Rt^Yr.'OL'^^ HrSTORJCAL
QENE>^.LOGY COLLECTION
£n
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01276 9888
GENEALOGY
941.7401
G139J
V.18
JIOIMCAIS Rl
MAY I 6 1992
ZVIII. HtM. Hi ft fr. I
JoumAl of chfc
i-\lmA.i| ^
tJh^losic^l
i!nt)li8coricAl
CIBDU
GENEALOGY DEPAo
t .
iSalbjan ^u]^a^0logrfal t(f pistoriml ^ocutg
OFFICERS
President :
T. BODKKIN COSTELLO, M.D.
Vice-Presidents :
His Grace The Most Rev. T. P. Gilmartin. D.D.
His Lordship The Most Rev. M. J. Browne, D.D.. D.C.L.
Right Rev. The Hon. B. J. Plunket.
H. G. Leask, M.R.I.A.
Hon. Secretmy and Treasurer and Editor of Journal :
Mrs. M. D. O'Sullivan.
The annual subscription to the Society is 1 0/- for which
Members receive the Journal free.
Tlie Journal of the Society is pubHshed annually. The price
of the Journal is 10s. per issue.
Ail communications should be addressed to : —
Mrs. M. D. O'Sullivan. Lisgorm. Galway.
qnm-""^^ Public Lmf^
900 \/.^-or street '
^0 Box 22.0
FortlVayn2jJM6801-?9:
CONTENTS
/■>
Page.
The Use of Leisure in Old Galway. By M. D.
O'Sullivan, M.A., F.R.Hisi.S 99
Two Bronze Age Burials at Carrowbeg North,
Belclare, Co. Galway. By C. F. Willmot ; with
Geological Note hy C. D. Ovey, B.Sc, F.C.5., and
Report on the Human Remains by Professor Stephen
Shea, M.D 121
On the Temporalities of the Augustinian Abbey of
St. Mary the Virgin. Cong, Co. Mayo. By Mkhedl
O Duigeanndin, M.A 141
The Tumulus-Cemetery of Carrowjames, Co. Mayo.
By Joseph Raflery, M.A., Dr. Phil 157
Doorway and Window, St. Augustine Street, Galway.
By Harold C. Leask, M.R.I. A. 169
Some Documents relating to Galway. Ed. by M. D.
O'Sullivan, M.A., F.R.Hist.S 170
A Letter from Roderic OTlaherty to William
Molyneux, 1697. Ed. by Michedl O Duigeanndin, M.A. 183
Reviews, &c 186
7 it,
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive
in 2010 witii funding from
Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
http://www.archive.org/details/journalofgalwaya18galw
[ 99 ]
JOURNAL
OF THE
§anctn
/^
VOL. ^^KT, Nos. iii & iv, 1939.
The Use of Leisure in
Old Galway
By M. D. O'SULLIVAN, M.A., F.R.Hist.S.
" Let us now come to the sports and pastimes, seeing it is
fit that a Citie should not only be commodious and serious,
but also merrie and sportful," wrote John Stowe, the cele-
brated antiquary, of his beloved London,* and, certainly, no
study of town life in any period could be complete without
some survey of the amusements of the people and the use
to which they put their leisure. In regard to the Middle
Ages particularly, the history of sports and pastimes is illumi-
nating, not only in so far as it illustrates the development
of the individual games themselves, but because of the light
it throws on the attitude to life generally of the mediaeval
mind. Thus while most of our modern sports and games are
to be found in some elementary form in the Middle Ages,
there is a wide divergence between the mediaeval and the
modern point of view in regard to sport and bodily exercises.
The fact is that, under the influence of the mediaeval Church
* Survey of London, (ed. 1633) p. 75,
100 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
especially, emphasis was laid in those far-off days on the
soul rather than the body, and the Greek ideal of mens sana
in cor pore sano, to which the modern world has reverted
with enthusiasm, made little appeal to men who thought
largely in terms of the vanity of life and the certainty of
death and who could even sometimes persuade themselves
that sickness of the body was good for mental progress.*
Nevertheless, human nature being what it is, the need for
relaxation was felt as powerfully then as it is today, and,
despite the lack of encouragement on the part of the more
ascetic minds, games continued to develop and to bring their
meed of pleasure, alike to ardent youth fired by the sheer
joy of combat, and to more settled age seeking merely legi-
timate relief from exacting daily toil. But in all the circum-
stances it is not surprising to find that progress in the develop-
ment of games was slow, and, in particular, their organization
was defective, while, true to the spirit of that age, considerable
control over them came to be established by the State.
The Roman-feudal conception of government was, as we
know, that authority came from above, that is to say, govern-
ment was essentially for the people, not by the people. The
result was that, generally speaking, in mediaeval times the
life of the populus was strictly regulated in all its phases, and
even in the towns, which were to a great extent self-governing,
power, quite regularly, soon passed into the hands of an
oligarchy who saw to it that the life of the average citizen
should be lived strictly according to pattern. Because of that
we find, for instance, trade hedged in by innumerable regula-
tions, the wages of workmen and the prices of commodities
fixed, and a strict watch kept upon buying and selling — all,
ostensibly, with the benevolent idea of securing the greatest
happiness for the greatest number. But if the hours of toil
and the circumstances of labour were, in this manner, care-
fully ordered, so, to a great extent, also were the occasions
of leisure and the amusements of the people — a governmental
polic}' which seems strangely alien to our modern democratic
♦ Coulton in his Mediaeval Panorama, p. 591, however, points out that
"the great early Scholastics, such as Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas,
give moderate approval to Aristotle's praise of bodily exercise as beneficial
to man's development on the whole."
THE USE OF LEISURE IN OLD GALWAY. lOI
ideas, but one with which, nevertheless, the totahtarian states
of present-day Europe are fast becoming famiUar in their
reversion to mediaevaUsm.
In the Middle Ages, of course, leisure was not quite so
plentiful as it is today in an age of machinery, labour-saving
devices, and Trades Unionism. Actually, the working hours
were long, generally from 5 a.m. till 7 or 8 p.m., with half an
hour off for breakfast and an hour and a half for dinner.*
Saturday was usually a half holiday, and, naturally, no work
was done on Sundays or Church festivals. Still, the problem
of how best to employ the hours of freedom, such as they were,
was an important one not merely to the individual, but to the
community, and, so far as they could do it, the Government
undertook to solve it to their own ends. Two main motives
seem to have inspired this policy of active interference on the
part of the authorities. In the first place, those pastimes
and accomplishments, which could in any way be regarded as
martial and, therefore, likely to produce a good soldier, were
definitely encouraged, and, secondly, all games which might
lead to undue betting and gambling, and, therefore, to disorder,
were at a discount and regularly prohibited — " unlawful
games," they are called again and again. But a policy of this
kind takes little account of the human factor with the result
that the ends of Government in regard to the proper use of
leisure were by no means achieved, and notwithstanding all
the exhortation from on high, many of the more soldierly
accomplishments gradually fell into disuse, while betting and
gambling did not vanish, but were simply driven underground.
The chief sport encouraged in mediaeval times was, of
course, archery. This was a very old accomplishment. In
England it had been practised by the Saxons and the Danes,
and its employment became general under the Normans —
England, indeed, invariably owed her victory in the field of
battle in mediaeval times to the skill of her archers. There
were two kinds of bow in use, the long bow, which was the
original weapon and the one most favoured by the English,
and the cross bow, a much shorter weapon, discharged by
means of a catch or trigger. Before the introduction of the
♦ Stat. II, Hen. VII, Cap. 22.
102 GALWAV ARCH.EOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
gun the long bow was, no doubt, the chief weapon of defence,
and abJHty to handle it was sedulously cultivated by the central
Government* and b\' the municipal authorities, not merely
in the English, but in the Irish towns. Under the Statute of
Winchester, for instance, which was introduced into England
in 1285 and applied to Ireland in 1308, f it was laid down
that in the towns — and Galway was no exception to the rule
— every man of military age, that is, between the ages of
16 and 60 years, should provide himself with a long bow and
practise the use of it for the purpose of defending the town.
Fathers and guardians were supposed to teach the male
children the use of the weapon and masters had to supply
it to their apprentices and compel them to learn to shoot
with it in their company and under their scrutiny on holidays
and at an}- other convenient time.i
But notwithstanding all the efforts of the authorities,
archery continued to decline in Galway, as elsewhere, and the
very reiteration of the exhortation to use the long bow shows
the weakness of the Corporation's case. The fact is, that, after
the introduction of gunpowder, hand guns were everywhere
steadil}- superseding the long bow, and even in Galway by the
close of the fifteenth century, if not earlier, muskets came to
be generally used. Thus in 1517 we find the Corporation
forbidding the citizens to sell privately or openly to any
Irishman or " suspected persons in waye of rebellion, anny
invincion, as hand-gounis, callivers, poulder, leade, nor sall-
petter,"§ a prohibition which certainly leaves us to suppose
that guns had for some time been familiar to the townsmen.
* In the reign of Henry \'II the use of the cross bow was forbidden by-
law (Stat. 29, Hen. VII, 1508). Henr>' VIII renewed the prohibition (Stat.
6, Hen. VIII, cap. 13), but it was ineffective with the result that twenty
years later he passed a statute [Stat. 25, Hen. VTII, cap 17) inflicting a
fine of £lO on any one keeping a cross bow in the house. All these measures,
however, were of no avail and the cross bow continued to be used in succeed-
ing reigns. In Galway it was used well into the sixteenth century. See Corp.
MSS., Bk. A,io\. (23).
t Berry : Statutes and Ordinances, I Ed., II, cap iv.
X Cf. Corp. MSS.. Bk. A, fol. (3). For the purpose of ensuring that this
regulation was carried out a view of arms was held thrice every year. Cf. :
" That every man that answerith not the cr>'e or skrimishe at every of the
town gattes, at the begining, with his feansabull [defensive] weapon, to
paie and forfayte xiid." — Ibid., fol. (11). See also Berry : Statute Rolls. Ill,
5 Ed., IV, cap. xviii.
5 Corp. MSS., Bk. A. fol. [23]. . .
THE USE OF LEISURE IX OLD GALWAY. IO3
Nevertheless, even here at the opening of the sixteenth century,
it is obvious that both the long bow and the cross bow were
still regarded by the Corporation as perhaps the most important
weapons of attack and defence, since they, too, were not,
under heaw penalt}^ to be given into the dangerous custody
of an Irish native.* Furthermore, some ten years later the
authorities revert once more to the desirability of keeping
up the practice of archery, and the Mayor and Council try to
encourage shooting with the long bow and the cross bow
under penalty of a fine.! But the response cannot have been
what was desired because, before another decade had elapsed,
Henry Ylll deemed it necessar}' to order the 3'oung men to
supply themselves at once with long bows and English arrows,
to practise hunting and shooting, especially on holidays, and
"to leave all other unlawful games, "j Clearly, the authorities
were struggling against the current of the time, and archery,
for all its official patronage, was already destined to be rele-
gated to the limbo of a forgotten art.
It is not always easy to follow the motives which led the
Crown and the Corporation to favour some games at the
expense of others, but we find that the hurling of darts and
spears, for example, was regarded, in Galway, at least, as a
laudable pastime as was also pla3'ing with " the great foote
balle."§ This last was a characteristically English game and
perhaps that was its chief merit in the eyes of the Corporation
because it is noticeable that its practise is encouraged in
opposition to " the horlinge of the litill balle with hockie
stickes or staves," and to " hande ball " played " without
the waUes."ii Hurling, as we know, was a ver}^ ancient Irish
game, and, apparently, it had made its influence felt within
the town of Galway much to the chagrin of the English-minded
merchant obligarch}-, but the hand ball referred to in the
prohibition was something very different from the game
which is now so popular in Ireland, bidding fair to rival hurling
* Corp. MSS.. Bk. A, fol. [23].
t Ibid., foL 33.
J Ordinances for Galwav, 1536. — S. P. Irel., Hen. VIII, III, Xo. 18.
§ Corp. MSS., Bk. A^ fol. 33.
II Ibid.
Football had become so popular in England among the common people
that it was prohibited by a pubhc edict in 1 349 as impeding the progress of
archery. — Strutt : Games and Pastimes of England, p. 100.'
104 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
itself, and which so much resembles the English game of fives.
Handball, as practised in old Galway, was a species of hand
tennis in which the ball was received and driven back from one
person to another with the palm of the hand, sometimes bare
but very often covered with a glove. It was viewed askance
by the Corporation, not because it was an essentially Irish
game, for it was not, but probably because it was a sport on
which it had long been customary to gamble, and which, in
view of its great popularity, like so many others, tended to
divert the mind of the young men from more martial pursuits.
Besides hurling and handball several other games came
under the disapproval of the Corporation, essentially, however,
for the reason that they were being practised by the young
men to the neglect of archery. Amongst these was the casting
of stones and the game of quoits. The former had become so
popular, and was, therefore, taking up so much of the time of
the youth of London and other towns in England, that Edward
III late in his reign issued an edict to prohibit it,* and, doubt-
less, the rulers of Galway in a similar dilemma more than a
century later felt they could not do better than follow in the
royal footsteps. In any case, the casting of heavy weights
and stones in days when grounds were poor, umpires non-
existent, and quarrels frequent, was not without an element
of danger to the onlookers, and this must have been an aspect
of the pastime which the Corporation could not afford to
neglect. Again, with regard to quoits, it must be remarked
that the mediaeval game of that name was not quite so in-
nocuous as its modern counterpart. The older quoit, said to
have derived from the ancient discus, was a circular plate of
iron perforated in the middle and not always of the same size
but smaller or larger according to the choice of the individual
player. It was thrown at a mark fixed in the ground. The game
could be played by two people, but generally there were
teams of four, eight, or more. It had become such a universal
favourite in England that it was regarded as making a most
insidious attack upon the cherished archery and was therefore
classed as an " unlawful game " by Edward IV. f In these
circumstances it is not surprising to find that a body like the
* Strutt : op. cit., p. 75.
\ Ibid., p. Ixi.
THE USE OF LEISURE IN OLD GALWAY. I05
Galway Corporation, English in outlook and traditions, should
so far as lay in their power, uphold the royal prohibition,
and so in 1527 a municipal statute was passed whereby it
was " ordered, enactid and statutid that what so ever man
is found, of what degre or condicion so ever he be of, plainge
at choyttes [quoits] or stonis, but only to shute in longe
bowes, shorte crosboues and hurlinge of dartes or speres, to
lesse at every tyme so founde in doinge the same viii.^."*
The devotee of quoits, then, had henceforth to pay handsomely
for his pleasure, but there seems no reason to suppose that
this prohibition was, in fact, effective or contributed in any way
to the consummation so devoutly wished by the authorities
of Galway.
The game of tennis, upon which the Corporation also
frowned, appears to have been a hot favourite with the young
men of the town and to have been conducive to a certain
amount of gambling, hence in the indentures of apprentices
in Galway we find it sometimes laid down that the appren-
tice in question shall not " plaie his said maisters goodes "
at, amongst other games, " tennies."t The particular pastime
here referred to, of course, was not the modern game of lawn
tennis, which is of very much later date, but " royal tennis,"
as it came to be called from the fact that it was played by
various Kings of England and France. Reputed to have been
introduced into England from France in Chaucer's time, it
was universally popular in the sixteenth century and,
admittedly, had found ready acceptance in old Galway.
Though not specifically mentioned in the Corporation
records of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the game of
bowls was, most probably, known and enjoyed in Galway.
This pastime had long been practised in England, having first
made its appearance there about the thirteenth century.
Specially made greens — bowling greens — are said to have
originated in England,! ^^^ the fact that one such green
existed in Galway, though from what date exactly is not quite
clear to the writer, suggests that the game must have been
familiar to the inhabitants of the town.
* Corp. MSS.. Bk. A, fol. 33.
t Ibid., fol. (97b). For other indentures see fols.(IOOb), (100*) and 102b.
X Strutt : Op. cit.. p. 268.
Io6 G-\L\VAY .\RCHiOLCXiIC.\L AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
But if many of the outdoor pastimes which were in use
amongst the people at large were classed as " unla\\'ful games "
by the Corporation following upon the lead given in England,
there were other open-air pursuits, namely, those associated
vriih horsemanship, which were most carefully encouraged.
Of all outdoor sports in mediaeval times perhaps hunting and
falconrv were the most popular, and though they were generally
regarded as the special preserve of the nobility and the landed
gently, they were, undoubtedly, practised b\" the well-to-do
in the towns, and certainly in Galwav. Horses, we know,
were always plentiful in Ireland, thus the sport of hunting
was racy of the soil and it was followed with enthusiasm —
ever\- young man particularly aimed at making horsemanship
part of his general equipment, so when Henr\- VIII exhorted
the youth of Galwa\" to hunt regularly,* he was preaching
to the converted. Royal edicts were not necessan,- to bring
home the joys of the chase and hunting the deer continued
to be a first favourite. It was therefore quite in keeping with
tradition that in 156S, more than thirty- years after Henr\- VIII
had issued his famous injunction, an Italian \"isitor to Galwav
should describe a characteristic hunting scene in the inmiediate
neighbourhood of the town as one of the most attractive
sights that met his \-iew.- With hunting went, naturally,
racing, and there seems httle doubt that the inhabitants of
Galway must have tasted the thrills of horse-racing, even
though such meetings had no place in the official records of
the to"wn. Falconr\-, too, had its regular followers, and if we
do not come across actual references to it in the contemporary^
documents, the mere fact that the exportation of hawks was
prohibited by statute of the Corporation in 1530^ — people
were, however, allowed to make presents of them to their
friends — shows in what esteem the sport of falconn,- was held
and how careful the authorities were to see that it should be
regularly maintained.
With horsemanship so universally cultivated, it was but
natural to find that games which involved prowess in the
• Ordinances for GaliLa;. , 1536.— S P. Ire!.. Hen. VIII, III, No. 18.
t Annals of Galu.ay, MS. I, 4-11. — Trinirv- College, Dublia. See also
Pictorial Map of Gal'j.ay, 1651.
* Corp. MSS., Bk. A, foL 36. Falconry, naturally, declined when the
musket was brought to perfection.
THE USE OF LEISURE IN" OLD GALWAY. lO/
equestrian act should be a feature of life in old Gahray, and
so we leam that tilting or running at the ring was a regular
sport of the young men of the upper classes. In the Pictorial
Map of Galway, made in 1651, there is an interesting illustratioa
of a horseman at the barrier about to ento" the lists to take
part in this game. The barrier is diown as erected in MesTick,
now E\Te Square, and a groap erf horsranen are dejMcted
waiting for their turn to perform. Furthermoce, there is
e^"idence that the sport was a r^nlar feature of the {HDgramme
of the May-games.* The perfcMmer, who was equij^)ed with
a lance, rode at full speed, and thrust the point of his weapon
through the ring " which was supported in a case or shfath,
by the means of two springs, but might be readily drawn oat
by the force of the stroke, and remain upcHi the t<^ <rf tl^
lance."" Each performer was allowed three attempts, and
" he who thrust the point of his lance throng it the oftoier,
or, in case no such thing was done, stmck it the most freqoently
was the ^ictor," i: and carried off the prize before the adnririi^
eyes of the ladies who came to witness and adjuii : i:t u-ion the
performance.
In Galway, of course, as in all mediaeval towns, there
were certain amusonoits associated specifically wit!- par-
ticular seasons of the year or feasts such as, M:: iiL~as,
Christmas, Easter, \Miitsuntide. May Day, iiiiiuzizifrs
Eve, and Corpus ChristL At ^Michaelmas the Miv:r ini
Bailifb took ofl&ce and the Mayor was solemnly escorted to his
readence by "all the stattes and wor5hq)TrLL i iziiii: -'-^
applause of the assembled pt^pulace, while :r. : r i r :: that
solemn event there were "the acostomid .ri v.- riir.itr
banckes and feast es '" given by the newly electee izi-t:- by
way of celebration, and if these were matters vv 'i : ~ : :. : Tmed
only the more ^-;— -— ished citizens, the 7^: .t .: "^"^
thronged the streeis ina made merry, too. 1^:1 L:ie m^u^ur^ .. -
of the new municipal year with its cnstomary and cd.c.inj-
rittial was a festive time for all.
p. 60. note. Cne-rili
man's 'Qtat tittii^ at the nn^ was r^3.;"^.i^^i :
"■ Stmtt : Op. dL, p. 124.
; raid., p. 125.
§ Cor^. MS5., Bk. A. ioL ^).
I Ibid^ foL 5S.
I08 GALWAY ARCH-EOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The Christmas and Easter celebrations, distinguished
mainlv b\- the great Church ceremonies, were very much the
same as they are today. But the general meetings of th»
freemen held on these occasions,* and the processions and
purely secular festivities associated with them, gave gaiety
to the scene and the town found itself very much en fete.
Besides, men shook off many of their wonted cares when
household debts, the grocer's bill or the doctor's fee, or even
the priest's dues could not be collected at these festivals nor
during a period of twelve days afterwards, j Not only that but
tips, Christmas-boxes and other gratuities of the kind, which
so harass the impecunious but kind-hearted citizen today,
were strictlv forbidden by law in old Galway,i so the man of
modest means could, like his wealthier neighbour, give himself
up with complete abandon to the merriment of the moment.
But even in the city's rejoicings the orderly rulers of the town
liked to preserve a measure of decorum, consequently they
legislated against the wholesale entry of the natives at times
such as these, lest the Irish, like the high-spirited apprentices,
might be prone to celebrate not wisely but too well. Thus we
read : " That no man of this town shall [h]oste or receve
into ther houssis at Christemas, Easter, nor no feaste elles
enny of the Burkes, Mac Williams, the Kellies, nor no cepte
elles, withoute license of the Mayor and Counsaill for the
tyme beinge, on payn to forfayt v li."^
One regular feature of the Christmas and Easter festivities,
however, deserves particular mention, for, while once universal,
it has now fallen into disuse, though not until very recently.
This was the mummers' performance. Dr. Johnson defines a
• Corp. MSS.. Bk. A. fol. (93).
t Cf. : It ys ordered, edictid and statutid by the Counsaill, with one
assente, that no prestes, sergantes, leeches, clerkes, toun meassengers or
Irishe meassengers, porters, norssys, childrin, myllers, backers, shomakers,
bouchers, or anny others shall not come to no mans housse at Cristemas,
Easter or other feastes, to dessyre any offreinges or deuties during the holy
days or within xii days after any the said feastes." — Corp. MSS., Bk. ^, fol. 49.
J Cf. ; " That neither porters, harpers, messengers, millers, bakers, bow-
chers, or any nowrses, or any kynde of craftesman, do at no festival! tymes,
or at any other tyme, come to any man is howse, to crave either for benbridge,
offringe, meate, or any drinke, by any way whatsoever, in vayne, on pajme
of imprisonment and loss of a crowne, as well of the giver as also of the
offender." — Articles touching reformacions in the Commonwealth, 1585. Orig.
MS. quot. by Hardiman : Hist, of Galway, p. 209.
§ Corp. MS., Bk. A. fol. (24).
THE USE OF LEISURE IN OLD GALWAY. lOQ
mummer, as one who performs frolics in a personated dress,
and the mediaeval mummer wore a mask, or, if he could not
procure one, rubbed his face over with soot. In olden times,
when streets were unlighted, many abuses, manifestly, were
committed under the sanction of these disguisements, and so
in London quite early an ordinance was passed against any
one who appeared in the street with " a painted x-isage," while
in the reign of Henr\' VIII the practise of mummen" was
generally forbidden in England under penalty of a fine and
imprisonment.* In Ireland, where there was still more scope
for disorders under cover of a masked or sooted face, it was
even more important, from the English Government's point
of view, that mummers should be outlawed and they were.f
Naturally, therefore, the Corporation of Galway could not be
expected to look with favour on the mummers' art, but it is
noteworthy that these shows were not positively forbidden,
with the result that they continued to be a regular and popular
feature of the Christmas and Easter festivites in the life of
the town throughout its histor\'.
At \Miitsuntide there was much enjoyment out of doors
but perhaps the May-games were, of all seasonal pastimes,
the most interesting. On the ist May the \'0ung people of both
sexes arose in the early hours of the morning and, to the
accompaniment of music, went to a neighbouring wood where
they broke down branches from the trees and adorned them
with flowers. With these, on their return home, they made
their doors and windows gay. Then followed in the afternoon
dancing round the ^lay-pole set in a convenient spot in the
town, and in the evening there were bonfires and much spon-
taneous gaiety. The games or celebrations lasted for three
da3's. It seems to have been the custom in the to\\'ns of England
— and, doubtless, the same was true of Galway^to elect a
Lord and Lad}' of the ^lay who presided over the sports.
There were various athletic contests, such as, running, jumping,
wrestling, casting of weights, and, most important of all,
tilting at the ring, and then, on the third day, to wind up
* Strutt : Op. cit., p. 252.
t In England they were tolerated at the Christmas and Easter festi\'itie5
but only then. In the Irish Parhament of 1541 it was pro%-ided that no players
or mummers should be allowed gratuties at Christmas or Easter under
penaltj- of losing an ear.
no GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
what Hardiman so aptly calls, these " homely but manly
amusements," the young men were wont to ride out on horse-
back to Blake's Hill and dine there at a spot between the
Hill and the castle of Barna.*
The festival of St. John or Mid-summer's Eve was another
landmark in the life of the citizen of mediaeval Galway. In
the evening the customary mayoral banquet took place, f and
there was the press of eager crowds in the street wending
their way merrily to the bonfires for the games and dancing.
The whole populace turned out, for in the Middle Ages it was
characteristic of town life that the gaieties, like the respon-
sibilities and duties, should be enjoyed in common. It was in
this spirit that the Mayor and his colleagues, resplendant in
their robes of office, attended at the May-games and other
celebrations, but if they did, they also found the pomp and
circumstance of these occasions useful in satisfying the desire
of the masses for colour and pageantry, and in distracting
the thoughts of the poorer classes from a life which was other-
wise drab.
In mediaeval times one of the greatest festivals of the
year was that of Corpus Christi. In the English towns it was
characterised by two outstanding features, first, a great
religious procession " in which the Host, escorted by local
dignitaries, religious bodies, and guilds, was borne through
the streets, and displayed successively at out-of-door stations," J
and secondly, the performance of religious plays which were
enacted on moveable stages or " pageants " in the streets by
the various trade guilds. As a rule, each city or town had its
own " cycle " or series of plays, which varied considerably
in length, according, probably, to the number and wealth of
the trade guilds. As far as the Irish towns are concerned,
there is very little information available in regard to these
plays. In the municipal records of Dublin we do find, however,
under the date 1478, definite mention of the pageants of
Corpus Christi Day,§ and from this one seems justified in
concluding that a cycle of mystery plays was actually per-
* lar-Connanght, p. 60, note.
t Corp. MSS., Bk. A, fol. 58.
X Chambers : Hist, of the Mediaeval Stage, II, p. 95.
§ Gilbert : Cal. of Ancient Records of Dublin, I, pp. 239 and 241,
THE USE OF LEISURE IN OLD GALWAY. Ill
formed in the streets of the capital, though there are reliable
authorities who suggest that the pageants referred to " were
merely dumb-show accompaniments of the Corpus Christi
procession."* In Kilkenny, certainly, plays were acted, for
we have records of their taking place there as late as 163 1
and a book of plays was in existence even in 1637,! while it
is just possible that they may have also figured in the Corpus
Christi Day processions in other towns. But when we turn to
Galway we find religious plays conspicuous by their absence —
there is not a mention of them anywhere in the municipal
records or other contemporary documents. The fact is, in
Galway the trade guilds, whose peculiar province these plays
were, were relatively unimportant. They were late in coming,
and the merchant obligarch3% embodying the purely aristo-
cratic principle of government, had got too long a start ever
to have allowed them assume a position of significance within
the town. While, in other towns, their members could aspire
to municipal office, in Galway, no such thing was possible —
the Common Council remained a closed body to them : it was
the preserve of the " Tribes." Thus, too, many of their social
activities, like the production of these plays, which were such
a notable feature of their existence elsewhere, are, unfortu-
nately, in Galway entirely lacking. On the other hand, the
Guild of Corpus Christi, | as it was called, which had charge
of the procession specially, was, in all likelihood, composed
of the upper classes, hence in Galway we get the procession
and the procession alone.
But if we miss the popular dramatic form, the mystery and
morality plays of the trade guilds, and if the people at large
were, on this account, unfamiliar with those heralds of the
Elizabethan drama proper, the leisured classes, definitely,
as we know from the Lord Deputy Sir William Russell, had
their masques and ballets. On the 17th November, 1595, Sir
William arrived in Galway, and there assembled to meet him
* Seymour : Anglo-Irish Literature, p. 124.
f Lynch : Historia Ecclesiastica Hiberniae, — MS. K. 6., 15-16. — Trinity
College, Dublin ; Trans, of the Kilkenny Arch. Society, II, p. 322. The whole
subject is ably discussed by Seymour : Op. cit., chap. VIII.
X According to Mrs. Stopford Green, the Corpus Christi Guild " played
a political part in the life of every great town " in England. — Town Life in
the Fifteenth Century, I, p. 150.
112 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
" the Earls of Kildare, Thomond, and Clanricarde, Lords
Brimegeam, Roche, and DimkelHe, and divers knights and
gentlemen,"* who mingled with the merchant aristocracy to
pay honour to the noble guest. Banquets and recreation were
the order of the day, and, since the Lord Deput}- remained over
the Christmas holidays, Galway witnessed exceptional scenes
of gaiety and ceremonial, until one morning they were rudely
interrupted by the disturbing news that O'Donnell had once
more over-run Connaught. But of all the items in Sir
William's carefully kept Journal perhaps the one that
interests us most at the moment is the following entry :
" December ist 1595 — This night the noblemen and
captains presented my Lord with a mask." Thus here
in the sixteenth century in this remote town, " at the end of
the earth in Ireland," we find a performance of that delicate
dramatic form just then so popular at the Court in London
and at the princely entertainments in the great aristocratic
houses of England, a form which could claim amongst its
sponsors some of the greatest names in English literature,
such as Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Milton. Truly, Galway
was abreast of the times.
Indeed, these comings of the Lord Deputy, sufficiently
rare in themselves to be memorable, were occasions of great
excitement for the population generally, even if their
role was essentially that of onlooker. Ceremonial was
always fittingly emphasized, and, clad in their scarlet
gowns, and wearing the full regalia of their office, the Mayor
and Aldermen, assisted by the other members of the Common
Council, went out to meet the distinguished visitor at the city
gates, handed him over the keys of the town, and, receiving
them back again to mark the city's independence, welcomed
him formally in a Latin address, escorting him later to the
Church where he was suitably received by the ecclesiastical
authorities and attended divine service. The colourful pro-
cession wound its way through streets lined with the young
men or urban militia in full equipment, while guns resounded
and the masses lent their plaudits to a truly unforgettable
• Journal of Sir William Russell— Cal. Car. MSS. III. p. 238-39.
THE USE OF LEISURE IN OLD GALWAY. II3
scene.* In the evening there was a great municipal banquet
and the people at large thronged the streets imbued with
the festive spirit. This was, emphatically, the public event
par excellence in the life of the sixteenth century townsmen
when merchant obligarchy and commonalty alike were made
proudly conscious of the heritage that was theirs in " the
commonwealth of Galway."
From its situation Galway, obviously, offered then, as now,
splendid facilities for aquatic sports — swimming, sailing, row-
ing, and probably that favourite mediaeval game of boat justs
or tilting upon the water. " The conqueror at these justs,"
says an authority, " was the champion who could dexterously
turn aside the blow of his antagonist with his shield, and at
the same time strike with his lance in such a manner as to
overthrow him into the river, himself remaining unmoved
from his station ; and perhaps not a little depended upon the
skill of the rowers. "f But, above all, fishing must have been a
favourite sport in mediaeval Galway. | The river Corrib, in
olden times as today, had a plentiful supply of salmon, trout,
and eels, a fact which is borne out by many notices in the
Corporation records, so legitimate fishing, and possibly much
poaching, § were a regular means of recreation among the
townsmen. Finally, if we may judge from contemporary
literature, winters then seem to have been much harder than
they are today, and the young people of old Galway must
often have experienced the incomparable thrill of skating,
that invigorating pastime which now, unfortunately, in milder
climatic conditions can so rarely be enjoyed.
Indoors, people amused themselves, naturally, with music,
singing, and dancing, the harp being the favourite musical
instrument. Indeed, in the more cultured circles a knowledge
of music was considered almost an essential accomplishment,
and with women particularly the study of music was exceed-
ingly fashionable. The harp was played by all classes, and, of
* The Earl of Sussex, Lord Leonard Grey, Sir Henry Sidney, and Sir
William Russell have left impressive descriptions of these occasions. All
alike comment upon the wonderful hospitality they received in Galway.
t Strutt : Op. cit, p. 147.
X See Pictorial Map of Galway, 1651.
§ Cf. : " Poaching was naturally then, as always, the villager's most
exciting sport." — Coulton : Mediaeval Panorama, p. 593.
114 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
course, it was the special instrument of the wandering min-
strels*— " rimers " and " harpers," they are invariably called
in the legislation which was repeatedly enacted against them
by the English authorities in Ireland. f In the way of games,
the inhabitants of old Galway most assuredly played chess
which was extremely popular in the Middle Ages. The " noble "
or " royal " pastime, as it came to be called, was of very
great antiquity and was probably introduced into Europe from
Asia. It was played in England before the Norman conquest
and was soon a universal favourite. It is not mentioned by
name in the municipal records of Galway undoubtedly because
it was not the type of game to come under the censure of
the Corporation. There was something staid, respectable, and
leisurely about chess and it did not lead to gambling in the
way that other games did. Possibly, too, the townsmen played
some form of draughts. The game of draughts itself is com-
paratively modern, but something like it was known and played
in the Middle Ages in the towns of England,:!: and that being so
it is not far-fetched to suggest that the citizens of Galway,
who believed in being up to date in all things,§ were acquainted
with the game.
But the indoor amusements which figure — and they figure
largely — in the municipal records are dice, cards, and tables.
In fact, so general were they that they led to universal gambling
and the Mayor and Council were hard put to it to rescue the
apprentices and other unwary youths from the pitfalls that
surrounded them in the inns and gaming houses of the town,
the situation being still further complicated by the presence
of the Irish from without the gates who lived up to their
reputation as gamblers and regularly frequented the gaming
shops in Galway. In the indentures of apprentices it is there-
fore constantly laid down that games of this kind are to be
shunned, and amidst numerous references to them in the
records, there is one very explicit notice which clearly portrays
* The minstrels eventually deteriorated to street ballad singers who
generally composed their own pieces and sang them in the streets, sometimes
accompanying them with a fiddle.
I See O'Rahilly : Irish Poets, Historians, and Judges in English Docu-
ments (1538-1615).— P)-oc. R.I. A., Vol. XXXVI, Sect. C, No. 6.
X Holmes : Mediaeval England, p. 122.
§ Sir Henry Sidney, Lord Justice Pelham, Sir Oliver St. John and others
bear interesting testimony to this quality of the inhabitants of Galway.
THE USE OF LEISURE IN OLD GALWAY. II5
the attitude of the Corporation to what was, apparently, a
serious evil. Thus under the year 1528 we find a statute made
by which " Yt ys ordered that in what housse, shope or seller
(cellar) ther be founde players at cardes, dyce, tabulles, nor
no other unlawfull gamys for monye, by yonge men and
specialle by prentisys nor Irishemen, on payn to lose that
some or quantit of such monye as the\' playe for. And also
the housse, seller, or shope wherin they pla^'e to paye, excepte
it be for meate and drink, and the same to be done by honeste
men for recreacion — xxs."*
Of course it was not merel}'' in Galway that cards and dice
led to gambling. The evil quickly became rampant in England
so that eventually in the reign of Henry Yll legislation was
introduced against it.j By this apprentices were forbidden
to play cards except during the Christmas holidays and then
only in their master's houses. On such occasions also they played
not for money, but for harmless things like "counters, nailes,
and points,"! so very little moral damage can have been done.
In any case, since the Christmas holidays appear to have
extended from All-Hallow^s evening to the day after Candle-
mas,§ the apprentices can scarcely be said to have fared too
badly in the matter of leisure for games. The supreme object
of the Galway Corporation, who applied these rules strictly,
was not so much to interfere with the legitimate amusement
of the apprentices as to see that they did not fall into gambling
habits in the town. In this respect it is noteworthy that the
indentures of apprentices not only ruled out cards, dice, and
tables altogether, except in the circumstances stated above,
but even put a limit to the amount of money a youth could
stake on a " lawful " game. Thus in 1587 when " Terrollagh
O'Dowan, of Bunowan, in the county of Galway " was being
apprenticed to " John Martin Fitz William, of Galway, mer-
chant," it was stipulated that he should not " play at no
unlawful games and yf at seldom tymes he should chaunce to
pley at lawful games, that he shall not excede in pley not above
* Corp. MSS.. Bk. A. foL [34].
t 11 Henry VII, cap. 2.
X Stow : Survey of London, p. 79 " Points " were " narrow ribbons with
which one part of the dress was attached to the other." — Strutt : Op. cit.,
p. 327, note.
§ Stow : Op. cit., p. 79.
Il6 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
the matter of . . . . "* It may be that, since Terrollagh
O'Dowan was an Irish native — one of the few instances of
such being apprenticed in Gahvay — the authorities felt a
stricter watch should be kept on his gaming propensities,
for this is a clause, curiously, which is not to be found in the
other indentures that have been preserved. However, the spirit
of all the indentures is the same and one comes away from a
study of them with the feeling that the philosophy, " all work
and no play makes Jack a dull boy," was not one which
commended itself to the merchant rulers of Galway.
Of the actual games comprehended under the general term
" cards," it is impossible to speak with authority. Certainly
the modern games of Whist and Bridge were unknown at this
early period but it is altogether likely that in old Galway, as in
the England of that day, the most popular games of cards
were Primero, Trump, which was a great favourite among
the lower classes and is said to have borne some resemblance
to Whist, Gresco, on which apparently stakes were usually
high, and Gleek.f But there must have been — indeed, there
were — many other card games on which young and old could
bet and lose their money.
Dice playing is so ancient that one might almost suspect
Adam and Eve must have whiled away some of their time at
it in the garden of Eden. Certain it is that the ancient Greeks,
the conquering Romans, the warlike Germans, the Saxons,
Danes, and Normans, all were addicted to it, so a passion
which was evidently universal could not be expected to leave
mediaeval Galway untouched, and dice playing seems to have
been something of a menace in the town, hence the reiterated
statutes against the playing of dice publicly for money.
The game of " tables " included under the same ban as
cards and dice, was backgammon, but the apprentices were
permitted to indulge in it, too, like the others, during the
Christmas holidays and under proper supervision. It was a
game which added the element of chance to something of the
skill that was required of the player at chess, hence it was
• Corp. MSS., Bk. A. fol. (100*). Unfortunately at this point the MS.
is decayed so the exact figure set down is not available but it must have been
something very small.
t For all these see Strutt : Op. ciL, pp. 333-34.
THE USE OF LEISURE IN OLD GALWAY. II7
easier to learn than chess and was to that extent more exten-
sively enjoyed. It was played somewhat differently from its
more modern counterpart, indeed, we learn that " there were
many methods of playing at the tables with the dice."* But
though it seems to have been universally popular, since it
could not accommodate so many players at a sitting as cards,
the latter were, even in mediaeval times, a first favourite.
So far we have been considering the use of leisure in mediae-
val and sixteenth century Galway as it relates to the towns-
men pureh', but no treatment of the subject could be regarded
as complete without some mention of the pastimes and amuse-
ments of the womenfolk. In the Middle Ages the position of
women generally was none too satisfactory, and, amongst
other things, their active participation in most outdoor games,
which is a feature of modern life, was a thing unheard of, but,
from our present point of view, it is ver}^ interesting to note
that " one cause that made for the increase of women's freedom
was the growth of towns. "f " In some respects," writes an
authority in regard to this subject, " the Bourgeoisie showed
a greater sense of the normal personality of women than did
either the Aristocracy or the Church, borough law had to take
account of the woman trader, and in many towns there existed
' customs ' for the treatment of a married woman carrying
on a trade of her own as 3. femme sole." I Besides, two of the
most important industries, at least, were almost entirely in
their hands because they could be carried on as by-industries
in the home. These were the brewing of ale, which was drunk
by everyone who could not afford wine — only the very poor
drank water — and the spinning industry or making of cloth
" which was the regular occupation of all women and the
spinster's habitual means of support. "§ In the towns therefore
there was a growing sense of equality among the sexes, an
equality which was not without reflecting itself in regard to
many of the customary amusements and pastimes.
In old Galway, naturally, social freedom was greatest
within the highest and the lowest classes as, indeed, it always
* Strutt : Op. cit., p. 321.
t Coulton : Mediaeval Panorama, p. 625.
X Professor Eileen Power in The Legacy 0/ the Middle Ages, p. 407.
§ Ibid., p. 412.
IlS GALWAV ARCH.£OLOGlCAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
is ex'en-where. The immense wealth of the mercantile families
in Galway allowed their women to move in the circle of the
aristocracy — they intermarried regularly with the nobility,
native and Anglo-Irish — and that fact led to their expecting
and receiving all the attentions which chivalry in those days
paid to ladies, and permitted them to participate in the amuse-
ments suited to their exalted station. Thus it is quite possible
that the daughters of the merchant families in old Galway
hunted to some extent, for they were certainh^ at home in
the saddle, and it is more than probable that they regularly
indulged in hawking or falconry which was a very favourite
pastime of women amongst the upper ranks of society in the
IMiddle Ages, as it was, equally, of the clerg}^ Gardening and
the cultivation of flowers particularly also occupied them much
out of doors, while, indoors, they spent a great deal of their
time in the stud\- of music and the practice of embroidery,
though the}' also regularly played at cards, dice, and tables,
and many a time and oft must have sacrificed their beauty
sleep to a game of chess. Amusements which we have long since
relegated to the nurser\' were, too, popular with the ladies,
and blind man's buff and especially riddle and answer games
were great favourites. The ladies were also regularly present
at the banquets and entertainments given in different houses
on great occasions such as that of the visit of a Lord Deputy.*
Finally, dancing was then, as now, a supreme attraction. It
was a regular amusement amongst all ranks of society, and
while the aristocrats had their evening entertainments, where,
in gail}- decorated and lighted saloons, they tripped it lightly
to the music of fiddle and harp, the girls of humbler rank and
the working maidens gathered on the greens and open spaces
or round the festive bonfire in the evening and danced merrily
into the night.
There was one other notable means by which women of the
more cultured classes filled in their leisure time in old Galway,
* Journal of Sir William Russell.— Cal. Cay. MSS.. III. pp. 238-39 It is
worthy of note that " gate-crashing " which modern hostesses find so tire-
some, was rendered impossible in old Galway, where it was laid down " That
none do presume to inter into any house of banckett (banquet) without he
be convided [invited], and yf he be convided, to have his billet under the
convider's hand, on payne of a croune. — "Articles touching reformacions in
the Commonwealth, \5^5.-Orig. iV/5. quoted by Hardiman : Hist, of Galway,
p. 209.
. . -THE USE OF LEISURE IN OLD GALWAY. II9
that is reading and the enrichment of their minds by literature.
In the later Middle Ages, according to a reliable authority,
"though very few women arrived at anything like the university
stage in education, it seems probable that more of them could
read and write than the men, especially in the upper classes."*
Certainly, the women of the merchant families of Galway
must have been remarkably well read, for we have a striking
testimony to the fact in the statement of that famous sixteenth
century wit and writer. Sir John Harington, one of the best
known literary figures of his day. Harington, widely travelled
and a typical Renaissance scholar, had translated the Orlando
Furioso of Ariosto into English. Then, one day, like so many
more men of his school, he found himself in Ireland in the
service of Elizabeth. He paid two visits to Galway where,
naturall\% he met and mingled with the merchant aristocracy.
But though he expected to find the ladies of that circle accom-
plished, he was nothing short of amazed to discover the literary
tastes of at least some of them and the remarkable way in
which they kept au courant with the best literature of the
age. For within a few years of its publication his translation
of the Orlando Furioso was being read enthusiastically by
some of the young women in Galway. " My Ariosto,"
he writes, " has been entertained into Gallway before I came.
When I got thither, a great lady, a young lady, and a fair
lady, read herself asleep, nay dead, with a tale of it ; the
verse, I think, so lively figured her fortune ; for as Olimpia
was forsaken b}^ the ungrateful B\^reno, so had this lady
been left by her unkind Calisthenes ; whose hard dealing
with her cannot be excused, no not by Demosthenes." f
It is a commonplace to observe that the Renaissance left
Ireland unaffected, but in the light of statements like that of
Sir John Harington, this generalisation must be corrected.
Clearly, in the towns, at any rate, there were not wanting those
who went out with enquiring minds to greet the new dawn of
literature.
Life in old Galway, then, had, undoubtedly, its lighter side,
but what strikes us most about it is, that it was extraordinarily
disciplined in all its phases. Work was strenuous, and in this
* Coulton : Mediaeval Panorama, p. 627.
t Sir John Harington : Nugae Antiquae, I, p. 260.
120 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
respect the merchant adventurers themselves gave a fitting
example to all those whose destinies they guided, for these men
not onh' toiled hard daily in their stores and counting houses,
but regular!}- they went down to the sea in ships, to battle
through long weeks and months perhaps, with the treacherous
elements and that still more dangerous foe, the lurking priva-
teer. Men made of such stuff as this expected work and dis-
cipline from their subordinates and they got it, but this same
sense of order and discipline led them to interfere drastically
in the leisure hours of the citizens, an interference which we do
not find it so easy to understand. Nevertheless, even here as
we proceed to pronounce judgment upon them, we must at
least concede that in this stern ordering of the amusements
and pastimes of the people the motive of the merchant obli-
garchy was altogether praiseworthy, for they sought merely
the greater good of " the commonwealth of Galway."
[ 121
Two Bronze Age Burials
at Carrowbeg North, Belclare
Co. Galway
By G. F. WILLMOT.
INTRODUCTORY.
In August 1937 under the State financed scheme for the
reUef of unemployment, two mounds in the townland of
Carrowbeg North, and tlie parisli of Belclare, Co. Galway,
were excavated and investigated. The work took between
three and four weeks, and sixteen men were employed. At
its conclusion the sites were restored to their original shape.
The sites are on Sheet 96 of the i inch O.S, Map of
Ireland, and on Sheet 43 [Galway] of the 6 inch O.S. Map.
Attention was first drawn to the mound by Dr. T. B. Costelloe
of Tuam, whose constant interest in the site I should like to
record here as well as in the acknowledgments.
TUMULUS I.
Tumulus I [PI. I and Fig. i) was a circular bracken covered
mound situated behind Carrowbeg House. There had been
a small disturbance at the centre and on the SW. side of the
mound. It was surrounded by a ditch 14 feet wide and cut
to a depth of 4 feet into the solid rock, but it had silted up
completely on the NW. and to a depth of 3 feet on the other
sides.
Method of Excavation.
The mound was excavated by Dr. Van Giffen's method*
by taking out four quadrants, leaving two 2 foot sections
across the diameter of the mound at right angles to each
other, so that any problems could be referred back to the
* Van Giffen : Die Bauart der Einzelgraber, p. 7.
122 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
original stratification until the last moment. At the conclusion
of the excavation the mound was restored to its original
shape.
Construction of the Mound and
Burials.
The mound covered a roughly hexagonal cairn of stones
24 feet in diameter {PI. I). The upper stones were loose,
but those at the base of the cairn were cemented together
by clay. The cairn had probabh' been covered with clay
which had washed down from the upper stones and settled
between those below. At the centre of the mound was an
oval spread of charcoal and small fragments of cremated
bone, 10 feet 6 inches in length and 7 feet wide. There was
no trace of a turf line below the stones which overlay a layer
of yellow clay 6 to 10 inches thick, which in turn overlay
a thin bed of grey gravel 18 inches thick, which rested on
carboniferous limestone. Both the clay and the gravel were
of natural origin and the geological formation of the site is
the subject of Appendix I by Mr. C. D. Ovey, B.Sc, F.G.S.
At the centre of the mound was an oval pit lying NW. — SE,
3 feet long and 2 foot 3 inches broad and cut through the
clay into the gravel to a depth of i foot 3 inches from the
original surface, and containing the burnt bones of an adult
with a late bronze age knife or razor. The bones had been
put into the pit when still hot, and the clay edges were burnt
to a red brick colour. The charcoal laj'er mixed with frag-
ments of bone is probably the remains of the pyre on which
the body was burnt and then the grave was cut through it
and the cairn built. The bones are fully reported on in Appen-
dix II by Professor Stephen Shea and the knife is discussed
under the finds.
The ditch showed a uniform primary silt of dark clay
averaging 6 inches in depth and a secondary sUt of clay mixed
with humus of an average depth of i foot 9 inches and a layer
of turf and humus 9 inches in depth. The ditch had been cut
down through the clay and gravel into the underlying carboni-
ferous hmestone which had been used to build the cairn.
At a later date four secondar}- burials, all by inhumation,
had been deposited in the northern half of the ditch. Only
TWO BRONZE AGE BURIALS. 123
one of these had associated objects by which their date could
be arrived at, and they probably belong to the first few
centuries of this era.
Skeleton i. A female buried on the bottom of the ditch
on the north side. Body on its back with the head lying on
its left side. The hands together on left shoulder. Left femur
vertical and the knee tightly bent. The right knee across the
left femur had the heel close to pelvis. On the right shoulder
a small bronze locket and close to the left foot 12 small bone
beads (discussed under finds). 2 feet 9 inches from the ditch
bottom and above the body was a large flag stone.
Skeleton 2. On back on bottom of ditch on East North
East side lying along it, head west, feet east, at full length.
Head on right side, face looking toward the centre of the
tumulus. Right arm by side with hand on pelvis, left humerus
beside body, with forearm bent at right angles across body.
Legs straight.
Skeleton 3. On North side, full length on bottom of ditch
lying along it. On back head to West. Arms beside body,
legs straight. Covered by a pile of stones. 6 inches to left
of head a piece of bone which shows signs of having been
sharpened.
Skeleton 4. On North West side lying along bottom of
ditch. Head to South West, body straight. Arms straight
beside body, left hand on pelvis, right hand beside pelvis.
Finds.
{See Plate II, b, c and d).
I. With Primary Cremation. Bronze blade, probably a
razor. The blade is badly corroded, but probably measured
about 3f inches in length and i inch at the greatest width.
There is a broad tang with one rivet hole in it, and well marked
holders. Down the centre of the blade on both sides are traces
of a band of cross hatched ornament. The blade is similar
to one from Pohacorragune, Co. Galway,* except that the
tang in the Carrowbeg example is less pronounced and broader.
Knockast, Co. Westmeath,t and Glenaree, Co. Limerick,^
* This Journal, Vol. XVIII, 1936, pp. 44. ff.
t P. R.I. A.. XLII, p. 232. ff.
J North Munster Ant. Journ., 1936, Vol. I, pp. 34-5.
124 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
all of which have been found with cordoned urns, and may
be dated to the Late Bronze Age. Professor O Riordain has
suggested* that the blade was fixed in a wooden handle which
allowed it to swing in the manner of a modern razor. Dr.
Mahr has recently drawn attention to the ritual use of the
razor in burials of the Middle and Late Bronze Age in Ireland.
2. With Secondary Burial, Skeleton i. Bronze locket made
by fastening two circular disks 15/16 of an inch in diameter
to a circular strip of bronze 3/16 of an inch in width. On to
this strip is a small bronze loop, through which moves freely
a second bronze ring, by which it was suspended on the right
shoulder. There is no ornament on it by which it can be
precisely dated. It is reminiscent of a Roman seal box,f
but these have {a) two holes through which the string of the
sealed package passed and {h) they open on a hinge to take
the seal. The locket has neither of these features, and I can
only suggest that it was a reliquar3^| There was however,
no fragment of bone within, and if it contained a relic, it
must have been of some perishable material. A possible
parallel is a similar locket found with an Anglian skeleton
at Gartonslack, Yorks.§ On the under side there is the remains
of a piece of cloth which has the appearance of a coarse linen.
3. With Secondary Inhumation, Skeleton i. Close to the
left foot were eleven small spherical bone beads from \ to \ of
an inch in diameter. A twelfth bead also of bone 9/16 of an
inch in length and 3/16 of an inch in diameter is cylindrical,
forming three segments. It is pierced down its length and
also across the centre. It seems a descendant of a type found
in the Highland zone of England and Scotland, though there
it is rather larger and has been found with overhanging rim
urns, cordoned urns, and encrusted urns. Examples are known
from Stanton Moor, Derbyshire,]! Towthorpe, Yorks E.R.,T[
* Prehistory, New Ser.. Ill, p. 378.
t R. G. Collingwood : Archaeology of Roman Britain, p. 698, Fig. 76. e.
X B. M. Guide to Greek and Roman Life, p. 145, Fig. 165. d.
R. E. M. Wheeler : Lotidon in Roman Times, p. 108, Fig. 33.
§ Mortimer : Forty Years Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds
of E. Yorks, pp. 248-9. PI. LXXXIV, Fig. 643.
I! Journal Derbyshire Arch, and Nat. Hist. Soc, New Ser.. Vol. X p.
29, PI. I. ' ^
^ Mortimer : Forty Years Researches.
TWO BRONZE AGE BURIALS. I25
Near Pickering, Yorks, N.R.,* and in Scotland Over Migvie,
Angus, t Seggiecrook, Aberdeen,! Loanhead of Daviot,§
Milnagavie, Dunbartonshire, || Dalmore, Ross.lj There are
three examples from Denmark.**
TUMULUS II.
{See Plates III and IV).
Tumulus II stands on an esker ridge a few yards to the
north of the Smithy opposite Carrowbeg House, and is known
locally as Mary Skerrett's grave. It is a grass covered mound,
cut into at the Southern End by gravel workings in the esker.
Method of Excavation.
The mound was trenched from the southern, eastern, and
western sides, cut so that sections across the mound could
be drawn. It was impossible, owing to the time at our disposal,
to cut a trench from the north side.
Structure and Burial.
The mound, from its position on the esker appears much
larger than is really the case. The mound stood 3 feet 6 inches
above the undisturbed soil, but its height above the surround-
ing land was 7 feet 3 inches. The tumulus had not probably
been made quite so high in the first place, for on the summit
was a smaller mound 13 feet 6 inches in diameter, which had
added i foot 3 inches to its original height. This smaller
mound was composed of gritty earth and contained a number
of very small fragments of cremated bone {Cremation i). It
was divided from the larger mound below by a layer of soft
dark earth, 6 inches in depth, which represented the turf on
the top of the original tumulus.
The tumulus was composed of the sand and gravel of the
esker, mixed with a little earth and was surrounded by a small
* Mitchelson Coll. York. Mus.
t P.S.A.. S. LXIV, p. 28.
t Ibid.. S. XLII, p. 212.
§ Ibid.. S. LXX, p. 299, ff. Fig. 100.
II Nat. Mus. Scotland, Edinburgh.
11 P.S.A., S. XIII, p. 256.
** Sophus Muller, Ordning, No. 232.
126 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
ditch I foot 6 inches in width, and i foot deep, filled with
dark earthy silt up to the surface le\'el. The diameter from the
outside of the ditches across the tumulus was 56 feet 6 inches.
Below the mound, which originally, before the building of
the smaller secondary mound described above, stood to a
height of 2 feet 3 inches, was a spread of yellowish clay on the
old ground surface on the western side of the mound. On this
clay were a number of boulders but they formed no sort of
structure. There was no trace of a turf line below the mound.
At the centre was a small hollow i foot in diameter and 6
inches deep containing a few very comminuted fragments of
cremated bone {Cremation 2). There was no sign of disturbance
above this deposit. 2 feet south of this cremation was a
circular pit 5 feet in diameter and 2 feet 6 inches deep con-
taining an oblong cist built up by four upright slabs of car-
boniferous limestone and covered by another slab. This slab
rested only on two opposite corners of the cist, and on the
top of it was a smaller square slab, which made the larger
slab balance exactly. Although 6 men could with difftcult}'^
remove the cover stone, yet it could be rocked with the
pressure of one's little finger. Inside the cist was a cremation
(Cremation 3), with a small plano-convex knife. The interior
dimensions of the cist were : Length, i foot 6 inches ; breadth,
I foot ; height, i foot 9 inches. The two longer sides were
parallel, but the two shorter sides were slightly inclined
towards each other. The slabs varied from 6 to 9 inches
thick. The cist was not paved and the bones rested on the
natural gravel of the esker. Between the cist and the sides
of the hole in which it was built was a packing of small rounded
pebbles, which had also been heaped over the cover-stone.
There was no signs of disturbance over this grave and like
Cremation 2, it was a primary deposit.
TUMULUS IL
Finds.
I. With Primary Cremation in Cist. Piano-Convex knife
of white flint i 9/16 of an inch long and 11/16 of an inch in
width. The under surface shows retains the flake surface with
a well marked bulb and striking platform. The upper surface
TWO BRONZE AGE BURIALS. 127
shows delicate pressure flaking down both sides, and the
ridge is slightly covered with stalagmite from the cist. Dr.
J. G. D. Clarke has shown* that this type of knife is found
in association with Foodvessels and Cinerary Urns in England
and Wales. The Irish examples when associated, seem to be
found with cinerary urns. There are examples from Killi-
carney, Co. Cavan,t near Glarryford, Co. Antrim, j Glagorm
Park, Fenaghy.§
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
I have to thank Mr. Dominic Lynch the owner of the
site for his ready permission to excavate ; Dr. T. B. Costelloe
for constant help both before and during the excavations ;
Mr. W. J. Comerford, who made the preliminary arrange-
ments ; The Most Rev. Joseph Walsh, and the Nuns of the
Ursuline and Bon Secours Convents who lent equipment ;
the Rev. Gerard Sitwell, O.S.B., and Mark Haidy, O.S.B. ;
Messrs. J. A. Gardiner, E. D. Tappe, J. Hastings and B. A.
McSwiney, who helped during the excavations ; Professor
Shea for his report on the skeletal material, and Mr. C. D.
Ovey for his report on the Geological formation of the site.
APPENDIX I.
Geological Note
By C. D. OVEY, B.Sc, F.G.S.
The basic rock of the district is Carboniferous Limestone
which is bedded horizontally. Overlying this are drumHns,
kames and out wash gravels of glacial origin. The relative
position of these show that the general direction of ice move-
ment over the district was from the north-east, and the
presence of striations in this direction on the summit of Castle
* Ant. Journ., XII, p. 158.
t J.R.S.A.I., 4th. Ser. V, p. 192, Fig. 62.
X Ibid., IX, p. 110 and PI. 1, 2.
§ Ibid., p. 110.
128 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Hacket Hill with an erratic of Old Red Sandstone possibly
derived from a small inlier to the north of Dunmore, confirms
the assumption. At Treanbaun there is a small lough which
has been artificially drained, exposing white, laminated
deposits of calcareous clay with l.imnaea pereger and Sphae-
rium corneuni, overlain beyond by thick deposits of peat.
Between this area and an esker immediately east of Carrowbeg
House, there is a furlough or a low-l^ing area which becomes
flooded occasionaly during very wet weather. This is bounded
to the south by glacial deposits, a kame which has been banked
up against the limestone of Castle Hacket Hill, — and to the
north by a meandering ose, opening out to the east into the
bogs which surround Lough Treanbaun. In the furlough, a
trial-hole was dug and a laminated brown clay was found
similar in character to the white clay of Lough Treanbaun,
and containing a specimen of Spaherium corneum. It is almost
entirely composed of calcium carbonate with a small residue
of subangular quartz grains and minute fragments of Carboni-
ferous Limestone. A single small fragment of flint was also
found, indicating that material was washed into the lake of
that time from the neighbouring glacial deposits.
Carrowbeg North is situated about 150 yards to the east
of Carrowbeg House, and was constructed on a thin layer of
clay about 6 to 10 inches in thickness. The clay rests upon
some 18 inches of badly sorted outwash gravels probabl}^
derived from the esker situated to the north during the period
of ice retreat. Beneath this is a weathered surface of Carboni-
ferous Limestone. The clay appears to be of uneven thickness
and contains a varying amount of detrital material including
small angular pieces of limestone, mica, quartz grains and
fragments of other rocks. Apart from the presence of the
limestone, there is little calcium carbonate in it, and none
was found in a sample taken from the base of the mound
nor in that which must have been used to cover the mound.
Also, in this sample there is evidence of dehydration of iron
oxides which consists mostly of fine, subangular quartz grains.
A sample from the top of the cairn shows the presence of some
lime and no dehydration, indicating that the clay was placed
above after the cremation had been completed. Another sample
from the clay between the cairn and the ditch contained much
TWO BRONZE AGE BURIALS, 1 29
carbonate with a small residue of grains of all sizes of quartz,
limestone, sandstone and other rocks. No carbonate was found
in samples taken from trial-holes within 30 yards of the
mound itself. There was no clay immediatel\' above the
gravels beyond the ditch, and it appears that this was removed
and used in the construction of the mound as a mortar for the
boulders which cover the cremation hearth. There is evidence
that this mortar has been removed by leaching from the centre
of the mound b}^ percolation of rain through a circular cavity
at the summit, but in places the boulders are found resting
on, embedded in and covered by the clay particularly along
the periphery of the cairn.
The origin of the clay seems to have been due to water
trickling over the outwash gravels when these were possibly
in a semi-frozen state, and there was a channel between the
old windmill and Carrowbeg House where the esker has been
breached, and this drained into the furlough. Evidence for
this channel is shown by a very fine sand of at least 3 feet
in depth, found in a trail-hole in the breach. The sand consists
of very small quartz grains and no calcareous material, or other
fragments, indicating sorting b}' water action. It seemed to
be unbedded and this may have been due to a constant trickle
of water coming from the area in which Carrowbeg North is
situated, and draining into the furlough to the east.
The Carboniferous Limestone (see Fig. i) immediately
beneath the mound consists of an upper 12 inches of black
limestone (' Upper ' Limestone) and below this a much
weathered limestone about 6 inches in thickness with numerous
silicified fossils (Silicified Limestone). Beneath this bed is a
hard, black limestone again (' Lower ' Limestone). It is curious
that most of the boulders on the cairn arc derived from the
fossilferous band, and it seems that the upper layer was
weathered and jointed into more satisfactor}- blocks for human
use than the underlying, roughl}^ weathered bed. The latter
appears to have been excavated and the top layer used to
cover the bodies. The boulders on the cairn have had their
edges rounded by solution so must have been there for some
considerable length of time.
130 galwav arch^ological and historical society.
APPENDIX II.
Report on the Human Remains
By PROFESSOR STEPHEN SHEA, M.D.
The remains are composed of the skeletons of four individuals
who had been inhumed and of four who had been cremated.
The four inhumed skeletons have been designated by Mr.
W'illmot Numbers i to 4, from Carrowbeg North A. (See Plate
IV (b), and Plates V to IX).
Skeleton No, j
Sex : This skeleton is that of a female, as is shown by the
very small size of the bones, the form of the sacrum, the
outline of the sciatic notch, the presence of prae-auricular
sulci and the form and proportions of the pubic part of the
pelvis.
Age : The sutures of the skull are all open. The teeth
are all present except for the lower incisors which were
lost post mortem, and the lower wisdom teeth. The upper
wisdom teeth are not fully erupted. The lower wisdom teeth
have not yet appeared. The age is probably between 20 and
25 years.
Stature : It was possible to measure the maximum lengths
of the left humerus, the right radius, the left ulna, the right
femur and the left and right tibiae. According to Pearson's
formula {e) the stature in the living state was 4' 9". Accord-
ing to Pearson's formula (i) the stature was 4' gi". There is
nothing special to report about the vertebrae and ribs. The
sacrum and the left os innominatum are well preserved.
There is no flattening of the humeral shaft. The upper end
of the ulna, the right femur and the tibia show flattening,
which is well marked in the femur and tibiae. The femora
show 3rd trochanters and fossae hypertrochantericae with
slight extension of the articular surface of the internal condyle.
The tibiae show median squatting facets. The right tibia
gives an angle of retroversion of ly"" and an angle of inclinatioa
TWO BRONZE AGE BURIALS. 13I
of 12°. Retroversion is much more pronounced in this skeleton
than in numbers 2 and 3, where the angles of retroversion are
12° and 13° and the angles of inchnation 7.5° and 8° respecti-
vely. The left astragulus gives an angle of deviation (for the
neck) of 29°. The following are the angles of deviation of the
astraguli of the skeletons, numbers 3, 3 and 4 :
Skeleton No. 2 — 20°
Skeleton No. 3 — 19'
Skeleton No. 4 — 24^
The astraguli all show small articular ridges on the neck for
articulation with the median squatting facet on the lower
end of the tibia and extension of the median articular surface.
The retroversion of the tibial heads, the deviation of the
astragular necks and the presence of squatting facets, show
that squatting was an habitual posture for these four people.
The calcaneus shows a well-developed sustentaculum in
all four skeletons.
The skull of Skeleton No. i is in fragments. As many of
the fragments are warped and many other pieces are missing
it was not possible to reconstruct it satisfactorily.
Skeleton No. 2.
Sex : The widely open great sciatic notches, the presence
of well formed prae-auricular sulci and the general form of
the Pelvis show that the sex is female.
Age : The wisdom teeth are cut and one has a small carious
cavity. The spheno-occipital suture is closed. The sutures of
the vault of the cranium are still open externally. The age
is probably between 25 and 30 years.
Stature : According to Pearson's formula {e) the stature is
5' i|" for the living state.
Vertebral Column and Ribs : The ribs and vertabrae are
all present but are badly broken. They show no unusual
features.
Limb Bones : The left humerus, left radius, and left tibia
are available for measurement of maximal lengths. The left
femur was broken but was repaired and the length accurately
ascertained. Details of the measurements are given in Table
IV,
p
132 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The humeri show eurybrachy, the left ulna platyleny,
the femora and the right tibia moderate plat\meria and
platycnemia respectively. The median squatting facets are
present in each tibia. The bones are robust. The femora show
3rd trochanters and increase of the articular area of the
internal condyle.
Skull : This skull was very well preserved although it was
soft and filled with earth. The face had been laterally com-
pressed to a slight degree. Most of the measurements may be
regarded as accurate. Those of the face and the basi-alveolor
length, owing to the crushing of the face are only approxi-
mately correct. This skull is peculiar in that its height exceeds
its width. It is dolicocephalic {C.I. 71), orthocranial {H.L.I.,
71.6). and acrocranial (H.B.I., 100.7). It is, therefore, a long
narrow skull, high in proportion to its width. The face is
orthognathic with alveolar prognathism. The left orbit is of
moderate height {Index 82). The nose is narrow (/., 42.5).
The palate is broad (/., 126). The cubic capacity of the skull,
estimated by direct measurement with mustard seed, is 1,250
CCS. According to Welcher's table the cubic capacity is 1359
CCS. As it is impossible to be sure that all the earth is removed
from the interior of the skull, a larger capacity than 1,250
CCS. is probable.
Observations : Viewed in the norma verticalis the skull is
ovoid and phaenozygous. The sutures are open on its external
surface. Seen in profile the glabula is well developed for a female
skull. The forehead slopes very slightly backwards. There is
a little post-bregmatic flattening. The post-parietal part of
the arch curves gradually downwards. The occiput is pro-
minent, the inion is moderate. The mastoid processes are
small. Each external auditor^^ meatis is practically filled with
exostoses. The vault appears high. Seen from in front the
skull again appears highly arched with practically vertical
sides. The face is long and narrow. The orbits are of medium
height with axes inclined downwards and outwards. The upper
border of the orbit is sharp. The glabella and supraciliary
processes are well formed. The malar bones are not prominent.
The zygoma on the left side with the cheek-bone had been
pressed a little way towards the middle line. The nose is high
and narrow. Incisive fossae are present. The palate is broad
TWO BRONZE AGE BURIALS. I33
and high, the alveolar arch is paraboloid. A palatine torus is
absent. The second left lower premolar, the first right upper
premolar and the second and third right upper molars were
lost post mortem. The incisors and molars, with the exception
of the wisdoms, show marked wear. The right lower wisdom
tooth shows a small carious cavity in the crown. The teeth
are otherwise sound
The mandible is of moderate strength and the angles are
not everted. The chin is moderately developed.
Skeleton No. 3.
Sex : The sex of this skeleton is male, as is shown by the
size of the bones, the masculine form of the pelvis and the
great sciatic notch, the absence of prae-auricular sulci and the
development of the glabella and supraciliary ridges of the
skull.
Age : The sutures of the cranial vault are all open. The
basi-sphenoid and the basi-occipital bones are fused. Three
wisdom teeth are fully developed. One, the right upper
wisdom, is suppressed. Two of the three wisdoms show slight
wear. The age is, therefore, between 25 and 30 years.
Vertebrae and Ribs : The whole vertebral column is present
in good condition. The ribs are nearly all broken. The sacrum
is of the male type.
Limb Bones : The limb bones are all represented. Some of
them are broken and eroded. The right humerus, the right
and left radius and ulna, the femora and left tibia allowed of
measurement of the maximal lengths. The stature, according
to Pearson's formula (e) is 5' 7I" in the living state. The
humerus, ulnae, femora, and tibia all show flattening. This is
pronounced in the ulnae, femora and tibiae. The bones are
robust with well developed muscle markings. The femora
both show a 3rd trochanter with crista and fossae hypo-
trochauterica. Both tibia show a median squatting facet.
The clavicles, of which the left is broken, show a curious
trumpet-like, sternal articular surface. This is seen parti-
cularly well in the right clavicle. Large foramina for blood
vessels occup}" the centre of the concavity. It is difficult to
explain this condition, unless it is due to osteo-arthritis. There
is a slight suggestion of lipping in many other joints in the
134 GALWAV ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
body. There is marked lipping on the borders of the articular
surface of the right radius.
The Skull : The skull, which was in fragments, allowed,
after many attempts of reconstruction of the cah-arium only.
It was not possible to fit the face together and to attach it
to the skull, with any degree of accuracy. It was possible
to fit occipital fragments in place so as to enable height measure-
ments to be taken. The skull is remarkable for its large size.
Its estimated cubic capacity is, according to Lee's formula,
1652 CCS. It is mesaticephalic (C./., 75). It is orthocranial
{Index, 73.2) and metro-cranial (/., 97.2). That is, it is a
moderately broad skull and its vertical height is moderate as
compared both with its lengtli and its width. The forehead
is broad. N'iewed from above the skull is ovoid in outline.
It is phaenozygous. The sutures are open. Viewed from the
side the glabella and brow ridges are seen to be moderate
for a male skull. The forehead recedes slightly. The cranial
vault curves smoothly until the post-parietal region is reached
where it bends rather sharply down. The occiput is fairly
prominent. The mastoids are large. Viewed from in front the
globular outline of the cranial arch is noticeable. A metopic
suture is present.
The palate is broad and of moderate height. The alveolar
arch is paraboloid. There is no torus. The mandible is strong
with markedly everted angles and prominent square chin.
All the teeth are present except the right upper wisdom
tooth, which is suppressed and the right upper canine, lost
post mortem. The degree of wear of the teeth has been men-
tioned already in connection with the estimation of the age
of the individual. The incisors were ground together in edge
to edge movements.
Skeleton 4.
Almost all of this skeleton is present, but most of the
bones are broken. It was possible to reconstruct and measure
the right humurus, the right femur and the left tibia.
Sex : The sex is female. This is not so evident at first,
owing to the presence of well-marked brow-ridges and glabella
on the skull, and the masculine outline of the great sciatic
uotch. There are well-formed prae-auricular sulci present,
TWO BRONZE AGE BURIALS. 135
however, and the form and the size of the pubic portion of
the pelvis, as compared with the acetabulum show that the
sex is female. The sub-pubic angle is wide. This conclusion
is strengthened by the presence of small mastoids and sharp
upper orbital margins, and by the general size and appearance
of the limb bones.
Age : The cranial sutures in the vault are open. The
spheno-occipital suture in the base is closed. The wisdom
teeth are fully erupted. The age is probably between 25 and
30 years.
Stature : The living stature, calculated according to Pear-
son's formula (e), is 5' i". The limb bones are robust and show
well-developed muscle markings. The humerus, femur and
tibia show flattening. The femora show third trochanters and
cristae and fossae hypertrochantericae. The right tibia shows
a median squatting facet. There is nothing worthy of special
note about the vertebrae and ribs.
Skidl : The skull had been broken into fragments and it
was reconstructed only with the greatest difficulty. The
measurements and indices can only approximate to the actual.
It is mesaticephalic {C.I., 78). It is ortho-cranial {H.L.I.,
70.3). It is tapeino-cranial [H.B. Index, 90). That is, it is like
Skull No. 3, a moderately wide rather low skull. The forehead
is narrow when compared with the greatest parietal width.
The orbits are low [0.1. , 75.6). The nose is narrow {N.I.,^8.y).
The complete face is long, while the upper face is moderately
wide. The palate is of moderate width. The capacity of the
skull according to Welcker's Table is 1405 ccs. It is a large
skull for a female.
Observations : When viewed from above the skull is seen
to be rather broad ovoid in outline, and is cryptozygous.
The sutures are open. In profile, it shows, for a female
skull, very well-marked brow-ridges and glabella. The fore-
head slopes backwards. The arch of the skull vault passes
evenly upwards and backwards without flattening on top.
The occiput projects very slightly beyond the post-parietal
arch. The mastoids are small. Viewed from in front the cranial
vault appears low and has a globular outline. The brow-
ridges and glabella are well-marked. The orbits appear low
with axes inclined downwards and outwards. The upper
136 GALWAY ARCHiEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
orbital margin is sharp. The full face is long, the upper face
appears comparativel\- wide. The chin is prominent and
triangular. The teeth, of which 7 incisors and 2 molars are
missing, show the same kind of wear as do these other of the
skulls. The mandible is strong, with everted angles.
RACE.
The skulls of Skeletons 3 and 4 resemble Irish iron age
skulls, such as those found at Mount Wilson,* Bray.t Knock-
ast,+ and Pollacorragune,§ in their mesaticephaly and lowness
of the vault. The skuU of Skeleton No. 2 resembles the neolithic
type in its marked dolicocephaly and particularly in its height.
Its height is greater than its width. Lowness of the cranial
vault is regarded as the chief characteristic of the iron age
skull. I think, however, that the width of this skull has been
reduced by post-mortem lateral compression. The surface of
the parietal bone on the right side lies i to 2 mm. deeper than
the surface of the frontal bone at the fronto-parietal suture.
If these two mm. be added to the width of the skull then the
width becomes slightly greater than the height and the skull
corresponds to the requirements for the iron-age period.
In the skeletons there is very little evidence on which to
base a judgment of the " age " of the skeletons. There is
one point that is possibly of value, the angle formed at the
junction of the neck and shaft of the radius (the collo-diaphysial
angle). This angle is 170" in Skeleton No. i, 175'' in No. 2,
177° in No. 3, and 166'' in No. 4. R. Martin|| gives ibs"" to
177° as the range of the angles in modern Europeans. The
skeletons A and B from Pollacorragune§, which are definitely
of iron age give angles of 174" and iGb'". On the other hand
three Bronze Age Irish skeletons from Park, Co. Galway,^
Annaghkeen, Co. Galway,** and Stonepark, Co. Roscommonjt
* Grattan, J., 1853 : U.J. A.. Vol. I, p. 98.
t Wakeman, W. F., 1894 : J.R.S.A.I., Vol. 24, p. 54 ; Vol. 25. p. 106.
Nole : I am indebted to Prof. C. P. Martin's Prehistoric Man in Ireland,
1935, for references Nos. 1 and 2., and for list of measurements of the Mount
Wilson and Bray skulls.
J Hencken, H. O'N, and Movius. H.L. : P. R.I. A.. Vol. XIC, p. 232,
§ Riley and Shea : This Journal, Vol. XVIII, Nos. i and ii, 1936, p. 56.
II R. Martin : Lehrbiich der Anthropoloqie, Bd. 2. 5. 1109.
II Shea : This Journal, Vol. XVII, Nos. i and ii, 1936. p. 24.
** Costelloe and Shea : This Journal, Vol. XII, p. 119.
tt Shea: J.R.S.A.I., Vol. LXI, 1929, pp. 100-104, pp. 105-113.
TWO BRONZE AGE BURIALS. 137
give angles of 162", 164^ (Park), 156° and 155° (Annaghkeen)
and 158° and 162° (Stonepark). These Irish Bronze Age
skeletons in this feature resemble the neolithic radii of
Schweizerbild, for which the range of 154° to 170° is given.
As regards the collo-diaphysial angles then the radii from
Carrowbeg resemble Irish Iron Age, and modern European
radii rather than Irish Bronze Age or European neolithic
radii. There are not sufficient data relating to this angle in
early Irish skeletons to enable one to judge its value, but the
difference is there in the material at my disposal and it corro-
borates, for what it is worth, the form of the skulls in referring
the individuals to the iron age at the earliest.
Summary : The skeletons are the remains of three women,
and a man. Numbers i, 2 and 4 are female. Number 3 is male.
The ages of all four are between 25 and 30 years. The stature
of the females ranged between 4' 9" and 5' 2|" and that of the
male was 5' yV- Racially the remains resemble most closely
those attributed to the Iron Age.
CREMATIONS.
The cremated remains from Carrowbeg are divided into
two groups, those from Carrowbeg North A and those from
Carrowbeg North B.
All these remains which are those of four individuals, were
very fragmentary'. It was possible only to identify the bones
as human in most cases. In some cases sex and age could be
determined. The following is a list of the finds :
Carrowbeg North A. Cremation A. Remains of one
human adult, probably male. A little charcoal. One fragment
of animal bone.
Carrowbeg North B. Cremation i. Bone so comminuted
that I could not determine whether it is human bone or not.
Cremation 2. One human adult. Some small animal bone
fragments.
Cremation 3. One human adult.
138 GALWAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
TABLE I
Measurements of Skulls — Carrowbeg North A.
Age
Sex
Cubic Capacity
Greatest Glabello— Occip.
Length
Greatest \\idth
Basi-bregmatic height
Basi-Nasal Diameter
Basi-alveolar
Bi-zygomatic
Min. Frontal „
Max Frontal
Ariculo Breg. height
Orbital width (max. front)
right
Orbital width — left
Orbital height — right
left
Ant. Inter-orbital breadth ...
Nasal height
Nasal Width
Naso-alveolar length
Naso-mental length
Palatal length (Pal. maxill.)
Palatal width (maxill. alv.)
Horizontal Circ. abo\e Glab
Total Sagittal .'\rc
Frontal Sagittal Arc
Parietal Sagittal Arc
Occipital Arc
Transverse Arc
Inter angular front, breadth
No. 1
20 - 25
F
{
No. 2
25- 30
F
1250 cc.
to
l,300ccs
185-5
132
133
94
86?
123
91
112-5
120-5
42
34-5
17-5
47
20
66-5
113-5
43-5
55
510
380
130
133
117
306
99
No. 3
25 -30
M
1652 cc.
196-5
148
144?
104
106?
130?
124
64
410
140
135
135
336
No. 4
25 - 30
F
1400 cc.
182
142
128
94
94?
126?
93
120
116
41
31
49
19
67
118
50
55
520
377
121
136
120
310
99
TWO BRONZE AGE BURIALS.
139
TABLE II
Indices of Skulls— Garrowbeg North A.
Cephalic Index
Height — Length Index
Height — Breadth Index
Gnathic Index
Trans, frontal-parietal Ind.
Trans, frontal Index
Auric, height length Index...
Auric, height breadth Index
Cranial Module
Orbital Index (right)
Orbital Index (left)
Nasal Index
Complete facial Index
Upper facial Index
Palatal Index
Mandibular L. B. Index
Zygo-goniai Index
No. 1
85-8
No. 2
71
71-6
100-7
91
68-9
80-8
69
91
150
82
1
42-5
92
54
126
88-3
74-8
No. 3
75
73'
97'
71'
81'
63-
83-
162-8
83-8
No. 4
78
70-3
90
100?
65-5
77-5
63-7
87
150-6
75-
38'
93
53
110
92
79
TABLE III
Measurements of Mandibles
Bicondylar Width
Condylo-symphysial length
Bi-gonial width
Height ascending ramus ....
Minimum breadth ramus ....
Symphysial height
Mean Angle
No. 1
106
91
79
51
30
30
122°
No. 2
115-
102
92
59
30
27
122°
No. 3
124
103
117
63
31
35-5
115°
No. 4
114
105
100
59
28
123°
140 GALWAY ARCH.^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
TABLE I\
Measurements of Long Bones of Limbs-
Carrowbeg North A.
Humerus :
Maximum Length
Greatest diam. at middle of
shaft
Least diam. at middle of
shaft
Index of Shaft
Radius :
Maximum Length
Transverse width of shaft
Ant. po.st width
Index of Shaft
Collo-diaphysial angle ....
Ulna :
Maximum length
Greatest Up. Trans. Diam.
Greatest Up. Ant. post Dm.
Index of Platyleny
Femur :
Diam. of Head
Bicondylar length of shaft...
Maximum length of shaft
Ant. Post. Diam. at middle
of shaft
Trans. Diam. at middle of
shaft
Ant. Post. Diam. at L'pper
one-third of shaft
Trans Diam. at Upper one-
third of shaft
Platymeric Index
Pilastric Index
Index of Robustness
Tibia :
Maximum length
Length less spine
Ant. Post. Diam. of shaft at
nut. for
Trans. Diam. of shaft at
nut. for
Platycnaemic Index
Squatting facets
Angle of R(;troversion
Angle of Inclination
No. 1
K.
No. 2
No. 3
R.
R.
205
12-5
10
34-5
371
372
21
23-5
19
26
73
89-3
11-9
301
297
26-5
19
71-7
M +
170"^
12°
274
17
14
82-3
170°
224
15
18
83-3
317
20
16
80-0
42
299
294
27-5
18
65-4
M +
23-5
31-5
74-(
343
338
30
23-5
78-3
M +
12°
7-5°
310
19
16
84-2
218
16
10-5
175°
14
22
63
42
426
430
26-5
26-5
23-5
30
78-3
100
12-4
346
341
343
25
18-5
76
253
20
13
IT.
274
19-5
27-5
70 9
51
483
486
31-5
30
25
37
67-6
105
12-
M +
L.
R.
No. 4
L.
307
22
16
?2-7
37
25
67-6
M +
13°
8°
248
18
12
270
18-3
26
71
50
484
486
32-5
30
26-5
37-5
70-6
108
12-8
382
375
39
24-5
62-8
M +
44
428
429
29
28
24
31-6
76-2
103
13-3
166°
335
331
32
20
62-5
M +
(a)
(b)
Plate I. — Carrowbeg North, Tumulus I. (a) From West
before excavation, (b) North-East quadrant of inner cairn.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Plate II. — Carrowbeg North Finds, Tumulus II. (a) Plano-convex Flint knife
with primary cremation. Tumulus I. (b) Locket with skeleton 1, (c) Beads
with skeleton 1, (d) Bronze razor with primary cremation. All full size,
(a)
(b)
Plate III. — Carrowbeg North, Tumulus II. (a) from West,
before excavation (b) Cover stones of cist.
(a)
(b)
Plate IV. — Carrowbeg North, Tumulus II. (a) Cist when opened.
Tumulus I, (h) Skeleton 2.
u
u
>
u
O
6
2
3
C/3
u
rt
s
O
6
15
3
00
n>
o
u
>
E
u
O
2
o
S
O
d
2
3
CO
o
E
u
O
o
3
00
CO
e
O
IS
o
3
CO
>
•4-*
O
2
o
2
3
CO
>
-4->
u
>
re
E
o
2
o
2
3
CO
(LI
Plate IX.— Skull No. 4, Norma lateralis.
JECTIO// W-E.
TURF S.HUMUSllllill, EARTH & CLAY ^SH, STONES^^, CHARCOAL^Sl, CREMATION fffrH
EARTH «. CLAY FILlIMII, DARK CU\y FILl[11S, CLAY^M^GRAVEL ^^, BEDROCK QID.
Fig. 1.
C\RR0\\3EG yORTH, TUMULUS H.
TURFitHUMU:
rrONf ii^^E: Ci-Ay i
iAP.'H it-GRlT L_
OARK EAR-
3, TURNED GRAVEL CZZZj, PEBB.fi
CREMATiO*. ;
, UNDi5TURBED[^^3, GRAVEL 5IL'!
Fig. 2.
CARROWBE6 NORTH.
TUMULUS IE
PLAN & SECTIONS OF
PRIMARY CIST
Fie. 3.
SOIL
CLAY
OUTWASH GRAVEL
'UPPER' LIMESTONE
SILICIFIED LIMESTONE
'LOWER' LIMESTONE
Fig. 4. Diagramatic section of the geology in
immediate neighbourhood of Carrowbeg North.
[ 141 1
On the Temporalities of the
Augustinian Abbey of St. Mary
the Virgin
Cong, Co. Mayo
By MICHEAL 6 DUIGEANNAIN, M.A.
In spite of rather extensive, though intermittent, researches,
I have been able to track down only eight documents which
purport to enumerate the possessions of Cong Abbe3^ As they
will doubtless be of interest to some student with a proper
knowledge of the places named, I give them here together
with a few other incomplete notes.
The oldest recital of the temporalities of Cong is to be
found in a papal confirmation of i April 1400.^ This docu-
ment confirms the abbot and convent in all the liberties and
immunities granted them by the Holy See, and in liberties
and exemptions from secular exactions granted them by
kings, princes, and others, as also in their possessions, viz.,
the church of St. Mary, Cong, with its tithes and appurtenances,
the church of St. Colman in Sruthayr with its appurtenances,
Druymsil with its archiepiscopal fourth, Kyllgoynd with the
like, Collvn Osnanayd with its appurtenances, the fourth of
the tithes of Balyloch Mugybron, the parsonage of Conmaicni
Mara, the rectory called Ceathramha Rebach with its appur-
tenances.
Next in point of time comes a ' rental ' professedly copied
in 1501 from an ancient manuscript preserved in the abbey.
The interest of this document is equalled by its difficulty.
It survives only in two seventeenth century transcripts. One
of these, British Museum, P. 15601. Harl. 4787, was made
for Sir James Ware, after whose death it passed into the posses-
sion of Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon^ (Lord-Lieutenant
1 Cal. Pap. Reg., Letters V, 275.
2 See Bernard's Catologi II, ii, p. 6, No. 36.
142 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
of Ireland, 1686). and so to the British Museum.^ This transcript
has been edited with translation and notes by the late Martin
J. Blake/ while a second translation with notes will be found
in Knox's Notes on the early history of the dioceses of Tuam,
Killala and Achonry, p. 256 ff. Neither Blake nor Knox knew
that a second (contemporary but independent) transcript
existed. A lucky examination of Bernard's Librorum manu-
scriptorum viri praeclari Joannis Maddeni collegii medicorum
Duhliniensium praesidis catalogus showed that Madden had
had one.^ At some date unknown to me Madden's manuscripts
were acquired by John Stearne, Bishop of Clogher, who
bequeathed them in 1741 to Trinity College, Dublin,^ where
the manuscript containing the rental is now numbered 653
(F. 4. 22). At the end of this MS. is a catalogue of Stearne's
MSS. in 1700. This catalogue is almost identical with Bernard's
list of the Madden MSS., so that F. 4. 22 must be identified
with Bernard's 1669. 8. Hence Abbot is wrong both in
ascribing F. 4. 22 to Stearne and in dating it ' c. 1700.' The
order of the contents of the volume has been disturbed since
1700, probably in binding.
Since Blake's edition of the British Museum text is not
free from misreadings and other defects, I venture to make a
fresh attempt here, giving variant readings from F. 4. 22
as well as from Blake and Knox in footnotes. Remarks on
the persons and places mentioned in the ' rental ' will be
found in the notes to my translation. Contractions are silently
expanded. I am indebted to Mr. Burnett of the Quit Rent
Office, Dublin, and to Fr. Aubrey Gwynn and Fr. Lambert
McKenna for their invaluable assistance.
Ex VETERE MANUSCRIPTO MONASTERIJ
DE CONGA.
In dei nomine Amen.
Sciant universi per presentes quod hec'' sunt vera indubi-
3 Cf. Ayscough : A catalogue of the manuscripts preserved in the British
Museum... \o\. I, p. vii ff. (1782).
4 Journal Royal Soc. Antiquaries Ireland, xxxv, 130-8.
5 Catalogi II, ii, p. 57, No. 1669. 8.
6 Abbot, Catalogue of the manuscripts in the library of Trinity College,
Dublin, pp. iii, xiv, xv, 109.
V hec F. 4. 22, haec Had. 4789.
THE AUGUSTINIAN ABBEY OF CONG, CO. MAYO. 143
lata et authentica rentalia de Conga in feodis decimis alijsque
commoditatibus et emolumentis a primo die dedicationis
ecclesie^ usque in hodiernum diem viz.^
Primus vir et illustrissimus rex Hibernie^^ alias lernie
Donaldus filius Hugonis^^ mac Ainmyreach^^ valde devotus
et deo omnipotenti obediens dedicavit et donavit deo et
ecclesie dicte^^ parcellam terre que vocatur Inys — nastryn-
droma^'* et omnes alias parcellas terre per stagnum [ ]^^
Dichrus^^ usque Dubrus".
Idem et fundum et solum in quo fundatum est monasterium
ipsum anno primo^^ dominationis sue et monasterium ipsum
erectum^^ et re-edificatum^° erat ccccc et
Dubhach O Dubhey^^ erat primus dominus abbas monasterij.
Item dictus D[onaldus]^^ donavit villam de Crois^^ cum
pertinenciis^"^ deo [et]^^ monasterio dicto^^.
Item dominus Dermicius^^ mac Fergusa rex Hibernie^"
villam de Croibhis^^ donavit monasterio dicto^^ cum pertinen-
ciis.
Item Terencius^° Magnus O Concubhair donavit villam de
Cylguin"'^ monasterio predicto cum pertinenciis.
8 ecclesiae, Blake.
9 vizt., Blake.
10 Hiberniae, Blake.
11 Annates Ultoniae initium regni Aeda mac Ainmirec [h] 591, in marg.;
Annales Ultoniae 591, in marg. F. 4. 22.
12 Ainmyreath, Blake.
13 ecclesiae dictae Harl. 4787 ; ecclesie dicte, Blake ; ecclesiae dicte, F. 4. 22.
14 Imys-. . . nasiryndroma, Harl. 4787.
15 Lacuna not indicated by Blake.
16 Underlined with cancellation points as is Dychns in F. 4. 22. Blake
reads Dnhrus ; Knox leaves a blank, but cf. footnote.
1'? usque et {ad ?) Dubrus, Blake.
18 primo anno, F. 4. 22. ; An. 635 secundum Annales Conactenses added
in marg. ; Annales Conatenses 639, F. 4. 22.
19 dedicatum, Blake.
20 edificatum. F. 4. 22.
21 Duvhach O'Duvhay, Knox ; Duvach O'Duvkay, Blake.
22 om. Blake, Knox ; Dominus (?), F. 4. 22.
23 mod [ ] [ ]iam dicta Cross added in margin.
24 pertinentibus, F. 4. 22.
25 et Blake, F. 4. 22. ; deo et om. Knox.
26 predicto, F. 4. 22.
27 Dermitius, Blake.
8 Underlined with cancellation dots.
29 predicto, F. 4. 22.
30 Terentius, Blake.
31 Olygnium, Harl. ; Oylynnium, Blake ; Knox's transl. has Oylnim ;
Cyl^uin^ F. 4- 2?.
144 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Item Edmundus Scotorum filius VuliellmP" de Burgo militis
donavit quaitarium terre quod" vocatur Ardnagross mona-
sterio dicto et semivillam de Lioslachane.
Item Thomas de Burgo filius supradicti donavit semi-
villam de Droim Silmoir^'* et semiquartarium de^^ Drom
Silbeg monasterio predicto.
Item Risterdus"^^ Equi^'' filius Sir (?) f [ Y^ conductor
equi domini de Burgo donavit"'^ semiquartarium de^^ . . . .ay''°
monasterio predicto.
Item tribunij [ ] de Burgo donaverunt segecim'*^
canonicorum in villa de Robbo monasterio predicto.
Item tribunij predicti donaverunt [ ] canonicorum apud
Rath Moling'*^ in villa de Sruthair monasterio predicto.
Et sic ad monasterium predictum spectat templum Col-
mani'*^ in villa predicta'''^ et murum eiusdem et Killin Coemain
de adversa parte amnis et semiquartarium terre collis qui''^
vocatur Sancti Patricij ibidem.
Item Gibbunus^^ Rectoris filius donavit semiquartarium
de"*' Tamhnachliahain''^ monasterio dicto.
Item Donaldus filius Hugonis qui dicitur Magnus O
Flaghertach donavit parcellam terre que vocatur Oilen da
Chriunne''^ in mare de Conomara^° [monasterio] dicto. ^^
Item Tho[mas Sheoigh]^^ qui dicitur Ruffus" donavit
32 Ullielmi, Blake.
33 que (?), F. 4. 22. ; que. Blake.
34 Dromsilmoir , Blake, Knox.
35 om., F. 4. 22.
36 Ristardus, Blake ; Ristard, Knox.
37 Underlined with cancellation dots.
38 filius Fiesucoba, Blake, ' son of Fiesucoba ', Knox.
39 dedit, F. 4. 22.
40 Blank, Blake.
41 segerium (segetem P), Blake ; Segerin, Knox, v. infra.
4 2 Rathmolinge, Blake.
43 Colemain, Blake.
^"i in villam predictam, Blake.
45 que (?), F. 4. 22. ; que. Blake.
46 Gibbunis, Blake.
47 om., F. 4. 22.
4 8 Tanihiiachliahan, Blake.
49 Oilen de Chrionne (?), F. 4. 22. ; da Chruinne, Knox.
50 in mare Conacie, F. 4. 22.
51 monasterio predicto, F. 4. 22.
52 Tho[mas] Sh[eoigh] ? F. 4. 22. ; Thomas Sh[eoigh], Blake ; Thomas
Sh[ ], Knox.
53 Rufus, F. 4. 22.
THE AUGUSTINIAN ABBEY OF CONG, CO. MAYO. I45
quartarium terre quod vocatur Cearhonangringineach^'* et semi-
quartarium quod dicitur^^ Seanmhadhharraightain^^ et quar-
tarium de Killin Dubhachta^'' monasterio predicto.
Item Terencius^^ Magnus O Concobhir^^ donavit [ f°
de Liossonduibh^^ in suo territorio^^ supra montem de
Sliabh Ban^^ monasterio predicto.
Item Rogerus filius supradicti, et rex Hibernie^'* donavit
villam et terram de Cill Moir Muaidhe monasterio dicto^^ et
decimam piscium totius amnis de^^ Muaidhe^^ antedicti et f unem
campane ab omni nave ad portum dictum^^ gratia piscandi
et mercandisandi pro tempore deveniendo^^ monasterio pre-
dicto.
Item Cormacus Mac Carty dominus sue nationis®^ donavit
parcellam terre in patrimonia de Birra que dicitur Inis Conge
et funem campane supradicto monasterio si^*^ quod naves
pro tempore deveniant ad portum^^ de Dunboith.^^
Item Vaterus Vulli de Burgo donavit semiquartarium
terre^^ quod^'^ dicitur Killinratha monasterio predicto.
Haec sunt omnia feoda supranominata^^ monasterij pre-
dicti. Nunc agendum est de decimis prediolibus/^ personalibus,
et mixtis."
54 Cearhonangriiigineath, Blake ; Cearhonangruigineach, Knox.
55 semiquartarium de, F. 4. 22.
56 Seanmhadhharriaghtaoim, F. 4. 22. ; Seaunihaeghfarraighain, Blake ;
Seanmhaegharraightain, Knox.
57 Killindubhacta, Blake.
5 8 Terentins, Blake.
59 O Concubhair, Blake, F. 4. 22.
60 Lacuna not indicated by Blake.
61 Liosonannibh, Blake ; Liosonduibh, Knox.
62 territorio suo, F. 4. 22.
63 Sliabhane, Blake ; Sliabhban, Knox ; Slewbane in margin of MS.
64 Hiberniae, Blake.
65 predicto, F. 4. 22.
66 Moy added in margin.
67 portam dictam, Blake.
6 8 devenienda, Blake.
69 nacionis, Blake.
70 sic, MS.
71 partes, MS. ; portam, Blake.
72 Dunboith, F. 4. 22. ; Duinboith, Blake ; Dimboith, Harl. 4787.
73 terrae, Blake.
74 que, F. 4. 22.
75 supra dicta nominata, Blake.
76 praediolibus, Blake.
77 mixciis, Blake.
14^ galwav archaeological and historical society.
De Decimis.
Templum Beate^* Virginis Marie de Conga, semivillam in
semivilla de Acholeathard, semivillam in villa de Athcuirce
etc.
Item Templum de Ruan in villa de Robo etc., semivillam
in villa de Ballinrobo etc.
Ecclesia Commanij 28 quartaria habet viz. semivillam de
Scethelochain etc.
Item quod nullus mundanus potest creare''^ [ ] aliquem^°
in civitate Co[rca]gie^^ nisi de licentia ordinacione®^ et di[re]c-
tione^"^ abbatis de Conga et (et)^"* illo die quo constituitur et
creatur abbas Corcaigie^^ tenetur reddere abbati de Cong[a]
sexdecem. . .ccetas vel semimarcas auri^® ad deaurandos®^
calices monasterij de Conga et omnes vestes novi abbatis de
Corcagia^^ tenetur [ ] reddere thesauro^^ de Conga illo die.
Sed supradictus^° Cormacus Mac Carty donavit funem
campane monasterio de Conga de unaquaque nave ad portum^^
Corcagie pro tempore devenienda etc.
Sic finiuntur feliciter in nomine altissimi rentalia de Conga
tam in feodis quam in decimis et^^ per me Thadeum O Duhi
in scriptum redacta,^^ et relinquens postquam in Curia ver-
batim Romana^* reverendus pater in Christo^^ Willelmus^^
Flavus O Duhi abbas de Conga apud Josephum Pull mode
registri reliquit X° Martij anno Gratie^^ 1501.
7 8 om.. Blake; Beatae . . . Mariae, Had. 4787.
T^ reave, Blake.
80 aliquid, Blake ; ' can raise anything,' Knox.
81 Corcaigie, F. 4. 22. ; Corcagiae, Blake.
8 2 Ordinarie, Blake ; ' of the ordinary,' Knox.
83 dircctione, F. 4. 22. ; ecclesie, Blake ; ' of the Lord Abbot,' Knox.
84 et ab, Blake.
85 Corcagiae, Blake.
8 6 annatim, Blake.
87 deaurandum, Blake.
8 8 Corcagie, Blake.
89 thesaiirio, Blake.
90 supra. Blake.
91 portam, Blake.
92 om, F. 4. 22.
93 redant, Blake.
94 in scriptum — Romana, om. F. 4. 22.
95 reverendus in Christo pater, F. 4. 22. ; reverendus pater in Christo
cm., Blake.
96 Willielmus, Blake.
97 apud — Gratie om. F. 4. 22. ; for Gratie, Blake and Knox read Christi,
the augustinian abbey of cong, co. mayo. 147
From an Old Manuscript of the
Monastery of Cong.
■ In the name of God. Amen.
Know all by these presents that these are the true,
indubitable, and authentic rentals of Cong, in fees, tithes, and
other commodities and emoluments, from the first day of the
dedication of the church down to the present day, viz.
I. The first man and most illustrious king of Hibernia
alias lernia, Domhnall son of Aed son of Ainmire, truly devout
and obedient to Almighty God, dedicated and gave to God
and the said church the parcel of land called Inys-nastryndroma
and all the other parcels of land [i.e. islands) through the
lake [ ] up to Dubrus.
II. The same gave both the land and soil in which the
monastery itself was founded in the first year of his reign,
and the monastery itself was erected and rebuilt 500,
and Dubhach O Dubhey was first lord abbot of the monastery.
III. Item the said D[omhnall] gave the townland {haile)
of Crois with its appurtenances to God and the said monastery.
IV. Item the lord Diarmait son of Fergus, king of Ireland,
gave the townland (haile) of Croibhis with its appurtenances
to the said monastery.
V. Item Toirdhealbhach Mor O Conchubhair (Turloch
Mor O'Conor) gave the towmland [haile) of Cylguin with its
appurtenances to the aforesaid monastery.
VI. Item Eamonn Albanach, son of William de Burgo
Knight, gave the quarter of land which is called Ardnagross
to the said monastery, and the half-townland [leath-hhaile] of
Lioslachane.
VII. Item Thomas de Burgo, son of the aforesaid, gave
the half-townland [leath-hhaile) of Droim Silmoir and the
half-quarter of Drom Silbeg to the aforesaid monastery.
VIII. Item Richard ' of the horse,' son of [ ], constable
of the lord de Burgo, gave the half-quarter of ay to the
aforesaid monastery.
IX. Item the stewards [ ] de Burgo gave the Canons'
field in the townland [haile) of the Robe [i.e. Ballinrobe ?) to
the aforesaid monastery.
X. Item the aforesaid stewards gave [ ] of the Canons
14^ GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
at Rath Moling in the townland [baile) of Sruthair to the
aforesaid monastery.
XI. And thus Teampall Colmain in the aforesaid townland
(baile) belongs to the aforesaid monaster}^ and the wall (?)
of the same, and Killin Coemain on the other side of the river,
and the half-quarter of land of the hill which is called St.
Patrick's in the same place.
XII. Item Gibbon son of the Rector gave the half-quarter
of Tamhnachliahain to the said monastery.
XIII. Item Domhnall, son of Aedh, who is called
O Flaithbheartaigh Mor gave the parcel of land called Oilen
da Chruinne in the sea of Connemara to the said monastery.
XIV. Item Thomas Seoigh who is called ' the Red ' gave
the quarter of land called Cearhonangringineach, and the
half-quarter called Seanmhadhharraightain, and the quarter
of Cillin Dubhachta to the aforesaid monastery.
XV. Item Toirdhealbhach Mor O Conchubhair gave [ ]
of Liossonduibh in his territory on Sliabh Ban mountain to
the aforesaid monastery.
XVI. Item Ruaidhri, son of the aforesaid and king of
Ireland, gave the townland {baile) and land of Gill Mor of the
Moy to the said monastery, and a tenth (tithe) of the fish of
the whole river Moy aforesaid, and a bell-rope to the aforesaid
monastery from every ship coming to the said port from time
to time for fishing and trading.
XVII. Item Gormac Mac Garthy, lord of his nation, gave
to the aforesaid monastery the parcel of land in the patrimony
of Bearra which is called Inis Gonga, and a bell-rope should
any ships come from time to time to the harbour of Dunboy.
XVIII. Item Walter [? son of] William (?) de Burgo gave
the half-quarter of land called Killinratha to the aforesaid
monastery.
XIX. All these named above are the fees of the aforesaid
monastery. The predial, parsonage, and mixed tithes have now
to be treated of.
Of the Tithes.
XX. The church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Cong, the
half-townland [leath-bhaile) in the half-townland of Achole-
THE AUGUSTINIAN ABBEY OF CONG, CO. MAYO. I49
athard, a half-townland in the townland [baile) of Athcuirce,
etc.
XXI. Item Teampall Ruadhain in the townland {baile) of
Robe (? Balhnrobe) etc., a half-townland {leath-baile) in the
townland {baile) of Ballinrobe, etc.
XXII. The church of Comman has 28 quarters, viz., the
half-townland {leath-bhaile) of Scethelochain, etc.
XXIII. Item that no secular can create {i.e. prefer) any-
one in the city of Cork except by license, ordination (ordin-
ance ?), and direction of the abbot of Cong. And on the day
on which he is constituted and created, the abbot of Cork is
bound to render to the abbot of Cong sixteen ccetae or
half-marks of gold, for regilding the chalices of the monastery
of Cong. And all the vestments of the new abbot of Cork
[the latter] is bound to render to the treasury of Cong on that
day.
XXIV. But the aforesaid Cormac Mac Carthy gave a
bell-rope to the monastery of Cong from every ship coming
from time to time to the port of Cork.
XXV. Thus happily are finished in the name of the Most
High the rentals of Cong, both fees and tithes, and put in
writing by me Tadhg O Duhi. And afterwards leaving them
word for word with the Roman Curia (??) the reverend father
in Christ, William Buidhe (' the Yellow ') O Duhi, abbot of
Cong, left them with Joseph Pull as a register (?). 10 March
in the year of Grace 1501.
Remarks.
The Roman numerals refer to the numbered paragraphs of the translation.
I. Domhnall son of Aed mac Ainmirech of Tir Chonaill
regnabat 627-641 A.D.
The dots under Duhrus etc. seem to indicate that such
words are to be deleted. But nothing is supplied in their
place. Blake (p. 136) suggests that Duhrus ' may be identical
with the two quarters of Dowrishe mentioned in the Com-
position of Mayo in 1585, as being in the Barony of Kilmaine,
County Mayo ; or it may be identical with the island called
Inishdauros, in Lough Corrib.'
Dubrus : ' probably identical with Dowrusse, the name of
150 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
a quarter of land in the Barony of Ross, in Joyce country '
(Blake) : ' seems to be the Doorus mentioned in the composi-
tion as in Kilmaine barony ' (Knox).
II. This paragraph is very corrupt. Idem may be an error
of item. It seems as if a considerable piece of text has been
dropped. Dubhtach O Dubhthaigh, abbot of Cong, ob. 1223,
Ann. L. Ce.
III. Crois : ' now Cross, a village in the parish of Cong '
(Blake).
IV. Croibhis : ' the Craebhs {sic), now middle, north,
and south Creevagh, three townlands in Cong parish ' (Blake).
'The only Dermot Mac Fergusa who was King of Ireland
reigned in the 6th century. This must be some local king or
chief (Knox).
Diarmait son of Fergus Ceirrbheoil, king of Ireland, regnabat
544/5-565/72, Ann. Ulster; slain 558 after 20 years' reign,
A. P.M. He was succeeded by Ainmire, grandfather of the
Domhnall mentioned I above.
V. Cylguin-Oylgnium : ' possibly the " Neale," a well-
known town and parish in the Barony of Kilmaine, County
Mayo ' (Blake), ' seems to be the full name of the Neale.
The abbey had property near it ' (Knox). Turloch Mor O'Conor
died in 1156.
VI. Eamonn Albanach, son of Sir William ' the Grey ' de
Burgo {ob. 1324), died in 1375.
Ardnagross has not been identified.
Lioslachane : Judging by the patent of 17 June 6 Jac. I
this must be an error for Liosluachra=^Lisloughry townland
in the parish of Cong.
VII. Thomas, s. of Eamonn Albanach, ob. 1401.
Droim Silmoir and Drom Silbeg are the townlands of
Upper and Lower Drumsheel near Cong.
VIII. Blake and Knox both read ' son of Fiesucoba '
and identify Richard with ' Richard O Cuairisci ' son of
Eamonn na Feasoige, ob. 1478. See also Knox, p. 400. Fr.
McKenna suggests ' constable ' for conductor equi=^aire echtai
(O'Curry, Manners and Customs, I ccxlvi).
IX. Knox reads ' Segerin of the Canons ' and says ' Segerin
suggests a connection with Kilmorosegir of the Taxation [of
1306]. That reading may be correct. In any case that church
THE AUGUSTINIAN ABBEY OF CONG, CO. MAYO. 15I
is the present Killosheheen. Mr. Blake points out to me that
Seges is used in No. 79 of the Blake Family records as equivalent
to the Irish word Gort. Segerin is probably a copyist's mistake
for Segetem.' Actually the MS. has segecim, a misreading of
segeceni, segetem, so that Knox's suggested identification must
be rejected. Fr. Mc Kenna suggests that trihunij^' stewards '
(Ir. niaor).
X. Rath Moling : Ramolin townland, near the old church
of Shrule, Co. Mayo (Blake).
Sruthair : Shrule, Co. Mayo.
XL ' Templecolmain is probably what is marked on the
map as " Abbey ", close to Shrule church. Killeen Coemain
being on the other side of the river is perhaps the Killeen of
of Killeen Fort, a little east of Shrule. I do not know St.
Patrick's Hill. Cong Abbey does not appear in the i6th cen-
tury grants and surveys as having any property in Donagh-
patrick Parish or in barony of Clare ' (Knox). The site of St.
Colman's church at Shrule is marked on the 6" O.S. map, Co.
Mayo, Sheet 122a.
XII. Tamhnachliahain : Tonaleeaun townland in the parish
of Cong. There is a Ballymacgibbon House marked on the O.S.
Index Sheet for Co. Mayo.
XIII. Domhnall Mor 0 Flaithbheartaigh, lord of West
Connacht, oh. 1407 {A.F.M.).
Oilen da Chriunne : Crump Island, N. of Renvyle Castle
(Blake & Knox).
XIV. Thomas Seoigh : ' Thomas Ruadh Joy lived in the
13th century according to Joyce pedigree ' (Knox).
Cearhonangringineach : ' Now Griggins, a townland in Ross
Barony, parish of Cong ' (Blake).
Seanmhadhharraightain : Shanafaraghaun townland in Ross
parish (Knox) ; ' Shawnafaraughan a townland in Ross
Barony, parish of Cong ' (Blake).
Cillin Dubhachta : Dooghta townland in Cong parish
(Knox) ; ' now Dooghty, a townland in Ross Barony, parish
of Cong, where there exists a holy well called Tobar-Fechin '
(Blake).
XV. Liossonduihh : Lios 0 nDuhhthaigh ; ' now Lisson-
uffy, a parish in the barony and county of Roscommon,
152 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
about five miles south-east of Strokestown, beyond the Slew-
bane mountain ' (Blake).
XVI. cm Mor of the Moy : Whence Kilmoremoy parish
in the baronies of Tirawley and Tireragh.
XVII. Cormac Mac Carthy, king of Desmond, regnabat
c. 1124-1138.
XVIII. Probably Walter, son of Sir William Liath de
Burgo, (Blake.)
XX. Acholeathard : Aghalard townland in Cong parish
(Blake).
XXII. Church of Comman : Now Kilcommon, the name
of both a parish and townland in Kilmaine Barony, Co. Mayo
(Blake).
Scethelochain : Skealoghan, townland in Kilcommon parish
(Blake).
XXIII. For further evidence of a connection between
Cong and Cork see Blake, King Dermot Mac Carthy' s Charter,
A.D. 1 174, to ... Gill- Abbey (Journ. Cork. Hist. & Arch. Soc.
1904).
On the suppression of the religious houses in Ireland in
1542 (33 Hen. VIII, Session 2, cap. v), the temporalities of
the abbey of Cong nominally passed to the Crown. Their
immediate fate is not discoverable. So far I have found no
mention of them in state records prior to 1568 when
John Chaloner of Lambay got a lease for twenty-one years
of the site of the monastery of Congge, the lands of Congge,
a watermill, two weirs, etc., paying rents of £11 ys. ^d. for
the temporalities and £21 los. od. for the spiritualities.^*
Two years later a similar lease was issued to William
Collier.99
In August 1578 the provost, burgesses, and commonalty
of Athenry obtained a grant in fee simple of part of the pos-
sessions of the monastery. ^°° In the following month a similar
grant was made to the mayor, bailiffs, etc., of Galway, for
98 Fiants Eliz, No.. 1238, Uth Dep. Keeper, 184.
99 Ibid., No. 1776, \2th Dep. Keeper, 42-3.
100 Ihid.. No. 3419, 13/A Dep. Keeper, 95.
THE AUGUSTINIAN ABBEY OF CONG, CO. MAYO. 153
fifty years from the determination of existing interests.\°^
This grant seems to refer to the same properties as the Chaloner
and ColHer leases.
In June 1595 Edmund Barret was granted a part of the
abbey's possessions. ^°^
In 1597 ^^^ 1603 two further grants are recorded, viz.,
to Trinity College, Dublin, and to Richard Mapowder.^°^
In 1603 we find John Kinge and John Bingeley described
as ' tenantes of the abbayes of Boyle, Conge, Ballintubber,
and St. John's of Athie, for divers yeares yet to come.' They
made successful suit for a lease in reversion of these and other
monastic properties, and a patent was issued to Sir George Cary
requiring him to give them a lease for fifty years ' after the
State now in beinge.'^°'^
Two years later Kinge and Bingeley, ' farmors to us in
the abbaies of Boyle, Conge, and Ballintubber,' petitioned
King James to accept a surrender of these tenements and to
regrant them to them ' uppon a new survey and inquisition,
for the same yeares they now have, and the rentes now
answered.' Their second suit was also successful, and Chichester
was instructed to give effect to the royal decision. ^°^
As a result, an inquisition was taken at Cong on 12 April
1606, copies of which are to be found in the Chancery Inquisi-
tions preserved in the Public Record Office, Dublin, ^°^ and in
the Ro3^al Irish Academy (Ordnance Survey MSS.).
Apparently Kinge and Bingeley were not satisfied with the
findings, for in September of the same year another inquisition
was held at Cong. A copy of this is also preserved in the
Royal Irish Academy (Ordnance Survey MS.) and the Public
Record Office, Dublin. It bears a closer resemblance to the
Rental of 1501 than does the April inquisition. The following
is my translation of a certified copy.^°^
101 Ibid., p. 101, No. 3463.
102 Ibid., No. 5933, 16th Dep. Keeper. 267.
103 FiantsEliz., 17 & 18 Dep. Keeper.
104 Erck : A repertory of the inrolments on the patent rolls of Chancery
in Ireland .... Vol. I, p. 34 ; Cal. Pat. J as. 7, p. 6, No. LXXXIV.
105 Erck, p. 235 ; Cal. Pat. Jas. I, p. 84, No. XXXII.
106 Vol. 15, Inquisit. in Offic. Rot. Cane. Hib. Mayo and Roscommon.
107 Vol. 15, Inquisit. in Offic. Cane. Hib. Mayo and Roscommon and Cal.
Inquis., Co. Mayo, Eliz. — Wm. cS- Mary {Chy. rembrcr., p. 2. 16. Inquis. 9
Published by kind permission of the Public Record Office.
154 GALWAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
' Inquisition taken at Conge on the 4th September 1606, before
Nicholas Brady on the oath of good men, who say, that Enneas Mc Donill,
abbot of the late monastery of Conge, on the 1st of March in the 33rd
year of the reign of King Henry \'III, was seized as in fee, by right of the
aforesaid monastery, of the whole abbey of Cong with all lands and tene-
ments ; and of 1 quarter called Ardugross, and of i quarter called Killickra
near Ballyloghmeske, and of the church called Templecolman in the town
(viW) of Shrowell, with all the lands, tenements, and tithes belonging to
the said church, and also of 1 small parcel of land called Ramelyn in
Shrowell aforesaid, all of which premises lie in the barony of Killmayn ;
and also of Dowrishe and Inishedowrish with their appurtenances
and of 1 quarter called Carrownegroginaghe, and of the i quarter
of Shanevocharraghan, and of 1 quarter called Killnidought, and
of the town and land of Killmoremoy, all which premises lie in the
barony of Rosse ; and of all tithes both great and small proceeding from
all the lands, tenements, and hereditaments whatsoever recited above
belonging to the said abbey ; and of all the tithes of the fishings of the
river called Moy in the barony of Tireawly, and of the rectory of Ballimally
with all profits whatsoever, and of a certain custom, namely un' funis
campan' , in English, a bell-rope, out of every ship in the river of Moy ;
and of 1 quarter called Any which had been given to the aforesaid abbey
by a certain ^^'alter Bourke fitz Thomas fitz Edmond Albenagh on con-
dition that, if any woman of the stock of the said Walter should take a
vow of chastity, she should be sustained by the abbey of Conge ; and
that the aforesaid Eneas, being thus seized on the 1st of March in the
33rd year of the reign of King Henry VIII of all the aforesaid premises,
the said abbot, and all the canons likewise, left the aforesaid late abbey
voluntarily and by their assent and consent, and never afterwards returned
to the premises.'
On the face of it, it looks as if Kinge and Bingeley knew of
the Rental and were familiar with its contents so that they
could not rest easy until they had turned it to their own
profit. It may have been the basis of the findings of the Sept-
ember Inqu'sition. At any rate, on 17th June 1608 they got
a Crown lease for 116 years from 18 May 1608 of, inter alia :
' The site, &c. ... of the late abbey or monastery of canons of Conge
— the town, liberties, and lands of Conge, one ruinous tiouse or castle called
the Old Court in Conge belonging to the Archbishop of Tuam excepted
— in Dromshilmore, 2 qrs — Lisloghrie, 2 qrs— in Dromshilbeg, \ qr —
of Crevagh, 4 qrs — Killogaragh, 2 qrs — Clogher, 1 qr — Nunnery, 2 qrs,
with all the tithes, great and small, of all the premises ; parcel of the estate
of Conge abbey — -the islands of Dowresse and Inishgoile, and all the
smaller islands adjoining — the 4 qrs of the town or village of Kilmore,
with all the tithes, small and great thereof, and of other 6 qrs of land in
the baronies of Tireragh and Tyrawly in Sligo and Mayo cos, within the
parish of Kilmore . . . one moiety of the tithes, small and great, being
parcel of the rectories, churches, chapels, or parishes of Kilmaynemore,
Kilmolaragh, Shrolle, Kinlogh, Killnebrenin, Templeroan, St. Clary's of
Conge, Ballicallagh, Rosse, Kilmainebcgg, and Kilcomman — the vicarages
of St. Mary in Conge and Kilmainebeg . . . Ardnegross 1 qr — Killickra
near Ballyloughmeske, \ qr — the church . . . tithes, &c of Templecolman
in the town of Shrowell — a parcel of land called Ramelin in Shrowel . . .
The islands called Dowrishe and Inchdowrishe — Carrownegroginagh, 1 qr —
Shanevocharraghan, ^ qr — Killindought, 1 qr — the town and lands of
THE AUGUSTINIAN ABBEY OF CONG, CO. MAYO. I55
Kilmoremoy . . . the tithes of fishing of the whole river, bay, or creek
called Moy . . . The rectory, tithes, etc. of Bally mally ... A certain
custom of one bell rope from and out of every ship entering either to fish
or to trade within the said river of Moy . . . Any, 1 qr . . . The town and
lands of Lisseduffe in Sleighbane, containing 4 qrs, with the tithes thereof
— the tithes of 12 qrs in Sleighbane . . . The moiety of all the tithes,
great and small, belonging to the rectory or parish of Carrowreogh . . .
The rectory, church, or chapel of Conomarra, with all the tithes, great
and small, of all the lands, &c. of Upper and Lower Conomarra ; all the
premises herebefore recited being parcels of the estate of the abbey of
Conge; rent 28/ 17s 4d Ir.'ios
The subsequent fate of the Cong properties may now be
very briefly outlined.
On 25 March 1647 Sir Maurice Eustace received letters
patent for the same properties at the same rent as Kinge
and Bingeley. No copy of this grant has survived, but the
parcels are fully set out on the ' old ' ( = 1826) Crown Rental
preserved in the Quit Rent Office, Dublin. Apparently Eus-
tace's grant was subject to the existing lease to Kinge and
Bingeley.
The Act of Settlement secured Eustace in his lands of
inheritance and leases for years. ^°^ He died in 1665 and was
succeeded by his son James (who was attainted and fled to
France). His estates were sold by the Trustees of the 1688
forfeitures, but Cong and its appurtenances were not included
in the sales. ^^° Sir Maurice was one of those subsequently
included in the Articles of Limerick as entitled to be restored
to his estates and property. In 1697 a private Act was passed
for settling certain rectories according to his Will. In 1720
another Act was passed authorising the sale of his estates to
pay his debts. But by that time the Cong properties had
passed to other hands. The Crown Rent Roll of 1706 for the
barony of Kilmayne, Co. Mayo (129 verso) ^^^ describes Cressy
Tasborrogh as ' Tenant in the Scite Circuit and precinct of the
late Abby or Monastry of the Commons {sic. r. Canons) of Conge,
the Town & Lands of Conge, Two qrs. of Land in Dromshilmore,
2 qrs. of Land in Kilcloghery, | a qr. in Dromshilbeg Crevagh,
108 Erck I. 454 ; Cal. pat. Jas. I, p. 125, No. LI.
109 The statutes at large passed in the parliaments held in Ireland . . ...
Vol. II, p. 348, 14-15 Chas. II, sess. 4, c. iv). The lands and leases in question
are not set out.
110 Reports from the Commissioners . . Public Records of Ireland, III, p. 364,
Nos. 32, 34.
111 Quit Rent Ofhce, Dublin.
156 THE AUGUSTINIAN ABBEY OF CONG, CO. MAYO.
4 qrs. and | qr. Tomlaine, |- qr. in Clovin Kilglony, i qr. Cross,
2 qrs. Killogharagh, 2 qrs. Clogher, 2 qrs. i qr. Numer}', 2 qrs.
Dowross Island, Inishgoyle Island and all the small Islands
adjoyning Dowrossereene. Inishgoyle 4 qrs. with all ye Tythes
great and Small growing or ariseing out of the said Lands
being pts. or parcells of the said Abby aforesd. lying & being
in the Com. of Gallway & of Mayo. One qr. of Land called
Annegross, a qr. called Killkea, one small parcell of Land
Raddedan in Shrewle in the Bar. of Kilmaine together with
Sevll. other Lands and Tythes in the County Roscomon &
Sleigoe at the Intire yearly Rent of Twenty one pounds Thirteen
shill. per Ann.'"^
The explanation of this change of ownership is to be found
in a Chancery Proceedings decree of 24 Nov. 1728. The plain-
tiffs were Sir Robert Echlen, Thomas Tickell, Clotilda Tickell
alias Eustace, and Chatwood Eustace, the defendants being
Henry Tasburgh, (ieorge MacNamara, and others. It was
decreed that plaintiffs should pa}'^ Henry Tasburgh principal,
interest, and costs due to him upon the mortgaged lands and
premises in the pleadings. Whereupon Tasburgh should recon-
vey to the plaintiffs . . . the site of the abbey of Cong . . .
and also all tithe fishings of the whole river, ba^' or creek called
Moy etc. etc. The decree referes to 18 May 1724, when the
lease to Kinge and Bingeley expired, but there is no reference
to Sir Maurice Eustace's patent. It also provided for an action
to be taken to try whether George MacNamara had notice that
the co-heirs of Sir John Eustace claimed an interest in the
premises on the expiration of the King-Bingeley lease.
112 The Kinge-Bingeley rent of ^28.13.4 Iyish=£2l .13.0 ' late currency
=jri9.19.8i British.
%1
Fij.2
-^^mmm
CRcnATioN 2
Fi§.5
W^Topsoii ^Yellow clay. W^Grey clny. fMFine^
^^yellow silt H Cfiarcoai. C
Ashes and burnt'.
nd. W^ Stones, m 5lac^ eartf^ fdi ^SuJbsolL
w Mixed Furnas and clay.
o
■f-»
-a
CD
Oi
^
vO
r--
c
o
c
c
>-5
Qj
a
v2
I — I
ArCI^ or CRCri^TiON.
CD r^^r Stoncs
MM Ditch.
r\pman numbers refer to
cremaliom.
TUMULUS I
Fig. 2.
cremalioD area
charcoal,
burnt earth-
pit oiilline.
Q flat stones.
^ TUMULUSII
MH.
Fig. 3.
O 10 20 30 ^0 SO 60 70 80 90 lOO cnS. -SHERDS
Rf\ZQR
Fig. 4. — Tumuhis II, plan and section of pit containing Cremation 2.
(For symbols see Plate I.)
mmiii
C remat t on .
C harcoai .
Burnt earth.
TUMULUSIII
Fig. 5.
[ 157 ]
The Tumulus-Cemetery of
Carrowjames
Co. Mayo
By JOSEPH RAFTERY, M.A., Dr. Phil.
Part I — Carrowjames I.
The site which I have described as a tumulus-cemetery lies
in the townland of Carrowjames, parish of Drum, Barony of
Carra, County Mayo, and will be found on O.S. 6", Mayo,
Sheet 90, 20.5 cms. from the left, 25 cms. from the top. The
mounds themselves are not marked and to Dr. Sean Langan,
Castlebar, is due the credit for having first discovered and
reported them. As the excavation of the site extended over
two seasons and as it seemed possible that a chronological
distinction might exist between the group examined in 1935
and that examined in 1936 it was decided for filing purposes
to refer to each season's activities as Carrowjames I and II
respectively. This system has been accepted in the following
report.
The excavation (which is listed No. XXIII in the official
Museum and Office of Public Works files) was undertaken as
part of a Scheme for the Relief of Unemployment, adminis-
tered for the Irish Government by the National Museum and
the Ancient Monuments Section of the Office of Public Works.
The first season's work covered the period 14th September,
1935, to 28th October, 1935. In all 12 workmen were employed.
The supervision was carried out by the writer, whose thanks
are due to the following for many kindnesses and for consistent
help throughout : Dr. Hugh O'Neill Hencken, Harvard Uni-
versity ; Dr. Sean Langan, Castlebar ; Mr. H. G. Leask,
Dublin ; Dr. A. Mahr, Dublin ; and Mr. John O'Malley, the
landowner.
F
158 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The site (Fig. i) consisted altogether of 10 mounds, one
of which unfortunately had been partly cut away in making
the road from Castlebar to Ball^'glass village. It was not
excavated and is so marked on the site-plan. A small standing-
stone is situated near one of the mounds of Carrowjames II,
a second stands on a low ridge to the west and a third due east
of the cemetery. The tumuli were thrown up on rather marshy
land at the bottom of a valley between low-lying ridges.
The subsoil of the region is a very coarse grey glacial gravel.
The total area covered by the cemetery is about 180 metres
long and no metres wide, the long axis running roughl}^
northwest-southeast. The three mounds of Carrowjames I lie
on the extreme northwestern limit. They are diagonally shaded
on Fig. I. No ditch was discernible on the surface round any
of them. The structure of all was the same. As a base for each
the tumulus builders selected a natural rise in the subsoil
(see e.g. Section A-B, Tumulus I, PL I, Fig. i). They seem
to have stripped the sod from this area, and then round the
rise they dug a ditch, the grey sandy material from which
the}' threw over the original subsoil (see e.g. PI. I, Figs. 1,2).
Over this grey sandy layer they put down a thicker layer of
sods which, with the passage of time, turned into a ^-ellow clay.
On top of this sod layer, the upper part of which had become
a grey to buff-coloured clay, they lighted a fire, the charcoal
and ash remains of which were clearly discernible. Over this
they placed more sods, and the stratigraphy ends with the
accumulation of humus. The ditches were later filled with a
cream-coloured sticky silt. In no case was there any discer-
nible trace of old turf line, which indicated that the whole area
to the edge of the ditch had been stripped.
Tumulus I (Plan, Fig. 2 and PI. II, i) averaged 14.50 m.
in overall diameter. Its greatest height above the subsoil,
taken at the centre, was 50 cms. (PI. I, Figs, i, 2). The ditch
varied in width from 1.25 m. to 2.20 m., with an average
depth of 30 cms. The centre of the mound, covering an area
approximately 5 m. in diameter, was formed of large stones,
averaging 40 by 30 by 20 cms., set rather loosely together
and at varying distances from each other. They rested in
the grey sand at the base of the artificial rise, and often occurred
THE TUMULUS-CEMETERY OF CARROWJAMES. I59
in groups of five or six together, particularly in the south-
eastern quadrant.
In the approximate centre (Fig. 2) was a layer of charcoal,
1.90 m. long and 1.40 wide. It was 8 cms. thick and lay 30 cms.
below the present surface of the mound, forming, as it were,
a boundary between Cremations 2 and 3. Under it, and
co-terminous with it, was a layer of greyish white ash, with
small pieces of charcoal through it. The fire had evidently
burnt itself out before the top layer of sods was placed over it.
There were three patches of earth burnt red, two in the
northwestern and one in the northeastern quadrant. They
are not marked on the plan as they did not seem to belong to
the mound in the prehistoric sense. They were :
(i) 23 cms. below the surface, just above the silt of the
ditch. It was 5 cms. in diameter and i cm. thick.
Small pieces were scattered through the soil nearby,
No charcoal was found with it.
(2) 25 cms. below the surface, outside the mound. It was
mixed with the ordinary topsoil.
(3) 20 cms. below the surface, 15 cms. long, 10 cms. wide
and 5 cms. thick. No charcoal was found with it.
These patches all occurred in the humus and mainly out-
side the tumulus. They may be due to the fact that up to
about forty 3-ears ago land was burned in order to make arti-
ficial manure. The site had then been tillage land and, indeed,
was tilled five or six years ago by the present owner. He,
however, assured me that he ploughed only three or four
inches deep ; and it was evident that the mounds had been
undisturbed.
The burials were in all cases cremations. hiJmiyiLliS— L
there were three :
Cremation i was in the south-eastern quadrant of the
mound, and was scattered over an area 4.50 m. long and 3 m.
wide. The bones, which were broken into very tiny fragments,
occurred from just below the surface almost to the base of
the yellow clay, i.e., to a depth of 30 cms. Within this area,
in the yellow clay, were found four small nondescript bronze
fragments. It was impossible to determine their purpose, or
the object of which they formed parts, due to their broken
l60 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
and corroded condition. The bones were those of a child,
but the sex could not be determined.*
Cremation 2 consisted of a small pocket of bones which
had been well cremated and broken. For them a small pit
had been dug almost in the centre of the mound, beginning
in the humus 12 cms. below the surface and extending through
the top level of the yellow clay almost to the level of the char-
coal. The depth of the pit was 24 cms. and its diameter 45 cms.
It was filled by a mixture of brown earth and yellow clay,
and contained nothing save the bones which were those of a
small adult, possibly a female (PL I, Fig. 2).
Cremation 3 lay in the centre of the tumulus. Like No. 2
above, a pit had been dug for it, but on this occasion with
evidence of greater care. It was 40 cms. deep and 60 cms.
wide, with almost perpendicular sides (PI. I, Fig. 2). It began
just under the layer of charcoal, and would seem to have been
dug when the mound was half erected. The tumulus then
consisted of the grey sand and a layer of sods. Through these
the pit was dug, the cremation inserted and the whole covered
by a flat slab of limestone (P. II, 2, 3) and possibly by a single
layer of sods. Over this, though presumably at a later date,
a wood fire was lighted. Lying on its charcoal remains were
five or six fragments of cremated bones. In time vegetable
matter and top soil from the sods, mixed with a certain amount
of charcoal from the fire above, trickled down and filled the
pit with a black earth of sooty consistency.
Two persons had been buried in this pit — an adult and a
child. It was not possible to determine the sex in either case.
With the bones was found a small bronze " razor " f broken
in two pieces with one rivet-hole still retaining its rivet (Fig.
7, f.). In its original condition it would measure 6.7 cms.
long and 2 cms. wide. Two pieces of mica schist were also
found with the bones.
Other finds from Tumulus I (excluding obviously modern
objects, such as china, etc.) were :
(i) A fragment of sheep humerus, which lay 20 cms.
* I must here express my gratitude to Professor J. Kay Jamieson of
Trinity College, Dublin, for his careful examination of the osteological
material from the site.
f I use inverted commas because it is by no means taken for granted
that these objects were actually razors.
THE TUMULUS-CEMETERY OF CARROWJAMES. l6l
below the surface in the yellow clay in the south-
eastern quadrant.*
(2) The lower jaw-bone of a dog of terrier breed, in the
yellow clay in the NE. quadrant.
(3) Some shells [Helix nemoralis) found within the area
of Cremation i, 15-20 cms. below the surface.
(4) A small flint scraper, 2.7 cms. long, 2 cms. wide, 1.2
cms. thick. It has a fine creamy patination. It
was found in the yellow clay, 30 cms. below the
surface in the NE. quadrant.
The history of Tumulus I then seems to be as follows : When
the trench had been dug and the first layer of sods laid down
over the grey sand from it a pit was dug, extending some dis-
tance into the subsoil. In this was the primary burial (or
burials) . It is very likely that the adult here buried was male,
as an investigation of the evidence has shown that in each
case in which a " razor " occurred with a cremation the sex
of which could be determined it was invariably male.
It is difficult to say whether the fire had been made during
the interment ceremonies of this primary burial, but several
facts lead to the conclusion that it was a later addition. A
glance at the sections (PL I, Figs, i, 2.) will show that the
charcoal layer was not symmetrical above the pit, as it would
have been if made immediately after the filling of the latter
with bones. Instead, its main bulk lay rather to one side.
Again, the finding of a few fragments of cremated bone in the
charcoal indicate its association with a later burial than Crema-
tion 3, that is, it was lighted in connection with the deposition
of Cremation 2. The relatively small quantity of charcoal and
ash precludes its having been used as a pyre. It was rather a
purificatory or ceremonial fire in which the already cremated
bones were placed for a period before final burial in the pit
above. How much later than Cremation 3 this burial took
place it is impossible to say, though I incline to the opinion
that it was not very much later. Indeed, with Cremation i
it may represent sati.
Tumulus II (Plan, Fig. 3) corresponded in many particulars
with No. I. It measured 14 metres in average outside diameter,
* I am indebted to Mr. A. W. Stelfox of the Natural History Section of
the National Museum for kindly identifying the animal bones and the shells.
l62 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
and its greatest height above the subsoil was 55 cms. The
stratification was identical with that of Tumulus I. The ditch,
silted up as in the above mound, averaged 1.80 m. wide and
45 cms. deep. In the south-eastern quadrant was a patch of
earth burnt red lying 30 cms. below the surface in the yellow
clay. It contained no charcoal, but was mixed with the clay
around it. It was 5 cms. thick, and contained a few fragments
of cremated bone, probably belonging to Cremation i.
There were two layers of charcoal approximately in the
centre of the mound. Layer a (Fig. 3, PI. i. Fig. 3) was i m.
long, 80 cms. wide and 6 cms. thick. Under it and approxi-
mately coterminous with it was a layer of earth burned red,
2 cms. thick. This was the result of the burning in situ of the
logs. Layer a rested on the top of the yellow clay and at the
base of the humus.
Layer b was irregular in shape. It measured 2.60 m. on its
longest axis. It lay 22 cms. below the surface and rested on
the thin band of grey clay which seems to represent a turf line
at one stage of the mound's existence. La^'er b averaged 8 cms.
thick. It sloped in towards the centre, which was slightly
lower than the edges. With it were found a few small fragments
of cremated bones.
The core of the mound was formed of an area of fairly large
stones thrown loosely together in the manner of Tumulus I.
Here again the interments were all cremations :
Cremation i was scattered over a large area of the SE.
quadrant. The bones lay in the yellow clay at various levels
from 20 to 35 cms. below the surface. They were well cremated
and comminuted. Of the remains it can only be said that they
were those of a smallish person whose sex and age could not be
determined.
Cremation 2 (PI. Ill, i) was interred in a pit in the
centre of the mound (Fig. 4). The pit was roughly oval and
measured 90 cms. long, 37-47 cms. wide. It was 30 cms.
deep, its bottom being formed by the top of the gravel sub-
soil into which it did not penetrate. Its construction was
similar to the pit containing Cremation 3 in Tumulus I, i.e.,
the mound had been partly erected and then the pit was made.
This is a very interesting and, as far as one can judge, an
unusual feature in connection with a primary interment.
THE TUMULUS-CEMETERY OF CARROWJAMES. 163
The rule would seem to have been that a pit was first of all
made in the original surface and extending into the subsoil.
Over this the mound was erected.
The pit had been covered rather inadequatelv bv three
flat slabs of limestone, one of which had partly collapsed to
the serious detriment of the clay vessel which it covered
(Fig. 4). The pit was then filled, probably immediately after
the interment, by a very fine loamy soil containing much
vegetable matter. Round the urn were piled some fairh' large
stones, the pressure of which also helped in its destruction.
The burial was that of an adult whose sex could not be
determined definitely, though it was probably male. He
suffered from rheumatic joints. The bones were well cremated,
though not broken into any smaller pieces than the actual
firing would cause. They were placed in a cinerary urn which
was then inverted in one corner of the pit. It is possible, due
to the size of the pit, and the position of the urn in it, that the
former had been meant to receive other vessels, containing
possibly the bones of other members of the the dead man's
family.
With the bones was another bronze "razor" (Fig. 7, e).
It is complete and still has a very sharp edge. At one end a
rather rudimentary tang is suggested, containing one rivet-
hole. The " razor " measures 6.50 cms. long and 2.20 cms.
wide. It is about 5 mm. thick.
Other objects found in Tumulus II were :
(i) A hoUow scraper of flint with a creamy patination
(Fig. 7, c). It came from the yellow clay in the
NE. quadrant, 40 cms. below the surface.
(2) Fragments of fused cla\' from the gre\' sand of the NE.
quadrant.
(3) Similar fragments from the same stratum in the XW.
Tumulus III_ (PL IV, i ; Plan, Fig. 5) was 15.50 m. in
outside diameter and 54 cms. high above the subsoil at the
centre. The construction and stratification were similar to
those of Tumuli I and II. The ditch (PL III, 2) which was
silted to the top, averaged 2.10 m. in width and was 45 cms.
deep. The core of the mound, as in the previous instances, was
formed of large loose stones. There were two layers of charcoal :
Layer a was 3.70 m. long and 65 cms. wide. Its long axis
164 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
ran North and South. It lay 32 cms. below the surface in the
band of grey clay. It was 4 cms. thick. There was a very
definite distinction between its edges and the clay around it
(PI. IV, 3). The striations all ran in one direction, viz., N-S,
giving the appearance of bark which had been burned. It
appeared to have been a roughly-shaped plank which had been
burned with the bark still on it. The soil underneath was not
burned. Through the charcoal ran a long slit, 10 cms. wide
and 1.20 m. long.
La3'er b was a thin stratum of rather scattered charcoal,
2.35 m. long and 1.70 m. wide. It lay 35 cms. below the surface
in the centre of the mound and was 5 cms. thick. Partly under
it was a small patch of earth burnt red, also 5 cms. thick
(PI. I, Fig. 5). AH the interments were crernations.
Cremation 1 lav in the SE. quadrant. The bones, which
were those of an adolescent whose sex and age could not be
determined, were well-cremated and broken into very small
fragments. They were scattered through the humus on the
slope of the mound ; the area they occupied was by no means
as extensive as was the case with the scattered cremations in
the other tumuli.
Cremation 2 lay in the centre of the mound, actually in
the pit containing Cremation 3. The bones were scattered,
above and round the cinerary urn of the latter. Nothing
could be determined about the bones, save that they were
human. The interment may point to sati, the bones of a second
person being interred with those of the individual for whom
the mound was originally raised.
Cremation 3 corresponded to Cremation 2 of Tumulus II
in that it was also an urn burial. For it a pit, 85 cms, in
diameter and 50 cms. deep, had been dug partly into the
subsoil, as was the case with the primary interment in Tumulus
I (PI. Ill, 2, 3). It was filled with the same sort of black
earthy soil, but had no covering stones. The vessel had been
inverted in the pit and contained a large quantity of bones,
representing an individual whose age and sex could not be
determined. The fact that the " razor " lay on top of the bones
indicates that it had been placed first on the bottom of the
empty urn, which was then filled with the bones.
The " razor " (Fig. 7, d) differs from the other two in that
THE TUMULUS-CEMETERY OF CARROWJAMES. 165
it has two rivet-holes and has a more pronounced oval shape.
Its edge is also very sharp, and its thickness .5 mm. It is
5.9 cms. long and 2.7 cms. wide.
Other finds from Tumulus III were :
(i) A tanged and barbed arrowhead of flint (Fig. 7, b).
It was found in the NE. quadrant, 41 cms. below
the surface in the yellow clay. It measures 2.4 cms.
long and 2 cm. wide at the barbs. It has a white
patination, fine secondary chipping round the edges
and a sharp point.
(2) A hollow scraper, also flint (Fig. 7, a) 45 cms. below the
surface in the yellow clay. It is 3.6 cms. long and
measures 3.7 cms. on its widest axis. It has a
creamy patination.
(3) A shell {Helix nemoralis) was found in the silt of the
ditch in the NE. quadrant.
(4) Two flint flakes, found in the NE. quadrant, associated
with Cremation 2.
(5) A flint chip in charcoal layer a.
(6) A few cremated bones were found just under the sod
in the NE.
To conclude Part I of the Carrowjames report the pottery
must be described. Only two vessels were found and these in
such a bad state of preservation that nothing like completeness
of restoration could be achieved. Not only was the pottery
of itself badly fired and therefore tended to crumble very
easily, but when exposed to the air it was found to be of the
same consistency as the clay surrounding it. Indeed, the
workman who uncovered the urn in Tumulus III made a hole
in the bottom before he realised the difference. The
prompt application of an acetone solution did not help very
much. The whole bottom portion of the urn in Tumulus II
had been destroyed by the weight of soil and stones above it
before excavation began, but it may be presumed to have been
similar to that of the urn from Tumulis III. In future, for
purposes of references, wt shall call the latter A and the former
B. The rim of A, which was resting on the soil without any
other protection, had completely disintegrated, though one
slight portion suggested that it had an internal bevel. The
rim of B was perfect around most of its circumference.
l66 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
A, when complete, must have been about 34 cms. high
(Fig. 6, top). Its greatest cHameter, about the middle, is
28.5 cms. The walls are 1.3 cms. thick and the base is flat.
It is red on the outside, black to grey on the inside, and is
formed of a coarse gritty paste, with a great quantity of quartz
grains through it. Its decoration is of the simplest. Just below
where the rim must have been is a slightly raised cordon.
Between this and two bands of double-cordons (thus making
five cordons in all) is a band, 6 cms. wide, with incised hori-
zontal lines crossed by others sloping at various angles.
As the illustration shows, the shape of this pot is unusual
and does not conform to the normal bucket-shape of the
Cordoned I'rn Type. This, coupled with the unusual number
of cordons and the bad quality of the paste, indicates its late
date.
B (Fig. 6, bottom) must have been about as high as A.
It is 35.5 cms. wide and the walls are 1.3 thick. In firing
and texture it does not differ from the first vessel. Its shape,
however, seems to have been more normal. The rim is inter-
nally bevelled in the Late Bronze Age tradition, though the
angle is not very steep. This pot has only two cordons, which
are not as pronounced as in A. An incised line runs along the
ridge of each. Between them and the rim is a band of incised
ornament, consisting of outlined triangles, the apices of the
top row fitting between the bases of the bottom row. The
bases in each case are joined by a continuous horizontal line,
also incised.
It is not intended here to go into the question of the origin
and devolution of the type. That, and a full discussion of the
chronological position and cultural affinities of Carrowjames I,
will be treated of in the second part of this paper, when the
cemetery as a whole will be studied.
A few words, however, must be said as to the date and
ultimate affinities of the mounds above discussed. The main
evidence is, of course, the two urns. They are of the Cordoned
type, for which devolution from the Overhanging Rim Type
has been suggested as the basis. Ouantatively Scotland is the
homeland of the type, and the distribution map here given
(Fig. 8) bears out the theory that these urns were introduced
from Scotland into the north-eastern corner of Ireland, whence
THE TUMULUS-CEMETERY OF CARROWJAMES. 167
the}' spread south and west. This would lead to the conclusion
that Knockast* and similar midland sites were not due to
an immigrant movement via the Eastern coast, but rather to
an expansive movement from the north.
" Razors " of the Carrowjames T^'pe seem to be exclusively
associated with cordoned urns. As the vessels from Carrow-
james I are exceedingly degenerate representatives of their
t^'pe and as they are very far from the focus of the movement,
it seems that this ovoid-type is rather later, if an3'thing, than
the type with a pronounced tang, which is usually finely orna-
mented, f
Dr. Mahr, in his Presidential Address to the Prehistoric
Societ}',! is of the opinion that " razors " of Carrowjames
tj'pe are of Middle Bronze Age date. This, in view of the
association with Cordoned Urns and the generally late date
of the latter, cannot well be retained.
In conclusion, I should like to point to some distinctive
features of Carrowjames L The mounds are all very low and
ver}' small. Each contains a cremation scattered over a fairly
large area of the SE. quadrant. Each has had a central fire,
sealing the entrance to the pit containing the primary burial.
Each contained a primary central burial with a " razor."
The juxtaposition of the mounds, their similarity of structure
and of funerary outlay clearly indicate that, if not contem-
poraneous, they all fall at least within a generation of each
other.
Finall}-, I should like to state my views, the evidence for
which I shall bring forward in Part II of this paper. I hold
that Carrowjames I is the most westerly representative of the
Cordoned Urn Group, one stage of whose development is to
be found in Scotland ; that the " razors " which the site
produced are later than those leaf-shaped tanged and decorated
specimens ; and finally, that a position very late in Late
Bronze Age B must be assigned to it. In figures, I should
suggest somewhere about 300 B.C.
* P. R.I. A.. 41, C. 1934, 232-84.
t Examples from Knockast {loc. cit., Fig. 5) and PoUacoiragune (this
Journal, XVII, i & ii, pp. 44-64, PI. facing p. 52).
+ Proc. Prek. Soc, N.S.. Vol. 3, 1937, 261-436.
0125456J89 10 cms.
Fig, 6. — Cordoned urn A above, B below.
0 I Z 3 4 S 6 f cms.
Im.mul \ \ \ \ \ \
Fig. 7. — Bronze and flint objects from Carrowjames I.
'^_1. eeifisi^ -luiiM
M
CM
<
P4
3
o
CO
u
6 -^
2 §
H
nj CO
>
E>
O
E
u
u
c
o
m
o
><!
4>
u
O
o
u
>
o
CO
13
o
• •-I
•M
ta
B
u
o 6
bo hn
c S
w rt rt
3 O
c
o
o
3 -M +J
'"' ci co'
hi bi bp
(^ (^ i^
•^^
CO -
N
V
c
1
•—4
■«-f
3IM
o
B
<A
Ri
3
o
•— •
9
•5
a
tn
H
4J
• •*-»
_C
•o
ll
HH
V
•*-" rt
)— 1
■*->
rt ^
>-H
o
Eg
sj5
WP
H
u
<
1— 1
C HH
ft
lA
•a^
3
•'- Ul
(fl 3
3
■^ ,^
3
C 3
8H
H
3
PH
L-
N
==«
o
^§
E'^
E
2S
o
t; S
Ul
o z.
o«o
1
1—1
1. 1
<N CO
bi fail bb
P^ tlntlH
CO
u
O
V
c
t-l
-o
- =1
o c .
.2 <
hJ o " ^
Ah «Q J=
M
3
to
3
E
1
3
6
3
3
E
3
1
CI
1.
CO
bx)
bib
fefe
Fig. 8. — Map showing the distribution of cordoned urns.
^
^
^
I
I
1
I
fTTFRS TO THE EDITOR
A Galway
Window
Dea,- Sir-May I seek the hospU
time, combining late ^07^?<pXc"
This iwith classic mouldings ^J'g^^j.^^pub- ecture of the sixteenth
centuri^^«/:^,^f ^^^845 ir had been ad- ted before in a small
Lv,vx ivwxvji^ in a small
Practical Geology and
^''^'^Ishut away m a pnva.. a-;-.-" 3n : J. Murray, 1845,
p. 158 the loss «*,/^^,,^;^;:Ttrremovalwfth ent in its way is very
^^^11 i-eSuSi bad'it ^be- i-Jt the remarkable com-
plexit3 immediate dange^jf itf surviving^d desirable, therefore,
to Pubb^iUnt of the house to which ^t .^, ^.^^^
o^..* ,L... There was no such ^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^.^^
Tis with classic mould-
Th
in Ireh
ings — c
conven
, eSged The« was no_^-'£
trSve- '"Furthermore, sufBcieut ,_^ ^ ^,_^^^,^ ,„^^^_
-— ' »' !Ft"'?r^artCXam'"riS interlacements. The
convenr;;f^,Je Vartial '■«"*°f"°"' ,„^Tf fg'^ a"<l squared form
In vdely acel'ted principle *»' '' door arch '
Shield I IVucfof thilf ^i,rl„uld"S sit of arms-
over a
over a f.^a to'make a thoroughjurvey of ^-p^^ ornament of the
other s the fabnc^tejhiaj tii^y^oe.^.^l^ ^ ^^^^^ consulted
" lXen%n the%resent i^ns^^^^^^^^^^ ^e^^^ quite clear the arms
to the best ot 11^ ^l^J^"-^\^^^^^^^^ with stones are decorated
on the
were in
with pa
Tv knowledge, were 4— — ^ -- -"-
. ^. TUK^n" to consult withktones are decorated
h pa :Se, of\l>e"oc"l organisations iu-
Th'errti'r'Sted n; P'-f-Caf'ueS!:"
steps taken to
wiLii pcj- either 01 vue iw^^. ^-o material
Ther terested in P^;^^^;;;^;'^^^! heritage. fragments of ancient
work eqr-"il".;"l,%erhai>^sbecuu^^^^^^^^^ to be hoped, they
may be 5^fi'\f7J'?nd would continue to doipie IS of such great
interest ^^0 lu the future. The point of any U^^,^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^_
tion. rt,rf ;?th^\he ^ twelve
The ^^■mollths\;a public-spin^^^^^^^ be recommended
to studenAut^-^f j^,,,^ents Advisory Com- it is interesting in
itself and -^ttee and allocate^^^^^^^^^ while, if the draw-
ings madeto 1^ „„+<, ecord, a service will
bedonet;JS^ic.,l-t^>--HrJ
nients are important P^^^J^^^ ^i^oi
their cultural value i^^^^^^ry':
lSii^'^;^vU^Soneofourl
utt important tourist centres.
Yours faithfully,
MICHAEL DUIGNAN.
.. Dept. of Archaeology,
a U.C.G., 17th Dec., 1947.
■&
Ci
1
I
I
I
an anxious closing quarter when t
losers rallied spiritedly.
Outstandiug for St. Mary's -whc
slow start probably cost them t
title, was a sparklintr quartette
Fahy, Brennau, Torpey aqd Con
dine.
Conditions militated asainst a hi
scoring- game and the winners, at'
rattling in their second goal, were C(
tent to resort to defensive tactics. >.
,A. Derivan, N.T., refereed.
CONNACHT SCHOOLBOYS
LOSE RUGBY TIE
N
4L
Leinster ... 16 pts.; Connacht ... 5 pts.
/^ONNACHT put up a gallant defence
against a heavier and more
finished Leinster side in the schools
inter-provincial rugby test at Ballina-
sloe last Thursday.
Although Leinster won (16 points
to 5) the Connacht hoys had them on
the run for threequarters of the play,
and it was onlj- in the last fifteen
minv\tes that the visitor.'* got on top.
The home team, which included over
a dozen from St. .Joseph's, Garbally,
gave a really fine display, and
although they lost most of the scrums,
their team combination and under-
standing was a big asset throughout
the play. Connacht made an early
raid on the Leinster line, and kept the
ball in their opponents 25, until
Jackson (Galway G.S.) went over the
line, Lyons (Garbally) added the
points.
The home-side held that lead almost
to the end of the half, despite some
fine spectacular bursts of speed by
the Leinster boys.
Galway's light backs gave an open-
ing to their heavier and speedier op-
ponents near the end of the half
when Gilvarrj' had a penalty goal, to
leave the scores: Connacht, 1 goal (5
points) ; Leinster. 1 penalty (3 points).
Half-way through the second
half. McGarry (Leinster) was tripped
up on the line and awarded a penalty
try and Gilvarry added the points.
Leinster had two further tries, one
converted, to leave the final scores:
Connacht, 5 points; Leinster, 16
points.
Connacht — .T. O'Donoghue. St.
Joseph's, Ballinasloe; S. Ijyons, do.;
S. Flynn, do. ; P. Kilcommons, do. ;
G. Mitchell, do.; D. O'Brien, do.; N.
Nally, S. Bri.scoe, do.; E. Tierney, do.;
O. Dignan. do.; T. Notley (Sligo) : T.
Black, do.; J. Jackson, Galway Q.S.
^
i
WITHOUT "DOSING"
. . . iUST RUB ON
EXPORT
ISSOCIATEON
^
§
^
Xi^i
;/:;:i.:.V;;
^
)^
[ i69 ]
Doorway and Window
St. Augustine Street
Galway
By H. G. LEASK, M.R.I. A.
This interesting example of the architecture of the sixteenth
century in Ireland has been illustrated before in a small
engraving published in Wilkinson's Practical Geology and
Ancient Architecture of Ireland (London : J. Murray , 1845,
p. 158). This illustration though excellent in its way is very
small and fails to do more than suggest the remarkable com-
plexity of the ornament. It has seemed desirable, therefore,
to publish a measured drawing to a larger scale.
The details are characteristic of the work of the period
in Ireland in combining late Gothic forms with classic mould-
ings— ovolos and cymas — and Celtic interlacements. The
conventionalized vine leaf of the lozenge and squared form
also plays a large part in the ornament.
In the right hand spandril of the door arch is a small
shield bearing the date 1577 while a coat of arms — a chevron
over a grille of some kind — is the principal ornament of the
other spandril. Mr. T. U. Sadleir, whom I have consulted
on the matter, informs me that "it is quite clear the arms
were intended for Athy." The jamb stones are decorated
with panels of plain punching.
There are in the City of Galway many fragments of ancient
work equally worthy of study and, it is to be hoped, they
may be recorded adequately. This example is of such great
interest and beauty that it should be preserved from destruc-
tion.
The work of measurement is specially to be recommended
to students of courses in architecture ; it is interesting in
itself and of practical value to the student, while, if the draw-
ings made are published or placed upon record, a service will
be done to the antiquarian,
170 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Some Documents relating to
Galway
Edited by M. D. 0' SULLIVAN, M.A., F.R.Hist.S.
The first document is from the collection of the Carew MSS
preserved in Lambeth Palace Library, London, where it is
to be found under Vol. 597, p. 103^. This very interesting
MS. is a statement of certain Privileges granted on the 9
March, 1578, by Sir Henry Sydney, Lord Deputy, to the
City of Galway, and renewed by Sir William Pelham, Lord
Justice, at Galway, on the 9 November, 1579.
In March 1576 Sydnej' visited Galway which was then
suffering severely from the depredations of the two sons of
the Earl of Clanricarde who for years past had been in open
revolt against the English regime in the West. The Lord
Deputy has left us a graphic description of the conditions
which he found obtaining in the town at the time, conditions
which led him to make the present proposals in the hope that
they might effect a general improvement in the situation.
Writing to the Lords of the Council on the 28 April, 1576,
he first tells how he was, as far as the citizens in their present
impoverished state could do it, honourably received and
entertained, but then he goes on to say that he found " the
towne of Galway moche decaied, both in number of expert
sage men of years, and younger men of warre, in respect of
that I have scene ; w^hich great decay hath growen thorough
the horrible spoyle donne upon theim by the sonnes of the
Earle of Clanrickard, in so moche as it was evidentlye proved
before me, that fiftie howseholders of that towne doe nowe
enhabite under Mac William Croghter. And it seemeth, they
have not onelye lost their wealth, but with it their wittes and
hartes ; surelye it may well seme they were in pointe to have
geven up all, and almost to have forgotten that they received
any corporacion of the Crown ; but I trust they are now
SOME DOCUMENTS RELATING TO GALWAY. I7I
revived, and I hope on the mending hande."* Clearly, Galway
was in a wretched and famished state. Its trade was largely
at a standstill, because the surrounding district whence it
drew its supplies and the bulk of its exports was desolated
b}' the sons of Clanricarde, while the town itself was repeatedly
subject to attack by the rebels. The Lord Deputy, therefore,
felt it his duty to take immediate action to save Galway,
not only out of pity for the beleaguered inhabitants, but also
in the interests of the Crown in the West, hence the proposals
embodied in the following document. f
By the Deputie and Counsel!
Hen. Sydney
The copie of certain priviledges graunted by Sir Henry Sidnye
lord Deputie to the Cittie of Galway, And renued by Sir
William Pelham lord Justice.
9 November 1579
Upon our repaire into theis partes cheifiie for the administration
of Justice, and to take viewe, and make reporte of the desolate,
and waste, province of Conaught, the Ruins wherof are now
lamentable to behould, then redie means can be devised by us,
how to redresse their greefes (a case of all good subjects to
be pitied). We finde emongste these pitifuU ruins this her
Majesties Towne of Galwaie, beinge nowe the onlie hope, and
fortrese of her highnesses possessions in the whole province
of Conaught, of late so shaken, decaied, and impovrished
throughe the Mallice of the ill-disposed neighbours, environed,
and planted on cache side aboute them ; Who should in
reason yf they had any fellinge of their duties, or disposition
to goodness rather preserve the Towne, then by hostilitie
and armes seeke to overthrowe it, as they most barbarouslie
* Collins : Sydney Letters and Memorials, I, p. 105. The householders
who now quitted Galway for County Mayo were, according to Hardiman,
the founders of those families bearing " Tribe " names, such as Blakes,
Brownes, Kirwins, Lynches, etc., who afterwards became prominent as
landed gentry in that county. See History of Galway, p. 86, note.
f It seems remarkable that a document of such importance as this
should have escaped the notice of Hardiman. He makes no reference to it
anywhere.
172 G.\LWAY ARCH-£OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
have done. So that we eamestlie moved by the greate disaster,
we find in this province, and spetiallie of the state of this towne,
to take some present commiseration of their lamentable
condition, havinge of late bine so manny waies charged and
opressed. And like, as for theire helpe we meane to be inter-
cessours, to her Majestic and humblie beseche that it will
please her. to best owe some token of her princehe, and gracious
favour, as well for the enlargement of the liberties of the
towne as to graunte the Corporation some releife to be issued,
out of her o\\"ne Revenewes and Threasurie :* Even so for our
o\Mie partes desirous to do them good, and to Comforte the
Corporation, A\ith some signification of our good willes, as
fare forthe, as convenientlie we male, Havinge accordinge to
the requester of their petitions, and at their spetiall sute,
renewede and conlirmed them certain articles graunted unto
them as well by the lord Leonord Graie, As also by Sir Anthonie
Sentleger, in the twines of their deputations in forme as follow-
ethe."
tochinge their privilege for Supenas.
First we order, and decree that no Writte of Supena,
or atachement shalbe warned out of the Chauncerie
againste eny enhabitaunte of Galwaie, untill such t\Tne,
as he that sueth for the Writte put in sieurtis before the
lord Chauncellor or the lord keper of the greatt seall for
• Within a year Elizabeth so far acceded to Sydney's request for some
practical recognition of the loyalty- of Galway as to grant a most comprehen-
sive charter to the to\\'n. See Morrin : Cal. Pat. Rolls, II, pp. 4-10, where
the date of the charter is given as the 14 July, 1578 ; also Hardiman : Hist,
of Galway, App. pp. \'i-xx\-i, where the charter is translated at length and is
dated the 14 July, 1579. EUzabeth also added considerably to the to\^Ti's
revenues, for she granted the Corporation a lease in reversion of the possessions
spiritual and temporsd of the late dissolved reUgious houses of St. Francis,
St. Augustine, and St. Dominic, adjoining the town of Galway, already
leased to the town at /3.8.3, the fishing of Galway, the cocket of Galway,
paying such rents as were then charged on the premises ; and a lease in
reversion of lands to the amount of 100 marks Enghsh Ij'ing near the towne
(See Fiants. Eliz.. Xos. 1499, 2859, 3465 ; also Morrin : Cal. Pat. Rolls.
II, p. 14. For a hst of the lands referred to as " h"ing near the to\^-n " see
Fiants, Eliz., No. 3463. Many of them had pre\'iously been in the possession
of the Earl of Clanricarde.
■^ From this it would seem that the privileges now granted to Galway
were in some measure a confirmation of similar privileges granted by the
pre\ious Lord Deputies, Lord Leonard Grey, who \-isited the town in 1538,
and Sir .Anthony St. Leger who came in 1543.
SOME DOCUMENTS RELATING TO G.\LWAY. 1 73
the tyme beinge or els before the Maior of Gallwaie for the
t\Tne beinge, to prosequute the sute with effecte. And to paie
to the defendaunts such costes and demaundes as the Courte
of Chauncerie will awarde, \'f the matter sheall pass againste
him, by decree, or order of the Courte (in all actions and causes
but the Ouenes onlie) And yi the surties be put in before the
Maiore he that putteth in the surties shall bringe certificate
from the Maiore testifienge the same, and yf the surties be
put in before the lord Chauncellour, or lord keper of the greate
seall for the t\Tne beinge, then ther shalbe a clause contained
in the write, or written upon the lable of the same Writte,
expressinge the findinge of the sieuties in the Chauncerie.
No offices or newe ofl&cer to be erected by the governeres in
Galwaye.
Item we order and decree, that no newe officer, or office shalbe
erected in the Towne of Galwaie, by eny deputie, or other
governour of this realme for the tyme beinge, other\vi5e then
in t\Tnes past they have used to do (excepte the creation of
such newe officers, or office, be firste, resolved uppon and
established by acte of parhament), for the better avoid-
inge of the inquietinge, and disturbinge of merchaunt
Straungers, wherbie theie might have occasion to withdrawe
the concours and trade of merchaundice that nowe use to
trafique with the Towne of Galwaie, To the prejudice, and
hinderaunce both of their pubhque and private commodities.*
the maiore to graunte Protection.
Item we order, and decree, that it shalbe la^^'full to the maior
• This is an extremely interesting provision. The traditional independence
of the to%^'n of Galway is here emphasized to the extent that no Lord Deputy"
may create any new office \\"ithin the town except such office be instituted
by an Act of Parhament. The pro\'i5ion seems intended specifically to protect
the trade of Galwaj- possibly by not adding Customs officials and the hke
to those already in existence. Galway was. except for the cocket of hides,
free of Customs by its charter. Even the officials charged with the collection
of the Cro\%"n revenues, such as they were, were extremely lax, with, the result
that a great deal of contraband got through. Indeed, the to\>ra had been,
for two centuries now \-irtually a free port, hence its attraction for foreign
merchants. — Cal. Carew MSS., 1585, p. 400 ; Ibid., MisceU., pp. 467-68 ;
Dunlop : Ireland under the Comynonnealih, I, p. xxxv.
174 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
of Gahvaie for the tyme beinge, by thadvice of foure of the
aldermen, or other foure discreet men of the towne in caces
of necessitie, and for the Common profitt and commoditie of
the Towne and the advauncement of her Majesties service,
to graunte saveconducte, and protection aswell to EngUsh
Rebelles, as Irishe enemis, or enny other forrainer for all manner
of Causes (onlie treasone to her Majesties persone excepted)
for their free, and safe cominge to the towne, remaninge
in the towne, and retorninge homewardes from the Towne,
at their wills, and pleasures. So that within XXtie dales next
after eny such protection graunted, they Certifie to us the
lord deputie, or to the governour for the tyme beinge, the
Name or names of the parsons protected, by them the tyme
of the continewauncc of their protections, and the Causes
whie they be protected.
that the merchaunts that bringe waris on credit or penny
bargans shalbe bound to deale well with strangers.
Item where the said maior Bailifes, and inhabitauntes feele
them selves greeved, that divers tymes certaine insufficient
persons, lackinge habilitie to parfourme their bargains, do
bringe shippes laden with Marchandize from partes beyonde
the Seas, upon their Credittes and penny bargains, and after
the unladinge, and discharging of the Marchaundize, do
contende with the marchaunt straungers to defeite them of
their duties, by means wherof divers suche marchaunte
straungers who have felte the smarte therof, growe wearie
of suche fine, and unplaine kind of dealinge, and withdrawe
their trade, and concours, to the said towne, to the greatt
prejudice of the same. It is therefore decreede and ordered by
us, that when eny such machaunte shall bringe eny Shipp
with marchandize to the River of the same towne, upon his
credit t, or such penny bargaine, that before the bringinge on
land of eny parsell of the said marchaundice, the said mar-
chaunte bringer of the same upon his creditt shall fynde suffi-
cient surties, before the Maiore, and bailifes of Galwaie for the
tyme beinge that he shall well and trulie make paiement to the
Marchaunt Straungers for his dutie, and accomplishe every
SOME DOCUMENTS RELATING TO GALWAY. I75
parte of his bargaine Justelie, and uprightlie without any
fraude, Covent, collore or deceipte.*
None to speake oprobrius wordes to the maior.
Item we order and decree that yf eny parsone of thenhabi-
tauntes of that towne, do use undeasaunte wordes, to the
Maiore, Baihfes or eny other honest personne, that either
beareth, or hath borne office within the said towne, that it
shalbe lawfull to the Maiore and baihfes for the tyme beinge,
to take and leavie upon him, that useth such undecent speaches,
a competent fine accordinge to the quahtie of the fault or
offence, by advice of parte of the aldermen or three or foure,
discreet personns.j
to continue their old and auncient comendable custom, the
chiefe oficer to use advise of the graver sorte of Aldermen.
* The provision here set forth strengthened the hands of the Mayor and
and Bailiffs in dealing with a situation which arose from time to time and
which the Corporation itself in its statutes had already attempted to meet.
Cf, a statute under date 1538 as follows :
" It ys ordered, edicted, statutid, and established for ever, that what-
soever person or persons, merchant or [merjchauntes, of this town shall
or will make anny bargayn or contract in Spayne, Fraunce, or anny
other landes for wyne, salt, yerne or anny other kynd of warrs shall afor
he put the said shipe or warres so brought by him or them to this town
in booke or costome, fynde to the Mayor and officers of the same sufficient
and substantiall surties that he or they shall well and truly contente and
pay the stranger of his payment, for the discharge and credid of the town
and enhabitaunc theroff." — Corp. MSS., Bk. A., fol. 43.
t An enactment on these terms is found in the Corporation statutes under
1525. It reads :
" It is ordered, by the whole assent of the Counsaill, that whatsoever
person or persons speackith anny yngerous and sclanderos worde or checke
to the Mayor, to forfaite an hundrid shillinges, and his body to be put
in prison. Likewise, if any man shulde saye any sclanderous worde to
the Baylevis, to forfaite fiftye shillinges. Also, if anny man shuld misuse
or sclander by wordes anny of thos that hath bene Mayors, to forfaite
to them xxvi. s. viii. d. And if any man shuld sclander or cheke these
that hath bene Bailieves, to forfite to them xiii. s. iiii. d." — Corp. MSS.,
Bk. A., fol. 31.
The fact, however, that a Statute on these lines had to be regularly re-
enacted — the fines were doubled in amount in 1625 — Ibid., fol. [144J — shows
that towards the end of the sixteenth century and during the first half of the
seventeenth the old-time reverence for the Mayor and his colleagues was
showing signs of weakening, the change being due, no doubt, to the gradual
leavening of the town's population with an Irish element from outside.
176 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Item we order, and decree that the said maiore bailifes, and
inhabitaintcs maie use, and exercise, all their auncient cus-
tomes, and lawdable usages, suche as are by Godes lawes,
and her Majesties allowable, and that the Maiore or his deputie,
or principall magistratt in his absence in all weightie causes,
and spectiallie in thadministration of Justice, shalbe advised
and counsailed, by certaine of the moste saged and indifferent
persons of his bretherne, and not wade alone in thinges of
suche consequence.*
No fee or Sentence to be taken, In irish called Oligeth.
Item we do order and decree, that what so ever enny parsone
shall recover in any action, or demaund within the said towne,
that the partie condemned shall paie all reasonable costes,
and damagis. And that the maiore and bailifes shall take no
fee of Sentaunce Called in Irishe Oleigeth for eny Judgment
or recoverie, in eny wise uppon paine to dubble the vallewe of
the said fee or sentance so taken. |
The dead bodies to be buried without the walles of their toune.
* In the charter of Richard III to Galway it had been stipulated that
the Mayor and Baihffs alone should be judges in all Civil and Criminal cases
but, apparently, that practice had suffered in the course of time, for according
to Henry VIII in his Ordinances for Galway, 1536, — 67. Pap. Irel. Hen. VIII,
III, p. 17, — certain young commoners had " of obstinancy presumed to add
their voices in such suits and judgments," with the result that the law was
no longer impartially administered and much dissatisfaction prevailed. To
remedy this state of affairs the King ordered that henceforth the INIayor and
Bailiffs should select four Aldermen to act with them as Justices in all cases,
and from their judgment appeal was to lie only to the Lord Deputy and
Council. Sir Henry Sidney now in 1578 seeks to confirm this procedure.
t The law administered in the town of Galway was the Common Law of
England, but there is evidence in the Corpoyation MSS. that, as the years
passed, the Brehon law of the natives was not without exerting some influence
upon practice and procedure, a view which is to some degree confirmed by
the very fact that the Lord Deputy here in 1578 found it necessary to stipulate
that in the administration of justice the judge shall not take any fee of sen-
tence in the Irish manner.
I have to thank Professor Thurneyesen of Bonn, the distinguished authority
on the Brehon Laws, for a note on the term oligeth which he was kind enough
to send to my colleague. Professor Kathleen Mulchrone, for my use on this
occasion. Professor Thurneyesen writes :
SOME DOCUMENTS RELATING TO GALWAY. 177
Finallie it is assented, and agreed unto by the Maior bailifes, and
burgaces with the concent of the whole corporation of the towne
of Galwaie, that in respecte of the often repaire, and aboad
here of us the Lord Ueputie, or other governour for the tyme
beinge, and the residencie of the president of this province of
Connaught within the towne. When occasion of service requir-
eth, that for the better, avoidinge of annoyaunce (and that
which otherwise yf it be not privided for) might bread
offence to the lord deputie, and others, by buriall of their
dead bodies in the Churche and Churche yeard within the
Towne, That they will henceforte take publique, order emonges
themselves, and dulie observe the same for the buriall of their
dead, that the dead bodies shalbe buried in the abbies, and
religious howses, without the walles of their towne, as places
most apt, & spectiallie reserved for such purpose of their
common buriall, Wherbie both the Corrupte Aire of the dead
bodies (which maie bread unholsomnes and infection to the
towne), might be better avoided and the Towne more, orderli,
and swetelie kept to the good contentation of us the lord
deputie when we shall have occasion to repaire hether, the
lord president of the province or the governour that shalbe.
" Oligeth, oleigeth, anderwarts oylegeag, ist englische Schreibung fiir
ir. oile-dheag, m. ir. aile dec, das in l^echts-Kommentaren und Glossen
oft erwahnte Zwolftel, das der Richter als seine Gebiihr beim Prozesse
einzog. Vgl. Thomas O'Rahilly, Irish Poets, etc., p. 115, par. 58."
O'Rahilly in the work indicated by Professor Thurneyesen : Proc. R.I. A.,
Vol. XXXVI, Sect. C, No. 6 : referring to the use of Brehon law among the
Anglo-Irish, says : " A jury of the city of Waterford in the same year (1537)
finds that Lady Katherine Butler, widow of Lord Power, ' hath ordeyned
an Irishe judge called Shane McClannaghe [Sean Mag Fhlannchadha], and
that the said Shane useth Brehens lawe and ordreth the matters of variaunce
of the countie moche after her will and commaundement, and taketh for
th'use of his judgement called Oylegeag [oile-dheag] xvi^. stg. of every
mark stg. and taketh as moche of the playntif as of the deft.'
Despite the efforts of Sydney, however, the administration of justice in
Galway seems to have continued unsatisfactory from the English point of
view with the result that on the 11 July, 1588, Elizabeth issued instructions
to have the whole thing overhauled and the law administered in Galway as
" in the Court and Tolsell of Dublin used, and not otherwise." — 5/. Pap.
Irel. Eliz., Vol. 135, No. 80, P.R.O., London. To help to achieve this purpose
Elizabeth then appointed a man " of knowledge and experience of the laws
of this realm to be named Recorder " to be continually resident in Galway.
The first occupant of this office was Dominick Martin. — See Cal. St. Pap.
Irel. Eliz., Vol. CXLIV, p. 173.
178 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Yeven at the said towne of Galwaie the 9 Marche 1577 (-8).*
H. Miden. Edw. Fitton : Lucas Dillon.
The foresaid Articles were by Sir William Pelham lord Justice
of Irland, and Counsell confirmed to the said toune of Galwaie
the 9 November 1579.
By the lord Justice and Counsell.
The Confirmation
William Pelham.
Uppon our repaire into these partes, and province of Con-
naught, for the administration of Justice, And for the better
maintenaunce and furtheraunce of this her Majesties towne
of Galwaie, And for divers other good considerations us
movinge. And for the good opinion we conceive of the Maiore
aldermen, and bretherne of the same, and espetiall truste we
repose in their fidilities, and upright dealinge. We therefore do
ratifie, and confirme, all and singuler the contentes, and articles
within written, in as large and ample manner, as the same was
graunted by Sir Henry Sydnie knight, late lord deputie and
governour of this her highnes Realme of Irland. Yeven at
Gallwaie the 9 November 1579.
No : Malbie
Ed : Waterhowse.
The second document, an Address by the Merchants of
Galway presented to Robert French, M.P., of Monivea, m
♦Amongst the provisions of the Charter given by Edward VI to St. Nicholas'
Collegiate Church in 1551 erecting it into " The Royal College of Galway,"
was one whereby the cemeteries of the three dissolved monasteries, all of
them outside the city walls, were granted to the Church for the purpose of
burials — from the earliest times when in the hands of their original owners
they had served as burial grounds for Galway and its neighbourhood. Hardi-
man writing in 1820, says : " Under this grant the wardens have ever since
retained possession of these burial grounds, which they generally farmed out
to undertakers." He adds : " It is said that the following families only have
privilege of burial in the church, viz., the Lynches, D'Arcys, Brownes and
Frenches : according to some the Kirwan family is also entitled, but, accord-
ing to others, their claim has been always disputed." — Hist. 0/ Galway, p. 241,
note.
SOME DOCUMENTS RELATING TO GALWAY. I79
1762, has been made available to me through the kindness
of Miss R. ffrench of Monivea Castle, Co. Galway. The MS.
is one of a large number of family papers of the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries belonging to the ffrench family of
Monivea which have been most carefully preserved and many
of which throw interesting light on contemporary events in
the town and county of Galway.
Robert French, to whom the Address was presented, was
M.P. for County Galway from 1753-1761, and for the town of
Galway from 1 768-1 776. Hardiman refers to him at this
time as "an active senator, and one of the most opulent
and respectable of the descendants of the ancient Galway
families."* It was but natural, therefore, that he should
interest himself in the affairs of the merchants of Galway
and lend his support to their petition to Parliament for the
removal of disabilities under which they suffered at the hands
of an unsympathetic Corporation.
During the period following upon the Williamite settle-
ment of Ireland the Roman Catholics generally were, of
course, in a very depressed condition. In the particular case
of Galway we find that anomaly which so long characterized
English rule in Ireland, as a whole, namely, a Catholic majority
governed by a small, alien, and Protestant minority. In 1762,
for instance, it was stated in the House of Commons that
the population of Galway amounted to 14,000 of whom only
some 350 were Protestants, f Yet the governrnent of the town
was vested in this handful of Protestants| who often exercised
their authority to the detriment of the Catholic traders. For
the fact is, that such trade as remained to Galway at this
time was chiefly confined to Catholic merchants, the lineal
descendants of the merchant adventurers of old, pre-Crom-
wellian Galway. § Actually, the trade of the town had declined
considerably in recent years. From 1754 to 1758, for example,
* Hist, of Galway, p. 184.
I Com. /oMr., Vol. VIII, quot. by Hardiman : Hist, of Galway, p. 183, note.
j The few resident Protestants were " principally tradesmen and shop-
keepers, the greater part of whom, according to their own showing, were
without wealth, weight or consequence." — Hardiman : Op. cit., p. 187.
§ After the Restoration many of the Tribe families petitioned the Crown
to be allowed to return to Galway to pursue their craft of merchandize. — See
MSB. of the Marquis of Ormonde, 1662-66.— Hist MSS. Com., Rep. 9. Pt,
II, App.
l8o GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
the merchants, despite their disabiUties, had fourteen or fifteen
ships at sea ; but in 1762 there were only three or four vessels
belonging to the town ; one only, laden with beef, cleared
out during the entire year 1761 ; and another, freighted with
butter, in 1762.* The merchants of Galway, indeed, were
now so oppressed b^^ excessive charter-duties and other un-
authorized exactions of the Corporation that many of them
were driven out of business altogether. Those who remained
decided in 1761 to present a petition to Parliament to seek
redress from the disabilities under which they suffered. This
statement was entitled " The petition of the merchants and
inhabitants of the town of Galway, and the gentlemen, free-
holders and farmers of the county of Galway, in behalf of
themselves and others, the inhabitants of the said town and
county," and the task of introducing it to the House of Com-
mons was entrusted to Robert French, M.P., of Monivea.
The petition consisted of a detailed statement of the
illegal charges imposed by the Corporation on all goods entering
or leaving the town, and in general it was a sweeping indictment
of the policy of that body. The merchants complained that
not only were excessive charter-duties levied, but toll-gatherers
at the gates practised great extortion, the Custom house was
allowed to go to ruin, the fishery which, if developed, could be
made the finest in the kingdom, was neglected, the billeting
of His Majesty's troops was being illegally and oppressively
executed, farmers in the adjacent county were being driven
to refuse to supph' the town with goods, prices were soaring
intolerable^ and many inhabitants were quitting the town.
It was even stated that the members of the Corporation were
converting the town's revenues to their own private benefit. f
Robert French did his work well and, after a searching
investigation by a committee of the House, it was found in
February 1762 that most of the complaints were justified.
In the meantime the Corporation had offered the committee
to accomodate all matters in dispute b}' adhering either to
the schedule of duties contained in the charters or to the
agreement made in 1684 with the merchants of the town.
This offer having been rejected, the Corporation and Protestant
* Com. Jour., Vol. VIII, quot. by Hardiman : Hist, of Galway, p. 183, note.
•f For details of this petition see Hardiman : Ibid., pp. 184-85,
SOME DOCUMENTS RELATING TO GALWAY. l8l
inhabitants of Galway then presented a statement rebutting the
charges made against them and setting forth their grievances
against the CathoHc traders, who had the wealth of the town
in their hands and, in consequence, were able to make the
position of the indigent Protestants a difficult one. The
upshot of all this was that, while the committee of the House
refused to abolish the charter-duties, which was the principal
demand of the merchants, an agreement was come to between
the Corporation and the merchants whereby a new schedule
of duties and customs was drawn up and was presented by
Robert French to the House for confirmation. " Thus ended,"
says Hardiman, " a proceeding which, though not attended
with all the success originally expected, yet had the effect of
reforming the Corporation, and of putting an end to many
practices which were theretofore prevalent, and which had
proved so injurious to the interest of the town."*
Throughout all these difficult proceedings the part played
by Robert French was a generous and statesmanlike one
and entirely worthy of the expression of gratitude set forth
so happily in the following document.
To Robert French of Munivae Esquire^ —
The Hble Address of the Merchants, Traders and Other —
Inhabitants of the Town of Galway
We the Merchants, Traders, and other Inhabitants of the
Town of Galway, filled with gratitude, for the many Advantages
Obtained for us, by your wise & prudent Council in the late
session of Parliament ; humbly take leave to wait upon you,
to return our sincere & hearty thanks -The obligations we
lye under to you for these favours, are the More Extraordinary,
as they are unmerited on our parts ; nothing Cou'd have
engaged you to obtain them for us, but your wise and Equi-
table Spirit, your love of Justice, and the public good
When we reflect on the difficulties you had to encounter,
the Opposition given to your equitable resolutions, framed to
restore us to Liberty & trade ; We are lost in Amaze"' ! But
when we consider your Unwearied Diligence, unprecedented
* Hist, of Galway, p. 187.
l82 GALWAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Zeal and powerful talents, Representing your Countries Wrongs,
our Wonder ceases.
We Feel with Joy, the Glory which redounds to you, from
the Universal approbation of your Conduct in Parliament ;
and tho we Envy the Borrough, which receives Such honour
from its representative. Yet wish it the longest continuance
thereof ; Happy remote Borrough !
The Disinterested part you Acted in our behalf, the Redress
you have procured for our Grievances, the Aid and Protection
you have Obtain'd for our Merchandize, our trade & our
Fishery : have impress' d On our hearts, the deepest Sense of
Gratitude, and demand from us The Loudest proclamations
thereof. Please therefore to Accept this Address, as a tender
of our Unfeign'd Respect & Regard for you ; & thus Recom-
mending our Selves to your future Protection, We beg leave,
to Subscribe ourselves
Your most Obliged
and most Devoted
Hble Servants
Fran'^ Lynch
Matt^Lynch
Mar. Lynch
Rob. Lynch
Fran'^ Burke
Anth^ Morris
Mich' Nolan
Pat'' Morris
Ulick Lynott
Thom Kirwan
Mark French
John Burke Jn.
Matthew Browne
Alexander Lynch
Charles Fallon
Pat Lynch
Charles Browne
Aug" Browne
James Lynch Henry
Edmond Kirwan
Mark Lynch
Jn° & And. French
Patrick Naughton
John Kirwan [ ]
Anth. French Gn.
And''' Lynch Henry
Tames Ouin
Anth^ French Carb"
Mark French
Nich' Nolan
Chas. Geoghegan
John Kirwan Anth
Antho ffrench
Mich' & Edm'^ Burke
John ffrench : Jn.
Thos Bodkin
Pat*" L3mch Jno
Tho. Comyns
Robt Broughlon
Rog*^ Clancy
Robt French Jn,
[ i83 ]
A Letter from Roderic OTIaherty
to William Molyneux
29 Jan. 1697
Edited by MICHEAl O DUIGEANNAIN, M.A.
The following letter is printed from the holograph now pre-
served in the National Library of Ireland. It was formerly
in the Monck Mason collection [Monck Mason Sale Catalogue,
Lot No. 509) whence it passed into the possession of Sir Thomas
Phillipps [Phillipps 35137, pt.). It was purchased by the
National Library in 1936. I have to thank the Trustees and
Director of the Library for their kind permission to publish it.
The writer, Roderic O' Flaherty, hardly needs an}^ intro-
duction. He was born in 1629 at Moycullen Castle, Co. Galway,
the residence of his father, Hugh O'Flaherty, head of the
O'Flaherties of Gnomore and Gnobeg. On Hugh's death in
1631 Roderic became a ward of the Crown. He was educated
at Alexander Ljmch's famous school in Galw^ay city, where,
according to Gilbert,* he made the acquaintance of John
Lynch (c. 1600 - c. 1673; author of Cambrensis Eversus),
Bishop Kirwan of Killala (1589-1661), and the great Capuchin
Francis Brown. The same writer also states that he studied
history and Irish literature under the renowned Dubhaltach
Mac Firbhisigh (i 585-1670) then residing at St. Nicholas',
Galway, where he wrote much of his famous Craobha Coibhneasa.
The Cromwellian confiscation deprived Roderic of most of his
patrimony, and the portion to which he was restored in 1653
was of little value. In 1677 he recovered a further portion.
O'Flaherty's most famous work, Ogygia, sen rerum Hiber-
nicarum chronologia, published in London in 1685, was the
first scholarly presentation of Irish history to the English
public. His Ogygia vindicated against the objections of Sir
George Mackenzie was not published till 1775 (Dublin), wh^le
* Pictionary Nat. Biography.
H
184 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
his Chorographical description of West or H-Iar Connaught
had to wait until 1846 for publication.
In his declining years O' Flaherty was sorely harrassed
by poverty. Sir Thomas Molyneux's description of the con-
dition in which he found him in his house at Parke, Co. Galway,
is too well known to be repeated here. He died at Parke on
April 8th, 1718, and there he rests.
William Molyneux ' whom Locke was proud to call his
friend ' was born in Dublin in 1656. The author of various
works including Dioptrica Nova, Sciothericiim Telescopicum,
and an English version of Descartes' Meditations, his real
claim to a place in Irish history rests on his famous The case
of Ireland being bound by Acts of Parliament in England stated
which appeared in 1698. In 1682 he undertook the collection
of materials for a Description of Ireland (never published)
intended for Moses Pitt's Atlas. It was in connection with
this undertaking that he made the acquaintance of Roderic
O'Flaherty. He died in 1698.
Juan Luis Vives, Spanish humanist and philosopher, was
born in Valencia in 1492. He studied in Paris and elsewhere,
and was for a time professor in Louvain. In 1523 he was
attached to Corpus Christi College, Oxford. His defence of
Catherine of Aragon led to his arrest and banishment, and he
spent most of the rest of his life at Bruges, where he died in
1540. He was a prolific and very successful writer, concerning
himself principally with works of devotion, education, political
economy, and philosophy. These included In pseudo dialec-
ticos (1519), De institntione feminae Christianae (1523), Intro-
ductio ad sapientiam (1524) De subventione pauper urn (1526),
De disciplinis (1531), De communione rerum (1535), Exercitatio
linguae Latinae (1538), and Ad animi exercitationem in Detim
commentatiunculae. His comm.entary on St. Augustine's De
civitate Dei published in 1522 was written under the influence
of Erasmus, with whom he was associated at Louvain. An
English translation appeared in 1610.
O'Flaherty's letter reads :
To William Moljmeux Esqr.
one of ye Masters of his
Maty's High Court of Chancery
Dublin
A LETTER FROM RODERIC o' FLAHERTY. 185
Sr.
In answer of yrs of ye 23rd Instant ; the steep round
towers yu write of are certainly known by ye name imposed
on 'em what they were designed for ; which is claictheach
.i. clock house, or belfry for calling the people to ye service
of ye adjacent church by ringing of bell : other contingent
uses were of h ; as for watchmen to look about ym on ye top,
& to give alarm : & for goods to be there kept upon Incursions
of Enemies, ye steeples within churches, & abbeyes are in
like manner called cloctheaghais .i. belcase ; as yu say staire
case.
Of ye vast kind of Deeres I know nothing as yet, but will
enquire. There are large horns of a deere kept for a monument
in my Lord of Clanrickard's house of Portomny, found in a
bog hard by : & ye more they are looked upon for admiracon,
that they are of ye kind of fallow Deeres. Had I known more,
you may not doubt of my willingness to content you.
I thought to meete one going thither this term, yt wd
bring yu what I writ of ye work for my Ld Bp ; & since I
did not, I send here inclosed .2. sheets, & so I intend to send
.2. or more by everie post hereafter, as soon as I have yur
orders com to me, of what to doe therein, ffor I write in an
open place, & common roome for all comers & goers ; & must
put up my papers severall times a day : a sheet a day is ye
most I write ; so yt I wd be glade to haue 'em out of my hands
with yu as many sheets, as I write.
I desire yu prevaile wth som body at leasure to enquire
in S. Aug: De Civitate Dei (I cannot have ye book here)
in ye first book about ye middle (that wth Ludov : Vives his
exposition upon, was ye book I had) a passage of ye Magicians
of Egypt their predictions of ye light of ye Gospell, & their
own ruin ; it is short enough to be transcribed, & transmitted
to me : for which I left a blank in ye work being as agreable
with ye like of our druids upon ye coming of S. Patrick as can
be.
My humble service to my Ld Bp ever pnted ; I am
Yr own faithfull servt
R O Flaherty.
Galway gaol 29. Ja : 1697
l86 GALWAY ARCH^OIOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Reviews
A History of Medieval Ireland from 1086 to 1513. By Edmund Curtis, M.A.,
Litt. D. London : Methuen. 15/- net.
Professor Curtis's Hislorv of Medieval Ireland was first published in 1923.
Its appearance was greeted by scholars as marking a definite advance on the
only other work of the kind dealing with medieval Ireland, namely. Dr.
Goddard Orpen's Ireland under the Normans. As a pioneer in research into
this period of Irish history. Dr. Orpen, no doubt, made a notable achieve-
ment, but he stopped short at the year 1333, and, throughout, he wrote
mainly from the point of view of the Norman col )nist. Professor Curtis, on
the other hand, carried his researches nearly two centuries further, and,
equipped with an efficient command of the Irish language, succeeded in
presenting the native side with a sympathy and understanding for which
we look in vain in the work of his predecessor. Thus he not only traced the
main course of political history, but, as he said himself, devoted much space
to institutions, political and social, of the Anglo-Irish and Irish, and to the
languages and culture of the races of medieval Ireland. The result was that
the History of Medieval Ireland became a valued text-book for the study of
Irish history in a period which till then had been largely neglected.
For some years past, however, the first edition of Professor Curtis's work
has been out of print and this consideration, coupled with the fact that during
the last fifteen years Professor Curtis himself and other scholars also have
made continuous researches into this particular period of Irish history,
seemed to indicate the desirability of issuing a new edition. The present
work is, therefore, most timely and welcome. In it Professor Curtis has, as
he tells us, completely revised, recast, and, indeed, practically rewritten the
original History of Medieval Ireland, and, on the whole, his claim is fully
justified. Much new material has been incorporated and many things revised.
The use of sub-titles also is a distinct improvement, while not the least valu-
able part of the work is the series of admirable appendices, the first of
which gives us genealogical tables of some twenty of the chief dynastic or
feudal families, Gaelic and Norman of medieval Ireland, while the others
deal with three obscure subjects, namely (a) the Ostmen, or hibernicized Norse
settlers in Ireland, (6) the towns of medieval Ireland, and (c) the legal treat-
ment of the native Irish, whether free or villeins (betaghs) by the Dublin
government and the Anglo-Norman colonists during the whole period. But
where there is so much advance surely it is a matter of regret to learn from
Professor Curtis that " much of the detailed information and some of the
longer footnotes of my first edition are not reproduced in extenso : the
enquiring reader is referred back to the pages of that book." The result
of this unusual decision is that the historical student is put to the serious
inconvenience of having to work with the two editions at once — a most
unsatisfactory and difficult procedure. In every other respect, however, the
new edition is an excellent one and a distinct contribution to scholarship.
It will certainly remain for a long time to come the standard work on medieval
Ireland. M. D. O'S.
History of Ballymote and the Parish of Emlaghfad. By James Christopher
MacDonagh, B.Comm., Cert. A. LB. (Ireland). Printed by The Champion
Publications, Ltd., Shgo, 1936 (published 1939), pp. 205.
County Sligo was for long the borderland between two areas the inhabi-
tants of which, whatever were the changes which occurred in Irish history,
seemed destined to be hostile. In the far off days of the Tain the expanding
REVIEWS. 187
state of the Kings of Connacht found a permanent rival in the poHty of
Ulster. When the O Donnells set up their suzerainty over the tuatha of Tir
Conaill they claimed allegiance also from Lower Connacht and fell foul of
the O Connors in that respect. Later, the Mayo Burkes too, having robbed
the O Connors of much of their power, found themselves committed to enmity
with the \N'est Ulstermen, and indeed much of the activity of Hugh Ruadh
O Donnell in the Nine Years War may be looked upon as a campaign to drive
the English out of Co. Sligo.
If the barony of Carbury and the way south by Benbulben and Sligo
castle was a veritable battle ground for Ulster and Connacht men long before
Hugh Ruadh's day, Corran, and particularly Ballymote with its castle, was
none the less a centre of strategic importance. The way to the rich Ros-
common plains on the one hand and to Mayo on the other lay through Corran.
From these political and military viewpoints, and none the less archaeo-
logically and in so far as social and cultural history is concerned, the barony
of Corran provides a rich field for intensive study. Archaeologically it falls
within that most interesting area where, in the megalithic period, the builders
of the horned cairns coming from the north seem to have met those of the
chambered cairns arriving from the south-east. The historian who concerns
himself with cultural and literary development is none the less interested in
Ballymote as the scene of the labours of Manus O Duignan. Here this cele-
brated scholar produced while working under the patronage of Mac Donagh,
Lord of the area, about 1391 the collection of historical, poetical and legal
compilations which takes its name from the township.
Mr. Mac Donagh has undoubtedly chosen an important area for his
study, and his book is a welcome addition to the unfortunately small number
of local historical works which are up to the present available. Commencing
with the legendary period, he traces the history of Ballymote and Emlagh-
fad, an area practically coextensive with the barony of Corran, to modern
times. If he is here and there led from the strict paths of serious historical
research by a desire to quote from sources, he is at least always entertaining,
and his book should prove particularly interesting to those who know the
country of which he writes. He has certainly not omitted any occurrences
of note which fall to be recorded within the history of the area and his work
as a whole gives evidence not only of much painstaking endeavour, but of
days gladly spent in unfolding the story of his native place.
It is a pity that he has not supplied some maps ; and his book would
have benefitted by an index and by a httle more care on the part of his printer.
It should be a handy pocket companion for the tourist in the area and a good
guide for the Sligo teachers of regional history.
— G. A. HAYES-McCOY.
Records of Four Tipperary Septs, the 0' Kennedys, O'Dwyers, O'Mulryans,
O'Meaghers. By Martin Callanan, L.R.C.P. & S.I. Galway : O'Gorman
Ltd., Printinghouse, 1938. pp. 180. 7/6 Net.
Dr. Callanan has adopted in this book a method of approach to the study
of historic regional groups which is often productive of valuable results. He
treats each of the four famihes with which his study is concerned separately.
Under each family heading he gives, first, a pedigree, then a hst, annahstically
arranged, of all the references to members of the family which he has been
able to obtain, next a collection of similar references drawn from fiants, from
letters patent, inquisitions, wills and similar documents, and, finally, the
relevant entries from the Books of Survey and Distribution to show the lands
held by the families in 1641. There are some further notices and hsts, but
the bulk of his book is made up in this manner.
In his Introduction and here and there in his text he introduces what
might be termed general accounts of the four famiUes, but such generalities
9,re always brief, and on the whole he has adhered closely to the terms o^
l88 GALWAY ARCH^OLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
reference of his title and has produced rather the material for a history than
a history proper. When the ground has been covered carefully from primary
sources, as is the case here, such labour is well worth while. Dr. Callanan's
book should be of particular interest to those who would otherwise find
difficulty in gaining access to source material, but he would have added to
its value in this connection if he had indicated in each case the exact source
of his references. He has no index.
The publication of these two books, Mr. Mac Donagh's on Sligo and Dr.
Callanan's on Tipperary, should assist the teaching of regional history in the
areas to which they refer and help to further the general movement in that
direction which has at last been initiated.
G. A. HAYES-McCOY.
Irish Historical Studies, the joint Journal of the Irish Historical Society and
the Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies. Edited by R. Dudley
Edwards and T. W. Moody. Dublin : Hodges, Figgis & Co., Vol. I, Nos.
2 and 3, 5/8 each.
Far too frequently of recent years we have witnessed the disappearance
of useful, scholarly journals in this country. Irish Historical Studies is all
the more to be welcomed therefore as a venture which not only promises to
redeem what we have lost but which provides something quite new for serious
students of Irish history. The second and third numbers, now forthcoming,
amply justify the high hopes which were placed in the Journal on its inception
last year, and there can be no doubt that its future as a scholarly publication
of great value is assured.
The second number, published in September, 19,38, contains a translation
of the Old Irish " Life of St. Brigit " from the Bodleian MS. Rawlinson B 512
by Dr. M. A. O'Brien, a paper on Anglo-Norman relations with Connacht,
1169-1224, by Dr. R. Dudley Edwards, a note on the Anglo-Norman invasion,
1167-1171, by Rev. Professor J. F. O'Doherty, two bibliographies, notes and
book reviews. Dr. Edwards' paper is designed to trace the development of
events in Connacht from Rory O'Connor's time to the death of Cathal Crove-
derg, not so much for their bearing on the general trend of political events
but in so far as Connacht as a more or less isolated entity is concerned. The
bibliographies refer to the United Irishmen and their period, 1791-1798, and
to research work on Irish history in Irish, British and American Universities
for the year 1937-1938. This last is a most useful list of theses for higher
degrees and its publication and continuance in future numbers should pre-
vent any future overlapping of Irish historical work.
There are two important articles in the third number, March, 1939, an
historical criticism of the " Life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell " by the Rev. Paul
Walsh (the " Book of Lughaidh O Cleirigh " edited under that title by Denis
Murphy in 1893), and an account of Sir Thomas Phillips of Limavady, an
Ulster planter of the early seventeenth century, by Dr. Moody. The biblio-
graphical section is devoted to a list of writings on Irish history for 1937,
with addenda for 1936, and there are the usual notes, correspondence and
reviews.
G. A. HAYES-McCOY.
[ i89 ]
OBITUARY
During the past year the Society has suffered a grievous loss through the
death of three of its most esteemed members — Mr. W. L. Burke, Rt. Rev.
Mons. Considine, Dean of Galway, and Professor W. F. Trench. Mr.
Burke was one of the oldest members of the Society, always interested in its
proceedings, and a kind and helpful friend to the Editor, while Monsignor
Considine, though not so long with us, did much to promote the welfare of
the Society in Galway. Of Professor Trench's work on behalf of history and
archaeology in the west of Ireland one cannot speak too highly. A fine Irish-
man in the best sense of the words, he helped to found the Galway Society,
and as Editor of the Journal for many years and a Vice-President of the
Society until his death, he gave it unstinted support. To him, more than
to any other individual member perhaps, the Society is indebted for its present
sound condition.
The Editor takes this opportunity to convey to the friends of these gentle-
men the deepest sympathy of all the members of the Society.
^altoan Jrcbncalogual t(' IVistoriral ^oruty.
STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS, 1938.
RECEIPTS
Subscriptions, &c.
Sale of Journals, &c.
£ s.
. 66 0
. 12 0
d.
0
0
EXPENDITURI
Printing of Journal
Bank Charge
Deposit from 1937
^ I
. 77
1
s.
0
1
d.
0
0
Deposit,
m 0
. 12 3
0
8
;^78
. 12
1
2
0
8
Money invested and on
consisting of Life
iA\ lis. 10^.
;^90 3
Deposit
Funds,
8
m
3
8
HECKMAN
JINpERY INC.
FEB 95
'lound-To-PleasI' N.MANCHESTER,
INDIANA 46962
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11