum victualibus quodraginta dierum, pro dictis 
eque^tribus et turbariis, ac ex sumptibus et 
expensis suis propriis, attenderent et inservirent 
domino deputato ad ejus mandatum et volun- 
tatem. 

• • 

" Insupety dictus O^Karoll concedit, et admittit 
pro se, haeredibus et successoribus suisO' Karoi/sy 
quod ipsi et eorum quilibet, pro tempore exis- 
tente, cum totk quorum potentid, venient ad regis 
deputatum, pro tempore existente, ad quod- 
libet viagiam^ aut parvum iter, quando ipsi et 
eorum orones sic erunt requisiti, post rationabilem 
monitionem, cum victualibus trium dierum ex 
eorum propriis sumptibus et expensis. 

" Ulterius praefatus O'Karoll concedit, pro 
se, haeredibus et successoribus suis, O'Karolls, 
dictae patriae Ely O'KaroU, quod regis deputatus 
pro tempore existente habebit victualia in dicta 
patria Ely-0*Karoll, per coUectionem dicti O'Ka- 

p 



108 iRISH ANTIQUARIAN REdlSARCHES. 

roll^ ibidem pro tempore existente octaginta 
sparrorum^ alias dictorum, octSiginta,gal/og/asseSy 
quolibet anno, per spatium unius quarterii anni 
annuatim, durante vita eorum cqjuslibet* 

" ITEM, praeterea praedictus Fergonamuin 
O'KaroIl, concedit et admittit per praesentes eidem 
serenissimo domino regi quod Dotnihus. Leonar- 
du8 Gray, nunc regis deputatus Hiberniee, 
scindet et scitidi mandabit aliquam arctam viam, 
vocatam a passe, in dict& patriS, Ely O^Karoll, ad 
ejus voluntatem. 

" PRiETEREA praedictus Fergonamuin O'Ka'- 
roll conctedit eidem domino regi facere viam infra 
dictam patriam Ely O'Karoll, quam dictus do- 
minus Leonardus Gray cogitabit bonam pro 
faciliori passagio regis bellicorum ac ceterorum 
regis bellicorum instrumentorum per totam pa- 
triam JET/^ O^Karoil, ex sumptibus et expensis 
suis propriis. 

"In cujus rei testimonium sigilhim dicti Fer- 
gonamuin O^KaroU praesentibus est appensum. 
Datum die et anno suprascriptis." 



* ■ ti 



>T.'. '.' 



I ■ • . • 



^ 



# 



109 



THE CAAH. 

When I stated^ in p. 21, iny hope that at some 
future time I should be en^Wed to give to the 
world an account of the interesting Q'Donell 
relique, called ;" thejiCAAH/' I did not anticipate 
4jiat my wishes in that respect would hav^ been 
so speedily gratified : as many reascms, however, 
concurred to make it highly desirable that a 
description of that curioas piec^ <if antiquity 
shoiild have a . place in this portion of the ^^ Idsh 
Antiquarian Researches^" I .made an applicaiion 
to its present possessor^ Connel O'Donell, Esq. 
for permission to eitamine it, and to describe the 
box and its contents. I cannot sufficiently com- 
mend the politeness and liberality with which that 
gentleman instantly complied with my request, 
by confiding the box to my care, not only with 
aiBple'licence to open and examine its contents, 
/but making it his particular request that I should 
4o iSO, rightly considering that a full description 
of such a piece of family antiquity, would rather 
tend to enhance than depreciate its value. 

TThe opening of Pandora's box did not give 
tnore evils egress, than, a superstitious tradition 



110 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

had declared would be let loose on the heads of 
the devoted O'Donells, whenever the contents of 
the portentous Caah should be developed — when 
the daring hands of antiquarian curiosity should 
venture to violate the repose of the holy reliques 
supposed to be therein contained. Regardless of 
the injunctions and' threats of ignorance^ which 
for more than a century had hermetically sealed 
it up^ under an idea that it contained the bones 
of St. Columkill himself, and notwithstanding these 
frightful forebodings, the box was opened and 
examined in the presence of Sir Capel Molyneux, 
Mr. O'Donell, and myself, without any extraor- 
dinary, or supernatural occurrence, except, indeed, 
-a heavy shower of hail which a strong north- 
west wind drove against the windows of my 
study. 

The contents were found to be a rude wooden 
box, very much decayed, inclosing a MS. on 
vellum, a copy of the antient vuIgate transla- 
tion of the Psalms, in Latin^ of fifty-eight 
membranes. It appeared to have been originally 
stitched together, but the sewing had almost 
entirely disappeared. On one side was a thin 
piece of board covered with red leather, weTy 
like that with which eastern MSS. are bound. 
It was so much injured by damp, as to appear 



THE CAAH. Ill 

almost a solid mass ; by steeping it in cold water 
I was enabled to separate the membranes from 
each other, and by pressing each separately 
between blotting paper, and frequently renewing 
the operation, at length succeeded in restoring, 
what was not actually decayed, to a legible state. 

The MS. was originally about nine inches long 
by six wide. It has been most injured at the 
beginning; all the membranes before the 31st 
Psalm are gone, and the first few of those which 
remain are much decayed, but they gradually 
improve in their condition, and the last thirty 
have only lost their first and last, or top and hot* 
torn lines: the last membrane contains the first 
thirteen verses of the 106th psalm. From the 
depth of the wooden box, there is no doubt but 
it once contained the whole psalter. I have col- 
lated several of the psalms with the Venetian 
Vulgate before mentioned, and find them to 
agree nearly verbatim. It contains the singular 
passage in the 18th verse of the 103d psalm, 
(104th in the English Bible) after 

^^ Illic paseres nidificabunt, 
Erodi domus dux est eorum^"^ . 



* In the Venetian^ — Heiodii domus dux est eorum. 



Hi IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

Plate VIII. is a iro siiiiHe of the writiog of the 
tSrsttm) verses of the lOSd psalm. 



<: * 



.ii s . 



; I have not been able to fia^ out^by it got the 
name of CaaL which b not an Irish won), nor 
have those learned Irish schohK I have con^lted 
discovered a word from which this name has been 
formed, unless it is a corniption of the word c<4f^, 
a box. 



<! . 



The Caah is a bra^ box, nine inches and a 
half long, eight broad, and two thick? Plate VI 1. 
is a» exact represaoitation (except ras to siz^) of 
the top, which consists of a;f)late ^f a|lver„,i*iahly 
gSt and chased, ri vetted to. one of J>ra^s., :It is 
divided into three compa]rtments„ or 4^tber arc^s, 
supported and separated by clustered columns. 
In the centre is a sitting figufC) of St Col^nipba, 
with his hair flowing over his shoulders, bohling 
up his right hand, of which the third and £>urth 
£ngers are folded down; in. his left he has a 
book. The arms of the chair^ofi which he sits^ are 
<juriously carved wi<Ji eagles' h^^ds. In the right 
-compartment is a figure of a bishop in his full 
pontificals, with his mitre, holding up his right 
hand, having the third and fourth fingers folded, 
and grasping a <!rozier with his left hand. In the 



J «' X • ♦J». ^» r 



third compartment is a representation of the pas-- 
sion, with a glory round the head> and, as is usually 
represented, the two Marys, one on each side of 
the cross. Over the arms of the cross are engraved 
two birds, apparently doves;, these figures are 
chased in relief.- Over the right arch is a 
figure (also chased) of an angel throwing up a 
censer, under which is engraved a figure of '^ 
priest, holding something like a basket, and 
above is a grotesque figure, resembling what ia 
called a wyvern in heraldry. Over the left arch 
is a similar figure, of an angel with a cenier^ 
above which is a figure like ia wyvern, but wit'fe a 
human face, and below a griffin^ Round tiie 
whole box is a chiased border of about thre^ 
quarters of an inch wide, on the top and bottoni 
of which are grotesque figufeis of wyverns^ or 
cockatrices, and lions; and on the sides, oak 
leaves and acorns : in each of the corners ^ is a 
setting of rock chrystal t in the centre^ at the tdf^ 
over that part which I shall call the tabernacle, is 
a chrystal setting, surrounded by ten geins^ a 
pearl, three small shells, a sapphire, and ame^ 
thysts, all in the rough. Affixed to the right side 
of the box, at the top, is a silver censer, suspended 
to a. curious flexible chain. On the censer is an 
inscription in Gothic characters, but so much 
defaced as not to be legible. 



third compartment is a representation of the pas-- 
sion, with a glory round the head> and, as is usually 
represented, the two Marys, one oh each side of 
the cross. Over the arms of the cross are engraved 
two birds^ apparently doves ;^ these figures are 
chased in relief. Over the right arch is a 
figure (also chased) of an angeP throwing tijp a 
censer, under which is engraved a figure of i» 
priest, holding something like a basket, and 
above is a grotesque figure, resembHhg what ia 
called a wyvern in heraldry. Over the left arch 
is a similar figure, of an angel with a ceh^r^ 
above which is a figure like ia wyvern,, but wit'fe a 
human face, and below a griffin/ Round the 
whole box is a chiased border of about thre^ 
quarters of an inch wide, on the top and bottoni 
of which are grotesque figufeis of wyverns^ or 
cockatrices, and lions; and on the sides, oak 
leaves and acorns : in each of the corners is a 
setting of rock chrystal \ in the centre^ at the X6i^ 
over that part which I shall call the tabernacle, ia 
a chrystal setting, surrounded by ten geins, a 
pearl, three small shells, a sapphire, and ame^ 
thysts, all in the rough. Affixed to the right side 
of the box, at the top, is a silver censer, suspended 
to a. curious flexible chain. On the censer is an 
inscription in Gothic characters, but so much 
defaced as not to be legible. 



114 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

J am inclined to think the silver plate just 
described, although very antient, to be more mo- 
dern than the sides and other parts of the box, 
to which it is also much inferior in point of work- 
manship ; the brass plate, to which it was rivetted, 
is perforated with many holes, in regular shapes, 
as if some ornaments had been originally fastened 
to it, but which have no use whatever with refer- 
ence to the present plate. For anymore mi- 
nute particulars of the top, I refer to plate VII.- 

; The bottom of the Caah is of brass, plated 
witU; silver, exactly like, to speak heraldically, the 
third and fourth quarters of Dimma's box, see 
plate VI. round the rim or outer plate is the fol- 
lowing mutilated inscription in the Irish charac- 
ter and language : — 

' ' * - i ■ . 

t>ept)At> m ctxtmzA oh c 

^ Pray for Cathbarr O^Doneii, hy xvhom this 
cover was made 



" And for Sitric^ the grandson of Hugh^ who 
made 



THE GAAH. 115 



p a$js t)0 cow^phA cet)4Xt)Yy<x^ Uly 



It) t>ept)^t> 



^^Gave to the abbot oj' Kelts y by whom was 
made 

The sides and ends of the box are of brass,, 
and consist of eight pieces, and four connect- 
ing plates^ joined together like hinges. On the 
front, in the centre, is affixed a semi-circular 
piece of silver workmanship divided into four 
compartmeuttt by three pillars ornamented with 
silver wire, all richly gilt, and which I suppose 
was intended to represent a shrine, or perhs^pa 
the tabemaculum, where the priest deposits the 
host on the altar. At the bottom is a silver plate, 
on which is engraved ). K y* richly gilt. On 
the right of the tabernaculum are four, and on 
the left six oblong compartments, divided in 
pairs, one above . the other, and surrounded by 
silver borders. The centre being richly inlaid 
with pure gold and chased ; the back is also divi- 
ded into fourteen similar compartments, the ten 
interior were also richly inlaid with gold and chas- 
ed ; the gold in-laying of two is gone, and, in 



* The import of this word is by no means certain. 
Kenanus is Kells. . 

Q 



116 IRISH ANTl4t^AinAil AESEARCfiCS. 

ftftir others/ much uQiuNsd-; the fofir'out^r com- 
partments were plated with s&ver dttd chds^d 
in leaves and flowers. Between each pair of 
compartments' are three silver round headed rivets. 
The two end plates have been richly enamelled, 
on which is a silver seipentine pattern^ very 
fitde of the enamd no^ r^nains. At each of the 
four cOmeriS is ahi^llow piUar^y which the top 
df the' box was l^ed to 4he tx^ <#i/th . f<>i]r 
tiiiok pins, with silver heads^ 'ivhi^ were so 
<idntrived as to be moveabtey at j^eftstli^, so ^ ib 
i^ow the tc^ t6 4>etki]ceil dff, 4n ^cleFt^geta;^de§s 
tb thfe U&. idkfkiteik, in^ (Ms jhesjiieety firdk aS ttie 
Othei^ boxiBS. Tfhis %<« has evidenlty t>e(4ti «fe- 
quenfly repaii^. • '—'■■/ -.::'i:':' :■■.■■ :\)-' 



' \ 



CoWnfel (yOofadt in IV2S, to preserve the box, 
had H silver c^M ihdnAe and p^acckl round it, open 
at the top ' and bottom; ^ aid to^ ^ shew them^ but 
which tOtiiUy^hid ^^e ^d^. On this ^eias^lte <^us* 
kAH^ha engl-kv^ th^ 'following inscription :•— 

• rr r • T», ' ".' •' 

-..,,,.■. - . ■ f, ■ ■ • , > - ■ ^ • ■ ■ ■ ,, 

-,.••■/.«• .1 ' . • . %• 

^^ JaCOBO 3^ M. B. R£GE EXULANTE, DA- 
IflEL o'dONEL, lit XTIANISS<> IMP® PR^FECTUS 
ft£I BELLICJE^ HUJUSCE HJEREDITARII SANCTI 
COLUMBANI PIGNORIS, VULGO CAAH DICTI, 
TEGMEN ARGENTEPM^ VETXJST^Ti; CONSUMfTUM, 
RESTAURAVIT ANNO SALUTIS 1723." 



j^ecQifdkig t6^ ^e > Irish' writen?^ th^ O'Dooell 
family^* of which CdluoibkiH wa& ^ a niembeit 
are descended from Conal Golban^ soa of KeiU of 
the nine hostages, monarch of Ireland. The said 
NeiU hkvimg gia^ted the land no^c#ed;the coun- 
ty: of Donegal^ /to^ hi&^ s6n Gonall,^ it' was :deiiomi4> 
nated aft^r him iy;^'^d^^ the, land of Conail^ 
and his descendants were calfed 'Kiinel Conall, or 
the descendants or tribe of Conall, his son, 

' -»^. 7* J"- ^ ''t^'" ■>• 

• «i».j. — »i'. ..'j.. '. , \ . ■ d .' i i X . • , ■ ' I : . , ^ • .„ 

•« » k 

Fergus jCeatin&ddai hadvmai3y. sodbfi, amoAg^ 
wbom» wafifcSfedna^ aiicestor td t&b 0'Don^i% 
bei^ftQrMmintiopi^ and tBi^isi, who by, his 'wife 
^then% idiugbteir <6f iBibia^Mat^N^hi, a priQ.c6 
of the hoi£tet)f I^inster^ was tha:£Eilherof Qolum- 
ba, who wasr bortiin: the year S2L According 
to some accounts his first name was Crimthan, 
wUch ivi^isichatoged to Giolumba on .account of his 
kind and amiabk la^atuites, reseml^Ung a dove ill 
disposijtida. To JthianainewaSi added; Gdl, or Kill, 
as fiftat^diby Bede^jon account of the. number: of 
efaiitches^ or isells, he founded, and to distinguish 
him from o^r saints o{ that.ctaine^ 



1 < 



-The Ufe'-of St Go&imba was written by Adani* 
nan^ and^so byManusQ^'DoneU, prince of Tir^ 
conH^l>4]i the year 1620, and by many others^ 
The most valuable, because authentic and imques-» 



1 18 IRISH ANllQUARlAlf :RESEARCHES. 

tionable information respecting this truly apos- 
tolic character, is to be found in the extracts 
from Bede. 

It is my intention to give only a sketch of so 
much of the history of St. Columba as is neces- 
sary to my purpose, with reference to the subject 
under consideration. 

He founded in Ireland, among many other mon- 
asteries, that oi KenanuSs now called Kelts, in the 
county of Meath, and also the Abbey of Co- 
lumbkii/y in the Island of Hy, or lona, which 
had been granted to him . by the king of the 
Picts ; he was the apostle of the northern Picts, 
whom he converted to Christianity. 

It is mentioned of hini by Adamnan, and 
his other biographers, that he transcribed many 
books. In thp account of St. Columba, Lani- 
gan, in his Irish ecclesiastical history, gives 
the following statement, ch. xii. p. 14. " This 
day was on a Saturday ; and having expressed 
his joy at their being a sufficient store of corn for 
the year, he announced to Diermit, with an in- 
junction of secresy, that said day would be his 
last in the world, as he was to be called away the 
night next after it. The saint then ascended a 



THE GAAH. 119 

small eminence and lifting up his hands, blessed 
the monastery. Thence returning, he sat dow^ 
in a hut, adjoining and forming part of the mon- 
astery, and occupied himself for some time with 
copying part of the Psaltery and having finish-* 
ed a page with part of the 33d Psalm, he stopped 
and said, *^ Let Bait hen write the remainder^' 
He breathed his last early on the morning of 
Sunday the 9th of June 697, in the 76th year of 
his age. 

Lanigan, in chap, xsixii. p. 1. (note 40,) says 
^' Columbkill set a glorious example for his fol- 
lowers, with regard to this occupation, (i. e. tran- 
scribing books.) We find him a short time before 
his death copying a j!?ar/ of the Psalter. Adam- 
nan makes mention of a book of hymns and 
other books, transcribed by him. If we are to 
believe O'Donell he left 300 manuscripts of sacred 
books, in his own hand writing. Baithen, one of 
his chief disciples, and his immediate successor 
in Hy, having written a copy of the Psalter, 
brought it to the saint, telling him, that it was 
necessary to have it revised by one of the bre- 
thren. Columbkill answered, "Why do you 
** give us this trouble ? for there is no mistake in 
" the whole of it, except that one vowel, /, is want- 



120 IRISH ANl!M«IBliir RESEARCHES. 

iogi'':. l%i»^eM,(hov'0dMililr thejiri were ill xen^ 
deriDg mew' traoacmtet coirectir 



It kifmi3Fr'8if^;dto i thai* {her mother - of St}; €o»- 
lambk|Ui8houIchha,Te.i)ecU th6\d'^ughter of< J9itn» 
mac iVoMiV^ ' Bai^gft xi. § tB. 

note ^lHAiVA^^ AdasdiNUEi hst^ 'Mati^m Althnlbam 
^< npmnojfictgas pater LotideRJi^/iW fiavi^. did pa- 
test, Si^tki^ v^ralJitiguBf M (^ee- tibb^ 

second preface, or the other edition caj9. /./ This 
was only a sirname for his real name was DimaJ* 
Dn XitoigdDffbrgot^hatsam^ weri^ a^t imluse 
inlidaDdlui^ tiEie/^e^inie i^Biim Bt^RdJrabe^fi? e 
bundredi lyeavi^^after- the 'peridd va^v^ n^ei^tkKQGfl. 
fo i othen Irish' aatbMStic#th%r pe^soti ^isid^tidctty 
oaUed Dinkt.mUtc ^)QrMt> B4ma:tA^6^ ^<NtttM. 
And'hawt/iiott the . dates reiMlerediit'impoSaibl^^ 
might ^vei been;Jed/ to suppose tbi§'Pimina the 
some person (wido wroti^ thebtber book:-:: 

Whedien this iPsalter is that which was; begun 
by St Cokanbkili just before hi&de^ith, aiid fimsh^ 
ed by Baithen^ or another copy, written entirely 
by the saint himself, is a question of difficult solii- 
tion,' but that it was written by him -there are 
good grounds to believe. 

Colonel Daniel O'Donell in the inscription on 



-TBM 



im 



the silver case which he placed round the box in 
1723 — calls it the " hereditary pledge of St. Co-^ 
lumbanus.** *^ Hereditarii Sancti Columbani 
pignoriSi^ and the Caah has always been handed 
down in the O'Donell family, as containing the 
reliques of the saint 



1S2 IRISH ANTIQUARUN RESEARCHES. 



0*DONELL. 



A brief sketch of the history of the pow- 
erful and princely family of O'Donell, (whose 
chiefs have preserved and handed down to the 
present possessor, the hereditary pledge of their 
great and apostolic relative, St. Golumbkill) will 
not, I trust, be considered irrelevant to our sub- 
ject, especially as it supplies valuable information 
at many interesting periods of Irish history, and 
shews the kind of allegiance and service demanded 
from the Irish princes by the kings of England at 
different times, which will be found to be rather 
the assistance of an ally, than the service due by 
a vassal. 

Sedna, the son of Fergus Ceanfadda, before 
mentioned, and uncle to St. Golumbkill, was 
ancestor to the sept of the O'Donells. 

Cinnfaeladh, the fourth in descent from him, 
had three sons, Muldoon, from whom the O'Do- 
nells, Muriartach, or Muirchertach, ancestor to 
the O'Boyles, and Fiamhan, of the O'Doghertys 
of Innishowen. 



Munertach^ the eldest sou of Ginnfaeladh^ 
theseventh m descent from Sedna; was father of 
Dalagh, (from whom the O'Donells are ' some- 
times^ in the Irish ahii^s, styled Siol na Daliagh, 
the sept of Daly, or ODalys) Enaghaine, his 
eldest sOB^ .was father of Donell^ from whom 
ti»is ^^^ "^took its simame ; hh gr^t grandtston^ 
Gattibarr, was chief of the family in th^ reig;ii of 
Brien Boiroimhe, was the first who assumed the 
name of .Q'Donell, as chief, and his subjects and 
sept, fpll6we(| his exBjnple, Cathbarr OTDonell, 
son of Giolleichrist,, spn of the aforesaid Cathbarr, 
was thie chief who had the case, now called the 
Caah, niade to preserve the psalter of St. Col- 
umba, as appears by the iiiscriptioxi on jthe bb^tom 
given in p. 1 1 4. The seventh in descent from him 
was Donell More, or Donell, the great, king of 
Tirconnell from 1241 to 1264, a warlike and 
successful prince. The 7th of July, 1244, he was 
requested, by letter from Henry III. king of 
England, to join the lord justice of Ireland, and 
his forces, which were to proceed tolhe kfiig*s 
armj^ in Scotland. The letter is as follows : — 

*'Rex G'Dohel, Regi de Terciinnell, salutem. Cum 
provocante nos injuria Regis Scotiae, jam nos preparaveniimd 
insurgere in ipsum, pro pluribus traiisgressionibus quas 
nobis fecit vuloiacendis, ^i ipsas grafl^ nobis emendare volu- 
erity 4e dilecHone yestra confidentes, quod in hac expeditione.. 
nostrd^ anxiUuin vestrum nobis dene.gore non velitis, Vobis 

R 



124 IRISH ANTIQUARTAI^ RESEARCHES. 

mandamus quatenus una cum jusliciario nostro Hibemis, 
et aliis fidelibus nostris HibernisBy qui in proximo^ ad partem 
Scotiae venturi simt, ad inimicos nostros ibidem gravandos, 
talem et tarn potentem succursum nobis impendere velitis, 
personaliter veniendo cum ipsis bona gente muniti, quod in 
necessitate vestra ad nos confidentius confugere debeatis. 
Nosque, pro succursu vestro adpreces nostras nobis tmpen^ 
dendo grattam quam a nobis peiieritis libentiiis vobis tenea-^ 
mus imperiiri cum speciali gratictrum aciione. Teste Rege 
apud Stannford septimo die Julii."* 

Similar letters were directed to Phelim O'Conor, 
Jilio quondam Regis, O'Neill, O'Reilly, O'Cahan, 
Magennis, Mac Gilmurri, OTlinn, O'Brien, Mac 
Carthy, O'FIaherty, O'Kelly, and other Irish 
chiefs. Here the king promises a quid pro quo ; 
if O'Donell assists him in this juncture, he will be 
the more ready to render him service in return. 

Near the end of his days, Donell More re- 
signed the government, and retired to the monas- 
tery of Easroe, where he assumed the habit of a 
friar, and there died. 

His grandson, Hugh O'Donell, prince of 
Tirconnell, was summoned 22d March, 1313, as 
follows : — 

^^ Rex dilecto sibi Eth O'DonnuId, Duci Hibemicorum de 

-«»— — i— — ■ ■!■ ■ ■■ I I I I II ■■ n — — i— — 

* Close roll in the Tower of London. 



o'donell. 126 

Tyrconily salutem. Quia gumiis in proficiscendo versus partes 
Scotiae ad rebellionem inimicorum Scotorum et rebellium 
nostrorum cum dei adjutorio reprimendam ; Nos, de strenui- 
tate vestra confidentes^ yos rogamus attente quateuus ad nos 
ad partes praedictas adeo viriliter et potenter quo poteritis 
personaliter accedatis, vel aliquem nobilem de genere vestro 
inittatis^ prout dijectus et fidelis noster Theobaldus de Verdun, 
Justiciarius noster Hibemiae, et dilectus clericus noster Alex- 
ander Le Conners, vel unus eorum, vos requirent vel requiret, 
ex parte nostra, cum per dilectum et fidelem nostrum Rich- 
ardum de Burgo, comitem Ultoniae, quem capitaneum horai- 
num ad arma partium illarum constituimus, ex parte nostrd 
fueiitis praemuniti, et hoc sicut nos €U) commodum et honorem 
nostrum et vesirum diligitis nullatenus omittatis. Teste 
Rege apud Westmonasterium 22 die Martii." 

Similar letters were . directed to other Irish 
chiefs. On the 14th of March, in the following 
year, another letter was directed to him as fol- 
lows : — 

** Rex dilecto sibi 0*Donyl, Duci de Tyrconill, salutem. 
Qu^edam negotid, nos et statum regni nostri intime contin- 
gentia, dilecti et fidelibus nostris Bdmundo le Rotiller, 
Justiciario, Richardo de Bedfordia, Cancellario, et M agistro 
Waltero de Islep, Thesaurario, nostris Hibemiae, injunximus 
vobis, ex parte nostrd, ore tenus exponenda, vos rogante«, 
quatenus eisdem Edmundo, Richardo, et Waltero, vel duobus 
eorum, in hiis, quae vobis dicunt, ex parte nostra, super negotiis 
antedictis, Mem velitis cr edulam adhibere, et circa directio- 
nem et expeditionem eorundem, sicut de vestra confidimi^s 
amicitia, opem, et operam apponere efficaces, ita quod ves* 
tram benevolentiam possimus in effectu operis experiri, et 



136 lUISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

qaod voblr exinde- in vestils angendia profeotibiiB j£teb«amti$ 
q)ecialiiis obligari. Teste Rege : aj^d Westmonas^t^iiuaci 
l4o die MartiL" 

This letter is directed to the dux of Tirconndl. 
By this we sfaodld understand^ general^ or leader^ 
and chiefs not duke. In after tiipes, the O'DonelLi^ 
and the other Irish chiefs, were called, by the 
kings of England, lords, and captains jof their 
nationr^Ciapkaneisuai.nationis. 

Tirlogh aii Thionaj (ofthe witie) became chief 
of his sept in 1393. He took upon him the habit 
of fiiar in the monastery of Easroe, where he 
died in 1422. He had eighteen spng : Shane, the 
eldest, having given ofience to his father^ was 
banished^ and settled in.^ the county of Up- 
perary, where his descenda,nts still exist. 

Nlall Garbh, second son ofTirlogh^ Fhiona, 
succeeded his father, as chief, A. D. 1422. 
During his chieftaincy,^ he received much op- 
position from his' brother, Ne^E^chtan, and was 
in a state of continued warfare with the English, 
by whom he wadt at length inade prisoner, and 
delivered into the hands of the lord justice. Sir 
Thomas Stanley, A. D. 1434* Jn 1439, he was 
carried to the Isle of Man, for the purpose of 
being ransomed, by his friends, from the English, 
and, accordingly, one hundred marks were paid 



folr liii^l&dedom, btt he died in captivity tbe same 

y-ear. > ■ - ^ 'l' 

' * • '• ■' -■ ■ • . ' -..■■■ '■'.-' 

Nea^htan, during the captivity of his brother, 
Niall Garbh, exercised the authority of prince <Jf 
Tlrconnell, and upon his death in 1439, was 
acknowledged chief. He was killed, A. D. 1452^ 
by Donall and Hugh Roe, the two sons of hia 
brother, Niall Garbh. His death is thus tecordeld 
in the annals of the four masters, under the year 
1452 : — ^^ Neachtan O'Donell, son of Tirlogh an 
Fhiona, lord of Tirconnell, Kineal Moain, Innis- 
howen, and the adjacent dii^tricts, a vailiant aiid 
powerful protector, the -chief dispenser of war and 
peace to the nortb, was killed bjr the som of his 
brother, Niall, in the gloom of the night of Ihe 
feast of St. Brendan, for he had before th^n 
banished from Tirconnell those sons of Niall. 
Neachtan was sixty years old at the time he was 



killed.^' 



f. ■ H 



Rory, soti of Neachtan, A.D. 1462, by the did 
of his partizansy set himself up as chief, in which 
he was opposed by Donell, son of Niall Garbh. 

Donell, son of Nialb Garbh, was elected chief 
of Tirconnell, in the year 1454, in opposition to 
Rory, son of Neachtan; but shortly after he was 
treacherously made prisoner in his own house, by 



138 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

O'Doherty, and confined in the Castle of the 
Island. When Rory heard of this, he went with 
a strong force to attack the castle where Donell 
was confined, with only a few to guard him. 
Rory burned the gates of the castle, and set the 
stairs on fire, Donell begged his keepers to take 
off his irons, they complied with his request, 
and he ran up to the top of the castle. Rory saw 
him, and waited only for the flames to abate, 
that he might enter the castle and put him to 
death. Donell, seeing Rory below, took a large 
stone from the battlements, and threw it down, 
which, striking the top of his helmet, broke his 
skull, and he instantly died. Donell was after- 
wards killed by the sons of Neachtan O'Donell, 
aided by O'Neill and Maguire, on the 18th of 
May, 1466. 

Tirlogh Cairbreach, son of Neachtan, and 
brother of Rory, became prince of Tirconnell on 
the death of Donell, 1466. He was deposed in 
1461, by Hugh Roe, son of Niall Garbh, bro- 
ther of the above mentioned Donell. 

Hugh Roe became chief, A. D. 1461. He was 
deposed on Friday, 7th of the calends of June, 
1497, in consequence of a disagreement between 
his sons. His son. Conn, was set up in his place, 
on the following Tuesday, against his brother, 



o'donell. 12^ 

Hugh Oge. Conn was killed on the 19th of 
October following, and Hugh Roe again became 
chief, which honor he held till his death in the 
castle of Donegall, on Friday, the 6th of the ides 
July, 1606, in the seventy-eighth year of his age, 
and the forty-fourth year of his chieftaincy. 

Hugh Oge, son of Hugh, succeeded his father, 
A. D. 1606. In 1610, he went on a pilgrimage to 
Rome, and left his son Manus in charge of his 
principality. He spent seventeen weeks in London 
on his passage to Rome, and seventeen weeks 
more on his return, in the year 1612, on both 
which occasions he was entertained .with great 
honors and respect by king Henry. In 1613, he 
led an army into Scotland, to assist the king 
thereof. After taking a religious habit in the 
monastery of Donegall, he died on Thursday, 6th 
July, 1637, and was there interred with great 
pomp. This Hugh Oge was also called Hugh 
DufT, or Black Hugh. 

Manus O'Donell, son of Hugh Oge, alias Hugh 
Duft^ succeeded his father in 1637. In 1643, he 
went, accompanied by his brothers, Enaghaine 
and Donogh, to Dublin, upon the invitation of 
the lord justice and council, where they were 
made prisoners 3 but, upon their submission, 
and entering into terms of agreement with the 



130 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN < RESEARCHES. 

govemment^ they were soon after lit;>erated; In 
1555^ he was made prisoner by bis scm^ Calvagh^ 
£^d kept in confinement in the castle of Lifier, 
until his deathy on the;9th of Februaiyy 106a. 
H<8 was buried in the tomb of his ancestpn^-in 
the monastery of BonegadL- By bis. £M .wife he 
had Calvagh, hereafter mentioned, and two 
daughters. Rose, wife of MaUConiielaght O'Neill, 
suid' Margery^ wife o£ Shane O'Neill, caU^ Shane 
a * ^iomuSy orJhe proud^ aoo of Con BaiCcagh,, f^rl 
of l^)rrbne. Manus had/ issue,: by liis ^^eo^d iH^xfe, 
l^owaa J daughter ;i of L^Sbatie Magpir% Iprd ^pf 
£}iinisbiUe^ia. Eosi M^aus ^ge ; ^^nd by his third 
m^^Jx^QXy sasteir cid[)Gon Baccagh Q'iNmlljji Q^i^of 
Tyrdhe,e he had! iiugh,v i^er^i^^ck Sir ;|Iught 
Qlilira^ aad Manns«: : - . V u. > ;,. .; . i-^y. 

^ - Hugh O'Dbnell^ uthe .ddfcst . sonj \>y , Ijh^ 4bird 
wif&i Joan nyrNeUl, although' jiMPOipr ti!:i^;Calyagh, 
Wjia^ihe ancestor o£ by^ far« Jhe .most distinr 
guished branch ; he was knighted by ; Sir ^ Henry 
Sidney, lord deputy of Ireland, 4th April, 1567, 
alt fiallyloghri^ the ,earl of Cla^rickard's house, 
aiid becamfe chief of Tirqcmell on th^ dea^h oLhis 
brother Cialvagh, in 1668^* and "iparried Mary, 



* S^e his appointmeiit, or rather confitmalibh, as dhief of 
his nation, IS74; by the English go vetmnent, at the ^d of 
ihib article. .. < 



or, according^ to some, Inghindubk (Inneendu^) 
daughter 6f James Macdcmald^ lord of the isle», 
by whoin he had four sons, Hugh Roe O'DonelH 
hereafter m^itioned } Rory y • afterwarda ereqiisd 
earlofBrconaeU; Manui»; and Galvagh^' orCaf&r 
O^Donell, of Caf&rsGOnce^ in thecounfy of Done* 
gall, i^ho was attainted, with hi$ brother Rc»7^ 
by act of pariiaiiient miQ Iri. This^ C)|lvag]|^> mai^- 
ried' RoS€^ O'Dohenty, ( who^ after his/ dea<h^ be^ 
eame the wife of the cdebrated genecait of the 
Irish ardiy, Owen 0*INeifl)'by whpmvbe had two 
sons, CafTer Oge, and Hugh^ which lasl^ was 
buried with his mother at Brussels. The daughters 
of Sir^ Mtigh O^Don^ were, Joan, ^ wi&. of the 
cefebrated Hugh^ earl of Tyrone j . i - ihm tl y first 
wife of O'Rorke,, and afterwards of Gerald Nu^ 
gent^ brother of Rifehardr lord* Delvin ji -r- 



' J». ' t ly 



wife of her coui^n, Niall Qarbh O'Donell ; and 
— — :-^, wife of Comiac O^Neill^ brother of tljiigh 
earl of Tyrone. Sir Hugh O'Donell; was always 
fkithM' to tbeEriglii^* gbvermnent. On the rebel- 
lion of his son, Hugh ^Roe 0!Dondl, in 1593, 
he resigned, or was deposed^ from his government, 
and shortly after died. 

r , ■ • . 

* ; ' . , * ■ • M , . . . J ^ 

AaHugh' Roe^ otherwise jK^ Hugh^ O'Doneli, 
prince- of Tirconnell, -was one of the most extraor- 
dinary men that Ireland, x)r any other coimtry 
has produced, I shall not apologize for entering 



132 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

somewhat at length into his history — it forms 
that of Ireland during his life ; besides the follow- 
ing account is derived from a MS. in the Irish 
language, written by the historian of the O'Do- 
nells^ and consequently the Irish account of 
those transactions. Red Hugh was bom about 
the year 1571, and given in fosterage to the 
O'Dogherty of the day, chief of his tribe,, who^^ in 
common with the O'Donells,. and several other 
illustrious northern famUies, was descended from 
Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the nine hostagiBS, 
monarch of Ireland. 

In the early infancy of Red Hugh, he displayed 
considerable signs of genius and independent 
spirit, which increased with his years. The frame 
and symmetry of his body was of the finest 
description ; before he attained the age of fif- 
teen, his talents, his spirit, his courage, his 
literary acquirements, and the beauty of his per- 
son; were the admiration of all that knew him, 
and were the subject of conversation all through 
Ireland. He had also expressed a decided animo- 
sity to the English Government. This report of 
the young O'Donell was carried to Sir John 
Perrott, then lord justice of Ireland. Jealousy 
and fear of the extraordinary qualifications of the 
presumptive heir of the chief of Tirconnell, were 
excited to the liighest degree ; and although his 



6*D0NELL. 133 

father, Hugh, the then chief, was at that time 
friendly to the English, and their ally against the 
O'Neills, they determined upon getting young 
Hugh into their hands, by fair or foul meanis. 
But, as they saw no chance of securing him by 
friendly measures, they devised a plan to seize 
upon him, by a piece of treachery, unworthy 
of Sir John Perrot, and disgraceful to his go- 
vernment. 

To. put this design into execution, about 
Michaelmas, in the year 1687, they fitted out a 
ship, in which they stowed a quantity of Spanish 
wines, and other foreign liquors, and directed the 
captain to sail to any of O'DoneU's harbours, 
where they thought he would be most likely to 
accomplish their object, and there, under the ap- 
pearance of Spanish merchants, offer their wines 
for sale, and endeavour to decoy the young 
O'Donell on board their vessel, secure his person, 
and bring him a prisoner to Dublin. In obedience 
to this command, the vessel put to sea, and made 
a safe voyage to Lough Swilley, in Tirconnell, 
where they came to an anchor, a short distance 
from the land, opposite the castle of Dundonald, 
near the church of RathmuUin. 

Upon the arrival of the ship, the captain sent 
some of his people on shore, disguised as Spa- 



I«d4 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

niards, wkh a quantity of wines, which they exhi- 
bited as samples of what they said they had 
on board to, dispose of. The people of the 
fortress proceeded immediately to traffic ; they 
were received in the most friendly manner, and 
dr^k until they became intoxicated. The people 
of the adjoining district followed the ei^ample 
of those of the fortress, and were sin^ilarly 
treated. ^ ... 

ISj^Thile these things were goipg, op, Hiagh 
Roe, acc<Hnpanied by several of the young 
nobles of the country^ cdm^ on a visit to Mac 
Sweeny, the lord of th^ castle. , Upon which, the 
8pie$ Instantly retmmed to. their vessel with the 
intelligence. Bu^ before thdr departune, Mac 
Sweei^y, anxious to treat, as respectfully , as be 
coukly Ibc son of his chief, and bis^ associates, sent 
to purchase some of the wine from the pretended 
merchants. Th^y jr^ed, they bad no m^ve 
wine tm ehpre witb ibem^ por did th^ injtend^ tp 
land any more ; but added, if the youo^ gentle- 
men>fWho k^ aniv)e4» 'WOi()d accompaiiy them to 
their tsh^, tbey should receive ^very j^speetM 
attention, and be^ entertained with vviae as Ipng as 
they chose to remaiui. - 






Young O'Donell was desir<)[uai i^to gOipnJ>qs^d 
ther^vessQl, sMi as Mae^weeny ^^ad Mt nvine to 



O*D0NELL. 135 

entertain him, he advised him to do so. Thb 
advice was followed, and Red Hugh, and his com-* 
panions, aecoinpftnied by Mac Sweeny, took a 
boat, and rowed to the ship. The captain, per- 
ceiving that young O'Donell was in the company, 
welcomed tiiem^i^ but would suffer him, Mac 
Sweeny> and A few others\only^ to go on -board 
They were brought down to the cabin^ and vnnes 
and strong «bink placed before them ; and, whilst 
^y cheer&illy regaled themsd vea, their arms 
were stolen away from them, the hatches si^it 
down, and being, by a number of well-armed men, 
driven into a comer of the cabin, they were ob- 
liged to surrender, themselves prisoners. Thus 
was ithe desi^of Sir ^ John Perrott and the En- 
glish >couociliiccomplisbed. ^ Bui^ though it was 
lauded by the biogi^aphers of the lord justice, -as 
a2i instance rof.^eai wisdom, wfaei^by one, win) 
might be a troublesome* e&eniy'ti) the Queos, was 
secured and brought under the power of the Eng- 
lish goveonment^ withoutM^ygreater ea^pense than 
a few botdes <]tf^wine^iti was, eventuaUy^^ most in- 
jorioius to the Engli^ inte^st ia Jrelim4 ^ ^t was 
Uie fineaosj of driviBg them, idmost iion^letely out 
0f ) mster and the jMrth-of Connaught; and 
the>eaAise of.^he invasion of Ireland by th^ Spa- 
niards^ in tbe.yeax 1601. 



'*.» V. . ' V • • --V r :•. <•-<:• 



l»... i j;» *, ».'»♦• ^'jl -«'>'- 



Afi soon 4U| the captaw had got RedHi^h, 



Id6 IRISH ANTIQUARUN RfiSEARCHES. 

then not exceeding sixteen years c^ age, in hiB 
power, he stood out to sea. The people on the 
shore, having no boats or vessels, were obliged to 
remain idle spectators of the treachery practised on 
their beloved young chief; but before they had 
completely cleared Lough Swilly, Owen Oge, 
Mac Sweeny na ttuaghy (of the battles axes) sent 
on board, offering a ransom for O'Donell, and 
pledges and hostages for his liberation ; but the 
vessel cleared the harbour and proceeded to 
Dublin, where she arrived in safety. 

Upon the arrival of Hugh Roe in Dublin, he 
was brought before the council, who had been 
specially summoned for that purpose. Here he 
underwent a long examination, after which he 
was committed a close prisoner to a tower in 
the castle of Dublin, where he was treated with 
great severity and loaded with irons. 

4 

Young 0*Donell continued in captivity for the 
space of three years and three months. Towards 

the end of the yeat 1691, he, and some of his 

« 

fdlow-prisoners, before they were locked up in 
their cells for the night, found means to get off 
their irons, and, by the aid of a rope, descended 
from the top of the tower down upon the draw- 
bridge, and made their escape. They directed 
their course to the mountains, and had reached a 



o'donell. I9f7 

wood at the foot of the retS mouDtaln, Fassaroe^ 
fFasachruadh J before morning. Beyond this 
Hugh was unable to proceed. His old worn- 
out shoes had fallen from his feet^ which were 
dreadfully bruised and lacerated by the rough 
stones, and the fursh and briars of the mountains 
over which he had travelled in the night. Here 
his companions, for their own safety^ were, reluc- 
tantly, compelled to leave him. He had, however, 
with him a faithful servant who had assisted him 
and his companions in their escape. This man he 
sent to a gentleman in that neighbourhood, named 
Felim 0*Toole, who had been a fellow prisoner 
with him in the castle of Dublin, but who had 
made his peace with the English government, and 
procured his liberty. Before his liberation he had 
professed great friendship for Red Hugh, and they 
pledged themselves to mutually assist each other 

whenever they had the power. From this person 
O'Donell now expected protection, and to claim it 
he sent his servant to him. Felim O'Toole pro- 
mised the required assistance ; but, upon con- 
sulting with his brother, they were of opinion, if 
they assisted O'Donell, they would bring upon 
themselves the vengeance of the English Govern- 
ment. They, therefore, agreed that it would be 
better for them to seize upon him, bring him a pri- 
soner to Dublin, and again give him into the hands 
of the council. This they executed, and poor 



IdiS IRISH ANTliiUARfAN RESEARCHES. 

Ifeed Hugh* agaiihfeund himiBelf ih' ¥ke^ power of his 
eneimes^ ^fi4io ^tgaiii loaded him. wttti chatDs^ ^md 
coBsigend ki& to a morefig6rou8 knpiisoiim^t. 

In this confifiem^t he>ccmtimied'ianother jeap; 
but, iat Christmas^ in 1592, he again fbimd means 
to tnake" hid esdape^' aocompanied by > Hemiy 
and Arthlir^'tWo ^ns of Johny sci^^ Gonn 
Bacaigh O^Netl, who weie Ms fbHow prisoners. 
In thiis escape they were assisted^ by a trusty ser- 
vant who^ promised' ta meet ' th6m: when ft^ 
should get^Oiifr of 4he eastler By th0 means of 
thiid servant they ^X)cu*^ aVc^i^^d with ki*t 
theAiselves down through ^ funh^I crf'the privy> in 
the wall' of the tower, mto the- Poddlte, which river 
in9(^los(ed the castle on that^side. On getting clear 
of* th^ city, they made towards the moanti^nSy 
and again reached^Fassaroe ; bnt he tookcari^ not 
W ' entrust hilziself again in the hahds of the 
(yToofes. In the darkness of the night, and in 
the swiftness of their flight, they sepateted ^rom 
Henry (yN^iil, the elder of th6 two brothers. 
Thbugh much grieved -at this, they^ still continued 
their flight, intending to proceed; if possible, to 
GleisLnn MaoMghra (Qlfenn Molaur) the strong hold 
of Feagh M^c Hugh ©'Byrne, then in arms 
against the English. At night there was. a 
heavy rain, Whidh changed to snow, driven by a 
high, piercingly cold, wind; Arthur O'Neill was 



O^DONBLI.. 13d 

heavy and corpulent, and became so fatigued that 
he was unable to walk — ^y oung O^Donell and his 
servant were, therefore, obliged to carry him as 
far as they were able. But they isooii became 
tjred, and were compelled to stop under the shelter 
of a projecting rock. From this^' place they sent 
ttie servant to Gl^nn Mol9,ur to inform Feagh lifac 
Hiigh of their situationV Feagh, upon hearing 
the servant^s report, sent some of his people with 
dot^es and refreshments to their' relief ; but, upon 
coming to the place Where th0 servant had feft 
them, they could notfinti them, they being comi- 
pletely covered tkp "wijh the snow. Arthui: 
O'Neill was dead, and Red Hugh was much 
exhausted. At length he recoveried a little, and 
0*Byrne*s men' carried him with thend to Glenn 
Molaur, where he remained for a considerable time 
before he was able to mount a horse to proceed to 
his own country ; his feet having been so severely 
frost-bitten, he lost the use of his two great toes, 
which he never after recovered. 



■ \ 



"When he was able to ride, he and his faithful 
servant, Torlogh buidhe (yellow) O'Hogan, were 
supplied 1 with horses by Feagh Mac Hugh, 
who also sent a troop of horse to pass them 
safely aci'oss the LifFey ; for the ^ English, to 
prevent their getting to the North, had placed 
guards at. all the bridges and fords of that river, 

T 



HO IRISH ANTiQUAl^lAN RCSEARCHITS, 

wherever they could. The fugitives, however, 
got safely over, and through Meath, to the 
Boyne, near Drogheda, which river they crossed 
in a fisherman's boat, as the town was in posses- 
sion of the English. The fishennan^ having 
farried them over, returned for their horses, 
which he brought through Drogheda to where he 
had left them on the north side of the river. After 
rewarding the fisherman, they remounted, and 
coming to Dundalk, passed through the town at 
full gallop. They «then went on to Dungannon, 
the residence of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tirone, 
who kindly, but privately, for fear of the English, 
entertained them for four days and nighta. 
Thence they proceeded to the borders of Lough 
Erne, to the residence of Hugh Maguire, who was 
the attached friend of Red Hugh, and his brother 
by the mother's side. From the mansion of his 
half-brother, young O'Donell went in a boat to 
Athseanaigh (now Ballyshannon) in the castle of 
which, his father, Hugh O'Donell, prince of Tir- 
connell resided. 

Upon the arrival of red Hugh in his native 
country, he was elected chief of his name, by 
the heads of all the different septs of the 
O'Donells, the O'Doherty's, O'Boyles, Mac 
Sweeney's, and others, at the request of old 
Hugh O'Donell, he being advanced in years^ and 



O^DONELL. 141 

having surrendered the government of his princi- 
pality in favour of his son. 

It would far exceed the limits of an essay of 
this kind to enter into a detailed account of the 
attacks made on the territory of Tirconnell by the 
English, at the commencement of Red Hugh's 
management of the affairs of that country, or of 
the repulses which he invariably gave them, or the 
assaults he made upon the English, and their 
Irish allies, in return. These highly interesting 
events will be givten .at large in the " History 
OF Red Hugh O'Donell/' now translating 
by Mr. Edward O'Reilly, for publication. I 
shall, however, mention some of the most im- 
portant acts and transactions of Red Hugh's 
Ufe :— 

A. DU 1692. In February, this year, the 
English, under captains Willis and Convill, hav- 
ing taken possession of the convent of Donegal, 
and the neighbouring country, and possessed 
themselves of a castle belonging to O'Boyle; 
Red Hugh expelled them both, and compelled 
them to leave all their baggage, &c. behind 
them. 

On the^ 3d of May this year, he was solemnly 
inaugurated and proclaimed the O'Donell ^ shortly 



142 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN ItESEARCHES. 

after which he led his troops three times into Kinel 
Owen, (Tir Owen) against Tirlogh Luineagh 
O^Neill, then chief of his tribe, and in favour with 
the English, who abetted him against Hugh, 
EarL of Tirone, his kinsman, of whom thej 
English were particularly suspicious. In these 
excursions . O'Donell defeated the O'Neills, and 
their English . auxiliaries,^ wherever he m^t them^i 
and i carried off great numbers of cattle and 
0^1* treasures. In the >third excursion he burped, 
cm the 18th of July, thie town of Strabane, al- 
though .ith&. castle was then garrisoned by a 
strong English force^ who did not venture out 
tb oppose him* , : > 

X ... 

In the satne year the Earl of Tirone brought 
about a reconciliation between O'Donell and Sir 
William Fitz- William, who was then Lord 
Justice, and head of the British Government in 
Ireland. The Lord Justice went to Dundalk to 
ineet him, as, O'Donell declared he would npt go 
farther south, or put . himself in the power- pf the 
{bglish.^ < After his > reconciliation with the Xiord 
Justice, all tixose of his people! who had i^tood hi 
opposition to him, immediately submitted to his 
control. 



.in .. , 



! 693 . In January, this year, . he , determined 
upton again attaicfkihg Tirio^h Lirinea^h O'Neill, 



J .^ N^ 



^'donell. ; lAp- 



to expel him from his principality, aDd compel 
him to resign the title of O'Neill to Hugh, Earl of 
Tirone:. In tjiis he was successful. In May, 
Tirlogh Luineagh renounced his connexion with 
th^ English, and consented that Hugh O'Neill 
should have the title of O'Neill; and, at the same 
time, he entered into an agreement of peace and 
concord with Red Hugh. O'Donell being now at 
peace with Tirlogh Luineagh, reduced the whole 
province pf Ulster to acknowledge his superiority, 
and to pay him tribute. 

He sent the R. C. bishop of Killala, as his 
ambassador, to the King of Spain, to request his 
assistance to expel the English from Ireland. 
At tl^e same time he sent messengers into Scot- 
land tp hire mercenaries to assist him in the 
execution of his designs; and he caused his half 
brother Hugh Maguire, to make an incursion 
into tljie prpvince of Connaught, where he defeated 
Sir Richard Bingham, the governor of the pro- 
vin^e ; on . which . occasion , a young English 
nobleman, name4 William Clifford, and several 
of the governor's ^yalry, were killed. In revenge 
fpjr^this, ^ Richard, pipgham^ at the comn^and of 
the Lord I^ieutenapt, with all the forces of Con- 
n^.Ught> Joiqed by those of Leinster, Mealth, and 
Munster, under the command of the Earl O'Neill, 
and the Marshal of Newry, marched to the East 



144 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

side of Lough Erne, to destroy Maguire's country. 
To oppose these, Maguire collected all the forces 
he could, and, on the 6 th of October, as the 
English attempted to cross the river at the ford of 
Lambs, a dreadful battle ensued betweea them, in 
which Maguire was defeated, with great loss. 
After which the English plundered the country, 
and left behind them a strong body of their 
troops, with Conor Maguire, who was then in 
contention with the chief, Hugh Maguire. 

A. D. 1694. The Lord Justice having col- 
lected, in the beginning of this year, a great 
army, unexpectedly attacked and seized on the 
castle of Enniskillen, and plundered the country ; 
after which he retired, leaving a strong garrison 
in the castle. As it Avas* 0*Donell who had 
induced Maguire to attack the English in Con- 
naught, which brought upon him the vengeance 
of the Lord Justice, he resolved on going to his 
assistance. He therefore assembled his forces, 
and, in June, marched to Eimiskillen, where 
he laid siege to the castle, which made a vigo- 
rous defence. The siege continued from the be- 
ginning of June until the middle of August, and 
the English sent a great force with intent to relieve 
the castle, but they durst not approach O'Doneirs 
army. In the mean time, 0*Donell received 
intelligence of the arrival of his Scotch auxiliaries 



O^DONELL. 145 

* 

in Lough Foyle ; as it was of importance that 
he should meet theoQ, he left the principal part of 
his forces to continue the siege, and, with only 
one large troop of horse, went to Lough Foyle 
to meet the Scotch. 

The English, being informed of O'Donell's 
departure, advanced to the relief of the castle of 
Enniskillen ; Maguire hearing of their march, 
led a strong party of his own and O'Donell's 
troops to oppose them. The two parties met at a 
ford, where a desperate battle ensued, in which 
the English^ and such of the Irish as had 
joined with them, suffered a signal defeat, 
leaving behind them, to the victors, most of 
their horses, and all their baggage and provi- 
sions. From the great quantity of biscuits 
taken here from the English, the ford obtained 
the name of the ford of biscuits* Immediately 
after this battle, the castle was surrendered to 
the Irish, and the English army dispersed. 

O'Donell, having now no enemies in the 
field to oppose him, dismissed his Scotch 
auxiliaries in the month of October, with an 
agreement that they should again come to him 
in the beginning of the next summer. 

A. D. 1695. After the surrender of the 



146 TRTSH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

^airtle of Enniskilleny. hy the English, in the 
year 1594, Red Hugh remained quiet until the 
Qlontfa of March/ 159& Iii the meantime, 
^eat numbers of the Irish nobility chid gentry 
of the provinee of Connaught, who hrtd been 
plundered by the English, resorted to him, 
begging his assistance to recover their estates, 
and revenge themselves upon their enemies. 
He collected all : h» forces early in ^ring, 
and voh the 3d of March .crossed, with liis 
troof)s, the river Samer, (Erne) on his way into 
the province of Gonnaught ; and on the 6th, 
at day-break he arrived at Elphin. Here 
he dispersed parties over the country to 
4rive off the cattle of the English, and of 
-suefa of the Irish as had adhered^to them* 
"These 'scouring parties - returned to him aboii^t 
noon of the same day, with an immenw 
iMn^ber of caUle ^ aM,' at the first; light 
nekt morttiilg, hr set out with his army^ahd 
prey on the \^ay to his own countfy,: by H 
different route. 

' Sir Richard Bingham, the governor of the 
province of Coilnaught, who was then in Ros- 
common, with .a great, number of English 
troops, had liotixje of the Mvance of O^Donell, 
and sent orders to the officers commanding 
the English ^gsorrisons in ' Sligo, Ballymote, 



O^DONELL. 147 

Newport, the monastery of Boyle, and Gluain- 
na-Cashel, to meet him immediately with all 
their forces at the Boyle, where he went himself 
with the garrison of Roscommon and a strong 
body of Irish from Croghan. He chose Boyle 
as the place of assembly, because he thought 
he might there best intercept O'Donell up- 
on his return. O'Donell, however, disap- 
pointed him, for he crossed the Shannon, into 
Leitrim, at the ford of Kill Trenain, and thus 
carried off, without interruption, his prey into 
Tirconnell. 

On the 18th of the following month (April) 
Red Hugh again led his troops into Connaught, 
for the purpose of plundering his enemies. 
Upon this occasion he advanced as far as 
Longford, and also entered Gavan, plundering, 
and destroying the country on all sides, with 
fire and sword. From this excursion he tri- 
umphantly returned with great quantities of 
cattle and other treasures. 

About the latter end of May, the Lord 
Justice, Sir William Russell, led a strong 
army of English into Tirone, against O'Neill, 
wh6.had been represented to the Council as 
having joined O'Donell and the Irish. Upon 
hearing this Red Hugh instantly marched into 

u 



149 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

Tyrone, and joined his forces with those of 
O'Neill, upott which the Lord Justice retreated 
to Dublin. 

In the month of June, Ulick Burke, witb 

» 

twelve of his people, surprised the castle of 
Sligo, took it from the En;^lish, and imme- 
diately surrendered it to Red Hugh, to whdm 
it was of the greatest importance. 

e 

In the middle of August 600 auxilial^fi^s 
came from Scotland to O'Donell, under the 
command of Mac Leod, the chief of Ara. 
These troops he kept for the space of thi-ee^ 
months, and, with his own host, led them into 
Connaught, where all the castles occupied by 
the English were obliged to surrender to his 
power, and they plundered and destroyed 
the country on all sides. The governor of the 
province. Sir Richard Bingham, unsucces»« 
fully attempted to prevent the retjim of 
O'Donell to his own country. Finding that 
he could not effectually oppose the return of 
Red Hugh, he laid siege to the castle of Sligo^ 
from which he was obliged to retreat with 
considerable loss. Shortly after this, O'Donell 
razed the castle, lest it should be at any other 
time, seized on by the English. He also i^azed 
thirteen other castles^ and took hostages 



o'noNELL, 149 

from all those that he suspected might ^be 
his enemies. After these exploits he returned 
home^ and stopped to refresh himself and his 
army, until the month of December. 

In these excursions O'Donell received consi- 
-derable assistance from some of the English 
tribes inhabiting Connaught, who had joined 
with the Irish, and were persecuted by the 
English government Of these the Burkes 
were the most numerous, as well as the most 
powerful. Some of the heads of this tribe 
were in contention with each other about the 
chief ry, each claiming the title of Mac Wil- 
liam, by which the head of the family was 
always distinguished. To settle this differ- 
ence, which was referred to him, O'Donell 
prpceeded into Connaught in the month of 
December, 9,nd assembled the tribes of Tirawly^ 
who always elected the Mac WiUiam. In 
thig election, Mac Donell, the Galloglach^ 
Mae Maurice, and O'Mailley, supported the 
clmms of William Burke, of Shrule, as the 
senior of the tribe ; but Mac Costello, and 
Mac Siurdan, contended that Theobald, son of 
Walter Kittagh, son of John, son of Oliver, 
w^as most proper to be their chief, for he 
wa3 always in the country and ready to assist 
them both night and day, whether his forces 



IdO IRISH ANTIQUABIAN RESEARCHES. 

Were few or many. The opinions of both 
parties being laid before O'Donell, he decided 
in favour of Theobald, son of Walter Kittagh^ 
who was thereupon declared the Mac Williamy 
and solemnly inaugurated. 

Red Hugh spent his Christmas in that part 
of Connaught, and at that time caused Tiege, 
son of Tiege the swarthy, son of Owen 
O'Dowd, to be proclaimed chief of Tir Fiach- - 
rach ; and gave the titJe of O' Kelly to 
Ferdorcha, son of Ceallaghan, son of Donald, 
son of Hugh. He also gave the title of Mac 
Dermott, of Moylurg, to Conor, son of Teige, 
son of Owen ; of Mao Donough, of Tir 
OlioUa, to Maurice, the blind, son of Teige ; 
of Mac Donough of ,Corann, to Rory, son of 
Hugh ; andof O'Hara Riabhach, to Felim, son 
of Corcashel. He also fixed O'Rourke and 
Mac Dermott in their respective patrimonies, 
they having been expelled by the English ; 
and not to those only, but to every one of the 
Irish 9f Connaught who were similarly cir- , 
cumstanced, he rendered the like service. 

A. D. 1596. After performing what we 
have above related, Red Hugh returned to his 
own country, and on his way crossed the river 
31igo on 16th January c In the month of May, 



» ^ 



0*DONELL. 151 

Don Alonzo Copis, an emissary from Philip 
III. King of Spain, arrived in the harbour of 
Killibegs, and was conducted across the 
BeamosMore toLiflford, where O'Donell then 
was, to whom he was sent by his master the 
King of Spain, who wished to be fully 
informed as to the state of Ireland and the 
feelings of the Irish people. O'Donell received 
him with becoming honour, and gave him the 
information he required. He also wrote letters 
by him to the King of Spain, in behalf of him- 
self and O'Neill, and of the Irish in general, 
begging that Monarch to send them the 
aid of men, arms, and military stores, to 
extricate them from the bondage of their 
English oppressors, who, not satisfied with ' 
stripping them of their patrimonial estates, now 
wanted to rob them of their religion. 

Shortly after the beginning of June, 
O'Donell received a messenger from Mac 
William, to inform him that Sir John Norris, 
queen Elizabeth's general, was assembling a 
powerful army on the borders of Connaught, 
with intent to reduce the whole province to 
subjection. Upon this occasion the English 
were joined by the earls of Thomond and Clan- 
rickard, with all their forces ; and it was said 
that there never had been assembled against the 



1^2 IRISH ANTIQUARUN RESEARCHES. 

Irish so powerful a force as was then ready to 
pour into Connaught. Before the arrival of the 
messenger, O'Donell had his troops assembled, 
and, upon hearing of the collecting of the 
English army, be wrote letters to all the chiefs 
of Connaught, telling them that he would soon 
march to their assistance, and requesting them 
to be ready with all their forces, to oo-operate 
with him against their common enemy. He 
instantly put his troops in motion, and crossing 
over the rivers Erne and Sligo, and passing to 
the left the bonders of Slieve Gamh, through 
Lerighne and Gaileng, he arrived in the neigh- 
bourhood of Sk John Nprris, and threatened 
to plunder and destroy the country, if the peo- 
pie did not deUver him pUdges and hostages 
for their submission. 

Upon O'Doneirs arrival, he was almost 
^mediately joined by the principal of the 
CrOnnaiiglit chiefs, with all their forces, and by 
the Bjarkes, and some others of the old En-> 
gUsh who had joined with Mac William. AJi 
length the English general, despairing of auccesiisi* 
avddenly retreated. 

When the council at Dublin saw that the mili- 
tary 9kill s^nd confidence of the Irish were increas- 
^gr ^^^ having heard of their ti:eaty with the 



o'dgneCL. 153 

king of Spain, and considered on the little pro- 
bability there was of subduing them by main 
force, they sent messengers to O'Neill and O'Donell,^ 
ofl^ring them terms of peace. The messengers 
sent to negotiate, were Meyler M'Grath, the 
first protestant archbishop of Cashel, and 
Thomas Butler, earl of Ormond. These ambassa- 
dors proceeded as far north as Dundalk, from 
which place they sent a messenger to O'Neil 
and O'Donell, to invite them to meet them 
in friendly conference, to arrange all matters 
and to bring about a general pacificatioii, for 
the mutual benefit of the contending parties. In 
consequence of this invitation^ O^Neill and O'lJo*- 
nell went to Pochart, in the county of Louth, 
where they were met by the archbishop and the 
earl, who proposed the terms and conditions of 
the peace : which were, that the English should 
retain the possession of the part of Ulster 
lying between the river Boyne aud Dundalk, 
which they had been possessed of for a long 
period, but that they should not have any 
lands further to the north, except Garrickfergus, 
Carlingford, and Newry, then in their hands. 
In return they stipulated that they should be 
for ever free from any taxation or plunder from 
the Irish. They also offered to engage, that 
the English government, should not send any 
officer as governor over the Irish of Ulster^ nor 



154 IRISH ANTIQUAHUN RESEARCHES. 

in any way force rent or taxes from them, 
except such as their ancestors used to pay, 
which the Irish should send to Dublin at the 
usual time of payment; and for the performance 
of this no pledges or hostages should be required* 
They further engaged that the Irish of Con- 
naught, who had joined with O'Donell and 
O'Neill, should share the benefits proposed by 
the treaty. 

* 

When O'Neill and O'Donell heard these pro* 
posals, they retired to consult ; and agreed 
that it would be better for them, now that 
they had arms, and were strong and successful, 
to fight for their independence and that of their 
countrymen, who looked upon them as the 
guardians of their civil and religious liberties. 
This decision, and the terms proposed J)y the 
English, they submitted to the other Irish chiefs 
who had joined with them, and it was the general 
opinion, that no reliance could be placed on the 
English, who, as usual, would take the first op» 
portunity to break through the treaty ; and they 
therefore advised that an end should be put to 
the negotiation. Some few, however, of the Irish 
chiefs, were for accepting the proposed terms. 

The lord justice and council, finding themselves 
disappointed in this negotiation, sent the intelli- 



O^DOKELL. 165 

gence to the queen and the English council, 1;^fao 
mustered an &my of upwards of twenty thousand 
men, and sent them well equipped into Ireland. 
The governor and president of the province of 
Connaught, Sir Richard Bingham, who Was 
particularly odious to the Irish, was removed from 
that office, and in the month of December, Sir 
Conyers Clifford was appointed in his stead. 
This gentleman, by his noble and generous con- 
duct, won several of the Connaught chiefs to 
join him, and they hired themselves to him * 
as stipendiaries to serve against CVDonelL 
0-Conor Sligo also came from England, where ^ 
he was in favour with the queen, to raise his 
people to aid the governor. 

When Red Hugh heard of the defection of the 
Connaught chiefs, and the arrival of O'Conol* 
Sligo, he marched into Connaught, plundered 
his enemies of all their cattle, and encamped in 
Briefne until his forces came to him from everV 
quarter where they had been dispersed . 

Anno 1697. When all Red Hugh's troops 
had assembled in the month of January, he led 
them through the country, to the centre of Hy 
Maine, and sent out scouring parties on all sides, 
who brought to him, to the town of Athenry, a 
great number of priscmersf, and a vast quantity of 

X 



156 IRISH AirnQOAUAII BSSCARCHEi. 

cattle and other TaluaUe qmb. Here be ^pps 
joined by Mac WDfiam Burke. The town at 
Atbeniy was a place diflicidt of access, with a 
strong castle^ which he was determined to take. 
He set fife to all the gates, and raised ladders to 
the walls^ by which his men entered the town oq 
all sides, and although both it and the castle Wf»e 
well defended by the queen's garrison, the Lridi 
entered the castle, and completely destroyed the 
interior, having first taken thereout immense 
treasure, and great quantities of brass, iUMi, 
armour^ anns» clothing, and every thing that could 
be useful to those who possessed it, and who had 
been collecting them for a long time previous^ 
After this, they burned and destroyed all thet 
surrounding country, as far as the walls of Gal- 
way« Before his return to his own country, he 
fell in with O'Conor Sligo and a strong army of 
English and' Irish, whom he defeated with gr^at 
slaughter. He then returned into llrconnell, and 
dispersed his troops to refresh themselves after 
their fatigue. After these severities, several of the 
Irish chiefs who had joined with the English, 
renounced their connection with them^ and joined 
with O'Donell. 

In the month of April, a ship arrived in the 
harbour of Killibegs from Spain, with supplies for 
O'D.onell, and having on board confidential^rsons 



0^1K>KEIX. 157 

to hold a conference with him on the state of 
Ireland. These he entertained with great honor> 
and presented them with several valuable horsj^a 
and hounds. - They then returned to their own 
•country, well pleased with their reception. 

In the month of June, Theobald, son Qf 
Walter Kittagh Burke, who had been ap- 
pointed the Mac William, by the aid of O'Donell, 
was expelled from his territories by O'Conor 
Sligo, and Ills kinsman^ Theobald na Long (of the 
ships) Burke, who was set up as the Mac William : 
upon which Theobald, son of Walter Kittagh, 
went to Tirconnell to complain to O'Donell, who 
thereupon collected his troops, and, about the end 
of June, led them into Connaught, where he reinsta- 
ted Mac William in his territories notwithstanding 
the opposition of O'Crmor Sligo, and Sir Conyers 
Clifford. Red Hugh then returned to Tirconnell^ 
leaving his brother Rory with a strong party of 
.in^Eintry in Connaught. 

Oi;i the departure of O'Donell for Tirconnell, 
'Sir Conyers Clifford collected all tiie troops he 
could to support O'Conor, and that party of the 
JBurkes ^bo opposed Red Hugh. To the assis- 
tance of Sir Conyers came Uliok, earl of Clan- 
jdckard^ and his son Richard, baron of Dun- 
kellin, Donogh O'Brien^ earl of Thomond, and 



158 IRISH AMTIQUA&UN RESEARCHES. 

Morogh O'Brien, baron of Inchiquiu^ with aTl 
their forces. Being assembled, they proceeded 
to attack Mac William and Rory O'Donell, who, 
having intelligence of their movements, collected 
the cattle of the county, and, though but few 
in number, compared to the English and their 
adherents, succeeded in driving them off 
into Tirconnell, but not without some loss of 
men. 

Thomas Lord Borough, who had come into 
Ireland in the beginning of June, as lord Jus- 
tice, brought with him a numerous army. He 
removed Sir John Nonris from the command 
of the army, and having assumed it himself, 
sent orders to Sir Conyers Clifford to march 
into Tirconnell with all his forces, to destroy 
and plunder that district. To aid Sir Conyers m 
this enterpriza came all the chiefs above men- 
tioned, together with Theobald na long Burke, 
O'Connor Roe, and some other Irish chiefs. The 
lord Justice also sent a great number of his forces 
to Galway with some cannon, to proceed coast- 
ways and meet Sir Conyers at the Samer. (Erne) 

When the army had assembled at Boyle, the 
place of rendezvous, they amounted to twenty- 
two regiments of infantry and ten regiments of 
cavalry^ armed with coats of mail, and all* arms. 



0*DONEtiL. Idfl 

ammunition, and other necessaries. They then 
marched to Sligo and thence to Erne, and crossed 
that river by a ford, where they were vigorously 
opposed by O'Donell's troops, and where Morogh, 
baron of Inchiquin, was killed by. a musket ball. 
Thence they marched to Easroe and placed their 
head quarters in the monastery of that place. 
Here they received heavy ordnance from the ships 
that had come from Gal way, and had now cast 
anchor opposite the island of Samer, They laid 
close siege to the castle of Ballyshannon, but met 
an unexpected resistance, and had numbers of 
their best troops and officers killed or wounded. 
They came before the castle on Saturday, and 
on the Thursday following were compelled to 
make a precipitate retreat, with immense loss, and 
were closely pursued by O'Donell, and his friends, 
who were daily coming from all quarters to his 
assistance. In this retreat the Englisli army were 
unable to cross the Samer by the same ford, but 
tried another, seldom attempted, where numbers 
were killed, and several drowned. The remains 
of the army after this disastrous expedition, 
arrived at Athleague on the 15th of August. 

Red Hugh, not long after, received intelligence 
from O'Neill, (the earl 6f Tyrone,) that th^ lord 
justice was on his march with a powerful army to 
attack him; upon which he again collected his 



1^ IBISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEAECHES. 

forces, and marclied to the assistance of O'Neill, 
and joined that chief before the English could 
reach his territories in Armagh. The two armies 
met at a ford on the A vonmore, where the earl pf 
Kildare, who was with the lord justice, was killed, 
and the English army defeated. The lord justice 
baffled in his intentions, and severely wounded^ 
returned towards Dublin; he was carried in a 
litter, not being able to ride, and died of his 
wounds in Newry. In this battle was also killed, 
4lhe brother-in-law of the lord justice. After th/s 
victory, O'Donell led his troops back to his own 
i^ountry in triumpli. 

Red Hugh remained not long at home, but agadn 

marched into Connaught to plunder and des^ 

troy the territories of O'Conor Roe, and others 

of the Connaught chiefs, who had joined with Sir 

Oonyers Clifford, the governor of the province. 

la this expedition he succeeded, not leaving his 

x^enemies a single head of cattle. He then returned 

4o his own <^ouQtry withou<t any attempt of resist- 

•ance being made by the governor or any of hi^ 

^pponents^ after which he spent the winter i^ 

ipleasantly enjoying the society of his friends. 

Anno 1598. in tliis year O'Donell agai|& 
joined his forces with O'Neill, in an attack on the 
iort af Black water^ This was a remarkably ^ong 



fortress^ and the Irish were not able to take it bjr 
force ; they therefore surrounded it^ in order to 
starve the garisson into a surrender. To relieve 
the fortress was an object of importance to the 
English government ^ they, therefore, despatched 
marshal Bagnal, with the flower of the English 
army, to force- O'Neill and O^Donell to raise the 
siege. The two armies met at the ford of ^M^ 
buidhe^ (the yellow ford) -on the Blackwater^ 
where^ after a desperate engagement^ the English 
were totally defeated, leaving the marshaJ^ and 
ihe chief of their officers, with va$t numbers^of 
their common soldiers, killed in the battle. The 
fa'easures that feU into the hands of the Irish after 
this victory were immense. In a few days after- 
wards the garrison at Armagh surrendered ta 
O'Neill. 

The battle of the Yellow F<^ wms fought xxik 
the 10th of August, ahd the loss of the English^ 
in common soldiers, was two thousand^ve hun* 
dred killed^ besides their general and eig^ieen 
officers. 

After this battle. Red Hugh returned home, hnt 
having received intelligence that the Mac Donogha 
of Corann had taken the castle of Ballimote^ where, 
for thirteen years before, diey had kept a stjxmg 
garrison^ from which ^ey plundered the ac^dning 



162 IRISH ANTlQaARfAN RESEARCHfiS. 

country, he led his army into Connaught, to pre'^^ 
vent the English from re-possessing themsdves 
thereof. The ground on which the castle stood 
belonged to the Mac Donoghs, and Sir Conyers 
Clifford, after the castle fell into their hands, not 
being able to obtain possession of it by force, 
wanted to recover it by treaty. This the journey 
of '!Q.ed Hugh into Connaught prevented, and 
partly by threats, and partly by persuasions, he 
prevailed on the Mac Donoghs to sell the town 
and castle to him and his successors for ever, for- 
four hundred pounds in money, and three hundred 
cowls. The town was accordingly delivered up to - 
O.'Donell, and he made it his principal residence 
during the remainder of his life. 

O'Donell and O'Neill now entered into a league 
with some of the people of Munster, under a 
branch of the ' Desmond Fitzgeralds, ^ and with 
some of the people of Leinster, in connectTon 
with the sons, of Feagh Mac Hugh O'Byme. 
'. • 

In September, O'Donell sent an ambassador to, 
Spain, to urge king Philip to send him, and the 
other Irish princes, ammunition and succours. 
After this he remained peaceably at home, until 
the festival of Christmas, when he again assembled, 
his troops, and, at the instigation of Mac William,* 
marched into: Connaught and plundered Clan-. - 



p 






mkard. in this incwsiofiy severi^ of the chief 
foUoWBra of the earl of Glanrkkard were killed 
by O'Donell's troops, and others were wounded 
or made prisooera. O^Donell ^n earned the 
spoils triumphantly into Ballimote. 

A. Dv 1&99. Red JSngh having now no 
dktriot in Connaog'ht which he had not plun- 
dered^ resolved upon leading hk ti*oops into 
Thomotttl> to revenge hin^elf upcm the Earl of 
Thomond for joining Wkb l9ie gc^vemor of 
Connaaigiit m. bis mva^o^ of TireonnelL He 
ordered his troops^ and fhoBe of his allies, to 
meet him at Ballimote* HaYiag all things in 
readiness, he marched witboirt delay, and 
arrived in Thomond on the ntit of February* 
He then divided his army into separate parties, 
who spread themselves All over the country, 
todi several of the elsistles and great houses, 
amongst which was the castle of Inohiquia, 
axid drove off the cattle of every descriptio% 
lea;ring scarcely a single head. The different 
parties then assembled with thmr plunder at the 
place appointed by Q^Donell, wha led Ihem 
back without opposition. 

Fromr the laAter end of February to the 
monith of JPune^ Q'Doaell remained quietly ia 
Boilimotis. Akwtt tiie Jk^ioouig of Jund/n 

Y 



104 IRfi>H ANTiQUARUN RESEARCHES, 

ship, with his messengers, returned from 
Spain, with arms and necessaries for 2,000 
soldiers, which be divided, giving one part 
to O'Neill, and keeping the other for his own 
people. 

About this time, O'Donell received intelli- 
gence that Sir Conyers Clifford, governor of 
Connaught, was preparing to attack him with a 
numerous host of English, assisted by O' Conor 
Sligo, and all* his adherentsu Upon hearing 
this, O^Donell sent to his army assembled at 
Ath Seaneigh, ordering them to come to him 
to Ballimote without delay, that he might be 
prepared for the threatened attack, as well as 
to annoy his enemies^ 

O'Donell, having heard that O'Conor Sligo 
was in the castle of Culmine, on the banks of 
the Avonmore, was resolved to seize him if 
possible ; for this purpose he ordered . his 
cavalry to proceed with haste, and he sur- 
rounded the castle on all sides, so that none 
could either go in or out. 

When the Earl of Essex heard to what 
great straits O' Conor Sligo was reduced, he 
was much grieved, and sent to Sir Conyers 
Clifford to meet him in Ferceall, to consult 



d'donell. 166 

upon what was best to be done. The governor 
went to Ferceall, and there staid in consulta- 
tion with the Lord Justice for two days. The 
earl gave the governor what troops he could 
spare, and ordered him to proceed directly to 
Athlone, and collect all the English forces, 
and such Irish in the province as would join 
with them, and march directly to the relief of 
O'Conor. At the same time he sent orders 
that the ships in the harbour of Galway, under 
the command o& Theobald na long Burke, 
should sail with military stores, &c. to Sligo, 
to assist the governor in relieving O'Conor 
and the castle of Culmine. 

O'Donell, on the other side, pressed the 
siege closely, and that O'Conor should not 
escape from the castle, he gave the command 
of the troops to Niall Garbh O'Donell, with 
such instructions as he thought proper to carry 
his designs into effect. He then led that part 
of his army, not engaged in the siege, with him 
up the Curlew mountains, in the expectation 
that the governor, with his English and Irish 
army, would come that way to attack him. 
Here he remained with his army for the space 
of two months, during which time the governor 
was collecting his troops. 



^ 



|66 IRISH ANTIQUAHIAV RESEARCHES. 

When Red Hugh found that Thedbald ii» 
long Burke had mailed fr<Hn Galway^ with ih« 
«hips to relieve O'Conor^ he detaeheda party 
of his troops to prevent his landing, and $eat 
other parties to guard the passes of the Cfirhw»p 
to prevent the governor ndvancmg upon him 
nnawares. By tliid m^eans the army tfaa4 
romamed with himself were muoh reduaed. 

The govmnor having at I^gth cooiideted hW 
preparations, boasted that he would on the 16th 
of August, (the feast of the assumption) force his 
way thrx)ugh, and destroy the army of O'DoneU, 
Red Hugh prepared for his reception, and, on the 
evening before the battle, in as artful a speech, pro- 
bably, as was ever addressed to an army, excited 
his people to resist to the last, and to resign theif 
lives sooner than let their inveterate eneinkss tiif 
umph. And that they might be the better pHr 
pared for death, he advised bis people to gd te . * 
eonfession^ and in the morning to receive tba M-^ 
crament. This wad accordingly don% and mabs 
was scarcely over when they got notiee Of the apt 
jtfoach of the English. The battle eommeneed^ 
the order and description (^ winch/ it is not ne^ 
cessary to give here, land although the En^iah 
were much more numerous and better prepared 
than O'Donell, they w^e defeated witii immense 
loss. Amongst the slain, on the side of the Eng^ 



lish, vjras Sir Codyers ClifTord, aDd saveral officers 
of dtstinctipa* This loss on the side of the Irish 
was but trifling* AU the trea^uros of the English 
fell into the hands of the Irisbi^ 

When O'Conor was convin<5ed, by the sight of 
the head of Sir Cojiyera Oliiford^ which was jsent to 
him for the purpose, that the governor was idlled, 
and the English army defeated^ he sent a me$^ 
senger to O'Donell^ requesting peace on any 
terms. Theobald na long Burke, in like man- 
ner, hearing of the defeat of the English, and 
of the surrender of O'Conor and of the cas^ 
tie 6f Culmine, submitted himself to O'Dpneli 
upon his own terms. After this battle. Red Hugh 
laid the country as far as the gates of Galway^ 
under contribution^ and the terror of his 4£^ne ex- 
tended from Galway to Leim Cuchullen (Loops 
Head.) 

In the year 1600, O^Neill led an army into 
Munster, in which he was joined by Hugh Ma* 
guire, chief of Fermanagh ; who, in a battle near 
Cork, isilled Sir Warham St. Leger, president of 
Munster, with several of his people, Maguire him-* 
self received some desperate wounds of which ht$ 
shortly after, died. This compelled O'Neill to re- 
turn with sorrow to Ulster. Shortly after the re- 
tom of O'NeiU, and the Ultoxufu^^ th^ people of 



16S tRIsSH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

Fermanagh proceeded to elect a chief in the place 
of Hugh Maguire. Conor Roe Maguire> bro- 
ther to O'Neill by the mother's side, was sup- 
ported by him in his claims to the chieftaincy. 
Cuchonacht oge, son of Cuchonacht Maguire, 
was the other candidate, and he sought to in- 
terest O'Donell on his side. O'Neill sent letters 
to O'Donell to request him to consent to the 
appointment of Conor Roq. When the messenr , 
gers came to O'Donell, and delivered their 
letters, he made no answer, but went imme-. 
diately with a troop of horse, and a body of foot, 
of the choice of his people, with his brother Rory> 
and Cuchonacht oge to Dungannon, where O'NeiU 
and his people then were, holding a consultation ; 
upon the business. Upon his entering the apart-, 
ment, O'Neill told them what they were about^ 
that it was his wish that Conor Roe should be 
proclaimed the Maguire, and hoped that O'Donell 
would give his consent. O'Donell for some time 
listened to the words of O'Neill, but, at length, 
declared that he would never consent that Conor 
Roe should be the Maguire, because he wa^ 
always an adherent to the English. O'NeiU 
was much grieved at this declaration of Red 
Hugh, but he knew there was no resisting his 
determination. 

After the breaking up of the council, they were 



entertained at a splendid feast by O'Neill, at 
which he placed O'Donell in the modt honorable 
situation/ and Conor Roe Maguire next to him. 
O'Neill took a cup of wine in his hand, and drank 
to O'Donell, who, taking another cup from the 
butler, cast a quick glance through the room^ and 
not seeing Cuchonacht Oge Maguire, he desired 
that he should be called jn. This was done, 
and when Cuchonacht came in. Red Hugh 
desired him to sit down by his brother Rory, 
in the midst of the company. When Cuch- 
onacht was seated, O'Donell took the cup in 
his hand, and drank to him by the name of 
Maguire. This was followed by several others, 
and thus was Cuchonacht declared the Maguire, 
which none opposed, seeing it was O'Donell's 
desire. On the next morning O'Donell bid fare- 
well to O'Neill, and he and Maguire and their 
people returned to their homes. 

When the English government saw that 
O'Donell defeated their armies, and those of their 
friends, in every quarter, they resolved upon 
bringing the war into his own country. For this 
purpose, ships and troops were sent from England, 
in March, at the request of lord Mountjoy, then 
lord justice; and a large fleet, with upwards of 
six thousand men, well armed and equipped, 
were a98embled in the port of Dublm, in April. 



170 IRISH ANTIQ0ilftIA9 RESEARCHES. 

These^^ were put tmder the eonimand of !%r 
Heniy Dockwjra^ and leavii^; Dublin, arrived in 
Lo«^ Foyle on the lOtk of May, and landed Iqp 
Innisowen, in O^Dogherly's tettitories, Theg^ 
took possession of the fort of Culmore,^ which 
was at that time deserted and in decay, but they 
erected a stroog wall round it. Another pa^y 
went into^ O'Cathan's ((^Kane's) country, and 
took possession of I>nn-na-long ; but the largest 
peirty went to Derry, and seized upon the Aionas^ 
tery and stone clmrck, round both whicii they 
threw up strong ramparts^ andwajUs of cldifra^ 
stone^ and sunk deep ditehes aifound both; 
N^ long aftervrardis^ they broke down the ttA^ 
nastery and the stone> church, in derision of tiia 
sainis emd the religion of the country. 

1?he Engfi$h remained a considerable time 
cooped up in their forte; not daring t6 stir &^ of 
them, for fear of O'Donell, who watched earnestly 
for an opportunity to bring them to uii engage- 
ment At lengthy Red Hugh, finding thai he 
eo^M not draw the^Engttsfo out of their mclosurei^ 
resolved to leave the defence* of Innisowen^ to 
O'Dbgherty, the chief thereof, and to Niall GJait^h 
O^Donell, witJi a party of his troops, whilst he, 
with t^e main body of his army, should make an 
irruption southwardis, to revenge himself on fte 
eaarj^ of Thomond and Cknrickardi for jcJiiiffg 



0*DONELt. 171 

A ■ 

with the English against hioa. He therefore seiit' 
messengers into Connaught, calling the chiefs^ 
of that province to his assistance, with all their 
forces. His summons was obeyed by all the 
Connaught chiefs between the rivers Suck and 
Droobhaois, (Brundroose) and from the west of 
Tirawley to Brefny O'Reilly" In the month of 
June he set his troops in motion, and passing 
through Clanrickard, he plundered the country 
on all sides, and then continued his progress into 
Thomond, where he plundered and destroyed 
the country, except the monasteries and reli- 
gious houses, which he carefully preserved from 
injury ; and, having collected all the cattle, and 
other treasure of the district, he returned in 
triumph back. To each chief who joined him 
in the expedition, he gave their full proportion of 
the plunder, so that they all returned home well 
satisfied. 

After this excursion, O'Donell suffered his 
troops to refresh themselves from July till Sep- 
tember, He was then informed that die English 
in Derry used to send out their horses to graze a 
small distance from the town, guarded by only 
a few cavalry. He was determined on seizing 
them, if possible, and for this purpose he sent a 
select party of his cavalry^ under cover of the 
nighty to lie in ambush between the town and 

z 



1T2 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

« 

the horses, when they should come out to graze, 
and at the same time had another party of the 
elite of his troops ready to drive off the cattle. 
Every thing" succeeded, the cattle came out, and 
were driven ofFby O'DoneU's people, after dispers- 
ing the guard that attended them. The English in 
the town, seeing their cattle driven off, sallied out 
to rescue them ; O'Donell expected this, and 
was watching, with a party of his troops, to suc- 
cour his drivers. A sharp conflict ensued between 
the parties, when O'Donell wounded Sir Heniy 
Dockwra, after which the English retired into the 
town. By this adventure, the English lost up- 
wards of 200 horses. O'Donell waited until the 
end of October, and then finding that the English 
did not leave the country, he resolved upon ano-^ 
ther expedition into Thomond to plunder his ene^^ 
mies. 

In pursuance of this design, he collected bis 
troops, and marched southward until he passed 
the river Sligo, leaving behind him Niali 0*Dopell. 
The English had been for a long time, previousi 
to this, endeavouring to persuade this Niaii 
to join with them against Red Hugh, offering 
bim many advantages, the sovereignty or lordship 
of the country, and immense treasures. He lis- 
tened to their proposals for a long time, but at 
length he complied with their wishes, and decla* 



o'donell. 173 

red against his lord ami chief/ and induced bis 
brothers Hugh huidhe (yellow) and Conn Oge 
to join him in his treachery. This was of 
the greatest importance to the English, who were 
now worn out and sick with constant night watch- 
ings, fear of O'Donellj and the scarcity and bad 
quality of their provisions. From these difficul- 
ties Niall O'Donell relieved them, and he brought 
1000 of them to Lifford, nine miles west from 
Derry, on the same Lough. This had been a no- 
ble residence belonging to O'Donell, and was now 
in decay, the ston^ cai^tle having been sonie time 
before destroyed, and was now only defended by 
ramparts of earth, and a shallow ditch. The 
guards of this place, hearing of the approach of 
the Englbh, and of Niall O'Donell, deserted it, 
through fear of falling into their hands. Where- 
upon the English took possession of the fort, 
and erected strong walls of s^one and clay to de- 
fend it. 

To inform O'Donell of what had happened one 
of his faithful friends, posted after him. Upon 
bearing the tidings^ Red Hugh was niuch sur- 
prised^ and excessively grieved^ to think that his 
ooUsin and brother should have turned against 
him^ for Niall O'Dobell was married to Red Hugh's 
sister. O'Donell immediately returned to Ulster^ 
and with a few of his troops proceeded to Lifford. 



f 74 IRISH ANTlQUARTATf RESEARCHES. 

The- English being occupied in fortifying the place, 
hisul not time to plunder any part of the country, 
before O'DcHiell- returned j and, when they heard 
of his return, their fears of him would not permit 
them to venture out of the fortress. O'Donell ea- 
camped about two miles from the fort, and kept 
so close a guard, that he suffered none to pass in 
or out, except such as went south- ward, over the 
river. In this situation, they remained for the 
space of thirty days, without being able to bring 
his enemies to battle. At length O'DonelFs troops 
appeared to be in state of disorder and negligence, 
in their camp, which Niall O'Donell perceiving, 
he advised the English to attack them. There- 
upon O'Donell was attacked, a dreadful conflict 
ensued, the end of which was, that the Eng- 
lish were obliged to retreat to their fortress. -In 
this battle, Manus O'Donell, the brother of Red 
Hugh was desperately wounded by Niall O'Doh- 
ell, who was himself also wounded by Rory 0*Don- 
ell, (afterwards Earl of Tirconnell.) Manus 
O'Donell was carried to Donegall, where, after suf- 
fering great pain for seven ^days, he died on the 
22d October 1600, and was buried in the tomb of 
his ancestors in the monastery of Donegall. On 
the 7th of December following, his father died of 
grief and old age, and was buried in the same 
grave with his son. 



o'donell. 175 

Red Hugh remained in his encampment fortjT^ 
days more, watching the English, and about Christ-f 
mas received an account of the arrival of a Span* 
ish ship, with some supplies for him, in the hcur- 
bour of Invermore, in west Connaught. His spirits 
revived at this intelligence, and he instantly dis< 
patched messengers to O^Neill to inform him of 
the arrival of the vessel, and at the same time sent 
a messenger with letters to the captain of the ship, 
to sail round to the harbour of Killibeg, in Tir- 
Boghaine. Amongst other things, the king of 
Spain sent to O'Neill and O'Donell £6,000 in 
money, to assist in paying their auxiliaries, for their 
services. This money the two chiefs equally divi- 
ded between them, O'Neill having come to Done- 
gall to meet O'Donell and the Spanish ambas- 
sador. 

% 

A. D. 1601. In the beginning of January, in 
this year, the Irish chiefs separated after ar- 
ranging their affairs with the Spanish ambassador, 
and O'Donell returned to his troops, which he had 
left to watch the motions of the English, and of 
Niall O'Donell, at Lifford. 

Whilst thus .employed he received secret intel- 
ligence, from a friend in Dublin, that his old enemy, 
O'Conor Sligo, had entered into a private treaty 
with the English government, and engaged to 



170 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

treacherously seize upon, and to deliver him iato 
their hands, living or dead. This information gave 
Red Hugh some uneasiness, as he could not tell 
the full extent of the conspiracy formed against 
him. He kept the secret to himself for some time^ 
but at length revealed it to O'Neill, and some others 
of his friends, to have their opinion what he should 
do on the occasion. These all give it as their deci* 
ded opinion, that he should seize on 0*Conor ^- 
go, and hold him as hostage for his safety* This 
was put in execution, O'Conor was secured^ and 
sent in custody to Lough Esk. 

In the month of May, 1601, Click earl of Clan- 
rickard, died^ and was succeeded by his son Rick- 
ard. This young nian w£ud encouraged by the 
English, to make an attack upon the territories un- 
der the control of Red Hugh, and, to assist him, 
the lord justice, Mountjoy, ordered the Eng- 
lish garrisons in Limerick, Kilmallock, Eas-Geith« 
inne, Galway, Atlilone, and several other places^ 
to join the earl at the monastery of Boyle. 

As soon as O'Donell heard, of the assembling 0f 
these troops, he resolved upon opposing them, be- 
fore they could enter his territories ; and, although 
he was obliged to leave a strong force behind him^ 
to watch the English and Niall O'Donell, at Lifibrd> 
and to defend his own fortresses in the Island of 



o'toneLL. 177 

Lough £sk, Donegal], Ballyshannon, Oulmore, 
and Balllmot^, he instantly proceeded with the re* 
mainder to meet his enemies. The English had 
advanced as far as Elphin, before O^Donell could 
<H)me up with them. Here the two armies en- 
camped opposite each other, and, for several days 
and nights there was a constant skinhishing be- 
tween them, in which many were killed on both 
sides, although there was no general engagement. 
At length the earl and his party decamped, and 
retreated leisurely, O'Donell not being sufficiently 
strong to prevent them. O'Doneli then returned 
to Ulster. 

The English and Niall O'Donell, m the mean 
time, taking advantage of O'Donell's absence in 
Connaught, marched a strong party to Donegall^ 
took possession of that monastery, and of an- 
other small monastery in the neighbourhood. 
Here they were inclosed by O'Donell, in such a 
manner, that they could not obtain provisions, 
and their stock being nearly exhausted, they were 
obliged to send a messenger to Derry, to request 
the English would send a ship round to them, 
with a supply of provisions and arms. This was 
complied with, the ship arrived, and O'Donell, for 
want of artillery, could not prevent the necessaries 
being landed. In this condition the two parties 
remained until about the latter end of September. 



173 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

At this time a flash of lightning struck a banrel of 
gun-powder, in the convent of Donegall^ in conde* 
quence of whicb> a dreadful explosion ensued^ 
which destroyed numbers of the English. O'Do* 
nell took advantage of the confusion, occasioned bjr 
this accident, and attacked the English fortifica^ 
tions, and would have completely destroyed them, 
had it not been for the succour given them by 
Niall O'Donell, and the firing of the ordnance 
from the English ship in the harbour. 

In this situation both parties remained until the 
middle of October, at which time O'Donell received 
intelligence that a Spanish fleet had arrived in the 
harbour of Kinsale, with troops and arms, to' aai- 
sist the Irish. The Spanish troops took posses- 
sion of the fort of Kinsale, and of Rincorran, on 
the Opposite side of the harbour. To oppoae^ 
this invasion of the Spaniards, all the forces of the 
English in Munster, Leinster, Meath, and Con- 
naught, together with all the forces of their Irish 
adherents, were mustered by the lord justice, and 
led by him into Munster, and there joined to 
the forces under the lord president of that pro- 
vince. The lord justice placed all these under the 
command of the lord president, to whom, after a 
short siege, the Spaniards surrendered the castle of 
Rincorran, after which the English laid a closer ¥ 

siege to Kinsale. 



'.- As to Q'D(meU> whep he had received l^^iqte^ 
liged^e of tlie arrival of th^ Spaniards at ISjasai^;^ 
he immediately biok^ up the siege he hud formec( 
against Niall Q'l^onell, aad the £ngUs^^ in Dp^^r^ 
gal, and making little of other consid^raUons, 
besides, that of goipg to the assistance of the^gpaT 
aiarda^ he sent notiqe %o all^ over whom he had iqii-^ 
fluence, to meet Ww directly with thejr J^rces^ 
in Ballimpte. His j^ends assembled at the place 
appointed from all quarters, and on the 2d Novem,', 
ber, he set out from Ballimote, with his forces, 
02X the y^siy to the rqlief of his Spanish allies. He 
I^xxieeded as far a^ the neighbourhood of Holy-. 
Croi^ where he halted for nes^: a moAth, waiting 
for the comtx^g MP of O'Neill, who was advanqing 
by slow marches. To prevent the further progress 
of O'Donell, the lord justice ordered the lord pre^r 
sident of Munsler> Sir George Carew, to advance 
to meet him with 4,000 armed m^n« When 
O'DoncH h^ard from his scouts, that^the lord pre- 
sident had advanced as far as Qash^^ he led his 
army through upper Ormond, and by Limericl^ 
iMitil they arrived in Hy Conal Qabhra, where 
shortly after, he was joined by several of the Irish 
diiiefs of Munster. He then proceeded to Banr, 
dony where he was joined by Q'Jfeill and, bi^ af^ 
my. 



< ■ ' 



They shortly after jntched thejr cap)p<n^^ 

A a 



180 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

that of the lord justice, and reduced him to very 
great straits for want of provisions^ but the Irish 
had abundance of food of the best kind in their 
camp. Thus all parties spent the Christmas, 
at which time O'Neill and O'Doneli received 
a letter from the Spanish General, requesting 
them to attack the English camp^ on a cerr 
tain night then appointed, promising at the same 
time, that he would attack the camp, in another 
quarter, with a party of the Spaniards^ 

4 

Upon this message the Irish chiefs entered into 
k consultation, in which O'Neill gave his opinion, 
that they should not attack the English camp, but 
continue the blockade which they had formed 
around it, until at length the English should be 
destroyed by famine, cold, and sickness ; and, in 
the mean time, to let the Spaniards defend them- 
selves, in Kinsale, as they could. O'Dondl, 
on the other hand, was of opinion, that they 
should comply with the request of the Spanish 
general, and join with him in attacking the Eng- 
lish camp : alleging that it would be a breach of 
their engagement with the king of Spain, if they 
were to refuse giving their most active assistance 
to his troops, which he had sent at their re- 
quest, and for their relief and protection against 
their enemies. O'Donell's opinion prevailed, and 
the attack on the English camp was resolved on. 



O^DONELL. ISl 

It happened fortunately for the English cauise, 
that a difference ' had arisen between O'Donell 
and O'Neill upon this occasion. Each claim- 
ed the honor of leading the proposed attack, and 
neither would suffer the other to have the sole 
command, or take precedence. This dispute con- 
tinued for the greater part of the night iii which 
the attack was to be made, and when they set out, 
to put their design in execution, each followed 
his own judgment, and being led astray by their 
guides, so that they separated in the night, and 
the sun shone clearly when each party came, 
unconnected with the other, in view of the English 
camp. 

The lord justice had intelligence of the differ- 
ence between the Irish chiefs, from some person 
with whom he had a correspondence in the Irish 
camp. He was therefore well prepared to receive 
them, and upon their appearance he opened upon 
them a tremendous fire,' from both ordnance and 
and small arms. The Irish, not acting in concert, 
retreated separately, and were pursued by the 
English a considerable distance, with very great 
loss. 

After this defeat, the English returned in tri* 
umph to their camp^ and the Irish held a council, 
in which some of thi^m were for again uniting and 



1S& IRISH ANTIQUARIitN RESEARCHES. 

laitsiokmg the English camp. Others ^clared it 
Was their opinion they should separate^ and let 
-each do tiie best they could to defend thebr re»* J 

pective patrimonies against the English. Ttibj 
^continued disputing for three or four day ia^ in 
-which they were on the point of coming to blows* 
This defeat at Kinsale^ happened on the 3d 
January j^ 1602. 

After this decided and complete defeat, O'Db^ 
nell considered with himself what would be iiie 
best course for him to take, and he conchrit- 
ed upon going directly to Spain, to complain 
to king Philip, and endeavour to induce him 
to send a fresh army into Ireland. He em- 
barked in a ship in Castlehawn, on the 6th' of 
January, and unived on the 14th of the 'same 
month at Corunna, in the piovinoe of Galici», 
in Spain. When he had rested for a few 
days, after the fatigues of his voyage, ihe pro^ 
ceeded to Zamora, a city in Gastile^ where the 
kmg then happened to be on a pro^n^ss toandiub 
Ki^gdond. The king received O'Donell Iwith the 
greatest aftability, and graciously gave ear to hi^ 
requests, which he promised should be com{died 
with in every particular. He then desired him to 
return to Corunna, and to wait until ievery 
thing i^ould be ready for him to return 1:6 £rs« 
land, with tiie succours he requhred. 0'>Dkm^ 



o'dom£U« 183 

did as h6 :waiB*ordered^ and ^emamed ia Caniima 
all the next J^ring and summer, and until the 
middle of harvest. In the me^n time he suf- 
fered great uneasiness of mind from the thoughts 
of the situation in which he had left his friends in 
Ireland. He therefore resolved upon again wait* 
ing <m the King of Spain, to urge him to give 
orders for the immediate dispatch of the promised 
succours. For this purpose he set out on 
his journey, and had reached as far Sim^cas, 
two leagues from Valladolid, the court of the king 
of Spain, ^hen it pleased God to visit him 
with sidkness, of which he died on the 10th of 
September, 160^ His body was removed to 
Valladolid, witii great honor, and w^ interred in 
the chapter of the monastery of St. Francis^ in 
tiiat city, with all the state and religious ceremo*- 
nies usually observed at the funeials of noblemen 
of the highest rank. 

Thus ended the life of Red Hugh O'Donell, 
the last chief of Tirconnell, who was universally 
submitted to as THfi O'Donell. 

After the death of Hugh Roe, Sir Niell Garbh 
O'Donell, with a considerable force, invaded 
Tyrone, plundered the country, and rendered 
great services to the English crown ^ after which 
he was repeatedly summoned to attend the }ord 



184 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

deputy and council, in order that he might 
make his submission and be appointed chief of. 
Tirconnell; but, by an unaccountable fatuity, 
he neglected to attend, went to Kilmacrenan^ 
and sent for OTirgil, the successor qfColumkilly 
and was by him inaugurated asO'Donell ; which, 
being done without the consent of the lord lieute-- 
nant and council, gave great offence, as they 
thought he intended to act independent of the: 
king's authority. Rory O'Donell being then itf 
Dublin, and having made his humble submission, 
was accordingly sent for, and dispatched to . Sir 
Henry Docwra, with orders to arrest Niell Garbh,- 
who, hearing of their intention, fled; but afte^-: 
wards submitted, and both he and Rory went 
to England, each claiming to be chief. They, 
entered into recognizance to submit their pret^en--; 
sions to the king's decision, who ordered Rory to 
be created Earl of Tirconnell, and Sir -Niell 
Garbh to be restored to his estate. 

-v . • • . 
The patent, cieating Rory Earl of Tircoopell, 
and his eldest son baron of Donegal, in his, 
father^ s life time^ was dated 29th Sept. 1603. 

The king's letter is dated the 4th September, 
1603, and as it is a very curious docume^t> and 
contains the substance of the patent, I have added 
it. to those printed at the end of this .memoir* 



O'DONELL. 186 

It gmnts to the said Rory, " all our territo- 
ries and countries of Tirconnell, with all the 
islands, rights, deaneries, advowsons, fishings, 
duties, and other hereditaments whatsoever, of 
antient time, justly belonging to the lord thereof," 
with a reservation of the rents and beeve services, 
as were formerly paid by his father and ances- 
tors, reserving also the castle of Ballyshannon, 
and 1000 acres adjoining thereto. With' the 
provisional condition, ^^ that the castles, lands,^ 
services, rents and duties^ which were in the 
possession of Sir Neill O'Donell, when he lived 
under Hugh Roe, late O'Donell, and in amity 
with him, especially Castle-fynyn, and all the 
lands, &c. belonging to the saiue^ be reserved to 
the free disposition of us and our heirs to be- 
stow on the said Sir Neal O'Donell, or such 
other as may deserve the same," It also ordered, 
that Rory should renounce all claims for duties 
and other rights, on Sir Cahir O'Doherty's and 
O'Conor Sligo's countries, and upon all other 
subjects residing out of the limits of Tirconnell. 
It created him earl of Tirconnell, with remainder 
to the heirs male of his body ; remainder to 
his brother CafFery O'Donell ; and it also created 
his, and their eldest sons and heirs male, lord 
barons of Donegal, during the lives of the earls. 
It also granted to the earl custodiam of all abbeys, 
priories and spiritual livings within the country of 



ISA IRISH ANTtaUARIAK RESEARCHES. 

Tirconnell till the king should otherwise dispose, 
of them. He afterwards entered into DebelliQ»^ 
and was attainted by act of Parliament^ in 1612^ 
together with his brother Galvagh,. died. .at 
Rome^ 38th July, 16 17^ and was buried in tlm 
abbey of St. Francis there. He married Bri(%et, 
daughter of Henry, earl of Kildare, (who aftec 
his death married secondly Nicholas BarawaUi 
Lord Viscount Ejngsland) by whom he had one 
only son, 

t s 

Hugh O'Donell, called the second earl of Tiiw 
connell, who was page to the Infanta Isabelbu- 
Glara-Eugenia, daughter of Philip the >third/ 
king of Spain, and governess of Flanders. He 
left an only son, 

Niell Garbh O'Donell, commonly called the 
third earl of Tirconnell, who left an only son, » 

Manus O'Donell, commonly called the fourth 
earl of TRrconnell, who married a daughter:: of 

O'Hara^ and had only two daughters) 

Mary, who became the wife of Brian Ballagh 

O'Rourke, and — ^ who died unmarried^ 

Thus this branch of the family of O'Dodell 
became extinct. 

Caffer, or Calvagh, 0*DoneU, brother to. Ear} 



Rdry, and in remainder to the earldom^ died at 
Rome Sept. 17th, 1617, and was buried with his 
brother. He mai^ried Rose O'Dogherty, by 
whom (who was afterwards mairied to the cele^ 
brated general Owen O'Neill) he had two sonsj 
CafFer Oge, and Hugh, who was buried at Brus*- 
sels, with his mother. Whethier Gaffer Ogie left 
descendants or not, I have not been able to learn^ 
but am inclined to think not. 

We now return to Calvagh O'Donell, the eld-* 
est son of Manus O'Donell, son of Hugh Duffej 
who on his fatheir being imprisoned, seized upon 
the government of Tirconnell, in 165b j and caus<- 
ed himself to be inaugurated as O'Donell. He 
entered into a treaty with Sir Sidney^ lord deputy 
of Ireland, dated 20th Octeber, 1568^ in which 
he is styled Dominus Galvachius O'Donell, and 
therein ackilowledged Queen Elizabeth to be 
his '^ solam et naturalem dominam supremam ei 
quod in omnibus causis tam spiritualibus quam 
temporalibus sua msyestatis est, etesse debet, sola 
et suprema gubematrixe in hoc regni." A Copy 
of this curious document will be found at the 
end of this article, with several letters of this 
P'DonelL 

He fell dead, of an apoplexy, from his hol*> 
36th November, 1566, and hb brother Hugh be* 

B b 



188 IRISH ANTIQUARUM RESEARCHES. 

came O'Donell, as before stated. His only son 
was Con O^Donnell, who married the daughter 
of Tirlogh Luineagh O'Neill, by whom he had 
three sons and a daughter. Calvagh, slain by 
of Hugh Roe O'Donell ; Caffrey, slain by O'Neill 
and his rebels ; and Niell Garbh : the daughter^ 
was Margaret, wife Hugh mac Mulmore O'Reilly, 
of Camets, in the county of Cavan. Several 
letters of this Con will be found at the end. 

Sir Neill Garbh O'Donell, the third and only 
surviving son, was knighted by lord Mountjdy, 
lord deputy of Ireland, 29th April, 1602, He is 
mentioned in the preceding pages in the accomit 
of Hugh Roe O'Donell, and the part he took in 
favour of the English government on the death 
of the said Hugh Roe, in 1603. He was inau- 
gurated as O'Donell, as before stated, but he was 
compelled afterwards to surrender the dignity to 
Rory, earl of Tirconnell, and was committed a 
prisoner to the tower of London, on suspicion of 
being concerned in O'Dogherty's rebellion, wher^ 
he remained till his death. He married his con* 
sin, the daughter of Sir Hugh O'Donell, and sister 
of Hugh Roe O'Donell, and of Rory earl of Tir- 
connel, by whom he had three sons, Neaghtan, 
who died without issue ; Colonel Manus O'Do- 
nell, ancestor to the O'Donells of Newport, in 
the coutity of Mayo ; and Hugh Boy O'Dontell, 



' 



ancestor to the O'Donells of Larkfield, in the, 
county of Leitrim. Col Manus was slain at Don- > 
gannon, in 1646. His son Roger was of LifTord^ . 
in the county of Donegal!, and afterwards settled 
in the county of Mayo, and was father of Col. . 
Manus O'Donell, of Newport in the county of; 
Mayo, whose will was proved at Tuam, in 1737 j 
he was grandfather to Manus O'Douell, Esq. who 
was a colonel in the Austrian service, and Count; 
of the Holy Roman empire, whose only daugh- 
ter and heiress, was married . to Robert Gage 
Rookwood, Esq. second son of Sir Thomas Gage, 
of Hengrave, in Suffolk. Lewis O'Donell, of 
Newcastle, in the county of Mayo, Esq., brother 
to Count Manus O'Donell, married Miss Camac, 
and had issue, Lewis O'Donell, Esq., and other 
children; Hugh O'Donell, of Newport, in the 
county of Mayo, Esq. third son of Col. Manus 
O'Donell, who died in 1737, was the father of 
the late Sir Neal O'Donell, Baronet, to whom the 
Caah, was left, by the last of the French branch 
of the O'Donells he married Mary, daughter of 
William Coane, of Ballyshannon, in the county 
of Donegal, Esq. by whom he had four sons, 
and two daughters ; first, Hugh O'Donell, Esq. a 
colonel in the army, and lieutenant-colonel of the 
South Mayo Militia, who married Alice, daughter 
and heir of Massey Hutchinson, of Mount Massey, 
in the county of Cork, Esq., by wJiom hehad an 



190 IRISH ANTIQITARUM RllSEARCHiri}. 

cnly daughter, Alice^Massey , who became the wHe 
of William Clayton, Esq. eldest son of Sir.Wil- 
lisim Clayton, Baronet; second, James Moore 
O'DoneU, Esq. who married Debcnrab, daughter 
of Turner Camac, Esq. but had bo issue ; thi/dy 
Sir Neale O^Donell, the present BaroAet, who 
married Lady Catharine Aimesley, daughter of 
Richard, first earl Annesley, by whom he ha» 
issue, Hugh- James-Moore, and other children > 
fourth, Oo»nell O'Donell, the present possessor 
of the Caah, who married Mary, daughter of the 
Rev. George Richey, of Newry, in the county of 
Down. The daughters were Margaret, wife of 
Sir Capel Molyneux, of Castie-dillon, in the 
Ciounty of Armagjh, Baronet, and Maria, wife of 
Dodwell Brown, of Rabins, ia the county of 
Mayo, Esq. 

The house of Larkfield are deseendied, as b^ 
fore stated, from Hugh Boy O'Donell, son of Sip 
Neall Garbh O'DoheU, and brother of Col. Ma- 
BUS O'Donell, who was skin at Dungannon, in 
1646. He married Mary Maguire, daughter of 
Lord EnniskUlen, by whom he had a son Joh^, 
who, by Catharine O'Rourke, had two soiis> 
Hugh, who died without issue, and GonneU 
O'Donell, who married Grace, sister of Colonel 
Manus O'Donell, and daughter of Roger O'Do^ 
liell^ of Lifford, by whom he had three sons-^ 



O'DONEIti. 191 

John, who left an only son Hugh, who died io 
Germany without issue -^ Charles, who died aka 
without issue ; and Hugh. 

This Hugh O'Donell was of Larkfield, in the 
oounty of Leitrim, and on the extinction of the 
male descendants of Rory, Earl of Tirconnell, 
was commonly, in the North of Ireland, styled 
Earl O'Donell.* He was, I believe, a general 
in the service of the Empress Maria Teresa^ a 
knight of her order, and a count of the Holy 
Roman Empire. He married twice; first Flo^ 
rinda, daughter of John Hamilton, of Gavan,^ 
Esq. and sister of general John Count Hamilton, 
of the Austrian service, by whom he had two 
sons and a daughter : — Connell, Count O'DoneH^ 
general in the Austrian service, and governor of 
* Transylvania, who died unmarried 1771 ; and 
John Count O'Donell, also a general in the Aus- 
trian service, whose only son, Charles, Count 
O'Donell, a major-general in the same service,^ 
was killed at Nerisheim, in 1805. Susanna, the 
only daughter by the first wife, was married to 
John Edmond Purcell, of Ballymartin, in Kil- 
kenny, Esq. an officer in the same semce.- — 
Count Hugh married secondly Margaret, daugh-^ 
ter of Hugh Montgomery, pf Derrygonnelly, in 

^ MS. of the late John Lodge, esq. in my possession. 



192 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

Fermanagh, £sq. by whom he had an only son-^ 
Con O'Donell, of Larkiield, who ^eft two spns^ 
Hugh O'Donell, of Grayfield, in Roscq^q^od, 
and Con O'Donell, of Larkfield, Esq. 

Colonel Daniel O'DonelL who followed the 
fortunes of king James the second to France, and 
who was possessed of add repaired the Caah^ was 
descended from Hugh duffe O'Donell, and bro- 
ther of Manus O'Donell, chief of his name, who 
died in 1563. 

A branch of the family are settled in Spain, of 
which are the celebrated general, the Conde de 
Abispal, and his brothers, who d^istin^i^sjied, 
thi^mselves in the late war. 

Another O'Donell was married in Austria, to a 
princess of Cantucacini, the descendants ojf the 
Greek emperors of Constantinople ,and Trebi- 
sonde. 



Treaty between Sir Henry Sidney y lord deputy 
of Ireland y and Calvagh O'Donelly chief oj' 
TirconnelL — 1664. 

Hec Indentura facta vicessimo die mensis Octobris, aimo 
regni serenissime et indictlssime principis Elizabeth, Dei 
gratia Anglie, Francie^ et Hibemie Regina, fidei defensor, etc. 
octavo, inter honorabilem virum Dominum Henricum Sidney, 



o'DOiWELt. 198 

ordinis garterii militem, presidehtem cohsilii WalKe, et mar- 
chiarum eorundum^ deputatam suum in Hibemid generalem^ 
ceterosque de consilio in eodem regno quorum nomiria subs- 
cribuntur, ex una parte, et Dominum Calvachiiim O'Donnell, 
ex alterd parte, testatiir : quod predictus Dominus O'Donnell 
concessit, promisit, et per presentes se obligavit firmiter tenere 
et perimplere dictae Domine Regine, et successoribus suis, 
tenorem et formam articulorum sequentium. 

Primum confitetur se magnopere evinctum esse dec Op- 
timo maximo, et serenissime regine, cujus justicia et misete- 
cordia, post tantum miseriam et exilium restauravit, cum om- 
nibus suis hereditamentis, castellis, honoribus, et regiMnibus, 
nee parcit intensis sumptibus, nee laboribus, sue majestatis 
deputati, nee non exercitus istius, qusl quidem iracione novjit 
quidem se tam juste et excellentissimse principl adherere, et 
appellare deberia, et i^tur cum omni gratianim actibne pro- 
mittit pro se, el omnibus suis aliis successoribus, domihis 
O'Donnells, favores hos remunerare suorum servitiis, sicut 
Melium subditorum est, et semper obedientes erunt sue ma- 
jestatis, et sue majestatis deputato, et omnibus aliis locum 
predictum tenentibus in hoc regno Hibemie. 

Item, confitetur regiham serenissimam suam solam et nati{- 
ralem dominam supremam, et quod in omnibus causis, tam 
spiritualibus quam temporalibus, sua majestas est, et esse 
debet, sola et suprema gubematrixe in hoc regno, et quod, 
ad posse suum, adjuvabit et supportavit aiictoritatem predic- 
tam, et expellabit et eradicabit omnes hos, qui in Connalid 
contradictores erunt. Et ulterius dictus' Dbminiis O'Donell, 
pro s<B et successoribus suis, dat et surdiim reddii in mantis 
serenissime regin6, omnia servitia et jura regalia in Connallid 
appertinentia corone hujus regui imperialis. 

Item, dictus Dominus O'Donell promittit, pro se et omnibus 



t94 Irish antiquarian researches. 

aliis dominis Connalie, quod nunquam confederabant, 
cum aliquibus rebellibusy vel rebello^ sue majestatis, veL 
suorum successorumy nee in amicitiam vel senritium suum 
ctccipiant aliquos Scotos^ vel ullos alios alienos^ sine licentid 
8uA noajestatisy vel successorum suorum, vel eorum deputati 
et consilii in hoc regno ; et ulterius, ad posse suum, obediens 
erit ad mandatum deputati et consilii, et prosequetur pro 
virili rebellem Jobannem O'Neile, et omnes sibi adherentes. 

Item, dictus Dominus O'Donell, consentit quod quoties ipse 
O'Donell, vel successores sui, rogati vel mandati erunt, per 
Uteras domini deputati/ vel sue majestatis locum tenentis, in 
hoc regno, veniet in propria personA (si modo validus fuerit, 
ad omne magnum et generale viagium, in hoc regno, et secum 
adducat sexaginta equites, centum viginti turbaries, et tre- 
centos Scoticos, vel si non validus erit) mittet saltem prizn^- 
palem generosum de Connalid, ad electionem domini depur 
tati, cum totidem equitibus, turbariis, 'et Scoticis, cum vlo- 
tualibus pro quadraginta diebus. 

Item, dictus Dominus O^Donell, consentit, quod, quoti^ 
dominus deputatis hujus regni, vel ejusdem regni consillarii^ 
mittent literas suas pro dicto Domino O'Donnell, veniet ioties 
ad omnes locos, et parliamenta, in illis litteris specificata et 
nominata. 

Item, consentit dictus Dominus O'Donell, penmplere omma 
decreta publicata, vel publicanda, per dictum dominum de- 
putatum et consilium, inter predictum Dominum O'Donell 
etfratrem suum, Hugonem Mac Manus O'Donell, vel aviin- 
culum suum Hugonem Duife 0*Donell, tam pro divisione 
hereditamentorum, quam pro aliqua alid causA vel materiA. 

Item, dictus Dominus O^Donell, |)ro se et omnibus alik 



o'l>ONEI>L. 195 

Dominis de Connalidy in futurum coi^tetttr^e tenere patrias, 
terras, et tenementa, de majestate serehi^Une r^n«, solum.' 
Et si imposterum sue majestati placuerit, usus et rittis hjxjiH 
patriae commutare et earn reducere^ ad^otdinem ciyileiu^ ad 
earn gnbemanduxn^ per leges suas, siout in Afiglicdni^ par« 
tibus hujus regni, vel si iUa tnajestas bohbtabit titulo a&quo 
honoris predietum Dominum O'Dohell-, vel aliqiJtos alios ge- 
fierosos de Connalii, predicta^ Ddmiixus'CVDoiiell, ad pOs# 
suum/adjuvabit et suppeties sue majestati dabit 

~ ' t , ^ 

.'•••' ; ■..;.■ ..,-•.- ... 

Item, predictus Dominus O'Donell, ccniseutit prb ^e -et cm • 
nlbus aliis Dominis de ConnaM, quod quando et quotie^cum* 
que visum est sue majestati, castra aliqdsl etigere et' cotn- 
ponere, vel exercitus in Connaliam mittere, pro defensione 
siiorum subditorumi, (sicut jam agitur) predictu^ Dominiis 
O'Donell, et successores> obedientes erunt ^ niOiigeri ad 
perimptendum pro virili mandate^ et vbluh^tenl^egiam. 

Item, consentit et affirmat quod \ majestas sua, bia^bebit 
donacionem omnium episcopatuum, et nominationem om- 
nium episcoporum Connalie, sicut in ceteris partibus bujus 
regni, ac presentationem omnibus beneficiis ecclesiasticis, 
quibus majestas sua titulum habet, aut imposterum habere 
poterit, ac etiam liberam dispositionem omnium t^ratiim 
quibus majestas sua investiri poterit. 

Item, quoad posse supportabit omnes tenentes regine ini^ra 
dominationes suas existentes, et eas terras suas, et tenemehta 
et commoditates eorum, tenere et possidere quietos pati^ftuf, 
hec predictos depredabit^ nee ab hiis accipiefty Come and 
Livery^ vel aliquos alios uius, impositiones, atit' exactlohe^ 
quascunque, per ipsum aut predecessores sues usitatos, in 
contrarium non obstante. 

' C C 



196 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

Item, bene supportabit et supportari faciet, quoad posse 
exercitum tarn equitum quam peditum, nunc relictum apud 
Diny, sub conductione Edwardi Randal^ armigeii, colonelli 
omnium peditum in HiberniA existentium, ac etiam dabit, aut 
dari faciet, eidem colonello, quamdiu in ConnaliA manebant^ 
aut prope eum numerum quadraginta marcarum, singulis 
septimanis, prima autem solucio incipiet primo die Decembris, 
quo tempore etiam predictus O'Donell dabit, vel dari faciet, 
pro tribus mensibus numerum quatuor centum et octaginta 
marcarum, pretu sex solidorum et octo denariorum, sterlin- 
gorum, pro unaquaque marca, et pro defectu uniuscuj usque 
marce, dabit aut dari faciet, sex oves, aut quatuor porcos, 
unius anni etatb et ultra. 

Item, dabit, aut dari faciet, eidem colonello, avenas in 
stramine, sufficientes ad victum centum equorum, viz. pro 
unoquoque equo, quatuor onera, pro die, et in singulis oneri- 
bus viginti quatuor manipulos, aut in loco ejusdem dues men- 
stiras avenarum, nuncupatum a mether, 

; Item, in consideracione gratuitatis et benevolencie sue, re- 
numerande magnos favores, ac copiosa beneficia, pro protec- 
tionem, ac magnam clementiam majestatis sue, accepta, con- 
tentus est et concedit, dare et solvere in scaccarium majestatis 
sue Hibemie, pro se et heredibus vel successoribus suis^ Do- 
minis O'Donells, in perpetuum, ducentum marcas sterlingas, 
solvendas annuatim ad festum Sancti Michaelis Arcliangeli et 
Phillppi et Jacobi Apostolorum, per equales porciones,>ut 
in loco ejusdem, ad, electionem suam ipsius O'Donell, tres 
centas marcas, quas dabit, aut dari faciet, ad festa predicta, 
in villa de Kelles in comitatu Midie. 

In cujus rei testimonium predictus Dominus O'Donell, has 
indenturas manu sud propriA subscripsit, et eisdem dgillum 



o'donjsll.. Ift7 

^um posuitjin pre&eiitiis, HugonisMec Manus . O'Donnell, 
fratris sui, HugonisDufF O'Donell, avunculi; sui, Donaldi 
Magonnell, Episcopi . Rapotensis, O'Doghortie, cognomir^s 
sue prmcipalis, Mac Suihe Fannaghe^ O'Boile, sui cogno- 
minis principalis^ Mac Suine Bannaghe, Mac Suine Duune^ M 
ceterorum generosprum Connalie, qui quidem his predictis 
c'oncessianes suas dederunt et affirmaverunt, apud Ballyshein, 
die et anno predictis, at fuerunt quoque Johannes O'Ghal: 
loher, Capitaneus de Bondroies, et Hugo O'Donell officiarius 
Rapotensis. ■ 



Pro Constituendo Hugonem Mac Manus O^Donelly 
Capitaneum Nationis suce de TyrconnelL — 
A.D. 1574. 

Pat. 16, Eliiz. p. 9, m. 33. 

Regina, omnibus ad quos &c. salutem sciatis, quod nos, 
de vera obedientid Hugonts Mac-Manus ODonelly digne 
ejusdem promptitudine ad deserviendum nobis, atque ad 
patriam illam, et nostrorum subditorum fidelium in eadem 
patria desertium recte, rite, et fideliter gubemandum et te- 
nendum, plurimum confidentes, eundem Hugonem capita- 
neum patriae de Tyrconell^ cum pertinentiis, nominamus, orr 
dinamus, constituimus, et confirmamus per prsesentes, Hav 
bendum, tenendum^ gaudendum et occupandum capitaueatum 
praedictum, cum omnibus suis pertinentiis, proficuis, comino- 
ditatibus, juribus, et advantagiis quomodolibet de antiquo 
debitis et usitatis in patria praedicta, eidem Hugonty quamdiu 
vixerit, et in eodem se bene gesserit, ut noster fidelis subditus, 
ac teneat, perimpleverit, et performaveHt, nobis et sucesso- 
ribus nostris tenerem, iirmam, et efiectum omnium et siur 
gulorum illorum articulorum in quddam indentura inde inter 
predilectum et fidelem nostrum Henricum Sidneyy praeno- 



106 IRISH AirriaUilBUN' RESEARCHES. 

hi&i oriiaia uoetris* garterii nuHtomy time Tcgni nostrr uffin 

•)«pnifteriiostruti]; depatatum; et concilituni nostrAia, et Calra- 

ehim, qpondam capitaneum pTe&te pdbrie de Te/caneli, ek 

^Utt& viceaimi die Ootobris, Anno Regni nosM octaTp, sp^- 

dficatoniniy et qui^ ex parte ejusdem Cdlmcii^ esftent, sive 

fetttnt per indentnram fllam performandi et peiimpleiidi ; et 

porro accedat ad Deputatmn nostrom regni nostri Htber- 

nup, Bc ad gabematorem nostrom Ubonte, protemp(Nre ex- 

kt^ites^ et ad conciliom regni nostri prsedict^ quandocunque 

per mandatum sive literas eomm alicujus habuerit in man- 

datis ad vos aecedero. In cujus &c. teste Regind^ apud 

GorAambtdrge, decimo nono die Julii. 

Per breve de private sigillo. 



ORIGINAL LETTERS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM. 

Cotton MSS. Vespasian F, XII— foL 62. 

Indorsed:-'' To Con. O'Don^, 31 Julu, 1562/' 

Predilecte 8aIutei|is.h-^Negotia toa patris qiie tui cum regia 

majettate ita traotavimus, ut finem; omnibus secimdum' dcMii* 

deruiB, tuum in^osuimus. Pattern ^um^ teque regia mar 

jestaa in suain tutelam acceinty vosque defendere isosbepit^ 

omntaque praemissa perempteie. decrevit. Htee tib| bi^vi 

soiibenda duximus, ea vero per dUectmn inenm capellanum 

arcbedeaconum Midensem tibi fusius declaranda. sunt; cai^ 

ut fidem sicut fiobis ipsis habeas vohuuus. Datum ex; 

PoHNE et scripta nostra propria manu, 31 July 1562. 



Id. lib.fol. 63. 

Indorsed — ** O'Donell's Letter broughte by Shane's men' 
25 Augusti 1562." 

This letter was in Irish, the followbg is a translation : 



life and health from O'Donell to his Lord and to bis 
Friends^ axid let his complaint be with you ; according to 
the custom of the war of Ireland I left my . possessions well 
and Con O'Donell to succeed me. And he took into his 
hands eveiy thing, which he found in the country. He 
withholds from me that which O'Neill and 1 agreed by com- 
pact together that I should give. And he has made his own 
determination (and is resolved to abide by it) to keep it to 
himself, as is evident to me and to every other man : He will 
not give me my own share, nor the share of O'Neill, which 
against my will has for a long time been in the possession 
of the Connallians. And now, therefore, I beseech you to 
compel Conn O^Donell, willingly or unwillingly, to permit 
me to fulfil my part of the agreement whi<^ is between us 
and O'NeUI. 

J, O'DONBLL. 



•«Mii^ 



Id. Ltd. fol 64. 

Indorsed—'' To Con O'Donell 26 Auguste 1562." 

After our Very faarty c^mmendatyons,-^— we have receyved 
two lettrs from you, and do perceyve by the report <rf the 
Deyne^df Annaghe and Archdekon of Metibe your good and 
faythfiQI meahyng and dysposytyon in the serveyce of the 
Queene's Majeste^ whych we do well allow and thankfully 
take^ and ther^ore ye maye be assured of all friendship and 
favor that we maye shewe unto you in all your juste causes. 
We have wrytten< to Shane O'Neletobe with us at Dundalk 

the • • • of Septembr, at which daye and place we 

also requyr you not to fayle to be with us ; and, for your 
bettr seciiryte^ to come through Tyrone. We have ac* 
cordyng to your requeste made in your lettrs to Sir Thomas 

Cusakej wrytten to Shane O'Nele to •••;•.; 

ilg^nst you^ and neverdielesse, referr to you to consyder 



d03 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

et cabaUoTum nobis auf&rebaty quarum occasione ac defectn 
multi homines panperesqne perienmf, et plerique qnidem 
moritari sunt, nisi dei clemenciay ac vestro suffiragio, nobis 
saccnrretur. Credebamus equidem nos tntos eX intutielft 
poaitos ex quo semel dictus Johannes O'Neill adivit pre- 
senciam regine, confidentes remedium reginale, ac vestrain 
£avorem nobis esse in vicino, et sic frustra spe laotatt tanta: 
damna nobis comissa fuerunt, ut predicitur, quanta Hngatt 
nostra apto ordine fan nequit. Tanta quidem optabamus 
munera ipsi Johanni antequam nos depredavit aut omnibus 
bonis exspoliavit, puta quinque obsides pro fidelitate donee 
iremus ad concilium regale, et unam bonam villam in patria 
nostra manucaptam, et censum de Tir Eoghayn nostris pa- 
renlibus. debitum, et multos equos^ allaque munera et latgi-^ 
cidoes^ Sancti Dei timore procul abjecto^ ac vestro mandate 
prorsus contempto, prefatus Johannes O'Neill^ depopuJator 
agrorum, ac publice utilitatis vexator, modis quibus diximus^ 
et longe horribilioribus^ nosinvasit, predictas miseri8s> erum- 
nasy paupertates> predas, spoliacioiiesy invasiones, tuDsioiMS 
hominumque occisiones^ nobis committendb. It^jaa.posthee 
obtestamur vestram amicitiam ac dominacionem. habeor* 
vigiliam ac diligentiam^ de Jiberaciohe Domini Calvi|fiii Idoa-i 
nailly parentis nostri, incarcerati et mauucapti apud dieliim 
Johannem O'Neill. Super, quibus omnibus querelis^acen? 
saoionibusy supplicationibus, vestram veneracionem, clexsben«i 
tiam, ac miserecordiam/ in Christo Jeshu exhortamury si 
semper desidoratis habere nos^ et parentes nostras^ in80&t& 
servicio et subjectione, aut spem firmam solidamque'ccmfi-^ 
dentiam quam in vos fixam habemus ad finem debitunx;de« 
ducere, quatenus nobis super restitucione predictorum dam« 
norum providere dignemini, quoniam, ut proverbio volgari 
canitur, in tempore necessitatis ingentis probatur vera amicicia: 
Et si majus cupitis citare nos ad concilium vestrum, sunul 
cum Domino Johanne O Neill predicto, et habere pro nobis 



o'vo»Ehh. 208 

integrain restiCucionem^ab ipso, eut dare nobis veniam ex* 
pectandi in loco nostro et facultatem vestram nobis imponere^ 
per quam possimus acquirere plenariam restitucionem, parati 
sumus, libenti animo, vestris suasibus obtemperare, ita quidem 
quod facietis antefatum Johannem O'Neill compescere 
Hugonem O'Donnaill, nostrum fratrem, qui tanquam alter 
Hercxiles, turn potestate et confortamine ipsius Johannisi 
nobis hostili incursu obesse nobis vereter hec enim necessitates 
nostre quibus involuimur, atque inundanjur celerem expedi- 
cionem requirunt, ob quam causam Majestatis intuitu vos ob- 
secramus, ut infra viginti quatuor boras, post noticiam presen- 
ciam literarum, ad querelas hasoe nostras respondeant, et quod 
facturi estis quantum ad nos irescribetis cum vestro ac nostro 
ambasiatoribus. Et sic Valete, 13 Augusti Anno Domini 
1562. 

Post scripta. — Equidem si dictus Johannes O'Neill misit, 
aut in posterum mittet ad vos, aliquas querelas aut accusa* 
clones adversus nos, quas falsitatis colore autumamus fore 
picturatas, cum in vestra adfuerimus apto ordine respondebl- 
mus presencia. 



Id. Lih.fol, 83. 

Indorsed—'' O'Donnell, 14 Septembris, 1562." 
Addressed — '* Honorabili Domino Locumtenenti dentur." 

Predilecte salutem. Ante hac scrips! ad vestram amplitu- 
dinem, Conoscium O'Doinnaill, vestra si lubeat pace, cogere, 
coacte aut voluntarie, ut me solveret pro bonis meis, et prq 
bonis ejusdem Dominium Ineill, possessis aput Conolanenses, 
sed responsum meum non scripsit vestra D. ideoque 

sepe et sepissime imploro vestram amplitudinem ut hoc iii 
tempore cogetas dictum Conoscitim me solvere a Domino 
O'Neil]^ cum nunc vobiscuip Conosoius esse, secundum scrip- 

D d 



S04 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEABCH£S. 

turn inter me et Dominum O'N'oill, manu mei subscriptam, 
cum conscensu ejusdem Conoscii, et hoc fkcietis priusquam 
Conoscius vestram relinquat presenciam. Maximas debeo 
agere gratias Domino O'Neill^ ut me manucepit pro solucione 
de me habenda, non obstante^ qui juste me invenit secundum 
bellum et consuetudinem hujus partis regni. Et sic sepe et 
sepissime peto ut cogetis Conosciiun me solvere prius quam 
V08 relinquat, coacte aut voluntarie, et sic valete. Ex villa 
Domini Ineill, xiiii. Septembris 1562. 



Id. Lih.fol 87. 
Fragment, in the hand- writing of Thos. Ratcliffe, Earl of Sussex. 

Indorsed — *'Copy of a Concordatura granted to Con O'Don- 

nell, Oct. 5, 1562." 

Andy wher Con O'Donnell bathe made declaration unto us 
that he bathe of late suffered dyvers losses, and the countiye 
that he govemeth, in the tyme of his father's imprisonment, 
is utterly wasted^ for that he bathe continued his &jthe- 
fuU and trewe servyce to the Queene's Majestye, and hathe 
in consyderatyon thereof made humbell petityon to be re- 
teyned in her Majesty e's wages ; for his better course in 
servyce, and shew of her IVflyestye's favour towards hym, 
wherby his friends and followers may the more wyllyngly 
joyne with him, it is by us, the Lord Lieutenant and Coun- 
cell agreed that the sayd Con shall have the Queene's Ma« 
jestye's wages of vi*. viii**. by the daye, to begyn the 28 
of Septembr last, and to the contynew during her Majestye*s 
pleasure. 

Dated at Trymlett this fyfth of Octobr, I5«. 



o'donell. 305 



Id. Lib. /oL 95. 
Indorsed—'' O'Donnell, 6 Octobris, 1562/' . 

Addressed — '* Honorabili Domino meo Domino Locumtenentl 

derffur/' • : 4 



• * ... 

Predilecto meo Domino salutem, ppto felicem summam. 
Caritas necnon summa necessitas, me movet ut hoc scripto 
vestram amplitudinem visitarem, cum Conoscius O'Doinnaill 

jam in presenciarum est m est imploro vestram 

amplitudinem ut eum, voluntare aut coacte, fieu;ietis dictum 
Conoscium solvere et deducere me ad libertatem ex manibus 
Domini Ineill; et non mittere dicto Conoscio recedere a 
vestra dominacione, donee concordaverit me, vel finem mee 
solucioni imponeret. Dicunt quidam quod Conoscius dixit^ 
si haberet septem parentes, et quod ipsi omnes arrestarentur, 
et quod eorum solucio esset villa de LefFp:, quod illam villam 
non traderet, ex eorum libertate ; bujus autem animi est ipse 
Conoscius, lucrare sibi omnia bona mea, et villas meas, et 
non solvere me pro bonis meis. Quare cum Conoscius ^est 
illius animi tenacis, et vestri officii interest justiciam inter 
quascumque in hoc regno ministrare, ex quo justo bello 
manucaptus eram per Dominum O'Neill, idoneum duxi vobis 
scribere ut facietis dictum Conoscium me solvere pro bonis, 
et magnam fiduciam babes, ex vestra amplitudine, quod si in 
bonis non haberem quantum sufficeret ad meam solucionem, 
quod vestra amplitudo me solveret pro vestris bonis. Et sic 
iterum atque iterum rogo yos indilate facietis dictum Conos- 
cium^ filium in amicabilem meum, me solvere pro bonis meis, 
niun si absentaverit se in nullo adberebit vestiis monitis, quaa- 



200 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

turn ad meam solucionem responsum super his luihi scribati^. 
Et sic quam optime valete, ex Daire^ Sexto Octobris 1562. 



Id. Lib.foL 98. 
Indorsed— ''To Hewgh O'Donnell, 20 Septembris, 1562." 

Dilecte salutem-^Cum intelliglmus quasdam controversias 
inter te et Conatium O'Donell esse ortas, quarum dedsionem 
ille lubenter ad nos remittet, rogamu^ te quatenus a damno 
ill! inferendo omnino abstineas^ et ut judicio nostro in omni- 
bus stare veils ita^ enim justitia ex utraque parte adminis^ra- 
bitur^ et interim patria de Tirconnell populique inhabitantes 
gueref causa remota pacifice et quiete vivere, terraque arare 
et loca devastata inhabitari, ad magnum illius patrie totiusque 
regni commodum possint. Et si hoc feceris justiciam, cum 
favore expectare poteris, si autem a consilio et mandatu 
nostro erraveris damnum patrlotis inferes, et regiam Majesta* 
tem ad vindictam provoces nuncius tuus, cum litteris tuis, ad 
nos venit Dondalke^ et quia in regiis negotiis tunc versabamur^ 
ilium nx»s ad Arbrakan sequi jussimus pro responso^ ille vero 
statim ad te sine responso reversus est^ vale. — Datum esL 

iVrbrakan xxx Septembris, 1562. 



Id, Lib.foL 70. 
Indorsed—'' Shane O'Nell, 6 Octobris 1562." 

Addressed — " Honorabili Domino Locotinenti d^atur.**' 

Humili recommendacione premissa. Scripsit mihi vestto 
amplitudo ut securitatem darem Conoscio O'Donnaill, ego^ 



* /, O'DoneU f Sic oiig* 



o'bonell. 207 

viBstris fiuacionibus et mandatis, dabo ci securitatem unius 
mensis, interim quoque mittatis- -homines vestros ad haben- 
dum in restitucionem de dicto Conoscio in omnibus per eum 
prave a me, et a meis ablatis contra mandata reginas Mujes- 
tatis et contra prohibicionem vestram ; sciat quoque vestra 
dominatio quod si ilia mendaces essent semipares m. • .in po- 
testate, quod non adherent vestris neque aliquibus mandatb: 
qui pravaB nocerent omnibus, et mihi si possent quod probari 
bene potest dum non obstante eorum minima potentia contra 
vestra mandata, et vestrae securitatis tempore sicut possunt,. 
nocent et quod ego quantum ad eos, adhereo vestris mandatis 
tempore securitatis, eis non nocendo, et si qua dampna 
comissi contra Conoscium, ipse Conoscius dedit ansam, nam 
primo plura dampna contra me perpetravit prava, sed villam, 
fabricatam per me apud Lochfeabhail, nuper datam per 
Conoscium Scotticis, et occidit filium Capitanei O'Cathan^ 
cum aliis dampnis tempore quo eram in Anglia, tunc autem 
tempore securitatis vestre, sicut antehac vobis scripseram 
delicta contra me fecit, nam sui familiarius manuceperunt 
filiam Domini Idonnaill, et alios dominos generosos interfe- 
cerunt, in presencione praefatorum dampnorum et delictorttm,. 
feci quidam vindictam contra dictum Conoscium, cum noa 
adhaerebat vestris mandatis. Scripsi ad Magydir, et ad filium 
Ranalldi Flavi, ut mihi restituerent indilate omnia ddmpnaf 
per eos mihi et meis ablata tempore securitatis restituerent,.' 
sicut eis in mandatis dedislis mihi restituer^ per vestras Kteras. 
Et si non adherebant vestris monitis indicta restitucione mihf 
faciends oportet, me perseq . . mea dampna, et debetis capere 
circa eos vindictam ut promisistis. Jam Capitaneus Maghyd- 
hir depredavit meos subditos, qui erant sibi vicini, tempore 
quo homines mei erant vobiscum in Ardbrecan, ceterum im- 
ploramu9 vestras deminaciones ut festinabitis nuncios meos, et 
literas meas, ad regiam majestatem ; et meam personam m 
omnil^us que decent ad amicitiiam precor ut,. vestre persone 



203 nilSH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

comigret ut essemus una caro et unus spiritus, sicut in anixno 
habeo, et favebitis me regine majestati in meis peticionibus^ 
sicut certus sum quod obtinebitis a regia maj estate, ea que 
velitis, ab ea impetrare. Responsum super his cum latore 
scribati et sic quam optime valete, ex campo meo^ aput Daire 
Duban, sexto Octobris, 1562. 



Id. Lib./oL 76. 
Indorsed—'' Con O'Donell, 9 Oct. 1562." 

Addressed — '' Reverendissimo Domino Deputato harum lit- 
terarum, cum reverencia honoreque condigno, fiat tradica.*' 

Superscribed — '' Per Ohonacium O'Donnayll Ro • • Domino 
Deputato S. P. eum humili subjeccione." 

Literas vestras nunc novissime deputas accepimus, ex quibuB 
clare intelligimus nos observicium nostrum in stipendio- regie 
annali fore acceptos, propter quod maximas grates vestre 
magniiicencie referimus. Conquerimus equidem vestre 
dominacioni de ineffabilibus damnis nunc nobis comissis, 
quando in vestro coUoquio erramus, per nefandum virum 
Johannem O'Neill, et Hugonem O'Donnaill, qui nobis tres 
millia vacarum et capallorum auferebant, ac patriam nostram 
incendio tradiderunt, in vituperium ac contemptum vestrum, 
et nostrum irremediabile detrimentum, prout hujus assercionis 
veritatem ab hominibus ipsius Jobannis O'Neill assequebamur. 
Noluimus enim pandere omnia anxietatis nostre quando in 
vestro conspectu fuimus, igitur nunc vestram dominacionem 
exhortamur, ut necessitatem nostram in memoria habeatis, et 
vestram facultatem adversus ipsum Johannem deduceatis, 
et si vestri ambasiatores adhnc non rej>etierant HibemiajE^^ 



o'donbll. 209 

jubemus vobis tardare nostrum nuncium vobiscum, usque ad 
eventum vestrorum ambasiatorum quo ad usque certiorabitis 
nos de his que Domina Regina vobis rescripserit ; ut breviter 
quidem alloquimur^ omnia nobis possibilia parati sumus ad 
vestrum jussum explere. Et sic valetote^ ex manerio Domini 
Maguydhir, 9 die Octobris, anno Domini 1562. 

Post scripta — Pandimus quod vehementi morbo opus est 
celeri remedio^ igitur finem faustum nostns conatibus impo- 
netis contemptus autem majestatis regie gravatur ex com- 
missione damnorum quorum simus in vestra colloquio^ et 
qui stolidorum schomatibus afiicimur igitur &c. Nobis enim 
asseritur quod ipse Johannes O'Neill facit multos amicos 
adversus vestram majestatem, ob orientati et occidentali unde 
praBcavere est oportet enim nos elaborare pro aliquo medica- 
mento aliunde acquirendo, nisi celeriter nobis vestrum suflra- 
gium succurrentur de digno enim responso horum, omnium 
nobis rescribetis — et de promissionibus vestris nobis fiendis 
quod quos vellitis deducere ad finem, si possibile erit. 

Yo'. humble sarvant to commaund at all times, 

Cot) O'Don^iu. 



TAe King*s Letter directing a patent to pass to create Rory 
O Donell^Earl of Tirconnelly with ji grant of that country, 

James "Rex. By the King, 

Right trusty and welbeloved, we greet you well. We have 
been credibly informed that Rorie O'Donnell, brother to the 
archtraitor O'Donnell, lately deceased in Spain, made his 
humble submission, in Ireland, to our Lieutenant of that 
Kingdom ; and in token of the detestation of his former dis- 
loyalties and firm resolution to continue dutiful and loyal 



fllO IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

courses hereafter, bath done to us and our crowne, since our 
lieutenant received him unto our mercy many good and ac- 
ceptable services, and now lately for true declaration of his 
loyal heart ; the said Rorie hath dutifully presented him- 
self before our royal person, humbly beseeching our princely 
favour, that we would vouchsafe to grant unto him and his 
heirs, our territories and countries of Tyrconnell, in Ulster ; 
the which his late brother (though unworthy) and his father 
and ancestors had for many years past, and have ever in all 
former rebellion of the O'Neills, lived as loyal subjects- to 
our crowne, till his unhappy brother first stained the repu- 
tation of their unspotted name ; upon this, and many the like 
suits, we have resolved to manifest to all our subjects of that 
our realm ; that out of our princely disposition, we desire 
their dutiful loyalty and obedient hearts than in any degree 
increase of revenue or profit by their defeccon, where there 
;ajipeared signs and undoubted expectation of sound loyalty 
hereafter. And therefore, our pleasure is, and do will and 
require you, that you cause our lettres patents, under the great 
seal of that our realm, to be made and passed in due form 
of law, containing our eiTectual grant to the said Rorie 
O'Donell, and the heirs males of his body, with remainders 
-of like estate successively to Cafiery O'Donell, brother to 
4he said Rorie, and to his cousin, Donell oge mac Donell 
O'Donell, of all our teretories and countries of Tireconnell, 
with all the islands, rights, dainaries, advousons, fishings, 
:duties, and other hereditaments whatsoever, of ancient time, 
justly belonging to the lord thereof, (excepting to us our 
'heirs and successors, all abbys, priories, and other spiritual 
iiving) reserving also to us our heirs and successors, such and 
the same rent and beeves services, rising out, and duties as the 
ifather of Rorie, or any of his ancestors, lords, or possessors 
of the country, yielded, or ought to have yielded, to our late 
dear sister the queen, by tenor of any lettres patent or com- 



oftWDNELL. , 211 

position, w'itli any of his anbe^rs in the latejQueen's time, 
and recorded in th^e council book or in any of oiir courts at 
Dablin, incerting in the saidiettres patent such further reser- 
vations, exceptions, and covenants, for the benefit our service 
ds you shall find requisite, and included in any former lettres 
patent or composition with the lords or chieftains of O'Don* 
nells country ; in which our grant, we require you to reserve 
tons and our heirs, the castle, town, and lands of Balleshenan, 
and one thousand acres of land thereunto next about the 
castle adjoining, with the fishings there ; and reserving to us 
during our pleasure, liberty to erect forts which we or our 
heirs shall think expedient for service of the country ; with 
provisional condition,, that the castles, lands, services, rents, 
and duties, which were in the posession of Sir Neal O'Donell, 
when he lived under Hugh Roe, late O'Donell, and in amity 
with him, especially Castlefynen, and all the lands and he- 
reditaments belonging to the same, may be reserved to the 
free disposition of us and our heirs to bestow upon Sir 
Neal O'DoneU, or such other as may deserve the same, and 
their heirs : and our pleasure is, that Rorie O'Donell do re- 
nounce and relinquish all claims, rights, and duties which 
he may challenge upon Sir Cahir 0*Doghertys country, 
O'Connor Sligos country, and upon any other subject re- 
siding out of the limits of Tyrconnell. And because Rorie 
O'Donell shall, by this our gracious favour, receive as of our 
bounty and gift, so large a terretory asfeTireconell,for his in- 
heritance, which may enable him, as our subject, to be in the 
highest degree of honof ; we have thought meet to grace and 
countenance him with the stile and name of fiarl of Tyrcon- 
nell, requiring you to grant unto him by lettres patent, the 
name, stile and honor of Earl of Tyrconell. To have and 
to hold the same to himself and the heirs males of his body, 
with remainder of like estate to the said Caffery O'Donell, 
brother to the said Rorie, and that the eldest sons and heirs 

E e 



212 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

males apparent of the paid Rorie and Caffeiy's bodies^ be 
created lords barons of Donegall, during the lives of tho 
Earls. And our further pleasure is, that the said Rorie shall 
have a castodiam of all abbeys, priories, and other spiritual 
livings within the said country of Tyrconell, till we shall be 
otherwise minded to dispose them, which our princely inten- 
tion, our pleasure is, shall be effectually accomplished to the 
said Rorie, for his encouragement to continue in his dutiful 
loyalty. And these our lettres, notwithstanding any insuffi- 
ciency of words, or omission necessary to have been inserted 
herein, for the explaining of our princely favour, shall be as 
well to you our lieutenant and deputy, now being, or either of 
you, and to any other deputy or head governor or governors 
of that our realm, for the time being, and to the chancellor 
or keeper of our great seal of that Realm likewise for the 
time being, or to any other officers whom it may appertain 
sufficient warrant and discharge. Given under our signet at 
Totenham, the fourth day of September 1603, In the first 
year of onr reign of England, France, and Ireland, and of 
Scotland, the seven and thirtieth. 

To our right trusty wel beloved cousin and counsellor, 
the Earl of Devonshire, our lieutenant of Ireland, and, 
in his absence, to our right trusty and welbeloved Sir 
George Carie, knight, our deputy thear, and to our 
chancellor of that our kingdom now being, and to any 
other deputy governor or governors, chancellor or keeper 
of the great seal of our said realm, that hereafter for 
the time shall be, and to all other our officers and ministers 
there to whom it may appertain^ 



THE MEESHAC. 213 



THE MEESHAC- 

When this valuable and venerable relick came 
into my hands^ it had all the appearance of hav- 
ing long been in a damp place^ or buried in the 
earth. The rich tracery work of the settings, and 
the chased silver plating, were not perceptible, 
from the thick coating which covered its surface. 
The plates being very thin, it required great care 
and attention to remove its impurities without in* 
jury. On discovering the date of anno domini 
ccccciii.y I could scarcely credit the accuracy of 
my vision, especially as I had been taught to 
believe, dating by the Christian era, had not 
been used at so early a period in this country. 
After an accurate investigation, I feel perfectly sa- 
tisfied, the date is genuine ; nor does it require 
any great exertion of faith, if we consider, that 
Christianity, and consequent civilization had ex- 
isted in Ireland, for centuries before ; the claim of 
the Irish to such a state, having been clearly es- 
tablished, by unquestionable evidence, these re- 
mains^ powerfully corroborate that testimony. 

The name Meeshac, which Vallancey says 
this box bore, may possibly be a corruption of 






214 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

two Irish words, ttlJOt), a jewels and |^0, this ; 
which last being pronounced shoy the two toge- 
ther would in familiar speech sound Mionsho^ and 
would mean this jewelly or precious Jem, and 
might, by those who are unacquainted with the 
Irish language, be taken for and spelled Meesha. 
Mr. O'Reilly, in answer to my queries, says, ^ I 
can scarcely venture a conjecture on •the word 
Meeshacy which general Vallancey, says^ was 
th6 name of the box in the possession of the Rev. 
Mr. Barnard. It certainly is not Irish, although 
I have no doubt that the true word sounded some* 
thing like Meeshac. It might be derived from 
the word ttU-4|*, an altar ^^ compounded with sov^. 
other word, which may have expressed the use 
of the box; it was evidently intended to con- 
tain copies, or portions, 6t the scripture, and to 
stand upon the altar/^ 

Vallancey, in the fourth volume of the Collec- 
tanea, No. Xni., page 1 1, says : — 



" Mr. O'Donnell, of the barony of Innishoweoy 
informs me, there was in the hands of the Rev. 
Mr. Barnard, of Fahan, a precious box, set with 1 

stones, called in Irish Meeshac^ a word supposed 
to be Hebrew, and to signify a vow. This iis or- 
namented with a crucifix and the twelve apostles, 
&c.^"-^ ■■ - ■ ' 



THE MEESHAC. 215 

Plate IX* is an accurate delineation of the top 
of the Meeshac; somewhat reduced in size. 

The twelve figures, which have been mistaken 
for the apostles, are on four plates of silver, each 
containing three figures, and are repetitions of 
each othen The centre is a standing figure repre- 
senting a bearded bishop or priest, with appa- 
rently the tonsure, or a bald head, holding in his 
hand a crozier, and his left hand held up, as in 
the benediction ; but there is this remarkable dif- 
ference, that the third and fourth fingers are not 
bent down, (so as to make the first and second 
fingers and the thumb represent the trinity,) but 
the whole palm and hand are exhibited— Uie 
thumb is, however, placed on the wrong side of 
the hand. On his breast is a figure of the cross^ 
apparently part of his vestment, the collar of 
which stands up on each side of his face; his 
robe hangs in folds in front over his gown. The 
head or crook of his crozier appears as if oma<i 
mented or set with stones. The figure on the 
right is of a female, in a flowing robe^ treading 
on a dragon ; on her breast is a cross, surrounded 
with a circle, below which is a figure of an orna* 
mented book, supported by her left hand ; in her 
right hand she holds a staff, on the top of which 
is a cross. The figure on the left is a priest/ io a 
sitting "posture, with a cap on his head, shaped 



216 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

like a mitre, a cross on his breast, holding in his 
right hand a staff, with a cross at the top, and 
his left hand elevated as the centre figure, his legs, 
froin his knees, appear supporting the folds of fais 
garments. Over him are two human faces^ one 
on each side his cap. 

' At the top, in the middle, is a figure of our Sa- 
viour, in brass, plated with silver, as in the cru« 
cifixion, but without a cross, fixed by pins 
through the hands and feet to the box. On each 
side i3 a sitting figure of the Virgin, under a cano* 
py, wearing a three-pointed crown, holding the 
infant Jesus in her lap i on the swaddling clothes 
is a figure of a triangle, and on his head a tiiree- 
pointed crown, surmounted with a cross! The 
right hand of the virgin is elevated, and the left . 
arm surrounds the child. 

There are eight settings of polished egg-shaped 
50ck chrystal, the largest in the centre, one at 
each corn^, one on each side, and one at the 
bottom ; each of the corner settings and that in 
the middle had round it small settings of lapis la- 
zuli, and other stones. 

Above and below, the two side chrystals are 
small isilver plates, with a figure of a bearded 
man, his right hand extended, and his left 



THE MEESHAC. 217 

across him— perhaps they are intended to re- 
present the four Evangelists. 

On plates of silver at. the top and bottom^ 
engraved in relief, is the following inscrip- 
tion: — 

tt)e 419 t)°DJ cccccjjj. ttij — -— 

Srian, the son of Brian of the sea^shore of 
Moy, covered me Anno Domini 603:, in the month 
of — 

ft ^ 

It reads from the top, and the word bO has 
the t> on the upper, and the O on the lower 
plate. 

The box is ten inches long by nine broad, 
and three inches thick ; from each side is a 
Kind of staple, on which is a ring, with a swi- 
vel, from which is a brass chain three feet 
long, which, I suppose, may have been used 
to suspend the box at the altar, or round the 
neck of the priest. 

■ 

The sides of this box are brass plates, and 
have been inlaid with silver, and enamelled, 
very similair to the C(mh. The bottom is also 



218 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN REI^EARCHES. 

of brass^ gilt, cut into crosses exactly similar 
to the Caah in pattern. 

The MeeaJuic was made after the same man- 
ner as Dimma's Bo*: a vacancy was left on 
one of the sides for the insertion of the MS. it,- 
no doubt, once contained. 



II 



It appears that this box, like the Cdah and 
Corp rmay has been held in such veneration, 
that it was closed up, and its contents kept a 
holy secret, under penalty of incurring some 
severe punishment ; for when it came into the 
hands of those, who had more curiosity than 
veneration for it as a religious or ''historical 
Felic, it was very injudiciously and violently 
opened, much injured, and possibly its con- 
tents demolished. 

The wooden case, of which these plates are 
but the external covers, was cut from a solid 
piece of yew, and hollowed out so as to form 
a case for a book, open on one side, like that 
of a folded map ; the back of which was not 
less than an inch and half thick, and harder 
than any wood I ever saw. The opeii side 
had been filled up with a piece of oak, and the 
whole closed up with a brass plate, like that 
which covered the other side. Those who at- 



MEESHAC. 219 

tempted to ascertain its contents, unfortunately 
commenced their operations at the back, and 
after breaking the brass plate across, theyi by 
ohissels, or some instrument of that kind, cut 
away the box, and broke it to pieces in such a 
manner, that I found it impossible to restore it. 
Very loiig brass pins had been driven in to se- 
cure the plates which must have perforated 
the MS. 

The workmanship of the settings is remarka- 
bly good, and I think they are more modern than 
the plates of the figures, which they partly hide ; 
indeed, the plates cover the box, and form a 
whole without the settings. The same remark 
is applicable to the Caah, and to Dimma's 
box. 

Under the centre setting, was a small square 
piece of vellum, on which was a seal of wax, 
but so flattened, as to obliterate the impression, 
if ever there were any on it. 

I have not been able to ascertain who this 
Brian the son of Brian was, but the sea-shore of 
Moy, is the north coast of the county of Mayo, 
and was the country of the O'Dowds ; nor am I 
able to throw any light on the history of the Mee- 
shac, or the circumstances by which it came into 

F f 



220 IRISH ANTIQUiB^lSI RESEARCHES. 

the hands of Dr. Barnard, late bishop of limer- 
ick. It was sold with his library after his deaths 
and thus came into the hands <>f the late Mr. Yal- 
lence^ the bookseller^ and from liim to Mr, Jones> 
from whom I. purchased it. 



^ « « « 7 



I ^ 



331 



THE GERALD INE KNIGHTS. 

That the reader may form a correct idea of 
the descent of the Geraldine Knights, I shall 
first give a brief sketch of the early pedigree 
of the Fitzgerald family, which spread itself 
into several main branches, from each of which 
sprung scions so great and numerous, as to be 
designated in the antient records, the nations of 
the GeraMines. 

The industrious and indefatigable Mr. 
Lodge, as well as other writers of the Gerald- 
ine story, make it a perfect jumble, by attri- 
buting the acts of many individuals to one per- 
son, or confusing the history of one branch, 
with that of another. Mr. Lodge was an ac- 
curate writer, on those periods of history of 
which the records were in his own custody 
in the rolls office ; (of which he made an admi- 
rable and well digested abstract, with excellent 
indexes,) but it does not appear that he 
ever examined the rolls in Birmingham Tow- 
er, (of which also he had the custody) except 
the patent rolls, and consequently was under 
the necessity of availing himself of the in- 



222 miSH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

correct and confused accounts of preceding 
historians. In the pedigrees, almost w^ithout 
exception, given in his peerage, of the antient 
Anglo- Hibemo families, of Fitzgerald, Nu- 
gent, Dillon, Barry, Birmingham, De Courcy, 
Butler, St. Laurence, Netterville, Bellew, &c. 
&c. the early parts are almost altogether er- 
roneous and unintelligible. 

These families are striking examples of the 
truth, that the human race will increase in pro- 
portion as the means are possessed for their 
support. The Butlers, Fitzgeralds, Barrys, 
Roches, Nagles, Condons, &c., of Munster ; 
the Burkes, Birminghams, Joyces, &c. of 
Connaught ; and the Birminghams, Bamwalls, 
Plunkets, Harolds, Archbolds, &c. of Leins- 
ter, increased in proportion to the extent of 
territory they respectively possessed ; some of 
them under the Kildares, Desmonds, Ormonds, 
Miac Williams, Clanrickards, &c. were able 
to muster thousands of their name, and to take 
the field with armies, much too powerful for 
the safety of. the English government; to 
which, during the reign of the Lancastrian 
kings, they paid but an uncertain and doubt- 
ful allegiance, and were often indebted to the 
inability of the English government to resist 
them, for being invested with the power of 



GERALDINE KNIGHTS. 223 

the king's sword. But to return to the Ge- 
raldlnes. 

They are descended from Gerald de Wind- 
sor, constable of Pembroke, and governor of 
South Wales, by Nesta, daughter of Rhys, 
prince of South Wales, by whom he had three 
sons, William, ancestor to the lords Gerard, 
of England, and the earls of Kerry, now Mar- 
quess of Landsdown, Maurice Fitzgerald, 
hereafter mentioned, and David, who was 
bishop of St. Davids. 

Maurice Fitzgerald, the second son, was one 
of the gallant heroes who accompanied Rich- 
ard Strongbow, earl of Strigul, to Ireland, 
in 1168; he died in the year 1177, and was 
buried in the abbey of Grey Friers, at Wex- 
ford. He had five sons, 1 Gerald ; 2 Thomas ; 
3 Alexander ; 4 Maurice ; 6 Walter ; and a 
daughter, Nestfit, who was the wife of Hervy 
de Montmorency, or de Monte Marisco, con- 
stable of Ireland. This Hervey, is called by 
historians, de Montemarisco, but he signs his 
name to a grant to the abbey of St. Thomas, 
the martyr of Dublin, Herveius de Munma- 
rend. He was brother to Jordan de Montmo- 
rency, or de Marisco, lord of Huntspil, a branch 
of the illustrious house of Montemorency, of 



224 IRISH ANTIQUARUN RESEARCHES. 

France, who settled in England, in the reign of 
Edward the Confessor. Of Alexander, Mau- 
rice, and Walter, the three younger sons, no- 
thing further is known. As my object is mere- 
ly to give a brief sketch of the pedigree, I shall 
not enter into the detail of family biography, 

Gerald Pitz Maurice, the eldest son of Mau- 
rice, was lord justiciary of Ireland, and pos- 
sessed the manors of Cromyth,* Athdare, Ath- 
lekagh. Castle Rodberd, Estgrene, and Green, 
in the county of Limerick. He married Ca- 
therine, daughter of Hamo de Valoines, a no- 
ble Norman, by whom he had Gerald, who 
died unmarried, and 

Maurice Fitzgerald, founder of the Abbey 
of Sligo, and lord justice of Ireland. He also 
fdunded the monastery of Youghal, in 1231, 
and acquired all the great wealth and posses- 
sions of the family in Leinster, by his mar- 
riage with Agnes, daughter and sole heir of 
William de Valencia, earl of Pembroke, lord 
of Oflfaley, Geshil, Maynooth, Rathmore, 
Ley, Rathmegan, Kilcock, arid Rathbride, 



* Cromyth, alias Crom Costle, from which the Irish motto 
of the earls of Kildare of " Crom a Boo,*' or Crom httagh, 
i. c. Victory for the garrison of Crom. 



GEEAtDINE KNiaHT$. !i2& 



- / 



in right of his wife Joane, daughter and sola 
heir of Warren, lord Montchensy, by Joan, 
lady of Oflfaley, sister and coheir of Anselm 
Marshall, earl of Pembroke, son of William 
Marshall, earl of Pembroke, by Isabella, 
daughter and sole heir of Richard de Clare, 
commonly called Strongbow, by Eva his wife, 
only daughter and sole heir of Dermot Mac- 
murrogh, king of Leinster.* This Maurice 
was the first baron of Oflfaley, of the Fitzge- 
rald family. By Agnes de Valencia, he had 
several sons. He died in 1257. 

Thomas Fitz Maurice, the second, lord of 
Offaley, died 26th March, 1260, leaving 

John Fitz Thomas, third lord of Offaley^ 
who was created earl of the county of Kildare, 
by patent, dated 14 May, 1316, to him and the 
heirs male of his body; as such heir male, 
his Grace Augustus- Frederick, Duke of Lein- 



* His Grace the Duke of Leinster, therefore, holds his 
lands in Leinster, as co-parcener of the antient kingdom of 
Leinster, being one of the coheirs of Dermot Macmur- 
rough, last king of Leinster, and of earl Strongbow. It is 
Tery extraordinary that this circumstance should have 
escaped Mr, Lodge's observation, especially as he put forth 
the history of this family as a specimen of his intended 
peerage. 



226 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

ster, is the twenty-second earl of Kildare. 
From this earl descended most of the resp^t-- 
able families of the Fitzgeralds of Leinster. 

The house of Desmond, descended from' 
Thomas, second son of Maurice Fitzgerald, 
before mentioned, who came to Ireland with 
Strongbow, This Thomas Fitz Maurice, niar- 
ried Elinor, daughter of Jordan de Marisco, 
and niece of Hervey de Montemarisco, beftwre'^ 
mentioned, by whom he had > ; 

John Fitz Thomas, founder of the abbey of 
Tralee, who acquired the lands and lordships 
of Decies, and Desmond,* by marriage with' 
Margery, daughter and sole heir of Thomas 
Fitz- Anthony, lord of Decies, and Desmond, 
and was slain 1260, he was the father of 

Maurice Fitz John,' second lord of Decies 
and Desmond, who was slain with his father, 
in 1260; he married Joan, daughter of John, 
lord Cogan, by whom he had 

Thomas Fitz Maurice, commonly called 



* They were confirmed to him by king Henry the third, 
by patent^ dated in 1259, in the 44th year of his reign, in 
as ample a manner as they had been held by Thorny Fitz 
Anthony, his father-in-law, from king John. 



GSRAIiDtKE ANIGHTS. 227 

Ne^ppagh, or ^ Ape^ thir4 lord of Decias ond 
Desmond^ who married Margar^et, daughter of 
Walter de Burgo, s^on of Walter, earl of Uls^ 
tei\. He ways dummoned tp parliament, in 
i29&, and accounted for 5,00 marks, the rent 
cihiB land ih V^efAm^ 18 Edw* L, 1^90, and 
d^i^. before 1390^ wa^ di|C€i<^ feis son> 



r •. r 



V Maurice Fita« ^homi^i feiur1j% lord of Da* 
dbs and DesiiMnd> who iw^j :<$]^e£^t^d ^r} of 
DiK^ttrond, and^lord of the pal&tifid! r-egalitieg, 
of the county of Kerry, by patent, dated §JJ 
August,1329. This Maurice, and John, who 
wa»>ereated eiirl ,i^i Kil4ftre>:iuL^ r 131^ : hef^i^se 
tb«y iiietre footillitb^iBOQ8rDf> Tbano^e^^n^ Qonr- 
seqnenliy in thiilNShdayi^ wf^t|[^j.f alM4 Fitz Tho^^ 
mas, , haivei beeii> na@^ as bro^eiTJ^ by Mr. 

iiodg^Qv^^ land . o^fmf m ^wop, wi^^Q^ a^y o»^ 
tnight^.falHiiAQi \itf th^^))Ben0e q^ positive ^vir 
dfificc^to thft^ntrai^y^ V The ^^utbi js, that Tha^ 
mas, the great-great-grandfather pf the^ grgt 
earl of Desmond, was brother to Gerald the 
gTO8t<^grond-^£a;lJ^r of tbi^^rst 0fN^ (^Kajdare. 



: r 



!I^hft» suppcorters: of tfe^ boij^e qf {i^^d^ir^, 
ware originally two lidm^ bi^ f r|)pi tbe^odd 
way of sketching or painting t}iem; have b(eei| 
was^ixketLfQtmonki^9f nn §rror /wl^Wb M^ l^^n 
friirpetuafed, and estfeblwhfd. -IV*^ ^^jogiwfc? 



iiid IRISH ANTIQUARIAN BESEAROHES. 

able also, that the story of the ape conveying 
the child to the top of the castle, from which 
the earls of Kildare are said to have taken their 
cresty of a monkey ^ was told of one of 'the 
Desmond family , viz., Thomas Nappagh^ or 
the ape, third lord of Desmond. The truth is, 
that the crest was also originally a lion pas- 
santy but ignorantly changed to a monkey, from 
the same cause as the supporters, added to 
the tradition alluded to, but which was not 
at all applicable to any one of the Kildare 
family, 

I shall not attempt to give a history, or con- 
nected pedigree, of the Geraldine families, 
which Would swell the article to a great 
length ; but merely a short explanatory ac- 
count of their anomalous titles or dignities, 
<5ommonly called the White Knight y the Knight 
of Kerry J and the Knight of Glynu, or the 
Valley. 

The peculiarity of these titles, their acknow- 
ledged antiquity, combined with the elevated 
situation of the persons who enjoy them, to- 
gether with their total dissimilitude from any 
distinguishing appellation of honour existing 
in England, have frequently excited attention 
and curiosity in no small degree. In the ob- 



GfiRALDlNE KNIGHTS. 2^^ 

sourity which hangs over their origin, they- 
resemble those singular JMilesian cognomifta, or 
soubriquets, which, in a few families, have de- 
scended to the present day, as in the instance 
of O^ Conor Dotty Mac Dermot Roe, and 
and some others, and, in fact, so antient are 
these Geraldine titles, that their very possessors 
are actually unacquainted with the nature or 
origin of their own dignities. The Earl of 
Kingston is representative of the family of 
Fitzgibbon, the White Knight; John Fitz- 
gerald, Esq. the Knight of Glynn; and the 
Honourable Maurice Fitzgerald, the Knighf 
of Kerry, 

It has been asserted that these Knights were 
descended from illegitimate children of an earl 
of Desmond ; and it is found so stated in pedi- 
grees bearing the very respectable name (whe- 
ther truly or not I cannot say) of Sir George 
Carcw, afterwards Lord Totness, lord presi- 
dent of Munster, and lord deputy of Ire-' 
land, in the reign of Elizabeth. But this 
statement must be erroneous, for I find the 
Knight of Glynn mentioned on the records, 
before the date of the creation of the earldom 
in 1329. 

According to. several antient Irish MSS. in 



980 Iftisn AMTtatfARUM RfiffiAJlRffi!^. 

mjr possession^ and otfaers> wfaicK I have con^: 
mdted^ the true history of the descent of these 
knights is as hereafter stated. I must alsp add> 
that Uie antient records of the kingdom^ th« 
{mtent^ ple^^ and. pipe itoll^^^^rongiy >0orro^ 
borate the statem^t of the Irish MSS« 



'■f 



John FitE Thomas^ first lord t>fDecies aiidL 
Desmond b6fore-mentioned> married to his 
second wife, Honora, daughter of Phelktt 
O'Conor Kerry, by whcNDi he had four Sfm& 'z 

1. Gilbert, from whom descended the WbiiB 
Knight; 

S. John, ancestor to the Kmght cf G^mt/ 

Sk Maurice, from whom the Knight ofKerr^ 
descended ; and 

4. Thomas, ancestor to the Fitzgeralds of 
the island of Kerry. 



THfi WHITE KNIGHT. 



To Gilbert Fitz John, the eldest of these 
sons, his father gave the manors of Castleton 
and Mitchelstown, in the county of Cork ; and 



" r 

(Other IfELfg^ ppssedsions. His ^oii Mj^rici^ wi($ 
x^oMpd Fitz Gibbon^ i. e^ aon^af Gi&erty m 
W9j:^ <his d(^9cendanta ; by th^ . Irish .th^^y 
were called, €!lan Gibbon, the tribe of Gibbonj 
find by ih^ HibeTOP-Kprmans, Fitz^Mon.rr' 
Thi^ Gilbert wa$ of fair hair and complexim^ 
fiuad being knighted^ was called the white 

i»ighif and by ^e Iri^h Myiher a fm^ JSis 

dldieat m&tle descend^te were cpiistantly dei|i>- 
Qslnated by that title until the tiiPQije pf Qu^eeji 
Elisabeth^ when John Oge Fitzgibbpn^ J^ 
then white k^%ht^ who had taken an. actii^ 
part in the jrebelrlian of his kinsioan. jIJj^ <ei»ll 
of De^ncmd, : was. attainted by ^ct<)f Parlift- 
«ient, after his dea^^ by the nsiine of JTp^ 

Fitagerald, the WUiRK^i^My Qtjohm og^ FMz 
J^hnry kmghtj Fitsigibbon. Thjsi attainder wa^ 

^fterw^d^ reveKs^ jfey. ^pyal pardon, 2ilth 
Jan. 1560, and his son Edmond Fiti^gibbon, thet 
White Kmght, had a grant of all l^s father'a 
possessions, by patent, dated dth Aug. 1390. 
He had three sons, Maurice, .his jheir., Joim, 
and Edmond ; the two latter died unmarried^ 

Maurice Fitzgibbon succeeded his fatharji 
and, having married Joan, daughter of James^ 
Lord Dunboyne, had a son Maurice, who suc- 
ceeded him, but died without issue, and a 
daughter, Mai]garet^ who inherited the, vast 



S32 IRISH ANTIQUARIAN RESEARCHES. 

possessions of the family. This lady became 
the wife of Sir William Fenton, knight^ by 
whom she had two sons ; Sir William, who 
died without issue, and Sir Maurice, whose 
only son. Sir Willialn, dying without issue; 
was succeeded in his estates by his aunt Katha- 
rine, only daughter of Sir William Fenton, by 
Margaret Fitzgibbon ; she became the wife of 
Sir John King, knight, afterwards baron 
Kingston, whose great-grand-daughter wias 
sole heiress of the family, and the wife of 
Richard Fitzgerald, of Mount Ophaly, in Kil- 
dare, Esq. by whom she had one only daughter 
and heiress, Caroline, who was married to 
Robert, Earl of Kingston, whose eldest son 
and heir Robert, Earl of Kingston, is now pos- 
sessor of this estate, and representative of the 
family of the White Knights. There* are, 
however, male branches of this antient family 
still in existence, bearing the name of Fitz- 
gibbon, and others that of Fitzgerald* There 
was a branch settled at Castle Com, in the 
county of Cork, from whom is descended the 
Right Hon. James Fitzgerald, late prime Ser- 
jeant of Ireland. 



KNIGHT OF GLYNN, OR THE VALLEY. - >> ^* 

Sir John Fitz John, the second son of the' 
Lord of Decies and Desmond, had a grant 



GERALDINE KNIGHTS. 333 

of the castles and manors of Glyncorbery and 4 

Beagh, in the county of Limerick. He and ^ 

his descendants are styled in the antient records . 
Johannes Jilius Joha/nnis del Glynn ^ miles , and 
Thomas Jitz Joham/nis del Glyncorbry, miles; 
and this before the creation of the earldom of 
Desmond. His descendant Thomas Fitzgerald^ 
knight of the valley y otherwise knight of Glynn^ 
was attainted for rebellion, by Act of Parlia- 
ment in the 11th year of Queen Elizabeth; 
but his grandson, Edmond Fitzgerald, was 
pardoned and restored to his estates 25th Nov. 
1603. The estate and title descended to John 
Frauncis Fitzgerald, the present knight of the 
Glynn. " 



KNIGHT OF KERRY. 

To Sir Maurice Fitz John, third son of the 
Lord of Desmond and Decies, by his second 
wife, Honora O' Conor, his father gave the 
lordship of Inismore, in the county of Kerry, 
with other ample possessions. He was styled 
the Bkick Knight, from his complexion, and 
the Knight of Kerry from his possessions. The 
former title was seldom used ; but his eldest 
male descendant has invariably borne the title 
of Knight of Kerry. The Right Honourable 
Maurice Fitzgerald, M. P» for the county of 



i 



i^34 IRTSH ANTIQUARIAN RIJiSE A RICHES. 

Kerry^ is the undoubted eldest male descendant 
of this antient family. 

It has been generally supposed, that these* 
were titles granted by the earhr of Destodnd, 
as palatine earls of the county of Kerry, hut 
thfe is not possible, for two of them, the White 
Knight, and the Knight of Glyim, are not ii^^^^ 
in his palatine Jurisdiction f besides they exisr- 
ted in the reign of king Heiiry the thirdycmB 
hundred years before the creation of the edti^^ 
dom in 1329^ in the greet uncles of the first 
of earl Desmond. 






In those early times all persons, who h^eld 
by knights' service, a quantity of land, called 
a knights fee^ and upwards, were compellable 
to take knighthood, under penalty of a fine ; 
and there are many entries on the rolls, to shew 
that it was often imposed quia nondum miles ; 
in fact all persons of high rank, took the ho- 
nour, and a nobleman who was not a knight, 
was always styled esquirie, " John Nugent,' esq. 
haran of Delvin, &c. &c.^^ Ft'om all these 
circumstances, and from the frequency of the 
heads of the noble Geraldines, filling the situa- 
tion of viceroy, they would naturally keep up, 
and support the dignity of the branches of their 
own families ; and the heads of the branched 



OERALPXN6 KNIGHTS, ggS^ 

being always knights^ and themselves being 
Geraldines, and often of the same sirname, it 
became necessary for distinction, to designate 
them by particular appellations, which soon 
became familiar, and fixed as their sirnames, 
until their origin was forgotten. 



H h 



236 IRISH ANTIQUAIIUN RESEARCHES. 



ANTIENT LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS. 



Recognizance of Mac Coghlany chief of his nation. 

Md — That at Phellepstown the 2 of June 1571, theer 
came before us Henry Cooley,* senshall of the King's Coun- 
tie, and Robert Cooley, Esquiere, Justice of the Peace in 
her heighnes' Countye ; Shane IVJc. Coghlane, cheffe of his 
nation, Cair Mc Fin, of Balleboye, and Cormoke boye M c 
Coghlen, and their knowledged them selves to owe unto o' 
Sov'aing Ladie the Queene, the some of toe hundreth pounds, 
monie of Ireland, that ys, to wite, one Hundreth Pounds 
upon Mc Coghlane, and )Fyfty pounds upon ether of the 
others, yf, &c. 

The conditione of this Recognisans is sooche, that, yf the 
above bownden Shane Mc Coghlene do make his personall 
apparans, and also bring in hes sone Arte, at the next cession, 
to be holden in Phellepstowne, before the senshall, and other 
justyces of assice, and not to dep't without lycens. Then 
this present recognisans to be voyd, and of none effect ; or 
elles to stand in ful strengthe and vertwe. 

Shane Mc X Coghlen's m'ke. 
Caire mke ^ Fynes, m'k. 
Cormoke Boye X Mc Coghlines, m'k. 

Signed and deliveryed to her Hyghnes use. 



* Paternal Ancestor to His Ezcelleoi^ Richard, Marquess Wellesley, K. O. <fcc. 

( 



ANTIENT LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS. 337 

The O'Rourkes were a distinguished Irish sept, posses- 
of the territory of I Brien Brefney, part of the counties of 
Cavan and Leitrim. The writer of the following letter, Brien 
0*Rourke, was the chief of this family. He gave the En- 
glish government no small disturbance during the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth, and was the O'Rourke mentioned in 
the memoir of O'Donell, page 150. He submitted and 
entered iitto a treaty with Sir Henry Sidney, Lord De- 
puty, in 1578, which is still extant on record. He after- 
wards joined O'Donell in rebellion, and being taken, was 
sent prisoner to England, where he was executed in 1591. 
The Irish chiefe, not understanding the English language, 
their correspondence with the English was carried on in 
liatin. 



Letter from Brian ORorke to the lord 'president of Con- 
naught,* 
Dilectissimo meo amico gubematore Conacia hae literae 

traderetur, cum charite non fictu, ubique erit. 

I. H. S. 

Salutacione premissa; Accepi literas tuas, charissime amice, 
xs Aprilis cum summa reverentia qua decet. Scias me iturum 
esse ad conspectum domini deputati, ultimo die Aprilis, Du- 
pliniamf versus, (Christe favente) etnunc profecturus essem in 
tuo connatu, nisi defectus pecuniarum nobis contingit, quia in 
terris nostris, non existit. Igitur hortor te, quando ibis Du- 
pliniam versus, habere me excusatus cum Domino Deputato, 
sine dilacione, tibi dedam meipsum in etemam pro tuo bene- 
placito ; te transiente Duplineam versus, die Theobaldo Dil- 
lon et Roberto Nugent, manere mecum donee proficiscar ad 
conspectum vestrum ultimo Aprilis, aliud etiam ostendo tibi 

* Sir Richard Bingham ancestor to the earl of Lucan. f Dublin, 



296 itltSir AMtiaUARlAM Rlt^ARCttfiS. 

ex parte amicitisB mee^ ut benefacias Bernardo filio Hugonis 
filii Fergali I Reel^ qui tecum ibit ad conspectum Domini De- 
putatiy in hoc tempore; scire debes quod Henricus diuque ob- 
sidebat Bemardum predictum O'Reell injuste, secundum ejus 
verba. Ideo queso te ut habeas pardonem anin^ et cOTpons 
Bernardo O'Reell^ a Domino deputati sine dikcione. Scias 
ipsum Bemardum esse amicum meum et coloctaniumy et est 
g^nerosus vir ill sua patria. Aliud inteDexi erga Capitaneoni 
Mordaunt, in "^utumno preterito^ et per Ifidem catholicam, pro 
parte redditus regis majestatis, receperunt a tue duodecemvac- 
cas illas tunc temporis, et si eos dtfCerem in patriam meam . 
eapitaneo et suis sociis hospicium darem ; si D<!)>zninus O'Con*- 
ocobair Stygo^ duxit Capitaneirm Mordant m suam patriate, 
pro suo beneplacito, ac si vis scripturam illius contractus, Her- 
cule reperies, postremo ostendo tibi quod Philippus Sarto- 
ris est in thetraca of Rosocainani, ipso cremante domos cutn 
suppellectibus, meis injuste, medius fidius, si esset «ub mea 
potestate traditnrus esset t#H &i«e mora qiieso te, humilitet, ut 
mandas tuis servitoribus cape*e cfriminosam ubi etim cotn- 
prehenderet, non plus, sic VaUeas ex stangno Rereell xmo 
Aprilis 1585. Tuus amicus fio post hec scripta responsum. 
Scribe ad me cum Theobaldo Dillon sine dilacione. 




AHO DOCUMENTS. 



Order of the Lord Deputy Chichester, ancestor to the 
Marquess of DotKgtd. 




Whereas upon the goinge of y» Barron of Delvyno out 
of fins Castle, we have for some considerations, us then mov- 
inge, caused bonds to be taJcen for the fourthcoiuing and 
other conditions, as weare thought "meete, upon Mathew and 
James Ashpoole, and other their sureties ; and forasmuch aa 
since that tyme his Maj"*- hadi received y" said Barron to 
bis gratious favor, and pardoned ibe y* said parties, we thmk 
fitt — the said bonds should be cancelled, and be of ooe more 
force. These are therefore to pray and require yo' Lord^ to 
take notice thereof, and to cancell y" said bonde accordin^e, 
ya' y* parties may receave no prejudice by the same. In 
doinge whereof yi' shall be yo' Warrant. 



Geven at his Maj" Castle of Dublin yi' 14th of July, 1609. 
To Or very good Lo. y Lo. ChanceUor of 

Ireland,€md fo y Lo: ckeefe Ji4stice or ante 

other before whomey' saidbondes weare taken. 




Bir Geoi^ BexloB, wm Secretarj o/ rtafe. 



240 1BISH ANTIQUARIAN RBSEARCBE8. 



Letter from the Earl of Leven General of the Scottish 
army in the north of Ireland, 

To the Right honr"* 

My Lord Viscount Clandeboyes, 

My Lord, 

As I purpose God willing, on mondaie next, 
to marche towards the enemie, who is entrenching himself 
neere Tonregee, to stop o' passage. So least he should shift 
himself out off my way, and wee have occasion to goe further 
in the country, I doe wish that all the places wee leave be- 
hinde o' hand, may be upon there guarde, and secure them- 
selffi from any inroads, while we are absent. And therefor, 
because y' LoP and my Lord Airds are most lyable to this 
danger, It is my advice, and I have written to my Lord 
Airds to the same effect, that p™* ord' be given be you 
bothe, that all men, that are able to carrye armes come to- 
gether to to the most fitt plstces in the ffrontiers, and there 
continew in armes for y® defence off your country, so long 
as o' party is abroad ; and the souldie" that stay behinde in 
there q'* shall have , order from me to doe the like, whoso- 
ever amongst y' people that refuses to goe out with the rest, 
let theme answere for it upon there owne perrill. 

The Interest that I have in y' Lop'" safetie makes me this 
bold to give my faithfuU advice ; and, although it be the 
more troublesome in the harvest time, yet all that can bo 
spaired from there labor* wold be upon there guarde, to de- 
fende the rest, and the assurance that will come to y* rest 
of the countrie this way, will recompence all the trouble 
yf people are put to at this time. They will not have the 



ANTIENT LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS. 241 

like occasion again this season^ and that it may prove so it 
shall be the study and endeavo' off 

Yo' LoP*« most affecoo** 

Frend and Servant, 

CarrickfarguSy 7 hris 17, 
1642. 




Co^y of a Debenture for £280, copper and brass money, 

issued to Captain Edward Butler, of Bansagky in Tippe- 

rary, by order of King James the Second^ now in the 

possession of Murrough OBrien Butler ^ Esq, heir to 

Captain Edward Butler, of Bansagh, 

Treasury Chamber, the 2d of • 
March, 1690. 

Whereas, it appears by the receit of Francis Rice and Peter 
Manby, Esqrs. Commissioners of his Majesty's Mint in 
Lymerick, bearing date the eight day of January, in the 
yeare of our Ld. one thousand six hundred and ninety, and 
produced to us; that Captaine Edward Butler paid to them, 
by way of loane to his Majestie, the summe of two hundred 
and eighty pounds, of the copper and brasse money, lately 
made currant in this kingdom, by his Majestie. We doe 
hereby certify, that the said summe of two hundred and 
eighty pounds, of the said copper and brasse money, is ac- 
cordingly paid into his Majesties Treasury, by way of loan, 
as aforesaid, and that the same remaines due to the said 
Captain Edward Butler, from his Majestie, pursuant to the 



943 IBUH Alfll«DABLU( BBSfiiRCOES. 

Mvenl piadamatioiu fonneTl; iasaei for enconre^ng persona 
to lend the Bsid brass money. 

FITZWILLIAM. 

RIVERSTONE. 

STEPHEN RICE. 
Theobald Botlek. 



PoK signed by Pairici Sordid, Ewl of Lucan, general 
of King Jamea the Seconds army, and governor of Lime- 
rick al the time of the capiiuiation. 

Yon are hereby required to permit Major Patrick Allea, 
wUh his wife and family, together with Uiere goods, buniar^ 
bonee, and arms, to pass oat of the gates of this garriioa 
without any lett hindrance or molactaoon. In order to Us 
gooinge to his home in Leinster, to enjoy his estate pursuant 
to the sajppittulAtion and articles made hereine. 

Lynbrick, dat. tins seventh day of 
October. 




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