Full text of "Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland"

See other formats

REYNOLDS HISTORICAL
GENEALOGY COLLECTION

n
O

t\\

JTYPUBLICLIE

! 3 1833 03582 2292

\^^o 941 .5 R81?j 1915
!

Journal of the Royal. Society
of Antiquaries of Ireland

THE JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES
OF IRELAND

FORMERLY

THE ROYAL HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL
ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND

FOUNDED, IN 1 849, AS

THE KILKENNY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

VOL. XLV.

CONSECUTIVE
SERIES

VOL. V.

SIXTH SERIES
1915

DUBLIN

PRINTED BY JOHN FALCONER

53 UPPER SACKVILLE STREET

FOR THE SOCIETY
I916

The Council wish it to be distinctly understood that they do
not hold themselves responsible for the statements and opinions
contained in the Papers read at the Meetings of the Society, and
here printed, except so far as No. 26 of the General Rules of the
Society extends.

PREFACE

The present volume presents a good illustration of the
variety of the Society's interest.

In Prehistoric Antiquities attention may be called
to the continuation of Mr Westropp's voluminous
surveys, for the sake of which, it may be safely
prophecied, the volumes containing them will be
eagerly sought for by the antiquaries a century
and more hence. Among smaller articles may be
mentioned Mr Knox's paper on Rath Brenainn,
Mr Crawford's contribution on two Holed Stones, and
Sir Bertram Windle's communication on a fine Stone
Circle in Cork. But on the whole the " Prehistoric "
department of the Society's work is less conspicuous
in this volume than in some of its predecessors.

In the department of Mediaeval History we have
several important communications, such as Mr Orpen's
elaborate paper on the Earldom of Ulster and Mr
M'Neill's study of the Secular Jurisdiction of the Dublin
Archbishops. Dr Berry's monograph on the Deeds
of St Werburgh's Parish give some valuable side-
lights on local history. Mr Armstrong communicates
two articles on Mediaeval Antiquities — A Processional
Cross found with some other Ecclesiastical Remains
in Co. Meath, and a group of Irish Seals. Mr Buckley's
paper on Irish Leatherwork, we believe, breaks new
ground, so far as this Society is concerned. The
subject of Wall Paintings is for us unusual owing to the
scantiness of those remains in Ireland : it is therefore
noteworthy that we have two communications on the

PREFACE

subject in the present volume, from Mr Westropp
and Mr Crawford respectively. Elizabethan Ireland
is represented by Lord Walter Fitz Gerald's full series
of illustrations and notes on the remarkable inscriptions
on the Old Bridge of Athlone.

The subjects treated of in " Miscellanea " range
from Apple-scoops to Holy Wells.

Family History receives attention in the shape of
articles on the Bagenal, Massy, and O'Donovan families
or members thereof. Mr Hamilton's communication
on Fiacha Mac Aodha Ui Bhroin comes under this
category. In this Mr. Hamilton sets an admirable
example which, it is to be hoped, will be followed by
others : we refer to his spelling of the native names of
native Irish in the native spelling, and not after the
barbarous phonetic attempts of mediaeval and modern
foreigners (we use the last word for convenience, and
in an entirely non-political sense). It does not look
well to see an ancient Irish king referred to, in the
pages of a Journal which wishes to be taken as scientific,
as " Malachy O'Mulroony ! "

CONTENTS

COMMUNICATIONS

PAGE

James MiUs (obituary notice of ) . . . 1-4

iSir Nicholas Bagenal, Knight-Marsbal,
by PhiHp H. Bagenal, B.A. . . .5-26

Processional Cross, Pricket Candlestick,
and BeU, found together at Sheep-
bouse, near Old bridge, Co. Meath,
by E. C. R. Armstrong . . . 27-31

Some Ancient Deeds of tbe Parish of
St Werburgh, Dublin, 1243-1676, by
Henry F. Berry, i.s.o., litt.d. . 32-44

Prehistoric Remains (Foils and Dol-
mens) in Burren and its South
Western Border, Co. Clare, by
Thomas J. Westropp, m.a.

45-62, 249-274

The Secular Jurisdiction of the Early
Archbishops of Dublin, by C.
McNeiU 81-108

Fiacha Mic Aodha Vi Bhroin and
DomhnaU Spainneach Caomh^nach,
by Gustavus E. Hamilton . .109-114

The Sculptured Stones from the Bridge
of Athlone, built in 1567, now in
the Crypt of the Science and Art
Museum, Dublin, by Lord Walter
FitzGerald 115-122

The Earldom of Ulster, by Goddard H.
Orpen, m.f.i.a. . . . .123-142

Descriptions of Some Irish Seals, by
E. C. R. Armstrong, F.s.A. . .143-148

Mural Paintings in Holy Cross Abbey,
by H. S. Crawford, B.E. . . .149-150

Entries relating to John O'Donovan
and his immediate relatives, from
the Registei-s ot the formerly United
Parishes of Sheverue and Glenmore
in the Co. Kilkenny, by Very Rev.
Canon Carrigan, D.D., P.p. . .167-169

The Normans in Tirowen and TirconneU,
by Goddard H. Orpen, m.r.i.a. .275-288

Rath Brenainn, by H. T. Knox . 289-299

Some Early Ornamented Leatherwork,
by J. J. Buckley .... 300-309

MISCELLANEA

PAGE

Paintings at Adare " Abbey," Co.
Limerick, by T. J. Westropp . .151

Earthwork near Malahide Castle, by

T. J. Westropp 152

Massy Family, by T. J. Westropp . 153-155

Holy Wellsnear BaUinskeUigs, Co. Kerry,
by Henry S. Crawford 155

Hole-Stone at BaUinskeUigs, by Henry
S. Crawford 155-156

Holed-Stone at Newtown, near Trim,
by Henry S. Crawford .... 156

A Long Earthwork at Kilwarden in
Co. iVIeath, by T. J. Westropp 170-171. 310

Druimceat, by T. J. Westropp . . .171
Bronze Pin from Crossdrum Quarry
Souterrain, by E. Crofton
Rotheram 171-172

Conna Castle, by James Coleman . .172
An Apple Scoop found in a Grave at
Glasnevin, by E. C. R. Armstrong

173-175

Souterrain Discovered near Strangford . 176
The Masonbrook Ring, by H. T. Knox . 310

Prick Spur found in the Mote of Mount

Ash, Co. Louth, by E. C. R.

Armstrong 311

DomhnaU Spainneach Caomh^nach, by

W. O. Cavenagh . . . 311-313

Rostrevor, Co. Down : its Name, by

Gustavus E. Hamilton . . 313-314

Diary of a Dublin Lady in the Reign
of George II, by H. F. Berry . .314

Ancient Iron BeU found at Knock-a-
temple, Co. Wicklow, by F. J.
Bigger, m.r.i.a 315

A Note on Two Objects on the North
Slope of Mushera Beg, Co. Cork, by
Sir Bertram C. A. Windle . 316-317

Errata 156,176

CONTENTS

NOTICES OF BOOKS

PAGE

¥. Elrington Ball, Litt.D., The Cor-
respondence of Jonathan Stvift,
D.D 157-159

E. M. F.-G. Boyle. Records of the Toivn
of Limavady, 1Q09 to 1808 . . .159

Sir J. Rhys. The Celtic Inscriptions of
Cisalpine Gaul ; Gleanings in the
Italian Field of Celtic Epigraphy 180-161

Gustavus E. Hamilton. A71 Account
of the Honourable Society of King's
Inns, Dublin, from its Foundation
until the Beginning of the Nineteenth
Century 318

OFFICIAL NOTICES
Proceedings

PAGK

63-80, 162-165, 180-182

Report of Council 64

Address to the Lord Lieutenant . . 177

Programme of Excursions, Londonderry
Meetings 183-24S

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATES

James Mills (portrait) Frontispiece

I Processional Cross found at Faang
Sheephouse, Co. Meath ^"^^
front) ... 27

II Do. do. (back) . 28

III Bell and Candlestick found

at Sheephouse, Co. Meath . 30

IV Cahermakerrila/nearlisdoon-

vama : Caherdooneerish,
interior ..... 52

V Cathair, Aghaglinny : Lis-

macsheedy 62

VI The Bridge Inscription Slabs

[Athlone] 118

VII The Sir Henry Sydney Stones

[Athlone] 119

^TIII The Queen Elizabeth Stones

[Athlone] 120

IX The Peter Lewys Stones

[Athlone] 121

X The Robert Danaport Stone

[AthJone] 122

XII )^ Irish Seals . . 144, 146, 148
XIII J
XrV Wall Painting at Holy Cross

Abbey 150

XV St. Michael's Well, and Holed

Stone, Balhnskelligs . .156

XVI The Mullagh, or Daisy Hill, 'we

Druimceat 171

XVII Camdonagh : Erect Cross-
Slab in Graveyard . . .183
XVIII Greencastle : Doe Castle . . 202
XIX Skull House, Cooley : West

Door, Camdonagh Church . 204
XX Rathraullan : Brackfield

Ba^vn 222

XXI Caherminaun : Ballykinvarga

Gate 264

XXil Cashlaun-Gar : Riog-Wall,

Templemore, Kells . . 269
XXIII Rath Brenainn . . . .296
XXrV Satchel of the Book of

Armagh (front and back) 300
XXV Do. do. (top, bottom,

and sides) .... 301

XXVl Satchel of the Breae Moed6ig 302
XXVII Book- Satchel in Corpus

Christi College, Oxford . 303
XXVIII Binding in the Franciscan

Library, Dublin (obverse) . 304

XXIX Do. do. (reverse) . 305

XXX Do. do. (hinge) . 306

XXXI Binding in Stonyhurst College 307

XXXII Shield in the Collection of

Mr. D. M. Bell . . . .308
XXXIII Mushera Beg Stone Circle and

Stone House . . . .316

ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT

Cahermakerrila, North-East

Cahermakerrila, at West Face .

Craggycorradan and Lislard . .

Caherbeg, Masonry

Holed Stone at Ne-v^iiowT], near Trim

Pin from Crossdrum Quarry Souterrain 172

Scoop found at Glasnevin . . . .173

PAGE

52
53
56
59
156

Apple Scoops

Fahan, St. Mura's Cross (two views)
Camdonagh Cross, East Face
Carrowmore — East Cross
CarroAvmore — West Cross
Clonca — Shaft of Cross .
Clonca — Head of Cross .

PAGE

174
184
185
186
187
188
189

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Moville- — Cross at Cooley . . . .191
Moville — Cross Inscribed Pillarat Stroove 192
Clonca — Cross Shaft and West End of

Church 196

Inscription at Clonca 199

Greencastle in Inisho^^en, Plan . . . 201

St. Mura's Crosier 203

Grianan of Aileach, Plan 204

Grianan of Aileach, Views . . 206, 207
South-Westem Quarter of Londonderry 211

Docwra's Fort in 1600 215

Londonderry in 1625 219

Brackfieid Ba^^•n, Plan 232

Banagher, West Door : Interior . . 234
Banagher, South Window in Chancel . 235
Banagher, Tomb of St. Muireadhach

Oh-Aenaigh 236

Banagher, the Residence .... 237
Dungiven, Priory and Standing Stone

in 1814 239

PAGE

Dungiven, Chancel Arch and East End . 240
Dungiven, 0 Cathain Tomb . . 242, 243
Dungiven, Figures from the O Cathain

Tomb 245

Maghera, Head of Door 247

Ballyallaban Rath 249'

Caherbullog 250

Map of the Ballyganner Group of

Antiquities 253

Pillared Dolmen near Caheraneden,

Ballyganner North, Co. Clare . . 259

Caherminaun 261

Cashlan Gar 270

Canons' Island Abbey, Co. Clare . . 271
Templemore, Kells, Co. Clare . . . 273

Rath Brenaian 291

^lound in Rath Brenainn .... 292
Earthworks near Rath Brenainn . 297
Plan of Stone Circle on Mushera Beg . 317

THE JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES

OF IRELAND ^,,,^„

GENEALOGY DEPT.

Series VI, Vol. V. OCT 201997

Allen County Public Libraiy

Vol. XLV (|IilM£lill Part I

31 MARCH, 19 I 5

CONTENTS

PAGE

James Mills . . . . . i

Philip H. Bagenal b.a., Associate Member — Sir Nicholas Bagfenal,

Knight-Marshal .... ..... 5

E. C. R. Armstrong, Vice-President — Processional Cross, Pricket-
Candlestick, and Bell, tound together at Sheephouse, near
Oldbridge, Co. Meath {Illuslraied) 27

Henry F. Berry, i.s.o., litt.d. — Some Ancient Deeds of the Parish

of St. Werburgh, Dublin, 1 243-1676 ...... 2)^

Thomas Johnson Westropp, m.a. — Prehistoric Remains, (Forts and
Dolmens) in Burren and its South-Western Border, Co. Clare.
Part XII :— North- Western Part {Illustrated) .... 45

Proceedings 63

DUBLIN
HODGES, FIGGIS, <Sf CO., Ltd., GRAFTON STREET

1915

THE JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES

OF IRELAND

(Formerly the Kilkenny Archaeological Association, and the Royal Historical

d Archaeological Associat

ion of Ireland)

List of the Volumes, showing the re

lotion between the Consecutive

Numbers and the Numbers of each of the Six Series ; also the Years for

which each Volume Was issued.

Consecutive Number

Number of Series

Years

*I.

I. ....

1849, 1850, 1851.

II.

1852, 1853.

*III.

III.

1854, 1855.

*IV.

I. 2nd Series,

1856, 1857.

II.

1858, 1859.

*VI.

III.

1860, 1861.

VII.

IV.

1862, 1863.

VIII.

1864, 1865, 1806.

IX.

VI.

1867.

I. 3rd Series,

1868, 1869.

XI.

I. 4th Series.

1870, 1871.

XII.

11.

1872, 1873.

XIII.

III.

1874, 1875.

XIV.

IV.

1876, 1877, 1878.

XV.

1879, 1880, 1881, 1882.

XVI.

VI.

1883, 1884.

XVII.

VII.

1885, 1886.

*XVIII.

VIII.

• 1887, 1888.

*XIX.

IX.

1889.

XX.

Index,

1849-1889.

*XXI.

I. 5th Series,

1890-1891.

XXIl.

11.

1892.

XXIII.

III.

1893.

XXIV.

IV.

1894.

XXV.

1895.

XXVI.

VI.

1896.

XXVII.

VII.

1897.

XXVIII.

VIII.

1898.

XXIX.

IX.

1899.

XXX.

1900.

XXXI.

XI.

1901.

XXXII.

XII.

1902.

XXXIII.

XIII.

1903.

XXXIV.

XIV.

1904,

XXXV.

XV.

1905.

xxx^^.

XVI.

1906.

XXXVII.

XVII.

1907.

XXXVIII.

XVIII.

1908.

XXXIX.

XIX.

1909.

XL.

XX.

1910.

XLI.

I. 6th Series,

1911.

XLII.

1912.

XLIII.

ni.

1913.

XLIV.

IV.

1914.

Tlie Volumes marked (*) are no\\- out of print. Some of the remaining Volumes can be supplicfl

to Members at the average rate of 10s. each. Odd Parts of some of the foregoing volumes can

l)e supplied. The Quarterly Parts of the Fifth Series can be suppUed to Members at 3s. each.

In order to assist Fellows and Members to obtain back numbers of the Journal, the Council have

dc^cided to offer the fifteen volumes from 1870-1884 at the greatly reduced price of £1 for the set.

Ill considering applications, preference vnO. be given to FelloAvs and Members who joined

the Society previous to 1908.

i^.^^SfSrft

Owing

pressure on

the

available

space,

has been found

necessary to

hold over

the Miscellanea

and

Reviews

of Books.

THE JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES
OF IRELAND

(Formerly the Kilkenny Archaeological Association, and the Royal Historical
and Archaeological Association of Ireland)

List of the Volumes, showing the relation between the Consecutive
Numbers and the Numbers of each of the Six Series ; also the Years for
which each Volume was issued.

XXV.

\xv\.

XXVil.

XX VI II.

XXIX.

XXX.

XXXI.

.\XXII.

XXXIII.

XXXIV.

XXXV.

XXXVI.

XXXVII.

XXXVIII.

XXXIX.

XL.

XLI.

XLII.

XLIII.

XLIV.

IV.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

XX.

I.
II.
III.

IV.

Cth

Series,

1894.
1895.
1896.
1897.
1898.
1899.
1900.
1901.
1902.
1903.
1904,
1905.
1906.
1907.
1908.
1909.
1910.
1911.
1912.
1913.
1914.

to M nho™ r t ri. „^^ '''■f "?i^"* "* P"'^*- '^^^^ «f tiie remaining Volumes can be suppUed
t ™i£r TW O^nr. f P '. ''^^^u• l^-^^^ ^^"^ P"-t« «f ««™« of ^he foregoing volumS^can
iH. supplied. The Quarterly Parts of the Fifth Series can be suppUed to Mombeis at 3s. each.

d..cide<Urof?orTh?S '■' 7"^ ^I^^l^^'Vo" "^'^^"^ ^^^'^ >^"'"^^«^« of the Journal, the Council have
d. c.dcHl to offer the fifteen volumes from 1870-1884 at the greatly reduced price of £1 for the set.

theSo'^irpSst^fir""''^^^^^^^ given^o Fallows a^ld^embers.vho Joined

JAMES MILLS
Died 5 September, 1914

THE JOURNAL

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES

OF IRELAND
FOR THE YEAR 1915

VOL. XLV, PART I

(vol. V, SIXTH SERIES VOL. XLV, CONSEC. SERIES)

JAMES MILLS

The loss which the Society has sustained in the death of Mr. James
Mills can hardly be overestimated. For the past twenty-five years
he took the deepest interest in its welfare, and whether engaged in
writing papers for the Journal, in acting on the Council, or as editor,
a post held by him for a long time, his services were invaluable.
Gifted with great talents, possessed of a clear understanding, and
endowed with great powers of industry, he helped largely in making
the Public Record Office of Ireland the efficient and useful depart-
ment it is generally acknowledged to be. Having obtained first
place at an examination for junior clerkships in the then newly-
formed department, he joined the staff early in 1868 ; and from
the outset his qualities asserted themselves, his influence was
quickly felt, and he gained the complete confidence of Sir Samuel
Ferguson and of Dr. Digges La Touche, the deputy keepers under
whom he served. The great work with which Mr. Mills' name will
always be associated — The Calendars of Fiants of Henry VIII,
Edward VI, Queen Mary a7id Queen Elizabeth — a task that cost him
years of laborious toil, was executed in scholarly fashion. Dr.
Reeves, Bishop of Down, a very great authority on Irish topography,
always spoke in the highest terms of this work and of the exhaustive
Index to the Fiants of Elizabeth.

Early in 1889 Mr. Mills became a Member of this Society (being

2 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

promoted to the rank of Fellow in the year 1892), and soon after
joining it he read a paper, entitled " Notices of the Manor of St.
Sepulchre, Dublin, in the Fourteenth Century," which at once
placed him in the foremost rank of historical enquirers in this country.
This was followed by " Tenants and Agriculture near Dubhn in the
Fourteenth Century," and an " Account of the Earl of Norfolk's
Estates in Ireland, 1279-1294." He also wrote on the Norman
Settlements in Leinster : on the Journal and Accounts of Peter
Lewys, 1564-5 ; a MS. in Trinity College Library, which affords
ample details of Avages, food, and other matters connected with
workmen and works during the rebuilding of portions of Christ
Church Cathedral : and on the Chapels and Crypts of the same
edifice. Though Mr. Mills, owing to want of sufficient leisure, did
not contribute very largely to the Journal, what he wrote showed
extensive reading and threw needed hght on many obscure points.
He was much interested m ancient Irish agriculture, the condition
of the tenantry and people of the country, and in agricultural values
and prices. The history of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Christ
Church) had peculiar attraction for him, and the preparation of the
extra volume of the Society for 1890-1, Account Roll of the Priory
of the Holy Trinity, Dublin, 1337-1346," edited by him from the
original in the Christ Church collection now in the Public Record
Office, was a labour of love. (Reviewed in the Journal, 1892, p. 189.)
Vacant portions of the MS. had been used for copying a moral play
or morality, which Mr. Mills named the " Pride of Life," and this
is the only copy of the poem known to exist. He claimed for it
that it was earlier than the " Castle of Perseverance," and hence
that it was absolutely the " earliest composition of its kind yet
discovered in the English language." In this view he was borne
out by the late Dr. J. Kells Ingram, a high authority on Morality
Plays, who took a deep interest in Mr. Mills' discovery. Professor
Morley in English Writers, vol. vii, gave an interesting account of
the pcem.

Mr. Mills, in conjunction with Mr. McEnery, the present Deputy
Keeper of the Records, edited for the Society the Gormanston
Register, which contains transcripts of early charters and documents
connected with the Preston family. This edition will shortly appear,
and it is much to be regretted that Mr. Mills was not spared to see
the publication of a work which he esteemed of much importance.
The preface, the last piece of work on which he was engaged, will be
found to be a masterly analysis of the document.

Soon after his appointment as Deputy Keeper, Mr. Mills planned
a Calendar of the Justiciary Rolls {temp. Edward I) as the precursor
of a series of Irish Record Office publications, which was sanctioned

JAMES MILLS 3

by the Master of the Rolls and the Treasury. He had always
insisted on the importance to Irish history of these Rolls, and was
much gratified when the Government yielded to his representations,
and decided on beginning the series. Two volumes (1295-1307),
edited by him, have appeared. A special feature of the work is the
subject index, which is of great value, and no one in future, dealing
with the history of the period, can afford to dispense with it. The
Calendar throws light on ancient judicial forms, on ecclesiastical
and social history, on agricultural prices, &c.

Mr. Mills was chiefly instrumental in originating the Parish
Register Society of Dublin, founded in 1905, which has proved
most useful to genealogists in this country and in America. He
edited for it the Registers of St. John's, Dublin (1619-1699), and of
St. Peter s and St. Kevin's, Dublin (1669-1761), the prefaces to which
contain much important information. He also edited the Register
of the Liberties of Gashel, 1654-7, and contributed a preface to the
Register of St. Nicholas Without, Dublin (1694-1739).

On the death of Dr. Digges La Touche, in 1899, Mr. Mills, then
Assistant Keeper, was promoted to the Deputy Keepership of the
Records and the Keepership of the State Papers, with the cordial
approval of all interested in the preservation and publication of the
National Muniments. That his appointment was amply justified is
evident from the work that he performed, and the efficiency of the
Department, which was thoroughly well maintained, notwithstanding
the vast stores of records constantly accumulating within the Record
buildings, and the ever increasing number of the public who
availed themselves of the privilege of searching among them.
The Old Age Pensions Act threw an immense amount of labour on
the staff, and Mr. Mills undertook the task imposed on him with
characteristic energy, having to deal with a large temporary addi-
tion to the officers, and a vast amount of correspondence.

Mr. Mills had long been a Member of the Royal Irish Academy,
on the Council of which he sat for a time. In 1902, King Edward
the Seventh conferred on him the Imperial Service Order, then
newly founded for distinguished members of the Civil Service, and
he received the insignia of the Order at His Majesty's hands at
Buckingham Palace. Mr. Mills was also nominated to represent
Ireland on the Commission of Historical Manuscripts, a distinction
which he greatly prized.

For some time before his retirement from office, which took
place on the 31st May, 1914, Mi-. Mills' health had been a cause of
anxiety. Growing increasingly weaker, he passed away on the 5th
of September, aged sixty-five years. He lies in Dean's Grange
Cemetery, an appropriate resting place, as in his Account Roll of

4 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

the Holy Trinity he wrote much on the Grange of Clonken, a farm
belonging to the monastery within whose bounds the cemetery lies.

On his retirement, the Staff of the Public Record Office presented
their late Chief with an Address, which he highly valued. In it
they expressed admiration of his rare qualities as a scholar and
administrator, but the Address more especially dwelt on those
qualities of the heart, which made him " the truest and kindest
friend " of everyone under his control. While it might be left to
historians to judge of his historical qualifications, which those who
addressed him in an especial sense appreciated, they wished in
bidding him farewell, to express their sense of his unfailing patience
and courtesy, and of that delicate consideration which made him
so greatly beloved. No more appreciative or truer tribute could
have been paid to the man. It would be out of place here to speak
of what Mr. Mills was in the home circle, and in the parish
of Booterstown (to the work in which he was so devoted), and to
the hosts of friends who looked to him for help and guidance. He
was helpful in the best sense to everyone who appealed to him,
never once turning away from any who sought his aid. Assuredly
none " ever better deserved the sacred name of Friend."

Mr. Mills married in 1887, Emily Kate, daughter of Captain
T. J. Smith, formerly of the 33rd Regiment.

H. F. B.

( 5

SIR NICHOLAS BAGENAL, KNIGHT-MARSHAL

By Philip H. Bagenal b.a., Associate Member

[Read 27 January 1914J

The family of Bagenal has been known in Staffordshire for
centuries. The first mention of the name appears in Avritten
form in a grant of land in the reign of Henry I. {circa 1135) from
Iro de Pantime to Ade de Aldethele. The witnesses were Matthew
de Bagenhall and Alan de Bagenhall [Erdeswick, page 14]. As this
was only about seventy years after the Norman Conquest, in all
probability the founder of the family accompanied the Conqueror
in his invasion of England, and received grants of land in Stafford-
shire.

The name of the family has varied considerably, but in all the
earlier documents it was spelt with three syllables, and appears as
Bagenholt, Bagenhald, Bagenold, Bagenhal, and Bagenal. Later
it was coUoquiably shortened into Bagnald, or Bagnold, and Bagnall.
The EngHsh family name has almost invariably been contracted into
Bagnall, whilst the branch which settled in Ireland in the days of
Elizabeth retained the older form of spelling.

The legal records of Staffordshire printed by the Salt Society
abound in mention of the Bagenal family throughout the Plantagenet
times.

William Bagenhall, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, in the reign of
Edward IV (1460), had a son, Ralph, who married Ehnor Sadler,
of Nantwich in Cheshire, and their son was John Bagnall, who
had evidently a prosperous career as a burgess of his native town.
It would seem as though the family had descended from the landed
class to that of burgess or merchant. At all events John became
Mayor of Newcastle in 1519, 1522, 1526, 1531, and 1533. He
married, like his father, a wife from Cheshire, Elinor, daughter of
Thomas Whittingham of Middlewich. By her he had several
children — the eldest, Ralph, then Nicholas, and two other sons —
of whom all that is known is that they were '' slaine at Bullogne "
[Careiv MSS., page 635] John had also two daughters — -Mary,
who married Roger Brereton, of Cheshire, and Margaret, who
married George Bartram of Barlaston, Co. Stafford.

To this point the extant records of the family are brief and not

C ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

productive of many details. But after John Bagenal's appearance
upon the scene as a prosperous citizen of Newcastle-under-Lyme,
the records of the family become traceable without very much
difficulty

Of John Bagenal's second son's early years little is known. In
a letter addressed in later days to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester,
Queen Elizabeth's favourite, Sir Nicholas gives us a clue to his
early history. " My advancement," he says, " grew by your father
(John, Duke of Northumberland, beheaded by Mary), and upon
your brother and yourself hath been ever since my whole dependence.
Your prosperities, next to her Majesty's hath been my chiefest
earthly joy " [Carew Papers]. This is couched in the true
Elizabethan style, but is also a sincere acknowledgment of the
patronage which had advanced the young man in his career. The
Dudleys were themselves Staffordshire born, which possibly accounts
for tlieir interest in him.

The first thing recorded of Nicholas is, that he had killed a man
by misadventure in a brawl '' with certain light persons," and was
in consequence obliged to fly the country. What were the reasons
that tempted him to cross the Irish Channel we know not. As a
Staffordshire man with relations in Chester he was doubtless aware
of the troubles in Ireland, and perhaps was tempted to fly thither
from the hands of the English Sheriff. This happened about the
year 1539, when Nicholas was thirty years of age. He took good
care to choose that part of Ireland which was least amenable to
English rule, and sought refuge in Ulster, the land of the O'Neills,
the province with which he was destined to be so closely associated
for the rest of his life. Whatever the full history of Nicholas
Bagenal's bloody escapade, he made good his way to the court of
O'Neill, where he found shelter and employment as a mercenary
soldier. The fact that he had killed a man in a fray was perhaps
the best recommendation he could have brought to Con Baccagh
[Bacach) O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone. With the O'Neill clan, at
all events, Nicholas was domiciled for two or three years, and he
so ingratiated himself with the Earl that the latter made successful
intercession on his behalf with the Lord Deputy for a free pardon.

A letter was accordingly written by the Dublin Privy Council
to London as follows : — " 7th December, 1542. And whereas at
the repaire of the Earl of Tyrone unto these parts he made humble
and earnest suit unto us to be mean to your Majesty for the pardon
of one Nicholas Bagenal, late your Highness servant who (by chance
as the thing unto us did appear) was in company of certain light
persons, when there was slain one of your Majesty's subjects. For
the while the said Nicholas fled hither and has sithens done here

SIR NICHOLAS BAGENAL, KNIGHT-MARSHAL 1

very honest and painful service, and therefore at the humble suite
of the said Earl we most lowly beseech your Majesty to be so good
and gracious Lord unto him as to grant your most gracious pardon."
(See State Papers, Hem-y VIII, vol. iii, p. 439-440.)

The pardon was granted in terms which in the present century
would probably excite considerable suspicion of the young man
" with a past.'" It runs as follows : — " Nicholas Bagnall, or
Bagnolde, or Bagenholde, late of Wolston, Warwickshire, alias of
Warwick, alias of Stafford, alias of Langforde, Derbyshire, Yeoman.
General pardon of all murders and felonies by him committed.
Westminster, 2nd March, 34 Henry VIII (1543)."

Who was this Earl of Tyrone who befriended Nicholas Bagenal,
the Outlaw ? His father was Conn M6r O'Neill, the most important
Irish Chief in Ulster, whose territory stretched from Strabane to
Dundalk. His mother was Alice, daughter of the Earl of Kildare,
Lord Deputy of Ireland. He came therefore of the two most
turbulent stocks in Ireland, the O'Neills and the Geraldines, and
well did he maintain the fame of his forbears. For years Conn
Bacach O'Neill fought with varying success against the King's
forces ; and when he was not fighting Englishmen he was busy
waging private wars against other Irish Chiefs. At last in 1542,
his country wasted with war, and incapable of supporting an army,
O'Neill made his final submission to Henry VIII. He even went
to London and received the Earldom of Tyrone, being the first
Ulster Chief who had ever accepted an English title in exchange for
the Royal name of O'Neill. This was considered in Ulster a degra-
dation. Such was the chief with whom Nicholas Bagenal sheltered
for some years, and by whose influence at a fortunate juncture he
was ultimately enabled to wipe off the stain of outlawry. It is,
however, by no means the last connexion with the O'Neills that
Nicholas had in his subsequent career, as will be seen later on. The
fate of the two families was curiously linked up in the next genera-
tion, when another Earl of Tyrone married a daughter of Nicholas,
and was the conqueror of his son Henry on the battlefield of the
Yellow Ford.

In 1544, a year after his pardon, the Privy Council in Dublin
(consisting of Lord Justice Brabazon, George, Archbishop of Dublin,
and others), sent Nicholas off to the French wars with the following
letter of commendation : — " The Lord Justice and Council of Ireland
commend the bearer, Nicholas Bagnolde, who has served in martial
affairs here for four or five years, and now for his advancement
makes suit to them to depart to serve his Majesty in France. He
is a forward gentleman, and they beg favour for him, although they
know of no private suit that he has, but only to serve in France."

8 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Whj' did the Earl of Tyrone interest himself to get a pardon for
this outlawed English refugee and " forward gentleman " 'i There
must have been substantial consideration, for in Tudor days no one
did service or conferred favours for nothing. The probabiHty is that
Nicholas fled to O'Neill's country in the first instance because it was
out of the English jurisdiction. With O'Neill he doubtless acquired
a good knowledge of the Irish language. To the authorities in
Uublm Nicholas probably soon made overtures, and thus made
friends with both j^arties in Ireland. Whatever happened, a year
after his pardon Nicholas went off to the French wars in 1544 and
stayed there three years. When he came back to Ireland he must
have brought with him a high reputation as a soldier, for he was
appouited Marshal of the Army at 4s. a day and 9d. each for
32 " hght horsemen."

The Acts of the English Privy Council show that at the end of
1550 a letter was sent to the Lord Deputy of Ireland to admit
Nicholas to the Council in Dublin, and from that time he was back
and forth to London as occasion required. Thus in 1551 there came
a letter to the Lord Deputy of Ireland requiring him " to cause
Sir Nicholas Bagenal, Sir James Allen, Oliver Sutton, and Patrick
Doodall, or as many of them as may be spared out of that realme
to be addressed hither for the better understanding of the matter
informed against Sir Anthony St. Ligier by the Archbishop of
Dublin."

On one of these occasions there is a curious note as to the methods
of travelling. The Privy Council Book mentions : — " Two placardes
to Sir Nicholas Bagenal, Knight Marshall of Ireland for VIII, and
two cartes to West Chester." The route therefore to Ireland was in
those days by the Dee. Chester had large storehouses for the
keeping of merchandise to be embarked for Ireland. All letters,
messengers and vessels passed first from Chester to Holyhead, from
whence there was a regular despatch boat which set out for Dublin
as regularly as weather permitted.

In the days of Henry VIII, Ireland was regarded as the proper
field for " forward " spirits. For centuries it had attracted adven-
turers. Many lost their lives, but some had obtained fortune and
fame in that country. The capital and the fom- counties adjoining
it, called the Pale, were held by the English power, and the- form of
a Parliament was kept up ; but outside a certain radius the rule
over the Irish was mainly the rule of individuals, and a strong hand,

SIR NICHOLAS BAGENAL, KNIGHT-MARSHAL 9

a ready tongue, a good sword, and few scruples were generally the
equipment of a successful Englishman.

In Tudor times Ulster was the most disturbed and unconquered
part of Ireland. It was almost a terra incognita. The native power
in the times of the Plantagenets had waxed strong and rebellious in
the North under the leadership of the O'Neills, while the Scots took
a hand whenever opportunity suited against the common English
foe. Here then was a great opening for the adventurer to do service
to his King and to himself by making a settlement and fighting the
Irish chiefs on their own ground. In this huge living drama, tragic
and dark as it was, Nicholas Bageual was fated to play a very
important part as a soldier for nearly fifty years , under many Viceroys
and through many vicissitudes. He lived through it all, and
wonderful to relate, died in his bed at a green old age.

Accordingly, at the age of thirty-nine the Marshal found himself
in one of the most important positions in Ireland. Some idea of the
resiDonsibilities and authority of the Marshal of the King's Army in
Ireland may be gathered from the terms of such an appointment.

He could appoint provosts, seneschals, jailers, and officers for
administering justice and for the good government of the army.
He could hold court-martials, and act as judge in a court for any
troubles or actions, civil, criminal or military, arising amongst
soldiers. He was in fact the ultimate authority in Ireland in all
mihtary affairs, with power to inflict extreme punishment and even
death.

The Marshal's salary was £73 a year. In the 16th century
money was worth at least ten times as much as it is to-day. The
allowances for the Marshal's bodyguard amounted to £410 a year,
and it is very probable the Marshal made something out of this
item also, especially in his continuous campaigns, when his soldiers
(according to the custom of the times), lived on the pillage and
plunder of the Irish enemy.

It is clear from the terms of this appointment of a Marshal
that he must have been continually in close touch with the Lord
Lieutenant and Privy Council of Ireland. War indeed was the chief
busmess of the English Government during the 16th century in
Ireland. Though Sir Nicholas had his headquarters at Newry, he
no doubt attended the Viceroys in their continual campaigns against
the Irish Clans, and in this way he must have become thoroughly
acquainted with the country. It is only necessary to read the
Annals of the Four Masters to appreciate the disturbed state of the
native chiefs themselves, or the State Papers to understand the
tremendous military difficulties of the various English Statesmen
who were sent over to try and settle the country or conquer the

10 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Irish. They naturally turned for information and advice to the
men who understood the country, geographically and politically, and
all the arts of Irish bush-fighting ; and as time went on the Marshal
of the Army must have centred in himself a vast amount of dearly-
bought knowledge and experience. In his time Sir Nicholas served
under nearly all the famous soldiers and statesmen of the Tudor
times. His first experience was under Sir Anthony St. Leger, who
was not only a soldier but a cultivated scholar and diplomatist.
He it M^as who inaugurated the new policy of Henry VIII in Ireland,
which abandoned the old efforts to govern through the heads of the
great Irish families, and aimed rather at the gradual conquest of the
island by a judicious mixture of force and conciliation. Then came
Sir Henry Sidney, father of the famous Philip Sidney, and the
Marshal, we may presume, accompanied him in that Viceroy's
successful military progress through Ireland Avhich is depicted so
graphically in Derrick's Image of Ireland. Sidney was brother-in-
law of Lord Leicester, and it was natural therefore that he should
befriend Sir Nicholas and stand godfather to his eldest son, Henry.
With the Earl of Sussex, who was Deputy when he lost his post
as Marshal, he was not likely to be so intimate, as Sussex was
opposed to the Leicester faction. But he must have met this
perfect courtier and scholar regularly at the Privy Council in Dubhn,
and also his successors in the Vice-royalty — Sir James Croft, Sir W.
Fitzwilliam, Sir W. Drury, Sir W. Pelham, Lord Grey, and Sir John
Perrott, all of whom played their part in the history of the times.

Ill

It was in 1548, the first year of Edward VI's reign, when Sir
Edward BelHngham was Viceroy of Ireland, that we first hear of
Nicholas' prowess in the Irish wars. The Pale had been for some
time disturbed by the depredations of a gang of freebooters from
Leix who had overrun the north of Carlow and the south of Kildare,
plundering and burning on all sides. Bellingham, an able soldier
and a Protestant, was sent over to Ireland Avith reinforcements to
cope with Cahir O'Connor, who had advanced on Kildare. It is in
this affair that Nicholas first distinguished himself. He fell in with
the marauders and rescued the cattle taken, though his men were
only in the proportion of one to sixteen. Cahir retreated but was
pursued to a spot surrounded by bog, which after great difficulty
the EngHsh crossed. Such was the slaughter of the Irish that
Bellingham reported to the Privy Comicil " that the oldest man in
Ireland never saw so many Avoodkerne slain in one day."

BelHngham was so celebrated for his warlike propensities that it

SIR NICHOLAS BAGENAL, KNIGHT-MARSHAL 11

is recorded in the Book of Howth that " he wore ever his harness,
and so did all those whom he liked of." It was his policy of con-
structing forts and strongholds on the border of the southern Pale,
which largely effected the revival of English supremacy in that
district. It was he who first established the fort at Leighlin Bridge,
which continued ever after so important, commanding the road from
Dublin to Kilkenny. The suppressed CarmeHte Convent at Leighlin
required little alteration and was adapted for military purposes.
Here the Lord Deputy kept a band of horse, and under this protection
the County of Carlow became by degrees a settled county. Prob-
ably it was during his campaigns in Leinster that Nicholas became
aware of the pleasant situation and desirability of the Barony of
Idrone, which he afterwards purchased from the Carews.

Towards the end of the reign of Edward VI LTlster was very
restless and disturbed owing to the intrigues of the French King
Henry II and his emissaries. It was about this time that Nicholas
began to reap the reward of his labours in the field. He received
in 1550 a lease of the Abbey lands of Newry, where he had settled,
and the terms of the deed give some recognition of his services.
[Calendar of Patent Rolls, Ireland, vol. i., p. 228-9.] It set forth
how suitable a place Newry was for the service of the King, and
how necessary to plant there a Captain with furniture of men for
the reduction to better obedience of that rude and savage district.
The Marshal had already resided some time in Newry amongst the
Irish inhabitants, and had been at great costs and charges in that
respect. The Privy Council therefore thought that in all likelihood
the Marshal's continued residence there would conduce to the
" civilitie " of the natives and their obedience to the King. Much
of the abbey lands had become waste or lapsed into the hands of the
Irish, and it was desirable to place them in better hands. Accord-
ingly, Sir Nicholas was first given a lease for twenty-one years, and
subsequently a grant of practically the town of Newry and the lands
surrounding it, the fisheries, customs, and tolls of the market, all that
in fact belonged to the late Abbot of Newry. Besides these valuable
properties and other rights and lands, he was granted tlie Lordship
of Mourne, which extended for ten miles in length and two in breadth.
Some of this land is now in the hands of Lord Kiimorey, who
is a lineal descendant of Sir Nicholas by his grand- daughter. The
grant was held by the service of the fourth part of a knight's fee,
and was dated 1552 {Cal. of Pat. Rolls, Ireland, Elizabeth, vol. ii,
p. 154).

There is also in the Acts of the Privy Council the following,
which shows the grant was not made without conditions : — " 1552.
29 March 1552, at Westminster. A letter to the Chancellors, the

12 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Augnientacioiis, to make out a booke in dewe form of the King
Majesty's Government of certain landes in Ireland to Sir Nicholas
Bagenal, Knight, in fee-simple in consideration as well that he hath
the same allready in lease from his Highness as for that allso certain
of the same hath and yet still doth remaine waste and without
manuring, taking a recognisance of iiii'' li. (£400) of the said Mr.
Bagnall in case any suche uncertaintie shall be found by the said
Chancellour as whereby the value of the said lands shall not fully
appere, that then he shall stand to such order for the same as at
any time within ii years hereafter upon more full declaration thereof
from his Majesties Counsell in Ireland shall be thought requisite."
Some further facts as to the foundation of his fortunes at Newry
are given by his son Sir Henry Bagenal in a description of Ulster which
he wrote in 1586. He says : — " The County of Down contains the
Lortlship of Newry and the Lordship of Mourne, the inheritance of
Sir N. Bagenal, who at his coming thither found them altogether
waste, and .Shane O'Neill dwelling within a mile to the Newry at a
place called Fedom, suffering no subject to travel from Dundalk
northward. But since the fortifications and buildings made thereby
by the said Sir N. Bagenal all the passages are made free and much
of the countries next adjacent reduced to reasonable civility. Evagh
is governed by Sir Hugh McEnys, the civilest of all the Irish in those
parts. He was brought by Sir N. Bagenal from the bonaghe^ of
the O'Neills to contribute to the Queen. In this place only amongst
the Irish of Ulster is the rude custom of tanistship put away. McEnys
is able to make 60 horsemen and 80 footmen. Every festival day
he wears English garments. The Captain of Kilnltoe is Cormack
McNeil, who likewise was brought by Sir N. Bagenal from the
bonaghe of the O'Neills."

It is evident from these extracts that Sir Nicholas was recognised
by the Sovereign as a pioneer of English rule in Ireland, an outpost
of the coming army of conquest. It is clear that he had considerable
influence amongst the native chiefs as well as in the court and camp
at Dublin.

Throughout the reign of Edward VI Sir Nicholas was busily
engaged in Ulster. Shane O'Neill was beginning that troublesome
career which made him a thorn in the side of England for so many
years. Sir James Croft, the Viceroy in 1551, knighted the Marshal
and sent him on a raid into Tyrone, of which the latter sent an

1 Buaniuidha — i.e., retained soldiers. Originally the tax imposed by a chief
for the support of his mercenaries.

SIR NICHOLAS BAGENAL, KNIGHT-MARSHAL 13

account to the Council in Dublin. It would seem that O'Neill made
little resistance, retiring into the woods. He afterwards came in
on parole to make a truce. It is noteworthy that at this time Sir
Nicholas was acting in concert with Matthew, Baron of Dungannon,
with whom he had been joined in commission for the purpose of re-
estabhshing order in Tyrone. At this time there was a family
quarrel amongst the O'Neills. The first Earl of Tyrone, known as
Conn Bacach (the lame) had a legitimate son, Shane, already
mentioned. But he had been cut out of the direct descent in favour
of an elder illegitimate son, Matthew, who was made the tail-male
successor to the earldom, and by patent created Baron Dungannon.
This arrangement was made b}^ Elizabeth entirely in the English
interest, so as to create divisions amongst the Clan O'Neill ; and it
was largely the origin of the internecine conflict in the family which
lasted till the end of the century. It was this Matthew's son, Hugh
O'Neill, who subsequently became the celebrated Earl of Tyrone,
and who was destined to marry Sir Nicholas' youngest daughter.

Sir Nicholas' letters to Sir James Croft, the Viceroy in the same
year, give details of a successful expedition against the Antrim
O'Neills, Avho had been assisted by some mercenaries. At this period
the Baron of Dungamion was looked upon as on the side of the
English. Croft in one of his letters to London recommends that
pending the appointment of a new Archbishop of Armagh the locum
tenens should live at Armagh, where " he would be most useful to
Bagenal and the Baron of Dungannon."

Nicholas had to fight hard for the preservation of his new estate.
All the native chiefs were against him, and he was in a continual
state of private war with his neighbours at Newry, especially O'Neill
of Clanaboy, as well as in general combat with the Tyrone O'Neills
and the Scots on behalf of the Government. Not the least part of
his work was in making Newry a stronghold for the English. From
an early period it had from its position near the sea been a place of
consequence ; and landward it was a principal pass leading through
the bogs and mountains between Dimdalk and the North. The
Marslial probably lived at first in tlie Abbot's house, which was
situated in Castle Street ; part of the building existed in the beginning
of the 19th century. He subsequently built a castle called Green-
castle, and it was here he brought his Welsh wife and raised a large
family, most of whose descendants intermarried with leading Anglo-
Irish families, and became entangled in the Irish Civil Wars of the
17th century.

Queen Mary came to the throne in 1553. The Marshal's elder
brother, Sir Ralph Bagenal, took a very bold stand in the English
Parliament against the Pope's supremacy, and suffered from it in

14 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUAETES OF IRELAND

purse and person. The religious opinions of the Marshal do not
appear to have been so advanced. Like most officials of the Tudor
times he probably adopted the particular form of religion which the
reigning King or Queen professed. As a matter of history there was
not much trouble in Ireland in these earlier days on the score of
rehgious principles. The Reformation had touched the property of
the Church, but not the reUgion of the people. Even when Mary
became Queen there was no disturbance. The supremacy of the
Sovereign Avas not touched, nor was even^the property of the con-
fiscated monasteries restored : if they had been, Sir Nicholas would
have lost his recently-acquired abbey lands in Newry. As it was
he lost his post of Marshal. Sir George Stanley superseded him,
and there is evidence that Nicholas shared some of the suspicion
which had been mcurred so openly by his brother. The following
letter in the Acts of the Privy Council, dated 19 April, 1555, indicates
this : —

" A letter to the Deputy of Ireland, the Lord Chancellor there,
Sir W. Fitzwilliam, Sir E. Rouse, and the rest of the Coimsayll there,
that whereas Sir N. and Sir R. Bagnall are commanded to repair
Avith the realm to make perfect all reconnyges concernmg themselves
and their late retynues, they fearing so to do without some protection
of their persons from any private malice, the said Deputy and the
rest are requested to see them indifferently handled according to
justice, and that they may quietly tarry there without private dis-
pleasure, and also the said Sir W. Fitz William and Sir Ed. Rouse are
required to join with Justice Bathe and to examine their causes and in
case they shall find matter to charge them with then, to take sufficient
sureties of them to answer the law and to signify their doings herem,
or otherwise so to declare them."

Sir Ralph repaired to France instead of Ireland : but Sir Nicholas
who had probably in Mary's accession gone immediately to London,
seems to have settled first suspicions by entering with substantial
recognizances for his future loyalty to the new Queen. In the
following year the following minute appears in the Acts of the Privy
Council : —

" Nicholas Bagnoll de Stoke sapra Trent in comitatu Stafford,
miles, recognavit se detere serempeniis dominis regi et regne mille
Jibras.

" The condition of this recognizance is such that of the above
bounden Six Nicholas Bagnoll {sic) Kt after his arrival in the realm
of Ireland do from time to time upon ten days' warning not only
exhibit and present himself so long as he remaineth there imto the
Lord Fitzwaters, now Deputy of that realm, but also give liis con-

SIR NICHOLAS BAGENAL, KNIGHT-MARSHAL L5

tinual attendance upon him during the time he shall commande
him so to do, and being on this side and seas here jvithin the realm
do likewise from time to time give the like attendence upon the
Lords of the Privy Council having the like admonition of ten days
warning from their Lordships thereunto that then this present
obligation to be void and of none effect, or else to stand and abide
in his full force and virtue. S. James. 7 May, 1556."

Sir Nicholas must have kept up his connection with Staffordshire
during Elizabeth's reign, for he was returned a member for Stoke-
upon-Trent in 1558. When his brother Sir Ralph Bagenal, was
obliged to fly the country in Queen Mary's reign, he assigned his
property in Staffordshire to Sir Nicholas, which no doubt accounts
for his being elected Knight of the Shire.

When Queen Elizabeth came to the Throne in 1559, Sir Nicholas,
contrary to his hopes, was not at first restored to his old post of
Marshal, in which Sir George Stanley was continued. The ex-
Marshal had to be content with a mere Captaincy. The ill-success of
Stanley's military and political career under the Viceroyalty of the
Earl of Sussex for the next five years may have consoled him. It
certainly was very pronounced. Shane O'Neill became more and
more rebelhous and refractory, and the failure of Sussex to conquer
Ulster or to keep the rest of Ireland quiet at last ended in his recall.
He was succeeded by Sir Henry Sidney, under whom Sir Nicholas
had served in a former Viceroyalty. Sidney was a friend of the
Earl of Leicester, who had always been a patron of Bagenal, so
together with the recommendation of the Lord Justice, Sir N.
Arnold, it is not surprising to find the Queen reappointing him to
the office of Marshal.

This change for the better was badly wanted, for it would seem
as though things had not been going well with the Knight Marshal
in Newry. His Irish neighbours close by, the Maginnis and the
O'Neills, little liked his power and property, which afiEected them
nearly. After his marriage he, perhaps, wished himself back m
Wales, where he could settle more comfortably on his wife's estates.
At all events a letter from Dublin was received by Cecil, dated the
23rd April, 1562, in which Sir Nicholas complains that " Shane
O'Neill's followers have greatly spoiled his lands and tenants.
When he had office and credit his lands were worth more than £10
per acre, and now they are altogether wasted. He desires to part
with them to the Queen in exchange for lands in England,"

16 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

For the next six years, L565-1571, Sir Nicholas served under
Sir Henry Sidaey in his long and unresting campaigns against
Shane O'Neill, who was finally killed by the Scots in 1567. Sidney
then turned his attention to Munster, which he overran with com-
parative ease, marching from Clonmel to Cork and Limerick. Before
he resigned his post he had travelled nearly every part of the country,
and had restored the sovereignty of England to something like a
reality. In one of his letters to Cecil in 1569, deploring the trials
and pains of a Viceroy and the lack of men of mark he says,
" I have not a man of the Council of any action or effect but Cnsack
and Bagenal."

No doubt Sir Nicholas had suffered severely in pocket by the
loss of his post as Marshal for so many years. He was in embarrassed
circumstances, and to this fact may be attributed his curious con-
nection with the notorious Thomas Stukely. The strange adventures
of this Devonshire gentleman were in everybody's mouth in court
and camp at this time. He posed as an empire builder and colonist.
He was in reality a spendthrift, a rogue, and a pirate. He had all
the audacious characteristics without any of the success of the
Elizabethan sea-rovers. He imposed upon everybody at home and
abroad except Elizabeth, whose instincts detected the traitorous
braggart and gilded villain. Stukely came to Ireland, where in spite
of being caught redhanded in piracy he captivated both the Lord
Justice Arnold and Shane O'Neill, who used him as a go-between
in his relations with Dublin Castle. Amongst other feats that he
attempted was to become Marshal of the Queen's army in Ireland.
Finding Sir Nicholas in low water and discontented with his
prospects, he persuaded him to sell him his office of Marshal and
his lands in Ireland for £3,000. Sidney was inclined to sanction
the bargain, no doubt desiring to help his friend the Marshal. But
in England there was great opposition from Cecil ; and the Queen,
who had seen through the adventurer's character, railed at him in
good set terms, would not hear of the appointment, and ordered him
home to answer the charges of piracy made against him in the
Admiralty Court. Stukely, it is needless to say, would not face the
lioness, and went to Spain and offered his services to Philip, who
used him as one of his instruments against England. After an
extraordinary career, Stukely ended his life in the battlefield in a
raid in Morocco.

In 1576 the noblemen and gentry of the Pale began to agitate
against the cesse, claiming that it was illegal, and that they shoiild
be discharged from its imposition. Holinshed gives the following
account of an episode arising out of the agitation : — '' Cesse was a
prerogative of the prince to impose upon the country a certain

SIR NICHOLAS BAGENAL, KNIGHT-MARSHAL 17

proportion of all kind of vittels for men and horse, to be delivered
at a reasonable price called the Queen's price, to all and every such
soldiers as she is contented to be at charge with all, and so much as
is thought competent for the Lord Deputy's house ; and which
price is to be yearly rated and assessed by the Lord Deputy and the
Council with the assistance and assent of the nobility of the country,
at such rates and prices as the souldiers may live of his wages and
the said Deputy of his entertainment." Holinshed goes on to say : —
" The Viscount Baltinglass of the chief impugners and malcontents
against the cesse wrote his letters to the Earl of Ormonde, then
attendant at the Court of England, and complaineth of great
injuries and spoils to the value of £200 in monie, besides numbers
of sheep and kine done upon him and his tenants by the Enghsh
soldiers under Sir N. Bagenal Kt. Marshall, when they were lodged
one night in his house at Baltinglass in the time that they served
upon the rebel Rory Oge."

These letters were submitted to the Queen, and Sir N. Bagenal
was called upon to answer such '' hurts " as were objected against
him. Sir Luke Dillon and Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam were appointed
a Commission to examine into the matter. The result was that Sir
N. Bagenal was acqiiitted of any responsibility for the damages
done, having " given great charge to every Captain to foresee that
no injury should be offered, no spoils committed, nor an3^hing to
be taken by any soldier or other person without present payment,
protesting, and proclaiming execution according to Martial Law
upon such as should do the contrarie.'"

The Lords of the Council considered the question very fully,
and came to the conclusion that " the surmises (of the Lord
Baltinglass) were made rather to aggravate his grief conceived
against the imposition of the Cesse than for any good matter in
truth."!

The following letter from the Privy Council in London, 1576,
gives the best evidence of the influence wielded by Sir Nicholas
with the Irish Chiefs in Ulster : —

•'A letter to Tirloughe Lenoughe that whereas their Lordships are
informed by Sir Nicholas Bagnall Knight Marshall of Ireland that
whatsoever hath passed heretofore he is now very well inclined and
effected to obedience and dutie towards her Majestic for the which
as their Lordships are very glad and do wish the continuance thereof,
so they have thought good first to let him understand how much he
is beholding with the same Sir Nicholas Bagenal for the good report
he hath made of him here and to signifie unto him that if he shall

1 Uolinshed's Chronicles, vol. vi.

IS ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

perform the duty as a good and faithful subject unto Her Majesty
according to the said good report and their Lordships expectations
thereupon had of him they shall be readie by all good offices not
only to continue Her Majestie's good opinion presently conceaved
but also by all other good means to augment lier Highness favour
and good liking of him. And as the said Sir Nicholas Bagnall hath
friended him here by such good speeches as he hath delivered both
Unto Her Majesty and unto their Lordships in his behalf so shall he
do well to follow his advice and direction concerning his demeanure
and duty towards Her Majestie's deputy there, whom he is to obey
in all matters touching Her Majesty service." {Acts of the Privy
Council, 3 Feb., 1576.)

The admirable state of the Bagenal property is reported by Sir
Henry Sidney, who visited Newry in November, 1575, in his progress
through Ulster. " I found," he writes, " such good pohcy and order
in the country where the Marshall dwelleth, his lands so well manured,
his tenants so well cherished, and maintained, the town so well
planted with inhabitants, and increased in beauty and building as
he is much to be commended as well that he useth his tenants to
live so wealthily under him, and his own bounty, and large hospitality
and housekeeping, so able and willing to give entertainment to so
many and chiefly to all those that have occasion to travel to and fro
northwards, his house lying in the open highway to their passage." ^
{Collins' Sidney Papers, vol. i, 75, where are other references.)

From the day of his first appointment as Marshal Nicholas seems
to have been the one indispensable man to the Government of the
country in the affairs of Ireland. Viceroys came and went, but the
Knight Marshal remained always in office, the trusted servant of
every Tudor Sovereign until his death.

His experience in the Irish frontier fighting of the day was no
doubt unrivalled, and his knowledge of and acquaintance with the
various septs and chiefs of the native Irish and of their language,
must have been invaluable to the Council in London. With
Burleigh and Sir Robert Cecil he was in regular communication,
and in the State Papers are to be found frequent mention of his
visits to England when detailed information was required in difficult
crises.

With the various Deputies under whom he served he was on
intimate terms, but especially with Sir Henry Sidney. In 1578,

^ In this progress Sir H. Sidney was accompanied by the Marshall, the Barons
of Louth and Dungannon, Sir E. Fitton, Sir L. Dillon, The Chief Baron, John
Chaloner, Secretar\-, and Jaques AYingfield. The military escort which accom-
panied the Viceroy on this occasion consisted of " 400 footmen and 200 horse of
the Forces of Her Majesty's army."

SIR NICHOLAS BAGENAL, KNIGHT-MARSHAL 10

when Sir Henry was deeply engaged in dealing with " the insolvency
of the rebels, the O'Moores and O'Connors on the borders of the
King's Co.," he was obliged to leave the country. He at once sent
for Sir Nicholas " to take charge of the service in my absence for
the prosecution of the rebel, making him my lieutenant of Leinster
and Meath."

A letter from Sir Nicholas to Lord Leicester is interesting for its
picture of Ulster in 1566 and an accurate diagnosis of Shane O'Neill's
character. He says he never " knew the country so out of order.
Robbing, stealing, and killing went on throughout the English Pale.
The countries of the Walshes, Byrnes, and Tooles, within four miles
of Dublin were robbing each other. Shane O'Neill had now all the
countries from Sligo to Carrickfergus, and from thence to Carlingford,
and from Carlingford to Drogheda. The Deputy had done all he
could to bring Shane to quietness. But in the Marshal's opinion
Shane would never come to any Governor, for " he has won all by
the sword and so will keep it."

Nor was it alone the O'Neills country that was so wild and
lawless. East Breny, the modern Cavan, Sir Nicholas once described
as "a territory where never writ was current ; " which it was
" almost sacrilege to look into."

The best testimony to the value of Sir Nicholas' service to the
State is the letter which he bore to London in 1576 from Sir Henry
Sidney, It set out the good cause the Privy Council had to " like
well of him," and with what great dexterity, care, and good en
deavour " he had executed their commands. Besides being a
" great stay " in Newry he was also praised for being " a bountiful
housekeeper and a ready willing host." ^ They also recognized
his enlargement of the town and the bestowal of his substance in
building. In short the Council found that such a " necessary
councillor and servant " could not long be spared from Ireland, and
they begged the London Privy Council to grant him his particular
suits and dispatch him back as speedily as possible.

In connection with the Marshal's enlargement of the town of
Newry it is proper here to mention the offer which he and his son
Henry made to Queen Elizabeth " for making a walled town in
Ulster." In 1586 they undertook within seven years to build a
wall of a mile or more in compass about the town of Newry. The
wall was to be 16 foot high beside the battlement and 5 foot in
thickness, with towers, gates and flankers. The estimated cost
was £5,000. They also offered to erect a schoolhouse " where all

1 The English Privy Council asked the Marshal to lend his house at Newrj'
to the Earl of Essex for the winter, " thearle contenting him and his tenants for
all things that he shall take."

20 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

the youth of the Province may be educated in civihtie and learning,"
and endow the school with the tithes of a lordship and provide a
preacher to " plant rehgion." In return the Marshal and his son
asked for the assignment to them of the beeves and other impositions
laid by the Government upon the McEnnis and McMahon septs
who lived near by. They also bargained to have the same position
and power in Ulster as Sir R. Bingham had in Comiacht, and that
there should always be a garrison of 100 soldiers in Newry paid by
the Government. The proposal was not entertained by the Council
in London. Had it been carried out, the walled town of Newry
would have anticipated Londonderry by a generation. ^

Next year Sir Henry was summoned to London. In writing to
the Privy Council he says he had summoned Sir Nicholas to take
charge of the Service in his absence for the prosecution of the
rebels, making him Lieutenant of Leinster and Munster.

Writing again in April, 1578, giving a survey of the general
situation in Ireland, he says of Ulster : " Amongst your Majesty's
servants the best instrument for the border is the Marshall, Sir
Nicholas Bagenal, who till of late, that I your Deputy employed him
in your service in Leinster, where he hath done your Majesty's good
and very acceptable service, did remain upon his own lands, and
was the only countenance of the Northern border."

Once again in 1580 Sir Henry in a letter to Lord Grey, his suc-
cessor from London, he recommends several men to his especial
consideration. After mentioning the Baron of Upper Ossory, Sir
Lucas Dillon, Sir Nicholas Malby, and Sir Harry Harrington, he
says : — " It is not for lack of love that I place not aright your
Marshall there Sir N. Bagenal, whom I have ever found a faithful
constant friend and serviceable and most fast and assured to that
family wherewith I am matched and with which your Lordship is
allied. His son my Godson and Knight (Sir Henry Bagenal) I
recommend unto your Lordship."

It is interesting also to find that Sir Philip Sidney, the celebrated
son of Sir Henry, had a word for the old Marshal. Writing from
the Court at London on 28th April, 1578, to Edward Waterhouse,
Secretary of Ireland, he winds up as follows : — " Commend me to
my Lord President, to the noble Sir Nicholas (Malby) whom I bear
special good will to ; to my cousin Harry Harrington whom I long
to see in health ; Sir Nicholas Bagenal ; Mr. Agarde's daughter, my
cousin Spikeman for your sake, and whosoever is Mayor of Dublin
for my sake."

There is a curious allusion to Sir Nicholas in the Sidney Papers,

^ 8pe Ordnance Survey Correspondence for Co. Down. R. I. Academy.

SIR NICHOLAS BAGENAL, KNIGHT-MARSHAL 21

whicli illustrates his iiitiuencej in the appointment of the day.
Writing to the Viceroy upon the necessity of his coming to London,
Sir Henry Ratcliffe says : — " I assuredly perceive that till your own
coming and purgation things will not be perfectly sound for though
the depth of suspicion may be removed, yet all jealousy is not put
away ; and though the wound doth seem to be cured, yet I am
feared the scar doth remain which not thoroughly healed may
perhaps break out hereafter."

Then comes as a postscript : — " My lady of Hunsdon did require
me to write unto your Lordship that she did not see her husband
or sons should be regarded here if they were not considered there.
Here be askers enough, and as I think nothing worth the having un-
required, I remember the saying used to Mr. Bagnoll in the North
of Ireland ' keep for me, Nicholas." "

The meaning is not very clear, but it probably indicates that the
Marshal had opportunities to serve his friends, and that he was not
to give away everything without considering them in advance.

In 1585 Queen Elizabeth summoned through her Viceroy Sir
John Perrott a Parliament in Ireland. It consisted of 26 Spiritual
Lords, 26 Temporal Lords, 54 Knights of the Shire. Four cities
were represented by 8 members, and 32 boroughs by 64 members.
In the Parliament Sir Nicholas, together with Sir Hugh McGennis,
were Knights of the Shire for the County Down.

On the death of Shane O'Neill in 1567 an act of attainder was
passed and the country of Tyrone was declared forfeit. Tir lough
Leinagh O'Neill, Shane's nephew, who by the law of Tanistry had
been elected by the tribe to the headship, was permitted by Elizabeth
to occupy this position.

A Commission was formed in 1570 with instructions for " a parle
to be had with Tirilough Lenagh (as the document ran), at Newry to
make some peaceful settlement." The Privy Council in Dublin " for
the great trust and confidence that we rejjose in the wisdom dis-
discretion and assured fidelity of you Sir Nicholas Bagenal Marshall
of Her Majesty's army within this realm of Ireland, Sir Thomas
Cusack, knight, one of Her Majesty's privy Council, Sir James
Dowdall, 2nd justice of Her Majesty's bench, Terence Daniel, Clerk,
dean of Armagh, and Sir John Bedlo, Knight," appointed these
persons " to meet, treat and talk " with Tirlough, giving them full
power to hear and determine all causes in controversy, and order
restitution and amends to all parties aggrieved. The private in-

22 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

structions to the Commission are too lengthy to give here, but they
are an excellent example of the Tudor diplomacy ending as f oUows : —
" Finally if you find him conformable embrace it at your discretions,
if not get as long a time of truce as you can and return in peace."

The new O'Neill submitted, but in a letter to Lord Leicester Sir
Nicholas discoimts his submission by saying " this peace can be of
no better assurance than other ratifications have been." In fact to
keep the peace the Marshal had been retamed in Newry instead of
accompanying the Viceroy, Sir William Pelham, to Munster on his
raid against John Desmond. Sir William seems to have appreciated
Sir Nicholas, for the latter says : — " For your Honour's sake he so
friendly entreated me that I cannot but beseech your Lordships to
give thanks on my behaK for his said courtesy, but also to crave
humbly that yom" Honour will not forget but to commend me to the
Lord Deputy to be protected with his best favour for your sake." ^
There is the true Tudor touch m this appeal for court influence.
Sir Nicholas evidently knew by experience that a man who grants
one favour will generally grant another

Tirlough Lemagh however did not trouble the Dublin Privy
Council much longer. He was then advanced in years, and died
shortly after the successful " parle." Thenceforward Hugh O'Neill,
2nd Earl of Tyrone, fills the canvas of Ulster, proving himself the
last and most dangerous enemy of the English rule in Ireland.

VII

At the close of his long career in Ireland Sir Nicholas became
embroiled with Sir John Perrott, the Queen's Deputy, one of the
most remarkable personages of the day, but a man of ungovernable
temper. There were factions in the Privy Council and bitter
quarrels and recriminations, in which the Chancellor Loftus and the
Marshal generally opposed the Deputy. Things at last grew so bad
that a personal colhsion took place between Perrott and the Marshal.
A curious and interesting account of this incident is given by Sir N.
White, the Master of the Rolls, in a letter to Lord Burghley (see
Calendar of State Papers, Ireland, 1586-1588, p. 360).

The Lord Deputy was lodging at the time at St. Mary's Abbey
on the left bank of the Liffey opposite the Castle. It would appear
that a dispute had arisen between the Marshal and the Deputy
concerning one Patrick Cullan, who had taken a letter of complaint
against the Deputy from Turlough O'Neill to Queen EUzabeth.

1 Sidney Papers.

SIR NICHOLAS BAGENAL, KNIGHT-MARSHAL 23

The Deputy sent for four of the Privy Council, including Sir N.
White to examine Cullan at his lodgings. The Councillors came,
but evidently did not like the job, and suggested to the Deputy that
to allay any suspicion it would be better to examine the matter in
the Council Chamber. Meanwhile, Sir Nicholas Bagenal had got
wind of the business, and came across the river to the Deputy's
lodgings. When his arrival was announced the Deputy sent word : —
" Let him stay awhile and I will speak with him." The Marshal,
however, immediately entered the chamber and a warm coUoquj^
ensued. The Marshal said that the Deputy should not be present
at the examination, and declared he " mistrusted there would be
false measure used." Perrott was an exceedingly choleric man, and
repelled the accusation by a defiance. The Marshal answered with
equal heat and defiance. The Deputy then rose and went towards
the Marshal and " had some clasping " with him, at the same time
saying if any other man had defied him he should hang him. Sir
Nicholas greatly enraged raised his staff , when the other Privy Council-
lors intervened, there was a struggle and the Marshal fell down. On
rising recriminations were renewed and each of the principals gave
the other the lie. The Deputy called the Marshal a dotard, winding
up with " a man would think you were drunk." " Nay you
are drunk," quoth the Marshal, and so the unedifying affair
ended.

A man of Sir Nicholas' temperament was not likely to sit down
under this attack of Sir John Perrott, Lord Deputy though he was,
and accordingly he immediately indited a letter to his old friend Lord
Leicester. The Marshal said the dispute was occasioned through some
hard dealings of the Lord Deputy towards his son Sir Henry Bagenal.
He described the Deputy as entering into most outrageous fury and
" forgetting both his own place and my old years, not contented to
have used me with unworthy and barbarous terms, laid violent
hands upon me ; he arose from the place where he sat, struck me
with his hand, and beat me down to the ground ; and had not Mr.
Justice Gardener and Mr. Secretary Fenton been there present God
knoweth how it had further fared with me. Oh ! That I live to
endure this wrong, and that his place doth free him from my revenge.
Tho' I am nearly fourscore years of age, yet I protest in the presence
of the hving God and as I look for salvation by the shedding of the
blood of Christ Jesus, that neither loss of goods, lands, or life, but
only and solely the regard of Her Highness' honour, which I hold
more dear than life itself, doth contain me, but that I would take
due revenge in his blood for this villainy, though it were to my own
overthrow, and the utter ruin and destruction of my whole posterity.
I therefore crave at Her Majesty's gracious hands and your Honours'

24 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIE.S OF IRELAND

of Her Council that my poor credit may not thus be defaced without
due and convenient revenge. DubHn, 16th May, 1587." ^

It would be impossible for any contemporary to have better
described the Marshal's character than does this letter. All the
old man's impetuosity, rage and desire to give blow for blow are
written in every line of it. There is something terrible in the
violence of his imprecations and the eagerness to sacrifice everjiihing
for the gratification of wiping out the insult which had been placed
upon him. How the affair was composed is not related. But
Perrott shortly afterwards was recalled to England in disgrace, and
died on the scaffold. Whoever mourned liis fate we may be sure
the Marshal was not amongst the number.

At last the old Marshal grew so infirm that he could neither walk
nor ride, and so three years after the broil he sealed and delivered
his resignation into the hands of Sir Patrick Barnewall (his son-in-
law) in the 32nd year of the reign of the queen. Her Majesty
graciously accepted the resignation, making it clear that the Marshal
resigned only on account of age and infirmity, though not of mind
or body, and had become unable to execute his office according to
his own desire. She appointed his son. Sir Henry, to the office and
also to the office of one of the Privy Council. (August 25, 1590.)

Sir Nicholas died in 1590 at Newry Castle, and was buried in the
Church which he had built. His name and arms are to be seen to-day
graven in stone on the Church tower with the following inscription : —
" This stone was taken from the South Wall of the belfry on repairing
this Church and placed here by order of Francis, Earl of Kilmorey,
Lord of the Exempt Jurisdiction of Newry the 18 June 1830."
Lord Kilmorey inherited his Irish Estates through the grand-
daughter of Sir Nicholas, co-heiress of his Irish property.

For fifty years Sir Nicholas had been the military right-hand of
the Irish Privy Council in the North. His knowledge of the native
chiefs and of the country must have been wide and varied. He was
continually in Dublin, and his name appears very frequently signing
orders and attending the meetings of the Privy Council which were
held in various towns. All the accounts of the man show him to
have been of an eager, quick, impetuous temperament, with a strong
masterful mind, and by no means guileless. His life began with a
brawl in a tavern with some " light persons," and almost the last
thing we hear of him is that he was " embroiled " almost to blows
with Sir John Perrott the Viceroy.

Sir Nicholas married in 1556 Eleanora, third daughter and co-
heiress of Sir Edward Griffith, of Penrhyn, North Wales, whose

^ Vul. Stale Papers. Uuraw Fapers.

SIR NICHOLAS BAGENAL, KNIGHT-MARSHAL 25

father was Chamberlain of North Wales, and lineally descended
from Ednyfed Fychan.^ In right of his wife Nicholas became seated
at Plas Newydd, near Bangor, and owner of considerable estates in
Wales, which descended through one of his grand-daughters to the
present Marquis of Anglesey. He had a large family, of whom two
sons and six daughters survived and married. His eldest son, Henry,
adopted the profession of arms, was knighted, and succeeded his
father in the office of Marshall. Henry's only son, Arthur, left no
heir, and his estates descended to his two daughters. Dudley, Sir
Nicholas' second son (the name evidently adopted in honour of Lord
Leicester), met a violent death at the hands of the Kavanaghs, a
powerful sept, in County Carlow, after he had entered into pos-
session of the Barony of Idrone, which his father had purchased for
him from Sir Peter Carew. Dudley's descendants suffered in life
and property from their attachment to the Stuarts and the Roman
Cathohc religion in which they were brought up.^ The eldest
daughter, Frances, married Sir Oliver Plunket, Lord of Louth.
Mary married Sir Patrick Barnewall, of Grace Dieu. Margaret
married Sir Christopher Plunket, of Dunshoghly, " an eminent and
gracious lawyer." All these men took an active part in the politics
of their generation. A fourth daughter, Ann, married Sir Dudley
Loftus, son and heir to Archbishop Adam Loftus, Lord Chancellor
of Ireland, from his official position, a strong Protestant and a very
important and influential personage. Mabel, the youngest, married
under the most romantic circumstances the celebrated Hugh O'Neill,
Earl of Tyrone, the last and greatest of the Irish native chieftains,
concerning . which a very interesting chapter could be written.
Only one daughter, Isabel, married an Enghshman — viz.. Sir Edward
Kynaston, of Oteley, Salop. It will be seen therefore that as far as
his daughters were concerned Sir Nicholas Bagenal's position as
Marshal and Privy Councillor secured good matrimonial alliances.
These intermarriages with the -Roman Cathohc gentry ultimately
affected the pohtical fortunes of Sir Nicholas's descendants pro-
foundly. Unlike his brother Ralph, Nicholas does not seem to

1 ill Giiiist unurcli (JatJiedial, UubliJi, is lo be seen on the iNortli Wall oi the
transept the following monumental inscription : —

Sir Edward Griffith. | Ob A.D. 1632. | The remains of Edward Griffith of
Penrin in the Co. of Carnarvon, Esq., son and heir to Sir | William Griffith, Knight,
who arrived in this land | 28th day of Sept. 1631 and died on the ] 12 March
following, one of the Privy Counsellors, and Captain of two hundred and fifty
foot-men : ] erected by Sir Nicholas Bagnol, Knight Marshall | of this realm, who
married Ellen, one ] of his daughters and co-heirs, and now renewed by | Sir Henry
Bagnol, Knight, son and heir to the said j Sir Nicholas and Dame Ellen.

2 His grandson, Walter Bagenal, sufPered death in 1653 in Kilkenny at the
hands of a High Commissioner which sat to try participators in the Rebellion
uf 1641.

26 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

have been a very ardent Protestant, and was probably quite content
to see his daughters well matched to men of good property of old
English descent, who had held to the religion of their forbears.

In Archdeologia Cambrensis, third series, vol. 14, page 97, is an
article on " Berw in the township of Porthamel and the Hollands,"
containing references to the Bagenals connection with Anglesea,
where in right of his wife Sir Nicholas Bagenal had large estates.

Plate I]

[To face page 27

PROCESSIONAL CROSS (FRONT)
Found at Sheephouse, Co. Meath

( 27 )

PROCESSIONAL CROSS, PRICKET-CANDLESTICK, AND

BELL, FOUND TOGETHER AT SHEEPHOUSE,

NEAR OLDBRIDGE, CO. MEATH

By E. C. R. Armstrong, Vice-President

[Read 26 January 1915]

The Royal Irislij Academy is the fortunate possessor of a very
fine processional cross which, together with a pricket -candlestick
and a small hand-bell of bronze, was discovered in 1899 by John
Farrell, resting on the rock, covered by some stones, a few feet from
the surface of the ground in a quarry at Sheephouse, near Oldbridge,
Co. Meath The objects were purchased by the Academy from the
finder shortly after their discovery, but have had to await the
publication they so well deserve until the present occasion.

Oldbridge, as will be seen on consulting a map, is only a short
distance (some two miles as the crow flies) from Meliifont, and the
writer is tempted to conjecture that the processional cross, candle-
stick and bell may have formerly belonged to the celebrated
monastery at the latter place, and have been buried by some person
at or soon after the period of its dissolution.

It is unfortiuiate that no detailed inventory of the chattels of
the Abbey of Meliifont at the time it was dissolved are available,
as is the case in so many of the English communities^ ; but in an
account presented before Commissioners under a commission bearing
date 16th August, 32 Henry VIII,^ the vases, jewels, ornaments
of silver, bells, utensils, fm:niture, other goods, and the arrears of
rent of the late Monastery of MeUifont were returned as worth
£110 7s. 3d. The monastery therefore must at that time have been
in possession of jewels, plate, &c., of considerable value, and it seems
at least a plausible theory that the cross, candlestick and bell were
part of the furniture of the Abbey church, and were removed in the
troubled times of the dissolution of the rehgious houses and buried
in the ground with a view to their subsequent recovery. Possibly
the person who deposited them never had an opportunity of dis-
interring them, so that the secret of their burial place became lost.

1 For some particulars of English communities, see Archaeologia, vol. xliii,
p. 201. 16th August, 32 Henry VIII

2 Monastery Account Boll, Chattels, 1539-40 (Public Record Office, 6 G. 12.3).
The writer is indebted to Mr. M. J. McEnery, Deputy Keeper of the Records, for
assistance in the examination of this Roll.

28 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

At the same time no one is more conscious than the writer that
the connexion of the objects found at Sheei^house with Mellifont
is at present only a matter of bare probabihty, and he has no wish
to press the point in any way.^

The various objects comprising the find may now be described
in detail.

The cross, the surface of which is a good deal patinated, is of
bronze or latten, gilt, and was made in two parts, an upper portion
and a socket, the former being furnished with a tang 2| inches in
length, which fits into the latter ; the whole cross having a length
of 2 feet 1| inches, while the span of the arms is 12| inches. The
upper portion of the cross has a strip of copper with a diamond
pattern in dark blue enamel along the centre of each limb,
reaching as far as the circle at each extremity. The figure of our
Lord was riveted to the cross over this strip, and the circles at the
extremities were filled with plates of bronze, to which were attached
open-work symbols of the four evangelists. The Saviour wears a
loin-cloth, and His head is encircled with a crown of thorns. An
ornamental nimbus is affixed to the back of the head by means of
a pin (cast as a portion of the head) which reaches to the cross. This
nimbus is now very loose and a good deal bent. The symbols of
the four evangelists occupy the places on the cross determined by
ecclesiastical usage — that is to say, the eagle for St. John is on the
upper limb, and the winged man for St. Matthew at the foot, the
winged lion of St. Mark is placed on the right arm, and the winged
calf for St. Luke on the left. They are cut out of pieces of bronze
about 1| inches in diameter and affixed to plates filling the circles
as mentioned above. Examination of the illustration will show
that each is provided with a scroll, but upon these, instead of the
names of the symbols, are strokes simulating letters. (Plate I).

On the back of the cross the limbs are divided by raised lines
into three panels, the centre being filled with an incised diamond
pattern which at the junction of the limbs takes the shape of a
four-leaved conventional flower-hke form. The outer panels are
plain. The discs in the circles, to which the symbols of the
evangelists are fixed, are ornamented with a conventional representa-
tion of a flower, like a large daisy (Plate II).

The socket, which measures 9| inches in length, and whose
mouth has a diameter of 1|- inches, was made in three parts, an upper
and a lower portion, which are fixed into a decorated knop. The

1 There is in the collection of the Hoyal Irish Academy m the National Museum
the stem and foot of a monstrance or chahce of copper, gilt, which is probably of
early sixteenth century date, and is stated to have been found at Mellifont.

Plate II]

[To face page 28

PROCESSIONAL CROSS (BACK)
Found at Sheephouse, Co. Meath

PROCESSIONAL CROSS FOUND AT SHEEPHOUSE 29

upper portion contains a small socket on each side, no doubt to
hold branches ending in a figure of the Virgin on the right side and
St. John on the left ; the crocketing is also continued on it, and it is
ornamented on the front with an incised rope pattern, and on the
back with a diamond form which is continued up the back of the
upper portion of the cross. The moulded knop is of a type common
in the stems of chalices and the sockets of crosses in the late mediaeval
period. It is formed with six lobes, ending in lozenges, enclosino-
quatrefoils which may very possibly have been enamelled. Between
the lobes above and below are compartments ornamented with
incised long leaf -like figures. The lower portion of the socket is
decorated with a linear pattern of broad bands crossing one another,
the triangular spaces in between being filled with sal tires.

The Academy's cross should be compared with an almost exactly
similar one of about the same date, the property of the Society of
Antiquaries of London, which is made of latten, originally parcel-
gilt ; in this case the side branches for the Virgin and St. John are
also missing : but preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum is
the socket of a similar cross containing the side branches with the
figures, lacking the upper portion of the cross. Both these are
figured in English Church Furniture, 2nd ed. (Cox & Harvey), on
plate facing p. 54, The whole find should also be compared with
the very interesting set of latten objects of early sixteenth
century date discovered in 1913 concealed in St. Laurence's Church,
Guernsey. These consist of a processional cross and base, part of a
censer, two standing candlesticks, part of a triple candlestick
intended to be set in a socket, four branches, and a loose bowl and
pricket. They are illustrated and described in the Proceedings of
the Society of Antiquaries of London, second series, vol. xxvi, p. 3.

Until the end of the fifteenth century there was no difference
between the altar cross and the processional cross. The same cross
fulfilled both purposes, being furnished with a socket, as in the
present example, so that it could be mounted on a staff for pro-
cessions, or placed upon a base for an altar cross.i In the Warwick
Pageant, which may be dated between 1485 and 1490, Plate xxvi
shows a representation of Earl Richard kissing a precious cross
which is socketed so that it could be mounted on a staff as a pro-
cessional cross, or fixed on to a foot when placed uj)on the altar.^
A very interesting example of a foot of latten, gilt, of late fifteenth
or early sixteenth century date, belonging to the parish church of

^ Reusens, Elements d'archSologie chrdtienne vol. i, p. 485.
2 Pageant of the Birth, Life and Deathjtf Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick,
K.G. Edited by Viscount Dillon and Sir W. H, St. John Hope. 1914.

30 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

vStoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, upon which a cross coukl be set on
the altar, after its removal from the staff upon which it had been
carried during the procession, is figured in the Proceedings of the
Society of Antiquaries of London, second series, vol. xxiii. p. 49.
Another example will be found, ibid, second series, vol. xxvi, p. 42.

The bell is a small hand-bell of bronze cast in one piece, measuring
4 inches in height, including the handle, and 2^^ inches in diameter
at the mouth. It has a pierced trefoil-shaped handle, and the
body is encircled with, raised ornamental lines. The mouth is widely
splayed (Plate III, fig. 1) . The loop for attaching the clapper is intact,
but the clapper is missmg. The top of the bell is filled with some hard
cement-like substance acquired during its burial in the ground. It
is probable that this beU may be regarded as a sacring-bell — that
is, a bell rung at the consecration m the Mass. Such bells were
frequently of silver, as appears from many church inventories : but
this was not always so, as the sacring-bell at Farley in Surrey was
made of latten,i and that of HoUywell, Lincohishire, was made of
brass,2 while others from the same county are recorded as having
been sold to braziers.-^ The bells must have been of small size, as
in some cases after the Reformation tliej^ were sold and turned by
their purchasers into horse bells, being described as hung at a
horse's ear* ; while one from Hoghe, Lincolnshire, was sold to a
certain Austen Earle " to put about a calve's neck. "5

It is of interest to note in passing that in several cases the inven-
tories of church furniture compiled shortly after the Reformation
describe hand-bells being sold to be made into mortars. The Royal
Irish Academy's collection in the National Museum contains an
example of the converse of this — i.e., a mortar converted into a beU,
but it is late in date.

The pricket-candlestick measures 1 foot in length, including the
spike : its base has a diameter of 3}| inches (Plate, III fig. 2). It appears
to have been made in two pieces — the body and the spike. The inside
of the base seems to have been turned. This candlestick belongs to
a type common in the fifteenth century, when the knop found in the
centre of the stem of earher examples is rejjlaced by rings, generally
three in number.** It probably formed one of a pair which stood
on the altar ; its fellow — hke the two side branches of the cross with
the figures of the Virgm and St. John — apparently having been lost
l;efore the objects were buried in the ground.

1 Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Second series, vol. v
p. 29.

2 English Church Furniture. Peacock. 1866. P. 106.

3 Op. cit.. pp. 53 and 9.5. « Op. cit., pp. 50 and 95.

^ Op. cit.. p. 105. * Reusens, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 419.

I To face page 30

(Fig. 1)

BELL AND (Fig. 2) CANDLESTICK
Found, at Sheephouse, Co. Meath

PROCESSIONAL CROSS FOUND AT SHEEPHOUSE 31

111 conclusion it niiist be admitted that the cross does not show
any distinctively Irish features, nor is it inscribed, and thus con-
nected with an Irish family, as in the case of the beautiful silver-gilt
processional cross, also in the Royal Irish Academy's collection,
which was described in our Journal, vol. xv, p. 511. The cross
found at Sheephouse is in appearance typically late mediaeval
English work, and may be considered either as made in England
and brought to this country, or as made here by an English craftsman
working in accordance with English traditions. The bell and candle-
stick were probably made under the same conditions as the cross.
All these objects may be dated to the late 15th or early 16th
century. In this connexion it may be remembered that the
statute forbidding the election of anyone of the Irish nation
in Ireland to the office of archbishop, bishop, abbot, or prior,
or to any benefice, was renewed in the early part of the fifteenth
century (1416),i and that a rich community like Mellifont, with
presumably (if the statute was obeyed), an English abbot would
be likely to obtam its sacred furniture from England.

Whatever their place of origin may be, the objects were con-
nected by use with Ireland, and this find must be looked upon as
one of the most interesting groups of mediaeval antiquities that
have been recorded as discovered in the island up to the present
time.

(Eng. S. 4 Hen. V, c. vi). Statutes of the Realm, vol. 2, p. 197.

32 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OE IRELAND

SOME ANCIENT DEEDS OF THE PARISH OF
ST. WERBURGH, DUBLIN, 1243-1676

By Henry F. Berry, i.s.o. litt.d., Felloui

[Submitted 8 December 1914]

Some time since, the Rev. W. J. McCreery, b.d., Rector of St.
Werburgh's Parish, Dublin, kindly afforded me full access to
its ancient Deeds, which are now lodged in the Public Record Office.
They number 174. extending from the year 1243 to 1676, and they
deal with premises in St. Werburgh street, Castle Street and
Skinners' Row, which became the property of the proctors (later
called churchwardens) of the parish. A verj^ few are conversant
with houses and land in Oxmantown and Swords.

In Celtic and Danish times, the parish was known as that of
St. Martin of Tours, who was uncle of St. Patrick, and his church
stood near the south end of St. Werburgli street, close to the Pole-
gate of the ancient cit5^ wliile a lane known as St. Martin's lay
between it and Castle street.

The church dedicated to St. Werburgh was erected soon after the
Anglo-Norman invasion, and named from the patron saint of
Chester ; it was much frequented by Bristol men, who were amongst
the earliest settlers in Dubhn. It contained chapels in honour
of our Lady, St. Martin and St. Catherine, and is said to have
been destroyed by fire in 1301. From the time of Archbishop
Henry de Loundres, St. Werburgh's was appropriated to the
Chancellor of St. Patrick's. Primate James Ussher was appointed
to this church in 1607, and Edward Wetenhall, afterwards Bishop of
Kilmore, author of the well-known Greek and Latin Grammars,
was curate here. Swift's friend, Dr. Patrick Delany, was rector of
the parish, 1730^.

Castle street was nearly as ancient as the castle itself, and from
a very early period part of it was known as Lormeria, from its
being inhabited by lorimers, i.e. spur and bit makers. On the north
side of the street stood Corryngham's Inns, the residence of that
family so far back as the reign of King Henry the Sixth.

The Skinners' Row extended from the Pillory at the west end
of Castle street to the Tholsel at the east end of St. Nicholas street.
The entire of the north side of this very narrow street was swept
awa}' in 1821, and the name of the south side changed to Christ

SOME ANCIENT DEEDS 33

Church Place. On this side stood the " Carbrie " House, occupied
early in the sixteenth century by Gerald, Earl of Kildare, which on
the attainder of the FitzGeralds was granted by Henry the Eighth
to Pierce, ninth Earl of Ormond. At the end of the reign of King
Charles the Second, it was converted into a coffee house by Richard
Pue, being known as Dick's Coffee House, one of the most frequented
in the city. Tliis was demolished in 1780,. and the site is now
occupied by 6 to 8 Christ Church Place.

At the end of this paper are given lists of the chaplains and
proctors whose names appear in the Deeds.

St. Werburgpi Street

The earliest document connected with this street is a grant for
ever, dated cir. 1273-4, from William de Bristoll ^ and Juliana, his
wife, daughter of Elias Burel,^ to William Boniur, of land with
buildings lying between St. Werburgh's Church and land which
belonged to Elena Pollard.

William le Schereman acquired the messuage in which he dwelt
from Juliana Honicote ; ^ this he bequeathed to Agnes, his wife, for
life ; after her death it was to be sold and the proceeds distributed
in charity. She, Roger de Kildare and Thomas Faucon,* the
executors, in 1317, fearing the danger of delay and for the more
speedy help of testator's soul, with licence of John le Marshal,
official of the Court of Dublin, sold same to Wilham, son of Roger
de Kildare.

The next deed in point of date is one which deals with premises
bounded by land belonging to Robert North, "^ John de la Felde and
William de Swords, which William Brown and Sidania, his wife,

1 William de Bristoll was mayor of Dublin, 1271-2 ; 1288-9 ; 1290-1. He had
been previously provost.

2 EUas Burel was mayor 1237-8 ; 1250 ; 1259-60.

^ Juliana Honicote or Honicode was a female brewer, a class in the community
as to which a special enactment is found among the " Laws and usages of the city
of Dublin," enrolled in the Chain Book of the Corporation. In 1308, she was
defendant in an action instituted by the Abbey of St. Thomas as to the custom of
ale and mead, which had been bestowed on the abbey by King John. {Proceeding.'i
in the matter oj the Custom called Tolboll) Proc. R.I. A. xxviii. 169.

* Thomas Faucon, skinner, in 1335 held premises in the parish of St. Nicholas,
having previously had a grant of a tenement in High street.

5 Robert del North owned land in Sutter Lane, parish of St. Werburgh, a
messuage in Bothe street and a curtilage near the fosse of Dublin Castle, 1322-6.
His will, proved in 1346 (No. 633 Christ Church Deeds), dii-ects his burial in
St, Werburgh's Church, and he mentions his wife Agnes and Sir Thomas Hamundthe
parish chaplain. He left money for building St. Werburgh's Church, and the new
chapel of the B.V.M. North's dwelling-house was opposite the castle, and he
owned four shops in Shoemakers' street.

34 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIEvS OF IRELAND

granted for ever to Hugh de Calce^ Chancellor of St. Patrick's.
The deed of grant was made in 1342, and there are further dealings
by de Calce, who in 1349 enfeoffed Sir Robert Gowys, priest, and
John de Carletone, clerk, by one deed, and Thomas Sutton by
another.

William Deyer, of Cargreff, Co. York, released to Nicholas
Ardoun, of Dublin, two messuages which he had of the feoffment
of Alice, heir of Thos. Sutton, of Dublin, lying between the street
and John Foyle's orchard on the east, and between a tenement of
Robert Sutton, canon of St. Patrick's, on the north, to said Nicholas'
tenement on the south. The release was made between 1406 and
1410 • and prior to this Joan, sister of said Nicholas, had released
to him her claim to same. In 1414 Nicholas Ardoun, alias Sutton,
gave Thomas Fannjni ^ and Margaret his wife, a tenement and
waste place, on the east and west of which they covenanted to
buUd two chambers. Nicholas and Lucy, his wife, were to have one
of these, at their choice, for their lives. The conveyance is endorsed
as " by the churchyard." Other deeds, up to 1434, deal with this
propert}^ portion of which Avas acquired by Jolm Reynold, smith,
and Thomas Lawless and Henry Nangle, chaplains, respectively
In 1461 it appears by a notary public deed executed in the house of
Michael Harrold, butcher, in St. Thomas' street, that Margaret
Harrold, widow of the above-named John Reynold, on her death-
bed, declared that her husband willed to her for life the house which
they had bought in St. Werbiu-gh street, and that after her death it
was to be for support of the fabric of St. Werburgh's Church for ever.
After his death, she enfeoffed two chaplains (deed dated 1457), on
condition of receivmg the profits for life, and then it was to go to
the proctors of the parish. One of the witnesses to the notary
public document was William Bj'sset, chaplain of St. Katherine's.
In 1462 Thomas Walsh and John Morgan, sitting as jurists in the
south part of the nave of Holy Trinity Church, Dublin, with Thomas
Savage and William Grampey as arbitrators and compromisers, in
a case wherein the proctors of St. Werburgh's were plaintiffs, and
Thomas Sprott, clerk, defendant, who had entered into possession
of these premises, decreed that same belonged to the parishioners,
the proceeds to be expended on the fabric of St. Werburgh's Church.

^ Hugh de Calce, Canon of Cahors, was deputy in Ireland of Raymond Pelegrini,
special nuncio of the Pope in this country and in England. A document among the
Roman Transcripts (P. R. 0. Eng.), v. 246, mentions him as a priest of the
diocese of Querey in France, and certifies his having (in 1344) served the Apostolic
See for seventeen years in Ireland. De Calce was murdered in 1347.

* In 1411 Nicholas Hardon granted to Thomas Fanyng, "hopere," and
Margaret his wife, daughter of grantor, a vacant place in St. Werburgh's parish
abutting on St. Martin's churchyard.

SOME ANCIENT DEEDS 35

under John Reynold's will. They silenced Sprott for ever, and he
had to give up possession. Another notarial instrument, dated a
few days after the preceding, contains particulars of a cause in which
the above-named defendant became plaintiff, and the proctors
defendants, wherein Sprott asserted tliat Mrs. Reynold gave the
premises to him and his heirs for ever. Nothing valid was sliown
on Sprott's behalf, and the house was decreed to St. Werburgh's for
ever. The arbitrators commended his repairs, and allowed him to
remain in the house rent free up to Michaelmas.

In 1454 the proctors of St. Werburgh's let for forty years to
Geoffrey C^alfe and William Brown, chaplains, a waste place, north
of the church, between the church door on the south aiid the house
of St. Mary del Dam on the north. The chaplains covenanted that
they would build a chamber of oak, covered with oak wood boards,
and keep same in repaii-.

There was a stone house or great place, with two cellars and a
garden, of which in 1482, Sir Adam Gare (or Gary), chaplain,
enfeoffed Sir Thomas Laundey and Sir Ellis Feld. The premises
adjoined the south wall of the city by the Polegate, in the west
part of St. Werburgh street, and the feoffees were to hold to the use
of Dame Maude Plunket for life, and on her death, to the use of
Eliz. Talbot, her daughter, and her heirs. Should she die without
heirs, then to the use of St. Werburgh's Church for ever, to find a
priest to sing at our Lady's altar there, for the souls of William
Boxseworth and Margaret Boxseworth, and Dame Maude Plunket,
and all their generation. In the event of the death of Sir Thomas
and Sir Ellis, a feoffment was to ))e made to two other honest priests,
one to be chosen by the Plunket family and the other by the proctors
of St. Werburgh's, " and so from priest to iiriest, when needful."
In the endorsement, the document is said to be a declaration of a
will, and the testator was probably the husband of Dame Plunket,
The house was subsequently occupied by one Eustace and by Lady
Hibbott, but at what periods respectively is not stated.

The next set of deeds deals with a chamber and another one above
it, over the churchyard door, which were let from time to time by
the proctors and churchwardens. In 1547 they leased the premises
that adjoined the church to Sir Patrick Dongan, chaplain, and in
the same year they leased a chamber over the churchyard door to
John Dempsey, baker. In 1588 Robert Bee, goldsmith, had a lease
of this as " a house on the south side of the church door, with a small
room over the entry going into the church." In 1598, in a lease to
Walter Locke, baker, the premises were described as a small cliamber
over the churchyard door, " conteining " to the west window of the
Mary chapel. The lessee undertook nf)t to blemish or hurt the

36 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

light of the wester window in the south side of the church, next
said chamber, and to keep the under room of the chamber as a way
to the churchyard, and not to hinder the passage thereof. In 1651
a lease was made to John Kennedy, executor of Captain William
Meares, of a house on the south side of the church door, with a
small room or entry going to the church, bounded on the north to
the church ground, on the east to the chiu'ch walls, west to the
street, and south to the west end of the south wall of the church.
This deed is endorsed : " The Watch House, Werburgh street."
In the seventeenth century the main guard of the city was located
at the south side of St. Werburgh's Church, and its station was
afterwards used as a watch house. This lease was surrendered, and
in 1666 a new one was made to George Kennedy, son of a former
lessee, which in turn was surrendered in 1716 by Mary Kennedy,
widow, to the Rev. Theofthilus Bolton. The document is endorsed :
" adjoining to or part of the present schoolhouse." Other premises
were taken in as an addition to St. Werburgh's schools ; in 1671
Anne Hoyle, by her will, devised to her brother, Joachim, her
interest in premises in Leventhorpe's Alley, off Werburgh street,
which subsequently devolved on George DoAvdall, as representative
of his wife, Sarah, formerly Hoyle. He granted them to Daniel
Cooke in 1708, and on the documents are endorsed assignments to
Richard Walsh (1712), and in 1714 to Rev. Dr. Synge and the
chiirchwardens. This last conveyance is stated to be for the use
of the charity school of St. Werburgh's parish.

Another document that deals with adjoining premises is dated
1669, and by it the churchwardens of St. Werburgh's leased to
Robert Turner, innholder, a room or chamber in his possession over
the passage leading from the street in the west to the churchyard,
which room joined the church wall on the north. He had liberty to
enlarge the room forwards to the street over the door and forepart
of said passage, provided he did not alter or injure the frontice
ornament over the door joining to the street. There was also included
a small parcel of ground next Avithin the churchyard door on the
south, adjoining his house, with a view to said Turner's clearing and
preventhig the nuisance in the churchyard. In 1674, in consideration
of a surrender and of his rebuilding the sides and front of the door
and entry leadmg from the street to the churchyard, the church-
wardens again leased the premises to Turner, the new lease having a
clause which provided that if he happened to build in the yard, he
might rest the timber and also build upon the churchyard wall next
to his yard. Turner was not to interfere with the carrying of corpses
into the churchyard, and he was to permit and maintain the passage
of the " waterfall " from the churchyard through the demised piece

SOME ANCIENT DEEDS 3f

of ground. In 1715 Turner's representatives surrendered the
premises to the churchwardens.

There were a chamber and cellar on the north side of the churcli
which, in 1547, the churchwardens leased to Nicholas Stanyhurst,
notary. They had already (in 1534) granted to him a house, with
small garden, on the south side of one that stood on ground belonging
to Christ Chiu-ch. Stanyhurst undertook to build a wall of stone
and lime, a man's height, under the south side of the house. This
grant is endorsed : " garden west the church."

Another item of property in St. Werburgli's street which the
proctors had power to lease, Avas a messuage with a garden in which
James Ryan had dwelt. These, together with an orchard lying
south of a house wherein Walter Lock, baker, lived, they leased in
1605 to Gerald Younge, alderman. He paid a fine of £35 " good
Elizabeth silver of England " towards the building of St. Werburgh's
Church, " then down and ruinous."

Ralph Leventhorpe,! in 1637, leased to Richard Edwards, tailor,
a moiety of an orchard adjoining the great house in which James
Ryan dwelt, bounded by the stone wall adjoining Sir James Ware's
garden^ on the east, to the churchyard wall of St. Werburgh's on
the west, which had been in possession of Henry Cheshire. The
churchwardens also held a parcel of ground which was part of St.
Martin's Lane, adjoining the north side of the chancel of the church.
This in 1676 they leased to Eliz. Newcomen, widow.

Castle Street (South Side)

Geoffrey del Yvet ^ {cir. 1243) granted to Helyas Burel, land in
Castle street, between that of Guy of Cornwall * and Gilbert del Yvet's
land, which he bequeathed to the house of All Saints.^ This is
endorsed: " FoUey's (Eoyll's) grove in Castle street ;"6 the next
deed which with certainty can be said to refer to the same premises

^ Kalph Leventhorpc was M.P. for Enuis in 1039. He lived in Avhat was knoAvn
as Leventhorpe's AUey, subsequently named Gun Allej'. It lay due south of
St. Werburgh's schoolhouse, and was so-caUed from an inn, the sign of a\ hith Avas
a gun.

2 Sir James Ware's house stood on part of Austin's Lane, extending from the
south side of Castle street to Ship street.

^ CJeoffroy del Yvet (or de Ly vet) was provost of Dublin 1269-70 ; Gilbert del
Yvct was mayor 1233-7. He granted to Holy Trinity Church the land on which
his stone halJ, without the King's Gate, was built. He and hia wife, Sibella, were
buried in Holy Trinity Church.

* Guy of Cornwall was provost of Dublin in 1229-30.

5 The Register of AU Hallows contains a grant for 40 j-ears from the Prior
and Convent (1349-50) to William Foil, merchant, of a place in Castle street.

« The Foyle family Uved in St. Werburgh's parish, and many of its members
were buried in the church.

38 PvOYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

is more than two hundred years later, being dated in 1454 : by this
the proctors leased to Robert Fo}^!, and John Gonet, fisherman, free
ingress and egress by the cemetery of St. Werburgh's church, from
Foyll's house there close to the cemetery, on the north up to his
orchard on the east, and from said orchard up to said house, together
with a rain watercourse running or arising m the cemetery from the
foundations of said house. This is also endorsed as an indenture of
" Folley's (Foyll's) grove m Castle street."' ^ In the same year
Robert Foyll leased to John Jonet, fisherman,^ a messuage in Castle
street, and leaden furnace weighmg 18 stone, together with an
orchard ap]-)ertaining to the messuage, l3ang between All Saints'
land on the east and land of John Corryngham, clerk, on the Avest ;
St. Werburgh's cemetery on the south and the street on the north.
(Jther conveyances m which the cemetery was a boundary are the
following : — A garden between the Kings Castle on the east, St-
Werburgh's cemetery on the west, and land of the house of All
Sahits, north and south, which was leased in 1495 by the proctors to
John Moore, tailor. Also a house, garden and small lane, called
St. Martin's Lane, adjoining the chm-ch on the north ; the house lay
on the south side of Castle street, bounding east to the city ground,
west to St. Mary's Abbey groimd, and south to the churchyard.
These premises were leased in 1543 by the proctors to John Ellis,
goldsmith.

There was still another tenement in the south side of Castle street
which the proctors dealt Avith. It had a garden, and bounded from
a messuage formerl}^ All Samts' on tlic east to a messuage of St.
Mary's Abbey on the west, and from the stone wall of the churchyard
on the south to the street on the north. This Avas ruinous in 1576,
and was granted to John Durning, gent, ui that j^ear. One acre
and a half of arable land by Dolphin's Barn in the tenement of
Kilmainhani Avere included in the lease. The representatives of
Durning afterwards released their interest in the premises to Richard
EdAvards. In 1600, the proctors granted them in re Aversion to Henry
Thomas, AA^hile, in consideration of £16 toAvards rebuilding the
" decayed " church of vSt. Werburgh, they let in further reversion to
John I>any and Nicholas HoAvard in the year 1614. An endorsement
of 1730 on the document of 1576 states it to be a " deed of Sir
Richard Carney's holding, noAv Colonel Godby's, of Mr. El. Dobson's
house -^ and Mr. O'BrA'an's house."

1 Wills of William i'oyle (1348) and Johu Foyle (13S0) are auioug the Gluist
Church Deeds, and a deed of 1478 mentions Thomas Foyll's orchard, in connexion
with a messuage on the south side of St. Werburgh's Church.

- Clirist Church, Deed No. 950, is a duplicate of this.

" In the reign of King James the Second, the Stationers' Arms, Castle street,
was the residence of Eliphal Dobson, bookseller and pubUsher.

SOME ANCIENT DEEDS 39

Castle Stkeet (Norte)

The earliest surviving grant of land on this side of the street
appears to be one of 1316, made by Margery, who was wife of William
de Callan,^^ to Stephen de Mora.^ In the same year Alexander, son
of Reginald de Kihna3aian released to Stephen de Mora, this waste
land, which Stephen had of the feoffment of Margery, daughter of
John Hayde.

In 1324 Richard, son of Robert de Bristoll demised to Adam
Burnell, two shops in Castle street, between the tenement of the
Hospital of St. John and that of Stephen de Mora ; two years later
(in 1326) John, son of Robert de Bristoll, granted to Adam Burnell
land with buildings in " Lormeria " (see above), bounded as before.
In 1341, Peter Penrys granted to Thomas Dillon and Elena, his
wife,. a messuage between that of Agnes Burgh and one that Avas
Adam Burnell's, towards the south, and land of Thomas de Kihnore,
clerk, on the north, which had been bequeathed to him by Stephen
de Mora. The same Dillon and wife had a lease in 1340 of two shops
in Castle street, near their tenement, which provided that should they
construct a hall in place of the shops, it was to be lawful for them to
enter without interruption. In the same year they had a grant from
William Hirdnian and Mariota, his wife, of a messuage in liorniery,
between Dillon's tenement and that of St. John's House, east and
west, and from the street in the south to the tenement of Thomas de
Kihnore in the north. This last is endorsed as being " Evidences
concerning Ryan's house in Castle street."

A house was let to John Ryan by the proctors in 1543, which
must be that mentioned in the above-named endorsement. It
extended from the street to Kent's ground and from St. John's
ground on the west to St. Werburgh's ground on the east. In the
same lease was included an orchard adjoining Cow Lane -^ on the
east. In the same year, they leased to David Roche a garden
between the street and Cow Lane, leading to Cork Hill on the north,
which was bounded on the east by ground of St. Mary's Abbey.
In 1604 the proctors agaui leased, to Sir John Tirrel!, knight, this
garden (already demised to John Miller), which was then described
as extending from the street to Sir Geoffrey Fenton's land * and

1 Tlie uaiiie of the de Callaa family was Hainpsou. VVilliaiii Sampson dc Callau
^\a.s M'ituess in a deed (1303-4) in the Register of All Hallows.

2 Stephen de Mora was bailiff of Dublin in 1320-1, and later. He held a tene-
ment in Thomas street.

3 A passage extending from Castle Street North to Fishamble Street was
called Cow Lane.

* Father in-law of Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork. The land had been the site
of the church of St. Mary del Dam, and on it the Earl erected Cork House.

40 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Cow Lane ; and Sir Jolm Tirrell covenanted to build on tlie garden.
Miner's interest had come to Captain William Meares. This lease
is endorsed : " 46 Castle Street, Rt. Lodge."

A principal messuage in Castle street was long known as
Corryngham's Inns. In 1373 it had belonged to John Allesley, but
in 1410 a deed mentions it as bemg then the dwelling place of John
Corryngham, which it continued to be up to 1444. In 1463 part
of the inns, known as the " chamber in the bawne," and consisting
of a chamber, with a " soler " beneath it, was leased bj^ Martin
BroAm, chaplam, and WilUam Corryngham, son of Hugh Corrjoig-
ham, to John Bennet. In the same year the parties leased the
remaining portion of the premises to John Tany. In 1466 William
CorrjTigham granted in fee to Richard Leyns, advocate, Walter
Baldewyn, William Cornell, armourer, and Nicholas Fitzleones, the
said premises ; while in 1479, by grant from Walter Baldewyn and
William Cornell Corryngham's Inns came into possession of the
proctors of St. Werburgh's Church.

The chamber with soler, though originally part of the one dwel-
ling, was still held separately, as in 1482 Robert Dowdall and Genet,
his wife, let them durmg her life to the proctors. The j)remises are
described as having been " called old Corryngham his Inns, in which
Henrj^ Fitz Rowe now dwells." The loft and cellar are mentioned
in a lease of 1488 as being held by Dame Genet Sueterby for Hfe, and
on her death they were to become the j)roperty of the church. By
this lease the proctors let a haLf-yndell ^ of the Inns to Thomas
Galmole, alias Archbold, and in 1500 the haLf-yndell. in which
George ScurHgge and Joan Fewrell were then resident, was leased
to them for 50 years. Subsequently ScurHgge made over his term
to John Waffyr, and in the same year the other haK-yndell was
leased to Walter Colman.

In 1582 the Inns, described as being bounded by the street and
Kent's land, south and north, and east and west by St. Michael's land
and St. Werburgh's church land, were leased for 61 j^ears to Richard
Edwards ; and in 1600 the proctors let them to George Guiere for
61 years from the expiration of Edward's lease.

In 1614, in consideration of £42 9s. 5d. paid towards the building
of the church, they leased to John Lang and Nicholas Howard
" Corrigan's Inns house," with garden, late in tenm'e of WiUiam
Barnewall, and then of the widow of Ralph Mellinge, for 61 years
from the end of a previous term made in 1552. A lease in reversion
was made in 1620 to Henry Cheshire, goldsmith, and in 1626 the
reversion of an assignment b}^ Susan Cheshire, widow, was granted

1 The half part (A. S.).

SOME ANCIENT DEEDS 41

to Stephen Ussher. An endorsement of a document in 1629 calls
this " Feld's house in Castle Street now in possession of Steven
Busher " {recte Ussher). Finally, the churchwardens leased, in
1675, to John Bysse, Lord Chief Baron, in consideration of £10 paid
towards repair of the church, " Corrigan's Inns, now known by the
sign of the Castle." In this document part of the London Tavern
is given as boundmg the Inns on the east.

There are many documents dealing with the " messuage next
Corryngham's Imis," as it is described in a deed of 1405. It stood
to the west of the Inns, and the earliest of the grants is one in fee
dated 1373, of a messuage and two shops, from Hemy Ferrour to
John White, clerk, in wliich its boundaries are specified as the street
on the south to waste land of Mariota Bolas on the north ; waste land
of St. John's House on the west to John Allesley's messuage (after-
wards Corryngham's Inns) on the east. In 1380 White granted to
Robert de Loundres, and in 1385 the latter granted to John
Passavaunt and others for the term of his life, and two years later
they quit-claimed to him. In 1400 Robert de Loundres is found
granting the same premises to John de la Ryver in fee, which grant
was quit-claimed. In 1402 they were again granted by him to Robert
Hothum and Walter Reske, chaplains. Between this and 1407 are
some deeds dealing with the place. In 1410 John Herdman released
to John Hothom and Walter Reske, chaplains, the same premises,
and for the first time John Corryngham is named as dwellmg in the
house on the east, previously Allesley's. More than a hundred
years elapse before another document dealing with the house next
the Iims is met with, and in this interval the proctors of St.
Werburgh's appear to have come into possession of it. In 1515
they leased the tenement and appurtenances to Thomas Money,
a mason.

Skinners' Row {Vicus Fellipariorum)

The documents connected with the property of St. Werburgh's
Church in this street date between 1346 and 1470. It consisted of a
messuage with the appurtenances, extending from the street on the
north to the lane behind St. Nicholas' Church, called Sutors' (or
Shoemakers') street, on the south, and in 1346-7, when Thomas
Faucoun released the premises, which he had from William, son of
Roger de Kildare, to Stephen Spark, chaplain ; the eastern and
western boundaries were land of All Saints and land of John
Passavant.i

The documents next in order are a release from Richard

*■ John Paasavaut was mayor ot Dublin iu iiftiy-71 and iii 1368-9.

42 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Harborgh, skinner, and Agnes Holme, his wife, to Thomas Spark,
chaplain, and quit-claim from him to Philip Kendyrgane in 1397.
In 139S Kendyrgane made a grant to Thomas Clane, and in 1415
Clane made one to Walter Reske and John Champeneys, chaplains.
In 1432 Clane leased to Nicholas Priour, goldsmith, and in 1442
Priour released the premises to Walter Molghane, corviser, who
again, in 1465, granted to John Sprot and Thomas Laundey,
chaplains.

Soon after, these chaplains made a deed which provided that if
Patrick Halgane, corviser, gave Molghan's wife a sufficiency of food
and drink, Avith free ingress and egress to said chamber and the
" necessary " of the messuage, Patrick might hold the premises
for ever.

A deed of 1470 from Laundey to Richard Herford, John Mestaylle
and Robert Boys, chaplains, is endorsed : " Davy Roche's house in
the Skynner Rewe," and in 1543 the proctors of St. Werburgh's
Church leased to him the premises which in 1514 had been demised
by Margaret Allegan to James Eustace.

In addition to the above, the proctors held a garden in Leighiin
Lane, Oxmanto^vn, parish of St. Michan's, bounded on three sides
by land of St. Mary's Abbey. This, in 1546, they leased to Phihp
Swetman. In 1598 they leased it to Richard Longe, and in this
lease the place is described as having been lately in the tenure of
Richard Donagh, deceased. In 1640 Longe 's interest having come
to Richard Edwards, tailor, he made it over to the churchwardens,
who then granted him the garden for 60 years. In 1668 they gave
to Richard Carnej^ ^ twenty-two years of the lease yet to run. In
1730 an endorsement mentions the premises as being held by Mr.
Moland.

In the lease of Leighiin Lane, 1598, are included three ineses or
houses in Swords, with 2-| acres arable land in the fields of said town,
and pasture. In 1730 an endorsement states these to be Lord Chief
Baron Bysse's or Lord Molesworth's.

The few remaining documents in the collection include the
following : —

Grant by David, abbot, and the convent de Valle Salulis
(Baltinglas), to John Swyfte, WiUiam Rydelsford, William Hont,
Clement White, Thomas Lyard, and Walter Rowe, of all the
messuages, lands, tenements, &c., and the mill which they have in

1 One of the Heralds ; afterwards Sir Richard Carney, Ulster King of Arms,
1683-1692.

SOME ANCIENT DEEDS .43

the vill of Newliose (Newhouse, alias Ballynurc), and all emohiinents
belonging to the chapel of same ; also sufficient firewood from the
groves of said monastery, for the hearth of said John, &c. They
also granted wood for buildmg and repairing houses . . . two
porthoses.i a psalter, missal, &c., during a certain term . . . at
a rent of twelve pence. This bears date cir. 1412-14.

A notary public deed, much decayed and mjured by damp, (John
Flemyng, clerk, Dublin, notary), dated 20 March, 1463, made in
the castle of Elton, by which Laurence Shynagh alleges on oath that
he never enfeoffed anyone in Elton, Newton. Chiltoneston . . .
of Naas, or granted any charter in fee simf)le or tail to Richard Fitz
Eustace, knight ; also that he never contracted matrimony with
Katherine Nashe, and that Margery Burgeys is his true wife. Sir
John Dawe, Vicar of Killussy, is one of the witnesses.

A form of plenary absolution, the parties to which are Brother
Nicholas of Retio of the Hospital of the HoW Ghost in Saxo de Urbe ;
William Harrold, merchant, and Elizabeth Dawe, his wife. It is
dated February, 1477, and the document is much mjured.

A document relating to indulgences for forty days in St. Wer-
burgh's Church, Dublin, dated 22 May, 1517.

The Testament of Margaret Drewry of the parish of St. Nicholas,
dated 18 September, 1511. She desired to be buried in St. Nicholas'
Church, to which she bequeathed a cup to be converted into a
clialice. She left the residue of all her messuages and lands to the
priest at St. Mary's Altar therein, to celebrate ; and the proctors
were to pay 2^. ?>fl. which was to be divided equally among the
churches of Dublin. A linen cloth and towel were left to St.
Wer burgh's Church. This document is endorsed : " the lands of
Doneshauglen," and as a cousin, Margaret Water, was devised 3^
acres arable and 1| of moor in a place which in the original is
blank ; the locality must have been Dunshaughlin.

Chaplains

134(5-8.

Sir Thomas Hamund [Ch. Cli. Deed, 6331.

1349.

Sir Robert Gowys.

John de Carletone.

1350.

Stephen Dexcestre.

c. 1406-10.

Robert Sutton (Canon of St. Patrick's).

1434.

Thomas Laweles.

Henry Nangle.

1478.

Adam Gare (or Gary).

1 A portable breviary ; porihoid (portarc Joras] — the book that the priest
carried abroad.

44 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OP IRELAND

Pkoctobs and Churchwardens

^54-5. I
t61-2. i

John Vale, William Cornell,

1454-
1461-

1479-80. Patrick Bnrnell, Patrick Grot.

1483-4. same, Philip Brentwood.

1488-9. same, same.

1490-1. Walter Baldew^ai, Nicholas Laweles.

1495-6. Thomas Ashe, James Clynton.

1500-1. Christopher Cornell, Richard Wydon.

1507-8. Thomas Ashe, Richard Dugyn.

1515-16. Philip White, Roland Ferris.

1534. Wilham Kelly, John Elys.

1541. Nicholas Stanyhurst, same.

1540. William Lyoii, Richard Edwards.

(Hen. viii.) David Loche, John Hircote.

(5 Ed. VI.) John Ryan, Richard Bruges.

1552. John Ellys, John Dempsey.

1605. John Lang, Nicholas Howard.

1615. Michael Philpott, Walter Dermott.

1637. Ralph Leventhorpe, Richard Edwards.

1669. Richard Young, George Stoughton.

1675. Jonathan Northeast, George Southwick. •

1676. Thomas Speght, Robert Turner (afterwards, William

Hartley in room of Thomas Speght).

( 45

PREHISTORIC REMAINS (FORTS AND DOLMEJ^S)

IN BURREN AND ITS SOUTH WESTERN

BORDER, CO. GLARE

Part XII : North Western Part

By Thomas Johnson Westropp, m.a., Fellow

Submitted 26 January lOlf)

With the present p.aper I close the series ^ of twelve published in
these pages during twenty-three years. The field work on which
they are based was begun over thirty-six years ago, in May 1878,
Though no trained antiquary is likely to deny the utility of such a
work, there is sore need of aj)ology for certain imperfections in its
execution, patent even to a casual reader. When it was commenced
I had no exemplar to follow ; I had to learn what to do as the work
proceeded. Matters at first little regarded proved important and
called for insertion and further research. Forts and dolmens in that
wilderness of crags and thickets are sometimes undistinguishable
from rock ledges and boulders ; often the most definite guide to a
dolmen is the square patch of dark shadow in its open end. In some
cases bushes of hawthorn, sloe and hazeP covered features, so that
two flights of steps in Cahercuttine and two in Caherminaun, gateways
in Roughane and the " cairn-caher " and the terrace of the Cashlaun
Gar, were at first concealed from me. Thus supplemental matter
had constantly to be added, destroying the consistency of the
survey while increasing its value.

Theory, as a by-product to be constantly fused and recast, is of
less moment. I have constantly altered my views, and hope no one
may suppose that the theories in this conclusion even purport to
be " final." Finality is impossible in our present ignorance ; scien-
tific excavation, or critical examination to fix the dates of our

1 Vol. xxi, p. 462 ; vol. xxii, p. 191 ; vol. xxiii, p. 281, p. 432 ; vol. xxvi,pp. 150,
142, 362 ; vol. xxvii, p. 116 ; vol. xxviii, p. 352 ; vol. xxix, p. 357 ; vol. xxxi, pp. 1,
273 ; vol. XXXV, pp. 205, 232 ; vol. xli, p. 343 ; vol. xliii, p. 232.

^ Like most matters relating to forts this finds a place in early Irish Literature.
" I saw a liss topped with trees " (MacCongliiine, ed. Meyer, p. 68). " Spiked thorn
bushes grow on the site {sic, read " sida " ) of a half ruined liss, the weight of a heavy
harvest bows them down, hazel nuts of the fairest crops drop from the great trees
of the raths " (Guesting of Athirne, from Book of Leinster, Erin, vol. vii, p. 3).
The last weU recalls the coral-like hedges of the forts in the autumn. " An apple
tree in every liss " (Battle of Magh Eath, p. 131, circa 1170-97), and other similar
allusions.

46 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

literary sources has scarcely begun. Still progress is getting marked;
the results of European research are no longer unstudied in Ireland,
and such theories as attributed all our forts to the Firbolg or the
Danes are left to a few belated followers of the older school. Never-
theless, there is still a prejudice that one who does not hold to his
first theories is of no authority, and that one who does not adhere
to the older school of 1840 is a lonely schismatic, even when he
voices the views of the majority of European antiquaries, while the
value of the studj^ of dry fact appeals little to many whom country
writers call " great antiquarians."

I keep for the actual conclusion my estimate of the broad results
of these surveys of Co. Clare, so I need only note the hues of research.
In 1892-93 two groups in eastern Co. Clare were described. From
1895 onward the papers deal with the Barony of Burren and the
adjoining parishes of the Baronies of Corcomroe and Inchiquin. If
we add the papers in 1908 and 1909 on the xDromontory forts of the
lorrus and the ring forts of Moyarta, and that in 1911 on Caher-
murphy and the forts near Milltown-Malbay,^ we get descriptions
of the chief remains of this class in western Co. Clare. If we further
add those in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy- on the
eastern forts, and those in the North Munster Arcliaeological Society's
Journal on the forts near Kilkee,^^ and (as I do at the end of this
paper) index and methodize it, the whole nearly attains to the
dignity of a county survey — more I cannot claim to have done.

I never attempted to form a classification of the ring forts, but
hope to do so tentatively at the end of the paper. Theories and
classification in other countries do not fit Irish conditions. The
English arrangement adopted by the " scheme for recording ancient
defensive earthworks and fortified enclosures " is absolutely unsviit-
able here. By its rules we should bring under one heading the
widely divergent forts of Cahercommaun, Cahernakilly, Dundoillroe,
and the Cashlaun Gar into Class A. We should have to classify
Turlough Hill fort or Moghane differently from Cahercalla in Class B.
So also the nomenclature of Great Britain and the Continent is un-
suitable : " late Celtic " with them means '" very early Celtic " here.
The English assertion that while the great hill forts are prehistoric
and tribal, the small ones are feudal, is contradicted here equally
by our pre-Norman literature and by excavation. The English view
separating promontory forts fenced all round from these only de-

1 Vol. xxxviu, pp. 28, 221, 344.

2 Vol. xxvii, pp. 217, 371 ; vol. xxix, p. 186, an4 xxxii, p. 38 ; vol. xxxix, p. 113 ;
vol. xli, pp. ;"), 17.

^ Carrigaliolt to Loop Head, vol.,i, p. 219 ; vol. ii, pp. 103, 134, 22.'5 ; Kilkee
voj. iii, pp. :58, ir)3 ; for some of the Corcomroe forts, see also vol, t. p. 14.

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN 47

fended at the neck confuses instead of helping us ; since so many of
these walled headlands show fences, that we can hardly doubt that
most were walled round before the edges and ends fell away.

Racial district types when sought for in Ireland are not discover-
able ; all the main types here are found in France, Germany, and
Austria, and some also in Sweden, Switzerland, Holland, and farthest
Russia, in Perm. The two oblong platforms at Bunratty and CiiUeen
are probably Norman ; the rest of the forts of Co. Clare represent no
type that does not occur across Europe, from Perm to Kerry, and
from the bronze age to late mediaeval times. Where the promontory
forts of the Ural mountains and the Atlantic coasts are closely
similar, and the great prehistoric ''Hausberge" of Central Europe
resemble " feudal mote castles," we cannot be sufficiently cautious
in laying down dates or tribal rules from external forms of earth-
works. Excavation — our best means of dating — is hindered by the
expense and by local jealousies, sometimes fostered by those who
should know better, or by uninformed persons writing to newspapers.

At the commencement of this survey some (then recognised as
" authorities ") said that "' such an attempt was useless, all had been
worked out by O'Donovan and Dunraven." The latter authorities,
liowever, had each only described two types, while out of some 2,200
forts in Co. Clare, only five had been slightly described. So also
when commencing a like work on the promontory forts I was told
that " nothing was left to be done," when out of at least 106 only
two had been adequately described and one inaccurately noted ; of
104 no accurate plans had been made. There is a warning here to
that complacent type of person who supposes that all is done for
any branch of Irish archaeology.

I may at least claim for these tentative notes, such as a pioneer
can offer, that they are a record of what is being rapidly destroyed,
and that they have led to wider studies of their field not a few who
might never have surveyed it. What a noble field too it proved to be,
what a museum of remarkable antiquities, and how full of beauty ;
" the pride of the height, the clear heaven with its glorious show ! "
The forts lie amid the glimmering terraced crags, " a barren and dry
land " on the summits, but with underground rivers and silver-laced
waterfalls in its glens. From some forts, like Caherdooneerish and
Aghaglinny, we look across the sailless sea and seventy miles to
either side from the huge domes of Nephin, in Co. Mayo, to Mount
Brandon, and to the nearer mountains, the peaks of Bennabeola,
in Connemara ; the mote-like Kimalta ; the Galtees and Slieve Mish.
Nor is this all — rock-gardens of exquisite flowers, gorgeous cranes-
bills, creamy mountain avens, ferns and sedums adorn the nooks
and slielves of the limestone. Magnificent sheets of colour carpet

48 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

it, when the spring-giver " makes it to bloom with flowers like
sapphire," and the loveliest of its flowers, blue gentian and violet,
sheet the ground, and primrose and foam- white anemone the ledges.
There the fissured grey crag, level as a pavement, shelters in its clefts
the hartstongue and maidenhair ferns. There the underground
stream runs " down to a sunless sea." Amid all this varied loveliness
the Corcomroe tribe and the Eoghanacht Ninussa and the forgotten
races before them made their homes and monuments, often their
only record. From its " pages " these notes are taken, and it is
still open to all who choose to revise or expand my copy from its
wonderful original.

Cahermakerrila Group (Ordnance Survey Map No. 9)

Had I been able to work my survey on consistent lines, this
should have been included as part of the Cahermacnaughten group,
which it adjoins ; but by accident of means of access the two are
practically cut off from each other, and I always found it more easy
to reach the former forts from Corofin and the latter from Lisdoon-
varna. From that spa-town we go eastward, crossing the river
valley, and seeing on a bold blufl' a lofty mound— a reputed " fairy
hill."

LissATEEAUN, Lis an tsidhedn, the fairy fort, lies in a townland
called Gowlaun, from the "fork" (Gabhal) of the stream. It is a
mote-like mound, shaped out of the natural bluff, but raised and
rounded so as to form a high flat-topped platform sufficiently
imposing as seen from the road bridge to the east. A shallow fosse
runs round it on the side of the plateau in a semicircle. There are
no other mounds or hut sites, nor is it easy to fix its actual height,
as it runs into the natural slopes. The summit lies about 400 feet
above the sea.

Its resemblance to a burial mound may have helped its reputation
as a sidh, but it very probably was, if not in origin, at least in use,
a true lis or residential fort, as its name implies. Sidhedn in Co.
Clare living usage, by the way, impHes rather a passing gust or
whirl of wind in which the fairies travel. It is a prophylactic usage
to bow or take off your hat as the gust reaches you.i The fort is
reputed to give its name to the Castle of Lisdoonvarna, " the fortified
fort of the gap." The gap is the river gully, and the levelled ring
wall at the head of the slope to the north is Caherbarna.

The mossy court wafls sheeted with polypodium alone mark
Lisdoonvarna Castle, long the residence of the Lysaghts (Gillisachta)
and the Stacpooles. In the same townland, turning eastward, we

1 Folk Lore (" Survey of Clare "), vol. xxi, p. 19§,

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN 40

pass the foundations of a cathair on a conspicuous green knoll. The
road cuts through another levelled ring wall in Ballygastell.
Nearly opposite to the south of the road are a killeen graveyard for
children, and some old enclosures. Farther on in Ballyconnoe is a
small house ring, its wall coarsely built, and now barely a yard
high, on a knoll of crag. Near it, roads run northward towards
Toomaghera (or " Toovarra ") chapel, and south-eastward (a bad,
but ancient, road) along a green shale ridge, past a heap of fallen
masonry, once Binroe Castle, to Cahermacnaughten. A rich marshy
tract, as so often, runs from the foot of the ridge as far as the shale
covers the limestone. The further reaches of the road run on to
Noughaval southward, and through Kilcorney valley eastward, past
Caherconnell and the Cragballyconoal forts and dolmens, past
Poulaphuca dolmen, down a steep descent into the Turlough valley,
on to Corcomroe Abbey, being evidently one of the ancient thorough-
fares of Corcomroe.

We have imperceptibly reached a considerable height above the
sea, which is visible, both westward, beyond the high round castle
of Doonegore, at the north end of the cliflfs of Moher, and southward,
in Liscannor Bay. Turning from the Toomaghera road into the
craggy fields we enter the townland of Cahermakerrila. Beyond it
lies the other large townland of Cahermaan.

The names of these lands (so far as I am aware) first appear as
Cathair lapain and Cathair medhain in the O'Brien rental, usually
dated 1390.^ No other record is known to me till two centuries later,
when we find '' Kahirlappan " in the Fiants of 1583,^ then a deed of
settlement of Turlough O'Brien of Dough (Dumhach) Castle at the
close of Elizabeth's reign, in 1602, names " Karrowmickerill alias
Caherlappane." The inquisition on the death of Donat, " the Great
Earl " of Thomond, has " Cahervickarrelaw aiid Caher lafifan."
Turlough O'Brien's inquisition, taken (after his death, August 1st,
1623) in 1627, recites the above settlement, by which he conveyed
" Cahermakerrilla and Ballyloppane " to his son Daniel O'Brien, who
was born 1579, and was a most kind protector to some of the dis-
possessed English settlers in 1642. Finally, I need only mention
the Down Surveys, 1655, with " Karrowm'^'kerell or Carrowlupane." ^

There was probably a name group (such as occurs elsewhere)
with the various prefixes : Bally (townland), Carrow (quarter), and
Caher (fort), and the compounds maclrilla or lapane. I may remind
my readers that this place should be carefully distinguished from the

1 Hardiman Deeds, Trans. R. I. Acad., vol. xv (sect, c), pp. 38, 42.

2 Fiants oj Elizabeth (App. Report, Dep. Keeper Records, Ir., No. xv), Nos.
4,263, 4,274.

' Inquisitions, P. R. 0. I., and Book oj Distribution and Survey, Co. Clare.

50 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

great fort and townland in Carran parish. ^ The first is locally pre-
nounced Cahermakerry-la, the other, Cahermacnole. These forts are
called respectively Cahermakerrila and Cahermackirilla on the
ordnance maps, but the Carran name is unwarranted by the best
records and by local usage.

The Carran fort name is possibly miscopied in the Hardiman copy
of the O'Brien Rental, where it is Cathair meic iguil (? iruil). It is
possibly the CahervikeUie of the Fiants, 1583,^ and appears as
Cahermacknoull in the inquisition of Morogh O'Cashyn, 1623, and
Cahermaconnela in the above cited inquisition, 1627. In 1754,
in the will of Dr. Michael Moran (of the family living at WOlbrook
in later years) we find the same form : "I leave my brother,
Connor Moran, my part of the farm of Mohermollan and £6 to be
paid him yearly during my interest in the farm of Cahirmacnoul and
Knockaskeaghine," ^ with reversion to the testator's sons, Patrick
and Austin. Lastly, I need only cite Monck Mason's Survey, where
(along with a list of clergy under the heading of " natural
curiosities ") appears " Cahermacconela."^ Revision is certainly
badly needed in scores of names on the Ordnance Survey maps.
Strange to say, in the opening centuries of our era, a GauUsh potter
stamped his name, Macirilla, on his fragile wares,'^ which have
survived so many wrecks of empires, aiid may survive others.

The anonymous form, " Irial's son," seems old, recalhng such
names as the local saints (Findclu) inghean Baoith, of Killinaboy, or
(Sinnach) mac Dara, of Oughtdarra, also such names as Ardmhic-
chonail (named with Ardchonaili in the section of the Booh of
Rights^ circa a.d. 1000, among the king of Munster\s nominal resi-
dences in Thomond in this district) and perhaps Cahermacconnell
and Caherconnell.*'

Cahermakerrila was called after a local family, a branch of the
Corcamodruadh (O'Conor and O'Loughlin) tribe, called Slicht Irriell,
from some ancestor, who bore the name Irial, which occurs in the
tribal descents from the 14th century down. In 1396, Irial ua
Lochlain, son of Rossa, Lord of Corcumruadh, was killed by treacherj^
in revenge for Maelshechlainn ua Lochlain, whom he had previously
slain.'^ As the " mac Irilla " form of the fort name does not appear in
1390 it is possible that it originated from some son of this chief
about 1430 or later. Of course this does not prove that the founder
Hved so late ; forts are commonly called after their later occupants,
as in Co. Keiry,

1 Journal, vol. xxviii, p. .303. 2 Fiants of Elizabeth, Nos. 4263, 4274.

3 A fine fort described, Journal, vol. xxviii, p. 36.5.

^ Parochial Survey, vol. iii, p. 287. ^ Revue Celtique, vol. xiii, p. 317.

6 Leabhar na gceart (ed. OT)onovan). pp. 87, 91. ' Annals of Ulster,

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN 51

The " Sleylit Irryell " held lands in Gragans barony (Burren) in
1586, and joined in the " Composition of title " between Sir John
Parrot and the Clare gentry. In 1591, Irial son of Rossa (an interest-
ing repetition of the ancestral name two centuries earlier) ^ and
others of the posterity of Mealaghlin O'Loughlin, of Ballyvaughan and
Benroe (Binroe) Castle, made an agreement with Donat, the fourth
Earl of Thomond, on the lines of one made by their predecessors
with the Earl's great grandfather, Conor, before 1540. They under-
took not to mortgage or sell (even) a sod of land, or any castle,
without Donat's consent, and to submit to his decision, subject, in
certain cases, to the arbitration of Boetius Mac Clanchy, John, son
of Tornea O'Maelconary, and Owen O'Daly.^ A copy of the deed
remained with Mac Clanchy (the chief brehon), and is found among
the MacCurtin MSS. in the Royal Irish Academy.

The later history of the place tells us but little of moment.
Piers Creagh, of Limerick City and Adare, was transplanted by the
Cromwellians to Burren, about 1655. The family traditions are
valueless ; there is nothing to show that the Creaghs were O'Neills ;3
they are called " Russell, alias Creuagh, of Adare," in the late 13th
and 14th centuries.'* There is nothing whatever to support the tale
that the 0 'Quins exchanged these lands for Adare with the Creaghs.
Myth centres equally round the Quins and Creaghs of the latter
village. From the rich callows and oak woods of the Maigue the
family was brought to the bare uplands of Burren, and later we find
them in the goodlier heritage at the old chief castle of the Mac
Namaras at Dangan ivirgin near Tulla, where their representatives
are still found. In 1664 Piers was confirmed under the Act of
Settlement in " Cahermakerrila or Caherlappane," and other lands ;
I know of no later mention of the older aZias -name.

As to names of forts with personal compounds in Co. Clare much
of interest could be written. Leaving out the mythic Fearbolg Irgus,
whose name is connected with Caherdooneerish, at the beginning of
our era we have Lismacain near Magh Adhair, named from Macan,
slain in the raid of king Flann to the latter place in 877.''' Caher-

1 Fiants of Elizabeth, No. 47G1.

2 Frost, Hist, and Topog. oj Co. Clare, p. 20, also p. .303.

3 Save the assertion on the 19th century inscription in Ennis Abbey founded
on a baseless Elizabethan conversation on the arms in Limerick Cathedral. MSS.,
Trinity College, Dublin, E 3, 16. See Journal, vol. xxviii, p. 46. In usual genealogical
logic the carved panels dated 1460, therejore the modem inscription was about 1()40,
and proved events in the 13th century.

* Proc. R. I. Acad., vol. xxv (sect, c), p. 376 ; vol. xxvi, p. 164. In the List of
Mayors of Limerick (though untrustworthy) in the 13th century we find, in 1216,
J. Russell, alias Creagh (M) ; 1263, John Russell alias Creaghe ; 1312, John Creagh,
of Adare.

6 Book of Ui Maine. Mr. R. Twigge gave me the extract. See Proc. R. I.
Acad., vol. xxxii, p. 60, Macan was the first person slain at the siege of Magh
Adhair,

52 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

comiuaun is possibly called after Coman king of the Corcamo-
druadh, whose son died in 702, and Duntorpa from. Torptha,
another king of the tribe in 750. Grianan Lachtna, near Killaloe,
is most probably called after the early chief Lachtna (whose " camp "
was on the slope of Cragliath above the Borhaime Ford ^ at the raid
of king Felimidh of Cashel, about 840) rather than from the later
king, uncle of king Brian. We have met many such names in Co.
Clare, Cahermacclanchy, Caherhurley, Cahermurchadha, Caher-
shaughnessy, Cahermacnaughten, Cahermaccrusheen, Cahermacrea,
Lismehan, Lissofhn (Lios Aedha fionn) and others.

The Forts. — In the field next to the road we first note a low
mossy ring of filling, a house site, 27 feet inside. The foundations are
10 to 12 feet thick. It lies 30 feet from the south wall of the field.

CAMERMAKERRILA- N-E- ''^^

Fig. 1. Cahermakeerila, North-East

North from it on a flat low knoll are parallel rows of slabs, three
about 4 feet square, lying north and south. I cannot suggest their
purpose. About 70 feet eastward from the house ring is a second one,
386 feet westward from the great cathair. It has a wall of large
oblong blocks, now rarely a yard high, 3 feet thick and 24 feet across
inside. At the north-east part of its garth is a well-built sunken
and circular cell, of smaller stones, and 6 feet inside, with a door to
the west, the jambs 2 feet thick ; thence runs a curved passage.
12 feet long and 3 to 4 feet wide, running under the outer wall at
its north point. The souterrain was probably enclosed in a wooden
or clay house with a stone fence or even basement.^

Cahermakerrila is a ring wall of very fine regular masonry,
the lower part of large blocks, the upper of regular thin slabs, laid

1 Booh of Munster (MSS., R. I. Acad., 23 E, 26, p. 39). See Journal, vol. xxiii,
p. 192. Proc. R. I. Acad., vol. xxix, p. 196.

2 Such small house rings, like satellites, about the chief fort, are named in our
Annals {e.g., F. M.) 1014 : " The dun and the houses outside the dun." As to
souterrains, the Orvar odd saga (Baring Gould, Deserts of France, vol. i, p. 200)
tells how such were found by the Norse, in Ireland, with women hiding in them,
their entrances hidden by bushes. Some fine souterrains near Tuam are described
by Dr. T. B. Costello {Galway Arch, and Hist. Soc, vol. ii, p. 109, and later.)

ivi

[To face page 52

CAHERMAKERRILA. near LISDOONVARNA

^P^m^Hi

HlK.

1 ^^*'^4*. '^"-^^ ' ^w^

^^^^~

^ .#«ii.

CAHERDOONEERISH. INTERIOR

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURR EN

as headers and closely fitted. ^ It is nearly circular, 96 feet across
the garth, 115 feet over all. The frequent occurrence of small
masonry in the upper part of the ring walls explains how it is that
we so often find well preserved stone forts, with even tops, 5 to 6 feet
high, the garth level with the summit, and no debris ; the small upper
stones were easily removed for other purposes. The base courses
here are 2 feet 8 inches to 3 feet thick, the 10 or 11 upper ones usually
from 4 to 8 inches thick ; the batter is very well laid, usually 1 in 7,
but at the north-east part, where the wall is 11 feet high, it falls into
the slight, characteristic S -curve owing to settlement. In the north-
east section of the garth are two early hut enclosures, one circular

i906

1-^

CAHERnAKE:RRlL^ at v/est face

Fig. 2. Cahermakerrila, at West Face

the other slightly oval. The gateway faces the south-south-east and
is 4 feet 8 inches (or if a loose slab be its jamb, 4 feet) wide. A long
slab (too short to be a main lintel, but perhaps a relieving block)
is 4 feet 7 inches long by 17 inches by 7 inches, and lies against the jamb.
An old oblong house abuts against the south-east section, two later
ruined cabins to the south-west, and a little stone-roofed cell for
goats or sheep to the east. On this side, wherever a facing block
is removed, we can see that the inner filling is full of bleached and
crumbled bones of animals ; but whether these were built into the
wall originally or slipped there in late times I cannot decide ; I never
saw bones elsewhere in tlie substance of a rampart. (Plate IV, fig. 1) .

^ Some of it is nearly as tine as Calicrmurphy {Journal, vol. xli, p. 129) or
certain Kerry forts.

64 ROYAL SOCIETY Ot^ ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

A featureless bawii lies near St. Colman's Well ; this well is not
in any fort.

House Ring. — About a quarter of a mile to the east of the
cathair is a little house ring, about 60 feet over aU, and, as usual,
reduced to about 3 feet high. The wall is rarely over 6 feet thick,
of large blocks, with no fiUmg. It may have been a bawn for pro-
tection against wolves, for " the grey beast " was common in these
wilds, and its name appears at Knockaunvicteera^ (contrasted with
Knockaunawaddera, or " dog's ridge ") near Lisdoonvarna, and at
many other places, called " Ereffy " (Bregh magh).-

Cahekmaan. — Cathair medhoin, first named in 1390,'^ is identified
on the new maps with an insignificant house ring, nameless in 1839.
O'Donovan names it in that year as " Cathair meadhoin — i.e., the
middle calier, a large fort in the townland of the same name." *
Evidently the real Cahermaan is the large cathair, 130 feet across,
and nearly leveUed, beside the laneway not far to the north-east of
the house ring. All the facing is gone, and it is a mere low ring of
grassy filling, rarely a couple of feet high. Its name evidently
alludes to its position, midway between Cahermakerrila and Caher-
macnaughten. Old people told me that the townland name was not
attached to either of the forts in their time, so the Ordnance Survey
too probably secured the identification by leading questions. The
titular Cahermaan is barely 60 feet over all, 3 to 4 feet high, of
rough slabs. The wall may be 7 feet thick, but the interior, like
that of the previous little house ring, is full of rich soil and is
cultivated.

Well. — Before turnmg from these townlands, I may note that
the Ordnance Survey Letters, quoted correctly by Mr. James Frost,
do not state that the Well of St. Colman was in the fort ; but some
have taken " Cahermakerrila " to mean the cathair and not (as it
does) the townland.^ Most of the wells I have seen in forts are
merely flooded souterrains, as — e.g., Glasha and Ballymacloon.^
When Tulla church and its double-ringed enclosure were blockaded
in 1086, the defenders were nearly reduced by thirst till the abbot,

^ A Bwampy ^Uatcau covered ^\ith liuatii, piiiguicuia aud auiidow . 1 speak willi
reserve, for there A\as a Macotire famil}', " Maurice Macotere living at the end of
the world in Ireland," 1290 {C'.JJ.I., vol. i, p. 306), and the fort Cahermacateer in
Co. Clare is called Cahermacteire in KifiO, and Cahermacdirrigg in 1675. However,
the contrasted name seems to decide the question for Knockaunvicteera.

2 " BrefEy " is found at Lisdoonvarna, Miltown Malbay, Kdkee, and several
places in Clonderla\\'. WoK remains are very rare in the Co. Clare caves, though
bears are common.

3 O'Brien's Rental.

* Ord. Survey Letters, Co. Clare, vol. i, pp. 221, 222.
^ See Frost, loc. cit,, p. 32.

* Journal, vol. xxxv, p. 355 ; Proc. R. I. Acad., vol. xxvii, p. 377.

tRiiHiSTORlC REMAINS IN BURREN 55

after a vision of St. Mocliulla, found a spring under a boulder in the
sacred edifice. ^ Mr. Orpen has noted a well in the mote of Castle-
knock, Co. Dublin. Streams occur beside several promontory forts,
as Dun Fiachrach, Dunamo, Bonafahy, and Dunallia in Co. Mayo ;
Ballingarry, in Co. Kerry ; Dunlecky and Dundahlin in Co. Clare,
and many in Co. Cork — Dunkelly, Dunlough (Three Castle Head),
Downeen, Dunsorske, Dunpoer, Ballytrasna, and Dooneenmacotter.
One spring is known to me beside a ring fort in Co. Clare and not
in a fosse — that in the abattis of Ballykinvarga.

Cahermaccrusheen (Ordnance Survey Map No. 8)
There is a tine oval cathair- near the fallen dolmen in Cathalr
mhic croisin, the townland bearing its name. It lies on an abrupt
green knoll ending in a wall-like cliff, at the crown of the old road
from Doolin northward. It looks up a glen along the straight line
of inland cliffs running from it to Ballinalacken, over which peel
tower rises the pink heathery dome of Knockauns Mountain. A
slight rise to the north shuts off from it the beautiful view seen
from its neighbour, Cahermaclanchy. It was one of the finest forts
in the district till, unfortunately, vandals used it for a quarry,
though stone abounded everywhere around. Nearly every one of
the useless field walls near it show its fine blocks, to the disgrace of
the wanton destroyer, whoever he may have been.

The rampart is 9 feet thick, and is still 6 to 9 feet high, the garth
being 6 feet above the field. The gate faces the east-south-east,
it is 4 feet 9 inches wide, with coursed jambs and a pillar stone at
its left inner corner. The garth is 117 feet east and west, and
144 feet north and south, or 135 feet and 162 feet over all. Only
two courses of large, nearly square, blocks remain of the outer face.
Inside are several irregular enclosures, a house site, a strange little
slab cist, hardly 2 feet wide, and a long " traverse " wall running
north and south.

Craggicorradan (Ordnance Survey Map No. 8)
The long marshy ridge (which falls abruptly beside Ballinalacken
Castle and overlooks beyond it the bushy crags and rock-gardens of
Oughtdarra-^ and the expanse of sea to Aran and to Moher cliffs) has

^ V'ita >S. Mocliullci, Aualoota Eollaudiaiia, cf. Juurnal, vol. xli, p. 377, also
Silvu Gadelica, vol. ii, pp. 107, 110, and, Journal, xi (1870), p. 95.

2 Journal, vol. xxx, p. 355.

' Ibid., p. 342 ; also Limerick Field Club, vol. iii, p. 51. Oughtdarra is reputed
to be named from the oratory of St. Sinnach Mac Dara, but the derivation is very
doubtful. It is Wafierig in the Papal Taxation, 1302 ; Killagleach and Vetforoich
form the Rectory of Glae, 1419 {Cal. Papal Reg., vol. vii, p. 118); Owghtory (a
separate parish from Killilagh) in 1584, and Ughdora in Petty's Map, 1655. None
of these suggest the sound " dara," still less " macdara."

56 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

two earthworks, of a type very rare in Co. Clare, called the Mote
and Lislard.i In eastern Clare " mote " is always applied to a low
earthwork, and in Oughtdarra to stone forts ; here, alone, it applies
to a high mound. I inchne to the belief that the Mote (with perhaps

MOTE
CRACCYCORRADAN EAST

LISLARD

SCALEforSECTIONS

r^ f 1

^°fe:et

\9\14.

Fig. 3. Craggycorradan and Lislaed

Lislard) is not residential, though it has an outer ring and a fosse.
The place was called Cracc I corradain in the " 1390 " rental.

The Mote. — At the highest point of the road, at the steep end

^ Journal, vol. xxxv, p. 352.

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN 57

of the ridge, rises the mote. It has an outer ring 5 feet higli to the
south, but levelled to hardly a foot high to the north. This is cut
through by a field fence to the east, but that segment is otherwise
little injured and is in the same field as Lislard. The outer ring is
about 84 feet across and is 12 to 18 feet thick. The fosse is 5 to 6
feet deep, and 9 feet wide below, and ] 5 feet at the field level. The
central mound is slightly rounded, about 12 feet high, the same width on
top, but 24 feet in diameter at the base ; it has a " berm " 3 feet high
and 3 to 6 feet wide, round its foot ; a similar ledge, 9 feet wide,
running inside of the outer ring. It is sheeted with stunted heather
and soapwort, and has furze bushes on the ring.

Lislard. — About 420 feet from the mote, eastward, is another
earthwork, caUed Lislard. The outer ring in parts is 5 feet high
and 88 feet over all. The fosse is 9 to 12 feet wide, and rarely 3 feet
deep, but wet and rushy to the south-east. The central mound is of
two tiers, the base 48 feet in diameter, on its platform is a smaller
mound 18 feet across, 6 feet on top and 3 feet high, but defaced by
treasure seekers. It may have been a residential fort in which a
burial took place, while the mote was probably a sepulchral mound,
not being flat-topped.

Knockauns Mountain (Ordnance Survey Map No. 4)

Eastward from Caherdufi fort/ about a mile and a quarter away,
lies a curious group of ring walls, seeming, with one exception, to be
late and decadent. They lie on that ancient road from Ballinalacken
to Faunaroosca, where it joins the steep zigzag lane way from St.
Columkille's Church at Crumlin,^ rising past the nearly levelled
rectangular cathair on its rock ledge. To the east lies the shale
dome of Knockauns. On its broad limestone base, rising 220 feet
above them, and 976 feet above the sea, lie several forts. They
command, like Caherduff, the whole Eallonaghan Valley and the
bluflf Black Head, looking westward across the waves to the Conne-
mara Peaks and Slyne Head.

The old roads are worth noting ; the main one runs from Caher-
maccrusheen past Oughtdarra. Beyond Knockauns Mountain,
it runs northward, past Faunaroosca round castle and Ballyelly
forts ^ over the mountain. It dips into the Caher Valley, near

1 JoitntaZ, vol. XXXV, p. 351. My photograph of this interesting fort is published
in Dr. A. Gu^bhard's very helpful monograph on European ring forts {Congr^s
pr^historique, iii, Antun), p. 1007.

2 Local legend assigns the little oratorj' with its round-headed east and south
lights to St. Columba, and the rock Lccknanceve on whicli ho landed after leaving
Aran is shown on the shore below. His other church in a ring fort in Glencolum-
kille is described, supra, vol. xliii, p. 250.

3 Journal, vol. xxxi, p. 10.

58 PvOYAL SOCIETY o¥ ANTIQUARIES 0¥ ICELAND

Formoyle, and runs up past Calieranardurrish, down through the
Eeenagh Valley, past the great forts of Caherfeenagh and Caherlis-
macsheedyi to Glenarraga, opposite the Bally allaban forts. It then
runs round the mountains past Lough Rask, Muckinish Castles,
Bealaclugga Creek, and Corcomroe Abbey, up to the Carker Pass into
Co. Galway. By it, apparently, the Siol Muiredaigh, in 1094,
invaded the Corcamodruadh.^ The latter, under Tadhg, son of
Ruadri ua Chonchobhair, checked them at Fiodnagh (Feenagh) in
a desperate but drawn battle, and they were glad to retire, both
sides having lost heavily. Readers of the Cathreim Thoirdhealbhaigh
will remember the aj)pearance of the odious banshee Bronach to
Prince Donchad and his army at Loch Rasga, and the fierce " Battle
of the Abbey " in 1317, as well as the ambuscade in which king
Conchobhair Ruadh ua Briain fell in the wood of Siudaine near
Muckmish in 1267.=^

LiscoONERA. — A small ring wall stands on the edge of the bluff,
very like Caherduff, save for its poor late-looking masonry and
irregular plan. It has a very flat curve to the south-west, then an
abrupt turn, nearly an angle, as at Caherdooneerish. Much was
levelled when two cottages were built in its garth, but the north-
west segment was kept for shelter. The wall had two faces and
large coarse tiUing. The inner face is of small " stretchers," the
outer of larger slabs. It is 7 to 8 feet high, bulged and irregular in
its hues.

Cahermoyle. — A large fort, indifferently called Cahermoyle and
Cahermore, lies about 300 yards from the last, about 770 feet above
the sea. It is evidently the chief and oldest fort of the group,
being of fine masonry and on the choicest site, overlooking a shallow
grassy hollow, invaluable for keeping cattle under its occupants'
eyes, but hidden from the rest of the plateau. The fort is circular :
its wall, 7 to 8 feet thick, of large, regular courses, and still over
5 feet high, with a batter of 1 in 7. Only three courses remain to
north and west, and there is little or no debris, so that evidently all
the smaller stonework was removed for road making. It measures
122 feet over all and about 105 feet inside ; there are no house sites.

Cairns. — A low heap of stones lies in Derreen West, just beyond
the road, and 755 feet above the sea ; west from it is another low
grassy mound of earth and stones, also probably sepulchral.

Bawn. — A late enclosure lies about 700 feet from the last and the

^ Journal, pp. 27o-(J.

2 Aiiiuds oj Tighernach, Ulster (1094), Chronicon Scotoruvi (1090), Four Masters
and Loch Ce (1094). The Four Masters give under 1084 a raid of the Connacht men
into Thomond, when "they burned duns and churches and took away spoils."

' Cathreim Thoirdhealbhaigh. Sec Proc. E. I. Acad., vol. xxvii, pp. 292-3.

fUEHlSTomc REMAINS IN BURREN

same distance from Cahermoyle. It was probably a late cattle-pen,
being poorly built of long blocks with field-stone filling. It lias no
describable plan, and is about 42 feet across at the widest point.
The wall is in parts 5 feet high, and rarely over 4 feet thick ; it
resembles some of the 17th century enclosures near Leamaneagh
Castle.

Caherbeg. — The.southern end of the grassy depression is guarded
by a well-built little ring wall, about 300 yards from Cahermoyle
on a slightly rising crag. It is correctly shown as a fort in the 1839
map, but not in the later survey. It is regularly oval, 70 feet across
east and west, 86 feet north and south, and is built of large shapely

^^, CAHERBEG ,KN0CKAUN5 Mi:if

Fig. 4. Caiierbec, Masonky

blocks, with many upright joints, like the masonry of Cahercloggaun ;
the inner face, as usual, is of far smaller stones, and but little remains.
The wall is 6 to 7 feet thick, 9 feet high to the north, and 5 to (i feet
elsewhere, save where is is nearly levelled to the south. The gateway
faces the latter point, but only its west pier remains. Several walls
cross the garth.

Three more ring walls, now nearly levelled, lie eastward near the
new road. One is in Derreen South (a long townland named from a
long destroyed little oak wood),^ another in Knockauns Mountain ;
both are low rings of mossy stones, the third is barely traceable. A
more substantial one, but reduced to a heap, stands on a low crag,
beside another grassy hollow suitable for cattle.

' What remained of ihe Calliair oi Ciaggagh (a large nag fort be l ween Lis-
coonera and Killonaghan church) was being carted away for road metal in May,
1914. It had, however, long ago been defaced, as a house adjoined it and is sharing
its fate.

GO ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Most of these little flimsy " Mohers " and " Cahers " are probably
late bawiis, degenerate representatives of the great ring walls of
Ireland, Britain and the Continent. They are, however, far superior
to the " pounds " and " bull parks." Even these last are called
" Caher " and " Moher." " It was my father built these Cahers "
said a little boy proudly to me at Doolin.

The upland of Elva has no forts, and was doubtless once a vast
" booley " ^ where cattle were sent to feed in summer. The herds
could easily be driven near the forts in cases of sudden alarm.

The new road runs across the boggy upland with deep gullies
and runnels, rich in water-lovmg plants. At the crown of the ridge
we overlook Munster for 70 miles to the blue peaks of Corcaguiny,
out to Mount Brandon and back to the Galtees and the Silvermines.
Hills in five out of the six Munster counties are visible, and Conne-
mara is behind us. Thence the steep road runs past the ancient
church and curious well, holy tree and pillar stone of Kilmoon, past
Knockateeaun back to Lisdoonvarna.

Caherdooneerish (Ordnance Survey Map No. 1)

The fort of Irgus,^ a contemporary of Queen Medb, is on the
summit of Black Head, about 650 feet above the sea. It is locally
called Dunirias and Caherdooneerish.^ I revisited this fine upland
fort with Dr. Hugh G. Westropp in 1914, getting an unusually clear
view to Mount Nephin and the Curlew Hills 60 to 70 miles north-
ward. Some treasure -seeker had cleared out the gate, which I was
able to plan. It is 2 feet 9 inches wide ; its lintel, measuring
6 feet 2 inches by 2 feet by 9 inches lies before it ; the
piers are 6 feet deep, then the wall sets back to the north
for 6 feet to what was either a ramp or flight of steps,
as the terrace remains, being 5 feet high. Farther on is
another slope beyond which the terrace is only 2 feet high : it is
3 feet 7 inches wide. The outer section of the waU is 6 feet higher

1 It has not, however, got the numerous " booley " names so notable on Mount
Callan.

2 Journal, vol. xxxi, p. 7. Black Head is the Mons Niger of certain early
Portolan maps ; " m. negri '" in the Upsal map, 1450 ; " m. neig " in Agnesi's map,
1516 ; " montes negros " in Voltius, 1593, and " Niger mons " in the curious late
map, " Hybernia seu Irlant," Avhich combines Ptolemy, the Portolans and the late
Elizabethan maps. It is L>oinhooft in the Zee Atlas of Jacob Aertoz, 1668, but
this is transferred to Hags Head in Jannson's Atlas, Amsterdam, 1661, and Le
Neptune Francois, 1693, which rightly name Black Head Can Brayne or Can
Borayne — i.e., Ceann Boirne.

^ Not Caherdoonforgus as on the maps. This was an obsession of O'Donovan,
who M-as at the time seeking for traces of Fergus mac Roigh in Burren. Dr. Mac
Namara and I got the forms Dunirias, Doonecri.sh and Cahcrdoonecrish before I
noticed that the mythic Irgus was connected v,i\.h. Black Head or Ceann Boirne in
the poem of Mac Liac.

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN fil

(10 feet outside to the north, 13 feet high south from the gate) ; it is
G feet 3 inches thick on top, with no batter, but bowed out in parts.
The terrace can be traced all round. There are no hut sites in the
garth or round the fort outside. (Plate IV, fig. 2).

House Ring. — Close beside the new road, and south from the
long wall running down the western flank of the bluff, are two ruined
cottages. Between them is a curious little oval house ring, shown
on the 1839 map — not on the new one. It is of large blocks rising
about 4 feet over the field, and is about 30 feet north and south,
and 33 feet across ; it is full of rich earth, and overgrown with
brambles and hawthorns, covered with flowers : it was unusually full
of birds on our visit.

Caherdoonteigusha. — This fort ^ stands on a low knoll beside the
new road and under the old road round Black Head. Just behind
it rises an ivied rock terrace, and its walls are pierced and nearly
hidden by the knotted ivy. A cottage has cut into the north-west
flank, and the garth is cultivated. In face of all this, I had passed it
by in 1885 and 1895 without recognising its character, despite the
guidance of a map. What can be seen of the wall shows it to have
been of large good masonry, with packing of round field stones.
The inner face is everywhere gone ; the wall was abovit 10 feet thick,
and, though gapped here and there, is for the most part from 5 to over
6 feet high. The highest reach, next the road, is so ivy-capped
that I could not measure it. The fort is oval, about 125 feet north-
west and south-east, and 100 feet in the other axis, over all. The
name, and even the fact of its being a cathair, seems forgotten.
It has a fine view of the Aran Isles.

Aghaglinny (Ordnance Survey Map No. 2)
Ascending the old zigzag horse track behind Gleninagh peel
tower and church, leading over the mountain to Feenagh, and now
rarely used, we reach the summit to the west of the pass, in Agha-
glinny South. There I was amazed to find a large earthen fort on
the bare crags. One recalled the legend of the Firbolg serfs in Greece,
toiling up the bare hills with their bags of earth. Who conceived the
idea of such a fort, if fort it were ? The most gigantic cathair could
have been raised more easily there from the loose slabs. I hardly
venture to suggest that it was a temple ;2 the gods could repay such
a work, but for human ends it was labour lost. A stone wall had
been a better shelter and defence than it. Perhaps it was for some

^ Journal, vol. xxxi, p. 7.

2 I have ventiired to suggest this view for discussion, not for assertion, in these
pages, vol. xl, p. 291. Turlough Hill fort and Ballydonohan, with, perhaps,
Oreevagh near TuUycommaun, may be also ceremonial or religious structures, .

62 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

ceremonial purpose, like the mound of Magh Adhair or the great
marsh-earn of Carnconnachtach, probably the inauguration place of
the Corcamodruadh. If so, was it where the Eoghanacht chiefs
were installed ? (Plate V, fig. 1).

Leaving these unanswerable speculations, we turn to facts. The
fort rests on the bald summit of the hill, 1,045 feet above the sea. It
overlooks nearly all Galway Bay, with its shores and the Aran Isles?
the nearer of which look strangely near from our lofty standpoint
The " fort " is a long oval platform of earth 6 to 10 feet high and
exactly twice as long as wide, being 246 feet east and west, and 123
feet north and south. It is revetted with a facing of dry stone for
the most part thrown down by the pressure of the earth.

The earn of Doughbranneen is seen lower down, but Caher-
dooneerish is hidden below the cliff. Descending into the wide
valley towards Feenagh we reach in a lonelj^ utterly secluded spot,
a fine ring wall, lying south-east from the summit. It is 240 feet
inside and 260 feet over all, an unusual size in this district. The
wall is of large blocks, well fitted, and usually from 2 feet 6 inches to
3 feet long and high : it is from 6 to 7 feet high and 10 feet thick,
rarely less than 5 feet ; the batter varies from 1 in 4| to 1 in 7. The
gateway faces the south (by compass), its passage is 7 feet wide, but
the ope is defaced. There are traces of enclosures in the garth,
but I could get no general view, as on my visit in 1906, the whole
was filled with most luxuriant meadow-sweet in full flower, and
often 4 feet high. The fine crescent fort of Lismacsheedy, already
described in this seriies of articles,^ lies at the er.d of this valley.
I am now able to give an illustration of it (Plate V, fig. 2.)

[To be continued .)

Journal vol. xxxi, p, 275.

Plate VJ

[To fare page 62

CATHAIR, AGHAGLINNY

LISMACSHEEDY

( 63 )

PROCEEDINGS

The Annual General Meeting of the 67th Yearly Session of the
Society was held in the Society's Rooms, 6 St. Stephen's Green,
Dublin, on Tuesday, the 26th of January, 1915, at 5 o'clock, p.m
Count Plunkett, k.c.h.s., f.s.a., m.r.i.a.. President, in the Chair.

Also present : —

Past President : — ^John Ril)ton Garstin, d.l.

Vice-Presidents : — E. C. R. Armstrong, f.s.a., F. Elrington Ball,
litt.d.. John Cooke, m.a., m.r.i.a.. The Right Hon. M. F. Cox, m.d.,
T. J. Westropp, m.a., m.r.i.a.

Fellows: — H. F. Berry, i.s.o., litt.d., G. D. Bnrtchaell, ll.b.,
James Coleman, S. A. 0. Fitz Patrick, T. G. H. Green, m.r.i.a.,
P. J, Lynch, m.r.i.a., Professor R. A. S. Macalister, f.s.a., Charles
McNeill, Hon. Gen. Sec, T. J. Mellon, f.r.i.b.a., P. J. O'Reilly,
G. W. Place, Andrew Robinson, m.v.o.. Rev. J. L. Robinson, b.a.,
Andrew Roycroft, William Cotter Stubbs, m.a., John F. Weldrick.

Members : — Miss Anna Barton, Joseph Bewlev, Mrs. Betliam,
W. F. Butler, m.a., F. W. Callaghan, Miss M. Carolan, William
Chamney, Henry S. Crawford, m.r.i.a., William J. Dargan, m.d.,
P. J. Griffith, William B. Joyce, Rev. Canon H. W. Lett, m.a., Mrs.
Long, Colonel J. K. Millner, James H. F. Nixon, f.r.g.s., j.p.,
R. B. Sayers, Richard Blair White.

Associate Members : — W. G. Gogan, A. R. Montgomery, Rev.
Canon G. D. Scott, m.a.

The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed.
The following Fellows and Associate Members were elected : —
Fellows
Fuller, James Franklin, f.s.a., 51 Eglinton Road, Donnybrook :

proposed by John Ribton Garstin, d.l., Fellow.
Lamb, Miss M. Antonia, 5900 Elmwood Avenue, Philadelphia,

U.S.A. : proposed by Charles McNeill, Hon. Gen. Sec.
White, Henry Bantry, m.a., Ballinguile, Donnybrook {Member, 1911) :
proposed by John Cooke, m.a., Fellow.

Associate Members
Gogan, W. G., 55 Madras Place, Dublin : proposed by E. C. R.

Armstrong, Hon. Gen. Sec.
McCance, Stouppe, 3 Markham Square, Chelsea, London, S.W. :

proposed by John S. Crone, l.r.c.p.i., Member.
Maxwell, Miss Ionia F.F., Knockalton, Nenagh : proposed by J. M.

Galwey Foley, Member.
Miller, Alfred, Royal College of Surgeons, 123 St. Stephen's Green,

Dublin : proposed by John Cooke, m.a., Fellow,

64 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Munro, Rev. Alexander, m.a., Rector of Glencolumkille; Co. Donegal :

j)roposed by John H. Tibbs, Member.
Stokes, Frederick, 7 Sydenham Road, Dundrum : proposed by John

Cooke, M.A., Fellow.

Report of the Council for 1914

The Report of the Council for 1914 was read and adopted as
follows : —

The meetings of the year 1914 were carried out according to the
programme adopted at the beginning of the year, and the attendance
was generally good. The Summer Meeting at Dublin on the 22nd,
23rd, 24th and 25th of June, was held under conditions which
contributed greatly to its success. Private owners and persons in
official positions afforded liberal facilities for examming the places
visited, and generous hospitality was received on each day of the
excursions. The Council has expressed the thanks of the Society
to the large number of persons by whom these favours were con-
ferred. The Conversazione, which, by kind permission of the Right
Hon. T. W. Russell, P.C, M.P., Vice-President of the Department
of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, was held in the National
Museum, was graciously honoured by the presence of their
Excellencies the Lord Lieutenant and the Countess of Aberdeen.
The Conversazione and the Society's Dinner were very successful.

The provmce of Ulster feeing next in rotation for the Society's
Summer visit, the Council recommends that the Summer Meeting
for 1915 he held at Londonderry in the early part of July, and
that the programme of meetings for 1915 be as follows : —

DATE

REMARKS

Tuesday, Jan. 26t.

Annual Meeting* and Evening Meeting
for Papers

Feb. 23t.

Evening Meeting for Papers

Mar. 30t.

„

April 27t.

Quarterly Meeting*

July ry-\0

Summer Meeting* and Annual Excursion

Sept.28t.

Quarterly Meeting*

Dec. 14 .

Evening Meeting for Business under
Rule 22, and for Papers

Dublin

r/ondondorrv
Dulilin .

* Railway Return Tickets at a single fare and a third may be obtained.
■f- Members of the Society's Dinner Club will dine at the Shelbourne Hotel,
Dublin, at 6 15 p.m.

PROCEEDINGS

Ten Meetings of the Council were held before the end of the year,
and the attendances were as follows : —

Count Plunkett, President
John Ribton Garstin, Past

President
Robert Cochrane, Past

President
¥. Elrington Ball, Vice-
President
T. J. Westropp, Vice-Pres. .
The Right Hon. M. F. Cox,

Vice-President
E. C. R. Armstrong, Hon.

Gen. Sec.
Charles McNeill, Hon. Gen.

Sec. ....
Henry J. Stokes, Ho7i.

Treasurer
Lord Walter FitzGerald .

John Cooke

. 10

G. D. Burtchaell

. 4

T. G. H. Green

. 8

S. A. 0. FitzPatrick

. 9

R. A. S. Macalister .
The Hon. Mr. Justice

. 6

Barton

. 0

W. F. Butler .

. 4

E. MacDowel Cosgrave

. 1

Richard Lane Joynt

. 1

Lucas White King .

. 5

T. J. Mellon

. 4

Sir J. R. O'Connell .

. 5

P. J. O'Reilly .

. 7

H. F. Berry

. 6

W. Cotter Stubbs

. 6

There are five vacancies in the office of Vice-President, of which
four are caused by a statutory retirement in each province, and one
by death. The resignation of Mr. H. J. Stokes leaving the position
of Honorary Treasurer vacant, the Council nominate Mr. H. Bantry
White, M.A., M.A.I. , I.S.O., for that position in accordance with
Rule 19. It is not proposed at present to nominate an Honorary
General Secretary in place of Mr. Armstrong.

Seven vacancies occur in the Council through the statutory
retirement of the four senior members, and insufficient attendance
on the part of three other members.

Mr. E. C. R. Armstrong, one of our Hon. General Secretaries, has
been promoted to the position of Keeper of Irish Antiquities in the
National Museum, rendered vacant early in the year by the much-
to-be-regretted retirement of our Hon. Fellow, Mr. George Coffey,
through ill-health. In consequence of the increased work and
responsibility thus thrown upon him, Mr. Armstrong has notified
to the Council his desire to resign the post of Joint Hon. Secretary,
which he has held since 1909.

Mr. Henry J. Stokes, who has been Hon. Treasurer since 1903,
has also tendered his resignation of that office in consequence of the
present condition of his health. The Council, feeling that in the
circumstances these gentlemen could not reasonably be asked to

66 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

retain their posts, has accepted their resignations with much regret,
and it desires here to express its grateful sense of the vakiable
ser\aces which each of them has rendered to the Council and the
vSociety.

The several vacancies havmg been duly declared in accordance
with Rule 22, the following nominations have been received : —

As President : —

Count Plunkett, k.c.h.s., m.r.i.a., f.s.a.

As Vice-Presidents : —

For Leinster . . Lord Walter FitzGerald, m.r.i.a.

J, . . John Cooke, m.a., m.r.i.a.

,, Ulster . . William Gray, m.r.i.a.

Munster . . Sir Bertram Windle, m.r.i.a., f.r..s. .

F.S.A.

Connacht .. E. C. R. Armstrong, m.r.i.a., F.S.A.

As Honorary General Secretary : —
Charles McNeill.

As Honorary Treasurer : —

Henry Bantry White, m.a., m.a.i., i.s.o.

As Members of Council : —

F. J. Bigger, m.r.i.a., FcIIoav.
James Coleman, Fellow.

T. P. Lefanu, C.B.. Member.
P. J. Lynch, m.r.i.a., Fellow

G. W. Place, Fellow.

Rev. J. L. Robinson, m.a.. Fellow.
Herbert Wood, b.a., Member.

No nominations having been received in excess of the number
of vacancies in the several offices, the persons named above are to
be declared elected.

During the year 6 Members were advanced to the rank of Fellow ;
9 Fellows and 42 Associate Members were elected. The resignations
of 1 Fellow, 28 Members and Associate Members were received.

Under Rule 11, one Fellow and 15 Members were removed from
the Roll for non-payment of subscriptions. The number of deaths
notified was 34, and several prominent persons were included.

PROCEEDINGS 67

Obituary Notices

Mr. Henry Alexander Cosgrave, M.A., who died on the 1st
January, 1914, was elected a Member of the Society in 1890. He
was the eldest son of William Cosgrave of Corrstown, Co. Dublin,
Solicitor ; graduated in Trinity College as Junior Moderator in
Classics in 1872, and was awarded the Aesthetic Silver Medal of the
University Philosophical Society. For thirty-four years he was con-
nected with the Vice-Chancellor's (afterwards Mr. Justice Barton's)
Court — first as Assistant Chief Clerk, and afterwards as Chief Clerk.
He contributed a paper on " The Irish Channel and Dublin in 1735 "
to Volume XXIX. of the Journal.

Mr, Robert Day, F.S.A., M.R.I. A., who became a Member of
this Society so far back as the year 1863, and a Fellow in 1888,
being Vice-President 1887-97, 1900-03, and 1911-14, died at his
residence. Myrtle Hill House, Cork, on the 10th of July, 1914, aged
nearly seventy-nine years. He was mainly instrumental in founding
the Cork Archaeological Society, of which he acted as President for
a number of years. Mr. Day was widely recognised as a zealous
and intelligent collector of Irish antiquities, and the museum that
he formed at his own house was rich in gold ornaments, in specimens
from the stone, iron and bronze ages, and in medals and insignia
of the Volunteer movement of 1782. To his energy it is due that
many objects of considerable value and interest have been preserved
for posterity. His collection was sold in London last year, and
realised a large sum. The Royal Irish Academy and the Science
and Art Museum, Dublin, secured for the nation many valuable and
unique specimens at the sale. Mr. Day published a large number
of papers in the Cork Archaeological Journal, including articles on
spear heads, coins, chalices, medals, flags and guidons, poesy rings,
Cork pewter, as well as on Huguenot settlers in Youghal, and on
English goldsmiths and their marks. He wrote for our Journal
papers on Irish glass ornaments, war trumpets, bronze antiquities,
Cork maces, Cork silver, bronze brooches, and on some Cork chalices.
A bibliography of Mr. Day's contributions to the Journals of both
societies will be found in the Journal of the Cork Historical and
Archaeological Society, July-September, 1914, pp. 110-113. Mr. Day
also contributed to Notes and Queries, to the Ulster Journal of
Archaeology, and the Ex Libris Journal. He performed some ex-
cellent work in editing, in conjunction with Dr. W. A. Copinger, of
Manchester, Smith's History of Cork, which was brought out b_\ the

68 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Cork Archaeological Society. His notes, many of them expanded
from MS. annotations of Crofton Croker and Richard Caulfield, are
of great value. Mr. Day had a remarkable influence in his native
County of Cork, where he ever strove earnestly to form pubHc
opinion as to the necessity of preserving local remains and finds.
His death is greatly regretted, and his loss will be much felt, as it
will not be easy to fill the place he so long occupied among his
fellow-citizens and throughout Ireland generally as a devoted
archaeologist.

The Rev. William F. Falkiner, M.A., M.R.I.A., Member of the
Society (1888), died on the 7th June, 1914. He was a collector,
through whose hands various objects of antiquarian value reached
different museums. He contributed the following papers to our
Journal : — " Earthworks at Rathnarrow " (Vol. XXXVI. and
" Mural Tablet, Richard Rothe, Mayor of Kilkenny " (Vol. XXXVII.);
and was also a contributor to the publications of the Royal Irish
Academy. Mr. Falkiner was an accomplished draughtsman, a
skilled metal worker, and took a special interest in Irish craftsman-
ship. He was Hon, Local Secretary for Co. Londonderry, and his
death is a loss to the Society.

The Rev. James Frederick Metge ffrench was a member of
a family who possessed property in the neighbourhood of New Ross,
where his grandfather had been Sovereign. His family was a branch
of the well-known Western family represented in the Peerage by
Lord ffrench and Lord de Freyne. Canon ffrench was also closely
related to the Usshers, Wolfes, Tolers and Metges. He made his
final studies at St. Bee's Theological College, and was ordained in
1867 by Dr. Sumner, Bishop of Winchester, for the Curacy of Havant,
Hants, where he remained till appointed to the Rectory of Clonegal,
Co. Carlow, which he held from 1868 to 1907. He enlarged that church
by adding a chancel. He was made a Rural Dean, and in 1899
Canon of Clone in Ferns Cathedral, of which he became Treasurer
in 1900. He was a member of the Diocesan Council and of the
General Sj^nod. Canon ffrench, who had been elected a Member of
the Royal Irish Academy, was more closely identified with our
Society, which he joined as a Member in 1876. He became a
Fellow in 1889, and was a Vice-President, 1897-1900. He frequently
attended the excursions of the Society, at which his great local know-
ledge and readiness in imparting it made him welcome. In 1886 he read
a paper before the Society : "On an Ancient Glass Manufactory at
Mehtia, Co. Wexford ; " this was followed in succeeding years by
several other papers on various subjects, as enumerated in the

PROOEEDINGS 69

Index to the Journal. His last work, entitled ^Prehistoric Faith and
Worship' (London : D. Nutt & Co.), was favourably noticed in the
English and Irish Press. Canon ffrench resided chiefly at his house,
Ballyredmond House, Clonegal, but his later years were passed at
Greystones, Co. Wicklow. He died on the 20th of March, 1914,
at Enniscorthy.

The Most Rev. Michael Francis Howley, D.D., Archbishop
of St. John's, Newfoundland, who died 15th October, 1914, had
been a Fellow of our Society since 1901. He was the eighth son of
Richard Howley, formerly of Glangoole, Co. Tipperary, and was
born in 1843 at St. John's, whither his father had emigrated. Com-
pletmg his studies at the College of Propaganda in Rome, he obtained
his doctorate in divinity, and was ordained priest in 1868. In 1869
he went to Glasgow as secretary to Archbishop Eyre, whom he
accompanied to Rome not long afterwards for the Vatican Council.
At the conclusion of the Council in 1870 he returned with Dr. Power,
bishop of his native diocese, to Newfoundland, and the rest of his
life was employed in clerical labours in that colony. In 1885 he was
appointed Prefect-Apostolic of St. George's West ; in 1892, having
been consecrated Bishop of Amastris in partihus infidelium, he was
placed in charge of the apostolic vicariate of St. George's ; and in
1895 he succeeded Dr. Power as seventh Bishop of St. John's. When
that See was raised to metropolitan dignity in 1904 he became its
first Archbishop. He was a vigorous and successful administrator,
and particularly attentive to the educational interests of his diocese.
Yet amidst the active duties of his position he found time for
literary pursuits. He published, among other works, an Ecclesias-
tical History of Newfoundland, Boston, 1888 ; a volume of Poems,
as well as essays on historical subjects contributed to the Transactions
of the Canadian Royal Society, and other publications. He took a
strong interest in our Society, and made a point of calling at its
office when he passed through Ireland in the summer of this year.

Patrick Weston Joyce, sometime President of the Society
and one of its best known Members, died on the 7th January, 1914,
at his home, Barnalee, Rathmines. He was born in 1827 at Bally-
organ, Co. Limerick, in sight of the Ballyhoura Mountains and the
Galtees, and, as so often, the impression of the surroundmgs of his
boyhood left its mark on all his after life. In one of his books,
English as we Speak it in Ireland, he gives us clues to these influences,
recollections of the passionate piety of the peasantry m the little
thatched, earth-floored chapel, of the rough, but scholarly, hedge
schoolmasters, of the dancers for whom (like another Goldsmith)
he played on the fife, and of the traditions of the glens and fields

70 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

In 1845 he entered the service of the Commissioners of Education,
and worked his way upward to be the PrinciiDal of the Training
College, Dubhn, which post he held till his retirement in 1893. He
was also a Commissioner for the Publication of the Ancient Laws of
Ireland, His duties brought him in contact with persons able to
help him in his best known life work. His love of folk music also
led him among retired places where he collected local names, often
very different to the forms on the maps. This bore fruit in what
may, probably, be the most permanent of his works : The Origin
and History of Irish Names of Places. His treatment of this technical
subject was most happj^ ; the broad effects of legend, folk-lore and
history cover the dry bones of etymology, and led many into this
and like fields of Irish work that might have been repelled by other
writers. He took as his mottoes, we may say, the old topographer's
lines some five centuries ago : " Let us wander round Erin," and
"An increase of the knowledge of holy Erin." However much
scientific workers may traverse many of his derivations, based
rather on popular forms than on those of the records, they will long
continue to use the bulk of his work and to admire the whole. So
also the admirable spirit, fair, sympathetic and tolerant, shown in
his histories, has won them the favour of persons of widely con-
trasted opinions all over the world. His Child's History of Ireland
(1898) was adopted as a text-book in the Roman Catholic schools
of Australia and New Zealand and by the Catholic School Board of
New York. Over 86,000 copies of it and 70.000 of the Outlines of
the History of Ireland have been sold. His Old Celtic Romances
inspired Tennyson in the poem on the " Voyage of Maeldune " ;
his Short History of Ireland (1893), and his more important Social
History of Ireland (1903) are household words among us. His love
of Irish songs and folk music gave our country Ayicient Irish Music
(1882), Irish Music and Song (1909), Irish Peasant Songs in the
English Language (1909). This is no place even for the bibliography
of his numerous works, large and small ; 24 out of his 30 books were
on Ireland. He annotated the Ballads of Irish Chivalry by his poet-
orother. Dr. Robert Dwyer Joyce, and wrote several manuals of
Irish grammar, geography, history, and the study of names. His
later more important works. The Social History and Irish Folk
Music are fully noticed in our Journal, Vol. XXXIV., p. 78, and
Vol. XXXIX., p. 204. The first two parts of the latter are from
his own collections commenced in 1847, the last two from those of
W. Ford and J. E. Pigot. Dr. Joyce entered Trinity College and
obtained the degrees of B.A. 1861, M.A. 1864, and LL.D. in 1870.
He married, in 1856, Caroline, daughter of Lieut. John Waters, of
Baltinglass, by whom he left issue, three sons (Mr. Weston St. J.

PROCEEDINGS 71

Joyce, author of Dublin and its Neighbourhood, being the eldest)
and two daughters. In the Royal Irish Academy and m our Society
but Httle of his work appeared ; he was eminently a writer of books,
and rarely '' cast his bread upon the waters " in the less individual
publications of societies. In the former institution he was a Member
in 1863, and on its Council from 1884 to 1895. We find in the
Proceedings only two papers (besides " Changes and Corruptions in
Irish Topographical Names," read, but not published) — namely,
" The Occurrence of the Number Two in Irish Proper Names," and
" Spenser's Irish Rivers," both in Vol. X. In our Society, though
a Member from 1865, his work is as Uttle represented ; only in 1900
we find a note on the name of Cabinteely (Vol. XXX., p. 368),
and one on " an old Irish Blacksmith's Furnace " (Vol. XXXV.,
p. 407). He was elected a Fellow and then President in 1906,
and his one paper is a quasi-presidential address on the
" Lugnaedon Inscription at Inchagoill " (Vol. XXXVI., p. 1). It
is to be regretted that it championed the old reading, based on
inaccurate drawings and the views of older antiquaries, and so drew
forth a refutation as well as unfavourable criticism from several
modern antiquaries. Indeed personal exammation of the inscribed
stone (or its cast, or even of the admirable photograph in Miss
Stokes' work on Irish Inscriptions) renders the asserted reading
impossible. The loss of such a veteran topographer and antiquary
to our Society, over whose destinies he presided for three years,
1906 to 1908, calls for this notice despite the fuller accoimts that
appeared so abundantly at the time of his death in the newspapers
and magazines of Ireland.*

George Ai^exander Patrick Kelly, Hon. Local Secretary for
Roscommon since 1893, died 10th April, 1914. He was elected a
Member of the Society 1890, Fellow 1894, and was a Member of the
Council 1896-1900. To the Journal he contributed notes on objects
found on a crannog at Cloonglasnymore, Co. Roscommon (Vol.
XXV., p. 180), and on a fortress at Downpatrick Head, Co. Mayo
(Vol. XXVIII., p. 273). Educated at Trin. Coll., Dublin, he became
B.A. 1867, and M.A. 1870, Avas called to the Bar 1871, and at the
time of his death had been for some years Father of the Connacht
Circuit, Senior Crown Prosecutor for Co. Shgo, and a Magistrate
for Co. Roscommon.

Mr. James Mills, Deputy-Keeper of the Records in Ireland, who
died on the 5th of September, 1914, became a Member of the Society

* The articles in '• Tlie Irisli Booklovcr " and ••The Irish Monthly " may be
consulted.

72 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

in 1889, Fellow 1892, Vice-President 1904-7 and 1913-14. A
memoir of his life and work will be inserted in the next number of
the Journal. [See above, p. 1.]

Roll of Membership

In consequence of the changes noted the total Membership which
stood at 1012 at the end of 1913 was 984 at the end of 1914, to
be distributed as follows : —

Hon. Fellows 11

Life Fellows

Fellows

Life Members

Members .

Associate Members

50
152

49
653

Lists of persons promoted or elected, of those removed from the
Roll under Rule 11, and of those Avhose deaths have been notified,
are appended to this Report.

The issue of the Gormanston Register, which it was anticipated,
would have been distributed to Fellows during the year, was un-
avoidably delayed by the illness of both the editors, Mr. Mills
and Mr. M. J, McEnery, the late and the present Deputy-Keepers
of the Records. The Council is assured that the work will soon be
published.

A General Index to the Journal for the years 1891-1910 is in a
forward state, and it also will be issued shortly. For this Index
the Society is indebted to the late General Stubbs, who had collected
the material for his own use, and placed it at the disposal of the
Society. At the Council's request our Fellow, Mr. William Cotter
Stubbs, undertook the very considerable labour of collating, revising,
and preparing this Index for publication as an Extra Volume, and
has also seen it through the Press.

The Council has had under consideration the preparation of other
Extra Volumes, including Topographical and Archaeological Surveys
of County Cork, the Minute Books of the Chapter of Christ Church
Cathedral, Dublin, and a Calendar of Documents from the Bellew
Archives. It is desired that these publications, for which the Council
is glad to know the assistance of capable editors will be available
should be undertaken at an early date, but in view of all the circum-
stances it is not at present possible to make a more definite announce-
ment respecting them.

Having regard to the instruction of the Annual Meeting, much
attention has been given to the matter of providing better accom-
modation for our library. The jaractical solution of this question

PROCEEDINGS 73

involves several important considerations of location, caretaking,
security, &c., and the Council has not as yet been able to find suitable
premises except under conditions entailing an expenditure beyond
the present resources of the Society. During the year, however, the
existing library has been cleaned, all the books have been removed
from the shelves, dusted and replaced, and some progress has been
made in re -arranging them. The greater portion of the library
consists of Journals of kindred Societies and of other publications,
of which many are received unbound. During recent years it has
not been possible to allocate a sufficient sum of money for binding,
and, consequently, a considerable arrear has accrued. The Council
regrets that in present circumstances it cannot hope within any
reasonable time to be able to make adequate provision for binding
out of the ordinary revenues of the Society.

Steps are being taken to provide a catalogue of all the books in
the Society's possession ; but this will require the expenditure of
some time and labour.

In addition to the publications received in exchange for the
Journal, the following works have been presented to the Library : —

The Irish Justiciar!/ Roll, 1305-7. Edited by James Mills, I.S.O.,

Fellow.
Statute Rolls of the Parliament of Ireland. 1 to 12 Edward IV.

Edited by H. F. Berry, M.A., FeUow.
History of the Diocese of St. Asaph. By Ven. Archdeacon D. R.

Thomas, M.A., Hon. Fellow.
Handbook to Christ Church Cathedral. By Rev. John Lubbock

Robinson, M.A., Fellow.
Irish Seal Matrices and Seals. By E. C. R. Armstrong, F.S.A.,

Hon. General Secretary.
The Antiquity of Man in Ireland. By W. J. Knowles, Fellow.
The Town Wall Fortifications of Ireland. By J. S. Fleming,

Member.
The Diocese of Emly. By Rev. St. John D. Seymour, B.D.,

Member
Irish Witchcraft and Demonology. By the same Author.
The Leofric Collecfar and the Psalter of Ricemarch have been

received from the Henry Bradshaw Society, to which the Society

subscribes.

As is known to all Fellows and Members, the important collection
of Irish and other antiquities formed by the Society in the early
days of its existence is now deposited on loan in the National
Museum. No catalogue of these interesting antiquities has ever
been issued, and the Council has felt that such a catalogue should

74 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

be taken in hands . Mr. E. C. R. Armstrong has been asked and has
generously consented to make a complete catalogue of the Irish
portion of the collection. This will be eventually printed either in
the Journal or as a separate pubheation according to the decision
which the Council may arrive at.

The Council regrets to have to report a considerable decrease in
the income of the Society during the past year. The receipts from
fees and subscriptions were £520 10s. Od., and from rents, interest
and miscellaneous receipts £132 12s. 4d., amounting to £653 2s. 4d.,
and showing decreases of £62 10s. Od. and £44 3s. Id. respectively
under the two heads specified ; in the latter case the difference is due
in the mam to the fact that in 1913 the receipts from sales of back
numbers of the Journal offered at a reduced price were exceptionally
large, and also to direct investment of interest this year on the
Society's holdings in Government Consolidated Stock. The amount
so held at the end of the year was with the invested interest
£1,125 3s. lOd., represented by two sums — namely, £719 9s. Od.
invested in the names of Robert Cochrane, I.S.O., LL.D., and the
late E. P. Wright, M.D., and £406 14s. lOd. invested in the names
of Robert Cochrane, T.S.O., LL.D., the late E. P. Wright, M.D., and
the late J. Digges LaTouche, LL.D. Dr. Cochrane, the surviving
trustee, has transferred these sums to the Society, which now
holds them as a corporation under the provisions of the Charter.
The accounts, Avhen audited, will be submitted to the Society in
the usual wa}^

Members transferred to the rank of Fellow, and of Fellows and
Associate Members elected in 1914 —

Fellows

Atkinson, George, a.r.h.a., 97 St. tStephen's Green, Dublin.

Bolton, R. Denne, Rath-na-Seer, Bray, Co. Wicklow.

Burke, Myles J., Lisbrien, Gort, Co. Galway.

Fayle, Edwin, Kylemore, Orwell Park, Rathgar {Mernber, 1904).

Fletcher, Lionel L., Tupwood, Caterham.

Green, T.G.H., m.r.i.a., Lisnagar, Temple Gardens, Dublin {Member,

1900).
Hartley, Frank Reynolds, May Lodge, Bridhngton.
King, Lucas White, c.s.i., ll.d., f.s.a.. Roebuck Hall, Co. Dublin

{Member', 1890).
Lane-Poole, Stanley, m.a., litt.d., Donganstown Castle, Wicklow

{Member, 1911).
McNeill, Charles, 19 Warrington Place, Dublin {Member, 1890).
McSweeney, Major Gilbert, 12 Cranley Place, London, S.W.

PROCEEDINGS 75

Magennis, William, m.a., Herbert Street, Dublin.

Paul, Theopliilus P. N., b.a., Head Master, Presidency High School,

Indon, Central India.
Robinson, Rev. John Lvibbock, b.a., 36 Northumberland Road,

Dublin {Member, 1911).
Tarleton, Capt. John W. T., The Abbey, Killeigh, King's Co.

Associate Members

Agnew, Charles Stewart, b.e., 2 Fairfield Park, Rathgar, Dublin.

Adeney, Miss, Burnham, Monkstown, Co. Dublin.

Alton, Mrs. J. Poe, EHm, Grosvenor Road, Dublin.

Bagenal, Philip H., 17 Clarence Drive, Harrogate, Yorkshire.

Barton, Miss Emma, 12 Brighton Road, Rathgar, DubUn,

Colohan, Dr John, Grand Hotel, Malahide, Co. Dublin.

FitzGerald, Mrs. Annie, 13 Raglan Road, Dublin.

FitzGerald, Wilfrid, 13 Raglan Road, Dublin.

Garty, John, Clerk of Works, Inch Abbey, Downpatrick.

Geoghegan, Miss, 4 Ulster Villas, Sandycove Avenue, E., Kingstown.

Griffith, John W., Greenane, Temple Road, Rathmines.

Gwynn, Miss Madeline, Redcourt, Clontarf, Dublin.

Gwynn, Miss Sheila, Redcourt, Clontarf, Dublin.

Harding, Henry Edward, 5 Maryville Terrace, Dalkey, Co. Dublin.

Hemphill, Miss G., 11 Ely Place, Dublin.

Hemphill, Miss Mary E. C, 11 Ely Place, Dublin.

Hutchinson, Thomas Lewis, Mullingar.

Hutton, Miss Margaret, 17 Appian Way, Dublin.

Hyslop, Miss, 17 Hume Street, Dublin.

Kennedy, Rev. Canon, d.d., The Rectory, Stillorgan, Co. Dubhn.

Lardner, Miss A., 43 Mespil Road, Dublin.

Law, Miss, 8 De Vesci Terrace, Kingstown, Co. Dublin.

MacEgan, The, Queen's Hotel, Dalkey.

McGrath, Denis Joseph, 2 Cross Avenue, Blackrock, Co. Dublin.

McTier, Miss E., 14 Upper FitzwilHam Street, Dublin.

Malley, Herbert 0., Chetwynd, Herbert Road, Bray.

Montgomery, Alexander Randal, Colesberg, Herbert Road, Bray.

Mooney, Herbert Charles, m.b., l.r.c.s.i., 22 Lower Baggot Street,

Dublin.
Nichols, Miss Edith M., 85 Ranelagh Road, Dublin.
Nichols, Miss Muriel, 85 Ranelagh Road, Dublin.
Nugent, Hon. Mrs. Richard, Stacumny, Celbridge, Co. Kildare.
O'Brien, John George, Lakefield, Fethard, Co. Tipperary.
O'Donoghue, Cooper Charles, Oreland, North Circular Road,

Limerick.
O'Hanlon, Miss Lctticu E., The Rectory, Innishainion, Co. Cork.

76 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

O'Hara, James, j.p., 107 Sandymount Avenue, Dublin.

Rennison, Rev. C. T., Killeagh Rectory, Oldcastle, Co. Meath.

Ryan, W. J. Norwood, St. John's, Beaufort Road, Kingston-on-
Thames.

Scally, Miss Ethel, Ard Emin, Killiney, Co. DubHn.

Scott, Rev. Canon George Digby, m.a.. The Rectory, Bray.

Stokes, Mrs. Kate, 3 Waterloo Road, Dublin.

Truell, Robert Holt Stuart, West Mount, Dover, and Clonmanon,
Rathnew, Co. Wicklow.

Walsh, Michael Stephen, l.r.c.p.i., l.r.c.s.i., 24 North Frederick
Street, Dubhn.

The following are the names which have been removed from the
List of Members for 1914 as owing three years' subscription. These
Members may be restored to Membership on paying up all arrears: —

Fellow
Muldoon, John, O'Maoldubhain House, Dungannon.

Members
Barry, Henry S., Leamlara, Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork.
Day, Rev. John, m.a., St. Ann's Vicarage, Dublin.
Fenton, Rev. C. O'Connor, m.a., Roundhay, Leeds.
Fenton, Rev. Cornelius O'Connor, m.a., 20 Nelson Street, Liverpool.
Hayes, James, Church Street, Ennis.
Healy, Nicholas, High Street, Kilkenn3^
Johnstone, Swifte Paine, Hotel Metropole, Dublin.
Kenny, Henry Egan, Hilhngton House, Goole.
Keane, E. T., Parliament Street, Kilkenny.
Morris, Henry, 8 Main Street, Strabane.
Mulligan, Miss Sara, 13 Patrick Street, Kilkenny.
Marstrander, Professor Carl, 122 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.
Moore-Brabazon, Chambre, Tara Hall, Tara.
O'Connell, Sir Morgan Ross, Bart., Lakeview, Killarney.
Power, John Joseph, High Street, Kilkenny.

List of Deaths notified during 1914 : —
Fellows
Day, Robert F., m.r.i.a., j.p.. Myrtle Hill House, Cork {Member,

1863 ; Fellow, 1888).
ffrench. Rev. Canon James F. M., m.r.i.a., Clonaston, Enniscorthy

{Member, 1876 ; Felloiv, 1889).
Frost, Frederick Cornish, f.s.a., 5 Regent Street, Teignmouth (1910)
Joyce, Patrick Weston, ll.d., m.r.i.a., 18 Leinster Road, West,
Rathmines {Member, 1865 ; Fellow, 1906.)

PROCEEDINGS. 77

Kelly, George A. P., j.p,, Cloonglasnymore, Strokestown {Member,

1890 ; Fellow, 1894).
Mills, James, i.s.o., m.r.i.a., Public Record Office, Dublin {Member,

1889 ; Fellow, 1892).
Pope, Peter A., New Ross, Co. Wexford {Member, 1889 ; Fellow

1893).
Howley, Most Rev. Dr., St. John's, Newfoundland (1901).

Members

Acheson, John, j.p., Dunavon, Portadown (1896).

Bewley, Mrs. S., Knapton House, Kingstown (1901).

Cadic, Edward, d.litt., r.s.h., Belmont, Monkstown Road, Dublin

(1891).
Carolin, George 0., j.p., Iveragh, Shelbourne Road, Dublin.
Castle Stuart, Rt. Hon. The Earl of, d.l., Drum Manor, Cookstown

(1893).
Condon, Frederick H., l.r.c.p.i., Ballyshannon (1893).
Cosgrave, Henry A., m.a., 67 Pembroke Road, Dublin (1890).
Denny, Francis McGillycuddy, Denny Street, Tralee (1889).
Dickson, Rev. Canon William A., Fahan Rectory, Londonderry

(1891).
Falkiner, Rev. William F., m.a., m.r.i.a., Bank of Ireland, London-
derry (1888).
Flynn, Very Rev. P. F., p.p., St. Ann's, Waterford.
Godden, George, Phoenix Park, Dublin (1897).
Hanan, Ven. Archdeacon, The Rectory, Tipperary (1889).
Hughes, Benjamin, 96 North Main Street, Wexford (1895).
Laughlin, Robert C, Gortin, Co. Tyrone (1901).
Lawlor, Charles, j.p., 62 Leinster Road, Rathmines (1903).
Leonard, Mrs. T., Warrenstown, Dunsany, Co. Meath (1892).
McEnery, Rev. Francis, c.c, Westland Row, Dublin (1899).
McGrath, Rev. Joseph B., c.c, Richmond Place, N.C.R., Dublin

(1901).
Manning, John B., 18 Upper Sackville Street, Dublin (1899).
Murphy, M. L., Bally boy. Ferns (1896).
Nash, Richard G., j.p., Finnstown House, Lucan (1895).
Ross-Lewin, Rev. Canon G. H., m.a., Shotley Bridge, Co. Durham

(1905).
Stephens, Pembroke Scott, k.c, 30 Cumberland Terrace, London,

N.W. (1891).
Williams, Edward William, d.l., Herringston, Dorchester (1868).

Associate Member
Lardner, Miss A., 43 Mespil Road, Dublin (1914).

78 nOYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

On the adoption of the Report the Chairman declared the
following elected to their respective offices :—

As President :—

Count Plunkett, k.c.h.s., m.r.i.a., f.s.a.
As Vice-Presidents : —

For Leinster ... Lord Walter FitzGerald, m.r.i.a.
... John Cooke, m.a., m.r.i.a.
,, Ulster ... William Gray, m.r.i.a.
,, MuNSTER ... Sir Bertram Windle, M.R.I. A., F.R.s., F.S.A.
,., CoNNACHT .. E. C. R. Armstrong, m.r.i.a., f.s.a.
As Honorary General Secretary :—

Charles McNeill.
As Honorary Treasurer : —

Henry Bantry White, m.a., m.a.i., i.s.o.
As Members of Council : —

F. J. Bigger, m.r.i.a.. Fellow.
James Coleman, Fellow.

T. P. Lefanu, C.B., Member.
P. J. Lynch, m.r.i.a., Fellow.

G. W. Place, Fellow.

Rev. J. L. Robinson, m.a.. Fellow.
Herbert Wood, b.a., Member.
The Meeting then adjourned until 8 15 o'clock, p.m.

The Evening Meeting was held at 8 15 o'clock, p.m., Count
Plunkett, k.c.h.s., f.s.a., m.r.i.a., President, in the Chair.

The following Papers were read, and referred to the Council for
pubhcation : —

1. "Processional Cross, Pricket Candlestick and Bell, found

together at Sheephouse near Old bridge, Co. Meath," by
E. C. Armstrong, f.s.a., Vice-President. (Illustrated by
Lantern Views.)

2. " Prehistoric Remains (Forts and Dolmens) in Burren, Co.

Clare, and its S.W. Border, Part xii and Conclusion," by
T. J. Westropp, m.a., m.r.i.a.,. Vice-President.
The Meeting then adjourned until the 23rd February, 1915.

An Evening Meeting of the 67th Yearly Session of the Society
was held in the Society's Rooms, 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, on
Tuesday, the 23rd of February, 1915, at 8 15 o'clock, p.m.. Count
Plunkett, k.c.h.s., f.s.a., m.r.i.a.. President, in the Chair.

The following Papers were read, and referred to the Council for
publication : —

1. "The Earldom of Ulster, Part IV.: Inqviisitions touching

Coleraine, &c." By Goddard H. Orpen. Member.

2. " Some Early Ornamental Leatlierwork." (Illustrated by

Lantern Slides.) B}^ J. J. Buckley, Member.

PROCEEDINGS 79

An Evening Meeting was held at 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, on
Tuesday. 30th March, at 8 15 p.m., Count Plunkett, k.c.h.s.,
M.R.I.A., F.s.A., President, m the Chair.

A paper on "' South County Dubhn : its History and Antiquities '"
was read by F. Elrington Ball, d.litt., Vice-Presideyit, and, at his
desire, was not referred to the Council. The following pajjers A^•erc
referred to the Council for publication : — " Entries relating to John
O'Donovan and his immediate Relatives, from the Registers of the
formerh' united parishes of Slieverue and Glenmore. Co. Kilkenny,"
by Rev. Canon Carrigan, d.d., p.p. " Fiacha Mac Aodha Ua
Bhroin," by Gustavus Hamilton, communicated by R. A. S.
Macalister. M.A., Fellow.

Publications received in 1914

American Antiquarian Societ}^, Proceedings, vol. xxiii, part 2 ;

vol. xxiv, part 1.
Antiquary, The, for 1914.

Archaeologia Cambrensis, 6th Series, vol. xiv, parts 1-4.
Belfast Naturalists' Field Club. Proceedings, 2nd Series, vol. vii,

part 1.
Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Transactions,

vol. xxxvi, parts 1 and 2.
British Archaeological Association Journal, vol. xix, part 4; vol. xx,

nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Cambridge Antiquarian Society, Proceedings, vol. Ixv.
Cambridge and Huntingdon Archaeological Societj^ Transactions,

vol. iii, parts 9 and 10.
Cork Historical and Archaeological Societv, Journal, vol. xix, nos.

100-103.
Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers, Selskabs Skrifter, 1913.
Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club, Proceedings,

vol. xxxv.
Epigraphia Indica, vol. xi, nos. 6, 7, and 8 ; vol. xii, nos. 1 and 2 ;

and Epigraphia Indo-Moslemica.
Galway Archaeological and Historical Society. Journal, vol. viii,

no. 2. Index to Journals, i-vii.
Institution of Civil Engineers, Transactions, vol. xl.
Irish Builder for 1914.

Kildare Archaeological Society, Journal, vol. vii, nos. 5 and 6.
Numismatic Chronicle, 4th Series, nos. 52, 53, 54, 55, 56.
Numismatique cle Mu&ee National de Transylvanie. Travaux, vol. v.
Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statements for 1914.
Revue celtique, vol. xxxiv, no. 4 ; vol. xxxv., nos. 1, 2, and 3.
Royal Anthropological Institute, Journal, vol. xliii, xliv.
Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Journal,

vol. Ixx, nos. 279, 280 ; vol. Ixxi, no. 281.
Royal Institute of British Architects, Journal, vol. xxi, parts 1.2.

3, and 4. Kalendar, 1914-1915.
Royal Irish Academy, Proceedings, vol. xxxii, Sec. C, parts 6-13.
Smithsonian Institution Publications, Report, Year ending 30th

June, 1913.
Societe royale d'archeologie de' Bruxelles. Annales, tome xx\ni, liv.

2, 3, 4 ; Annuaire, tome xxv.

so ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Society of Antiquaries of London, Proceedings. 2nd Series, vol. xxv ;

Archaeologia, vol. Ixiv.
Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-on-Tyne, Proceedings, 3rd Series,

vol. vi, pp. 141-268 ; Archaeologia Aeliana, vols, x and xi.
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Proceedings, vol. xlvii.
Society of Architects, Journal, vol. vii, nos. 75-84 ; vol. viii, nos. 85

and 86.
Somersetshire Archaeological Society, Proceedings, 3rd Series,

vol. xxix.
Surrey Archaeological Collections, General Index, i to xx.
Sussex Archaeological Collections, vol. Ivi.

Thoresby Society Publication, vol. xix, part 2 ; vol. xxii, part 2.
Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine, nos. 120

and 121. Inquisitions Post Mortem, part 5.
Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, vol. xxii, part 88 ; vol. xxiii,

parts 89, 90.
Yorkshire Philosophical Societj^ Report, 1913.
BibUography of Irish Philology.

The History of the Diocese of St. Asaph, parts vii and viii.
Memoires des Antiquaries du Nord, 1913.
Calendar of the Justiciary Rolls of Ireland, Edward I, Part II, by

James Mills.
Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Transactions, vols, 64

and 65.
Kent Archaeological Society, Archaeologia Cantiana, vol. xxx.
The Hunter Archaeological vSociety, Transactions, vol. i, no. 1.
The Town Wall Fortifications of Ireland, by J. S. Fleming, f.s.a.
The Antiquity of Man in Ireland, by W. J. Knowles.
Statute Rolls of the Parliament of Ireland, 1st to the 12th Year of

the reign of King Edward IV, by H, F. Berry, litt.d.
Irish Seal Matrices and Seals, by E. C. R. Armstrong, f.s.a,
Hand-Book to Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin, by Rev. J. L.

Robinson, f.r.s.a.i.

Report of the Photographic Collection, 1914.

The collection has now 2,914 photographs, 43 having been added
during the year : 33 were given by Mr. Hubert T. Knox, and 10 by
the Keeper. They are distributed under the following counties : —

Co. Cfare. — Caherdoonfergus, at Black Head ; Cahermakerrila,
near Lisdoonvarna — 2 in all.

Co. Cork. — Cape Clear, Dun Thoraais, Dunanore Castle ; Dvm-
lough, Three Castle Head ; Dunmanus Castle ; Dunnasead Castle,
Baltimore ; Ightermurragh Castle ; Lemcon Castle, Schull ; Porta-
doon Fort, near Castlehaven — 8 in all.

Co. Galway. — Athenry, Franciscan Convent (6) ; Ballinahowna,
Riverville Castle ; Carrigeen dolmen, Craughwell ; Cregg Castle (3) ;
Dumha, in Carnabreckna (2) ; Gortnahowna cist, near Athenry, and
virn found in it (5) ; Istercleraun Castle ; Killogilleen Church (2) ;
Killora Church, Craughwell ; Levallyconor Castle, Craughwell (2) ;
Mannin Castle and Church ; Moycola (Craughwell) ; Strongfort
Castle (Caheradine) (2)— 33 in all.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY

The " Extra Volumes " for the following years are : —

1888-89— "The Rude Stone Monuments of Co. SHgo and the Island of AchiU," by ColoueJ

Wood-Martm. {Out of print.)
M890-91— '' The Accoimt Roll of the Priory of the Holy Trinity, Dublin, 1337-1346, with the

Middle English Moral Play, The Pride of Life, from the original in the Christ Church

Collection in the Public Record Office, Dublin," edited by James Mills, m.i^.i.a.
1892 — -"Inis Muiredach, now Inismurray, and its Antiquities," b}' W. F. Wakcman (cluUi,

royal 8vo, with Map and 84 Illustrations). (Price 7s. (id.)

*1 893-95 — ■" The Annals of Clonmacnoise," from the MSS. in the Royal Irish Academy and Trinil.^,
College, Dublin, edited, with Introduction and Notes, by Rev. Denis Murphy, s.j., m.r.i.a.

*1896-97^ — ■" Register of Wills and Inventories of the Diocese of Dublin in the time of Arch-
bishops Tregury and Walton, 1457-1483," from the original MS. in the Library of Trinity
College, Dublm, edited, \\'ith Translation, Notes, and Introduction, by Henr\' F. Berry,
M.A., T.C.D., Barrister-at-Law.

''1898-1901 — -The Index to the first Nmeteen Volumes of the Journal for the years 1849-1889,
inclusive, complete in Three Parts. Parts I, II, and III now readj', price 3s. 6d. each.
The Avhole formhig vol. xx of the Consecutive Series of the Journal of the Society.
1902-1906 — " The Gormanston Register," edited by James Mills, j.s.o., m.r.i.a. (Nearly ready. )
*1907-1908—" Inscribed Slabs at Clonmacnois." By R, A. S. Macalister, m.a., i.s.a.
1909—" Old Irish Folk Music and Songs." By P. W. Joyce, ll.d. (Price 10s. (3d.)

* These Volumes may be had from the Society's Publishers, price I'ds. each.

In preparation.

The Index to the Journal, 1891-1910.

A volume of County Cork Topographical ancl Archajological Surveys.
The Minute-Books of the Chapter of Christ Church Cathedral.
MSS. in the possession of the Bellew family.

The "Extra Volumes" previous to the year 1890 are out of print, except "Christian
Inscriptions in the Irish Language," edited by M. Stokes, of which several complete Volumes
and Parts, with numerous Illustrations, may be had. Price £3 for the complete Volumes.

The Publications of the Societ}- are to be obtained from the Publishers, Mes.sis. HoDciiis,
Figgis & Co., Ltd., 104 Grafton Street, Dublin ; also the List of Fellows and Members (price Gd.).

Hon. Local Secretaries

Antrim (N.) Wm. A. Traill, m.a., m.e.

„ (S.). W. J. Knowles, m.r.i.a.

Armagh . Robert Gray, f.r.c.p.i.

Belfast City R. M. Young, b.a., m.r.i.a.

Carlo w . Patrick O'Leary.

Cavan . William J. Fegan, Solicitor.

Clare . Dr. G. U. Macnamara.

Cork . The O'Donovan, m.a.

,, City . James Coleman.

Donegal . * * * * *

Down(N.) . W. H. Patterson, m.r.i.a.

„ (S.) .*****

Dublin . W. C. Stubbs, m.a.

,, City John Cooke, m.a., m.r.i.a.

Fermanagh T. Plunkett, m.r.i.a.

Galway(N.) R. J. KeUy.

„ (S.) Very Rev. J. Fahe^ , e.v., v.g.

Kerry . Singleton Goodwin, m.inst. c.e.

Kildare . Lord Walter FitzGerald, m.r.i.i

Kilkenny . M. M. Murphy, m.r.i.a.

King's Co. . Mrs. Tarleton.

I9'5

Leitrim . H. J. B. Clements, j.f.
Limerick . J. Grene Barry, d.l.
Londonderry * * * * :

Longford

J. M. "Wilson, D.L.

Louth

AVilliam Tempest, J. v.

Mayo

Very Rev. Monsignor
P.P., v.r.

OHara

Meath

Rev. Canon John Heal\

, LL.D.

Monaghan .

D. Carolan Rushe, b.a.

Queen's Co.

Rev. Ed\\'ard O'Leary, i

.P.

Roscommon Geo. A. P. Kelly, m.a.

Sligo

*****

Tipperary(S.)* * * * *

)Rev. James J. Ryan.

Tyrone

Rev. W. T. Latimer, m..

Waterford .

*****

„ City .

Patrick Higgins, f.r.s.a.

Westmeath

James Tuite.

Wexford .

G. E. J. Greene, m.a., sc.d.,

M.R.I..V., F.L.8.. J. p.

Wicklow .

*****

THE

Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

1915

President

COUNT PLUNKETT, M.R.I.A., F.S.A.

Vice-Presidents

Leinstee Mtjnster

Most Rev. Dr. DonueUy, m.k.i.a.
F. Elrington Ball, litt.d.
Johu Cooke, m.a., m.r.la.
Lord, Walter FitzGerald,, m.e.i.a.

O'Donovau, c.B., m.a., d.l.

T. J. Westropp, m.a., m.r.i.a.

Most Rev. Dr. Sheehan, Bishop of ^\'atclio^tl.

Sir Bertram Windle, m.e.i.a., f.s.a., f.e.s.

Ulster Connacht

The Right Hon. Lord Arthur HiU.
His Excelleucj' The O'Neill.
M. J. M'Enery, m.r.i.a.
William Gray, m.e.i.a.

The Right Hon. M. F. Cox, m.d.

The Right Hon. Viscount Gough, k.c.v.o.

Richard Langrishe, j.p.

E. C. R. Armstrong, m.e.i.a., f.s.a.

Hon. General Secretary

Charles McNeiJl, 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublm.

Hon. Treasurer

H. Bautr\' White, 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Council

■S. A. 0. FitzPatrick.

Professor R. A. S. Macalisfer, f.s.a.

W. F. Butler, m.a.

Lucas White King, ll.d.

T. J. MeUon.

J. R. O'Connell, ll.d.

P. J. O'Reilly.

H. F. Berry, i.s.c, litt.d.

W. C. Stubbs, m.a.

F. J. Bigger, m.r.i.a.
James Coleman.

T. P. Lefanu, c.B.
P. J. Lynch, m.r.i.a.

G. W. Place.

Rev. J. L. Robinson, m.a.
Herbert Wood, b.a.

Note. — The names of Vice-Presidents and Council are arranged according to dates of election.
The names first on the list retire first.

Past Presidents who are ex=officio Members of Council

John Ribton Garstin, d.l., f.s.a., m.r.i.a. j Robert Cochrane, ll.d., i.s.o., f.s.a.

Clerk

Mr. J. C. BaU, 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Hon, Keeper of Prints and Photographs

Thomas J. Westropp, m.a., m.r.i.a., 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Hon. Provincial Secretaries, 1915

Leinster Munster

Thomas J. Westropp, m.a., m.r.i.a., Duhhn | The Rev. Canon C. Moore, m.a., Mitchelstown.

Ulster Connacht

The Rev. Canon Lett, m.a., m.r.i.a. 1 Edward Martyn, Tulira Castle, Ardrahan.

Seaton F. Milligau, j.p., m.r.i.a., Belfast. | Richard J. KeUy, j.p., Tuam.

Bankers

Provincial Bank of Ireland, 12 St, Stephen's Green, Dublm.

Pri)itcd by John Falconer, 53 L'jrper Sackvilh- Street, Dublin,

THE JOURNAL

or THE

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES
OF IRELAND

Series VI, Vol. V.

Vol. XLV EMJ«CaS8 Part II

30 JUNE, 1915

CONTENTS

PAGE

C. McNeill, Hon. Gen. Sec. — The Secular Jurisdiction of the earh

Archbishops of Dublin . . . . . . . 81

GusTAvus E. Hamilton — Fiacha Mac Aodha Ui Bhroin and Donihnall

Spainneach Caomhanach ........ 109

Lord Walter Fitz Gerald — The Sculptured Stones from the Bridge of
Athlone, built in 1567, now in the Crypt of the Science and Art
Museum, 'DuhWn {Illustrated) . . . . . . .115

GoDDARD H. Orpen, M.R.I. A., Afeftider— The Earldom of Ulster {contimied) 123

E. C. R. Armstrong, Vice-President — Descriptions of some Irish Seals

[Illustrated) • .... 143

H. S. Crawford, b.e., m.r.i.a. — Mural Paintings in Holy Cross Abbey

{Illustrated) .. . . • , 149

Miscellanea (Illustrated) .151.

Notices of Books . .157

Proceedings . .162

Statement of Accounts for the Year ending 31 December, 19 14 . 164

DUBLIN
HODGES, FIGGIS, & CO., Ltd., GRAFTON STREET

1915

THE JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES
OF IRELAND

(Formerly the Kilkenny Archaeological Association, and the Royal Historical
and Archaeological Association of Ireland)

List of the Volumes, showing the relation between the Consecutive
Numbers and the Numbers of each of the Six Series ; also the Years for
which each Volume was issued.

Consecutive Number

Number op Series

Years

*I.

I. ....

1849, 1850, 1851.

II.

1852, 1853.

*III. •

III.

1854, 1855.

*IV.

I. 2nd Series,

1856, 1857.

11.

1858, 1859.

*VI.

III.

1860, 1861.

VII.

IV.

1862, 1863.

VIII.

1864, 1865, 1866.

IX.

VI.

1867.

I. 3rd Series,

1868, 1869.

XI.

I. 4th Serie.«,

1870, 1871.

XII.

11.

1872, 1873.

XIII.

liT.

1874, 1875.

XIV.

IV.

1876, 1877, 1878.

XV.

1879, 1880, 1881,

1882.

XVI.

VI.

1883, 1884.

XVII.

VII.

1885, 1886.

*xvin.

VIII.

1887, 1888.

*XIX.

IX.

1889.

XX.

Index,

1849-1889.

*XXI.

I. 5th Series,

1890-1891.

XXII.

1892.

XXIII.

III.

1893.

XXIV.

IV.

1894.

XXV.

1895.

XXVI.

VI.

1896.

XXVII.

VII.

1897.

XXVIII.

VIII.

1898.

XXIX.

IX.

1899.

XXX.

1900.

XXXI.

XI. ...

1901.

XXXII.

xn.

1902.

XXXIII.

XIII.

1903.

XXXIV.

XIV.

1904.

XXXV.

XV.

; 1905.

XXXVI.

XVI.

1 1906.

XXXVII.

XVII.

1907.

XXXVIII.

XVIII.

1908.

XXXIX.

XIX.

1909.

XL.

XX.

1910.

XLI.

I. Gth Series,

1911.

XLII.

II.

1912.

XLIII.

III.

' 1913.

XLIV.

IV.

1 1914.

TJic A'ohimes marked (*) are now out of print. Some of the remaming Vokimes can be suppUed
to Members at the average rate of 10s. each. Odd Parts of some of the foregoing volumes can
be suppUed. The Quarterly Parts of the Fifth Series can be suppUed to Members at 38. each.

In order to assist Fellows and Members to obtain back numbers of the Journal, the Coimcil have
decided to offer the fifteen volumes from 1870-1884 at the greatly reduced price of £1 for the set.
In considering applications, preference mtU be given to Fellows and Members who joined
the Society previous to 1908.

THE JOURNAL

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES

OF IRELAND

The Second Part of the Index to the Journal com-
prising Vols. XXI to XL (189091 to 1910), which
was prepared by the late General Stubbs and revised and
edited by William Cotter Stubbs, M.A., M.R.I.A., Fel/07v,
has now been issued. Price, in paper cover. 10s. 6d. ;
in cloth, 12s. 6d.

A few copies of the Index to Vols. LXIX (1849 to
1889), which was issued as Vol. XX of the Journal are
still to be had.

oi j^uuiin uiiuer

the three first prelates promoted to the see by the influence of the
Kings of England, The two earliest of these archbishops were men
of conspicuous ability and experience in public affairs. John Cumin,
the first of them, was appointed after a form of election had been
gone through at Evesham by some Irish ecclesiastics sent there to
King Henry II, and by members of the English hierarchy whO'
associated themselves with the representatives from Dublin.-^ In
reality, the appointment was made by direct exercise of the royal
influence. Cumin had been chosen by Henry II to be chief of the
embassy which, during the disputes between himself and the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, he despatched to Pope Alexander III ; and ten

■ See Gesta Henrici II (Rolls Series) I, p. 280-1.

THE JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES
OF IRELAND

(Formerly the Kilkenny Archaeological Association, and the Royal Historical
and Archaeological Association of Ireland)

List of the Volumes, showing the relation between the Consecutive

XXIV.

IV.

1894.

XXV.

•

1895.

XXVI.

VI.

1896.

XXVII.

VII.

1897.

XXVIII.

VIII.

■

1898.

XXIX.

IX.

•

1899.

XXX.

1900.

XXXI.

XI.

1901.

XXXII.

XII.

1902.

XXXIII.

XIII.

1903.

XXXIV.

XIV.

1904.

XXXV.

XV.

1905.

XXXVI.

XVI.

1906.

XXXVII.

XVII.

1907.

XXXVIII.

XVIII.

1908.

XXXIX.

XIX.

1909.

XL.

XX.

1910.

XLI.

I. 6tli Series,

1911.

XLII.

II.

1912.

XLIII.

III.

1913.

XLIV.

IV.

•

1914.

The Volumes marked (*

) are iio\\' out of print.

Some

of the

remaining Volumes can be supplied

to ]\Iembers at the average rate of 10s. each. Odd Parts of some of the foregoing volumes can
be supphed. The Quarterly Parts of the Fifth Series can be supplied to Members at 3s. each.

In order to assist Fello\\s and Members to obtain back numbers of the Journal, the Council have
decided to offer the fifteen volumes from 1870-1884 at the greatly reduced price of £1 for the set.
In considering applications, preference wUl be given to Fellows and Members who joined
the Societj- previous to 1908.

THE JOURNAL

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES

OF IRELAND
FOR THE YEAR J9I5

VOL. XLV, PART II

(vol. V, SIXTH SERIES VOL. XLV, CONSEC. SERIEs)

THE SECULAR JURISDICTION OF THE EARLY ARCH-
BISHOPS OF DUBLIN

By C. McNeill, Hon. Gen. Sec.
[Read 31 March 1914]

Among the many important records copied into the collection of
documents relating to the diocese of Dublin, which is known as
Archbishop Alen's Register, there is a series of inquisitions taken
early in the second half of the 13th century deserving of careful
examination. The subject dealt with is the temporal jurisdiction
exercised in the manorial courts of the archbishopric of Dublin under
the three first prelates promoted to the see by the influence of the
Kings of England. The two earliest of these archbishops were men.
of conspicuous ability and experience in public affairs. John Cumin,
the first of them, was appointed after a form of election had been
gone through at Evesham by some Irish ecclesiastics sent there to
King Henry II, and by members of the English hierarchy who.
associated themselves with the representatives from Dublin. ■•• In
reahty, the appointment was made by direct exercise of the royal
influence. Cumin had been chosen by Henry II to be chief of the
embassy which, during the disputes between himself and the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, he despatched to Pope Alexander III ; and ten

1 See Gesta Henrici II (Rolls Series) I, p. 280-1.

82 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

years later he was named second of the six j udges of the King's
Court to which the north-western of the four newly-erected judicial
districts of England was assigned. He had for a junior colleague on
that bench the celebrated jurist, Ranulf de Glanville.

Henry de Londres, who also is said to have borne the family
name of Cumin, but was more popularly nicknamed Scorchvillein,
or " Skin-the-serf," was the second English Archbishop of Dublin.
He was a prominent figure in the events of his time as the friend,
counsellor and upholder of King John alike, to all appearance, in his
violence and in his craft. By John as subsequently by his son
Henry III, Archbishop Henry was made justiciary of Ireland. The
episcopates of these two archbishops extended over a little less than
half a century, and in that time the administration of the Church of
St Laurence was brought into harmony with English notions, and
its temporalities were organised in the forms of feudal law. It was
the task for which these archbishops were specially selected.

At the outset of the consideration of the subject of this paper
the question arises whether the civil jurisdiction which Irish churches
are seen to exercise after the English occupation was a gift newly
conferred upon them by the King of England, or whether it was a
right which they had enjoyed previously. Apart from the historical
interest of the question, an accurate idea of the jurisdiction can
scarcely be had unless we know something of its origin. If it was
conferred bj^ royal grant its extent and character will be fixed by
the terms of the grant ; if it was an original jurisdiction it will appear
as one based upon custom and prescription, whose features are to be
discerned in use and practice. But a customary jurisdiction might
be as secure as one specifically granted, and even though based on
the native law and custom of Ireland, would none the less be valid
under the new government, since it fell within that clause of the bull
" Laudabiliter," " j\ire ecclesiarum illibato et integro permanente,"
which provided that all the rights of churches were to be maintained
entire and unabated. Even if the bull were shown to be spurious,
its adoption and publication by the King of England constituted it
a title for the maintenance of those rights against the Crown.

We have no copies of charters granted by the Crown to the See of
Dublin during the episcopate of St Laurence 0 'Toole, who ruled the
See for ten years after the English established their Irish seat of
government at Dublin. The earliest known charter conveying
jurisdiction is that obtained from Prince John while he was as j^et
only Covmt of Mortain in Normandy and Lord of Ireland. Harris,
who ascribed this charter to the year 1184, observed of it that it
" does not stand without Suspicion of Blemish. Earl John was young
when he arrived in Ireland. ... It is easy to conceive how far

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 83

this young Prince might be wrought on to sign anj^thing that was
brought him. But the Vanity of the Grant appears in this, that
Earl John during the whole time of his Government, and his Suc-
cessors for a long time after him, had no actual Dominion over all
Ireland, nor could hold Courts nor send Sheriflfs or Judges to above
A third Part of it. How then could he grant to this archbishop that
Power which he had not himseK ? "

This is rather artless criticism, and the writer seems to have
allowed himself to be carried away by preconceptions. In our day
less difficulty will be felt in conceding that Prince John, or even
King John in his riper years, would very readily part with a thing
which he had not got, and which someone could be found to accept
with the customary acknowledgment. His father, against whom
there lies no charge of youthful levity, had no actual dominion over
Meath when he conveyed it by charter to de Lasci, nor over Ulster
when he is said to have bestowed it on de Curci. D' Alton meets
Harris's objection with quaint ineptitude. Observing that Harris
has assumed too early a date for the charter, he says, correctly
enough, that internal evidence points to the year 1191 as the true
date, and at that time, he thinks, such a grant might have been
made by John, because King Richard was at the siege of Acre.
There is no doubt, he adds, that such a charter was granted, since it
is preserved in the archives of Christ Church. ^

This has been printed by the Irish Record Commission, not from
an original, but from the copy registered in the Black Book of Christ
Church, and its tenor is as follows : — " Know that through devotion
to God and for the welfare of my ancestors and successors I have
granted and by this my present charter have confirmed to my
venerable father, John, Archbishop of Dublin, and his successors
all liberties and free customs granted by my predecessors to him
and to his church ; and that the said archbishop and his successors
after him shall have throughout the whole land of Ireland court
and justice of his own men, both in cities and in lands outside.^

The words suspected by Harris are " throughout the whole land
of Ireland," for which, however, there would be no difficulty in
finding parallels. But there are other expressions in the charter
deserving of notice. Prince John distinguishes between his ancestor?,
for whom he had a pious interest, and his predecessors in authority,
who had conferred liberties on the Church of Dublin. Of English

^ It is not among the Christ Church documents now preserved in the Eecord
Office.

2 Chartae, Privilegia et Immimitales, p. 6, with date, circa 1190 : more probably
in 1192, when Albin, Bishop of Ferns, and Stephen Ridel, who witnessed this
■ charter jointly, witnessed another grant made to Archbishop John at Nottingham.

84 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

predecessors he had but one, his father, King Henry II ; the others
must have been Irish Kings of Leinster or Norse rulers of Dublin.
In this charter manifestly we have an example of a very numerous
class by which nothing was actually given that was not previously
possessed except recognition and title in the forms of Norman law,
which were very valuable to have. The vagueness of the charter
indicates that there was already in existence a customary juris-
diction of remote origin, which Archbishop Cumin, himself an ex-
perienced lawyer, thought it well to put upon a secure and un-
questionable footing. This will be seen more clearly in the case of
the Abbey of Glendaloch, for which earlier deeds are forthcoming
than for the diocese of Dublin. When Earl Richard was vice-
gerent in Ireland for the King of England from 1173 to 1176 he
granted a charter of confirmation to Abbot Thomas, St Laurence
O'Toole's nephew and successor at Glendaloch. Having recited in
detail the lands pertaining to the abbey of ancient right, the earl
declares that the abbot is to have all these fully, freely, &c., and
also his court and justice of all pertaining to the abbey, without
tribute, judgment, hospitality or service to any layman, " as King
Diarmaid," he says, " testified to me in the word of truth." Here
the viceroy clearly bases his grant on a pre-existing condition of
things, as to which, for his own security no doubt, he had required
a formal and solemn assurance from the person best able to give it
authoritatively, the reigning King of Leinster. King Diarmaid had
died in 1171, two years before Earl Richard was appointed viceroy,
and the stress laid upon his testimony after that interval seems to.
make it the more significant. As if for further emphasis and
corroboration the charter was witnessed in the first place by
Laurence, Archbishop of Dublin and Metropolitan of Leinster, and
in the second by the Countess Eva, Earl Richard's wife and King
Diarmaid's asserted heir.

About the year 1174, according to the Irish Record Commission,
and at all events before Walter de Coutances was elected Bishop of
Lmcoln, that is, not later than the early part of 1183, the Glendaloch
charter was confirmed by King Henry II at Guildford in letters,
patent addressed to his archbishops, bishops, abbots, barons, justices,
and all his ministers and faithful subjects of France, England and
Ireland. In these letters Earl Richard's charter is mentioned as one
of confirmation only and not of grant. " Know," they say, " that
I have given and granted and by this my charter have confirmed
to my well-beloved clerk, Thomas, the dignitj^ stiled the Abbacy of
Glendalach . . . and all things, possessions, men and rents, . . .
wheresoever they be, to that abbacy pertaining, in perpetual alms,
as best Earl Richard confirmed them by his charter ; and therefore ■.

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 85

I command and firmly enjoin that the said Thomas have his court
and justice of all pertaining to that dignit}^ and that he have all
other things of which Earl Richard's charter speaks. And do you
cause him to have without hindrance all his things and possessions
and men, wheresoever the}^ be, and his hberties and free customs,
and do you safeguard and protect him freely and peacefully, wholly
and honourably without lay service so that you neither do nor permit
to be done any injury or affront to him or to his men. And should
anyone presume to transgress herein in any way, do full justice
thereof upon him without delay." ^

The original jurisdiction on which these confirmations were
grounded is clearly declared in ancient Irish law. There is a tract
in the Senchus Mor which defines under eight heads the mutual
relations between various classes and individuals in the community.
The first head deals with the relations of lord and vassal, the second
with those of a church and the occupiers of its lands. Having laid
down the duties of the church the tract proceeds to state its rights
as follows : —

" Judgment, proof and testimonj^ belong to the church in respect
of its tenants, whether in free or in base tenure, and over every
other layman, even though a free tenant of church lands, unless
another church of equal dignity claims him."

Another tract, the Law of Precincts, asserts the rights of sanctuary
and of what in feudal law was styled redemption, that is, compound-
ing by a payment in money for punishment incurred, even when the
legal penalty was death.

" The Church," it says. " gives protection to offenders so that
they shall come forth from it free or bond exactly as they entered it
, . . Offenders receive protection in the Church until they quit it,
so that even when death has been deserved, fines are accepted from
them." This right of sanctuary was unconditional for a definite
legal term ; when that had expired it might be extended for a further
period if the culprit offered to submit to law ; but in no case could a
culprit be put to death after taking sanctuary, nor could he be
destroyed by an excessive mulct. Jurisdiction to this extent, in the
theory of feudal law, was regal in its nature, and could be exercised
by a subject only in virtue of a grant by the Crown. We shall find
in the documents we are to consider that such regalities were exer-
cised continuously by the diocesans both in Dublin and Glendaloch,

1 Crede Mihi, p. 38 (as usual, without attestation) ; Chartae, &c., p. 1, from
Alen's Register, giving witnesses' names, of whom the first is Walter [de Coutances],
Archdeacon of Oxford, elected Bishop of Lincoln, 8th May, 1183 (Ralph de Diceto,
615).

86 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

and that when thej^ were questioned, justification was not claimed
in virtue of a grant but as a right used uninterruptedly by every
archbishop and bishop within the memory of man : in other words,
that it was an original jurisdiction transmitted from the daj^s of
Irish rule. The formal returns to the inquisition appear to avoid
carefully any explicit mention of what took place previous to the
English occupation. They speak generally of " all the predecessors "
of the then archbishop ; but when the}^ have to mention what took
place in the diocese of Glendaloch, which had only one English
bishop before the See was united to Dubhn, they use the plural
" bishops," and include thereby the former Irish prelates. With
these facts in mind it will be possible to appreciate more fully the
significance of the returns.

The occasion upon which the inquisitions were taken does not
appear from the documents themselves, becavise they are not the
original returns made to the authority by which the inquiry was set
on foot. They are, however, as appears from a note by Alen, con-
temporary transcripts, retained probably by the archbishop's
ofiicers, in which only what was considered material is extracted,
and those formal words of title are omitted which would have
indicated for us the purpose of the inquiry and the date when it
was held. The date can be ascertained within comparatively
narrow limits. It fell within the episcopate of Fulk de Saunford, to
whom the temporalities were restored on 26th Nov. 1256, and,
consequently, 1257 may be regarded as the earliest year. All the
matters to which the inquiry was directed were decided in the most
solemn form by an inquisition in parliament at Castledermot on
Wednesday in Trinity week, 1264, before the justiciary and the
principal officers of state. After that decision there can have been no
recourse to a less authoritative tribunal. We may conclude, there-
fore, that the manorial inquisitions were held within the years from
1257 to 1263, both included.

The occasion may be inferred from the general political situation
of the time. In 1254 Prince Edward, a lad of fifteen, was appointed
Lord of Ireland by his father. King Henry III. His justiciary of
Ireland was Alan la Zuche, and his seneschal was Richard de la
Rochelle. From the very outset the Irish government was in confhct
with the Church on the subject of jurisdiction, and its action was not
only violent but grossly iUegal. The Archbishop of Tuam and the
Bishops of Connacht appealed to King Henry in 1256 against
invasions of their liberties ; they complained that attachments and
summonses were issued in their lands by officials of government,
that their tenants were -wrongfully compelled to render forced
services, and that they themselves were terrorised into submitting

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 87

to unlawful amerciaments, and dare not stand upon their rights
through dread of still heavier mulcts. The Bishop of Lismore, also,
had recourse to the Crown ; and by its authority a writ of the
justiciary was revoked on the ground that it was wholly contrary
to law. The policy of which these actions were the outcome was
vigorously pursued in Leinster by another justiciary, Stephen
Lungespee, appointed in 1259. Archbishop Fulk, involved in an
ecclesiastical lawsuit, was summoned to Rome in that year. He
anticipated that trouble would arise in his absence, and his anticipa-
tions were realised. In March and April of 1260 he obtained three
separate bulls from Alexander IV to restrain the justiciary from
meddling with ecclesiastical causes ; but they were ineffective. The
next pope, Urban IV, endeavoured by strong personal admonitions
to prevail on King Henry and the prince to restrain the usurpations
and violence of their ministers in Ireland ; and concurrently the Pope
authorised certain prelates in England to make strenuous representa-
tions at Court, while other prelates in Ireland were empowered to
proceed by ecclesiastical censure against the justiciary and his
officials if they would not desist from their transgressions. Though
the papal intervention had regard to ecclesiastical liberties alone,
and our concern is entirely with secular liberties, we should have
a very inaccurate notion of the circumstances and occasion with
which we have to deal, if we left the concomitant events out of con-
sideration. The policy of government was equally motived in each
direction : and this movement in Ireland, which has not received
the attention of high constitutional historians, will be seen to be of
the same character as that which found expression nearly twenty
years later in England ; when Edward, soon after he ascended the
Throne, issued his famous commission of quo warranto, and put all
claimants of exceptional privileges on proof of title. The pohcy
which la Zuche or de la Rochelle instituted in the boy prince's name
in Ireland was to van for the great King his title of the English
Justinian. On his first return from the Holy Land," says Mr
lUingworth, " he discovered that the revenues of the Crown had been
considerably diminished by ecclesiastics as well as laymen with-
holding from the Crown under various pretexts its just rights and
usurping the right of holding courts and other jura regalia. He
therefore appointed commissioners to whom were delivered certain
articles of inquiry applicable to the several abuses." ^

This procedure of dehvering articles of inquiry was that
which had been adopted in the inquisition for the diocese of

Placiia de Quo Warranto, 1818, pref.

88 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Dublin, and the articles may be deduced as follows from the
replies : —

L Were persons that had been waived in the Lord Edward's
court afterwards received in the archbishop's tenement ?

2. Had the archbishop waiver of criminals ?

3. Had he view and burial of persons found dead ?

4. Could the King's bailiff enter the archbishop's tenement to
serve summons or attachment ?

5. Had the archbishop trial by combat ?

6. Had he abjuration of felons ?

7. Were pleas of the Crown pleaded in his courts ?

8. Had he escheats of felons and homicides ?

9. Could he take redemption of Englishmen ?

The onlj^ point upon which there is any appearance of uncer-
tainty is that of waiver. Some of the jurors seem to have been
doubtful of the effect of their answer as to it : At St Sepulchre's
and Castlekevin they said that no one waived by the Lord Edward
was received in the archbishop's tenement ; if any one were received,
he was detained and handed over to the archbishop's bailiffs. At
Ballymore they simply denied that any such person is or ever was
received. At Swords their information was to the contrary, and they
gave an instance. At Clondalkin they never heard of such a thing,
and at ShankiU they answered with great circumspection that they
had no means of knowing who was waived in the Lord Edward's
court ; if names were given, perhaps they might be able to answer.

This matter of harbouring outlaws was manifestly considered
perilous by the jurors on the Irish borders, for waiver in these docu-
ments is used as the equivalent of outlawry. It is stated in books
that waiver is a term applied to women, and only to them, in cases
where a man would be said to be outlawed, and a very wise reason
is assigned. Here there is no such distinction — waiver, and never
outlawrj^, is applied to men throughout, and is shown to have been
a familiar occurrence. The presumption is that the book distinction
and reason are both fanciful. Apart from waiver, the answers are
all to the same effect in positive and unhesitating terms. They
establish every article of the impeached jurisdiction with a wealth
of instance and detail drawn from everyday experience, and thus
incidentally they picture vi\adly a most notable epoch in Irish
history. Officials and their functions, the affairs of private
individuals, some stirring incidents in their Hves, and occurrences of
wliich locahties well known to ourselves were the scenes, are brought
into view with distinctness, variety and detail through a period of
eighty years in the early days of the English settlement. In matter
like this the political historian, the student of the development of

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 89

law and institutions, and the student of social progress will find
much to repa}^ careful examination.

Documents ^

216 (92). — Earl Richard,- vice-gerent in Ireland of the King of
England, grants to Thomas his clerk the abbey and personatus of
■Olendaloch and its possessions in perpetual alms. [Then he details
" the lands pertaining to the abbey of ancient right "].

All these the abbot is to have fully, &c., and also his court and
justice of all pertaining to the abbey, without tribute, judgment,
hospitalit}^ and service to layman, as King Diarmicius^ testified on
the word of truth.

Witnesses : L. Archbishop of Dublin, Eua the countess, &c.

[Printed (without the names of witnesses) in Gilbert's Crede Mild,
no. XLiv].

186 (85). — King Henry II confirms Earl Richard's grant of the
Abbey of Glendaloch to Thomas his clerk.

Witnesses : Master Walter de Cout[ances], Archdeacon of
•Oxford, Regn' de Curten[eiaJ, Hugh de Laici, William de Braosa,
Hugh de Gundevilla, William son of Aldelm, dapifer : at Gildcforde.

[Printed in Gilbert's Crede Mild, but without testification. The
^ate, says Alen, was 1172, " immediately after the martyrdom of St
'Thomas " ; but it does not appear what his authority was. Since
de Coutances became Bishop of Lincoln in July, 1183, that becomes
the extreme later limit. Previous to 1177 he was much employed in
•continental negociations ; he returned to England in 1177, and in
that year de Lasci and fitz Aldelm were sent together into Ireland ;
de Gundevilla had been appointed an itinerant justice in 1176.
These circumstances seem to x^oint to 1177 as the likeliest date, and
though there seems no record that the King made a stay at Gviildford
in that year, he might have passed that way in going from Reading
to Canterbury in April].

206 (89). — " For Conguizatince "

John, Count of Mortain and Lord of Ireland, grants and confirms
to John, Archbishop of Dublin, all the liberties and free customs
granted by himself and his predecessors to the archbishop and his

^ The numerals not in brackets shew the foHos of the origuaal register : those
in brackets the fohos of the Archbishop's copy. The several MSS. are distinguished
thus— Al, the original: A2, the archbishop's copj' (both in the Dublin Diocesan
Office) : M, Marsh's Library copy : T, Trinity College MS. 554 : R, Reeves' copy,
now T.C.D. MS. 1061. See Dr Lawlor's "Notes on the Register of Archbishop
Ala-.!," Hcrmathtna xiv, no. xxxiii (1907).

2 Died 1176. * Died 1171.

90 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

church, and court and justice of his own men throughout all Ireland,
both in cities and in lands without.

[The text is printed in Gilbert's Credc MiU, no. xxxi, p. 35.

Date : between the archbishop's consecration at Velletri, 13th
March, 1182, and John's accession, Ascension Day, 1199. Harris,
assigning it to 1184, questions its authenticity on the ground that
the grant is beyond Count John's power to make. Dalton
{Archbishop'i, p. 77) " from the names of the witnesses and other
internal evidence "refers it to 1191. The text is printed in
Ch. Pr. and Im., p. 6, with date circa 1190, but more probably
1192, when Albin, Bishop of Ferns, and Stephen Ridell witnessed
at Nottingham another grant to Archbishop John. In this year
1912 a grant of John's to Thomas, Abbot of Glendaloch, was issued
at Nottingham.]

82 (223). — Inquisition taken at St Sepulchre's

Alexander Baker {pistor), Robert Dispensator, William de Lacy,,
Richard Seerman, John de Taillour, WilHam Turnure, Nicholas.
Pellipare (? Skiimer), Walter son of Stephen, William son of Richard,
John of the Abbey {de Abbacia), Adam Catelyna, Henry Baker
(pistor), Roger Carter {Carectar"), Thomas son of Wilham, WilUam
son of le Turnure, Ralph Shearman {Cissor), Richard son of WilHam,.
sworn at St Sepulchre's, Dubhn, to say the truth of the articles-
exposed to them, say :

As to the first article : that no one waived in the court of the
Lord E[dward] was received within the tenement of the Archbishop
of Dublin.

As to the second article : if any persons waived in the Lord E.'s
court were received and found in the tenement, they were detained
and delivered to the archbishop's bailiffs. In the time of Archbishops-
H[enr3^ de Londres] and L[uke] such persons were alwaj-s delivered
to the bailiffs aforesaid ; and one named Sylmhel ^ Maclotan was
waived, he was an " estman " and had the law of the English, and
a brother of his, Salgekil by name, put himself in flight for the same
offence and returned to the lord's peace for his money which he
gave to the said archbishop before Master H. de Glmdelache^
[seneschal], afterwards Bishop of Ossory, and other bailiffs and
adjoints. In Archbishop Luke's time one John Rosel by name had
a wife, Edit, by whose act he received Henry Brabasun, a thief, in

1 Probably for Gyluihel = Giolla MhichU.

2 Otherwise Hugh de MapUton, Archdeacon of Dubhn ; he became Bishop of
Ossory in 1251-1256 ; his predecessor as archdeacon, Geoffrey de lurville, had also
preceded him in Ossory (1244), at which last date Hugh probably became arch-
deacon and vacated the seneschalship.

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 91

J.'s house. He [i.e., Brabasim] was afterwards taken with what he
had stolen, and John and his wife were hanged by the archbishop's
baihffs in the time when Geoffrey de Slyby (? Elyne)^ was seneschal,
and his land was taken into the archbishop's hand by judgment of
the court, and he gave it to John, his brewer ; and these were English,
and the king does not and did not set his hand to the said land.

As to the third article : -the archbishop's bailiffs always take
view of men slain, [found] dead or drowned, and take inquest
without coroners, and bury the dead. Whence it happened while
the see was vacant in the octave of St Hilary after Archbishop
L.'s death that Ahce, an Englishwoman, died suddenly in St
Keyuin's Street, and inquest being made as was usual in the time of
the aforesaid archbishops, the escheator's baihffs made the inquest
and buried her. In Archbishop H.'s time malefactors slew Richard
le Somenure and Emma, his wife, by night, and the archbishop's
bailiffs took view and inquest, and had them buried ; Richard le
Folour was indicted for homicide committed in the archbishop's
tenement ; he was taken and imprisoned in the king's prison, and
was delivered to the archbishop's court by judgment of the king's
court. The archbishop's seneschal at the time was Richard de la
Comere, afterwards Bishop of Meath.^

As to the fourth article : no bailiff of the king has been wont
to make summonses or attachments except at St Sepulchre's,
where the archbishop's attorney, thereto deputed, received in writing
from the King's bailiffs the names of those to be summoned or
attached before the justices, and he issued a mandate in the arch-
bishop's name. In Archbishop H.'s time and for a long time under
Archbishop L., Robert de Curia was assigned for this purpose ; after
him succeeded Walter Pollard, after him John de le Tailour, after
him WilHam le Panier [or Pavier, A2], and after him John le Tailour
again during Archbishop L.'s time and during the [subsequent]
vacancy of the see.

As to the fifth article : whether the archbishop have duel for
felony or homicide : It happened that certain thieves stole of
Archbishop L.'s wood, for which Hugh Leschumere was arrested
and attached. He appealed Walter de Tauelauche, so that duel
was wagered, and H., the appellant, afterwards came into the arch-
bishop's court, and withdrew himself and satisfied the lord by

1 This seneschal's name appears in many forms : the most correct perhaps
being Elyne (or Elyen, which seems to have occasioned the form above) ; from the
speUing Ehne, it is sometimes read Elme, as in Cotton's Fasti : he was prece.itor of
St. Patrick's under Archbishop Luke.

^ Tenant of Balyusky . . .his sister was prioress and foundress of Lacymolyn
[Lismullen, Co. Meath}. He was consecrated 1232, and died 1250. Ahn's note.

92 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

judgment of the court, peace being then reformed outside the court
by mediators. In Archbishop L.'s time also, Richard Smith (faber),
who dwelt outside St Sepulchre's, stole w^ool and cheese in the
cellar of the house of St Sepulchre's ; he fled, and was afterwards
waived in the usual way by judgment of the court ; his land
immediately fell into the lord [archbishop] "s hand as his escheat,
and is so still, and the King's bailiff's never set hands on it.

As to the sixth article : Thomas Chaste killed Geoffrey
Aboulcon(?)i, and fled to St Patrick's Church; he abjured the
lord's land before the archbishop's bailiffs, and Thomas's land was
taken straightway into the archbishop's hand as his escheat, so that
the King never set his hands on it. Many others fled to churches in
the time of Archbishop F[ulk]'s predecessors, and they always
abjured the land of the archbishops in presence of their bailiffs
A^-ithout calhng on the king's bailiffs — viz., in the time of Master H.
de Glindelach and Walter Everus. And it should be known that the
.said Master did not set any of the king's tenants to watch fugitives
to churches on the king's part, but watched by his own tenants.

As to the seventh article : all predecessors [of the archbishop]
that now is pleaded all pleas in his court except the four pleas
of the crown.

As to the eighth article : the archbishop's bailiffs straightwaj'
take into his hand, as his escheat, the lands or tenements of homicides,
felons and thieves, as appears above.

As to the ninth article : Archbishop Fulk's predecessors fre-
quently took redemption for the death of an Englishman ; for
instance, in Archbishop L.'s time, William Miller {Molendinar') of
Moleneton, and his sons, Richard and Ralph, were taken for the
death of Ralph the miller (who was killed by Heymarthus in their
presence), because they did not detain the latter. Taken and
imprisoned, they made fine in the archbishop's court, Geoffrey de
Elun being then seneschal. As for theft by an Englishman, Ralph
Ragge, an EngUshman, stole a ewe and other things in Archbishop
L.'s time ; being taken and imprisoned he made fine, Andrew the
clerk being then bailiff, who held the court. In Archbishop L.'s
time one Ralph, Walter Pollard's sergeant that carried the keys,
an Englishman, stole grain in the " Hagard " beside St Keyuin's,
namely, wheat and beans ; being taken and imprisoned he made fine
in the lord's court, the seneschal or baiUff being Andrew the clerk
who held the court. An EngHshman named Andrew, taken and
imprisoned for theft in the time of Archbishop L., made fine in the

Ab here probably represents M.

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 95

aforesaid Andrew's time, the bailiff being John le Taillour, whO'
kept the prison. ^

The jurors say Hkewise that in the time of the predecessors of
Archbishop Fulk who now is, the king's bedels or ministers never
made caption within the tenement of the said lords, either of grain
or beasts or other things ; strangers therefore used to come with
their wares into the tenement of the said lords, and they were not
arrested by the king's officers, and were always secure throughout
the liberties of the archbishopric, and securely sold their wares.

Likewise the king's sergeants never compelled the men of arch-
bishop Fulk's predecessors to do carting or to draw victuals for the
justiciary against their will.

89 (238). — Inquisition at Senkelle (Shankill)

Names of the jurors of the bailiff ship of Senkelle : Sir Augustine
son of Roger, John Lysbane, Ric. son of Hugh, Jordan Sourame,
Radlue de Burton, Macy de Senkelle, Thomas son of Robert, John
Synmaks (or Symnaks), Re. de Camera, Elias Warin, John son of
Roger de Dauks, Roger Sjmnuche, who being sworn say :

Firt-t Article. — Mc duel of Rathmichel, who was an Estman, was
waived in court for theft of goods of William de Goldocks in Arch-
bishop Luke's time, Andrew the clerk being vice-seneschal. Robert
Passauant, an Englishman, killed long William Laeles in the arch-
bishop's tenement near Kilm'beyme in Archbishop Luke's time,
twenty years past and more, and he was waived in the archbishop's
court in the time of Geoffrey de Eline, seneschal. In the time of the
same archbishop and seneschal, Symon, an Englishman, and brother
of John de Balycodman's wife, killed McLoyne the miller, an
Irishman, in the gate of Senkille, and this ff {sic) was waived in the
archbishop's court. Kilcrist McSoynne killed Silvester Soyme at
Dalkey, and was waived in Archbishop L.'s time, Walter Deyuereus
vice-seneschal.

Second Article. — In Archbishop L.'s time, long Wilham Laeleys,
Macloyne the miller and Silvester Soymn (or Soynm), killed as above,
as also two merchants found slain in the tenement of Archbishop F.
were buried by view of the bailiffs of Senkylle and not by view of the
coroner of the King of England or of the Lord E[dward]. In
Archbishop L.'s time two carpenters accidentally killed by timber
at Senkill, Geoffrey Pellipar ( ? Skinner) and Pheynati McConethrann
were buried by view of the bailiffs of Senkille and not by others.

Third Article. — In the time of all the archbishops summons and

^ See, the care of the prison belongs to the bailiff or his deputy, the hostiarius
or janitor, Alen's note.

94 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

attachments were made and debts of the exchequer levied by the
archbishops' baihffs and summonitors, and no others, at the order
of the baihff of St Sepulchre's ; and it was he that ordered bailiffs
of the manors to choose jurors in the archbishops' whole tenement,
and by his letters he ordered summonses, attachments, views of land
and other customs until after the time of Sir WiUiam de Chorane,
seneschal of Archbishop F., who now is.

Fourth Article. — In Archbishop H.'s time, Robert Luterelle being
seneschal, Kylkrist McBeain of Roger de Klyncry's tenement
appealed Ofryly of Castle Kevjm in the court of Senkille for stealing
a cow, and a duel ensuing, the defendant was overcome and was
drawn by the feet to the archbishop's gallows. In the time of Arch-
bishop L. and G. de Heline, twenty years past and more, Anestleys
O'Kellayne appealed Kylkeyne of theft, and a duel ensuing at
Kilmcbeyme, the accuser was slain and his chattels remained in
possession of the archbishop, and the defendant was set at liberty
by the archbishop's court.

Fifth Article. — At Archbishop Luke's first coming, Robert
Lutterell and G. de Heline being seneschals, John Blake, an English-
man, the archbishop's reaper, killed Ofinerchach McDowyll and fled
to the church ; he abjured the archbishop's tenement by view of
Nicholas de Kemmesbur', bailiff of Senkille. Under the same arch-
bishop, Thomas Crun' of New Castle [? being bailiff], Roger, an
Englishman, fled to the church of Killagr' for the theft of a horse,
and he abjured the archbishop's tenement by view of Andrew the
clerk above-named and Ralph de Heynbestun, bailiff. In Arch-
bishop F.'s time a man of Swoseford fled to the chapel of the island
for the theft of an anchor at Dalkey, and he abjured the archbishop's
tenement by view of Symon the clerk and bailiff of Dalkey.
Neyuinus McOrthan fled for theft to the church of Senkylle and
abjured the archbishop's tenement by view of the bailiff of that
place. The son of Henry Hori, an Englishman of the king's tene-
ment, fled to the church of Kilkeyl for theft, and abjured the arch-
bishop's tenement by view of the bailiff of Senkylle.

Sixth Article. — In the time of all the archbishops all the lands
and chattels of persons waived, whether for homicide or theft,
remained at once in the archbishop's possession, as instanced in the
Rathmichell duel ; neither the king nor the princes, lords of Ireland,
had ever seisin for a year and a day of the lands of anyone waived
of the archbishop's tenements.

Seventh Article. — In Archbishop L.'s time Hodo McFoyde,
Ostman, made fine for theft in the archbishop's court before
Andrew the clerk and Robert son of Nicholas, seneschals, Henry
:Stuke and manj^ others made fine and redemption for theft in the

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 95

lord's court at Senkylle. In Archbishop F.'s time Roger son of
Thomas Chapman made fine and redemption for homicide and
theft, and Thomas and John Pussake and many others [did so] for
theft.

Eighth Article. — They know not who were waived in the king or
in the lord E.'s court, and therefore camiot know who received them
in the archbishop's tenement ; if such persons were named to them,
perhaps they could answer.

The bailiffs of the king and the Lord E. or their summonitors
were never accustomed to enter the archbishop's tenement in any
plea for summonses, attachments, views of land or levying exchequer
debts, but the archbishop's bailiffs did all, except that the king's
and the Lord E.'s bailiffs always handed to the archbishop's baihffs
at St Sepulchre's abstracts and summonses by their writs received
from the sheriff and exchequer ; and also that in the four principal
pleas the prince's and the archbishoj)'s baihffs always made attach-
ments jointly.

103 (268). — Inquisition at Castle Kevyn

Names of the j urors sworn at Castle Kevin to tell the truth upon
the articles exposed to them : Thomas, prior of St Saviour's, Glinde-
lache, . . . prior of the great church, Glindelache, Donohu, prior
cle Rupe (" Temple na Skellig," UeAmpuUnASceilge) bj^ Ghndelache,
Sir William English (Anglicus), Gilbert de Bevso, Richard Lailes,
Thomas Lailes, William Doggett, John de Horsey e, Richard de
Cesterham, Ehas Otliothel, Symon Othothel, Molaweljaie McDuille,
Thomas Chapman, Richard Mitrawe, Phihp Miave, John Wilens,
John Lukere, Robert Lukere, Rubtus Oclonir (or Oclouir), Richard the
clerk, John Crumpe, Molkaille Omaille, Padjaie Regane, Adam Hille,
Aleuane Obigaunne (?), MoUeuch Orothegane, Moliae Omolegane.

Sworn and questioned, they say that no waived person of the
king or the Lord Edward was received within the archbishop's
tenement. Any persons waived in the archbishop's court received
and found m the tenement they are detained and delivered by the
archbishop's bailiffs. In the time of William Pirron, Bishop of
Glindelach, Elias Borbatus, Simon Barbatus and Brubarbatus {nc)
Englishmen, were all waived for stealing nags and kine, and for
killing Caym Otonyn's daughter, whom they did kill, and they
returned afterwards to the peace of the said William, Bishop of
Ghndelach, for their monies which they gave him before Richard
Nocte, then Seneschal. Gerard son of Maurice, an Englishman, was
waived in Bishop William's tenement and in the king's court in King
John's time, and by the judge of the kmg's court he returned to the

96 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

peace of the Lord W. for his money which he gave him before
Meiler son of Henry, then justiciary. Donohoe Magillemeholmoe
slew Roger son of Gilbert, an Englishman, and the said Bishop W^
took redemption thereof in the time of the said seneschal.

In Archbishop Henry's time, Doneuilt McDeneuilt and Coiivye
MacDeneuilt killed Walter son of Hugh Lawles, an EngUshman, and
-they were waived for that offence in the archbishop's court and
returned to his peace for their monies which they paid him before
EHas Drolde,^ then seneschal.

In Archbishop Luke's time, Walter Garnan, an Englishman, wa&
waived for theft, and afterwards returned to the archbishop's peace
before Geoffrey de Elyne, then seneschal. In the land of David the
clerk at Likin and Myneglas robbers were often received, and one
Walter, David's brother, was in their company, and Richard de
Carricke and his following lay in wait for those robbers, killed and
beheaded them, and brought their heads to the castle, but David's-
brother Walter escaped along with a woman and fled ; he was
waived, and returned afterwards to Archbishop Luke's peace for
his money, which he gave him in the time of the said seneschal ;
and for that offence [of receiving], David's land remained in the
archbishop's hand as his escheat. These were EngHshmen, and the
king did not set his hand to that land, and Archbishop L. afterwards
gave it to William English (Anglicus), who now holds it. Wilham
Carricke, an Englishman, was waived for theft, and afterwards
returned to Archbishop L.'s peace for his money which he gave him
in the said seneschal's time. Elias Mihave was waived for theft and
returned to Archbishop L.'s peace, uf supra.

Questioned also whether the archbishop's bailiffs alwaj^s made
view, without the king's coroners, of persons kiUed, whether dead or
drowned, and took inquests and buried them, they say yes. In
Archbishop Luke's time, Walter Wyllens, an Englishman, was
drowned at Inuerchelle [Ennereilly, Co. Wick.], and an inquest
having been held as usual, the archbishop's [bailiffs] buried him^
Stephen de S*" Albano being then seneschal and Elias Othoel,
Serjeant of the country. Richard son of Ralph, by name Pelletar
(? Pelliparius, skinner), an Englishman, was drowned at Cestri-
cronin ; an inquest was held as above and he was buried. An
Englishwoman, by name Couilda, was killed in a pit ^ . . . {in
qucdam foramine Sallanis), because a great deal of earth fell on her,
and inquest being held as above, she was buried ; and the king's
coroners never made view of persons killed whether dead or dro^vned.

Questioned also whether any bailiff of the king was accustomed

1 Harold. * Sandpit (?).

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 97

to make summons or attachment in the archbishop's tenement, they
say no ; only at St Sepulchre's there is an attorney of the arch-
bishop's deputed to receive from the king's bailiffs in writing the
names of those to be summoned or attached before the justiciaries.
But it once happened in Archbishop Luke's time that a sergeant
of the king's, Herbert by name, came to Boherrir to Richard de
Carricke's house to serve a summons on the king's behalf. Arch-
bishop Luke had sentence given on him at once, and the said H.
was accordingly removed from his office, and nevertheless he had
to give satisfaction to the archbishop in the time when Geoffrey de
Marsco {sic) was justiciary.

Questioned whether the predecessor of Archbishop F[ulk], who
then was, alwa5^s had duel of felony and homicide, they say yes, and
that all his predecessors, both bishops and archbishops, always had
such duel.

Questioned whether any fugitive to the church was watched by
the archbishop's tenants and delivered by his bailiffs or by the
king's, they say, not by the king's bailiffs, but always by the arch-
bishop's. Peret Dridorenane wounded an EngUshman, and therefore
he put himself in the church of Kilmoholmoc during Archbishop
Luke's time, by whose tenants he was watched, and he abjured the
archbishop's tenement before his bailiffs, the then seneschal being
Master Hugh de Glindelache, afterwards Bishop of Ossory. William
Mason {Cementarius) fled to the church of Dergory because he had
wounded his mate Roger, and he was dehvered as above ; this
happened often, and the king or any of his officers never set [hand]
to this.

Questioned whether the predecessors of Archbishop F., who
now is, pleaded all pleas except the four pleas of the crown, thej^
say yes, and that all his predecessors, bishops and archbishops,
always pleaded all pleas by their own bailiffs, except the four pleas
of the crown.

Questioned whether the archbishop's baihffs took at once into
his hand as his escheat the lands both of homicides and of felons
or thieves, they say yes, and that neither the king nor any in his
place set his hand to this, as appears above.

105 (272). — Inquisition at BalimorI

Names of the jurors sworn to tell the truth concerning the
customs and liberties used in the time of the predecessors of the
Lord F[ulk], now Archbishop of Dublin : Alexander le Hore, WilUam

^ There are three similar " qweisters," but the original of this first one we
have not seen, 1633. Alert's note.

98 ROYAIi SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Blund, Robert Dodyng. Alexander de Gamage, Adam de Castro^
Herbert the clerk, Master John Fader, Robert son of Symon, William
Drakes, Henry Lamberde, David son of Robert, PauHniis de Bali-
more, Richard Black of Orevebri [= Crenelpi, Crehelp, Co. Wick.],
John Mancelle, John Midforde, Phihp Howelle, Alexander Godfraye,
Eustace Tillas, Sthus. Annercy, Walt. Fader, Laur. Blmide, Edward
son of Thomas Dandokes, Adam son of Thomas, Peter son of Andrew,
Robert son of WilHam, William Doghe, William Penlyn, Robert
Russelle, Walter le FlemjTig, Nicholas Blmid, Richard son of Henry,
Ralph of Rathmore, Philip Meylyne, Walt, le prutc, Adam Long,
Cadmus Judas.

They say on their oath that no one waived in the court of the
king or of the Lord Edward was or is ever received in the tenement
of F., Archbishop of Dublin. In the time of H., Archbishop of
Dublin (Richard de la Comere being then seneschal and William
de Fynglas then baihff of Ballimore), Wilham de Smale killed
William le Stiwer and absconded, and being called afterwards from
court to court, &c., he did not come, &c., accordingly by judgment
of the court he was waived from the archbishop's tenement and his
land was taken into the archbishop's hand as escheat, who gave it
to Henry de Castro [to hold] by service, and he still holds it. In the
same archbishop's time (Robert Luttrelle being seneschal and William
de Fynglas, constable), Adam Mancelle, an Englishman, when on
horseback killed Crisbiana, daughter of Leronays, and he fled to the
church, and he afterwards returned to the archbishop's peace for
fine made, and the horse which he was then riding remained to the
lord's use, so that no king's officer intervened or made view.

In Archbishop Luke's time (Geoffrey de GljTie [read EljTie]
being then seneschal and Hugh Barbedor constable), Walter JosseljTi
and Thomas Josselyne killed Edmmid Scot, an Enghshman, and
absconded, and being called from court to court, did not appear, &c.
They were accordingly waived in the court, and returning thereafter
they were at the lord's peace, ha\TJig made fine.

2. Likewise in Archbishop H.'s time (R. de la Cornere being then
seneschal) Roger de Pantim was drowned in the river of Avenhffey,
Richard de Anghc' was drowned in the same water, and [so were]
many others. In Archbishop L.'s time Gilbert Tappellione ^ was
killed by earth m a sand pit ; John son of Nicholas de Stokes was
killed by a horse, and many others were killed accidentally. They
were always buried by view of the archbishop's bailiffs without the
king's bailiffs.

3. The king's bailiffs were always wont to come to St

^ Tabellio, scrivener.

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 99

[Sepulchre's] to the archbishop's baihff ^ deputed for this purpose,
and he committed to other baihflfs throughout the archbishopric
[i.e., the cross lands, not the diocese] the levying of the king's due
and the making of summonses and attachments ; and if at any time
it happened that any bailiff of the king's secretly and unlawfully
entered the archbishop's tenement to make summonses and attach-
ments, they were always opposed ; and he punished some of them
by ecclesiastical censure, among whom was Gilbert Doget, punished
for this offence by judgment of the church.

4. In Archbishop H.'s time (Richard de la Cornere being
seneschal) William Long of Crevelpi appealed Peter Godson
for detaining 14 ells of woollen broad-cloth ; so that a duel was
wagered in the archbishop's court ; W. withdrew afterwards, and
so in prison, &c. In Archbishop Luke's time Hugh le Horsmongere,
an Englishman, appealed Gillekarane for a horse ; a duel was pro-
secuted, H. was overcome, and so was hanged. Walter de Wynterbur
appealed John de Toker for robbery by night, &c. John defended,
and put himself on inquisition, and was acquitted ; so W. in prison.

5. Also in ArchbishoiJ Luke's time (Hugh de Glyndelache being
seneschal), John Carraghe killed Roger le Hyne, an Englishman,
fled to the church, and abjured the archbishop's land before his
bailiffs without presence of the king's coroner and bailiffs. W. the
miller of Hollywood killed Andrew the miller, and abjured the arch-
bishop's land in presence of his bailiffs. Kellache O'Sulane for theft
and Karraghe O'Rothegane and Tathiges O'Madan for the same
fled to the church and abjured the archbishop's land in presence of
his baihffs without the king's bailiffs.

6. In the time of the predecessors of F. now archbishop it was
customary to plead all pleas in the archbishop's court except the
four pleas which the king reserved to himself, and except pleas of
land by writs save writs de recto.

7. In Archbishop Luke's time Hugh Le Porte, who lived at
Bahodaly near Ballymore, and held half a carucate of land there from
the archbishop, was detained in Dublin Castle for default of plea for
a certain matter ; in the castle he killed Jordan the janitor of the
castle. He was accordingly hanged, and his land remained in the
archbishop's hand as his escheat. The king's bailiffs never set hand
on it, and Archbishop Luke gave it for his service to Andrew Gamage,
a sergeant of his, who holds it still.

While the see was vacant [1255-6] Adam Phug' of Anhemelache
and Nicholas his brother killed Thomas Paris, chaplain, in the time

1 This is a prerogative oi the chief bailiff (who is baiUff in fact and name)
the others are now called merely servitors. Alen's note.

100 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

of Robert Anketill, the king's escheator. Adam was taken and
hanged, and his land was taken into the escheator's hand as an
escheat of the archbishopric, and in course of time it came into
Archbishop F.'s hand, and Nicholas, who had fled, was waived in
the archbishop's court ; and so it often happened with many other
lands.

8. In Archbishop H.'s time, Woronor, a Welshman, killed an
Englishman, Arnold son of Christiana Le Grete, and he was taken
in the fact (? cum manuopere) and imprisoned, and there redeemed
himself before Elias Haraud, seneschal, and John Comyn, constable.
In the same archbishop's time (Richard de la Cornere being seneschal)
Reg' Orm, being indicted for theft, absconded, and he returned
again to peace, fine being made through friends. In Archbishop
Luke's time (Geoffrey Elun being seneschal and Hugh Barbedor
constable) Robert Long of Ballylomane and Walter Slab ^, his son,
were indicted for theft, taken and imprisoned, and they made fine
to have the lord's peace for 60 marks ; Waler' de Welesleg and Hugh
de Lega [the king's judges] were present at that court by the arch-
bishop's request. On the same day Arnold de Logetune and Arnold
his son were indicted for the like ; taken and imprisoned, they made
fine for 20 •. Waleran de Welens', who then had Hollywood in farm
from Sir E. de Marisco took for his own use 10 marks from the said
Robert Long for the same offence, because he had half a carucate of
the tenement of Hollywood. In Archbishop Luke's time Waler' de
Wallens' held Hollywood to farm, and Wilham Algare took away a^
horse of PhiHp the clerk's from his house ; which horse he had first
taken in pledge for a debt, and afterwards gave over of his own^
accord to a horseboy of the said Philip to harness ; and because
he took it from Phihp's house without his leave, he kept out of the
way until he had made peace with Sir Waler' for 20'.

In Archbishop L's time (E. Elun {sic) being seneschal and Hugh
Barbedor constable), John de Naas de Fotherde stole 12 cows [read
probably " stole 12 cows out of Forth "] from Geoffrey Kent and
took them to Donbokes to Hugh's house ; one and the other being
taken, John for stealing, and Hugh for receiving, John afterwards
made fine through friends with the lord. A horseboy, William
Carpenter's son of Aghgaru, took away as far as Donlovane a horse
belonging to one Heis of Kilkenni, for 5s., in which he was bound to
him. Heis of Kilkenny followed the horse, to Donlovane, had the
horseboy attached and prosecuted him, and he at length made fine
with the archbishop for 4 marks by means of WilHam, his father, and
Wilham de Waymbe, and the archbishop's baihff bought the horse
for a mark.

^ Slab, a Boft-fleshed jeison, Dinneen. In Irish-English a "Slob," a soft^
indolent person.

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 101

1066 (274).— [Tallaght]
Clonedolchane : Rathcoulle

Inquisition made by oath of John Comyn, John de Sthelyng-
forde, Nicholas Janitor, John Gerarde, Richard Warynde, Simon
Hostiar[ius], Waiter White (albus), Walter le Curtis, Richard son of
Alweyny, Robert le Mumer, Wilham de Devenes, Richard le Vire,
Richard le Palmere, Ralph the clerk, Henry Bege, William le
Palmere, on articles exhibited to them.

[Asked] if anyone waived in the Lord E.'s court was received
within Archbishop F.'s tenement, they say that they never knew
anyone waived in the Lord E.'s court to be received within the
archbishop's tenement.

They also say that Walter Thudricks of Rathculle, still living,
killed an Irishman in Archbishop H.'s time, for which he was waived
in that archbishop's court, and he afterwards returned to the arch-
bishop's peace, H. de Tauelt being then seneschal and Master Simon
(or Simon Master) [Simone Magistro, but probably de Marleberge as
below] being baihff.

2. In Archbishop Luke's time Roger son of Walter le Wire he was
killed in the middle of the vill of Clondolchane, and the same Richard
(sic) was viewed by Simon de Marleberge, then baihflf, and was buried
by his view without other coroners. Alexander the chaplain, vicar
of Clondalchan, was killed in the middle of the way at Langforde
within the archbishop's tenement by Richard Rej^syne. Came there
Milo de Boneville, baihff of Clondalchane, made view of the chaplain
and ordered him to be carried to the graveyard of Clond. and buried
without coroners, Robert Luttrelle and Geoffrey de Eline being
seneschals. H. Smith (faber) of Tauell[ach] was drowned in the
Dodor and cast on the archbishop's land. Came there Walter de
Tauell', then bailiff and living still, and buried him without coroners,
Master Hugh de Glendelache being seneschal. ^ Richard de la
Chapman, an EngHshman, was killed on the tenement of Tachma-
thane, but by whom is unknown, and he was viewed by John Patrike
then baihff, and so buried without coroners, Geoffrey de Eline
being seneschal. ^

1 There are extant in the iron chest three rolls on the practice in case of death,
17 Henry 8"' (so, hut read 3'') under Hugh; and hkewise four others similarly-
bound — In practice, against non-user. Alen.

2 The following scheme of officers is set out on the bottom margin of fo. 1066 : —
Seneschals two f Properly only at St Sepulchre's

BaUiffs manj- — (coronatori nati) \

coroners ex officio \ Constable ^ for execution

Provost (^commonly y of

Provost J precepts
Marshal The Portriff or Sheriff.

102 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

3. When summonses or attachments were to be made the king's
and the Lord E.'s baiUffs always came to St Sepulchre's to the
bailiff for the time being and deHvered all summonses and attach-
ments to him, because he was deputed thereto ; and it was for him to
entrust them for execution to other bailiffs throught the arch-
bishopric.

4. Hugh de Horsmang[er], an Englishman, the baron of Naas's
man, came to Ballymore and appealed a man of the archbishop's,
an Irishman, for a stolen horse. Thereupon duel was wagered there
and fought, and the Irishman killed the EngUshman, Robert son of
Nicholas being then seneschal.^ GyllakjTie O'Kernekes, an Irishman,
Walter de Redellesforde's man, came to Tauell' and appealed
Gillemolron McMankane, the archbishop's man, still living, for
felony ; they fought a duel at Tauell', Geoff, de Eline being seneschal
and John Patrike baihff. They say also that if a duel between
EngHshmen took place within the archbishopric, the archbishop's
predecessors were always accustomed to have it.

5. An Irishman, name unknown, killed Osbert de Lunpute (or
Limpute) of Newcastle in the middle of the vill of Clond. ; he fled
to the church in the vill, and Josephe Albine, Archbishop) Luke's
baihff, came there and made him abjure the archbishop's land with-
out coroners. Master H. de Ghndelache being seneschal.

Richard Le Holdere, another Enghshman, still hving in the vill
of Clond'; stole the archbishop's grain ; he was thereupon taken and
imprisoned ; he broke gaol and fled to the church. Robert Le Stot
{or Scot), then baihff, came there and made him abjure the arch-
bishop's land. He came back in course of time and made fine
towards Master Hugh de Glindelach, then seneschal, to have peace
after abjuration, and he is still at Clondolkane.

6. The archbishops always held all pleas by their own baihff s,
except the four pleas of the crown, and they were begun in the time
of this archbishop's predecessors. Archbishop F, never used any
liberties other than his predecessors did.

7. In Archbishop Luke's time Adam Mananach, who had land
in the viUof Clondolkan, stole grain ; he left his land on this account.
Master H. de Ghndelache immediately took it into the lord's hand,
and Archbishop Luke gave it to his provost,^ Richard Bege, whose
heirs hold it. Walter Jacobe of Rathcoole killed a stranger at
Rathcule, and this Jacobe had a dwelling and land, which he left
on account of the homicide, and the land was taken at once into the

' This is also told near the top of the 3rd sheet of the Ballymore Inquisition
to which it seems properly to belong : see p. 99 supra.
* Praepositus, i.e., balliuts, Alen.

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 103

lord's hand in Archbishop Luke's time, and he gave it to Simon
Marescall, Walter de Evereys being seneschal ; and the king never
set hand to these lands.

8. In Archbishop' H.'s time Thomas Galmadre and Richard his
brother, Englishmen, killed Elias Leskenn', an Englishman, and made
fine to have peace.

It is evident enough above that an Englishman made redemption
for theft, Robert Lutterelle and Richard de la Cornere being then
seneschals. 1

9. They also say that in all circumstances Archbishop F.'s
predecessors always used their liberties hitherto, except the four
pleas of the crown, &c.

61 (166). — Inquisition made at Swerdes

Jurors : Sir Hugh de Bellinges^, John Alexander's [son]^, Peter
Salter {salsariusf, John de Grane, William de Grane^, Ralph Morond^
Kedide Somerd, Laur. Bann, Robert de Lamer, Thomas Russell,
Thomas de Somenn, Adam Walsh (Walens), John Walsh {W aliens)
Roger Maceduges, Roger de Mora, Richard the Clerk^, John de
Kilreske, Robert de Bee, William Furet', William de Louhc, Luke
Mackie', William MacWithir, David Mourige, Robert de Thomann,
John de FuUpote, Henry de Crutelache, Richard de Strayford,
Walter Randes, Robert Young {Juuen) ^, Michael Forestar, Auelan
Wrwogane, Fjnitan de Luske, Henry Sthabane {or Schabane),
Thomas Trussell, Stephen Young (Juuenis) and Robert de Rathmoni
and Hugh de Russe.

They say on oath that one Rywathlonde, a Welshman, was slain
by Madoc Maccursye, who fled, and was afterwards waived in the
court of Archbishop John.

In the same archbishop's time Will. Galrote was constable of
Swerdes and was slain at the gate of the court of Swerdes, and he
was buried without the king's coroners or Serjeants.

In the said John's time Hugh Hauckeman appealed Meiler Walshe
( Walens) for a horse stolen from him ; Meiler was attached in the
archbishop's court and denied [the charge], and Hugh followed his
appeal. They had a duel in the vill of Swerdes, and Hugh overcame
Meiler, who was afterwards hanged by the judge of the archbishop's
court.

In the said John's time two Englishmen stole two cows in Meath
and came through the land of Sir Michael de Angulo, who followed

^ Note : two seneschals. Alen.

2 These names appear in Archbishop Pulk's Ust of Feoffees by Charter.

104 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

them ; they fled and placed themselves in the church of Swerdes,
and next day abjured the archbishop's land before his bailiffs.

In the said John's time Wydde de Cestria slew Ralph le Wrier
in the town of Swerdes, and fled the country, and the archbishop
gave William Norenc a burgage that Wid held.

In Archbishop Henry's time Samson de Crumba slew Laur.
Bissop in the vill of Swerdes, for whose death he made fine with the
archbishop, and was afterwards constable of Swords for a long time.
Ralph de Boly slew Hugh Walsh {Walens) in the vill of Swerdes,
and Hugh's brothers Madoc and David ajjpealed the said Henry
[reed Ralph] for Hugh's death, and they made peace in the arch-
bishop's court. A ship was wrecked in the harbour of Porrahelyne
[Portrane], and over twenty men were drowned there, and Ric. de la
Cornere, the archbishop's seneschal viewed them and buried them.

In Archbishop Luke's time Alexander Markeky was waived for
felony in the lord's court, and he came afterwards and lived on the
archbishop's land at William MacWither's house and after that he
came thence on the king's land and was slain there. John Brekedent
was waived for homicide and theft in the king's court, and lived
afterwards at Rathecule on the archbishop's land, by whose bailiffs
he was there taken and brought to Dublin to his court and hanged
there by judgment of his court.

The king's sergeants have never entered into the archbishopric
of Dublin to take persons waived, and though such persons were
living there they were never deHvered to the king's bailiffs.

In Archbishop Luke's time, Peter son of Osbert Wran was waived
by the judge of his court for theft. Alexander de Villa Mackarpyn
was waived by the judge of the archbishop's court because he killed
Tathet de Connaht. Richard Norenc killed his wife Juliana at
Glumethane [Clonmethan, Co. Dub.] and was waived in the arch-
bishop's court, and Archbishop Luke gave Thomas de Clafford the
land that Richard held in fee. Alexander Dandun was killed near
Grana (Archbishop Luke's land). Will the Dispenser (dispensator)
was killed at Holpatrike, Henry, clerk of Grace Dieu, was killed
near Swerdes, Jordan de Uriel was found dead near Grana, Richard
Gastun was drowned near Broadmeadow {magnum pratum), Osbert
Thowy was killed in the vill of Swerdes, Richard Cas and Maurice
de Grathelach ^ were killed at Glumethane, and never any of the
king's coroners or sergeants took view of the aforesaid, but always
Archbishop Luke's bailiffs viewed and buried them. John Bernerge
for theft and Robert Butum for theft put themselves in the church
of Swerdes, and they abjured Archbishop Luke's land before his

1 Grallagh, Co. Dublin.

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 105

bailiffs. William Brun put himself in the church of Holy Trinity,
Dublin, for theft, and came thence to the church of Swerdes, and
there made peace with Archbishop Luke. Adam Dun made peace in
Archbishop Luke's court for theft. Wrgan Young {Jmienis) of
■Glumethane made peace for theft of grain with Archbishop Luke
for 100s.

Never did sergeants of the king enter the archbishop's tenement
in the time of the aforesaid archbishops, to make any summonses
or views except to the baihff of St Sepulchre's, Dublin ; and the
baihff there committed the king's precept to other bailiffs. But once
it happened that Henry Tirell, junior, and WilHam son of Matthew,
the king's sergeants, came to Sir Laur. de Bodenhame's house [at
Swords] seeking Sir Meiler de Cursum's heir, who was in Laurence's
guardianship, and because he would not deliver the said heir to them
they cited him to Dubhn ; Laurence shewed this to Archbishop Luke,
who excommunicated the sergeants throughout the archbishopric,
and they came to him afterwards and were cudgelled round the
chm-ch of Swerdes.

They say likewise that all predecessors of the archbishop that
now is held all pleas, except the four pleas, by their own bailiffs ; and
this began in Archbishop John's time, and Archbishop Henry and
Luke always did so afterwards.

636 (170).— 1264, June 18

Inquisition at the parhament of Tristeldermod Wednesday after
the feast of Holy Trinity, 48 Henr}'- III, before Sir Richard de Rupell,
■chief justice of Ireland, Sir Hugli de Tachmone, Bishop of Meath,
treasurer. Sir Frenmund le Brun, chancellor. Sir Geoff rej' de Gene-
vile, Master Wilham de Bakepir, escheator. Sir Thomas de Yppe-
grave (or Yppegrane), and many others, on the taking of pleas of the
■crown and liberties, which, as was said, Fullc, archbishop of Dublin,
in his time took of his own will to the loss and prejudice of the Lord
Edward and his liberties, made by oath of the underwritten, viz. :

John Lowe, Robert de Stafford, William de Bendevill, WiUiani
de Prendelgast, Andrew Auevell, Walter Purcell, William Wayspayll,
Gilbert de Lesse, John de Triuers, Peter Renger, Thomas son of
Leonisius, Richard son of Rither, Walter son of Alured, Peter de
Kermerdyr, David de Borarde, Wilham de Alneto, Fulk son of
Walter, Ric. le Mojme, Philip de Archedeknei, Roger de Troye, Walt.
Smethe, Nicholas Cheuers, Henry Melerbe, Roger le Poere, John
de Dene and Will, de Cantincim :

Wlio, being sworn say that Luke, Archbishop of Dubhn, Fulk's
predecessor, had and pleaded in his court pleas of the crown, as of

106 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

death, murder, slaying of Englishmen and all others, larcenj^.
robbery, duel of Enghshmen and all others of the land, felony,
abjuration of fugitives to the church in the land of the Archbishopric
of Dubhn, taking redemption for felony done there, granting peace
to felons, waiving and outlawing felons, and having their lands for
a year and a day, and after a year and a day appropriating them to
the archbishop and others of whom they were held, viewing and
burying the drowned, both Enghsh and all others dead by mis-
a<:lventure, without the king's coroner but by the bailiffs of the arch-
bishop, who has pleaded in his court all the pleas of the crown except
fore-stalling, rape, treasure-trove and arson. Master Robert Anketin
and other escheators of the king did the same while the see was
vacant by Luke's death until Fulk was created ilrchbishop of Dublin.

The king's sergeants come and were wont to come to the arch-
bishop's mansion ^ of St Sepulchre's to make summonses, distraints-
and attachments on the king's behalf, enjoining execution thereof
on the archbishop's bailiffs, and this was done by the archbishop's
bailiffs at the sergeants' demand. All writs of chancery, except writ
patent de redo, are and ought to be pleaded in the king's court and
not in the archbishop's.

Archbishop Luke died seised of the said pleas in right of his
church, and Archbishop Fulk made no purpresture thereof, but used
them as his jDredecessor and the king's escheators had done alsa
during vacancy of the see.

And they affixed their seals in perpetual testimony.

Note hy Alen : —
The bailiff's office f summonses "^ Not cognisance of causes privatively, but
is concerned with ^ distraints y cumulatively; it is otherwise with the
three things [^attachments J citizens of Dublin. Nay, the Earl of Kildare

has not ' cognizaunce of causes,' 1532.

606 (165). — Pleas of the Crown before Walter de Cusake and

HIS ASSOCIATES, JUSTICES IN EYRE, ON THE MORROW OF St

Martin 4 Ed. Return of the jury concerning Swerds

The jurors present that the Archbishop of Dublin has gallows
and coroners, and takes wreck of the sea and Avaif {weyn), and holds
pleas de vetito namio and bloodshed ; and holds Englishmen in prison
and takes fines from them for burglary, receiving and usuries
(usuris). And has correction of bread and ale, and has ells, pound
and bushel and gallon by the king's standard and under the king's

^ It is a mansion, a manor, too, and a palace ; not an honour like BaUmor.
Alcn.

SECULAR JURISDICTION OF DUBLIN ARCHBISHOPS 107

seal. In the archbishop's lordship all his tenants take all measures
under his seal, and if there should be defect, the Archbishop and his
baihffs will make correction. And he holds all pleas in his court
save fore-stalling, rape, arson and treasure-trove.

Of the new customs they say that all the seneschals of the Arch-
bishop of Dublin after [Abp.] John de Derlington's death [t 1284]
chose Englishmen et libtat (? et liheros, freemen) to do the office of
provost against the will of the said EngUshmen, and they chose two
or three and took gifts for releasing office, and he holds one in the
said office against his will. Saving Sir Hugh de Crofi' because he
came late.

45 (133).— 1395, April 5

King Richard II grants and confirms to Robert, Archbishop of
Dublin, at his entreaty, legal jurisdiction which he claims his pre-
decessors had, viz. : soka and saka, toll and theave, infangentheff,
outfangentheff, pleas of homicide, murder, slajdng of Englishmen ;
all manner of robberies, larcenies, duels of Englishmen, abjurations
of those fleeing to the church and of felons ; taking fines and redemp-
tions in his courts for felonies, waiving and outlawing felons ; having
a year and a day of his lands ; waste of his lands, tenements and
rents ; making his coroners from time to time, and by them, without
the king's coroner, view and burial of Englishmen and all others
drowned and slain by mischance : justification, correction and
punishment of craftsmen and labourers ; the taking of fines and
redemptions from those convicted or found guilty in his courts in
respect of any article contained in the king's statutes and ordinances
for craftsmen and labourers ; all pleas of the crown save forestalling,
rape, treasure-trove and arson ; to have courts on all these franchises,
liberties and privileges, to be held by seneschal or seneschals ; full
return and execution of all king's writs and precepts for summons,
visitation and attachment within the lordships, manors and cross of
the archbishopric ; view of frankpledge ; assise of wine, bread and
ale of his standards ; ells, weights, bushels, gallons, yards and other
weights and measures — the clerk of the market and keeper of
measures to enter but once a year to view the archbishop's standards ;
to take fines and corrections from his tenants, and further to do all
that pertains to the clerk of the market and keeper of measures
within his lordships, manors and cross ; pleas de vetito nameo ; and
all pleas to court baron pertaining ; a fishing-boat for salmon on the
AviUfify ; freedom for him and his men from local imposts, general
aids and amerciaments ; {certain fairs and markets] ; a pillory,
tumbril and thewe in the places and manors underwritten, viz. :

108 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

St Pulcher's, Swerdis, Fynglas, Clondolkane, Ballymore, Shenegh-
kille and Castlekevyne.

Witnesses, &c.

By the King's own hand, Kilkennye : 5 April, A° 18°.

476 (138).— 1493, Aug. 8

Inspeximus by Henry VII of letters patent of Henry IV certifying
on inspection of the Irish Chancery Rolls of Richard II that Richard
made letters patent of legalities,^ &c. {ut supra, 5 April, 1395), to
Robert, Archbishop of Dublin, which are now exemphfied and con-
firmed at Archbishop Walter's request.

Westminster, 8 Aug., A° 9° R. Waeham

1 At the clause for granting peace to felons, Alen notes : " See : pardon by
the metropoUtan, along with a gaUows and the other three ' piUery, coking stole &
kage.' Note there are five manners or ways of deUvering from prison. What is
Thew (with the other two above [i.e., pilory and tumbrel] ) ? What else but ' cage,'
as in practice.

farchbishop
Metro poMtan's threefold title ^ primate
l^dean

J J \ spiritual, 4, above
juages ^ ^.gjjjpQj.ai 4

I temporal, 4, above

the king's men -joufflithful people
f murders — ^homicides
to the king's <( robberies — of aU kinds

ministers (^larcenies — ^without violence
duel of Enghshmen
seneschal

fabjurations
coroners for < killed > , . , • >- ^, , ,

The archbishops I Unowned )" ^"^^^l «" ^^^w of the body,

make these officers j bailiff

I constable
Serjeants
l^clerk of the market and keeper of measures.

( 109 )

FIACHA MAC AODHA UI BHROIN AND DOMHNALL
SPAINNEACH CAOMHANACH

By GusTAVUS E. Hamilton
[Read 30 March 1915J

A Latin inquisition taken at Ballinacor on 16 January, 1605, is
interesting, as it discloses the exact date and place of the death of
that " Battle-banner of the Gael," Fiacha mac Aodha mic Sheain
Ui Bhroin, and also sets out the names of his lands. The Branaigh
or O'Bjo-nes, driven by the Anglo-Normans from their original
territory of Magh Life, succeeded in maintaining their position in
their new possessions in the present County Wicklow until the very
end of the 16th century. They were always a thorn in the side of the
inhabitants of the southern part of the Pale, but Fiacha mac Aodha
is the only individual member of the clan who has left his mark on
history. He did not belong to the senior branch of the clan, whose
head resided at "an lubhrach," now Newragh alias Newrathbridge
near Ashford.^ The territory of the senior branch of the clan was
called Crioch Branach or '' the Birnes' Country," and comprised the
whole of the present Barony of Newcastle, together with that part
of the Barony of Arklow lying north of the Inbhir Dhaoile or Enne-
reilly. They also possessed the district known as Cois Abha or
" the Cosha," which was bounded on the north by the R. Ow and
its continuation the Aughrim River. ^ Fiacha mac Aodha was chief
of the junior sept known as the Gabhal Raghnaill^ whose territory,
anglice, " the Ranelagh," comprised that part of the Barony of
Ballinacor South, which is north of the R. Ow, and also the
southern portion of the Barony of Ballinacor North as far north as
Glendaloch.

The remainder of what is now the County of Wicklow, with the
exception of the Barony of Shillelagh, which was a part of Ui
Ceinnsealaigh, seems to have been in the 16th century all the
territory of the Tuathalaigh or O'Tooles. This clann were divided
into three septs, of whom one branch occupied the present Barony
of Talbotstown in the west of the county ; the other septs occupied
the territories of Feara Tire (Vartry) (that part of the Barony of
Ballinacor North which is north of Castlekevin) and Feara Cualann

1 O'Don. A. F. M., p. 1702. " Ibid., p. 1702.

110 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

(about Powerscourt, in the Barony of Rathdown).i Although the
extent of the country of the Tuathalaigh was greater than that of
the Branaigh, they were never so prominent in history, and at the
present day the surname of O'Toole or Toole is much rarer than that
of 0 'Byrne or Byrne, which is probably the commonest name in
County Wicklow and in Dublin and its neighbourhood. When the
jury-panel is being called at Wicklow Assizes or Quarter Sessions it
is always necessary to add the names of their respective holdings to
the names of the numerous jurors of the surname of Byrne in order
to distinguish them.

The inquisition, which is to be found in Inquisitionum in Officio
Botulorum Cancellariae Hiberniae Asservatum Bepertorium, vol. i,
tempore Jac. I, no. 8, sets forth as follows : — " Feogh McHugh Birne,
of Ballinacor,^ along with Walter Reogh FitzGerrald ^ of Crone -
home,* Doneir Cavanagh otherwise called Donell' Spainagh, of
Clonemullen,^ and others, on the 1st of May in the 38th year of the
reign of the late Queen^ entered on rebellion. The aforesaid Feogh,
on the 8th of May aforesaid was killed at Fananerin in Co. Dublin "^
by the army of Sir John Chichester, ^ and was then seized in fee of

1 O'Don. A. F. M., p. 1901. According to a deed of the year 1856 Luggelaw
and Sally Gap were in the " Lordship of Fartrey and Manor of Castlekevin."

2 Ballinacor, Baile na Corra Mdire (Onom. Goedel.), town of the great weir,
O.S. 29. Bar. Ballinacor South, Par. Ballinacor. The " Site of Phelim's Castle "
is marked here.

3 Walter Riabhach FitzGerald was a noted leader of the Irish of Leinster ; he
was a first cousin once removed of " Silken Thomas " FitzGerald, 10th Earl of
Kildare ; his mother was Rose, one of the O'Tooles of Powerscourt. He married
Margery, a daughter of Fiacha Mac Aodha Ui Bhroin. It does not seem to be
correct to state that he participated in this particular rising, as it appears from
the State Papers and Carew MSB. that he was betrayed to the Enghsh on the
7th of April, 1595, and hanged by them in Dubhn three days later : see " Walter
Reagh FitzGerald, a Noted Outlaw," by Lord Walter FitzGerald, Journal, 1898,
299.

* Cronyhom, Crdn na hEornan, hollow of the barley, O.S. 47, Bar. Shillelagh,
Par. Camew.

5 ClonmuUen, Cluain Muilinn, mill-meadow, O.S. 21, Bar. Forth, Par. Barragh,
Co. Carlow.

* This would be 1596, but the correct date is shown by the State Papers and the
Annals of the Four Masters to be 1597.

' Fananierin, Fan an larainn, slope of the iron (Joyce, /. N. P., ii, 370), a
large town land on the slope of the mountain on the west side of Glenmalure, south
of Drumgoff Barracks, in Bar. BaUinacor South, Par. Ballinacor. Co. Wicklow was
not separated from Co. Dublin, until the beginning of James I's reign.

* Sir John Chichester was the 4th son of Sir John Chichester of Raleigh in
Devon, M.P., and younger brother of Sir Arthur Chichester, the Lord Deputy.
He was appointed Governor of Carrickfergus and of " the countries of both the
Clandeboys " on the 4th of July, 1597. On 4th November he was kiUed at
Altfracken (now Aldfreck) near BaUycarry, about three miles north of Carrick-
fergus, in a skirmish between his men and those of Sir James MacDonneU of Dunluce,
son of the famous Somhairle Buidhe Mac Domhnaill, and elder brother of
Raghnall, 1st Earl of Antrim. See Fiants, Elizabeth, No. 6127 ; Burke's Peerage,
Chichester, Bart. ; Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 1904, p. 6. Cal. State Papers
{It.) 1597, pp.441, 465.

FIACHA MAC AODHA Uf BHROIN 111

the lands of Ballinacor, Lickine/ Grenan,^, Balliuerahme,^
Ballinetoney,* Claragheitragh,^ Ballyheig,^ Ballinecoole,' Ballin-
cargin,^ Ballyknockane,^ Corbally/" Ballyshanterriff,!^ Balli-
creiry,i2 Bally-Eustace/^ and Ballymorgliduff.^* lying within the
territory called Coolerannell ^^ in the said county, and of and in the
lands of Knockrahan,^^ Rahard/'^ Glanmoriertagh,^^ and the haK
town of Ballinegelock,-'^^ half the town of Ballineparke,^'' and the
town of Kilmacowe,^^ . . . Ij^ing in the territory called the Birne's
Country, 22 three-quarters of the town and lands of Kilcloghran^^

^ Lickeen, Lici'n, little-flagstone, O.S. 24, Bar. Ballinacor North, Par. Knockrath.

- Greenan Beg and More, Griandn, sunny spot, O.S. 29, 30, same Bar. and Par.

^ Baile an Rathain (?), town of the fern ; there is now no townland of this
name in Co. Wicklow.

* Ballinatone Upper and Lower, Baile tvi Tdna, town of the backside, O.S. 29
30, Bar. Ballinacor South, Par. BaUinacor.

s Clara More and Beg, Cldrach locJUarach, lower level-place (Joyce, /. N. P., i,
428), O.S. 24, Bar. BaUinacor North, Par. Knockrath.

^ BaUyteige, Baile Thaidhg or Baile Ui Thaidhg, Tadhg's or O'Taidhg's town,
O.S. 30, 33, 34, Bars. Ballinacor North and South, Pars. Knockrath and Moyne.

' BaUinacooley, Baile na Cuile, town of the comer, O.S. 30, Bar. Newcastle,
Par. Glenealy.

8 Ballycarrigeen, Baile an Chairrgin, town of the Uttle rock, O.S. 30, Bar.
Ballinacor North, Par. Rathdrum.

^ BaUyknockan Upper and Lower, Baile Cnocdin, town of the Uttle-hill,
O.S. 30, 35, same Bar. and Par.

^" CorbaUis Upper and Lower, Corr-bhaile, small- round- hill town or odd town
(Joyce, I. N. P., iii, 252), O.S. 30, Bar. BaUinacor North, Par. Rathdrum.

11 (?) Ballyshane, Baile Shedin, Sean's town, O.S. 34, Bar. BaUinacor South,
Par. Ballykine.

1^ (?) BaUycreen Upper and Lower, Baile Crionaigh, town of the withered land,
(see Joyce, I. N. P., u, 352), O.S. 29, 34, Bar. BaUinacor South, Par. BaUinacor.

13 Ballyeustace, Baile h'lstais, Eustace's town, O.S. 29, 34, Bar. BaUinacor
South, Par. BaUyMne.

1* Possibly Baile MhurcJiadlia Dhuibh, town of black Murchadh. I cannot
identify this townland. c/., Ballymaghroe, which seems to be the " BaUymorgho-
roe " = " Baile Mhurchadha Ruaidh," of Fiants, Elizabeth, 6262.

1^ i.e., Gabhal RagJinaill.

1* Knockraheen, Cnoc Rathain, hill of the fern, or Cnoc Rdithin, hiU of the
little rath (raithln is an element of many pjacenames in Counties Wicklow and
Carlow), O.S. 12, 18, ^ar. Newcastle, Par. Calary.

^^ Raherd, Rath Ard, high rath, O.S. 36, Bar. Arklow, Pars. Dunganstown and
EnnereUly.

^* Gleann Mhuircheartaigh, Muircheartach's glen. There is now no townland
of this name. Possibly Ballymurtagh, Baile Mhuircheartaigh (O.S. 35) in the Vale
of Ovoca is the same place. Could Gleann Mhuircheariaigh be the Irish name
for the Vale ?

18 BaUinaclogh, Baile na gCloch, town of the stones, O.S. 25, 31, Bar. Arklow,
Par. Glenealy.

20 Fallinapark, Baile na Pdirce, town of the pasture-field, O.S. 35, 40, Bar.
Arklow, Par. Castlemacadam.

21 Kilmacoo Upper and Lower, Gill Mochua, S. Mochua's church, O.S. 35, Bar.
Arklow, Pars. Castlemacadam and Redcross.

22 i.e., Crioch Bhranach.

23 Killacloran, Coill a' Chloichredin, wood of the httle-stony-place (c/.
Killaclogher m Co. Galway), O.S. 34, 39, Bar. BaUinacor South, Par. KUpipe.
Fiacha O'Broin of Kilcloghran, 2nd son of Reamonn, 2nd son of Fiacha mac Aodha,
was proclaimed a rebel and a price put on his head, 8th Feb., 1641 : see O'Don.
A. F. M., p. 2018.

112 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

with its appurtenances in Cosha/ and certain parts of the town and
lands of Mucklagh,^ Coolelug,^ and Tomecoyle* in Cosha afore-
said . . . half the town of Knockdosan,^ the town and lands of
Tinakill,^ Fananerin and Cooleowre "^ in Ranelagh,^ and the lands
of Carrickechroy ^ in the said county, James Wolverston^ ^ claims
as his right and hereditament, by the force of a certain deed . . .
made by certain men of the ' nation ' of Coolesimons." ^^

Domhnall mac Donnchaidh Caomhanaigh, called Domhnall Spain-
neach, was one of the leading men of the Irish of Leinster at this
period. Although not of the senior branch of Clan Kavanagh, he
was head of Sliocht Domhnaill Riabhaigh, the senior sept of the
junior branch, and was 13th in descent from Domhnall Caomhanach,
the founder of the clan, son of Diarmaid na nGall.i^ He was called
" Domhnall Spainneach," or " Spanish Donal," because when a boy
he had been for four years in Spain with Thomas Stuckley, about
A.D. 1572-1576.1^ Stuckley had been one of the " English Captains "
or Seneschals over the Kavanaghs, and had lived at the " Queen's
House " in Leighhnbridge to guard the bridge over the Barrow.
In 1580 Domhnall escaped from a great slaughter of the Kavanaghs

1 i.e Cois Abha.

2 Mucklagh, Muclach, the swine-haunt, O.S. 39, Bar. Ballinacor South, Par.
Kilpipe. Fiacha mac Aodha's son, Reamonn or Redmond, is described in Fiants,
Elizabeth, No. 6577, as " of Mocolagh."

3 Coolalug, Ciud a' Luig, back of the hollow (Joyce, iii, 240), O.S. 39, same Bar.
and Par.

* Tomcoyle, Tvaim Cuill, burial-mound of the hazel (Joyce, /. N. P., i, 41),
O.S. 39, Bar. Ballinacor South, Par. Preban. " Tom " or tuaim is an element of
many names in North Wexford and South Wicklow. As weU as the meaning of
tumulus the dictionaries give the word those of " fence, fort, village, and
homestead."

^ Knockadosan, Cnoc a Dosdin, hiU of the small-bush (Joyce, /. N. P., iii, 437),
O.S. 30, Bar. Ballinacor North, Par. Rathdrum.

^ Tinnakilly Upper and Lower, Tigh na Coille, house of the wood, O.S. 34, 39,
Bar. Ballinacor South, Par. Ballykine.

' I cannot identify this name. It can hardly be Coolmore {C'Ail Mhdr), big
angle, O.S. 36, 41, Bar. Arklow, Par. Ennereilly, as this would be in Crioch Bhranach
and not in Gabhal Eaghnaill.

® i.e., Gabhal Raghnaill.

9 (?) Carrick, O.S. 38, Bar. Balhnacor South, Par Kilcommon., c/., Carricka-
croy in Cavan, which Joyce, /. N. P., iii, 171, says is Carraig cruaidhe, rock of
hardness, hard rock.

i*> James Wolverston, of Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, was the son of George
Wolverston, a native of Suffolk, who had been " Enghsh Captain " of Crioch
Bhranach. James also owned property in Co. Wicklow. He died in 1609, leaving
his widow, a daughter of Richard Archbold of Kilmacud, and four sons, of whom
John, the youngest, who succeeded,to lands near Newcastle, Co. Wicklow, married
in 1625, a daughter of Feidhlim OBroin, the eldest son of liacha mac Aodha.
See Ball's County Dublin, i, 118 ; O'Don. A. F. M., p. 2018.

^^ The " nation of Coolesimons " were the Branaigh (O'Bymes) of Coill tSiomoin
Simon's wood (KUtimon, O.S. 19, Bar. Newcastle, Par. KiUisky), who were a family
of the Gabhal Dunlaing or senior branch of the clan.

12 Leabhar Geinealach of Mac Firbhisigh, p. 473 ; Keating, /. T. S., iv, 38, 70.

" O'Don. A. F. M., p. 2188.

FIACHA MACAODHA Ul BHROIN 113

made by Sir Thomas Masterson, the " English Captain " stationed
at Ferns. Domhnall's father, Donnchadh mac Cathaoir Charraigh,.
had been seized by Sir Nicholas White in 1583 and executed,
Domhnall was pardoned in 1585 and 1593. He offered to surrender
his lands in order to obtain them from the Crown by grant, and on
2 March, 159|, a commission was issued to enquire what lands he
held in Co. Wexford.-^ He was again pardoned in March, ISOf,
just before Fiacha mac Aodha's last rising. He took part in the
rising of 1599-1600. His " coimtry " in Co. Carlow was devastated
by the Lord Deputy, Lord Mountjoy, in August, 1600, and on the
24th of that month he abandoned his allies at the Pass of Cashel
(otherwise known as Bearna na gCleite, " the Pass of Plumes," from
the English defeat there on 17 May, 1599); " came to the head of
the army, and fell down on his knees to the Lord Deputy, and
desired protection for 12 days, till he might come to Dublin, which
was granted (for in that time his Lordship could do him no harm)."^
He was pardoned in May, 1601, and finally on 16 October, 1602,
but his lands seem to have been confiscated, because on 22 August,
1603, the English Privy Council wrote notifying the King's pleasure
that he should be a pensioner at 10s. per day till he recover his
rights or be better provided for. This pension he surrendered on
5 November, 1616, when he received a grant from the King of
one marte-land and a half ^ out of what had been the property of
his ancestors. This grant included the townlands of ClonmuUen,
Barragh, Kilbrannish, and Carrickduff, all in the Parish of Barragh,
and Barony of Forth, Co. Carlow. He married his cousin, Eleanor,
daughter of Brian mac Cathaoir Chaomanaigh of Borris and Pol-
monty, Co. Carlow, ancestor of the present head of Clan Kavanagh,
Walter Mac Morrough Kavanagh of Borris. Domhnall Spainneach
died on 12 March, 1631, leaving one son. Sir Murchadh or Morgan,
and five daughters — ^namely, Margaret, married Robert Hay of
Tacumshin, Co. Wexford ; Siubhan alias Juan, married Connall

1 Fiants, Elizabeth, No. 5980.

2 A. F. M., 1600 ; Cal. State Papers (Ir.), 1600, p. 397 ; Paper by Lord Walter
FitzGerald, Journal, 1904, p. 199.

* In Cal. State Papers (Ir.), vol. 38, no. 48, it is stated that " Idrone is 67
martland, containing 335 plough lands." From this it would appear that in Ca.
Carlow a martland contained 5 ploughlands, or 600 Irish acres, taking 120 acres to
the ploughland. On these figures Idrone would have contained 40,200 Irish acres, =
67,000 EngUsh acres, which is almost the present area of the Baronies of Idrone
East and West — namely, 71,224 English acres. But a martland was also an alias
for a ploughland or a carucate, for in 1586 " five ploughlands, commonly called
martelands (containing each 40 acres arable and 80 acres pasture, wood, and stony
mountain, with their appurtenances)," were set on lease by the Crown, and in
1589 these same lands (which were in Co. Carlow) were granted under the description
of " five carucates of land or martlands, each containing 40 acres arable and 80 acres
pasture, wood, and mountain : " Fiants, Elizabeth, Nos. 4918, 5344.

114 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

O'Morchoe of Toberlomina, Co. Wexford ; Owney (? tJna), married
Arthur Eustace of Ballancy, Co. Carlow ; Elizabeth, and Ehnor.

The history of the descendants of Domhnall Spainneach is typical
of that of manj' famihes of the Irish gentry in the 17th and 18th
centuries. His son, Sir Murchadh of Clonmullen, Knt., married
Mary, daughter of Francis Eustace of Castle Martin, Co. Kildare.
In 1634 he was elected to Strafford's ParUament, but for some
informality the election was declared void. After the defeat of the
Leinster Irish in April, 1642, by Ormond and Coote at the Battle
of Kilrush, in Co. Kildare, he fled, was attainted, and his property
confiscated. He died in Spain. His elder son, Daniel, jomed the
Confederation of Kilkenny in 1646, and was attainted and died un-
married in Spain. His yoimger son. Colonel Charles Kavanagh of
Carrickduff , raised a Regiment of Foot for James II, and his property
was confiscated.^ He married his distant cousin, Mary, daughter
of Brian Kavanagh of Borris,^ ancestor of Walter MacMorrough
Kavanagh {qui nunc est) of Borris. Colonel Charles Kavanagh's
son, Ignatius, was a Captain in the Irish Brigade in the French
Service. He married Catherine, daughter of Andrew Browne of
■Galway, of the Castle Mac Garret family. His three sons, Nicholas,
Andrew, and Charles, were living at Nancy in 1776.^

1 D' Alton's Army List.

2 It seems largely owing to the judicious attitude adopted by this Brian
Kavanagh that his descendants, alone of aU Clan Kavanagh, have succeeded in
retaining their ancestral position and property to the present day. In the troubles
consequent on the rising of 1641 he forfeited a great amount ot property in the

Baronies of Idrone and St. MuUins, Co. Carlow, and Bantry, Co. Wexford. He is
registered as a Irrotestant in the ^00^5 of Distribution for Carlow and Wexford,
■and the restoration of his property was probably due to his reUgious profession.
He was Sheriff of Co. Carlow in 1644, and died in 1662.

^ For many notices of Domhnall Spainneach and his descendants, see the
paper by Rev. James Hughes in the Journal, 1873, p. 282, and the accompanying
Pedigree by Mr Here.

( nt

THE SCULPTURED STONES FROM THE BRIDGE OF
ATHLONE, BUILT IN 1567, NOW IN THE CRYPT OF
THE SCIENCE AND ART MUSEUM, DUBLIN

By Lord Walter Fitz Gerald

[Submitted 28 A-ril, 1915]

The sculptured stones, 43 in number, from the Elizabethan Bridge
of Athlone were presented to the Royal Irish Academy, some of
them in the year 1844, and others in 1863, by the Commissioners of
Pubhc Works. Most of these stones were built into a" Monument "
erected on the southern parapet of the bridge, which was taken
down and rebuilt by the Board of Works in 1843-4.

Descriptions, more or less complete and accurate, of the slabs
in " the Monument " have appeared in : —

Mason's " Survey of Roscommon," 1819.

Weld's Survey, 1832.

Petrie, in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. viii,

1861-4.
The Rev. J. S. Joly's " Old Bridge of Athlone," 1881.
Dr H. F. Berry's " Sir Peter Lewys, Ecclesiastic, Cathedral

and Bridge Builder," 1902 ; dealing only with the two

stones relating to Peter Lewys.

The earliest reference to a bridge at Athlone occurs in the
jLnnals of the Four Masters under the year 1 120, and from that date
till 1155 there are seven references to this bridge, made of hurdles or
wicker-work. It was constructed by the 0 'Conors of Connacht for
the invasion of Meath, and as often destroyed by the O'Melaghlins in
defence of their kingdom.

From 1155 the Four Masters make no further mention of a bridge
at Athlone till 1567, when they state that : —

The bridge of Athlone was built by the Lord Justice of
Ireland, i.e., Sir Henry Sidney.

This may have been the first stone structure, built to succeed
former bridges of timber, as it is stated on one of the slabs that Sir
Henry Sydney's bridge was " from the maine earth under the
water erected," and that it was begun and finished in the ninth
year of Queen Elizabeth's reign, i.e., in 1567.

116 EOYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

It is not stated of what material the bridge of Athlone was
constructed in the 13th century, though a few notices of it appear
ia the Calendars of Irish Documents.

In 1210, John de Gray, Bishop of Norwich and Justiciary of
Ireland, is stated to have erected here a royal castle, a bridge, and
fortifications. 1

In 1233 the King instructed the Treasurer of Dublin to suspend
the works at the Castle of " Reindon " (Randown) in the County
Roscommon, in order that the money might be spent on completing
the bridge at Athlone."^

Again in 1289 the bridge at this place was reported to be
collapsing ; and in the following year John de Saunford, Archbishop
of Dublin and Justiciary of Ireland, had his expenses paid for
travelling to Athlone to inspect and report on the damage. ^

In all probability these bridges were of timber ; had they been
constructed of stone, in all likelihood the Annals of the Four Masters-
would have recorded the fact, as in the case of a stone bridge
erected at Ballysadare, Co. Sligo, in 1360.

The Sir Henry Sydney connected with the stone bridge was the
son of Sir William Sydney, chamberlain and steward to Henry VIII.
He was appointed Vice-Treasurer of Ireland in 1556, and lord-
president of Wales m 1560. He was made a Knight of the Garter
in 1564, and was three times constituted Lord Deputy of Ireland.
His death took place in 1586 at the age of 57.

In a Memoir of his services to the Crown, addressed in 1583 to
Sir Francis Walsingham, Sir Henry describes how in 1566 he passed
from Roscommon to Athlone and took the submissions of the
O'Kellys of Hy Many, O'Maddens of SilAnchia, and of O'Farrell
Boy and O'Farrell Bane of Annaly. While in Athlone, he adds,
" I gave order then for the making of the Bridge of Alone, which I
finished, a piece found serviceable, I am sure durable it is, and I
thinke memorable." *

The bridge was finished on the 2nd July, 1567 ; the contractor
or surveyor being the Rev. Peter Lewys, and the overseer one
Robert Damport, both of whom will be referred to further on.

That this bridge was of great mihtary importance in the opera-
tions against the Connacht clans is proved by an extract from a
letter, dated 5th October in the same year, written by Terence
Danyell (Turlough O'Donnell), Dean of Armagh, to William Cecil,

1 Gilbert's Viceroys of Ireland, p. 76.

2 Cal. of Docs., Ire., 1171-1251, p. 304.

3 lb., 1285-92, pp. 273 and 326.

* Page 41, vol. iii of the old issue, Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 1855.

SCULPTURED STONES FROM BRIDGE OF ATHLONE 117

Lord Burghley, which states that " all Connaught was tamed by
the building of the Bridge of Athlone." ^

In 1570 Edmund O'Fallon, merchant of Athlone, obtained from
the Crown advantageous leases of premises in that town on con-
dition of his building a corn mill of stone, roofed with tiles or slate ;
and before 1578 he had erected two water mills upon the bridge,
and a castle at the West Meath end of it.^ Later on the mills
on the bridge increased in number : before 1597 two more had
been built " upon the second next arch to Edmund 0 'Fallon's
mills " by Dermot McGwyff, gent., of Athlone.^

The Connacht end of the bridge was guarded by the Castle,
and near the latter stood, what is described in 1580 as, " an old
ruinous tower covered with straw, called the Connaghte Tower." *

Before describing the old sculptured stones, mention may
be made here of a mural slab bearing an inscription recording
the re-building of the former bridge's centre. This slab is also in
the possession of the Royal Irish Academy, and the inscription on
it reads : —

In the 4th year of y*' reign of our

Sov^ Lord King George y*^ 2<i, 1730

This Part of y*" Bridge, being 4 Arches in

y*" Center, was undertaken & rebuilt by

BENJAMIN PRICE

at y" expence of y' right Honble Lady

Katherine Jones & y'' Coration (sic) of Athlone,

the Honble ColP Rich^ St. George

Sovereign ;

& y" Work was compleated ye year following,

Will™ Handcock, Esq^ Sover"^

Gust* Handcock, Esq'', Supervize^

Mr. John Plumer & Mr. Edwin Thomas,

Overseers.

Lady Katherine Jones, mentioned above, was the 3rd daughter
of Richard, 1st Earl of Ranelagh, Vice -Treasurer of Ireland and
Governor of the Castle of Athlone, who died in 1711. Lady
Katherine died unmarried in 1740 ; her sister EHzabeth was the
wife of John, 18th Earl of Kildare.

The St. Georges were seated at Carrickdrumrush in the Coimty
Leitrim, and at Woodsgift, County Kilkenny. Members of this
familj?^ represented Athlone in Parliament.

1 Calendar of State Papers, Ire., 1509-73, p. 346.

2 Fiants of Elizabeth, Nos. 1650 and 3447.

8 Itid., No. 6119. * lb., No. 3697.

118 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

The family of Handcock belonged to Twyford and Waterstown,
in Co. West Meath.

In 1906, the then Director of the Dublin Science and Art Museum,
Colonel G. T. Plimkett, kindly presented to me photographs of the
more important stones from the old bridge of Athlone ; from these
photographs, the illustrations accompanying these notes were made.
The stones at that time were placed in frames on the wall of the
Gallery outside the entrance to the room containing the Royal Irish
Academy's Collection of Antiquities ; they are now placed in the
crypt.

For convenience, in describing the sculptured stones, they will
be grouped under Four headings, viz. : —

I. The Sir Henry Sydney stones.
II. The Queen Elizabeth stones.

III. The Rev. Peter Lewys stones.

IV. The Damport stone.

The Sir Henry Sydney Stones (Plate VI, VII)

These include the long inscription (on four slabs) describing the
erection of the bridge in 1567 ; a half length figure in armour of Sir
Henry ; his banner ; his crest ; and his coat of arms.

The Inscription (Plate VI). — These four slabs are 46| inches in
length, and range in height from 12 to 20 inches ; the inscription is
cut in raised Roman capitals from 2 to 2| inches high, many of
Avhich are conjoined. MisspeUings are numerous, as will be seen in
the copy of the inscription here given : —

THIft'BRYCE- 0F-A7HL0f« rROM THE MAINE
EARTH vrOER ••K-O'ATER-VVAS-ERECTEOANJ-MA
Df TK • NINTH- YEARE - 0/ - TK • RAICN -OF OVR M 0
«T' Df RE • 50VERA tent- LADI E • ELIZABETH • Br-THE
CRACf -OF-COO-OVENC-Of- ENCLANJ • FRAVNC E <?
IRLAN>-DEFr<OER- OFTK- FAITH • eT-<« BY- ^€ • DE'VICE -AND OR
OCR -OE- SIR- HENRY-SlDfNCY-KNICNT-OF-K -MOSTf-NOBIL
ORDER-Trf 2" JVM£-OF-IVLIE-TrtN'BEINCiE-0F-T«-AYGE-OF.5S

VEREt L- PRE SI DENT -OF- "HE - COVNSEL-I N, WALIS • A^D MA
BCHIJ-OF-TK -SAf^-ArO-L-OEPVTIE-CEr^RAL-OF.-HlS, HIH
MAIESTI8-REALM- IRAN3, nN5rtD-IN-LE* -"EeN Or€ YEAR-BI
Tf -COOD.irNDVSTRI.AN?, DIILICEN5, OF, Si R, PETIR , L E WY&
CLERKE CHArr, OR,CATHFDRAL,CHVRCH. OF, CHIIST
CHVRCH.IN, DVBLIN,ArsD, 8T€\AARD, TO, TC, 8AI D, L , DE
PVTIE./N-VX/-, YEARE, WAS.. BECOIVE:, AFSD, FlfNiSHE D. T^. FAI
RE,IS£Vl/E, WOVRKE, IN. T€, CASTHL-OE DVB LIN. BE61DI6
MANY, OTCR, NOTABLE. WORKl* , D0^E..I^4 80DRI . O
T£R,PLACI8,IN,'RI«,REALME, AL*0, "K.ARCt-E REBEL

feHA^E, ONEYL.OVER, THROVEN, HIS, I-EaD, SE^T, ON, Ti
GATE. OF, T£, 8AI D, CASTE L.COYIMO ArO, LIVRY. ABOlESKD
ArvO.T*, HOLE, REALM.BR0V6tT. INTO SVCfC , OBEDIE NCE
TO, HlR,riAIE»TIE, A»,TC,LIKE, TRANQVILITIE , PEACE. ArO

Plate VIJ

[To face page 118

THE BRIDGE INSCRIPTION SLABS

Plate VII]

[To face page 119

THE SIR HENRY SYDNEY STONES

SCULPTURED STONES FROM BRIDGE OF ATHLONE 119

One, if not two, lines are missing at the end ; they are said to have
been cut on the frame work surrounding the slabs ; according to
Dr Petrie's report in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy
(mentioned above), the missing portion reads :

WHICHE . IN . THE . MEMORY . OF . MANE . HATH . NOT . BENE . SENE.

The Effigy Slab (Plate VII, fig. 1).— This stone bears a half
length figure of Sir Henry, holding a drawn sword in his right hand ;
the left rests on his hip. The head at some period or other was
chiselled away. Sir Henry's arms (described below) within the
Garter occupy the right top corner of the stone, and below them,
on a panel is the sentence : in . vidia . notior.

The Banner Stone (Plate VII, fig. 2). — On a plain shield, sur-
rounded by the Garter, is carved a ragged staff. This device is
explained as follows in Sir Henry's Memoir, already referred to, in
the Ulster Journal of Archaeology : —

In the Christmas hoUidayes I visited him {i.e., Shane O'Neill,
then in rebellion) in the harte of his country, where he had
made as great an assemblie as he could, and had provided
as great and good cheare as was to be had in the country,,
and when worde was brought to him that I was so nere-
him,—" That is not possible," quoth he, " for the day
before yesterday I know he dyned and sate under his cloth
of estate in the hall of Kilmaynham." " By O'Neyle's
hand," quoth the messenger, " he is in this country, and
not farre off, for I sawe the redd Bracklok Avith the knotty
clubb, that is carried before none but himself," — meaning
my pensell (pennon) with the ragged staff.

The Crest Stone (Plate VII, fig. 3).— On a similar shield, also
surrounded by the Garter, is the Sydney crest — a porcupine with
quills erect, having a chain fastened to a collar round its neck.
In the bottom corners are the initials H. and S.

The Coat of Arms Stone (Plate VII, fig. 4).— This stone in a
handsomely carved frame contains the Garter, and a shield
bearing the Sydney arms quartered with those of Brandon ,^
viz. : —

1 and 4 ; Or, a pheon azure, for Sydney.

2 and 3 ; Barry of ten argent and gules ; over all a lion

rampant or, ducally crowned, for Brandon.

Sir Henry's grandfather, Nicholas Sydney, had married Anne»
daughter and co-heir of Sir William Brandon, Knt, cousin of Charles,
Duke of Suffolk. In the bottom corners of this stone are the initials
H and S.

120 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

The present top portion of the frame of this stone properly
belongs to one of the Queen Ehzabeth stones, described further
on, and vice versa, as the lintel now over the latter bears the
Sydney family motto upon it :— Qvo fata vocant.

Sir Henry was invested with the Order of the Garter in 1564,
hence its appearance on his family stones.

The Queen Elizabeth Stones (Plate VIII)
These are four in number : —

1 . The Royal Arms surrounded hj the Garter ; above them

an imperial crown between the uiitials E and R. The
lintel stone of the frame bears the Sydney familj^ motto,
and, as stated above, is in its wrong place here.

2. A much mutilated human bust, supporting a small shield

bearing the initials E. R. surmounted by a crown.

3. Narrow slabs bearing the inscription : —

GOD SAVE (a heraldic rose) qwen elizab (remainder missing)

4. A slab with the text : —

GEVE . TO . CESAR . THAI (sic) . W .

IS . CESARS . AND . TO . GOD

THAT . WHICHE . IS . GOIS (sic) . MAT . 22

The Peter Lewys Stones (Plate IX)
These stones are two in number, on both of which Peter Lewys
is shown in full length, bearded and in clerical costume ; in both,
too, on his outstretched hand he carries a small animal which has
been identified as a porcupine, the crest of his patron and employer,
Sir Henry Sydney.

On one stone there is an inscription of three fines in raised
letters, which read : —

. E . . R . •
petrvs
lewys
The first line probably contained the word " Reverendus " in a
contracted form.

On the second stone, in the lower portion of it, and on either
side of the cleric's legs, runs the foUowing inscription in four lines,
thus : —

Petro Lewys

Clerieo DoMus

n r se Dispensat

hujus opis p" —

— ^side — .

VIII]

[To face page 120

THE QUEEN ELIZABETH STONES

Plate IXJ

[To face page 121

SCULPTURED STONES FROM BRIDGE OF ATHLONE 121

Dr Berry reads this inscription and supplies a translation as
ioUows : —

" Petro Lewys clerieo domus nostrae dispensatori huj us operis
praeside ; " i.e., To Peter Lewys, cleric, Proctor of our
House {i.e., the Convent of the Holy Trinity, Christ
Church, Dublin), surveyor of this work {i.e., the Bridge).

Unlike the first stone, this inscription is cut in incised letters ;
■contraction signs are cut over the " r " in nostrae, and over the
"" p " in loraeside.

Of the Rev. Peter Lewys but little is known ; he is supposed to
have been an Enghsh monk who conformed to the Protestant
religion. 1 In 1547 he was granted a dispensation to hold the
Rectory of Mourne, County Down, together with the office of
■Chaplain to the Lord Deputy, Sir Anthony St. Leger. In
November, 1550, he was presented to the Rectory of St John the
Baptist of Castle Peter, alias Monasteroris, in the Diocese of Kildare.
In 1560 he was appointed Precentor of Christ Church Cathedral,
Dublin ; and four years later he was employed at the restoration of
that building. In 1567 he constructed the Bridge of Athlone, in
the inscription on which he is described as " Sir "^ Peter Lewys
Clerke, Chantor (of the) Cathedral Church of Christ Church, in
Dublin, and Stheward to the said L. Deputie."

This is the last work on record associated with Peter Lewys, and
as no further notice of him is forthcoming, he probably returned
to England to end his days.

The Damport Stone (Plate X)
On this stone is carved, in bold relief, the figure of a soldier in
armour, with a dog seated at his foot. In his left hand he holds a
huge headed halbert, and on his right hand is balanced a broad-
arrow or pheon, the arms of his master, Sir Henry Sydney. An
inscription in five lines (the first two lines in raised letters) occupies
the left side of the slab, the wording of which is : —

ROBART 3

DAMPORT

AN OWER

SEER OF THY

S WORKYS.

1 " Sir Peter Lewys, Ecclesiastic, Cathedral and Bridge Builder," by Henry F.
Berry, m.a., 1902. " The Journal of Sir Peter Lewys, 1564-5," by the late James
Mills, M.R.i.A. : Journal of the R. S. A., Ire., volume for the year 1896.

2 The title " Sir " was at this period often appUed to clerics. It was an
attempt to translate Magister ^Ariium].

3 Tlio letter, Uke an inverted S, which follows this name, is merely an ornament
to fill the space.

122 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

All that is known of Robert Damport, " gent.," is that in 1576
he was commissioned with others to execute martial law in
Comiacht ; that in 1579 he was in possession of two tenements
near the House of Friars close to the North Gate in Athlone ; and
that in 1586 he is mentioned as then being Provost-Marshall of
Ccnnacht.

This completes the description of the principal sculptured stones.
In all they are stated to have numbered 43, but this must include
fragments, and the various pieces which formed frames to those
above described.

Possibly two or three of the stones may not have belonged to
the old Bridge at all, but may have been taken out of houses during
rebuilding operations in Athlone. In any case it is not likety that
the}' were originally built into " the Monument " on the bridge
demolished in 1844, as an erection such as described by Mr Jolj'
in his pamphlet on the old Bridge, would be more in keeping with,
the 18th, than with the 16th, century.

[The Illustrations to this Paper are from blocks kindly put at the
Society's disposal by the Author].

Plate X]

[To face page 122

THE ROBERT DAMPORT STONE

( 123 )

THE EARLDOM OF ULSTER

[Continued from vol. xliv, page 66]

I^ART IV. Inquisitions touching Coleraine and
Military Tenures

By GoDDARD H. Orpen, M.R.I. A., Member.

The County of Coulrath {Cuil-rathain, " the ferny corner," now
Coleraine) included primarily the thirteenth century deanery of
Twescard {tuaiscert, " the northern district "), which comprised the
North-east Liberties of Coleraine in County Londonderry, and the
baronies of Upper and Lower Dunluce, Cary, and Kilconway, in
County Antrim. To these for administrative purposes had been
recently added, as we learn from this inquisition, the seignorial
manors of Northburgh in Inishowen and of Roo at Limavady. The
county court was held at Coleraine, and there were manorial courts
at Roo and Armoy.

Up to the year 1315, when the hands of Edward Bruce and his
Irish supporters fell heavy upon the land, this district of the Twescard
was apparently the most thickly settled and the most prosperous
division of the lordship of Ulster. This appears not only from the
accounts of the custos in 1262 and 1276, already given,i but also
from the Ecclesiastical Taxation of 1306 — no bad guide to the
relative order and prosperity of the lands included in the deaneries
taxed. There the total taxation of the churches in the Deanery of
Twescard is £217 3s. 4d., while the next highest total— that of the
Deanery of Lecale— is only £108 8s. Od. But by the date of this
inquisition (1333) a great change for the worse had come over the
Twescard. The retrogression may be roughly measured by the
reduction of the annual value of the Earl's interest here since the
last extent was taken. According to the old extent the earl's
interest was valued at £190 8s. 6d., but now only at £39 13s. 4d.,
or little more than one-fifth of the former value. When precisely
the " old extent " was made is not stated, but in ordinary course an
extent would have been taken soon after the death of Earl Richard
in 1326, and it appears from the Pipe Rolls that in May, 1327, his
lands were delivered partly to Elizabeth de Clare, widow of his

1 Part I, Journal, vol. xliii, pp. 38 and 41.

124 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

eldest son John, and partly to John's son and heir William (though
under age). " to answer according to the extent thereof." ^ Even
this old extent shows an apparent falling off from previous values,
so far as they are available for comparison ; but, as already remarked,
«uch comparisons may be misleading. In the Twescard in particular
the important manors of Coleraine, Drumtarsy, Portrush, Port-
kaman (Bushmills), and Dunsumery (Dunseverick), and some other
interests had been granted by Earl Richard in 1308 in frank -marriage
to his son John and Elizabeth de Clare. They were now in the
hand of the latter, and do not appear in this inquisition, ^ which,
accordingly, gives a very incomplete survey of the Twescard.

At any rate the inquisitions now abstracted show not only that
aU the neighbouring Irish clans were in a state of war, and that
their former subordinate and comparatively peaceable relations
Avith the English were at an end, but also that the earl's manors at
Northburgh, Roo, and Camus were lying waste, as well as the lands
about Drumtarsy and Loughguile. This change seems to have
occurred immediately after the murder of Earl William, when the
perpetrators of the crime, to shield themselves from justice, called
in the Irish to their assistance. John de Mandeville headed those
who took vengeance on the accomplices of the criminals,^ and hence
probably the destruction of his property by them.

Anglo-Norman influence and partial domination in the parts of
the province of Ulster west of the Bann have not, I think, received
due recognition at the hands of our historians. Of the places men-
tioned in our inquisition the Castle of Northburgh was built by the
Red Earl in 1305.^ Its site is marked on the western shore of the
entrance to Loch. Foyle by the ruins of a castle, now commonly
known as Greencastle. Before 1310, and perhaps about the time
the castle was built, the earl obtained from Godfrey MacLoughhn,
Bishop of Derry, with the consent of the chapter, but without
licence from the King, the City of Derry, two villates in Bothmean
in Inchetun (probably the parish of Inch), and eight carucates in
Moybyle {Magh bile, Moville) and Fathun-murra (Fathain-mura
Fahan),^ and the advowson of a moiety of the Church of Inchetun.

1 Irish Pipe Boll, 2 Edw. Ill, 43rd Rep. D. K., pp. 22-24.

^ They probably appear among the knight's fees in the next inquisition. See
note to " Chywton."

8 See Part II, Journal, vol. xliii, p. 135, note. In September, 1326, after the
death of Earl Richard, John de Mandeville was appointed Sheriff of Co. Down,
and at the same time Robert Savage was made Sheriff of the County of Coulrath,
while Henry and Richard de Mandeville were ciistodes pads, the former in the
bishopric of Down, and the latter in those of Connor and Derry : Ir. Pat. Roll,
20 Edw. II, p. 336 (7-12).

* Ann. Loch Ce, 1305 : where it is called " the New Caatle of Inishowen."

5 It. Pat. Roll, 3 & 4 Edw. II, p. 18, no. 128..

THE EARLDOM OF ULSTER 125

About the same time he also obtained from Henry Mac an
Crosain, Bishop of Raphoe, three villates in Derecohnkelle (Derry)
and Loghlappan.^ Inishowen had long been debatable land between
the Cenel Owen and the Cenel Connell, and the civil strife had its
counterpart in a dispute between the Bishops of Derry and Raphoe.^
Probably each side was anxious to enUst the powerful assistance of
the Earl of Ulster, who was not above accepting a fee from both.

From the present inquisition we learn that the sum of £60 used
to be paid to the earl by Irish tenants of the manor of Northburgh.
This large sum must have issued out of lands of much greater extent
than those contained in the above grants from the bishops. During
the last half of the thirteenth century Tirconnell had been within
what may be called the Geraldine " sphere of influence." It had
been granted by Hugh de Lacy, Earl of Ulster, to Maurice Fitz-
Gerald, the justiciar, and by Maurice to his younger son Maurice
FitzMaurice.3 Then John FitzThomas seems to have acquired the
interest of the heirs of Maurice FitzMaurice in Tirconnell,* and
from him this interest seems to have passed to the Red Earl under
the agreement for the settlement of the dispute which arose between
them.^ The Red Earl, through his seneschal Thomas de Mandeville,
had assisted Aedh Buidhe O'Neill in the battle of Disert da Crich
(1281),^ when Donnell Og O'Donnell and many of his urrighs fell.
In 1286 the earl received the hostages of the Cenel Connell, and in
1291 he again invaded the country. It is not improbable that as
the result of these expeditions the earl obtained some tangible rights
in Tirconnell, but outside of Inishowen we have no evidence of any
English settlement, and rents from Irish tenants here must have
been very precarious.

Northburgh Castle was taken by the Scots early in 1316.'' It
was, however, afterwards recovered. In the preceding October the
King's victuallers had been ordered to supply 40 crannocks of corn
for it, but the suppUes were diverted to Whitehaven and Skinburness.^
It was in Northburgh Castle that Walter, son of Sir William de

^ Cal. Pat. Rolls, 4 Edw. II, p. 292. Loghlappan : now Port Lough on the
southern boundary of InithoM'en ; Inquis. iJltonie, Appendix iv and v.

2 Irish Plea Rolls, 34 Edw. I, cited Ordnance Survey of the County of London-
derry, p. 24. In the Ecclesiastical Taxation, 1306, the deanery of " Inysowyn ""
appears in the Diocese of Derry.

3 Red Book of the Earl of Kildare, f. v d. and f. viii.

4 Ibid.

^ Justiciary Roll, vol. i, p. 235.

* Ann. Ulst. and Clonmacnois, 1281 : where " Mac Martain " denotes Thomas-
de Mandeville. Cf. C. D. I., vol. ii, no. 2049. Martin de Mandeville, who held
lands in Co. Louth in the time of King John, was probably the eponym : C. D. /.,.
vol. i, nos. 1284, 1621.

' Laud MS. Annals, Chart. St. Mary's, Dublin, vol. ii, p. 349.

8 Hist, and Mun. Docs., Ireland, pp. 335, 341.

126 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Burgh, was imprisoned and starved to death in 1332, and this act,
as already mentioned, ^ led to the murder of Earl William and the
break-up of the great earldom.

The manor of Le Roo, with its 17 carucates in the hands of free-
holders and 34 carucates let to tenants for terms of years, had also
clearly been an important manor. The name still survives in Roe
Park near Limavady and in the River Roe which runs through the
demesne. The church appears in the Ecclesiastical Taxation as Roo
under the Deanery of Bynnagh {Cenel mBinne) with the high value
of £20. I have already called attention^ to a deed by which Dermot
O'Cahan, King of Fir na Craibhe, in 1278, surrendered his land of
" Glen Oconcahil " to Earl Richard. I have failed to trace the name,
but it may possibly have denoted the district about Le Roo. In
1296 the earl granted the castle and manor of Roo to James, seneschal
of Scotland, and Egidia, the earl's sister, in frank-marriage, but
apparently before the date of this inquisition it had reverted to the
earldom.

Camus, so called presumably from a river-bend {cdmas), lies on
the left bank of the Bann a couple of miles above Coleraine. It
must have been included in the ten knight's fees to the west of the
river granted by King John in 1215 to Thomas Earl of Athol, together
with the Castle of Kilsantail.^ Like most of the earl's lands on this
side of the Bann it had been laid waste by the Irish. Even some
land belonging to Hugh de Logan at Drumtarcy (Druim tairsigh,
now Killowen, a parish on the western side of the river opposite
Coleraine) had not escaped. A castle here and a bridge across the
river had been built in 1248, but the bridge — and no doubt the
castle too — was broken down by Edward Bruce in 1315.'*

At Loughguile, in the barony of Upper Dunluce, there was
formerly an important seignorial manor. In 1262 as much as
£64 lis. 4d. was received from it, and in 1276 issues of the Twescard
amounting to £259 17s. lOd. are accounted for under Loughguile
and Coleraine.^ " Lisanowre Castle in ruins " {Liss an uabhair (?),
' the fort of pride ') ^ is marked on the O.S. map, enclosed by earth-
works, on Castle Hill, in the townland of Castle -quarter on the
shore of the lake. This would seem to have been the manorial
centre. Lewis says that the castle wa« originally built by Sir Philip

1 Part I, Journal, vol. xliii, p. 46.

2 Ante, Part I, Journal, vol. xliii (1913), p. 43.

3 See Ireland under the Normans, vol. ii, p. 2 92 .

* Ann. Ulst., 1248. In 1382 Richard II gave orders for the repair of the Castle
of Drumtarcy, the bridge of Coleraine, and the towers at the end of the bridge,
which had been broken down by the Irish in the time of Edward III : Irish Pat.
Boll, 5 Rich. II, p. 115 (219).

5 Part I, Journal, vol. xUii, pp. 38, 41.

6 Or perhaps an iubhair, 'of the yew-tree.'

THE EARLDOM OF ULSTER 127

Savage in the reign of King John, but I have not found authority
for this. In 1333 the lands here lay waste.

County of Coulrath (Coleraine)

(This Inquisition is a continuation of No. 20, Journal for 1914,
pp. 63-66)

Northbourgh.— Extent William de Burgh, late Earl of

of castle and manor of Ulster, held in his demesne as of fee
Northburgh,! £g() \^j q\^ the manor of Northburgh, in the
extent, and nothing by County of Coulrath, in which there
new extent. is a castle worth nothing beyond the

cost of its keeping.

There are divers lands and tenements there in the hands of
Irishmen who hold at the will of the lord, and in the earl's time used
to pay £60, but now nothing can be obtained from them, because
they are in a state of war.

Roo Demesnes. — At le Roo 34 carucates in demesne which used
to be in the hands of divers tenants for terms of years in Le Castle -
toun, and they used to pay for each carucate 26s. 8d., but now
they lie waste and untilled on account of the war, so that nothing
can be obtained from them by reason of the want of tenants of those
parts.

Seventeen carucates there used to be in the hands of divers
freeholders, and they used to pay 20s. for each acre {recte carucate)
and do suit at the mill of le Roo, but now nothing, as above.

A certain river there the profits of which used to be worth 20s.,
but now nothing.

Two water-mills which used to be worth in profits of multure
80 crannocks of flour, at 2s. per cramiock, but now nothing.

A fortnightly court for extern tenants, the pleas and perquisites
of which used to be worth £1, now nothing.

Caumys. — Two carucates in demesne in Caumys, worth in the
Earl's time 40s., but now they lie waste and untilled on account of
the war of the Irish and the want of tenants in those parts.

Farmers. — £2 used to be received from one carucate in Loganton -
near Hathenadj^, but now nothing.

The following rents are received from divers lands which divers
tenants hold to farm in the places annexed, viz. : — £1 13s. 4d. in

* For Northburgh, Roo, and Caumys, see above.

- Logantoun (so in the summary ; here, in the transcript before me, the name
appears in the apparently impossible form " Loglenord "), probably now Bally-
lagan, a townland in the Parish of Macosquin, adjoining Camus.

128 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

the vOla de Erthmoy ;^ £1 13s. 4d. in the villa de Kynergher ;
£1 6s. 8d. in the villa de Lenagh ; £1 13s. 4d. in Balyouthay ;
£1 6s. 4d. in Maynfauour ;2 13s. 4d. in Castelmyleghan ; £1 6s. 4d.
in the villa de CrjTigel ; £3 ia the villa of le Knog ;^ £1 6s. 4d. ia
Gylrethton ;^ £1 6s. 4d. in Brystone ;5 6s. 8d. in le Halde ; 13s. 4d.
in le Crage ;6 13s. 4d. in le Fynvaugh ;'^ £1 6s. 8d. in Castelcwy ;
£1 6s. 8d. in Clantf jTian ; ^ £1 in Muncro ; 3s. 4d. in Gameltone ;
£1 6s. 8d. in Balybough ;9 £2 13s. 4d. in Dounshalewy.

The following rents used to be received from divers lands which
divers tenants held in the places annexed, but now nothing, because
waste as above, viz. : — 18s. in Loghkiel ;i*' £1 6s. Od. from lands
held at will in Loghkiel ; £2 13s. 4d. in Corcagh ;ii £1 4s. 6d. in
Ouercorcagh ; £1 6s. 8d. in Coulton ; £2 in the viUa de Aiys.

Three water-mills, worth in profits of toll £4.

Erthermoy Mill. — Another water-mill at Erthermoy, worth in
demesne £2 8s. Od.

Extern Court {Curia forinseca). — A fortnightly court for extern
suitors, the pleas and perquisites of which are worth 6s. 8d.

Another fortnightly court at Erthermoy, the pleas and perquisites
of which are worth 3s. 4d.

Free Tenants in Fee. — £1 chief rent used to be received from
3 carucates in TylaghysshjTi, which John de Mandevill holds freely
in fee, but now nothing, because waste, as above. £2 chief rent used
to be received from 3 acres {recte carucates) in Dondouan,!^ which
Nicholas Cruys holds there in fee, doing suit therefor at the county
(court) of Coulrath, but now nothing, because waste, as above.

There are divers freeholders, viz. : — Robert le Sauvage, Knight,

1 Erth[er]moy : Armoy {Airther maighe), called Ethirmo}' in Eccl. Tax., a
town and parish in the barony of Gary.

2 Maynfavour : Moyaver Lower and Upper, two townlands in the parish of
Annoy.

^ Villa del Knog : Ballyknock, Big and Little (?), two townlands in the parish
of LoughgTiile, Dunluce Upper.

* Gylrethton : Kilraghts (?), a townland and parish in Dunluce Upper, called
" Kellrethi " : Eccl. Tax.

^ Brystone : Ealbritoune seems to be the name in the Ecclesiastical Taxation-
tor the Church of Finvoy.

6 Le Crage : The Craigs, a townland in the parish of Finvoy, Kilconway.

' Le Fynvaugh : Finvoy {Finn-mhagh), a townland in the parish of the same
name.

8 Clantfynan : C'ontyfinnan, East and West, townlands in the parish of
Loughguile.

* Balybough : perhaps Ballybogy, a townland in the parish of Dunaghy,
Kilconway.

1" Loghkiel : Loughguile, see above.

1^ Corcagh and Overcorcagh : now represented by the townlands of Corkey
North, Mddle, and South, also Love's Corkey, in the parish of Loughguile.

12 Dondouan : Dundooan, three townlands in the parishes of Ballyagran and
BallywiUin, in the North-East Liberties of Coleraine.

THE EARLDOM OF ULSTER 129

John le Sauvage, and Walter de Say, Avelyna de Say, and Isabella
Say, who hold freely 10 carueates in Dromert,^ rendering therefor
one sore sparrow-hawk and doing suit at the county as above.

£2 rent used to be received from 70 acres which Hugo de Logan
holds freely in Dromtarcy,^ but now nothing, because waste, as
above.

£2 rent are received from 2 carueates which Richard de Burgo
holds freely in Stantone,^ and does suit at the county, as above.

Richard de Maundevill, Knight, holds there in fee 1 carucate in
Hoghtonesalagh,* and does suit at the said county, as above.

A county (court) held monthly, the profits and perquisites
whereof are worth £2.

Total of old value of lands, tenements and rents

of the aforesaid County of Coulrath . £190 8 6

Total of present value . . . . £39 13 4

Inquisition no. 25, of which an abstract is given below
concerns the whole of Ulster, except Tirconnell. It first of all
gives a list of tenants holding by military service in Eastern
Ulster, specifying the number of knight's fees or parts of a
knight's fee, which each held, and in most cases indicating the
places where the lands lay. These places seem to be enumerated
in topographical order, beginning with the north-west about
Coleraine, and continuing southwards to the Ards. In suggesting
identifications I have in some cases been partly influenced by this,
apparent topographical order.

Sir Robert Savage, who appears at the head of the jurors in thisr
inquisition as well as in those concerning the Counties of Carrick-
fergus, Antrim, and Down, had been appointed Sheriff of the County
of Coleraine in September, 1326, when the lordship came into the
King's hand on the death of Earl Richard,^ and he was seneschal of
Ulster in 1334, and in 1343, &c.,^ probably continuously. In 1347

^ Dromert : Drumart is now the name of a townland in the parish of Bally-
money, but in 1603 the tuough of BaUymoney and Dromart included the parishes
of BaUymoney and Kilraghts (Reeves' Eccl. Ant., p. 331). The lands of Walter
son of Walter de Say, within the Liberty of Ulster, were confiscated for his ad-
herence to the Scots {Ir. Pat. Roll, U Edw. II, p. 26 (210), p. 27 (55) ), but perhaps
he was subsequently pardoned.

^ Dromtarcy : see above.

' Stan tone (Stonetown) : now perhaps the tow iland of BaUynaglogh [Bailena
gCloch, " town of the stones "), in the parish of Culfeightrin, barony of Cary.

* Hoghtonesalagh : perhaps BaU3TiashaUog (Bailenaseilg , " town of the
hunting "), a townland in the parish of Templemore, Londonderry.

5 Ir. Pat. Roll, 20 Edw. II, p. 336 (8).

« Ihid., p. 386 (56), p. 45 (56).

130 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

the King confirmed to Robert Savage the manors of Rathmore,
Duntorsy, Balencan and Donaghy.^ He was no doubt the Robert
Savage who, with unfortunate results, was dissuaded by his son
Henry from building strong castles on his lands — his son quoting
the vulgar saying : " Better a castle of bones than a castle of
stones." ^ He died in 1360,^ and his lands in Moylinny were after-
wards destroyed by the Clamiaboy O'Neills. Richard Savage seems
to have been the head of the family in 1333, and as such held the
hereditary estates in the Twescard. Here, however, the Mandevilles
had been the principal tenants. It may be observed that the jurors
do not say where the one and a half fees held by Richard de Mande-
ville lay, though they do mention that he held 20th of a knight's
fee in Dimdel3rff (Dunluce). He was custos pads in the dioceses of
Connor and Derry in 1326,* and his principal lands no doubt lay
within these bishoprics. But he was impHcated in the death of the
earl. It is said that it was at the instigation of his wife, who was
sister of Walter de Burgh, that the murder had been committed, and
that his son Robert was one of the perpetrators of the crime.^ The
next notice I have found concerning Richard de Mandeville is dated
16 September, 1337. It speaks of him as a rebel attempting with
a multitude of Scottish felons to conquer the Isle of Man.^ We
may therefore infer that his lands in Ulster were confiscated.

It is noteworthy that the district known as " The Glynns "
does not appear in any of these inquisitions. The family of Byset
at one time held by knight's service a large fief in it, including lands
in the parishes of Carncastle, Ticmacrevan, ArdcHnis, and probably
Layd, with the rent of Cary and the island of Rathhn.'^ In other
words, probably the whole coast-strip from about Ballygalley Head
northwards. In 1278 the heirs of this great fief were daughters of
John, son of John Byset, and it may have been subdivided. In
1315, however, Hugh Byset held the manor of Glenarm, probably
including the most valuable part of the above lands, and Rathlin
Island. These lands were forfeited to the King on account of Hugh's
treasonable adherence to the Scots in Ireland, and were granted by

1 Cal. Pat. Roll, 21 Edw. Ill, p. 298. Rathmore of Moylinny is in the parish of
Donegore. A neighbouring townland is still called Ballysavage. Duntorsy : I
suspect we should read Duncorry— i.e., Donegore, c/. infra, p. 140. Balencan :
perhaps the same as Balencal (confiscated from Richard de Mandeville).
Donaghy : now Dunaghy, in the barony of Klilconway, infra, p. 1 39.

2 Laid MS. Annals, Chart. St. Mary's, Dublin, vol. ii, p. 392.

3 Ibid., p. 393.

4 Ir. Pat. Boll, 20. Edw. II, p. 336 (12).

5 Clyn's Annals, 1333.

« Ir. Pat. Boll, 11 Edw. Ill, p. 42 (7).

' C. D. I., vol. ii, no. 1500, and compare Escheator's account : Ir. Pipe Boll,
4 Edw. I, 36 Rep. D. K., p. 32.

THE EARLDOM OF ULSTER 131

the King to John de Athy^ in reward, no doubt, for his services
against the Scots. Probably the latter continued to hold them of
the King m chief, and not of the earl, and consequently they do
not appear in these inquisitions.

The last section of this inquisition — perhaps the most interesting
part of all these De Burgh inquisitions — discloses the former relations
between the earl and the Irish chieftains of the province of Ulster.
There was no provision for interference with native rule, and no
rent or tribute was exacted, but the chieftains severally acknow-
ledged that they held their territories of the earl by the service of
maintaining a fixed number of " satelhtes " — by which I understand
light-armed horsemen or hobelers — who were to be ready and
equipped, and at the bidding of the earl, for whatever miUtary
service he might require. In ordinary times they would form a
permanent body-guard for the chieftains favoured by the earl to
protect them against rivals and hostile neighbours, while as long
as the system worked smoothly the earl would have a small standing
force of 345 men liable to be summoned in addition to those supplied
by his English tenants. As regards the earl the arrangement was,
in miniature, like the mihtary ser%dce which the tenants in chief
were bound to supply to the EngUsh King, and its efficacy in each
■case depended on the loyalty of the tenants, and ultimately on the
power of the chief lord to enforce it. Presumably these were among
the men that the Red Earl brought with him on several occasions
to the Scottish and other foreign wars. Sometimes indeed, as in
1314, the King wrote directly to these chieftains, asking their aid,
when warned by the earl, against the Scots or others ; but we cannot
in general be sure with what success. We may, however, infer that
in 1297 Cu-Ulad O'Hanlon, King of Orior, Aenghus Mac Mahon
and others accompanied the earl when setting out for the expedition
to Flanders,- as the Annals tell us that in this year they were kiUed
by the English of Dimdalk " when returning to their homes from the
earl " ^ — a poor return it may be noted for their loyal service.

1 Cal. Pat. Rolls, 12 Edw. II, pp. 271, 313. John de Athy was appointed on
•28th June, 1317, admiral of the ships destined for service against the Scots (ibid.,

11 Edw. II, p. 165), and shortly afterwards he killed Thomas of Dun, " a scowmar
•of the sea " (as Barbour describes him), and 40 of his men : Laud MS. Annals,
ubi supra, p. 355. In March, 1319, he was given the custody of Carrickfergus
Castle (Cal. Pat. Rolls, 12 Edw. II, p. 311), and in 1326, after the death of Earl
Richard, he was appointed by the King sheriff of the Counties of Carrickfergus and
Antrim : Ir. Pat. Rolls, 20 Edw. II, p. 336 (9).

2 It seems that the Earl had actually started for Flanders under an agreement
made with the justiciar, but after the truce which was made with the King of
France on October 7, King Edward, finding some of the terms of the agreement
with the Earl very hard, desired that he should remain in Ireland : C. D. I., vol. iv,
no. 452.

3 Ann. Ulst., Ann. Loch Ce 1297.

132 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

All the northern kings, except O'Donnell, are mentioned in this
list as normally subordinate to the Earl of Ulster. The exception
is probably due to the fact that, as already noted, the earl had
actual claims on some territory in Tirconnell. The kings or chieftains
who held of the earl by the above military service seem to have
been as follows : —

1. Ruaidhri O'Cathain, King of the Irish of Femecrewe {Fir na
Crdibhe), a territory to the west of the Lower Bann, in the barony of
Keenaught. He was presumably the Rory O'Kane, lord of Creeve
and Ard-Keenaghta, who died in 1349.^

2. Henry O'Neill and Aedh O'Neill of Tirowen. The father of
the former was Aedh Buidhe (Hugh Boy) O'Neill, who was killed
in 1283, and was eponymous ancestor of the Clannaboy O'Neills.
The death of Henry son of Aedh Buidhe is entered under the year
1347.2 The latter seems to have been Aedh Remhar (" the fat ")
O'Neill, who is mentioned in 1337 as making peace with the men of
Uriel and Fermanagh, and in 1339 and 1343 as invading Tirconnell.
But in order to imderstand more clearly the relations between the
earls of Ulster and the O'Neills, and to see if the Irish annals,
harmonize with the impression left by this inquisition, it is necessarj'-
to examine more fully the succession of the O'Neills about this
period, and to distinguish the rival factions by which they were
divided. This examination too will I think cause us to revise
current notions as to the relations of the English of Ulster with the
Clann Aedha Buidhe, and offer at least a starting point for deter-
mining how and when that division of the O'Neills obtained the
territory in Eastern Ulster, afterwards known from them as
Clannaboy,

In 1259, at the very time when Brian O'Neill was endeavouring
to organize a confederation of the Gael under himself as ard-ri,,
Aedh Buidhe O'Neill joined Donnell Og O'Donnell in an expedition
into Tirowen. They burned all the country, went thence into
(Irish) Uriel, and " hostages were given up to them in every place
through which they passed." ^

0 'Donovan here notes that Aedh Buidhe was the [eponymous]
ancestor of the O'Neills of Clannaboy, or race of Hugh Boy, " who,"
he says, " shortly after this period acquired a new territory for
themselves in the Coimties of Down and Antrim," He then adds,
" Davies and Lei and seem to think that these territories were not

1 Four Masters, 1349. We have already noted the surrender of " Glen Ocon-
cahil," by Eory's predecessor, Dermot O'Cathain, to the Earl in 1278 : Journal,^
vol. xliii, p. 43.

2 Ann. Loch Ce, 1347,

3 Four Masters, 1259.

THE EARLDOM OF ULSTER I33

wrested from the English settlers till after the murder of the Earl of
Ulster in 1333." From our inquisition alone we might gather that
Davies and Leland were right in not placing the migration of the
Clann Aedha Buidhe earlier than 1333, but in fact it will appear
that the first sign we have of this migration was several years after
that date, and that then the settlement, which was probably a very
gradual affair, was made at the expense of the Irish of Ui Tuirtri.
In fact for at least a century after 1259 the English of Ulster were
good friends of Aedh Buidhe and his descendants, supported their
claim to the Kingship of the Cinel Owen, and fought beside them
in more than one battle.

Next year (1260), after Brian O'Neill had lost his life in his
vain attempt against the English of Ulster at the battle of Down,
Aedh Buidhe was made King over Tirowen.^ There was a contest
between him and his brother Niall Culanach O'Neill (1261), but this
ended in the expulsion of the latter in 1263, when Aedh Buidhe
was again made King. As about this time Aedh Buidhe married
Eleanor, daughter of Miles de Angulo and cousin of Walter de
Burgh, 2 we may infer that close relations of amity already existed
between the new Earl of Ulster and the new King of Tirowen. Two
years later Aedh Buidhe accompanied Earl Walter in an expedition
against O'Donnell.^

I have already quoted the deed of 2 October, 1269, by which
Aedh Buidhe acknowledged that he held his regality of Earl Walter,
and that if he broke his agreement the earl might give or sell his
kingship to anyone else.* In the account of James de Audley,
justiciar, for the period 1270-2, a credit is entered for robes, furs
and saddles for " Oneel, Mackahan (O'Cahan), and other Irishmen,"
who apparently accompanied the justiciar in some of his expeditions.^
In 1273, when the Marches of Ulster were in a hostile state, com-
plaint was made on behalf of Avehna, widow of Earl Walter, that
her dower in part consisted of " the homages of almost all the
hostile Irish of Ulster." ^ This at least shows that the subordinate
position of the Ulster kings relative to the earldom was recognised
sixty years before the date of our inquisition, even though it also
indicates that their homages in time of disturbance had little or no
pecuniary value. At this time indeed the dispute between the
MandeviUes and WiUiam Fitz Warin, seneschal of Ulster, was at its

1 Ann. UlsL, 1260.

- Ibid., vol. ii, p. 337, and c/. Part I, Journal, vol. xliii, p. 39, note. Miles
Mac Goisdelbh or de Angulo died in 1259 (Ann. Loch Ce), and Walter de Burgh
presumably had " the marriage " of his daughter.

3 Ann. UlsL, vol. ii, p. 339. s c. D. I., vol. ii, p. 148.

* Journal, vol. xliii, p. 39. * Ibid no. 950.

134 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

height, and while Aedh Buidhe supported the former, his brother
Niall Culanach (called here King of Inishowen) supported the latter.^

In 1281 Aedh Buidhe, assisted by " Mac Martin " {i.e., Thomas
de Mandeville,^ Earl Richard's seneschal of the Twescard) and all
the English of Ulster, won a bloody victory at Desertcreat (a few
miles north of Dungannon) over Donnell Og O'Donnell, who had
repeatedly invaded Tirowen in recent years, and seemingly held the
hostages of Fermanagh and Irish Uriel. ^ In 1283 Aedh Buidhe was
himself slain by Mac Mahon, It is thus clear that throughout his
reign Aedh Buidhe was supported by the English of Ulster.

Aedh Buidhe was apparently succeeded by Donnell son of his
former opponent, " Brian of the Battle of Down." In 1286, however,
the Red Earl exerted his power over the whole north of Ireland.
He received the hostages of the Cenel Connell and Cenel Owen as
well as of Connacht, and he deposed Donnell O'Neill and gave the
sovereignty to Niall Culanach, brother of Aedh Buidhe.'* Four
years later (1290) Donnell deposed Niall Culanach, only to be
deposed next year by the earl, who reinstated Niall. No sooner
had the earl left the country, however, than Donnell made sure of
his rival by killing him. He did not gain his ulterior purpose
immediately, for Brian son of Aedh Buidhe was now made King
" with assent of the earl by Mac Martin [Thomas ? de Mandeville]
and Mac Eoin [Hugh ? Byset]," and Donnell was expelled.^ After
another four years (1295) Donnell, taking advantage no doubt of
the imprisonment of Earl Richard by John Fitz Thomas and of the
weakening of English power that ensued from their conflict, slew
Brian son of Aedh Buidhe, and " great havoc was wrought of
English and Gael along with him." ^ Thus from 1260 to 1295

^ C. D. I., vol. ii. nos. 952-3, also p. 433, where the name is printed
" Eycboy O'Neill," and see Part I, Journal, vol. xhu, p. 40.

2 For the identification of Mac Martin with Thomas de MandeviUe it is really
enough to cite C. D. I., vol. ii, no. 2049, which is an order dated February, 1283,
to pay Thomas de Mandeville for the head of O'Donnell according to a
proclamation. See, too, note 5, infra. Martin de Mandeville who held lands in
Co. Louth in King John's time, was probably the eponym : C. D. I., vol. i,
nos. 1284, 1621.

3 Ann. UlsL, 1281.

* Ann. UlsL, Ann. Loch Ce, 1286.

^ Ann. Ulst., 1291. O'Donovan in a note to the obit of Henry Mac Martin
{Four Masters, 1337) says that Mac Mai-tin became the surname of a collateral
branch of the O'Neills of Clannaboy. But he appears to be in error. He refers
to a mistaken rendering of the above passage from the Annals of Ulster, which seems
to make Mac Martin, or at least Mac Eoin, a son of Hugh Boy (see Four Masters,
vol. iii, p. 454, note, and cf. Index, " Mac Eoin of Tyrone, 1291 "). But Mac Carthy
in his edition of the Ann. Ulst. [uhi supra) has given the correct rendering, which
does not support the supposed affiliation. That Mac Eoin was a surname used by
the Irish for Byset has been noticed, but no one seems to have observed that
Mac Martin was similarly used for MandeviQe.

« Ibid., 1295.

THE EARLDOM OF ULSTER I35

Aedh Buidhe, his brother, and his son Brian were ahiiost continuously
Kings of the Cenel Owen. They were nominees of the earls of Ulster,
and were consistently supported by them.

So far as we know, Donnell son of Brian was undisturbed in his
kingship up to the time of Edward Bruce, whom he supported in his
invasion. During this period of twenty years, however, he does not
once figure in the annals, and we cannot tell what his attitude
towards the earl was. From his subsequent alhance with Edward
Bruce we might infer that it was hostile. Nevertheless he was one
of those from whom aid was asked against the Scots in 1314,i and
it was during this period that the earl held the prosperous manors
of Northburgh and Roo. In 1319, after the failure of Bruce's
invasion, Donnell was expelled " through the power of the English
and the Clann Aedha Buidhe," and his son Brian was slain, ^ but he
re-assumed the sovereignt}^ and died in 1325.

For many years after the death of Donnell son of Brian the
Irish annals do not speak of anyone as King of the Cinel Owen. In
1337 we hear of Aedh Remhar (the Fat) O'Neill as making peace
with Uriel and Fermanagh, and as invading Tirconnell in 1339 and
again in 1343, when he deposed Niall O'Donnell.^ He was, I suppose,
the " Odo Oneel " of our inquisition. O'Donovan says that he was
a son of Donnell son of Brian.* If this be so, it would seem that he
must be distinguished from Aedh (Mor) O'Neill, who died King of
Tirowen in 1364, for this Aedh seems to have been son of Turlough.^

It is to be noticed that neither Henry nor Odo Oneel is called
in our inquisition King of Tirowen. In harmony with this the Irish
annals do not designate either Henry O'Neill, who died in 1347 or,
Aedh Remhar O'Neill, as King, though the latter is represented
acting as such in and after 1337, while in April, 1326, Brian son of
Henry O'Neill was a hostage in the custody of Robert Savage, who
was ordered to dehver him to the Constable of Carrickfergus.^
Among those summoned to the Scottish expedition in 1335 were
Irewere O'Neel (Aedh Remhar) and Henry O'Neel. The evidence,
positive and negative, in fact suggests that, after the death of
Donnell son of Brian, Tirowen was divided by the English between
the representatives of the rival families, and one part was assigned
to Henry son of Aedh Buidhe, and the other to Aedh Remhar.

1 Foedera, 22 March, 1314, p. 245.

2 Four Masters, 1319.

' An7i. Ulst., sub annis.

* Four Masters, vol. iii, p. 564, note m. O'Donovan adds that Aedh Remhai
was ancestor of all the succeeding chiefs of the O'Neills of Tyrone.

5 Ann. Ulst., vol. ii, p. 507 (addition).

6 Ir. Close Roll, 20 Edw. II, p. 36 (96).

186 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IREI.AND

They were, I think, what is known in Irish idiom as " half -kings."
But though the Irish annals leave the succession to the kiagship
during this period in great obscurity, an entry in the Annals of
Friar Clyn, who was a contemporary, helps to clear up the matter.
He says that in Lent, 1344, Ralph de UfEord, the justiciar, who had
married Matilda of Lancaster, the widowed Countess of Ulster, and
whose arbitrary actions were much resented by the English of
Ireland, entered Ulster with a strong force, and having expelled
Thomas Mac Artain (King of Iveagh), " deposed Henry O'Neill,
King of Ulster, from his kingdom, and put in his place O'Done
[read Odonem, Aedh] O'Neill." This would seem to have been an
ill-advised mterference from the point of view of the English in
Ulster, and it perhaps marks the expulsion of the friendly family
of Aedh Buidhe from Tiro wen. The entry at any rate shows that
in 1344 Henry O'Neill — presumably the Henry, son of Aedh Buidhe,
who died in 1347 — was king, and so far bears out the suggestion
above made as to the " half -kings." Possibly the other " half -king,"
Aedh Remhar, died in that year.

Next year (1345) " Aedii [Mor] O'Neill went with a fleet on Loch
Neagh, and the Clann Aedha Buidhe with their muster overtook
him, and many persons were wounded and killed between them ;
but Aedh made his escape in spite of them in his ships." ^ The
next entry states that Manus O'Fljmn of Moylinny was slain by
Donnell Donn and Brian O'Neill. It is not clear to which faction
these O'Neills belonged, ^ but from the former entry we may perhaps
infer that Henry son of Aedh Buidhe and his followers had taken
refuge from Aedh Mor in the district to the east of Loch Neagh.
Henry died, as we have seen, in 1347, and the next relevant notice
we have is in 1354 when " a great defeat was given by the Clann
Aedha Buidhe and the EngUsh of Dundalk to Aedh O'Neill." ^
This shows that the Enghsh were stiU friendly to the descendants
of Aedh Buidhe, and continued to support them. The defeat of
Aedh Mor put an end to any meditated conquest of Eastern Ulster
on his part, but in his own country he was evidently a powerful
king. He once more subjugated Fermanagh and Irish Uriel, took
hostages from 0 'Donnell, and earned for himself the title of Aedh
Mor. He died in 1364, when he is described as " the best King of
Leth Cuinn that in recent times came into the head-kingship of the
Fifth (province) of Ulster." ^

1 Four Masters, 1345.

8 A Brian, son of Aedh Mor, died in 1354 (Ann. JJlst.), while, as we have seen,
Brian, son of Henry O'Neill, was hostage for his father in 1326.
' Ann. Loch Ce, 1354.
♦ Ann. Ulst., 1364.

THE EARLDOM OF ULSTER 137

Meantime in 1359 we have a significant entry. " Murtough son
■of Thomas OTlynn, who was to be King of Ui Tuirtri, was slain in
treachery by Aedh son of Brian son of Aedh Buidhe O'Neill." ^
We hear no more of the OTlynns, hereditary lords of Tuirtri, after
the death of this Thomas in 1368. Now Tuirtri was the district
«ast of Loch Neagh where Clann Aedha Buidhe are afterwards
found to have settled and multiplied, and I think we may take this
■entry as marking the time when they wrested this territory from
the OTlynns.

It would take me too far afield to pursue the Clann Aedha
JSuidhe any further at present, but from this examination I think
we may draw the following conclusions with regard to them : —
(1) That up to this period the family were generally friendly to,
and were supported by, the English of Ulster ; (2) that they did not
begin to settle to the east of Loch Neagh until the year 1345 at
earliest ; (3) that they then came as refugees and not as conquerors ;
(4) that their acquisition of territory there was a gradual process,
and was made primarily at the expense of the O'Flynns of Tuirtri,
and afterwards mainly at the expense of the Mac Gillamurrys and
Mac Artains of Co. Down, all of them Irish chieftains who had never
been seriously encroached upon by the English. Later on, no doubt,
•after the death of Robert Savage in 1260,- they encroached on the
Savages and others in Moylinny.

After this long digression (which, however, I trust will be found
helpful by historical students) I resume the identification of the
Irish chiefs who are stated to have held of the earl by this military
service.

3. Ruaidhri an einigh (" of hospitality," i.e., the hospitable)
3Iag Uidhir, or Rory Maguire, who died in 1338, " the man who
in his own time presented most money, cattle and clothing to the
learned men and chief poets of Erinn." ^

4. John McMahun and Odo McMahon (Seaan and Aedh Mac
Mathghamhna) : apparently " half-kings " of Irish Uriel, the greater
part of Counties Monaghan and Armagh. In 1331 John Mac Mahon
and the English of County Louth slew Murrough Mac Mahon.* In
1341 he was expelled from Uriel, and in the following year was
killed by Aedh (probably the Odo of the inquisition) son of Ralph
Mac Mahon. This Aedh died King of Uriel in 1344.^

5. Donnell O'Hanlon {0 hAnluain), King of the Irish of Erther
(the baronies of Orior, County Armagh), does not appear in the

1 Ann. UlsL, 1359.

2 Land MS. Annals, Chart. St. Mary's, Dublin, vol. ii, p. 393 ; and cf. the story
About " the castle of bones," ibid., p. 391-2.

3 Ann. Ulst., Ann. Loch Ce, 1338. * Four Masters, 1331. ^ Ann. Ulster.

138 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

annals. In 1321 Maghnus O'Hanlon was blinded by Niall O'Hanlon,
who was himself afterwards killed bj^ the English of Dundalk.^
Presumably Donnell succeeded. An instrument recording terms of
peace between Donnell O'Hanlon and the people of Louth is referred
to in the Iruh Patent Roll for 11, Edw. II, (1337).

6. John McCartay [recte Mac Artain], King of the Irish of
Ouwagh — i.e., Iveagh, iiibh Echach Uladh. Not mentioned in the
annals. He held the lands of Kinelarty of the manor of Rath for
£18.^ In 1347 Thomas Mac Artain, King of Iveagh, was hanged
by the English. Perhaps he was the Mac Artain who resisted the
justiciar, Ralph D'Ufford, in the Moiry Pass in 1344.^

7. Robert and Cafan McKylmury {Mac Gilla Muire), tenants of
Oly. Not mentioned in the annals. " Mac Gilmori, chief of Ander-
ken " {Ui nDeica Chein), was one of those who took credit for
assisting Wilham Fitz Warin, seneschal of Ulster, against the rebels
in 1273.* He was probably the Dermot son of Gilla Muire O'Moma
who died in 1276.^ The death of Mac Gilla Muire, King of Ui nDerca
Chein, is mentioned in 1391. ^ This territory has been identified
with the barony of Upper Castlereagh, Co. Down, and probably
" Oly " is Ouley, a townland in the parish of Saintfield in that
barony, where this chief may have resided.

8. Magnus O'Flynn, King of the Irish of Tuirtri.— This was, no
doubt, the Manus O'Flynn of Moyhnny who was slain by O'Neills
in 1345, as mentioned above.

No. 25. — Ulster- — Knights' Fees

Inquisition taken before John Moriz, Escheator of Ireland, at

Doun, 4 November, 7 Edward III, concerning knights' fees and

31 em. — Nothing is made advowsons of churches which

of these knights' fees at belonged to William de Burgo,

present, as their value is late Earl of Ulster, at his death,

unknown. and which he held in demesne as

of his fee in Ulster.

Jurors. — Lord Robert Savage, Knight, John de Burgo, Richard
Savage, Patrick Sendal, Wilham de Welles, John son of John de
Maundevill, Robert Manby, Roger Fitz Richard, Henry Haywod,
Wilham son of Lucien, Richard Dirtyngton [recte D'lrtlington,
cf. Part II, p. 141], and Wilham Logan ; who say that William de

1 Ann. Ulster, 1321.

2 gee Part III, Journal, vol. xliv. p. 61.

3 Hid., p. 54.

* See Part I, Journal, vol. xliii, p. 40.
5 j„„ xjist^^ 1276.
« Ann. Loch Ce, 1391.

THE EARLDOM OF ULSTER 139

Burgh died seised in his demesne as of fee of the knights' fees and
advowsons following, viz. : —

IJ knight's fees which Richard de Maundevill, knight, held of
the earl there.

1 knight's fee which Richard Savage held in fee in Loghton.^

i knight's fee which John de Burgo and EUzabeth his wife hold
in Chywton.'^

/« knight's fee which Richard Savage holds in Lokan^ in fee.

20 knight's fee which Richard de Maundevill holds in Dunde-
lyff 4 in fee.

I knight's fee which Patrick Sandal holds in Harggdon ^ in fee.

1 knight's fee which William de Welles and Cecilia his wife hold
in Mauxbery ^ and Gary '^ in fee.

16 knight's fee which Robert Manby holds in Mauby^
[Maub'y ?] in fee.

1 knight's fee which John son of John Maundevill holds in
Donaghy^ in fee.

^ Loghton : perhaps Ballylough, a townland in the parish of Billy, Dunluce
Lower. The castle here, the walls of which are 8J feet thick (O'Laverty, vol. iv,
p. 290), was taken by O'Donnell in 1544 [Four Masters).

2 Chywton : Two carucates in Kyrketon were included in the grant in frank
marriage to John de Burgh, eldest son of Earl Richard, and Ehzabeth de Clare,
his wife, in 1308. This name seems to survive in the small townland of Kirkistown
in the parish of Ballyrashane, in the north-east Liberties of Coleraine. If Chywton
be the same as Kyrketon it would seem to represent all the manors, already
enumerated, granted to John and Ehzabeth, and, if so, is an example of a com-
paratively obscure name used to include better known manors. John de Burgh,
son of Earl Richard, died in 1313, but his widow held the manors in 1333.

^ Lokan : Ecclesia de Loghkan {Eccl. Ant., p. 72), now the grange of KildoUagh,
in the north-east Liberties of Coleraine. In the townland of Pishloughan " on a
high bank overhanging the Bann, is a part of the foundations of a very strong
castle which in some places were 7 feet thick " : Reeves, p. 73. This townland
and Milloughan are locally called " the Loughans."

* Dundelyff : now Dunluce. It is caUed caisUn duin-libsi {Ann. Ulst., ii, p. 510).
dun Lipse {Ann. Loch Ge, vol. ii, p. 464), and was Latinized DunUfsia by Colgan,
The Four Masters correct (?) the name into Caislen duinlis (vol. v, p. 1324), but the
original form had no connexion with lis, " a fort."

* Harggdon : This name seems to be one of the disguises in which we meet
with the land of " O'Haugham " or " O'Hageran " — variously called Hochageran,
villa Ohatheran, Hathrantone, &c. — ^now the parish of Ballyagran, nt the mouth
of the Bann : see Part I, Journal, vol. xliii, p. 37 and note. Ehas Cendal (Sandal)
in 1281 claimed, and presumably recovered, 3^ carucates of this land : C. D. I.,
vol. ii, nos. 1782, 1976.

* Mauxbery (so in my transcript) : This name appears elsewhere as Munerie,
Maunmery, Mowbray, Mowberry, &c. The tuough of Munerie was one of the
subdivisions of the GljTins, and was about coextensive with the parish of Ramoan
and the Grange of Drumtullagh : Reeves, Eccl. Ant., p. 332. It and Cary were in
dispute between Henry de Mandeville and WiUiam FitzWaryn in 1272-82 : see
Part I, Journal, vol. xliii, p. 40.

' Cary {Cothrugi, Onom. Goed) : Now the name of the whole barony, but
formerly equivalent to the parish of Culfeightrin : Reeves as above.

* Mauby (so I think in my transcript) : Probably for Maub'y Maubery ?

^ Donaghy {Dun Echdach) : Probably the Donaci of the Ecclesiastical Taxation,
value £8 10s. 8d., now the parish of Dunaghy, in the barony of Kilconway.

140 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

1 knight's fee which Robert son of Richard holds in Duncorry ^
in fee.

1 knight's fee which Thomas son of Hugh de Maundevill and
John Sandal hold in Twywys ^ in fee.

1 knight's fee which the heir of William Logan holds in Lyn ^
in fee.

1 knight's fee which Ralph Logan holds in Waltirton * in fee.

1 knight's fee which Richard Maundevill holds in Balencal ° in fee.

\ knight's fee which Alice Somayl holds in fee there.

1 knight's fee which WiUiam Logan holds in Balyhaghan in fee.

I knight's fee which Robert Byset holds in le Crag ^ in fee.

1 knight's fee which Milo de Eldon holds in le Rob[ertis]ton ''
in fee.

1 knight's fee which John de Coyly and Hugo de Coyly hold in
Donnour^ in fee.

1 knight's fee which John Talbot holds in Talbotyston ^ in fee.

1 knight's fee which John Weston holds in le Rowe ^^ in fee.

Each entire fee, whenever it falls into the lord's hand by reason
of the minority of any heir, is worth yearly 40s.

The following tenants^^ hold their lands and tenements in the

1 Duncorry : Ecclesia de Dvmcurri, 15 marks, in the deanery of Maulyne
(Moylinny) [Eccl. Tax., p. 64), now the parish of Donegore ia Upper Antrim.
Roger FitzRichard died in 1335, when his lands of Duncurri were delivered in
wardship to Robert Savage : Ir. Pipe Roll, 11 Edw. Ill, 45th Rep. D. K., p. 48.
" In the townland at a short distance north-west of the church is a very large
mound called Donegore Mote " : Reeves, Eccl. Ant., p. 64. In the parish is a
townland called BaUysavage.

2 Twjrwys : This place appears as " Ewes Magna " in Ir. Pipe Roll, quoted
above, p. 49. It fell into the hand of the Escheator owing to the death of Thomas
son of Hugh de MandeviUe. It appears in the Ecclesiastical Taxation as " Ywes,"
in the deanery of Maulyne, value 13 marks. It is clearly the English word now
spelled Yews, and it is now probably BaUjTiure {Baile-an-iubhair, " the town of
the Yew "), a parish in Lower Belfast, adjoining BallyMnny, next mentioned.

^ Lyn : Ecclesia de Lynne {Eccl. Tax. ), now Ballyhnny, a townland and parish
in Lower Belfast, adjoining the Grange of BaUywalter, next mentioned.

* Waltirton : Vdla Walter! de Logan (Eccl. Tax.), now the Grange of BaUy-
walter, in the parish of BaUyhnny.

5 Balencal (Baile na nGall ?) : Probably the Grange of Umgall (Grdinseach
na nGall ?), in the parish of Templepatrick, Upper BeKast.

6 Le Crag : The context here would seem to point to Craigarogan, a large
townland in the parish of Templepatrick.

' Le Rob[ertis]ton : CapeUa ville Robert! {Eccl. Tax., p. 4). The Grange of
BaUyrobert, in the parish of Templepatrick, Lower Belfast.

^ Donnour : Dunover {dun iiabhair, " the fort of pride " (Joyce) ), a townland
in the parish of BaUywalter, Upper Ards.

8 Talbotyston : Ecclesia de Talbetona {Eccl. Tax.), now BaUyhalbert, a town
and parish in Upper Ards.

1* Le Rowe {rubha, the herb rue) : The name seems to survive in the townland
of Rowreagh, " grey rue-land," in the parish of Inishargy, Upper Ards. The
adjoining townland, EchUnviUe, in the parish of BaUyhalbert, was anciently caUed
Rowbane, " white rue-land " : Reeves, Eccl. Ant., p. 379, note. Naomh Tiu
o Rubha i n-Ard Uladh ; O'Clery's Calendar.

11 For the identification of these Irish kings see above.

THE EARLDOM OF ULSTER 141

following places of the said earl at his death for the following services,
viz. : —

Roricus Ochan, King of the Irish of Fernecrewe, holds his lands
of Fernecrewe of the said earl by the service of keeping 25 satellites
[followers] whom the said earl, or whoever may have been lord
there, has desired to assign to the said Roricus Ochan. And when-
ever the said earl, or whoever may have been lord there, shall have
desired to have them in his army, they shall be at the will of the
said lord ready and equipped for whatever wars he shall have desired
to assign them. And the said maintenance is worth £20 yearlj^, but
now nothing can be obtained either of the said service or its value
because the Irish there are in a state of war.

Henry Oneel and Odo Oneel, Irishmen, hold their land in
Terryon of the said earl by the service of maintaining 80 satellites
as above ; worth £95, but now nothing.

Roricus Mcgwyr, King of the Irish of Fyrmanagh, holds his
Mem. — This parcel does not lands of the said earl by the
appear in the Calendar, but the service of maintaining 40
Lady is dowered with a third satellites as above ; worth
part of the aforesaid service as £40, but now nothing,
appears in the writ of dower John Mcmahun and Odo

addressed to the Escheator of Mcmahun, Irishmen, hold the
Ireland. kingdom of the Irish of

Vryel of the said earl by the
service of maintaining 50 satellites as above ; worth £50, but now
nothing.

Donnell Ohanlon, King of the Irish of Erther, holds his lands of
Erther of the said earl by the service of maintaining 40 satellites
as above ; worth £40, but now nothing.

John McCartay, King of the Irish of Ouwagh, holds his land of
Ouwagh of the said earl by the service of maintaining 60 satellites
as above ; worth £60, but now nothing.

Robert McKylmury and Cafan McKylmury hold their land of
Oly of the earl by the service of maintaining 20 satellites as above ;
worth £20, but now nothing.

Magnus Oflyn, Irishman, King of the Irish of Turtry, holds his

land of Tyrtry of the said earl by the service of maintaining 30

satellites as above ; worth £30, but now nothing.

Total of old value, £355. And now nothing.

Advowsons of Churches. — The advowson of the church of Gren-

castel 1 used to be worth according to the extent £10, but now

^ Greencastle, in the barony of Moume, Co. Down : see Part III, Journal,
vol. xliv, p. 53.

142 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

nothing, because the whole country there is destroyed by the Irish.
The advowson of the church of Legh Keel ^ used to be worth £5,
but now nothing, for the cause aforesaid. The church of
Arweghun^ used to be worth £20 ; but now £5, and the presentation
belongs to the said earl.

I have now given abstracts of all the inquisitions of 1333 which
concern Ulster. They are numbered 18, 19, 20, and 25. Those
touching Connacht, and numbered 21, 22, and 23, were edited by
Mr. Knox and published in this Journal in the volumes for 1902
and 1903. There are other inquisitions touching the earl's outlying
lands in the following places in Ireland : —

No. 12. — Balydogan in Co. Carlow. The name, I think, survives
in Dunganstown or Bestfield, adjoining Oak Park demesne (which
was probably included), near the town of Carlow.

Nos. 1, 3 and 14. — Drogheda, Coly (Castletowncooley, Cuailnge),
in Co. Uriel, and Carlingford.

No. 15. — Wastyn in Co. Meath : now Vastina or Castletown-
Kindalen in Westmeath.

No. 10. — The barony of Retouth : Ratoath in Meath.

No. 17. — Tyrdeglass and Lother in the County of Mounester :
now Terryglass {Tir da glas) and Lorrha [Lothra) in Co. Tipperary.

Whether I shall be able to edit these inquisitions and offer them
to the Society must remain for the present doubtful . The remaining
documents include a number of writs and also inquisitions relating
to the earl's lands in the Counties of Bucks, Essex, and Surrey, in
England, and hardly concern us. Finally, document No. 26 is a
summary of all the lands held by the earl with their values as found.
It was evidently compiled from the previous inquisitions, and is of
importance only as giving variants (mostly for the worse) of some
of the names. Where these variants seem instructive I have noted
them. In this document the total value of the earl's property in
Ireland is given, according to the old extent, as £2,081 9s. 2|d.,
and according to the new extent, as £661 Os. 6-|d., or rather less than
one-third of the former amount.

1 Loughguile, see above.

2 Arweghun : Probably Ardkeen in Upper Ards, though it is not easy to
account for the form assumed. In John de Courcy's foundation Charter of St.
Andrew in Ards, in his grant of tithes, he excepts those of his Castle of Archen :
Dugdale, vol. ii, p. 1019. On Jan. 26, 1346, Thomas de Bredon had letters of
presentation to the Church of Ardkeen, in the gift of the Crown by reason of the
custody of the land and heir of William de Burgh : Ir. Pat. Roll, 20 Edw. Ill,
p. 48& (27).

( 143 )

DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME IRISH SEALS

By E. C. R. Armstrong, f.s.a., Vice-President

[Read 28 April 1915J

Irish sigillography has not attracted many students, and com-
paratively few Irish seals have been published. It is hoped that
the following account of some early seals may be of interest. Of
the seals dealt with in the present paper, those attached to the
Howth documents are pubHshed by the kind permission of Mr J. C.
Gaisford-St Lawrence, one of our Fellotvs, and the illustrations
are from photographs of the original seals ; others are from casts ;
one figure is drawn from an impression of a bronze matrix in the
Royal Irish Academy's collection ; another is photographed from
an impression taken from the electrotype of a matrix no longer
extant ; while the remainder are reproduced from Dr John Lyon's
drawings in the Novum Registrum,^ by the permission of the Dean
of Christ Church, and through the kind assistance of our Fellow the
Rev. J. L. Robinson, m.r.i.a.

The most interesting seals are the three attached to deeds
belonging to Mr. Gaisford-St Lawrence, now deposited on loan
in the National Museum, and exhibited in the Art and Industrial
section. Two of these deeds, which deal with a grant of land at
Ki Hester, have been calendared by the Keeper of the PubUe
Records in Ireland in the Calendar of the Christ Church Deeds. ^
Killester, near Clontarf .. was at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion
the property of the Monastery of Holy Trinity ; in the 14th and 15th
centuries it was held by the White family under the Dean and
Chapter, and on the marriage of Robert, Lord of Howth, to Alice
White, in the latter part of the 15th century it passed to the St
Lawrence family. The first deed, which is a confirmation by Laurence,
Archbishop of Dublin, of a grant of the land of Killester by the
canons of Holy Trinity to William Brun, dated circa 1177 a.d., is
sealed with the archbishop's seal ; this is red in colour and greatly
defaced, the top, base and sides being completely broken away.
The device was the standing figure of the archbishop vested, having
his right hand apparently raised in benediction, and doubtless

^ The Novum Begistrum was compiled, 1741-66, by Dr John Lyon, a Minor
Canon of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.

2 Twenty-third Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Records of Ireland,
Appendix ill, no. 468.

144 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

hoding a crozier or archbishop's cross in his left. It measures at
present iH by If inches (Plate XI, fig. 1). Dr Lawlor's Calendar
of the Liber Albus contains an instrument concerning the donation
of Archbishop Laurence O'Toole, dated 1364, in which it is stated
that a charter of the archbishop, sealed with his seal, was exhibited,
which was injured by age, but still legible. The seal had " the
figure of a bisho]) standing with a staff in his left hand, and the legend
SIGILLUM LAURENCii DUBLIN ARCHiEPiscoPi." ^ This is an interest-
ing fourteenth century account of what is evidently an impressiori
of the same seal as that described above. The second is the
confirmation of the same grant by Vivian, cardinal priest of
St Stephen's m the Coehan Mount and papal legate ; it is dated
1178 A.D. This is a small seal, red in colour; it is much broken,
but was evidently pointed-oval ; it measures at present 1| by 1^
inches. The device shows the legate enthroned, wearing a cope and
what looks like a labelled mitre in profile, (Plate XI, fig. 2). The
inscription is much broken, but the remaining portion appears to

read s sephani in cel •

The third deed is the grant by the canons of Holy Trinitj' of the
lands of Killester to WiUiam Brun. The seal is of a brownish
colour, and measures 3 by 2-^^ inches. It is oval in shape.
The device represents a seated figure vested in a robe with full
sleeves and a hood, holding a cross in his right hand (Plate XI, fig. 3).,
It is probably intended for an effigy of the prior. The inscription is
almost completely broken away, but the few remaining letters may

be doubtfully read as + ntvs .... duveline (?)

It may be conjedurally restored thus : sigillum • prioris • et •

CONVENTVS • SCE • TRINITATIS • DUVELINE.

The next seals to be considered are in the collection of the Royal
Irish Academy : they are impressions in sulphur apparently made
many years ago. Some of these are of considerable interest, and the
following may be described. ^ The first is the privy seal of Nicholas,
Archbishop of Armagh. This is a small circular seal If inches in
diameter. The device represents the archbishop kneeling in an
attitude of adoration before a prelate carrying an archbishop's cross
(St. Patrick ?), and having his right hand raised in the act of blessing
Nicholas (Plate XII, fig. 1). The inscription reads : —

+ SECRETV NICHOL' IYB'nIE . P'(MATIS) ?

There were two Primates of this name, Nicholas Mac Mohssa,
1272-1303 A.D., and Nicholas Fleming, 1404-1415 A.D. Judging

1 Proceedings Royal Irish Academy, vol. xxvii, sec. c, p. 24.

2 Prof. R. A. S. Macalister was kind enough to look over some of the seals
with the writer.

Plate XI]

[To face page l44

Fig. 4

IRISH SEALS

Fig. 5

DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME IRISH SEALS 145

hy the style of the lettering in the inscription the seal may with
probability be attributed to the former.

The next is the seal of Geoffrey, bishop of Ossory, either Geoffrey
Turvill, 1244-50 a.d., or Geoffrey St Leger, 1260-87 a.d. This is a
very beautiful seal, pointed oval, measuring 2^^ by IJi inches.
The device is an effigy of the bishop in amice, alb, dalmatic,
and chasuble, with a mitre on his head and a crozier turned inwards
in his left hand, his right being raised in benediction. He stands
on a corbel, and there is a canopy above his head. The background
of the seal is diapered (Plate XII, fig. 4). The inscription reads : —

+ GALFREDVS • DEI • GRATIA • OSSERIENSIS • EPISCO[Pl]

A very imperfect impression of the seal of Geoffrey St Leger,
bishop of Ossory, wanting the inscription, is described in the British
Museum Catalogue of Seals, vol. iv, p. 710, No. 17,374.

The next is a pointed oval seal measuring 3| by 2 inches. The
device is an effigy of a bishop wearing amice, alb, dalmatic, chasuble,
and stole, with a mitre on his head, and holding a crozier in his
left hand. His right is raised in benediction, and below it is a small
figure, apparently of an ecclesiastic. The bishop stands on a corbel
and has a canopy over his head (Plate XII, fig. 3) . The inscription —
the centre portion of which is broken away — reads : —

* SIGILL? DNI RVRICI .... COPI DERENCIS

This is the seal of Rory O'Donnell, a bishop of Derry, 1529-
1551 A.D. A woodcut of this seal will be found in the Ordnance
Survey Memoir of the Parish of Templcmore, 1837, p. 34, taken
from an impression preserved in the records of the Augmentation
Office, Westminster.

Among the remaining impressions are four taken from seals
attached to the Down Petition, including the mysterious seal used
by the Bishop of Down, which is apparently the seal of a bishop of
Argyll, as it is so figured and described by Birch, History of Scottish
Seals, vol. ii, p. 55, and fig. 81. There are also an impression of the
remarkable, but much broken seal figured by Caulfield (Sigilla
plate I, fig. 5), and attributed by him to Ralph Kelly, archbishop
of Cashel, 1345-61 a.d. ; and a much broken impression of a seal of a
bishop standing on a corbel, holding a crozier and having a spiral
decoration at the side of the figure. The inscription is entirely
defaced, but upon the lid of the box containing the impression the
word Waterford can be read, and it is probably the seal of Richard
Francis, bishop of Waterford, 1338-48 a.d.. as it agrees with the
description of a seal of that prelate in the British Museum Catalogue
of Seals, vol. iv, p. 706, No. 17,360.

146 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

This opportunity may also be taken to illustrate an impression
of the very interesting seal of the clergy of the diocese of Meath,
the leaden matrix of which was preserved in the diocesan registry
until about 1888, but has since most unhappily disappeared ;
fortunately some electrotype copies of the matrix had been made
previous to its loss by our late Member, the Rev. William Falkiner ;
one of these recently passed into the writer's possession, and the
illustration is taken from a plaster cast made from it. The seal,
which is pointed-oval, measures 3| by ^ inches. The device
probably represents St Findian, half-length, with a nimbus encircling
his head, his right hand raised in benediction, he holds a book in
his left hand. Three estoiles are placed on each side of the figure,
which rises from a tref oiled arch ; a lamp hangs below this, and
underneath are effigies of five erect figures vested in ecclesiastical
habiliments to represent the clergy of the diocese (Plate XII,
fig. 2). The inscription reads : —

+ SIGILLVM • VNIVERSITATIS • CLERI • MIDENSIS [

This is a fine example of the seal-engraver's art ; the original
matrix was probably made in the thirteenth century.

There is also in the Royal Irish Academy's collection a small
bronze seal-matrix stated to have been found in Ireland, and hitherto
unpubhshed. The matrix, which is circular, measures it of an inch
in diameter, and has a small looped handle. The device is a heater-
shaped shield of arms bearing a fleur-de-lis with a star in base on
the dexter and a crescent in sinister base. (Plate XI, fig. 4). The
inscription reads : — * s'kogerws . marchall.i

The matrix is probably not later than the fourteenth century.

The following seals are described and illustrated from Dr
Lyon's drawings of them in the Novum Eegistrum. The earliest is the
seal of John Harold, attached to a deed dated circa 1206 a.d., in
which John Harold grants to Holy Trinity Church half a mark
from land in St Wereburgh's parish and the same sum from land
in St Audoen's parish. The seal, no longer attached to the original
document and only known to us from Dr Lyon's drawing, is circular
and measures IJ inches in diameter: the device is a fleur-de-lis
(what looks like a crosslet fitchy between the centre and the side
leaves was probably part of the fiower in the original seal) (Plate
XIII, fig. 6). The inscription reads -f sigillvm : iohis harold.

John Harold was no doubt a member of the family whose name
is perpetuated in the suburb of Harold's Cross.

^ Mr G. H. Orpen suggested to the writer that the owner of the seal might
possibly be identified with Roger Bigod, fifth earl of Norfolk and Marschall of
England, who held lands in Ireland. He points out, however, that the inscription
is peculiar in reading rogerws instead of bogeei, and marchall instead of
MARESCHALLi. MARCHALL, as engraved, has the appearance of a surname.

Plate XII]

[To face page 146

DESCRIPTIONS OF SOME IRISH SEALS 147

The next in date is the equestrian seal of William de Hestham,
attached to a deed dated 1218 a.d. A small portion of the original
seal still remains attached to the document now preserved in the
Irish Record Office with the other Christ Church Deeds, and this
fragment confirms the general accuracy of Dr Lyon's drawing.
The seal as drawn by him is circular, and measures If inches in
diameter. The device is an effigy of Wilham de Hestham galloping
to the right, holding a sword in his right hand and having his shield
suspended round his neck (Plate XIII, fig. 5). The inscription
reads + sigillvm willi de hestham.

The next is the beautiful and interesting seal and counterseal,
or secretum, of Nicholas de St Edward, prior of the Hospital of St
John of Jerusalem at Kilmainham. It was attached to a deed dated
1248 A.D., in which the Prior and Convent of Holy Trinity and the
Prior and Brethren of the Hospital agree to afford each other mutual
.aid in emergencies and matters concerning their respective establish-
ments. The original seal has completely perished, but fortunately
Dr Lyon's drawing has preserved a record of it. It was circular and
measured 1| inches in diameter; the device was the Agnus Dei
•carrying a banner ; there was ornamental foHage below the lamb
(Plate XIII, fig. 1). The inscription reads + sigillvm prioris

DE KILMEINAN.

The counterseal is of pointed oval shape, and measures 1| by if
inches (Plate XIII, fig. 2). The device is similar to that of the
seal ; the inscription reads :—

+ SECRETVM PRIORIS DE KILMAINAN.

The use of a counter seal, which was common in the thirteenth
century, was doubtless to prevent the removal of a seal from one
document and its transfer to another for fraudulent purposes ;
when the wax was impressed on one side only it was possible to cut
away the face of the seal with a heated knife, but when the wax
was impressed on both sides this process was rendered considerably
more difficult. ^

Dr Lyon also drew a seal of a subsequent Prior of Kilmainham,
that of Roger Utlaugh. The original seal was attached to a deed dated
1318 A.D., and a small portion (about a third) still remains. Dr
Lyon's drawing shows that the design of the seal, which is circular,
and measures 1| inches in diameter, is the same as the last, but the
inscription is different ; it reads : —

+ SIGILL : CONVENT • DOMUS HOSPITALIS IN HIBERNIA

^ Proceedings Society of Antiquaries of London, second series, vol. xv, p. 437.

148 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

(Plate XIII, fig. 3). The counterseal is also circular, and measures
1 inch in diameter. The device is a shield bearing the arms of the
Order of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, silver a cross gules.
The shield has a bird hke a swan on each side, and is enclosed
in an ornamental panel (Plate XIII, fig, 4). The inscription
reads + si • pris rogeri outlawe.^

Roger Utlaugh was one of the most distinguished of the Priors
of Kilmainham : he combined his office with that of Lord Chan-
cellor of Ireland, and was for a time Lord Deputy as well."^ His
seal is therefore of considerable interest. There is a description
of the seal of Wilham FitzThomas, another Prior of Kilmainham^
in the British Museum Catalogue of Seals, vol. iv, p. 717. The
seal is stated to be imperfect, the device being a shield of the
arms of FitzThomas, a saltire charged with a cross paty, and a
helmet surmounted by the Agnus Dei. It is dated 1430 a.d.

The last seal to be described is that of the Official of Glendaloch,
which was attached to a deed dated 1314 a.d. A fragment of the
original seal still remains. Dr Lyon's drawing shows that it bore
the effigy of St Kevin represented habited as an abbot with amice,
alb, dalmatic, and chasuble, holding a crozier turned outwards in
his right hand and a book in his left. It is possible that the curious,
flat cap on the Saint's head is an error in the drawing, and that in
the original seal it was an exaggerated tonsure. The seal is pointed-
oval in shape, and measures 1| by | inches. The inscription round
the edge of the seal had evidently disappeared at the time Dr Lyon
made his drawing, but in the body of it can be read the Saint's
name beat : keivinvs (Plate XI, fig. 5).

1 PRIS in the drawing is probably an error for fris ifrairis).
* D' Alton, History of County Dublin, p. 612.

Plate XIII]

[To face page U8

I-"iG. 1

Fig. 2

? -^^-^

'-Oi^'iOviV'

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

IRISH SEALS

149 )

MURAL PAINTINGS IN HOLY CROSS ABBEY

By H. S. Crawford, b.e., m.r.i.a.

DuRiN'G the execution of recent work by the Board of Works at
Holy Cross Abbey, some markings were noticed on the walls of the
north transept, and the cleaning of the surface disclosed a complete
hunting scene. It has already been illustrated in the Board's
Report for 1912-13, but is shewn here (Plate XIV) with the
original colours reproduced. The stag crouches behind an oak tree
and seems to have been just discovered by an attendant or hunts-
man, who stands in front of the tree blowing a horn and holding a
hound in leash. Next to him, and at a slightly higher level, is the
principal personage who is in the act of drawing his bow ; behind
him is a third hunter also holding a bow. No quivers are re-
presented, the arrows being carried in the belts at the backs of the
archers. The bow-strings are shown as thick cords, and the strands
are marked by diagonal lines.

All the figures wear doublet and hose and have long-pointed
shoes, which are dotted over with black lines to indicate that the
hair was left on the leather. The attendant with the hound wears a
hood which covers the shoulders and has an aperture for the face ;
the other figures have plumed hats or caps. Their costume indicates
the beginning of the fifteenth century, or even an earHer date.

The tree is roughly drawn and represented with oak leaves and
acorns ; traces of a second tree can be seen behind the stag. The
painting occupies portions of the west and north walls, and is placed
from 6 to 7 feet above the floor level. The large tree fiUs the angle,
half being on each wall. The entire space covered is 4 feet in depth
and 13 feet 2 inches in length, 9 feet being on the west, and 4 feet
2 inches on the north wall.

The discovery of this painting is of great interest, as it belongs
to a class of decoration very rare in Ireland ; the only other examples
being at Knockmoy Abbey, Co. Galway, Clare Island Abbey, Co.
Mayo, and St. Audoen's Church, DubKn^. It is uncertain whether
the figures at Eoiockmoy were coloured, as they are now almost
obliterated ; I thought, however, that I saw a trace of colour some
years ago on the representation of the Trinity there. ^ Those at

[' But see Mr Westropp's Note on Mural Paintings at Adare, infra p. 151.] — Ed.
2 See Journal, R. S. A. I., vol. xxxv (1905), p. 420.

150 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Clare Island retain their colouring, and have been recently
described. 1

It is therefore fortunate that the Holy Cross figures retain a
portion of the colouring, which evidently at one time covered the
entire design. The colours which survive are red, red-brown, and
buff or flesh colour. Red appears on the edge of the hood worn by
the attendant, on the rings or straps round the horn blown by the
same figure, and on the rope by which the dog is held. Brown is
seen on the stag, on the acorns, and on the doublet of the horn
blower. The latter figure also shows traces of colour on the face
and hands, and probably had hose of a yellowish colour, though
this is now uncertain owing to the staining of the plaster. The only
trace of colour on the other figures is pale buff on the cap of the first
archer ; this may possibly be a last trace of brown similar to that on
the stag, but it is more probable that the cap was always lighter in
colour.

The plaster has been purposely broken at the face and hand of
the last-mentioned figure, and in several other places there are
small dents or hoUows made by a pointed instrument, such as a
spear or arrow.

Traces of another design have been found on the wall of the
same transept where it joins the south wall of the aisle ; the subject
has not been made out, but the fines appear to represent four pillars
placed close together and having wreaths rolled spirally round them.
This suggests one of those architectural compositions often used to
frame or enclose a figure, but the wall space available is hardly
sufficient for a figure and four other pillars beyond it.

Anyone wishing to examine these mural paintings should do so
without much delay, as the green algse removed from the walls are
beginning to grow over them again. I believe their growth might
be checked by painting the surface with a solution of corrosive
sublimate or other poison.

1 See Proceedings, B. I. A., vol. xxxi, part 2, p. 31.

ALC0N5R. LITHO. UUBL

three putlog holes behind the altar, probably for some wooden altar
piece, while the altar in the south-east corner of the transept had a

151

150 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Clare Island retain their colouring, and have been recently
described.!

The plaster has been purposely broken at the face and hand of
the last -mentioned figure, and in several other places there are
small dents or hollows made by a pointed instrument, such as a
spear or arrow.

Traces of another design have been found on the wall of the
same transept where it joins the south wall of the aisle ; the subject
has not been made out, but the fines appear to represent four pillars
placed close together and having wreaths roUed spirally round them.
This suggests one of those architectural compositions often used to
frame or enclose a figure, but the wall space available is hardly
sufficient for a figure and four other pillars beyond it.

Anyone wishing to examine these mural paintings should do so
without much delay, as the green algae removed from the walls are
beginning to grow over them again. I believe their growth might
be checked by painting the surface with a solution of corrosive
subfimate or other poison.

^ See Proceedings, R. I. A., vol. xxxi, part 2, p. 31.

0 12

WALL PAINTING AT HOLY CROSS ABBEY

150 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

MISCELLANEA

Paintings at Adare "Abbey," Co. Limerick. — Long ago, in
Memorials of Adare, Lord Dmiraven recorded traces of paintings in
the chancel of the beautiful Franciscan Friary, beside the Maigue,
in his demesne. As no one has since attempted a detailed study
of the building (though notes and views have been published) a
few notes on the internal ornament and timber work may not be
out of place. The convent was founded in 1464, by Thomas Earl
of Kildare and his wife Johanna : and was dedicated to St Michael,
on 19th Nov., 1466, with its church, cloister, both sacristies and the
cemetery. Margaret Fitz Gibbon (wife of Cornelius O'Dea, who died
1483) built the great chapel of the Blessed Virgin ; Cornelius
O'Sullivan (died 1492) the belfry ; John of Desmond and Margaret
Fitz Maurice, the two lesser chapels ; M. O'Hickey, the north panels
and stalls of the church. This is recorded from the Convent Register,
extant in the late 16th century, by Father Mooney. The Convent,
though roofless, retained some of its glass windows at that time ;
the plate and crosses were preserved at Cork. It was " stored again
with friars " in 1572, but granted to Sir H. Wallop in 1585.

The credence table, with a little piscina in the back, stands in
the south wall to the left of the altar. There are clear traces of
painting on the stone work, a diaper of reddish-orange and greenish-
blue all round the head and sides of the recess, and a figure in the
space between the arch and the hood moulding. The chamfer of the
piscina was painted a deep crimson. The mouldings of the opposite
recess in the north wall were relieved by bands of a purer blood-red
I recall traces of several figures on the plaster, in red and green robes,
when I visited the ruin on several occasions in my boyhood, before
1875. The second sedile in the south wall of the chancel has bands
of greenish-blue on the sides and arch, and there is a dim red-robed
figure opposite, in the sedile in the north wall. There are several
indications of woodwork in the church ; the chancel had a very
slightly curved ceiling, the nave a coved one. The bell ropes came
down a sloped opening in the north side, reached from the little
room over the south walk of the cloister evidently by wooden steps.
The ceilings under the belfry and the lofts were of wood. There are
three putlog holes behind the altar, probably for some wooden altar
piece, while the altar in the south-east corner of the transept had a

151

152 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

wooden top and sides. The altar slabs, with the five symbolic
crosses, representing the five wounds of our Lord, are illustrated by
Dunraven. There are few traces of later work in the building ;
the most notable are the late window and washing place in the
south recess of the belfry. Lord Dunraven's theory of the extreme
poverty of the restored Abbey, based on a tin chahce and paten
found buried in it, loses force when we recall the usual custom of
bur3dng such objects with a priest.

The plate of this building consisted of a beautiful silver gilt
ciborium, six or seven chalices, some gilt, and a silver processional
cross. Several of its sumptuous, but decayed, vestments, were also
shown to Father Mooney, when in Cork, about 1590.^ — T. J.
Westkopp.

Earthwork near Malahide Castle. — When last visiting Malahide
Castle, having some leisure on my hands, I explored the surroundings
with some care, looking for traces of outworks. Though misuccessful
in my object, I found an unmarked earthwork which I may venture
to record. It is to all appearance a ring fort of the normal type.
The works have been defaced by a sunken way cut into the middle
for gravel ; a pit 8 feet deep has been dug out, 27 feet across, leaving
a mere crescent of the original platform, a ring of from 9 to 12 feet
wide, remaining. Outside this is a fosse, 9 to 12 feet wide, a ring
6 feet wide, a second fosse (or interspace) 21 feet wide and 5 feet deep,
a ring 9 feet wide, a third and outer fosse, 6 to 9 feet wide, in the
bottom, and rarely 4 feet deep. It is, of course, impossible to say
from the mere aspect whether this ring mound was a liss of consider-
able antiquity or the base of a bretesche. So commonplace a structure
might be of any period from the bronze age to the 14th century,
and the gravel pit has, too, probably destroyed any evidence that a
careful exploration might have disclosed. — T. J. Westropp.

Massy Family. — ^This well-known Munster family has never yet
had its history and connexion with the Cheshire line elucidated on
scientific lines. As I long since pointed out in these pages,^ the
family tradition is absolutely wrong in identifying Col. Hugh Massy
of Duntrileague, the founder of the Irish line, with either Hugh,

1 See Lord Dunraven's Memorials of Adare. Proc. R, I. Acad., vol. xxv. Sect C,
p. 376-379. Irish Ecclesiastical Architecture, A. Champnevs, pp. 168 sqq., 178,
181 sqq., 195.

2 Vol. xxi, p. 596.

MISCELLANEA 153

grandson of John Massy of Coddington, Cheshire, or his son Hugh.
The latter was under full age in 1670, while the CromwelUan officer
was evidently of age when he appears in Irish records in 1649.
Col. Hugh Massy registered his armorial bearings in the Ulster
office as : " Argent, a chevron between three lozenges sa.," and is
described as of Chester in 1649. The " Genealogical Account of the
Massy family," (1890), identifies him.i with a Hugh Massy (son of
John Massy of Coddington, Cheshire), whose will, dated May, 1657,
was proved 12th September, 1659. Col. Hugh Massy survived that
date for over thirty years. These arms have so curious a bearing
on the question of his descent that I think a note on the subject
will be of interest to more than the connexions of his family.

The Masseys, or Massys, claim descent from Ham on of Masci in
INormandy, who held Dunham (afterwards Dunham -Massy) and other
lands under Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, in 1089. There is no need
to follow the history of his numerous descendants. The earliest
version of the very ancient coat of arms was quarterly gules and
■argent ; still later, a lion passant of the second, was added in the first
•quarter in the senior line ; three fieurs-de-lys in the Coddington line,
and three scallops in the Tatton line, while the colours were reversed
argent and gules with a bend azure in the arms of the Massys of
Timperley. Few such records of differenced arms are attainable ; the
Massys of Potington^ changed argent to or with three fieurs-de-lys
argent on the 1st and 4th quarters gules ; the Massys of Broxton held
the Coddington variant with a canton argent at the dexter chief ;
another coat of the Potington branch placed a bend sable between six
roses gules in the 2nd and 3rd quarters argent and the Dunham senior
line (not content with the lion passant in the 1st quarter) changed
urgent to or in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. So far, however, the simple
ancient coat was recognisable under all this heraldic embroidery.^

There was, however, another coat, held by the Massys of Cheshire
and by their descendants in Munster. Argent, a chevron between
three lozenges sable, and this is identical with the coat of Massy of
Sale, a scion of the Dunham line, springing from Robert, second
brother of Hamon, Baron Massy of Dunham, in 1216. Here again
the heraldic history is equally variant, because at first the family
used the coat of the De Sale family, sable a chevron between three

1 P. 169.

2 For a curious dispute between them and the Mass^^s of Tatton in 1378, see
'Cheshire Visitations (Harleian Publications), p. 169.-

3 See Ormerod's History of Cheshire, vol. i, 344 ; vol. ii, pp. 198, 372. Harleian
MSS., 1424, pp. 100, 108. Potington line, ibid., pp. 100-104, and 1505, p. 104,
Dunham, 1424, p. 108- Tatton, z6id., p. 101, and 1505, p. 104. Timperlev 142 4
p. 101, ^ '

154 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

lozenges argent : i Richard de Masci, son of Robert, having married
an heiress of the De Sales about the end of the 13th century.

Now to all appearance the heraldic evidence seems fairly certain
that the Irish founder was (or was considered) of the line of the
Massys of Sale, but, looking farther, strange to say, we only find
ourselves in another heraldic morass. There was a family, Crosslegh
of Crosslegh, who possessed a coat identical in all save colour with
that of De Sale, being gules a chevron between three lozenges argent. A
branch of the Masseys in Shropshire married an heiress of this line,
and like the Masseys of Sale, reversed the tinctures bearing the
altered shield as their own as argent a chevron between three

les

It is strange that the name " Hugh," so common in the Dunham,
the Tatton, and in the Irish line, does not seem to occur among the
Masseys of Sale. I will only further call attention to an interesting
ancient window in Congleton Church, where, with the figure of a man
wearing a tabard with the arms of Massey of Sale, occurs the legend :
" Orate pro bono statu Robti Massy arm. et Petronillae consortia
suae et Robti filii dci Robti Massy qui lianc fenestram fiere {sic)
fecit Anno 1493.^

From the Coddington line sprang Major Edward Massy and his
brother Richard, who both died in Ireland, the first at Abbeyleix in
1670. It is strange that Hugh Massy, who founded so wealthy and
influential a hne (giving two barons. Massy and Clarina, to the Irish
peerage and the extinct baronets of Doonass) should be unrecorded.
I fear the family genealogists rest content with the pseudo-authority
of an untrustworthy little history compiled late in the 18th century.
It gives no better authority for its demonstrably inaccurate pedigree
than " Testat Hugo Baro de Massy," who lived in that most un-
critical period of genealogy, 1782, and is not known to have been
even a dilletante in such research. It is unfortunate that like so
many entries relating to English settlers in Ireland, the confirmation
or recognition of Capt. Hugh Massj^'s arms, instead of telling of his
parentage, only states vaguely as to the antiquity of his family. It
is dated 16th March 1648, and signed by Dr W. Roberts, the Ulster
King at Arms. It describes Captain Hugh Massy as Captain of
Horse under Chudleigh (Chidley) Coote ; the said Captain Hugh
Massy " served against the Irish rebels in the battle fought against
them the 8th August 1647, under the command of the Honorable
Col. Michael Jones " [at Lynch's, Knock, Co. Meath], " The said

1 Ormerod, loc. cit., p. 424, 443. Harleian MSS., 1424, p. 112.

2 Ormerod, loc. cit., iii, p. 24.

3 Ibid., vol. ii, p. 20.

MISCELLANEA 155

Captain having served in martial employments both of Horse and
foot for the space of seven years last past, he bemg descended from
a very ancient family of the name of Massy in Cheshire." The bear-
ings given are, Arms, argent between three lozenges a chevron sable
charged with a lion passant or langued gules ; Crest, a bulls head
grdes, armed sable, couped, issuant from a ducal coronet. — T. J.
Westropp.

Holy Wells near Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry.— There are at
least three saints' wells in this district. The first, that of St Buonia,
is situated in a glen about four miles north-west of Ballinskelligs ;
the interesting early remains at this place known as Killabuonia,
(including the " Priest's Grave," a curious structure, which when
complete exactly resembled in shape the metal work shrine of St
Mainchin) have been described m the Journal by Mr Lynch.i The
well is merely a small spring issuing from the ground, and does not
present an}^ remarkable feature, except several heaps of small stones
left by visitors. I was informed that the people of the district
resort to it on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, but I did not hear
any particular day of the year mentioned. The second well, dedi-
cated to St Finan, is close to a house on the sea-shore near the
village of Keel ; at this point the road from Killabuonia reaches the
shore of St Finan's Bay, the distance being a mile and a quarter,
and the direction south-west. This well, hke the former, is devoid
of striking features ; it is visited on the 16th of March. The third,
that of St Michael, is situated in a field near the shore of Ballin-
skelhgs Bay, about half a mile north-east of the Hotel and Cable
Station. This well is of greater interest than the others as it is
covered by a stone cell of bee-hive shape, 7| feet in height and 9 feet
in diameter. Bounds are performed here on the eve of St Michael's
day, and many small objects, such as medals, crosses, beads, buttons,
scapulars, nails, and threads from shawl fringes, may be seen
deposited between the stones of the cell. Similar objects are often
placed in the font at the neighbouring Abbey.

The photograph (Plate XV, fig. 1) shows the well and covering
cell, the doorway of which faces south-east, probably because the
ground slopes in that direction. — Henry S. Crawford.

Hole-Stone at Ballinskelligs. — A fine example of the Hole-
Stone may be seen lying on the beach near the Abbey. Owing to
its shape and w^eight it is unhkely to have been moved to any great
distance b}^ the sea, and it probably stood in that portion of the

^ Vol xxxii, p. 45.

156 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

graveyard which was destroyed by the action of the waves more
than eighty years ago. The dimensions are length 4 feet 6 inches,
breadth 3 feet, thickness 8 inches ; and the material purple-slate,
a fine-grained stone of great density and weight. The perforation —
3 inches in diameter at the centre, enlarging to 5| inches at the
front surface and 4 inches at the back — is placed at a distance of
21 inches from the upper end, and is about 3|^ inches nearer to one
edge than to the other. The illustration (Plate XV, fig. 2) shows
it placed upright against the wall of the graveyard. — Henry
S. Crawford.

Holed-Stone at Newtown, near Trim. — The sketch shows
a holed-stone which has not, so far as I know, been hitherto noticed.
It is placed on a grave about 60 feet north of the nearest angle of
the east wall of the old cathedral at Newtown.

The monument is a rough limestone flag, 16 inches in breadth
and 5 inches in thickness ; it stands 2 feet above ground, and the

Holed Sione at Newtown, near Trim.

upper angles are sUghtly rounded. The perforation is 41 inches
below the top, and tapers from about 2| inches at each face of the
stone to half that size in the centre, thus exhibiting the usual shape
of such openings.

The people of the district do not seem to attribute any remarkable
qualities to it. — Henry S. Crawford.

Erratum Accounts of a Dublin Harpsichord Maker (vol. xliv, p.

338). — On p. 340, the price of Hon. Mrs Herbert's piano should be
£20 9s. 6d. ; the figure £30 12s. 7Jd. is properly the total of the
account. Comparison of the prices of neiv instruments shows that
the average price of a harpsichord was £30 5s. 8d. ; of a piano
£17 12s. 7d. The only new spinet cost £11 7s. 6d.

V. E. Smyth.

Plate XV]

[To face page 150

ST. MICHAEL'S WELL, BALLINSKELLIGS

HOLED STONE, BALLINSKELLIGS

NOTICES OF BOOKS

(Those marked (*) are by Members of the Society)

* The Correspondence of Jonathan Swift, D.D. Edited by F.
Elrington Ball, Honorary Litt. D., DubHn. With an Intro-
duction by the Right Rev. J. H. Bernard, D.D., Bishop of
Ossory, Ferns and LeighHn. In Six Vokimes. London :
G. Bell & Sons, Ltd. 1910-1914.

The issue of the sixth and concluding volume of Swift's Correspon-
dence, edited with characteristic care by our distinguished Vice-
President, Dr Elrington Ball, must not pass unnoticed in the
Journal of a Society for which, in the past, he has done so much.
A period of four years has elapsed since the appearance of the first
volume of the series, the editing of which Dr Ball undertook on the
lamented death of Mr C. Litton Falkiner, who had arranged to
carry the work through. Each succeeding volume has displayed the
same accuracy and the same intimate acquaintance with the Ireland
of Swift's day, as well as with the course of English political life and
the statesmen who guided the destinies of the nation, during the
reigns of the last Stuart sovereign and the first two of her Hanoverian
successors.

Swift, in his own line, stands unrivalled as a letter writer ; his
epistles are bright and natural, and in them stands revealed the real
Swift. The Dean is rarely ponderous, even when penning letters
to men of mark ; and the gossip and chat in which he indulges with
his intimates is always pleasant reading. Swift still exercises a
marvellous influence, and in an age when so many literary giants of
past days have become discredited and lost their influence, it is a
high tribute to the attractiveness of the great Dean's style, and the
fascination of his personality, that a new edition of his works should
have been called for. Fortunate is it that an editor so fully quahfied
as Dr Ball should have been found for the Correspondence ;
he is always trustworthy, and his notes afford the fuUest available
information on every point with which they deal. An item of much
interest was the discovery that Esther Van Homrigh's name was-

157

158 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

enrolled among the free citizens of Dublin in the year 1688, as
daughter of Bartholomew Van Homrigh, a Dutch merchant of the
city, which proves her to have been older than had been supposed.

The Bishop of Ossory calls attention to the fact that Swift and his
friends. Pope and Arbuthnot, were Freemasons, a fact which the
Bishop thinks should be more widely known. " This makes it
tolerably certain that the satirical ' Letter from the Grand Mistress
of the Freemasons to George Faulkner, Printer,' printed about 1728,
is a genuine production of Swift's pen."

Above all, Dr Ball has been at pains to attain an accurate text,
and with this object in view, he has used all the manuscript material
available in Trinity College, Dublin, in the British Museum, and in
private custody. Mr John Murray, with great liberality, placed
his collection of Swift's autograph letters at Dr Ball's disposal, and
the collection formed by John Forster, now in the Victoria and
Albert Museum, South Kensington, was also consulted. In addition,
Dr Ball had the advantage of access to much new material preserved
in the Public Record Offices of England and Ireland.

Swift's strong feelings of attachment to the Earl of Oxford and
his family find ample expression in the letters, and there is much of
the deepest interest in the mutual interchange of their views ; the
same remark applies to the correspondence in the case of Bohng-
broke and Arbuthnot. Alexander Pope and Swift were on such close
terms of friendship, and corresponded in so free and unfettered a
style, that their letters form delightful reading. Alderman John
Barber, Swift's printer, Knightley Chetwode, Charles Ford, John
Gay, Lord Orrery, Matthew Prior, Thomas Sheridan, and the Rev.
Thomas Walls, are a few of those with whom the Dean more
frequently corresponded, as being admitted to his intimate friend-
ship ; in their cases, the letters assume a more domestic character,
and numberless details of town and country life at the period, which
might not otherwise be available, cannot fail to interest. A large
portion of the early correspondence consists of that carried on with
Dr William King, Archbishop of Dubhn, dealing specially with
the remission of the First Fruits and Twentieth Parts, taxes
levied by the Crown on the clergy of the Established Church. The
relations between the two men became greatty strained, and the
Archbishop, when acting as a Lord Justice, owing to suspicions of
the Dean's complicity with the Jacobite party, caused a packet
addressed to him to be opened. There is much concerning Esther
Johnson and Esther Van Homrigh in the volumes, but no new
letters are forthcoming which in any way help further to explain the
relations between Swift and the former.

Dr Bernard, Bishop of Ossory, who was Dean of St. Patrick's

NOTICES OF BOOKS 159

at the time of writing it, contributes an Introduction, which brings
the entire correspondence under review, and he deals with it in a
masterly and attractive fashion. An exhaustive Index has been
compiled by Miss C. Jacob, which adds much to the value of the
work. The illustrations are appropriate and well chosen ; the
frontispiece to vol. vi — St. Patrick's Deanery, taken from a London
pubHcation of 1714 — is of much interest, as the small house attached
to the main building appears to be that alluded to by Swift in a
letter to Steame of 10th Jvme, 1708, when the latter was Dean of
St. Patrick's. H. F. B,

* Records of the Town of Limavady, 1609 to 1808. Edited by E. M.

F.-G. Boyle. Londonderry : Sentinel Office. 1912.
Mr Boyle is well known as an authority on the history of Limavady,
on which subject he has contributed a valuable article to the Society's
Journal. Many people know nothing about Limavady save
Thackeray's silly doggerel, copied ad nauseam by guide books for
the benefit of silly tourists. After this publication there will be
no excuse for such ignorance. Mr Boyle prefixes an introduction,
tracing the history of the place from the time of the birth of St
Canice and the Synod of Drumceat (in the first paragraph of this
introduction, by the way, an ugly misprint, Aehd for Aedh, leaps to
the eye) do^vn to the beginning of the last century. This part of
the book is illustrated with a photograph of the Corporation Seal.
The records, as edited by Mr Boyle, begin in 1659. The minutes
are carefully kept, each entry beginning with the list of members
present. These lists, which except for genealogists would be mean-
ingless names, Mr Boyle illumines by footnotes, giving biographical
particulars whenever such are available. The records themselves
deal with the subjects that usually occupied the attention of the
corporations of county towns : the times of markets, repairing roads
and reclaiming waste lands, abating nuisances, electing officers,
providing a pair of stocks, franchising and disfranchising, &c., &c.
There are many interesting sidelights o:i history in this part of the
book. The book ends with the text of the oaths administered to
different officials of the town, translations of royal grants and
charters, a long list of authorities consulted, a list of the representa-
tives of Limavady in the Irish House of Commons, and a good
index. Mr Boyle has made a valuable contribution to Irish local
history.

Beside the picture of the seal mentioned above there are four
other illustrations, including a portrait of Col. Ross, Provost, 1789-
1793, and the Provost's chain of the Corporation.

R. A. S. M.

160 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

* The Celtic Inscriptions of Cisalpine Gaul ; Gleanings in the Italian
Field of Celtic Epigraphy ; two Papers m the Proceedings of the
British Academy by the Right Hon. Principal Sm John Rhys,
LITT.D., r.B.A.

Sir Johk Rhys easily takes the lead among writers who have used
the EngHsh language as their vehicle of studies and researches on
the subject of ancient Celtic epigraphJ^ This Journal has from
time to time been enriched with his papers on Irish Ogham
inscriptions, and has been privileged to bring under notice and dis-
cussion others of his writings, amounting in some cases to volumes of
considerable bulk, dealing with early inscriptions in the Celtic
languages. The range of his investigations has covered Ireland, all
Britain, and the two Gauls. In most instances the material of his
studies has been personally examined by him on the spot, whether
the spot happened to be in a Hebridean islet or in a remote vaUey of
the Alps. Two of his more recent papers remam to be noticed.
Both are printed in the Proceedings of the British Academy, vol. vi.
The earher paper is entitled '" The Celtic Inscriptions of Civalpine
Gaul." The second, deaUng with the same region, and largely with
the same material, has for title " Gleanings in the Itahan Field of
Celtic Epigraphy."

In Transalpine Gaul the older Celtic inscriptions used the Greek
alphabet. In Cisalpine Gaul, on the other hand, the Etruscan
alphabet is used instead. In each region, the extension of Roman
power brought in the adoption of the Roman alphabet among the
Celts, during the comparatively brief period in which Celtic speech
and its characteristic nomenclature held out against Roman
influence. Most of the Cisalpine inscriptions reproduced and dis-
cussed by Sir John Rhys are in the Etruscan alphabet. Hence a
certain amount of ambiguity, for this alphabet appears not
to have distinguished in writing between P and B, T and
D, K and G, using only the tenues P, T and K. The extant
inscriptions, with few exceptions, like our own Oghams, are
rather disappointing and often baffling in their content, con-
sisting of Httle more than personal names. Without careful com-
parison of these^ names with others known to be Celtic, there would
be great difi&culty in deciding to what language the inscriptions
belonged. Indeed it is quite possible that some older language or
languages survived the Celtic occupation of the southern Alpine
slopes, and that some of the names recorded in these " Celtic "
inscriptions are not themselves Celtic. The Celts, Uke the Greeks,
evidently delighted in an immense variety of personal names. In

NOTICES OF BOOKS 161

Ireland it is easy to trace how the multipHcity of names in the
Oghams and the older strata of the genealogies dwindles gradually
in the later genealogies and the annals, until we reach a time when
a limited number of names, a few score at most, sufficed to meet
the whole demand. With that ancient multiplicity, we naturally
cannot expect to find, and we do not find, any close similarity
between the names in fashion among the Cisalpine Celts and those in
fashion among the ancient Celts of these islands. But the instances
selected by Sir John Rhj-s for comparison and elucidation show that
the Celtic names of Transalpine Gaul form a sort of transition
between the two fashions.

In dealing with these ancient Celtic names, the main aim of study
is necessarily towards explanation by means of known Celtic words.
If the explanation is often elusive, the fault does not rest with Sir
John Rhys, who leaves no stone vmturned in his own Cymric, in
Irish, or in the older Celtic speech, to find a satisfactory clue in every
instance. Here it may be noted that if Sir John is justified in
likening the penultimate syllable of Irish names like Baithene to
the penultimate of the Cisalpine Raneni, he must assume that the
Cisalpine language or dialect anticipated by centuries the Irish
process of producing a long vowel by compensation for loss of a
consonant before the liquid {n), for, in manuscript Irish, without
compensatory lengthening there are no long vowels in the unstressed
syllables.

The case forms, as explained by Rhys, are of great interest.
He seems to have fairly established the dative in -ui (developed
from -oi, Hke Greek w with iota subscript) for 0-stems. The cor-
responding Irish pre-manuscript form was -u, mdicated by the MS.
form -oi from /0-stems and by the ^/-coloured consonant of the
dative in 0-stems. But for other details and a great abundance of
illustrative matter, valuable and suggestive to the student, direct
reference to Sir Jolm Rhys's papers will be amply rewarded.

J. MacN.

PROCEEDINGS

67th Yearly Session.

A QuARTEELY Geneeal MEETING of the 67th Yearly Session of the
Society was held in the Society's Rooms, 6 St. Stephen's Green,
Dublin, on Wednesday, the 28th or Apeil, 1915, at 8 15 p.m.,
Count Plunkett, k.c.h.s., m.e.i.a., e.s.a., President, in the Chair.

Also present ; —

Vice-Presidents — E, C. R. Armstrong, f.s.a., m.e.i.a., Francis
Elrington Ball, litt.d., m.e.i.a., j.p., John Cooke, m.a., m.r.i.a.,
T. J. Westropp, m.a., m.e.i.a.

Fellows :—B. R. Townley Balfour, m.a., m.e.i.a., d.l., James
Coleman, Henry Courtenaj^ i.s.o., j.p., Rev. M. J. Curran, William
R. Dawson, m.d., Edwin Fayle, Lucas White King, c.s.i., ll.d.,
Charles M'Neill, Hon. Gen. Sec, P. J. O'ReiUy, G. W. Place, Andrew
Robinson, M.v.o., Rev. J. L. Robinson, M.A., Andrew Roycroft,
D. Carolan Rushe, b.a., William Cotter Stubbs, m.a., m.e.i.a.,
John F. Weldrick, Henry Bantry Wliite, Hon. Treas.

Members : — Miss Anna Barton, Mrs. H. M. Bennet, J. J. Buckley,
Michael Buggy, Miss Carolan, Sir R. Newman Chambers, Wilham
Chamney, T. S. C. Dagg, Miss Isabella Daniel, W. J. Dargan, m.d.,

F. W. Deane, Miss Isabel Denning, George Duncan, Rev. Edward
Goff, B.A., P. J. Griffith, Francis Guilbride, J.P., Miss Marion Har-
man, Rev. John Healy, d.d., J. R. B. Jennings, j.p., W. B. Joyce,
H. G. Leask, Mrs. Annie Long, John P. M'Knight, A. V. Mont-
gomery, Rev. David Mullan, m.a., James Nichols, J. H. F. Nixon,
F.R.G.S., J.P., Rev. T. W. O'Ryan, c.c. Miss E. M. Pim, Miss U. T. E.
Powell, Miss M. Reddington, R. B. Sayers, Edward Weber Smyth,
J.P., Mrs. E. Weber Smyth, Lieut.-Col. P. B. ViUiers Tuthill, Mrs.
Vilhers Tuthill, F. P. Thunder, Dr. Vanston, K.c, Miss Edyth G.
Warren, Miss Mary Ellen Warren, W. J. Wilkinson, Herbert Wood.

Associate Members : — Mrs. T. Dargan, W. G. Gogan, James J.
Healy, Sir James Digges La Touche, Mrs. M. M'Grane, A. R. Mont-
gomery, Miss Edith M. Nichols, Miss Muriel E. Nichols, Rev. Canon

G. Digby Scott, m.a., Frank Stokes.

The Minutes of the last Meeting were read and confirmed.
The following Fellow and Associate Members were elected: —
Fellow.
Harmsworth, Cecil Bisshopp, m.p., 28 Montagu Square, London, W,:
proposed by Wilham C. Stubbs, m.a., m.r.i.a., Fellow.
Associate Members.
Bullen, George Ebsworth, Curator and Secretary, Herts County
Museum, St. Alban's, Herts : proposed by Wilham Ross-Lewin
Lowe, Member. 162

PROCEEDINGS 163

Heller, Madam Gwen Cosslett, 4 Sydney Terrace, Upper Leeson

Street, Dublin : proposed by Charles M'Neill, Hon. Gen. Sec.
La Touche, Sir James John Digges, k.c.s.i., 53 Raglan Road, Dublin ;

proposed by G. W. Place, Fellow.
La Touche, Lady Digges, 53 Raglan Road, Dublin : proposed by

G. W. Place, Fellow.
Townshend, Miss Maude, 32 HoUybank Avenue, Ranelagh, Dubhn :

proposed by Miss Edj^h Warren, Member.
The accounts for 1914 as audited were submitted by the Hon.
Treasurer and passed.

The following papers were submitted and referred to the Council
for pubUcation :—

1. " Descriptions of some Irish Seals." By E. C. R. Armstrong,

r.s.A., Vice-President.

2. " Sculptured Stones of the Old Bridge of Athlone." By

Lord Walter FitzGerald, m.k.i.a., Vice-President.

A series of lantern views of the antiquities of Trim and its neigh-
bourhood, with descriptive comments, was exhibited by P. J.
O'Reilly, Fellow. An account of Bective Abbey, with plan and
illustrations, was read by Harold G. Leask, Member, and referred
to the Council for pubHcation.

The Meeting then adjourned until the 6th July, 1915,

On Thursday, 29th April, about fifty members drove by motor
chars -a -banc to Bective and Trim, visiting by the way the great
earthen mound at Ratoath, locally said, as was stated by a resident,
to contam a chamber of winch the position is known. At Bective
the ruins of the ancient church of Clady and of Bective Abbey were
examined, and at the latter Mr H. G. Leask, Member, pointed out
the various features, showing how the buildings had been altered
both before and after the suppression. Proceeding thence to New-
town, the Members examined the remains of the Priory of St John
the Baptist, the Priory of SS. Peter and Paul, the Cathedral and
parish churches. At Trim they were kindly received at Talbot
Castle by Mr A. V. Montgomery, Member, and Miss Montgomery,
who showed the portions of the house in wliich remains of St Mary's
Abbey and the castle are incorporated. The Rev. E. Gofif, M.A.,
Member, gave a detailed account at St Patrick's Church of the
building and its monuments, after which the Castle was visited.
Subsequently the Members were entertained to afternoon tea at
Newtown Park by Mr W. J. Wilkinson.

us
o

o o '* o 00

O i-H Tjl ^ O

oo
o o
oo

o o o
o o o

o o

O K>

fq§<t5

o £ a>

Wcgfi

a ^
; o I .

' to ^

; 2 ^

^•oor^ooooojooo 00

. 00 O O ■* K5 F-< t> «5 CO CO

03 i-H

t-'^OiM^CJClCOcO «o

£~ »o 05 o CO

«+? CO r-H

o
>»

M 0

W)o^ S M =«
^ •" o « ® '

o ID ^

.S w) .a |.2
■^ i? -^ * S ^

Hh (l^ P3 pq 5 eg O m <tj M

o CO

o o

ooo

o o

ooo

^3^

^ 1

(/)

o o o I

« 2 •

05 ©

»0 o O O W O O
(M O M CO Ci ^ -^

•g 3

(^ . ..s . .^

and

ms
lecti

(191

b --^^ ' '2

S -g-gss^

.2 ^ 1 i -S ^ .13

?| O'^ 03 OJ cS S

M M M o p? V-; <i

CO ©

^ o

° o

-<1

5 §

•^ -^
^.^

li^

^ 1^.

2 m

«Ji

y ^

p:;

^ P^

apq

O 13
05 O ,

o 2

_« J CC LO

"+3 <D © ri

» '^ tC 'g
» o "^ o

"5 aJ

165

PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY

The " Extra Volumes " for the following j'ears are : —

1888-89 — '" The Rude Stone Monuments of Co. SHgo and the Island of Auliill," by Colonel
Wood-Martin, (Out of print.)

*1890-91— " The Account Roll of the Priory of the Holy Trinity, Dubhn, 1337-134(j, with the
Middle English Moral Play, The Pride of Life, from the original in the Christ Church
Collection in the Public Record Office, Dublin," edited by James Mills, m.b.i.a.
1892 — "Inis Muiredach, now Inismurray, and its Antiquities," by W. F. Wakeman (cloth,
royal 8vo, with Map and 84 Illustrations). (Price 7s. (id.)

*1893-95 — " The Annals of Clonmacnoise," from the mss. in the Royal Irish Academy' and Trinity
College, Dublin, edited, with Introduction and Notes, by Rev. Denis Murphy, s.j„ m.b.i.a.

*1 896-97- — -"Register of Wills and Inventories of the Diocese of Dublin in the time of Arch-
bishops Tregury and Walton, 1457-1483," from the origuial MS. in the Library of Trinity
College, Dublin, edited, with Translation, Notes, and Introduction, by Henry F. Ecrry.
M.A., T.C.D., Barrister-at-Law.

*1 898-1 901 —The Index to the first Nineteen Volumes of the Journal for the years 1849-188'J,
inclusive, complete in Three Parts. Parts I, II, and III now ready, price 3s. (id. each.
The whole forming vol. xx of the Consecutive Series of the Journal of the Society.
1902-1906 — " The Gormanston Register," edited by James Mills, i.s.o., m.r.i.a. (Nearly ready.)
*1907-1908 — "Liscribed Slabs at Cloumacnois. " By R. A. S. Macalister, m.a., f.s.a.
1909—" Old Irish Folk Music and Songs." By P. W. Joyce, ll.d. (Price 1.0s. (id.)

* These Volumes may be had from the Society's Publishers, price \0s. each.

Just Issued.
Index to the Journal, Vuis. XXl-XL (1891-1'JlO). Compiled by
the late Gteueral Stubbs, revised . and edited by W. Cotter Stubbs,
M.A., M.K.i.A. (Price 10s. 6d.) ; bound in cloth 12s. 6d.

The "Extra Volumes" previous to the year 1890 are out of print, except "Christian
Inscrii)tions in the Irish Language," edited by M. Stokes, of which several complete Volumes
and Parts, with numerous Illustrations, may be had. Price £3 for the complete Volumes.

The Publications of the Society are to bo obtained from the Publishers, Messrs. Hodges,
Ficicus & Co., Ltd., 104 Graftou Street, Dublin ; also the List of Fellows and Members (price (id.).

Hon. Local Secretaries, 1915

Antrim (N.) Wm. A, Traill, m.a., m.k.

„ (S.). W. J. Knowles, m.r.i.a.

Armagh . Robert Gray, f.r.c.p.i.

Belfast City R. M. Young, b.a., m.b.i.a.

Carlo W . Patrick O'Leary.

Cavan , William J. Fegan, Solicitor.

Clare . Dr. G. U. Macnamara.

Cork . The O'Donovan, m.a.

,, City . James Coleman.

Donegal . John H. Tibbs, b.a.

Down(N.) . W. H. Patterson, m.r.i.a.

„ (S.) . Francis J. Bigger, m.r.i.a.

Dublin . W. Cotter Stubbs, m.a.

City John Cooke, m.a., m.r.i.a.

Fermanagh T, Pluukett, m.r.i.a.

Gal way (N.) R. J. KeUy.

„ (S.) Very Rev. J. Fahey, p.p., v.g.

Kerry . Singleton Goodwin, m.inst. c.k.

Kildare . Lord Walter FitzGerald, m.r.i.a.

Kilkenny , M. M, Murphy, m.r.i.a.

King'SjCo. . Mrs. Tarleton.

Leitrim .

H. J. B. Clements, j.p., d.l.

Limerick .

J. Grene Barr\-, d.l.

Londonderrj

*****

Longford .

J. M. Wilson, D.L.

Louth

William TemiJcst, j.r.

Mayo

Very Rev. Monsignor O'Hara

p.p., V.F.

Meath

Rev. Canon John Heal^-, ll.d.

Monaghan .

D. Carolan Rushe, b.a.

Queen's Co

Rev. Ed^\ard O'Leary, p.p.

Roscommon Geo. A. P. Kelly, m.a.

Sligo

*****

Tipperary(S.)* * * * *

(N.)Rev. James J. Ryan.

Tyrone

Rev. W. T. Latimer, m.a.

Waterford .

*****

„ City .

Patrick Higgins, f.r.s.a.i.

Westmeath

James Tuite.

Wexford .

G. E. J. Greene, m.a., sc.d.,

M.R.I. A., F.L.S., j.p.

WicklDw .

*****

THE

Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

President

COUNT PLUNKETT, M.R.I.A., F.S.A.

Vice= Presidents

LeINSTER MtTNSTER

Most Rev. Dr. DouneUy, m.r.i.a, i O'Doiiovau, c.B., m.a., d.l.

F. Elringtou Ball, litt.d. m.k.i.a.

JollU Cooke, M.A., M.K.I.A.

Lord Walter FitzGerald, m.r.i.a.

T. J. AVestropiJ, m.a., m.b.i.a.

Most Rev. Dr. Sheehan, Bishop of 'A'aterford.

Sir Bertram Wiudle, m.r.i.a., f.s.a., f.r.s.

Ulster Connacht

The Right Hon. Lord Arthur Hill.
His Excellenc:y The O'Neill.
M. J. M'Enerj', m.r.i.a.
William Gra,y, m.r.i.a.

The Right Hon. M. F. Cox, m.d.

The Right Hon. Viscount Gough, K.c.v.o.

Richard Laugrishe, J.r.

E. C. R. Armstrong, m.r.i.a., f.s.a.

Hon. General Secretary

Charles McNeill, 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Hon. Treasurer

H. Bautry White, i.s.o., 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Council

S. A. O. FitzPatrick.

Professor R. A. S. Macajister, litt.d., f.s.a.

W. F, Butler, m.a.

Lucas White Kuig, c.s.i., ll.d., f.s.a.

T. J. Mellon.

Sir J. R. O'Conncll, ll.d.

P. J. O'Reilly, m.r.i.a.

H. F. Berrv, i.s.o., litt.d.

W. Cotter Stubbs, m.a., m.r.:

F. J. Bigger, m.r.i.a.
James Coleman.

T. P. Lefanu, c.b.
P. J. Lynch, m.r.i.a.

G. W. Place.

Rev. J. L. Robinson, m.a.
Herbert Wood, b.a,, m.r.i.a.

Note. — The names of Vice-Presidents and Coimcil are arranged according to dates of election.
The names first on the list retire first.

Past Presidents who are ex=officio Members of Council

John Ribtou Garstin, d.l., f.s.a., m.r.i.a. | Robert Cochrane, ll.d., i.s.o,, f.s.a.

Clerk

Mr. J. C. BaU, 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Hon, Keeper of Prints and Photographs

Thomas J. Westropp, m.a., m.r.i.a., 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Hon. Provincial Secretaries, 1915

Leinster Munster

Thomas J. Westropp, m.a., m.r.i.a. | The Rev. Canon C. Moore, m.a.

Ulster Connacht

The Rev. Canon Lett, M.A., m.r.i.a. I Ed^vard Martyu

Seaton F. Milligan, j.p., m.r.i.a. | Richard J. Kelly, j.p.

Bankers

Provincial Bank of Ireland, 12 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Printed by John Falconer, 53 Upper Sackvillc Street, Dublin,

THE JOURNAL

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES
; OF IRELAND

Series VI, Vol. V.

Vol. XLV

Part III

30 SEPTEMBER 19 I 5

CONTENTS

PACK

Very Rev. Canon Carrigan, d.d., p.p., Durrovv — Entries relating to

John O'Donovan and his immediate relatives .... 167

Miscellanea {Illustrated) .170

Address to the Lord Lieutenant. . . . . • ' 177

Proceedings {Illustrated) . . . • • • • • 180

DUBLIN
HODGES, FIGGIS, © CO., Ltd., GRAFTON STREET

1915

Price 3s. net.

THE JOURNAL

or THE

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES
OF IRELAND

(Formerly the Kilkenny Archaeological Association, and the Royal Historical
and Archaeological Association of Ireland)

List of the Volumes, showing the relation between the Consecutive
Numbers and the Numbers of each of the Six Series ; also the Years for
which each Volume was issued.

Consecutive Number

Number of Series

Years

*I.

1849, 1850, 1851.

II.

1852, 1853.

*IIL

III.

1854, 1855.

*IV.

I. 2nd Series,

1856, 1857.

II.

1858, 1859.

*VI.

ni.

1860, 1861.

VII.

IV.

1862, 1863.

VIII.

1864, 1865, 1866.

IX.

VI.

1867.

I. 3rd Series,

1868, 1869.

XI.

I. 4th Series,

1870, 1871.

XII.

II.

1872, 1873.

XIII.

ni.

1874, 1875.

XIV.

IV.

1876, 1877, 1878.

XV.

1879, 1880, 1881, 1882.

XVI.

VI.

1883, 1884.

XVII.

VII.

1885, 1886.

*XVIII.

VIII.

1887, 1888.

*XIX.

IX.

1889.

XX.

Index,

1849-1889.

*XXI.

I. 5th Series,

1890-1891.

XXII.

II.

1892.

XXIII.

III.

1893.

XXIV.

IV.

1894.

XXV.

1895.

XXVI.

VI.

1896.

XXVII.

VII.

1897

XXVIII.

VIII.

1898.

XXIX.

IX.

1899.

XXX.

1900.

XXXI.

XI.

1901.

XXXII.

XII.

1902.

XXXIII.

XIII.

1903.

XXXIV.

XIV.

1904.

XXXV.

XV.

1905.

XXXVI.

XVI.

1906.

XXXVII.

xvri.

1907.

XXXVIII.

xvni.

1908.

XXXIX.

XIX.

1909.

XL.

XX.

1910.

XLI.

I. 6th Series,

1911.

XLII.

1912.

XLIII.

III.

1913.

XLIV.

1914.

The Volumes marked (*) are now out of print. Some of the remaining Volumes can be supplied
to Members at the average rate of 10s. each. Odd Parts of some of the foregoing volumes can
be suppUed. The Quarterly Parts of the Fifth Series can be suppHed to Members at 3s. each.

In order to assist Fellows and Members to obtain back numbers of the Journal, the Coimcil have
decided to ofier the fifteen volumes from 1870-1884 at the greatly reduced price of £1 for the set.
In considering applications, preference ^^dll be given to Fellows and Members who joined
the Society previous to 1908.

THE JOURNAL

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES

OF IRELAND
FOR THE YEAR 1915

VOL. XLV, PART III

(vol. V, SIXTH SERIES VOL, XLV, CONSEC. SERIEs)

ENTRIES RELATING TO JOHN 0 'DONOVAN AND HIS
IMMEDIATE RELATIVES

From the Registers of the formerly united Parishes of
Slieverue and Glenmore, in the Co. Kilkenny
By Very Rev. Canon Carrigan, d.d., p.p., Durrow
[Submitted 30 March 1915]

The Registers of Slieverue and Glenmore begin at the close of 1766.
The Baptismal and Marriage Registers are continued without any
interruption down to the present time. The Register of Deaths
begins 4th Dec. 1766, and ends 28th Nov. 1799 ; it is all in the
fine handwriting of the Very Rev. Dr. Stephen Lower, p.p., v.g.
In these Records the Donovans get very frequent mention, the town-
lands with which they are mostly identified being Afchatemore or
Attitimore, Ballyfacy, otherwise Old Ballyfacy, Bally verara,,
Weatherstown, Ballinlaw, Ballynicole, otherwise Nicholastown,
Carriganurra and Drumdowney ; the Haberlins, too, John O'Dono-
van's paternal as well as maternal relatives, are frequently met with,,
especially in the townlands of Ballinlaw, Coolnaleen and Rochestown.
From the scores of Donovan and HaberHn entries the following are
selected : —

1767, Sept. 26. Baptized [at Rochestown] : Ellenor Haberlin,i
daughter to Marks Haberlin & Catherine Fling, of lawfuli matrimony.

^ O'Donovan's mother.

168 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Gossips : Jams. 0 'Kelly & Ellenor Coady. Witness : Mr. William
Inot & Bridget Fitzgerald.

1769, Sept. 16. Baptized att Athatemore : Cornelius Donevan,^
son to Edmd. Donevan & Mary Cody, of lawfull wedlock. Gossips :
Thorns. Gale & Margeret Phelan.

1770, Dec. 17. Baptized att Roachestown : Richard Haberlin,
son to Marks Haberlin & Catherine Fling, of lawfull wedlock.
Gossips : Laurence & Ellenor Forestall,

1789, Sept. 25. Bapd. : Michl. Donnovan, of Athatemore, son
of Edwd. Donnovan & Ellenor Haberlin. Sponsors : John & Mary
Donnovan.

1792, Feb. 5. Bapd. : Patrick Donnovan, of Athatemore, son
of Edwd. Donnovan & Ellenor Haberlin. Sponsors : Willm.
Donnovan & Ellener Byrn,

1795, Jany. 31. Bapd. : Bridgit Donnovan, of Aught-a-temore,^
daughter of Edwd. Donnovan, junr., & Ellenor Haberlin. Sponsors :
Jams. Lanin & Mary Donnovan.

1797, June 7. Bapd. : Mary Donnovan, of Auth-a-temore,
daughter of Edmd. Donnovan & Ellenor Haberlin. Sponsors :
Matthew Bowlan & Margaret Murphy.

1801, Bapd., January 17th, Catherine, par. : Edmond Donnevan,
ot Attitemore, & Ellinor Haberlin. Sps. : Edmond & Mary Lannan.

Jno. Fitzpatrick [C.C]

1802, April 24. B. at Autatemore, William Donevan ; P. :
Edmond [Donevan] & Ellenor Habirleen. S. : Darby Donevan &
Ellen Donevan.

1806, July. Attatimore, 26th. Bap. Jno., par. : Edmond
Donnevan & Ellinor Habberlan. Sps. : Edmond Wall &
Ellenor Neal. J. Fitzk., P.P.

1810, Feb., Nicholastown, 10th. Bapd. : Patrick ; pts. : Edmd.
Donovan & Elenor Habberlin. Sps. : Mich. Lannin & Brid. Donovan.

P. Carrigan [C.C]
1813, Authe-thimore, June 6. Bapd. : Margaret ; pts. : Edwd.
Donovan & Elenor Haberlin. Sps. : L. Lannin & Mary Donovan.

P. Carigan [C.C]

1778, Feb. 19. Joyn'd in wedlock : by ye certificate of Mr.
Tobias Budd : Willm. Donnevan, of Athatemore, unto Margarette
Haberlin, of Roachestown, per dispensationem in 3tio & 4to. con-

1 O'Donovan's uncle. He died 7tli March 1783.

^ In Irish, and sometimes in Enghsh, too, Attitimore is called Ottia-tee-voozh,
, ait a' Ugh mhdir, the site of the big house.

ENTRIES RELATING TO JOHN O'DONOVAN

169

Banguinitatis gr[adu]. Witness : Patrick Donne van, John Haberlin
& Patrick Lannan.

1788, Oct. 6. Joyn'd in wedlock : Ellenor Haberlin, of Roaches-
town, nnto Edmd. Donnovan, of Athatemore. Witness : Willm.
Donnovan & Thos. Haberlin.

1775, Dec. 7. Died at Roachestown : Honour HaberUn.
1783, March 7. ,, Athatemore : Cornelius Donnovan.^

1786, May 8. „ Balleverere : Edmund Donnovan.

1787, May 2. ,, „ : Bridget Donnovan.

1789, April 14. ,. RoachestoAvn : Mary Haberlm alias

Forestall.
,, Nov. 22. ,, Gallstown : Rose Donnovan, aged 102

years.
1792, Jany. 22. ,, Roachestown : Richard Haberlm.

,, April 8. ,, Balleverere : Cornelius Donnovan.^

,, May 6. ,, Rathpatrick : Rose Domiovan.

1794, Sept. 30. ,, Athatemore : John Donnovan.
,, Nov. 2. ,, Balleverere : Honr. Donnovan.

1795, March 21. ,, Drumdowney : Catharine Donnovan.
,, May 15. ,, Roachestown : John Donnovan.^

,, Dec. 16. ,, Weatherstown : Catharine Donnovan.

1796, April 16. ,, Athatemore : William Donnovan. ^

1797, June 14. ,, ,, : Mary Cody alias

Donnovan."^

1798, Jany. 31. ,, Weatherstown : William Donnovan.
Dec. 27. ,, Authatemore : Edmund Donnovan.^

^ O'Donovan's uncle.

* Probably O'Donovan's granduncle. O'Donovan states that his granduncle
ComeHus settled down in Ballyfacy. Now Balleverere or Ballyverara and Ballyfacy
are adjoining townlands. In Irish and Enghsh Ballyverara is always pronounced
Hollia-wae-razhd.

* Apparently O'Donovan's granduncle.

* O'Donovan's grandmother, whose maiden name was Mary Archdeacon
otherwise Cody.

^ O'Donovan's grandfather, who was bom in 1720. He was son of William
Donovan, of Drumdowney, and Mary Haberlin, his wife ; grandson of Conchobhar
■or Cornelius Donovan, of Ballymoimtain, and Rose Kavanagh, of Ballyleigh, his
wife; and great-grandson of Edmond O'Donovan (slain at Ballinvegga, 18th March
1643), and Catherine Gaul, otherwise Gaul-Burke, of Gaulstown, his wife.

MISCELLANEA

A Long Earthwork at Kilwarden in Co. Meath. — On the western,
border of Co. Meath in Upper Moyfenrath, between Kinnegad and
the Hill of Down railway station, is a notable double earthwork
on which it is very desirable that information should be obtained.
It does not appear to extend into Westmeath, ending at the boundary
stream between the counties ; but runs through the townlands of
Hardwood and Kilwarden. It first runs nearly eastward, the two
mounds being fairly complete for 200 feet. About 100 feet farther'
it turns more to the north-west for about 600 feet, in fair preserva-
tion, beyond which the wet fosse runs nearly straight for about-
1,050 feet, the mounds being gone. We find them again — ^the back
one only — for 360 feet, and a double reach for 650 feet at about
3,700 feet from the boundary stream. There is then a break for about
500 feet, a reach about 100 feet, a gap for 450 feet, and a reach
about 1,200 feet long at Kilwarden River. Beyond this, on the
north-east side it begins for about 300 feet (only about half that
length of the north-west mound remaining), then there is a gap for
300 feet, the mound still running north-west from the border of that
townland, and a reach for 700 feet more (600 feet of the north-west
mound). The ditch is then traceable for at least 800 feet to about
4,000 feet south of the railway. The whole works are about a mile^
and a half long. No further reach is marked on the new maps..
These long earthworks are very curious, being frequently attributed
to the Black Pig, and one, the Worm Ditch, to a great serpent. The
fenced roads in Mimster are said to be the work of St. Patrick's Cow.
the Rian Bo from Ardmore to Ardfinnan (as studied by Rev. Patrick
Power), and " The Slug of St. Patrick's Cow " (as John Windele
notes) at Ardpatrick, Co. Limerick. The Cladh Ruadh and the
Cladh Dubh run from Kerry Head to near Abbey Feale, and are
probably tracks. A more formidable mound is on the borders of
Counties Limerick and Cork to the north-west of Charleville. The
great series of works fencing the line of UHdia is described by Mr. W.
de Vismes Kane, who describes another work near Dromsna. It
were to be wished that this last-named writer would complete alL
the Leinster and Ulster works of this character. Beside the above-
papers we have an admirable survey of the Dane's Cast by Rev.
Canon H. Lett, who has also described for the first time the great

170

Plate XVI |

[To face page 171

THE MULLAGH. OR DAISY HILL, DRUIMCEAT

MISCELLANEA 171

enclosure of the Dorsey Fort. I have described the short reaches of
straight earthworks in Co. Clare in my survey of the prehistoric
remains at Ardnagowell, Glenquin, Kilieen and Feeagh — the three
latter accounts are not yet pubHshed. The whole subject is very
obscure, and probably it may prove impossible to bring under one
head the several varieties of these works in Ireland.^ — T. J.
Westropp.

Druimceat. — The mound, identified by Bishop Reeves with the
scene of the Synod of Druimceat, stands on the ridge behind Roe
Park, in the townland of Mullach, to which it evidently gives the
name. It is carved out of a natural hillock, being regularly shaped
in a fine curve to the south and west. To the east side it is either
unfinished, or has been defaced. It is 22 to 25 feet high on the
west face, rising in a slope of 3 to 5. Along the north and north-
east the natural hill has been cut back in a curved terrace, on which
may be seen faint traces, apparently of house sites. The platform
has evidently been levelled up ; it is roughly oval, 120 feet east and
west, and 78 feet north and south.

A large circular pond to the south may have been dug to supply
material for the shaping of the mound, which has no fosse whence
the earth could have been taken ; but possibly the shaping of the
hillock yielded a sufficient supply for the platform. There is a
noble view along the hills to the great terrace cliffs of Binveenagh,
and to the estuary of the Fojde.

To the west, a fine " mote " or " Dane's Fort " (called " Rough
Fort " on the early maps) Hes beside the road from Limavady to
Londonderry. It is a rath of the normal type ; its interior not
raised, and with two well preserved, flat topped earthen rings with
a broad shallow fosse. The entrance gap is towards the east. —

T. J. WiSTROPP.

Bronze Pin from Crossdrum Quarry Souterrain. — Some years
ago a souterrain was fomid at Crossdrum Quarry near Oldcastle, Co.
Meath, an accomit of which will be found in the Journal for 1897.2

About twelve months ago, a man named M'Cabe found a bronze

* The Black Pig's Dyke, W. F. De Vismes Kane {New) Ulster Journal of Archae-
ology, vol. iii, pp. 23-67. Drumsna (in Press for Proc. R. I. A., 1915). Rian Bo
Co. Waterford, Rev. Patrick Power, Journal R. 8. A. I., vol. xxxv, p. 111. The
Cladh Ruadh and Kerry and Limerick, T. J. Westropp, ibid., vol. xl, p. 128.
Ardnagowell, Co. Clare, vol. xliii, p. 258. Kilieen, Glenquin (now in Press for same).
The Danes' Cast, Cladh, Worms Ditch, &c., Ancient Forts of Ireland, Sections
149-158.

'■^ 5th Series, vol. vii, p. 427.

172 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

pin, of which I enclose an illustration, at the same place. In his
own words : "I found it at the end of the cave where a fox rooted
out some clay and sand."

Pins of this type seem to belong to the 9th or 10th centuries.

A very similar one is illustrated in the catalogue of antiquities
in the Edinburgh museum, from Heisker, Hebrides.

The pin here illustrated measures 4-^ inches in length. — E.
Crofton Rotheram.

Conna Castle. — The recent bequest of an Irish Castle by its
EngKsh owner to the Local Government Board of Ireland is a unique
occurrence meriting, I think, some record in this Journal. Having
many years ago become the landlord of the Conna district in North-
east Cork, the late Rev. Alfred G. K. L'Estrange, an English clergy-
man, residing in London, repaired Conna Castle, enclosed and laid
out the grounds surrounding it, and appointed a trustworthy care-
taker of the castle, to which he allowed the public access on payment
of a nominal sum for admission. The Rev. Mr. L'Estrange also
wrote a " History of Conna Castle," which he had printed for
private circulation only. He sold his property here some time ago
under the Land Purchase Act, and now he has crowned his good
work by wisely leaving this castle not to a heedless and irresponsible
local body, but to the Local Government Board for Ireland.

Conna or Connor Castle stands on a rock overhanging the Bride,
an estuary of the River Blackwater, about six miles to the west of
Tallow, Co. Waterford. It is said to have been erected by one of
the Earls of Desmond, the builders of the numerous castles by the
Blackwater in the vicinity of Conna, such as Mocollop, Mogeely,
Dromana, Strancally, and Templemichael Castle near Youghal.
It appears to be of 14th or 15th century construction. It formed the
residence of Sir Thomas FitzGerald, the eldest son of the 14th Earl
of Desmond. This Earl having put away his first wife, the mother
of Sir Thomas, he passed over the latter, in favour of his second son,
Gerald, who became the 15th Earl of Desmond. When this Gerald
broke out in rebeUion, Sir Thomas took no part in his proceedings,
but retired to his Castle at Conna, where he died on the 18th of
January, 1595. He was the father of the famous Sugan Earl of
Desmond, who, having been betrayed by his kinsman the White

MISCELLANEA 173

Knight, was sent a prisoner to the Tower of London, where he died
insane.

Conna Castle was captured by Lord Castlehaven in 1645. Li
his Cromwell in Ireland (1883), the late R-ev. D. Murphy tells us
that in 1650 Cromwell passed by Conna, and on Gallows Hill to the
west of the Castle he is said to have halted with his army and held
council about executing the garrison. From this jpoint he battered
the Castle with liis guns, but apparently with little effect.

In 1653, as related in Leiois's Dictionary, Conna Castle was burnt,
and three young ladies named German perished in the flames.
Notwithstanding these ^acissitudes and the subsequent long lapse
of time, Conna Castle is still in good condition, and forms in a way
a worthy memorial of the archaeological zeal of its lately deceased
owner, the Rev. Mr. L'Estrange, to whom Irish antiquaries will feel
still further indebted for the effective means that he has adopted
for ensuring its future preservation. — James Colemax.

An Apple Scoop found in a Grave at Glasnevin. — A small
scoop broken at the end, made from the metatarsal bone of a young
sheep, was recently presented to the collection of the Royal Irish
Academy by Principal M'Clelland, LL.B., of the Training College,
Marlborough Hall, Glasne\an, through Professor A. F. Dixon. The
scoop is figured natural size (Fig. 1), and was found in exposing a
grave, formed of rough flags laid together, containing a skeleton,

Fig. 1. Scoop found at Glasxevin. (i)

wliich was discovered in the grounds of the Training CoUege, Marl-
borough Hall. No other antiquities were found in the grave,
which was one of several similar disinterred in the same spot. Un-
fortunately none contained any objects which could assist in dating
the interments, but from the form of their rough stone linings it is
probable they may be provisionally assigned to some period ap-
proaching the 10th century, a.d.

The remaining portion of the hollowed end of the scoop was
filled with a bright red substance which came out as a solid core.
This was analysed by Professor Werner of Trinity College, Dubhn,
and found to contain — (1) sulphate of calcium {i.e., practically,
plaster of Paris), (2) Fe203 [i.e., Venetian-red, probably obtained

174 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Fig. 2. A. and B. [{)

FXG. 3. A. AND B. (i)

MISCELLANEA 175

lay heating iron pyrites), and (3) glue or resin, probably animal
glue ; the last formed the greater part of the mass.

There are several similar scoops in the Academy's collection.
One (Fig. 2a) was found in a crannog, either that of BaUinderry or
•Strokestown. Mr. W. F, Wakeman in his printed catalogue of
museum labels, described it as " shaped like a marrow-spoon, or
small dagger." Another (Fig. 2b) was found in street excavations
in Dubhn. Both of these are made from the bones of sheep, and
are here illustrated natural size. In the collection are also various
bones cut in a similar manner to the scoops, which may be regarded
as earlier forms of implements of like use. Two of these are illus-
trated natural size (Fig. 3). One (Fig. 3a) is described by Wake-
man as " A very elegant dagger, javelin, small spear or dart point."
It is stated to have been found at Garristown, but Wakeman says
it came from Lagore Crannog. The other (Fig. 3b), Wakeman
■considers may have been the head of a small spear, javelin, or dagger.
A number of such scoops were excavated by the late Mr. R. J.
TJssher in the kitchen-middens of raths in Co. Waterford, and are
^figured in our Journal, vol. xvii, Plate facing p. 363.

Scoops like those illustrated (Fig. 2) are fairly common objects
in museums and private collections. One is figured British Museum
Mediaeval Guide, p. 29, and dated examples of cherrywood (1682),
and of boxwood (1656), are described in the Journal, British Archae-
ological Association, vol. 18, p. 274, and in the Proceedings, Society
of Antiquaries of London, 2nd series, vol. xiv, p. 216; while a number
of bone examples preserved in the Municipal Buildings at Cardiff
are illustrated in the Connoisseur, vol. xxxvi (May to August, 1913),
p. 81, where it is stated (p. 85) that apple-scoops were in common
use up to half a century ago, especially in the apple-growing districts
of the West of England.

The employment of these implements, therefore, extends over
several centuries, and less elaborate forms may have been in use
many years earlier than the dated scoops mentioned above. The
rougher examples illustrated (Fig. 3) may have belonged to a con-
siderably earlier ]3eriod, and possibly were used for extracting
marrow from bones.

It seems unhkely that the scoop which forms the subject of this
note was part of the original furniture of the grave in which it was
found ; it appears more probable that its presence is due to accidental
circumstances. The graves were all close to the present surface of
the ground, and such an object could easily have worked its way
down through the soil. Apparently it had been used in connection
with the application of some kind of paint. — E, C. R. Armstrong,
Vice-President.

176 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Erratum. — In vol. xliv, p. 188, bottom of page, for J. R. H.
and A. A. I., vol. ii, 5tli ser., read J. R. H. and A. A. I., ser. v, vol. vii
(vol. xvii consecutive series), p. 362.

Mr. F. J. Bigger kindly forwards the following cutting from the
Belfast News-Letter, 9th August 1915 i :—

SOUTERRAIN DISCOVERED NEAR StRANGFORD.

An interesting discovery was made a few days ago by Mr. Patrick
Hinds on his farm at Toberdoney, near Strangford, on the estate of
Viscount Bangor. According to tradition, a cave existed in the
Craigban field, but the exact location was not known to the Hinds
family, who have been in possession of the farm for over a century.
Mr. P. Hinds, who held a strong belief as to the existence of the cave,
caused careful search to be made, and after prolonged testing at
varying depths, ultimately struck a monolithic slab covering one
of the chambers of a souterrain. The passage is at the east end,
and there is a small chamber about ten feet from the entrance on
the north side, within 40 feet of the Castle ward Road. For 45 feet
it is almost straight, and the projecting stones, about 6 feet apart,
indicate the position of two traps. It deflects to the south, and
there are two other lateral chambers, one on the north side, venti-
lated, and one on the south. The passage crosses the road at an
obtuse angle, and terminates in an oblong chamber with a floor
space of 55 feet. Most of this is hewn out of the solid rock, and
shows the remains of two rude ventilating shafts. The walls
narrow to the top, which is covered with long broad flags, closely
jointed and overlapped. Some deposits of bones, teeth, and horns
were discovered in one of the chambers. These evidently belonged
to a large ruminant, probably a deer. Pieces of burnt oak, a con-
siderable quantity of charcoal^ and a few pieces of flint were also
found. The length from the entrance to the main chamber is
roughly 45 yards.

1 Members of the Society are invited to send to the office, 6 St Stephen's Green,
cuttings from local papers such as this, reporting new discoveries : those containing
theories are usually of less value.

I 177 )

ADDRESS TO THE LORD LIEUTENANT.

On Wednesday, SOih June, 1915, the following address was
presented to His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant by the President,
the Hon. General Secretary, and the Hon. Treasurer in the Council
Chamber, Dublin Castle : —

TO HIS EXCELLENCY
IVOR CHURCHILL, LORD WIMBORNE,
Lord Lieutenant-General and General Governor of Ireland.
May it please Your Excellency,

We, the President and Council of the Royal Society of Anti-
quaries of Ireland, desire to offer you in the name of the Society
our congratulations on your arrival among us as our Chief Governor
and the Representative of our august Patron, His Majesty the
King.

Our Societ}^ founded at Kilkenny in 1849 to preserve, examine
and illustrate all ancient monuments of the histor}^, language, arts,
mamiers and customs of our country, attracted members from all
parts of Ireland and grew to be the most numerous of all the bodies
devoted to the study of archaeology in the LTnited Kingdom. It
received from Queen Victoria in 1869 the honour of being designated
a Royal Association, and in 1890 it was authorised to adopt the
title which it now bears. His present Majesty was graciously
pleased to grant it a Charter of Incorporation in 1912.

During the sixty-five years of its existence the Society has
laboured assiduously in the vade field of Irish archaeology. Its
energies are evidenced chiefly in periodical meetings for discussion,
in field visits to the ancient monuments of each province in turn,
in publications and in subsidiary researches. Its publications
already include sixty volumes and many lesser issues for occasional
purposes. Among its eminent workers, to name some only of those
who have passed away, were Graves, 0 'Donovan, Prendergast,
Reeves and Wilde, names honoured beyond our shores and re-
membered in Ireland with respect and affection. They and many
other earnest and unselfish colleagues have enabled the Society to
carry on with credit an undertaking of national importance, and
their joint labours went far to prepare the ground for a sane and
vigorous school of Irish archaeology.

178 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

In one main respect the position of Ireland in archaeology
differs from that of Great Britain and other countries. The strong
hand of Caesar was never laid upon her ; her native arts and insti-
tutions were not swept aside by legionary and prefect, nor forced
into the imperial mould ; no external violence disturbed their
gradual mutations throughout many remote centuries. Conse-
quently, the memorials of prehistoric man are more abundant here
than in any equal area in Europe. A similar statement may be
made regarding our early CTiristian antiquities, and mediaeval
remains have survived in great numbers. It is most desirable,
therefore, to obtain for Ireland a comprehensive and scientific
record of ancient monuments such as is being prepared by the
Royal Commissions for England, Scotland and Wales ; but this it
is recognised is a matter which must be postponed until a more
auspicious time.

Meanwhile we hope that under your" Excellency's wise and
sjTupathetic administration the interests of our ancient monu-
ments will receive all the protection which the Executive Govern-
ment can afford in a benevolent exercise of its ordinary powers.

Signed on behalf of the Society,

G. N. COUNT PLUNKETT,
[l.S.] President.

CHARLES M'NEILL,

Hon. Gen. Secretary.

His Excellency was pleased to replj^ as follows : —
Mr. President and Gentlemen,

I have been deeply interested in the sentences, compact of
thought and knowledge, in which you have set before me the wide
extent of your Society's activities, and I welcome this occasion for
expressing admiration at your successful efforts to throw back into
a remoter past the frontiers of Irish liistory, and to occupy in its
name the territories of tradition.

You have truly a splendid field of labour, for in this land it
would seem as if legend lost none of its poetry by translation back
into the life from which it sprung.

I look forward to acquiring some knowledge of these material
evidences of the long period of growth and of the centuries of high
Celtic civiHsation which cover the land, and to seeing those far-
famed monuments which, ranging from the rude crannogs of the
lakes and the great stone fortresses of the Western Isles to graceful
round towers and sculptured high crosses, are among the art pro-
ducts of a splendid national isolation. The Tower, the Cross, and

ADDRESS TO THE LORD LIEUTENANT 179

the Chapel must surely more than make up for the want of the
Arch, the Column, and the Circus, and I can understand the pride
of Irishmen in a native art, owing nothing to Greece or Italy, which
produced those elaborate ^vrought croziers and shrines, those jewel-
encrusted book covers, and those exquisitely illuminated manu-
scripts which, as you make them better known, will increasingly
inspire wonder and admiration.

With its long list of over 1,100 members, including some who
approach in reputation the learned workers of the past referred to
in the Address, with its energies exerted in the various directions
you have indicated, with its growing volume of recorded results
inspiring to fresh efforts, and with a field of work which must ex-
tend as it is explored, the Royal Society of Antiquaries should have
a future as distinguished as its past.

I sincerely wish it such a future, and I shall be glad if I can
assist the Society in the ways you have pointed out to me, and so
pay the debt of gratitude I owe for an Address so thoughtful and
so kind.

PROCEEDINGS

A Quarterly General Meeting of the 67th Yearly Session of the
Society was held at The Guildhall, Londonderry, by kind per-
mission of the Mayor and Corporation of Londonderry, on Tuesday,
the 6th July, 1915, at 8 o'clock p.m.

The Mayor of Londonderry, Alderman R. N. Anderson, j.p.,
opening the proceedings, welcomed the Society to the city, and
referred to the many claims which its long and eventful history
gave it to the attention of antiquarians. The President, in reply,
expressed the Society's indebtedness to the Mayor for his welcome
and his address. The President then took the Chair.

The Minutes of the previous Meeting were read and confirmed.

The following candidates, recommended by the Council, were
elected : —

As Fellow.

Millar, De Courcy, Turvey House, Donabate : j)roposed by Richard
Lane Joyat, m.d.. Fellow.

As Associate Members.
Falconer, R. A., 23 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin : proposed by Charles

M'Neill, Hon. Gen. Sec.
Halpenny, Michael, l.r.c.p., l.r.c.s., j.p., Tirkeenan, Monaghan :

proposed by D. Carolan Rushe, Fellow.
Lowry-Corry, Lady Dorothy : proposed by J. Ribton Garstin, d.l.,

Past President.

On the motion of Michael Buggy, Mevnber, seconded by Henry
Courtenay, i.s.o., Felloiv, it was resolved :

" That the Council be empowered to take such steps as may be
advised in connxtion with the conversion of the Con-
solidated Stock held by the Society ; and that the Seal of
the Society be affixed to any documents necessary for
that purpose."

The following papers were read and referred to the Comicil for
publication : —

" The Normans in Tirowen and Tirconnell." By Goddard H

Orpen, m.r.i.a.. Member.
" Hugh O'Neill's Co. Cork Incursion, 1599." By James
Coleman, Fellow.

180

PROCEEDINGS 181

The following was taken as read and also referred to the Council
for publication : —

' Rath Brenainn." By Hubert T. Knox, m.r.i.a., Fellow.

The Meeting then adjourned until Tuesday, 28th September,
1915.

The following Fellows, Members, and Visitors attended the
Meeting : —

Vice-Presidents : — E. C. R. Armstrong, f.s.a., T. J. Westropp,

M.A., M.R.I.A.

Fellows : — James Coleman, Henry Covirtenay, i.s.o., j.p., Edwin
Eayle, Arthur Eitzmaurice, j.p., Lucas White King, c.s.i., ll.d.,
Charles M'Neill, Hon. Gen. Sec., Seaton F. MilHgan, j.p., Andrew
Roy croft, D. Carolan Rushe.

Members: — Mrs. Allen, Miss Anna Barton, E. M. F.-G. Boyle,
Michael Buggy, W. F. Butler, m.a., Miss Carolan, Miss I. Daniel,
John J. FitzGerald, m.d., Francis Guilbride, j.p.. Rev. W. A. Hayes,
M.A., W. F. de Vismes Kane, d.l., Thomas Keaveney, d.i. r.i.c,
Rev. Canon Kernan, b.d., The Hon. Michael Law, ll.d.. Rev.
Cano:i H. W. Lett, m.a.. Rev. Canon H. C. Lyster, b.d., John P.
M'Knight, Rev. D. Mullan, m.a., John Nelis, James Nichols, R. D.
Ormsby, Goddard H. Orpen, b.a.. Rev. T. W. O'Ryan, Miss D. C.
Parkinson, Thomas Plunkett, m.r.i.a.. Miss M. T. E. Powell, Rev.
Patrick Power, Mrs. E. F. Simpson, Samuel Scott, Rev. F. J. Wall,
Miss E. G. Warren, Miss H. Warren, Joseph Whitton, b.e., W. J.
Wilkinson.

Associate Members : — R. A. Falconer, Mchael Halpenny, l.r.c.p.,
L.R.C.S., Sir James Digges La Touche, k.c.s.i., Miss Law, Mrs.
M'Grane, Miss E. M. Nichols, Miss M. E. Nichols, Miss S. H.
O'Grady, Michael S. Walsh, l.r.c.p.i., l.r. c.s.i.

Visitors :— J. C. Ball, Mrs. J. C. Ball, Miss E. Barton, R. G.
Daniel, Miss M. Glennon, Mrs. F. W. Hayes, Miss C. F. Jennings,
Miss Johnston, Mrs. Keaveney, Miss Digges La Touche, Rev. R. T.
Lyons, Mrs. J. P. M'Knight, Mrs. Sharp, Mrs. Vaughan.

The programme arranged by the Council was successfully carried
out as subjoined : —

Tuesday, 6th July. — The chars-a-banc started from the Guild-
hall, Derry, at 9 a.m. for Fahan, Buncrana, Carndonagh, Culdafif
and Moville, visiting the ecclesiastical and other antiquities at
these places, and the de Burgo Castle ruins at Greencastle.
Luncheon was served at Carndonagh ; afternoon tea at Green-
castle.

182 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

In the evening the General Meeting of the Society was held in.
the Guildhall.

Wednesday, 7th July. — In the morning the members started
from the Guildhall, Derry, at 9 a.m. in motor chars-a-banc for the
Grianan of Aileach, the megalithic and other remains at Iskaheen,
the burial-place of Eoghan son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, from
whom Inishowen and Tyrone are named.

In the afternoon visits were made on foot to the walls and
places of interest within the walls, the Cathedral, site of Augus-
tinian Monastery, &c., and, outside the walls, the Long Tower
Church and cemetery (site of ancient Cathedral), St Columb's
stone, well, &c.

The Very Rev. the Dean of Derry received the members at the
Cathedral, and gave an interesting account of the building. The
members were afterwards kindly entertained to tea by the Dean
and Mrs. Hayes at the deanery.

Thursday, 8th July. — The party left Derry by rail at 8.35 a.m.
for Fahan, and crossed by ferry to RathmuUan (Carmelite monas-
tery and castle of Bishop Knox) ; by motor chars-a-banc to Milford
and Mulroy Bay, Carrigart, Doe Castle, the chief castle of Mac
Swiney of Tuatha ; Kilmacrenan Franciscan Friary, Letterkenny.
Luncheon was served at Carrigart ; afternoon tea at Letterkenny.

Friday, 9th July. — The chars-a-banc started from the Guild-
hall, Derry, at 9 a.m. for Dungiven and Maghera, returning by
Limavady. The chief objects of interest on this route were a
plantation bawn at Cumber, the early church, &c., at Banagher,
Dungiven Priory, St Lurach's Church at Maghera, and ecclesiastical
remains at Bovevagh. Luncheon was served at Maghera, and Mrs.
Ritter kindly entertained the party to afternoon tea at Roe Park.

Plate XVII]

[To face page 183

CARNDONAGH-ERECT CROSS-SLAB IN GRAVEYARD

( 183 )

TUESDAY 6th JULY 1915.

THE CROSSES AND SLABS OF INISHOWEN

By H. S. Crawford, b.e., m.r.i.a., Member

The Inishowen peninsula contains a series of early monuments
which includes most tj^es of crosses and slabs with the
exception of the highest class of sculptured and ringed cross ; for
the latter one must travel as far from the district as Arboe on the
shore of Lough Neagh.

At the churchyard of Carndonagh may be seen a good example
of erect slab, as Avell as two rudely carved pillar stones and a decorated
cross intermediate between the plain and ringed form ; it is without
a fully developed ring, but has the angles between the limbs boldly
rounded.

At Fahan is another erect slab not only carved with interlacing,
but provided with short projecting arms which place it in a position
between the cross-slabs and free-standing crosses. At Carrowmore
are two plain crosses of the Latin type, and a rock surface on which
are a bullaun and a small cross.

At Cooley is a similar cross provided with a ring, and at Clone a
church the shaft of a tall and slender cross highly carved, as well
as the head of another ; and two slabs with inscriptions and carving
of considerable interest. On the sea shore at Stroove near Moville
is a cross inscribed pillar stone and a holy well.

The cross of St Mura at Fahan is usually the first seen by
visitors to Inishowen ; it is 7 feet in height, and shaped like an
ordinary gravestone with pointed top. It has also the uncommon
feature of arms projecting a short distance from the sides of the
^tone ; a small slab with similarly projecting arms lies in the grave-
yard at Killegar, near the Scalp in County Wicklow. On each
side of the Fahan monument is an interlaced cross in low reUef ;
these are probably the finest designs of their kind in the country.
The cross on the east side is the more artistic and effective, though
less elaborate than that on the west. The latter has a figure in
a long robe at either side ; the inscriptions cut on these robes are
A feature not found elsewhere ; they do not seem to have been

Fahan — St. Mtjka's Cross — East Side
(From Photograph by H. S. Crawford)

Fahan— St. Mtjea's Cross — West Side
(From Photograph by H. S. Crawford)

PROCEEDINGS

185

noticed or deciphered, and it would be of interest to determine
whether they are of the same date or later than the other cutting.^
The base of this interlaced cross is covered by the earth ; it extends
horizontally under the figures, and consists of a twist like that on a

Stf^i^^Mffil

■■0^^Mhh|

^^^^K li^s^^^^^^i^^*^^^^^'' wSk iflii

' M

jH| %

mmmm

mM.

Caendonagh — Cross — East Fack
(From Photograph by H. S. Crawford)

slab at Kilberrihert, Coimty Tipperary, already illustrated in the
Journal. 2

The interlaced designs on this cross, as well as that on the west
face of Camdonagh cross, are remarkable in having two lines incised
on the bands, no others on Irish monuments have more than one.
They differ from the threefold bands on Italian and other foreign
interlaced work in having the central division of the band wider than
the others, which thus form borders to it. Mr Coffey has drawn
attention to this.^ There is also at Fahan a rectangular slab on

^ A modem inscription has been cut on the edge of the stone.

^ Vol. xxxix, p. 61, fig. 4. 3 Guide to Celtic Christian Antiquities, p. 14.

186 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

which is carved a ringed cross in high rehet ; it is built into the road
wall near the entrance to the graveyard.

The cross at Camdonagh is placed on the road fence near the
church, and as the bank covers the lower portion, it is uncertain if
the cross stands in its original socket ; it is almost 7 feet in height,
3 feet 8 inches in breadth, and 7 to 8 inches thick. The west side is
entirely covered by an interlaced pattern of the class mentioned in

Careowmore — East Cross
(From Photograph ty H. S. Crawford)

connexion with the Fahan cross ; and the edges of the stone bear, on
the south side thres rude figures, one above another, and on the north
traces of an interlaced pattern. The east is the principal face, and
is occupied by a fine cross of two broad bands, having triquetra-
shaped ends ; the cross suggests the Greek form, though the lower
hmb is slightly elongated. The angles of the stone above the arms
of the interlaced cross are filled by separate triquetral, one of which
has an extra twist ; and the corresponding lower angles with

PROCEEDINGS

187

zoomorphic triskelia, which take the form of birds radiating from
centres. This kind of triskeUon is rare ; the present examples may
be compared with the three dolphins or sea-horses on one of the
plaques of the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnois ; in that
instance, however, the tails of the animals are in the centre. Below
the cross is a puzzling design, the central figure of which has extended
arms and a smaller figure at each side low down, and so far resembles

Caerowmore — West Cross
(From Photograph by H. S. Crawford)

those representations of the crucifixion in which the cross is omitted ;
but there are also at either side of the head smainfigures which
appear to have human bodies and the heads of birds^or^rats, and
these suggest the frequently repeated design in which a human
figure or head is attacked by an animal on either side. Near the
cross are two pillar stones, on one of which are three human heads,
and on the other a single head as well as remains of spiral patterns.
The erect cross -slab is in the adjoining graveyard ; it is 5 feet in

]88 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

height, 17 inches in width, and 7 inches in thickness {see frontispiece).
On the east side is a crucifixion, the head of the figure projecting
sUghtly above the general upper surface of the stone ; at either side is
a small figure with a cross marked on the clothes. Below is an inter-
laced cross of simple design, standing on a base of fretwork or key
pattern. On the west side is carved a circle supported on a long stem
or shaft. The latter is oma:mented with key pattern, and the circle

Clonca — Shaft or Ceoss
(From Photograph by H. S. Crawford)

contains a star-shaped design with seven rays ; evidently a modifi-
cation of the ordinary six-limbed star or cross formed of circular arcs.
At ea3h side of the stem is a rude figure bearing a staff or crozier, and
below is an incircled star or cross of four rays on a fretwork base.
The band forming this figure is much worn, but retains a rough
surface which looks hke a plait ; if this be so it indicates an unusual
combination of designs. There are also several interesting monu-
ments of later date in the churchyard.

PROCEEDINGS 189

Carrowmore or Baskill is about 4 miles east of Carndonagh ; the
buildings there have disappeared, the only surviving monuments-
being two crosses and an incised rock. The east cross is 10 feet
high, of the Latin shape, and retains some traces of an incised figure
on the upper portion of the west side. The west cross is 11 feet high,
of similar shape, but more nearly square in section, and having

Clonca — Head of Cross
(From Photograph by H. S. Crawford)

shorter arms. Near the crosses is a partially uncovered rock surface-
in which is a buUaun, and a cross about 1 foot in length, the edges
of this cross are left in relief and the centre is sunk.

A short distance north of Carrowmore on the road to Culdaff
is the church of Clonca, in the field west of which is the shaft
of a carved cross 12 feet in height, dedicated to St Buodan.
The east side is covered with lichen to such an extent as almost
to conceal the designs. At the top there are apparently two seated
figures holding up a round object — possibly St Paul and St Anthony,,

190 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

the founders of monasticism, dividing the bread brought them by a
raven, an incident shown on various other monuments ; below ar^i
a panel of plait-work, a panel of diagonal fret, and a large spiral or
trumpet pattern. The west side is clearer, and shows at the top a
panel filled by a plait formed of double bands ; below are two animals
crouching, they appear to have human heads, and tails coiled over
their backs. Next to them are two human figures side by side, and
below the latter is a long panel of interlaced bands crossing
diagonally through circles. Near this shaft there lies on a heap of
stones a large cross-head which has sometimes been described as
belonging to it, but which seems to be decorated in a different stj'le.
This head has a solid recessed ring, 3 feet 8 inches in diameter, and is
decorated with plain mouldings and flat bosses or roundels containing
interlaced patterns. In a hole in the west wall of the church is
placed loose a stone with an Irish inscription and objects resembling
a mallet and chisel ; this stone was for a long time missing. ^ The
inscription has not hitherto been read. The church also contains a
sl&h of later date, 6 feet in length and 1 foot 8 inches in breadth,
tapering to 1 foot 3 inches. On this slab is a floriated cross, flanked
■on the dexter side by a fanciful spray of foliage and on the sinister
by a sword, hurley-stick, and ball. At the head is inscribed in
Lombardic characters on the dexter and sinister sides respectively

MAGNVSMA

FERGVSMAK

CORRISTIN

ALLANDORI

lAEOTKISEO

NXI

CLAGHSA

The final words of the latter part of the inscription are continued
on the hilt of the sword. The first part gives doubtless, the name
of the i)erson whose grave the stone covered, Magnus Mac Orristin,
and the latter states that Fergus Mak Allan made this stone, thus
preserving the artist's name. The inscription is in Scottish
Oaehc.

At Cooley near Moville the remains consist of a stone -roofed
tomb in the graveyard and a cross near the entrance gate ; there are
also several monumental stones of late date. The cross is 10 feet
in height; it is without carving, but has a pierced ring and a hole
4 inches in diameter through the top and rather to one side. This
hole is a curious feature, and may be a survival from the earlier
hole-stones. The crosses at Bonamargy Friary, Layd near Cushen-
dall, as well as one found in fragments at Moone Abbey, County

J- Illustrated in the Ulster Journal of Archaeology, vol. 4 (new series), p. 19

PROCEEDINGS

191

Kildare, are perforated, but in all these cases the hole passes through
the centre. The pillar stone at Castledermot, County Kildare, may-
be a transitional form ; it has a cross incised on one side and a hole
through the centre of the cross. The High cross of Drumcliff also
is perforated, but the hole being small easily escapes notice, and
may have been purposely made inconspicuous. It passes beliind the

MoviLLE — Cross at Cooley
(From Photograph by H. S. Crawford)

moulduig of one angle of the shaft near the head, and corresponds
with that class of hole-stone in which the aperture is made diagonally
through an angle.

The base of Cooley cross is also curious ; a large flat stone with
a perforation about 4 inches in diameter near one end. It may
possibly have stood as a hole-stone itself before being used as a
support for the cross.

The cross-inscribed piUar near Stroove occupies a picturesque

192 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

and retired situation on the sea shore half a mUe or more north of
Inishowen Head. The cHfifs here are lofty, and it is necessary to
descend by a steep path from the road above. The pillar
is 5 feet in height, and has on one side a Latin cross 15 inches
long formed of grooves with circular ends ; lying round are
many white pebbles brought from the strand and left by visitors.
Near the stone is a little spring dedicated to St Colum Cille, and

MoviLLE — Cross Insckibed Pillae at Stroove
(From Photograph by H. S. Crawford)

surrounded by rags tied to the grass and rushes. There is a tradition
that the saint landed here after encountering a storm, and that
having refreshed himself at the well, he wished to leave some
memorial of his escape. Immediately this stone came rolling down
the mountain side and was set up and inscribed by his followers.

Such are the principal crosses and cross -inscribed monuments of
Inishowen ; they are worthy of careful study, and will probably be
admitted to compare favourably in variety and interest with those
found in other districts of equal extent.

PROCEEDINGS 193

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES ON THE CHURCHES OP
INISHOWEN

The church-lands of Inishowen were set out by way of exception
from the grant made to Sir Arthur Chichester, 8th July, 1610, and
they were :■ —

1. Fahan. — Six quarters of termonland or erenaghland in the
country of Faugh an or Fat hen in Eneshown ; and 60 acres of land
within the parish of Faughen, near to those 6 quarters and adjoining
the parish church of Faughan.

2. Desertegny. — Two quarters of termonland or erenaghland
in the parish of Dysertenny or Drysterteigney in Enishowen, 60
acres within the said parish and other 60 acres near the said two
quarters, adjoining the parish church of Drysterteiginy.

3. Clonmany. — ^Three quarters of termonland or erenaghland
in the parish of Clonemany, and 60 acres in the said parish next
adjoining the same three quarters, or next adjoining the parish
church of Clonemany.

4. Carndonagh or Donaghglinnetochair. — Three quarters
called termonland or erenaghland in the parish of Donaghclantagh,
and 60 acres in the said parish near the said three quarters next
adjoining the parish church of Donaghclantagh.

5. Clonca. — Six quarters of land called termonland or erenagh-
land in the parish of Clonca, and 60 acres of land in the said parish,
near those 6 quarters, next adjoining the parish church of Clonca.

6. CuLDAFF. — Three quarters of land of termonland or erenagh-
land in the parish of Coldagh, and 60 acres in the said parish near the

3 quarters of land and next adjoining the parish church of Coldagh.

7. MoviLLE. — Four quarters of termonland or erenaghland in
the parish of Moyvill, and 60 acres in the said parish near those

4 quarters and adjoining the parish church of Moyvill. ^

FAHAN

Fahan, Fathan-mor or Fahan-Mura, Great Fahan or St. Mura's
Fahan, so called to distinguish it from the neighbouring Fathan-
beag, Little Fahan, is the site of an early monastery, whose first
recorded abbot was Mura, fifth in descent from Eoghan, son of Niall
of the Nine Hostages. His date, therefore, will fall within the first

1 Inquis., Jas. I, Lifford, 1 6th April, an. 19.

194 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

half of the 7th century. The obits of the abbots, his successors, are
noted down to 1098, after which the obits are those of airchinneachs,
" erenaghs," only. It may be inferred that the abbey became
extinct at the end of the 11th century. The airchinneachs, whose
office was in theory that of hereditarj^ trustees and secular admini-
strators, seem about this time to have ousted the rehgious from
monasteries in every part of Ireland and to have usurped their
lands. Henceforward the status of Fahan was that of a parish
church. It was, says Colgan, amply endowed, and possessed many
objects of great value, amongst which were a large and very ancient
manuscript of chronicles and other compositions relating to Irish
history, and St Mura's staff, Bachall-Mura, a rehc held in the
highest veneration, richlj^ adorned and carefully preserved ; an
oath taken upon it was especially sacred above all among the
O'Neills, who were special cHents of St Mura, their kinsman. ^ This
crozier is now in the Royal Irish Academy's collection in the National
Museum. Another fine specimen of early Irish craftsmanship is the
shrine enclosing St Mura's bell. The bell and shrine were preserved
at Fahan mitil after the great famine, and were then sold to a
collector for £6. They subsequently passed through several hands,
and are now in the Wallace collection in London.

CLONMANY

A third rehquary obtained at Fahan, though it belonged to the
parish of Clonmany, was the Miasach, now the property of St
Columba's College, Rathfamham, and deposited in the National
Museum. It was newly covered by Brian O'Muirgiussan in 1534,
as an inscription testifies.^

The family of O Muirgiussan, anghcised Morrison, and con-
founded with the Scottish family of that name, had an ancient
connection with the church of Clonmany, of which Salomon
O'Muirgasan was rector in 1425.^ Stations were formerly celebrated

1 Acta SS., 587.

2 There has been some doubt as to the meaning of the name Miasach : O'Curry,
MS. Materials, 336, connecting it with mios, a month, supposed that the object

enshrined was a calendar. The word is now understood to be derived from mias,
a dish, which had also a now obsolete meaning, " Altar," mensa domini, the
Lord's table. This derivation gives a more plausible sense of " altar ornament,"
and it was as an ornament that the Miasach was regarded. An inquisition taken
at LifEord 12th September, 1609, found that four gorts of the glebe of Clonmany
belonged " to the keeper of the Missagh or ornaments left by St Columbkille " :
Inquis. JJlt.

3 Costello, Annates, 189.

PROCEEDINGS 195

on St Columba's day, 9th June, by going " the rounds " at certain
places and reciting prayers, or perhaps hymns, ascribed to his com-
position. " They formerly drove their cattle to the beach on that
day, and swam them in that part of the sea into which runs the
water of St Columb's well, which is thereby made holy water ; but
this custom of late has not been practised. There is also a traditional
story told here that the earth of a little hillock {tempo desk [?]), on
the right of the road leading from the chapel to the church, formerly
expelled all mice and rats until the earth of it was vended, when
its expelling power ceased. Still, however, they carry all their dead
around it, as being an ancient custom. There is a circular flat stone
in the centre of the churchyard, about fourteen inches in diameter,
on which are two round little hollow places, which they say are
prints of St Columb's knees." i

CARNDONAGH

Colgan gives the following accomit of the parish of Donagh, of
which he was a native : " This church was formerly a bishop's see,
and its first bishop was Maccaerthenn, brother of the other Mac-
caerthenn, Bishop of Clogher. I myself was bom in its district. It
is to-day only a parish church of the Diocese of Derry, and is com-
monly called Domnach-glinne-tochuir (the Dominical Church of
Causeway-Glen), and it is resorted to every year by a great concourse
from the neighbouring districts and by pilgrimages, especially on the
feast of St Patrick, who is the local patron. There is here a
penitential bed of St Patrick, surrounded by polished stones, and
there are other ancient monuments of the same kind and incite-
ments to devotion which are resorted to with great piety." ^

Besides the crosses already described there, at the Protestant
church is an ancient swinging bell bearing the following inscription :

+ Sancta : Maria : ora : pro : nobis

It has been suggested that this bell was recovered from one of
the wrecked ships of the Spanish Armada, but there is nothing to
support the suggestion. The word " potter," in the sense of bell-
fo under, is seen commonly on EngHsh bells of the 13th century.

1 Rev. F. L. Molloy in Mason's Parochial Survey, i, 185.

2 Triad. Thaum., la Vita S. Patricii, p. 181.

* Doherty, Inis-Owen and Tirconnell, 2nd series, p. 342.

196 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

A yet more ancient hand-bell of native workmanship was dis-
covered about the beginning of the 18th century by the Rev. Michael
M'Colgan at Keenaglug, and continued in the possession of the

Clonca, Cross Shaft and West End of Chttech.

M'Colgans of Priestown until the year 1847, when a pawnbroker
in Camdonagh sold it to Mr John Connellan Deane, who had
charge of that district under the Temporary ReHef Act. Mr Deane

PROCEEDINGS 197

presented the bell to the Royal Irish Academy, and it is included
in the Academy's collection at the National Museum. It is about
5 in. high and 2| in. wide at the mouth, and had a handle pierced
with two finger holes, the upper part of which is broken off. The
keeper of the bell held a piece of land in the parish by right of his
office.^

The descendants of the hereditary keepers still preserve in the
neighbourhood of Carndonagh the bell of St Boedan of Culdaff, a
bronze bell, not symmetrically cast, of a type intermediate between
the primitive rectangular iron bells and the later circular bells ;
it is almost 9 in. high excluding the handle, an almost rectangular
loop, 2| in. high by 3 in. wide. At the mouth the dimensions are
8 J in. by SJ in. The middle of each side is pierced by a small hole.-
This bell and that of Cumascach Mac Ailello (j 909) from Armagh
are obviously coeval.

CLONCA

The ruined Church at Clonca is in the main of the Plantation
period ; but the lintel with almost obliterated sculpture over the
door in the western gable belongs to a more ancient building.

Two Irish inscriptions have been found at Clonca. One of
them within the Church is on a flat, sUghtly tapered tombstone of
limestone, skilfully carved with a design partly conventional and
partly realistic. A large cross-hilted sword reaches the whole
lengtli of the stone and divides it into four panels. The pommel
and cross-guard end in ornamental knobs which project shghtly over
the edge of the stone. The blade has an incised medial line, and its
edges are sharp and not bordered ; at the point it branches out into
a fan-shaped device of leaves and flowers treated conventionally.

The panels are thus filled : —

1. An inscription in Lombardic lettering, to be read from the
outer side of the stone, occupies the dexter chief :

magnvsma
corristin
iaeotkiseo

The late W. J. Doherty in his Inis-Owen and Tirconnell gave the
following transliteration and rendering :

iriAsntis triAC oRnisuin ia po uriau seo.

MAGNUS MACORRISTIN OF THE ISLES UNDER THIS MOUND.

There is no uncertainty as to the reading of the name, but the
remaining part is far from certain, and the reading and translation

1 Dohcity, Inis-Owen, &c., 338. 2 ij^i^^^ p_ 360.

19S ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

just given require some compidsion. The third letter of the lowest
line seems clearly enough e, not r, and the sixth is identical with
an undoubted k on the other side of the pommel, iaeot is very
like a blundered iacet.

2. In the sinister chief is the inscription :

FERGVSMAK
ALLAN DORI

NNI

continued on the sword-guard :

CLAGHSA

to be read from the edge on that side by a person standing near the
top comer :

FERGUS MAKALLAN MADE THIS STONE

The Scottish dialectic forms, as well as the name MacAilin,
indicate that the artist was Albanach by origin. A tombstone of
this family is in the graveyard, and there are still MacAiUns in the
neighbourhood ; an adjacent townland is named MacAihnstown.

3. The panel in the dexter base is filled by a highly conventional
but graceful and well-cut flowering branch. The top is expanded
into four sprays in balanced pairs embracing pairs of opening leaves ;
the stem bears, at equal distances opposite each other, on one side
seven flowers, and on the other seven leaves.

4. The remaining panel contains the figures of a caman, or hurley,
a ball and a great sword with a curved guard. ]\Iagnus MacOrristin
was doubtless a great hurler and a great swordsman.

The other inscription is a fragment from, perhaps, a similar
monument ; it has been read as follows :

... All O X)ViX)Vagan T)0 "Rl [lITieJ
... 05 SO DO "OOmilAll O n

stitiri.

... an O'Dnhdagan made [this]
[stone] for Domnall 0 iV . . .

here

Above the inscription is the device of a mallet and chisel.
There are only a few letters missing at each end, so that the

PROCEEDINGS 199

incomplete names are short ones, as Brian at the beginning, and
O'Neill at the end. Doubtful readings are shown by the itahcs.

gntiOOrr

5S??&%S^"^_^

Besides these Gaelic inscriptions there are some more or less
quaint English ones.

1. A tombstone dated 1703 has at the top the device I H S
above a winged head, beneath which is cut :

THIS MONEJ/ENTE
WAS ERECTED BY
SHAN OBVRLAGHAN
FOR TEE INTERING OF
HIS FATHER OWENO
BVRLAGHAN AND
TffOS OE HIS ORJRRIN
LENALY ANO DO 1703

followed by figures of a hand-bell, a skull and crossbones.
O'Burlaghan is an adaptation of 0 Brolchain, a name long connected
with the parish. Salomon 0 Brolchain, rector of Cluaincatha,
resigned his benefice to enter a religious order in 1427.^

2. Another with the same emblems at top and bottom :

THIS MONViI/£NT WAS ERC
TED BY lAMES O DOGHERTY
FOR HIS FATHER lAMES O
DOGHERTY WHO DIED THE
19th DAY OF IVNE 1716 AND
FOR HIS OFSPRING LINIAL
LY.

1717

1 Costello, Annates ol VUtcr, 190.

200 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

3. Beneath a winged head :

HERE LYETH THE
BODY OF WILLIAM
M ALLEN WHO
DEPARTED THIS
LIFE MAY 15™ 1782
AGED 66 ALSO HIS
SON JAMES DIED
APRIL 5™ 1756 AGED 19
THIS STONE WAS ER
ECTED BY WILLIAM
McALLEN HIS SON
FOR HIS OWN POST
EARITY 1784

On the north side of the church is the grave of " the Reverend
and learned WiUiam Elwood," rector of the parish from 1720 to
1786.

About a mile beyond Clonca on the hill above the parochial
house at Bocan there is a stone circle -vdth many stones still in
position, and in the neighbouring townland of Carha are some
remains of an extensive sepulchral site.

COOLEY

The small stone-roofed building, known as " the skull-house,"
in the graveyard of Cooley is a form of tomb of which other examples
will be seen at Banagher and Bovevagh, which constant tradition
identifies with the graves of saints. This tomb is 8 ft. 6 in. long by
6 ft. 6 m. wide ; the walls are 2 ft. thick, and at the sides they are
about 4 ft. 6 in. above the present ground level ; the perpendicular
height from the ground to the ridge of the roof is about 8 ft. There
is an opening, 15 in. by 12 in., in the western gable, and one 15 in.
by 5 in. in the eastern gable at a height of about 4 ft. from the
ground, no doubt to permit the rehcs witliin to be seen or
touched.

Such a shrine tomb is alluded to in a note in the 15th century
Rawlinson MS. B 512 : [After St Cianan's burial] " a high bishop
used to cut Cianan's hair and nails every Maunday Thursday in
every year down to Adanman's time. Now Adamnan went into the

§i|if

202 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

tomb to behold and touch the body. Forthwith his eye is struck
out. So he fasts regarding it, and his eye is then restored to him.
Thencef onv^ard no one dares to enter the tomb . ' ' Stokes , Martyrology
of Oengus (Henry Bradshaw Society, xxix), p. 245.

GREENCASTLE

The castle of Greencastle in Inishowen, which was called the
New Castle by the Irish, stands on a low rocky knoll on the northern
shore of Loch Foyle at the entrance to the loch. Towards the
sea the walls rise sheer above a low cHff ; on the opposite or northern
side the knoll is separated from the adjoining country by a piece of
marshy ground. The greatest length of the present enclosure is
about 280 ft. from east to west, and its breadth from north to south
is about 100 ft. exclusive of the projection of the great tower, some
36 ft. beyond the hne of the northern wall. The castle was regarded
until towards the end of the last century as part of the defences of
Loch Foyle, and the modifications which were made to fit it for
that purpose have necessarily altered or removed many of its-
ancient features. The main entrance was at the west end, between
polygonal towers, which are now the most conspicuous of the remains,
though not of formidable strength. The great tower, however,
possessed the characteristic solidity of the work executed by the
Anglo-Normans in Ireland durmg the first half of the 13th century.
It measured externally 51 ft. by 45 ft., and the walls were 12 ft.
thick at the ground level. In the middle of the lowest apartment of
the tower is a hollow rectangular pier measuring 8 ft. by 7 ft., and
there is a well in the thickness of the outer western wall.

The Irish annals agree in stating that the New Castle of Inishowen,
which was the Irish name of this castle, was built by the Red Earl
of Ulster in the year 1305, a remarkably late date for a Norman
rectangular keep. This was, however, the date at which the Red
Earl was consohdating his authority in these parts. The Arx
Viridis, Green Castle, which Grace and Hanmer state to have been
thrown dowii in 1260, was, it may be presumed, the castle of that
name at the mouth of Carhngford Loch. At the beginning of the
I4th century, under the name of Northburg, this place had some
importance as a port of supply for the Enghsh armies in Scotland.
In 1332 Walter son of Sir Walter Burke was taken prisoner by the
Brown Earl of Ulster and brought to this castle, where he was
starved to death. Tradition, for want of any other part of the

Plate XVIII]

[To face page 202

GREENCASTLE

DOE CASTLE
From Photographs by Mr. T. J. Westropp.

PROCEEDINGS

203

ruins to attach itself to, has fixed on
the hoUow pier in the great tower as
the scene of this barbarity ; but, in
fact, the prisoner was more likely to
be secured in a wall chamber at the
very top of the tower. The ground
floor of these buildings was used for
stores. The Brown Earl's cruelty
was revenged in the following year. Gyle de Burgo,
sister of the dead Walter, was married to Sir Richard
Mandeville, and by her instigation, as is said, the
Mandevilles waylaid the young Earl of Ulster at the
ford of Belfast on 6th June, 1333, and murdered him.
As he left no son, the Earldom passed with his
daughter EHzabeth to Lionel, Duke of Clarence, 3rd
son of Edward III ; but the authority which the
Red Earl had sought to establish in these parts was
soon extinguished, and there is no further notice of
Greencastle for over two hundred years. In 1555
the Calbhach O'Domhnaill, while his father was still
ruling his principality, went to Scotland and obtained
troops from MacAihn, and returning with these and
a piece of artillery called " gonna cam," the crooked
gmi, he demohshed " the New Castle in Inis-
Eoghain," and put his father under restraint.
Subsequently it was conveyed to Sir Arthur
Chichester in his grant of Inishowen.

ST. MURAS

CROSIER

( 204 )

WEDNESDAY, 7th JULY 1915.

AILEACH

The Grianan of Aileach is a prehistoric enclosure built of dry
stone on a hill now called Greenan Mountam, that rises to a height
of 808 ft. some 5 miles north-west by north of the Citj^ of London-

Griaxan of Aileach
(Plan from Ordnance Memoir of Londonderry, 1837)

derry, and commands wide views down Lough Swilly and Lough
Foyle. For a Summer Palace, which is one of the meanings of the
word grianan, a fairer prospect could not readily be found.

Plate XIX]

[To face page 204

SKULL HOUSE. COOLEY
(Photo by Mr. T. J. Westropp)

WEST DOOR. CARNDONAGH CHURCH
(Photo by Mr. F. J. Bigger.)

PROCEEDINGS 205

The enclosure is almost circular, having an internal diameter of
77 ft. 3 in. from east to west, and of 76 ft. 6 in. from north to south.
The wall is from 13 to 14 ft. thick at the base, receding internally by-
shallow terraces, which communicate with each other by short
flights of steps ; there are at present three terraces, but only the
lowest one is of the original construction, as the upper portion of the
wall is a restoration ; the wall is now about 16 ft. high. There is
but one entrance ; it faces east, is 4 ft. 1| in. wide at the threshold,
3 ft. 1| in. Avide at the hntel, and 6 ft. 1 in. high ; the lintel, which
was thrown down, was replaced in the restoration. On each side
of this gateway there is a shallow recess near the inner end of
the passage. The wall is hollow, both to the right and to the left,
and at the position of these recesses, but completely built
off from them, is, on each side, the end of a narrow passage
wliich from this point runs for a distance of about a quarter of the
circumference and then opens into the central area. The passages
taper in width from 2 ft. 2 in. at the bottom to 1 ft. 11 in. at the
top, and the maximum height is about 5 ft. The northern passage
has a seated recess on the inner side about 10 ft. from the end
towards the gateway ; the southern passage is carried 7 or 8 ft.
beyond the opening into the central area.

Previous to the year 1870, the wall had collapsed all round, as
shown in the plan from the Ordnance Memoir, to within 5 ft. of its
base, so much being protected by the surrounding debris. At the
date mentioned Dr Bernard of Derry, at his own expense and with
help from the people of the neighbourhood, began to rebuild the
upper portion, and continued the work through several years until
all the prostrate stones had been replaced according to the indications
of the original state of the wall. He marked by a tarred line the
level from which his work started. The structure was vested in the
Board of Works by Lord Templemore in 1904, and the Board has
since restored a part of Dr Bernard's work wliich had given way,
and has maintained the monument. ^

The Grianan was not claimed by the Irish of early times as a
work of their race. The legends ascribe it to the ancient deities or
to semi-divine foreigners. One story is that when Corchenn of
Cruach, having cause for jealousy, killed the son of the Dagda, the
Dagda spared his hfe, but sentenced him to carry the corpse of the
murdered man until he should find for it a pillar stone of its own
height. The stone was found at Lough Foyle, and Corchenn heaved
it on his back, with a groan, " Alas, the stone ! I shall die of it " ;
and the weight killed him, " Ailach (stone, alas), shall be the

1 See Report of Board of Works, 1907-8.

206 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

name of this place," said the Dagda ; and he bestowed it on his
foster-brother, the warrior-god, Net, whence it got the name of
Aileach Neit.

Another legend tells that Frighriu, a famous craftsman of
northern Britain, absconded to Ireland with his king's daughter,
and found protection from the King of Ireland. He here built the
girl " a house of red yew, set out with gold and silver and brass and
gems, so that by night it was as brilliant as by day." From him
the place was called Aileach Frighrenn, " Frighriu's Stone -house."
The girl, it is told, became the wife of Eochu Doimlen, King of
Ireland, about a.d. 276, and was mother of the three CoUas.^

Geianan of Aileach
(From Photograph of H. S. Crawford)

When the sons of Niall had become masters of these territories,
Eoghan son of Niall fixed his seat at Aileach, according to a story
told in the Tripartite Life of St Patrick, for " the man of God
accompanied Prince Eoghan to his court, which he then held in that
ancient and famous seat of the kings called Aileach, and the holy
pontiff hallowed it and its with his blessing, promising that of the
seed of Eoghan many kings and princes of Ireland should come ;
and as a pledge of that blessing he left a stone there, blessed by him,
whereon the promised kings and princes should be installed." ^

In later times Aileach was a seat of the kings who ruled over the
northern branches of the descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages,
and from it they are styled Kings of Aileach. The Book of Rights
enumerates fifteen principahties subordinate to the King of Aileach.

^ Rennes Dinnsenchus in Revue Celtiqw, XVI, p, 41.
2 Colgan, Triad. Thaum. la Vita S. Patricii, cxviii.

PROCEEDINGS 207

It was hither that Muircheartach of the Leather Cloaks, in 941,
iDiought the hostages whom he had taken in every province during
his famous circuit of Ireland :

0 Muircheartach, son of vaUant Niall,

Thou hast taken the hostages of Inis Fail,

Thou hast brought them all to Aileach,

To the Grianan that has steeds from beyond the sea.^

In 1101 the Grianan was demoUshed by Muircheartach 0 Briain,
King of Munster, to revenge the destruction of Ceanncoradh

Grianan of Aileach — Intekioe
(From Photograph by H. S. Crawford)

(Kincora) by the King of Aileach in 1088, and he made his men
carry off a stone in each of their provision sacks :

I never heard of bUleting grit-stoneS;
Though I heard of billeting companies,
Until Aileach 's stones were billeted
On the horses of the King of the West.^

ISKAHEEN

Iskaheen takes its name, apparently, from the pure waters,
Uisge chaoin, of a holy well that stood near the ancient church, but
which is now separated by the high-road from the ruins. In the
graveyard of this church O'Donovan supposed that Niall of the Nine

1 Circuit of Ireland. ^ Four Masters, ad ann.

208 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Hostages was buried, according to the quatrain quoted by the Four
Masters at a.d. 465 :

Eoghan son of Niali died

Of tears — goodly his nature —

For the death of Conall of hardy feats,

And liis grave is at Uisge-chaoin.

Eoghan and Conall were sons of the same mother, and were partners
in the reduction of the north-western territories ever since their
day occupied by their descendants, the Ceneal-Eoghain and the
Cineal Conaill. Like their elder brother, the monarch Laoghaire,
they were contemporaries of St Patrick, and the piety of their
descendants has been comforted by the behef that, unhke Laoghaire,
they hstened to the words of the apostle, and received baptism from
his hand. There is, however, one story which represents Eoghan as
having incurred the displeasure of St Patrick :

" Advancing from Domnach mor (Donaghmore, near the River
Finn), the holy man enjoined upon liis disciples to warn him when
the illustrious Prince Eugenius (Eoghan) should approach. Now
Eugenius met them in the place named Fiodh-mor, where he had
come to receive the man of God with honour. . . . And there at
Patrick's preaching he embraced the faith of Christ. And Patrick
said to him : " Had you received Christ's saving doctrine in your
own country, the hostages of the Irish would have come wiUingly to
j^our hall as that of their King ; but since you have embraced it
outside your own country, you wiU get no hostages but those you
win by the strong hand and the sword. "^ But the Life of St Patrick,
ascribed to St Aileran the Wise, says positively that Eoghan " for
some time opposed Saint Patrick and would not receive the Catholic
faith." It was only after he had been frequently preached to that
he believed and was baptized. ^ And another story represents St
Patrick as evangehsing Inishowen, not in Eoghan 's time, but in
that of his grandson and great-grandson, the former of whom is said
to have laid violent hands on the saint, and to have expelled him
from his territory when he ventured to mark out the site of a church
in it.^ All these indications of opposition to the faith, continued
to so late a time, make it questionable that Eoghan became a
Christian, and received Christian burial. The neighbourhood of
Iskaheen contains a number of monuments of pagan times, such as
the standing stones called " NiaU's rocks " on the hillside over-

^ Colgan, Tripartite Life, cxv. The heraldic bearing is evident.

2 Colgan, Quarta Vita S. Patricii, Ixxi ; Jocelin, Sexta Vita, Ixxxv

3 Trip., cxx.

PROCEEDINGS 209

looking the church ruins, and the dolmen, named on the Ordnance
Map Cloughmore, clock mor, the great stone, lying some distance
to the west of them. The dolmen is locally known by old people
as the " Giant's Grave."

O'Doherty says that an ancient bell, beheved to have been
removed from Iskaheen about 1864, twenty-six years before he
wrote, was stated to be in use in the Protestant church of Muff,
and that, like the Carndonagh bell, it has an inscription, " Ave
Maria, ora pro nobis."

DERRY: THE ECCLESIASTICAL CITY

The City of Derry contained at the last census upwards of 40,000
inhabitants, and covered nearly 2,600 acres, so far has it spread
beyond its original limits within the Island of Derry. This island,
as it was called, is formed by the River Foyle sweeping round the
eastern base of a gentle hill, which, on its opposite side was cut off
by a piece of marshy ground from the adjoining country, except at
the extreme south-western point ; within its boundaries scarcely
200 statute acres were enclosed, and a grove of venerable oaks
spread over a great part of its surface. The marsh has been filled
up and built over, but it has left its name to the Cow Bog and the
Bog Side. In this secure retreat, according to ancient stories, the
princes of the line of Conall Gulban had a royal seat at the beginning
of the 6th century, and even those of them who attained the
monarchy of Ireland resided here down to Aedh son of Ainmire,
King of Ireland from 568 to 598. He bestowed it as the site of a
monastery on his relative St Columba. The year 546, assigned to
the grant and foundation, has been rejected by serious historians,
and a more probable time would be about the year 574, when King
Aedh held the famous Convention at Druimceat near Limavady,
and St Columba came from lona to attend it.

The monastery of Derry makes no great figure in history, though
it has had a notable place in legend. Like other Irish monasteries
of the time, it was a cluster of churches and cells ; like theirs, its
buildings were at first of wood, and it was burned in 1095, 1135,
1149, and 1166. These and other calamities are the whole tale of
its history for nearly 600 years. One of its churches was dedicated
to St. Martin, 1 another was the great abbey chiurch, the Duibh-
Regles, the Cella Nigra of later ecclesiastical documents, which was

1 Four Masters, a.d. 1203. It stood at the end of the street called St Columb's
Wells. O'Doherty, Derry-Columcille, p. 40.

210 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

remarkable for being bmlt on an axis running north and south, not
in the more usual direction, east and west. St Columba, it was said,
chose this position in order to leave the grove of oaks intact.

In the year 1162 "a total separation of the houses from the
Churches of Doire was made by the successor of Colum CiUe,
Flaithbheartach 0 Brolchain, and Muircheartach 0 Lochlainn, King
of Ireland, and eighty houses or more were demohshed ; and the
caiseal an erlair (drystone wall of the floor) was also constructed by
the successor of Columcille, and he launched a curse on liim who
should ever come over it." i This appears to be one of those rare
and obscure references to a most important incident in Irish monastic
history, not yet fully investigated, the transition of the monks from
their ancient rules to one or other of the great orders of the universal
church. The group of churches and cells, encroached upon by
secular buildings and pursuits, was remodelled, the secular buildings
were removed, and the monastery was henceforth secured from
intrusion by a stone enclosure and by ecclesiastical censure. It was
now, perhaps, that the monks of Derry adopted the rule of canons
regular of St Augustine under which they Hved in later times.
Abbot 0 Brolchain was a man of pre-eminent abihty ; at a national
synod held in 1158 he had been appointed abbot-general of all the
monasteries mth a seat among the bishops in ecclesiastical assembHes.
The honour thus granted him has been interpreted to convey that
he was then made Bishop of Derry, ^ whereas the true significance
seems to be that he was given a position hke that of a mitred abbot ,
on account of the authority he was to exercise over the rehgious
houses.

To complete the reform at Derry a church was built outside the
abbey precincts to serve the spiritual needs of the secular population.
It was named Teampull M6r, the great church, though its length
was but 90 feet,^ unwarrantably extended by Colgan to 80 paces
(passus), or 400 feet. The TeampuU Mdr became afterwards the
cathedral church of Derry. Its site is now occupied by a Catholic
parish church, popularly kno-vra as the Long Tower, from a tower
traditionally stated to have been a round tower, which stood here
down to the end of the 17th century.*

A further reform of the abbey was made in 1397 by Primate
Colton, who ordered all suspect jDersons to be removed from the
precincts, and the abbot and canons to return to the observance of a

1 Annals of Ulster, a.d. 1162 ; Four Masters.

2 Ordnance Memoir of Londonderry, p. 21.

3 Annals of Ulster : wrongly 80 feet in Four Masters.
* Ordnance Mernoir, p. 25.

212 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

common life. In connexion with this visitation mention is made
of chambers and other accommodation for guests, the choir of the
abbey church, a dormitory and a rerectory.i The abbey had, how-
ever, entered on a period of decay. In 1412 it was " so much
impoverished through long wars and other calamities that its inmates
could not be duly maintained. ^ In 1423 its buildings were reduced
to manifest destruction and ruin by continual wars and deadly
enmities in those parts. ^ A hundred years later the position only
of the church could be traced. * The explosion of an English powder-
house in 1567,^ and the works of Sir Henry Docwra in 1600, wrought
further havoc. ^ The plan of Docwra's fort,'^ reproduced in the
Ordnance Memoir and one of Derry in Facsimiles of National MSS.
show what may be recognised as a side of the claustral buildings,
that " peece of an ould monasterie " mentioned in Philhps's report,
" longe before the bumeing of Derry by them repaired and yet
mayntejmed " as the city church.

The writers of the Ordnance Memoir, not recognising that the
Abbey of St Columba had become a house of canons regular of St
Augustine, were driven to invent another Augustinian house, "not
noticed in the Annals," as they admit, to fill this site, " now occupied
by the bishop's garden." But the site is that cf the Duibh- Regies,
the Cella Nigra, the Abbey of Derry.

One other religious house stood within the island — viz., the
nunnery ; its position has been rendered doubtful by carelessness
in the inquisitions of James I and inaccuracy in some of the pubHshed
calendars. It is thus described in an inquisition of 23rd November
1602, the last year of Queen Elizabeth : —

" A parcel of land called the island of Derry in Co. Donegal!,
'' contains a quarter of spiritual land and an old and ruined chapel of
" nuns, which quarter of land (except three crofts that pertain to
" the bishopric of Derry) and chapel with appurtenances belong
" and pertain to the now queen in right of her crown and by reason
" of divers statutes set forth in that behalf in this kingdom of
" Ireland :

" An old and ruined chapel with half a quarter of land called
" RossenecaUiagh (Nuns' Point), beside the vill of Donalonge in Co.
" Cuhane, with appurtenances, and another quarter of land called

1 Colton's Visitation, ed. Reeves, passim.

2 Bliss, Papal Letters, 1404-15.

3 Bliss, Papal Letters, 1417-31.

* Colgan, Triad. Thaum. Vita 5a cap. Ivii.

5 C. S. P. I., 1509-73, pp. 331-332.

s See Ordnance Memoir, pp. 36-38 ; also 0 Clerigh, Life of Red Hugh O'DonnelL

-> See p. 215.

PROCEEDINGS. 213

*' Ballynecalliagh (Nuns' Town), near the vill of Illagh in Co.
" Donagal, of right belong and ought to belong to the said queen
*' as parcel of the possession of the said chapel of nuns of Derry."

The word translated " nuns " above is in the original return in
the Record Office, Dublin, written in a contracted form " monarum "
for monacharum " nuns," and has been wrongly extended mona-
chorum, " monks," in the printed calendar.

It appears correctly in the lease of 25th May, 1603, made by
James I to Sir Henry Docwra : —

" Donegal Co. — One new house in the fort of Derrie, made and
*' built by him, wherein he now dwells, with the old or late dissolved
" chapel of nonnes and the stone tower by the bog, situate in the
" said island of Derrie, together with the whole island and all other
*' buildings, gardens, orchards and inclosures in the said island, the
"" store-houses used for the King's munition and victuals excepted.
" To hold for 21 years at the rent of 13s. 4d. without fine ; in con-
" sideration of his good and faithful service performed since his first
" going to Loughfoyle."^

A further grant, that made to Sir George Carewe on 3rd April,
1604, indicates the respective situations of the abbey and the
nunnery on the island ; the nunnery occupied the northern half, and
the abbey occupied the southern half :

" Donegal Co. — The site and precinct of the late monastery or
" house of canons of Derrie, called the Abbey of St Columbe, other-
" wise CollumkiUie, containing 2 ' crestus ' of lands adjacent to the
" abbey and the moiety of the island of Derrie, extending from the
" site of the said monastery to the river of Loughfoile on the E.
" and from the said site to the extreme end of the island on the S.
" containing ^ of a small qr. of pasture, parcel of the estate of the
" said abbey, valued at 6s. 8d. by the year :

" The site and precinct of the late chapel or monastery or house
" of monks [read nuns] of Derry aforesaid, and the other moiety of
" the said island extending from the lands of the said abbey on every
" side to the end of the said island N., containing | a small quarter
" of pasture ; - rent 13s. 4d. — BalHnecalleagh near the town of
" Ellagh, 1 gr., waste, and therefore only valued at 3s. 4d., parcel
'' of the estate of the said abbey. ^

1 Pat. 1 Jas. I, p. 10 xxxvii. 36.

* " Upon which were lately built domiciles for the inabitants " : Erck, p. 133.

3 Chapel of Derrie, ibid.

214 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

" CoLEEAiNE Co. — The site and precinct of the old ruinous
" chapel of RossencalHogh near Donalonge, and | qr. of waste land,
" parcel of the estate of the abbey^ of Derrie ; rent Is. 8d." ^

The great inquisition of 1st September, 1609, is shown by this
grant to be in error in returning the nunnery as on the south side of
the city ; but the inquisition will be found inaccurate in another
particular. This, at all events, is clear from examination of all the
documents, that within the island of Derry there were two rehgious
houses and no more — namely, the abbey and the nunnery. It will
now be useful to refer once more to Docwra's plan. A number of
considerable buildings are shown standing to the north of the fort,
and they are named " Babington's House," " Castle," and " Store-
house " ; they correspond to the structures which Docwra's lease
specified to be in that position — that is, the nunnery, the stone
tower by the bog and the store-houses. Babington's house, there-
fore, represents the nunnery, and it has retained some semblance to
a cloistered building. The site, so far as one may judge from the
plan, was on the ground to the south side of the present Castle
Street.

The nunnery, according to an entry cited by Harris, was of the
Cistercian order, and according to Allemande it was founded by
Toirdhealbhach Luineach 0 Neill, and in 1218, one or other part
of the statement being incorrect since Toirdhealbhach belongs to
the 16th century. 2

A third rehgious house at Derry remains to be mentioned ; and
it should be observed that the official documents deal with only
three such houses, agreeing in this wherever else they differ. The
third monastery was the Dominican friary, founded in 1274 by
Domhnall 0 Domhnaill. In 1281 he was borne from the battle-
field of Diseart-da-chrioch to be buried within its walls. This friary
stood on the north side of the bog, and Abbey Street runs through
its site. Queen EUzabeth's inquisition of 23rd November 1602 ,
describes it thus :

''"An old and ruined church or house of Dominican friars with a
" carucate or an eighth of a quatcrland beside the island or vill of
" Derry aforesaid similarly pertains and should pertain to the said
" queen."

1 To same belonging, Erck, p. 133.

2 Pat. 2 Jas. I, p. 57 ; Iv, 5. ; extracted also bj- Sir John Dav3's to show the
King's title, Eussell and Prendergast's Calendar, 1608-10, p. 568.

3 Ordnance Memoir, p. 25.

Docwra's Fort in 1600
(From Ordnance Memoir of Londonderry'

216 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Sir George Care we 's grant is to the same purpose :
" The site and precinct of the late Dominican friary, and the
" eighth part of a quarter of land or thereabouts situate near the
" island of Derry nigh the river Loughfoyle, on the N. part of the
" said island in Co. Donnegall, parcel of the possessions of the said
" friary."

But the inquisition of 1st September, 1609, has blundered in
this case also, describing the house as follows :

" On the north side of the said bog near the island of Derry
" are the ruines of the late priorie or religious house of the begging
'' friars of St Frauncis late dissolved, with a church yarde contejming
" three acres or thereabouts to the said priorie or rehgious house
" appertayning and adjoyninge."

As the inquisition makes no mention of the Dominicans, it is
evident that their house is intended here, notwithstanding the very
precise mention of St Francis. The Franciscans, of course, do not
use the titles of prior and priory, and no evidence apart from this
error in the inquisition exists to show that they had a house at Derry.
The particulars of the Ordnance Memoir, as of the inquisition, relative
to a non-existent Franciscan Friary must be referred to that of the
Dominicans.

Beginnings of Civil Authority

Abolit the year 1307 Richard de Burgo, Earl of Ulster, secured
a foothold in Derry by obtaining from the then bishop such a grant
of certain possessions of the see as enabled him to erect his own
secular court within the ecclesiastical city. The EngUsh state papers
show that the earl took care to have his acquisitions confirmed by
the King's authority ; but they do not throw so much hght upon
the transaction as the Vatican archives do. A later bishop, Michael
Mac Lochlainn, appealed to the Roman curia in 1327, representing
that " his predecessor Geoffrey and the chapter had a dispute with
Richard touching the patronage of certain churches and touching
lands and rights belonging to the bishopric ; and the earl, relymg on
the temporal power, got the better of the bishop and chapter, who
suffered heavily, but agreed verbally that the earl and his heirs
should hold the portion and temporal jurisdiction which they had
in the City of Derry, and also advowsons in certaiti places and
divers tenements belonging to the church of Derry, paying a very
small pension to the bishop. The earl has held these possessions
for twenty years to the great injury of the see, and as he is now

PROCEEDINGS 217

dead, Bishop Michael has petitioned the Pope to compel the earl's
heirs to make restitution." The Pope issued a commission appoint-
ing the Archbishop of Armagh to decide the case.i The result does
not seem to be now on record ; but the extinction of the English
power in those parts a few years later superseded all need for seeking
■a, decision m form of law.

Lord Deputy Sir Henry Sydney having joined forces with
■O'Donnell against Shane O'Neill penetrated to Derry in October,
1566, and obtained a grant of the site for the queen. He turned
the abbey into a fortress and posted Colonel Edward Randolfe there
with a strong garrison. Randolfe was killed within a short time,
two-thirds of the garrison perished of cold and disease in the winter,
a.nd finally a fire origmating in a smith's forge blew up the magazine
with the loss of thirty men.- The survivors were removed, and it
was reported among the Irish that a wolf had fired the powder with
& blazing fagot, and that St Columba had avenged himself.

In 1600 a more serious attempt was made by Sir Henry Docwra.
He, too, fortified the abbey, and the plan here reproduced shows
works of considerable strength and permanence. Nothing so formid-
able had been seen in those parts previously. " The Enghsh," wrote
Lughaidh 0 Clerigh, " made very large defences and earthen
ramparts round the monastery and the church (daimhliag). They
made passages and covered ways of earth under the walls, and
bulwarks upon them with embrasures and loop-holes to shoot from.
They dug deep trenches all round on the outside. These works
were much stronger and securer than the dwelhngs of lime and stone
and the castles in building which much time and labour were spent.
Then they pulled down the monastery and the church, and they
showed neither honour nor respect to the great saint, for they
destroyed all the ecclesiastical buildings in the place, and made
rooms and sleeping apartments of them, and used some of them
to eat in." ^

Docwra thus became founder of modern Derry ; when James I
came to the Throne, a king's letter for its incorporation was issued,
22nd March, 1604, to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in these terms :

" LTppon the petition of Sir Henry Docwra, Knt., that the towoie
of Derry in the north of Ireland, newhe in the dayes of our late
deere sister deceassed made a colony of Englishe, and nowe growne
to have some good nomber of inhabitants, might be incorporated

^ Bliss, Papal Letters, ii., 1305-42, p. 256 ; see the bishop's statement in full
in Theiner, Vetera Monumenta Hibernorum et Scotorum, p. 237.
2 C.S.P.I., 1509-73 pn.'^sim.
» Life of Bed Hugh O'Dmnell.

218 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

and indewed with some imunities and priviledges for the good of
that place and the better setthnge of those partes in civihtie and
obedience : wee have referred the consideration thereof to you and
our councell there, and do aucthorize you to consulte thereuppon
and to graunte it with such hmmitts, hberties, priviledges and
imunities as may be leaste offensive to the Irish borderers there-
abouts, and yet sufficient for the good government of the people
there and for incoradginge them both to manure the land and to^
trafficke. . . .

" And in regard the said Sir Henrie has taken greate paines in
reduceinge those partes to our subjection, wee are pleased that hee
shall have the cheife government thereof dureing lyfe by the name
of our provost, maior or bailiff, etc. ; and also have aucthoritie to
nominate a vice -provost in his absence to have the Hke aucthoritie
as himself e being presente." ^

In accordance with this letter the first charter of Derry waa
granted on lltli July 1604, "to Sir Henrie Docwra, Knt., and to
the inhabitauntes of the town of Dirrie and of the circuit of land
and water lyinge within 3 myles from the old church walles in said
towne . . . same to be for ever one free and entire cittie and
countie, and the inhabitauntes thereof erected into a corporation
to consist of a provost, 12 aldermen, 2 shiriffes, 24 burgesses and so
manie freemen as they shall chuse to admit according to the increase
of the inhabitauntes ... to build a common hall or towne house
to be called the counsel! house of Derrie ... to erect a common
gaole or prison . . . such corporators as be of one trade or
occupation shall and may devide themselves into companies, guildes
or fraternities, and erect for everie such companie a common hall
wherein to assemble." ^

Four years later Sir Caher O'Dogherty avenged himself for a
blow on the face from the vice-provost, Sir George Pawlett, by laj^ing
the city in ashes ; but once again it arose. The citizens of London
undertook a colony m the Plantation of Ulster, and under a charter
granted 29th March 1613, to the Society of the Governors and
Assistants (London) of the New Plantation of Ulster, the city was
reconstituted by the name of Londonderry, with a maj^or, sheriffs,
aldermen and burgesses.

^ Erck, Repertory of Patent Rolls, p. 165.
2 Erck, p. 114.

o a

220 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

THE CITY OF LONDONDERRY

In six years from the granting of the second charter Pynnar
reported that : " The City of London-Derry is now compassed with
a very strong wall, excellently made and neatly wrought, being all
of good Hme and stone ; the circuit whereof is 284f perches at 18 ft.
to the perch, besides the four gates, which contain 84 ft. ; and in
every place of the wall it is 24 ft. high and 6 ft. thick," backed by
12 feet of earth and planked by nine bulwarks or bastions and two
half bulwarks. " Since the last survey there is built a school,
which is 77 ft. in length and 25 ft. in breadth, with two other small
houses. Other buUding there is not any within the city. The whole
number of houses within the city are 92, . . . neither is there
room enough to set up 100 more unless they will make them as Uttle
as the first, and name each room a house." ^

Cathedral axd Parish Church of St Columb

At first, as has been said, " a peece of an ould monasterie," the
remnant of St Columba's Duibh Regies, was used as the city church.
In 1628 the London Society contracted Avith one Parrott to build
a fair church on a neighbouring site for £3,400 and a bonus of £100.
It actually cost £4,000, was completed in 1633, and still stands, after
certain alterations, as the cathedral and parish church of St Columb.
It consisted of a vaulted nave, aisles with galleries, a short chancel,
and, at the west end, a tower ; its dimensions are given as 114 feet
long, 66 feet wide, and 46 feet high, proportions which seem based
on a harmonic progression. The tower was originally 66 feet high.
In 1778 the more than celebrated Earl of Bristol, then Bishop of
Derry, raised the tower 21 feet, and built upon it an octagonal
spire of stone to a total height of 228 feet, a load too great for the
substructures. The whole had to be taken do^vn m 1802, and the
present tower and spire were then built ; their height is 178 feet.
The alterations, completed in 1887, added a new chancel 35 feet
long to the original length of the church, and the aisles were
extended to the end of the chancel ; an open timbered roof was sub-
stituted for the original roof of the nave.

Mr Champneys has given the following notice of tliis church :

" The Cathedral of Derry, finished in 1633, is — for the time

when it was built — rather good work, particularly its arcade, and it

Pynnar's Survey, 1619, in Gilbert, Facsimiles of Nat. 3ISS., iv, 2, p. Ixxxviii.

PROCEEDINGS 221

is certainly an interesting specimen of the Gothic of the time,
though there appears to be nothing about it that is distinctively
Irish. It was of far greater interest before the original short chancel
with a barrel vault, in the form of a four-centred arch, and a stilted
chancel arch of the same kind, springing from large corbels, was,
five and twenty years ago, rebuilt with very unnecessary alterations,
though the east window seems to reproduce nearly or precisely the
old tracery. The old low aisle windows have been made architec-
turally absurd by the removal of the galleries, and the groined roof
of stone with bosses (which was said to be unsafe) has not been
rebuilt." i

The Long Tower

Beyond the walls to the south-west is the locality called the
Long Tower, with a graveyard marking the site of Abbot 0 Brol-
chain's Teampull Mor, afterwards the cathedral of Derry. The
earliest view of the tower from which the place is named represents
it as rectangular, though the traditions collected by the compilers
of the Ordnance Memoir described it as a round tower. Sampson
mistook the windmill farther to the south for a round tower, and
illustrated it as belonging to the Abbey of St Columba. A Cathohc
parish church now occupies the site of the old cathedral. A stone
called St Columb's stone, which formerly stood in St Columb's
Wells Street, is now placed in the Calvary beside the church. It is
one of a numerous class of stones with circular cavities. The Wells,
which are in the middle of the street, originally bore the names of
St Columba, St Adamnan, and St Martin, respectively.

The position of the city and its substantial fortifications made
it a place of great strength during the 17th century. In the Civil
War it was held first for the King and then for Parliament. Its
charter, annulled by Charles I, was renewed by Cromwell in 1656,
re-granted by Charles II in 1662, and abrogated under James II
in 1687 by judgment of the Court of Exchequer. The citizens
closed their gates against King James's troops on 7th December
1688, and next year sustained the memorable siege of 105 daj^s until
30th July 1689, when, after they had endured the greatest priva-
tions, and their garrison of 7,000 men had been reduced to 3,000,
they were reheved by the arrival of the Dartmouth frigate and two
merchantmen, the Mount joy and the Phoenix, with suppHes.

^ Irish Ecclesiastical Architecture (1910), p. 202.

( 222 )

THURSDAY, 8th JULY 1915.

RATHMULLAN

The ruins standing in the cemetery near the shore are those of
a Carmehte friary founded by MacSuibhne (MacSwiney), the lord of
Fanad. The friars seem to have continued in possession as late as
1595. In that year George 6g Bingham and the garrison of SUgo
made a descent on Lough S willy by sea. " A monastery," says
Lughaidh O Clerigh, " was there on the edge of the shore, built in
honour of Blessed Mary, Mother of the Lord. They went to the
monastery, and took away 24 mass vestments that were there and
the vessels for offering the body of the Saviour, and other treasures
besides." Subsequently they raided St Columba's island of Tory.
'' As for the abovementioned George, the Lord of the Universe did
not leave him long unpunished after liis return to SHgo for his
outrage to the church of Blessed Mary and the church of Colum."
Ulick Burke, son of Redmond na Scuab, who with his men had been
in the raid, conceived that he had been sUghted in the division of
the sacrilegious booty. As he brooded over this, he one day foimd
himself alone with Bingham in a room in Sligo Castle, and taxed him
with the injury. Bingham disdained to answer, and the furious
Burke with a sweep of his sword struck off the silent and scornful
head.i

In 1602 Queen Elizabeth leased to Captain Ralph Bingley for a
term of years " the site, &c., of the late monastery of Begging Friars
of the B.V.M. of Rathmullan in M'Swinie Fanet's country, containing
in itself one rmnous church, a steeple, a cloister, a hall, three
chambers, an orchard [elsewhere an apple-loft], a quarter of stony
and unfertile land called Killinecrosse, and haK a quarter of the Hke
land called Farrennebragher " {Fearann na mbrathair, Friars' land).

King James granted the fee to James Fullerton in 1603, and
about 1617 Bishop Knox entered into possession and converted the
bmlduigs into a residence for himself, retaining the tower and choir
of the church for a domestic chapel. The date 1617 is carved on a
stone over the principal door, and another stone, lying loose within

1 Murphy, 0 Clerigh' s Life of Hugh Roe O'Donnell, p. 91, sqq.

Plate XX]

[To face page 222

RATHMULLAN
Exterior of Choir, South Side

1^^^^^^

^"wttBB/i

Ik .

BRACKFIELD BAWN

PROCEEDINGS 223

the ruins, bears the date 1618 There are some fragments of a tomb-
stone with the arms of MacSwiney, and perhaps on this accomit the
ruins are absurdly named locally and on the Ordnance Maps, both
of the earlier and the later editions, " MacSwyne's Castle."

MacSwiney of Fanad had a castle here on the beach, which in
1587 was the scene of the kidnapping of Aodh Ruadh 0 Domhnaill,
Red Hugh O'Donnell, planned by Sir John Perrot. " The castle,"
says 0 Clerigh, " was on the edge of the strand, and a church had
been founded there close by in honour of Mary Mother of the Lord,
to celebrate the canonical service and the Mass, and it was much
frequented by the laity and clergy of the neighbouring district. It
w^as built by the Clann Suibhne, who occupied the territory along the
loch as far as the open sea, and other territories besides." ^ Certain
vaults to the west of the friary have been pointed out as remains
of the castle, but 0 Clerigh 's words leave no doubt that it stood on
the beach, and it was probably on the shght elevation now occupied
by a group of buildings to the south of the pier and between the road
a.nd the strand.

DOE CASTLE

Doe Castle, Caislean na clTiiath, or Castledoe as it was until
lately styled, the chief seat of MacSuibhne na dTuath, MacSwiney
of the Tuatha, though converted into a modem residence and
occupied until comparatively recent times, has still the main char-
acteristics of a 16th century fortress. On a low rocky point, washed
on three sides by the sea and on the fourth defended by a ditch, a
strong central tower rises to a height of 55 ft. within a battlemented
enclosure or bawn. The principal entrance was on the land side
by a bridge across the ditch, but there were approaches from the sea
also. Below the original bridge, which is to the right of the later
entrance, a masked outlet, now partially blocked by loose stones,
opened into the ditch. The central tower is enclosed on three sides
by modern constructions, wliich in part are built upon the walls of
an inner rampart, such as the French styled " chemise " or shirt, at
a short distance from the base of the tower, and flanked by circular
bastions. The interior of the tower has been much altered. The
lowest story is not now vaulted, and it cannot now be seen whether
it was so originally or not. There is no sign of a vault at the summit
of the tower. The original entrance was on the groimd floor, and a
straight stair in the thickness of the wall to the right of the door
gave access to the upper floors, and, finally, becoming a circular
stair in one angle of the tower, ascended to the battlements. The

1 Life, pp. 4-7.

224 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

parapets of the tower and the enclosing wall were loop-holed for
musketry, and in several places the loops were arranged in pairs, as
at Carrigogunnell, so that the same gumier could fire in two different
directions.

The MaeSwineys by whom this castle was built were brought
into Tirconnell from Scotland by the O'Donnells as a mihtary force,
and, according to the practice of unmonied times, received grants of
land for their maintenance and reward. The name Tuatha indicates
that the territory allotted to this branch of the MaeSwineys had been
occupied by an ancient populace subjected by the daminant
Milesians, and it was possibly amongst this early remnant that the
heathen customs prevailed which were the occasion of a remarkable
letter from Pope Alexander IV to Patrick, Bishop of Raphoe, in
1256. The bishop, at liis own request, was directed to use the sword
of ecclesiastical censure against lay folk (and the Irish word tuaih
has that meaning) of his diocese w^ho worship idols, marry persons
nearly related to them by kindred or affinity, and presume to argue
against the Catholic faith and the authority granted by God to the
Apostohc See.^

In the latter half of the 16th century the famous Aodh Ruadh
O'Domhnaill was ward or fosterhng of Eoghan 6g Mac Suibhne,
lord of the Tuatha, and that Achilles of the Gael must have spent
much of his boyhood and been trained to martial exercises at this
castle of the Tuatha.

In the Plantation of Ulster Doe Castle fell to Captain Sanford,
and is thus described in Pynnar's Survey :

" Captain Sanford hath 500 acres called Castledoe. Upon this
there is a Bawne of Lyme and Stone forty feet square, sixteen feet
high, and a Castle within it that is very strong ; himself with his
Wife and Family dwelHng therein, with four other Enghsh famiUes
on the Land."

Bishop Pocock in 1752 described it more fully as " a fine square
turret of five stories, and near sixty feet high ; it is encompassed
with an inner Wall and Turrets, and with a second ahnost all round.
This was the strength of the Mac S wines, who were masters of this
country ; and after the wars the head of them bemg offered part of
his lands, as they say, refused them unless he had all, and the books
being shut, he lost all.-

The site of a church, said to be that of a monastery founded by
MacSwiney for Friars Minor, stands on the shore somewhat to the
west of the castle.

1 Theiner, Vetera Monumenia Hiberncrum et Scoicrum, p. 71.

2 Tour, p. 61.

PROCEEDINGS 225

BOON

The Rock of Doon is a precipitous mass rising boldly above a
stretch of moorland ; at its southern end a block of stone is pointed
out as that on which O'Donnell stood at the ceremony of his
inauguration.

In the middle of a piece of flat ground to the south-east of the
rock is the holy well of Doon, much frequented and credited with
innumerable cures, attested by sticks and crutches wreathed with
rags, set in thick order beside the well, and by rags tied to the
neighbouring bushes. In contradiction of the common opinion that
the veneration of wells has been handed down by tradition from pre-
Christian days, the origin of the pilgrimage to Doon is comparatively
modern. It was established by a priest named Friel (or 0 Firghil),
supposed to be one of those wandering Franciscans who lingered in
the neighbourhood of their old houses and ministered to the spiritual
needs of the CathoHcs in penal times. He was, perhaps, a re-
presentative of the ancient airchinneachs of Kilmacrenan. After-
wards the well was blessed by a Father Gallagher.

KILMACRENAN

The ruins at Kilmacrenan are not extensive and have no notable
architectural features. The graveyard is divided into two by a road ;
on one side is the site of a church with a ruined tower of late con-
struction ; on the other are the remains of a building traditionally
identified with a house of Friars Minor estabhshed here by one of
the O'Donnells.i Nothing can be gleaned of the history of this
friary, which Allemande^ says was unknown to Wadding. Neverthe-
less, to judge from the Hst of its possessions as set out when they
were granted to James Fullerton, it should have been more wealthy
than Franciscan houses in Ireland generally were. FuUerton's grant,
of 11th October, 1603, enumerated more than 27 quarterlands with
the rectory and tithes of Kilmacrenan, all of which were conveyed
to him subject to a rent of ITZ.^ It may be suspected that a con-
siderable part of this large estate was " erenagh lands," the ancient
endowment of the long extinct Columban monastery, of which
the O'Firghils were Airchinneachs or secular administrators, and
which, according to King James's settlement, should have been

1 Ware, Antiq., c. 26.

2 P. 275.

^ Pat. Jas. I, p. 8 ; xv, 11 ; and Erck., p. 41, where the rent is 7^

226 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

secured to the See of Raphoe but for the device of passing them as
the estate of the friary.

The interest of Kilmacrenan hes in its associations. In Irish
its name was Cell mhic Nenain, the church of the son of Enan, and
eariier, Doire Ethne, Ethne's Oakwood.i Ethne was the name of St
Columba's mother, and it was here that St Columba received his
first instruction, and that the heavenly favour of which he was the
object was manifested to his instructor by a brilhant hght shining
above the bed of the sleeping boy.^ The saint in after years obtained
from liis uncle Sedna the lands called subsequently the Tearmonn of
Kilmacrenan, to be the site of a monastery ; ^ and he is said to have
prophesied that whenever any of the descendants of Dalach, ancestor
of the O'Donnells, was about to fall by the sword the waters of the
well at Kilmacrenan would turn to blood. ^

While tradition states that the lords of Tir-Conaill were in-
augurated on the Rock of Dbon, the written record says that the
ceremony took place in the church of Kilmacrenan. It was here that
the nobles assembled on 3rd May, 1592, and elected the famous Red
Hugh O'Donnell to take the place of his aged father. " The precise
place where the nobles came together was at Kilmacrenan in the
middle of the cantred of the Cinel Lughaidh, on the north of the
Leannan, the place where Columcille was fostered, and it was by
him the church was first established, and in it the O'DonneU was
inaugurated in the cliieftaincy of his territory, and it was the erenach
of the same church that inaugurated him ; and it was through respect
and reverence for St Colum that this was done there by the Cinel
Conaill." ^

The neighbourhood is filled with reminiscences of St Columba.
Not far to the west of Kilmacrenan is Templedouglas, Tulach-
dubhglaise, the site of a reHgious house on the spot where he was
baptised, and a little farther is Gartan, where he was born.

Colgan has thus turned into Latin some Irish verses attributed
to St Mura of Fahan :

Ediderat mundo Gartan, Dubhghlassia Christo,
Nutrierat celebrem Killenia fausta Columbam

At Gartan was Columba born, at Templedouglas christened ;
In Kilmacrenan 's happy school to holy lore he listened.

1 Colgan, Triad. Thaum, 5a Vita, i, xxix, xxx.

2 Adamnan, Vita Columbce, iii, 2.

3 Colgan, Triad. Thaum., 5a Vita, i, Ixix.
* lb. Ixxviii.

5 Murphy, 0 Cleriglis Life of Hugh Roe, p. 41. Possibly, as was the case with
the Kings of Munster at Cashel, there were two functions, a religious one at the
church and a secular one at the rock.

PROCEEDINGS 227

BATTLEFIELD OF SCARIFFHOLLIS

Scariffhollis, Scairbh-sholuis, " the stony ford of light," about
2| miles to the west of Letterkenny was the scene of the total defeat
■of MacMahon, Bishop of Clogher, and the Royalists of Ulster by
the ParUamentarians under Sir Charles Coote in 1650. The bishop
was appointed general of the forces of Ulster for Charles II by
•commission from Ormonde, the Lord Lieutenant, in April, 1650, and
speedily advanced into the Parliamentarian quarters in Armagh
and Derry. Venables with the EngHsh forces fell back behind the
Bann ; Coote with the Laggan army retired beyond the Foyle, and
prepared to contest the passage of that river at Strabane. The
bishop, having reduced and garrisoned the enemy's posts in Co.
Derry, except the city, marched rapidly through the mountains,
and arrived on the east bank of the Foyle on the evening of the
1st or 2nd of June. He immediately passed the river at a tidal ford
Ijelow Lifford, and his whole army was on the western bank before
■Coote could come up to oppose him. Next mornmg the two armies
found themselves drawn up in full view of each other, but too
strongly posted for either to risk an attack. The bishop feigned to
move away, and Coote made a brisk onset with a body of horse,
which, however, was overthrown and driven back in such confusion
that Coote was obliged to send forward troops to bring them off.
The bishop did not support his men in the pursuit, and thus, in
Coote 's opinion and that of the Irish officers, the Parhamentarians
escaped destruction. ^

The good fortune that had followed the bishop's movements
hitherto now abandoned him. He lost time in useless enterprises,
and gave Venables an opportunity of marching from Coleraine to
Derry, and of detaching Colonel Fen wick with 1,000 men to reinforce
Coote. At the same time his own strength was reduced by garrisons
and detachments, especially by permitting Colonel Myles Mac
Swiney to indulge his family vanity in leading off 1,300 or 1,400
men against Doe Castle. ^ Coote, joined by Fen wick on 18th June,
and reinforced by the Scottish gentry of the district on horseback,
who after they had paid court to the bishop at Lifford, and had been
well received and admitted to protection, deserted in a single night
to liis enemy,3 determined to try conclusions while the bishop's

1 Coote, Report to Ireton, 2nd July, 1650, in Gilbert, Contemporary History, iii,
147-9; History of the Warr in Ireland, p. 123.

2 History of the Warr, p. 125 ;^0'Neill's Journal, p. 623.

3 History of the Warr, p. 124. TJiey, perhaps, had formed a poor opinion of his
lardship's mihtary skill.

228 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

troops were scattered. The latter was posted in very strong groundL
on the northern bank of the River Swilly near Letterkenny. On.
21st June Coote showed himself in battle order on the opposite hills.
His force, according to the lowest estimate, was 3,000 foot and
800 horse. ^ The bishop, against the opinion of his officers,^ resolved
to fight. He had at hand about 2,600 foot and 400 horse, ^ aforcfr
inferior in number to his adversary's, but all resolute men accustomed
to fight side by side, veterans of Owen Roe O'Neill, the never-
defeated, " confident victorious army of Ulster." The ground was
imfavourable for the use of cavalry, and the enemy's preponderance
in that arm would give him httle advantage in the actual
conflict.

Just below the hamlet of New Mills the valley of the Swilly
begins to open out near the site of an old castle of the O'Donnells,.
and the river winds in a tidal channel through level holms. Th&
bishop drew out his army, and passing the river, showed his willing-
ness to fight. It was the opportunity Coote was anxious for. He-
ordered Fenwick to charge the Irish. The advanced parties came
into collision between the two armies ; the captain of the Irish was^
shot and his men gave way ; a brigade was ordered to their support,
and the ParUamentarian skirmishers retired. Fenwick thereupon,
charged the Royahsts, but fell himself at the first discharge ; his men,
however, held on, and as they closed, Coote sent forward another
brigade to steady them after their colonel fell. The commander of
the Royalist brigade being, by a repetition of the former blunder,
left engaged without supports, saw himself in danger of being over-
whelmed. He ordered his men to fall back to a ditch which they"
might hold until supports were sent up. They faced about, an
unfortunate manoeuvre, for Fenwick's brigade pressed forward in
their rear so hotly as to throw them into disorder. Their Colonel,
endeavouring to stem the current, was taken prisoner, and the

^ Cox, Hibernia Anglicana, Reign of Charles II, p. 24, fqq. This probably is-
an underestimate for both arms. Borlase (Irish Rebellion, p. 253), followed by
Clarendon, says that Coote was inferior in foot, but had threefold strength in
horse. The writer of the Latin account in Gilbert, Contemp. Hist, iii, 154, also-
says that Coote had thrice his opponents' strength in horse, and rates him twice
as strong in foot. Borlase probably reckoned the absentees in the bishop's-
numbers. If Coote had only 2,0C0 foot at the Foyle against the bishop's-
4,000 the latter did, indeed, blunder there.

2 The author of the Aphorismical Discovery, though often untrustworthy, is in
this supported by the Latin account, ''concilia bellico refragrante" I.e., and by the
Author of the " Warr " " the Bish6p-General valued not nor considered . . ^
but, Csesar-Uke, forthwith he must fight."

3 All accounts agree in estimating the bishop's full strength in Tirconnell at
4.000. There cannot have been more than 2,600 in his camp at this date, ex-
cluding horse.

PROCEEDINGS 229

"brigade lost heart and fell to pieces. They were hurled in confusion
on the next brigade of their own men, which also had its formation
broken. Coote launched another brigade on the flank of the
.struggHng mass, while Fenwick's brigade bore them down in the
rear. The whole chaotic tumult was driven towards the ford,
where the leaders hoped to make a stand ; but before it was reached
all resistance was at an end, and the fugitives were cut down as they
ran. Fifteen hundred, including Major-General O'Cahan and many
of the principal officers, fell on the field. The officers who sur-
rendered were put to death afterwards by Coote 's orders although
they had been given quarter. Owen Roe's son, Colonel Henry
O'Neill, was clubbed to death next day outside Coote 's tent, who,
"when the prisoner reminded him that but that Owen Roe had
TeHeved him at Derry he himself would have perished. " Your
father," said Coote contemptuously, "got his wages for that,"
alluding to the £5,000 he had received. The execution spread for
ten or eleven miles in every direction, and the country-people joined
in the pursuit and slaughter. Of the whole Irish army it was thought
not about 500 escaped aUve. A small party under Major O'Hagan
held out in the old castle, and got quarter on condition of having
one of the Co. Derry posts surrendered. On the other side were lost
" only Captain Sloper of Colonel Venables' regiment, about eleven
or twelve private soldiers. Colonel Fenwick, Captain Gore and an
Ensign, with some few soldiers hurt and wounded." ^

The bishop, when the day was lost, quitted the field with his
Lieutenant-General, O'Farrell, and the cavalry. Two days later he
was intercepted by the Governor of Enniskillen, wounded and taken
prisoner on quarter. He was detained at Enniskillen for six months,
until his thigh, which had been broken, was knit again, and then
in spite of all the efforts of his generous captor, Major King, and
notwithstanding that he held the Lord Lieutenant's commission,
Coote hanged him, as Clarendon says, with all the circumstances of
contumely, reproach and cruelty he could devise.

^ History of the Warr in Ireland, 127-9. The author, whose identity has not
been ascertained, saw service all through the war, chiefly in British regiments. He
was with the bishop in this campaign, and escaped from ScariffhoUis with Colonel
Alexander MacDonnell, afterwards Earl of Antrim, whose horse, " Strawberry,"
he knew by sight and name. His language has some Scotticisms, but he shows no
sympathy with the Laggan gentry. He was probably a County Antrim man. He
wrote his narrative between 1682 and 1688. Coote to Ireton, ut supra.

230 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

CONWALL

Conwall (Congbhail) is the site of a very ancient monastery, one
of whose abbots, Fiachra, was also abbot of Clonard, and died
towards the end of the 6th or in the first half of the 7th centurJ^l
The remains of this ancient monastery are chiefly sculptured grave-
slabs, and there is one curious stone pierced with an oblong hole.

Amongst the noble dead here buried was Godfrey O'Donnell,
lord of Tir-Conaill, of whom it is told by the Four Masters under
the year 1258 that having been sorely wounded in single combat
with the justiciary, Maurice FitzGerald, he w^as carried to an
island in Loch Beagh {Beathach) to die. Brian O'Neill (of the
Battle of Do^vn) seized the opportmiity to demand hostages from
Tir-Conaill in token of vassalage. The dying lord called out his
levies, ordered his coffin to be got ready, and was borne in it amidst
his men to resist O'Neill, whom he met and defeated on the Swilly.
After the fight he was borne triumphant, still in his coffin, to
Conwall, and as the bier was lowered in the street of the town, he
expired.

FARSAD MOR

Farsad mor, the great sand -spit at the mouth of the River Smlly,
was the scene of the defeat of Shane O'Neill by the O'Donnells in
1567. O'NeiU had invaded Tir-Conaill by crossing the SwiUj'- here
at low water, but was met by the O'Donnells on the northern bank,
and after a severe struggle he was driven back to the estuary ; the
rising tide had, however, made it impassible, and the greater part of
the invading force was slain or drowned. O'Neill himself escaped
with difficulty along the northern bank as far as Scariffliollis, where
he crossed and continued his flight into TjTone.^ It was in con-
sequence of this defeat that he sought assistance from the Scots at
Cushendun, where he was slain by them.

BALLEEGHAN

At Balleeghan, Baile-aighidh-chaoin, there was, according to
Ware and Allemande, a Franciscan friary, of which nothing is known.
The present ruin is that of a large nave, about 80 ft. long by 20 ft.

1 Archdall. " Four Masters, Ad ann.

PROCEEDINGS 231

wide, with inserted Gothic details of the Plantation period. The
east window is an effective three-Ught window of that date, with a
short flight of steps on the inside projecting sideways from the
wall to the level of the sill. There are two other traceried windows,
one in the south wall and a low one in the north wall not exactly-
opposite. Nearer to the east and in this wall there are traces of an
arched wall-tomb, and in the floor of the nave is a flat tombstone
with armorial bearings.

Not far from this church, not then described as a monastery,
Shane O'Neill pitched his camp in 1557, when, in his father's life-
time, he was resolved that there should thereafter be but one King
in Ulster. Two spies of the Calbhach O'Donnell's penetrated into
his camp, and returned with a report. A huge fire was kept burning
in the middle of the camp before the tent of O'Neill's son, that is,
Shane ; near the fire an enormous torch, thicker than a man's body,
was kept blazing constantly, and by it there always stood on guard
60 galloglasses with gleaming axes, and 60 Scots with naked
swords. Nothing dismayed by this report, the Calbhach with 30
horse and two companies of galloglasses surprised the camp, and
cut his way right up to the body-guard. Shane O'Neill, on hearing
the uproar, fled through the back of the tent, and never stopped
until he reached Errigal Keerogue in the south of Co. Tyrone. His
men were completely defeated, and his famous horse, Mac-an-iolair,
son of the eagle, fell to the victor. ^

Four Masters, Ad ann.

( 232 )

FRIDAY, 9th JULY 1915.

BRACKFIELD BAWN.

At Brackfield, about eight miles from Derry on the road
to Dungiven, is one of the smaller bawns of the Plantation
period. Undertakers in the Plantation were required to erect

defensive buildings, proportioned to the extent of their grants,
within two years of the date of their letters patent ; for 2,000 acres ,
a castle with a strong bawn ; for 1,500 acres, a house of stone or
brick with a strong bawn ; for 1,000 acres, a strong bawn at least.
The bawn at Brackfield is an enclosure about 70 feet square ; the

PROCEEDINGS 233

southern side was closed by a house running the full length of the
side and about 17 feet wide internally ; of the house only the outer
Tvall and gables remain, none of them to the original height. Office
l)uildings probably ran along the western side, so that an open
•court, about 42 feet square, lay in the north-east quarter of the bawn.
The gate was in the middle of the northern side of this court. The
exterior of the enclosing walls was defended by two circular flankers,
one at each extremity of the diagonal running approximately north-
west and south-east.

BANAGHER

The ruins of the old church of Banagher stand on the top of a
steep knoll overlooking the valley of the Owenrigh, a tributary of
the Roe, about two miles to the south of Dungiven. They are
thus described by Mr Champneys :

" The building consists of nave and chancel. The nave measures
35 ft. in length by 20 ft. wide. The walls are about 15 ft. in height,
and the west gable is nearly perfect and is carried up to a great
height in its pitch. The walls are about 3 ft. thick. The masonry
of the nave is of good hammered stone, but not laid in courses,
•except in the west gable, where the stones are smaller than those in
the north and south walls, and are laid in rude courses. The chancel
measures 20 ft. 8 in. in length by 16 ft. in width, and the total length
of the building, including the thickness of the transverse chancel
wall, is 57 ft. 8 in. The masonry of the chancel is more elegant
externally than that of the nave. It is ashlar, and of imusually large
stones, with good rubble grouting inside. There is evidence to
prove that the angles were constructed of cut stone with a deep and
graceful moulding.

" The west door ... is very remarkable. Unfortunately this
[exterior] view of it is partly obstructed by the graves and tomb-
stones, which rise to a height of 4 ft. and 5 ft. in front of it. It is
externally 6 ft. 10 in. high, 3 ft. 5 in. wide at the base and 2 ft. 7 in.
at the top. The tympanum is 2 ft. 2 in. high. A large block of
stone, 5 ft. 9 in. in length and 1 ft. 7 in. high, forms the lintel outside,
which does not, however, reach back the whole thickness of the wall,
but inside it forms a sort of tympanum to a semicircular arch of
legular dressed stone. In the middle of the inner face of this great
lintel is a rude projection, probably intended as a stop to the door
when shut, to prevent its being prized upwards. Externally there
is a fine architrave above and at each side.

" The east wall is entirely prostrate. An old man informed Dr

234 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Petrie, when he visited this church in 1832, that it had fallen thirty-
six years before. He described the east window as round-headed,,
upwards of 6 ft. high, being a single light, about 1 ft. wide externally

Banagher — West Door : Interior

and 3 ft. wide internally. Many of the stones which formed the east
window lie scattered in the churchj^ard.

" There is a round-headed window in the south wall of the nave,
with a bold moulding on the outside. The arch is scooped out of
two stones. The jambs outside cannot be measured, one being

PROCEEDINGS

235

partly broken away. This aperture is of cut stone. The inner arch
is 5 ft. 8 in. high, 2 ft. 9 in. wide at the top and 2 ft. 11 in. at the
base ; there is a very deep splay downwards. On the sides, top and
bottom of this window holes may be seen, which are meant apparently
for a frame on the sides. The south window in the chancel is very
remarkable. The aperture outside is rounded at the top, and

'}^^ISIfflKI^9S^'"^B^tK-^'. !.<^"v'.''

- - ■ -^ V-''^liifit--' ■■"■

Banaghee — South Wikdow in Chancel

measures 6 in. wide and 2 ft. 11 in. high. The jambs are vertical.
The internal moulding is remarkable.

" An old man, upwards of seventy years of age, informed Dr
Petrie in the year 1832 that he remembered the chancel arch
standing when he was a boy, and that it was a round arch, the
height of which he could not recollect." ^

Champneys : Irish Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. 112.

236 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Much uncertainty still exists on several points regarding this
church of Banagher. Though it must have ranked as a place of
some consequence, only one reference to it has been foimd in the
Annals, which, perhaps, is due to the identity of its name {Benn-
chir in its early form) with the more celebrated Bennchar Ulad,

Banagher — Tomb of St Mtjireadhach 0 h-Aenaigh

Bennchar of the UHdians, now Bangor, Co. Down. At 1121 the
Annals of Ulster record that Gilla-escoip-Eoghain Ua Andiaraidh,
King of the Ciannachta, was killed by his own kinsmen in the middle
of the cemetery of Bennchar, so that there was a church here at that
date. Dr Reeves, arguing from the period at which the use of
surnames was estabHshed in Ireland, concluded that the founder St
Muireadhach O'Heney had flourished in the previous century. But

PROCEEDINGS 237

many instances occur of much earlier use of patronymics of similar
form. Furthermore, incidents related of this saint, who is not found
in calendars, are more suggestive of his hving after the estabUshment
was completed than of his being an origmal founder. No safe
deductions can be drawn from these considerations.

Another tradition included Banagher among the churches
founded by St Patrick when he made his missionary journey ujd
the valley of the River Faughan, and this may be the authority for
the late inscription cut on the side of the door of the church
attributing its foundation to 474.

Banagher — The Residence

To the south of the church is the very remarkable tomb of St
Muireadhach O'Heney in the shape of a small oratory or shrine,
faced with ashlar masonry of sandstone. It measures 10 ft. in length,
4 ft. 9 in. in breadth, 8 ft. in height to the gable ridge and 4 ft. to
the eaves. ^ At the western end a large stone is set in on which is
carved in reHef the head and shoulders of a man with a staff in his
right hand and on his head a singular high head-dress. The surface
of the stone is decayed and the lines are indistinct ; but it may be
doubted whether this head-dress was intended, as Lord Dunraven
supposed, to represent " the conical cap which was used by the
GaUican clergy of the western church." ^ The figure is believed to-

Petrie, Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. 449.
Dunraven, Notes on Irish Architecture, i, 117.

238 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

be that of St Mmreadhach, and before it is a small hole in the
ground from which is to be obtained the " Banagher sand " to which
wonderful virtues were attributed. Thrown upon a race-horse in
his career it was held to ensure his victory.

There is a small and rude stone cross to the east of the church.

To the west and outside the graveyard is another building at
the high-placed door of which, as tradition says, St Muireadhach
used to show himself to the people. The building was apparently
a residence. The "windows were few and small. Towards the north
west angle there is a stone for discharging water through the wall
from the upper story. The building was entire except the roof
in 1814.1

Mr Champneys, influenced by Dr Reeves, but adding other
considerations, has concluded that the nave of Banagher was built
at some date not so very far removed from a.d. 1100.^

DUNGIVEN

Dungiven, in Irish Dun-geimhin, the " munitio pelhum," fort of
hides, of Colton's Visitation, fell, by a quaint chance, to the Skinners
of London at the Ulster Plantation.

The Castle. — The Skinners' castle and bawn stood at the head
of the main street of the town, opposite to the Protestant church, on
a site now occupied by a more modern building. The house, 150 ft.
long, 20 ft. wide, and flanked by circular towers looped for musketry,
stood on the slope overlooking the River Roe, and was defended on
that side by an earthen rampart and ditch ; on the opposite side was
a bawn 150 ft. long, 120 ft. broad in front of the house, surrounded
by a wall 20 ft. high, with loops for musketry, and having its
chemin de rond carried on arches ; square flankers stood at each
•corner.^ In the CromweUian period it was held for the Parhament
by Colonel Mark Beresford, who, on 30th May, 1650, imsuccessfully
attempted to defend it against the Royahsts under Bishop Mac-
Mahon. The bishop gave the following accoimt of the affair in his
xeport to Ormonde :

" Wee resolved to march into the county of Derry to divert
their [Coote & Venables] coniunction, and ariveing at a place called
Dongevin, a considerable ffortte in the said county comaunded by
Lt.-colonell Beresforde, who was sumoned to dehver the possession
therof to his Mat'^s use, w''^ he utterly reiected, the coppies of my

^ Sampson, Memoir of Londonderry.

" Irish Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. 102.

^ Mason's Parochial Survey, i, 284.

5 !:

o o

240 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

letters to him and his answere there uppon here inclosed sent wilt
more at large informe y"^ Excie therein ; whereuppon I had the
armie drawen before the said fforte, and a partie employed under
the comaund of Colonell Myles Swine, who within halfe an houres-
time gained the said fortte, puting to the sworde all the warders
except the said Lt. -colonell, who saved himseK hidden amongst
ladyes and other gentlewomen, yett he is deadly wounded." i

DuNGiVEN — Chancel Akch and East End
(From Photograph by H. S. Crawford)

St Mary's Priory. — A monastery for canons regular of St
Augustine was founded here by 0 Cathain in 1100, according to
Allemande ; but it does not appear that the Ui Cathain were lords
of this district of the Ciannachta at so early a date. Echri
0 Maolmuire was lord of Ciannachta until 1100, and Dunchadh
O Conchobhair was lord of the Ciannachta Ghlinne-geimhin until
1104. The first 0 Cathain named as lord of Ciannachta is Raglmall

Gilbert, Contemporary History, ii, 423.

PEOCEEDINGS 241

son of lomhar, who was killed in 1138. It is more probable that
the monastery of Dungiven was one of the early foundations w hich
like Derry, adopted the rule of the canons regular in a period of
reform. The Ui Cathain after their rise to power were, no doubt,
benefactors to the house, and made it, as Sampson says,i their
burying place. The priory is occasionally mentioned in the calendars
of the Vatican Archives, especially during the 15th century, when the
family of 0 Muireadhaigh (Murray) had the chief interest in it. It
was worth at that time 16 marks a year, or something more than
£200 present currency ; ^ and it does not appear to have been a
wealthy house at any time, and no conventual buildings are specified
in the inquisition of 10th November, 1603. It was then described
as " a suppressed monastery or house of canons, called Dungevyn
in Co. Cohane, with a cemetery surrounding it ; and the prior and
convent at the time of its dissolution were seised as their demesne
in fee of a quarter of land called Tiremeely, another called Mayhery-
dungevyn, a quarter of land called Ballywully, and another called
Leighvallychuiyg. They were also seised of the rectory of Boydony
in Cormac 0 Neill's country or territory ; but what the annual value
of the rectory may be the jurors know not because it is long lying
waste." ^

The church consists of a nave and chancel ; the internal dimen-
sions are given as, for the nave, 40 ft. long and 20 ft. wide ; for the
chancel, 22 ft. long and 18 ft. wide. At the south-west angle of the
nave stood a tower, of which the foundations only are seen. It was
rectangular until it rose clear of the wall of the church, and was
circular above that height. It fell a few years before 1814.* The
chancel was originally covered with a groined vault, and the east
window had two narrow lights, widely splayed internally. A clumsy
moulding of late construction is carried over the heads of the lights
in a single arch. This and some other details may be assigned to a
reparation in the beginning of the 17th century to fit up the building
as a Protestant parish church. The upper part of the chancel arch
may have been rebuilt at the same time.

The masterpiece of the building is the canopied tomb inserted
in the south wall of the nave. Beneath a pointed arch, the head of
which is fiUed with " decorated " tracery, lies the recumbent figure
of a warrior in quilted armour, his head and shoulders being de-
fended by a camail of chain mail ; a smaller figure, much mutilated,
lies at his head. Six panels forming the front of the tomb are filled

^ Memoir of Londonderry (1814), p. 225.
2 Costello, Annates of Ulster, ad ann. 1426.
^ Inquis., James I, Co. Londonderry (1).
* Mason, Parochial Survey, i, 299 sqq.

242 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

with figures of galloglasses also in quilted armour and camails. One
of the figures holds a spear, the others are represented in the act of
drawing their swords. This is the tomb, according to local report,

DiTNGivEN — 0 Cathain Tomb IN 1840
(From Sketch by G. du Noyer)

of Cumhaighe (Cooey) na nGall and his seven sons. In its present
state it is a careful restoration from formerly scattered fragments,
and difference in execution between the tomb and the canopy may
suggest that two distinct monuments have been here combined.

PROCEEDINGS

243

Cumaighe na nGall, lord of Oireacht 0 Cathain, flourished in the
last quarter of the 14th century ; he was taken prisoner by the
Enghsh at Coleraine in 1376 and sent in chains to Carrickfergus. In
1385 he died, as the Four Masters say, in the height of his prosperity
and renown.

DuNGivEN — 0 Cathain Tomb
(From Photograph by H. S. Crawford)

Clock Phadraig. — A conspicuous standing stone is set up on
an artificial mound on the top of the hill beside the priory ; a hundred
years ago it was known as Cloch Phadraig, St Patrick's stone.
About that date Mr Sampson opened the mound and found ashes
but no urn. The stone was overturned in the operation and not
accurately replaced. At a smaller stone, not far distant, an urn of

244 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

earthenware with ashes and burned bones was accidentally un-
covered. The urn was surrounded by white stones. ^

ToBAR Phadkaig. — A holy well, near the standing stone, and
like it dedicated to St Patrick, was formerly much frequented on
Simdays from St Patrick's Day to about Michaelmas. The " round "
is described as performed by prayers at the well, a large stone in
the River Roe immediately below the rum, in the old church, and
finally at Cloch Phadraig.^

MAGHERA

Maghera, or in full Machaire ratha Luraigh, " the open country
at St. Lurach's rath," was for a time the episcopal seat of the Bishop
of the Ceneal Eoghaia — namely, in the time of Bishop 0 Cobhthaigh,
who was a native of the place. In 1247, upon a representation
from the then Bishop of Rathluraigh, that when the Irish bishoprics
had been delimited, the see had been fixed at Derry, a better suppHed
and more suitable place, and that Rathluraigh besides being so
sterile that a cathedral estabhshment could not five there, was
practically inaccessible to the clergy of the diocese on account of
the mountains, woods and bogs surrounding it. Pope Innocent IV
issued his commission for recalling the see to Derry, and in 1254 he
confirmed the translation.^ As Derry had been plundered several
times at the beginning of the 13th century. Bishop 0 Cobhthaigh
had perhaps other motives besides a native's partiaHty for retiring
to Maghera. It cannot, indeed, have been a wealthy place, but it
was secure. Of its having a school of advanced studies there is some
evidence in the book of wax tablets found near the towTi in the first
half of the 19th century, and now preserved in the National Museum.
The tablets contain some sportive scribbling by a student of logic*

St Lurach's Church. — The most important rehc of antiquity
now at Maghera is the carved doorway of the old church. Like that
at Banagher the door had a square head without and a circular head
within. The outer side of the door is elaborately carved with a
representation of the crucifixion on the lintel and interlaced designs
on each jamb, and on the bold square casing which frames the whole
composition ; the figure of our Lord is represented as extended on a
cross of disproportionate "v\idth, beneath the arms of which stand
the eleven apostles, Longinus with his spear, and a soldier with the

1 Sampson, Memoir of Co. Londonderry (1814), p. 225. Mason's Parochial
Survey, i, 303.

2 Rev. A. Ross in Parochial Survey, \, 328.
» Theiner, pp. 48, 64.

* Proceedings, R. I. A., xxi, 315.

246 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

sponge. Forms of angels, much decayed and indistinct, appear
above the arms of the cross. The doorway and some part of the
wall adjoining it are the only portion of the ancient church now
standing ; 'the remaining part of the ruin is of a comparatively
modem building.

In the graveyard a stump of an ancient cross marks St Lurach's
grave, which was the scene of a singular occurrence related in a
solemn deposition printed in the Journal for 1902, Two gentlemen
appeared in the graveyard one morning in 1829, borrowed a spade,,
and having secured themselves from disturbance by a gift of half -a -
crown for drink, opened the grave. They were closing it again when
the man who had got them the spade returned ; he saw they had
dug up a cross, about 18 in. long, with which they shortly afterwards-
departed. He reported the incident to the rector, an ardent collector,
and the same who afterwards presented to the Royal Irish Academy
the tablets already described ; but no trace of the strangers could
be found.

St Lurach's pedigree given in the Rawlinson MSS. 502 shows
him to be sixth in descent from Colla Uais, and, according to the
common reckoning, he would have flourished at the beginning of
the 6th century of our era.

BOVEVAGH

An ancient monastery existed at Bovevagh, Both Mheidhbhe, the
foimder of which, St Aidan, was of the race of the Ciannachta, being
tenth in descent from Cian, their eponymous ancestor.^ But the
patron locally venerated was St Ringan,^ whose tomb, similar to-
that at Banagher, but in Petrie's opinion of earher date, stands t&
the south of the church ruin. It is 9 ft. long, 6 ft. 6 in. wide, and
nearly 7 ft. 6 in. high. At the western end there is a small hole
into the interior, as there is also in the tomb at Cooley near MoviUe ;.
and this seems to be part of the original construction, doubtless to-
permit the rehcs within the tomb to be seen or touched. The
circumstance that no similar hole is found at Banagher may perhaps
indicate that the stone there on which the figure is sculptured is a
later insertion, and the hole in front of it from which the " Banagher
sand " was taken would be an instance of persistent tradition in
resorting to this part of the monument.

Like that at Banagher, the tomb at Bovevagh is faced with

1 Colgan, Triad. Thaum., 478, n. 5. ^ Moran's ArcJidaU, i, 161.

248 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

ashlar masonry of sandstone. The roof has suffered much injury,
especially on the southern side. On the north two large slabs show
the original covering. Mr Champneys has described this tomb and
that at Banagher in his Irish Ecclesiastical Architecture.

Shrine -tombs of a modified type are found in other parts of the
country, but not so elaborately constructed as these of Derry and
Donegal. The simplest form is that of two triangular ends between
which long slabs were laid to form a sort of roof. An illustration of
one, called the " Priest's Grave," at Killabuonia, BalhnaskeUigs,
was given in the Journal for 1902, p. 47.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE SOCIETY

The " Extra Volumes " for the following years are : —

1888-89 — " The Rude Stone Monuments of Co. SUgo and the Island of AchiU," by Colonel
Wood-Martin. (Out of print.)

*1890-91— " The Account Roll of the Priory of the Holy Trinity, Dublin, 1337-1346, with the
Middle English Moral Plaj-, The Pride of Life, from the original in the Christ Church
Collection in the Public Record Office, Dublin," edited by James Mills, m.b.i.a,
1892 — "Inis Muiredach, now Inismurray, and its Antiquities," by W. F. Wakeman (cloth,
royal 8vo, with Map and 84 Illustrations). (Price Vs. 6d.)

*1 893-95 — " The Annals of Clonmacnoise," from the mss. in the Royal Irish Academy and Trinity
College, Dublin, edited, with Introduction and Notes, by Rev. Denis Murphy, s.j., m.k.i.a.

*1896-97 — " Register of Wills and Inventories of the Diocese of Dublin in the time of Arch-
bishops Tregury and Walton, 1457-1483," from the original MS. in the Library of Trinitj?
College, Dublin, edited, with Translation, Notes, and Introduction, by Henry P. Berry,
M.A., T.C.D., Barrister-at-Law.

*1 898-1 901 —The Index to the first Nineteen Volumes of the Journal for the j^ears 1849-1889,
inclusive, complete in Three Parts. Parts I, II, and III now ready, price 3s. 6d. each.
The whole forming vol. xx of the Consecutive Series of the Journal of the Society.
1902-1906 — " The Gormanston Register," edited by James Mills, i.s.o., m.k.i.a. {Nearly ready.)
*1907-1908 — "Inscribed Slabs at Clonmacnois." By R. A. S. Macalister, m.a., f.s.a.
1909—" Old Irish Folk Music and Songs." By P. W. Joyce, ll.d. (Price 10s. 6d.)

* These Volumes may be had from the Society's Publishers, price 10s. each.

Just Issued.
Index to the Journal, Vols. XXI-XL (1891-1910). Compiled by
the late General Stubbs, revised and edited by W. Cotter Stubbs,
M.A., M.E.i.A. (Price 10s. 8d.) ; bound in cloth 12s. 6d.

The " Extra Volumes " previous to the year 1890 are out of print, except " Christian
Inscriptions in the Irish Language," edited by M. Stokes, of which several complete Volumes
and Parts, with numerous lUuatrations, maj' be had. Price £3 for the complete Volumes.

The Publications of the Society are to be obtained from the Publishers, Messrs. Hodges,
Figgis & Co., Ltd., 104 Grafton Street, Dublin ; also the List of Fellows and Members (price 6d.).

Hon. Local Secretaries, 1915

Antrim (N.) Wm. A. Traill, m.a., m.e.

„ (S.). W. J. Knowles, m.k.i.a.
Armagh . * * * * *
Belfast City R. M. Young, b.a., m.b.i.a.
Carlo w . Patrick O'Leary.
Cavan . William J. Fegan, Solicitor.
Clare . Dr. G. U. Macnamara.

Cork . The O'Donovan, m.a.

,, City . James Coleman.
Donegal . John H. Tibbs, b.a.
Down (N.) . W. H. Patterson, m.k.i.a.

„ (S.) . Francis J. Bigger, m.k.i.a.
Dublin . W. Cotter Stubbs, m.a., m.k.i.a.

,, . City John Cooke, m.a., m.k.i.a.
Fermanagh T. Plunkett, m.k.i.a.
Galway(N.) R. J. Kelly.

„ (S.). Very Rev. J. Fahey, p.p., v.G.
Kerry . Singleton Goodwin, m.inst. c.e.

Kildare . Lord Walter FitzGerald, m.k.i.a.
Kilkenny . M. M. Murphy,M.R.i.A.
King's Co. . Mrs. Tarleton.

Leitrim . H. J. B. Clements, j.p., d.l.
Limerick . J. Grene Barry, d.l.
Londonderry *****

Longford .

J. M. Wilson, D.L.

Louth

William Tempest, j.p.

Mayo

Very Rev. Monsignor O'Hara

p.p., V.F.

Meath

Rev. Canon John Healy, ll.d.

Monaghan .

D. Carolan Rushe, b.a.

Queen's Co

Rev. Edward O'Leary, p.p.

Roscommon

*****

Sligo

*****

Tipperary(S.)* * * * *

„ (N.)Rev. James J. Ryan.

Tyrone

Rev. W. T. Latimer, m.a.

Waterford .

*****

„ City .

Patrick Higgins, p.r.s.a.i.

Westmeath

James Tuite.

Wexford .

G. E. J. Greene, m.a., sc.d..

M.R.I.A., F.L.S., J.P.

Wicklow .

* . * * * *

THE

Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland

President

COUNT PLUNKETT, M.R.I.A., F.S.A.

Vice-Presidents

Leinster Mxjnstee

Most Rev. Dr. Donnelly, m.r.i.a.
F. Elrington Ball, litt.d. m.r.i.a
John Cooke, m.a., m.r.i.a.
Lord Walter FitzGerald, m.r.i.a.

O'Donovan, c.b., m.a., d.l.

T. J. Westropp, m.a., m.r.i.a.

Most Rev. Dr. Sheehan, Bishop of Waterford.

Sir Bertram Windle, m.r.i.a., f.s.a., f.r.s.

Ulster Connacht

The Right Hon. Lord Arthur HilJ.
His Excellencj- The O'Neill.
M. J. M'Enery, m.r.i.a.
William Grav, m.r.i.a.

The Right Hon. M. F. Cox, m.d.

The Right Hon. Viscount Gough, k.c.v.o.

Richard Langrishe, j.p.

E. C. R. Armstrong, m.r.i.a., f.s.a.

Hon. General Secretary

Charles McNeill, 6 St, Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Hon. Treasurer

H. Bantry White, i,s,o„ 6 St, Stephen's Green, Dublin,

Council

S. A. 0, FitzPatrick.

Professor R. A. S. Macalister, litt.d., f.s.a,

W, F. Butler, m.a.

Lucas White King, c.s.L, LL.D., f.s.a,

T, J. Mellon.

Sir J, R. O'Connell, ll.d.

P, J. O'ReiUy, m,r.i,a,

H, F. Berry, i,s.o,, litt,d.

W. Cotter Stubbs, m.a., m.r.i

F. J. Bigger, m.r.i.a.
James Coleman.

T. P. Lefanu, c.b.
P. J. Lynch, m.r.i.a.

G. W, Place,

Rev. J. L. Robinson, m.a,
Herbert Wood, b,a., m.r.i.a.

Note. — The names of Vice-Presidents and Coimcil are arranged according to dates of election.
The names first on the list retire first.

Past Presidents who are ex-officio Members of Council

John Ribtou Garstin, d.l., f.s.a., m.r.i.a. | Robert Cochrane, ll.d., i.s.o., f.s.a.

Clerk

Mr. J. C. Ball, 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin,

Hon, Keeper of Prints and Photographs

Thomas J, Westropp, m.a., m.r.i.a., 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin,

Hon. Provincial Secretaries, 1915

Leinster Munster

Thomas J, Westropp, m.a., m.r.i.a. | The Rev. Canon C. Moore, m.a.

Ulster Connacht

The Rev. Canon Lett, m.a., m.r.i.a. | Edward Martyn

Seaton F, Milligan, j.p., m.r.i.a. | Richard J. Kelly, j,p.

Bankers

Provincial Bank of Ireland, 12 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin.

Printed bij John Falconer, 53 Upper Sackville Street, Dublin.

THE JOURNAL

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES

OF IRELAND Ajsjqn ojiqnd AjunoQ ueiiv

Series VI, Vol. V

Vol. XLV

ld3aAD01V3N39

Part IV

31 DECEMBER 191 5

CONTENTS

Thomas Johnson Westropp, m.a., Fe/loiv — Prehistoric Remains (Forts
and Dolmens) in Burren and its South-Western Border, Co. Clare,
Part XII :— North-Western Viivt— con tinned {Illustrated)

GoDDARD H. Orpen, %.r.i.a., Member — The Normans in Tirowen and
Tirconnell . . .

H. T. Knox, 7^£'//t?TO— Rath Brenainn ( llhistniiiu) . . . ,

J. J. Buckley, Member — Some Early Ornamented Leatherwork {Illus

trated)

Miscellanea [IllHst?-ated) .........

Notice of Book . . . •

Proceedings

249

275
289

300
310

319

DUBLIN
HODGES, FIGGIS, & CO., Ltd., GRAFTON STREET

1915

Price 3s. net.

THE JOURNAL

OF THE

ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES
OF IRELAND

(Formerly the Kilkenny Archaeological Association, and the Royal Historical
and Archaeological Association of Ireland)

List of the Volumes, showing the relation between the Consecutive
Numbers and the Numbers of each of the Six Series ; also the Years for
which each Volume was issued.

Consecutive Number

Number oe Seeies

Yeaes

*I.

I. ....

1849, 1850, 1851.

II.

1852, 1853.

*III.

III.

1854, 1855.

*IV.

I. 2ncl Series,

1856, 1857.

II.

1858, 1859.

*VI.

III.

1860, 1861.

VII.

IV.

1862, 1863.

VIII.

1864, 1865, 1866.

IX.

VI.

1867.

I. 3rd Series,

1868, 1869.

XI.

I. 4th Series,

1870, 1871.

XII.

II.

1872, 1873.

XIII.

III.

1874, 1875.

XIV.

IV.

1876, 1877, 1878.

XV.

1879, 1880, 1881,

1882.

XVI.

VI.

1883, 1884.

XVII.

VII.

1885, 1886.

*XVIII.

VIII.

1887, 1888.

*XIX.

IX.

1889.

XX.

Index,

1849-1889.

*XXI.

I. 5th Series,

1890-1891.

XXII.

11.

1892.

XXIII.

III.

1893.

XXIV.

IV.

1894.

XXV.

1895.

XXVI.

VI.

• 1896.

XXVII.

VII.

1897. .

XXVIII.

VIII.

1898.

XXIX.

IX.

1899.

XXX.

1900.

XXXI.

XI.

1901.

XXXII.

XII.

1902.

XXXIII.

XIII.

1903.

XXXIV.

XIV.

1904.

XXXV.

XV.

1905.

XXXVI.

XVI.

1906.

XXXVII.

XVII.

1907.

XXXVIII.

XVill.

1908.

XXXIX.

XIX.

1909.

XL.

XX.

1910.

XLI.

I. 6th Series,

1911.

XLII.

IT.

1912.

XLIII.

III.

1913.

XLIV.

IV.

1914.

The Volumes marked (*) are now out of print. Some of tlie remaining Volumes can be supplied
to Members at the average rate of 10s. each. Odd Parts of some of the foregoing volumes can
be suppKed. The Quarterly Parts of the Fifth Series can be supplied to ]\Iembers at 33. each.

In order to assist Fellows and Memljers to obtain back numbers of the Journal, the Council have
decided to offer the fifteen volumes from 1870-1884 at the greatly reduced price of £1 for the set.
In considering applications, preference wiU be given to Fellows and Members who joined
the Society previous to 1908.

[ To face page 249

GEORGE NOBLE, COUNT PLUNKETT

F.S.A., M.R.I. A., K.C.H.S.

President of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
1912-1915

THE JOURNAL

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES

OF IRELAND '
FOR THE YEAR 1915

A/OT YT^r DA13T ^\r

NOTICE TO MEMBERS

The index of the Journal for 1914 is issued with this number
which has been delayed by labour troubles in the printing
trade. The index for 1915 will be issued with the next part.

By order of the Council, owing to the necessity for economy
under the present circumstances, only two parts of the Journal
will be issued during 1916. This is a temporary arrangement
only.

The attention of members is directed to the newly published
Index to the Journal, Vols. XXI-XL, compiled by the late
General Stubbs, revised and edited by William C. Stubbs.
Price, 10s. 6d. ; bound in Cloth, 12s. 6d.

«,xivx j^iooxonccii , 10 oL-aiicie ueaiut! tiie roau m tne Dottom ot (jlen-
arraga, just below the great Cathair,^ in a pleasant spot,well planted
and well watered, girt on all sides, save the north, by the impressive

1 Journal, vol. xxxi, p. 284. 2 journal, vol. xxxi, p. 283.

[To face page 249

THE JOURNAL

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES

OF IRELAND '
FOR THE YEAR 1915

VOL. XLV, PART IV

(vol. v. sixth series VOL. XLV. CONSEC. SERIEs)

PREHISTORIC REMAINS (FORTS AND DOLMENS)

IN BURREN AND ITS SOUTH WESTERN

BORDER, CO. CLARE

Part XII : North Western Part

{Continued from page 62)

By Thomas Johnson Westropp, m.a., Fellow

(Submitted 26 January 1915)

Ballyallaban Rath (Ordnance Survey Map No. 5).

This fort, as being an earthwork, was only shghtly noted by me

in 1901.^ It is one of the finest in the county, next to Bealboruma

BMLYALLABAN RATH

Ballyallaban Rath

and Liscroneen ; it stands beside the road in the bottom of Glen-
arraga, just below the great Cathair,^ in a pleasant spot,well planted
and well watered, girt on all sides, save the north, by the impressive

Journal, vol. xxsi, p. 284.

2 Journal, vol. xxxi, p. 283.

250 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

terraced hiUs of grey and dove-coloured limestone. The outer ring
was a drystone waU. The fort, with its stone-faced inner mound,
once closely resembled one of the two ringed " cahers " of the district ;
but when an enemy scaled the outer waU he was confronted by a
deep fosse and swept by showers of stones from the high inner
rampart. The outer defence was removed, probably when the
road was made, and only the foundations, and here and there large
blocks remain ; it was 12 to, perhaps, 18 feet thick. Inside this is
the fosse, fed by several springs, and 6 to 10 feet deep : it is 9 to 14
feet wide in the bottom. The inner ring is nearly perpendicular, so
I presume that the revetment was removed in fairly recent days.
It rises 8 to 9 feet over the garth, and 13 to 15 feet over the fosse,
being 23 to 27 feet thick below and 6 feet on top, well preserved,

T>ouble:
CAHERBULLOG

1906

Caheebxjllog

and 430 feet in circumference. The garth is oval, 90 feet across
north and south, by 111 feet east and west. It is planted with
beech and sj^camore, the ring being closely overgrown with hawthorn
and hazel. The gateway, with a gangway, faces east ; apparently
the revetment continued so as to form built gate piers, and, I presume,
a lintelled entrance at the gap,i probably reached by a trunk or
plank across the ditch, Uke Doon fort. There is no local name save
" the Rath."

Caherbullog (Ordnance Survey Map No. 5).
On revisiting the Lower cathair in the vaUey I photographed
and carefully sketched and measured its rampart, which, as I noted, ^
is in two sections. The inner section has as careful a face as the

"^ Of course the gate was always the weak spot in such forts. The early Irish
aUude to this — e.g., in Book of Leinster, p. 37 6 20 : " It is a perU to be upon the
fort unfortified and the shout of the person in its door that has conquered it."

2 Journal, vol. xxsi, p. 15.

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN 251

outer, and it is quite possible (here, as at Caherscrebeen) that the
outer section was added to enlarge the garth. The northern segment
has been nearly destroyed since I first saw it in 1887. These walls
of more than one section are regarded by French antiquaries as the
" murum duplex," noted by Caesar, in Gaulish forts. ^ Two, and
even three, sections occur in the French forts, as in Irish ones. The
'Co. Clare examples, besides Caherbullog, are Caheridoula, Poulgorm,
'Carran east cliff fort, the Cashlaun Gar (?), Caherscrebeen, Bally kin-
varga (3), and the nearly demolished Cathair, beside Cahermore, in
Ballyallaban. It occurs in three sections in Cahernaspungane, near
Hollymount, in south Co. Mayo, where the two outer sections have
only outer faces, as is generally the case.^ In the Aran Isles it is
found in Dun Aengusa (3), Dun Eochla, Dun Eoghanacht, Dubh-
Chathair, Dun Conor (3), and I think Dun Moher (Dun Farvagh). In
Co. Kerry it occurs at least at Cahercarberybeg ^ ; in Co. Limerick
at BaUylin, to the south of the old crag road from Old Abbey to
Lismakeery. So far I have not seen it farther south.

LiHEENBAGH. — " The Small rectangular fort of good masonry "
mentioned in these pages in 1901* has (as I have since observed)
boldly rounded corners, like Knockauns in Tullycommaun ; there
^ire no forts inside, and the north side is much injured, as a modern
house lies in ruins near it. The waUs are well laid slab work, and are
5 to 6 feet high to the south.

FiNNAVARRA (Ordnance Survey Map No. 3).

Dr. George U. MacNamara has sent me a photograph of a very
■curious and problematic structure, known as " the Caves " at
Finnavarra. They He in a heap of stones, perhaps an overthrown
earn, in a wood, and consist of three short straight passages, opening
in the face of a wall and roofed by an angular-headed arrangement
of slabs " pitched " against each other, two and two. This is
common in windows of round towers, churches, and even late
■castles, but, I think, is unknown in souterrains.

I suspect this to be the ruin in Burren, described in 1780.^ The
note is so curious as to bear repetition. " From Burren^ in the Co.
of Clare, March 5th, 1780, on Thursday last, as Mr. Davoren was

1 As for example, Casteon-Vasson (Alpes Maritimes). See Comptes rendus de
.r association frangaise pour Vavancement des sciences, xxxiii, session 1904 (Dr. A.
Guebhard and M. Paul Goby);" Enceintes prehistoriques, Castelars," Congris prehist.
de France, 1905, p. 48 ; and " Le Murum Duplex des Gaules, Guebhard, Soc.
Prehist. de France, Tome iii, p. 146.

2 I owe this note to Mr. Hubert T. Knox.
» Journal, vol. xl, p. 124 ; xlii, p. 320.

* Vol. xxxi, p. 14.

^ Saunders' News Letter, 11 March, 1790.

fi " Burren " is the village of Mortyclough near Finavarra.

252 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

superintending some men who were digging away the foundation
of an old tower, near the Abbey of St. Daragh," ^ he discovered an
opening. He cleared in seven hours a flight of 22 steps of granite^
and found a square room of similar hewn stone, with 14 niches. In
seven were skeletons,^ set upright, in long oaken boxes ; on the south,
side was a slab, " in the old Irish, or Bearla Firrna, which Dr.
Dames has thus translated : ' Cadh, the son of Aorth, the son of
Osra, the son of Cucidlen Tiegernan, the son of Bracklahm ; Lunduh,
Greanaulin, Farduragha, three brothers ; Illan, Suilaulin, two
sisters — all of the house of Burren. From learned Phoenicia they
drew their spark of life which was extinguished, like the sun, in the
Western ocean.' "

With either touching guUelessness or wicked satire the writer
adds : " No date has yet been discovered, nor any other monument
of antiquity which can enhghten this subject." Surely this was-
much even for a follower of Vallancey to beHeve ! Even the five
readings of the Moiuit Callan Ogham may be charitably regarded as
perverted ingenuity, but what can we say of this other low water
mark of Irish archaeology ? *

What the " Caves " may be, unless some one built a " hermit's
grot " or a " gazebo " there, in the taste of the later 18th century,
I cannot venture to suggest. I can only call attention to a curious-
enigma.

Addenda. — Bally ganner Group (Ordnance Survey Map No. 9).
So difficult is it to explore this tract, and so rich is it in lesser
antiquities, that after examining its forts and dolmens (in 1895 and
1897), and revisiting it (in 1898, 1900, 1902 and 1907), I still found
objects worth description.^ I made another extensive exploration
in 1911 for ancient roads and hut sites, and now give the results as
a step towards completion. In that labyrinth of high walled fields
and crags and bushes it were folly to claim completeness for these
notes, but I beheve I can have overlooked little of importance (after
seven visits) in the area bounded by the roads, Ballyganner Hill,
and a line through Caherkyletaan, Cahercuttine, the small house

1 This can only be Corcomroe, the only Burren Abbey.

2 If anything was really found, conglomerate, is possibly meant ; as granite is often
confused with this rock.

^ Note recurrence of seven hours, seven skeletons, virtually thrice seven steps,
t^vice seven niches. I presume the newspaper is answerable for such spellings as
appear.

* Of course absurd and unfounded theories stiU find their way into newspapers..
Indeed, too oftsn, the lowest form of Archaeology gets most publicity, fortunately
ephemeral.

5 Journal, vol. xxvii, p. 116; vol. xx, p. 2S7. North Munster Archaeol. Soc
vol. i, pp. 14-29.

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN

253

ring to the east of the last to Caheraneden, Mohercloghbristy, and
the dolmen in Ballyganner South, and back to the dolmen on Bally-
ganner Hill and the enclosures and dolmen in Sheshy and Clooneen.
In all I recorded some 55 forts and bauns — 6 of earth, 10 dolmens,
8 huts outside the forts, 4 souterrains, 4 rock-cut roads, 3 tumuli,
some low earth mounds, and over 10 cairns, some 90 early remains
in all, besides two castles and two churches.

I found nothing to add to the notes on the forts and dolmens
save that Mr. O'Dea, of Ballyganner Castle, told me that the ring-
wall enclosing the dolmen^ is named Cahernabihoonach, the thieves

To Kilcorney

> CaKermacnti

TOWNIANB .CAIRN jl. ^

HOAO- ===,HUT6iTt oo:

TRACK ========== :

ANCIENT ROCKCUT R.OA0 =» :
CATHAiRorBiNCWALlOoO :
DOLMEN n , CROSS r
CHURCH A JJ ♦-
CASTLE*. USS#-,,;;.^ -__

^astle^ ■■• ,-^*'^w\;%'^S*"^"^ % •jix.- BALLYGANNER
"-'■ ' ■■ • "-" '■" liSm6'hER : ■ * NORTH

NORTH : ;^-vv,..„.,..- ,vie<;;..^.ii ■'- ' ^ MOHER -^jHernaspekee ■>

ISKANCOLLIN .

UGH AVAL ^^.o
oCahercattine/

POULACARRAN...
...■•■"CARRAN

_ . , ^Cairncaher

■-- ,=^-~ '^' "^CaheriUbihoonacK

. SHE6HV-
•-MORE

;V«8ll BALLYGANNER

■/CaheraclarKiO

•BALLYSHANNY-

"iCastk

■O" -Il ^^'^ ■.* Soucerrain ^

-.CiKei'niir.ane •] #^ f - ^^ nu ,..>»$

•■.CAKERMINANE^A-„,ft^ji„l -. ^ ffil#*.--'''o ° ■■

fastifc""? '^*"''^'"*''^ ••■■■••.. ...'f:^J'.H'l™ •■»■■■ V ■•■••■o

itm-"""- JU : Jl|\tl J ,•■ * ^Z CLOONEEN _..^ /•

^' L.SKET : BALLYBAUN _/ J ^ ^ ^:^'c^tfscA^

•.BAL-; o " O; LEMENEACH^^ ,

... 9.-'-LY-;/( -; (;,5j]. j^^iCs™*"

-jWf TullagK^i \, »*;. ^ ^ •, ■CLAN-j|,s*^===aa5^ ^,^=:£^ TishPond.

4ur

Map of the Ballyganner Grotjp of Antiquities

fort (bitheamnach), and that he never heard the name Caherna-
speekee apphed to the fort, so called on the maps. He says that the
field called Parccauhernaspeekee {Pairc cathrach na spice) lies to the
north-east beyond Caheraneden, Some of these fort names are very
vague ; in 1887 the name of Caheremon was transferred to the
mortar-built ruin called Cashlaunawogga. In 1895 I was told by a
herdsman that Ballykinvarga was " called Cahernaspeekee, because
of its spikes," or abattis. As a rule I have rarely found any doubts
about fort names in Co. Clare ; usually the consensus of the old people
is complete, and the doubt only introduced by a young, and there-

1 Journal, vol. xxvii, pp. 119, 120; vol. xxxi, p. 290. "Ancient Foils of
Ireland," fig. 13, North Munster Archaeol. Soc, vol. i, p. 23.

254 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

fore less authoritative, person. Dr. MacNamara and I found it
equally hard to get genuine names inserted^ and inaccurate names^
altered on the maps, and sometimes the map names were got by
leading questions,^ a practice we carefully avoided. " S. F." (Sir
Samuel Ferguson) in 1857 gives " Caherflaherty "* as the name of
Ballykinvarga Cathair ; this, in 1838, was the name, " Caherlaher-
tagh," given to a fort, beside which the new road from KUfenora to
Noughaval has since been made. Now, the latter name seems
forgotten on the ground, and it is called " Caherparkcaimeen." In
The Booh of Distribution Ballykinvarga is called " Caherloglin " in
1655 ; this last one suspects to be Caherlochlannach, the Irish
equivalent of the late incorrect term "Danish Fort;" but it
may be Cathair ui Lochlain or O'Loughlin's foit " or " Lochlan's
fort."

In the case of Ballyganner, I fancy that, as the craglands got
deserted and became " winterages " for cattle, and the people moved
to the roadsides for convenience (especially after the great Famine),
the names became useless, save to a few herdsmen, and gradually
got confused, and at last forgotten. The younger herdsmen can
rarely give any names, while a number known to the older men
are almost impossible to locate, for those who remember them are
usually too old to bring one to the spot. O'Donovan's sad lack of
interest in all save the chief forts, ^ and his neglect of the Inquisitions
of Ehzabeth, James and Charles I and the great Surveys, left the
surveyors free to put down names sometimes but vaguely located
by their informants. Numerous names well attested in the docu-
ments (such as Cahercommaun, Caherscrebeen, Caherminaun,
Cahercotteen, and Caheridoula) were found by us to be extant on
the ground, and often widely known, though not on the maps.

1 I am glad to learn that Caheridoula {Journal, vol. xxvii, p. 119; vol. xli,
p. 363) is about to be marked. The local officials acted with discretion in such
cases, but names and objects were sometimes struck out in Dublin as not appearing
on older maps. May I point out that the cromlech to the south-west of Caher-
cuttine, that at the Caher in Ballyganner South, were put on the map without
antiquarian authority, and are unwarranted. The imjKjrtant west group at Park-
nabinnia was struck out in Dublin and only inserted on strong representation. In
all this inconsistency the need for antiquarian referees is very marked.

2 One is generally told that they were " approved by O'Donovan and O'Curry,"
a method rather official than scientific, as we have no evidence to show that these
scholars made any methodical researches on the ground to check the surveyor's
notes. It recalls popular works of 1750-80 "approved by Mr. Smith."

3 I write this of my own knowledge of several cases, let one suffice — "Marj-fort,"
near Tulla, where I have known the place from 18G8, and a " sapper " by this
process got the name attached to a hitherto nameless fort. I had some trouble
in getting this bogus name withdra-wTi.

* Dublin University Magazine, vol. xli, p. 505.

5 In fact he does not describe a single fort of importance in north-west Clare in
the Ordnance Survey Letters.

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN 255

Ballygannbr Huts^

In the field to the south of the large tumulus is a hut 19 feet long
east and west, 24 feet north and south, with two cells, the western
6 feet by 5 feet, the eastern filled with the collapsed beehive roof.
The west cell has walls 3 to 4 feet thick ; the roof was formed of
corbelled slabs, much tilted up to throw any wet out of the room ;
it has a small lintelled door 20 inches wide into a semi-circular room,
12 feet over all. The lintel is 5 feet by 18 inches by 10 inches.

The largest tumulus is of earth and stones 51 feet across, 6 to
8 feet high, and perfect. The other hes 159 feet to the north-east,
and is 37 feet across, only 5 feet 6 inches high, the top and centre
dug out.

Another hut to the south-east of Caherwalsh is 33 feet across, a
fan-shaped court. There is a hut 6 feet inside, with wall 3 feet thick
at the south-east comer, touching which and outside it is a circular
hut with walls of equal thickness and 6 feet inside. In the field to
the south of this last is a house-ring 3 feet thick and 25 feet inside,
shown as a small circle on the new maps.

The ancient road near Cahemaspeekee may have been a cattle
walk, leading to what appears to be a dry pond and continued
beyond it. The only other ancient object I noticed on the last
exploration of the townlands is a massive early wall of masonry
like Caherwalsh at the O'Dea's garden, which was probably made
in an early bawn.

Cahercuttine. — The cairn between this fine fort and the
dolmen opposite to its gate to the south^ has been entirely removed
and the blocks of the dolmen uprooted and overthrown since 1897.
The dolmen to the south-west, marked " Cromlech " on the new
maps, is a slab enclosure of two compartments, each 3 feet wide, lying
north and south, the whole 7 feet 8 inches square, of unknown use,
and I think late, certainly not a " Cromlech." There seem to be
remains of an actual dolmen in the same field to the west-north-west
of Cahercuttine. A large slab stands east and west, and other
stones He near it forming a cist, 8 feet long and 6 feet wide at its
west end.

LiSMOHER. — This is not the imaginary fort shown on the 1839
map near and to the east of the Noughaval road from Caherminaun.
It is correctly shown on the 1899 map as to the south of the lane to

^ By some accident a section containing notes on the tumuli and some huts
at Ballyganner got omitted. I am anxious to embody all material for this important
site, as I may probably rest assured of having passed by nothing of importance from
Noughaval and Kyletaan to the road from Kilfenora to Corofin.

2 Journal, vol. xxvii, p. 117.

256 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Noughaval House. Part of its northern facing has been removed
to widen this lane, the rest is of large well laid blocks, and is fairly
complete, but rarely more than 5 feet high. The garth is level with
its top and thickly grassed. The ruined doorway faces the east;
its lintel is 6 feet 3 inches by 2 feet by 1 foot.

Knockacakn. — Nearly due west from this on a low shale ridge,
called Knockacarn, in Hne with Lismoher, is a row of sites. The
first two, in Ballyhomulta, are an earthen liss called Liskeentha
{Lis caointhe). I was told at Noughaval, in 1908, that its name was
derived from " fairy songs " which had even been heard " not long
before." West from it, on top of the ridge (465 feet high), where the
townland meets those of Rusheen and KUtennan, are another liss,
a smaller one in Kiltennan and the cairn which gives the ridge its
name. If we extend the line, it meets in the next townland another
alleged fort site, where the Castle of Roughan probably stood. The
tradition of the last was rather vague as to its being a castle.^ Beyond
this, save Drimneen fort in Ballykeel and a larger ring mound in
Knockavoarheen, no early remains or mediaeval ruins occur for over
two miles, tUl we reach Cahermakerrila to the north-west.

The linear arrangement of forts, not uncommon in Ireland, is well
marked at Noughaval ; besides the five in line from Lismoher we see
the great line west-north-west and east-south-east from Caherkyle-
taan (past Cahercottine, Caherwalsh, a ring fort, Cahernaspeekee, a
slab enclosure and souterrain, the square bawn, the ring wall and
castle) to the great dolmen on Ballyganner Hill. A third line at
right angles to the last, passes (through a Cathair, the square bawn,
Ballykinvarga, and a levelled fort) towards the great hill fort of Doon.
The cause of this linear arrangement is unknown ; some explain it
as originating in a long ridge, but this is certainly not the case at
Ballygarmer. The two main lines evidently took as their goals the
high standing dolmen and Doon fort, but no such prominent object
fixed the Hne over Knockacarn.

Cahernaspeekee. — This doubtfully named stone fort^ has
suffered horribly since 1895 by rabbit hunters and perhaps treasure
seekers. The fine slabbed terrace is entirely defaced ; the slabs were
set upright along the face of the wall Hke a veneer. The gate has
been cleared out by some treasure seeker and the jambs destroyed.

^ However, as there seems to have been one in the to\vnland,, I incline to accept
the local statement.

2 Ibid., p. 119. See above. It was suggested, that this is a (very bad) corrup-
tion of Cathair an easpuig from some Bishop of Kilfenora, being near that
cathedral. It is true that equally bad corruptions are not unkno\^Ti — Lockwood
for Lughid, Belvoir for BaUywire, BallyvaUey for Baile Ui Mhothla, and in the Co.
Limerick, Mount Sion for Knockatsidhean ! In this case, however, it is impossible
to believe the phonetic 'n espuig to have become naspeekee.

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN 257

The lintel lies across it and is intact, but is only 4 feet 6 inches long,
so the ope was probably very narrow, hardly 3 feet wide ; i the gate
faced the south. Only a portion of the rampart to the south-west
is still 6 feet high, as most of the ring was on my first visit. The
masonry is good, but open jointed, and I think far later than the
finely fitted work at Cahercuttine, Caheraneden, Caherminaun and
Bally kin varga. Between this fort and the bawn to the south is a
long grassy depression artificially cleared, and shaped, perhaps, the
Jaitche or green. The early laws^ {Book of Aicill) provide for the
upkeep of such " greens." To the west is a house site of large slabs
set on edge ; it is about 21 feet across, east and west, by 18 feet wide.
The north waU is double, and in the north-east corner is a small
souterrain under a large slab. The whole resembles the site in
Knockauns fort near Tullycommaun. The baun is now quite de-
faced and overgrown.

There are three cairns or mounds of earth and stone slabs ; two
to the north of Cahernaspeekee, quite perfect ; another to the south,
with remains of a small slab cist ; they vary from 5 feet to over
•8 feet high. There are some regular oval green mounds, rarely
2 feet high, on the crag. One about 4 feet high has a set slab,
evidently once a cist.^ There is a fine well in the valley to the
south of these, haK way between the Castle Cathair and Cahernabi-
hoonach. Due north from it are the fallen dolmen, the long rock-cut
road from the latter to Caheraneden and the slab hut. The group
of ruins farther eastward, besides Cahernabihoonach, includes the
" cairn caher " with its outer enclosure and perfect gateway * and
a large bawn (near a curiously split and very conspicuous rock)
which I think is almost certainly the " Mohernacloughbristy "
named along with Ballyganner in a deed of 1712.^

Roads. — Besides the eastern one, probably from Caheraneden
to the well, but not traced by me south from the fallen dolmen,
there is another well marked road, with at least two side, or cross,
roads at right angles to it. They were formed, like the Creevagh
avenue, near Glencurraun, by removing the water-fretted upper

1 I measured the passage as 4 feet in 1 895.

2 Book of Aicill, Brehon Laws, vol. iii, p. 253. See also Cormac"s Glonsary,
Three Ancient Glossaries {ed.. AVhitley Stokes) tinder Ramhat ; Mesca Ulad
(ed. Hennessy}, p. 43.

3 Journal, vol. xxxi, p. 287.

* I retain the name " cairn caher " for distinction as representing the " smaU
ring v/aU surrounding a sort of caim," given in my first notes (xxvii, p. 119). The
structure is described and the " caim "found to be a smaU house-ring (xxxi, p. 287),
and the gateway illustrated (xh, p. 343, fig. 1). The house ring from the amount
of debris in which it was buried, was probabty a sort of tower of dry stone. See
note on Dunnaglas Tower, Achill, in vol. xUv, p. 312.

6 Dublin Registry of Deeds, vol. ix, p. 285.

258 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

layer or layers of the crag. One runs nearly north and south from
the direction of the great dolmen on the hill towards the cairns to
the north of Cahernaspeekee and close to the east of the cairn near
the bawn. When we get opposite to the pillared dolmen, a line but
little to the north of Caheraneden, we see another road running to a
little hut-ring close to the dolmen. I think there are traces of
another road crossing this about half way between the main road
and the hut parallel to the first. Yet another important road runs-
east and west (along the map line of thetownland name, " Ballygan-
ner North ") not far to the north of Cahernaspeekee. I incline to
attribute these works to the dolmen builders, who were accustomed
to raise and transport large slabs, for the " Caheraneden road " runs
truly along a line through the great dolmen and the fallen dolmen
(Caheraneden and the northern cathair on the ridge, being on its axis),
while the first cross-road runs due east and west towards the pillared
dolmen.

The site is so rich and remarkable that I hope some other
antiquary may study it as a whole to some sound conclusion. Hard
and painful as is the work done on fissured crags, hidden in grass
and moss, I would urge others to work it out. I give what I can,
but a complete plan of a settlement occupied from the bronze age
to the later 17th century with graves, residences, wells and roads
should be worth obtaining, and it is possible that other roads and
foundations may remain, especially to the east of the tract explored
for this survey.

Pillared Dolmen. — I have been able to clear away the deep
moss and debris and to plan this complicated monument in its
entirety. The harp-shaped annexe to the north was entirely con-
cealed in moss, bushes and debris till now.i There are two slab
huts, possibly late, a short distance to the north of Cahernabi-
hoonach.

I do not attempt to date the slab enclosures. The fences round
such dolmens as that at Iskancullin are probably contemporary with
the monument, so, possibly, are the circular slab rings, which are
probably the basements of wooden and clay huts. On the other
hand, the rectangular hut sites are probably far later, and the slab
fences, such as we find at Leanna, still more recent. The same may
be true of the cairns. In 1681, Thomas Dineley^ notes of Burren
that " the particons are made of broad stones Uke slate turned up
edgeways," and in 1752 Dr. Pococke writes of Achill, Co. Mayo, that

1 See Journal, vol. xxvii, p. 119 ; vol. xxx, p. 402 ; vol. xxxi, pp. 288-290.
R. 8. A. I. Handbook, v, p. 56. Proc. R. I. Acad., vol. iv, ser. iii, p. 542 ; vol.
xxvi (c), p. 461.

* Journal, vol. ix (1866-7), consec, p. 193.

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN

259

the people " have a custom of raising heaps of stones, here called
laktch (leachta), in other parts kerns (earns) to the memory of
the dead." i The custom has not yet died out in Aran and Noith
Connacht.

The late huts of beehive shape, with corbelled roofs (found in
Aran and some in Co. Kerry, on the Blasket Sound, so late that I
saw one in the course of building near Dunquin in 1904), are also a
serious warning against confident dating. As a rule, however,
primitive work is of far larger materials than its late descendants.
Here I may warn against another error alleging old remains to be
modern on insufficient authority. The " oft told tale " of the

^^^^^~^''

t-S?^^Q

A^OB

■^(jYTwI^i)

Pillared Dolmen near Caheraneden, Ballyganner North, Co. Clare

British Association^ is as a rule " left half told." The visitors in
1857 were informed that a supposed early hut had been built a year
or so before, but the rest of the story is always garbled or suppressed
by would-be jesters, for the hut was found marked as ancient in the
maps of twenty years earlier, and the scoffer was proved a liar — as
often happens. This shows how little any statement made by a
native should be received, especially when made to a pic-nic party
of strangers. Professor Macalister was told by an old man that
certain huts in the Fahan Group were modern,^ but the mendacious
peasant was forced to confess the contrary by other natives present.
I have very rarely had cause to doubt information, save on the

^ Tout in Ireland (ed. Rev. George Stokes), p.

2 M. Haverty's Handbook, republished 1859.

3 Trans. R. I. Acad., xxxi (vii), p. 30G.

260 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

tourist tracks,! or when tourists were by ; it is always easy to test
local belief by finding an informant not present on the first occasion.
The " educated classes " in Co. Clare, if not elsewhere, are rarely
found to give any particulars of value or even of trustworthiness.

Ballykinvaega. — This very remarkable fort is getting widely
known ; it has recently been illustrated by Dr. Guebhard in the
Report of the Prehistoric Congress, in France, 1906, and by IVIr.
Champneys in the valuable illustrations of his work on Irish Archi-
tecture. I have given in our Journal, 1913, a good general view by
Dr. George U. Macnamara. ^ So important is the structure that I am
glad to be able to illustrate it f iirther with a view of its gateway and
one of the abattis and great monolith (Plate XXI). I am the more
glad to do this that my illustrations in 1897 were re-drawn by some
one unacquainted with archaeology for " artistic " reasons and de-
prived of the one quahty — trustworthiness — for which I ventured to
give them. This bad practice of resketching has " enriched " our
pages with several false views, such as that of the crannog of Lough
Bola and those of Ennis Abbey (especially the screen) in 1889 and
the view of Cahercashlaun (so far as regards masonry) in 1899.^

Though apparently on a rather low site, there is a wide outlook ;
one can see from its wall the Telegraph and Snaty peaks in SHeve
Bernagh in the far east of Clare, Inchiquin hill, Inchovea tower,
Callan, Doon fort, Tullycommaun ridge, and the Noughaval forts
and earns.

A coin of Alexander, King of Scotland, has recently been found
in Ballykinvarga fort ; it (like the hoard of coins of Edward II, found
in the abattis, near the gateway) was probably plunder from the
wars of the Bruces, in 1315, against whom Murchad O'Brien, King
of Thomond, served. A coin of King John has also been found
recently in the gateway of Cahermacgorman fort, near Corofin ;
coins earlier than the reign of Ehzabeth have rarely been foiuid in
Co. Clare.4

1 Any information can be obtained by leading questions, as I once exemplified
by getting Greek mj'ths for local legends to warn an English Antiquary in search of
true folk lore. Ask what the peasantry know and what names they use, never ask
if a name or story exists.

2 Journal, vol. xsvii, pp. 121-4. Dublin Univ. Mag., vol. xh (1853), p. 505.
Ordnance Survey Letters, vol. i, p. 287. Du Noyer's Sketches (Library, R. S. A. I.),
vol. vii. Dunraven, Notes on Irish Architecture, vol. i, p. 18. Congies prehistorique
de France, in, p. 1017. Journal, vol. xliii, p. 260. Chenn-pney's Irish Ecclesiastical
Architecture (1909), plate v, p, 8. Ancient Forts of Ireland, plate vii.

I have to thank the Council of the Royal Irish Academy for leave to use the
last named illustration.

3 Ennis, vol. xix, pp. 46, 48 : pointed arches made round, tracery altered, plan
defective. Ballykinvarga, Ibid., vol. xxvii, p. 125. Cahercashlaun, Ibid., vol.
xxix, p. 377. The same is true of some redra^vn views in Borlase's Dolmens of
Ireland, vol. i, pp. 87-94. Lough Bola, Journal, vol. xii, consec, p. 11.

* Need I point out an absurd misprint (Journal, xxviii, p. 355) : " iron coins of
the Plantagenets and Tudors " ? It is, of course, " iron and coins."

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN

261

I may add a late record of the place to my former notes.i Morogh
O'Brien, nephew of Boetius Clanchy of Knockfinn, in his will, Nov.

^^\

f p^

CAHERMINAUN ffe}

^^''''

^^r

„ SCALE --

0 , ^ ^ ^OPEET

see^d:

NORTH
STEPS

SOUTH STEPS

SCALE FOR DETAILS , „

CAHERMtNAXnsr

N.B.-" A " has become effaced on the plan ; it was to the south-south-west

16th, 1630, mentions his properties of Ballykinvarga, Carrowkeele,
Cahe'rmeene, Ballykeile, and also Cahirmeenan (all fort sites). He

I have to thank Mr. J. R. B. Jennings (Member) for this extract.

202 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

leaves bequests to his cousins Gorman, Thomas, and Arthur, of
Limerick, and Donogh O'Brien, and desires to be buried in KiJlilagh
Church.

The only notes I need add are that two upright joints occur to
the west of the gateway and one to the east.i The supposed dolmen
to the south-east of the fort, beside the old hollow track from the
gateway near the east wall of the field, consists of two small set
slabs and two " covers ; " of the last, the southern measures
9 feet 3 inches by 7 feet 6 inches the others 7 feet 5 inches by
Iffoot and 7 feet by 6 feet 6 inches. All is so pulled about that no
plan is possible ; the slabs probably belonged to a simple cist about
7 feet long.

In the next field to the south is the unmarked foundation of a
ring wall, 87 feet over all, with an outer facing of large blocks ;
all the rest of the stonework has been removed.

Caherlahertagh.2 — "jj^jg remains as I saw it in 1895. I found
in 1907 that it is locally called " Caherparkcaimeen," from a levelled
fort used as a killeen, or child's burial ground, a short distance away.
In this cemetery is a double cist of large thin slabs. ^ The southern
compartment has two divisions, 7 and 8 feet long, and 3 feet 6 inches
wide ; the northern is of the same width and 7 feet 6 inches long^
They are in a low enclosure, 14 feet 7 inches square, kerbed with
large blocks. The cists have been cleared out, since 1895, when they
were buried in debris and the partition hidden. The place, unlike
many killeens, is believed to be consecrated ground, and was prob-
ably, from its name, Kilcaimeen, dedicated to the patron of Inis-
cealtra, a 7th century saint, half-brother to Guaire Aidhne, King of
Hy Fiahrach Aidhne, the district rovmd Gort.

Caherminaun. — The late Dr. Joyce, in Irish Names of Places,
is mistaken as to the townland being called from " an old castle
ruin,"* for the townland is called from a fine ring-wall of the name
although even the new maps leave the fort nameless. The fort,^
though much injured, is remarkable ; the masonry is neither
horizontal nor polygonal, but of long, sloping courses, running into
wedges between the adjoining layers. I have rarely seen more than
one such course in any other fort. The blocks show many signs of
hammer work, such as we also find on other forts round the border
of Burren, Ballykinvarga, Roughan, and Glenquin, besides Caher-
macrea and Langough in eastern Co. Clare. Hammer work is

1 Such joints seem not to occur at regular intervals. In the outer ring of
Cahercommane they are at intervals of 118 feet, 171 feet and 69 feet.

2 Journal, vol. xxvii, p. 125.

" Plan given, Proc. B. I. Acad., vol. xxvi (c.)> P- 4:69,

* Irish Names of Places, ssr. ii (ed,. 1893), p. 303.

* Journal, vol. xxvii, p. 125.

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN 263

alleged to exist in Dun Aengusa, but I failed to see any trace of it.
It is not a mark of late origin, for numerous dolmens in Co. Clare
have the top edges of their sides chipped to an even line, and one at
Oortlecka is even picked inside. i

The gateway is also unusual in having small pillars at each angle
of its entrance ; rarely do even two occur, and those are always at
the outer side. The four measure — the outer, left 10 inches by 14
inches, right 9 inches by 14 inches ; the lower ones nearly the same.
They rise 3 to 4 feet above the debris, and are perhaps 6 feet high
if cleared. The lintels have been thrown down, and are 4 feet 6
inches long by 30" x 18", a broken one, 3 feet 8 inches long, also
remains. 2

The wall is 10 feet 6 inches thick at the gate, which is 3 feet
8 inches wide between the pillars. The wall is 4 to 5 feet high at
the gate, but is lost in heaps of debris ; it is 8 to over 10 feet high
round the south and west segments ; the inner facing is nearly entire,
though (as usual) of far smaller stonework than the outer face ;
the filling is large and carefully packed ; the batter is 1 in 6 and in
parts as much as 1 in 3|, a very unusual slope.

There are two flights of steps ; the north-eastern was hidden in
debris and coarse grass, and the southern nearly so in 1895. The
latter now shows four steps over the debris, each is 10 inches wide,
and is of two or three blocks in a recess 4 feet wide, and going
straight up the wall. I incline to think this an older type than the
" sideways flight." The other stair, instead of being in a recess,
projects from the wall face ; the steps are 5 to 6 inches wide and 8 to
13 inches high, 33 to 48 inches long ; these flights most probably led
to a terrace, but if so, this has left no trace. The rampart, when
entire, may have been 14 or 15 feet high. The garth is 102 feet
wide, the fort 123 feet over aU, approximately circular. Only late
pens remain inside.

Ballykeel. — Some forts occur — one on the edge of Ballykeel
and Maryville, westward along the road from Caherlahertagh ;
another, the lowest courses of a well built ring wall, is beside the
road near the " A " of Maryville on the map, it is of excellent
masonry. There are two stone forts close to Kilfenora in BaUykeel
South. The larger is on a knoU, well seen from the main road ;
it is much gapped, but of good masonry, with, I think, trace of an
outer ring. These forts to the east of Kilfenora were examined for
me with his usual kindness by Dr. Macnamara. That nearest to the

^ Creevagh, Caherbloniek, Clooneen, Gortlecka, Baur, Cappaghkennedy,
Rannagh, Parknabinnia, Ballyganner Hill and, other dolmens show this chipping.

2 There was one nearlj' 7 feet long near it in 1895. It has perhaps been broken
and part removed, or buried in the debris.

264 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Fair Green is shown on the map ; though greatly overturned, it
measures 102 feet across (it is strange how often this measurement
occurs both in earth forts and ring -walls). The outer facing remains-
to the south and west in reaches of good masonry, one block is
4 feet long ; its cathair is quite featureless. The rabbit hunters of
the village have overthrown the forts near them, as is so usual.

The larger one on the east border of Ballykeel is the ruin of a
fine structure, and is well seen from the road to Corofin. It consists
of two concentric rings, and was a well built " handsome " fort,
but not very large. It is nearly all knocked down, and is in the
same field as the last. There is a short reach of the facing ot the
inner ring about 8 feet long. The central fort is 47 paces across, the
outer ring Hes 10 to 12 yards outside it, and is 67 yards in diameter.
It was built with blocks of unusual size — one 9 feet long, and
apparently was a single stone wall, always a late feature.

There is a standing stone in Ballykeel which, possibly, hke the
stone crosses, meared the termon of the old monastery and cathedral
of Kilfenora. The forts from Doon and Kilfenora westward call
for very little note, being featureless and the majority of earth,
sometimes with remains of stone facing.

LiSKET is an earthen fort 135 feet across : the "platform " is
105 feet across and is flat-topped, but had a rampart rarely a foot
high, giving the garth a slightly cupped appearance like one of the
Cooheagh forts near Bodyke in the east of the county. The fosse
is about 14 feet wide, the platform rising 5 feet above it. The fort,
called " Ballybaun fort " on the map, is nearly obliterated by tillage ;
it was about 30 yards across (north and south). A similar liss,
35 yards across (north and south), lies east of Ballybaun House
where the " R " of the parish name " Kilfenora " is marked on the
maps. The herdsman of Ballybaun knew of the other forts, but said
they were hardly noticeable. There is a curious single block of
stone with a battlementled outline in the last described liss,
6 feet by 3 feet by 8 inches, like the side of a dolmen save for its
irregular top.

Caheremon^ is hardly traceable at a bend of the road north from
Kilfenora. Petrie calls it " a fine remain " if he be not confusing
it with Ballykinvarga. Dutton in 1808 calls it Caheromond, and
adds that its walls were covered with orpine. It is said to have had
two rings, but I found bare trace of the ring of small filling of one.
I seem to recollect the walls as standing in 1878 and 1887, but may
be mistaken.

1 Petrie, Military Architecture oj Ireland ; Hely Dutton's Statistical Survey,
Appendix, p. 12. " Orpine, or live long, sedum telephium, covers the walls of
an old fort, called Cahiromond, near Kilfenora."

Plate XXI ]

LTo face page 264

CAHERMINAUN

(Showing Converging Courses)

BALLYKINVARGA GATE

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN 265

Fanta Glebe contains a cathair, utilised as a feature in the
Rectory garden, the former residence of the Protestant Deans of
Kilfenora. It is a fairly complete ring of small stonework, 105 feet
over all, and is thickly planted and quite featureless.

Ballyganner Hell (0. S. 9, 16). — Though far from certain that
I have exhausted this most important group that the apathetic
archaeology of the last century left to my exploration, I must
endeavour to close these notes. In 1896 I had to reserve the
dolmens for Mr. W. Borlase with other limitations, which must be
my plea for merciful criticism. Only the two fine dolmens of Bally-
ganner Hill and Clooneen had been accurately sketched and de-
scribed at that time, while the unique Ballykinvarga fort was almost
neglected and quite mis-described. I recently found that the west
opening of the first named dolmen had been closed by a slab (like
the sixth dolmen at Parknabinnia) ; ^ so violently and injudiciously
had it been forced open that the great stone door had snapped at
the ground level. These doors seem to imply that some of the
dolmens were " family vaults," and could be opened to admit later
burial. 2 The little basins in the cover of this dolmen may imply
observance of funerary offerings in later generations. In Co. Clare
science came too late to explore them : probably every chamber has
been violated by greedy, ignorant, unobservant treasure seekers
before the dawn of the last century. Tradition alone told of finds
of pottery. In our time one bronze age golden fibula of the type
of the " Great Clare gold find " at Moghane (circa B.C. 500-700 ?)
was got at the dolmen of Knockalappa in eastern Co. Clare.

The nearly levelled cathair near the great dolmen stands on the
most commanding part of the ridge. It is of large blocks, one
6 feet 10 inches by 20 inches by 20 inches, the wall being 6 feet
thick and rather coarsely built. The more southern cathair,
near the last, on the contrary is of fine large masonry,
regular blocks, set to a batter of 1 in 5 to 1 in 6. The waU
is 7 feet thick and over 5 feet high. The foundation of its
gateway, recently uncovered, shows that the passage faced south-
east, and was 4 feet wide, without posts. The foundation block of
the north jamb is 6 feet 3 inches long.

Beyond the steepest slope below to the south of the forts and to

1 Journal, vol xxxi, p. 291.

2 The question of secondary burials does not seem to have been worked out for
Ireland. Here, above all other countries, caution is needed. If the four Maols,
the murderers of St. CeUach, were actually buried in the Clochogle dolmen near
Ballina, we have an example in the 7th century. A striking late case is in the
Annals oj Loch Ce (ed. W. M. Hennessy) in 1581 : " Brien Caech O'Coinnegan**
died, the place of sepulture he selected for liimself was***at the mound of Baile
aii tobair."

266 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

the west of the laneway is a tumulus of earth and stones 56 feet
across and 6 feet 6 inches high. It is intact save where some
rabbiters made a hole into it on the north side ; no slabs were dis-
closed.

The cathair ^ to the west-north-west of the dolmen at the other
foot of the ridge is a fine example. Its ring is 120 feet across, but is
somewhat irregular. I have already described its details and the
socalled " cromlech " before its gateway. It may be a grave, but
again is unusual, if not unique. ^

Huts. — On the slope of the ridge, close to the west of the laneway,
below the great dolmen, is a hut site ; it is circular, 29 feet across,
of well laid horizontal courses of blocks (like the house ring, with
the souterrain, near Cahercuttine) ; it is now barely 3 feet high.
The Co. Clare huts are practically of five tj^pes — two circular, two
rectangular, the rest irregular. (Type 1) A circle of slabs set on end
like the ones south from Cahernabihoonach and east from Moher-
aroon.^ (2) A circular wall regularly built with blocks in courses,
like the one noted above ; sometimes this consists of several con-
joined circular cells. In some cases it had a domed or corbelled
(" beehive ") roof, in others, probably, a thatched or wooden one.
The most perfect are at Mohernaglasha, but foundations are not un-
common, as at the Cashlaun Gar, Cahercommaun, Mohernagartan,*
Ballykinvarga, and others. There is a curious domed hut having
a lintelled east door and external offsets on Bishop's Island, once a
promontory fort.^ In eastern Co. Clare, where wooden huts probably
superseded the stone ones, I have found the foundation of a two-
celled hut at Carrahan near Spancel Hill. In Caherbullog are some
very small circular cells (like those at Caherdorgan, Co. Kerry),
some only 3 feet to 5 feet clear inside.^ As we noted, the house
site at Cahercuttine has a souterrain.

Of the third type are the rectangular enclosures, or huts, of slabs
set on end near Caheraneden '' and Cahernaspeekee and the one in
Knockaun Fort ; ^ the two last have souterrains. Of the fourth
type it is hard to speak ; it is probably late, and approximates to
the modern cottages. The fifth type is represented by the " 9 "

1 Journal, vol. xxxi, p. 289.

2 See Proc, B, I. Acad., vol. xxvi (c), plate xxiv, " slab enclosing No. 33, near
western Caher."

3 Journal, vol. xli, p. 362, and vol. xxxi, p. 289.
* Ancient Forts oj Ireland, fig. 13, No. 7.

5 Proc. B. I. Acad., ser. iii, vol. vi, p. 166. See also North Munster Archaeol.
Sac, vol. ii, p. 227 ; \ol. iii, 38.

6 Journal, vol. xxxi, p. 16, for a sketch plan. Perhaps dog kennels like the
Croite na Catehragh at Caherdorgan.

7 Journal, vol. xxvi, p. 119.

8 Ibid., vol. XXXV, p. 221.

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN 267

shaped plan of the hut near Teeskagh and others, Hke those near
Horse Island promontory fort.

Dolmens. — Borlase^ makes an amazing mistake in speaking of
the Co. Clare dolmens. " Blocks of the size and symmetry of those
used by the dolmen builders would nowadays be far to seek." He
cites certain " intelligent farmers " as stating that " it was a matter
of astonishment how such slabs were raised." In fact such slabs,
of exactly the same size and regularity, abound, and at Parkna-
binnia, as we have noted, the blocks have been levered up and
propped on small rounded boulders close to an important group of
cists. I can only fancy that the " farmers " politely coincided with
his expressed views, as every local person knows that such blocks
could nearly always be raised near the sites of the dolmens in the
north-west part of Clare.

Some apparent dolmens may have been slab huts (as long since
suggested by George H. Kinahan,^ but he carried his theory too far)
however, I think the tapered cist, large or small, is always sepulchral.
The " long grave " type is not found in western or northern Co.
Clare, and is rare in the eastern half. The finest example, at Mill-
town, near Tulla, was long since destroyed,^ and we have only a
brief description of it in the Ordnance Survey Letters. The dolmens
seem nearly always to stand in the remains of a earn, or mound,
rarely rising higher than the edge of the cover.* The fifth cist at
Parknabinnia was, however, entirely buried in a earn, even after
1839. Several dolmens were used for residence. Dr. George U.
Macnamara remembers old women living in those of Cappagh-
kennedy, and Cottine, his father, the late Dr. Macnamara, attended
one of these. Gortlecka dolmen also formed part of a cabin. One
of those at Parknabinnia was used by a fugitive from justice, and I
saw the straw of his bed in it. The one at Slievenaglasha was used
as a calf shed and fuel store, to the burning of its contents it owed
its destruction.

Legend regards them everywhere as the Beds of Diarmuid and
Grainne, the famous fugitive lovers, and told how the hero spread
seaweed on the covers so that when Finn bit his prophetic thumb,
to learn whither his wife had absconded, he supposed them to be

1 Dolmens of Ireland, vol. i, p. 69.

2 Kinahan calls them Fosleacs, but evidently included unmistakable dolmens
(like Poulaphuca) mth the slab huts.

3 Proc. R. I. Acad., vol.- xxiv. (c), p. 113, from O.S. Letters, MSS. R.I. Acad.,
14 B 24), p. 255.

* The fairy mound, or sidhe, in early Ireland was supposed to open on the
feast of Samhain. See Echtra Nerai (ed. D'Arbois de JubainviUe). Dolmens of
Ireland, p. 853. Nera's adventures on entering the fairy mound are worth de-
taUed study. MSS., T. C. D., H. 2, 6, col. 658-662, Y. B. L. Proc. B. I. Acad.,
1879 (P. L. A.), p. 222.

268 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

drowned.i A visit of a married couple to them cured sterility.
In Hely Dutton's time (possibly on the same account) some sense
of indecency attached, and a girl refused to guide him to those of
Ballyganner in 1808, till she was assured that he was a stranger
and ignorant of the local beliefs. ^ John Windele^ in July 1855
notes of the Mount Callan Dolmen " fruitfuhiess of progeny in.
that." I learned of an indecent rite taking place about 1902 at a
dolmen for the same purpose.

The confusion between dolmens and huts is not confined to
Ireland, but occurs in the Pyrenees. Rev. Sabine Baring Gould
notes ^ some that the French call "cromlechs, circles of stone
supposed to be prehistoric." The local shepherds say " that
precisely similar stones are planted by themselves around temporary
huts of branches and turf erected by them when they have to stay
in the mountains." These must be closely similar to the Burren
circles of slabs. I myself have seen in the Corcaguiny peninsula,
in Kerry, primitive looking beehive huts of recent date ; one was
being built so late as 1904 at Dunquin, and others were recently
completed at Kilmalkedar. There also I saw " long graves,"
identical in design, but far less massive than the long dolmens
(allees couvertes) rows of slabs set on edge, with slab covers, and
buried in cairns. In Co. Limerick and Co. Clare it was courteous to
bring a few stones to put on the modern cairn if you found one
being made. I have also seen very primitive huts at Keel and else-
where in Achill ; while at Carna, on the north shore of Galway Bay,
I have seen and photographed circular " booley huts," with dry
stone walls roofed with long " scraws " of sod thrown over the top
like a tablecloth, and one " dut out " in a sandhill, the roof resting
on the surface with a low dry stone wall to the windward to prevent
it being blown away. Nothing more primitive than these huts,
could well be imagined.^

The great lesson to be learned in Irish archaeology (if not in that
of other lands) is the risk of extreme, or exclusive, views ; where
all is so primitive caution is most necessary, as the above facts show.

1 Folk Lore, vol. xxiii, p. 91.

* Statistical Survey, Co. Clare, p. 318. The idea of indecency is widespread,
being found even in Holland and Belgium. See Borlase, Dolmens of Ireland,
vol. ii, p. 555 ; vol. iii, p. 845 ; it probably rose from certain superstitious observances,
at the monuments.

3 Topographical MSS. R.I.A., vol. i, p. 292.

* Book of the Pyrenees, p. 127.

5 Primitive building traditions show in the fishing charm called Cashlan
pleiminhin, or " Cashlaun flaineen " locally. It is a stone circle, or rather miniature
ring-wall, with its gateway towards the desired wind or direction from which the
fish were expected. Despite the jealous secrecy of the people I secured a good
photograph of this charm. See Proc. B. I. Acad., vol. vi, ser. iii, p. 527, plate xxiii.

Plate XXII ]

[To face page 269

CASH LAUN -GAR

(From the North - East)

MTM,

RING WALL. TEMPLEMORE. KELLS

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN 269

Field surveys and excavations are the two master keys of the subject.
I have attempted to supply the first for one district ; I hope that the
coming of the time and the man for the second may not be much
longer delayed.

Sheshy (0. S. 9). — Before turning from the Burren uplands I
must note two forts to the north of Lemeneagh.

Cahermore has been recently nearly entirely defaced. The
outer face, in 1897, wss nearly entire ; now only a part to the west
is 5 feet high, of fairly good slab masonry, the rest is a mere heap.
The wall is 7 feet to 9 feet thick, and encloses a garth 81 feet across.
There are no hut foundations, but some old looking pens and cattle
enclosures adjoin the ring- wall.

Caheraclarig. — This fort was a mere thicket on my former
visits, it is now partly cleared. It is a ring-wall, the garth 90 feet
across and grassy. The wall is 4 to 5 feet high in parts, but much
gapped, and is only 6 feet thick. The gateway faces the east, and
has a lintel 4 feet 6 inches by 15 inches by 8 inches. There is
a hut enclosure to the south of the garth. The wall itself has
two faces and but little filling of small stones. The layer of slabs
set with their edges out, like books on a shelf, are to the north,
in the outer face.^ The cathair stands on a rock platform over a
little glen.

Cashlaun-Gar (Ordnance Survey Map No. 10).

This remarkable fort^ at the end of Glencurraun has been much
cleared on its platform. The destruction of hazels, probably by
goats, has brought to light a terrace, previously entirely concealed.
It is 28 to 30 inches wide, and forms a separate section for perhaps
3 feet down, but the base of the wall seems of one piece for 6 feet
8 inches from the ground. A reach of wall 15 feet long has fallen
since my former visits ; it is to the north of the east gate. More of
the other walls is slipping down the slopes. I am now able to give
a revised plan showing the outer enclosures, which are hard to
measure, being covered with bushes. The huts are so covered with
grass as to be now hardly distinguishable. The waU of the outer
enclosure (or bawn) to the north and east of the rock is, as a rule,
6 feet thick, of large blocks, usually 5 to 6 feet, one 8 feet 3 inches
long and 2 to 3 feet high and thick. It is 61 feet from the inner
fort to the north, running to what may be an older loop to the east,
which turns back to the foot of the rock in fine with the south jamb

^ I only know of this style of building elsewhere in a curious ring-wall at
Carrahan in eastern Co. Clare. See Proc. B. I. Acad., vol. xxxii, p. 73.
2 Journal, vol. xxvi, p. 152 ; vol. xxix, p. 383 ; vol. xliii, p. 254.

270 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

of the gateway, being there 63 feet out from the citadel waU. The
main wall is 6 feet 2 inches thick, the terrace 2 feet 6 inches
more; the whole in parts 10 feet, and at the gate 11 feet 6 inches

*!B.\tIii.l!ili

^ffi^mr^^^'''

\ \ 1

Cashlan Gar

thick and 8 feet high. It is 3 feet higher than the terrace and 12
feet 6 inches high outside.

Templemore-Kells (Ordnance Survey Map 17).
In my former visits in 1894 and 1898 I failed to recognise in the
hedge of hawthorns, brambles and modern walls round the church

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN

271

anything notable or ancient. The new maps, showing a circular
fence, led me to revisit it, and I am able to add a plan of another
typical example of a church in a ring-wall, like Glencolumbcille.

The ruin^ is situated in a pleasing position, among rich fields,
near a lake, with a view of the flank and cliffs of the Glasgeivnagh
Hill and Slievenaglasha, and MuHach, with its great rock terraces
and grey dome. The approach is by an old lane way to the north-

^TOBERNAMONASTRACH

Canons' Island Abbey, Co. Clare

east, and on that side the cashel is hardly traceable, being only
marked by scattered bushes, small filling, and rebuilt modern walls.
The ring measures 252 feet east and west, and 228 feet north and
south over all ; it is 8 to 10 feet thick, with filling of small field
stones, and is 3 to 4 feet high. The foundation courses alone remain
in parts on the inside, but outside to the north and north-west, the
louter face is well preserved, in parts 5 feet high. It is of large

^ Proc. R. I. Acad., ser. iii, vol. vi, view and note, plate viii, and p. 139.

272 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

blocks 3 to 4 feet high and many 5 feet long, with good masonry
above. Some large water- worn boulders, in situ, are embedded in
the-waU,i and it is evident that before the great drainage works the
fort was washed by the lake ; the garth being raised some 4 feet
higher than the field. To the south and east (as we noted) the wall
is entirely overthrown and a thick hedge of bramble and hawthorn
covers it, like the great, half demoHshed ring, in which the Abbey
of Canons' Island in the Fergus stands.^

There are some old looking drains and embankments from the
ring-wall, towards the lake, to the north-west and to the south-east,
near the entrance, two holes in the field mark a souterrain. I am
told that, when it was excavated long since by Col. Marcus Paterson,
of CHfden, and Mr. Robert Burke Foster, of Rinroe, it was traced
under the ring into the garth, but no antiquities were discovered.
The field to the north-west is called " Moheranimerish " (enclosed
field of contention), and legend says that two brothers, O'Briens,
fought and killed each other for its possession, in the perennial land
hunger of Co. Clare. A somewhat similar legend attaches to the
long earthwork of Killeen, south from Corofin. The Cashel was
evidently destroyed to build the modern graveyard wall, which lies
from 70 to 110 feet inside it, and is roughly square. This habit of
building mortared walls round graveyards has been fruitful in
destruction for early remains besides destroying most of their
charm. When we hear that the Rathblamaic round tower was
levelled for this purpose, and see the carved blocks of the once
beautiful romanesque church built into the new wall, there and at
Tomfinlough, in this country, and recall the demolition of other
Clare churches, Feakle, Kilnoe, Ogonnello, Moyferta, and many
others, we can only regret that the power of vandalism was conferred
by law on ignorant local bodies, without some restraint from some
better educated source.

The church is locally named " Templemoore," " Moor," and
" Kells." The plural form (Cealla) refers to it and St. Catherine's
not far away ; the latter is levelled, and its site forms an orchard

1 This utilising of boulders when in a suitable position is characteristic of the
economy of labour in the early builders reaching its zenith in certain promontory
foi-ts. Embedded boulders in ramparts are found outside of Ireland. Castal
an Dui fort, northern Perthshire, embodies a great boulder in its wall {Proc. Soc,
Antiq., Scotland, vol. xi, ser. iv, 1912-13, p. 30), and other cases of embedded
boulders.

2 On my visit to this plain and interesting ruin in 1886 the curved heap of
stones was thickly overgroMH with high bushes, so I cannot say whether any part
of the ring-waU remained intact. The southern and eastern parts have been long
levelled, perhaps for building the Abbey, before 1194. The Abbey gatehouse,
however, seems to be on its curve, and the outline may be traced a later wall
following the old hne. The ring measures about 320 feet inside, or 350 feet over
all; it is about 310 feet north-east and south-west, and encloses about 2^ acres
(Ordnance Survey Map No. 60).

PREHISTORIC REMAINS IN BURREN

273

in which graves and skeletons have been found. Curious to say,
Aenghus O'Daly, the bitter satirist of the Tribes of Ireland, attacks,
in 1617, the people of Cealla in Thomond for " digging in the church-
yard in the snow." ^ This custom, by the way, was against the
Ancient Law of Ireland, which is severe upon those " digging in a
graveyard and breaking bones."

The building is of large and primitive masonry at its west end,
perhaps of the 8th or 9th century. It has a lintelled door there,
with inclined jambs, 26 to 24 inches wide, and still 4 feet high ;

y^. \')i5

Templemore, Kells, Co. Claee

the ground having been raised several feet by burials. The lintel
is 6 feet 5 inches long and 2 feet thick. The church is elsewhere of
poorer later masonry ; it is 38 feet 8 inches by 23 feet 7 inches in-
side ; the west end being 26 feet 8 inches across and the walls
2 feet 6 inches thick, the whole about 51 feet long. The north
and east walls are only a few feet high. The south wall stands for
13 feet at the west, then a gap of the same length, then a reach
of 18 feet long with a rude window slit for which the round head
of an older window, cut in one block, has been utilised. There
was a north-east buttress, now levelled. The vault of Michael
Foster, Esq. (of Rinrow, who died on the 12th July, 1828, aged 42,
erected by his brother, John Foster), abuts against what was once
the east window.

See paper by Dr. Macnamara, Journal, vol. xxx, p. 31.

274 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

LiSMUiNGA (Ordnance Survey Map No. 17).

The fort, now called Lismuinga, is a small, well built ring-wall,
about 100 feet across, the eastern half greatly overthrown. It
stands on a little knoll in hazel thickets, and has a smaller fort,
entirely levelled, about 400 feet to the west ; a field wall passes
through the last. Neither is a " Liss." To the south there is a
trace of a curious rectangular fort, or bawn, between the " Poulna-
shantinna " and the road. It is oblong, and was of dry stone facing,
with small filling, and entirely levelled, 120 feet across east and
west, 96 feet north and south. The enclosure is divided into four
by-cross walls. The owner says it is not haunted, but he has seen
mysterious lights in the earth forts of Tully O'Dea near it, and he
and others heard the Banshee cry before the death of his uncle.

The " Poulashantinna " is one of those large funnel-shaped
hollows down to an underground stream or to the sea. The name
occurs at several places in North Mayo,i notably Downpatrick in
Tirawley, and in the North Mullet. I do not know of its occurrence
elsewhere, save at Lismuinga. Similar holes in Co. Clare, such as
those near Ballycarr and Newmarket-on-Fergus, at Corbally near
Quin, and Kilmorane to the south of Ennis, are reputed to be
" thunder holes," and caused by a bolt. The name is pronounced
Poolashantana, not " Poulashantinna," as on maps. Fish are caught
in it.

Fossil Coral at Dunmore, &c.

It seems to me, from the number of examples of fossils, polished
or otherwise, found in forts and early graves, that such were used
as amulets (most being unpierced, and so not available for ornament)
by primitive folk. I may give a tentative list, from Ireland and
France, to lead others to record the matter : —

(1) The fossil coral, rounded and polished, found in a midden
behind the wall and beside the right (west) of the entrance in Dun-
more promontory fort, on Horse Island, on the Shannon Estuary
in Co. Clare.

(2) A fossil echinoderm was found with a neolithic burial in
Topping mound, Inver, Co. Antrim.

(3) Another echinoderm (encrinite) was found, with a sepulchral
urn at Castle Hyde, Co. Cork.

(4) France. — An echinoderm (cidaris) was utilised to form part
of a carving in an early " find."

(5) France. — An ammonite was found in the midden of the fort
of Carnoles.2 {To he concluded)

1 See Journal, vol. xlii, pp. Ill, 204, 211.

2 (1) Journal, vol. xxviii, pp. 409-il2 ; vol. xxxviii, p. 226. (2) Ibid., vol. i,
set. ii, p. 351. (3) Cork Hist, and Arch. Soc, Journal, vol. xi, p. 187. (4) Le
permier etape d I'art pr6historique ; Congres internal, d'anihropohgie et d'arche-
ologie prehistorique. Session xiv, Geneve, Tome i, pp. 529, 530. (5) Soc. Prehist.
Frangaise. Notes on Congres II, (1907), p. 70.

( 275 )

THE NORMANS IN TIROWEN AND TIRCONNELL

By GoDDARD H. Orpen, M.R.I.A., Member
[Read at the Summer Meeting, Londonderry, 6 July, 1915]

When Henry II was in Ireland (1171-2) the Kings of the Cenel
Connell and the Cenel Owen alone showed no disposition to accept
him as their over-lord. Recalled prematurely by troubles at home,
Henry, we are told, had to forego his intention of incastellatmg
Ireland and reducing the whole country to a firm peace and order.
There is therefore httle difficulty in crediting the statement of the
Song of Dermot that Henry — whether in jest or in earnest — gave
permission to John de Courcy to take forcible possession of Ulstei*
" if he could conquer it." At any rate we know that in 1177 John
de Courcy did make the hazardous attempt, and that in the course
of a few years he succeeded in estabhsliing himself in a firm position
in a large part of the present Counties of Down and Antrim, and in
dominating that portion of the province of Ulster which lies east of
the River Bann, Loch Neagh, and the Newry river.

It was not, however, until the year 1197 that any serious attempt
was made by John de Courcy against Tiro wen. In that year,
according to Roger de Hoveden, Jordan, brother of John de Courcy,
was slain by an Irishman of his household, and to avenge his death
John attacked some of the petty kings of Ireland, subjugated their
territory, and gave no small part of it to Duncan, son of Gilbert of
Galloway, who had come to his aid.^ This statement, while it
assigns a motive for John's actions, is provokingly vague as to the
actions themselves. The Irish annals, on the other hand, supply
some definite facts concerning his doings in tliis and the following
years, but as usual with them leave us to search for his motives and
aims. Certainly from this date they represent him as much more
aggressive than he had been for nearly twenty years. They state
that in 1197 John de Courcy went to Ess Craibhe (the Salmon Leap
near Coleraine), built the Castle of Cill Santain or Cill Santail (now, I
think, represented by the Mote of Mount Sandel), and devastated
the adjoining cantred of Keenaght (the country of O'Cahan).
Moreover, the force left at the castle^ went on an expedition to the

^ Roger de Hoveden, vol. iv, p. 25.

2 This force was under the command of " Roitsel Phitun " or " Rustel Pitiin " —
a name which I cannot identify. Perhaps he was an officer of Duncan of Carrick?

276 KOYAL SOCIETY OF AJSfTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

harbour of Derry and pillaged some of the neighbouring churches.^
They were overtaken by Flaherty O'Muldory, King of Tirconnell
(who at this date is styled also " King of the Cenel Owen "), and
were defeated by him at the strand of Faughanvale.^ Among the
slain was the son of Ardgal O'Loughlin, whose claim to his ancestral
throne John de Courcy was no doubt supporting.

During the thirty years that had elapsed since the death of
Murtough O'Loughlin, King of Ireland (with opposition) in II665
there were at least eight kings of the Cenel Owen, and all of them
had died a violent death. During the whole of the same period
Flaherty O'Muldory was King of the Cenel ConneU. Fighting between
him and the Cenel Owen, as well as among the Cenel Owen themselves,
had repeatedly broken out. The main bone of contention seems to
have been Inishowen and the district of Cenel Moen about Raphoe,
at this time and for centuries afterwards claimed by both peoples.

In the same year (1197) Flaherty O'Muldory died, and the
Kingship of the Cenel Connell was assumed by Echmarcach
O'Doherty, who seems to have been lord of the districts of Cenel
Enda and Ardmire immediately south of Inishowen. John de
Courcy at once advanced by Toome and Ardstraw to Derry, where
he remained five nights. O'Doherty attacked him, but was defeated
and slain, and De Courcy carried off the cattle of Inishowen. In
1 199 John de Courcy again reached Derry by way of Ardstraw and
Raphoe, and remained for some time devastating the country, until
he was forced to return to defend his own territory from Aedb
0 Neill, who made a counter-attack by sea at Larne. Some futile
forays were also made by the EngUsh of Ulster into Tirowen in the
years 1200 and 1204, the last of which was led by Dermot, son of the
Murtough O'Loughlin, King of Cenel Owen, who was kiUed in 1196.

It is indeed pretty clear that in all these expeditions into Tirowen
John de Courcy was aiding, and was aided by, those of the Cenel
Owen who favoured the claims of the family of Murtough O'Loughlin,
the last strong Kong of the North of Ireland, against the O'Neillf,
who had only recently aspired to the succession.^ Both parties

1 Their names were Cluain I, Enach, and Derg-bruach, identified by O'Donovan
with Clooney, Enagh and the Grange of Dirgebroe {Inquis., 1609), now Gransha,
all three townland names in the parish of Clondermot.

" Ar trdigh na hUathcongbala : Ann. Ulst. The form is puzzling, but there
seems no vaUd reason for rejecting O'Donovan's identification of the place with
Faughanvale, as is silently done in Journal, vol. xxxii, p. 283, in favour of Conwal
in the diocese of Raphoe. Faughanvale is apparently the NotongaiQ (read
Nocongaill, i.e., Nuaconghhail of the Ecd. Tax, where Conwal appears simply as
Congwal, i.e., Congbhail. Faughanvale would lie on the return march from Enagh,
and the trdigh points to it rather than to Conwal.

3 It is noteworthy in this connexion that when John de Courcy was finallj'
expelled in 1205 he went for protection to the Cenel Owen {Ann. Ulst.), and even
made a covenant of amity with O'Neill {Ann. Lock Ce).

THE NORMANS IN TIROWEN AND TIRCONNELL 277

wished to free their country from the encroachments and domination
of the Cenel Connell, but Aedh O Neill, with clearer foresight of
consequences, rejected foreign aid and preferred to rely on his
countrymen alone.

John de Courcy's interference in Tirowen had no permanent
effect, and the time had now come when this stubborn warrior was
to lose even the lordship which he had securely won for himself in
Eastern Ulster. We cannot, however, here discuss the causes of his
downfall, or mention the steps by which it was accomplished, but
merely note that in May, 1205, King John granted " all Ulster, as
John de Courcy held it," to Hugh de Lacy and belted him earl.^
Five years later King John in person expelled Hugh de Lacy from
Ireland, and the next serious attempt against Tirowen was made,
not by a feudal tenant, but by John de Gray, Bishop of Norwich,
who was left as justiciar when the King returned to England.

John de Gray's pohcy appears to have been to induce the Irish
kings to accept a position analogous to that of the feudal lord of a
liberty. Such an arrangement was now made with Cathal Crovderg,
King of Connacht, and on the whole it worked well during Cathal's
hfetime. Aedh 0 Neill, now undisputed King of the Cenel Owen,
and paramount among all the northern kings, had wilhngly assisted
in the expulsion of Hugh de Lacy, but, unhke Cathal, he had avoided
giving hostages to King John. Accordingly, in 1211-12 the justiciar
took steps with a view to enforcing his submission. It was a formid-
able task, and no large force could be spared, for it ; so the bishop
sought allies by his diplomacy. First of all by agreement with the
King of Connacht he sent a body of Connachtmen under Gilbert
McCostello to the borderland between Connacht and Ulster, and they
built a castle at Caol-uisge, somewhere near Belleek, where the
waters of Loch Erne narrow into the river. Secondly, he despatched
a feudal force to Clones in the present County of Monaghan, where
another castle was erected, from which a foray was made into Tir-
owen. An isolated mote at Clones in all probability commemorates
the work. Thirdly, by large grants of land extending along the
northern coast from the Gljoins of Antrim to Derry he induced the
Scots of Galloway to invade Tirowen by sea. Finally, either the
bishop or the Scots appear to have detached O'Donnell from O'Neill,
though in 1209 the northern chieftains, after severe fighting, had
made peace with each other and an alhance against their enemies
whether Enghsh or Irish. ^

^ In 1207 Hugh de Lacy followed John de Courcy's example in making futile
forays to TuUoghog and into Keenaght {Ann. UlsL).

2 See the late Latin version of the Annals of Ulster, vol. ii, p. 249, note, and
Four Masters, a.d. 1208.

278 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

The forays from Caol-uisge and Clones effected nothing, and in
the following year the castles themselves were destroyed. The
invasion of the Scots of Galloway, however, was more serious and
had some far-reaching consequences, though not those contemplated
by the justiciar. According to the Irish annals, " Thomas Mac
Uchtraigh and the sons of Raghnall Mac SomairUgh came to Derry
with seventy-seven ships, and the town was greatly injured by them.
O'Donnell and they went together to Inishowen, and the country
was completely destroyed by them." Now these Scottish leaders
represented the two great Celtic chieftainries in the west of Scotland.
The former was Thomas, Earl of Athol (in right of his wife), son of
Roland, son of Uchtred, son of Fergus, all three successive lords of
Galloway. Alan, Thomas's elder brother, was lord of Galloway at
this time, and their uncle (or father's cousin) was Duncan, son of
Gilbert, Earl of Carrick, to whom King John had already granted
lands about Larne and Glenarm in Antrim.^ The sons of Raghnall
Mac Somairligh or Ranald, son of Somerled (a name which became
softened down to Sorley), were Donald and Rory. They had Norse
blood in their veins, for the mother of Ranald is said to have been a
daughter of Olaf, Norwegian King of the Isles. They divided
between them those of the Western Isles which were no longer held
by the King of Norway, as well as parts of Airergaidheal (Argyle) on
the mainland. Donald was the eponym of Clandonald, and from
him sprang the Macdonalds (or Macdonnells) of Alban and Erin and
their offshoots such as Clan Alastair.2

In 1214 there was another raid to Derry by Thomas, Earl of
Athol, and Rory Mac Ranald, Lord of Bute and Arran, and they
carried off the goods of the community of Derry and of the North of
Ireland also from the middle of the great church of the monastery.
If the despoihng of churches was one of the grounds for the expulsion
of John de Courcy, the attitude of the new grantees invited to super-
sede him in the north was not conspicuously more reverent. But
indeed the things plundered from churches were, in general at least,
not sacred utensils, but ordinary goods, especially corn, stored for
safety within the sanctuary. ^ In the same year the Earl of Athol
with the help of the Enghsh of Uladh, built a castle at Coleraine,
and for this purpose they obtained stones from " the cemeteries and
clochans (dry-stone buildings) and houses of the town, excepting
the church alone." *

1 See Ireland under the Normans, vol. ii, p. 267.

2 For the pedigree of the descendants of Somerled, see the Book of Clanranald,
partly translated in Skene's Celtic Scotland, vol. iii, App. I. Also the genealogies in
the Books of Ballynwte and Lecan, transcribed ibid., pp. 466^72, and c/., pp. 293-5.

3 On this point see Ireland under the Normans, vol. ii, pp. 195-8.
* Ann. Loch Ce, 1213 ; Ann. UlsL, 1214.

THE NORMANS IN TIROWEN AND TIRCONNELL 279

The King's grant to Alan of Galloway included besides the
Twescard, &c., the Cant reds of Keenaght and Tirkeeran to the west
of the Bann,i and the grants to Thomas, Earl of Athol, comprised
" that part of the Vill of Derry which belonged to O'Neill " {i.e., the
church-lands were not included), and ten knights' fees on each side
of the Bann with Kilsantain and the Castle of Coleraine.^ Henry III
confirmed John's grants,^ and when in 1226 the Earldom of Ulster
was restored to Hugh de Lacy the seisins of the Scottish nobles
were expressly preserved. ^ It does not appear, however, that any
effective settlement was made at this time to the west of the Bann,
and when we next get a clear account of the settlement in the
Twescard the seisins of the Scottish nobles seem to have disappeared.

I cannot find any certain evidence that the Mac Donalds were
given lands in Ireland at this time,^ but a little later in the thirteenth
century considerable numbers of them entered into the service of
Irish chieftains, both in Ulster and in Connacht, as GalUglach {i.e.,
" foreign soldiery "), or Gallowglasses, as the name came to be
written in EngUsh. These were professional heavy-armed foot-
soldiers, and they did much to increase the military power of the
chiefs who employed them and to stiffen their resistance against
absorption in the feudal organization. Intermarriages also took place
between the famiUes of Irish chieftains and the Clandonald, and the
way was thus prepared for later immigrations which scattered over
every province of Ireland.^

In ultimate result John de Gray's introduction of the Scots into
Ireland did not make for the increase of the power of the English
Crown.

In 1224 Aedh 0 Neill, ever ready to assist a rebel, aided Hugh
de Lacy in his endeavour to recover his earldom by force of arms,
and during Aedh's Hfetime no further attempt appears to have been
made against Tiro wen. Aedh died in 1230 — " a Kang who gave

1 C. D. I., vol. i, nos. 427, 564. 3 76«<Z., nos. 879, 942.

2 Ibid., nos. 468, 565. * CD./., vol. i, no. 1371.

5 A John, son of Alexander, was given five carucates in ' MaghaKn ' (Magheralin ?)
by King John and his seisin, together with that of Duncan of Carrick, was confirmed
in 1219 [C. D. /., vol. i, no. 907). He may have been a descendant of Somerled,
but I cannot place him in the pedigrees with any confidence.

« Thus in 1259 Aedh, son of Felim O'ConorKing of Connacht, " went to Derry
to espouse th^ daughter of Dugald Mac Sorley, and he brought home eight score
young men {Oglaoch) with her, together with AiHn Mac Sorley " ; Ann. Loch Ce.
These were perhaps Alan and Dougall, sons of Rory, son of Ranald, son of Somerled.
About the same date Donnell Og O'Donnell, who had been fostered in Scotland,
appears to have married a lady of Clandonald and to have introduced galloglaigh
into his household : see Ann. Loch Ce, 1290. Angus Og, lord of the Isles, grandson
of the Donald of 1213, is said to have married a daughter of Cumhaighe O'Cathaiu
(and was possibly the Mac DomhnaUl slain in 1318 along with Edward Bruce?)
His grandson, Eoia Mor, ' the Tanist,' married Mairi Bisset, and through her his
descendants succeeded to the Glynns of Antrim.

280 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

neither pledge nor hostage to foreigners or Gael " — and then the
ola struggle between the O'Loughhns and O'Neills broke out again. ^
In 1238 Maurice Fitz Gerald, then justiciar, and Hugh de Lacy-
dethroned Donne 11 O'Loughlin and gave the sovereignty to the son
of O'Neill {i.e., presumably to Brian, son of Aedh 0 Neill), and they
obtained the hostages of both the Cenel Owen and the Cenel Connell.^
It was probably in consideration of Maurice's services on this
occasion that Hugh granted him Tirconnell, as well as two cantreds
in SHgo which Hugh had recently acquired from Richard de Burgh
as his share in the partition of Connacht.^ In 1245 Maurice Fitz-
Gerald erected a castle at Sligo, and in ensuing years succeeded in
more or less effectively subduing the adjoiniiig cantreds. The great
manor here formed passed to his son Maurice, and from his heirs to
John Fitz Thomas of Offaly, and eventually to Richard de Burgh,
Earl of Ulster, in whose hands it was estimated at the considerable
annual value of £336 6s. 8d.-^

From Sligo Maurice Fitz Gerald repeatedly exercised his power
over Tirconnell, obtaining hostages and setting up and deposing
kings. It would, however, be wearisome to follow in detail all his
expeditions, but it is interesting to note that as early as 1247 a
descendant of Somerled was fighting for the Cenel Connel against the
EngHsh. In that year Maurice advanced to BaUyshannon to punish
Melaghlin O'Donnell for an attack in the previous year on the newly-
erected Castle of Sligo, and aided by a skilfully planned turning
movement Maurice succeeded in rushing the ford in the face of the
foe. O'Donnell was defeated and killed, and amongst the slain was
Mac Somhairle, King of Airer-Gaedhel.^ In 1248 Maurice again
entered Tirconnell, expelled the king, O'Canannain, whom he had
previously set up, and left the sovereignty to Goffraigh O'Donnell.
In the same year the justiciar John Fitz Geoffrey entered Tiro wen,
and " as the power of the Foreigners was over the Gael of Erin,"
the Cenel Owen gave him hostages and made peace for the sake of
their coimtry.^ At this time the justiciar built a bridge over the
Bann at Coleraine and erected a castle at Drumtarcy on the western
side of the river.'^

But O'Neill's submission did not last long. In 1253 he destroyed
the Castle of Moy Cova, which the justiciar had re-erected in the

1 It was not over \intil 1241, when Brian O'Neill, with the help of O'DonneU,
defeated and killed Donnell O'Loughlin.

2 Ann. Loch Ce 1238.

3 Red Book of the Earl of Kildare , f . v, d. and f . vi.

* Inquisition, 1333 ; Journal, vol. xxxiil (1903), p. 61.

5 Ann. Loch Ce, 1247.

6 Ibid, 1248. »
' Ann. Ulst , 1248.

THE NORMANS IN TIROWEN AND TIRCONNELL 281

preceding year, and raided part of Ulidia.i At this time he is called
Ard-ri of the North of Ireland, but he had a stubborn opponent even
in the north in Gofifraigh O'Donnell. Some extracts in the Four
Masters give a dramatic picture of the mutual relations of the
northern chieftains a few years later. In 1257 Goffraigh O'Donnell
was sorely wounded in a fight with the Fitz Geralds near Sligo,^
and in the following year, when O'Donnell was lying on his death-
bed, O'Neill took advantage of bis hapless pHght to demand the
submission of the Cenel Connell. But though O'Donnell's body was
stricken unto death his spirit was unbroken. Borne on a bier at
the head of his men he defeated the Cenel Owen on the banks of the
Swilly, and soon afterwards died " the death of a hero who had at
all times triumphed over his enemies." O'Neill now again demanded
the hostages of the Cenel Connell, and while the petty chiefs were
dehberating what they should do, for they had no lord since Goff-
raigh's death, DonneU Og O'Donnell, youngest son of Donnell Mor,
a youth of only eighteen years, returned from Scotland, where he
had been fostered by the Lord of the Isles. His coming at this
crisis is likened to the coming of Tuathal Teachtmhar over the sea
from Alban in the penumbral period of Irish history, after the ex-
tirpation of the royal race of Erin by the servile tribes. The chief-
tainship was immediately conferred on Donnell Og, and he proudly
rejected O'Neill's demands, answering his emissaries in the words
of a Scottish proverb which breathes the very spirit of the clans,
that " Every man should have his own world."

It will be readily understood that with these sentiments Donnell
Og held aloof from the projected confederacy of the Gael under
Brian O'Neill, which collapsed at the Battle of Down in 1260. Indeed
both in the previous year and immediately after that battle Donnell
Og invaded Tiro wen. During a reign of twenty- three years he never,
so far as appears, submitted to the EngHsh, but he repeatedly fought
against the O'Neills, and in 1281 he was killed in the decisive battle
of Desertcreaght by Aedh Buidhe O'Neill and Thomas de MandeviUe,
seneschal of the Earl of Ulster.^

Aedh Buidhe was eponymous ancestor of the Clan Aedha Buidhe
(or Clannaboy), which about the middle of the next century, when
expelled from Tirowen, obtained new territory in Eastern Ulster.
About 1263 he married a daughter of Miles de Angulo, who through

1 Ibid, 1253.

2 Ann. UlsL; Ann. Loch Ce, 1257. The Four Masters state that O'Donnell
received his wounds in single combat with Maurice Fitz Gerald, the justiciar, but
I have already shown that this is an apocryphal story : Journal, vol. xJiii, p. 36, note.

* Ann. JJlst., 1281. For the identity of Mac Martain with Thomas de MandeviUe
see my paper on the ' Earldom of Ulster, Part IV.," Journal, vol. xlv, p. 134,
notes 2 and 5,

282 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

her mother was cousin of Walter de Burgh, the new Earl of Ulster,
with whom Aedh Buidhe maintained relations of amity. In a former
paper I have quoted an agreement between Aedh Buidhe and Earl
Walter, dated 2nd October, 1269, by which, amongst other things,
Aedh Buidhe acknowledged that he held his regality of the Earl.^
It was, no doubt, in return for aid rendered to Aedh Buidhe against
O'Donnell and against his rivals of the house of Brian O'Neill that
Earl Walter obtained the position of overlord of Tirowen, and with
the position thus estabhshed and maintained for many years may
probably be connected the first effective settlement of the Normans
in Tirowen.

Aedh Buidhe was killed by Mac Mahon in 1283, and now for some
years Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, played the part of King-
maker in Tirowen, supporting the house of Aedh Buidhe against
Donnell, son of Brian O'Neill. I have mentioned the principal
events in a recent paper ^ and need not here repeat them, but it
must be borne in mind that, broadly speaking, from about 1263 to,
at any rate, 1295 the Earls of Ulster controlled the Kings of Tirowen.
In 1295 Donnell O'NeiU, taking advantage of the quarrel between
the earl and John Fitz Thomas of Offaly, slew Brian son of Aedh
Buidhe, and, so far as appears, was left undisturbed in the chieftainry
until the period of the invasion of Edward Bruce, whom he supported.
We have no direct information of the attitude of Donnell O'Neill
during these twenty years, but no hostile act is recorded, and as he
was one of those summoned by the king in 1314 to the Scottish war
his attitude cannot have been, even then, openly hostile. Whatever
his private feehngs may have been, he does not appear to have
interfered with the Enghsh settlements in Keenaght and Inishowen
to which we shall immediately refer. Anyone who carefully
examines the Irish annals for the half -century preceding the invasion
of Edward Bruce, and compares their record with that of any previous
historical period, cannot fail to note that an unwonted peace and
order seem to have prevailed in Tirowen. Donnell Og O'Donnell
indeed in the early part of this period made some attacks on Tirowen,
but the battle of Desertcreaght (1281) effectually curbed the power
of the Cenel Connell. Thenceforward the Red Earl's influence was
paramount. The Kings of Tirowen were his nominees. Indeed
it appears that all the Kings of the northern province had agreed
to hold their territories of the earl, and had bound themselves to
maintain and keep in readiaess for his service the nucleus of a
small standing army.^ It seemed as if the Pax Normannica was

1 Journal, vol. xliii (1913) p. 39.

2 The Earldom of Ulster, Part IV, Journal, vol. xlv, p. 134.
* See Earldom of Ulster, Part IV, Journal, vol. xlv, p. 141.

THE NORMANS IN TIRO WEN AND TIRCONNELL 283

at last beginning to extend over the entire north of Ireland, but
the insecure fabric was shaken to its foundations by the Scottish
invasion, and finally fell with the fall of the house of De Burgh.

We have clear evidence that in 1296 an English settlement had
already for some years been estabhshed within the borders of Tir-
owen. In that year the earl accompanied King Edward in his
victorious campaign against John BaUiol, King of Scotland. Peace
was made in August, and, presumably at about this time, a marriage
was arranged between the earl's sister Egidia or Gile and James the
Steward of Scotland. On October 10 the king confi.rmed a charter,
evidently executed in Scotland a short time previously, by which
the earl granted to James and Egidia and the heirs of their bodies
in free-marriage and free barony his castle of Roo, the borough and
demesne belonging to the said castle, and the whole lordship, services,
and rents of the lands of the EngHsh enfeoffed by the earl in " le
Kenauth " (Keenaght) to the said castle of Roo belonging, on the
east part of the river of Roo, with the island in the river near the
castle, and all the earl's land of Rennard (about Magilligan Point) ^
with aU farmers and feoffees as well within as without the borough,
to hold, &c., with all Uberties and easements thereto belonging during
the years of free-marriage and afterwards rendering the forinsec
service of one knight's fee.^

It is clear that the manor was already a well-established and a valu-
able one. The name survives, or has been resuscitated, in Roe Park,
through which the river Roe runs, near Limavady. It was in O'Cahan's
territory of Ciannachta (Keenaght) . Now eighteen yearsearUer, inl278,
Dermot O'Cahan, King of Fir na Craibhe, surrendered to the earl
" all the land of Glen Oconcahil, which he held of the earl immediately,
to hold to the earl in fee." ^ I cannot identify the place-name,
which is perhaps corrupt, but it was clearly in O'Cahan's territory.*
Manus O'Cahan and several others of the name were slain fighting on
the side of Brian O'Neill at the battle of Down in 1260. We next
hear of his son Cumhaighe or Cooey O'Cahan, King of Keenaght,
who was taken prisoner by Aedh Buidhe O'Neill in 1264. ^ After-
wards Cooey took the part of the Mandevilles in their dispute with
WilHam Fitz Warin, Seneschal of Ulster (c. 1272-3), and plundered

1 The form Rennard points to Rinn arda [MagilUgain]. Ard- Magilligan was the
former name of the parish of Magilligan or Tamhlaght-ard. See Reeves, Colton's
Visitation, pp. 39, 78, 84, 129.

2 C. D. I., vol. iv, no. 338. Cal. Pat. Rolls, 24 Ed. 1, p. 208.

3 From the MSS. of Lord de L'Isle and Dudley. H. M. C, 3rd Rep., p. 231.
The deed is dated apud Novam villam de Blawic (Newtownards), 6 Edw. (I),
December 1.

* It may be a corruption of Glen O'Concadhain (Glenconkeine).
6 Ann. Loch Ce, 1264.

284 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

the lands of the latter.^ Probably Cooey was dispossessed by the
seneschal and his territory given to Dermot O'Cahan to be held of
the earl as in the above agreement. ^ At any rate to about this
period I would ascribe the acquisition by the earldom of lands in
Keenaght and the formation of the Manor of Roo.

Angus Og (Mac Donald), Lord of Bute and Islay and Cantire, son
of Angus Mor, son of Donald, son of Ragnald, son of Somerled, is
said to have married a daughter of Cumhaighe O'Cahan,^ and,
according to the Scottish tradition, being anxious to plant with
settlers some portion of his lands, he accepted as dowry with his wife
seven score men out of every surname under O'Cahan. Among
these, it is said, were the Munroes, " so-called because they came
from the innermost Roe Water in the county Derry, their names
being formerly O'Millans." ^ Whatever we may think of this origin
of the name Munro, the tradition may well have been based on an
actual exodus of some O'Cahan septs from the valley of the Roe.
This exodus would harmonize in date, and may well have been
connected, with the Red Earl's settlement in the same district.
Moreover it seems to me not improbable that this Cmnhaighe was
the Cumhaighe na n-Gall to whom the effigy with the figures of six
gaUoglaigh in the ruined church of Dungivenis traditionally ascribed,,
and not, as is generally supposed, the Cumhaighe who died in 1385, ^
and of whom all else we know is that he was taken prisoner by the
Enghsh of Coleraine in 1376.^ Apart from the flamboyant canopy,
which in any case is later in date than the effigy, the tomb bears a
close resemblance to that in the abbey church at Roscommon which
is ascribed to King Fehm 0 'Conor who died in 1265 . ' The soubriquet
na n-Gall was given to a person who favoured foreigners, and not to
one who fought against them, and on the supposition that the
thirteenth-century Cumhaighe was the Cumhaighe na n-Gall of
tradition the soubriquet would be readily accounted for by his
connexion with the GaU-Gaidheal of the Isles.

In the Ecclesiastical Taxation of 1306 the church of Roo is
valued at the exceptionally high figure of £20, and this is a good

1 C. D. I., vol. ii, no. 952 and p. 433.

2 Dermot O'Cahan dux Hibemicorum de Femecrewe was one of those whom the
King asked for aid against the Scots on 22 March, 1314 : Rymer's Foedera, p. 245.

3 Book of Clanranald, translated Skene's Celtic Scotland, vol. ui, p. 401.

* Collectanea de Rebus Alhanicis (Hugh Macdonald, c. 1680) quoted in Hill's
MacDonnells of Antrim, p. 15.

6 Ann. Loch Ce, 1385.

« Ann. Ulst., 1376.

' In the Roscommon tomb, as in that at Dungiven, it seems clear that the effigy
and sculptured slabs do not belong to one another and are not contemporary
see Journal, vol. xxx, p. 364).

THE NORMANS IN TIROWEN AND TIRCONNELL 285

indication of the prosperity of the parish ^ when the earl was lord
of the manor.

From the inquisition of 1333, taken after the murder of Earl
William, we learn that there were at le Roo 34 carucates of land in
demesne let for years at 2 marks per carucate, and 17 carucates in
the hands of freeholders of the manor at £1 per carucate
These rents together with profits of water-mills and per-
quisites of the manorial court used to bring in to the earl the large
sum of £72 per annum ; but after the murder of Earl William the
whole manor lay waste and untiUed on account of the war of the Irish
and the absence of tenants.^ There was also a small seignorial
manor at Camus, and the earl's tenants held some other lands on the
west side of the Bann near Coleraine, but in 1333 they were all
likewise waste.

The evidence adduced for the above statements will I trust be
sufficient to show that the following sweeping statement which occurs
in a paper on the Sept of the O'Cathains in the Ulster Journal of
Archceology needs considerable revision : — " It is worthy of notice,"
it is there remarked, " that in the long interval of upwards of 350
years, which elapsed between the year 1206 and the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, the Enghsh appear never once to have penetrated into
Ciannachta, much less to have made a conquest of the territory."^

The castle of Roo is probably to be identified with the castle
mentioned by the Four Masters under the year 1542 as having been
taken by Mac Quilhn and the Enghsh. It is there called O'Cahan's
Castle — i.e., Leim an mhadaidh (Limavady).* It is again mentioned
as besieged by O'Donnell in 1592 when it is described as " situated
on the margin of the river called Roa," and as " a strong impregnable
castle and mansion-seat {dun aras) of O'Cahan." ^ The exact site
is known, though no remains of masonry are visible. The castle
stood on a high projecting chfi on the right bank of the Roe, not far
from the " Dog's Leap," which gave its name to the castle and Old
Town of Limavady. On the top of the chfE there is a level platform,
nearly circular, with a diameter of about twenty paces. Erom the
greater part of the circuit the sides descend precipitously towards
the river, while the platform is cut o£E from the rest of the high
river-bank by a deep and wide fosse. Here no doubt stood " the

^ At this time the parish was called Roo and seems to have included the parishes
of Drumachose, Tamlaght-Fialagan, Balteagh and Aghanloo. See Reeves' Cotton's
Visitation, p. 132.

2 Journal, vol. xlv, The Earldom of Ulster, Part IV., p. 127.

3 Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 1st series, vol. iii, p. 8.
* Four Masters, vol. v, p. 1473.

^ Four Masters, vol. vi, p. 1931.

286 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

old castle of O'Cane, with drawbridge and moat and circular tower,
with guns in double tier," as it is described in a " Survey of the
Londoners' Plantation " made in 1622.1 j^ ^as what is called a
promontory castle, and there can be little doubt that it was originally
constructed by the Red Earl. On the high bank behind and to the
south may be traced rectangular bailey-enclosures, though these
have evidently been mutilated by quarrying. ^

But besides these manors in Keenaght the earl held a still more
distant manor in Inishowen. This peninsula between Loch Swilly
and Loch Foyle had long been debatable land between the Cenel
Owen and the Cenel Connell, and we have seen how often it had been
raided both by Normans and by Scottish Gaels, but the first clear indi-
cation we have of an actual settlement by the EngUsh in Inishowen
is in 1305, when "the New Castle of Inishowen," called at the time
by the EngHsh the castle of Northburgh was erected by the Red
Earl. 3 The castle stood on a rock which rises at the entrance of
Loch Foyle, just opposite to MagiUigan Point. As that point was,
as we have seen, apparently included in the manor of Roo, the earl
controlled both sides of the entrance of the Loch. The keep,
of which the basement and part of the upper walls remain, is a
massive rectangular structure, 51 feet by 45 feet, with walls 12 feet
thick at the ground level. It presumably dates from the earl's time.

In the thickness of one of the walls was a well. A rectangular
pier rises in the centre of the basement, but there is no indication
that it carried a vault . It may have been a later addition constructed
in the days of artillery to strengthen the beams which, no doubt,
supported the first floor. The keep projects from the land-side of an
oblong courtyard about 280 feet by 100 feet. At the entrance to the
courtyard are two polygonal towers of no great strength.

It would seem that the earl obtained the land on which the
castle was built from Godfrey Mac Loughlin, who was Bishop of

1 Cal. S. P. I., James I, 1622, p. 370, quoted more fuUy in Mj. E. M. F.-G.
Boyle's Records of the Town of Limavady (1912). This book gives much accurate
information as to the later history of the district.

2 There is record for this quarrying: Sir George Carew in 1611 states that Sir
Thomas Phillips, the grantee of Limavady, " hath raised stone out of the ditch
adjoiriing the old castle [of Limavady], being a very hard rock, whereby he
intends to make some good work for the defence of the coimtry " : Carew MSS.,
quoted by Mr. Boyle.

^Ann. Loch Ce, 1305. According to O'Donovan it was still called by the Irish
in his daj^ Caislean nuadh. In Docwra's Narration (1614) it is called Greene Castle :
Celtic Miscellany, pp. 240, 257. When James I granted it with the rest of
O'Doherty's country to Sir Arthur Chichester it appears as " castrum de Green-
castle alias Newcastle " : Inquis. Lagenie {Donegal), 11 Jac. 1. It must be distin-
guished from the Castrum Viride, or le Grencastell in Co. Down (see Annals in
Chart. St. Mary's Abbey, vol. ii, pp. 345, 283), with which it has been confused even
by O'Donovan : Four Masters, vol. iii, p. 481, note.

THE NORMANS IN TIROWEN AND TIRCONNELL 287

Derry from 1297 to 1315. In my paper on the " Earldom of Ulster,
Part IV," I have referred to a grant apparently made some years
prior to 1310, by that bishop to Earl Richard of " the City of Derry,
two villates in Bothmean in Inchetun (probably the parish of Inch),
and eight carucates in Moybyle {Magh bile or Moville, the parish in
which the castle is situated), and Fahun murra (Fahan), and the
advowson of a moiety of the church of Inchetun." ^ About the same
time the earl also obtained a grant from Henry Mac an Crosain,
Bishop of Raphoe, of three villates in Derecolmkelle (Derry), and
Loghlappan (now Port Lough on the southern boundary of
Inishowen).^

That the earl had obtained considerable rights in this district
is manifest from the inquisition of 1333, when it was found that in
the Manor of Northburgh there were, besides the castle, " divers
lands and tenements in the hands of Irishmen who hold at the will
of the lord, and in the earl's time used to pay £60 per annum."
This was a large, if somewhat precarious, amount, and with the
receipts from the Manor of le Roo formed nearly two -thirds of the
earl's income from the whole " County of Coleraine," i.e., the dis-
trict along the northern coast from Loch Swilly to the Glynns of
Antrim.

In October, 1315, in view of the Scottish invasion, the King's
victuallers were ordered to deliver supplies to Thomas de Stanes for
the garrison of Northburgh Castle. The supplies, however, did not
reach their destination,^ and early in 1316 the castle was taken by
the Scots. 4 It came again into the earl's hands after the defeat
and death of Edward Bruce in 1318.

In 1327, soon after the death of Earl Richard, Bishop Michael
Mac Loughlin, appeahng to Pope John XXII, complained that the
earl, " supported by the favour of the temporal power," had con-
strained the former bishop, Godfrey Mac Loughlin, to consent
" with his lips but not from his heart {verbaliter et non cordialiter) "
to an agreement, by virtue of which the earl and his heirs for a

1 An inquiry as to this grant, which was made tempore Edw. I, was ordered on
8 Feb. 1310 : Ir. Pat. Boll, 3 & 4 Edw. II, p. 18 (128). On 26 June 1297 the royal
assent was given to Godfrey's election (C. D. I., vol. iv, no. 417), which had pro-
ceeded regularly after licence obtained from the King : ib., nos. 371, 401, 405.
Indeed from about 1285 the Crown asserted its rights in the matters of the tem-
poralities of the see of Derry and in the election of its bishops : ibid., vol. iii, pp. 9,
251, and vol. iv, no. 175, &c.

2 On 16 December 1310 the earl obtained pardon for acquiring the above lands
without licence from the King, and (on the same date) obtained licence for the
alienation in mortmain of 60 acres of land " in Northburgh in Incheon " to
Thomas de Stanes, parson of the church of St. Mary, Northburgh, and his suc-
cessors : Cal. Pat. Boll, 4 Edw. II, pp. 292, 293.

3 Historical and Municipal Documents, Ireland, pp. 335, 341.

* Laud MS. Annals, Chart. St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, vol. ii, p. 349.

288 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

small annual rent had held for twenty years a certain part of the
City of Derry and the temporal jurisdiction there, and certain
advowsons and divers tenements and rights which belonged to the
Church of Derry and the episcopal mensa ; and the bishop prayed
that the earl's heirs might be ordered to make restitution.^ The Pope
directed the Archbishop of Armagh to make an enquiry, but we do
not know the result. Anyhow the new earl did not give up the
castle and lands of Northburgh.

In 1332 Walter de Burgh, son of Sir William " the Grey," was
imprisoned in the castle by order of Earl WiUiam and " put on diet," ^
that is to say, starved slowly to death. This act, barbarous as it may
seem in our eyes, appears to have been the result of a judicial
sentence. It suppKed, however, the motive for the murder of Earl
WiUiam in the ensuing year,^ and in the disturbances that followed
this event the lands of Northburgh, like those of le Roo, seem to
have been lost to the earldom.

About the beginning of the 15th century the O'Dohertys made
good their claim to Inishowen,^ and for many years paid rent either
to O'DonneU or to O'Neill, according as one or other of those chief-
tains were for the time being uppermost, until in 1512-14 O'Neill
was forced by O'DonneU to renounce his claim.^ FinaUy, in 1555,
the miUtary career of the castle came to an inglorious end in a
squaUd quarrel between the O'Donnells themselves. In that year
Calvagh O'DonneU, who was fighting against his father Manus
O'DonneU, Chief of TirconneU, brought some forces from Scotland
with a gun, strangely caUed Gonna Cam or " the Crooked Gun,"
which nevertheless hit straight enough to break the New Castle of
Inishowen.^

1 Theiner's Vetera Monumenta, p. 237 ; Epistle John ii, no. 468 ; and Papal
Letters (Bliss), vol. ii, p. 256.

2 Ann Loch Ce, 1332.

3 See Part I, Journal, vol. xliii, p. 46.

* Ann Loch Ce, 1413.

5 Four Masters, vol. v, pp. 1317, 1329. O'Neill's claim was, however, revived
in 1543-7, when it was submitted to the arbitration of the Lord Deputy and Privy-
Council : Cal. Carew MSS., pp. 205-214.

* Ibid., p. 1541. By the same gonna cam the castle of Enagh was also broken.

( 289 )

RATH BRENAINN

By H. T. Knox, Fellow.

[Submitted 6 July 1915]

This work is on the crest of a liigh hill 2 miles west of the town
of Roscommon, in the townland of Rathbrennan. The principal
dimensions are given in the accompanying plans and sections. The
ramparts are all about 9 feet wide and 3 feet high ; that of the
western rath is 4 feet high, except some parts which have been
worn down.

The ditch of the eastern rath and the ditch between the raths,
where the ditches are not ruined, are 18 feet wide at the bottom
and about 24 feet wide at the garth level. That of the western
rath is 12 feet wide at the bottom and 18 feet wide at the garth
level. The ditch of the bailey is 6 feet wide and 2 feet deep at the
field level. The garth falls away about 3 feet towards D. The
raths, the bailey, and the bailey rampart are so overgrown by ferns
that they could not be examined closely, but no very important
feature can be concealed.

The outer ramparts of the raths have been removed within the
bailey and for some distance outside it from F to B. From the
junction of these ramparts on the north-eastern side a traverse Hke
a low gangway extends to the western rath. The base is 18 feet
wide. The top is 3 feet above the bottom of the ditch of the western
ring and 6 feet above that of the eastern ring. Probably there is
no similar traverse on the corresponding southern junction, but this
is not quite certain as a note was not made at the time, and the
place is much obscured by shrubs.

The mound at G, the Fert on which St. Patrick and Caeilte and
the King of Connacht sat (O'Grady, Silva Gadelica, Translation of
Colloquy, p. 131), is 6 feet from the rampart. Owing to erosion
and interference it is not quite a perfect circle 24 feet in diameter.
The top, 6 feet in diameter, is slightly hollowed in the middle. The
position near the bank may have some significance, or may be due
to some reason at which I cannot guess. We find sepulchral mounds
in similar position in several rings, at Rathra {Journal, 1911, p. 211),
at Camabreckna near Roscommon, and at Tara. The subject is
discussed at greater length in a paper on Carnfree and Carnabreckna,

290 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

which has recently appeared in the Journal of the Galway Arch, and
Hist. Association.

In the great enclosure of Emain Macha, the Navan Fort near
Armagh, a mound 15 feet high is close to the rampart ; traces remain
of a second mound. The former mound may have been a citadeL
Therefore we cannot rely on them as an instance of two sepulchral
mounds within a rath, but considering the clear instances mentioned,
the probability that they were sepulchral is not slight {Revue
celtique, xvi, p. 1). The Dumhas near the rampart or wall in the
northern part of Cathair Cro-Fhinn at Tara should be sepulchral, as
they are called Dumhas. A small mound is on the boss of the ring
at Dumha Brosna, not quite central, but practically so.

My colleague has made observations on this work which I now
give as nearly as possible in his own words. The changes are only
what are needed owing to their having been made in letters.

" Rathbrennan, save as regards the included mound, is not a
very typical or prominent instance of conversion from sepulchral
to residential use. The two rings are not quite of the same character.
The eastern work is practically a circle : its rampart is easier in slope
on the inside, and not so high as that of the western work. Th&
latter is irregular in shape and approximately triangular; and its
rampart is higher and steeper. It approximates to a Norman work
in shape and otherwise. The other ring approximates to a sepulchral
work. Note that the inner or garth ramparts are steeper on the
outside than on the inside, perhaps showing late adaptation. This
is more noticeable in the eastern than in the western work.

" I do not very well know what to make of the whole thing. The
outer slope of the outer ramparts and the inner slope of the garth
rampart have the easy Hne of the sepulchral series. These slopes do
not correspond with the ditch slopes, which are as abrupt as the
nature of the soil will allow. The mound in the east fort is another
sepulchral point, but then we have the bailey. I would say that
these were originally sepulchral rings of a pre-Celtic people, and
that they were used by the Celts practically unchanged. Their
proximity is another point in favour of sepulchral origin. I attribute
the deep ditches and the bailey to subsequent Norman occupation.
" But there are points against this view. First, the western
fort is aberrant as to shape for a sepulchral work. The eastern fort
too, though more regular, is hardly a stereotyped ring. However,
as regards these points, the central garth at Rathra is as aberrant
as the eastern fort, and the west termination of Corker leads me to
infer that, as in all other earthworks, there are occasional wide
departures from regulation. This has no reference to the later work
to the west of Corker {Journal R.S.A.I., 1914, p. 353).

RATH. BRENAINN.

F ^ 1/ i % ^fe-F

'^% ^\ 63 YDS. .^ v^ii^i^^y'"':;;::;',,,
% '%:^ i ;^ /' '"%i

.>^^^?-. . '^-< 7^^'^^-->HE

rf ^' i 'ft ^ ' =n'

^ 9^DSl5 ; ^=1 ' YDS :=:JJ

% ^ eeVos// / ,L1||

% %., i ^^ /A ..'Cv<-=

AL^_ thr::. __r._riB

E ry.i . .^n:' f

292 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

" I have yet another theory to offer. The eastern fort may have
been a sepulchral ring and may have stood alone. The Celts may
have used it as they found it, but the Normans might deepen its
ditch and add the western fort and the bailey. On the whole the
garth rampart of the western fort is higher than the rampart of the
eastern fort, so this is some evidence.

" The traverse may shew that the two forts are not coevaL"
Though Mr. Orpen had called my attention to the words in
O'Grady's translation of the Acallamh na Senorach, " a sodded
mound that dominated the rath's outer Umit," a long time ago,
my colleague had no opportunity of visiting the neighbourhood until
last autumn. Then, in suggesting to him the advisabiUty of
examining the rath, I could communicate only the above words,

MOUND IN RATHBRENAINN.

SCALE .
?■■■■? «?

and add that the Ordnance Map marks Rathbrennan as a double
rath, hke the Teach Chormaic and the Forradh at Tara. It was
only when his field sketch and description came that I searched for
further references.

His plans and descriptions and the observations which are
quoted above have an especial interest because they are founded
upon his own study of earthworks during some years, and are
wholly free from any bias which might have arisen from a study of
the legendary and historical references quoted below. And these
have a special interest again in their bearing on those views and
explanations.

The translation led us to expect a mound like a high mote. We
find instead a low mound such as is in Rathra, not very much higher

RATH BRENAINN 293

than the rampart. The mounds in Corraun and Ratbscrig are of
the same class, except that the one in Corraun is larger and higher
(Journal, 1914, pp. 16, 19). Mr. Orpen suggests that " On the grassy
grave-mound on the edge of the rath " is a better rendering of the
text ar an firt fdtbaig 6s or na rdtha and I have adopted this
emendation.

The account of St. Patrick's visit to Rath Brenainn is given in
O'Grady's Silva Gadelica, translation, pp. 131, 132, and on p. 121
of the text. It is necessary to give in abstract, or by quotation
almost the whole, as follows : —

St. Patrick and bis company came from Munster into Connacht,
where the King of Connacht, Muiredach son of Finnachta, met him
and accompanied him in his journey northwards. Leaving on their
right hand Ros na Fingaile, now called Roscomain, they went " to
Rath Ghlais, which now men style Rath Brenainn. There the
King of Connacht 's tent was pitched. Patrick and Caeilte came and
sat on the grassy grave-mound on the edge of the rath ; the King of
Connacht with all his company joins them, and they sit down by
Patrick and by Caeilte."

Caeilte tells Patrick how the rath got its name. Glas Mac
Drecain, King of Lochlann, came with a large army to win " Ireland's
royal power." Cormac 0 Cuinn the High King summoned the
Fianna under Finn and all the forces of Ireland. The great battle
was fought here, in which Finn killed Glas. " Three of us, of the
Fianna, entered into the tent in which Glas Mac Drecain was ;
there we found nine columns of gold, the smallest one of which was
in bulk equal to a three-ox yoke. These we hid in this red moor
northward of the rath, and here Glas Mac Drecain was laid under
ground. From him therefore this rath is called Raith Ghlais."

No bog is at hand. The word used is " moin." In late autumn,
winter or spring the dead ferns, which cover the tract in which the
forts stand, would make the land look hke moor.

Annals of Tighernach — a.d. 600 — " Death of Brenann, son of
Cairpri, son of Fechene, the King of Ui Maine, from whom is named
Raith Brenainn in Magh Ai." The Chronicon Scotorum uses almost
identical words under a.d. 601.

Four Masters, a.d. 1143 — " The Clergy of Connacht,' with Muir-
eadhach Ua Dubthaigh, fasted at Rath Brenainn, to get their
guarantee, but it was not observed for them."

A.D. 1410 — " Five hundred cows were carried off, about All
Hallow-tide, by the sons of O'Conor Donn, from the people of
O 'Conor Roe, at Rath Brenainn."

Taking the legend first, we find that it gives information which
we may take into account, though the legend cannot be treated as

294 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

history. The reference to Roscommon establishes the identity of
Rath Brenainn. The rath was known to be a sepulchral monument,
and was of such ancient origin that the legend makers were able to
ascribe it to what seems to have been an imaginary invasion by an
imaginary king. We are told that Glas was buried, but we are not
told that a rath was raised, only that it therefore bears Glas's name.
The natural inference seems to me to be that this is a case of a secon-
dary interment. We may, I think, take this rath to be of great
antiquity, even pre -Celtic.

We learn that the word " Fert " includes such small low barrows
as we find here, and in Rathra, and in Rathscrigg near Rathcruachan.
How much more it may cover I cannot say.

There may have been a King of Connacht named Muiredach, son
of Finnachta, but no record of his existence is known to me. Mr.
Orpen pointed out to me that the writer of the Colloquy does not
suppose that there was any house in the rath, the king's tent being
pitched within it.

The legend supports my colleague's view that the eastern rath
was pre-Celtic, certainly pre-historic.

In absence of explanation a suspicion arises that Caeilte and his
two companions hid Glas's gold in order that Finn and bis Fianna,
the Regular Army of Ireland, might cheat King Cormac and the
Territorial Army out of their share of the plunder.

The first mention in the Annals does not tell why the rath took
Brenann's name. My suggestion is that Brenann made the western
rath as a residence attached to the sepulchral ring in imitation of
the High King's official residence at Tara ; and Rath Brenainn at
first meant only this new rath, but in time the name Rath Ghlais
was dropped and Rath Brenainn covered the whole.

At this time the northern boundary of the kingdom of the Ui
Maine ran in an east to west line through Fairy Hill to the north of
Roscommon. The lands between the Shannon and the Suck were
occupied by the Delbhna Nuadat from Athlone northwards under
the supremacy of the Ui Maine. At a later date various clans of the
Sil Muiredhaigh occupied this country and a great deal more to the
west of the Suck, and the Delbhna dropped out of sight. The Kings
of Sil Muiredhaigh supplanted the Kings of the Ui Maine, and
naturally took over their dwellings. When this occurred does not
appear. The next entry indicates that King Torlogh Mdr 0 'Conor
used Rath Brenainn as a residence.

If my conjectures are correct, we may say that in the latter
part of the 6th century a residential rath was attached to the
sepulchral ring so that they formed but one work, as my colleague
has already suggested upon independent grounds.

RATH BRENAINN 295

From other sources we know that the Kings of Connacht were
deprived of this country effectually about the year 1270. After the
building and occupation of Roscommon Castle and the estabHshment
of a town, a considerable number of Anglo-Normans of various ranks
settled in this country, and the Kings of Connacht would not have
occupied Rath Brenainn until the castle of Roscommon and all this
country were abandoned by the King of England and the settlers in
the 14th century. Then the 0 'Conors returned, and the last entry
shows that O'Conor Roe held it in 1410. Here we have a period in
which the work may have been in actual possession of an Anglo-
Norman, during which any occupier would be affected by the
system of the Norman settler.

One point is quite certain. These two rings are a veTY close copy
of the King of Ireland's Raths at Tara. The differences are that
here the raths are divided only by the ditch, there each has a ditch
and only a strong rampart divides them ; there two dumhas are near
the northern edge of the great outer ring called Cathair Crofinn, here
one low " Pert " is in Ratb Ghlais. The bailey is a later construction
which may be ignored, save as a sign of Norman occupation or of
Norman influence.

A question now arises. Why did two kings of high position —
the King of Ireland, and, long after bim, the King of the Ui Maine —
each add a residential rath to an older rath used for ceremonial
or sepulchral purposes ? We know the Forradh to have been used
for great national purposes. It is in, or nearly in, the centre of a
great cathair. It may have been originally a grave rath, we might
almost say that it probably was, as great assembhes have usually
been held at such places.

The best answer we can give is that the ancient sepulchral rath
was regarded with great veneration, that possession gave prestige
to the king who could hold it, though he must not hve in it, and that
he strengthened his position and supported his title by making a
residential rath in such contact as amounts to amalgamation.

Rath Ghlais, we suppose, had become something Hke the
Forradh — was in fact the Forradh of the Delbhna. When the Ui
Maine spread over their country and ousted their petty king. King
Brenann would endeavour to take his place in view of the peasantry,
and to draw to himself and his successors the feelings of respect which
would be due to the lord of the great monument, who by possession
and by rendering due rites, would inherit the favour and protection
of the spirits of the mighty dead.

In this course of conquest and settlement they followed the
custom of the great royal famihes of Ireland, who provided incomes
and position for their junior famihes by superseding the tribes

296 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

who though within their respective kingdoms, were held to be
only very distantly related, if related at all, to the ruUng clans.
Thus these new Ui Maine chiefs were themselves superseded by
junior branches of the great Ui Briuin tribe, whose head, 0 Con-
chubhair, was the King of the Province of Connacht. The actual
working of the system has been shown in a paper entitled " The
Expansion of Two Royal Clans of Connacht " in the Journal of the
Galway Arch, and Hist. Association, vol. iv.

Before we became acquainted with Rath Brenainn we had to
deal with a remarkable earthwork among the antiquities of Camfree,
which we called " The Altered Dumha " for want of a local name
It has been described fully in a paper entitled " Camfree and
Carnabreckna," which has appeared in the Journal of the Galway
Arch, and Hist. Association. Only the general features need be
mentioned. It is a close parallel to Rath Brenainn. A much
later rectangular rath, which is not sepulchral, but apparently
residential or ceremonial, has been amalgamated with a large dumha
which had a ditch, a large rampart having a section like that of the
Corker Ring, and an outer ditch. As at Rath Brenaum, there is
only a ditch between the works, and their outer ditches coalesce.
There is, however, an important difference. The rath and the
ditch between have swept away the northern third of the dumha,
and the upper part of the dumha has been removed, so that the
eastern part is a flat garth with a sHght rampart on the edge of the
ditch, and the western part slopes upwards until it is 5 feet above
the garth, which is about 5 feet above its ditch. The effect is that
the lowering of the dumha has not been finished. My colleague who
has seen the mound has no doubt that it is a cut down dumha.

It seems to me most improbable that the Normans meddled
here. They would have used the dumha as a high mote.

Rath Brenainn is about 10 miles south of the Altered Dumha.
Both are well within the Roscommon Dumha area.

We may now try to sort our combined works in accordance with
the nature of the combination.

/. Tara and Rath Brenainn. — A residential rath has been com-
bined with an older sepulchral or ceremonial rath of practically the
same character with very Uttle modification, and that only of
external features.

II. The Altered Dumha. — A residential or ceremonial rath of
quite different character has been combined with a sepulchral
mound which has been largely removed and materially altered to
suit it.

III. Dumha Brosna. — ^Two sepulchral works of very different
character have been combined with only slight modification of

Plate XXIII

[To face page 29{i

RATH BRENAINN

297

external features, as in the case of Tara, The components, dumha
and ring of this type, have been found near each other occasionally^
suggesting some kind of relationship or succession.

The theories suggested in this paper are not to be taken as
dogma, but as tentative explanations, useful as a start towards
marshalling of facts.

It has been suggested to me that the name Drecan survives in
McCracken, Mac Dhrecain, but I am not competent to judge.

ADDENDUM

EARTHWORKS NEAR RATH BRENAINN

These two raths are about 300 yards west-north-west of Rath
Brenainn on a gentle southerly slope, making the southern part

NEAR RATH BRENAINN.

2ft i/

y It

/2ft ^%

.rfS^^

|i08FT=

>9^^'

about 4 feet lower than the northern. Their banks are so slight that
they cannot have been intended for defensive purposes. It is
convenient to call them raths, as that word is used so vaguely that
it means little more than earthwork, usually more or less round.
The dimensions are shown on the plan, except the thickness of the
banks, 6 feet generally ; but the curved part, and the straight east

298 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

and west bank which joins the curve to the rath, are only 4 feet
thick. All are made by piHng. There are no traces of ditches. The
western bank of the addition to north of the eastern work is 6 feet
thick, except a part to the north which is only 4 feet thick. This
bank is in line with that of the rath, but curves in so as to join the
latter at a right angle.

The low oblong artificial moiuid is a pecuKar feature. Can it
correspond with the " Fert " in Rath Brenainn ? Can it have been
made for burial ? In other respects it is wholly different.

The northern addition comprises an area about equal to that of
the rath. A succession of such enclosures carried along the eastern
and southern sides would result in an approximately parallel outer
bank.

Unless there was an intention to preserve the outline, it is hard
to guess why the outer bank was curved. Apparently the builders
had no objection to a straight line.

These little banks might be modem, but it is hard to imagine
any modem use for these earthworks. Nor is it much less difficult
to assign an ancient use, unless we call them " sepulchral or cere-
monial," words which can be apphed to almost anything.

When we find these large raths exceptionally close together —
only 45 feet between them — with a very large extension of one of
them, (and so near Rath Brenainn, a work of great strength, un-
doubtedly residential and sepulchral) it is natural to infer some
connexion between them, and that the ground plan has some mean-
ing. Further, we may compare them with the work at Cruachan Ai
called Cashel No. 4 {Journal, 1914, p. 29), where a D-shaped enclosure
of earthen banks is separated from the main work by a narrow
passage, and other small earthen enclosures adjoin on the south side
of the main work. There are striking points of resemblance in these
works as well as marked differences.

Though I cannot suggest solutions, yet I cannot help feeling that
these three works ought to be considered together, with a hope that
knowledge may be accumulated until at last some satisfactory ex-
planation may appear.

As Cashel No. 4 shows a road leading westward from the en-
closures, it is convenient to remark here that my colleague has lately
come to think that the system of roads in connexion with " the
Linked Forts " was made for great processions and rehgious cere-
monies, and that those forts are really tombs. His reasons cannot be
set out at length in this place. It must suffice for me to say here that
they need careful consideration. He allows my cattle track theory
to be well in the running with his theory.

He has lately found in Creeve near Oran some imdoubtedly

EARTHWORKS NEAR RATH BRENAINN 299

sepulchral works, one of which shows a road or sunken way leading
into the wide ditch of a large ring. This offers strong support to his
view. The whole group has yet to be planned. And all the evidence
on the subject has to be brought together.

In one of the books which I searched for evidence regarding
Dumha Brosna, probably Greenwell's British Barrows, a bowl or
disk barrow is described as having a ditch around it, which on
excavation, showed marks of having been used as a path.

H. T. Knox.

\mh October, 1915.

[The illustrations of this paper have been presented by the
Author] .

300 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

SOME EARLY ORNAMENTED LEATHERWORK
By J. J. Buckley, Member

[Read 23 Febrxtaey 1915J

The ornamentation of leatherwork,i classed in our day as one of
the minor arts, held a relatively important position in the domain
of appHed art in the early Christian and mediaeval periods in Ireland..
There are, it is true, very few examples surviving from those early
times, a fact due, of course, to the perishable nature of the material..
These survivors are, however, of such a character as to indicate to
us that even when dealing with a substance so commonplace as
leather, the art craftsmen of those days did not disdain to expend
on it all the resources of their artistic skill. The beauty of the art
products of those old Irish craftsmen in metal and stone, and on
veUum, is now so well known and so widely recognised that there is
not any necessity to urge its claims in a paper for the Royal Society
of Antiquaries. But in the matter of leatherwork no attempt has
been made to deal collectively with the objects which remain to us,,
and it will, perhaps, serve some useful purpose to group together in
the Journal for convenient reference figures and descriptions of as.
many as possible of the known specimens.

Satchel in Trinity College, Dublin
(plates xxiv, xxv)
The satchel associated with the Book of Armagh, in the Library
of Trinity CoUege, Dublin, is the most elaborately ornamented of
the leather objects which have survived. It is formed of a single
oblong piece of leather, folded and stitched so as to form a wallet-
shaped receptacle about 12 inches high, nearly 13 inches wide, and
2\ inches in thickness. The outer surface is entirely covered with
impressed ornament, consisting of bands and medallions of inter-
laced ribbonwork, medallions of single and interlocked double and
triple grotesque animal forms, and two bands of debased spiral
ornament. Petrie refers to one of these bands as " triphcate pear-
shaped ornament " ; the other he describes as "the cross formed

^ The technique of the ornamentation applied to the objects described in this
paper consists of — (1) simple tooling, as in modem bookbinding, or (2) softening,
and impressing {cuir bouilli), or (3) incising with a sharp instrument.

Plate XXIV ]

[To face page 300

SATCHEL OF THE BOOK OF ARMAGH

(Front)

^^?^

SATCHEL OF THE BOOK OF ARMAGH

(Back)

Plate XXV ]

[To face page 301

SATCHEL OF THE BOOK OF ARMAGH
(Top, Bottom, and Sides)

SOME EARLY ORNAMENTED LEATHERWORK 301

between four segments of circles within a circle.^ One medallion
contains a curious device in the form of a cross, the details of which
are suggestive of Gothic letters used as Roman numerals. Were
these intended as a date, or as an index number for the contents
of the satchel?

The Book of Armagh, a manuscript containing copies of the
Gospels and other matter, is attributed to Eerdomnach, who died
in the early part of the ninth century.^ The satchel, which is
probably a good deal later, was obviously not made for the manu-
script, the leaves of this measuring only 7| inches by 5| inches.
Besides, the book is thicker than the receptacle.^

Satchel in the National Museum, Dublin

(PLATE XXVI)

The satchel associated with the shrine called the Breac Moedoig,
in the Irish Antiquities Division of our National Museum, like that
associated with the Book of Armagh, is an oblong piece of leather,
folded and stitched. The flap is missing. The ornament, whilst not
so elaborate as that of the Trinity College satchel, is more elegant
in design, consisting of two different schemes of bold interlacing on
the back and front, and on the ends two bands of flowing tendrils.
The design on the front covers only about two -thirds of the space,
the upper portion, which would have been hidden by the flap, being
plain. The strap by which it was carried still remains, but it is not
decorated. The height of the satchel is about 9 inches, and the
width about 10 J inches.

As with the Trinity College satchel, there is much reason to
doubt that it was originally made for the object at present associated
with it. The shrine is of the chdsse type — that is, the form is that
of a house or church with a high-pitched roof ; whilst the satchel,
with its parallel lines, was apparently intended to receive an object
of a different shape and size.^

Satchel in Oxford
(plate xxvn)
In the Library of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, is an old Irish
missal, enclosed in a satchel, which, judging from the closeness of the

^ The Round Towers of Ireland.

2 Graves.

3 Facilities for making the photographs of this satchel were very kindly given
by Mr Deburgh, the Assistant Librarian.

* The Council of the Royal Irish Academy kindly granted permission to re-
produce the photographs of this satchel.

302 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

fitting, appears to have been specially made for it. The missal is
about 6 inches high and about 5 inches wide, and is very thick,
consisting of 211 leaves of vellum. It fits snugly into the satchel,
and although the latter shows signs of having been a good deal used,
the ornament remains quite visible. This is a bold design of inter-
laced bands, running lozenge-wise in pairs, and having a closed ring
made of a single band interlacing each of the crossings, somewhat
resembhng the design on the back of the satchel of the Breac
MoedSig. The sHng strap, much broken and repaired with thongs,
still remains attached to it.^

Bookbinding in the Franciscan Library, Dublin
(plates xxvrn-xxx)

One of the many treasures in the Library of the Franciscan
Convent, Merchants' Quay, Dublin, is a seventeenth century vellum
Life of St Columba, which, in all probability, first belonged to the
Franciscan Convent in Donegal, and was carried to the Irish
Franciscan Convent of St Antony of Padua at Louvain by Michael
O'Clery, who died there in 1643. At the time of the French Revolu-
tion the collection at Louvain was broken up, some of the manu-
scripts being taken to Brussels, and others to the Franciscan Convent
of Sant' Isidoro, Rome. The Life of St Columba was probably
amongst the latter. At any rate it was one of a number of Irish
manuscripts brought thence, in 1872, to its present resting place, by
permission of the General of the Franciscan Order.

This valuable manuscript is bound in a cover of dark brown
leather, tooled over the whole of the outer surface. It measures
about 13 inches in height and about 9 inches in width. The front
design consists of three horizontal bands of interlacing, with two
intermediate strips of what may, perhaps, be described as debased
fret ornament. The other side is made up of twelve squares each,
enclosed with interlaced bands, and having closed rings at the
angles, somewhat resembHng the design on the Oxford satchel and
the back of the satchel of the Breac 3Ioed6ig. The hinge is
tooled with a very simple fret pattern.^

The design on the front, somewhat modified, was taken by the
late Dr Abbot for the block used on the front cover of his valuable
work, Celtic Ornaments from the Book of Kells.

1 The authorities of the College, through the Librarian, Mr Livingstone, kmdly
permitted the reproduction of a photograph of this satchel.

2 Father O'Reilly, the Librarian, very kindly permitted the cover to be photo-
graphed for this paper.

Plate XXVI

[To face page 302

SATCHEL OF THE BREAC MOEDOIG

Plate XXVI I

[To face page 303

BOOK-SATCHEL IN CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE, OXFORD

SOME EARLY ORNAMENTED LEATHERWORK 303
Bookbinding in Stonyhurst College

(plate XXXI)

There is in the celebrated College of Stonyhurst, Lancashire, an
interesting binding on a manuscript copy of the Gospel of St John.
It is composed of two thin boards of lime-wood 5| inches high and
3J inches wide, covered with dark crimson-stained leather. On the
front is a panel divided into three compartments surrounded by a
narrow border. The central compartment is occupied by a foUated
ornament in good relief, bearing traces of colour. The upper and
lower compartments have interlaced ornaments — ^the fine incised
lines forming these being coloured blue or yellow. The border is
formed of two fine lines arranged en guilloche. The other side has a
plain wide border of two fillets enclosing a trellis pattern, all done
in fine incised lines.

According to an inscription on the first leaf of the manuscript,
it was found with the body of St Cuthbert {d. 687), when his tomb
was opened in 1105. At the spoliation of the monasteries in the
16th century the volume was annexed by Dr Lee, one of the Com-
missioners of Henry the Eighth. It afterwards came into the pos-
session of the English Jesuits, with whom it remains at present.
In 1806 it was exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries, London,
when the suggestion was made that the binding was " of the time of
Queen Elizabeth." In 1862 it was included in an exhibition at
South Kensington Museum, and the manuscript and binding were
described as coeval — i.e., seventh century. To this opinion Mr W. H.
J. Weale inclined when cataloguing the rubbings of bindings in the
National Art Library in 1898. He says the binding " stands quite
by itself as the only known specimen of ornamental binding anterior
to the tweKth century." Count Plunkett, who has made a special
study of bookbindings, places it as late as the beginning of the
seventeenth century. Mr H. S. Crawford, b.b., has noticed a
similarity between the ornament in the central compartment and
a panel of what he calls " vine ornament " on the High Cross at
Duleek.i

Shield in the National Museum, Dublin

In 1908 an extremely interesting shield of bull's hide was dug
out of a bog near Clonbrin, Co Longford, and was presented to the
Royal Irish Academy by Colonel W. H. King-Harman, d.l., on

1 The President of Stonyhurst College, Rev Wm, Bodkin, S.J., kindly supplied
a photograph at the instance of Rev Professor Browne, National University of
Ireland.

304 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

whose estate it was found. It is stated to have been embedded in
the peat at a depth of 9 feet below the surface. Slightly oval in
shape, it measures 20 inches by 19 inches approximately, and bears
in rehef concentric rings, and studs in groups of three, around a
large umbo. A bronze shield from Loch Gur, Co. Limerick, also
in the National Museum, the ornamentation on which likewise
consists of concentric rings and studs, has been assigned to the
Late Bronze Age, which in the British Isles ended about the fifth
century B.C. And while it is difficult to imagine that the leather
shield is at all as old as the bronze one, even making allowance for
the antiseptic properties of the peat in which it was found embedded,
yet it is of sufficiently great antiquity to cause us to marvel at its
good state of preservation.

This shield has been fuUy described by one of our Vice-Presidents,
Mr E. C. R. Armstrong, f.s.a., in the Proceedings of the Royal
Irish Academy, vol. xxvii.

Shield in the Collection of Me D. M. Bell

(plate xxxii)

A very beautiful shield was lent to the Art and Industrial
Division of the National Museum by Mr David M. Bell, of Belfast,
in 1914. Mr Bell had obtained it from a member of the Hamilton-
Rowan family, in whose possession it had been for many years. It
is a circular shield, 19 inches in diameter, approximating to that of
the shield which in Scotland is known as the targe. The material
is deer-hide laid down on two plies of thin board, arranged so that
the grain of one crosses that of the other at right angles — ^to prevent
warping. It bears an elaborate scheme of impressed interlaced
ornament, consisting of three broad concentric rings, each divided
into four equal parts by two lines running entirely across the shield
at right angles to each other, and thus dividing it into twelve separate
compartments of interlacing. All the four panels into which each ring
is divided contain the same interlaced design : but the design in each
ring is different from that in the other two. The whole scheme is
very beautiful, and it has been very skilfuUy worked out. Rows of
brass nails, many of which are now missing, outlined the panels,
thus making four complete circles of nails and four straight lines,
running from the outer edge towards the centre. In addition there
were two groups of three nails in each of the four panels of the
innermost ring. There is no umbo, or boss, nor is there any trace of
anything of the kind having ever been apphed to the centre, which
is quite flat and undecorated, save for the crossing of the impressed
lines above mentioned.

Plate XXVI II

[To face page 'M)-i

%w ^m«'V !'^

,^^-i'VV,V''s\

BINDING IN THE FRANCISCAN LIBRARY, DUBLIN

(Obverse)

Plate XXIX]

[To face page 305

BINDING IN THE FRANCISCAN LIBRARY, DUBLIN

(Reverse)

SOME EARLY ORNAMENTED LEATHERWORK 305

Shoes in the National Museum, Dublin

There is a numerous collection of boots and shoes in the Irish
Antiquities Division of the National Museum, but only three of the
latter come within the scope of this paper.

One, from Carrigallen, Co. Leitrim, figured at page 284 of Wilde's
Catalogue, and at page 74 of the R. I. A. Celtic Christian Guide
(1910), bears incised interlaced ornament on the instep and fret
pattern at the heel. It was evidently made for a personage of good
position. Mr Coffey places it " probably not later than the eleventh
century."

Two others — not a pair, from Craigy warren Crannog, Co. Antrim,
have incised spiral ornament, and are assigned to a period not
" later than the ninth century." They are figured at page 73 of the
R. I. A. Celtic Christian Guide.

Case of St Malachy's Cup at Obbier

The following is taken from O'Laverty's Down and Connor,
vol. V, pp. 130, 131 :—

" Father Patrick Fleming, the writer of the Collectanea Sacra,
wrote to Father Hugh Ward, then engaged in collecting the notices
of the Irish saints which were afterwards published by Father John
Colgan, a letter which was published with a translation by Cardinal
Mo ran in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record for November, 1870.

" ' Rev. Father, — I wrote you from Clair vaux. . . . We
met another memorial of St Malachy in the monastery of
Obrier, which is about ten leagues distant from Clairvaux,
that is, the cup which he brought with him from Ireland,
and from which we had the privilege of drinking. It is made
of wood, and its cover or case is more precious than itself,
being of leather wonderfully embossed and adorned with
intertwinings according to the Irish style, of singular orna-
mentation generally used on the sheaths of oblong
knives. . . .*
" Lyons, 8th May, 1623.'
" * The following is the original Latin description of the cup
and its cover : — ' Est autem Hgneus, et cooperculum sen bursa eius
ipso practiosior est, ex corio multis nodis et pressuris varie incisis
more Hibemico in vaginis oblongorum cultrorum curiose decorandis
servari soHtc' "

Mr Charles M'Neill, our Hon. Gen. Secretary, who gave me the
above citation, notes that Fleming speaks as if that style of
decoration were customary in his own day — " servari soHto."

306 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

The Tanning of Leather

There is quite good, evidence that the Irish in very early times
were acquainted with the use of oak bark for converting hides into-
leather. Two citations wiU suffice. One is from a manuscript in
Trinity College relating to the Brehon Laws. It is quoted in
O'Dono van's Irish Grammar, page 448, and is translated : " Bark
for tanning [a pair o/] shoes, or a bridle, as told in the books : there
is an inherent right to strip it from a neighbouring tree, so as it is
not exceeded. If it is exceeded, however, if it be bark for tanning
a cow-hide that is stripped, the penalty is two women's shoes worth
half a screpall.i . . ." The other citation is from the " Life of St
Colum Cille " in the Book of Lismore (Stokes, p. 176). It alsa
describes a penalty, but of another kind — namely, the penalty of
sacrilege. " Now there was a great oak tree under which Colomb-
Cille dwelt while he was in that place (Cennanus, Kells), and it
remained to these latter times, when it fell through the crash of a
mighty wind. And a certain man took somewhat of its bark to tan
his shoes withal. Now when he did on the shoes he was smitten
with leprosy from his sole to his crown."

The material in the several objects described here has the
appearance of leather ; but it is not possible to say with any degree
of certainty that this appearance of having been subjected to the
process of tanning may not, at any rate in some instances, be attri-
buted to the effects of time and use.

Satchels

The references to book-satchels are, as might be expected, fairly
numerous in the early writings describing the doings of the Irish
missionaries. One of the most interesting of these is indicated in a
description by Miss Stokes (Six Months in the Apennines, p. 158) of
the sarcophagus containing the body of St Columbanus in Bobio.
Giving details of the five compartments containing representations
in bas-relief of incidents in the life of the Saint, she says : —

"The first represents the miracle of the Saint in the forest of
Bobio, when he commanded the bear to submit to the yoke with
the bullock. Here it should be noted that the book satchel is carried
in the hand of St Columban, according to the custom of his country-
men. This may be a representation, made in 1484, of the very book-
satchel which contained the Bobio MS. of the Gospels of St Mark

1 Screpul, screaball (=scripulus) .i. secht pinginne oir, seven pennies of gold
(Stokes, Lives of the Saints from the Book of Lismore, p. 399).

Plate XXX ] [To face page

BINDING IN THE FRANCISCAN LIBRARY,
DUBLIN

(Hinge)

Plate XXXI

[To face page 307

BINDING IN STONYHURST COLLEGE

SOME EARLY ORNAMENTED LEATHERWORK 307

and St Matthew, now numbered G. vii in the National Gallery of
Turin, which is thus spoken of by Dr Wordsworth : —

" ' The chief interest attaching to our manuscript arises
from the tradition which connects it with the life of St
Columban, generally esteemed the earliest of those noble
Celtic missionaries who evangelised Central Europe. The
inscription still found in the volume declares that ' " Accord-
ing to tradition that was the same book which the blessed
Abbot Columban was accustomed to carry about with him
in his satchel." It was, therefore, if this be true, the com-
panion of those travels which ended at Bobio in 613, about
two years before his death.' "
The use of the strap attached to the satchel was twofold. The
more obvious purpose related to the carrying of the book from
place to place outside the monastery. But the strap served another
purpose, which is revealed in a couple of passages in the Calendar
of Oengus : —

" In tan din ba marb Longarad issed innisit eolaig tiaga, lebar
Erenn dothuitim inaidchesin : "
Translated by Whitley Stokes —

" Now when Longarad was dead, men of lore say this, that the
book-satchels of Ireland fell down on that night."
And—

" No isiat natiaga irabutar liubair cechdanai isinaracul iraibe
Colum Cille rothuitset and 7 machtnaigid Colum Cille 7 each bui
isintigsin 7 sochtait uile fri tairmchrith na lebar : "
Translated —

"Or it is the satchels wherein were books of every science, in
the cell where Columbcille was, that fell then, and Colombcille and
everyone in that house marvel, and all are silent at the noisy shaking
of the books."

It is somewhat difficult to reahse that the usage indicated in
these passages, of suspending from hooks in the walls the satchels
containing the service-books, still obtained in the nineteenth century
amongst communities of religious men. The Hon Robert Curzon
in his interesting book. Visits to Monasteries of the Levant,^ has
described such an apartment as the one indicated above. Wlien
visiting the Monastery of Souriani, on the Natron Lakes, Abyssinia,
he saw the monks carry suspended from a shoulder strap, " a case

1 London, 1849.

308 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

like a cartridge-box, of thick brown leather, containing a manuscript
book." Their library contained " perhaps nearly fifty volumes."
" The room was about 26 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 12 feet high ;
the roof was formed of the trunks of palm trees, across which reeds
were laid, which supported the mass of earth and plaster, of which
the terrace roof was composed ; the interior of the walls was plastered
white with lime ; the windows, at a good height from the ground,
were unglazed, but were defended with bars of iron-wood, or some
other hard wood ; the door opened into the garden, and its lock,
which was of wood also, was of that peculiar construction which
has been used in Egypt from time immemorial. A wooden shelf
was carried, in the Egj^tian style roiuid the walls, at the height of
the top of the door, and on this sheK stood sundry platters, bottles
and dishes for the use of the community. Underneath the shelf
various long wooden pegs projected from the wall ; they were each
about a foot and a half long, and on them hung the Abyssinian
manuscripts, of which this curious library was entirely composed."

" The books of Abyssinia are bound in the usual way, sometimes
in red leather and sometimes in wooden boards, which are occasion-
ally elaborately carved in rude and coarse devices ; they are then
enclosed in a case, tied up with leather thongs ; to this case is
attached a strap for the convenience of carrying the volume over
the shoulders, and by these straps the books were hung to the
wooden pegs, three or four on a peg, or more if the books were small :
their usual size was that of a small very thick quarto. The appear-
ance of the room . , . resembled less a library than a barrack or
guard-room, where the soldiers had hung their knapsacks and
cartridge-boxes against the wall."

In the Booh of Lismore there are several references to book-
satchels. The two following passages are taken, with the trans-
lations, from Whitley Stokes' Lives of the Saints :—

" Uair babes dosom crosa 7 polaire 7 tiagha leabur 7 aidhme
eclusdai arcena [do denum]. Senais immorro ccc. cros 7 .ccc. tiprat
7 .c. polaire 7 .c. bachall 7 .c. tiagh."

" For it was his wont {i.e., St Colomb-Cille's) to make crosses,
and writing-tablets, and book-satchels, and other church-gear. Now
he sained three hundred crosses, and three hundred wells, and a
hundred tablets, and a hundred croziers, and a hundred satchels."

". . . . cotuc-sideColummacCrimhthainconatheighliubhar."
" and (the guardian angel) brought Colum, son of Crimhthan, with
his book-satchel " (to St Findian of Clonard on his death bed).

The use of the word " polaire " above alongside " tiagh " and
" tiagha leabur " is noteworthy. Its later use as a synonym of

Plate XXXI I ]

[To face ijagc 308

SHIELD IN THE COLLECTION OF MR. D. M. BELL

SOME EARLY ORNAMENTED LEATHERWORK 309

" tiagh liubair " is curious. The derivation seems to be from
pugillar, a writing tablet.

Irish and Scottish Shields

Edmund Spenser, writing in 1597, describes the Irish as using
" round leather targets." He also saw in use amongst the northern
Irish and the Irish Scots a long wicker shield that should cover
their whole bodies. He did not see this large shield in the southern
parts of Ireland.^

There is in the collection of the O'Donovan of Lissard a circular
shield of deer-skin on a wood base, about 19 inches in diameter,
which is reputed to have belonged to the last Chieftain of the
O'Donovan family, in the sixteenth century. It is studded with
brass nails arranged in a sort of sexfoil design, and it has a bronze
boss, or umbo, about an inch in height in the centre. ^

Scottish shields, a good many of which have survived, and are
preserved in public and private collections in Scotland, are of three
kinds — namely, the buckler, about 12 inches in diameter, used in
the Lowlands ; the target, about 3 feet in diameter ; and the targe,
a sort of compromise between the other two, about 18 inches in
diameter, used chiefly in the Highlands.

1 View of the State of Ireland. Henry Morley, London, 1890, p. 100.

2 Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland
(1879-82, p. 443).

MISCELLANEA

A Long Earthwork at Kilwarden, Co. Meath. — In reply to my
request for information on these embankments shown on the new
maps, I am through the courtesy of Mr Patrick Bardun, of Nead's
Bridge, able to give their origin. They were dug late in the eigh-
teenth century by the Royal Canal engineers, but for some reason
they determined to adopt a new Hne for their work past Killucan.
Popular tradition has it that a farmer named Best refused to accom-
modate the Company, and, apparently, they had no compulsory
powers. So we can eUminate it from the roll of early long earth-
works.

The Ordnance Survey maps want very careful supervision in the
matter of antiquities, and it cannot be hoped that the estabhshment
of the expert department which was aboHshed early in the survey in
times of prosperity may be revived after our present times of deep
trouble and ruinous expenditure. Mr. Bardun names in his neigh-
bourhood alone a " Ruin " on the map which is really a few large
stones gathered for the foundation of a farmhouse over sixty years
ago. On the other hand, Teampull 'a bhfeach, the traditional site of
a church and monastery, is immarked. Knockaville (cnoc an bhile)
still possesses a venerated tree connected with St Fechin. Another,
supposed to be the Bile Dathi of the Dind Senchas, is at Clonfad in
Farbil, about three miles away. — T. J. Westkopp.

The Masonbrook Ring {Journal ol 1914, p. 352). — The Masonbrook
Ring has been examined as carefully as the trees and bushes allow.
The boss is 33 feet in diameter, the flat band and the bank are
each 9 feet wide, total diameter 69 feet. The bank is about 3 feet
high, except on the west, where it is 5 feet high outside. The differ-
ence is probably due to the rapid falling away of the ground.
There are traces of an outer bank 6 feet wide and 6 feet from this
bank on the north and east and south, but not on the west.

The ring bank is flat on the top, probably on accotmt of the stones,
which are seven in number, and are about 25 feet apart, except on
the west, where there is a gap of 45 feet, as if one stone were missing.
They are about 4 to 5 feet in height, 2 to 3 feet wide, and from 6
to 12 inches thick ; planted with the width across the bank.

In p. 356 it is noted that I had failed to find a record of a work
of this type in such books on EngHsh earthworks as I had been able
to search. In Fergusson's Rude Stone Monuments, on p. 49, is given
a sketch of " The Nine Ladies " of Stanton Moor, which is a drawing

310

MISCELLANEA 311

of this Masonbrook barrow as it would be if the vegetation and the
little cairn of stones in the middle of the boss were removed and
the stones were only seven instead of nine,
The diameter over all is given as 38 feet.
30^^ September, 1915. H. T. Knox.

Erratum. — In the note on Conna Castle (p. 172, ante), for
^' estuary " read " tributary." The author of this note has con-
tributed an accoimt, amphfied and corrected in one or two details,
to the current issue of the Journal of the Cork Historical and
Archaeological Society.

Prick-Spur found in the Mote of Mount Ash, Co. Louth. —

Li his paper on the " Mote of Street " {Journal, vol. xl), Mr G. H.
Orpen described this antiquity, and wrote (p. 218) : — " I do not know
where this interesting spur is." Mr Orpen and Fellows and Members
of the Society will be glad to learn that it is preserved in the National
Museum, having been purchased by the Royal Irish Academy with a
number of other objects from the Rev. George H. Reade. It is
described in the Museum Register under the year 1883 as " Found
in a mound near Dundalk called Little Ash." It was identified by
the writer when sorting over the Academy's collection of spurs
previously to arranging them for exhibition. The spur has been
illustrated twice in the Journal — once by Mr Orpen in his paper
mentioned above, and previously in colours, at the expense of
Lord Carhngford (vol. xiii, plate facing p. 322). — E. C. R. Arm-
strong, Vice-President).

Domhnall Spdinneach Caomh^nach. — In a paper published in
the Journal of June last some notice was made of Domhnall
Spainneach Caomhanach and his descendants ; some further par-
ticulars regarding the latter may be of interest. Besides the children
mentioned he appears to have had others. ^ The Lord Deputy
Mountjoy, writing to the Privy Council, 11th December, 1600, says :
" Donnell Spainagh lately upon his submission desired Her Majesty's
pardon, which we granted, and received for assurance of his loyalty,
one of his sons, who is now in the castle, and another of his sons is
to remain in the City of Dublin to be brought up at school there."
According to the late Mr P. Hore,^ a daughter, Sauve or Sabina,
was married to Fiach MacHugh, Chief of the Byrnes ; and another ^
must have been married to Captain Phelim Kavanagh, who is
mentioned in the State Papers as the son-in-law of " Donell

^ Cal. State Papers, Ireland, 1600. 2 j/,. Uore's Papers

3 Cal. State Papers, Ireland, 1647-1660.

312 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Spainagh," and to be serving in Spain in 1630. Margaret ^ was
Robert Hay's second wife ; she and her sister EHzabeth are men-
tioned in their father's will 2 as his two youngest daughters, and un-
married. Joan is not mentioned in the will, nor is Owney. The
latter was twice married. Her first husband (Arthur Eustace)^ died
in 1619, according to the funeral entry in Ulster's office ; her second
husband was Darby Cavanagh, of Inichora and Tincurry, Co-
Wexford. 4 They obtained a decree in Chancery, 26th June, 1629,
against Oliver Eustace, of Ballynirry, Co. Carlo w, for the payment
of £30 dowry during Owney's hfe, charged on her first husband's
property. Moreover, Domhnall appointed Darby Cavanagh overseer
of his will. Elinor would seem to be an elder daughter. Her father
provides for her in his will. Her reputed grave is still pointed out in
Kilmyshall graveyard near Newton Barry.

Sir Morgan Cavanagh,^ though he escaped the disastrous battle
of Kilrush, in which his brother-in-law. Darby Cavanagh, was slain,
was himself mortally wounded soon after at the battle of Ballibegs
near Ross, 18th March, 1643, where the Confederates under Preston
were routed by the Earl of Ormonde. There appears to be some
doubt in the statement that Sir Morgan's son, " Daniel Oge," died
unmarried. The More O'Farrall pedigree shows that Elinor, daughter
of " Rory O'More," was married first to Donell or Daniel McMurrough
Kavanagh, and secondly to Brian O'Kelly, of Cadanstown, Co.
Ealdare. .Colonel Charles Cavanagh, brother of Domhnall 6g, with
his regiment was at the siege of Cork after the capture of the city by
Marlborough.^ He was put on board ship with other prisoners to
be conveyed to England, but just before starting the man-of-war
(the Breda) blew up in the harbour. Colonel Charles was among
those who perished, but his youngest son, with Colonel John Barrett
were saved. In the list of attainder of 1691 Colonel Cavanagh
and his two sons, Ignatius and James, are styled of Carrickduff,
Co. Carlow. The three sons of Ignatius were living at Nantes in
1768, in which year ' Hawkins, Ulster, allowed Nicholas Kavanagh
of that town his great grandfather's arms. In May, 1774, a Mr
Nicholas Cavanagh gave evidence before the House of Commons on
the state of the Russian trade, mentioning the fact that he had lately
come from St Petersburg, where he had resided for thirty-two

1 Add MSS. 4820, Brit. Mus.

2 Prerog. Will, Record Office, Dublin.

3 Add MSS. 4820, Brit. Mus.

« Chan. Bill, Record Office, Dublin.

5 Gilberfs History of the Confederacy, 1641-1652, and Depositions, Trinity
College.

« Lord FinrjalVs Papers, Hist. MSS. Commission.
' Records, Ulster Office.

MISCELLANEA 313

years. It is probable that the latter is identical with Nicholas
Cavanagh, of Nantes, as his mother, Catherine Browne, was of the
same stock as the celebrated Russian General, Marshal Browne, living
about this time. — W. O. Cavenagh, Member.

Rostrevor, Co. Down : its Name. — Lewis^ gives the foUowing
explanation of the origin of the present name of this place : —
" Rostrevor or Rosetrevor. . . . This place was anciently called
Castle Roe or Rory, from its original founder, Rory, one of the
family of the Magennises, Lords of Iveagh, of whose baronial castle
subsequently occupied by the Trevor family, there are still some
remains near the town ; it derived its present appellation from Rose,
youngest daughter of Sir Marmaduke Whitchurch, after whose
marriage with Trevor, Viscount Dungannon, the family seat, Iveagh
Castle, was invariably called Rosetrevor." If Lewis' explanation of
the name is correct in its main outhnes, it is certainly inaccurate in
detail. The name of the daughter of Marmaduke Whitchurch, who
married in 1633, Marcus Trevor, 1st Viscount Dungannon, was
Frances, not Eose. There was a Bose who married a Trevor ; she
was Rose, second daughter of Henry Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh,
1595-1613, who married in 1612 as his second wife. Sir Edward
Trevor, of Brynkinalt and Rostrevor, the father of Marcus Trevor,
Viscount Dungannon. 2

If the name Rostrevor is derived from the name of any individual
it must be from her name. The earHest occurrence of the name
Rosetrevor or Rostrevor which I have been able to discover is in an
Inquisition taken at Downpatrick on the 4th of August, 1621,^
which finds that Brian 6g Magennis, late of Towlaneere, Co. Down,
by a deed, dated 1 July, 1619, assigned to Sir Edward Trevor, of
Rosetrevor, in the said county, and WiUiam Smyth of Ballymagenchee
in the said county, all his lands and tenements in County Down=
I would suggest that the original Irish name of the place was, Hke
34 other townlands in Ireland, Ros, a wood, a name still very
.appropriate to the locality, and that when Sir Edward Trevor, who
.as a Welshman, was famihar with the word " ros," which means in
his native tongue " a moor " or "a marshy place," obtained pos-
session, he merely added his surname to the original name, thus
forming " Ros-Trevor," Trevor's wood. The word ros in place-
names has a strong tendency when used in composite names to be
•corrupted into rose, and then to be mistaken for the personal name :

^ Topographical Dictionary, ii, 539.

2 Ball- Wright, The Ussher Families in Ireland, p. 58.

3 Inquis. Bat. Can. Hib., vol. ii, Co, Down, Jac. I, no. 11.

314 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

compare Rosedermot {Ros Diarmada, Diarmaid's wood), in the
Barony of Ealconway, Co. Antrim, and Roselick, one mile south-east
of Portstewart, in Co. Deny, which is a corruption of Bos Beilge,
grave yard -point. ^ So, too, the name of New Ross in Co. Wexford,
Eos mhic Treoin, the wood of the son of Treon, is locally supposed
to be derived from a mythical Rose Macrone."^ Another possible
explanation of the name Rostrevor is that it is Ros tsruihar (pron.
Rostruher), the wood of the stream, the 5 of sruthair being ecHpsed
by the (formerly) neuter noun ros.^ The transition from Rostruher
to Rostrevor would have been simple and natural after the settlement
of the Trevor family in the place. As wdll be seen from the accom-
panying Pedigree,^ the Trevors of Rostrevor are extinct in the male
line, but are represented m the female line by the Marquis of Down-
shire and by Baron Trevor of Brynkinalt. They bore, party per
bend sinister, erm. and ermines, a Hon, rampant. — Gfstavus E.
Hamilton.

Diary of a Dublin Lady in the Reign of George II [Journal,
vol. xxviii (1898), p. 141). — At the time of the publication of the
above-named paper, the maiden name of IVIrs. Katherine Bayly, the
diarist, had not been discovered. The recent appearance of the
volume of marriage entries of St Mary's Church, Dubhn {Parish
Register Society of Dublin, vol. xii, p. 7), now discloses the fact that
as Katherine Morley she was married to John Bayly (Baily) on.
14 October, 1721, in that church. Her account books begin
on 16 October in that year, and in the paper, I hazarded the con-
jecture that as under the latter date, she notes a gift of 10 guineas
from her husband, "to begin her private purse," it might have
been the day of their marriage. The event, however, had taken

1 Joyce, /. N. P., i, 346. It is to be observed that Marcus Trevor was created
Baron Trevor of Eosse, Co. Down.

2 Joyce, op. cit., i, 495. I have seen it stated that Rossana, the seat of the
Tighe family near Ashford, Co. Wicklow, is really Rose Anna, being so called after
the wife of one of the family. I do not think that this statement is correct. In
an Inquisition, dated 28th October, 1619 [Inquis. Rot. Can. Hib., vol. i, Co. Wicklow,
Jac. I, no. 18), the name appears as Rossanagh, which clearly points to Rosanach,
Woody place, or to Ros an atha, wood of the ford, the ford being over the River
Vartry at Ashford. The first member of the Tighe family to settle in Ireland was
Richard Tighe, Sheriff of Dublin, 1649, Mayor of Dubhn, 1651, 1652, 1655, M.P.
for the City in Cromwell's Parliament, 1656 ; while the first of the family to live at.
Rosanna was his great grandson, William Tighe, M.P. for Clonmines, 1733, for
Wicklow, 1761, died 1766. No member of the family married a lady named Rose
Anna (Burke, Landed Gentry of Ireland).

^ Joyce, op. cit., iii, 3, 547.

* Compiled from BaU- Wright, op. cit., pp. 58, 264 ; Burke's Peerage, DoiimsJiire,
and Trevor ; Lowry, The Hamilton Manuscrip's, p. 162. The account given in.
Burke's Extinct Peerage is both meagre and inaccurate.

WAR

dnalt, n

Jol

Sir Edv

ynkinalj
C. (his e

[To face page 314

314 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

compare Rosedermot {Bos Diarmada, Diarmaid's wood), in the
Barony of Kilconway, Co. Antrim, and Roselick, one mile south-east
of Portstewart, in Co. Derry, which is a corruption of Ros Eeilge,
graveyard -point. ^ So, too, the name of New Ross in Co. Wexford,
Ros mhic Treoin, the wood of the son of Treon, is locally supposed
to be derived from a mythical Rose Macrone.^ Another possible
explanation of the name Rostrevor is that it is Ros tsruihar (pron.
Rostruher), the wood of the stream, the s of sruthair being ecHpsed
by the (formerly) neuter noun ros.^ The transition from Rostruher
to Rostrevor would have been simple and natural after the settlement
of the Trevor family in the place. As will be seen from the accom-
panying Pedigree,'* the Trevors of Rostrevor are extinct in the male
line, but are represented in the female line by the Marquis of Down-
shire and by Baron Trevor of Brynkinalt. They bore, party per
bend sinister, erm. and ermines, a Hon, rampant. — Gijstavus E..
Hamilton.

Diary of a Dublin Lady in the Reign of George II {Journal,
vol. xxviii (1898), p. 141). — At the time of the pubhcation of the
above-named paper, the maiden name of Mrs. Katherine Bayly, the
diarist, had not been discovered. The recent appearance of the
volume of marriage entries of St Mary's Church, DubHn {Parish
Register Society of Dublin, vol. xii, p. 7), now discloses the fact that
as Katherine Morley she was married to John Bayly (Baily) on.
14 October, 1721, in that church. Her account books begin,
on 16 October in that year, and in the paper, I hazarded the con-
jecture that as under the latter date, she notes a gift of 10 guineas
from her husband, " to begin her private purse," it might have
been the day of their marriage. The event, however, had taken

^ Joyce, /. N. P., i, 346. It is to be observed that Marcus Trevor was created
Baron Trevor of Bosse, Co. Down.

2 Joyce, op. cit., i, 495. I have seen it stated that Rossana, the seat of the
Tighe family near Ashford, Co. Wicklow, is really Rose Anna, being so called after
the wife of one of the family. I do not think that this statement is correct. In
an Inquisition, dated 28th October, 1619 {Inquis. Rot. Can. Hib., vol. i, Co. Wicklow,
Jac. I, no. 18), the name appears as Rossanagh, which clearly points to Rosanach,
Woody place, or to -Ros an atha, wood of the ford, the ford being over the River
Vartry at Ashford. The first member of the Tighe family to settle in Ireland was
Richard Tighe, SheriS of Dublin, 1649, Mayor of Dubhn, 1651, 1652, 1655, M.P.
for the City in Cromwell's Parliament, 1656 ; while the first of the family to live at.
Rosanna was his great grandson, WiUiam Tighe, M.P. for Clonmines, 1733, for
Wicklow, 1761, died 1766. No member of the family married a lady named Rose
Anna (Burke, Landed Gentry of Ireland).

^ Joyce, op. cit., iii, 3, 547.

* Compiled from Ball- Wright, op. cit., pp. 58, 264 ; Burke's Peerage, Downshire,
and Trevor ; Lowry, The Hamilton Manuscrip's, p. 162. The account given in
Burke's Extinct Peerage is both meagre and inaccurate.

PEDIGREE OF THE TREVORS OF ROSTREVOR, CO. DOWN

EDWARD TREVOR

r of tbe Rolk. P.(

I I

s Trevor, Arthor Trevor, Edward TM?or,

..-^A ....A^^. A

V.'-^fSV*'

i T»?or, John Tnvm, Marcus Timor, = Arabella

..p. ■ Mam., 1680:"' ""' o.".T"""' Hu^'b

I ,.?'?

Atlhnr Hiu-Tr

Julv, 1705. OluirliUc.
Jtu- ol Ctak.,

8(J ».iJ to« I'ucOTW i)«»jinii

MISCELLANEA 315

place two days previously. Mrs, Bayly died on 20 May, 1775,
and in her will, proved 31 May in that year, she mentions a
nephew, William Ousley, who was son of her sister EHzabeth
Morley, married to WilHam Ousley, Dunmore Castle, Co. Galway.
Mention is also made as to the portraits of her father and mother
(Morley), and any information as to their identity will be welcomed. —
H. F. Berry.

Ancient Iron Bell found at Knock-a-temple, Co. Wicklow.—

About twenty-five years ago this bell was unearthed by the late
John G. Keogh at the ruins of the old church of Knock-a-temple,
in the Parish of Calary, in the Barony of Newcastle, in the County
Wicklow. The site is close to the present Vartry reservoir near
Round wood, in the direction of Mount Kennedy, and about seven
miles from Glendaloch.

The Ordnance Survey Letters, Co. Wicklow, contain the following
reference to Knock-a-temple : — " In the townland of Knock-a-
temple are the ruins (or site) of a church 50 feet long by 18 feet
broad ; the foundation only remains. A very old decayed thorn
grows in the fence at its south-east angle, and there is a holy water
font cut into a rock about 50 yards north-east of the north-west angle.
The place is discontinued as a burying ground, but there are several
old graves on the south-west side, overgrown with blackthorn trees
of a considerable size. Jemmy Byrne says this is one of the churches
built by the three sisters, Keene, Kine, and Kellagh."

The bell was sold by Joseph Keane, auctioneer, in March, 1915,
at the sale of the effects of Mr H. C. C. Hall, of Knockraheen,
deceased, a local resident, and a relative of the finder of the bell.
It was purchased with other articles by a Dublin dealer for a few
shillings (although freely advertised), and in November following was
acquired by the Rev. J. MacArdle of the Pro-Cathedral on the
advice of the writer. There were other articles found at the same
time at Knock-a-temple: a glass "chalice," said to have been
found on the breast of a skeleton ; oyster shells painted with mineral
paint, and a carved head ; these were also auctioned at the same
time. The last-named is now in Chicago. It is a miracle the bell
is not there too.

The bell stands 12 inches high, it is of the usual tapering oblong
shape, 6 inches and 8 inches wide respectively at the mouth. The
clapper and handle are missing, and one side has fallen away in
part through corrosion. The material is iron, and the welding and
riveting at the sides can still be traced. There are also traces of
bronze plating. — F. J. Bigger m.r.i.a.

316 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

A Note on Two Objects on the North Slope of Mushera Beg,
Co. Cork (Plate XXXIII).— (1) On the north slope of this hill
(O.S. 6", No. 48, close to B.M. 1030.4) the O.S. marks " GaUaun "
and, " Stone Circle." These objects form a group of considerable
interest, and the outstanding gallaun is a very prominent feature
on the ridge of the hill as one comes down after traversing the
gap between the two Musheras, which is reached by leaving the
Cork-Macroom road at ClashgarrifE Bridge.

The collection of stones consists of : — (a) An erect, but not
perpendicular, gallaun which incHnes towards the west. This is
12 feet 7 inches in height, 7 feet 6 inches in girth, and roughly
quadrangular, with a rather sharply-pointed apex. (6) 11 feet
8 inches distant from this is a prostrate gallaun, to a great extent
buried in heather. It is tabular, 14 feet in length and 3 feet in
breadth, (c) The circle, which is one of the smallest and most compact
ever visited by me in this or the adjacent island. It consists of
five erect stones. The eastern face of the nearest of these (No. 1,
see plan annexed) to the prostrate gallaun is 11 feet 7 inches from
that stone. The distance from the inner face of No. 1 to the central
point between the two stones most distant from it (Nos. 3 and 4 in
the plan) is 11 feet 5 inches. There is thus a curious similarity in
the distances between the members of the group of stones taken as
a whole. The bearing (taken with a prismatic compass on 26 Sept.
1915) from the centre of the opening between stones Nos. 3 and 4
over the top of stone No. 1 and through the standing gallaun was
230°.

The measurements of the stones are as follows : — ^

Height

Width
(of inner face)

Thickness

No. 1.

3' 9"

3' 0"

0' 9"

„ 2. .

3' 9"

2' 0"

1' 0"

„ 3.

.* 4' 8"

2' 0"

1' 2"

„ 4.

4' 4"

2' 3"

1' 2"

„ 5.

4' 7"

1' 7"

1' 3"

No. 1 is a round-topped stone, thin and flat, and very Hke a
rough tombstone ; the others are either irregularly triangular or
quadrilateral.

(2) On the same sheet of the O.S., and a little to the north-
west of the monument just described there is marked a " Stone
Circle." I visited this object some time ago with Mr. Michael
Murphy, solicitor, of Cork, to whom I am indebted for the photo

1 The plan is only approximately to scale, as the monument was not surveyed
with a theodolite.

Plate XXXIII ]

[To face page ',>ir,

MUSHERA BEG STONE CIRCLE

-'mJ^ .W^!»"

STONE HOUSE

MISCELLANEA

317

and the information as to the name of the townland. We had some
difficulty in identifying the object, for, as will be seen from the
photo, it is not a stone circle in the scientific use of the term, but
a circle of stones forming the remains of a collapsed cloch5,n.

ii't"

r'i"

i-0

S--6

0^-

y-^

Plan op Stone Circle on Musheea Beg.
This is situated on a little well-sheltered knoll by the side of a small
stream — an ideal spot for such a place. Mr Murphy informs me
that the townland is called Cloch-booley-beg — i.e., ctoc-t)UAae beAg,
or the small stone dairy-shed. This is it. — BektkamC. A. Windle.

NOTICE OF BOOK

* An Account of the Honourable Society of King's Inns, Dublin, from
its Foundation until the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century,
with Notices of the Four Courts. By Gustavus Everard
Hamilton, B.A., Barrister-at-Law. Dublin : W. G. Neale.
1915. Price Is. net.

In his preface, Mr. Hamilton states that prior to 1607, his work is
the result of independent research, but that subsequent to that
period, his material is largely derived from a History of the King's
Inns, compiled by Bartholomew Duhigg, Treasurer of the Society,
which appeared in 1806 — " a model of everything which a history
should not be." With this sweeping criticism, the writer disposes
of Duhigg, whose work is perhaps sufficiently characterised in the
phrase. Mr. Hamilton has sifted the actual facts contained in
Duhigg 's volume from a mass of verbosity and discursiveness, and
with the help of his own investigations, has produced a useful and
readable little book.

The various locations of the Inns of Court are traced from
Collett's Inn, where the old Exchequer was situated (1300) to
Preston's Inns (1384), to the Black Friars (site of the present Four
Courts), 1541, down to the foundation, in 1793, of the building at
the top of Henrietta Street, which has since been the home of the
Society. The original chapel of the Inns was in a small street
caUed Mass Lane, now Chancery Place, which King William III,
with the consent of the Society, presented to one of the Huguenot
congregations of Dubhn.

The nucleus of the splendid Library of the Inns is stated by
Mr. Hamilton to have been the collection of books made by Mr.
Justice Robinson, which on his death in 1787 was purchased by the
Societj^. There is an interesting page of prices of various articles
taken from old account books, from which it appears that on Grand
Day in 1630 players were paid £2.

In 1657 the placing of the Commonwealth Arms in the Hall
cost £6, In 1678 the Society is found paying for the nursing of
an infant found on the premises, who had been baptized Betty
Cloisters.

Mr. Hamilton suppKes a list, with notes, of the chaplains, which
includes the illustrious names of James Ussher and George Berkeley ;
they had free chambers and commons, but received no salary. A
list of the Treasurers, Under Treasurers, Pensioners and Stewards
of the Inns, supplemented by notes which convey much information,
renders Mr. Hamilton's work interesting and instructive. To the
members of the legal profession in this country such a handbook
should prove useful.

318

PROCEEDINGS

A Quarterly General Meeting of the 67th Yearly Session of the
Society was held at 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, on Tuesday,
the 28th of September, 1915, at 8.15 p.m.

Francis Elrington Ball, litt.d., m.r.i.a., Vice-President, in the
Chair.
Also present : —

Past President : — John Ribton Garstin, d.l.
Vice-Presidents : — E. C. R. Armstrong, f.s.a., John Cooke, m.a.,
m.r.i.a.

Fellows :—J. Poe Alton, S. A. 0. Fitz Patrick, P. J. Lynch,
m.r.i.a.. Professor R. A. S. Macalister, f.s.a., Charles McNeill, Hon.
Gen. Sec, Samuel G. Murray, G. W. Place, Andrew Robinson, m.v.o.,
Andrew Roycroft, John F. Weldrick, Henry Bantry White, i.s.o.,
Hon. Treas.

Members : — ^Miss Anna Barton, O'Meara Conyngham, Freeman
W. Deane, Vincent de Gemon, J. R. B. Jennings, Miss A. M. Joly,
Edmund Walsh Kelly, Rev. Canon R. A. Keman, Mrs. Annie Long,
Mrs. W. D. Ludlow, A. V. Montgomery, J. Nichols, Rev. T. W.
O'Ryan, Miss A. Peter, R. G. Pilkington, Miss U. T. E. Powell,
Rev. A. D. Purefoy, m.a.. Rev. R. B. Rankin, Rev. Francis J. Wall,
Miss E. G. Warren, Richard Blair White.

Associate Members : — Mrs. J. Poe Alton, W. G. Gogan, James J.
Healy, A. R. Montgomery, M. S. Walsh, l.r.c.p.i.

The Minutes of the previous Meeting were read and confirmed.
The following Fellows and Associate Members were elected : —
As Fellows
Goodbody, Gerald Ernest, Woodsdown, Limerick : proposed by

Wilham A. Fogerty, M.D., Fellow.
Waldron, The Right Hon. Laurence A., m.r.i.a., 10 Anglesea Street,
Dublin {Member, 1890) : proposed by Charles McNeill, Hon.
Gen. Sec.

As Associate Members

Conlan, John P., 129 Blarney Street, Cork : proposed by Charles
McNeill, Hon. Gen. Sec.

Diskon, W. H., Cong, Co. Mayo : proposed by John Cooke, Vice-
President.

319

320 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND

Flynn, John W., 28 South Frederick Street, DubUn : proposed by

Kevin E. O'Duffy, Fellow.
Gerrard, Edward, 7 Merrion Row, Dublin : proposed by John

Cooke, Vice-President.
Kennedy, R. K. L., 52 St. Stephen's Green, DubHn : proposed by
Rev. Canon R. A. Keman, b.d.. Member.

The Meeting was informed that the Society's investment in
2-| per cent. Consols had been transferred to 4| per cent. New War
Loan, as authorised by the General Meeting in Londonderry on
6 July, 1915.

Views were exhibited from the lantern sHdes recently made for
the Society from negatives taken by the late Sir Robert Stawell
Ball, F.R.S., sometime Astronomer-Royal of Ireland.

The Meeting then adjourned until the 14 December, 1915.

A Meeting of the 67th Yearly Session of the Society was held
in the Society's Rooms, 6 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, on
Tuesday, 14th December, 1915, at 8.15 p.m.

Mr. M. J. McEnery, m.r.i.a., Vice-President, in the Chair.

Vacancies were declared for a President, five Vice-Presidents,
an Hon. General Secretary, an Hon. Treasurer, and six Members
of Council.

The following papers were read and referred to the Council
for publication : —

1. (a) The Church of St. Tassach at Eaholp in Lecale : Its.

History and Conservation,
(h) The Church of St. Nicholas of Ardtole in Lecale : Its

Stained Glass and Preservation.
(c) The Ancient Iron Bell found at Knockatemple near

Glendaloch, Co. Wicklow.

By Francis J. Bigger, Fellow.
These papers were illustrated by drawings, photographs

and lantern slides.

2. A Note on two Objects on the north slope of Mushera Beg,

Co. Cork. By Sir Bertram Windle, Fellow.

3. The State Music in Ireland from 1661 to 1861. By W. H.

Grattan Flood, Member.

The following objects were exhibited: —

Ancient Beads, Key, &c., from Eaholp.

Stained Glass from Ardtole.

Iron Bell from Knockatemple.
The Meeting then adjourned until the 25ih January, 1916.

HECKMAN

BINDERY INC.

MAR 99

Bo^a-To-Ple^^KNCHEfeL'".

Internet Archive Audio

Featured

Top

Images

Featured

Top

Software

Featured

Top

Books

Featured

Top

Video

Featured

Top

Mobile Apps

Browser Extensions

Archive-It Subscription

Save Page Now

Full text of "Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland"

See other formats