THE LIBRARIES 
 
Á f 
 
 / 
 
FOR AS FEASA AR EIRINN 
 
 Do réir 
 
 AN ATHAR SEATHEUN CÉlTING, OLLAMH RE DIADHACHTA. 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 f k earliest '§tnú ía .tlrí (tnglish |itíJ(isi0iu 
 
 BY THE REVEREND GEOFFREY KEATING, D.D. 
 
 TRANSLATED 
 
 FEOil THE ORIGINAL GAELIC, AND CO PIOUSLY ANN OTATED, 
 
 BY JOHN O'MAHONY. 
 
 WITH A MAP SHOWIXG THE LOCATION OF THE ANCIENT CLANS, AND A 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 "Nonimmcrito hfec insula Ogyc/ia, ii est, penntiqnsi a Plntarcho dicti» fnit; a profundissimfi 
 enim antlquatis memoria histoiias suas auspicantar, adeo ut pra3 illis omnis onmiam gentium 
 antiqnitas sit novitaa et quodaminodo infantía."— Camdbx, Bkitannia. 
 
 NEW YORK:. ,, • 
 PUBLISHED BY P. M. RAYZRTY, 
 
 No. 110 F TJ L T C» tt . S T.& Ji'^T , 
 1857. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1857, by 
 
 P . :M . II A V E E T Y, 
 
 In the Clerk's office of tlie District Court of the United States, for the 
 Southern District of Sevr Torlc. 
 
 5^\ 
 
 u 
 
TO 
 WILLIAM DESMOND O'BRIEN, ESQUIRE, 
 32 SCHEKMERHORN STREET, BROOKLYN, 
 
 f 1] i 5 § It 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED, 
 
 BY HIS FRIEND, 
 
 THE TRANSLATOR. 
 
THE TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 It is now nearly eighteen months since the translator of the 
 following work was requested, by his friend, Mr. Haverty, 
 of New York, to undertake the revision and annotation of 
 Dermod O'Connor's English version of the Eeverend Dr. Keat- 
 ing's History of Ireland, which that spirited and patriotic Irish- 
 man was then about to re-publish, in order to have it in his 
 power to satisfy the frequent and urgent demands for copies of 
 their ancient national historian, made upon him by his country- 
 men who have been exiled to these United States of America. 
 With this request, he rather too readily complied, deeming that 
 the former translation, which he had not then read attentively 
 for several years, Avould be found sufficiently true to its original 
 for a work intended for popular use ; and trusting that some 
 knowledge of the language, antiquities and ancient usages of his 
 native land, which he had acquired in studying ancient Gaelic 
 writings, to amuse his idle hours, whilst living at home in Ireland, 
 would have enabled him both to rectify any mistakes there might 
 have been in O'Connor's version, and to explain any obscure 
 allusions to historic j^ersons and events, and to ancient tribes and 
 obsolete usages, now forgotten by the mass of the Irish public. 
 Upon these suppositions did he make light of the proposed work, 
 and he was thereby led to deceive himself, as well as his pub- 
 lisher, both as to the size of the book itself, and as to the amount 
 of labor and length of time that might be consumed in its pre- 
 paration for the press. Hence arose its premature announcement 
 in the Irish newspapers of New York — an announcement for 
 which the translator, not the publisher, is to blame. However, 
 upon comparing some manuscript copies of the Foras Feasa Ar 
 Eirinn with the previously published translation, Dermod 
 O'Connor's English was found so unlike what Dr. Keating ac- 
 tually wrote, that he considered that he would be rendering his 
 fellow-exiles a service of very questionable utility, unless he 
 should give them an entirely new version of the entire history. 
 Again, when the work had been already begun, it was found 
 that in order to make it intelligible to the majority of the Irish- 
 men of the present clay, who unfortunately can only read the 
 history of their country in a foreign tongue, it would be neces- 
 sarv to make the explanatory notes much more copious than had 
 
6 PEEFACE. 
 
 been originally contemplated, for Dr. Keating wrote in an age 
 when Irish tradition was still alive amongst his readers, and 
 when it would have been idle to explain mutters which arc now 
 either forgotten or misunderstood. This wa.s another cause of 
 delay and embarrassment. The translator had not immediately 
 at his command a sufficient number of reliable authorities for his 
 comments upon his author; and, as he was resolved to de- 
 pend as little as possible, either upon his recollection of what he 
 had formerly read, or upon his own conjectures, he was com- 
 pelled to suspend his work until he had procured the books 
 which he deemed requisite for that purpose. In this he has ex- 
 perienced some difficulties, but he at length partially succeeded, 
 through the aid of Mr. Ilaverty, who sent to Ireland for several 
 valuable works, and through that of some patriotic Irishmen 
 living in Ameiica, who lent him the use of their libraries. 
 
 It may appear not a little presumptuous in the present writer 
 to have undertaken a labor of so much importance to ancient 
 Irish histor}', as the translation and annotation of Dr. Keating's 
 historic work — more especially as his acquaintance with the duties 
 of authorship is so very slight, that he doubts whether he have 
 the smallest possible vocation or capacity for making useful and 
 readable books. He must also say, that though he had once 
 taken a mournful pleasure in zealously studying the language 
 and history of ancient Eri, amid the glens of his native Gaulties, 
 still the remotest idea of ever seeing his name upon a title-])age 
 never once entered his mind, though man}' were the vain day- 
 dreams in which he liad indulged, whilst dwelling under those 
 mist-clad hills. Since then he has pursued the study at fitful 
 intervals, through several changes of scene and condition, but 
 never with any other object than the gratification of his filial love 
 towards his father-land. Under these circumstances, some apol- 
 ogy is necessary for his present intrusion upon the reading public. 
 lie trusts that the following will be deemed sufficient: — He 
 knew that in case he refused» to edit this work, an American 
 reprint of the former translation would have been puljlished 
 nevertheless ; and as no one who knew anything of Gaelic liter- 
 ary antiquities seemed about to undertake its correction, thought 
 it "better that a faithful, though not all-perfect version, should be 
 edited by him, than that the former unintelligible and useless 
 production should be again imposed upon Irishmen, under the 
 popular name of Dr. Keating — a ])ub]ieation that has tended to 
 bring that author's name into unmerited disrepute, and to injure 
 the study of Irish history amongst those who cannot read our 
 ancient documents in the original Gaelic. Whilst conscious, 
 then, of his own incompetence to do full justice to his subject^ 
 
PREFACE. ■ 7 
 
 he tliouglit tliat lie would be able to give his exiled countrymcu 
 something more like what Dr. Keating wrote than what has been 
 so long before the public under his name ; and that, if he failed 
 in presenting them with a good book, he would, at least, present 
 them with one that might not be positively mischievous. Shall 
 he have succeeded even thus far, he will not deem that his time 
 and labor have been thrown away. 
 
 The chief design with which this book has been translated 
 and annotated, has been to make the author's meaning per- 
 fectly understood by the majority of its readers, and to give the 
 latter some insight into the manners and customs of the ancient 
 times of which he treats. Should this design be accomplished, 
 the translator and editor will rest perfectly content with what 
 he has done. Throu2;hout the work it has also been a desired 
 object with him, to fix the minds of the disinherited sons of the 
 Clanna Gaedhail, wherever scattered, upon that green land which 
 is their ancestral birth-right, so that they may never forget that 
 Ireland is their proper home, and that it is they themselves, not the 
 land-jobbers who now devour its people and its fruits, that have 
 any just claim to possess its soil. Their restoration to such birth- 
 right has been the aim of his most longing and fondest ambition, 
 since first he began seriously to consider their present fallen con- 
 dition, and for that end he will strive until he shall have ceased 
 to think. This he would have the object of the ambition of all 
 true Irishmen. However successful and honored either them- 
 selves or their children may become, either in this or in any 
 other foreign land, he would have them consider themselves but 
 as sojourners therein. That sacred isle where their forefathers 
 lie piled many feet deep in hallowed mould, side by side with 
 the saints who illumined Ireland in the days of her glory, and 
 with the martyrs who cast a halo round her declining fortune, 
 should be ever regarded by them as their promised land, or, as 
 an Irish saint of the olden time has it, the land of their resurrection. 
 He would have them always consider themselves what a con- 
 temporary bard described the expatriated Irishmen of former 
 times, — 
 
 " Deoraidhthe siora gan sgitli gan S03 
 Miaoaid a d-tir 's a n-duthchas." 
 
 In English — 
 
 'Always exiled, restless, homeless. 
 Longing for their fatherland." 
 
 Such have been the translator's great objects, and not either 
 literary fame or pecuniary profit. Had the latter been his object, 
 he might have attained it long since, in as far as it is attainable 
 bv hiin, witli not half the labor or consumption of time. A new, 
 
8 PEEFACE. 
 
 a literal translation of Keating, with but few notes, might have 
 ere now commanded as ready a sale as any the present work 
 ■unll ever have. It could have also been got out with half the 
 expense, and less than half the mental toil. Neither has his 
 object been literary fame, for if it had, he would have delayed 
 the publication for, perhaps, another year, in order both to render 
 his work more perfect, and to finish oft' much of the explanatory 
 matter which is here presented to his readers in a rather crude 
 and unpolished, though, he trusts, sufficiently plain and intel- 
 ligible shape. ]3ut his engagements with his publisher, and the 
 patrons of the work, would not allow him any further respite, 
 and he has thence been forced to place his book in the hands of 
 the printer, in a condition that does not quite satisfy himself in 
 a mere literary point of view. This, however, costs him but 
 little regi'et, for of all the descriptions of honest fome, that of a 
 literary man is, perhaps, the one he least covets, not through 
 any want of due appreciation of the higli mission of men of 
 literary genius and talent, who can teach great truths to their 
 fellows in appropriate language, but because his own ambition 
 does not tend that way, and, perhaps, because it is the species 
 of fame that is most bej'ond his reach. For this reason, were it 
 possible that another name besides his would have satisfied the 
 immediate patrons of this book, as well as his own, he would 
 Avillingly have relinquished all of praise or of censure that may 
 be attached to its authorship, to that other man, while he would 
 have nevertheless labored with equal zeal and assiduity in the 
 work of its production. 
 
 Many persons will no doubt feel disappointed at the style and 
 manner in which the book has been Avritten and edited. From 
 the premature praises which some of his friends have bestowed 
 upon the literary and linguistic attainments of the editor, some 
 amongst the literary world may have been led to expect more 
 from his pen than lie has had cither the time or the ability to 
 give them. Such persons will certainly find much to condemn 
 and criticise in the following pages. But ujjon this point lie is 
 not exceedingly solicitous. The book is not specially d.csigned 
 to pleas 3 literarjr people. It is more designed for the purpose 
 of conveying, in plain and simple terms, certain information 
 about the country and usages of their ancestors, to those of the 
 translator's own race and kindred who have not much time to 
 devote to the perusal of books, and whose early opportunities 
 have not enabled them to become critics in the elegancies of a 
 language which has been forced upon them by their enemies. 
 Provided these latter understand him thoroughly, he cares little 
 for the opinion of the critics. 
 
PREFACE. 9 
 
 There is also anotlier class to whom this translation may not 
 prove altogether satisfactory — that is, to students of the Gaelic 
 language. It will not in every instance serve these for the pur- 
 pose of a verbatim glossary upon Dr. Keating's original text. 
 Such it undoubtedly should have been made, were it found pos- 
 sible in every instance to have rendered the full and exact 
 meaning of all Irish phrases by a Avord-for-word version into 
 English. As it is not always possible to do this, and as the 
 student class forms but a very small portion of those for whose 
 use the work is intended, it has been preferred, in every instance 
 where a verbatim version Avould cither obscure the meaning or 
 destroy the force of the original, to render the idiomatic phrases 
 of the Gaelic by equivalent English ones. An entirely Avord-for- 
 word translation from any one language into another, is scarcely 
 ever perfectly true to its original. From a language so elliptical 
 as the Gaelic, into English, Avhich is so opposite to it in this and 
 in many of its other peculiarities, it is hardly practicable. For 
 this reason, it has seemed more desirable to translate the history 
 so as to make it easily understood by the general reader, rather 
 than so as to save the mere student of language from the trouble 
 of consulting his dictionary. Should the latter need such a 
 work, he will find it in that ^^art of Keating's History which has 
 been already published by Halliday, and in several recent pub- 
 lications, where the word-for-word system has been adhered to, 
 but where the full meaning and force of the original has not been 
 always expressed in English of equivalent import. Such Avorks 
 are invaluable to the scholar, but often unintelligible to the 
 general reader. It is chiefly for the latter that the translator 
 has worked ; but in the performance of his task he has striven 
 to be always as literal as Avas consistent Avith clearness, and in 
 no instance has he either amplified or curtailed the language of 
 his original, without giving due notice thereof. To the best of 
 his own ability and comprehension he has made Dr. Keating 
 speak as if that Avriter were giving his narration in the English 
 tongue. He considers the version here given to be true to his text, 
 and he trusts that even the Irish student Avill find it sufficiently 
 so. Many imperfections may, however, be found therein. For 
 some of these the editor's inexperience is possibly to blame : 
 others have been the result of the haste with Avhich it has been 
 hurried from his desk to the press, and of the fact that he has 
 been compelled all through it to AAaite against time — to consult 
 his various authorities, to correct proofs, and at the same time 
 arrange new matter for the printers. Thus he has never been 
 able to see any large portion of his Avork before him at one 
 time, soon enough to remedy several of its manifest typographi- 
 
10 PREFACE. 
 
 cal and verbal errors. Those that are friendly disposed may 
 also allow him some indulgence from the fact that, from the 
 commencement of his work to its close, he has not had the 
 assistance of any one person learned in the Gaelic tongue ; so 
 that, in those instances where he could not resolve his doubts 
 from written or printed authority, he has been compelled to de- 
 pend entirely upon his own judgment, and upon his memorj^ of 
 ■what he had formerl}^ learned either orally or from books. He 
 may also find some excuse ^i the fact that he has not had an op- 
 portunity of comparing a sufficient number of manuscript copies 
 of the Foras Feasa Ar Eirinn^ and that none of those of which he 
 has had the use, were much more than one hundred years old. 
 Being isolated from all Irish scholars, and unassisted even in 
 the most minor details of his undertaking, he has found his 
 duties much more onerous and perplexing than they could pos- 
 sibly be to a man living in Ireland. 
 
 The historical and topograj^hical notes are drawn from many 
 sources. Copious quotations have been made from the Annals 
 of the Four Masters, and from the learned commentaries of Dr. 
 O'Donovan upon those venerable annalists ; and also from 
 several of the other works edited by that accurate and scrupulous 
 antiquarian. This he has repeatedly acknowledged in the notes, 
 but should he have anywhere omitted such acknowledgment, he 
 here states tliat he has been almost everywhere indebted to that 
 erudite author for the location and modern names of the various 
 jjlaces mentioned in this history. By him he has also been guided 
 in many of the notes inserted, relative to several of the ancient 
 Iri.«h septs. Copious quotations have been also made from 
 O'Flaherty, O'llalloran, Moore and others. AVherever matter 
 deemed explanator}' or confirmatory of the text was found in any 
 published authority, it has been fi-eely inserted. Some few of the 
 pliilological and etymological notes are original. So are all those 
 relative to the social and jxjlitical state of Ireland in past and 
 present times. AVhatever be the value or the good taste of the 
 translator's remarks upon such subjects, he alone is responsible 
 therefor. 
 
 Should this book fall into the hands of any of the enemies of 
 the Irish name and race, or into those of certain good folk of the 
 Irish themselves, who would fain have us forget and forgive the 
 wrongs perpetrated upon those from whom we have drawn the 
 source of our existence, and still daily inflicted upon our breth- 
 ren, they will no douljt say that this is the work of a political 
 partizan. But, upon that subject, it is hoped, that there can be 
 no second opinion possible. If it be tlie mark of a partizan to be 
 thoroughly Irish in heart and soul ; — to love men of Irish name 
 
PREFACE. 11 
 
 and blood more than men of any other ; — to abhor the destroyers 
 of his nation and kinsmen, who are also the desolators of his 
 own paternal hearth, with a hatred that neither time nor dis- 
 tance can mitigate ; — then is this the w^ork of a most undoubted 
 partizan. And again, if an ardent desire to perpetuate like feel- 
 ings amongst the men of his nation be the part of a partizan, 
 then has he edited this book in a spirit of thorough partizanship. 
 However, though he docs hate the present hostile garrison that 
 holds his countiy in thraldom as heartily as if he had lived in 
 the days of Seaghan O'Neill, he still denies that he has in any 
 one instance allowed his partialities to cause him to torture 
 historic fact to bear out his own theories or opinions — neither 
 has he in any one particular swerved from the truth of history, 
 as he has understood it. To some well-meaning friends of the 
 Irish people, and to some good souls of the Irish themselves, he 
 deems it necessary to say this much — ^he begs that they will 
 excuse him if he shall have curdled the lactine fluid in their 
 kindly breasts, by any occasional infusion of gall which he may 
 have pressed into these pages. From the enemies of the Irish 
 nation, he asks no indulgence : he would himself show none to 
 them. He has spoken a few of his real sentiments with regard 
 to them and some of their institutions — institutions which he 
 regards as so many hideous abominations, and which he ardently 
 hopes to see one day swept from oíF the face of this earth. 
 
 It must not, however, be understood that it is his desire to 
 stir up any hostile feelings of nation, race or religious belief 
 amongst his readers by any remarks made either here or else- 
 where throughout these pages. He is himself actuated by no 
 such feelings. Nations have been too long made the instru- 
 ments of the enslavement of their neighbors by cunning tyrants, 
 who banded them against one another merely because they 
 chanced to dwell on different sides of some sea, river or moun- 
 tain, or because they spoke different dialects. He has, it is true, 
 a strong partiality towards the natives of the Irish soil, and his 
 heart glows with a more kindly heat towards men of ancient 
 Gaelic names — this is part of his instinct ; — but he can also hold 
 out the free hand of brotherhood to the Frank and the Saxon. 
 It is only when he becomes an instrument of tyranny that 
 hostility should be felt towards any of one's fellow men. In 
 Ireland, more especially, the foreign element has become so ab- 
 sorbed in the aboriginal, that it would be as just to think of 
 avenging the wrongs of the Danaan or the Belgian upon their 
 Spanish conquerors, as it would be those of the latter upon the 
 followers of Earl Strongbow. These have long since merged 
 into the Gael — so have some of the descendants of the more 
 
12 PREFACE. 
 
 recent conquerors of them all, the Cromwellians and William- 
 ites of later days. The oppressed natives of Ireland, of Avhatever 
 name, creed or blood, represent the ancient rights of its aborig- 
 inal inhabitants. Their village tyrants, though some of them 
 be of Gaelic name and blood, and a few of them even of the 
 national faith, are now the only foreign enemy. They represent 
 William of Orange, Cromwell, Elizabeth, and Strongbow — they 
 represent also the pirate sons of Miledh, and even now they 
 " grind the faces of the poor and beat the people to pieces," as 
 mercilessly as ever did tyrant plunderer of old. They still walk 
 in, the blood-stained track of the robbers who preceded them. 
 It may be some day theirs to make full though tardy retribu- 
 tion, for those crimes that were perpetrated long ago, as well as 
 for others of more recent date — for ruthless oppressions still in 
 course of daily perpetration, as well as for those that have not 
 been yet begun. 
 
 In the early part of this undertaking, it was the editor's inten- 
 tion to have devoted more space to the annotation of the geneal- 
 ogies of the Irish clans than circumstances have allowed him to 
 do. This he regrets much ; for it is a subject of very great in- 
 terest to men of Irish name and race, and indeed to all readers 
 of Irish history ; for that history is essentially one of tribes, 
 who were to a great extent independent of one another, and the 
 fortunes and ramifications of each tribe of them must be consid- 
 ered separately before the whole history of the Irish people can 
 be well understood. It was, however, found that no comprehen- 
 sive view of those tribes could be given in a volume of any 
 moderate size, without suppressing much of the explanatory 
 matter which had been already printed. Besides this, no niatc- 
 rials could be found here in America, for giving any full infor- 
 mation about all the tribes that occupy a prominent place in the 
 annals of Ireland. For these reasons, it has been thought more 
 advisable in this publication, to give the genealogies of whatever 
 Gaelic septs were found in those copies of Keating, which were 
 accessible to the translator, with but few comments of his own 
 thereupon, and to add to them as many pedigrees of the more 
 distinguished branches of each, as he could find in any reliable 
 record within his reach. Want of room, and want of materials 
 for their annotation, has also caused the suppression of the gen- 
 ealogies of many of the Anglo-Norman septs — such as the Ger- 
 aldincs, Burlces, Butlers, Barries and others, which are found in 
 several maimscript copies of our author. Tlicse, as "well as a 
 a more full account of those now given, shall be jjublished in 
 a future edition, sliould the present one meet with the approba- 
 tion of the Irishmen living in America. 
 
PREFACE. 13 
 
 Many of the notes written upon the history itself, have also 
 been suppressed. This will be discovered by the reader as he 
 gets into the book ; for perhaps one-fourth of it had not been 
 yet printed, when it was discovered that if the annotations were 
 to be continued as copiously as at first, the work could not be 
 published in less than two volumes of the present size. This 
 also has been a source of regret to the translatoi-, for though 
 he knows that several of his notes are unnecessary to the better 
 read of his readers, he is still aware that some, even of the 
 most trite amongst them, are needful to those by Avliom he would 
 more particuLu-ly make his subject understood, namely, to those 
 Irishmen who have had neither time nor means to read many 
 books. 
 
 Amongst the suppressed matter was also a comparative vocab- 
 ulary of the Greek, Latin, and Gaelic languages, showing the 
 several afl&nities, verbal, derivational, and grammatical, of the 
 latter with the two former. This was compiled a feAV years since 
 in Paris, at the request of a French savant. But, though it had 
 been already referred to in the notes, and might jiossibly give 
 some useful suggestions to the philologist, it was considered to 
 be of little interest to popular readers, and for that reason Avas 
 made to give place to the Topographical Appendix, which gives 
 the location of the ancient Irish clans, and in some manner 
 serves as a guide to the map that is published herewith. 
 
 The appendix just referred to has been almost entirely taken 
 from the notes upon Connellan's edition of the Four Masters. 
 The map itself is the same as the one already published therewith, 
 Mr. Haverty having purchased the original plate for the illustration 
 of the present translation, Neither the appendix nor the map are 
 what should have been chosen, had there been sufficient time 
 and sufficient materials at hand for making out others. The ap- 
 pendix is loosely arranged, and not sufficiently accurate in de- 
 tail. The map indeed is minute, and generally correct enough 
 in its location of the various Irish and Anglo-Irish races ; it has 
 been foimd that in all instances, Avhere immediate investigation 
 has been possible, that those several races did at some pe- 
 riod of Irish history, occupy the positions in which they are 
 placed thereon. But it is, nevertheless, historically deceptive 
 and incorrect, inasmuch as it represents the Irish nation at no 
 one period of its existence. Generally speaking, the septs set 
 down upon it did not occupy the same relative positions at any 
 special epoch. It is, however, perhaps as good a map as could 
 be given, if the object were to represent at one view, the places 
 possessed by the ancestors of the people forming the vast ma- 
 jority of the present Irish nation, from the earhest times down 
 
14 PREFACE. 
 
 'o the reign of the English queen, Elizabeth. To do accurately 
 ,vhat is there attemjited, would have required a series of historic 
 maps. As such a series is not immediately available, the pres- 
 ent one is given as the best that could be procured under the 
 circumstances. 
 
 The next matter to be alluded to is the method which has 
 been adopted in spelling many of the Irish personal and local 
 names. The reader will find them here written in a manner 
 somewhat different from that in which they are usually seen in 
 books printed in ordinary characters. This has been chiefly 
 caused by the suppression of the adventitious letter A, whereby 
 the variations which some of the Irish consonants undei'go in 
 the composition and inflection of words, is most frequently ex- 
 pressed in those modern publications which are not in the anci- 
 ent Irish character. The euphonic rule called Cad re cael agus 
 lethan re leihan, which requires that a vowel of the same class 
 with that which precedes a consonant ending any one syllable 
 of a word, should begin the next succeeding syllable of the 
 same. The latter rule is perfectly useless to one who does not 
 understand the eupJionic sj^stem of the Gaelic language, and it 
 is not found always observed in our older manuscripts. In 
 English it both stretches out the words to an extravagant size, 
 and gives a wrong notion of the quantity of many of their sev- 
 eral syllables. The rule has also little or nothing to do with 
 the radical elements of which the words are composed. The use 
 of the adventitious h, after silent or aspirated consonants, has 
 been considered much more objectionable still. It lias been re- 
 peatedly found that the insertion of this parasite character in 
 positions, where it is not employed in modern European lan- 
 guages, and Avhere in Irish the change of sound is merely ex- 
 pressed by a dot placed over the consonant so affected, does but 
 prevent one, who can only read English, from any attempt at 
 the pronunciation of those words in which it is found — or if 
 sucli jiersou should make any attempt to pronounce them, the 
 result is as unlike the real Irish sounds as it is possible to con- 
 ceive. The reader is disheartened at his attempt, and he soon 
 forgets a mass of characters that seem as meaningless to him as 
 would Chinese symljols. This is, perhaps, one of the chief rea- 
 sons why modern Irishmen of ordinary education, find so little 
 i pleasure reading the history and antiquities of their country, 
 .t gives one but little pleasure to read about ])ersons and places 
 whose names one can neither articulate, nor remember. For 
 this reason those two modern practices have been su]){)ressed in 
 the following volume, and tlie names have been therein present- 
 ed to the reader as nearly as possible in their ancient simplicity 
 of form. 
 
PREFACE. 15 
 
 Some friends of the translator have suggested to him to write 
 down those names according to their modern pronunciation, as 
 has been ah'cadv done by Halliday, in that part of the Fo)-as 
 Feasa ar Eirinn translated by him. But he rejected this suo^- 
 gestion, because his comphance therewith Avould have destroyed 
 the radical and elementary forms of many of the names, while 
 it could give no standard of pronunciation universal in its ap- 
 j)lication, for, at the present day, the Irish of diiforent provinces, 
 and often of different parishes, vary very much from each otlier 
 in the sounds they give to the same combinations of letters. 
 He holds also that the component parts of our ancient 
 names are certain historic and etlmographic landmarks of his- 
 tory, Avhich should not be destroyed, as they may one day serve 
 as important guides to scientific inquirers into the origin of tlie 
 races that have colonized Ireland. They have then been mostly 
 written in the oldest and simplest form in which they have been 
 found — a form which is generally that which is most easily ar- 
 ticulated by English organs of S23eech — and all those variations 
 which are considered by the writer to have been the conse- 
 quences of more modern dialectic variations, have been mostly 
 disregarded. It is also the editor's suggestion to the Irishman 
 who has not learned to read his own language, to pronounce 
 such names as if they were English, giving their full force to all 
 the letters. This will be much better than not to pronounce them 
 at all ; and by doing so, one cannot perhaps vary much more 
 from their true primitive sounds, than do the Irish themselves 
 in the Gaelic which they now speak. The most usual modern 
 pronunciation of several of the more important ones, will fre- 
 quently be found given in italics, either immediately after the 
 names themselves or in the notes. It was, indeed, intended at 
 first, in order to satisfy all parties, to have added a table at the 
 end of the book, confronting the ancient with the modern and 
 more usual' forms, and representing as nearly as possible the 
 pronunciation of the latter. But the unexpected size of the 
 work has caused its suppression, with much other matter. 
 
 It will also be seen that the ancient diphthong, ae, and triph- 
 thong aei^ have been introduced in place of the modern ao and 
 aoi. The vowel i is also invariably used at the end of words in 
 place of the now more frequent e. This has been done in or- 
 der to prevent it from being made silent, as it usually is in such 
 situations in English. It is no innovation, for tliey are used in- 
 discriminately one for the other, in such positions, in our best 
 manuscripts. The final e has, however, been retained in situa- 
 tions where it is nearly silent in modern Irish, that is, after the 
 aspirates dh and gh, as in such words as Osraidhe, Rudhraidhe^ 
 
16 PREFACE. 
 
 Oirnighe, Sc, pronounced, Osree and Booree, Oamee, &c., — tlie 
 two former being written, Osraide, liudraide, suppressing the 
 silencing A after the letter ci: the combination gh has been re- 
 tained ; for at the end of words and syllables it is usually silent as 
 in English, The same remark applies to dh wherever it is used 
 therein. 
 
 The letter c being always pronounced hard in Irish, has been 
 replaced by I; wherever it occurs before the vowels e or 
 2', for in such position its primitive sonnd has been so much 
 corrupted by the English, that it now assumes the power of s. 
 Had c been here used in writing such Avords as cill, cell, Cear- 
 luich, Ceth and Cellachcoi, the English reader would undoubtedly 
 call them Sill, Sell, Searnacli, Seth and Sellac/han, instead of 
 Xill, Kell, Kearnach, Kellaghan, and Keih. This substitution 
 is, however, scarcely an innovation, for the Irish c and the Eng- 
 lish Jc are but different outward forms of the same letter. It has 
 been preferred to do this, rather than to change the radical vowel 
 in such instances. 
 
 G also is always sounded hard by the Irish, as in English gird, 
 gd, legging, Gilbertajidgirl, but never as in the words gem, ginger, 
 George, and German. This the reader will please to bear in 
 mind, for the translator has not felt at liberty to strengthen 
 its force by the introduction of the vowel u, in such cases, as 
 is sometimes done in the English and other tongues. In Irish 
 words, the combination ch always represents a hard guttural 
 sound, just as the Scotch joronounce it in the word loch, or as 
 the Irish pronounce gh, in their patois of the language of their 
 tyrants, in the corrupted form lough. The rigidity and dryness 
 of the vocal organs of some persons, may prevent them from mas- 
 tering this sound. Those that are so unfortunately tongue-tied, 
 may call the ch of the Irish k, if they will ; buit they should 
 never give it that hybrid articulation which it has in the words 
 church, chest, Chichester, such, &c. 
 
 Befjre e or i the letter s is pronounced by the Irish like the 
 English sh ; and sh sounds like a single h. It may also be here 
 remarked that no Gaelic word begins with an aspirated or silenced 
 letter in its primitive form, though the use thereof in its com- 
 binational and grammatical inilcctions. 
 
 Before concluding these ])rcliminary remarks, the editor begs to 
 return his thanks thus publicly, to the f<jllowing gentlemen, who 
 most kindly and generously lent him the use of their Irish libra- 
 ries, while engaged at his taslc. Foremost amongst them, his 
 gratitude is due to his friend, William Desmond O'Brien, Esq., 
 Civil Engineer, now residing at 32 Schcrmcrhorn street, Brook- 
 lyn, whose library has not only furnished him with a copy of 
 
PIIEFACE. 17 
 
 Dr. O'Donovan's Translation of the Four Masters, and several rare, 
 though most necessary, books upon Ireland, but without whose 
 genial encouragement the work might not possibly have been 
 ever undertaken. 
 
 To James 'Slevin, Esq., of Philadelphia, he is likewise most 
 thankful. This patriotic gentleman, whom the editor has not 
 yet had the j^leasure of knowing personally, generously placed 
 his whole library at his command, upon the first announcement 
 of his intended publication. To him he has been indebted for 
 several volumes of the valuable and expensive works published 
 by the ArchiBological and Celtic Societies of Ireland. 
 
 To Laurence Yerdon, Esq., of New York, his thanks are also 
 due, for the use of many scarce and valuable works upon Ireland, 
 Avhich that gentleman has collected together with a patriotic and 
 most praiseworthy zeal. 
 
 The following gentlemen have furnished the editor with valu- 
 able copies of the Foras Feasa ar Eirinn., in the original Gaelic. 
 Michael Sheehan, Esq., now of New York, but formerly of 
 Kanturk, in the County of Cork, lent him a very perfect 
 copy of his author, to which reference is more fully made in 
 one of the notes. This, Avith several other Irish manuscripts, 
 compiled by his family in former days, have been brought 
 out by him to this country as memorials of his household 
 gods. This most useful and seasonable aid to his undertaking, 
 was received through the agency of James Michael Sheehan, 
 Esq., Barrister-at-law, also of New York, the son of the above- 
 named gentleman. To them both he thus publicly returns his 
 thanks. 
 
 Another fragmentary, but very correct manuscript copy of 
 the same work, was forwarded to him by John H. Maume, Esq., 
 of Hyattsville, Miami Co., Ohio, without any solicitation on 
 the editor's part. Unfortunately this copy wants many pages, 
 both in the middle and end, a thing much to be regretted, for 
 some entries have been found therein which the translator has not 
 met in any other; especially one with regard to the battle of 
 Magh Rath. To Mr. Maume he feels very grateful for the ready 
 zeal with which he forwarded this valuable document. 
 
 To Mrs. O'Dwyer, of New York, he likewise feels singularly 
 grateful for a complete, though more modern copy of the 
 work — a copy in remarkable accord with Halliday's edition, 
 as far as that translator went with his publication — and for some 
 other Irish manuscripts, which were the property of her deceased 
 husband, John O'Dwyer, Esq., late of this city, but formerly of 
 Feathard, in the county of Tipperary, Ireland. 
 
 Lastly, though not with least grateful feelings, the editor 
 2 
 
18 PREFACE. 
 
 returns his thanks to Patrick Martin Havcrty, Esq., No. 110 
 Fdton street, New York, who has generously run the somewhat 
 serious risk of publishing this expensive and venturesome, as 
 well as first literaiy attempt of a writer hitherto unknown to his 
 countrymen as such. In this he has not been actuated by the 
 ordinary considerations of commercial speculation. His love of 
 Ireland, and his personal friendship for the author, have been 
 the sole motives of the zeal which he has displayed, both in 
 getting out the work, and in preparing the way for its success. 
 It is unnecessary to give further expression here to his feelings 
 towards so valued a friend. But he trusts, whatever be the 
 merit or demerit of the following translation, and whatever be its 
 fate, that the Irishmen of America will never forget what they 
 already owe to Mr. Ilaverty for those volumes of the literature 
 of their country, with which he has heretofore presented them; 
 and he hopes that, under his auspices, Irish national works will 
 find, at this side of the Atlantic, that encouragement which they 
 unfortunately now lack at home. 
 
 Engrossed by the work of translation, in examining original 
 documents, and in searching the various authorities whence he 
 has drawn his notes, as well as being pressed as to time, the 
 editor could not possibly have devoted any adequate attention, 
 either to the drawing up of a personal memoir of Dr. Keating, 
 or the collecting of materials therefor. On this account he has 
 had recourse to his talented friend, Michael Doheny, Esq., to 
 whose pen he owes the following eloquent discourse upon the 
 life and times of that historian. This gentleman he considered 
 singularly qualified for that task, both from his intimate acquaint- 
 ance with the county of Tipperary, of which Keating was a 
 native, and from his close connection with the family from which 
 the venerable doctor had sprung, The memoir itself he has not 
 yet had an opportunity of perusing, but from the zeal with which 
 it was undertaken, the pure patriotism and great talents of his 
 friend, he feels certain that it will prove an interesting ornament 
 to the book, as well as a useful and faithful introduction to the 
 person and times of its author. It may thus make some counter- 
 poise to literary readers for whatever there is rough and un- 
 finished in the style of what has been written by the restive and 
 unpracticed hand of him who has now translated and edited the 
 FoRAS Feasa ar Eirinn. 
 
 JOHN O'MAHONY. 
 
 40 Summit street, Brooklyn, 
 July the im, 1857. 
 
PREFACE. 19 
 
 POSTSGEIPT. 
 
 It is to be furtlier observed, that Dr. Keating introduced many 
 Latin quotations into tbe body of liis work, immediatelv after 
 wliich he has given tlieir translation in tlie Gaelie, or Irish 
 tongue. The Latin of these quotations has, in the present ver- 
 sion, been transferred to the notes, whilst their translation into 
 English has alone been retained in the text. Of the exactness 
 with which the Latin of these extracts has been written down by 
 Keating's transcribers, there has been no means of ascertaining, 
 neither has it been possible to point out the particular parts of 
 the authors quoted, where they are severally to be found. The 
 works themselves have not been accessible to the translator. 
 
 It is to be further observed, that where the modern ]3ronun- 
 ciation of Irish names is shown, it is usually given in italics and 
 in brackets, immediately after the Avord itself In one or two 
 instances it has been forgotten to italicize them, bnt this the 
 reader can easily perceive. 
 
 J. O'M. 
 
]y4:E:Moiii 
 
 REVEREND GEOFFREY KEATING, D. D. 
 
 The materials for a memoir of Doctor Keating are meagre and ur.rcliable. 
 No two of the fragmentary accounts of liis life, heretofore published, agree even 
 in the date of his birth or the place of his education. This seems discreditable 
 to Ireland. That so distinguished a scholar and eminent a divine has undoubted 
 claims to a high place in the annals of the country, and a grateful recognition 
 in the memory and traditions of the people, admits of no question. He has 
 done eminent service, and yet no one can point to where he was born or where 
 he lies. Nor is this apparent forgetfulness owing to a want of appreciation in 
 his own time or afterwards. The ruthless hand of " British civilization," laudably 
 zealous to eradicate every vestige of " Irish barbarism," and especially the Celtic 
 tongue, destroyed with diligent haste every relic of national literature it could 
 clutch. The remainder were, for the most part, bid, where they were inacces- 
 sible for generations, or buried, where they never have been, and never will 
 be, seen. Long before then, the " Statute of Kilkenny," in its wisdom, pro- 
 vided and enacted, that the Irish alphabet was a " felony," and the teaching 
 thereof " praemunire." We are not informed how many, or whether any, in- 
 curred the dreaded penalty of " prasmunire," but this may be owing to the diffi- 
 culty of finding " facile judges," and " well affected juries," for the " Statute " 
 was long before the time when that notorious casuist. Sir John Davies, learned 
 the true value of these " institutions." In his day, it may be safely inferred, that 
 to frame an indictment under the " Statute," would baffle even his ingenuity, for 
 no one was left who could'» identify the " felony," or remotely comprehend what 
 constituted " praemunire." Those who cherished the Irish tongue, taking with 
 them whatever literary treasures they possessed, hid themselves in the depths of 
 the forests, with wolves for their companions, where British civilization went 
 howling on their track as if they were veritable beasts of prey. 
 
 Hence it is that we know so little of Geoffrey Keating, who was himself 
 compelled to ciuit the haunts of men and take refuge with the beasts of the 
 woods. Hence it is, too, that good men of a later day, unable to discover the 
 sources of his information, have i-ejected his authority. Even Moore discredited 
 it, mainly on the ground, that its early sources flow in confluence Avith tJic fabu- 
 lous and impossible. This objection is the chief one urged against him ; and 
 yet it lies with greater force against Livy's grand hymn of Roman Story, against 
 Horodotus, the father of profane history, and against the fountain of (jrccian 
 literature and first source of Grecian history, the matchless song of Homer, 
 wherein truth and fable, fact and miracle, wrestle with each other even as men 
 wrestle with the Gods of Olympus. It may be urged against all history of 
 ancient origin. The shadows of Romance becoming instinct with tradition colored 
 the early literature of the middle ages and imparted to it its most attractive 
 [lil] 
 
IV MEirOIR OF DR. KEATING. 
 
 charm. Es'en in oar owu time, and in this hard republic, the traditions and 
 superstitions of the red man begin to tinge our historic literature. Perhaps this 
 topic is unsuited for discussion here. It is introduced to shew that the objection 
 is untenable. Doctor Keating merely gives as current traditions what modern 
 criticism rejects as fabulous ; and such traditions, fabulous or not, are indis- 
 pensable to the true understanding of the character and customs of a people — 
 and the true delineation of their history. 
 
 But the objection is not of so much importance in itself as in its tendency 
 to discredit the historian when he comes to deal with facts, Some of these 
 ficts, seemingly improbable, were disputed with vehament zeal. But the coa- 
 tradictions have been of late refuted by positive proof. Through the generous 
 efforts of the Archeological and other kindred sacieties, Irish manuscripts, of 
 great age and undisputed authority, have been brought to light which prove in- 
 contcstably many of the disputed facts in Keating's history. Modern Irish 
 learning is now so ripe in discernment, that it can distinguish the age of a manu- 
 script by its style. Some, of these mentioned, arc cotemporaneous with occur- 
 rences deemed fabulous in Keating, and tliey fully corrotjoratc him. They not 
 only prove his accuracy, but attest his vast erudition and ap]ilication ; for to 
 translate, to collate and compare, so as to make them a chain of conclusive 
 evidence, has for a quarter of a century tasked the energies, not of one, but of 
 several of our most eminent scholars and assiduous workers. If we further 
 consider tlieir facilities, tkeir leisure, their advantages and opportunities, and the 
 circumstances which surrounded Keating, our astonishment at his achievement 
 must be indeed great. Those circumstances, as will appear, account for the 
 confusion that, in many places, characterises his narrative. It is evident such 
 confusion results from a defect of accurate data. But his sincerity is unim- 
 peachable, and so well established is his authority that in reconciling any slight 
 difference between the " annalists," John O'Donovan. the most gifted Irish scholar 
 of our day, or perhaps any other, reconciles them by quoting Doctor Keating. 
 This is especially so with regard to the annals of the four Masters, which were 
 concluded in Doctor Keating's time. It is impossible he could have seen them, 
 and yet nearly all their facts and his are identical, and where they are not, there 
 arc in many instances higher authorities on his side. There is no doubt then, 
 that when the history of Ireland comes to be written in its fullness. Doctor Kea- 
 ting's authority, where he speaks positively, will be unquestioned. 
 
 It is now time wc should say what we can of the subject of this memoir per- 
 sonally. Doctor Keating himself traces his lineage to the distinguished lamily 
 of that name, whose various branches held higli rank and large possessions in 
 the Counties of Wexford, Kildare, Carlow, Waterford, Tipperary and Cork. 
 According to the traditions of the family, adopted and, so to say, legalised by 
 the books of Heraldry in Ireland, the founder of the house, whose original name 
 is now unknown, was one of the pioneers of the Norman invaders, who kindled 
 the beacon fire that lit the way of Fit^stephens into Ciian and Bhanilch. The 
 story goes, that as he lay by his watchiire. a wild boar chancing t; prowl 
 that way, was proceeding to attack him, until friglitened l>y the sparkling of 
 the fire, when he fled in dismay. The watcher, thus providentially saved, adopted 
 for his crest a wild boar rampant, rushing througli a brake, with the mo^to, 
 " fortis ct fidelis," and his name becanis, wc are not told how, Kcatin*'or 
 Keting, from the Irish words, "Cead tinnc" "first fire." 
 
 As early as the year 1 1 7i), only ten years after the landing of Fitzstcphens, we 
 find the name '• 1 Talis Keting," "a subscribing witness to a grant to Dunbrody 
 Abbey by Henry do Moutmorencie. This fact, in the absence of other evidence, 
 would be' sufficiently conclusive, against the assumption that Keating was a cor- 
 ruption of the Norman name, " Etiennre," for no such corruption had taken 
 £lace at that early date, nor did the invaders hold familiar intercourse with the 
 pish. 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. KEATING. V 
 
 As Djrmid Mac Murehad arrived in Ireland, from liis exile, a year before 
 tlie landing of Fitzstcphens, and was accompanied by Welshmen, and as he was 
 anxiously expecting the arrival of his auxiliaries, nothing would be more natural 
 than that one of those Welshmen should be employed as a watcher for their 
 coming, and, on his success, should be rewarded by the perfidious prince himself 
 with the title and distinction of " Cead tinne." 
 
 " Halis Keting " was undoubtedly the founder of the house. He received 
 large grants of land. His principal estate and residence was Baldwinstowu, in 
 AYexford. His descendants, being in connection, if not kindred, with the (ieral- 
 dines, extended their sway over many counties, and were distinguished for hospi- 
 tality and courage. Narraghmore in Kildare, the residence of one of the family, 
 has remained famous to our own day for its " Cead mile failte,"' which was 
 known all over the island. 
 
 Kindling the fire, that lit the focman's way, was by no means a cherished title 
 to Irish gratitude. But, in process of time, many of the Xormans, as was pro- 
 verbial of the Geraldines, became nationalized, and in defiance of the " Statute of 
 Kilkenny '' London edicts and other devices of " British civilization," entered into 
 the honored relations of fosterage and gossipred with the Irish. Nay, sometimes 
 they went the audacious length of intermarrying, being so rude of taste as to 
 prefer some "silver tongued" Irish beauty to the haughtiest Norman dame. 
 Among these were the Keatings, who, on many an occasion, proved themselves 
 formidable opponents to London law and King bishops. 
 
 In the reign of Henry YIL, James Keating, Prior of Kilmainham, stormed 
 Dublin Castle, and held it for months against the Government. He was after- 
 wards dislodged and attainted, and Parliament, in furtherance of civilization, 
 enacted and ordained that no person born in Ireland should ever thereafter be 
 Prior of Kilmainham ; a salutary enactment which became a precedent in 
 practice with the English garrison in Ireland ever since. During the " rebel- 
 lion " of the great Earl of Desmond, the Keatings of Carlow did such good ser- 
 vice in his cause that the whole sept, branch and name, were attainted. How 
 it fared with the Tipperary families, with whom the Doctor is more immediately 
 connected, we have no record of. Possibly that, being under the protection of 
 Ormond, and holding their estates in his palatinate, they took no part for or 
 against their kinsman of Desmond. 
 
 Geoffrey Keating was born when Gerald of Desmond held regal sway in his 
 " Kingdom of Kerry," and opened asylums for monk and priest in his manifold 
 strongholds, in open defiance of the '• Statutes in such case made and provided," 
 and in still more daring defiance of the frowns and menaces of his " well beloved 
 and gracious mistress." The date of Keating's birth is fixed by some at 1570 
 and by some at 1581, and his birthplace at Burgess and Tubrid respectively. 
 Both places are in the parish of Tubrid, near Clogheen, and not far from Nichols- 
 town or Shanbally, the principal seats of the Keating family in Tipperary. The 
 exact locality is of little importance, and the date 1570, may be assumed as 
 correct, for otherwise he would have been but a mere child when sent away 
 from Ireland, and it would be impossible for him to have acquired a perfect 
 knowledge of the Irish language. His parents, we are told, were in afiQucnt 
 circumslauces. But the fact, that their names have not been preserved, leads to 
 the conclusion that the " reformation " extended its civilising influence to them 
 and that they held their possessions in a quasi incognito. 
 
 GeotFrey Keating was sent to school at a very early age ; but his proficiency 
 at that time, or what were his particular studies, we are without any account of. 
 As, however, the Irish and Latin were the languages of the " schools," it is to 
 be presumed he first mastered the difficulties of his native tongue and became 
 familiar with its complex construction. His works, too, considering that he 
 spent the best vears of his youth and manhood abroad, abundantly testify that 
 the study of Irish engaged his earliest attention. His opportunities for acquiring 
 
VI MEMOIR OF DR. KEATING. 
 
 a thorough knowledge, not only of Irish but of the classics, were, iu his part of 
 the country, numerous and easy of access. Tlic Irish schools yet flourished in 
 despite of the destructive tendencies of the " reformation." There was, at that 
 time, a famous school at Cahir, protected, perhaps, by one of the Ormouds, who 
 had his residence there, where, in all likelihood, young Keating spent his early 
 years. In the absence of any testimony, of his progress, let us glance briefiy at 
 the Irish school, as an institution of the country at that day, and for ages before. 
 
 The early literary history of Ireland stands out in proud distinction from that 
 of any other country in Europe. While the revel of t!ie Goth profaned the Roman 
 forum, and he stabled his steeds in the Coliseum, the pilgrims of learning, from 
 every darkened land, found shelter, sustainment, and inexhaustible sources of in- 
 formation, in Ireland. When this noted distinction of hospitality and learning 
 took its date, we are not precisely informed. Bede, the truest British historian, 
 does ample justice to the superior claims of Ireland in that regard. Long before 
 his time, he asserts, such was the fame of the Irish schools, that when a i^erson 
 of note was missed from Great Britain or the continent, it was concluded, as a 
 matter of course, that he had '• gone to Ireland in search of learning." This 
 was long anterior to the discovery of the art of printing, when even a limited 
 scholarship bespoke a life of toil and assiduous devotion. 
 
 Originally, the school was, in Ireland, a state institution. It had wide foun- 
 dations and an ample inheritance. The teachers were held in high estimation 
 and ranked next to royalty. In process of time the Church lent its influence 
 to the advancement of learning. Every monastery was a college, where pupils, 
 from all lands, received not only a solid education but sumptuous entertainment. 
 It mattered not whence they came or whither they were bent. The college hall 
 and college hospitality were open to all comers. 
 
 These institutions flourished at the time of the invasion. They attracted the 
 attention of the most refined of the Normans, and, after a while, commanded their 
 support. They endowed abbeys and gave large grants for the maintenance of 
 education. The secular clergy too, were, according to the new system, obliged 
 to dispense a third of their incomes on purposes of learning. No doubt the 
 Norman monks and professors perverted their office in many an instance, by 
 ignoring the Irish tongue and defaming the literature of Ireland. But the 
 schools flourished ; and, when the nobles of the Pale entered into relations of 
 gossipred and marriage with the natives, the schools once again became national- 
 ised. In the reign of Edward VI., nothing was more conunon than monasterie.? 
 of English foundation, from which the English tongue was excluded. Heuce, 
 the Norman youths found it indispensable to learn the f(n-mer language. 
 
 On this state of things supervened the " lioformation." Its natural eflfect 
 was, to make the schools more Irish. So also did it aifect the lords of the pale, 
 who remained faithful to the old religion. For the old faith and tongue, at once 
 proscribed alike, they risked land, liberty and life. But when the abbeys wore 
 confiscated and Queen's bishops usurped the sees, the schools, though at fir.st 
 stoutly defended, were in many places driven from their ancient seats to find 
 shelter in the desert. The bold Earl of Desmond long upheld them in their 
 integrity. Ormond, too, although the inveterate foe of the Geraldine, permitted, 
 or at least connived at, them in his palatinate ; not as of yore, connected with 
 monasteries, or as state institutions, but scattered over the country in buil<lings 
 erected by individual bounty on the model 'of the ancient College Hall. Tiiese 
 were numerous in Tipperary when Keating was a boy. 
 
 It did not need then, or thereafter, that the student should confine himself to 
 a school near his home. He may proceed whither he pleased, where the fame 
 of the teacher, in the science or language he studied, invited him ; and he was 
 sure to be, not only the welcome, but the prized guest of whatever family he 
 honored by accepting its hospitality. Often, long thereafter, when the pale par- 
 liament made and ordained it " treason," was this hospitality religiously ob- 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. KEATING, Vil 
 
 served. The Irish student, in the darkest days, found a home and a school — were 
 it even in the bowels of the earth — to fit him for a ministry, in the fuUUlment of 
 which he had to brave death on the scaffold. France, Spain, Italy and Ger- 
 many, either opened and endowed colleges, or allowed them to be founded on 
 their territories by Irish princes for the Irish ecclesiastical student, wherein bis 
 life was consecrated to a mission of martydom in his native land. 
 
 Geoffrey Keating- liaving acquired the necessary information in the Irish 
 school, was at the age of sixteen (1586) sent to one of these foreign colleges — 
 we are not with any certainty informed which — to complete his studies and be 
 admitted to the priesthood. 
 
 Even through the long and desolating period of persecution, then begun, the 
 Irish school survived. In many counties, as late as the end of George Ill's 
 i-eign, there were famous classical schools in which the English tongue was 
 never heard. And down to our own day, literary hospitality continued unim- 
 paired. The ablest masters, classical and scientific, have taught thousands of 
 students, who for yeai's were entertained with the most lavish kindness in the 
 houses of the farmers iu the districts around the school, of late a barn or de- 
 serted dn-elliug of mud v/all and thatched roof. In Tipperary, Waterford and 
 Limerick, it was usual to have two of those " scholars," living for four and 
 five consecutive yeai's with a family, and treated with extreme courtesy and tender- 
 ness. Such was the devotion of this class not only to " scholars," but scholar- 
 ship, that in the first cycle of this century there was scarcely a farmer of any 
 competency who did not give one son, and sometimes all his sons, a classical 
 education, without any reference to their intended professions or pursuits. 
 
 But what nor persecution, nor war, nor confiscation, nor the scaifold, had been 
 able to efiect, has been accomplished by the poor law of 1812 and the famine 
 of 1816-7. The true Irish schools and the honored custom of hospitality atten- 
 dant on it, under the baneful influence of London law and London pestilence, 
 have passed away. Charity has become mercenary, and hospitality warped, 
 under the pestilent influence of " British protection" now, alas ! not only endured 
 but begged for. 
 
 This is, perhaps, digressive ; and yet it seems needful as illustrative of the 
 system of education in which Keating took his first lessons, and in the spirit of 
 which, his work is conceived. The perils that beset the school in his time, and 
 the destruction that afterwards swept over it, sufficiently account for the fact 
 that so little is known of his early life and studies. Nor can he, his works, or 
 the circumstances of his time, be thoroughly understood or estimated, without 
 tracing somewhat in detail the marked events in the progress of" Reformation," 
 giving color and vitality to thi thoughts and eS"orts of the era. They were 
 cotemporancous with Keatiug's youth, manhood and age, and must have stamped 
 their impress on his feelings and aspirations. No doubt he was informed of the 
 more hideous atrocities that darkened the track of " reform ;" and no dpubt they 
 influenced his generous design to preserve the monuments of Irish learning which 
 the besom of "' reformation" was so busy in sweeping from the face of the earth. 
 Let us therefore leave the student to his studies for a time, to follow the march 
 of " reformation" and •' British civilization." 
 
 The former owed its birth in England to Henry VIII. He had been styled 
 and ordained '• defender of the faith," for the Pope, who conferred the distinc- 
 tion, paid no attention to the warning, " put not your faith in princes." _ Like 
 many another guardian, Henry betrayed his ward and abandoned the faith he 
 '• defended," for a faith that defended his crimes. He was not, however, a fana- 
 tic or a bigot. He changed his religion to suit his lusts, with the same indif- 
 ference with which he would change his dress. His reign, his life, his death, 
 were one round of licentiousness. He did little in Ireland, save to cause an act 
 to be passed, " suppressing" the monasteries. But this seemed intended as a 
 bait to the turbulent lords of the Pale, whom he hoped to conciliate by the pros- 
 
Vlll MEMOIR OF DR. KEATING. 
 
 pect of a division of the abbsy lands, as the monasteries flourished even as 
 though they never were " suppressed." TJieretofore, his ancestors held dominion 
 in Ireland as a fief of the Pope ; and now, as the Pope refused to minister to 
 his infamies, he resolved to cast off, at the same time, his spiritual authority and 
 the title wliich his predecessors, Kings of England, usurped in his name. Ac- 
 cordingly, Ai.s Parliament duly enacted him " King of Ii-eland," upon nine-tenths 
 of which neither King nor Parliament dared to .set foot. 
 
 There was scarcely anything done towards " reforming" the Irish, in the 
 reign of Edward VI. His counsellors confined their operations to '• reforming" 
 the book of Common Prayer, the orthodoxy of which liis Parliament duly 
 enacted. Edward reigned but a few years, and was a mere child ; and on 
 Mary's accession the acts affecting the Catliolics were immediately repealed. 
 Thus, when Elizabeth came to the throne, which ev^ent, so auspicious to Ireland, 
 crowned tlie glory of the year 1558, there were no penal laws on the Irish 
 Statute book. 
 
 Of all the turbulent times through which " Reformation" sped its mission, the 
 reign of Elizabeth was emphatically the red reign. It was the reign of rapine, 
 tears and Ijlood. It trafficked in treason and generated the spy. It governed 
 by subornation, fraud and lies. It stimulated "rebellion" for the pleasure 
 and profit of crushing it in its own blood. It sowed turbulence to reap confis- 
 cation. The spirit of Elizabeth was dark and daring. She was equally crafty 
 and inexorable. She, at first, affected to conciliate the Pope. The Po^je and 
 College of Cardinals had promulgated a decree, pronouncing the marriage of 
 Henry and her mother null. Her dearest object was to procure the reversal 
 of this terrible judgment, for she knew that in the minds of almost all the sove- 
 reigns of Europe at the time, the throne of England was, in her person, occupied by 
 a bastard. Her overtures to the Pope were earnest a-id pressing, but finding that 
 he rejected them, she resolved to overthrow an authority she could not suborn. 
 For this project Ireland presented the fairest field, for while eradicating 
 '• popery" she may be able to carry her conquests over the whole of the island. 
 Her ambition, capacity and daring were boundless, and were well seconded by 
 the craft of her counselors. At the same time, her acts were frequently, dis- 
 tinguished by queenly generosity. She loaded with her bounty the Irish princes 
 who abdicated their chieftancy and patrimony to take estates and titles at her 
 hands. She pardoned with grace and distinguished by princely favors those 
 who had defied her power. In granting titles and estates to an Irish chief, she 
 imposed no condition and suggested no change of religion. These details she 
 left to her counselors. If vengeance she entertained, it was for them to execute 
 it. They were men of no faith and no scruples. Tliey did the dirtiest work 
 with a relish. They sent the spy around to suborn the petty chief and submit 
 to hiui the dazzling allurements that awaited liis treachery to his rightful prince. 
 And sure was she to receive him graciously and bestow on him precious favors 
 as well as broad dominions, as the meed of his treason. Thus, while treachery 
 was the life-blood of her power and the sole means of extending her conquests 
 in Ireland, she invested it with munificence and a captivating generosity. 
 
 Her success in .subornation was not equal to lier ambition. It halt(;d far in 
 rear of her impetuous desires. If a degenerate sire took a beggarly earldom at 
 her hands, many a time did he right sorely rue it; for his son or some other 
 having good title to the wand of cliioftaincy, clutched the sword and truncheon 
 to assert the privilege of his clan. She therefore determined to try confiscation. 
 Accordingly, .she summoned a Parliament, and Sydney, the very man who two 
 years previously presided over the Parliament that cxultingly repealed all 
 previous penal enactments, presided also over this one, that onact(Ml laws f\ir 
 more penal. Elizabeth's Parliament, held in Chri.st Church, Dublin, in 1559, 
 "provided " that the " reformation" should be estal)lished in Ireland, six coun- 
 ties of which were at the time governed by the Queen — that he or she who 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. KEATING. IX 
 
 refused to renounce any " foreign power," that is the spiritual supremacy of the 
 Pope, should, for the first offence, forfeit land and goods ; for the second, incur 
 the penalties of '• praemunire ;" and, for the third, those of high treason. This 
 Parliament was chiefly remarkable for the fact, that it proscribed itself ; for 
 most of the members, being Catholics, had three times, at least, asserted the 
 spiritual supremacy of the Pope, for which crime, according to their own law, 
 they should be hanged and quartered. The truth is, no one supposed the law 
 would be enforced, and there is reason to believe that assurance was given to 
 that effect. However this may be, as soon as the policy of sul)ornaiiou Ijsgau 
 openly to fail, prosecutions were commenced against priests and priest harborers, 
 which Gerald of Desmond would not brook in his domain. He would shelter, 
 save and honor, priest and bishop, at his own good pleasure, so help him God 
 and his trusty blade. Vicissitudes of a startling natui-e followed, until we find 
 Desmond in open revolt for the liberties and religion of the pale. The fortunes 
 of this war we have not space to relate. Enough to say, that after various suc- 
 cesses, ruin overtook the champion of Catholicity at last, and the cause he 
 espoused, set — at least in the South — in blood. 
 
 When the banner of Desmond went down, and his head, cut off by vulgar 
 hands, was staked on London bridge — where it long grinned at Saxon churls 
 and upstart prelates, who came that way to gaze at the ghastly spectacle— the 
 Queen's minions ami '■ undertakers," among whom wore parcelled the broad 
 lands of Desmond, began to work their wicked will in Ireland on priests and 
 people. Witches and priests were the special objects of the persecution. The 
 former, Coxe informs us, were condemned by " the laws of nature ;" but whether 
 it was by the laws of nature, or man, or beast, the latter were doomed, he does not 
 condescend to tell. We know, indeed, that the laws of the pale were sound on such 
 business ; for did they not " make and provide " that it was high treason " a third 
 time " to deny the divine authority of Elizabeth as the head of God's church on 
 earth ? But to wait for the third denial was work too slow in these days, and 
 so the executioners decided that the first denial was, in " intendment of law," the 
 third, and thus were enabled to hang, quarter, and disomljowel for the first 
 offence. Patrick O'Hely, bishop of Mayo, and Coriielius O'Eourke, a priest, 
 were put to the rack, had their hands and feet broken by hammers, and needles 
 thrust under their nails, (though for these more refined tortures the law neglected 
 to make special provision,) and finally they were hanged and quartered. John 
 Stephens met the same fate, " for that he said mass for one Teigue McHugh." 
 The priests of Munster fled to the mountains, where they ministered to their 
 flocks in caverns, and where ruin often overtook them at dead of night and in the 
 midst of the sacrifice, for British ''Christian it tj" prowled round their watch-fires 
 and baptised them of the new creed in their own blood. Dermod O'Hurly, of Cashel, 
 having been consecrated by the Pope on the apostasy of Myler ilcGrath of that 
 See, endeavored to fulfil his functions by secreting himself at the residences of the 
 chiefs and nobles, who whatever may be their outward professions were true to 
 the old creed and old cause. While O'Hurly was sojourning with the baron of 
 Slane in Meath, he was espied, '• recognised," the English books say, by the 
 chief justices (spies were high functionaries at that time), who swiftly informed 
 Adam Loftus, then Chancellor, of the prey he had set for him. Tiie baron 
 hearing his guest was betrayed, either connived at, or effected, his escape ; but 
 receiving a message from the Chancellor to deliver the bishop to him in irons, 
 such was his terror that he pursued the fugitive, and overtaking him at Oarrick 
 on Suir, arrested, and delivered him up with his own hand. And needful it 
 was for him to do so, for otherwise his head would give ghastly warning to all 
 "•priest harborers," from the summit of Dublin Castle. Threats, tortures, and 
 offers of rewards, were in turn tried on O'Hurly. l)ut tried in vain. After about 
 a year of imprisonment and torments on the morn of holy Thursday, ere it was 
 yet dawn, he was hanged outside the city walls. Terrible retribution for the 
 
X MEMOIR OF DR. KEATING. 
 
 act of that otber arclibishop of the same see, Donchad or Donatus, who was 
 first to recognise the spurious title of Henry II. to the unfortunate Kingdom of 
 Ireland. 
 
 When the current of murder ran the reddest, there pined in the dungeons of 
 Dublin Castle a kidnapped 3-outh — red Hugh O'Donnell — who longed for the 
 hill sides of Tirconncll and the head of those clans that followed the banner of 
 his race. There was a Queen's O'Donnell in his stead, who exercised false sway 
 under a perjured title. But well the young chief knew, that in the first glance 
 of his eye, the traitor's hold would melt like snow in the glance of the summer 
 sun. Before he was twenty years of age he made good his escape through a 
 sewer to the Liffey, thence to the Wicklow mountains, where one of his com- 
 rades perished of cold and hardship ; and tlionce, over flood and field, to Duugan- 
 non Castle, where red Hugh O'Neil was already meditating vengeance on the 
 accursed foreigners. Short was the O'Donnell's stay to recruit his wasted 
 strength. He hied him to Tircounel, where high festival and rejoicing greeted 
 the rightful cliief, who M-as at once invested with his wand of chieftaincy. They 
 who harbored the English and countenanced the " Queen's O'Donnell," soon felt 
 the edge of his steel, and, in a single campaign, not a traitor was left within the 
 broad borders of Tirconnell. The Deputy and Council, then so busy in murder- 
 ing the priests of Munster, did not find it an easy matter to make shire laud of 
 Tirowen and Tirconnell, while the flags of the " red hand " and the O'Donnell 
 waved above them ; and many a time did the banner of lOngland go down by 
 the Blackwater and Ijough Swilly. After years of raid and rout and vengeance, 
 done on disloyal chieftains ; after a truce or two, and battles fatal to the 
 Queen, her forces, greatly augmented of late, under command of Bagnall, met 
 those of Tirowen and Tirconnell, led by their princely chiefs, at Beal an atha 
 buidlie, near Portmore. O'Xeil had vengeance of iiis own to wreak that 
 day, and O'Donnell burned to brand on the Queen's minions the indignity 
 her jailors' fetters had marked on his youthful limbs. The armies clashed, and 
 fierce and hot was the encounter. Bagnall fell, his host was utterly routed, and 
 left some thousands dead on the field. Tirowen and Tirconnell now owned no 
 stranger lord, and their rightful chieftains held high festival in their ancient 
 halls, and their rightful clergy ministered, in church and abbey, of the ancient 
 faith. 
 
 On O'Donnell's return home, Hugli of Tirowen marched 7,000 men across the 
 Pale on a pilgrimage to the Holy Cross in Tippcrary. Small fear was there 
 that any pimping chief justice would spy the prelates in his train. At the 
 Holy Cross he met James Fitz Thomas, whom he created the Desmond. The 
 real object of O'Neil's visit was, to inspire the Munster chiefs, who were then 
 making feeble head in the fastnesses of Muskery, under the lead of O'Neil's 
 Desmond and McCarty More. But Tirowen needed her good swords to defend 
 her own borders, and Munster was left to its fate and the tender mercies of Sir 
 <jCorge Carew. Sad fate surely, this I for Sir George was of the true stamp of 
 a British civilizer. When baflied on the field, craft and falsehood did for him 
 instead. The " Sugan Earl," as he with great unction stylos the Desmond, 
 repeatedly defeated his armies and burned his castles. Ilaviuir tried all meuns 
 to endeavor to persuade the Earl's Irish followers to ))etray him, he had recourse 
 to this notable expedient. When the fortunes of the Earl waned, ho was in the 
 neighborhood of one Dermond O'Connor, who was married to his sister. Carew 
 addressed a letter to the Earl, in Avhich lie congratulated him on his returning 
 loyalty and besought him, that as a proof of his sincerity, he would bring him 
 O'Connor, cither living or dead. The letter, as it was intendcil, foil into the 
 hands of O'Connor, wlio was so enraged at what he supposed treason, that he 
 contrived to get the Earl into his hands, and kept him in one of his strongholds 
 in chains. Sir George, indeed, says in his " Pacata 1 iibcrnia," that the whole plot 
 was concocted between him and O'Connor, through the management of lá,dy 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. KEATING. XI 
 
 Margaret, O'Connor's wife. He was afterwards rescued, and O'Connor's castle 
 of Lyshin was sacked. But the fortunes of Fitz Thomas do not concern the 
 subject of this memoir. 
 
 The Spanish auxiliaries, so long expected by the northern chiefs, and promised 
 by the King, were novr at last prepared to embark. Unfortunately for Spain 
 and Ireland, the command of this force was conferred on Don Juan d'A^uila. 
 The Irish chiefs urged the necessity of secrecy and despatch, and above all in- 
 sisted upon the landing being effected in the north, where a junction could be 
 formed too formidal)le to be attacked, and where the allied armies might l;)econie 
 accustomed to each other and their respective discipline and mode of warfare. 
 These reasons would seem to leave no choice to the Spanish commander. His 
 own safety and that of his command, as well as the exigencies of the object in 
 view, alike demanded it. Yet was he not alone indifferent to these considera- 
 tions, but, either through treachery or vanity, or perhaps both combined, he so 
 conducted his operations that it was thoroughly known, not only to Sir George 
 Carcw, but to the English Council, that his destination was Kinsale. So satis- 
 fied were Ijoth of his intention, that they concentrated a force of over four thou- 
 sand men near that town. 
 
 All this time the northern chiefs were not informed of D'Aguila's purpose. 
 They were not even aware that the expedition was prepared. 1'hey heard 
 nothing from or of Don Juan, until he arrived at, and was surrounded in, Kin- 
 sale. On his first landing he took possession of Dunbuy, the castle of Kinsale, 
 and the islands in the Bay, in tlie name of the King of Spain. To this his ope- 
 rations were confined. He then suddenly shut himself up in the town. 
 
 When the news reached the northern princes, although conscious of the 
 fatality of Don Juan's course and the desperate position in which he was placed, 
 they flew at once to his assistance. By unexampled marches in mid-winter, they 
 made their way south. The President attempted to intercept O'Xeil, and sent 
 a large force to opi)Ose him. A sudden frost enabled O'Neil to traverse the 
 mountains in the north of Tipperarj', and both chiefs arrived together before 
 Kinsale, in sight of the English camp. An engagement was precipitated by 
 misdirection or mischance, only the second day after a forced march of near three 
 hundred miles. It occurred at break of day, and only half the Irish forces were 
 engaged, when a rout took place in the confusion and darkness. O'Donnell took 
 no part in the action ; and such was his chagrin, and indignation at Don Juan's 
 conduct and inactivity during the combat, that he took advantage of the presence 
 of a Spanish brig then in the harbor, to embark for Spain and impeach Don Juan 
 before the King. He left his brother in command and proceeded on his way, 
 never alas ! to return. 
 
 Both armies reached the north in safety, and such was the terror inspired by 
 the name of O'Xeil, that it was left to him to dictate the terms on which he 
 would accept pardon and a coronet from the English Queen. 
 
 D'Aguila at once surrendered not only Kinsale but the other fortifications 
 which he had received from the Irish chiefs. The castle of Dunbuy had, how- 
 ever, a small garrison of Irishmen who refused to surrender. The desperate 
 defence made by this little band, and the savage ferocity that marked the sack 
 of the place, are unexampled in history. 
 
 And here ended the liberty of Ireland, her nationhood and her name. But 
 ere the closing scene, indeed Isefore his coronet was given to O'Neil, Elizabeth 
 was called to her last account, and James of Scotland had mounted her throne. 
 
 Early in James' reign (1610), Geoffrey Keating returned to Ireland. War and 
 fagots had then given place to facile judges and suborned juries, under the guid- 
 ance of that renowned casuist, Sir John Davics. By this time Keating was forty 
 years of age, twenty-three of which were spent in a foreign college, inost likely 
 Salamanca. Other places are mentioned, but the great probability is, that he 
 studied, and, as it is asserted, taught, at Salamanca ; for the interconimonication 
 
xii MEMOIR OF DR. KEATING. 
 
 ■with Spain at that time was more frequent than with France. Spain was, in 
 fact, the principal refuge for the exiicd Irisli, and his opportunities for preserving 
 his practical kuowledse of his native tonijue, were far greater there tliaii elsewhere 
 out of Ireland. It is probable, too, that he there, I'roni time to time, received 
 old manuscripts from bards and shanuacliies. who shared the flight of the O'Don- 
 uell or followed him into exile. 'J'his would account in some degree for the 
 general accuracy of his history, for we are told, that in liis researches through 
 Counaught and 'Ulster, the bards who had stolen to the hills to live with wild 
 beasts, repulsed him, as owning a strange name and belonging to the race of 
 the hungry undertakers who then preyed on the green fields of their inheritance. 
 
 Although James had in 1C07 revived Elizabeth's conformity act, it does not 
 appear that the Catholics of ^[unster, at least in that part under the sway 
 of the Ormonds, suffered any actual persecution. Indeed, so far back as 1G02, 
 Sir George Carew held an assize at Limerick, Cashcl and ( 'lonmell, where he did 
 vengeance on the restive of these parts whom he could lay hands on. But he 
 found that a great number had fled to the Ormonds, two baronies in North 
 Tipperary ; and meeting the Earl of Ormond at Clonmell, " he did move 
 him " to go with him into these parts to assize them at his leisure there. But 
 " the Karl did entreate him to satisfie himselfe concerning that busincs, for he 
 would undertake it." He did not undertake it, however, and the great pacifi- 
 cator thus communes in that regard : "which I thinke had beeue immediatelie 
 performed had not the immature deatlie of his most vertuous lady (the lamenta- 
 ble tydings whereof were brought to him at Clonmell, oppressing his aged heart 
 with immeasurable sorrow) caused the same for a time to be deterred." 
 
 Immediately on Keating's return he was appointed curate to the very rever- 
 end Eugene Duhy, in his native parish. On the first Sunday of his ministry, 
 as he was proceeding to vest himself, the vicar requested him to delay mass. 
 After some time he asked the cause, and was informed it was to accommodate 
 a wealthy family who had not yet arrived. He refused to sanction this practice, 
 and proceeded with the sacrifice. He was glad to learn thereafter, that the 
 family were of his own kindred, who took good care to be punctual in future. 
 How long he continued fulfilling the duties of the ministry in Tubrid, we are not 
 informed. His fame as a preacher extended far, and numerous and even fash- 
 ionable audiences gathercil to hear him. The building of the church at Tubrid 
 engagol his care, and under the circumstances of the time, this labor must have 
 extended over years. He also wrote during his mission a theological treatise, 
 called " eochair sgiath an aifrinn," a Key to the Shield of the Mass, a work it is 
 said of rare merit. He wrote at the same time, a treatise on practical piety, 
 calli^d " Tri bir ghaoithe an bhais," the Three Winged Shalts of Death. These 
 works are not translated, and we have no doubt they would be valuable acces- 
 sions to the description of literature to which they belong.* 
 
 * Besides tli<>. works mentioned in the text, 8i,an i,e h-Eiiiks — Farfwell to Irelaiu}. 
 Doctor Keatin;.' has left ri Kreat many lyrical 
 
 compositions of con.'*ider:it)le merit. Tlicy are Mo blieanaclit Icat a scribhinn 
 distingiiislied above llie productions of liis time Go h-iiiis aolbliinn ealsa 
 by simplicity and purity of style. They all Is truai^li I nach leur damh a bconna 
 breathe of the nritcr's intense devotion to Ire- Gldh gnath a d-teanna dearpa. 
 land, her language, her traditions and her histo- 
 ry. They are scattered throuirh the miscellaneous Slan da h-uisla a's d'a h-olreacht 
 manuscripts which yet abound in Ireland. One Slan po ro blieaclit d'a cleirchibh 
 is selected for publication here; simple, beauti- Slan da bannvaechtaibh canine 
 ful and brimfuU of tcndiM-ness, as an example of Slan d'a eaocthibh Ic h-elgslbh. 
 the iJoctor's powers and taste In this species of 
 
 composition. It Is an address to a letter he had Mo shian d'a ninfrhaibh mine 
 
 just written to some friend in Ireland, from his Slan fa mhlle d'a a eiiocaibh 
 
 retreat at Salamanca. Here Is the poem. It Is Mo eliii>ii d'on tc ta into 
 
 headed — Slan da linnfibh a s d'a a lochaibh. 
 
MEMOIR OF DR KEATING. 
 
 Xlll 
 
 Had not liis missionary labors been iuterriipted, the probability is, that 
 " Keatiiiii's History " never would have been written. The duties of the priest 
 would nut allow the necessary leisure to the historian. The circumstances that 
 compelled his flight are variously related. One version is, that in a sermon 
 fashionably attended, he so severely rei)roved a certain vice, that a Mrs. Moklar, 
 a dashing beauty, resented it a.s a personal exposure of her criminal levity. 
 Burning with rage, she flew to the President, who was one of her admirers, and 
 invoked at his hands the vengeance of the '■ conformity act." Another version 
 is, that while he was absent in search of materials for his history, a squire of his 
 neighborhood seduced the daug-hter of a parishioner, v\'honi Keating denounced 
 unsparingly on his return, and thus incurred the peril of the law. 
 
 That which is certain is, he fled. It is equally certain, he was protected from 
 the blood-hounds of the law. Fidelity among the Irish people is a virtue often 
 sorely tested and never found wanting. This and this alone accounts for the 
 magnitude of the task he accomplished under circumstances of so much peril. 
 " British civilization," though it had then made rapid strides, did not reach that 
 acme of perfection in espionage it has since attained. The forests were large, 
 and in many instances inaccessible, and filled with bold outlaws whom nothing 
 
 Blan (Va coiltibh fa, thorthaibh 
 Slau fos d'a corraidhaibh iascach, 
 Slan d"a niointibh a"s d'a bautaibh 
 Slau fos d"a raithaibh a's d"a riasgaibh. 
 
 Slan o'm chroidbe d"a cuantaibh, 
 Slan fos d"a tuarthaibh troma 
 Swaid d"a tulchaibh aonaich* 
 Slau uaim d'a craobuaibh croma. 
 
 Gidb gnath a foirne fraocbdrha 
 Ann inis naoinhtba neamhochd 
 Siar tar chromchladbuibh nadilean 
 Bier a scribinn mo Bheanachth. 
 
 Translation. 
 
 My blessing with thee, letter, 
 To beauty -fretted Erinn ; 
 Would I could see her liighlands 
 Though crimson dyes oft wearing. 
 
 Fond blessings to her noblfls, 
 And priesthood holj', Ibnder, 
 Her maidens and her sages 
 Who o'er her pages ponder. 
 
 Best wishes to lier truest, 
 Her blue of bluest mountains, 
 
 My love to those within her, 
 Her lakes and linns and fountains. 
 
 Her woods with berries drooping, 
 Her sparkling pools with fishes, 
 Her moors and m<!ado\vs greenest, 
 To these my teeming wishes. 
 
 My heart's host memories to her 
 Broad bays and surest harbors, 
 Her yellow harvest bending, 
 Her songs in blending arbors.* 
 
 Though passionate the people 
 In the saints' meetest island. 
 Athwart the billows rearing 
 My Messing bear to Ireland. 
 
 The "farewell" is published in Hardiman s 
 Minstrelsy, vol. 2, with a translation by Mr. 
 Dalton. 
 
 Th3 translation here given Is literal, or at 
 least as nearly so as is compatible withthe meas- 
 ure, rythm, and structure of the original, wliloh 
 are all preserved. There are In both original 
 and translation, the exact same number of lines, 
 rhymes, feet and syll.ables, an identity which 
 had for its object to give an idea of the complex 
 structure of Irish verse. 
 
 * "Tulch.aibh aonaich."' — The transLiiion of 
 this line, " Her songs in blending arbor?," is a 
 departure from the literalness, if the word be 
 allowable, otherwise preserved throughout, for 
 the words mean "Fair meetings.'' By "fair 
 meetings," as used by the poet, we are not to 
 understand the crowd of buyers and sellers and 
 idlerfi congregated at a f.iir,'but conferences of 
 the bards, which were usual at stated times, and 
 continued nearly to our own time. The trans- 
 lator has seen a song of a Munster bard, of the 
 last century, written to cornmemor,ate one of 
 these poetic festivities, held at Croom, in the 
 County of Limerick. The bards met, and sang 
 and fca'ited under summer foliage, on a wood- 
 land slope overlooking the silver'Maig; and the 
 poet does ample justice to the enchanting Liveli- 
 ness of the spot He also describes the festivity 
 
 of the bards, who no doubt had a right merry 
 carouse, such as Moore sings of — 
 
 Delicious days of whim and soul 
 When mingling lore ami lau>rh together, 
 
 We leaned the book on pleasure's bowl 
 And turned the le.af with folly s feather. 
 
 It was this description of the Croom meeting 
 which suggested the tr.insI.ation. 
 
 The Malg has tasked the genius and tired the 
 enthusi.asm of more than one of the children of 
 song. Its scenery h.is been immortalized by 
 Gefa'.d GrifBn, the truest. mo.<t sensitive and 
 tenderest of our later bards, whose pictures of 
 its loveliness are as glowing as his imagination 
 and as truthful as his heart. 
 
XIV MEMOIR OF DK. KEATING. 
 
 but an army M-ould dare to encounter. And notwithstanding the devices of 
 '• artful Cecil," the country then lacked that noblest institution of the nineteenth 
 century, a rural police. In fact, therefore, he might, as is alleged, have written or 
 completed the history in Aherlow woods, now one of the loveliest mountain valleys 
 in Ireland. The glen of Aherlow, as the place is called, extends along the north- 
 ern base of the Galtees, a distance of twelve miles from the village of Bausha to 
 Galbally. It is sheltered at the north by the low range of the Clan "William 
 mountains. It was theretofore the asylum of " Rebels," who mayhap had thrice 
 denied the spiritual supremacy of Elizabeth, which, on one occasion, they sorely 
 rued, for they received a friendly visit from Carew and his retinue of hangmen, 
 the object and achievement of which lie thus describes : 
 
 " The president directed his forces into cast Clan "William, and harassing 
 the country, killed all mankind that were found therein ; thence we came into 
 Arloghe woods, where we did the like, not leaving behind us man or beast, corne 
 or cattle." 
 
 Aherlow was accessible from the Tubrid side through the gorges of the Gal- 
 tees, and no doubt a man sentineled as Keating must have been by the fidelity 
 of his peojde, might live there for years, not only in safety but comparative 
 comfort. Nor were its solitude and quiet unsuited to the labor of the historian. 
 There is no good reason then to cpiestion the story that hallows the scene. 
 The tradition has long survived the wood, and all traces of the hiding place. 
 Tlie rich sheen of the meadow and the golden hue of the harvest gladden the Glen 
 of Aherlow now. But those who dwell there, love to recall the gloomy memo- 
 ries of that gloomy time, and by many a fireside is whispered lowly in the olden 
 tongue the bloody raid of Carew's gallows tree, and then, more loudly and ex- 
 ultingly, the inviolability of Kcating's retreat. This fact has become the 
 " genius loci " or spirit of the spot, and even though we could dissipate the spell 
 with which it has invested that lovely vale, where so oft we roamed exulting iu 
 the strife and freedom wc had fondly hoped for, we would not touch with dis- 
 turbing hand a tradition so characteristic of those mournful times. But there 
 is no reason to doubt its truth, and we hold that Doctor Keating cither wrote 
 the M'hole or a great part of the " Foras feasa ar J']rinn," in the woods of Aherlow. 
 Being unable to fix the date of Kealing's separation from his duties or that of 
 the commencement of his history, or whether he ever again returned to the 
 ministry, we shall glance briefly at the history of his family from his time 
 downward. 
 
 Earlj'in the reign of Charles I., Sir Edward Everard or Fethard was married to 
 the daughter of John Keating, of Nicholstown. His brother liichard Kcating's 
 daughter was married to Wall, of Coolnamuck, on the right bank of the Suir, two 
 miles from Carrick. 'J'he sole male representative of these Keatings died at 
 Annapolis, in ]\[aryland, towards the close of the last century. Cotemporaneous 
 with them was Michael Keating, of Shanbally, who was married to Lord l)un- 
 boyne's sister. John Keating, his son, was married to !Miss Kearney, of Kap- 
 pagh. He was cotemporaneous with the Doctor and his nearest rchitive. This 
 John was called the " baron " and " knight of the fl(!ece." He had issue Michael, 
 Maurice and Bryan. Michael married the sister of I-iidy Ferraml, and left issue 
 one son, who was Dean of St. l^atrick's, Dublin ; but whether he left any issue 
 we cannot say. Maurice married Miss Mandevilie of Ballydine, on the lelt bank 
 of the Suir, above Coolnamuck. The name of Mandevilie is on the muster roll 
 of William of Normandy and that of the barons of llunmymede, and in the 
 family Ballydine Mas an inheritance for GOO years. "Whetlier JSlaiirice Keat- 
 ing has left any male issue, we cannot say. Í5ryan Keating was married to 
 Ann, the daughter or grand-daughter of lioger Shechy, of Dn micohilier. He 
 had issue John, linger, Henry, William and (Joorge Sheehy Keating. John 
 left no issue, Roger only one daughter, the late Mrs. Nixon, of the county of 
 Mcutb. Ueury married a Miss Singer, sister of the fellow of that name of 
 
MEMOIR OF DR. KEATING. XV 
 
 DublÍQ College. He joined the array and rose rapidly. He commanded the 
 attack on the Isle of Bourbon ; and on the news reaching England, was made 
 major-general. He was afterwards appointed governor of the Isle of France, 
 created baronet, and invested with the order of the Bath. He died recent- 
 ly, and left two sons, James Sheehy Keating, captain in the guards, and Henry 
 Sheehy Keating, M. P. for Reading.* This gentleman is unquestionably the 
 truest representative of the family now living, for fame speaks him fair and 
 faithful to the kindly and generous attributes of his race. George left one son. 
 Henry George, who lately lived near Mallow, and if alive is perhaps the only 
 male representative of the family in Ireland. "William, the youngest of these 
 brothers, fell in a duel. Bryan Keating's daughters, Ann, Jane, Catharine and 
 Theodosia, were married — Jane to ^h: Therry, whose eldest son is now judge in 
 Sidney ; C^atharine to ilorgan O'Dwyer, of Cullen, whose eldest sou is John 
 Keating O'Dwyer, of Limerick, and Theodosia to Edward Sheehy, of Ballin- 
 tubber, whose eldest son is Roger Sheehy, of Liskennett, county Limerick. 
 
 Robert Keating of Garranlea, claims a relationship with this family, but what 
 it is, or whether he has any, does not appear. 
 
 Thus there seems but doubtful conjecture, that there is, at least m his proper 
 rank and position, one representative of the male line of the Keatingsin Ireland. 
 The Doctor's History, after all, is their noblest monument. It is, in truth, 
 "perennius xre." 
 
 But what is stranger, the high families that entered into alliance ■with the 
 Keatings of old, are nearly extinct. The Everards held princely sway in their 
 feudal hold at Fethard, whose walls, yet standing, attest its strength and their 
 grandeur. The last of this race was the Archbishop of Cashel, who died in 1823. 
 The Mandevilles are seen no more at Ballydine, and that ancient patrimony has 
 passed away from the name for ever.f The last of the Kearuys fell in a duel at 
 Cashel nearly a century ago, and Coolnamuck lately passed into the hands of 
 John Sadlier, the suicide. The last of the Duuboynes was Bishop Butler, who 
 abandoned creed and crozier to take a wife and title. He is buried in the 
 old Augustiuiau Abbey, in Fethard. His monument is extremely simple, but 
 extremely beautiful. It is a mournful record of his times, for it testifies that he 
 repented of his " reformation," and renounced the new creed and title on the bed 
 of death. 
 
 Of Doctor Keating's later life or death, no record remains, except the inscrip- 
 tion on the old ruins at Tubrid. The date, as will be seen, in the copy 
 given below, is 1644. This inscription indicates that Doctor Keating was never 
 parish priest, for the designation " vicar" is added to the Rev. Mr. Duhy's 
 name. But we are left to conjecture whether the date is that of the cousecra- 
 
 * H'inry Sheehy Keatins has, since the .ibove Another branch of the familj' is represented 
 
 vT-as written, been appointed Solicitor General by the Eeverend Nicliolas Herbert Mandevillc, 
 
 for England. of Balleyna Ciistle, on the Anner, near Clonmell. 
 
 t The flrat of this family thit settled in Ire- Thomas ofOrchardstown, cousin of his name- 
 land, was Sir Philip de Mandeville. lie obtained sake, the disinheritor of Ballydine, also married 
 large grants of land, extending nearly from Car- to one of the Hacketts, left issue Francis of Xew 
 rick to Cionmell. on the left bank of the Suir, Ca-itle, and James, who adopted his mother s 
 froiiiilenry 1[. The castle of Ballydine, built name and the arms of her family. He entered 
 by liiiii, was the residence of the head of the the East India service and rose to hish rank. A 
 house for over six hundred years. Towards the large family now Inherit his name and fortunes 
 close of the last century, Thomas Mandeville. in the East. Mary Ilackett, the sister of Major 
 beina: himself childless, and at variance with his General Ilackett and F. Mandeville of New Cas- 
 brother .lames of Ycsterland, sold Ballydine to tie, whs married to Thomas, eldest son of the 
 John Scott, then Solicitor General, and after- above James Mandeville of Ycsterland, whose 
 wards Earl of Clonmell. To him also he disposed issue were .John, the father of James, jun., and 
 of Orchardstown and Cahirclough, estates held James II. Mandeville of Ballyquirkeen. The 
 in rl^lit of his wife, daugUter of James Hackett latter is married to J,ane, daughter of Daniel 
 of Chibs Court. His representatives are James OMahony of Kilbenny, by whomhehas alarge 
 Ilackett Mandeville of Ballyquirkeen, and his family, 
 nephew, aUo James, 
 
XVI MEMOIR OF DR. KEATING. 
 
 tion of the church or of the inscription. If the latter, then it may be possible 
 that Doctor Keating lived, as Mr. O'Donovan is inclined to believe, until 1G50. 
 Otherwise it is undoubted that he was dead in 1C44, for beyond all question he 
 was dead when the inscription was written, although by some incomprehensible 
 mode of reasoning, the author of the life prefixed to Halliday's translation con- 
 cludes, that the request to pray for his soul and those of the others, whose bodies 
 lay buried in the church, was conclusive proof that he was then living. 
 
 We are informed that the church was built by '• leave of Parliament," and this 
 " leave" must have been obtained in the early part of Charles I.'s reign : and 
 assuredly the church must have been finished before 1G44, when Croinwell's 
 generals' were desolating the north with sword and flaine; and when that desola- 
 tion surged in blood over the devoted fields of Tippcrary, it left the church in 
 Tubrid, like other churches, a blackened ruin. For a time, between 44 and 46, 
 Cromwell's banditti were checked by the band of Owen Roe O'Neal. Once again 
 the flag of the red hand dawned on the gladdened fields of Tirowen and the 
 flood of the Blackwater. He met Munroe at Benburb, and with a force inferior 
 in numbers to that general's veterans, utterly routed him. Muuroe's retreat 
 was a flight, and he left nearly four thousand of his " roundheads " dead on the 
 field. O'Neil was preparing to pursue him, Mdion, fatal order ! he received the 
 Nuncio's commands to repair to Kilkenny. In 1()47 or 8, he was marching at 
 the head of the confederate army in pursuit of Cromwell, then on his way to 
 Clonmell. when at Tandaragee the bowl of the assassin laid in death this last 
 hope of Erin. Had Doctor Keating lived in these times, he would leave some 
 record of the ruin that swept over Munster. 
 
 In his preface, he says that he was then an old man. In the manuscript copy 
 from which the following translation has been made, and for which the trans- 
 lator is indebted to the kindness of Mr. Michael tíheehau, now of New York, and 
 late of Kauturk, Co. Cork, Ireland, a postscript is appended, dated 1G29. This 
 date clearly establishes 1570 as that of his birth, which would leave him then 
 nearly sixty years of age. There is reason to believe, too, that Mr. Shechan's 
 manuscript is very old, and is a copy of the original, and was very carefully com- 
 pared with it. It has been traced to the possession of the Rev'd Mr. O'Kecfe, 
 nearly contemporary with the historian. 
 
 In closing this brief and uncertain memoir, let us be permitted to hope, that 
 those who may be in possession of authentic records relative to Doctor Keating, 
 ■will communicate the same to some person who can use it, so as that they may 
 fix such facts and dates in reference to the great historian as can be known. 
 
 We subjoin the Tubrid inscription, most fervently joining in the prayer it 
 invokes. 
 
 New York, July Ath, 1857. 
 
 INSCRIPTION. 
 
 Orate pro animabus Rev. Pjctris Eiigenii Duhuy, vicarii de Tubrid, et D. 
 Doctoris Keating, hujuscesac elli fundatorum iiec non et pro omnibus aliis taai 
 sacerdotibus quam laicis,.cujus corpora in eodeni jaceut. 
 
 A. D. 1644. 
 
 Pray for the souls of the Reverend Father Eugene Duhy, vicar of Tubrid, 
 and the learned Doctor Keating, the founders of this church ; and also for 
 those of all others, whether lay or clerical, whose bodies arc therein interred. 
 
 A. D. 1644. 
 
THE "D I ON-BHROLLACH;" 
 
 OR, 
 
 PREFACE OF DR. KEATING.* 
 
 Whoever sets before him the task of inquiring into and inves- 
 tigating the history and antiquities of any country, ought to adopt 
 the mode that most clearly explains its true state, and gives the 
 most correct account of its inhabitants. And, because I have un- 
 dertaken to write and publish a History of Ireland, I deem my- 
 self obliged to complain previously of some of the wrongs and 
 acts of injustice practiced towards its inhabitants, as well towards 
 the Old Gauls ^ (Anglo-Irish), who have been in possession of the 
 country for more than four centuries since the English invasion, 
 as towards the Gaels,' who have owned it for nearly three thou- 
 
 ' Dr. Keatixo styles his prelimi- 
 nary discourse " Dion - bhrollach," 
 (Deen-vrollagh,) a compound term, 
 meaning, literally, " a guard for the 
 breast." It may be here translated 
 either " van-guard'' or " breast-work." 
 Our author was fond of such compound 
 titles. Thus he styles his history 
 " Foras-Feasa ar Erinn," i.e., "a historic 
 knowledge of Eri," a term compound- 
 ed of Foras, history, and Fios, linowl- 
 edge. His cleverest and most care- 
 fuUy-written work, which he composed 
 in defence of his national religion, he 
 called the " Eochair-Sciath an Aifrinn," 
 {Oghir-Skeeah an Affrhm,) i. e., " The 
 key-shield of the Mass ;" meaning there- 
 by, an explanatory defence of the Holy 
 Sacrifice. 
 
 " Gauls. — The Irish designated the 
 earlier Anglo Norman and British 
 invaders that had settled amongst 
 " Sen-Ghaill," {Shan-Glioill), i. e. " Old 
 Gauls" or " strangers." Taese settlers 
 were also called " Strongbowniaus," 
 from their leader, Richard de Clare, 
 Earl of Pembroke, and Strigul, who 
 had received the nickname of " Strong- 
 bow," from his expertness in archery. 
 These early colonists soon adopted the 
 
 manners and habits of the Irish, with 
 whom they quickly amalgamated, and 
 they became, as the English writers of 
 the day said of them, " ipsis Hibernis 
 Hiberniores," i.e., more Irish than the 
 Irish themselves. A marked distinction 
 was therefore made between them and 
 the " Nuadh-Ghaill" {No-ghoill), or 
 later invaders. They never called 
 themselves " Sasanaigh," or Saxons, 
 nor was that hated term ever applied 
 to them by the natives. They are al- 
 ways styled either " Brethnaigh" {Breh- 
 nigh), i. e., Britons or Gauls, as here. 
 The term "Gall" or ' 'Gaul" was not given 
 to them as a generic name, though the 
 vast majority of them were, in truth, 
 Gallo-Normans by descent. They were 
 so-called, merely, because they were 
 " strangers." Thus we shall see the 
 Irish calling the Scandinavian sea- 
 rovers, " Finn-Ghaill" and " Dubh- 
 Ghaill," {Doo-ghoill), i. e., " Fair and 
 Black Strangers," though they, cer- 
 tainly, were not of the Gallic nation. 
 
 ' Gael. — In more ancient Irish 
 manuscripts, this word is found writ- 
 ten '' Gaeilal," or, with the aspiration, 
 " Gaedhal." It is now universally spell- 
 ed " Gaodhal," for the moderns, by a 
 [l'] 
 
DR. KEATING S PREFACE. 
 
 tíand years. For there is no historian that has written upon Ire- 
 land, since the event just mentioned, who does not strive to vilifj 
 and calumniate both the Anglo-Irish colonists and the Gaelic 
 
 corrupt innovation, always replace the 
 •• ae" of the ancients by '-ao." Through- 
 out this work, the form " Gael," shall be 
 used in translating the word, wherever 
 it is used in a national or generic sense. 
 It has been received into the English 
 language under tliis latter form, which 
 represents pretty nearly its modern 
 pronunciation. The editor rejects the 
 form " Gadelian," because it disguises 
 the diphthong '• ae," which he considers 
 an essentially radical element of the 
 word, while it does not at all add to the 
 facility of its pronunciation in English. 
 He thinks the name of kindred origin 
 with " Oaotulus," or " Gaetuli," a name 
 by which a nation of northern Africa 
 was designated by the Romans. 
 
 This is the true national or generic 
 name of that portion of the great Celtic 
 family, which inhabits both the Scottish 
 highlands and Ireland. The manner in 
 which it has been introduced into English 
 has misled many learned inquirers into 
 comparative etymology, leading them 
 to fancy that it had some relationship 
 with the word, " Gallus," or " Gaul," 
 other tiian that of most total opposition. 
 To add to the errors already broached 
 upon the subject, Dr. O'Brien, in re- 
 marking on the letter " a," in his Irish 
 Dictionary, has devoted a large space to 
 proving that these two most antagonis- 
 tic words, " Gaedhal" or Gael, and 
 •' Gall,"" or Gaul, were originally de- 
 rived from the same source, and had 
 been in llie beginning applied to one 
 people. Ilis oV^ject in this forced, and, I 
 am sorry to think, wilfully deceitful at-- 
 tempf , was. ajiparenfly, to support some 
 of the wild etj'mological fantasies of 
 General Vallancey, and antiquarians of 
 his school. Though the Doctor's reasons 
 are beneath criticism, and perfectly 
 ridiculous to any one who knows even 
 a little of the Gaelic language, in which 
 the words are as hostile to each 
 other as friend is to foe., or as black is 
 to white, or as any two terms can possi- 
 bly be ; still, I am induced to notice, 
 his imposition here, by the fact that he 
 
 has thereby misled some really learned 
 and truth-seeking writers, both at 
 home and on the Continent. Moore 
 quotes him as an authority upon what 
 he calls the adventitious letters interpo- 
 lated by the Irish Jiards. The learned 
 Thierry has been led by him to suppose 
 that " Gallus," '• Celta." '• Gaul," &c., 
 and '• Gaedhal" or " Gael," were but dia- 
 lectic variations of the same original 
 appellation. As a basis for his assump- 
 tion, Dr. O'Brien makes the following 
 assertion, which, after his own etymo- 
 logical researches, he must have known 
 to be unfounded. Having remarked 
 upon that property of the Gaelic tongue, 
 by which no two or more vowels coming 
 together can form distinct syllables, he 
 goes on to say : " For which reason our 
 bards or versificators, who frequently 
 wanted to stretch out words, by mul- 
 tiplying their syllables, according to 
 the exigency of their rhymes, devised 
 the method of throwing in between 
 the two vowels an adventitious conso- 
 nant (generally a ' d' or ' g' aspirated 
 by 'h'j, in order to stretch and di- 
 vide the two vowels into two different 
 syllables. As this consonant was " quite 
 foreign to the natural frame of the 
 word, so it entirely corrupted and dis- 
 guised its radical form and structure." 
 Now, I d(iny that our bards did do- 
 vise any such method for " stretching 
 out their rhymes,'' and I challenge ex- 
 amples, from any correctly-written 
 manuscript, that will show that the 
 letters he would style adventitious do 
 not belong cither to the radical frame 
 of the word, or to its regular <rram- 
 matical injlcdion. The proof that the 
 letters arc not adventitious may easily 
 be had, by comparing the words in 
 which they occur witii their coirnate 
 terms in other Indo-JMiropean dialects; 
 in some one of which the letters, mor- 
 tified or silenced in Irish, will ever be 
 found fully sounded. 'J'lie truth seems 
 to l)e, that these aspirations or silcnc- 
 ings of medial and final letters, were 
 tlie peculiar mode of corruption by 
 
DR. KEATING S PREFACE. 
 
 XIX 
 
 natives. We have proofs of tliis in the accounts given by Cam- 
 brensis, Spenser, Stanehurst, Hannier, Camden, Barchij, Aiorri- 
 son, Davis, Campion and all the writers of the New Gauls 
 
 which the Gaels dissimilated their 
 tongue from the " Lingua prisca," or 
 primitive language of the Japetian 
 tribes of Europe and Asia. Whether 
 that essential difference and one or two 
 other minor ones, was caused by either 
 Semitic, Uralian, or Finnish admix- 
 ture, is a question that well merits 
 the investigation of the comparative 
 philologist. It would favor our Phe- 
 nician theories, did these peculiarities 
 belong altogether to the Gaelic, but 
 they pervade the whole family of the 
 tongues called Celtic. 
 
 To the candid etymologist, the reten- 
 tion of such silent letters, in the written 
 and in the poetic language, will not seem 
 to be innovations. He will rather consid- 
 er it a proof of the resistance given, by the 
 Irish ollamhs and hards to the linguistic 
 corrxiptions of the vuls:ar. For, if these 
 ollamhs and bards did innovate, how 
 is it that, isolated, as they undoubtedly 
 were, from the learned of the world, 
 they always chanced to hit upon the 
 proper radical letter that should be 
 inserted in order to make the toritten 
 word correspond in outward appear- 
 ance with its Greek, Latin, or San- 
 scrit cogener ? Are we to suppose 
 that these ollamhs and bards, whose 
 education was purely local and profes- 
 sional, were skilled in the very recent 
 science of comparative philology ? Are 
 we to believe all that the venerable 
 Keating has transcribed for us of 
 the royal schoolmaster, Fenius Farsa, 
 and of that universal savant, Gaedal, 
 son of Etlior ? And yet we must 
 either do that, and allow a knowledge 
 of comparative philology to our bards 
 and shanachies, of lohich the most 
 learned amongst modern philologists 
 might feel proud, or we must allow that 
 these silent and aspirated letters, which 
 pervade the whole frame-work of the 
 Gaelic tongue, are not adventitious. 
 But, it is much easier to allow that these 
 letters were pronounced at the time, 
 when the words in which they occur 
 were first committed to writing, and that 
 
 the Ollamhs, Druids and Bards preserv- 
 ed their orthography thus unaltered, 
 notwithstanding the changes which the 
 spoken language underwent from popu- 
 lar corruption. This is no place to 
 cite many examples of the class of 
 words I mean ; for such I refer the 
 reader to the erudite work of M. Pictet, 
 upon the Analogies of the Sanscrit 
 with the Celtic tongues. 
 
 Unluckily for Dr. O'Brien's assump- 
 tion, the cogener of the word we spell 
 "Gaedal," but pronounce " Gael," is still 
 preserved in a neighboring Indo-Euro- 
 pean language. In the Cimbric or Kim- 
 ric, i. e. the Welsh,the Irish or Gaels, are 
 called "Guydhill," with the "dh" as fully 
 pronounced as the " th" in the English 
 word " whither." Now, our Cimbric 
 neighbors were not first taught our 
 name from books. They must have 
 heard our forefathers, when first 
 brought into contact with them, call 
 themselves Gaedail or Guydhill, sound- 
 ing the radical " d" fully. Otherwise, 
 they would not have known that such 
 a letter existed in writing. Their own 
 language is subject to all the aspira- 
 tions and mortifications of letters that 
 ours is, but they write their words as 
 pronounced,heedIess of radicals. Hence, 
 without abiding too closely to the date 
 which the bards give as the time, when 
 
 ' ' Miledh"s sons first heard dread f^cean 
 His music beat on Eri's shores," 
 
 we must still put back the epoch, when 
 Gael and Cimber met in western Eu- 
 rope, to an extremely remote period, 
 that is, to some period when the " d" 
 was fully sounded in Gaedal. That it 
 Avas not so sounded, when our Scottish 
 kinsmen of Alba left us, some fourteen 
 hundred years aa'o, we have living testi- 
 mony. The Highlander aspirates or 
 silences the same letters, in the same 
 words, as the Munster-man. It has 
 taken somo thousand years and odd 
 centuries, to make a slight dialectic and 
 euphonic difference between Scotch and 
 Irish Gaelic. It must have taken an- 
 other, at least, equal period to make the 
 
XX 
 
 DR. KEATING's preface. 
 
 (Engli^ih), who have treated of this country. So that, when they 
 speak of the Irish, one would imagine that these men were actuated 
 
 wi(l3 difference that cxista Ijetwcen the, ral signification, and it U now forced as 
 
 nevertheless, closc'y-allied languages of a national name upon the Ciinbri, whc- 
 
 Wales and Ireland This one example ther they will have it themselves or not. 
 
 is, in itself, irrefragable evidence that The editor here instances a few of 
 
 Gajdal is no corruption of (Jallus.even the host of words aff(!cted by the same 
 
 were our own oliainlis silent on the sub- deliquescent or vulti-'g influence to 
 
 iect. If the natives of the country, which this radical word " gaedal," which 
 
 called Gallia by the Latins, were the was.7?e?Aa/is more anciently "Uaidalus," 
 
 same as the Gael, their relationship "Gaetulus," VaLTvXoc; and VaiOuXoi;^ 
 
 muH be proved by something better 
 founded than the accident by which 
 Gaedil has been corrupted, so as to have 
 a faint resemblance in sound to Gaul. 
 In t'.ie common Irish this day spoken, 
 " Gael" means a '• kin?man,' while 
 " Ga'l" means a " foreigner." In the 
 Welsh and the ArniDric Breton, also, 
 " Ga'.l" or " Gal ' means foreign. In the 
 old Anglo-Saxon, its kindred terra 
 " Wallisc" meant, stranger ; hence 
 " Welsh" or " Wallisc*' came to be ap- 
 plied to the B.-itish inhabitants of Cam- 
 bria. The German form of the word 
 " AVelsch" me.uH foreign also— Italy is 
 their " Welschland" or " Foreigners' 
 land." The word is seen less disguised 
 in the name of t!ie " Walloon" guanls, so 
 famous on the Oontin 'ut, and in thalof 
 the pj)p"e called '• Walli." But why 
 multiply examples ? 
 
 Finiing thus that the word means 
 forn-^ii in all the languages where 
 any form of it occurs, the editor holds, 
 until further proof be adduced in sup- 
 port of the common opinion, t'lat the 
 ancient Celtic inhabitants of modern 
 France and of n )rt'iern Italy — the 
 "Ga,Hia"or '• Welschland" of ancient 
 'SLomi— did never all t'lcmsdves Gilli 
 at all, but that" Gallus" perhaps mean- 
 ing in old Latin what "Gall" means in 
 Gaelic, and what the word, though in 
 more disguised costume, means in every 
 Eur:)pean tongue where it is found, the 
 old Itali called their invaders from be- 
 yond the Alps " Galli," because they 
 were " Strangers ;" and that the name 
 continued to be applied to the people 
 to whom it had been m;rst particularly 
 given, after it had lost its primitive and 
 more extended m ianing. So of the 
 Anglo-Saxon '• Wallisc ;" its English 
 form, " Welsh," has lost its more gene- 
 
 has been subjected, viz : "Aniha" and 
 " amhain," i. ■-., a river, pronounced vul- 
 garly ow and owin, but poetically avva 
 una. avwin; in Latin, "amnis." "Aed- 
 bar," i. e., the upper air, vulgarly pro- 
 nounced a/r, poetically a/g/ia?v in Latin, 
 " aether ;" and Greek AiO?]p. " Aeim- 
 hinn," i. e., pkamnt ; vulgarly pro- 
 nounced eeng, poetically ecvinn; in 
 Latui, "amoenus." " Bodhar," i. e. deaf, 
 vulgarly pronounced bowr, poetically 
 bdgkZr; in Welsh, " byddar ;" and in 
 English " bother." " Cladhamh," i. e. a 
 sword, vulgarly pronounced cloive, poetr 
 ically cl'.gh'.v; in Latin, "gladium;" 
 and in English, " glaive." " Cumhar," 
 i. c.foam or a tí;'íi>e,vulgarly pronounced 
 cnor, poetically cuv'r ; in Latin, " spu- 
 ma ;" and in Greek, ^u/za. " Feighil," 
 i. e. to watch or guard, vulgarly pro- 
 nounced file, poetically fti/il ; Latin, 
 "vigilo." "Gabhar," i. e. a goat, vulgar- 
 ly pronounced gowr, poetically g'vúr; 
 Latin, " caper. " Medhon," i. e. the 
 middle, vulgarly pronounced meonc, 
 poetically megkdn ; Latin, " medium ;" 
 and English, " middle." Oghar, i. c. 
 pallid, vulgarly pronounced our, poet- 
 ically oghar ; Greek, uy'^por. " Saeg- 
 hal," i. e. an age, life, vulgarly pro- 
 nounced so ///.poetically siig'ial ; Latin, 
 " Saeculnm." "Samhail" and "amhail," 
 i.e. like, vulgarly pronounced .? wil and 
 ow /, poetica'Iy n'mnil and .'.virV ; Lat- 
 in, " similis ;" Greek, ajLa and Ojio<^ ', 
 and English, " same ;" and the sufTix, 
 "some." "Uablian" and "uanihan," i. e. 
 fear, vulgarly pronounced oon, poeti- 
 cally ooua» ; Greek, (pnftov. " Umhai," 
 i. e. humble, vulgai-Iy pronounced opt, 
 poetically ooval. Uadhach, ?'. e. an 
 udder, vulgarly pronounced ongh, po- 
 etically oohagh ; in Greek, ovdap. 
 
DR. KEATING S PREFACE. 
 
 XXI 
 
 by the instinct of the beetle;' for it is thenatureof this animal, when 
 it rais3s its head in the summer, to flutter about without stooping 
 to the fair flowers of the meadow, or to the blossoms of the gar- 
 den, though they were all roses and lilies ; it bustles hurriedly 
 round, until it meets with some loathsome ordure, and it buries 
 itself therein ; so with the above-named writers, they never allude 
 to the virtues and the good customs of the old Anglo-Irish and 
 Gaelic nobility, who dwelt in Ireland in their time; they write 
 not of their piety or of their valor, of what monasteries they 
 founded — what lands and endowments they gave to the Church 
 — what immunities they gTanted to the ollamlps,^ or learned doc- 
 
 In fine, this list might be extended 
 to a much greater length, did space al- 
 low. Did I quote monosyllabic words, 
 where the final letters are silent or 
 mortified, it might be swelled to from 
 six hundred to a thousand radical 
 words. It is this peculiar tendency of 
 the Celtic vocal organs to mortify or 
 silence certain letters, that caused the 
 great number of silent letters found in 
 the Celto-Latin of France, that is, the 
 modern French — a much less portion 
 of which is derived directly from the 
 Romans than is generally supposed. 
 
 The editor has dwelt longer upon 
 this subject than is usual in- a note, but 
 he deems its importance to be au am- 
 ple excuse ; for, not only does a good 
 deal relating to the filiation of the 
 Irish and Scottish Gaels depend upon 
 the retention or rejection of the rad- 
 ical " d " in this particular case, but 
 the, perhajis, much more important, 
 question of the possession of a knowl- 
 edge of letters by the Irish Druids and 
 Bards from the very earliest times, can, 
 in his opinion, be incontrovertibly 
 proved by the existence of those very si- 
 lent letters, of which he has given exam- 
 ples, when supported hy strd propriety 
 and close analogy with other, often far 
 distant languages (such as the San- 
 scrit, for instance), with which they 
 are invariably used. The maintainers 
 of the truth of the ancient tradition, 
 that tells us of the uninterrupted use 
 of letters among our ancestors, should 
 rest that much disputed question upon 
 the irdernal structure of our artcictH 
 written language alone. "With the mod- 
 ern Irish and Albau Scotch on the one 
 
 side, and the Sanscrit, that had per- 
 haps ceased to be a vulgar tongue be- 
 fore Homer composed his Iliad, and 
 consequently the purest and most per- 
 fect specimen of the ancient Jajietian 
 tongue, on the other ; with the Greek, 
 Latin, Gothic, Slavic, Cimbro-Celtic or 
 Welsh, and the various dialects of our 
 own Ibero-Celtic, as connecting links be- 
 tween the two extremes, such evidence 
 can be brought in support of the tra- 
 dition of our own bards on the subject, 
 as must convince any really learned and 
 candid philologist of its being founded 
 upon reality. By the silent, aspirated 
 or mortified letters, and certain other 
 accidents, what I may call the strati- 
 fied history of the Irish tongue, written 
 upon its very c re by Nature s own hand, 
 and its successive stages of formation, 
 can be traced up to its primitive parent 
 or parents in the East, with scarcely 
 less certainty than the history of the 
 earth's formation can be traced from 
 the varied strata that compose its shell. 
 
 * The Beetle. This idea is also found 
 in Lope de Vega, the Spanish dramatist 
 and poet. An ancient Latin naturalist 
 has said of this insect, " periit odore 
 rosas," i. e., " the odor of the rose 
 kills it." 
 
 ' TIte Ollamhs {Ollaves), or learn- 
 ed doctors, were the members of the 
 literary and scientific professions. lu 
 pagan times, they were presided over by 
 the Arch-Druid. They comprised the 
 Druids Brethemhs {Breh'ive), i. e. Bre- 
 hons or Judges, the Bards, Historians, 
 Physicians, and Musicians. Each order 
 of these was presided over by an Ard- 
 Ollamh, or chief doctor. 
 
 / 
 
XXll DR. KEATING S PliEFACE. 
 
 tors of Ireland — their })ounty to the ecclesiastics and prelates of 
 the Church — the relief they afforded to orphans and to the ]~>oor — 
 their munificence to men of learning, and their hospitality to 
 strangers : insomuch that it may be said with truth, that they 
 were not at any time surpassed by any nation of Europe, in 
 generosity and hospitality, in proportion to the abilities thej^ pos- 
 sessed. Witness the meetings of the learned which they convened 
 (a custom unheard of amongst the other nations of Europe); so 
 that such was the force of generosity and liberality amongst the 
 old Anglo-Irish and Gaels of Ireland, that they were not satis- 
 fied with distributing their bounties to those that claimed them, 
 but they also gave jjublic invitations to all persons to come and 
 partake of their favors, in order to find a wider scope for their 
 desire of bestowing treasures and presents. And yet nothing 
 of all this can be found in the English writers of the time ; but 
 they dwell upon the customs of the vulgar, and ujDon the stories 
 of ignorant old women, neglecting the illustrious actions of the 
 nobility, and all that relates to the ancient Gaels that inhabited 
 this island, before the invasion of the Anglo-Normans. 
 
 Let us see did any nation in Europe oj^pose the Eomans witli 
 more valor than they did in their defence of Alba or Scotland. 
 They forced tlie Britons to build a wall between Britain and Scot- 
 land, in order to protect themselves from the incursions of the 
 Gaels; and, although there was constantly an army of Eomans, 
 amounting to 52,000 foot and 200 horse, kept to, defend that 
 wall, together with 30,000 foot, and 1,300 horse for guarding 
 the coasts and harbors of the country against the Scots and 
 Picts, nevertheless, according to the Chronicle of Samuel Daniel, 
 the Gaels used to pass over the wall and ravage the country, 
 in spite of that large army. Cormac MacCulinan^ also tells us, 
 in his Psalter, that, in consequence of the ravages committed 
 in Britain by the Gaels, and the " Cruithnigh," called also 
 Picts, the Britons murdered their Poman governors three times, 
 as a peace-offering to those plunderers. We can also under- 
 stand, from Geoii'ry of Monmouth, how great was tlie strait into 
 which the Gaels had reduced the Britons, in the time of their 
 King Vortigem, who was forced thereby to take into i")ay the 
 Saxon Ilengist and his German arm}^ We also read, in the 
 Chronicle of Samuel Daniel, that the Eomans had built fourteen 
 fortresses in Britain, in order to resist the Scots and Picts, who 
 continued to disturb tliat country, in spite of the Eoman j)Ower, 
 from the time of Julius Cicsar to that of Valentiniau the Third, 
 
 • Cormac, sonof Culinon, Archbishop stor A. D. 902. lie wms the compiler 
 of Cashe!, was proclaimed king of Muu- of the famous I'salter of Cashel. 
 
DR. KEATING'S PREFACE. XXlH 
 
 namely, for a space of 500 years ; for it "vvas in the year of our 
 Lord 447, that the Eomans deserted their British province. A 
 contest arose before that time between Theodosius and ^laximus, 
 which obliged the latter to bring a great body of Britons with 
 him to Armorica/ which is now called Little Britain (Bretagne), 
 in France ; and, he having expelled the former inhabitants, gave 
 that country to his British soldiers, whose posterity retain it to 
 the present day. 
 
 Thei'e are some authors among the ancients, that make false 
 statements with respect to the Irish, particularly Strabo,^ who 
 asserts in his third book, that the Irish live upon human flesh. 
 My answer to this charge is, that Strabo has lied, in thus assert- 
 ing the Irish to be cannibals. For, nowhere in our ancient records 
 do we read of any person, that eat human flesh, except Ethni 
 Uathach,^ daughter of Crimthann. son of Enna Kinnsellach, king 
 of Leinstcr, who was nursed in the Desies of Munster, where she 
 was fed on the flesh of infants, in hopes of her arriving the sooner 
 at maturity ; for it had been prophesied, that the fosterers of this 
 lady should receive land from the man, to whom she should be 
 married ; and she was married to Aengus, son of Nadfraech, 
 king of Munster, as shall be noticed hereafter in the body of the 
 history. The reader must understand, when our Shanachies 
 would not conceal this shameful fact, so disgraceful to a daughter 
 of a king of Leinster, and wife of a king of Munster, that they 
 would not fail to expose it in people of inferior rank, if such a 
 practice ever prevailed in this country ; therefore Strabo is false, 
 in asserting it to be a custom in Ireland to eat human flesh, when 
 
 ' Armorica is now called Bretagne. ions speaking Celtic dialects. But from 
 
 It lies on the northwestern coast of this must be deducted the Basque or 
 
 France. The rural inhabitants still Guipuscoan,whichisnot nowheld tobe 
 
 almost universally, speak a dialect of Celtic. Bretagne has given many dis- 
 
 the Celtic tongue, closely akin to the tinguished men to Franco, among whom 
 
 Welsh or Cimbric. They are a brave, was the celebrated poet, Chateaubriand, 
 
 simple people, obstinately attached to * .Si/ra6o, a geographer, who flourished 
 
 their old habits and customs. They in the days of Augustus and Tiberius. 
 
 are moral and devoutly Catholic, and. His geography, written in Greek, to 
 
 mostly, fervid royalists. The invasion, which our author here alludes, is much 
 
 here referred to, was not one of extermi- celebrated. 
 
 nation, as might be here understood; the " Ethni. — In admitting the possible 
 
 old Armoricans were the same people truth of this disgusting and improbable 
 
 as themselves, and the exiled Bretons did siory. Dr. Keating shows how rigidly he 
 
 but amalgamate with their own kins- interpreted the canon, he quotes a little 
 
 folk. The Bretons are supposed to below, defining the historian's duties, 
 
 represent the ancient Belg® of Gaul. It is, however, most likely, an idle 
 
 In 1800 there were said to be some three slander thrown at the Munster tribes by 
 
 millions speaking the Breton language, their enemies, and taken hold of by 
 
 In all France and Spain, it was then some strolling story-toller. Dr. Keating 
 
 supposed that there were some ten mill- did not sufiBciently remember the fact. 
 
 á 
 
XXIV DR. KEATING 8 PREFACE. 
 
 we can find but one solitary instance of it in oui' traditions, and 
 even that occurred in the days of Paganism, !^^y answer to St. 
 Jerome/" who makes tlie same assertion, in writing against Jovi- 
 nian, is, that he must have had his information from some vender 
 of lies, and that it should not be credited to the prejudice of the 
 Irish. Solinus," in his twenty-first chapter, tells us that there arc 
 no bees in Ireland; and goes on to state, that the male children, 
 for the first month after birth, receive their food from the point 
 of a sword. He also says that the Irish, when they have killed 
 an enemy, are wont to bathe themselves in his blood ; but it is 
 evident from our own history that every word of this is false. Pom- 
 ponius Mela,^^ speaking of the Irish, in his third book, calls 
 them " a people^'^ ignorant of every virtue." Many other ancient 
 foreign writers have spoken of Ireland in the same rash, dis- 
 paraging manner, on the authority of lying rumors ; but, no 
 credit should be given to their statements, for they were them- 
 selves utterly ignorant on the subject ; wherefore Camden, when 
 giving down the testimonies of these men with regard to Ireland, 
 makes use of the following remark : " We have," says he, " no 
 witnesses upon these matters, who are worthy of credit."" It is evi- 
 dent from the same Camden, that it was false to assert that there 
 were no bees in Ireland ; for in describing this country, he says, 
 himself, that " such is the quantity of bees, that they are found 
 not only in hives, but also in the trunks of trees and in holes 
 in the ground.'"^ 
 
 We shall now give a few of the falsehoods of the English 
 authors, who have written upon Ireland. As these men have 
 followed in the footsteps of Cambrensis,^' we shall begin by 
 
 that critical discrimination, also, was non solum alvcaribus, sod ctiam ar- 
 
 one of the historian's duties. boruni et terrte cavornis reperuintur. 
 
 '" St. Jerome, or Ilieronyraus, a na- '" Giraldiis Camhrensis, i. e. (jorald 
 
 live of Panuonia, was distiuj^uished for the Wcislmian, or Cambrian. 'I'iiis 
 
 his zeal against heretics. lie wrote first British calunmiatur of the Irish 
 
 with great eloquence and defiance of nation was an Aii<iio-Norinan ecclesi- 
 
 style. In the instance here referred to, astic, who came over to Ireland A.I), 
 
 be doe,s not seem U) have much regard- 1185, in the train of King .foiin, whose 
 
 ed tiie armory wiience he took the wea- tutor he liad previouaiy been. Jle was 
 
 pon wherewith he felled his enemy, the brother of I'liilij) de Barri, one of 
 
 He died A.I). 420, aged 91. the earliest of the Anglo-Norman invad- 
 
 " C. Julius Solimcs wrote in the 1st ers of Ireland, and founder of the 
 
 century. His work is called Polyhistor. Anglo-Irish sept of the Barries. (Jiral- 
 
 " Fompnnius Mela was a native of dus was the son of a Norman nobleman 
 
 Spain, lie wa.s the writer of a geog- by a Welshwoman. He wrote many 
 
 ra[>hy, and flourished about A. D. 45. works, but that entitled the (Jonquest 
 
 '^ Omnium Virtutum ignari. and Topograpiiy of Ireland is the one 
 
 '* Uorum qua; commemoramus dig- to which our author alludes. 'i'he 
 
 nos fide tastes non habeniiis. falsehoods of ("ambrensis have been 
 
 " Apum est tauta multitude, ut ably refuted by the Irish antiquary, 
 
DR. KEATIXG S PREFACE. XXV 
 
 bringing liis lies home to Canibrensis himself. This man asserts, 
 that King Arthur received a tribute from Ireland, and that the 
 place where he imposed that tribute was in the city of Leon, in 
 the year of our Loi'd 519. Campion, also, makes the same state- 
 ment, in the second chapter of the second book of his chronicle, 
 where he adds, that one Gilla-Mara was king of Ireland at that 
 time. But, notwithstanding that both the author of Polychroni- 
 con and GcoiFrej of Monmouth, with some other English writers, 
 make mention of a Gilla-Mara as king of Ireland, yet I challenge 
 any one of them or their followers to produce a single poem or 
 passage in the records or traditions of the Irish, in \vhich there 
 is any mention or account of any person named Gilla-Mara's 
 having been ever king of this country, unless by that name they 
 mean Murkcrtach or Mur tough Mor Mac Erca, who was the 
 cotemporaiy of King Arthur, and was very powerful both in 
 Ireland and Scotland. This Murkertach sent his six brothers 
 into Scotland, and one of them, Fergus Mor Mac Erca, was the 
 first king of the Scottish race in Alba (Scotland). Then, it was 
 by the Scots and Picts that King Arthur himself was killed. 
 This Fergus, wdiom I have just mentioned, was, as I state, the 
 first king of Alba of the Scottish race ; for thou^i^h Hector Boe- 
 thius," in his histoiy of Scotland, reckons thirty-nine kings of that 
 country before him, still not one of these predecessors of his were 
 of the Scottish nation. There is also a mistake contained in the 
 assertion that Fergus, son of Fearchar, king of Ireland, was the 
 first Scottish king of Scotland ; for, there never was a king of 
 Ireland named Fearchar, and therefore no son of such Fearchar 
 could be king of Scotland, as Hector Boethius states. Now, 
 though had it pleased Murkertach ]\Ior to place his brother, Fer- 
 gus Mac Erca, on the throne of Scotland, still Murkcrtach is 
 himself styled "i?ex >Scotoni?>7," meaning that he was king of the 
 Scots, both in Eri and Alba, i. e. Ireland and Scotland. Hence, 
 it is not to be supposed, that so powerful a monarch should pay 
 tribute to King Arthur. 
 
 Speed" says in his Chronicle, that the Irish king was not trib- 
 utary to King Arthur ; but, that a friendly league of mutual aid 
 in their wars subsisted between them ; so that if one of them was 
 oppressed b}^ enemies, it was incumbent on the other to help him 
 with an allied force: this Speed calls ^^jus belli socialis,^' i. e. an 
 obligation of alliance in war. Such is the present alhance be- 
 
 Dr. Lynch, of Galway, who lived dur- Scottish writer, who wote the history of 
 
 ing the reigns of Charles I. and Charles his country in Latin. He was boru at 
 
 II., in an able work, written in Latin, Dundee, 1470, and died about 1_550._ 
 
 and styled " Cambrensis Eversus," i. e. " John Speed, an lOiiglish historian 
 
 " Cambrensis overthrown " and geo<rrai)her, lived between A.D. 
 
 " Hector Boece, or Boethius, was a 1556 and 1629. 
 
XXVI DR. KEATING'S PREFACE. 
 
 tween tlie King of Spain and the Emperor; for each is bound 
 to send aid to the other, whenever his necessities require it ; yet, 
 we are not by this to understand, that the Emperor pays any 
 tribute to the King of Spain, or the King of Spain to the Em- 
 peror, In like manner, if there existed any simiLar treaty be- 
 tween King Arthur and ^lurkertach Mac Erca, King of Ireland, 
 by which they were bound to assist each other mutually in the 
 time of danger, it is not thence to be inferred that either was 
 tributary to the other. The truth of this opinion is more fully 
 contirmed by what Nubigcnsis says, in the twenty -sixth chapter 
 of the second book of liis history: there, in speaking of Irehand, 
 he says that "Hibernia^^ (Ireland) never lay under any foreign 
 sway." Even Cambrensis himself agrees with this opinion in 
 his twenty-sixth chapter, where he tells us that "from the^" be- 
 ginning Ilibernia remained free from the incursions of foreign 
 nations." From these testimonies it is clear, that neither King 
 Arthur nor any other foreign prince ever possessed the sovereignty 
 of Ireland, until the English invasion. It is not to be supposed, 
 that the Britons could have laid claim to any authority in this 
 ishmd, when the Romans themselves never dared to set their 
 hands upon it: and so far was it from Ireland's being subject to 
 the Romans or to any other stranger, that Camden,^^ in his book, 
 called Bnianm'a Cayndeni, gives the following testimony : " When 
 the Romans^ had extended their empire on all sides, many, no 
 doubt, came over here (to Ireland) from Spain, Gaul, i, e. France 
 and Britain, in order to escape from the intolerable 3^oke of the 
 Romans." From this, it may be understood that the Romans not 
 only never came to Ireland, but, that the people of other countries 
 found there an asylum, and were protected by the Irish. The 
 same Camden says again, in confuting the oj)inion of those, who 
 imagine, that it was likely that the Romans extended their domi- 
 nation to Ireland: 23 " I can scarcely bring my mind to believe, 
 that this country had, at any time, fallen under the dominion of 
 tlie Romans." 
 
 Cambrensis says, in his ninth chapter, that it was customary 
 with Irishmen to take the widows of their deceased brcjthcra in 
 marriage. lie also says, that it was not the custom to pay tithes 
 in Ireland, before the arrival of Cardinal Pajnron. This, how- 
 
 " Hibernia nunrjuam externa; sub- dique propagasscnt, multi proculdubio 
 
 jacnit (litioni. ex Hispaiiia, (Jallia, liritaiinia hie se 
 
 ^ ilibcTiiia ab initio ab omni aliena^ rceopeniiit, nt iniiiuksimo liomanorum 
 
 mm i,''ontiiun incursu libera, pcrmansit. jugo colla aubduccroiit. 
 
 " William. Cami/en, the celebrated an- '^ Ego aniraum vix inducerc possum, 
 
 ticjuary, was born in London, A.D. ut hauc rogioncm in Komanorum po 
 
 IÓÓI. The first edition of his "Brit- testatem ullo concessore tempore ere- 
 
 aunia," appeared in 158G. dam. 
 
 ^ Bum suum Komani impcrium un- 
 
DR. KEATINGS PRKFACE. XXvil 
 
 ever, is false, as will be seen hereafter in the body of the history, 
 and as I shall soon make appear in this preface. In treating of 
 the natural curiosities (wonders) of Ireland, this writer sajs also, 
 that there is a well in Munster wliich makes one gray upon 
 wa-hing one's hair therein, and that there is another well in 
 Ulster, which prevents grayness. Yet there are no such wells 
 now in Ireland, nor do I think that there were any such in the 
 country in the days of Cambrensis. He sets down these Avon- 
 ders, but to give a color to his other falsehoods. 
 
 Cambrensis says also, in his twenty-second chapter, that when 
 the nobles of Ireland ratify their alliances, in the presence of a 
 bishop, they kiss the relics of the saints, and drink of each other's 
 blood, though, while doing so, they are ready to betray and mur- 
 der one another. My answer to him here is, that there is no poem 
 or passage, tradition or old writing, history or annals, that bears 
 him out in this malicious statement. Now, it is a well-known 
 fact, that the antiquaries were bound, on pain of losing their de- 
 gree of " Ollamh" or Doctor, not only not to conceal any such 
 evil custom, if it existed in Ireland in their day, but also to com- 
 mit- it to writing. Hence, it is manifest that Cambrensis has told 
 us a wilful lie in this matter. Again, in his tenth chapter, this 
 man saj^s, that "the Gaels are an inhospitahh race."^^ But in 
 order to answer this charge, I have only to quote from the nar- 
 rative of Stanihurst, who speaks of the hospitalit}^ of the Irish in 
 the following terms : " Theij^ are truly a most hospitable people^ 
 and you can pay them no greater respect, nor can you gratify them 
 more in anything, than in freely and voluntarily frequenting their 
 housesj^ From this statement we may infer, without leave of 
 Cambrensis, that at their tables at least, they are a generous and 
 hospitable people. 
 
 Cambrensis, elsewhere, says that it was the wife of the king of 
 Meath, that eloped with Diarmaid na n-GralP (Dermott of the 
 English) ; yet this is not true, for, it was the wife of Tighernan 
 O'liuairc, king of Brefni, and daughter to Mureadh mac Flainn 
 son of Maelsechlainn, king of Meath, that made that elopement. 
 The lady's name was Derborgaill. He again asserts that the 
 rivers Suir, Nore, and Barrow rise in the mountain called Slieve- 
 Bloom ; but this is another misstatement ; the Barrow, it is true, 
 takes its rise on the eastern point of Slieve-Bloom, but the Suix 
 and Nore flow from the side of Slieve Aldiuin,^' called also Slieve 
 
 ^ Est antem gens haec inhospita. the Strangers. He was so called from 
 
 i.e., " They are au iahospitable people." having brought over the English. 
 
 ^ Sunt sane homines hospitalimini ^ Sli'tbh Aldniin [Slieve Aldiune), ia 
 
 ncque illis uUa in re magis gratificare now called Greim an Diabhail [Grime 
 
 potes quam vel ponte ac voluntarie an Deed) i. e. the Devil's Eit. It was 
 
 eorum domus frequentare. otherwise called Beirnan Eli, or the 
 
 ''^ Diarmaid na nGall, or Dermod of Gap of Eli. 
 
XXVUl Dli. KEATING S PREFACE. 
 
 Beurnan, {Úie DeviVs Bit Mountain^) in the territory of the Ui-Ca- 
 rin-® {I ken-in). 
 
 He also says, in this same work upon Ireland, tliat the king of 
 ^Kinel-Conaill, that is, the O'Donndl, used to be inaugurated in 
 the following manner: — " All the inhabitants of his territory be- 
 ing assembled on a high hill in his domnius, a white mare was 
 killed and put to boil in a large cauldron, in the middle of a field: 
 when it was sufficiently boiled, the king used to lap up the broth 
 with his mouth like a hound or dog and eat the flesh out of his 
 hand, without using a knife or any other instrument to cut it; 
 he then divided the rest of the flesh amongst the assembly and 
 afterwards bathed himself in the broth." This is plainly an im- 
 pudent falsehood of Cambrensis, yb?- íAc annals of Ireland exiAicitly 
 record the mode of inaugurating the kings of Kinel- Conaill. The 
 ceremony was performed thus: The king being seated on a hill, 
 in the midst of the nobility and gentry of his own territory, one 
 of the chiefs of his nobles stood before him, bearing in his hand 
 a straight, white wand, which he presented to the king, telling 
 him, at the same time, " to receive the sovereignty of his country 
 and to preserve equal and impartial justice between all portions 
 of his dominions." The reason why the wand was straight and 
 white was, to put him in mind that he should be unbiased in his 
 judgments and pui'e and upi-ight in all his actions. I wonder 
 much how Cambrensis could have had the hardihood to invent 
 such a lie, as that quoted above, and I am confident, that it was 
 through pure malice alone, that he set it down in his book. For 
 it is a well-known fact, that that tribe has been distinguished for 
 godliness, piety and religion, and that several of its members who 
 had taken orders, ended their days in sanctity and devotion. It 
 has also produced a great number of Saints, amongst whom were 
 Saints Columkille,*'Baeithin, Adainnan anil many others, too nu- 
 merous to mention here. It is also incredible, that the nobles of 
 Ireland would have allowed the king of Kinel-Conaill to observe 
 that barbaruus custom, which Cambrensis relates, at a time when 
 the Catholic faith had already flourished amongst then), from the 
 time of St. Patrick to the English invasion, (about 700 ^-ears.) 
 
 " Ui Carin [ee-carrin) or Ikerrin, Carin was tlie tribe name of the 
 
 a district of ancient Eli, but now a iMeaciiairs. 
 
 barony of North 'J'ippcrary. It was, '■™ Kinil-CnnnUl, i. c. Race of Conall 
 in former times, llie tribe-land of tlie and'l'ir Conaiil, i. e. the land of (Nmall, 
 clan of Meacliair, now written 0'- so called from Conall (Julban, the an- 
 Rleagher and Malicr, in Enjilish. This cestor of the O'Dotinells, O'Doghcirtics, 
 sept as well as the O Carrolls and the ami their correlative clans, was the an- 
 other Elians, were descended from ( "ian cient name of the county of Donegal. 
 or Kian, the third sou of Ulild Olura. " For particulars relative to thcsj 
 " Ui" is the nominative plural of " O " saints, see the body of the history. 
 or " Ua," which means descendant. Ui 
 
DR. KEATIjSTG'S PREFACE. Xxix 
 
 And, for that reason also, I again assert, that Cambrensis lias 
 broached liere a downright lie, as unwarrantable as it is ^'malicious. 
 
 Spenser^ says, in his Chronicle, that Egfrid, king of the Nor- 
 thumbrians, and Edgar, king of Britain, exercised a jurisdiction 
 over Ireland, as we read in the thirty-third page of his history. 
 But, this assertion cannot be true, for the records of Ireland are 
 directly against him, and besides, the British writers themselves 
 conft'ss, that the Saxons have left them no old writings or coins, 
 from wliich they could obtain a knowledge of the history of those 
 times that preceded the arrival of the last-mentioned nation ; thus 
 Gildas,^ an ancient British writer, tells us that the old monuments 
 and coins, and, consequently, the ancient history of the Britons, 
 had been destroyed by the Eomans and Saxons. Samuel DanieP^ . 
 agrees with Gildas upon the same point, in the first part of his 
 Chronicle, so also does Rider, in his Latin Lexicon, when treating of 
 the word Briiannia. The latter writer says, moreover, tliat Bri- 
 tain has not been called Britannia irom. Brutus, for, if it were, the 
 name should be Brutia or Brutica. And it is more than probable, 
 if the name were derived from Brutus, that Julius Caisar, Corne- 
 lius Tacitus, Diodorus Siculus, Beda^^ or some other old writer, 
 would have mentioned the derivation. Thus, as the British au- 
 thors knew not whence came the name of their own country, it 
 is no wonder that they should be ignorant of many things in its cL. , 
 ancient history. We should not, then, be surprised to find Spen- ' 
 
 ser equally destitute of knowledge upon these same subjects. 
 
 But, it is a matter of surprise, that this writer should undertake 
 to trace the genealogies of some Irish noble families, and take 
 
 " Dr. Keating is particularly indig- of his upon which our autlior animad- 
 
 nant that Cambrensis, himself in holy verts, is one entitled " A View of the 
 
 orders, should malign a house that had State of Ireland," which Spenser pre- 
 
 given so many ornaments to the Catho- sented to Queen Elizabeth, 
 
 lie faith, and such valiant champions to ^ Gildas was a British or Welsh ec- 
 
 the Cross, as that of Kinel-Couaill. clesiastic, who wrote a history of his 
 
 ^ Spenser. This was the famous nation in Latin, in the first half of the 
 
 English poet, who wrote the " Fairie sixth century. 
 
 Queen." lie was sent to Ireland in ^* Samuel Daniel was an English 
 
 1580, as Secretary to Lord Wilton de poet and historian, born A.D. 1562. He 
 
 Grey. There, he obtained the Castle of was appointed Poet Laureat at the 
 
 Kilcolemau, on the Blackwater, in the death of Spenser, 
 
 county of Cork, with 3,000 acres of ^ Bede, usually styled the Venerable 
 
 land, as the reward of his services. Bede, was an Anglo-Saxon monk. He 
 
 These formed a portion of the estates lived a quiet, studious life, and died at 
 
 of the vanquished Earl of Desmond, the monastery of Wearmouth, in A.D. 
 
 Spenser enjoyed his share of the spoils 735. He wrote several works, amongst 
 
 of that ruined nobleman, for a while, which his Anglo-Saxon history is now 
 
 in tranquillity ; but the war of Tyrone the most valuable. He is considered 
 
 caused him to fly, in haste to Loudon, one of the most respectable of Saxon 
 
 where ho died in 1598, without having authorities. 
 recovered his Irish plunder. The work 
 
XXX 
 
 DR. KEATING's preface. 
 
 upon him to assert that they are of English extraction. lie 
 Bpeoially points out seven noble surnames of the Gaelic nobility, 
 as of foreign origin : these are the Mac^Mahon's (of Ulster), tlie 
 clans of Sweeny, Sheehy, Macnamara, Cavanagh, Toole and 
 Byrne. He says that the name MacMahon has come either from 
 Ursa (Fitz-Urse), or Bear, English surnames ; and, as the words 
 " ursa" " Z/ea/-" and Mahon are of the same signification, that, 
 consequently, it is from the English house of Bear or Ursa (Fitz- 
 Urse), that the MacMahons of Ulster are derived. My answer 
 to this assertion is, that it is just as reasonable, from the etj^mology 
 of the word, to conclude that the MacMahons^ of Thomond, or 
 the O'Mahonics^^ of Carbery, should descend from the English 
 Fitz-Urscs, Ursas or Bears, as the MacMahons of Ulster; and, 
 since the former do not draw their origin from any Eng- 
 lish source, neither do the latter. But the fact is, the MacMa- 
 hons^ of Ulster are descended from Colla Da Crioch, son of 
 
 " T}ie Mac Mahom, in Irish Mac 
 Mathghamhna, [Maltowna) of Tho- 
 mond, were princes of Corca-Bassinn, 
 now the baronies of Moyarta and Clon- 
 deralaw, in the county of ('lare. They 
 are the older representatives of Brian 
 Boromha or Boru. lifini? descended from 
 Mathghamhain [M •hhrom), son of 
 ilurkertach Mor, Kins of Ireland, from 
 A.D. 1110 to A.D. ll'30. Murkertach 
 was the son of Tordelhach, pon of Tadhg 
 ( Tigue), son of Brian the victor of Clon- 
 tarf. Diarmaid, the unfle of Mahon, 
 succeeded his elder brother Murkertach, 
 as chieftain of the l)al-íí-Ca,s tribe, and 
 as Kwj; of Munster, but not as sover- 
 eign of I r. 'land. From that time the 
 O'Briens, wiio arc descended from Diar- 
 maid, held the sovereign power in North 
 Munster, and the children of his elder 
 brother, the monarch Murkertach, had 
 to content themselves with the princi- 
 pality of Corca-Iiasginn. 
 
 ^ The O'Ma/innies of Carbery were 
 anciently cliicftains of the lOugenian 
 tribe, call<,Hj the "ibh Kchach Mum- 
 han," {Eev-Ah'i(rh 3iooti,) and kings of 
 Rathlenn, a district lying along the 
 rivers Bandon and T/ie, in the county 
 of Cork, extending from the sea to tlie 
 bounds of the county of Kerry. They, 
 also, derive tlieir family name, O'Math- 
 garahna. from a person named Math- 
 ghamhain or Mahon. This .Mahon was 
 King of Desmond, A.D. 1015. He was 
 
 son of Kian, son of Maelmuadh,who had 
 been also king of Desmond and son-in- 
 law to Brian Boru. It was this Kian 
 that commanded the i^ugenians of 
 Desmond at C'lontarf. The tribe of 
 the Ibh Echach, (consisting of the 0'- 
 Mahonys and O'Donoghoos,) branched 
 off from their correlatives, the Mac 
 Carthies, SuUivans, &c., at Cas son 
 of Core. Core was King of Munster 
 in A.D. 380, and was the rival of Niall 
 of the nine hostages, for the mon- 
 archy. 
 
 =* T/ie Mac Mahons of Ulster derive 
 their name from a similar personal ap- 
 pellation, namely, from Mathgamhain, 
 son of I/aidgnen, a chieftain of Fcrn- 
 inagli, who was killed, according to the 
 Four Masters, A.D. 1022. These Mac 
 Mahons were formerly chieftains of the 
 present county of Monaglian, and some- 
 times kings of Oirghialla and Ulldia. 
 The name is often found with the prefix 
 "0" instead of "Mac" in our ancient an- 
 nals. 'Iliey were amongst the bravest and 
 most distinguished of the northern tribes. 
 Our annals speak of their chieftains so 
 frequently, Ihat, what Spencer has said 
 of their foreign extraction, is utterly 
 absurd. Our bards and shanachies 
 never could lose sight of chieftains, so 
 distinguished as they were, amongst the 
 princely clans of Colla. 
 
 The very usual Irish name, ^lath- 
 ghamhain or Mahowin, from which the 
 
DR. KEATING S PREFACE. 
 
 XXXI 
 
 Eocaidh Duiblon, son of Carbri Lifficar, of the line of Erimon 
 or lieremon. Of the second family, the "Clann Suibhni," (called 
 Sweenies, or MacSweenies,** in English) he says, that they are of 
 an English house, called Swyne ; but " Suihhm'' (of which 
 Sweeny is but a recent corruption) and "Swyne," are totally 
 distinct words, and, consequently, the MacSweenies cannot be a 
 branch of that English family. They are in reality descended 
 from the O'Neills. He says, also, that the MaeSheehics'" are of 
 Anglo-Norman extraction ; but in this, too, he eri's egregiously, 
 for it is well known they are of the line of Colla Uais, and that 
 they owe their name to Sithach, pronounced Sheehagh, son of 
 Ecdon. son of Alasdran, son of Domnald or Donald, from whom 
 the Clan Donald {i. e., the MacDonalds) of Ireland and Scotland 
 take their name. He makes a similar assertion with regard to 
 the Macnamaras,*^ and says, that the}- are Anglo-Normans, and 
 
 above three familie?, so widely distinct 
 in their genealogies, derive their sur- 
 names (wliich all three mean the same 
 thing), is said to be an old Irish term 
 for the animal called a " bear." The 
 editor, however, has never heard or seen 
 it used in that sense, and he, therefore, 
 doubts it. The Saxon name '-Bear'' and 
 the Norman one '• Fitz Urse," being 
 similar in signification, led Spenser to 
 make his unfounded imputation of Sax- 
 onism upon the Mac Mahons of Ulster. 
 ^ The Mac Su-eenies settled early 
 in Tirconnel, and there branched into 
 three great families, namely : '• Mac 
 Suibni Fanaid," who dwelt at Bath- 
 mullah Castle, ea?t of Lough Swilly ; 
 " Mac Suibni of Boghanech," now tlie 
 barony of Banagh, and '"Mac Suibni na 
 Tuath," or of the Battle-axes, Lord of 
 Tuatha Toraighe {Tool/a Torec), a ter- 
 ritory near Tory Island, off the north- 
 west point of Donegal County. The 
 Mac Sweenies were standard-bearers 
 and marshals to the O'Donnells. They 
 were famous throughout Ireland as 
 leaders of those heavy-armed infimtry 
 soldiers, culled (ialloglasscs. A branch 
 of the family settled in the County of 
 Cork in the Thirteeuth century, as com- 
 manders of these soldiers, under the Mac 
 Carthies of Desmond. This branch of 
 the family had castles at Clodagh, 
 near Macroom, and at Castlemore, in 
 Parish of Moviddy. They were famous 
 for their hospitality, and one of them 
 
 erected a large stone near the Castle 
 of Clodagh, with an Irish inscription, 
 inviting travellers to repair to the 
 house of Edmond Mac Sweeny for free 
 entertainment. Some of this family 
 have taken the conjecture of Spenser for 
 truth, and have actually chosen to revel 
 in the smoothly Saxon, but rather por- 
 cine patronjTnic of '• Swyne." Others, 
 with a better taste, modify the name to 
 Swayne ; but all the old and respectable 
 branches of the Sept write the name 
 •' Mac Sweeny," or simply, " Sweeny." 
 
 *' The Mac Slieehies of Antrim were 
 also famous as Chieftains of Galloglas- 
 sess, and obtained possessions in various 
 parts of Ireland, as sword-lands from the 
 powerful toparchs into whose service 
 they entered. A branch of them became 
 captains to the Earls of Desmond, in 
 the Fifteenth century. They formed 
 the body-guard of these powerful no- 
 blemen. Several descendants of the 
 sept have changed their name to "Joy." 
 Siothach {Sheehagh), comes from 
 " Sith" (Slieeh), which means "peace" 
 or " quietness." 
 
 " Macnamara. The powerful Dalcas- 
 sian sept of ".Mac Connmra." i.e., sou of 
 Cumara. takes its name from a descend- 
 ant of Conall, of the Swift Steeds, who 
 was King of Munster in the Fourth 
 century Their tribe-land was called 
 Tricha-kcad-ui-casin ( Trilia-kaid-cc-ca- 
 slicen), and forms the present barony 
 of Tullagh, and part of that of Bun- 
 
XXXii DR. KEATING's PREFACE. 
 
 that they came from the family of " ISIortimer," in Normandy. 
 But in this, also, he makes an unfounded assertion, for it is 
 clearly known that the family of Macnamara (in Irish, Mac-Con- 
 mara) takes its name from a progenitor, whose name was 
 ''Cumara." The proper surname, or rather tribe-name, of this 
 clan is " Sil-Aedha" (Sheel naya\ and they are of the descend- 
 ants of Casin {Casheen\ son of Cas, son of Conall of the Swift 
 Steeds, and of the line of Eber. He says, that the following sur- 
 names, likewise, are derived from Great Britain, namely : the 
 «" Sil Brainn" {Sheel Brinn), i. e. the Byrnes, the " Tuathalaigh" 
 {Toohalaigh), i. e. the Tooles, and the ^Víxemhanságh.''\Kaivaumgh), 
 i. e. the Kavanaghs ; but, the evidence he brings forward in sup- 
 port of this conjecture is entirely fallacious, for he merely strives 
 to derive these three names from words in the British language. 
 In the first place, he says, that bi^in means woody ; now, admitting 
 that the word hrin does mean looody^ still the name of the " Bran- 
 naigh," i. e. the O'Brainns or Byrnes, is not derived from that word 
 hrin^ but from a warrior, whose name was "Brann" or ''Brand." 
 Secondh', he says, that the word tol is the same as Mlly^ and that 
 it is from that word the "Tooles" are called, but Toole merely is an 
 English corruption of 0'Tuathail« {O'Toohill), which these Tua- 
 thalaigh have had from one of their progenitors, a chieftain 
 named " Tuathal " (Toohal.) Thirdly, he tells us, that in British, 
 Kaevdn means strong, and that it was from this word Kaevan, 
 tliat the "Kavanaghs" hiive had their surname. My answer to 
 him here is, that, in Irish, the word "Caemhan" {Kaevaun), means a 
 person that is " Caemh " (Kaeve), i. c. genile, or handsorae. •^■^The 0'- 
 Cavanaghs, however, have taken their name fromDomnald Kaem- 
 
 ratty, in the County of Clare. Their mal territory was called Ui Faelain, 
 
 tribe-name was " Clann Cullcin." Their which comprised the northern Jialf of 
 
 origin is the same as that of the the present County of Kildare. Driven 
 
 O'Briens and -Mac Mahons of Thomond, thence Vjy the Anglo-Normans, they 
 
 of which kingdom they were the lieredi- fixed themselves in the mountains of 
 
 tary grand-marshals. " Cumara" means Wicklow, and continued with their cor- 
 
 a " hound," or rather, a " wolf-dog " of relatives the 'Tooles, to be long the 
 
 the sea, and metapliorically, a sea-cliam- terror of the invaders of their ancestral 
 
 pion. The wolf-dog was the most homes. 'J'he word •' ]irann" or " Brand," 
 
 noble animal of prey that Ireland pro- whence comes O'Brainn, means "raven" 
 
 duced. Hjncc, " Cu " came to signify in Gaelic. 
 
 a hero, just as "lion" did in more "O'Tuathail — The O'Toolcs were also 
 
 Bouthern latitudes. anciently seated in Kildare, where their 
 
 *'SU Brainn — The O'Brinns, or Byr- territory was called Ui Muiredhaigh 
 
 pes, have th'.'ir name from Brann Dubh, (Ee Murratj). J)riven thence by Walter 
 
 i. e. "the dark Brann," who was king of de Jliddlesford, they settled in Ui Mail, 
 
 of Leinster in the seventh century, in tlie country of Wicklow, the territory 
 
 Their origin is the same as tliat of in wliirh (jlondalogh is situated. " Tuat- 
 
 the two Septs that follow. Their orig- hal," the name of thtiir immediate an- 
 
DR. KEATING'S preface. XXXÍÍÍ 
 
 l)ánac]i, or Donald Kavanagli, son of Diarmaid na n-Gall, and that 
 Donald himself received the soubriquet Caemhanach from his hav- 
 ing been educated at Cill-Caemhain {Kili-Kaivcmin), or Kaevan's 
 Church, in the lower part of Leiuster. According to its pedigree, 
 this clan is a branch of the O'Kinselaghs. Moreover, these three 
 tribes are of Gaelic extraction, acoording to our ancient history. 
 They are all three of the posterity of Cathaeir Mor {Caheer More\ 
 king of Ireland. It is a wonder to rae, how Spenser could have 
 had the presumption to handle subjects of which he was in such 
 utter ignorance, unless, as he was a poet, he allowed himself a 
 poet's license, composing fictions, as was usual with him and 
 other men of his class, inventing unreal talcs, and adorning them 
 with elegant language, in order to amuse and deceive his readers. 
 
 Stanihurst*" tells us that Meath was the portion of Ireland that 
 belonged to Slangi,*^ son of Dela, son of Loch, but this is not 
 true; for, according to the " Book of Conquests," Meath contained 
 in the time of Slangi, but one canton, or " tuath," in the neigh- 
 borhood, Uisnech ( ÍJshna/jh), and so it continued until the time 
 of Tuathal, the Welcome. And where he asserts that it was 
 from the above-named Slangi that the town of Slane had its name, 
 inferring thence that Meath was the portion he obtained from , 
 his brothers, he might with more justice have stated that the 
 province of Leinster was his , share, and that the river Slany, 
 which flows through the middle of that province to Loch-Gar- 
 man or Wexford, was called after him ; and he might have said, 
 also, that it was from him that Dumha-Slángi^ received its name 
 — this fort is also called Dinn-Eigh {Deen-Ree) ; it is situated on 
 the western bank of the Barrow, between Carlow and Leighlin. 
 He might have further informed us, that this was his fortified 
 residence, and that it was there that he died. 
 
 It is no wonder that Stanihurst was ignorant of these matters, 
 for he had never seen those Irish records, whence he might have 
 obtained a knowledge of the ancient history of the country. I 
 
 cestor, means "lord." It is pronounced, etc., were branches of the Ui Feilmed- 
 
 "Toohal." The O'Tuatbails were among ha. 
 
 the most noble of the Leinster septs. ■" Stanihurst was the son of an 
 
 Some of this race now write the name Anglo-Irish lawyer of Dublin. He 
 
 Toole, others Toohill, and others again entered as student at Oxford in 1563. 
 
 Tuthill. Some time after he married, but his 
 
 " The O'Cavanaghs and O'Kinshel- wife having died, he entered holy orders 
 
 laghs were called the Ui Feilmedha {Ee in after life. He died in 1579. 
 
 Feilmaa). Their territory comprised the " Slangi vf as the first king of the 
 
 present counties of Carlow and Wex- Fir-Bolgs. He was also, according to 
 
 ford. The Mac Davy More, or Mac our annals, the first king of Ireland. 
 
 Damore, the Mac Uadog, now Mad- '^ Dumha Sliin^, i. c. " The Mound 
 
 dock and Vaddock, the O'Murphies, of Slangi." Fr. Vuwa Sllingi. 
 
XXXIV DR. KEATING'S PREFACE. 
 
 am also of opinion, that he did not take much trouble in inquir- 
 ing after them ; for he appears so utterly ignorant of Irish alfairs 
 as to assert, that Ros-Mac-Triuin^ lies in Munster, and that Meath 
 was one of the five provinces, or " fifths" — an assertion in oppo- 
 sition both to Cambrensis himself, who does not reckon Meath 
 one of the provinces, and to the " Book of Conquests of Ireland." 
 In his apportionment of Ireland, he says, that the English pos- 
 sessed the one-half, and that the other was divided between the 
 Anglo-Irish and the Gaels. He also asserts, that the meanest 
 peasant of the English pale would not condescend to form a 
 matrimonial alliance with the noblest Gaelic family in Ireland ; 
 the words he uses in his Chronicle are these — '■'• Thé^ meanest 
 peasant^ that lives in the English province, would not give his 
 daughter in marriage to the most noble prince amongst the Irish." 
 K ow, I would ask Stanihurst here, if the peasants of the Eng- 
 lish pale be more noble, more honorable or more loyal to the 
 crown than the illustrious Anglo-Norman carls of Ireland, than 
 the earls of Kildare,"^ for instance, who married into the families 
 of MacCarthy-Reagh,^^ O'Neil, and other noble Gaelic septs ; or 
 than the earls of Ormond,^ who are allied to the O'Brien's, the 
 MacGilla- Patricks'^ (Fitz-Patricks), and the O'Carrolls f or than 
 'the earls of Desmond, who are related to the MacCarthy-Mores;'"' 
 or than the earls of Connaught,^^ Avho are closely connected with 
 the O'Kuaircs. I shall not here cite the many viscounts and 
 barons, who are thus connected with the Gaels ; they are each 
 man of them of, at least, as noble an extraction as any peasant 
 
 *' Ros Mk Triuin was the ancient tensive with the present diocese of that 
 
 name of Old Ross, in AVex ford. name. 
 
 '^ Colonorum omnium nltimus qui in " The O'Carrolls, in Irish O'Cerbhail 
 
 Anglica provinf'iii ha])ltat, filiam suam {O'Kerwill), descended from _ the Ibo- 
 
 vel nobilissimo Jlibernorum priucipi in rian stocli of Kian, son of Olild Ohim, 
 
 matrimonium uon darct. were the chief sept of the ancient prin- 
 
 '' The Earh of Kildare and the 'Earh cipality of Eli, which comprised the 
 
 of Desmond were the cliicfs of tlic noble north of the present county of Tippcrary, 
 
 sept of the Geraldines or Fitz-Ceralds. and the south of the King and Queen's 
 
 "' Mac Carthy iirai^/i. in Irish, "Mac counties. 
 
 Carthaigh Riabliach"(il/ac C«u?7ta y^ec- "'The Mac Carthy Glare's chief seat 
 
 t>ijg-/t) i.e. ]\Iac Carthy the (Jroy. Mac was in Kerry, to which the ancient 
 
 (earthy Reagh had his chief residence kingdom of Desmond or Dos-Muniha 
 
 in Carbery. This was one of tlie great liad in later times been reduced. The 
 
 septs into which the Clan Carthaigh kingdom of Desmond, thus reduced, held 
 
 split up after the Knglish invasion. together until the reign of Elizabeth, 
 
 " Tfie Earls o/ Ormond were chiefs when Mac Carthy More exchanged his 
 
 of the Butlers or Lc Botilers, one of kingly title for the Earldom of Clan 
 
 the most nobly descended amongst the Carthy. 
 
 Anglo-Norman septs of Ireland. " The Earls of Connaught. By tho 
 
 '-' The Mac Gilla Patricks, now Fitz Earls of Conmught arc here meant the 
 
 Patricks, were the ancient princes of Os- De Jhirgos, or Burkes, Earls of Clan- 
 
 8ory, a district in Kilkenny nearly cocx- rickard. 
 
DR. KEATING's preface. 
 
 XXXV 
 
 colonist that ever dwelt within the English pale. For''* mj part 
 I can see no reason why these nobleman should not contract 
 marriage alliances with the Gaelic nobility of Ireland, unlci^sthat, 
 througJi an humble opinion of their own blood, they did not 
 deem themselves worthy of forming connection with so noble 
 and so ancient a race. 
 
 From the injustice of the account which Stanihurst gives of 
 the Irish, I think that the man's testimony should be rejected 
 altogether. Besides this, it was at the instances and suggestion 
 of other persons,"^ Avho hated the Irish people, that he misrepre- 
 sented this nation so calumniously. I do likewise, verily be- 
 lieve that the hatred of everything Irish was the first nourish- 
 meut°° he eat, immediately on liis arrival in England, and that 
 he kept digesting it till his return to Ireland, when he cast it 
 forth upon his country in his writings. It is instance enough 
 
 ** The venerable Doctor seems to 
 have been here actuated by the same 
 enthusiastic admiration for antiquity 
 and purity of race, that animated one 
 of our modern bards, when singing the 
 glories of the noble ti ibe whence he has 
 himself sprung : 
 
 "Heroes of history, phantoms of fable, 
 Charlemagne's champions and Arthur's Eound 
 
 Table— 
 O, tut thp}- all a new lustre might borrow, 
 From the glory that hangs round the name of 
 Mac Caurha 1" 
 
 Montmorency, Jledina, unheard was your rank, 
 
 ay <!arkeil-eyed Dierian and lisht-hearted Frank; 
 
 And your aucestors wandered, obscure and un- 
 known, 
 
 By the smooth Guadalquiver and sunny 
 Garonne : 
 
 Ere Venice had wedded the sea, or enrolled 
 
 The name of a Doge in her proud Book of Gold ; 
 
 When her glory was all to come on like the mor- 
 row, 
 
 There were chieftains and kings of the clan of 
 Mac Caurha !''—Z>. F. McCarthy. 
 
 '^ By other persons are meant the 
 English officials, and the greedy plun- 
 derers in their train. Stanihurst, Cam- 
 brensis, Spenser, and the still viler herd 
 which Keating lashes in his preface, 
 were the Castle-hacks of their day, then 
 employed to apologize and find lying 
 pretexts for the direct robbery 'and 
 murder of the Irish nobility and people, 
 just as a like Jierd is actually employed, 
 now that the Irish nobility is nearly all 
 cither extinct or reduced to poverty, in 
 finding excuses for the indirect robbery 
 of the landless nation — for cheating 
 the poor out of their last penny, and 
 
 for killing by famine, as the sword and 
 the gibbet can no longer be used indis- 
 criminately. The trade in official cal- 
 umny, likewise, still flourishes, as of old, 
 in Dublin Castle. Lies are still th» 
 most efficacious bullets that can be cast 
 against those that would compel the 
 heirs of the upstart adventurers, that 
 usurped the places of our patriarclial 
 chieftains, to disgorge the plunde rthcy 
 have fed on too long, and to restore 
 their own tribe-lands to the clans of the 
 Gael and the Shan-Gaul. Dr. Keating 
 is mild with the suborners, though suf- 
 ficiently severe upon the suborned. He 
 was a rigid royalist, this venerable old 
 Gaul, and came of a loyal race. The 
 House of Stuart, too, now sat upon the 
 English throne, and the Irish Catholics 
 flattered themselves with the delusive 
 hope, that their revered old faith — that 
 of St. Patrick and St. Columkille — 
 would be restored by the descendants 
 of the martyred Mary of Scotland. 
 There was, then some reason for our 
 author's not wishing to aim his blows at 
 those who stood too near, what he con- 
 sidered, the sacred person of his sover- 
 eign. We must bear with him for the 
 weakness. He belonged to an age differ- 
 ent from ours, and to a difierent school. 
 ™ Nourishment. The original is some- 
 what more figurative. It has it," was 
 the first breast," or, rather, "nipple he 
 sucked," alluding to his " alma mater," 
 Oxford. 
 
XXX VI 
 
 DR. KEATING'S preface. 
 
 of the hatred he bore to Ireland, to point out the fact that he 
 blames the English colonists for not having expelled the Gaelic 
 language from the country, at the time when they had driven 
 out the° people, that had owned the land before themselves, to 
 which he adds the "remark that, " however excellent a language 
 the Gaelic may be, whoi^oever acquires a taste for it, acquires at 
 the same time a taste for the evil habits of those who speak it." 
 What must we understand from this, but that this Stanihurst 
 bore so much malice to the Irish natives, that he was sorry that 
 the Anglo-Normans, in their conquests from the Gaels, had pre- 
 ferred to act the part of Christians,^'^ rather than of heathens. 
 
 " In making this suggestion, Stani- 
 hurst meant both to signalize the 
 proneness of the Anglo-Normans to 
 adopt Celtic habits and customs, and to 
 afford an excuse for plundering what the 
 newly-imported !Sa.\ons called the de- 
 generate English, as well as the native 
 Irish. 
 
 ^■'Thc line of distinction here attempt- 
 ed to be drawn, between the extent of 
 guilt in national spoliation and murder 
 by wholesale, as practised by Christians 
 and as practised by Heathens, will 
 scarcely stand the test of sound logical 
 morality. There can be no doubt but 
 that William, tlie Bastard of Norman- 
 dy, was as great and as ruthless a mon- 
 ster of crime, as any llengist or Altila 
 could be. and, though professing Chris- 
 tianity, as anti-Christian in his acts as 
 Pontius Pilate or as Herod. The dif- 
 ference between the conduct of the nom- 
 inally Christian, and that of the avow- 
 edly Pagan conrjueror of lOngland was 
 not caused by their difference of belief. 
 It sprung from their diflÍTent necessities. 
 Hcngist was followed by a whole na- 
 tion, with their wives and children. He 
 had to providi' .settlements for the serfs, 
 as well as for the masters — fi;r the 
 clowns, as well as for the nobles; and, for 
 tliis reason, he had to expel the poor 
 man from his humiilc homestead, as 
 well as the rich man from his castle and 
 domain. William, on the other hand, 
 was followed by a fÍMidal army, mosily 
 unencuml)ered with children or with 
 wives. Of that army he had to provide 
 but for his nobles, knights, and men-at- 
 arms. 'I he soldiers of inferior rank 
 were little inclined to settle down in the 
 
 homesteads of the Saxon churls ; and, 
 besides, there were no more of them in 
 his army, than were wanted to guard the 
 persons and man the castles of the in- 
 coming nobility. This nobility wanted 
 tenants and serfs to till the lands they 
 had won by the sword, and who could 
 be found fitter for this duty than the 
 ssris of the Saxon nobility that preced- 
 ed it? It was not, then, Williams in- 
 terest, or that of his followers, to extir- 
 pate all the vanquished Saxons. He 
 would thereby, in mercantile phrase, 
 destroy the value of his new acquisition. 
 He then spared the vanciuished, as far 
 as lie found it needful for his own and 
 his fJli.wcrs' interest — the very reason 
 for which llengist is said to have ex- 
 terminated the Celtic Britons. 
 
 In Ireland the very same thing oc- 
 curred, and for a lilte reason. The 
 early Norman settlers (Dr. Keating's 
 kinsmen, for whom he iicre indirectly 
 apolof^izes) , did nor find it their interest 
 to exterminate the (jae's. 'Jhey were, 
 therefore, satislied with their submis- 
 sion. 'I'he lovely daughters of the Jberi 
 and the (ycltie soon captivated their 
 hearts, and the children of those steel- 
 clad warriors became thoroughly Irish 
 in a single century. Had our author 
 written a few years later, he need» d not 
 to have gone up to the pagan Jlengist 
 for a contrast. He would have seen 
 the part of Hcngist attem})ted to be 
 ])layed over again by that soi-disaiit 
 ("hristian saint, Oliver Cromwell, ii) 
 favor of the cnnnil/e of plebeian canters, 
 whom h(i was forced to get rid of by 
 ijuartering in the homes of thr; Iri.sh, 
 boih people and gentry. Though he, 
 
DR. KEATING S PREFACE. XXXVÍÍ 
 
 For, whoever conquers a coiintrj in a Christian manner, is satis- 
 fied with the submission and allegiance of the vanquished in- 
 habitants, and with sending colonists of his own people to dwell 
 in the land amongst them ; but it is the practice of a man, who 
 subdues a country after the manner of a heathen, to exterminate 
 the conquered natives, and to send a new race in their stead, to 
 dwell in the land that has yielded to his force. The man, in- 
 deed, tliat makes a Christian-like conquest, never extirpates the 
 language of the country he reduces to his sway. Thus, the 
 Norman William did not extinguish the Anglo-Saxon tongue, 
 when he had subdued the Anglo-Saxon nation, for he allowed 
 the people who spoke the language to remain on their native 
 soil, and hence it is that the Saxon tongue is spoken by the in- 
 habitants of England to this day. But Ilengist, the Saxon 
 chieftain, conquered the Britons after a heathen manner, for he 
 swept them^ from off' the face of the land of their birth, and 
 planted colonists of his own nation in their places ; thus he 
 completely eradicated the British dialect, by banishing all those 
 by \vi:om it was spoken. It is a conquest exactly like this latter, 
 that Stanihui'st wished to see perpetrated upon the Irish ; for it 
 is impossible to destroy any language, without extirpating those 
 whose language it is. Now, finding how anxious he was to ex- 
 pel the Gaelic speech, we may well infer that he desired the ex- 
 termination of the Gaels themselves, and that consequently he 
 held them in hatred, for which reason, all that he asserts with 
 regard to Ireland is utterly unworthy of belief. 
 
 too, was merciless as Hengist or as numbers of words, both in the old 
 William, and anti-Christian as Nero or Saxon, and, consequently, in the modern 
 as Maximin, yet it was not a difference English, that bear a close resemblance 
 of religion, that caused his conquest to to the British and Irish. Many English 
 differ so much from those made by the words also, supposed to be derived from 
 Geraldine, the Butler, the I)e Courcy, the Latin and Norman Frencli, may 
 or the De Burgo; it was entirely caused have come from the British. Ingram- 
 by the different class of soldiers, for matical structure, with the exception 
 whom he and they had respectively to of that want of the future tenses of 
 provide. They had but to provide for verbs, which is the great charadcr- 
 professional warriors and for gemlemen istic of all Teutonic tongues, as well as 
 — for men, in fine, who did not want to of the modern English, and of that frce- 
 cultivate their conquered lands them- dom from that dilapidation of the radical 
 selves. Cromwell had to provide for a consonants — the Celtic characteristic — 
 ruíBan mob, swept from the purlieus of which both the old and the new Saxon 
 the English towns, to whom the owner- enjoy, and to which the British is sub- 
 ship of even a small patch of land was ject, it is questionable whether the 
 a god-send of which, until then, they other syntactic forms of the old Saxon 
 had never dared to dream. have not a nearer resemblance to those 
 _ *^ This fact is very much to be qucs- of the modern Welsh, than to those of its 
 tioned. Any evidence, drawn from the own English progeny It is possible, 
 extinction of the Celtic language in Eng- then, that the two peoples may have 
 land, must be fallacious. There are great amalgamated. 
 
XXXV 111 
 
 DR. KEATING S PREFACE 
 
 This Stanihurst likewise finds fault with the district brelions,^ 
 i. e. the judges, and with the physicians'^ of Ireland ; but, it is a 
 matter of surprise to me, how he could presume to censure them, 
 for he was acquainted neither with the men themselves, nor with 
 the language in which their scientific works were written ; for, 
 he was utterly ignorant of Gaelic, in which tongue their treatises 
 upon the Brehou law, and upon physic, were written. He was, 
 therefore, incapable of reading these works, whether upon law 
 or phj^sic, in the original dialect in which they were written, 
 neither could he understand them, if read to him b}^ another ; 
 for this reason, I think, when he abuses these two professions, 
 that he is exactly in the position of a blind man, wlio would i)re- 
 tend to give a preference to the color of one piece of cloth beyond 
 that of another. Then, as it is impossible for a blind man to form 
 any judgment between the colors of two pieces of cloth, not 
 being able to see either, so it was also impossible for him to form 
 any opinion upon the two sciences above mentioned, for he 
 never understood tlie books in which they were written, neither 
 could he understand the ollamhs or doctors who professed them, 
 for they spoke only in Gaelic, which was their natural tongue, 
 and of that he was most thoroughly ignorant. 
 
 He likewise censures the harpers^' of Ireland, of whom he 
 
 •" Brehon. This word is called in 
 Irish " Breithenili," [brehav ;) it makes 
 "Breithcmhaiii," [Brehavwin ai)d Bre- 
 hooin,) whence comes the English form 
 " brehon." Upon this order, to which 
 whole septs were attached, the reader 
 will find fuller information, when our 
 author comes to treat of tliem more es- 
 pecially. The root of " Hreithemh " is 
 "breth" (breh), i. c. "a judicial sentence," 
 whence also come "Breithemhnas," {bre- 
 hownas,) i.e. "judpiment." Numerous 
 manuscript compilations of the " lircith- 
 emhnas " or Brehon T>aw still exist. The 
 erudite Dr. O'Douovan, and his learned 
 colleague, Mr. Eugene Curry, arc now 
 said to be jireparing a translation of 
 these laws, to be published by the Irish 
 Archaeological Society. 
 
 " A phijiicinn is called " liagh " 
 {leeah) in Iri.-h, and the healing art was 
 thence named "leighcs " (/i/a.s). 'J'licrc 
 are many tracts upon the m'Mlical art, 
 still extant in (iaelic manuscript. Di- 
 ancccht {deean-kai'^ht) was the Irish god 
 .^.■jculapius or god of ])hysic. Each 
 great tribe hail its particular sept of 
 physicians,generally of noble extraction, 
 
 and of the same blood with the chief- 
 tain. The O'Callanans were the most 
 distinguislied medical sept among the 
 Desmond clans, and it is remarkable, 
 that, even to the present day, this sept 
 has never been known to be without 
 having physicians amongst its members. 
 " Ollamh re leighes " {ollave re lijas) 
 meant medical doctor, among the Gaels. 
 '"' 'J'lie Irish had two kinds of harp, 
 one of which they called "clairsech" 
 (r.lau'rshap:h) and the other " emit " 
 {kri/th). The former is supposed to 
 have been most used for martial strains, 
 and for the songs of triumph and of 
 joy, the latter for the softer lay of love 
 and sadness. The man who performed 
 upon the latter instrument was called 
 " cruitiri " (r,rijthi<eh), whilst the play- 
 er on the clairsech, was called " clair- 
 scoir " (c/aars/iore). Oirfidech (per-fec- 
 il(if^h), was the general name for a 
 musical performer, in (Jaelic ; his art 
 was called " oirfides " and "oirfidecht" 
 [ner-fce-daglit) ; ceol [ke-olc), was the 
 general name of music. 'J'hero were 
 "Ollamhs re ceol," i- c- "Doctors of 
 Music," as well as the " Ollamhs re 
 
DR. KEATING S PREFACE. 
 
 XXXIX 
 
 asserts, that they know nothing of music. But, it is more than 
 probable, that he was himself no judge of any music™ at all. 
 Certainly, he coukl be no judge of this our Gaelic music of Eri, for 
 he knew nothing of the rules that appertain to it. One would 
 think that this Stanihurst never considered, that Ireland was a 
 region apart, forming, as it were, a little world in itself, and that 
 the nobles and ollamhs^ or learned professors, that dwelt in it of 
 old, had instituted systems of jurisprudence, physic, poetrj'-, and 
 music, which were peculiar to themselves, and that these systems 
 were governed by certain special rules of their own, which have 
 always continued to be observed in this land ; under such cir- 
 cumstances, it was very bad taste in the man to give utterance 
 to the rash judgment above cited, and so presumptuously con- 
 demn the Irish music. I wonder much that he had not read 
 the nineteenth chapiter of Cambrensis, in which he so praises the 
 music of the Irish — but, perhaps, he wished to outdo even Cam- 
 
 Leighes," aljove mentioned. The " 01- 
 lamh re Filidhecht " [filleeaght) was 
 the "Doctor of Poetry;" the Doctor 
 of Law was styled " Ollarnh re Dlighe" 
 {dice), and the Doctor of History was 
 called " OUamh re Senchas." 
 
 '" Music. In poesy, history and music, 
 which were closely allied amongst our an- 
 cestors, the most distinguished amongst 
 the professor castes were, in Ulster, the 
 O'Cleries, the Mac an Bhairds (ran/), or 
 "Wards, the MacConways, the O'Gnives, 
 the O'Slevins, O'Husseys, O'Don- 
 nellies, O'Dalies, O'Mulligans, O'Farrel- 
 lies and O'Curneens ; in Connaught and 
 Meath, the O'Maelconaries, Mulconries, 
 or Conries, the MacFirbisses, the O'Dui- 
 genaus, the O'Dugans, the O'Higgins, 
 and O'Coffees. The O'Dunns and 
 MacKeoghs, were the chief bards of 
 Leinster ; the MacGraths, the O'Di- 
 neeus, the MacBruodins or Brodies, 
 the MacCurtins, and MacGowans, and 
 some of the O'Keefes, in INLunster. 
 The O'Dalies were found distinguished 
 as poets in all parts of Ireland. " In 
 music the ancient Irish were highly 
 celebrated. It is stated in the Chroni- 
 cle of Ilanmer, p. 197, that in the latter 
 end of the eleventh century, about 
 A. D 1098, Griffith ap Conan, Prince 
 of Wales, who had resided a long time 
 iu Ireland, brought over with him, to 
 
 Wales, ' divers cunning musicians, who 
 devised in manner all the instrumental 
 music upon the harp and crowth that 
 is there used, and made laws of minstrel- 
 si/ to retain the musicians in due order.' 
 Thus it appears that the famous Welsh 
 bards were indebted for their knowl- 
 edge of the harp chiefly to the Irish. 
 The Irish in former ages were the most 
 famous harpers in Europe, and contin- 
 ued eminent in the art down to modern 
 times." Turlough O'Carrolan, our last 
 very eminent harper and composer, died 
 in the year 1738. There were many 
 other eminent bards, harpers and musical 
 composers in Ireland in the eighteenth 
 century, as Oormac Comman, Thomas 
 O'Connellan. and his brother William. 
 Roger and Echlin O'Kane, Cahir Mac- 
 Cabe, Miles O'Kelly, Charles Fanning. 
 Edward MacDermod Roe, Hugh O'Hig- 
 gin, Patrick Kerr, Patrick Moyne, and 
 others, all in Ulster and Connaught. — 
 In Meath and Leinster, Cruise, O'Car- 
 roU, Murphy and Empson, were dis- 
 tinguished harpers. Interesting ac- 
 counts of the Irish minstrels and bards 
 are given in the works of Walker [Irish 
 hard's), Boauford, Miss Brooke, Led- 
 witch, Bunting Hardiman's Irish Min- 
 strelsy, (a u'ork no reading Irishman 
 should be without. — Ed.) Notes to Con- 
 nellan's Tour Masters. 
 
Xl DR. KEATING's preface. 
 
 breusis in misrepresenting and calumniating everything Irish. 
 For there is nothing for whicli the latter writer so conmiends the 
 Irish people, as for the Gaelic music; in the chapter, just re- 
 ferred to, he says: "In their musical instruments^^ alone do I 
 find any laudable industry amongst this people ; in these they 
 are incomparably skilful, beyond all other nations." 
 
 Here follows the description, winch he gives in the same 
 chapter, while praising the (jaelic music. 
 
 "Its melody," says he, "is filled up and its harmony is pro- 
 duced by a rapidity so sweet, by so unequal a parity of sound, 
 and by so discordant a concord." "''^ From this testimony alone, 
 forced from the hostile Cambrensis, we might conclude that it 
 was grossly untrue of Stanihurst, to assert that there was no har- 
 mony in the Irish music. Neither is he to be believed, when he 
 states, that the Irish musicians were nearly all blind men ; for, it 
 is well known that there were more musicians in Ireland who 
 had their sight than were blind, at the time when he was writing 
 his history ; so it has been ever since, and so it is at present, as all 
 our coteniporaries can bear witness. 
 
 The reader must remember, thaf, when writing his history of 
 Ireland, Stanihurst was laboring under three gTcat defects, that 
 should forever disentitle him to the respect due to a competent 
 historian. In the first place, he was too young to have had time 
 to examine the antiquities of the country, of which he wrote. 
 Secondly, he was utterly ignorant of the language, in which the 
 records and ancient traditions of that country and its inhabitants 
 were preserved ; so that it was not possible that he could have 
 known anything of the former condition of Ireland. The third 
 defect he labored under, was his sordid ambition ; he was inspired 
 by the hope of obtaining preferment from those who had suborned 
 him to malign the Irish nation in his writings. His writings on 
 this subject are also unworthy of credit, from the fact that, after- 
 wards, when he Avas about Ijecoming a priest, he had himself 
 E remised a recantation of all tlie malignant falsehoods which he 
 ad written about this country, which recantation is, as I can 
 learn, now jtrinted and published in Ireland. ^^ 
 
 Stanihurst tells us also that the Irish, when engaged in battle, 
 or in any hostile encounter^ used to cry out Pharo, Pharo,''* in a 
 
 " In musicis solum instnimontis com- "' From tlii.s rpmark, one miprlit tliink 
 
 mcndaVjilcm invonio gc-ntis istius dili- Dr. Kcatiiiir was not liimsclf in Ireland 
 
 gcntiam, in quibus pre omni natione when writing liis preface. 'J'lic editor 
 
 quam vidimus in comparabiliter est iu- does not know, whellicr the recantation 
 
 Btructa. here mentioned lias been over pul)Iislicd. 
 
 " Tam suavi velocitatc, tarn dispari '* P/iaro. The Irish war-cry "farrah," 
 
 paritate, tarn discordi concordia, con- may either be the (íaelic equivalent for 
 
 Bona rcdditur et coniplctur mclodia. the Saxon " hurrah," or as Dr. Keating 
 
DK. KEATING's preface. xli 
 
 loud voice. This word, Avliich he calls Pharo^ he would derive 
 from " Pharaoh," the name of the ancient Egyptian kings. But 
 the fact is not so ; the ciy is "Faire 0" {Farr^o) and it means beware, 
 thus telling the other parties to defend themselves, if they can; 
 just so, th^ Frenchman says (/aríiííz, gardez, which means the same 
 thing when he sees his neighbor in danger. 
 
 Doctor Hanmer''^ hands down in his chronicle that Bartholinus 
 was the leader of the Gaels on their arrival in Ireland; by this 
 Bartholinus, he, of course, means Partholan, Bat, according to 
 the history of Ireland, there were more than seven hundred 
 years between the coming of Partholan to Ireland and the 
 invasion of the sons of Miledh (i. e. the Gaels). For, 
 Partholan landed in Ireland about three hundred years after 
 the Deluge, and it was one thousand and eighty years after the 
 deluge when the sons of Miledh arrived therein. In this mat- 
 ter, according to the opinion of Camden, more credence is to be 
 given to the ancient traditions of Ireland than to any conjecture 
 of Hanmer. The learned Camden speaks thus upon the sub- 
 ject : " Ancient™ tradition must be respected in all such matters ;" 
 and truly, if we are to pay respect to any historic tradition on ac- 
 count of its antiquity, then is the history of Ii-elaud worthy of 
 the most special respect." On this subject Camden again says, in 
 his Britannia Camdeni, when referring to Ireland," "Tliis island 
 was not undeservedly called " Ogygia" or "the most ancient" by 
 Plutarch.^^ The reason he assigns for this opinion is because 
 "they"'^ (that is the Irish) "deduce their history from memorials 
 
 here suggests, it may have meant "gar- chroaicie in Drogheda, in 1571. It 
 
 dez " or •' beware." " Aboo," a word was addressed to Robert Dudley, Earl 
 
 ■which the Editor thinks formed upon of Leicester. 
 
 " buadh " ( booa ), i. e. " victory," was "^ In his detur sua antiquite venia. 
 
 another war-cry of the Irish, thus the " Non immerito hcec insula Ogy^ria, 
 
 O'Neill s had their " Lamh derg abu " id est, perantiqua a Plutarcho dicta 
 
 {laav darg aboo), i. e. Red hand aboo : fuit. 
 
 the O'Brien's " Lamh laider [Laudir) '* A profundissima cnim antiquitatis 
 
 abu," i. e. Strong hand aboo. memoria, historias suas auspicantur, 
 
 The Anglo-Irish Normans adopted adeo ut pra; illis omnis omnium gentium 
 
 the cry " abu," with other Celticisms ; antiquitas sit novitas ant quodam mode 
 
 thus tlic cry of the great Earls of Des- infant ia. , 
 
 raond was " Crom aboo," from their '^ Plutarch was a native of Chaer- 
 
 castle of Crom, in the County of Limer- onea, a city of Beotia, in Greece, and 
 
 ick ; that of the Earls of Kildare was born of a respectable family. He 
 
 " Shano't aboo," from their castle of flourished in the reign of the Roman 
 
 Shauct ; the Ormouds shouted Butleir- Emperor Trajan, by whom ho was 
 
 ech (BiitJayragh) aboo, and the Do made Consul and Governor of Illyr- 
 
 Burgos, or Burkes, of Connaught, " Gall icum. Plutarch was distinguished as 
 
 lliabliach (Gaiú Reevngh) aboo," i. c. a philosopher, as well as a writer, 
 
 tiie " Grey Stranger aboo." The greatest and most esteemed of his 
 
 " Dr. Mcredeth Hanmer wrote his works, are his " Lives of Illustrious 
 
Xlil - DE. KEATIXG's preface. 
 
 derived from the most profound depths of remote antiquity ; so 
 that, c;)mp:ired with that of Ireland, the antiquities of all other 
 nations is but novelty, and their historj- is but a kind of infancy," 
 From this learned authority also, it may be judged how much 
 more the ancient records of Ireland are to be relied on than Doc- 
 tor Ilanmer, who never even saw them. 
 
 The same author (Hanmcr) again asserts that a king of Loch- 
 lainn,^" i. e. Denmark, was the sovereign of Ireland at tlie time of 
 the birth of Christ. But for such an assertion he had not the 
 slightest foundation ; for, the ancient records tell us that Christ 
 was born during the reign of the monarch Crimthann Niadh- 
 Nair.*^ It is somewhat astonishing that a man like Ilanmer, an 
 English Saxon, who had never seen, and who, if he had, could 
 not comprehend the ancient writings of our country, sliould pre- 
 tend to know what king ruled it at the time of the Saviour's birth, 
 when it was out of his power to name even the king that ruled 
 Great Britain itself at that epoch. For, Samuel Daniel, Gildas, 
 Rider, Kennius,*^ and many old British authors, who have written 
 the history of their country, confess that they possess but very 
 scattered fi-agments of the ancient history of Great Britain, be- 
 cause, say they, the Romans and the Saxons carried off and de- 
 stroyed their old traditional writings ; thus, there now remains to 
 them nothing but surmise and conjecture, concerning the more 
 ancient transactions of the Britons. This gave occasion even to 
 the learned Camden to remark, that he knew not the period, at 
 which the Picts settled in North-Britain, and that he did not even 
 know whence the British island had received the name Britannia : 
 
 Men," wliich are distiniruislicf] for the lie, a tendency to make a nominative 
 ■wonderful skill and impartiality with of the dative of some feminine nouns, 
 which he depicts his heroes. I'lutarch thus, "Tigh," the dative of "Tech," a 
 died A.D. 140. liou^e, is now used as nominative. He 
 •" Loc/i/a/nn (2Loc//Zm) was the rJaelic thinks, that it is owinpr to a like ten- 
 name fur all those countrit's called in- dency that Lochlainn, and also Bretain, 
 discriminately Scandinavia, that is, for i. e. Brilnin, and a few other local ap- 
 Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Fin- pelations, diili-r, in their nominatives, 
 land, <tc. ]f the word were pure from words with which they agree in 
 Gaelic, it should moan tiie " Country all their other cases, 
 of Lakes." The nanpe appears older " Crimlhnnn Niadh-Nair, is pro- 
 than the Gothic occupation of tlicso nounced Criffann Neeah-no/r. 
 countries, and resembles those names '' Nenniiis was an ancient British 
 given hj the TuatJia De Dananns to writer, who wrote tlie history of his 
 the British and adjacent isles. Its no- nation in Latin. lie lived about the 
 minativeis "Ix)chlaiiin " (Lochlin),and fifth century. An old translation of 
 its genitive Lochlann. 'J'o correspond his work into Irish has been recently 
 exactly with'- Eri" and "Alba" (//<?/«»(-/ published, with the original, by the 
 mid Scf,tlari(l) Arc, 'in declension, its Irish Archeologieal Society. Dr. Keat- 
 nominative should be " Lochia." But ing had most probably a copy of this 
 tlie editor las observed, in modern Gae- translation by him, 
 
mi. keating's preface. 
 
 xliii 
 
 hence he is forced to give us his conjecture like other less learned 
 writers. Now, many of the ancient transactions of his own coun- 
 tiy being thus uncertain and obscure to so learned a man, it is 
 little wonder that tliey shoukl be still more so to Ilanmer, who 
 must conscquentl}^ have been in still greater ignorance of the 
 ancient affairs of Ireland ; wherefore, his authority is not to be 
 credited, when he asserts that Ireland was ruled by a king of Den- 
 mark at the time of Christ's birth. 
 
 He asserts, also, that St. Patrick,^ the Apostle of Ireland, was 
 
 '^ For information upon St. Patrick, 
 the render is referred to the body of 
 this history, and the notes thereon. I 
 here transcribe a description of Pat- 
 rick's Purgatory and Loch Derg, where 
 it is situat'ed. from Mr. Owen Connel- 
 la's notes to his translation of the Four 
 Mastei*s. 
 
 '• The lake called Lough Derg is situ- 
 ated in Donegal, on the borders of Fer- 
 managh and Tyrone, in the parish of 
 Templecarne, sometimes called Termon- 
 magrath, part of which forms the parish 
 of Pettigo, in the diocese of Ologher. 
 The lake is very large and beautiful, 
 and contains many fine islands. This 
 lake was anciently called Fionn Loch, 
 that is, the Fair or White Lake ; but it 
 got the name Loch Dearg, or the Red 
 Lake, from a monster said to have been 
 slain there by St. Patvick, the blood of 
 which tinged the lake of a red color. 
 In the latter end of the fifth cen- 
 tury, about A.D. 490, St. Dabeoc 
 founded a monastery on an island in 
 Lough Derg, and it became a priory of 
 Angustinian monks. The island was 
 called, in after times, St. Fintau's island, 
 from Fiutan Munnu, a celebrated saint 
 in the seventh century, who was of the 
 race of the Connallians, of Tirconnell. 
 On the island was formed a cave or cell, 
 called St. Patrick's Purgatory, which 
 became celebrated as a place of penance 
 and pilgrimage. Various accounts are 
 given as to the time this place, called 
 the Purgatory, was founded. Some 
 ascribe its iastitution to St. Patrick 
 himself, in the fifth century ; while 
 others are of opinion that it was first 
 instituted in the ninth century, about 
 A.D. 850, by a monk named Patrick, 
 one of the priors of the island; but 
 
 Lanigan considers it was not established 
 till the eleventh or tw'elfty century. St. 
 Patrick's Purgatory became famous as 
 a place of pilgrimage, and in former 
 ages was resorted to by vast numbers 
 of pilgrims, not only from all parts of 
 Ireland and Britain, but even from the 
 continent. It is recorded in Rymer's 
 Fcedera, that in 1358, King Edward 
 III. granted to Malatesta Ungarus, a 
 Hungarian knight, and to Nicholas de 
 Beccario, a nobleman of Ferrara, in 
 Italy, a safe conduct through England, 
 to visit St Patrick's Purgatory ; and 
 in 1397, King Richai'd II. granted a 
 like conduct to Raymond, Viscount de 
 Perilleux, knight of Rhodes, with a 
 train of ti\-enty men and thirty horses. 
 The monastery of Termoudabeog, at 
 Lough Derg, was subject to the great 
 abbey of Armagh, and was dedicated 
 to SS. Peter and Paul ; three great 
 festivals were annually held at the 
 abbey, on the 1st of January, the 24th 
 of July, and the 16th of December, in 
 honor of the patron and founder, St. 
 D.abeoc, who is buried there. The 
 abbey continued to be of great note to 
 the seventeenth century, taut in A.D. 
 1632, by order of the lords justices, Sir 
 Adam Loftus, Viscount of Ely, and 
 Richard Royle, Earl of Cork, the abbey 
 and other buildings on the island of 
 Lough Derg, were demolished, and the 
 friars expelled, by Sir James Balfour 
 and Sir William Stuart, who were de- 
 puted for that purpose. Some ruins of 
 the old abbey still remain, and it still con- 
 tinues as a place of pilgrimage, but in 
 modern times the place of performing 
 penance has been removed from Saint's 
 Island, to another near it called Statin 
 Island. Lough Derg, to the present 
 
xliv 
 
 DR. KEATING'S PREFACE. 
 
 not the first -who planted the Cathohc faith in Ireland, and that 
 it was not he that discovered Patrick's cave in the island, where 
 his Purgatory is situated ; for, he says that it was another Pat- 
 rick, an abbot, who lived in the year of our Lord 850. But there 
 is no truth in what he says on the subject, as may be proved 
 from St. Cx\sarius, who lived about six hundred years after Christ, 
 and, consequentl}'', two centuries and a half before that second 
 Patrick lived in this country. This holy writer says, in the 
 thirty-eighth chajiter of his twelfth book, entitled Liber Dialogo- 
 rum, ^'^ " Let whomsoever has any doubt of purgatory go to Scotia, 
 and enter the Purgatory of St. Patrick, and, thenceforth, he will 
 no longer question the pains of purgatory." From tliis quota- 
 tion, it is evident that St. Patrick's Purgatory was not originally 
 
 day, is visited by vast numbsrs of pil- 
 grims. Tlie time of performing the pen- 
 ance is from the 1st of June to the 15th 
 of August. The chieftains of tlie an- 
 cient Irish, amidst all their fierce feuds 
 amongst themselves, and iheir san- 
 guinary conflicts of centuries with for- 
 eign foes, were still a religious race, and 
 imbued with a great love of literature ; 
 and their kings, princes, and chiefs 
 founded and amply endowed a \ast 
 number of ecclesiastical and literary 
 establishments, abbtiys, colleges, and 
 great Echools ; as those of Armagh, 
 Downpatrick, Bangor, Derry, Donegal, 
 Clogher, Clones, Devenish, Fenagh, 
 Boyle, Cong, Mayo, Clonfort, Louth, 
 Monasterboyce, Mellifout, Slane, Kells, 
 Ardbraccan, Trim, Clonard, Clonmac- 
 noLs, Rahan, Fore, Kildare, Clononagb, 
 Tallaght, Glendalnugh, Leighlin, Ferns, 
 Lismore, Cashel, Holycross, Ross, Ros- 
 crea, Iniscatliay, Aran of the Saints, 
 and others. Of these famous seats of 
 piety and learning amoni^st the ancient 
 Irish, many venerable ruing still remain, 
 but of many more, even their very ruins 
 have disappeared, di'stroyed by the hand 
 of time, or the still more destructive 
 violence of fanaticism and war. The 
 most celebrated places of pilgrimage in 
 Ireland were Lough Derg. Armaorli, 
 Downpatrick, and Derry Colninbkille, 
 in Ulster ; Croagh Patrick mountain, 
 in Mayo ; Aran of the Saints, off the 
 coast of Galway ; the seven churches 
 of St. Kiaran, at Clonraacnois. and of 
 St. Kevin, at Glendaiough ; Kildare, 
 of St. Bridget, and Holycross, in Tip- 
 
 perary. Many of the Irish kings and 
 princes are recorded to have gone on 
 pilgrimages to the abbey founded by 
 their countryman, St. Columbkille, at 
 lona. in the Hebrides." The "patrons," 
 which are still kept up, in memory of 
 their ancient local saints, by the peas- 
 antry of certain Irish parishes, are rem- 
 nants of this pious custom of our an- 
 cestors. They are now, however, but 
 little frequented ; for, during the perse- 
 cution of the Irish church, their cele- 
 bration could no longer be, with safety, 
 superintended by the people's clergy. 
 They, thence, became scenes of much 
 disorder, and fell into disuse, having 
 been, in many instances, discouraged by 
 the priesthood. But few attend them 
 noAv, for devotion's sake. In some in- 
 stances they have even been turned into 
 f"i'S for the purpose of worldly traffic 
 by the ^lammon-worshippers that now 
 own the soil of the isle of Saints. 
 A rao.lern Irish " patron " can then give 
 no picture of what these celebrations 
 weic in olden days, when the clergy of 
 the parish presided thereat, and when 
 the patriarcii-chief of the district kept 
 the eviUlisposcd within the bounds of 
 decorum. For some likeness of them, 
 one must have recourse to those orderly 
 and decorous /f/fs that are still held in 
 ('alhdlic countries on the Eumjiean 
 continent, on the festival days of the 
 saints. 
 
 *' Qui de purgatorio dubitat »Scotiam 
 pergiit, vl aniplius de poeuis purgatorii 
 non dabitabit. 
 
DR. KEATING's preface. 
 
 xlv 
 
 discovered or invented by tbe Patrick of whom Hanmer speaks, 
 but that it was instituted by St. Patrick, the Apostle. P'or, how 
 could the second Patrick possibly have discovered or invented 
 it, when we find it spoken of by St. Cnesarius, two hundred and 
 fifty years before that second Patrick flourished ? Besides, both 
 our ancient records and our oral traditions aver that the purga- 
 tory was originally instituted by St. Patrick, the Apostle of 
 Ireland. From these testimonies, it appears clearly that Hanmer 
 has himself invented the above malignant falsehood, hoping 
 thereby to lessen the respect which the Irish entertain for the 
 cave of the Purgatory. 
 
 This man makes another unfounded assertion in his twenty-fourth 
 page, where he states that Finn ^MacComhail was descended 
 
 ^ Finn MacComhail—ThÍ5 was less au- 
 dacious than the unscrupulous attempt, 
 made by MacPherson and the Scotch 
 writers of his day, to rob Ireland of this 
 hero. The mind of Ireland then lay so 
 prostrate, that the arch impostor never 
 contemplated the publication of any 
 original Irish documents, that would 
 make patent his base theft. As nobody 
 now believes in the imposition, but per- 
 sons that do not read books, I shall not 
 waste space in confuting it here, but refer 
 the reader to the simple history of that 
 chieftain and his army, found in the fol- 
 lowing pages — a history which, notwith- 
 standing some exaggerations of detail, 
 every successive inquiry on the subject, 
 as well as every ancient document that 
 has been brought to light from time to 
 time, has proved to be substantially 
 correct. 1 here subjoin the following 
 quotation from the greatest and most 
 learned Irish antiquarian of modern, or, 
 perhaps, of ancient times : " This is 
 the celebrated champion called Fin- 
 gal by MacPherson, and Fin Ma Cam- 
 hail by the Irish^ of whom Mr. Moore 
 has the following remarks in his His- 
 tory of Ireland : ' It has been the 
 fate of this popular hero, after a long 
 course of traditional renown in his 
 countrj', where his name still lives, not 
 only in legends and songs, but yet in the 
 most indelible of scenery connected 
 with his memoi-y, to have been all at 
 once transferred, hif adoption, to another 
 country (Scotland), and start under a 
 new but false shape, in a fresh career of 
 fame.' 
 
 " This celebrated warrior, who had 
 two grand residences in Leinster, one at 
 Almheim, now the hill of Allen, in the 
 county of Kildare, and the other at 
 Magh Ellé, now Moyelly, in the King's 
 County, was son-in-law of King Cor- 
 mac, and General of his standing army, 
 which, as Pinkerton remarks, seems to 
 have been in imitation of the Roman 
 Legions. The words of this critical 
 writer are worth quoting here : 
 
 " ' He seems,' says he, ' to have been 
 a man of great talents for the age, and 
 of celebrity in arms. His formation of 
 a I'egular standing army, trained to war, 
 in which all the Irish accounts agree, 
 seems to have a rude imitation of the 
 Roman legion in Britain. The idea, 
 though simple enough, shows prudence ; 
 for such a force alone could have coped 
 with the Romans, had they invaded Ire- 
 land. But this machine, which sur- 
 prised a rude age, and seems the basis 
 of all Finn's fame, like some other great 
 schemes, only lived with its author, and 
 expired soon after him.' — Inquiry into 
 the History of Scotland, vol. ii., p. 77. 
 
 " The bands of Kerns and Gallo- 
 glasses, supported by the Irish chief- 
 tains of later ages, may have been imi- 
 tations of these more primitive Fians, 
 who are still so vividly remembered, 
 while the Kerns and Galloijlasses are 
 nearly forgotten." — Dr. O'Donovan's 
 Notefi to his Translation of the Annals of 
 the Four blasters. 
 
Xlvi DR. KEATING's PREFACE. 
 
 from the Scandinavians, of Dania or Denmark ; but this again is 
 altogether false, for the Irish annals explicitly tell us, that he is 
 descended from Nuadath or Nuadh Kect, king of Leinster, and 
 of the royal line of Erimon, son of Miledh. He further asserts, 
 that the person, Avhom some authors call Gilla-Mara, was son of 
 the king of Thomond, but it is enough for our purpose, that we 
 have already confuted this falsehood. It was through ridicule, I 
 suppose, that Ilannier gave down the battle of Finn-Traigh or 
 Ventry, malevolently insinuating a traitorous calumny against 
 our antiquaries, and hoping thereby to persuade his readers, that 
 the histoiic records of Ireland are unworthy of credit, as being 
 all of the same character as the battle of Ventry. Yet, it is well 
 understood, that our historians never considered the talc called 
 the ^Cath Fimi-TragJta, or the Battle of Ventry, as a true narration, 
 but they positively held it to be a fabulous romance, or Fenian 
 tale, which had been composed merely for amusement. I give 
 the same reply to everything which he has related concerning 
 the Fiann." It is untrue of him, also, to say that Slangi, son 
 of Dela. held the sovereignty of Ireland for thirty years; for, ac- 
 cording to our historic accounts, he reigned but one single year. 
 It is in like manner untrue of him, to assert that the Archbishop^ 
 of Canterbury exercised a jurisdiction over the clergy of Ireland, 
 from the time of St. Augustine^ downwards. For, it is also 
 
 * The " Cath Fiitn-Trnrrha" {cah- nee), i. c. a Fenian warrior, may then 
 
 finn-tratr), or Battle of Ventry, is a be synonymoiw Avith the more common 
 
 homba-slic and totally ridiculous tale, term " Fiadliaidhe " {Fceap;huec), the 
 
 that is luvor referred to by any of our Latin " vcnator," or the German 
 
 Shanac'hies. It seoma intended for a "japer," and have no relationship at all 
 
 Bort of nursery talc. with the word Phoenician. 
 
 " Fiann (Fcean) . The army, or rath- '* The reader will find this subject 
 
 er, the military order of which Finn treated of more fully in the sequel, 
 
 was the chicltain, was called the " Fiann "^" St. Aufrustine, or Austin, is the 
 
 of Eri." ile was styled " Flaith Feinnc Apostle of the Eng-lish. By English 
 
 Da Hhiaph" (Finh-Fuyni na Sloo), i. e. we must, however, understand the 
 
 Prini c of the Fiann of Hosts, tíome Anplo-Saxons, for the liritons were 
 
 think the wonl Fiann comes from (christians long before his time. St. 
 
 " Pha-nirian." It possibly may. It is, Aufiustine flourished al^out the close of 
 
 however, jii'^t a.-i likely to come from the fith century, lb; was originally a 
 
 the Bainc origin with Fadhach (pr. monk at Home Pope (Jregory T. sent 
 
 Feeagh) i.e. a hunt, and to mean an him, with forty of his confraternity, to 
 
 order of hiintfrs. Thus the name of a convert the English. Their exertions 
 
 membor of that modern (Jerinan light were crowne<l with success, and St. 
 
 cavalry corps, " .lager." means hunter. Augustine became the first Archbishop 
 
 The " Fianna," (pr. Feeanna,) seem to of ( "anterliury. He must not be con- 
 
 bavc done nothing but hunt and fitrht. founded with the great writer and 
 
 From some of the Fenian tales and poema father of the Church, the African St. 
 
 one mitrht imagine that they monopf>- Augustine, who lived in the end of the 
 
 lized all the pnme as well as aÍI the fight- 4th and beginning of the 5th centuries, 
 ing of Eri in their day. Fcinnidhe {Fay- 
 
DR. KEATING's preface. xlvii 
 
 clearly proved, by Iridi history, that the Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury never exercised any such jurisdiction, until the days of 
 William the Conqueror; and, even then, he but exercised it 
 over the clergy of Dublin, Wexford, Cork and Limerick ; and it 
 was the clergy of these dioceses themselves that gave him that 
 jurisdiction, through affection towards the Norman French, who 
 were descended from the same Scandinavian, called otherwise 
 Norman stock, with themselves; they were also prompted to 
 this act by their enmity towards the Gtielic race. I am, how- 
 ever, of opinion, that this jui-isdiction Avas never exercised by 
 more than three Archbishops of Cantcrbmy, namely, by Eodolph, 
 Lanfranc and Anselm. Thus, it is a gross misstatement, on the 
 part of Ilanmer, to sa}'' that the clergy of Ireland were under the 
 jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury from the time of 
 the monk St, Augustine. It is also falsely asserted by him, that 
 one Murcadh MacCochlain (Murrogh MacCoghlain) was king of 
 Ireland in the year of our Lord 1166 ; for it is certain that Rode- 
 •rick O'Connor was the person in possession of the sovereignty 
 of Ireland at that time, which was but four years anterior to the 
 English invasion. He says, in like manner, tliat St. Comgall,*' 
 the abbot of Benchor or Bangor, in Ulster, or rather in Ulidia, 
 was born in Great Britain ; but this is not the truth, for, we read 
 in the life of that saint, that he was born in Dalaradia, in the 
 north of Ulidia^^ or Uladh, and that he was descended from the 
 Gaelic tribe called the Dal-Ai-aidhe, from which the territory of 
 of Dal-Araidhe or Dalaradia had received its name. The reason 
 why Hanmer wished to make Comgall out a Briton, was because 
 that saint was the founder of the above-mentioned monastery of 
 Bangor in Ulster, which was the mother of all the monasteries 
 in Europe, and because he had founded another monastery, called 
 also Bangor, in Britain, near Westchester. If Hanmer could 
 have made his readers believe that Comgall was a Briton, he 
 would either have made the great fame of the monastery of 
 Bangor, in Ulster, contribute to the glory of the British, from the 
 fact of Comgall's being their countryman, or he would have stolen 
 the illustrious distinction, earned by the Ulidian Bangor, and given 
 it altogether to the British monastery that bore the same naiue. 
 
 *" St. Comgall founded his monastery sept of Araide," from Fiaclia Araidhe, 
 
 of Bennchair, or Bangor, in the present King of all Ulster, in A.D. 240. 
 
 barony of Ards, and county of Down, Magennis or Mac/Engusa was the 
 
 in the year 554, or, accordino; to some surname of the chief lamily of the 
 
 entries, 558. Dal-Araidhe. According to O'Dugan, 
 
 *' í7//arí/i(I7?/a) comprised the pres- the families of O'Gairbhith and O'b- 
 
 ent county of Down, and part of the Ambhith, now O'Garvey and O'Hap- 
 
 county of Antrim. It was also called nafey or Hanvey, held the chieftaincy in 
 
 Dal-Araidhe {Daul Arree,) i. e. " the more early times. 
 
X:lviii DR. KEATING's preface. 
 
 Hanmer further states, that the saints, Fursa, Faelaii and Ultan, 
 were illegitimate sons of the king of Leinstcr: but, according 
 to the history of the Irish saints, thej were the sons of Aedh 
 Bennan,'''^ king of Munster. It is so Avith all the other lies, which 
 Ilanmer tells in writing of Ireland, but I shall cease to pursue 
 them any further, for it would be too tedious to confute them all. 
 A writer, named John Barclay, makes use of the following 
 remarks, in writing upon Ireland: " They, "^ says he, speaking 
 of the Irish, " erect slight cabins, about the height of a man, 
 which are used in common by themselves and their cattle." From 
 the pains this man takes in describing the huts and dwellings of 
 the humbler rustics, and the more worthless of the rabble, I am 
 of opinion that he may be not unjustly classed with the vile 
 beetle, since he stoops in this manner to give a description of the 
 hovels of poor and wretched creatures, while he takes no trouble 
 to mention or describe the palace-like and princely mansions of 
 the earls and other noblemen of Ireland. I also deem, that no 
 credit, as a historian, should be given either to him or to any ' 
 other person, who follows his footsteps in the same path. Hence, 
 I altogether reject the testimony of Phineas ]\Iorison,^^ a person 
 who has given a ludicrous description of Ireland ; for, notwith- 
 standing his fluent style and his command of the English tongue, 
 I think that it was not possible for his ready pen to transcribe all 
 the malignity he would fain express ; for this reason, I deem his 
 calumnies unworthy of any confutation; for the historian, Avho 
 })rofevSses to give a true account of the inhabitants of any country, 
 ought to set forth their good qualities, as well as their bad ones. 
 But Morison has utterly disregarded this rule, which every his- 
 torian should observe in his narratives. Prompted as well by 
 the wickedness and malevolence of his own heart, as by the sug- 
 gestions and commands of others, who entertained the same evil 
 dispositions towards Ireland, he has completely overlooked those 
 good qualities which Irishmen possess. According to Polydorus, 
 in his first book, styled ^' De lierura Inventoribus,'^ the following 
 canons should be rigidly observed in writing any history : Fii'st, 
 " Not to dare to assert anything false ;""* and, secondly, 
 
 " A^dh Bennan wa» the founder of "Fragilcs domes ad altitudinemhom- 
 
 thc Enccnian sppt, O'Muirchcrtaigli, inis excitant sibi ct pccoribus com- 
 
 now Bpollod as pronnnncod,0'Moriarty. munca. 
 
 Provioiis to the Kn^lish invasion, the *' Partieulars of the hired calumnia- 
 
 O'Moriartios wcreseatcd westofSiiabh tors, Barclay, Morison and Campion, 
 
 Lnacbra, in the prcsent cotinty of Ker- would but fatigue our readers. 
 
 ry. 'J'his king died, accordinc^ to the * Nobody could have abided more 
 
 Four Miistcrs. in fil."}. For particulars closely by this canon than Dr. Keating 
 
 of the Saints of this tribe, here men- hims(;lf. His great fault lies in hav- 
 
 tioned, wm; the notes upon their name^ ing adhered too closely and with too 
 
 farther on. little discriminalion to wliat he consid 
 
DR. KEATING's preface. xlix 
 
 "Not to dare to conceal any truth," so tliat there may be 
 no suspicion of partiality or enmity attached to the work. He 
 Bays, moreover, that it is incumbent upon a historian to describe 
 the customs and modes of living, the councils, words and actions 
 of every class of people inhabiting the country of which he has 
 undertaken to write, and to describe them fully, whether they 
 be good or bad. Now Morison, in omitting to set forth the good 
 qualities of the Irish, has flagrantly transgressed the foregoing 
 historical canons, and, consequently, the work which he has writ- 
 ten has no right whatever to be styled a history. Whoever 
 would make a close survey of the rude manners of the lower 
 classes, and search out their faults, might fill up a volume there- 
 with ; for there is no nation in the world without its low rabble. 
 Witness the churlish mob of Great Britain, the boors of Flan- 
 ders, the lazy canaille-^ of France, the worthless fellows of Spain, 
 the ignoble vulgar of Italy, and the meaner sort of every other 
 nation, amongst all of whom many rude and evil customs prevail. 
 Yet, these nations are not to be indiscriminately condemned for 
 the i^artial rudeness of some amongst their inhabitants ; and, 
 whoever attempts to stigmatize them for it, is, in my opinion, 
 altogether unworthy to be called a historian. This, Morison has 
 done towards the Irish nation, and it is therefore I deem it 
 wrong to give him the respect due to a historian. Of Campion, 
 likewise, I must say the same thing. 
 
 ^ Camden says, that it is customary in Ireland for the priests 
 to take up their abode in the churches, surrounded by their chil- 
 dren and concubines, drinking and feasting therein. My rej^ly 
 to Camden on this point is, that it was not until after Henry the 
 
 ered as sanctioned by ancient autliority. °^ This argument was scarcely need- 
 Persons, ignorant on the subject, con- ed. Camden did not mean the Catho- 
 demned Dr. Keating as a fobricator, lie priesthood, who had remained true to 
 when his book first appeared in an Eng- the Ancient Irish Faith. lie but meant 
 lish dress. It is now cleai'ly proved to signalize the abuses of the priests 
 that he invented nothing. of the State religion, which was his 
 ^ Ca'ailk. In the original thig word own. Those carnal renegades, who. 
 Is " Fainidhe," [Faunee,) a word which following in the footsteps of Maclmuiri 
 the editor thinks intended to represent or Miler Magrath, were then desecra- 
 the French ■• Faineant." The latter ting the holy altars of their sires, and 
 word does not, however, express the insulting their ashes, and who, by their 
 doctor's meaning. Had our author vices, were disgracing even that new 
 lived iu modern times, he could not religion, founded by the most kingly and 
 have spoken with such contempt of the most chaste of apostles, to which they 
 " Fainidhe " of France. They have fled as to an asylum for all species of 
 achieved for themselves a fame, be it wanton irregularity. No, Camden, who 
 for good or ill, more lasting than that is honest enough for an English writer 
 of the paladins of Charlemagne, the of his day, did not mean the Irish 
 knights of Arthur's table, or the fol- priesthood, 
 lowers of the conquering William. 
 
I DR. KEATING S PREP^VCE. 
 
 Bighth bead changed his religion, that the Irish clergy began this 
 impious custom, and even then, and since then, it has been prac- 
 ticed by those clergymen alone, who followed the dictates of their 
 own corrupt passions, and rebelled against their lawful superiors. 
 Camden himself, speaking on the same subject in another place, 
 bears me out in this answer: "If any,"^^ says he, "dedicate 
 themselves to religion, they govern themselves with a religious 
 austerity, that is truly wonderful, in watching, praying, and in 
 mortifying themselves by fasting." Cambrensis, likewise, has 
 left us his opinion upon the Irish clergy : speaking of them he 
 says, " The clergy^ of this country are sufficiently commendable 
 ibr the regularity of their lives, and, amongst the other virtues 
 for which they are conspicuous, their chastity stands eminently 
 distinguished." Hence, it may be inferred, that that evil custom 
 which Camden mentions, did not prevail amongst the whole of 
 the Irish clergy, but only amongst that lustful and reprobate 
 band, who broke through their vows, and that left the Church in 
 schismatical disobedience to their ecclesiastical superiors. Even 
 Stanihurst agrees with this opinion, in his History of Ireland, 
 written in the year of our Lord, 1584 : " The Irish,''^^ says he, 
 " are, for the most part, extremely religious." From these testi- 
 monies, it appears clear that the profane practices, noticed by 
 Camden, were not common in Ireland, and that, as I have just 
 said, they only prevailed amongst those wdio had broken through 
 their vows. 
 
 Camden says, again, that no gi'eat respect is paid to matrimony 
 in Ireland, except in the great towns ; but this is false, and it is 
 also a great calumny upon the Gaelic and Anglo-Norman nobility 
 of Irelanfl, for most of these dwell in the rural districts. I must, 
 however, confess that, in this as in every other countrj^, there are 
 some persons who are enslaved by their passions, and who aro 
 unrestrained by their spiritual superiors ; still, it is unjust in Cam- 
 den to condemn and reproach the Irish who dwell in the rural 
 districts, for a crime that is not common amongst them. For if 
 one or two, or even a few individuals amongst them, be prone to 
 vice, the whole rural j^opulation of the country is not to be 
 defamed upon their account. And, to those writers who say, 
 that a matrimonial contract for one year was common in Ii'cland, 
 
 " Se qui rcligioni S'C consecraut, re- pra;lucot virtulos, rasfitas pnrrooativii 
 
 ligio.«a qnadam auaterilate se conti- praecminct. — If historic scaii<ial spoak 
 
 nent, vif^ilando, orando ct jojuniia sc truth, they differed somcwiiat in this 
 
 maccrando. — This miplit have shown re-jpect from some of the Normans, 
 
 our author that the people's cler/jy wiio wore sent to reform their abuses 
 
 were not alhided to by Camden. by tlie lielp of tlie sword. 
 
 " list anteni clerus satis religione "■' iliberniei ctiam mag-na ex parte 
 
 eommcndabilis, et inter varia.s quibus sunt religionis eumme colentcs. 
 
DR. KEATING'S PREFACE. ll 
 
 I answer that it is quite certain that such contracts were never 
 made, except by profane and irreligious people, who rebelled 
 against tlieir spiritual guides. For which reason, this charge 
 should not be cast as a general infamy upon the whole Irish 
 nation, when it was only practiced by a few indocile and intract- 
 able individuals. 
 
 Campion says, in the sixth chapter of the first book of his 
 history, that the Irish are so credulous that they deem whatever 
 their superiors tell them to be true, however incredible it may 
 appear to others. As a proof of this, he relates a very stupid 
 fable, which I here repeat: "There was once," says he, "a cer- 
 tain licentious prelate in Ireland, who was able to impose any- 
 thing upon his people. This prelate having but a scanty stock 
 of ready money, and hoping to receive a supply from his flock, 
 told them that, within a few years past, St. Patrick and St. Peter 
 had had a quarrel about an Irish Galloglass,^"" whom St. Patrick 
 wished to introduce into heaven, but that St. Peter, enraged 
 thereat, struck St. Patrick on the head with the key of Heaven, 
 and fractured his skull. In consequence of this story the prelate 
 received the contribution that he required from the people." In 
 reply to Campion, I must say that, in this place, he appears less 
 in the character of the historian than of the jaggling mounte- 
 bank, vending ridiculous squibs from off a stage. For, how could 
 any Irish Christian believe that St. Patrick could get his skuU. 
 broken, having died more than a thousand years ago. Besides, 
 every one knows that the key of St. Peter means his authority, 
 and that it is no key of iron. I do not consider any more of 
 this man's falsehoods worth taking up ; he, himself, confesses, in 
 the epistle prefixed to his work, that he had spent but ten weeks 
 in writing his history of Ireland. 
 
 The following character of the Irish has been given by Master 
 Good, an English priest, who conducted a school in Limerick, in 
 the year 1566 : " They are,"^"^ says he, " a people of robust 
 bodies, of great agility, of a brave and exalted mind, of a pene- 
 trating and warlike genius, prodigal of life, patient of labor, cold 
 and hunger, of amorous propensities, most hospitable to strangers, 
 constant in love, implacable in enmity, credulous, greedy of fame, 
 and impatient of reproach or injury." Stanihurst, also, gives 
 
 '™ The Galloglass, in Irish Galloilacli, "" Gens haec corporc valida, et ira- 
 
 [Gaid-o^udagh,] i.e. Foreign mercena- primis, agilis, animo fortis, et elata, in- 
 
 ry or soldier, was the heavy-armed foot genio acris et bellicosa. vitie prodiga, 
 
 soldier of the Irish, during first centuries laboris et frigoris et iiicdise patiens, ve- 
 
 after the English invasion. 1 hey got neri indiilgens, hospitibus pcrbenigna, 
 
 the prefix Gall, because they were, amore constans. inimieis implacabilis 
 
 perhaps, armed and equipped after the credulitate Icvis, gloriaj avida, contu- 
 
 Normaa fashion. meliai et injuriis impatiens. 
 
lii 
 
 DR. KEATIXCxS PREFACE. 
 
 the folio-wing testimony in their favor : "In labor, they are the 
 most patient race of all mankind, and their spirits are seldom 
 cast down by any difficulties." ^"^ 
 
 Spen?cr nilows that it was from the Irish that the Saxons first 
 received the alj)habet, from which admission we may inf.T that 
 the Saxons had no knowdedgc at all of hitters, until they had 
 bsen taught by the Irish. 
 
 John Davies'"^ condemns their customs, sanctioned by tlie laws 
 of the Irish Brehons. The first is, " that the TanisL^"" should suc- 
 
 "^ In labore ex orani homimm ge- 
 ncre patientissimi, in rerum augusteis 
 raro fracti. 
 
 '"Uokn Davics. This is that Sir John 
 Davies, employed as Attornev-General 
 and as Speaker of the Irish House of 
 Commons, in the reign of James the 
 First, He wrote a work upon the 
 State of Ireland, to which refereuce is 
 here made. Davies was raised to the 
 Chief Justiceship of England, for his 
 services in Ireland, hut he died imme- 
 diately after, in 16'2G. 
 
 104 li Tanist," in Irish "Tanaiste," ( Tau- 
 nisht,) was the term applied to the suc- 
 cessor-elect or heir apparent of a king 
 or chieftain. The Tanist was elected 
 during the lifetime of the chieftain, and 
 succeeded him immediately upon his 
 death. The word " tanaiste," means 
 second, in Irisli, though some will de- 
 rive the word from " tan," or " tanas," 
 a country. It has some resemblance 
 in form, to the AngloSaxon term, 
 "thane," a/o?7/. Sir John Davies states, 
 in the tracts here referred to, " tliat 
 by the law of Tanistry, the chieftains 
 of every country and the chief of every 
 eept, had no hcredittirij estate in their 
 lands, hut merely held them for life, and 
 the infieritiince rested in no man, and 
 when the chieftains died, their sons, or 
 next heir, did not succeed them, V)ut 
 their Tanists, who were elected, and 
 who mostly purchased their election 
 by the strong hand ; when any one of 
 the sept or tribe died, his portion 
 (land) was not divided among his 
 sons, but the chief of the sept made 
 a new partition of all the lands be- 
 longing to the sept, and gave every 
 one a share according to his seniority." 
 The following quotation upon this sub- 
 ject, is from the " Ogygia" of the 
 
 venerable O'Flaherty: "A successor 
 was nominated for the prince, in his 
 lifetime, to fill the throne after his do- 
 raise. As, suppose his son or brother, 
 or most respectable relation. They 
 denominated him Coimree, — a word 
 derived from the finger on which the 
 ring is worn, which comes nearest 
 the middle in situation and length. 
 This " 'I'anist" (or heir apparent) was 
 second to the prince in rank and au- 
 thority ; and from this the title of 
 'J'anistry-law, is derived by Davis and 
 "Ware. Each of the candidates of the 
 family is called High Damhna [Rce- 
 downa) or heir presumptive, which is 
 royal ; that is, a subject, [damhna) 
 qualified to receive the royal form. 
 Dut if he was attached to any liberal 
 or mechanical art, (i. e. was candidate 
 for such,) he was styled Adhbhar, 
 (Auvar or Owar,) only, which also de- 
 notes matter ; that is, matter disposed 
 to be instructed in the rudiments of 
 such an art." — Notes on Connel/an's 
 Four Masters. 
 
 From these quotations, a d, indeed, 
 from all that has come down to us on 
 the subject, it appears that the Irish 
 clans were in themselves species of 
 pefy rei)ublics. That the chieftain 
 was, in reality, but the elected chief 
 magistrate, or rather, the public stew- 
 ard, during his lifetime, of tlie lands 
 of his whole paternal kindred, who 
 constituted, in Celtic countries, the 
 ■people. 'J'his elective .'iystem of gov- 
 ernment by patriarchal chieftains, 
 pnivailcd amongst all the (X-ltic race, 
 while th(! law of hereditary succe.s.sion, 
 or primogeniture, prevaihd amongst 
 the 'IVntonic nations. It is but fainlly 
 apologized for here, by Dr. Keating, 
 and has been universally condemn»! 
 
DR. KEATING S PREFACE. 
 
 liii 
 
 cecfl to the chieftaincy, in preference to the son of the late lord 
 of the Laud ;" the second is, " that partition of the estate between 
 
 by all who have written iu English 
 upon the subject, and, of course, by 
 those wiseacres, the political econo- 
 mists. It is questionable, however, if 
 the preserving of property iiv the hands 
 of a few, or its transmission to the 
 descendants of its first acquirer, con- 
 tinue forever to be one of the mjst 
 serious objects of all legislation, 
 whether the Tanistry and Gavelkind 
 did not in their day, carry out that 
 very object, as efficiently, at least, as 
 the Teutonic law of primogeniture as 
 now established in Great Britain. 
 Even when Keating wrote, many of 
 the direct descendants of Conn of 
 the Hundred Battles, and of Eogau 
 Mor, of Magh Lena, of Olild Glum, 
 of Connac Cas, of Core, and of Niall, 
 of the Nina Hostages, still held, or 
 had but recently been robbed of large 
 portions of the properties acquired by 
 their kingly ancestors, some thousand 
 years before. How many of the direct 
 descent of William of Normandy, of 
 the proud Plantagenets, or the des- 
 potic Tudors, were then numbered 
 amongst the property owners of Grea,t 
 Britain? How many of the present 
 aristocracy of England, can find their 
 names inscribed in the " Dooms lay 
 Book ? " How many, in fine, of the 
 Cromwellian stock, will another cen- 
 tury of prodigality and debauch, of 
 horse-races and gambling, closed by 
 another famine year, leave upon the 
 rent-roll of Ireland ? But the Gaelic 
 race still continues to flourish, impelled, 
 perhaps, though unconsciously to it- 
 self, by the powerful impetus given to 
 it at its first start by those very insti- 
 tutions of Tanistry and Gavelkind. In 
 Ireland, this race has already swept 
 away the peasant colonists, with whom 
 William of Orange so thickly dotted 
 its land. It is, even now, fast recon- 
 quering the ownership of its ancestral 
 fields by the sword of industry, and it 
 may retain them long, if it but shun 
 tlie Saxon institution of primogeni- 
 ture. 
 
 The institutions of Tanistry should 
 
 not be blamed for these faults, that 
 were universal in the ages when it 
 flourished. Did not our tribes in- 
 crease and multiply under it exceed- 
 ingly, notwithstanding the occasional 
 lopping oft of many a goodly sapling 
 from its trunk, by the sword of ambi- 
 tion ? The parent tree but flourished 
 the more vigorously for these timely 
 prunings, which, after all, were but the 
 fashion of their day in every European 
 land. Has the law of primogeniture 
 done as well towards keeping the in- 
 stitution called family, together, and 
 the homestead standing ? If the Gae- 
 lic institutions and Tanistic law 
 had been allowed to develop them- 
 selves, and then failed in their object, 
 as signally as Saxon institutions and 
 the law of primigeniture are likely to 
 do we might then be unreserved iu 
 their condemnation. The Tanistic in- 
 stitutions were put down by foreign vio- 
 lence, before they could have become rc^ 
 modeled by modern civilization. Then, 
 before we condemn them, we should 
 give them credit for what they really 
 did do in these rude and bloody ages ; 
 we should also look round and ask our- 
 selves what, with all the advantages of 
 a cizilized age, has been done, even 
 for the '• family," by that system which 
 has replaced them — I do not say for 
 " the masses," for that is glaring to all. 
 '"^ Gavelkind. According to Coke, 
 this term originated in the phrase gave 
 all kinds, but this etymology has all the 
 appearance of a pun upon the word. 
 The term is used in English law, in 
 which it is applied to that distribution 
 of the chattel or movable property of 
 an intestate relative, that takes place 
 amongst his nearest of kin. The word 
 is decidedly of Gaelic origin. With our 
 ancestors, it was called "Gabhail Cine," 
 {Gavaull Ktnni.) from " Gabhail," a 
 taking or s'laring, and Cine, (Kinni,) 
 afamilf/ or kiidrcd. The Irish Gavel- 
 kind differed somewhat from the Eng- 
 lish ; for with the former the lands 
 were divided as well as the movables, 
 and they were only divided amongst 
 
liv 
 
 DR. KEATING's preface. 
 
 kinsmen, called gavclkincV^ by the English, by which the 
 land is equally divided between them;"' the third custom is, "the 
 receiving of an eric"* or fine for murder." In answer to him, 
 I must observe that there is no country in whicli the laws and 
 customs do not vary according to the changes w^hich take place 
 in the situation of its affairs. So these three customs^" were not 
 established by the Brehon law of the land, until the Irish fell 
 into wars and conflicts in every part of the country, killing,^"" 
 
 the male kinsmen in the paternal line. 
 The females could inherit no lands 
 amongst the Gaels. They received 
 their " Spre," or portion in cattle, 
 iroods or money. According to the 
 English gavelkind, everything called 
 chattel is divided between males and 
 females indiscriminately. It has been 
 seen l)y the former note, that this law 
 regarded not merely children of a de- 
 ceased parent, but all the members of 
 the " kin," or tribe, and that constituted 
 in Ireland Vie people. .The present oc- 
 cupiers of the lands of our tribes should 
 not, then, rest too secure in their occu- 
 pation, from the fact that most of the 
 direct descendants of the last chieftains 
 who held these lands are now extinct ; 
 or from the fact that English law has 
 attainted their blood. They were not, 
 in their own right, landowners. They 
 were the mere temporal stewards of their 
 kinsmen, and the poorest O'Neill or 
 O'Doimcll, O'Brien or MacCarthy, had 
 as much ownership in the broad lands 
 of 'J'irone or 'J'irconnell of Thoniond 
 or of Desmond, as those renegade chiefs 
 that bartered their kingly titles for 
 English coronets. It was not, then, a 
 ^ew Gaelic landlords that were robbed 
 by the English settlers. It was the 
 whole Gaelic nation. And as time.surely, 
 cannot make sacred the possessions ac- 
 quired by crime, the Gaelic tribe-lands 
 of Eri sliall never want direct heirs, 
 while the b!i>od of daedal, the (J reen, 
 flows in the veins of one man of the in- 
 destructible and fruitful ])rogeny of 
 Miledh of Spain — ever longingly anx- 
 ious to 
 
 " Hpoil Ilie spoiler ns we mny, 
 And from llie rol)l)er rend the prey." 
 
 '" Eric. Under the Brehf)n laws, 
 various crimes were coni])romÍHed for 
 by a line, called " eric." This mostly 
 
 consisted of cattle counted by " cum- 
 hals," each " cumhal " {cuval or cool) 
 being three cows. These fines varied 
 from 3 cows to 300. and sometimes to 
 1.000, or more, according to the nature 
 of the crime and the rank of the parties. 
 
 The ])ractice of punishing murder 
 and other crimes by fine, prevailed, also, 
 among the Greeks, Ilomans, GauLs, 
 Germans, Franks, Saxons and Britons. 
 It appears that criminals did not always 
 get off on payment of the " eric." In- 
 stances are recorded of malefactors 
 being mutilated, hanged or beheaded 
 for certain heinous crimes, by order of 
 the Irish chiefs. — Notes to Conncllati's 
 Four Masters. 
 
 "" Dr. Keating is mistaken in what 
 he says here. These three customs 
 seem to have, at all times, been tlie 
 very essence of Celtic ]iolity. 
 
 "* These killings were not much 
 greater than what was going on in Eng- 
 land, France, and throughout Christen- 
 dom, during the middle ages. They 
 were more wliolcsome by far, and the 
 clans were even thriving and multiply- 
 ing in spite of them. 'J'liey would prolv 
 ably have wrought their own cure in 
 good time, had strangers not been sent 
 to prevent them. J'^nglishmen, who point 
 to the feuds, combats and nnn-ders that 
 were but too prevalent amongst our 
 clans, should recollect the wars between 
 the successors of their own French con- 
 queror William ; the bloody .strife be- 
 tween the Empre.<s Miitliilda and 
 Stephen de Blois ; the contest that ex- 
 isted between Henry the Second and 
 his pious progeny ; their wars of the 
 Roses, during all which, the mass of 
 their people were pu[)pets in the hands 
 of their Fri'neh masters ; and, lastly, 
 their revolutionary and religious wars, 
 down to a sufficicutly recent period. To 
 
DR. KEATING's preface. Iv 
 
 rotbing and despoiling one another. Then it was that the nobles 
 and oUamhs of Ireland, considering the calamities that were ap- 
 proaching, from these general dissensions throughout the island, 
 thought fit to establish the three customs mentioned above. 
 First, they considered it expedient that the Tanist should suc- 
 ceed to the deceased, in order that every tribe in Ireland might, 
 at all times, have a captain at its head, who was capable both of 
 leading its warriors to the field, and of protecting the lands and 
 properties of its members ; for, if the son were put into his father's 
 place, he might probably happen to be under age, and on that 
 account, incaj^able of defending his territory, or tribe-land, from 
 being destroyed by enemies. Neither was it possible to dispense 
 with the existence of the second custom in Ireland at that time, 
 namely, that of Gavelkind, or the division of the land amongst 
 kinsmen ; for otherwise the rent of each country would have been 
 insufficient to pay the number of soldiers necesssary for its de- 
 fence ; but, when the land was once divided amongst the kins- 
 men, the man who had the smallest share thereof, was likety to be 
 as active in the defence of the common inheritance, according to 
 his capabilities, as the ruling chieftain himself. Again, it was 
 impossible at that time to avoid establishing the eric, i. e., the 
 punishing of murder by a fine ; for, the man who had com- 
 mitted a murder, might find protection in a neighboring territory. 
 On this account, as the friends of the murdered man could not 
 cause his slayer to make any expiation or atonement in his own 
 person, they made his kindred answer for his crime, in order to 
 punish him through them. Now, as his relatives were not privy 
 to the murder, it Avere unjust to shed their blood ; but a fine was 
 laid upon them, and thus the murderer was punished in the persons 
 of his nearest friends. It was somewhat uncandid in John Davies, 
 to find fault with the Brehon laws of Ireland, on account of this 
 regulation, for a similar custom prevails amongst the English 
 down to the present time. As to the other two customs, it was 
 then impossible to dispense Avith them in Ireland, and, therefore, 
 the Brehon legislation of the country is not to be censured on 
 their account ; for, though they are unsuited to Ireland in its 
 present state, still they were unavoidable at the time when they 
 were established. 
 
 Camden tells us, that the Irish nobility maintained their own 
 judges, antiquaries, j^oets and musicians, whom they also endowed 
 with land for their support, and that the persons of these, as well 
 as their cattle and patrimonies, were free from all tribute to their 
 
 one that will look at the state of an- to have had more than her own_ share 
 cient Ireland' thus relatively and com- of the general slaughter then going on 
 paratively, I doubt if she will be found everywhere. 
 
Ivi 
 
 DR. KEATING'S PREFACE. 
 
 chieftain. He speaks of them in the following terms : " These 
 chieftains have lawyers of their own, whom they call brehons"" or 
 
 "" Brehons. " Bardism and Brehou- 
 ism,as well as Druidisni.the religious sys- 
 tem of the Celtic nations, Gauls, Britons 
 and Irish, prevailed in Ireland from the 
 earliest ages. After the introduction 
 of ('hristianity, the Druids or Pagan 
 priests became extinct, but the Bards 
 and Brehons continued in the Christian 
 as well as in the Pagan times. It ap- 
 pears probable that Brehonism was the 
 Law system of the other Celtic nations, 
 and that it prevailed amongst the Gauis 
 and Britons, who were Celts, as well 
 as amongst the Irish. In Caesar's 
 Commentaries it is staled that amongst 
 the Edui, one of the nations of Gaul, 
 the title of the chief magistrate or judge 
 was Vergobretus, and that he was an- 
 nually chosen, and had the power of 
 life and death The term Brehon, in 
 Irish Breitheamh, signifies a judge, and 
 O'Brien, in the preface to his Irish Dic- 
 tionary, showing the analogy between 
 the Irish language and that of the 
 Gauls, both of which were Celtic 
 tongues, considers that the term which 
 Caesar latinized Vergobretus, was in 
 the Gaulish or Celtic Fcr-go-Brcith, 
 signifying the Man of Judgment, or a 
 Judge, and it has the same signification 
 in the Irish from Fer, a man, i,'0, of or 
 witli, and ^rc/^/í. judgment ; therefore it 
 appears the Vergobretus was the chief 
 Brehon of Gaul I'he Brehons were 
 the judg&s and professors of the law, 
 and in ancient times they delivered their 
 judgments, and proclaimed the laws to 
 the chiefs and people assembled on the 
 hills and raths on public occasions, as 
 at the Conventions of Tara, and other 
 great as.semblies. In the Dis-sertations 
 of Charles O'Conor, and in O'Reilly's 
 Irish Writers, accounts are given of 
 many famous Brehons and chief judges 
 who flourished from the first to the 
 eighth century, as Hen, Moran, Mcxlan, 
 Conla, Fithil, Fachtna, Hencha, the 
 three brothers named Burachans or 
 O'Burechans, &c. ; these eminent men 
 formed and perfected a great code of 
 laws, which, from their spirit of equity, 
 were designated Brcithe Ncimkidh, sig- 
 
 nifying Celestial Ju'lirmcnts. The most 
 renowned of these Brehons for the jus- 
 tice of his judgments was Moran, son 
 of Cairbre-Kenn-Cait, king of Ireland 
 in the first century, and he is represented 
 in his office of chief judge of the king- 
 dom, as wearing on his neck a golden 
 ornament called Hhmi Morain, or Mo- 
 ran's collar, which is described in Val- 
 iancy's Collectanea, and it was fanci- 
 fully said to press closely on the neck 
 of the wearer, and almost choke him, 
 if he attempted to pronounce an unjust 
 judgment. The Brehons, like the Bards, 
 presided at the inauguration of kings, 
 princes, and chiefs, and, as the judges 
 and expounders of the laws, had great 
 power and privileges in the State, and 
 extensive lands were allotted for their 
 own use. Each of the Irish princes 
 and chiefs of note had his own Brehons, 
 and the office, like that of the Bards, 
 hereditary in certain families. Amongst 
 the chief Brehon families were the fol- 
 lowing : The MacEgans, hereditary 
 Brehons in Connaught, in Leinster, and 
 in Ormond ; the O'Dorans, Brehons to 
 the MacMurroghs, kings of Leinster ; 
 the JIacClancies of Clare, Brehons to 
 the O'Briens, kings of Thomond, to the 
 Fitzgeralds, earls of Desmond, and other 
 great families in Munster. The O'lla- 
 gans of Tullaghoge, in Tyrone, Brehons 
 to the O'Neils, princes of Tyrone. The 
 O'Breslins of Donegal, Brehons to the 
 O'DonnelLs, and to the Maguires, lords 
 of Fermanagh. In the Tracts of Sir 
 John Davies an interesting account is 
 given of OBreslin, the Brehon to Ma- 
 guin; ; 8ir John, who was attorney- 
 general to king James I., having pro- 
 ceed(>(l to various parts of Ulster about 
 tlie year KjOT, together with the judges 
 and chancellor, to hold assizes, on 
 coming to Fermanagli they required to 
 know ti\e tenure by which Maguireheld 
 his lands, and having sent for the Bre- 
 hon O'Jireslin, who was a very feeble 
 old man, he came to the camp, and the 
 ju(L'es having diMnaiided his Roll, heat 
 lirst refu.sed to sliovv it, but at length, 
 on the lord chancellor taking an oath 
 
DR. keating's preface. Ivii 
 
 judges ; tlieir own historians, to record their exploits ; their phy- 
 sicians, their poets, -whom they style bards; and certain lands are 
 assigned to each of these, and each of them is of a distinct family 
 or tribe, viz., the brehons of one tribe and name, the antiquaries 
 or historians of another, and so of the rest ; and these instruct 
 their children and relations, each in their proper science, and 
 thus they all have successors continuously in their sevei'al pro- 
 fessions." From these words of Camden, it is evident that the 
 Irish had established a good arrangement for the preservation of 
 their liberal arts; for collegiate lands wei-e assigned to every tribe 
 of professors, as a maintenance for those who applied themselves 
 to the cultivation of science, in order that they might not be 
 turned awixj from its pursuit hj poverty. And, moreover, the 
 man who was the most eminent in the science cultivated by any 
 particular tribe, was always the person upon whom the chieftain be- 
 stowed the mastership "ollamnacht" {olloivnaghi) of the lands of that 
 tribe. Hence, it came to pass, that each member of these tribes strove 
 to attain to eminence in his art, in hopes of obtaining the position 
 of chief ollamh, or professor, before the rest of his tribe. It was, 
 also, the more easy to cultivate science in Ireland, on account of 
 immunities and j^rotection granted by the chiefs to the lands, per- 
 sons and properties of its professors. Thus, notwithstanding the 
 contentions between the Gaels and Anglo-Normans, neither the 
 ollamhs nor their pupils were ever disturbed or molested, or at 
 all impeded in the cultivation of their respective branches. We 
 read in the Sixth Book of Julius Caesar, that the same privileged 
 or termonn lands were possessed by those Druids,^^" who went 
 from the west of Europe to teach in Gaul or France — a custom 
 which, I think, they brought with them from Ireland. 
 
 I shall pursue the opinions of those Englishmen no longer, 
 
 that he would return it safe, the old liberos sive cognatos in sua qualibet 
 Brchon drew the roll out of his bosom, arte orudiunt ; et semper successores 
 and gave it to the chancellor. 'J'he habent quibus singulis sua predia as- 
 Irish MS. was well written, and, having signata sunt. 
 
 been translated for the judges, it was "''Te?7?20Hi! /aníís were certain portions 
 
 found to contain an account of the rents of land set apart for religious or scientific 
 
 and tributes paid to Maguire, which con- purposes ; they enjoyed great immuni- 
 
 sisted of cattle, corn, provisions, hogs, ties, and were free from tribute of the 
 
 mcaljbuttcr.&c; but Davies says he lost chief. The lands assigned to the biadh- 
 
 the copy of the roll at Dublin." — Con- tachs, {heetaghs), or keepers of houses 
 
 nellan's Four Masters. of public hospitality, were also styled 
 
 Habent hi magnates sues juridicos, " termon lands ;" so were the church 
 
 suos Brehones vocant ; sues historicos lands. " Tormonn " seems to be the 
 
 qui resgestasdiscribunt; medicos, Poe- same word with the Latin ' terminus." 
 
 tas, quos Bardos vocant, et citharcedos, a bouncLirij. The editor cannot say if 
 
 et certiE et singute familiie ; Scilicet the word bo pure Gaelic, but it is just 
 
 Brehoni unius stirpis et nominis, histo- as likely to be so as not, if analogy can 
 
 rici alterius, et sic de cajteris, qui suos prove anything. 
 
Iviii DR. keatixg's preface. 
 
 though there still remain many things written by them, that might 
 be confuted. The greater part of tho.se who have written nuilevo- 
 lently of Ireland, had no foundation for their calumnies, other 
 than the lying tales of persons who hated the Irish nation, and 
 who were most ignorant of its history; for, it is evident that the 
 regular jirofessors of Irish history never cared to give them any 
 insight on the latter subject; thus, they could not possibly know 
 anything eitlier of the traditions or ancient state of the country. 
 
 Cambrensis, who undertook to give a correct account of every- 
 thing, ai>penrs to have received a medley of fable s from some 
 dunce or bbnd man. for he has said nothing of the conquest of the 
 Tuatha-De-Dananns, who possessed Ireland one hundred and nine- 
 ty-seven years, during which time nine kings of their nation ruled 
 the island. Where he has set about giving down the conquests, 
 he mentions that of Kesair (Kassir) as the first, yet our antiqua- 
 ries have never considered that as a conquest, though they have 
 spoken of it in their books. Hence, I think, that the man had 
 no other motive in compiling his History of Ireland, than to mis- 
 represent both the natives of Ireland of his own day and their 
 ancestors. Besides, he had but a very short time to make his 
 researches in Irish antiquities, having spent but a year and a half 
 in the country previous to his return to England. As his work 
 was not completed within that time, he left it to the care of one 
 of his companions, named Bertram Verdon. Therefore, I trust 
 that every impartial reader, who may peruse my confutations of 
 Cambrensis and those Englishmen who have followed in his foot- 
 steps, will give more credence to my exposition of their falsehoods 
 than to tlie idle stories which they have all related. For I am 
 now advanced"^ in years, while many of them were young when 
 they wrote. I have seen and can understand our principal his- 
 toric books in the original tongue, but they have both never seen 
 them, and if they had, they could not understand them. 
 
 It is not through partiality towards any class of people in the 
 world, nor is it at the instance of any man, in the hope of being 
 rewarded by him, tliat I propose writing a History of Ireland; 
 but, because I deemed it not right, that so honored a country, 
 having such noble inhabitants, should be let sink into oldivion, 
 through the want of a historic account of its ancient affairs. 1 
 do also conceive, that my testimony upon Irish affairs ought to 
 be the more readily admitted, from tlie fact that I therein treat 
 
 '" For I am voir old. Dr. Kfatiiif^ dnriiiir tlio period tliat clayisod between 
 
 finished lii.-^ work in 1G29; lie ilii-d in Hint date, and licnee it lias arisen that 
 
 16.50. Dr. O'Donovan pays, in his notes some copies of liis work eontain many 
 
 to the " tribes and customs of thclly facts not contained in others. This 
 
 Fiachrach," that it is probable that he passafrc appears to have been written 
 
 inserted many passages into his work towards the end of bis life. 
 
DR. KEATING's preface. 
 
 lix 
 
 more particularly of the Gaels; and, if any man deem that I give 
 them too much credit, let him not imagine that I do so through 
 partiality, praising them more than is just, through love of my 
 own kindred, f«)r I belong, myself, according to my extraction, 
 to the Old-Gallic"^ or Anglo-Norman race. I have seen that the 
 natives of Ireland are maligned by every modern Englisliman 
 who speaks of the country, notwithstanding the praises which all 
 historians agree in bestowing upon its soil. For this reason, being 
 much grieved at the unfairness those writers have shown towards 
 Irishmen, have I felt urged to write a history of Ireland myself. 
 If, then,"^ a true account were given of the natives of Ireland, 
 they would be found as praiseworthy as any people in Europe, 
 m these three qualities, namely, in valor, in learning, and in a 
 steady adherence to the Catholic faith. I shall not here boast 
 of the great number of our Irish saints,"* because every European 
 
 "^ Old Gallic. For particulars of 
 the Rev. Doctor's extraction, see his 
 life, prefixed to this work. 
 
 "^ Our author had good reason to 
 feel proud of his country at that time. 
 Though the strength of the Irish nation 
 was nearly brokeu down at home, by 
 an incessant war of more than three 
 centuries, still, the sous of Ireland were 
 rendering her name illustrious through- 
 out Christendom by their deeds in arms, 
 and by their heroic persistence in the 
 cause they deemed the true one. They 
 were fast falling, it is true — these noble 
 old Gaels and Shan-Gauls— but they 
 were falling, still striking at their mer- 
 ciless foe, and expending- their last 
 strength in avenging, as they could not 
 prevent, the overthrow of their religion 
 and country. When banished abroad 
 amongst the stranger, the Irishman of 
 that day was not ashamed of his coun- 
 try or his race. He did not seek to dis- 
 guise the time-hallowed name of his an- 
 cestors, that told of " deeds of the days 
 of old," by giving it a foreign form, or 
 desecrate it by tacking a Saxon suffix 
 to its end. Alas ! there are not a few 
 that do so now, and that envy the happy 
 possessors of som^ Scraggs or Scrubbs. 
 Griggs or Briggs,some Mubbs or Sudds, 
 Ketch or Fetch, or some other equal- 
 ly mellifluous and suggestive appella- 
 tion. 
 
 '" Saints. Of the ancient Irish saints, 
 who gained for our Island one of its 
 
 most distinguished appellations, the 
 reader will iiud many interesting par- 
 ticulars in the course of this history. 
 In Dr Keating's age Ireland had again 
 to feel proud of her saints and martyrs. 
 The following holy bishops and priests 
 were among the many spiritual sons of 
 the saints of olden times that had then 
 but recently cemented the walls of the 
 Irish church with their blood : — Rich- 
 ard Creagh, or O'Mael Craebhaigh, 
 [mail crai-vic,) archbishop of Armagh, 
 and primate of Ireland — Dermod O'- 
 Hurly, archbishop of Cashel — Edmund 
 Magauran, or MacGabhran, archbishop 
 of Armagh and primate of Ireland — 
 Patrick O'Hcly, bishop of Meath— 
 Redmond O'Gallagher, bishop of Merry 
 — Cornelius O'Duan, or O'Dubhain, 
 bishop of Down and Connor — Rev. 
 John Travers, M. M. — Rev. Owen Mac 
 Eogain, or MacKeou, M. M. — Rev. 
 Cuconnacht or Connatius O'Ruairc— 
 Rev. Hugh O'Mulkeran — Rev. John 
 O'Mahony, S. J. — Rev. Gelatins O'Cul- 
 linan, lord abbot of Boyle — Rev. Der- 
 mod MacCarthy — Rev. Dorainiek 0'- 
 Callan or Cullen — Rev. Bernard Mac- 
 Moriarty — Rev. Donatus MacCried or 
 MacReed — Rev. Patrick O'Lochran — 
 Rev. Lewis, or Lngaidh. OLabertaigh 
 or O'Laverty — Rev. Connatius, or Cor- 
 connacht, O Keenan — Rev. John Mac- 
 Connan — Rev. Bernard O'Carrolan — 
 Rev. Daniel OHarcan — Rev. Patrick 
 O'Dwyer — Rev. Dwyer — 
 
Ix 
 
 DR. KEATING'S preface. 
 
 author confesses, that Ireland produced more saints than any other 
 country in Europe. It is also acknowledged, that tiie empire of 
 learning prevailed so widely in Ireland, that swarms of learned 
 men were sent forth therefrom to Franca, Italy, Germany, Flan- 
 ders, England and Scotland, as is clearly shown in the preface of 
 the book, written in English, which contains the lives of Saints 
 Patrick, Columb-kille and Bridget. As to the National Eecords"* 
 
 "Ri 
 
 Eev. Donatus O'Luinus or O'Looney — 
 Rev. Thomas Fitzgerald. See 0' Sulli- 
 van's H.storice Catholicce Ibernia;, Lib. 
 ii., Cap iv. I reiraiu from adding to 
 this bright array. I have given enough 
 to show that the Isle of Saiats did not 
 forfeit her well-earned title, when the 
 hour of her trial had come. 
 
 Comparatively few of the Gaelic 
 priesthood had been found to follow in 
 the footsteps of the apostate Maelmuiri 
 MacCraith, (Miler Magrath,) the first 
 king-made bishop of Casliel, who still 
 lives unenvialjly in popular fame as 
 Maelmuiri Mallaigh [mail-^irri mal- 
 lihi) or '• Miler the Accursed." 
 
 '•' Records. Of those records many 
 very ancient compilations are still in ex- 
 istence. Several of them were pub- 
 lished in 1824 by the Rev. Mr. Charles 
 O'Connor, of Balenegar, a lineal de- 
 scendant of the last king of Ireland. — 
 His work, in four large and closely- 
 printed quarto volumes, is called " ^e- 
 rum Iliberitacarum Scriptorcs," i e., 
 the Writers upon Irish ojfairs. This 
 great work is written in Latin, and very 
 scarce ; it is, therefore, unfortunately, 
 not accessible to general readers. It 
 contains various learned original disser- 
 tations and translations of many of the 
 Irish annalists, such as the Four Mas- 
 ters ; the Annals of lunisfailen ; the An- 
 nals of Tighernach, of Ulster, of Boyle, 
 &c. The greatest and most accessible 
 compilation of Irish annals is, undiiubt- 
 cdly, that contained in the annals of 
 the Four Masters, published a few years 
 since by .Messrs. llodgt'S ct Smitli, of 
 Dublin,and literally translated and most 
 learnedly and judiciously annotated, 
 by Mr. John O'liouovan. The work is 
 in seven large quarto volumes. Its 
 high pi-ice has hitherto placed it out of 
 the reach of many of those to whom 
 
 its contents would give the most inter- 
 est. However, the patriotic and spir- 
 ited publishers have now a cheaper edi- 
 tion in press, Avhich, it is to be hoped, 
 will be found in the hands of every 
 Irishman who can read, and who loves 
 his fatherland. 
 
 An immcinse number of Irish works 
 in manuscript still remain extant but 
 unpublished, in the libraries of Trinity 
 College, Dublin, the Royal Irish Aca- 
 demy, the British Museum, the Library 
 of Oxford, and in other public and pri- 
 vate libraries of England and Ireland. 
 The library of the Vatican is said to 
 contain a vast number ; so do the libra- 
 ries of Spain, France, Germany, &c. 
 These manuscripts were carried thither, 
 formerly, by the exiled nobility and 
 clergy of Ireland. Some say, that the 
 libraries of Denmark contain curious 
 and most ancient Irish manuscripts, 
 carried off by the Sea Rovers, in the 
 9th, loth and eleventh centuries. This, 
 however, is not yet satisfactorily ascer- 
 tained. The Irish antiquaries of the 
 present time ha\e little of popular sup- 
 port ; and their funds are so limited, 
 that they cannot afford such distant 
 explorations, es])ecially whilst the held 
 of their labors continues so very ample 
 at home, and the labonu's are so few. 
 
 'I"he handwriting of the oldest manu- 
 scripts, luhosc date has stood the test of 
 critical examination, has been proved to 
 Ijc more tiian one thousand years old. 
 No other Euro])i'an nation can produce 
 anything near so (jjd in its vernacular 
 tongue. In these old manuscripts there 
 are compositions so interlined 'nth glos- 
 saries, which have themselves long ceased 
 to be intelligible to the vulgar, that no 
 candid antifpuiry can avoid assigning 
 the remotest antiquity to the composi- 
 tions themselves. It is now impossible 
 
DR. KEATING'S PREFACE. 
 
 Ixi 
 
 of Ireland, we must admit them to be of good antlioritj, because 
 thej were examined and approved every third year at tlie Feast 
 or Convention of Tara, in presence of the nobles, clergy and 
 ollamhs of Ireland. In proof of this, the following original 
 documents are still to be seen in this country, namely, the 
 Psalter of Cashel,'^® written by the holy Cormac Mac Culinan, 
 
 to fix their exact date, otherwise than 
 by our own aunals, the surest guide, 
 after all. The sceptic who will go 
 farther for proof, may come near it by 
 induction. We know the number of 
 years it has taken to render the com- 
 positions of King Cormac of Cashel, 
 or the bards and shanachies of the 
 age of Brian,unintelligible, and how far 
 unintelligible, to the modern Irishman. 
 We may thus, pretty nearly, determine 
 how long it tooli to render the compo- 
 sitions attributed to Amirghin, King 
 Cormac MacArt, or Dalian Forgail, 
 unintelligible to the uneducated Irish- 
 man of the days of King Cormac, sou 
 of Culinan, or of Brian of the Trib- 
 utes. 
 
 Dr. 'Donovan tells us, that some 
 of the works here cited, are not now 
 accessible to the society of which he is 
 the great ornament ; but we must 
 hope, however, that they will yet be 
 found either on the Continent or in 
 some private hands. Some of them 
 may be in the hands of illiterate per- 
 sons, who do not know even their titles. 
 The vicissitudes of our race have been 
 so great, that many of the descendants 
 of those that were learned and noble, 
 even so late as Dr. Kcating's day, are 
 now sunk very low in the scale of 
 worldly position and education. In 
 the hands of such some valuable manu- 
 scripts do still remain. They cling to 
 them as to the household gods of their 
 family — as mystic witnesses of other 
 and ijetter days. 
 
 I cannot conclude these remarks upon 
 Irish records, without noticing the val- 
 uable translation of that part of the an- 
 nals of the Four Master3,which relates to 
 the transactions in Ireland since the 
 English Invasion, made by Owen Con- 
 nelan,Epri., with valuable annotations by 
 Philip MacDermott, Esq., which was 
 published in 1816, by Mr. Bryan Ger- 
 
 aghty, of Dublin. This work is of mod- 
 erate price. In its notes it contains near- 
 ly all that has been published of the Bar- 
 dic History of Ireland. From this work 
 copious extracts will be found in this 
 work. 
 
 "° The Psalter of Cashel, an ancient 
 Irish MS., partly in prose and partly in 
 verse, was compiled in the latter end 
 of the ninth century by the celebrated 
 Cormac MacCulinan, archbishop of 
 Cashel and king of Munster. The 
 Psalter of Cashel was compiled from 
 the Psalter of Tara, and other ancient 
 records, and contained the history of 
 Ireland from the earliest ages to the 
 tenth century ; and to it, according to 
 Dr. Lanigan and others, some additions 
 were made after the death of Cormac, 
 bringing the work down to the eleventh 
 century, as in the catalogue of the 
 archbishops of Armagh, to that period ; 
 and it is stated by O'Halloran, in his 
 History of Ireland, that the Psalter of 
 Cashel was also called the Book of 
 Munster, and that he had in his pos- 
 session a copy of it, continued by some 
 anonymous writer down to the reign of 
 Mahon, king of Munster, in the latter 
 end of the tenth century ; and he also 
 says, that the Psalter refers more par- 
 ticularly to the history of Munster, and 
 the kings of the race of Heber. Keat- 
 ing quotes many passages from the 
 Psalter of Cashel, of which he had a 
 copy ; and Ware mentions it as extant 
 in his own time, and held in great esti- 
 mation, and that he had got collections 
 from it ; Colgan, Dr. O'Connor, and 
 Bishop Nicolson, also give accounts of 
 this celebrated work ; and in O'Exjilly's 
 Irish writers, at the year 908, he states 
 that a large folio MS. in Irish, pre- 
 served in the library of Cashel, was 
 transcribed from the Psalter of Cashel, 
 which was extant in Limerick in the 
 year 1712. The original Psalter of 
 
Ixii 
 
 DR. KEATING'S PREFACE. 
 
 king of the two provinces of Munster and Archbisliop of Casliel ; 
 the " Book of Armagh,""' the Book of Cluain-Aidnech-Fintan,"* 
 in Laix ; the Saltair na Rann,"' written by iEngus Cele De, or 
 the Culdee;^' theBook of Glcn-da-loch;^^''the Book of Rights,"' 
 
 Casbel, long supposed to be lost, is 
 stated to be deposited in the library of 
 the British Museum in London, and 
 copies of it are said to be in the Bod- 
 leian Library at Oxford, and in tlic duke 
 of Buckinirham's library at .Stowe ; but 
 it is to be observed that there is much 
 uncertainty as to those statements ; 
 however, with respect to the contents 
 of the Psalter of Cashel, the greater 
 part of it is to be found in the Books 
 of Leacan and Ballymote. — Notex to 
 Connellan's translation of the Four 
 Maulers. 
 
 "' Tkc Book of Armagh. The Book 
 of Armagh, a MSS. of the 7th century, 
 on vellum, in Irish and Latin, contains 
 a Life of St. Patrick, and his Confes- 
 sion, or a sketch of his Life written by 
 himself ; also a Life of St. Martin of 
 Tours; a copy of the Gospels, and other 
 matters. This Book is mentioned by 
 St. Bernard, in his Life of St. Malaclw, 
 archbishop of Armagh ; it was a pre- 
 cious relic, preserved for ages in a sil- 
 ver shrine, which was lost ; and in 
 modern times it was contained in a 
 case of leather, of elegant workman- 
 ship. This venerable Book was kept 
 for many centuries in the family of Mac- 
 Moyre, near Armagh, who were speci- 
 ally appointed for its stewardship; but, 
 about the year 1680, it was taken to 
 London by Florence ^facMoyre, who 
 Ijcing in grrat poverty, sold it for £5 
 to a. Mr. Brownlow, and it is .still in 
 the possession of the Rev. Mr. Brown- 
 low of Dublin. An account of the 
 Book of Armagh is given by Ware, 
 Usshcr, and Dr. O'Connor, and copious 
 extracts from it have been translated 
 and published in that learned work, the 
 Irish Anti(|tiarian Researches, by Sir 
 William Betham. 
 
 "■^ Tie BookofCluain-Aidnech-Fintan, 
 I. e. the " Book of (Jlonenagh," a monas- 
 tery near Mouutrath, in the Qikm'u's 
 county, erected by St. Fintan. Keat- 
 ing elsewhere calls this the Annals of 
 Cluain-Eidhnech. This manuscript, 
 
 which was one of great importance, is 
 now unknown. — 0' Donovan s Notes to 
 the Book of Rights. 
 
 "^ Saltair na Rann, translated by 
 Dr. Lynch " Salterium Kythmorum," 
 i. e. the Metrical Psalter. " A copy 
 of this, on vellum, is preserved in the 
 library of Trinity College, Dublin." — 
 Dr. O'Donovan's Notes to the Book of 
 Rights. 
 
 '■-° " The Feilire, or Fcsti logy of 
 yEngus Célé De, a celebrated writer of 
 the eighth century, who was abbot of 
 Olonenagh, in the diocese of Lcighlin, 
 and Queen's county, and who was a 
 native of Dalaradia, in the county of 
 Down, in Ulster ; he was a man of 
 great learning, and his work is one of 
 the mo.st important now extant on the 
 Lives of the ancient Saints of Ireland, 
 but it has never been translated or 
 published ; there are copies of it in the 
 libraries of 'J'rinity College, and of the 
 Royal Irish Academy." — Connellan's 
 Notes to the Four blasters. 
 
 •^' The Book of Glen-da-loch. A con- 
 siderable portion of the Book of (ilen- 
 dalough is preserved in the library of 
 Trinity College, Dublin. 
 
 '-"^ The Book of Rights, called in 
 Irish Leabhar-'':a g-Ccart, was first writ- 
 ten in the fifth century by St. Benin, 
 or Benignus, the successor of St. IV 
 trick, as archbishop of Armagh ; but 
 the work was afterwards enlarged, with 
 many additions made by other writers 
 to the twelfth century. It gives an 
 account of the Rights, Revenues, and 
 Tributes, of the monarchs, provincial 
 kings and princes. It forms a very 
 valual)!e record of ancient laws and 
 regulations in Ireland. Copies of it 
 are in the libraries or Trinity College, 
 and of the Royal Irish Academy, and 
 t!;ere was al-^o oi;e in the library of the 
 late Sir William Bethara. — Connellan's 
 Notes to the Four Masters. 
 
 This work was published by the Cel- 
 tic Society of Dublin, in 1847, with a 
 trauslatioa and most valuable notes by 
 
BR. KEATINGS PREFACE. 
 
 Ixiii 
 
 ^vritten by St. Beneu or Benignns, son of Sesgnen ; tlic Uidliir'" 
 of Kiaran, written in Cluain-mic-Nois ; the Yellow Book of 
 2iIoling;'" and the Black Book of Molaga. The following works 
 are contained ^yithin the foregoing compilation, namely, the Book 
 of Conquests;'" the Book of .. the Provinces;"* the Book of 
 Eeigns;'" the Book of Epochs ;''"' the Book of Synchronisms;*^' 
 the Book of Toj)ograpliy ;"° the Book of Pedigrees'^' of Women ; 
 
 Dr. O'Donovaii. It is one of the most 
 iiseful works upon Irish antiquities yet 
 published, and gives a clearer insight 
 into the civil polity and the internal 
 relations of the Gaelic tribes with one 
 another, than can be gained from any 
 modern book published upon the sub- 
 ject. It is most valuable, also, from 
 its defining the local position of the 
 various tribes, from the títh to the 10th 
 century. 
 
 '^ The Uidhir Chiarain [Ueer-Kee- 
 rauin) is now called Lebhar na h-Uidhre 
 [Lavar or Leour na hcerie). A consid- 
 erable portion of this MS., in the 
 handwriting of Maelmuiri MacCuinn 
 na mBocht, is now preserved in the 
 library of the Royal Irish Academy. — 
 O'Donovan. 
 
 Upon it the following note is made in 
 the annotations to Connellan's Four 
 Masters : " The Leabhar na-Huidhre, 
 still extant, is an ancient Irish MS. writ- 
 ten on vellum, transcribed from an old 
 record in the eleventh century by ^laol- 
 muire, a learned scribe of the abbey of 
 Clonmacnois. It is considered a very 
 valuable work, and contains, amongst 
 other interesting matters on Irish his- 
 tory and antiquities, a very curious ac- 
 count of the cemeteries and sepulchers of 
 the pagan kings of Ireland." 
 
 '-' The Yellow Book of St. Moling 
 and the Black Book of St. Molaga, are 
 now both unknown. — O'Donovan. 
 
 '■^ The Book of Conquests, in Irish 
 Lebhar Gabhala [Leour or Lavar Gav- 
 atda) is called, also, I'he Book of Inva- 
 sions. Of it, an account is given in 
 O'Reilly's Writers, at A. D. 1(B32. It 
 was chiefly compiled by the O'Cleries 
 of Donegal, in the beginning of the ITth 
 century, at the monastery of Lisgoole, 
 in Fermiinagh, under the patronage of 
 Bryan Roe Maguire, first baron of En- 
 niskillen. This book was compiled 
 
 from numerous records, and the works 
 of the bards, &c., and gives an account 
 of all the ancient colonies that peopled 
 Ireland and made conquests in the 
 country, as the Pariholanians, Neme- 
 dians, Fomorians, Firbolg, or Belgians. 
 Danaus, Milesians and Danes. This 
 great work contains vast information 
 on Irish history and antiquities, and 
 there are copies of it in Trinity College 
 and other libraries in Dublin, and there 
 was also one in the library of Sir Wil- 
 liam Betham. — Notes to Conuellan's 
 Four blasters. 
 
 '■" The Lebhar na g-Coigedh (Lecur 
 na Gogueh,) i. e. the Book of the Filths, 
 or Provinces, contains the genealogies 
 of all the Gaelic families and tribes in 
 each province. 
 
 '-' The Book of Reigns, in Irish 
 " Reim Bioghraidhe " [Éaim Reeree), 
 i. e. the '' Royal Series," or Catalogue, 
 was written in the 11th century, by 
 Gilla Caeimhghin {Guilla Keeveen), or 
 Gilla-Kevin, a celebrated antiquary 
 and bard of the eleventh century. 
 
 '-" Leabhar va n-Aes [Leour na naisse). 
 i. e., the " Book of the Ages."' 
 
 '■'^ The Book of Synchronisms, i. e. 
 Lebhar Comh-Aimserechta [Leour Cov- 
 imshcraghta). This was written by 
 Flann of the Monastery. 
 
 '™ The Book (./■ Topography, in Irish 
 Leabhar Dinn-Seiichas [Deen Skin- 
 aghas), was originally composed in the 
 6th century, by Amergin, chief bard to 
 the monarch Dermod, at Tara ; but 
 many additions have been made to it 
 by later writers. This celebrated work 
 gives an account of noted places, as 
 Fortresses, Raths, Cities, Plains, Moun- 
 tains, Lakes, Rivers, kc. and of the 
 origin of their names, and contains 
 much interesting information on ancient 
 Irish history and topography. Copies 
 of it are in various libraries, and a copy 
 
Ixiv 
 
 Dl!. KEATING 8 PliKFACE. 
 
 the Book of Etymology;'^' tne Uriiiccpht"' or Grammar of 
 Kennfaela, tlic Learned ; the Amra'" or Elegy on iSt. Columh- 
 kille, -written ?liortly after the saint's death, by Dalian Forgail. 
 Besides the Chief Books, or Books of the First Class, there are 
 man}' historic tales to be seen in Ireland, snch as the Battle'" of the 
 Plain of Mocruimhi ; the Deaths''"^ of the Heroes, the Battles of 
 Crina,'" Finncora,'" Eos-na-Eigh'=', Magh-Lena,"» j\ragh'^'-Eath, 
 Magh-Tualaing,'" and a multitude of other historic tales that I 
 shall not mention here. 
 
 The historic records of Ireland must be considered of still 
 
 of the original, contained in a vellum 
 MS. of the 9th century, was in the li- 
 brary of the late Sir William Bctham. — 
 Notes to Connellan'A Four Masters. 
 
 ''' The Book of the Pedigrees of wo- 
 men, i. e. Lebhar Baiu-senchas [Leour 
 Banshaiiag/ias). 
 
 •^- The Book of Etymologies, i. e. 
 " Coir na n-Anniaun." The most fa- 
 mous work extant in the Gaelic tongue 
 upon etymology, is the Sanasan Chor- 
 tnaic or Cormac's Glossary, originally 
 contained in the book called the Psal- 
 ter of Cashcl. It is the work of Cor- 
 mac MacCulinan. the king-l>ishop of 
 the two Munsters. 
 
 '^ The Uraiccpht of Kennfaeladh, 
 styled " Foghlanitha,'' [Fowlamhn) i. e. 
 the learned. Kenliieladh MacOlilla, 
 i.e. son of Olioll or Olild, called by the 
 Four Masters " a paragon of wisdoip," 
 died in A. D. 677. lie lived at Daire 
 Liirain, now Derryloran, in the comity 
 of Tirone. The " Uraicepht na ii-Ei- 
 ges (Uirikepht van Aigess), i. c. " the 
 grammar of the learned," was not com- 
 posed by him. It was first composed 
 by either Forchern orFerchertni, sages 
 of pagan times. Kennfaeladh is said 
 to have but amended .it. Perhaps it 
 was revised to suit it to the altered 
 idiom of ])is day. 
 
 •^ The Elegij Columkille, in Irish 
 " Amhra Choluim Cilli " (Owra-Collim 
 Killi), by the celebrated chief bard 
 Dalian Forgail, has recently been pub- 
 lished by the Celtic Society with anno- 
 tations i)y Dr. U'Donovan. The com- 
 mon Irish word " amhran " [owraun), 
 a song, is a diminutive of "amlira," 
 which being itself a derivative form, 
 must come from the root " amar " or 
 " amhar." 
 
 '■'•' Cath Mnighe Mncruimhe, {Cah 
 Moy Mocrivvie), i. e. the Battle of the 
 I'laiu of Mucruimhi. Of this an-d the 
 other battles and events commemora- 
 ted in these tales, the reader will find 
 the particulars in the following pages. 
 I give here but the pronunciation of 
 the titles of the works. 
 
 '^ Oighedh na g-curadh, {Eeyeh na 
 gura), i. e. the Tragic Fate of the 
 Knights. 
 
 '^' Cath Crinna, or Crionna, {Cah- 
 Crecna), i e. the Battle of Crina. 
 
 '^ Cath Fiiincoradh, [Fincora), i. e. 
 the Battle of Finncoradh. 
 
 ™ Cath Rius na Riogh, {Cah rushna 
 ree,) i. e. the Battle of Bos na riogh. 
 
 "° Cath Muighe Lena, (Cah Moy- 
 hnjiia), i. e., " the Buttle of Moy- 
 lena." 
 
 "' Mueghe Rath (Mry Punrh), i. e. 
 the Battle of Mairh Rath. 
 
 '" Magh Tiwlang {Mcy Tcolang), 
 i.e,the Battle of the Plain of THia- 
 lang. 
 
 Numerous copies of the species 
 of semi-hisloric cimpcsitions here 
 alluded to still exist, in every possible 
 variety of dialect, from that now 
 spoken, up to the most ancient known. 
 They were, in fact, the historic ro- 
 mances of their day ; but, though 
 much interwoven with extravagant fic- 
 tion and often very florid and exaggera- 
 ted in style and language, according to 
 our modern ideas, still, recent researches 
 have proved many of them to btí 
 historically correct in the ina.'n facts 
 they record. The correctness on this 
 point, of such of them as have been 
 translated, and critically scrutinized, 
 has been most satisfactorily proved, 
 not only by the concurrent testimony 
 
DR. KEATING'S preface. 
 
 Ixv 
 
 greater authority when we consider that there were formerlj 
 more than three hundred ollamhs of history in this country, whose 
 sole business it was to preserve the traditions of the nation, and 
 who were maintained by the noblemen of Ireland for that pur- 
 
 of our simple and strictly unadorned 
 annals, but by the exactitude with 
 which they describe local scenery, the 
 sites of ancient royal residences, forts, 
 artificial lakes, mounds, tombs of heroes, 
 cemeteries, sites of battles, &c., the 
 remains of which still exist, luckily 
 for our ancient history, that is yet to 
 be written. The recent Ordnance Sur- 
 vey of Ireland has unintentionally 
 done us this good. It has summoned 
 op the shades of the heroes of olden 
 time from the earn and the cromleac, 
 from the rath, the cathair, and monu- 
 mental mound, where they so long 
 have slept, to bear testimony to the 
 truthfulness of their faithful Shana- 
 chies. It has established landmarks to 
 guide future historians in their selec- 
 tions from our written records. 
 
 When Greek bards tell us of the tomb 
 of Achilles, of Cyclopean Tiryns, or of 
 Thebie, of the hundred gates, and her 
 countless car-borne warriors, we must 
 surely believe that the hero of the 
 Iliad fought and fell beneath the Tro- 
 jan walls, that neither the Cyclopean 
 nor Egyptian cities were creations of 
 exalted fantasy, when we find the se- 
 pulchral mound of that swift-footed chief- 
 tain still rearing its head there, where 
 the bards described it, upon the Phry- 
 gian shore — when we see that time- 
 Bcorning fortress, built by the lightning- 
 lorgers, still frowning from its Argolic 
 height, and when we find wondrous 
 Egypt, of monumental story, still pro- 
 claiming unquestioned, her olden magni- 
 ficence. — Why then question the truth 
 of the Gaelic bards, when they tell us of 
 the deeds of Partholan, the civilizer , and 
 of his predecessors, the hunters of Kical , 
 the short-legged — when they sing of the 
 Fomorian rovers, of the warlike Ne- 
 medians and Belgians, of the Mystic 
 Danaans, that each in their turn suc- 
 ceeded asconquerorsof Eri,orof our own 
 paternal ancestors, the sons of Miledh 
 of Spain ? Do not the monuments at 
 Tor-Inis and at Ailech-Neid — do not 
 5 
 
 the pyramids by the Boyne and the re- 
 mains at Tara, Talti, Cruacha, and at 
 Eman Macha, more than sufficiently 
 bear out the truth of the main facts, 
 recorded by those bards of these old 
 races ? Can any Zoilus of history now 
 rob us of our traditions by unfair and 
 one-sided criticisms upon the narra- 
 tions of our Shanachies, or can any pil- 
 fering MacPherson again attempt to 
 steal our bards and our heroes, and, by 
 a literary swindle, attempt to impose 
 them on the world as the natives of his 
 own land? — Some of our documents 
 have at length been published and 
 translated, so that all may see and read 
 them ; and ancient monuments are 
 found to be still in existence, that agree 
 exactly with the descriptions given of 
 them in these same documents. Let 
 the critics and the cavillers, then, read 
 and compare facts, and appeal no 
 longer to scholastic prejudice and con- 
 jectural suppositions. I would but 
 refer to the "Antiquities of Tara Hill," 
 written by that most critically severe 
 and most learned of antiquarians, Dr. 
 Petrie, and to his " Round Towers," or 
 to the " Battle of Magh Rath," and 
 the various recent publications of the 
 Irish Archasological and Celtic Socie- 
 ties, or to even that one volume of the 
 Ordnance Survey, published by the 
 English (Government, in order to con- 
 vince the most sceptical inquirer, if he 
 will only take the trouble to read the 
 books, — that is, if he be not uncandid 
 and prejudiced as well as sceptical, 
 and be neither too unintelligent to 
 form an opinion nor too lazy to learn. 
 The publication of the historic ro- 
 mances that still remain to us, would 
 be of the greatest utility to the Irish 
 historian, not only from their explain- 
 ing and giving reasons for many of the 
 bald facts recorded in the annals, but 
 from the insight they give into the 
 manners and customs of our ancestors. 
 It is from them alone that the future 
 historian of Ireland, in her younger 
 
Ixvi DR. KEATING's PREFACE. 
 
 pose ; and tliat tlie records compiled by them yvere examined, 
 and sanctioned periodically by the nobility and clergy. They 
 must receive additional credit from their great antiquity, as well 
 as from the fact that they had never been interrupted or destroyed 
 by the tyranny of foreigners. For, although the Scandinavians 
 continued for a long time to occusion troubles in Ireland, still, 
 there were so many ollamhs employed in recording its history, 
 that the principal part of its annals have been saved, though 
 these Northern pirates carried oif a great number of historic 
 books. But, the other nations of Europe were not equally 
 fortunate in this respect, for the Eomans, Gauls, Goths, Vandals, 
 Saxons, Saracens, Moors, and Scandinavians destroyed their 
 traditional records in their several incursions. But, none of these 
 plunderers had ever conquered Ireland, even according to Cam- 
 brensis,"^ who tells us that Ireland had been always free from 
 the incursions of any enemies b}^ Avhom its history or antiquities 
 could be destroyed — a thing that was not the case with any other 
 European nation. For this reason also, do I conceive, that the 
 traditions of Ireland are more worthy of credit than those of 
 any country in Europe. Add to this the fact, that it had been 
 repeatedly arranged, and expurgated, first by St. Patrick, and 
 then by the holy clergy of the Irish nation. 
 
 The reader must, however, observe that I have made some 
 change in the number of years assigned to the reigns of some of 
 a few of the pagan kings of Ireland ; thus departing from the 
 " Reim Righraidhe" {Bairn Reeree\ or " Royal Catalogue," and 
 several of the poems composed thereon. My reason for this is, 
 because I do not find them to agree in the number from Adam 
 to the birth of Christ with any foreign writer whatsoever of au- 
 thority: and again, because there appears an improbability in the 
 number of years alotted to some of them ; for instance, Siorna, 
 (Shecrna,) the long-lived, to whom is assigned a reign of an 
 hundred and fifty years. Notwithstanding this, we read in the 
 old Book of Conquests, that this Siorna was one hundred years 
 old before he assumed the sovereignty of Ireland, so if I made 
 him reign one hundred and fifty years more, no one would believe 
 
 flays, can Icarn how to portray his phor. The inflated stylo seems to have 
 charactcrfl in appropriate costume, and been engrossed liy the Sgel Fiannaid- 
 present them to his readers in lifelike hechta (Sgail Fecnceatrhta) or prose ro- 
 lineaments. It is also a strange fact con- raance ; and even of the latter, the ear- 
 nected with Gaelic literature, that our Her versions are nearly free from the 
 writers should have expended nearly all extravaganza that pervaded too many 
 their genius for hyperbole in these prose of those of more recent date, 
 tales now spoken of. Their metrical '" ITibernia ab initio ab omni alien- 
 compositions or " duans," are singularly arum gentium incursu libera perman- 
 simple in language and chaste in meta- sit. 
 
DR. KEATING'S PREFACE. 
 
 Ixvii 
 
 me. Therefore, I allow him but twenty-one years, m which I 
 am borne out by a jioem upon his reign ; the propriety of this 
 cliange must be obvious to the reader. Again, though Cobthach 
 Cael-Breagh {Coicliagh Kael Braiv) is made to reign fifty years, 
 yet we must allow him but thirty ; for, Moriath, the daughter of 
 Scoriath, king of Corca Duibni, fell in love with Maen, other- 
 wise called Labraidh Loingsech, whilst he was in exile, and she 
 married him on the death of Cobthach, after which she bore him 
 several children. Now, if Cobthach had reigned fifty years, this 
 lady must have been sixty, previous to her bearing children to 
 Labraidh Loingsech ; as such could not be the fact, it was im- 
 possible for Cobthach to have reigned fifty years. 
 
 I would in like manner, and for similar reasons, change the 
 dates of the reigns of some of the other kings that ruled Ireland 
 before the introduction of the Faith. Yet, I do not attribute the 
 discrepancy in dates, that causes me to do this, to any want of 
 knowledge on the part of the antiquaries ; for I think it was more 
 owing to the ignorance of the transcribers, whose only science was 
 penmanship."* Moreover, since the time that the governments 
 
 '" Tenmanship. Of this art, as prac- 
 ticed in Ireland during the days of her 
 freedom, the earliest authenticated spe- 
 cimen extant is said to be the Booli of 
 Kells. It is thus noticed in a recent essay 
 upon the Historic literature of Ireland, 
 and the publications of the Archaeologi- 
 cal Society, published in Dublin in 1851: 
 " This venerable and splendid volume is 
 now preserved among the manuscripts of 
 the University of Dublin." " Ireland," 
 says a late English writer, " may justly 
 be proud of the ' Book of Kells.' This 
 copy of the Gospels, traditionally as- 
 serted to have belonged to St. Columba, 
 is unquestionably the most elaborately ex- 
 ecuted manuscript of early art now in 
 exi fence, far excelling, in the gigantic 
 size of the letters in the frontispiece of 
 the Gospel, the excessive minuteness of 
 the ornamental details, the number of 
 its decorations, the fineness of the wri- 
 ting and the endless variety of initial 
 capital letters, with which every page 
 is ornamented ; the famous Gospels of 
 Lindisfarne, in the Cottonian Library. 
 But this manuscript is still more valu- 
 able on account of the various pictorial 
 representations of different scenes in 
 the life of our Saviour, delineated in a 
 style totally unlike that of every other 
 
 school, and of which I believe the only 
 other specimens are to be found in the 
 Psalter of St. John's College, Cam- 
 bridge, and at St. Gall ; the latter, 
 however, being far inferior in execution 
 to those in the ' Book of Kells.' The 
 various readings of this manuscript are 
 as important as its ornamental details, 
 and in it is to be found the celebrated 
 passage asserting the divinity of the 
 Holy Ghost, which has hitherto been 
 considered as unique in the Silver Gos- 
 pels, at Vercelli. It occurs in St. John 
 iii. 5, 6, (fo. 297, V.) These words 
 were struck out by the Arians, and 
 Father Simon asserted that there was 
 no Latin manuscript in existence in 
 which they were to be found." — Palcco- 
 graphia Sacra Pictoria, by I. 0. West- 
 wood, F.L.S. London, 1845. This 
 learned writer also tells us, that " at a 
 period when the fine arts may be said 
 to have been almost extinct in Italy 
 and other parts of the Continent — 
 namely, from the fifth to the end of the 
 eighth century — a style of art had been 
 established and cultivated in Ireland, 
 absolutely distinct from that of all 
 other parts of the civilized world. 
 There is abundant evidence to prove 
 that in the sixth and seventh centuries 
 
Ixviii 
 
 DR. KEATING's preface. 
 
 of Ireland fell into the hands of strangers, the Irish have left off 
 the triennial examination of their historic records, which they 
 had been more anciently accustomed to make, and the ollamhs 
 also, have been negligent and careless in the preservation and 
 correction of the annals, since they lost the " termonn" land?, and 
 other immunities that they formei'ly received from the Gaels for 
 keeping up their history. Besides, there has been such incessant 
 dissensions between the Gaels and their foreign invaders, since 
 then, that the ollamhs"^ have been discouraged from periodically 
 examining and amending the ancient records, as was their 
 wont. 
 
 Should any one vi^onder at the disagreement between some 
 historians in the computation^^ of the time, from Adam to the 
 birth of Christ, he will, perhaps, get over his surprise, if he will 
 but consider that but few European authors are of accord, in 
 
 the art of ornamenting- manuscripts of 
 the Sacred Scriptures, and especially 
 of the Gospels, had attainixl a perfec- 
 tion in Ireland almost marvellous, and 
 which in after-aires was adopted and 
 imitated by the Continental Schools 
 visited by the Irish missionaries Sever- 
 al of the finest facsimiles given by Astle 
 as Anglo-Saxon, a-e froin Irish n.anu- 
 scripts ; aid thus Sylvestre, who has 
 copied them, has falle< into the same er- 
 T'-r ; whilst Wa^ ley, Casley, and others, 
 appear never to have had a suspicio7i of 
 
 a classic school of art n Ireland 
 
 This venerable volume is credibly be- 
 lieved to have been the companion of 
 Columbaor Coluni-Cilli, the Irish saint, 
 who first spread the light of the truth 
 through the Pagan district of Scot^ 
 land." 
 
 "" Ollamlis. Against no class of lier 
 pcojilc did the English law rage with 
 more violence tlian against the bards and 
 Seanachies ; and none were hunted down 
 more relentlessly by the bloodhound 
 myrmidons of our tyrants. In fact, it 
 was necessary for the perpetmtion of 
 tlicir wholesale plunder, and for tlie im- 
 position of fen .at landlordism, in the 
 place of the tnhc-ownerskip of the Gaels, 
 that the membei"3 of tne free clans 
 should not be reminded of their ancestral 
 rights, by hearing their pedigrees reci- 
 ted by the professional histuriaas. 
 They would fain have them forget that, 
 as tribes-men, each individual was as 
 
 noble as his chieftain, and had as full a 
 right to his portion of (he ei^mmon in- 
 heritance. They were not the serl's or 
 boors of any lord of strange blood. 
 They obeyed their ruler as the elected 
 representative of their common ances- 
 tor. For this purpose did they hunt 
 down our Seanachies, and for this, seek 
 to destroy all our written records, and 
 worse than all, for this reason did they 
 seek and do still seek to demoralize and 
 brutalize our noble race. In this latter 
 they have, in some instances, been 
 but too successful. Ignorance, want 
 and hunger, are feartul Ijrutalizers of 
 humanity. Still, enough of the old 
 nation has remained pure and unflefiled, 
 and may yet elevate those to their natu- 
 ral manhood and to a noble brother- 
 hood as freemen. It rests with time 
 to prove whether the base and merci- 
 less tyrants have succeeded in destroy- 
 ing our birth-rights, and whether, 
 stranger robbers as they are, they shall 
 continue forever to enjoy in peace the 
 green land, which is our national in- 
 heritance, and whether they shall be 
 allowed forever to grind down our breth- 
 ren between the hard millstones of igno- 
 rance and want. Perhaps, after all, so 
 blind are the ways of men, they iiave 
 but prepared an instrument for tlieir 
 own fearful punishment. 
 
 "" Computation of Time. A Dr. 
 O'Conni'rhasthc following observationa 
 upon this subject in his notes to tho 
 
DR. KEATING'S preface. 
 
 Ixix 
 
 their calculations of the same time. As an instance of such dis- 
 agreement amongst the best of writers, I here give down the 
 computations of the following distinguished authorities : 
 
 Hebrew Authors. 
 
 Greek Authors. 
 
 Latin Authors. 
 
 Baa'seclcrhelm, .'5.518 
 
 Metrodorus, 
 
 5000 
 
 St. Jerome, 3941 
 
 The Talmudists, 3784 
 
 Eusebius, 
 
 5199 
 
 St. Augustine, 5351 
 
 The New Rabbius, 3760 
 
 Theophilus, 
 
 5476 
 
 Isodorus, 5270 
 
 Rabbi Nasou, 3740 
 
 
 
 Orosius, 5199 
 
 Rabbi Moses, 4058 
 
 
 
 Beda, 3962 
 
 Rabbi Levi, 3786 
 
 
 
 Alphonsus, 5984 
 
 Josephus, 
 
 4192 
 
 Since these writers disagree so much in their Chronology from 
 Ad;un to the bii'th of Christ, it is not surprising that there should 
 be some discrepancies amongst Irish Antiquarians upon the same 
 point. Yet, I have not met with any computation amongst them 
 more correct than that of those who reckon 4,052 3^ears from the 
 Creation to the Incarnation, wherefore, in giving the dates of our 
 monarchs, in their proper places in the margin of this work, I 
 intend to follow whatever received authority comes nearest to 
 this number. 
 
 It may seem surprising to some persons that I should quote so 
 
 Annals of the Four Masters, in the 
 Stowe catalogue, p. 114, No. 2 : — 
 " The Europeans had no chronology 
 before tlie conquest of Darius the 
 Mede, by Cyrus, 58 years before Christ. 
 The chronology we now have of more 
 ancient times is technical, and has been 
 brought to a great degree of accuracy 
 by Pelagius and Usher. Polybius says 
 that Ephrus, the disciple of Isocrates 
 and historian of Cunia;, was the first 
 who attempted to reduce chronology 
 to a regular science, in the time of 
 Philip of Macedon, about 350 years 
 before Christ. The Arundelian mar- 
 bles, which were composed sixty years 
 after the death of Alexander, take no 
 notice of Olympiads. There are no 
 fixed epochs in Herodotus or Thucydi- 
 des. Timaius of Sicily, who flourished 
 in the 129th Olympiad, or about the 
 middle of the 3d century before Christ, 
 was the first who attempted to estab- 
 lish an era, by comparing the dates of 
 the Olympiads, Spartan Kings, Arch- 
 ons of Athens and Brestresses of Inon, 
 which he adapted to one another, ac- 
 cording to the best of his judgment. 
 Where he left off, Polybius began." 
 
 The accuracy of ancient dates being 
 considered apocryphal, we are driven, 
 says Dr. O'Donovan, " to regard the 
 catalogue of kings, given by Gilla- 
 Caemain and others, as an attempt at 
 reducing to chronological order the ac- 
 cumulated traditions of the poets and 
 scanachies of Ireland. But that a list 
 of Irish monarchs was attempted to be 
 made out, at a very early period, is now 
 generally admitted by the best anti- 
 quarians. Mr. Pinkerton, who denies 
 to the Irish the use of letters before 
 their conversion to Christianity, still 
 admits the antiquity of their list of 
 kings." " Foreigners," he remarks, 
 " may imagine that it is granting too 
 much to the Irish, to allow them lists 
 of kings more ancient than those of any 
 other country in modern Europe ; but 
 the singularly compact and remote sit- 
 uation of that island, and its freedom 
 from Roman conquest, and from the 
 concussions of the fall of the Roman 
 empire, may infer this allowance not 
 too nuich. But all contended for is the 
 list of kings, so easily preserved by the 
 repetition of bards at high solemnities, 
 and some grand events of history ; for, 
 
Ixx 
 
 DR. KEATIXG S PREFACE. 
 
 many ran iis^*'' or stanzas from the Senchas (or Shanghas as now 
 pronounced) in proof of mj history ; but they must remember 
 that the authors of our history composed the greater part of their 
 works in verse. It was thus, they considered, that it would be 
 less subject to adulteration or change ; thus, they also thought, 
 would the historic students be better able to commit the recorded 
 
 to expect a certain detail and regular 
 order in the Pagan history of Ireland 
 were extravagant." 
 
 It is highly probable that the earlier 
 Irish annalists and Seanachies had 
 arranged their chronology after the 
 same manner as Timasus, by compar- 
 ing the various genealogical tables, and 
 the historic " duans." The translator 
 holds that the Irish Sacerdotal and 
 Bardic castes had always possessed 
 copies of these rolls and duans in 
 written or inscribed characters. Dr. 
 O'Donovan has, in his opinion, given 
 too much to modern scepticism, and to 
 that criticism that will allow no civili- 
 zation to western Europe, but what 
 came from Greece or Rome, when he 
 admits the possibility of the Pagan 
 Priesthood of Ireland's having only re- 
 ceived the use of letters in the days 
 of Cormac MacArt. — "Were the silent 
 letters all pronounced in the days of 
 that king? Unless they were, he does 
 not know how, unless by divine and 
 special inspiration, the Irish system of 
 orthography could have been arrang- 
 ed since then, without the aid of the 
 comparative etymologist. In truth, 
 modern science is over vain of its ac- 
 quisitions. It is scarcely credible 
 that the priesthood of any Caucas- 
 ian nation that left the East after they 
 had been first made known, could ever 
 have entirely lost the use of letters. 
 The Irish written tongue shows Ijy in- 
 ternal evidi'nce, that tlie men wlio 
 had the guardianship of its traditions, 
 never did lose that science. 1'he 
 ma.sses might have been, and were, no 
 doubt, ignorant and savage enough, 
 but the priests could scarcely have been 
 so. Even the former coulrl not have 
 been so degraded and ignorant as they 
 are to-day. in this age of progression. 
 Modern men of science, and English- 
 men, more especially, arc most anxious 
 
 to make their progenitors out to have 
 been naked savages. The " Barbari " 
 could not, however, have boon savages. 
 No savages could have met the discip- 
 lined legions of Rome. A regiment of 
 the inhabitants of the most enervated 
 of any of the cities of modern Europe, 
 would be an overmatch for an army of 
 savages. Is there any trustworthy 
 evidence that any nation of white men 
 was ever discovered in a totally savage 
 state ? I, of course, do not mean that 
 state of savagery that is ])roduced by 
 the tyranny of one class of white men 
 over another. Such as those victims 
 of monopoly, the law-made and rum- 
 made savages of England, Scotland, 
 and Ireland, who are sunk by their 
 civilized Mlovi-Cltristians, far beneath 
 any ancient Briton or Gael ever im- 
 agined by poet or by painter. Sunk 
 far below the level of the Red Hunter 
 of the American wilderness, and of 
 the brave Kaffir, of South Ai'rica. 
 More wretched than even Negro or 
 Hottentot, or than any other specimen 
 remaining of the " Prisca gens morta- 
 lium." 
 
 "' Ranns. — In a former note mention 
 has been made of the great simplicity of 
 the style of these " ranns," or " duans," 
 as contrasted with the historic ro- 
 mances. The word " rann," anciently 
 " rand,'' means " stanza," or division. 
 It comes from " rainn." divide thou. 
 It may have some analogy with the 
 English " rant," and, through •■ rung," 
 which translates it when applied to 
 the division or steps of a ladder, with 
 " slave," which translates its meaning 
 when applied to a poetic stanza. ]{oth 
 tlie word " stave " and " rann" may 
 have orignated from having such stan- 
 zas formerly scored on " rungs," or 
 " staves." 'J'hat Irish character called 
 ogham (ow(im) seems to have bi-en 
 specially invented for that purpose. 
 
DR. KEATING's preface, Ixxi 
 
 facts to memory. It was from having been compiled in metrical 
 stanzas that the title of >S'(;<^toiV wa Temrach, i. e., " Psalter of Tem- 
 hair" or Tara, was given to that first class record that was pres- 
 erved in the custody of the Irish monarch's own chief Ollamh : 
 for the same reason was the title of Saltair Casil^i. e., "Psalter 
 of Cashel," given to the chronicle of Cormac Mac Cullinan, and 
 that of " jSaUair na Rann^'' to the Chronicle of Aengus, the Culdee : 
 for the word Sailm means a Psalm, that is, a poem or verse, so 
 " Saltair" means a " psaltery," that is, a book containing many poems 
 or verses. Since then the very marrow of the historic transac- 
 tions of the Irish is preserved in such duans^^ or poems, I have 
 deemed it right to rest upon their authorit}^ in writing this 
 History. 
 
 Some people are amazed at the fact that it should be possible 
 for any person to trace his pedigree"* up to Adam. My answer 
 to these is, that, for the Gaels, it was not difficult to do so; be- 
 cause from the time of Gaedal or Gael, their gi'eat ancestor, these 
 Gaels or Gaedalians constantly had their Druids, who were em- 
 ployed in preserving their genealogies and in recording their ex- 
 ploits, during their several migrations, and even until they arrived 
 in Ireland ; as shall be seen from the following history. Besides, 
 they were a nation fond of science, for it was by his science that 
 Niul, the father of Gaedal obtained all his wealth. Moreover, 
 the preservation of their genealogies was rendered the more easy, 
 by their having remained for so long a period in possession of 
 the same country and by the excellence of those ordinations for 
 preserving their traditions, which I have already mentioned. The 
 
 '** " Duan" [dooan], means a "poem." able to trace its pedigree to the ances- 
 The poet Burns, and some others, have tor of the Gaelic nation. A tribe could 
 made the word English. It shall be used not lose its pedigree ■with impunity, 
 sometimes in this translation. " Laeidh There were too many of its kindred 
 { lay ), is also an old Irish word tribes watching to seize its lands in de- 
 fer a piece of poety. The English fault of title, nor could a stranger-tribe 
 word " lay " translates it exactly ; the usurp the pedigree of another older 
 word is pure Gaelic and is found in our tribe. Too many interests would be 
 oldest books. encroached on by such usurpation, and 
 
 "' The reader is referred to the third it would of course be resisted. The 
 
 part for observations upon the Gaelic The female children being excluded 
 
 pedigrees. They constitute, probably, from the inheritance of lauds, was 
 
 the most authentic portion of our his- another great means of preserving the 
 
 tory. The freedom of each tribesman, pedigrees pure from foreign admixture, 
 
 and his share in the tribe-land, depend- Dr. Keating is not happy in his allu- 
 
 ing upon his being able to prove his siou to the Saxon pedigree, which he 
 
 descent from the common ancestor of has given. The Saxon cared little 
 
 the tribe, it was not po.ssible that it for long descent. Harold, their last 
 
 been could have forgotten or corrupted, king, was of the race of serfs. No 
 
 In the same manner, the freedom of the such thing could by any possibility hap- 
 
 whole tribe depended upon its being pen among the Gaels. 
 
Ixxii 
 
 DR. KEATING'S PREFACE. 
 
 following specimen is from a British author, who traces the gene- 
 alogy of a king of Britain up to Adam, From it, the reader may 
 perceive that it may be possible for the Gaels to do the same 
 thing. The name of the author is Asserus, and that of the king 
 is Aelfred or Alfred. 
 
 Aelfred, son of 
 Aethelwolf, son of 
 Egbert, son of 
 Aethelmund, son of 
 Eafa, son of 
 Eowa, son of 
 In gild, son of 
 Coenred, son of 
 Ceohvald, son of 
 Cudam, son of 
 Cuthwin, son of 
 Ceaulin, son of 
 
 Cynric, son of 
 Creoda, son of 
 Cerdic, son of 
 Elesa, son of 
 GeAvis, son of 
 Brond, son of 
 Belde, son of 
 Woden, son of 
 Frithilwald, son of 
 Frealaf, son of 
 Frithilwulf, son of 
 Fingodwulf, son of 
 
 Geada, son of 
 Caetwa, son of 
 Beawa, son of 
 Sceldwea, son of 
 Heremod, son of 
 Itermod, son o 
 Hathra, son of 
 Iluala, son of 
 Bedwig, son of 
 Ja]ihet, son of 
 Noah, son of 
 
 I think that there is no fair and impartial I'cader "who may 
 have to examine into the Historj^ of Ireland, but -will be satisfied 
 with what I have stated in this prefatory vindication : but if he 
 be not content with what I have here said, it would, perhaps, be 
 beyond my abilities to give him satisfaction. I therefore take my 
 leave of him, and beg of him to excuse me if I have been extra- 
 ragant in anything that I have said in this book, for if there be 
 aught that is reprehensible therein, it is not through malice 
 that I have inserted it, but through want of knowledge. 
 
 Your very humble. 
 
 And ever faithful friend, 
 
 jEOFFiiEY Keating. 
 
 P.S. The following history is divided into two volumes. The 
 first of these contains the events that took place in Ireland from 
 the days of Adam to the arrival of St, Patrick. The second 
 treats of the events that happened from tlie arrival of that saint, 
 down to the invasion of the English — in as far as I have been 
 able to gain a knowledge of the said events. 
 
 In the year of our Lord 1629. 
 
ADDITIOML NOTES TO PREFACE. 
 
 1. " T'le Culdees. The name Culdce, 
 iu Irish Ceile De {Kaili Dai), is derived 
 from Ceili, a servant, and De, of God, 
 and therefore signified a servant of God, 
 or holy man. By the Latin writers 
 they were called CoUdei, Culdei, and 
 Kelidei, and sometimes Deic' la;. The 
 Colidei or Culdees are mentioned by 
 Cambrensis and various other ancient 
 writers, and by several Scotch Histo- 
 rians they are mentioned as monks in 
 Scotland as early as the fourth and fifth 
 centuries ; but the statements of John 
 of Fordun, Hector Boctius, and others, 
 are entirely contradicted by the learned 
 Lanigan ; Smith, in his Life of St. Co- 
 lumkille, and Jamieson, in his History 
 of the Culdees, have maintained that 
 they were Columbian monks, or mem- 
 bers of that order instituted by St. Co- 
 lumkille, at lona, in the Hebrides, and 
 also in various parts of Ireland ; and 
 they have represented these Culdees as 
 a very strict and religious order in 
 those early times, from the sixth to the 
 twelfth century ; but Lanigan shows 
 that these statements are erroneous, 
 and that the Culdees were not mention- 
 ed by the Venerable Bede, or any other 
 ancient ecclesiastical writer, as Colum- 
 bian monks, nor in the works of Usher 
 or Ware, or in the five Lives of Colum- 
 kille published by Colgan. Lanigan 
 considers that the Culdees were first in- 
 stituted in Ireland in the eighth or 
 ninth century. Aougus, surnamed Ceile 
 De, a celebrated Irish ecclesiastical 
 writer of the eighth century, author of 
 
 Lives of Irish Saints, etc., is supposed 
 to have been a Culdee. The Culdees 
 are mentioned in the Annals of the 
 Four Masters, and of Ulster, at A.D., 
 920, in which it is recorded that God- 
 frey, king of the Danes of Dublin, 
 plundered Armagh, but he spared the 
 churches and Colidei. It appears fi-om 
 Lanigan and other authorities, that the 
 Culdees were not, strictly speaking, 
 monks, neither were they members of the 
 parochial clergy, but were a description 
 of secular priests called secular canons, 
 —attached to cathedrals or collegiate 
 churches, called prebendaries ; and al- 
 though bound by rules peculiar to 
 themselves, they belonged to the secular 
 clergy, and are to be distinguished from 
 the canons regular, or communities of 
 monks who sprung up at a much later 
 period, and officiated in the chapters of 
 cathedral churches. The Culdees offi- 
 ciated as secular clergymen in the 
 cathedrals, sung in the choir, lived in 
 community, and had a superior called 
 prior of the Culdees, who acted as pre- 
 centor, or chief chaunter. The princi- 
 pal institution of the Culdees was at 
 Armagh. According to Usher and 
 others, there were Culdees iu all the 
 chief churches of Ulster, and some of 
 them continued at Armagh down to the 
 middle of the seventeenth century. The 
 Culdees had priories and lands in vari- 
 ous parts of Ireland, particular at De- 
 venish Island, in Fermanagh, and at 
 Clones, in Monaghan, both in the dio- 
 cese of Clogher ; also at Ardbraccan, in 
 
 73 
 
Ixxiv 
 
 DR. KEATING S PREFACE. 
 
 Meatli. Giraldus Cambrcnsis g'ives 
 an account of the Colidoi who lived on 
 an island in a lake in North Munster, 
 ■which island was called by the Irish 
 Inis-na-mbeo, or the Island of the Liv- 
 ing, from a tradition that no pei-son 
 ever died on it ; it was afterwards call- 
 ed Mona Incha, and was situated about 
 three miles from Roscrea, in the bog of 
 Monela. in 'J'ippcrary. In the time of 
 Cambrensis, this island was a celebrated 
 place of pilgrimage. Thence their resi- 
 dence was afterwards removed to Cor- 
 bally, a place near the lake, where the 
 Culdees became canons regular of St. 
 Augustine. 'I'hough the Irish Culdees 
 were generally clergymen,yet some pious 
 unmarried laymen joined their communi- 
 ties. There were also Culdees in Bri- 
 tain, particularly in the north of Eng- 
 land, in the city of York, where they 
 had a great establishment called the 
 Hospital of St. Leonard, and were secu- 
 lar canons of St. Peter's cathedral, as 
 mentioned in Dugdale's Monasticon. 
 They got some grants of lands in A.D. 
 936, in the reign of Athelstau, and con- 
 tinued at York at least down to the 
 time of Pope Adrian IV"., who con- 
 firmed them in their possessions. In 
 Wales there were Culdees, as mentioned 
 by Cambrensis, in the Island of Bard- 
 sey, off that coast. In Scotland, the 
 Culdees were more celebrated than in 
 Ireland, had numerous establishments, 
 and continued there from the ninth cen- 
 tury to the Pi(;fonnation. Accord- 
 ing to Chalmers, in his Caledonia, the 
 Culdees of Scotland are not mentioned 
 in history till about the commencement 
 of the ninth century, in the year 800 or 
 815, and their first establishment was at 
 Dunkeld, under the bishop of that see, 
 and they were afterwards placed, about 
 A.D. 8.50, at St. Andrew's, where they 
 had their chief establisliment for 
 many centuries. It is stated by Bu- 
 chanan, that Consfantinc III., King of 
 Scotland, who died in 913, spent the 
 last five years of his life in religious re- 
 tirement amongst the Culdees of that 
 city. Chalmers states, that before the 
 introduction of the canons regular at St. 
 Andrew's, in the twelfth century, the 
 Culdees alone acted as secular canons in 
 
 cathedrals, and as dean and chapter in 
 the election of bishops, and that thence- 
 forth both orders were joined in that 
 right, till A.D. 1272, when it was 
 usurped by the canons regular ; and he 
 also says, that the Culdees of Brechin 
 continued for many ages to act as dean 
 and chapter of that diocese. Ac- 
 cording to Jamieson, the Culdees of St. 
 Andrew's elected the bishops of that 
 see down to the election of William 
 Wishart, in 1271, when the power was 
 abrogated. But in those early times it 
 appears that the bishops of many sees 
 in Scotland were of the order of Cul- 
 dees." — Noteft to Connellan^s Translation 
 of the Four Masters. 
 
 2. The following notices of some of the 
 best known of the works upon ancient 
 Irish history, to some of which Dr. 
 Keating will be found frequently re- 
 ferring m the course of this work, are 
 here given down for the reader's greater 
 convenience. They are chiefly extract- 
 ed from the work last ([uoted : 
 
 3. " The Psalter of Tara was a record 
 of the chief events in Ireland, from the 
 most remote times, compiled by order 
 of the illustrious king Cormac, in the 
 3d century, and from this was chiefly 
 composed, in the latter end of the 9th 
 century, by Cormac Mac Culiuan, 
 Archbishop of Cashel, the great work 
 called the Psalter of Cashel." 
 
 This work is supposed to be lost, or 
 to have been carried off by the Danes. 
 
 4. " The Annals rf the Four Masters 
 were compiled chiciiy by the celebrated 
 O'Clerys of Donegal, and are one of 
 the most important works ever written 
 on Irish history ; they comprise the 
 Annals of Ireland from the earliest ages 
 to the 17th century." 
 
 We have already spoken of the elegant 
 edition of these Annals, published by 
 Messrs. Hodges & Smith, and of the 
 faithful translation and erudite notes by 
 Dr. O'Donovan, with which they are 
 accompanied. 
 
 5. " The Book of Kclls, considered to 
 have been written by St. Columkille, in 
 the 0th century, was preserved for 
 many ages at the (Julumhian monastery 
 of Kells, in Meath, and is now in the 
 library of Trinity College, Dublin. It 
 
DR. KEATING S PREFACE. 
 
 Ixxv 
 
 contains a manuscript of the four gos- 
 pels, and is illuminated with decorations 
 of surpassing beauty.' 
 
 'J'his jMS. can scarcely be called an 
 Irish historical work. Still, from its 
 very great antiquity and rare elegance 
 of penmanship it deserves to be men- 
 tioned here, were it but as a specimen 
 of the state of that art in Ireland in the 
 6th century. 
 
 6. Tlie Book of Leacan, so called from 
 being composed at Lcacau, was compiled 
 by the ^lac Firbises, from the tM'clfth 
 to the fifteenth century, and is one of 
 the greatest and most authentic works 
 on Irish history and antiquities. It is 
 a very voluminous MS., written on fine 
 vellum, and comprises the history of 
 Ireland from the earliest ages to the 
 fifteenth century. The original book of 
 Leacan is in the Library of the Eoyal 
 Irish Academy. 
 
 .7 The Book of BaUymote, so called 
 from having been in the possession of 
 the Mac Donoghs, at their castle of 
 BalljTnote in Sligo ; or, according to 
 others, from having been partly com- 
 posed at the monastery of Ballymote, 
 was compiled in the latter end of the 
 fourteenth century, chiefly by Solamh 
 O'Droma, or Solomon O'Drom, and 
 Manus O'Duigenau, learned antiquaries 
 and historians. Toraaltagh Mac Do- 
 nogh, lord of Tirerill and Corran, in 
 Sligo, was the patron of these learned 
 men ; and the Book of Ballymote re- 
 mained a long time in possession of this 
 family, but was purchased from one of 
 the ^Lac Donoghs, in the year 1522, by 
 Hugh Duv, son of Hugh Roe, son of 
 Niall Garv O'Donnell, of Donegal, the 
 price given for the book being one hun- 
 dred and forty milch cows. The Book 
 of Ballymote is a large folio MS. on 
 vellum ; it contains the ancient history 
 of Ireland from the earliest period to 
 the end of the fourteenth century, and 
 is considered a very authentic work and 
 of great authority. The original is de- 
 posited in the library of the Royal Irish 
 Academy ; and a copy of it, with a full 
 account of its contents, was made by the 
 translator of these Annals as Irish 
 Historiographer, and is deposited in the 
 Koyal Library at Windsor. 
 
 8. The O'Duigenans of Kilronan, in 
 the county of Roscommon, composed a 
 learned MS. work on Irish history, 
 often quoted, and called the Book of the 
 O'Duigenans, and also assisted in the 
 compilation of the Annals of the Four 
 Masters. 
 
 9. The Book of Hy Maine, generally 
 called the Book of the O'Kellys, was 
 compiled partly by the ODugans. he- 
 reditary bards and historians to the 
 O'Kellj's, and partly by Faolan Mac an 
 Gobhan or Smith, a learned historian, 
 who is mentioned in 0'Reillv"s Irish 
 Writers at A.D. 1423. This Book of 
 Hy Maine is a voluminous MS. on vel- 
 lum containing a vast deal of curious 
 and interesting information on the his- 
 tory and antiquities of Ireland. 
 
 10. The Annals of Boyle. The abbey 
 of Boyle, in Roscommon, a celebrated 
 Cistercian monastery ,was founded in the 
 twelfth century, and amply endowed by 
 the ^íac Derniotts, lords of Moylurg ; 
 it was long eminent as a seat of learn- 
 ing and religion, and its remaining ruins 
 show its former magnificence. The An- 
 nals of Boyle were composed by the 
 monks of that abbey, and are consider- 
 ed as a most authentic record of the an- 
 cient history of Ireland. 
 
 11. The Leabhar Breac Mac Aodha- 
 gnin, or Speckled Book of Mac Egan. 
 an ancient MS. often quoted by our 
 historians, and containing much curious 
 information, the original of which is in 
 the Royal Irish Academy, was com- 
 posed by the Mac Egans of Duniry. in 
 Galway, learned Brehons and histo- 
 rians. 
 
 12. The Cronicon Scotorvm, an an- 
 cient work, composed at Clonmacnois. 
 written in Irish, and continued to 1150, 
 contains much information on the an- 
 cient history of Ireland. 
 
 13. The Annals of Tigearnach, com- 
 piled in the 11th century by Tigearnach, 
 abbot of Clonmacnois, whose death is 
 recorded in the Four Masters, and in 
 O'Reilly's Irish Writers, at A.D. 1088 ; 
 he was one of the most learned men of 
 that age, and his Annals are considered 
 as one of the most authentic works ou 
 ancient Irish history ; they contain the 
 history of Ireland, from the reign oi 
 
Ixxvi 
 
 DR. KEATING's preface. 
 
 Kimboath, king of Emania, and mon- 
 arch of hvland, who flourished about 
 350 years before ihe Christain era, down 
 to the death of the author, in the 11th 
 century ; and, according to O'Reilly, 
 they were continued to the IGth century 
 by Augustin Mac Gradian, or !Mac 
 Craith, a monk of the abbey of All 
 .Saints, on Lough Ree, in the rivor 
 Shannon, and county of Longford. 
 O'Reilly says there is a copy of these 
 Anuals in the library of Trinity Col- 
 lege, Dublin. 'I'he Annals of Tigear- 
 nach are partly in Irish and partly in 
 Latin, and have been published in Latin 
 by Dr. O'Couor, in the Rerum Hib. 
 Scriptores. 
 
 14. The Book of Annah of B'dhj 
 Mac M'fius was the celebrated work on 
 Irish history and antiquities, called the 
 Annals of Ulster, of which a Latin trans- 
 lation was made by the learned and 
 Rev. Dr. Charles 0' Conor, and pub- 
 lished in his great work, the Rerwn 
 Hiberniainim Scriptoris Vet-res. The 
 compiler of these annals was Cathal, 
 or Charles Maguire, an eminent eccle- 
 siastic and learned man, who collected 
 and compiled those Annals at Senaid 
 Mac Manus, a place situated in the 
 county of Fermanagh ; hence these 
 Annals have been sometimes called 
 Anna'tsSenatnsps, or Senatensian An- 
 nals, and sometimes the Annals of Bally 
 Mac Manus. The Annals of Ulster 
 contain the history of Ireland fnmi the 
 first to the latter end of the fifteenth 
 century, being carried down to the 
 time of the Author's death ; but some 
 additions were afterwards made to them, 
 and they were continued to A. D. 
 1.541, by tlie learned Roderick O'Cas- 
 sidy, archdeacon of Clogher, according 
 to Ware's Writers. 
 
 15. The Annals of Ulster were com- 
 piled in the fifteenth century, by Cathal 
 or Cliarles Maguire, a native of Fer- 
 managh, an eminent and learned 
 ecclesiastic, who was dean of Clogher, 
 a canon of Armagh, &c., and whose 
 death is recorded at the year 1498, in 
 the Annals of the Four Masters. 
 These Annals, after the death of the 
 Author, were continued to ir)41, by 
 Roderick O'Cassidy, archdeacon of 
 
 Clogher. The Annals of Ulster are 
 written, partly in Irish, and partly in 
 Latin, and contain the history of Ire- 
 land from the first to the si.xteenth 
 century, and are considered very au- 
 thentic, giving a concise account of the 
 various events. There are copies of 
 these Annals in several libraries in 
 England, and in Dublin, and they have 
 been published in Latin, from the fifth 
 to the twelfth centurv. iiamelv, from 
 A.D. 431, to A. D. 1131, in Dr. O'- 
 Conor's Rer. Uib. Scriptores. 
 
 IG. The Books of Ulster and of Oir- 
 p;i(ill, copies of which are contained in 
 the Books of Leacan and Ballymote, 
 give an account of the ancient history 
 of Ulster, its kings, princes, chiefs and 
 clans, and contain much important in- 
 formation. 
 
 17. The Book of Lismore, a large 
 ancient Irish MS. folio, on vellum, 
 which was accidenially discovered in 
 the castle of Lismore, where it still 
 remains, in the library of the Duke of 
 Devonshire. It was composed at the 
 ancient college or monastery of Lis- 
 more, and contains much valual)le in- 
 formation on Irish history and antiqui- 
 ties, as lives of SS. Patrick, Bridget, 
 and Colunikille ; accounts of Samhain 
 and Antichrist ; the history of David, 
 son of Jesse ; also accounts of the bat- 
 tles of Ceallaehan, king of Cashel ; the 
 battles of Crinna, (jlawra, &c. ; and 
 likewise the life and conquests of the 
 Emperor Charlemagne ; a history of 
 Lombardy, &c. 
 
 18. 'The Book of Glenrlilonr/h, said 
 by O'Riley to be in the library of 
 Trinity College, Dublin, is an ancient 
 work on the history of Leinster. 
 
 19. The B(iuk(f Kilkenny, an ancient 
 work, is ofti'n (|iiotcd by Colgan, in 
 his Lives of the Irish Saints. 
 
 20. The Book of Leinster, which is 
 contained in the Books of I^eacan and 
 Ballymote, and a copy of it in the 
 library of Trinity College, gives the 
 ancient history of Leinsti'r, and its 
 kings, princes, chiefs, and clans. 
 
 21. The Annals t)f Innisfallen were 
 compiletl by the monks of the abbey 
 of Irmisfallen, an island in the lakes of 
 Ki Harney. Innisfallen was founded by 
 
DR. KEATING's preface. 
 
 Ixxvii 
 
 St. Finian in the sixth century, and 
 became famous as a seat of learninti. 
 These annals commence at A. D. 252, 
 and end A. D. 1320. They relate 
 chiefly to Munster. The original of 
 them is in the Bodleian library at Ox- 
 ford, and copies are in the libraries of 
 Trinity College, Dublin, the Eoyal 
 Irish Academy, and others. Dr. 
 O'Conor has published them, with a 
 Latin translation, in his " Rerum 
 Hibernicarum Scriptores." 
 
 The Book of Munster is at large 
 upon Irish history, but chiefly relating 
 to the province whence it has its name. 
 It gives an account of its kings, chiefs, 
 ancl principal clans ; its ancient laws, 
 customs, arts, agriculture, etc. Copies 
 of it are contained in the book of 
 Leacau and Ballymote. 
 
 The Book of Fermoy, compiled by 
 the monks of the abbey of Fermoy, 
 in the county of Cork, a large work 
 on vellum, containing valuable infor- 
 mation, was recently in the possession of 
 Wm. Monk Mason, Esq , of Dublin. 
 
 22. The Topographies of O'Dugnn 
 and O'Heerin. Seagan O'Dubhagain, 
 or John O'Dugan, died in 1372. He 
 wa^ the historian of the O'Kellies, 
 chiefs of Hy Maine. Gilla na Naemh 
 [Gilla na Nave) Oh-Uidhirin (O'Hee- 
 rin), who died in 1420, continued 0'- 
 Dugan's work. These works, which 
 are in verse, may be considered a sort 
 of Doomsday book of Irish history. 
 They were compiled from personal in- 
 spection of the various places of which 
 they treat. Large use is made of the 
 translation of these poems by Mr. 
 Owen Connellan, as given in his Four 
 Masters, in explanation of the maps 
 attached to this histoiy. 
 
 23. The Annals of Connaught is an 
 ancient work, compiled by the O'Mael- 
 Conairies, historians of that province, 
 about the fourteenth century. Dr. 
 Drunmiond, in his Prize Essay on the 
 poems of Ossian, states that Mac Pher- 
 8on, the celebrated author of Ossian's 
 Poems, on visiting Oxford, was shown 
 the above-mentioned Irish MS. as con- 
 taining the Poems of Ossian, a single 
 word of which he was not able to read. 
 
 24. The WcDS of Tkamond, styled, 
 
 Cahreim Thomlhealbhaigh [Cahraim. 
 Horailig), or, a Catalogue of Torlogh's 
 Battles, contains, as stated in O'Reil- 
 ley's Irish Writers, at A. D. 1450, an 
 account of the battk'S of Torlogh 
 O'Brien, and of the wars of Thomond, 
 from the landing of Heiny 11. in Ire- 
 land, to the death of Robert de Clare, 
 A. D. 1318. This work was written by 
 Rory Mac Craith, in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, the original of which, on vellum, 
 was lately in the library of Sir William 
 Betham. 
 
 25. Another sometimes quoted by 
 Keating, is the Leabhar Gearr, or 
 Short Book, an Irish MS. of some note, 
 but now, it is feared, lost. 
 
 I shall conclude these notices of Irish 
 works by the following remarks, taken 
 from the same mine of Irish historical 
 information — I mean the notes to Con- 
 nellan 's Four Masters. 
 
 " There are still existing vast collec- 
 tions of ancient and valual^le Irish MSS. 
 in various libraries in Ireland, as those 
 of Trinity College, Dublin, and of the 
 Royal Irish Academy ; also in many 
 private libraries, particularly in that of 
 Sir William Betham. In various libra- 
 ries in England there are great collec- 
 tions of Irish MSS., as in those of the 
 Bodleian Library at Oxford, of the Brit- 
 ish Museum, and of Lambeth in London, 
 and in the library of the Duke of Buck- 
 ingham, at Stowe, there is an immense 
 and most valuable collection. In the 
 libraries on the Continent there are 
 also collections of Irish MSS., particu- 
 larly at Rome, Paris, and Louvain, and 
 in the libraries of Spain and Portugal, 
 and it is said that there were Irish 
 MSS. in the Royal Library at Copen- 
 hagen, which were carried off by the 
 Danes from Ireland, in the tenth and 
 eleventh centuries, A vast number of 
 Irish MSS. were destroyed, particularly 
 during the wars of Elizabeth and Crom- 
 well ; Webb, in his Analysis of the 
 Antiquities of Ireland, says, ' it was, 
 till the time of James I., the object of 
 government to discover and destroyall 
 remains of the literatun; of the Irish, 
 in order the more fully to eradicate 
 from their minds every trace of their 
 ancient independence." 
 
Ixxviii 
 
 DR. KEATING's preface. 
 
 In the Pagan times, many works of 
 note are recorded, and, according to 
 Charles O'Conor, it is stated by Duald 
 Mac Firbis. tho learned antiquary of 
 Leacan, that St. Patrick burned no less 
 than 180 volumes of the Books of the 
 Druids at Tara. As Tara was in the 
 early ages the seat of the Irish 
 monaix-hy, there were many of the 
 chief Bards consequently connected 
 with Meath, and an account of various 
 eminent Bards, who flourished in ]\Ieath 
 and Ulster in the Pagan times, is given 
 in O'Reilly s Writers. The most cele- 
 brated of these were Adhna, Athairne, 
 Forchern, Ferceirtne, and Neide, all of 
 whom flourished about the beginning 
 
 of the Christian era, at the Court of 
 Eraania, under Concovar Mac Neasa, 
 the celebrated king of Ulster. Oisin, 
 or Os.sian, in the third century, was one 
 of the most celebrated of the Irish 
 Bards, and many poems attributed to 
 him are still extant ; some of the Ossi- 
 anic poems have been translated, bnt 
 many remain in manuscript, and it is to 
 be observed, that they are very diilcrent 
 from Ossiau's Poems published by Mac 
 Pherson, who claimed the Irish Bard as 
 a native of Scotland ; but Mac Pher- 
 son's Ossiauic Poems, though contain- 
 ing much poetical beauty, are chiefly 
 fictions of his own." 
 
FORAS FEASA AR EIRINN; 
 
 OR, 
 
 HISTOKY OF lEELAND. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 OF THE DIFFERENT NAMES THAT WEEE GIVEN TO IRELAND 
 DOWN HERE. 
 
 1. The first name given to Ireland was " Inis-na-ffidbadh " 
 {Inish-na- Veevah) i. e., The Isle of Woods ; and the person that 
 gave it this name was a champion of the people of Nin^ the son 
 of Pel, who was sent by him to explore Ireland, and who, on his 
 arrival, fonnd the country one unbroken forest, except Magh-n- 
 elta^ {Moy-nelta) alone. 
 
 2. The second name was " Crioch-na-ffuinedach" {Creearjli-im- 
 
 * Pronounced, Forras Fass' ar Air- 
 inn.- — Eire, ancientl}', Eiri and Eri, the 
 Gaelic name of Ireland, is declined in 
 the following manner, viz. : nom. Eire, 
 gen. Eirenn, dat. and all. Eirinn. In 
 the older writings the forms are Eri, 
 Erend, and Erind. The more modern 
 Irish nearly always substitute two" n's" 
 for the old form " 'nd." Mana, the Irish 
 name of the Isle of Man, follows the 
 same form of declension, viz : gen. 
 Manann or Manand, dat. and abl. Man- 
 ainn or Manaind. Mumha, now called 
 Munster, Ara, the name of certain is- 
 lands on the Irish coast. Alba, Scotland, 
 and several other names of countries 
 and localities, are of similar formation. 
 I here note as a fact worthy of the at- 
 tention of scientific inquirers into the 
 
 origin of the various tribes that colo- 
 nized the west of Europe,that most,if not 
 all of the local names of this declension, 
 date from a period previous to the 
 Scoto-Milesian or Gaelic invasion. The 
 pure Scoto-Milesian names are mostly 
 composed of short descriptive sentences. 
 each component word of which main- 
 tains its form unchanged, and preserves 
 its full grammatical value ; — ex. : Bai- 
 lé-atha-clcaih, i. e., the-toicn-of-thc-ford- 
 of-hurdkx, in English, Dublin. Those 
 names which make their oblique cases 
 in "nd" or "nn" seem to be of Pelasgic 
 origin. 
 
 ' i. e., Ninus, the son of Belus. 
 
 = Magh-n-EUa,i.e., the Plain of the 
 Flocks.— This plain extended from 
 Benn-Edar, now the Hill of Howth, 
 
80 THE IIISTOKY OF IRELAND. 
 
 vunnayagh) i. e., the Country of the Remote, i. e., the Extreme 
 Land, from its being at the end, i. e., fuinedh, or extremity of 
 the three parts of the workl then known. 
 
 3. The third name was " Inis-Elga," ^ i. e., the Noble Island. It 
 was during the time of the Fer-Bolgs that it was usual to call it 
 by this name. 
 
 "^4. The fourth name was "Eri" (Airi), which, according to a 
 certain author, it received from Aeria, an old name of the island 
 now called Greta or Candia. lie is of this opinion because the 
 posterity of Gacdal Glas inhabited that island for some time after 
 Sru, son of Esru, son of Gaedal, had been banished out of Egypt. 
 Acre was also one of the names of Egypt, Avhence the Gaels or 
 Gaedalians had emigrated. However, it is the common "opinion 
 of our historians, that it received the name from a queen of the 
 Tuatha-De-Dananns, whose name was Eri. This was Eri, daughter 
 of Delbaeth, the wife of Kethor, who was styled Mac Greni, (i. e., 
 son of Griau or the Sun,) and who was king of Ireland when the 
 sons of Miledh invaded it. 
 
 5. The fifth name of Ireland was "Fodla" {Fola), so called from 
 Fodla, who was also a queen of the Tuatha-De-Dananns, and 
 who was the wife of Mac Keact, (i. e., son of the Plough,) whose 
 real name Avas Tethor. 
 
 6. The sixth name it received was "Banba,'''* from Banba, 
 another queen of the Tuatha-De-Dananns. She Avas the Avife of 
 Mac Coin, whose real name Avas Tethor. These three kings of 
 the Tuatha-Do-Dananns held the sovereignty of Ireland alter- 
 nately every third year ; and the reason Avhy the island is more 
 frequently called Eri than Fodla or Banba, is because it Avas the 
 husband of the Avoman named Eri that Avas king of Ireland 
 during the year in Avhich the sons of Milcdh arrÍA^cd therein. 
 
 7. The seventh name is " Inis-Fail." It Avas the Tuatha-De- 
 Dananns that gave it this name, from a stone they brought 
 
 near Dublin, to Tallaglit. The famous mean that the country sometimes called 
 battlo-field of Clontarf formed part of '-Eri," and sometimes "Fodla" and "Ban- 
 it. ba," was ruled alternately by the above- 
 
 ' Inis Elga. This and the foregoing named three kings, about the time of 
 can scarcely be considered as having ev- the Milesian invasion. The Gaelic 
 er been distinctive proper names of Jre- Shanachies could not, apparently, ex- 
 land. They nmst be classed with such plain those antiipie terms from their 
 figurative appellations as the "Island of own traditions or language, and instead 
 Saints," applied to it in the middle of an explanation or etymology, they 
 ag&s, and the " Emerald Jsle" of the have left us a myth. The probability 
 present day. is that the early colonists of Ireland 
 
 * Eri, Fodla and Bnnha wfrc j)rob- called the; island each after the country 
 
 ably the real ancient names of Ireland, or nation whence they had emigrated 
 
 The story of the three queens has all thereto, aa colonists very frecpiently do. 
 the appearance of an allegory, and may 
 
THE niSTOEY OF IRELAND. 81 
 
 to Ireland themselves, called Lia Fail,^ otherwise the Stone of 
 Destiny. This is the "saxum fatale," i. e., Stone of Fate, of 
 which Hector Boethius speaks in his History of Scotland. This 
 was an enchanted stone ; for, whenever the men of Ireland were 
 assembled at the Great Council of Tara, to elect a king over 
 them, it used to give forth a loud cry beneath the person whose 
 right it was to obtain the sovereign power. But it has emitted 
 no cry since the time of Concobar ; for when Christ was born, 
 all the false idols of the world were struck dumb. Here follows 
 a quotation from the poet Kinaith,^ which proves that Ireland 
 received the name Inis-Fail from this stone : — 
 
 " From this stone, now beneath my feet 
 Men have named our Isle of Fál ; 
 And Eri, between both swelling seas, 
 Has thence been called the Plain of Fál." 
 
 8. The eighth name was " Muich-Inis " ^ {Mooih-Innish)^ i. e., 
 the Isle of Mist or Fog. This name was given to it by the sons 
 of Miledh, before they succeeded in making their landing on its 
 shores. For, when they had reached the mouth of Inber-Slangi, 
 which is now called the bay of Loch-Garraan (in English, Wex- 
 ford Bay), the Tuatha-De-Dananns came against them with their 
 
 ' The " Lia Fail" was the stone upon Notwithstanding the circumstantial 
 
 which the kings of Ireland were in- nature of the above account, I think 
 
 augurated. It was placed upon a that the recent researches of Drs. 
 
 mound on Tara Hill, where, according Petrie and O'Donovan have all but 
 
 to the opinions of the learned antiqua- proved that the real Lia Fail was 
 
 rians, Drs. Petrie and O'Donovan, it never sent to Scotland at all, and 
 
 still remains. The generally-received that it still maintains its upright 
 
 tradition will, however, have it that position upon its sacred mound, and 
 
 Fergus Mac Erca. v.-ho was the cousin thence looks down upon a fallen na- 
 
 of Murkertach, then king of Ireland, tion. The stone in Westminster, is 
 
 brought it with him to Scotland in the probably an imposition, 
 
 sixth century, in order to render his in- ° Kinaaeth O'Hartigain was a cele- 
 
 auguration as king of the latter coun- brated bard — sage or file, who lived in 
 
 try more august. the tenth century. Several of his po- 
 
 O'Flaherty gives a different version of ems are foimd in the Book of Inva- 
 
 the story. He says that it was not sent to sions. 
 
 Scotland until the ninth century, when ' Muich-Inis. In Dcrmod O'Con- 
 Acdh Finliath,king of Ireland, sent it to nor's translation, this word is rendered 
 his father-in-law, Kenneth Mac Alpin. " Hog's Isle," which, in Gaelic, woald 
 The latter king is said to have placed it be Muic-Inis (Muck-Innish), without 
 in the Abbey of Scone, where it was pre- aspirating the final " c " of Muic. Hal- 
 served as the inauguration stone of the liday translates it the " Isle of Va- 
 Scottish kings until 1296, when Edward pors, or Mists." I have followed the 
 I. carried it off to England, as a trophy latter, because I deem his version the 
 of his conquest of Scotland. By him more li/celt/. No name could suit Ire- 
 it was placed under the coronation- land better at certain seasons of the 
 chair in Westminster Abbey, and there year, than this fanciful one, the "Isle 
 it still remains. of Mists." 
 
82 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Druids and practiced magic enchantments upon tliem, so that the 
 invaders could only perceive the island lying before them in the 
 likeness of a mist or dense fog. Hence they called the land 
 Muich-Inis. 
 
 9. The ninth name -was " Scotia."^ It was given to it by the 
 sons of Miledh in honor of their mother, whose name was Scota, 
 daughter of Pharaoh Nectonibus ; or, they called it Scotia be- 
 cause they were themselves the " Kino Scuit," i. e., the progeny 
 of Scot, from Scythia. 
 
 10. The tenth name was "Hibernia.'' ^ It was the sons of Miledh 
 that gave it this name also. Some, however, say that Ireland 
 received the name Hibernia from a river of Spain, which was 
 called Iberus (now the Ebro). Others say that it was so named 
 from Eber, son of Miledh ; but the holy Cormac Mac Culinain 
 is of opinion that it received the name from the word "iber," i. e., 
 western. 
 
 11. The eleventh name is " Juvernia," according to Ptolemy, or 
 "Juverna," according to Solinus ; '"lerna,"' according to Claudian ; 
 and "Vernia," according to Eustathius. But I think, myself, that 
 there is no meaning in the distinctions made by these authors. The 
 forms they give seem mere variations of the word "Hibernia." As 
 they knew not whence this word was derived, each of them gave 
 his own conjecture thereupon, whence proceeded the above 
 alterations of the name. 
 
 12. The twelfth name was "Irin,"^° according to Diodorus Siculus. 
 
 13. The thirteenth name was " Irlanda."" It was so called, 
 in my opinion, from Ir, son of Miledh, because Ir was the first 
 
 ' Scotia. This was the name by which " lernis." (a name which it is called in 
 
 Ireland was most frequently called by the " Arg'onautics" of Onomacritus, a 
 
 later Latin and early Christian writ- Greek poem written five hundred years 
 
 ers. Though the Irish Gaels called before Christ ;) and lerne arc merely 
 
 themselves Scots in their own tongue, Greek variations of Eri and its oblique 
 
 they do not appear ever to have applied cases, Krend and Erind. lernis, per- 
 
 any Gaelic form of the name Scotia to haps, exhibits the word in its most an- 
 
 the land they dwelt in. The same re- cient and perfect form, 
 
 mark applies to the Gaels of Scotch " /r/a/iifo. whence the modern English 
 
 Highlands. name Ireland, was the name by which 
 
 ' Hibernia was its most nsaal and it was known to the Northmen and 
 
 most ancient Latin name. The name the Saxons. The name may possibly 
 
 is most likely another form of Iberia, a be derived from Eri. but as the tribe 
 
 name of Spanish origin. The Clanna of " Ir.' anciently ruled the uorth- 
 
 Ebir or Iberians, being the inhabit- east of Ireland, and came first into 
 
 ants of the south of Ireland, must contact with the (iothic nations, it h 
 
 have come soonest into contact with probable that Ireland owes the foreign 
 
 the Romans, and thence the latter title •• Irlanda." to the Irians. of Ulster, 
 
 called the country after the name of as it may. jxirhaps, that of Hibernia 
 
 the race they found dwelling in it. to the Iberians, or tribe of Eber, of 
 
 * Irin, or more correctly, Iris, with Munster. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 83 
 
 of Miledli's sons who was buried beneath Irish earth. Hence 
 thej named the country after him. "Irhinda" is the same as the 
 "Land of Ir." Wc give the more credence to this, because the Book 
 of Armagh tells that " Ireo" was one of the names of the island. 
 "Ireo" means the grave of Ir, i. e., "Uaigh Ir." 
 
 14. The fourteenth name was " Ogjgia,"^ according to Plutarch. 
 " Og}'»^''^ " signifies the Very Ancient Isle. This is a name that is 
 most applicable to Ireland, because it is a verj^ long time since ' 
 it was iirst inhabited, and because its historians have a perfect 
 and authentic knowledge o^" its ancient history, consecutively, 
 from its earliest times down to the present. 
 
 " Of^ygia- Plutarch, in his life of years before Solon, had lorded it ovci 
 
 Solon, tells us, that while studying in Lybia as far as Egypt, as well as over 
 
 Egypt he was informed by the priests of Greece. Lord Bacon deems the narra- 
 
 Sais, of the famous Atlantic Isle. That tion founded on facts ; Sir Isaac New- 
 
 this island was placed beyond the pillars ton has taken some pains to elucidate 
 
 of Hercules, in the Atlantic ocean, it. — O'Halloran. This was the fabled 
 
 and that its inhabitants, nine hundred Atlantis of antiquity. 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 OF THE SEVERAL DIVISIONS THAT "WERE MADE OF IRELAND. 
 
 1. Partholax divided Ireland into four parts, between his four 
 sons. The first part he gave to the son whose name was Er; it 
 coinprised all the land from Ailech-Neid,^ in the north of Ulster, 
 to Ath-Cliath (now Dublin) in Leinster. To Orba, his second 
 son he gave all the country lying between Ath-Cliath and the 
 Great Island^ in Barrymore. He gave the third division to Fer- 
 ann ; it extended from the Great Island of Barrymore to Ath- 
 Cliath-Medraide,^ near Galway. He gave the fourth portion to 
 him whose name was Fergna; it extended from Medraide to 
 Ailech-Neid, 
 
 2. Beothach, Simeon and Britan, three chieftains of the race of 
 Nemedh, divided Ireland between them into three parts, Beo- 
 thach took from Tor-Inis* to the Boyne ; Simeon took from the 
 
 ' Ailech or Oileach Neid (pr. EI- ^ Now Great Island, in Cork harbor, 
 lagh Naid), 1. e., the stone fort of Niad, ^ Pronounced Ah-Cleeah-Meiree. It is 
 
 lies near Londonderry. It is romar- now called Clarin's Bridge,near Galway. 
 kable for its Cyclopean fort, the ru- * Now Tory-Island, 
 ins of which still exist. It is now ' Belach Conglais {Bellagh Con- 
 
 calied Grianan or Greenan Ely, i. e., glish), i. c., the road or pass of Con- 
 
 the palace of Ailech. glas or Cu-Glas, near Cork, 
 
84 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Boyne to Belach-Conglais^ near Cork, and Britán took all from 
 Beiach-Conglais to Tor-Inis, in the north of Connaught. 
 
 3. The five sons of Dcla son of Loch, divided Ireland between 
 them into those five parts which are still called the five " Coigi" 
 or Fifths. This was the most permanent partition of Ireland that 
 was ever made, as we shall quickly show. Cambrensis confirms 
 this division, in the account which he gives of the country ; his 
 words are: ^" Into five almost equal parts this country was an- 
 ciently divided ; viz. the two provinces of Munster ( riiomond 
 and Desmond) Leinster, Ulster and Connaught." The five chiefs 
 of the Fer-Bolgs, who governed these Fifths or provinces, were, 
 Slangi, Gann, Sengann, Genann and Eudraidc. Slangi possess- 
 ed the province of Leinster, from Drogheda^ to the Meeting of the 
 Thie3 Waters.® Gann ruled theprovince of Eocaidh Abra-Kuadh,* 
 extending from the Meeting of the Three Waters to Belach-Con- 
 glais. Sengann possessed the province of Curaidh Mac Dari 
 from Belach-Conglais toLuimnech (now Limerick); Genann held 
 Connaught, from Limerick to Drobaeis/'' {Drovecsh;) and Ptud- 
 raide ruled Ulster from Drobaeis to Drogheda. 
 
 Though some of our antiquaries mention a tripartite division 
 of Ireland amongst the three sons of Kerinad Milbeol, kings of 
 the Tuatha-Dé-L)unanns, I do not believe that there was any divi- 
 sion of Ireland between them ; but I am of opinion that those 
 princes held the sovereignty alternately for one year, as we men- 
 tioned above, when showing the reason why this country is more 
 frequently called Eri than either Fodla or Banba. 
 
 4. It is the opinion of some antiquaries that the following was 
 the manner in which Ireland was divided between Eber and 
 Erimhon : the whole country sfjuthward, from Dublin round to 
 Galwa3% with P]skcr-Riada" for its internal boundar}^, belonged 
 to Eber, and all from that northward belonged to Erimhon. No 
 such division, however, took place, as we shall show hereafter, 
 but the island was apportioned thus: the two provinces of Mun- 
 ster were assigned to Eber; the provinces of Connauglit and 
 Leinster to Erimhon, and the province of Ulladh or Ulster to 
 Eber, son of Ir, son of Milcdh; and a certain number of the no- 
 bles that came with them were received by each of these princes 
 into their respective territories. 
 
 • In qninquc cnim portionea fere confluence of the rivers Suir, Nore, and 
 
 aequa'.es antiquitna ha;c ronfio divisa Barrow, near Wnterf'ord. 
 fuit ; videlicet, in Momoniiiin dii])liccm, ° Pronounced Of^liee Avra Rua, i. e. 
 
 borealem et australem, Ijageniain, Ul- Eocaidh of the Red Brows, 
 toniam ct Conaciam. '° Brob aeis, now Bundrowca, in the 
 
 ' Dro^'/icr/a— in Irish, Droiched Atha county Lcitrem. 
 IDrched-aha), i. c., the Bridge of tlio " Tie Eispr Rcada {Es'.likir-Reeda) 
 
 Ford. or " Brid.i^e of Riada," was tlic name 
 
 " In Irish, Cumar-na-tri-n-nisccdh, of a chain of low hills, running from 
 
 (Kummar-naHdree-nishka), that is, the Dublin to Gal way. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 85 
 
 5. Kermna and Sobarki made an equal partition of Ireland 
 between them, viz. : fromlnbcr Colpa^ nearDrogheda, to Limeriek, 
 in Munster, northward, belonged to Sobarki, who built in his 
 own portion a fortress called Dun-Sobarki ;" Kermna took the 
 southern half, and in it he erceted a stronghold near the sea, called 
 Dun-Kermna," which is at this day called Dun-Mic-Patrick, in the 
 Gourdes' country. 
 
 6. Ugani Mor divided Ireland into twenty-five parts, among his 
 twenty-live sons, as we shall mention hereafter, in giving the 
 series of reigns. 
 
 7. Conn of the Hvmdred Battles and Mogh Nuaghat {Moio- 
 Nooath), divided Ireland equally between them. All from Gal- 
 way to Dublin northward, Eskir-Riada being the boundary, was 
 assigned to Conn, whence it came that the northern part of the 
 country was called Lcth-Cuinn, or Conn's half, and the southern 
 Leth-Mogha, or Mogh's half 
 
 Although I have set down these seven divisions in their place, 
 according to the chronological order of the several conquests, I 
 shall, however, return to the common division of the country 
 which has remained since the time of the Fer-Bolgs ; because, as 
 above mentioned, this division made by the five sons of Dela, 
 son of Loch, continues unchanged to the present day. 
 
 These five provinces, or fifths, met at a large stone at UisnecW^ 
 {Utíhnagli) until the arrival of Tuathal the Welcome, in Ire- 
 land, who cut off a part from each province and formed Meath 
 thereof, which he assigned as mensal land for the monarch s of 
 Ireland, as we shall make appear when we come to treat of Tua- 
 thal's reign. 
 
 " Tlie Liher or Estuary of Colpa, called Courcies, from the descendants 
 
 now the mouth of the Boyne. of the famous Norman knight, John 
 
 " Pronounced Doo7i-Sowarki, or So- De Courcy, whose patrimony it became 
 varki. This fort was erected on an soon after the English invasion. The 
 insulated rock on the coast of Antrim. De Courcies, barons of Kinsale, hold the 
 It is now called Dunseverick, and lies oldest title in the Anglo-Irish peer- 
 three miles east of the Giants' Cause- age. 
 way. '° Uisn-ch, now " XJsny" or " Us- 
 
 '^ Dun-Kermrta was situated near nagh" hill, parish Kildare, barony of 
 
 Kinsale, the country round which was Eathcourath, co. Westmeath. — O'D. 
 
CHAPTER m. 
 
 SECTION I. — OF THE SUBDIVISIONS OF THE PROVINCES. 
 
 1. Of Midhe {now Meath). 
 
 I SHALL begin witli Meath, and describe its territory first ; be- 
 cause, according to the usage of the Gaels, it was the mensal land 
 of the Irish Sovereigns, and exempt from the laws, governments, 
 and taxation of every prince in Ireland, except the Sovereign 
 Prince^ alone. According to our records it contains eighteen 
 "Tricha-Kéads,'"2 i. e. cantons or districts, and thirty baiH,^ i. e. 
 townships, in each canton, twelve plough lands'* in each township, 
 and six- score acres in each plough land, so that every canton con- 
 tains 360 ploughlands. According to this, there are 6,480 
 ploughlands in all Meath. 
 
 It is called Meath,^ or Midhe, because it was from the " meidhe " 
 or neck of each province, that Tuathal the Welcome, or the Legiti- 
 mate, took it ; or, from Midhe, son of Bratha, son of Degath, the 
 
 ' Sovereign Prince, i. c. the Ard-Righ 
 (Aar(]-Ree),i. e. ll\g\\ or Arch King. In 
 Ireland, the term " Righ," the Gaelic 
 form of"Rech," or "Rex," long preserved 
 its primitive signification, i. e. ruler. It 
 was applied not alone to the " suzerain" 
 of the nation, but also to the cliioftains 
 of the ruling tribes. So it was in ancient 
 Greece and Italy. The widely-ruling 
 Agamemnon was a Grecian " Ard- 
 Righ." 
 
 " Tridia-Kead [Trigha-KauT). Some 
 translate this word "barony," but to call 
 it so is a flagrant anachronism. It 
 comprised thirty Ballybctaghs. 
 
 ' Baili [bally). These were not the di- 
 visions now known as "townland." Kach 
 " baili-biatach" contained several town- 
 lands. The term was applied to a tract 
 of land sufficient to support a "biatach." 
 The biatachs (bectaghs) were a class of 
 men whose duty it was to keep houses 
 of general hospitality. They seem also 
 
 to have been a kind of extensive 
 farmers. 
 
 ■* Ploughland, in the original " Seis- 
 rcch Fcrainn [Sheshragh Arring). 
 This is the division of laud now gen- 
 erally known hy the name " baili " 
 [bally) or townland, which, according to 
 the fertility of the soil, usually contains 
 from 300 to 600 English acres. It is 
 small in rich soil, and large in poor. 
 BaiU is also the Gaelic name for a town. 
 The apportionment of the Irish soil 
 into these " bailte" [balti) is lost in the 
 remotest anti(iuity. 
 
 '' The derivation is possible. But the 
 first derivation here given is a mere 
 guess, and not a good one. AVhy not 
 derive tlie name from some word akin 
 to " medius," anglice, " mid," and, in 
 Irish, " medon," or " meadhon ?" It is 
 the 7«iV/-land of Ireland. The second 
 etymology is barely possible. 
 
 [86] 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 87 
 
 Arch-druid of the sons of Nemedh, by whom the first sacred fire^ 
 was kindled in Ireland after the arrival of the Nemedians. The 
 sons of Nemedh granted the district round Uisnech to this Arch- 
 druid, and from him it received its name. At that time there was 
 but one district or canton, so called. It continued so until the 
 time of Tuathal the Welcome, who cut off a portion of each prov- 
 ince, and thus extended Meath over eighteen cantons. 
 
 These are the boundaries of Meath, as laid down by Tuathal 
 the Welcome, viz., from the Shannon eastward to Dublin, fi-om 
 Dublin to the river Rye,'' from the Rye westward to Cloncouragh, 
 thence to French Mills' Ford,^ thence to Clonard, thence to Tochar- 
 Carbri,® from that to Geshil, to DrumcuUin, to the river Cara,^" 
 and so to the Shannon northwards, to Loch-Ribh {Lough Hee), 
 all the islands in which belong to Meath, and all the Shannon as 
 far as Loch-Bo-Deirg {Lough- Bo- Derg), and from Loch-Bo-Deirg to 
 Mochil,thence to Athlone, thence to Upper Scariff,to Drumlahan," 
 from that to Moy, and so onward to Clones, to Loch-da-cn, to 
 Knowth, to Dufferin, to the Pool at the Blind Man's Ford on 
 Sliabh-Fuaid,^^ to Magh Cosnamaigh,*^ near Killeavy,^* to Snamh- 
 Egnachar^^ to Comber (County Down), and thence to the Liffey, 
 as the poet says : 
 
 " From Loch-Bo-Deirg to Birra, 
 From Sena** eastward to the sea, 
 To the comar^'' of Cluain-Irard" 
 And to the comar of Cluain-Ard." 
 
 Of the eighteen districts or cantons in Meath, thirteen are con- 
 
 ' Sacred Fire, i. e. the fire sacred to known to the translator. Its situation is 
 
 Bel, one of the gods of the pagan Irish, sufficiently pointed out by the parish of 
 
 The Hill of Uisnech was a famous seat Killeavy, in Upper Orior, co. Armagh, 
 
 of druidic worship. " Killeavy, in Irish, Cill-t-Sleibé- 
 
 '' The Rye water falls into the Liffey Cuillinn, i. e. the church of Slieve-Gul- 
 
 at Leixlip. lion, an old church in a parish of same 
 
 * Now, Frankford. name, in the co. Armagh. — O'D. 
 
 * Tochar-Carbri, i. e. the causeway '^Perhaps Snamh-Aighnech {Snauv- 
 or bog-pass of Carbri, now Ballin- einagh), now Carlingford Loch, 
 togher. Frankford, Geshill, Druracul- "^ Sena, otherwise Siona, is pro- 
 lin and Ballintogher are in the King's nounced " Shenna" and " Shiuna," and 
 CO. is the Irish name of the Shannon. It 
 
 " The Amhain-Cara is probably the makes " Senann " and " Scnainn " in its 
 
 Little Brosna, flowing from Lough- oblique cases ; hence Shannon, the Eng- 
 
 couragh, between Frankford and Birr, lish form, 
 
 into the Shannon. " Comar signifies the junction or 
 
 " Drom-Lethan is on the borders of meeting. 
 
 Leitrim and Cavan. ^ Cluain-Irard, i. e. Irard or Erard's 
 
 " Fuad's il/owii/am is situated in the Park or Close, was the old name of 
 
 CO. Armaiih. Clonard, on the southern border of 
 
 " Jiag/i Cosnamaigh. The name is un- Meath. 
 
88 THE HISTORY OF IRELA1ÍD. 
 
 tained within Meath proper, and five within Magh-Breágh or 
 Bregia, as the poet tells us : 
 
 There are thirteen Cantons in Midhe, 
 Thus all our bards have told us, 
 And five in fertile Magh-Iírcagh — " 
 The sagos well rememljer it. 
 
 The extent of i\Iidhe I shall point out, 
 And of the beauteous plain of Breagh — 
 "We know that it reaches to the sea, 
 From the Sena of fair fields. 
 
 The men of Tcbtha-" guard its northern frontier 
 With those of Carbri,-' of well-won fights — 
 Famed for sages and for bards, 
 The men of Breagh dwell thence to Casan. 
 
 Meath was afterwards divided by Aedh Oirnide, King of 
 Ireland, between the two sons of Doncadh, son of Domnall, who 
 had been his predecessor on the Irish throne. Olild and Conco- 
 bar were their names: to one of them he gave the western part, 
 and the eastern to the other. In the latter portion is situated the 
 royal seat of Temair or Tara. This divison has remained to their 
 posterity ever since. 
 
 2. 
 Of the Divisions of Connaught. 
 
 The province of Conacht extends from Limerick to Bundrowes. 
 It contains 900 Baili-Biatachs or townships. It has thirty can- 
 tons or Tricha-Keads, each of which contains thirty townships; 
 there are twelve ploughlands in each township, and 120 acres 
 were contained in each ploughland, making 10,800 ploughlands 
 in all Connaught. 
 
 It received the name "Conacht," in English Connaught, from a 
 trial of magic that took place between two druids of the Tuatha- 
 De-Dananns, whose names were Kithnellach and Conn. Conn, 
 by his druidic skill, covered all Connaught witli snow, and thence 
 the name "Connachta" was given to the province, as if "Cuinn- 
 shnechta,''^ {Cuinn-7iecJi(a,) otherwise, " Snechta-Cuinn," i. e. 
 "Conn's Snow." Or, as others say, its inhabitants were 
 
 " Magh Breagh, pronounced Moy- a mere pun on the word. "Connachfia 
 Bril, extended from Dublin to Dro- i)robably derived from some chieftain 
 gheda, along the sea coast; its extent named Conn,by adding the very common 
 inland has not been exactly laid down, (jiaclic suffix, "acht," to his name. Just 
 
 ■-" Tebtha (Trffa) or 'J'cffia was an ex- as the Kianacht in Ulster was formed 
 tensive district, comprising the north- from Kian ; and in Munster, the Eogan- 
 wost of Meath. acht from Eogan, «fee, all formed in the 
 
 -' Curbri — called otherwise Carbri- same manner, as " righact," kingdom, 
 Gabra [Gaura). It was situated m the from " righ," a king, and a host of simi- 
 co. Longford. lar derivatives. 
 
 ■■ Cuinn-Shnechta. This etymology is 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 89 
 
 called " Connaclitaigh," from the words " Cuinn ioclita," i. e. 
 "Conn's posterity," because it was the race of Conn that inhab- 
 ited the countrjrj'namely, the progeny of Eocaidh Muighnieodan, 
 who was descended from Conn^^ of the Hundred Battles. 
 
 Eocaidh Feidlech divided Conuau^bt into three parts, between 
 three persons: to Fidach, son of Fiach, he gave all the land 
 from Fidach^ {Feeagh) to Limerick; to Eocaidh Alat he 
 Irrus-Domnann (now Erris in Mayo), extending from Galimh, 
 (now Galway,) to the river Duff and to Bundrowes ; to Tinni, 
 son of Curaidh, he gave Magh Sainb,-^ and the old districts of 
 Taeiden as far as Temhair-Brogha-Niadh {Tavir-Brow-Neeah), and 
 Cruachain was its royal residence. 
 
 o 
 O. 
 
 Of the divisions of Uladh or Ulster. 
 
 The province of Ulster, from Bundrowes to the month of the 
 Boyne, (from Drobaeis to Inber Colpa,) contains thirty-five or 
 thirty-six cantons, 1,080 townships or Baili-biatachs, making 
 12,960 ploughlands in the whole province. It was called Uladh 
 {Ullah), from the word 011-Shaith {Oll-hahy^ great treasure, 
 thereby implying the great wealth of the territory in fish 
 and cattle. Or, perhaps it was called Uladh from Ollamh Fodla f 
 the following quotation supports that latter opinion : 
 
 " Ollamh Fodla, brave in the fight, 
 From him all Uladh has its name. 
 The noble Feis of the tribes at Temhair 
 By him was first ordained." 
 
 There were formerly two royal seats in Ulster, Eman-Macha^ 
 and Ailech-Neid. 
 
 4. 
 Of the divisions of LaigherP orLeinsier. 
 
 The province of Leinster, from the Strand of Inber Colpa to 
 the Meeting of the Three Waters, consists of 31 cantons and 
 930 townships. There are 11,160 ploughlands in all Leinster. 
 
 " Conn. It was called Connacht long "' OU-Shaiih. A silly pun on the name, 
 
 before the time of this monarch. "' Ollamh Fodla. This is very unjike- 
 
 ** Fidacli. This place is unknown to ly. Ollamh Fodla {Ollav Fola), i. e. the 
 
 the editor. Fidach's portion comprised Ollamh or Sage of Fodla, or Ireland.was 
 
 within it the present co. of Clare. an honorary title given to this prince, 
 
 '^ Magh Sainb. This was, perhaps, whose real name was Eocaidh. A de- 
 
 the plain called otherwise Magh Sarah, rivative from Ollamh would assume a 
 
 now the parish of Innishmacsaint, in very different form, 
 
 the county of Fermanagh. This was the ^ Eman Macha. Now Navan Fort, 
 
 eastern division, containing the plain of near Armagh. 
 
 Oonnaught. in which was the royal seat "" Laigh'ii [Lyen). It is more prob- 
 
 of Cruachain, or Cruacha, now Rathcro- able that these lances, if the resemblance 
 
 ghan, near Bal, co. Roscommon. in sound be not accidental, were called 
 
90 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 It was called "Laighen," from the broad, blue lances which the 
 dark-haired Gauls brought with theui to Ireland Avhen they 
 came over with Labraidh^'' Loingsech, for Laighen is the same 
 as " Slcgh" (Shleh), i. e. a lance. These lances, being remarkable 
 for their broad polished heads, imposed this name on iho prov- 
 ince, ivfter Cobthach^^ Cael-Breágh had been killed by them at 
 Dinn-Eigh.^ The following quotation records this fact : 
 
 " Two thousand and two hundred Gauls, 
 Brouiiht their broad lances from afar — 
 From these lances, without doubt, 
 The land of Laighen has its name." 
 
 There Avere two royal seats in Leinster, namely, Dinn-Righ 
 and Nas-Laighen.^ In these its kings dwelt. 
 
 o. 
 Of the divisions of the Province of Eocaidh Ahra-ruadh. 
 
 The province of Eochaid Abra-ruadh, from Cork and Limei^ 
 ick to the Meeting of the Three Waters, contains 35 cantons, in 
 which there are 1,050 townships, making 12,600 ploughlands in 
 all East Munster. The kings of this province had two royal 
 seats, in which they usually dwelt, namely, Dun-Grott^ and 
 Dun-Iascaigh.^ 
 
 6. 
 Of the division of Coigi-Conrigh, or the Province of Curaidh. 
 
 The province of Curaidh, son of Dari, from Belach-Conglais, 
 near Cork, and from Limerick to the western coast of Ireland, 
 contains 35 cantons, in which there are 1,050 townships, making 
 12, 600 ploughlands in all West Munster. The two royal seats of the 
 kmgs of this province were Dun-Clari^ and Dun-Eocair-Maighe.^^ 
 
 from the nation or tribe that introduced '^ Nas Laighen [Naus Lycn) is now 
 
 them. Laijrhen, or Lagenia, seems called Xaas. 
 
 to be one of those old names, given by *' Dun-Grott (Doon-Grod) was sit- 
 
 their predecessors, for which the Gaelic nated near Gabbally, by the northern 
 
 bards have coined such awkward ety- base of the Gaulty mountains, 
 
 mologies. ^ Dun-Iascaigh {Dnonnc^kij) occu- 
 
 ^ i. e. Labraidh [Lavrai), the mar- j)ied the site of the present castle of 
 
 iner. Cahir, county Tipperary. Dun-Ias- 
 
 ^' Cobthach. Pronounced Coffagh, or caigh may be rendered by " Fishfort." 
 
 Cowhagh Kael-bra. It was situated on an insulated rock in 
 
 " Dimi-Righ (Deen-rcc), i. c. the the river Snir. 
 
 "Fort of Kings," is situated in tlie town- ^ Dun-Clari, or Dun-Glari. This 
 
 land of Ballynockan, about a(|iiarter of was apparently that I)un-(llari which, 
 
 a mile south of Leighlin Bridge, to the according to Dr. O'Donovan, in his 
 
 •west of the Barrow. Nothing remains of notes to Lcabar-na-g-ceart, was situ- 
 
 the palace but a moat, measuring 2.'56 ated in the townland of Farrannacar- 
 
 yards in circumference,on which tiie king riga, parish of Ballynaconrty, barony 
 
 of Leinstcr's royal house evidently stood, of Corcaguiny, county Kerry. There 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 91 
 
 These two divisions of Munster were ruled by two tribes, name- 
 ly, the posterity of Darini {Darinni), and the posterltj' of Deigtliini 
 {Derknini), until the time of Olild Olum of the race of Dergthini, 
 who, having banished Mac-Con, of the race of Darini. seized 
 upon both provinces himself, and settled the government of them 
 upon his own issue, leaving the posterity of his eldest son, Eogan 
 {Owen) Mor, and that of Corinac Cas, his second, to succeed 
 alternately to the sovereignty of both provinces of jSIunster. 
 
 The four royal seats, above mentioned, were the places where 
 the kings who ruled Munster usually resided, until the reign of 
 Core, son of Lugaidh. It was in Core's time that Cashel first 
 became known. The place that is now called the Rock of 
 Cashel was then called Sith-Drom^ {Shee-Drom); the same 
 place was also called Drom-Fidbaide {Drom-Feevceli)^ i. e. 
 " the Woody Ridge," from the numerous woods that surrounded 
 that hill in the time of Core. About that time two swine-herds 
 came to feed their hogs in the woods round the hill, namely, 
 Kilarn, who was swine-herd to the King of Eli,^'' and Durdari, 
 swine-herd to the king Muscraide-Thire,*' i. e. Ormond. When 
 these herds had remained on the hill about a quarter of a year, 
 there appeared to them a figure as brilliant as the sun, whose 
 voice was sweeter than any music they had ever heard, as it was 
 consecrating the hill, and foretelling the coming of St. Patrick. 
 When the swine-herds had returned to their homes, they related 
 what they had seen to their masters, and thus the story soon 
 reached Core, son of Lugaidh. As soon as this prince had heard 
 it, he came at once to Sith-Drom and built a ro^'al fort thereon, 
 which he called Lis-na-Laechraide,^^ i. e. " the Fort of heroes." 
 When he had become king of Munster, he used to receive his 
 royal "cios," i. e. tribute, upon the rock now called Carrick- 
 Patrick, wherefrom, that rock was thence called Caisel or Cashel, 
 for Caisel and Cios ail^ mean the same thing, "ai7" being another 
 name for carraig^ i. e. a rock, " Cios aiV (Kees-al) signifies " the 
 tribute roclc.^^ 
 
 7. 
 Of the sub-divisions of Munster. 
 
 When the posterity of Olild Olum got possession of the two 
 Munsters, they divided them into five parts, which they called 
 
 is another fort of the name on the boun- ^ Eli comprised the modern baronies 
 
 dary between the townlands of Glen- of Eli-0' Carroll, Kings county, and 
 
 brohaun and Glenlara, barony of Cosh- Eliogarthy, or Eli-O'Fogarty and 
 
 lea and county Limerick. Ikerrin, county Tipperary. 
 
 ^ Dun-Eochair-Maighe {Doon-Oghir- ^ Pronounced Mooskree-Heeri, now 
 
 Moy), it is now called Bruree {Brugh called the baronies of Upper and Low- 
 
 Riogh). It lies near Croom, in the er Ormond, county Tipperary. 
 
 county of Limerick. *' Pronounced Liss-na-Laeghree. 
 
 * i. e. Fairy HiU. *^ This is another etymological pim 
 
92 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the Five Mimsters. The first part, called Thomond,'*^ extends, 
 in length, from Cuchullin's^ Leap to the great road or BeLich- 
 Mor ill Ossory,*" and, in breadth, from Sliabh-Eetighe (now 
 Slieve Anglit}^^ to Sliabh-Eblinni*^ (now the Felim Mountains). 
 Although all tliat tract, from Sliev-Anghty to Limerick (i. e. the 
 . county Chirc), was anciently part of Connaught, nevertheless, 
 Lugaidh Mcun, son of ^Engus Tirech, son of Fer-Corb, son of 
 Mogh Corb, son of Corrnac Cas, made sword-land, (i. e. a con- 
 quest) of it, and added it to Munster. This tract was called the 
 "Kugged Land of Lugaidh," and it was held free from all rent 
 or tribute to the kings of Ireland. The second part, called Or- 
 mond,*' extends, in length, from Gabran (now Gowran, in Kil- 
 kenny), to Cuamchoill^"' (now Cleghile) near Tipperary; its breadth 
 Ls from Bearnan-Eli (now Barnane on the Devil's Bit Mountain) 
 to O'Bric's Lsland (on the coast of Waterford). The third part 
 is Middle Munster;^ its extent is from Sliabh-Eblinni to Sliabh- 
 Caein (now Slieve-Reagh, county of Limerick). The fourth divi- 
 sion, called Desmond,^" extends from Sliabh-Caein, southward, 
 to the sea. The fifth, called West-Munster," extends from Lua- 
 chair-Dogaidh (now Slieve-Lougher in Kerry), westward, to the 
 sea ; and its breadth is from Glenn-na-Euachta (now Glen- 
 arought) to the Shannon. 
 
 The two provinces of Munster or Mumha (Mooa), have 
 received this name from "Mo,"^' which signifies "greater," be- 
 
 '' Caiscl " is obviously cognate witli the joining the barony of Coonagh, county 
 
 Latin " Casteliura." Its diminutive Limerick. 
 
 /y^^l "Caislean" (Cfl.s'i?ai^!(te) isthc term now *' Ormond. In Irish, " Urmhmnha " 
 
 - / used to translate the Oallo-Iioman word ( Ur-rooa), i. c. East Alunster, as if "Oir- 
 
 " castcl"' and Kiiglish "castle." Caisel is Mumha." 
 
 another form of" Cathair," i.e. Castruni. ■" Pronounced KaavJiiU. 
 
 It must not be inferred from this that ^" In Irish, Mcodiian-Mhuraha, (3/eow- 
 
 the Gaels received these words from the voon.) This tract, extending from the 
 
 Latins. All that can be said is that Felim Mountains to Slieve-Reagh, 
 
 both had them from a common Indo- took in most of the county of Ijimerick. 
 
 European source. _ "' In Irish, " Dcsmhumha " {J)ass- 
 
 ■ " T-io/rtourZ. In Irish "Tuadh-Mhum- ooa, or /ia.s.s-woa), i. c. .South-Muuster. 
 
 ha," {Thonvooa.) It means North " Ir. lar-Mhuraha (Ecr-vcoa). 
 
 Mumha, or Munster. " This is another instance of those 
 
 " In Irisli " lyim Concullainn." The silly puns, given as Etymologies, upon 
 
 month of the .Shaimon was .so called. which I have already commented in 
 
 " Belndi-mor-na k-Osraide, i. e. the some of the foregoing notes. \í any- 
 Great Road of Ossory. This, accord- thing, founded upon merely circumsta'n- 
 ing to Dr. O'Donovan, wa.s the great tial evidence, could prove,' in contradic- 
 south-western road of Ireland. It ex- tion to the bardic traditions, that the 
 tended from the southern .side of tli(! Nation or Nations, who imposed such 
 hill of Tara, in the direction of Ossory. names as this and similar ones upon 
 
 *" Sliahli-Kljlini. Now Sliabh FeidhI- Irish localities, did not speak (he Gaelic 
 
 midh, or Felim Mountain, situated on dialed, such awkward attempts to ex- 
 
 the borders of the county Tipperary, ad- plain their etymologies, through that 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 93 
 
 cause they are of greater extent than any of the other provinces 
 of Ireland ; for there are thirty-five cantons in each of them, 
 which is more than there are in any of the others. For, though 
 we have reckoned thirty-six in Ulster, yet it contained but 
 thirty-three until the kingdom was divided into provinces. 
 Then it was that Carbri Niafer, king of Leinster, gave up three 
 cantons of his own country to Ulster, namely, from Loch-an- 
 Choigidh to the sea, in consideration of receiving the daughter 
 of Concobar mac Nessa" in marriage, as shall be told hereafter 
 in the body of this history. 
 
 In all Ireland there are 185 Tricha-Keads or cantons, which 
 contain in all 5,550 townships, or Baili-Biatachs, in the whole of 
 which there are again 66,600 ploughlands. The reader must, 
 however, understand that the acre, according to the old Gaelic 
 measurement, was twice or three times as large as that used by 
 the strangers at the present time. 
 
 Section II. — Of the number of Archbishops and Bishops 
 IN Ireland. 
 
 There are four Archbishops in Ireland, viz. : the Archbishop 
 of Armagh,'"* Primate of all Ireland, the Archbishop of Dublin, 
 the Archbishop of Cashel, and the Archbishop of Tuam. 
 
 The following bishops are under the Primate : the bishop of 
 
 tongue, might well do so. The names hodij called Scot, into " Scythians," and 
 of localities, that are of undoubted bringing " Goths" into Spain and Africa 
 Gaelic origin, are perfectly significant at a time when these latter were, proba- 
 at the present day, and it needs but little bly, still located in the central plains 
 philological knowledge, to enable an of Asia, and possibly, long before any 
 Irishman to tell what they mean, for of the Gothic or Germanic races had 
 they mostly explain themselves, being penetrated into Europe. In all likeli- 
 nearly all short, descriptive sentences, hood, the Gaels called themselves " de- 
 as already remarked. Whenever they szendants of Scot," in these early times, 
 assume a more compound or syn- for the sole reason that made branches 
 thetic form, their roots are easily seen of the same nation call themselves, and 
 by taking away the usual affixes or better known in after times, descendants 
 suffixes, by means of which ordinary of NiaU, Brian, or Domnald, and for 
 Gaelic compounds are formed. If the no other, i. e. O'Neills, O'Briens, or 
 names, " Midhe," '• Uladh," " Mumha," O'Donnells. 
 
 " Laighen," and, perhaps, " Connacht," ^'^ Concobar. Commonly called "Con- 
 were of this latter class, our Seaua- nor MacNessa." This famous King of 
 chies would not have left us such un- Ulster lived about the commencement 
 satisfactory conjectures thereupon. It of the Christian era. 
 was, perhaps, such groundless guesses " The Archbishop of Armagh. The 
 as these, that threw an air of ira- See of Armagh, founded by St. Pat- 
 possibility over the traditions of the rick in the 5th century, is the prima- 
 early Gaelic migrations, by turning the tial or metropolitan See of all Ireland. 
 Cine Scuit, i. e. the descendants of some- Its immediate jurisdiction extends oveE 
 
94 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ^feath, called by Camden the bishop of Ail-na-^Nrirenn," i. e. Uis- 
 nech, for Ail-na-Mirenii, i. e. the " boundary stone," is the name 
 of a large stone at Uinsech, so called from its being tlie boundary 
 stone between the provinces, from each of which a part had 
 been taken to form Meath ; it was also called the stone of the 
 "fiflhs" or provinces; the bishop of Dun - Da-Leth-Glass' 
 
 the greater part of the county of Ar- 
 magh, with parts of Louth, Aicath, 'J'i- 
 rone and J^ndonderry. It has ecclesias- 
 tical jurisdiction over the sees of Meath, 
 Ardagh, Kilmore, Clogher, Raphoe, 
 Derry, Down, Connor and Dromore. — 
 Comiellan's Four blasters. 
 
 ^ T/lc Bishop of Ail-na-Mirenn — 
 that is, of Meath. " The ecclesiastical 
 divisions of ancient Meath were as fol- 
 lows : it contained several small 
 bishops' sees, namely Clonard, Duleek, 
 Ardbraccan, Trim, Kells, Siane, Duu- 
 shanghlin and Kilskyre, in liastmeath, 
 W'ith Fore, Usnagh and Killere in 
 Westmeath. The diocess of Meath 
 comprehends almost the whole of the 
 counties of iMeath and Westmeath, and 
 a large portion of the King's county, 
 with parts of Kildare, Longford, and 
 Cavan, being nearly co-extensive with 
 the ancient kingdom of Meath." — Id. 
 
 " The Sec of Clomnacvois, in Irish, 
 Cluan Mac Nois, signifying, according 
 to some accounts, " the retreat of the 
 sons of the noble," either from the 
 great numbers of the sons of the Irish 
 nobility who resorted to its college for 
 education, or, from many of the Irish 
 princes having their burial places in its 
 cemetery. A n abbey was founded here 
 in the sixth century, by St. Kiaran the 
 Younger, on lands granted by Dermod, 
 the son of Carroll, monarch of Ireland, 
 and it became one of the most celebrat- 
 ed seats of learning and religion in Ire- 
 land in the early ages. It was formed 
 into a bishop's sec, and the catliedral 
 was erected in the twclftii century by 
 the O'Melaghlins, kings of ]\Ieatli, who 
 conferred most extensive endowments 
 of lands on the abbey and see. A city 
 and college were also founded here, and 
 the place maintained its littirary and 
 religious celebrity for many cx'nturies; 
 but having been repeatedly doviustatetl 
 by the Danes, during the ninth, tenth 
 and eleventh centuries, and frequently 
 
 or 
 
 ravaged by the English, in the twelfth 
 and thirteenth centuries ; and its ca- 
 thedral and churches having been final- 
 ly demolished by the barbarian soldiers 
 of the English garrison of Athlone, in 
 the reign of Elizabeth, it has fallen into 
 utter decay. But its ancient great ness 
 is amply demonstrated by the magnifi- 
 cent and venerable ruins of the ca- 
 thedral and seven churches, and of a 
 castle, together with two beautiful 
 round towers, some splendid stone 
 crosses, and other antiquities which 
 still remain. It contains one of the 
 most ancient and extensive cemeteries 
 in Ireland, and was the burial-place of 
 many of the Irish kings and princes, as 
 the O'Conors, kings of Conuaught, of 
 whom Torlogh O'Conor, monarch of 
 Ireland in the twelfth century, togetlier 
 with his son Roderick O'Conor, the 
 last Milesian monarch of Ireland, were 
 buried in its cathedral, and also many 
 of the O'Melaghlins. kings of Meath"; 
 the O'Kellys, i)rinces of Hy Maine ; 
 the Mac Dermotts, princes of Moylurg, 
 and several other ancient and nolile 
 Irish families. Clonmacnois, called the 
 lona of Ireland, is beautifully situated 
 in a lonely retreat on the banks of the 
 Shannon, and though now part of the 
 King's county, the diocese originally 
 formed part of the ancient kingdom of 
 Meath, and was united to the see of 
 Meath in the latter end of the sixteenth 
 cen*ury. In the abbey of Clonmacnois 
 was written the celelirated work called 
 the Annals of Tigearnacli, by that 
 learned abbot, in tlu; eleventh century ; 
 together with the Book of Clonmacnois 
 and various other ancient Irish MSS." 
 — Id. By the English Church, Clon- 
 macnois has been united to the .see of 
 IMeath ; by Catholic Church, it has 
 been united to that of Ardagh. — Ed. 
 
 "^ I'he Bisliop of Dun-<la-letli-f^las 
 (Doon-daw-lah-glass), or Down. The 
 see of Down, in Latin Dunum, was 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 95 
 
 Down ; the bishop of Clogher ;" tlie bishop of Connor or Cu- 
 inniri ;" the bishop of Ardagh ;'' the bishop of Raphoe ;'" the 
 bishop of Rathlugh ;" the bishop of Dal-Mochair ;'' the bishop 
 of Derry." 
 
 founded by St. Cselann in the fifth cen- 
 tury. The bishops of Down are also 
 styled bishops of Ulidia or Uladh. 
 This diocese comprehends the greater 
 part of the county of Down, with a 
 small portion of Antrim. The see of 
 Dromore, founded by St. Oolmau in the 
 sixth century, now forms part of that 
 of Down. At Newry, a great Cister- 
 cian abbey was founded by ilurkei'- 
 tach Mac Lochlainn, {Mac Loughlin), 
 king of Ireland, in the twelfth ceutury. 
 A mitred abbot presided over it, who 
 held episcopal jurisdiction over the 
 lordships of Mourue and Newry. This 
 abbey was named, in Irish, that of 
 " lubhar Chinn Traighe'' {ijoor-keen- 
 troij), i. e. Of the yew at the head of the 
 strand. The famous abbey of Bangor, 
 in Irish " Bennchoir," founded by the 
 great St. Comgall or Cougal, in the 
 sixth century, lay also within the pres- 
 ent diocese of Down. " The cathedral 
 of Downpatrick was for many centuries 
 decorated with beautiful marble statues 
 of our three great saints, Patrick, Col- 
 umkille and Bridget ; but in the reign 
 of Henry VIII.,Á. D. 1538,the lord dep- 
 uty, Leonard Grey, having invaded Ul- 
 ster, plundered and burnt the town and 
 cathedral of Downpatrick ; and he and 
 his barbarian soldiers broke and de- 
 faced the statues of SS. Patrick, 
 Bridget, a,nd Columkille. Representa- 
 tions of the statues of the three saints 
 from Messingham's Florilegium are 
 given in a plate prefixed to the life of 
 St. Patrick by Jocelyu, a Cistercian 
 monk of Furuess abbey, in Lancashire, 
 written in the twelfth century, trans- 
 lated from the original Latin by Ed- 
 mund Swift, and published in Dublin 
 at the Hiberuia press in the year 
 1809."— /f/. 
 
 "-■ The Bishop of Clochar (Clogher). 
 At present the diocese of Clogher 
 comprehends the whole of the county 
 of Monaghan, the greater part of 
 Fermanagh, portions of Tyrone and 
 Donegal, aud a small part of Louth. 
 Its bishops were, ia former times, fre- 
 
 quently styled bishops of Oirgialla. 
 In the thirteenth century, the greater 
 part of Louth was separated from 
 Clogher, and added to Armagh. In 
 this diocese lies the abbey of Devinish 
 Island, in Loch Erne, found by St. 
 Molaisi, or Laserian, in the sixth ceu- 
 tury, which was celebrated for many 
 ages as a seat of learning and religion. 
 Some of its venerable ruins still re- 
 main, and among them an ancient 
 round tower in perfect preservation. 
 The seat of the diocese is at Clogher, 
 in the county of Tyrone. This see 
 was founded by St. Macartin, in the 
 fifth century. — Id. 
 
 ^ The Bishop of Cuinniri {Quin- 
 nerie), or Connor. The diocese of 
 Connor was founded in the fifth cen- 
 tury, by St. ^ngus Mac Nissi, who 
 became its first bishop and abbot. It 
 comprehends almost the whole of the 
 county of Antrim, with small por- 
 tions of Down and Derry. It is com- 
 posed of the following ancient bishop- 
 ricks, Cuinniri, Airthirmuigh (Arhir- 
 moij), Cill-maidh {Kill-roo), Cuilraithen 
 (Cooil-Rahen), now Coleraine, Rech- 
 rann and Rathsithe {Rau-Sheehie.) — Id. 
 
 ^^ " The Diocese of ^rdag/i, founded by 
 St. Mel, in the fifth century, whose 
 bishops were also called bishops of 
 Conmacni, from a district in Lcitrim so 
 denominated, comprehends, at present, 
 nearly the whole of the county of Long- 
 ford, and some parts of Westmeath, 
 Roscommon, Leitrim, Sligo and Ca- 
 van." — Id. 
 
 •^ Diocese of Raphoe. Founded by St. 
 Eunan, whom Lanigan considers to 
 have been the same person as Adam- 
 nan, the celeljrated abbot of lona, in the 
 seventh century, who was a native 
 of Tyrconnell. ' This diocase compre- 
 hends the greater part of the county 
 of Donegal. — Id. 
 
 °' Rath Lugh, otherwise Rathlure — 
 See Derry. 
 
 ^' Tlie Bishop of Dal-Mocliar. This 
 see has not been identified by the 
 editor. 
 
96 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Under the archbishop of Dublin®* arc the bishop of Glenda- 
 
 " The Bishop of Demj. A monastery 
 ■was founded in the sixth century, by St. 
 Columkille, at a place called Doire 
 CaJgach, tliat is the Oak Wood of 
 Calgach, which St. Adaninanus, abbot 
 of lona, in the seventh century, in his 
 Life of St. Columkille, translates Ro- 
 bordum Coli^dchi. It was also called 
 Doire Cahiim Cille, or the Oak Wood 
 of St. Columkille. anglicised to Derry 
 Columkille, and gave its name to the 
 city and county of Derry. This abbey 
 was long famous as a seat of learning and 
 religion, and its abbots were also styled 
 bishops. In the twelfth century a reg- 
 ular bishop's see was formed at Derry, 
 to which was afterwards annexed the 
 see of Ardsrath, or Rathlure. A. D. 
 1164, Muiredach Mac Lochlainn, king 
 of Ireland, erected a cathedral at Derry, 
 which, together with the abbey and 
 other ecclesias'.ical establishments, was 
 destroyed by the I^nglLsh, under Sir 
 Henry ^locwra, in the reign of Eliza- 
 beth. Th" diocese of Derri/ compre- 
 hends the greater part of the county 
 of Londonderry, with nearly half of 
 Tyrone, and a large portion of Done- 
 gal, and a very small portion of An- 
 trim. To Derry has been united the 
 ancient diocese of Ardsratha on the 
 river Derg, now the parish of Ard- 
 straw, in Tyrone, was an ancient 
 bishop's see founded by St. Eugene, in 
 the sixth century. Ardsrath after- 
 wards got the name of Rathlurig, or 
 Rathlure, from St. Luric or Lurac, to 
 whom its church was dedicated. The 
 see of Ardsrath or Rathlure, at an 
 early period, was transferred to Mag- 
 hera, in the county of Derry, and af- 
 terwards annexed to Derry in the 
 twelfth century. The bishops of these 
 sees were styled bishops of Tir Eogain 
 or Tyrone, or bishops of Kind Eogain. 
 —Id. 
 
 The following important see, not 
 named by Keating, lies witiiin th(! arch- 
 iepiscopal province of Armagh, the 
 ancient see of Kdmore, founded by 
 St. Fcidlimidh or Felim, in the 
 sixth century. The bishops of Kii- 
 more were in early times styled Bish- 
 ops of Brefney, of Hij-Briune Bref- 
 
 neij, and sometimes of Tir Briune, a 
 name latinized by Ware to Triburna. 
 The diocese comprises almost the entire 
 of the county of Cavan, with the 
 greater part of Leitrim, a large portion 
 of Fermanagh, and a small portion of 
 Meath.— 7(/. 
 
 " The Archbishop of Dublin. St. 
 Livinus is mentioned by Colgan, in his 
 Trias Thaumaturga, as the first bishop 
 of Dublin, in the beginning of the 
 ses'enth century ; and he states, that 
 having gone on a mission to preach 
 the (Jospel in Flanders, he suffered 
 martyrdom there. In the eleventh 
 century, from A. 1). 1038 to 1084, 
 Donatus and Patrick, both Ostmen, 
 or Danes, were bishops of Dublin. 
 These, and some other bishops and 
 archbishops of Dublin in the elev- 
 enth and twelfth centuries, receiv- 
 ed their consecration from the arch- 
 bishops of Canterbury, and were in 
 canonical obedience bound to the me- 
 tropolitan see of England ; but in 
 A. D. 1162, Laurence C'l'oole, the 
 celebrated archbishop of Dublin, was 
 consecrated by Gelasius, archbishop of 
 Armagh, and the custom ceased of the 
 archbishops of Dublin going for con- 
 secration to Canterbury. Gregory, 
 who was consecrated in A. D. 1121, 
 was in A. D. 1152, the first who got 
 the title of archbishop of Dublin, from 
 Cardinal John Paparo, the Pope's 
 legate at the council of Kells, tiiose 
 prelates being until the twelfth century 
 only styled bishops of Du))lin. The see 
 of Ferns was in the seventh and eighth 
 centuries the chief see of Leinstcr ; but 
 during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh 
 centuries, Kildare was made the me- 
 tropolitan see of that province ; and 
 hence the bishops of Ferns and of Kil- 
 dare were in those times styled by the 
 Irish writers bishops or arclibishops 
 of Lcinster ; but in the twelfth cen- 
 tury, Dublin was constituted the me- 
 tropolitan see of lj;^inster, and the 
 Ijishops styled archbishops of Dublin, 
 and sometimes archbishops of L"inster. 
 And in the beginning of liie thirteenth 
 century, A. D. 1214, under Henry de 
 Loundres, archbishop of Dublin, the 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 97 
 
 loch ;^ tlie bishop of Ferns ;^ the bishop of Ossory f the bishop 
 of Leighlin,^ and the bishop of Kildare/''' 
 
 ancient see of Glendalough was unit- 
 ed to Dublin ; but the archbisliops 
 of Dublin being all English, their 
 authority was not acknowledged by 
 the Irish, who had Cor many centu- 
 ries afterwards their own recognized 
 bishops of Glendalough, and the union 
 of the two sees was not peaceably and 
 fully established until the latter end of 
 the fifteenth century. From the twelfth 
 to the eighteenth century remarkable 
 contests and controversies were carried 
 on between the archbishops or Armagh 
 and of Dablin respecting the primacy, 
 each of the archbishops claiming pre- 
 cedency ; but the claims of Armagh 
 to the primacy were finally conceded, 
 the archbishops of Dublin being styled 
 primates of Ireland, and the arch- 
 bishops of Armagh primates of all 
 Ireland. The ablest arguments on the 
 subject, demonstrating the superior 
 authority of Armagh, and its right 
 to the primacy, are contained in the 
 Jus Armacanum, published in 1728, a 
 most learned work, written in Latin by 
 Hugh Mac Mahon, Archbishop of Ar- 
 magh. Another remarkable circum- 
 stance connected with the diocese of 
 Dublin may be mentioned, namely, that 
 from the eleventh century to the present 
 time it contains two cathedrals, those 
 of St. Patrick and Christ Church, of 
 which it is said only another instance 
 is to be found in any see, namely, at 
 Saragossa, in Spain. The United Din- 
 cesf^s of Dublin and Glenrla'ough com- 
 prises the greater part of the county 
 of Dublin, together with a great part 
 of Wicklow, and parts of Wexford, 
 Kildare, and Queen's county. It 
 contains within it, the following an- 
 cient sees : At Cluan-Dolc lin, now 
 Clondalkiu, near Dublin, St. Cronan 
 Muchua in the seventh century found- 
 ed an abbey, which was of note for 
 many centuries, and its abbots were 
 styled bishops. At Tam/ilachf, or Tal- 
 laght. near Dublin, a monastery was 
 founded about tlie sixth century, and 
 St. Maolruan is mentioned as its first 
 bishop in the eighth century. It was 
 celebrated as a seat of learning and 
 
 religion, and its abbots down to the 
 twelfth century were styled bishops. 
 At Finglas, near Dublin, a monastery 
 was founded in the sixth century by 
 St Cainneach, or Kenny, from whom 
 Kilkenny derived its name, and the ab- 
 bots of Finglas were to the eleventh 
 century styled bishops. At Swords, 
 near Dublin, an abbey was founded in 
 the sixth century by St. Columkille, 
 which was long celebrated, and its ab- 
 bots were styled bishops down to the 
 twelfth century. At Lusk, in the 
 county of Dublin, an abbey was found- 
 ed in the fifth century by St. Maculind, 
 and he and his successors to the twelfth 
 century were denominated abbots and 
 bishops of Lusk. All the above-men- 
 tioned small sees were annexed to the 
 see of Dublin, in the twelfth century. 
 
 •^ The see of Glendaloch was founded 
 by St. Caoimgin, or Kevin, in the 
 sixth century. The name in Irish is 
 Glendaloch, signifying the valley of 
 the two lakes, it being situated in a 
 beautiful valley containing two lakes, 
 and surrounded with magnificent moun- 
 tains in the county of Wicklow. Glen- 
 dalough has been called by Latin 
 writers Ep-icoiatiis Bisln^niensis or 
 the Bishopric of the two Lakes ; and 
 by Pope Lucius III. it is mentioned as 
 Episcopa'vs Insular am, or the Bishopric 
 of the Isles. The diocese of Glenda- 
 lough, in ancient times, comprised 
 the county of Wicklow, and a great 
 part of the county of Dublin. Glen- 
 dalough, iu the ancient times, was 
 a celebrated seat of learning and 
 religion, and contained a large city; 
 but being repeatedly ravaged by the 
 Danes, during the ninth and tenth 
 centuries, and by the English in the 
 thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, it 
 fell into complete decay ; but its for- 
 mer greatness is sufQciently demon- 
 strated by the extensive ruins of a 
 cathedral and seven churches, a round 
 tower, and other interesting antiqui- 
 ties, which still remain. 
 
 " The Bishop of Ferns. The See of 
 Ferns was founded by St. Moeg, in the 
 latter end of the sixth century. The 
 
 n 
 
98 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Under the archbishop of CasheF" are the bishop of Killaloe ;^ 
 
 name Moeg, iu Irish Maodhog, is Lat- 
 inized Maidocus, also Aedanus and 
 Aidauus, and anglicized Moeg, or Mai- 
 doc, also Aidan or Edan ; Giraldus 
 Cambrcusis says " Sanctus Aidanus 
 qui et Hiberuice Maidocus dicltur." 
 The celebrated St. Moeg, or Aidan, 
 was a native of that part of Brefney 
 now called the county of Cavan, and 
 founded there the abbey of Dromlane ; 
 he afterwards went to Britain, and 
 studied some time under St. David, 
 bishop of Mencvia, in Wales, and on 
 returning to Ireland, Brandubh, king 
 of Leinster, granted him the territory 
 about Ferns, where he founded the 
 cathedral and see of Ferns, and died 
 at an advanced age, on the 31st of Jan- 
 uary, A. D. 632. The see of Sletty 
 was the chief see of Leinster, in the fifih 
 and sixth centuries ; but in the begin- 
 ning of the seventh century, Ferns was 
 made the metropolitan see of that prov- 
 ince ; hence the bishops were styled bish- 
 ops of Leinster; and Ferns continued to 
 be the chief see until the beginning of 
 the ninth ccntury,whcn Kildare was con- 
 stituted the metropolitan see and con- 
 tinued so till the twelfth century, when 
 Dublin was constituted archicpiscopal 
 see of Ijcinster. In the Lives of St. 
 Moeg, quoted by Colgan and Lanigan, 
 it is stated that a great synod in Lein- 
 ster, the king BrandulA, with the clergy 
 and people, decreed that the archicpis- 
 copal sec of Leinster should be that 
 of St. Moeg. Ferns, called in an- 
 cient times F.arna Maodhokj, or Ferns 
 of Moeg, became a great city, and was 
 the cliief residence of the kings of 
 Leinster, but fell into decay from its 
 repeated ravages Ijy the Danes, iu the 
 teuth and eleventh centuries. The 
 diocese of Ferns comprises nearly the 
 whole of the county of Wexford, with 
 small portions of Wicklow and (iueen's 
 county. — Id. 
 
 ^ The Bishop of Oss'yni. The See 
 of Ossory was first founded at Saitj r, 
 now the parish of Seir-Kieran, near 
 Birr, in the King's county ; and was 
 so called from Kiaran of Saiger. a 
 celebrated saint who founded a ciiurch 
 .there in the beginoiag of the fifth cen- 
 
 tury, and who was called St. Kiaran 
 the elder, to distinguish him from Kia- 
 ran of Clonmacnois, who lived at a 
 later period. The see of Saiger was 
 afterwards transferred to Achadbo 
 [Aghavo'], in the barony of Upper Os- 
 sory, in the Queen's county, where a 
 celebrated monastery was lounded by 
 St. Canice, in the sixth century. The 
 see of Aghaboe "continued to be the 
 seat of the diocese of Ossory, to near 
 the end of the twelfth century, when it 
 was removed to Kilkenny, and called 
 the see of Ossory ; and the bishops of 
 Ossory were in early times styled 
 bishops of Saiger, and sometimes 
 bishops of Aghavoe. The diocese of 
 Ossory comprehends almost the whole 
 of the county of Kilkenny, with the 
 barony of Upper Ossory, in the Queen's 
 county ; and the parish of Seir-Kiaran, 
 in King's county, being nearly co-ex- 
 tensive with the ancient principality 
 of Ossory. — Clonenagh, in the Queen's 
 county, had a celebrated monastery 
 founded in the fifth century by St. 
 Fintan, and its abbots were also styled 
 bishops ; it was annexed to the see of 
 Leighlin. — Id. 
 
 ^ The Bishops of Leighlin. The 
 See of Leighlin. A monastery wa.s 
 founded here in the beginning of the 
 seventh century by St. Gobban, and 
 shortly after, St. Molaise, who was al- 
 so called Laserian, made Leighlin a 
 bishop's see. In A. D. C30, a great 
 .synod of bishops and clergy was held 
 at Leighlin, to regulate the time for the 
 celebration of Easter. The abbey of 
 Leighlin became celebrated under St. 
 Laserian ; and it is stated that at one 
 time it contained liftcon Imndrt'd monks. 
 The Diocese of Leighlin conij)rises the 
 whole of the county of Carlow, a con- 
 siderable part of the Queen's county, 
 with some portions of Kilkeimy and 
 Wicklow. The Scr cf Slctli/. A clnirch 
 was founded at a place called Sleibhti, 
 by St. Fiech or Fiechus.a celebrated di.4- 
 ciple of St. Patrick, in the fiflh century. 
 Sletty was situated in Ily Kinseliagji, 
 near the river Barrow, about a njilu 
 from the present town of Carlow, on 
 the borders oi' the Queen's county ; it 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 99 
 
 the bishop of Limericlv ;''^ the bishop of Innis-Catliaigh,''^ i. e. Innis- 
 
 gives name to a parish in that county, 
 and the rains of an ancient church still 
 remain. St. Fiech made Sletty a bish- 
 op's see, and in the iit'th and sixth cen- 
 turies it was the chief see of Leinster, 
 but was afterwards annexed to Leigh- 
 lin —Id. 
 
 '' The Bishop of Kddare. The 
 monastery of St. Bridget was the 
 first religious foundation at Kildare, 
 and the place became celebrated as 
 a seat of leai-ning and religion ; a 
 great town or city grew up there, 
 and an episcopal see was founded in 
 it in the latter end of the fifth cen- 
 tury, St. Conlaeth being appointed its 
 first bishop ; his successors were styled 
 bishops and abbots of Kildare, and 
 some of them designated bishops of 
 Ijcinster. In the ninth, tenth, and 
 eleventh centuries, Kildare became 
 the metropolitan see of Leinster. Kil- 
 dare was long celebrated as a seat 
 of learning and sanctity, but in the 
 ninth and tenth centuries, from the re- 
 peated devastations of the Danes, the 
 place fell to decay ; and much more 
 destructive were the wars of later times ; 
 but the magnificent ruins of the ancient 
 cathedral, with a most beautiful round 
 tower, and some fragments of splendid 
 .stone crosses which still remain, amply 
 demonstrate its former greatness. At 
 KilcuUen in Kildare, an abbey was 
 founded by St. Iserenus, in the fifth 
 century, and its abbots were styled 
 bishops down to the twelfth century, 
 at which time it was annexed to the 
 see of Kildare. The Diocese of Kildare 
 comprises the greater part of the county 
 of Kildare, with a great part of the 
 King's county, and a considerable por- 
 tion of the Queen's county. 
 
 '" Tie Arc' bishop of Cashfl. The 
 Archbishops of Cashel were styled by 
 the old Irish writers, bishops of Leik 
 Mo^ha, and bishops of Munstcr. Ac- 
 cording to some accounts, St. Patrick 
 founded the see and held a synod at 
 Cashel, attended by Ailbe of Emly, 
 Declan of Ardmore and other saints. 
 A. D. 1101, Murtogh Brien, king 
 of Munster, according to the annals 
 of laisfallen, convened a great synod 
 
 or assembly of bishops, clergy, and no- 
 bility at Cashel, in which he assigned 
 over to the see and its bishops that 
 hitherto royal seat of the kings of Mun- 
 ster, which was dedicated to God, St. 
 Patrick, and St. Ailbe; and, accord- 
 ing to the same annals, in A. D. 1127, 
 Cormac Mac Carthy erected a chapel 
 there, called from him TeampuU Chor- 
 maic or Cormac's chapel, which in the 
 year 1134 was consecrated at a great 
 synod of the bishops, clergy and nobil- 
 ity of Munster, held at Cashel for that 
 purpose. A. D. 1169, Donald O'Brien, 
 king of Thomoud, erected a new church 
 or cathedral at Cashel, which he am- 
 ply endowed. There are still remain- 
 ing on the rock of Cashel many inter- 
 esting antiquities, as Cormac's chapel; 
 a round tower and the magnificent ruins 
 of the ancient cathedral. The Diocese 
 of Cashel comprises the greater part 
 of the county of Tipperary with small 
 portions of Limerick and Kilkenny ; 
 and the archiepiscopal see of Cashel 
 has jurisdiction over the ecclesiastical 
 province of Munster. — /(/. 
 
 •' T.<e Bishop of Killalop. The See 
 of Killaloe, in Irish Cill-da-Lua, or the 
 church of Lua, got its name from St. 
 Lua, or Molua, who founded a church 
 there in the sixth century. The name 
 of Killaloe is latinized Laonia, and it 
 became a bishop's see in the seventh 
 century, the first bishop being St. 
 Flannan, a disciple of St. Molua, who 
 was consecrated at Rome by Pope 
 John IV., A. D. 639. St. Flannan was 
 the son of Torlogh, king of Munster, 
 who endowed the see with extensive 
 lands, and was interred in the cathe- 
 dral. The abbey and see of Killaloe 
 were amply endowed by the O'Briens, 
 kings of Thomond, who erected the 
 cathedral, in which many of them 
 were interred. The ancient sec of 
 Roscrea, in the county of Tipperary, 
 was in the twelfth century united to 
 Killaloe. The bishops of Killaloe 
 were sometimes styled bishops of Tho- 
 mond. Birr had a celebrated abbey 
 founded by St. I5rendan, in tlie sixth 
 century, and its abbots were styled bish- 
 ops : it was annexed to the see of Kil- 
 
100 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Cahy ; the bishop of Kil femora ;'''* the bisliop of Emly f^ tVe bishop 
 of Itoscrea f^ the bishop of Wateifoixl ;" the bishop of Lisinorc,^ 
 
 laloe. The Diocese of Killaloe com- 
 prehends the greater part of tlie county 
 of Clare, with a Uirge portion of Tip- 
 perary, and parts of Limerick, King's 
 and Queen's counties, and Ualway. Id. 
 
 " The See (f Limerick was founded in 
 the sixth century by St. JMunclien, who 
 became the first bishop. In the tenth 
 and eleventh centuries, several of the 
 bishops of Limerick were Danes, a col- 
 ony of that people possessing the city 
 at that period. In the twelfth century 
 a new cathedral was erected by the 
 O'Briens, kings of 'I homond, who am- 
 ply endowed the see. The Diocese of 
 Limerick comprises the greater part of 
 the county of Limerick, with a portion 
 of Clare —Id. 
 
 " 2%e bishop of Innis-C'ithigh. The 
 See of Inniscatliy was founded in the 
 fifth century by 8t. I'atrick, and St. 
 Senan, bishop and abbot of Liis-Car- 
 thy, is mentioned as his successor. 
 Inis-Cathy is an island situated near 
 the mouth of the Shannon, and its an- 
 cient monastery was a celecrated seat 
 of religion in early times, and continu- 
 ed for many years a great place of pil- 
 grimage. The ancient see comprised 
 some adjoining districts in the counties 
 of Limerick and Clare, and was annex- 
 ed to the sec of Limerick in the twelfth 
 ceniury. — Id. 
 
 " The Bishop nf K. If enora. The Sec 
 of Kilfenora, according to Ijanigan, 
 (vol. ii. p. 197,) was Ibunded by St. 
 Fachna, or St. Fachnan, and the bish- 
 ops were also styled bishops of Fena- 
 bore, and sometimes bishops of Cor- 
 comroe, all of w'hich names were 
 applied to this see. A celebrated Cis- 
 tercian monastery was founded and 
 endowed at Corcumroe, in the twellth 
 century, by Donal 0'J5rien, king of 
 Limerick, and his son Donough Cair- 
 breach 0'J3rien, prince of 'lliomond. 
 The Diocese of K ilfenora comprises only 
 the baronies of Jjurren and Corcomroe, 
 in the county of (Jlare, being the 
 sma'lest in Ireland. Kilfenora is called 
 " Kill-Finnabharach" [K l-inncuragh), 
 in Gaelic— it/. 
 
 '* The See of Emlij was founded in 
 
 the fifth century by the celebrated St. 
 Ailbe, who was called the I'atrick of 
 Muiister, and patron of that province. 
 Emly was in ancient times a considera- 
 ble city, and called " Imle. h Jul hair" 
 [I iiUig I yi.r y <,var), which signiiies 
 Emly of the Yew Trees, and some- 
 times Imleach Ailbe, or Emly of St. 
 Ailbe. The bishops of Emly were 
 sometimes styled bishops of I\iunster, 
 as it was in early times the metropoli- 
 tan see of that province. The see was 
 united to Cashel in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, A. D. 1578. The diocese of En;ly 
 is but small, and comprises parts ot the 
 counties of Tipperary and Limerick. — 
 Id. 
 
 '° Rcscrea, in Tipperary, was an an- 
 cient bishop's sec, lounded by St. Cro- 
 uan, in the latter end of ihe sixth cen- 
 tury, and was in early times annexed to 
 Kiilaloe. 
 
 " The Bishcp cf Watericrd. The 
 See of Waterfijrd was founded by the 
 Danes of that city, in the later Ci.d of 
 the eleventh century ; ard Ma'chus, a 
 Dane, who was a Benedictine mc uk of 
 Winchester, was appointed its first 
 bishop, A. D. 1090, and consecrated by 
 Anse'in, archbishop of Canterbury. 
 'J'he bishops of Waterford were styled 
 by the old wriiers, bishops of Poit 
 Lairge, the ancient name ol tliat city. 
 'J'he patron saint of the diocese is Ot- 
 teran, or Odran 
 
 '" The B.shcp ofLismcrc. The Sec of 
 Lismore, in Waterford, was lounded in 
 the beginning of the seventh century 
 by St. Carlhach, who was a'so called 
 Mochuda. 'J he see of Ardniorehaving 
 been annexed to Lismore in the Iwellth 
 cciilury, both were annexed to the sec 
 of \Vutcrlord in the fourteenth century, 
 A. D. 13G;}, by Dope Urban V. Lia- 
 more, Irom the fame of its university, 
 became an extensive city, and had 
 no less than twenty churches. The 
 Diocese of Lismore comprises the 
 greater part of the county of Water- 
 ford, and part of Tijiperary ; and tho 
 Diocese ol Waterford comprises the city 
 of Walerford, with a portion of the 
 county. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 101 
 
 the bishop of Cloyne ;^^ tlic bishop of Cork ;*" the bishop of Ross f^ 
 i. c. líos-0'Carbri, and the bisliop of Ardf rt.^ 
 
 Under the archbishops of Tuam^ are the bishops of Kill-mac 
 
 " Tie Bishop of Cloyne. The See of 
 Cloyne was founded in the latter end of 
 the sixth or bogimiin:,^ of the seventh 
 century by St. Cohnan, a disci[)le of St. 
 Finban- of Cork. Cloyne is called, in 
 Irish," Cluain-Uamha," (C/oo'/i Oov,) 
 siijnifying the retreat of the Cave. 
 The Diocese of Cloyne comprises a third 
 part of the county of Cork. — //. 
 
 ^ T'le B shop of Cork. "The see of 
 Cork was founded by St. Barr, called, 
 also, Fiu-Barr, in the beginning of the 
 7th century. It compris>is the city 
 and a larj;-e portion of the county of 
 Cork."—//. 
 
 *" Tke Bishop of Ros'i. " The see of 
 Ross was founded in the beginning of 
 the 6th century by St. Fachnan {Fa^h- 
 van). It was anciently called ' Ros 
 alitri,' i. e. the Plain of Pilgrimage, 
 but in modern times it is called Ross 
 Carberry. Ross had formerly a college 
 and a Benedictine monastery. It was 
 celel)ratcd as a scat of learning, and 
 was attended by students from all parts 
 of Ireland, and even from Britain. The 
 diocese of Ross is very small. It is co- 
 extensive with the ancient district of 
 Corca-Luighe [Luce). It has been 
 generally united to the see of Cloyne, 
 but somc;times to that of Cork.'' — hi. 
 (For a few years past the Catholic 
 church of Ross has been governed by 
 its own bishop; the State church is 
 now united to that of Cork.) 
 
 *■ Tke Bishop of Anlfert. The see 
 of Ardfert was founded, according to 
 some accounts, by St. Ert, or Ere, in 
 the latter end of the 5th century, but 
 Dr. Lanigan is of opinion that St. Bren- 
 dan was its chief founder, in the 6th 
 century ; to him its cathedral is dedi- 
 cated as patron saint of the diocese, 
 which is sometimes called " Ardfert 
 Brcndain," to distinguish from another 
 see of the same name. It was also 
 called the arch-diocese of " lar-raum- 
 han," {Eer Moon), or AVest Mnnstcr. 
 It is now sometimes called the diocess 
 of Kerry. A^hadoe, an ancient bish- 
 op's see, situated round the abbey of 
 
 Innis-fallen, and lakes of Killarney, was 
 in very early times annexed to Ardfert. 
 This united diocese is very large, com- 
 prising all Kerry and a small portion of 
 the county of Cork. The following were 
 also distinguished sees in Munster. It is 
 not out of place to put them down here. 
 Tir-da-glas, now the parish of Terry- 
 glass, in the barony of Lower Ormond, 
 county of Tipperary, had a celebrated 
 monastery, founded by St. Columbia in 
 the sixth century, and some of its abbots 
 were styled bishops. This place was 
 long eminent as a seat learning and re- 
 ligion, but was destroyed by the Danes 
 in the tenth century " TAe see cf Ard- 
 more, in Waterford, was founded in the 
 fifth century, by St. Declan, who was 
 of the tribe of the Dcsies, (i. e. O'Fae- 
 lans and O'Brics,) and who, having stud- 
 ied at Rome, became highly distin- 
 guished for learning and sanctity. Ard- 
 more was united to Lismore in the lat- 
 ter end of the twelftla century." — Id. 
 
 '■^ T!ie Archbishop cf Tuam. " The 
 see of Tuam was founded in the begin- 
 ning of the sixth century by St. larlath, 
 or Jarlath. Tuam is mentioned by the 
 Irish writers as Tuaim-da-ghualann. 
 The ancient sees of Mayo, Cong, and 
 Enachdune, were afterwards annexed 
 to Tuam, and its bishops were often 
 styled bishops of Connaught. The dio- 
 cese of Tuam comprises the greater part 
 of the county of Galway, and about one- 
 third of Mayo, with a large portion of 
 Roscommon. The suifragan sees under 
 the archbishopric of Tuam are those of 
 Achonry, Killala, Elphin, Clonfert, 
 Kilmacduagh, Kilfenora, and Galway. 
 
 ^' Tlie Bishop of Kilmacduagh. The 
 See of Kilmacduagh. A monastery 
 was founded in the present barony of 
 Kiltartan, county of Galway, in the 
 seventh century, by St. Colman, the son 
 of Duach ; hence it was called Cil Mac 
 Duach, signifying the church of the son 
 of Duach, which became a bishop's see 
 and gave its name to the diocese. The 
 bishops of Kilmacduagh in ancient 
 
102 
 
 TUE HlSTOliY OF IKEl.AND. 
 
 Duacb,^ the bishop of Mayo,^ the bishop of Enach-Dain,®^ the bish- 
 op of Kill-iarthar,*^ the bishop of Roscommon,^ the bishop of Clon- 
 fert," the bishop of Achonrj,®" the bishop of Killalla, the bishop 
 of Kill-^Mouuach, the bishop of Couaninn,"' the bishoi^ of Elphin." 
 
 times were often styled bishops of Ui 
 Ftachr I Aidhne, which was the ancient 
 name of their episcopal district. 
 
 "^ The Bishop of Mayo. A monas- 
 tery was founded at Mayo in the seventh 
 century by St. Colman, an Irishman, 
 who had l)ccn bishop of Lindisfarnc, in 
 Northumberland ; but, leaving Eng- 
 land, returned to his own county and 
 founded this monastery, chiefly for the 
 use of English monks, whom he had 
 brought over with him. A college also 
 was founded here, which was long fam- 
 ous as a seat of learning ; being found- 
 ed chiefly for the use of the Saxons, it 
 was called Magh-eo-na-Saxon (Moijo- 
 na S^ixon), or Mayo of the Saxons. 
 Some say that Alfred, king of North- 
 umberland in the seventh century, had 
 been educated at Mayo ; by other ac- 
 counts, it would appear that Alfred the 
 Great had also been educated there. 
 Mayo became a bishop's see. It was 
 annexed to Tuam in the sixteenth cen- 
 tury. — /(/. 
 
 •^ The Bishop of Ennch-Duin. En- 
 ach-Duin is now the parish of Anna- 
 down, in the county of (Jalway. St. 
 Breudan died here A. D. 676, and was 
 buried at Clonfert-Urendain. " Enach- 
 Duin" means the marsh of the Dun 
 (Boon). It is situated on the cast bank 
 of Loch Corrib, in the barony of 
 Clare.— 7i/. 
 
 •" The Bishop of Kill-i'irlhar, i. e. the 
 western church, not identified by the 
 editor. 
 
 ** The Bishop of Roscommon. 
 " St. Coman founded an abbey in the 
 sixth century,wliii]i was called from him 
 Ros-Comain. Jt afterwards became a 
 bishop's see, but was united at an early 
 period to the see of Elphin." — Id. 
 
 "l The Bishop of Clonfert. "The 
 see of Clonfert. A monastery was 
 founded at Clonfert, in the present ba- 
 rony of Longford, county of Gal way, 
 by St. Brennan, or St. Brendan, in the 
 sixth century, and it becami; a bisliop's 
 see, and was long celebrated as a seat 
 
 of learning and religion. The diocese 
 of Clonfert comprises a considerable 
 part of the county of Galway, with 
 part of Roscommon, and a small jior- 
 tion of the King's county." — Id. 
 
 ^ Tlie Bishop of Achonn/, or Achad- 
 Coniri. — " The see of Achonry was 
 founded in the sixth century, by St. 
 Fiuian, bishop of Clouard. in Meath, 
 who placed over it his disciple St. 
 Nathi. The bishops of Achonry were 
 styled also bishops of Luigni [Luce- 
 nie), which was the old name of the 
 territory in which that see was situat- 
 ed. This diocese comprehends a large 
 portion of the county of Sligo, with a 
 considerable portion of Mayo." — Id. 
 
 ^' TÍLe Bishop of Killa/la, Cill Al- 
 aidhe, or Cill Ellaidh- — " 'I'he see of 
 Killalla was founded by St. Patrick in 
 the fifth century. Its bishops arc some- 
 times styled bishops of ' Tir Aniahl- 
 gaidh' {Teer Awlce), or Tirawley, and 
 sometimes of * Tir Fiachra' or Hy 
 Fiachra Muaidhe {Mooee), to distin- 
 guish it from Kilmacduach, which was 
 also called the see of Ily Fiachra 
 Aidhni (Ei/nie). The diocese of Kil- 
 lalla comprehends a great part of the 
 county of Sligo, and some jiortion of 
 Sligo." — /(/. 
 
 These sees have not been identified 
 by the editor. 
 
 "■ The Bishop of Elphin or Eli- 
 Finn. — " The see of Elj)hin. A 
 church was founded at Elphin, in Ros- 
 common, by St. I'atrick, in the fifth 
 century, who placed over it St. Asicus, 
 one of his disciples, and made it a 
 bishop's see. Tlie bishops of I'lljiliin in 
 ancient times are sometimes styled 
 bishops of East (!onnuuglit. The dio- 
 cese of ]'jl])hin comprises the greater 
 part of the county of Roscommon, with 
 considerable portions of the counties 
 of Sligo and Galway." — Id. 
 
 To the al)ove may be added the 
 modern see of Galway. 
 
 " The diocese of Galway, which 
 comprises the city of Galway and somo 
 
• THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 103 
 
 According to Camden, it was in tlie year of our Lord 1152 
 that the four archbishops were appointed in Ireland. 
 
 I have enumerated above many bishops that do not now exist, 
 and for whom tliere are no sees, they having been abolished or 
 united under one bishop ; thus Lismore and Waterford are under 
 one bishop, so also are Cork and Cloyne under one bishop, and 
 many others in like manner. 
 
 Section III. — Of the Situation of Ireland. 
 
 Ireland is situated thus : Spain lies to the south of it, France 
 to the south-east. Great Britain to the east, Scotland to the 
 north-east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north-east and east. 
 According to Maginus, in his notes on Ptolemy, its form ap- 
 proaches that of an egg : its breadth is four degrees and a half 
 of the zodiac or solar circle. The same writer tells us that the 
 longest day in the most southern part of this country is sixteen 
 hours and three-quarters, and in the most northern part, the long- 
 est day is eighteen hours. The length of Ireland is computed 
 from Carn-0-Neid to Cloch-an-Stacan, and its breadth from 
 Inber-Mor to Irrus-Domnan. 
 
 The reader must understand that it is not through neglect 
 that I here omit speaking of the number of counties, cities or 
 towns in Ireland, but because Camden and the chronicles of later 
 English have given a full account of them; neither is this a 
 proper place for speaking of them, until we come to treat of the 
 invasion of the island by those strangers by whom they were 
 arranged. 
 
 adjoining districts, anciently formed and county of Eoscommon, was also 
 
 part of the diocese of Enachdune, but a bishop's seat in ancient times. An 
 
 was afterwards presided over by an ec- abbey was founded here in the sixth 
 
 clesiastic who had episcopal authority, century by St. Beoidh or Beoy, and it 
 
 and was elected by the tribes under the became a bishop's see, which was also 
 
 title of warden. The wardenship was at an early period annexed to the see 
 
 instituted in the fifteenth century, in of Elphin. Drumdiff, in Sligo, was also 
 
 A. D. 1484, by Pope Innocent VIII.; the seat of a bishop. "A monastery was 
 
 and the wardens of Galway continued founded here by St. Columkille, in the 
 
 till the year 1831, the first year of the sixth century, and was long famous as 
 
 pontificate of Gregory XVI.. who a scat of learning and religion. It be- 
 
 abolished the wardenship and erected same a bishop's see, its abbots having 
 
 it into a bishop's see." — Id. received the episcopal dignity." — Id. 
 Ardcarne, in the barony of Boyle, 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF THE CREATION OF OUR FIRST FATHER, ADAM. 
 
 First of all, Adam was created on the sixth day of the world's 
 age. In the fifteenth year of Adam's age, Cain and his sister 
 Calmana were born. In the thirtieth year of Adam's age, Abel 
 and his sister Delbora were born. And when Adam had lived 
 an hundred and thirty years he begat Seth, according to the 
 Hebrew computation, as we read in the Polychronicon. 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF NOAH TO ADAM. 
 
 Noah was the son of Lamech, son of Mathusalem, son of 
 Enoch, son of Jarcth, son of Malaleel, son of Cainan, son of Enos, 
 son of Seth, son of Adam. All those that survived the deluge 
 were descended from Seth, for the whole race of Cain was 
 drowned beneath the Flood. The length of time from Adam to 
 the Flood was, according to the Hebrews, 1656 years, whereupon 
 the bard has left us the following distich : 
 
 " The first period of pleasing life, 
 From Adam to the deluge, 
 Was six years and fifty clearly told 
 Above six hundred and a thousand." 
 
 Another antiquary thus agrees with the same computation : 
 
 " Six yeai-3 and fifty and six hundred, as I count it, 
 And one thousand, I reckon from Adam to the Flood." 
 
 A third records the fact in these terms : 
 
 " There were sixteen centuries in full 
 Added to fifty years and six 
 (What I recount 1 know without error) 
 From the world's beginning to the flood." 
 
 Here follow the ages of all the men from whom Noah sprung, 
 in the direct line. Adam lived i)30 years, Seth 912, Enos 905, 
 Cainan 910, Malaleel 895, Jareth 962, Enoch 365, Mathusalem 
 969, Lamech 777, Noah 950. 
 
 [104] 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. . 105 
 
 \Yhen God saw that the posterity of Seth had transgressed his 
 will (for he had commanded to make no alliances or marriages 
 with the race of the impious Cain, and they observed not that 
 command), he sent the Deluge to drown all mankind, except 
 Noah ancl his wife, Cova, and his three sons, Shem, Cham, and 
 Japhet, and their three wives, OUa, Olliva, and Ollivana, because 
 Noah had not mixed with the seed of Cain, and was a righteous 
 man. 
 
 When the Deluge had dried from oif the earth, Noah appor- 
 tioned the three divisions of the world between his three sons, as 
 tlie poet sa js : 
 
 " In Asia Shem fixed his seat, 
 Cham and his children dwelt in Afric, 
 The noble Japhet and his sons 
 Were they that dwelt in Europe." 
 
 Shem had seven-and-twenty sons, amongst whom were Ar- 
 phaxad, Ashur and Persius, and from his seed came the Hebrews. 
 Cham had thirty sons; of them were Cush and Canaan. Japhet 
 had sixteen, amongst whom were Gomer and Magog, as the bard 
 records : 
 
 " Thirty sons of famous deeds 
 Sprang from Cham Mac Noah, 
 Seven-and-twenty sprang from Shem 
 And fifteen from Japhet." 
 
 Many of the nations of northern Asia are sprung from Japhet, 
 and from him are descended all the inhabitants of Europe. 
 
 The Scythians are of the race of Magog son of Japhet, and 
 especially those nations that colonized Ii'eland after the Flood, 
 previous to the sons of Miledh, as I shall hereafter show. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 OF THE INVASIONS OF IRELAND BEFORE THE FLOOD.* 
 
 First Legend. 
 
 Some of our Shenachies say that three daughters of the wicked 
 Cain were the first that dwelt in Ireland. In testimony of this, 
 
 ' The stories of the invasions of Ire- the Pagan traditions of Ireland were 
 land before the Flood, are, possibly, subjected to expurgation, as we shall see 
 remnants of Druidic Mythology,adapted hereafter. They may also be pure inven- 
 to suit their own ideas of Revealed His- tious of later times. But, as we, at pres- 
 tory, by our converted antiquaries, when ent, know almost nothing of the amount 
 
106 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 we have the following " rann," or distich, which occurs iu the 
 poem which begins, "I found in the Psalter of Cashel," &c. 
 
 "Three fair daughters of Cain, 
 With Scth the son of Adam, 
 Were they that first saw Banba ; 
 I here recount their adventure." 
 
 The Book of Drom-Sncchta^ tells us that Banba was the name 
 of the first of these women, who took possession of Ireland before 
 the Flood, and that it is from her the island has received its name 
 of Banba. There came over in all fifty women and three men. 
 One of these men was named Ladra, and from him Ard-Ladran^ 
 has its name. These people lived forty years in the country, 
 until a plague came upon them, whereupon they all died in one 
 week. From that time, Ireland remained without a single human 
 being to inhabit it, until the Deluge came. 
 
 Second Legend. 
 
 Others will have it that Ireland was first discovered by three 
 fishermen, who had been driven thither by a storm, from off the 
 coast of Spain. Being pleased with the island, these men went 
 home for their wives, but, on their return to their discovered 
 land, the Deluge came upon them at Tuath-Inber,* and they were 
 all drowned. Their names, as handed down by a poet in the 
 following rann^ were Capa, Laighni (Loink), and Luasad. 
 
 " Capa, Laiglini and generous Luasad 
 Came hitlier one year before l he flood ; 
 Of the Island of Banba of fair women 
 With hardihood they took possession." 
 
 Third Legend. 
 
 Another account will have that Kesair (Cassi?-), daughter of 
 Bith^ {Bih), a son of Noah, was the person that arrived in Ire- 
 
 of knowledge anciently possessed by tlie Ladra or Ladhra (Ln rn. au(\ Lnira), 
 
 nations called Celtic, except through is supposed to be Anlaiiiine, on the 
 
 Irish tradition, it would be just as rash east coast of the county of Wexford, 
 
 to scout these and similar tales alto- where a curious moat still exists : see 
 
 gether, as forgei'ies of the Christian O'Donnvcm's note, p. 3, Annals of the 
 
 bards, as it would be to build any theory Four Musters. 
 
 upon them. Until all the documents and * Tun lli-Inbher, (T/iooih-'nver,) i. e. 
 
 tales that relate to Pagan Ireland be North JIarbor. liio editor has not 
 
 published, and critically annoted, it been able to fix its position. 
 
 will be impossible to form any decided '' Bu/i, gen. Bctlia, means life, ÍL 
 
 opinion witli regard to tlu'm. modern Gaelic. This name occura 
 
 '^ Drom-Sncchta, i. e. Snowy Hill. several times iu our primeval legends. 
 
 ' Ard-Ladran, i. e. the Height of 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 107 
 
 land before the Flood. Upon tliis event, a poet has sung the 
 following rami. 
 
 " Kosair, daughter of Bith the long-lived, 
 ' Fosterling of Saball, s;)n of Ninuall ,6 
 
 Was the first brave Avonian that steered 
 
 To the Isle of Banba before the Deluge." 
 
 If it be desirable to know, what brought her to Ireland, the 
 following was the reason, of her coming: — Bith had sent to Noah 
 to demand a place in the Ark for himself and his daughter Ke- 
 sair, in order that the}^ might be saved from the Deluge, but 
 Noah denied him his request. Upon this Bith, Ladra, i'intann 
 and Kesair took counsel together as to the measures they should 
 adopt; "Take ye my advice," said Kesair, "We shall," said they; 
 " Then make ye application to an idoF and forsake the God of 
 Noah." Upon this, they betook themselves to an idol, who ad- 
 vised them to build a ship, but he could not tell them the time, 
 at which the Deluge was to come on. They then fitted out a 
 ship and put to sea. The persons that Avent on board were Bith, 
 Ladra, Fintann, Kesair, Barran and Balba, {Balva). They 
 were at sea for seven years and a quarter, at the end of which 
 time they put into harbor at Dun-nam-barc, in the territory of 
 Corca-Duibni,^ on the fifteenth day of the moon, as the bard 
 recounts. 
 
 " And where they made their landing 
 Was at Dun-nam-barc, — that female band — 
 At Cul-Kesrach^ m the district ot Carn, 
 On the fifteenth, on the day of Satharn.'" 
 
 Kesair landed in Ireland forty days before the deluge, as the 
 bard thus sings — 
 
 " Twice twenty days before the Flood, 
 Came Kesair into ilri, 
 
 With Fintann, Bith, and Ladra, from the sea, 
 And fifty beauteous damsels." 
 
 * Ninuall. We shall see this name of the Four blasters. Corca-Duibni is 
 occurring again, when we come to treat now called Corcaguiny, a barony in the 
 of the early genealogy of the Gaels. county of Kerry. Corca-Luighe (Looee) 
 
 ' In the original, Laimh-Dhia, pr. comprised the west of the county of 
 
 lauiv-yeea, i. e. a hand-god or god made Cork, 
 
 with hands. » Cul-Chesrach, i. e. the hill or ridge 
 
 * Dr. O'Donovan thinks that Corca- of Cesair or Kesair. O'Flaherty imag- 
 Duibhni is an error of the transcriber ines this to be a Coolcasragh, that lies 
 for Corca-Luighe, and that the place near Kuockmea, in the county of Clare, 
 here meant is Dunamark, in the parish '" Dia Saihairn, {Dea Sahirn,) i. e., 
 of Kilcomoge, barony of Bantry, and the day of Saturn, is the Irish name of 
 county of Cork : see note p. 3, Annals Saturday. 
 
108 THE UISIORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Another bard agrees with the above, in the following rann — 
 
 " Kcsair came from the East, 
 Daughter of Bith was she, 
 "With her fifty damsels 
 And witli her three men." 
 
 Ard-Ladran is called after Ladra. He was the first man that 
 "died in Ireland, according to those who say that no people dwelt 
 in Ireland before the Flood, but Kesair and those that came with 
 her. Sliabh-Betha'^ is called after Bith ; and, from Fintann" is 
 called Fert-Fintainn in Tipperary, near Loch-Deirg-Deirc.^* 
 From Kesair is called Carn Kesrach'^ in Connacht. From Dun- 
 nam-barc they proceeded to the Meeting of the Three AVaters, 
 where the Siuir,^'' Feoir,^' and Berba" join their streams. There 
 they divided the fifty damsels between them. Fintann took Kesair 
 and seventeen women for his share ; Bith took Barran and seven- 
 teen more, and Ladra took Balba with sixteen others, and brought 
 them with him to Ard-Ladi'an, where he died. Upon this Balba 
 and her sixteen women returned to Kesair, who inlbrmed Bith of 
 the matter, whereupon Bith came to Fintann, and they again di- 
 vided the sixteen women in equal portions between them. Bith 
 took his own share to Sliabh-Betha and there he shortly died. 
 Bith's women then came to Fintann, but the latter, however, fled 
 before them out of Leinster. Upon this Kesair, with the Avhole 
 band of the women, retired to Cuil-Kesrach, in Connaught, and she 
 broke her heart through giief for the flight of her husband and the 
 deaths of her father and brother. Tliis happened but six days 
 before the Deluge. As a record of this, the bard has left us the 
 following rann — 
 
 " And pufh, wlicn their liour was full, 
 Were their deatlis after their wanderings — 
 There was but one single week 
 Thence unto the forty days." 
 
 The reader must observe that I do not give down this occu- 
 pation or invasion by Kesair, as true histojy, nor do I so give 
 down either of the other occupations, spoken of above. I have 
 recounted them here, merely because I found them mentioned in 
 
 " Literally " the first dead man of '" i. e. Tlic Cam of Cesar or Kesair. 
 
 Eri." The Lcahliar rjal)iiala [Lcour Gavaula) 
 
 " Sliabh Bctha. It is now called of the O'CIeries places this upon the 
 
 Slieve-Beagh, and lies on the confines liaidcs of the river Boyle, 
 of I^itrim and Fermanagh. — O'l). '" " " rronounced S'looir, Feore, and 
 
 ■^ i. e., Fintan's grave. It lies near Bcrva or Jinrroo. These rivers are 
 
 Loch Derg, an expansion of the Hhan- now called the Suir, Nore and Bar- 
 
 non between Killaloij and Porlumna. row. They meet a little below Water- 
 
 " Now " Lough berg." ford. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 109 
 
 ancient books ; and, moreover, I cannot conceive how our anti- 
 quaries could have obtained tliose accounts of persons that arrived 
 in Ireland before the Flood, if it were not from those atrial demons 
 who were their fairy followers^^ in Pagan times, or, unless they 
 had found them engraved"" upon some rocks, that remained after 
 the Flood had subsided. For, it is not to be asserted that the Fin- 
 tann orFintan^^ who lived after the Flood was the same person that 
 lived before it, because to say so would be contradictory to the 
 Scriptures, which tell us that all mankind perished in the Del- 
 uge, wath the exception of the eight persons who were saved in 
 the Ark ; and among these we know that Fintann was not. The 
 evidence, then, of those antiquaries who maintain that Fintann 
 lived through the Deluge, is false. These writers say that four 
 persons remained alive, during that time, at the four opposite 
 points of the world, namel}^, Fintann, Feron,^ Fors^^ and An- 
 doid.^'* It must, however, be observed, that this opinion is not 
 entertained by our best historians. For which reason, a certain 
 author has inserted the following lay in our history, in order to 
 show that it does not accord with the truth of revealed faith to 
 say that either Fintann or any of the other three just mentioned, 
 could have lived after the pouring forth of the Flood. 
 
 " The names of the four who practiced justice, 
 And whom God saved beneath the Flood, 
 Are Fintann, Feron, Fors, the mild and just, 
 And Andoid, son of Ethor. 
 
 ^^ Fairy Followers. In the original inthe jL(?aMor-«a-/i-Z7/(//<r;', inthe libra-, 
 " Lenanaibh Sidhe." The Lenan Sidhe ry of the Eoyal Irish Academy, this 
 [Lenaun Shee) was a species of su- Fintan survived the Deluge, and lived 
 pernatural being, supposed to be at- till the reign of Dermot, son of Fergus 
 tached to the ancient Celtic chieftains, Ceirbheoil, having, during this period, 
 and to other distinguished characters undergone various transmigrations ; 
 of Irish story. Many of the Irish war- from which O'Flaherty infers that the 
 riors were fabled to have had lovers Irish held the doctrine of Metempsy- 
 amongst the fair daughters of this aerial chosis." This Fintan is srill remembered 
 race. The modern Benshee, still sup- in the traditions of the country as the 
 posed to be attached to certain old Irish Methusalem of Ireland ; and it is be- 
 farailies of noble origin, is a remnant lieved in Conuaught that he was a saint, 
 of this wild and poetic superstition, and that he was buried at a locality 
 The aerial mistress of some warrior, called Kilfintany, in the south of the 
 long gone beyond her solicitude, con- parish of Kilcommon, barony of Erri- 
 tinues to renew the dirge other departed sand, county of Mayo. Dr. Ilanmer a,s- 
 lover, at the approaching deaths of his sens that the fable gave rise to a pro- 
 descendants. ^ verb common in Ireland in his own 
 
 ^" This opinion had been first sur- time, '• If 1 had lived Fintan's years I 
 
 mised by Giraldus Cambrensis. could say much. " 
 
 '^ Dr. O'Doiiovan gives the following "^ " =* Feron, Fors, Andoid. Of 
 
 note upon Fintan, in his translation of those personages, the editor has found 
 
 the Annals of the Four Masters, vol. 1. no further information than is given 
 
 " According to a wild legend preserved above. 
 
no THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Fors he set apart in the Eastern clime, 
 
 Ferou was preserved in the cold North, 
 
 Fiutann lay sale near the setting sun, 
 
 And Andoid in the South. 
 Though Shenachies count up these, 
 
 Yet the sacred Canons hold that none, 
 
 ]3ut Noaii and his sons, with him in the ark. 
 
 And the wives of these, got safety for their lives." 
 
 Hence, we are not to infer tliat either Fintann, or the other 
 three we have named, lived tlirough the Deluge and after it. 
 Yet if any historian, in support of these falsehoods, should assert 
 that Fintann and those others were really drowned in the Del- 
 uge, but that God restored him to life again, in order to preserve 
 the history and the experiences of these ancients, not only to the 
 time of St. Patrick, but to that of St. Finnén^^ of Magh-Bili,^^ 
 I cannot conceive how an event so miraculoits could be unknown 
 to all Europe; for, in the time of Finneu, and often since, num- 
 bers of distinguihsed divines and philosophers, and other learned 
 persons, were continually going to the most famous countries of 
 Europe to instruct both the clergy and the people, and to teach 
 in the universities. It is absurd, then, to suppose that none of 
 their disciples would have left us any notice or mention of Fintann, 
 when we have still extant so many of their writings upon other ) 
 subjects. Besides, I do not find mention of this Fintann in any 
 of the Chief Books, whose authority is undoubted ; hence, I ,' 
 conclude that the whole story of his surviving the Deluge is but ) 
 a romantic fiction. ' 
 
 I do not, however, insist that there might not have existed, at 
 the time of St. Patrick's coming into Ireland, some very old and 
 venerable man, who had lived through many centuries before 
 that time, and that this man gave that apostle an account both 
 of everything he remembered himself, and of all the traditions 
 
 " Finnen. The name of this saint is holy city, full of wisdom and virtue, 
 
 otherwise written Fiudian, Finnian,Fin- According to the writer of his life, he 
 
 niaand Findianus. " He was son of Fin- obtained the name of Finnen the Wise, 
 
 tan son of Finloch of the Clanna Kud- He died on the 12th of December, in 
 
 raighc (or Trians) of Ulster. llew;isa A.\). r)52, or according to others in 
 
 ShilosopJKT and an eminent divine, who oOii, and was buried in liis own cluirchat 
 rst founded the college of Clonard in ('lonard." Thus Dr. U'Donovan stutca 
 Meath, near the Boyne,wh(!re there were in his Notes on the Four ]S[astera, and 
 one hundred bishops, and where, with adds that St. Finnen's festival is set down 
 great care and labor,he instructed many at the 12th of December, in the O'Clcr- 
 celebratcd saints, among whom were the ies' Calendar and in the "Fciliri" or 
 two Kiarans, the two Brendans, th(! two Festinlogy of Aengus. 
 Columl>s, viz., Columltkille and Columb '* Mmrh-Bili {Moi/-Villi.) now Mo- 
 Mac C'rimhthainn, Lasserian, the son ville. This clnu-ch stood a short way 
 of Xadfracch, Canice, Alobhcus Ro- from tlie head of Strangfurd Lough, 
 daniLS, and many others not here enumo- about a mile north-east from Newtown 
 rated. Uis school was in quality a ards. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. Ill 
 
 he had received from his ancestors concerning the past ages. I 
 do think, that there was some such kind of personage in those 
 times, and that it is he that is called Tuan,^^ son of Carell, by 
 some historic writers, and, according to others, Eoanns, i. e. 
 Caeilti, son of Eonan, who had lived more than three hundred 
 years, and who related many ancient traditions to St. Patrick. 
 Now, it is this Caeilti that should properly be styled Eoanus or 
 Eonanus ; for we do not find in any book on Irish history, that Fin- 
 tann was ever called by either of these names. Nevertheless, Cam- 
 brensis calls him Eoanus, along with all the other misrepresenta- 
 tions contained in his lying history. As this author wrote the 
 name Roanus in his Chronicle, in place of Ronanus^ so every 
 English writer, Avho has treated of Ireland sin,ce his time, has 
 written Eoanus as one of the names of Fintann, in imitation of 
 Cambrensis. As these men have had no authority for their false 
 histories of Ireland, other than Cambrensis, they have looked upon 
 the man as the guide-bull of their herd, and followed blindh^ in 
 his track ever since. It is also more reasonable to consider, that 
 Caeilti was the person called Eonanus, because some old authors 
 enumerate amongst the writings of St. Patrick a work entitled 
 '''■ Historia Hihernice ex Roano sive Ronano^'''' i. e. "A History of 
 Ireland from Eoanus or Eonanus." We know that it is the sir- 
 name of the author that is usually prefixed to a work, as is evident 
 to every person that is in the habit of reading books. 
 
 It is not true of Hanraer to assert in his Chronicle, that the 
 Irish hold these stories of Fintann, whom he also calls Eoanus, 
 in high estimation — those tales which say that this person had 
 been submerged beneath the Flood, and that he lived after it for 
 more than two thousand years — that he at length met with St. 
 Patrick, from whom he received baptism, and to whom he revealed 
 many ancient events — that he died about one year after the saint's 
 arrival, and that he was buried in Loch-Eibh {Lough-Ree\ in 
 Ormond, where, he says, there is a church dedicated to him by 
 his own name ; and, he finally asserts, that his name is to be 
 found amongst those of the Irish saints. But it is evident to us, 
 that no historian ever spoke of, much less committed to writing, 
 any such story as what Ilanmer recounts ; for he confounds the 
 traditions related of three distinct persons in this narration of his, 
 namely, of Fintann, called Eoanus by Cambrensis; of Caeilti^ 
 
 *' Tuan was fabled to liave been evidently some holy and venerable sage, 
 
 once the nephew of Partholan by his and some hold hinito have been a saint, 
 
 brother Starn, and, having- gone through and to have been buried at Tamhlact, a 
 
 various metamorphoses, to have been parishchurch inthedistrictofMoghdorn 
 
 again restored to the human form, in or Mourne. and county of Down, where 
 
 the guise of the son of Carell, king of his name was long hcíd in veneration. 
 Uladh, who lived in the beginning of the *" Caeilti. This was the foster-son and 
 
 fourth century. Tuan, son of CareU,was favorite of the famous Irish warrior,FinQ 
 
112 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 Mac Eonain, who was baptized b}^ St. Patrick, and who told the 
 saint mau}^ traditions ; and of St. Kuadan,^-* (now pronoii ii ced Kuan,) 
 to whom was dedicated the church of Lothra {Lohra\ near 
 Loch-Derg-Derc, or Loiigh-Dcrg, and not near Loch-Eibh, as 
 Hanmer states. But I shall lose no more time in tracing up the 
 falsehoods of Hanmer, or of his authorities. Finally, I am con- 
 vinced that it was by mistake that Cambrensis wrote the word 
 Roanus, rather than Konanus or Eonan ; and that thus the word 
 has remained without correction by his followers down to the 
 present day. 
 
 Mac Comhal, whom MacPhcr.son calls 
 Fingal. Some poems exist purporting 
 to be dialogues between Caeilti and St. 
 Patrick, in which are given many curi- 
 ous anecdotes of the ancient state of 
 the country, its inhabitants and their 
 social habits. Of this character, also, 
 are the celebrated poems of Oisin or 
 Ossian, the son of Finn, and friend of 
 Caeilti, so distorted by MacPherson. 
 The battle of (jabra or (Jaura, where 
 the Fenians were nearly all slain, was 
 fought about A.D. 296, at which time 
 both Oisin and Caeilti must have been 
 very old men. — O'D. 
 
 O'Halloran says, in his history, that it 
 is recorded in the Psalter of Cashel, 
 that the druid ]Modaruith,lord of the ter- 
 ritory of Fcrmaighe Feni.now the baro- 
 nies of Fermoy and Condons, in the 
 county of Cork, boasted to Fiacadh Mul- 
 lethan, king of I/ith-Mogha, A.D. 2G0, 
 that he remembered the reigns of nine- 
 teen kings of Ireland. 
 
 The occurrence of such exagger- 
 ations, as those here noticed by the 
 honest Dr. Keating, and other similar 
 and less poetic ones, with which he 
 afterwards, with too rigid and indiscri- 
 minate regard for what he found in the 
 writings of the Shenachics, should not 
 
 induce a thinking mind to reject the 
 more ancient Irish tradition as fabulous 
 in the main facts it hands down. Our 
 ancient history would, in truth, have u 
 much more suspicious appearance with- 
 out them. They are, perhaps, remnants 
 of the early superstitions of the heathen 
 ancestors of the Irish nation, modified 
 so as to be less repugnant to the tradi- 
 tions of Christianity. 
 
 "* St. Ruadan, of Lothair (Lohir) 
 or Ruadhan Lothra. This was the St. 
 Ruadhan who laid the famous curse 
 upon Tara in the reign of Diarmaid, 
 son of Fergus Kerbeól,or Dcrmod, son 
 of Carroll. After Diarmaid, wbodied 
 A.D. 565, there reigned no king at 
 Tara,. A bard has recorded the circum- 
 stance in a rann, of which the following 
 is a translation : — 
 
 " From the rolfrn of lirown 'Diamiald, 
 Son of Feri;us, fon of Korbi.ól, 
 Kroin Kuadan's ju(l<;mint on his house, 
 There reigned no king in Tcmbalr." 
 
 St. Ruadan was abbot of Lohra, in 
 the barony of Ormond and county of 
 Tippcrary. From these and similar 
 talcs, some antiquarians have asserted 
 that the Druids believed in the Me- 
 tempsychosis, or Transmigration of 
 Souls. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SECTION I. — OF THE FIRST COLONIZATION* OF IRELAND AFTER 
 
 THE DELUGE. 
 
 The first possession taken of Ireland after the Deluge, as given 
 by some of our antiquarians, and as we read it in the duan or 
 poem that begins thus, " I found in the Psalter of Cashel," I do 
 not consider worthy of the name of a colonization, because no 
 stay was made in the island. The poem recounts the fact as 
 follows : 
 
 " Adna, son of Bith2 the wise, 
 A warrior sent by Nin MacPeil,' 
 First came our Eri to explore 
 And pull* the grass of Fidh-Inis. 
 
 Some of this grass he bore away, 
 And homeward went to tell his tale. 
 This was the conquest, full, complete, 
 Of shortest spell that Eri knew." 
 
 This messenger is said to have landed in Ireland about one 
 hundred and fifty years after the Flood ; but as he made no stay 
 in the country, I do not deem that his expedition ought to be 
 considered an invasion or occupation. Therefore, I am of opinion 
 
 1 The Gaelic word " Gabhail" (ga- the husband of the famous heroine queen 
 
 vauil), literally means a taking pos- Semiramis, who succeeded him on the 
 
 session of or seizing ; hence it comes to throne, and continued his conquests, 
 
 signify a conquest, &c. The empire founded by Belus flourished 
 
 * Kesair's father was also called for over a thousand years. The pagan 
 
 Bith. Irish worshipped the sun under the 
 
 ' i. e. Ninus, son of Belus. Belus, name of Bel or Belus. Hence comes 
 
 by some supposed to be the same as BUtaini, interpreted Teini Bheil, or 
 
 Nimrod, was the founder of the Assy- Bel's fire, the Irish name of the month 
 
 rian empire (the first empire known), of May. Belus was also worshipped as 
 
 about 2233 years before Christ, and a god by the Phoenicians, Babylonians, 
 
 immediately after the dispersion of Greeks, &c. 
 
 mankind from before Babel, which took * The custom of pulling a tuft of 
 
 place about 114 years after the Deluge, grass, or carrying away a portion of 
 
 Ninus extended his empire over the the soil, is still one of the usages ob- 
 
 whole of Western Asia, and, perhaps, served in taking possession of lands 
 
 over a great part of Europe. He was and tenements in Ireland. 
 
 [1181 
 
114 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 that the invasion by Partholan, may be more appropriately termed 
 the first colonization after the Deluge. 
 
 SECTION II. — THE INVASION OF PARTHOLAN^ HERE, A. M. 1978. 
 
 Ireland remained desert for three hundred years after the 
 Flood, -when Partholan, son of Sera, son of Sru, son of Esru, son 
 of Framant, son of Fathacta, son of Magog, son of Japhet, came 
 and took possession of it, as a bard has handed down : 
 
 " After the Flood three hundred years, 
 (A tiilc most true I tell you) 
 All virgin Eri desert lay, 
 Till came the noble Partholan." 
 
 From this reckoning, I think it was in the two-and-twentieth 
 year before the birth of Abraham, that l^artholan arrived in Ire- 
 land ; that is, in the year of the world 1978, as a bard again tells 
 us in the following verse : 
 
 " There were eight-and-seventy, clearly told, 
 One thousand and nine hundred years, 
 From the days of Adam, virtuous and fair, 
 'J'o the birth of Abraham, our father." 
 
 It is impossible that the opinion of those who say, that Partho- 
 lan landed in Ireland, one thousand years after the Deluge, can be 
 correct, while they allow that he arrived in the island in the time 
 of Abraham ; and, when we find that Abraham was but the 
 eighth in descent from Shem, son of Noah, counting Shem him- 
 self amongst the number. For it is very improbable, that there 
 should have been no more than seven generations, in more than 
 a thousand years after the Deluge: hence, I deem the first 
 opinion truer than the latter. For which reason, we may con- 
 clude that the time of Partholan's arrival was about three hun- 
 dred years after tlic Deluge.^ 
 
 We find that Partholan had set out from Migdonia,'or the 
 
 ' The modern Irish pronounce this Partholan's invasion, or 278 years 
 
 name Pawrholone. after the Flood. 
 
 * Keating, in his chronology, follows ^ Migdonia was a maritime country 
 
 the Hebrew computation, whiclv makes of ancient Macedonia, now part of Tur- 
 
 but 1G5C years to have elapsed from key in Europe. Jt is not easy to tell 
 
 the Creation to the Flood. In this he what country is here concealed under 
 
 follows the annals of Clonmacnoise, and this Latinized form of Grcig Medhbnach 
 
 several Irish historical poems. Tlie (Graig Mai/unagh). It may simply 
 
 jVjinals of the Four Masters, taking mean" central," or "middle Greece," or 
 
 the Deluge to have happened A.AI. it may mean " Moeonian Greece." It 
 
 2242, make A.M. 2520 the date of is not now easy evcu to tell the exact 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRET.AND. 115 
 
 Middle of Greece, steering liis course through the Mediterranean 
 Sea;^ that he sailed towards Sicily, and then, having left Spain 
 upon his right, that he at length reached Ireland. He had been 
 two months and a half on sea before he got into port at Inber- 
 Skeni,^ in the west of Munster, on the fourteenth day of the 
 month of May, as the bard, records : 
 
 " On the fourteenth day, on the day of Mars,*" 
 Their gallant ships they safely moored 
 In the clear blue waves of our fair land, 
 In the harbor of Skeni of brightest shields." 
 
 The crew, that landed with Partholan in Ireland, was composed 
 of his wife, Delgnaid, and his three sons, Rudraide, Slangi, and 
 Laiglinni, with the wives" of the latter ; and these were accom- 
 panied by one thousand warriors. It is so that Nennius relates 
 the event, and thus we read it in the Psalter of Cashel. 
 
 The place "where Partholan fixed his dwelling, was at Inis- 
 Saimer,^" near Erni, a place which was so called from Saimer, the 
 name of a hound that belonged to Partholan, who killed it in a 
 fit of jealousy towards his wife Delgnaid, who had been guilty of 
 an illicit intrigue with one of her own slaves, whose name was 
 Todga. "\Yhen Partholan had rebuked her for this evil deed, the 
 lady, instead of striving to appease him, insisted that her angry 
 lord deserved more blame himself for the disgraceful act than she 
 did. "Think you, Partholan," said she, "that one may leave 
 honey near a woman, or sweet milk near a child, or food near a 
 generous man, or fleshmeat near a cat, or tools and instruments 
 near a mechanic, or man and woman in a desert place, and that 
 they will each keep clear of the other?" Here follow the words 
 of the lay that records the fact : 
 
 " Choice honey near a woman leave ; leave sweet milk near a boy ; 
 To generous heart leave food in trust ; trust flesh meat to a cat ; 
 Shut up the cunning artisan in shop with store of tools ; 
 Or leave a young pair all alone, and deem you run no risks." 
 
 countries, the Gaels vaguely compre- The Tuscans or Etrurians were styled 
 
 hended under the terra Greig. Par- " MoeonidiE," 1. e. Msonians. 
 
 tholan was possibly of the race of those ' The inver or estuary of >" keni, now 
 
 early colouizers,whom the West of Asia the bay of Kenmare, al. Inbher Sceine, 
 
 sent, forth in the heroic ages, and who, [Inver- Scainie). 
 
 perhaps, first disseminaie'd letters, and " Tlie Day of Mars, in Irish, " Dia 
 
 commerce, and agriculture throughout Mairt," is our vernacular name for 
 
 southern Europe. The country here Tuesday. 
 
 meant, was most likely the ancient " The vnves of Partholan's three 
 
 " Mceonia," otherwise " Lydia," in Asia sons here named, were Nerba, Kicliba 
 
 Minor. and Kerbnad, al. Nerbha, Ciochbha 
 
 * In Gaelic, 3Iuir Toirrian, which and Cerbnad. 
 
 Bome translate the " Tyrrhenian" or ^' Inis Saimer, is a small island in the 
 
 Tuscan Sea, i. e. Mare Tyrhenum. river Erne, at Ballyshaunoa. — O'D. 
 
116 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 When Partliolan lieard this impudent retort, he seized her 
 favorite hound, and (hashing it against the ground, lie killed it. 
 Thii was the first instance of jealousy that happened in Ireland 
 after the Flood, 
 
 Seventeen years after Partholan took possession of Ireland, the 
 first of his followers died ; he was named Feda, the son of Tortan. 
 It is from him that Magh-Feda^^ {Moij-Fca) has received its name. 
 
 The reason why Partholan had migrated to Ireland was, be- 
 cause he previously had slain his own father and mother, hoping 
 thus to have been able to usurp the government from his brother. 
 It was in coiiSL^quence of these parricidjs, that he had been forced 
 to fly to Ireland; but God sent a plague upon his posterity in 
 veng ance thereof,, and by it nine thousand of them were killed ' 
 in one week at Benn-Edar (the Hill of Howth.) 
 
 Soms authors reckon another colonization, namely, that made 
 by KicaV* son of Nil, son of Garb, son of Uadmor; and his 
 mother was named Lot Luaimnech, and that they had dwelt irc^ 
 Ireland for over two hundred years, living by fishing and by 
 fowling. Upon Partholaii's arrival in the island, these previous 
 possessors gave him battle on the plain of Magh-Itha.^^ Here 
 their chieftain Kic d fell, and his Fomorians^^ were destroyed by 
 Partholan. Irrus-Domnan" was the place where Kical and his 
 followers had landed. His fleet consisted of six ships, each of 
 which contained fifty men, and as many women, as the bard 
 recounts : 
 
 '• The seventh people, that possessed 
 The beauteous Eri of hV^lx plains, 
 Cam3 with curt Kical, the short-logged, 
 To the fair fields o'er luber Doinuan." 
 
 ^' Ma'j^h Fe'Uia or Fea was the name " Fomorians. Some say that" Fom- 
 
 of a plain in ihc barony of Forth and arach" means simply "pirate." Others 
 
 county of Carlow. will have it, that the Phoenicians were 
 
 '* The Anuals of the Four Masters thepeopleto whom i lie term wasapplicd, 
 
 call this man Cical Gri:^enoos:ich, son while others again think that the Fomar- 
 
 of Goll, sou of (iarbli of the Fomaraigh, aigh came from the regions that alter- 
 
 and tlioy say that he came to Ireland a wards sent forth the people called Nor- 
 
 few years after Partholan. It is, how- mans and Danas. In the latter case, they 
 
 ever, more probable that this s'aort- must have been Finns or Laps, who, 
 
 legged chief of a people " living by psrhaps, wore the predecessors of both 
 
 fit'iing and fowling," lived in Ireland Celts and Teutons in Western Europe, 
 
 before Partholan, as Keating and the for in those times, it is not likely that 
 
 Leb'iar Gabkala tell us. There are there were any Gothic, or Teutonic na- 
 
 traces of sach a people — a people of tions in North-western Europe. It is 
 
 parhaps Laponic typ;, in Ireland, and remarkable that tin; ^Vel-h, (Jaelic and 
 
 they it was that probab'y left those stone Breton rcsemhlc the Uralian dialects in 
 
 implements improperly called " G.;lts." one or two imjiortant points, wherein 
 
 *^ Mig'i-It'ia is the nameofap'ain all three f/Z^cr from their kindred I ndo 
 
 in the barony of Raphoe, along the river I-Iuropean tongues. 
 Finn, and county of Donegal. — O'D. " Now Erris, in west Connaught 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 117 
 
 " Tliree hundred men that band did number, 
 That came from the clime of Uadmor, 
 But short their sway had lasted, 
 When in one week they were laid low." 
 
 Seven lakes burst forty^ in Ireland in tlie days of Partholan, 
 namely, Loch-Mesc/^ in Connaught, which overspread Magh- 
 Lergna; Loch-Con,^ which burst forth over the land three years 
 after the battle with Kical, and Magh-Cro was the name of the 
 plain it overwhelmed ; Loch-Dechet^^ burst forth twelve years 
 after Partholan's occupation ; and one year after that, Slangi, 
 the fourth chieftain of his people, died, and was buried on Sliabh- 
 Slangi.22 A year after the latter event, the eruption of Loch- 
 Laigiinni,^^ in the territory of Ui-Mac Uais, of Breagh, took place. 
 Laiglinni was the fifth of the nobles that had come over with 
 Partholan ; and it was when they were digging his grave that tlie 
 last named lake sprang forth ; hence they called it Laiglinni's 
 lake, or Loch Laiglinni. Next year Loch-Ectra^ broke out, 
 between Sliabh-Modurn^^ and Sliabh-Fuaid,^ in Orgiall; after 
 this Loch-Rudraidt^^ burst forth, and in it Rudraide, the chieftain 
 from whom it was called, was drowned ; in the same year hap- 
 pened the eruption of Loch-Caan.^^ Partholan, upon arriving in 
 Ireland, found but three lakes and nine rivers therein. The 
 lakes were Loch-Luinmigh,^^ in Des-Mumha, or Desmond ; Loch- 
 Foirdemairi,^" near Traigh-Li (Tralee), in Munster, and Finloch- 
 Kera,^^ in Irrus-Domnan, in Connaught, of which the bard says: 
 
 " Three wide and wondrous lakes, 
 And nine delightful rivers, 
 
 ^' Burst forth, •' Do Bhrúcht,"is the -' Loch Laiglinni is not known. Ui 
 word used by our ancient chroniclers. Mac Uais Breagh is a district in East- 
 Most modern Irish antiquaries under- meath. — O'D. 
 
 stand the phrase to be a figurative -^ -^ ^^ Loch Ectra. Dr. O'Dono- 
 
 mei hod of expressing the discovery of van says that there is no remarkable 
 
 these lakes, by the exploring colonists, lake between those mountains but 
 
 To suppose anything else would lead Loch Mucnamha, near Castleblaney. 
 
 one back to those fabled times of classic Sliabh Modurn [Mourne). It is in the 
 
 legend, when, as poets sang, Sicily barony of Cremouriie, county Mon- 
 
 was torn from Italy, and some great aghan. Sliabh Fuaid, is situated 
 
 Atlantis sank beneath the ocean. near Newtown, Hamilton couniy, Ar- 
 
 1' Now Lough Mask, a large and magh. 
 
 beautiful lake in the county Mayo.-0"D. " Loch Rudraide. The mouth of 
 
 ■° Loch Con is in the barony of the river Erne, county Donegal, was so 
 
 Tirawley and county of Mayo. — 0"'D. called.— O'D. 
 
 *i Loch Dechet or Techet is now -^ Loch Cuan, now called Strang 
 
 Lough Gara, between the counties Ros- ford Lough, county Down — O'D. 
 
 common and Sligo. — O'D. ^' ^" ^^ Loch Luimnigh was Limerick 
 
 ^* Sliabfi-Slan<r] was the ancient harljor, Loch Foirdemain, Tralee bay, 
 
 name of Sliabh Domhamghairt {Slieve and Fmnloch Kera, Lough Carra, in 
 
 Dowangart) , now Slieve Douard. — O'D. Mayo. — O'D. 
 
118 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Loch-Fordremain, Loch-Luimnigh 
 And Finnloch, close by Irrus." 
 
 The following are the nine rivers, namely, the Buas (now the 
 Bush), between Dal-Araide^ and Dal-Riada,^ or Ruta ; the J5erba 
 (now Barrow) ; the Eurthach, or Liii (now Liftey), between the 
 XJi-Neill and the people of Leinster; the Laei (now Lee), in 
 Munster, running through Muscraide (now Muskerr}') to Cork ; 
 the Sligech (now Sligo), Saimer (otherwise the Erna), and 
 Muaidh (now JMoy), in Connaught, in the territory of the nor- 
 thern Ui-Fiachrach (Ee-Feeghragh) ; the Modurn or Mournc, in 
 Tirone, and the Bann between Lee and Eli, as the bard informs 
 us in the duan, which begins, " Adam, parent source of hosts:" 
 
 " The Laei, Buas, Banna, the stronj^ Berba, 
 The Saimer, Sligech, Modurn, Muaidh, 
 And Liii, in Laighen, likewise — 
 These are the eider rivers." 
 
 About four years after the eruption of Murthol,^ Partholan 
 died, in the old plain of Magh-n-Elta of Edar, and there he was 
 buried. The reason why it is called the Old Plain, i. e. Sen-Magh, 
 is because no wood ever grew upon it, and the reason why it is 
 called Magh-n-Elta, i.e., "the plain of the flocks," (i.e., e/to,) is 
 because that was the place where the fowl of Eri used to come 
 to bask in the sun, 
 
 Partholan died about thirty years after his occupation of Ire- 
 land. Some of our antiquarians will have it that event happened 
 in the year of the world 2628, but I judge from what 1 have 
 shown above, that there were only 1986 from the Creation of the 
 world to the death of Partholan. There arc others, again, that 
 say, that only twenty years intervened between the death of 
 Partholan and the destruction of his people by the plague ; but, 
 the general opinion is against them ; for it says that Ireland 
 remained desert, but thirty years after that catastrophe, until 
 Nemedh came to take possession of it : as the poet relates in the 
 following verse: 
 
 " During tliirty years, full told 
 It lay deííolatc, without warriors brave, 
 "When all its hosts died in one week 
 In flocks upon Mugh-n-Elta." 
 
 We are told by the holy Cormac Mac Culinain, that there 
 
 '^ " Dal Araklhe {Daut Arree) was Masters call this " IMurthol Brcna," or 
 
 co-cxtensive with the present county " the Inundation of Brcna." Brena ap- 
 
 Down, and Dal-Riada with the county pears, it would spcm, to have been an 
 
 Antrim. old name for the i)rcseiit Strangford 
 
 '•* Murthol. The Annals of the Four liough 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 119 
 
 were three hundred years from the coming of Partholan to the 
 destruction of his people, and this account is confirmed by the 
 bard Eocaidh O'Floinn {G'Flinn)^ where he says: 
 
 " Three hundred years, we know well, 
 Over those lovely, fertile fields. 
 Ruled that polished, prudent race. 
 In Eri, the ancient and the august." 
 
 It must also be seen, from all we have said, that those are not 
 to be believed either, who say that more than five hundred years 
 intervened between the death of Partholan and the destruction 
 of his people by the plague ; neither are we to suppose, that ailer 
 the country's having been inhabited, as they assert, for above 
 five hundred years, the number of its people could amount to no 
 more than five thousand men and four thousand women. 
 
 The following was the division made of Ireland by the four 
 sons of Partholan, Er, Orba, Ferann and Fergna, chieftains that 
 had four namesakes^ amongst the descendants of Miledh ; here, 
 then, is their division, as recorded by Eocaidh O'Floinn,^ Ard- 
 Ollamh re Filided^ or Arch-Poet of Ireland. 
 
 " FOUU gallant sons of warlike deeds, 
 Four princely sons had Partholan, 
 "Who shared between them, uncontrolled 
 And without grudge, the lands of Eri." ^' 
 
 '^ These namesakes were the four raeut. 2d. Inheritance of property, 
 sons of Eber Finn, son of Miledh, who 3d. Distinct apportionment of land, 
 ruled Ireland conjointly from A. D. 4th. Seniority or chieftainship, i. e. 
 2755 to A. D. 2756. The names are, distinction of rank. 
 apparently, allegorical in both in- ^^ The celebrated chief-poet, Eocaidh 
 stances, and refer to the arts and in- O'Floinn, flourished in the 10th cen- 
 stitutions established in Ireland during tury. Many of his compositions re- 
 its occupation by the Partholaniaus and main. The post of " Ard-ollamh re 
 Eberians, the memory of which has been Filidecht," [Ard-Ollavre fillceght), i. e. 
 thus enigmatically and succinctly pre- chief-doctorship of poetry, was one of 
 served in Druidic rann. I here give the the earliest regular institutions of the 
 meanings of these four words, from 0'- Gaels. 
 
 Reilly's Irish Dictionary, viz. :l."Er" or " This division has been before 
 
 "Ear," sub. head, adj., great ; 2. "Orba," given, and the modern names of the 
 
 suh. inheritance, land patrimony; see al- boundary points shown, viz. : 1st, from 
 
 so"Forba"and"Forbadh,"id.; 3. "Fe- Ailech or Ellagh, near Derry, on the 
 
 rami" or " Fearann," land, a farm, i. e. a north coast, to Ath-Cliath or Dublin ; 
 
 distinct portion of land. 4. "Fergna," 2d, from Dublin to Ard-Nemidh, i. e. 
 
 chieftainship, seniority, and " Ergna," the hill over the Cove of Cork, on 
 
 lohich is tfie same word without the dig- Great-Island ; 3d, to Medraide, i. e. 
 
 awjTOii, knowledge. The allegory then Clarin's Bridge, near Galway, and 
 
 might mean, that these sons, born to thence again to Ailcch. It is to be re- 
 
 Partholan, in Ireland, were the laws marked that no internal boundaries are 
 
 and customs he established amongst laid down. 'J'he interior was still ap- 
 
 the hunters and fishers, he found dwell- parently unknown, the Partholaniaus 
 
 Ing in it, viz. : 1st. Head, i. e., govern- occupying but the coasts. 
 
120 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Their division was not hard for these — 
 The isle of Ya-'i, an unljroken forest — 
 Few then the dwellers in each hs,^ 
 Each man well knew his proper share. 
 
 Er, the eldest, bright was his happiness, 
 Pleasant his share, long held in peace — 
 From Ailech-Neid, land without deceit, 
 To the rich Ath-Cliath of Laighen. 
 
 From Ath-Cliath Laighen, Leap"" of Ler, 
 To the tall isle of Ard-Nemidh, 
 A fair, rich soil was Orbas share — 
 Free fi"om strife — strong was his rule. 
 
 From the ford where Nemedh met his death, 
 
 To Medraide of wide territories, 
 
 A fair and faultless tract, 
 
 Was the large domain of Ferann. 
 
 Long is the tract from far Medraide 
 To Ailech-Neid of customs good, 
 A powerful lordship, of fearless sway, 
 This plenteous land I'ell to Fergna. 
 
 On Eri's soil (no tale of falsehood this) 
 Were born these champions named. 
 A noble race of endless fame — 
 Gentle as -warlike were the FOUR." 
 
 Here follow tlie names of Partholan's husbandmen, Tothact, 
 Tarba, Tren, Imhas, Ciil, Dorcha and Damh.^" Ilis four oxen 
 were Liag, Leg-magh, Imari and Etlirighe. Beor was the name 
 of the first person that received people at free hospitality, or 
 entertainment, in Ireland. Breoga, son of Senboth, Avas the first 
 
 "* Lis or llos, gen. lesa, is the most ■*" These names of Partholan's hus- 
 osual name for those circular earthen bandnien, &c., tend to confirm one, as 
 forts, one or two, and sometimes three to the allegorical nature of the names 
 of which are to be found, still to be of his followers. They are most of 
 traced in almost every Baili or town- them ordinary Gaelic words, and ex- 
 land in Ireland. pressive of certain appropriate attri- 
 
 ^* In the original, Lcim Lir. Ilalli- butes, viz. : amongst those husbandmen, 
 
 day translates these words, " great the Tothacht, i. c. "digging;" Turbha, 
 
 coast." We cannot find that the i. e., " profit ;" Tnn, i. e. " strength," 
 
 words could bear that construction. &c. Amongst the o,\en are Leg-ni'nigk, 
 
 Besides, Ler's Leap might have been as i. c., "lay the field;" Imari, i. e. 
 
 appropriately applied to the mf)uth of "ridge ;" and El/ir/glie, i. e. " furrow." 
 
 the Liffey, as " Lcim Choncullainn" or The names of his three Druids, signify 
 
 Cuchullainn's Leap, to that of the kowledge, informition, and inquiry. 
 
 Shannon. We shall meet, further on. The names of his merchants, " Bibal " 
 
 with a celebrated personage called and "liebal," would seem to point to the 
 
 Manannan, sou of Ler. East, where he traded. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND 
 
 121 
 
 man, that first introduced single combat into Ireland. Samaliliath 
 was the first to introduce the drinking of ale. Fios, Eolas and 
 Fochmart were Partholan's three druids;^^ Mucha, Meran and 
 Muncnican were his three champions ; Bibal and Bebal were his 
 two merchants : he had ten daughters and ten sons-in-law. 
 
 *^ Draeidh, (Dhrec), is the Gaelic 
 form of the word " Druid." The 
 pagan priests of the Celtic nations 
 were thus designated. The term is 
 generally derived from some word kin- 
 dred to the Greek dpv^,and Irish "dair," 
 " an oak tree," from their usually per- 
 forming their rites in sacred groves of 
 that tree. It is, however, more ap- 
 
 {)ropriately derived I'rom some word 
 ike dpaw " to make ;" thus notrjrrjg 
 a " poet," from rcoieu) " to make," for the 
 
 word meant " prophet," " poet," and 
 " sage," as well as " priest." Thus, its 
 relation to drecht (draijaght), an old 
 Irish name for " poesy," would be the 
 same exactly as that between Troirijxa 
 and noi?]ri]g. Drecht, seems a con- 
 tracted form of draeid edit [dreeagkt,) 
 i.e. " druidism." This latter deriva- 
 tion we have observed to be the con- 
 jecture of some learned continental 
 philologists. It seems the more 
 likely. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 OF THE SECOND COLONIZATION OF IRELAND, I.E., THE CONQUEST 
 BY THE SONS OF NEMEDH, OR THE NEMEDIANS, AND OF 
 THEIR BATTLES DOWN HERE. 
 
 Ireland remained waste for the space of thirty years after 
 the extinction^ of the race of Pai'tholan, until Nemedh, son of 
 Agnaman, son of Pamp, son of Tath, son of Sera, son of Sru, 
 son of Esru, son of Framant, son of Fathacta, son of Magog, 
 son of Japhet came and settled therein. It is to be remarked 
 that all those that formerly invaded Ireland, are of the posterity 
 of Magog,^ except Kesair alone, if it be indeed true that that 
 
 ^ Partholan and his people died at 
 " Tamlact Muiutiri Partholain," now 
 Tallaght, within three miles of Dublin. 
 
 It is not very likely that all the 
 Partholanians could have been destroy- 
 ed. We must rather understand the 
 fact here recorded, to mean that the 
 plague had so weakened them, that 
 their Fomorian or Aboriginal enemies 
 had subdued or banished these early 
 civilizers. 
 
 * This, though the common opinion 
 of our Shenachies, is most improbable. 
 
 In fact the old names of the country 
 and its rivers and mountains, go far to 
 disprove the similarity of origin and 
 language here asserted . The preserva- 
 tion of their genealogies was, it is true, 
 an essential institution of the Gaelic pol- 
 ity — ^in fact, the man or tribe whose pedi- 
 gree was forgotten, lost his or its liberty 
 thereby — but the Gaelic Shenachies, 
 had no interest in handing down the 
 pedigrees of the earlier tribes. We 
 shall even see them hereafter making 
 laws to prevent any such transmission. 
 
122 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 heroine ever occupied the island. It is at Sru, son of Esru, that 
 the genealogies of Nemedh and Partholan separate; and at Sera 
 that the generations of the Fir-Bolgs, Tuatha-De-Dananns and 
 the sons of Aliledh or Milesians diverge fi'om one another. All 
 these nations spoke the " Scot-Berla" or Scottish tongue. This 
 is evident from the fact that wiicn Ith, son of Breogan, came to 
 Ireland, he communicated with the Tuatha-De-Dananns in that 
 tongue, and through it both he and they found out, that thcj 
 were each of them of the posterity of Mngog. Some assort, that 
 Nemedh was descended fiom AcUa, a sou whom Partholan had 
 left behind him in the East. 
 
 The course^ Nemedh took in his voyage to Ireland from Scy- 
 thia, was through that narrow sea that comes in from the ocean, 
 which narrow sea is called the " Mare Euxinum" (i. e. the Uuxine, 
 now the Black Sea).^ It is the boundaiy between the north-west 
 part of Asia and the north-east part of Europe ; the Kiphean 
 ( Ural) Mountains are also, according to Pomponius J\iela, on the 
 north-west boundary of Asia, between the sea just mentioned 
 and the Northern Ocean. He left the Ri])hean Mountains on 
 his right, until he got into the North sea, and tlien he left Europe 
 on his left, until he reached Ireland.^ The following was the 
 strength of his fleet and the number of his host, to wit, thirty- 
 four ships, with a crew of thirty in each ship. The leaders of 
 these were Nemedh and his four sons, Starn, larbanel the Pro- 
 phet, Anind and Fergus Leth-dcrg (Fergus of the Red Side).^ 
 
 Four lakes burst forth in Ireland in INemedh's time. These are 
 Loch-Brenannon,^ Magh-Asail, in Ui Niallain ; Loch JMunrcmar,* 
 
 ' The conrse here vaguely pointed of the voyage, however, might have 
 
 out, was the one that might have been been performed in boats, up the Volga 
 
 taken by the Ciinbri or Kimri, i. e. or the Don. The error of a single word 
 
 the Northern Celts, if, as some anti- or a few words, would liavc caused the 
 
 quaries suppose, these were descendants mistake. The main facts, as to the tra- 
 
 of the Cinimerii of the Palus Mceotis, ditionary account of Nemedh's migra- 
 
 now the Sea of Asoph. The name of tions, can scarcely be impu<;-ned thereby, 
 
 the Cimmerii, is still faintly preserved Dr. Keating was so rigid a respecter 
 
 in that of the " Crimfa." of antiquity that he neglected to look 
 
 * The Euxine or Black Sea is here at his map. AVith the exception of 
 
 obviously confounded with the Baltic; the sail by the Riphean mountains, the 
 
 that is, the point from which the Nemo- description of the migration is exactly 
 
 dians first started toward.s the North, what might be oxjiected. The Scan- 
 
 with that whence they sailed from dinavians, and other nations, must 
 
 directly for Ireland. The Euxine has have traced nearly the same route in 
 
 no direct communication with the after times. 
 
 ocean, but the Baltic has, and agrees * Medu, Macha, Yba, and Kera, 
 
 fully with thi,? description. w^ere the wives of these chieftains. — 
 
 * The Gaelic Bards were certainly Four Masters. 
 no geographers, or they would not have "> Lock Brcnnnn, appears to have 
 
 made this colony .5az7 over land from the been another name for Loch Cal, now 
 
 piramcrian to the Cimbric Peninsula, Lough Gall, in the barony of West 
 
 i. e., from Crimea to Denmark. Part Oueilland, in the county of Armagh, 
 
THE KISTOUY OF IRELAND. 123 
 
 on ]\ragh-sola ; and, ten years after the landing of Nemedli, Locb.- 
 Darbrjch^ sprang forth, and also Loch Anind, over Magh-Mor, in 
 Meath ; Loch- Anind was thus called, for it burst ft)rth over the 
 land when they were digging the grave of Anind. It was of 
 these lakes that the bard sang the following rami : 
 
 " Four lakes of waters wide 
 Burst over the great Fodia — 
 Loch-Darbrech, Locli-Brenann, fair 
 Loch-Muureruar, Loch- Anind."" 
 
 The wife of Nemcdh died in Ireland, in the twelfth ^^ear after 
 her arrival in the conntiy, and previous to the death of Anind, 
 son of Nemedh. Macha was this lady's name ; and she was the 
 first that had died since the landing of Nemedh's colony therein. 
 It is from her that Ard-Macha (i. e. Madia's height, now Armagh) 
 has its name. 
 
 Nemedh built two royal raihs (i. e. forts) in Ireland, namely, Eath 
 Kinneich,^^ in the Ui Niallain, and Eath Kimbaeith,^^ in Semni. 
 It was the four sons of Madan Munremar, of the Fomorians,^^ that 
 built Eath Kinneich in one day ; their names were Bog, Eobog, 
 Eubni and Eodan. Nemedh slew them the next morning in 
 Doiri Lighe,^* lest they should take it into their heads to pull 
 down the rath again, and he buried them where they fell. 
 
 Nemedh cleared twelve plains of wood while in Ireland ; here 
 follow their names: Magh-Kera,^» Magh-Nera,^"^ Magh-Culi- 
 Toladh," ]\fagh-Luirg,^®in Connaught; Magh-Tochair, in Tyrone; 
 Lec-Magh,^^ in Munster; Magh-Bresaj^" in Leinster ; Magh-Lu- 
 gaidh,2i in Ui Tuirtri;^^ Magh-Seridh,^^ in Tebtha (Tefifa); Magh- 
 
 or it may be the Fretum Brenneso, Li," now. It was very probably in 
 
 otherwise Loch Cuan, now Strangford the territory of the Fir Lii, on the 
 
 Lake, whose eruption has already been River Bann. — O'D. 
 
 recorded.— O'D. " Magh-Kera, i. e. the Plain of 
 
 * Loch Munremar is now called Kera, in the barony of Carra, and 
 
 Lough Ramor, near Virginia, in the county of Mayo. — O'D. 
 
 county of Cavan. — O'D. i^ Magh-Nera, unknown to editor. 
 
 » -Loc/i Dari)rcc/i— now Lough Derry- " Magh-Cuh-Toladh, [Moyculli-To- 
 
 varagh, a large and beautiful lake, near la,) a plain in the barony of Kil- 
 
 Castlepol!ard,county AVestmeath.-0'D. maine, and county of Mayo. — O'D. 
 
 ^" Loch Anind — ^now Lough Ennell, ^* Magh-Luirg, now Moylurg, in 
 
 near Mullingur.— O'D. the county of Roscommon. — O'D. 
 
 ^^ Rath Kinneich, or Cinneich, un- *^ Lec-Magh, unknown to editor. 
 
 known.— O'D. ^" Magh-Bresa. The Four Masters 
 
 " Rath Kimhaeith, the name is now have it Magh-Brensa. Not known to 
 
 obsolete. MaghSerahni (Mo// SAeyn?), editor. 
 
 was in the county of Antrim. Rinn ^i Magh-Lugaidh {3Ioij Looee), i. e. 
 
 Semni {Reen SIlcvui), was the old the Plain of Lugaidh, a district round 
 
 name of Island-Magee. — O'D. Lough Neagh. — O'D. 
 
 15 This would show that the Fomo- " The Ui Tuirtri, who gave their 
 
 rians inhabited the country still. name to this district, were descended 
 
 " Loiri Lighe, i. e. "the oak wood of from Fiacra Tort, the grandson of 
 
124 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Semni,^ in Dal-Araide, Antrim; Magh-Murthemni,-^ in Breágli; 
 and Magh-Madia,^ in Orghiall. 
 
 Nemedh defeated the Fomorians in three battles. These peo- 
 ple were mariners of the race of Cham, who, sailing from Africa, 
 fled to the islands of the west of Europe, in order to make settle- 
 ments for themselves therein, and thus avoid the descendants of 
 Shem ; for thej feared lest the latter should enslave them, in 
 consequence of tlie curse pronounced by Noah against their })ro- 
 genitor, Cham, In this manner they imagined that, by making 
 their settlements in far distant lands, they might be allowed to 
 live in security, remote from the oppression of the children 
 of Shem. For this reason did they come to Ireland, where they 
 were routed by Nemedh in the three battles, as above stated, 
 namely: in the battle of Sliabh-Bladma (now Slieve Bloom, in 
 Leinster) ; and the battle of Jios-Fraechain,^^ in Connaught, wherein 
 fell Gann and Gennan, two Fomorian chieftains ; and in the bat- 
 tle of Murbolg, in Dal-Eiada, or the Euta. In the latter conflict, 
 Starn, son of Nemedh, fell by the hand of Conaing, son of Fael ar, 
 at Lethed-lact-Moighe {Leliid-hujld-Moy). A battle was, also, 
 fought between theni at Cnamh-Ros,^ where there was a great 
 slaughter of the Irish, who were led on by Arthur, a son of Nemedh, 
 who had been born to him in Ireland, and by Ibcan, son of Starn, 
 son of Nemedh. 
 
 After this Nemedh died of a plague, at the island of Ard- 
 Nemidh,^ in Ui Liathain,^'' in Munster, which is now called 
 Barrymore Island. AVith him there perished two thousand of 
 his people, men and women. 
 
 After the death of Nemedh, his children and people had to 
 endure great tyranny and o})pression in Ireland from the Fomor- 
 ians, in vengeance for those battles mentioned above, where the 
 latter had been routed by Nemedh. 
 
 Kin<^ Colla Uais. The word ''ui," "wood of the bones," probably Cam- 
 pronounced "ee," means "grandsons" ross, county Carlow. — U'D. 
 or '• descendants ;" it is the nominative -' " Uilean Anla Ncnicdii' {Illawn- 
 plural of " 0," the common prefix of íirf/«-jiei!j;/í'),i.e. the Island of Kcmedh'a 
 Irish surnames. Ileiffht, was the old name of (ireat Is- 
 
 •^ Ma<rh-Hiiri(lh, said to be Kenan- land in Cork IIarl)or, upon which the 
 
 nus, now Kells, between -the two Tef town of Cove stand«. 
 
 fias, in Mcath. — O'D. =° Vi LiaÚmin, [Ee Lcchauin), was 
 
 " See note on Ruth Ktmhaeilh. OTA'han's country. The Irish Sc^t 
 
 '^ Ma^li-Murthcmni [Motj Mm from wliom the district received its 
 
 hevni), was in Louth. minie, arc now universally csillcd Lyons. 
 
 "* Magh-Macha, i. e. the " Plain of They are still numerous round their 
 
 Macha," was near Arnia^iJi. ancient tribe-land. Their country was 
 
 *'' Rus-Fraecliajn, is now called Ros- afterwards called I'arrjnnore, from 
 
 reahan, in the barony of Murresk, and the family of the Norman De Harries, 
 
 county of Mayo. — O'D. who conquered and possessed it in 
 
 '^ Cnamh-Ilus [Cnaw Rcsst), i. e. the after times. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 125 
 
 Conaing, son of Faebar, from whom is called Tor-Conaing,^* off 
 the northern coast of Ireland, and w.ho ke^^t a fleet and resided at 
 Tor-Conaing, now Tor-Inis, or Tory Island, with More, the son 
 of Dela, exacted the tribute of Ireland from the Nemedians. 
 The amount of this tribute was two-thirds of their children, corn, 
 and cattle, winch had to hd presented to those two chieftains 
 every year, on the eve of Samhain*^ (All-hallows), upon the field 
 of Magh-Kedni,^^ between Drobaeis (Bundrowes) and Erni, The 
 place received the name of Magh-Kedni, from the frequent usage 
 of paying that tribute thereon. The Fomorians imposed still 
 another tyrannical exaction on the children of Nemedli, namely, 
 three measures^ of cream,^ flour and butter, which were to be 
 sent from every hearth to More and Conaing, at Tor-Inis; and 
 this tax was levied throughout Ireland by a female steward, 
 named Liag; in testimony whereof, a bard has spoken this verse : 
 
 " The tax they then laid on 
 Was three well-filled measures — 
 A measure of cream from richest milk, 
 A measure of the flour of wheat. 
 The third tax, not great, we deem. 
 Was a measure of mellow butter." 
 
 At length, anger and impatience seized the men of Eri, by rea- 
 son of tliat tribute and taxation, and they rose up to give battle 
 
 '^ Tor-Conaing, or Conaing's Tower, the famous Druidic fire, whence all the 
 
 was situated on Tory Island, off the hearths io Ireland were to be lighted, 
 
 north-west coast of Donegal. A long was kindled at Tlactga, now Athboy, 
 
 account of its destruction, is given in in the Munster portion of Meath. It 
 
 the Booli of Invasions, i. e. the " Leb- was the custom to extinguish all the 
 
 bar Gabhala." private hearths in the island, on the 
 
 ^^ Samhain, now pronounced Savwin night previous. The customs still ob- 
 
 and Sowin, is the old Irish name for served on Hallow-Eve are remnants of 
 
 the first of November. It is fancifully the ceremonies anciently practiced in 
 
 derived by our bardic etymologists from honor of the Rest of Samh. 
 
 the words " Samh-Shuan " (Sav-hooan) ^' Magh-Kedni lay on the borders 
 
 i. e. the rest of Samh, or the Sun ; or of the present counties of Donegal and 
 
 from " Samh-Fuin," (Savvin) i. e. the Fermanagh, between Lough Erne and 
 
 end of Samh ; for then the " Samhradh," the sea at Bundrowes. The derivation 
 
 (iSfjwra/i and Sai'ra/i,) one of two great here hinted at, from " cedna " the 
 
 divisions into which the pagan Irish same, is extremely forced, 
 
 divided their year, end^d. This divi- ^* The original has " ín7aíi 5/ua/srfe." 
 
 siou commenced on the " La Beltaini " " Sluasad" is nov/ universally applied 
 
 or May-day. The other division was to the implement called a shovel : 
 
 called the Gamhradh (Gavrah), or Sea- " Hack" is the term used in the bardic 
 
 son of Gamh. Besides these, the Irish rann quoted farther on. It means some 
 
 year was divided into the four seasons : such flat w^ooden vessel as that still used 
 
 " Erach," Spring ,■ " Samhradh," Sum- by the Irish milkwomen for skimming 
 
 mer ; '• Foghmhar," (Fovar or Foar,) milk and making up butter. 
 
 Harvest, and " Geimhred," {Guireh,) ^' By " cream," cheese is most prob- 
 Winter. Samhain was a famous fesLi- ably meant. 
 val amongst the heathen Irish. Then 
 
126 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 to the Fomorians. These people were called Fomaraigh,^ because 
 they were folk that commiited "robberies," i. e.foghla, upon the 
 "sea," i. e. muir ; hence the term Fomarach means " pirate," or 
 " robber of theseas," i. e. " Fo muirib." The clans of Nemedh were 
 now led on by three brave warriors, namely : by Beothach, son 
 of larbanel the Prophet, son of Nemedh ; and by Fergus Leth- 
 derg (Redside), son of Nemedh ; and by Erglan, son of Beoan, 
 son of Starn, son of Nemedh, with whom were his two brothers, 
 Manntan and larthact. Their numbers amounted to thirty 
 thousand on sea and thirty thousand on land; as the bard thus 
 records : 
 
 " Three score thousand, a bright array, 
 
 Upon the land and on the water ; 
 
 Such were the hosts, that left their homes 
 
 Of Nemedh's clans, to raze that tower." 
 
 They then demolished the tower or fortress upon Tor-Inis, and 
 there Conaing fell, with his children and kindred. However, More, 
 son of Dela, arrived soon afterwards at Tor-Inis, from Africa, with 
 a force of sixty ships. Upon this, the clans of Nemedh fought 
 the Fomorians again upon the same ground. In this second battle, 
 they nearly all either fell by the hands of each other, or were 
 drowned; for they did not perceive the tide coming in upon them, 
 such was the intensity of the fight. More, son of Dela, escaped 
 with a small portion of liis people, and with them he took pos- 
 session of the island. Of the host of the Nemedians, engaged in 
 that fight, there escaped but the crew of one ship, containing 
 thirty warriors, amongst whom were three chieftains of Nemedh's 
 own blood, namely, Simeon Brec, son of Starn, son of Nemedh; 
 and Ibath, son of Beothach, son of larbanel the Prophet, son of 
 Nemedh ; and Britán Macl, son of Fergus Leth-derg, son of 
 Nemedh. 
 
 Upon escaping from that conflict, they formed the resolution 
 of leaving Ireland, and thus fleeing from the slavery, to which 
 the Fomorians had retlucL'd them. They were seven years pre- 
 paring for their emigration. Each of the above-named chiefs pre- 
 pared a separate fleet, and a certain portion, both of tlie children of 
 those that had aiTÍved in Ireland with Nemedh and of his own de- 
 scendants, embarked on board these fleets, under their respective 
 
 ** Fomaraifrh, or, with all its a.«pira- shores,from thcDofrefield or Norwegian 
 
 tions, " Fomharaigh ; " {Fovarik and Alps to Mount Atlas. At the time 
 
 Fovarig) is the plural of"F()marar:h." Jt this history now treats of, the race of 
 
 is idle to speculate upon the etymology Chain were lords of powerful enipirca 
 
 of the name. That here given is punily in Egypt and Canaan, while the race 
 
 fanciful, and very far-fetched. The peo- of Shem were still but obscure shep- 
 
 ple were probably the Aborigines or herds, so that the reason, given a little 
 
 earliest inhabitants of Western ííurope, before for the wanderings of this people, 
 
 and may have occupied the Atlantic cannot be admitted. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 127 
 
 leaders. Others^^ remained after tliem in Ireland. Amongst tliem 
 were ten warriors, left to rule the remnant of the Nemedians, that 
 staid behind under the thraldom of the Fomorians. These con- 
 tinued to dwell in the island, until the arrival of the Fer-Bolgs. 
 
 Simeon Brec, son of Starn, son of Nemedh, one of those three 
 chieftains, proceeded with his followers to Greece,^ that is, to 
 that part of it called Thrace, and here again they fell into bond- 
 age. It is from this Simeon Brec that the Fir-Bolgs are de- 
 scended, as shall hereafter be shown. The second chieftain went 
 to the north of Europe,^^ namely, Ibath, son of Beothach. How- 
 ever, some of our historians say, that Beotia was the country to 
 which he went, and that it is from him the Tuatha-de-Dananns are 
 descended. The third chieftain, Britan Mael, son of Fergus Leth- 
 derg, proceeded to Dobar'*^ and lar-Dobar,'^ in the north of Alba 
 (Scotland), There he dwelt himself, and there likewise dwelt his 
 posterity after him. The number of vessels that these Nemed- 
 ian chieftains took with them, counting ships,^ barks,^ cur- 
 raghs** and barges,^ was one thousand and thirty in all. 
 
 And Britan Mael and his posterity continued to dwell in Alba, 
 as we have just mentioned, and there they remained until the 
 Cruithnigh, or Picts, were sent from Ireland to take possession of 
 that country in the days of Erimhon. And the holy Cormac Mac 
 Culiuan tells us, in his Psalter, that it is from this same Britan 
 that the island Britannia or Great Britain has I'eceived the name 
 which it bears to the present day : and the records of Ireland 
 agree with him in this, according to the duan which begins — 
 "Adam, parent, source of hosts." 
 
 The stainless Britan passed over the sea, 
 Generous son of Fergus Lethderg, 
 All the Brethnaigh of victorious iame 
 From him are, without falsehood, sprung. 
 
 Another bard bears out the same fact, where he says — 
 
 " We see here that this, probably fusion of the traditions of two distinct 
 
 the earliest of the Celtic colonies, did nations, that might have amalgamated 
 
 not become extinguished by the Fomo- in Lochlin or Scandinavia and thence 
 
 rians. They occupied a portion of the invaded Ireland, 
 
 island to themselves, until the arrival *° *^ The localities here meant by Do- 
 
 of their kinsmen the Fer-Bolgs enabled bar and " Jar " or West Dobar, are un- 
 
 them to triumph over their enemies. known to the editor. 
 
 ^ This return to Greece is improba- " " " *^ The terms here used for the 
 
 ble. It means, perhaps, that he went different species of vessels mentioned are 
 
 back to some of his Celtic kinsmen, '• long," a sAi/? ; •' baic," a 6ar^; " cur- 
 
 now flowing in successive waves from rach," a curragh, or wicker canoe cov- 
 
 the East and over-spreading the conti- ered with hides, and " nacmhog," (nat/- 
 
 neut of Northern and Central Europe, vogus,) a diminutive of " naei," or 
 
 ^ The discrepancy here to be observ- " naemh," a ship, which I translate 
 
 ed is obviously the result of the con- barge. 
 
128 THE HISTORY OF IBELAND. 
 
 " Britan Mael, the son of princes, 
 Noble Iho trunk whence he spread ; 
 The son of the Red-sided Chief from Lc^-Magh, 
 From whom all the Brethnaigh are sprung." 
 
 It is more reasonable to believe this than to suppose that Bri- 
 tain has received its name from Brutus;^ for, if it were, in all 
 likelihood, the word would be "Brutania." Besides, the name 
 was still further obscured by the sons of Brutus, as we see bj 
 Geoffrey of ]kIonmouth, for, according to him, Loegrus,*^ the son 
 of Brutus, called the part of Great Britain that fell to his own 
 share, Loegria ; and Camber, his second son, named his division 
 of the island, Cambria ; ^* Albanactus"" again, the third son, 
 called the portion that fell to himself, Albania. 
 
 And the remnant of the Nemedians that remained dwelling in 
 Ireland, after those three chieftains mentioned above, was sorely 
 oppressed from time to time by the Fomorians, until the return 
 of the descendants of Simeon Brec, son of Nemedh, from Greece. 
 Two hundred and seventeen years elapsed from the arrival of 
 Nemedh to that of the Fer-Bolgs, as the bard relates : 
 
 " Seventeen years had passed, and two hundred, 
 
 iln this tale there is no false reckoning.) 
 i'rom Nemedh's coming from the East 
 Across the seas, with his tall sons, 
 Until the sons of Starn arrived 
 From the dreary, rugged Greig." — (Greece ?)^'' 
 
 * Some of the old British chroni- Saxons that first applied the term 
 
 clers tell us that Britain had its name "Wallisc," or" Welsh " to them, which 
 
 from a Trojan chief named Brutus. means Strangers, as heretofore shown. 
 
 " ** ^" Loegria comprised the eastern Albanactus is clearly a modification of 
 
 portion, comprising most of what is now the Gaelic word " Albanact," i. e. the 
 
 called England. Cambria comprised country of the Albanadis or natives of 
 
 Wales, Cumberland, Northumberland. Alba. 
 
 These names are evidently corruptions " The bard could not surely have 
 
 of Kimri, Cimbri, Kimmreii, or Cim- meant Greece by this description. It 
 
 merii. The Welch still know them- is more applicable to some northern 
 
 Belves only as " Kimri." It was the clime. 
 
CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 OF THE CONQUEST BY THE FER-BOLGS. 
 
 When the posterity of Simeon Brec had dwelt for some time 
 in Greece, it was found that their people had multiplied exceed- 
 ingly. Then the Greeks (Gregigh) subjected them to severe 
 hardships and bondage, obliging them to dig up mould and to 
 carry it in sacks (holgs) of leather, in order to lay it upon rocky 
 heights, and thus render their soil capable of yielding crops. In 
 consequence of this bondage, grief and weariness and a hatred of 
 the Greeks seized upon them, and they, thereupon, resolved to 
 leave such hard task-masters. Then five thousand of them came 
 together, and they made barks^ of the leathern sacks or bags, in 
 which they were wont to carry the mould ; or, as the Book of 
 Drom Snecta tells us, they stole the ships of the king of the coun- 
 try. Then, these descendants of Simeon Brec returned to Ireland, 
 about two hundred years after the occupation of the island by 
 their ancestor Nemedh. 
 
 Here follow the names of the chiefs, that led them on their re- 
 turn to Ireland, viz., Slangi, Rudraide, Gann, Genann and Sen- 
 gann. These were the five sons of Dela, son of Loch, son of 
 Tecta, son of Tribuadh, son of Otorb, son of Gostenn, son of Or- 
 thect, son of Simeon, son of Erglann, son of Bcoan, son of Starn, 
 son of Nemedh. And their five wives were Fuad, Edair, Anust, 
 Cnuca and Libra ; the bard thus records their names : 
 
 " Of Slangi Fuad was the wife — no lying tale— 
 Edair the wife of warlike Gann, 
 Anust the wife of Sengann of spears, 
 Cnuca the wife of the bright Genann, 
 Libra the wife of Rudraide of song." 
 
 These five chieftains of the Fer-Bolgs divided Ireland between 
 them into five parts, as wc have heretofore stated, in speaking of 
 
 ' Such barks could not carry them north of Thrace. Such vessels as the 
 far. The tradition may possibly have above might have been used in the pas- 
 reference to some incident in the migra- sage of the Danube, or some other large 
 tion of the Belgian tribes, through the river. 
 
130 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the third apportionment made of Ireland ; the bard records the 
 
 fact thus : 
 
 The five chieftains of that host, 
 Divided Bunba into five Fifths — 
 Geuaiin, liudraide, (a bright list,) 
 Gann, Sengann and Slaugi. 
 
 It was these five sons of DcL't and their followers, that were 
 called the Fer-Bolgs,^ Fer-Domnaus^ and Fer-Galeons.* They 
 were called Fer-Bolgs (i. e. Bag-men), from the leatlicrn sacks 
 they used in Greece. The Fer-Domnans were called from the 
 "depths" or "pits," (i.e. doimhne,) in which they had to dig for 
 the mould, which the Fer-Bolgs then carried to the rocks, where 
 they were to lay it. In like manner, the Fer-Galcons were so 
 called from the javelins^ i. e. "gai," with which they were armed, 
 in order to defend the others while at work. 
 
 The reader must understand that this conquest by the five sons 
 of Dela is reckoned but one conquest, for they ali effected their 
 landing in Ireland in one Aveek, viz. Slangi on Saturday at Inber- 
 Slangi ;' Gann and Sengann on the Tuesday after, at Irrus-Dom- 
 nan ; {in Mayo) Genann and Kudraide on the next Friday, at 
 Tract-Rudraide f the people of Slangi were those called Fer-Ga- 
 leons ; the Fer-Bolgs were those commanded by Gann and Sen- 
 gann ; the people of Genann and Rudraide were those designated 
 
 ^ Fer-Bolg, in the phiral Fir Bolg, portions of which people are placed by 
 
 i.e. "Men of J3o!g." This people was ancient geographers in (iiiul, Britain 
 
 evidently a portion of the nation of and Ireland. We find them also called 
 
 the Belgoe, so renowned for their valor Damnii and, perhaps, Daunii. In Bri- 
 
 amongst the ancient inhal)itants of tain, their chief seat was Devonshire, 
 
 Gaul and Britain, who were of Kira- to which, it is supposed, they left their 
 
 ro-Celtic and not of Germanic origin, name, the aspirate '• mh " being pro- 
 
 Bolg is certainly a corruption of Belg, nounced '• v " and " w " in Gaelic, viz., 
 
 or vice versa. We meet many aiialo- " Dovnan" or " Downan." 
 gou-s commutations of the vowels "c" '' Fcr-Galcdn. The Fir-Galeon may 
 
 and " o ■' in Irish. Thus the word possibly have been a portion of the 
 
 now universally written "olc," i. e. bad, (ialli of the Ilomans and VaXarot of 
 
 is frequently found written" elc" in old the Greeks; or they may have been 
 
 manuscripts. I'he tale that Keating but a sub-tribe of the Bclgae, as is here 
 
 here nicounts from the Shenachies, was stated. Their name seems derived from 
 
 manifestly coined in order to account " Gal," battle. 'I'he derivations given 
 
 for tlie forgotton origin of the national in the te.xt are aljsurd. A conquering 
 
 name. Bolg means also " a Jjow," " the nation would not ])crpetuate the mera- 
 
 belly," or any " bulging protuberance." ory of its degradation in the names of 
 
 The origin of the name is, in truth, lost its tribes. 
 
 in remote antiquity, and can never be " Inbcr-Slnnfri. Inver Slangi, i. c. 
 
 more than guessed at. AV'e.xfnrd harbor, at the mouth of the 
 
 ' Fer-Domnans. The " Fir-Domh- river Slangi, now Slane. 
 nan," {Fir-Downan,) i. e. the " Men f.f " Trad-Rudraide. The strand of 
 
 Domnan," or Domna, were, it is equal- llooTQb, in Ulster, 
 ly manifest, a sept of the Damnonii, 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 131 
 
 Fer-Doinnans. Our liistorians say that Inber-Domiian,'' in the 
 north-west of Connaught, was the phice where the two latter chiefs 
 landed with a third of the forces, and that the place has been 
 called Irrus-Domnan from them. Notwithstanding these distinc- 
 tions, the five sons of Dela and all their host are commonly called 
 Fer-Bolgs. Thirty-six 3-ears was the duration of the Fer-Bolg 
 rule in Ireland. Before them no person possessed the island that 
 could be properly called a king of Ireland. Upon this fact some 
 bard has composed the following verse : 
 
 For sixteen years and twice ten, 
 The Fer-Bolgs ruled one-half* of Banba, 
 Then came the conquering Tuatha-De 
 And seized the whole of Eri. 
 
 ' Some say that the Inher-Domnan, 
 or Damuoniau harbor, where the Fer 
 Domnans landed, was Arklow, a little to 
 the south of Dublin. It was long after, 
 before they gave their name to Irrus 
 Domnan in Connaught, to which the 
 Damnonii had been driven from Leinstcr 
 by the increasing power of the Gaels. 
 
 * One-half. This would make it ap- 
 pear, that some other nation or nations 
 continued powerful in Ireland during 
 
 the Belgian rule. These may have 
 been the Fomorians, and that remnant 
 of the Nemedians that had remained in 
 Ireland when their kinsmen had emi- 
 grated. Even of the Partholanians, 
 some portion might have still held parts 
 of the island. From the short duration 
 of their rule, it is clear that the Fer- 
 Bolgs did not constitute the bulk of 
 the inhabitants, when the Danaans -ar- 
 rived. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OF THE FIRST KINGS THAT REIGNED IN IRELAND DOWN HERE. 
 
 Slangi, son of Dela, son of Loch, was the first monarch of 
 Ireland : he reigned one year, and died at Dinn-Righ,^ otherwise 
 called Dumha-Slangi. 
 
 RuDRAiDE, son of Dela, reigned two years, until he was killed 
 at Brugh2 on the Boyne. 
 
 Gann and Gennan reigned four years, until they died of the 
 plague at Fremhuinn,^ in Meath. 
 
 ^ Dinn-R!gh, i.e." the hill of kings," 
 otherwise called Dumha Slangi, i. e. 
 " Slangi's Mound." This was a very 
 ancient seat of the kings of Leinster. 
 It is situated, as before shown, on the 
 banks of the Barrow, in the townland 
 of Ballyknockan, near Leighlin Bridge. 
 — O'BoHOvan. 
 
 * Brugk ra Boinne, a place on the 
 River Boyne, near Stackallau Bridge. 
 
 ' Fremhain, now Frewin, is the 
 name of a lofty hill arising over the 
 western shore of Loch Uair, now Lough 
 Owel, in the parish of Portlemon, 
 County of West Meath. 
 
132 THE HISTORY OF IKELAXD. 
 
 Sengann reigned in Ireland five years, at the end of wliicli he 
 was slain by Fiacadh Kenfinnan. 
 
 FiACiiAi) Kenfinnan son of Starn, son of Kudraide, son of 
 Dela, held the kinglom of Ireland for live years, until he fell by 
 the hand of Kirmall, son of Gennan, son of Dela. In his time, 
 the men of Ireland were fair-haired. It was thence he had re- 
 ceived the surname Kenfinnan, i. c. fiiir-haired, 
 
 KiNNALL, son of Gennan, son of Dela, reigned over Ireland six 
 3'ear.>!, until he fell by the hand of Obglien, at the battle of 
 Craebh.* 
 
 Obghen (or Fidbghen), son of Sengann, son of Dela, reigned 
 f )ur years, when he fell by the hand of Eocaidh, son of Ere, on 
 the plain of Murthemni, in Louth. 
 
 Eocaidh, son of Erc,son of Kinnall, son of Gennan, held the king- 
 dom of Ireland ten years. During this king's reign, there was no 
 wet or tempestuous weather in Ireland, nor was there any unfi'uit- 
 ful year. In his time, likewise, all oppression and illegality was 
 suppressed in the island, and it was then that fixed and distinct 
 laws^ were first established in this land. He fell in the baltle of 
 Magh-Turcdh, by the hands of the three sons of Nemedh, son of 
 Badraei, whose names were Kesarb, Luam and Luachra. He 
 was king of the Fer-Bolgs wlien the Tuatha-Dé-Dananns invaded 
 Ireland; and his wife was named Talti, daughter of Magh-Mor, 
 king of Spain. This lady was buried at a place which has been 
 ever since called Talti {Tdtown in Mcalh), from her. 
 
 Nuadath Arged-lamh (i. e. Nuadath, the Silver-handed), was now 
 king of the Tuatha-Dc-Danann nation. Between this prince 
 and Eocaidh, son of Ere, there was an obstinate battle at Magli- , 
 Turedh, in which Eocaidh^ and the Fer-Bolgs'' were routed, and 
 ten^ thousand of the latter were slain, between Magh-Turedh' 
 
 ■• Tliore are several places of this where he was interred is described as 
 
 name in Ireland. It is not easy to tell one of the wonders of Ireland, in the 
 
 which is here meant. Mirabilia IIil)(>rnia, in the Book of 
 
 ■> According to O'Flahcrty, the Bali\-mote. 'i'liis earn still exis's, and, 
 
 pcntarchical i,n)vernnient was fully cs- altliouj^h not hisih above the hivcl of 
 
 tablished durinr,' the rei;^n of this kin,':^. the strand, il is believed the tide can 
 
 He tells us that Mell, descended from never cover it. — O'D. Four Masters. 
 Slangi, ruled Leinster ; Hren^, of the ** The annals of Clonniacnoiso, say, 
 
 race of Sengann, and Orsus, of that of that one hundred thousand of the Fer- 
 
 Genann, reigned in 'I'iioniond ; Kerb, boigs were slain, " which was the 
 
 son of Brian, son of Il\ulraide, was greatest slaughter that was ever heard 
 
 King of Ulster ; Slangi Finn, of Con- of in Ireland, at one meeting." From 
 
 naught, and Alia of Desmond. the monuments of the battle still cx- 
 
 *' According to the y>cMar G'iW/«/a, isting, it is quite evident that great 
 
 Eocaidh fled from the battle and was numbers werti slain. — O'D. Id. 
 pursued and overtaken on the Strand ' Mii^li-Tureilk {Moi/ Turch), — 
 
 of Traigh Eothaili [Trah O.'itlU), acar otherwise called Magh-Turedh Conga, 
 
 Ballysadarc, in the present county of from its proximity to Cong. The site 
 
 Sligo, where he was slain. The cam of the battle is still pointed out in the 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 133 
 
 and the strand of Eothail. In tliis battle, Nnadath lost his 
 hand, from which wound he was seven years under cure, and had, 
 in the end, to get a silver hand^" fitted on ; hence he obtained the 
 epithet, Argcddamh, or "Silver-hand." The small rtmnant of 
 the Fer-Bolgs that escaped from that battle, fled^^ before the 
 Tuatha-De-Dananns, so that Aran, Isla, Eachlin, the Hebrides, 
 and many other islands, were colonized by them. In these they 
 dwelt until the establishment of the pentarchical government in 
 Ii'eland, at which time tliey were driven out of the Isles by the 
 Cruthnigh or Picts, whereupon they made application to Carbri 
 Niadfer, king of Leinster, and from him they received a tributary 
 territory. But it came to pass that they could not support the 
 heavy rent laid uj)on them in this subject soil, and that they were, 
 for that reason, forced to apply to Medb and Olild (queen and 
 king of Connaught), from whom they obtained a free territory. 
 It is this, that is called the ]\Iigration of the Sons of Uadmor, for 
 Aengus, son of Uadmor, was their king in the East. It is fiom 
 this people, also, that the territories in wliich they dwelt, have 
 received the following names, viz. : Loch-Kimi,^- from Kimi 
 Cethir-Keiin ; Rinn-Tamhain,^^ in iledraide ; Loch-Cathra,^^ 
 Rinn-Bera,^^ Moilin,^" Dun- Aengus, in Aran ;" Carn-Conaill, in 
 the district of Aidni ; ^Nfagli n- Adair, ^^ from Adar, the poet, son 
 
 parish of Cong, barony of Kilmaiue, 
 and county of Mayo, to the right of 
 the road as you go from Cong to the 
 village of Neal. There is a detailed but 
 legendary account of this battle in MS., 
 in the handwriting of Gilla Riabhach 
 O'Cleri, preserved in the library of the 
 British Museum. — O'D. Four Masters. 
 ^' " It is stated in the battle of Magh- 
 Turedh and other accounts of the Tusl- 
 tharDe-Dananns, that Credni Kerd 
 made a silver hand for this Lugaidh, 
 and that Diankect fitted it upon him, 
 after which, Miach, son of Diankect, to 
 excel his father, took off the hand and 
 infused feeling and motion into every 
 joint and vein of it. In Cormac"s 
 Glossary, the name Diankect, is ex- 
 plained Deus Saint is, i. e. Dia na h-ke, 
 i.e. the God of healing. — O'D. LI. 
 Dian Kect, appears to have been the 
 Esculapius of Irish mythology. 
 
 ^^ The Belgic colony must not be 
 considered to have been extipated by 
 this defeat. They were merely subdu- 
 ed, as the Gaels were afterwards by 
 the Anglo-Normans. They long ruled 
 as Kings in Connaught ; and even in 
 
 St. Patrick's time, we find them still 
 numerous in Ireland. It is even likely 
 that the majority of the Irish people 
 are to this day, maternally at least, 
 sprung from the Belgic and Nemedian 
 Celts, and that their language is that 
 now known as Gaelic. 
 
 ^- LocJi-Ktmi, otherwise Loch Kim- 
 bi, now Loch Hacket, in the county 
 of Gal way. 
 
 ^' Rinn-Tamhuin lies near Medraide, 
 or Clarin's Bridge. It was the name 
 of a peninsula south of Galway. 
 
 14 Loch Cathra. O'Flaherty calls it 
 Loch Kutra, now Loch Cooter, county 
 Galway. 
 
 1= IS According to O'Flaherty, Rinn- 
 Bera, Moilin, and Carn-Conaill, were 
 in Aidni {Eijni), now the barony of 
 Killartan, in the South of Galway. 
 
 1" Ara. The Isle of Aran, at the 
 mouth of Galway Bay. 
 
 " Magh-Adair, otherwise Magh-n- 
 Adhair "(il/oi/ Neyer), was the name 
 of a plain in the barony Tullagh, 
 county Clare. Upon it at the Bili 
 Maig'ie n-AJhair, i. e. " Tree of Magh 
 Adair," the Kings of Thomond were 
 
134 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 of Uadmor; Magli n-Asal/'=' Magi i-Maein,2o from Maen, son of 
 Uadmor, and Locli Uair, from Uar, son of Uadmor. Thus, 
 we see that forts (duns) and seaboard isles were owned by them, 
 until the time when they were driven out by Cuchulainn and 
 Conall Kernach and the Ulstermen. Our bistory does not 
 mention the building of any raths (i. e. forts), during the occupa- 
 tion of Ireland by the Fer-Bolgs, neither does it record the 
 eruption of any lakes or the clearing of any plains from wood. 
 Some antiquarians say, that the three ancient tribes, not. of the 
 Gaelic stock, who arc still in Ireland, are descended from the 
 Fer-Bolgs: these are the Gabraide^^ {Gaivree) of the Suca (now 
 the River Suck) in Connaught ; the Ui Tairsigh,^^ iu Ui Failgi 
 (now Oflfaly), and the Galcons of Leinster.^"-^ Such are the migra- 
 tions of the Fer-Bolgs so far, according to the learned antiquary, 
 Tanaide Mael-Conari (0 Mulconry or Conry), in his duan which 
 begins with the following rami : 
 
 " The Fir-Bolg dwelt here awhile, 
 In the great isle of Miledh's sons — 
 Five chieftains of them hither came — 
 Their names I know full well." 
 
 inaugurated in after times. The " Gabraide. This Belgic tribe was 
 
 phrase is said to mean, the "Plain otherwise called Gamanradi. Dr. 0"I)on- 
 
 of AVorship." If so, the poet Adair ovan tells us in his Notes to the Tribes 
 
 must have had nothing to do with and Customs of the Ui Fiachrach, that 
 
 the naming of it. It was a famous "The Gamanradhi were a fierce and 
 
 seat of Druidic worship. warlike tribe of the Fer-Bolgs, seated 
 
 ^' " Magh-Assail. Assal was the an- in Erris in the first century." 
 cient name of a district lying round '° The " Ui Tairsigh," are unknown 
 
 CnocDromaAssail,now Tory-Hill, near to the editor. 
 
 Groom, in the county of Limerick." — ^' For the Galians or Fir Galeon of 
 
 0. D. Leinster, see further on. The Gali- 
 
 ^" Magh-Maein, (Moy Meen), other- ans of the Fer-Bolg race are to be 
 
 wise called Maen-magh, is. according to distinguished from the Galenga of the 
 
 Dr. O'Donovan, the rich plain lying Milesian stock, who were descended 
 
 round Loughrea, iu the county of Gal- from a Munstcr chieftain named Cormac 
 
 way. Galcug. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE CONQUEST^ OF IRELAND BY THE TUATHA-DE-DANANNS, 
 
 DOWN HERE. 
 
 The Tuatha-Do-Dananns are the progeny of the third Chieftain 
 of the race of Nemedh, who had emigrated from Ireland after the 
 demolition of the tower of Conaing. Thej are then descended 
 from Ibaath, son of Beothach, son of larbanel the Prophet, son 
 of Nemedh. 
 
 According to some antiquarians, Beotia^ {Bothnia?), in the 
 north of Europe, was the country where they had been recently 
 dwelling; but others will have it, that they had been sojourning 
 in the Athenian territory, where the city of Athens (Aithne) is 
 situated. Now, the reader must understand, that, as Pomponius 
 Mela tells us, both Beotia and the city of Athens are situated in 
 that part of Greece called Achaia. It was there that they had 
 
 ^ The Four Masters give this event 
 nnder A. D., 3303. 
 
 " This absurd mistake must have 
 originated in the ignorance of some 
 transcriber, in copying a contracted 
 manuscript. The traditions of two 
 nations are perhaps confounded iu the 
 obscure records of the Tuatha-De- 
 Dananns. We have seen part of the 
 Nemedian cation taking refuge in 
 Lochlin from the oppression of the 
 Fomorians. It is not an improbability 
 to suppose, that they there were joined 
 by a Danaan or Greco-Pelasgian tribe, 
 with whom they amalgamated, and who 
 led them back to the land whence 
 they had been exiled. I see no reason 
 to doubt the fact, that these Danaans 
 were Greeks, i. e. " Danai," or to search 
 for any other origin for them than 
 what our traditions hand down, and 
 their own name corroborates. That 
 they were not Phoenicians, the names 
 they imposed upon the places where 
 they dwelt, fully prove to any one who 
 will fairly examine their structure. 
 
 Eri, Alba, Mana Ara, Mumha, &c.. 
 with their peculiar mode of forming 
 their oblique cases in " nd" or " nn," so 
 like those Greek forms " ag" " iq " and 
 " v^j" making the genitive in " vrog''^ 
 and ''vvog" seems to claim for them a Pe- 
 lasgic origin. Many of the names of the 
 older Greek colonies, are of this form. 
 " Danann," in their own name looks 
 like a word of the same class, and may 
 mean " of Dana." So do the genitives 
 " Bretan," '• Lochlan," " Laigheu," 
 i. e. Britain, Scandinavia, Leinster, and 
 " Ulladh," which in old books is found 
 to make " UUinn," in its oblique form. 
 Why may not the great Pelasgic na- 
 tion have sent a branch towards the 
 North-west, as well as towards the 
 South-west, and left the name of Dania 
 or Denmark to the cold Ginibric Cher- 
 sonese, as a trace of their sojourn there- 
 in, and as a puzzle to their Gothic succes- 
 sors, and thus bewiklered Celtic Shea- 
 achies also in the endeavor to approxi- 
 mate Bothnia and Boeotia. 
 
 [135] 
 
136 THE UI3T0RY OF IRELAND. 
 
 learned their magic science {Druidism) and tlicir arts, so that they 
 had become most expert in eveiy heatlicn practice. 
 
 While thc)^ dwelt in this region, it happened that a large fleet 
 came from Syria to make war upon the people of the Athenian 
 territory, in consequence of which they were engaged in daily 
 battles ; and the very meu of the Athenian party, who had been 
 slain on the field of battle on one day, were the same that used 
 to maintain the fight next day for their friends against the Syrians. 
 This was all cfl^ected by the magic arts of the Tuatha-De-Dauanns ; 
 • for they used to send demons into the bodies of the slain Athe- 
 nians, quickening them by means of their heathen lore. How- 
 ever, wlien the Syrians perceived that the corpses of those, whom 
 they had slain on the field of battle, stood up to fight them again 
 on the next day, they entered into council with their own sooth- 
 sayer (dndd). Whereupon, this soothsayer told them,to set a guard 
 upon the field of slaughter, and to drive a stake of cornel wood 
 {mountain ash) through the dead body of every one of those that 
 were wont to revive, to do battle against them ; and he told them 
 also, that those bodies would be immediately turned into worms, 
 if it were by demons that they had been quickened, but that they 
 would not become corrupted all at once, if they had been really 
 revivified. The Syrians, then, came to the fight next morning 
 and obtained a complete victory. Upon this, they drove the 
 cornel stakes through the bodies of the slain, before mentioned, 
 and they were converted into worms immediately. After this, 
 they fell upon the inhabitants, pursuing them with unresisted 
 slaughter. As to the Tuatha-De-Dananns, when they saw the 
 natives of the land thus vanquished by the Syrians, they all fled 
 out of the country, through fear of those invaders. And they 
 stopped not until they reached the regions of Lochlinn (Scandi- 
 navia), where they were welcomed by the inhabitants,^ on account 
 of their many sciences and arts. The leader in this migration 
 was Niiadatb, the silver-handed, son of Ectach, son of Edarlanih, 
 of the line of Nemedh. Here, indeed, they even obtained posses- 
 sion of four cities, or at least leave to dwell in them and to instruct 
 the youth of the country therein. The names of these four cities 
 are Falias, Gorias, Finias and Murias. The Tuatha-De-Dananns 
 placed four sages in these, for the purpose of disseminating the 
 sciences and the various arts, amongst the youth of the nation that 
 received them. The names of these four sages who taught the 
 sciences, were the following: Morfios was the name of tlie man 
 
 '■' These were undoubtedly Kimric Wc have seen Ncmedli sailing originally 
 
 or Cimbric Nemedians, fa name which from this land for Alba and Kri, and 
 
 seems to be the same with that of the have seen his descendants returning 
 
 Nemcti of Jielgic (ianl.) and the Fin- lliercto, when expelled from Eri Jjy tho 
 
 nish or T>:iponic aborigines, perhaps. Fomorians. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 137 
 
 who tauglit in the city called Falias ; Erns in that called Gorias; 
 Semias taught in Marias, and Arias held his school in Finias. 
 When they had remained a long time in these cities, they passed 
 over to the north of Alba (Scotland), where they continued seven 
 years in Dobar and lardobar. 
 
 This people possessed four talismans of high power, which they 
 had brought with them from the above-mentioned cities ; namely, a 
 Stone from Falias, which was called the Lia-Fail, and which pos- 
 sessed the property of roaring under every king of Ireland, upon 
 his election, which it continued to do until the time of Con- 
 cobar ; as we have heretofore mentioned. It was also called the 
 Stone of Fate, for it was its destiny, that a man of the Scotic 
 nation, that is, of the blood of Miledh of Spain, sliould possess 
 the sovereignty of that country wherein it should be placed. 
 Thus we read in Hector Boethius, in his History of Scotland, in 
 which he says : 
 
 * "The race of Scot, a noble tribe. 
 Unless the prophecy be false, 
 Have a right to sovereign power 
 Where they shall find the Lia-Fail." 
 
 The Scotic nation was so persuaded that the stone possessed 
 this power, that Fergus Mor mac Erca, when he had conquered 
 Alba and had determined to proclaim him.self its king, smt an 
 embassy to his brother Murkertach Mov mic Erca, son of Eocaidh 
 Munremar, of the line of Erimhon, then king of Ireland, request- 
 ing him to S3nd it to him, in ord^rthat he might be saluted king 
 of Alba sitting thereon. Thus the stone came into his hands, and 
 he was, in fact, saluted king of Alba thereon. He was the first 
 man of the race of Scot, that was styled king of Alba ; an 1, though 
 some of the Picts or Crutlmigh had been called kings of Scotland 
 before him, yet there was not one of them who was an indepen- 
 dent sovereign, having been all successively under tribute to the 
 kings of Ireland, and especially from the time of Erimhon, son of 
 Miledh, by whom the Picts were sent from Lsinster, to inhabit 
 Alba or Scotland, down to the reign of this Fergus, as we shall 
 tell hereafter, in treating of the reign of Erimhon. As to the 
 stone above mentioned, the Alban Scots kept it carefully for 
 many successive ages, until it at length fell into the hands of 
 the English, where it remains to this day, under the throne upon 
 which the king of England is crowned, having been forcibly 
 carried oif from the Abbey of Scone by king Edward the First. 
 Now the prediction regarding the stone has been verified in our 
 
 " Ni fallat fatum, Scoti quocuuque luvenient lapidom, regnare tenentur 
 
 locatum, ibidem. 
 
138 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 own times, in tlie case of our present king Charles (as it had been 
 already in that of his father James) ; for he is descv-'nded from 
 the Seotic race, through Mani, sou of Coi'C, sou of Lugaidh of 
 the line of Eber, son of Milcdh. Thus, a man of the Seotic 
 blood has been crowned, even king of England upon this stone.^ 
 The second talisman brought by the Tuatha De-Dananns into 
 Ireland, was the Sword of Lugaidh Lamfada (or Lugaidh of the 
 long hand). It was from Gorias they brought this. The third 
 talLsman was the Spear that Lugaidh used in battle. This they 
 brought from the city of Finias. The fourth talisman was the 
 Cauldron of the Daghda, brought from the city of Marias. Here 
 follows a confirmation of the matters we have just narrated, as it 
 is read in the Lebar Gabala {or Book of Invasions) in this duan 
 or poem down here : 
 
 THE LAND of talismans, Sacred Dana,' 
 Was where they learned their science, 
 And became skilled in wizard lore, 
 And Druid rites, and Devilscraft. 
 
 The fair larbanel, a prophet true, 
 Was son of Nemedh, son of Adnaman — 
 To this gray hero, uii,iihty in spells 
 Was born Beothach of wild deeds. 
 
 The clans of Beothach, undying in fame, 
 After much toil and weariness, 
 Arrived, a large and mighty host. 
 With crowded ships in Lochlin. 
 
 There, four cities of great renown, 
 They held with sway supreme 
 In these, they blandly taught in schools 
 Each learned art and science fair. 
 
 i'alias, Gorias, the bright 
 
 Finias, Murias of great deeds. 
 
 Of these proud cities were the names — 
 
 Their fame was like a bursting flood. 
 
 Morfios, Erus, the tall. 
 Arias and Semias, the severe. 
 Were the sages of these cities high — 
 To name them is a pleasing task. 
 
 Of Falias, Morfios was the sago. 
 The generous Erus taught in (íorias. 
 Semias in Murias, southern city, 
 While fair-haired Arias taught in Finias. 
 
 ^ See note upon the name " Inis word Danann, in the phrase Tuatha-Do 
 
 Fail," where this tradition has been Danann, to be in the genitive case, and 
 
 proved doubtful. translated accordingly. 
 
 ' It has been here assumed that the 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 139 
 
 They brought four talismans from afar, 
 These cliieis oi Dana's Sacred 'J'ribes, 
 A Sword, a stone, a copper cauldron, 
 And a spear to strike down warriors tall. 
 
 From yon Falias came the Lia-Fail, 
 AVhich was wont to roar 'neath Eri's king ; 
 The Sword" of Lugaidh, the long-handed, 
 Most precious store was brought from Gorias. 
 
 From Finias, far away o'er sea, 
 They brought the Spear" of strong Lugaidh ^ 
 From Marias, the Daghda's wondrous Cauldron — " 
 A powerful treasure and an awful. 
 
 King of Heaven, King of weak mankind, 
 Protect me, King of the royal spheres ! 
 Thou who hast patience with the hates 
 And with the littleness of mortal TRIBES."" 
 
 When the Tuatha-De-Danann had remained seven years in the 
 north of Scotland (or Alba), they passed over to Ireland and 
 landed in the north of this country, on a ]\Iay Monday. They 
 then burned their ships, as the bard relates in the following rann : 
 
 " Each warrior burned his ship. 
 For he had reached the noble Eri — 
 It was a sad sight to view 
 The smoke of the ships as they burned." 
 
 After this, the Tuatha-De-Danann, surrounded themselves with 
 a magical mist for three daj's, so that none of the Fer-Bolgs could 
 perceive them until they had reached Sliabh-an-Iarainn,^ {Slieve 
 aneerinn.) Thence they send an embassy to king Eocaidh, son 
 of Ere, demanding of him either to deliver up the sovereignty of 
 Ireland to themselves or to give them battle in its stead. Upon this, 
 the battle of Southern Magh-Turedh {Moy-Tureli) was fought by 
 the Fer-Bolgs against the Tuatha-De-Dananns. The Fer-Bolgs 
 were broken in that fight, and ten thousand of them fell therein, 
 as has been already told. There were thirty years between this 
 engagement and the battle of North Magh-Turedh,^^ as the bard 
 thus observes, — 
 
 ' ° " For a more particular account " ''Magh-Turedh. This name is 
 
 of these talismans, see appendix. now applied to a towuland in the parish 
 
 " This duan begins and ends with of Kilmactranuy, barony of Tirerrell 
 
 the 'word " Tuath." In the first in- and county of S'ligo. There are very 
 
 stance, it means " country," in the lat- curious monuments still to be seen on 
 
 ter, " of tribes." It is very usual for this battlefield." — O'D.'s Notes to the 
 
 Gaelic duans to begin and end with the Four Masters. 
 
 same word. There was a long tale founded upon 
 
 12 Sliabh-an Iranrt, i. e. the Iron this battle, as well as upon that of 
 
 Mountain, now Slieve-an-ieren, in the South Magh-Turedh. Baior Bemenn, 
 
 the county of Leitrim. or Balcbeimnoch, i. e. of stout blows, 
 
140 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 " We know, that thirty years had passed, 
 From the fight at South .Matih-Turedh, 
 To the fight of North Magli-Turedh, 
 In which fell Balar of the great host." f 
 
 Some antiquaries say, that the nation, of whom we are now 
 treating, were called Tuatha-De-Danann from Brian,^* luchar and 
 Incharba, the three sons of Dana, daughter of Delbaeth, son of 
 Elathan, son of Niadh, son of Indae, son of Allae, son of Tath, 
 son of Tabarn, son of Endaor Enna, son of Bathach, son of Ibaath, 
 son of Beothach, son of Jarbanel, son of Nemedh, These three, 
 namely, Brian, luchar and lucharba, were so very famous for 
 their great skill in all Ileathen arts, that the whole of the Tuatha 
 .(i. e. Tribes) would have themselves called after them. Here 
 follows a quotation which asserts that these three personages 
 were the three gods (Dee) of Dana.^^ We read it in the daan com- 
 mencing, " Hearken, ye sages without stain." 
 
 " Brian, lucharba and the great luchar, 
 The three gods of the Sacred Race of Dana, 
 Fell at Mana,'" on the resistless sea, 
 By the hand of LugaiJh, son of Ethlenn." 
 
 It is also from Dana, the mother of these three, that we call 
 those two hills in Liiachair Degaidh in Desmond {SLieve Loughra 
 in KerriJ)^ the Paps of Dana. 
 
 Other antiquarians will have it that they received the name 
 Tuatha-De-Danann from having been divided into three orders 
 or castes. The first of these was called the " Tuath :"^* it was to 
 it that the rank of nobility and chieftainship belonged ; even to 
 this day the word " Tuathach," is synonymous with " Lord." 
 And this is the more credible, from the fact that B^'choill and 
 
 the leader of theFomorians, was killed mytliological or allegorical, I will offer 
 therein by a stone thrown at him from but little coram2nt. Their enigmatical 
 a sling by the S3n of his own d lughtiT, m;ianing was evidently not understood 
 namjly L-igaidh Lamfada. Kethlen-.i, by the Gaelic bards, wlio handed them 
 the wife of iJ.il')r, f )ught witli desperate down. To attempt tlieir solution now, 
 valor, and woandi^il the Dagh la, who while all that relates to this mystic 
 afterwards became king of the Dananns. people is so very obscure, would lead 
 Nuadath of the Silver-hand, Ogma, and to a wide and too wild a field of con- 
 several other Dananns of note, were jecture for the limits of these notes, 
 killed. In it ah) fell the heroine Ivet'i- Let the reader form his own judgment 
 lenu. The battle had be>n brought thereupon. 
 
 about by the intrigues of lires, son of "^ Diaa. I write this name Dana 
 
 Elathan, who had been monarch of in En.;lish, for .such I conceive to be its 
 
 Ireland while Nuadath's hand wa^ un- nominative form, 
 
 der euro. He fell himself therein, and '" Muvi — the Isle of Man. 
 
 his fall gave the victory to the Dananris. " Taú\ means also a "tribe," a 
 
 *•* Jiriaii,^c. Upon these names an I '• district," a " country" — the country iu 
 
 the following, nearly all of which are oppDsition to the town, &c. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 141 
 
 Danann, two of tbeir heroines or female rulers, were styled the 
 Ban-TucUhachs,^^ or, in English, the "female chiefs." It is thus 
 the bard designates them in the following o-anyi — 
 
 " The beloved Beclioill and Danann, 
 Killed wore these two Ban-tuathachs — 
 The evening of their magic came at last 
 Through the pale demons of the air." 
 
 Those of the second caste were called "Dee;" and these were 
 their Druids, (i. e, the priests and diviners.) The third caste, called 
 Danann, was composed of such as were devoted to the arts, for 
 "dan" {daun) and "card" {caird) mean the same thing, i. e. art 
 or handicraft: thus they were named Dananns from their "dans" 
 or arts.^^ 
 
 Here follows an enumeration of the most famous and noble 
 persons of the Tuatha-De-Dananns, viz., Eocaidh the Ollamh, 
 called The Daghda, Ogina, Alloid, Bres and Delbaeth, the five 
 sons of Elathan, son of Niad; and Manannan, son of Alloid, son 
 of Delbaeth; the six sons of Delbaeth, son of Ogma, namely Fia- 
 cadh, Ollamh, Indaei, Brian, luchar and lucharba ; Aengus 
 Aedh, Kerinad and Midir, the four sons of the Daghda ; Lugaidh, 
 son of Kian, son of Diankect, son of Esarg, son of Niad, son of 
 Indaei. Grobnenu, the smith; Credni, the artist; Diankect, the 
 physician ; Luctan. the mason, and Carbri the poet, son of Tura, 
 son of Turell ; Begreo, son of Carbri Cat-kenn, son of Tabarn ; 
 Fiacadh son of Delbaeth, with his son Ollamh ; Caicer and Nec- 
 tan, the two sons of Namath; Eocaidh Garb, or the Eough, son of 
 Duach-Dall ; Sidomall the son of Carbri Crom, son of Elemar, 
 son of Delbaeth ; ERI, FODLA^" and BAND A, the three daugh- 
 ters of Fiacadh, son of Delbaeth, son of Ogma, and Ernin daughter 
 of Edarlamh the mother of these women. The following are the 
 names of their three goddesses, viz., Badb,^^ Macha and Morig- 
 han.^^ Bechoil and Danann were their two " ban-tuathachs" 
 
 ^^ Ban-tunthach {Ba7itoohagh),\s hj sitive adjective "Degh," anciently 
 
 some understood to mean sorceress. " Dech," and now pronounced Di and 
 
 The succeading rann seems to support Dii. Thus we say " Degh-Mhuinter," 
 
 this msaning. (Di-vuinter), good people, " Deigh-bhou" 
 
 ^' The explanations above given of (DiZ-uaft), a good or a beautiful woman, 
 
 the national nana of this people are l)anann is the only part of the sentence 
 
 most unsa+isfactiry. No doubt they that, in his opinion, is generic, or that 
 
 had been dividad into three orders or refers to the origin of this people, 
 
 castes, but still thit does not explain ^" Eri, ^c. From these Ireiand is 
 
 the name. The editor thinks that the said to have received its tln-ee names, 
 
 following is the translation of the as above seen. 
 
 phrase, viz., " the Good" or " Sacred -' Badb, or Badlib is pronounced 
 
 Tribes of Dana." Thus he takes " De," " Bibe." 
 
 the second word in the sentence, to " Morrighan, [Mbr-reen), i. e. the 
 
 be a form of the comaija Irish prcpo- great quoen. 
 
142 TEfÉ HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 {han-ioohagJis) or chief ladies. BrighicP {Bree-yith) wns their po- 
 etess. Fe and ^[en were the ladies or " ban-tuathachs" of their 
 two king-bards, and from them Magh-Femen^ in JMunster has its 
 name. Of them also was Trialhri Tore, from whom Tretherni 
 in Munster is called. Cridinbél, Brunni and Casmael were their 
 three satyrists. 
 
 It was this nation that vanquished the Fomorians in the battle 
 of North Magh-Turedh, and that had previously conquered the 
 Fer-Bolgs, in the battle of South Magh-Turedh. 
 
 OP THE KINGS OF THE TUATHA-DE-DANANN. 
 
 NuADATH,^^ stjded Argedlamh^'' or the Silver-handed, son of 
 Ectach, son of Edarlamh, son of Ordan, son of Indaei, son of Al- 
 iaei, son of Tath, held the sovereignty of Ireland for thirty years, 
 until he fell in the battle of North Magh-Turedh by the hands of 
 Elathan, son of Delbaeth, and of Balar, styled of mighty blows, 
 the grandson of Niad. 
 
 BuES,^^ son of Elathan, son of Niad, son of Indaei, son of Allaei, 
 ruled the kingdom of Ireland f )r seven years. 
 
 LuGAlDii, surnamed Lamfada, i. e. the Long-handed, son of 
 Diankect, son of Esarg Brcc, son of Niad, son of Indaei, reigned 
 as king of Ireland for forty years. It was this Lugaidh that first 
 instituted the Assembly or Fair^^ of Talti {Aenach Tailtenn), as 
 
 ^ Brighid, otherwise Brif^hitt, i. e., the intrigues of Bros with the subject 
 
 " arrow of fire," was the Druidic god- Belgians and Fomorians, that lecf to 
 
 dess of poetry. the battle of North Magh-Turedh, 
 
 "^ Magh-Femen, otherwise Magh- where both himself and his rival lost 
 
 Feimhen {Moy Faiven), is now called their lives. O'Flaherty calls Brcs him- 
 
 the barony of Iffa and 0£fa East, in the self a Fomorian. 
 
 county of Tipperary. Slievenaman ''" " Arged-lamli," i. e. Silver Hand, 
 
 was anciently called Sliabh na mBan was perhaps originally intended nothing 
 
 Feimhen, or the mountain of the women more than to express his bounteous and 
 
 of Femen. generous sjiirit. In course of time a 
 
 '^ Xuadath, the chief of this colony, popular fable was founded thereupon, 
 
 is not placed in the book of Invasions '■" Bres is set down before Nud- 
 
 as the first monarch of the Dananns. dath by all our other Irish authorities 
 
 He was incapacitated from sitting on The Four Masters set down his reign 
 
 the throne, by the loss of his hand at thus — " The age of the world 3301 — 
 
 Magh-Turedh ; for at this, as at every the first year of the reign of Brcs, son 
 
 period of Irish history, any corporal of Fiathan ; for the Tuatha-dc-I)anann 
 
 defect was a sufficient cause for cxclu- gave him the sovereignty, after they 
 
 sioii from the monarchy. His cousin gained the battle of Magh-Turedh, 
 
 Bres was then the first king of Ireland, while the hand of Nuadath was under 
 
 inaugurated on tlie famous I^ia Fail, cure." 
 
 When furnished with the artificial hand -' " This fair, at which various games 
 
 of silver, Nuadath claimed the king- were celebrated, continued down to the 
 
 dom, and Bres was forced to resign, time of Roderic O'Connor, the last king 
 
 after a reign of seven years. It was of Ireland. The remains of a large 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 143 
 
 an annual commemoration of Talti, daughter of Maghmor, king 
 of Spain, Avho had been at first the wife of Eocaidh, son of Ere, 
 the last king of the Fer-Bolgs, but was afterwards married to 
 Eocaidh Garb, a chieftain of the Tuatha-De-Dananns. It Avas by 
 this lady, that Lugaidh-Lamfada had been fostered and educated 
 until he became fit to bear arms. For this reason, Lugaidh in- 
 stituted the games of the Fair of Talti, in remembrance and 
 lionor of her name. These games, which resembled those called 
 Olympic in Greece, were celebrated for a fortnight before and a 
 fortnight after Lammas ; and it is from this commemoration, so 
 inaugurated by him, that the calends of August are called Lugh- 
 nasa (Loonasa), i. e. the "Nasadh" or memorial of Lugaidh; this 
 is the day on which is now celebrated the feast of St. Peter's 
 Chains {Aug. 1st). He fell at last by the hand of Mac Coill, at 
 Caen-drom.^ 
 
 The Great Daghda.^" son of Delbaeth, son of Mad, held the 
 sovereignty of Ireland for seventy years. He died at Brugh, of 
 the effects of the wound he had received from the shaft cast at 
 him by Kethlenn,^i in the battle of (North) Magh-Tiiredh. 
 Eocaidh Ollathar was his real name. 
 
 Delbaeth, son of Ogma ^^ the Sun-sage, son of Elathan, son of 
 
 earthen rath and traces of three arti- 
 ficial lakes, and other remains, are still 
 to be seen there. To the left of the 
 road as you go from Kills to Donagh- 
 patrick, there is a hollow called ' Lag 
 an Aenaig,' i. e. the hollow of the fair, 
 where, according to tradition, marriages 
 were solemnized in pagan times. Tel- 
 town was, until recently, resorted to by 
 the men of Meath for hurling, wrest- 
 ling and other manly sports." — O'D.'s 
 Notes to the Four Masters. 
 
 ^" Kaendrum, i. e. " the fair ridge," or 
 " hill," was an ancient name of the hill 
 of Usnagh, in Westmeath. 
 
 '* Daghda . In the account of the Tu- 
 atha-de-Dananns, preserved in the book 
 of Leean, it is stated that the Daghda 
 Mor (i. e. the Great Good Fire, so 
 called from his military ardor) , was for 
 eighty years king of Ireland, and that 
 he had three sons, Aengus, Aedh and 
 Kermad, who were buried with their 
 father at Brugh-na-Boinne, where the 
 mound called '' Sidh an Brogha" {Shea 
 an Vrowa) was raised over them as a 
 monument. Aengus an Bhrogha was 
 considered the presiding fairy of the 
 Boyne until recently. For some account 
 of the monuments which anciently existed 
 
 at Brugh na Boinue, see Petrie's Round 
 Towers. The monuments ascribed by 
 the ancient Irish writers to the Tuatha- 
 de-Dananns still remain, and are princi- 
 pally situated in Meath, near the Boyne, 
 as at Drogheda, Dowth, Knowth and 
 New Grange. There are other monu- 
 ments of them at Cnoc-Aine and Gnoc- 
 Greine [Knockany ííXiú. Knockgrairy) , in 
 the county of Limerick, and on the 
 Pap mountains, Da cich Danainnc, in 
 the south-cast of the county of Kerry. 
 These monuments are of the most re- 
 mote antiquity, and prove that the 
 Tuatha-de-Dananns were a real people, 
 though their history is so much wrapped 
 up in fable and obscurity." — O'D.'s 
 Notes to the Four blasters. 
 
 The Daghda was one of their most 
 famous magicians. He might have got 
 his title from having been priest of the 
 " Great Good Fire," i. e. the Sun. 
 
 " Kethlenn, the wife of Balor Balo- 
 beimnach the Fomorian, and the grand- 
 mother of Lugaidh Lamfada. who slew 
 Balor in the same battle. Inis Keth- 
 lenn, now Knniskillen, is called after the 
 heroine. Sje O'D.'s Notes to the Four 
 Masters, p. 23. 
 
 " Ogina Grtan Eiges {Owma Green 
 
144 THE HISTORY' OF IRELAND. 
 
 Delbaeth, son of Niad, was king of Ireland for ten years, at the 
 end of winch he died bv the hand of his own son, Fiacadh. 
 
 FiACADH, son of Delbaeth, I'eigned ten years, and then was 
 killed by Eogan, at Ard-Brec. 
 
 Mac Coll, Mac Keact, and Mac Greni, the three sons of 
 Kermad MilbeoP or Milbel, son of the Daghda, reigned 
 thirty years. Some antiquarians say, that these kings divided 
 Ireland into three parts between them, and that each of them 
 ruled his -own share independentl3^ So a certain historic bard 
 tells us, in the following verse : 
 
 " Mac Coll, Mac Keact and Mac Greui, 
 Those chieftains of proud deeds, 
 Into three parts divide her soil, 
 Though countless the hosts of Eri." 
 
 Nevertheless, there was no such division of the country between 
 these kings, but each of them held the sovereignty alternately 
 for one year, as we have before observed, in speaking of the 
 names of this island. They were all three killed in the battle of 
 Talti or Taltenn {noio Telltown in Meath). 
 
 The reason why these three sons of Kermad were called Mac^* 
 Coill, Mac Keact and Mac Greni, was because Coll {the hazel tree), 
 Keact {ihe plouf/h?), and Grian {the sun), Avcre the three gods they 
 adored. Coll,^^ then, was the god of Mac Coill, but Ethor was his 
 real name, and Banba was his wife. Mac Keuct, too, Keact^^ 
 was his god, Tóthor his name, and Fodla his wife. Mac Greni, 
 lastly, had Grian for his god, KtHhor was his name, and Eri his 
 wife. The proper name of Manannán,^' likewise, was Orbsen ; 
 
 .'lin-ess),!. e. "0^ma,learnedinthc Sun.'' ed plough, is the usual name for the 
 
 This name is mythological. Ogniius constellation Ursa Major. Cormac's 
 
 was the Apollo or God of Eloquence Glossary, also, in explaining the name 
 
 of the Gauls. Ogham by {Owam), is Dian Kecht, tells us that " Cecht " or 
 
 the name of the Mystic Druid alpha- " Coacht" means medicine likewise.— See 
 
 bet of the Gaols, of which some say notn upon Dinnkect given above. 
 that this Ograa was the inventor. " This Manannan is a ])ersonage 
 
 " Mil-Blicol {Mil-veoD, MU-vail, i. e. famous in Irish legendary mythology. 
 
 "Honey Mouth," i. e. "the eloquent iie would seem to have presided over 
 
 or sweet-voiced. the sea and the tempests. Of him 
 
 '* Mac Coin. Some understand 0'Flahertymakesthefollo\vin:r mention. 
 
 "Mac" to mean "priest," in these "The emerchant Orbsen was remarkable 
 
 titles. It is however f:ir-fetched. for carrying on a commercial intercourse 
 
 '^ Coll was apparently a name for l)etween Ireland and (J roat Krltain. He 
 
 the divinity who presided over fruit- was commonly called Afanannan Mac 
 
 bearing trees, the Irish Pomona. The Lir, that is, Manannan {jM mksman), 
 
 word is now applied to the hazel. from his intcrcoursíí with the Isle of 
 
 '= Ceacitt would seom to meaa here the Man ; and Mac Lir, {son of Ler), i. e. 
 
 divinity presiding over agriculture, i.e. offspring of the sea, because he was an 
 
 the Celtic Ceres. Ceachta (/Cii/yg/tia), expert diver; besides, he understood 
 
 is the common Irish name for the the dangerous parts of harbors ; and 
 
 plough. Cam-Ceachta, i. e. the crook- from his prescience of the change of 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 145 
 
 and it is from him that Loch-Orbsen {now Lough- Corrih) is called, 
 for it was when they were digging his grave that this lake burst 
 over the land. It was of these people, that the following historic 
 laj was sung : 
 
 " Ethor was lordly — glory gained he — haughty the man — - 
 Coll was his God — 0^* of bright Daghda — Banba his wife. 
 Tethor was bold — strong the fight- — ruthless smote he — 
 Fodia his wife^great deeds he wrought — in Keact he believed. 
 Kethor was comely — beauteous his form — generous was he — 
 Eri his wife — queen of bounty was she — Griau was his God. 
 Manannan, from the lake — son of Lcr, of the endless expanse — 
 Orbseu his name — after a hundred fights — the man found Death."'^' 
 
 According to the Psalter of Cashel, the Tuatha-De-Danann 
 held the sovereign power in Ireland for two hundred years, less 
 
 weather, always avoided tempests. But 
 he fell in a battle at Moy Cullin {Magh 
 TJlUnn), on the banks of the spacious 
 lake Orbsen, which falls into the bay 
 of Galway by the river Galway, having 
 been run through by Ullinn, grandson 
 or Nuad or Nuadath, monarch of Ire- 
 land, by his son Thady {Tadg). The 
 place of the engagement was called after 
 Ullinn, and the lake (Lough Corrib), 
 after Orbsen. 
 
 '* is here to be understood in its 
 literal sense ; that is, " Grandson." 
 This word is otherwise written " |a." 
 
 '' The language and style of this 
 mystic lay belongs to the most ancient 
 class of Gaelic composition. Its allu- 
 sions, with the exception of those that 
 may be contained in the hidden mean- 
 ing of the proper names themselves, 
 are sufiBciently explained by what went 
 before. To pursue them further, would 
 lead into an endless labyrinth of con- 
 jecture. 
 
 Of this Colony, the learned Dr. 0'- 
 Donovan makes the following judicious 
 remarks : " From the many monuments 
 ascribed to this colony by tradition and 
 in ancient Irish historical tales, it is 
 quite evident that they were a real peo- 
 ple ; and from their having been con- 
 sidered gods and magicians by the Ga- 
 eidhil or Scoti, who subdued them, it 
 may be inferred that they were skilled 
 in arts which the latter did not under- 
 stand. Amongst these was Danann, 
 the Mother of the Gods ; Buannan, the 
 goddess that instructed heroes in mili- 
 
 10 
 
 tary exercises ; the Minerva Irish. 
 Badhbh [Boive) the Beloua of Irish ; 
 Abortach, the God of Music ; Ned, the 
 God of War, and Nemon his wife ; 
 Mauanuan, the God of the Sea ; Dian- 
 cecht, the God of Physic ; Brighit, the 
 Goddess of Poets and Smiths, ifec." 
 
 It appears, from a very curious and 
 ancient tract written in the shape of 
 a dialogue between St. Patrick and 
 Caoilti-MacRonain, that there were 
 very many places where the Tuatha- 
 De-Dananns were then supposed to 
 live as sprites or fairies, with corporal 
 or material form, but endued with im- 
 mortality. The inference naturally to 
 be drawn from these stories is, that the 
 Tuatha-De-Dannans lingered in the 
 country for many centuries after their 
 subjugation by the Gaeidhil, and that 
 they lived in retired situations, where 
 they practiced abstruse arts, which in- 
 duced the others to regard them as ma- 
 gicians. So late as the third century, 
 Aine, daughter of Eogabal, a lady of 
 this race, was believed to be resident at 
 Cnoc-Aiue, in the county of Limerick, 
 where she was ravished by Olild Olum. 
 king of Munster. 
 
 It looks very strange that our gene- 
 alogists trace the pedigree of no fam- 
 ily, living for the last thousand years, 
 to any of the kings or chieftains of the 
 Tuatha-De-Dananns, while several fam- 
 ilies of the Fir-Bolgic descent are men- 
 tioned as in Hy-Many and other parts 
 of Connaught. — Notes to Four Mas- 
 ters. 
 
X46 THE HISTORY OF IRP^LAND. 
 
 by three, that is for one hundred and ninetj^-seven years, in all. 
 Here follows a rann^ quoted in proof of this reckoning : 
 
 One hundred years and ninety-seven, 
 This recliouing is most true, 
 The Tuatha-Iié-Danann strongly reigned 
 Over Eri in supreme sway. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST TRACT. 
 
i>iS.RT 11/ 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OF THE TRACING OF THE SCOTIC EACE TO ITS FOUNDER, 
 
 JAPHET. 
 
 To enable us to trace the Scotic race to its root, that is, to 
 Japhet, we must observe that his two sons, Gomer and Magog, 
 were the most distinguished of his offspring. Moses, in the tenth 
 chapter of Genesis, where he gives the genealogy of the race of 
 Japhet, tells us that Gomer had three sons, whose names were 
 Aschenez, Riphath, and Togarmah ; but he does not specially 
 mention the sons of Magog by their names. Besides, as it is on 
 the historians of the tribe of iScot, that it is peculiarly incumbent to 
 trace the lineage of the princes sprung from Magog, and, particu- 
 larly those of the race of Fenius Farsa, we shall here set down a 
 detailed account of the descendants of Magog, according to the 
 Book of Invasions, which is called {the Book) of Drom-Snecta,^ 
 an authority which existed before the arrival of St, Patrick in 
 Ireland. 
 
 This states that Magog had three sons, namely, Baath, Ibaath, 
 and Fathacta. From Baath descended Fenius Farsa, the ancestor 
 of the Gaelic nation. From Ibaath sprang the Amazons,^ Bactri- 
 
 ^ Part II. The present division of the tended their empire from Cappadocia, 
 
 Foras Feasa, is headed Book 1, Part eastwards, along the Euxine or Black 
 
 II, in Halliday's edition, and in one Sea, and thence to the Caspian, and 
 
 of three MSS. from which this trans- northwards again to the river Tanais 
 
 lation is made. In the other two, which or Don. Their women were fabled to 
 
 are the raoi-e ancient and correct, no have monopolized the trade of arms, 
 
 such heading is found. Penthesilia, one of their queens, came 
 
 ^ Drom-Snecta. This book is un- to assist Priam at the Trojan war, 
 
 known to modern Irish scholars. It where she was slain by Achilles. The 
 
 has possibly been lost, since Keating's Amazons were said to have founded 
 
 time. Drom Snecta, i. c. the Snowy Smyrna, Ephcsus, and several other 
 
 Ridge, is now called Drumsnat, co. distinguished cities of Asia Minor. — 
 
 Monaghan, where there was once a Some of the adventures attributed to 
 
 monastery, founded by St. Molua. the ancestors of the Gaels, must have 
 
 ' Amazons. The Amazons were a taken place within their territories, or 
 
 famous nation of antifjuity, who flour- rather, within the territories assigned 
 
 ished in Asia Minor (Turkey in Asia), to them by primeval tradition, if they 
 
 previous to the Trojan war. They ex- took place anywhere. 
 
148 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ans,* and Parthians f and from Fatliacta came Partholan, who was 
 the iirst colonizer of Ireland after llie Deluge, as well as jN'emedh, 
 son of Agnaman or Aduamau, and, consequently, the Fer 
 Bolgs, and Tuatha-Dc-Dananns, as we have mentioned above, in 
 giving an account of their conquests of the island. Of the race 
 of this Fathacta, too, came Attila, who subjected Pamionia to his 
 sway, and who continued long to harass the Eoman Empire, and 
 who laid waste and depopulated Aquileia, and made many inva- 
 sions into Germany, From Scythia, too, and of the race of jNIa- 
 gog, was Zeliorbes, king of the lluns,*' who niade Avar upon the 
 Emperor Justinian. Hence, too, came the Longobardi' or Lom- 
 bards, and the Hungarians and Goths.® From Scythia came the 
 
 ■' Bactrians. The country of the 
 Bactrians lay to the east of Persia. 
 They seem to have been originally of 
 the same race with the Persians. They 
 claimed the great Persian lawgiver, 
 Zoroaster, as their first king. They 
 bordered upon that indefinable region 
 which the ancients called Scythia. 
 
 ^ Farthiam. This indomitable na- 
 tion fixed its dwelling south-east of the 
 Caspian Hoa, on the norlli-wcsfern bor- 
 ders of Persia pri)])er. They were, in 
 the beginning, undoubtedly, the same 
 people as the I'ersians, of whose name 
 Parthian is but a dialectic variatiem. 
 The Parthians were said to be of Scyth- 
 ian origin, as in truth they might, for 
 their ancestors (as, perhaps, the ances- 
 tors of all mankind) were originally 
 "Scythians," i. e. "Nomads," living in 
 tents, as the Arabs and Tartars do 
 still. 'J"he Teutonic or Germanic na- 
 tions of Europe are, with considerable 
 probability, supposed to be descended 
 *'rom portions of the Parthian or Per- 
 sian people, who had proceeded north- 
 wards and west wards on the track of 
 the Celts and Kimri, in search of new 
 settlements, or, perhaps, to avoid the 
 yoke of their bretlir(;n, who began to 
 build themselves towns, and who had 
 changed the " Scythic" for a more seU 
 tied mode of living. 
 
 ° Huns. The JIunswere originally 
 a Tartar race of Mongolian type and 
 origin, speaking a language resembling 
 somewhat those of the Semitic races, 
 and akin to the tongues spoken Ijy the 
 Finlandersand Laplanders in the north 
 of Europe. The Hung who invaded 
 
 the Roman empire, came from the north 
 of the Great AVall of China. The 
 great family of languages, one of which 
 is spoken by the Huns, i. e. the Hun- 
 garians of the present day, is styled 
 Uralian by philologists. If the word 
 " Scythic " be ccpially applicable, as a 
 title implying national descent, to the 
 Scots, the Huns, and the two next 
 mentioned nations, it might, without 
 losing much of its distinctive signili- 
 cancy, be exchanged ibr that of Adam- 
 ite or Noachic. 
 
 ' Longobardi. These people, other- 
 wise called Lombards, were a Germanic 
 nation of the Saxon race, who in A. D. 
 568, conquered a settlement in the 
 north-east of Italy, ^riie pure Saxon 
 type, whence they sprung, may be .still 
 seen in the north-west of (jcrmany and 
 the south-eastern .shires of England. — 
 Fair-haired Scythians, such as they 
 must have been, coidd not have partici- 
 pated in the blood of the ]\longolian 
 Huns since the days of Nimrod, who, 
 according to Pinkerton, was, it would 
 seem, not only a Scythian and Scot, but 
 also a Goth. 
 
 " Goths. The Goths or (Jothi, who 
 arc also called Gothoncs and Gythones, 
 were, like the hust-mentioned. a Teu- 
 tonic or Germanic nation. They first 
 appear in history under the name of 
 (jets, a people of iMU'opean Scythia, 
 dwelling near the borders of Thrace. 
 A dialect of the (iothic language, as 
 spoken in the fourth century, has been 
 preserved in the translation of the 
 Bible made by UI])hilas, styled the 
 " Liber Argentus," or Silver.Book. If 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 149 
 
 Dauni,® from whom Daunia, in Italy, wliich is now called Apulia, 
 has its name. The Turks, ^^* also, came from Scythia. But, in 
 short, Buchanan, an investigator into the ancient history of the 
 world, asserts, after Epiphaaius,^^ that the Scythians obtained 
 
 it be Scythian, it differs from the Scyth- 
 ian of the Huns, as represented by the 
 modern Hungarians, and also from the 
 Scythian of the Turks and Tartars, as 
 widely as any one language can. 
 
 At a period supposed, with good rea- 
 son, to be long subsequent to the Celtic 
 and Cimbric or Kimric occupation of 
 Northern and Central Europe, a portion 
 of the Gothic nation settled in Scandi- 
 navia, and gave the name of Gothia to 
 a province of Sweden, and Gothland to 
 an isle in the Baltic Sea. Still more 
 recently, in A. D. 452, another portion 
 of the same race conquered Spain, and 
 gave the name of Gotalaunia or Cata- 
 lonia to one of its provinces. Many 
 of the geographical and historical im- 
 possibilities recorded by our later bards 
 and Shenachies, of the wanderings and 
 adventures of the early colonists of 
 Ireland previous to their several arriv- 
 als in that country ; and more especially 
 of the Gaelic or Scotic colony, are justly 
 attributed to the Latinizing of the 
 '■Gaethlaeimh" or "Gethlaeimh" [Gaih- 
 lucevc) and " Gaethluidhe" (Gaihhice) 
 of the early pagan bards, by " Gothia" 
 and " Gothi." According to the learned 
 C Flaherty, in his Ogygia, " Gaeth- 
 laeimh" meant '-Gaetulia," a country of 
 Northern Africa. That it did so, is ev- 
 ident both from the form of the word 
 itself and from the descriptions given of 
 its situation in our old historic duans. 
 
 When the Irish or Scots, after their 
 conversion, came first into close contact 
 with contiuental Europe, they found the 
 " Gothi" settled in Spain, and without 
 any other authority than the identity 
 of the two first consonants of their 
 name with those of the name of the 
 " Gaethluidhe," they might have con- 
 cluded, that those -were the people with 
 whom their remote ancestors had con- 
 tended for the masterdom, both of that 
 country and Northern Africa. Hence 
 came the Gaelic rule in Gothia (Gaeth- 
 laeimh), during eight generations, and 
 their impossible voyage thither from 
 
 Egypt by the way of Crete, and thence 
 northwards through the Euxine, Cas- 
 pian, and the narrow sea by the Riphean 
 Mountains, leading int'i the ocean, which 
 Dr. Keating so naively repeats to* us a 
 little further on. 
 
 ° Dauni. This people settled in 
 Apulia before the Trojan war, came, as 
 we are told, originally from Illyricum, 
 a country lying along the Eastern coast 
 of the Adriatic Sea or Gulf of Venice. 
 They were ruled by Daunus, son of 
 Pilumnus and Danae, when the Grecian 
 hero Diomede came to plant his colony 
 amongst them. They were themselves 
 probably of the Pelasgic, that is, of 
 the Greek race. Their ancestors were 
 Scythians, of course, for, at this early 
 period, European Scythia must have 
 extended southward as far as the Gre- 
 cian frontier. The modern provinces 
 of Croatia, Bosnia, and Slavonia com- 
 prehend the ancient Illyricum. They 
 are now inhabited by Slavonic tribes ; 
 tribes of rather recent Scythian origin, 
 and differing extremely from all the 
 Scythians yet mentioned. 
 
 '" Turks. The Turks of Europe are 
 a branch of a nation of Nomadic Tar- 
 tars from the region of Asia, north of 
 the Persians, by whom they were 
 anciently called Touranians. They are 
 men of repulsive aspect, according to 
 European notions, and the majority of 
 them still continue to dwell in tents, and 
 lead migratory lives — -the only points 
 in which they can be said to resemble 
 those other Scythians already spoken of, 
 with, perhaps, the exception of the 
 Huns. 
 
 " Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, 
 wrote in the second century. His works 
 contain some valuable historical frag- 
 ments. The universal dominion spoken 
 of by him in the passage here referred 
 to, can only mean that founded by 
 Nimrod, or his son Ninus, in Assyria. 
 Thus we have another family of the 
 human race included under the denomi- 
 nation of Scythian, and see Scythia ex- 
 
150 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 universal dominion shortly after tlie Flood, and that their 
 sovereignty existed until after the captivity of Babylon ; and 
 the same authors inform us that other nations received insti- 
 tutions, laws and ordinances, from the Scj^thians, and that they 
 were the first people, who rose to dignity and glory after the Del- 
 uge. Johannes liaronius, in the ninth chapter of the second 
 book of his History of the Manners of all Nations, says that the 
 Scythians were never subjected by any other power, while Jose- 
 phus tells us, that the Greeks designated Scythia by the name of 
 Magogia. Johaimes Nauclerus informs us, that there were many 
 of the Scythian descent, that performed very glorious exploits. 
 Herodotus bears testimony to this in his fourth book, where he 
 mentions, that the Scythians repelled Darius disgracefully from 
 Scythia. Justin also bears testimony to it, where lie proclaims 
 the greatness of the actions performed by the inhabitants of 
 Scythia. These are the words of this autlior: "The Scythians 
 remained always free from all foreign subjugation. They repelled 
 Darius, king of Persia, disgracefully from Scythia; they slew Cy- 
 rus with his whole army; they destroyed, in like manner, Zophi- 
 ron, the general of Alexander the Great, with all his forces. 
 They had heard, indeed, of the Roman power, but never felt it."^ 
 From these words it may be understood that the Scythians re- 
 tained their great valor and coui-age to this author's time. 
 
 Scots — Tlie Gaels, so called from Scythia. 
 
 It is also asserted, in the first book of the Polichronicon, that it 
 is from this Scythia^^ that the descendants of Gaedal Glas are 
 
 tending its bounds southward to the it a Gothic Empire) previous to Nim 
 
 banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, rod. Its obvious meaning is, that the 
 
 Pinkerton, in his endeavor to prove that mode of life called " Scythisin" pre- 
 
 his favorite Gothic race were the earli- vailed over the earth immediately after 
 
 est rulers of the Avorld, and the cream the Deluge. Scythia must then have 
 
 of humanity ever since, quotes several comprehended the whole inhabited 
 
 ancient authorities to prove that the world. Neither Gaels, nor Goths, nor 
 
 " Scythic," by which he would have un- Greeks liad then distinct existence as 
 
 derstood the Gothic empire, lasted from nations of men ; Jew and Gentile were 
 
 the Deluge to the building of the 'I'owcr alike Scythian, or, if it so be, Gothic, 
 of Babei. AVhat that Scythic empire r. Scythac ipsi perpetuo ab alieno 
 
 means may be collected by comparmg imperio aut intacti aut invicti manse- 
 
 the words of Eusebnis, quoted also by ^unt; Darium, regem Persarum, turpi ab 
 
 him, with the traditions of Holy Seythia sunnnovcruut fuga ; CvTum, 
 
 Writ. Euscbius says : Ix^Oioiwg cum omni exercitu, trucidarunt ; Alex 
 
 ana rov -nvpyov axpi rov Kara- andri Magni duccm Zopirona, pari 
 
 KXyofiOV, which he correctly translates, ratione cum copiis univcrsia deleverunt ; 
 
 " From the Deluge to the building of Ilomanoruni uudivere sed uon sonscre 
 
 the Tower of Babel Scijthism prevailed." arma. 
 
 But this, surely, does not mean that " Scythia. This extensive region 
 
 there was a Scythic (as he would Lave comprised, wilhiu the better kaown 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 151 
 
 called Scots ; and as far as I know, it is not more proper to call the 
 people of Gallic extraction who are now dwelling in Ireland, 
 *' Goill," i. e. Galli or Gauls, from Gallia or France, whence they 
 derive their origin, than to name the Gaelic nation Scots from 
 Scythia, the country whence they had sprung. And this is the 
 reason why those of the posterity of Fathacta, son pi Magog, 
 who obtained sovereignty in Gothia, Thrace and Achaia, namely, 
 Partholan, son of Sera, with his people ; Nemedh, son of Ag- 
 naman, from whom the Nemedians have their name ; the Fer- 
 Bolgs and the Tuatha-De-Dananns, are all named Scythian Greeks 
 (Gregaigh Scitia), because Scythia was the land from which 
 they had first migrated in the beginning ; and I likewise think, 
 that the reason why the posterity of Gaedal, son of Niul, son of 
 Fenius Farsa, are more especially called Scots, is because it was 
 this Fenius Farsa here mentioned, and his descendants, that ob- 
 tained the sovereignty of Scythia. Niul was the youngest son of 
 Fenius, and did not obtain any portion of his father's territories, 
 whence he could name himself and his descendants, though Fenius 
 himself, and his own brothers, had previously got for their shares 
 
 periods of ancient history, all the 
 countries in Europe and ^Vsia, contained 
 in the modern Russian Empire, includ- 
 ing Poland, and all the region known 
 as Great Tartary therewith. In addi- 
 tion to this, it contained, in Europe, the 
 centre and North of Germany, and the 
 whole of Scandinavia, and extended, 
 apparently, from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific Ocean, and from the Danube, 
 the Black Sea, the borders of Persia, 
 the Himalaya Mountains and China to 
 the Northern Ocean. In still earlier 
 times, it comprised a great part of Asia 
 Minor. It was inhabited, or rather 
 roamed over by numerous and, as before 
 shown, widely distinct races of men. In- 
 somuch that the term Scythian must 
 cease to have any precise meaning, as in- 
 dicative of any peculiar race or breed of 
 liuman beings. The Scythian region 
 was the backwood region of antiquity, 
 and was constantly narrowing its limits 
 as men settled down in fixed dwellings, 
 and dropped their primeval usage of 
 dwelling in movable tents. So that 
 when we read of Scythian conquests in 
 ancient times, we can only understand 
 thereby that some people yet leading a 
 pastoral or nomadic mode of life con- 
 quered some others that had already 
 given up its " Scythic" habits. Some 
 
 derive the word Scythian from a root 
 akin to the Greek ox^Saw, the Eng- 
 lish " scatter," or the Irish " Sgeith" 
 {Skeh). If so, it would be equally ap- 
 plicable to all the tribes scattered from 
 before Babel. Its being akin to the 
 national name of the " Goths" or the 
 " Geta;" is very doubtful, (though they 
 certainly were a " Scythic" people), and 
 its immediate kindred with that of the 
 Scots is scarcely less so. The Gaels do 
 not appear to have ever taken any of 
 their names from any country they had 
 dwelt in. All their names are ances- 
 tral ; and as the names of Scot and 
 Scota occur more than once in their 
 genealogy, we may rest satisfied, that it 
 was from some of the persons so de- 
 nominated they took the name, and not 
 from Scythia, a name which, to borrow 
 a comparison from a learned opponent 
 of Gaelic tradition, who would make 
 the Scots out to be Goths not Gaels, 
 seems to have been appli^-^d with as 
 little discrimination by the writers of 
 antiquity to all the nomadic tribes 
 of Europe and Central Asia, as the term 
 Indian is applied at the present day at 
 once to the wild red men of Anierica, 
 and to the polished natives of Hindo- 
 stan. 
 
152 THE HISTORY OF IRP:LAND. 
 
 countries, from wliich both tlicmseive.s and their respective races 
 were designated. On this account Niul enjoined his posterity to 
 name themselves after Scythia, and to keep alive the memory of 
 their original home, by forever calling themselves Scots ; for, they 
 had received no laud as their inheritance, Niul having been left no 
 other possession by his father but the knowledge of the sciences 
 and of the various tongues ; for the undivided sovereignty of 
 Scythia had been left to the eldest son. 
 
 Gaedal not the Son of Argus or of Cecrops. 
 
 Some Latin authors say that Gaedal was the son either of Argus^* 
 or of Cecrops,'^ Avho reigned over the Argivi ; but that cannot be 
 true, for St. Augustine tells us that that family began to reign 
 about the time that Jacob was born, that is, about four hundred 
 and thirty-two years after the Flood; and again, the same author 
 informs us, that the sovereignty of that family lasted but two 
 hundred and fifteen years ; from which it follows, that the rule 
 of the Argive line terminated about six hundred and sixty-seven 
 years after the Deluge. It is impossible, then, that the last-men- 
 tioned facts can be true, if we admit that Gaedal was descended 
 from Argus or Cecrops, for Hector Boetius, in his Ilistory of 
 Scotland, and all the books that treat of the conquests of Ire- 
 land, assert that the Gaels were in Egypt, at the time that Moses 
 ruled the Children of Israel in that land. The Book of Con- 
 quests informs us, moreover, that it was about this time that Scota, 
 daughter of Pharoah Ciugris, bore Gaedal or Gael to Niul, sou 
 of Fenius Farsa, son of Baath, son of Magog. The time that 
 Moses began to govern the Children of Israel in Egypt, was 
 about seven hundred and ninety-seven years after the Flood ; 
 and, according to this computation, there were about three hun- 
 dred and forty-five years from the time of Argus or of Cecrops, un- 
 til Gaedal was born. It is, then, impossible, that the latter could 
 have been the son of eitlicr of those- kings. It is also false to 
 assert, that it was from Greece that Gaedal went into Egj-pt ; and 
 that the reason why it was said, that it was from Scythia he went 
 thither, was because, according to a certain author, it was from 
 Setin^" that he had emigrated, and hence they say that Scythia is 
 the same as "iath na Seech" ('-ea/i na SIcagh\ i. e. "the land of 
 thorns." But "iath," when it means "land, terminates in "th" 
 or " dh;" and also, in writing the word Scythia, there is no "c" 
 
 " Argus w;ia the fourth kinjf of K,t,'ypt. lie led liia colony to Attica 
 
 Art^os, a city fouiidevl by luachus, about about 155G years before tlie Christian 
 
 18.56 years belbrc Christ. era. 
 
 '^ CscToj)^ was the founder of the " Setin. It is unknown to the editor 
 
 Athenian nation. lie was a native of what place ia here called by this name. 
 
THE UISTORY OP IRELAND, 153 
 
 in the middle of the word, as would be necessary in a compound 
 word of the supposed formation ; neither does Scythia terminate 
 in a " dh" or " th." Hence it is an unfounded conjecture to sup- 
 pose, that Scythia could mean "the land of thorns," according to 
 any Gaelic etymology. 
 
 It is also a very weak proof of the Gaels having drawn their 
 origin from Greece, to argue that there exists a resemblance 
 between the Irish and the Greeks in their manners, customs, and 
 games, and that they must be, consequently, derived thence; 
 for every colony that came and occupied Ireland, since the Del- 
 uge, had set out from Greece, except those of the Gaels and 
 Nemedians. Partholan had set out from Migdonia ;^'' the Fer- 
 Bolgs from Thrace, and the Tuatha-De-Dananns from Achaia, 
 near Beotia and the city of Athens. For which reason, though 
 the Gaels did not observe any of the manners and customs of 
 the Greeks, on their arrival in Ireland, still they might have 
 acquired them from such of the Tuatha-De-Dananns and Fer- 
 Bolgs, their predecessors, as yet remained in the country, although 
 they had never been in Greece themselves, nor their founder 
 Gaedal, nor any of his forefathers. 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 HERE FOLLOWS AN ACCOUNT OF SOME FACTS RELATIVE TO 
 FENIUS FARSA, THE GRANDFATHER OF GAEDAL. 
 
 Fenius Farsa,^ having become king of Scythia, determined 
 to acquire a perfect knowledge of the various languages that had 
 sprung long before his time from the confusion of tongues at the 
 
 '• Migdonia, perhaps Mseonia, letters into Greece. This is rather a 
 
 i. e. " Grreig Medhonach " [Graigue remarkable coincidence with the bardic 
 
 3Iai/bnagh) account given of our great ancestor 
 
 'Fcnms Farsa. Fenius Farsa, Fenius. The name Fenius itself, 
 
 otherwiss Farsaidh, was possibly the coupled with the legend attached to it, 
 
 same as that Phoenix who, according prove at least the intimate connection 
 
 to the fragments attributed to Sanco- of our remote progenitors with the 
 
 niathon, was the second of the Phceni- Phoenicians. The universality of the 
 
 clan kings. Grecian legend tells us, tradition regarding him, and the fact 
 
 that Phoenix was the son of Agenor that his descendants, who, as before said, 
 
 and the brother of Cadmus, the founder neve- took any but ancestral names, 
 
 of Thebes in Beotia, and also the in- calling both themselves and a dialect of 
 
 ventor, or rather the introducer of their language Feinni {Faynni) from 
 
154 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Tower of Babel, which Nimrod, tlirough jiridc, liad spent forty 
 years in erecting; for, from the time of Adam until the confiision 
 of tong-ucs at the Tower, there had been but one universal lan- 
 guage known amongst mankind. This language is called Goir- 
 Tighern {Gor-leeyern)^ as the bard tells us in the following verse : 
 
 " Goir-Tighern,^ that tongue was called, 
 Used by the gifted sons of God, 
 And by all great Adam's seed, 
 Ere Nimrod reared his fatal Tower." 
 
 This language the Latin writers call the "Lingua Humana," 
 i. e. the Human Language. But when Nimrod, with his kindred, 
 were attempting to erect the Tower, their language was con- 
 founded, in order to prevent their finishing the structure which 
 their pride had prompted them to begin ; and the original lan- 
 guage, received from Adam, was taken from all that were con- 
 cerned in building it. It was, however, retained by Ileber, the 
 son of Selah, and by his tribe, and, from him, it has been called 
 Hebrew. 
 
 The principal motive that induced Fenius to go dwell on the 
 plain Shenaar with his school, was in order that he might there 
 be constantly in intercourse with those whose native language 
 was the Hebrew, and thus, that both himself and his school 
 might obtain a full and perfect knowledge of that tongue. But, 
 when Fenius had, as we have mentioned, resolved upon becom- 
 ing a perfect master of those various tongues, he dispatched, at 
 his own expense, seventy-two persons of learning to the several 
 countries of the three parts of the world that were then inhabited. 
 These he commanded to remain abroad seven years, so that each 
 of them might learn the language of the country in which lie 
 was to reside, during that time. Upon the return of these men 
 to Scythia^ at the end of the seven years, Fenius set out with 
 them to the plain of Shenaar, bringing with him a great number 
 of the Scythian youth, having left his eldest son, Nenual, to rule 
 in his stead, as the poet* relates in the following duan : 
 
 Iiim, prove that lie was a real person- where on the borders of the Enxiiic 
 
 age, whenever and wherever ho did live. Sea. Perhaps between the C;ispian, 
 
 The epithet " Farsa" or Farsaidh," is and Eu.xine, in the neighborhood of 
 
 usually rendered by " sage." It may, Colchis. There are two adjacent 
 
 however, be a form of " Fer?a" i. e. countries in that region, whose ancient 
 
 Persian, or of " Parthian." names, Iberia and Albania, bear a 
 
 " Goir-Tighern. 'J'liis name means striking resemblance to Hibernia nml 
 the " Word" or '-('all of the I^ord." Alba, iicmtWc Alban — nainea of the ad- 
 It is compounded of the words " goir," jacent countries Ireland and Scotland — 
 call, and " tigherna" (tceyerna), " a but chance does sometimes work out 
 lord." strange coincidences. 
 
 ' Scythi-7. The country from which * Tlic poe>. 'i'iie author of the on- 
 
 Penius came, may have lain some- suing lay was {Mael-M.kuiri Othna) 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 155 
 
 Feuius set out from Scytbia 
 
 With his great host — 
 A glorious hero, wise aud learned, 
 
 Siroug, triumphant. 
 There was but one tongue in the world 
 
 When they began it — 
 There were full twelve tongues and thrice twenty 
 
 When they were scattered. 
 A great school of learning formed sage Fenins 
 
 For every science — 
 A divine hero, sage and learned 
 
 In all language. 
 
 Our Shenachies tell us that sixty years had. passed, from the 
 building of the Tower of Babel to the time when Fenius came 
 southward with his school, from Scythia, to the plain of Senaar, 
 as a poet thus recounts: 
 
 " Thrice twenty well-told years had passed, 
 ('Tis thus our sages tell the story), 
 When Fenius from the north came down, 
 Since haughty Nimrod reared his tower." 
 
 Fenius then founded a school for the various languages on the 
 plain of Senaar, near a city which the Book of Drom-Snecta 
 calls Athente,^ as the bard thus tells us : 
 
 " On Seuilr's plain, when the Tower was strown, 
 The earliest school was held ; 
 There sages taught in every tongue — 
 To Athens thence has science sped." 
 
 Hither all the youth of the neighboring countries came to re- 
 ceive instruction in the various tongues, from him and his pro- 
 fessors. The three sages that held the chief direction of this 
 great school were Feuius Farsa, from Scythia; Gaedal, son of 
 Ethor, of the race of Gomer, from Greece; and Caei, the Elo- 
 
 called otherwise Mael-Muiri of Fathan. wit, " near a city called Athena;." Its 
 
 He died, according to the Four exact words are, " I g-cathair Athenaa 
 
 Masters, in 884. In the book of iar Sin," i. e. verbatim, " In the city of 
 
 Invasions he is described as a " truly Athenae after that." It is not kno^vn 
 
 learned and skilful poet." whose works whether there was any ancient city called 
 
 are distinguished for loftiness of thought Athenie in that quarter, but there was 
 
 and strength of expression Three val- one called " Scythopolis," i. e. the 
 
 uablc historical poems by Mael-Muiri Scythian city — a name that might bo 
 
 are preserved in the books of Invasions rendered into modern Gaelic by " Ca- 
 
 and Lecan. — Hardiman's Irish Mia- thair" or " Eaile na Sgot," or Scot- 
 
 strelsy. bhailé (Balli' na Skot or Scotvallj) , i. e, 
 
 * Athene. The ensuing "rann," the town of the Scots. The Greek 
 
 which has not been given in Halliday's iroXiq, the Latin " villa," and the 
 
 edition, does not bear out the construe- Gaelic " baili" or " baile" {ha'l'.y), are 
 
 tion given to it in Keatiug's prose, to words derived from a common root. 
 
156 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 quent (or the Just), from Judea, or lar, son of Nemha, as others 
 call him, and as the Lard tuuá relates : 
 
 " The names of those three learned sages 
 To you I quickly can reveal — 
 Gaedal, the sou of the worthy Ethor, 
 Feuius, and lar the son of Neuiha." 
 
 Another poet records the names of these sages thus : 
 
 " Fenius, sage of the flowing tongue, 
 Caedal and Caei, of truthful words, 
 Were th(! three chiefs of this scholar band. 
 That followed the true paths of the authors." 
 
 . These three inscribed the alphabets of the three principal lan- 
 guages upon wooden tablets, namely : the Hebrew, the Greek, 
 and the Latin. Thus we are informed by Kcnnfaela, the learned 
 in the Uraicept or Grammar, which be wrote- in the da3's of St. 
 Columbkille. The same author says that Nin mac Peil, or Ninus, 
 sou of Belus, sou of Nimrod, was monarch of the world at that 
 time ; and he further informs us, that it was about this time that 
 Niul, son of Fenius Farsa, was born; and that Fenius continued 
 twenty years president of the school, in order that his son might 
 become perfectly skilled in the various languages. As, according 
 to some of our liistorians, it Avas in the forty-second year of the 
 reign of Ninu^, son of Belus, that this gi-eat school was estab- 
 lished by Fenius Farsa on the plain of Senaar, I judge that he 
 continued there for ten years of the reign of Ninus, and ten 
 years after that king's death, before he returned to Scythia; for, 
 all historians agree, that he spent twenty years presiding over his 
 school, previous to his return to his kingdom. I am also of opin- 
 ion, that it was about two hundred and forty-two years after the 
 Flood, that this school was founded b}^ Fenius, on the pLiin of 
 Senaar ; for I find by the computation of nelarmine," in his Chron- 
 icle, that it was in the year of the world 1856, that Ninus, son 
 of 13elus, began his reign, which would leave, according to the 
 Hebrew computation, which Bclarmine followed, sixteen hundred 
 and fifty-six years from the b 'ginning of the world to the Del- 
 uge. To this wo must add the f )rty years of the reign of Ninus, 
 that had been spent before Fenius began his school; so that, 
 according to this reckoning, he founded his school two hundred 
 and forty -two years after the Flood, and sj)ent twenty years in gov- 
 
 * Bclarmine. Cardinal Bclarmine, Catholicity, the " Eochair Sciath an 
 an eminent champion of the Catholic Arfrinn," must have made him well con- 
 Church and archbishop of Caj)ua, versant witli the works of this learned 
 lived between the years 1542 and 1C25. and distinguished prelate. 
 Dr Keating's own work ia defence of 
 
THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 157 
 
 erning it ; that is, ten years of the reign of Ninus, and ten after- 
 wards. Then, at the end of these twenty years, Fenins returned 
 to Scytbia and founded other schools of learning in that country, 
 and he set Gaedal, son of Ethor, as president over them. 
 
 Fenius then commanded (jacdal, son of Ethor, to regulate and 
 arrange the Gaelic, or Irish language, into the five dialects,' in 
 which we find it at the present day, to wit: the Berla FOni^ 
 {Bairla Faineh), Berla na ffiledh^ {velkh\ the Berla Edarsgartha^" 
 {adarskarha), the Berla Thébide^^ {Thaibee\ and the Gnath-Berla^ 
 (Gnah-vairla)^ and to name them all in common from himself. 
 Thus it is from Gaedal, son of Ethor, that our language is called 
 "Gaeidilgc^^ (G^aT/Z^a- or Gueelgaj in English, Gaelic or Gaedalic, 
 and not from Gaedal Glas, the ancestor of the Gaels, as some 
 imagine. It was also, through friendship for this Gaedal,^* son of 
 Ethor, that Niul, son of Fenins Farsa, gave the name of Gaedal 
 to the son he had by Scota, daughter of Pharaoh Cingris; thus 
 we are informed by the learned Kennfaela in his Uraicept. 
 
 ' Dialects. At this period the Gael- 
 ic, as afterwards spoken in Ireland, 
 could have had no separate or distinct 
 existence. It is itself, though extremely 
 ancient, but a dialect of the Felasgic or 
 Japethian tongue of Europe, formed 
 thereon by the admixture of some for- 
 eign element, as shall be seen by the 
 vocabularies, which, if space allow, shall 
 be given at the end of this work. The 
 arrangement of the Gaelic into dialects 
 must then be understood, merely to refer 
 to the introduction of letters amongst 
 his natiou by Fenius, through the 
 agency of Gaedal, son of Ethor — that 
 is, by some person whom the Gaels call 
 by that name. 
 
 ° Berla Ftni. The Fenian dialect 
 may be called the sacred language of 
 the Irish. Many tracts written therein 
 are still in existence. 
 
 " Berla na ffdedh. This might be 
 more appropriately called a style than 
 a dialect. The phrase means the lan- 
 guage of the poets, i. e. the Files [filleh] 
 or Bard-sages. 
 
 '" Berla Edarsgartha. "Edarsgar- 
 tha" may mean either intermediate or 
 selected. It is a word of recent forma- 
 tion, compounded of " cdar," or " idir," 
 between, and sgartha (sgarha), divided 
 or separated. The participle of the 
 verb " sgar," divide, ífc. 
 
 " Berla Tiiebide. This was the phy- 
 
 sicians' dialect, according to some au- 
 thorities ; others will translate it the 
 " Theban dialect." 
 
 '" Gnath Berla means the vulgar or 
 usual language. It may be translated, 
 Common Language. To these, some 
 add the "Berlagar na Saer" [Bairlag- 
 gar na Saijre), or Dialect of Artisans, 
 which is still in use amongst some old- 
 fashioned masons in Ireland. It con- 
 tains many old words, bearing a close 
 affinity to the Eastern languages, such 
 as that of "Aes," a man, to the Hebrew 
 "Aish." A vocabulary of it should be 
 made out, before it becomes altogether 
 extinct. " Saer," the Gaelic for '-Arti- 
 san," and more especially for " mason," 
 means, also, " freeman." 
 
 " Gaedilgé . The fact here stated is 
 very improbable. The language must 
 have had its name ft'om the same source 
 with the natiou that used it. 
 
 " Gaedal. Of the derivations here 
 given for this name, the Gothic and 
 Irish ones are entirely inadmissible. 
 They are, like most of the derivations 
 of Irish names recorded by Dr. Keat- 
 ing, mere puns. The derivation from 
 "Gadol" is possible and natural, if the 
 name be of Semitic origin. 1 f, however, 
 it be Japethian, the root must be some 
 word like either " Gaed," " Gaeth," or 
 " Getli," upon which it could have been 
 formed by the simple addition of the 
 
158 
 
 THE HISTORY OF UiELAND. 
 
 It is a disputed question amongst authors Avhencc tliis word 
 Gaedal is derived. Buchanan says that it comes from the words 
 "goethin," i.e. "noble," and "al"i. e. all, and that it thence 
 means "all noble;" or from the Hebrew word "gadol," i.e. 
 great, because Gaedal, son of Ethor who, the first that bore the 
 name, was great in learning, in wisdom and in the languages. 
 But our own shannachies tell us, that he was called Gaedal from 
 the Irish words " gaeith" and " dil," i. e. lover of wisdom ; for 
 " gaeith" means " wisdom," and " dil " means _ " loving" or 
 "fond;" thus the Greek called a sage philosophos, i. e. a philoso- 
 pher, or a "lover of wisdom."^^ 
 
 To return to Fenius, we are not told that he had any more 
 children than his two sons, Nenual and Niul. So the bard tells 
 us in the following verse : 
 
 " Two sons liad Fcuius (the truth I tell), 
 Nenual and our father Niul ; 
 Niul was born by the eastern Tower, 
 Nenual in Scythia of bright shields." 
 
 When Fenius^'^ had reigned over Scythia for twenty years, after 
 his return from the plain of Shenaar, finding himself near his 
 
 regular Celtic suffix " al," just as " Ta- 
 raal," awhile, is derived from " Tam," 
 time. "Gaeth" means in Irish the 
 wind, a dart, arrow, &c. It may even 
 be a synonyme for " Scot," which, also, 
 in one of its acceptations, is said to 
 moan an arrow. However, the original 
 derivation of the man's name is of no 
 moment, as whatever be its primary 
 root, it cannot determine his nation. 
 
 "* Wisdom. This is, also, a very 
 common acceptation of the sound ex- 
 pressed by tlie above characters, i. c. 
 Giiik or Guech. It must, liowevcr, 
 come from some source perfectly dis- 
 tinct from those of "Gaeth" (gaijh), 
 the wind, which seems cognate with the 
 English "gust," and "ghost," and of 
 " gaeth," otherwise " gai," an arroiv, 
 shaft, javelin, &c. 
 
 '" Fenius. Of this ancient sage, 
 O'FIaherty gives the following account : 
 •' Penisius, Fenius, Farsaidli, or I'hnc- 
 nius, the great grandson of Japhcl, by 
 his son, Magog, and tlic progenitor of 
 the Irish of the Scottish line, from 
 whom they are called Fenii, Fenisii, 
 Phoeni, and Fenisiadaj, was the first 
 inventor of the Scottish letters. He is 
 
 reported to have newly formed the Irish 
 language, or to have selected it from 
 the languages tlien just dispersed, in the 
 school held on the plains of Seiiaar, 
 composed of those sages learned in the 
 seventy-two tongues. Therefore it is 
 called Eerla Tcbidc, which, according 
 to some, means the " selected language." 
 .... We are, indeed, advised by tlie 
 mythology of the ancients to infer from 
 this that Fenius was one of leaders of 
 families after the confusion of tongue,^, 
 and that the language that fell to his 
 posterity was reduced by him into a 
 
 literary form For, to compose 
 
 a language at that time, would but 
 serve to increase the confusion and 
 intricacy. On this account only is he 
 said to have formed one^because he 
 eternized it by the gift of letters, and 
 corrected aixl improved it Ijy grammati- 
 cal rules. 'J'lie mytliDlogists. concealing 
 trutlis beneath the guisii of fiction, have 
 told us tliat nifMi were made by Prome- 
 theus, and that the enclianting strains 
 of Orpheus and Amphion obliged the 
 trees to quit their ancient plantations, 
 and the rocks themselves, animated by 
 the sound of the lyre, to Hock to build 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 159 
 
 death, he bequeathed the sovereignty of Scythia to Neuual, his 
 eldest son ; but to Niul, his youngest son, he left nothing but the 
 advantages to be derived from his disseminating and teaching the 
 knowledge which he possessed of the sciences and of the various 
 languages in the common schools of the kingdom. 
 
 CHAPTER in. 
 
 OF THE TRAVELS OF NIUL FROM SCYTHIA TO EGYPT, AND OF 
 HIS ADVENTURES THERE TILL HIS DEATH. 
 
 When NiuP had spent a long time in teaching the public 
 schools in Scythia, the fame 'of his learning and wisdom had 
 gone forth into all countries, insomuch that Pharaoh Cingris, 
 
 the walls of Thebes. They tell us of 
 wild beasts divesting themselves of their 
 ferocity, and of other monstrous and 
 incredible things, because by their wis- 
 dom and eloquence these men had civil- 
 ized and humanized the rude manners 
 of their fellows. Thus Horace says : 
 
 " Sylvestres homines sacer iuterpresque 
 
 Deorum, 
 Caedibus et victu foedos deterruit 
 
 Orpheus. 
 Dictus ab hoc lenire tigres, rapidosque 
 
 leones : 
 Saxa movere sono testudinis et prece 
 
 blanda 
 Ducere quo vellet." 
 
 IN ENGLISH. 
 
 Orpheus, sacred prophet of the gods. 
 From carnage and from horrid meals 
 A rude and savage race deterred. 
 And hence, we sing, that with his 
 
 lyre's 
 Soft music bland, he tigers fell 
 And bounding lions gently tamed ; 
 That his sweet voice and thrilling 
 
 notes 
 Moved sluggish rocks to leave their 
 
 beds 
 And hear his high commands. 
 
 ' Niul. This name would seem to 
 be the prototype of "Niall," a name 
 that afterwards became so frequent 
 among the descendants of this patri- 
 arch, and that is still preserved among 
 his descendants in its genitive form in 
 the surnames, " O'Xeill " and " Mac- 
 Neill," and, in their Anglicized forms, 
 '• Nelson " and " Neilson," as well as in 
 the Christian name Neale. The " Unel- 
 li," an ancient tribe of Armoric Gaul, 
 must have derived their name, that is, 
 " Ui Xeill," or descendants of Niall, from 
 an ancestor called by this appellation. 
 He must, however, have lived ages 
 before Niall of the Nine Hostages, who 
 ruled Ireland from A.D. 380 to A.D. 
 400, from whom the Irish " Uuelli," or 
 " Ui Neill," are sprung. The Niul of 
 Gaelic tradition may refer to that an- 
 cient king of Thebes, who, according to 
 the Greek, gave his name to the river 
 Nile, which had been previously called 
 ^gyptus. We are now, and we shall 
 be for yet a long while, in the mytholo- 
 gical ages of the Gaelic, as well as of 
 all Human History, with the sole ex- 
 ception of that which has been trans- 
 mitted by Holy "\^'rit. We must, then, 
 expect to find primeval facts either 
 largely interwoven with poetic fiction,, 
 or disguised in mythic language. We 
 
160 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 king of Egypt, induced by the fame of his knowledge, sent to 
 invite him to Egypt, in order to get him to instruct the Egyptian 
 youth in the sciences, and in the various tongues, as the poet tells 
 us in the following rami : 
 
 " The fume had reached King Forond, 
 With great glory, 
 Of Niul Mac Fenius, who knew all 
 The tongues of mankind." 
 
 Niul then came to Egypt^ with Pharaoh's messenger, and that 
 king bestowed upon him the land called Capaciront.^ or Campus 
 Cirit, near the Red Sea. He gave him, also, his own daughter, 
 Scota, in marriage, as Gilla-Kaemhan tells us, in the jjoem that 
 begins with the line "Gaedal Glas, from whom the Gaels are 
 sprung:" 
 
 " He then went into Egypt, 
 And reached the potent Forond,* 
 And married Scota,'^ not scant of beauty, 
 The lovely child of generous Forond." 
 
 should then neither accord them too 
 implicit a belief, nor reject them alto- 
 gether. We are, in truth, in those Ho- 
 meric times, over which the olden poets 
 have thrown a magic veil. But we 
 should bear in mind, that the lioraeric 
 bard was esteemed an inspired prophet 
 as well as a poet — tjiat he had a sacred 
 character to maintain, and, perliaps, a 
 sacred mission to fulfil. He must, then, 
 have taken care to have had real ])er- 
 sonagcs and real facts for the ground- 
 work of his lay. The principles he 
 enunciated must have been founded 
 upon eternal truth. The sons of the 
 Muses had not yet run wild, and as- 
 sumed to themselves the license of coin- 
 ing persons and things without end. 
 His mental eye nuist be dim, indeed, 
 who would judge of them l)y the 
 <;oncoctcrs of modern fiction. ^J'hen, a 
 fair and candid narrator of the early 
 adventures of the ancestors of the Gaels, 
 as of all otlier nations, should, at least, 
 say with the great Roman historian ; 
 •' Qua2 ante conditain condendamve ur- 
 bem, poeticis magis decora fabulis quam 
 incorruptisrerum gestarum monumentis, 
 ea nee refellere nee afTn-mare in animo 
 
 '^ E^ijpt. According to Justin, Epi- 
 phanius, Eusebius, and the Chronicon 
 
 Paschalc, the Scythians [that is, a tuition 
 thei/ call by that name, the Hycsos or Shep- 
 herd kings, perhaps), invaded Egypt 
 from their original seat, 3,660 years be- 
 fore the Christian era. The settlement 
 of Nial (Neeul) in Egypt, may possibly 
 be connected with that event. 
 
 " Capaciront. This territory is said 
 to have been situated in Lower Egy])t. 
 near Heliopolis or the City of the tSwi, 
 now called Matarra. 
 
 * Forond. This name is otherwise 
 written " Foronn," for, as before stated, 
 the " nd" of the ancients is always re- 
 placed by " nn" in modern Gaelic. 
 
 ^ Scota. Here we first meet with a 
 form of word akin to " Scot," in the 
 name of this great progenetrix of the 
 " Scotic" nation. The name is here- 
 after derived by Keating, from " Scy- 
 tha," i. e. a Scijthinn tcnman, and he 
 adds that she was so called from her 
 husband's nation. A more natural and 
 poetic one would be from " Scoth," 
 (Shdh,) a blossom or flower, like the 
 Eatin name " Kosa," or the English 
 " Rose." The aspiration of the final 
 "t" in " Sgoth," a flower, Avhich causes 
 the word to be jimnounced " Sgoh," 
 can scarcely militate against this ety- 
 mology ; for it is not likely that in the 
 earlier stages of our language it was 
 
THE HISTOUr OF IRELAND. 161 
 
 When Niul had thus married Scota, he established schools 
 at Capacirout, and therein disseminated the sciences, and the 
 various languages, amongst the youth of Egypt. It was there 
 that Scota gave birth to Gaedal, son of Niul. 
 
 It may, perhaps, appear strange to some people, that Niul, 
 who was the fifth in descent from Japhet, should have lived in the 
 time of Moses, when a period of seven hundred and ninety-seven 
 years had elapsed from the Deluge to the time that Moses took 
 U[)on him the leadership of the children of Israel. But my an- 
 swer to them is, that it is not incredible that Niul might have 
 lived some hundred years; for, in those days, men lived a long 
 time. For instance, Eber, or Heber, son of Salah, the fourth in 
 descent from Shem, son of Noah, lived four hundred and sixty 
 years, and Shem himself, who lived for five hundred years after 
 his son Arphaxad had been born, as we read in the eleventh 
 chapter of Genesis: therefore, it is not incredible that Niul 
 ishould have lived from the forty-second year of the reign of 
 Ninus, son of Belus, to the time of Moses, as we have mentioned; 
 and it is still less to be wondered at, that Niul should have lived 
 up to that time, if we may believe Marianus Scotus, who says 
 that it was three hundred and thirtj^-one years after the Deluge, 
 when the language of mankind became confounded at Babylon. 
 Now, as we have already said that Niul was not born for a con- 
 siderable time after that confounding of the tongues at Babylon, 
 we may give credit to what the authors of the history of the Scotia 
 nation say of the age in which he lived, and believe them as 
 to the fact, of his having been really born cotemporary with 
 Moses in Egypt.^ 
 
 But, to return to Niul; it was during the time that this sage 
 < I welt at Capaciront, near the Bed Sea, and after his wife, Scota, 
 had given birth to Niul, that the children of Israel escaped from 
 Pharaoh, and marched to the Eed Sea, when they pitched their 
 \cuU not ÍAV from the residence of Niul. When Niul had been 
 
 so asp i rated. In words of undoubtedly kind. But the investigation of sucn 
 common etymology, we find, even in subjects can lead to no satisfactory re- 
 modern Gaelic, that the radical letters «ults. The links connecting our au- 
 are sometimes aspirated, and sometimes cestor Fenius or Phoenix, (from whom 
 not — ex. " Sgaeith" (Skueeh), a flock, we are called Feni,) with Noah, may 
 drove, or band, and " Sgata" (Skotta). either have been lost, or his name may 
 — td. have represented a fact, not a man. 
 ' Niid and Moses cotemporaries. Our Some names also may have been mis- 
 antiquaries have been sorely puzzled to placed on the genealogical tree. The 
 reconcile the legend that makes Niul, Gaels must then rest satislied, that the 
 Bon of Fenius, the sixth in descent from same dark abyss that separates every 
 Noah, cotemporary with Moses, who other human race, except the chosen 
 ■was, according to Sacred History, the seed, from the favored builder of the 
 'eLxteenth from the patriarch of man- ark, should separate tJieirs likewise. 
 11 
 
162 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 told that the Israelites were in his neighborhood, he -went to meet 
 and have discourse with them, so that he might learn who thej 
 were. Aaron met him outside the camp, and told him of the 
 children of Israel's adventures, and of Moses, and of the testifying 
 miracles wrought bj God upon Pharaoh and his host, by reason 
 of the bondage of the Israelites. Upon this Niul and Aaron 
 formed a friendship and alliance. Ninl a,sked the Israelite if his 
 people had enough of food and provisions with them, and at the 
 same time told him, that all the corn and wealth he possessed him- 
 self were at the service of the fugitive "host. The night then 
 came on, and Aaron returned to Moses, and inforined him of 
 the offers made to him by Niul. Niul likewise went home to his 
 own people, and told them all that he had heard concerning the 
 Children of Israel. 
 
 Upon that same night a serpent chanced to bite Gaedal, Niul's 
 son, while he was swimming, and his life was endangered thereby. 
 Others will have it that the reptile came out of the desert, and 
 bit the child in hLs bed. Niul's household advised him to bring 
 the boy to Moses, which he does without delay. Moses there- 
 upon prays to God ; lays the rod he held in his hand upon the 
 wound, and it was immediately healed. Moses then foretold that 
 no venomous creature should have any power in any country the 
 posterity of that youth should dwell. And this prophecy has 
 been fulfilled in the isle of Crete, or Candia, where some of his 
 posterity retnain, in which island, as in Ireland, no venomous 
 serpents can exist; for, although, according to some authors, we 
 have had some serpents in Ireland before St. Patrick's time, I 
 am yet of o])inion that they were not venomous. I am likewise 
 inclined to think, that infernal demons are meant by those ser- 
 pents spoken of in the life of St. Patrick. Some of our historians 
 tell us, that Moses locked the bracelet (Jlesg) he had on his own 
 arm round the neck of Gaedal, and that such was the reason of 
 his being styled Gaedal Glas {for " glris^''' w the Gaelic for a " lockr) 
 In those days every chieftain wore a " flesg," or bracelet,on his arm, 
 as a mark of his dignity as " Kenn Fedna" (Kenn Faana), or 
 head of a sept. Hence, at this da}^, the head of a tribe is called 
 in Irish a " flesgach nasal" {Jlas'jafjh oosalX i. e. a " noble bracelet- 
 bearer." It is also said, that it was from the poison of the 
 serpent that adhered to the neck of Gaedal, that he got his 
 surname of glas (which means also livid or bluish gi'cen). In 
 proof of this, as well as of his having been healed by Moses, tho 
 following verses have been handed down to us b}" the bards : 
 
 ' Glas. Would not •' glas" bo appli- by " fuscus," swarlhy ? Even epitheti 
 cable to the complexion of the (Juotu- like this may sometimes guide the etb- 
 lian or Moor ? Could it be traaslatc<J nologist. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 " The livid Gaedal, could men say 
 To that bright and comely hero ? 
 The lact whence came his surname Glas, 
 Few are those that know its story. 
 
 " Whilst bathing in the swelling wave, 
 Was generous Gaedal, son of Niul, 
 By baleful reptile he was smote. 
 With wound most difficult of healing. 
 
 " The ' livid ' spot, aye, marked the man. 
 Though Moses well his wound had healed — 
 By this some sages understand. 
 That Gaedal thence was surnamed ' Livid.' 
 
 " *No serpent nor vile venomed thing, 
 Since then can live on Gaelic soil — 
 This blessing that great son of light 
 To Gaedal, with his bracelet, gave. 
 
 " Another heirloom to the youth 
 Left Moses, that great wonder-worker — 
 No bard nor stranger^ since has found 
 A cold repulse from son of Gaedal." 
 
 Others again tell us that Gaedal was styled " Glas " from the 
 " blue-green " color of his arms and vesture. In support of this 
 opinion, a bard has left us the following rann : — 
 
 " To mighty Niul Scota bore, 
 A son whom nations claim as father. 
 The man was named, Gaedal the Green, 
 From his green arms and his vesture." 
 
 It is from this Gaedal that all the Gael or Gaedalians are 
 called ; it is thus the bard tells us the fact in the following 
 rann : — 
 
 ' No serpent. This and the follow- it is also a remarkable fact, even in 
 ing verse have been omitted by Halli- this material age, when all that is poetic 
 day, but Dermod O'Connor has given a seems to vanish before " iron wonders," 
 version of them. The editor has found that the serpent is fast fleeing from the 
 them in two of his manuscript copies, presence of the sons of Gaedal in the 
 and has deemed it right to give them in transatlantic wilds. 
 his text, because they relate to a re- ' No bard nor stranger. No one 
 markable fact with regard to lower that knows anything of Irish or Scot- 
 animal life in Ireland. Would that it tish history will deny that this heirloom 
 were equally so with regard to human was held in the highest veneration by 
 life! For, though it is corroborated the Gaels. Exceptions have been seen, 
 by the other tradition, which says it is true, amongst persons bearing 
 that Gaelic names, but these must be deemed 
 
 either mongrels or " tods i' the fauld," 
 
 "AtSt Patrick-i. command f^ ^^^^,„ }jave not the mark of Gaedal 
 
 Vipers q'litted that laml, j^ 
 
 Yet he's wanted again in our Island;'' opon them. 
 
l&i THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 " Feni,'" from Fonius they are called — 
 Not force.] the meaning — 
 From Gaedal Glas, we call them Gaels, 
 And tícots, from Scota." 
 
 Others do, however, assert that Gaedal's mother was called 
 Scota, because his father Niul was of the Scotic race from 
 Scythia, where, according to them, it was the custom to call 
 women after thrir husbands," You must now understand, that 
 this woman was not the same Scota who was the Avifc of 
 Galamh, called Miledh of Spain, and who bore him six sons. 
 For the mother of Gaedal was the daughter of Pharaoh Cingris 
 — the same that held the Israelites in bondage ; but the Pharaoh 
 who.s3 daughter was married to Miledli, was the fifteenth Pharaoh 
 after him, and he was styled Pharaoh Nectonibus. 
 
 But Niul now informed Moses, that the anger of Pharaoh 
 Cingris would be directed against himself for the welcome ho 
 gave to the Children of Israel. Then Moses said to him, "Come 
 thoti with us, and when we shall have reached the land which 
 God has promised us, thou receive a portion thereof; or, if 
 thou wilt, we shall give up the fleet of Pharaoh into thy hands 
 to embark thereon, and remain at sea until it be seen how it 
 shall end between Pharaoh and our host." Niul adopted the 
 latter Counsel. 
 
 A thousand armed men were then sent to seize the fleet, and it 
 was delivered into his hands. lie then embarked tliereupon and 
 thence witnessed the deeds of the ensuing day, to wit, the open- 
 ing of the sea before Moses and the Children of Israel and its 
 closing up after they had passed, upon Pharaoh and his host, by 
 which the latter were all drowned. They amounted to threescore 
 thousand foot and fifty thousand horse, as we are informed by 
 
 " Feni. In these four lines are con- came originally from the rival of ancient 
 
 tained all that can perhaps ever be Rome, when we know that they have 
 
 known of the origin of these three taken their name from (Jarthach, son 
 
 names, upon which so mucli idle dis- of Sacrbretach, a Munstor prince, who 
 
 quisition has been made, and so much was burned in his house by the O'Lon- 
 
 learning wasted. That the last con- nargans in the tenth century, and that 
 
 querors of Ireland before the Normans, previously they wore called Eoghanigh 
 
 called themselves "Feni," " Gaedhail," or Eugeuians, and Dergihini before that 
 
 " Scuit," and other names hereafter to again, and then Iberians or Eberians, 
 
 be met with, from the personal names Milesians, Brigantes, Hcots, Gaels, and 
 
 of their ancestors, can be proved l)y Feni. About as well-founded as the 
 
 th:} invariable practice of their d<;scend- derivation above mentioned have been 
 
 ants in more recent and better known a!l the theories broached upon the na- 
 
 times. " Carthaigh," the genitive of tional names of Scot, Gael, and Feni. 
 " Carthach," is not unlike Carthage. " The fact here mentioned ofhaving 
 
 Still we are not, on the strength of that women called after their husbands, or 
 
 rather close resemblance, to argue that rather after their husband's country, ia 
 
 the"Clann Carthaigh" or Mac Carthieg, at variance with all known history. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 165 
 
 Ectgus O'Cuanain^ Arkinnech (archdeacon of Roscrea), in the 
 following wer^o^ taken from the duan that begins thus — " 0, man 
 that believest not truth :" — 
 
 " There, sixty thousand men on foot, 
 With fifty thousand cavalry, 
 A storm of the strong Red Sea 
 Engulphcd all right suddenly." 
 
 We have mentioned above, that it was in the seven hundred 
 and nmety-ssventh 3'ear after the Flood that Pharaoh was thus 
 overwhelmed with his host. 
 
 Now, when Niul had seen Pharaoh and his forces thus drown- 
 ed, he continued to dwell in the country himself; for he felt no 
 longer afraid, after the destruction of that king. There his 
 children and progeny grew, until they were fit to bear arms. 
 Niul died some time after this, and Gaedal, son of Niul, and his 
 mother, took possession of his territories. 
 
 After this, a son was born to Gaedal, in Egypt, and he was 
 named Esru; and again, in progress of time, a son was born to 
 Esru, and he called him Sru,^^ and they continued to hold the 
 same territor}^, and to dwell therein. 
 
 As to the Egyptians, another Pharaoh, styled Intur, or An 
 Tuir, took possession of the sovereignty ujDon the drowning of 
 Pharaoh Cingris in the Red Sea. In like manner was every 
 king that roigned over Egypt called, also, Pharaoh, from the time 
 of the above-mentioned Pharaoh Cingris, so drowned, down to 
 Pharaoh Ncctonibus, the fifteenth king after Cingris, who was 
 called Pharaoh. 
 
 '- Et^iis O'Cuanain. He was other- have been nlso likened to the Egyptian 
 
 wise called Isaac, and was Bishop of Osiris and Siris. The Nile was called 
 
 Eli and Ros-Cre, now Roscrea. He Siris by the Ethiopians. Osiris wa-s 
 
 died in A. D. 1161. The name •' O'Cua- an ancient Egyptian king, who, having 
 
 nain," is now spelled " Counan." reformed his subjects at home, went 
 
 " Esru—Sru. These names have forth to spread civilization over the 
 
 some resemblance to the Scriptural earth. He was deified after his death, 
 ones Rcu, Serug, and Ashur. They 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 OF PHARAOU INTUE's BANISHMENT OF THE CHILDREN OF 
 GAEDAL FROM EGYPT; AND OF THEIR CHIEFS, AND OF THEIR 
 ADVENTURES THEREAFTER DOWN HERE. 
 
 Pharaoh Intur^ and the Egyptians, in time, remembered their 
 old grudge to the descendants of Niul and the family of Gaedal, 
 namely, their resentment for the friendship the latter had formed 
 with the Children of Israel. They, then, made war upon the 
 Gaels, who were thereby compelled to exile themselves from 
 Egypt. With this account Thomas Walsingham agrees, in the 
 book called Hypodcigma, where he states that, " When the Egyp- 
 tians had been drowned in the Red Sea, those of their country- 
 men who survived, drove out a certain chieftain of the Scythian, 
 nation, who lived among them, that he might not assume sover- 
 eignty over them. Banished with his tribe he came to Spain, 
 where he resided many years, and where his posterity gTCw nu- 
 merous, and that thence he came at last to Ireland." 
 
 Know, reader, that this chieftain was Sru, son of Esru, son of 
 Gaedal, and not Gaedal himself, notwithstanding the false asser- 
 tion of Hector Boethius ; and also, in contradiction to the modern 
 English writers, wlio suppose that it was Gaedal himself; that led 
 the migration to Spain; for, according to the truth of Irish his- 
 tory, which we should rather trust to in this matter, it is a fact 
 that it was in Egypt that Scota, daughter of Pharaoh Cingris, 
 gave birth to Gaedal; and in that land he resided until his death. 
 Nor, as others as.sert, was it from Greece that he had come thither, 
 but from Scythia. And although the author we have just 
 quoted, does assert that it was to Spain that the Gaelic prince, 
 mentioned above, had come, yet the fact was not so, for it was to 
 Scythia that he went ; and it was the fifteenth generation from 
 hirn, namel}^, Bratlia, son of Degatha, that first reached Sj)ain. 
 Ilere follows a quotation from the antiquary, Gilla-Ca^mhan, in 
 proof tliat it was Sru, son of Esru, that was leader in this emi- 
 gration from the land of Egypt: — 
 
 Pharaoh Intur. Tlio cpithot ap- in the manuscript copies. It may refer 
 plied to this prince is found written to the founder of some of the Pyramida 
 " an tuir," [an tooir,) i. c. of the Tovjer, 
 [166] 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 167 
 
 " Sru, son of Esru, son of Gaedal, 
 Gmiidfiither of our learned host, 
 'Twas he from home that wended northward 
 Over the Red Sea's stormy wave. 
 
 " Four vessels then contained his household 
 Upon tlie Red Sea's stormy wave ; 
 The number in each wooden dwelling 
 Was four and twenty wedded pairs." 
 
 Observe that it was Sru, son of Esru, that was the leader of 
 this migration, until they had reached the isle of Crete, where he 
 died. 
 
 His son Eber Scot^ then assumed the chieilainship of the 
 people, until they arrived in Scythia. For that reason, a certain 
 author sa3^s that Eber Scot was the leader of their emigration, 
 and that it was from this chieftain's surname, "Scot," that the 
 Gaels or Gaedalians o.tq called the Scotic race. Some authoiities 
 tells us that the word "Scot" means archer^ and that he got the 
 surname from the fact, that there was no bowman superior to him 
 in his day, and thus, from the word's having been given as a 
 nickname to this chief, that it continued to be applied to his pos- 
 terity, who practiced the use of the bow as a common weapon, 
 in imitation of their ancestors, until a very late period, that is 
 within our own memory. But I do not adopt the opinion of this 
 author, for I find that most antiquarians believe, that the reason 
 for calling the Gaedalians the Scotic race, is because they had 
 drawn their origin from Scythia. 
 
 The reader, must understand that Moses and Gaedal were 
 cotemporaries, and therefore that Gaedal was fourscore years of 
 age when Pharoah was drowned, and that the fourth generation 
 from his birth, namely, Eber Scot, son of Sru, son of Esru, 
 son of Gaedal, was then in existence, when the children of Gae- 
 dal emigrated to Scythia.^ 
 
 Some historians tell us that there were four hundred and forty 
 years, from the drowning of Pharaoh in the Red Sea, until the 
 arrival of the Children of Miledh in Ireland; so a bard relates 
 in the following lav : 
 
 '' Eber Scot. This is most probably attenuation." The regular form is 
 
 the ancestor from whom the Scottish " Scoit." 
 
 name is derived. The translator thinks ' We see our author here puzzled in 
 
 that the epithet means " wanderer," endeavoring to reduce into chronologi- 
 
 which he deems of the same signification cal order the dim traditions, that tell of 
 
 with Scythian. " Scuit "is the nomina- the Fenian sojourn in the land of ligypt. 
 
 live case plural, and the genitive siugu- He even contradicts what he has before 
 
 lar of Scot, being formed therefrom by told us of G-aedal's being yet but a 
 
 what Irish grammarians call '• irregular child, when Moses fial out of Egypt. 
 
168 THE HISTOEY OF IRELAND. 
 
 " Forty years above four hundred, 
 (You know 1 tell no idle tale,) 
 There were, since came the tribes of Dana 
 Across the straits of the great sea, 
 Till Miledh's sons first heard dread Ocean 
 His music beat on Eri's shores." 
 
 However, according to tlie computation made in the Book of 
 invasions, there were but three hundred years, less by seven- 
 teen, from the time that Moses took the command of the Chil- 
 dren of Israel in Egypt, until the sons of iililedh invaded Ire- 
 land ; for Moses assumed his sovereignty over the Children of 
 Israel, in Egypt, at the end of seven hundred and eighty yeari* 
 after the Flood ; and, according to the time idlowed by Irish his- 
 tory to the several occupations of Ireland, it was at the end of 
 one thousand and eighty years after the Flood, that the sons 
 of Miledh took possession of this island. The Book of Inva- 
 sions states, that it was at the end of three hundred years after 
 the Flood, that Partholan landed in Ireland, and that his pos- 
 terity held possession of the country for three hundred years 
 after his time. Then Ireland continued waste for thirty years, 
 until the race of Nemedh ariived therein. This people again 
 ruled the island for two hundred and seventeen years. After 
 them the Fer-Bolgs held possession of the land for thirty-six 
 years; and, lastly, the sway of the Tuatha-Dé-Dananns lasted 
 for two hundred years, wanting three. Now, the summing up 
 of the whole of these periods gives us one thousand and eighty 
 years, from the Flood to the landing of the sons of Miledh in 
 Ireland. And if from this calculation there be deducted the 
 seven hundred and ninety-seven years there were from the Flood 
 to the authority which Moses received over the Children of Israel, 
 it is evident that there was from tliat time to the arrival of the 
 children of Miledh in Ireland, but three hundred years, less by 
 seventeen. Therefore the above-quoted opinion must í)e false, 
 when it asserts that it was at the end of four hundred and forty 
 years after the Children of Israel passed through the Red Sea, 
 that the sons of Miledh reached Ireland. 
 
 Migration of the Oaels to Crete, under Sni, son of Esru. 
 
 Some antiquarians assert that the direction taken by Sru, son 
 of Esru, and his followers, was through the Red Sea, south-east- 
 wards,* into the ocean, and thence eastwards, leaving Tapra- 
 
 * Sonth-eaííwardii. The ancients as- Ptolemy, relates this tradition, without 
 
 serted that Asia was circumnavifiable, even hinting at its imiiracticability. 
 
 and Dr. Keating, whose geographical Notwithstanding the f(jrni in wliich the 
 
 knowledge does not appear to have tradition luis come down to us, it may 
 
 much exceeded that of the days of yet refer to some important fact that 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 169 
 
 bana* and Asia on their left, and then northwards, leaving Asia 
 still on their left, until they rounded it at the north f thence they 
 proceeded westward, until they reached the extremity of the Eip- 
 hean mountains, in the north-west part of Asia, and got into the nar- 
 row sea, that leads southward, separating Europe from Asia, and 
 they thus arrived at Scythia. Ilowever, this was not the route 
 that Sru took in his voyage from Egypt to Scythia, with the crew^s 
 of his four ships, each containing thirty men, but from the mouth 
 of the Nile, through the Mediterranean to Crete,' which is now 
 called Candia, where he dwelt for some time, and then died. In 
 this island he likewise left some of his posterity,^ who remain 
 there to the present day ; and hence it happens, according to our 
 ancient historians, that no venomous reptile can exist in that 
 island, just as is the case in our own island. 
 
 Migration of the Gaels to Scythia under Eher Scot, son of Sru. 
 
 From^ Crete they emigrated to Scythia, under the guidance 
 of Eber Scot. Now, whosoever may assert that it would be im- 
 possible to reach Scythia from Egypt in ship or vessel, should 
 
 took place during the time the Fenians 
 stayed in Egypt — ^such as to the circum- 
 navigation of Africa by the Phoenicians, 
 the expeditions of Bacchus to the East, 
 or to those of Osiris, Hercules, or Se- 
 Bostris. The Gaels have just as much 
 right to their versions of the exploits of 
 these heroes as other nations — especially 
 as it is most likely they wended their 
 way slowly to Ireland by Crete, the 
 Mediterranean Islands, Northern Africa 
 and Spain, while the pure Celts and 
 Cimbri were proceeding thither over- 
 land, through Euroijean Scythia. 
 
 * Taprabana. Taprobane, which is 
 here meant, was the name by which the 
 island of Ceylon was known to the 
 ancients. 
 
 * At the north. The old maps would 
 make it appear, that the Northern Sea- 
 board of Asia ran in a north-westerly 
 direction from China to the Baltic Sea. 
 This would make narrow seas of the 
 mouths of the Volga, the Ural or the 
 Don. Indeed, the "Narrow Sea, pro- 
 ceeding southward," so often spoken of, 
 must mean the Sea of Azof. 
 
 ' Cretf. Crete, or Creta, is now 
 called Candia It is one of the larg-est 
 islands in the Mediterranean. It m the 
 
 southernmost of all the Greek Isles. It 
 was famed for its hundred cities, and for 
 the laws of Minos. Jupiter was fabled to 
 have been educated in Crete. It was 
 also famous for the Corybantes,or priests 
 of Cybele, whose worship was intro- 
 duced from Crete into Phrygia, in Asia 
 Minor. The connection between Crete 
 and Asia Minor was intimate ; hence we 
 meet with a Mount Ida in Crete, and a 
 Mount Ida in the Troade. 
 
 * Poste'-itij. The race of Fenius must 
 have colonized many lauds during its 
 long passage from Egypt to Ireland. 
 Their traditions during this period 
 should consequently belong to many 
 nations besides the Irish ; in fact, we 
 seem to read the migrations of that 
 Iberian race, which planted its roots 
 so widely in Italy, Sicily, and Spain, &c., 
 and which sent its last and remotest 
 oiFshoot to our island. No venomous 
 serpent exists in Crete. 
 
 ^ The Scythia of Fenius Farsa and 
 his posterity, to which the wanderer. 
 Eber Scot, migrated, might have been 
 in Asia Aliuor. It could not have 
 lain far from the borders of that 
 country. 
 
Í70 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 consider that, according to the extent of Scythia as it then ex- 
 isted, the Tanais or Don is mentioned as one of the rivers of 
 Scythin, in the respectable history of Herodotus, who states in 
 his fourth book, that " the river Tanais divides Asia from Europe, 
 and it is reckoned as one of tiie rivers of Scythia."^* 
 
 When the Gaels had settled in Scj'thia, a war broke out, in 
 time, between them and their kinsmen, the descendants of Nenual, 
 son of Fenius Farsa. This warfare, which was for the sovereignty 
 of the country, continued for seven years, until Agnon, son of 
 Tath, the fifth in descent fi'om Eber Scot downward, succeeded 
 in killing his cousin Refloir, son of Rifill, of the house of Nenual, 
 who was then king of Scythia, as Gilla-Caemhan tells us in the 
 following verse : 
 
 " Refloir and the stainless Affnon 
 Seven years contended for the throne, 
 Till king Refloir lell with glory 
 By Aguon's fortuuc-favored hand." 
 
 Expulsion of the Gaels from Scytlna — Their Wanderings — Catcher's 
 Prophecy — /Sojourn in Gothia. 
 
 Now, concerning the children of Refloir : this king had two 
 sons, named Nenual and Refill. These princes collected an army 
 against the posterity of Gaedal, to banish them utterly out of the 
 country. Upon this the Gaels assembled together and left the 
 Scythian land in a body, passing through the country of the 
 Seared-breasts," who are called Amazons, to the border of the 
 Caspian Sea. There they took shipping and landed on an island 
 in the Caspian, wdiere they stayed for one year. Their leaders 
 upon this emigration w^ere Agnon and Eber, the two sons of Tath, 
 
 '" Tanais flumen dividens Asiam ab miscjTa, on the Euxinc Sea, at the 
 
 Earopa, enumeratur inter fluniina quaj mouth of the Thermodon, now the 
 
 apud Scythas sunt. Termeh, a famous river of Cappadocia, 
 
 " Seared breasts. It was fiibled that was the capital city of the Amazons, 
 
 the Amazons seared or burnt off the From the route here traced, the Scythia 
 
 right breast of their female children, in of lOber Scot must have Ikhmi south of 
 
 order that they might be able to throw Paphlagonia. Cilicia, which had re- 
 
 the javelin with more force. This ceived its name, according to the Greek 
 
 fable is founded upon the resemblance mythologists, from Cili.v, the brother 
 
 in sound between the word Amazon, of I'hcenix (Fenius?), would accord 
 
 which is not Greek, and the (ireek with the Scythia f)f the Irish bards, 
 
 words "a." without, and "fia^a," a brast. Classic mythology tells us that I'hoinix, 
 
 The process would prevent the desired Cilix, (^admus and Europa (from 
 
 effect. Their country, a.s before shown, whom Europe is called), were the chil- 
 
 lay from Cappadocia and the Kuxine to «In-n of Agenor. king of I'hcenicia, 
 
 the Caspian Sea, and, roundin-,' thceast- and brother of IJcius, who founded the 
 
 ernann-leof theEuxine, it reached the Assyrian Empire, about 2,000 years 
 
 Palus Ma;otiá on the north-west. 'J'be- before the Christian era. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 171 
 
 son of Agnaman, son of Bcogaman, son of Eber Scot, son of Sru, 
 son of E.sru, son of Gaedal. Agnon had three sons witli him on 
 this migration. These were named EUod, Lamfinn, andLamglas.^^ 
 Eber, son of Tath, had two sons, namely, Caicher and King. 
 Agnon died in tlie Caspian island, just mentioned. 
 
 At the end of the year the wanderers left the island. Upon 
 this voyage, their host was led by six chieftains. They formed 
 the crews of three ships. In each ship were threescore persons, 
 and every third man had a wife with him. They then steered 
 along the strait leading from the Caspian, westwards,^^ for the 
 narrow sea that comes in from the Northern Ocean ; and when 
 they had reached that sea, a storm came upon them, by which 
 they were driven upon an island in the Pontic Sea, called Caronia,''* 
 where they abode for one year and three months. It was in this 
 island that Eber, son of Tath, and Lamglas died. 
 
 They emigrated thence under four chieftains, namely, Ellod, 
 Lamfinn, King, and Caicher. They now met Mermaids or Sirens*^ 
 at sea, who began to sing soft music to the sailors as they passed 
 them, by which means they intended to lull them to sleep, and then 
 to fall upon and destroy them. Caicher the Druid, found a remedy 
 for this danger by melting wax'® into the ears of the men, by 
 which they were prevented from hearing the music of the sor- 
 ceresses. 
 
 '^ Lamfinn and Lamglas. These 
 names siguify the " Fair Hand," and 
 the " Blue" or " Green Hand." The 
 Irish pronounce them Luuvinn and 
 Lauvlass. 
 
 ''■" The Stmit leading Westwards. 
 It is idle to speculate upon the route 
 here traced, as it is evident the later 
 narrators of the tradition knew noth- 
 ing of the geographical position of the 
 localities of which they treated. The 
 lower bend of ths Wolga might have 
 brought them westwards to within a 
 short distance of the Don, by which 
 they could have got in to the Pontic, 
 that is, the Euxine Sea, through the 
 Narrow Sea, i. e. the Palus Maeotis, or 
 Sea of Azof. 
 
 " Caronia. There were several 
 places in Asia Minor that might be 
 assimilated to this name. Caria, or 
 some Caria colony, was possibly meant, 
 The boundaries of this country varied 
 extremely at different times. It was 
 also called Phcenia, from a Phojnician 
 colony settled there. Caria is now 
 called Adinelli. It is true that Caria 
 
 is not on the Pontic Sea, but then the 
 mention of the " muirdiuchoin " [mur- 
 yooghin), i. e. mermaids, or sirens, as 
 their next, would show that the wander- 
 ing clan of Eber Scot sailed from 
 Caronia into the Mediterranean, which 
 they could not so readily do if that 
 place lay in the Pontic Sea. 
 
 " Sirens. The sirens were fabled 
 sea nymphs of such melodious voices 
 that all who heard them forgot every- 
 thing else in attending to their enchant- 
 ing song, and at last died through 
 want of food. Their Irish name was 
 muirdhuichoin {mur-yoog'ii"). The story 
 of the sirens was so universal during 
 the heroic ages, amongst all peoples, 
 that the Irish bards had no need to 
 borrow it from the Latins or Greeks. 
 The sirens were said to dwell in a small 
 island off Cape Pelorus, in Sicily. This 
 shows the direction in which our Scots, 
 or wanderers, were then steering. 
 
 1* Wax. This story is also told by 
 Homer, of Ulysses. It was apparent- 
 ly one of the wonderful yarns of the 
 primitive mariners, and said of all those 
 
172 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Thus they continued their voyage, until they had reached the 
 point" of the Eiphean mountains, in the North, where they cast 
 anchor and Lnided. It was here that Caicher prophesied to tlicm, 
 that they should find no fixed settlement to dwell in, until they 
 had landed in Eri ; mentioning, at the same time, that it was not 
 themselves, but their posterit}-, that were destined to possess that 
 land. 
 
 From this point they then wandered, until they came to Gothia, 
 where Larnfinn had a renowned son, who was named Eber Glun- 
 Finn,** i. e. Eber of the whitedinee. For thirty years they abode 
 in Gothia, and there some of their race remain to the present day. 
 In testimony of this Gilla-Caemain has left us the following 
 rann: 
 
 " The skilful, truthful race of Gaedal 
 Dwelt thirty''' years in that land, 
 And some of them abide still yonder, 
 And there shall dwell 'till earth's last doom." 
 
 But some others of our historians are of opinion, that one 
 hundred and thirty years was the period that the Gaels dwelt in 
 Gothia, to wit, from Eber Glun-Finn to Bratha, son of Degatha or 
 Degh-ííitha,2o son of Ercadh, son of Alloid or Ellod, son of Nu- 
 
 that made distant voyages. As the 
 Phccnicians were the first mariners, it 
 must have originated with them, and 
 from them most likely the Gaels re- 
 ceived it. 
 
 " Riphean Mountains, in the North. 
 Tliis is evidently in contradiction with 
 what has gone before. ^Ve have seen 
 them get into the Narrow Sea, or Sea 
 of Azof, from the east, thence they w-ere 
 driven by a storm into the Pontic Sea, 
 and land in Caronia : wo next see them 
 in the neighborhood of Sicily, where the 
 sirens were said to be. As we are 
 never told that they got back again 
 into the Narrow Sea, their course must 
 have been still southward, and the 
 point of the Riphean Mountains in the 
 north, if it be not altogether imaginary, 
 can only mean the Northern Pillar of 
 Hercules, or Mount Calpe, now (Jib- 
 raltar, which lies opposite Abyla, on 
 theAfricaii coast, which was the South- 
 ern Pillar of Hercules. The translation 
 or version of the " Gaerthluighe'' 
 {Gaylducc) of Gaelic legend into " Go- 
 thia," by some bard who had received 
 a smattering of Latin, was the origin of 
 
 the absurdities here recounted. To 
 bring the clan of Eber Scot to a land 
 that could not have been called 'Go- 
 thia' ' for ages after, our poets follow- 
 ing the track of this dabbler in Latin, 
 fancied that the Sea of Azof was con- 
 nected with the Northern Ocean, by a 
 Narrow Sea by the Riphean Moun- 
 tains, which existed only in their imagi- 
 nations. 
 
 1« Eber Glun-Finv. This is the 
 third time we meet with the name Eber, 
 amongst the (iaelic chieftains. Lam- 
 finn's own name, also, was probably 
 Eber, for •' Larnfinn," i. e. " Fair Hand," 
 was most probaljly an epithet given for 
 the sake of distinction. 
 
 ** Thirty. " Trichad" {Tlirceghud) 
 tJihti/ may have been written by 
 mistake for " tri ched" (three ghayd) 
 three hundred, and led to the discrep- 
 ancies discussed in the next paragraph. 
 
 " J)c<rh-Fiitk(i. This word means 
 " good cause" or " good fate," i.e. pros- 
 perous. Willi all its aspirations, it is 
 writttMi " L>egh-fhatha," [Dayaha or 
 Dyuhct .) 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 173 
 
 adath, son of Nenual, son of Ebric,^' son of Eber Glun-Finn, who 
 was born in Gothia, son of Larafinn, who was the first of their 
 chieftains that came to that country. Now, as so many gener- 
 ations coukl not have passed by in thirty years, I am convinced 
 that the hitter opinion is the true one. There are othei- historians, 
 aorain, who assert that the Gaels resided in Gothia for three 
 hundred years. But this assertion cannot be true, for we have 
 seen above, that according to the dates of the saveral invasions, 
 there were not three hundred years in full from the drowning of 
 Pharaoh in the Red Sea, to the landing of the sons of Miledh in 
 Ireland. Then the opinion last mentioned cannot be correct; for 
 the Gaels went through the whole of their wanderings in less 
 than that time, to wit, from Egypt to Crete or Candia, from 
 Crete to Scythia, from Scythia to Gothia, from Gothia to Spain, 
 from Spain to Scythia, from Scythia to Egypt, from Egypt to 
 Thrace, from Thrace to Gothia, and from Gothia to Spain, and 
 finally from Spain to Ireland. 
 
 CHAPTEK y. 
 
 OF THE MIGRATIONS OF THE GAELS FROM GOTHIA TO SPAIN, &C. 
 
 Bratha, son of Degatha or Degh-Fatha, the eighth in descent 
 from Eber Glun-Finn, i. e. of the White-Knee, emigrated from 
 Gothia, near Crete and Sicily,^ to Spain, in the South of Europe, 
 with the crews of four ships, as Gilla-Caemhain tells us in the 
 following verse : 
 
 " Ebric. The aspirated form of Eastern Iberi, through the Poutic Sea to 
 thisnamo is " Ebhric" (Aivric). It is the quarter of the sirens (Sicily), and 
 otherwise written, Febhric (Fdivric). leaving them in Gaethluighe, under his 
 It is clearly a derivative from Ebher or son Eber Glun-Fin, and in that same 
 Eber {Aiver), a name already become Gaethluighe, near Crete avd Sicily, we 
 frequent amongst the Clan of Eber the now find them again, under his ninth de- 
 Scot, scendant, Bratha. Hence it is obvious 
 
 1 Gothia near Crete and Sicily. We that '"Gactulia," not Gothia, must be 
 
 here see the great mistake of having the country meant, and that our " Clan- 
 
 tran^lated " Gaethluighe" by " Gothia," na Ebir" were all this time spreading 
 
 to whicli it has but slight resemblance, themselves in Northern Africa and 
 
 even in letters. "W^e have seen LamSnn Southern Europe, in the region of the 
 
 leading the Clan of Eber from the Western Ibcri. The following is the 
 
 neighborhood of the Caspian and learned and venerable O'Elaherty'a 
 
 Euxine Seas, and the land of the Ama- opinion on this subject : 
 
 zons — in fact, from the vtry region of the "Therefore Lamiinn, having left 
 
174 THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 " Dogatha's son, our honored Bratha, 
 His host from Crete to Sicily 
 Brought in four stout, swift-sailing vessels, 
 And thence to Southern Ilispany." 
 
 It is from t"his our Bratha, that Bragantia, in Portugal, (or 
 Port-na-n Gall,) wlierc lies the present dukedom of Braganza, has 
 received its name. 
 
 These are the four chiefs that accompanied Bratha in his voy- 
 age to Spain, namely, Oghi and Ughi, the two sons of Allod, 
 son of Nenual, with Mantan and Caicher, There Avere fourteen 
 wedded couples, and six hired soldiers in each ship. Upon their 
 landing they gave three defeats to the previous inhabitants of 
 the country, that is, to the posterity of Tubal, son of Japliet. But 
 a sudden plagTie came upon the sons of Allod, so that they all 
 perished, with the exception of ten. 
 
 Brebgan, son of Braiha, estaUishes his sivay in Spain — Founds 
 Brigantium. 
 
 However, they soon multiplied again, and Breogan,* son of 
 Bratha, Avas born. This was that Breogan who shattered the 
 power of Spain, in so many fights. It was he also that founded 
 or built Brigantia,' near Corunna, and Breogan's Tower in Corunna 
 itself 
 
 Scythia, and his father having died on the first inhabitants of Africa, whose 
 
 the voyage thence, settled in Gaeth- king, larbas, granted Byrsa, the ground 
 
 luio-he, where a son was born for him, whereon Carthage was built, to Dido." 
 
 named Eber Glun-Finu, of whom the '■' Breogan. From this chieftain the 
 
 bard has sung : Gaels are said to have taken the name 
 
 • ii,«,„ 1., a\r. " Clanna Brcogain," latinized " Brigan- 
 Oenar CO n-oirdhorc in sin " i .i • •* 
 
 Do Laiiihihinii miiac A<;imomhain, tcs. 1 he name may be Otherwise writ- 
 
 Ehhor fjiun-flnn, gian a tiriirh \jQn " Bregan," the long " c'' being 
 
 Ben-athairfolt-cl.a.sFliobhrigh. commutablo with CO in the. Irish lai^ 
 
 In Fngiinh. g'lage. Thus we say " fcr" {fair) and 
 
 In that land gloriously was born „ f^^^,. (^fe>,re), i. e. grass, indiscrimi- 
 
 T<i LamHnn, son of Aiínornhan, V ,/' / t) - \ • i • i 
 
 The whitf-kniMii Eber of'lirif:litBway, natcly. JJrcoghan (yjreoini) is derivca 
 
 Tlio curly-haired grandslre of Fcbric. cither from " brigh" {hrrr) strength, OT 
 
 " Some will have this country Gothia, from " bre6,"y?/7', and not from " brugh" 
 
 though it is everywhere called Gaeth- (broo) or "hrog" (hrngg), ii dwelling, as 
 
 lui'rh'ri by our writers. Golhia has not some have supposed, in guessing at the 
 
 the^ smaiicst resemblance to the word ; etymology of the name of the Brigantes. 
 
 and to translate it so, inverts the order ' lirignntin. Brigantium was the 
 
 of history. Gothia is an island in the name l)y which this city was known to 
 
 Baltic Sea, of no antif|uily. Galatia is the Romans. To it they added the 
 
 not unlike it, in sound, but that name of title " Flavium" or "Flavian," from 
 
 the country of the Asiatic (ialli is the family-namt! of one; of thiiir empe- 
 
 much more modern. * * * I am rors, in order to distinguish it from 
 
 really of opinion that those people, other citi(« of the 15rigantis, one of 
 
 whom our writers have called Ga'jth- which is now called r.regcntz, in the 
 
 luighi, are Gaetulians, descended from Tyrol. The Brigantium founded by Bre- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 176 
 
 " Many conflicts, many wars 
 Upon the proud host of Esbain, 
 Broke Breogan of the battle's din, 
 The builder of Brigantia." 
 
 This Breogan Lad ten sons, namely, Breoga, Fuad, Murtliemni, 
 Cuailgni, Cuala, Bladh, Ebleo, Nar, Ith and Bili, {Billeh.) In 
 memory of these Gill a Caemhan made the following rann : 
 
 " Breogan's ten sons, whose fame shall live, 
 AVere Bregha, Fuad, Murthemni, 
 Cuailgni, Cuala, with Bladh, the brave, 
 Eblind and Nar and Ith and Bili." 
 
 Galamh,* who is called " Miledh Esbaini," i, e. the hero of 
 Spain, in Gaelic, and in Latin, Milesius, was the son of the Bili 
 here named. Now, although Bili be the last named of the sons 
 of Breogan in the list here given, still our ancient authors all 
 assert that lie was the eldest son of this chieftain. 
 
 Miledh of Spain, or Milesius, i. e. Galamh, son of Bili, son of 
 
 Breogan. 
 
 When, then, the race of Breogan Lad increased and multiplied, 
 and had acquired the masterdom of nearly all Spain, there was 
 born to Bili, son of Breogan, a renowned son, of most glorious 
 deeds, and he was then called Galamh ; but he has been since 
 styled Miledh of Spain. This youth was seized with the desire 
 of sailing to Scythia, in order to visit his kinsmen and to do 
 them service, in a fleet well manned with the young men of 
 Spain. Having resolved upon this voyage, he equipped thirty 
 ships, in each of which he placed its requisite crew of warriors. 
 .He then launched his fleet upon the Mediterranean Sea, and 
 sailed directly North-east' by Sicily and Crete, until he arrived 
 at Scythia. When he had reached the Scythian land, he sent 
 word to Refloir, son of Neman, who was then king of Scythia, 
 and who Avas descended from that Refloir, son of Rifill, whom we 
 have mentioned heretofore. When Miledh appeared before the 
 king, he got a Idndly welcome, and in time he was made general 
 
 ogan is now called Betanzos. It is situ- derived from " Gal," hatth, bravery, &c., 
 
 ated in Galicia, on the Bay of Coruuna, by the addition of the suffix " mh" — 
 
 about five leagues south of the latter just as "brethemh" {brthtv),a, judge, 
 
 city. It is named Cathair Bhreoghain is formed from " breith" (brth), judge- 
 
 [Cuhir Vrcowinn), i. e. Breogan's For- 7neiit. 
 
 tress, by some Irish writers. ° North-east. This route would have 
 
 * Galamh. The name •' Galamh" {Gal- taken him to Phoenicia or Cilicia di- 
 
 lav) may mean the same thing as " Mi- rect. 
 Icdn" (Meeleh), i. e. hero or warrior. 
 
176 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 of the Sc3^tliian army, and he received in marriage a daughter of 
 the king, whose name was Seng, and who bore him two sons 
 named i)oau® and Arech Februadh. Now, when Milcdh had 
 dwelt for some time in Scythia, his success against the tyrants 
 and robbers of that country was so great, tliat he became very 
 much beloved by the inhabitants. When King Ecfloir perceived 
 this, he was seized with fear, lest Miledh might rise up against 
 himself, and strive to deprive him of the kingdom of Scythia. 
 For this reason he plotted the death of Miledh, notwillistanding 
 the fact of his being his own son-in-law. But Miledh heard of 
 the plot, and thereupon seized upon a favorable opportunity, and 
 put King Reiloir to death first. 
 
 He then called together and assembled his own faithful follow- 
 ers, and put out to sea with the crews of threescore ships. And he 
 steered straight over the Mediterranean Sea, until ho reached the 
 mouths of the Nile. There he landed, and sent an embassy to 
 Pharaoh Nectonibus, letting him know of his arrival ; and the 
 king sent ambassadors of his own to meet Miledh, and to conduct 
 him to his presence. And when Miledh appeared before the king, 
 he was made welcome to the land, and a territory was granted 
 to him and his people to dwell thereupon. It is in record of this 
 voyage of Miledh, from Scythia to Egypt, that Gilla-Caemhan 
 composed the following rann : 
 
 " Miledh, the sire of our goodly clans, 
 Slew King KcHoir, the well-befriended. 
 Then hastily fled he yon hostile land. 
 And found other iiekls by the bounteous Nilus." 
 
 The reader must licre observe, that the two sons which Seng, 
 daughter of Refloir, had borne to Miledh, namely, Donn and 
 Arech Feliruadh, accompanied him in his voyage to Egypt, their 
 mother having previously died in Scythia. 
 
 At this time, there was a great war between Pharaoh and the 
 king of Ethiopia. Pharaoh made Miledh the commander of his 
 army, when he had estimated his bravery and valor, and sent 
 him to meet the forces of Ethiopia therewith. There then ensued 
 many engagements and conflicts, between the forces under the 
 command of Miledh and tliose of the Ethiopians. In these he was 
 80 successful that his f ime and renown spread through all ua- 
 
 * Donn. This chieftain, the eldest Arech Februadh (Ara;jh Fcvrooh), 
 
 son of Miledh, was othcTwise called were aftcrwai-ds lost off the coast of 
 
 Ebcr Donn, i. c. the I'rown Ebcr, to Ireland. " Februadh" may mean red- 
 
 distin;^,iish him from his brother, I^bcr brewed, or it may be a contracted form 
 
 Finn, i. e. the Fair Ebcr, Miledh's eld- of " Ebcr" or " Febric niadh," i. c. tho 
 
 eat son by Scota, the lO^yptian prin- red Ebcr. 
 cass. Both Donn and his brother, 
 
THE iHSTOKY OF IRELAND. 177 
 
 tions, whereupon Pharaoh gave him one of his own daughters 
 to wife. This lady was called Scota, from being the wife of 
 Miledh, who was of the Scotic race. She bore her husband two 
 sons in Egypt, namely, Ebcr Finn and Amerghin. 
 
 As soon as ever Miledh had landed in Egypt, he sent twelve 
 of the young men that had accompanied him, to learn the prin- 
 cipal arts of Egypt. Thus each of them had become expert in 
 his own particular profession, by the end of the seven ^^ears that 
 Miledh resided in the land of the Pharaohs. 
 
 Miledh at length remembered him, that the druid Caicher had 
 prophesied long before, to his ancestor, Lamfinn, that Ireland 
 was the land in which it was destined that his posterity should 
 obtain a lasting sovereignty. Upon this he fitted out three ships, 
 supplied them with crews, and took his leave of Pharaoh. He 
 then set sail from the mouth of the Nile, into the Mediterranean, 
 and landed on an island near Thrace. It is called Irena,' and 
 there it was that Ir, son of Miledh, was born. Thence he sailed 
 to an island^ called Gothia, in the strait leading into the northern 
 ocean. There he made some stay, and there it was that Scota 
 bore him a son, namely, Colpa, styled the Swordsman. Thence 
 he set sail into the northern strait which separates Europe from 
 Asia, and passed onward, leaving Europe on the left, to the 
 west, until he reached Cruthin-tuath,^ i. e. the land of the Cruth- 
 nigh or Picts, which is called Alba. He plundered the coasts 
 of that country, and thence sailed along the coast of Great Brit- 
 ain, leaving it on the right, until he reached the mouth of the 
 river Ren (i. e. the Rhine) ; thence, sailing westward and south- 
 ward, he leaves France on his left, and at length lands inBiscay.*" 
 
 ' Irena. Samotbrace maj' be the isle arrival of the Crutlinigh in the British 
 
 meant. This isle was peopled by Isles, during the reign of the Irish 
 
 Pelasgians, Thraciaus, and Phoenicians. kingErimhon, be correct. " Cruthnech" 
 
 It was famed for its religious mysteries. [Cruknagh) is the nominative singular 
 
 Its soil was deemed sacred, and hence of Cruthnigh. — It is to be noted, that 
 
 it was an inviolable asylum to all fugi- thetermination " igh" [ih and ig), when 
 
 tives. From this possibly comes the ending a word, applied as a national or 
 
 name Irena, which means peace, i. e. family-name, throughout this iransla- 
 
 " eiprjvrj,'' given to it in the text, tion, is to be taken in the plural ; that 
 
 Miledh may well have put in there in is, if it has no Irish nominative, such as 
 
 this, which seems to have been a pi- " ^" " Mac," " Ui," " Clann," &c., be- 
 
 ratical expedition of his. fore it ; in the latter case it is used in 
 
 ' All island. Here, again, we have the genitive singular. The nominative 
 
 " Gothia" put for " Gaethluighe," and singular of all such words ends invari- 
 
 Sgagerackc for the Straits of Gibraltar, ably in " ach" or " ech" (ngh). These 
 
 ■ ^' Crutkin-tiiath. This name is pro- terminations correspond with the " us" 
 
 nounced Chrulun-tooali, and the in- ^^d " i" «f the Latins, and the " of" 
 
 habitants of the land so-called are and '' ot'''' of the Greeks, 
 
 styled Cnitlmigh {CruhnigOT Cruhnih). '" Biscay. A province in the north- 
 
 The name is prematurely applied in this west angle of Spain, lying on the A1> 
 
 iastance, if the account criven of the lantic Ocean, and bordering on France, 
 12 
 
178 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Now, when lie had arrived in this hind, his kinsmen come to 
 bid him -welcome, and they tell him that the Gothi, and several 
 other foreign nations, were harassing both their country and all 
 Spain. Upon hearing this, Miledh summoned his own jjartisans 
 Throughout Spain, and when they had come together he marched 
 with them, and Avith the forces he had brought with him in his 
 fleet, against the foreigners and the Gothi, and routed them in 
 fifty-four battles, and thus di'ove them completely out of Spain. 
 xVfter this, both he and his kinsmen, the sons of Breogan, son 
 of Bratha, held the sovereignty of the greater part of that 
 country. 
 
 Miledh had now thirty-two sons, as the bard informs us, in the 
 following verse : 
 
 " Thirty sons and two 
 Had Miledh, the white-handed, 
 Of these there came, we know, 
 But eight brave sons to Eri." 
 
 Twenty-four of these sons had been born to him of concubines, 
 before he had left Spain for Scythia. The other eight were born 
 of the two wives, who had been successively married to him. 
 Seng, daughter of Eefloir, king of Scythia, bore two of them to 
 him in Scythia, namely, Donii and Arech Februadh, and Scota, 
 daughter of Pharaoh Nectonibus, bore the other six, namely, 
 two in Egypt, Eber Finn and Amerghin, Ir on the sea of Thrace, 
 Colpa of the Sword, in Gothia, Arannan and Erimhon, in Gal- 
 licia. 
 
 As the bard has sung in the following lay : 
 
 " Those sons of Galamh of bright smile, 
 Of him called Miledh of Esbain, 
 Eight victors in a thousand fields, 
 Say, what land saw those heroes' birth ? 
 
 from which it is st^parated by the Py- in, there can be no doubt but that the 
 
 renees. Jt is inhabited by a people Gaels, Scots and Iberi were all of one 
 
 speaking a language peculiar to them- and the same stock. It only remains 
 
 selves, that is, completely diliereiit from to prove to what race of men the latter 
 
 any tongue in Europe whose forms have pcoi)Ie belonged. This can now bo 
 
 yet Ijecn investigated l)y competent per- done by comparative etynnology alone. 
 
 souB. If these peoi)lc be the represent- Any person who presumes to pro- 
 
 atives of the old Iberi, the idiom of nouiice against the Irish tradition on 
 
 the Gaels must certainly have been this subject, witliout having made u 
 
 lost in that of the Celts, who inhabited scientific comi)ari.>on of the Basque and 
 
 Ireland before them. To any srhohr, (Jaelic. and without finding outwhether 
 
 who can understand the Irish language, the Ba.«(iues are rciilly the Iberi, is here 
 
 and can read the old traditional frag- but an ignorant ]jretender, whatever tx; 
 
 meati? of hi.story remaining extant tlierc^ his learning on other matters. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 179 
 
 '' R«cl-browed Arecli and warlike Donn 
 Were born both on Scythian soil — 
 In Egypt's sunny clime were born 
 The fair-haired Eber and Amerghin. 
 
 •' And Ir, that brave beyond compeer, 
 Was born off the Thracian shore — 
 The swordsman, Colpa, first saw light. 
 When Miledh camped in Gaethlia's'^ glens. 
 
 " At Brcogan's lofty tower were born 
 Arannan and great Erimhon, 
 The youngest of those faultless braves. 
 Whose worth has swelled the voice of song." 
 
 Now, when the children of Brcogan, son of Bratha, had thus 
 increased, they were of sufficient strength and numbers to cope 
 with any power in Spain, Not satisfied, however, with the 
 greatness of their power there, they resolved upon extending 
 their sway over other lands. They had also another motive for 
 this. Ther3 was, at that period, a scarcity of food in Spain, 
 which had lasted for twenty-six years ; it was caused by the 
 great drought of the seasons. They were prompted to it, also, 
 by the number of conflicts they had to maintain with the Gothi,^ 
 and the several other foreign nations, with whom they had to 
 contend for the sovereignty of Spain, They then held council 
 as to what country they should invade, and as to whom they 
 should send to reconnoitre it. Upon this, they resolved to choose 
 Ith, son of Breogan, son of Bratha, who was both a valiant 
 champion and an intelligent man, well instructed in the sciences, 
 to reconnoitre the isle of Eri. The place where they adopted 
 this counsel was the Tower of Breogan, in Gallicia. Thus it 
 happened that they sent Ith to Eri. It was not, as some assert, 
 that he had seen it, like a white cloud, on a winter's night, from 
 the top of Breogan's Tower. There had been an acquaintance 
 and intercourse, long previous to this, between Eri and Esbain ; 
 for we have seen that Eocaidh, son of Ere, the last king of the 
 Fer-Bolgs, had married Talti, daughter of Maghmor, king of 
 Esbain. They had been, then, in the habit of mutually trading 
 
 " Gaethlia's. The word used in the since. These '• Gaethluigli'' might be 
 
 original old duan quoted above, is Gaetulian mercenaries of the Phoeni- 
 
 " Gaethluighe." It shows where Mi- cians or Carthagenians. The latter 
 
 ledh was, when he was said to be in nation nearly always carried on its 
 
 Gothia. wars by mercenaries. Could the Gae- 
 
 " Gothi. Here, again, we meet the tulian nation be a branch of the Gaels 
 
 " Gaethluigh" of the Pagan bards, themselves? " Gaedhalach" (Gí7)//ag,^), 
 
 transformed into " Gothi." Spain was, Gaelic, differs but very sHglitly from 
 
 no doubt, then subject to the invasion " Gaethalach" ((?aí//ia/ag-/í), Gaetulian. 
 of African hordes, as it has been often 
 
180 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 one with the other, and of exchanging their wares and vahiahlcs, 
 long before Ith, son of Breogan, had been born. Thus the 
 Esbainigh (or Spaniards) knew Eri, and the Erinnigh knew Es- 
 bain, long before Ith, son of Breogan, had come into existence. 
 
 /cA, son of Breogan, visits Ireland — Ilis death. 
 
 Ith then got his ship ready, and manned it with one hundred 
 and fifty men. He then set sail and landed in the north of Ire- 
 land, having cast his anchor in the swampy harbor of Magh- 
 Itha.^^ As soon as he had landed, he sacrificed to Neptunus,^* 
 the god of the sea, and the -demons gave him evil omens. Then 
 some of the folk of the country came to meet him, and they ac- 
 costed him in the " Scot-b^rla,"^^ or Scotic tongue, that is, in the 
 Gaelic or Irish, and he answered them in the same language, 
 telling them that he was of the race of Magog, as well as they, 
 and that the Scotic was his native language as well as theirs. 
 
 Our historians infer, from this passage in the Book of Con- 
 quests, that the " Scot-bcrla," called also the Gaelic, was the na- 
 tive tongue of Nemcdh and his people, and consequently of his 
 descendants, the Fer-Bolgs, and accordingly of the Tuatha-Dé- 
 bananns. This, indeed, is credible, from wliat we stated above, 
 to wit, that it was Gaedal, son of Ethor, that regulated and ar- 
 ranged the Scotic language, at the command of Fenius Farsa ; 
 and that from him, as we have said before, the Scotic tongue is 
 named Gaeidilgi or Gaelic. Now, this Gaedal had been teaching 
 his schools in Scythia, before Neinedh had emigrated from Scy- 
 thia to Eri, or Ireland; and, as the "Scot-bérla" was the general 
 
 '^ The Swampi/ Ilarhorof Magh-Tlh. cncos." Whether liis kinsmen spoke 
 
 There was a place called Sleoihna Celtic or not (for Celtic is here meant by 
 
 Maighe n-Itha {S'tlevna or SIdewna Scot-Btrla), he must have known a 
 
 3Ioye n-Ika) near Loch-Febail, now language then universal in Wosteru 
 
 JjO\i«-h Foyle. Perhaps the mouth of Europe, to have nieritetl the title given 
 
 the Finn was so called. The name him in the text. The name Edirsgel or 
 
 means the " Slimes," or, rather, " Slip- Jiidirsgcol, whence the O'DriscoIl's or 
 
 pings of the plain of Ith." O' h-Kidirsgooils, who were amongst 
 
 ^* Neplunus. Irish etymologists have the most distinguished of Ith's de- 
 derived the name Neptunus from the sccndants in the latter times, have 
 Gaelic words " naemh" {naijv), sacred, taken their surname, signifies in- 
 and " Tonn," a wiivc, as if " Nacmh- terjirelcr. It was a name very fre- 
 thonn" {Nai/phonn). The etymology is quent amongst the tribe in ancient 
 fanciful, but not likely. times, and may have been originally 
 
 '^ Scot-Berla. It is not necc&sary to taken in comniemora' ion of Ith's /lar/iig 
 
 suppose that the Gaels and Tuatha-De- acted as interpreter between his kins- 
 
 Dananns spoke the same language in men and the Irish. Ith has been called 
 
 order to account for Ith's converse with a PhcDnician. If he was, Edirsgeol 
 
 that people. He had been chosen for might bear the (U)ristruction of " double- 
 
 the leader because lie was " an jntelli- tongued" aj»plied to the Phccuiciaus 
 
 gent man, well instructed in the sci- and Tyriaus of old. 
 
THE IIISTOKY OF IRELAND. 
 
 181 
 
 language of Scythia, when Nemedli migrated tlicnce, our xinti- 
 quaries infer, that the Scotic language was the proper language 
 of Nemedh and his people on their arrival into Ireland, and 
 thence of all his posterity. It w\">s also that of the sons of Miledh, 
 whose native tongue has ever been the " Scot-berla," from the 
 time that Niul first left Scythia to the present day. Eistard Crae- 
 bach^'' (Richard Creagh), Primate of Ireland, agrees in this opinion, 
 in the book which he has written on the origin of the Gaelic 
 tongue and nation. He speaks thus on the subject: "The Gaelic 
 tongue has been constantly used in Ireland, from the arrival of 
 Nemedh, six hundred and thirty years after the Flood, unto the 
 present day."" From what we have now said, it will not seem 
 improbable, that it was in the Scotic tongue that Ith and the 
 Tuatha-De-Dananus held converse together. 
 
 As to Ith, he first asked them both the name of the country 
 itself, and who they were that held the sovereignty thereof. 
 Upon which, the folk, whom he had met, told him that the kings, 
 who then held its sovereignty, were the three sons of Kermad 
 
 '" Ristard Craehach. Properlv, Ris- 
 tard O'Mael-Chraobhaigh (O'Muijl- 
 chrayv'e). This distinguished prelate 
 aud Catholic martyr, whose uarae has 
 been ah-eady meiitioued in the notes on 
 the preface of this work, was in his 
 youth reared to the profession of mer- 
 chant, which was that of his father. 
 While in a Spanish port, whither he 
 had gone on a mercantile voyage, the 
 ship to which he was attached founder- 
 ed in the harbor, and all its crew per- 
 ished with it, except the young O'ilael- 
 Craevie, who escaped the catastrophe 
 by having come ashore to attend the 
 holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Struck by 
 his ]ireservation, he renounced • the 
 world, studied for the priesthood, and 
 was in due time ordained a member of 
 that body. Becoming distinguished for 
 his piety, zeal aud great literary attain- 
 ments, he was consecrated Archbishop 
 of Armagh and Primate of Ireland, as 
 a man well fitted to console and support 
 his Catholic countrymen under the 
 grievous persecution then raging against 
 them by order of their merciless fofeign 
 tyrant, Elizabeth of England. . The holy 
 prelaie soon fell into the hands of the 
 minionsof that ruthless enemy of Ireland 
 and of Ireland's Church. By them he 
 was sent prisoner to England, where he 
 long languished in ciiaius. Not being 
 
 able to force him into a denial of his 
 ancestral faith, his heretic enemies, 
 finding no fault in the man, sought to 
 trump up a false accusation against 
 him, of which his jailer's daughter was 
 to have been the iustrumeut. By this 
 plan they hoped to take away his life 
 under the'cover of English law. But 
 when his young and beautiful accuser 
 was brought into court and placed 
 upon the bench, either struck with the 
 august appearance of tjie prelate or 
 frightened at the awful crime they were 
 forcing her to commit, she became si- 
 lenced, and refused to utter a word 
 against him. When urged to speak by 
 her wicked suborners, she but bore tes- 
 timony to the purity and sanctity of 
 their victim, aud declared that she 
 would not bear false witness against 
 him, even were she to forfeit her life 
 for her adherence to truth. His wicked 
 persecutors being thus disapjiointed, 
 aud their thirst for Catholic aud Irish 
 blood being still unslaked, sent O'Mael- 
 Craevie back again to his dungeon, 
 where he soon rendered up his spirit to 
 him whose faithful minister he had 
 been. — See O'SuUivan's Histcrice Catho- 
 licx Ibcrnla. 
 
 " Gallica locutio est in usu in Hiber- 
 nia, ab adventu Nemedi, anno 630 a 
 Diluvio, in hunc usque diem. 
 
182 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Mil-beol, son of the Daghda, who reigned alternately year about, 
 as we have mentioned heretofore, and that these princes were 
 then at Ailech-Neid, in the north of Ulster, and also that they 
 were then in contention about the wealth of their ancestor. 
 Uaving heard this, Ith set? forth to meet them, attended by two- 
 thirds of the crew that had manned his ship, and when he had 
 arrived in the presence of the sons of Kcrmad, from whom he 
 received a courteous welcome, these princes explain to him the 
 cause of their dispute, lie, upon his part, told them that it was 
 stress of weather that had forced him to land, and that he meant 
 to make no delay, but to sail back immediately to his own home. 
 
 Upon this, as the Danann kings found Ith to be both a learned 
 and experienced man, they made him their judge in the dispute 
 that was between them. His decision then was, that the disputed 
 wealth should be divided into three equal parts, and that each 
 should receive one of them as his share. lie then began to 
 praise Eri, declaring that it was wrong for them to be at strife 
 with one another, while their country was so abounding in honey 
 and in fruit, in fish and in milk, in vegetables and corn, and 
 while its air was of so happy a temperature, between heat and 
 cold. He added, that if the country were divided into three 
 parts between them, that it were more than sufficient for the 
 maintenance of them all. Ith then took his leave of them, and 
 marched with his hundred warriors towards his ship. 
 
 But the sons of Kermad had taken account of the praises 
 bestowed by Ith upon the clime and soil of Eri; and they, there- 
 upon thought if he should reach his own countrj^, that he would 
 bring back with him a numerous host, in order to make a con- 
 quest of tho isle. They then resolved to dispatch MacCoill in 
 pursuit of him, with a host of one hundred and fifty men; and 
 these overtook Ith. Ith thereupon placed himself in the rear of 
 his people, and thus brought them to northern Magh-Itha. 
 Here there was a general conflict between Ith's band of Gaelic 
 warriors and those of MacCoill. Ith was mortally wounded in 
 the fight, but his companions bore him to his ship, and he died 
 at sea, on the voyage homeward, and was buried in Spain, his 
 corpse having been first exposed to the sons of Miledh, in order 
 to incite them to wreak vengeance upon the sons of Kermad for 
 his death. 
 
 It is the opinion of some historians that Drom-Lighen^^ was the 
 place where Ith was slain, and that Magh-Itlia was the place of 
 his burial ; but the foregoing account is the more generally re- 
 ceived, and the more likely to be the true one. 
 
 " Drom-Lighen. This place is situ- word is prououiiccd Drum-Leen. 
 atcd ÍQ the county oí' Donegal. The 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 OF THE INVASION OF IKELAND BY THE SONS OF MILEDH OR 
 MILESIUS, AND OF THE COUNTRY WHENCE THEY HAD COME 
 THITHER. 
 
 Hector Boethius asserts, in the third chapter of his History 
 of Scotland, that Eber and Erimhon were the sons of Gaedal. 
 But this cannot be true, for Cormac Mac Culinan tells us, in his 
 Chronicle, that Gaedal was the cotemporary of Moses. It is as- 
 serted in the Book of Conquests, also, that it was at the end of 
 two hundred and eighty-three years after the drowning of Pha- 
 raoh, that the sons of Miledh arrived in Ireland. Therefore 
 Gaedal could not be the father of Eber and Erimhon. It is also 
 seen that Gaedal was not their father, by King Cormac's enumer- 
 ation of the generations from Galamh, who is called Miledh Es- 
 baini, or the Hero of Spain. 
 
 Here follows the pedigree of Galamh, called Miledh of Spain, 
 or Milesius, according to the holy King Cormac Mac Culinan : 
 
 Galamh, son of 
 BiLi, son of 
 Breogan or Bregan, 
 
 son of 
 Bratha, son of 
 Degatha, son of 
 Arcadh, son of 
 Alloid, son of 
 Nuadath, son of 
 Nenual, son of 
 
 Febric Glas, son of 
 Eber Glun-finn, 
 
 son of 
 Lamfinn, son of 
 Agnon or Adnon, 
 
 son of 
 Tath, son of 
 EoGAMiiAN, son of 
 Beogamhan, son of 
 Eber Scot, son of 
 
 Sru, son of 
 EsRU, son of 
 Gaedal Glas, 
 
 son of 
 NiUL, son of 
 Fenius FARSA,son of 
 Baath, son of 
 Magog, son of 
 Japhet, son of 
 Noah, 
 
 The Scotch or Albanian Gaels of the same Origin with the 
 Gaels of Ireland. 
 
 On reading the History of Hector Boethius, one might suppose 
 that the Gaels or Gaedalians of Alba (Scotland) are sprung from 
 some Gaedal different from the Gaedal who was the progenitor 
 of the Gaels of Eri (Ireland). I, however, rest satisfied with 
 what John Major, a respectable Scotch author, says upon the 
 subject, Avhen he tells us that the Gaels of Scotland have de- 
 scended from the Gaels of Ireland. He speaks in the following 
 
 [183] 
 
184 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 manner: " For this reason I assert, that the Scotch arc descended 
 irom the same stock as the Irish, whatever be the source whence 
 the latter nation has come.''-^ Bede agrees in this opinion, where 
 he says, in the first chapter of his Ecclesiastical History of Brit- 
 ain, that "in the course of some time after the Britons and Picts, 
 Britain received a third race into its Pictish division or portion ; 
 a race that came from Ilibornia under the leadership of Eheuda, 
 and which seized upon a fixed settlement for itself amongst the 
 Picts, either by friendship or by amis, of which they hold pos- 
 session to the present time."^ Hence we must understand, ac- 
 cording to Bede, that it was from Ireland tliat the Scotic nation 
 emigrated to Alba under their chieftain Rheuda ; that its poster- 
 ity has existed there ever since, and that they are the people who 
 are now called Scots. Humfrcdus,^ a British, that is a Welsh au- 
 thor, speaks in the following manner upon the same subject : 
 " They are certain themselves, and so are all others, that they 
 (the Scots) arc the progeny of the Irish, and that they are called 
 by the same appellation, namely, 'Guidhil,' by the jDCople of 
 our nation,"^ i. e. by the Brethnaigh or Welsh. Cambrensis says, 
 in the tentli chapter of the third division of the book, which he 
 wrote describing Ireland, that it was in the time of Niall of the 
 Nine Hostages, king of Ireland, that the six sons of Muredach, 
 king of Ulster, went to Scotland, where they acquired power and 
 supremacy, and that it was about that time that Scotia was first 
 ■imposed as a name upon Alba. He also tells us that it was 
 from these six sons of the king of Ulster, that the " Albanaigh" 
 or Albanians, are called the Scotic race. The following are his 
 words, in speaking of these princes: "And therefore, it is from 
 them that the Gaels of Scotland have descended, and that they 
 are specifically called the Scotic race, even unto the present day."^ 
 Thub, according to all we have shown, two things asserted by 
 Hector Boethius in his History of Scotland, are false : the first 
 is his supposition that Gaedal Avas the father of Milcdh; and 
 the second is his supposition that it was from some other Gaedal* 
 
 ' Dico crf^o, a fiuibuscunque Ilibcrni ipsi ct omnos nptimc iiorur.t, oodcinriue 
 
 originem duxcrimt, ab eisdcm Scoti ori- nomine a nostratibus, silicct " Guidhil," 
 
 geneni capiunt. appellantur. 
 
 '^ Procedente autem tempore Brit- ' (!ens ab liis propagata specifioato 
 
 annia, post Britoiifs et I'ictos, Hcoto- vocabuloScotieavoeaturinliodicrnnm. 
 
 rum nationcm iu I'ictorum parte rece- " From some other Gaedal. This 
 
 pit, qui ducelleuda<Ie Iliberniacgrcssi, question, so long a subject of dispute 
 
 vol ainicitia, vel ierro, sul)imet inter cos between the Irish and .Scotch, is now 
 
 scdes, quas hactenus habeut, vindica- set at rest forever in lavor of the Irish 
 
 runt. tradition. Indeed, during tlie height 
 
 ^ Humfredm. Called otherwise of tlie discussion, the most learned of 
 
 Humphrey of (jloster. tlie Scotch antiquarians saw that they 
 
 * Scotos Ilibernorum prolem, ct could not, iu the face of history and of 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 185 
 
 besides that hero, who was the ancestor of the sons of Miledh, 
 the conquerors of Ireland, that the Gaels of Scotland are de- 
 scended. 
 
 The Gaels did not come to Ireland from Gallia^ i. e. France. 
 
 Buchanan,'*^ a Scotch author, asserts in his History of Scot- 
 land, that France was the country whence the sons of Miledh had 
 
 existing facts, deny that the Scots of 
 Ireland and the Scotch Highlanders 
 were the same race. Not being able 
 to draw a line of distinction between the 
 two divisions of the Scotic nation, 
 Pinkerton, and some others, set about 
 proving that those Scots, who were 
 the ruling caste in Ireland about the 
 Christian era, and who were so dis- 
 tinguished throughout Europe during 
 the Middle Ages, for their learning and 
 piety, as well as the ruling castes in the 
 Scotch Highlands, were Goths, not 
 Gaels. For this assertion, his most 
 plausible proofs are the resemblance 
 between the words " Scot" and " Goth," 
 and that of both words to the name 
 " Scythian," which he would monopo- 
 lize for the Gothic race, to the exclu- 
 sion of all other nomads. He endeav- 
 ors to make out his Goths to be the 
 types of all that is noble in humanity, 
 and the Gaels the types of all tliat is 
 vile. The Scots, forsooth, were a 
 Gothic race, who, having conquered 
 the Gaels, adopted the language, habits 
 and customs of their vassals, and even 
 allowed the latter to coin Gaelic pedi- 
 grees for them ; thus forgetting the 
 pride which conquering races always 
 feel, in a desire to assimilate themselves 
 to the vanquished, while the latter were, 
 as he tells us, immeasurably their infe- 
 riors. The mere fact, that such a sup- 
 position is contrary to all that is known 
 of human nature, is sufficient to expose 
 its utter absurdity. When garnished 
 with a sufficient quantity of Greek and 
 Latin quotations, such assertions might 
 pass current, at a time when there were 
 no Irish documents published by which 
 fair and unbiassed men might test the 
 truth of the giiesscs made fjy the viru- 
 lent enemies of the Celtic or Gaelic 
 race (if the latter be Celtic). As such 
 documents have, since then, been pub- 
 
 lished, the editor would not deem it 
 worth while to notice the slanderous 
 and malignant, though sufficiently learn- 
 ed work, in which Pinkerton has en- 
 deavored to prove the Scots to be 
 Goths, were it not that Moore, who 
 might have known better, has adopted 
 that abusive man's opinion, in his 
 history of Ireland. He adopts it, 
 however, with this rather important 
 difference, namely, he makes out those 
 Scotic Goths to be a barbarous race, 
 who destroyed a civilization that ex- 
 isted in Ireland, previous to their 
 arrival therein. Now, all that is 
 known of Irish History, and all that 
 has been published of the literary re- 
 mains of our race, proves that no men 
 sprung from strange conquerors could 
 have engrafted themselves upon the 
 genealogical tree of the " Clanna 
 Gaedail," even if it would, without hav- 
 ing first completely destroyed all Gaelic 
 tradition and Gaelic law. There was 
 absolutely no place for men of foreign 
 blood amongst that people, and it needs 
 but very little reflection, after studying 
 its antiquities, to be convinced, that it 
 would have been as difficult for a 
 strange people to have come into Pales- 
 tine and called itself the thirteenth 
 tribe of Israel, as it would have been 
 for Goths to have come into Ireland, 
 while the Brehon usages were in force, 
 and to have called themselves Gaels. 
 To discuss, then, whether the Scots cr 
 the Gaels, the Eberians or the Feni 
 were the nobler or more civilized race, 
 is about as reasonable as to discuss the 
 question whether Eri, Hibernia cr 
 Ireland be the nobler and more fertile 
 island. What is said of Scot is said 
 of Gael, Brigantian, Eberian, and Feniau 
 — they all mean one and the same thing. 
 ' Buclianan. George Buchanan 
 lived between the year 1506, and 1581. 
 
186 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 come hither, and for this he gives what he considers to he two 
 reasons. The first of these he deduces from the fact that France 
 was formerly so populous, that the part of it which was called 
 Gallia Lugduuensis,* could of itself furnish three hundred thou- 
 sand fighting men,^ and that it was therefore likely, that it had 
 
 Though he had been patronized by 
 Queen Mary of Scotland, he joined the 
 party of the traitor Murray, against 
 his royal mistress. As a reward for 
 this, he was appointed tutor to king 
 James the First, by rebel Protector. 
 Buchanan's history of Scotland, writ- 
 ten in Latin, is styled '• Kerum Scoti- 
 carum Historia." His style rivals 
 that of the classic Latin writers in 
 elegance. His History has, however, 
 been condemned by critics for the 
 legends with which it is interwoven. 
 But it is questionable if that be so great 
 a fault. A historian is scarcely at lib- 
 erty to reject a legend because he does 
 not understand its meaning, unless its 
 falsehood be manifest. Hypercriticism 
 often overshoots its mark, and rejects 
 traditions as fabulous altogether, which 
 may be but truths clad in the language 
 of hyperbole, and which, upon more 
 extended information, may afford most 
 useful collateral evidence to the his- 
 toric intiuirer. 
 
 * Gallta Lu^dunemis. The division 
 of Gaul, called this name by the Ro- 
 mans, was that more especially called 
 "Celtica" or "Celtic."' It compre- 
 hended the whole of the centre of mod- 
 ern France, extending from Helvetia 
 or Switzerland, which was part of it, 
 to Normandy, and from Gallia Belgica 
 or Belgium, to the Atlantic ocean. It 
 received the name " Lugdunensis " from 
 the city of Lugdunum, now Lyons, 
 which was its capital. Lugdunum is 
 evidently a latinized version of a Gaelic 
 compound formed out of the words 
 " Lugh" or " Lugaidh," a man's name, 
 and " dun," a foi-tress or town, as if, 
 " Lugh-Dhun" (Loo-^hoon), i. c. " Dun- 
 Luighech" (Doon-Lueeagh), or Lur 
 ghaidlCs town. The correctness with 
 which the Roman writers preserve rad- 
 ical letters in their Celtic names, should 
 go far to prove, either that the aspira- 
 ting and silencing of those letters was 
 not tlieu usual among the Celts, or that 
 
 the Romans took down these names 
 from written documents. No modern 
 writer, upon hearing a Celt of modern 
 Gaul pronounce the word '■ Lyons," or 
 an Irish Celt pronounce Lugh-Dhun 
 {Looyoon), could think of latinizing 
 either by Lugdunum. The district of 
 Corca-Luighe (Corca-Looce), and sev- 
 eral other places in Ireland, are called 
 after persons called Lugaidh, which 
 was one of ths names most frequent 
 amongst the Gaels. There was another 
 Lugdunum on the Rhine. It is now 
 called Leydeu. It lay in the land of 
 Germans. In the land of the Batavi, 
 called a Germanic race,lies also Dunkirk, 
 whose name is said to mean the "Kirk," 
 or church of the " dunes " or downs. 
 "Dun Cuirc" {Doon Kyrk), i. e. Core's 
 dun or fort, would suit as well. Core 
 is a man's name of frequent occurrence 
 among the Irish Celts. There lay an- 
 other Lugdunum in Gascony. It is 
 now called St. Bertrand. 
 
 ' Three hundred thousand fighting 
 men. The immense armies that the 
 Celtic countries sent forth in former 
 times, should in themselves, were there 
 no other evidence on the subject, con- 
 fute those English writers who assert 
 the savagery of the Celtic race. Neither 
 Gaul nor Britain could have supported 
 or reared the multitudes of warriors 
 that both nations opposed to the Ro- 
 mans, unless several of the arts of civ- 
 ilized life, and especially agriculture, 
 were extensively practiced amongst 
 them. All Western Europe, taking in 
 the British Isles, would not be too 
 large, as a hunting ground, for three 
 hundred thousand warriors. But, Eng- 
 lish writers, wanting to vilify the vic- 
 tims of their countrymen, and thus to 
 extenuate the robberies and crnclties 
 practiced upon the Irish Celts, will see 
 nothing but savagery in the whole Cel- 
 tic race, forgetting that the greatest 
 nation of anticjuity — their own mistress 
 and the mistress of the world in the 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 187 
 
 sent forth some sucli hordes to occupy Ireland, as were the tribes 
 of the Gaels. My answer to that reason is, that the author him- 
 self knew nothing of the specific time at which the sons of Miledh 
 arrived in Ireland, and that he was, consequently, perfectl}' igno- 
 rant as to whether France was populous or waste at that epoch. 
 And even though that country were as populous as he states, 
 when the sons of Miledh came to Ireland, it does not thence 
 follow, that we must necessarily understand that France was 
 the country Avhence they had emigrated. For why should 
 France be supposed to have been more populous at that time than 
 was Spain, the country whence the sons of Miledh really did 
 come? Therefore it is easily understood, that this reason, 
 brought forward by Buchanan as a proof that the sons of Mi- 
 ledh originally came from France, is but a very silly one. The other 
 foolish argument he adduces in support of his conjecture that 
 France was the country that sent forth the Milesian colony to 
 Ireland, is drawn from the fact that some French and Gaelic"' 
 
 science3 of jurisprudence and war — 
 trembled, while yet in all its youthful 
 vigor, at the bare mention of the Celtic 
 name — forgetting, also, that this great 
 nation was itself chiefly composed of 
 Celtic elements, and that its type was 
 Celtic, rather than Saxon. 
 
 ^" French and Gaelic words. Dr. 
 Keating uses the terra French, both 
 here and on several other occasions, for 
 Gallic,as he also uses the name "France," 
 repeatedly, where " Gaul " or "Gallia" 
 would have been the more appropriate 
 phrase. The argument he enters into 
 above, is idle. The languages of Wales, 
 Bretagne, and Ireland, prove that the 
 tribes by whom they were originally 
 spoken, were of the same race. These 
 languages are all radically the same, 
 and there are few native words in any 
 one of them, as at present spoken, that 
 have not their cognate terms in the oth- 
 ers. All the grand features of their 
 grammatical construction are also ex- 
 tremely alike. This alone should prove 
 that the same nation originally colo- 
 nized the three countries. Dr. Keat- 
 ing, himself, has already brought the 
 Nemedians, Fer-Bolgs, and Tuatha-De- 
 Dananns, to Ireland, by the way of 
 Britain. These nations must have 
 formed the basis of the Irish people. 
 Allowing this does not at all militate 
 against t;ie fact that the Gaels, who 
 
 were in after times the ruling race in 
 this country, had come direct from 
 Spain. The Iberi, themselves, might 
 either have been southern Celts, and 
 spoken a language akin to that of the 
 Gauls and Britons, or they might have 
 been a branch of some race speak- 
 ing a dialect of the Italic or Latin. In 
 neither of these cases would they have 
 much altered the structure of the lan- 
 guage spoken by their predecessors ; 
 for even to the Latin of the classic au- 
 thors, the vast majority of the Gaelic 
 words bear nearly as close a resem- 
 blance in their written structure, as do 
 those of the modern French, which is 
 said to be the undoubted daughter of 
 the Latin. Then, if these Gaels or 
 Iberians spoke a Semitic tongue- — as we 
 iind they were but nine hundred war- 
 riors in all — their speech must have 
 been soon lost in that of the previous 
 natives. There is also ample evidence- 
 closely as the Celtic of the Gaels re- 
 sembles that of the Cimbri — that some 
 strange element has caused the essential 
 differences that exist between the two. 
 Whether that strange element came 
 from Phoenician, Danaan, or Iberian 
 mixture, is not beyond the reach of sci- 
 entific discovery. To show the simi- 
 larity between the Celtic and Latin di- 
 alects, a vocabulary is given in the ap- 
 pendix to this work. It is given be- 
 
1^8 ' THE HISTORY OF IREL.AJN'D. 
 
 words are similar, such as ''Dris" and "Dun,"" and some few 
 others like them, that happen to be the same in the French and 
 the Gaelic. My answer to this second argument is, that there are 
 words from every written language in the fourth division of the 
 Gaelic, which is called the " Berla Thebide " {Baiiia Thaibee), 
 and that it has been so ever since the time of Fenius Farsa ; and 
 hence, there arc words found in it from the Spanish, the Italian, 
 the Greek, the Hebrew, the Latin, and from every other chief 
 tongue, as well as from the French. Therefore, the fact that 
 there are a few words the same in Gaelic and in French, aftbrds 
 no proof whatever that the Gaels had come from France. I am 
 even of opinion, that these few had been introduced into France 
 from Ireland. I am the more confirmed in this opinion, because 
 I find that Julius C«sar sa3's in the sixth book of liis Commenta- 
 ries, that it was from the British Isles that the Druids used to 
 come to France, where they became judges or brehons, and re- 
 ceived Termon lands, immunities, and honor from the nobles of 
 that countr}^ It is also very likely that it was from Ireland, 
 more especially, that these Druids were wont to go to France ; 
 particularly, as Ireland was at that time the very fountain-head 
 of Druidism, and consequently the Gaelic was the language of 
 these Druids. Or, even if they went thither from Angles.^a, the 
 Gaelic was still their native language ; for, it is well known that 
 it was the idiom spoken in that isle. So Ortellius tells us, who 
 in speaking of the isle of Anglesea, saj^s, "they use the Scotic 
 tongue, or the Gaelic, which is the same." Accordingly, when 
 those Druids were giving instructions in Gaul, it is very likely 
 that the Gallic youth, in their converse with them, picked up 
 some words of Gaelic which have continued in use ever since in 
 the French language.'^ 
 
 Camden says, in the book called " Britannia Camdeni," that 
 the Druids used to instruct their pupils more by word of mouth 
 than by writings. There is another reason, too, why it should not 
 
 cause the e<litor is under the impression ^- French Language. All through 
 
 that the old langua.i,'e of Spain must this argument our author conl'ouuds 
 
 have closely resembled the latter tongue; the modern French with the Gallic or 
 
 and because he conceives, as he has Celtic of old Gaul. The relation of 
 
 heretofore staled, that it represents the the French and Irish is close cnou^rh, 
 
 most ancient and the purest form of but it is througli the Latin and Cim- 
 
 the Japetian of \Ve4ern JCuro[)e. brie that it nnist be traced. The rela- 
 
 " Dr/.s and !)!£«. These words are Brc- tion of the Gallic, as represented by 
 
 ton, not modern French. " Dris" means the modern Breton with it, is direct, 
 
 a brier, and "dun" a fori. "Dune," nearly all the pure Breton words being 
 
 the French name for a '' sanil-/i ill" or found in Irish. In Keating's time, no 
 
 down, is more likely to be cognate with scientilic comparison had yet been made 
 
 the Irish word " Dumha" {Dúva or between them. 
 Dooa), a mound and also a sand-hill. 
 
THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 189 
 
 be wondered at, that some Gaelic Avords are to be found incor- 
 porated in tlie French, which is, on account of the groat inter- 
 course that existed between the Irish and the French ; for the 
 Book of Invasions tells us, that a daughter of the king of France 
 was the wife of lugani Mor, who was "Ard-righ," or Monarch 
 of Ireland ; and it also tells us, that this same lugani went to 
 France in order to impose his yoke upon that country, Crim- 
 thann, son of Fidach, of the line of Eber, who was also a king of 
 Ireland, went likewise to France in order to impose his dominion 
 thereon. And again, Niall of the Nine Hostages, went to make 
 a conquest of France, Avhere he was slain at the river Lugair 
 (the Loire), by Eocaidh, son of Enna Kenselach, as some histo- 
 rians mention. Dathi, son of Fiachra, also, another monarch of 
 Ireland, went to subdue France, and was killed by lightning, in 
 the east of that country, close by the Alps. Cornelius Tacitus 
 tells us, also, that there was a frequent intercourse and a trade 
 between Ireland and France. Then, according to what we have 
 just stated, it is no wonder that there should have been a recip- 
 rocal borrowing of words between the Gaelic and French 
 tongues. Therefore, the second conjecture of Buchanan is, also, 
 most feeble. A third surmise made by him upon the same sub- 
 ject is likewise founded upon a false assumption, when he says 
 that the customs and usages'^ of the Irish and French are alike. 
 Now, whoever reads the book, which Johannes Baronius has 
 written upon the manners and customs of all nations, will clearly 
 find therein, that the manners and customs of the Irish and 
 French are not similar at present, nor were they formerly. 
 
 The Gaels did not come to Ireland from Great Britain — Friendly 
 rdations of the Britons and Gaels — The Brigantes of Britain a 
 Gaelic race, that ivent thither from Ireland. 
 
 Some of these modern English, when they wTÍte about Ireland, 
 assert, that it was from Great Britain that the sons of ]\liledh 
 first came hither ; and the reason that they give for this opinion 
 is, the great number of words that are alike in the British 
 (Welsh) and the Gaelic. My answer to such an argument is, that 
 
 " Manners and usages. The usages himself says of the Welsh, a little fur- 
 and manners of the Prankish portion ther on, applies with equal force to 
 of the French nation, are here con- Bretons of France. Our author's mis- 
 founded with those of the Gallic. The takes on this subject, show that he 
 manners and customs of the Bretons in could not have been educated in France, 
 the north-west, and of the Gallo-Ra- as some have supposed ; for, in that 
 mans and Gascons in the south of case he would not have made those 
 France, resemble those of the Irish mistakes. His authority, . Johannes 
 more than they do those of the Tea- Baronius, spoke of the Franks, not 
 tonic nations. What Dr. Keatmg the Gauls. 
 
THE UISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the fact they cite affords no proof, at all, that the Gaelic nation 
 came originally from Britain. For such similarities there are tvv^o 
 causes. The first of these causes is the fact, that the Gaelic was 
 the native language of Britan Mael, son of Fergus of the Red 
 Side, son of Kemedh, and thnt it is fiom him that Britain has its 
 name, according to Cormac Mac Culinan and to the Book of the 
 Invasions of Ireland : it was in Britain also that he resided, and 
 his posterit}^, likewise, until Erimhou, son of Miledh, sent the 
 Cruithnigh, otherwise called Picts, to share Alba with them : 
 Brutus" the son of Sylvius, came in upon them afterwards, if 
 some of their own chronicles be true : next came the Romans ; 
 then the Saxons and Danes, or Lochlaimaigh ; and last of all, 
 William the Conqueror and the French : so that it is no wonder, 
 after so many tyrannical conquests by foreign races, that the 
 Scot-Berla, the native tongue of Britan and his progeny, should 
 have been at length suppressed. However, the little remnant of 
 it, that still remains unextinguished and that has not been altered 
 since the time of Britan, is exactly the same as the Irish or 
 Gaelic. 
 
 The second reason why it is no wonder that many words 
 should be alike in British and in Lish, although it were not from 
 Britain that the sons of Miledh came, is because Ireland was the 
 harbor of refuge, to which the Britons used to flee during the 
 time of the several oppressions, which they suffered from the 
 Romans and the Saxons, or from the tyranny of any other na- 
 tion that weighed heavily upon them. At such times, crowds 
 of them, with their families and followers, used to retreat to 
 Ireland, where they received lands from the Irish nobilit}^, during 
 the time of their sojourn. While in exile here, their children 
 must undoubtedly have learned the Gaelic language. There are 
 still in Ireland many towns and localities, which have received 
 their names from these exiles ; such as, " Graig na m-Brethnach "•* 
 {Graig-nam-rannagh), " Dun na m-Brethnaeh " {Doon-nam-ran- 
 nagh), and others. When these Britons returned home to Britain, 
 it is possible tliat they had many Gaelic words in use amongst 
 them, which they might have afterwards introduced into tlieir 
 own language. From all we have said, it must be seen that, 
 although there be some words alike in the British and Gaelic 
 tongues, it by no means follows as a necessary consequence 
 
 " Brutus. Some of tho old British by some people whose idiom differed 
 Chroniclers say that JJritain was con- from those of both P.ritons and íílacls. 
 qucred by a 'l3rutu3, son of Sylvius, Both attempts to f^ive a reason for the 
 who, according to them, was of Trojan name of Britain, are mere guesses, 
 descent. The probability is, that the '' Graig na m-Brdhnoch. Those 
 name " Britain " or " Brctain," as well names are now corrupt(;d into " Dun- 
 as " Eri " and " Alba," was imposed maaway " and " Graigucnamanna." 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 191 
 
 thereof, that Britain must be the country, whence the sons of 
 Miledh came to Irehind. 
 
 Some may support the opinion, here contradicted, by saying 
 that the Britons and the Gaels resemble each other in manners 
 and customs ; for, as the Gael is prompt in sharing food without 
 payment, so is the Briton ; as the Gael loves antiquaries, poets, 
 bards, and players on the harp, so does the Briton love those 
 that practice these same professions ; and they resemble each 
 other in many more of their usages. But this resemblance is, 
 however, no proof that the Gaels came from Britain : it is rather, 
 as we have said before, a much stronger proof that the Britons 
 dwelt for some time in Ireland. Hence, it cannot be understood, 
 from any of the foregoing reasons, that it was from Great Britain 
 that the sons of Miledh came originally to Ireland. 
 
 But it can be asserted, with truth, that a portion of the 
 progeny of Breogan (or Bregan), went to dwell in Great Britain, 
 to wit : some of the descendants of the chieftains of the children 
 of Breogan (i. e. the Brigantes), that had come, with the sons of 
 Miledh, into Ireland. The following are the names of these sons 
 of Breogan, to wit: Breoga, Fuad, Murthemni, Cualgni, Cuala, 
 Ebleo, Bladh, and Nar. It is more especially from the progeny 
 of these chieftains that, according to Irish historic tradition, the 
 people called Brigantes are sprung. This must be the more 
 readily received as true, from the fact that Tomasius, in his Latin 
 Dictionary, says that the Brigantes, that is, the children of 
 Breogan, are an Irish people.'^ Again, Florianus de Campo, a 
 Spanish author, says, when speaking of the history of Ireland, 
 that the Brigantes are Spaniards by their origin, and that it was 
 from Spain they had emigrated both to Ireland and to Britain. 
 
 All that we have asserted concerning the intimacy of the 
 British and Irish, and of Ireland's having a harbor of refuge to 
 the former nation, will be the more readily believed, when 
 Garodoc, a British author, is found stating in his Chronicle, as 
 well as Abian and many other writers of that people, that num- 
 
 ** Progeny of Breogan. The fact in Irisli, are most probably, like " Eri/' 
 
 of this colony of Gaels having settled " Sena," " Alba," " Mana," and many 
 
 in Britain, will account for those Gaelic others of that class, equally inexpli- 
 
 names of localities in Britain, from cable by the aid of either tongue ; for 
 
 which some English antiquarians argue so close do these languages resemble 
 
 that this nation dwelt in that coun- each other, both in their simple radicals 
 
 try before the present British or Welsh and their mode of forming derivatives, 
 
 — that is, such names as " Ceitir Guy- that it is not easy to conceive the ex- 
 
 dilod," i. e. {the fortress of the Gaels), istence of many such names. Upon 
 
 and some others. T hose ancient names critical examination, by persons well 
 
 of rivers, mountains, &c., which the versed in both idioms, such names will 
 
 learned Uuyd says are inexplicable in probably be found to be neither Gaelic 
 
 Welsh, but which he deems significant uor Welsh. 
 
192 THE HISTORY OF IllELAXD. 
 
 bers of tlie British princes and nobles were wont to come to 
 Ireland, wlierc they were kindly received and entertained, and 
 where they were granted lands to dwell upon, as we have above 
 stated. Dr. Ilanmer makes specific mention of some of them in 
 his Chronicle. First, he says, that Edwin, son of Athelfred, ban- 
 ished to Ireland a king of Britain (i. e. Wales), named Kadwal- 
 lin, in the year of our Lord 635, and that he was there kindly 
 received, and that he got reinforcements from the Irish, whereby 
 he regained his own kingdom. lie also states that Harold and 
 Conan, two British princes, came from Britain to Ireland in the 
 year of our Lord 1050, and that they were there affectionately 
 received and protected by the Irish. Again, he tells us that 
 Algar, Earl of Chester, came fleeing from Britain to Ireland, in 
 the year of our Lord 1054, and that the Irish sent back an army 
 with him, whereby he recovered his territory. Some time after, 
 in the year of our Lord 1087, another British prince, named 
 Blethin Ap Conan, fled to Ireland, and received hospitable enter- 
 tainment during his sojourn therein. And it was thus that an 
 alliance and au intimacy was continually kept up between both 
 nations. In llanmer's Chronicle, also, we read that Arnol])h, 
 Earl of Pembroke, married the daughter of Murkertach O'Briain, 
 then king of Ireland, in the year of our Lord 1101, and that his 
 second daughter was married to Magnus, son of Harold, king of 
 the Isles, In the time of Henry L, king of England, also, there 
 was, according to the same author, a Prince of Britain (Wales), 
 named Griffin Ap Conan, who was in the habit of boasting fre- 
 quently, that his own mother was an Irish woman, and that his 
 grandmother was also of that nation, and that he had himself 
 been born and educated in Ireland. There was also, in the time 
 of Henry II., another Prince of Britain, named Biridus, son of 
 Goneth, whose mother was an Irish woman. There must, there- 
 fore, have been much intercourse and friendship, as well as many 
 family connections, between the Britons and the Gaels. Hence 
 it is not surprising to find such a number of similar words in the 
 languages of these nations, and that their manners and customs 
 should so closely resemble each other, altlioiigh the Gaels had 
 never derived their origin from Great Britain. 
 
 Camden tells us, that the Brigantes (i. c. children of Brcogan), 
 inhabited the following parts of Great Britain, namely, the terri- 
 tory of York, Lancast(;r, Durham, Westmoreland, and Northum- 
 berland. It is certain that these Brigantes v/ent thither from 
 Ireland, as we have stated above, notwithstanding the opinion 
 of Camden, who asserts that Ireland received its first inhabitants 
 from Britain. On such a point, we should give more credit to 
 the historians of Ireland, upon whom it was obligatory to inves- 
 tigate and transmit to posterity every event that ever happened 
 
THE HISTOKY OF IRELAND. 193 
 
 in this country, than to the mere conjecture of a man like Cam- 
 den, to whom the History of Ireland had never communicated 
 its secrets, and from that History alone could he derive any accu- 
 rate knowledge of the affairs of Ireland. 
 
 Falseliood of Camhreiisis in asserting iliat the sons of Miledh of 
 Spain invaded Ireland hy the permission of Gwguntiits, king of 
 Britain. 
 
 Cambrensis says, that it was by the permission of the king, 
 who then ruled Great Britain, that the sons of Miledh came to 
 Ireland from Biscain or Biscay ; and he says, also, that they were 
 towed after him to the Orcades, and that he thence sent a host 
 with them to Ireland, that they might inhabit it, upon the condi- 
 tion that both themselves and their posterity should be subject to 
 him and to the king of Great Britain forever ; and the name 
 Cambrensis gives to this king is Gurguntius," son of Pelin. My 
 answer to this assertion of Cambrensis is, that it is an evident 
 falsehood. For, whoever will read the Chronicle of Stow, will 
 find, that there were little more than three hundred years from 
 the reign of that Gurguntius over Great Britain until the in- 
 vasion of Julius Ca?sar, in the eighth year of the reign of Cas- 
 sibelaunus, king of that same country ; and in the same author 
 we read, that there were only about thirty-two years from Julius 
 Caesar to the birth of Christ ; so that, according to the calculation 
 of Stow, there were not four hundred years in full from the time 
 of Gurguntius to the birth of Christ. Now, the holy Cormac, 
 son of Culinan, and the Book of the Invasions of Ireland, states 
 that it was about one thousand three hundred years before the 
 birth of Christ that the sons of Miledh arrived in Ireland. The 
 Polychronicon agrees with them in this computation, where it 
 treats of Ireland. It speaks thus : " there are about one thou- 
 sand eight hundred 3^cars from the arrival of the Ilibernenses 
 until the death of St. Patrick."'^ This is the same as to say, that 
 the sons of ^Miledh came to Ireland one thousand three hundred 
 years before the birth of Christ ; for, subti'act the four hundred 
 and ninety-two years from the birth of Christ to the death of St 
 
 " GurfTuntim. This homage of the still besotted enough to believe, or 
 
 Spanish freebooters to a British king, knavish enough to pretend, tliat tri- 
 
 was fabricated by Cambrensis, for the umphant crime, murders, robberies, 
 
 purpose of giving a forged title of sov- rapes, and such other /aits acrcmplis, 
 
 ereignty over Ireland to his masters, can give lawful title to one's neighbor's 
 
 the Norman robbers. Of such descrip- goods. 
 
 tion were the State lies of the Middle " Ab adventu Hibernensium, usque 
 
 Ages; for, unfortunately for mankind, ad obitum Sancti Patricii, sunt anni 
 
 people then thought — nav, many are mille octo centi. 
 13 
 
194 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Patrick, from those one thousand eight hundred 3'ears, tliat the 
 Polychronicon counts, as having intervened between the arrival 
 of the sons of Miledh in Ireland and the death of St. Patrick, 
 and there will thus remain, one thousand three hundred and 
 eight years, from the arrival of the sons of Miledh in Ireland to 
 the birth of Christ : so that the Polychronicon, the holy Cormac, 
 and the Book of Invasions, are in perfect accord with one an- 
 other. And, if we deduct the number of years that Chronicle 
 of Stow allows, from Gurguntius to the birth of Christ, from the 
 Chronology of Polychronicon, of Cormac Mao Culinan, and of 
 the Books of the Invasions, as it records the time from the 
 coming of the sons of Miledh into Ireland to the birth of Christ, 
 it will clearly appear that the Children of Miledh were in Ireland 
 more than nine hundred years before his Gurguntius began to 
 reign in Great Britain. From all this, it is manifest that Caui- 
 brensis has written a downright falsehood upon the subject, for 
 which he had no authority, when he stated in his Chronicle that 
 it was this Gurguntius that invited the sons of Miledh to the 
 Orcades, and that sent them thence to Ireland. For how could 
 Gurguntius have sent them thither, when we find, according to 
 all the authorities we have cited here, that he was born nine 
 hundred years subsequent to the arrival of the sons of Miledh 
 in Ireland. 
 
 The Clans of Breogan resolve to avenge Ith — They are mustered 
 hj the sons of Miledh.^ 
 
 When the Sons of Miledh and the whole posterity of Breogan 
 had heard of the treachery perpetrated by the sons of Kermad 
 upon Ith, son of Breogan, and upon his companions, and wh<ni 
 they had seen his body, mangled and dead, they resolved to in- 
 vade Ireland, in order to wreak vengeance upon the sons of 
 Kermad, and to wrest that kingdom from the Tuatha-De-Dananns, 
 as a punishment for that foul deed. 
 
 Some historians say that it was from Biscay, that the sons of 
 Miledh set sail for Ireland, from a place that is called Mondaca, 
 near the mouth of the Kiver Vcrindo. The reason why they 
 thirdc so is, because Miledh was king of Biscay** after he had been 
 
 iv Sons of Miledh. The reader must Icct, while the Irish is. It has not, how- 
 not forfjet, that the sons of Milcilh ever, l)een proved tliattliere do not exist 
 (Mcelch.) wore tlicmselvcs one of the Rtrikin;^ and peculiar resemblances he- 
 dans of Breogan, iheir father liaving tsvcen the two toiiííues. Neither is it 
 been the (jrandson of that chief through proved that the son of Miledh spoke Cel- 
 Bile or liili, (Billeh) his eldest son. tie. The fact, before noticed, tliaf'Gal- 
 
 '" Kinf^ of Biscaij. The chief objee- amh," one of the names of their founder, 
 
 lion to this tradition lica in the fact, may mean the same thiii;^ as "Miledh," 
 
 that the Biscayan is not a Celtic dia- in Ijalin, " Miles," would show that tlie 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 195 
 
 driven by the overwlielming force of foreign invaders, from the 
 heart of Spain into that country, which was secure from foreign 
 attack by its numerous forests and hills and natural strongholds. 
 But this is not the common opinion of our own historians, who 
 tell us, that the Milesian invaders set out on their expedition from 
 the Tower of Breogan in Gallicia.^' And this latter account I 
 consider to be the true one. For we read in the Book of Con- 
 quests, that it was at the Tower of Breogan,^ they first formed 
 the resolution of sending Ith to explore Ireland, and that it was 
 there that Lugaidh, the son of Ith, landed when he returned from 
 Ireland with his father's dead body, to exhibit it to the sons of 
 Miledh and to the descendants of Breogan. For this reason, I 
 am of opinion that they set sail for Ireland, from that same place, 
 Miledh having died a short time before. Her husband being thus 
 dead, Scota came to Ireland with her children, as Spain was then 
 a bone of contention between the natives and the many foreign 
 tribes, who had come from the north of Europe to conquer that 
 country. 
 
 But "to return to the sons of Miledh, these chieftains mustered 
 an army for the invasion of Ireland, both to wreak vengeance 
 upon the sons of Kermad for the murder of Ith, and to seize 
 upon that kingdom for themselves. Their entire fleet numbered 
 
 Qame of this chieftain of the " Clana 
 Ebir Scuit," had been ti-anslated into 
 two languages. The number of words 
 perfectly synonymous and of distinct 
 origin, which are contained in the Irish 
 tongue, prove in themselves that it is 
 made up of more than one language. 
 Original tongues contain but few syn- 
 ouymes. 
 
 -■■ Gallicia. This is on every account 
 the more probable tradition. The Gal- 
 kcci, who formerly inhabited this Span- 
 ish province, are said to have been of 
 Celtic blood. Keating cites his Irish 
 authorities for it, while the former has 
 all the air of a guess made by some 
 foreign writers. I'he people of the 
 Asturias, which lies between Gallicia 
 and Biscay, do not speak a language 
 60 widely different from Gaelic. Theirs 
 is called a Latin dialect, though they, 
 as well as the natives of Biscay, boast 
 of having never mixed with foreigners. 
 Both Gallicia and the Asturias are 
 countries of narrow fertile plains and 
 high precipitous mountain ridges, and 
 would affjrd the Gaels almost as secure 
 natural strongholds as tlie Biscayan re- 
 
 gion. The Asturias were in after- 
 times the stronghold of the Cid, the 
 great hero of Spanish romance. 
 
 *- The Tower of Breogan is supposed 
 to have been situated at the place now 
 called Corunna, which is situated about 
 midway between Cape Finisterre and 
 Cape Ortegal, in Gallicia. There exists 
 still in this city a lofty tower, whose ori- 
 gin is lost in the mists of remotest anti- 
 quity. Local tradition says, that it 
 was built as a pharos or lighthouse by 
 the Phoenicians, during their occupa- 
 tion of Spain. — Could our Milesians 
 have fled out of Spain before these 
 Phoenicians or their Carthagenian suc- 
 cessors, or could they have been a 
 Spanish tribe transported to Ireland by 
 either of these people, for the purpose 
 of protecting their commerce ? The 
 fact that all the fragmentary evidence 
 that has reached us, prove the Gaels to 
 have been inferior in civilization to the 
 Danaans, whom they conquered, mili- 
 tates against the supposition that they 
 were real Phoenicians, for at that time 
 the Phoenicians were one of the most 
 civilized nations of the earth. 
 
196 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 thirty ships, in each of which there were thirty warriors,^ without 
 counting their wives and their attendants. The number of chief- 
 tains wlio held command was forty, as we read in the following 
 duan, composed by Eocaidh O'Floinn : — 
 
 " Of the chieftains of that fleet, in which" 
 Came hither Miledh's sea-borne sons, 
 I can recall the number well. 
 And name their names, and tell their fates. 
 
 " Fuad, Eblind, Brega, Bladh the bland, 
 Lugaidh," Murthcmni of tlie lake, 
 Bres, Buas,with Buadni's machless might, 
 Donn, Eber, Erimhon and Jr. 
 
 " Amirghin, Colpa, without guile, 
 Eber,-^ Arech, Arannim, 
 Cuala, Cualgni, the warlike Nar, 
 Muimui, Luigni, with Laigni. 
 
 " Fulman, Mantan, Bili the mild, 
 Er, Orba, Ferann, Fergend,^^ 
 En, Un, Etan, Gosten the bright, 
 Sobarki, Sedga, Surghi. 
 
 " Palap, son of great Erimhon, 
 And Caicher, son of Mantan — 
 Full ten and thirty chiefs in all 
 Came to avenge steed-loving ItL" 
 
 ITerc follow the names of these captains more in full : — Bróga 
 or Breoga, son of Breogan, from whom Magh-Breagh in Meath 
 
 " Thirty warriors. The multiplica- Breogan here named, with the excep- 
 tion of this number by 30, the number tion of the sons of Miledh themselves, 
 of the ships, will give 900 as the whole that of Lugaidh, son of Ith, was the 
 of the cilective force that accompanied only one that cominucd to maintain a 
 the sons of Milcdh in this ox])cdition. distinguished position in Ireland down 
 Their conquest of the Danaans with so to later times. From him are dcscend- 
 small a number is inexplicable, except ed the Corca I.uighe, of South Mun- 
 we understand that the native Belgse ster, of which the O'Driscolls, OCow- 
 or Ferboigs, and the Nemcdians, had higs and O'Loarios, of the county of 
 helped them, and had perhaps even Cork, were the chiefs. From him, 
 called them over against their Danaan also, descended the Mac Clanchies, of 
 masters. 'J'hc fact tliat we find the Connnuglit, but not those of Clare. 
 Belgian, Crimthann Sciathbel, placed 'J'he la'tcr draw their origin from the 
 as ruler over I^inster by Krimhon, im- Dalcassian tribe, 
 mediately after the cf)nqucst, goes far " Eber, i. e. Eber, the son of Ir, not 
 to corroborate this supposition. Eber Finn his uncle. 
 
 =» The metrical roll of the Brigantian " Fergend, otherwise Fcrgna, son of 
 chiefs, of which the above is a transia- F.ber Finn. 'J'he name Eblind, in the 
 tion, has not been given in Ilalliday's fii-st line of the duan, is elsewhere writ- 
 edition. The translator has found it ten Eblinni and Kbleo. From him tho 
 in two of his manuscript copies. Felim Moniitains are called Sliabh 
 
 ** Lugaidh. Of all the posterity of Eblinni, {Sleeve JUjelmnic.) 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 197 
 
 is named; Cuala, son of Breogan, from whom Sliabli Cualann is 
 named ; Cualgni, son of Breogan, from whom Sliabh Cualgni is 
 named; Bladh, son of Breogan, from whom Sliabh Bladma is 
 named ; Fuaid, son of Breogan, from whom Sliabh Fuaid in 
 Ulster has its name; Murthemni, son of Breogan, from whom is 
 called Magh Murthemni ; Lugaidh, son of Ith, who came to 
 Ireland to avenge the death of his father; and it is from him that 
 we call the South of Munster Curca Luighi ; libleo or Eiblinni, son 
 of Breogan, from whom Sliabh Eiblinni, in Munster ; Buas, Bres, 
 and Buadni, the three sons of Tighernbard,^^ son of Brighe ; 
 Nar, from whom is named Eos Nar on Sliabh Bladma; Sedga, 
 Fulman, and Mantan; Caicher and Surghi, son of Caicher; Ir, 
 Orba, Ferann, and Fergna, the four sons of Eber; En, Un, Etan, 
 Gosten and Sobarki, whose father we do not know; Bili, son of 
 Brighe, son of Breogan ; the eight sons of Miledh of Spain, namely, 
 Donn, Arech Februadh, Eber Finn, Amirghin, Ir, Colpa of the 
 Sword, Erimhon, and Arannan, the youngest; four sons of 
 Erimhon, Muimni, Luigni, Laigni, and Palap ; and one son of Ir, 
 namely, Eber. Irial the Prophet, son of this same Erimhon, 
 here mentioned, was born in Irehmd. 
 
 Arrival of the Gaels in Ireland — Their victories over the Danaans 
 Taatha-De-Dananns. 
 
 As to the Children of Miledh and their fleet, no account is 
 given of them, until they got into port at Inber Slangi, which is 
 called the Bay of Loch Garman at the present time. Here the 
 Tuatha-De-Dananns mustered their host and assembled round 
 about them ; and they threw a magic mist over the heads of their 
 invaders, so that the isLmd lying before them, seemed to assume 
 the shape of a hog's back ; and thence some people apply the 
 t.>rm " Muic-Inis,"29 that is, " Hog-Island," to Ireland. The 
 children of Miledh were then driven away from the shore by the 
 Druidic spells of the Tuatha-De-Dananns, so that they had to sail 
 all round Ireland, before they again got into port, at Inber 
 
 °* Ti.ghernhard, otherwise Tigliern- being usually supplied by a dot or other 
 
 bhard (Tceyernvard) , meaning "lord- mark placed over the aspirated letter, 
 
 bard," i. c. noble bard. 'i'hence may have sprung this fable, 
 
 -* Muic-Inis. This has been trans- either through simplicity, or through 
 
 lated " the Isle of Mist " in another a stupid love of the wonderful on the 
 
 place. The rather dull fable recounted part of some interpreter of our old 
 
 above, originated in the identity of the MSS. Nothing is otherwise more na- 
 
 radical letters which compose the Irish tural, than that the Gaels should have 
 
 words "muc" (muck), a hog, and missed the harbor of Wexford in one 
 
 "much" (inoogh), a mist or obscurity, of those dense fogs so usual on the 
 
 In our old MSS. the "h" is rarely Irish coas', and have been then driven 
 
 used in aspirating consonants, its place all round the island by a storm. 
 
198 THE HISTORY OF IIíELAND. 
 
 Skeni, in the west of Munster. And, -wlicu they had landed 
 here, they marched to Sliabh Mis^ {Siicve Mish), and there they 
 are met by Banba, with her band of female attendants, and with 
 her Druids. Amirghin^' asks her name. " Banba is my name," re- 
 plied she, "and from me is this ishmd called Banba." Thence they 
 marched to Sliabh Eiblinni, and there they are met by Fodla ; 
 and Amirghin asks her her name. " Fodla is my name," replies 
 she, "and from me is this land called Fodla." They march 
 thence to Uisnech (Ushnogh) in ]\Ieath, and here again they are 
 met by Eri ; and the poet-sage asks her her name. " Eri is my 
 name," replies she, "and from me is this land called Eri. In re- 
 membrance of these meetings with the three queens of the 
 Danaans, we find the following verse in the duan, which begins 
 — " Let us sing the first source of the Gaels :" — 
 
 " Banba on Sliabh Mis, with her host 
 In terror trembled — 
 Fodla on Sliabh Eblind"' fainted — 
 Eri, on Uisnech." 
 
 The three ladies just mentioned, were the queens of the three 
 sons of Kermad. And some of our historians tell us, that Ire- 
 land was not possessed by these sons of Kermad in three separate 
 divisons, but that each man of them, in his turn, possessed the 
 severeignty of the entire Island, every third year ; and that the 
 name of the queen of him who then ruled it, was more especially 
 given to the country during the year of his reign. Here follows 
 a quotation in reference to this alternation of the kingly power 
 amongst them : 
 
 " The regal sway came to each king 
 In his turn, each third year — 
 Eri, Fodla, and Baiiija bright, 
 Were these brave warriors' wives." 
 
 Then, the sons of Milcdh marched on to Temhair, {Tnvir or 
 Táwir^) which is now called Tara, and here they were met by the 
 three sons of Kermad, attended by their host of magicians. The 
 sons of Miledh, thereupon, demanded of tlie sons of Kermad, 
 either to give them battle for the sovereignty of the land, or to 
 resign their rights quietly to them : and the latter answered, that 
 they would abide by the decision of the invaders' own brother 
 
 '• Shabh Mts is a mountain in the appears that he was also their high- 
 barony of Troughanacmy and county priest and judire. 
 of Kerry. " Slial/k Kblinil, i. e. the Felim 
 
 '' Amirghin, otherwise Aimhirghin, Mountains, on the borders of the coun- 
 
 (Averyin or Avcreen,) son of Miledh, ties of Tipperary and Limerick, 
 was the chief bard of the invaders. It 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 199 
 
 Amirghin ; and tliey added, that, if he pronounced an unjust 
 judgment, tbey would kill him by magic. Amirghin, then, gave 
 judgment against the sons of Miledh, and decided, that they 
 should return either to the harbor of Skeni,^ or to that of Slangi, 
 and that the)' shoidd set out nine ivava^ or iomis to sea, and if 
 they could then make a landing, in spite of the Tuatha-De-Dananns, 
 that they should possess the sovereign sway of the country. The 
 Tuatha-Dc-Dananns were satisfied with this decision; for they 
 hoped by means of their Druidic magic, that they could prevent 
 their enemies from ever again making a landing on the island. 
 
 The sons of Miledh then returned to Inber Skeni, where they 
 got on board their ships, and they sailed out to sea, to the dis- 
 tance of nine waves, as Amirghin had ordered. 
 
 Upon this, when the Druids, of the Tuatha-De-Dananns, saw 
 them upon the sea, they raised a destructive tempest by their 
 magic arts, and thus stii-red up a dreadful commotion of the 
 waters. And Donn, son of Miledh, exclaimed, that the tempest 
 had been raised by magic. "It is so," said Amirghin. Then 
 Arannan, the youngest of Miledh's sons, clomb the mast, but a 
 sudden squall came on, and the young chief was flung down upon 
 the deck of the ship, and was thus killed. After this, the rolling 
 of the rough tempest separates the vessel, which carried Donn 
 from those of his companions, and he is soon drowned, and the 
 whole crew of his ship with him ; they numbered four-and-twenty 
 warriors, and five chieftains, namely, Bili, son of Brighi, Arech 
 Februadh,^"' Buan, Bres, and Buadni ; with them were tw^elve wo- 
 men, and four servants, and eight rowers, and fifty youths in 
 training. They were lost at the Sand-hills, which are called 
 "Bonn's House," in the west of Munster. It is from this Donn, 
 son of Miledh, who was drowned there, that they are now named 
 "Tech Dhoinn," {Tagh yornn,) i.e. "the House of Donn." In 
 remembrance of Donn, and of the nobles who were then drowned 
 with him, Eocaidh O'Floinn has composed the following raii/i .• 
 
 " Donn, with Bili, and Buan, his wife, 
 Dil and Arech. son of Miledh, 
 Buas, Bres, and Buadni, the renowned 
 Were drowned at bleak Sand-hills." 
 
 And of Ir, son of Miledh, also — the ship that bore him was 
 separated by the storm from the rest of the fleet, and it was 
 
 '' Inher Skeni, now Kenmare River, a name for some description of meas- 
 
 Othcrwise Inbher Sgeine {hivcr Skai- ure. 
 nie). Inber Slangi, i. e. Wexford Bay. -^ Arech. Fehruadh. This champion 
 
 '♦ Nine waves. It is not easy to know was brother of Doun. They were the 
 
 what is meant hjnine waves. "Tonn" eldest sons of Miledh {Mecleh), having 
 
 or " tond," though its most usual ac- been, as we have seen born to him in 
 
 ceptalion is a wave, may have been also Scj-thia, by Seng, daughter of Neiiual. 
 
200 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 driven ashore in the west of Munster, and here Ir was himself 
 drowned, and he was buried at Skelg Michil,^ {Slctllvj Meehecl,) 
 as the author last cited, thus relates : 
 
 " Amirghin, the poet-sage of our men, 
 Fell in the fight at Bili Tcnedh, 
 And Ir wíís drowned at Skelg of Schools — 
 We lost Arannan in the harbor." 
 
 Erimhon leaves Ireland on his left, and sails onward, with a 
 portion of the fleet, until he reaches Inber Colpa, which is now 
 called Droiched-Atha, {Drohed awha or Drogheda.) This estuary 
 is called Inber Colpa, because Colpa, of the Sword, son of Miledh, 
 was drowned therein, as he was landing from the ship, which 
 carried his brother Erimhon. Hence it appears clear, tliat five 
 of Miledh's sons had perished, before they wrested the sovereignty 
 of Ireland from the Tuatha-De-Dananns, as the bard also recounts 
 in the following rami: 
 
 " Five of these chiefs were sunk in the wave, 
 Five of the stalworth sons of Miledh, 
 In song-loving Eri's capacious bays, 
 Through Dauaan wiles, and Druidic spells." 
 
 As to the other portion of the sons of Miledh, namely, Eber 
 and the crews of his division of the fleet,^^ they made good their 
 
 ** Sgelg, al Sgeilg Michil, i. e. putation of the Septuagint, which set^ 
 
 Michael's rock, now called the Sgellig down that catastrophe as having hap- 
 
 Isles, oft" the coast of Kerry. Skellig pencd A.M. ICTjC, give A. M. 3500 aa 
 
 was called "of Schools,"' because in the j-ear of the landing of the (jaels in 
 
 the early Christian ages its monastery Ireland. These anuals record the lat- 
 
 was a famous seat of learning. tcr event thus : 
 
 " The fleet. Ncnnius, a British " 'i ho age of the world 3500. Tlie 
 
 writer who fionrislied about the year fleet of the sons of Miledh came to Irc- 
 
 850, says tliat the sons of Miledh came land this year to take it from the Tua- 
 
 to Ireland with a fleet of 120 ciuli. tha-Dc-Danann." According to the 
 
 Magcoghegan, in his translation of the computation of the Hebrews, followed 
 
 annals of Clonmaonoise, says that the Iiy our author, this invasion took place 
 
 sons of Miledh arrived in Ireland 1029 in A.M. 2730. This seemingly great 
 
 years before the birth of Christ. As discrepancy results chiefly I'rom the dif- 
 
 hisauthority for this he refers to Calogh ierent systems of chronology adopted 
 
 0"More, biit he adds, that Philip by each. The real diflerence between 
 
 O'SuIlivan says, in his work dedicated them in the period from the Flood 
 
 to the King of Spain, that they ar- to the Jlilcsian amounts but to 178 
 
 rived in Ireland 1312 years before the years, which is neither very great nor 
 
 birth of ('hrist, which, up to his (O'Sul- very surprising in the bardie coni- 
 
 livan's) time, 1C27, made 2,909 years, putations of such remote times, when 
 
 .S'ee (y Donovan's Four Masters. The in the comparatively recent but all im- 
 
 Four Masters who adopted tlie system portant event ofthe birth of ourKedeim- 
 
 of chronology that makes the Deluge to er, the vulgar coniputatiou is still lour 
 
 have hajipencd in the year of the world years behind the real time. " 'J"ous lea 
 
 2242, while Keating adopted the com- historicns ct critiques ecclesiastiquea, 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 201 
 
 landing at Inber Skeni. Three days after his Lmdlng, lie met 
 Eri, the wife of MacGreni, upon Sliabh Mis. Here the battle of 
 Sliabh Mis was fought between him and the Tuatha-De-Daiianns, 
 and in it fell Fas, the wife of Un, son of Ughi ; and from her 
 tbe vale by Sliabh Mis is named Glenn Fais,^ {Glen Fauah,) as 
 the bard tells us in the following o-ami: 
 
 " vale of Fas, thy name tells truth I 
 No man can grudge it or gainsay — 
 Of Fas, the heroine, it speaks. 
 Who fell within thy depths, Glenn Fais." 
 
 In that same battle fell Scota, the wife of Miledh ; and slie 
 lies buried near the sea, at the north, side of that vale ; and it is 
 to record her death, and to point out her grave, that we extract 
 the two following ranns from the lay we have just now quoted: 
 
 " In that fight too, (no hidden ta^e !) 
 Queen Scota met her doom and died ; 
 Her beauty and her brightness fled, 
 She fell, at length, in yonder vale. 
 
 " And hence it comes, that towards the north, 
 Lies Scota's grave^* in yon cool glen, 
 Beside the mount, close by the wave — 
 She scarcely shunned the ocean's path." 
 
 That was the first battle, fought between the sons of Miledh 
 and the Tuatha-Di-Dananns, as we find recorded in the same 
 lay: 
 
 " The first battle of INIiledh's far-famed sons, 
 When hither they came from the proud Espain, 
 Was fought at Slinbh Mis — 'twas a fearful fight — 
 It is history now — it is lore for sages." 
 
 The two heroines, just mentioned, namely, Scota and Fas, and 
 Jar and Ethiar, their two most distiuguished Druids, were the 
 
 reconnaissent aujourd'hui, que Jesus of the above mistake in its date. We 
 
 Christ naquitquatreansavantl'epoque, should then be careful how we doubt 
 
 qui, dans les sieclos d'ignorance,fut prise any of those historic events, recorded by 
 
 pour le point de depart del'ere chreti- our own Shanachies for some disagree- 
 
 enne ;" i. e. all ecclesiastical historians ment in the dates of any events, when 
 
 and critics now acknowledge that Jesus they have otherwise left historic traces 
 
 Christ was born fuur years before the after them upon the national memory, 
 time which during the ages of igno- ^* Glenn-Fas. Ihe Four Masters 
 
 ranee was taken as the starting of the call this place Glenn Faisi, (Fauski.) 
 
 Christian era. A Delavigne's Manual It is now called Glenofaush, and is situ- 
 
 for Bachelors of Arts, adopted by the ated in the townland of Knockatce, 
 
 University of France. This date has parish of Ballycaslane, barony of 
 
 been proved by medals and by astrono- Troughauacmy and county of Kerry, 
 
 miciil calculations. No one will dare — O'Í). 
 to doubt that great event on account ^' Scota's "rrave. This heroine's 
 
202 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 most renowned of llie Gaelic nation, that fell in that battle. And, 
 although throe hundred of themselves were slain, still thej 
 slaughtered one thousand of the Tuatha-Di-Dananns, whose 
 vanqaished host was forced to betake itself to the paths of 
 the routed. Eri, the wife of Mac Greni, follows her defeated 
 forces and she goes to Talti, and tells her tale to the sons of Ker- 
 mad. 
 
 But the sons of ]\Iiledh remained upon the field of battle, 
 burying those of their people that were slain, and, more especially, 
 those two druids that had fallen in the conflict, as the bard 
 tells us : 
 
 " 'Twas morning when we left Sliabli Mis — 
 We there met slaughter and repulse 
 From the royal Daghda's sons, 
 With their stout battle blades. 
 
 " By hardihood we gained that fight, 
 Over those island Elves of Banba — 
 'J'en hundred champions lay in heaps 
 ' At our leet, of the Tribes of Dana. 
 
 " Six fifties of our M'arlike band. 
 Of our dread army from Espain, 
 Were slain upon that blood-stained field — 
 Two sacred priests fell there likewise. 
 
 " Uar and Ethiar of the steeds — 
 Well-loved that bold and dauntless pair! 
 Gray flags now mark their lonely beds — 
 In their Fenian mounds we laid them." 
 
 Now, eight of the chieftains of the Milesian host perished at 
 sea, by the Druidic enchantments of the Tuatha-Dú-Dananns, 
 namely, Ir, at Skelg Miehil ; Arannan, who fell off the mast, 
 and Donn, who was drowned, with five other chiefs, at the Sand- 
 hills. Eight noble ladies, also, had now fallen; two of these had 
 been lost with Donn, namely, Buan, the wife of Bill, and Dil, the 
 daughter of JMiledh, who was both the wife and the sister of 
 Donn ; Skeni, the wife of Amirghin, was drowned at Inber 
 Skoni, and it is from her that the estuary in Kiarraide {Kccrec), 
 which we have jnst named, has been called; Fial, the Avife of 
 Lugaidh, son of Ith,*" died through shame, because her husband 
 
 grave is still pointed out in the valley l)eing asjiirated, it proves that the 
 
 of Glenn Scoithin, townland of Cia- name "Sgota" meant, as heretofore 
 
 bane, parish of Annagh, in the last> suggested, not " Scytiiian woman," but 
 
 named liarony and county. See O'Dímn- was the Gaelic syiionymc for Rosa or 
 
 van's Four Masters. Glenn Scoithin Flora, usual names of W(imen. 
 
 (Slcóhcen) means the " vale of the little *' Fial, the wife vf Ltigmdh, son oj 
 
 flower." Scoithin is here obviously a Ith. Lughaidh Mac Itha {Looce Mac 
 
 diminutive of " Scota," and the " t " Ilia) is called " Ced laid h-Er," i. c. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 203 
 
 had seen her naked, ?s she was coming in from swimming, and 
 from her that estuary has been called Inber Fcli^ ever since ; 
 again, Scota and Fas were slain in the battle of Sliabh Wis; two 
 others died also, to wit, the wives of Ir and of ]\iurthcmni, son 
 of Breogan. And these are the eight ladies*^ and the eight chiefs, 
 of the host of the Children of Miledh, that were lost, from their 
 first arrival in Ireland, until the}^ fought the battle of Talti. 
 
 Here follow, according to the Book of Conquests, tlie names 
 of the seven most noble women that came to Ireland with the 
 sons of Miledh ; Scota, Tea, Fial, Fas, Libra, Odba and Skeni. 
 I here subjoin the record, which a bardic historian has left us 
 upon this subject. In it he tells who the husband of each wo 
 man was, and who they were, whose husbands were alive at the 
 time of their arrival in Ii-eland : 
 
 " Tbe seven" chief ladies that hitherward came, 
 Most honored by the Sons of Miledh, 
 Were Tea and Fial and fair-formed Fas, 
 Libra and Odba, Scota and Skeni. 
 
 " Tea was the spouse of Erimhon of steeds 
 And Fial was the loved spouse of Lugaidh of lays ; 
 And Fas was the spouse of stout Uu, son of Ughi, 
 And Skeni the spouse of the bard-sage Amirghin. 
 
 " And Fuad's fair spouse was Libra the blooming ; 
 And widows of heroes were Scota and Obda. — ** 
 Now these are the ladies, remembered in story. 
 That hitherward came with the children of Miledh." 
 
 " the first or most ancient poet of Feile {luver Faylie), the mouth of the 
 
 Ireland" in an old copy of the river Feale or Feal in Kerry. 
 
 Book of Invasions, which nas lately ■*" Eight chiefs. Colpa of the 
 
 preserved in the library of the Duke of Sword has not been enumerated 
 
 Buckingham at Stow, and which con- amongst these. The number lost must 
 
 tains some pieces attributed to him. then have been nine not e g/íí. 
 
 One of these is a dirge for his wife *^ Seven chief ladies. Dil, i. e. 
 
 Fieal [Fed). In it the bard repre- beloved, and Buan, i. e. constant, the 
 
 sents himself as " seated on a cold wives of Donn and Bili, are left out of 
 
 stormy beach, overwhelmed with sor- this enumeration, 
 
 row, lor a lady had died. Fial her " Odba. Otherwise Odhbha [ova), 
 
 name. A beauteous flower. Being styled here a widow, had been the wife 
 
 unveiled, she saw a warrior on the of Erimhon, son of Miledh, whom he 
 
 shore. Great and oppressive was her had repudiated in favor of Tea, daugh- 
 
 death to her husband." See Hardi- ter of Lugaidh, son of Ith. " It is 
 
 man's Irisli Minstrehij. The language stated in the Book of Lecan and in the 
 
 of the poem, from which the above quo- Lebhar Gabhala [Lcour Gavau'a) of 
 
 tatioii was made, is most ancient, even the O'Cleries, that Ileremon had put 
 
 the gloss with which it is interlined, is away Odba, the mother of his elder 
 
 no longer intelligible to one who is ac- children, Muimni. Luigni and Laigni. 
 
 quaintcd only with the modern Gaelic. Odba, however, followed her children to 
 
 ** Liber Feli. Otherwise Inbher Ireland, and died of grief from being 
 
204 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 As to the cliildren of Milcdli, those of them that had landed 
 with Eber and had fought the battle cf Sliabh Mis, now marched 
 on to Erimhon, to Inber Colpa, and, when they had joined their 
 forces there, they challenged the three sons of Kermad and the 
 Tuatha-Dc-Dananns to meet them in a pitched battle. They 
 then came to a general engagement at Talti,"'' and there the chil- 
 dren of Kcrniad were completely vanquished by the sons of 
 Miledh ; t^o that ]\Iac Grc'ni fell by the hand of Amirghin, Mac 
 Coill by that of Eber, and Mac Keact by that of Erimhon. And 
 thus the bard records it : 
 
 " The bright Mac Greiii was laid low 
 In Talti, by Amirghin, 
 Mac Coin by Eber, hand of gold ; 
 Mac Keact fell by Erimhon." 
 
 And their three queens were also killed, namely, Eri, Fodla 
 and Banba ; as the bard tells us in the rann which here follows : 
 
 " Fodla was slain by the boastful Etan, 
 Banba was slain by the victor Caicher, 
 Eri, the bounteous, fell by Surghi — 
 Of these famed heroines such was the dire doom." 
 
 The greater part of the Danann. host was slain at that same 
 time. And as the forces of the sons of Miledh were pui'suing 
 their routed foes towards the North,^®two of their own chieftains 
 were slain in the chase, namely, Cualgni, son of Breogan, who 
 fell at Sliabh Cualgni, and FuacV^ son of Breogan, who was slain 
 at Sliabh Fuad. 
 
 repudiated by her lui«band, and was in- ■** Tuw-irds the North. 'J'he Danaans 
 
 tcrrcd at Odlja in Mcath, where her very probably directed their flight to- 
 
 chiidren raised a mound to her memory, wards the stronghold of Ailecli Neid, 
 
 This name, fmm which, according to 0'- near D^rry. 
 
 Dngan, the district of h-Aedha (O'- " Cualgni and Fiml. The Carling- 
 
 Ilay) or Hughes in Meath, has its dis- ford Mountains in the county of Louth, 
 
 tinctive title, is now obsolete. It would were called Hliabh Cualgni {Sleeve 
 
 be anglicised Ovey." — See 0' Donovan's Coolgnic). Slialih Vuad {Slcevi Fooid) 
 
 Four Musters. lies in the county of Armagh. 
 
 *'- Talti. Called oftener Tailtcnn, now 
 Tcltown in Meath. 
 
CHAPTER YIL 
 
 OP THE PARTITION OF IRELAND BETWEEN THE CHILDREN OP 
 
 MILEDH. 
 
 EBER AND ERIMHÓN,^ ARD-RIGHA.^ 
 
 A. M. 2736.5 When thej had expelled the Tuatha-Dé-Da- 
 nanns, and reduced all Ireland beneath their sway, Eber and 
 Erimhon divided the conquered country between them. Accord- 
 ing to some of our antiquarians, the following was the division 
 they then made; namely, the part that lies north of the Boinn 
 (Boyne), and the stream of Bron, fell to the share of Erimhon, 
 and what lies south of that boundary, as far as Tonn Clidna,* 
 fell to Eber. The poet-sage mentions that partition in the fol- 
 lowing manner : 
 
 " The northern half ('twas a faultless share) 
 Was the portion of king Erimhon ; 
 Through many a tribe ran its prosperous bounds, 
 From the stream of Bron* to the Boinn 's fair river. 
 
 ' Eber and Erimhon. These names 
 are spelled Eibher and Eireamhou 
 (Alver and Airivme) in modern Irish. 
 Eber is also sometimes spelled Emher 
 and Eimhear : the aspirated labials 
 " mh" and " bh." being almost alike in 
 sound, one is often found put for the 
 other in the middle and end of words. 
 In the Four Masters this word is most 
 usually spelled Emher. But the old 
 Latin name "Hibernia" or "Ibernia," as 
 well as the more general mode of spell- 
 ing the name itself, are sufficient evi- 
 dence that " b" is the proper radical. 
 
 * Ard-Righa, i. e. Arch King, " ard- 
 righa" (Aurd-Reegha), is the plural 
 of" ard-righ" (Aurd-Ree). 
 
 ' The Four Masters give A. M. 2501 
 as the year of this joint accession to ihe 
 sovereignty of Ireland, which they thus 
 record : "The age of the world 2.501. 
 This was the year m which Erimhon 
 
 and Emher assumed the joint sover- 
 eignty of Ireland, and divided Ireland 
 into two parts between them." 
 
 * Tonn Clidna, i. e. the wave of 
 Clidna or Cliodhna [Clecna). Tonn 
 Clidna lay in Glaudore Harbor, on 
 the Coast of Kerry. It is used here 
 for the whole of the sea that washes 
 the south coast of Ireland. Clidna, 
 daughter of Genann, became one of 
 those mythological beings called in Ire- 
 land" DaeineSidhe" {Decngh Sheeh) or 
 " fairy people." In fairy tales she ia 
 usually styled " Cliodhna na Cairge 
 Leithe" [Cleenana carguichy liie), i. e. 
 Clidna oi the Gray Crag or Rock. Ac- 
 cording to Hardiman, Clidna was one 
 of the queens of the Munster fairies. 
 — See Irish Minstrelsy. 
 
 * The B on. The editor has not 
 identified this stream. It lays some- 
 where in the west of Ireland. 
 
 [205] 
 
206 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 " And Eber, the conquering son of Milcdh, 
 Took for his portion the southern half^ — 
 His just lot lay from the Boiun's cool stream, 
 To the Wave of Genann's daughter." 
 
 Five of the principal leaders of tlie liost of the children of 
 Miledh then went with Erimhon into his division of the country, 
 and they received lands from him, upon which they erected 
 duns {(Toons), each upon his own portion. The names of these 
 five chieftains were Amirghin, Gostenn, Sedga, Sobarki and 
 Surghi. Here follow, also, the names of the royal raths that 
 were erected by Erimhon and by his five chieftains; in the first 
 place, Eath-Belhaigh^ was erected by himself at Argedros,^ on 
 the banks of the Feoir (Nore) in Ossory ; Amirghin Ijuilt Tur- 
 lach of Inber Mor f Sobarki built Dun Sobarki f Dun-Delgindsi^" 
 was erected by Sedga, in the district of Cuala; Gostenn erected 
 Cathair-an-Nair" {Cahir-an-nar\ and Surghi built Dun-Edair.^^ 
 
 The following Avere the five, that went with Eber; namely, 
 Caicher, Mantan, En, Ughi and Fulman. These, also, erected 
 five royal raths. Firstly, Rath Eomhain^^ was erected by Eber in 
 Laighen-Magy* {Lyen-Moy) ; Caicher erected Dun-Inn^^ in the 
 west of Ireland ; Mantan erected the Cumdach Cairgi Bladraide^* 
 {Coodagh Cargui Bloiree) ; En, son of Oighi, raised the rath of 
 Ard-Suird,^^ and Fulman the rath of Carraig Fedaigh.^® 
 
 ' Rath-Bethaigh. Now Rathbeagh, Sliabh Modhuirn {Slicve Mourve), a 
 
 in a parish of the same name, barony of range of heights near Ballybay, county 
 
 Galmoy and county of Kilkenny. — O'D. of Monaghan 
 
 ' Ar"-edros, otherwise Airgead-ros, ^- Du.-Edair was built upon Benn 
 i. e. the Silver Wood. A woody dis- Edair, now the Hill of Howth, near 
 trict, in ancient Ossory, lying along the Dublin. It was otherwise Dun- 
 banks of the Nore, was thus denomi- Chrimhthainn fZ) on Criffiiw). 
 nated. O'D. '^ J^nth Edmhain, called Rath 
 
 " Turlnc'i of Inher Mor. The TJamliaiii by the Four Masters. Dr. 
 
 Four Masters call this place " Tochar O'Donovan conjectures that it is Rath- 
 
 Inbhir Mhoir" ( Tog'iar Iiivir vorc), i. c. howcn in the county of Wexford, 
 
 the causeway of Inbcr Mor. Inbcr Mor '■* Laighen-Mnrrh, i. e. liciiister plain, 
 
 was the old name of the Month of the '^ Dun-Inn. 'J'his is called Dun-Ar- 
 
 Avoca or"Abhain Mor" {(JuinMore), dinni by the Four Masters; it is now 
 
 at Arklow, county of Wicklow. unknown,— O'D. 
 
 " Dun Sobarki. Dr. O'Donovan " CumiUich Cairgi Blndraide, 5. e. 
 
 says that this fort, of which notice has the building on the rock of Bladraidhc. 
 
 been already given, was not built The only name like Bladraide is Blyry, 
 
 durin"- the reign'of Eber and Erimhon, in the barony of Brawncy, co. Wcst- 
 
 for Sobarki or Sobhairce, (Sowarki,) meath.— O'D. 
 
 after whom it was called, did not " Ard-Suird. This hill is situated 
 
 flourish for some time afterwards. about half a mile to the north-west of 
 
 10 Dun-Dcl"-indsi, i. e. the Fort of the old church of Donaghmorc, near 
 
 Delg-Innis. ^Delg-Innis was the old the city of Einierick. The ruins of a 
 
 name of Dalkey, island near Dublin. castle now occupy the site of the rath. — 
 
 " Catliair-i'in-Nuir. 'I'he Four O'D. 
 
 Masters say that this fort was on " Carraig Fedaigh. As Un waa 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 207 
 
 Other historians tell us that the following was the partition 
 made of Ireland by Eber and Erinihon : the two Mansters were 
 assigned to Eber, and Leinster and Connaught formed the terri- 
 tory of Erimhon. The principality of Ulster was given to Eber, 
 son of Ir, son of Miledh, and to some others of the chieftains, that 
 came over with the children of Miledh ; and the territory of 
 Corca Luighe {Corca Looee)^ in South Munster, was given to 
 Lugaidh, son of Ith ; that is, to the son of their grand-uncle. 
 This latter account I deem the more correct, for Eath Bethaigh 
 {Rah-BáJue\ which was the chief residence of Erimhon, Avas situ- 
 ated in Leinster, and also because the posterity of Eber originally 
 dwelt in Munster, while those of Erimhon dwelt in Leinster and 
 Connaught, and the posterity of Rudraide, son of Sithrighe 
 {Sheehree), a descendant of Eber, son of Ir, were the original 
 possessors of Ulster. It is from this Eudi'aide, I have just named, 
 that the real Ultonians are called the " Clanna Rudraide," or 
 clans of Rudraide, and thus are denominated, likewise, all those 
 of their progeny that went into any of the other "fifths" for the 
 purpose of acquiring lands or of making conquests ; such as the 
 migration of the children of Rudraide into Leinster, that is, the 
 settlement of the race of Conall Kearnach in Laeighis'* {Lueesh) ; 
 and the progeny of Fergus Mac Roigh, who settled in Conmacni^^ 
 in Connaught, and in Corcomruadh-^ and Kerr}'',^^ in Munster; 
 and the family of Dubidir,^^ the progeny of Carbri Cluthecar, son 
 of Cucorb, of the race of Labraidh Loingsech ; and the family of 
 Rian,-'' of the race of Cathaeir Mor, who had migrated from 
 
 one of the two chieftains seated in of the county of Longford, of which 
 Connaught, it is conjectured that this the O'FerraÍls were chiefs, and a Con- 
 is Rahoou, in Irish, Rath Uin, near the uiacni of Muiater Eolais, in the south 
 town of Galway. — O'D. of Leitrim, whose chieftains were the 
 
 '' The race of Conall Kearnach. Mac Ranualls, now generally written 
 
 These were the O'Mordhas [0 Mora) Reynolds and MagranneU. 
 
 or O'Mores and their kindred clans, -' Corcomruadh, now Corcomroe in 
 
 settled in Loix or Laeighis in the Kings the county of Clare. The O'Connors, 
 
 and Queens counties. Corcomroe and the O'Loghlins of 
 
 ^'^ Conmacni. These were the descend- Burriu, are here meant, 
 
 ante of Conraac, son of the famous - Kerij. The Ciarraidhe (Xeerec), 
 
 Ulidiam Champion, Fergus Mac from whom this county had its name, 
 
 Roigh. " There were three territories are descended from Ciar, another son of 
 
 called after Septs of this name in Con- Fergus Mac Roigh. Their chief Clans 
 
 naught, namely, Conmacni Kinel Dub- were the O'Connors Kerry, and their 
 
 bain, now the barony of Danmore in relatives. 
 
 the north of Galway ; Conmacni Mara, ^ The family of Dubidir, otherwise 
 
 now the barony Ballynahinch, in the Dubhir. Our author refers to the 
 
 north-west of the same county ; Con- O'Dwyers, chiefs of Kiluemanagh, in the 
 
 macni Culi Toladh, in the south of county of Tipperary. This clan was 
 
 the county of Mayo." — O'Do-iuvtn. of the race of Erimhon. 
 
 O'Flaherty mentions a Conmacni of " The Famrly of Rian, i. e. the 
 
 Magh Riia in Brcfuy, in the north O'Macil-Riains or O'Ryans, chieftainB 
 
208 
 
 THE niSTORY OF IKELAND. 
 
 Leinster into iiunster. But it Avas long iiftcr Eber and Erimhon 
 had made their partition of Ireland, that these tiibes removed 
 from their native territories into other parts of Ireland. It is 
 well known that it was in the time of Murcdach Tirech, that the 
 three Collas, with their kinsmen, left Connacht in order to make 
 conquests, from the tribes of Uladh, from whom they then for- 
 cibly wrested a large portion of their territory, namely, Modurn,^^ 
 Ui Mic Uais,'^'^ and Ui Crimthainn ;2' and there many of their 
 posterity still remain ; such as Raghnald,^^ Earl of Antrim, de- 
 scended from Colla Uais (oosh), the Maguires, Mac Mahons and 
 O'Hanlons, with their several branches, descended from Colla Dk 
 Crioeh. In the days of Cormac, son of Art, also, the Di'sies,^^ a 
 family of the line of Erimhon, came into Munster, and got lands 
 therein. Again, in the reign of Fiacaidh Mul-lethan, king of 
 Munster, Carbri Muse, a gentleman of the line of Erimhon, 
 brought a poem to Fiacaidh, and received, as a reward for his 
 verses, all the land that lies from Slighe Dala {Ske Daivla), i. e. 
 from Belach Mor, in Ossory, to Cnoc Ani Cliach,^° as we read in 
 the book of Armagh. From this Carbri Muse it is, that the Or- 
 monds have got the name of Muscraide^^ {mooscree). It was not 
 
 of Uaithne, now the baronies of 
 Owney Beg, in the county of Limerick, 
 and Owney, in that of 'J ipperary. 
 
 '^* Modurn, now Crcmoiiro in Mona- 
 phan. A mountainous district in 
 Ulidia, also received the name of Mod- 
 urn (properly Mugdorn) or Mourne, 
 from a tribe of the descendants of 
 Mughdorn Dubh, son of Colla, who 
 emigrated thither in the reign of Nial 
 the Haughty, son of Aedh, son of Mag- 
 nus ^íac Maghthamhna,or Mac Mahon. 
 -OT). 
 
 ^ Ui Mic Uais, now Aloygish, in 
 Wo^t Mcath. 
 
 "" Ui C'imthainn, otherwise called 
 Ui Cremhthainn (ce CreJJinn). The 
 barony of Slane, in Meath, was thus 
 called, from the " Ui" or descendants 
 of Crinthann, son of Fiach, son of 
 Degaidh Uuiru, son of Rocadh, son of 
 Colla Da Crioeh. 
 
 * Raghnald, otherwise Reginald 
 Mac Donald. According to Irish his- 
 tory the Mac Donalds of ,Scf)lIaiid,from 
 whom the Mac Donalds of Antrim are 
 tiprung, are the descendants of Colla 
 Uais. 
 
 '" Desics, i. e. the O'Faclans and 0'- 
 Brics, of the territory now called the 
 
 county of Watcrf ird, which was styled 
 Desi Mumhan {Daishi Moon), to dis- 
 tinguish it from the Dcsies in Meath, 
 now called Dcece. 
 
 ^ Cnoc A'li Clinch, no-vf Knockany 
 in the county of Limerick. 
 
 °' Miiscraide. There were six districts 
 called by this name, wliich have been an- 
 glicised Muskery. 1. Muscraide Mitani, 
 or Muscraide Ui Floinn, i. e. the 
 Muskery of O'Fliim, now Musgrylyn, 
 which comprises lb parishes in the 
 norlh-west of the county of Cork. 2. 
 Muscraide Luachra [Lno^iira) the 
 ancient name of the disti ict, in which 
 the Blackwatcr of Munster has its 
 source. 3. Muscraide 'J'ri Maighc, i. c. 
 of the three plains, in the present 
 barony of Barrymorc, co. Cork, the 
 territory of O'Donegan. 4 and 5. 
 Muscraide Breoghain and Muscraide 
 Ui Chuirc (i. e. O'Quirk's), now the 
 barony of Cianwilliam in tlie south- 
 west of the county of 'J'ipperary. 
 G. Muscraide Tiiiri {Hcnric), now the 
 baronies of Upjjer and Lower Ormond, 
 in the county last named, 'i'he termi- 
 nation " raide" or " raidhe" (rce) in 
 this and similarly formed names, is pat- 
 ronymic. The attempt of Dr. O'Brien 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 209 
 
 long after this that some of the progeny of Eber, namely, the 
 descendants of Cormac Galeng, came into Connaught, and from 
 them sprung tlie Galenga^^ and the Luighni^ (Loome), of whom 
 lire the O'iiaras and O'Garas of the Northern Half And so it 
 Avas with every other person and hinel, or kindred, that migrated 
 from their native territories into other parts of Ireland, and not 
 by reason of the partition made between Eber and Erimhon. I 
 am, consequently, of opinion, that the last-cited account of that 
 partition is the correct one ; for it is not to be supposed, that 
 Erimhon would have built his first royal rath in the part that 
 had fallen to Eber's lot, namely, that of Eath Bethaigh, in Arge- 
 dros. I then deem that he built it in his own portion, and that, 
 consequently, the territory of Leinstcr belonged to him, as the 
 latter tradition tells us. 
 
 There came also to Ireland, amongst the followers of the sons 
 of Miledh, a learned bard-sage or "file" (fiUeh) named Kir, son 
 of Kis, and likewise a harper of harmonic tunes, Avhose name 
 Avas Onaei (onee) ; and Eber said, that these should dwell with 
 himself, while Erimhon insisted that they should abide with him ; 
 but they at last arranged the disputed point by casting lots ; 
 whereupon, the musician fell to the lot of Eber, and the bard to 
 that of Erhnhon. In commemoration of this contest, the follow- 
 ing verses are found in the Psalter of Cashel : 
 
 " Lots then they fairly cast 
 For these two men of wondrous science ; 
 The southern chief thus got 
 The harper skilled in harmony. 
 
 " To the northern chieftain fell 
 The bard of the mighty song ; 
 Hence comes our peerless sway 
 In the bardic lay and melodious tune. 
 
 " Sweet-stringed tunes, rhymes smoothly flowing, 
 In the north and the south of Eri, 
 Shall reign for aye, till the day of doom. 
 As the bards have sung in the Scnchas." 
 
 to derive the name from " Mus," pleas- great Galeuga. In West Meath, near 
 oni,and "Crioch," a (/WÍ/7CÍ, is visionary, the Lifi'ey, lay tlie Galeuga Bega 
 — See Dr. 0' Donovan's Lmbhar na g- {begga), or Lesser Galenga, whose chiefs 
 Ceart. took the name of O'h-Aengusa, now 
 ^ Galenga. The Galenga of Con- Henessy. Both of the Meathian 
 uaHghtjWhich is now called the barony of Galenga were dispossessed by Sir 
 Gallen, in the county of Mayo, with Hugh de Lacy, shortly after the Eng- 
 the exception of Coolcarney, was the lishmvaúon.— See 0'Do7iova7i'sLeabhar 
 territory of O'Gara or O'Gadhra. Mor- na g-Ceart, p. 148. 
 gallion in Meath, the territory of O'- '^ Liiigni. The territory of the 
 Leochain or Loughan, sometimes bar- O'h-Adhras, or O'Haras, is the present 
 barized to " Duck," was also called barony of Ixij-ny, in the county of 
 from this race. Its present name is a Sligo.' This district v/as also corn- 
 corruption of Gallenga Mora, i. e. the prised under the name Galeuga. 
 14 
 
210 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 With the sons of Miledh, there liad come over likewise four- 
 aud-tweiity servile laborers, who, soon after their aiTÍval, cleared 
 twenty-four plains of wood, and these plains were named after 
 themselves. Here follow their names: Aidni, Ai, Asal, Medi, 
 Morba, Midi, Cuib, Cliu, Kera, Keir, Slan, Leghi, Lifi, Lini, Lig- 
 hen, Trea, Dula, Adar, Ariu, D^sin, Déla, Fóa, Femenn and 
 Sera. And the plains they had reclaimed are distinctively 
 known by the names of these laborers, down to the present day. 
 Tea, daughter of Lugaidh, son of Ith, who was the wife of Erim- 
 hon, caused an edifice to be built for her at Liath-di'om [Leeh- 
 oiro^i), which is now called Temhair {Tavivir) ; and it is from 
 Tea, daughter of Lugaidh, that that hill got the latter name, to 
 wit, " Teamhair," i. e. " Mur Tea,""^ (the edifice or wall of Tea.) 
 
 Eber and Erimhon had reigned conjointly for one year, when 
 a dispute arose between them about the ownership of the three 
 most excellent hills in Ireland, namely, Drom-Clasach,^'' in the 
 territory of Mani; Drom-Bethaigh,^ in Maeu-magh, and Drom- 
 Finghin,'^ in Munster. This dispute brought on a battle between 
 
 Applied either to a woman, hill, bower 
 or house, it would thus bo of the same 
 meaning with the Latin "speciosa," 
 derived from " specto," to view, i. e. 
 beautiful. It is most likely a Danaau 
 name. — If it were compounded of the 
 words "Tea" and "Mur," it would 
 make " Teamhuir " ( Tuvooir) in the 
 genitive case, and not '• Teanihrach " 
 {Taurap;h), like " lasair," gen. " laa- 
 rach" {lasxir gen. lasragk), and cuingir 
 gen. " cuingrcach" {cu}ip;ir gen. cung- 
 ragh). The rule, " Derivata patrum 
 naturam verba sequuntur" applies to the 
 Gaelic as well as other tongues. 
 
 ^'- Drom-Clufiach is a long ridge, sit- 
 uated in Ui Mani, iii Galway, between 
 Lough Ree and the River Suck. — O'D. 
 
 '■^ Droiii-Bethach was the name of a 
 remarkable ridge of hills, extending 
 across the plain of Maeinnagh, near the 
 town of Lough rea, in the county of 
 (lahvay.— O'l). 
 
 '" Drom-Finghin. This name, pro- 
 nounced Drum Fincen, i. e. Fineen's 
 Ridge, is still in use, and applied to a 
 long range of high grouii I dividing 
 D(!cics-within-I>rum from I);'(nes-with- 
 out-Drum, in the county of Waterford. 
 It extends from Castle Lyons, in the 
 county of Cork, to Ringoguana,fh, ou 
 the south aide of the Bay of Dungar- 
 van. 
 
 ** Mur Tea. Such a derivation 
 would neither be in accordance with 
 the genius of the Gaelic language, nor 
 with Gaelic usage, which are both ad- 
 verse to such concrete names. Temhair 
 is evidently a name older than the Mi- 
 lesian colonization, and, if it be not 
 itself a root, it is formed on some such 
 root as " Temh" or " Teamh," by the 
 simple addition of the sufQx " air" or 
 "" ir," just as " Cuingir," a tarn, is de- 
 rived from " Cuing," a yoke, " lasair," a 
 hlaze or flame, from " las," ligld thou. 
 It seems of the same class with " cath- 
 air," " lathair," " laidir," " socair," and 
 a numbir of similarly formed words, 
 whose immediate roots are not found in 
 (jiaeiic. According to Dr. O'Donovan, 
 Temhair was common as a woman's 
 name in Ireland, and it was applied to 
 more hills than Temliair in Mcath, as 
 Temhair Luachra [Taovir Looghra) in 
 Kerry, and Temhair Bhrogha Niadh 
 [Tavvir Vrow Ncen) in Ijcinstcr. He 
 ixjlls us that in Cormuc's Glossary, it is 
 stated that the " temhair" of a house 
 means a bower, boudoir or balcony, 
 and that the " temhair" of a country 
 means a hill, commanding a pleasant 
 prospect. This interpretation UiWs of 
 a root akin to that of " deofia," a pros- 
 pect or sight, which is " dau)," or 
 " óeaofiai," to view, to admire, &c. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. lÍS 
 
 Eber and Erimlion, Avliicli was fought at Brugh-Bridain,-^ in Ui 
 Failghi, at Tocliar, between the two plains, in tlie district of 
 Gesill. Eber was vanquished in this battle, and he was slain 
 himself therein, with three of the chiefs of his people. The 
 names of the latter were Surghi, Sobarki, atid Gostcnn. A bard 
 gives us the following account of their contest : 
 
 " Tall Eber and brave Erimhon 
 Shared Banba's realm without a grudge 
 For one year, free from war or spoil, 
 Till fell ambitiou seized their wives. 
 
 «' His wife told Eber of the fights, 
 That if she owned not the smooth hills, 
 Of Clasach, Bith and fair Finghin, 
 She'd stay no night in Eri. 
 
 " Then Eber fell, that august man, 
 By Miledh"s son, brave Erimhon, 
 In Gesill's land he got his wound. 
 At morn, upon Magh-Smerthainn." 
 
 The bard Tanaide^ has also left us the following verses upon 
 the same event : 
 
 " Sages of Banba, land of glory, 
 Know ye and can ye tell the cause, 
 "Why that great battle dire was driven 
 By Erimhon o'er Eber's might ? 
 
 " I shall myself reveal the cause, 
 Whence sprung that fratricidal war — 
 'Twas for three solitary bights 
 That loveliest were in Eri found — 
 
 " Drom-Finghin and Drom-Clasach bright, 
 And Drora-Bethaidh in Connacht — 
 For these three hills — oh, tale of woe ! — 
 Was done that deed of slaughter." 
 
 " Brugh-Bridain, i. e. the Town of Rosa Falghi, or Rosa of the Rings, 
 
 Bridain. The Four Masters call this son of the^raonarch Cathaeir Mor. 
 
 place Bri-darah, i. e. the hill of oxen. ^ Tie bard Tnnaide {Tanep) O'Nful- 
 
 In the description of this battle, it is conry, or Mael-Conari. The clan of the 
 
 stated that there were many mounds at O'Alulconries produced two Arch-01- 
 
 this place, in which Eber and the other lamhs of Connau^hf. of this name, viz:, 
 
 chiefs slain in the battle were interred. Tanaide Mor, Arch-Ollamh, A.D. 1270, 
 
 The name of the Tochar or Causewiij and Tanaide, who died Arch-Ollamh in 
 
 between the tivo plains is still preserved A.D. 1385. The F'our Masters record 
 
 in that of Ballintoghcr, i. e. the Town the death of another distinguished mem- 
 
 of the Causeway, in the parish and bsr of this bardic family.'namcd Tana^ 
 
 barony of Geshill, in the Kings County, ide. son of Maeilin, in 1446. The edi- 
 
 Ui F./ig'u', or Offally, was the territory tor cannot say which of these bards is 
 
 of O'Conor Falghi, descended from here cited. 
 
212 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ERIMHON, ARD-RIGH, 
 
 A. M. 2737.* Erimhon, having already reigned one year in 
 copartnership with Eber, now took upon him the full sovereignty 
 of Ireland wnich he held for fourteen years after his brother's 
 death. The latter fell at Argedros, according to some authori- 
 ties. Thus a bard tells us in the following rann : 
 
 " For fourteen years, as I have heard, 
 King Erimhon sole monarch reigned, 
 After the fight at Argedros. 
 Where noble Eber slaughtered fell." 
 
 But, notwithstanding this, it is the common opinion of histo- 
 rians, and, as I think, the true one, that Eber was slain at tho 
 battle of Gesill, as I have related above, and not at that of Ar- 
 gedros. 
 
 It was in Erimhon's time that the following events took place, 
 namely : the battle of Cul-Caichir,^' a year after the death of Eber, 
 and it was there that Caicher, a chieftain of Eber's people, was 
 killed by Amirghin, son of Miledh. In a year after that, Am- 
 irghiii himself fell by the hand of Erimhon, at the battle of Bili- 
 Tenedh,*^ in Cula Breagh. It was in this 3-ear that the three 
 Brosnachs*' of Eli burst forth over the land, and the three Uin- 
 senns*^ {uinshens) of Tir-Olilla. Three years after this, Fulmaii 
 and Mantan, two chieftains of Eber's party, fell by Erimhon, at 
 the battle of Bregan,^' in Fremhain. 
 
 Eight lakes burst over the land in the reign of Erimhon, 
 namely. Loch Buadaigh,*^ Loch Bagha,*^ Loch R6iu,*^Loch Finn- 
 
 " Erimhon's reign commenced, ac- cord, also, the springing forth of nino 
 
 cording to the Four Masters, in A. M. rivers called " Righe," in I.x:'instcr, dur- 
 
 3502. ing this reign. 
 
 ^' Cuil-Caichir, unknown.— OD. " Three Uimenns. Tir Olilla is the 
 
 " 7yí7i-rc>ic(i/i,or Bile Teinedh [Bil- barony of 'i'irorrill, in the county of 
 
 lek Tinneh), is said to be tlie place now Sligo ; but there is no river now called 
 
 called Coill an Bhilé ICnill an villeli), Uiiwenn [Unshon) therein. — CD. 
 in English, Hillywood, m the parish of " Bregan m Frfmlialn. The Four 
 
 iloyiiaity, barony of I^wer Kclls, and Masters called this. Bregan in Femhcn. 
 
 county of Meatli. — O'D. Ilardiman, 'J'lie latter is a plain in the soutli-ea.st 
 
 in his Irish Minstrelsy, gives some short of TippiTary. Fremhain, now Frc^in, 
 
 poetic pieces attributed to Amirghin, is in West Meaili. — O'D. 
 who was slain at this place. Amirghin *° Lork Jhtadaigh, i.e. the Late of 
 
 was surnamed «Jlun-gel, i.e. Fair Knee, the Victor, not known. — O'D. 
 He was slain in the second year of " Lock Bn^hn, now Longh Baah, 
 
 Erimhon's reign. near Ciustle I'lunket, in the cimnty of 
 
 "* Tkrce Brosnachs. The Four Mas- Koscommon.— O'D. _ 
 lers say nine. There arc at present " U)ch Rnn. This name is still ap* 
 
 but two rivei-s known I)y this name in plied to a small lake in Magh liein, in 
 
 Eli. The others must be tributary the county of Leitrim. — O'D. 
 streams. — O'D. The Four Masters re- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 213 
 
 Maighe,^^ Loch Greni,®' Loch Riach," over the plain called ^fagh- 
 Maein, Loch Da-Caech,®^ inLcinster, and Loch Laegh,^ in Ulster. 
 In the third year after this, Un, En, and Etan were slain by 
 Erinihon, in the battle of Comhari,^ in Meath, and their sepul- 
 chral mounds were raised at the same place. In the same year 
 the three Sucks^^ burst over the land in Connaught. 
 
 Some historians tell us that it was Erimhon that divided Ire- 
 land into five "fifths," or provinces, amongst some of his chief- 
 tains, after the death of his brother Eber. First, he gave the 
 "fifth" or province of Leinster, to Crimthann Sciathbel, a noble- 
 man descended from the Fer-bolgs. The province of Munster he 
 gave to the four sons of Eber,uamely, Er, Orba, Ferann, and Fergna. 
 He gave the province of Conuacht to Un, son of Ughi, and to 
 Etan, two chiefs who had followed him from Spain. In like 
 manner he left the province of Ulster to Eber, the son of his 
 brother Ir, 
 
 The Cruthnigh or Picts. , 
 
 It was in the reign of Erimhon, also, that the Cruthnigh,^^ that 
 is, the Picti, a host that had emigrated from Thrace, came to 
 Ireland ; and, according to Cormac Mac Culinan, in his Psalter, 
 the cause of their leaving Thrace, Avas because Policornus, the 
 king of Thrace,^^ sought to violate a beautiful marriageable dam- 
 sel, who was the daughter of Gud, the head chieftain of the 
 Picts, while her nation were at free quarters in his country. 
 When Gud and his Cruthnigh perceived that the king had an 
 intention to violate the damsel, the}^ slew him and then k'ffc the 
 
 •■^ Lo(h Fiiin-Maighe is now called ^ The three Sucks are the rivers still 
 
 Loch Fenvoy and Garadice Lou^h. It called the Suck and its tributaries, the 
 
 is situated on the barony of Carrigallen, Sheffin and the River of Cloubrock, in 
 
 and county of Leitriin. — O'D. the county of Gal way. 
 
 '" Loch Gieni. The Lake of Grian ** Cruithmgh Many etymologies 
 
 (a woman's name), now Loch Grauey, have been given for this name. To the 
 
 in the north of the county of Clare. — editor it seems to be a dialectic varia- 
 
 O'D. tion of " Brethuaigh," i. e. Britons. 
 
 ^' Loch Riach, now Lough Reagh, The Gaels often use the letter " c," or 
 
 near the town of Loughrea, in the couu- " g," where the Britons use " p." or 
 
 ty of Galway. " b." Thus the Gaels say "cenn" {kenn), 
 
 '•'■ Lock Da-Caech, an old name of for the British "pen," a head, and 
 
 Waterford Harbor.— O'D. "mac" for the British "map" or 
 
 ^ Lock Laegh, now called Belfast "mab,"' a son. 
 
 Lougli- " Thrace. It were well that our 
 
 " Comkari, called Corahrairi in the author gave the Celtic name of the 
 
 Four Masters, is now called Kilcome- country, which he calls Thracia or 
 
 ragh. It lies near the hill of Uisnech, Thrace. The modern name " France " 
 
 in I he barony of Moycashel, in West is used a little further on for " Gallia," 
 
 Meath. by a gross anachronism. 
 
214 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 country. They then passed from land to land, until they readied 
 France, and there they^ot military quarters and lands from tho 
 king of France, upon Avhich they built the city, which is called 
 Pictavium, from the name of their nation, that is, from the Picts 
 or Cruthnigh, who founded it. But, as soon as the king of France 
 heard the ííime of the damsel's beauty, he resolved to make her 
 his mistress. When Gud was told of this, he fled, with all his 
 people, and set out, with his daughter, for Ireland; but, while 
 they were at sea, the damsel died, and they then got into port at 
 Inber Slangi. Bede agrees wdth this account of their migration, 
 but he says that it was in the north of Ireland that they landed. 
 It is thus that he expresses himself in the first book of his His- 
 tory of the Saxon Church : " It is said that the Pictish race 
 chanced to come to Ireland, in a few long gallies, over the ocean, 
 driven by the winds outside all the coast of Great Britain, and 
 that they landed upon its northern coast, and finding the Scotic 
 nation settled there before them, they asked for a settlement for 
 themselves, likewise ; but they did not obtain it.''^ However, it 
 was not in the north of Ireland that they landed, but at the end 
 of Inber Slangi, and in the Harbor of Wexford, as we have men- 
 tioned. Here they were met by Crimthann Sciathbél,^' who was 
 
 '^ Contigit geutem Pictorum de Scy- 
 thia, ut pcrhibent, longis iiavibus uou 
 multis oceaiium ingiessam, circuma- 
 gente flatu ventorum fines omnes Bri- 
 tanniae Iliherniara pcrvenisse, ejusque 
 Septentrionales oras intrasse atque in- 
 vcuta ibi gcnte iScotorum, sibi quoque 
 in partibus illis petiisse locum, ncc im- 
 petrasse potuisso. 
 
 '^^ Crimthann Sciatlibel. By thus 
 finding this Firbolgic chief ruler of one 
 of the richest parts of Ireland, and in 
 close alliance with the king of the 
 Gaels, but a few years after the con- 
 quest of Ireland, we may infer that the 
 former nation was still powerful in the 
 country. In fact, one might judge that 
 the Gaels then, and for ages after, 
 maintained their jjre-eminenco, as the 
 Norman knights did in more recent 
 times, by setting one portion of the na- 
 tion against tlie other. More than 
 1000 years after this time, we shall find 
 the Gaels still a minority of the nation, 
 when, during what is called tlie Atta- 
 cottic war, they were all but exter- 
 minated l>y the subject races, combined 
 for a moment under Carbri Gat^Keim. 
 The Belgian, Crimthann .Sciathbél, at 
 this time very probably divided the 
 
 sovereignty of Ireland with Erimhou, 
 if he were not its real king, and Erim- 
 hon and Ebcr leaders of his foreign 
 auxiliaries. Crimthann's race has per- 
 ished, as well as that of tlie Danaans, 
 and no record remains of either but 
 what it has plt;ased their conquerors to 
 hand down. The Danaans, though 
 driven from Tara and Mcath by the 
 battle of 'J'aiti, must luive still main- 
 tained their sway at Ailceh Neid, near 
 Derry, as we may infer from some dim 
 glimpses we shall again get of them in 
 that (juarter of Ireland. Neither were 
 those more early colonists, the Fomo- 
 rians, yet extinguished. They shall 
 again appear in our history. Ireland 
 must then have been at this time in- 
 habited by various tribes of distinct 
 origins. The Iberian who had come 
 slowly by the Mrditcrranean coasts of 
 Africa and by Spain, leaving many 
 colonies on his way. Ins met on the ex- 
 treme verge of the old world the Neme- 
 dian and Belgian, or Fer-bolg, whom 
 we have traced thither by another route, 
 from nearly the same eastern home. 
 Neither can go farther, and one mast 
 of necessity exterminate the other. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 215 
 
 the ruler of Lcinster, imder Erimhon, at that time, and he formed 
 an alliance with thcni. The chieftains of their fleet were Gud 
 and his son Cathluan®'^ {Cahlooan). And the motive that induccjl 
 Crimthann to form an alliance with them, was because certain 
 chiefs of ihe British nation, who were called the "Tuatha Fidga,"" 
 were then extending their sway over the Fotharts,^^ on both sides 
 of the mouth of the river Slangi. These were a people of whom 
 each man carried poisoned weapons, so that whatever wound 
 they inflicted, whether large or small, no remedy could avail the 
 wounded man, or save him from death, Crimthann had heard 
 that there was a learned Druid amongst the Cruthneans, who was 
 named Trosdan, that could give him and his people a remedy 
 against the poison which the Tuatha Fidga bore upon their weap- 
 ons ; and he asked Trosdan what remedy he should have re- 
 course to against the poisoned weapons of those people we have 
 named. "Get milked," said Trosdan, "one hundred and fifty 
 white and hornless cows, and let their milk be thrown into a pit 
 in the midst of the field where you have been wont to fight 
 these people, and then challenge them to meet you in battle upon 
 that same ground; and let every man of 3^our people that shall re- 
 ceive a wound, bathe himself in the pit, and he shall be healed 
 from his poisoned wound." Crimthann then did as the Druid 
 had told him, and he challenged the Tuatha Fidga to meet him in 
 battle at Ard-lemnacta {Awrd-lewnaghta), and there he routed 
 them with dreadful slaughter. From this fact it has come, that 
 that hill has been called the battle of "Ard-lemnacta," (i. e. 
 New-Milk- Height,) ever since, as the bard has recorded in the fol- 
 lowing lay : 
 
 ^» Cathluan. Caledonia, the old La- ever, of much wider extent. There was 
 
 tin name of Scotland, is derived by the Fothart Arbrech, in the north-east 
 
 some antiquaries from this chief. of the Kings county ; the Fothart 
 
 " Tuatha Fidga, otherwise Tuatha Oirthir Lifi, in Wicklow; Fothart 
 Fiodhgha (Too/iii'Fcei/a). These words Osnaidech, or Fotharta Fea, in Car- 
 might be translated " savage tribes,'' low, now the barony of Forth in that 
 i. e. " Tuatha " ir/ics, and " Fiodhga ■' county; and Fothart au Chairn, in 
 or '■' Fiaga." loild or savage — an adjec- Wexford. They received their name, 
 tive formed from " Fiodh " or " Fidh " according to Irish tradition, from 
 {Feeh) — a wood. So the Latins formed Eocaidh Finn Fothart, the brother of 
 '■ Silvestris," (whence comes the Ehg- Conn of the Hundred Battles. O'Nolan 
 lish word '• savage," through the old was chief of the Fotharts of Carlow, 
 French " salvage,") from " sylva," a O'Lorcan or Larkin of the Fothartsof 
 wood. Wexford, which jiosition they main- 
 
 ^^ Fotharts. From the description tained until the English invasion. _ The 
 
 given above, it is to be understood that other Fotharts were early extinguished, 
 
 the baronies, or Forth and Shelmalier The name is prematurely applied here, if 
 
 in Wexford, were the districts where it be derived from the brother of Conn, 
 
 the Tuatlia Fidga were settling. The but that chief may just as likely have 
 
 ancient Fotharta (Foharta) were, how- received his surname from the district. 
 
;-216 ' THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 " Ard-lemnact, in yon southern land, 
 Each learned sage must learn the cause, 
 Why that height received the name 
 Now borne by it, since Crhuthann reigned. 
 
 " Crimthann Sciathbel caused that name, 
 That he might save his warriors true. 
 And heal them from tlie baleful wounds 
 Of their most fierce and savage foes. 
 
 " Six Cruthneans, whom God had sent, 
 Had come to him from Thracia's land, 
 Solen, Ulpra, Nectan the famed, 
 Aengus, Lethan and Throsdiin, sage. 
 
 " To these God granted, by their lore. 
 To heal the tortured warriors' wounds, 
 And save them from the poisonous pangs 
 Of the rude giants' weapons fell. 
 
 " A cure the Cruthnean found for them. 
 That Druid wise, as well he might. 
 Thrice fifty hornless snow-white cows 
 "Were milked together in one pit. 
 
 " And then they joined in desperate fight. 
 Close by the pit that held the milk ; 
 And there, in battle brave went down. 
 Those monster pests of Bauba's height." 
 
 But after this, the Picts, with Gud and his son Cathluan at 
 their head, propositi to themselves to make a conquest of Lein- 
 stcr. But, when Erimhon heard thereof, he mustered a numerous 
 host, and came against them. Upon this, as they saw that they were 
 not strong enough to meet him in battle, the Cruthneans made a 
 peace and a friendly league with him. Erimhon then told them, 
 that there lay another country to the north-east of Eri, and he 
 counseled them to go and dwell therein. The Cruthneans then 
 requested of Erimlion to give them some marriageable women 
 fj-om amongst the widows of those warriors, who had been killed 
 in the expedition from Spain. Thus ]?ede informs us in the first 
 book of his History of the Saxon Church. And they gave the 
 Sun and Moon as their sureties, that the k'ingly power in Cruthen- 
 tuath^ {Cruhen-iooah\ which is now called Alba, should be held by 
 the right of the female, rather than by that of the male progeny, 
 unto the end of life. Upon this condition Erimhon gave them 
 three women, to wit, the wife of Bros, the wife of Buas, and the 
 wife of Buadni. Cathluan, who was now their head chieftain, 
 took one of these for his own wife. They then set sail for Cru- 
 then-tuath (i. e. Pictdand), and Catljluan conquered the sovereigii 
 
 ^' Cndhcn-tuath, i. c. I'ict-land. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 217 
 
 power in that country, and lie became the first king of Alba of 
 the Cruthnean race, as we read in that duan contained in the 
 Psalter of Cashcl, which begins thus: "Hearken, ye sages of all 
 Alba." It makes the following mention of the present subject: 
 
 " The conquering Cruthnigh seized that land, 
 When driven thither from Ercnu-magh f^ 
 And ten and sixty far-famed kings - 
 Of these did reign o'er Cruthen-clar.® 
 
 " Of these, Cathluan was the first — 
 (I now but briefly name their story,) 
 The last king of that race, who reigned, 
 Was the hardy hero Constantin." 
 
 However, the druid Trosdan, and the five other Cruthnean 
 sages mentioned in the lay first quoted, remained in Ireland 
 after Cathluan, and they there received lands, in the plain of 
 Breagh (Bred), in Meath, from Erimhon. 
 
 Jn the fourteenth year after the death of Eber, Erimhon died, 
 at Argedros, on the bank of the Feoir or Nore ; and it was there, 
 also, that he was buried. In the same year, the river, which is 
 called the Ethni^ {Ennie\ burst forth over the land, in Ui Neill," 
 and the river called FregobaP {Freowl) burst over the land, be- 
 tween Dal Araide and Dal Eiada. 
 
 MUIMNI, LUIGNI AND LAIGNI, ARD-RIGHA. 
 
 A. M.^^ 2752. The three sons of Erimhon succeeded their 
 father in the sovereignty of Ireland, and held it for three years. 
 Muimni, Luigni, and Laigni, were their names ; and they reigned 
 conjointly until the death of Muimni, upon Magh-Cruaghan'"' 
 
 ^* Erenn-Magh , i. e. the Irish Plain falls into Lough Eee, south-west of 
 
 or Field. The termination magus, so Ballymahou, in West Meath. 
 
 frequent in old Gallic names, as in " Ro- *' Ui Neill, i. e. the land of the Ui 
 
 tomagus," Rouen, as if Roth or Ruadh- Neill, or descendants of Niall of the 
 
 mhagh, seems formed from the Gaelic Nine Hostages, of whom the O'Neills 
 
 "magh," i.e. a -plain. Erenu-magh might of Tyrone were but a sept, 
 
 be Latinized, Erinomagus. In forming ^' Fregobal,\\ow the Ravel Water 
 
 compound and derivative words, the in the couuty»6f Antrim, which flows 
 
 Celts silenced or aspirated one of the out of the small lake called Agana- 
 
 meeting consonants, in order to avoid municau, in the parish of Dunaghy, 
 
 that harsh grating of discordant ele- flowing through Glenravel, until it 
 
 mentary sounds, that is so frequent in joins the Dungonell river. Dal- Araide 
 
 northern tongues. The Latins and Greeks extended from Newry to this river; 
 
 either threw in a vowel between them Dal-Riada comprised the remainder of 
 
 for a like purpose, or dropped a final "s." Antrim. — O'D. 
 
 « Cruthcn-Clar, i. e. the Cruthnean »'* A. M. 3517.— Foicr Masters. 
 
 Plain. Clar vmaos o, board, table, ov '" ilfog/í-C>-w«g/iaí! is, possibly, in the 
 
 plain. county of Roscommon. Ard Ladrann is 
 
 *^ Eithni, now the River Inny, which supposed to be Ardamine, in Wexford. 
 
ÍIS ' THE HISTORY OF IRFT>AND. 
 
 {Moy-Croohan\ and until Luigni niid Laigni were slain bj the 
 sons of Ebcr, in the battle of Ard-Ladrami. 
 
 ER, ORBA, FERAKN AND FERGNA, ARD-RIGHA. 
 
 A. ^r.'^ 2755. Er, Orba, Ferann and Fergna, the four sons of 
 Eber, held the sovereignty of Ireland for one single year," at the 
 end of which they were slain by Irial the Prophet," in revenge 
 for the death of his two bj'others. 
 
 IRIAL THE PROPHET, ARD-RIGH, 
 
 A. M. 2756. Irial the Prophet, son of Erimhon, then held 
 the sovereignty for ten j^ears ; for his three elder brothers had 
 left no offspring after them. Besides this, Irial, upon coming 
 to the throne, gained glory and supremacy b}'" having slain the 
 • four sons of Eber — Er, Orba, Ferann and Fergna, in vengeance 
 for his two brothers, whom those kings had slain. Sixteen 
 plains were cleared of wood in the reign of Iriall, namely : Magh- 
 Kechet,inLeix;'^* Magh-n-Eli,^^inLcinster; Magh-Comair;^^ ]\fagh- 
 Scli, in Ui Ncill ; Magh-Sanais, in Connaught ; ]\ingh n-Inis, in 
 Ulster; i^Iagh-Lungi and Magh-IMide, in Kianactn ; Magh Tcct, 
 in Ui Mac Uais ; Magh-Fernmaighc, in Oirghinlla ; ^íagh-Fo- 
 thain, in the western districts; iMagli-Coba, in Ibh-Echach; 
 Magh-Cuma, in Ui Neill ; Magh-Culi-Feda; Magh-Eiada ; Magh- 
 Dairbrech, in the Fotharts of Dairbrech. in Leinster. Irial the 
 Prophet, son of Erimhon, erected seven royal raths," likewise in 
 
 '1 A. M. 3519. — Four Blasters. also in ^foath. Magh-Sanais, unknown. 
 
 "" One sinslc year. The Four Mas- Mngh-n-Inis, the barony of Locale, 
 
 ters say that these princes rei<;ncd county of Down Magk-Lungi and 
 
 but half a year, A. M. 3519. — Four Magh-Mtdc. in Kianada, that is, in 
 
 Masters. the north-west of Londonderry. The 
 
 " Irinl the Prophet, in Irish, Trial Four Masters call the former Magh- 
 
 Faidh (Faub). " Faidh," is synony- Lufrhna. Magh-Tcrt,'m Ui Mic Uais, 
 
 moua with " Vates." or Moygoosh, iniknown. Magh-Fern- 
 
 '* Magh-Rechct, in Leix. This plain maighe, now the barony of Farney in 
 
 lay in the present barony of Portiia- the county of Monaghan. Magh- 
 
 hinch. adjoining the Great Heath, near Fothnin, in Orior, co. Armagh. Magh- 
 
 Maryborough. It is now called the Coha, in Iveagh, co. Down. Magh- 
 
 Manor of Morett.— O'D. Cuma, unknown. M'igh-Cufi Fcda, 
 
 ''•" 3i«g/<-7/-L7'', in Ix-instcr, now Moy- probably in the di.strict round Lough 
 
 elly, a townland in the parish of Kil- Fea, in Farney. Magh-Riada, was 
 
 managhan, barony of Kilcoursy and situated in the Kings co. Magh-Dar- 
 
 Kings county. It wa.s famous as the brcch. i. c. the plain of the Oaks, lay 
 
 residence of Finn Mac Cumhail, in the near the Hill of Croghan, in the same 
 
 3d century. county.— O'D. 
 
 " il/'/g'i-Coma/r, probably the plain " Seven royal roths. 1. Rath Kim- 
 
 round Cummar near Clonard in Meath. Incith, was the name of one of the forts 
 
 Ma<rh-Seli, i. e. the FÍain of the Selc, at Eman Maeha. There was another 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 219 
 
 Ireland, during his reign, namely : Eath Kimbaeith, at Emnn, 
 Eath Cnjcni, on Magh-lnis; Rath Bachall, in the Latharna; liath. 
 Coiikcda, in Semni; Eath Mothaigh, in Degh-Carbad ; Eath 
 Buirech, in Slecta ; Eath Locait, in Glascarn. Tlie year after, the 
 three rivers called the three Finns,'^ burst over the land in Ulster. 
 Tiie year following, Irial gained four battles. The first of these 
 was the battle of Ard-Inmaith,''^ in Tebtha(7'e^a), in which Stirni, 
 son of Dubh, was slain; the second was the battle of Tenn-Magh, 
 which Irial fought against the Fomaraigh, and in it Lll the Fo- 
 moi'ian king, whose name was Ectghi Eckenn f the third was 
 the battle of Loch-Magh,^^ in which fell Lugh-Eoth, son of Mogh- 
 Febi.s f^ the fourth battle was that of Cul-Marta,^ where the four 
 sons of Eber were vanquished. It was in remembrance of these 
 acts, that the duan, which begins with the following verse, was 
 éomposed : 
 
 " Irial, youngest son of the king 
 Of the land of Fodla, queen of ringlets, 
 Eeigued at Sliabh Mis, reigned at Macha,*' • 
 A victor in four hard-wou fights." 
 
 In two years afterwards, Irial died at Magh-Muaide,^ and was 
 buried at that same place. 
 
 ETIIRIAL, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 2766.«'^ Ethrial, son of Irial the Prophet, son of Er 
 imhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland for twenty years. In his 
 
 fort of the name near Island Magce, Horse-Chief, or the Horse-headed. Eo- 
 
 co. Armagh. 2. Rath Crocni, unknown, caidh. seems derived from "Ech," a horse, 
 
 3. Rath Bachall, otherwise Bacain, in and if so, it corresponds closely with 
 
 Larne, co. Armagh. Rath Con-keda, the name Equitius. 
 
 perhaps in Island Magee, which was *' Lochmagh, probably Loughma, 
 
 formerly called Rinn Semni. 5. near Thurles, co. Tipperary. — O'l). 
 
 Rath Mothaigh, now Ryemohy, barony **- Mogh-Fehis, otherwise. Mofemis, 
 
 of Raphoe, and county of Donegal. 6. a chief of the Fer-Bolgs. — O'D. 
 
 Ralh Buirech, otherwise Rath Bulrg, *^ Cm/ il/aria, net known. The Four 
 
 unknown. (Slecta is called Slectmagh Masters set down this battle as having 
 
 by the Four Masters.) 7. Rath Locait, been fought in the first year of his 
 
 unknown. — O'D. reign. Keating has set it last, through 
 
 "' Three Finns. The Finn, flowing carelessness, 
 
 through Raphoe, co. Donegal, was one *^ Reigned at Sliabh Mis reigned at 
 
 of these, the others were, perhaps, its Macha, i. e. ruled the whole of Ireland, 
 
 tributaries. from north to south. 
 
 " /JciZ Inmaith, otherwise Ard In- «s Magh Miíflít/e, perhaps the plain 
 
 maeith. The Pour Masters call the chief of the River Moy, flowing between 
 
 slain in this battle " of Fomhor," i. e. Mayo and Sligo, but the name was also 
 
 of the Fomorian nation. The name applied to a plain near Knockmoy, six 
 
 Ard luniaith, as well as the following miles south-oast of Tuam, which is 
 
 one Teimiagh, is obsolete. — O'D. probably the place meant. — O'D. 
 
 '° Ectghi Eckenn. otherwise Eoch- ss a.'D. 3530.— Four Masters. 
 aidh, Each-cheann, i. c. Eochaidh. the 
 
220 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 time, seven plains'*' "vvere cleared of wood in Ireland, namely: 
 Tenn-Magh, in Coimaught : Magh-Lighat and Magh-Belaigh, in 
 Ui Turtri ; Magli-Gesilli, in Ui Falglii ; Magh-Octair, in Leinster ; 
 Loch-Magh, in Connaugbt, and Magh-Eath, in Ibh EehacK 
 When this king had spent twenty years as sovereign ruler of 
 Ireland, he was slain by Conmael, son of Eber, in the battle of 
 Raeiri,*® in Leinster. 
 
 CONMAEL, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 2786.«^ Conmael, son of Eber Finn, son of Miledh of 
 Spain, reigned thirty years. He was the first king^ of the race 
 of Eber. This Conmael fought five-and-twenty battles^^ against 
 the progeny of Erimhon. Here follow the names of nine of 
 these battles : the battle Ucha, the battle of Cnueha, the battle 
 of Eli, the battle of Sliabh-Betha, the battle of Gesill, where 
 Palap, son of Brinihon was slain, the battle of Sliabh ISIodurn, 
 where Semroth, son of Inboth, fell, the battle of Cleri, the battle 
 of Loch Lcin, in which Beirri fell, and the battle of Aenach Macha, 
 
 *' Seven Plains. 1. Tenn-Magh, 
 unknown. 2. Magh-Lighat, otherwise 
 LugaJh, unknown. 3. Magh-Belaigh ; 
 Ui Turtri, was in Antrim, but the name 
 of this plain is now unknown. 4. Magh- 
 Gesilli, was situate in the barony of 
 Geshill, Kings countj'. 5. Magh-Odair 
 unknown. 6. Loc/t/nag/i, is said by the 
 Four Masters to be in Conalli. 7. 
 Magh-Ratli called otherwise Magh 
 Both, a plain in the county of Down, 
 •whose position is determined by the vil- 
 lage of Moira. — O'l). 
 
 ■^^ Raei'i. This place is now called 
 Raeiri Mor, in Jrogan, barony of Tin- 
 nehinch, in the Queens County. — O'D. 
 
 " A. M. :iih)0.— Four blasters. 
 
 ^" The first king. Conmael, other- 
 wise Conniliacl (convaijl), is styled 
 the first king of the Eberians, by the 
 northern antitiuarians of the Erimon- 
 ian race, as tliey do not allow the title 
 of Ard-righa, liis brothers Kr, Orba, 
 Ferann, and Fergna, or Fergeiid. It 
 is probable, indeed, that theses names are 
 apocryphal, as before remarki'd of tli(iir 
 four namesakes, the sons of Partliitjan. 
 The same may be said of the three sons 
 of Erimhon, Muimhni (Mooiovie), Ln- 
 ighai, [Looinie), and Laighni, {Loinie), 
 
 who are said to have immediately suc- 
 ceeded that conqueror on the Irish 
 throne. All the Ebcrian clans trace 
 their pedigrees to Conmael ; all the 
 Erimonian to Irial Faidh, i. e. the 
 rrojjhet, through Ethrial, the pre- 
 ceding monarch. 
 
 "' Five and twenty battles. The names 
 of these battles have not been given 
 in llalliday's edition. They are found, 
 however,in two MSS. in the translator's 
 possession : viz. 1. Ucha, not known. 
 2. Cnueha, famed in after times for a 
 battle Ibught there by Lugaidh Mac 
 Con, is probably, Castleknock, on the 
 river Lilfey. \i. Eli, in the south 
 of the Kings co. and north of Tip- 
 ])erary. 4. Sliabh Betha, on the 
 borders of Monaghaii, and Fermanagh. 
 5 Cesill, already located. In it fell 
 I'alap son of iM-imhon. G. Sliabh Mod- 
 urn, in ('reniorne, co. Down. 7. 
 CVer/, jjerhaps Cape f !lear, co. ( 'ork, 
 or Clare Island, co. Mayo. 8. Loch 
 Lcin, now, Killarney Lakes. This bat- 
 tle was fouLrht against the Ernai, and 
 Martinei, Ferbr)lgic tribes. !). Aenach 
 Macha, i. e. the Fair of Macha, other- 
 wise Eman Macha, near Armagh. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAXD. 
 
 221 
 
 where Conmael himself was slain by Eber, son of Tighcrnmas, 
 of the race of Erimhon,^ And he was buried on the southern 
 side of Aenach Macha, on the spot which is called Fert Conmaeil 
 (i. e. Conmael's grave), to this daj.^-' 
 
 TIGHERNMAS, AKD-KIGH. 
 
 A, D. 2816.^ Tighernmas, son of Follomhan,^ son of Ethrial, 
 son of Irial the Prophet, son of Erimhon, held the sovereignty 
 of Ireland for fifty years. This Tighernmas defeated the poster- 
 ity of Eber in twenty-seven battles ;^ such as the battle of Eli, 
 
 i'« Tlie Four Masters tell us, that 
 the name of another of his battle- 
 fields was Carnmor, in which fell 01- 
 lachjWho was probably Follach, father 
 of Tighernmas, called Follamhau, by 
 Keating. 
 
 "' Conmael was the youngest son of 
 Eber Finn, and had been but a child 
 when his father was slain. He was, 
 solemnly inaugurated on the Lia Fail, 
 according to O'Halloran, who also 
 quotes the following panegyric upon 
 him, from the Psalter of Cashel : " He 
 it was that killed Ethrial, son of Irial 
 the Prophet, with his own hand, in re- 
 renge for his father's blood. He it was 
 that fought fmty-five battles against 
 the children of Erimhon, that slew 
 Palap, the last survivor of Erimhon's 
 sons, and that won the name of Con- 
 mael, or Prince of Chiefs, because he 
 was superior to all others of his own 
 time." Thei'e was much rivalry in 
 olden time, between the northern and 
 southern tribes, as to the glory of the 
 - kings of their respective houses, who 
 ruled Ireland. Hence the discrepancy 
 of our authorities as the number of 
 this king's battles. We may, however, 
 conclude that he was a real king of 
 Ireland, from the fact that the anti- 
 quaries of the Ui Neill, whnse interest it 
 was to contest the right of the Ebcrian's 
 to the Irish throne, and lessen their glory, 
 have never questioned his reign. Íii 
 such matters, the unwilling testimony 
 of enemies is more reliable than the 
 
 Eartial memoirs of friends. The rivalry 
 etween the northern and southern 
 antiquarians continued long after their 
 patrons had ceased to have a kingdom 
 
 to contend for ; it can even be traced 
 in the writings of antiquarians of a 
 very recent date. 
 
 s* A. M. 3580.— Four Masters. 
 
 ®' Follomhan, otherwise Follach. 
 
 *^ Battles. 1. Eli, otherwise EUi and 
 Elni, a district in Antrim, between the 
 rivers Bann and Bush. 2. Magh Ted, 
 unknown. In this battle fell Rocorb, 
 son of Gollan. 3. Lochmagh, i. e. the 
 plain of the Lake, situation uncertain. 
 In this fight fell Dagarni, son of Goll, 
 son of Gollan. (This and the last-named 
 chief were apparently either Fer-Bolgs 
 or Foraorachs.) 4. Cul-Ard, lies iu 
 Lecale, co. Down. 5. Cul-Fraechnin 
 unknown. 6. Ath-Gort, in Semni, lay 
 somewhere near Island Magee. 7. Ard 
 Niadh, i. e. the " Hill of the Hero," 
 unknown. 8. Cam Feradaigh,])rohah]y 
 Seefin, barony of Coshlea, iu the south 
 of the CO. Limerick ; in the battle fell 
 Feradach, son of Rocorb, son of Gollan, 
 from whom the Carn is called. 9. Cluain 
 Cuas, i. e. the Field of the Caves, now 
 Cloncoose, barony of Granard, co. 
 Longford. 10. Congnaid", in Tuath 
 Ebha [Toohaiva), at the foot of Bin- 
 bulbin, barony of Carbery, co. Sligo. 
 11. Cluain Muresg, or Mursgi, some- 
 where in Brefni. 12. Cul-Fabair, or 
 Fobair, lay on the east side of Loch 
 Corrib, co. Galway. 13 . Loch Lugh- 
 dach [Lough Loodagh), i. e. Lugaidh's 
 Lake, now Corrane Lough, in the 
 barony of Iveragh, co. Kerry. 14. 
 Cu I, now Coole, in the parish of Rath- 
 beagh, on the Nore, co. Kilkenny. 15. 
 Reahh unknown. The Four Masters 
 give the following battics as fought by 
 this king, which are not named iu our 
 
222 
 
 THE HISTORY OF TRELAXD. 
 
 the battle of ^ragh-Tcct, tlio buttle of Locli-Magb, the battle of 
 Cul-ard, ths battle of Cail-Fraechain, th-^. battle of Ath-gort, the 
 battle of Ard-Niadh, the battle of Carn-Feradaigli, the battle of 
 Cluaa Caas, the l)attle of Congnaide, the battle of Cliiain Murisg, 
 the battle of Cul-Fabair, and seven battles at Loch Lughdach, 
 the two battles of Cail, at Argedros, the battle of Roabh, where 
 the greater part of the descendants of Eber were slain by Tighern- 
 mas. Nine lakes°^ burst over the land in the time of Tighernmas, 
 namely : Loch Ke, and Magh-Sulcair was the name of the plain 
 over which this lake flowed ; Loch-n-Allinni, in Connaught ; 
 Loch n-Irtirn; Locli n-Uair; Loch Saiglenn, and Loch-Gabair, 
 in Meath and Breágh; Loch-Febail, in Tir-Eugain (Teeroae), and 
 in this lake was submerged Febal, son of Lodan,^^ and Magh- 
 Fuinnside {Moij Fineshee), was the name of the plain over wliich 
 it flowed; Dubh loch, in Ard-Kianacta ; and Loch-Dabail {Loch 
 Bowil), in Oirghialla. And then, also, sprang the three black riv- 
 ers^^ of Ireland, namely, the Fubna, the Callan, and the Torann. 
 This same Tighernmas was the first that discovered gold ore 
 in Ireland ; and lucadan^** was the name of the artist that refined 
 th.e gold for him. It was in the Fotharts,^ cast of the Liffey, 
 
 text, viz. : 1. Comar, not identified. 2. 
 Caamh-CkoUl, i. e. the Wood of Bones, 
 in Connaught, now Cuil-Onamha, 
 {Cool Knuw), in the east of Tirenih, 
 CO. Sligo. There are two places of 
 this name in Minister. 3. Cul Feda, 
 not identified. 4. Eli, not identified, 
 there are many places of the name. ,5. 
 Berre. Two othur battles at Argedros. 
 Three battles against the Fer-Bolgs 
 and two against the Ernai. — O'Doiio- 
 van's Four Masters. 
 
 " Nine Lakes. 1. Loch Ke, now 
 Lough Key, near Boyle, co. Roscom- 
 mon. 2. Locli n-Allinni, now Lough 
 Allen, CO. Leitrim. 3. Lockn-Iairn, 
 now Lough Iron, on the western boun- 
 dary of tlie barony of Corkarce, co. 
 West Meath. 4. Loch Uair, now 
 Lough Owel. near Mullingar, co. West 
 Meath. 5. Lock Sa'<glenn, now Lough 
 Sheelin, on tlie borders of Oavan, Ijong- 
 ford, and Meath. G. Loch Gihair, is 
 now dried up, but its site is still called 
 Loch flabhair [Louij^h Gowr), in L'ish, 
 and in English Lagore. 7. /xjc/i 
 Fehiil, otherwise Luch Febhail, now 
 Loch Foyle, on the north coast of Ire- 
 land. 8. DabUorJi, i. e. " the Black 
 Lake ;" Ard Cianacta, is now called 
 the barony of Ferard, co. Louth. 9. 
 
 Loch Dahail, was the old name of a 
 Lake near Armagh. — O'D. 
 
 ^ Febal, son of Lodan, was one of the 
 Tuatha-Ue-i)ananns, of whose expul- 
 sion from Ailech Ncid and the north 
 of Ulster, we have not yet heard. By 
 Tir Eogain is here meant Inishowcn, in 
 the north of Londonderry. 
 
 "" T/te three black rivers. The Fubna 
 is probably the river now called Una, 
 in Tyrone ; the Callan is the River 
 ('allan, in Armagh ; the Torann is 
 unknown, if it be not the River Touro 
 near Youghal. 
 
 "" Incadnn. O'Flaherty styles this art- 
 ist Jucadan of Cualann. The Four 
 Masters also call him an artist of the 
 men of Cualann. According to Dr. 
 O'Donovaii, in his notes to Leabhar na 
 g-Ceart, Cualaim lay in the north of the 
 present county of Wicklow, adjoining 
 the county of l)nljlin, and was, in latter 
 times, (coextensive with the. modern 
 half barony of Rathdown. 
 
 ' Fntk'irts. The " Fi)thart,a Oirter 
 Lifi" (Fokartn irhir Lijfij) were also in 
 Wicklow. The district la4 described 
 seems to have formed part of them. 
 Gold is still found in Wicklow moun- 
 tains. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 223 
 
 that it was smelted. It was also in the time of Tighernmas that 
 cloths were first died purple and blue and green, in Ireland. It 
 was in his time, likewi.se, that ornaments, fringes and borders, 
 were first used bj the Irish upon their dresses.^ In like manner, 
 it was he that first established it as a custom in Ireland, that there 
 should be but one color' in the dress of a slave, two in that of a 
 peasant, three in that of a soldier or a young nobleman, four in 
 that of a brughaidh {brooee, i. e. a keeper of a house of public 
 hospitality), five in that of a district chieftain, and six in that of 
 a kÍLg or queen. 
 
 Tighernmas, and three-fourths of the men of Eri with him, 
 died at Magh-Slect,* on the eve of Samhain -(All-Hallows), while 
 worshipping Crom Cruaidh,° the Arch Idol of Ireland. For it 
 was this Tighernmas that first began to offer idolatrous worship 
 to Crom Cruaidli, ia Ireland, about one hundred years after the 
 axrival of the Gaels, just as Zoroaster^ had done in Greece. It is 
 
 * * Dresses. Mageoghegan, in his 
 translation of the Annals of Clonmac- 
 noise, says that Tighernmas was the first 
 who caused standing cups to be made, 
 that refined gold and silver, and pro- 
 cured his goldsmith to make gold and 
 silver pins, to fasten men's and women's 
 garments about their necks, and also 
 that he was the first that invented the 
 dyeing of colored (i. e. particolored) 
 cloths in Ireland. 
 
 ^ Colors. The Four Masters and 
 O'Flaherty ascribe the establishment of 
 this latter custom to the next succeed- 
 ing monarch, Eocaidh Edgothach, or 
 Eadgadach. O'Halloran says that the 
 latter king merely put in force the law 
 enacted by his predecessor. 
 
 * Magh Sleet, otherwise " Magh 
 Sleacht" {Moy S.'daght) i. e. the Plain 
 of Prostration. This plain lay in the 
 barony of TuUyhaw, and county of 
 Cavau. Crom Cruach, the chief idol 
 of the Pagan Irish, stood near a river 
 called Gathard, in this j^lain, and St. 
 Patrick erected a church near it, called 
 Domhnach-mor [Doionaghmore). Ac- 
 cording to the Dinn Senchas, this was 
 the principal idol of all the colonies 
 that settled i» Ireland, and they were 
 wont to ofl'er it the firstlings of animals 
 and other oifjrings. — Sea O'Donovan's 
 Four Masters. 
 
 ' Crom Cruaid'i, otherwise Crom 
 Croach and Crom Cruach. O'Flaherty 
 
 says, that this idol was the prince of all 
 the idols of Ireland, and that it had its 
 station, previous to the subversion of 
 idolatry, in iiloy Sleuct, where the Irish 
 kings and nobility used to adore it with 
 the highest veneration. and with peculiar 
 rites and sacrifices. Jocelyn, in his life 
 of St. Patrick says, that it was an idol 
 embossed with gold and silver, and that 
 it had ranged on either side of it, twelve 
 brazen statues of less distinction. He 
 further tells us, that when St. Patrick 
 saw this idol from a distance, standing 
 near the river Gathard. and threatened 
 to strike it down with his staff; that it 
 fell towards the West, its face having 
 been turned to Temoria or Tara (i. e. 
 south-east), and that the impression of 
 the staff was found on its left side, 
 though it had never left the hand of the 
 man of God. The twelve smaller idols 
 were then buried up to their necks in 
 the earth. In commemoration of this 
 destruction of idolatry, it is thought 
 that the last Sunday iti summer is called 
 Domhn^ch Crom-duibh [Doionagh Crom- 
 duiv), i. e. the Sunday of the black 
 Crom. — See O'Flahertij's Ogygia. 
 
 " Zoroaster. Of the age of this phi- 
 losopher little is known. He is sup- 
 posed to have been the first teacher of 
 the doctrines of the Eastern Magi, and 
 is by some said to have boen a king of 
 Bactria, where he was renowned as a 
 lawgiver and reformer. He admitted 
 
224 
 
 TUE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 also from tho prostrations^ (or sacrifices) which the men of Ireland 
 were wont to offer tliereon to this idol, that the above-mentioned 
 plain of ]\ra2;h-Slect, which is in Brcfni, has its name. 
 
 Some antiquarians tell us, that Ireland remained Avithout a 
 king* for ten years after the death of Tighernmas, and that it 
 was Eocaidh Faebar-glas, son of Conmael, that assumed the sov- 
 ereignty next after him. But they are not true in this ; for the 
 " Eeim Kighraide " or Eoyal Catalogue, says that Eocaidh Edgo- 
 thach, of the race of Lugaidh, son of Ith, was the king who suc- 
 ceeded him on the throne. 
 
 EOCAIDH^ EDGOTHACH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 2866.1» Eocaidh Edgothach," son ofDari, son of Congal, 
 son of Edamhan, son of Mai, son of Lugaidh, son of Ith, son 
 of Breogan, held the sovereignty for four years, until he fell by 
 the hand of Kermna, son of Ebric. 
 
 no visible object of adoration but Fire, 
 and his system was far removed from 
 the gross idolatry of Greece and Rome. 
 Numbers of his followers are still found 
 in Persia and India. Dr. Keating is 
 wrong in brinpcing him to Greece, and 
 in coupling his name with idolatry. It 
 shows in how vague a sense the word 
 
 '" A. M. 3564:.— Four Masters. 
 
 " Edgothach {Aidgohagh). He was 
 called by this name, say some of our 
 annals, because he introduced into Ire- 
 land the " Il-brecta" [Il-braglita), or law 
 for distinguishing rank by the various 
 colors of persons' garments ; while oth- 
 ers, who attribute that law to Tighern- 
 
 "Greig" (Graigue) was understood by mas, say that he but enforced its prac- 
 
 Irish writers. Fire seems also to have tiee. The word is derived from "Edach" 
 
 been the grand object of wor.-ihip in (Jm/oo-A), clothes, and "guth" or "goth" 
 
 Ireland, as far as can be judged from (goh). a shade or disthiction. On this 
 
 the scanty evidences that remain on that law Mr. Moore has made the following 
 
 subject. remarks : " In the reign of Achy 
 
 ' Prostrations. The word "Slecht" is (Eocaidh), a singular law was enacted, 
 
 translated "genuflection" by Dr. O'Don- regulating the exact number of colors 
 
 ovan. Some have translated it "slaugh- 
 ter ;" but the word, which is still in 
 frequent use, can scarcely bear so strong 
 a construction in Gaelic. 
 
 ' Without a king. The Four Mas- 
 ters give Tighernmas a reign of seventy- 
 seven years, and say that after his death 
 there was an interregnum of seven 
 years, and that Eochaidh Edgothach 
 then succeeded as monarch. 
 
 ° EooAiDii I. Eochaidh {Oghie),gcn. 
 Echach [Aghagli) and some others are 
 names of such frequent recurrence in 
 the list of our monarchs, that it is 
 deemed useful to desiirnate them by 
 
 by which the garments of the different 
 ranks of society were to be distinguished. 
 These regulations are curious ; not only 
 as showing the high station allutted to 
 learning and talent, but as presenting 
 a coincidence rather reniarkalile with 
 that custom of Patriarchal times, which 
 made a garment of many colors the ap- 
 propriate dress of kings' daughters and 
 princes. For a long period, indeed, 
 most of the Eastern nations retained 
 both the ])ractice of dividing the people 
 into different casts and professions, and 
 also, as appears from the regulations of 
 (Jiamschid, king of Persia, this custom 
 
 numbers in these notes. It means home- of distinguishing the different classes bj' 
 
 man or knight, b(,'ing derived from appropriate dresses. From the parti- 
 
 "cch" (agh) a steed, plural " Eocha" colfircd garments worn by tiie anci<'nt 
 
 {oglio). Scota or Irish, is derived the national 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 225 
 
 KERMNA AND SOBARKI, ARD-RIGHA. 
 
 A. D. 2870.^^ Kcrmna and Sobarki, the two sons of Ebric, son 
 of Eber, son of Ir, son of Miledh, ruled the kingdom of Ireland for 
 forty years, and these were the first kings of the Ulidians.^^ Thej 
 made a partition^'' of Ireland between them ; and the boundary 
 line between their shares, ran from Inber Colpa, near Drogheda, 
 to Luimncch Mumhan {Limnagh Moon), now Limerick. North 
 of this line lay the dominions of Sobarki, and on them he built 
 the dun or fortress called Dun Sobarki. The southern part be- 
 longed to Kermna, and on it he built Dun Kermna, which is now 
 called Dan Mic Phadraig, in Courcies' country, Sobarki was 
 slain by Eocaidh Menu, the son of a Fomorian king, and Kermna^^ 
 fell by the sword of Eocaidh Faebar-glas, in the battle of Dun 
 Kermna. 
 
 EOCAIDH FAEBAR-GLAS, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 2910.^^ Eocaidh Faebar-glas, son of Conmael, son of 
 Eber Finn, son of Miledh of Spain, held the sovereignty of Ire- 
 land for twenty years. He was called Eocaidy^ " Faebar-glas " 
 or Eocaidh of the "blue-green edge," because blue-green and 
 sharp-edged were his two javelins. He vanquished the race of 
 Erimhon in the following battles, ^^ namely : the battle of Lua- 
 
 fashion of the Plaid, still prevailing '^ JJlidians, i. e. the posterity of Ir. 
 among their descendants in Scotland." son of Miledh, who were the first Gaelic 
 He adds in a note, that "a similar fancy possessors of Uladh {Vila) or Ulster, 
 for parti-colored dresses prevailed in '* Partition. This partition has been 
 Gaul," for which he quotes Diodorus before treated of. 
 Siculus, who describes the GauLs as "^ Kermna. He is called " Cermna 
 weanng garments "/o?w/-eátt'í;/ifl//tJa- [Karmna) Yvm," i. e. "the Fair," by 
 neties of color— xpiuimaLTTavTOOaTTOLq the Four Masters. ^'Sobarki," other-- 
 ói7]v6LOnei,isvovg.''' That part of the wise " Sobhairce," is pronounced Soiv-. 
 dress which they called braccoa, or arkie and SovarJcie. 
 breeches, were so called from having been '° A. D. 3708. — Four Masters. 
 plaided; the word "brae" {brec) signi- " Eocaidh H. Styled Faebhar-ghlas 
 lying in Celtic,speckled or parti-colored. (Fair-loss or Faivor-loss) . He is called 
 'I'acitus, also, iu describing Ca3cina, as Faebhar-dherg (Fa2'TO?--7/a/-g),or, of the 
 dressed in the Gaulish fashion, repre- Red Blade, by the Psalter of Cashel. 
 sents him with trousers and a plaid '« Battles. 1. Luacair I)e<raidh, oth- 
 mantlc— u3r«co/ore sago, braceas tegmen erwise " Luachair Deaghaidh" (Looghir 
 barbarum mdutus. And again he says : Dea or Die), now Slieve Longlira, near 
 '■ Ihus Jacob made Joseph a coat of Castleisland, co. Kerry. 2. FosadkDa 
 many colors (Gen. xxxvii. 3), and Ta- Ohort {Fossa daiv ghort), i. c. the D well- 
 mar (2 bani. xui. 18), had a garment ingof the Two (tilled) Fields, unknown. 
 0Í many colors, for with such robes 3. Cumar ttri n-uiski (Cummor dree 
 were the knigs' daughters, that were nishJct). the Meeting of the Three Wa- 
 """"I'T' ^IJP'^^^^'^^- ters, near Waterford. 4. Twiim Dre- 
 ■ A. M. 3i)6S.— Fowr Masters. gain ( Tooim Dragguin) or Tuaim Dr©. 
 15 
 
226 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 oair Degaidli, iu "Munster; the battle of Fosaigli-Da-Gort; the 
 battle Cumar-tri-u-uiski or the Meeting of the Three Waters ; the 
 battle of Tuaitn-Dregain, in Brcfni; the battle of Drom Liathain. 
 The following plains^^ were cleared of wood by him while he ruled 
 Ireland, namely : Magh-Smethrach, in Ui Falghi ; Magh-Laigni 
 and Magh-Luirg, in Connaught ; Magh-Lemna ; Magh-Ninair ; 
 Magh-Fubna and Magh-Da-Gabail, in Oirghialla. This Eocaidh 
 fell at last by Fiacaidh Labranni, in the battle of Carman.^'* 
 
 FIACADH LABRAJSTNI, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 2930.-^ Fiacaidh Labranni,^ sou of Smirgoll, son of 
 Enboth, son of Tighernmas, son of Follomhan, son of Irial the 
 Prophet, son of Erimhon, held the kingdom of Ireland for 
 twenty-four years, or for thirty-six,^^ as other historians relate. 
 It was in his reign that the following three rivers^* sprang forth, 
 namely: the Flesg, the Maing, and the Labrann. From the lat- 
 ter of these Fiacaidh received his surname, "Labranni," i. e. of 
 the Labrann. In his time, also, Loch Erni^" burst over the land, 
 and the plain which it overwhelmed was called Magh-Ghenainu. 
 
 cou, now Tomregan, near Ballyconncll, 
 on the borders of Cavan and Ferma- 
 uagli. 5. Drom Liathain [Drum Lee- 
 hawin), is probably Drom Lethan {Drum 
 Lahan), now Drumlane, co. Cavan. — 
 O'D. 
 
 " Plains. 1. Magh-Smethrach {Moy 
 Smarragh), in OSlxllyis, unknovrn. 2. 
 Mag-Laigni {Moy-Linch) ; the Four 
 Masters have AÍagh n-Aidhni {Moij- 
 Nineh). a district in Galway. 3. Magh- 
 Luirg [Moij-Lurrig), now the plains of 
 Boyle, CO. Eoscommon. 4. Magh-Lem- 
 na [Moy-Leivna or Levna), a district 
 lying eastwards of Clogher, in Tyrone, 
 along the river Blackwatcr ; it was 
 otherwise called Closach. .">. Magh- 
 Ninair, called also Magh n-Inir, un- 
 known. 1. Magh-Fuhna, probaly the 
 plain of the river f)ona, in 'I'yrone. 
 6. Magh da Gabail {Moy daiv Gowal), 
 iu Oirghialla. — O'D. 
 
 ™ Carman, now Wexford. ITence 
 comes Loch g-Carman [Lough Gnrmnn), 
 i. e. the Lake of Carman, or rather Car- 
 ma, now Wexford Bay, which Moore, 
 ill his History of Ireland, would have 
 to mean the '• German lake." 
 
 =' A. M. 3728.— FoM)' Masters. 
 
 ^ FiACADn I., otherwise •' Fiachadh 
 
 Labhrainni" {Feegha Lavrinnie or Low- 
 rinnie). 
 
 ^ The Four Masters agree with Dr. 
 Keating in stating that this monarch 
 reigned but twenty-four years. 
 
 -* Three Rivers. 1. The Flesg, now 
 the Flesk, a river flowing through 
 Magnnily, in the south-cast of Kerry. 
 2. The Maing, now the Maine, flowing 
 through Troughanacmy, iu the same 
 county. 3 The Labrann, otherwise 
 Labhrann [Lavrann or Lowran). Ilal- 
 liday translates this, the Larne, but 
 Dr. O'Donovan thinks that this river 
 lay in the same region with the other 
 two, and was that now called the 
 Cashen River, in Kerry. See Four 
 Masters. 
 
 ** Loch Erni, now Lough Erne, co. 
 Fermanagh. The Annals of the Four 
 Masters say tliat Fiacaidh fought a 
 battle against the Kriiai, (a Sept) of 
 the Fcrbolgs (on the plain) where 
 Jjoch r>ne (now) is. After the bat- 
 tle was gained from them, the lake 
 flowed over them, so that it was from 
 tli(;m the lake is named, i. e. " a lake 
 over the Ernai" " (Loch tar Ernai)." 
 —O'D. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 227 
 
 It was the son of tliis monarch, who was called Aengus 011- 
 buadach,^® that routed the Cruthnigh (Picts) and the ancient Brit- 
 ons, Avho dwelt in Alba, in many battles. It was he, likewise, 
 that first brought Alba under the dominion of the Gaels, although 
 the latter had claimed a right of tribute from that country, ever 
 since the days of Erimhon, son of Miledh. It was about one 
 hundred and fifty years after the conquest of Ireland by the 
 children of Miledh, that Alba was brought under the Gaelic 
 sway and compelled to pay rent to the Irish monarchs, by Aen- 
 gus 011-buadach. This Fiacaidh fought four battles^^ against the 
 posterity of Eber, namely : the battle of Fargi, the battle of Gal- 
 laidh, the battle of Sliabh Femhenn, and the battle of Bel-Gadan ; 
 in which last he was himself slain by Eocaidh Mumho. 
 
 EOCAIDH MUMHO, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 2954.28 Eocaidh Mumho,^» son of Mogh Febis, son of 
 Eocaidh Faebar-Glas, son of Comnael, son of Eber Finn, son of 
 Miledh of Spain, reigned over Ireland for twenty-one years, until 
 he was slain by Aengus 011-mucaidh, in the battle of Cliach.^" 
 
 AENGUS OLL-MUCAIDH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 2975.^' Aengus 011-mucaidh,^ son of Fiacaidh Labranni, 
 
 "^^ Aengus Oll-buadach. 011-bhuad- iionu," i. e. the Mountain of Fair 
 
 hach {Ull-vooagh), meaus all victorious, Women, is a corruption of " Sliabh ua 
 
 being derived i'rom " Oil," all and m-ban Femenn," i. e. the mountain of 
 
 " buadh," victory. The surname is the women Femhenn. According to 
 
 also spelled, '• 0!l-mhuchach " {Ull- local tradition, the women of this 
 
 vooghagh), which would mean, all ex- mountain were enchanted beauties, co- 
 
 tinguishing, being a compound of "oil" temporary with Finn Mac Cumhail in 
 
 with Much {Moogh), which signifies the 3d century. 4. Bel Gadan, now Bul- 
 
 to extinguish. OU-mhucaidh ( UU Vuc- gadan, in the parish of Kilbreedy Major, 
 
 kee), translated " of the Great Swine," near Kilmallock, co. Limerick. — D. 
 
 another form of the surname, but ^* A. M. 37.52. — Four Blasters. 
 
 which should rather mean 5WJÚí2's/t, either '* Eocaidh III., otherwise Eochaidh 
 
 abounding in swine or all swinish, is a Mumha {Oghee Moo or Muv ). This 
 
 title very unlikely to be given to a con- is the prince from whom some legends 
 
 quering hero, although, as O'Flaherty derive the Irish name of Munstcr. It is, 
 
 instances, the distinguished Roman however, more probable that he derived 
 
 family of the Porcii, may have taken his surname from that principality, as 
 
 its surname from " porcus," a Swi-:e. before suggested. If the word '-Mumho" 
 
 ^' Battles. 1. Fargi, unknown. In were at anytime Gaelic, some reason 
 
 this battle, fell Mofebis or Mogh Febis, would have been given for its having 
 
 son of Eocaidh Faebar-glas. 2. Gallaidh, been applied to this King. The most 
 
 called also Gathlach, now probably probable meaning to assign to his name 
 
 Gayly, in.thc barony of Iraghticonor, and title is "the knight" or '• horseman 
 
 CO. Kerry. 3. Slialjh Femhenn, oth- of Mumho," i. e. of Munster. 
 
 erwise Sliabh FnimhQn {Sleeve Faivinn ^" Cliach. Ti<e district round Kncck- 
 
 or Fewmn), is now called Slieve-na-man, any, co. Limerick, went by this name. 
 
 CO. Tipperary. The present local name ="' A. M. 3773. — Four Musters. 
 
 of this mountain, " Sliabh na n-ban ^- Aengusi, called " Aengus Oil- 
 
223 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IREI,AND. 
 
 of the line of Erimlion, held the sovereignty for eighteen yaris,, 
 or, according to some authorities, for twentj-one. He was called 
 Oll-miicaidh, from "oil" greal.ixnil " muca"^* siwme; because he 
 possessed the largest swine in Ireland in his day. By him were 
 fought the following battles,^ namely : the battle of Cleri, the 
 battle of Sliabh Calgi, where Baskenn fell ; the battle of Magh- 
 En-Sgiath, in Connaught ; the battle of Glas Fraechain, where 
 Fraechan the Prophet foil ; and he gained fifty battles over the 
 Ci'uthnigh and the Fer-Bolgs and the inhabitants of the Orcades. 
 Three lakes^ burst forth in his reign, namely : Loch Aein-bethi, 
 in Oirghialla; Loch Salkedain and Loch Gasan, in Magh Luirg. 
 The following plains^ were reclaimed from wood in his reign, 
 
 mucadha" {Aineesse OUvucJcee), in the 
 Four Masters. 
 
 ^^ Muca. This derivation must have 
 originated with some facetious Munster 
 Shanachie, who not being able to deny 
 the power and victories of Aengus, 
 gave this somewhat ridiculous version 
 to his title of" all subduing," in order 
 to please his patrons of the line of 
 Ebcr, the enemies and rivals of the 
 posterity of Aengus. Dr. Keating 
 has too readily adopted many such 
 coarse jokes as real derivations. " Dr. 
 Keating, indeed,'' says the learned O'- 
 Flaherty, " was a man of profound 
 reading in the antiquities of his country, 
 but he acted like that man amongst 
 the seasoncrs of the salad, who threw 
 all sorts of herbs into it promiscuously 
 without clioice or selection." 
 
 ** Battles. Cleri, perhaps Cape 
 Clear, battle of Sliabh Cnl<^i {Sleeve 
 Ca'guy), in Corcabaskin, was fought 
 against the Martini, a Belgian tribe 
 It is thought that the mountain of 
 Callain, in Ibrickan, co. Clare, is the 
 place here named, as Ibrickan formerly 
 was included in Corcobaskin {which 
 probablij had its name from the Bascend 
 or Baskenn lierc named). 3. Magh En- 
 Sgiat'i {Moy Ainskeeh). i. c. " the 
 plain of the One Shield," unknown. 3. 
 Glas, otherwise /ios- Fraeclut'i, in the 
 barony of Murrcsk, in Mayo. Aengus 
 also fought the battle of Cuirki (not 
 identified) against the Martini ; and the 
 battle of Cam Rekeda, (not identifi id,) 
 the battle of Cuil Hatha, in South 
 Munster ; the battle of Sliabh g-Cua, 
 now Slieve Gua, in the parish of Seski- 
 
 nan, in the Desiea of "Waterford, against 
 the Ernai ; and the battle of Ard- 
 Achad, (perhaps Ardagh, co. Longford,) 
 in which fell Smirgoll, son of Smethra, 
 king of the Fomorians. — O'D. 
 
 ^^ Lakes. 1. Loth Aein-bethi, {Ain- 
 behi,) probably Dellahoe Lough, on 
 the confines of Meath and Monaghan. 
 
 2. Loch Salkednn, or Loch Sailech, i. e. 
 " the Lake of Willows," not identified. 
 
 3. Loch Gasan, in the barony of Boyle, 
 not identified. We shall soon cease to 
 hear of these burstings or springinga 
 forth of lakes and rivers, whatever 
 meaning our Pagan bards and Druids 
 attached thereto. It has been before 
 said, that the discovery of those lakes 
 might be what is thus recorded ; so 
 might, in like manner, cither the con- 
 quests of the districts in which they lay, 
 or iheir exposure to view by tlie clearing 
 of the plains in their vicinity. If there 
 be any foundation for these traditions, 
 it must be some of these. The Four 
 Masters record an eruption of the Sea, 
 in this reign, between Eba (Magherow), 
 and Uos Ketti (the Rosses), on the 
 coast of Sligo. 
 
 "* Plains. 1. Magh Glennn Dcrcon, 
 i. e. tiie plain of the Valley of Acorns, 
 unknown. 2. Mag'i Acntgiath, un- 
 known. 3. Magh Culi Cacl, a narrow 
 plain situated in the barony of Banagh, 
 in the west of Donegal. " Bogani" in 
 the text should be " Bogancch." 4. 
 Ael-magh, i. e. the plain of Lime ; there 
 are many districts called Calraidho 
 {Calree), where this plain might be 
 situated, .'i. Magh Mucrom'ii, lay in 
 Galway, immediately to the west of 
 
TELE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 229 
 
 namely: Magh-Glcnna Dercon, in Kinel Conaill; Magli-xiein- 
 Sgiatli, in Leinster ; Magh-Culi Gael, in Bogani ; Ael-Magh, in 
 Calraide; Magli-Mucrorahi, in Connauglit; Magh-Luacra De- 
 gaidb and Magh-Arcoill, in Ciaraide Luacra. 
 
 Aengus Oll-inucaidh was finally slain in the battle of Sliabh 
 Cua, by Enna, son of Nectan, a Munsterman. Ilowever, some 
 historians tell us that Enna Argthech was the man that slew him, 
 in the battle of Carman f and this tradition is more likely to be 
 the true one, according to the duan that begins with the verse, 
 "Aengus 011-mucaidh was slain." The E,eim Righraide or 
 Royal Catalogue, likewise, bears out the latter tradition. 
 
 ENNA ARGTHECH, ARD-RIGH, 
 
 A. M. 2993.2« Enda^3 Argthech, i. e. Enda the Despoiler or 
 Plunderer, son of Eocaidh Mumho, of the line of Eber, held the 
 sovereignty of Ireland for twenty-seven years. He was the first 
 that made silver shields^" in Ireland. He had them made at Ar- 
 gedros, and bestowed them upon the Irish chieftains. He fell 
 by the sword of Rothectach, son of Maen, in the battle of 
 Raigni.*^ 
 
 ROTHECTACH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. IL 3020.^^ Rothectach,*3 son of Maen, son of Aengus 011- 
 mucaidh, of the line of Erimhon, reigned over Ireland for twenty- 
 five years, and then was slain by Sedna, son of Artri, at Rath- 
 Cruachan.*^ 
 
 SEDNA, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 304:5.'^ Sedna,"^ son of Artri, son of Ebric, son of Eber, 
 son of Ir, son of Miledh of Spain, held the monarchy of Ireland 
 
 Athenry. 6. Magh-Luchair Degaidh tbeir nobility. See the Leabhar na g- 
 
 {Mog Looghra Dea), lay near Castleisl- Ceart, edited by Dr. O'Donovan. 
 
 and, CO. Kerry. 7. Migh-Arcoill lay ^' Raigni was the name in Ossory, 
 
 in Kerry also, but its precise situation called also Magh Raigni, whence the 
 
 is unknown. king of that country was sometimes 
 
 ^' Carman, now Wexford. It is called '• Righ Raighiii," (Ree Royaie.) 
 
 here the Four Masters say that he was — 0"D. 
 
 slaia, and by Enna Argthech. *-^ A. M. 3817. — Four Blasters. 
 
 ^" A. M. 3791. Four Masters. ^^ Rotiiectacu I., otherwise Roi- 
 
 2' Enna 1. This name is otherwise theachtach {Rohaghtagh). 
 
 spelled " Enda." His surname is pro- *^ Rath Cruachan, now Rathcroghan 
 
 nounced, Arriggagh. near Belanagare, in the county of Ros- 
 
 ■"^ Silver Skields. This might mean common, 
 
 shields, ornamented or embossed with *^ A. M. 33Í3.— Four Masters. 
 
 silver. For an account of the various *^ Sedna I. 
 presents made by the Irish kings to 
 
230 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 for five years, at the end of wliicli he was slain by liis own son, 
 at Cruachaiu, upon his return fi\)ni his marine expedition.*^ 
 
 FIACAIDH FIN-SGOTHACU, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. :M. 3050.'^ Fiacaidh^s Fin-Sgothach, son of Sedna, of the line 
 of Ir, ruled Ireland for twenty years. He was called " Fin- 
 Sgothach," or, of the wine Jlowers,^ because in his time there 
 were wine-producing flowers, i.e. "Sgotha fina" {Skoha feena) in 
 Ireland, which the peojjle used to press into cups. Fiacaidh Avas 
 slain by Munemhon, son of Cas Clothach. 
 
 MUNEMHON, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3070.S1 Munemhon,^2 g^^ ^f Qr^^ Clothach, son of Fe- 
 rarda, son of Rothectach, son of Eos, son of Glas, son of Nuadath, 
 son of Eocaidh Faebar-glas, son of Conmael, son of Eber, held 
 the sovereignty of Ireland for five years. Munemhon was the 
 first, who ordained that collars of gold^ should be worn round 
 
 *' Marine Expedition. Perhaps pi- 
 ratical expedition, were the better 
 translation ; the original is " dubh- 
 loingess," [Doo-liiiges^.) i. e. black fleet. 
 
 « A. M. 3848.— Four Misters. 
 
 ■" Fiacaidh II., otherwise Fiachadh 
 {Feegha^. 
 
 *" Wine flowers. Halliday trans- 
 lates the -words " Sgotha fiona' by 
 " a shower of grapes," a construction 
 that it can scarcely bear. There is a 
 tradition, that a species of beer was 
 formerly extracted from hcatli flowers, 
 in Ireland, but the probability is, that 
 this reference is made to the invention 
 of some drink which was pressed from 
 the natural fruits of the country. Finns- 
 gothach, {Feenskohngh.) might be a 
 corruption ofFiim Sgothach, and liave 
 reference to his " Finnghail" [fined), 
 or parricide. To lop njf, is one of the 
 meanings of the word " Hgoth." — The 
 Four Masters lell us, that every plain 
 in Ireland, alK)nnd(;d in flowers and 
 shamrocks, in tlie time of Fiacaidh. 
 These flowers, moreover, were found 
 full of wine, so that the wine was 
 squeezed into bright vessels. Dr. 0'- 
 Donovan says that ''fiinisgothach," i. c. 
 of white flmvers, is the nKjre likely 
 reading, and adds, as a reason, the re- 
 mark that "wine was then probably un- 
 
 known in Ireland," forgetting, appa- 
 rently, that this country must have 
 been then " well known" to the Pheni' 
 cians, and that.that nation of merchants 
 would not have forgotten so tcm])t- 
 ing a commodity as wine, in their trade 
 with the natives, even supposing the 
 latter to have been mere savages. 
 Wine, too. is as old, if not older tlian 
 Noah, and it is not likely that any of 
 his posterity would have so soon for- 
 gotten its name. To those that think, 
 with the editor, that the race of Eber 
 Scot had come to Eri, immediately 
 from a vine-bearing region, the occur- 
 rence of the word " lion " or " fin " docs 
 not seem premature. The name, with 
 but slight variations, is found in the 
 Greek, Tiatin and Hebrew languages, 
 ■whence we may infer that its 7'hoeni- 
 cian was also not remote from the 
 Caclic " fion." It is certain the word 
 wa.s in use before tlie (Jaels left the 
 common cradle of all mankind. 
 »' A. M. 3868.— Four il/«.s7e)-.i 
 '^* Mr.vEMno.v, otherwise Muineam- 
 lion, [Mimevone.) Cas Clothach, 
 [Clohnrrh,) i. c. Cas the Renowned. The 
 Four Masters say that Munendion had 
 assisted Fiacaidh I. in killing his father. 
 " Collars of Gold. Numbers of 
 such golden collars or " torques," (in 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 231 
 
 their necks by tlie noblemen of Ireland. He died of the plague, 
 at Magh-Aidui.^ 
 
 ALLDERGOID, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3075.^^ Alldergoid,^° son of Munemhon, son of Cas 
 Clothach, of the line of Eber, held the sovereignty of Ireland 
 for seven years. It was in the time of Alldergoid that the 
 Irish noblemen first began " to wear rings of gold upon their 
 hands. This monarch was slain by Ollamh Fodla, in the battle 
 of Tembair. 
 
 OLLAMH FODLA, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3082.57 Ollamh Fodla,^^ son of Fiacaidh of the Wine- 
 flowers, son of Sedna, son of Ártri, son of Ebric, son of Eber, 
 son of Ir, son of Miledh, held the sovereignty of Ireland for 
 thirty years,^^ at the end of which he died within his own walls. 
 This prince got the name of " Ollamh Fodla" or " Sage of Ire- 
 land," because he proved himself to be an " Ollamh" in wisdom 
 and in intellect, by the laws and regulations which he instituted 
 in Ireland during his reign. It was he that first established the 
 Convention of Temhair or Tara, as the bard thus tells us : 
 
 Irish tore), have been discovered in Ire- who, from the strong liglit of tradition 
 
 land. {See Walker on The Dress of the thrown round him, stands out as a be- 
 
 Ancient Irish). They are of most elab- ing of historical substance and truth, 
 
 orate workmanship, and if mauufac- It would serve to illustrate the nature 
 
 tnred at home, betoken a great ad- and extent of the evidence with which 
 
 vancement in the art of working metals, the world is sometimes satisfied, to col- 
 
 '< 3Iagh-Aidni, in the south of the lect together the various names which 
 
 county Galway. are received as authentic on the strength 
 
 " A. M. 3873. Four Masters. of tradition alone ; and few, perhaps, 
 
 '' Alldergoid, or Faldergoid. Ths could claim a more virtual title to this 
 
 Four Masters spell this name " Fail- privilege than the great legislator of 
 
 deardoid," which (if, as some say, it be the ancient Irish, Ollamh Fodhla." 
 
 derived from " fail" a ring, " dcarg" ^^ Thirty years. The Four Masters 
 
 or "derg," red, and "doid," a hand) give him a reign of forty years ; so do 
 
 should be pronounced, Fanlj'argode. some MS. copies of Keating. The 
 
 " A. M. 3883. — Four Masters. number in the text is that given by 
 
 '■^ EocAiDH IV. Ollamh Fodla, the Halliday, in his verson of our author ; 
 
 name by which this earliest legislator and the editor, finding him supported 
 
 of the Gaels is best known, was but an by one MS. and by Dcrmod O'Con- 
 
 honorary title. His real name was nor's translation, has adopted it from 
 
 Eocaidh. '-Among the numerous him, as he wishes to follow that judi- 
 
 kings," says Moore in his History of cious translator upon all dubious points 
 
 Ireland, "that in this dim period of Irish relative to Keating's text. However, 
 
 history pass like shadows before our O'Flaherty, O'Hatloran, and most oth- 
 
 eyos, the Royal Sage Ollamh Fodlila er autliorities, assign to Ollamh Fodla 
 
 [Ollava Fola), is almost the only one a reign of forty yeare. 
 
282 THE HISTQIiY OF lEELANI). 
 
 " Ollamh-Fodla, skilled in the fight, 
 'Twas lie that built the Ollamhs' hall ; 
 This mighty king of happy reign 
 First instituted Temhair's Feast." 
 
 The Convention of Tara^" (or the " Feis Temhrach,") was a 
 great general assembly, somewhat like a parliament, to which the 
 nobles and ollamhs of Ireland were wont to repair every third 
 year, about the time of the feast of Samhain,^^ in order to renew 
 and establish laws and regulations, and to give their sanction to 
 the annals and historic records of Ireland. At it an especial seat 
 was assigned to each of the Irish nobility, according to his rank 
 and title. There was, also, assigned thereat, an especial seat to 
 each of the chieftains of the bands of warriors who were retained 
 in the service of the kings and lords of Ireland. 
 
 It was likewise a sacred and established usage, that the man 
 who committed a rape or robbery, or who struck or attempted to 
 strike another with any hostile weapon, at the Convention of 
 Tara, should inevitably suffer death ; and neither the king him- 
 self, nor any other person, had the power of pardoning his crime. 
 And, furthermore, it was the usage of the men, who were to form 
 this convention, to spend six days previous to its sitting, to wit: 
 three days before and three days after the Samhain, in feasting 
 together, and in making peace, and establishing mutual friendly 
 relations between them. Eocaidh O'Floinn speaks of the usages 
 
 {)racticed at the Convention of Temhair, in the following historic 
 ay: 
 
 " Each third year Temhair's Feast was held ; 
 There righteous laws and rules were made, 
 And usage old in force upheld 
 By Eri's proud and mighty kings. 
 
 " King Cathair,"^ sire of many clans, 
 Once called high Temhair s noble Feast, 
 And thither came, well pleased thereat, 
 All liri's chiefs, at his command. 
 
 " Three days ere Samhain's sacred rites, 
 And three days after (usage good), 
 Spent there that proud and daring host 
 In banqueting and revel gay. 
 
 ^ TJie Convention of Tara. The been both a feast and a convention, 
 
 term "Feis Temhrach" [Fesh Tavrft<:lL), from T)r. Keating's description of it. 
 
 Is translated " Temorensia Comitia" by "' Somli'tin, i. e. All-Hallows ; pro- 
 
 Dr. Lynch and by O'Flaherty ; but it nounced Smvi)i or Siivwin. 
 
 is called " Cena Teamra" in the An- "■' Catiiakii:. 'J'his king's name is 
 
 nals of Tighernach, and translated, The prematurely introduced. Jie did not 
 
 Feast of Taragh by Mageoghegan {see live for some centuries after Ollanih 
 
 O'D.'s Four Masters.) It seems to have Fodla. 
 
THE HISTORY OF. IRELAND. 233 
 
 " Thence theft was driven and murder dire, 
 During those brief and happy days ; 
 None weapon bared, none treason wrought, 
 No brawl was raised, nor insult flung. 
 
 " The man, who wrought one deed of these, 
 Was deemed an impious, outlawed wretch ; 
 No gold his forfeit could redeem — 
 His life was doomed, his head accursed." 
 
 FINACTA, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 2112.^ Fiuacta,«* son of OUamh Fodla, son of Fiacaidh 
 of the Wine-flowers, of the line of Ir, son of Miledh, held the 
 sovereignty of Ireland for fifteen years. He was called Finacta^ 
 or " Fm-Shnechta" (Fecnaghta), i. e. "Snechta Fina" {snaghta 
 feena) or " snow of wine," from a shower of wine snow^^ that fell 
 during his reign. He died at Magh-Inis. 
 
 SLAJS'OLL, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3143.6^ Slanoll, son of Ollamh Fodla, of the line of Ir, 
 son of Miledh, ruled Ireland for fifteen years.^^ He was called 
 " Slanoll" from the great health enjoyed by the men of Ireland 
 during his reign ; for "slan" is the same as " healthy," and " oil" 
 means "great." It was in the house of Midh-Cuarta {mee-cooria), 
 at Temhair, that he met his death ; and some say that nobody 
 knew what disease^^ it was that took him off 
 
 GEDHI OLL-GOTHACH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3143.^0 Gédhi 011-gothach, son of Ollamh Fodla, of 
 
 *A. M. 3923. — Four Masters. Four Masters say that this snow black- 
 
 ^ Elim I. or FiNXACTA I. We are ened the grass. 
 
 told by the Four Masters, that Elim ^ A. M. ZnZ.—Four Masters. 
 
 was this Prince's real name. They ^ Fifteen years. The Four Masters 
 
 give him a reign of twenty years, and say 20, and those of Clanmacnoise 26. 
 
 add tliat he died of the plague in Magh- *" What Disease. " He was found 
 
 Inis, now the barony of Lecale, co. dead, but his body did not change. He 
 
 Down. O'Hallorau calls him Fionn. was afterwards buried ; and after his 
 
 ^" FiXACTA. Dr. O'Donovan consid. body had been forty years in the grave, 
 ersthis derivation legendary, "because," it was taken up by his son, i. e. Oilioll 
 sayshe,"Finnachta,"or"Fiunshnechta," (Olild) Mac Slanuili ; and the body 
 was very common as the name of a had remained without rotting or de- 
 man among the ancient Irish, denoting composing during that time. This 
 niveus, or snow-white. The name is thing was a great wonder and surprise 
 still preserved in the surname O'Fin- to the men of Ireland." — Four Masters. 
 neachta, in English, Finaghty." His having died in the house of Midh- 
 
 ^° Wine-sncw. Red snow is not un- Cuarta, seems to argue the tranquillity 
 
 frequent in northern latitudes at the and the firm establishment of the di- 
 
 present day. This fable may have nasty of OUamh Fodla on the Irish 
 
 originated in the occurrence of some throne, 
 
 such phenomenon in Ireland. The '" A. M. 3960. — Four Masters, 
 
234 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the line of Ir, son of Miledh, held the sovereignt}^ of Ireland for 
 seventeen years." He was called Gedhi Oll-gothach^^ {Oayeh 
 Oll-gohagh) because the voice, i. e. " guth"' {guh) of every nian in 
 Ireland was great or loud, i. e. "oil," during his reign. He fell 
 by the hand of Fiacaidh, son of Finacta." 
 
 FIACADH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 31 eO.'^ Fiacaidh,75son of Finacta, son of Ollamh Fodla, 
 of the line of Ir, son of Miledh, held the sovereignty of Ireland 
 for twenty-four years,^" and then fell by Berngal, son of Gedhi. 
 
 BERNGAL, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M.. 3184." Berngal, son of Gedhi 011-gothach, son of 
 Ollamh Fodla, of the line of Ir, sou of Miledh, ruled Ireland for 
 twelve years, and then was slain b}^ Oliky^ son of Slanoll. 
 
 OLILD, ARD-RIGII. 
 
 A. M. 3196.^3 oiild,8» son of Slanoll, sou of Ollamh Fodla, 
 of the line of Ir, son of Miledh, reigned over Ireland sixteen 
 years, and then was slain by Siorna Saegalach. 
 
 SIORNA THE LONG-LIVED, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3212.®^ Siorna, or Sirna the Long-lived,^ son of Dian, 
 
 " Seventeen years. The Four Mas- by this king, that the earth was first 
 
 ters allow him but twelve. dug in In-hvnd, that water might be in 
 
 " Oll-iiotkdch. In the Dinnsenchas wells ;" and that " it was difficult for 
 it is stated that Erimhon, son of Miledh, the stalk to sustain its corn during his 
 was also called Gedhi 011-gothach, and reign." The latter observation is a 
 for a similar reason ; but these ac- figurative mode of expressing the good- 
 counts are clearly legendary, because nes.s of his rule and the prosperity of 
 the cognomen oll-gothack was evidently the country during its continuance, 
 applied to tliese monarchs from the '" Twmty-four. The Four Masters 
 loudness of their own voices, and not say twenty. 
 
 from any peculiarity in tliose of their " A. M. .3992. — Four Masters. 
 
 subjects. — See O'D.'s Four Masters. " Slain bij Olild. Olild was aided 
 
 " Son of Finacta. We here see dis- in fliis civil war by Hiorna. son of Dian, 
 
 cord break out in the house of Ollamh who was thus preparing his own way 
 
 Fodla, and pave the way to its down- to the throne, 
 
 fall. Fiacaidh was his nephew. '" A. M. 4004. 
 
 " A. M. 2972. — Four Masters. "^ Omld I. In the person of this 
 
 '^ FiACAion III. He is surnamed monarch, we see the supremacy wrested 
 
 Finn-ailcheas (Fmnalkass) by the Four from the race of Ir. Jle was the sev- 
 
 Masters, which state that it was by entii king of that line, that had now 
 
 him that Dnn-culi-Sibriimi. now called miinterruptcdly ruknl tlie kingdom of 
 
 Cenannas (Kenanmis) or Kells, in East- Ireland, for more than a century. 
 
 Meath was l)uilt, and tliat wherever his "' A. M. 4020. — Four Musters. 
 
 habitation was jjlaced, Kenannus was "' Sioii.va tuk Long-mved. Siorna 
 
 its name. They also state " that it was Saeghalach [Skeerna Sayalagh) is called 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 235 
 
 son of Rothectach, son of jMaen, son of Aengns Oll-muciiidli, 
 of the line of Ei'iuihon, assumed the sovereignty of Ireland, 
 ^yllich he held for twentj-one years.^^ He was surnamed " Saeg- 
 
 snn of Dian, son of Deman, in the Four 
 Ma-ters, whence it is to be inferred 
 that Deman may either have been an- 
 other name for Rothectach, or that 
 Keating has erred in stating this liing's 
 pedigree. 
 
 ^^ Twenty-one years. The Annals 
 above named say that his reign lasted 
 for the incred'ble period of a century and 
 a half. Dr.O'Donovan makes the follow- 
 ing remark in his notes on these Annals, 
 upon that extravagant statement : "The 
 great length of this monarch's reign is 
 evidently legendary, or rather a blunder 
 
 of transcribers. O'Flahcrty refers to 
 the Book of Lecan to show that he 
 lived 150 years." That record, in part, 
 almost agrees with the ancient poem 
 cited by Keating, inasmuch as it makes 
 him reign but twenty years. — SeeO' Don- 
 ovan's Four Musters. That he neither 
 lived nor reigned any very extraordi- 
 nary number of years, can be proved 
 by comparing his pedigree with those 
 of his predecessor and successor. It 
 will be seen thereby that it exceeds the 
 former by four generations, while it co- 
 incides exactly with the latter. 
 
 1. MILEDH OF SPAIN. 
 
 2 Eber. K. 
 
 .L 
 
 2 Erimhon. K. 
 
 3 Conmael. K. 
 
 3 Eber. 
 
 3 Irial. K. 
 
 4 Eocaidh 11. K. 
 
 4 Ebric. 
 
 4 Ethrial. K. 
 
 5 Nuadath. 
 
 5 Artri. 
 
 5 Follorahan. K. 
 
 6 Glas. 
 
 6 Sedna I. K. 
 
 6 Tighernmas. K. 
 
 7 Rosa. 
 
 7 Fiacaidh II. K. 
 
 7 Enboth. 
 
 8 Ferarda. 
 
 8 Ollamh Fodla. K. 
 
 8 SmirgoU. 
 
 9 Munemhou. K. 
 
 9 Slanoll. K. 
 
 9 Fiacaidh I. K. 
 
 10 Alldergoid. K. 
 
 10 Olild. K. 
 
 10 Aengus I. K. 
 
 11 Cas. 
 
 
 11 Maeu. 
 
 12 Falbi. 
 
 
 12 Rothectach I. K. 
 
 13 Roan. 
 
 
 13 Dian. 
 
 14 Rothectach II. K. 
 
 
 14 Siorna. K. 
 
 The attributing of such an incredible 
 age to the present monarch, may have 
 resulted from making him the grandson 
 of Rothectach I., son of Maen, who was 
 slain by Sedna I., the grandfather of 
 Ollamh Fodla, nearly 200 years before. 
 The Four Masters show us that he was 
 grandson Deman through Dian, with- 
 out telling whether Deman was son, 
 grandson, or great-grandson of Ro- 
 thectach I. But it is useless to en- 
 deavor to reconcile such discrepancies 
 in tl:e records of so remote an age ; for 
 -we are still in the dark ages of Irish 
 mythology. We do not even know the 
 man's real name ; for, the one recorded 
 means nearly the same thing with his 
 cognomen (being derived from " Sir" 
 {S.'teer), long or eternal), and conse- 
 quently it must have been given to him 
 
 when he had already become remark- 
 able for his unusual longevity. It is 
 nevertheless clear, that Siorna's acces- 
 sion to the throne and the restoration 
 of the line of Erimhon in his person, 
 marked an important epoch in Irish 
 I^rimeval history, and that he was a 
 great and powerful monarch. The 
 Four Masters speak of him in the fol- 
 lowing terms : " It was this Sirna 
 that wrested the government of Tem- 
 hair from the Ulta (Ulstermen), i. e. 
 the race of Ir. It was he that revenged 
 upon them the death of Rothectach, 
 son of Maen, whom they had slain at 
 Cruachain ; so that Berngal and Olild 
 (his predecessors) fell by him. It was 
 he that gained over the Ulstermen the 
 battle of Arkeltair (one of the names 
 of the large rath at Downpatrick); 
 
236 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 alach" or tlie " Long-lived," from the longevity of the men of 
 his day. lie fell at Allinn,^ by the hand of Kotheetach, son of 
 Boau, as the bard tells us in the duan which begins with the verse, 
 " Eri, proud isle of kings," viz : 
 
 " Siorna held the reigns of power 
 For full thrice seven years, 
 Then fell amidst his slauijhtered host 
 At AUiud"* by Rothectach." 
 
 ROTHECTACn, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3233.^5 Rothectach,»' son of Eoan, son of Falbi, son 
 of Cas Ked-cangnech, son of Aldergoid, son of JNIunemhon, son 
 of Cas Clothach, son of Ferarda, son of Eothectach, son of Ros, 
 son of Glas, son of Nuadath Degh-lamh, son of Eocaidh Facbar- 
 glas, son of Conmael, son of Eber, son of Miledh of Spain, held 
 the sovereignty of Ireland for seven years, at the end of which 
 he was burned up by lightning, at Dun Sobarki. 
 
 ELIM, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. i^r. 3240.^^ Elim,^ son of the last king, Rothectach, and of 
 the line of Eber, held the sovereignty of Ireland but for one 
 year, for he was slain by Giallcaidh, son of Olild 01-caein. 
 
 the two battles of Sliabh Arbrech (un- and a countless number of the men of 
 
 known); the battle of Kcnnduin, in Ireland with them." 
 
 Assal (near Groom, co Limerick'; the " Allind or Aillinn, was the old 
 
 battle of Moin Fochnigh, in Hi Falghi name of a large rath on the hill now 
 
 {OJfatij), over the Martini and Krnai ; called Knockaulin, near Kilcullcu, co. 
 
 the battle of I.uachair (in Kerry); the Kildare. 
 
 battle of Clari (in the co. Limerick); "^ A. M. 4110— Four Masters. 
 
 the battle of Samhain (now Knock- ** RornKCTAcn II. It was by this 
 
 sowua, not far from Bruree, co. Limer- Rothectach that chariots drawn by 
 
 ick); the battle of Cnock Ochair (un- four horses were first used in Ireland. — 
 
 known). An attack was made by him Id. He was a very good king. — Aii- 
 
 upon the Fomorians, in the territory of nals of Clnnmnmoise. 
 
 Mcath. It was by him was fougiit " A. M. 4177. 
 
 the battle of Moin Trogaide (Mone * Kijm If. He was surnamcd 011- 
 
 T/-owee), in Kianacta (CO. Londonderry), finsnccta {Olfccnas^hlá), because, ac- 
 
 when Lugair, son of Lugaidh, of the cording to sonic, " snow with the taste 
 
 race of Eber, had brought a force of of wine fell during his reign ;" others 
 
 the Fomorians into Ireland with their say that he was called so because it 
 
 kinf, Kcsarn by name. Siorna drew snowed continually that year. Roth 
 
 the men of Ir("land to make battle are mere guc&ses of later writers to 
 
 against thom at Moin Trogaide. As account for the cognomen which means 
 
 they were fighting the battle;, a plague " of the great white snow." — See D. 
 
 was sent upon tiiem, of which Lugair F. M. 
 and Kesarn peri.shed.with their people, 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 237 
 
 GIALLCAIDH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3241^^ Giallcaidh {Gueelghce) son of Olild 01-cacin, son 
 of Siorna the Long-lived, of the line of Erimhon, reigned over 
 Ireland for nine years, and then was slain at Magh-Muaide*' by 
 Art Imlech {Tmlagli). 
 
 ART IMLECH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3250.^1 Art Imlech,^ son of Elim, son of Rothectach, 
 son of Eoan, son of Falbi, son of Cas Ked-cangnech, son of 
 Alldergoid, of the line of Eber, assumed the sovereignty of Ire- 
 land, and held it for twenty-two years,^^ at the end of which he 
 was skdn by Nuadath Finn, of Fál. 
 
 NUADATH FINN-FAIL, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3272.»^ Nuadath Finn-Fail,»^ son of Giallcaidh, son of 
 Olild 01-caein, son of Siorna Saegalach, of the line of Erimhon, 
 ruled Ireland seventy years, or for twenty, according to others. 
 He was slain by Bresrigh, son of Art Imlech. 
 
 BRESRIGH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3292.^ Bresrigh,97 son of Art Imlech, son of Elim, son 
 of Rothectach, of the line of Eber, ruled Ireland for nine years. 
 During that time he vanquished the Fomorians in many battles. 
 At last he was himself defeated and slain, by Eocaidh Apthach, 
 at Carn Conludin. 
 
 EOCAIDH APTHACH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3301.»« Eocaidh Apthach,» son of Finn, son of Olild, 
 son of Flann Ruadh, son of Rothlan, son of Martin, son of Sith- 
 kind, son of Riaghlan, son of Eocaidh Bree, son of Lugaidh, son 
 of Ith, son of Breogan, was monarch of Ireland for one year. He 
 
 * A. M. 4186. '' Twenty-two years. Twelve years, 
 
 " Migi-Mu'tide (Moy-Mooec) ; eith- according to the Four Mastera. 
 
 er the plain of the river Moy, in North °' A. M. 4199.— Foi/r Masters. 
 
 Connaught, or one near Knockmov, co. ^ Nuadath I. 
 
 Galway. " ^ A. M. 4239.— Four Masters. 
 
 " A. M. 4187. — Four Masters. ^ Bresrigh. Bresrigh, (Brassree,) 
 
 « Art I. O'Halloran states that means King Bres. He is called simply 
 
 this was a very warlike prince^ and Bres, (Brass,) by the Four Masters. 
 
 that he built seven large duns, which ** A. M. 4248. — Four Blasters. 
 
 he surrounded by ditches filled with " Eocaidh V. The annals of Clon- 
 
 water. macnoise state that he was captain of 
 
 the late king's guards. 
 
238 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 got the surname, " Aptliacli,"' from the great number of people 
 that died in Ireland during his reign. For, during that time a 
 plague came upon the people of Ireland every month, by which 
 multitudes of them were carried off. Hence was he called 
 Eocaidh Apthach, for " apthacli" {nj^pagh) is the same as mortal 
 or deadly. Ue was slain by Finn, sou of Bratha. 
 
 FINN, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. ^[. 3302.^*"' Finn, son of Bratha, son of Labraidh, son of 
 Carbri, son of Ollamh Fodla/ of the line of Ir, ruled Ireland 
 twenty years,^ and then was slain by Sedna lunaraigh. 
 
 SEDNA INNARAIGH, ARD-EIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3322.^ Sedna* Innaraigh, son of Bresrigh, son of Art 
 Imlech, of the line of Eber, held the sovereignty of Ireland for 
 twenty j'cars. He was called Sedna " Innaraigh," or Sedna 
 "of the wages;" because he was the first king that gave wages 
 to soldiers in Ireland. Simeon Brec caused him to be torn limb 
 from limb. 
 
 SIMEON BREC, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 2342.5 Simeon Brec,^ son of Aedan Glas, son of Nua- 
 dath Finn-Fail, of the line of Erimhon, ruled the Irish nation for 
 six years, when he Avas vanquished by Duach Finn, who caused 
 him to be torn asunder, in order to revenge his father's death. 
 
 DUACH FINN, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3348.^ Duach Finn,^ son of Sedna Innaraigh, son of 
 Bresrigh, son of Art Imlech, of the Line of Eber, held the sov- 
 
 '"" A. M. 4249. — Four Masters. bear the latter meaning, Sedna miirht 
 
 ' Ollamh Fodla. Tlie posterity of have got his cognomen " Iiniaraigh" 
 
 that great lawgiver liad now given no (Intmrrec), from his having encnur- 
 
 monarch to Ireland for a century and aged commerce amongst his people, 
 
 a half. His accession and that of his The annals of Clonmacnoisc say that 
 
 predecessor, of the line of Ith, .show " this Sedna was a worthy and a no- 
 
 that the rival races of Eber and Erim- ble king, and the finst tliat rewarded 
 
 hon had considerably weakened their men with chattel in Ireland." O'llal- 
 
 .strength in contending for sovcreignt}-. loran states that " he wrote a code of 
 
 - Twenty years. Some say thirty, laws for the military, which was a 
 
 The Four Masters say tvcnt y-two. standard for many succeeding ages." 
 
 = A. M. 4290.— Foííí- Musters. ' A. ^L 42'.)].— Four Masters. 
 
 * Sedna II. The jihrasc " d'amh- " Sinvon Brec, i. e. the spotted or 
 
 8aibh"(fiW'.5SiY")," which is translated, speckled Simeon. 
 
 to soldiers in the text, is by .some nndcr- ' A. M. 4297. — Four Masters. 
 
 stood, in this case, to mean people in " Duacii I. The Four Masters say 
 
 general. If the word " amhas " can that he reigned ten years. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 239 
 
 ereignty of Ireland for five years, and then fell by Muredacli 
 Bolgrach. 
 
 MUREDACn BOLGRACH, ARD-RiaH. 
 
 A. M. 3353.® Miiredach. Bolgrach,^'* son of Simeon Brec, son 
 of Aedan Glas, of the line of Erimhon, ruled Ireland for four 
 years, and then was slain by Enna Derg. 
 
 ENNA DERG, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3357." Enna Derg,*^ son of Duach Finn, son of Sedna 
 Innaraigh, of the line of Eber, held possession of the sovereignty 
 of Ireland for twelve years. He was called Enna Derg (that is, 
 Enna the Ked), from the redness of his complexion, i. e. of his 
 face. It was in his reign that money was first struck in Ireland, 
 at Argedros. He, and great numbers of people besides, died of 
 the plague at Sliabh Mis. 
 
 LUGAIDH lARDONN, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3369.^^ Lugaidh lardonn," son of Enna Derg, son of 
 Duach Finn, of the line of Eber, reigned over Ireland for nine 
 years. He was called Lugaidh lardonn, or Lugaidh the Dark- 
 brown, fi'om the dark -brown color of his hair; for "iar-dhonn" 
 (eer-yonn) is the same as " dubh-dhonn" {duv-yonn), i. e. dark- 
 brown. He was slain by Siorlamh, at Eath-Clochair. 
 
 SIORLAMH, ARD-RIGH. ■ 
 
 A. M. 3378.^'' Siorlamh, son of Finn, son of Bratha, son of 
 Labraidh, son of Carbri, son of Ollamh Fodla, of the line of Ir, 
 son of Aliledh of Spain, assumed the sovereignty of Ireland, and 
 held it for sixteen years. He was called Siorlamh,^^ (sheerlam) 
 from his extremely long hands, for they reached the ground when 
 he stood erect. He was slain by Eocaidh Uarkeas {oghee-oorkess). 
 
 ' A. M. 4307. — Four Masters. of this name is Lughaidli (Looee.) 
 
 '" McKEDACH I. This name is now '^ A. M. 4329. — Four Masters. 
 
 pronounced Mt?Tcrag-A. The Four Mas- ^^ Long-hands. The title, Siorlamh, 
 
 ters say that Muredach reigned a year would be more applicable in a figura- 
 
 and a month. tive than a material sense. In the lat- 
 
 " A. M. 3308.— Four Masters. ter case, " lamh-fliada" (Lauvadda), or 
 
 " Enna II. This name is otherwise " Fad-lamhach, {fadlauvagh,) should 
 
 spelled Enda, and sometimes Edna, or have been the term used. The story 
 
 Badhna. of this monarch's monstrous hands has 
 
 " A. M. 4320. — Four Masters. all the appearance of being built upon 
 
 " Lugaidh I. The aspirated form a forced etymology given to his name. 
 
240 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 EOCAIDH UARKEAS, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3394." Eocaidh Uarkeas,'^ son of Lugaidh lardonn, son 
 of Enna Derg, of the line of Eber, held the sovereignty of Ireland 
 for twelve years. He was surnamed *' Uarkeas," from a sort of 
 rude wicker boats, (covered with hides,) that he Avas wont to carry 
 with him in his fleets; for "ceas" (kass) is of the same meaning as 
 canoe, or rather wicker boat. Now, this prince had spent two 
 years at sea, whilst an exile from Ireland, and had been wont, 
 during that time, to put bands of his followers into these wicker 
 boats, for the purpose of plundering the coaste of whatever 
 countries he touched upon, and of bringing off the booty therein 
 to his fleet; and thus, from these "ceasa" (cassa) the surname 
 Uarkeas was attached to him. He was slain by Eocaidh Fiad- 
 muini and Conaing Beg-eglach, 
 
 EOCAIDH FIADMUINI AND CONAING BEG-EGLACH, ARD-RIGHA. 
 
 A. M. 3406.^^ Eocaidh Fiadmuini^" and Conaing Beg-eglach, 
 the sons of Duach Temracli, son of Murcdaeh Bolgrach, son of 
 Simeon Brec, of the line of Erimhon, held the joint sovereignty 
 of Ireland for five years. The former of these princes was 
 called Eocaidh Fiadmuini, (Feemonie) i. e., Eocaidh the Hunter, 
 because he was extremely addicted to the pursuit and chase of 
 wild beasts and game, in the wildernesses and forests. This 
 Eocaidh fell by Lugaidh, son of Eocaidh Uarkeas. 
 
 LUGAIDH LAMH-DERG, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M, 3411.^' Lugaidh Lamh-derg^ {Looee Lauv-yarg\ son of 
 Eocaidh Uarkeas, of the line of Eber, held the sovereignty of 
 Ireland for seven years. He was called Lamh-dei-g, or Red- 
 hand, because there was a red stain or spot on one of his hands. 
 This Eocaidh was slain by Conaing Beg-eglach, or Conaing the 
 Fearless. 
 
 CONAING BEG-EGLACH, ARD-RKill. 
 
 A. M. 3418.^ Conaing Beg-eglach, son of Duach Temrach, 
 
 " A. M. 4344. — Four Masters. tlie Vanquisher, whence Dr. O'Donov.aa 
 
 ** Eocaidh VÍ. The explanation g-iv- conjectures that this was an alias name 
 
 en above for the surname " Uaircheas" I'or Duach Temrach, or Duach of Tara. 
 
 is very questionable. The word is "" A. M. 4.'}G2. — Four blasters. 
 
 not at all formed like a regular com- " Lugaidh II. It is more likely to 
 
 pound. It is a derivative form. suppose that this prince was styled 
 
 " A. M. 43.")6.— Four I\histcrs. Red-Hand, from his bloody deeds, than 
 
 ™ KocAiDH VII. The Four Masters for the reason which Dr. Keating has 
 
 call this prince and his brother the given. 
 
 sons of Gonial Cosiiarach, i. e. Congal " A. M. 4388. — Four Masters. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 241 
 
 the son of Muredacli Bolgrach, of tlie line of Erimhón, ruled the 
 kingdom of Ireland for ten years. He was styled, " Beg-eglach," 
 or the Fearless, because the slightest shade of fear never seized 
 him in any fight. He was also a man of great prowess in the 
 conflict, as the bard has sung in the following rann : 
 
 " Couaing, in conflicts of bright blades, 
 Who never dreaded mortal man. 
 Reigned for ten years o'er North and South,^ 
 And then he fell by Art Mac Lugaidh." 
 
 ART, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3438.25 Art, 26 son of Lugaidh Lamh-derg, of the line of 
 Eber, held the kingdom of Ireland for six years, and then he 
 was slain by Duach Laghrach, son of Fiacaidh Tolgrach, and by 
 Fiacaidh himself. 
 
 FIACAIDH TOLGRACH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3434^^^ Fiacaidh^ Tolgrach, son of Muredach Bolgrach, 
 son of Simeon Brec, of the line of Erimhdn, possessed the sover- 
 eignty of Ireland for seven years, and then he was slain in 
 Borinn,^ by Olild Finn, son of Art. 
 
 OLILD FINN, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3441.30 Olild'i Finn, son of Art, son of Lugaidh 
 Lamh-derg, son of Eocaidh Uarkeas, of the line of Eber, held 
 the sovereignty of Ireland for nine years, at the end of which he 
 fell by Argedmar and b}'' Fiacaidh, and by Duach, son of 
 Fiacaidh, in the battle of Odba.^ Upon this, the Munstermen 
 mustered under Eocaidh, son of Olild Finn, and under Lugaidh, 
 son of Eocaidh Fiadmuini, so that they banished Argedmar be- 
 yond the sea, for the period of seven years. 
 
 EOCAIDH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3450.^ Eocaidh,^ son of Olild Finn, son of Art, son 
 of Lugaidh Lamh-derg, of the line of Eber, held the sovereignty 
 
 '^' O'er North and Soulh. In the orig- ^ Boirinn — now called Barrin, a 
 
 inal, " for gach leth," i. e. " over each barony in the north of the county of 
 
 half." The Four Masters say that he Clare, 
 
 reigned twenty years. ^ A. M. 4405. — Four Masters. 
 
 ^ A. M. 4389. »' Olild II. Olild reigned eleven 
 
 ^ Akt II. years. — Id. 
 
 -"' A. M. 4395.— Fonr Masteis. ^ O.lbi {nva) lay in Meath. 
 
 •^ Fiacaidh IV. The epithet " Tol- ^ A. M. 4416.— Foitr Masters. 
 
 grach," may mean proud or warlike, =* Eocaidh VIII. Ani-Cliach, {Aio- 
 
 i. e. " Tolgdha." The Four ^Masters nie-Cleeagh,) where Eocaidh was slain, 
 
 say that Fiacaidh reigned ten yeai-s. is now called Knockany, in the county 
 
242 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 of Ireland for seven years. And he did not yield the kingdom 
 to Argedmar; but he made a peace with Duach Laghrach, 
 which lasted until Argedmar returned from his banishment, 
 when both, the latter chieftain and Duach Laghrach, combined 
 their strength against Eocaidh, who fell by their hands, about 
 that time, at the fair of Ani-Cliach. 
 
 ARGEDMAR, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3457.^ Argedmar, ^^ son of Siorlamh, son of Finn, son 
 of Bratha^ of the race of Ir, son of Miledh, held the kingdom of 
 Ireland twenty-three years, when he fell hy the hands of Duach 
 Laghrach, and of Lugaidh, son of Eocaidh, son of Olild Finn. 
 
 DUACII LAGHRACH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3480.^^ Duach Laghrach,^^ son of Fiacaidh Tolgrach, son 
 of Muredach Bolgrach, son of Simeon Brec, of the line of Erim- 
 hon, assumed the sovereignty of Ireland, and held it for ten years. 
 He was called Laghrach (Loyragh), i. e. the Vindictive, or the 
 Quick-avenging, from the word "laghra" or "ladhra" (loyra), 
 which means, speedy vengeance ; for he never indulged or par- 
 doned any person, who had committed a deed of injustice, but 
 made him render immediate retribution for his crime. It was 
 thence that he acquired that surname. Ue was slain by Lugaidh 
 Laghdi. 
 
 LUGAIDH LAGHDI, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3490.^ Lugaidh Laghdi,*» son of Eocaidh, son of Olild 
 Finn, of the line of Eber, held the sovereignty of Ireland for seven 
 years, after which he was slain l)y Aedli liuadh, son of Badarn. 
 
 Limerick. The Annals of Clonmac- from ^faclia's death to the accession of 
 
 noise say that Argedmar and Duach Eudraidc. A. ]\l. 3792. 
 came upon him unawares, at the fair, '■" A. M. 4453. — Four Masters 
 and there slew both liim and many of ** Duach II. 
 the chieftains of Munster. "' A. M. 4469. — Four Masters. 
 
 ^' A. M. 4423.— Four Masters. '" Lugaidh III. With the aspira- 
 
 ^ Argedmar. This prince's name tions, this king's name is spelled " Lu- 
 
 means " abounding in silver," i. e. ghaidh Ijiighdhe " {Luoec Laxvcc) : the 
 
 •' airgedmhar" [Arguedvar). Ilie last surname is otherwise impelled Lacglidha 
 
 cited authorities give him a reign of (/>ai//io), and its most probable moaning 
 
 thirty years. O'FIaherty tells us that is " heroic," derived from " laech," a 
 
 Argedmar had five sons: 1. I^adarn, hero. Keating, in attributing the story 
 
 father of Aedli Ruadh ; 2. Diman, of the fawn to this Lugaidh, confounds 
 
 father of Dithorba; 3. Fintan, father him with aniith(>r chief of the same name 
 
 of Kiinbaeth ; 4. Fomor, from whom and nearly sÍTnilar surname, who lived 
 
 descended Iludraido, progenitor of the about six himdrcd years after him, that 
 
 tribe of Rudraide, and Ca.s, from whom is, with Lugaidh Laiglidhc, son of Dari 
 
 descended almost all the kings of Ulster Doimhtlicch {Dmvhagk), lather of Mac- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 243 
 
 The " Coir Anmann," or Book of Etymology, says that this 
 Lugaidh Laghdi was one of the five Lugaidhs who were the sons 
 of Dari Doimthech,'*^ What that book tells us is, that a certain 
 Druid had prophesied to Dari Doimthech, tliat he should have a 
 son, named Lugaidli, to whom the sovereignty of Ireland was 
 destined ; and that, after this, five sons were born in succession 
 to Dari, each of whom he named Lugaidh. When these sons had 
 grown up, Dari went to the same druid and asked of him which 
 of his five Lugaidhs was to gain the kingdom of Ireland. " Go," 
 said the druid, " on to-morrow, with thy five sons to Talti, and 
 there will come a beautiful fawn into the fair, and the whole as- 
 semblage, and thy sons also, will hnmediately start upon her 
 track ; and then, whichsoever of thy sons may overtake and kill 
 that fawn, it is he that shall be monarch of Ireland." Upon the 
 morrow, the fawn came into the fair, and the men of Eri and the 
 sons of Dari set off in chace of her, until they had thus reached 
 Benn-Edair, where a magic mist was thrown between the men of 
 Eri and the sons of Dari. The latter continued the chace thence 
 to Dal-Moscorb^ of Leinster, where Dari overtook the fawn and 
 killed her; and it is from that fawn that he has been styled 
 "Lughaidh Laighdhe" {Looee Lawe), otherwise "Lughaidh Laegh- 
 dha" (Layha), i. e. Lugaidh of the fawn, or "laegh" {layh). 
 
 This is that Lugaidh, of whom the following wild fable^ is re- 
 lated. It is told that, being once hunting in a wilderness, he met 
 with a certain deformed hag, upon whom there was a magic mask ; 
 that this hag became his mistress, and that she afterwards took 
 oif her magic mask and then appeared to him in the form of a 
 most beautiful young woman. By this hag, who became the 
 mistress of Lugaidh Laghdi, Ireland is allegorically meant, inas- 
 much as he at first endured much pain and trouble on her ac- 
 count, but afterwards came into the enjoyment of much pleasure 
 and happiness. Now, notwithstanding the fact that the "Coir 
 Anmann" says that a certain Lugaidh Laghdi was the son of 
 
 niadh (Macneeah), and grandfather of Olum, from whom the rival tribe of 
 Lugaidh, styled Maccon, who was king Dergthini took their title. According 
 of Ireland, according to Keating, from to the pedigrees of the Eberian tribes, 
 A. D. 182 to A. U. 212. The confusion Dergthini, or Corb Olum, was the six- 
 must have resulted from the extravagant teenth in descent from the present mon- 
 lovc of the Irish bards for alliterative arch. 
 
 epithets, or Keating's carelessness. " Dal Moscorb — called otherwise Dal 
 
 ^' />a.rt Doim?Aec/i was otherwise call- Mescorb and Dal Mesincorb. A sept 
 
 cd Dari Sir-clircchtach {S'leer-chragh- along the east of the present county of 
 
 tagh), i. e. the incessant plunderer, or Wicklow,was thus denominated. — O'D. 
 
 the widely-plundering. From him the ^ For the poem, upon which this 
 
 Corca Luighe took the nameof Dariui, fable is founded, see the Genealogy of 
 
 or Dairfhini, i. e. the '• fine" or tribe of tiic Corca Luighe, published in the Mis- 
 
 Dari. Ho was cotemporary with Derg- cellany of the Celtic Society for 1849, 
 
 thiiii {DeJcinn), otherwise called Corb Appendix A., p. G6. 
 
244 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Dari Doimtliech, still I do not suppose that it was the same 
 L'jgaidh Laghdi,*^ who was king of Ireland, that is mentioned in 
 that work, and also notwithstanding the Druids having prophe- 
 sied, that Lugaidh Laghdi, son of Dari Doimthech, should be 
 
 king of Ireland. 
 
 AEDH RUADH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3497.« Aedh Ruadh,^ son of Badarn, son of Arged- 
 mar, son of Siorlamh, son of Finn, son of Bratlia, of the line of 
 Ir, son of Miledh, assumed the sovereignty of Ireland, and reigned 
 for twenty-one years, at the end of which he was drowned at 
 Esraadh.'*^ 
 
 DITHORBA, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3518."*® Dithorba, son of Deman, son of Argedmar, 
 son of Siorlamh, son of Finn, son of Bratha, of the line of Ir, soa 
 of Miledh, assumed the sovereignty, and reigned over Ireland for 
 
 ** The sime Lugnidh Lnghdi. — In 
 fact, the poem upon which the fable is 
 founded expressly states, that Lugaidh 
 Laighdho, or Lacfrhdha, son of Dari 
 Doimthech, never Ijccame king of Ire- 
 land. Neither, according to it, did the 
 enchanted lady become his mistress. 
 She is therein made to say to him : 
 
 "I say to thee, O mild youth, 
 With me arch-kings cohabit; 
 I am tliat majestic slender damsel, 
 The sovereignty of Alba and Eri. 
 
 To thee I have revealfd myself to-ni^ht; 
 That is all; but with mo thou shalt not co 
 
 habit; 
 Thou slialt havo a son, honored in him. 
 He i.i the man with whom I sliall dwell. 
 
 The name of thy son. the mode is sood. 
 
 Shall he Lugaidh Mor ; ho shall be a royal son, 
 For we have been lonping much for him, 
 lie shall be u druid, a propliet, and a poet."' 
 
 "The prophecy which Dari told to thorn 
 Regarding Maccon, tlie comely, was: 
 ' Afiiccnn xhull gain th'- h ill of It -eagh (Tara), 
 WiUi Alba and delifi'ilfiil Eri: " 
 
 Genealogy of Corca Lulghe, pp. 75, 76. 
 
 This extract, from that ancient poem, 
 proves that Lugaidh of the Fawn was 
 never king of Ireland, and that there 
 was no foundation whatever for making 
 Lugaidh III. son of Kurhaidh VIII., to 
 be the son of Dari Di^imthech. 
 
 *' A. M. 4470.— F"u/- Masters. 
 
 *" Aedh I. This king, Aedh Ruadh 
 {Ayh Roou), or Aedh the Red, ruled al- 
 
 ternately, with his two successors, for 
 periods of seven years each. They thua 
 kept the sovereignty in their pos- 
 session for G3 years. Keating, by a 
 strange license, sets them do^ni as hav- 
 ing reigned, each 21 consecutive years. 
 The Four Masters make Aedh resign 
 the kingdom at the end of seven years, 
 " for," say they, " there were injunctions 
 upon him to resign it to Dithorba at the 
 end of that time ; and on Dithorba, also, 
 to resign it to Kimbaeth ; and so in 
 succession to the end of their lives. The 
 reason they made this agreement, was 
 becaase th(>y were the sons of three 
 brothers." 
 
 *' Esruidh, otherwise Es or Eas- 
 Aedha Ruadh {Assai/rooo), i. e. the 
 Waterfall of Red Aedh, is now called 
 Assaroe, or the Salmon-leap, a cataract 
 cm the river Erne, at Ballyshaniion. 
 As each of Aedh's colleagues had ])09- 
 sesse<l the sovereignty twice, for their 
 periods of seven years, and as he was 
 liimself in possession of it for the third 
 tim(i when he died, it must appear clear 
 that K(!ating has antedated his death 
 by twenty-eight years. 
 
 *" A M. 4477. — Fnur Mnslera. The 
 commencement of Dithorba's first sep- 
 tennial period. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 245 
 
 twentj-one year.^, until he fell in Corann, by the three Cuans,*^ 
 namely, Cuan Mara, Cuau Moighi, and Cuan Slebi. 
 
 KIMBAETH, ARD-RIGH 
 
 A. }^r. 3539.^ Kimbaeth, son of Finntan, son of Argedmar, 
 son of Siorlamh, of the race of Ir, son of Miledh, held the sover- 
 eignty of Ireland for twenty-one years (or for twenty-eight years/^ 
 aecording to some others), and then he died of the plague at Ard- 
 Macha. 
 
 , MACHA MONG-RUADH, ARD-EIGHAN.^^ 
 
 A. M. 3559.^ Macha Mong-Ruadh (of the red tresses), daughter 
 of Aedh Euadh, son of Badarn, son of Argedmar, son of Siorlamh, 
 of the line of Ir, son of Miledh, then assumed the sovereignty of 
 [rcland, which she held for seven years, until she was slain by 
 Rectaidh Eigh-Derg. 
 
 It was in her time that Emhain Macha Avas built. The follow- 
 ing is the reason why it wa^ called Eman Macha, to wit : there 
 were then three kings reigning over the Ulta (Ulidians), namely, 
 Aedh Ruadh, son of Badarn, from whom Esruadh has been 
 called; Dithorba, son of Deman, dwelling at Uisnech, in Meath; 
 and Kimbaeth, son of Finntan, at Finnabair ;^ and it was at the 
 house of this latter prince that lugani jNIor, son of Eocaidh 
 Buadach, was reared. These princes reigned in alternate succes- 
 sion, each for the period of seven 3^ears, until they had all three 
 enjoyed the royal power thres tunes. And the first of them that 
 died was iiedh Ruadh, who left no posterity after him but Macha, 
 who was his only daughter. Upon her father's death, Macha 
 claimed her right to the alternate succession, as his representative, 
 but Dithorba and his sous replied, that the sovereign power 
 
 " Three Cua^^s. — These were his three was the only female that ever ruled the 
 
 nephews, according to O'Flaherty It Gaelic nation. The subjects of Queen 
 
 was after his banishment into Con- Medb, of Connaught, were chiefly Fer- 
 
 naught, by Macha, that he fell by their Bo!gs. 
 
 hands. Cuan Mara, means Cuan of the '^ A. M. 4540. — Four Masters. 
 
 Sea; Cuan Slebi, or Sleibhi [Slwvie), ^ Fninabair. There are four places 
 
 Cuan of the Mountain ; and Cuan of this name within the confines of 
 
 Moighi _( Uoi/e), Cuan of the Plain, ancient Meath. Tliey are all now ca'led 
 
 Corann is in the county of Sligo. Feunor, a name derived from the Irish 
 
 "A. M. 4484.— Four Masters. Tlie '■ Fionuabhair" {Finnoo'ir). 1st. There 
 
 commencement of Kimbaeth 's first sep- is Fenuor on the Boyne, near Slane, in 
 
 teunial period. Meath. 2d. Fennor, in the parish of 
 
 ^^ Twenty-eight years. That is count- Ardcath, also in Meath. 3d. Fennor, 
 
 ing the seven years he reigned con- in Tebtha or Teffia. in West meath. 
 
 jointly with Macha. 4th. Fennor or Fiounabhairnan-iughea 
 
 ^ Ard-rig'uin, i. e. Arch-queen, pro- {F/nnooii--aan-inncen), i. e. of the dam- 
 
 nouaced Aurd-reeyun. This virago sds, in the parish of Uonorc, in Meath. 
 
246 
 
 tuí: uistory of Ireland. 
 
 should never be delivered up bj them into the hands of any 
 Avoinan. Upon this, there Avas a battle fought between them and 
 Macha, in which Macha bore away the victor}- from tliem, and 
 assumed the sovereignty^ of Ireland for seven years. Then Di- 
 thorba died, leaving after him five sons, whose names were 
 Baeth, Bedach, Bras, Uallach, and Borbcas; and these demanded 
 the kingdom of Ireland for themselves, according to the usage 
 of their forefathers, but, upon this, Macha replied, that she would 
 not yield the sovereignty to them, but that she would give a 
 battle in its stead. A battle then was fouglit between them, in 
 which Macha was again victorious. The sons of Dithorba now 
 fled for safety into dark and lonely forests; and Macha took Kim- 
 baeth as lier husband," and as commander over her warriors. She 
 then disguised herself as a leper, by rubbing the dough of rye 
 over her face, and went, in person, in pursuit of the sons of Di- 
 thorba. These she found in a wild forest in Borenn," cooking a 
 
 " As her husband. The Four Masters 
 say that Kimbaeth reigned seven years, 
 OvS the husband of Macha. O'Flaherty 
 tells us that he was the first king that 
 dwelt in Emliain ilacha, which he built 
 most superbly, and which afterwards 
 became the residence of the Ulidiau 
 kings. 
 
 The building of Emhain forms an 
 era or fi.xed point in Irish history. 
 Thenceforth the dates of the events re- 
 corded, the reigns of the kings and their 
 consecutive order, become less uncer- 
 tain. Tighernach, who died in the year 
 1088, and who is the most accurate of 
 the Irish annalists, says that all the 
 monuments of the Scoti, to the time of 
 Kimbaedh, are uncertain. " Onniia 
 monumenta Scotorum usque Cimbaeth 
 incerta erant." With this O'Flaherty 
 agrees, and he has shown in the second 
 part of his Ogygia, that the period.? of 
 the Ulster kings, from Cimbaeth (Kim- 
 baeth) to the destruction of Emania. are 
 supported by accurate records ; but he 
 confesses that the piiriods i)rec(iding 
 Cimbaeth is not so supported. — 0' Don- 
 ovans Notes to the Four Masters. 
 
 Too much stress has been laid upon the 
 above-cited admission of Tigharnach, 
 and many would rejeci the events re- 
 corded previous to the building of Em- 
 ania, on the strength thereof Uncertain 
 they certainly are, as the historic events 
 of every nation liad been previous to 
 
 the adoption of a fixed system of Cro- 
 nology ; that is they are uncertain, in 
 date, and uncertain in consecutive ar- 
 rjingement. There is also much uucer- 
 tainiy as to how far Mythologic legend 
 and Druidic allegory have been blended 
 with plain matter of fact. But these 
 great features of our early history, that 
 have left indelible impressions upon the 
 national memory, and even upon the 
 physical appearance of the country, are 
 not to be rejected because Tighernach 
 has qualified them as uncertain. The 
 same phrase might be applied to the 
 history of Rome, Athens, or any other 
 antique nation. The existence of Romu- 
 lus and Remus, and even the time they 
 lived, are both very uncertain. It is, 
 also, uncertain how far truth is blended 
 with fable in tlie legends of Rhea Sylvia 
 and of Lupa. but no person, except one 
 who is of a frame of mind to doubt of 
 his own existence, will deny that these 
 represent real historic facts and persons; 
 or that, however obscure their legends 
 be in themselves, they represent those 
 facts more truly and cleai-ly than can 
 now be done by substituting, in their 
 stead,any other hypothesis,fouiided upon 
 cvery-day experience. So it is of the 
 events before Kimbaeth. and of many 
 of those after his time. — Ed. 
 
 ■* Borenn. This forest lay. very prob- 
 able, in a district called Boreun, in 
 Ulidia. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 247 
 
 wild boar. The sons of Dithorba then asked her tbe news, and 
 gave lier a portion of the meat. Slie upon this told them all that 
 she had to communicate. After this, one of the brothers, charm- 
 ed by the brightness of her eyes, followed her into a distant part 
 of the forest, and there she left him bound in fetters. She then 
 returned to the others, who, thereupon, demanded of her what 
 had become of their brother. Macha replied, that he was unwill- 
 ing to meet them, being ashamed of having been smitten by the 
 bright glances of a leper. "He needed it not," said they, "for 
 we have been all captivated by the beauteous lustre of your eyes." 
 They then vie, one with the other, in paying court to the seem- 
 ing leper, and she seems to listen to each of them, and thus she 
 succeeded in alluring them into solitudes, where she bound them 
 in fetters, as she had their brother. In this manner she was able 
 to place them all in bonds, and to bring them tied together" to 
 Emhain Macha, into the presence of the men of Uladh. She then 
 asked the chieftains of Uladh what retribution she should exact 
 from her captives. They with one accord declared that she 
 should have them put to death. "Not so," said she, "for that 
 would be against the law," but let them be made slaves of, and 
 condemned to build a fortress for me, which shall be forever 
 henceforth the capital city of this province." Thereupon Macha 
 took out the golden broach Avhich fastened her mantle round her 
 neck, and with it she measured the site of the rath^' or fortress, 
 which the sons of Dithorba were to be compelled to build. Em- 
 hain,^" then the rath was called (as if Eomhuin), for " eo" {ijo) is 
 a name for a broach or pin, and "muin" {mivin) is the same as 
 " braighe," {braivee) i. e. the neck ; or it may be so called from 
 Emhain Macha, the wife of Cronn, son of Adnaman, who was 
 forced, while in a state of pregnancy, to run against the horses 
 
 " Tied together. 'Flaherty rejects above, though sanctioued by Cormac's 
 
 this extravagant legend altogether. His Glossary, is nothing more than one of 
 
 words are : " We reject as falnilous the those bardic puns already noticed. All 
 
 captivity of the sons of Dithorba, and that can be deduced from it is, that the 
 
 that the building of Emania became meaning of the word "Emhain" had 
 
 the ransom of their liberty. Kimbaeth become obsolete, before such a guess 
 
 was the first founder of Emania, and had been made. In Mageoghegan's 
 
 was the first who resided there." — translation of the Annals of Clonmac- 
 
 Ogygia. noise, the following notice of Emhain 
 
 ^ Against the law. The Brehon law occurs : " In the same (rafh) she 
 
 did not sanction the putting of crimi- (Macha and the kings of Ulster, her 
 
 nals to death. successors) kept their palace and place 
 
 ^ The rath. The name of this rath of residence for the space of 855 years, 
 
 is now corrupted from the Irish " An It was built 450 before the birth of 
 
 Eamhaiu" {an avwin), to Navan Fort. Christ, and was razed for spite of the 
 
 It is a very large rath, situated about Clanua Rudraide by the Three Collas, 
 
 two miles to the west of Arinagh. sons of Eocaidh Dublén, who was son 
 
 "'Emhain. The derivation given of Carbri Lificar." 
 
248 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 of Concobar, king of Ulster, which she outran, and then at the 
 goal gave birth to a son and a daughter. She gave her curse to 
 the people of Ulster, whence it came to pass that they were con- 
 tinually afflicted with the pains of labor, during nine successive 
 reigns, namely, from the time of Concobar to the reign of Mai, 
 son of Eochraide. 
 
 RECTAIDH RIGH-DERG, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3566.^^ Eectaidh Kigh-Derg, son of Lugaidh Laighdi, 
 son of Eocaidh, son of Olild Finn, sou of Art, son of Lugaidh 
 Lamh-derg, of the line of Eber, held the sovereignty of Ireland for 
 twenty years. He was called Eectaidh Eigh-derg {Raghtai Rec- 
 yarg\ or Eectaidh of the Ecd Arm, because his upper arm was 
 "reel;" and it was lugani Mor that slew hmi in revenge for his 
 foster-mother,^^ Macha Mong-Euddh. 
 
 lUGANI MOR, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3586.''^ lugani Mor, son of Eocaidh Buadach, son, of 
 Duach Laghrach, of the line of Erimhon, ruled Ireland for forty 
 years (or for thirty, according to other authorities). Ue was 
 called lugani Mor, or lugani the Great, because his empire was 
 great, for he had reduced all the western isles of Europe under 
 his sway. He had twenty-live children, twenty-two sons and 
 three daughters. When these children had grown up, each of 
 them had his own distinct retinue of followers. And when they 
 were making the free-tour of Ireland, it was their wont, that wher- 
 ever one of them had quartered himself on any particular place, 
 another should quarter himself there on the next; and thus, 
 whithersoever they directed their march, they succeeded one 
 another incessantly, until all the provisions of that district were 
 consumed by themselves and their followers. When the men of 
 Eri perceived this, they went to make their complaint to King 
 
 " A. M. 4547. — Four Masters. The and lovo them as well as their own na- 
 
 line of Ir, i. e. tho race of Carbri, son tural father." 
 
 of OUainh FoJIa, liad, according to tliis According to O'FIaherty, Rcctaidh 
 
 authority, now ruled Ireland for 77 of the Red Ami invaded Allja, which 
 
 years, to the exclusion of the races country he subdued by the aid of Fere 
 
 of Eber and Erimhon, when Rec- and Iboth, his generals. But, he adds 
 
 taidh wrested the sovereignty from that tlic Fere, who f )Ught under king 
 
 Macha. Rectaidh, uuist not be mistaken for 
 
 " Foster-Mother. It was Kimbaeth Fergus, son of Ere, who did not live 
 and Macha that had fostered lugani for many centuries after. Whoever 
 Mor. " In those days," Mageoghegan that Fere, was, he obtained no perma- 
 tells us, " it was the custom to bring up nent dominion in Alba uor did he trans- 
 noblemen's children in princes' and mit any jiossessions therein to his pos- 
 great men's houses, and forever after tcrity. — See Uf;ij<!;ia. 
 they would call them their fosterers '^ A. M. 4507. — Four Masters. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 249 
 
 lugani; and it was mutually agreed with liim, that Ireland 
 should be divided into twenty parts, and that one distinct part 
 of these should be given to each of his children, and that none 
 should be permitted to enter upon the portion of the other, as 
 the bard records in the following rann : 
 
 " Of proud and august lugani 
 All ]5anba M-as the plenteous dwelling — 
 In five-and-twenty even shares 
 His sons apportioned Eri's lands." 
 
 Here follow the names of the children of lugani, and of the 
 portion of land that each of them possessed ; and first of the 
 sons: 
 
 1. Cobthach Cael-Breágh had his portion in Breagh or 
 Bregia. 2. Cobthach Murthemni, in Murthemni (or Louth). 
 3. Laegari Lore, in Lifi (by the river Liffe). 4. Fulni, in Febh 
 (Magh Fea, in Carlow). 5. Nar, in Magh Nair. 6. Raighui, in 
 Magh Raighni (in Ossory). 7. Narb, in Alagh Nairb. 8. Kinga, 
 in Argedros (on the Norel 9. Tair, in Magh Tarra. 10. Triath, 
 in Tretherni. 11. Sen, m Luachair (in Kerry). 12. Bard, in 
 Cluain-corca-Oiché (in Ui Fidgenti). 13. Fergus Gnaei, in the 
 land of the (Southern) Desies. 14. Orb, in Aidni (on the borders 
 of Clare and Galway). 15. Maen, in Maen-Magh (in Galway). 
 16. Sanb, in i\{agh Aei (in Roscommon). 17. Mai,** in Cliu Mail 
 (in Coshlea, county of Limerick). 18. Eocaidh, in Seol-magh 
 (now the barony of Clare, in Galway). 19. Latharn, in Latharna 
 (in Antrim). 20. Marc, in Midhe (or Meath). 21. Lacgh, in 
 Line (in Antrim). 22. Corand,®^ in Corann (in Sligo). Here fol- 
 low the three daughters and their shares : 1. Ailbi, in Magh- 
 Ailbi (inKildare). 2. Faifi,^ in Magh-Feraen (Iffa and Oifa, in 
 Tipperary), and 3. Muresg, in Magh-Murisgi. 
 
 And it was according to this division, that rents and duties 
 were paid to every king that reigned in Ireland, for the space of 
 three hundred years, namely, from the time of lugani to that of 
 the provincialists or Pentarchs that flourished when Eocaidh Feid- 
 lech was king of Ireland ; as the bard has sung in the following 
 rann: 
 
 " Three hundred well-marked years had passed, 
 When five provincial chiefs arose, 
 Who, scorning his too partial rules, 
 Between them share lugani's land." 
 
 By Eocaidh Feidlech, the Fifths or provinces of Ireland were 
 divided amongst the following persons : 1, the province of Leinster 
 
 " Mai, otherwise, Muredach Mai. "^ Fa^fi, otherwise called Aeifi. 
 
 * Comnd, called Carbri in the notes Magh-Femhen is also called Magh- 
 to the Four Masters. Aeifi f^Moij Eefic.) 
 
250 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 lie gave to Rosa, son of Fergus Fargi; the two provinces of Mnn- 
 ster, he gave to -Tighernach Tedbennach and to Degaidh ; the 
 province of Connaght he gave to three persons, namely, to Fidach 
 son of Fiach, to Eocaidh Alat and to Tinni son of Curaidh. 
 Nevertheless, the division made amongst the children of lugani 
 held good until all his sons had died out, without posteritj^, with 
 the exception of two, namely, Cobthach Cael-Breagh and 
 Laegari Lore, from whom tsvo are descended all that now exist 
 of the race of Erin:ihón. 
 
 lugani Mor was slain by his own brother, namely, by Bad- 
 bchadh {Boivgha), son of Eocaidh Buadach, in Tellach-an-Cos- 
 gair.^ I3ut the fratricide enjoyed the kingdom of Ireland but 
 one day and a half, when Laegari Lore slew him in vengeance for 
 his father. 
 
 LAEGARI LORC, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3586.^ Laegari^^ Lore, son of lugani Afor, son of Eocaidh 
 Buadach, son of Duach Laghrach, of the line of Erimhon, reigned 
 over Ireland for two years. Kesair, daughter to the king of 
 France, the wife of lugani Mor, was the mother of this king and 
 of Cobthach Cael-Breagh. lie was called Laegari Lore, because 
 
 *^ Tellach-av-Cosgair. O'FlnLerty 
 calls the place where Tugani was slain 
 Kill - Droicheat on the banks of the 
 Boyne. The Four Masters record his 
 death at A. M. 4G06, " after he had 
 been fully forty years king of Ireland, 
 and of the whole of the west of Europe, 
 as far as the Miiir Toirrian (the Tyrr- 
 hian, according to others, the Mediter- 
 ranian sea). It was this lugani that 
 exacted oaths, by all the elements, 
 visible and invisible, from the men of 
 Ireland in general, that they would 
 never contend for the sovereignty of 
 Ireland with his children or his race.'' 
 " Though the building of the royal pal- 
 ace of Emania," says Moore, in his His- 
 tory of Ireland, " was assumed as a 
 technical epoch by chronologers, the 
 accession of Hugony the Great (lugani 
 ^lor) as he was called, proved, in a po- 
 litical point of view, an era still more 
 remarkable ; as, by his influence witli 
 the assembled States at Tara, he suc- 
 ceeded in anulling tlie Penlarchy ; and 
 moreover, prevailed on the four (five) 
 provincial kings to surrender tlicir 
 right of succession to his family, exact- 
 
 ing of them a solemn oath, by all things 
 visible and invisible, not to accept of a 
 supreme monarch from any other line. 
 For the Pentarchal government, this 
 monarch substituted a division of the 
 kingdom into twenty-five districts, or 
 dynasties ; thus ridding himself of the 
 rivalry of provincial royalty, and at 
 the same time widening the basis of 
 the monarchial or rather the aristo- 
 cratical power. The al)juration of their 
 right of succession, which had been ex- 
 torted from the minor lungs, was, as 
 might be expected, revoked on the first 
 opportunity that offered ; but the sys- 
 tem of government established in place 
 of tlie Fentarciiy was continued down 
 nearly to the commencement of our 
 era ; when, under the monarch Achy 
 Feidloch (Eocaidh Fe<llech), it was re- 
 scinded and the ancient form restored." 
 liy sonic. lugani is supposed not to have 
 altered the old division of the country, 
 but to have subdivided each "fifth" 
 into five minor districts. 
 
 •^ A. M. 4G08.— Four Masters. 
 
 •" LvVKfiARi II., otherwise, Laeghaire 
 (Layerie). 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 251 
 
 the word "lore" means the same thing as "Finnghail" {jinneeT) 
 i. e. parricide on account of his having committed a parricide, in 
 murdering Badbcadh, son of Eocaidh Buadach. It was thence 
 that the surname Lore got attached to his name. It was by his 
 own bi-other Cobthach Cael-m-Brcagh that Laegari Lore was 
 slain at Dinn-righ on the banks of the Berba (now the Barrow). 
 Cobthach was pining away, through envy of Laegari's being in 
 possession of the sovereignty of Ireland ; and when Laegari had 
 heard that he was unwell, he came to visit him attended by an 
 armed guard. AVhen Cobthach saw him, he said that it was a 
 sad thing, that his brother should always be so suspicious of him, 
 as not to come into his presence unless attended by armed 
 men. " Nevertheless," said Laegari, " my next visit shall be made 
 unattended by any such escort. He, thereupon, bid fcirewell to 
 Cobthach. As to Cobthach, he advised with a Druid, who dwelt 
 with him, as to how he should contrive to murder his brother. 
 "What you have to do," said the Druid, "is to feign yourself 
 dead, and to get into a litter, as if really so. Then let Laegari be 
 informed thereof, and he will come to see you with few attend- 
 ants, and upon connng into the place where you lie, he will lean 
 over your body in lamenting you. Then stab him in the abdo- 
 men with your dirk, and, thus, he shall be slain by you. When 
 Cobthach had accomplished the murder of Laegari, after this 
 manner, he slew also Olild Ani, his brother's son, and then after 
 perpetrating these deeds, he recovered his health. He also com- 
 manded a young child, the son of Olild Ani, to be brought into 
 his pi-esence, and there he forced him to eat a portion of the heart 
 of his father and another of that of his grandsire. He also com- 
 pelled him to swallow a mouse. In consequence of the disgust 
 that seized the child at such usage, he lost his speech altogether; 
 whereupon Cobthach permitted him to be carried away.™ 
 
 This child, who was called Maen, then went to Corca Dubni,^ 
 where he dwelt awhile with Scorriath, the king of that country. 
 Thence he passed to France,''^ with nine followers, though some 
 antiquaries say, that Armenia was the country to which he went. 
 His followers having told that he was heir to the kingdom of 
 Ireland, it came to pass, through that, that the French king made 
 
 '" The Irish annals arc silent about represented, would have spared the 
 
 the horrible details of the manner in child s life, if ever he had him in his 
 
 which Cobthach murdered his brother power. 
 
 Laegari Lore and his nephew Olild, as " Corca Dabni, now Corcaguiny, in 
 
 well as about his disgusting cruelty Kerry. 
 
 towards Maon. The story recorded by " France is, as usual, used in this 
 
 Keating must, then, be regarded as the place most incorrectly for Gallia or 
 
 invention of some bard hostile to the Gaul. There was yet no country called 
 
 Ui Neil! race. It is not likely, that so France. 
 cruel a monster, as Cobthach is here 
 
252 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 him a captain over his household guards ; and he became very 
 successful in this position; insomuch that his fame and glory 
 were loudly spoken of in Ireland, and for that reason, many of 
 the men of Ireland followed him to France, and remained there 
 %vith him for a long time. 
 
 COBTHACH GAEL BREAGH ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3618.^3 Cobthach Gael Breagh, son of lugani Mor, son 
 of Eocaidh Buadach, of the line of Erimhon governed the king- 
 dom of Ireland for thirty j-ears (or for fifty according to some 
 people). He was called Cobthach Cael-Breagh from a severe dis- 
 temper that preyed upon him through envy of his brother Lae- 
 gari, who possessed the kingdom before him. A consumption 
 had come upon him, so that all his flesh and blood wasted away, 
 and that he became so lean, that people called him Cobthacli, the 
 slender, or thin, i. e. "cael." Then Magh-Brcagh {Moy Bra ) 
 was the mme of the place where he lay sick. It was thence that 
 he got that name which signifies Cobthach "the lean man of 
 Breagh." This Cobthach was killed by Labraidh Loringsech 
 {Lavrai Leengshagh\ son of Olild Ani, on a Christmas eve at 
 Dinn-ltigh. He slew him in vengeance for his father and his 
 gi-andfathcr. On this deed, a bard has left the following verse : 
 
 " With full ranks came the sailor Labraidh 
 And slew gaunt Cobthach at Dion-righ.'* 
 'Twas from his sea-borne Laignian host 
 That fair Lagcnia had her name." 
 
 LABRAIDH LOINGSECH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3648.^^ Labraidh Loingsech, son of Olild Ani, son of 
 Laegnri Lore, son of lugani Mor of the line of Erimhon, reigned 
 over Ireland for eighteen ycars,'^ at the end of which he was 
 slain by Melgi Molbthach {Melgui Molfagh), son of Cobthach 
 Cael Breagh. 
 
 The manner in which he was allured to return to Ireland was 
 this: Morriath, daughter of Scorriath, king of the territory of 
 Fer More, in West-Munster, had conceived a violent passion for 
 him, which was inflamed by the greatness of his glory, and by 
 the fame of his deeds. This lady equipped the har^^er Craftini, 
 
 '^ A. M. á609.— Four Masters. Cob- " DiNN-Rion. lie was slain at this 
 
 thach Cael Breagh reigned fifty j-carR, place in A. M. -ICrjS, with thirty kings 
 
 according to the authority just cited, about him. — See Four ^[asters. 
 
 The name is jjronounccd cither Cow- " A. M. -1077. — Id. 
 
 hajxh or Coffagh. It means victori- ""^ Eifrhtceii years. The Four Masters 
 
 0U3. " say nineteen. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 253 
 
 an eminent musician, that flourished in Ireland at that time, and 
 sent him to France after her lover, furnishing him with many 
 valuable jewels fur Maen (i. e. Labraidh) and with an impassioned 
 lay, wherein she made known to that prince the strength of the 
 love which she bore him. 
 
 AVhen the musician had arrived in France, and had come into 
 the presence of Maen, he played an enchanting, fairy strain upon 
 his harp, and to it he sang the love-lay, which Morriath had com- 
 posed for her hero. Thereupon, Maen became so delighted at 
 seeing the musician Craftini, Uiat he exclaimed, that both the lay 
 and the melody wc^re sweet to his ears. When his companions 
 and Craftini had heard this, they prayed the king of France to 
 give him an auxiliary force, in order that he might recover his 
 own land. And that king gave him a sufficient host, to wit, two 
 thousand two hundred warriors, and ships to transport them to 
 Ireland. With these they set out upon the sea, and nothing fur- 
 ther is told of them, until they get into harbor at Loch-Garman," 
 (i. e. Wexford.) Upon landing here, they were told that Cob- 
 thach was then at Dinn-righ, attended by a large number of the 
 Irish nobles. Having heard this, Maen marched day and night 
 upon Dinn-righ, which he took by storm, and put Cobthach and 
 the nobles, who were in his company, to the sword.'^ 
 
 A Druid, who was then in that fortress, demanded who had 
 done that deed of slaughter. " The Mariner," (i. e. an loingsech,) 
 replied a man without. "Does that mariner speak?" asked the 
 Druid. He does, (i. e. labhraidh, he speaks^) replied the other; 
 and from this circumstance the phrase "labhraidh loingsech," ^^ 
 {lavrai, or lowrai leengshagh,) which means "the mariner speaks," 
 has ever since been attached as a cognomen to Maen. It was by 
 
 " Moore, guessing at tlie meaning of and that, after this. King Cobthach 
 
 the name Loch Garman, (Wexford,) was invited to a feast by his (grand) 
 
 ■which is properly Loch g-Carman, i. e. nephew, Laegari, and there was treach- 
 
 the Lake of Carma, has translated it the erously burnt, with thirty Irish princes, 
 
 kaibor of the Germans, thus leading after a reign of sevenimi years, 
 one to suppose that these auxiliaries of " Labhraidh. We have already met 
 
 Labraidh were Germans ; but, as from this word used as a proper name 
 
 his ignorance of Irish he could form no amongst the Gaels ; and there is, then, 
 
 judgment of his own upon the mean- no reason to suppose for it, in this in- 
 
 ings of Irish words, this surmise of his stance, the absurd derivation above 
 
 must be held to be utterly valueless. given. It is exactly of the same form- 
 
 '" The manner of Cobthach's death is. ation with the names " eochaidh " de- 
 
 differently told in the Annals of Clon-' rived from"ech,"a hose; F\a.chaidh 
 
 macnoise, translated by Maheoghegan. from " Fiach," a raven, Ln^haidh, and 
 
 They relate that Cobthach, in the end, several others. If the terra be Irish, 
 
 caade friendship with Labraidh, whom and come from the root " labhair," i. e. 
 
 he had long kept in banishment, and speak thou, it must mean, in its primary 
 
 that he granted the province of Leins- sense, the speaker, or the eloquent man. 
 tcr to him and to his heirs forever ; 
 
254 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 this Maen that those broad blue hmces, called "laighni,"^ 
 {loynie,) were first made in Ireland — " laighni," indeed, means 
 the same thing as "slegha," (shláhá,) i. e. spears or lances, fur- 
 nished with broad blue heads made of iron. And it is fi-om 
 these broad-headed lances, that the people of the principality of 
 Galian or Galeon, which is now called Laighen, {Loyen^) or 
 Leinster, have received the name of Laighnigh, {Loynih,) or La- 
 genians. 
 
 When Labraidh Loingsech had slain Cobthach Gael Breáf^h, 
 and had established himself in the full possession of Ireland, he 
 went in company with the harper, Craftini, to visit Morriath, his 
 lady-love, who had sent this same Craftini after him to France ; 
 and he married her, and she continued his queen during his 
 Avhole lifetime. 
 
 The reason why Maen, who is called Labraidh Loingsech, 
 went to France, was on account of his relationship to the French 
 king ; for, as we have already said, the daugliter of a king of 
 France had been the wife of íugani Mor and the mother of his 
 sons, Laegari Lore and Cobthach Cael Breagh ; and Labraidh 
 Loingsech was the grandson of Laegari Lore ; and it was through 
 this relationshijD that he came to place himself under the protec- 
 tion of the French monarch. Another reason why he betook 
 himself to France, rather than to any other countiy, was because 
 there existed a special league of amity and friendship between 
 the Lagenians and the French. Each of the provinces of Ire- 
 land had formed a similar league Avith some foreign country. 
 Thus the Ui Ncill Avcre allied to the people of Alba, (i. e. the 
 Scotch ;) the Munstermen to the Saxons ; the Ulstermen to the 
 Spaniards ; the Connaughtmen to the Britons, (i. e. the Welsh ;) 
 and the Lcinstcrmen to the French. It is so that Sean (John 
 Mac Torna Mael-Oonari, Chief Professor and Arch-Ollamh of 
 the History of Ireland tells us, in the following verses: 
 
 " Friends like itself each tribe lias found, 
 Though all our clans one kindred claim ; 
 Thus Niall's race loves Alba's heights, 
 And Munstcr holds the Saxon dear. 
 
 " And Spain is loved by Uladh's tribes, 
 Now scattered wide through Eri's lauds; 
 In Britons (Jonnacht finds allies : 
 To France Lageuia turna for friends." 
 
 From these friendly relations between each of the provinces 
 
 '^Laighni. Laighe, (Loye,) which a diminutive of Slegh, (Shláh,) is the 
 
 seems to be the root of Laighen, is still name of a sharp-edged, spade-like, and 
 
 used in parts of Ireland, as the name of rather formidable instrument, used by 
 
 the long narrow spade, used in that the Irish peasants in cutting peat or 
 
 country. Slcghan, {S/Uaan,) obviously turf. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 255 
 
 and the countries just mentioned, there sprung up a certain re- 
 semblance of manners severally between them, which had arisen 
 from their alliances and mutual affection. 
 
 The reader must now be made aware, that all the true Lageni- 
 ans, of the race of Erimhon, are the descendants of this La- 
 brceidh Loingsech, with the single exception of the clan of 
 O'Nuallain, (or O'Nolan,) which is descended from Cobthach 
 Gael Breagh. The following are the principal family names 
 amongst the Lagenians, to wit, O'Connor Falghi, with the 
 branches that have sprung therefrom ; O'Cavanagh; O'Toohill (or 
 Toole ;) O'Brinn (or Byrne ;) Mao Gilla-Patrick or Fitzpatrick ; 
 O'Dunn ; O'Diraasaigh (or Dempsy ;) O'Dwyer ; O'Kyan ; and all 
 the Septs that trace their origin to any of these names. The 
 chief part of the Leinster clans are descended from Cathaeir 
 Mor, {Caheer Morr.) However, the clan of Mac Gilla-Patrick 
 does not draw its origin from that king ; for the race of Mac 
 Gilla-Patrick branched oif from the Lagenian stock at Bresal 
 Brec, son of Fiacaidh Fobric, the fourteenth ancestor from 
 Cathaeir upwards. This Bresal had two sons, namely, Lugaidh 
 Lothfinn and Conla, The principality of Leinster was divided 
 between these two, and what lies from the Barrow eastwards 
 fell to Lugaidh and to his posterit}^, and the part that lies west- 
 ward, from the Barrow to Slighe Dala {Shlee Daiola) fell to 
 Conla. Of these sons, and of this division made between, these 
 chiefs we find the following testimony in the duan which begins 
 thus, " The blessed Story of the Saints of Fal :" 
 
 " Lugaidh and Conla, generous hearts, 
 Were the sons of mighty Bresal Brec ; 
 From Conla of wounds the Osraide came, 
 And of Laigheu, Lugaidh was the sire." 
 
 From Lugaidh descended the O'Dwyers also, w^ho had branched 
 off from the stock of Cathaeir Mor, in the fifth generation be- 
 fore him. Cathaeir Mor was the son of Feidlhnidh Firurglas, 
 son of Cormac Gelta-gaeth, son of Niacorb, son of Cucorb. Car- 
 bi Cluthecar, from whom the O'Dwyers are sprung, was the son 
 of Cucorb, the last named of these. Again, it was from Nathi, 
 son of Crimthann, son of Enna Kennselach, the seventh genera- 
 tion from Cathaeir downwards, that the O'Eyans sprang. 
 
 Cobthach Cael Breagh was the other son of lugani Mor, who 
 left a progeny after him. From him are descended all the race 
 of Coun, both those tribes that draw their origin from Fiacaidh 
 Srabthini and Eocaidh Doimlen, and every other kindred branch 
 of the posterity of Conn, as we shall hereafter set down in giv- 
 ing the genealogy of the sons of Miledh. 
 
256 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 *' It is related of Labraidh Loinsech, that his ears were shaped 
 like those of a horse ; on which account every person that cut 
 his hair was instantly put to death, in order that neither lie nor 
 anybody else alive sliould be cognizant of that blemish. It was 
 the habit of this king to get his hair cut once every year; that is, 
 he was wont to get all the hair that had grown below his cars 
 clipped oif. Lots w^ere cast, in order to determine the person 
 who should perform this service, because the person upon whom 
 that fell was put to death. The lot once fell upon the only son 
 of an aged widow that dwelt near the king's residence. She, upon 
 hearing thereof, instantly betook herself to the king's presence, 
 and besought him not to put her only son to death, as he was 
 the only child she had. The king then promised to spare her 
 son provided he would keep secret Avhatever he might see, and 
 Avoiild never disclose it to any one until the hour of his death. 
 After this, when the youth had cut the king's hair, the burden of 
 that secret so operated upon his mind and body, that he had to lie 
 down on the bed of sickness, and no medicine could have any 
 salutary effect on him. When he had been thus wasting away for 
 a long time, a certain learned Druid came to see him, and told his 
 mother that the burden of a secret, was the cause of her son's dis- 
 ease, and that he could never recover until he had told it to some- 
 thing. He then told the patient, that, though he was bound not 
 to discover the secret to any human being, he might nevertheless 
 go to the meeting of four roads, and, when there, turn to his 
 right and address the first tree he met, and tell his story to it. The 
 first tree he did meet with was a large willow, and to it he declared 
 his secret. Upon this, the disease, brought on by brooding over 
 his burdensome secret, was immediately dissipated, and he was 
 perfectly well on his return to his mother's hoasc. But it hap- 
 pened soon after, that Craftini broke his harp and had to go to 
 look for materials for another. He chanced to hit upon the very 
 tree to which the widow's son had told his secret, and from it he 
 made him a harp. But when this harp was finished and put in 
 order, and when Craftini commenced to play thereupon, it gave 
 forth sounds which caused all that heard to think that it uttered 
 the words "da o fill for Labraidli Lorc,"^ which mean, Labraidh 
 the Manner lias the ears of a Jiorse ; and, however often the harp 
 was played upon, it gave forth the same sounds. Now, when the 
 
 "This story resembles that tf)l(l c>f line of obsolete Gaelic does not admit 
 
 Midas, an ancient kinj,' of Phrygia, of the meaning given to it in the fablo 
 
 •wliicli fable some explain by supposing above related. It means, " Labraidh, 
 
 that he kept a immbcr of informers lo the /nun/ercr, has two ars ;" that is, if 
 
 report to him any seditious words the antiquated word "o" mean an car, in 
 
 Bpoken against him by his subjects. this instance. 
 
 "^Dao fill for Labrauih Lore. This 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 257 
 
 king heard of thi?, he repented him of the numbers he had put 
 to death, in order to conceal his deformity, and he forthwith ex- 
 posed his ears to his household, and never afterwards concealed 
 them. However, I consider this tale about him in the light of a 
 romantic fable, rather than as true history. 
 
 MELGI MOLBTHACII, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3666.^ Melgi Molbthach,^ son of Cobthach Gael 
 Breagh, of the line of Erimhon, assumed the sovereignty of Ire- 
 land, and held it for seventeen j^ears, at the end of which he was 
 slain by Mogh-Corb, son of Cobthach Caemh. 
 
 MOGH-COEB, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3673.85 Mogh-Corb,85 son of Cobthach Caemh, son of 
 Kectaidh Righ-derg, son of Lugaidh Laighdi of the line of Eber, 
 ruled Ireland for seven years. He was called Mogh-Corb for the 
 following reason : As his son was one day driving in his chariot, 
 it chanced to break down, and Mogh-Corb set it in order again. 
 From having done this service for his son, whose name was Corb, 
 he received the name of Mogh-Corb. He fell by Aengus Ollamh. 
 
 AENGUS OLLAMH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3680.^^ Aengus^ Ollamh, son of Olild Bracan, son of 
 Labraidh Loingsech, of the line of Erimhon, reigned over Ire- 
 land for eighteen years, and then fell by the hands of larann 
 Gled-fathach. 
 
 lARANN GLEO-FATHAGH ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3698.''« larann Gleó-fathach,9o son of Melgi-Molbthach, 
 eon of Cobthach Cael Breagh, of the line of Erimhon, held the 
 
 *^ A. M. 4678. — Four Masters. latter meaning, i. e. Corb's servavt or 
 
 " 3Ie'gi Molbthach (Melgie Mol- "slave;" but then c/ía?ibí is one of the 
 
 fagh) i. e. Melgi the Praise-worthy or meanings of" Corb," so " Mogh-Corb" 
 
 Laudable. From this Melgi is called msij mean the chariot-man or charioteer, 
 
 Loch Melgi, now Lough Melvin, a as " Fer-Corb," his son's name, most 
 
 beautiful lake on the coafines of Fer- probably does also. " Modh" or " Mo." 
 
 managh, Leitrim, and Donegal. — O'D. which is pronounced in the same man- 
 
 •* A. M. ■4095. — Four Masters. ner, means respect, esteem, honor, mode, 
 
 " A. M. — Mogh-Cirb, otherwise &c. 
 
 Modh-Corb (Mow or Mo-Corb). Mogh " A. M. 4702.— Four Masters. 
 
 was not unusual as a proper name " Aexgus II. Styled Ollamh, i. e. 
 
 among the clans of Eber. The deriviv the Sage or Doctor, 
 
 tion above given for the name is silly ^ A. M. 4720. — Four Masters. 
 
 and absurd. "Mogh" or " Mo " is ^ Immn Gko-fathach, (Eeran Gleo- 
 
 said to mean n man, a workman, and a fuwh 'gh,) i. e. larann the purely wise, 
 
 slave. Keating seems to give it the or (if " gleo " mean battle, and not 
 
 17 
 
258 THE UISTOKY OF IRELAND. 
 
 sovereignty of Ireland for seven years. He was called larann 
 Gleo-failiach, because he was learned and wise. In the end he 
 fell by Fer-Corb. 
 
 FER-CORB, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3705.®^ Fer-Corb, son of Mogh-Corb, son of Cobthach 
 Caeml), of the line of Eber, ascended the throne of Ireland and 
 reigned for eleven years, at the end of which he fell by Connla. 
 
 CONNLA CRUAIDH-KELGACH, AED-EIGH. 
 
 A. M. 8716.^ Connla Cruaidh-kelgach,'^ son of larann Gleo- 
 fathach, of the line of Erimhon, reigned over Ireland for four 
 years, and then died at Temhair. 
 
 OLILD CAS-FIACLACH, ARD-RIGH, 
 
 A. M. 3720.^ Olild^s Cas-fiaclach, (i. e. of the Bent Teeth,) son 
 of Connla Cruaidh-kelgach, of the line of Erimhon, succeeded 
 to the sovereignty, and reigned over Ireland for twenty-five 
 years. He fell by Adamar Folt-caein. 
 
 ADAMAR, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. ;^^. 3745.^ Adamar Folt-caein,^^ son of Fer-Corb, son of 
 Mogh-Corb, of the line of Eber, held the sovereignty of Ireland 
 for five years, and then fell by Eocaidh Folt-lethan. 
 
 EOCAIDII FOLT-LETHAN, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3750.^ Eocaidh39 Folt-lethan, son of Olild Cas-fiaclach, 
 son of Connla Cruiiidh-kclgach, of the line of Erimhon, as- 
 
 pure or clear in this instance) the skilful i. e. Connla, the Comely. The Four 
 
 or knowing in the fight. Some write Masters give Connla a reign of twenty 
 
 the name larann-gleo Fatliach, which years. 
 
 Dr. 'Donovan translates Iron-fight, "' A. M. 4758. — Four Masters, 
 
 the cautious. This, however, he docs "^ Olii.d II. Cais-fhiaclach is pro 
 
 not sanction, saying that the Leahhar nounced Cash-eelclagh. 
 
 Gahh'ila and the best copies of Kcat- * A. M. 4783.— Fottr Masters. 
 
 ing have Irereo {eercryo) as this king's °' Folt-caein, or rather Folt-chacin, 
 
 name. The editor's MSS. have it as (foll-kccn,) i. e. of tlic fine or beautiful 
 
 given in the text, to which he sees no hair. 
 
 objection. Ilalliday calls him ]rerco " A. M. 4788. — Four Masters. 
 Fathach, i. e. Irereo the Wise. "" EorAion IX. Folt-lethan, (Folt- 
 " A. M. 4727. — Fo^ir Masters. lahun,) the epithet ajipliod to thisking, 
 " A. M. 47.38. mca,na the hrn id, or ruiherhmhij-haired. 
 " Cruaidh - kelgach, otherwise Some call him •' ailt-lctlian," i. c. the 
 (>uaidh - chclgach, {Crooi-kelgagh,) broad-jointed, which is a more appro- 
 means the hardy and treacherous. lie jjriatc compound. 
 was also called Connla Caemb, (^<t;,) 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 259 
 
 sumed the sovereignty of Ireland, and held it for eleven years, ">* 
 when he was slain by Fergus Fortamhail. 
 
 FERGUS FOETAMHAIL, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A.M. 3761.^ Fergus^ Fortamhail, son of Bresal Breogamhain, 
 son of Aengus Galini, son of Olild Bracaen, son of Labraidh 
 Loingsech, assumed the sovereignty of Ireland, and reigned for 
 twelve years. He was called Fergus Fortamhail, {fortooil or 
 Foiiavivil,) i. e. Fergus the Intrepid, because he was a heroic, 
 strong, and resolute man. He was slain by Aengus Tuirmech, 
 of Temhair, (or Tara.) 
 
 AENGUS TUIRMECH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3773.^ Aengus Tuirmech,^ son of Eocaidh Folt-lethan, 
 son of Olild Cas-iiaclach, held the sovereignty of Ireland for 
 thirty years, (or for sixty according to others.) He was called 
 Aengus Tuirmech, i. e. Aengus the Shameful, on account of the 
 shame he felt at having had a son born to him by his own 
 daughter, whom he had violated while in a state of intoxication. 
 That son was Fiacaidh Fer-mara,° (i. e. Fiacaidh, the Man of the 
 
 '°° Eleven years. Seventeen years. — 
 Four Musters. 
 
 ' A. M. A805.— Id. 
 
 ■ Fergus I. — Fortamliail, this 
 prince's surname seems cognate with 
 the Latin "fortis," and Irish " foirtil." 
 He is elsewhere called Fortriun, 
 (Fortrioon,) i. e. the very powerful, a 
 word derived from " tren" or " triuu," 
 strong by prefixing the intensitive par- 
 ticle "for." The Four Masters give 
 him a reign of eleven years. 
 
 ' A. M. 481C.— Fottr Masters. 
 
 * Aengus III. " He was called 
 Aengus Tuirmheach," say the Annals 
 last cited, " because to him are traced 
 (i. e. tuii midthear) the nobility of the 
 race of Erimhon." Dr. O'Connor tells 
 us that the word " tuirmheach " means 
 prolific. O'Flaherty, also, quotes the 
 following ancient Irish lines in support 
 of this meaning : lodhon is cuige 
 turmidhtear Leth Cuiim, Fir Alban, 
 Dinlriada a^us Daikffiatach, i. e. 
 " For to him are traced the men of 
 Jjeth Cuinn, the men of Alba, the Dal- 
 Kiada, and the Dal-Fiatach." 'I he 
 meaning given by Keating to the word 
 " tuirmheach" is obviously one forced 
 
 upon it by some bardic punster, hostile 
 to the line of Erimhon, and who proba- 
 bly invented the scandalous and calum- 
 nious tale, here recited, for the purpose 
 of depreciating that line. All the der- 
 ivations given by our author (on the 
 the authority, it would seem, of Mun- 
 ster story-tellers) in support of the idle 
 fables, with too many of which he has 
 disfigured his narrative, fortunately 
 carry their own refutation with them. 
 They are most of them utterly hostile 
 to the genius of the Gaelic tongue. 
 The verb " tuirmigh," the passive form 
 of which is " turmightear," or " tuir- 
 midhtear," is formed regularly from the 
 adjective " tuirmheach," in the ?amo 
 manner as " bailigh," gather thou, is 
 formed upon " baileach," tidy or col- 
 lected, and innumerable other derivative 
 verbs, which are similarly formed 
 from adjectives in " ach," and which 
 may be formed therefrom ad lihitum, as 
 every Irish scholar understands. 
 
 * Fiacaidh Fer-Mara. The Annals 
 of Clonmacnoise make no allusion to 
 Fiachaidh Fcarraara's, [Fccagha Far- 
 marra,) being an incestuous oflspring, 
 but speak of Enos Twyrmeach (i. e. 
 
260- THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Sea,) because he had been exposed to the mercy of the sea in a 
 small boat, with many valuable jewels around him, as became 
 the son of a prince. lie was met by fishermen, who brought 
 him ashore and put him to nurse. Aengus Tuirmcch had liko 
 wise a legitimate son, name! E;ma Aighnech, and from him all 
 the posterity of Conn are descended. Aengus w'as slain at Tcm- 
 hair, and hence he is called Aengus Tuirmcch, of Tcmhair. 
 
 COXALL COLLAMRACIT, ARD-RIGII. 
 
 A. M. 3803." Conall'' Collamrach, son of Edirsgeol of Tcm- 
 hair, son of Eocaidh Folt-lcthan, son of Olild Cas-fiaclach, of the 
 line of Erimhon, held the monarchy of Ireland for five years, at 
 the end of which he was slain by Niadh Segamhain. 
 
 NIADII SEGAMHAIN, ARD-RIGII. 
 
 A. M. 3808.^ Niadh Segamhain,^ son of Adamar Folt-cacin, 
 son of Fer-Corb, son of Mogh-Corb, of the line of Eber, held the 
 sovereignty of Ireland for seven years. He acquired the name 
 of Segamhain (or Sedhamhain) from his having possessed greater 
 wealth than any one else; for " Seghamhain " {Shaavwin) is the 
 samo as " Sech-mhaeinech," {Skagh-vucenagh,) and means " sur- 
 passing in wealth :" for during his time the wild does were wont 
 to com3 and kindly yield their milk for him, like any common 
 
 Aengus Tairmech) and bis two sons as by itself, mean wealtliy, as it is regu- 
 
 foUows : larly formed Irom '' segli" or "seagli," 
 
 " Enos succeeded, and was a very {Shaah,) worth, esteem, &c. " Seagh- 
 
 good king. lie left two goodly and dha," (Shaagha,) i. e. estimable, beau- 
 
 noble sons, Enna Ayncagh (Aighnech) t if ul, stately, spleixUil, or rich, has much 
 
 and Fiagha Ferwara. I he most part the same meaning as that given above 
 
 of the kings of Ireland descended of his to "seghamhain ;"' and as "amhain," the 
 
 son Enna, and the kings of Scotland, latter part of the word, is a v(Ty com- 
 
 for the most part, descended of Fiagha, mon i^uHix in Gaelic, it is silly and far- 
 
 so as the groat houses of both king- fetched to suppose it comjjounded of 
 
 doms derive their pedigrees from them. " Sech" or " Seach,'' (the Latin Sscus,) 
 
 He was of the sept of Ileremon, and " macinech," weu/i//)/. The word 
 
 (Erimhon,) and reigned thirty-two " segh" means a (/oe, and also a u'/W ox, 
 
 years, (the Four Masters say sixty,) a coíí>, and even 7« i/Zc ,• hence, probably, 
 
 and then died quietly in his bed at to fable of the milking of does. Aa 
 
 Taragh." — 0' Donovan's Notes to the " dh " and '_' gh " are pronouncsd abso- 
 
 Four Masters. lately alike in modern Irish, and are in- 
 
 e A. M. 4876. — Four Masters. discrimiiiatcly substituted the one for 
 
 ^ CosAhh I. — Collamrach, or Col- the other, it is not easy to fell the (!x- 
 
 lamhrach, {Colloivra<;h, or Collavm^h). act radical to be used in this and simi- 
 
 This surname of Conall, is translated lar instances. The Four Masters ro- 
 
 Columnaris, i. e. pillar-like, by O'Fla- cord the story of the does thus : ^' It 
 
 herty. was in the time of King Nia Scd- 
 
 ' A. M. 4881. — Four Mulers. hamain, that cows and does were alike 
 
 " &e"-a?nAai7i, or Seghamhain, would, milked." 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 261 
 
 COW whatsoever. This had been brought about by the magic 
 powers of his mother, whose name was Fiidais, {Fleeish.) This 
 prince fell by Enna Aighnech. 
 
 ENNA AIGHNECH, AED-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3815.^" Enna Aighnech,^^ son of Aengus Tuirmech, of 
 Temhair, son of EocaiJh Folt-lethan, of the line of Erimhon, 
 ruled the kingdom of Ireland for twenty-eight years. He got 
 the name of Enna Aighnech, from his hospitaHty and his boun- 
 ties; for "aighnech" {eyenagh) is the same as "ogh," (o) entireor 
 perfect, and oinech (innagh) liberal or hospitable. Thus Enna 
 Aighnech means "Enna the All-bounteous;" for he gave away 
 everything that came into his hands. He fell by Crimthann Cos- 
 grach. 
 
 CRIMTHANN COSGRACH, AED-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3843.^2 Crimthanu^^' Cosgrach, son of Feidlimid 
 Fortriun, son of Fergus Fortamhail, son of Bresal Broc, of the 
 line of Erimhon, assumed the sovereignty of Ireland and reigned 
 seven years.^* He was called Crimthann Cosgrach, (i. e. Crim- 
 thann the Vanquisher,) from the many victories he gained in all 
 the battles and combats in which he had been engaged, until he 
 fell by Eudraide. 
 
 RUDRAIDE MOR, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3850." Rudraide/^ son of Sithrighe, son of Dubh, son 
 of Foghmor, son of Argedmar, son of Siorlamh, son of Finn, son 
 of Bratha, son of Labraidh, son of Carbri, son of Ollamh Fodla, 
 of the line of Ir, sou of Miledh, I'eigned over Ireland for thirty 
 years, (or for seventy^' as others relate.) He died at Arged-glenn, 
 
 ^» A. M. 4888. — Four Misters. Masters and most Irish authorities 
 " ExNA III. — The dsrivatioa given a^res with this account. The former 
 for the epithet Ai^'hn3ch looks suspi- tell us, " that, after having been seventy 
 ciou?. The Four M isters say that he yaars in the sovereignty of Irelanrl, he 
 reigned twenty-eight years ; the Annals died at Arged glenn, (i. e. the Silver- 
 of Olonmacnoise allow him but ten. glen, situated in the modern barony 
 1^ A. M. 4903. — Fou- M titers. of Farney, county Fermanagh.) It 
 " Crimtiiaxx I. The m^dn-n and was by this Rudraide that the following 
 aspirate! fn-ra of this nama is Criorah- battles were won throughout Ireland : 
 thann (C'-/^aiin). It ra3i;i5 a /j.r. The battle of Cuirché, (in Kerrycur- 
 " Sjy^ft y3ars. Four years accord- rihy, county Cr)rk ;) the battle of Lua- 
 ing to the Four Masters. chair, (in Kerry ;) seven battles in 
 ^' A. M. 4:9l2.~Four 3hstes. Cliu. (Cliu-Mail, a district in Coshlea, 
 ^* RuDR.viDE I. This kind's name county Limerick ;) the battle of Glen- 
 is spellel Ralhraidhe Mac Sithrighe, amnach, ((?/afiO!i"iag'i,now Ulanworth. 
 {Riores Mac S.hce'uee,) in modern Irish, county Cork ;) the battle id Siiabh 
 1^ Seventy. The Auuals of the Four Mis, (in Kery ;)_ the battle of Boirinu, 
 
THE HISTORY OF IREL.VXD. 
 
 INNADMAli, ARD-EIGH. 
 
 A, M. 3880.** lunadmar, son of NiadK Seganiliaiu, son of 
 Adamar Folt-caein, of the line of Eber, reigaed over Ireland 
 three years,** and then fell by Bresal Bo-dibadh. 
 
 BRESAL BO-DIBADH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3883.'° Bresal Bo-dibadh," son of Rudraide, son of 
 Sithrighe, of the line of Ir, son of Milcdh, enjoyed the kingdom 
 of Ireland for eleven years, until he fell by Lugaidh Luaigni. 
 
 LUGAIDH LUAIGNI, ARD-RIGII. 
 
 A. M. 3894.^ Lugaidh^^ Luaigni, son of Innadmar, son of 
 Niadh Segamhaim, of the line of Eber, held the sovereignty of 
 Ireland for five years, until he fell by Congal Claringnech. 
 
 CONGAL CLARINGNECH ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3899.'^ Congal^ Claringnech, son of Rudraide, son 
 of Sithrighe, son of Dubh, of the line of Ir, son of Miledh, ruled 
 Ireland for fifteen years, and then fell by Duach Dalta Degaidh. 
 
 DUACH DALTA DEGAIDH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3914.26 Duacl# Dalta Degaidh son of Carbri or Ros- 
 g-lethan, son of Lugaidh Lurigni, son of Innadmar, son of Niadh 
 
 (now Burrin in Claro ;) tlie battle of - A. M. 5002. — Four Masters. 
 
 Ren, (in Leitrim ;) the batt'e of Ai, *' Lugaidh IV. Lugaidh Luaig-ne 
 
 (Magh-Aei is in Roscommon ;) the {Looee Looime) reigned for fifteen 
 
 battle of Cuil Sellinni, (now Kilcoolcy, years. — Id. 
 
 in the county and barony of lloscom- '* A. M. .5017. — Fotir Masters. 
 
 mon ;) the two battles of Fortrasg, "' Conoal I. This king's surname is 
 
 (which is now unknown.'") The Clan- otherwise written •' Claroineach,'' i. e. 
 
 oa Rudraide, {Clanna Rooree,) or clans of the Fiat or Broad Faae. " Claring- 
 
 of Rudraide, and the most famous of nech" means, of the Broad or Flat 
 
 the Red Branch Knights were descend- Nails. " Ue did many notable acts 
 
 ants of this Rudraide Mor. O'Hallo- of chivalry, as there are volumes of 
 
 ran says that he aided Massinissa in his history written of his hardiness and 
 
 wars against the Romans. manhood." — Annals of Ctonmanioisc. 
 
 " A. M. 4982. — Four Masters. Congal was the grandsire of Naeisi, 
 
 19 T'lrpp years. He reigned for nine Aimli, and Ardan, the three sons of 
 
 years, according to the Four Masters Usnach, whose tragic fate is related 
 
 and other authorities. further on. 
 
 2» A. M. 4!)9L— Four Misters. ^" A. M. 5032. — Four Masters. 
 
 " Bo-iibad'i, Bresal or Brcasal Bo- " Buaoii IIL Surnamed Dalta 
 
 dhiobhadh. {Bms'i-il lio-ijeeva,) received Be^^haidh, {Dija or Daa,) i. e. the Fos- 
 
 his name from a murrain or cow-plague tcrling of Degaidh. 
 that devastated Ireland during his reign. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 263 
 
 Segamliain, of tlie line of Eber, held the kingdom of Ireland for 
 ten years. The reason why he was called Duach Dalta Degaidh 
 was the following: Carbri Losg-lethan had two sons; Duach and 
 Degaidh were their names. There was a rivalry between them, as 
 to which of them should be king of Ireland ; for they were both 
 qualified to be candidates for the royalty in mien, person, achieve- 
 ments, and valor. But Degaidh, who was the youngest of the 
 two, sought to supplant Duach, his elder. When Duach had no- 
 ticed this, he sent a messenger for his brother, and Degaidh 
 thereupon came to the place where he was ; and, as soon as he 
 had done so, Duach had him seized, and caused his eyes to be 
 thrust out. Hence he got the cognomen of "Dalta Degaidh," or 
 Blinder of Degaidh.^^ As a record of this deed, some bard has 
 left us the following verse : 
 
 " By treacherous wile was Degaidh lured 
 To come beneath his brother's roof ; 
 And there that brother, Duach false, 
 Ungenerously thrust out his eyes." 
 
 This Duach fell by the hand of Factna Fathach, son of Gas. 
 
 FACTNA FATHACH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3924.29 Factna Fathach, or Factna the Wise, son of 
 Cas, son of Rudraide, son of Sithrighe, son of Dubh, son of 
 Foghmar, of the line of Ir, son of Miledh, held the sovereignty 
 for sixteen years, and then fell by Eocaidh Feidlech. 
 
 2' Blinder of Degaidh. — " Dalta " ants were called Ernaans, though quite 
 can scarcely admit of the forced mean- different from the more ancient Ernaans 
 ing given to it, in this instance, by our of the Fer-Bolg race. These after- 
 author. It is the common Irish word wards took the name of Dal-Fiatach in 
 used to express fosterling or alumnus, Ulster, and a branch of them, that mi- 
 and it is to be questioned if a single grated to Munster, took the name of 
 other instance can be shown from Irish Clanua Degaidh. The latter had been 
 writings in which it has any reference driven from Ulster by the Clanna 
 to blinding. " 'Flaherty shows, from Rudraide, while Duach was king of 
 the Book of Lecan, from O'Duvegan's Ireland, and this king then gave lands 
 Book, and from Gilla-Caemhan's poem, in Munster to his foster-father Degaidh, 
 written in the twelfth century, that son of Sen, son of Olild Aronn, who 
 Duach had no brother named Degaidh, was their chief. After Duach's death 
 but that he was called "Dalta Degaidh," Degaidh was declared king of Munster. 
 because he was the Alumnus, or Foster and his posterity divided the sovereign- 
 son ofDegaidh,sonofSen,ofthe Ernaans ty of that province for some ages with 
 of Munster." — See O'Donovan's Notes the Eberians. In those ages the Ebe- 
 on the Four Masters. riaus ruled the South and the Dega- 
 
 Fiachaidh Fermara, or the Mariner, dians the North of Munster. — See 
 
 son of King Aengus Tuirmech, had a O'Flahertifs Ogijgia. 
 
 6on named Olild Aronn, whose descend- -' A. M. 5012. — Four Masters. 
 
264 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 EOCAIDir FEIDLECH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3940.^ Eocaidh^^ Fcidlcch, son of Finn, son of Finnloga, 
 son of Eoiglmcn Euadh, son of Esamhain, of Embain, son of 
 Blathacta, son of Labraidh Lore, son of Enna Aignecb, son of 
 Aengiis Tuirmccb, of Tara, of tbe line of Erimbon, ruled tbe 
 kingdom of Ireland for twelve years. Bonia, daugbter of Crim- 
 tbann, was the motber of tbis Eocaidb Feidlecb, He was called 
 Eocaidb Feidlicb, because be was for a long time addicted to 
 sighing ; for " feidbil," {feil,) signifies " long," and " ecb" {ogh), 
 means a " sigh." Thus, feidblecb (feilagh), means " Jong-sighing ;" 
 for a sigh never left bis heart since bis sons were slain by bim in 
 the battle of Drom-Criaidh,^ until be died. These sons, Bros, 
 Nar, and Lothar, were called the three Finnemhna {Finnevna^ 
 or Finnevona)^ from the word " ambaen'"^ {avayne\ i. e. " not 
 separate," or "not single ;" and by it was meant, that none of 
 them was born separately, but that they were all three born at 
 the same time. Clothfinn, daughter of Eocaidb Uct-lethan^* was 
 the niother of these princes, and she had borne them at one 
 birth. 
 
 Eocaidb Feidlecb was the first that divided^^ and arranged Ire- 
 
 '» A. M. »0.58.— Foar Masters. 
 
 '1 EocAiDH X. Fcidlcch, Eocaidh's 
 distiuctive appellation, could mean the 
 Watcher or tfce Vigilant. The ctymol- 
 0^ by which it is made to moan con- 
 stani sighing, is beneath criticism : the 
 termination " ch" varied to " cch" and 
 " ach" in compliance with an Irish 
 euphonic rule, is of no more signifi- 
 cance in Irish than " us" is in Latin. 
 
 " Drom CriiiJh (I)rumcree), lies in 
 West Meath. O'Flahcrty discredits 
 those who relate that the three Finns 
 waged war against their father. 
 
 '' Amhacn. Tliis word is not Irish, 
 at least it is not so in the sense above 
 stated. Dr. O'Donovan says, in his 
 annotations on the Four Masters, 
 that this king's three sons, Breas or 
 Bres, Nar and Lothar, were called the 
 three Finns of Emhain, i. e. " na Tri 
 Finn Emhna" (va Three Finn Ewna 
 or Evna . This is natural, and accord- 
 ing to the genius of the language. The 
 above ridiculous pun is abhorrent to 
 it. They had received the name, pos- 
 Biblv, from having been fostered at Em- 
 hain Mache. 
 
 ^ Eocaidh iict-lethan, i. e. Eocaidb 
 
 the Broad-Chested. O'Flaherty calls 
 him Artur Uct-lethan. 
 
 "^ Was the first that divided, Ifc. Our 
 author is inexact in the language he 
 here employs, and he thereby contra- 
 dicts what he has already stated seve- 
 ral times. He should have said, that 
 lOocaidh was the person who r stored 
 the pontarchy. O'Flaherty gives the 
 following account, here abridged from 
 his Ogygia, of the revolution effected 
 during the reign of this king : " King 
 Eocaidh, in the first year of his reign, 
 instituted or rather revived the pen- 
 tarchy. But we must not suppose that 
 the pentarchy was then instituted for 
 the first time, because it appears that 
 there were five rulers over the five 
 provinces, from the very beginning nf 
 the royalty. The Scots continued it, 
 some of whom, as the Eberians and 
 Lugadians (the descendants of Lugaidh, 
 son of Ithj, ruled the two iMunsters. 
 These had, it is true, been for some 
 time intruded upon by the Ernaans, of 
 the line of Eriinhon, by whom they 
 were driven into the western recesses 
 of their cuuntry ; but then, by a vigor- 
 ous effort, they repossessed tíieináelvea 
 
THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 265 
 
 land into provinces, or pentarcliates, for lie apportioned Con- 
 naught into three parts, between three chieftains,^'' namely, Fidach, 
 son of Fiach, Eocaidh Alat, and Tinni, son of Curaidh. To 
 Fidach he gave the territory of the Fir-na-Craeibi, from Fidach 
 to Luimncch ; to Eocaidh Alat he gave Irrus Domnann, from 
 Galimh to Dubh and Drobacis ; and to Tinni, son of Curaidh, he 
 gave iMagli-Samb and the old districts of Taciden, from Fidach 
 to Temhair-Brogha-Niadh {Tavivis-Vrow-Neca]t\ in Leinster. 
 The province of Ulster he granted to Fergus, son of Ledi ; the 
 province of Leinster to Kosa, son of Fergus Fargi, and the two 
 provinces of Alunster he bestowed upon Tighermach Tedbennach 
 and upon Dcgaidh. And thus, during his reign, he had Ireland 
 under his sole dominion and control, until he died at Temhair 
 (Tara). 
 
 Some time after this, Eocaidh went into Connaught, and those 
 three kings of its three divisions came to meet him. Of them, 
 Eocaidh thereupon requested a site in Connaught whereon to 
 build himself a royal residence amongst them. Eocaidh Alat and 
 Fidach replied, that they would give him no such site, for they 
 preferred sending him his rent to Temhair. But the third of 
 these princes, Tinni, son of Curaidh, was willing that Eocaidh 
 should have a place for his royal residence. Then Eocaidh gave 
 his own daughter, Medb {Meive or Ifaive), as wife to this chief- 
 tain, and they made a friendly league with one another. The 
 monarch next asked his Druids where he should build the palace, 
 and they advised him to build it at Drom na-n-Druadh {Drum- 
 
 of their territories, which they thence- ing, and 5th, the division between Con 
 forth held uninterruptedly, and with of the Hundred Battles and Eogan 
 redoubled power, down to the English Mor, king of Munster. Three hundred 
 invasion. The Ultonians maintained years having now passed since the di- 
 their full sway down to the destruction vision by Igani Mor, Eocaidh re- 
 ef Emania or Emhain, and Irian branch scinded the form established by that 
 still longer, having become incorpo- conqueror, and appointed a pentarch 
 rated with the Erimonian Ernaans. over each province from amongst its 
 Leinster had been ceded to the Eriino- ruling princes." 
 
 niaus ; after some time Connaught fell As a period of great disorder and 
 
 under their rule, and at length Ulster, bloodshed and confusion continued to 
 
 The political divisions of Ireland have devastate Ireland, during, and long 
 
 been various, according to the will and after Eocaidh's reign, it is fair to con- 
 
 the power of its various nionarchs. How- elude, that he had been forced to re- 
 
 ever, they never totally abrogated the store the pentarchy, in order to place a 
 
 first five-fold division. In the Scotic check upon the turbulence of the local 
 
 dynasty we read of five partitions : 1st, chieftains. 
 
 one between P]ber and Erimhon ; 2d, °^ Three chicftaivs. These three 
 
 between Kermna and Sobarki, which chieftains were Fer-Bolgs or Belgians, 
 
 lasted 100 years ; 3d, that by lugani which nation still possessed Connaught. 
 
 Mor into twenty-five districts, which The partition of the province between 
 
 lasted 300 years ; 4th, that of the pen- them has been already treated of. 
 tarchs, of whom we are now treat- 
 
266 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 nan-rooah\ i. e. The Druids' Hill, which is now called Cruachain.s^ 
 The rath was then commenced by the Gamanraidhe,^ from 
 Irrus Domnan, and the dike of that fortress of Eocaidh was 
 reared up in one day ; as the bard thus informs us : 
 
 " In onn day -was the tribe of Domnann 
 Forced to build up that earthen rampart ; 
 For that stern kin<^ of Fal, the festive, 
 No respite would allow his workers." 
 
 They next built a dwelling within it, and Eocaidh granted the 
 kingdom of Connaught to Tinni, son of Curaidh, to whom he 
 then gave his daughter Medb in marriage. Shortly afterwards, 
 Eocaidli Alat was slain by Tinni, who thereupon gave the king- 
 dom of the Fer-Domnanns to Olild Finn. Afedb bestowed the 
 command of Rath-Eocaidh upon- Cruacha Croiderg, her own 
 mother ; and it is from this Cruacha that the fort has received 
 its present name of Rath-Oruachan {Raiu- Crooghan), as the bard 
 tells us in the following verse : 
 
 " Once Drora na-u-Druadh, then Tulacli-Aidni, 
 And next Rath-Eocaidh it was called ; 
 Ratli-Cruaehan last, from Cruacha Croidorg, 
 Who raised dire wrath throughout the laud." 
 
 Medb continued long afterwards to be the wife of Tinni, son 
 of Curaidh, until he fell at Temhair by the hand of Monudir, 
 who was also called Mac Keact. After the death of Tiani, 
 Medb held the sovereignty of Connaught for ten years in her 
 own hands, without allying herself in marriage with any publicly, 
 though during this tunc she indulged in private iimours, just as 
 her inclination prompted her. She afterwards took Olild Mor, son 
 of Rosa Ruadh, of Leinster, as her husband, and bore liim vseven 
 sons, who Avere called The Seven Manes. It was Conall Kear- 
 nach that slew Ohld at Cruachain, when he was aix old man. 
 Conall slew him by a cast of a javelin ; and the men of Con- 
 naught pursued and killed him, in revenge for the deed. 
 
 There was, indeed, a long war, and continual hostility between 
 the people of Connaught and the Ulidians during the time that 
 
 " Cruachai'i. Wo must not under- ist the remains of several earthen 
 
 stand, from the buildini,' of this rath at forts. 
 
 Cruachain, by Eocaidh. tiiat it was in "'* Gamanraidhe. Tlv3 Gamanraidhe or 
 
 his time that that locality became dis- Gamanradi, were a fierce and warlike 
 
 tinguished as a royal residence. It was Belgian or Fer-Bolg trib.i, seated in 
 
 celebrated long before his day. The Erris or Irrus-Domnann, in the north- 
 
 ratli of Cruacliain, now called Rath west of Connaught. This name is 
 
 Crop-han, lies near Belanagare, in the pronounced Gowanrce and Gavanree. 
 county of Roscommon, where siill ex- 
 
THE HISTORY' OF IRELAND. 267 
 
 Aícílb reigned over Connauglit, and while Concobar was king of 
 Uladli. But, in order that the reader may understand the cause 
 of this eninitj that existed between them, I shall set down here 
 the manner in which the children of IJsnach, son of Congal 
 Claringnech, were slain, in violation of the guaranties and sure- 
 ties of Fergus Mac Roigh, of Cormac Conlingas, son of Conco- 
 bar and of Dubthach Daei-Uladh. Here follows a brief summary 
 of the story : 
 
 The death of the Sons of Usnach, down here}^ 
 
 On a certain day, on Avhich Concobar had gone to partake of 
 a foast at the house of Feidlimid, son of Dall, his ovrn story-teller, 
 the wife of his host gave birth to a beautiful daughter while the 
 festivities were going on. Then Cathbaidh, who was present at 
 that meeting, prophesied and foreboded for the girl, that great 
 misfortune and loss was about to befall the province through her 
 means. When the warriors heard this, they proposed to have 
 her put to death immediately. "Let no such thing be done," 
 said Concobar, " for I shall take her with me and send her to be 
 reared, so that she may in time become my own wife." The 
 druid Cathbaidh then named her Djrdri.*' Concobar shut her 
 up in a lonely fort, where he placed a tutor and a nurse to rear 
 her ; and there no one in the province dare go near her but her 
 tutor and her nurse, and the spokeswoman of Concobar, who was 
 named Lebarcam. Under these regulations she continued until 
 she had become marriageable, at which period she excelled all 
 the women of her time in beauty. 
 
 It happened once, upon a snowy day, that her tutor had killed 
 a calf in order to dress it as food for her, and, when its blood had 
 been spilled upon the snow, that a raven stooped down to drink 
 of it. As soon as Derdri had noticed this, she said to Lebarcam, 
 that she would like to have a husband, in whom were combined 
 the three colors which she then saw before her ; that is, having 
 hair of the color of the raven, cheeks the color of the calf's blood, 
 and a skin of the color of snow. "There is such a man as that," 
 said Lebarcam, "and his name is Isaeisi, son of Usnach, now in 
 the household of Concobar." " then, Lebarcam," said Derdri, 
 " I beseech you to send him to speak with me, alone and unob- 
 served." Lebarcam, thereupon, went and told the matter to 
 Naeisi, who, when he had heard it, came privately to meet Derdri, 
 
 ^' T!'íe s-ms of Usnach. Literal trans- volume of theTrau?actioiis of the Gaelic 
 
 lations of two ancient versions of the Society of Dublin, publishor] in 1808. 
 
 tale entitled, The Death of the sons of *" Derdri, otherwise Deirdre, means 
 
 Usnach or Uisnech, (called Usnoth by alarm. 
 Macpherson,) are to be found in the 
 
268 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 and she declared to him the greatness of her love, and begged of 
 hixn to elope with her from Concobar. Naeisi consents thereto, 
 though much against his will, through fear of Concobar. He 
 then set out for Alba, accompanied by his two brothers, Andli 
 and Ardan, and one hundred and fifty warriors, taking Derdri 
 thither with him. In that country they got maintemmce and 
 quarterage from the king of Alba, until lie had got tidings of 
 Derdri's beauty, upon which he demanded her as a wife for liim- 
 self. Naeisi and his brothers were seized with indignation at this, 
 and they left Alba, retreating into an island in the sea, with 
 Dérdri, having previously had many conflicts with the people of 
 the king. 
 
 But, when it was heard in Uladh, that the sons of UsnacH 
 were in such distress, many of the nobles of the province told 
 Concobar that it was a sad thing that these warriors should be in 
 exile on account of a wicked woman, and that he ought to send 
 for them and have them brought home. Concobar consented to 
 do this, at the request of his nobles, and he gave Fergus Mac 
 Roigh, and Dubthach Dael-Uladh, and Cormac Conlingas, as 
 guarantees that he would himself act towards them with good 
 faith. Upon these conditions, Fergus ^fac Eoigh sent Fiacaidh, 
 his own son, to the sons of Usnach ; and this Fiacaidh brought 
 back: with him to Ireland, both them and their band of warriors, 
 and Derdri ; and no adventures are related of them until they 
 had arrived upon the green of Emhain. Upon that green, Eogan, 
 son of Durthact, chieftain of Fernmaighe,*^ met them with a large 
 host, which he had brought with him, at the suggestion of Con- 
 cobar, for the purpose of acting treacherously by them. As soon, 
 then, as the sons of Usnach had come up, Eogan aj^proached 
 Naeisi as if to welcome him, and while seeming to do so, he 
 thrust his spear through that warrior's body. When Fiacaidh, 
 son of Fergus, saw this, he threw himself between Eogan and 
 Naeisi ; but Eogan made a second thrust with his spear and laid 
 him dead by the side of his fiiend. After this, Eogan and his 
 forces threw themselves upon the sons of Usnach and murdered 
 them, and made a dreadful carnage of their people. 
 
 When Fergus and Dubthach had heard of the murder of the 
 sons of Usnach, in violation of their sureties, they marched upon 
 Emhain and came to an engagement with the forces of Concobar, 
 in which Mani, the son of Concobar, fell, and three hundred of 
 his warriors with him. They then pillaged and burned Emhain, 
 and slew Concobar's women. They next mustered their partisans 
 from all sides, and, accompanied by Cormac Conlingas, they 
 marched into Connaught with a host that numbered three thou- 
 
 *^ Fernmagh, now Farncy, in Oirgbialla. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 269 
 
 sand warriors. There they were welcomed and received into 
 pay by Ohld and ^ícdb. When they had reached that tenitory, 
 they never rested a single night without sending out parties of 
 pillagers to ravage and plunder Uladh. So they continu<>d, until 
 they had completely laid waste the territory of Cualgiii,*'^ a deed 
 whence sprung many misfortunes and afflictions to both prov- 
 inces. 
 
 It was during this time that Fergus had an illicit intrigue with 
 Medb, who bore him three sons at a birth, and their nam^^s were 
 Kiar, and Core, and Conmac, as the poet tells us in the following 
 verse : 
 
 " The fruitful Medb, in fair Cruacliain, 
 Loved Fergus, who from foe ne'er turned, 
 And bore him three sons, tall and comely, 
 Named Kiar, and Core, and Conmac." 
 
 It is from this Kiar that the Kiarraide Mumhan*^ {Keeree Moon) 
 are called, and of his descendants are the O'Connors Kerry ; from 
 Core are descended the O'Connors Coreomroe ;^ and from Conmac 
 are named all the Conmacni that are in Connaught. Wlioever 
 will read the poem which Lugair, the bard of Olild, composed, 
 and which begins with the line, "The clans of Fergus, clans pre- 
 eminent," will clearly learn the great power and distinction of 
 these three sons of Medb, in Connaught and in Munster — a thing 
 that is also manifest from the number of districts that have been 
 named from them in these two provinces. 
 
 But to return to Derdri, who was the cause of all we have just 
 narrated: she remained a year with Concobar, after tlie slaying 
 of the sons of Usnach ; and though trifling it may seem to raise 
 up her head or smile, still she was never known to do so daring 
 that time. When Concobar saw that no amusements or kindness 
 could have any effect upon her, and that neither wit nor mirth 
 could remove the lowness of her spirits, he sent for Eogan, son 
 of Durthact ; and when Eogan had come into his presence, he 
 said to Derdri, that, since he was himself unable to turn her mind 
 away from sorrow, she must now spend some time with Eogan. 
 
 •" Ciuilgni — in the county of Louth, the Kiarraide Mumhan. The territory 
 
 The famous tale called the " Tain Bo of this tribe extended from tlie harbor 
 
 Cuailgai," i. c. the Cattle Spoil of Cua- of Tralee to the mouth of the Shannon, 
 
 ilgni, has been Ibunded upon the plun- From this tribe, whose country is other- 
 
 dering of this district. wise called Kiarraide Luachra, the 
 
 ^^ Kiarraide Mumhan,\.^. ihedasceni- modern county of Kerry has its name, 
 ants of Kiar, i.e. Kiaraide of Munster. *-* Core mroe. Besides the O'Con- 
 
 Aa before stated, 0'Concobhair(0' Con- nors Coreomroe, the OXochlins of 
 
 CQoir or O'Concovn'ir) Kerry, was chief Burren, in the north of Clare, are also 
 
 of this tribe. Tlie O'CahilLs, O'Dugains descended from Core son of Fergus, and 
 
 and O'Conways of South Munster, were queen Medb. 
 also, according to O'Halloran, septs of 
 
270 THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 She was tlien immecliatelj placed behind Eogan in liis chariot. 
 Concobar went himself to attend them on their wa}'' ; and, as 
 thcj journeyed along, she kept continually casting looks of wild 
 indignation at Eogan, who was placed before her, and at Concobar, 
 who followed behind ; for there lived not on the earth two per- 
 sons that she hated more than she did them both. When Con- 
 cobar noticed her looking thus alternately at Eogan and at him- 
 self, he said to her, in coarse ironical pleasantry: "D^rdri, these 
 are the glances of a sheep between two rams, that you are casting 
 at me and at Eogan." When Di-rdri had heard him, she started 
 up at his words, and jumping suddenly out of the chariot she 
 dashed her head against a sharp rock that stood on the wayside 
 before her, so that small fragments were made of her skull, and 
 her brain immediately flowed out. Such was the origin of the 
 banishment of Fergus*^ Mac Eoigh, of Dubthach Dael-Uladh,*' 
 and of Cormac Conlingas ; and such the death of Dérdri. 
 
 As it was in the days of Concobar and of the Heroes, that Medb 
 reigned in Connaught, and as she lived ten years after the death 
 of Tinni, son of Curaidh, her first husband, and was afterwards 
 the wife of Olild Mor for eighty years, and again had been for 
 eight years a widow after Olild's death, when she was slain by 
 Forbaide, son of Concobar; I shall narrate here succinctly the 
 death, v/ith a few of the achievements of some of the most famous 
 of the Heroes^' that lived in her time. In the first place, I shall 
 set down the substance of the adventures, whence came the death 
 of Concobar, son of Factna Fathach.^ 
 
 The death of Concobar, hing of Uladh down here. 
 
 As an incitement to warriors to act bravely in the fight, it was 
 in those days the custom to give a mark of distinction, called the 
 Badge of Heroes,*^ as a token of victory, to him who had proved 
 himself the most valiant in single combat, and who had van- 
 
 *' Fer^Tis was styled Mac Roi^^li, i.e. The name Dulihthach {Doohagh or 
 
 son of Roigh {Roe), from his motlicr. Duffagk) means, tlic dark man. 
 
 His lather was Rosa Ruadh, son of ••' The Heroes. Tlie " Curaidhthe na 
 
 Rudraide Mor, king of Ireland. He Cracibhc Ruaidhe" (Carrt'u na Cree- 
 
 had been elected king of Ulster upon vie Rooee), i. e. the Knights or lleroea 
 
 the death of Fergus, son of Ledi ; but of the Vwd Branch, were empliatically 
 
 he had scarcely reigned throe years, styled Na Curaidhthe (Currikl), or, 
 
 when he was dethroned by Concobar The Heroes. 
 
 Mac Ncssa, and expelled into Con- ■" Son of Factna Fathach. Concobar, 
 
 naught. His desire to recover his lost or, as his name is more usually rendered, 
 
 kingdom was, then, a stronger motive Connor, is generally styled Mac Nessa, 
 
 for his wars, than his wish to revenge from his imither. His father had been 
 
 the murder of the sons of Usnach. king of Ireland. 
 
 *« Dubthach Dael-Uladh, i. e. Dub- ■•» The Badge of Heroes. "Mir na 
 
 thach the chafer or beetle of Ulster. g-Curadh " {meer na gurrah), is thus 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 271 
 
 quished his adversary in the field of valor. From this custom 
 there arose a dispute, in Eman, between Conall Kearnach Cu- 
 chullin, and Laegari Buadach, as to ivhieh of them should have 
 the Badge of Heroes. Upon this, Conall sent for the brains of a 
 valiant and mighty champion of Leinster, named Meskedair, 
 whom he had himself slain in single combat. Then, when the 
 braius of that warrior were exhibited, both Laegari and Cuchu- 
 lainn gave up their contest with Conall, for they were convinced 
 that neither of them had ever performed so great a deed of 
 prowess or championship. It was also a custom in those times, 
 for the warrior who had slain any champion of great renown, to 
 take out his brains, and having mixed them with lime, to form a 
 hard round ball thereof, which he was wont to exhibit at con- 
 ventions and public assemblies, as a trophy of victory in feats of 
 valor. Two fools, maintained by Concobar, took notice of the 
 great estimation in which every one held the ball made of the 
 brains of Meskedair, and thereupon stole it, on the next morning, 
 from the Crimson Branch. There were, indeed, three houses in 
 Etohain, in the time of Concobar, namely, the Warrior's Sorrow, 
 the Crimson Branch,'" and the Red Branch." In the first of 
 these houses were the wounded, and thence it was called the 
 Warrior's Sorrow,"" from the sorrow and affliction which the sick 
 warriors experienced therein from the anguish of their wounds 
 and other diseases. The second house was called the Crimson 
 Branch, and in it were kept the arms and valuable jewels. The 
 brains of Meskedair were also kept there, with other articles of 
 value. The third house was called the Red Branch, and it was 
 in this that Concobar and his warriors were wont to be served. 
 
 But, to return to the fools, w^hen they had stolen the brains of 
 Meskedair from the Crimson Branch, as I have just said, they 
 went upon the green of Emhain, and Ijeganto toss the brains like 
 a handball from one to the other, and they were thus engaged 
 when Keth, son of Magach, a mighty warrior of the Connaught- 
 mcn, and a fierce wolf of evil to the men of Ulster," came up, 
 and succeeded in coaxing the fools to give him the ball of brains, 
 
 translated by Halliday, " ' Mir,' liter- ^" The Warrior's Sorrow — in Irish, 
 
 SiWy moans a portion, or dividend." The '•' Broin-bherg " (Brone-varg), from 
 
 editor has not been able to ascertain " bron," sorroiv or pairi, and " berg," a 
 
 what particular thing is meant by it in soldier or champion, 
 
 this instance. ^ A wolf of evil to the men of Ulster 
 
 '" Crimson Branch — in Irish, "Craebh- — onchu mlc ar Ultnchaibh. Keth was 
 
 Dherg" {Craiv-yarg). The word "derg" the brother of Ohild Finn, chief of the 
 
 signifies brifiht red, or scarlet. fierce Gamanraidhe of Irrus Domnann. 
 
 " Red Branch — in Irish, " Craebh The far-famed Fenian clan of Morna 
 
 Ruadh" (Craiu-rooa). Ruadh is a dull- were the descendants of this Fer-Bolg 
 
 er and rather browner red. It is the warrior, 
 term applied to red-haired people. 
 
272 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 which he then brought off into his own country ; and afterwards, 
 whenever he came to do battle against the Ulstcrnien, lie always 
 carried the brains of Mcskcdair in his girdle, in hopes of bring- 
 ing some calamity upon Uladh ; for it had been prophesied, that 
 Meskedair would be revenged after his death upon the Ulidians, 
 and he supposed that this prediction would be verified by means 
 of the ball of brains. For this reason did he carry it always 
 about him, in hopes of killing some of the Ulster chieftains there- 
 with. 
 
 Keth, then, soon went to plunder Ulster, with a numerous army, 
 and drove off" a large prey of cattle from the men of Ros ;" but he 
 was pursued by a great force of the Ulidians. The m?n of Con- 
 naught flock from the west, to the help of Keth, and Concobar 
 comes from the east, to support the Ulidians. But when Keth 
 heard that Concobar was in the pursuit, he sent to the women of 
 Connaught, who were on a hill viewing the contending armies, 
 and requested of them to entice Concobar to pay them a visit, as 
 he knew him to be a man of gallantry and affability, and was 
 also aware that the Ulidians would not allow their king to take 
 part in the fight against his Connaughtmen. Now, as soon as 
 Concobar was told that the women wished to see him, he pro- 
 ceeded alone from the hill where he was stationed, in order to visit 
 them ; while Keth, on the other side, came privately, and lay in 
 wait in the midst of them, for the purpose of killing his uncautious 
 enemy. Then when Concobar was coming close to the women, 
 Keth arose, and placed the brains of Meskedair in his sling, in 
 order to kill him ; but ^\•hen Concobar saw him, he retreated into 
 the midst of his own people. But as he was entering the wood of 
 Dori-da-bacth, Keth cast the brains at him from his sling, and 
 struck him on the head therewith, so that his skull was broken 
 by that cast, and the brains of Meskedair sank into his head, 
 liis people then came up to his relief, and rescued him from Keth. 
 The physician Finghin Faithliag" was at once sent for, and when 
 he had arrived, he said that the king would die immediately if 
 the ball were taken from his head. Upon this, his friends ex- 
 claimed, " We prefer to have our king disfigured than that he 
 should die." Finghin then effected his cure, but cautioned him 
 never to give way eithor to anger or lust, and to avoid riding on 
 horseback, and all violent exertions ; for, if he did not, that the 
 
 ^ Vie Men of Ron. In Irish, " Fcra JIacliaircRois(C^;?T/o'il/aq-/íe-íc7?usA), 
 
 RoÍ3." The district of tlio men of Ilos now ('arrickmacross, arc supposed to 
 
 in question, lay in the barony of Par- have been comprised within it. 
 
 ney, county Monai^han. Tin; parish of " Fmrrhia lun'thliag, i. o., Fini^hin 
 
 Machaire Rois {Mugheie Ruú>,noví the skilful physician, rronounced /'V- 
 
 Magheross, and the town of Carraig neen Fawleca. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IJRELA2ÍD. 273 
 
 repulsive force of liis own brain would cast out the ball, and that 
 his death would ensue. 
 
 Some of our shannachies tell us that Concobar lived in this 
 state for seven years, until the Friday on which Christ was cruci- 
 fied. Then, upon his seeing the strange changes in the heavens, 
 and the darkness of the sun, while the moon was full, he demand- 
 ed of Bacrach, a Leinster Druid that attended him, whence came 
 these unusual alterations in the appearance of the heavens and 
 the earth. "It is Jesus Christ, the Son of God," said the Druid, 
 " whom the Jews are this day putting to death." " How^ sad that 
 is," said Concobar, " for, if I -were now^ there present, I w^ould 
 slaj^ all that are around my king, engaged in putting him to 
 death." He then drew his sword, and having gone into a 
 neighboring wood, he began to hack and cut the trees, exclaim- 
 ing, that if he were among the Jews, such was the vengeance that 
 he would wreak upon them. Bat then, from the violence of the 
 passion that had seized him, the ball bounded from his head, and 
 some of his brains follow^ed it, and then he died upon the spot. 
 Coill Lamhrigh, in the territory of Ros, w^as the name of that 
 wood. 
 
 When Concobar had thus died, the kingdom of Uladh was 
 offered to any man who could succeed in carrying the body of 
 Concobar to Emhain, without resting on the road. Upon this, 
 one of Concobar's own servants, named Kenn Berraide, came 
 forward, who, hoping to gain the kingdom of Ulster thereby, 
 bravely lifted the body, and carried it as far as Ard Achadh, on 
 Sliabh Fuaid, but at that place his heart broke, and he died. 
 From that attempt has arisen the proverbial saying, " He aspires 
 to the kingdom of Kenn Berraide," which is applied to one who 
 ambitiously aspires to higher dignities than he can ever acquire. 
 
 But, altliough historic authors have handed down the above 
 account of Concobar, and tell us that he lived in the time of 
 Christ, yet, in truth, Christ w^as not born for a long time after 
 Concobar. The fact of the story is, that Bacrach, a Leinster 
 Druid, foretold that Christ, the Prophesied One, the Son of God, 
 w ould be begotten, take a human body, that he should be put to 
 death by idols, and that through him should come the redemption 
 of the human race from the bondage of the tempter. When Con- 
 cobar had heard this, he was seized with the violent excess of 
 anger of w'hich we have spoken, through love of Christ ; and he 
 began to cut down the wood ofLamrigh, fancying the trees to be 
 idols, and thus he died from his violent exertions. If any person 
 may wonder how Bacrach, or any other druid, who was a Pagan, 
 could have foreseen the death of Christ, I w^ould ask of him, why 
 it should have been more possible for the Sibyls, who were also 
 Piigans, to have prophesied Christ before liis conception, than for 
 18 
 
274 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Bacrach, and others like him. Hence, the story is not to be dis- 
 credited for any such reason. 
 
 Ofihe death of Ketk^ Son of Magach^^ down here. 
 
 This Keth was a man of prowess. He continued, during his 
 lifetime, to be the constant enemy and untiring plunderer of the 
 Ulidians. He went into Uladh, on a certain day, for the purpose 
 of wreaking vengeance and plundering, aswaslaiswont, and there 
 came down a heavy fall of snow. As he w^as returning, with the 
 heacjs of three warriors, whom he had slain on his foray, Con all 
 Kearnach came upon his track, and overtook him at Ath-Keith. 
 There they fought, and Keth fell in the combat, whilst Conall 
 was so sorely wounded, that he fainted away from the loss of 
 blood. Upon this, Bealcu Breftni, a Connaught champion, arriv- 
 ed upon the spot, and found Keth already dead, and Conall at 
 death's point, and he exclaimed, that it was happy tidings to 
 have two such ravenous wolves, from whom so much ruin had 
 come upon Ireland, thus lying in that sad plight. " That is true," 
 said Conall, "and in vengeance for all the misery I have ever 
 caused to Connaught, kill me now." He said this, because he 
 had rather than the sovereignty of Ireland, tliat some second 
 warrior should wound him, so that no single champion of Con- 
 naught should have the glory of slaying him. " I will not kill 
 thee," said Bealcu, " for the state in which thou art is as bad as 
 death ; but I shall take thee with me, and heal thy wounds, and if 
 thou recover, I shall fight thee in single combat, and shall thus 
 wreak vengeance upon thee for all the woes and losses thou hast 
 ever inflicted upon Connaught." He then placed him on a bier, 
 and brought him to his own house, where he applied remedies to 
 him until his wounds were healed. 
 
 But when Bealcu saw that Conall was recovering, and that 
 his former strength was returning to him, he was seized with 
 fear, and prepared three champions, who were his own sons, to 
 murder him treacherously in his bed at night. However, Conall 
 suspected this whispered treason, and, upon the night fixed upon 
 for its execution, he said to B(^alcu, that he should exchange beds 
 with him, or that he would kill him. Upon this Bd-alcu lay 
 down in the bed of Conall, though sore against his will, and 
 there he was forced to stay until the champions, his own sons, 
 
 " Sim of Magach. He was thns cccded Afani, the son of Queen Medb. 
 
 called from his mother. Many of the The Coniiaufiht IJeluiana were suppos- 
 
 Belgian or Damnonian kinj^s of ('on- ed to have dcsceudcil from Scnijann and 
 
 naught were sprnn;^ from Keth. His Genaiin, who were kings of Ireland 
 
 son, Sanb, sat on the throne of Con- previous to the Danaan and Gaelic 
 
 naught for twenty-six years. He sue- invosions. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 275 
 
 came to the bed wliere Conall usually slept, and killed their own 
 father in his stead. When Conall perceived this, he rushed 
 upon them and slew the whole three; and he belieaded both 
 them and their father, and brought their heads with him, on the 
 next day, in triumph to Emhain. It is in praise of this deed that 
 we find the following handed down by the bards : 
 
 " Amongst the feats of Conall Kearnacli^'' 
 We count the famous Sack of ]y[ana — 
 By his hand fell the three-sired Lugaidh — 
 Bealcu's three sous he slew iu Bx'efui.'' 
 
 Such were the deaths of Keth, son of Magach, and of Bealcu, 
 of Brefni, with his three sons. And, although we might extol 
 several other great deeds of Conall Kearnach, we must, however, 
 forego mentioning them at the present time. 
 
 The death of Fergus Mac JRoigh, doivn here. 
 
 During the exile of Fergus in Connaught, he once happened 
 to be with Olild and Medb at Magh-Aei, Avhere their royal resi- 
 dence then was ; and as they were one day walking on the bank 
 of the lake that was near their fort, Olild requested of Fergus to 
 enter the water and swim therein. Fergus complied ; but while 
 he was yet in the lake, Medb took a fancy to go and contend 
 with him in swimming. Upon seeing her in the waves with 
 Fergus, Olild was seized with jealousy, and he commanded one 
 of his kinsmen, named Lugaidh Dall-Egeas, who attended him, 
 to cast a spear at Fergus, with which he pierced him through the 
 chest. The wounded Fergus came to land» as soon as he had re- 
 ceived the blow, and drawing the spear out of his body, he flung 
 it at Olild, and transfixed a hound that stood at that king's char- 
 iot, and he then fell down and died immediately, and they buried 
 him on the bank of that same lake. 
 
 It was this Fergus that killed Fiacna, son of Concobar, and 
 the champion Gerrghenn, son of Nillaidh,'^ and Eogan,'^ son of 
 Durthact, king of Fernmaighe, and many other heroes and war- 
 
 " Conrll Kearnach. This chieftain ies, and their correlative septs, in UI- 
 Wixs one of the most famous of the Red- ster, and also of the O'Mordhas (O'ilio- 
 Branch knights. He was son of Am- r«) or Moores, of Leix, in Leinster, and 
 irghin, son of Cas, son of Factna, son all the clans of that stock. Conall was 
 of Cathbaidh, son of Kinga, son of cousin to Concobar Mac Nessa, Cuch- 
 Rudraide Mor, King of Ireland. All ulainn, <tc. His son trial Gknimar bo- 
 th^ tribes of the Irian race that have came king of Ulster, after Glasni, son 
 survived to latter times, trace their or- of Concobar, and the sovereignty of 
 igiu, either to Conall Keirnach or to that province remained long in his fam- 
 his cousin, Fei-gus Mac Roigh. Conall ily. 
 
 was the progenitor of the Mac Aen- ^ Nilluidh, otherwise llladh. 
 
 gusaa or Magenuises, of the O'Dunlev- '^ Eogan, son of Durtluzct. This 
 
276 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 riors, wliom we shall not mention here. It was he, also, that car- 
 ried off the great spoils from Ulster, whence came so many wars 
 and enmities between the peoples of Connaught and Ulster, so 
 that the exiles, who went from Ulster into banishment with Fer- 
 gus, continued seven, or as some say, ten years in Connaught, dur- 
 i^no- which time they kept constantly destroying and plundering 
 the Ulidians, on account of the murder of the sons of Usnach. 
 And the Ulstermen, in like manner, wreaked vengeance upon 
 them and upon the people of Connaught, and made reprisals for 
 the booty which Fergus had carried olf, and for every other evil 
 inflicted upon both by the exiles and by the Connaught men, 
 insomuch that the losses and injuries sustained on both sides were 
 so numerous that whole volumes have been written upon them, 
 which would be too long to mention or take notice of at present. 
 
 The death of Laegari Buadach^^ i. e. Laegari the Victorious, 
 down here. 
 
 Concobar had a poet named Aedh, son of Anind, who had a 
 criminal intrigue with Magain, that king's wife. When this 
 was told to Concobar, he condemned the poet to be drowned in 
 the lake of Laegari,^^ and he was accordingly led thither for that 
 purpose, at the command of the king. When the herdsman of 
 Laegari saw them approaching the lake with this intent, he went 
 and told his master that they could find no other place for 
 drowning the poet in all Ireland but before his door. When 
 Laegari heard this, he immediately rushed out, and as he did so, 
 he dashed his head against the lintel of the door, so that he frac- 
 tured his skull. Nevertheless he flung himself with fury upon 
 the king's people, slew them all, and delivered the poet, and then 
 died uj)on the spot. 
 
 The death of Medb of Cruachain,^ doion here. 
 
 AYhen Olild had been slain by Conall Kearnach, ]\redb went 
 to dwell at Inis-Clothrann, on Loch Ribh, and during her resi- 
 
 man was the murderer of the song of ralb. The traces of many such lakca 
 
 Usnach. lie, too, was of the Clanna or pondd still remain in Ireland. 
 Rudraide. His father was son of Falbi, '■' Medl) of Cruachain. Of all tlie 
 
 Bon of Aengus, sun of lludraide Mor. children of the monarch Eocaidli Fied- 
 
 °°Lae^a?-7/íw-if/ac/í, otherwise Lae.i,'h- lech, " liv far the most celebrated was 
 
 aireBuadhach(/.'ííyc)-í-7íora,ií://). "Bua- Mcadlibh or IMab, who is still ro- 
 
 dhach" is an adjective formed from memljcred as the queen of the fairies 
 
 " Buadh" {hooali), victory. Laegari of the Irish, and the Queen Mab of 
 
 was a most distinguished knight of the Spenser's Faery Queen, in which tliia 
 
 Poid-Branch. powerful virairo, queen and quean of 
 
 " 7','ie La/:e of Lacq-an, probably an Connanght, is diminished toa ludieroua 
 
 artificial lake, " constructed near his size in her fairy slate. — O'Donwm. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 277 
 
 dence there, it was her wont to take a bath every morning in a 
 spring that lay near the entrance to the island. When Forbnide, 
 son of Concobnr, had heard this, he came privately to the spring, 
 and measured, with a line, the distance thence to the other side 
 of the lake. He then brought the measure with him into Ulster, 
 and there he used to thrust two stakes into the ground, and to 
 each of them he fastened an end of the line. He then used to 
 place an apple on the point of one of the stakes, and standing 
 himself at the other, he made constant practice of throwing at 
 the apple on the ojiposite one, until he succeeded in hitting it. 
 This exercise he practiced continually, until he became so dexter- 
 ous, that he never missed a single throw at the apple. Shortly 
 after this there was a meeting of the people of Ulster and Con- 
 naught, on both sides of the Shannon, at Inis-Clothrann. For- 
 baicle came thither from the east, in the assemblage of the Ulster- 
 men ; anel one morning, while he stayed there, he saw ^Nledb 
 bathing, as usual, in the very same spring. He, thereupon, in- 
 stantly placed a stone in his sling, and having cast it, he hit her 
 full on the forehead, and she instantly died, having then enjoyed 
 the kingdom of Connaught for ninety-eight years.^ 
 
 So far we have brancheel off into digressions about the heroes 
 who were the cotemporaries of Medb ; but we shall now return 
 to the monarch Eocaidh Feiellech. This Eocaidh had three sons 
 and three daughters. The sons were Bres, Nar, and Lothar, and 
 Ethni Uathach, Clothra, anel Medb of Cruachain, were the three 
 daughters,^ as the barel tells us in the following verse : . 
 
 " Three daughters had king Eocaidh Feidlech — 
 Loud swells their fame — 
 Ethni the Proud, and Medb of Cruachain, 
 And fair Clothra." 
 
 We shall now go back to Concobar, and relate some facts re- 
 specting him, A daughter of Eocaidh Sulbuide, of Connaught, 
 was his mother, and her narae was Nessa ; and it was from her 
 
 '^Ninety-eight years. Mani Aith- roes that flourished some time before, as 
 
 remhail {Ahrewtl), one of the seven as well as some time after her time, 
 
 sons whom Medb had by Olild Mor, " lliree daughters. O'Flaherty tells 
 
 succeeded her on the throne of Con- us, that he had six daughters, namely : 
 
 naught. O'Flaherty discredits the long ilumhaim, Elie, Medb, Derdri. Clothra, 
 
 reign attributed to Medb. In fact he and Ethni. Of these Munihain and 
 
 proves, by comparing the deeds in Ethni were both married to Concobar 
 
 which she was concerned with those Mac Nessa, and to him the former bore 
 
 that happened during the lives of her a son name Glasni, who succeeded him 
 
 cotemporaries, that she could not have as king of Ulster, the latter bore him 
 
 lived so long. The poets wcnild seem Forbaidc, the slayer of Medb. Of all 
 
 to have caused the extension of her life six, strange tales are recounted in the 
 
 and rei^n over so long a period, in or- Irish romances, 
 der to bring her into contact with he- 
 
2-^ THE HISTORY OT IRELAND. 
 
 that he received his surname, (i. e. Concobar or Connor Mac 
 Nessa). His father was Factna, styled Fathach or the Wise, son 
 of Gas, son of Eudraide, of the line of Ir, son of Miledh. And 
 when the provincial chiefs demanded that the exact bounds of 
 each province (or rather pentarchy) should be fixed, Carbri 
 Niafer, king of Leinster, in consideration of getting the daughter 
 of Concobar in marriage, gave xxp to Ulster all the land that lies 
 from Terahair (or Tara), and from Loch-an-Coigi, in Breagh, to 
 the sea, a territory that contained tliree entire cantons or tricha- 
 keads of land, as the bard tells us in the following verse : 
 
 " Wlien Eri's ' fifths' were yielded up, 
 From sea to sea, to Pentarch sway, 
 By treaty Concobar then joined 
 Three cantons wide to Uladh's bounds." 
 
 Felim of the Bright Form, was the name of the daughter by 
 whose means he acquired this addition of territory ; and she 
 soon after eloped lasciviously with Conall Kearnach from the 
 king of Leinster. 
 
 With regard to Concobar, he had twenty-one sons, and in a fit 
 of drunkenness he committed incest with his own mother, who 
 bore him a son, w^ho was named Cormac Conlingas. Cormac is 
 the same as " Corb-mac,"" i. e. a son begotten incestuousli/ ; and 
 he was so called because Concobar had committed "corba," i. e. 
 incest, with his own mother. It was in punishment of this crime 
 that all his sons died without issue, except tliree, namely: Benna, 
 from whom descended the Benntraide {Bantree) ; Lamha, from 
 whom came the Lamhraide (Lauvree) ; and Glasni, whose descend- 
 ants Avere the Glasraide (Glossree). But even of these there is 
 not at this day a single descendant alive in Ireland. 
 
 The Battle of Aentich Ifacha,^^ fought by Concobar and his Kinsmen, 
 
 down here. 
 
 Concobar, son of Factna the Wise, and his kinsmen, fought the 
 battle of Aenach Macha, against Daball, the Ilard-smiter, son of 
 
 *^ Corb-mac. This derivation is not tion was hunted out for it, either be- 
 
 probable. The word " Corb," if it en- cause Concobar's incestuous offspring 
 
 ter at all into the composition of tiie clianced to bear it, or that the whole 
 
 proper name " Cormac," is most prob- story of the incest was built upon a 
 
 ably used in the sense of " chariot," malicious play on the letters of which 
 
 which is one of its meanin<,'s. " Cor- the name is composed. If " Cormac" 
 
 mac" was not then first applied as a have any meaning in Irish, it means 
 
 proper name ; and if its origin was as " son of the chariot," or " charioteer." 
 infamous as above state<l, it would not " Ana Machcha, i.e. the Fair 
 
 have been a name of such frequent oc- Green, or Field of Assembly of Macha, 
 
 currence in our annals. "VVe may then at Emhaiu Macha, near Armagh, 
 safely conclude that the above deriva- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 279 
 
 the monarcli of Loclilin. Innumerable was the host of the son of 
 the king of Lochhn on that occasion, when he had come to make 
 a conquest of Ireland. He landed in the territory of Uladh first, 
 and immediately led his forces to the plain of Macha. The 
 clans of Kudraide mustered round Concobar, in order to do battle 
 against those strange pirates. Tiien Genann, the bright-cheeked 
 son of Cathhadh, addressed his kinsmen and said, " Small is your 
 host, men of Uladh, and young and beardless warriors are you 
 all." " What then shall we do?" exclaimed all. " Take," said 
 he, "a quantity of wool, and bind it firmly to your faces, and the 
 fear and terror of the foreign pirates will be increased thereby, 
 for they will fancy you to be all hardy and well-proved cham- 
 pions." Those of the Ulidians who were without beards acted 
 upon the council of Genann, and then they fought the battle, and 
 vanquished the sea-robbers, and slaughtered their host. It is 
 from that battle they are called Ulaidh {Ullee).^'' 
 
 The Death of Conlaech^ son of Guchutainn down here. 
 
 His death was caused by the following occurrence : Cuchulainn 
 had formerly gone to learn feats of valor from Sgathach {Ska- 
 hagh), a heroine that dwelt in Alba, and at that time there was a 
 beautiful damsel in Alba, whose name was Aeifi {Eefie), daughter 
 of Ardgheim {Awrdi/dim). This damsel fell violently in love 
 with Cuchulainn, from his great fame, and having come to visit 
 him she became his mistress. From this intimacy she soon 
 proved pregnant. Cuchulainn then being about to return to Ire- 
 land, and having finished his gymnastic education under Sga- 
 thach, went to bid farewell to Aeifi, to whom he gave a chain of 
 gold, which he charged her to keep until his son had arrived at 
 manhood, and then to send the youth to himself, with that same 
 chain of gold, as a token by which he could recognise him. Ac- 
 cording to other accounts, it was a gold ring that he gave her, 
 and he charged her to send his son to him to Ireland, as soon as 
 he became so full grown that his finger could fill it ; and he also 
 laid three sacred inj unctioas^^ {9^^^) upon his son, before he should 
 
 ^' Ullaidh. An attempt to derive appears that all champions who were 
 
 the name Uladh from " Olann" {uUann) admitted to the order of chivalry, either 
 
 wool. took upon themselves or were subjected 
 
 «8 Conlaech. An ancient poem upon to these " gesa." Their exact nature 
 
 the death of Conlaech, has been has not been explained ; but it would 
 
 translated by Miss Brooks, and pub- appear that, independent of the duties 
 
 lished with the original in her Irish obligatory upon the whole order, each 
 
 Reliques. particular warrior had certain " gesa" 
 
 "' Sacred Injunctions. These were peculiar to himself, by which he was 
 
 called in Irish " gesa" {s:assa), the bound either to perform or to refrain 
 
 plural of " geis" (gu sh), which means from certain acts. In the notes to the 
 
 a votive injunction or prohibition. It tragic tale of the Children of Usnach, 
 
280 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 come to Ireland. The first of tliese was, never to give way to 
 any champion or hero in the world. The second was, not to tell 
 his name, through fear, to any warrior living. The third Avas, 
 never to refuse to fight in single combat against the most powerful 
 champion upon earth. 
 
 In time, the young man having grown up and increased in 
 strength, and having learned the exercises of war and chivalry 
 from Sgathach,^" that instructress of champions, set out for Ireland, 
 to see his father Cuchulainn. Upon his arrival, he found Conco- 
 bar and the chiefs of Uladh met in assembly or convention at 
 Tract-Esi. Concobar sent a warrior of his people, named Cmi- 
 niri, to inquire who he was. Then, when this messenger had 
 come into the presence of the youth, he demanded the latter's 
 name. " I tell not my name to any single warrior upon the 
 ridge of the earth," says Conlaech. Thereupon, Cunniri returned 
 to Concobar, and repeated to him that insolent reply. Then 
 Cuchulainn went to get an account of himself i'rom the stranger; 
 but he only received the same answer from Conlaech. A bloody 
 combat then took place between them, and Conlaech was over- 
 coming Cuchulainn, '' so that, although his hardihood and prowess 
 had been great in all his former combats, he was now obliged to 
 retreat into an adjacent ford, and to call upon Laegh, son of Eiau 
 of Gabra, for his spear, and with it he pierced Conlaech through 
 the body, and thus killed him. 
 
 If, reader, I were here to relate the death of Cuchulainn by 
 
 ■we are told that " such vows were in- instructress of champions was no other 
 
 violate among our heathen ancestors, than Acifi herseH'. Dun Sgathach, or 
 
 Any warrior who broke them became the fort of Sgathach, was on the Isle 
 
 infamous ; and the vengeance of heaven of Sky, which, perhaps, has its name 
 
 was dreaded as the immediate conse- from this heroine, 
 
 quence of their violation." This was " Cur/n>/aiun. Subaltam, the father 
 
 the ancient chivalry of the Irish, upon of (Juchulaiim {Cooghullin), was of the 
 
 which, perhaps, was grounded the more Erimonian race of the Ernaans of 
 
 modern one of the middle ages. Those Ulster. liy his mother Detkind, daugh- 
 
 who were initiated into t'e Order of ter of the Druid Cathbaidh iCa^ar), ho 
 
 vah^r, a very ancient one in Ireland, was closely allied to the clanna Kud- 
 
 werc peculiarly bound by these gesa or raide, and through her also he was the 
 
 s'demn iiijnnct (in^. " Uesanach iluilin first cousin of Conell Kearnach, whose 
 
 gid fir-laecha,'' injunctions not resisted mother was Eincaenih, daughter of 
 
 by true heroes, is a usual expression in Cathbaidh, and ol'tlie three sous of Us- 
 
 our ancient tales ; " Cuirim foghe.saibb nacli, who were the children of her 
 
 thu" {Currim fo yassiv hoo) ; 1 ])liu;e sister Ailbi. The annalist 'J'ighernach 
 
 thee under "gesa;" " Is mairg do chailles calls (,'uchulainn /•'. rtissim s hfrns Scoto- 
 
 a ghesa ;" he is a wretch that loses his rum, i. e. the bravest hero of the Scot.s, 
 
 " gesa ;" and numberless other similar and records his death in the second 
 
 phrases in our ancient stories and year of the Christian era. "We are 
 
 poems, show the awe in which these there told that at the age of seven 
 
 obligations were held by the old Irish, he was initiated into the military 
 
 '" Srjathach. Others say that this order ; that at seventeen he pursued 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 281 
 
 the sons of Calitin, and thai; of Ferdiadh,^ son of Daman, by 
 Cuchulainn, and those of the seven Manie.^, the sons of Olild and 
 Medb, and of many other brave champions not here mentioned, 
 their recital would prove too vast and laborious an undertaking. 
 But if you wish for a full account thereof, you may consult the 
 Great Kout on ]\Iagh Murthemni, the Deaths of the Knights, the 
 Cattle Sjjoil of Cualgni, or the Cattle Spoil of Ecgamhan, or the 
 Eed Eaid of Conall Kearnach, or the Foast of Emhain, or the 
 Cattle Spoil of Flidais,'^ or other tales^* of this kind, still to be 
 seen in Ireland, and you will therein find ample mention of both 
 the abov^e, and of many other knights and heroes besides, and of 
 their enterprises and adventures. 
 
 Nevertheless, I deem that I should not pass over Curigh, son 
 of Dari, in this history, nor should I omit to recount therein the 
 cause of his death, for he was a mighty champion and a cotem- 
 porary of Concobar and the Heroes. Moran of INIana (the Isle 
 of Man) was the mother of Curigh, son of Dari, as the bard 
 informs us in the following rann : 
 
 " Moran of Mana, of honor pure, 
 Was the child of Ir, son of Uinnside ; 
 The sister of Eocaidh Ecbeol she, 
 And mother of Curigh, son of Dari." 
 
 There were three orders of champions then coexistent in Ire- 
 land; and neither before them nor since their time were there 
 found any of the children of Miledh who were taller, more pow- 
 erful, hardier, braver or more expert in feats of valor and chivalry 
 'than they; for the Fiann of Leinster was not to be compared 
 with them. The first order of these was composed of the heroes 
 or knights of the Red Branch, under Concobar. The second was 
 formed of the Gamauraide {Goivanree) of Irrus Domnann, under 
 Olild Finn ; and the third was composed of the Clanna Degaidh 
 in West-Munster, under Curigh, son of Dari. 
 
 the plunderers of Cuailgni (when he " Fli'lais. This foray was so called 
 
 slew Ferdiádh, son of Daman, the from Flidais or Flidhais [Fkes'i), who 
 
 bravest of the Gamauraidhe of Irrus became the wife of Fergus Mac Eoigh, 
 
 Domuan) ; and that at twenty-seven, he after the death of her first husband, 
 
 was slain by Lugaidh, grandson of Car- OHld Dubh (Duv), chief of the Fir- 
 
 bri Niaser, at the battle of Murthemni, Craeibhe, one of the Belgian tribes of 
 
 in Louth. Some call his slayer Lugaidh, Connaught. 
 
 son of Curigli Mac Dari. Others say '^ Tales. Several versions of these 
 
 that Cucluilainn was slain by the sons tales, which are partly poetical and 
 
 of Calitin. His residence was at Dun- partly founded on fact, are still extant. 
 
 Delgain, now called Dundalk. Their publication would be a vast boon 
 
 '^ FerdiaJh, son of Daman. This to the students of Irish antiquities. Dr. 
 
 redoubted champion fell at Ath-Fhir- Keating has drawn from their pages 
 
 diaidh [Awhirdeea), or Ferdiadh's Ford, all the episodes, which he lias introduced 
 
 now Ardee, in the county of Louth. into this part of his history. 
 
282 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 The death of Curigh^ son of Dari^ down here. 
 
 The following was the adventure whence came the death of 
 Curigh. The Heroes of the Eed Branch, having mustered their 
 forces, went to ravage Mana, a sea-girt isle not far from Scotland, 
 where there was a great store of gold and silver with jewels and 
 many other articles of price, and a beautiful marriageaLlc damsel, 
 who was the daughter of the lord of that island, and who sur- 
 passed all the women of her time in form and in feature, and her 
 name was Blathnaid {Blahnid). "When Curigh had heard that 
 the Heroes were about going upon that expedition, he trans- 
 formed himself by magic into a false shape, so that he might take 
 part in the adventure. But when, under the guise of jugglers, 
 they were about plundering the island, they judged that there 
 would be great difficulty iu taking the chief fortress, in which 
 were Blathnaid and all the treasures, both on account of the 
 strength of its fortifications and the number of the men that 
 defended them. Then Curigh, who was disguised as a clown, in 
 a gray garb, said that he woiild himself take possession of the fort 
 for them, if he were only to get his choice of the jewels it contained. 
 This was })romised him by Cuchulainn, and they then attacked the 
 fortress, with the clown in the gray garb at their head, wlio stopped 
 the motion of an enchanted wheel that w^as placed in the gate of 
 the -rath, and thus let all the others in. They then plundered 
 it and brought away Blathnaid and all the treasures it contained. 
 They then returned to Ireland, and arrived at Emhain ; and there, 
 when they were dividing the treasury, the clown of the gray garb 
 demanded his choice tliercof, according to the promise made to 
 him, "Thou wilt got it," said Cuchulainn. "Then," replied he, 
 " Blathnaid is my choice of the treasury." " Take thy choice of 
 all the other jewels except Blathnaid," said Cuchulainn. " I will 
 take no exchange for her," said the clown in the gray garb. 
 Then Curigh made an attempt to take Blathnaid oíi^ and, sur- 
 prising her unperceived, he bore her away under an enchanted 
 (druidic) mask. AVhen Cuchulainn perceived that the girl was 
 missing, he guessed at once that it was Curigh that had taken 
 her off, and he forthwith followed upon their track to Alunster, so 
 that he came up with them at Sulchoid" {Sullogliode)^ where 
 the champions lay hold of each other ; and they contend with 
 valor and ' courage, until Cuchulainn was thrown down by. 
 Curigh, who then tied him neck and heels,'^ and left him 
 
 " 5u/c'íOíV/, now Solloihod or Sallow- " lio innictcd on him tlio fetter inp of 
 
 head, on the borders of tlie cotmtie.s of the live smalls, a (Jaelie idiom, si^iiify- 
 
 Tipperary and Limerick, not far from in^^ that he bound his neck, wrists and 
 
 the town of 'i'ipperary. ancles." — Haltiday. 
 
 "* Tied /urn neck and /leels. Literally 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 288 
 
 there bound a? a captive, having first cut off his fo?'s hair" 
 with his sword. Having done this, he took BLithnaid with 
 him into West-Munster, while Cuchulainn was lying in his 
 bonds. But Laegh, son of Eian of Gabra, soon came up and 
 loosed Cuchulainn, after which they both proceeded thence to 
 the north of Ulster, where they dwelt near the Peaks of Boirchi^® 
 for the space of one year, and they came not into the assembly 
 of the Men of Ulster until Cuchulainn's hair had grown. Then 
 at the end of tlie year, happening to be on the Peaks of Boirchi, 
 he saw a great flight of black birds coming over the sea from the 
 north, and when they had arrived at the land, he pursued them, 
 and by a feat called " taith-bheim'^" [Táhvaim\ killed one of them 
 with his sling in every territory he passed through, until he had 
 killed the last black bird of them at the stream of Bron in West- 
 Munster. On his return from the West, he found Blathnaid*" 
 alone near the Finn-glas, in Kerr}^, where Curigh^^ had a fortified 
 residence at that time. There a conversation then ensued between 
 them, in which the damsel told him that there was not on the 
 Avorld's face a man that loved she more than him ; and she beg- 
 ged of him to come during the ensuing season of Samhain (All- 
 Hallows) with an armed host and carry her off" by force or by 
 wile ; and, that he might the more easily accomplish this, she said 
 that she should herself take care that Curigh should, at that time, 
 have but few warriors or attendants around him. Cuchulainn, prom- 
 ised to come to her at the appointed time, and then took his leave 
 and proceeded back to Ulster, where he related his adventure to 
 Concobar. 
 
 In the meantime Blathnaid told Curigh that he ought to build 
 for himself a stone fortress^ that should exceed all the royal res- 
 
 " Cut off his hair. He did this for *" Blathnaid. This name is derived 
 
 the greater humiliation of his adver- from " Blath" (Blah) a blossom or 
 
 sary. No Irish chieftain could appear flower. It may mean the blooming, 
 
 in public without having his hair full ^' Curigh is said to mean, the 
 
 grown. The Irish wore the hair long, royal hero or wolf-hound, as if Cu- 
 
 and it was considered disgraceful for a righ [Cooree) Cuchulainn means the 
 
 freeman to appear in public with it cut wolf-hound of Uladh or Ulster, as if 
 
 short. Cu-Ulainn. 
 
 "• The Peaks of Boirchi. The Benna '^- A stone fortress. Curigh Mac Dari 
 
 Boirchi, or Peaks of Boirchi, are situ- had his fortress upon the top of a high 
 
 ated near the source of the river Bann hill, situated between the bays of Cas- 
 
 in Ulster. tlemain and Tralee, in Kerry. The 
 
 " Tath-bheim. In O'Reilly's Irish ruins of this fortress, which is yet 
 
 Dictionary, this word is translated a called Cathair Chonrigh {Cahir ConriJ) 
 
 mortal blow. It seems in this instance or the stone fortress of Curigh, still 
 
 rather to mean a flying shot, or an ob- exist. It was a Cyclopean structure, 
 
 lique cast. The word " Tath," the first of circular form, and the immense size 
 
 part of the compound, has many mean- of the stones of which it is composed 
 
 ings, one of which is said to be slaugh- may have given rise to the story of the 
 
 ter, another aside. " dispersion of the Clauna Degaidh, by 
 
284 THE UISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 idencos that were in Ireland, and that he might do so by sending 
 the clans of Degaidh to gather and collect all the upright stones 
 in the kingdom for that purpose. Blathnaid's r^'ason for this 
 counsel was, in order that the clans of Degaidh might be dispersed 
 in distant parts of Ireland, far from Curigh, at the time when 
 Cuchuhiinn was to come to carry her off. When (juchulainn 
 then heard that the clans of Degaidh^ were dispersed in this man- 
 ner over Ireland, he set out jjrivately, attended by an armed 
 band, and we hear no more of him, until he had arrived at a 
 wood near the residence of Curigh. When he had taken up his 
 station therein, he sent her private word of his presence there with 
 an armed force. The reply she sent to him was, that she would 
 herself steal the sword of Curigh, and then, as a sign to him, that 
 she would spill a pail of new milk, which she had in the fort, 
 into the stream that flowed from it into the wood where Cuchu- 
 lainn lay in ambush. In a short time after he had received this 
 message, he perceived the stream becoming white from tlie milk, 
 and, thereupon, he led his men straightway to the dwelling, and 
 they stormed the fort upon Curigh and slew himself therein, 
 having found him alone and without arms. They then took off 
 Blathnaid into Ulster, Since that adventure the river has ever 
 been named, Finn-glas (i, e, the white stream) from its having 
 been made white by the milk. 
 
 But the bard of Curigh, whose name was Ferkertni, followed 
 Blathnaid into Ulster, in the hope of finding an opportunity of 
 killing her in revenge for Curigh. When arrived in there, he 
 found Concobar and Cuchulainn, and company around them, on 
 the promontory of Kenn-Bera {Kan-Barrd). Then, the bard, 
 seeing Blathnaid standing on the edge of a cliff, came up to her, 
 and clasping his arms around her, he flung both himself and her 
 headlong down the precipice with a bound, so that they were 
 both thus slain. 
 
 Curigh, in search of tlic upright stones, West Munster, down to a late period, 
 
 i. e. pillar stones, at Blathnaid's desire, notwithstanding their subjugation by 
 
 The promontory of Loophead, on the the El)orian chieftain, Eogan Mor, 
 
 opposite shore of the county of Clare, styled Mogh Nuadath. Of that race 
 
 was formerly called '• Leim Chonchu- came the late celebrated chief of the 
 
 lainn" or Cuchulainn's Leap, for that Irish people Danitd O'Conncll. The 
 
 hero was fabled to have leaped across Degadians were said to be the restorers 
 
 the mouth of t!ie Shannon, when on his of military discipline and of the eques- 
 
 way to attack Curigh. trian order in Munster. The principal 
 
 ^ Claiis of Deo!;aidh. Of the tribe clans into which they branched, were 
 
 of the renowned Curigh Mac Dari, the the O'Falvies, O'Connells and O'Shcas 
 
 Degadians or Ernaans of Munster, sov- of Kerry, the O'Flinns, and O'Done- 
 
 eral clans continued to hold a distin- gans of Muskery, the O'Cronacaus, 
 
 guished place amongst the septs of 0"Corcorans, &;c. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 285 
 
 EOCAIDH AREMH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3952.^ Eocaidli^ Aremh, son of Finn, son of Finnloga, 
 son of Roighnen Ruadli, son of Esamhan of Emhain, son of 
 Blatbact, son of Labraidh Lore, of the line of Erimhon held the 
 sovereignty of Ireland for twelve years. He got the surname 
 "Aremh"* because he was the first that dug a grave in Ireland ; 
 for "Arenih" {aurev) is the same as "ar uaimh" («?- ooiv) that is 
 plough or dit/ a grave. And at last this Eocaidh fell by Sidmall°" 
 at Fremhain"*' (now Frewin), in Tebtha. 
 
 EDERSGEL, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3964.^^ Edersgél,^ son of Eogan, son of Olild, son of lar, 
 son of Degai Jh, son of Sin, son of Rosin, son of Tron, son of Rothron, 
 son of Ardil, son of Mani, son of Forga, son of Feradach, son of 
 Olild Eron, son of Fiacaidh Fer-mara, son of Aengus Tuirmech 
 of Temhair, son of Eocaidh Folt-lethan, of the line of Erimhon, 
 held the monarchy of Ireland for six years, when he fell by Nu- 
 adath Nect, at Allinn. 
 
 NUADATH NECT, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 3970.51 Nuadath Nect,^ son of Sedna Sithbach, son of 
 
 ** A. M. 5070. — Four Blasters. king, "was burned by Sighmall, at 
 
 *® Eocaidh XL Fremhain." Ihey assign to him a reign 
 
 *° Aremh. It may be assumed as of fifteen, 'while the annals of Clon- 
 
 almost certain, that " uaimh," a grave, macnoise give him a reign of twentt^- 
 
 does not enter into the composilion of five years. Sidmall or Sighmall, his 
 
 any part of this word. It is, most slayer, dwelt at Sidh-Nennta now Mul- 
 
 probably, the same as the modern word laghshee, near Lanesborough county, 
 
 '• oiremh"' (orrev), a ploughman ; that Roscommon. 
 
 is, if the first syllable be short and it ^ Fremhain in Tebtha, now Frewin, 
 
 be derived from "ar" dig or plough a lofty hill on the shore of Lough Owel, 
 
 thou; if the first syllable be long, it in the townland of "VVatstown, parish 
 
 would mean a counting or enumeration, of Porlemon and county of West- 
 
 (in which sense it is still in use,) and, meath. — (TD. 
 
 possibly, a person who counts or enume- "" A. M. 5085. — Four Musters, 
 
 rates. It is surprising that Dr. Keat- °° Edirsgel, otherwise, Eidersgeol. 
 
 ing, or his aulhorities with the obvious This prince was of the Dcgadians of 
 
 examples of the many Irish derivative Munster. His father had been king of 
 
 words, formed by the addition of the that province. Allinn. where he was 
 
 suffix " emh" or " amh" (av) to a sim- killed, is now called Knockaulin, near 
 
 pie root, should have made so far-fetched Kilcnllen, co. Kildare. According to 
 
 a blunder. As well might he tell us the Annals, just quoted, he reigned five 
 
 that " breithcmh" « judge, is derived years. 
 
 from "breith" a judgment and "uaimh" " A. M. 5090. — Fnir Mn'^tcrs. 
 
 {poiv) a grave. '^ Nuadath II. This king waa the 
 
 " Sidmall. The Four Masters say progenitor of the clann 0"Baeisgni, 
 
 that Eocaidh Aremh, who was the who were called the Fianna or Fenians 
 
 brother of Eocaidh Feidlech, the last of Leinster and who became so cele- 
 
286 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Lugaidli Lotfmn, son of Bre.sal Brcc, sou of Fiacaidli Fobrec of 
 the line of Erimlion, held ihe sovereignty of Ireland for half a 
 year. He was called Nuadath Nect (i. e. Nuadath the snow-white), 
 from the word "nix,"^^ which means snow; for the whiteness of 
 his skin was likened to that of snow. This Nuadath fell by 
 Conari iilor, son of Edersgel, at the battle of Cliach in Ui Drona.'* 
 
 CONARI MOR, ARD-RIGII. 
 
 A. M. 3970.'' Conari'' Mor, son of Edersgel, son of Eogan of 
 the line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of IreLand for thirty, 
 or according to others, for seventy years. 
 
 The reader must now understand that the Ernaidc'' tribes of 
 Munster are of the posterity of this Conari, as are also those of 
 the Dal-Eiada, of Alba ; and that it was in the time of Duach 
 Dalta Degaidh that the Ernaide came into Munster, whither, ac- 
 cording to the Psalter of Cormac, son of Culinan, they had been 
 driven b}' the tribe of Eudraide, which had vanquished them in 
 
 brated under his descendant, Finn, son 
 of Cumluil, called Fiugal by jMacpher- 
 son, and vulgarly known as Finn and 
 Fioun Mac Cool in Anglo-Irish patois. 
 " Magh Nnadhat" {Moy Nooatk), i. c. 
 Nuadath's'i'lain, now Maynooth, in the 
 county of Kildare has taken its name 
 from this monarch. His name is com- 
 monly pronounced, Nooa Naght. 
 
 "" Nix, or rather " necht," which may 
 mean the same thing as '• sncchta" or 
 " snecht" {Shnaglit), i. e. snow. 
 
 "' Cliar.h in Ui Drona, i. c. in the 
 present barony of Idrone, county Car- 
 low. 
 
 " After the fall of Nuadha (Nuad- 
 ath), Conari levied a fine upon the Lein- 
 ster people for the killing of his lather, 
 and they resigned fur ever to the seven 
 kings of Munster, at Cashel, that tract 
 of Ossory extending from Uowran to 
 Grian, as an atonement for the murder 
 of that king, calling upon the heaven, 
 earth, stia, land, sun and moon to wit- 
 ness their surrender." — Her. Ojii/gia. 
 
 " A. M. 50i)l .—Four Mnstcrx. 
 
 °° Conari I. " It was in the reign of 
 Conari, that the Boinn annually cast it-s 
 produce ashore, at Iiiber Colpa. Creat 
 abundance of nuts were annually found 
 upon the Boinn (Buyne) and the Buais 
 (Bush). The cattle were without keep- 
 ers in Ireland iu his reign, on account 
 
 of the greatness of the peace and con- 
 cord. His reign was not thunder- 
 producing or stormy. Little but the 
 trees bent from the greatness of their 
 fruit." — Id. It is thus that the Irish 
 Annalists figuratively express the peace 
 and i)lcnty of their monarchs' reigns. 
 Theophilus O'Flanagan in the volume 
 of the Transactions of the Gaelic Soci- 
 ety, heretofore cited, has published a 
 fragment of an ode, usually sung at the 
 inauguration of Irish kings, which 
 shows what the ideas of our ancestors 
 were upon this subject : 
 
 Pcvcntnie witnesses there are 
 For inonarch's broken fuitli — 
 Falsely trnmiilin? upi)n rifiht. 
 To drive the Senate from its hall : 
 To strain vindietively the law: 
 Defeats in hattlo ; 
 Years of lamine; 
 The failure of milk ; 
 The bliffht of fruit ; 
 The bliKht of torn. 
 These are the seven ^ ivid Hphts 
 That show the perjury of king?. 
 
 "" Ernaide, otherwise Earnaidhc or 
 Ernai, and in English, Ernaans. The 
 name properly btilonged to a tribe of 
 the Fer-Bolgs. The Degadians got it, 
 very probably, from having fixed them- 
 selves in the l'>naan territory, in West 
 Munster, where the Kberian king, Du- 
 ach, seems to have placed his fosterer 
 Degaidh. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 287 
 
 eight battles. They afterward acquired great power in Munster, 
 from the time of Daach Dalta Degaidh to that of Mogh Nuadath, 
 so that, according to the Book of Munster, when the race of 
 Ebcr gained the supremacy of that principality for themselves, 
 they drove the Ernaans into the extreme territory of Ui Rathach,'* 
 and the isles of West ]\f unster, and thus they remained until the 
 time of Mogh Nuadath, by Avhom they were finally expelled. 
 
 Conari fell at Bruighin-Da-Dherg'* (Breen-daw-yarg), by 
 Angkel,^"" the Short-Sighted, grandson of Conmac, and by the 
 sons of Donn Desa, of Leinster. 
 
 LUGAIDII RIABH-N-DERa, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 4000.' Lugaidh Riabh-n-derg (Reevnarg) son of the 
 three Finn-Emna {Finnavna or Finnetvna) sons of Eocaidh Fred- 
 lech, son of Finn, son of Finnloga, of the line of Erimhon, reigned 
 over Ireland for twenty years,^ or as others say, twenty-six. 
 Derborgaill, daughter of the king of Lochlin, was this Lugaidh's 
 wife. He was called Riabh-n-derg {Reevenarg\ i. e. "of the 
 Red Circles,"^ from his having had a red circle round his neck, 
 and another round his waist. For he was the son of the three 
 Finns* by their own sister, namely, Clothra, daughter of Eocaidh 
 
 ' A. M. 5166. Couari having reign- 
 ed seventy years, was slain in 5161, after 
 which Ireland remained five years witli- 
 out a king.- See Four Masters. 
 
 ^ Lugaidh V. He reigned twenty- 
 six years. — Id. 
 
 ' Red, Circles. What proof is there 
 beyond the silly and senseless puns o.* 
 which we have already seen so many, 
 that " E.iabh-n-derg," or ■' Sriabh-n- 
 derg," as it is otherwise written, doess 
 mean of the red circles 1 The genaral 
 nature of bardic derivations should 
 teach us to be cautious how we accredit 
 idle or malignant stories, that seem to 
 have no other foundation than a forced 
 and stupid play upon names and titles, 
 whose meanings have long since grown 
 obsolete. If it does mean of red circles 
 (or of streaks, stripes, or streams, as 
 analogy seems to argue) , the most ob- 
 vious supposition is, that it had its 
 origin either in some peculiarity in his 
 costume,if not in the red streams through 
 which, during the interregnum of Ave 
 years that succeeded the death of Conari 
 the Great, he must have waded his 
 bloody path to the throne. 
 
 ^ Son of the three Finm. The im- 
 possibility of the first part of this coarse 
 
 * Ui Rathach, now Iveragh, in Kerry, 
 pronounced Ee Rawkagh, and Eevraw- 
 kagh. 
 
 * Bruighin Da Dherg is situated on 
 the river Dothair [Ddkrr) now Dodder, 
 near Dublin. Part of the name is still 
 preserved in "Bothar-na-Bruighne" [Bo- 
 harnabreena), i.e. the road of the " Brui- 
 ghin" (Breen), or fort, a place well 
 known on that River. It is otherwise 
 called Briughen-da-Bherga [Breen-da- 
 varga.) 
 
 "" Ankel. This Ankel or Aingcel, 
 was called king of the Britons, because 
 his mother was Bera, daughter of Ocha, 
 prince of the Britons of Man. Dokell 
 and Dartad were the names of the other 
 principals in the slaying of Conari, by 
 whom they had been previously banish- 
 ed for their misdeeds. They were 
 aided by foreigners in the act. Dur- 
 ing Conari's reign, we are told by 
 O'Flaherty that the kings of the Pen- 
 tarchatcs or provinces were Coucobar 
 MacNessa, in Ulster ; Carbri Niafer, 
 in Leinster ; Olild and his queen Medh, 
 in Connaught ; Curigh MacDari, in 
 North Munster ; and Eocaidh Abradh- 
 ruadh,son of Lucta (of the lineof Eber), 
 in South. — See Ogygia. 
 
288 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Feidlech, whom they had violated in a drunken fit. This fact is 
 recorded in the following verse, from which we learn that 
 Clothra, who bore this Lugaidh to her brothers, bore also Crim- 
 thann Niadnar, to the same -Lugaidh, her son. The verse runs 
 aa follows : 
 
 "Lugaidh Riabh-n-derg, of fair Crimthann 
 The father was, though yet his brother ; 
 And Clothra of the comely form, 
 To her own son was grandmother.'" 
 
 It was thought at that time, that the upper part of Lugaidh's 
 person bore a likeness to Nar ; that he resembled Bres, between 
 the two circles, and that his lower extremities were like those of 
 
 and unnatural fiction confutes itself. 
 The three Finns of Emhain, were slain, 
 aa we have seen, at the battle of Drom- 
 Criaidh, durinir the reign of the grand- 
 father of this Lugaidh, that is of Eo- 
 caidh Feidlech, who died, according to 
 the authorities followed by Keating, 
 forty-eight and-a-half, but according to 
 the Four Masters, ninety and-a-half 
 years befjre Lugaidh's accession to the 
 throne. The probability is, that Eo- 
 caidh, whose j»TÍef for the death of his 
 sons, Bres, Nar, and Lotluii-, called the 
 Three Finns of Emhain, was notorious, 
 got the name of his grandson, by his 
 daughter, inserted in the Erimoniaa 
 pedigree, immediately after those of his 
 throe sons, or that he willed that it 
 should be so ; for it is not probable 
 that Lugaidh, who died in the prime of 
 life, sixty-eight years, according to 
 some, and one hundred and sixteen ac- 
 cording to others, after his grandfather's 
 death, was even born during the lattcr's 
 lifetime. We shall hereafter see a 
 better authenticated example of a simi- 
 lar insertion on the ancestral tree, in 
 the case of the Eberians, where Oiild 
 Fiann Mor, king of Munstor, dying 
 without issue, adopts his brother, Olild 
 Flann Beg, as his son, and wills that 
 ho should be named as such in the pedi- 
 gree of his tribe. We may here sur- 
 mise, that aft(,r the destruction or cx- 
 iurgation of the Pagan records by Ht. 
 *at-ick and the early fatiiers of the 
 Irish Church, the bards, having been 
 left nothing but bald names and titles 
 
 to fill up the reigns of some of their 
 ancient kings, coined idle stories there- 
 upon, to which they often gave a mali- 
 cious and calumnious coloring, in order 
 to please the itrcjiidices of their own 
 tribes by doprcciatuig those of their 
 enemies. It is likely that those old 
 names were as little understood a thous- 
 and years ago as they are now, and that 
 they were mystic and enigmatical to 
 the shenachies of that time, as they 
 must, perhaps,, ever remain to those of 
 the presenti. 
 
 ^ To her own son loas grandmother. 
 O' Flaherty, in his Ogygia, confutes this 
 repulsive assertion. Jle shows that, in 
 order to believe it, we must suppose 
 that King Lugaidh, who, as he proves 
 to us had died in the prime of his life, 
 should have lived on to about the age 
 of eighty, at which advanced period of 
 his existence a child should have been 
 born to him by a woman, who should 
 have then considerably passed her 
 hundredth year ; and, to demonstrate 
 tlie absurdity and utter impossibility of 
 the whole tale, he proves that, in order 
 to maintain it, we must assert that 
 Crimthann, the son so born, was mature 
 enough to have engaged in warlike 
 affairs at the age of two years. The 
 same learned antiquary fully proves, 
 that Lugaidh Ilial)h-n-dcrg could not 
 have been born during his grandfather's 
 lifetime, and, consequently, that ho 
 could not have been the son of the three 
 Finns, who were slain early in his said 
 grandfather's reign. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 289 
 
 Lothar. Lugaidh ended Lis life by flinging himself upon h'lB 
 own sword ; or lie died of grief for his children.^ 
 
 CONCOBAR ABRADH-RUADH ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 4020.^ Concobar® Abradh-ruadh, son of Finn the poet, 
 son of Rosa Euadh, son of Fergus Fargi, son of Nuadath Nect, 
 of the line of Erimhon, enjoyed the sovereignty of Ireland for 
 one year. He was called Concobar Abradh-ruadh {Concovar Avra- 
 roo), from the red brows that overhung his eyes. He fell by the 
 hand of Crimthunn Niadnar. 
 
 CRIMTHANN NIADH-NAIR, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. M. 4023.^ Crimthann Niadh-Nair, son of Lugaidh Riabh- 
 n-derg, of the line of Erimhon reigned over Ireland for sixteen 
 years. He was called Niadh-Nair/" (Neea-Nauir), i. e. the abash- 
 ed hero, because he was ashamed of his birth, having been the 
 8on of his brother, by their common mother. 
 
 It was this Crimthann that went on the famous expedition" 
 
 ' Children. Tlie Annals of the Four 
 Masters simply say that " he died of 
 grief;" the Cionmacnoise, that " he died 
 of conceit he took of the death of his 
 wife Dervorgil." 
 
 " King Lngaidh's wives were Crifan- 
 ga, of North Britain, and Derborgalla, 
 of Lapland, (Lochliu,) now called Den- 
 mark. Those who write that, being 
 struck with sudden remorse for having 
 committed incest with his mother, and 
 being wearied with his life, he fell upon 
 his own sword, have not considered 
 that the son which she was said to have 
 borne him was not posthumous, but was 
 of an age to claim his birthright, a 
 year after his father's death. Neither 
 have they considered that Clothra must 
 have been long past child-bearing, not 
 only before the end, but long before the 
 beginning of his reign. The more pro- 
 bable opinion is, that he pined away 
 for the premature death of his wife, 
 Derborgalla." — O'Flaherty's Ogygia. 
 For the latter fact, this antiquary cites 
 the authorities of Gilla-Caemhan, the 
 Book of Lccan, the Annals of Tigher- 
 nach, and those of Donegal. 
 " A. M. 5192. — Four Masters. 
 
 * Concobar I. 
 
 * A. M. 5193.— Four Makers. 
 
 19 
 
 " Niadh-Nair. Sufficient evidence 
 has been adduced in the notes upon the 
 reign of this king's father, to prove the 
 repulsive legend upon which this deriv- 
 ation is founded to be an idle and im- 
 possible, and perhaps a malicious, fic- 
 tion — that is, if the legend be not itself 
 built upon forced interpretations of the 
 terms " Eiabh-n-derg" and " Niadh- 
 Nair." In the following extract from 
 Dr. O'Donovan's work, already so often 
 quoted, will be found an explanation 
 of this surname, that, though much 
 more poetic, is perhaps much nearer to 
 the truth. 
 
 " Expedition. The Leahhar Gab- 
 hala of the O'Cleries contains a poem 
 of seventy-two verses, ascribed to King 
 Crimthann himself, in which he de- 
 scribes the articles he brought into 
 Ireland on this occasion. It begins 
 "Ma do codh an eachtra n-an" i. e. 
 " fortunate that I went on the delight- 
 ful adventure." But no mention is made 
 of the countries into which he went 
 It is fabled that he was accompanied 
 on this expedition by his Bainlcannan, 
 or female sprite, named Naik, from 
 whom he was called Niadh Nairi, 
 {Neea Naari,) i. e. Nair'a hero, which 
 is iar more romantic than that dlsgnst^ 
 
290 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 beyond the sea, and brought home with him several extraordi- 
 nary and costly treasures, among which were a gilt chariot and 
 a golden chessboard, inlaid with three hundred transparent gems, 
 a tunic^^ of various colors, and embroidered with gold. He also 
 brought off a victorious sword, ornamented with a variety of ser- 
 pents, beautifully wrought thereon in refined gold ; a shield, em- 
 bossed with pure silver; a spear from whose wound no one could 
 recover ; a sling that never missed the mark ; two hounds leashed 
 together by a silver chain, worth a hundred cumhals,^^ with many 
 other treasures which we shall not name here. 
 
 In the twelfth year^* of this king's reign Avas born OuR 
 Saviour, Jesus Christ. 
 
 Crimthann's death was occasioned by a fall from his horse, 
 which proved fatal in a short time; and others add, that this 
 event took place at Dun Crinithann, near Benn Edar, (now 
 Howth), about six weeks after his return from his expedition. 
 
 ExiracC^ from the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland hy the Four 
 
 Masters. 
 
 •' The Age of Christ, 10. The first year of the reign of Car- 
 BRI KiNNCAiT, after he had killed the nobility, except a few 
 who escaped from the massacre in which the nobles were mur- 
 ing one given by Keating, obviously ^* The Auuals of the Four Masters 
 from some Munster calumniator of the record this event thus : " The first year 
 race Heremon, (lírimhóu.) The follow- of the Age of Christ, and ihe eighth of 
 lowing notice of this expedition is the reign of Crimthann Niadhnair." 
 given in the Annals of Clonraacnoise : There is thus, relatively to Crimthann's 
 
 " It is reported that he was brought reign, a discrepancy of four years be- 
 by a fairy lady into her palace, where, tween them and Dr. Keating. Irish 
 after great entertainment b&stowed authorities differ considerably as to tho 
 upon him, and after having enjoyed the reign in which the birth of the Saviour 
 society of one another, she bestowed a took place, some arguing that it look 
 gilt coach (chariot) with a sum of place in that of Conari Mor, while 
 money on him, as a love token, and soon others put it back as far as the reign 
 after he died. O'Flahcrty [See note of Factna Fathach. 
 (Nair) p. 294] says that this Nair was *° Extract. Dr. Keating, for some 
 Crimthann's queen." — O'D. unexplained reason, has misplaced the 
 
 " A tunic, called otherwise " Ccdacb reign of Carbri Keini-cait. in contra- 
 
 Grimthainn," i. e. Crimthann's cloak, diction to all our antiquarians. As he 
 
 It is evident that this cloak was cele- has been decidedly mistaken in this, the 
 
 brated in Iri.-?h romances. — O'D. editor, before continuing the Doctor's 
 
 " Worth a hundred cumhals. Ano- narraliv(!, has deemed it right to insert 
 
 ther version of this story says, " which in liis text, the abovivgiven extract, 
 
 chain was worth a hundred ' cumluiLs.'" containing the reigns of three kings, so 
 
 Gumhal (Cúval or Cooal) is translated that the reader may not be set astray 
 
 ancillis, i. e. female servants or slaves, as to the regular order in which the 
 
 by Lynch. Other authorities say that Irish kings succeeded one another, dur- 
 
 a " cumhal " was of the value of four ing what seems to have been a most 
 
 90WC. critical period in the existence of the 
 
THE HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 291 
 
 dcred by the Atliach-Tuatha.^^ These are tlie three nobles who es- 
 caped froni them at that time : Feradacli Finn-fectnacli, from 
 whom arc sprung all the race of Conn of the Hundred Battle^; 
 Tibradi Tirech, from whom are the Dal Araide; and Corb 
 Olum, from whom are the kings of the Eoganachts, in Munster. 
 And as to these, it was in their mothers' wombs they escaped. 
 Baini, daughter of the king of Alba, was the mother of Feradach" 
 
 Gaelic nation. The translation here 
 given is Dr. O'Donovan's, with some 
 slight chansrc in the spelling of proper 
 uanics, M'hiuh is made in order to agree 
 with the system, with regard to such 
 names, which has been hitherto followed 
 in this work. 
 
 ^* Athach- 7wai/ia,otherwise Aitheach- 
 Tuatha [Ahagh-Tooaha). " This name 
 is usually latinized ' Attacotti.' Dr. 
 O'Connor calls them the Giant Race ; 
 but Dr. Lynch and others, the Plebeian 
 Race. They were the descendants of 
 the Fer-Bolgs and other colonies, who 
 were treated as a servile and helot 
 class by the Scoti (or Gaels). In the 
 I.«abhar Gabhala {Lavar Gavaula) of 
 the O'Cleries, a more detailed account 
 of the murder of the Milesian nobility 
 by the Fer-Bolgic plebeians is given, of 
 which the following is a literal trans- 
 lation : 
 
 " ' The Attacotti of Ireland obtained 
 great sway over the nobility, so that the 
 latter were all cut off except those who 
 escaped the slaughter in which the no- 
 bles were exterminated. The Attacotti 
 afterwards set up Carbri Cat-Kinn, one 
 of their own race, as their king. These 
 are the three nobles that escaped from 
 this massacre, namely, Feradach Finn- 
 fectnach, from whom are descended all 
 the race of Conn of the Hundred Bat 
 tics ; Tibradi Tirech. from whom are 
 the Dal Araide ; and Corb Olum, from 
 whom are the nobles of the race of 
 Ebcr Finn. These sons were in their 
 mothers' wombs when they escaped 
 from the massacre ; and each of the 
 three queens went respectively over sea. 
 Baini, daughter of the king of Alba, 
 was the mother of Feradach ; Cruifi, 
 daughter of the king of Britnin, was 
 the mother of Cor!) Olum, who was 
 otherwise called Dergtinui ; and Aiui, 
 daughter of the king of Saxony, v/as 
 the mother of Tibradi Tirech, Evil, 
 
 indeed, was the condition of Ireland 
 during the time of this Carbri, for the 
 earth did not yield its fruits to the 
 Attacotti after the great murder of the 
 nobility of Ireland, so that the corn, 
 fruits and produce of Ireland, were bar- 
 ren ; for there used to be but one grain 
 upon the stalk, one acorn upon the oak, 
 and one nut upon the hazel. Fruitless 
 were her harbors ; milkless her cattle ; 
 so that a general famine prevailed du- 
 ring the five years that Carbri was in 
 the sovereignty. Carbri afterwards 
 died, and the Attacotti offered the sov- 
 ereignty to Morann, son of Carbri. He 
 was a truly intelligent and learned man, 
 and said that he would not accept of 
 it, as it was not his hereditary right ; 
 and, moreover, he said that scarcity 
 and famine would not cease until they 
 should send for the three legitimate 
 heirs, to the foreign countries, namely, 
 Feradach Finnfectnach, Corb Olum, 
 and Tibradi Tirech, and elect Feradach 
 as king, for to him it was due, because 
 his father was killed by them in the 
 massacre we have mentioned, whence 
 his mother, Baini, had escaped. This 
 was done at Morann's suggestion ; and 
 it was to invite Feradach to be elected 
 king, that Morann sent the celebrated 
 Udhacht (oofl.g///) or Testament. The 
 nobles were afterwards sent for, and the 
 Attacotti swore by the heaven and 
 earth, Sun, Moon and all the elements, 
 that they would be obedient to them 
 and their descendants, as long as the 
 sea should surround Ireland. They 
 then came to Ireland, and settled each 
 in his hereditary region, namely, Ti- 
 bradi Tirech in the east of Ulster ; Corb 
 Olum in the south, over Munster , and 
 Feradach Finnfectnach, at Temhair of 
 the kino's.' " — 0' Donovan. 
 
 1'' Feralac'i. Conn of the Hundred 
 Battles, who was the ancestor of most of 
 the royal tribes of Ulster and Con- 
 
292 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Finn-i>ctnach ; Cruiii, daughter of the king of Britain, was the 
 mother of Corb Olum;^^ and Aini, daughter of the king of Sax- 
 ony, was the mother of Tibradi Tirech.^^ 
 
 " The Age of Christ, 14. Carbri Catkenn, after having been 
 five years in the sovereignty of Irehmd, died. Evil was the 
 state of Ireland during his reign ; iruiiless her corn, for there 
 used to be but one grain on the stalk ; fruitless her rivers; milk- 
 less her cattle ; plentiless her fruit, for there used to be but one 
 acorn on tlie oak. 
 
 " Son to this Carbri was the very intelligent Morann, who was 
 usually called Morann Mac Maein.^" 
 
 "The Age of Christ, 15. The first year of Feradach Finn- 
 FECTNACH as king over Ireland. Good was Ireland during his 
 time. The seasons were right ti'anquil. The earth brought 
 forth its fi'uit ; fishful its river-mouths ; milkful the kine ; heavy- 
 headed the woods. 
 
 " The Age of Christ, 36. Feradach Finn-fectnach, son of Crim- 
 thann Niadhnair, after having spent twenty-two years in the 
 sovereignty of Ireland, died at Tcmhair. 
 
 " The Age of Christ, 37. Tlie first year of Fiatach Finn,* 
 son of Dari, son of Dluthach, in the sovereignty of Ireland. 
 
 naught, was his fourth descendant. The 
 royal tribes (the Mao Morroughs, &c.), 
 of Leinstcr, are not of his posterity, so 
 that their ancestor must have escaped 
 the slaughter, as well as the three 
 chiefs named above. 
 
 *' Corb Gum. His fourth descend- 
 ant was Olild Olum, ancestor of all the 
 royal tribes of Munster. Some of the 
 Hcremonian Ernaans or Degadiana of 
 West Munster, the OTalvies, O'Cou- 
 nells, 0"Shcas, &c., must have likewise 
 escaped the massacre of Magh-Bolg, 
 for they are not of the race of any of 
 those here mentioned. 
 
 '* TiBnAUi TiRKCH reigned over Ul- 
 6tcr for thirty years, lie was the an- 
 cestor of the Magenn'ses and their co- 
 relatives ; but other (jiaelic sopts of the 
 Irian stock, such as the O'Mooras, the 
 O'Connors Kerry and ('orcomroe, &c., 
 are not of liis posterity, so that their 
 ancestors must have also escaped: 
 
 " Mirann Mic Mnein. Tliis fact 
 of Morann Mac Maein'a having been 
 the son of Carbri Kenn-cait, and his 
 having been the promoter of Ferad- 
 ach 's elevation to thi; tliroiie after his 
 father's death, ou'rht to have demon- 
 
 strated to Dr. Keating his mistake in 
 placing Carbri's usurpation three reigns 
 later than it really was. " Mr. Moore 
 states in his History of Ireland, that 
 the administration of this ccunseller 
 succccdod in earning for his king (Fe- 
 radach) the honorable title of ' The 
 Just,' and that, under their joint sway, 
 the whole country enjoyed a lull of 
 tranquillity as precious as it was rare ;" 
 but the O'Clery's assert {in the trnd 
 Idtt quoted), that "Feradach proceeded 
 to extirpate the Athach-'ruatlia, or to 
 put them under great rent aiid servi- 
 tude, to revenge upon them the evil 
 deed they had committed in murdering 
 the nobility of Ireland. — O'F. 
 
 " FiATAcn Finn. The ancestor or 
 father of this king was apparently not 
 involved in the slaughter of Magh-Bolg. 
 From him was d'scended the Dal-Fia- 
 ta<;h,a warlike tribe seated in the pres- 
 ent county of Down. Mac Donlevy, 
 who offered such brave to Sir John ])e 
 Courcy, in the I'ith century, was head 
 of the tribe. The editor's copies of 
 Keating call this king Fiacaidh Finn, 
 and his descendants Dal Fiacach. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 293 
 
 " The Ago of Christ, 39. This Fiatach Finn (from whom are 
 the Dal Fiatach, in Uladh), after having been three years in the 
 sovereignty of Ireland, was killed by Fiachaidh Finnfolaidh. 
 
 " The age of Chi'ist, 40. The first year of the reign of Fiachaidh 
 Finnfolaidh over Ireland. 
 
 " The Age of Christ, 56. Fiachaidh Finnfolaidh, after having 
 been seventeen years in the sovereignty of Ireland, was killed 
 by the provincial kings at the instigation of the Athach-Tuatha, 
 in the slaughter of iMagh-Bolg.^^ These were the provincial 
 kings by whom he was killed: Ellm, son of Conra, king of Ul- 
 ster ; Sanb, son of Ketli Mac Magach, king of Connaught ; For- 
 bri, son of Finn, king of Munster, and Eocaidh Ankenn, king 
 of Lcinster. lie left of children but one son only, who was in 
 the womb of Ethni, daughter of the king of Alba. Tuathal 
 was his (the son's) name. 
 
 " The Ago of Chriit, 57. The first year of the reign of Elim, 
 son of Conra. 
 
 " The Age of Christ, 76. Elim, son of Conra, after having 
 been twenty years in the sovereignty of Ireland, was slain in the 
 battle of Achill,^^ by Tuathal Tectmar, God took vengeance on 
 the Athach-Tuaiha for their evil deed,^ durinsf the time that 
 Elim was in the sovereignty, namely : Ireland was without corn, 
 without milk, without fruit, without fish, and without every 
 other great advantage, since the Athach-Tuatha had killed 
 Fiachaidh Finnolaidh in the slaughter of Magh-Bolg, till the time 
 of Tuathal-Toctmar." 
 
 ■' Magh Bolg.i.e. the Belgian Plain, Conall Kearnach and Fergus Mac Roigh 
 
 now Moybolgue. a parish in the south- were not involved therein. The close 
 
 east of Cavan, extending into Meath. — alliance, also, in which the Irian, Elim 
 
 O'D. Mac Oonnrach, (who was, also, of the 
 
 ^ Achi/l or Achilla, the old name of royal stock of Miledh), with the plebe- 
 
 the hill of Skrcen, near Tara, in Meath. ians, shows the partial nature of the 
 
 — O'D. slaughter committed by the oppressed 
 
 -' Evil-Deed. That the slaughter of races. It is likely, then, that the mas- 
 
 the Saer-Claima, i. e. free clans or no- sacre, in both the insurrections above 
 
 bility of the Gaels, was not so general recounted, was confined to a few of the 
 
 as represented verbally in the hyper- chieftains of the more domiimnt fam- 
 
 bolic accounts given of the first insur- ilies of the jNIilesian tyrants of the At- 
 
 rectiou of the plebeians, may be easily tacotti. — It is, indeed, questionable 
 
 Been from the events recorded in our whether the vast majority of the pres- 
 
 Annals and other records, as having ent descendants of the Melesians would 
 
 taken place soon after. It is evident now qualify that struggle for freedom 
 
 that the ancestors of the Leinster royal on the part of the uufree tribes by the 
 
 families, of the Dal-Fiatach of Ulster, name of evil deed. '• Tempora mun- 
 
 the race of Conari Mor or the Ernaans tantur et nos mutamur in illis." The 
 
 of Munster,and several tribes through- times have changed, and we have changed 
 
 out Ireland, of the races of the Irians, our minds — or, it were time we liad. 
 
294 - THE UISTOIiY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Dr. Keating^s Uistory resumed. 
 FERADACn riNN-FECTNACH, ARD-RIGIl. 
 
 A. D. 4.^ Feradacli Finn-fectuadi, son of Criinlliaiin Niadb- 
 Kair, son of Lugaidh Riabli-n-Derg, of the line of Eiimhon, 
 ruled Ireland for twenty years. {Naii^'^ Taethcaech^ daughter of 
 Loich^ son of Dari^ was the mother of Feradach.) He was called 
 Feradach Finn-fectnacli {F wfaghtnagh)^ Feradach the Fair 
 and Eightcoiis, because justice and truth were upheld in 
 Ireland during his reign. It was while he was monarch 
 that Morann, son of Maen flourished. This was that impar- 
 tial brehon who possessed the Collar of Morann.^^ It was 
 the property of this collar, when placed round the neck of a 
 brehon, about to deliver a false or unjust judgment, that it was 
 wont to contract tightly round his thi-oat, which it continued to 
 compress, ever until he should deliver a righteous judgment. It 
 had a like power in the case of the man who came to bear false 
 witness, and squeezed his throat until it had forced him to ac- 
 knowledge the truth. From this collar has come the old saying, 
 which is used in wishing that the Collar of Morann were 
 placed on the neck of him that comes to give testimonj^, in order 
 that he might be forced to declare the truth. And the righteous 
 Feradach died at Liatrum. 
 
 riACHAIDH FINN, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 24." Fiacaidh Finn ^^(from whom the Dal-Fiacach tribe 
 
 " A. D. 15. — Four Masters. mantic tale about lliat iiionarcli's 
 ^ Nuir. — This important entry rela- " J3ainleannaii" {H(intannaan) or fairy 
 live to the iiiotlicr of Feradach and mistress, cited in the note upon liis for- 
 wife of Crnmthann, the Hero of Nair, eifrn expedition. (.See note 11, p. 289). 
 is found in a copy of Kealinii', trans- -' CV/u)- o/" 3/oraníí, called in Irish,- 
 scribed in 1753 by William OiSiodh- " Idh Mhorainn" (ecA-jJOiT/H)}), i. c. the 
 chain (William O'Shechan), of Cul-an- Collar or Chain of Morann. " Thi.s 
 Mhota (Coolanvota) , near Kanturk, chain is mentioned in several comnien- 
 county of Cork, and approved of by the taries on the l^rehon Laws, as one of 
 celebrated Munster antiquary and bard, the ordeals of the ancient Irish." — O'D. 
 Eoghan O'Caeimh (Owen ()"Keeifc), Feradach appointed Moraim as his 
 which has been kindly lent'to the ed- chief brehon or jud,<;e, immediately after 
 iter by the transcriber's jrrandson, his own accession to the throne. Some 
 James Hheehan, Esq., of New York, say that this justfud^-e was called M,ac 
 barrister-at-law. It clearly shows Maein, from his mother, in order to 
 whence kiniy Crimthann, Feradach s avoid the odium attached to the nanio 
 father, had his surname " Niedh-Xair." of his father, the ])lebeian usurper (Jar- 
 It bears out the assertion of O'Flaherty bri Cat-Keim, who appears to have 
 heretofore cited, and confutes the re- been the Crf)mwell of Celtic Ireland, 
 pulsive etymology given to Crunithann's '■" A. ]). 37. — Four Blasters. 
 surname by our autiior, in treating of '•" Fiaoaioii V., called otherwise, 
 that monarch's reign. It also, in some Fiatach (/'a7ag-/i). (See extract before 
 measure, explains the origin of the ro- givea.J 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 295 
 
 is sprung), son of Dari, son of Dluthach, son of Desin, son of 
 Eocaidh, son of Sin, son of Eoisin, of the line of Erimhon, held 
 the sovereignty of Ireland for three years, and then fell bj 
 Fiacaidh Fnmolaidli. 
 
 FIACAIDH FINNOLAIDH, AED-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 28.^*' Fiacaidh Finnolaidh,^! son of Feradach the Right- 
 eons, of the line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland 
 for twenty-seven years. He received the surname of Finnolaidh, 
 i. e. the white cows, from tJie wliiteness of the greater part of the 
 cattle of Ireland during his reign ; for "Olaidh" or "folaidh" means 
 the same thing as cow. (It was in the time of Fiacaidh Finno- 
 laidh, that the masterdom of the world was enjoyed for two 
 years by Titus Vespasianus,^^ who destroyed the citj'- of Jerusa- 
 lem, in A. D. 40 (correctly 70), in vengeance for the blood of 
 Christ. At that time the people of Titus were known to sell 
 thirty of the Jewish race for one penny, because of the buying 
 of Jesus by the Jews for thirtj^ pence from Judas). The reader 
 should be here informed, that according to Stow's Chronicle, there 
 were some Scots dwelling in Alba in the year of our Lord 27, 
 that is, when Fiacaidh Finnolaidh was king of Ireland, and be- 
 fore Carbri Eiada was yet alive. It was by the plebeian tribes, 
 or Athach-Tuatha of Ireland, that this Fiacaidh was treacher- 
 ously murdered. 
 
 CARBRI KENN-CAIT, ARD-EIGH. 
 
 A. D. 54:P Carbri Kenn-Cait^ assumed the sovereignty of Ire- 
 land. He was the son of Dubthach, son of Rughri, son of Dith- 
 con Uaridnach, son of Tath Tedmannach, son of Luigni Liath- 
 kenn, son of Oris Eclonnach, son of Erndolb, son of Eindal, who 
 was called the son of the king of Lochlin, and who had come 
 with Labraidh Loingsech to the fortress of Tuaim-Tennbaeth ;^ 
 though others say that he was of the race of the Fer-Bolgs. He 
 reigned for five years, and then died of the plague. He was 
 
 ™ A. D. 40. — Four Masters. merated among the Irish kings by Tig- 
 
 ^' Fiacaidh VI. He was but sev- hernach, in his Annals. Neither docs he 
 
 enteen years in the sovereignty, accord- enumerate as such Fiatach or Fiachaidh 
 
 ing to the Four blasters. Tlic name Finn, the predecessor of Fiachaidh 
 
 is pronounced Feegha FinnuUee. Finnolaidh. He makes him but king 
 
 ^ r/i«.s Vespasianus. This entry of Emhain or Emania, for sixteen 
 
 between brackets, is found but in one years, which is thought to be correct, 
 
 of the translator's MSS. though he was more powerful than the 
 
 ^ A. D. 10.— Four Masters. actual king of Ireland. 
 
 " Carbki I. This is the monarch so ^ Tuaim Tennhaeth{Tooim Tinvvaih) 
 
 unaccountably displaced by Dr. Keat- is another name for the royal Lciiister 
 
 ing. A3 being a usurper, he is not enu- fortress of Dinu-righ on the Barrow. 
 
296 IBE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 called Carbri Kenn-Cait,^^ i. e. "cat-head," because his ears were 
 like those of a cat, as a bard thus tells us : 
 
 " The hardy Carbri thus was formed, 
 Who Kri swayed from south to north, 
 Cat's ears upon his head he bore, 
 With cat-like fur those ears were decked." 
 
 The following was the manner in which the sovereignty of 
 Ireland fell into the hands of Carbri. A treacherous plot was 
 formed by the Unfreo Tribes^^or Athach-Tuatha {Ahagh-Tooha) 
 of Ireland against the king and nobles of that country. This 
 plot they resolved upon putting into execution by means of u 
 feast, which was to be prepared by them and given to the king 
 and the nobles. Magh-Cio,^^ in Connaught, was the place where 
 it was to be served. And they were three years getting ready for 
 that feast, and diu'ing that time they laid up one-third of their prop- 
 erty and their crops, as a provision therefor. Then the Free Tribes 
 of Ireland came to partake of it, together with their three kings, 
 namely, Fiacaidh Finnolaidh, king of Ireland, and his wife 
 Ethni, daughter of the king of Alba ; Feig, son of Fidach, the 
 Short-sighted, king of Munster, and his wife was Berta, daughter 
 of Gortniadh, a king of Britain ; and Bresal, son of Ferb, king 
 of Ulster, and Ani, daughter of a king of Britain, was his wife, 
 and her father's name was Cannioll. There were three chieftains'' 
 over the Athach-Tuatha, or plebeians, likewise; namely, 
 Monach, Buadh, and Carbri Cat-Kenn, (or Kenn-cait,) who was 
 head over them all. 
 
 Nine days were spent in the enjoyment of that feast, and then 
 the plebeians fell to killing the men of the Free Tiibes of Eri, all 
 of whom they slaughtered upon that spot, with the exception of 
 
 ^ Kenrt-Cait. A more natural ety- of Fidach, Avas not the name of the 
 mology would be Keym, i. e. King or fatlier of Corb Ohim, and his mother 
 Khan of the Catti or Attacotti, i. e. was called Cru'fi, not Bcrta. 
 the Athach-Tuatha. " Cenn" {keii'i) ^" The ciiicftaiiis of the insurgents 
 the Gaelic for •' head," comes nearer to were, according to O'Flaherty, " Klim, 
 the English word "king" than the king of Ulster; Sanb, king of Con- 
 Saxon " Coning," the root usually naught ; T.uiraidh Allathach, great- 
 given to it. _ grandson of Cmiari I., and grandlathcr 
 
 " Unfree Tribes, in Irish, " Dacr- of Conari IT., king of Nortli Munster ; 
 
 Clanna,'' sometimes translated plebc- Forbri, son of Finn, of the line of 1th, 
 
 ians. The nol)le or free tribes were king of south Minister ; and Eo- 
 
 called " Haer-t!lanna." chaidh Ankenn, son of Brandubli I?rec, 
 
 * Ma<j;k-Cro, i. e. the bloody field, king of Leinster. Tie adds that " they 
 
 apparently another name for Magh- murdered Fiachaidh at Temhair, and 
 
 Bolg. Keating plainly confounds the not at Magh-Bolg, as they contend 
 
 persons and events, that took jdace who have penned the fal)ulous story of 
 
 in the first insurrection with those that the preservation of Tuathal in his 
 
 happened in the second. Feig, sou mother's womb." 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 297 
 
 the three children, yet unborn, of those three women above-men- 
 tioned, the wives of the three Irish kings. These ladies, then, 
 escaped to Alba, where they bore three sons, named Tuathal 
 Tectmar, {Toohal Tcif/Ziilmr,) Tibradi Tirech, {Tibradi Teeragh,) and 
 Corb Olum. 
 
 AVith respect to Ireland, great famines, with failures of crops 
 and many misibrtuncs, came upon the land ; and so it remained 
 ever until the three sons of those three kings, so foully mur- 
 dered, had grown up and were able to bear arms. Then, when 
 the men of Ireland had heard that these royal princes were yet 
 living, they sent ambassadors to communicate with them, and to 
 ask of them to return and resume the sovereignty of their fore- 
 fathers ; and they bound themselves by the sun and the moon to 
 render them obedience, and to remain thenceforth ever faithful 
 to their rule. Upon this the youth returned, and resumed the 
 inheritance of their sires, and with them its usual happiness came 
 back to Ireland, Carbri having died of the plague, as before men- 
 tioned. 
 
 ELIM, ARD-RIGH 
 
 A. D. 5d.^ Elim,^' son of Connra, son of Rosa Euadh, son of 
 Rudraide Mor, son of Sithrighe, son of Dubh, son of Fomhor, 
 of the line of Ir, son of Miledh, held the sovereignty of Ireland 
 for twenty years, when he was slain by Tuathal Tectmar. 
 
 TUATHAL TECTMAR, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 79.^ Tuathal Tectmar,^ son of Fiacaidh Finnolaidh, son 
 of Feradach Finn-fectnach, son of Crimthann Niadh-Nair, son of 
 Lugaidh Riabh-n-derg, of the line of Erimhon, held the sov- 
 ereignty of Ireland for thirty years. He received the surname 
 "Tectmar," {Taghivar^) i. e. the Welcome or the Desired, (from 
 "techt," (taghi,) a coming or arrival, by reason of the great pros- 
 perity that had come upon the land of Ireland during his reign. 
 Fiacaidh Finnolaidh had no other child but Tuathal, of whom 
 his wife, Ethni, daughter of the king of Alba, had been left 
 pregnant at the time when she escaped from the massacre of 
 Magh-Cro, in Connaught, where the Athach-Tuatlia {Ahagh- 
 Toolia) slaughtered Fiacaidh and the Free Clans of Ireland. 
 Tuathal, then, was reared and educated in Alba, until he had 
 reached his twenty-fifth year. Now, during that time, misfor- 
 tune had spread over Eri ; and, as the Athach-Tuatha were suf- 
 fering many miseries, they entered into counsel with their Druids. 
 
 *" A. D. 57.— Four blasters. "= Tuathal I. Tectmar, or Teacht- 
 
 *' Elim II. mliar, {Tag'itvar). is translated, "the 
 
 * A. D. 76. — Four Masters. Legitimate," by Dr. O'Douovan. 
 
298 • THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 in order to find out wlicncc or by what means sucK evils had 
 been brought upon the land, and how it might be rescued there- 
 from. The Druids replied, that all their woes had s|)iung from 
 the foul treason whieli thej had themselves jDei-pet lated aorainst 
 their kings and against their Free Clans. Thej told them, more- 
 over, that its wonted prosperity would never return to Ireland, 
 until some man of the race of those kmgs, whom they had mur- 
 dered should assume the sovereignty of their country. 
 
 It w^as about this time that the Athach-Tuatha had heard that 
 Fiacnidh Finnolaidh had lelt after him a son, who was named 
 Tuaihal Teetniar. Upon this, large numbers of them take coun- 
 sel together, and came to the resolution of sending ambassadors 
 to Alba, to invite over that prince. 
 
 But, during all this time, a remnant of the Free Clans, namely, 
 the children of Donn Desach, of Leinster, who were called 
 Fiacaidh Casin and Finnmall, his brother, with six hui.dred fol- 
 lowers und ;r their command, were continuing, as plunderers, to 
 lay waste the lands of Ireland, in vengeance for the treason 
 which the Athach-'^l'uatha had practised upon their kinsmen. 
 
 When Tuathal Toctmar had heard this, both he and his 
 mother, Ethni, set out for Ireland, attended by a numerous armed 
 host, he being then twenty-five j^ears old, and thej'- landed at 
 Irrus Domnan, where they were joined by Fiacaidh Casin and 
 his band. Thence they marched to Tcmhair, (Tara,) where his 
 party saluted Tuathal, king of Ireland. 
 
 Upon this, Elim, son of Connra, who had been sovereign of 
 Ireland, by ihc election of the Athach-Tuatha, from the death 
 of Carbri Cat-Kenn until that time, came to fight the battle of 
 Achill against Tuathal. In that engagement, the strength of 
 Athach-Tuatha was broken, and their king, Elim, was killed, and 
 the greater part of his arm}^ was slaughtered. After this, the Un- 
 free Clans were defeated by Tuathal, in twenty-five battles, in each 
 of the five provinces of Ireland. 
 
 AVhen he had thus broken dowai the power of his enemies by 
 these defeats, and thereby emancipated tiie Free Clans (jf Ireland 
 from the yoke of the Athach-Tuathii, Tuathal convened the 
 General Assembly or Feis of Temhair, according to the usage of 
 his predecessors,- who had been wont to summon and bring 
 together a general royal convention in the beginning of their 
 reigns, in order to regulate tlic laws and usages of the country. 
 Thither the nobles of the Gaels came to him fiom every province 
 of Ireland, and there they elected him as their king; for he had 
 freed them from the bondage of the Unfree Clans. And they 
 then swore, by all the elements, to leave the sovereignty of Ire- 
 land to him and his children fn* ever, according to the promise 
 formerly made to lugani Mor, 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 299 
 
 It was then, also, that he was granted four portions of land, 
 from four of the provinces, of which he constituted that terri- 
 tory which is now called Meath, as the peculiar domain of everj 
 monarch who shoidd, thenceforth, rule Ireland. For, although 
 the name of Midhe (m?(?,) or Ateath, had been applied to a dis- 
 trict near Uisnech, ever since the days of the children of Nemedh, 
 still it was not extended to those districts which were taken from 
 the provinces, until the reign of Tuathal, by whom they were 
 incorpoi'ated into a separate and distinct territory. Now, when 
 Tuathal had united these four portions together, and called them 
 all by the common name of Meath, he built four chief longphorts,** 
 i, e. chief I'esidenccs or capitals, therein, that is, a chief residence 
 in each particular portion thereof. 
 
 Tlactga*^ was thus built by him upon that portion of Mum- 
 
 ■" Longphorís. This word is com- 
 pounded of " long," a house, and " port," 
 a bank or embaukra:nt, i. e. a " port" 
 or embankment for " longa" or houses. 
 The word " long" means both a house 
 and a. sup, in the Gaelic tongue. It 
 would appear, that among some of the 
 tribjs that colonized northern Africa 
 in ancient times, there was one word, 
 a'so. which served to designate a house 
 and a ship. Taken in connection with 
 the resemblance there is between the 
 bardic tradition relative to the occu- 
 pation of Northern Africa by the 
 Cianaa Gaedhail, descended from Eber 
 Scot, the coincidence may not be alto- 
 gether accidental; nor may it be out 
 of place, here, to quote what the Eo- 
 mnn historian, Sallust, has said on the 
 subject of th:>se races, on the authority 
 of (Jarthagenian book.9. said to be those 
 of the NumiJian king, Hiempsal. The 
 reader will compare it with what has 
 been heretofore related on the same sub- 
 ject in this history and in the notes 
 thereon : 
 
 " Africa was at first possessed by 
 the Gaetulians and Lybians, a savage 
 and unpolished people, who lived upon 
 the flesh of wild lieasts, or fed upon the 
 herbs of the field like cattle ; subject 
 to no laws, discipline, or government : 
 without any fixed habitation ; wander- 
 ing from place to place, and taking up 
 the r abode wherever night overtook 
 them. But when Hercules died in 
 Spain, as the Africans think he did, his 
 army, made up of divers nations, hav- 
 
 ing lost their general, and many com- 
 petitors arising for the command, dis- 
 persed, in a short time. Those that 
 were Medes, Persians and Armenians, 
 sailed over into Africa and took pos- 
 session of those places that lie upon 
 our sea {the Mediterranean). The Per- 
 sians, however, settled near to the 
 ocean ; and they made themselves houses 
 of their ships turned upside down, be- 
 cause there was no timber in the coun- 
 try, nor had they an opportunity of im- 
 porting it from Spain, having no com- 
 merce with that nation, on account of 
 its distance from them by sea, and their 
 language, which was not understood 
 there. These, by degrees, mixed with 
 the Gelulians by intermarriages, and be- 
 cause they were continually shifting 
 from place to place {Scots oi- Scythians ?) 
 trying the goodness of the soil, they 
 called themselves Numidians (i. e. pas- 
 toral wanderers). The houses of the 
 Numidian peasants, which they call 
 Mapalia, are still like the hulls of ships, 
 of anohlongform. with coverings, rising 
 in the middle and bending at each end." 
 
 It is the opinion, and not an un- 
 tenable one, of some of our antiqua- 
 ries, that the tribe of Gaedal formed 
 one of the nations that followed the 
 above-mentioned Hercules of the Span- 
 iards and Africans. Some will have 
 him to have been, himself, the man our 
 bards have named the Galamh or the 
 Miledh of Spain. 
 
 •"^ Tiaztga, otherwise. Tlachlgha, 
 {Tlaghtga). This ancient seat of the 
 
300 THE HISTORY OP IRELAND, 
 
 ha, or ifunster, which he had just annexed to his royal domain. 
 It was there that the Festivid of the Fire of Tkictga was ordered 
 to be held, and it was thither that the druids of Ireland were 
 wont to repair and to assemble, in solemn meeting, on the eve of 
 Samhain, for the purpose of making a sacrifice to all the gods. 
 It was in that fire at Tlactga, that their sacrifice was burnt ; and 
 it was made obligatory, under pain of punishment, to extinguish 
 all the fires of Ireland, on that eve ; and the men of Ireland 
 were allowed to kindle no other fire but that one; and for each 
 of the other fires, which were all to be lighted from it, the king 
 of ]\[unster was to receive a tax of a sgreball, that is, of three 
 pence, because the land, upon which Tlactga was built, belongs 
 to the portion of Meath which had been taken from Munster. 
 
 UlSNECH ( Uóhnagh), the second chitf longphort or capital, he 
 built upon that portion which he had taken from Connaught. 
 It was there that the men of Ireland held that great meeting or 
 fair which was called the Mordljáil {mor-yauil), or Great Con- 
 vention of Uisnecli. It was the usage to hold this fair in the 
 month of May, and at it they were wont to exchange their goods 
 and their wares and their jewels. At it, they were, also, wont 
 to make a sacrifice to the Ai'ch-God that they adored, whose 
 name was Bel ibayl). It was, likewise, their usage to light two 
 fires to Bfl,'*^ in every district of Ireland, at this season, and 
 to drive a pair of each kind of cattle that the district contained, 
 between those two fires, as a preservative to guard them against 
 
 Irish Pantheon or Festival of all the was the kinj^ of the Irish g-ods ; that 
 Gods, is now called the Hill of Ward, is, their Jupiter. The sun was what 
 near Athboy, in the county of Meath. they seem to have adored under his 
 It is not likely that Tuathal was either name. From the ceremonies observed 
 the institutor of this feast or the found- with regard to the extinji^uishing and 
 er of t'.ie temple of Tlactga. Tlactga re-lighting of the private fires, on the 
 was, apparently, a celebrated scat of occasion of this festival, it is probable 
 druidic worship, long before his time, that the ancient Irish were Fire-wor- 
 We must, then, understand him but to shippers. The fires still lighted, in 
 have repaired its old buildings, ruined the more Gaelic parts of Ireland, on 
 or demolished during the Attacottic re- the eve of the 2ith of June, may be 
 bell/ons, and resuscitated its ceremonies, traced to the c(!remf)ny above men- 
 fallen into disuse during the period of tioned, as observed Avith regard to the 
 disorder that immediately precedeil his cattle. When forbidden by the church 
 reign. The assertion of his having to light fires in honor of their idol, 
 founded it, may have originated in his the Irish transferred the practice from 
 having includi'd it in Meath and takfiU Bel's eve, which is the eve of tlie first 
 it under his own immediate protection, of May, or Bcltaino, to that of the 
 from beiu'j: under that of one of the 24th oi" June. AVe have heard Uisnech 
 Munster pentarchs. (now Usnagh liill, in Meath), cele- 
 *° Bel, otherwise spelled Bcal. From brated as a druidic seat, in the times 
 what is here said, it would appear that of the Nemedians and Tuatha-Ue- 
 Bel (the same who was called Bcilus by DananiH ; so that no more than its ro- 
 the Latins, and Baal by the Ilebrcws), edification can bo claimed for Tuathal 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 801 
 
 all the diseases of that year. It is from that fire, thus made in 
 honor of Bel, that the day, on which the noble feast of the apos- 
 tles, Philip and James, is held, has-been called Beltaini or Beal- 
 tiiine {Bay UÍ7ime)\ for " Beltaini" is the same as "Bcil-leiné,"i. e. 
 *' Teinc Bheil " (Tinnie Vayl) or Bel's Fire. It was likewise or- 
 dained, that the king of Connaught should receive, as a tax, the 
 horse and the garments of ever}^ chieftain that came to that Great 
 Convention; for the ground upon which Uisnech is situated 
 belongs to that part of Meath which was taken from Connaught. 
 Talti-*^ or Tailteann was the name of the third chief long- 
 phort or residence constructed by Tuathal Tectmar. It was 
 there that the men of Ireland were wont to contract mamage 
 alliances and strike up friendly relations with one another. And 
 most proper and becoming was the custom, observed at that 
 meeting, namely, the men were on one side of the place of assem- 
 bly, apart by themselves, and the women on the other, while 
 their fathers and mothers were arranging all preliminaries be- 
 tween them, until the agreements and contracts were finally 
 decided ; as the bard relates in the following verse : 
 
 " No man came nigh those damsels bright, 
 Nor dame there heard soft sigh of lover ; 
 In ranks apart each sex stood ranged; 
 Within the hall of sacred Talti." 
 
 Although it was Lugaidh Lamfada that first instituted the 
 Fair of Talti in Ireland, as a solemn commemoration of his own 
 foster-mother, Talti, daughter of Maghmor, king of Spain, who 
 had been the wife of Eocaidh, son of Ere, the last king of the 
 Fer-Bolgs, (as we have heretofore stated), when the same Lugaidh 
 buried Talti beneath that mound, and when he convened that 
 fair, as a solemn rite or memorial in honor of her ; in memory 
 whereof, the name Lughnasa (Loonassa) or "Nasa Lugha" is to 
 this day given to the first of August, whereon is kept the feast 
 of St. Peter's Chains ; but, although the sacred mound of Talti 
 had been in existence, and the solemn fair kept up ever since 
 the days of Lugaidh Lamfada, still Talti was never erected into 
 a royal residence until the days of Tuathal Tectmar. It was the 
 king of Ulster that received the rent or taxes of this fair ; for 
 the ground, whereon Talti stood, formed part of that section of 
 Ulster which had been annexed to Meath. The following was 
 the amount of that rent or tax, namely, an ounce of silver from 
 every couple that got married during the festival. 
 
 Temhair was his fourth royal capital. It lies in that quarter 
 of Meath which was taken from Leinstcr. We have already 
 
 " TaUi, or Tailteann, now called Teltown, in Meath, as before stated. 
 
302 . THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 told, that it was at this place that they were wont to cel- 
 ebrate the Feis Temrach {Fesh Tavragh) every third year, having 
 first made sacrifice to all the gods at Tlactga, as a preparation for 
 that great convention. It was here, as we have also before said, 
 that their laws and usages were ordained, and that the annals 
 and historic records of Ireland were subjected to examination, in 
 order that the Ard-ollamhs might write down all that had been 
 sanctioned thereof, in the Eoll of the King=!, which was called 
 the Saltair Temrach (i. e. the Psalter of Tara) ; and, according to 
 the chief book, just mentioned, neither law nor usage nor his- 
 toric record was ever held as genuine until it had received such 
 approval ; and nothing, that disagreed with the Eoll of Temhair, 
 could be respected as truth. 
 
 I shall not here make special mention of the laws and usages 
 enacted at the conventions of Temhair. It would occupy me 
 too long; for the Law Books of the territorial brehons are filled 
 up thereof But, I shall, nevertheless, set down the usage that 
 was ordained and observed at Temhair with respect to the ar- 
 rangement of the nobles and the warriors, when they met together 
 in the Banquet Hall, to partake of the public feast. 
 
 It was, then, the i^rescribed dutj^of every "Ollamh re Senchas" 
 or Doctor of Ilistory, in Ireland, to inscribe in the Eoll of Tem- 
 hair, the names of all such nobles as Avere lords of territories, 
 each lord according to his rank and title ; and every chieftain of 
 those bands of warriors who were maintained at free quarters," 
 for the defence and guardianship of the lands of Eri, had his 
 name, also, in that roll, by the Ard-ollamh. Of these nobles, 
 both territorial lords and captains of bands of warriors, each 
 man was always attended by his own proper shield-bearer. Again, 
 their banquet-halls were arranged in the following manner, to wit: 
 they were long, narrow buildings, with tables arranged along both 
 the opposite side walls of the hall ; then, along these side-walls 
 there was placed a beam, in which were fixed numerous hooks 
 (one over the seat destined for each of the nobles,) and between 
 every two of them there was but the breadth of one shield. Up- 
 
 ** Free qv/trters. These were the hired nnf^ht) or quartcrasre, upon them, 
 soldiery of that day. They were men Hence, " ljuar)aidhe" {bonuce) come to 
 of the Noble, or Free-tribes, who, find- signify a hired soldier. Tlie word Avatj 
 ing their own territories too narrow for anglicized " bonnaght" during the An- 
 them, or being expelled therefrom, cith- glo-Norman wars. I'he word is, seeni- 
 er by a more powerful clan or by do- ingly, derived from " buan." i. c. Inst- 
 mestic revolution, sold their swords to ?»g or duuiblc, so that even in its ety- 
 some chieftain for pay. lie, having no niohigy it has some analogy (though 
 money to pay them withal, generally probably accidental) with the Latin 
 quartered them upon his serfs, that is, "solidariua" i.e. //?Ve//'?iir, whence comes 
 be placed them at " buanacht" {boo- the English word " soldier." 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 303 
 
 on these hooks the Shannachie*' hung up the shields of the nobles, 
 previous to their sitting down to the banquet, at which they all, 
 both lords and captains, sat, each beneath his own shield. How- 
 ever, the most honored side of the house was occupied by the 
 territorial lords, whilst the captains of w'arriors were seated op- 
 posite them, at the other; the upper end of the hall was the 
 place of the ollamhs, while its lower end was assigned to the at- 
 tendants and the officers in waiting. It was also prescribed, that 
 no man should be placed opposite another at the same table, but 
 that all, both the territorial lords and captains, should sit with 
 their backs towards the wall, beneath their own shields. Again, 
 they never admitted females into their banquet halls : these had 
 a hall of their own, in which they were separately served. It 
 was, likewise, the prescribed usage, to clear out the banquet 
 hall previous to serving the assembled nobles therein ; and no 
 one was allowed to remain in the building but three, namely, a 
 shannachie, a " bolsgari " or marshal of the houseliold, and a 
 trumpeter, the duty of which latter officer it was to summon all 
 the guests to the banquet hall by the sound of his trumpet-horn. 
 He had to sound his trumpet three times. At the first blast, 
 the shield-bearers of the territorial chieftains assembled round the 
 door of the hall, where the marshal received from them the 
 shields of their lords, which he then, according to the directions 
 of the shannachie, hung up, each in its assigned place. The 
 trumpeter then sounded his trumpet a second time, and the 
 shield-bearers of the chieftains of the military bands assembled 
 round the door of the banquet hall, where the marshal received 
 their lord's shields from them, also, and hung them up at the 
 other side of the hall, according to the orders of the shannachie, 
 and over the table of the warriors. The trumpeter sounded his 
 trumpet the third time, and, thereupon, both the nobles and the 
 warrior chiefs entered the banquet hall, and there each man sat 
 down beneath his own shield, and thus were all contests for pre-, 
 cedency avoided amongst them. 
 
 The Boroimhe (Borivvie) or Boromlia''^ Laighen (Borooa Loyen), 
 
 i. e. the Lcinster Tribute^ down here. 
 
 It was this Tuathal Tectmar, of whom we are now treating, 
 that, in vengeance for his two daughters, named Fithir and Da- 
 
 ** Smnnachie. " Senctaidhe," of hair. In that special case it is not mis- 
 which this is an anglicised form, de- applied, but it lacks propriety of cos- 
 rived from " sen" {slian) old, properly tume, and is thence likely to lead to 
 means h-storian. Some translate it by false notions. 
 
 Iierald, in describing the duties of that " Boromha. This word is mostly 
 
 ofiBccr at the " Feis " of Tara or Tem- translated covj-tribute, but it was not 
 
80á THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 rinni, first imposed the Boromlia, as a permanent tax, upon the 
 men of Leinster. At this time there reigned in Leinster a king 
 who was called Eocaidh Ainkenn." This man had married Da- 
 rinni, daughter of Tuathal Tectmar, and taken her to his resi- 
 dence at Magh-Lugadh, in Leinster. But, after some time, he 
 came to Temhair, and having informed Tuathal Tectmar that 
 Darinni was dead, he next demanded her sister Fithir, also, as 
 wife ; and Tuathal granted her to him ; and he, thereupon, bore 
 her off to his own dwelling. But when Fithir saw her sister 
 aHve, she fell dead through shame-; whereupon Darinni, having 
 come to make her lamentations over her betrayed sister, died 
 herself upon the spot, of grief It is in record of that event, 
 that the bard has made the following verse : 
 
 " Fithir and Darinni mild 
 Were conquering Tuatbal's daughters ; 
 Through shame the gentle Fithir died— 
 For her Darinni died, through sorrow." 
 
 When Tuathal heard of the death of these two ladies, he was 
 seized with violent rage and indignation ; and he sent ambassa- 
 dors to the noble chieftains of Eri, to complain of the foul and 
 treacherous act of the king of Leinster. Upon this, these nobles 
 sent him aid in men and arms, in order that the might wreak 
 ample vengeance for the deed. But then, as Tuathal was about 
 to plunder and devastate Leinster, the Lagenians, not being able 
 to meet him in the field, submitted to a fine, which was to be 
 paid by themselves and their posterity after them, as a retribu- 
 tion for thi djath of his daughters, both to Tuathal himself and 
 to every king of his race that should succeed him on the Irish 
 throne. The f(;llowing was the amount'' of that fine, which the 
 
 merely a cow-tribute ; and if there be 150 hogs, 1.50 covcrlctts or pieces of 
 no authority for so translating it but cloth, to cover beds withal ; 150 caul- 
 the " sanasaiii" or etymologies of the drons, with two passing great caul- 
 Irish bards, of which we have seen so drons, consisting in breadth and deep- 
 many absurd specimens hitherto, it is ness five fists, for the kings own brew- 
 most uncertain whether the word " bo," ing ; 1 50 couples of men and women in 
 a cow, enter at all into its composi- servitude, to draw water on their backs 
 tion. The celobnitod monarch. Brian, for the said Ijrcwing ; together with 150 
 had his surname IJonmiha or Bt^roimhc maids, with the king of Jjcinster's owp 
 (usually anglicized Boru), from having daughter, in like bondage and scrvi- 
 enforcod the payment of the tribute tude." 
 now treated of. O'FIaherty tells us that Eocaidh 
 
 " Ainkena, commonly spelled Ain- was beheaded by 'J'uathal, and his 
 
 cheaun. ills first wife's name is other- brother Ere set by him, as king of 
 
 wise spelled Dairfliinc. Leinster in his stead. They were 
 
 " TÚC nmnaul. In the Annals of both Damnoniau Belgians, or Fer- 
 
 Clonmacnoise, the amount of the borom- Bolgs. 
 ha is stated iia follows : " 150 cows, 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 305 
 
 people of Lcinster were bound to pay, every second year, to the 
 kings of Ireland, as a punishment for the death of the children 
 of Tuathal, namely, three-score hundred cows, three-score hun- 
 dred ounces of silver, three-score hundred mantles, three-score 
 hundred hogs, three-score hundred wethers, three-score hundred 
 brazen cauldrons ; and the following, also, is the apportionment^ 
 that was made thereof, to wit, one-third to Connaught, one-third 
 to the Oirghialla, and one-third to the Ui Neill. In the tale 
 called the Eoroimhc Laighen {Borivvie Loyen), we find the fol- 
 lowing verses in record of these facts : 
 
 " Three-score hundred kine they pay, 
 
 Kine free from fault ; 
 Three-score hundred ounces pure 
 
 Of silver white ; 
 Three-score hundred mantles fine, 
 
 Of choicest woof; 
 Three-score hundred well-fed hogs 
 
 Of highest price ; 
 Three-score hundred wethers broaa, 
 
 Of thickest fleece ; 
 Three-score hundred cauldrons bright, 
 
 Of copper red. 
 One-third of these is Connact's due 
 
 By usage old ; 
 One-third the bold Oirghialla claim ; 
 
 One-third Clan Neill." 
 
 This, then, was the tribute, which was called the Boroimhe of 
 Leinster, and which continued to be exacted during the reigns 
 of forty kings, from the reign of Tuathal to the time when Fin- 
 nacta I. was monarch of that country, as the bard tells us: 
 
 " Full forty monarchs' reigns had passed, 
 When generous Finnacta was king ; 
 They all the boromha had claimed. 
 Since Tuathal dwelt at Tlactga." 
 
 It was the holy saint Moling, that at length procured its final 
 abolition. He persuaded Finnacta to promise to forego its exac- 
 tion until Monday ^^ by which Monday he meant the Day of Gen- 
 eral Judgment, which is called the Monday of Eternity, The Bo- 
 romha was sometimes submissively paid by the people of Leinster ; 
 at others, they resisted its exaction. Thence arose many wars and 
 
 " Apportionment. " One third of remainder between the queen of Tem- 
 
 of this tribute was paid to the kings of hair and the king of Munster." — 0'- 
 
 Ulster, until the destruction of limhain, Flaherty. 
 
 when it was transferred to the Oirgh- " Monday. " According to the an- 
 
 ialla by Muredach, monarch of Ireland ; cient historical romance called the 
 
 another third was paid to the kings of Baromha-Laigken, St. Moling obtained 
 
 Connaught ; Tuathal distributed the its remission while the celebrated Ad- 
 
 20 
 
306 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 conflicts between them and tlie monarcli, in wliicli countless mul- 
 titudes fell on either side. 
 
 Tuathal Tectmar was at length slain^^ by Alal, the son of Ro- 
 craide. 
 
 amnan was in Ireland ; and, contrary 
 to the latter's will, who wished that the 
 Leinstcr men should pay to the race of 
 Tuathal Tectmar, forever. It apj^ears, 
 however, that Moling's sanctity pre- 
 vailed against the repi-esentative of 
 Tuathal and his aristocratic rela- 
 tive, Adamnan, Abbot of lona ; for, 
 by a singular use of the ambiguity of 
 the Irish word " luau" (which means 
 Monday, and also the Day of Judg- 
 ment), in his covenant with the mon- 
 arch, he abolished this exorbitant trib- 
 ute — not till Monday, as the monarch 
 understood, but till the Day of Judg- 
 ment, as the saint intended. " It would 
 be better,'' says a writer in the Dublin 
 University Magazine, " for the people 
 of Leinstcr to have continued to pay 
 the Borumean tribute to this day, than 
 that their St. Moling should have set 
 an example of clerical special pleading 
 and mental reservation, in the equivo- 
 cation by wliich he is represented to 
 have procural the release from that 
 impost." On this it may be observed, 
 that if St. Moling was really guilty of 
 this equivocation, his notions were not 
 of a very lofty pagan character, and 
 not at all in accordance with the doc- 
 trine of the Gospel and the practice of 
 the primitive Christians ; but it is to 
 be suspected that the equivocation had 
 its origin in the fanciful brain of the 
 author of the historical romance called 
 the " Boromha Laighcn," who (lisplaijs 
 his own, not St. Moling's mornUtij, in 
 the many strange incidents with which 
 he embellishes the simple events of his- 
 tory. We may easily believe that 
 Adamnan wished that the race of Tu- 
 athal should remain forever the domi- 
 nant family in Ireland ; but were we to 
 believe him to have been such a person 
 as this story represents him to have 
 be^n, wc should at once reject as ficti- 
 tious the character of him given by the 
 Venerable Bede, who describes him as 
 
 ' Yir bonus ct sapiens, et scientia scrip" 
 turarum nobilissime instructus,' i. e. a 
 truly good and wise man, and one most 
 remarkably learned in the knowledge 
 of the Scriptures." — O'D.'s Notes on the 
 Four Masters. 
 
 St. Moling flom-ishcd in the sixth 
 century. 
 
 " Slain. " Tuathal Tectmar, after 
 having been thirty years in the sover- 
 eignty of Ireland, was killed by Mai, 
 son of Rocraide, king of Ulster, in 
 ]\Iagh-Line. Kenn-Guba is the name 
 of the hill on which he was killed, as 
 this quatrain proves. 
 
 'Tuatlial, for whom there was fair, 
 Chief of Meath of tliousand heroes, 
 Was womuied, that fair chief of Fremhaln, 
 On the hill-side o'er Glenu-an-Gabann.' " 
 Four Masters. 
 
 Kenn or Cenn-Guha, i. e. the Hill 
 of Grief, is now called Ballyboley Hill, 
 in Kilwaughter Parish, near the place 
 where the three baronies. Upper Glen- 
 arm, Upper Antrim, and Lower Bel- 
 fast meet. Tuathal's monument is still 
 to be seen on this hill, at a place now 
 called Carndoo. — O'D. 
 
 '• During the reign of Tuathal, there 
 were appointed courts for the better 
 regulation of the concerns of trades- 
 men and artificers ; an institution, 
 which, could we place reliance on the 
 details relating to it, would imply an 
 advanced state of interior traffic and 
 merchandise. One fact, which appears 
 pretty certain is, that previously to the 
 system now introduced, none of the 
 Milesian or dominant caste had conde- 
 scended to occupy themselves in trade ; 
 all mechanical employments and handi- 
 crafts being left to the descendants of 
 the old conquered Iriln's ; while for the 
 issue of the minor l)ranchcs of the Mi- 
 lesians, were reserved the appointments 
 in the militia (i. o./ír;/j/í) of Krin, and 
 the old hereditary offices of antiquaries, 
 bards, physicians and judges. — Moore." 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 307 
 
 MAL, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 109.^ 'Mai, son of Eocraide, son of Catbbaiclh Finn, 
 son of Giallcaidh, son of Finncaidh, son of Muredach, son of 
 Fiacaidli Fiunamnas son of Irial Glunmar, son of Conall Kear- 
 nach, son of Amirghin, son of Gas Trillsech, son of Gas, son of 
 Factna, son of Gathbaidh, son of Kinga, son of Eudraide Mor, 
 (from wliom the clans of Eudraide are called), of the line of Ir, 
 son of Miledh, held the sovereignty of Ireland for four years,^' 
 when he fell of Feidlimidh Eectmar. 
 
 FEIDLIMIDH RECTMAR, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 113.^ Feidlimidh Eectmar, son of Tuathal Tectmar, 
 son of Fiacaidh Finnolaidh, of the line of Erimhon, held the 
 sovereignty of Ireland for nine j^ears, Baini, daughter of Seal 
 Balb,^ the wife of Tuathril Tectmar, was the mother of Feid- 
 limidh. He was called Feidlimidh Eectmar,^" or Feidlimidh the 
 Legal, by reason of the justice of legal decisions passed in Ire- 
 land during his reign ; for he ordained and enforced during his 
 own time, a law similar to that which is called in Latin the Lex 
 Talioim,^^ or Law of Like for Like, which requires that the crim- 
 inal should be made to atone for his crime by suffering a punish- 
 ment similar to the injury done to his neighbor, such as a head 
 for a head, a cow for a cow, a hand for a hand, a leg for a leg, 
 and so on, for every other injury besides. From that law it 
 came to pass, that the men of Ii-eland became reformed in their 
 habits during the reign of Feidlimidh. At last he died on his 
 pillow. 
 
 CATHAEIR MOR, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 122.^ Cathaeir Mor, son of Feidlimidh Fir-urglas, son 
 
 °* A. D. 107. — Four Masters. Latin " Pasclia ;" " clann" and "claud," 
 
 " Four years. Tighcruach does not children, Welsh " plant ;" and " claud" 
 
 give this Mai as monarch of Ireland, or " clann," to plant, Latin " planto." 
 
 but makes the next king immediately '^ Rechtmar, otherwise, Keachtnihar 
 
 succeed his father for nine years. {Raghtvar), is an adjective, formed on 
 
 " A. D. 111. — Four Masters. " recht" (rag/t<) , i. e. law or justice, 
 
 "• Sea/ jB(7/6, i.e. Seal the Stammerer. Latin 'ecfu/w. It means /egfl/ ,■ though 
 
 OTlaherty calls him king of Finland, some translate it the Lawgiver, in this 
 
 whose people the Irish, in early times, instance. 
 
 called Fomorians. May not " Lapland" "^' Lex Talionis. The more general 
 
 be cognate with " Lochlain," the Irish opinion is, that Feidlimidh abolished 
 
 for all Scandinavia ? See how often this cruel and barbarous law, and intro- 
 
 the Gaels use the letter " c" for the duced the system of atoning for crimes 
 
 " p" in other tongues, and vice versa, a& by an eraic or fine, in its stead. 
 " sccht," seucn, Latin "septem ;" "cos," "" A. D. 120. — Four Musters, 
 afoot, Latin " pes ;" " Caisg," Easter, 
 
308 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 of Cormiic Gellta-Gactli, son of Niadh-Corb, son of Cu-Corb, son 
 of Concobar Abradli-iuadh, son of Finn the Poet, son of liosa 
 Kuadb, son of Fergus Fargi, son of Nuadath Ncct, of the line 
 of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland for three years. 
 Cathaeir Mor had thirty sons, as the bard records in the follow- 
 ing verse : 
 
 " Thirty sons, a goodly clan. 
 Sprang from Cathaeir of Cualan 
 These thrice ten chiefs of warrior mien, 
 Were strong, broad-branching stocks of heroes." 
 
 nowever, there ^ve^e twenty of those sons who left no offspring 
 after them. These are the names of the sons whose progeny has 
 survived : Dari Barrach,^ Brcsal Einech-glas, Fergus, Olild, 
 Crirnthann, Rosa Failghi, Eocaidh Temenn, Aengus, and Fiacaidh 
 Baoheda. Though the latter was the youngest of Cathaeir's sons, 
 vStill it was his posterity that most frequently held the sovereign 
 power in Leinster. O'Tuathail (O'Toole) and O'Brainn (O'Byrnc), 
 are of the race of Fiacaidh Bacheda ; and Mac Murcada (Mac 
 Murrough), is of the race of Bresal Belach, his son; O'Concobair 
 Falghi (O'Connor Faly), O'Dimasaigh (O'Dempsy), Clann Colgain 
 (Mac Colgan) and O'Duinn (O'Dunn), draw their origin from 
 Rosa Failghi {Robsa Fauhjee)^ as we shall set down hereafter, when 
 tracing the genealogies of the children of Miledh. In the end, 
 Cathaeir fell by Conn of the Ilundred Battles, son of Feidlimidh 
 Rcctmar.^ 
 
 CONN KED-CATHACn, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 125.«5 Con Ked-Cathach {Kaid- Cahagh), son of Feid- 
 
 •" Dari Barrack. From Dari, who 
 was the second son of Cathaeir, came 
 the noble tribe of Ui Bairrchi, th(> chief- 
 tiin family of which took the name of 
 Gorman or Mac Gorman, after the 
 estal)]ishment of surnames. Tliey were 
 anciently seated between the Ui Drona 
 and Ui Mnredaigh, near the town of 
 Carlow. Shortly after the English in- 
 vasion, they were driven out of their 
 oriirinal territory by Baron Walter de 
 Biddlcsford, who Ijccame master of all 
 the territory round Carlow. After this, 
 a party of them proceeded into Ulster, 
 and another into Uaithni ((hnci/), in 
 Tipperary. From the latter place they 
 apjain mifrrat'^d intoThomond, now the 
 county of Clare, and settled amon,:rst 
 the Dalcassians. in the territory of Ui 
 Brccain (now Ibrickan), in the west of 
 
 that county, where the bard, Maellin 
 Og Mac Bruaidedha (Brooidee), who 
 was chief poet of Ui Fermaie and Ui 
 Brecain. in ir)G3. has told us that they 
 had then be(!n supporting poets and 
 feeding the poor for the last lour hun- 
 dred years. This family must be dis- 
 tingui^ihcd from the Mac Gormans of 
 Clonmacnoise, called Mac Cuinn na- 
 m-bocht. — See Notes to Leahhar na g- 
 Ccnrt. 
 
 "' According to the famous Will of 
 Cathaeir Mor, as published in the 
 Ix;ab!iar na g-Ceart, Cathaeir was slain 
 by the Fiann or Militia of Jjuaigni, in 
 the battle of Talti. The Aimals of 
 Clonmacnoise say that " king Cath- 
 aeir's army was overthrown an(l himself 
 slain and burii'd near the Boyne." 
 
 "' A. D. VIZ.— Four Masters. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 309 
 
 limidh Kectmar, son of Tuatlial Tectmar, of the line of Eriinhon, 
 held the sovereignty of Ireland for twenty years, until, being 
 taken unawares, he was treacherously slain, in the district of 
 Temhair, by the contrivance of Tibradi Tirech, son of Mai, son 
 of Eocliraide, who was then king of Ulster. Fifty warriors, dis- 
 guised as women, had been sent by Tibradi,"^ for the purpose of 
 assassinating him; and Emhain Aiacha was the place whence 
 they set out upon that treacherous design. Una, daughter of the 
 king of Lochlin, was the mother of this monarch. 
 
 Partition of Ireland hetween CoNN and EoGAN MoR, King of 
 Munster, who teas also called MOGH Nuadath. 
 
 This was that Conn from whom Mogh Nuadath, having van- 
 quished him in ten battles, wrested the one half of Ireland. Sida, 
 daughter of Flann, son of Fiacra, one of the Ernaans of Munster, 
 was the mother of Mogh Nuadath. 
 
 The contest between these kings originated in the following 
 manner: The Ernaans, of the posterity of Fiacaidh Fer-mara, 
 of the race of Erimhon, had gained supremacy, in Munster, over 
 the race of Eber Finn ; so that three chieftains of that tribe now 
 held the sovereignty of all ]\[unster between them. Their names 
 were Lugaidh Ellathach, Dari Dornmar, and Aeugus. But, 
 when Mogh Nuadath saw that the supremacy of his native prin- 
 cipality had been thus usurped by the race of Erimhon, he pro- 
 ceeded to Leinster, where he had been fostered by Dari Barrach, 
 son of Cathaeir Mor, aiul there he procured from his foster- 
 father a numerous auxiliary force, wherewith to recover the 
 kingdom of Munster, which was his birth-right. He then began 
 by marching into Ui Liathain, in the south of ^Munster, where 
 that Acngus, above mentioned, had established his sway. Him 
 !Mogh Nuadath vanquislied and expelled from that country, so 
 that he was forced to betake himself straightway to supplicate 
 assistance from Conn, who gave him five catha {caliaf (battalions 
 or legions), that is, fifteen thousand fighting men. AVitli these 
 Aengus marched upon theterritory of Liathan,^^ and there, upon 
 the height of Ard-Nomidh,^^ he was met by Mogh Nuadath, who 
 routed him a second time, Avith great slaughter of his followers. 
 
 ^ Tihradi. The Annals of Clon- insr to hold ths Convention of Tara ; 
 
 macnoise inform us, that when this and that he, profiting I)y their suggesr- 
 
 prince had vanquished his enemies, he tion, surprised and murdered tlie mon- 
 
 reigned quietly and prosperously for areh on Tuesday, the 20tli of October, 
 
 twenty years ; but that then liis own A. T). 172 (correctly 173). 
 brothers, Eocaidh Finn and Fiacaidh ^ Catha. Tlie regular Irish Oath 
 
 Suighdi, sent a private message to Ti- consisted of 3,000 fighting men. 
 bradi. king of Ulster, to come and at- '^ Liathmi. Barrymore, co. Cork, 
 tack him unawares, as he was propar- ^ Ard-Nemidh, or Nemed's Height, 
 
310 • THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 After tliis victory, ^fogli Kiiadath expelled from Mnnster all 
 of the Ernaans that refused to do him homage. From these 
 events, a great war broke out between Comi and the Munster 
 prince, in which the former was defeated in ten battles,™ such as 
 the battle of Brosnach, the battle of Sampait," the battle of Gri- 
 an," the battle of Atli-luain," the battle of Magh-Atha-Crioch,'^^ 
 where Fiacaidh Righ-fada, son of Feidlimidh Rectmar, was slain, 
 the battle of Asal," the battle of Uisnech,^® &c. This war then 
 lasted ever until Mogh Nuadath had forced Conn to yield up 
 one-half of Ireland to himself. All of Ireland that lies south of 
 Ath-cliath and Galimh (i. e. Dublin and Galway, with the Eskir 
 Riada for its boundary) was ceded to Mogh ; and the name which 
 that half got was Leth-Mogha {Láh-Moiva), i. e. ikfogh's Half, 
 or Letli Eoghain {Ldh-owin), from Eogan, who was called Mogh 
 Nuadath. The northern half was called Leth-Cuinn" (ZaA- 
 Quinn), from Conn Kc-d-Cathach. It is in reference to this par- 
 tition, that the bard speaks in the following verse : 
 
 " Great Eogan, fortune-favored chief, 
 Soars high as Conn of the Hundred Fights — 
 These heroes twain, of glory bright, ^ 
 
 Between them share green Eri's land." 
 
 Another reason, also, is given for Eogan's having succeeded 
 in wresting the half of Ireland from Conn. They say that a 
 great famine, which lasted for seven years, came upon Ireland 
 during the reign of Conn, and tliat, long before the time of 
 scarcity had arrived, one of the druids of Mogh had forewarned 
 him of the calamity that was impending over the whole nation. 
 
 now Great Island, on which is situated the king of Spain's son, and a great 
 
 the Cove of Cork. army of Spaniards, picked occasion to 
 
 '° Battles. Brosmach, the river Bros- quarrel and full out with the king, for 
 
 na, in Eli. the customs and shippings of Dub- 
 
 '' Sampait, unknown. lin, alleging that there came more 
 
 " Grian, possibly Enoc-Greni [Knock- ships of King Conn's side tlian of his 
 
 Grainc), i. e. the Hill of the Sun, over side, and that he would have the cus- 
 
 Pallasgrean, barony of Coonagh, co. toms in conmion between them ; where- 
 
 Limeri'ck. upon they were incensed mightily 
 
 " Ath-Luain, i. e. the Ford of the against each other, and met with the 
 
 Moon, now called Atlilono. two great armies, at the i)lains and 
 
 " Mugli-Alha-Cnuch,unknov,-n to the Iloatli of Moylina, in the territory of 
 
 e(3it(,r. Fercall, wlicre tlu! armies of Owen 
 
 "■ Asal, a plain near Croom, County were defeated and himself and FregiLS 
 
 Limerick. (Fraech)the king of Spain's son, slain, 
 
 '" Uisncch, in Mcath. and buried in two little hillocks, now 
 
 " Leth-Cu'mn and Leth-Mo^hn. " This to be seen at the said plain, wliich are, 
 
 division of Ireland stood for one year fus some say, the tombs of the said 
 
 after, until Owen More, alms Moynold, Owen and Frogus." — Annals of Clem- 
 
 being well aided by his brother-in-law, nacnoisc. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 311 
 
 Eogan, upon liearing it, determined to make preparation to meet 
 the approacliing season of want ; and, for that purpose, he made 
 use of venison and fish as his principal articles of immediate con- 
 sumption as food, while ho stored up his corn. Besides this, he 
 expended upon corn all the rents and tributes that he received. 
 He thus succeeded in filling up his granaries. Then, when the 
 season of want had come, numbers of the people of Ireland had 
 come to him from all sides, who submitted themselves to Eogan, 
 and covenanted to pay him rents and tributes, as a compensation 
 for their support during the time the famine lasted. So we read 
 in the duan beginning with the line, " Great Eogan, fortune- 
 favored chief," which speaks as follows : 
 
 " Eogan excelled the warlike Conn 
 Not by the battles he had fought — 
 More food the darmg Eogan owned, 
 More ships and herds and neighing steeds. 
 
 A fearful famine smote the land, . 
 Though luck it brought to glorious Eogan, 
 And men were known to eat their kind 
 In awe-struck Eri's dreary dwellings. 
 
 And when folk knew the plenteous store 
 Of corn and meat that chief had hoarded, 
 They bound themselves in vassal thrall 
 'Keath Eogan's sway for sustenance." 
 
 Mogh Nuadath was known by four names,^^ to wit, Eogan, or 
 Eoghan Fidh-Fetach {Owen Fee-fcvjtagh)^ Eoghan Mor {Otven 
 More), Eoghan Taighlech or Taidhiech {Owen Toylagh), and 
 Mogh or Modh Nuadhat {Moio Nooaih) ; as the bard tells us in 
 this verse : 
 
 " By four auspicious names he is known — 
 We call him Eogan Mor, the bounteous. 
 And Eogan Fidh-fetach, far-famed, 
 Eogan Taiglech and !Mogh Nuadath." 
 
 Now, if you would learn the cause of each of the surnames 
 enumerated in the above verse, jon may read the Coir Anmann 
 (Etymology of Names), and you will find them explained 
 therein. 
 
 Bera, daughter of Eber Mor, son of Midna, king of Castile, 
 was the wife of Eogan Mor ; and she bore him a son and two 
 
 "' Names. This king of Munster is or " taidlech," is interpreted splendid. 
 
 most generally called ^Mogh Nuadath The exact meaning of " Fid-fetach" the 
 
 (said to mean the sf?-o)i^ icorkman), in editor has no means by him of ascer- 
 
 order to distinguish him from his grand- taining, and he is unwilling to hazard 
 
 son, Eoghan Mor, or the Great, son of any guess of his own on the word. 
 Olild Olum. The epithet " taighlech," 
 
312 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 daughters. Olild Olum was the name of that son, and Sgoth- 
 niamh {Skohnemv) and Cainnell were those of the two daugh- 
 ters : here is a quotation from a Shannachie in record of that 
 fact: 
 
 " Bera, mighty Eber's child, 
 AVas Olild Olum's mother, 
 And mother of two damsels fair, 
 His sisters, Cainnell and Sgothniamh."" 
 
 And, furthermore, according to some historians, it was by 
 Conn of the Hundred Battles, who made an attack upon him be- 
 fore dawn, that Eogan Mor was treacherously slain in his bed, 
 as they Avere on the point of engaging each other in buttle upon 
 the plain of Magh-Lena*" {Moy-Layna). 
 
 This monarch Avas called Conn Ked-Cathach, Conn of the 
 Hundred Battles, from the hundreds of battles'* which he fought 
 
 " Cainnell and Sgoihniamli. The 
 first of these names means to7xh or light ; 
 the second is compounded of Sgoth, a 
 fiower, and Niamh, splendor. 
 
 " Magh Lena lay in the territory 
 of Fera-Ceal, in the present Kings 
 Comity, which comprised the modern 
 baronies of Fircall, Ballycowan and 
 Ballyboy. O'Mulloy was its chief. The 
 evening before this battle. Conn ob- 
 served to his council of war, that Eo- 
 gan's army was superior to his own in 
 numbers and discipline, consisting of 
 27,000 Gaelic warriors, 2,000 Spani- 
 ards, and 1,000 other foreigners ; and, 
 therefore, he determined to attack his 
 enemy that very night, or before light 
 next morning. To this all his chiefs 
 agreed, except Goll Mac Morna (Mac- 
 pherson's Gaul), the Fer-Bolg chief- 
 tain of the Fiann or militia of Con- 
 naught, who rose and said : " On the 
 day that my first arms were put into 
 my hands, I swore never to attack an 
 enemy at night, by surprise, or at any 
 disadvantage. To this day I have re- 
 ligiously adhered to that promise, and 
 shall not break it now." The attack 
 was then made without him. The 
 Munstcr men, though surprised, fought 
 bravely, and Eogan and liis Spanish 
 cousin Fraech dealt death on every 
 side. Conn is losing the fight ; but, as 
 it is now day, and lie calls upon Goll 
 with his Fianna to attack the king of 
 
 Lcth-Mogha The latter, now exhaust- 
 ed by wounds, soon falls under the 
 sword of the chief of the Fiann, as does 
 also the Spaniard Fraech. GoH's war- 
 riors, upon this, raised the body of 
 Eogan, i)ierccd with wounds, upon 
 their shields, and exposed it in triumph 
 to the contending armies. ]5ut Gol! 
 saw it, and said : " Lay down the body 
 of Munster's king, for he died as a 
 hero should." The defeat and death ol" 
 Eogan did not destroy the treaty of 
 partition made between him and Conn. 
 With the single exception of his suc- 
 cessor, the Ithian Mac-niadh, the lineal 
 descendants of this Eberian prince 
 reigned uninterruptedly over L(>th Mo- 
 gha for more than a thousand years 
 after his fall. We are told that Eo- 
 gan's children, being minors, the Mun- 
 stcr clans elected Mac-niadh as their 
 king, and prepared to renew the war ; 
 but that Conn made a peace with the 
 latter chief, confirming the previous 
 partition, and giving him his daughter 
 Sadb in marriage. — See O'Halloraivs 
 Ilistori/ if Ireland. 
 
 "' C'onn reigned over Ireland for 
 thirty-five years, according to the Four 
 Masters, while Keating and others al- 
 low him but a reign of tw(nity. This 
 discrepancy may be explained on tlie 
 snp])(»si(ion that some of our annalists 
 did not consider him as full monarch 
 until after the death of his rival, Eogaa 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 813 
 
 against the pentarchs or provincial kings of Ireland, as tlie bard 
 explains in the following verse : 
 
 " One hundred fights in Mumha wide 
 Conn Ked-Cathach the just had fought, 
 One hundred 'gainst the Ulta brave, 
 And sixty fights 'gainst Laighen's sons." 
 
 CONARI, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 145." Conari, son of Mogh Lamha, son of Lugaidh 
 Ellathiich, son of Carbri Crom-kenn, son of Dari Dornmar, son 
 of Carbri Fimibar, son of Conari Mor, son of Edirsgél of the 
 line of Erirahon, held the sovereignty of Ireland for seven years, 
 when he fell by the hand of Nemedh, son of Sruib-kenn, 
 Ethni, daughter of Lugaidh, son of Dari, was the mother of this 
 monarch. 
 
 Of the descendants of this Conari, are the Dal Eiada {Daul 
 Reeada) of Alba or Scotland, the Basgnigh" from Leim-Con- 
 culainu {Laim Concullin)^ and the Musgraide {Moosgree\ as the 
 bard says in the following verse : 
 
 " The Alban Gaels, of Eiada's line, 
 The Basgnigh bold from Leim Conciilainn, 
 And Musgraide whom reproach ne'er reached. 
 Are sprung from comeliest Conari [Conner le)" 
 
 ART AELNFER, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 152/* Art Aeinfer*' {Eenar\ son of Conn Ked-Cathach, 
 son of ieidhmidh Eectmar, son of Tuathal Tectmar, of the line of 
 
 •■- A, D. 158. — Four Masters, Conari them descend from one of the O'Don- 
 
 il, nells of the Kinel-Conaill, planted in 
 
 " Basgnigh. This celebrated tribe Munster during Cromwell's days. The 
 
 inhabited the territories now known as great objection to this is, tliat the race 
 
 the baronies of Moyarla and Clouder- of any such northern O'Dounell has 
 
 law, in the county of Clare. After the not had time since then to have become 
 
 establishment of surnames, the chief so extremely numerous as the O'Don- 
 
 iamilies of them took the names of nells now are in those counties. Dr. 
 
 O'Baiskinn and O'Domhnaill or O'Don- O'Brien will have it that the O'Don- 
 
 nell. On the increasing power of the nells of Corcobaskin are of the same 
 
 Dalcassians, the Clan of Mac Math- stock as the Mac Mahons, they being, 
 
 ghamhna (Mac Mahon, descended from according to him, descended from the 
 
 Murkertach Mor O'Briain, king of Ire- eldestson of King Murkertach, Domnall 
 
 land) became chiefs of this country, O'Briain, whose eyes had been put out 
 
 and reduced the race of king Conari to by his unnatural uncle, Diarmaid, suc- 
 
 comparative insignificance.— &c Notes cessor of Murkertach, as thief of the 
 
 to Leabhcrna g-Ceart. TheO'Donnells Dalcassians, and founder of the family 
 
 and Mac Donnells, still so numerous in of O'Brien. Conari had reigned eight 
 
 the counties of Clare, Limerick and years, according to the Four Masters, 
 
 Tipperary, are most probably the rep- when he fell by the sou of Sruibhgheann. 
 
 resentatives of this ancient and warlike " A. D. IGG.—Four Masters. 
 
 tribe ; though some would fain make ^ Art III. 
 
314 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Erimlión, held the sovereignty of Ireland for thirty years. His 
 wife was Mcdb Lcthderg {Mive or Maive Lahyarg), daugliter of 
 Conan of Cualann, and from her is called Eath-Meidbi (Rauh- 
 Meivie), close by Temhair. The reason why he was called Art 
 Aeinfer {Eenar), i. e. Ai-t the Solitary, was because he was the 
 only one of his father's sons that survived ; for his two brothers, 
 Conla and Crinna, were slain by Eocaidh Finn, the brother of 
 Conn, Conn, indeed, had two brothers, namely, this Eocaidh 
 Finn, and Fiachaidh Suighdi, and it was by their hands that 
 those two brothers of Art fell, in testimony of which the follow- 
 ing two versos have been recorded in our history : 
 
 " The brothers of the royal Conn 
 Were Eocaidh Finn and Fiacaidh Suighdi, 
 Who Conla slew and Crinna brave, 
 Conn's comely sons, their youthful nephews. 
 
 Thence Art abhorred proud Eocaidh Finn, 
 Ilcmcmberin.!i well his slaughtered brothers. 
 And called himself the Lonely Art, 
 Bereft thus of those kindly princes." 
 
 Conn, indeed, had six children in all, namely, Art Aeinfer, 
 Conla, Crinna, Maein, Saradh and Sadb {Sara and /Soive)- as is 
 read in the duan, which begins with this rann down here : 
 
 " The names I know of Coini's six children, 
 Macin, Saradh, 8adh, Sil-Eohiim's mother, 
 And the heroes fair and brij,'ht of feature 
 Conla, Crinna, with Art the Lonely." 
 
 As we have just said, Conla and Crinna were slain by Eocaidh 
 Finn and Fiacaidh Suighdi,** Saradh was married to Conari, 
 son of Mogh Lamha, to whom she bore the three Carbris, 
 namely, Carbri Eiada, Carbri Baschaein (BosJceen), and Carbri 
 Musg. And it was the posterity of Carbri Riada that went to 
 Alba (Scotland), and it is they that arc called the Dal-Riada. For, 
 
 ^ Eocaidh FinnnndFiacaldhSuighdi. ferity Fotliarta, from Eocaidh's name. 
 When Art succeeded Conari as mon- Of these the two principal were the 
 arch of Ireland, he banished his uncle barony Forth, in Carlow, and the bar- 
 Eocaidh Finn Fothart and his sons ony Forth, in Wexford ; and some 
 from Meath, because tlicy had assassi- others [hercloforc mentioned). Li all 
 nated his brothers, Connla and Crinna, tlie.se his race became extinct or ob- 
 and had betrayed his fatlicr to the scurc at an early period, except in the 
 Ulstermen. Eocaidh bein^i married Forliia-ta Fea, in Carlow, where 
 to Uchdelbha [Ufr/idclvii), tlie grand- O'Xolan, his descendant, retained con- 
 daughter of Cathaeir M(;r, proceeded sick'rable possessions till the sevcn- 
 into Leinster, and the king of that teentii century. — O'D. Fiacaidh, the 
 province bestowed upon him and his otlier brother of Conn, was the ancestor 
 sons certain districts called by pos- of the celebrated tribes of the Dcsics, 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 315 
 
 Eocaidh Munrcmar, one of the descendants of Carbri Riada, Lad 
 two sons, named Erca and Eolcu. From Erca has sprung the 
 Dal Riada of Alba ; the Dal-Riada of Uladh, who are also called 
 the Rutach," and are the progeny of Eolcu. 
 
 Sadb (Sadhbh, Soive), her sister, the above-named daughter 
 of Conn, was married to Mac-niadh, son of Lugaidh, a des- 
 cendant of Lugaidh son of Ith ; and she bore him a son named 
 Lugaidh, who was also styled IMac-Con. Then, after the death 
 of Mac-Niadh, she was married to Olild Olum, to whom she 
 bore nine sons, seven of whom fell in the battle of Magh 
 Mocrumhi {Jifoy Moclcnvvie), as Olild Olum himself has told us 
 in the following verse : 
 
 " Mac-Con has slain my seven sons, 
 How sad my bitter, piercing wail ! 
 Eogan, Dubmercon, and Mogh-Corb, 
 Lugaidh, Eocaidh, Dithorba, Tadg !" 
 
 Cormac Gas and Kian (Keean) were the names of the two 
 sons of Olild Olum, that returned from the battle of Magh 
 Mocrumhi. 
 
 Now, although Olild Olum had nineteen sons in all, to wit, 
 nine by Sadb, daughter of Conn, and ten by other women, 
 nevertheless, none of them left any posterity after them, except 
 three, as the bard informs tis in the following verse : 
 
 " Nineteen fleet sons that chieftain had 
 (The beauteous Olild Olum), 
 Of them, the clans of three survive, 
 From whom have sprung our free-born races."^ 
 
 Children of Sadb, daughter of Conn, were those three who 
 have left issue. The first of them was Eogan Mor, son of Olild 
 Olum, who fell in the battle of Magh Mocrumhi, by the hand 
 of Búinni Brit, son of the king of Britain. And the son of 
 Eogan was Fiacaidh IMul-lethan, from Avhom have sprung the 
 clan of Carthach (MacCartliy), the races of Sulliban (O'Sul- 
 livan,) of Caemh (O'Keeffe), and of Kellachan (O'Calla- 
 ghan), with their kindred branches; and Munca, daughter 
 of Dil, son of Da-Crega, the druid, was the mother of this 
 
 '" Rutach, i. e. the "Routi, in Antrim, prince, to have established the suprem- 
 
 is said to be a corruption of Dal-Riada. acy of his race upon such solid founda- 
 
 * Free-horn races. Olild-Olum was tions in times of such extreme con\iiI- 
 
 the founder of the Eberian sway in siou ; for his dynasty continued to rule 
 
 Munster, and from him sprung all the the south of Ireland, in spite of intes- 
 
 clans that, thenceforth, were able to lay tine and external wars, from his own 
 
 claim to its sovereignty. He must time down to the English invasion, 
 have been both a great and an able 
 
316 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 chief; and Ath-Isel," on the Siuir, was the place where he 
 was born ; and he was called " Fiacaidh Fer-da-liach" {Feegha 
 Fer-daw-leeagJi), i. e. Fiacaidh of the two doleful tales, for 
 woeful were the two accidents that befel him, namely : the 
 killing of his father on the field of Mocrumhi, shortly after his 
 mother had conceived him, and the death of his mother, who 
 expired immediately after giving him birth. Thence it was that 
 the name, Fiacaidh Fcr-da-liacli, continued to be applied to him. 
 Olild Olum speaks thus upon this subject, as we read in the 
 Catli Muighe Mocrumhi {Cah Moye Mocruvie), i. e. the battle of 
 Magh Mocrumhi: 
 
 " Two woes to th ee death wrought — 
 At once came two dire wails — 
 Thy sire and mother, both 
 To thee have caused great dole. 
 
 Thy sire and mother both — 
 Thy greatness in the bud — 
 The man was slain in fight, 
 The dame died in thy birth." 
 
 He was also surnamed Maeil-lcthan ; because, when the time 
 of his birth had arrived, her father, the druid, had told Munca 
 that her child should become a king if his birth were delayed 
 for twenty-four hours ; but that he should become nothing more 
 than a druid, if born within that time. ''Then," said ]S[unca, 
 "in hopes that my child may yet become a king, he shall not 
 be born for these twenty-four hours, unless he pass through my 
 side." She then went into a ford upon the river Siuir, that 
 flowed by her father's dwelling, and there she remained station- 
 ary, seated upon a stone. And when the auspicious hour had 
 arrived, she came foith out of the river, gave birth to her sou, and 
 then died immediately upon the spot. It was that son, theUj 
 that was named Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan ; and he was so desig- 
 nated because the crown of his head (Mullach) was made broad 
 (lethan) by tlie obstruction which his mother had given to his 
 birth, by remaining sitting in the ford. Thus, the term " ^Maeil- 
 lethan""" {Mucel-láhán), i. e. broad-head, has remained attached 
 to his name. 
 
 The second son of Olild Olum, that left a progeny after him, 
 was Cormae Cas, fi-om whom have sprung the Dal-g-Cais {Daul- 
 gash), the Siol-Acdha {Sheel Aya), that is, the clan of Mac Con- 
 
 ** Ath-Isel, now Athassel, on the ready animadverted upon. As if a 
 
 river Suir, still famous for its ruined man could not liave a broad or a large 
 
 abbey. hi'ad, witiiout assigning an inipossibla 
 
 ^ Maeil-htlian. This ridiculous story reason therefor, 
 is on a par with the many others al- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 317 
 
 mara (MacNamara), and the Siol-g-Clannchadha {Sheel-Glan- 
 ghiLce) (Mac Clancliy). And it was to this Cormac that Olild 
 Glum had left tlic heirship of Munster, before he learned that 
 Fiacaidli Maeil-lcthan had been born to Eogau Mor ; but, when 
 he had heard of this, tlie arrangement he made was, to leave the 
 succession to his kingdom, inmiediately after his own death, to 
 Oormac Cas, during that prince's lifetime, decreeing that the 
 royal power should be possessed by Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan next 
 after the death of Cormac, and that the kingdom should con- 
 tinue to be inherited, for ever, thus alternately, during each 
 successive reign, by the descendants of Cormac Cas, and of 
 Fiacaidh Maeildethan. For some generations, the kingdom of 
 Munster was inherited according to this arrangement. 
 
 The third son of Olild Olum, who left a progeny after him, 
 was Kian ; and of his posterity are the clans of O'Kerbhail (i. e. 
 O'Carroll), O'Meachair (i. e. O'Meagher), Oh-Eadhra (i. e. O'llara), 
 O'Gadhra (i. e. O'Gara or Guiry) O'Cathasaigh (i. e. O'Case^^), 
 and O'Conchabhair of Kiannacht (i. e. O'Connor of Keenaght in 
 Ulster.) 
 
 Olild Olum, who had a reign of sixty years, is the first king 
 of the line of Eber, who is named in the Royal Roll (Reim Righ- 
 raidhe), as having ruled the two provinces or pentarchates of 
 Munster ; for, previous to the banishment of Mac-Con by Olild, 
 the sovereignty of Munster was possessed by two races, namely : 
 the tribe of Darini, of the line of Lugaidh, son of Ith, from 
 which sprang Mac-Con ; and the tribe of Dergthini, of the blood 
 of Eber, of which came Olild Olum. And, whenever the sover- 
 eignty of Munster was possessed by the tribe of Darini, the 
 brehonship and tanistship was held by the tribe of Dergthini ; 
 and, again, Avhen the kingly power was in the hands of the line 
 of Dergthini, the tanistship and brehonship was the right of the 
 former race. Thus it continued until Mac-Con's ainbition^^ 
 soared beyond the brehonship of Olild Olum. For this was he 
 
 "' Mac-Con's amhition. In the twenty- Riada, son of Conari 11., in revenge 
 first year of the reign of Art III., " the for his own father. Carbri Musg wound- 
 battle of Kennfebrat {Kcnfewrat, now ed Lugaidh, i. e. Mac-Cou, in the thigh, 
 part of Sliabh Iliach, near Kilmallock) so that he was ever afterwards lame." 
 was fought by the sons of Olild and the — See Four Masters. After this defeat 
 three Carbris, i.e. Carbri Muse, Carbri ^lac-Con and his party applied for pro- 
 Riada, and Carbri Bascaein, against tection to the monarch Art, but finding 
 Dadera the Druid, Nemedh, son of none, he fled from the kingdom, accom- 
 Sroib-kenn, and the south of Ireland ; panied by Lugaidh Laga, the brother 
 where fell Nemedh, son of Sroibkenn, of Olild Olum, who was displeased at 
 king of the Ernai of Munster, and the friendship that existed between the 
 Dadera, the Druid of the Darini. Dad- latter and Art Acinfer, who liad caus- 
 era was slain by Eogan, son of Olild ; etl the death of Mogh Nuadath, their 
 Nemedh, son of Sroib-kenn, by Carbri father. 
 
318 - THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 driven out of the country, and forced to spend some time in 
 exile. During his banishment he made himself allies and 
 friends, so that he was enabled to return to Ireland, accompanied 
 by Beinni Brit, sou of the king of Great Britain, and backed by 
 a great force of foreigners. With these he challenged Art 
 Aeinfer, king of Ireland, to a battle, in revenge for his suppo'it 
 of Olild Olum. Upon this, bo.th parties having mustered their 
 forces, they prepared to contend in battle upon the plain of 
 Mocrumhi, whither Art led his entire host, and whither, also, 
 came the nine sons of Olild Olum, followed by the seven legions 
 (i. e, caths) of Munster, as auxiliaries to Art, while Mac-Con, 
 with his foreigners, stood opposed to them in hostile array. The 
 battle of Magh Mocrumhi was then fought, and, in it. Art and 
 his forces were completely routed. There, also, that king him- 
 self was slain, by the hand of tlie stout champion, Lugaidh Laga, 
 son of Eogan Taighlech, and brother of Olild Olild, for that 
 waiTÍor fought on the side of Mac-Con. Seven of the sons of 
 Olild Olum likewise fell upon that field. 
 
 Olild Olum had been first named Aengus. The cause of his 
 being called Olild Olum arose from the result of a criminal 
 intercourse which he had with Aini, daughter of Ogamhal; for, 
 as this damsel lay by Olild's side, his unwilling mistress, she 
 completely bit oif one of his ears from his head, in vengeance 
 both for the violence to which he had subjected herself, and for 
 his having slain her father shortly before. Thence he was called 
 Olild Olum,"^ which means, Olild of the Bare Ear ; the latter 
 word being derived from "o," an ear, and **lom," hare: and the 
 cause why he was named Olild" (otherwise sjoelt, Oilioll) — which 
 is the same as "oil, oil," that i?,, great blemish — was by reason 
 
 ^ Olum. Dr. O'Connor considers must Lave bitten off the ear of liis 
 this word to mean the same thing as fourth ancestor, Corb Olum, or Dcrg- 
 " oUamli," i. e. a learned sage or doctor, thcini, likewise, which, however sala- 
 But Dr. O'Donovan informs us that it cious the tribe may have been, is ex- 
 is always written " olum" by our anti- cecdiiigly improbable. This fact must 
 quarics, and understood to mean of the go far to prove, that tlie surname 
 bare ear, thus tacitly admitting the " Olum"' was hereditary. Can we be- 
 truth of the horrible and disgusting lievo that the misfortune of having an 
 story told above. The word, however, ear bitten oil" was so likewise? 
 with all due deference to Dr. O'Dono- ^ Olild. AVhatcver ground there be 
 van, is sometimes written "colum," for believing that " Olum" means hare 
 which, coming from " eol," knowledge, car, there can be none for thinking that 
 may well mean sage, and Dr. O'Connor this name Olild was applied to the 
 be right after all. There is also strong Munster king, as a dishonoring epithet, 
 presumptive evidence that " Olum," or It was then already grown old as a 
 " Eolum," whatever it means, was not projicr name amongst the Gaels. It 
 acquired by Olild alone, amongst his had In-en borne by numberless chieftaina 
 family. If the Danaan Aini bit off his and warriors, and by three Irish mon- 
 ear, some other fair Danaan or Belgian archs, and several provincial king^ 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 319 
 
 of three great personal blemishes with which he h(id met, and 
 which stuck to him to the day of his death ; for he was bare 
 of an ear, he had black teeth, and his breath Avas foul. These 
 blemishes were brouglit upon him in the following manner : 
 immediately after losing his ear, as we have just told, through 
 the vengeance of Aini, he was seized witli a violent fit of rage, 
 and, under its influence, he struck his spear through that damsel's 
 body into the earth, so that the head of the spear was dashed 
 against a stone, by which its point was bent. Olild, thereupon, 
 took the spear-hcad between his teeth, in order to straighten its 
 point, and the poison that was upon the blade, got thus into 
 them, so that they became black all at once. Thence there also 
 arose a foul odor from his breath, that contaminated him to his 
 grave ; for he had broken the three sacred injunctions (gesa), 
 that had been attached to that spear. These were, never to 
 allow its head to touch vipon a stone ; never to take it between 
 the teeth ; and never to use it in slaying a woman. Thus it 
 happened, from his having violated these thiee sacred injunc- 
 tions, that those three blemishes above mentioned came upon 
 him, and that, from them, men called him Oilioll, which is inter- 
 preted " oil, oil," or great blemish.''* 
 
 LUGAIDH MAC-COISr, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 182.»' Lugaidh,'* that is, Mac-Con, son of Mac-Niadh, 
 son of Lugaidh, son of Dari, son of Fer-Ulni, son of Edbolg, 
 son of Dari, son of Sithbolg, of the line of Lugaidh, son of Ith, 
 son of Breogan, held the sovereignty of Ireland for thirty years. 
 As we have above stated, Sadb, daughter of Conn of the Hun- 
 dred Battles, was the mother of Mac-Con. Lugaidh, who was the 
 son of Mac Niadh, was called by the nickname of Mac- Con, for 
 
 long ages before Olild Olum was born, remembered as one of the Banshees of 
 
 Oilioll is a very modern way of spell- Munster. 
 
 ing the word : in the old MSS. it is '■" Great blemish. We have, a little 
 found written Aileld, Alild, Oileld, before, seen Olild called " Olild Alainn 
 Olild, AMI, &c. To suppose that it Olum," i. e. beauteous Olild Olum ; 
 could mean anything disgraceful, is which it is not likely that the historic 
 perfectly absurd. We may, then, set bard would have ventured upon, had he 
 the whole tale down as a lying calumny, been of so offensive a presence, as this 
 invented to depreciate the race of Eber, tale would make him. The grand ob- 
 seeing upon what untenable foundations jection to it is that, if he was so de- 
 it has been built. The lady Aini, formed, he could scarcely have main- 
 whom Olild is said to have so cruelly tained himself on the throne amongst a 
 used, was a Danaan ; her father, whom people so much taken by externals aa 
 Olild had slain, is elsewhere called Eo- the Gaels, 
 gabal. It is from her that the Hill of '^' A. D. 196.— Four Masters. 
 Knockany, near Bruff, co. Limerick, ^ Lugaidh V. 
 has it name. She is now traditionally , 
 
320 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the following reason : when he was an infant in the house of 
 his step-father, Olihl Olurn, the latter chief had a certain hound, 
 which was named Elair Derg (Red Eagle). The infant Lugaidh 
 happening, once, to creep to this hound upon his hands and 
 feet, the animal took him kindly to its breast, and, thence- 
 forward, it was f jund impossible to keep him away from his 
 strange nurse. Hence he got the name of Mac-Con," (i. e. son 
 of the "cu" or wolf-hound). 
 
 Now, when Mac-Con had, as we have seen, gained great pre- 
 eminence, after his return from banishment, and after winning 
 the battle of ]\f agh ]\Iocrumhi, where Art Aeinfer fell, he made 
 himself master of all Ireland in the course of one week ; and 
 he enjoyed the sovereignty thereof for thirty years, as we read 
 in the duan, which commences with the line, " Cnuca's hilV* 
 o'er Liii's stream." The following are its words : 
 
 " In one week's time, (no humble glory !) 
 Brave Lugaidh conquered Eri's plains : 
 Subduing both her royal chieftains, 
 In those seven days he won her throne. 
 
 For thirty years, with strength unbroken, 
 Mac-Con, thence, held unrivalled sway ; 
 But, then, the curly-headed hero, 
 Unvanquished still, by treason fell." 
 
 Now, this Mac-Con, of whom we are speaking, was not of the 
 race of Enna Muncaein, of the line of Eber, although that state- 
 ment is made in the duan which commences with the line 
 " Comely Conari, son-in-law of Conn ;" but he was descended of 
 the line of Lugaidh, son of Ith, son of Breogan. Miledh of 
 Spain, son of Bill, (Bilkli^) son of Breogan, and Lugaidh, son 
 Ith, son of Breogan, were cousin-germans. So that, although 
 the posterity of Lugaidh Mac Itha are of the Fine Gaedhail, 
 {Finneh Gayil^)sú\\ they are not of the Clanna Milidh, {Clonna 
 
 "" Mac-Con. " This, however, is clear- Keating has taken no notice of the re- 
 ly the guess of derivation of a posterior niarkabli; battle tliat was fought Iiere in 
 age. The word Mac-Con would cer- the reign of Conn of the Hundred Bat- 
 tainly denote /i/aw Ciinis, but it might ties, by tliat monarch, against his rival 
 also be Oguratively used to denote son liogan Mor. In it ]']ogan was defeated, 
 of a hero ; and as his father's name and his ally, ("umhal, son of Trenmor, 
 was Mac-Niadh, that is, son of a hero, chieftain of the Fiann of Ixiinster and 
 it might not, perhaps, be considered fatlier of the celebrated Finn, or Fingal, 
 over presumptuous in an etymologist of fell llierein, by the hand of (Jnll Mac 
 the present day, to reject th(5 story Morna. l'>ogan had to fly thence to 
 about the greyhound Irttch, and subsli- Spain, whence, returning with a power- 
 tute a modern conjecture in its place." ful force, he soon retrieved his lost 
 — Dr. O'Donovan. fortune, and forced Conu to divide 
 
 " Cnuca's hill. This is probaVjly the Ireland with him. 
 place now Castlekuock, near Dublin. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 321 
 
 Afeeleh,) or cliildren of Miledb, but they are nevertheless their 
 kinsmen, as a bard thus tells, in speaking of three of the clans 
 of the children of Ith, in the following rann : 
 
 " Cobthaigh"' of the festive horns, 
 Oh-Edirsgeoir"" and Floinn-Arda,' 
 Clans whose ancestral tree ne'er fell, 
 Three clans out of the sons of Miledh." 
 
 Here follow the names of the other clans that have sprung 
 from the stock of Lugaidh, son of Ith ; to wit, O'Laegari,'' (now 
 O'Laerj,) and O'Bari' of Kinn-Muintiri-Bari, in Carbery ; Mac 
 Plannchada,* (now Mac Clanchy,) of Dartraide ; O'Cuirnin,^ 
 
 * O'Cobthaigh. This clan, the mem- 
 bers of which now call themselves 
 Cowhig and Coifey, was formerly 
 seated in the territories at present 
 kno^sTi as Barriroe east and west, 
 in the county of Cork, where the 
 former splendor of the clan is attested 
 by the ruins of their feudal castles 
 which still exist. Dr. Smith says, in 
 his history of Cork : " Almost on every 
 headland of this barony were castles 
 erected by the Irish, seven of which 
 belong to the sept O'Cowhig, as Dun- 
 deedy, Dunowen, Dunore, Duneen, Dun- 
 cowhig, Dunworley, and Dungoohy. 
 The O'Cowhigs seem to have been in 
 early times more powerful than their 
 kinsmen, the O'Driscolls or 0-h-Edirs- 
 geoil, and O'Flynn or O'Floinn-Arda. 
 They lay nearest to the English free- 
 booters, were the earliest robbed, and 
 fell soonest into obscurity. The pro- 
 genitor, from whom they took their 
 name, was called Cobthach Finn, son 
 of Dungalach, the twelfth in descent 
 from king Lugaidh Mac-Con. The 
 word Cobthach means victor. 
 
 '"• O-h-Edirsgeoil. The territory of 
 O'Driscoll, or 0-h-EdirsgeoiI, who in 
 latter times was the most distinguished 
 chief of tlie Corca-Luighe, originally 
 comprised the entire of the diocese of 
 Ross. But when the Eoganacht clans 
 of O'Mahony, O'Donovan, O'Cullane, 
 or Collins, and O'SuUivan were driven 
 into this territory, after the English 
 invasion, it was narrowed to the follow- 
 ing parishes in the territory of Car- 
 berry, viz. : Myross, Glanbarahane, 
 Tuliagh, Creagh, Kilcoe, Aghadown, 
 and Clear Island. 
 21 
 
 ' O'Floinn-Arda. The castle of Ar- 
 dagh, midway between Skibbereen and 
 Baltimore, was one of this chiefs prin- 
 cipal seats. 
 
 '■' O'Laegari. The chieftain of this 
 sept of the descendants of Mac-Con 
 was driven from the seabord of Corca 
 Luighe about the time of the English 
 invasion. After which he settled with 
 his followers in the parish of Inchagee- 
 lagh, or Iveleary, in the barony of 
 Muskery. 
 
 ^ O'Bari. This name is now some- 
 times confounded by English-speaking 
 people with that of the Norman De 
 Barry, or Barry. Their territory, still 
 called Muinter-Bhairé (Munter-vaurie), 
 lies in the parish of Kilcroghaue, county 
 of Cork. 
 
 The O'h-Aeda (O'Hea), O'Dunlaing 
 (O'Dowling), O'Dubhchonua (O'Do- 
 heny), O'Lonain (sometimes called 
 Lannin, Lenane and Leonard), 0'Lh,i- 
 digh (Liddy), O'Duinin (Downing), 
 and several other names still numerous 
 in the south-west of IMunster. are of 
 this race. — See Third Part. 
 
 * Mac Flannchada, of Dartraide. 
 The territory of this Sept, which musl 
 be distinguished from the Dalcassian 
 Mac Clanchies, chief-brehons of Tho- 
 mond, Avas comprised within the present 
 barony of Rossclogher, co. of Leitrim. 
 In Irish, the name is properly spelled 
 Mac Fhlannchadha {Mac Lonnúghuee), 
 as being derived from a chief named 
 Flanncaidh, the twenty-third descend- 
 ant from Dari Sir-chrechtach, or Darini. 
 They were called Dartraide, from 
 Doighri, Dart, grandfather of this 
 Flanncaidh. 
 
322 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 (now O'Curneen,) and Mac Amhalgaidh,^ {Mac Avjlcf/,) of Cal- 
 raide ;' and Mac Allinn' of Alba, (Scotland.) 
 
 This Mac-Con was the third chieftain of the line of Lugaidh, 
 son of Ith, that won the kingdom of Ireland. The first king of 
 this race was Eocaidh Edgothach, Avho, having ruled that coun- 
 try for four _years, (from A.M. 2866 to A.M. 2870,) was slain by 
 Kermna, son of Ebric ; the second king was Eocaidh Apthach, 
 son of Finn, who fell by the hand of Finn, son of Bratha, when 
 he had reigned but one year, (A.M. 8301 to A.M. 3302); and the 
 thii'd king was this Mac-Con, of whom we are now treating. In 
 testimony of these facts, the following verse has been left on 
 record : 
 
 " Three kings there sprung from tall Mac Itha, 
 Two Eocaidhs first, then rose proud Lugaidh, 
 Who, by his glorious deeds and battles, 
 Avenged our injured, dear Clan Itha." 
 
 It was a poet, named Fercheas, son of Coman, that assassinated 
 Mac-Con, with a species of javelin, called rincne, at the instiga- 
 tion of Cormac, son of Art, as the king stood with his back 
 against a pillar-stone at Gort-an-oir, near Derg-rath, in Magh 
 Femhenn, to the west of Ath-na-Carbad, and while he was there 
 engaged in distributing silver and gold to the poets and ollamhs 
 of Ireland. "When the poet Fercheas, son of Coman, who was 
 dwelling at Ard-na-Geimlech (Avhich is. now called Cnocach), 
 heard that Mac-Con was thus occupied, he entered the assembly 
 with the others of his class, bringing the rincne with hi in. Then, 
 when he had reached the presence of Mac- Con, he thrust his 
 victim through the body with his weapon, until it met the pillar- 
 stone, against which the prince had leaned his back, and, there- 
 
 O'Cnirnin. In latter ages, the ritories known by this name, from 
 
 head of this family resided at Inis-AIoe, having been possessed by branches of 
 
 iiocha Gilo, or Church Island, in Lough the tribe of the Calraidc (Cotree), 
 
 (iill, barony of Carbury, and county of which had t;iken its name from Lugaidh 
 
 filigo. The O'fiurneens were for many Cal, son of Dari Sir-Crechtach. In the 
 
 centuries hereditary poets to the 0'- genealogy of the Corca-Luighe,there are 
 
 Ruaircs, princes of Brefni. eight territories enumerated of this do- 
 
 ^ Mac Jma/^aidk. This is evidently nomination, 
 
 a mistake. The sept here called Mac " Mnc-AlUnns. " Certain it is that 
 
 Amalgaidh was a branch of the Ui many illustrious houses in North Brit- 
 
 Fiacrach, whose family name was 0'- ain trace their origin to him (Mac-('on) 
 
 Maeilf hina, now O'Mullany, and who through his son ; as the Campbells, 
 
 tnicceeded the Itliian tribe of the Cal- who, to this day, are called in the Eree 
 
 raide as possessors of the Calraidc of tongue the ('lanna Mhic-Cuin, i. e. the 
 
 Magh h-Eleag, a district nearly co- posterity of Mac-Con, Ihe Mac Aliens, 
 
 pxtensivc with the parish of Crosnio- &c." — O'JIalloran. '• Fotliad Conanu, 
 
 lina, l)arony of Tirawley, and county of son of King Mac-i'on, wiis the founder 
 
 Mayo. of the Camj)bcUs." — 0' Flaherty. 
 
 ' Calraide. There were several tcr- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 323 
 
 upon, Mac-Con died immediately of the wound. Gort-an-oir' 
 {Gortanore\ that is, the field of gold, has been the name of that 
 place ever since ; and it has been so called, from the quantity of 
 gold there distributed by that monarch to the bards and ollamhs 
 of Ireland. 
 
 The reason why he had come into Munster was, because the 
 druids had foretold, that he should not remain one half year 
 more Ard-righ of Ireland, unless he had got possession of Tem- 
 hair within that time. For this reason did he come into Mun- 
 ster, in order to solicit help from his brothers" (by his mother 
 Sadb), the sons of Olild Ohmi. But they remembered their 
 ancient grudge against hira, for having caused the death of 
 Eogan Mor and their other brothers, at the battle of Magh Mo- 
 crumhi. lie was on his return from his fruitless suit, when he 
 met his death in the manner just stated. 
 
 FERGUS DUBH-DEDACH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 212." Fergus^^ Dabh-dedach {Dhoo-yaidagli)^ son of 
 Finncaidh, son of Ogamhan, son of Fiatach Finn, son of Dari, 
 son of Dluthach, son of Dethsin, son of Eocaidh, son of Sin, son 
 of Rosin, son of Tren, son of Rothren, son of Arndell, son of 
 Maui, son of Forga, sou of Olild Eronn, son of Fiacaidh Fer-mara, 
 son of Acngus Tuirraech of Temhair, of the line of Erimhon, 
 assumed the sovereignty of Ireland, and held it for one year. 
 He was called Fergus Dubh-dedach, that is, Fergus the Black- 
 toothed, because he was disfigured by two great black teeth. 
 
 This Fergus was the man who had come between Cormac, 
 son of Art, and the sovereignty of Ireland, Avhen the said Cormac 
 had been expelled by the Ulta and Connactaigh, though he bad 
 given them his hostages, and had made a feast" for them in the 
 north of Breagh (Brea); at which feast an attendant on the king 
 of Uladh placed a lighted torch beneath the hair of Cormac, by 
 Avhich it was greatly burned. Now, the persons who had cora- 
 
 " Gort-an-oir. This place is still Moglia, while Cian,01ikrs yoimgest son, 
 
 pointed out, near the fort of Derg-rath, still reig-ued over the Elian territories, 
 
 in the parish of Derrygrath, about four " Mac-Conu was killed/' say the Four 
 
 miles to the north-east of Cahir county, Masters, " after he had been expelled 
 
 Tipperary. Cnocach is now called from Temhair, by Cormac, grandson of 
 
 Knockagh, and is situated about three Conn." 
 
 miles north-east of the same town. In ^^ A. D. 226. Four Masters. 
 
 the Loabhar Gabhala, it is called Ard ^^ Fergus II. His father is else- 
 
 Feirchis, i. e. the Hill of Fercheas. — where called Imchadh. 
 
 O'D. »3 J ye/si. By this feast and these 
 
 '" His brothers. His kinsmen were hostages, Cormac sought to purchase 
 
 perhaps the better translation. Fiacha the support of the Ulidian tribes, in 
 
 Maeii-lethan, the grandson of Olild, his strati 
 was, probably, already king of Ijetb- 
 
324 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 mitted this outrage" upon Cormac, were the three sons of Finn- 
 caidh, son of Ogamhan, son of Fiatach Finn, namely : Fergus 
 Dubh-dedach, Fergus Cas-liaclach/^ and Fergus Folt-lebar. 
 
 Cormac, thereupon, went to solicit aid from Tadg, son of Kian, 
 son of Olild Oluin, who was then very ^jowerful in the Elian 
 territoi-ies. And the reply that Tadg gave him was, that he 
 would give him aid, but that he should get lands in return there- 
 for. " I shall give thee," said Cormac, " all the land that thou 
 canst encompass with thy chariot on the day thou wilt have 
 routed the Ferguses in battle," " Well, then," said Tadg, " I 
 anticipate victory for thee, if thou canst but find that redoubted 
 champion, Lugaidh Laga/® my grandfather's brother, and canst 
 bring Imn into the field with thee ; for it is most probable that 
 he will himself slay the whole three of the Ferguses. And 
 Etharla, near Sliabh Grod, is the place where that warrior 
 now is." 
 
 Upon hearing this, Cormac set out for Etharla," and there he 
 found Lugaidh Laga, lying down in his hunting booth. Cormac 
 then thrust his spear through the booth, and pricked Lugaidh 
 Laga in the back. " Who wounds mc?" cried tiie warrior, " It 
 is I, Cormac Mac Airt," replied his visitor. " Thou hast good 
 cause for wounding me," said Lugaidh, "for it was I killed thy 
 father. Art Acinfer." '* Award me an eric for the deed," said 
 Cormac. " Thou wilt gi:^t a king's head on the battle-field," 
 replied the champion, "Then," said Cormac, "give me the 
 head of Fergus of the Black Teeth, the king of Uladh, who is 
 now opposing my accession to the throne of Ireland." "That 
 thou wilt get," said Lugaidh. Upon this the prince returns to 
 Eli, to Tadg, son of Kian, and they both march, with a numerous 
 force, to Brugh-mic-an-oigh" {Broo-rnick-an-Oi)^ at Crinna-Chinn- 
 Cumair, and there the battle of Crinna was fought, between 
 Cormac and the three Ferguses. 
 
 Tadg had another motive for marching against the Ulta, for 
 it was this Fergus, their king, that slew his father, in the battle 
 of Samhain. But Tadg did not allow Cormac to take part in 
 
 " Outrage. By the loss of his hair, '* Lugaidh La gn. This warrior was 
 
 Cormac was prevented from hiding in- the most redoubteil, as well as the most 
 
 auguratcd king of Ireland, as he was fierce and savage champion of iiis day. 
 
 disqualified for that ceremony by being His name is now pronounced Looee 
 
 thus personally disfigured. The reader Law. 
 
 will remember som.'thing similar, in the " FAliarla, now called Aharlow, a 
 
 talc of Ouchullainn and Curigh Mac romantic glen lying north of the Gaul- 
 
 Dar'i, already related. tics, which were anciently called Sliabh 
 
 *^ Feriius Caí-TiíJc/í'c//, i.e. Fergus of (J rod. 
 
 the Crooked Teeth. He was also styled '" Brugh-mic-n-n-oigh is tlie name of 
 
 Fergus Bot, or the Fiery; Fergus Foltr a place on the River Boyne, near 
 
 lebliar [Folt-lcowar), i. e. Fergus of the Stackallan Bridge. 
 Flowiiiíí IJair. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 325 
 
 the action, but he placed him on a hill, behind the field of 
 slaughter, accompanied by an attendant or gilla., whilst he him- 
 selfj aided by Lugaidh Laga, made head against the Ferguses. 
 And then Fergus Folt-lebar was the first of the brothers that 
 fell by the hand of the latter warrior, who immediately cut off 
 his head, and proceeded with it to the hill where Cormac was 
 remaining. But when Cormac saw that the armies were about 
 coming to close quarters, what he did was, to put the clothes of 
 Dcilenn Druth, his giUa^ or attendant, upon himself, and to dress 
 the attendant in his own ; for he was well aware that Lugaidh, 
 when his warlike ire was roused, and when the battle-rage was 
 upon him, could be trusted by neither friend nor foe. 
 
 When Lugaidh, then bearing in his hand the head he had cut 
 off, came into the presence of the attendant, disguised as Cormac, 
 he demanded, if that were the head of Fergus of the Black 
 Teelh. "No," said the gilla^ " but it is the head of Fergus the 
 Long-haired, his brother. Hearing this, Lugaidh rushed back 
 to the fight, and soon cut off the head of Fergus Cas-fiaclach. 
 With this, also, he came to the hill where the gilla stood dis- 
 guised as Cormac. " Is this the head of the king of Uladh," said 
 Lugaidh. "No," replied the gilla, "but it is the head of the 
 other of his brothers." Upon hearing this, Lugaidh dashed the 
 head upon the ground, and returned to the fight a third time, 
 and brought off thence the head of Fergus of the Black Teeth. 
 He then demanded the same question as before of the gilla, who 
 replied, that it was the head of the king of Uladh. Upon this, 
 Lugaidh flung the head at him, and striking him therewith upon 
 the breast, he killed him upon the spot by the blow. Im- 
 mediately after, Lugaidh himself fell into a swoon, by reason of 
 the quantity of blood which he had lost from his wounds.'^ 
 
 As to Tadg, son of Kian, he completely vanquished the host 
 of Uladh, for he routed them seven times within that one day ; 
 having pursued them from Ath-Crinna to Qlas-an-Era, on the 
 side of Uroni-Innasglainn,^" as the bard Flatinagan tells us in the 
 following rann : 
 
 " Tadg Mac Kein, that gore-stained battle-axe, 
 Was seveu times victor in one day, 
 And broke the routed ranks of Uladh, 
 From Criniia's ford to high Ard-Keia." 
 
 '9 Upon the slaughter of the three Then Corniac said, 'Itis well done; 
 
 _, ii 771 \i i 1 His hand has never failed Lagx " 
 
 Ferguses, the tour Masters have pre- ,^ ,, ,, . ,.1 • Ti l 
 
 served an ancient rann, of which the ^fll'^l?^ '^ "'^^' ^^'^"^' '" ^^' ^"""^>' 
 
 following is a translation : ^' .}^^ 1 i r» 
 
 ^ -" Drum-I-nasg'ainn, now Drnm- 
 
 "Upon one stone at Eath-Oo iniskliu and Druiuiskiu, ÍQ the present 
 
 W ere slain the three Ferguses. COunty ot Louth. 
 
326 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Tadg then, tliougli be had received three spcar-wounds, 
 mounted his car, and ordered his charioteer to drive him to- 
 wards Temhair, ho])ing to encompass its tojslI walls within the 
 circuit to be made b}- his war-steeds within that day. They 
 then drove straight upon Temhair, though Tadg had swooned 
 several times, from the loss of the blood which continued to flow 
 from his wounds. And Avhen they had thus reached near to 
 Ath-Cliath, Tadg addressed his charioteer, and said : " Have we 
 yet taken in Temhair?" "We have not," said the charioteer: 
 and Tadg, thereupon, killed him at a blow. 
 
 Soon after the slaughter of his charioteer, Cormac, son of Art, 
 f '11 in with him, and seeing the throe great wounds from which 
 Tadg was suflering, he commanded his own physician to put a 
 live chafer into one of them, a grain of barley into another, and 
 the splinter of a spear-blade into the third, and then to cause 
 the wounds to heal externally."' 
 
 In consequence of this treatment, the warrior wasted away in 
 withering disease for a whole year, until Lugaidh Laga went to 
 Munster in search of the Wise Surgeon, which physician came, at 
 his request, and brought Avith him his tliree pupils. AVhen 
 these heard the groans of Tadg, upon their arrival at his dun 
 (fort), the Wise-Sui'geon,"^ upon being informed by Tadg about his 
 llrst sore, he demanded of the first of his three pupils, and said : 
 " What is the cause of this sore ?" *' l^hat is a sore caused by 
 a sharp prickle," said the pupil, " and the prickle is an awn of 
 barley." Next, when he had heard all about the second sore, he 
 demanded of his second pui)il what was its cause. " This is a 
 sore caused by a live worm," said he, "for a live chafer has 
 been put into the second wound." He was then told all about 
 the third sore, and again asked of his third pujiil what had 
 caused it. "This is a sore whose cause is the point of a weapon," 
 
 '^ The extravagant and impossible a territorial reward for that battle thai 
 
 story here told is evidently a calumny, Cormac }^ave to Tadij, the Kiannacta, 
 
 invented in order to tarnish the glory which arc in Mafih-Breagh, as is cole- 
 
 of Cormac Mac Airt, who was one of bratcd in other books." 
 the greatest and wisest of our pagan " Wise- Surgeon. Faithliagh (Fah- 
 
 monarchs. It may be remarked, that leca) is tlie term used in the original, 
 
 the greater our monarchs and chief- This word is usually translated surgeon; 
 
 tains appear to have been, the mt)re but, as it was given as a (Ustindivc title 
 
 were they subject to such calumnies, to this physician, the translator thinks 
 
 Thus have AengusTuirm(>ch, Cnncobar it to be, in this instance, ])ut by mi.s- 
 
 Mac Nessa, Crinithan Niadh-nair, Olild take, either for '• Aith-Iiagh" (.I/i leca), 
 
 Olum, and the great Cormac been each, which would mean a veteran or experi- 
 
 in turn, most vilely defamed by the euced physician ; or for " faithliagh" 
 
 Btory-tellers of their enemies. The Four [fnwleca),i\\\\sii physician. O'Hallo- 
 
 Mast:ii-3 relate that, " h\ the army of ran calls him Finghiu Faithliagh (i^<?i- 
 
 Cormac came Tadg, son of Kian, and ecu Fawleca). 
 Lu;iaidli to that battle ; and it was aa 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 327 
 
 said the third pupil. Tlien the Wise-Surgeon entered tlic house 
 where the patient was lying, and proceeded at once to place an 
 iron plough-share in the fire ; and there he left it until he had 
 made it quite red, saying that he was preparing to operate with 
 it upon Tadg. But when the latter saw him getting ready the 
 red iron, in order to thrust it through his body, his heart trem- 
 bled so violently within him, and his terror became so great, 
 that he forcibly cast out from his several sores the grain of 
 barley, the chafer, and the splinter of the spear-head. After thi« 
 the Wise-Surgeon performed a radical cure of his wounds, so that 
 Tadg became perfectly healed within a very short time after. 
 
 This warrior afterwards won large possessions in Leth-Cuinn ; 
 for Connla and Cormac Galengach were the sons of Tadg, son of 
 Kian, son of Olild Olura, and from him have sprung the O'Haras, 
 O'Gares, O'Caseys (of Breagh, in Meath), and the O'Connors 
 Keenaught (i. e. the O'Connors of Ulster). The following are 
 the territories that were possessed hj his posterity, namely : the 
 Galenga, both east and west ;" the Kiannacta," both south and 
 north ; and the Luighui, both east and west. 
 
 But there were some other tribes of the blood of Eber, besides 
 these, who had won territories in Leth Cuinn ; such as the race 
 of Cochlan, son of Lorcan, son of Dathin, son of Tecari, son of 
 Tren, son of Sidhe, son of Anbili, son of Beg, son of Aedgan, 
 son of Delbaeth, son of Cas, son of Conall Ech-luath, son of 
 Lugaidh Menu, son of Aengus Tirech, son of Fer-Corb, son of 
 Mogh-Corb, son of Cormac Cas, son of Olild Olum. The terri- 
 tories acquired by these were the seven Delbna^'' {Dállávna\ 
 
 ^ Gallenga, east and west, i. e. in already pointed out; so have the 
 
 Meath and in Oonnaught. Before ex- Luighni. 
 plained. The importance of the services ren- 
 
 ^ Kinaimda, south. This territory dered by Tadg to king Cormac, are 
 extended from the River LifFey to near suiBciently attested by the largeness 
 Drunnskin, m the county of Louth and fertility of the territory given to 
 (comprehending the barony of Ferrard, him as a reward for his valor ; as is the 
 or Arda Kianacta, in that county) . bravery of his descendants by the num- 
 Duleek, in Meath, is mentioned as in it. bcr and extent of the territories won 
 O'Cathasaigh, or O'Casey, of Saithni, by them in Ulster and Connaught. 
 in Ma^h Breagh, was one of its princi- The posterity of Kian did not, how- 
 pal chiefs. He was dispossessed shortly ever, all migrate to these new districts ; 
 after the English invasion, by Hugo de the chief part of his descendants ruled 
 Lacy, This tribe must be distinguished the Elian territory down to a late 
 from the O'Cathasaigh, or O'Caseys, of period. Thei'e is an ancient historic 
 Coillti Mabinecha, whose territory lay tale still extant, called the Cath Crinna. 
 on the borders of the counties of Cork which minutely describes the battle of 
 and Limerick, near the town of Mit- Crinna. " Some of its details are le- 
 chelstoun. The Kianacta Breagh did gendary, but it is true as to its main 
 not include Tara within their bounds, facts." — O'D. 
 
 The northern Kianacta. the tribeland ^ Seven Delbna. 1. O'Finnallaia 
 
 of O'Connor of Glengiven, has been was the chief of Delbna Mor, now call- 
 
328 -. THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 namely: Delbna-Mor, Dclbnu-Beg, Delbna Edthartha, Dclbna of 
 larthar-Midhe (i. e. of the Avest of Meath), Delbua of Sith 
 Nennta, Delbna of Cuil-Fabar, Delbna of Tir-da-loch, in Con- 
 naught. 
 
 Remember, reader, tliat it was Lugaidh Laga that slew Fergus 
 of the Black Teeth, of whose reign we have just treated; and 
 that Avhere he slew him was at the battle of Crinna; and that it 
 was at the instigation of Cormac Mac Airt that he did the 
 deed. 
 
 CORMAC UL-FADA, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D, 213.^* Cormac Ul-fada, son of Art Aeinfer, son of Conn 
 Ked-cathach, of the line of Erimhon, assumed the sovereignty 
 of Ireland, which he held for forty years. He was styled 
 Cormac Ul-fada, either on account of his wearing a long beard,'^ 
 i. e. "ulcha fada;" or from the phrase " Ula abh-fad {Ulla-vad), 
 which means far or remote from Uladh ; for he had been for ten 
 years banished from Ulster or Uladh, by the Ulidians, who had 
 inflicted many evils upon him previous to his accession to the 
 Irish monarchy. 
 
 And the mother of Cormac was named Ectach,^' daughter of 
 Olketach, the Smith. And it was on the eve of the battle of 
 Mocrumhi, that he was conceived of Art by the Smith's daugh- 
 
 od the Darony of Dclvrn, county West- Adhnaigh (now HjTiey^ was also one 
 
 meath ; 2. Ó'Maeil-challainn, or Mul- of the principal septs of the Connaugh 
 
 holland. of Delbna Beg, now the barony Delbna. — See notes to the Leibhar-na-g 
 
 of Demi Fore, in the same county ; Ceart. 
 
 3. Mac Coehlain, or.Coghlan, of Delbna '^ A. D. 227. Four Masters. 
 
 Ethra, or Edthartha (JíAarfj/í), now the '"'' Lorifr-beard. This is the least forc- 
 
 barony of Garrycastic, Kings Coun- cd and the most probable explanation 
 
 ty ; 4. O'Scolaidhe, of Delbna lartliar of the surname " Ul-fhada" (Ulladcla. 
 
 Midhe [Eerhar-Mce), otherwise called The second is silly, and unfounded in 
 
 Delbna Tennmhuigh (Tenvoye), which fact. OTIaherty gives one scarcely 
 
 lay somewhere in Tebtha or Teffiá ; better, though one seemingly more in 
 
 ."). Delbna-Sithe-Nennta [Sheehic Nen- accordance with historic events, i. e. 
 
 to) was probably another name for that lie was called " Ul-f hadu'' because 
 
 Delbna Nuadath, which lay between he banished the " Ulta" once or twice 
 
 the rivers Suck and Shannon, in the to the Isles of Man and the Hebrides, 
 
 barony of Athlone, county lloscom- far (fad) from their Jiative " Uladh." 
 
 mon ; this sept sunk early under the ■" Editch. The Gaels were not the 
 
 Ui Maii'i ; G. O'Fathartaigh (0"Faher- only race of conquerors that claimed 
 
 ty) was lord of Delbna Culi Fabair, the riglit by which Art is said to have 
 
 which was situated on the east side of got pdsscssion of tliis damsel, whose 
 
 Ijough Corrib ; 7. Mac Conroi (now name Kehtuch (/ííg///ng/í), i. e. admira- 
 
 sometinies corrupted to King) was lord ble, kills of her unusual attractions, 
 
 of Delbna of Tir-da-loch (i. e. the land Down to the last century a similar, and 
 
 of the two lakes), which lay between even more barbarous usage, under the 
 
 Loch Orbsen (Ijough Corrib) and Loch name of Droit du Seip;neur, was main- 
 
 Lurgaa (the Bay of Galway). O'h- tained in some of the most polished 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. á29 
 
 tor, who was that king's dowered mistress ; for, by a custom then 
 prevailing in Ireland, whenever a king or nobleman had placed 
 his aifectLons upon the daughter a brughaidh {brooee), or biatach 
 (beeatagh), and wished to make her his concubine or paramour, 
 he had a perfect right to get possession of her as such, upon his 
 presenting her with a sufficient dowry or marriage portion. It 
 was thus that Art had acquired possession of Corrnac's mother ; 
 for it was not she that was his married wife, but Medb Leth- 
 derg {Meive láh-ijarg\ daughter of Conan of Cualann, after whom 
 Rath-Meidhbhe {Rawh-Meivie, i. e. Medb's Fort), near Temhair, 
 has been called. 
 
 Wonderful, indeed, was the vision which was then seen by 
 Ectach, the mother of Cormac. She imagined, as she lay 
 asleep by the side of Art, that her head had been struck off 
 from her body, and that there grew out of her neck a large 
 and stately tree, whose branches spread over the whole of Eri ; 
 and then, that a sea came and overwhelmed the tree, and laid it 
 prostrate upon the earth ; and afterwards, that another stately 
 tree sprung out of the roots of the first, but that there blew a 
 whirlwind from the west, which laid it low. When the damsel 
 had seen this vision, she started from her sleep, and told its 
 purport to Art. " It is true," said Art, " that every womans' 
 head is her husband. I shall then be taken off fi-om thee on 
 to-morrow, in the battle at Magh Moerumhi; and that stately 
 tree that appeared to spring from thy neck, shall be a son whom 
 thou shalt bear to me, and who shall rule all Eri as her king ; 
 and the sea that is to overthrow it, means the bone of fish which 
 he shall swallow, and by which he shall be strangled. And the 
 other stately tree, that seemed to spring from the roots of the 
 first, means also a son who shall be born to thy son, and who 
 shall likewise reign as king of Eri ; and that whirlwind from the 
 east that is to lay it prostrate, betokens a battle that shall be 
 fought between him and the Fiann of Eri, and he shall be 
 slain therein by the Fiann, but, from that day forth, all good for- 
 tune shall depart forever from the Fiann." And that vision was 
 fulfilled, both in the case of Cormac and of his son Carbri ; for it 
 was by having made him swallow the bone of a fish that the 
 " Siabrada" {Sheevree or Sheevraglm)^ that is, the demons, stran- 
 
 nations of Europe. The facts tliat the have founded feudalism, or forgotten 
 
 offspring of such unions were not deem- by their descendants. 
 
 ed illegitimate, and that the noble The following events are recorded 
 
 ravisher was forced by Brehon law to by the Four Masters as having taken 
 
 grant a dowry to the injured maiden, place during the reign of Cormac, 
 
 were attenuating circumstances that who, if not the very greatest, was one 
 
 seem-to have been either overlooked by of the greatest monarchs that ever ruled 
 
 the chivalrous Teutons, who are said to Ireland. 
 
330 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 gled Cormac ; and Carbri Lificar fell by the Fiann at tbe battle 
 of Gabra {Gaura and Gavra). 
 
 Some histoiians will have it that Ethni Taebh-fada {Taivdda), 
 daughter of Cathaeir Mor, was the wife of Cormac ; but that as- 
 sertion cannot be true, when we are told that she was also the 
 mother of Carbri Lificar ; for there were eighty-eight years from 
 the death of Cathaeir Mor to the accession of Cormac to the 
 sovereignty of Ireland, namely : the twenty years that Conn had 
 reigned ; the seven years of the reign of Conari, son of Mogh 
 Lamha ; the thirty years of Art Aeinfer ; and the thirty years 
 of i\Iac-Con ; with the one year of Fergus Dubh-dudach, who 
 immediately preceded the present monarch. But it is the truth 
 to state that Ethni Ollamda, daughter of Dunlaing, son of Enna 
 Niadh (Neea), was the mother of Carbri Lificar, and the wife of 
 Cormac. 
 
 It was she that was the foster-child of . Buikedh Brugh, a 
 wealthy grazier, v/ho dwelt amongst the Leinstermen, and whose 
 wont it was to keep the cauldron of hospitalit}^ constantly on 
 the fire, for tlie purpose of entertaining every one of the men of 
 Ireland that might come to his house. Now this Buikedh Brugh 
 Avas thus circumstanced: he was a man of abundant w^ealth, for 
 he had seven herds of cattle, and in each herd of these there 
 were seven-score of cows. With these he had large herds of 
 horses, and of every other description of stock in like manner. 
 Knowing this, the nobles of Leinster made a practice of coming 
 to his house, attended b}^ bands of their followers, and at their 
 departure thence they usually took oli' with them — one party a 
 drove of his kine ; another a stud of his brood mares, with their 
 colts ; another a troop of his steeds. In this manner they soon 
 stripped hiin of all his wealth, so that at last there remained in 
 his possession but seven cows and a bull. With thcsj, he stole 
 away by night from Dun Buikidh, and betook himself, with his 
 wife and his foster-child Ethni, to an oak-wood that lay near 
 Ken annus (Kells), in Meath, at which place Cormac was wont 
 to reside at that time. There Buikedh built him a hut, in 
 which he dwelt with his wife and his foster-child; and there 
 did Ethni serve and wait u])on her nurse, anel her foster- 
 
 A. 1). 234. ITie eighth year of Cor- battle of Sruth (Shrule, co. Louth), 
 
 mac, Olilil Olum, son of Moj.'^h Nua- an-airist the Ulstcrmen ; the battle of 
 
 (lath, kiivj; of Munstor, died. — A. D. Sli^'Iir Ciialf^nii (co. Louth). — A. I). 
 
 236. The battle of Granard (in Long- 237. The l)attle of Arth-BL-tlia (prob- 
 
 ford), by Corraac, against the Ulster, ably Ballyijay, co Monaghan); the 
 
 men. A battle at Eu, in Magh Aei- battle of Duiniia, this year \)y Cormac. 
 
 against Aedh, son of Eocaidh, son of — A. D. 238. A battle at Aeil-tochair 
 
 Conall, king of Connaught. A battle thrice, and three battles at Dubhadh 
 
 at Eth ; the battle of Kenn-Dari ; the (I)owth, on the Boyne, co. Mcathj — 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 331 
 
 father, as if she were their maid-servant. AVhile they were thus 
 situated, king Corniac chanced to ride out one day alone, for the 
 purpose of traversing the lands that lay around his town; and, 
 in the course of his ride, he came upon the beautiful maid Ethni, 
 whom he espied milking the seven cows of her foster-father. 
 And it was thus that she proceeded to perform her task : she 
 had brought with her two pails, into one of which she milked 
 the first half-draught from the cows, and then, taking the second 
 pail, she milked the second half-draught therein. She then 
 returned to the hut of her foster-father, and having left the milk 
 within, she brought thence two other pails, and also a horn, 
 which she held in her hand ; with these she betook her to a 
 stream that ran not far from the hut. and by means of the horn 
 
 A. D. 239. The battle of Allamagh 
 (probably the plain of the river Ela, 
 now Alio, CO. Cork), and seven bat- 
 tles at É.bé (now Slieve Ilva, co. 
 Clare).— A. D. 240 The battle at 
 Magh lect, and the fleet of Cormac 
 sailed across Magh Rein (i. e. the plain 
 of Rian, i. e. the sea) this year, so that 
 it was on that occasion he obtained the 
 sovereignty of Alba (Scotland). — A. D. 
 241. These are the battles of Cormac, 
 fought against Munster this year : the 
 battles of Berre ; the battle of Loch 
 Lein (Ki'larney); the battle of Luim- 
 nech (Limerick); the battle of Grian ; 
 the battle of Clasach : the battle of 
 Muiresg ; the battle of Ferta, in which 
 fell P^ocaidh Taebh-fada, son of Olild 
 Olum ; the battle of Samhaiu, in wliich 
 fell Kian, son of Olild Olum ; and the 
 battle of Ard-cam. The massacre of 
 the girls at Claein-ferta, at Temhair, by 
 Dunlaing, son of Euna Niadh, king of 
 Leinstcr. Thirty royal girls was their 
 number, and a hundred maids with 
 each of them. Twelve princes of the 
 Leinstermen did Cormac put to death 
 together, in revenge for that massacre, 
 together with an exaction of the Bo- 
 rumha, with an increase after Tuathal. 
 [" In times of Paganism we find in 
 Ireland females devoted to celibacy. 
 There was in Tara (Temhair) a royal 
 foundation of this kind, wherein none 
 were admitted but virgins of royal 
 blood. It was called Cluain-Fert, or 
 the place of retirement until death, as 
 they never retired from the precincts of 
 
 the house from their first reception. 
 The duty of these virgins was to keep 
 constantly alive the fires of Bel, or the 
 Sun, and of Samhain, or the Moon, 
 which customs they borrowed from 
 their Phoenician ancestors. Dunlaing, 
 son of Endeus, broke into this retreat, 
 with a number of wretches equally 
 abandoned, and not being able to vio- 
 late the virgins, basely put them to the 
 sword. Besides putting the principal 
 perpetrators to death, Cormac obliged 
 their -successors to send thirty white 
 cows, with calves of the same color, 
 every year to Temhair, and thirty brass 
 collars for these cows, and thirty chains 
 to keep them quiet whilst milking." — 
 0-Hal.]~A. D. 248. The twenty- 
 second year of Cormac, a battle, at 
 Pochard Murthemni (now Faughard, 
 near Dundalk), by Cormac, this year. 
 The battle of Crinna Fregobail was 
 fought by Cormac, against the Ulster- 
 men, where fell Aengus Finn, son of 
 Fergus Dubh-dedach, king of Ulster, 
 with the slaughter of the Ulstermen 
 about him. — A. D. 265. Kellach, son 
 of Cormac, and Cormac 's law-giver, 
 were mortally wounded, and the eye of 
 Cormac himself was destroyed with one 
 thrust of a lance, by Aengus Gaibh- 
 uaibthech, son of Fiacha Suighdhe, 
 son of Feidhlimidh the Law-giver. 
 Cormac afterwards fought and gained 
 seven battles over the Deisi, in re- 
 venge for that deed, and he expelled 
 them from their territory, s,o that they 
 are now in Munster. 
 
332 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 she filled one of the pails with the water which ran near the 
 bank, and the other with that which ran in the middle of the 
 stream. She again returned to the hut with her pails, and soon 
 came fortli a third time, bearing in her hand a sickle, for the 
 purpose of cutting rushes. As she cut these, she took care to 
 set every sickle-full of green rushes that were long, on one side, 
 while she set the short rushes on the other. Now it also hap- 
 pened that Cormac, smitten with love for the maiden, had con- 
 tinued to stand by her while she was performing all of those 
 offices ; and he at length demanded of her, for whom she had 
 made that careful selection of the milk, the water, and the rushes. 
 "The person for whom I have made it," said she, "has a right 
 to still greater kindness from me, if it were in my power to ren- 
 der it." " Of what name is he ?" said Cormac. " Buikedh Brugh," 
 replied she. " Is that Buikedh, the biatach {beeatagh\^^ said 
 Cormac," that Leinsterman who is so fomous throughout Ireland?" 
 " It is," replied the maid. " Then thou art his foster-child, Etlini, 
 daughter of Dunking," said the king. "lam," replied Ethni. 
 " It has happened well," ^'^aid Cormac, "for thou shalt be my 
 only wife." " The disposal of me does not rest with myself," 
 said Ethni, " but with my foster-father." Upon this, Cormac ac- 
 companied her to Buikedh, upon whom he promised to bestow 
 rich presents, provided lie got Ethni as his wife. Buikedh, 
 thereupon, consented to give the maiden in marriage to the 
 king ; who, upon his part," granted the " taath" or district of 
 Oghrán, with store of cattle, and which lay near Temhair, to 
 Buikedh, to possess during his lifetime. And then the marriage 
 of Cormac was consummated, and she bore him a distinguished 
 son, who was named Carbri Lificar. 
 
 This Cormac was, indeed, one of the wisest monarchs that 
 ever possessed Ireland. Of this fact, let his Tegasg Eiglr' {Tag- 
 
 ™ Tegasrr Rijrh. Copies of this work, of Ireland to Temhair, and ordered 
 
 ascribed to kinj^ Cormac, are yet ex- them to write tlie Chronicles of Ireland 
 
 tant in the Book of Ltiinster and in the in one book, which was named the 
 
 Book of BaJlymote ; and translated ex- Psalter of Temhair. In that book 
 
 tracts from it are }^iven in the Dublin were entered the coeval exploits and 
 
 Pe??ni//oumrt/, vol.i. pp. 213, 214, 21.5, synchronisms of the king's of Ireland 
 
 and 231, 232. — O'D. with the kin<is and emperors of the 
 
 0'Flah(!rty says, that " Cormac's lit- world, and of the kings of the provinces 
 
 erary productions, still extant in mauii- with the monarchs of Ireland. In it 
 
 script, prove him tr) have been an able was also written what the monarchs of 
 
 legislator and antifpiarian : his laws, Ireland were entitled to receive from 
 
 enacted for the public good, were never the provincial kings, and the rents and 
 
 abrogated while the Irish monarchy dues of the provincial kings from their 
 
 lasted." subjects, from the noble to the subalt- 
 
 " It was thig Cormac, son of Art, crn. In it also were described the 
 
 also, that collected the Chroniclers boundaries and mearcs of Ireland, from 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 833 
 
 gash Ree), or Book of Precepts for Kings, which was transcribed 
 by his son, Carbri Lificar, bear testimony, as well as the many 
 other praiseworthy institutes, named from him, that are still to 
 be found in the books of the Brehon Laws. 
 
 Cormac was also one of the kings that kept the most princely 
 household, and that maintained the largest retinue of attendants, 
 that ever held the sovereignty of Ireland. The truth of this 
 fact may be learned from the account which the bard-snge of 
 king Diarmaid, son of Kerbeol, namely, Amirghin, son of Amal- 
 gaidh, son of Mael-Buadna, has given of the Hall of Mi-Cuarta, 
 built and regulated by king Cormac himself, in the book called 
 the Dinn-Senchas, written by the said Amirghin, However, it 
 was long before the time of Cormac that the Hall of Mi-Cuarta 
 was first founded ; for we have seen that Slanoll, king of Ireland, 
 died within its walls, many ages before the reign of the present 
 king. This is, then, what must be meant, namely, that it was in 
 Cormac's time that it was first converted into a banquet hall. 
 It was three hundred feet in length, and thirty cubits in height, 
 and, in breadth, it was fifty cubits.^" In it there was a flaming 
 lamp, and it was entered by fourteen doors. It contained one 
 hundred and fifty beds, besides Cormac's own. One hundred 
 and fifty warriors stood in the king's presence when he sat down 
 to the banquet. There were one hundred and fifty cup-bearers 
 in waiting; and the hall was provided with one hundred and 
 fifty jewelled cups of silver and gold. Fifty over one thousand 
 was the number of the entire household. It was lipon the mag- 
 nificence and goodness of Cormac that the bard composed the 
 following verse : 
 
 " The monarch Art left but one child, 
 Cormac, the royal sage of Coranu : 
 Rich gifts he dealt with bounteous hand — 
 A hundred clans have sprung from Cormac." 
 
 Ten was the number of Cormac's daughters, and his sons were 
 three, as the bard tells us : 
 
 shore to shore, from the province (cuig- dimensions here given of the Hall of 
 
 edh) to the cantred (tuath), from the Mi-Cuarta have been verified by raod- 
 
 cantrcd to the townland (baili), from ern researches made upon the spot ; as 
 
 the townland to the traighidh {t>awee) have also the much more minute and 
 
 of land. These things are celebrated elaborate descriptions of the several 
 
 in the Lsabhar na h-Uidhri. They are constructions at Temliair given by our 
 
 evident in the Leabhar Dinnsenchasa." antiquaries, bards, and by the writers of 
 
 — Four Masters. historic romance. — See Petrie's Antiqui- 
 
 ^ It is to be here remarked that the ties of Tara Hill. 
 
834 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 " Ten claii£>-hters the wise Cormac had, 
 
 With three most royal sons. 
 . Three plunderers that wasted Clar 
 
 Were Dari, Carbri, Kellach." 
 
 Dari was slain at Dubh-ros (Doo-russ), on the Boyne, in the 
 plain of Brcagh ; and it was Aengus Gaeith-buailtech" [Ayneesse 
 Guee-vooillagh) that killed Kellach, as the bard relates in the 
 following verse : 
 
 " Famed Aengus of death-dealing spear 
 Slew Kellach, son of Cormac, 
 In Dubh-ros Dari ; and Tadg Mac Kein 
 Fell, near the Boyne, ia smooth Magh-Brcagh." 
 
 In order that the events of this epoch maj'- be the better un- 
 derstood, I shall give down here a short genealogical memoir of 
 the following persons and tribes : 
 
 Settlement of the FofJiariaigh'' and Laeighsigh in Ldnster. 
 
 Y^ou must, in the first place, understand that Feidliraidh Rect- 
 mar (king of Ireland) had three sons, namely : Eocaidh Finn, 
 Fiacaidh Suighdi, and Conn of the Hundred Battles, as has been 
 heretofore recounted. Of these, Conn and his posterity abode 
 at Temhair, and possessed the sovereignty of Ireland. Eocaidh 
 Finn went to dwell in Leinster; and it was in his time that Cu- 
 Corb, son of Mogh-Corb, was king of that pentarchate. It was, 
 also, by this Eocaidh Finn that Lacighsech {Lueeshagh) Kenn- 
 mor," son (or rather descendant) of Conall Kearnach, had been 
 fostered and educated. 
 
 About the same time the !Muimhnigh {Muivnih or Mueenih) 
 or Munstermen held great sway in Leinster, so that they were 
 in possession of the whole of Osraide {Osree) and of Lacighis" 
 {Lueesh)^ as far as Mullach Masden. But when Cu-Corb saw 
 
 " Grie/i'-iiifi/V/ec/i, i. c. spear or jave- tain here meant was Lugaidh Laeigh- 
 
 lin-striking. lie is elsewhere called sech {Looce Liiccsh'ifjh) , the son or 
 
 Qa,ihh-ljii\hhthw}\ {Guiv-uoiffafrh), i.e. descendant of Laeighsech Cenn-mor 
 
 of the terril)lc spear, which is a much (Kcmi-nwr), the grandson (not the son) 
 
 more elegant compound. of Cionall Kearnach. 
 
 ^ Fotkar'nigh. The territories pes- ^ Laelghis. The name of this terri- 
 
 sessed by this tribe have been hereto- tory has been anglicized, I>eix, It 
 
 fore described. O'Nolan and O'Lor- originally comprised the present baro- 
 
 cain, now Larkin, arc its chief repre- nies of i;ast and West Maryborough, 
 
 scntatives. Htriidl)al!y, and Oulienagh, in the 
 
 ^ Laeifrlisech Kenn-mor, i.e. T^'ieiirh- Qiief-n's county. The chieftain sept of 
 
 aech of the Large Head. The chief- the descendants of Lugaidh Laeighscch 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 835 
 
 the Munstermen gaining such supremacy in his principality, he 
 demanded aid, wherewith to expel them out of Leinster, from 
 Eocaidh Finn. The latter consented to his request, and assem- 
 bled his partisans from all sides, so that he succeeded in muster- 
 ing together a numerous army, over which he set his own foster- 
 son, Laeighsech Kenn-mor, as general ; then, having joined his 
 forces to those of Cu-Corb, the Leinster king, he made head 
 against the men of Munster, Laeighsech Kenn-mor holding 
 the command of their united armies, as general-in-chief Thus 
 they succeeded in driving the intruders from Mullach-Masden 
 (Mullaghmast) to the Berba (Barrow), where they gave them a 
 great defeat, at Ath-Truiisdin {Aivh-trusMeen\ near Athy, which 
 is now called Ath-ui-Berba {Atvh-eeh-Berva). Thence they 
 followed up the pursuit until they routed them again at Coir- 
 teni,"° in Magh-Kiada. From this place, also, they continued to 
 pursue their enemies until they had given them a third great 
 defeat at Slighe-Dala {S hlee-'daicla), which is now called the 
 Belach-Mor, or Great Eoad of Ossory. Thus was the pentarchate 
 of Leinster relieved by those chiefs from the bondage of the 
 Munstermen. In reward thereof, Eocaidh Finn got a grant of 
 the Seven Fotharta-Laighen {Foharta Loyen)^ or Fotharts of 
 Leinster, for himself and his posterity for ever. His dalta (foster- 
 son) got a like grant of the Seven Laeighsecha (Leix) for him- 
 self and his progeny, as a warrior's fee, for his generalship in 
 expelling the Munstermen from the places just mentioned. Be- 
 sides this, the king of Leinster covenanted, both for himself and 
 for his successors on the throne, that the back of every ox, 
 and the ham of every swine slaughtered for his and their tables, 
 should be given as a " curadh-mir" (curra-meer), or champion's 
 portion, to the king of Laeighis ; and that one of the battle-axe 
 men of the king of Laeighis should be for ever maintained in 
 the house of the king of Leinster, at this king's own expense, for 
 the purpose of receiving that fee on the part of his chieftain, the 
 said king of Laeighis. It was also one of the privileges of the 
 latter king, to be one of the privy-council, or coniidential advisers 
 of the king of Leinster; and in public conventions he occupied 
 the fourth place, next to that king's person. It was he, also, that 
 had the right of distributing all the presents made by the king 
 of Leinster to his nobles and ollamhs ; and every present made 
 to that king himself had first to be placed in the hands of the 
 lord of Laeighis, for it was through his ministry that all such 
 
 took the name of O'Mordha {O'Mora), ^' Coirteni. Magh Riada, -where this 
 
 now O'Moore, from Mordha (i. e. ma- place was situated, was the name of a 
 
 jestic), the twenty-eighth in descent plain in Laeighis or Leix. 
 from Conall Keurnach. — O'D. 
 
336 THE HISTORY OF IKELAND. 
 
 gifts Avere to be presented. The king of Leinster was also bound 
 to retain in his ])ay seven of the followers of the king of Lacighis, 
 who were to be in continual attendance on his person, for the 
 purpose of putting on his armor, and of accompanj-ing him on 
 his expeditions. Upon his part, the king of Laeighis had no 
 duty to pay, with the exception of seven oxen, which he was 
 bound to send to the hunting-booth of the king of Leinster ; but 
 he was, nevertheless, bound to maintain seven-score of warriors 
 at his own expense, for the service of the king of Leinster. lie 
 had also the priviledge of leading the van of the Leinster army 
 when entering a hostile territory ; and in battle it was his right 
 to hold the "bearna bhaeghail" (Jjarna vaijil), or gap of danger. 
 In addition to these, the king of Laeighis was further bound 
 to render aid to the king of the Fotharta, and to rise out with 
 him in all his public conventions and general musterings. This 
 was because Eocaidh Finn, son of Feidlimid Rectmar, that had 
 fostered Leighscch Kenn-moi", from whom the Laeighsigh {Luee- 
 shih) are descended. These usages were constantly maintained 
 amongst their posterity until the English invasion. 
 
 The Sdtlement of the Desi (Daishie) in Munster. 
 
 With regard to Fiacaidh Suighdi {Feeaghai Suee), the other 
 brother of the monarch Conn, it was near Temhair that he had 
 acquired a territory, namely, the Desi Temrach'* {Daishie Tav- 
 ragh), but he never succeeded in making himself monarch. He 
 had, however, three sons, who were named Rosa, Aengus Gaei- 
 buailtech and Eogan. Of these, Aengus Gaei-buailtech surpass- 
 ed all the Avarriors of his day in prowess and daring. 
 
 At this time, a certain distinguished warrior fell under the 
 enmity of Cormac Mac Airt, and there was found no person who 
 would dare to be his security against the vengeance of the mon- 
 arch, but Aengus Gaei-buailtech. The king then gave him Aen- 
 gus, as guarantee for his safety ; and Aengus took the nobleman 
 under his especial protection. But it happened, soon after, that 
 Kellach, son of Cormac, made that nobleman captive, in viola- 
 tion of the safeguard of Aengus, and put out his eyes, without 
 even asking leave of the king, his father. When Aengus heard 
 thereof, he marched straight to Temhair, attended by a nume- 
 rous host, and there, by a cast of his dreaded spear, he slew 
 Kellach, son of Cormac, as he stood behind his father in the 
 palace, and at the same time wounded Cormac himself in the 
 eye, so that he was thenceforward trusting to one eye. Cormac, 
 
 " Desi Tcmrach, i. e. the Desi of Dceco, in the county of Meath. 
 Tara or Temhair, now the barony of 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 337 
 
 upon this, immediately mustered a large army, aud drove Aen- 
 gus and his kinsmen into bani.shment. 
 
 Many, indeed, were the battles which this race of Fiacaidh 
 Suighdi gave to Cormac, though he succeeded in driving them 
 into Leinster, where they remained for one year. Thence they 
 proceeded into Osraide, and finally they came to Olild Olum, 
 whose wife, Sadb, daughter of Conn of the Hundred Battles, 
 was a kinswoman of their own. Olild gave them the territory 
 which they thenceforward called the Desi Mumhan" {Daishi 
 Moon)^ or Desi of Munster ; for the Desi Temrach {Daishi Tav- 
 ragli) had been their native country, previous to their expulsion 
 thence by Cormac. Those three sons of Fiacaidh Suighdi then 
 divided their new territory between them in three parts. 
 
 Though some have called this tribe the posterity of Olild 
 Eronn, and Ernaide, or Ernaans,'' still they are not of the race 
 that is so called, for it is the descendants of Conari, son of Mogh 
 Lamha, that have been named Ernaide. It was, indeed. Core 
 Dubinn, son of Carbri Musg, that was the author of bringing the 
 race descended from Fiacaidh Suighdi into Munster; but it was 
 the posterity of the latter, not the former, that were called Desi. 
 And Aengus, son of Eocaidh Finn, son of Feidlimidh Eectmar, 
 was their chieftain on their expedition to Munster, and in part- 
 nership with him were the three sons of Fiacaidh Suighdi, 
 namely : Eosa, Eogan and Aengus Gaei-buailtech. 
 
 It happened that about this time Carbri Musg"' had acquired 
 great power in Munster, and that during his time misfortunes 
 and failures of crops came upon that principality. Nor, indeed. 
 was that to be wondered at, for it was through incest that Core 
 had been borne to him by Dubinn, who was his own sister ; for 
 they were both the children of Conari, son of Mogh Lamha, and 
 of Saradh, daughter of Conn of the Hundred Battles. When, 
 then, the nobles of Munster had taken notice that misfortunes 
 
 ^ Desi Murahan. This territory, in mistake above noticed by Keating, 
 
 the latter times of Irish independence, The likelihood is, that the Desi got the 
 
 comprised the present county of Water- territory now called "V^'atcrford from 
 
 ford, where its name is still preserved the Iberians, for the purpose of finally 
 
 in those of the baronies of Dccies with- subjugating its more early inhabitants. 
 
 in and Decies without Drum. ^ Caibri Musg. It does not appear, 
 
 ^ Ernaans. This name, as before from the text, what immediate con- 
 stated, belonged originally to a Belgian nection the story of Carbri Musg has 
 or Danann tribe. It had been usurped, with the Desi. We must not under- 
 as we have seen, by the descendants of stand, that he was then king of Mun- 
 the Gaelic chieftain Olild Erann, of the ster ; but that he was. as bore repre- 
 liue of Fiacaidh Fer-mara. Possibly sented, a powerful chieftain, the nume- 
 a branch of the original Ernaans still rous and extensive territories called 
 occupied the glens and fiistnesses of the Musgraide, or Muskery, from his de- 
 Comarachs, and may have led to the sccndantg, bear convincing testimony. 
 
 22 
 
388 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 had fallen upon their country during the rule of Carbri, they 
 demanded of that chieftain, what it was that had taken its pro- 
 duce and good luck from their land. And Cormac answered 
 them, and said, that it Avas an incest that he had himself com- 
 mitted with his own sister, namely, with Dubinn, and tliat she 
 had borne him two sons, namely, Core and Cormac. When the 
 chiefs of jMunster heard this, they demanded to get the sons, in 
 order that they might destroy them, by consuming them with fire, 
 and then cast their ashes into the running stream. "Let that 
 be done by you," said Dinach the Druid, '• as far as Cormac is 
 concerned; but let not Corc^" be killed by your hands. Let him 
 be given to me, and I shall take him Avith me out of Eri." His 
 request Avas, granted him ; and he took the child with him to 
 Inis-Baei,*^ Avhere he found a vestal named Baei, under Avhose 
 protection he placed him. With her lie left him for a year, 
 at the end of Avhich he took him to Saradh, daughter of Conn of 
 the Hundi'cd Battles, AA'ho Avas his grandmother, by both his 
 parents. 
 
 But to return to the Desi. They demanded of their sooth- 
 sayers, if it were their destiny to find a place of shelter or of 
 fixed residence in Munster ; and the soothsayers ansAvcred them, 
 and advised them to remain in that land. And they, moreover, 
 said that the Avife of Enna Kenn-sclach, Conaing by name, was 
 then pregnant, and that the child to be brought by her should 
 be a daughter. That daughter they advised the Desi to demand 
 in fosterage, telling them to give her full value in in-esents, in 
 order to get her from her parents. The daughter Avas after- 
 wards born, und she Avas fostered by the Desi, and Ethni Ua- 
 thach^ {Ethnic Ooliagh) Avas her name. She Avas fed upon the 
 flesh of infants by the Desi, in order that she might the sooner 
 become marriageable, because a distinguished druid had foretold, 
 that her fosterers should receive lands from the man Avhose Avife 
 she should become. And upon arriving at maturity, she Avas 
 wedded to Aengus, son of Nadfracch, king of Munster, Avho, as 
 a reward for getting her to Avife, bestoAved upon the Desi, Magh- 
 Femhen, that is, the district called tlie " trian'' {(reecm), or third 
 
 ^ Core. This Core became a (lis- and over memorable siege, in 1G02, im- 
 
 tinguished chieftain in the course of der its braA'e commandant, Richard, 
 
 time, and Avas the founder of several son of Rosí, sou of Couula Mageoghe- 
 
 septs of the Eremonian Ernaans. Corca gan. 
 
 Dubni, now (!oraguiny, in Kerry, lias " Ethni Uathach. The anachronism 
 
 seemingly received its name from liim. of this horrible legend is enough to 
 
 *' hits Bad, i. e. the Island of IJaei. prove it a lietion. Aengus Mac Nad- 
 It is now called Bear Island, being in fraeich, the king of Mun.ster, whoso 
 Bantry Bay. On it was situated, in wile this Ethni in said tr) have been, 
 aftcrtimes, O'Sullivan's castle of Dun- did not reign over Munstrr lor at lea.st 
 Baei (Dunboy), famed for its glorious two liundred year:i after the settlcmojit 
 
THE HISTOEY OF IKELAND. 339 
 
 of Clnsdn-mela {Cloo'in-meUa), and the Trian-medonacli {Treean- 
 veonagh), or middle third, after the expulsion of the Osraidigh 
 (Ossoriaus) from these territories. Afterwards, both Aengus 
 and Ethni were sluin by the Leinstermen, in the battle of Kell- 
 osna, ft)ur miles east of Leith-glenn (now Leighlin Bridge). For 
 the race sprung from Fiacaidh Suighdi, called also the Desi, 
 possessed at first but the territory which is known as the Desi 
 Deskert {Beshkeri), or Southern Desi, and which extends from the 
 Eiver Siuir soúithwards to the sea, and from Lis-mor to Kenn* 
 Criadain (Credan Head). But when Ethni Uathach was mar- 
 ried to Aengus, son of Nadfraech, king of Munster, then it was 
 that this prince bestowed upon them the Desi Tuaiskert {Todish- 
 kert), or Northern Desi, which extends from the above-mentioned 
 Eiver Siuir to Corca-Ethrach {Coré-áháragh), which is called 
 Machari Caisil {Maghera Cashil), or the Plain of Cashcl. O'Fae- 
 lain, who came of that stock, was the king of the northern Desi, 
 and where he had his dun-phort (or stronghold) was on the bank 
 of the Siuir, at Innis-Lemnacta*^ {Tnnish-lewnaghta) ; and that is 
 the place that is now called Dun-ui-Faelain {Doon-ee-Aylaian\ 
 i. e. the dun of O'Faelain. The posterity of another of the broth- 
 ers possessed the southern Desi, and it was their chieftain that 
 was styled O'Bric ; and there he had his dun-phort in the south, 
 by the sea-shore, at the place which is now called Oilean Ui 
 Bhric (Idaivn-ee-vricli), i. e. O'Bric's Island.** The Desi continued 
 thus divided into two septs until that of O'Bric became extinct, 
 and then the chieftainship of the two territories fell to O'Faelain, 
 whose posterity continued to rule them for a long period after- 
 wards, until the Sil Ebir {Sheel Aivi'r), or Eberians, deprived 
 them of the northern Desi; so that, upon the arrival of the 
 Anglo-Normans, they held possession but of the southern Desi. 
 Understand, that it was Aengus Osraidech*^(J.meesA-e Osremgh), 
 with his tribe, that liad ])reviously held the lordship of Magh 
 Femhen,*^ called the Northern Desi, and that it was the tribe of 
 Fiacaidh Suighdi that had expelled him and his followers from 
 
 of the Desi in that Fifth. He was the *' O'Bric's Island lies near Bonma- 
 
 eighth in descent from Olild Olum, hon, in the county of AVaterford. 
 
 and the sixth from Fiacaidh ^laeil- '" Aengus Osmidech, thiit i?, Aengns 
 
 lethan, in whose reign the race of Fia- the Ossorian. He is tlie ancestor 
 
 caidh Suighdi fixed'inWaterford. The of the Fitz-Patriclis, and other cor- 
 
 story is evidently a calumny, invented relatives. 
 
 to detract from the glory of the des- "^ Magh Femhen, the barony of Tfifa, 
 
 cendants of the first Christian king of east co. Tipperary. Cluain-mela, i. e. 
 
 Cashel. the Field or Park of Honey, now Clon- 
 
 •' Inis Lemnnda, i. e. the Isle of niel, lay therein. Middicthird is also 
 
 Xew-milk. Its exact situation is un- a barony ia the same county, 
 known to the editor, as well as that of 
 Dun-Ui-Faelain. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 that territory ; and it is fiom the defeats which were given to 
 him at those places, tliat Cnoc-nrlaide*^ {Cnoc-urluee)^ i, c. the 
 Hill of Slaughter, and Mullach Aindconacli*^ yMullagh-ingónagh\ 
 i. e. the Height of Compulsion, in Magh Femhen, have received 
 the names, whicli they bear to the ])rcsent day. Cnoc-uilaide, 
 indeed, from the Urlaide^ or slaughter of the champions in the 
 battle ; and Mullach-Aindconach, from the compulsory (Aiudeo- 
 nach) driving forth of the Ossorians. 
 
 Cormac's war ^(;^^;/^ Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan,^^ /ci??^' of Munster — 
 The sons of thai Prince — His death. 
 
 It came to pass about this epoch, that Cormac, son of Art, 
 experienced a scarcity of meat and provisions, for he had 
 expended all his rents, by reason of the multitude of the folk 
 of his household. He thereupon consulted the Ard-fedmann- 
 ach {Ardfeimanagh), or high-steward of his domestic affairs, as 
 to the measures to be adopted in order to supply his followers 
 with sustenance, until the time had come round for again de- 
 manding his rents from the fifths or ])rovinces. The advice 
 which his high-steward gave him was, to muster a numerous 
 army, and to march therewith straight into Munster, for the 
 purpose of enforcing payment of the rents thence due to the 
 king of Ireland. "For," said he, " these people pay rent to you 
 but for one Fifth, while there are two Filths in IVIunster, out of 
 each of which a rent is justly due to the Ard-righ of Eri." Upon 
 the advice Cormac determined to take immediate action ; and 
 forthwith he s^mt an embassy to Fiacaidh Maeil-hithan {Fceagha 
 Mueelláhán), who was then king of Munster, demanding from 
 hini the rent of the two Fifths. Fiacaidh sent him answer, that 
 he would pay no more rent to him than had been paid to the 
 kings, his predecessors. And, when this reply w-as brought to 
 Cormac, he assembled a large army, and marched forward 
 without halting until he reached Drom-diamhari'*(c/e(;2;e)TÚ') which 
 
 " Cnoc-Urlaide. Unknown to the called Forbais Droma-damh/rari, i e. 
 
 editor. the Encampment on Drom-damli,?ari, 
 
 *" Mullach Angeonnch, now called has been founded upon tliis e.xpedition. 
 
 Mulla^'-liingonc a townland in tlic " It looks very stranpe that neitber the 
 
 parish of Newcliapcl, near Clonmel. Four Masters nor Tipliernach make 
 
 It was otherwise called Indeon na-n- any special mention of Cormac's cxpc- 
 
 Desi. {Intléo'i-rvi-Daishi). dition into Munster. The truth is, the 
 
 *' Fiacaidh Maeil-lethnn, the posthu- annalists of Leth Chuinn pass over the 
 
 mous son of Eog-an Mor, son of Olild affairs of Munster very slightly, and 
 
 Olurn, killed at the battle of Mocrumhi, seem unwilling to aekiiowledge any tj-i- 
 
 gucceeded his uncle Cormac Cas as king «mpli of the king of that province over 
 
 of Munster. the race of Conn of the Hundred liatr 
 
 " Drom-diamhari is also called Drom- ties ; and this feeling was mutual on the 
 
 damhgari. An ancient historic tale, part of the race of Olild Olum." — O'D. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 841 
 
 is now called Cnoc-Loingi (Knocklong, county Limerick,) and 
 there he pitched a stationary camp ; and thither also marched 
 Fiacaidh Macil-lethan,^! king of Munster, to meet him front to 
 front. Now, Cormac was accompanied on that occasion by cer- 
 tain Alban (Scotch) druids, whom he set to practice druidic 
 magic against the king of ]\[nnster, so that both men and beasts 
 were in danger from a scarcity of water. This compelled the 
 king of Munster to send for Mogh Ruith,^^ the druid, then dwell- 
 ing in Kiarraide Luachra (Kerry). And, when this druid had 
 arrived, the king was compelled to bestow upon him two can- 
 treds of land, namely, the territories called, at present, Condon's 
 and Roche's countries ; then ]\[ogh Ruith, upon receiving this 
 grant, unlocked the barrier that had been placed before the 
 waters, and that had withheld them from the host of Munster. 
 This he effected by hurling into the air a magic javelin, which 
 he possessed ; and^ in the place where his shaft fell, there imme- 
 diately burst forth a springe of pure water, wherewith the men' 
 of Munster were relieved from the violent thirst that had till 
 then oppressed them. Forthwith, the king of Munster flung 
 himsjlf and his refreshed warriors upon Cormac and his host, 
 and drove the invaders out of his territories, without their having 
 even withstood him in a battle or having taken off their spoils. He 
 followed up his pursuit of tliem into Osraide, where he compelled 
 Cormac to give him securities and pledges, as guaranties that he 
 would send hostages to him from Temhair to Rath Naci, which 
 is called Cnoc Ratliflmn^ {Knockraffan), in order to make atone- 
 ment for every injury that he had inflicted upon Munster in that 
 invasion. It is in record of that contract, that some bard has 
 composed the following verse : 
 
 " The good king Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan 
 Owned full ouc-half of this wide laud, 
 
 *' Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan succeeded his scendants took the names of O'Diibha- 
 
 nncle, Cormac Cas, as king of Munster. gain, O'Dugaiu or Duggan, and O'Cos- 
 
 Ile seems to have been fully a match graide, now Coskery, Coskran iind 
 
 for his rival, Cormac Mac Airt. The Cosgrave. 
 
 invasion here spoken of was apparently " A spring well, which he is said to 
 
 undertaken for the purpose of destroy- have caused to issue from the earth, is 
 
 ing the compact, made between Eogau still pointed out near Knocklong, coun- 
 
 Mor and Conn of the Hundred Bat- ty Limerick, 
 
 ties. "^ Cnoc Rathfann. The ruins of Fia- 
 
 " Mogh Ruith. This druid was de- caidh's rath still exist on the to\\T)land 
 
 scended from Fergus Mac Roigh, and of KnockrafFan, a few miles to the east 
 
 of the same race with the O'Connors, of Cahir, county Tippcrary. It was 
 
 Kerry. The territory given to him by situated ou the river Suir. and became, 
 
 Fiacaidh, for his services on this occa- some time previous to the P^nglish in- 
 
 eion, was Fermaighe Fcni {Fermoye vasion. the chief seat of that branch of 
 
 Faini), now the baronies of Ferraoy his descendants that took the name of 
 
 and Condons, county Cork. His de- O'Suillibain (O'Sullivan). 
 
342 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Aud strong Tcmhair sent hostages 
 
 To Eathiaun's fort the bright llath Naei." 
 
 This Fiacaidli had two sons, namely, Olild Flann Mor and 
 Olild Flann Beg.^ Of these, Olild Flann Mor died without 
 issue, and thence all of the posterity of Fiacaidh Maeil-lcthan 
 that survive, arc descended from Olild FLann Beg. It was upon 
 this circumstance that the bard composed this verse, down here : 
 
 " Sons of great Fiacaidli Maeil-lethan 
 Were Olild Flann Mor, childless chief, 
 And Olild Flann Beg, happy sire, 
 Whose race now widely rules in Mumha." 
 
 Olild FLinn Mot being thus without ofispring, adopted,^ as 
 his son, his brother, Olild Flann Beg, to whom he left his per- 
 sonal wealth and inheritance, on the condition that both himself 
 and his posterity should place the name of Olild Flann Mor on 
 the genealogical tree, between that of Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan and 
 his own. And it is so that it is found given down in the Psalter 
 of Cashel, and in other ancient books ; but we must not under- 
 stand thereby, that Olild Flann Mor was the father of Olild Flann 
 Beg ; for the reason why the name of Olild Flann Mor was thus 
 placed after that of Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan on the genealogical 
 tree, was in order to fulfil that agreement, made between the two 
 brothers, as we have just related. 
 
 It was Connla," sou of Tadg, son of Kian, son of Olild Olum, 
 that treacherously murdered Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan at Ath-isel 
 {AvjJieeshel), now Athassel, on the river Siuir. He was impelled 
 to perpetuate that foul treason by the following motive. Whilst 
 still a youth, and residing in the house of Cormac Mac Airt, king 
 of Ireland, for the purpose of learning i^olite manners and acquir- 
 ing skill in warlike exercises, he was attacked by some leprous 
 disease, Avhereupon Cormac one day told him tljat it was his des- 
 tiny to be cured thereof only by bathing himself in the blood of 
 a king, adding that he should be healed of his disease, as soon as 
 he had accomplished that deed. Soon after he had received this 
 
 " Olild Flann Be^ eventually succeed- na d-Tri Finn Kmna," i. o. Son of the 
 
 ed his cousin, Mogh Corb, son of for- Three Fiinis of Eniliaiu, applied to the 
 
 mac Cas, as king of the Southern Half Irish monarch, Lugaidh Kiahh-n-derg. 
 
 of Ireland. It does not appear that his " Connla. 'I'here is much that is ex- 
 
 eld'T brother was ever more than king aggerafed and ini])rnbaltle in the narra- 
 
 of Desmond. tiou of Fiacaidh's death. His cousin 
 
 "■ Adopted. From this it is evident Connla, over whose native territory of 
 
 that the custom of adoption was jirac- Kli that Icing claimed sovereignty, had 
 
 ticed amongst the Irish Tribes, and possibly other reasons for his treason 
 
 what is recorded here may serve to ex- than that here related, ajiparcntly from 
 
 plain that strange expression, " Mac some historic romance. 
 
TUE IIISTOEY OF IRELAND, 343 
 
 advice, Connla ^^•cnt to visit his cousin, Piacaidh Maeil-letban, 
 then king of IMuustcr. And where this king was then abiding 
 was at the rath of Kathfann, which is this day called Cnoc- 
 Eafann, Avith his foster-mother, -whose "name was Kathfann. 
 And when Connla presented himself at that jjlace, he received 
 a kindly welcome from his royal kinsman. Then, on a cer- 
 tain day soon after his arrival, Fiacaidh Avent forth along the 
 banks of the Siuir, attended by a number of his household, and 
 having Connla by his side, carrying his spear. "When they had 
 thus arrived at Ath-Isel, the king went into the water to swim. 
 Then did Connla remember the advice of Cormac, and thereupon 
 he advanced to the edge of the bank, whence, flinging his own 
 spear at Fiacaidh as he was swimming, he thrust him through in 
 the water, and thus slew him. Nevertheless, the king lived to 
 reach the bank and save the life of Connla, commanding his 
 household not to kill his treacherous relative and guest. Thus 
 did Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan end his life. 
 
 Finn Mac Cumhail and the Fiann^ na n-ERENN. 
 
 We have already related, on the authority of the Shannachies, 
 that king Cormac had ten daughters, but of these we shall here 
 speak of no more than two, namely,, of Grainni,^^ who was at first 
 the wife of Finn, son of Cumhal {Cúvál or Cooal)^ but who after- 
 wards eloped with Diarmaid O'Duibne {Decrmid CDuivnie or 
 Divynee); and of Ailbi {AJvie)^ daughter of Cormac, who also 
 became the wife of Finn after the elopement of her sister. 
 
 Now, I hold it to be untrue for any jDcrson to assert that Finn 
 and the Fiann (Feeann) never had existence. For, in testimony 
 of their having really existed, we have still remaining those 
 three proofs, whereby, with the single exception of what is re- 
 corded in Holy AVrit, the truth of all historic facts are tried. 
 These are, first!}", common oral tradition, handed down from 
 father to son ; secondly, ancient Avritten documents, and thirdly, 
 ancient landmarks and monumental remains. We have ever 
 heard, and are constantly hearing it repeatefi' f?3ni mouth to 
 
 ^ Fiann. This word is used in a maid aud Grainni — this lady was not 
 
 oollcctive sense, and must, throughout actually married to Finn. She e'oped 
 
 this work, be understood as the order with Diarmaid from her marriage feast. 
 
 of men called the •' Fiann" [Feeann). Diarmaid O'Duibni. styled in ancient 
 
 Its plural, " Fianna," means bands or romances, " the dark haired Diarmaid 
 
 bodies of the Fianit. An individual of bright face and white teeth," was 
 
 member of the order was styled " Fein- the Paris of the Fiann, without the 
 
 nidhe" [Fainyee). effeminacy of the Trojan prince. By 
 
 ^' Grainni. According to the Fen- his race, he was of the Ernaide of Muu- 
 
 niau romance — " Toraidhech Dhiarma- ster. He is represented as the most 
 
 da's Grainni" [Toreedght Yeermoda's agile warrior of the Fiann. 
 Grannyeh),i.e. the Chase after Diar- 
 
344 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 mouth, that Finn and Fiann once had existence ; and again, oiir 
 ancient books record their adventures very fully ; and we still 
 have living witnesses of their existence in the ancient names at- 
 tached to the localities, and the monumental remains, that have 
 been called after them — such as Suidhe Finn (Suec-Fiun), i.e. 
 Finn's Seat or resting place, upon Sliabh-na-m-ban-bh-fionnG" 
 {Sb'eve-na-man-vj/nn), which was so called from this hero, Finn 
 Baeisgni;"' and Glenn Garaidh {Gkn-garra), i.e. Garaidh's val- 
 ley, which is called after Garaidh Glun-dubh {gloon-duv), son of 
 Morna, and which lies in Ui Fathaidh" (ee Fahie), and Leba 
 Diarmoda is Grainni {Labha-yeermodas-Granini), i. c. Diarmaid 
 and Grainni's Bed, inUi Fiacrach Aidhni" {Ee Feerjhragh Fjijnié)^ 
 which is now called Duithche Ui Sechnasaigh [Dohee-Shaugh- 
 nasg)^ or O'Shaughnasy's country ; and so likewise of numbers 
 of other localities throughout Ireland. 
 
 But if any person should say, that a great deal of what has 
 been told of the Fiann is incredible, in that I hold him to be per- 
 fectly correct. But, there was no country in the world in which 
 men did not write untrue stories, in the daj's of Paganism. I 
 could even point many stories of that kind, such as the Knight 
 of the Sun and similar ones, that were composed even in the 
 times of the Faith. Nevertheless, there is no country in which 
 some true and credible histories were not written at the same 
 time. In like manner, although many fabulous and romantic 
 tales, such as tlie Cath Finn-Tragha (Cah-Finn-Troxje), or Battle 
 of Veutry ; the Bruighen Caerthann {Brueen Kairhan), or For- 
 tress of Caerthann; the Imthecta an Ghilla Decair {Imhaghl an- 
 yilla dacker), or the Adventures of the Dissatisfied Clown, and 
 such like, have been written upon Finn and the Fiann for pas- 
 
 " Sliabh-nn-m-han-hh-fionn, i. e. the "^ Ui Fathaidh. There were two 
 mountain of the fair women, now Slieve- tribes in Connaught, of this name ; one 
 naraan, county Tipperary. The term situated cast of Loujih Corrib, in the 
 '•fionn," i. e. foir, now applied to this county of Gal way ; the other was lo- 
 mountain, is thought to be a corrup- cated in Ui Mani, in the same county, 
 tion of Femhenn {Fewean), the old The name is anglicized O'Fahy. Tlicrc 
 name of the territory where it is situ- was also a tribe of this name in the 
 ated. Finn's seat upon this mountain, liarony of IfTa and Offa, county Tip- 
 as well as upon the several mountain perary. 
 
 ranges in Ireland and Scotland, where •" Ui Fincrach Aidni. The tribe- 
 places so called are found, probably re- name of tlie O'Heynos, O'Sliaughnea- 
 ceived its name from the fact of that sies, Mac Kilkellies, and tlu'ir correla- 
 chief having been wont to make it his tives. Tlieir territory lay on tlic bor- 
 station, whilst his warriors were making ders of the counties of (ialway and 
 their bittiie on the lowlands beneath. Clare. Tliosc altar-tombs, compo.sed 
 
 " O'liac/sgiii, i. c. descendant of of innnonse stones, so frequent in Iro- 
 
 Baeisgni (BueeshJcni), son of the Irish land, arc sometimes popularly but im- 
 
 monarch,Nuadath Nect,from whom the jjroporly called the Beds of Diarmaid 
 
 clan of Bacisgni, of which Finn was the and (Jrainni. 
 hereditary chieftain, received its name. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 845 
 
 time's sake, it is nevertheless certain that some true and credible 
 histories have been written of them likewise." 
 
 It is, also, proved that their persons were of no extraordinary 
 size, compared with the men that lived in their own times, and, 
 moreover, that they were nothing more than members of a body 
 of buaiiadha (boonagha), or soldiers, maintained by the Irish 
 kings, for the purpose of guarding their territories, and of up- 
 holding their authority therein. It is so that captains and sol- 
 diers are at present maintained, by all modern kings, for the 
 purpose of defending their rule and guarding their countries. 
 
 The members of the Fiann lived after the following manner. 
 They were quartered upon the people of Ireland from Samhain 
 (All Hallows) to Beltani (May), and their duty was to uphold 
 justice and to put down injustice on the part of the kings and 
 lords of Ireland, and also to guard the harbors of the country 
 from the oppression of foreign invaders. Then, from Beltani to 
 Samhain, they lived by hunting and the chase, and by perform- 
 ing the duties demanded of them by the kings of Ireland, such 
 as jDrevcnting robberies, exacting fines and tributes, and putting 
 down public enemies, and every other kind of evil that might 
 afflict the country. For performing these duties they received a 
 certain fixed pay, just as a fixed stipend is at present given by 
 all the kings in Europe, to the captains and officers that are em- 
 ployed in executing their commands. 
 
 ilov.'cver, from Beltani till Samhain, the Fiann had to content 
 itself with game, the product of its own hunting, as its mainte- 
 nance and pay from the kings of Ireland. That is, its warriors 
 had the flesh of the wild animals for their food, and the skins for 
 wages. During the whole day, from the morning until the night, 
 they ate but one meal, of which they were wont to partake to- 
 wards evening. About noon, it was their custom to send what- 
 ever game they had killed in the morning, by their attendants, 
 to some appointed hill, where there should be a convenience of 
 wood and moorland. There they used to light immense fires, 
 into which they put a large quantity of round sandstones. 
 They next dug two pits in the yellow clay of the moor, and, 
 having set part of the venison upon spits to be roasted before 
 
 *' The tales here mentioned, as well Irish students. Until these Tales of 
 
 as all the other documents relating to the Fiann, with the Ossianic Poems, 
 
 the Fiann which still remain, are now be given to the public in a translated 
 
 in a fair way of being published by form, nothing like a correct picture 
 
 the Ossianic Society of Dublin. If the can be drawn of the state of Ireland, 
 
 Irish public, both at home and in Ame- during the days when Finn and his 
 
 rica, will only support that Society as warriors flourished — days which may 
 
 it deserves, our Fenian literature will be said to constitute the heroic epoch 
 
 soon be placed within tlic reach of of our history. 
 
846 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 tbe lire, they bound up the remainder with sugans, in bundles 
 of sedge, which the}- phiced to be cooked in one of the pits they 
 had previousl}'- dug. There they set round them the stones 
 which had been heated in the fire, and kept heaping them upon 
 the bundles of meat, until they had made them seethe freely, and 
 the meat had become thoroughly cooked. From the greatness 
 of these fires, it has resulted that their sites are still to be recog- 
 nized, in many parts of Ireland, by their burnt blackness. It is 
 they that are commonly called " Fualacta-na-Fiann" {Foohghta- 
 na-veean), that is, the Cooking-places or Kitchens of the Fiann. 
 
 As to the warriors of the Fiann, when they w'cre assembled at 
 the place where their fires had been lighted, they used to gather 
 round the second of those pits, of which we have spoken above, 
 and there every man stripped himself to his skin, tied his tunic 
 round his waist, and then set to dressing his hair and cleansing 
 his limbs, thus ridding himself of the sweat and the soil con- 
 tracted during the day's hunt. Then they began to supple their 
 thews and muscles hj gentle exei'cise, loosening them by fric- 
 tion, until they had relieved themselves from all sense of stiffness 
 and fatigue. AVhen they had accomplished this, they sat down 
 and ate their meal. That over, tliey commenced constructing 
 their "fiann-bhotha" {feean-vohá\ or hunting booths, and prepar- 
 ing their beds, and so put themselves in train for sleep. Of the 
 following three materials, then, did each man construct his bed, 
 namely, of the brushwood of the forest, of moss, and of fresh 
 rushes. The brushwood was laid next the ground, over it was 
 laid the moss, and lastly the fresh rushes were spread over all. 
 It is these three materials that arc designated in our old romances 
 as the "Tri Cuilcedha na-Fiann" {Three quilkagha na veeann), 
 that is, the Three Beddings of the Fiann. 
 
 Campion tells us in his Chronicle, that Finn, son of Cumhal, 
 was the same person whom some authors have called Roanus. 
 But this assertion of his is unfounded in fact ; for you must un- 
 derstand that his father was Cumhal, son of Trenmor, the fourth 
 in descent fiom Nuadath Ncct, monarch of Ireland, and that his 
 mother was Muirrinn Mong-caein, that is, Muirrinn of beauteous 
 hair, daughter of Tadg {Teigue), son of Nuadath, the druid of the 
 monarch Cathaoir Mov. 
 
 Almlia" {Alva), of Leinster, was the native inheritance of 
 Tadg, son of Nuadath. It was from him that Almha fell into 
 the possession of Finn, in right of his mother. It was the king 
 
 •" Almha, otherwise Alinhain (Alwin). the poem called the " Builli Oisiii," i. e. 
 
 Tlic site of Finn's fortress, at this place, the Iia<rc of Oisin, occur tlie following 
 
 is now called the Hill of Allen in the verses, descriptive of Finn's dwelling at 
 
 county of Kildare. 'J'he place is highly Almha : 
 celebrated in the Ossianic Poems. In 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 347 
 
 of Leinster that gave liiin Formacil na bh-Fiaun'^^ {Formeel na 
 veean), where Liiimnech Laighen {Lymnagh Loyen) is now situ- 
 ated. 
 
 Buchanan, in his History of Alba (Scotland), has called Finn 
 a giant, telling us that he was fifteen cubits in height. But that 
 statement is untrue ; for it is evident from our ancient historic 
 books, that he was of no extraordinary size beyond the men of 
 his own time. It is also evident from them, that there were men 
 in the Fiann who were more remarkable for their personal prow- 
 ess, their valor, and for the size of their bodies than he. The 
 reason, inde;:d, Avhy he was made Kigh-Feiunedh (Ree-Faineh), 
 or king of the Fiann, and set over the warriors, was simply be- 
 cause his father and grandfather" had held that ];)Osition before 
 him. Another reason, also, why he had been made king of the 
 Fiann, was because he excelled his cotemporaries in intellect and 
 in learning, in wisdom and in subtlety, and in experience and 
 hardihood in battle-fields. It was for these qualities that he was 
 made king of the Fiann, and not for his personal prowess, or for 
 the great size or strength of his body, 
 
 111 or.linary times, the host maintained as a standing army, 
 under Fmn's command, amounted to three " Catha" {cdha), styled 
 the Three "Catha" of the Gnath-Fiann {Gnah-Feeann), or ordi- 
 
 '• I feasted in the Iiall of Finn, 
 And at eacii banquet tiiere I saw 
 A thousand rich cups on his board, 
 Whose rims were bound with purest gold. 
 
 And twelve great buildings once stood there, 
 The dwellings of those mighty hosts, 
 Euled by Talg's daughter's warlike son. 
 At ..Imha of the noble Fiann. 
 
 Ati'\ constantly there burned twelve fires, 
 Within each priucely house of these, 
 And round each flaming hearth there sat 
 A hundred warriors of the Fiann." 
 
 The fortress of Almha was at length 
 destroyed, and its buildings burned, by 
 Garaidh Mac Morna, chief of the Fiann 
 of Connaught. Its destruction forms 
 the subject of one of Oisin's lays. Some 
 traces of its fortifications still exist 
 upon the hill of Allen. 
 
 Tiie resemblance of this name, Almha 
 or Almhain, to Alba, the Gaelic name 
 of modern Scotland, was laid hold of 
 by Macpherson and his followers, in 
 their surreptitious attempts to rob Ire- 
 land of Finn and his heroes. It is true 
 that the aspirated forms, mh and bh 
 closely resemble each other in power, 
 and that Almha or Almhain rai^'ht be 
 written Albha or Albhain, without caus- 
 ing any very perceptible difference in 
 
 the pronunciation of the words, which 
 is either Alva or Aiwa, Alvin or Alwin, 
 and sometimes Alloo'in. But, unluckily 
 for their imposition, the letter " b " is 
 never found aspirated in Alba, the 
 name of Scotland, either in the Erse or 
 Irish tongues. Thus there is no double 
 entendre possible on the subject. 
 
 ^ Formaeil na b-Fiann. The trans- 
 lator has not been able to determine 
 where this Formaeil lay, which could 
 have been granted to Finn by the king 
 of Leinster. There was a Sliabh For- 
 maeli, now called Sliabh Floiun, in 
 the county of Roscommon. There was 
 another place of the same name in the 
 county Tyrone. But neither of these 
 were in Leinster. The place was most 
 probably situated upon the Shannon, 
 the lower part of which was formerly 
 called Luimnech. 
 
 ^ His father and grandfather. Both 
 Cumhal and Trennior ( Trainmore) had 
 been chiefs of the Fiann before Finn. 
 It was not, then, that chieftain who in- 
 stituted the order, as some have im- 
 agined. 
 
348 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 narj Fiann. In each ''cath'"^ (cá/<) of these, there were three 
 thousand men. Thiá was the case when the people of Ireland 
 were at peace with one another ; but whenever hostilities broke 
 out between any of the nobles of Ireland and the Ard-righ, or 
 whenever it was found necessary to send forces to Alba, in order 
 to support the Dal-liiada*^' against the Ahnhuraigh'" {alvoorih), 
 or foreigners, then there were usually seven "catha" placed 
 under the command of Finn — so that he might have at his dis- 
 posal a force numerous enough to enable him to afford aid to the 
 Dal-Riada in Alba, and, at the same time, to protect Ireland 
 from either foreign or domestic oppression. 
 
 Under Finn, the Eigh-Feinnedh, there were many chieftains.^ 
 There was the cath-nihiledh {cah-veeleh), in command of the 
 " cath ;" the Kenn-fedhna {kerm-faana), over each band of a 
 hundred men, like the captains of the present day ; the " taeisech- 
 caegad" {iueesagh-caegad), or leader of fifty, and the " taeisech- 
 naenmhar" {naynoor)^ or leader of nine warriors. This arrange- 
 ment resembled that practiced, at the same time, amongst the 
 Éomans; for, when ten files or ten ranks were made of the 
 hundred men, there was a man whom they called the " taeisech- 
 naenmhar," set at tlie head of each rank. Hence, when we read 
 in the histoi'ies of Ireland, or in our old romances, of any warrior 
 of the Fiann, who is there styled "fer comhlainn céd" {fer cohlinn 
 caid\ that is, a match for a hundred in battle, or of one styled a 
 match for fifty, or for nine, or any other such term, we must not 
 understand therefrom that such man was, in his own proper per- 
 fion, able to repel the attacks of either one hundred, or of fifty, 
 or of nine armed men ; we must merely understand, that the 
 
 ** Cath, plural catlui, is usually trans- stood the Romans, and, perhaps, the 
 
 lated battallion. That term is, how- T'eutonic hordes. The presence of the 
 
 ever, likely to lead to misconception as Fiann in Scotland must have been fre- 
 
 to the effective force of the catk. Le- quent, for their names are scarcely less 
 
 pion would have given a better idea of wedded to the Ilijihlands of Alba than 
 
 the bodv of warriors composing it. to those of Ireland. 
 
 •=* Dal-Riada. The first permanent " Chieftains, i. c. olTicers. These 
 colony of the Scots (i. e. Gaels), under officers are somewhat dilL'rently styled 
 Carbri Iliada, the son of Conari II, by and arranged by other authorities, 
 the daughter of Conn of the Hundred namely, 1st, the Righ Feneidh, in su- 
 Battles, hud been already, for some ])reme command ; 2d, the Taeisech 
 time, seated in that part of modern Catlia (y'l/ccN '/r/g/i C(//to). or command- 
 Scotland now called Argj'leshire, cr of a cath ; IJrd, the Fcr-comhlann- 
 " which, taking the name of its prince- mhilc {Fer-cohlann-vecleh), or comniand- 
 ly founder, grew up, in course of time, er of a thousand ; 4th, the Fer-comh- 
 into the kingdom of Dalriad» ; and lann-ched, or leader of a hundred ; Sth, 
 finally, on the destruction of the Picts tiie Fer-comhlann-caegad, or leader of 
 by Kenneth Mac Alpine, became the fifty ; and Gtli, tlie Fcr-comhiann- 
 kingdom of all Scotland." — 3Ioore. naeninhar, or leader of nine. 
 
 '" Alinhuraigh. By these are under- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 349 
 
 warrior so styled was, with the band under his immediate com- 
 mand, a match for another warrior of lii:e rank, commanding an 
 equal number of men. 
 
 The Gesa'^ (gassa), i. e. the sacred in junctions of the Fiann. 
 
 There were four injunctions laid upon every person admitted 
 into the order of the Fiann : 
 
 The first injunction was, never to receive a portion with a wife, 
 but to choose her for good manners and virtues ; 
 
 The second was, never to offer violence to any woman , 
 
 The third was, never to give a refusal to any mortal, for any- 
 thing of which one was possessed ; 
 
 The fourth was, that no single warrior of them should ever 
 flee before nine champions. 
 
 Here follow the conditions, attached hy Finn to the "■ Gradha 
 GaisgV (grawa gashkie); or Degrees in Chivalry, which each 
 warrior was obliged to receive^ previous to his admission into 
 the Order of the Fiann. 
 
 The first condition.'^ No man could be admitted into the Fiann, 
 either at the Mordhail of Uisnech, the Aenach of Talti, or at the 
 Feis of Temhair, until both his father and mother, his tribe and 
 his relatives, had first given guaranties that they should never 
 make any charge against any person for his death. This was in 
 order that the duty of avenging his own blood should rest with 
 no man, other than himself; and in order that his friends should 
 have nothing to claim with respect to him, however great the 
 evils inflicted upon him. 
 
 The second condition. No man could be admitted into the 
 Fiann, until be had become a bard, and had mastered the Twelve 
 Books of Poesy.'* 
 
 The third condition.''^ No man could be admitted into the 
 
 " Gesa. These appear to have been the twelve rules for bardic composi- 
 
 the general vows of chivalry by which tion. 
 
 all members of the order were bound. "^ Third Condition. The reason for 
 
 In addition to them, each warrior this trial was to make sure, that the 
 
 had some particular "geis" (gziisA), claimant for admission was competent 
 
 or vow, by which he was individually to fill the post of Fer-comhlanu-naen- 
 
 bound. mhar, or officer placed at the head of 
 
 " First Condition. The object of a file of nine men, in which position he 
 this condition was designed to over- was expected to ward oif. from his files- 
 come those hereditary feuds, which men, the javelins of an equal file of at- 
 were the cause of so much Vjloodshed tacking enemies. Tiie conditions that 
 amongst the Gaels, and to substitute follow were designed to insure swiftness 
 the obligations of discipline for the ties and lightness of foot, steadiness of hand, 
 of Icindred. exactitude of personal adjustment, agi- 
 
 " Twelve Booh of Poesy. Perhaps lity and obedience to orders. 
 
350 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Fiann, until a pit or trencli, deep enough to reach to his knees, 
 had been dug in the earth, and he liad been placed therein, armed 
 Avith his shield, and holding in his hand a hazel stall", of the 
 length of a warrior's arm. Nine warriors, armed with nine 
 javelins, were then set opposite him, at the distance of nine 
 ridges ; these had to cast their nine weapons at him, all at once, 
 and then, if he chanced to receive a single wound, in spite of 
 his shield and staff, he was not adniitted into the order. 
 
 The fourth condition. No man was admitted into the Fiann, 
 until — having had his hair previously plaited — he had been made 
 to run through a thick wood, where, having given him but the 
 odds of a single tree, jolaced between him and them, all the men 
 of the Fiann started off at once in his pursuit, with fall intent of 
 wounding him. In this trial, they gave him but the odds or ad- 
 vantage of one tree, and if they came up to him they wounded 
 him, and he was refused admission into the Fiann. 
 
 The fifth condition. No man was admitted into the Fiann, 
 whose arms trembled in his hands. 
 
 The sixth condition. No man w'as admitted into the Fiann, 
 if a single braid of his hair had been loosened out of its plait by 
 the branches of the trees (as he ran through the wood). 
 
 The seventh condition. No man was admitted into the Fiann, 
 whose footstep had broken a single withered branch in his 
 course. 
 
 The eighth condition. No man was admitted into the Fiann, 
 unless he could jump over a branch of a tree as high as his fore- 
 head, and could stoop under one as low as his knee, through the 
 agility of his body. 
 
 The ninth condition. No man coiild be admitted into the 
 Fiann, unless he could pluck a thorn out of his heel, with his 
 hand, without stopping in his course. 
 
 The tenth condition. No man could be admitted into the 
 order, until he had first sworn fidelity and homage to the Eigh- 
 feinnedh. 
 
 KiarnaiC^ — Cormac builds his first mill — The sages, Fithil and 
 
 Flaiihri. 
 
 It happened, while Cormac, son of Art, was sovereign of Ire- 
 land, that some nobles of Uladh made a plundering expedition 
 along the coasts of Alba, in which they fell in with Kiarnait 
 {KeerniU), daughter of the king of the Ci-uthnigli (Picts), and 
 carried her off with them, over the sea, in captivity. But when 
 
 " Kiarnait. Sonio Trish antiquaries datioii, or Kiarnait could scarcely have 
 reject tlie story of tliis lady aitoirethcr. become so celebrated as she is, in Irish 
 It must, however, have had some foun- song, as a paragon of beauty. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 351 
 
 Cormac heard the fame of the beauty of Kiamait, he made a 
 public demand of her from the adventurers of Uladh. She sur- 
 passed all the women of her day in beauty, and for that reason 
 Cormac loved her exceedingly. But when Ethni Ollamda, 
 daughter of Dunlaing, who was Cormac's lawful wife, had heard 
 that Kiarnait was in that lying's possession, she determined that 
 he should not have both herself and his paramour at the same 
 time. She then forced him to deliver up to her own keeping the 
 captive Kiarnait, of whom she made a slave, in which condition 
 she was compelled to grind, with a quern,''' nine pecks, or nine 
 hecLrm'^ of corn each day. Notwithstanding this bondage, Cor- 
 mac contrived to meet his mistress in secret, and she soon became 
 pregnant. When in this condition, she could no longer perform 
 her appointed task at the quern. She, therefore, went privately 
 to her lover, and told him of the state in which she was. Upon 
 hearing it, Cormac sent to Alba for handicrafts-men, to construct 
 him a mill, and they did build him a mill ; and thus was Kiar- 
 nait released from the drudgery to which she had been con- 
 demned by Ethni. It was upon this subject that the bard com- 
 posed the following verses : 
 
 '• Kiarnait, enslaved by Cormac's queen, 
 One hundred men to feed from quern. 
 Nine kearns of corn each day should grind ; 
 Too rude a toil for her soft hands ! 
 
 Then came to her the noble king, 
 By stealth into her lonely chamber, 
 And soon the lady fair conceived. 
 And could no longer work at querning. 
 
 Conn's grandson then, with pity smote, 
 Brought millwrights from beyond the sea."' 
 Thus great Mac Airt built his first mill, 
 To save from toil his beauteous slave." 
 
 " Quern. The use of this most an- cnce, into which was inserted a perpen- 
 cient implement is scarcely yet obso- dicular handle, whereby the machine 
 lele in some of the rural districts of was worked. It was usually turned 
 Ireland. Some eighty or one hundred by two persons, sitting opposite each 
 years since, its employment was nearly other, and both holding the handle at 
 universal amongst the agricultural poi> the same time. The quern was usually 
 ulation of that country. It was a spe- from two to three feet in diameter. Its 
 cies of hand-mill, composed of a shallow, Irish name is bro, gen. bron. Its intro- 
 circular trough of stone, with a pivot duction into Ireland dates from the re- 
 of hard wood in the centre, upon which motest antiquity, 
 was poised the miniature mill-stone — " Kearns. This measure is some- 
 fitting loosely, but evenly, into the times translated quarter. Some deem 
 trough. In the upper stone were that it received its name from its 
 worked two holes ; one, in its centre, squared form, as if " Cetharn " (Ku- 
 for supplying the quern with corn ; and Imrn) from " Cethair " [KZhir). 
 another, more towards its circumfer- '» Millwrights from beyond the sea. 
 
352 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 It Avas also in the time of Corraac that the sage, Fithil {Fikil), 
 lived. It Avas he that AA^as Ard-brethemh {Ard-brcliav\ or chief- 
 brehon to that sovereign. When Fithil^'' Avas on the point of 
 death, he sent for his son, Avho Avas called Flaithri {Fldhree), and 
 this Flaithri, also, Avas a Avise and a learned, man. To this son 
 Fithil gave his blessing, and, at the same time, Avarned him to 
 avoid three things most carefally — telling him that he Avould 
 find it to his advantage to abide by his dying advice. These 
 Avere : Never to undertake the education or fosterage of a king's 
 son ; Never to entrust any secret, in Avhicli there Avas any dan- 
 ger, to his Avife ; Never to elevate the son of a serf to a high 
 position ; And never to give his purse, or his treasure, into the 
 safe-keeping of his sister. 
 
 But as soon as Fithil had died, Flaithri determined to test the 
 Avisdom of these three counsels. In order to make trial of them, 
 he first received a son of Cormac Mac Airt as his foster-son, soon 
 after Avhich he took the child Avith him into a forest, Avhere he 
 gave him into the care of one of his own SAvine-herds, that dwelt 
 Avithin the depths of the Avilderness, and he commanded this herd 
 to conceal the boy carefully, until he should receive a certain 
 particular token from himself. Thence he returned home to his 
 own dwelling, and Avhen there he counterfeited the appearance 
 of being oppressed by great anxiety and grief. Upon this, his 
 wife demanded the cause of his anxiety, and he ansAvered that 
 it Avas no liglit one. Then, Avhen she saAV that he continued to 
 be Aveighed down by sorrow, she began to tease him incessantly, 
 by obstinately demanding, what it Avas that caused his trouble of 
 mind. lie at length consented to reveal the cause of his sorrow 
 to her, if she Avould only promise to keep the matter entirely 
 secret. Upon this she solemnly swore to conceal Avhatevcr he 
 might relate to her as his secret. "Then," said he, "I am ren- 
 dered unhai)py by reason of an unfortunate treason that I have 
 committed, for I "have slain my foster-son, the son of the king." 
 Upon hearing this, his Avife screamed loudly and called upon the 
 
 It is a disputed question, whether the " Fithil and Flaithri.—" These wore 
 
 Irish were acquainted with the use of successively Cormac's suiireiuc judges ; 
 
 the mill bfifore the reign of Cormac the former of whom was his instructor 
 
 Ul-fada. Its use must, however, have from youth to maturity ; and the mcr- 
 
 becn familiar in Houlh Britain in his ited celebrity of the pupil reflects a 
 
 day ; for the ]{omans had been then, for a splendc^r of fame on the great and re- 
 
 considi'rable time, masters of that coun- spectabh; cajjacity of the master. But 
 
 try. Cormac may have sent to liritain both Fithil and Flaithri have left mon- 
 
 for mechanics to construct a mill for uments of their own to perpeluate their 
 
 him, at the suggestion of his foreign memory, some of which have endured, 
 
 paramour, who'^ iiad seen them in her through many a miserable national vi- 
 
 own nation, and thus given origin to the cissitude, to this a^y"— Transaction 
 
 legend above recounted. of the Gaelic Society. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 353 
 
 folk of the house to bind up the parricide, for he had killed the 
 young prince. Flaithri had, also, i^reviously elevated to a high 
 position the son of one of his own herdsmen, so that this person 
 had now become a rich man. He had likewise, shortly after his 
 father's death, given a portion of his treasure to be kept for hira 
 by his sister ; so that not one of the four things, against which 
 his father had warned him, might pass without its trial. 
 
 Now, when the herdsman's son found his benefactor in bonds, 
 there was no one found who was severer against him than he, 
 because by this he hoped to receive some of the inheritance of 
 Flaithri from the king, who was determined upon his death. 
 Finding himself in this difficulty, the sage sent a message to his 
 sister, demanding of her to send him whatever treasure he had 
 entrusted to her, in order that he might therewith make friends 
 for himself around the person of the king. But when his mes- 
 senger reached his sister, she denied that she had ever received 
 any such treasure from him. When this news came to Flaithri, 
 who was now on the point of being led to execution, he demanded 
 to be led before the king, in order that he might communicate to 
 him an important secret. When brought before the king, he 
 told his sovereign that the young prince was safe and well, tell- 
 ing hull, at the same time, to hold himself in bonds until his 
 foster-son should be brought into his presence. Messengers were 
 then immediately sent ior the child, and when he had come from 
 the swine-herd, who had had him in safe guardianship, and saw 
 his foster-father still in bonds, he cried loudly, and kept weeping 
 ever, u.ntil Flaithri was set at liberty. 
 
 The king then privately demanded of the sage, why he had 
 allowed himself to be reduced to such an extremity. " In order 
 that I might test the truth of four counsels given me by my 
 father," said Flaithri. " In the first place, it is not prudent for 
 any person to take upon himself the rearing of a king's son, lest 
 he may be guilty of any negligence towards his charge, whence 
 might result the injury 'or destruction of the foster-child, and the 
 ])lacing of the life or death of the foster-father at the absolute 
 disposal of the king. Secondly, it is not according to the laws 
 of nature that any of the general run of women could keep a 
 dangerous secret ; therefore, it is not prudent to entrust any such 
 secret to one's wife. The third counsel which my father gave 
 me was, never to elevate to high position and wealth the son of 
 a serf, or a person of low degree, for it is the wont of such per- 
 sons to be ungrateful for kindnesses they have received, and 
 moreover, they feel sore that the knowledge of the meanness 
 whence they had sprung, should be possessed by those that have 
 elevated them. Good, also' was the fourth counsel which my fatl ler 
 gave me, namely, never to give any treasure into the safe-keeping 
 
 23 
 
854 THE HISTORY OF TRELAND. 
 
 of my sister, for it is the nature of women to make a spoil of 
 whatever treasures may be given them in trust, by their rela- 
 tives." 
 
 Personal attendants of the Irish sovereigns. 
 
 It was ordained, during the reign of Cormac, that it should be 
 obligatory upon every monarch that might, in future, rule over 
 Ireland, to keep in constant attendance upon his person, ten offi- 
 cers, who were scarcely ever to leave his presence. These were, 
 a prince, or chief of noble blood, a brchon, a druid, a physician, 
 a bard, a historian, a musician and three stewards. The prince 
 was the companion and champion of the king ; the office of the 
 brehon was to explain the the laws and customs of the country 
 before the king ; the druid's office was to offijr sacrifices, and to 
 draw omens and auguries, by means of his science and heathen 
 arts ; the physician's duty was to perform cures for the king, 
 and queen, and tlie royal household ; the bard was maintained 
 for the purpose of praising, or of satirizing every one, according 
 to his good or evil deeds ; it was the historian's office to record 
 and preserve the genealogies, history and adventures of the no- 
 bles, from time to time ; the musician's office was to play upon 
 the harp, and to chant poems and songs before the king ; and the 
 three stewards had to wait upon the king, and supply his per- 
 sonal wants, for which purpose they had a numerous train of 
 cup-bearers, butlers and other servitors, under their orders. 
 
 This custom was maintained in force from the days of Cormac, 
 down to the death of Brian, son of Kcnncidi, nor had any change 
 been made in its arrangement, except that, when the kings of 
 Ireland had i-eceived the Faith of Christ, they substituted, in 
 place of the druid, a Christian priest, as a soul's-friend (or spirit- 
 ual adviser), who duty it was to perform divine service, and ex- 
 plain the law of God to the king and to his household. Here 
 follows a record, left by a Shannachic, upon this matter : 
 
 " Tex liegemen feal stand round the king, 
 'Mongst them nor grudge nor rivalry — 
 1 can recount their duties well, 
 Both sages, prince and officers. 
 
 The presence of each prosperous king, 
 A brehon, bard, and lord should grace ; 
 For king whose court is shunned by these, 
 No rightful Fenian king can be. 
 
 A soul's-friend,"' to make known Gfxl's Word, 
 A shennchaidc to s<;t right all wrong, 
 
 " Soul's-friend, i. e. an ulmoaer or father-confessor. The Irish term is aoam. 
 chara. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 855 
 
 With minstrel sweet to strike the chord, 
 All rightful Feuiau kiugs*'^ niáÍDtaiu. 
 
 A learned leech fills the fourth place, 
 With skill to heal the body's ills ; 
 Three stewards close the honored band, 
 Which now I've named to Eri's hosts. 
 
 The king who holds not to this law 
 Shall iili no place on regal roll ; 
 Nor e'er shall dwell in Temhair's halls, 
 A king maintaining not these Ten." 
 
 King Cormac^s religion^^ — His resignation — Renunciation of Druid- 
 ism — His Death and Burial. 
 
 In consequence of tlie righteousness of the deeds, judgments, 
 and laws of Cormac, it resulted that God granted to him the light 
 of the Faith, seven years before his death. For this reason did 
 
 -^ Fenian kin^s, that is, a king ac- 
 cording to the Feinechas {Fainaghas), 
 i. e. the Constitutional Law of the 
 Gaels, which was so called, either from 
 the Brehon Laws having been com- 
 posed in the Bérla Féui, or from the 
 word Feni itself, which, as we have 
 heretofore seen, was the most ancient 
 tribe-name of the Gaelic or Gaedalic 
 race. 
 
 " It was Cormac who composed the 
 Tegasg-ua-Righ, to preserve manners, 
 morals and government in the king- 
 dom. He was a famous author in 
 laws, synchronisms and history : for it 
 was he that established law, rule and 
 direction for each science, and for each 
 covenant according to propriety ; and 
 it is his laws that have goAxrned all 
 that adhered to them to the present 
 time. 
 
 " It was this Cormac, son of Art, also, 
 that collected the chroniclers of Ireland 
 to Temhair, and ordered them to write 
 the chronicles of Ireland in one book, 
 •which was named the Psalter of Tem- 
 hair. In that book were entered the 
 coeval exploits and synchronisms of 
 the kings of Ireland, with the kings 
 and emperors of the world, and of the 
 kings of the provinces with the mon- 
 archs of Ireland. In it was also writ- 
 ten what the monarchs of Ireland were 
 entitled to receive from the provincial 
 kings, and the rents and dues of the 
 
 provincial kings from their subjects, 
 from the noble to the subaltern. In it, 
 also, were described the boundaries and 
 meares of Ireland, from shore to shore, 
 from the province (fifth) to the cantred 
 (tuaith), from the cantred to the town- 
 land (bailé), and from the townland to 
 the traighidh (troijeh) of land. These 
 things are evident in the Leabhar na 
 h-Uidhre ; they are evident in the 
 Leabhar Dinnsenchas (both extant)." 
 — Fcitr Masters. 
 
 " Cormac's religion. Mr. Moore, in 
 his History of Ireland, has made the 
 following rather skeptical remarks upon 
 the subject of this royal sages conver- 
 sion to the Christian Faith. They are 
 here quoted, for the well-merited trib- 
 ute thereafter paid to his love of justn 
 ice : " That this prince was enlightened 
 enough to reject the sup?rstili(ins of 
 the druids, and that, in consequence of 
 his free thinking on such subjects, he 
 had that powerful bcdy opposed to him 
 throughout the whole of his reign, 
 there can be litlle doubt ; but M'hether 
 he substituted any purer form of faith, 
 for that which l:e had repudiated, is a 
 point not so easily ascertained. A cir- 
 cumstance recorded of him, however, 
 shows how vigorously he could repress 
 intolerance and cruelty, even when di- 
 rected against a body of religionists to 
 whom he was himself opposetl. Amongst 
 the ancient institutions oi Tara. was a 
 
856 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 he refuse to adore gods made with hands, and began, thenceforth, 
 to paj homage to the True God. Hence, he is said to have been 
 the third man tliat held the Faith in Ireland, previous to the 
 arrival of Saint Patrick. The first of these was Concobar Mac 
 Nesa, who believed upon hearing of Christ's Passion from the 
 druid, Bacrach ; the second was Morann Mac Maein ; and this 
 king, Cormac Mac Airt, was the third. 
 
 Cormac's ordinary place of abode was at Temhair, afler the 
 usage of the kings, his predecessors. Uere he continued to 
 dw.'ll until, as heretofore told, his eye had been destroyed by 
 Aengus Gaei-buailtech. Thenceforward he resided at Achail, in 
 the House of Cleitech, or at Kenan nus. For it was not deemed 
 either honorable or auspicious, by the nobles of Ireland, that any 
 king, who had been disfigured by a personal blemish,** should 
 dwell at Temhair, For this reason did Cormac resign the king- 
 
 sort of College of Sacred A^irgins, whose 
 vocation it appears to have been, like 
 the Dryads or fortunci-tellers among the 
 Gaels, to divine tiie future, for the in- 
 dulgence of the superstitious or the 
 credulous. In one of those incursions, 
 of which the territory of the monarch 
 was so often the object, the place where 
 those holy Druidesses resided, and which 
 bore the name of the ' Retreat until 
 Death,' was attacked by the king of 
 Leinster, and the whole of the sacred 
 inmates, together with their handmaids, 
 most inhumanly massacred. This bru- 
 tal sacrilege the monarch punished by 
 putting twelve of the Lagenian chief- 
 tains most concerned in it, to death ; 
 and exacting rigorously the Boarian 
 tribute, from the province to which 
 they belonged." 
 
 The direct testimony of the ancient 
 historians of Ireland, in relation to Cor- 
 mac's conversion, is nmch nn^re author- 
 ity than the m^re conjectures of Mr. 
 iloore. An ancient tract, in the Leah- 
 har na h-Uidhre, a work compiled in 
 the twelftli century, which is quoted 
 by Dr. Petrie, (in his Hound Towers, 
 p. 99,) speaks thus upon this subject : 
 "Erin was prosperous during his time, 
 and just judgments were distributed 
 throughout it l^y him ; so that no one 
 durst attempt U) wound a man in Ire- 
 land during the short jubilee of seven 
 years ; for Cormac had the faith of the 
 one true (iod, according to the law ; 
 
 for he said he would not adore stones, 
 or trees, but that he would adore him 
 who made them, and who had power 
 over all the elements, i. e. the One 
 Powerful God, who created the ele- 
 ments ; in him he would believe And 
 he was the third person who had be- 
 lieved, in Erin., before the arrival of 
 St. Patrick. Concobar Mac Nesa, 
 to whom Altus had told concerning 
 the CruciCxion of Christ, was the first ; 
 Morann, son of Carbri Cinncait, (who 
 was surnamed Mac Macin,) was the 
 second person ; and Cormac was the 
 third ; and it is possible that others 
 followed on their track, in this belief" 
 — Senclias na lielcc, i. c. Hislori/ of the 
 Cemeteries. 
 
 "* A personal blemish. " Where 
 Cormac held his court was at 'I'ara, in 
 imitation of the kings who ])reccded 
 him, until his eye was destroyed by 
 Engus (jaibhuaiiihnech, but he after- 
 wards resided at Achail (the liill on 
 which the shrine of St. Columkille is 
 at this day), and at Onannus (Kell.s), 
 and at the house of Cletech ; for it was 
 not lawful that a king, M'ith a personal 
 blemish, should reside at Tara. In the 
 second year after the injuring of his 
 eye, he came Ijy his death at tlui house 
 of ('letech, the bone of a salmon having 
 stuck in his throat. And he told his 
 people not to bury him at IJrugh (bo- 
 cause it was a cemetery of idolators), 
 for lie did not worship the same god as 
 
THE DISTORT OF IRELAND. 357 
 
 dom to his son, Carbri Lificar, to whom he also gave up the pos- 
 session of Teniliair, retiring liimself to the ro^'al houses of Chn- 
 tech and of Achail, both not far from the royal capital. It was 
 in these that he composed his Tegasg Righ, or Regal Institutes, 
 designed, as already told, for the purpose of teaching kings how 
 it was right that they should act and comport themselves. From 
 the time that Cormac gave up the sovereignty, he never, thence- 
 forward, worshipped any but the True Heavenly God. 
 
 Upon a certain day, while Cormac was residing in the House 
 of Cleitech, the druids set about the adoration of the Golden Calf 
 in his presence, and the whole of those there assembled joined in 
 the same worship, in imitation of their priest. The druid, Maeil- 
 glienn, then demanded of Cormac why it was that he did not 
 adore the Golden Calf and their other gods, like every other per- 
 son. "I," said Cormac, " will offer no adoration to any stock or 
 image, shaped by my own mechanic. It were more rational to 
 oiF.r adoration to the mechanic himself, for he is more worthy 
 than the work of his hands." The druid then excited the Golden 
 Calf, so that it bounded into their presence. " Ilast thou seen 
 that, Cormac?" said Maeilghenn. "Whatever I may see," re- 
 plied Cormac, "I will make no adoration to aught, save to the 
 God of Heaven, of Earth, and of Hell." 
 
 Soon after, a meal was prepared for the king, and he began to 
 eat of a salmon from the Boinn. Thereupon the demons of the 
 air came and attacked him, at the instigation of j\Iaeilghenn, the 
 druid, and by them the king was slain.®' Other accounts say that 
 he was killed by a bone of a salmon, that had stuck in his throat 
 and clicked him ; but he was engaged in eating of that fish when 
 the demons had attacked him. 
 
 When he found the symptoms of death upon him, he com- 
 manded his relations not to bury his body at Brugh, on the 
 Boinn, where several of the preceding kings of Temhair were 
 
 any of those interred at Brush ; but to death thus : " A. D. 266. _ Forty years 
 
 bury him at Ros-na-Righ, with his ilice was Cormac in the sovereignty of Ire- 
 
 to the east. He afterwards died, and land when he died at Cleitech, the bone 
 
 his servants of trust held a council and of a salmon sticking in his throat, on 
 
 resolve'd to bury him at Brugh, the account of the Siabhradh (genii) which 
 
 place where the kings of Tara, his pre- Maeilghenn, the druid, incited at him, 
 
 decessors, were buried. The body of after Cormac had turned against them, 
 
 the king was then thrice raised to be on account of his adoration of the true 
 
 carried to Brugh, but the Boyne swelled God, in preference to them. Where- 
 
 up thrice so that they could not come ; fore a devil attacked him, at the insti- 
 
 60 that they observed that it was vio- gation of the druids, and gave him a 
 
 lating the judgment of a prince, to painful death.'" — The trick by which 
 
 break through his testament ; and they the druids turned the king's accidental 
 
 afterwards dug his grave at Ros-na- death to their own advantage, needs no 
 
 Eigh, as he himself had ordered." — //. comment. — Ed. 
 ** The Four Masters record Cormac's 
 
358 TDE HISTORY OF IJIELAND. 
 
 laid. And then (when, contrary to his injunctions), the host was 
 bearing liim thither, the demons thrice opposed the progress of 
 the funeral, bj raising an immense flood before it, in the river; 
 for these s])irits did not wish to allow his bod}- into an idolatrous 
 cemeterj, by reason of his having believed in the True Cod. 
 But the fourth time, the men that carried the body entered with 
 it into the swollen stream ; but there the current of the Boinn 
 swept oif their burden, and bore it along to Kos-na-Kigh. There 
 the corpse was separated from the fund, or bier, and thence the 
 ford of Ath-fuaid (Aivh-fooid), the ford of the bier, on the Boinn, 
 has had its name. It was retained at that place, and a grave 
 was made for it, and it was buried at Eos-na-Righ.®*^ 
 
 In the course of long ages after this, St. Columkille®^ visited 
 Eos-na-Righ, and, discovering there the head of KingCormac, he 
 buried it anew ; and the saint remained upon the spot until he 
 had said thirty masses over it and upon that spot was built a 
 Christian church, which remains to the present day. 
 
 Ancient Cemeteries of the Irish Kings. 
 
 Formerly, in Pagan times there were two " primh-roilig" ^ 
 {preeve-relig) or chief cemeteries in Ireland, and in them the 
 greater number of the ancient monarchs of Ireland were buried. 
 These were Brugh, on the Boinn, and Eoilig-na-righ {rellig-7ia-rcc\ 
 near Cruachain"'* (crooghin). It is evident, from the fact just nar- 
 
 " Ros-iin-Ris;h, now llossnaroe, situ- maindor of tho Scnchas na Relcc is 
 
 ated on the river lioync, near the vil- here jiivcii down, slifi-htly abridfrcd from 
 
 lage of Slane, in the county of East tlic traiishvtion f^iven in the learned 
 
 Meath. work of Dr. l*etric : — " Those were tiic 
 
 ''■' Si. Columhlle wag a lineal descend- chief cemeteries of Kri, before the Faith, 
 
 ant of the monarch Cormac. viz: Cruacha, Bruirh. Talti. lAiachair 
 
 " Two primh-roilip;. In the Sen- Ailbi. Acnach Aill)i, Acnach Culi, Ao- 
 
 cfias na Relec from which extracts have nach Colmain and Temhair Erann. 
 already been made, there are eight Je/mc/i C'nf(/c//«?i. In the first placu, 
 
 places enumerated, as the chief ccmcte- it was tiicre the race of Erimlion, i. e. 
 
 rics of the i'agan Irish. At these places the kings of Tcniliair were used to bury 
 
 several of the monuments, mentioned until tiie time of Criuithaun, son of 
 
 in the ancient records of Ireland, are Lugaidh Kiahh-n-dorg (who was the 
 
 still in existence. Home of them, after first king of them tliat were interred at 
 
 remaining unknown or unnf)ticcd for Brugh), viz : Cobthach Cael-Breagh 
 
 ages, have been recently identified from and Labraidh lioingsech, aiid_ Eocaidh 
 
 the references made to them in the Feidlecli with his three sons, i. e. Bros, 
 
 writings of the Gaelic Shannachies — Nar and Lothur, and Eocaidh Arenih, 
 
 thus affording unquestionable proof of Lugaidh Kiabh-n-derg, the six daiigli- 
 
 the truth of many pi the more import- ters of Eocaidh Feidlech, i. e. Mcdb, 
 
 ant facts related in the early history of Clolhra. Miiresg, Derbri, Mugain and 
 
 this country. For the latter rea.son, lOii, and .Mild .Mac Madawitli his seven 
 
 and from its giving an explanation of brothers, i. e. Ketli, Anion, l)oche,_ et 
 
 some of the allusions made in the poem cetera, and all the kings down to (,'riin- 
 
 above cited by Dr. Keating, the re- thann; these were all buried at Cruacha. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 359 
 
 rated, that Bruglion the Boinn was one of the burial-places of the 
 kings of Ireland ; that Koilig-na-righ, at Cruachain, was also an- 
 other, is proved from the following lajof Torna Eigcs (Aiguess): 
 
 " A kill!? of Fál's fair land rests here, 
 Dathi the brave, Fiacaidh's son, 
 Cruacha ! thou hold'st him concealed 
 From Gallic and from Gaelic men. 
 
 Why was it not at Brugh, that the 
 kings of ilie race of Cobthauh, down to 
 Crimthanu, were interred? Not diffi- 
 cult, because the two provinces, which 
 the race of Erinihon possessed, were 
 the province of Gale5n (Lcinster), and 
 the province of Olnecmacht (Con- 
 naught). In the first place, the pro- 
 vince of Galeón was occupied by the 
 race of Labraidh Loiugsech, and the 
 province of Olnecmacht was the in- 
 heritance of the race of Cobthach 
 Cael-Breagh ; wherefore it ( Connaught) 
 was given to Medb before every other 
 province. The reason why the govern- 
 ment of this laud was given to Metlb 
 is, because there was none of the race of 
 Eocaidh (Feidlech) fit to receive it but 
 herself, for Lugaidh (Riabh-n-derg) was 
 not fit for action at the time. And, 
 therefore, whenever the monarchy of 
 Ireland was enjoyed by any of the race 
 of Cobthach Cael-Breagh, the province 
 of Connaught was his native j^rincipal- 
 ity. And for this reason they were in- 
 terred at the Aenach of Cruacha. But 
 they were interred at Brugli from the 
 time of Crimthann Niadh-Nar to the 
 time of Laegari, the son of Niall, ex- 
 cept three persons, namely. Art the son 
 Conn, and Cormac the son of Art, and 
 Niall of the Nine Hostages. 
 
 We havi already mentioned the 
 cause why Cormac was not interred 
 th(;re. The reason why Art was not in- 
 terred there is, because he believed the 
 day before the battle of Muccramma 
 (Mocrumhi) was fought, and he predict- 
 ed the Faith in Ireland, and he said his 
 own grave would be at Dumha Derg- 
 luachra, where Treoit (Trevet, in 
 Meath), is at this day. When his body 
 was afterwards carried eastward to 
 Dumha Derg-luachra, if all the men of 
 Eri were drawing it thence, they could 
 not, so that he was interred a4, that 
 place, becau»3 there was a Catholic 
 
 church to be afterwards built where he 
 was interred, 
 
 AVhere Niall was interred was at 
 Ochain (Ocha), i. e. Och Caine, so called 
 from the sighing and lamentation which 
 the men of Eri made in bewailing Ni- 
 all. 
 
 Conari Mor was interred at Magh 
 Feci, in Bregia (i. e. at Fert Conari) : 
 however some say that it was Conari 
 Carpraige that was interred there, and 
 not Conari Mor, and that Conari Mor 
 was the third that was interred at Tem- 
 hair, viz. : (Conari and Laegari and .... 
 
 At Talti the kings of Uladh were 
 used to bury, viz. Ollamh Fodla with 
 his descendants,dowii to Concobar, who 
 wished that he should be carried to a 
 place between Slea and the sea, with 
 his face to the east, on account of the 
 Faith which he had embraced. 
 
 The nobles of the Tuatha De Dan- 
 anns were used to bury at Brugh (i. e. 
 the Daghda with his three sous ; also 
 Lugaidh, and Oe, and 011am, and Og- 
 ma, and Etan the Poetess, and Carpre, 
 the son of Etan), and Crimthann 
 (Niadli-Nair) followed them, because 
 his wife Nar was of the Tuatha Dea. 
 and it was she solicited him that he 
 should adopt Brugh as a burial-place 
 for himself and his descendants ; and 
 this was the cause that they did not 
 bury at Cruacha— (* See note 10, p. 
 289, and note 26, p. 295, ni refutation 
 of the absurd and calumnious derivation 
 given to the surname Niadh-Nair. — 
 Ed.) 
 
 The Lagcnians (i. e. Cathacir and his 
 race, and the kings who were before 
 them) used to bury at Aenach Ailbi. 
 The Clan Degadh (i.e. the race of Co- 
 nari and Erna) at Tcmhair Erann. 
 The men of Munster, (i.e. the Derg- 
 thini) at Aenach Culi and Aenach 
 Colmain and the Connacians at Crua- 
 cha. 
 
360 TUE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Beneath thee rests fierce Dungalach, 
 Who captives led iVom eastern lands; 
 And Tuuthal, Couu and Tumaltach 
 In glory sleep within thy walls. 
 
 Of PiOcaidh Feidlech's three fair sons, 
 
 I sing the tombs beneath thy ramparts ; 
 
 Where Eocaidh Aremh lies full low, 
 
 Slain by the hand of Mael the mighty, (i. e. Sidmal.) 
 
 King Eocaidh Feidlech lies concealed 
 Beneath thy mound, and beauteous Derbri, 
 With Clothra, dame of high degree. 
 And Medb, the heroine queen, and Muresg. 
 
 And regal Eri, Fodla, Banba, 
 Three august ladies, bright and young ; 
 In Cruacha dwell, from mortals hidden, 
 Those queens of Dana's tíacred Tribes. 
 
 Kcrmad's three sons are laid on Sith-drum^ 
 Long-handed Lugaidh lies on Liath-droni, 
 With the sons of Aedh, son of the Daghda, 
 Near whom lies tall and warlike Midhir. 
 
 Beneath thy pillar-stones are laid, 
 Gaunt Cobliiach and great lugani. 
 And Badbcha too — all regal chiefs — 
 And here lies tall and haughty Olild." 
 
 EOCAIDH GUNATII, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A.D. 253.** Eocaidh Gunath,"^ son of Fiacli, son of Imcaidb, son 
 of Bresal, son of Siorcaidh, son of Fiacaidli Finn (from whom is 
 called the Dal-Fiacach), son of Dluthach, son of Rosin, of the 
 line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland for one single 
 year, wlien he fell by Lugna,^ son of Fertri (otherwise by Lu- 
 gaidh, son of Aengus, son of Fertri). 
 
 CARBRI LIFICAR, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A.D. 254.®^ Carbri** Lificar, son of Cormac Ulfada, son of Art 
 Aeinfer, son of Conn Ked-cathach, of the line of Erimhon, held 
 the sovereignty of Ireland twenty-seven years. The reason why 
 
 ^HilhDrum. Perhaps Sidhe Truim, '' Lu2;ita. called by some, Lugaidh 
 
 an ancient mound near Slane, in Mealli. Menu, sun of Aengns Finn, his own kiiis- 
 
 Sith Drum was, also, an old name for man. O'Flaherty says that I'.ocaidh 
 
 the Rock of (Jashcl. (Junnath was grandson of King Fcr- 
 
 " A. D. 207. Four Masters. gus of the Black 'J'eeth. 
 
 ^ Eocaidh XII. Tighcrnach does "^ A. I). 'JOH. Four blasters. 
 
 not allow this chieftain the title of "' Carhri 11. According to the an- 
 
 king. nals just cited, this monarch reigned 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 361 
 
 he was called Carbri Lificar was, because he had been reared near 
 the River Lili (Liftey), of Leinster. Ethni Ollamda, daughter of 
 Dunlaing, was his mother. It was by the hands of Simeon, son 
 of Kerb, one of the Fothartaigh of Leinster, that he fell, at the 
 battle of Gabra^^ {Gowra). 
 
 The follo^v■ing was the reason why the battle of Gabra was 
 fought. Samhair, daughter of Finn, son of Cumhal, was the wife 
 of Cormac Gas, son of Olild Glum; and she was the mother of 
 Tinni and Connla. Through this relationship, Mogh Gorb,^ the 
 
 but seventeen years. He there is stated 
 to have fought three battles against 
 the Muustor men in the 4th year of his 
 reign (271), and four in tlie year fol- 
 lowinsr, in defence of the rights of Lein- 
 ster.—" A. P. 276, the 9th year of Car- 
 bri. — Angus Gaibuaibtech (chief of the 
 Desi) was liilled this year by the sons of 
 Carbri, namely, Fiacaidh Sraibtini and 
 Eocaidh Doimlen. A.D. 283, the 16th 
 year of Carbri. — Finn, grandson of 
 Baesgni, fell by Achlech, son of Duibd- 
 renn, and the sons of the Urgrenn, of the 
 Luaigni of Temhair, at Ath-Brea upon 
 the Boiuu, of which it was said : 
 ' Finn was killed, it was with darts,* 
 With a lamentable wound ; 
 Achlech, son of Dubdrenn, cut off 
 The heaa of the son of Mochtamain. 
 Were it not that Caeilti took revenge. 
 It would have been a victory after all his true 
 
 battles : 
 The three were cut off by him. 
 Exulting over the head of the royal champion.' " 
 — Four Masters. 
 
 °^ Gabra, otherwise called Gabhra 
 Aichlá, from its contiguity to Achill, 
 now the hill of Skreen, near Tara, in 
 Meath. Gabhra, Anglice, Gowra, is 
 now the name of a stream which rises 
 in a bog in the townlaud of Prants- 
 town, parish of Skreen, receives a trib- 
 ute from the well of Neamhnach on 
 Tara Hill, joins the River Skene at 
 Xowthstown, and unites with the Boyue 
 at Ardsallagh. — Id. 
 
 * " The following words were interlined in the 
 text: i. e. dona qaith iascaidi ro fforvu/h e, 
 i. e. by fishing gaffs he was wounded. It is stated 
 in the Dublin copy of the annals of Inisfallcn, 
 that Finn Mac Cumhail, the celebrated general 
 of the Irish militia, fell by the hands of Athlach, 
 son of Dnbdrenn. a treacherous fisherman, who 
 (fired with the love of everlasting notoriety) 
 slew him with his gaff at Rath-Brei'igha, near the 
 Boyne, whither he had retired in his old age to 
 pass the remainder of his life in tranquility. 
 This Athlach was soon after behoiided by Caeiiti 
 Mac Ronaiu the relative and faithful follower 
 of Finn." — O'Donovan. 
 
 "^ Mogh Goto. This prince was the 
 principal opponent of the monarch, and 
 not the Clanna Baeisgni, or Irish Mili- 
 tia, as stated by modern popular wri- 
 ters. Since Eogan Taidhlech, or Mogh 
 Nuadath, grandfather of Cormac Cas, 
 had been murdered in his tent by Goll, 
 son of Morna, at the battle of Magh 
 Leana, the king of Munster cherished 
 the most rancorous hatred against the 
 Clanna Morna, who were a military 
 tribe of the Fer-Bolgs of Connaught ; 
 and in order to be revenged of them, 
 they formed an alliance with the Clanna 
 Baeisgni, another military tribe of the 
 Scotic or Milesian race, the most dis- 
 tinguished chief of whom was Finn 
 Mac Cumhail. Cormac Cas, king of 
 Munster, married Samhair, daughter 
 of this warrior, and by her had three 
 sons — Tinni and Connla, of whom no 
 account is preserved, and Mogh Corb, 
 the ancestor of the celebrated Brian 
 Boru, who inherited all the valor and 
 heroism of his ancestor. After the 
 death of Finn, Carbri disbanded and 
 outlawed the forces of the Clanna 
 Baeisgni, and retained in his service 
 the Clanna Morna only. The Clanna 
 Baeisgni then repaired to Munster, to 
 their relative, Mogh Corb, who retain- 
 ed them in his service, contrary to the 
 orders of the monarch. This led to the 
 bloody battle of Gabra, in which the 
 two rival military tribes slaughtered 
 each other almost to extermination. 
 In this battle Osgar, son of Oisin (Os- 
 sian), met the monarch in single com- 
 bat, but he fell ; and Carbri, reiurning 
 from the combat, was met by his own 
 relative, Simeon, one of the P'otharta 
 (who had been expelled into Leinster), 
 who fell upon him severely wounded, 
 after the dreadful combat with Osgar, 
 
362 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 son of Cormac Gas, aided Oisin {Osheen), son of Finn, IiÍjí moth- 
 er's brother, and the tribe of Baeisgni {Bueesknic) in opposition to 
 the attacks made upon them bj Carbri Lificar and Aedh Cacmli^ 
 {Aih Caiv\ son of Garaidh Glun-dubh {Garmi-Gloonduv), chief of 
 the tribe of Morna. At that time, the tribe of Morna was in pos- 
 session of the huannacht (that is, they formed the standing army 
 of Irehand), and had been at enmity with Finn and the tribe of 
 Baeiso-ni for fnll seven years. For this reason, the faction of 
 Garaidh Glun-dubh set on Carbri Lificar and the pentarchs of 
 Ireland to dethi-one Mogh Corb, hoping thereby to succeed in 
 procuring the banishment of the tribe of Baeisgni. And thence 
 came the battle of Gabra. 
 
 FATIIADII AIRGTIIECII AND FATHADH CAIEPTHECH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A.D. 2S1.^^ Fathadli^ Airgthech {Fáháh Arrikagh) and Fathadh 
 Cairpthech {Carpagh), both sons of Mac-Niadh, son of Lugaidh, 
 and of the line of Lagaidh, son of Ith, assumed the sovereignty of 
 Ireland. They reigned conjointly for one year, at the end of 
 which, Fathadh Cairpthech was slain by Fathadh Airgthech. 
 And, then, Fathadh Airgthech was himself slain by the Fianni"" at 
 the battle of Ollarba.^ 
 
 FIACAIDII SRAIBTINI, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 282.2 Fiacaidh^ Sraibtini {Feegha Sraffi.nnie\ son of Car- 
 bri Lificar, son of Cormac Ul-fada, of the line of Erimhon, held 
 the sovereignty of Ireland for thirty-three years, when he fell b}* 
 
 and (lispatclied him at a single blow, monarchf? of Ireland ; evidently because 
 
 O'Donovau. they regarded them as usurpers. They 
 
 " Aelh Cacrnh was the last king of were the sons of the monarch, Mac- 
 
 Connaughtof the raceofthe Fer-Bolgs. Con, and from their brother, Acngus 
 
 Aedh and M ogli Corb botli escaped Gai-fuilech, i. e. Acngus of the Bloody 
 
 from the bloody field of Gabra, but Spear, is descended the clan of Driscoll 
 
 coming to an engagement soon after and its correlatives, 
 
 at Spaltrach, ill Muskery, Mogh Corb "^ F/Vi/in. From this passage it would 
 
 fell by the hand of the king of Con- appear that some of this body still sur- 
 
 uaught. Poetic tradition will have it, vived tlie l^atlle of Gabra. According 
 
 that the warrior Cacilli and the bard to O'Fiaherty, the slayers of Fathadh 
 
 Oisin, alone of tlieir kimlred survived Airgthech were of the Clanna Baeisgni, 
 
 this fight at Gabra, and that they lived and apparently commanded by the 
 
 to recount the exploits of their com- warrior, Caeilti, by whose hand this 
 
 panions in arms to St. Patrick in after monarch fell. 
 
 times. It is the lays attributed to them ' Ollnrbn. Now the River Larno, 
 
 that are called the Ossianic Poems, and in the county of Antrim. 
 
 upon them Macphcrsoa built his fa- '' A. I). 28(1. Foily Maxfers. 
 
 mous forgery. ' Fiacaidk VII. This monarch reigu- 
 
 '■" A. D. 285. Four Masters. cd thirty-seven years, according to oth- 
 
 *•' Falhaih. Some of our antiqua- er accounts, 
 rics did not count the two Fathadhá as 
 
THE HISTOEY OF IRELAND. 363 
 
 the three Collar, in the battle of Dubh-Comar.* Aeifi, daughter 
 of the king of the Gall-GaedhaiP {Gaul-Gaeil), that is, of the For- 
 eign Gaels, was the wife of Fiacaidh Sraibtini and the mother of 
 Muredach Tirech, And the reason why he was called Fiacaidh 
 Sraibtini,^ was because it was at Duu-Sraibtini, in Connaught, 
 that he had been fostered. 
 
 In order that the meaning of the following events may be the 
 better understood, we shall set down here, from the Psalter of 
 Cashcl, both the cause of the battle of Dubh-Comar and a narra- 
 tion of the relationship that existed between the Collas and Fia- 
 caidh Sraibtini. It is, then, at Carbri Lificar that the Oirghial- 
 laigh, that is, the Clans of the Collas, separate from the clans of 
 Niall, and from the Connachtaigh {Connauglitih) or Erimonians 
 of Connaught. Now, Fiacaidh Si'aibtini, son of Carbri Lificar, 
 was the grandfather of Eocaidh Muigh-medon, son of Muredach 
 Tirech, son of Fiacaidh Sraibtini. From the Muredach here 
 mentioned, have sprung the clans of Niall and the men of Con- 
 naught. Eocaidh Dublein was also son of Carbri Lificar, and 
 brother of Fiacaidh Sraibtini. This Eocaidh had three sons, 
 namely : the three Collas, and from these are descended the 
 Ui Mhic Uais (ee-vic-Oosh), the Ui Mhic Crimthainn {ee-vic- 
 Crijfinn), and the Moghdorna {Mowrna). The real names of the 
 three Collas were, Carrell, Muredach and Aedh. Here follows a 
 quotation from an ancient bard in testimony thereof: 
 
 " Of the Three Collas have you heard, 
 Eocaidh 's sons of highest fame, 
 Colla, Menn, Colla Da-crioch, 
 And Colla Uais, the Ard-righ? 
 
 Their names, all three, I know full well — 
 Carrell and Muredach and Aedh ; 
 By these was slain a mighty king. 
 On yonder fair, well cultured plain. 
 
 Carrell was Colla Uais, the king ; 
 Muredach, Colla Da-crioch ; 
 And glorious Aedh was Colla Menn. 
 Mighty were they beyond all braves ! " 
 
 * Duhh-Comar. This name signifies equally applicable to any of the Gaelic 
 
 the " black confluence." " It is quite septs then settled in Alba and the 
 
 evident that it was the ancient name of Hebrides. 
 
 the confluence of the Blackwater and ° Sraibtini. Other authorities assert 
 
 the Boyne." — O'D. that he received this cognomen from 
 
 ^ Ga/Z-Guc'/'irtiZ may mean some por- showers of fire {sraib theini), i. e. thun- 
 
 tion of the Clamia Breogaiii or Bri- der storms, that occurred during his 
 
 gantes, of Gaelic origin, settled in Bri- reign, 
 tain or Gaul ; but the name would be 
 
36 i THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Oilech, daughter of the king of Alba, aud wife of Eocaidh 
 Dublcin, was the mother of the three Collas. It was these three 
 Collas that perpetrated the parricide upon Fiacaidh Sraibtiui, 
 whereby the sovereignty of Ireland w^as lost forever to thcni and 
 their posterity. The Ibllowing was the occasion of that pnrri- 
 cide : Avliilst Fiacaidh Sraibtini was sovereign of Ireland, he had 
 a distinguished son, who was called Muredach Tirech ; and this 
 Murcdach was the commander-in-chief of his father's armies, for 
 the king himself w^as not allow^ed to enter the battle-field. Upon a 
 certain occasion, Muredach had marched into IVIunster, attended 
 by an army, whence he brought off hostages and spoils. At 
 the same time the king, his father, chanced to be at Dubh-Comar, 
 near Talti, attended b}' another host; and there he was accompanied 
 by the three Collas, the three sons of his brother, who had led 
 their forces to his aid to that place. Then, when tlie multitude 
 heard of the successes that Muredach had obtained in Munster, 
 they said in common that he was the presumptive king of Ire- 
 land. " What shall become of us," said the Collas, " if Muredach 
 become sovereign after Fiacaidh ? What we had better do," said 
 they, " is to give battle to the old king, and when we have slain 
 him, with liis host, we shall easily overcome his son, -whenever 
 he may arrive." In the meantime, Fiacaidh was engaged in 
 conference with a certain druid, named Dubcomar, and this druid 
 addressed him in the following words: "0 king," said he "if 
 thou vanquish the Collas now, and slay them, no king of thy 
 posterity shall ever reign over Ireland after thee." " Then," 
 said the monarch, "I prefer rather to fall by the Collas myself, 
 and to have the sovereignty of Ireland descend to my posterity, 
 than to have them slain by me, and have the sovereignty of 
 Ireland descend to their children." After this, the hosts were 
 drawn up in battle array, and they charged one another from 
 each side. But the army of Fiacaidh Sraibtini was routed in 
 that engagement, and he was slain liimself therein, just as the 
 druid Dubcomar had prophesied to him. 
 
 COLL A UAIS, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 315.^ Colla Uais, son of Eocaidh Dublein, son of Car- 
 bri Lificar, of the line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of 
 Ireland for four years; at the end of which, both himself and 
 his brothers were driven by ^furedaeh Tirech into banishment 
 to Alba, where they received a military maintenance {huaujuicht) 
 from the Alban king. For Oilecli, daughter of Ugari, king ot 
 Alba, was the mother of the three Collas. The reason why Car- 
 
 ' A. D. 323. Four Masters. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 365 
 
 rell was styled Colla Uais, that is, Colla the Noble, was because 
 of the distinction which he had obtained beyond the other 
 Col las, for he had held the sovereignty of Ireland, and the others 
 had not. 
 
 MUREDACH TIRECH, ARD-KIGH. 
 
 A. D. 319." IMurcdach^ Tircch {Marreeagh Teerarjli)^ son of 
 Fiacaidh Sraibtini, of the line of Erimhon, held Ireland for 
 thirty three years, and then he fell by Caelbadh, son of Crunn 
 Dadraci. Muirrenn, daughter of Fiacaidh, king of Kinul-Eogain, 
 was the wife of Murcdach Tircch, and the mother of Eocaidh 
 Muigh-medon. 
 
 As to the Collas, they were banished into Alba by Muredach 
 Tirech, as we have related above. Three hundred warriors was 
 the number of their host. The king of Alba received them with 
 great respect, and gave them military maintenance, by reason of 
 their great valor and hardihood. They remained with him for 
 three years ; after which they returned to Ireland, in hopes that 
 Muredach would perpetrate a parricide (finghal) upon them, and 
 that the sovereignty might fall to their posterity in consequence 
 thereof."* In coming from Alba, they brought over no stronger 
 escort than a band of nine warriors with each of them. After 
 landing, they made no delay until they arrived in the king's 
 presence at Temhair. " Have you brought me any news, my 
 cousins?" said the king. "We have no sadder news to tell," 
 said they, " than the deed which we have ourselves done, name- 
 ly, the killing of thy father by our hands." "That is news we 
 have already known," said the king; "but it is of no conseqence 
 to you now, for no vengeance shall be wreaked upon you there- 
 for, except that the misfortune, which has already pursued you, 
 shall not leave you." " This is the reply of a coward," said the 
 Collas. "Be not sorry for it," replied the king. "You are 
 welcome." After this they spent a long time in great friendship 
 with Murcdach, so that they became the commanders of that 
 king's armies in war. 
 
 • 
 A. D. 331. Conquests of the Collas in Uladh — Destruction of 
 Emhain Macha. 
 
 At last the king told them (the Collas), that it was time for 
 them to conquer some territory, as an inheritance for their pos- 
 
 A. D. 327. Four Masters. '» They harl, it is said, bee» told by 
 
 ' Muredac'i II. According to the a druid, that if they covild provoke 
 
 last-cited authority, this king reigned their cousin, king Muredach, to slay 
 
 but thirty years. thorn, the sovereignty of Ireland would 
 
 fall to their posterity. 
 
366 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 teritj. " Of Avhat territory dost thou wish that we should make 
 sword-land ? " said they. (There were not, in their own time, 
 any warriors more intrepid than they.) " March into Ulster," 
 said lie, " for you have good cause of enmity with its people ; 
 for an attendant upon the king of Uladh once burnt the beard and 
 hair of Cormac, son of Art, with a torch, in Northern Magh 
 Breagh. When Cormac had become king of Ireland, an over- 
 whelming force of the Ulstermen came against him, and having 
 extorted hostages from him, they banished him into Connaught. 
 After that a peace was made between Cormac and them, and they 
 prepared a feast for him at Northern Magh Breagh, and it was 
 on that occasion that a servant of the king of Ulster burned the 
 hair of Cormac. Now, that deed is still unavenged." 
 
 After this, king Muredach furnished them with a numerous 
 army, with which the Collas marched into Connaught. There 
 the men of Connaught joined their standard, with a force con- 
 sisting of seven catha. Thence they marched to the Carn of 
 Achadh Leth-derg," in Fernmagh. From that hill, they fought 
 seven battles against the Ulstermen, that is, a battle on each day 
 during a whole week. Six of these battles were fought by the 
 Connaughtmen, and the seventh by the Collas. In it Fergus 
 Fogha,'^ king of Emhain, was slain, and the Ulstermen were 
 finally routed. They were then pui'sucd, with great slaughter, 
 from the Carn of Eocaidh to Glen Eighe.'' From the latter place, 
 the Collas marched back upon Emhain, which they plundered, 
 and then burned, so that Emhain has remained since then without 
 a king to inhabit it. 
 
 The Collas next took the following territories from the Ulster- 
 men, namel}^: Moghdurna,'* Ui Mic Crirathainn," and Ui Mic 
 Uais. Colla Mcnn took possession of Moghdurna, CoUa Ua 
 
 " Achad-ldh-derg. Tliis place, situ- " Moghdurna, properly Crioch 
 
 atcd in tlie barony of Farney (Fecn- Moplulurna (Creeagk Mowrna), now 
 
 magh), CO. Moiiaghan, is not yet iden- tlie barony of Crcmorne, co. Monor 
 
 tified. — O'D. glian. The O'Hanratties, la Irish, 
 
 '- Fergus Fogha, son of Fraechar O'li-Innrechtaigh, of the race of Colla 
 
 Fortriiin, was the last king of Uladh Mcnn, were the ancient possessors of 
 
 that resided at Emhain. this territory. In O'Dubhagan's poem, 
 
 '^ Glenn Riglie, that is, the vale of tlie chief of this t(>rritory is called 
 
 the Righe, now the Newry river. From ()".Machaiden. In after times, they were 
 
 this time, downward, the name Uladh encroached on by the MacMahons. 
 
 is applicil to the circumscribed terri- " Ui Mic Crimthainn, that is, the 
 
 tory of the Clanna Rudraide, narrowed territory of the descendants of Crimth- 
 
 by this conquest to the counties of ann, son ofFiach, sonof Degaidh Durn, 
 
 Down and Antrim. " It was originally son of Rochadh, son of Colla Da Cri- 
 
 tlie name of all Ulster, but after the och. In latter times, it appears that 
 
 year 332, it was applied to that por- this name was confined to the barony 
 
 tion of the east of Ulster, bounded on of Slane, county Meath ; but Keating 
 
 the west by the Lower Baim and lyough could scarcely have meant it in that 
 
 Ncagh, and by Glenn Righe." — O'D. confined sense. From Colla Da-Criocli, 
 
thp: history of Ireland. 
 
 367 
 
 Crioch {Daiu Cremgh) of Ui Mic Crimtliainn, and Colla TJais 
 seized upon Ui Mic Uais.'* 
 
 And, as before stated, it was by Caelbach, son of Crunn Bad- 
 raei, that the monarch Muredach was slain." 
 
 CAELBACH, ARD-EIGH. 
 
 A. D. 352.'' Caelbach, son of Crunn Badraei, son of Eocaidh 
 Coba, son of Lngaidh, son of Jiosa, son of Imcaidh, souof Feidli- 
 midh, son of Gas, son of Fiacaidh Araide, son of Aengus Gaib- 
 nenn, son of Fergus Foglas, son of Tibradi Tirech, son of Bresal, 
 son of Ferb, son of Mai, son of Eocraide, of the line of Ir," 
 son of Miledh, held the sovereignty of Ireland for one year. It 
 was by Eocaidh Muigh-Medon,"" that he was slain. 
 
 EOCAIDH MUIGH-MEDON, ARD-EIGH. 
 
 A. D. 353.'' Eocaidh" Muigh-Medon, son of Muredach Ti- 
 rech, son of Fiacaidh Sraibtini, of the line of Erimhon, held the 
 sovereignty of Ireland for seven years. Mong-finn, daughter of 
 Fidach, the wife of Eocaidh Muigh-medon, was the mother of 
 Brian," Fiacaidh or Fiacra,"* Fergus and Olild. Carthann Cas- 
 
 whose territory it was, are descended 
 the jSIac Mahons of Moaaghan, tlie Ma- 
 guires of Fermanagh, the O'Hanlons of 
 Orior, the Mac Canus, Mac Manuses, the 
 O'Kellies and O'Maddens of Ui Mani, 
 in Gal way, and their numerous kindred 
 septs. 
 
 '^ Ui Mic Uais, now Moygish, in 
 West Meath. The descendants of the 
 Colla Uais are the Mac Donalds of 
 Antrim and the Isles of Scotland, with 
 the Mac Dugalds, Mac Allisters, Mac 
 Rories and their correlatives, and also 
 the clans of Mac Sheehie, O'Flynn or 
 O'Lyn of Moylinny, Mac Aedha or Ma- 
 gee of Island Magee, the O'Gnives, 
 O'Kerin, and several others in Ireland. 
 
 " Slain. He was slain by Caelbadh, 
 son of Crunn, king of Uladh, at Port- 
 righ, overDaball. 
 
 Daball was the old name of the Black- 
 water of Ulster. Portrigh is thought 
 to be the place now called Beubm-b. — 
 See Four Masters. 
 
 •" A. D. 356.— four Masters. 
 " Of the race of Ir. — Caelbadh, oth- 
 erwise Caelbach, was of the blood of 
 the Clanna Kudraide. O'Halloran says 
 
 that he was the last prince of the royal 
 house of Ir (that is, of the Ulidians), 
 that sat upon the Irish throne. After 
 defeating Muredach, he marched straight 
 to Temhair, and was there saluted king. 
 However, Tighernach does not count 
 him among the Irish raonarchs. But 
 his having been even partially acknowl- 
 edged as such has its meaning in our 
 history ; it tells of a vigorous effort 
 made by the Iriaus to recover the ter- 
 ritory from which, by Muredach's aid, 
 they had been recently expelled by the 
 three Collas. 
 
 -" Muigh-Medon. This surname is 
 generally spelled either Muighmhead- 
 hain or Muighmheodhain, and is pro- 
 nounced somewhat like Mooivaan or 
 Moovebne. Dr. O'Connor has trans- 
 lated it Camporum Cultor, i. e. tiller of 
 fields ; but Dr. 'Donovan says that 
 this is a mere guess. The derivation 
 recorded by Keating, he very justly 
 styles a silly legend. 
 
 ^ A. D. 353.— Four Masters. 
 
 ^ Eocaidh XIII. 
 
 ^ Brian. From this son sprung the 
 several clans of the Ui Briaiu, of Con- 
 
368 
 
 THE HISTORY OF Hi ELAND. 
 
 dubh {Carhan Cas-duv), duugliter of the king of Britain, was his 
 second wif,>, and by her he had Niall of the Nine Ilostag'is. He 
 was called Kocaidh Muigli-medon, because bis head and breast 
 resembled those of king Murcdach Tircch, but his waist or middle 
 (medon) resembled that of a slave (mogaidh), whose name was 
 Mingadach. 
 
 It was against this king that the battle of Cruachain-Clacnta 
 was gained by Enna Kennselaeh,^^ kingof Leinster; and there it 
 was that Kednathech, the bard-sage (file) of Eocaidh !Muigh- 
 medon happened to be made prisoner. But when Enna came up 
 to where he was detained, he demanded of his people, why they 
 had spared the life of the druid. " Whilst I live," said the druid, 
 " thou shalt never gain victories from this hill, where I now stand." 
 Upon this, Enna transfixed him with his spear ; and, as the 
 weapon passed through the d raid's body, a laugh broke forth 
 from Enna. " Ila ! " said the druid, " that laugh is foul (salach); 
 and this word foul (salach) shall be attached as a surname to thy 
 posterity after thee, forever." Hence, the descendants of that chief 
 have been called "Kinn-salaigh,"^^ that is, fouMieads, ever since. 
 
 Enna Kennselach was a very powerful prince in his da}^, as 
 may be understood from the lay composed by Dubthach Ua 
 Lugair, who was Ard-Ollamh of History in Ireland, at the time 
 when St. Patrick came thither to propagate the Faitli. 
 
 naui^ht, namely, the O'Connors, kin<rs 
 of Connauirlit in after times, the O'Reil- 
 lies and O'Rnairc:^, of Brcfni ; the O'- 
 Flaherties, Mac Dermotts, Mac Don- 
 oughs, and their kindred clans. 
 
 *' Fiacaidh, more commonly called 
 Fiachra. was the founder of the pow- 
 erful tribes, known as the Ui Fiachrach, 
 who were long the rivals of the Ui 
 Briain for the sovereignty of Con- 
 naught. Their most powerful clans 
 were the O'Dubhda, now ODowd, and 
 O'Caomhain, now Keevan, princes of 
 the Northern Ui Fiachrach, and the 
 O'Heynes, O'Shaughnessies, 0"Cleries, 
 and Mac Kilkcllies, and others, hereaf- 
 ter to be mentioned, of the Southern Ui 
 Fiachrach. 
 
 '* Enna Kenn-Selach. According to 
 O'Halloran, the I^nnster king was pow- 
 erfully aided in this war by Iviigaidh 
 Ijamh-derg, who was then kingof Jjcth- 
 Mogha and chieftain of the Dal-g-Cais. 
 He tells UR,that the cause of the war was 
 the exaction of Boromha í/íiiglien by 
 the monarch, which Enna resisted, and, 
 with the help of Lugaidh, defeated 
 Eocaidh in fifteen battles. 
 
 According to the same authority, it 
 was during this reign, that Lugaidh con- 
 quered, fi'om the people of Connaught, 
 that district which is now called the 
 county of Clare, and made it the 
 sword-land of his posterity. 
 
 '^ Kmn-Salaigli. The absurdity of 
 supposing that any powerful tribe 
 would, of its own accord, assume a sur- 
 name affixed to it as a reproach, is 
 enough to prove that the above cannot 
 be the meaning of this. But the latter 
 of its component parts is not " salach" 
 (milliigli). which does mean foul or de- 
 filed ; it is " selach" [sJiel/agfi), which, 
 whatever be its exact sense in this in- 
 stance, is a word of cpiite a different 
 origin. A branch of his descendants 
 have taken the name of 0"lvinshellagh, 
 from the surname of linna. 'I'lie Mac 
 Murroughs, kings of Jjcinster, the 0'- 
 Cavanaghs, O'Murphies, i)"Maeil-Riain 
 or O'liyan, and the O'Dowlings of I/'in- 
 stcr, with their several correlative 
 branches, are s[)rung from this prince. 
 A brother of his was the founder of 
 the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 369 
 
 " A battle fought by Leinstcrmen," is the first line of the lay ; 
 but of it, I shall here quote but the two following verses, which 
 show the great power exercised by Enna during his own time : 
 
 " A fine was paid to Enna 
 From Manilla, with reluctance — 
 An ounce of gold from every lis, 
 Within the coming jear. 
 
 " A fine was paid to Enna 
 From Leth-Cuinn, the hospitable — 
 A sgrebalP from each hearth 
 111 all its fair fortresses." 
 
 And, according to the Psalter of Cashel, this Enna routed the 
 clans of Conn in thirteen battles, 
 
 Eocaidh Muigh-medon died in Temhair. 
 
 CRIMTHANN, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 360.28 Crimthann,29 son of Fidach, son of Dari Kerb,»» 
 son of Olild Flann Beg, son of Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan, son of 
 Eogan Mor, son of Olild Olum, of the line of Eber^^ Finn, son of 
 Miledh of Spain, held the sovereignty of Ireland for seventeen 
 years. Fideng, daughter of the king of Connaught, was his 
 wife. 
 
 It was this Crimthann that gained victories and extended his 
 sway over Alba, Britain and Gaul, as the shannachie tells us in 
 the following rann : 
 
 " Crimthann, son of Fidach, ruled 
 The Alban and the Irish lands : 
 Beyond the clear blue seas he quelled 
 The British and the Gallic might." 
 
 It was also this Crimthann, that conferred the kingdom of Leth- 
 Mogha, or Munster, upon his own foster-son, namely, upon Conall 
 Echluath^ (i. e. Conall of the Swift Steeds), son of Lugaidh Menu. 
 
 '" A sgrehall — an Irish coin, worth and 3d, Eocaidh Liathanach, from whom 
 
 three pence. Its aspirated form is sprung the UiLiathain, consisting of the 
 
 '• sgrebhall" shcrewall, or shcrtvul. O'Liathain, now anglicized Lyons, and 
 
 ■-' A. D. 306. — Four blasters. the O'h-Anamcada. 
 
 ■^ Crimtiiaxn III. This prince ^^ Of the line of Eber. No prince 
 
 reigned but thirteen years, according of this stock had been, now, monarch 
 
 to the last-cited authority. of Ireland during thirty-two reigns. 
 
 ■'° Dari Kerb. This' prince, who Duach III, styled Dalta Degadh, the 
 was the second son of Olild Flann Beg, fifteenth progenitor of Crimthann, was 
 left issue : 1st, Fidach, father of Crimth- the last prince of the line of Eber that 
 ann, whose line became e.xtinct ; 2d, Fia- had been saluted supreme king. He 
 caidh Fidghenti, ancestor of the tribe reigned from A. M. 3912 to 3922. 
 called Ui Fidghenti, comprising the ** Conall Ech-luath. " On the de- 
 clans of Donovan, O'Coilleain or Collins, cease of Eocaidh, who, after all, died 
 O'Kinealy, 0'Mcehan,Mac Eneiry, &c.; peaceably at Tara, Crimthann, son of 
 
 24 
 
370 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 The jxisterity of Fiacaidh Maoil-lethan, felt offended at this gift, 
 and they said, that Conall did not act the part of a good kinsman 
 in accepting it whilst Core, son of Lugaidh, a man every way 
 qualified to make a good king, was then to be found among the 
 «iescendants of Fiacaidh. The dispute that thence arose, was 
 left to the arbitration of learned sages, who decided that the 
 kingship of Munster should, for that time, be possessed, first by 
 Core, son of Lugaidh, for he was the elder representative of the 
 race ; and after him, that one of the descendants of Cormac Cas 
 should succeed to the throne of Munster. Upon this, the race 
 of Fiacaidh ;N[aeil-lethan gave securities and guarantees, upon 
 their part, that they should allow the possession of the sover- 
 eignty of Munster to descend quietly to Conall Ech-luath, after 
 the death of Core, or to Conall's son, should he himself be no 
 longer alive. This decision was made in accordance with the 
 will of Olild Olum, which ordained that the supreme power 
 should be possessed alternately by each of these two families of 
 his descendants, namely, by the progeny of Fiacaidh Mail-lethau 
 and that of Cormac Cas. It was uj)on the above condition that 
 Conall Ech-luath resigned the kingdom of Munster to Core. 
 
 This Core had a son,^^ who was named Cas Mac Cuirc, from 
 whom has descended the clan of O'Donnchadha, or O'Donoghoo 
 Mor, from which again sprung O'Donoghoo of the Glen. From 
 him are also sprung the clans of O'Maghthamhna, or O'Mahony 
 Finn, O'Mahony Roe, O'Mahony of Ui-Floinn-Laei, O'Mahony 
 of Carbery, and O'Mullane. 
 
 Conall Ech-luath became, eventually, king of Munster, after 
 the death of Corc.^ And Crimthaun, son of Fidach, gave the 
 
 Pidach, son of Dari Kerb, of the race chieftains of the Eofjanacht of Magh 
 
 of Heber and Engcnian line, throuf^h Gcrghinn, now called Marr, in Scot- 
 
 the great influence of his cousin, Lu- land, are derived, 
 
 ofaidh (king of Munster, of the Dalcas- Through the enmity of his stepmother, 
 
 sian line,) was proclaimed monarch ; Daela, Core had lieen banished by his 
 
 and in return for this, on the death of father, and took refuge in Alba, where 
 
 Lugaidh, which happened soon after he he married Mong-finn, daughter of Fc- 
 
 had his son Conall Kch-luath(^g-/i-fooa/i) radach, king of the Picts. Hence, 
 
 appointed king of Ix;th-Mogha, to the probably, arose the settlement of some 
 
 ^reat prejudice of his own family." — of his p(jstcrity in that country. 
 
 O'lfalloran. "' Jfler ike dcalh of Core. From the 
 
 ^ Had a son, l^c. TTis other sons were vagueness with which Dr. Keating has 
 
 Nadfraéch, from whom most of the here expressed himself, some have im- 
 
 succeeding kings of Desmond sprung ; agined that he meant that Core died 
 
 Mani Lemna, from whom descended during Crimthann'a reign. However, 
 
 the ancient Mor-mhaeir, or High Stew- that inference by no means foUow.s 
 
 arda of Ticnnox, in Scotland ; and Car- from our author's words. The fact 
 
 bri T>uachra, otherwise surnamed Cruth- that the Irish monarch appointed his 
 
 nech, or the Fict, from whom the friend, Conall (who was a powerful 
 
 O'Moriartics, chiefs of th(! Koganacht chieftain, as king of Tlmmond, and 
 
 of Ivoch T>ein in Kerry, and the ancient lica<l of the Dal-g-(JaÍ3 tribe,) as rc^ 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 871 
 
 hostages of the chiefs of Ireland, Alba, Britain, and Gaul, into 
 the hands of his foster-son, Conall. Upon this ilict Cormac, son 
 of Culinan, has composed the following verses : 
 
 " Ech-luath received the Irish rents,'^ 
 Whilst Crimthann Ibught for foreign spoil,'* 
 And, though he crossed not Mana's wave, 
 No worthier king could tribute claim. 
 
 " What Fidach's son, great Crimthann, brought, 
 Of captive Gauls from over sea, 
 He gave into the red-glaived hand 
 Of Conall, famed for fleetest steeds. 
 
 " Conall of Fleet Steeds made a tour 
 Through all the tribes on Crimthann's part — 
 Opposed at Dun-Liamna,'' that chief 
 In slaughtered heaps, left his proud foes. 
 
 " He owned Fert-Conaill on ^lagh-Femhenn, 
 Drom-Cormaic, Ani, and Dun-g-Clair, 
 Caisel's stronghold, Liamhain's great rath, 
 Fair Dun-Kermna, Eocair-Maigh." 
 
 The death of the monarch, Crimthann, was caused by Mung- 
 finn, daughter of Fidach, his own sister, who gave him a poi- 
 soned drink at Inis-Dornglas, in hopes that the kingdom of 
 
 gent during his own foreign expedi- friends ; and the Gaels did not carry 
 
 tions, by no means implies the previous on less agriculture on the east of the 
 
 death of the king of Leth-Mogha. Be- sea (channel), than at home in Scotia ; 
 
 sides, it is opposed to the almost uni- and they erected habitations and regal 
 
 versal tradition which represents Core forts there ; thence is called Dinn Trad- 
 
 as the rival of the next king, Niall, for uii, i. e. the triple-fossed fort of Crim- 
 
 tlie Irish throne. Conall must have thann Mor Mac Fidaigh, king of Eri, 
 
 succeeded Core, some time during the Alba, and as far as the Icciaii Sea; and 
 
 reign of Niall. thence is called Glastimber na-n-Gaed- 
 
 *^ All En's rent. That is, he re- hal, i. e. Glastonbury of the Gaels, a 
 
 ceived them as Crimthann's representa- large church which is on the brink of 
 
 tive. " Before entering upon his foreign the Iccian Sea, &c. And it was at the 
 
 expedition, he appointed Conall, whose time of this division, also, that Dinn 
 
 integrity he could depend on, as regent Map Lethain, in British Cornwall (Bre- 
 
 of Ireland." — O'Halloran. tan Corn), received its name, i. e. Dun 
 
 ^ Foreign spoil. In Cormac's Glos- mic Liathain ; for map, in British, is 
 
 sary, under the words Mogh Eime, it is the same as mac (i. e. son). And they 
 
 stated that he extended his dominion continued in this power for a long time 
 
 over Norih Britain and Wales, where after the arrival of St. Patrick." — See 
 
 many places received names from his p. SiO, Battle of Magh Rath, Additional 
 
 people. This passage, of which the fol- Notes. 
 
 lowingisatranslation,isoneof the most ^ Dun Liamna, i. e. the Dun of 
 
 curious and important iu Irish history : Liamhain [Lceaviun) is situated in the 
 
 " At that time, the sway of the Gaels west of the county of Wicklow. It was 
 
 was great over the Britons ; they divi- one of the residences of the kings of 
 
 ded Alba between them in holdings, Leiuster, and is now known as Dunlav- 
 
 and each knew the habitations of his an. The other places enumerated in this 
 
J72 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Ireland would fall to lier fovorite son,'' Brian, son of Eocaidh 
 Muigb-Mcdon. Of the venom of that drink, king Criinthann 
 soon°died, at Sliabh oidhidli-an-ri^li''(*S7itíei;-ííe-au-?-eíí), to the north 
 of Limerick. Mung-finn, also, died herself, immediately, from 
 the effects of that poisoned cup, for she had swallowed some of 
 its contents, in order to induce her brother to drink thereof 
 
 NIALL NAEI-GHIALLACir, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 377/° NialP' Naei-Ghiallach {Keeal Nee-T/eeallagh), or 
 Kiall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eocaidh ^luigh-Medon, son 
 of Muredach Tirech, of the line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty 
 of Ireland for twenty-seven years. Carthann Cas-dubh {Carhan 
 Cas-duv), daughter of the king of Britain, was the mother of 
 Niall. His first wife was Inne, daughter of Lugaidh. She was 
 the mother of his son, Fiacaidh. His second wife was called 
 Roighnech {Boenagh), who bore him seven sons,*' namely, Lae- 
 
 verse were amongst the royal residences 
 of Munster ; their locations are else- 
 wliere pointed out. 
 
 '■^ Her favorite son. Her parricide 
 had not the efTect she desired. None 
 of Brian's posterity ever sat Tjpon the 
 throne of Ireland, except Rudraide, or 
 Koderick O'Connor, the last of its 
 kings, and Tordelbach, or Torlough, 
 the third last. 
 
 » Sliahh-Oididh-an-Righ, i. e. the 
 mountain of the king's death. It is 
 now called the Cratloe, or Glennagross 
 mountain, in the Vjarony of Buuratty, 
 and county of Clare. 
 
 •"> A. D. 379.— Four Masters. 
 
 ^' Niall I. '• On the death of Crim- 
 tliann, several canflidates ajipearcd for 
 the succession. Enna (Kennselach), 
 king of Leinster, the better to streng- 
 then his interest, seized on the palace 
 of Tara (Temhair). but soon after evac- 
 uated it. Core, king of Leth Mogha, 
 solicited the suffrages of the princes 
 and electors, but was opposed by the 
 whole force of Lcth-Cuinn. These 
 dreaded the [)Ower of the Ileberians, 
 who, as kings of Southern Ireland, ac- 
 knowledged no kind of dependence on 
 the monarchs, and united, as one man, 
 to support the claims of young Niall, 
 who was accordingly elected. Core 
 l)rotested against the election, and ajv 
 pealed to the sword. Much blood was 
 spilt on the occasion. But T(jrna, the 
 
 bard of Niall, at length interposed ; a 
 pe^ce was thence concluded, and Core 
 acknowledged Niall's election, deliver- 
 ing up his son, Carbri, with others of 
 his nobles, as hostages. In return, he 
 received, as presents (or as a foe), from 
 the monarch, one thousand steeds, five 
 hundred suits of armor, one hundred 
 and ninety gold rings, and fifty gold 
 cups. It was the custom of the Irish, 
 that the acknowledged sovereign made 
 presents to his former antagonist." — 
 O'llatloran. 
 
 " Seven sons. It appears that Niail 
 had fourteen sons in all ; however, none 
 of them left posterity but the eight 
 above mentioned : 1. Fiacaidh, his son 
 by Carthann, who was the ancestor of 
 the septs of Mac Kochagain (Mageogh- 
 egan), and O'Maelmhuaidh (O'Mulloy) ; 
 2. Laegari, or Laeghairé (Lniierie), 
 from whom came the O'Coindelbhain 
 (O'lveudelan or Quinlan), of Ui I^aeg- 
 hari ; 3. Conall (Vimthanni, ancc-itor 
 of the O'Maeilshechlainn (0'Mela-;h- 
 lin) ; 4. Mani, from whom descended 
 Mae Catharnaigh [Mac Cahnrnij), a 
 name now changed to Fox, with 
 O'Breen and Magawley. All these 
 settled in Meath, and were called tiie 
 Southern Ui Neill. After the csUib- 
 lishment of surnames, they branched out 
 into many sul)-septs,amongst which were 
 those cixWcA the Four 'I'ribes of Temhair, 
 namely, O'JIart, O'Regan, O'Kelly of 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 373 
 
 gari, Enna, Mani, Eogan, two Conalls and Carbri, as the poet 
 says in the following verse : 
 
 " Joyful the heart of Roighnech bright ! 
 She bore Laegari, son of Niall, 
 Enna and Mani, of great deeds, 
 Eogan, two Conalls, and Carbri." 
 
 Alba for the first time receives the name of ScoTiA, or Scotland 
 — Ireland called Scotia Major ; Scotland, Scotia Minor. 
 
 The monarch, Niall, proceeded to Alba with a powerful a.rmy, 
 for the purpose of strengthening the Dal-Kiada, and of implanting 
 the Scotic race in that country; for, at this time, they were ac- 
 quiring supremacy over the Cruthnigh, who are called Picts. 
 He was the fii-st person that gave the name of Scotia to Alba, at 
 the request of theDal-Eiadá, and other tribes of the Kine Scuit( i.e. 
 the Kindred of Scot). He did so, however, upon condition that 
 their country should be called Scotia Minor, or the Lesser Scot- 
 land, whilst Ireland should be called Scotia Major, or the Greater 
 Scotland. It was through a pious esteem for Scota, daughter of 
 Pharaoh Nectonibus, and wife of Galarnh, who is called Milcdh 
 of Spain, from whom their nation had sprung, that the Dal-Riada 
 preferred to give the name of Scotia to Alba, rather than that of 
 Hibernia. 
 
 Camden has asserted, in his Britannia, that Scotia Minor was 
 the name of Alba, and Scotia Major that of Eri. He also informs 
 us that it cannot be discovered by any ancient documents, that 
 the Albanaigh, or inhabitants of Alba, had ever been called 
 Scots, previous to the reign of the Roman Emperor, Constantine 
 the Great, (A. D. 299-330.) ]\roreover, this learned author 
 speaks of the Erennaigh, or natives of Eri, as Scotorum Atavi, 
 that is, the Forefathers of the Scots ; tlius making known to us, 
 that the Scotic nation, dwelling in Alba, had sprung from an 
 Irish stock. He makes use of the following words in treating 
 of this subject: "The Scoti," says he, "came into Ireland, from 
 Spain, in the Fourth Age.'"' 
 
 Nennius, a British author, cited by Camden, relates that it 
 
 Breagh (not the tribe O'Kell)' of Ui terity formerly inhabited Carbury Gau- 
 
 Maui), and O'Conolly. The four other ra, in county of .Sligo ; the O'Ronains 
 
 sons went into Ulster, where they of that district are his descendants ; 
 
 gained wide territories ; they were : 1. 4. Enna Finn, his youngest son, some of 
 
 Eogan, from whom the tribes of Ty- whose posterity dwelt formerly in Tir- 
 
 rone, namely, the O'Neills and their Enna, in TirConaiil, and others, as 
 
 numerous correlatives; 2. Conall Gul- O'Braenan of Kinel Enna, near the Hill 
 
 ban, from whom descend the Kinel Con- of Uisnech, in JNIeath. 
 aill, that is, the clan of O'Donnell and ■" Scoti ex liispania in Hiberniam 
 
 its kindred septs ; 3. Carbri, whose pos- quarta a;tate venerunt. 
 
374 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 was in the Fourth Age, that the Scots (that is, the Kine Scuit), 
 took possession of Ireland. 
 
 The Annals of Ireland, also, make it perfectly clear that 
 Alba was the name of the country now called Scotland, down to 
 the time of Niall of the Nine Hostages, when the Dal-liiada suc- 
 ceeded in getting it called Scotia, a name bj which both them- 
 selves and their posterity have continued to call it ever since. 
 
 It is said to have received the name of Alba, or Albania, from 
 Albanactus, the third son of Brutus, for it was the portion, which 
 his father gave to him as an inheritance. According to Geoffrey 
 of Monmouth, Brutus had three sons, namely, Loegrius, Camber, 
 and Albanactus. Between these he divided the island of Great 
 Britain. Loegrius called his division Loegria, from his own 
 name ; it is this region that is now called Anglia, or England. 
 From Camber, that region which is now called Bretain (Wales), 
 received the name of Cambria. From Albanactus, the third 
 division was called Albania (Scotland). 
 
 Mall Invades Loegria — Exjxdilion to Armorica — St. Patrick 
 led thence into captivity^ A. D. 388.'** 
 
 From Alba, Niall marched with a numerous army into Loe- 
 gria, where he made a stationary encampment ; and thence he 
 sent a fleet to Armorica, which is called Brctagne,^ or French 
 Britain, for the purpose of plundering that country. From this 
 expedition two hundred nobly-born children were brought cap- 
 tive into Ireland ; and amongst those captives was St. Patrick, 
 then sixteen years old, and his two sisters,** Darerca and Lupida, 
 with many others. 
 
 *' According to the dates given in yet I received uo damage ; nor was I 
 Keating, the year of the saint's captiv- affected with slotlifuhiess, I'or tlicn tlie 
 ity should be 386. Tiie above. is the spirit of God was warm witliin me." 
 more generally received epoch. When Whilst here he perfected himself in the 
 brought into Ireland, St. Patrick fell knowledge of the (Jaelic tongue, and 
 to the share of Milcho, a petty chieftain made himself familiar with the habits 
 of the Dal-Araide, wlio sent him to and usages of the people of whom he 
 feed his hogs upon Sliabh-Mis, now was destined to become tiie apostle, 
 called Slemraish, in the county of An- thus greatly diminishing the difficulties 
 trim. Here he remained in servitude of his future mission. We are told that 
 for six years, during which time, as he he escaped from servitude in the seventh 
 tells us himself in these words, " My year of his bondage ; though some say 
 constant business was to feed the hogs, that he was then released thercfnMn in 
 I was frequent in prayer ; the love and accordance with a law, said to have ex- 
 fear of God more and more inflamed isted in Jreland, which, like a similar 
 my heart ; my faith was enlarged and Mosaic one, ordained that slavas should 
 my spirit augmented ; so that I said a be set at liberty in tlie seventh year, 
 hundred prayers by day and almost as *'' Brctugiie, called Britanny by tho 
 many by night ; I arose before day in English, 
 the snow, in the frost, in the rain, and *" llis two sisters. Darerca and Lu- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 375 
 
 The Scots of the Bad// Ages of Christianity. 
 
 Numberless authors beai" testimony that Scotia was properly 
 one of the names of Ireland, and that the people called Scoti or 
 Scots, were Irish. 
 
 Jonas the Abbot uses the following words, in his second chap- 
 ter, in speaking of St. Columkille: " Columbauus," says he, 
 •' who is also called Columba, was born in Hibernia, which is now 
 inhabited by the nation of the Scoti."^' 
 
 Bede, also, in the first chapter of the first book of his History 
 of the Saxons, tells us that Ireland was the native country of 
 the Scots ; here are his words : " Hibernia is the proper father- 
 land of the Scoti."** The same author, in writing about the 
 saints, makes use of another expression that agrees with that 
 just quoted: "St. Kilian," says he, "and his two companions 
 came from Hibernia, the island of the Scoti."" From this it is 
 evident that the Irish were commonly called the Scotic nation 
 in the time of Bede, who lived about seven hundred years after 
 Christ. 
 
 Okosius, who lived less than four hundred years after Christ, 
 corroborates the same fact. He speaks thus in the second chap 
 ter of his first book : " Hibernia is inhabited by the nations of 
 the Scoti.""" Hence it is clear that this country, which is called 
 Eri and Hibernia, was commonly denominated Scotia by the 
 writers of his day. 
 
 Serarius, writing about St. Kilian, speaks in the following 
 manner: "The holy Kilian was of the race of the Scoti."" 
 And again he speaks of " Scotia, which is also called Hibernia."""' 
 
 Capgravius bears testimony upon the same subject, in the 
 following words, which he employs in treating of St. Columba: 
 "For Hibernia was anciently called Scotia, and from it sprung 
 and emigrated the nation of the Scoti which inhabits the part of 
 Albania that lies nearest to Great Britain, and that has been 
 since called Scotia from the fact."" 
 
 Marian us Scotus, an Alban (i. e. a Scotch) writer, bears 
 
 {)Ua are enumerated amongst the Irish " Hibernia Scotorum gentibus coh- 
 
 saints. The place of Lupita's servitude tur. 
 
 was the plain of Murthemni, in the ^' Beatus Kilianus Scotorum genere 
 
 county of Louth. '- Scotia quíE et Hibernia dicitur. 
 
 " Columbanus, qui et Columba die- " Hibernia enim antiquitus Scotia 
 
 itur, in Hibernia ortus est ; eam Sco- dicta est, de qua geus Scotorum Alba- 
 
 torum gens iucolit. niam Britannite niajori proximam, quae 
 
 *^ Hibernia propria Scotorum patria ab eventu modo Scotia dicitur, inhabi- 
 
 est. tat, originem duxit et progressum hab- 
 
 *■ Sanctus Kilianus et duo Socii ejus uit. 
 ab Hibernia Scotorum insula venerunt. 
 
376 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 similar testimony in writing on the subject of St. Kilian. Here 
 are his words : "Ahhougii that part of Britannia which borders 
 upon Anglia, and stretches towards the nc^rth, is at pi-esent dis-, 
 tinctively called Scotia, nevertheless, the Venerable Bedc shows 
 that Ilibernia was formerly known by that name ; for he informs 
 us that the nation of the Ficti arrived in Ilibernia from Scythia, 
 and that they found there the nation of the Scot!."** 
 
 CiESAKius, also, Avho lived less than six hundred years after 
 Christ, gives us to understand by his words, that Scotia was a 
 name of Ireland : "Let the man who doubts of Purgatory," sa3's 
 he, "proceed to Scotia, and there let him enter the Purgatory of 
 St. Patrick, and thenceforward he will never doubt of the pains 
 of Purgatory."" From this writers words it must be understood 
 that Scotia was a common name for Ireland at that time; for 
 there is no place in Alba that is called the Purgatory of St, 
 Patrick, whilst it is well known that there is a place so named 
 in Ireland ; and it is thence manifest that Ireland is the country 
 which Ciesarius calls Scotia. 
 
 Serapius, in certain remarks which he makes in Avriting about 
 St. Bonifacius, is in perfect accord with the above-cited writers. 
 He says that " Ilibernia, likewise, claimed Scotia as one of her 
 names ; but, hoAvever, because a certain part of the Scotic nation 
 emigrated from this same Hibernia and settled in those parts of 
 Britannia in which the Picti were then dwelling, and was there 
 called the nation of the Dalrcudini (Dal-Eiada), from the name 
 of its leader, Rheuda (Carbri-Kiada), as the Venerable Bede 
 . relates ; and because these Dalreudini afterwards drove the Picti 
 from their homes, and seized upon the entire northern region to 
 themselves, and gave to it the ancient name of their own race ; 
 so that thus the nation might remain undivided ; in this manner 
 has the name of Scotia become aml)iguous ; one, the elder and 
 proper Scotia, being in Hibernia, whilst the other, the more re- 
 cent, lies in the northern part of Britannia."'* From the words 
 of this author I draw three conclusions : the first conclusion is, 
 
 " Ktiamsi hodie Scotia proprie voca- viiidicavit, qua tanicn ex Hibernia ista 
 
 tur ea Britanniai pars, cjuic ijisi Aug- Scotonim ]iars f|ua'Juni ejjressa est, in 
 
 liaecontineus ad Heptentrionalcni vcrjiit, eafjue I'ritiinnia! ora quam Pirti Jam 
 
 olim tamen CO iioinino Jiiberniani vf»- halicbant, ('(insodcnint ; )ii quidcin prin- 
 
 catuiii fuissc ostcudit vencral)ilis IJeda, c'\\n() diice suo ]{lieii(la Dalnudiiii dicti 
 
 cum ex Scythia Pictorum {(entem in I'uerunt, iit ait vciieraliilis J5((la; pos- 
 
 Hiberniam venisse ait, ibique Scotorum tea tamon I'ictos iiide ipsos exeixerniit, 
 
 gentern invenisse. et totnm iiliid latus obtinneruiit eique 
 
 " Qui de Purgatorio dubitat, Sco- vctus penlis su;e nomen iiididerunt ; 
 
 tiam pergat, Purgatorium Sancti Pat- ita ut Scotorum gens una liicrit, sed 
 
 ricii intrct, ct de poenis Purgatorii am- Scotia duplex facta sit ; una vetus et 
 
 plius non dubitabit. propria iu Hibernia, recentior altera in 
 
 "■ Hibernia Scotia sibi nomen ctiam Scptentrionali Britannia; parte. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 377 
 
 that the Erennaigh or Irish, were, in strict truth, the real Scoti ; 
 the second is, that the Dal-Riada was the first race, dwelling in 
 Alba (Scotland), to which the name of Scot was applied; the 
 third conclusion is that Eri (Ireland) was the true ancient Scotia, 
 and tliat Alba (Scotland) was the new Scotia, and also that it 
 was the Kine Scuit, or Tiibe of Scot, that first called it Scotia. 
 
 Buchanan, an Albanach (i. e. Scotch) author, has a passage 
 that agrees with the above, in the second book of his History 
 of Scotland. He says that, " All the inhabitants of Ilibernia 
 were originally called Scoti, as Orosius points out; and our own 
 annals tell us that there was more than one migration of the 
 Scoti from Hibernia into Albania."" Hence it is to be under- 
 stood that the Dal-Eiada was not the only tribe that went from 
 Ireland to dwell in Alba, but that numerous colonies besides 
 went to make settlements therein from time to time. 
 
 Irish Invasions of Alba or Scotland — -Irish Settlements therein. 
 
 We read in Irish history that the following persons made ex- 
 peditions to Alba from time to time, for the purpose of making 
 the conquest of that land. 
 
 First, Acngus 011-mucach, son of Fiacaidh Labranni, made an 
 expedition to Alba for the purpose of enforcing the payment of 
 the head-rent due from the Cruthnigh to the kings of Ireland. 
 This took place about two hundred and fifty years after the arri- 
 val of the children of ]\Iiledh in Ireland. 
 
 In like manner, Eecta Righ-derg made an expedition to Alba, 
 long ages afterwards, in order to force the payment of his head- 
 rent. 
 
 Carbri Riada''* then invaded the north of Alba, with his host, 
 for the purpose of making conquests therein. It is the posterity 
 of this Carbri Riada that Bede has called the Dalreudini, that is, 
 the Dal-Riada of Alba. 
 
 " Scoti omnes Hibernias habitatores to Scotland, where, as Bede tells us, 
 
 initio vocabantur, ut iudicat Orosius ; " by force or friendship he procured 
 
 nee semel Scotoruiu ex Hibernia tran- settlements for himself. From this leader 
 
 situm in Albaniam factum, nostri ut Riada," says he, " their posterity are to 
 
 annates refei unt. this day called Dal Rendirah ; dal, in 
 
 ^ Carbri Riada. During the reign their language, signifying a part." 
 
 of Art (from A. D. 152 to 182) it was. This is certainly the first regular Scot- 
 
 that the eldest Carbri, son of Conari tish or Irish settlement in Albany ; 
 
 II, called Riada, or the Long Arm,* on uot but that numbers of Irish must, 
 
 account of his settlements so remote from the close afiinity between them 
 
 from each other as Kerry and Antrim, and the Plcts, have resided there from 
 
 or the Route, as it is called, passed over time to time for centuries before. This 
 
 . . (settlement) is a fact upon which all 
 
 * Or Long Reach? Riads is a contracted form «ur writers are unanimous.— 0'i/a//o- 
 
 of the words Righ-f hada {Kee-adda.) ran. 
 
378 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Mac-Con went to make the conquest of Alba and Britain ; and 
 it was thence that he came to fight the battle of ilocrumhi, where 
 Art Aenfer, king of Ireland, fell, so that Mac-Con then acquired 
 the sovcrei,_rnty of all Ireland himself 
 
 Fathadh Canann,'" son of Mac-Con, went to Alba at a subse- 
 quent period, and conquered an inheritance for himself therein. 
 It is from him that the race of Mac Alind (Allen) and its correl- 
 ative branches have sprang. 
 
 Again, Colla Uais and his brothers proceeded to Alba, and 
 there acquired large possessions ; and from this Colla Uais are 
 sprung the Mac Donalds,''" both of Alba and of Eri. 
 
 Crimihann, son of Fidach, went to make the conquest of Alba 
 whilst he was monarch of Ireland. 
 
 And there, also, settled Ere, son of Eocaidh Munremar, son 
 of Aengus Fert," one of the descendants of Carbri Eiada. They 
 are his descendants*'- that are called the tribe Gabran or Kinel 
 Gabhrain {Kinnaile Goivrauin), of Alba, and the Kinel Lod- 
 hairn {Loam), KinM Comhghaill [Cowill), Kinul Aengusa, and 
 Kintl Conchriche {Concreehl) of the Isles. 
 
 ^•' Fathadh Canann — the founder of 
 the Campbells and their correlatives, as 
 before stated. 
 
 " 3Iac Donalds. Accordiní^ to 0'- 
 riahortv, Somarli or Somhairli {Sow- 
 erlic), the twenty-fifth descendant of 
 (Jolla Uais, had two sons, Ranulph ajid 
 Dubj^ali : from the latter came the Mac 
 Dugalds or iiac Dowells. Kanulph 
 begat two sons, Rudraide or Roderic, 
 from whom the Mac Rories of the Heb- 
 rides are sprung ; second, Domhnald or 
 Donald, from whom tlie Mac Donalds 
 liave taken their name. From Sithach, 
 son of Kocaidh Donn, one of the sons 
 of this Domhnald, came the Mac Shee- 
 hies, in Antrim and in Munster. The 
 Mac Donalds, earls of Antrim, are more 
 immediately sprung from Domhnald, 
 son of Aengiis, son of the above-named 
 Domhnald, who was king of the Heb- 
 rides and of Cantire, in the reign of 
 James IH, of Scotland. — See Ogifr^ia. 
 These races are of the royal of Conn 
 of the Hinidred Battles. 
 
 " yieiigus Fcii. He is elsewhere 
 called Aengus Fer. The Irish geneal- 
 ogists mak'e him the seventh descendant 
 from Carbri Riada. O'P'laherty con- 
 jectures that he was his grandson ; but 
 he is decidedly wrong. Ten genera- 
 tions is not too much to allow for the 
 
 time that intervened between the reigns 
 of the father of Carbri Riada, ConariH, 
 king of Ireland, who was slain about 
 A. D. 152, to that of Loarn Mor, sou 
 of Ere, the first Scotic king of Alba, 
 who conquered the throne in A. D. 
 503. The event alluded to did not oc- 
 cur for more than a century after Ni- 
 all's reign. Keating records it again 
 in its proper place. The above Ere 
 was the founder of the Dalriadic kings 
 of the modern Scotland. O'Flahcrty 
 informs us that this son, Loarn or Lod- 
 harn, with his brothers, Aengus and 
 Fergus, obtained the command of the 
 Dal-Riada, and took possessi(m of the 
 country of the AWslern Picts, A. D. 
 502 ; that their descendants held the 
 royal dignity for tlui space of seven 
 hundred and eighty-three years, from 
 Loarn down to the reign of Malcolm 
 IV, who was killed in 1285. Four 
 hundred and forty-three years had then 
 elapsed from the final conquest of tho 
 Ficts by Kenetli I, and two hundred 
 and cighly-onc from Malcolm II, who 
 was the first that assumed the title of 
 King of Scolland. 
 
 "^ Descendants. Those enumerated 
 above are the four principal tribes 
 sprung from the sous of Ere. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 379 
 
 ifani Lenin a,*' son of Core, sou of Lugaidh (of the race of 
 Olild Olum), emigrated from Ireland to Alba, and acquii-ed him- 
 self a territory there, which is still called Magh Lerana'^'' {May 
 Lnvna or Levna). From it the " Mor-mhaer Lemlma" {Jlorc- 
 vai/or-Lewna), or Great Steward of Lemhain had his title. It is 
 he that is now styled the Duke of Lenox. It is also from the 
 above-named Mam Lemna, or Mani of Lemhain, that the noble 
 house of Lenox^^ has drawn its origin. From a brother of Mani 
 Lemna, who was named Carbri Cruthnechan,'' or Carbri of the 
 Picts, came the Eogan act {Oive7wght), oi Mcigh. Gerghenn i-^^oy 
 Gueryenn), in the same country. But it was after the time of Niall 
 of the Nine Hostages, that these went to make settlements in Alba. 
 
 It was, also, after his time that the six sons of Muredach,* son 
 of Eogan, sou of Niall of the Nine Hostages, emigTated thither. 
 These were known as the two Loams, the tw^o Aenguscs, and the 
 two Ferguses. Thus, it may be asserted of all the Gaelic tribes 
 of Alba, that their nobles have sprung from the Gaels of Ireland. 
 
 However, we must consider as of Saxon, and not of Gaelic 
 origin, those of the inhabitants of Alba that dwell nearest to 
 England, across the borders of which they had been formerly 
 driven by ^Yilliam the Conqueror, and who have continued in 
 possession of the " Galldacht"" {GauUaghi), or lowlands of that 
 
 ^ Mani Lemna, i. e. Mani of Lem- was descended Henry Stuart, Lord 
 
 hain {Leu'in or Lavicin). The river 
 now called the Lanne, in Kerry, is so 
 denominated in Gaelic. It is possible 
 tlie Mani had his surname from it, and 
 that the name was then first transported 
 
 Darnly, the father of James I, of Eng- 
 land. — See Ogygia. 
 
 •^ Carbri Cruthnechan. From him 
 was descended Canich,the Mor-mhaer of 
 Marr, ancestor of ancient Earls of Marr, 
 
 to Scotland by him. His brother, Car- who fell by the side of Brian, at Clontarf. 
 bri the Pict, was styled also Carbri Lu- * This is a mistake. They were the 
 
 acra, from having been fostered in the sons of Eocaidh Munremar, son of the 
 
 district of Luachair, in Kerry. This Ere last mentioned. It was the last 
 
 renders it likely that both brothers had and most permanent settlement, and 
 
 their surnames from the same locality, took place in A. D. 503. 
 
 " Magh Lemna. " Levinia, con- 
 tracted into Lennox (as if Lemhnacht), 
 is situated near Dumbritou (Dumbar- 
 ton), in Scotland, and has taken its 
 name from the river I^evinn (^Lemhain) 
 
 ^ Galladcht,\. e. the district of the for- 
 eigners. There had been for some cen- 
 turies previous to the above-mentioned 
 event, a population of Teutonic (proba- 
 bly Danish) origin already settled in that 
 
 which washes it. This river, flowing portion of Scotland which lies between 
 from Loch Lomond, is called Leavuin, the rivers Tweed and Forth. The 
 in the vernacular idiom, and the coun- Gaels called the people dwelling in this 
 
 try is called Magh Levna." — Ogygw. 
 '^ House of Lennox. Donncadh, 
 called also Duncan, Earl of Lennox, 
 the last of the family, died, leaving no 
 male issue, in the reign of Robert II, 
 
 district, Gaill or Gauls, which was their 
 general name for all who were not 
 Gaels, with the exception of the Brit- 
 ons and Picts, who are rarely so de- 
 nominated. At the time of the con 
 
 of Scotland. One of his daughters quest of England by "William and his 
 
 married Alan Stuart, a near relative of Gallo-Norman followers, and when Mal- 
 
 king Robert, and thus transferred the colm III. was king of Scotland, this 
 
 title to his posterity. From this xVlan Teutonic settlement received a large 
 
380 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 country ever since. Besides these, there are some others that 
 we shall point out a little further on. Stow gives us informa- 
 tion upon this subject in the hundred and fifty-third page of his 
 
 accession to its numbers from the im- 
 migration of Saxon and Danisli refu- 
 gees from England, who were kindly 
 received by the Scotch monarch. Au- 
 gustin Thierry speaks thus upon the 
 subject, in his History of the Norman 
 Conquest : " The multitude of men of 
 all ranks and conditions who, after a 
 futile struggle against the invaders, 
 expatriated themselves to Scotland, 
 augmented the previous mass of Ger- 
 manic population established between 
 the Tweed and Forth. The kings who 
 succeeded Malcolm were not less gene- 
 rous than he to these refugees ; they 
 g-avc them land and oiBces, and admit- 
 ted them into their state councils, where 
 gradually the true Scotic language, the 
 Gaelic or Erse, was supplanted by the 
 Anglo-Danish, spoken in the Lowlands 
 of Scotland. By the same revolution, 
 the Scotch kings discarded the patro- 
 nymic surname, which recalled to mind 
 their Celtic origin." 
 
 Having referred to the final subjuga- 
 tion of the Picts by Kenneth Mac 
 Alpin, he says : " The nation of the 
 I'icta lost its name in its incorporation 
 with the Scots ; but it does not appear 
 that the fusion was eíTected on um-qual 
 terms, as would, doubtless, have been 
 the case had the conquered and the con- 
 querors been of different race. The 
 latter had not to undergo any slavery — 
 any political degradation ; serfage, the 
 ordinary result of conquest in the mid- 
 dle ages, was not established in Scot- 
 land. f>e long, there existed north 
 of the Forth but one peoj)Ie, and it 
 early became a fruitless attempt to 
 seek the traces of the idiom which the 
 Picts had spoken in the tim(! of their 
 independence. At the pcricjd of the 
 Norman invasion of England, there ex- 
 isted not the slightest vestige of the 
 division of Scottish Gael* into two dis- 
 
 ♦ It is to be remarke'l. that In tlic nbove quo- 
 tation tbe word GaelKi useri In the sense of <'elt. 
 Tliierry, being ignorant of tlie iJaclic tonene, 
 tliouelit It synonymous with (iiillun, tlic natiio 
 by whidi tlie ( 'citu'. of Gallia witc l<nown. Ilav 
 ing very learnedly shown that tbe Cruthnlgh 
 
 tinct populations ; the only national 
 division observable in the kingdom of 
 Scotland, was that between the men 
 who spoke the Gaelic language, called 
 also the Erse, i. e. Irish, and the de- 
 scendants of the Teutonic colonists, 
 whose idiom was alike intelligible to 
 the English, the Danes and the Ger- 
 mans. This population, the nearest to 
 England, though called Scottish by the 
 English, had mucli closer affinity with 
 the latter people (from resemblance of 
 language and community of origin) 
 than MÍth the Scots of Gaelic race. 
 The latter, who combined with a some- 
 what savage pride, habits of indepen- 
 dence, derived from their organization 
 in separate clans or tribes, had frequent 
 disputes with the Teutonic population 
 of the southern plains, and even with 
 the kings of Scotland. Tile latter al- 
 most invariably found the southern 
 Scots disposed to aid them in their pro- 
 jects against the liberty of the clans, 
 and thus the instinctive enmity of these 
 two races, the fruit of diversity of ori- 
 gin and language, turned to the profit 
 of royal despotism. 'J'his experience, 
 more than once highly profitable to the 
 successors of Kenneth MacAlpin, gave 
 them a great aflection for the lowland- 
 ers of Scotland, and generally for men 
 of English origin : they preferred these 
 strangers to the men who descended 
 from the same ancestry with them- 
 selves ; they favored, to the utmost of 
 their ability, the Scots by name, at the 
 expense of the Scots by race, and re- 
 ceived with the utmost cordiality every 
 emigrant from England." Further on 
 he tells us, that they gave to these for- 
 eigners offices and lands taken from the 
 Gaels. As a just punishment for their 
 tyrannical encroachments upon tin; an- 
 cient usages of their Gaelic kinsmen, 
 t'.ie race of the Dal-Iliada soon ceased 
 to occupy the throne of anci(nit Alba ; 
 
 were 8 Celtic people, be erroneously applies to 
 tbem tbe name of an Iberic people, who, though 
 tlie lanKnttL'ir tliey then undoubtedly spoke wasa 
 dialect of llic Celtic toncue, Iiave not yi^t been 
 proved to liavo been of Cellie origin. — £<J. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 381 
 
 Annals. He there tells us that William, king of Alba, was 
 captured by Ileury II, king of England, and then sent bj 
 the latter to the city of Rouen, in Normandy, as his prisoner. 
 There he was kept in bondage by his captor until he was forced 
 to pay a ransom of four hundred marks for his liberty. 
 Then, when returning to his own country, at peace with the 
 king of England, he took with him to Alba a number of young 
 English nobles, from whom he had received kindness and friend- 
 ship during his captivity. Upon these and their heirs after 
 them, he bestowed lands and territories, which are possessed by 
 many of their posterity to the present day. The following 
 are the names of some of the families descended from those 
 that followed him from England upon that occasion, namely : 
 Balioll, Bruce, Rawley, Mowbray, Sinclair, Hangiford, Ramsey, 
 Bissey, Boyce, Montgomery, Walley, Colley, Milley, Frazer, 
 Graliam and Gurley.'^* This immigration took place in the year 
 of our Lord 1174. 
 
 Buchanan fully bears out all I heretofore asserted as to the origi- 
 nal application of the names, Scot and Scotia. In the thirty- 
 fourth page of the second book of his History of Scotland, he 
 says : " Because the two nations, that is to say, the natives of 
 Hibernia and the colonists that went forth from them to dwell 
 in Albania, were both originally called by the common name of 
 Scoti, in order to distinguish the one from the other, people 
 began to name the former Hibernian Seoti, and the latter Alba- 
 nian Scoti."^' From these words of Buchanan two things must 
 be understood : the first of these is, that Ireland was the country 
 whence the Scots emigrated in order to colonize Alba ; the next 
 is, that Scoti, or Scots, was a common appellation of the Irish 
 people from the beginning. 
 
 Inroads of the Scots and Picts into Britain. 
 
 Previous to returning to Niall of the Nine Hostages, I here 
 set down, in support of all I have hitherto advanced on the 
 subject, last treated of, certain facts which have been extracted 
 from the Chronicle of Stow ; for I deem that what I shall here- 
 after relate of that monarch, on the authority of Irish history, 
 
 supplanted by their Norman guests, have been misspelled or mistaken by 
 
 the Baliuls, Bruces and Stuarts, the Keating's transcribers, 
 
 royal line of Kenneth Mac Alpin be- "^ Principio, cum utrique, id est, 
 
 came extinguished or reduced to ob- Hibernioe incolae et coloni eorum in 
 
 scurity. Albium missi Scoti appellarentur, ut 
 
 ™ The Editor is not sure that all discrimine aliquo alteri ab altcris dia- 
 
 the above names belong to the lowland tinguercntur, initio coepere alteri Scoti 
 
 Scotch. He thinks that some of them Ilibernii, alteri Scoti Albani vocari. 
 
382 
 
 TUE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 will appear the more credible by reason of niy transcribing 
 these matters from the work of a foreign chronicler. Here is 
 what Stow relates : 
 
 "A. D. 73. Mauritius Arviragus, being king of the Britons, 
 Eughri, or Eogerus, king of the Picts, a people of Scythian 
 origin, and accompanied by the Scots, invaded Britain for pur- 
 pose of conquest, devastating that country with sword and lire. 
 Whereupon, the above-named Mauritius gave them battle, and 
 slew Kughri and numbers of his host therein. To those that 
 survived this battle he gave a territory to inhabit, in the north 
 of Alba. They, then, demanded wives" of the Britons, but were 
 '" IJ'ives. " The friendship, founded highlanders had, at the period we arc 
 
 upon this early connection, was kept 
 alive by continued intercourse between 
 the two nations ; and though the foot- 
 ing the Irish obtained in the third 
 century, upon the western coast of 
 North Britain, produced a jealousy 
 which sometimes disturbed this small 
 colony, the advantage derived by both 
 
 now treating of, assumed a still more 
 audacious and formidable character, 
 and, about the middle of the fourth 
 century, so destructive had become 
 tlieir inroads, that it re(|uired the pres- 
 ence of the son of Constantine to make 
 head against, and repel tliera. "What- 
 ever ditiereuces their relative position. 
 
 nations from such an alliance, kept as rival neighbors, had given rise to, 
 
 their fierce and feverish union unbro- 
 ken. In addition to this, tlie pride 
 that Ireland naturally felt in the task 
 of watching over and nui-sing that 
 germ of future dominion which she 
 planted in North Britain, her kings 
 and princes, eternally at war with each 
 other, as naturally looked beyond their 
 own shores for allies ; accordingly, as 
 in the case of the monarch Tuathal, 
 who owed his throne to the aid of 
 Pictish arms, we find the alliance of 
 that people frequently resorted to as a 
 means of turning the scale of internal 
 strife. On the other hand, the hardy 
 highlanders of Caledonia, in the con- 
 stant warfare they waged against their 
 southern neighbors, were no less ready 
 to resort to the assistance of a peo- 
 
 were entirely merged in their common 
 object of harassing the Britons ; whom 
 a native historian describes as trembl- 
 ing with fear of a new visitation, while 
 still fainting from the dire effects of the 
 tempest which had just swept over 
 them. To deliver the province from 
 this scourge, one of the bravest of the 
 Roman generals, Theodosius, M'a.s now 
 appointed to the military command of 
 Britain ; and, after two active cam- 
 paigns, during which he had to contend 
 not only with the I'icts and Scots by 
 land, but also with their new allies, the 
 Saxon ))irates, by sea, he at length suc- 
 ceeded in delivering Britain from her 
 inveterate invaders. To such daring 
 lengths had some of the incursions into 
 her territory extended, that, on the 
 
 pic fully as restless and pugnacious as arrival of the Roman general, he found 
 
 themselves, and whoso manners and 
 habits, from a long course of connec- 
 tion, were, it is probable, little different 
 from their own. As some defence against 
 these two hostile nations, the RomaTis 
 had, at diif-rent intervals during th(; 
 second and third centuries, erected those; 
 three great wails or ramparts on the 
 northern frontier of tli(;ir province, 
 whose remains still continue to occupy 
 the res3arch and speculation of the an- 
 tiquary. But the hostility of these 
 
 the ricts and their allies advanced as 
 far as London and Kent. In all this 
 warfare, the Scots of Ireland were no 
 less active than their brethren of Al- 
 bany ; and it is, therefore, remarkable 
 that the Roman commander, though 
 fitting out a fleet to chastise the Saxons 
 in the Orcades, should yet have left 
 Ireland, whose currachs waft(!d over 
 such hostile swarms to his shores, still 
 excm[)t from invasion. That his fleet 
 chased, however, some of her vessels 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 383 
 
 refased ; they next demanded them of the Irish, who granted 
 their request." But what Stow recounts as tlien happening to 
 Rughri, king of the Picts, is but what really happened long 
 before his time, to that chieftain of the Picts, who took wives 
 with him out of Ireland, in the days of Erimhon, as we have 
 heretofore mentioned; an event that occurred more than one 
 thousand three hundred years before Mauritius held the sover- 
 eignty of Britain. 
 
 The same author says that it was in the above-mentioned 
 year (A. D. 73), that Vespasianus was saluted emperor of Rome, 
 and that the Monastery of Glastonbury was built. He also 
 relates that the Emperor, who was named Aurelianus, lived 
 about two hundred and seventy years after the birth of Christ ; 
 and that Pelagius, a Briton, first began to disseminate his heresy 
 in the year of our Lord, three hundred and ninety-five. 
 
 About this time, the tribes of the Scots and the Picts were 
 incessantly plundering and devastating Great Britain ; where- 
 upon, the Britons sent an embassy to the Emperor Honorius, 
 to demand aid from him ; but he did nothing more than send 
 them a letter, in which he encouraged them to do the best they 
 could towards aiding themselves by their own exertions. The 
 result of this reply was, that the Britons lay for a long time 
 subject to the oppression of the Scots and the Picts. Again 
 they sent an embassy to Rome, to make their complaint of the 
 hardships to which those invaders had reduced them. But upon 
 this occasion the Romans sent to their relief an armed force, 
 which consisted of a legion of effective men. Aided by this 
 reinforcement, they met the Picts and Scots in many engage- 
 ments. But the Romans at length got tired of the warfare, and 
 told the Britons to build a wall or a dike between them and 
 those bad neighbors of theirs, for that they themselves could 
 not avoid returning to Rome. 
 
 Upon this the Britons, when forsaken by the Romans, con- 
 structed a dike or rampart of earth, extending from sea to sea, 
 between themselves and the Scots and Picts. 
 
 But, when the latter nations had heard that the Romans had 
 forsaken their British subjects, they broke through the dike and 
 flung themselves upon the Britons, plundering and devastating 
 their country. This forced the Britons to send an embassy to 
 
 into their own northern harbors, may poem, describe briefly and picturesque- 
 
 be conchided from a passage of a poem ly the signal triumph over the three 
 
 of Claudian, which commemorates this hostile nations which Thcodosiua 
 
 war ; achieved : 
 
 " Nee falso nomino Pictos " Maducrurunt Saxone fuso 
 
 Edomnit, Scotumque vago muurone secutns Orcades, inculuit Pictoruin sanRnine Thnle, 
 
 Fregit Uyperboreaa velis audacibus undas." Scotorum cumulos flevit glaciails lerne." 
 
 The following lines, from the same — Moore's History of Ireland. 
 
384 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Kome for the third time, begging not to have their enemies 
 allowed to destroy them in such a terrible manner. Upon this, 
 the Romans sent another legion to their relief, and by it several 
 battles were fought against the Scots and Picts, after its an-ival 
 in Britain. lu these engagements, great numbers of the despoil- 
 ers were slain by the Romans, and the remainder were driven 
 beyond the bounds of the Avail or dike of which I have already 
 spoken. The Romans then, having thus relieved their allies, 
 told the latter that it was of no advantage to themselves to come 
 to their assistance on any other expedition, and that they should 
 therefore take counsel, and consider by what measures thev 
 might protect themselves from their enemies for the future. It 
 Avas when the Romans had thus given them up, that the Britons 
 commenced to build that wall of mason-work, which extends 
 from sea to sea, between Britain and Alba. According to Bede, 
 in the sixth chapter of the first book of his History of the 
 Saxons, it was eight feet in thickness and twelve feet in height. 
 
 As soon as the Scots and Picts had heard that the Romans 
 had now given up all intention of ever again coming to the aid 
 of their British subjects, they mustered together a numerous 
 army and marched towards the said wall, and forcing their way 
 over it, they overran the whole of the land witli fire and sword. 
 They thus compelled the natives of that country to quit their cities 
 and dwellings, and flee for safety into forests and wildernesses, 
 where they had no food but the flesh of wild beasts which they 
 took by hunting. It was then that the remnant of them that 
 survived wrote piteously to the Roman Consul, named Aetius, 
 supplicating his assistance, and telling him that they were liem- 
 med in between their enemies ; for those of them that took to 
 the sea, fleeing fi-om the enemy, were drowned, and those that 
 turned away from the sea were slain by the enemy. So Bede 
 informs us, in the thirteenth chapter of the first book of his 
 History of tlie Saxons, where he repeats the words of the 
 Britons, making their complaint to the Romans of the oppres- 
 sions of the Scots and the Picts. The following are the words 
 he there uses: " The Barbariaiis drive us upon the sea, the sea 
 throws us back upon the Barbarians ; so that, between them 
 both, two species of deaths arise before us, for we are either 
 slaughtered or we are drowned. "^^ Hence it is to be understood, 
 that the tyranny exercised by the Scots of Ireland over the 
 Britons w;is very great indeed. 
 
 Nennius, an old British historian, quoted by Speed in his 
 Chronicle, relates that this oppression of the Britons by the 
 
 " ricpcllunt Barbari ad mare, re- ponora fiincrum orinntur, aut jn^la 
 pellit marc ad Earbaros, iuter biec duo mur aut mergimur. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 885 
 
 Scots and Picts lasted for forty years. Camden, who agrees 
 with him, tells us, that " in the four hundredth year after the inva- 
 sion of Cicsar, Britannia was delivered up to the barbarities of 
 the Scoti and the Picti."^ The same thing may be learned from 
 the words of Bede, in the fourteenth chapter of his above-cited 
 fourth book, where, in speaking of the Irish, he uses the follow 
 ing terms : " Those audacious Hibernian robbers return to their 
 homes, determined to come back hither again at no distant 
 time."" This expression of Bede gives us plainly to understand, 
 that the Irish were in the frequent habit of making plundering 
 expeditions into Britain. 
 
 As to the Britons, they continued for a long time to be thus 
 slaughtered and plundered by the Scots and the Picts, after the 
 Eomans had forsaken them. But this was not the only misfor- 
 tune they had to sufier at that period ; for the Pelagian'^* heresy 
 was then leading the British people astray. To meet this evil, 
 the Britons determined to address themselves to the Gallic clergy 
 and ask of them to send prelates and preachers to their country 
 from Gaul, in order to put down the Pelagian errors. The clergy 
 of Gaul sat in council thereupon, and came to the resolution of 
 sending two holy bishops to Britain for the purpose of dissemi- 
 nating the pure faith ; these were Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, 
 and Lupus, ^^ bishop of Troyes, who overcame the heretics soon 
 after their arrival. 
 
 ''"' Anno 50 a Caisaris ingressu Bri- in Wales. There appears little doubt, 
 
 tannia Pictorum immanitate relinqui- however, that this statement is errone- 
 
 tur. ous, and that the monastery to which 
 
 '^ Eevertuntur impudentes grassatores he belong'ed was that of Bangor, or 
 
 Hiberni domum post non longura temp- rather Banchor, near Carrickfergus. 
 
 tiá reversuri. Two of the most learned, indeed, of all 
 
 '^ Pelagian heresi/. In speaking as the writers respecting the heresy whicli 
 to the extent to which Christianity had bears his name, admit Pelagius, no less 
 been established in Ireland before St. than his disciple, to have been a native 
 Patrick's arrival, Moore makes the of Ireland. A country that could pro- 
 following judicious remarks respecting duce, before the middle of the fourth 
 the native country of Pelagius, the century, two such distinguished men as 
 founder of this heresy, and upon his Pelagius and Celestius, could hardly 
 disciple, Celestius : " Though unfur- have been a novice, at that time, in 
 uishcd with any direct evidence as to the civilization, however far from the rest 
 religious state of the Irish in their own of Europe she had hitherto remained." 
 country, we have a proof of how ear- — History of Ireland. 
 ly they began to distinguish themselves " Germanus and Lupus. Shortly 
 on the continent, as Christian writers after his release from his captivity in 
 and as scholars, in the persons of Pela- Ireland, St. Patrick placed himself uu- 
 gius, the eminent heresiarch, and his der the spiritual direction of the first 
 able disciple, Celestius. That the latter of these prelates (called St. Germain 
 was a Scot, or native of Ireland, is al- by the French), " a raan,"_says Moore, 
 most universally admitted ; but of Pe- " of distinguished reputation in those 
 lagius, it is in general asserted that he times, both as a civilian and an ecclesi- 
 was a Briton, and a monk of Bangor, astic. In 429 (shortly previous to hia 
 
386 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 A. D. 474. Although we have shown that a continual war 
 was Avaged by the Scots and Picts against the Britons down to 
 the year of our Lord four hundred and forty-seven, when Vor- 
 tigern'^ was king of the latter nation, still it was not until Ids 
 reign that God, in vengeance for their evil passions, their pride 
 and their sins, gave to those Scots and Picts a thorough master- 
 dom over them. Thus were they compelled to invite Hengist 
 and Ilorsa to bring over an army of Germans to aid them against 
 their victorious enemies. Of these Germans, God made scourges 
 to punisli their crimes, for by them have the ]3ritons been de- 
 prived of the full sovereignty of tlic greater part of their coun- 
 try ever since. 
 
 The chronicles of Britain relate, as Stow sets down in the 53d 
 page of his Annals, printed in Loudon in A. D. 1614, that four 
 hundred and eighty of the nobles of Britain were treacherously 
 murdered by these German Saxons, and that Aurelius Anibro- 
 sius, then king of Britain, caused certain stones, which Merlin 
 brought over from Sliabh-g-Clari, in Munster, to be reared as 
 memorials upon the place Avhere these nobles had been slaugh- 
 tered ; and that it was in that same place that he was himself 
 interred. Its name, at that time, was Chorea Gigantum; its 
 present name is Stonehenge," and it is situated upon Salisbury 
 Plain. The same author tells us that these stones had been orig- 
 inally brought from Africa by the Gaels ; and Geoffrey of Mon- 
 mouth, asserts that no two stones of those, there erected, had 
 been brought from the same country. From this tradition, like- 
 mission to Ireland) wc find him accom- assistance of these allies, Britain was at 
 panyinji St. Germain and Lupus in their length relieved from the presence of her 
 expedition to Britain, for the purpose Scotish and Pictish ravafiers. IIow- 
 of eradicating from that country the ever, the Saxons soon took poísession 
 errors of Pelagianism." of the whole island to themselves, and 
 
 " Vortigern. The incursions of the either drove the effeminate Britons from 
 Scots and Picts compelled numbers of the more fertile portion of the country, 
 the Romanized Britons to flee for ref- into Cambria, Cornwall, or, as is like- 
 uge to their kinsmen, the natives of ly, reduced many of them to serfdom. 
 Armorica, since called Gallic Britain The Saxons next made a private leag'ue 
 or Bretagne, from them. Tlie remain- with the Scots and Picts, and kept 
 der elected over thom a supreme king, possession of their British ccmqucst un- 
 whom historians call Vortigern, though til they, too, were conquered in their 
 this was seemingly but his title, being turn by the French Normans, 
 a British synonym of " Mor-tigerna" " Stotwhenge. The statement that 
 (77?ore-iee(/cr/ia), g'^cfli /on/, which makes this most remarkable druidic temple 
 Mhor-tigherua ( Vore-teerna) in one of was erected at so late a period is, of 
 its inflections. Some place his election course, erroneous. It must have been 
 in 445, others in 4.36. But his abilities erected when druidisra was in its most 
 were not equal to the; difficulties of his flourishing condition, and at least pre- 
 position, and he had recourse to the su- vious to the connection of Britain with 
 icidal measure of calling over the Sax- the Romans, 
 oas to his aid, from Germany. By the 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAJSTD. 387 
 
 wise, we may infer that the Gaels were in tlie habit of going on 
 plundering expeditions to Africa, and consequently that they 
 had extended their SAvay over other countries besides Ireland. 
 If, then, any person be surprised at these matters, or disbelieve 
 them altogether, let the blame thereof rest with himself for not 
 having either seen or investigated ancient documents ; for men 
 are often ignorant of truths, because thc}^ have made no acquaint- 
 ance with the writings of the ancients, as Macrobius remarks 
 in the sixth book of his Saturnalia; he there says that we 
 are ignorant "of many things which would not be concealed 
 from us, if we would only give ourselves the habit of reading 
 the works of ancient authors,"^* 
 
 Then, when we state that the Scots and Picts had imposed a 
 tribute upon the Britons, the reader, if he believe not our words, 
 may go and read the Chronicle of Camden, and he will there 
 find the following assertion : " The Britons were made tributary 
 to the Scots and Picts in the year of our Lord, four hundred and 
 seventy-six."^^ And when we tell that the Picts, in their turn, 
 were overpowered by the Scots at the time that Kinneidi, son of 
 Alpin, was King of Alba, about eight hundred and thirty-nine 
 years after the birth of Christ, let him again read the Chronicle of 
 Camden, and he will find the same fact recorded therein. Again, 
 when we state that no foreign nation ever made the conquest of Ire- 
 land, with the exception of those races that succeeded one another 
 as dwellers upon its soil from age to age, namely, Partholan, the 
 Children of Nemedh, the Fer-Bolgs, the Tuatha-De-Dananns, and 
 the sons of Miledh, it might possibly happen that some person 
 would be found to disbelieve us, were we not able to refer him 
 to a fact stated by Gulielmus Neubrigensis, where he speaks of 
 Ireland, in the twenty-sixth chapter of his second book, he in- 
 forms us that "Hibernia was never subjected to any foreign 
 domination."** In like manner, if, in writing about Niall of the 
 Nine Hostages, we shall state any fact of which the reader has 
 never heard before, let him learn that we have both traditional 
 and documentary evidence in support of every assertion that 
 shall be made by us in relation to him. 
 
 The Place of St. Patricias Nativiii/. 
 
 We read in a life of St. Patrick, which we found written upon 
 vellum, in an ancient manuscript book, which also contains lives 
 of St. Mochuda, St. Alban, and other saints, that he was by birth 
 
 ™ Multa ignoramus quai non later- " Britanni facti sunt tril)utarii Sco- 
 ent, si veterum lectio nobis esset fa- lis et Pictis, anno 47C. 
 miliaris. ^ Hibernia nunquam externa) sub 
 
 jacuit ditioni. 
 
388 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 a Briton. The following are the words of this old book : " Pat- 
 ricius, a Breton," was born in the town of Emptor, in the Plain 
 of the Tabernacles, and was sprung from devout and religious 
 parents."" Again, in the same place, our authority has the follow- 
 ing statement : "ÁVhen the Scot! of Ilibernia, under their king, 
 Niall of the Nine Hostages, had, in spite of the Eoman Empire, 
 widely devastated many provinces of Britannia, whilst Gratianus 
 was emperor, they at first merely subdued the northern region 
 of that country, but afterwards, having expelled the old inhab- 
 itants, the Hibernienses (i. e. Irish), took possession of the land 
 and dwelt therein themselves.'"*^ We are there told, likewise, that 
 from this event it came to pass that there were three kingdoms 
 established in Great Britain, namely, Scotia, Anglia, and Britan- 
 nia. The author of this life tells us, also, that it was whilst 
 Niall was engaged upon this expedition, establishing the Dal- 
 Riada in Alba, that an Irish fleet arrived at the place where St. 
 Patrick was dwelling. The following are the author's words: 
 ''At this time a fleet from Hibernia plundered the country where 
 the holy Patricius was abiding, and many captives were brought 
 off thence, according to the wonted practice of the Hibernians ; 
 amongst these was the holy Patricius, and with him his two sis- 
 ters, Lupida and Darerca. The holy Patricius was then led cap- 
 tive into Hibernia, in the sixteenth year of his age, and in the 
 ninth year of the reign of Niall, king of Ilibernia, who ruled 
 triumphantly for twenty-seven years, and laid waste Britain and 
 Anglia as far as the sea which lies between Anglia and Gallia.""" 
 
 " Breton. The Latin Briio ami tlio Macim so m.bliadi.!i!n décc ^ 
 
 Gaelic Brethnach are thus translated, 
 in accordance ■with the general and, In ICnulish : 
 seemingly, better-founded opinion, that Tn holy Tourn was Patrick lom ; 
 
 tho nno=;tlo of Trelind was -i n-itive of For thus 'tis toKlin stnry ; 
 
 lue apostlt 01 iruanu was a nau\e Ol g^^^.^.^^ sixteen years liis youth had linown, 
 
 A.rmorica, now Brittany or lirotague, when he was led to slavery. 
 
 in France. Probus says, in his life of ry^^^ ^^,„„^1^^. oriirinated in mistaking 
 
 this saint : " bt. Patrick was a Briton ^^^^ j^j^j^ ^^.^^.^^^ ^,." ^,,^. .^^^^^.^ ^,^^^^ ^^^^ 
 
 (I.e. a Breton), of the village of Banave, italicized, viz. / nem Thur, for m Em- 
 
 in the district of 1 iburnia, adjacent to ^^^. ^^. j?j^„f^. 
 
 the Western ocean, which village we J, Patritius,' Britn, natus in oppido 
 find to have been in the province of y ^^^^ ;„ ^ tabornaculorum ex 
 ^eutna {Neustua) which the gianfs ..^f,,,,,, ^^,.,,^13 et, religiosis ortus. 
 arc said to liave formerly inhabited k, (,,„,^ ^^,^^■^ ,,,, Hibernia sub regc 
 The town of Emptor, mentioned in the ^,,^ ^^-j.^,, x,,oi-ghialhu-h, divcrsas pro- 
 quotation in the text, has perhaps origi- ^.i,j,.j.^^ Britannia- contra Ilonianorum 
 nated m the ignorance of souk; trans- jmperium niultum dovastabant, contun- 
 cribcr or decipherer of the very an- ^^^^^ i„cipiontes Aciuilonalem Britan- 
 cient hymn, composed in Irish by his ^^ ^,]a<^.j,m, tandem, ejectis veteribu» 
 disciple, bt- i'lech, upon the lile ol ht. p^j^^i^^ ^ ^ TTil.crnienses cam occupa- 
 Patrick. The first verse of this hymn ^^^^,,,^ ^^ habitavcrunt. 
 ^^ • ^ . „ . , . m "'Hoc antem tempore rinaHlam clas» 
 v'.mn Asscadh ad fót hi sgelalbh ; imm 813 Uibcrnica dcprx'davit patriam m 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 389 
 
 From these woras we must believe that Niall invaded Great Brit- 
 ain, and that he gained great power therein. 
 
 I am also of opinion, that tlie above-mentioned fleet liad been 
 despatched by Niall to plunder the coasts of Gaul, whilst he 
 was himself extending his sway over Great Britain ; and that 
 a descent had been made upon that region of the Gallic coast, 
 then called Armorica, but which is now known as Little 
 Britain,'* or Brittany. The fact that the mother of St. Patrick 
 was the sister of St. Martin, who was bishop of Tours, in France, 
 
 now called Boulogne, St. Patrick, i^^ 
 appears, was born. That it was on the 
 Arniorican coast he had been made cap- 
 tive, in his boyhood, all the writers of 
 his life agree ; and as it is allowed, also, 
 by the same authorities, that his lamily 
 was resident there at the time, there 
 
 qu;\ morabatur Divus Patricius, et, con- 
 sueto Hibernorum more, multi inde 
 captivi ducti sunt, inter quos crat Divus 
 Patricius, a;tatis sua; anno decimo sex- 
 to, et duo ejus sorores Lupida et Darer- 
 ca : et ductus est Divus Patricius in 
 Hiberniam captivTis anno nono Neill, 
 regis Hibernia;, qui potentur 27 annos 
 regnavit, ac Britanniam et Angliam 
 usque ad mare, quod est inter Angliam 
 et Galliam devastabit. 
 
 "' Moore, who seems to have studied 
 and examined,learnedly and impartially, 
 the various conflicting testimonies with 
 regard to St. Patrick's birthplace, 
 agrees with the opinion expressed by 
 Dr. Keating, and comes to the conclu- 
 sion that he was a native of Armoric 
 Gaul. — " Respecting his birthplace," 
 says he, " there has been much difference 
 of opinion — the prevailing notion being 
 that he was born at Alcluit, now Dun- 
 barton, in North Britain. It is only, 
 however, by a very forced and false 
 construction of some evidence on the 
 subject, that any part of Great Britain 
 can be assigned as the birthplace of 
 the saint ; and his own Confession, a 
 work of acknowledged genuineness, 
 proves him to have been a native of the 
 old Gdllican, or Armoric Britain.* The 
 country anciently known by this name, 
 comprised the whole of the north-west 
 coasts of Gaul ; and in the territory 
 
 * Patrem habui Calpornium diaconum, flliura 
 quondam Potiti presbyteri qui fuit in vico Bo- 
 navem Taberni;e. Viilulam Enon prope iiabuit, 
 ubi capturam dedi. — Confess. 
 
 [That is, I had for my father one, Caiporniits, 
 a deacon, iclu) was formerly the son of Potitus, 
 a presbyter, w'lo rlicelt in the village of B»na- 
 vem TahernÚB. He owned a small villa in the 
 neighborhood, and it teas there that I was 
 made captive.] Dr. Lanigan has clearly shown 
 that Bonavem Tabernia» was in Armoric Gaul, 
 being the same town as Boulogne-sur-mer, in 
 Picardy. 
 
 arose a difficulty as to the cause of their 
 migration thither from the banks of the 
 Clyde, which the fact, apparent from 
 his own statement, that Armorica was 
 actually the place of his birth, disposes 
 of satisfactorily. His family was, as he 
 informs us, respectable, his father hav- 
 ing held the office of Decurio or Muni- 
 cipal Senator ; though, as it appears, 
 he afterwards entered holy orders, and 
 was a deacon. From a passage in the 
 letter of the saint to Coroticus, it is 
 supposed, and not improbably, that his 
 family may have been of Roman ori- 
 gin ; and the opinion that his mother, 
 Conchessa, was a native of some part 
 of Gaul, is concuired in by all the old 
 Irish writers." 
 
 The following pedigree of St. Pat- 
 rick, set into Irish verse by Flann, Ab- 
 bot of Monasterboiee, in the 9th cen- 
 tury, is given in the Annals of the 
 Four Masters, and various other au- 
 thorities : 
 
 " Patrick, Abbot of all Efi, 
 Was son of Calprann, son of Fotaide, 
 Son of Deissé, the praiseworthy 
 Son of great Cormac, son of Leibruitn, 
 Son of Ota, son of Orric the good, 
 Son of Moiric, son of Leo the lucky. 
 Son of Maximus, "tis meet to name him, 
 Son of the tall and fair Encretta, 
 Son of Pilist, best of men, 
 Son of Fereni, the serene. 
 Son of Britan,* that sea-otter 
 From whom the stalwart Britons sprung. 
 Cochnias was his modest mother; 
 Nemthor was his native town; 
 Of Mumha no small share had he. 
 From sorrow Patrick saved her sons." 
 
 * Thntls, Briton Mnel. 
 
390 -_ THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 or Gaul, both pi'ove the truth of this supposition of mine, and 
 coufirrn what is read in the old Irish manuscripts, which contain 
 lives of St. Patrick written in the Gaelic tongue, for these ex- 
 pressly inform us that Armorica was the country whence St. 
 Patrick and his two sisters were taken off into captivity. It is 
 also very likely, as Niall was then engaged in making the con- 
 quest of Great Britain, that the latter was the country whence 
 he despatched his fleet to ravage the coast of Gaul, whence St. 
 Patrick and those led off in his company into captivity were then 
 dwelling. Besides the above, we learn from our ancient records, 
 that Gaul did actually send its hostages to Niall. St. Patrick, I 
 deem to have been one of these. 
 
 NiaWs Last Expedition — His Assassination hy Eocaidh^ King of 
 Leinster^ on tlie hanks of the River Loire. 
 
 As to the adventures of Niall, when he had exacted a mul- 
 titude of hostages from the people of Great Britain, he returned 
 to Ireland, accompanied by a numerous army, composed as 
 well of British as of Irish warriors. lie next set about muster- 
 ing an additional force, and therefore sent word to Alba, to the 
 chieftain of the Dal-Riada, commanding that prince to prepare 
 to follow him forthwith, with a large body of men, into Gaul. 
 He then sailed for that country himself, at the head of a power- 
 ful army. There, he was overtaken by the prince of the Dal- 
 Eiada, as he was plundering that portion of the Gallic land that 
 lies along the river Loire. Now, some time previous to this, 
 Niall had driven the king of Leinster, namely, Eocaidh, son of 
 Enna Kcnn-selach, as an exile into Alba, Avhere he abode under 
 the protection of Gabran, son of Domhangort. On the present 
 occasion, when the chieftain of the Dal-Iliada, who was this same 
 Gabran, followed Niall into Gaul, Eocaidh, the banished king of 
 Leinster, followed in his host, but yet he never ventured to go into 
 the presence of the Irish monarch. There, whilst Niall was on 
 the bank of the above-named river,'" Eocaidh entered a grove 
 that grew on the side opposite him, and then adjusted an arrow 
 on his bow, wherewith he made a shot at his royal foe, and pierced 
 him through the liody with his shaft. Niall immediately died 
 upon the spot, from the effects of that wound. 
 
 "* River. Moore and others are of Keating calls Leor, could not be the 
 opinion that Niall Wcos slain near Bou- Loire, 
 logne-sur-mcr. If so, this river, which 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 391 
 
 Causes of the King of Leinsler''s Vengeance upon Niall — Invasion 
 "^ Ireland hy Acdgan, King of' Alba. 
 
 The enmity between Niall and Eocaidli arose from the fact, 
 that the Leinster prince had made an attempt to usurp the throne"' 
 of Temhair of the Kings, and supplant Niall in the monarchy. 
 But, when he had seized upon the royal residence, and had held 
 it for nine days in defiance of Niall, a certain learned druid came 
 before him and declared, that it was not lawful for him to vio- 
 late the gesa^ or sacred restrictions of Temhair. " For," said he, 
 "it is one of its gesa, that no king should take his seat therein, 
 for the purpose of assuming the monarchy of Ireland, until he 
 had first received ' Nasg Niadh' {nask-neeali) upon his neck." 
 This was the same as to have said, that, previous to seizing upon 
 the Irish throne, he should have first received the degree 
 of Knight of Chivalry. For, as the Knight of Chivalry is 
 styled Miles Torquatus, that is, warrior of the torque or collar, so 
 also was the knight or champion styled "Niadh Naisg," which 
 means the same thing, by the Gaels, when he had duly received 
 the " nasg," that is the collar or chain of chivalry to wear upon 
 his neck. "Niadh," indeed, means the same thing as cham- 
 pion, or warrior, and "Nasg" is the same as "slabhra," (slowra^) 
 which means a chain. After hearing the druid's warning, 
 Eocaidh retired from Temhair, and relinquished the royal dig- 
 nity. Niall then came and took his seat at Temhair, and, hav- 
 ing assumed the government of Ireland into his own hands, he 
 banished Eocaidh to Alba ; but, as we have stated already, this 
 did not occur until many battles had been decided between them. 
 There was also another cause of enmity between them. For, 
 when Eocaidh was returning to Leinster from Temhair, he 
 visited the house of Laeidkenn, son of Barkidh, the druid of 
 Niall ; and, whilst he was staying there, the son of the druid ut- 
 tered some defamatory reflections upon him. Thereupon Eocaidh 
 slew him on the spot. The druid, then, went to complain of 
 the outrage to Niall, and entreated of him to come and wreak 
 vengeance upon the Leinstermen for his son's death. Thus 
 spurred on by the druid, Niall marched into Leinster with a nu- 
 merous and imposing force, with the intention of devastating that 
 province. When they had arrived in Leinster, the druid would 
 not consent to Niall's receiving from the Leinstermen any gift or 
 compensation, in cattle or otherwise, until they had first delivered 
 
 " Usurp the kingdom. This attempt the royal candidates, that previously 
 
 was made during one of Niall's absen- contended with Niall for the throne 
 
 ces on his foreign expeditions. Enna, He had alsoseized upon Temhair. 
 the father of Eochaid, had been one of 
 
892 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 up tlie Dody of their prince into the monarch's hands. When 
 this had been done, the druid caused Eocaidh to be tied to a pil- 
 lar stone, which is still to be seen to the west of the Slangi," be- 
 tween Ki\\-Bv\g\iái {Kíll-Breedie)3.ná Tulach-0-Feidlin {TuUagh- 
 O-Feilin), and that stone stands thus : it is both high and broad, 
 and it is perforated near its summit. Eocaidh was then forced to 
 stand up with his back placed against this stone, and they bound 
 him thereto wúth an iron chain, with which tlieyhad girded him 
 round the waist. The ends of this chain, they made fast by 
 means of two loops. When the druid had got him into tliis po- 
 sition, he procured nine warriors, whom he sent to put him to 
 death. But, when Eocaidh perceived his executioners approach- 
 ing with intent to slay him, he made a sudden and vigorous effort, 
 whereby he strained the chain, and broke the bolt wherewith its 
 ends were fastened. He then rushed upon his assassins, some of 
 whom he slew, and thus made his escape, so that no more was heard 
 of him until he had arrived in Alba, ^vherc he placed himself under 
 the safeguard of Gab ran, son of Domhangort, as we have above 
 recorded. And such was the second cause of the hatred which 
 Eocaidh bore to Niall. 
 
 After this, whilst Eocaidh was living in banishment in Alba, 
 it happened that the wife of Gabran, son of Domhangort, whose 
 name was Inghenach (Lineenagh), and his own wife Fcidlin 
 {Feileen), daughter of Eocaidh, son of Dathi, both became preg- 
 nant at the same time, and they were both brought to bed on the 
 same night. The two women were then shut up together in the 
 same house, in wliich no person was allowed to remain but 
 themselves. Outside a guard was set upon them by Gabran. As 
 to the women : the wife of Gabran brought forth a daughter, and 
 the wife of Eocaidh twin sons. Then, for she had never borne 
 any children but daughters, Gabran's wife entreated of the wife 
 of Eocaidh to give her one of the twin sons, and the latter con- 
 sented thereto. And when the household folk, who were on 
 guard, had perceived that the children had been born, they de- 
 manded of their queen what description of child she had brought 
 forth; and she made known to them that slie had given birth to 
 a son and a daughter, and that the wife of Eocaidh had given 
 birth to a son. At this news they were all rejoiced ; and a name 
 was given to that son which the queen had received from the 
 wife of the Leinster prince, and he was called Aedgan. And a 
 name was also given to the other son of Eocaidh, and he waa 
 called Brann-dubh, son of Eocaidh. Eocaidh afterwards returned 
 to Ireland, where he regained his kingdom of Leinster, and 
 thither he also brought his son Brann dubh. 
 
 ** Slangi. The river Slany, ia Wexford. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 393 
 
 After some considerable time, Gabran, chieftain of tlie Dal- 
 Riada, who was also king of Alba, died, and Aedgan succeeded 
 him as sovereign of that country. This Aedgan soon came to 
 Ireland for the purpose of spoil and pillage, as well as of con- 
 quering the country, in right of his being one of the posterity of 
 Carbri Riada. With him came a large force, composed of 
 Albans, Saxons, and Britons. Upon landing, he first led his 
 forces into Leinster, and began to pillage that principality. 
 But Brann-dubh, son of Eocaidh, was now the king of Leinster, 
 and to him Aedgan sent an embassy demanding hostages as 
 securities for the payment of tribute to himself, and threat- 
 ening, in gase of refusal, to lay waste the whole of Lein- 
 ster. Brann-dubh Avas in great trouble by reason of this mes- 
 sage ; but his mother told him to be of good cheer, for that 
 she would herself turn Aedgan ofí' his purpose. With this in- 
 tent, she set out for the camp of the King of Alba, and, when ar- 
 rived there, she demanded of him why it was that he had come 
 to ruin Leinster. "Hag,"' said he, " I am not bound to give any 
 excuse for my actions to thee." " If I am a hag," replied she, 
 " thy own mother is a hag likewise. But I have a secret to com- 
 municate to thee." Upon this, Aedgan retired with her into a 
 private place, and there she addressed him in these words: "O 
 Aedgan," said she, " I have told thee that thy mother is a hag, 
 if I am one. I now tell thee, that I am myself thy mother, and 
 that Brann-dubh is thy brother. For this reason, send to Alba 
 for the woman, who is supposed to be thy mother, and she will 
 acknowledge, in my presence, that it was I that gave thee birth. 
 Then, give up this devastation of Leinster, until she and I be 
 brought face to face." Aedgan then did as she requested ; and, 
 when the two women Avere brought together, the Queen of Alba 
 acknowledged, that it was the mother of Brann-dubh that had 
 given birth to Aedgan. When that king had heard this, he 
 bound the Avomen to keep the matter inviolably secret, for fear 
 that he might himself be compelled by the Dal-Riada to give up 
 the sovereignty of Alba, should they come to know his true origin. 
 Brann-dubh was then sent for, and a friendly alliance was struck 
 between the brothers. After this, Aedgan left the country with- 
 out committing any more depredations therein. 
 
 The Posterity*^ of Niall or the Ui Neill — Origin of the surname 
 Nae i-gh ia llach. 
 
 As to the monarch Niall, of Avhose reicrn Ave have last treated: 
 numerous, indeed, are the races descended from him at this day 
 
 •* Posterity of Niall. The famous history, were all descended from the 
 Ui Neill, so often mentioned in Irish eight sons of this Niall, who is often 
 
394 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 in Ireland, all sprung from those ciglit sons of his, whom we 
 have named heretofore. But I shall not enumerate them here, 
 because I wish to treat of them at some length, in tracing the 
 genealogy of the Children of Miledh. 
 
 The reason why this king was styled Niall Xaei-ghiallach, was 
 because he had received "naei gcill" {run gaik), that is, nine 
 hostages, from as many subject kingdoms. Of these, five Avere 
 from the Fifths, or five provinces into wdiich Ireland was divided, 
 and four were from Alba. It was upon this subject that the 
 bard com230sed the following lay : 
 
 " Son of the high and haughty Eocaidh 
 Was mighty Niall, the all-glorious, ' 
 
 Who gained the powerful sovereignty 
 Of Eri and Albania. 
 
 " One hostage from each Irish Fifth 
 He conquered by his victories. 
 Pledges of homage to his power. 
 From Alba came four hostages. 
 
 " The very hunters of the game 
 Heard his command in forests wild — 
 Through all those realms the sway was owned 
 Of knightly Niall Xaei-ghiallach." 
 
 DATHI, ARD-EIGII 
 
 A. D. 404.'" Dathi, son of Fiacaidh, or Fiachra, son of Eocaidh 
 Muigh-medon, son of Muredach Tirech, of the line of Erimhon, 
 held the sovereignty of Ireland for twenty-three years. Fia 
 
 styled the Great. It is to be remarked, and inspired the muse of Claudian in his 
 
 that the name of O'Neill, which one sept praise. 'By him, 'says the poet,s])eaking in 
 
 of his posterity afterwards adopted, the person of I'ritannia. 'I was protected 
 
 was not derived immediately from him, when the Scot moved all Ireland against 
 
 but from one of the descendants of his me, and the ocean foamed with his hos- 
 
 son Eogan. " Ilis posterity," says 0'- tile oars.'* From another of this po- 
 
 Flaherty, " established and perpetuated et's eulogies, it appears that the fame 
 
 the monarchy of Ireland on so perma- of the lioman legion which guarded 
 
 nent a basis, that almost all the follow- the frontier against the invading Scots, 
 
 ing kings of Ireland were descended procured for it the distinction of being 
 
 from him, besides many noble families one of those summoned to the banner 
 
 and illustrious personages. Also, near- of Stilicho, when the Goths threatened 
 
 ly three hundred of his descendants, Rome." 
 eminent for their learning and the sane- "" A. D. 40."). — Four Masters. 
 
 tity of their lives, have been enrolled — — 
 
 in the catalogue of the saints." Of his Movit ct Infcs7rSaTrSc^-™s.'' 
 
 foreign expeditions, Moore informs us ^j,,,^ ^^.^.j, t,,,„,i„ted in the English 
 
 that " it was against the incursions of Ciimden : 
 
 this adventurous monarch, that some of u .^vhen Scots came thundering from the Irish 
 
 those successes were achieved by the piiores, 
 
 Romans,which threw such lustre around ^'^'^ "ar^"'"'" *"'"^''"'' ^''■"''' ''"*' '"'*"'* 
 
 the military administration of Stilicho, —nutory of Ireland. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 395 
 
 {Faille)^ claughter of Eocaidh, was his first wife, and from iier Crua- 
 chain-Feli lias had its name. His second wife was Ethni, daugh- 
 ter of Orach, and she was the mother of Olild j\iolt. His third 
 wife was called Ruadh {Rua), daughter of Artigh Uct-lethan, 
 son of Fer-conga ; this was the mother of Fiacaidh Elgach, in 
 giving birth to whom she expired. Of the line of Datlii are 
 the races of O'Sechnasaigh {O' Shaughncssy^) O'Dubhda {G'Dovj- 
 da), and O'h-Edhin {O^Hei/ne). Feredach was his first and real 
 name. The reason why he was called Dathi, was because of 
 the celerity with which he was wont to put on his armor ; for 
 dathi means the same thing as iapa or quick ; therefore did that 
 surname adhere to him. 
 
 And the manner in which Dathi was slam," was this ; to wit, a 
 
 "* Slain. The manner of Dathi's 
 death is told in the following manner 
 in the genealogical memoir of his de- 
 scendants, the Ui Fiachrach, compiled 
 in Irish by the celebrated antiquary, 
 Duald Mac Firbis, and published by 
 the Irish Archaeological Society, : "Da- 
 thi went afterwards with the men of 
 Eri, across the Muir-n-Icht (i. e. the 
 Iccian Sea, between Gaul and Britain), 
 towards Leatha, until he reached the 
 Alps, to revenge the death of Niall of 
 the Nine Hostages. This was the time 
 that Formenius, or Parmenius, king of 
 Thrace, took up his residence in the 
 Alps, having fled from his kingdom and 
 retired thither, for the love of God, as 
 a pilgrim. He erected there a circular 
 tower of sods and stones, sixty feet in 
 height, and he lived in the middle of 
 the tower, eleven feet from the light, 
 and he saw not a ray of the sun or 
 other light. 
 
 " Dathi came to the tower. He was 
 called Dathi, from his expertness at in- 
 vading and shooting ; for if there were 
 one hundred persons shooting arrows or 
 javelins at him, he would be protected 
 against them by the activity of his 
 hands in guarding ; wherefore the name 
 of Dathi clung to him. Feradach was 
 his name when he went to the East, and 
 it was on his expedition in the East, 
 that he was called Dathi. When the 
 king's people saw the tower, they went 
 to demolish it, and they tore it down 
 and plundered it. Formenius felt the 
 wind coming to him, and God raised 
 him up, in a blaze of fire, one thousand 
 
 paces from the tower of sods which he 
 had built, and he prayed for king Da- 
 thi that his reign might continue no 
 longer ; and he also prayed that his 
 monument or tomb might not be re- 
 markable. The life of Dathi endured 
 no longer than until he had the tower 
 destroyed, when there came a flash of 
 lightning from Heaven, which struck 
 him dead upon the spot. Formenius 
 then went one thousand paces down the 
 mountain, and dwelt in another habita- 
 tion. . . . Amhalgaidh, the son of 
 Dathi, then assumed the command of 
 the men of Eri, and he carried the dead 
 body of his father with him. Dungal, 
 Flangus, Tuathal, and Tumaltach, were 
 the four servants of trust who carried 
 with them the corpse of the king." 
 
 " The monument of Dathi, which is 
 a small circular mound, with a pillar- 
 stone of red sand-stone, is situated out- 
 side the enclosure {of Ratkcroghan) at 
 a short distance to the east, and may 
 be at once identified, from the following 
 notice of it, given by the celebrated 
 antiquary, Duald Mac Firbis {in the 
 tract just quoted), in 1666 : 
 
 " ' The body of Dathi was brought 
 to Cruachan, and it was interred at 
 Releg-na-Righ, where the most of the 
 kings of the race of Erimhon were 
 buried, and where to this day the Red 
 Pillar-stone remains as a stone monu- 
 ment over his grave, near Rath Cru- 
 achan, to this time, 1666.'" — Petrie's 
 Round Toicers. 
 
 Dathi is said to have been the last 
 of the Pagan kings of Ireland. In his 
 
896 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 flaming thunder bolt, shot from heaven, smote him upon the 
 head whilst he was making conquests in Gaul. It was near the 
 mountains called the Alps that he fell by the vengeance of God : 
 for he had plundered the sanctuary of a holy hermit named 
 Parmenius, who cursed him therefor. And when he had been 
 slain after that manner, his people brought back his body to 
 Ireland, and there buried it at Cruachain, in Eoilig-na-righ. 
 
 reign, the king of Munster, or Leth was king of North Munster ; and Brau- 
 Mogha, was Xadfraech, son of Core ; dubh, son of Eocaidh, sou of Enna, 
 Cas, son of Couall of the Fleet Steeds, was King of Leiuster. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST BOOE. 
 
FORAS FEASA AR EIRINN;' 
 
 OR, 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 BOOK II. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Sanderson^ has assertea in the first book of his work upon the 
 Atiglican schism, that the Irish, upon their conversion to the 
 faith, immediately submitted both themselves and their posses- 
 sions to the government and control of the Roman Pontiff ; and 
 that they had not ever acknowledged any supreme prince, except 
 the Bishop of Rome, until the sovereignty of their country had 
 fallen into the hands 'of the English. The following are this 
 author's words: "From the beginning, immediately after their 
 reception of the (Christian) religion, the Hibernians submitted 
 both themselves and all their possessions to the sway of the Ro- 
 man Pontiff, and they did never, up to that time (the English 
 invasion), acknowledge any supreme sovereign of Hibernia, with 
 the single exception of the Roman Pontiff. "^ But the falsehood of 
 such an assertion is very evident, for the Psalter of Cash el not only 
 tells us that Irial, the JProphet, did himself rule Ireland, as its 
 king, but it also enumerates all the kings of his blood, who suc- 
 ceeded him on the throne, both previous to the planting of the 
 Faith by St. Patrick, and subsequent to the time of that apostle. 
 The following are its exact words: "Irial, the prophet, had a 
 
 ' Sanderson. This was Dr. Robert ^ Hibernia initio, statim post relig- 
 
 Sanderson, Professor of Theology in ionem acceptam. se snaque omnia in 
 
 the University of Oxford, and author Pontificis Romani ditionem dederunt, 
 
 of a learned and highly esteemed work nee quemquam alium supremum princi- 
 
 upon the Protestant Reformation in pem Hibernii ; ad illud usque tempus 
 
 England, styled, De Schismate Angli- Praiter unum Pontificem Romanum 
 
 cana. He was a contemporary of Dr. agnoverunt. 
 Keating. 
 
898 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 reign of" ten years, and fifty-seven kings of his royal blood reigned 
 over Hibernia, previous to the propagation of the law of Christ 
 in that country by Patricius ; and, after the time of Patricius. 
 there were fifty kings of the race of the same Irial."^ This 
 account is confirmed by the ancient annals of Ireland, by the 
 Reim Riogra, or Royal Roll, and by all our records. The Poli- 
 chronicon speaks thus upon the same subject : " From the coming 
 of the holy Patricius to the time of Fcidlimidius, king of Munstei'. 
 a space of four hundred years, their reigned thirty-three kings of 
 Hibernia; but in the time of Fcidlimidius, the Norvecienses 
 (Norwegians), commanded by Turgesius, seized upon this land.'" 
 From this it must be understood that there were Idngs over 
 Ireland subsequently to the time of St. Patrick. Again, the same 
 authority informs us " That from the time of Turgesius to that of 
 Rodericus (Rudraide), king of Conacia (Connaught), the last oí' 
 its monarchs, there reigned seventeen kings in Hibernia."' The 
 above testimonies clearly prove the untruth of the assertion, that 
 Ireland had no kings of her own previous to the English inva- 
 sion. In further confirmation of its falsehood, I will cite the 
 thirty-sixth letter of St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 which was written by that prelate to -Murkertach (Murtough) 
 O'Briain, king of Ireland. This letter is to be found in Dr. 
 Usher's collection of the letters of the holy clergy of Ireland and 
 England. He addresses it, " To the illustrious Moriardachus. 
 by the grace of God, King of Hibernia."" In the same collection 
 we find a letter from Lanfranc, also, another Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, to Tordelbach (Turlough) O'Briain, who was 
 King of Ireland in A.D. 1074. He inscribes it thus : " Lan- 
 franc, a sinner, and an unworthy Archbishop of the Holy 
 Church of Canterbury, sends his benediction, with his service 
 and prayers, to the magnificent Terdeluacus, King of Hi- 
 bernia.'" Dr. Usher has also given us a letter from Henry 
 the First, King of England, to Rodolphus, Archbishop of Canter- 
 
 ' Irial Propheta per decern annos diicc Tiirgesio, tcrrani lianc occny)a- 
 
 in Hiherniit regnavit, et, antequam runt. 
 
 regula Christi per Patricium seminata ' A tempore Turgesii usque ad 
 
 cssctinHibernijl de scmineejusdem re- ultiinum monarchum, Rodericiim, Con- 
 
 gis regiiaverunt super Iliberniam quin- aci:c regom, decern et septem reges in 
 
 quagiuta septem reges, et, post Patri- Ililicrnia regiiaverunt. 
 
 cium dc prole ipsius quiuquaginta " Moriadacho glorioso gratia Dei. 
 
 reges. regi Hiljernia;. 
 
 * Ab advcntu Sancti Palricii usque ' Lanfraucus, pcccator, et indignns 
 
 ad Feidlimidii, regis Monionia; tcmpora, Bancta; Dorovernensis ccclesiae episco- 
 
 triginta tres reges- per quadringentos pus, magnifico regi lliberniic, Tordcl- 
 
 annos in Hibernia rcgnavcrunt ; tern- vaclio benedictioucm cum servitio et 
 
 pore autem FeidJimidii Norvecicncea, orationibus. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 399 
 
 bury, whicli affords still further evidence upon tliis question. It 
 was written in the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred 
 and twenty-three, at the desire of the King of Ireland, and re- 
 quests the archbishop to confer degrees upon a certain priest, 
 named Gregory, and to consecrate him Archbishop of Dublin. 
 The following are Henry's words : " The King of Hibernia has 
 made known to me, that, by his writ, and by the citizens of 
 Dublin, this Gregory has been selected for bishop, and they that 
 send him to you to be consecrated ; wherefore I request of you 
 to comply with their petition, and to complete his consecration 
 without delay.'" The above-cited authorities must be decisive 
 upon the question, and it must be acknowledged, in spite of Dr. 
 Saunderson, that Ireland was ruled by her native kings' previous 
 to the English conquest. 
 
 ' Mandavit milii rex Hibernia per 
 breve suum, et Burgenses Dublinise 
 quod elegerunt bunc Gregorimn in 
 episcopum et eum tibi raittuiit con- 
 secrandura ; unde tibi maudo ut, peti- 
 tionem eorum satisfacieus, consecratio- 
 nem ejus sine dilatione impleas. 
 
 * Kings, c^'c. There are two fallacies 
 contained in that assertion of Dr.Sander- 
 son which Dr. Keating combats. Tlie 
 first is, that Ireland had no kings of her 
 own, previous to her reception of that 
 blessing from the English ; the second is, 
 that the Pope had previously been the 
 acknowledged lord paramount of the 
 Irish chieftains. The latter was a 
 state lie of the English, invented for 
 the purpose of justifying the robberies 
 and murders perpetrated by Henry II, 
 and his followers, who would fain have 
 themselves considered as the represent- 
 atives of the Pope's temporal authority 
 over this island. For the former, how- 
 ever, the English divine had some 
 foundation, if we but understand him 
 to apply the word king, or supreme 
 prince, in the sense in which it was 
 generally understood in his days, and 
 as it is understood at present. The 
 Irish Ard-righ differed much, both in 
 his relation to his subjects, and his 
 right to the throne, from any public 
 ruler, now called king. He might have 
 said very truly, that the Irish had no 
 kings like Henry YIII, or like his own 
 immediate masters the Stuarts, but 
 they had patriarchal rulers, called Ard- 
 
 righa, who claimed homage from the 
 chieftains of all the tribes of the Gael, 
 as the elected or accepted representative 
 of the common ancestor of all the Free 
 Clans. These Ard-righa could not 
 transmit their authority to their chil- 
 dren, and it is but rarely we find in the 
 Irish annals any Irish Ard-liigh, or 
 even chieftain of a clan, who was suc- 
 ceeded by the person who would have 
 been considered his heir, according to 
 the rule usually adopted in monarchical 
 and aristocratical nations. The most 
 powerful and bravest tribe had always 
 the best chance of having its chieftain 
 made monarch of the nation ; and in 
 each particular tribe, and even sub- 
 tribe, the best and bravest man of the 
 kin was always the most likely to be 
 chosen as the leader of his relatives. 
 His (the king's) reign was at an end as 
 soon as he lost the support of the ma- 
 jority of the free tribes, of which his 
 nation was composed. The chieftain 
 was set aside, as soon as his conduct 
 was no longer acceptable to the ma- 
 jority of the warriors of his tribe. 
 Thus, both the regal, and chieftain 
 power, depended upon the popularity 
 of their possessors ; and the latter 
 were, in reality, nothing more than 
 the tenants at' will of their people. 
 Such a state of things was far differ- 
 ent from anything which Dr. Sander- 
 son could have considered as mon- 
 archical. 
 
 " There was, indeed, in Erin, a chiet 
 
400 
 
 THE HISTOKY OF IRELAND. 
 
 It Í3 also untrue to assert that the Pope had any special title 
 of sovereignty over Ireland, more than what he possessed over 
 France, Spain, or an}' other Christian country, until the time of 
 the Irish king Donncadh^" (Donough), the son of Brian of the 
 Tributes. This prince made a pilgrimage to Rome about 
 seventy-seven years before the coming of the English, and 
 there, with the consent of the Irish nobles, he submitted his 
 kingdom to the sovereignty of the Pope. The reason assigned 
 for this act of submission was the continual dissensions and 
 fratricidal wars" of the Irish chieftains. The act of Donncadh 
 must not, however, be considered as any proof of the veracity of 
 those writers, who say that the Emperor Constantino made a 
 grant of the most western island of Europe to the Pope immedi- 
 ately after its inhabitants had received baptism. If such a grant 
 were ever made, it could give no legitimate rights of temporal 
 supremacy to the Sovereign Pontiff, inasmuch as neither Constan- 
 tino himself, nor any of his predecessors in the Roman Empire, 
 had ever acquired any title to Ireland. How, then, could Con- 
 stantine, with any appearance of equity, gTant to tbe Pope 
 the sovereignty of a country to which he had no title himself ? 
 Neither did any of his successors at any time possess the right of 
 making such a grant. 
 
 superior to all the rest, Tyho was called 
 the Great King (Ard-righ), or King of 
 the Country, and who was chosen by a 
 general assembly of the chiefs of the 
 dififerent provinces ; but this elective 
 president of the national confederation, 
 swore to the whole nation, the same 
 oath which the chiefs of the tribes 
 swore to their respective triljes — that 
 of inviolably observing the ancient 
 laws and hereditary customs. More- 
 over, tlie share of the Great King, was 
 rather the execution than the decision 
 of general affairs, all of which were 
 regulated in councils held in the air, 
 upon a hill, surrounded by a deep ditch. 
 Here the laws of the land, and here the 
 disputes between province and province, 
 town and town, and occasionally be- 
 tween man and man, were adjusted, 
 though sometimes in a very tumultuous 
 manner." — Tliiem/s Normnn Cnnquest. 
 '" Donnciulh, ífc. If Donncadh did 
 ever so acknowledge himself the tem- 
 poral vassal of the Pope, his act could 
 be by no means binding on the Irish 
 nation ; in the first place, because he 
 had never been acknowledged as king by 
 
 the whole of Ireland; and, secondly, 
 because, even if he were really the 
 national Ard-righ, such an act would 
 have been a violation both of the duties 
 of the office, of which he was but the 
 temporary tenant, and of the oath he 
 should have sworn, to maintain inviolate 
 the ancient laws and customs of the 
 Gael. 
 
 " Fratricidal Wars, Ifc. The eternal 
 excuse of the apologist for English 
 greed, and of the assertors of the unfit- 
 n&ss of those races called Celtic, for 
 self-government. These fratricidal wars 
 could, at that time, have aíTordcd no 
 reasonable excuse for the perjured 
 treason attributed to Donncadh. Wars 
 equally bloody and fratricidal, then en- 
 sanguined almost every plain and val- 
 ley in Europe, from the Atlantic Ocean 
 to the Ural Mountains. That chief's 
 treason must have been the result of 
 disa|ipointe<l ambition alone. No au- 
 thority to commit such an act could 
 have been given him by the chiefs of 
 the Eree Clans of the Gael, for scarcely 
 one half of these could be said to have 
 ever acknowledged him as Ard-righ. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 401 
 
 I shall have done with Dr. Saimderson's assertion by stating, 
 that, even had we no authentic proofs on the subject, it is im- 
 probable to suppose that so large a country as Ireland could have 
 remained without any king or ruler over it but the Pope, from 
 the time of St. Patrick down to the invasion of Henry the 
 Second. 
 
 LAEGARI, AED-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 427." Laegari,'' son of Niall Naei-ghiallach, son of 
 Eocaidh Muigh-Medon, of the line of Erimhon, succeeded to the 
 throne. He reigned thirty years ; and his mother's name was 
 Eoighnech. 
 
 THE MISSION OF ST. PATRICK. 
 
 It was in the fourth year of the reign of this king, that St. Patrick 
 was sent by the Pope Celestine to propagate the faith in Ireland. 
 When St. Patrick had been led into slavery, in the ninth year of the 
 reign of Niall, he was sixteen years old. He had then before 
 him the eighteen years that Niall continued to reign, so that he 
 must have been thirty -four years old when that monarch died. 
 Add to these the twenty-three years during which Dathi, son of 
 Fiachra, was king, and we find St. Patrick aged fifty-seven at the 
 accession of Laegari. Laegari, again, had reigned four years 
 before Patrick arrived in Ireland ou his mission. Hence it 
 appears that he must have been sixty-one years old Avhen he began 
 his apostolic labors. This should the more readily be believed 
 from the fact that the book called Martyrologium Eomanum, or 
 the Roman Martyrology, bears out our computation, for it states 
 that St. Patrick was one hundred and twenty -two years old when 
 he died, which is the same as to say that he was sixty-one when 
 he received his mission to Ireland as bishop, because it is well 
 proved that he lived sixty-one years more in Ireland, preaching 
 the fiiith, after which, he died, as I have just stated, in his one 
 hundred and twenty-second year. 
 
 According to Bede, in his Saxon Annals, the Pope, St. Cel- 
 lestinus, had deputed a bishop, named Palladius, to preach to 
 the Irish, in the year of our Lord four hundred and thirty. He 
 there says that, "In the year of our Lord four hundred and 
 thirty, Palladius was sent as their first bishop to the Scots 
 believing in Christ.'"* This event occurred in the first year of 
 the reign of Laegari, four years before the arrival of St. Patrick. 
 
 ° A. D. 429 — Four Masters. This " Laegaei II. This king's name is 
 
 date appears to be nearer to the found spelled Laeghaire, Laoghaire and 
 
 time, even by Keating's own showing, Lorghaire. Its vulgar pronunciation 
 
 where he relates, a little below, that sounds somewhat like Lai/erei. 
 
 Palladius came to Ireland in 430, the '* Anno quadringentesimo, tricessimo 
 first year of Laegari. 
 
402 
 
 THE HISTORY OF lEELAND. 
 
 Palladius" had set out attended by twelve clcrg)-meD, aiid landed 
 with them in the lower part of Leinster, at Inber-Degadh" {Inver-, 
 Dea), and there he consecrated three churches/' namely : Kill-Fini, 
 where he left his books and some relics of Saints Paul and Peter. 
 The second church was Tcch-na-Eomanach ; the third was the 
 church of Domnach-ard. After he had consecrated these 
 churches, Nathi, son of Garchu, the lord of the country, came 
 and expelled him, upon Avhich he set sail for Alba, where he 
 soon after died. 
 
 Four years after Palladius, St. Patrick landed,- accompanied 
 by twenty -four holy clerks, or by thirty, according to Henricus 
 Antisiodorcnsis, in his life of St. Germanus. In the one 
 hundredth and sixty-eighth chapter of his work, we read that 
 St. Patrick brought thirty bishops with him to Ireland. The 
 following is the passage : " The holy Patricius," says he, "hav- 
 ing accomplished a long voyage from a distant land, both glad- 
 
 Palladius ad Scotos in Christum creden- 
 tes a Celestiuo Papa primus mittitur 
 episcopus. 
 
 ^ Palladiu.s was a deacon of the 
 Roman Church, and we are informed 
 that it was at his suggestion that St. 
 Germain had been sent to reclaim tiic 
 Britons, who had fallen into the errors 
 of Pelagius. Though there had been 
 some isolated communities of Christi- 
 ans in Ireland previous to his time, it 
 is evident that no hierarchy had been 
 yet established amongst them, and that 
 thence Irish Christians must look upon 
 Palladius as their first bishop. The 
 Four Masters record his arrival thus : 
 ■' A. D. 430. The second year of Lae- 
 gari. In this year Pope Celestinus I 
 sent Palladius to Ireland to propagate 
 the Faith among the Irish, and he 
 landed in the country of Leinster with a 
 company of twelve men. Xathi, son of 
 Garchu refused to admit him ; but, 
 however, he baptized a few persons in 
 Ireland, and three wooden churchas 
 were erected by him,namely : Ccll-f hine, 
 Teach-na-Piomhan and Donihnach- 
 Árta. At Cell-f hine he loft liis books, 
 and a shrine, with the relics of Paul 
 and Peter, and many martyrs besides. 
 He loft four (persons)' in these churches, 
 namely : Augnstinus, Benedictus, Syl- 
 vester and Solinus. Palladius, on his 
 returning back to Rome (as he did not 
 receive respect in Ireland), contracted 
 a disease in the- country of the Cruth- 
 
 nigh, and died thereof." — Four Masters. 
 He died at Magh Geirghin, in Scotr 
 land. 
 
 '" Inber-Degadh. The mouth of the 
 Vartry River, in the county of Wick- 
 low. 
 
 " Churches, ^c. The situation of 
 Kill-Fini is not ascertained ; Tech- 
 iia-Romhanach (Tagh-na-Ro vaunagh) , 
 i. e. the House of the Romans, is sup- 
 posed to be the place called Tigroni ; 
 and Domnach-Ard is thought to be 
 the present Dunard, near Redcross. 
 
 " Landed, &c. '■ Magcoghcgan, in 
 his annals of Clonmacnois, states that 
 he landed at Wiclclow, where he was 
 opposed by the Lcinstermen, one of 
 whom struck one of his companions on 
 the mouth with a stone, and knocked 
 out four of his teeth, for which reason 
 he was afterwards called Muntanus, or 
 the toothless, and tlie church of (,'ill- 
 Mantain, now Wicklow, is said to have 
 taken its name from him. Mr. Moore 
 thinks that Inl)er Dea. where the saint 
 landed, was the harbour of Dublin, but 
 this opinion is founded on a mistake of 
 Evolcufjrum, for Cuolenorum, liy Usher, 
 in Phobus' Life of St. Patrick, which 
 the Book of Armagh enables us to cor- 
 rect. From the situation of Cualann 
 and Ui Garchon. in which Inber Dea 
 was, it is more than probalile that it 
 was at Bray St. Patrick landed."— 
 O^Donovan. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 403 
 
 dens liis friends by his presence, and destines for tlie harvest of 
 the Lord, Avhich is ample, while the laborers are few, tliirty 
 bishops, whom he had collected from foreign parts, and whom he 
 had himself consecrated."'* 
 
 From this it may be seen, that a number of prelates arrived in 
 St. Patrick's company, when he came to propagate the Faitli in 
 Ireland. We also read in our historical records that St. Patrick 
 brought v.-ith him on his mission hither, as many Christians as 
 he could find of the Scotic nation,'* and that learning was dili- 
 gently cultivated, and that the Faith and the law Avere adhered 
 to in Ireland, down to the arrival of th-e Northmen, for the space 
 of four hundred years after the days of that apostle. It is also 
 certain that money was coined at Ard-Macba (Armagh) and at 
 Caisel (Cashel) in these days. 
 
 The above-mentioned Henricus Antisiodorensis informs us, 
 in his hundred and seventy-fourth chapter, that St. Patrick 
 made an apportionment of Ireland, and, having estimated the 
 extent of its territory, the number of its inhabitants, and their 
 wealth, that he exacted the tenth part of all these for the use of 
 the Church ; namely, a tenth of its inhabitants, a tenth of its 
 land, and a tenth of its cattle. Of the men he made monks, and of 
 the women he made nuns ; and for these he built monasteries, and 
 allotted the tenth of the land and of the cattle for their mainte- 
 nance. The following are that author's words, in speaking of 
 the persons who were included in the tithe: "Thereupon, mak- 
 
 '^ Benedictus Patricius itinere longo thaldiis, bishop and patron ofTarentum, 
 
 de regione longinqua peracto, ot pre- in Italy, to preach the doctrine of 
 
 sentia sua sues exhilarabat, et triginta Christ. St. Dermot and St. Liberias, 
 
 episcopos ex trausmarinis partibiis con- Irish preachers, are mentioned as hav- 
 
 gregatos, etase consecrates, in Domini ing disseminated the Gospel in various 
 
 messem, eo quod esset multa et operarii parts of Europe, previous to the fourth 
 
 pauci, destinabat. century. To these succeeded St. Albi, 
 
 "* Scotic Nation, ífc- Though the or Ailbhé, St. Kiaran, St. Declan and 
 Faith of Christ was not established St. Ibar, who were the immediate pre- 
 in Ireland before St. Patrick's mis- cursors, or rather collaborators of St. 
 sion, it is evident that the scattered Patrick, upon the home mission, it 
 congregations of Scotic Christians in was not, then, difBcult for the latter 
 that count ly had furnished some dis- saint to have collected round him a 
 tinguishcd preachers of the Gospel, both certain number of pious Scots to aid 
 for the liomc and foreign mission, pre- him in the conversion of their own 
 vious to his time. Without citing the nation. The four saints first mentioned 
 eloquent and learned heretics Pclagius were educated and ordained in Rome, 
 and Celestius, already referred to in whence they returned to Ireland about 
 these notes, we are told that St. Man- A. D. 402. In St. Kiaran's Life we 
 suetus, an Irishman, the first bishop and find that, when he was on his way 
 patron of Toul, canonized by Leo XI, homewards from Rome, he met St. 
 is said to have beeu a disciple of St. Patrick, who was then journeying 
 Peter. In the reign of Conn of the thither, and that the saints of God re- 
 Hundred Battles, in the second century, joiced. 
 Ireland sent forth the famous St. Ca- 
 
404 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ing monks of all the males and holy nuns of the females, he built 
 numerous monasteries, and assigned the tenth portion of the 
 lands and of the cattle for tlicir support.'"-" From these regula- 
 tions, established by St. Patrick, it came to pass that in a short 
 time, there could be scarcely found any corner, desert or remote 
 spot that was not full of saints and holy persons. Hence it 
 came to pass that amidst the nations of Christendom, Ireland got 
 the distinctive title of the Island of Saints. 
 
 Nennius, a British author, speaking of St. Patrick, in his 
 History of Britain, says, that " he founded three Imndred and 
 fifty-five churches, and consecrated an equal number of bishops ; 
 and that of priests he ordained three thousand. "^^ 
 
 In the following verse, the bard-hlstorian exactly agrees with 
 Nennius as to the number of bishops ordained by our Saint ; 
 
 " Five and fifty learned bishops 
 That holy man made consecrate, 
 With three hundred men of prayer, 
 On whom he sacred grades conferred." 
 
 Let whomsoever may be surprised at this great number of 
 bishops in Ireland, contemporary with St. Patrick, read what St. 
 Bernard says, in his life of St. Malachias, as to the practice in 
 Ireland with regard to its bishops. He there says that, " The 
 bishops are changed and multiplied at the will of the metropoli- 
 tan or archbishop, so that no single diocess is trusting to one, but 
 almost every church has its own proper bishop. '"'^^ After this 
 statement of St. Bernard, no one can ])e astonished at the number 
 of prelates mentioned above, for the Church was then in its 
 bloom. The number of bishops there mentioned will appear 
 less wonderful upon reading our domestic records. In them we 
 find that every deanery in Ireland was formerly presided over 
 by a bishop. 
 
 St. Patrick founds the Archiepiscopal Sees of Armagh and Cashel. 
 
 Our annals certif}^, moreover, that St. Patrick consecrated two 
 archbishops in Ireland, namely, an Archbishop of Armagh, as 
 Primate of Ireland, and an Archbishop of Cashel. The Primate 
 of Armagh presided over the whole Irish Church, l)ut his more 
 especial charge Avas over the churcli of Lctli Cuinn. The Arch- 
 
 ■^ Omnes, ergo, mares monachos, pi pro libitu metropolitani ; ita ut 
 
 faeminas sanctas moniales efEcieiis, nu- unusepiscopatusnonunoessetcontentus, 
 
 merosa monastcria ajdificavit, deci- sed sini>-uhii pene ecclesia!, siuguloa 
 
 mamquc portionem tíírrarum ac pccu- liabercnt cpiscopos. 
 dum, eorum sustcntationi assignavit. '■" Eogan and Conall. These were 
 
 '-• Ecclcsias, 355 fundavit, cpiscopos both brothers of the monarch Lacgari. 
 
 ordinavit eodem numero ; pr&sbyteros Tiiry were the founders of the famous 
 
 autcm usijuc ad tria millia ordinavit. northern tribes of the Kinel Eogain 
 
 ■■" Mntantur ct multiplicantur cpisco- and Kinel Conaill. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 405 
 
 bisliop of Casliel had the immediate government of Leth Mogha, 
 but the Primate liad proccdenee of him. The reason of tliis ar- 
 rangement was, bceause, in St. Patrick's time, the soveregnty of 
 Ireland was in the possession ofthcraceof Erimhon, Laegari, son 
 of Niall, being king. Hence both Eogan and ConalP^ and the other 
 nobles of that race, who had received baptism from Patrick,^* 
 insisted that he should establish his primat'ial see in their own 
 half of Ireland, so that it might hold a spiritual supremacy over 
 the bishops of the other parts of Ireland, just as they themselves 
 at that time held the temporal sovereignty. The race of Eber 
 succeeded in getting the second principal church established in 
 Leth Mogha, namely that of Cashel, because they had the sole 
 right to rule Leth-Mogha, under the Irish monarchs, from the 
 days of Conn of the Hundred Battles until that time. 
 
 Hence it has happened, that, in the ancient annals and records 
 of Ireland, the Archbishop of Cashel is not only styled the Pri- 
 mate of all Munster, but also the Primate of Leth Mogha.^^ 
 
 Another assertion made with respect to these times is that 
 Imlech-Iubair"'' {Imlagh Yooir) was then the seat of an archbishop. 
 But from tiiis we can only understand, that the archbishop and 
 
 '^* " Having preached through all the 
 provinces, and filled the greater part of 
 the island with Christians and with 
 churches, St. Patrick saw that the fit 
 period was arrived for the consolidation 
 of the extensive hierarchy he had thus 
 constructed, by the establishment of a 
 metropolitan see. In selecting the 
 district of Macha for the seat of the 
 primacy, he was influenced, doubtless, 
 hj the associations connected with the 
 place, as an ancient royal residence — 
 the celebrated palace of Eraania (Em- 
 hain Macha) having stood formerly in 
 the neighborhood of the eminence upon 
 which Ard-Macha, or Armagh, after- 
 wards rose. The time of the foundation 
 of this See has been variously stated ; 
 but the opinion of those who place it 
 late in his career, besides being equally 
 borne out by evidence, seems by far 
 most consonant with reason ; as it is 
 not probable that he would have set 
 about establishing a metropolitan see 
 for all Ireland until he had visited the 
 various provinces and ascertained the 
 progress of the Gospel in each, and 
 regulated according their ecclesiastical 
 concerns." — Moore. 
 
 The foundation of Armagh is record- 
 ed by the Four Masters in the following 
 
 terms, under the year 45*7 : " Ard- 
 Macha was founded by St. Patrick, it 
 having been granted tc him by Dari, 
 son of Finneadh, son of Eogan, son 
 of Niallan. Twelve men were ap- 
 pointed by him for building the town. 
 He ordered them in the first place to 
 build an archbishop's city there, and a 
 church for monks, for nuns and for the 
 other orders in general, for he perceived 
 that it would be the head and chief of 
 all the churches in Ireland." The Dari 
 here mentioned was chief of the district 
 called Crioch-na-n-Oirther, now the 
 Oriors. His uncle. Muredach, was the 
 ancestor of the O'Hanlons. He was a 
 descendant of Colla Da-Orioch. 
 
 '^ Prunate of Leth-Mogha, ^x. Soon 
 after St. Patrick's arrival in Munster, 
 a synod was called at Cashel, at which 
 King Aengus Mac Nadfraeich presided. 
 At it was decreed that St. Albi should 
 rank as a second Patrick, and patron 
 and Archbishop of Munster, and that 
 St. Declan should be called the Patrick 
 of the Desi, and their chief bishop. — 
 O'Halloran. 
 
 "'^ Iinlech lubair, i. e. the Holm, or 
 Strath of the Yew, now Emly, on the 
 borders of Tipperary and Limerick. 
 Ware quotes the Life of St. Declan 
 
406 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 his clergy were expelled from Casbel, had taken refuge for some 
 time at Ímlech-Iubair, during the violent oppression which the 
 Northmen for a while exercised over Ireland, Avhen ]\laelsech- 
 lainn, son of ^laelruadna, was king of Meath, NiallCalli, king of 
 Ireland, and Olcubar, son of Kinnaedh, of Munster, and when 
 the pirate chieftain Turgesius tyrannized over the comitry. For 
 it was not more likely to have Forainian, the Piimate, expelled 
 from Armagh, with his clergy, and driven into exile in ^lunslcr, 
 bv that Norwegian tyrant, than for the Archbishop of Cashel, 
 with his clergy, to have been driven from his episcopal seat by 
 the same Turgesius, and forced to fly for safety to Imlach-Iubair, 
 which was then surrounded by forests, morasses and quagmires, 
 and to have remained there while the oppression of the foreigners 
 lasted. 
 
 We do not find, then, in tlie Irish annals that there were any 
 more than those two Archbishops, above-mentioned, in Ireland, 
 until the time of Cardinal Johannes Papirou, who came to Ire- 
 land in the year of our Lord 1152, accompanied by Gilla-Criost 
 O'Conari (Gilchrist O'Connery), Bishop of Lismore, who was the 
 Pope's legate in Ireland at that time. However, in that year, 
 a general council of the Irish Church was held at Kenanuus 
 
 and the Life of St. Ailbhé (or Aibi), to 
 show that i^mly was made the seat 
 Archbishoprick of Munster in the life- 
 time of Ht. Patrick, and that Albi was 
 constituted archljishop. — O'lJ. 
 
 In early times the titles of Bishop of 
 Cashel, of Ijcth Mogha, of Munster or 
 of Emly may have been indiscriminately 
 applied to the metropolitan of the 
 southern half of Ireland, and thus led to 
 the seeminf,' contradiction, for which 
 Dr. Keating' endeavors to account. It 
 was so, that the Kinjr of Ixith-Mofyha 
 was, likewise, styled King of Ca.shel 
 or of Munster, indifferently. 
 
 " St. Patrick having preached the 
 Faith through Leinstcr, and settled 
 bishops therein, entered Munster to- 
 wards the close of the year 448, for he 
 had hitherto put offhis visitation of that 
 jjrijYJnce, aware that his ])rccursoi-8. 
 Saints Albi, Declan, Kiaran and Ibar 
 had made good ])rogress in that princi- 
 pality ; and so, indeed, they had, but 
 the conversion of Aengus, its king, was 
 reserved for St. Patrick. Hearing of 
 his arrival in his territories, this king 
 went out with joy to meet him. and 
 brought him ti> his royal city, where 
 both himself and all bis family were 
 
 converted and baptized. Upon this, 
 those saints, above-named, visited 
 Aengus and St. Patrick, and they lield 
 a synod together at Cashel, where they 
 made rules for the government of the 
 Church. But the holy men had almost 
 separated on account of some disputed 
 points. Saints Albi, Kiaran, Declan 
 and Ibar derived their commissions 
 from the same source as St. Patrick 
 liimself, and had ])recoded him in point 
 of time. They were, therefore, reluc- 
 tant to yield obedience to liis legatine 
 authority. After some demur, the 
 three first were induced to submit, but 
 Jbar, with some olistinacy, adhereil to 
 his opinion, not Milling that any but a 
 native of Jreland i-hould be acknowledg- 
 ed as its patron saint. However, even 
 he was at last prevailed upon to submit, 
 out of regard to the great labors of St. 
 Patrick, and his extraordinary success. 
 Thediocess of Emly was, in this synod, 
 conferred upon St. Albi ; St. Declan 
 was made bishop of Ardmore (in Water- 
 ford); St. Kiaran ofSaighir (now Seirk- 
 ieran, in Kly-()-(,'arroll,i\ing"s County); 
 and St. Ibar of Beg-Kri (now Begery, 
 an island, close to the land, in Wexford 
 Haven)." — Life of St. Patrick. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 407 
 
 (Kclls), in Meatli, and at it arclibishops were appointed and con- 
 secrated for Dublin, and Tuam, and then it was that each of these 
 archbishops received the pallium, as I shall state hereafter, upon 
 the authority of the annals compiled at Chrain-Aidnech. 
 
 Conversion of Aengus, son of Nadfraech, King of Munster. 
 
 In the reign of Laegari, son of Niall, while Patrick was sowing 
 the Faith in Ireland, the principality of Munster was ruled by 
 Aengus, son of Nadfraech. Upon Patrick's entering his dominions 
 to preach therein, this Prince came to Magh-Femiienn, in the 
 northern Desi, to welcome the holy man. Thence he brought 
 him to his royal residence of Caisel (Cashel), situated in that 
 part of the Eoganacht territory which is now called Trian- 
 Medonach (Middletherd). The event is thus related in an old 
 Latin life of the saint, which has fallen into our hands : " But as 
 he was entering Momonia, the king of that country, Aengus Mac 
 Nadfraeich, came to meet him on the plain of Femhenn, in the 
 land of Desi, and led him joyfull}' into his royal city, by name 
 Caisel, in the region of Eoganacht;^' and there King Aengus be- 
 lieved and was baptized."'* In the same place it is told that Patrick 
 thrust the pointed end of his staff through the foot of Aengus 
 upon that occasion. The fact is thus related : " As Patrick 
 stood up and was giving his benediction^" to the king in a stand- 
 ing posture, the point of his holy staff was fixed in the royal 
 foot." It must be understood from this, that it was not through 
 the foot of Eogan, son of Niall, the King of Ulster, that Patrick 
 thrust the spear of his pastoral stafí^, but through that of Aengus, 
 son of Nadfraech, King of Munster. With this account, even 
 one of the learned antiquaries of Leth Cuin, namely, Torna, son 
 of Muiris Macl-Conari (Maurice O'Mulconry, or Conry), fully 
 agrees, in the poem which begins with the line : " The bishop's 
 blessing^" on Eber's seed." The following are his words : 
 
 " Eoganacht. The several territories that the following are the words nsed by 
 
 possessed by the descendants of Eogan the figure seen, as Keating has already 
 
 Mor, eldest son of Olild Olura, were told us, by the herdsmen Durdari and 
 
 called by this name. The word is pro- Kilarn, in the reign of Core, son of 
 
 nounced O'U'enag/ii. Lugaidh, when, " with a voice sweeter 
 
 ^ Dum vero in Momoniam proficis- than the angular harp," it blessed the 
 
 ceretur, venit obviam ei rex Momoniae, hill and place ; and, predicting the 
 
 Aengus Mac Xadfraeich, in campo arrival of St. Patrick, it said : 
 
 Feirain, in terra de Deisse eumque'duxit "Good, good, good, the man who snail rale 
 
 gaudens in cioilalem regalem, nomine w n"?^*"'' • v* i ■ *v #*, r. ^ 
 
 ri--i „ i. • -ii ,, Waking rghteonsly in the name or the Great 
 
 Caisiol, quíE est ni regione Eoganacht, Fatber, 
 
 ibique credidit rex Aengus et bantizatus And of the Son of the Yirfrin, 
 
 ■ „ X T-. 1 • • -A. comely, fireat, frood bisliop, 
 
 Oumque sanctus fatricius regem child of life unto judcment, 
 
 Staudo benedixisset, CUSpis baculi sancti ^^ ^liall the noblo Angelic Erl 
 
 in nwlp TPo-ia fivi P«t "^'*^ people of each order, of various grades, 
 
 in pecle leglS nxa est To gg^ve Christ the benign." 
 
 =° We are told in the Book of Righta, 
 
408 THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 "Through tlic foot of Aengus— dire the wound — 
 The point of Patrick's staff was thrust : 
 And the floor was flooded with his blood — 
 The fact is now no whispered tale." 
 
 This Aengus had twenty sons and as many daughters. Of 
 these he bestowed twelve of the sons and twelve of the daughters 
 to God and to Patrick. Aengus, likewise, ordained that St. 
 Patrick should receive a capitation tax from his people, to wit : 
 a sgrebal, or three pence, from every person that received bap- 
 tism in Munster. This tax was paid in the following manner, 
 namely : five hundred sheep, five hundred pieces of linen, five 
 hundred pieces of cloth, five hundred balls of ii'on, to be given 
 every third year from the kings of Munster to the comharba 
 {coarba), or successor, of St. Patrick. This rent continued to be 
 paid down to the time of King Cormac, son of Culinan. It is 
 also found in the Red Book of Mac Aedagain, that this Aengus, 
 son of Nadfraech, maintained two bishops, ten priests and 
 seventy -two young clerks, as part of his household, whose busi- 
 ness it was to say mass, and to pray to God continually. 
 
 Si. Patrick in Connaught. — The sons'^ of Brian, son of Eocaidh 
 Muigh-medon. — The Saint gives his blessing to Duach Galach."^ 
 
 It was while St. Patrick was planting the Faith in Ireland, 
 and during the reign of Laegari Mac Neill, that the twenty-four 
 sons of Brian, son of Eocaidh Muigh-medon, flourished in Con- 
 naught, for they were the contemporaries of the monarch Lae- 
 gari. As St. Patrick was proceeding on his mission, blessing 
 Ireland as he went along, he arrived in their country, and he 
 went to visit the man of these brothers who was their chief ; 
 Ecchen was his name. When this man saw the saint ap- 
 proaching, he mounted his horse, and commenced to lash him 
 with his whip, and commanded his brothers to do the same 
 
 " The figure which appeared there was St. Patrick. 'Flaherty tells us, that 
 Victor, the angel of I'atrick, prophesy- even the fierce I^cchen himself eventually 
 ing his coming, and that the grandeur received the Faith. Most of the ruling 
 and supremacy of Ireland would be for Scotic septs of Connauglit were sprung 
 ever in that place. Accordingly, the from the twenty-four sons of Brian, 
 town is a metropolis to i'atrick, and a Notwithstanding the unpromising ro- 
 chief city to the king of l'>i ; and the ception mentioned above, St. Patrick's 
 tribute and service of the men of Eri preacliing in Connaught was crowned 
 are always due to the Idng of that place, with the fullest success. 
 i. e Caisel, through the l)lessing of ^' Duack Galacli. This youth's de- 
 Patrick, son of Alplann." — Leobliar na scendants did eventually become the 
 g-Ceort. royal race of Connaught. From him 
 * The Sons, Ifc. Of these sons, came the O'Connors, O'Eeillics, O'Rua- 
 ecveral were afterwards baptized by ires, O'Flaherties, &c. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAJSTD. 409 
 
 thing, telling them to show no leniency to the clerk. The lat- 
 ter did as he told them, except the youngest, whose name was 
 Duach Galach. This youth remained afoot, and went to meet 
 the holy man, whom he welcomed, and to whom he paid respect 
 and honor. After this, St. Patrick went forward into the cliief- 
 tain's presence, and demanded of him if he were not Ecclicn ; 
 " For if thou art," said he, " I deprive both thee and thy 
 brothers, who are here with thee, of good fortune and kingly 
 power, with the exception of that youth who has shown kind- 
 ness to me, and given me honor, for my Lord's sake. And the 
 youth then said : " If I were either chieftain or king, I would 
 do the will of Patrick." "If so," said Patrick, "I give thee a 
 blessing — thou shalt yet be a king thyself, and the kingdom of 
 Connaught shall be possessed by thy children after thee." 
 
 I have before shown, that Patrick arrived in Ireland in the 
 four hundred and thirty -first year after the birth of Christ, and 
 in the fourth year of the reign of Laegari, son of Niall, and that 
 he spent sixty-one years therein, previous to his death. " By add- 
 ing together these numbers, it will be seen that he died in the 
 year of our Lord four hundred and ninety-two. It was in testi- 
 mony of this that the shannachie composed the following rann : 
 
 " Since Christ was born^ (the reckoning's clear), 
 Four hundred years had passed and ninety, 
 And two years besides, full told, 
 When died our chief Apostle, Patrick." 
 
 " Since Christ was horn, ^c. The under 457. There is documentary 
 great age which the ancient rann here evidence to show who the Sen-Pha- 
 cited, and which nearly all our records traicc there mentioned was. In the 
 would assign to the Irish apostle, poem of Flann of the Monastery, as 
 Patrick, or Patricius, sou of Calphur- preserved in the Book of Lecan, 
 nius, has been disputed by some modern which records the names of the mem- 
 antiquarian critics. Mr. Moore con- bers of St. Patrick's household, this 
 jectures that he died in 465, in the Sen-Phatraicc is called Cend a Shruithi 
 78th year of his age. However, there Senorach, i. e. " the Chief of St. Palm- 
 are no valid grounds for disputing the rick's Seniors." Then the Feilire, or 
 age attributed to him by the ancient Festiology, of Aengus Cell De, a most 
 historic documents of Ireland. One venerable authority, tells us, that Sen- 
 hundred and twenty-two years, though Phatraicc was the tutor of our national 
 a very uncommon, is by no means saint. It is, indeed, not unlikely that 
 either an improbable or an unexampled there was more than one person digni- 
 duration for human existence. Several fied with the patrician title amongst 
 examples could be cited, where men the Roman ecclesiastics, of whom the 
 had lived to about that age, even in son of Calphurnius was the head, and 
 modei-n times. Those historians think that, thus, the hypercritics were afford- 
 that it is St. Patrick the Apostle's ed a handle for their doubts of the 
 death that is recorded, as that of Sen- veracity of the Irish annals in recording 
 Fha.traicc {Shan-Pliaudrig),\. e. Senex the time of the apostle's death. Suc- 
 Patricius, or Old Patrick, under the catius, or, as the Irish call it, Succath, 
 year 454, by some, and by others, was St. Patrick's baptismal name. 
 
410 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IREL^VND. 
 
 "We read in the lives of St. Patrick, that he spent the sixty- 
 one years passed in Ireland in the constant propagation and 
 preaching of the Gospel, performing miracles, doing good works 
 nnd showing the power of God. Of him, a certain author has 
 said : 
 
 " For three score years and one, 
 (Few are they that will not marvel,) 
 In Eri, with many works, 
 Did Patrick live, and preach the Gospel." 
 
 And to whomsoever may assert, that this verse is not found 
 in the Life of St. Patrick, I make known, that I have read in 
 venerable historic records, that there were not less than sixty- 
 four Lives \vritten of our apostle, and that each of them was 
 written independently of the others. For this reason, it is not 
 to be wondered at, if, in some of these lives, we meet with mira- 
 cles, and other facts, which are not to be found in the rest. 
 
 Expurgation^* of the Pagan Records. 
 
 It was while Laegari was king, that Dubthach O'Lugair," Fergus 
 the Poet, and Rosa, son of Tirchim, submitted the Senchas, 
 
 ^^^lcn he was consecrated bishop by St. 
 Germanus, he had it changed to 
 Magonius ; but it was not until the 
 Pope, St. Colestinus III., had selected 
 him for the Irish apostlcship, that he 
 received the title of Patricias, which 
 meant nobleman of the Roman empire. 
 It had been originally a title of heredit- 
 ary nobility, instituted by Piomulus, 
 which none could claim but the mem- 
 bers of certain privileged families of 
 ancient Rome. During the decline of 
 the Roman power, the emperors arro- 
 gated to themselves the right of con- 
 ferring it upon whom they pleased, and 
 it became a title of honor, wherewith 
 high dignitaries of State were ennobled. 
 The popes afterwards acquired the 
 right of conferring the dignity. As it 
 was the highest and most distinguished 
 title of nobility then known, it was 
 eagerly sought after by the princes of 
 those barbarian hordes that were then 
 dismemVjoring the Empire of the 
 Cffisars, and it must have, consequently, 
 been also looked upon with respect, 
 and, perhaps, with a certain degree of 
 sacred awe, by the Scotic tribes of 
 North Britain and Ireland, for they, 
 
 too, must have now known its import- 
 ance. This will account for the wise 
 policy of St. Cclcstinus in investing 
 the Bishop Magonius with so high 
 dignity, preparatory to his mission to 
 the Irish nation. 
 
 ^' Expurgation, ifc. " The first object 
 of their care was to purge the old ar- 
 chives of all that regarded heathen wor- 
 ship ; it being considered the surest way 
 for the truth of Revelation to abolish all 
 traces of the hitherto prevailing 
 superstition. On this occasion, we 
 arc told, that near two hundred vol- 
 umes of our ancient literature were 
 condemned, and committed to the 
 flainc.-;, to the eternal, 1 will not say 
 just, regret of j)osterity.'' — Transaction 
 of the Giiclic Hdcictij. 
 
 " Diibthdch O'Lugair. He was the 
 Arch-P^et of Ireland, in his day, and 
 the first convert made by St. Patrick 
 upon his arrival at Temhair. The 
 apostle's first arrival at the Irish capi- 
 tal and the conversion of Dubthach are 
 thus described by Mr. Moore : " On 
 their arrival at Slane, the saint and his 
 coinjianions pitched their tents for the 
 night, and as it was the eve of the 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 411 
 
 that is, the Historic Tradition of the countiy, to St. Patrick, in order 
 to have it purified and approved of by that saint. From this it 
 came, that Laegari was induced to call a general convention, "* at 
 which the kings, clei'gj and bard-sages of Ireland were assembled 
 together, for the purpose of rectifying the said national records. 
 When this convention had met, its members selected nine of 
 their number for the duty, to wit : three kings, three bishops 
 and three ollainhs. The three kings were, Laegari, son of Niall, 
 King of Ireland ; Dari, King of Ulster ; and Core," son of Lu- 
 gaidh, King of Munster ; the three bishops were, Patrick, Bcnen, 
 and Cairnech; the three ollamhs, or doctors of history were, 
 Dubthach, Fergus and Posa, son of Tirchim. By these nine, the 
 traditions were purified and set in order. It is the work which 
 resulted from their labors, that is now called the Senchas Mor,'^ 
 
 festival of Easter.lighted at niglitiall the 
 paschal fire. It happened that ou the 
 same evening, the monarch Laegari and 
 the assembled princes were, according 
 to custom, celebrating the festival of La 
 Bealtinne, and, as it was a law that no 
 fires should be lighted on that night, till 
 the great pile in the palace of Tara was 
 kindled, the paschal fire of St. Patrick, 
 on being seen from the heights of Tara, 
 before that of the monarch, excited the 
 wonder of all assembled. To the angry 
 inquiries of Laegari, demanding who 
 could have dared to violate thus the 
 law, his Magi or Druids are said to have 
 made answer : ' This fire which has 
 
 XOW BEEX KINDLED BEFORE OUR EYES, 
 UNLESS EXTINGUISHED THIS VERY NIGHT, 
 WILL NEVER BE EXTINGUISHED THROUGH- 
 OUT ALL TIME. Moreover, it will 
 
 TOWER ABOVE ALL THE FIRES OF OUR 
 ANCIENT RITES ; AND HE WHO LIGHTS IT, 
 WILL ERE LONG SCATTER YOUR KINGDOM.' 
 
 Surprised and indignant, the monarch 
 instantly dispatched messengers to 
 summon the offender to his presence ; 
 the princes seated themselves in a 
 circle upon the grass to receive him, 
 and on his arrival, one alone among 
 them, Here, the sou of Dego, im- 
 pressed with reverence by the stran- 
 ger's appearance, stood up to salute 
 him. That they heard with com- 
 placency, however, his account of the 
 object of his mission, appears, from 
 his preaching at the palace of Tara, on 
 the following day, in the presence of 
 the Kmg, and the States-General, and 
 
 maintaining an argument against the 
 most learned of the Druids, in which 
 the victory was ou his side. It is 
 recorded that the only person who, 
 upon this occasion, rose to welcome 
 him, was the Archpoet, Dubthach, who 
 became his convert on that very day, 
 and devoted thenceforth his poetical 
 talents to religious subjects alone. The 
 monarch himself, too, while listening to 
 the words of the apostle, is said to have 
 exclaimed to his surrounding nobles, 
 ' It is better that I should believe than 
 die ;' and, appalled by the awful de- 
 nouncements of the preacher, to have at 
 once professed himself a Christian." — 
 As will be hereafter seen, it is doubtful 
 whether Laegari was ever really con- 
 verted from idolatry. 
 
 ^ General Convention, ifc. The 
 Four Masters record this convention 
 as having been held in A.D. 438, being 
 the 10th year of Laegari's reign, and 
 the 6th of St. Patrick's mission. 
 
 ^ Core. He could not have been 
 one of the number, for he must have 
 been dead long previous to this reign. 
 He was the grandfather of Aengus, the 
 King of Munster, converted by St. 
 Patrick. 
 
 =^ Senchas Mor. There are frag- 
 ments, said to be of this work, still 
 extant in the manuscript library of 
 Trinity College, Dublin. Some hold 
 that the work so called was a mixed 
 compilation of laws and history ; but 
 some of the ablest of modern Irish 
 antiquaries hold that it was a body 
 
412 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 that is, the Great Tradition. The poem comniencing with the 
 words, "Amirghin Gluin-ghcl," that is, "Amirgin the AVhite- 
 kneed," bears testimony to this event, as may be seen by the 
 following verses : 
 
 " Nine sages framed the Seuchas-Mor, 
 And with stern justice set aside 
 The falsehood of all Heathen myths, 
 "When tested by their hallowed lore. 
 
 " Patrick, Benen,'' Cairnecli just, 
 Laegari, son of mighty Niall, 
 The poet, Fergus, of bright smile, 
 And Dari, King of Uladh. 
 
 " The King of Mumha, without stain, 
 Core, son of red-handed Lugaidh ; 
 And Ros Mac Tirchim, skilled in language, 
 Was there, with wise Dubthach O'Lugair. 
 
 * These sages failed not in their task ; 
 The truthful Senchas they arranged ; 
 Correcting it with judgment meet, 
 From age to age since Amirghin." 
 
 Then, when the Senchas had been thus purified, the Irish 
 nobles decreed that it should be given into the charge of the 
 prelates of the Irish Church. These prelates gave orders to have 
 it copied out in their j^rincipal churches. Some of the old 
 books so written, or rescripts of them, survive to the present 
 day, such as the Book of Armagh, the Psalter of Cashel, the 
 Book of Glendaloch, the Book of Ua Congbala, the Book of 
 Clonmacnois, the Book of Fintann of Cluaiii Aidnech, the Yel- 
 low Book of Moling, and the Black Book of Molaga. Thence- 
 forward, in order that no injustice should be done to any of the 
 
 of laws solely, and tliat it was it that named Sescnen, at whose house St. 
 was otherwise called the Cain Phadraig Patrick had staid, when journeying 
 or Patrick's Law ; of which it was towards Temhair for the first time, 
 said, that no individual Brchon of the On that occasion, Bescnén and his 
 Gaels has dared to abrogate anything whole family were converted ; and his 
 found in it. It is, however, (juite as son, a boy, to whom St. Patrick gave 
 reasonabk: to conclude that the work the name Benignus, became so much 
 likewise contained historic records, as attached to the saint, that he insisted 
 Dr. Keating relates. upon going along with him. He 
 ^ Benen. This was St. Bencn, or afterwards became a distinguished 
 Benignus, the original author of the missionary, and was deputed to various 
 celebrated Book of Rights. He was of parts of Ireland, which St. Patrick 
 a Munster family, settled in the plain could not visit in person. He became, 
 of Breágh, near Temhair, and desccnde<l in a special manner, the patron of Con- 
 from the famous champion 'J'a<lg, son naught. St. Jk'nen eventually suc- 
 ofKian, son of Olild Olum. We are ceeded his spiritual father as Arch- 
 told that his father was a noblemaa bishop of Armagh. 
 
THE niSTOKY OF IPwELAND. 413 
 
 Irish nobility, the substance of all the records contained in any 
 of these books, -was kept in the Psalter of Temhair, as I have 
 heretofore stated, in treating of King Cormac, son of Art, 
 an 1 they were scrutinized and sanctioned at the Feis Temrach, 
 or general convention of the nation, held at Temhair every 
 third year. 
 
 Heathen Writers of Ancient Ireland. 
 
 In Pagan times, our principal historic authors, from time to 
 time, were Amirghin Glun-ghel, son of Miledh of Spain ; Sen, the 
 son of Ughi, Brighitt {Breeyith), an authoress, from whom is 
 derived the common expression "Briathra Brighdi," {Breehra 
 Breedie,) that is, the Sayings of Brighitt ; Connla Caein-brethach 
 that is, of mild judgment, a Connaught sage ; Senchan, son of 
 Cul, and Factna, his son ; Senchan, son of Olild ; Morann, the 
 son of Maen ; Fergus, of Fianuait, in Kiarraide Luachra (Kerry) ; 
 Ferkertni, the Poet; Neidi, son of Adna; Athirni Amhnas; Fergus, 
 the Poet, son of Athirni ; Nera, son of Finncoll ; Sedamas, son of 
 Morann ; Feradach the Just, a royal author upon wisdom ; 
 Fithil ; Fergus the Poet ; Dubthach O'Lugair ; and Rosa, son of 
 Tirchim, It was these three last-mentioned that brought the 
 Senchas to St. Patrick, and submitted it to be examined and 
 expurgated by him. 
 
 In Pagan times no person could hold the rank of Ollamh-re 
 senchas, or doctor of history, who had been once discovered to 
 have falsified a single fact. In like manner, no person could hold 
 the rank of Breithemh, that is of doctor of law, or judge, who had 
 once given corrupt judgment. In those times of Paganism, 
 some of them were under religious prohibitions called Gesa. 
 Whenever Sen, the son of Ughi, delivered a partial judgment, 
 blisters burst forth over his right cheek, and when his judgment 
 was just, his cheek remained smooth. Connla of Mild Judgments 
 never delivered a partial sentence, for he was a just man, accord- 
 ing to the light of nature. Senchan, the son of Cul, never gave 
 a false judgment, without having fasted three nights before. 
 Whenever his son, Factna the Wise, gave a false judgment, if 
 it were in the harvest, the fruit of the district where he rested 
 that night iell to the earth ; but if his judgment were true, then 
 the fruit remained on the trees. But if the trees were in blos- 
 som when he gave the false judgment, the cows of the district 
 slung their calves ! Morann, the son of Maen, never gave judg- 
 ment without his Idh Morainn, that is, Morann's Collar, round his 
 neck. I have already stated that this collar used to squeeze 
 tightly round his throat, Avhen he was about to deliver an un- 
 just decree. Thus it was with many other Pagan authorities. 
 
13:14 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 These gesa prevented them from either corrupting the tradi- 
 tions or the laws. 
 
 From what I have now said, it will be seen that the records 
 of Ireland are as credible as those of any other nation, thus 
 supported by the writings of ancient Pagan authors, and invest- 
 igated by the holy clergy and prelates of the Irish Church. 
 
 The Feis Temrach held by King Laegari — Palaces of Temhair- 
 Arrangement of the Grand Convention. 
 
 Laegari, son of Niall, convened tliis assembly, according to 
 the usage of his predecessors, for tho purpose of reforming the 
 customs and laws of his kingdom, at the general convention of 
 the nation. When the nobles and ollamhs of Ireland met 
 together on such occasions, the Ard-Righ, or Sovereign King of 
 Ireland, dwelt with his household, apart from the rest, in the 
 Hall of Mi-Cuarta, which was specially reserved as _ his 
 royal residence. Besides this, each of the provincial kings 
 had a royal residence appropriated to himself, at Temhair. Thus 
 the King of Munster had the Long-Muimnech {Long-Mueenagh). 
 Long is synonymous with fecA, as the poet shows in the following 
 saying : " Not more churlish to a multitude is a bad house {tech) 
 without inmates, than is a thronged mansion {long)^ And, hence, 
 comes the word longphoy% a town„ i. e. a port^ anglice, a fort, or 
 embankment, on or within which there are houses, i. e. longa. 
 The King of Leiuster occupied the Long Laighnech {Long- 
 Lognagh), or Leinster House. The King of Connaught's resi- 
 dence was called the CoLsir-Connactach (Coshir-Connaghtagh), 
 Connaught Banquet-House. The King of Ulster dwelt in the 
 Echrais-^Ulladh {Aghrish- Ulla), or Ulster House. Besides these, 
 there were then three other chief buildings, at that time, at 
 Temhair, namely : the Oarcar-na-ngiall {Carkar-nang-eeal\ the 
 Stronghold of tlic Hostages, where the King of Ireland kept his 
 prisoners ; the second building was called llclta-na-b-filedh {Railla- 
 na-villah), that is, the Star of the Bards. In it the brehons, 
 ollamhs and bards lield their sitting,-, and here fines and erics 
 were imposed upon those who violated the laws and customs of 
 the nation. The third building was the Grianan-na-ninghen 
 {Oeeanawn-nan-inneen)^ that is the Palace, or House, of the 
 Ladies, The provincial queens resided in this, each in her own 
 private apartments, though within the enclosure of the building. 
 
 But when the whole convention met to originate or confirm 
 laws and rules for the nation, it held its sessions in the Tech-mi- 
 cuarta (Tagh-mee-coorta), which was their hall of public delibera- 
 tion. In that hall, the members of the convention sat after the 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 415 
 
 following order : the King of Ireland sat upon his throne in the 
 centre of the assembl}', with his face to the west ; the King of 
 Munster sat to the south of him, for the ends of the building 
 faced east and west ; the King of Leinster sat opposite him ; the 
 King of Connaught behind him, and behind the King of Con- 
 naught, again, sat the Ollamhs of Ireland. The King of Ulster 
 sat at the King's right hand, to the north of him. A number of 
 the real nobility of his own proper Fifth sat near each of these 
 princes. The following rhymes have been composed by a bard- 
 historian upon the above-mentioned arrangement ; 
 
 " The Muiistcrinen sit towards iLe south — 
 This doubtless right no nmu denies ; 
 The Leinstcrmen, strong iu their might, 
 Confront the Ard-righ, face to face. 
 
 " Behind the king, sit Oonnacht's men, 
 Near whom the truthful Ollamhs stay ; 
 There, too, the King of Araide" sits, 
 In his own wonted, proper seat. 
 
 *" King of Amide, i e. of Dal-Araide. 
 By this is meant the King of the pro- 
 vince Uladh, or Ulidia, as reduced by 
 the encroachments of the Oirghiallaigh. 
 It is remarkable that, instead of the 
 four provincial kings, mentioned in Dr. 
 Keating's prose, there are five named iu 
 these bardic stanzas ; and that, amongst 
 the latter five, no King of Uladh is men- 
 tioned. We also find the King of 
 Araide, who represented the ancient 
 Ulidian Kings, driven out of his pro- 
 per place, and the King of Oirghiall 
 seated therein. This, while it proves 
 that the verses were written subsequent 
 to the dismemberment of Ulster by the 
 Collas, about A.D. 331, seems also to 
 argue that it M-as written previous to 
 the establishment of the Kingdom 
 Ailech, by the Northern Ui Ncill, and 
 the supremacy acquired by the latter 
 tribe iu Ulster. The arrangement 
 given down in the prose is, indeed, that 
 which was the usage whilst the Clanna 
 Rudraide, of the line of Ir, flourished as 
 lords paramount of all Ulster. The 
 Kings of Connaught would seem to 
 have occupied the least honored place 
 in the States-General, perhaps because 
 the supremacy of that Fifth was latest 
 wrested from the Fcr-Bolgs, by the 
 race of Milcdh. 
 
 The following benediction, pro- 
 
 nounced by St. Patrick upon Ireland 
 and its inhabitants, is found in the Book 
 of Rights, prefixed to the tract called, 
 The Privileges of the King of Eri, at 
 Temhair : 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 
 The Blessing of God upon yon all, 
 Men of Eri, sons, women, 
 And daughters ; princc-blessIng, 
 Wcal-blcssing, blessing of long-life, 
 Health blessing, blessing of excellence, 
 Eternal-blessing, heaven blessing, 
 Cloud-blessing, sea-blessing, 
 Fruit-blessing, land-blessing, 
 Crop-blessing, dew-b!essiug, 
 Blessing of elements, blessir-g of valor. 
 Blessing of dexterity, blessing of glory, 
 Blessing of deeds, blessing of honor, 
 Blessing of happiness be upon you all 
 Laics, clerics, -while I command 
 Th blessing of the men of Heaven ; 
 It 13 my bequest, as it is a pecpetuai. 
 
 BLESSING. 
 
 ORIGINAL. 
 
 BENBACifT De foraibh nili, 
 
 Foraibh Erend, macaibh, mnalbh, 
 8ceo inghensibh, fiaith-bhendacht, 
 Bal-bhcndacht. buan-bhcndacht, 
 Slán-bhcndacht, sAr-bhendacht, 
 Sir-bhendacht, bendacht Kimhu, 
 Nel-bhendacht, bendacht mar.i, 
 Mese-bhendacht, bendacht (hire, 
 Toradh-bhendacbt, bendacht driichta, 
 Bendacht daithi, bendacht gaili, 
 Bendacht gaiscidh, bendacht gotha, 
 Bendacht gniraha, bend.acht ordiin, 
 Bendacht I'lini, foraibh uili, 
 Laechaibb. clcirchibh, ccin forcongraldh, 
 Bendacht fcr Nimhe; 
 Is iQO ebert, ós Bnim-BHESDACHr. 
 
•Í16 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ' The right hand of strong Temhair's Bang, 
 By well-kuown and unquestioned rule, 
 Belongs to Oirghiall's íavored men, 
 'Mongst them no rival claims a seat." 
 
 It was over Laegari, son of Niall, that tlie people of Leinster 
 and Crimthann, son of Euna Keunselach, gained the battle of Ath 
 Dara.** The king was made prisoner at this battle, but his 
 enemies set him at liberty, upon his giving the Sun, Moon and 
 Stars of Heaven as guarantees that he would never again de- 
 maud the Boromha Laighen/" or Cow Tribute of Leinster, from 
 them. He, however, did not keep his oath. Bat in vengeance 
 for his perjury, he was killed*' by lightning at Grellach-Dabail, 
 near the Liffey. Of his death ; a poet says : 
 
 " Laegari, son of Niall, fell 
 Near Lifi's stream of greenest banks ; 
 God's vengeful elements, provoked, 
 , His doom of death dealt to the king." 
 
 The wife of Laegari** was Agneis, daughter of a chieftain of the 
 Ui Liathain ; and she was the mother of Lugaidh, son of Laegari, 
 
 *' Ath-Dara, i. e. the Ford of the 
 Oak. This place was situated on the 
 Eiver Berba, or Barrow. The Four 
 Masters record the battle as having 
 been fought A.D. 4.5T — the year of the 
 foundation of Armagh, and of the 
 death of Sen-Phatraicc, the chief of St. 
 Patrick's Seniors. 
 
 ■■' Boromha Laighen. According to 
 the historical tract which takes its 
 title from this tribute, Laegari violat- 
 ed his oath in two years and a half 
 after he had taken it, by making a 
 f )ray into Leinster, where he seized a 
 prey of oxen, at Sidh-Nectain, where 
 the Boyae has its source ; " but as he 
 advanced to Cais the elements of God 
 wreaked vengeance upon him, that is, 
 the air forsook him, the sua burned 
 him, and the earth swallowed him." 
 
 *'■' Laegari Died, ^c. 'I'here is every 
 reason to conclude tliat Laegari died a 
 Pagan. In his notes upon the Four 
 Masters, Dr. O'Donovaii tells us, on 
 the autliority of an ancient historic 
 tract, pressrved in the Loabhar na h- 
 Uidhri, that it had been prophesied to 
 him, that he would come by his death 
 between En and Alba (Ireland and 
 Scotland), for which reason ho (unlike 
 his father Niall) never went on any 
 
 naval expedition. But when he went 
 a second time, without regard to his 
 oath, with a great army, to demand 
 the Borumha Laighen, and had reached 
 Grellach-Daphill, by the side of Caissi. 
 in Magh Liphi, between two hills 
 called Eri and Alba, that he was there 
 slain by the incensed elements. His 
 body was carried thence to Temhair, 
 and there interred, with his weapons 
 upon him, in the south-east of the 
 external rampart of Rath-Laegari, with 
 his face turned towards the Leinster- 
 men, as if fighting them. Laegari 
 could not believe in the Christian 
 religion, because ho had made a pro- 
 mise to his father Niall that he would 
 not swerve from Pagan customs. 
 " For," said that king, " My fatlior 
 Niall would never suffer that I should 
 believi?, but he commanded me to be 
 buried in the high places at 'IVmhair, as 
 if in the midst of warriors standing up 
 in battle." 
 
 *' Lncgnri's Wife, ifc. The miracle 
 introduced in this place, if it was ever 
 really wrought, is told, accompanied 
 by such frivolous and unnecessary 
 details, that it has all the appearance 
 of being one of those extravagant fables 
 with which story-tellers have disfigured 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 417 
 
 whom we sliall liercafter find on the Irish throne. This ladj did 
 not follow her husband's example, but had received the faith from 
 St. Patrick. Patrick, on one occasion came to visit her, attended 
 bv his escort of priests. The queen welcomed them, and got food 
 prepared for them ; whereupon, her son Lugaidh commenced to 
 eat of it ravenously. While he was thus engaged, a piece of 
 meat stuck in his throat, by which he was choked, and he died im- 
 mediately. The queen screamed, and threw her son upon the 
 protection of Patrick. The saint then retired to a solitary house, 
 whither he ordered the child's dead body to be brought to him. He 
 there made fervent prayer to God, and remained alone with the 
 body for three days and three nights, without meat or drink. On 
 the third day, the archangel Michael came to him, in the shape of 
 a dove, and told him it was the will of God to have his prayer 
 granted, and the child restored to life. The dove then thrust 
 its bill into the open mouth of the boy, who lay upon his back, 
 and plucked the piece of meat from his throat. Then the boy 
 Lugaidh recovered immediately, and the dove vanished unper- 
 ceived. 
 
 When the queen heard that her son was alive again, she came 
 joyfully to Patrick, and knelt at his feet to thank him. " Prin- 
 cess," said he, "it is. not to me thou owest thanks for thy son, 
 but to the archangel Michael, who has restored him to life." He 
 then told her the meaning of his words. When she had heard 
 
 the lives of many of the fathers of the tian missionaries in other lands, St. 
 
 Irish Church — seemingly with no other Patrick might have applied the words 
 
 object than the amusement of the igno- of the Roman conqueror of the neigii- 
 
 rant-vulgar. Though Dr. Keating has boring isle of Britain, Veni, Vidi, Viri, 
 
 transcribed but few of these in his to the moral conquest which he achiev 
 
 history, he has still introduced but too ed in Pagan Ireland. The apostle is 
 
 many of such childish and incredible scarcely in his grave, when the country 
 
 tales. If it did please the Almighty which he has converted is already 
 
 to suspend the ordinary routine of famed throughout Christendom for the 
 
 natural law, in order to facilitate the number of her schools of piety and 
 
 labors of these holy men, it is vain for learning ; famed for the number of 
 
 us to search for the workings of the zealous missionaries she has sent forth 
 
 divine hand in many of the needless to teach the saving truths of the Gos- 
 
 and objectless miracles, recorded in pel to the barbarian conquerors of 
 
 many of those romantic compositions Europe, and fomed, also, for her classic 
 
 composed by Irish story-teljers, with no and scientific scholars — pioneers of 
 
 higher object than that of many of the that civilization that was destined to 
 
 novelists of modern times— pastime, succeed the effete systems of Greece 
 
 We need not, indeed, to have recourse and Rome. Even in St. Patrick's 
 
 to fabulous narratives in order to form lifetime, the Hibernian Scot Siedhuil 
 
 an estimate of the wonderful fruits of (Shiel), called in Latin Serfu/nis, among 
 
 the labors and preaching of St. Patrick other writings of merit, was the author 
 
 and his disciples. It may be learned of a Latin poem (the Paschale Opus), 
 
 from the almost instantaneous spring- upon the life of Christ, from which the 
 
 ing up of the Irish Church. Compared Catholic Church has selected some of 
 
 with the slow progress made by Chris- her most beautiful hymns. — See Moore. 
 
 27 
 
418 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the manner in ^Yllicl^ tlie miracle liad been performed, she took 
 upon herself an obligation, to bestow a sheep out of every flock 
 she owned, and a portion of each of her meals to the God's 
 poor, every year she lived, in honor of Michael the Archangel. 
 She also instituted the same practice throughout Ireland, as a 
 custom amongst all those whom Patrick had converted to the 
 Faith. From this event arose the custom of the Michaelmas 
 sheep and the Mir-Mhichaeil {Meer-Veehail), or ^Michaelmas Por- 
 tion, which is observed in Ireland down to the present day. 
 
 OLILD MOLT, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A.D. 457.''' Olild Molt,-" son of Dathi, of the race of Erimhon, 
 became king, and ruled Ireland for twenty years. Ilis wife was 
 Uctdelb {Ughdelve), daughter of Aengus, King of Ahmster. He 
 was surnamed Molt, because when his mother, Ethni, daughter 
 of Orach, was pregnant of him, she longed for the flesh of a wether, 
 (called molt in Irish). For this reason, when he was born, one 
 of her attendant ladies, named Fial, daughter of Eocaidh, gave 
 him the surname Molt. It was in the reign of Olild Molt, that 
 Amalgaidh,*' sou of Fiachra, son of Eocaidh Muigh-medon, King 
 of Connaught, died, after a reign of twenty years. In it also 
 died Muredach Munderg,"* son of Fergus, son of Olild, who had 
 ruled Ulster for twelve years. The Assembly of Temhair was 
 held by King Olild Molt. 
 
 Assemhlies of Cruachain and Emhain. 
 
 There were three great general assemblies of the States, custom- 
 ary in Ireland in former days, namely: the Fcisof Temhair,^^ or 
 Tara, the Feis of Cruachain'" and the Feis of Emhain. 
 
 " A. D. 459. Four Masters. He was converted by St. Patrick, iu 
 
 *" Olild IV. The silly reason given person, 
 for his surname Molt is very far-fetched *" Muredach Munderg, i. e. the 
 and unlikely. If the word has had no Red-necked. TTe was of the Dal Fia- 
 other meaning than its modern one, tiich tribe, and died in 479. He must 
 wether, the son of Datlii acquired it, not be confounded Avith Eocaidh Muii- 
 most probably, from some personal remar, i. e. the Short-necked, grand- 
 peculiarity. The term is even yet father of Fergus Mor Mac Eire and his 
 sometimes applied, as a nickname, to brf»thers. 
 
 persons of a stout and compact, but '■' Aiisemhlii of Temhair. Two asscm- 
 
 rather undersized figure. Thus does blies of the Statos-( general arc spcci- 
 
 Homer compare one of his heroes to " a ally recorded during this reign — one 
 
 thick-fleeced ram." in 4C3, the otlicr in 46."). Olild appears 
 
 " AmaUraidh. Ilis death is recorded to have been a wise prince. Hid 
 
 in the Four Masters, under A. I). 449, predecessor having evidently died an 
 
 in the reign of Lacgari. From lilm unljeliever, he may, jicrhups. l)e con- 
 
 Tir-Amhalghaidh, now Tirawlcy, in sidered the first Christian King of 
 
 Mayo, has its name. Amalgaidh was Ireland, 
 
 the first Christian King of Connaught. "' Fets of Cruachain and the Feis of 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 419 
 
 We have heretofore treated of the affairs transacted at the 
 Feis of Temhair. The chief business done at the two latter was 
 the examination of those persons, who exercised mechanical or 
 laborious crafts in Ireland, such as the smiths, carpenters, or 
 other handicraftmen. The ollamhs and nobles, assembled at 
 those meetings, were wont to elect sixty persons of each craft out 
 of those that presented themselves on these occasions ; after tliis, 
 thej assigned to each man his own distinct district of Ireland, 
 wherein to practice his calling ; but, even then, it was not law- 
 ful for him to practice his craft, in such district, without having 
 first obtained the consent of the Saei-re-ceird {See-re-caird), 
 or Master ^Mechanic of his own craft, who presided over the 
 district assigned to him ; and without having been approved 
 by said Master ^Mechanic, as fully competent to practice his craft, 
 because " Bardcraft" is similar to Ilandicraft." 
 
 The Lebar Iris calls Olild Molt, the King of the Scots. It 
 was during his reign St. Benen, or St. Benignus, the Comhorba 
 or successor of St. Patrick," died. It was, moreover, in his time 
 that the Scots and Picts waged war against Ambrosius, King of 
 Britain. Conall Cremthanui^^ died during his reign, as did, like- 
 
 Emhain. These must not be confound- 
 ed with the great national festivals held, 
 as before seen, at Tlactga, Talti and 
 Uisnech. The aentaighe (ainthee), or 
 fairs, held at Emhain and Cruachain 
 must have been respectively the pro- 
 vincial festivals of Ulster and Con- 
 naught. They seem improperly intro- 
 duced here, in so much as Emhain had 
 been destroyed centuries before the 
 present reign, and the former glory of 
 the line of Ir, son of Miledh, had long 
 passed away. Connaught, too, was no 
 longer held by her ancient Belgic kings. 
 She had now become an apponage of 
 the race of Conn of the Hundred 
 Battles. 
 
 •'' Bardcraft, ifc In Gaelic, " Is inann 
 din is ceird " — seemingly an ancient 
 legal maxim, which would mean that 
 the members of the bardic and mechani- 
 cal professions were governed by simi- 
 lar laws. 
 
 " Comharba of St. Patrick. St 
 Benen had succeeded St. Patrick as 
 Archbishop of Armagh, upon the lat- 
 ter saint's retirement from that see 
 in 455. The Gaelic word, Comharba, 
 means ecclesiastical successor. As 
 before stated, he was the original com- 
 
 piler of the Book of Eights, as the 
 following verse of that ancient work 
 
 testifies : 
 
 " Benen— a blessing: on the man — 
 Is he who placed in Caisil's Psalter 
 The rents and senchas of each king, 
 That noblest walks the land of Mumha." 
 
 '"^ Conall Cremtlianni, the brother 
 of Laegari, and the ancestor of the 
 royal family of O'Mael-Sechlain, or 
 O'Melaghlin, who bore the tribe name 
 of Clann Colmain. Seventeen Irish 
 monarchs descended from this Conall, 
 who died in 475. In the year 4G4, his 
 brother, Conall Gulban, founder of the 
 Kinel-Conaill, had been killed by the 
 Masraide, an ancient tribe of Belgse, 
 or Fer-Bolgs, seated in Magh-Slecht, 
 near Bally-Magauran, county Cavan, 
 and in the next year, we are told, that 
 Eogan, son of Niall, founder of Kinel 
 Eogain, died of grief for his brother 
 Conall, and was buried at Uisci-Caein, 
 now Eskaheen, in Inishowen, county 
 Donegal. 
 
 " Of tears died Eoean, son of Niall, 
 (So loving was his kindly nature,) 
 For Conall of the hardy deeds. 
 He lie» full low at Uisci-caein." 
 
 — See Four Masters. 
 
420 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 wise, St. larlathi,'* who was the third Archbishop of Armagh, 
 after St. Patrick. Simphcius was then the Sovereign Pontiff. 
 
 Ohld Molt fought the buttle of Dumha-Caichir" against the 
 Leinstermen, in which great numbers fell on both sides. At- 
 tacked by Lugaidh, son of his predecessor Laegari, who was as- 
 sisted by'^Miu-kertach Mor Mac Erca, by Fergus Kerbcol, son of 
 Conall Cremthanni, and by Fiacaidli Lonn, son of Caelbadh, King 
 of Dal- Araidc, Olild was vanquished and slain, at the battle of 
 Ocha," of which the bard says : 
 
 " By Lugaiilli and by Fiachra Lonn 
 And by the tall JMiirkcrtach ISior, 
 With whom waá Fergus, Tree from faults, 
 Was slain the generous Olild Molt."' 
 
 • It was twenty years after this battle of Ocha, that the six sons of 
 Ere, son of Eocaidh Munremar, passed over to Alba. They were 
 named the two Aenguses, the two Loarns and the two Ferguses. 
 
 Three hundred and seven years had passed between the time 
 of Concobar, son of Nesa, and that of Cormac, son of Art ; two 
 hundred and four years from the time of Cormac until the battle 
 of Ocha was fought ; and it was twenty years after that event, 
 when the sons of Ere migrated to Alba. 
 
 Duach Galach," the youngest son of Brian, son of Eocaidh 
 Muiííh-medon, Avas Kino- of Connauirht in the time of Olild. He 
 reigned seven years, until he fell by the sword of Eocaidh 
 Tirmcarna. 
 
 LUGAIDn, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. J). 477." Lugaidh,"' son of Laegari, son of Niall Naei-ghial- 
 <ach, of the line of Erimhon, now mounted the throne of Ireland, 
 
 '^' St. larlatki. His name is also coml)at, rondfTod masters of all Trc- 
 written larfhlaithe (Eerlahie). He land." — Moore. The chiefs who united 
 did not die until the next reign, in against Olild on this occasion were 
 481. lie must not be confounded his successor Lugaidh, Murkertach 
 with St. larlath, ofTuam. St. Patrick Mac Erca. Fergus Kerbeol, Fiachra, 
 being still alive, had now seen two of king of Dal-Araide, and CriniMiann, 
 his successors borne to their graves king of L.'inster. " It was of this bat- 
 before himself. tic Bi'<^ Mac Dé said : 
 
 '•* Dumha Caitlur, i. e. Caicher's „^, .„.. ..^, , , 
 
 HIT 1 Tt • 4-„ „ 11 1 TA ,.v,l "The (rrcitfliilit of Oclia was fought, 
 
 Mound. It IS sometimes called Dumha j^ ,vhioii were cut otr m.my Icsrons, 
 
 Aichir. Locality unknown. 'Oninst oiiia Molt, son of Dathi, 
 
 =* Ocha. This place was situated O'er whom the trlbo of Araldo triumphed." 
 near Teniliair. " The memorable mi- — See Four Mcslcrs. 
 gration of the sons of Krc is marked " Dmir.h Galndi. This was the 
 Vjy Irish annalists as liaving occurred youtli to whom St. Patrick had given 
 twenty years after the great battle of his l)eni(lictioii. it was Duach Teng- 
 Ocha. in which Olild Molt was slain, umha. not Duach Galach, that fell by 
 This battle itself, too, forms an epoch Kocaidh Tirmcarna. several years later, 
 in Iri.sh history, as the race of the "^ A. I). dTi). Four Maslcrs. 
 Nials, on whom victory then declared, " Luoaidii VI. lie reigned twenty- 
 were, by the fortunes of that day's five years, according to some accounts. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 421 
 
 which he held for twenty years. All this time Fracch, son of Finu- 
 caidh, was King of Leinster. In the reign of Lugaidh was fought 
 the battle of Kell-Osna,*" in Magh-Fea, in the county of Carlow, 
 four miles west of Leighlin. In it fell Aengus, son of Nadfraech, 
 King of Munster," afler he had reigned thirty-six years; and 
 witii Idni was slain his wife Ethni Uathach, daughter of Crimth- 
 ann, son of Enna Kennsclach. They were slain by Murkertaeh 
 Mor Mac Erca, and Olild, son of Dunlaing. It was of this 
 tight that the poet has said : 
 
 *' Thon died that brancli, that spreading tree^* of gold, 
 Praiseworthy Aengus, son of Nadfraech, 
 By Oiild's hand his luck went down, 
 On fell Kell-Osnadh's sloping field." 
 
 After this, Fraech, sonof Finncaidh,.was killed at the battle of 
 Granni," by Eocaidh, son of Carbri. Felix the Third was then 
 Pope, that is, in the tenth year of the reign of Lugaidh, son of 
 Laegari. About this time, also, was fought the battle of Slem- 
 hain," in Mcath, by Carbri, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, 
 St. Mochaei," of Aendrom, died, and the battle of Kenn-Albi^* 
 
 •^" Kell-osiia, or Kell-osnadha, is now 
 Kelliston, and lies in the barony of 
 Forth. 
 
 "' King of Munster. According to 
 the old annals of Innisfallen, he was 
 one of the five kings of the line of 
 Eber, that the southerns claimed as 
 monarchs of Ireland, after the introduc- 
 tion of Christianity. It is evident, how- 
 ever, that he was never generally ack- 
 nowledged as such, though > he may 
 have been called so by his own people, 
 and have had more power in his own 
 half of Ireland than the monarch had 
 in his. The battle in which he fell 
 was fought in 489. 
 
 ^- Spreading Tree, fyc. " He is the 
 common ancestor of the sept of Mac 
 Carthy, O'Callaghan, O'Keeffe and 
 0"Sullivan, now so widely spread 
 throughout Ireland, England and 
 America, and even on the continent 
 of Europe, where some of them 
 bear coronets. If the saplings of the 
 " spreading tree of gold " could now be 
 reckoned in the countries in which 
 they have pullulated, it would appear 
 that they are vastly numerous, and 
 that, as the multiplication of a race is 
 a blessing, King Aengus has reaped 
 the full benefit of the ' alma benedictio' 
 imparted by St. Patrick, when he 
 
 baptized him at Cashel, and, by a 
 singular mistake, put his faith to the 
 trial by piercing his foot with his 
 crozier." — O'Donovan. Numerous, 
 indeed, they are, but when will they 
 remember that the altars of Cashel lie 
 overthrown, that strangers possess the 
 fertile fields of the Eoganachts, and that 
 gaunt famine, more murderous by 
 far than the swords of Leth Cuinn, 
 spreads periodical desolation through 
 tlie wretched homesteads of Leth- 
 Mogha 1—Ed. 
 
 "^ Granni. There were two battles 
 fought at this place in the reign of 
 Lugaidh. In the first, fought in 485, 
 amongst the Leinstermen themselves, 
 Finncaidh, lord of the Ui Kinnselaigh, 
 and father of Fraech, fell. The second, 
 that above-mentioned, was fought in 
 492, against Murkertaeh INIac Erca. 
 
 ^* Slemham. This battle was fought 
 in 492. The Carbri, son of Niall, who 
 gained it, was an obstinate Pagan, and 
 an inveterate enemy of St. Patrick. 
 
 ^^ St. Mochaei. He was a disciple of 
 Patrick. He died in 496. Aendrom 
 is now called Mahee Island — situated 
 in Strangford Lough. 
 
 ^ Kenn Albi. Probably the name of 
 some hill in Magh Albi, in the south of 
 Kildare. The battle was fought in 494. 
 
422 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 was fought in Leinster, by Carbri, the above-mentioned son of 
 Niall : then, also, was fought the battle of Scghais," where Duach 
 Teng-umha, King of Con naught, was killed by Murkertach Mor 
 Mac Erca, as the poet says in this verse : 
 
 " The battle of Delga, the battle of Mucrumha, 
 And the battle of Tuaim Druba, 
 AuJ, with those, the battle of Seghaia, 
 Wherein fell Duach Teug-umha." 
 
 It was about this time that the battle of Lochmagh^* was gained 
 by the Leinstcrmen over the Ui Neill, and in it great numbers 
 were slain on both sides. 
 
 Final Settlement of the Dal-Riadic Scois^^ in Alba. 
 
 A. D. 503. Shortly afterwards, Fergus Mor, son of Ere,'" 
 with the Dal Kiada, emigrated to Alba, and seized upon its 
 sovereignty."" 
 
 •^ Segliais. The old name of the 
 Curlieu Hills, near Boyle, ou the con- 
 fines of Roscommon and Sligo. " The 
 cause of the battle was this, viz : Mur- 
 kertach was a guarantee between the 
 king and Eocaidh Tirmcarna, his 
 brother, and Eocaidh was taken pris- 
 oner, against the protection of Murker- 
 tach. in proof of which Kcnnfaeladh 
 said : 
 
 " ' The battle of Se^halv- 
 From woman"» wrath it Bprunjr; 
 Tliere, rid ).'ore ov«ir lancos wcHnd, 
 For Dulscch, Duach's daughter ! ' " 
 
 — Four blasters. 
 
 Duisech was the wife of Murkertach 
 Mac Erca, whom she excited to fight 
 tliis battle against her own father, 
 because he had imprisoned her foster- 
 father. 
 
 ^" Lochma<rh. The battle was not 
 fought until 500. 
 
 •" SeiUemmt of the Dal-Riadic Scots. 
 This migration is improperly entered 
 at A. D. 498 in the Four Aiasters. It 
 did not occur until the year 503, a.s Dr. 
 Connor has shown {Pwleg. ad Ann., p. 
 Ixxxvi.) — See Dr. O'Donovati's note 
 upon t/ie event, p. IGO Four Masters. 
 
 ■"■ Ere. He was the son of Eocajdli 
 Munremhar, and King of the Dal-Ria- 
 da. lie had himself made a fresh IrLsli 
 settlement in Alba in 440 ; but, it 
 
 would appear that the Scoto- Albanian 
 colonists were, at the present time, op- 
 pressed by their neighbors the Picts. 
 'I'he reader nmst not confound this 
 Ere, the Dalriadic chief, with Ere, or 
 Erca, the mother of Murkertach, the 
 next king of Ireland. 
 
 ""' Seized upon its Sovereignty. " The 
 colony planted in those regions by 
 Carbri Kiada, in tlie middle of the 
 third century, though constantly fed 
 with supplies from the parent stock 
 fthe Dulriadians of Antrim), had run 
 irerjuent risks of extirpation from the 
 suiK'rior power of their neighbors and 
 rivals, the Picts. In the year 503, 
 however, the D:i.lria<liaii ]irinccs of 
 Ireland, aided by the then all-powerful 
 influence of the Hy-Nial family, were 
 enabled to transplant a new colony 
 into North Britain, which, extending 
 the limits of the former settlement, set 
 up, for the first time, a regal authority, 
 and became, in a single century, suffi- 
 ciently powerful to shake off all de- 
 ]wndcnce upon Ireland." — Moore's 
 Hislorij of Ireland. 
 
 " The Scots were of Irish origin ; 
 for, to the great confusion of history, 
 the inhabitants of Trchuul, those, at 
 least, of the conquering and predomi- 
 nating caste, were called Scots. A 
 colony of these Irish Scots, distinr 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 428 
 
 Death of St. Patrick, the Apostle. 
 
 St. Patrick died" in Ireland, A. D. 493, in the fourteentli year 
 of Lugaidh's reign, after having lived one hundred and twenty- 
 two years on this earth, as I have heretofore shown. 
 
 ^uished by the name of Dalriads, or 
 Dalreudini, natives of Ulster, had 
 early attempted a settlement on the 
 coast of Argylcshire. They finally 
 established themselves there under Fer- 
 gus, the son of Eric, about the year 
 503, and, recruited by colonies from 
 Ulster, continued to multiply and in- 
 crease, until they formed a nation, 
 which occupied the western side of 
 Scotland," &c. — Sir Walter Scott's 
 History of Scotland. 
 
 " St. Patrick's Death. " The age of 
 Christ, 492. The fifteenth year of Lu- 
 gaidh, Patrick, son of Calphronn, son 
 of Potaide, Archbishop, First Primate 
 and Chief Apostle of Ireland, whom 
 Pope Celestine the First had sent to 
 preach the Gospel, and disseminate 
 religion and piety among the Irish, was 
 the person who separated them from 
 the worship of idols and spectres, who 
 conquered and destroyed the idols 
 which they had for worshiping, who 
 expelled demons and evil spirits from 
 among them, and brought them from 
 the darkness of sin and vice to the 
 light of faith and good works, and 
 who guided and conducted their souls 
 from the gates of hell, to which they 
 were going, to the gates of the king- 
 dom of heaven. It was he that 
 baptized and blessed the men, women, 
 sons and daughters of Ireland, with 
 their territories and tribes, both fresh 
 waters and sea inlets. It was by him 
 that many cells, monasteries and 
 churches were founded throughout Ire- 
 land, seven hundred churches was 
 their number. It was by him that 
 bishops, priests, and persons of every 
 dignity were ordained, seven hun- 
 dred bishops and three thousand priests 
 was their number. He worked so 
 many miracles and wonders, that the 
 human mind is incapable of remember- 
 ing or recording the amount of good 
 which he did upon the earth. When 
 the time of St. Patrick's death ap- 
 
 proached, he received the body of 
 Christ from the hands of the holy 
 bishop, Tassach, in the hundred and 
 twenty-second year of his age, and 
 resigned his spirit to heaven. There 
 was a rising of battle and a cause of 
 dissenaon in the province, contending 
 for the body of Patrick, after his death 
 — the Ui Neill and the Oirghialla, at- 
 tempting to bring it to Armagh ; the 
 Ulta to keep it with themselves. And 
 the Ui Neill and the Oirghialla came 
 to a certain water, and the river swel- 
 led against them, so that they were not 
 able to cross it, in consequence of the 
 greatness of the flood. When the 
 flood subsided, these hosts, i. e. the 
 Ui Neill and the Ulta, united on terms 
 of peace to bring the body of Patrick 
 with them. It appeared to each of 
 them, that each had the body, convey- 
 ing it to their respective territories ; 
 so that God separated them in this 
 manner, without a fight or battle. The 
 body of Patrick was afterwards buried 
 at Dunda-leth-glas, with great honor 
 and veneration. And during the twelve 
 nights that the religious seniors were 
 watching the body, with psalms and 
 hymns, it was not night in Magh-inis, 
 or the neighborhoods, as they thought, 
 but as if it were the full undarkened 
 light of day." — Four Masters. 
 
 The Tassach mentioned in the ex- 
 tract, was the patron saint of Path 
 Colptha, now Raholp, near Saul, in the 
 barony of Locale, and county Down. 
 Saul (in Irish, Sabhal Phadraig, i. e. 
 Patrick's Barn,) was the first place 
 where the saint had celebrated the 
 Divine Sacrifice after his landing in 
 Ireland. It was granted to him by the 
 chieftain Dicho, his earliest convert, 
 and having been consecrated by his 
 first spiritual triumph, it continued to 
 be his most favored retreat, unto his 
 death. " No sooner had the news 
 spread throughout Ireland that the 
 great apostle was no more, than the 
 
424: 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Lugaidh died soon after. He Avas killed b}^ lightning, at 
 Achadli-Farclia,'- for having violated the law of St. Patrick. 
 
 MURKERTACn MOR MAC EKCA, AED-RIGH. 
 
 A.D. 497." ^Murkertacli"* ^lac Erca, son of Muredach, son of 
 Eogan, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, succeeded to the 
 throne, and reigned twentj-four years. Erca, daughter of Loarn, 
 or Lodharn, King of Alba, was his mother. In the beginning 
 of this monarch's reign, St. Kiaran ^Mac an t-Saeir (Mac an lluer) 
 was born. This saint was of the race of Core, son of Fergus 
 Mac Roigh, of the line of Ir. About this time, also, was born 
 the holy abbot St. Comgall {Cowgal or Coivcd), of Bennchor, who 
 had forty thousand monks under his rule and government, as we 
 read in the Red Book of Mac Aedagain. This should be the 
 more readily believed, as we read in a work of unquestioned 
 authority, namely : in St. Bernard's Life of Malachias, that one 
 of the disciples of the abbot St, Comgall, who had been sent on 
 the mission from his monastery, had himself founded one hun- 
 dred monasteries. St. Comgall was of the race of Irial, son of 
 Conall Kearnach, son of Amirghin, of Clanna Eudraide, who 
 were of the line of Ir, son of Milcdh. His descent is thus record- 
 ed in a verse of the Naeimh-shenchas" {Neev-hannaghas) : 
 
 clergy flocked from all quarters to 
 Sabhul, to assist in solemnizing his 
 obsequies ; and as every bishop, or 
 priest, according as he arrived, felt 
 naturally anxious to join in honoring 
 the dead, by the celebration of the 
 Holy Mysteries, the rites were con- 
 tinued without interruption through 
 day and night. To psalmody and 
 chaunting of hymns the hours of the 
 night were all devoted, and so great 
 was the pomp and profusion of torches 
 kept constantly burning, that, as those 
 who describe the scene express it, dark- 
 ness was dispelled, and the whole time 
 appeared to be one constant day." — 
 Moore's Hisforif of Ireland. 
 
 " Achadh Parchn ; i. e. the Field of 
 Lightning ; it lay in Mcath. Lugaidh 
 had insulted St. I'atriek, and for it he 
 is said to have been tluis punished. 
 
 " T^pon the awful Aclia'Th Farcba 
 Dip'l Lii|ra|i!ti. pon «if LiiffSfirl, 
 Without jiraiso in Ilcnvcn or here ; 
 A flash of lightning smote him down." 
 
 — Four Masters. 
 
 " A. D. 504. Id. O'Flaherty 
 introduces an interregnum of five 
 
 years after the death of the last mon- 
 arch. The probability, however, 
 is, that there was none ; for Murker- 
 tach, who was the Hector of the Ui 
 Neill, was then too powerful in Ire- 
 land to be kept from the throne. The 
 Munster annalists, however, do not ad- 
 mit of his inmicdiate accession to the 
 royalty, but, about this epoch, would 
 p]ac(! the crown upon the head of 
 Eoeaidh, son of Aengus, King of Leth- 
 Mogha, in his place. 
 
 " MiTUKERTACii H. Dr. Kcating has 
 called liini elsewhere the brother of Fer- 
 gus Mor, son of Ere, King of the Dal- 
 Riada. He was, however, but the mater- 
 nal cousin of that conqueror. It is this 
 monarch, that is said to liave sent the 
 Lia Fail to Scotland ; but whoever 
 will judge his character by his deeds, 
 must Hcc llic extreme improl)abiii(y of 
 snpj)osing that so proud and warlike a 
 c]ian)])i()ii would have parted with the 
 sacred inauguration-stone of the kings 
 of his race. 
 
 " Nacimh-Shenchas, i. e. the Saint- 
 history. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 425 
 
 " Comgall of Bennchor, son of Sediia, 
 Whose soul no dread of death dismayed, 
 From Ulad's lordly race had spruntr, 
 Of the blood of Irial, son of Conihall." 
 
 The Emperor Anastasius died about this time ; when, also, 
 died St. Cainncch,'" of Achadh-Bo [ahavo]. This saint sprung 
 from the blood of Fergus Mac Eoigh. About this time, was 
 l)orn Colam-Killi, or Columkille," son of Fergus Kenn-fada, son 
 of Connal Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages ; and now, 
 also, died St. Brighitt," daughter of Dabhtach Donn, sou of 
 
 " St. Caimiech. He did not die until 
 A. M. 508. From him Kilkenny (in 
 Irish, Ciil Chainnigh, i. e. the Church 
 or Cellof Cainnech.) has its name. His 
 principal church was at Achadh Bo 
 \A<rhabo), and we arc told that he 
 had another at Cill Bighmonigh (now 
 St. Andrews), in Alba.— O'D. 
 
 " ColumkiUe. This saint was born 
 about the year 531. 
 
 " St. Brighitt, or Brighid (Breeyith). 
 St. Bridget, as her name has been com- 
 monly anglicized, one of the most 
 venerated of the Irish saints, was, as is 
 seen by the pedigree above given, de- 
 cended of the tribe of the Fotharta of 
 Leiuster. Her death is thus recoi'ded 
 by the Four Masters : " The age of 
 Christ 525, St. Brighit, virgin. Abbess 
 of Cull-dara, died. It was to her that 
 Cill-dara was first granted, and by her 
 it was founded. It was she who never 
 turned her attention from the Lord for 
 one hour, but was constantly meditat- 
 ing and thinking of him in her heart 
 and mind, as is evident in her own life 
 and in that of St. Brendan, Bishop of 
 Cluain-Ferta. She spent her time dili- 
 gently serving the Lord, performing 
 wonders and miracles, healing every 
 disease and malady, until she resigned 
 her spirit to heaven, on the first day of 
 the month of February, and her body 
 was interred at Dun, in the same tomb 
 with St. Patrick, with honor and vene- 
 ration." 
 
 The institution of female monas- 
 teries, or nunneries, such as, in the 
 4th century, were established abroad 
 by Melania, and other pious women, 
 was introduced into Ireland, towards 
 
 the close of the 5th century, by St. 
 Brigid ; and so general was the en- 
 thusiasm which her example excited, 
 that the religious order which she 
 instituted spread its branches through 
 every part of the country. She took 
 the vail herself at a very early age, 
 and was followed in this step by seven 
 or eight maidens, who formed at first 
 her small religious community. The 
 pure sancity of the virgin's life, and 
 the miraculous gifts attributed to her, 
 spread her fame more widely every 
 day, and crowds of J'oung women and 
 widows applied for admission into her 
 institution. This compelled her to 
 found some one great establishment, 
 over which she should herself preside. 
 The people of her native province of 
 Leinstcr reqviested her to fix upon their 
 province as her residence. To this 
 she assented, and a habitation was 
 immediately provided for her, which 
 formed the commencement both of her 
 great monastery, and of the city of 
 Kildare. The name of Kill-dara, or 
 Cell of the Oak, was given to this 
 mansion, from a very high oak tree 
 that grew near the spot, of which the 
 trunk still remained in the 12th century, 
 no one daring to touch it with a knife. 
 The honor of possessing her remains 
 was contested not only by different 
 parts of Ireland — the Ulstcrmen claim- 
 ing that she was buried in Down, not at 
 Kildare, — while the Picts and British 
 Scots insisted that Abernethy was her 
 resting place. But in no place was 
 she honored with more devotion than 
 in the Western Isles, where most of the 
 churches were dedicated to her patron- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Dremni, son of Bresal, son of Dian, son of Connla, son of Art, 
 son of Carbri Niadh, son of Cormac, son of Aengus Mor, son of 
 Eocaidh Finn Fuatbairt, son of Feidlimidh Rcctmar, son of 
 Tuathal Tectmar, of the line of Erimhon. She was then eighty- 
 seven years old, according to some accounts ; according to others, 
 seventy. She was the first abbess of Kill-dara (Kildare). Her 
 genealogy is given down, after the following manner, in the 
 bardic senchas : 
 
 " Brighitt -was daughter of Dubthach Donn, 
 Son of Dremni, son of Bresal of smooth hair, 
 Son of Dian, son of Connla, son of Ai-t, 
 Son of Carbri Niadh, son of Cormac, 
 Son of Aengus Mor, of high esteem, 
 Son of Eocaidh Finn, whom Art detested, 
 Son of wise Feidlimidh the Legal, 
 The glorious Tuathal Tectmar's son." 
 
 It Avas about this time that the body of St, Antonius, a holy 
 monk, was miraculously discovered, and brought to Alexandi'ia, 
 where it was enshrined in the church of St. John the Baptist. 
 Murkertach fought the following battles in one year," accord- 
 ing to what the historic bard tells us in the following rann : 
 
 " The fight of Kenn-€ich, the fight of Almhain, 
 (Those were great and glorious times) 
 The pillage of the Cliachs, the fight of Aidni, 
 And the fight ujion Ailbi's blood-red plain." 
 
 Shortly after fighting these battles. King Murkertach died,'" in 
 
 age, the most solemn oath of the is- command of St. Cairncch. Having 
 
 landers was by her name, and the 1st had her father and kindred, who were 
 
 of February, every year, was held as a of the old tribe of Tara, slain by Mur- 
 
 soleran festival in her honor. The very kertach in the V)attle of Cirb, or Ath 
 
 name of these islands — Hebrides, as if Sigh, on the Boyne, she threw herself 
 
 Ey Brides — is said to mean the Isles in liis way, and became his mistress, 
 
 ofBrigid. — See Moore's History of Ire- for the express purpose of wreaking 
 
 land. her vengeance u])on him with greater 
 
 " In one year. They were fought fiicility. And the story states, that 
 
 in 526, in the 2.3d year of his reign, she iMirned the house of Cletty over 
 
 Kenn-eich. i. e. the ÍTill of the Horse, the head of the monarch, who, scorched 
 
 is now called Kiniicigh, on tlie borders by the flames, plunged into a pinicheon 
 
 of Kildare and Wicklow. The Cliachs of wine, in which he was suifocated. 
 
 were in Idrone, county Carlow. Aidni Hence it Wiis that he was both burned 
 
 vas in (ialway ; and Magh Ailbi in and drowned. — O'Donovan. 
 Kildare. This doom had, it is said, been • 
 
 ** Murkertach died. He fell a victim prophecied to him by St. Cairnech, in 
 
 to the vengeance of a concubine named these terms : 
 Sin (.*?/iecn, i. e. Storm), for whom he " I «m f.-arful ofthat woman, 
 had abandoned his lawful queen, but Kound whmn fhail many tcmncsts rage, 
 
 , , „, 1 i / ji J*ur lilm who simll bf burned by nrc, 
 
 whom he afterwards put away, at the And drowned by wine on Clcltecirsslde." 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 427 
 
 the palace of Cleitech. It was about this time that St. Albi, or 
 Alveus, Abbot of Imlech, (now Emlj)," died. St. Baeithin," 
 Bishop of Luimnech (Limerick), flourished about this time." 
 
 TUATHAL MAEL-GARB, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 527.** TuathaP' Mael-garb, son of Cormac Caech, or 
 the Sliortsighted, son of Carbri, son of Niall of the Nine 
 Hostages, of the line of Erimhon, succeeded to the throne, and 
 held it for thirteen years. The reason why he was surnamed 
 Mael-garb, i. e.bald and rough, *^ was as follows : Immediately after 
 his birth, his mother, Comaein, daughter of Dall Bronnach, to 
 fulfil some superstitious ceremony, struck his head against a 
 stone, as an omen of good luck. The stone made a hollow 
 trench upon his head, upon Avhich no hair ever afterwards grew. 
 
 In Tuathal's reign died St. Mochta," a disciple of St. Patrick, 
 who is said to have lived three hundred years. In his reign 
 was born St. Baeithin,** a disciple of St. Columkille. Bacithin 
 and Columkille were brothers' sons. In his reign, also, died 
 St. Mobi,'^ surnamed Berchan of the Prophecies. He was of the 
 
 «' St. Albi of Imlech. One of the 
 fathers of the Irish Church, and chief 
 patron of Munst^r. There is some 
 uncertainty as to the time of his death. 
 It is entered in the Irish annals both 
 at the year 526 and 541, but neither 
 can be the real date, if it be true that 
 he had been converted, as is said, so 
 early as A. D. 360. He died on the 
 12th of December. 
 
 *^ St. Baethin, Bishop of Luimnech. 
 He is considered the founder of the 
 bishoprick of Limerick. 
 
 '*^ The accession of the successor of 
 Murkertach is dated A. D. 527, in one 
 of the editor's MS. copies. He adopts 
 it because it agrees with the common 
 opinion ; though it contradicts the 
 text, by making him reign 29 instead 
 of 24 years. Of Murkertach the bard 
 Kcnnfaeladh sung : 
 
 " The royal Mac Erca returns 
 Into the lands of the Ui Neill ; 
 Blood reached the girdles in his battles, 
 With profit to the sons of Kian. 
 Nine times he beareth off nine chariots. 
 In momory long liis fame shall live; 
 From Ui Neill he took hostages, 
 And hostages from Mumha'a plain." 
 
 -Four Masters. 
 " A. D. 528. 
 
 Id. 
 
 ^ TuATHAL II. He reigned but 11 
 years, according to some. 
 
 *^* Bald and Rough. Mael-garbh 
 {mael-garve) may also mean the rough 
 chief for mael likewise signifies a lord 
 or chief. The derivation above given 
 is very silly. 
 
 ^ St. Mochta, or Mocteus, was one 
 of St. Patrick's disciples, and Bishop 
 of Lugh-mhagh (Loo-vaa), or Louth. 
 The legends say that he lived for three 
 hundred years, but Drs. Lanigan and 
 Colgan, after careful examination of 
 collateral facts, have reduced his age 
 to 100, or 130 at most. 
 
 ^ St. Baeithin. He was a distin- 
 guished scribe, and became Abbot of 
 I-Colra Kille, or lona. His principal 
 church in Ireland was Tech Baeithin 
 {Tagh Baiheen), now Taughboyne, in 
 the barony of Raphoe, county Donegal. 
 His festival was kept on the 9th of 
 June, on which day he died, in the 
 year 598. He was son of Brenann, 
 the uncle of Colum Kille. 
 
 «» St. Mohi. He was called Mobhi, 
 or Mobhai Claraingech [Movee Clarin- 
 gag/i),i.e.Mobi of the Flat Face. Some 
 prophecies attributed to him, under the 
 name of Berchan, are still extant. He 
 
428 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAXD. 
 
 race of Fiacaidli Bachcda, son of King Cathaeir Mor. Comgall, 
 King of Alba, died about tins time. It was, likewise, in Tuath- 
 al's reign that the battle of Tortan, in Leinster, was fought, 
 where Ere, son of Olild Alolt, was slain. From this Ere came 
 the Fir Kera.'" About the same time, the battle of Sligech" 
 {S/ilig!/ar/Ji) was fought bj Fergus and Domnall, sons of Murker- 
 tach Mae Erca. In it was slain Eogan Bel, who had reigned 
 over Connaught for thirty-live years. Odran,^" the Saint of 
 Leitrech, died. He was of the race of Conari, son of Mogh 
 Lamha. St. Kiaran Mac-an-t-Saeir" died in his forty-first year. 
 
 was Abbot of Glass Xaidhen, now 
 Glasnevin, on tlie bunk of the Fiun- 
 glaisi, to tlie north of the river Liffey. 
 
 " In the 8th year of Tuathal, A. D. 
 535, the Abbey of Doiri-Calgaigh 
 (Dcrry) was fouudeil by the latter 
 saiut, the place having been granted to 
 him by his own tribe, i. e. the race of 
 Oouall Gulban, son of Niall." — Four 
 Masters. 
 
 " Fir Kera, i. e. the inhabitants of 
 the barony of Carra, or Cera {Carra), 
 county of Mayo. They are not de- 
 scended from an Ere, son of Olild 
 Molt, wliose race became extinct in 
 his grandsons, Olild Inbanda, and Aedh 
 Fortamhail, but from Ere Cul-blmidhe 
 [Cool-wee), eldest son of Fiachra, son 
 of King ilocaidh Muigh-medon. The 
 three chieftain septs of the Fir-Kera 
 were: Tighernaigh (Tierneyt, 
 Gormghail, or Gormog, and (J Muircd- 
 haigh (0 Murray). — See Tribes and 
 Customs of the Ui Fiachrach. 
 
 °' Slia;ech, i. e. the river Sligo. This 
 battle was fought by the northern Ui 
 Ncill against Ui Fiachrach, in 537. 
 " The latter were routed, and Eogan 
 Bi-1, their king, was slain ; of which it 
 was said : 
 
 " ' That flclit with Flachra's race, and B51 
 Wasfoutfht with sharp and veniroful blades; 
 Sjicar-poadcd croaiied tlic foeinaii'skine, 
 AVlicn that red flslit o'er Crinder S[)road. 
 To the widi> waves then Sli.'i-i'li watli-d 
 The blood of bravo men and tluir bodies; 
 And borne from Kba were irreat trophies, 
 Bound that grim head of Eogan Bel." " 
 
 — FiAir Masters. 
 
 But we are told in the life of his 
 BCD, St. Kellach, that Eogan lived 
 three days, or. according to others, a 
 week, after being mortally wounded in 
 
 this battle, and that he ordered his 
 people to bury his body on the south 
 side of the Sligcch, in a standing post- 
 ure, with a red javelin in liis hand, and 
 with his face turned towards Ulster, 
 as if fighting with his foes. This hav- 
 ing been done, the result is said to have 
 been, that the Connaughtmen routed 
 the men of Ulster while the l)ody re- 
 mained so placed, but the Ulstermen 
 learning the talismanic cause of their 
 defeats, disinterred the body of Eogan, 
 and buried it on the north side of the 
 Sligech, at Aenach-Locha-Gili, with 
 the face under, and thus regained their 
 wonted courage. 
 
 "' St. Odran. He did not die until 
 the 2nd of October, 548, in the next 
 reign. He is the i)atron saint of 
 Ijcitrech-Odhrain [Lethra^h Orniiin), 
 now Latteragli, in the barony of Lower 
 Ormond, county Tipperary. The name 
 of St. Patrick's charioteer was also 
 Odran, and he is venerated as the first 
 martyr of the Irish Church, and the 
 only saint of ancient times whose blood 
 had been shed, for the Faith's sake, by 
 an Irishman. St. Odran having heard 
 that a chieftain of the Ui Failghi 
 designed to waylay and assassinate the 
 Irish apostle, on his way through the 
 King's (bounty, contrived, und^r the 
 prctei'.ce of being hinistiU' fatigued, to 
 induce his master to take the driver's 
 seat, and so, being mistaken for St. 
 Patrick, he received the murderous 
 lance in liis stead. He is the patron 
 saint of Disert Odhrain, in Ui Failghi. 
 
 ■" St. Klarnn Mnc-an-t-Saeir. This 
 saint also died in the next reign. His 
 death is entered in the Four Masters 
 under the year 548, when he died, ou 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 429 
 
 Beoidli was the name of bis father, and Darerca'* tliat of his 
 mother, as he tells us himself in the following verse : 
 
 " Darcrca" my mother "was, 
 No humble serf was she ; 
 Beoidh, the Saer, my sire was named 
 Of lauded Latharna sprung he." 
 
 At this time the head fell off a cripple'" at the fair, or assembly, 
 of Talti, because he had sworn falsely bj the hand of St. Kiaran. 
 Some say that he lived, amongst the monks, for the space of five 
 years without a head. Soon after, King Tuathal Mael-garb was 
 killed by Maelmorda, son of Mathar,^' at the instigation of Diar- 
 maid, son of Fergus Kerbeol, at Grellach Eithli. 
 
 the 9th day of September. He was the 
 founder of Cluain-mic-Nois, now called 
 Cloumacnoise, otherwise the Seven 
 Churches, on the east side of the Shan- 
 non, in the King's County. He must 
 be distinguished from St. Kiaran 
 Saighri, the patron of Ossory, who was 
 one of St. Patrick's precursors. St. 
 Kiaran is said to have dwelt but seven 
 months in Cluain-mic-Xois when he 
 died. 
 
 "' Darerca. This lady was of the 
 race of Core, son of Fergus Mac 
 Roigh. Darerca was also the name 
 of one of St. Patrick's sisters, or of 
 one of those religious ladies who have 
 been, perhaps, figuratively called his 
 sisters by the Irish shannachies. 
 
 ^ Latharna. Beoidh has been cal- 
 led a Connaughtman by some M'riters. 
 But that can scarcely be, if the read- 
 ing, Latharna, in the verse above given, 
 be correct. Latharna {Laharna) was 
 the old name of the territory around 
 the present town of Larne, anciently 
 Inber Latharna, in the county of An- 
 trim. Beoidh was probaby of Pictish 
 blood. 
 
 * A Cripple. "Do thuit a chenn 
 de bhacach," i. e. his head fell off a 
 cripple, or halt person, is the phrase 
 used by Dr. Keating. This person is 
 called Abacuc by the Four Masters, 
 who enter the singular event in these 
 terms, under A.D. 539: '-The de- 
 capitation of Abacuc at the Fair of 
 Talti, through the miracles of God and 
 Kiaran ; that is, a false oath he took 
 upon the hand of Kiaran, so that a 
 
 gangrene took him in the neck ; that 
 is, St. Kiaran put his hand upon his 
 neck, so that it cut off his head." 
 This somewhat exjilains the origin of 
 the extravagant legend above narrated. 
 The disease of which Abacuc (possibly 
 some notorious perjurer) died, whether 
 the consequence of his impiety or not, 
 was a perfectly natural one, if we allow 
 a little to popular hyperbole. 
 
 ^ Maelmorda, Son of Mathar. In 
 the Four Masters he is called ^Maelmor 
 Mac Airgeadain, tutor of Diarmaid 
 Mac Kerbeoil. Diarmaid having laid 
 claim to the Irish throne, had been 
 banished and outlawed by Tuathal, 
 who offered a large reward to whomso- 
 ever might bring him his rival's heart. 
 Diarmaid, upon this, took refuge in 
 the wilds of Artibra, where Clonmac- 
 uois is now situated, and there he met 
 with St. Kiaran, who had but lately 
 come thither, from Inis Aingin, now 
 Hare's Island, in the Shannon. While 
 he was in this place, the saint prayed 
 for the prince's success, and gave him 
 his benediction. Thereupon, Maelmor, 
 son of Airgeadau, seeing the prince's 
 difficulties, besought him to lend him 
 his black horse, for the purpose of 
 going to Grellach Eilti, where Tuathal 
 was about to have a meeting with 
 some of his nobles, and of there slaying 
 the monarch, in the midst of his people. 
 Having procured the horse from the 
 prince, Maelmor rode thereon to Grel- 
 lach Eilti, and entered the host of Tuat- 
 hal bearing a hound's heart on the 
 point of his blood-stained laace. The 
 
THE HISTOEY OF IRELAND. 
 
 It was in the reign of Tuatlial that Guairi, son of Colman, 
 became King of Connaught, as the successor of Eogan Bel. At 
 the time of his accession, it happened that the eldest son of 
 Eogan Bel, who was named Kellach, was a disciple of St. Kiaran, 
 and on the point of becoming a monk. But the friends of Eouan 
 Bel allured this Kellach from the congTegation of St. Kiaran, in 
 order to make him their chieftain, in opposition to Guairi. But 
 upon his coming out of the convent, St. Kiaran gave him his 
 malediction, and prayed to God that a violent death might over- 
 take him. Then, when the youth had been a sometime outside 
 the convent, he understood that he had done ill in breaking- 
 through St. Kiaran's rule. He thereupon returned to his spirit- 
 ual superior and made his submission, promising to remain 
 at his disposal during his lifetime. St. Kiaran, upon this, gave 
 him his blessing, but he said to him that he sliould, nevertheless, 
 meet with a violent end. Kellach, then, remained in the con- 
 gregation of St. Kiaran, until, in course of time, he was made 
 bishop.*' Having reached this dignity in the country, he took 
 
 multitude, imairinin.!^ that it was the 
 heart of Diarraaid that lie carried, 
 made way for him to the royal pre- 
 sence. Arrived there, lie made an 
 offer as if to ])r('sent the heart to the 
 kiu<r ; but instead thereof, he trans- 
 fixed the latter with his lance. Tuat- 
 hal's guards immediately fell upon the 
 assassin, and cut him down upon the 
 spot ; whereon the bard said ; 
 
 "The fate ofMaclnior was not slow, 
 The ilci'il he wroutrht was wrung; 
 The miL'lity Tiiathal ho has slaiu, 
 Himseir falls in that act." 
 
 — Four Masters. 
 
 Grellach Eilli, i. e. the Miry Tlace 
 of the Does, where this deed was per- 
 petrated, was at the foot of Sliabh 
 Camh, now Slieve Gamh, in the county 
 of Sligo. Eithli, the word in the text, 
 is incorrect. 
 
 * A fíi.úop, Ifc. Kellach, or rather 
 St. Kellach, became bishop of Kilmore 
 Moy, in Tirawiey, but he was com[)ell- 
 ed to resien his bishnprick, and to 
 retire as a hermit to Oilen Kdjrair, in 
 Loch Conn, from fear of (Juairi Aidtii, 
 who held him in mortal hatred. AVliile 
 he was livin^^ there in his hermitage, 
 Guairi bribed four of his pupils, Mac 
 Deoraidh, Maelcroin, Maeldalua and 
 Maelscnaigh, to murder him, and these 
 
 committed the foul deed in a wood that 
 lay between Loch C'onn and Loch Cul- 
 linn, in the south of Tirawiey. As a 
 reward for their services, these wretches 
 were granted the whole territory of 
 Tirawiey by Guairi ; and there they 
 erected themselves the fort of Dun 
 Fine. The second son of Eogan Bel, 
 named Muredach, but who was also 
 called Cu-Congelt, having come soon 
 after to visit his brother, and not hav- 
 ing found him, suspected that he had 
 met with foul play, and after some 
 search, discovered his body, mangled 
 by ravens and wolves, in the hollow of 
 an oak tree. He then carried the 
 disfigured remains successively to the 
 churches of Tnrlorh and TjÍs Callain, 
 but was refused admittance into cither, 
 through fear of Guairi. He at length 
 buried it with due honors at the 
 Church of Eiscrecha. Having there 
 chaunted a short dirge over his bro- 
 ther's grave, in which he vowed ven- 
 geance against his murderers, he as- 
 sembled a band of .300 of his kinsmen 
 and nliiitiors, with whom he set out for 
 Ui Mani, where he dwelt for a year. 
 Tlicnci! he proceeded to Meath, where 
 after some time, he married Aeifi, 
 daughU-r of Blatlimac, King of Ire- 
 land. After some time he returned to 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 431 
 
 part with bis younger brother, for -whom he strove to gain parti- 
 zans and friends, in his factious attempts to make himself King 
 of Connaught. When Guairi had heard of his proceedings, he 
 suborned three of Kcllach's own trusted people to assassinate 
 him. Thus was St. Kiaran's prophecy fulfilled, for he had fore- 
 told that Kellach should die by violence. 
 
 DIARMAID, ARD-EIGH. 
 
 A. D. 534.'' Diarmaid, son of Fergus Kerbcol, son of Conall 
 Cremthanni, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, of the race of 
 Erimhon, acquired the kingdom of Ireland, and held it for 
 twenty-two years."" His mother's name was Carbach, daughter 
 of Mani, a woman of the Leinster people. In the reign of this 
 prince, St. Tighernach,^ Bishop of Cluain-Eois, died. He was 
 of the race of Dari Barach, son of Cathaeir Mor. Then, also, 
 died Olild, son of Muredach, who had been for nine years King 
 of Leinster. Cormac, son of Olild, son of Eocaidh, the son of 
 Dari Kerb, son of Olild Flann Beg, was King of Munster. In this 
 time was fought the battle of Cuil Conari,^ in Kera, by Fergus 
 and Domnald, the two sons of Murkertach Mac Erca, where 
 Olild Anbflmn^ (Anvann) King of Connaught, fell, with his 
 brother Aedh Fortamhail.^ In the reign of Diarmaid, thei-e came 
 a plague upon Ireland. It was called the Crom Connaill,^ and 
 many of the saints of Ireland died thereof, among whom was St. 
 
 Tirawley, which was his paternal in- after remained. — See Tribes and Ciis- 
 
 heritance, and procuring admittance, toms of the Ui Fiaclirach. 
 
 by the aid of a swineherd, into the ^ A. D. 539. Four Masters. 
 
 fort of Dun Fine, disguised himself as ^ Twenty-two years. Twenty years. 
 
 a swineherd also, while the murderers ' St. Tighernach. He died in 548, 
 
 of his brother were engaged in banquet- on the 4th of April. Cluain Eois 
 
 ing. He waited thereuntil his enemies [doom Oash) is now called Clones, 
 
 were stupified with strong drink ; then situated in the county of Monaghan. 
 
 he sent word, by his friend the swine- " Cuil Conari. This battle was 
 
 herd, to his armed band, which lay fought in Carra, or Cera, co. Mayo, 
 
 concealed in the neighborhood, and in A. D. 544. 
 
 they, rushing into the fort, slew all the ^ Olild Anbfann, i.e. Olild the Weak. 
 
 guards, and seized upon the four mur- This chief is surnamed Inbanda by the 
 
 dercrs. The guests, learning who it Four Masters, and others. The epithet 
 
 was that had thus disturbed them, Anbfann could have scarcely been 
 
 were more pleased than grieved thereat, applicable to any man able to elevate 
 
 and finished their revelry in honor of himself to kingship in those days, when 
 
 the rightful heir. The assassins were the strong hand was the only passport 
 
 hanged next day, and soon after Cu- to power. 
 
 Congelt olitaiued the hostages of Tir- ' Aedh Foiiamhail, 1. e. Aedh the 
 
 Fiachrach and Tir-Amalgaidh, and Valiant. 
 
 compelled Guairi to live thenceforth in ^ Croii Conaill. This word is trans- 
 
 Tir Fiachrach Aidni, in the south of lated Fava Ictericia (the Yellow Jaun- 
 
 that province, where his progeny ever dice), by Colgan. — 0'X>. 
 
-^32 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Mac Tail,* of Kill Culiim. About the same time was fought the 
 battle of Cuil, or Cuilui, where a great number of the Corcuighe^* 
 were slain, through the pi-ayers of St. Mida,' a pious and noble 
 lady of the race of Fiacaidh Suighe, son of Feidlimidh R^ct- 
 raar, whom these people had insulted. 
 
 Eocaidh, son of Connla, son of Caelbadh, sonof Crun Badraei, 
 son of Eocaidh Coba, King of Uladh,^ died about this time, hav- 
 ing ruled over that principality for nine years. He was the first 
 king of the Dal Aruide. Then, likewise, died the prophet St. 
 Beg Mac De.^ St, Molua,^" the son of Sinell, son of Amirghin, 
 son of Ernin, son of Duacli Galach, son of Brian, son of Eocaidh 
 Muigh-medon, was born about this time; and the Bishop of^' 
 Achadh Cuniri, and St. Nesan^ the Leper, died. During the 
 reign of Diarmaid, the church of Cluain Cluain-ferta^^ was found- 
 ed by St. Brendan, a descendant of Kiar, son of Fergus Mac 
 Eoiffh. 
 
 " St. Mac Tail, called otherwise 
 Eogan, son of Corcran, died on tlie 
 11th of June, 548. He is the patron 
 saint of Cill Cuillinn, now Old Kilcul- 
 leu, county Kildare. In the same year 
 died St. Sinchcll the Elder, a descend- 
 ant of Catluu'ir Mor, whose feast was 
 celebrated at Killeigh, in the King's 
 County, on the 2Gth of March. And 
 then, also, died St. Finden, or Fiunen, 
 or Finnian, of Cluain Eraird, called the 
 Tutor of the Saints of Ireland, who 
 founded the College of Clouard, or 
 Cluain Erard, in Meath. St. Colum, 
 of Inis Kcltrach, an islet in Lough 
 Derg, near the village of Scariff, co. 
 Clare, is, also, recorded as having died 
 of the CroQ Conaill, during the year 
 .-)48. 
 
 "■ Corcuighe. The name is also read 
 Corcoichc, and Corca Oiche. They 
 were a sept of the Ui Fidghenti, seated 
 in the barony of Lower Connello, co. 
 Limerick. Macassy was their chief. 
 Cuil, or Cuilni, has not been identi- 
 fied. 
 
 ' St. Mida. St. Ida, or Ita. Her 
 monastery was at Cluain Crcdhail, 
 now Killeedy (Kill Ida), an old jjarish 
 church, about five miles south of New 
 Ca-stlc, county Limerick. She became 
 the patron saint of the Corcoiche. She 
 died in .5G9. All the churches in 
 Munstcr called Kilmeedy arc named 
 after this virgin, ller name is also 
 Bpclled Idé, Ite, Midé and Mite. 
 
 ^ King of Uladh. From this king 
 were named the Ui I]athach Uladh 
 (Ec-yl/íag/i-í7,V«), dwelling in the pres- 
 ent baronies of Upper and Lower 
 Iveagh, county Down. They were 
 Magennisses and their correlatives. 
 
 " St. Beg Mac De. He died in 557. 
 He is otherwise called Becc, son of 
 Degaidh. 
 
 '» St. Molua. The first abbot of 
 Cluain-fcrta Molua,now Clonfertmulloc, 
 otherwise Kyle, at the foot of Slicve 
 Bloom, in Upper Ossory, Queen's co. 
 He was otherwise called Lugaidh Mac 
 h-Ui Oiche. His death is recorded at 
 A. D. G05. 
 
 " The Bishop of, i^c. There is possi- 
 bly a mistake or omission made by 
 Keating's transcribers. AVe find that 
 St. Cathub, son of Fergus, Abbot of 
 Abhadh Chinn (?) died on the Gth of 
 April, 554. 
 
 " St. Nesan, patron of Mungret, 
 near Limerick, died on the 25th of 
 July, 551. 
 
 " Cluain Fcrta, i. c. the Lawn, or 
 Park of the Grave. It is now called 
 Clonfcrt, and lies in the county of 
 Galway. The Church of Clonfcrt 
 was erected in 553, according to some, 
 in 5G2, according to others. This St. 
 Brendan must not be confounded with 
 his namesake and friend St. Brendan, 
 of I'irra. The feast of the former was 
 held on the ICth of May ; that of the 
 latter, who was the son of Neman, of 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 433 
 
 Gabriin, King of Alba, died about tliis time, and Gruaigi, son 
 of Maelcu, King of the Cruthnigh,^* fought successfully against 
 the Albanaigh, and routed them with fearful slaughter. It was 
 about the same time that Fergus and Domnald, sons of Murker- 
 tach Mac Erca, fought a battle at Cuil Dremni,^^ against Diai'maid, 
 son of Fergus Kerbeol, where the latter was defeated, and most 
 of his forces slain, through the prayers of St. Columkille ; for 
 the king had put to death Curnan, son of Aedh, son of Eocaidh 
 Tirmcarna, while under the protection of St. Columkille. God 
 punished him therefor, by causing him to suffer this defeat. 
 In further vengeance for his having ofíended the saint, Diarmaid 
 was again defeated by Acdh, son of Brenann, King of Tebtha, 
 at Cuil Uinscnn,^^ in Tebtha, where great numbers of his people 
 were likewise slain. 
 
 Soon after this, Columkille went to Alba to dwell at Aei- 
 Coluim-Killi,^^ being then forty-three years old. 
 
 the race of Corb Olum, was held on 
 the 29th of November. 
 
 It is said in the Life of St. Brendan, 
 that he sailed for seven years in the 
 Western Ocean, and had arrived at 
 some land, that, if there be any truth 
 in the story, must have been Ame- 
 rica. 
 
 " Cruthnijrh, ^c. The contradiction 
 implied here is explained by the fact 
 that the Gaelic tribe of the Dal-Araide 
 were about this time called Cruthnigh, 
 for they were maternally descended 
 from the Picts. 
 
 '^ Cuil Drcmni. This place is in the 
 barony of Carbury, to the north of the 
 town of Sli^'o. The cause of the battle 
 was this : Curnan. son of Aedh, whose 
 father was King of Conuaught, had 
 slain a nobleman during the Feis of 
 Temhair, held by Diarmaid in the year 
 554. Knowing that, by ancient usage, 
 his death alone could atone for the 
 act, Curnan fled for sanctuary to St. 
 Columkille ; but Diarmaid would 
 not allow such a national outrage to 
 go unpunished, and, therefore, forced 
 Curnan from the arms of Columkille, 
 and had him put to death. In revenge 
 for this insult put upon their kinsman, 
 the chiefs of the northern Ui Neill, 
 backed by Aedh Tirmcarna, King of 
 Connaught, the father of Curnan, at- 
 tacked Diarmaid, and routed his forces, 
 at Cuil Dremni. 
 
 28 
 
 ^ Cuil Uinsenn, i. e. the corner, or 
 angle, of the ash trees. Its situation 
 has not been identified. Aedh, son of 
 Brenann, was a friend and relative of 
 St. Columkille. This battle was 
 fought in 55G. 
 
 " Aei-Coluim-Killi, otherwise I- 
 Coluim-Kille, or lona. St. Colum- 
 kille, who, it would appear, had ex- 
 cited his powerful relatives to fight 
 these battles against the king, is said to 
 have incurred the censure of the Irish 
 Church for having caused so much 
 bloodshed. This led to his mission, or 
 banishment, to the Western Isles, 
 where the glory he acquired by his 
 energy and perseverance in converting 
 the Ficts, and by the purity of his 
 life, soon dispelled any clouds that 
 miglit have dimmed the lustre of his 
 sanctity in the earlier part of his 
 career. Besides this, we are not to 
 imagine that the saint's hostility to 
 Diarmaid had its origin altogether in 
 personal, or family, or even in oflicial 
 pride. It is likely that Diarmaid, not- 
 withstanding his friendship towards St. 
 Kiaran of Clonmacnoise, had still some 
 leaning towards the usages of the 
 Druidic worship. The fault, then, 
 which caused the exile of the saint, 
 may have had its source as much in 
 overwrought religious enthusiasm as in 
 the personal insult offered to him in 
 either his capacity of churchman or, 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAííD. 
 
 And it -was not long after when the battle of Moin Mor^® was 
 gained in Alba, bj the northern Clanna Neill, in which seven 
 petty kings of the Cruthnigh fell by their hands.About this time 
 died. Colraan Mor, son of Cai'bri, son of Dunlaing, who had 
 reigned as King of Leinster for thirty years. 
 
 Guairi Aidni, King of Connaught. 
 
 In the seventeenth year of this reign, a recluse named. Sinnach 
 Cro, came to complain to King Diarmaid that Guairi, the son of 
 Colman, had taken from her the only cow she possessed. Diar- 
 maid, upon this, collected a numerous host, for the purpose of 
 avenging this taking away of the holy woman's cow, perpetrated 
 by the King of Connaught. He then immediately marched to 
 the Shannon, upon the further bank of which, Guairi had as- 
 sembled an army to oppose him. Guairi now deputed St. Cumin 
 Fada,^^ son of Fiacaidh, to request of Diarmaid not to pass the 
 river for the space of twenty -four hours. " That is no such very 
 great boon for thee to request of me," replied Diarmaid to the 
 saint. " Thou mi""htcst obtain a much greater one if thou hadst 
 
 of prince of the royal house of Niall. 
 Such, at least, may bo gathered from 
 the following translated extract from a 
 rhapsody said to have been composed 
 by the saint, on the occasion of these 
 disputes : 
 
 " Wilt thou not, O God, dispel 
 This fog that hovereth o'er our people ; 
 This host which bath oflifc bereft us; 
 This host tliat around the c.iirn.s that reigncth. 
 Who plotteth against us, is born of the tem- 
 pest ; 
 Bat the Son of God is my Druid; refuse me 
 
 ho will not. 
 He will aid me," &c. 
 
 By the " host around the earns," he 
 clearly alludes to the Pagan Gods, to 
 whom the earns were sacred, and by 
 the " fog," to the Jiiagic spells practis- 
 ed in the army of Diarmaid. The 
 king had, however, made his peace 
 with the saint, previous to the hitter's 
 mission to the Hebrides, which com- 
 menced in A. D. 5.Ó7. 
 
 " Moin Mor. Keating places this 
 locality in Alba, perhaps by a mis- 
 tran.slation of Adamnan, who says that 
 it was in Scotia ; but by Scotia that 
 ancient writer always meant Ireland. 
 The Four Masters call it Moin-Doire- 
 Lothair {Mone-Dorrie-Lohir). Both 
 
 names are supposed to be preserved in 
 those of the town of Monoyraore, co. 
 Londonderry, and of Dcrryloran, the 
 parish where it is situated. The Cruth- 
 nigh, above-mentioned, were not the 
 Picts of Alba ; they were the Gaelic 
 Dal-Araide. By seme annalists it is 
 stated that the battle was fought 
 by one faction of these Gaelic 
 Cruthnigh, aided by the Ui Ncill, 
 against another. "We have seen that 
 the right of maternal succession was in 
 us;; among the Picts ; thus, many 
 chieftains called Picts in our annals 
 may be really of Gaelic origin pater- 
 nally. 
 
 '•' St. Cumin Fada was a man of 
 great sanctity and of noble race. He 
 was of the tribe of the Eoganacht of 
 Loch Lein. in Kerry, and son of a king 
 of Desmond. JIc had been educated 
 from his infancy by St. Ida. and was 
 afterwards invited to Connaught by 
 his maternal brother King Guairi, and 
 there he was made Bishop of Clonfert. 
 lie died in the year GGl, on the 12th 
 of _ November. His name is found 
 written Cuimin, Oaimin, and also Cuni- 
 mian. 
 
THE UISTORY OF IRELAND. 435 
 
 demanded it." The kings then remained as they were, on either 
 bank of the river — Diarmaid on the eastern, and Guairi on the 
 western — until the following morning. " I marvel, O Guairi," 
 said St. Cumin, " at the smallness of this host of thine, here 
 assembled, and at the greatness of that led against thee by 
 thine enemy." "Know, then," said Guairi, "that it is not the 
 number of warriors that gain battles, but that victory must ildl 
 as God willeth it ; and as thou scornest our host, know that it is 
 not comely forms but hardy hearts that win victories." Next day 
 the battle was fought; the king with his forces on the one side, 
 and Guairi, backed by the strength of Coimaught and Munster, 
 on the other. However, Guairi and his party lost the day, and 
 many of the nobles of Connaught and Munster fell, and there 
 was a great slaughter of their followers. It was through the 
 prayers of St. Caiminj^" who is honored at luis Keltrach, that 
 Guairi was defeated in this engagement, for that holy man had 
 fasted for three quarters of a year in order that Guairi might be 
 routed in battle. This St, Caimin was of the race of Fiacaidh 
 Bacheda, son of Cathaeir Mor. Guairi had indeed come to the saint, 
 and paid him respect and homage, and had bowed himself down 
 before him. But Caimin told him, nevertheless, that he could 
 not escape from being worsted in battle. 
 
 After his defeat, Guairi came to a little monastery, where he 
 found but one solitary female recluse, or nun. The woman, 
 thereupon, asked him who he was. "I am one of the household 
 guards of Guairi, son of Colman," replied he. "I am grieved," 
 said the recluse, "that defeat should have overtaken that king, 
 for hiá charity, benevolence and hospitality are greater than 
 those of an}^ man in Ireland — and that red slaughter should have 
 fallen upon his people." The nun then went out to a stream that 
 ran near her dwelling, and seeing a salmon therein, she returned 
 joyfully to tell Guairi thereof. The king went out forthwith to 
 the stream, and killed the salmon, and then returned thanks to 
 God, for his being left trusting to a single salmon that night, 
 notwithstanding his having often had ten beeves dressed in his 
 house at a single feast. 
 
 On the morrow, Guairi went to meet his people, and asked 
 their advice as to whether he should again give battle to the King 
 of Ireland, or do him homage at the spear's point. The resolve 
 
 ^ St. Caimin. He -is possibly that the years 622 and 662. No Irish 
 
 saint whose death is recorded under annals that the editor has met with 
 
 the year 664, as that of St. Cummin, mention any cngai^ement or meeting 
 
 Abbot of Clonmicnoise. Guairi and between these kings. The narration 
 
 Diarmaid could not have lived in must, then, be either a pure invention, 
 
 the same age. Guairi Aidui flourish- or the names and dates must have been 
 
 ed, according to our annals, between falsified. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 they (Guairi and his people) then took was to go to Diarmaid, 
 and to offer him liomnge. The mode of his submission was this : 
 the point of the king's sword or javehn was placed in his mouth, 
 betwixt liis teeth, while he had himself to remain on his knees. 
 But while Guaiii was thus placed, the king (Diarmaid) said 
 privately to some of his people, " We shall now find out if it be 
 through vain ostentation that Gruairi performs such acts of ex- 
 treme generosity ;" and he told a certain Druid, who was one of 
 his own people, to ask something from Guairi, in right of his 
 science. But Guairi paid no heed to his request. A leper was 
 next sent, to ask him for alms for God's sake, and Guairi gave 
 the beggar the broach that fastened his mantle, for he had then 
 no other treasure about him. The leper left him thereupon, but 
 one of the king's j^ieople met him, and deprived him of the gold 
 broach, which lie brought to his master. The beggar returned 
 to Guairi to complain of this outrage, and Guairi gave him the 
 golden girdle that he wore round his waist ; but the king's 
 j)eople took the girdle also from the poor man, who came again 
 to complain of the outrage to Guaiii, who was still holding the 
 jjoint of the king's sword between his teeth. But when that 
 chieftain saw tlie poor man thus sad and harassed, a stream of 
 tears at length burst from his eyes. "0 Guairi," said the king, 
 " is it through sorrow at being in my power that thou wcepcst 
 thus?" "I give my word that it is not," answered Guairi ; " but 
 I am grieved that one of God's poor should have nothing more 
 to get." Diarmaid then told him to arise, and said to him, that 
 he should no longer remain subject to his discretion. That there 
 was a God of all the elements above him, to whom he might do 
 homage, and that such was all that he should ask of him. They 
 then made peace, and Diarmaid invited Guairi to the fair of 
 Talti,^^ where he promised to proclaim him his successor to the 
 Irisli throne, in ])resence of the men of Ireland. After this, 
 Guairi went to the fair of Talti, and provided a bag, or sack, 
 of silver, for the purpose of making presents to the men of Ire- 
 land. But Diarmaid gave orders to those men of Ireland, that 
 not one of them should ask a single present from Guairi on the 
 fair. Two days had tluis passed by, when Guairi asked Diar- 
 
 "' The Fair of Talti. Notwitlistand- we liavo seen an instcancc in tlic ininish- 
 
 ing his Christianity, King Diarmaid ment of Curnan, I'rincc of Connanpht. 
 
 seems to liavo been a stern niainlainer JIc held the Feis of Tcnihair twice 
 
 of the ancient institutions of the Gaels, durinji liis reif^^n ; but the Church 
 
 now commencing to fail into disrepute, finally triumphed over him, and Tcm- 
 
 and which, it would appear, were tot- hair saw the noljlcs and kings of the 
 
 tering under tlie new order of tilings, Gaels for the hust time assembled on 
 
 being discountenanced by the Catholic her height iu A.D. 554. 
 clergy. Of his firmness in this respect, 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 437 
 
 maid to send him a bishop, in order that lie might make his 
 confession, and receive the Last Unction. " Why .so ? " said Diar 
 maid. " My death is at hand," said Gaairi. "How canst thoa 
 feel that it is so ? " said Diarmaid, "I understand it," said he, 
 "from the fact of mv seeing the men of Ireland assembled together 
 on one spot, without a single man of them coming to ask any 
 bounty from me." Upon this, Diarmaid gave full scope to the 
 bounties of Guairi, who, thereupon, immediately commenced mak- 
 ing his gifts to every one that then asked them. And, if the tale 
 be true, it is said that the hand wherewith he gave to the poor was 
 longer than the one wherewith he gave to the learned. At tliat 
 meeting, Diarmaid ratiiied his peace with his guest, in presence 
 of the assembled men of Ireland,^ and the two kings lived in 
 friendship thenceforward. 
 
 It happened Guairi had a holy person as brother, whose 
 name was Mochua ;^ and once, when this brother had gone to 
 make the Lent, at a spring of pure water, near Borenn, five 
 miles to the southwest of Durlas Guairi, and without any person 
 
 ^" The Desektiox of Temiiair, A.D. 
 554. This important revolution is 
 left unrecorrled by Dr. Keating. Mr. 
 Moore, on the authority of our annals, 
 records it in these terras : 
 
 " In the reign of this monarch, the 
 ancient IlalL or Court, of Tara, in 
 which, for so many centuries, the 
 Triennial Councils of the nation had 
 been held, saw for the last time her 
 kings and nobles assembled within its 
 precincts ; and the cause of the deser- 
 tion of this long-honored seat of legis- 
 lation shows to what an enormous 
 height the power of the ecclesiastical 
 order had then risen. Some I'ugitive 
 criminal, who had fled for sanctuary to 
 the Monastery of St. Ruan (St. Ruadan 
 of Lothair), having been dragged 
 forcibly from thence to Tara, and there 
 put to death, the holy abbot and his 
 monks cried aloud against the sacri- 
 legious violation ; and, proceeding in 
 solemn procession to the palace, pro- 
 nounced a solemn curse upon its walls. 
 ' From that day,' say the annalists, ' no 
 king ever sat again at Tara ;' and a 
 poet, who wrote about that period, 
 while mourning evidently over the fall 
 of this seat of grandeur, ventures but 
 to say, ' It is not with my will that 
 Tcamor is deserted.' A striking me- 
 morial of the Church's triumph on the 
 
 occasion was preserved, in the name of 
 distinction given to the monastery, 
 which was ever after, in memory of 
 this malediction, called ' The Monas- 
 tery OF THE Curses of Ireland.' " — 
 This desertion of Temhair must have 
 gradually led to the disintegration of 
 the Gaelic nation. Its tribes can no 
 longer be said to have had any com- 
 mon bond of union between them, any 
 Pan-Gaedalon, where they could meet 
 in harmony, and be reminded of their 
 common origin. Patriotism, if it ever 
 had existence amongst them, dwindled 
 down to mere personal or family am- 
 bition, and henceforth they were the 
 predestined prey of any warlike rovers 
 that might choose to mix themselves 
 up in their intestine quarrels. Thence- 
 forth the Ui Neill, or Ui Briain had 
 as little sympathy v/itli the Eogan- 
 achts, or the Dal-c-Gais, as they had 
 with the Saxon or the Dane. 
 
 After this desertion, each monarch 
 chose the residence most convenient or 
 agreeable to himself. The kings of 
 the northern Ui Neill generally resid- 
 ed at Ailech, near Londonderry, and 
 those of the southern first at Dun Tor- 
 geis,near Castlepollard, and at Dun-na- 
 Sgiath, on the northwest margin of 
 Lough Ennell, near Mullingar. 
 
 ^ Mockiui. St. Mochna was Abbot 
 
4S8 ' THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 in liis compan}' but a single young clerk, for the purpose of 
 answering the Mass for him. And both he and his clerk eat but 
 one meal in the day, until night, and even then they eat but a 
 small portion of barley bread and water-cresses, and some spring 
 water with them. When they had passed the Lent in this man- 
 ner until Easter Sunday, and when Mochua liad fniLshed the 
 celebration of the Mass on that day, a longing for flesh-meat 
 seized uj^on the young clerk, and he told the holy priest Mochua 
 that he would go to Durlas, to Guairi, and get his fill thereof 
 '' Do not," said ^Mochua. " Stay with me, while I pray to God to 
 Scjnd thee meats." With this, the holy priest fell upon his knees, 
 and he fervently prayed to God, begging of him to send meat to 
 the young clerk. Now, at that very moment they Avere setting 
 food upon the table at the house of Guairi ; and it came to pass, 
 through the prayers of ^Sloclma, that the dishes of meat were 
 snatched out of the hands of the attendants, and taken off the 
 board of the table, and brought- straight away to the wilderness, 
 where St. Mochua was. Then did Guairi and his household 
 take horse and pursue the dishes. When the viands arrived 
 b3f)re Mochua, he commenced prayingand magnifying the name 
 of God, and told the young clerk to eat his fill of the meat. He 
 then looked around, and saw the plain full of horsemen, and he 
 said, that it was no advantage to him to have got the meat, with 
 such a hunt after it. "There is no danger to you therefrom," 
 said Mochua, "it is my brother Guairi and his household that 
 are there ; and I pray God not to let one of them pass that spot 
 until you are satisfied." With that the feet of the horses were 
 fastened to the ground, so that they could not leave where they 
 were, until the young clerk was fully satisfied. Then ]\[ochua 
 prayed to God to set his brother, with his household folk, at 
 liberty ; and they, being loosed, came into Mochua's presence, 
 and Guairi fell upon his knees before him, and asked forgive- 
 ness of him. "Fear not, brother," said Mochua, "but eat thy 
 meal here." Guairi and his houseliold then cat their meal, after 
 which they bid farewell to Mochua. 
 
 The fact that the five miles of road between the well where 
 Guairi then was is still called Botliar-na-Mia {Bohar-na-Mecss\ 
 tliat is the Road of Dishes, seems to support the truth of this 
 tale. 
 
 It was in the time of Diarmaid, son of Fergus, King of Ire- 
 land, that St. Becan lived. Some historians say, that Eo^an 
 Mor left another son besides Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan, named Diar- 
 
 of Balla, a village in the barony of the patron saint of the Ui Fiachrach 
 (Jianmorris, county Mayo. lie was Aidiii, and founder of the episcopal 
 called, also, Mac Í)uadi, and became sec of Kilmacduajih. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 439 
 
 maid, and from this Diarmaid tlie St. Becan who was honored 
 at Kill Becain in JMuscraide Cnire, was descended. These his- 
 torians saj also that Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan had three sons, 
 namely : Olild Flann Mor, Olild. Flann Beg and Decluath. The 
 following quotation testifies to the fact : 
 
 " From Diarmaid great Saint Becan sprung 
 (Let us the sons of Fiacaidh trace), 
 A tribe whose rule wide cantons own — 
 Of them was Decluath, and the Olilds twain." 
 
 About this time Bresal, son of Diarmaid, son of Fergus, that 
 is, the King of Ireland's son, proposed to prepare a feast for his 
 father at Kennanus, in Meath ; but he set no value on anything 
 that he had got ready for that purpose, as he had not an exceed- 
 ingly fat piece of beef to set before his father. No such piece of 
 meat was to be found in his neighborhood, except on a single ox, 
 owned by a Avoman in orders, who lived at Kill Elcraide. Bresal 
 at first civilly and humbly asked this ox from her, and offered 
 to give her seven cows and a bull for that one animal. The wo- 
 man refused, and then Bresal took off the ox without her leave, 
 and killed it for his father's feast. But when the King of Ire- 
 land and his people were in the midst of their enjoyments of the 
 festivity, the nun came and made her complaint to the monarch 
 of his son Bresal. When the father had heard her complaint, he 
 Avas seized with violent anger, and he declared that he would put 
 Bresal to death, for outraging the black nun of Kill Elcraide. 
 He then took Bresal with him to the brink of the river of Loch, 
 and drowned him there. Immediately after the deed, he was 
 seized with remorse and grief, and he went to St. Columkille 
 to bewail his sad fate. 
 
 Columkille invited him to come with himself to Munster, 
 to the venerable Saint Becan. Columkille and he then set out 
 together for Kill-Becain,^ north of Sliabh-Grot. Immediately 
 upon arriving there, they found the holy man building a fence 
 round his burial-ground, having his robe quite wet about him. 
 As soon as Becan saw the king, he cried, " To the earth with 
 thee, parricide." Upon this, the king fell down upon his knees 
 upon the ground. Then Columkille spoke, and said, " He has 
 come to thee to beg for help to remedy the evil deed he has 
 done, and also to beg of thee to pray to God to restore his son to 
 life." Hereupon, Becan prayed fervently to God three times, at 
 Columkille's request ; and thus the king's son, Bresal, was re- 
 stored to life, through the prayers of the holy Becan, and the 
 
 " Kill Becain. It is now called Kill- of Clanwilliam, county Tipperary. 
 peacoQ, and is situated in the barony 
 
440 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 name of God was magnified, aud the fame of St. Becan's lioliness 
 was spread by means of that miracle. 
 
 Guairi, son of Colinim," the above-mentioned King of Con- 
 naught, and contemporary of Dinrmaid, happened to be on a 
 certain occasion in company with St. Cumin Fada ]\Iac Eiácadh, 
 and St. Caimin, of Inis-Keltraeh, in the church of that isknd, when 
 the following conversation took place between them. St. Caimin 
 asked the first question, " What is it, Guairi, that thou wouldst 
 most wish to possess? " Guairi replied, "I would have gold and 
 treasure, for the purpose of bestowing them ; and thou, 
 Cumin, what wouldest thou most wish to have?" " A load of 
 diseases on my body," said St. Cumin. "And thou, likewise, 
 Caimin, what would be thy desire ? " "A store of books," said 
 St. Caimin, " for interpreting the truth to the people." Aud the 
 three got their wishes, except that, at the end of his life, St. 
 Caimin was cursed by St. Mochuda, and all his gifts were taken 
 from him, if history has told truth. 
 
 Guairi, son of Colman, came to ravage Munster, with three 
 battalions of the Connaught forces. Dima,"^ son of Eonan, son 
 of Aengus, was then King of Cashel. Their forces met in 
 Ui-Fidghenti, which is now called the plain of the county of 
 Limerick. They fought a battle at Carn-Feradaig, where Guairi 
 and his Connaughtmen were defeated, and an immense number 
 of the latter, with six of their chiefs, were slain. ThQ cause of 
 Guairi's invasion was to assert his claim to all the land that lies 
 between Sliabh Ectuide {Slieve Augldy) and Luimnech, which 
 had anciently formed part of the lands of Connaught, until 
 Lugaidh Menu, son of Aengus Tirech, son of Fer-Corb, son of 
 Mogh-Corb, son of Cormac Cas, son of OlildOlum, having gained 
 seven battles against the Connaughtmen, in which he slew seven 
 of their kings, by the mere help of hired soldiers and boys, 
 had made sword-land of all the country, that lies between Bearna- 
 
 "^ Son of Colman. According to tlie of Cam Fcradaigh (now called Knock- 
 work of l)uald Mac Firbis, upon tiio any) was not fought by Guairi until 
 Tribes and Customs of tlic Ui Fiach- llie year 022, when Falbi Flann was 
 rach, Guairi the Generous, son of Col- King of Cashel, or Ixith ]\rogha, and 
 man, eou of Coljthach, <fcc., was the Dima, chief of the Dal-g-Cais tribe, 
 ancestor of the O'Cieries, O'lleynes was King of Thoinond. It is thus 
 and Mac Kilkellies, but not of their recorded in the Four Masters : "A.D. 
 kinsmen the O'.Shaughnensics, who are C22. 'J'lic 12th year of Kuibni, King of 
 there stated to be descended from Ireland. 'J'lie battle of Carn Fcradaigh 
 Aedh, son of Cobthach, the brother of was gained by Falbi Flann over the 
 the aforesaid Colman, and to have de- Connaughtmen ; wherein were slain 
 rived their tribe name of Kinel Aeda Cf)na!i, chief of the Ui Mani, Mael- 
 from him. diil)]i, Maclruain, Maelduin, Maclcal- 
 
 * Dima. Here, again, we see tlie gaicli and Madbresail, and Guairi was 
 
 mistake of making Guairi the con- routed from the battle-field." 
 temporary of Diarmaid. The battle 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 441 
 
 na-d-tri-g-carbacl,"atCarn Feradaigli, to Belacli-Lucadi, and from 
 Ath BoroniLa to Leim Concullainn. In remembrance of this, 
 Cormac, son of Culinan, composed the following verse: 
 
 " It was that Luo^airlh, that Red Ilaud, 
 That forced from Conuaught, as a fine, 
 What land from Feradach's old earn 
 Extends to Luchaid's deed-famed ford." 
 
 St. Columkille and St. Mochua^ were contemporaries, and 
 when St. Mochua, or Mac Duach, as he is otherwise called, was 
 a hermit in the desert, his whole worldly Avcalth consisted of a 
 
 "" Bearna na d-tri g-Carbad, i. e. 
 the Pass of the Three Chariots. Belach 
 Luchadi, now Lowhid, near the village 
 of Tubbercendoney, barony of Inch- 
 iquin, county Clare. Ath Boromha, 
 i. e. the Ford of the Tribute, is at 
 Killaloe, and Leim Couculainn, or 
 Cuchulainn's Jump, is the promontory 
 now called Loophead. 
 
 "^ St. Columkille and Mochua. It 
 is more than doubtful whether those 
 saints were ever contemporaries. 
 
 It is, indeed, to be regretted that Dr. 
 Keating should have occupied his 
 space with this and others of the fore- 
 going silly tales, which he must have 
 extracted from fabulous romances, as 
 he has had no authority for them in 
 Irish annals. As the Irish reader must 
 feel anxious to hear something of the 
 mission of St. Columba, or Colum- 
 kille, who was, perhaps, the greatest 
 man that Ireland produced in this age, 
 but of whom Keating has given such 
 dim glimpses, the following notices of 
 that saint's proceedings in Alba and 
 the Albanian isles are here extracted 
 in an abridged form from Mr. Moore's 
 History of Ireland : " Having obtained 
 from his cousin Conall, then King of 
 the Albanian Scots, the small island of 
 Hy, or lona, which was an appendage 
 to the new Scottish kingdom, Columba, 
 together with twelve of his disciples, 
 set sail for that sequestered spot. After 
 his landing, one of his first tasks was 
 to expel some Druids, who had there 
 established their abode ; this secluded 
 island having been one of the haunts of 
 this priesthood, as the remains of their 
 temples and monuments, still existing 
 
 among its ruins, testify. Having 
 erected there a monastery and a 
 church, he next directed his attention 
 to the main object of his great Christian 
 enterprise — that of exploring the wild 
 region beyond the Grampian Hills, 
 where no missionary before him had 
 ever yet ventured, and of suliduing to 
 the mild yoke of the Gospel the hardy 
 race there entrenched. The territory 
 of the northern Picts then included all 
 of modern Scotland that lies north of 
 the Grampians, and there the residence 
 of their king, Brude, was then situated, 
 somewhere on the borders of Loch 
 Ness. Hither the courageous saint 
 directed his steps, but found the gates 
 of the royal residence closed against 
 him. However, by one of those 
 miracles to which, in that all-believing 
 age, every triumph of the Church is 
 attributed, Columba is said to have 
 made the sign of tlie cross on the gates, 
 upon which they immediately flew open 
 before him. The king, thereupon, came 
 to meet and welcome him. His con- 
 version was soon effected, in spite of 
 the Magi ; and in the course of this 
 and other visits of the saint, the whole 
 of Pictland became Christian. His 
 apostolical labors were next directed to 
 the Hebrides, throughout the whole of 
 which the enlightening effects of his 
 presence was felt. Wherever he went 
 churches were erected, religious teach- 
 ers supplied, and holy communities 
 formed." Thus, under the tutelage 
 of this great and holy man, did these 
 remote isles become the seat of learning 
 and piety. 
 
THE UISTOEY OF IRELAND. 
 
 cock, a mouse and a fly. The use of the cock was to get him to 
 rise betimes at midnight, to his matins. The use of the mouse 
 was to prevent him from sleeping more than five hours, from 
 daylight until night ; and when he should desire to take more 
 sleep, wearied out by his muck praying, with his hands crossed, 
 and by his many prostrations, the mouse was wont to come and 
 scratch his ears, so as thus to awaken him. The fly's use was 
 to walk upon every line he read in his psalter, and when he 
 might cease chaunting the psalms, to remain upon the line where 
 ^ he stopped until he returned to it again. But it happened that 
 his three treasures soon died, upon which the saint wrote a let- 
 ter to St. Columkille, after the latter had gone to Aei (lona), in 
 Alba, in which he complained of the death of these animals. 
 St. Columkille replied to this letter, and said, "Brother, thounmst 
 not wonder at the deaths of the animals which have left thee, 
 for trouble exists onl}- where there is wealth." I judge from 
 this banter of these true saints, that they had no regard for 
 worldly wealth — not like the folk of the present times. 
 
 After this, Diarmaid, son of Fergus Kerbeol, was killed at 
 Rath Beg,-' in Magh Lini, by Aedh Dubh, son of Suibni, and he 
 was buried at Cunniri. 
 
 FERGUS AND DOMNALL, AKD-RIGHA. 
 
 A. D. 556.'° Fergus and Domnall,^^ both sons of Murkertach 
 Mor Mac P>ca, son of Murcdach, son of liogan, son of Niall of 
 the Kine Hostages, of the line of Erimhon, ascended the throne, 
 and reigned one year. Duisech, daughter of Duach Tengumha, 
 King of Connaught, was mother of these princes. Fergus and 
 Domnall gained the battle of Gabra Lifi," over the men of Lein- 
 ster, and four hundred of the latter were slain therein. Deman, 
 son of Carell, Avhohad been ten years King of Ulidia, or Uladh,^ 
 
 "" Ruth Beg. A towiiland in the ^ The Bailie of Gabra iJfi. Tliis 
 
 parish of Donegoro, adjoining the waa fought somewhere on tlie river 
 
 parish of A ntrim. county Antrim. His Lilfey, and is entered at A.D. .559 in the 
 
 slayer, Aedh Duff, was king of Dal- Four Masters. The battle of Dumha 
 
 Araide. '• ITis head was lirought to Achair is also recorded as gained by 
 
 CIuain-inic-Nois and l)uri((l there, and these ])rinccs, in this year, over the 
 
 his body was interred at Cnniri (Con- Leinstermen. 
 
 nor)."— Fijvr Maslcr.t. ]ie hud re- '^Ulidia. Henceforth Uladh, when 
 
 quested before he expired that his head it means the now narrowed territory of 
 
 should be buried at (Monmacnoise, the tlie Clanna Iludraide, .shall be trans- 
 
 mona,stery of his friend St. Kiaran. lated by Ulidia. — There arc two town- 
 
 "A.li. S-OB. F(,ur Maslers. lands named Borenn (the place where 
 
 " Fergus IH., Domnall I. They he fell), in the county Down : one in the 
 
 reigned three years, according to some parish of Dromara, the other in Clon- 
 
 accounts. alion. He was killed in 5C5. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 443 
 
 was killed by the boors of Borenn. Soon after, Fergus and Dom- 
 nall both died. 
 
 EOCAIDH AND BAEDAN, ARD-RIGHA. 
 
 A. D. 557.'* Eoeaidh/^ son of Domnall, son of Murkertach 
 Mor Mac Erca, son of Muredach, son of Niall of the Nine 
 Hostages, of the line of Eriinhon, ruled Ireland for three years, 
 in partnership with his uncle Baedan, son of Murkertach. It 
 was about this time that Carbri Crom, the son of Crimthann 
 Sreimh, son of Eocaidh, son of Aengus, son of Nadfraech, 
 who had been King of Munster for thirty years, died. It was 
 this Carbri that fought the battle of Femhenn,'" against Colman 
 Beg, son of Diarmaid, in which Colman was defeated, and num- 
 bers of his followers slain. Carbri received the surname Crom 
 (crooked), from having been educated at a place called Crom- 
 glasi, as the bard tells us in the following rann : 
 
 " Erect was he from sole to crown, 
 And straight of limb was Carbri Crom ; 
 The surname ' Crom' to him was given, 
 For he was reared at Crom-glasi." 
 
 Some historians say that it was about this time that St. Brendan 
 of Birra" died ; though he is said by a popular tradition to have 
 lived nine score years, as a bard informs us in the following 
 rann : 
 
 " Woe is he who striveth not for bliss ! 
 "Woe is he whose life-course runs not bright ! 
 Full four score and one hundred years 
 This blessed saint on earth did dwell." 
 
 After this, the battle of Tola and Fortola'^ was gained by Fiac- 
 aidh, son of Baedan, over the men of Eli and Osraide, and in it 
 great numbers of the Elians and Ossorians were slain. About 
 
 °' A. D. 562. Birr, though an attempt has been 
 
 ^^ Eocaidh XIV., Baedan I. They made to change its ancient name to 
 
 reigned for two years according to Parsonstown. St. Brendan of Birra 
 
 others. In their reign died St. Molasi, died on the 29th of November, 571. 
 
 or Laisr en, founder of the monastery of In the Four Masters, the following 
 
 Daimh-inis, i. e. Ox Island, now Deven- strange entry is found with regard to 
 
 ish, in Lough Erne. He was son of him, under A. D. 563 : " Brenainn of 
 
 Nadfraech, and must not be confound- Birra was seen ascending in a chariot 
 
 ed with St. Molasi, or Laisren, of into the sky this year." 
 Leighlin, whose father was named Car- ^^ Tola and Fortola. Tola is now 
 
 ell. called Tulla, and it lies in the parish of 
 
 * Battle of Femhenn, i. e. the plain Kinnitty, barony of Ballybritt and 
 
 of Ferahenn, in SouthTipperary. This Kings County. This battle was not 
 
 battle was fought in 571. fought until the year 571. 
 
 ^ Birra. This place is still called 
 
444 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 tliis time died Conall," son of Comgall, King of the Dal-Eiada, 
 having then reigned over Alba for sixteen years. It was this 
 Conall that granted the Isle of Aei" (lona), in Alba, to St. 
 Columkille. Shortly after, Eocaidh and Baedan fell by the 
 hand of Cronnan, son of Tighernach, King of the Kiannachta of 
 Glenn-Gemhin.*' 
 
 ANMIRI, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 560.'' Anmiri, son of Sedna, son of Fergus Kenn-fada, 
 son of Conall Gulban, son of Niall" of the Nine Hostages, of the 
 line of Erimhon, held the kingdom of Ireland for three years. 
 Brighitt, daughter of Cobthach, sou of Olild, one of the Lagenians 
 of Aid Ladrann, was his wife, and the mother of Aedh, son of 
 Anmiri. He fell by the hand of Fergus, son of Niall, at the 
 instigation of Baedan, son of Ninnidh, at Carraig-lemi-an-eich. 
 
 BAEDAN,^ ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 56S.^ Baedan, son of Ninnidh, son of Fergus Kenn- 
 fada, son of Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Ilostagcs, 
 of the line of Erimhon, reigned over Ireland for tliroe years. It 
 was in the reign of Baedan that St.Brcndan of Cluain-ferta*^ died. 
 Aedh, son of Eocaidh Tirmcarna, King of Connaught, was 
 slain during that time, in the battle of Bagha.*^ Carbri Crora, 
 
 " Conall, son of Comgall. He fell, seems to be either a mistake of 
 
 died in the year 572 ; or, according the transcribers or an oversight of 
 
 to others, in 573. Dr. Koating's.— It would appear, from 
 
 " Aei. Tliis name is also found the following verse quoted by the Four 
 
 written I and Hi. In Gaelic, it ought Masters, that Anmiri had made a de- 
 
 to be pronounced Ee or Hee. It is the structivo inroad into Munster, during 
 
 island now called lona or I-colm-killc, his short reign : 
 one of the Hebrides. 
 
 <' k'innnnrfn nf íílfiun fípmhin "Femhenn, while he was kinp 
 
 Kiannaaa oj Lrienn uemiiin. Was not without hor dco.is.-f strife; 
 
 These were the descendants Ol !• mn- Dai k-nd to-day her face njipears 
 
 Caidh T'allach, son of Conilla, son of From Anmiri, the son of Sodna." 
 
 the redouljted champion Tadg, son of 
 
 Kian, son of Olild Olum. They were ^' Baedan II. This king reigned 
 
 the ancestors of the O'Connors of but one year, according to the last 
 
 Ulster. Their territory is now called cited annals, 
 
 the barony of Keenaught, county Lon- " A. I). 507. Four Meters. 
 
 donderry. The O'Connors are still *" Clmin-fcrta. This St. Brendan 
 
 nurnerijus in Glengivcn (Glenn Gem- died on the IGth of May, 576, at 
 
 liin) ; which was the ancient name of Aenach-Duin, now Annadown, on the 
 
 the Vale of the Kivcr Roa, which east bank of Ixiugh Corrib ; but he 
 
 flows througli the centre of the nor- was liuried at Clonfcrt. 
 
 thern Kiannacta. " Bii<rlin. Perhaps Rliabh Bagh- 
 
 *■ A. 1). 5()'l. Four Masters. na, or Badbgna, now Sliove Bawne, 
 
 " Son of Nmll. Tic is called son county Iloscoinnion. This Aedh was 
 
 of Nellin, by other authorities. The not siain until 574. He fell by the 
 
 name given to the place where Anmiri Ui Briuin. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 445 
 
 King of JNIunster, died aLout the same period ; and tlien, also, 
 died Baedan, son of Carell, King of Ulster ; and, also, St. Rua- 
 dan,*^ of Lotliair, a saint descended of the line of Olild Flann 
 Beg, son of Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan. Baedan, King of Ireland, 
 was slain by the two Cumins, namely : by Cumin, son of Col- 
 man, and Cumin, son of Libren, at Carraig lemi-an-eich,'*^ 
 
 According to Bede, in the fourth chapter of the third book of 
 his Saxon History, it was in the year of our Lord five hundred 
 and sixty-five that St. Columkille proceeded to Alba^" upon his 
 apostolic mission. 
 
 AEDH MAC ANMIRECH, AED-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 566." Aedh," son of Anmiri, son of Sedna, son of Fergus 
 Kenn-fada, son of Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Host- 
 ages, assumed the sovereignty of Ireland, and held it for tWenty- 
 seven j^ears. 
 
 I have before stated that Brighitt {Brecyith), daughter of Cob- 
 thach, son of Olild, of the royal line of Leinster, was the mother 
 of this prince. It was this Aedh that fought the battle of Bolach 
 Dathi,'^ where Colman Beg, son of Diarmaid, fell, with five 
 thousand of his warriors, through prophecies of St. Columkille. 
 It was, also, in this king's reign St. Senach," the holy bishop of 
 Cluain Eraird, died. About this time, also, died Feidlimidh,"^^ 
 son of Tighernach, King of Munster. 
 
 « St. Ruadan. This was the saint '' A. D. 568. Four Masters. 
 
 who had laid the famous malediction " Aedh II. In the first year of 
 
 upon Tcmhair. His monastery, as his reign he slew Fergus, son of Nellin, 
 
 above stated, was situated at Lorha, in revenge for his father, 
 
 now a village in Lower Ormond, county "^' Belach-Datlii. The place of this 
 
 Tipperary, six miles north of Burri- fight is called by others Docté, Bélach 
 
 sokean. Feda and Belach-an-f hedha. It is now 
 
 *^ Carraig-lemi-an-eich, i. e. the known as Ballaghanea, in the parish of 
 
 Rock of the Horse's Jump. There are Lurgan, county Cavan . It would 
 
 many places of this name in Ireland, appear, that St. Columkillo's hostility 
 
 That here mentioned, may be Leim- to the Southern Ui Neill did not end 
 
 an-eich-ruaidh, i. e. the Red Hoi'se's with the life of the monarch Diarmaid. 
 
 Jump, now called Lemnaroy, county " St. Senach. He died in the year 
 
 Londonderry. — O'D. The name of 587, bishop of Cluain-Eraird or Iraerd, 
 
 the persons by whom Baedan was now Clonard, in Meath. 
 
 slain, is written Comaeini in other ^^ Feidlimulh, son of Tighernach. 
 
 records. His death is entered, under the year 
 
 "■ Proceeded to Alha. In the An- 586, in the Annals of the Four Mas- 
 
 nals of the Four Masters, this event is ters, in these terms : " Feidlimidh, 
 
 recorded as having taken place in 557, son of Tighernach, King of Munster, 
 
 a little before which, as some will have died." Dr. Bricn would make him out 
 
 it, he had been condemned by a Synod to have been but king of Desmond, or 
 
 of the Irish clergy, for having excited South Munster; " but this," says Dr. 
 
 his relatives to fight the battle of Cuil O'Donovan, " is one of his intentional 
 
 Dremni, against King Diarmaid. falsifications, in order to detract from 
 
446 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Oreat convention of Drom Kelh — Threatened hayiishmeni of the 
 Bards — Attempt to lay a tribute upon the Dal-Riada of Alba 
 — Captivity of Sgankin Mor — St. ColumJcille. 
 
 It was by Aedh, son of Aiimiri, that the Great Convention of 
 Drom Ketii was called together. 
 
 At it were assembled the most distinguished persons amongst 
 the nobility and clergy of Ireland. For summoning this great 
 convention, Aedh had three principal causes. 
 
 The First Cause was his resolve to banish the Filedha" {Fil- 
 leea), or Poets, out of Ireland, on account of the greatness of their 
 numbers, and of the difficulty there was both in governing them- 
 selves, and in satisfjdng their demands ; for the train attendant 
 upon an Ollamh numbered thirty persons ; and that attendant 
 upon the Annruith, that is, the person who was next in rank to 
 the Ollamh in the Filcdhacht {Filleeaghf), or Poetic Order, was 
 fifteen. So that, about that epoch, nearly one third of the men 
 of Ireland," belonged to the Poetic Order, all of whom Avere wont 
 to quarter themselves upon the other inhabitants, from the season 
 of áamhain to that of Beltaini. On this account, Aedh consider- 
 ed them to be too heavy a load upon the land of Ireland, and, 
 therefore, did he propose to expel them from the country. He 
 had, also, another motive for cfesiring their expulsion. It was 
 for their having had the audacity to demand the gold broach" 
 that fastened the royal mantle of Aedh. This was a broach that 
 each king was wont to leave as an heirloom and precious relic 
 
 the ancient importance of the Eogan- far from Newtown Limavaddy, county 
 
 aclitg." Aedh Uarg'arb, son of Orimth- Londonderry. 
 
 ann. the f^randfathor of tliis Foidli- Our Annals arc not in accord as to 
 
 inidh, w;is tlic iminciliatc founder of the exact date of the convention, 
 
 that Eoj^anacht sept, wliich after- The Annals of Clonmacnoisc record it. 
 
 wards took the name whicli has been under the year 587. The true year 
 
 anglicized O'Mahony. Laegari, son was 590. 
 
 of Crimthaim, brother of the said ^" Filcdhn. The plural of File 
 
 Aedh UarT-arb, was the founder of the (Fillch), i.e. a ^Icmber of the Literary 
 
 sept now called O'Dinoghoo. Feid- or Poetic Order, 
 limidh is ahf) recorded as King of '" Men of Ireland. By men of 
 
 .Munster in the Annals of Ulster, L'l'laml, in the original. Fir Eirrnn, we 
 
 which record his death under A. D. must understand the men of the Free 
 
 .089, as follows : Mor.<i Feidlimthe Clans, or the Saer Clanna of Ireland, 
 mic Tighernaigh rcg/s- Mumhan. The "" Gold Broach. For a description 
 
 death of Pcidliniidh, son of Tigher- of the gold broach or delg oir with 
 
 nach, King of .Munster. which the ancient nobility of Ireland 
 
 "" Brun-Kdh. Tha place where fastened their fallins; or mantle, the 
 
 this convention was held, is now called reader is ri'ferred to Walker on the 
 
 Daiay Uill, near the River Roe, not Dress of the Ancient Irish. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 447 
 
 to his successor. It was, indeed, their impudent demand of the 
 broach that more immediately excited Aedli to expel them ; so 
 that he had banished them all to the Dal Eiada, in Ulster. 
 
 Thej, that is the Filedha, or members of the Poetic Order, 
 had been previously banished, for their overbearing conduct and 
 unjust judgments, in the days of Concobar*" Mac Nesa, King of 
 Ulster. A t that time, all the Filedha of Ireland were assembled 
 together in one place, and at their meeting there were found to 
 be one thousand Filedha, who were each followed by a band of 
 attendants. They were then making up their minds to go settle 
 in Alba. But when Concobar heard it, he deputed Cuchulainn 
 10 detain them, and gave them maintenance for seven years with 
 himself, as the bard thus relates : 
 
 " To Uladh wends that thronging host, 
 To Concobar of crimson glaive ; 
 And Uladh's king, for seven full years, 
 Maintained those exiled sons of song." 
 
 After that, the Filedha spread themselves anew throughout 
 Ireland, and they were not again molested until the time of 
 Fiacaidh," son of Baedan, King of Ulster, nor from the time of 
 Fiacaidh to that of Maelcaba,*" son of Deman, son of Carell, King 
 of Ulster ; nor from the time of Maclcaba to that of Aedh, son 
 of Anmiri. Three times did the men of Ireland refuse to main- 
 tain the Filedha, and each time of these did the Ulta uphold 
 them. 
 
 At the time of their first banishment, when Concobar gave 
 them maintenance for seven years, their number, as I have just 
 said, amounted to one thousand. 
 
 At the time of their second exile, when they were supported 
 for one year by Fiacaidh, son of Baedan, their number was seven 
 hundred, and at their head Avas Eocaidh Eigh-Eiges {Bee- 
 Aiguess),^^ as the bard has said in the following rann : 
 
 ^ Concobar. This king reigned for, what Keating recoi'ds in this in- 
 over Ulster, as we have seen, about stance as two distinct events seems to 
 the period of the birth of Christ. He have constituted but one. 
 continued, during his whole reign, the "^ Righ-eiges, i.e. King-Poet. Bo- 
 munificent patron of the Bardic Order, caidh Righ-eiges was but another 
 
 ^' Fiacaidh. He flourished in Uli- name for Dalian Forgaill, who was the 
 
 dia, from A. D. 571 to G22, conse- Chief Poet of Ireland in the time of 
 
 quently, must have been the pro- Aedh. He was a disciple of St. Co- 
 
 tector of the Poets upon the present lumkille, and the autlior of the famous 
 
 occasion. He is also called Fiachna. amhra, or hymn, called AmhraCholuhn 
 
 "'^ Maclcaba, otherwise Maelcobha, Cille. Two of Dalian's odes arc given 
 
 was the son of Fiachna, and was King with metrical translations, in Hardi- 
 
 of Ulidia in 64G. Fiacaidh may also man's Irish Minstrelsy. 
 have had a brother named Maelcaba, 
 
448 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 " Eocaidh, sage of righteous laws, 
 To Fiacaidli, Baedairs son, repairs, 
 And tiieie the King-sage welcome found, 
 And there his bards found niaiuteuancc." 
 
 The third time they Averc exiled, they numbered twelve hun- 
 dred around Dalian Forgail and Senchan." It was at that time 
 that they were supported by ^Maelcaba, King of Ulster, as the 
 bard has thus told us in the duan from which the extracts last 
 quoted have been made : 
 
 " AVhen Maelcaba of minstrels reigned. 
 In yonder Tubar-kinn-tragha,"^ 
 Twelve hundred bards then shelter found, 
 Beside his tall north-eastern Yew. 
 
 " To them Maelcaba of the Head»* 
 Gave maintenance for three bright years ; 
 And till Doom's pale Day may the generous chiefs 
 Of Dcman's shapely sons still reign." 
 
 The Second Cause that he had for calling the convention of 
 Drom-Kcth was his desire to place a tribute upon the Dal-Riada 
 of Alba," for they had, up to that time, been subject to pay no 
 rent to the King of Ireland, Avith the exception of their having 
 had to raise an army to assist him in his Avars, both by sea and 
 by land, and their being subject to pay erics to the Irish Ard- 
 righ, as Sfc. Colman," son of Comghellach, has laid down, and as 
 he tells us himself, in the following rann : 
 
 *' Senchan. He became the suc^ stood that the territory, sought to be 
 
 ceasor of Dalian as Chief Poet. He placed under tribute on this occasion, 
 
 is otherwise known as Senchan Tor- was that of the Dal-lliada of Antrim, 
 
 pest. His dirge over the body of his whom Aedgan or Aidan, as chieftain 
 
 Master, Dalian, has been published in of the race of Iliada both in Ireland 
 
 the work last mentioned. and Alba, would ?et free from the 
 
 " Iuhar-kiitn-1ra<rha, i.e. the Tew jurisdiction of the Irish monarch. 
 
 Tree at the Head of the Strand. This Ilowever, it is not likely that such a 
 
 is the Gaelic name of the town now demand would have been then made in 
 
 called Newry, county Down. The the very height of the Ui N(m11 suprc- 
 
 word Ncwry is a corruption of " An macy. It is much more likely that 
 
 lubhar" (^« i/eu"r), i. e. the Yew Tree, the disputed point Avas really what 
 
 With aspirations, the whole name Keating represents it, and that Aedli 
 
 reads lubhar-chinn-tragha, and is now sought to revive the sway exercised by 
 
 pronounced somewhat like Yoor-Kccn- hisanecstor, Niall, over Nortii 15ritain. 
 
 Tlrcnc. "^ ''^t. Colmnn. We are told tliat 
 
 "■ Of the Head, i.e. the Head of this question had been left to St. Co- 
 
 thc Strand. The original is Mnclcahhn lumkillc's decision, but that he declined 
 
 an Chinfr ; but the editor thinks that the task of arl)itration on account of 
 
 Clung has been written by mistake for his known friendship towards Aedgan, 
 
 Chinn. the Dal-iliadic King. It was then 
 
 " Mr. Moore seems to have under- committed to St. Cobnan, a man deep- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 449 
 
 " A land force they are bound to raise, 
 A fleet on sea they're bound to launch ; 
 And, by my wise and just decree, 
 They fines shall pay for kindly blood." 
 
 The Third Cause of the convention of Drom-Ketli, was in 
 order to depose Sganlan Mor," the son of Kennfaeladh, from the 
 principality of Osraide, or Ossory, for having refused to ])ay to 
 the monarch Aedh, head-rent, and to instal Illann, son of the said 
 Sganlan, as prince of the O.-^sorians, in his stead, for he had con- 
 sented to pay the said head-rent. And such were the three causes 
 for assembling the great convention of Drom Keth, as the bard- 
 sage tells in this verse, down here : 
 
 " That Congress had three aims in view — 
 II is crown from Sganlan Mor to wrest ; 
 On Riada's tribes a rent to place ; 
 From Eri's land her bards to drive." 
 
 The following are the names of the Kings of the Fifths, and 
 the Lords of Cantons that came to that convention : Crimthann 
 Kerr, king of Leinster; Illann, son of Sganlan, son of Kenn- 
 faeladh, king of Osraide; Maelduin, son of Aedh Bennan, king 
 of West Munster; Guairi, son of Colman, king of Clan 
 Fiachra, North and South ; Finghin, son of Aedh Dubh, 
 son of Crimthann, king of all Munster ; Eaghallach/" son of 
 Uada, who was king over the Tuatha Taeidin, and over Brefni 
 Ui Euairc, as far as Cliaban IModuirn ; Kellach, son of Kearnach, 
 son of Dubh-Dothra, king of Brefni Ui Kaghallaigh ; Conall 
 Kenn-bagair, or Kenn-maghair, king of Tir Comaill ; Fcrgal, 
 
 ly versed in legal and ecclesiastical another chieftain named Kaghallach, 
 
 science, who, on the grounds that the who was sou of Cathalan, son of Mael- 
 
 territory of the Dal-Riada was an Irish morda, the 11th descendant from Fer- 
 
 province, gave his decision against gus, the common ancestor of the 
 
 Aedgan. — See Moore. O'Connors, O'Reillies, and O'Ruaircs. 
 
 •^" Sganlan Mor. This is not the His territory, as here stated, comprised 
 
 Sganlan Mor, son of Kennfaeladh, son the present counties of Roscommon 
 
 of Feradach, who died king of Osraide and Leitrim. — Cliaban Moduirn was 
 
 in 642, and is the ancestor of all the probably on the borders of Crioch 
 
 septs of the Fitz Patricks. It was a JModurna, now Cremorne, in Monaghan. 
 
 cousin-gcrman of his, whose father's Kellach was chieftain of the Ui Briuin 
 
 name was also Kennfaeladh, but whose Brefni. In Guairi, Raghallach, and 
 
 grandfather was named Rumann, and Kellach, we see the representatives of 
 
 was the brother of Feradach. the three great tribes of the descend- 
 
 '" Raghallach. He was an ances- ants of Eocaidh Muigh-medon, who 
 
 tor of the O'Connors of Connaught, had partitioned Connaught between 
 
 but not of the O'Raghallaigh or them, having supplanted the old Bel- 
 
 O'Reillies of Brefni Ui Raghallaigh gian tribes of the Gamhanraide, the 
 
 (Cavan.) They are descended from Fir Craeibi and the Tuatha Taeiden. 
 29 
 
450 THE UISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 son of Maelduin, king of Ailech;'' Guairi, son of Congal, king 
 of Ulidia; the two kings of Oirgliiall, namely, Daimhin,'' son 
 of Aengus, who ruled the country from Clochar Desa" to Finn- 
 cairn, upon Sliabh-Fuaid, and Aedh, son of Duach Galach, who 
 ruled from Finn-cairn on Sliabh-Fuaid to the Boyne. 
 
 When St. Columkille, who was then in Alba, heard of the call- 
 ing together of that General Assembly, and had learned the three 
 motives for which it was about to be held, he set out from Aei 
 to Ireland, attended by his congregation of clerics. The number 
 of these that accompanied him was forty priests, twenty bishops, 
 fifty deacons, and thirt}^ clerical students, as the Amhra-Choluim- 
 cilli, or Hymn of Columkille, relates in the following verse : 
 
 " Forty priests his host then numbered, 
 And twenty bishops of lii|?h power, 
 With tliirty youths, and fifty deacons, 
 For chauuting psalms of endless praise." 
 
 It is possible that some readers may disbelieve what I am 
 here about to state, namely, that the bishops of Alba acknowl- 
 edged the supremacy of the abbots of Aei, in ancient times ; 
 but let them read the the fourth chapter of the fifth book of 
 Bede's History of the Saxon Church, where he has spoken of the 
 primatial authority of the Island of Aei over Alba, in the fol- 
 lowing terms : " ít was always the custom of this island to have 
 a consecrated abbot for its primate, to whose rule all the prov- 
 ince, and, by an unusual arrangement, the very bishops them- 
 selves are bound to be subject, after the example of its first 
 teacher, who was not a bishop, but a priest and a monk.'"' And 
 it is evident that ColumkilJe was the first teacher that acquir- 
 ed the primatial autliority in Aei, from wliat Bede recounts 
 in the tenth chapter of the eighth book of the same history : 
 
 " Ailech. This was at this time a ■' Clorhar Desa. Now Clogher. 
 
 new principality, founded by the Nor- county 'J'yrone. Sliabli Fuaid lies in 
 
 them Ui Neill, and so called from the Armagh, as heretofore located. Ulster 
 
 ancient .stronghold of Ailech, near was, at this time, divided into lour 
 
 Uerry, which they had made their principalities, or rather into five, if we 
 
 royal" residence. w'ould count amongst them the Dal- 
 
 •^ Dnimhin. Daimhin Damhairgitt, Riada of Antrim, represented by Acd- 
 
 whose real name was Carbri, is the gao, King of the Alban Scots, 
 ancestor of the Mac Mahons of Monjv- "' Habere autom solet (inquit) rcc- 
 
 ghan. lie could not have been at this torem ÍSeniper abbatcm et jn-esbyte- 
 
 convention, for he had died in ófiO. rum, ejusque juri et omni-; ])rovincia el 
 
 Indeed, some others of i\w. cliii'fs, ipsi etiam e])is('()])i (online inusitato) 
 
 named in the li.st above given, could deljcant esse subjccti, juxta cxemplum 
 
 not have been at Droni-Keth — they prinii doctoris illius, cjui non episcopus 
 
 naving either died before it took place, sed preabiter e.xtitit ct monachus. 
 or having lived too long after it. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 451 
 
 " Columba,"" says he, " was the first teacher of the Catholic Faith 
 to the Picti, north of the mountains, and the first that built a 
 monastery in the Island of Hia, which Avas long held venerable 
 by the numerous nations of the Scoti and Picti." From the.se 
 words of Bede it must be understood that St. Columkille, or 
 Columba, was the first teacher that went to propagate the Faith 
 among the Picti of the north of Scotland, and that, for that 
 reason, not only the priests and the monks did homage to the 
 abbots of Aei, but the bishops, also, acknowledged his supremacy, 
 because it was St. Columkille that had given them the light of 
 the Faith for the first time. Hence it happened tliat some bish- 
 ops accompanied St. Columkille, as his attendants, to the con- 
 vention of Drom Keth. 
 
 St. Columkille came to Ireland with a waxed cloth upon his 
 eyes, in order he might not see the Irish soil ; for when St. 
 Molasi had banished him to Alba, for a penance, he bound him 
 never to set his eyes upon the Irish soil, to the day of his death ; 
 and from this it came, that he kept a waxed cloth constantly upon 
 his eyes while he remained in Ireland, and never removed it 
 until his return to Alba. It was in remembrance of his having 
 thus fulfilled the penitential sentence which St. Molasi had laid 
 upon him, that the latter saint has himself left the following verse : 
 
 " Though Colnm from the east had come, 
 Ship-wafted hither o'er the sea, 
 Still nought on Eri's earth he saw, 
 While at her council he remained." 
 
 According to the ancient book called the Uighir Chiarain, the 
 reason why St. Molasi had laid upon St. Columkille this 
 penitential sentence, which had thus compelled him to emigrate 
 to Alba, was to make the latter do penance for his having l3een 
 the cause why three battles had been fought in Ireland ; for he 
 was the instigator of the battles of Cuil-Dremni, Cuil-Feda and 
 Cuil-Eathain. 
 
 The battle of Cuil-Dremni arose out of the following event : 
 At a Feis of Temhair, held by Diarmaid, son of Fergus Kerbeol, 
 King of Ireland, a certain nobleman had been slain by Curnan, 
 son of Aedh, son of Eocaidh Tirmcarna. This Curnan, Diar- 
 maid put to death, for having killed a nobleman at the said Feis, 
 in violation of the law and sanctuary thereof But before he 
 fell into the king''s hands, Curnan had fled to the protection of 
 the two sons of Murkertach Mac Erca, namely, Fergus and 
 
 '^ Columba erat primus doctor Fidel quod in Hiae insula, multis diu Scoto- 
 (Jatholicai transmcntanis ad aquiio- rum Pictorumque populis venerabilia 
 uem, prirausque fiindator Monasterii mansit. 
 
462 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Domnaill. These princes placed him under the protection of 
 St. Columkille. However, in spite of this protection, Diarmaid 
 put him to death, for having violated the sacred rights of Tem- 
 hair. Thence it happened that St. Columkille mustered the 
 northern Clanna Neill, in order to avenge the violation of his 
 protection. Thus was Diarmaid with the Connaughtmen" routed 
 at the battle of Cuil-Dremni, and tliere that king was vanquished, 
 through the prayers of St. ColumJ<illc. The Black Book of 
 Molaga gives another reason for the battle of Cuil-Dremni; 
 namely, the partial judgment which had been given by Diar- 
 maid against St. Columkille, when a copy of the Gospel having 
 been privately copied from a book belonging to St. Fintan,"' the 
 latter had claimed as his own property the copy which had been 
 transcribed from his own book. St. Columkille also laid claim 
 to the copy, upon the grounds that he had himself transcribed it. 
 Both parties then selected the king as adjudicator between them; 
 and Diarmaid thereupon adjudged that, as every calf belonged 
 to its own proper cow, so did every copy belong to its parent 
 book. Such is the second cause assigned for the battle of Cuil- 
 Dremni. 
 
 The reason why St. Columkille had instigated the battle 
 of Cuil-Eathain" against the Dal Araide and the Ulta, or Ulid- 
 ians, Avas because, wlien some contention had arisen between 
 that saint and St. Comgall, those tribes had shown partiality 
 towards St. Comgall, and severity towards St. Columkille. 
 
 St. Columkille had instigated the battle of Cuil-Feda against Col- 
 man, son of Diarmaid, because he had felt insulted by Cumin, 
 son of Colman's having killed Bacdan, son of Ninnidh, King of 
 Ireland, at Leim-an-eich, in violation of his own protection. 
 
 Now, when St. Columkille arrived in Ireland, from Alba, ac- 
 companied by his holy priests, and when he was approaching 
 the place where the convention was held, the queen, that is the 
 wife of Aedh, son of Anmiri, told her eldest son, Conall, son of 
 Aedh, " not to show the slightest respect either to the coirr- 
 clileirech'^ himself or to his gang." And when St. Columkille 
 
 ""- Commu^himen. This would seem Manuscript, wliicli is a copy of the 
 a mistake. The Kin;^ of (yonnaught IValtcr, was ever after known by the 
 was against Diarmaid at Cuil-Dremni ; name of Cathach. It was ])reservcd 
 still a portion of the C'onnaught people for ages in the family of O'Donnell ; 
 might have sided with him. Diar- and lias been deposited in the Museum 
 maid's own clan, the Southern UiNcill, of the Koyal Irisli Academy, by Sir 
 were natives of Meath, not Coiinaught. liicliard O'Donnell, its present owner." 
 
 •' St. Fintan. His name is also — 0' Donovan. 
 written Finnen and Finian. " After '" Cuil-Iiat/iain. Now called Col©- 
 this battle, the Monarch and Saint raine in Ulster. 
 
 Columb made peace ; and the copy of " Coir-cldcircch. This compound 
 the book, made from St. Finnen's epithet is a twm of contempt applied 
 Manuscript, was left to him. This to clergymen, who have been silenced 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 453 
 
 had been told of this opprobrious hmguage, he said, " With my 
 full consent that queen, with her waiting maid, in the shape of 
 two herons, may continually hover around 3'-on ford, beneath 
 me, until the Day of Doom." This quotation from the Arahra 
 repeats the words of Colurnkille ; 
 
 '"Oh, sho may soon a heron be,' 
 
 ('Twas so the outraged cleric spake,) 
 ' In heron shape, her handmaid, too, 
 'Tis meet may share her lady's fate.' " 
 
 The reason for transforming the waiting maid into a heron as 
 well as her mistress was, because it was she, that had been sent 
 by the queen with the above-mentioned message to Conall, 
 wherein he was told " to show no respect to the coirr-clileirech or 
 to his gang." Many people will still tell us, that this is the 
 reason why there are two herons ever since constantly seen on 
 the ford, near Drom-Keth. 
 
 or degraded from their rank . The first 
 part of the word, which in its primary 
 form is Cor, means a turn, change, or 
 twist, <tc. But Corr (now Coirr-iasg), 
 which differs scarcely at all from Cor 
 in pronunciation, means a heron, or 
 (as the Irish peasants improperly call 
 that bird), a crane. The legend re- 
 counted by Keating, makes the saint 
 play upon the double meaning of the 
 term used by the queen, as if she had 
 called him, the heron-clerk or crane- 
 clerk. It would appear, tliat ])revious 
 to his going to Alba Columkille had 
 been severely censured (some say ex- 
 communicated) by the Irish clergy, 
 with St Molasi at their head, in con- 
 sequence of the bloodshed caused by 
 him in the above-mentioned battles. 
 It is to that censure the Irish queen is 
 made to allude upon this occasion. 
 Mr. Moore thinks that though an at- 
 tempt might have been made to ex- 
 communicate him previous to his 
 leaving Ireland, still, that it was made 
 upon some trivial grounds, and for 
 some light and unimportant proceed- 
 ings. Irish history, however, shows 
 that there were serious grounds for 
 the " breth aithrighe" [hrtk ahree), or 
 penetential sentence pronounced upon 
 the future apostle of the Picts, by St. 
 Molasi ; and that in the pride of his 
 manhood, he had sometimes confounded 
 
 the antagonistic characters of Chris- 
 tian priest and Irish chieftain. Pre- 
 vious to the battle of Cuil Dremni, 
 Columkille is recorded to have said to 
 King Diarmaid, " I will go unto my 
 brethren, the races of Conall and 
 Eogan, and I will give thee battle in 
 revenge for this unjust sentence thou 
 hast given against me, respecting the 
 book, and in revenge for the killing of 
 the son of the King of Connaught, 
 while under my protection." It is 
 not, in truth, surprising that the 
 haughty spirit, from which such threats 
 emanated, should have called down the 
 censure of the flxthers of the churcli ; 
 and the meekness with which the Irish 
 prince, when convinced of his error, 
 submitted to the sentence of his spirit- 
 ual superiors, proves the truth and 
 sincerity of the man ; and it should 
 add to rather than derogate from the 
 lustre of the sanctity of his subsequent 
 career. The idol of the most power- 
 ful tribe in Ireland, he might have 
 caused a schism in the infant Irish 
 church, resisted his sentence for a time, 
 were he any mere political ecclesiastic. 
 But instead of doing so, he leaves hia 
 high position in his native land, and 
 devotes himself to a life of missionary 
 labor, amongst remote and hostile 
 tribes. 
 
454 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 As to St. Columkille, upon his arrival at the place of assembly, 
 he found that the household of Conall, son of Aedh, son of Anmiri, 
 was that which was nearest to himself. And when Conall saw 
 the clerics approaching, he sent thence nine persons of the rabble 
 of his household against them ; and these flung lumps of clay at 
 the strangers, so that the holy men were bruised and bespattered 
 with mud. St. Columkille asked who they were that beat him 
 and his people so. He was told, in reply, that it was Conall, 
 son of Aedh, that had urged the rabble to that act. He then 
 caused thrice nine bells to be rung upon the spot, against Conall, 
 who forthwith received the saint's malediction, and was deprived 
 thereby of prosperity, royalty and lordship, prudence, memory 
 and intellect. And from those bells tolled against him on 
 that occasion, he has ever since been called Conall Clogach, or 
 Conall of the Bells. 
 
 St. Columldlle then went towards the high place occupied by 
 Domnall, son of Aedh, and that jDrince rose up to meet him, and 
 made him welcome ; and, having kissed him on both cheeks, he 
 placed him in his own seat. For this kindness, St. Columkille 
 blessed Domnall, and prayed to God that the kingdom of Ire- 
 land might fall to his lot ; and so it afterwards came to pass, for 
 Domnair held the sovereignty of Ireland for thirteen years 
 previous to his death. 
 
 St. Columkille, accompanied by Doimiall, next proceeded to 
 the household of the king. The latter was, thereupon, smitten 
 with fear, by reason of what had happened to the queen, and to 
 her waiting maid ; and when St. Columkille came into his pres- 
 ence, he was received with a welcome. " My Avelcome co"nsists 
 in compliance with my demands," said St, Columkille. '' Thou 
 wilt get it," said the king. " Then," said St. Columkille, " the 
 compliance I require of thee consists in granting me the three 
 petitions which I am about to ask of thee, namely : to continue to 
 maintain the Filedha, whom thou art about to expel from Eri, 
 and to set Sganlan Mor, the King of Osraide, free from the 
 bondage in which thou boldest him, and not to insist upon lay- 
 ing a tribute upon the Dal-Eiada of Alba." " T do not wish," 
 said the king, " to continue to maintain the Filedha, so extreme 
 is their insolence, and so great are their numbers, for the Ollamh 
 has an attendant train of thirty followers, and the Anruith has a 
 train of fifteen ; so of the members of the other degrees of that 
 order downwards, each person has his special number of attend- 
 ants allotted to him, according to his rank, so that now almost 
 one third of the men of Ireland are members of the order." St. 
 Columkille agreed that it was but right to set aside a great many 
 of the Filedha, on account of their excessive numbers; but he 
 told the king that he ought himself to continue to maintain a 
 
THE iriSTOKY OF I]íi:land. 455 
 
 File, as his Ard-ollamh, according to tlie usage of the kings that 
 preceded liiin ; and that eacli pentarch king should also main- 
 tain an Ollamli, and each lord of a canton and chief of a district 
 likewise. This plan Avas finally adopted, at St. Columkille's 
 suggestion, and King Aedh gave it his royal sanction. It was 
 to commemorate the benefit then conferred by St. Columkille 
 upon the Poetic Order, that Maol-ruithin composed the verse 
 which follows ; 
 
 " The bards from banishment were saved, 
 By holy Colum. of just laws ; 
 Each lordship shall maintain a bard, 
 For thus it was that Colum said." 
 
 The resnlt of the arrangement then made by Aedh, son of 
 Anmiri, and St. Columkille was, that each king of Ireland was 
 bound to maintain his own special Ollanih, and that each pen- 
 tarch king and district chieftain was bound to maintain one like- 
 wise. Each of the Ollamhs was, by special right, entitled to get 
 a tract of land from his own lord, free of all rent ; and, moreover, 
 the members of the Poetic Order were entitled to universal free- 
 dom and sanctuary from the men of Ireland, in the lands, per- 
 sons and Avorldly goods of each individual OUamh of them. It 
 was also then ordained that the said Ollamhs should be granted 
 certain distinct public estates in land, where they could give 
 public instruction, after the manner of a university ; such as 
 Avas Rath-Kenaid,*° and Masraide, on Magh. Slecta, in Brefni, 
 where any of the men of Ireland could get free instruction in 
 the sciences, that is, any one that wished to acquire a knowledge 
 of history, and of the sciences then known in Ireland. 
 
 At that epoch, the Ard-Ollamh of Ireland was Eocaidh Eiges 
 {Aghee Aeguess), son of Olild, son of Ere. It was he that was 
 called Dalian Forgail, and he then sent forth certain Ollamhs, 
 whom he set over the Fifths (Principalities) of Ireland ; 
 such as Aedh Eiges {Ayeh Aigiies) over the districts of Breagh 
 and Meath, Urmael Ard-Eiges over the two Munsters, Senchan, 
 son of Uailfertach, over the principality of Connaught, Ferferb, 
 son of Muredach, son of Mongan, as Ard-Ollamh of Ulster. 
 There was also one OUamh appointed in every canton, subject 
 to these Ard-OUamhs, and they held free lands under the re- 
 spective chiefs of these districts, and they had the riglit of 
 sanctuary therein, as I have said above. The rewards, also, 
 which each of them was to receive for his poems and songs were 
 fixed according to law. 
 
 " Ruth-Kennaid. This place is in situated in the celebrated Magh Slecta 
 
 Meath, and is now called Rathkenny. or Magh Sleachta, near Ballymagan- 
 
 Its modern Gaelic orthography is Rath ran, county Cavau. 
 Cheannaigh. Masraide [Masree), was 
 
4:66 THE UISTORY OF IRELAjSTD. 
 
 The second request that St. Columldlle demanded of Aedh 
 was to set Sganlan Mor, son of Kenn-facladh, King of Osraide, at 
 liberty, and to send him home to his own country. Tliis request, 
 was refused by the monarch. " I shall importune thee no furtlier," 
 said St. Columkille; "but, if it be the will of God, Sganlan Mor 
 shall loose the thongs of my shoes to-night at my midnight 
 devotions." 
 
 The third request that St. Columkille demanded was to grant 
 indulgence to the Dal-Iiiada, and not to pass over to Alba on 
 any plundering expedition agninst them, for the purpose of forc- 
 ing them to pay tribute; "For," said he, " it is only lawful to 
 demand chief-rent from them, and hostings upon land and upon 
 sea." " I will not remit it," said the king, " until I shall have 
 gone to visit them myself" " Then," replied St. Columkille, "I 
 here declare them for ever free from thy yoke ;" and this turned 
 out to be the fact. 
 
 After this, St. Columkille, and his train of clerics, bid farewell 
 to the. monarch and to the members of the convention. 
 
 The Book of Glcnn-da-loch says thatAedgan," son of Gabran, 
 son of Domhangort, King of Alba, had attended this convention, 
 and that he took leave of the Irish monarch at the same time with 
 St. Columkille. The same book says, that the convention sat 
 for the space of a year and one month, arranging rights and the 
 laws of taxes, and cementing friendly relations amongst the men 
 of Ireland. 
 
 As to St. Columkille, when he had finally taken leave of the 
 assembly, he set out for Dubh-Eglais," in Inis-Eogain. And, 
 afterwards, when the night had come upon the place of the con- 
 vention, a bright and fiery flame descended upon the guard, that 
 kept the cell where Aedh held Sganlan Mor in bonds, tied down 
 by twelve chains of iron. Thereupon, the guards were exceed- 
 ingly frightened, and they immediately gave their faces to the 
 earth, amazed at the greatness of the light they saw. And a 
 bright ray of light came to Sganlan in the cell where he was 
 lying, and a voice spoke to him from out of the blaze, and said, 
 "Arise, Sganlan, and cast thy chains away, and leave thy 
 
 " Aedgan. " On the death of Conal, writer upon churcli Antiquities, Mar- 
 King of the British Scots, in the tcne. refers to this inau^niration of 
 year 572-3, Aidan, son of Gawran, Aidan, liy St. Cohunba, as tlie most 
 succeeded to the throne ; and it is ancient instance he has met with, in 
 mentioned, as a proof of the general tlie course of his reading, of tlic bene- 
 veneration in which St. Columba was diction of kings in Christian times." 
 held, as well bv the sovereigns as by — Mnorr's History of Irchmd. 
 the clergy and 'the people, that he was " J)uhli-Ef:lnis, i'. c. the Black Church, 
 the person selected to perform the cere- St. Columkillc's Church, at Derry, i^ 
 mony of the inauguration, on the here meant. It was otherwise calle<l 
 accession of the new king. It is Duibh-regles. 
 rather remarkable, that a learned 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 457 
 
 dungeon, and come out, and place tlijLand in mine.'" Sganlan 
 then came out, the angel going before him. And the guards 
 heard them, and asked who was there ? "Sganlan," replied thy 
 angel. " If it were he," said they, " he would not tell." And 
 now, when St. Columkille was at matins, it was Sganlan that 
 unloosed his shoes, as he passed over the crann-sawghil, or rail- 
 ing of the sanctuary. And when St. Columkille asked who it 
 was ? he was answered by Sganlan, who told that it was he. 
 And when the saint questioned the chieftain further, Sgnnlan 
 cried out, "Drink," and could utter nothing but "drink, drink," 
 so great was his thirst ; for they were wont to feed him with 
 salted meat in his dungeon, and gave him no drink therewith ; 
 and in remembrance of the frequency of his repeating the same 
 cry for drink, in answer to St. Columkille, the latter left an im- 
 pedinient in his speech, which became hereditary amongst the 
 Icings of his race, who ruled Osraide after him. 
 
 Then St. Columkille told St. Baeithin to give three drinks to 
 Sganlan, whereupon Sganlan told him of the miraculous manner 
 of his escape, as related above. Then St. Columkille commanded 
 Sganlan to set out for Osrnide. " I dare not," said the chieftain, 
 "for I am afraid of Aedh." " Thou needest not fear him," 
 said St. Columkille ; "take my pastoral staff with thee, for thy 
 protection, and leave it with my convent, at Dur-mhagh," in 
 Osraide." Upon this, Sganlan set out for Osraide, and while he 
 lived he enjoyed the chieftaincy of his own land, for Aedh did 
 not dare to give him any trouble thenceforth, through fear of 
 St. Columkille. In gratitude to that saint for having liberated 
 him, Sganlan, after his return home, fixed an impost of one 
 sgTcbal, that is, of threepence, upon each hearth in his princi- 
 pality^ from Bladma** to the sea, which was to be paid every 
 
 " Dur-mhagh ; otherwise, Dar- (or Dur-mhagh) ; and devoting him- 
 
 mliach Cholnsm Cilli, i. e. the Oak-field self to the arrangement of matters 
 
 of Columkille. This place is now connected with the discipline of the 
 
 called Darrow, and lies in the north of church ; " and further, " after accom- 
 
 the King's county. It is improperly plishing all the objects he had in view 
 
 said to be in Osraide or Ossory, for it in visiting Ireland, he returned to his 
 
 lay in the south of ancient Meath. home in North Britain — to that ' Isle 
 
 Its site had been granted St. Colum- of his heart ; ' as in some prophetic 
 
 kille, by Brendan, King of Tebtha, not verses, attributed to him, lona is called 
 
 long after that saint had founded the — and there, assiduous to the last in 
 
 Monastery of Doiri-Calgaigh, or Derry, attending to the care of his monasteries 
 
 in his native territory. It appears and numerous churches, he remained 
 
 that St. Tolumkille visited Dur-mhagh till death closed his active and bene- 
 
 iu person, during his last stay in Ire- ficent course." 
 
 land. Mr. Moore says, that during " Bladma. Slieve Bloom, in the 
 
 this sojourn, " Columba visited all the King's county, to which the territory 
 
 various religious establishments which of the Southern Ui Neill, or ancient 
 
 he had founded, passing some time at Meath, also extended, 
 his favorite Monastery at Dairmagh, 
 
458 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 year to the community of St. Columkille, at Dur-mhagli (/Jwr- 
 vaa), in Osraide, as we"^read in the Amhra Coluini Cilh, ^vhich 
 repeats the promise made by Sganlan to his deliverer, in the 
 following verse ; 
 
 " My kin and tribes to thee shall pay, 
 Though numberless they were as grass, 
 A sgrebal from each hearth that lies 
 From Bladma's summit to the sea." 
 
 St. Columkille, moreover, gave his blessing to all the Ossorians, 
 on condition that they and their chieftains should be obedient to 
 himself and to his congregation at Dur-mhagh, from time to 
 time, in paying that impost, which Sganlan Mor then fixed both 
 upon them and upon their descendants, as we thus read in the 
 Amhra ; 
 
 " My blessing rest on Osraide's sons. 
 And on her daughters sage and bright ; 
 My blessing on her soil and sea, 
 For Osraide"s king obeys my word." 
 
 The baptismal name of this St. Columkille, of whom we are 
 speaking, was Crimlhann, Axal was the name of his guardian 
 angel, and Demal was the attendant demon that was wont more 
 especially to trouble and tempt him, as we thus read in the 
 Amhra ; 
 
 " Crimthann O Cuinn,''' of purest deeds, 
 Was Columkille s bajitismal name, 
 Axal his angel guard was called. 
 And Demal was his demon tempter." 
 
 The name Columkille Avas given to him from the following 
 circumstance : when he was a boy, under the instruction of St. 
 Finncn, of Magh-Bili,^ he was wont to be let out into the village 
 for one day in the week, to play with the boys of his own age. 
 
 " Crimthann 0' Cuinn ; \)XOxio\ir\c(iA Magh bhili [May Villi) means, the 
 
 somewhat like Crijfnnn O'Kuccng, i.e. plain of the aged tree ; so called, por- 
 
 Crimthann, descendant of Conn. It liaps, from some ancient tree venerated 
 
 has been remarked, that it formed no there in the times of Druidism. St. 
 
 inconsiderable part oft his f-aint's per- Finnen was also the founder of the 
 
 sonal advantages, that he was descend- famous college of Clonard, or Cluain- 
 
 cd from this father of many kings. Irard, where St. Columkille had studi- 
 
 "' .SV. Finni'n of Mnf^h-hili. St. cd. " Of the different schools where 
 
 Finnen was called, of Magli-bili, now he had studied, the most celebrated was 
 
 Movillc, near the head of Strangford that of St. Finnian at Clonard. There 
 
 Lough, about a milo to the north had already, in the time of St. Patrick, 
 
 cast of Newtown Ards. from a cele- or immediately after, sprung up a 
 
 bratcd church which he founded there, number of ecclesiastical seminaries 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 459 
 
 He had this ])rivik^gc from liis being of royal blood. Then, at his 
 usual hour for getting out, on the appointed day, the boys of 
 the canton used to assemble together to meet him ; and as they 
 used to stand waiting for him at the monastery gate, they were 
 in the habit of crying out, as soon as they saw him approaching, 
 '' Here the Coluni CilW (that is, the dove of the cell, or church,) 
 
 throughout Ireland ; and besides those 
 ol' Ailbe, of Ibar, of the poet Fiech at 
 Sleity, there appears to have been 
 also a school at Armagh, established 
 by the Apostle himself, and entrusted, 
 during his life-time, to the care of his 
 dLsciple, Benignus. At the period we 
 iiave now reached, such institutions 
 had multiplied in every direction. But 
 by far the most distinguished of them 
 all, as well for the number as the supe- 
 rior character of it, was the long re- 
 nowned seminary of St. Finnian of 
 Olonard. In this school, there are 
 said to have been at one time three 
 thousand scholars.'' — Moore. 
 
 " Colum cilli, i. e. the Dove of the 
 Church ; in Latin, Columba cello:. 
 Colum is the Irish synonyme for Colum- 
 ba. Cell {kell), otherwise ciU (kill), 
 was one of the names by which the 
 Irish designated a church. Hence the 
 frequent occurrence of kill, its angli- 
 cized form, in the names of places. 
 
 " The name of this eminent man, 
 though not so well known throughout 
 the Latin Church as that of another 
 Irish saint, Columbanus, with whom 
 he is frequently confounded, holds a 
 distinguished place among the Roman 
 and other Martyrologies ; and in the 
 British Isles will long be remembered 
 with traditional veneration. In Ireland, 
 ricli as have been her annals in names 
 of saintly renown, for none has she 
 continued to cherish so fond a rever- 
 ence as for her great Columbkille ; 
 while that Isle of the Waves, with 
 which his name is now inseparably 
 connected, and which through his 
 ministry became the '• luminary of the 
 Caledonian regions," * has far less rea- 
 son to boast of her numerous tombs of 
 kings, than of those heaps of votive 
 pebbles, left by pilgrims on her shore, 
 
 ♦ Dr. Johnson. 
 
 marking the path that once led to the 
 honored shrine of her saint." — Moore's 
 History of Ireland. 
 
 The death of St. Columkille is re- 
 corded, in the following terms, by the 
 Four Masters of Douegall, the last of 
 the hereditary historians of his race, the 
 royal tribe of Kinel Conaill. " A. D. 
 592. The 25th year of Aedh. Colum 
 Cille, son of Feidlimidh, apostle of 
 Alba, head of the piety of the most 
 part of Eri and Alba, died in his own 
 Church, in Hi in Alba, after the 35th 
 year of his pilgrimage, on Sunday 
 night precisely, the 9 th day of June. 
 Seventy-seven years was his whole age, 
 when he resigned his spirit to Heaven, 
 as is said in this quatrain : 
 
 " ' Saint Colum lived devoid of sight 
 For three years in Dulbh-regles ; 
 Angel like, he left this world, 
 After seventy years and seven.' " 
 
 Dalian Forgaill composed this on the 
 death of Colum Cille : 
 
 " Like cure of leech without avail. 
 Like marrow sundered from the bone, 
 Like song of harp without the ceis (kaish,) 
 Are we thus severed from our prince."* 
 
 Moore records it thus : 
 
 " The description given of his last 
 moments, by one who received the 
 details from an eye-witness, presents a 
 picture at once so calm and so vivid, 
 that I shall venture, as nearly as pos- 
 sible, in the words of his biographer 
 (St. Adamnan), to relate some parti- 
 culars of the scene. Having been 
 farewarned, it is said, in his dreams of 
 the time when his death was to take 
 place, he rose, on the morning of the 
 day before, and ascending a small emi- 
 nence, lifted up his hands and solemnly 
 blessed the monastery. Returning 
 from thence, he sat down in a hut ad- 
 
 * Irish glossographers are not agreed as to 
 the meaning of this word. — O'Z). 
 
460 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 comes forth to meet us," and of raising up their hands for joj. 
 When the holy abbot, St. Finnen, heard that the children had 
 so named him Colura Cilli^ he understood that God willed that he 
 should be always called by that name, which had come into 
 the mouths of those innocent children, and that his baptismal 
 name of Crimthann should be forgotten. 
 
 Such changes often happened with the names of holy men. 
 St. Moehuda is another instance of it. His baptismal name was 
 Carthach. There was St. Caemhan, also, the disciple of Patrick, 
 whose first name was Mac Neisi ; and then there was St. Patrick 
 himself, whose baptismal name was SuccATH, or SucCATlUS, 
 and to whom St. Germanus gave the name of Magonius, when 
 he confirmed him, and upon whom the Pope, St. Celestinus, con- 
 ferred, lastly, the name of Patricius, preparatory to his mission 
 to Ireland, to propagate the Faith therein. 
 
 Again, there was St. Finnbar, the patron saint of Cork, whose 
 baptismal name was Luan. So it happened to many others of 
 the same class. Hence we cannot be surprised or astonished to 
 learn that Columkille was not the baptismal name of the saint 
 of whom we have been speaking, though it was his usual one, 
 for the reason mentioned above. 
 
 You must also understand, reader, that St. Columkille was really 
 a thorough Irishman, both by birth and lineage, and that both 
 his parents were Irish, and that he was not a Scotchman of Alba, 
 though some Scotch, that is Albanach, writers would claim him 
 as their own countr3'man. But it is clear that he was altogether 
 Irish, both by his father and his mother, for we read in the 
 Naeimh-shenchas Erenn, or the History of the Irish Saints, that 
 Feidlimidh, son of Fergus Kcnn-fada, son of Conall Gulban, son 
 of the Irish Ard-Righ, Niall of the Nine Hostages, was his father. 
 The bard-historian bears the following testimony to these facts, 
 in the duan which begins with the line, " The saint-history of 
 the saints of Inis Fail :" 
 
 joininpr, and there occnpied himself in miihiii,'ht jjraycr, he hastened to the 
 
 copyinfr part of the Psalter, till, hav- church, and was the first to enter it. 
 
 ing finished a page with a passage of Throwing himself upon his kncei*, he 
 
 the thirty-third I'salm, he stopped and l)Cgan to pray — but his strength failed 
 
 said, ' Let Baitlieii write the remain- him ; and his brethren, arriving soon 
 
 dor.' This Baithen, who was one of after, found their beloved master re- 
 
 the twelve disciples that originally clining before the altar, and on the 
 
 accompanied him to Ily, liad been pointof death. Assembling ail around 
 
 named Ijy him as his successor. After him, these holy men stood silent and 
 
 attending the evening service in the weeping, while the saint, opening his 
 
 church, the saint returned to his cell, eyes, with an expression full of clieerfiil- 
 
 and, reclining on his bed of stone, de- ness, made a slight movement of his 
 
 livered some instructions to his favorite hand, as if to give them his parting 
 
 attendant, to be communicated to the benediction, and in that effort breathed 
 
 brethren. Whcu the bell rang for his last." — Jlmlory of Ireland. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 461 
 
 « Colum Killi, of the land of Conn, 
 Was sou of Fcidlimidh, most noble, 
 The son of Fergus, fierce in the fight, 
 Son of bright Conall Gulban, great." 
 
 It is also made clear by the Amhra, that St. Coliimkille was 
 equally Irish by his mother's side, for it is stated in that hymn, 
 that Ethni, daughter of Dima, son of Naei, of the line of Carbri 
 Niafer, King of Lcinstor, was his mother. Here follows the 
 verse of the Amhra, Avhicli records the fact : 
 
 " The lady Ethni, nobly born 
 Of royal Carbri's ancient race, 
 Mother of Colum, the divine. 
 Was daughter of Dima, son of Naei." 
 
 St. Columkille had mortified his body so much by fasting, pray- 
 ing and prostration, that he became so emaciated by the severity 
 of religious discipline, that his ribs appeared through his robe 
 whenever the wind blew upon liim through the wooden walls of 
 his cold unplastered hut, as he laid himself down to rest upon the 
 sand, Avhich formed his only bed, as we are told in the following 
 verse : 
 
 " With spirit pure he slept on sand, 
 And as he lay on that rude bed. 
 Beneath his robe his ribs' lean shape 
 Stood out against the wind's chill blast," 
 
 This saint lived to the age of seventy -four years, according to 
 Dalian Forgail, in Amhra Coluim Cilli, a poem, which poem was 
 written by that bard shortly after St. Columkille's death ; 
 
 " Whilst Colum stood on this fair earth. 
 He quelled his passions by stern toil. 
 For Heaven he left this carnal world. 
 When seven and seventy years he saw." 
 
 Forty-three years of that time he spent in Ireland, after which 
 he lived thirty-four years in Alba, as the same Amhra informs 
 us in the following verse : 
 
 " Three and forty years of these, 
 'Midst toil and care, he spent in Eri, 
 And four and thirty full told years. 
 From Eri driven, he dwelt in Alba." 
 
 The following are the names of the places where St. Colum- 
 kille mado his abode, namely : in Aei, or lona, of Alba ; in 
 
462 THE HISTORY OF IRP^LAND. 
 
 Doiri, or Dcrry, and in Dun-da-leth-glas, or Down, in which last 
 he was buried, as he himself has told, in the poem where he 
 declares his love for these three places : 
 
 " >ry spirit's peace in la bides, 
 ;My heart's aftection Doiri holds, 
 My dust beneath that stone shall rest 
 Where Brigliitt"' and great Patrick lie." 
 
 Whenever St. Columkille was saying mass, or preaching, or 
 chaunting the psalms, his voice could be heard at the distance 
 of a mile and a half away, and no evil demon could bear to 
 listen to its sound, without fleeing before it, as the Amhra tells, 
 in the following verse : 
 
 " The sound of holy Colum's voice 
 Rose high above his sacred choir, 
 At fifteen hundred paces heard, 
 His thrilling tones swelled clear and grand." 
 
 There was a priest in Tir Conaill in the days of St. Columkille, 
 who had built a temple, which he adorned with precious stones, 
 and placed an altar of crystal therein ; and he had set up images 
 representing the Sun and the Moon in that temple. Shortl}' 
 afterwards a great swoon came upon that priest, and therein a 
 demon came and bore him off through the air. But when they 
 were passing over the place where St. Columkille then was, he 
 looked up and saw them over his head, and, thereupon, he made 
 the sign of the blessed cross above him in the air, and the priest 
 immediately fell down to the earth, at the feet of St. Columkille. 
 
 "* IVhcre Bri<r;hilt, Ifc. — Neither St. his conquest of Ulidia in 1186, has all 
 Columkille nor St. Brighitt were origi- the appearance of a impious and fraud- 
 .nally buried in Down. The shrine of ulent attempt at establishing his new 
 the latter was in " Kildare's Holy dominion by practising upon the pion-i 
 Fane," and that of the former in his credulity of the van(juislied Irish, giv- 
 own church in ]ona. It is .said that, ing Ihcni to understand that Provi- 
 <luring the ninth century, both their re- dence, by so honoring his recking hands, 
 mains were removed to Down, in order had given special sanction to his ruthless 
 to avoid the pirate Danes. JJut, though and bloody deeds. Hence, considerable 
 .some portion of their relics may have at latitude of meaning must be allowed to 
 some time Ijcen brought to Down, and the old verse quoted above by Dr. Keat- 
 placcd in the tomb of .St. Patrick, it is ing, as also to the following oft-repeated 
 very improbaljlc that their whole re- Latin lines, which are found in (Jam- 
 mains were ever translated thither. The brcnsis : 
 
 reason given for such transfer is unten- „t v t^ . . 
 
 We •t\ 11 In biirj^o Duno tnmulo tumiilantur in nno 
 
 e; for Down was .is much exposed Brlgida, Patrltlus,atque Colnmbapius." 
 to be plundered by the Danes as cither 
 
 Kildare or lona. The taking up of Which may be thus translated : 
 
 ihcir bodies, and tluur transfer int(t .. , .u v, u , t^ ^.,, . v 
 _, • u c • T 1 TV rt ci. In the burgh or Dun, laid in one tomb, 
 
 Bhrincs, by Sir John De Courccy, alter aio Brighitt, Patrick and tho ploos Oolum." 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 468 
 
 In remembrance of this rescue from the hands of the demon, and 
 in gratitude to the saint therefor, the priest dedicated his temple 
 to Columkille. He then entered the order of Monks, and lived 
 a holy and pious life thenceforth. '* 
 
 It was in the reign of Aedh, son of Anmiri, that St. Colum- 
 kille died. The reader must understand that this Colum of 
 whom I am speaking was Colum, son of Feidlimidh, son of Fer- 
 gus; for the Eed I3ook of Mac Acdagain, and the Naeimh- 
 shenchas Erenn, or History of the Irish Saints, tell us that there 
 were many holj' men and women in Irchmd whose names A\ere 
 alike. For these authorities relate that there were twenty -two saints 
 in Ireland of the name of Colum, and that St. Columkille was the 
 first of them, and that it was in memory of the sanctity of St. 
 Columkille that this name was given to each of them. There were 
 fourteen Irish saints named Brendan, or Brcnnan, and of these were 
 St. Brendan of Birra and St. Brendan of Ard-ferta ; of the name of 
 Kiaran, there were twenty-five saints, amongst whom St. Kiaran 
 of Cluain-mic-Nois, St. Kiaran of Saighir, St. Kiaran of Tibraid- 
 Naei, and St. Kiaran of Kill-Finnaide, were the most dis- 
 tinguished. There were thirty-two saints called Aedgan, seven 
 called Barrfinn, and amongst them the holy St. Barrfinn, or 
 Finnbarr of Corcach, (Cork.) This St. Finnbarr was son of 
 Amirghin, son of Dubh-daimhin, sou of Ninnidh, son of Eocaidh, 
 son of Carbri Ard, son of Brian, son of Eocaidh Muigh-medon, 
 King of Ireland. There were seventeen holy bishops, and 
 seven hundred persons in religious orders in the community of 
 Corcach, under St. Finnbarr. There were fifteen saints of the name 
 of Brighitt. Of them was St. Brighitt, daughter of the Leinster- 
 man Dubthach, whose fame has extended throughout all Europe. 
 It is certain that she was descended from Eocaidh Finn Fuathairt, 
 the brother of the renowned Conn of the Hundred Battles, as 
 we have shown heretofore, when ti'acing the genealogy of St. 
 Brighitt. Here follow the names of the fourteen other holy 
 persons, besides St. Brighitt of Kill-dara, who were called by 
 this name. St. Brighitt, daughter of Dima ; St. Brighitt, daughter 
 of Mianach ; St. Brighitt, daughter of Boman ; St. Brighitt, the 
 daughter of Enna; St. Brighitt, daughter of Colla; St. Brighitt, 
 daughter of Ectar Ard ; St. Brighitt of Inis-Brighdi, or Inis- 
 bridc; St. Brighitt, daughter of Diamara ; St, Brighitt of Eath- 
 Brighdi, St. Brighitt of Sith Mani, St. Brighitt of Scnboth, St. 
 Brighitt of Fiadnait, St. Brighitt, daughter of Aedh ; St. Brighitt, 
 daughter of Long. 
 
 ^ This legend of the miraculous res- tell of vigorous efforts on the part of Si. 
 
 cue of the heathen priest from the fangs Columkille, in the suppression of idola- 
 
 of the fiend, though iu itself extremely trous worship, not yet _ entirely extir- 
 
 incredible, if taken literally, seems to pated from the land in his day. 
 
464 
 
 THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 It was in the reign of Acdh, son of Anmiri, of whose reign we 
 are treating, and of Aedgan, son of Gabran, who was then very- 
 old, that the Gaels lost the possession of Manainn/" It was in his 
 reign also that St. Cainnech,"' Bishop of Achadh-Bo, died at the 
 Sígeoí eighty-four years. This saint was descended from Fergus 
 Mac Eoigh. It was then also that Colman Rimidh fought the 
 battle of Slemhain'- against Doinnall, the son of the monarch 
 Aedh. The battle of Cuil-cael" was also fought about that 
 time by Fiacaidh, son of Bacdan, and in it Fiacaidh, son of 
 Deman, was defeated, and his people were slaughtered. Some- 
 time after that, Conall, son of Suibni, gained a victory over the 
 three Aedhs in one day. They were Aedh Slanni, Aedh Buide, 
 King of Ui-Mani, and Aedh Koin, King of Ui-Failgi. The 
 battle took place at Bruighin-da-Cogadh"* {Brecn-da-cugrja\ as the 
 bard has recorded in this rann : 
 
 " Too great came tliat red woe 
 Oh all the realms of Eri ! 
 Aedli Slaiiui of the brave host 
 Aedh Koui and Aedh Uuide!" 
 
 There were continual hostilities between the two Fiacaidhs," 
 of whom I have spoken a little higher up, namely, Fiacaidh, 
 
 " Manainn, i. e. the Isle of Mana or 
 Man. The editor docs not find any 
 record of this event elsewhere, in the 
 autliorities available to him. It must 
 relate to some temporary conquest of 
 Man by the Britons or Picts, as it is 
 not probalile, if the Gaels totally lost 
 the possession of Man at so early a 
 period, that the Gaelic lannjuage would 
 have survived there down to the pres- 
 ent century. O'Flahcrty tells us that 
 in the year .084, Kinj^ Aidan, (Aedgan, 
 Kinpr of the Dal lliada), conquered 
 Man. By (iacls, then, wo may uiid.T- 
 stand tlie"^ Hibernian Gaels, or Irish, 
 who might have lost that isle to their 
 Alban kinsmen. " Aedgan, son of 
 Gabran, the seventh king of the Dal- 
 Iliada, of Alba, died in 60fj, at Can- 
 tiro, aged 78 years." — O'Flnhertii. 
 
 " St. Cainnech, otherwise Canice, 
 the patron saint of Cill-Ciiainnigh, or 
 Kilkenny, did not die until the next 
 reign, oii the 11th of October, ')08. 
 
 '" Slemhnm. — 'I'iiis battle was not 
 fought until the third year of the reign 
 of the succeeding kings. It was fought, 
 Bay the Four Masters, against Oouall 
 
 Cu, son of Aedh, son of Anmiri, and 
 Conall was defeated. This was the 
 man who was called Conall Clogach, 
 and who had insulted St. Slemhain, 
 is now called Slewen, and is a town- 
 land near MuUingar, county West- 
 meath. 
 
 " Cuil-cael, i. c., the narrow corner 
 or angle. It lies at Down or Antrim. 
 The above-mentioned battle was not 
 fought until 597. 
 
 "' Jhaighin-da-Cogadh. It is situ- 
 ated in the barony of Kilkenny West, 
 and county Westmeath. The battle 
 here recorded, did not take place for 
 six years after the death of Aedh, son 
 of Anmiri. It was, in fact, the en- 
 gagement where his successors, Aedh 
 Slanni and Colman Rimidh, were 
 slain. 
 
 "^ Two FiacaidJts, ^c. The names 
 of both of thcáo rival chieftains arc 
 also written Fiachna. They were 
 cousins, being both descended, one a.s 
 grandson and the other as great grand- 
 son, from Muredaeh Munderg. king of 
 Ulidia of the Dal-Fiatach tribes, who 
 died in A. D. 974. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 465 
 
 son of Deman, and Fiacaidh, son of Baedan. Tlirougli the 
 prayers of St. Coingall, it happened that the victory oftenest re- 
 mained with the son of Baedan. When the son of Demao re- 
 proached the saint with this, the latter asked him whether he 
 would prefer to live for a certain time and to vanquish his 
 enemies, and, then, to go to hell, or to be killed himself and to 
 go to Heaven, To this the son of Deman replied, that he would 
 prefer to vanquish his enemies, so that the deeds of slaughter, and 
 the achievements, performed by him upon them, might become a 
 subject of common discourse continually among future men, in 
 their public assemblies, from age to age. St. Com gall was dis- 
 pleased with the choice he had made. But the other Fiacaidh 
 preferred Heaven and defeat, and those he got through the 
 prayers of St. Comgall. 
 
 Patron Saints of the Gaelic Tribes. 
 
 It was usual, indeed, for each great tribe of Gaelic nobles to 
 have a particular guardian saint of their own. In testimony of 
 this fact, I give the following example : thus, St. Caeimghin 
 (Kaiveen), of Glenn-da-loch, was the patron of the Tuathalaigh 
 and Brannaigh ;'•* St. Maedog of Ferna, of the KennseLdgh;'' 
 St. Moling, of the Caemhanaigh;^* St. Fintan of Cluain-Aidnech, 
 of the Sil Morda;'' St. Cainnech of Achadh-bo, of the Osraide;"" 
 St. Sedna, of the Sil Briain of Etharla;^ St, Gol)nait, of the 
 Musgraide Mac Diarmada," St. Colman, of the Ui Mac Coilli,^ and 
 of the rest there was not a territory or tribe in Ireland that had 
 not its peculiar male or female patron saint, to whom it was 
 wont to give more especial honor and respect. But there were 
 certain other saints more universally honored than those I have 
 just mentioned ; such as St, Finnen of Magh-Bili, St, Kiaran of 
 Cluain-mic-iSrois, St, Comgall of Beunchor, St, Fingin of Cuinchi, 
 St, Baeithin of Luimnech, St. Brighitt of Kill-dara, St, Albi of 
 
 ^ Tuathalaigh and Brannnigh, i, e. " Sil Briain Elharla, a branch of 
 
 the Leinster septs descended from Tu- the O'Brians, seated as Aharlow, co. 
 
 athal and Braon, namely, the O'Tooles Tipperary, were thus designated : pro- 
 
 and O'Byrnes, Their patron saint is nounced, Sheet Vree'in Aharla.. 
 
 now better known as St. Kevin. "^ Mmgraide Mac Diarmada. This 
 
 ^ Kennselaigh, i.e. the O'Kenshel- tribe was located in the county of Cork, 
 
 laghs, &c, Ferna is now anglicized O'Flynn, O'Hea, O'Donegan, O'Cul- 
 
 Ferns. lenan, &c., were the chief names adopted 
 
 ^' Caemhaiiaigh, i, e. the O'Cavan- by the septs of 
 
 aghs, otherwise Mac Murroughs. ' Ui Mac Coilli. This tribe was 
 
 ^ Sil Morda (Sheel Mora), i. e. the located in the district around Youghal, 
 
 progeny of Morda, to wit, the O'Moores in the south-east of the county of Cork, 
 
 and their kindred clans, to which district it has left its present 
 
 '"° Osraide, i. e. the Mac GLlla-Pat- name of Imokilly. O'Keily, O'Glassin, 
 
 ricks and their correlatives, and O'Bregan, were chiefs of the tribe. 
 30 
 
4i66 THE HISTORY OF IREI.AND. 
 
 Imlcch, and St. Patrick ; as Aengus Keli De relates in the book 
 which is called Psaltair na Eann. Here is what he says therein : 
 
 " Colum throws his shade o'er the children of Niall — 
 
 'Tis the shade of no bramble. 
 Of all tribes of the Ulta Finneu is the safe-guard — 
 
 The sage of Magh-bile. 
 Of the clansmen of Connacht, Kiaran is the warden, 
 
 Though not of their kindred. 
 Comgall saves the sons of his own Dal-Aradi, 
 
 The noble, the famous. 
 The virgin protectress of Laighcn, is Brighitt, 
 
 The brightest, the purest. 
 The chieftains and people of Mumha, the fertile, 
 
 á.re shielded by Albi. 
 The Arch-Saint of Eri, by clerics surrounded, 
 
 Is patron of patrons ; 
 And on Doom's awful Day shall the broad shield of Patrick 
 
 O'er all be uplifted." 
 
 It was while Aedh, son of Anmiri, was king of Ireland, that 
 St. Colman of Ela* died. Brann-dubh, son of Eocaidh, son of 
 Muredach, son of Aengus, son of Feidlimidh, son of Enna Kenn- 
 selach, was then king of Leinster for one year. It was by him, 
 and by the Leinstermcn, that Aedh, son of Anmiri, was slain at 
 the battle of the Pass of Dun-bolg.'^ It was also said that it was 
 the Leinstermen themselves that slew Brann-dubh, at the battle 
 of Cam-cluain ; or that it was Saran Saebh-dcic, the Airchinnach'' 
 of Senboth-Sini that killed him, as the bard relates in the fol- 
 lowing verse : 
 
 " Saran Saebh-dcrc,' a guide indeed, 
 The Airchinnech of Senboth Sine, 
 (No false or dark suspicion this,) 
 Twas he killed Brann-dubh, son of Eocaidh." 
 
 * St. Colman, of Ela. He was the anglicized Erenagh, and often means the 
 
 son of Bcogna, and was otherwise, Mac superior of a religious establishmctit. It 
 
 Ui Selli, Abbot of Lann Ela, now Lyn- is, howe.ver, more frequently applied, as 
 
 ally, in the King's ( )ounty. lie did not in this instance, to the heads of certain 
 
 die until the 26th of September, GIO, in se])ts, or families of laymen, to whom 
 
 the third year of the reign of Maelcoba. the wardenship and support of certain 
 
 ' Duiv-bol<i;. This place is .situated churches were entrusted in those early 
 
 south of Dunboyke, near Hollywood, CO. times. Senboth ti\n\{Skauboh-Sliee7}ic)\ii 
 
 Wicklow. The monarch had invaded now called Tcmpull Senbotha, in Eng- 
 
 Leinster for the purpose of avenging his li.sti, Temple shanljo, at the foot of Mount 
 
 son Comusgach, whom the liUgenians Ixiinslcr, Co. Wexford, 
 
 had slain. For a full and interesting ' Suran Sacljh-derc,\.o., Saran oiihc 
 
 account of this battle, and the cause Evil Eye. Brann Dubh was slain in the 
 
 which led to it, the reatler is referred to year GOl, in the reign of Aedh TJarid- 
 
 thc notes of Dr. O'Douovan upon the nach. The place where Brann Dubh fell 
 
 Four Masters. is called Damh-Cluain, i. e. 0.x-park, by 
 
 ° Airchinneck. The word is sometimes other writers. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 467 
 
 AEDH SLANNI AND COLMAN RIMIUH, ARD-RIGHA. 
 
 A. D. 593." Aedh Slanni, son of Diarmaid, son of Fergus 
 Kerbeol, of the line of Erimhón, ascended the throne of Ireland, 
 and reigned for six years in partnership with Colman Riniidh, 
 son of Murkertach Mac Erca, Mogan, daughter of Cu-carunn, 
 son of Duach, of the Connacians, was the mother of Aedh Slanni ; 
 and Ethni, daughter of Brendan Dall, also of Connacht, was his 
 wife, and she bore him six sons, namely, Diarmaid, Donncadh, 
 Maelbresail, Maelodair, Conall, and Olild. He was surnamed 
 Slanni, because he was born on the banks of the river Slanni, 
 or Slany. 
 
 It was during the joint reign of these sovereigns, that Gregory 
 the Great, the Pope of Rome, sent St. xlugustine, with a number 
 of holy clergymen, to propagate the Catholic Faith in Britain. 
 
 Colman Kimidh fell by the hand of Lochan Dilmann, and Aedh 
 Slanni fell b}^ that of Conall Guth binn, son of Suibni, 
 
 AEDH UARIDNACH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A.D. 599.' Aedh'" Uaridnach, son of Domnall, son of Mure- 
 dach, son of Eogan, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, of the 
 line of Erimhon, succeeded to the monarchy, and reigned twenty- 
 seven years. His mother was Brighitt, daughter of Orca, son of 
 Ere, son of Eocaidh. The reason why he was surnamed Uarid- 
 nach, was from his having been subject to cold pains, which so 
 afflicted him, that, when the fit came upon him, he would give 
 the world's treasure to get a moment's relief therefrom. For 
 Uaridnach (ooreenagh) is the same as "idhna fuara" {eena foora), 
 that is, cold pains. 
 
 In this king's reign the battle of Odba^^ was fought by Aengus, 
 
 • A. D. 595 .—FoKr Masters. Aedh By ConaU's hand Aedh Slanni fell, 
 III. This prince and his colleague were ^«"^'^ ^'^°' ^''"'^"'^ ^""^ slaughtered Su.bm. 
 both slain at the battle of Loch Sem- It was then that Conall also slew Aedh 
 didhe, now Lough Sewdy, nearly mid- Roin, King of Ui Failghi, and Aedh 
 way between Athlone and Muliingar. Buide, King of Ui Mani ; and in refer- 
 This is what Keating has recorded, ence to these deeds were the verses here- 
 under the preceding reign, as the battle tofore quoted by Keating, composed. 
 ofBruighiu-da-cogadh. The Four Mas- " A.J). GOl.— Four Masters. 
 tersquotcanancientverse, of which the '"Aedh TV. The Four Masters, 
 following is a translation, in reference OTlaherty, and O'Halloran, allow this 
 to that day of blood : monarch to have reigned but seven 
 
 " What is kingship, what is law? years ; while all the copies of Keating 
 
 What is potent sway o"er chiefta'ns > accessible to the editor, assign him a 
 
 Behold,ColmanKimi(lh, the king! rfio-n nf f wentv-spvpn 
 
 Lochan Dilmana slew him! ^ ??,? m^- I f.l \ r»^l • A/r *i- 
 
 Unwiso counsels tlien prevailed " Odba. This battle at Odba, m Meath, 
 
 Amongst the youths of Tnath Turbi ;* ^gg fought in 607. 
 
 * A bardic name for Breagh, in Meath. 
 
468 THE UISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 son of Colman, and in it fell Conall Laeidh-Breagh, son of Acdh 
 Slanni. The king of Ireland himself, fell in the battle of Da 
 Ferta." 
 
 MAELCOBA, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 626." Maelcoba, son of Aedh, son of Anmiri, of the 
 line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland for four years." 
 CraeLsech, daughter of Aedh Finn, King of Osraide, was his wife. 
 He fell by the hand of Suibni Menn, at the battle of Belgadan." 
 
 SUIBNI MENN, AED-EIGH. 
 
 A. D. 630." Suibni Menn, son of Fiacaidh, son of Feradach, 
 son of Murkertach, son of Muredach, son of Eogan, son of Niall 
 of the Nine Hostages, of the race of Erimhon, held the sover- 
 eignty of Ireland for thirteen j'ears. It was in the reign of this 
 monarch that St. Caeimghin,'" or Kevin, of Glenn-da-loch, died, 
 aged six score years ; that is, Caeimghin, son of Cacmlogha, son 
 of Caeimfeda, son of Corb, son of Fergus Lacib-derg, son of Fo- 
 thach, son of Eocaidh Lamh-derg, son of Mesincorb, of the line 
 of Labraidh Loingsech. It was about this time, also, that Aedh 
 Bennan, king of Munster, died. And about the same time was 
 born St. Adamnan, son of Eonan, son of Tinni, son of Aedh, son 
 of Colum, son of Sedna, son of Fergus Kenn-fada, son of Conall 
 Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. He became abbot 
 over Aei-Colum-Killi, in Alba. Suibni INfcnn was killed by 
 Congal Claen," son of Sganlan of the Broad Shield." 
 
 DOMNALL, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 643.'° Domnall,-' son of Aedh, son of Anmiri, of the 
 line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland for thirteen 
 
 " La Ferta. It is also called Ath Da ^ Congnl Claen. This chief must be 
 Ferta, i.e. the Ford of the two Graves, distinfíuished from Conall Clacu, or 
 Its situation is not known. Caol, the next monarch but one. For 
 " A. D. C08. — Four Masters. the slayin<^ of Suibni, he was restored to 
 " Four years. Three years. — Id. his ancestral kinirdoni of Ulidia, by 
 '^ Beljuiadan. The place where he fell Domnall, the next succeeding monarch, 
 isalso called SliabhToadh (.9//cre 7o«), '" Broad Shield; in Gaelic, Sgiath- 
 of which name there is a mountain in the lethan {Skcca-lrtJion) . In some copies he 
 barony of Hanagh, co. Donegal. is called Sgiath-sholais {Skeea-hullish), 
 " A. I). 611 .—Four Masters. i. e. of the Jkight Shield. 
 " St.Caeimfrltin. He died, according * A. D. G21. — Four Masters. 
 to the Irish Annals, in 017-018, in the ^ Domnall II. IJe reigned for six- 
 seventh year of Suibni ; whii'h shows teen years, namely, from C24 to G29. — 
 that the date in the text is considerably Id. 
 in advance of the true time. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 469 
 
 years, as Columkillc had prophesied for hira. It was tliis Dom- 
 nall that fought the battle of i)iin Kethrin," against Congal Claen, 
 where he was himself defeated, and great numbers of his people 
 slain. In the reign of this Domnall, died St. Fintann," who was 
 surnamed Monabas, and also St. Mochua" and St. Molasi," 
 Bishop of Leithglinn ; it was then, also, St. Cronan"* died. In his 
 reign, also, St. Carthach, who was otherwise called St. Mochuda, 
 was exiled from Eathain"' to Lismore. St. Mochuda was of the 
 line of Kiar, son of Fergus Mac Koigh. 
 
 Expulsion of St. Mochuda, otherwise jSI. Carthach, from Eathain. — 
 Foundation of Lismore. 
 
 This saint having gone on a pilgrimage from Kiari'aide to Ea- 
 thain, built a monastery at the latter place, in which he placed a 
 community of monks to live with him therein. They led so 
 pious a life in this house, it was said an angel was wont to hold 
 conversation with every third man of them. Thus the society 
 of Eathain became distinguished for preeminent holiness, and its 
 glory and renown increased exceedingly. On this account, the 
 holy men of the Ui Neill race met together in a large num.ber, 
 and they sent a message to St. Mochuda, ordering him to quit 
 Eathain, and to return to his own country, namely, to Muuster. 
 Mochuda answered the messengers that came with this intimation, 
 and said that he would never desert Eathain, until he were ex- 
 pelled therefrom by the hand of a bishop or a king. AVhen 
 these words were told to the holy men of the Clan of Niall, they 
 demanded of Blathmac and Diarmaid Euadnaidh, the two sons 
 of Aedh Slanni, who were themselves of the clan of Niall, to go 
 and expel Mochuda and his monks by force, from their monas- 
 tery at Eathain. And at the instigation of these people, the two 
 
 ^ Bun Kdhirn is a stone fort, built morris, co. Mayo. His festival was kept 
 
 in the Cyclopean style, on the summit on the 30th of March, 
 
 of a conspicuous hill in the parish of ^ St. MoJasi was otherwise called Do- 
 
 Dunboe, in the north of Derry. It is lasi Mac hUa Imdae, and also Laisren. 
 
 now called the Giant's Sconce. — O'D. His festival was celebrated on the 18th 
 
 This battle was fought in 624. of April, at Leighliu. 
 
 ^ St. Fintann. This saint was other- -'^ Si. Cro?ifl;i,callcdMacUaLaeg-hde, 
 
 wise called Munna (Monabas), and was Abbot of Cluain-Mic-Nois, died on the 
 
 the founder of the monastery of Tech- 18th of July, 637. 
 
 Munna, now Taghihon, in Wexford. He "' /íaí/wni, i. e. the Ferny Land. It 
 
 died on the 21st of October, 636. — isnowcalledRahen,atowuland contain- 
 
 O'D. ing the remains of two ancient churches, 
 
 "^ St. Mochiia was a disciple of the and situated in the barony of Bally- 
 celebrated St. Comgall, of Bennchor. cowan, King's County. St. Carthach's 
 He died in 637, Ablsot of Balla, iiow expulsion thence took place in the year 
 Bal, a village in the barony of Clan- 631. 
 
470 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 chiefs proceeded to Rathain, attended by a number of the 
 northern clergy. And when St. Mochuda had heard of their 
 approach, he sent a young nobleman, a Pict or Cruithnech, of 
 Alba, whose name was Constantine, and who was then a lay 
 monk in his convent, to ask the chieftain to give him a respite 
 of one year, before expelling him and his companions from 
 the monastery of Rathain; and they thereupon gave him the 
 time he required. When the year thus granted had expired, 
 the same chieftains returned, escorted by the same train of 
 clergymen ; and when they had arrived at Rathain the second 
 time, Blathmac sent a clergyman to St. Mochuda, to beg of him to 
 leave the monastery. Upon this Mochuda again sent Constan- 
 tine, his former messenger, to Diarmaid and Blathmac, to entreat 
 a respite from them for another year. To this they likewise 
 consented, though much against their will. When the third 
 year had at length come, the same nobles and clergymen are set 
 on by the plunderers of the Ui Neill, to come and finally expel 
 St. Mochuda from Rathain. And when they had arrived at 
 Rathain, with that intent, they, with one accord, appointed Diar- 
 maid Ruadnaidh and the Airchinnech of Cluain-Aengusa, with an 
 armed force under their command, to lead Mochuda prisoner 
 out of the country. When these had come to the church, the 
 Airchinnech entered thereinto, but Diarmaid remained without 
 at the threshold of the door. And when St. Mochuda heard that 
 Diarmaid was standing outside the door, he went forward to bid 
 hin-i welcome, and he invited him to enter the church. " I will 
 not," said Diarmaid. "Is it that thou art come to take me out 
 of this monaster}^?" said St. Mochuda. "Yes," said Diarmaid, 
 " though I do not say that I will do it ; for I am sorry to have come 
 upon that design, by reason of thy great holiness and dignity." 
 " To God be glory in heaven and upon earth," said St. Mochuda; 
 " and to thee be power and royalty, and the sovereignty of Ire- 
 land ; and may good foi'tune follow thy race after thee. And 
 now when thou shalt return to thy companions, the young men 
 who are there will call thee Diarmaid the Ruthful ; and they will 
 fix that epithet upon thee as a mark of reproach. But that title 
 shall yet become a glory to thee, and to thy progeny after thee." 
 Upon this Diarmaid returned to the companions he had left. 
 Blathmac immediately asked him why he had not laid hands 
 upon ]\Iochuda. " I would not attempt it," replied Diarmaid, 
 "and I did not intend it." "That Avas surely a tender-hearted 
 act," said Blathmac. And when the assembled youths had 
 heard these words, they applied the term used by Blatlimac, 
 namely, " ruadhnaidh"(rooa?iee),or "ruaidhncch" (rooina^r/i), which 
 meamj ruthful or tender-hearted, as a nickname to Diarmaid, and 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 471 
 
 thence his descendants have been styled Sliocnt Dhiarmada 
 Ruadnaidh"* {Shlog/U Yeermoda Roonee) ever since. 
 
 As to Blathmac, he, with a body of men, went to the monas- 
 ter}^, and there seized upon St. Mochuda, drove him and his 
 community out of their convent with hostile force. St. Mochuda 
 then laid a malediction upon Blathmac, and set forth with his 
 community of monks, performing works and miracles on his way, 
 until he reached the territory of the Desi. On his arrival there, 
 the king of the Desi came forth to meet him, and to pay him 
 deference and honor; and he placed himself, body and soul, 
 under the Saint's protection. He then went with him to Dun 
 Sginni, which is now called Lis-mor,^' and there St. Mochuda 
 and his community fixed their abode. He built a church there, 
 and the place became famous and honored, and thenceforth con- 
 tinued long to be glorious as the seat of piety and of learning. 
 Such was the expulsion of St. Mochuda from Rathain to Lis-mor. 
 
 The Battle ofMagh Rath^" — The Standards and Battle Array of the 
 
 Gaels. 
 
 It was Domnall, son of Aedh, son of Anmiri, king of Ireland, 
 that won the battle of Magh Rath, wherein fell Congal Claen,^' 
 who had been ten years king of Ulidia. And it may be easily 
 learned, from the history that is called the Battle of Magh Rath, 
 that the military array in which the Gaelic armies were wont to 
 be drawn up, for the purpose of engaging in the conflict of bat- 
 tle, Avas exact and well ordered. For it is there read, that the 
 whole host was wont to be placed under the command of one 
 captain-in-chief, and that, under him, each division of his force 
 
 '^ Sliocld Dhiarmada Ruadnaigli, I.e., ^^ Congal Clam, i. e., Congal of 
 
 the posterity of Diarmaid the Merciful Wry-eyed. He is also called Congal 
 
 or Charitable._ Caech, i. e., of the defective sight ; for 
 
 ™ Lis-Mor, i. e., the Great Fort, now he had lost an eye. He was grandson 
 
 called Lismore, iu the county of Water- of Fiachna, or, as Keating calls him, 
 
 ford. Fiacaidh, son of Baedan, of whose con- 
 
 ^ Magh Rath. — This was the name tests with Fiacaidh, son of Deman, we 
 
 of a plain in Ulidia, that is, the present have read, under the reign of Aedh, son 
 
 county of Down. Its position is still of Anmiri. He sought in this battle, 
 
 pointed out by the village of Moira. by means of foreign aid, to recover the 
 
 This great and important battle was former supremacy of his family over 
 
 fought, according to the accurnte an- ancient IJladh. which comprised all 
 
 nals of Tighernach, in the year 637. In Ulster, from which his ancestors had 
 
 it Congal and his Ulidians were aided been driven into Ulidia or modern 
 
 by a large auxiliary force, composed of Uladh, which comprised little more 
 
 Scots of Alba, Picts, Britons, and Sax- than the present county of Down, by 
 
 ons, led on by tried chieftains of their the encroachments of the U i Neill and 
 
 respective nations. the Oirghaalla. 
 
472 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 obeyed its own proper captain ; and besides, that every captain 
 of these bore u]:ion his standard his peculiar device or ensign," 
 so that each distinct body of men could be easily distinguished 
 from all others by those shannachies, whose duty it was to attend 
 upon the nobles when about to contend in battle, and that those 
 shannachies might thus have a full view of the achievements of 
 the combatants, so as to be able to give a true account of their 
 particular deeds of valor. It was for such purpose that Dom- 
 uall, son of Aedh, king of Ireland, was attended by his own 
 shannachie, when he was about to engage in this battíc of Magh 
 Rath. And when he was marcliing against Congal, and when 
 the hosts were in view of each other, we find Domnall, whilst 
 the armies were yet on the opposite banks of a river, making 
 inquiries of his shannachie about each particular one of the 
 standards in the host of his enemy, and the device thereupon ; 
 and the shannachie explained them to him, as we read in the 
 duan which begins with this line, " How bravely Congal's host 
 comes on," in which occurs the following verse upon the stand- 
 ard of the king of Uladh himself: 
 
 * Device or Eiisign ; in Gaelic, Suai- 
 thentas {soohenta.<;). It is evideut from 
 all the ancient Irish accounts of bat- 
 tles, that the Gaels carried standards to 
 distinguish them in M-ar, from the very 
 dawn of their history ; but it is not 
 certain when they first adopted armo- 
 rial bearings, though it is probable that 
 they not only used banners, distin- 
 guished by certain colors and badges, 
 at a very early epoch, but also armo- 
 rial bearings or escutcheons. However, 
 no regular heraldic escutcheon for a 
 Milesian family has been as yet discov- 
 ered anterior to the reign of Elizabeth. 
 Tt is probable that the Irish families 
 first received the complex coats of arms 
 they now bear from England ; retain- 
 ing on the shield, in many instances, 
 the simple devices which their ancestors 
 bore on their standards, such as the 
 Red Hand of O'Neill, the Cat and 
 Salmon of Cuthain (O'Kanc), with 
 such additions as tlie king at arms 
 thought proper to introduce after the 
 Anglo-Norman system of heraldry. 
 The following are translations of an- 
 cient Irish verses, descriptive of the 
 manner of devices or bearings by which 
 the Gaelic Septs were wont to be dis- 
 
 tinguished in battle. Their originals 
 may be found in the notes to the Bat- 
 tle of Magh Kath, from which also 
 what has just now been said upon thi.s 
 subject has been taken in an abridged 
 form. 
 
 hearings ofO'Docliartitiglt (O^Doherty). 
 
 " With mipht advanco the ranks of Conn 
 Dofhartacli's clan, to join tlie fight; 
 His tattle blaile of poldcn cross 
 Upon tliclr cliieftain's banner gleams: 
 A lion and bloody eajrle stand 
 On plistenint: sheet of satin white 
 'Tis hard to elurk liis jihinderinf; foray; 
 The onslaught of his clann is dreadful." 
 
 Bearings of O Suit ealhain (O'SuUivan) in fht 
 
 Buttle of Caisglinn. 
 " I see, borne valiantly over the \i\:\\n, 
 The flag of the race of the noble Finghin ; 
 'Tls his spear Mith a venomous adder en- 
 twined, 
 His warriors arc all flcry heroes of might" 
 
 Bearing» of O'LocJdin, ofBurrin. in Clare. 
 
 " In the host of 0' l/ochlin. 
 
 On briglit satin seen, 
 In llie van of his battles 
 
 To guard in tlie fray. 
 AVas an oak old and fruitfnl, 
 
 (A chiif its meet ward), 
 And. eke, a blue anehor, 
 
 With gold cable boi;nd." 
 
 —Sec Note II. p. 343, Battle of Magh 
 
 Rath. 
 
THE HISTORY" OF IREL.4JS'D. 
 
 473 
 
 " A yellow lion upon green satin, 
 The standard of the Craebh-Ruadh, 
 As borne by noble Concobar, 
 Is now by Cougal borne aloi't." 
 
 It was, indeed, long before this time, that the Gaels (that is, the 
 descendants of Gaedal), had adopted tlie custom of bearing dis- 
 tinctive devices upon their standards, after the example of the 
 Children of Israel, who had already practised this usage in 
 Egypt, whilst Gaedal himself was still living in that land, and 
 when the children of Israel were marching through the Ked Sea, 
 with Moses for their captain-in-chief. 
 
 In the reign of Domnall also, the following saints died, 
 namely, St. Mochua,^ of the line of Olild, son of Cathaeir Mor, 
 whose memory was held sacred at Tech Mochua, in Laeighis ; St. 
 Mochuda,^ St. Comdan,^^ son of Da-Kerda; and St. Cronan,"^ 
 Bishop of Caendrom. And Domnall, son of Aedh, died.^ 
 
 CONALL CLAEN AND KELLACH, ARD-RIGHA. 
 
 A. D. 656.^ Conall Claen*" and Kellach, sons of Maelcaba, son 
 
 ^^ Craebh Riiadh. — Congal was the 
 chief representative of the ancient 
 Clanna Rudraide, of the line of OUamh 
 Fodla, and of Ir, son of Miledh. He 
 was more immediately descended from 
 Irial Glunmar, son of the famous Red 
 Branch Knight, Conall Kearuach, and 
 therefore appropriately bore the stand- 
 ard of the Craebh Ruadh, or Red 
 Branch. 
 
 " St. Mochua.— The death of St. 
 Mochua, of Balla, has been recorded a 
 little above. Besides him, Mochua, 
 ?oa of Louan,died in 657, and Mochua, 
 sou ofUst, in 668. 
 
 "" St. Mochuda. A. D. 636. " Tlie 
 13th year of Domnall, St. Mochuda, 
 Bishop of Lismor, aud Abbot of 
 Rathain, died on the 14th of May." — 
 Four Masters. It is evident from en- 
 tries in the annals just quoted, that 
 there was a religious establishment at 
 Lismore previous to the time of St. 
 Carthach, or Mochuda ; but it was 
 remodelled and erected into a bishopric 
 by this saint previous to his death. 
 Maelochtraigh was the name of the 
 prince of the Desi, who granted Lismor 
 and a considerable tract of land lying 
 along the river Neimh {Nev), now 
 coU^ the Blackwater, in Munster, to 
 
 St. Carthach. Lis-mor, in a short 
 time, acquired an extraordinary celeb- 
 rity, and was visited by scholars and 
 holy men from all parts of Ireland, as 
 well as from England and "Wales. 
 
 =^ St. Comdan.— The death of a Com- 
 dan INIac Cutheanné is recorded at the 
 year 663. 
 
 ^' St. Cronan. — St. Cronan Beg, 
 Bishop of Aendrom (not Caendrom), 
 an island in Strangford Lough, died on 
 the 7th of January, 642. 
 
 =« Died.— He died at Ard Fothadh,a 
 fort on a hill, near Ballymagi'orty, 
 barony of Tir-Aeda, now Tirhugh, and 
 county of Donegal, after a lingering 
 sickness. He was the ancestor of the 
 septs of the Kinel Conaill, that after- 
 wards took the names of O'Maeldoraidh 
 (O'Muldory) and O'Canannain, and 
 who, previous to the rise of tlieir kins- 
 men, the O'Donnells (who are descend- 
 ed from Lugaidh, the grand-uncle of 
 this monarch, and brother of Anmiri, 
 king of Ireland), were the most power- 
 ful families of Tir-Conaill. 
 
 '" A. D. 640. Four Masters. 
 
 " Conall II. — The proper surname 
 of this prince is Cael, i. e., the Slender. 
 It is so that he is designated in the 
 Irish Annals. 
 
474 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 of Aedh, son of Anniiri, of the line of Erimhon, became kings, 
 and reigned conjointly for thirteen years.*^ 
 
 In their reign Cucana,^ son of the Icing of Fermuighe (Fermoy), 
 who was styled Laech Liathmani, that is the Hero of Liathmain,** 
 died. This Guana was a cotemporary of Guairi," son of Golman •, 
 and there was a rivalry in hospitality and liberality. On this 
 rivalry, two fools, named Gonall and Gomdan, composed between 
 them the following rann : 
 
 " Guairi, Colman's sod, bestows 
 Wiiatcver gift first meets his hand ; 
 What each likes best to each is dealt 
 By Guana, Liathmain's generous chief." 
 
 In Conall's reign, also, that Eaghallach, son of Uada, who was 
 twenty-five years king of Connaught, was killed by Mael- 
 Brifrhdi, son of Mothlachan, and his slaves. 
 
 This Eaghallach entertained the most violent hatred and envy 
 towards the son of his elder brother, lest he might attack him 
 and deprive him of the kingdom of Connaught, but he found no 
 opportunity of killing his brother's son, so that a withering dis- 
 ease came upon him ; for he could not eat through hatred of his 
 neiDhew. When he lay thus languishing, he sent for his nephew 
 to come to see him. But the nephew understood the treachery 
 of his uncle, and therefore took the precaution to collect an 
 armed escort, attended by which he went to visit his relative, 
 Eaghallach; and, before coming into the presence of the king, he 
 told his attendants to keep their swords drawn beneath their 
 mantles. But when Eaghallach perceived this, he said, " Alas 1 
 
 *' Thirteen years. — They reigned for rcn of Mogh Ruith. Gunna is gene- 
 
 sevcnteen years, according to other au- rally called the son of Gailchin. 
 
 thoriti'S. " Linthmain. — The place meant here 
 
 *■ Cuana. — "A. D. G40. Guana, son is now called Gloch Liathmaini, in Kng- 
 
 of Ailcen {Aiken), chief of Fera- lish ("ioughlcefin, a townland in the 
 
 Maighe, died." — Four Masters. This parish of KilguUanc and barony of 
 
 Guana was a descendant of the celc- Gondons, lying about two miles west 
 
 brated Druid and hero, Mogh Ruith, of Mitchelstown, co. Gork. 
 
 who had received a grant of the terri- '" Cotemporarij of Guairi. — Guairi 
 
 tory now called Fcrmoy, in the county Aidni, whom we have seen bo unac- 
 
 of Gork, from Fiacaidh Macil-lethan, countably displaced by Dr. Keating, 
 
 king of .Munstor. Of his race are the under the reign of Diarmaid I., son of 
 
 O'Dugaiis and 0'Co;:grans, who were Fergus Kerbeol, did not die for twcn- 
 
 thc ciiiffs of all tiiis territory, until ty-two years after Guana, his rival in 
 
 encroached on, first by the Eoganacht liberality. The death of this Raghal- 
 
 sept of O'lCeeSJ, which, in its turn, was lacli occurred in (J42. Ho was, as bc- 
 
 encroachc'd by tin Roches and Gon- fore statad, an ancestor of tlic O'i'on- 
 
 dons and Flcmmings. These last were nors of Gonnacht, and the immediate 
 
 dispo-ssessed by the troopers of Crom- predecessor of Guairi, son of Golman. 
 
 well, whose descendants still hold pos- He reigned over Gonnaught for twcn- 
 
 seasion of the iaheritancc of the child- ty-fivc yeara. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 475 
 
 the man that is dearest to me on earth, and whom I wish to make 
 my heir, does not trust me, though I am on the point of death I 
 "When the nephew heard this complaint, his heart smote him 
 sorely, and he came alone to visit his uncle on the morrow. 
 Thereupon, Eaghallach's men fell upon the incautious nephew, 
 and slew him on the spot. Kaghallach then immediately got up 
 from his sick bed, and commenced to feast joyfully and free 
 from care. 
 
 After Eaghallach had killed his nephew, after the manner just 
 related, his wdfe, Muirenn, demanded of her Druid whether any 
 danger hung over her husband arising from that act. The Druid 
 rej)lied, that, as Eaghallach had killed his relative, so should 
 both his and her death soon come from one of their own child- 
 ren, and he told her, moreover, that it was from the child, then in 
 her womb that their deaths should come. She immediately told 
 this to Eaghallach, who commanded her to have the child killed 
 as soon as it should be born. Muirenn soon after gave birth to 
 a daughter, Avhich she gave to one of her swineherds, with 
 orders to kill it. But, when the herd saw the infant's face, his 
 heart softened toAvards it, and he put it back into the same bag, 
 and brought it secretly to the door of a religious woman, who 
 dwelt in his neighborhood, and he left the bag hung upon 
 one of the arms of a cross that stood near her door. The nun 
 soon after came to the bag and found the infant therein ; and she 
 loved it exceedingly, and she educated it piously ; and there w^as 
 not in her time any child in all Ireland more beautiful than her 
 fosterling. The fame of the child, now grown to maidenhood, 
 soon reached Eaghallach, and he hastily sent a messenger to her 
 foster-mother to demand to have the girl given up to himself. 
 The nurse, however, did not consent to his demand, but, never- 
 theless, her fosterling was torn away from her by violence. When 
 Eaghallach saw the maiden, his lieart lusted violently for her, 
 and he made her the companion of his bed. His own wife, 
 Muirenn, got jealous thereupon, and she went to complain to the 
 king of Ireland of her husband's infidelity. The scandal of that 
 evil deed soon spread throughout all the land, and the saints of 
 Ireland were sorrowful by reason thereof St. Fechin*" of Fobar, 
 came in person to Eaghallach to reprehend him, and many saints 
 came in his company to aid him in inducing the prince to dis- 
 continue his criminal amour. But Eaghallach despised their ex- 
 hortations. AVhereupon they fasted against him, and as there 
 were many other evil-minded persons besides him in the land, 
 
 ^ St. Fechin.—St Fechm {Féhm), 664, of the mortality called the Buido 
 Abbot of Fobar, uow Fore, in West- Conaill. 
 mcath, died oq the 14th of February, 
 
476 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 they maae an especial pi'ayer to God, that for the sake of an ex- 
 ample, he should not live out the month of ]May, then next to 
 come on, and that he should fall by the hands of villains, by 
 vile instruments, and in a filthy place; and all these things hap- 
 pened to him aiter the following manner, within the course of 
 the following mouth of May. 
 
 A hunted deer, wliich had been previously wounded, landed 
 upon an islet where Raghallach lay in wait. Wken the deer had 
 come near him, Raghallach seized his javelin, and made a cast 
 with it at the animal, which he transfixed. The deer, neverthe- 
 less, got off, and Raghallach pursued the game in his boat. When 
 arrived at a short distance from the lake, the deer was met by 
 some serfs who were cutting turf, and these killed him and 
 divided the carcase between them. In the meantime Raghallach 
 came up and threatened them for their division of the deer, and 
 commanded them to deliver up the venison to himself. The 
 boors determined to kill him thereupon, and they immediately 
 fell on him with their spades and other implements, so that he 
 was slain by their hands, and thus was fulfilled the pro|)hecy of 
 the saints. Muirenn,*^ his wife, had died before him through 
 jealousy of her own daughter. 
 
 About this time was fought the battle of Carn-Couaill*^ by 
 Diarmaid, the son of Aedh Slanni, wherein fell Cuan, son of 
 Amalgaidh, after having reigned over Munster for ten years. In 
 the same engagement fell Cuan, son of Conall, King of the*^ Ui 
 
 ^ Muirenn. It would seem that Mui- ^' Cam Conalll. — This battle was 
 
 rcnn survived her husband, froni certain fmifrht by Duirniaid Ruadnaidh, against 
 
 ancient verses quoted by the Four Mas- Guairi, King of Connaught, who was 
 
 ters, in reference to the death of Raghal- therein aided by those Munster princes 
 
 lach. The following is a translation of mentioned in the text. It was, in all 
 
 these verses, and from tliem it may be likelihood, this Diarmaid. and not Diar- 
 
 judged that tiiose by wlioin that chief- maid, son of Fergus Kerbcdl, tliat was 
 
 tain was slain was not all of mean con- the vanf|uislicr of Cuairi, on the occa- 
 
 dition, tliougii po.ssibly tliey were of the sion heretofore prematurely recorded by 
 
 Daé'r Clanna or subject tribes ; Keating, where he has transmitted that 
 
 strange legend of the manner after which 
 
 "SS'i-rn "oK'ininllwhi.e steed. the defeated King of Connaught made 
 
 Ills fall hath Muirenn well howailed; his submission to tlie victor. Cam (^On- 
 
 His fall hath Cathal wpU avenged. j^jn i^ f,(,pposed to 1)0 the place now call- 
 
 Cathal Is tills <lny In battle, inn ii • .1 • 1 e t--ii 
 
 Thoiii.'h klnzs have bound him to a peace— cd BailycoiincU in the parish ot Ivilbc- 
 
 Thoiijih Cathal, this (lay, has no father, cantv.iiear ( lorl , ill the aiicient territory 
 
 His father hath been well avenged I r.f ifl Vinf.l,r.,r'li Ai.Iiii 'IMií» Ivif tlo wis 
 
 Estimate hi» dreadful venccance, f' ^ ' ^ J'^eluacll AUllll. 1 UC OaiUC WaS 
 
 From the storv of his onslaughts; fought ill the year G4.'5. 
 
 For he has slain six men and fifty. ah u, F id •rhcut i .— A. large tract iivthe 
 
 Ann he made sixteen plundering lorays. ^ . , "^,. ,,. , , . 
 
 1 had my share, as well as any, COUnty ol Limenck. Die Ul l" idglienti 
 
 In wre-iklng vongencc for li-iighallach ; jVoni whom it had its name arc now rep- 
 
 And my hand now era«ps the grev beard _ , , . . 1 1 .. ti,„ /k'i».^.,„,.„„^ nv <..llr.«no 
 
 Of Motiil.iclian-8 son, .Mac'.-Hrlghdl." resented by tlic O Douovans, Cullancs 
 
 or Collins, <tc. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 471 
 
 Fidglicnti, and Talamonach, King of the Ui Liatliain.*' It was 
 through the prayers of the conniiunitj of St. Kiaran of Chiain- 
 raic-Nois, that Diarmaid gained that battle ; and consequently, 
 upon his return from that fight to Cluain-mic-Nois, he bestowed 
 upon the church of that place a tract of country as an altar sod. 
 That district is now called Liath Manchain.^" It was at Cluain- 
 niic-nois that Diarmaid willed to have himself buried, when he 
 should die. 
 
 At this time died St. Fursa," of the line of Lugaidh Laga, broth- 
 er of Olild Olum, and St. Mochellog," who was honored at Kill 
 Mochellog. The latter saint was of the race of Conari, son of 
 Edirsgeol. After that, Kcllach, half King of Ireland, fell at 
 Brugh, on the Boyne, and Conall was killed by Diarmaid, son 
 of Aedh Slanni. 
 
 DIARMAID AND BLATHMAC, ARD-RIGHA. 
 
 A.D.^' 669. Diarmaid^* Euadnaidh and Blathmac, sons of Aedh 
 Slanni, of the line of Erimhon, reigned conjointly over Ireland 
 for seven years. It was in their reign that the battle of Pancti 
 was fought by Hossa, in which fell the King of Sagsa, or Saxon- 
 land, with thirty of his lords. It was then that St. Ultan^^ died. 
 
 ^ ViLiathain, that is, the territory 
 of the clan of 0'Li;ithain, now called 
 Lyons. Talamonach, the name of the 
 chief here mentioned, is also written 
 Talamhnach [TaUownuf!;h). 
 
 " Liath Manchain. — The situation of 
 this tract is now pointed out by the 
 ruined church of Liath Manchain, (call- 
 ed Lemanaghan by the English). It 
 lies in the barony of Garrycastle, and 
 King's county. Tuaim Eire, i. e. Erc's 
 Mound, was one of its ancient names. 
 Alcar Sod, in Gaelic,/oá re altoir, means 
 glebe or church land. 
 
 '-'■ St. Fursa. — He preached for some 
 time in Britain. Of him, Laurentius, 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, writes : 
 • That holy man, Fersajus, came hither 
 from Ibernia. He was renowned for his 
 ])reaching and for his knowledge, and 
 was sprung from the noblest race among 
 the Scoti, but he was much more enno- 
 bled by the qualities of his mind than 
 by his blood." He died about the year 
 G50. His festival was held on the IGth 
 of January. 
 
 ^ St. ^Níochellog was the founder of 
 Cill-Mhochellog {KUl-voghellogue), now 
 the town of KUlmalloch, county Limer- 
 
 '= A. D. 657. Four Masters. 
 
 " Diarmaid II. This prince and his 
 brother reigned for eight years. — Id. 
 
 ^ St. Ultan. He was styled Mac 
 hUi Conga, and was Abbot of Cluain- 
 Iraird. ]3e died 664, of the mortality 
 called the Buide Conaill, i. e. the yellow 
 plague. The following saints are re- 
 corded as having also died of this 
 scourge in the same year ; St. Fcchin, 
 Abbot of Fobar, on the l-lth of Feb- 
 ruary ; St. Eonan, son of Berach ; St. 
 Aileran the Wise ; contemporary with 
 him was St. Mauchan of Liath-Man- 
 chain, or Tuaim-Eirc, and St. Cronan, 
 son of Silni. Another St. Ultan, sur- 
 naraed Mac Ui Concobair, the first 
 bishop of Ard-Brecain,now Ardbraccan 
 in Meath, whose festival is set down on 
 4th of September, on which day he died 
 in 656. The annotations of Tirechau 
 on the Life of St. Patrick are stated to 
 have been taken from the mouth of Ul- 
 tanus, first bishop of the Dal Concobair 
 of Ardbraccan. He lived to an extreme 
 old age, and it is stated that he educat- 
 ed and fed with his own hands all the 
 children who were without education in 
 Ireland.— O'D. 
 
478 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 and also St. Macdog,=* son of Sedna, son of Ere, son of Feradach, 
 son of Fiacaidh, son of Amalgaid, son of Murcdach, son of 
 Carthann, son of Ere, of the line of Colla Uais, to wit, thci saint 
 who was honored at Ferna. Then also died the holy St. Cumin 
 Fada," son of Fiacaidh ; and ]\iaenach, son of Finghin, King of 
 Munster. And Diarmaid and BUitlimac both died of the plague 
 which was called the Buide-Conaill,'' 
 
 SECHNASACH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 676." Sechnasach {Shaghnasagh), son of Blathmac, son 
 of Aedh Slainni, of the line of Erimhon, succeeded his father 
 and uncle as King of Ireland, and reigned six years.*" In the 
 reign of this prince the battle of Fert" was fought between the 
 Ulidians and the Cruthnigh, where numbers were slain on both 
 sides. St. Baethin," Abbot of Bcnnchor, died in this reign. 
 
 ^ St. Maedog. This saint had died 
 long before this reign, in the year G24. 
 He is now usually called St. Mogue by 
 the Irish peasantry, who sometimes im- 
 properly translate his name by Moses. 
 llis first name was really Aedh,of which 
 Aedhog [Ayogue'j , as well as Aedhan 
 (Ayaun), or Aidan, are diminutive 
 forms. Maedog or Macdhog {Mayogue) 
 is a name of affection ; the pronoun Mo, 
 my, being prefixed Aedog, as has hap- 
 pened in the case of many of the names 
 of Irish saints, such as Mochua, Mo- 
 chuda, Molasi, &c. St. Maedog was 
 the founder of the bishoprick of Ferna, 
 now Ferns, on the river Bann, about 
 five miles north of Enniscorthy, county 
 "Wexford. His feast is on the 31st of 
 January. 
 
 " St. Cumin Fnda. — He was bi.shop 
 of Ciuain-Fcrta Brenainn or Clonfcrt, 
 and died on the 12th of November, 
 which is his festival, in CGI. He was, 
 as before stated, the half-brother (by 
 his mother) of (Juairi, King of (,'on- 
 naught ; paternally ho was of the tribe 
 of the Eoganacht of Loch Ixin, in 
 Kerry. 
 
 "* Buidr. Conaill. — " This plague is 
 mentioned by Bcdo in his ICcclesiastical 
 History, who wriUiS tliat in the year 
 664, a sudden pestilence (called the yel- 
 
 low plague) depopulated tlie southern 
 coast of Britain, and extending into 
 Northumberland, ravaged the country 
 far and near, and destroyed a great 
 number of men. " He also states that 
 it did no less harm in Ireland, where 
 many of the nobility and of the lower 
 ranks of the English nation were, at 
 that time, cither studying theology or 
 leading monastic lives, the Scoti sup- 
 plying them with food and furnishing 
 them with books and their teaching 
 gratis. — 0' Donovan. 
 
 "• A. D. GG5.—Four Masters. 
 
 °° Six years. — Five years. — Id. 
 
 "' The battle of Fert.—" A. D. G65. 
 The battle of Fersat was fought this 
 year between the Ulidians and the Cin- 
 thin, where Cathasach, son of Laircine 
 wa.s slain." — Id. 
 
 Fcrt, as in the text, is clearly a mifl- 
 takc for Fersat. The place meant is 
 Belfast, whose present name is a cor- 
 ruption of Belach Feirsti, i. c. the Pass 
 of the Fersad, a word which literally 
 moans a spindle, but which is also ap- 
 plied figuratively to a sand bank formed 
 in the estuary of a river, where the tide 
 checiks the current of the fresh water. — 
 O'l). 'i'he people here called Cruthiiigh 
 were the Dal Araidc race. 
 
 ° Baeilhin. — He died in 665. 
 
THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 479 
 
 Sechnasach ended his reign and life by being killed by Dubduin 
 of the Kinel Carbri." 
 
 KENNFAELADH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 682." Kennfaeladh, son of Blathraac, son of Aedh 
 Slanni, of the line of Erimhou, succeeded to the throne and 
 held it for four years. In his reign the monastery of Bennchor" 
 was biu'ned by foreign marauders, and the persons that compos- 
 ed its religious community were slaughtered. 
 
 This place had its name of Bennchor from the following cir- 
 cumstance : Bresal Brec, a King of Leinster, once made a plunder- 
 ing expedition to Alba, with a numerous force, and brought 
 thence a large prey of cattle as booty with him to Ireland ; and 
 when he had landed with his forces he made an encampment 
 at the place that is now called Bennchor, and there his people 
 killed many of the oxen for their food so that the plain was 
 strewn over with the bemia, that is, with the horns of the cattle, 
 and hence came the name of Magh Bennchor or the Plain of 
 Horns. Long afterwards, when the holy Abbot Comgall had 
 founded a monastery in the same place, he commanded that the 
 building should be called from the place where it was built. 
 Henco it became known as the Monastery of Bennchor. Soon 
 after the burning of this monastery by these foreign pirates, 
 Kennfaeladh, King of Ireland, was killed by Finnacta Fleadach, 
 son of Donncadh, at the battle of Keltair.*^ 
 
 •" Kinel Carhri. — That is, the race ent institution. It is seen both from the 
 
 of Carbri, son of Niall of the Nine annals of Ulster and those of Clonmar 
 
 Hostages, seated at this period in the noise, that it was the British monastery 
 
 barony of Granard, county Longford, that was burned in the reign of Kenn- 
 
 but whose descendants afterwards set- faeladh : " A. D. G71. The burning of 
 
 tied in and gave their names to the pre- Bennchor of the Britons." — Ann. Ult. 
 
 sent barony of Carbury, county Kil- " A. D. 668. Bangor in England was 
 
 dare, and also to the barony of Carbury burned." — Ann. Colon. The Irish mon- 
 
 county Sligo. astery, founded by the great St. Com- 
 
 "It was of Sechnasach this testimony gall, who died on the 10th of May, in 
 
 was given : the year 600, was still unprofaned by 
 
 " Full of bridles and horsewhips la the forcigu spoilers. The name of Benn- 
 
 Sechnasacii's dwell ins-piaco— chor is rather frequent in Ireland, and 
 
 That spoil-teeming, plentiful i^, mncs+lv ino-lipÍ7Pfl Tliimo-lipr Tt ia 
 
 Fortress of Blathmac's son." \^ mostly anglicizecl Jjanaglicr. n IS 
 
 derived, as Keating states, irom benn, 
 
 — Four Masters. signifying a horn, peak, crest, or pinna- 
 
 " A. D. 670. — Id. cle, or rather it is more immediately 
 
 '^Bennchor. — The place then burned derived from its adjective 6enncrc/i by 
 
 was not the monastery of Bennchor, or the addition of the suiSx ar. 
 
 Bangor, in Ulster ; but it was Ban- ^ Keltair. — " He was slain in the 
 
 gor in North Wales,which, having been battle of Aircealtair (Arkclter), at 
 
 founded by missionaries from the Irish Tigh Ua Maine {Tee oo Manx).'" — F. 
 
 Bennchor, took its name from the par- M. The scene of this fight is supposed 
 
480 
 
 THE HISTOllY OF IRELAND. 
 
 FINNACTA, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D.^' 686. — Finnacta"" Flcadach, son of Donncadh, son of 
 Aedh :<lanni, of the line of Erimlion, held the sovereignty of Ire- 
 land for seven years.''' This King had the surname of Fleadach, 
 that is, the Hospitable, or Festive, or from the number of festivals 
 and public entertainments that took place in Ireland during his 
 reign. St. Colman, bishop of Inis-bo-iinni,'" died in his reign, as 
 did St. Finan, "' who was honored at Ard-Finain ; of the race of 
 Fiachaidh, ^íaeil-lethan, was this St. Finnan ; and about the same 
 time St. Arannan also died. It was Finnacta that defeated the 
 Loinstermen at the battle of Loch Gabar'- where many of them 
 fell by his forces. It was in his reign that Kennfaeladh the Learned" 
 died."^ And it was then also that Dungal, son of Sganlan, King of 
 the Cruthnigh or Picts, and Kennfaeladh, King of the Kiannachta 
 of Glenn-Geimhen, were burned by Maelduin, son of Alaelsitricc, 
 in Dun-Kethirnn.''* In this reign also the Britons made an in- 
 cursion into Ireland according to Bede, in the twenty-sixth chap- 
 ter of the fourth book of his History. He there informs us that 
 a cliieftain of the forces of the King of the Saxons, named Bertus, 
 
 to be pointed out by a place now called 
 Attymany, in the parish of Clonkeen 
 Kcrrill, barony of Tiaquin, and county 
 of (Jalway. 
 
 •^ A. D. G74. Four Blasters. 
 
 "* FixxACTA II. His name and sur- 
 name arc pronounced Finnaghtn Flaagh. 
 Finnacta is sometimes spelled Finnsh- 
 veacltta wliich lias almost the same pro- 
 nunciation, and is thus made to signify 
 siiou'hite, or rather white snow. But the 
 editor surmises that such spelling was 
 adopted in order to support an etymolo- 
 gical pun u])on the name, and that word 
 is nothing more than a simple derivate 
 from Finn, i. e. fair. 
 
 " Seven years. — His reign lasted for 
 twenty years according to the annals 
 above cited. 
 
 ■" St. Colman of Inis-'ho-finni. lie died 
 on the 8th of August, G74. Inis-bo- 
 ^nni, i. e. the Island of the White Cow 
 is now known as IJophin Island, sind is 
 situated off the west coast of Mayo. 
 The ruins of St. Colman's church are 
 Btill t'> be seen on this island. From 
 Loch Bo-linui, i. e. the Lake of the 
 
 White Cow, situate thereon, it is fabled 
 that an enchanted cow, from which it 
 has its name, is seen periodically to 
 emerge. 
 
 ■' St. Finan of Ard-Finain. — lie is 
 the patron saint of Ard-Fhinain 
 [Ardeenanin). now the town of Ardfm- 
 nan, county Tipperary. The festival 
 of St. Finan, son of liranan, is entered 
 in O'Clery's calendar at the 12th of 
 February. He died in 674. 
 
 ■- Lnck Gabar. — Now Lough Gower, 
 or Logore, near Uunshanghlin, in 
 Meath. This battle took place in 07"). 
 
 ''■' Kennfaeladh the Learned. — " A. D. 
 G77. Cennfaeladh, son of Oilioll. a 
 paragon of wi.^dom, died." — Four il/iw- 
 Icrs. This sage lived at Dcrryloran, in 
 Tyrone, as it is stated in the jiríílace to 
 the Uraicept na n-Eigeas, which work 
 he is said to have amended. — O'D. 
 
 " Dan Kc/hirnu. — Now the Giant's 
 Sconce, in the parish of Dunbar, county 
 Londonderry, as already statinl. This 
 event happened in 67y, in the si.\th 
 year of Finnacta'a reign, according to 
 the Four Masters. 
 
THE HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 481 
 
 landed ia Ireland in the year of our Lord, six hundred and 
 eighty-four, and that they plundered a great portion of the coun- 
 try, Bede laments that evil deed in the following words : 
 " Bertus devastated an innocent nation, and one that had always 
 proved most friendly to the English race."" Against them was 
 fought the battle of llath Morin Magh Lini," where Cuinusgach, 
 King of the Cruthnigh (the Dal Araide), was slain, and a great 
 number of the Gaels fell with him. The Britons then also made 
 an expedition to the Orcades and plundered those islands. Some 
 of them landed in the east of Leinster likewise, and having 
 plundered the properties both of the church and of the laity, they 
 returned to their homes, when they had committed great depre- 
 dations and destruction. St. Adamnan made the following verse 
 on Finnacta, when that king, had remitted the Boromha" or cow- 
 tribute at the request of St. Moling ; 
 
 " Finnacta, Donncadh's son, remitted, 
 At Moling's prayer, a mighty tribute ; 
 Thrice fifty hundred Line, with spancels, 
 And with each cow her calf was given." 
 
 Finnacta Avas killed soon after this by Aedh, the son of Dluthach 
 and by Conall, the son of Congal, at Grellach Dolaith."' 
 
 '^ Bertus vastavit gentem innocontem 
 misere et nationi Anglorum amicissi- 
 mam." This quotation from tlie vener- 
 able Bede refers to the invasion of Magh 
 Breagh by the Saxons, which took 
 place in June, 683, according to the 
 Four Masters, but in 684, according to 
 Bede, in which latter authority it 
 is said that Bertus or Berctus was the 
 general of Egfrid, King of Northum- 
 bria. 
 
 ™ Rath-mor in Magh Line. — Now 
 Rathmore, a townland on which there 
 is au ancient rath or earthen fort, in 
 the parish of Donegore and county of 
 Antrim. This battle was fought in 
 680, three or four years before the in- 
 vasion of Magh Breagh, by the Saxons. 
 The foreigners who were there defeat- 
 ed were more probably Saxons than 
 Britons. In the year after the inva- 
 sion of Magh Breagh, St. Adamnan, 
 Abbot of lona, was sent to England 
 to request a restoration of the captives 
 taken therein. The Northern Saxons 
 received him with great honor on the 
 
 occasion, and granted him everything 
 he requested. 
 
 " The Boromha remitted. — " That in- 
 iquitous tax upon the people of Lein- 
 ster, which through forty successive 
 reigns had been one of the sources of 
 national strife, was at length remitted 
 at the urgent request of St. Moling, 
 Archbishop of Ferns (Ferna), by 
 the pious King Finnachta for him- 
 self and bis successors for ever." — 
 3Ioore. 
 
 If there be any truth in the opposi- 
 tion of St. Adamnan to the remission 
 of the Boromha, by his relative, King 
 Finnacta, the above quoted verses must 
 be understood in an ironical sense. 
 
 '« Grellach Dollaith.—Thh is sup- 
 posed to be the place still called, in 
 Irish, Grellach, but Girly in English, 
 which lies two miles south of Kills, in 
 Meatli. The battle was fought in the 
 twentieth year of Finnacta's reign, and 
 not in the seventh, as Keating has it. 
 Bresal, the monarch's son, fell with 
 him. 
 
482 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 LOINGSECH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 693."' Loingsech, son of Aengus, son of Domnall, son 
 of Aedli, sou of Anmiri, of the line of ErimLón, ascended the 
 throne of Ireland and held it for eight years. In this reign St. 
 Adamnan came from Alba to Ireland'" to preach. It was then, 
 also, that St. Moling"^ of Luachair died ; and that the plain of 
 Murihemni was devastated'*^ by the Britons. During this reign 
 a great pestilence raged amongst the cattle** in Saxon-land and 
 in Ireland. This was followed by a great famine which lasted 
 for three years, during which time, it is said, that people were 
 forced to eat one another. It was about this time, also, that St. 
 Egbert went to preach in Alba. Muredach Maeil-lethan,*'' King 
 of Connaught, died, whilst Loingsech was monarch. It was 
 then, also, that the Ulidians fought the battle of Magh-Cullinn** 
 against the Britons, and in it great numbers of those marauders 
 were slaughtered. About this time, likewise, died St. Adamnan,^' 
 Abbot of Aei, or lona, in his seventy-seventh year. 
 
 '» A. D. 694:.— Four Masters. 
 
 ^ St. Adamnan came to Jreland in 
 697. It appears from Bode that his 
 principal object in visiting his native 
 land on this occasion was to preach to 
 the people about the proper time of 
 keeping the Easter. 
 
 " St. Moling died.— He died in C9C, 
 on the 13th of May. lie erected a 
 church at a place then named lios-bnjc, 
 but now Tigh Moling, i. c. Moling's 
 House, in Irish, and in English, St. 
 Mullin's, where his festival was cele- 
 brated on the 17th of June. 
 
 * The Flam of Murtliemtu devastat- 
 ed. — " A. D. 095. The second year of 
 Loingsech. The devastation of Mur- 
 thennii by the Britons and the Ulidi- 
 ans. — Four Masters. 
 
 '^ Pestilence amongst the cattle. — This 
 event seems misplaced. A similar pes- 
 tilence is thus recorded by the Four 
 Masters to have visited Ireland during 
 the last reign. "A. D. Gti t. The lltli 
 year of Fiunaeta, a mortality upon all 
 animals in general throughout the 
 whole world, for the space of four 
 years, so that there escaped not one 
 out of the thousand of any kind of 
 animals. There was a great frost in 
 this year, so that the rivers and lakes 
 
 of Ireland were frozen, and the sea be 
 twcen Ireland and Alba was frozen 
 so that there was a communication be 
 tween them on the ice."' Florence of 
 Winchester notices this plague in his 
 annals at the year G85. " A great pes- 
 tilence seized upon Britannia, and laid 
 ?t waste with wide-spread destruction." 
 — The Annals of Ulster record a pesti- 
 lence such as Keating speaks of, as 
 having taken place in 799. 
 
 *' Muredach Mactl-lcthan, i. o. ^lu- 
 redach of the Broad Head. He was 
 sou of Fergus, sou of Kaghallach, son 
 of Uada. It was from liini that the 
 Sil Muireadhaigh [S'leel Murray), 
 (i. e. Seed of Muredach) consisting 
 of the O'Connors (of Connaught). 
 the Mac Dermots, Mac Dononghs. 
 O'Beirnes, O'Flanagans, Mageraghties. 
 O'Finnaghties, took their tribe-aanie. 
 He was otherwise called Muredach of 
 ,Magh Aei, in Roscommon. He died in 
 the year 700, in the seventh year of 
 Loingsech. 
 
 " The battle of Magh Cuillinn. A 
 plain near Sliabli Cuillinn, now Slieve 
 GuUion, CO. Armagh. 
 
 "" Died St. Adamnan, &c. — This cele- 
 brated man was of same family as St. 
 Columkille and St. Baeithin, i. e. of the 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 483 
 
 It was now that the Saracens marched with a Large army to 
 Constantinople, which city they beseiged for three years, after 
 which period they withdrew their forces without having suc- 
 ceeded in taking it. 
 
 The battle of Corann^' was fought by Kellach, son of Eaghal- 
 iach, who had been seven years King of Connaught, against 
 Loingsech, King of Ireland, and in it the latter, was defeated and 
 slain. 
 
 CONGAL KENN-MAGHAIR, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 701.^ Congal^ Kenn-Maghair, son of Fergus Fanaid, 
 descended from Conall Gulban, son of Niall of the Nine Host- 
 ages, of the line of Erimhón, became King of Ireland, and 
 reigned for nine years. It was this Congal that burned Kill- 
 dara, destroying both the ecclesiastical buildings and the houses 
 of the laity. But this evil deed soon brought a sudden death 
 upon himself. 
 
 FERGAL, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 710.^ Fergal, son of Maelduin, son of Maelsitricc, son 
 of Aedh Uaridnach, of the line of Erimhón, held the sover- 
 eignty of Ireland for seventeen years.®^ Cact, the daughter of 
 Maelcoba, King of Kinel Conaill, was his mother. 
 
 About this time a battle was fought by the Dal Eiada against 
 the Britons, at a place called Cloch Minnirc, where the Britons 
 were defeated with slaughter. About this time, also, Nectan, 
 
 Kinel Conaill. He was son of Ronan, " The battle of Corann — Corann is 
 
 sou of Tinni, son of Aedh, son of Ool- now a barony in Sligo. The three sons 
 
 man, son of Sedna, son of Fergus Kenn- of the monarch were slain with their 
 
 fada, son of Conall Gulban, son of Niall father in that fight, 
 
 of the Nine Hostages. After having '^ A. D. 702. — Four Masters. 
 
 been twenty-six years Abbot of lona, ^ Congal H. — He was called Kenn- 
 
 he died on the 23d of September, in the maghair, from a place of that name, 
 
 year 703, or, according to Tigernach, now anglicized Kinnaweer, situated at 
 
 in 704. Of Adamnan's works we have the head of Mulroy Lough, barony of 
 
 still remaining, his Life of Oolumba, or Kilmacrenau, and county of Donegal. 
 
 St. Columkille, written in the purest He reigned but seven years, according 
 
 style of Latin then in use ; which Pink- to the above cited Annals, which say 
 
 orton calls the completest piece of bio- nothing of his having burned Kill-dara 
 
 graphy that all Europe can boast of and its churches. But it would seem 
 
 ■luring the whole of the Middle Ages ; from them that he had gone into Leins- 
 
 and his Description of the Holy Places ter, in the year 705, to reenforce the 
 
 • )f Judea, which he presented King Al- lately abolished Boromha, and that he 
 
 fred. These have been published ; but had obtained his demand from that ter- 
 
 therc are other tracts, both in prose ritory. 
 
 and veree, written by him in his native ^ A. D. 709. — Four Masters. 
 
 tongue, which lie still in manuscript. *' Seventeen years — Ten years. — Id. 
 
THE HISTOKY OF IRELAND. 
 
 King of Alba, expelled a convent of Monks U^ond llie limits 
 of his realm for having reprehended him for his evil deeds. 
 
 It was in this king's reign that those three showers^ fell, whence 
 iSTiall Frasach had his surname. He Avas called Frasacli, because 
 he was born during the /nwa or showers, as we shall relate at the 
 reign of Niall Frasach himself. Those showers consisted of a shower 
 of honey at Fothain^ Beg, a shower of silver at Fothain Mor, and 
 a shower of blood in ]\ragh-Lighen. About this time was fought 
 the battle of Almain^ between Fergal, the monarch of Ireland, 
 and Murcadh son of Brann, King of Leinstpr. Fergal's forces ^ 
 amounted to twenty-one thousand men in this engagement, while 
 but nine thousand followed the King of Leinstcr to tlie field, in 
 addition to the eight score of chosen champions tliat formed his 
 royal bodv-guard. Nevertheless; the Monarch of Ireland was 
 routed, ancl two hundred and sixty-nine of his men ran mad, 
 and according to some accounts, three thousand two hundred of 
 them were left dead on the field. Other authorities hand down that 
 the number slain amounted to seven thousand. The reason why 
 this misfortune came upon the King of Ireland was, because as 
 he was marching to the battle field of Almaiu with the inten- 
 tion of fighting, some of his people went to plunder a little 
 church called Killin, and thence they brought away a solitary 
 cow which they found in possession of the hermit of that church. 
 Whereupon the hermit cursed the King and his army ; and it 
 was in consequence of his curse that this extraordinary misfor- 
 tune fell upon them, and that the King himself was slain among 
 the rest, as we have just told. 
 
 FOGARTACU, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A.D. 727.^^ Fogartach, son of Niall, son of Kearnach Sotal, 
 son of Diarmaid, son of Aedh Slanni, son of Anmiri, of the 
 
 "•' TVtrce s/toii'ers.— This sinííular anrl of Conn brought to tliis battle, waa 
 
 perhaps partly enigmatical record, is 21,000; and the number brought by 
 
 Ibnnd entered under the year 71 C, in the Lcinster men was 9,000. Of the 
 
 the Four Masters, and under 715 in the death of Murcadh was said : 
 
 Annals of Clonmacnoise. . Dunca lli,' the nnWe Mnrcarth's son, 
 
 '•* Fothain is also written Othain. It And Aeflh Mac Colgain, of red swords, 
 
 is now called Fahan, by the English, ^^^;^;l^Xt^^S^m,: 
 and lies near Lough Swilly, county 
 
 Doneo-al. Seven thousand was the number 
 
 *" Almain, now Allen, a celebrated that fell on both sides between them." 
 hill in the county of Kildare. — " A.D. — Four Masterf. 
 718. After Fergal, son of Maelduin, ■^' "A.D. 719. Fogartach, son of 
 had been ten years in the sovereignty Niall, son of Kearnach Sotal (the 
 of Ireland, he was slain by Duncadh, Proud) was in the sovereignty of Ire- 
 son of Murcadh, and Aedh, son of Col- land this year, until he fell in the 
 pun, an heir presumptive to the sover- battle of Delgcan, ly Kineath, son of 
 eiguty. The number which the race Irgalach." — Four Masters. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 485 
 
 line of Erimlióu, reigned over Ireland for one year. He was 
 killed by Kinaeth, son of Irgallach, in the battle of Belgi.'" 
 
 KINAETII, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A.D. 728,'" Kinaeth, son of Irgallach, son of Oonain^ Cur- 
 rach, son ofConall, son of Aedh Shmni, of the line of Erimhon, 
 rnled Ireland for four years. It was in the reign of this king 
 that the relics of Sfc. Adamnan were brought from Alba to Ire- 
 land. After that event, the battle of Drum-Kiarain'' was 
 fought by Flathbertach, son of Loingsech, against Kinaeth, son 
 of Irgallach, where Kinaeth, King of Ireland, fell, and many of 
 his people were slain around him. 
 
 FLATHBERTACH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A.D. 732.'' Flathbertach, son of Loingsech, son of Aengus, 
 son of Domnall, son of Aedh, son of Anmiri, of the line of 
 Erimhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland for seven years. 
 ^Muirenn, daughter of Kellach, was the mother of this king. 
 According to Bede, it was in this king's reign that the battle of 
 Drum-dorg was fought in Alba between Drust and Aengus, two 
 kings of the Picts. It was in his reign, also, that the battle of 
 Fochart"" was gained in Murthemni by Aedh Ollan, and the 
 
 ^ Belgi, or Beilge. The situation Chomaigli, i. e. the stone of clecapita- 
 of this place has not been identified, tion, in the doorway of the church of 
 Bolgi seems to have been written by Fochart; and Coucadh, son of Cuanach, 
 mistake for Delgi, or Delgen. The chief of Cobha, was slain, and many 
 name is also written Cenn Delgthen. others along with him. The cause of 
 [Kenn Delkenn). this battle was the profanation of the 
 " A.D. 720. Four Masters. church of Kill-Conna by Ua Seghain, 
 ^® Drum Kiarain. "A.D. 722. oneofthepeopleof Aedh Roin. Congas, 
 After Kinaeth, son of Irgalach, had Comorba of St. Patrick, composed this 
 been three years in sovereignty over quatrain to incite Aedh Allan to re- 
 Ireland, he fell in the Ijattle of Drom venge the profanation of the church ; 
 Corcrain, by Flathbertach. son of Loin- for he was the spiritual adviser of 
 gsech." — lb. Drum Kiarain, the name Aedh, so that he said : 
 which Drum Corcrain has been called "gay unto the cold Aedh Allan 
 in the text, is, in some copies, written That I've been wronsred by feeble men, 
 n.-iim flornn Its; «itintinn lvi<5 iint For Aedh Eoiu outrafjed me last night, 
 Uium i^arran. its siiuaiion nas not At Kill Cuuna of music sweet." 
 been identmed. 
 
 ^ A.D. 723. lb. Aedh Allan then collected his f irces 
 
 "" Fochart, now Faughard, county to Fochart, and he composed these 
 
 Louth. The battle of Fochart was verses on his march to the l^attle : 
 not fought until the third year of the u j^in Cunna. church of my soul's friend, 
 
 reign of Aedh Ollan, or Allan, the next For thee this day I march a field; 
 
 cn/^pppflino- mnnnrpTi " Á T) '7^9 '^I'hp Aedh Roin shall leave his head with me, 
 
 succeemng monarcn. a.u. idz. ine or i with him shaiileave my own." 
 
 battle 01 r ochart was fought by Aedh 
 
 Allan and the Glanna Neill of the — See Four Masters. 
 
 north against the Ulidians, where Kill Cunna is now called Killoony, 
 
 Aedh Roiu, King of Ulidia, was slain, in the parish of Ballyclog, barony of 
 
 and his head was cut off on Cloch-an- Dungannon, county Tyrone. 
 
486 THE HISTORY OF IKPZLAND. 
 
 clans of Xiall against tlic men of Ulidia. Aedh Roin, King of 
 Ulidia, was slain in this battle, after a reign of thirty years, and 
 there, also, fell, Concadh, son of Cuanach. Two years after this 
 engagement, Flathbertach, son of Loingsech, King of Ireland, 
 died a penitent at Ard Macha. 
 
 AEDII OLLAN, ARD-RIGH, 
 
 A.D. 739.' Aedh Ollan,^ son of Fergal, son of Mael- 
 duin, son of Maelsitricc, of the race of Erimhon, obtained 
 the sovereignty of Ireland, and held it for nine years. The 
 mother of this prince was Brighitt, daughter of Orca, son 
 of Carthann. In the reign of this Aedh was fought the 
 battle of Belach Feli,^ between the Munstermen and Leinster- 
 mcn, and many fell therein on both sides, and amongst 
 them was Kellach, son of Faelcair, King of Osraide. Cathal, 
 son of Finguini, King of Munster, gained the victory in that 
 battle. After this, Aengus, son of Fergus, King of the Picts, 
 routed and slaughtered the Dal Riada of Alba, and plundered 
 and devastated them exceedingly, so that Dun-da-cregi was 
 burned by him, and that Dungal and Fergus,* the two sons of 
 Selbach, King of Dal Eiada, were led captive, and put in fetters. 
 
 About this time there was a meeting between Aedh Ollan, 
 King of Ireland, and Cathal, son of Finguini, King of Munster, 
 at Tir-da-leth-glas,^ in Ormond, and there they established the 
 rule and law and rent of Patrick over Ireland. 
 
 Shortly after this, the battle of Ath Senaid,^ that is, the battle 
 
 ' A. D. 730. lb. Ballyshannon, county Kildare, four 
 
 - Aedii V. miles southwest of Kilcullcn Bridge. 
 
 ' Belach Feli. This name should be The people of Ijeinster suffered so 
 
 Belach Eli, i.e. the Pass of Eli. "A.D. severely in this fight, and in that of 
 
 730. The battle of Belach Eli was Almain, in 718, that the remission of 
 
 fought between Cathal, son of Fin- the Boroinha could be said to have 
 
 guini. King of Munster, and the brought them but little advantage. 
 
 Ijeinstermen, where many of the latter The whole strength, both of the races 
 
 were slain. There fell of the Munster- of Conn and of Catheir INIor, seems to 
 
 men here Kellach, son of Fclcair, chief have met in hostile array in this battle, 
 
 of Osraide, and the two sons of Cor- There, we are told, " that Aedh Allan 
 
 mac, son of Rossa, chief of the D&si, met Aedh, son of Colgan, in single 
 
 with three thousand along with them, combat, and Aedh. son of Colgan, was 
 
 — Ifj, slain by Aedh Allan. The Leinster- 
 
 * Duntrnl and Fergus. According men were slaughtered dreadfully there- 
 to O'Flahcrty, tho defeat of the Dal in, so that there escaped of them but a 
 Riada by the Fictish king Aengiis small remnant. The following were 
 happened in the year 73G. 'J'hc Dun- the leaders and chiefs who loll, namely, 
 gal here mentioned was the twenty- Aedh, son of ('olgan, King of Ui 
 second king of the Alban Caels. Kinnselaigh, ]5rann ]k>g, son of Mur- 
 
 ' Tir-da-leth-glas, now Terryglass, cadh, the .second king who was over 
 
 in Lower Ormond. the f/iinsternien, Fergus, son of Mafr- 
 
 ' Ath Senaid. It is now known as nach, and Dubdacrioch, two chiefs of 
 
THE niSTOKY OF IRELAND. 
 
 487 
 
 of Uchba, was fought between Aedli Ollan, King of Ireland, 
 and Aedh, son of Colgan, King of Leinster. In this battle, 
 Aedh Ollan was dangerously wounded, and Aedh, son of Colgan, 
 with Bran Beg, son of Murcadh, half-king of Leinster, and 
 numbers of the chief nobles of Leinster, were slain. In all, 
 nine thousand Leinstermen fell in that fight. It was after this 
 that Cathal, son of Finguini,' King of Munster, died, and like- 
 Avise Aedh Balb, son of Innrectach, who had been for seven 
 3'ears King of Connaught. In this reign, also, died Flann,^ son 
 of Cronmael, Bishop of Rechrainn. After this, Aedh Ollan fell 
 in the battle of Seridh,^ in Meath, that is, of Kennanus, or Kells, 
 by Domnall, son of Murcadh. 
 
 DOMNALL, AED-RIGH. 
 
 A.D. 748.^° Domnall," son of Murcadh, son of Armedach 
 Caech, son of Conall Guth-binn, son of Suibni, son of Colman, 
 son of Diarmaid, son of Fergus Kerbeol, son of Conall Crem- 
 thanni, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, of the line of Erimhon, 
 held the sovereignty of Ireland for twenty-four^ years. The 
 
 rih), and was the name of the plain 
 lying round Kells, in Meath. Aedh 
 Ollan was famous as a bard as well as 
 warrior, if we may judge from the 
 manner in some stanzas attributed to 
 
 the Fotharta, the son of Ua Kellaigh, 
 son of Trian, Fiangalach Ua Maelea- 
 thgin, Conall Ua Athechdai, the four 
 sons of Flann Ua Congaili, Eladach 
 Ua Maeluidir. The people of Leth 
 Cuinn were joyous after this victory, 
 for they had wreaked vengeance upon 
 the men of Leinster. Nine thousand 
 was the number of them that ware 
 slain." This engagement took place in 
 the year of Aedh Allan (733). — See 
 Four Masters. 
 
 ' Cathal, son of Finguini. He died in 
 737. He is the ancestor of the sept of 
 O'-Caeimh, now O'Keeffe, who were 
 chieftains of Fermoy, county Cork, 
 previous to the English invasion. 
 Cathal was a warlike and power- 
 ful prince. By the annals of Innis- 
 fallen, and other Munster records, he is 
 mentioned as full monarch of Ireland. 
 Aedh Balbh, King of Connaught, died 
 in 737, also. 
 
 ' Flann, son of Cronmael. Flann, 
 son of Kellach, son of Cronmael, died 
 in 735. It is not certain whether he 
 was Bishop of Rechrainn, in the east 
 of Meath, where St. Columkille had 
 established a monastery, or of Rech 
 rainn, now Rathlin, or Ragharee Is- 
 land, off the north coast of Antrim. 
 
 ^ Seridh, in Meath. It was other- 
 wise called Magh Seridh {3Ioy Sher- 
 
 him are quoted by the Irish annalists. 
 
 "> A. D. 739. Four Masters. 
 
 ■' Domnall III. 
 
 '^ Twenty-Four Years. The editor's 
 MS. copies of Keating give this king 
 a reign of 44 years. O'Connor's trans- 
 lation gives him one of 42. From the 
 former of these he has here cut off 20 
 years. He has done so on the following 
 grounds ; firstly, because to allow a 
 reign of such a length to Domnall HI, 
 would throw several historic events, 
 subsequently recorded in this history, 
 too far in advance of the real dates, as 
 ascertained both from the Irish Annals 
 and from the testimony of foreign 
 writers ; secondly, because he is per- 
 suaded that the number was originally 
 written 24 by Keating himself, for the 
 sum of the subsequent dates, prefixed 
 in his MS. copies, to the several kings' 
 reigns, does not accord with the sum 
 of the number of years during which 
 each king is stated to have held the 
 sovereignty ; and thirdly, because the 
 retrenchment of 20 years from this 
 reign will brin^ the dates of those of 
 the succeeding monarchs into suffici- 
 
488 
 
 THE HISTOllY OF IRELAND. 
 
 mother of Domnall, son of Murcadh, King of Ireland, was Alpin, 
 daughter of Congal, son of Delbna Mor. In the reign of this 
 King, Colman, bishop of Laesau/^ was slain by the Ui Tuitri ;" 
 and Oorraac, bishop of Ath Truim/^ died. It was in his reign, 
 also, that a form^^ like that of a serpent was to move in the air. 
 It was then, likewise, that Sechnasach," son of Colgan, king of 
 Ui Kinnselaigh, died; and St. Suairlech,!^ bishop of Fobar, 
 and Osbran, bishop of Cluain Creinha," died then, also. 
 
 After this, the battle of Belach Cro^» was fought by Crim- 
 
 ently close proximity witt our several 
 other Irish authorities. It is not un- 
 likely to suppose that some early tran- 
 scriber of Keatinji had mistaken tlie 
 first cypher of 24 for a 4, and thus If'd 
 to this confusion. In the Four Mas- 
 ters, Domnall, son of Murcadh, is stat- 
 ed to have reigned but 20 years. 
 
 " Bishop of Laesan. Laesan or 
 Lessan is the name of a parish at the 
 foot of Slieve Gallion, in the counties 
 of Londonderry aLd Tyrone. Bishop 
 Colman was slain in 743 according 
 to some writers, in 739 according to 
 others. 
 
 " Ui Turtri. They were, otherwise, 
 called the Tuatha Tort, and were seated 
 in the county of Antrim, on the east 
 side of the Bann and Lough Neagh. 
 They were descended from Fiachra 
 Tort, son of Colla Uais. 
 
 " Bishop of Ath Truim. This bishop 
 died in 741. Ath Truim is the Gaelic 
 name for Trim in Meath. A bishop- 
 rick had been founded here in 432 by 
 St. Patrick, who had received a grant 
 of the place from Feidiim, son of King 
 Laegari IF. 
 
 '" A Form, fyc. The appearance of 
 this phenomenon, then Iieid prodigious, 
 is recorded in the Annals of Ulster 
 under the year 744 in these terms ; 
 " During the night a horrible and won- 
 derful sign was seen in the stars." 
 
 " Sechnnsnch, Son of Colgan. This 
 chieftain died in 741. 
 
 " .S7. Swiirlech. Tie died on the 
 21st of March in 745. Fobar, called 
 also Fobar Fechin, now Fore in West- 
 mcath. 
 
 '" Chmin Cremha, i e. the Lawn of 
 the Wild Garlic, now ClooncrafT! near 
 Elphin, county Roscommon. Bishop 
 Osbran died in 747. 
 
 ■" The Battle of Belach Cm. This 
 battle was fought in 751, by the Ui 
 Mani against the Delbna Nuadath, a 
 tribe of the Dal-g-Cais,which had early 
 made a settlement between the River 
 Suck and Ijoch Ribh (Lough Ree), 
 where they had subdued, but not ex- 
 pelled the ancient Fer Bolg tribe of 
 the Gamham'aide. Both tribes were, 
 in this battle, nearly annihilated by the 
 Ui Mani. A fleet of the Delbna hav- 
 ing been wrecked by a storm upon 
 Lough Ree, and numbers of their war- 
 riors having perished therein, the Ui 
 Mani, then seated on the west bank of 
 the Suck, seized upon that opportuni- 
 ty in order to exterminate their weak- 
 ened foes. Tiie circumstance is re- 
 corded by the Four ]VIasters in the 
 following terms ; " The shipwreck of 
 the Delbna Nuadath upon Loch Ribh 
 with their lord Dimasach, of which 
 was said : 
 
 " ' The Gamanradi of Locli P.lbh 
 Set sail ill tlirice nine barlcs, and three 
 Of them wlih life none tlience returned. 
 Except the crew of one lone bark.' " 
 
 The battle of Belach Cro was gain- 
 ed by Cii nit harm, (chief of the Ui 
 Mani), over tlic Delbna of Ui Mani, 
 in which was slain Fiini, son of Arb, 
 Ijord of Delbna, at Tibra Finn. The 
 Ui Mani were contending with them 
 for the cantred between the^fMica (the 
 Suck), and the Sinainn (the Shannon), 
 i'or this was called the cantred of the 
 Dell>na. Of this was said : 
 
 "The battle of Belach Cro— 
 lied passof [larli-folond hosts! 
 AVoe vvorlh the Dclbna's march and thereto! 
 Kor there flcne Crimthann ruin jwurcJ 
 On Dollma-N'midir» warlike tribe. 
 The Kinc of Delbna, Finn Mac Alrb, 
 Was wounded with broad-lieadcd speurs; 
 f»f that dread battle he was chicf^ 
 Until bo fell at Tlbra Finn." 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 489 
 
 thann, son of Enna, in wliicli fdl Finn, son of Arb, King of the 
 Dolbna ; and his people were tlicre slaughtered around him. 
 From that action the lake, which is in that ])Jace, is called Locban 
 Belaigh Cro f^ and thence also the well that is there, has been 
 named Tibraid Finn — that is, the Well of Finn. It was about 
 this period that Cumasgach,"'' King of Ui Failghi, fell by Mael- 
 duin, son of Aedh Bennan, King of Munster. Then, also, 
 Cathasach, son of Olild, King of the Cruthnigh," was slain at 
 Rath Betliach bj the men of Leinster: and the battle of Belach 
 Gabrain,"'' was gained by the son of Cucherca, and the men of Os- 
 raide, over Donngal, son of Laeidgenn, King of Ui Kinnselaigh, 
 and there Donngal was slain, and numbers of the nobles of 
 Leinster were slain with him. About the same time died Mure- 
 dach, son of Murcadh,''" King of Leinster. And after these 
 events Domnall, son of Mureadh, the first King of Ireland of the 
 Clann Colmain,-^ died. 
 
 NIALL FRASACH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 772." Niall Frasach,=* son of Fergal, the son of Mael- 
 duin, son of Maelsitricc, son of Aedh Uaridnaeh, son of Domnall, 
 son of Murkertach Mor Mae Erca, son of Muredaeh, son of Eogan, 
 son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, of the line of Erimhon, as- 
 sumed the sovereignty of Ireland, and held it for four years. 
 He was called Niall Frasach — that is, Niall of the fmsa or 
 showers,'^ from those three showers which fell in Ireland at the 
 
 -' Lochan Belaigh Cro, i. e. the Pool ^ Muredaeh, son of Mureadh. This 
 
 or Small Lough of the Bloody Pass. Prince died in 755. 
 
 " It may be the lough now called "" Clan Colmain. This was the tribe 
 
 Loughcrone, near Turrock, in the bar- name of the O'Maelsechlainns or 
 
 ony of Athloue." — O'D. O'Melaghlins of Meath. The An- 
 
 ^ Cumasgach. He was slain in 752. nals of the Four Masters enter the death 
 
 ** Kinrj of the Cruthnigh, i.e. King of Domnall, under the year 758 ; those 
 
 of the Ulidians, now sometimes called of Ulster, under 7G2 ; those of Clon- 
 
 Criithnigh. He was slain in 749, at macnoise, under 759 ; but it appears 
 
 Eath Bethach, now Rathbeagh, a town- from an eclipse of the sun noticed the 
 
 land on the Nore, in the barony of same year, tliat 763 is the true date. — 
 
 Galway, and county Kilkenny. See 0' Donovan's notes to the Four Mas- 
 
 '■"* Belach Gabrain, i. e. the Road of ters. 
 
 Gabran, which extended from Gowran '" A. D. 759. — Four Masters. 
 
 towards Ca-sihcl. The former place is ^ Niall II. He reigned seven years, 
 
 now called Gowran, a barony in the — O'D. 
 
 county of Kilkenny, in which there is ™ Showers. These showers are 
 
 also a small town of the same name, mentioned by other records as having 
 
 The battle above mentioned, was fought fallen in the first year of his reign, as : 
 
 in 756. Another battle was gained at " A. D. 759. Three showers fell in 
 
 Gabran itself, by Anmcaidh, an Osso- Crich Muredhaiirh [Crecgh Murruye), 
 
 rian chieftain, over the Leinstermen in in Iiiis Eoghain {hushowen), namely, a 
 
 754. shower of pure silver, a shower of 
 
490 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 time of his birtli, of \vhich we have already taken notice ; name- 
 ly, a shower of honey at Fothain Beg, a shower of silver at 
 Fothain Mor, and a shower of blood at Magh Laighen. For 
 /m.5, indeed, has the same meaning as Cioth (Kih)— to wit, a 
 shower. The mother of this Prince was Athicla, daughter of 
 Kian, chieftain of Kiannacht. During this reign died DuLinn- 
 recht,^ son of Cathal, son of Muredach I^Iaeil-lethan, who had 
 ruled Connaught for live years. There was an earthquake in 
 Ireland during the reign of this monarch ; and then, also, there 
 came a great ianiine^^ upon the land. Donngal, son of Kellach,^^ 
 King of Osraide, died about that time. Then also died Cron- 
 maeí^ the holy bishop of Kill-Mor,^ Alpin, King of the Cruth- 
 nigh, and Colgna, bishop of Ard Brecain. The battle of Ath- 
 \mo^ was fought between the tribes of Ui Briuin and Ui ]\Iani, 
 where great numbers fell on both sides. It was soon after this 
 that Artgal, sou of Cathal,^ went on a pilgrimage to Aei-Col- 
 uim-Killi. Fergus,^ bishop of Doimliag, died. The battle of 
 Corann was fought about this time, between the Kinel-Conaill 
 and the Sil-Eogain, where Maelduin,^' son of Aedh Ollan, was 
 the victor, and Domnall, son of Aedh Munderg, was routed from 
 the field, and many of his people slain. After this, Niall Fra- 
 sach died^* in Aci-Coluim-Killi. 
 
 wheat, and a shower of honey, of which 
 it was said : 
 
 "Three showers at Ard Ullinni 
 Fell, througli God's love, from TIcavcn — 
 A shower of silver, a shower of wheat, 
 And, eke — a shower of honey." 
 
 Some bard might have thus, by a 
 ratiier extravagaiit figure, expressed 
 either the plenty enjoyed by _Ini- 
 showen, the native territory of Niall, 
 in the beginning of his reign ; or the 
 showers of spoil, taken from the terri- 
 tory of his enemies, which he poured 
 into it. 
 
 *> Dubinnred, son of Cnthnl. This 
 Prince gained a battle at Sruthair, 
 now ShruU, in Longford, in 761. He 
 died in 7C7. 
 
 '■" A Great Famine. This famine 
 is noticed in the Annals of Cloumac- 
 noise, under the year 7C9. 
 
 " Donngal, son of Kellach. This 
 chieftain's death is recorded under the 
 scconil year of Donncudh. 
 
 =° Bishop of Ktll-Mor. Cronmacl, 
 Bishop and Abbot of Kill-Mor Emhiri 
 died in 7G.5. 
 
 '•* Atli-liag, i. e. tlie Ford of the 
 
 Stones. It is probably Ath-liag Maen- 
 again, now Atldeague, on the River 
 Suck. The name is written Achadh- 
 liag [Acrha-lccap:), i.e. the Field of 
 Stones, in the Four Masters, who re- 
 cord a battle as having been Ibught 
 there, in which the Ui Maui were 
 routed by the Ui Briuin in 770, being 
 the fifth year of Donncadh. 
 
 '■^ Art;ral, son of Cnthal. " A. D. 
 777. The 12 year of Donncadh (the 
 next monarch.) Artgal, son of Cathal, 
 King of Connaught, took the ])iigrim's 
 staff and wont to Hi on his pilgrimage." 
 — Four Masters. 
 
 ^ Fergus. The death of this Bishop 
 of Doimlaig (now Duleek), did not 
 occur until the thirteenth year of the 
 succeeding monarch. 
 
 " Maclduin. A victory was gained 
 by this Prince over his adversary, 
 liomnall, in 781 ; and another in 782, 
 at Ircdir, suppo.sed to be a place now 
 called Urker, in Antrim. Tiicse events 
 took i)lac(i late in the ensuing reign. 
 
 * Nmll Frasach died.—" A. D. 705. 
 Niall Fra.sach was seven years king 
 over Ireland when he resigned ; and he 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 491 
 
 DONNCADH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 776.^ Doniicadh,'"' son of Domnall, son of Murcadh, son 
 of Diarmaid, son of Armedach Caech, son of Conall Gutlibinn, 
 son of Suibni, son of Colnian Mor, son of Diarmaid, son of Fer- 
 gus Kerbeol, son of Conall Cremthanni, son of Niall of the Nine 
 Hostages, of the line of Erimhon, held, the sovereignty of Ire- 
 land for twenty-seven years ; after whicli, he died." within the 
 avails of his own palace. 
 
 ARDH OIRNIGHE, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 803.'' Aedh Oirnighe.-^son of Niall Frasach, son of Fergal, 
 
 died at I-Coluim-Cille, on liis pilgrim- 
 age, seven years afterwards." — Four 
 Masters. The exact year in which Niall 
 resigned his kingdom was 770. He 
 died in 778, a monk, in the Monastery 
 of lona. 
 
 ^ A. D. 766.— Four Masters. 
 
 '° DoxxcADH I. Though Dr. Keat- 
 ing has recorded none of the events 
 that happened during the comparative- 
 ly long reign of Douncadh, still those 
 that happened within that period oc- 
 cupy no small space in the Irish An- 
 nals ; but to introduce any notice of 
 them, and many other important per- 
 sonages and events recorded, as well in 
 this as in several of the preceding and 
 subsequent reigns, when not alluded to 
 in the text, would swell these notes be- 
 yond all reasonable bounds. The earth- 
 quake recorded by our author, under 
 the last reign, is probably what is re- 
 corded by the Four Masters, in the 
 following terms, under 767, being the 
 2d year of Donncadh : " The fair of 
 the Clapping of Hands (so called), be- 
 cause terrific and horrible signs ap- 
 peared at that time, which were like 
 unto the signs of the day of Judgment, 
 namely, great thunder and lightning, 
 so that it was insufferable to all to 
 hear the one and see the other. 
 Fear and horror seized the men of 
 Ireland, so that their religious se- 
 niors ordered them to make two 
 fasts, together with fervent pray- 
 er, and one meal between them, pre- 
 cisely at Michaelmas. Hence came 
 the Lamh-Chomairt [Lauve Comirt), 
 which was called the fire from Hea- 
 
 ven." Dr. O'Donovan tells us that 
 Lamh-CJiomahi meant a violent thun- 
 derstorm, that caused people to clap 
 their hands, through terror. However, 
 from the manner in which it is men- 
 tioned in the extract just quoted and 
 elsewhere, it would seem to mean some- 
 thing more. 
 
 " Died, ^-c. The true date of the 
 death of Donncadh is 797. It was in 
 his reign also that the Lochlannaigh, 
 or Scandinavians, generally called 
 Northmen and Danes, really made their 
 first appearance upon any part of the 
 Irish coast. The exact date of their 
 first appearance is 795, that being the 
 true chronology of the 25th year of 
 the reign of Donncadh I., son of Mur- 
 cadh, when the Irish Annalists record 
 their earliest descent in the following 
 terms : 
 
 " A. D. 790. The 25th year of Donn- 
 cadh. The burning of Rechrainn by 
 the foreigners ; and its shrines were 
 broken and plundered." — Annals of the 
 Four Blasters. 
 
 " A. D. 794. The burning of Rech- 
 rainn by the Gentiles, and the break- 
 ing and plundering of its shrines." — 
 Annals of Ulster. 
 
 " A. D. 792. Rachryn was burnt by 
 the Danes. — Annals of Clonmacnoise. 
 
 " A. D. 193.— Four Blasters. These 
 Annalists are here five years behind 
 the exact time ; while the date given 
 above in the text, is five years in ad- 
 vance thereof. The true chronology 
 is A. D. 795. 
 
 " Aedh VI. Oirdnide is the correct 
 form of this king's surname. 
 
492 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 son of Maelduin, of the line of Erimlion, lield the sovereignty of 
 Ireland for twenty-four years. Donnflaith {IJonláh), daughter of 
 Flathbertach, son of Loingsech, King of Kinel Conaill, was the 
 Mother of Aedh Oirnighe. He got the surname of Oirnighe 
 {Ornee), or Dorn-dighe** {Dornee), from a habit of sucking his 
 hands, which he had contracted after he had been weaned from 
 the breast. 
 
 First arrival of the LoCHLANNAiGH or ScANDiXAViANS, who are 
 commonly called Northm:en a?iá Danes, A. D. 795 to A. D. 854.<5 
 
 It was during the reign of Aedh and Oirnighe {Aye Ornee), 
 in the year of our Lord eight hundred and twenty,^ that 
 the Lochlannaigh {Longldannih) arrived in Ireland for the first 
 time. It was twelve years after that event when the tyrant 
 Turgesius made his invasion of this country ; and, according 
 to some antiquarians, Olcobar, son of Kinaeth, son of Congal, 
 son of Maelduin, was then King of Munster. However, the 
 Polychronicon, in treating of Ireland, tells us that it was 
 whilst Fcidlimidh, son of Crimthann, held the sovereignty 
 
 " Dorndighe. This etjTnological 
 monstrosity is not Gaelic. Dorn, the 
 first part of the compound, is the Gae- 
 lic name for a fist or clenched hand ; 
 the latter part is the genitive case of 
 the word deoch, the Gaelic name for a 
 drink. According to the derivation, 
 above given, Oirnighe, if it is as we 
 are told, another form of Dorndiglic, 
 should mean a fist-drinker or a fist- 
 drink, if it could mean anything, com- 
 ing from such elements. JJut it must 
 be evident to any one knowing Gaelic, 
 who understands even a little of the 
 etymological system upon which words 
 are formed either in that, or any 
 other language, that no such word as 
 either Oirdnidhc {Onrdnee), Oirnidho 
 or Oirnighe [Uarnee), the several ways 
 in which Aedli's surname is spelled, 
 could result from any amalgamation 
 of such elements as dora and dcock. 
 Some less monstrous derivation must 
 then be sought for Oirniglie. 
 
 ^ A. D. 795 to A. I). h:}-í. Neither 
 these dates, nor this heading are in the 
 original. The dates arc given to pre- 
 vent the reader from being confused 
 V)y the vagueness of Dr. K eating's ac- 
 count of the first arrival of the North- 
 
 men in Ireland. A. D. 795 is the real 
 date of the burning of the monastery 
 of Rechrainn. already mentioned, soon 
 after which (798 or '800) Artri occu- 
 pied the throne of ilunster, which he 
 held for either eighteen or twenty years, 
 according to O'Duljagain's catalogue 
 of the kings of the line of Eber. 854 
 is the real date of the d^ ath of Olcu- 
 bar, son of Kinaeth, who, as is found 
 by the Four Masters, succeeded Fcidli- 
 inidli on the throne of Munster in 845, 
 and w:is slain in 849 — the real dates 
 being S.'iO and 854, for, as before stated, 
 it has l)een proved that these truthful 
 anti(|tiaries had somehow lost five years 
 of tlie exact time about this epoch. 
 Olcnbar was the immediate successor 
 of Feidiiniidli, who assumed the throne 
 of Munstrr in 818, and was himself 
 the innne<liate successor of Artri. 
 
 " Eight Jhmdrnland Twnti/.— The 
 editor's MSS. arc not in accord with 
 one another here. One gives the date 
 829. another 835. As «Z/ the assertions 
 in the text could be true with neither 
 of these, for Aedh Oirnighe had beeij 
 undoubtedly, then some years dead, the 
 date 820 has been adopted as the least 
 objectionable. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 493 
 
 of Munster, tliat these invaders made their first descent upon 
 Ireland. Here is Avhat it says ; " From the arrival of St. Patiick 
 to the time of Feidlimidius, King of Momonia, thirty-three kings 
 had reigned in Hibernia during a period of four hundred years, 
 but in the days of Fedlimidius, the Norveciences, under the 
 command of Turgesius, seized upon this land."*^ Others relate 
 that it was when Artri, son of Cathal, was in the sovereignty of 
 Munster that the Lochlannaigli first began to invade Ireland for 
 the purpose of plunder. And this assertion is true, but never- 
 theless, they did not then take possession of any part of the 
 country, though they committed great ravages therein. True, 
 also, is what the Polj-chronicon relates, where it says, that it was 
 whilst Feidlimidh, son of Crimthann, was King of Alunster, that 
 the tyrant Turgesius, who reduced Ireland to slavery during his 
 time, arrived in this land. It is true, also, for those who say, 
 that the Lochlannaigh arrived in Ireland during the time that 
 Olcobar was in the sovereignty of Munster; but the people that 
 then arrived were the Dainfir*^ {Dannir\ that is, the Danes from 
 Dania or Denmark ; and it is these people that are called Dubh- 
 Ghenti {Duv-yenii\Ú\Vit is Black Gentiles, and Dubh-Lochlannaigh 
 in the ancient historic books, in which, likewise, the Finn -Loch- 
 lannaigh, or natives of Norwegia, are called also Finn-Ghenti 
 [Fmn-yenti), that is, Fair Gentiles. 
 
 The reader must here be made aware that the term Lochlan- 
 naigh is not the distinctive name of the men of any particular 
 tribe or nation upon earth : for Lochlaunach (or Lochloimach), 
 means the same thins; as " Strono^ Man of the Sea ;"^^ because 
 
 "■^ Ab adventu sancti Patricii usque ex post facto, as the latter would be if 
 
 ad Feidlimidii regis Momoniai tempora. it were offered. He holds that the ad- 
 
 triginta tres reges per quadringentos jective, /oíítj, enters into no part of the 
 
 annos in Hibernia reguaverunt tempore composition of the name in question, 
 
 autem ; Feidlimidii regis, Norvecienses but that it is formed by the addition 
 
 duceTurgesio, terram hanc occuparunt. of the termination ach to Loddann, the 
 
 ^ Dainfir ; that is the Fir, i. e. the genitive case of Lochlainn or Lochia, 
 
 Men of Dania. The word is also just as Erenn-ach, Alban-ach, Ma- 
 
 written Danair. mann-ach and Brcthn-acli (contracted 
 
 " Strong Man of the Sea. This ety- from -Breton-at//,) &C., are formed from 
 mology is ])lausible. There can be no the respective genitive cases of Eri, 
 doubt but that the Lochlannaigh were Alba, Mana, and Brctain, that is, from 
 " Strong Men of the Sea." By an Erenn, Alban, Manann, Brcian. In all 
 equally plausible etymology, Lochlainn, these cases the letters n and nn, are 
 the name of their native country, not the final letters of the second radi- 
 might be said to be the same as Lake- cal component part of a composite 
 land, or, poetically, Sea-land, for the word,they are merely introduced in con- 
 land around the Baltic might not in- sequence of the accidents of grammati- 
 appropriately be called the Land of cal declension to which Eri, Alba, &c., 
 either Lakes, or of sea loughs. But belong. It would be absurd to sup- 
 the editor holds, that Keating 's deriva- pose the fortuitous collocation of the 
 tion of the name is as arbitrary, and as lettei"S — rennach, baimcli, mannach, and 
 
494 
 
 THE HISTORY OP IREL^VND. 
 
 lonn is the same as laidir^ that is, strong, and loch is the same as 
 fairge (Jargui), that is, the sea. And therefore, because the 
 
 tanach, have any distinct meanings in 
 these examples, and it is just as absurd 
 to suppose that lannach or lonnac'i, 
 whichever it be, has any such in the 
 word Locklann-ach. The primary root 
 of the word must be sought in the form 
 Lochia. This form might indeed be 
 derived from the Gaelic root loch, and 
 have been figuratively applied to the 
 native country of those sons of the 
 [great) lake, the Northmen of the 
 Middle Ages. But we see by Gaelic 
 traditions, that this region had been 
 called Lochia, or Lochlainn, long 
 ages before Scandinavia became fa- 
 mous for its dea Kings, and, per- 
 haps, long ages before cither they, 
 or any of their kindred Gothic or 
 Teutonic tribes, had reached the 
 shores of the western ocean. Such be- 
 ing the case, it is not unreasonable to 
 suggest that the Gaelic word loch, a 
 lake, may have had no relation at all to 
 the name, and that, perhaps, its real 
 root does not even exist in the Gaelic 
 tongue. If so, it might be inferred 
 from etymological analogy, that the 
 form Lap or Lnppe, may possibly be its 
 true root, and that Lochia is but a 
 Gaelic version of the name of the coun- 
 try of the Ijups, or Laplanders, who, 
 the editor thinks, had been the first in- 
 habitants of that region with whom 
 the Gaels come in contact. It has been 
 shown heretofore (see note 59, p. 307) 
 that the Gaels frequently used the let- 
 ter C in certain words, where other na- 
 tions used the letter F. Thus the Lat- 
 ins said, 1, Poena a fine ; 2, Pi-s, a 
 foot ; 3, Pluma, a feather ; 4, Pasdia, 
 the liastor ; 5, Pulex, a fly ; 6, Planto, 
 I plant ; 7, lapi^, a stone ; 8, Sep- 
 tem, seven ; 9, purpur, purple, &c., 
 where the Gaels said, 1, Cain ; 2, Cos ; 
 3, Clumh ; 4, Caisc ; 5, Ciiil ; 6, Clan- 
 (lairn ; 7, lee ; 8, secht ; 9, corcor. The 
 Cumbri or Welsh say, 1, Pen, a head ; 
 2, Pcdwar, four ; 3, Plant, children ; 4, 
 map, a son ; 5, Prijdain, Britain ; 
 where the Gaels say, 1, Cenn ; 2, Cc- 
 tliair ; 3, Cland and Ctann ; 4, Mac ; 
 5, Cruithen (as in Cruithen-tuath, Pict 
 land,) &c. The English say Prey, 
 
 Poll, &c., where the Irish say Creek. 
 Cul, &c. Thus it is not imprubaljlc to 
 suppose the ancient Irish likewise 
 transmuted the P in Lap into C, as 
 they did that letter in so many other 
 words. At all events, the root of 
 Lochlainn is as likely, from analogy, to 
 be Lap as Loch. 
 
 Lochlannaigh, then, may be the gen- 
 eric name of some people, notwithstand- 
 ing the authority of Dr. Keating, and 
 that of the Bardic etymologists whom he 
 follows, though it may not have been 
 the tnie name of that Teutonic race, to 
 whom the Gaels applied it in the 8th, 
 9th and 10th centuries, and to whose 
 descendants they still continue to apply 
 it. The editor does not here pretend 
 to prove that Lochlainn means the 
 country of the Laps, or Laplanders. 
 To do so would require evidence far 
 more conclusive and direct than any 
 now adduced. But he does think 
 that he has made a suggestion in 
 strict accordance with scientific phil- 
 ology, that any learned inquirer into 
 the primeval distribution of the vari- 
 ous tribes of men over Europe, will 
 deem not untenable, and one wants but 
 the support of a few corroborative 
 facts to establish its certainty. If 
 so established, it will fully account for 
 the very early occurrence of the name 
 Lochlainn, in Irish history. That 
 Ijochlannaigh (in the singular number, 
 I/)chlannach,) means the " Strong 
 Men of the Sea," he trusts that nobody 
 who has considered the desinence of 
 the .")th declension of Irish language, 
 as laid down (pp. 10.5, lOG) in the 
 Irish grammar of the learned Dr. 
 O'Donovan, will henceforth maintain.— 
 The etymology of this name has been 
 dwelt longer upon than its importance 
 or interest to tlie general reader may 
 seem to merit ; but Hk; editor, who has 
 d(!Voted some time to what may be 
 called tlie anatomical study of lan- 
 guage, has thought it not useles.s to 
 clear away a generally received falla- 
 cy, which has, as he thinks, already led 
 more than one learned and scientific 
 inquirer far away from the truth. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 495 
 
 natives of those countries, that lie in the north of Europe, were 
 for some time, strong and powerful in Ireland, the Gaels named 
 them Lochlaunaigh or Strong Men of the Sea, by reason of the 
 great dominion they had acquired over the Gaelic nation, as 
 shall be explained hereafter on the authority of the book which 
 is entitled Cogadh Gall re Gacdhalaibh [Guggah Gaull ray Gaij- 
 liv), or the War of the Strangers with the Gaels. 
 Here follows an abridged summary of that history. 
 It was whilst Aedh Orinighe was monarch over Ireland, and 
 whilst Artri, son of Cathal, was king of Mimster, that the Gauls, 
 that is, the Lochlannaigh, landed at Caein-Inis, in Ui Rathach," 
 and with a force composed of the crews of sixty ships, they rav- 
 aged the neighboring territories, and plundered and burned Inis, 
 Labranni, and Dar-inis. But the Eoganacht of Loch Lein gave 
 them a battle, and slew four hundred and sixteen of the foreign- 
 ers therein. 
 
 Another fleet, which was manned by Finn-Lochlannaigh, that 
 is, by the men of Norwegia, arrived in Ireland, during the sec- 
 ond year after the assumption of the kingdom of Munster by 
 Feidlimidh, son of Crimthann, and on that occasion they pil- 
 laged and burned Inis Emhin, Cluain Uamha, Eos Maeilenn, 
 and Sgelg Michil. 
 
 They arrived with another fleet upon the northern coast of 
 Ireland, and there plundered Bennchor of Uladh, killed its bishop 
 and its men of learning, and broke the shrine of St. Comgall." 
 
 A third fleet of the same folk arrived on the coast of Ui Kinn- 
 selaigh, and its crews plundered Tech Munna, Tech Moling, and 
 Inis Teoc. They thence marched into Osraide, and were ravag- 
 ing that territory, when the Osraidigh engaged them in a battle, 
 wherein seven hundred and seven of the Lochlannaigh were slain. 
 They laid waste and plundered Dun Derg-muiglie, Inis Eoghan- 
 ain, Desiort, TibraidandLis-mor, Kell-Molasi, Glen-da-loch, Cluain 
 Iraird, Cluain-Mor of St Maedog, Scrin-Coluim-Killi, Daimliag 
 of St. Kiaran, and Slainni and Kella Sali, and Cluain Uamha, 
 and Mungarid, and, in fine, the greater number" of the churches 
 of Ireland were plundered and burned by them. 
 
 ^ Ui Rathach. Now the barony of men of Connamara, with great slaugh- 
 
 Ivera^h in Kerry. This invasion took ter. 
 
 place in 812. Cobthach, son of Mael- "' Shrine of St. Com<>;all. Benn- 
 
 (hiin, was the chieftain who commanded choir was pUindered in the year 824. 
 
 the Eoganacht of Loch Lein (afterwards The relics of St. Comgall were shaken 
 
 called the O'Moriarties) in this victory from their shrine by the invaders, but 
 
 over the foreigners. The men of Um- they were afterwards collected and 
 
 hall, now the Owles in Mayo, defeated brought to Aentrobh, now the town of 
 
 another body of the invaders within Antrim. 
 
 this same year. The Northmen, how- *' The greater number, ^c. It must 
 
 ever, then defeated the Conmacni, or not be understood, that all these 
 
496 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Thej entered the harbor of Luimneeh, with another fleet, and 
 laid waste and pillaged Corca-Baskin and Tradraide,"and Ui Co- 
 naill Gabra;*"* but the tribe of Ui Conaill Gabra gave them battle 
 at Senaid," and slew great nnmbers of the Lochlannaigh at the 
 place. 
 
 After these events Turgesius, the tyrant, arrived on the 
 northern coast of Ireland, with a large fleet, and he assumed 
 into his own hands the sovereignty of all the Lochlannaigh that 
 were then in Ireland. He was thus enabled to ravage the whole 
 of the north of Ireland, and spread his Northmen over the whole 
 of Leth Cuinn. And they had fleets'" upon Loch n-Echach 
 {Loughnáhágh^) and upon Loch Lughmagh, and upon Loch Eibh, 
 and Ard-Macha" was plundered by them three times within one 
 month, and Turgesius made captive the abbot of Ard-Macha, 
 accordmg to the prophecy of St. Columkille, as that saint has told 
 us himself in the following verse : — 
 
 A fleet shall float upon Locb Ribh, 
 The hcatlien tlien shall be exalted ; 
 Ard-Macha shall its abbot lose, 
 A tyrant's might shall hold him captive. 
 
 The saints of Eri had, indeed, jirophesied betimes, that misfor- 
 tune would come upon their country, by reason of the pi'ide of 
 her princes, and of their deeds of violence and injustice. It was 
 in fulfilment thereof that the oppression of the Lochlannaigh 
 came upon them at the time when Artri, son of CathaP' was king 
 over Munster, and Aedh Oirnighc was supreme sovereign of all 
 Ireland. 
 
 And it was with Turgesius the Tyrant, that the Lochlannaigh 
 came to Ireland again, at the time when Feidliinidh, son of 
 Crimthann, was king of Munster. It was this Turgesius that 
 
 churches were burned durinf^ the reitrn " Senaid\^y near Glin, in Limerick, 
 of the present monarch. Dr. Keating "' Jladjkets. The present names of 
 has, without regard to chronological the waters, where they had these, are 
 order, jumbled together the events of Lough Neagh, Lough llee, and Dun- 
 more ithan half a century in the above dalk Bay (Loch Lughmagh.) 
 catalogue. " Ard-Macha, now Armagh. "A. D., 
 
 " IVfliZra/de lay in the south west of 830 (true date, 835). The first plun- 
 
 Clare. dering of Ard-Macha. Ard-Macha 
 
 " Ui Conaill Gabra, now the barony was plundered thrice in one month by 
 
 of Conillo, in the west of Limerick, the foreigners, and it had never been 
 
 The sept from whom it was called was plundered by strangers before." — Four 
 
 a branch of the Ui Fidghrnti, and af- Maslerx. 
 
 ter the establishment of surnames, its " Artri, son of Cathat. This king 
 
 chief families took the names of routed an army of the men of Loch- 
 
 0"Coileain (Collins), O'Kinnfaelaiilh hiinn with great slaughter, near Loch 
 
 (Kinnealv), and Mac Ineirghe (Mac T>ein (now Kiilarney Lake) in 812. 
 Euirj').— O'jD. 
 
THE HISTORY OP IRELAND. 
 
 497 
 
 expelled the Primate, Forannan," and his clergy, from Ard-Ma- 
 oha, as we have heretofore stated, and that had fixed himself in 
 the priinatial seat, up to the time when he was made captive by 
 Maeilsechlainn, by whom he was drowned in Loch Aninn, as 
 we shall relate hereafter. 
 
 It WiS in the reign of Aedh Oirnighe over Ireland, that Inis 
 Phatricc,*" and many of the other islands that lie between Ireland 
 and Alba, were plundered by the men of Lochlain. 
 
 It was during the same period that the rent of St. Patrick was 
 fixed upon the people of Connaught by Gormgal, son of Din- 
 da thach." About the same period, Aedh Oirnighe made a 
 partition of Meath''^ between the two sons of Donncadh, son of 
 Domnall, namely, Concobar and Olild. Then, also, Aei-Coluim- 
 Killi,''' in Alba, was burned by the Lochlannaigh ; and Leinster 
 was ravaged twice" within the space of one month by Aedh 
 
 '^ Foramian. The Archbishop of 
 Armagh, in 835, when it was taken by 
 the Northman. He had been translated 
 thither from the Abbacy of Rath-mic- 
 Malais. lie removed thence to Killdara, 
 where he, with all the congregation of 
 St. Patrick was next year made prisoner 
 by Feidlimidh, king of Munster, who 
 then forced the exiled prelate to do 
 him homage. 
 
 ^ lais Phadraig. " A. D. 793, (cor- 
 rectly, 798.) The first year of Aedh 
 Oirdnide. Inis Padraig was burned 
 by the foreigners, and they bore away 
 the shrine of Dachonna (St. Dachon- 
 na,) and they also committed many de- 
 
 iredations between Eri and Alba.'' — 
 hur Masters. Inis Phadraig, now 
 Patrick's Island, lies near Skerries, 
 CO. Dublin. 
 
 °' Gormgal, son of DindatJiach. He 
 succeeded as Archbishop of Armagh 
 in 785. — {Four Masters.) The Annals 
 of Ulster record that he established 
 the law of St. Patrick over Con- 
 naught in 798. Ho is not named 
 amongst the Archbishops of that See 
 in the catalogues that have been print- 
 ed. 
 
 «- Meath. A. D. 797, (correctly 
 802.) Aedh Oirdnide went into 
 Meath, and divided it between the two 
 aons of Donncadh, namely, Concobar 
 and Olild. Olild was slain the year 
 following by Concobar, in a battle." — 
 Four Maste rs. They were the sons of 
 the last king. 
 
 32 
 
 " Aei Colu'm KillL The date of 
 the burning of the monastery of St. 
 Cohmikille, in lona, is 802. It was 
 again plundered in 806, and sixty of 
 its clergy were then slain. 
 
 ^' Lii/ aster ravag d twice. " A.D. 
 799 (correctly 804.) The 7th year of 
 Aedh. The devastation of Leinster 
 twice in one year by the Ui Neill, of 
 which it was said, 
 
 "Again to Laighen Aedh returns, 
 Tbat vrarrior who no battle shunned, 
 > or did the royal plunderer cease 
 Until he left that land in dearth." 
 
 A full muster of the men of Ireland 
 was again made by him. and he march- 
 ed to Dun Cuair, on the confines of 
 Meath and Leinster, whither came 
 Corraac, Comarba of St. Patrick (i. e. 
 Primate of Ireland,) having the cler- 
 gy of Leth-Ciiinn along with him. It 
 was not pleasing to the clergy to go on 
 any expedition.. They complained of 
 their grievance to Aedh, and he said 
 that he would abide by the award of 
 Fothadh na Canoiné (the Canonist,) on 
 which occasion Fothadh passed the 
 decision by which he exempted the 
 clergy of Ireland for ever from expe- 
 ditions and hostings, when he said : 
 
 " The church of God, who lives. 
 Let her rest; waste her not; 
 Let her right aye be apart ; 
 As ever it was best. 
 Let all who are true monks. 
 As their pure conscience tells, 
 With zeal work for that Church. 
 As faithful servants ought. 
 
498 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Oirnighe, king of Ireland. In the year following, there was 
 great °hunder" and lightning in Ireland, which came on shortly 
 after the feast of St. Patrick. On this occasion one thousand and 
 ten people, both men and women, were destroyed between Corca- 
 baskin and the sea. And a quantity sufficient to support 
 twelve cows of the land of that territory was overwhelmed by 
 the passing of the sea over it ; and Inis Fitha'' split up into three 
 divisions. It was about that time that Acdh Oirnighe marched, 
 attended by a numerous host, to Dun Cuair," in Leinster, and 
 there made a partition of the principality of Leinster between 
 the two Muredachs, namely, Muredach, son of Brann, and Mur- 
 edach, son of Kuadrach. After this, Inis Muredaigh"' was burned 
 by the Lochlannaigh. It was about this time, also, that the 
 same people committed great slaughter upon the men of Um- 
 hal ;" and it was then that EdirsgeoVson of Kellach, bishop of 
 ijlenn-da-loch, died. After these events, Aedh Oirnighe, King 
 ■)f Ireland, was slain by Maelcauaigh in the battle of í)a-ferta." 
 
 CONCOBAR, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 827." Concobar," son of Donncadh, son of Domnall, son 
 >f Murcadh, son of Diarmaid, son of Armedach Caech, son of 
 
 All soldiers from that ont, 
 i?oun<l by no sacred rules, 
 AVltli arms may aid the King, 
 Great Acdh, from Niall sprung. 
 This is the rule of rii;ht. 
 It errs on neitlicr bide ; 
 In bis own callins each 
 Shall without murmur work." 
 
 After this, Aedh Oiriiide went to 
 tlie king of Leinster, and obtained hi.s 
 full demand from him. — Four Masters. 
 Thus did the sage exempt the clergy 
 from military duty. 
 
 " Great thunders, &c. This is re- 
 corded as having happened also in the 
 year 804. 
 
 ** Inis Fitlia. " According to the 
 tradition in the country, this is the now 
 called Inis-caerach, or Mutton Island, 
 lying opposite Kilmurry-Tbrickan, on 
 the west coa.st of ('larc. The whole of 
 Ibrickan belonged formerly to Corca 
 Ba.sk in."—0'i). 
 
 " Dun-Cutrr. " It is now called 
 Rath Cuair, in English, Ratiicore, a 
 •small village lying in the barony of 
 Moyfcnrath, County Mcath, and not 
 far from the confines of ancient Lein- 
 .slcT with Mcath." — Id. The division 
 above recorded took place in 805. 
 
 ^ Inis Muredaigh. Now Innish- 
 murry, off the coast of Sligo. The 
 burning of the monastery of this island, 
 whose ruins still exist, happened in the 
 year 807. Ros Cor.iain, now Ros- 
 common, was attacked the same year. 
 
 '^ The men of Umhall. These people 
 had defeated their Norse invaders in 
 812, but were themselves routed with 
 great slaughter in 813, on which oc- 
 casion Dunadach, Lord of Umhall, and 
 Ccsgrach, son of Fkmnabrat, were 
 slain. The chief family of tlie men of 
 Umhall afterwards took the name of 
 O'Mailli, now O'Mallcy. Their ter- 
 ritory comprised the present baronlea 
 of Murrisk and Burrishole, in Mayo. 
 
 "" Edtrs<reol. He died in 812. 
 
 '' Alh-da-Ferta,\. c, The Ford of the 
 Two Graves, or of tlic Two Miracles. 
 Its situation is unknown to the editor. 
 
 In the same year of Aedh's death, 
 the shrine of St. Patrick was taken 
 into (Jonnauglit by Archbishop Artri, 
 son of Concobar. 
 
 -■' 818. 
 
 " Concobar XL 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 499 
 
 Couall Guthbinn, son of Suibni, son of Colmau Mor, son of 
 Diarmaid, sou of Fergus Kerbeol, of tlie line of Erimhon, liekl 
 the sovereignty of Ireland for fourteen years. 
 
 It was in tiic reign of this Concobar that Corcaeh and Inis- 
 Daimhli'* were pillaged by the Lochlaimaigh. It was during the 
 same reign that the Kent of St. Patrick was established over 
 Munster, by Feidlimidh, son of Crimthann, and by Artri, son 
 of Concobar," and it was also this same Artri that established the 
 Rent of St. Patrick over Connaught."^ Then it was that Beiin- 
 choir" and Dun-da-leth-glas" were plundered by the Lochlan- 
 naio;h, and that Mao;h-bili was burned, with its oratories. 
 
 It was about this time that ]\iuredach, son of Eocaidh, Avas 
 king of Ulidia. It was then, also, that the destruction of 
 Aenach Taltenn, in which great numbers fell, was given to the 
 Galenga," by Concobar, son of Donncadh, king of Ireland. The 
 Lochlannaigh, also, then gained a gTeat victory over the Lein- 
 stemien, at Drum Connla f^ at which place fell Conaiiig, son of 
 Cucongelt, king of the Fotharta, and a great many others were 
 slain there likewise. Soon after this, Ard-Macha*' was plund- 
 
 " Inis Daimhli. Inis Daimhii, re- 
 corded by the Irish annals as having 
 been burned by foreigners at the same 
 time with Corcaeh, or Cork, in the 
 third year of Concobar 's reign. Arch- 
 dall thinks that this Inis Daimhli was 
 the ancient name of Cape Clear Island. 
 Dr. O'Donovan, however, thinks that 
 it was a place now called Inch, in the 
 barony ofShelmaliere, in Wexford. 
 
 ''^ Artri, Son of Concobar. " A. D. 
 822. The law of Patrick was pro- 
 mulgated over Munster, by Feidlimidh, 
 son of Crimthann, and by Artri, son 
 of Concobar, Archbishop of Ard 
 Macha." — Four Masters. He was the 
 brother of the King of Oirghialla. 
 
 '« Connau-rht. " A. D. 824. The 
 7th year of Concobar. The law of 
 Patrick was promulgated through the 
 three divisions of Connaught by Artri, 
 son of Concobar, i. e. Bishop of Ard 
 Macha."— OD. 
 
 ■' Bennchoir. It was plundered in 
 824, when its oratory was broken, and 
 the relics of St. Comgall shaken from 
 their shrine. 
 
 "^ Dun-dn-Ieth-ghs, now Dov^Q. This 
 occurred the year after the plundering 
 of Bennchoir. The plundering of Magh- 
 bili took place the same year, that is, 
 
 in 825. The Ulidians, however, fought 
 the ravagers on Magh-inis, (Locale in 
 Down), and defeated them with slaugh- 
 ter. 
 
 " Galenga. These were the inhabit- 
 ants of Galenga Mor, now Morgallon, 
 in Meath. This event happened in the 
 8th year of Concobar. In tlie same year 
 took place the destruction of the Aen- 
 ach Colmain, or Fair of Colman, held 
 upon the Curragh of Kildare, where 
 the royal fair and sports of Leinster 
 were wont to be held. 
 
 "^ Drum Conla. The 8th year of 
 Concobar. The destruction of Dun 
 Laighen, at Druin, by the jiagans, 
 where Conaing, son of Cucongelt, lord 
 of the Fortuatha, was slain, with many 
 others. 
 
 ^' Ard Macha plundered. This is the 
 first plundering of Ai'magh, already 
 referred to, and which happened in 832. 
 The same year is recorded the plunder- 
 ing of Daimlaig (Duliag), and the 
 tribe of the Kiannachta, with all their 
 churches, by the foreigners. Olild, son 
 of Colgan, was taken prisoner by them. 
 The plundering of Lughmagh (Louth), 
 and Mucsnamh (now Muknoe), and Ui 
 Meath (in Monaghan),and Druim-mio- 
 h Ua Blae (in the north of ileath), 
 
500 THE HISTORY OF IKELAND. 
 
 ered by the Loclilannaigli ; and within one month after that, 
 Lug^magh, and the tribes of the Kiannacta, and Lis-nior," with 
 all their churches, were laid waste by these ravagcrs.*' 
 
 Up to this time there had been four chief schools in Ireland, 
 viz: a school in iVrd-Macha, in which there were seven thousand 
 students — according to an ancient roll which has been discovered 
 at Oxford; a school in Caiscl, {Casliel) ; a school in Dun-da-lcth- 
 tdas • and a school in Lis-mor. And besides these many other 
 colleges had flourished iri Ireland np to the present time ; but 
 these were now either interrupted or destroyed. 
 
 At length Concobar, son of Donncadh, King of Ireland, died. 
 
 NIALL CALLI, AliU-PJGH. 
 
 A. D. 839.'* Niall" Calli, son of Aedh Oirnighe, son of Niall 
 Frasach, of the line of Erinihon, lield the sovereignty of Ireland 
 for fifteen years. The following is the reason why he was 
 called Niall Calli. One day he happened to arrive on the bank 
 of the river, which is called Callainn''^ or Calli, attended by a 
 Toyal and numerous host of cavalry. Thereupon a gilla belong- 
 ing to his household went before them to try if the river were 
 fordable, and he was drowned therein. The king commanded 
 those who stood near him to go to the relief of the gilla, but he 
 found no one hardy enough to attempt it. Upon this he rushed 
 himself on horseback towards the river, but as he was about to 
 plunge into the current, the bank broke from beneath him, and 
 both he and his horse fell headlong into the flood, and ho was 
 then swept away and drowned. A prophecy was fulfilled by 
 thi.s event, because it had been foretold for him, that he should 
 meet his death by being drowned in the River Callainn. And 
 such is the reason wliy he has been called Niall Calli. 
 
 and of other churches by them also, that career of bloodshed and plunder, 
 
 Tuathal, son of Fcradach, was carried wliicli lias caused Dr. Kcatiniy, on Iho 
 
 off by the foreignei-s, and the shrine of authority of Carabrensis and the Poly- 
 
 Adamnan was taken from Domnach chronicon, to set him down as tyrant 
 
 Maighen (now tlie church of Mogue, of Ireland, and give Jiim a place among 
 
 county Monaghan). — FourMaMers. its monarclis. 
 
 '^ Lis-mor ■plundered. This scat of *' A.l). 832. Four Masters. 
 
 piety and learning was plundered dur- " Niai,l III. He reigned but thir- 
 
 ing the next year (833), as was the teon years, according to other accounts, 
 
 episcopal church of Kath Lurigh, in " O'Flaherty ])lai;es the accession of 
 
 the present county of Derry. this Icing at 833, which is the true 
 
 " It was not until the present reign year." — O'D. 
 
 that the Northmen invaded Ireland '^ Calhiinn. There were three rivers 
 
 on an extensive scale. It was during of this name. The Callaiim, now called 
 
 this period, also, that Turgeis {Tur- the King's Kivor, in the county of 
 
 gn/.s/i), or Turgesius, as his name has Kilkenny, is most probably the one in 
 
 been Latinized, must have commenced which Niall was drowned. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 501 
 
 It was in tlie reign of this king, that Diarniaid, son of To- 
 maltach, King of Connaught, died. It was during it, also, that 
 the Lochlannaigh burned Locli Bricrenu," against CougaLach, son 
 of Eocaidh, whom they slew upon that occasion. 
 
 Niall Calli, King of Ireland, marched into the territory of the 
 Leinstermen, with a numerous host, for the purpose of appoint- 
 ing a king over them, namely. Bran, son of Faelau. After that 
 Ferna Mor, of St. Maedog, was plundered by the men of Loch- 
 lainn, and Mungarid and many others of the churches of Ormond 
 were then burned by them ;*" and they plundered Kill-dara,**^ in 
 like manner. 
 
 It was about this time that sixty ships from the land of 
 the Northmen arrived upon the river Boinn, and iortj 
 ships upon the river Liil. These fleets devastated Magh 
 Liti, {Moij-Liffe//), now called the count}'" of Ath-cliáth. (Avj- 
 Cleeah^) and Magh Breagh {Mby-Breaiv), and Fine (Tidl,*" 
 {Finni Gall), pillaging both churches, and duns, and fiirmsteads. 
 After this, the Lochlannaigh gained a victory at Inber-na-m- 
 barc" over all the Ui Neill,^' from the Sinainn^' to the sea, and 
 there an untold multitude was slaughtered, but the principal 
 chiefs escaped.** Inis Keltrach, and Cluain-mic-Nois, and all the 
 churches of Loch Erni, were next burned by the Lochlannaigh. 
 
 " Lor.h Bricrinn, now called Lougli- 
 brickland. a small town in the county of 
 Down, situated on a loch of the same 
 name. It was pltmdered in the first 
 year of Niall, in which, also, Diarmaid, 
 King of Connaught, died. 
 
 ^ " The third year of Niall. Ferna, 
 Cluain-Mor-Maedog, and Drom-h-Ing, 
 were plundered by the foreigners. The 
 burning of Mungarid by them, and 
 other churches in Ormond by them 
 also." — Ftjur MaMers. 
 
 '» Kill-dam. '•■ A. D. 83.5. The 4th 
 year of Niall. Kill-dara was plunder- 
 ed by the foreigners of Inber Deaa 
 (now Wicklow), and half the church 
 was burned by them." — Four Mivitcrs. 
 This year also Cluain Mor Maedog, i. e. 
 the Great Lawn of St. Maedog, is re- 
 corded as having been burned by the 
 foreigners on Christmas night. But 
 there were two religious establishments 
 of tliis name. One of them was situat- 
 ed at a place now called Clonmore, 
 on the River Slaney, county Wexford. 
 The other is in the barony of Kath- 
 velly, county Carlow. 
 
 " Fini Gall, i.e. the Nation or Tribe 
 of the Foreigners. Now the district 
 
 of Fingal, county Dublin. Tlie name 
 is prematurely used in this instance, as 
 the foreigners had not yet settled defi- 
 nitively therein. It then formed part 
 of the territory called Breilgh. 
 
 °' Inber na ni-barc, i. e. the Harbor 
 or Estuary of the Barks. ' It is prob- 
 able, that it was the name of the 
 mouth of the River Rath-Inbhir, near 
 Brav."— OD. 
 
 ""'"Ui Neill, i.e. the Southern Ui 
 Neill or tribes of Meath. 
 
 ^ Sinamn, otherwise Sina, Sena, 
 and Senainn, the Gaelic name of the 
 River Shannon. 
 
 =' "A. D. 836. The 5th year of Niall 
 Calli. A lleet of sixty ships of Norse- 
 men on the Boyne. Another fleet of 
 sixty ships on the River Liffey. Tliese 
 two fleets plnndered and spoiled Magh 
 Liphthi and Mauh Breagh, both chur- 
 ches and habitations of men, and good- 
 ly tribes, and flocks and herds. A 
 battle was gained over them by the 
 men of Breagh, in Mughdorna Breagh, 
 where six score of the foreigners were 
 slain. A battle was gained by the 
 foreigners at Inber-na-m-barc, over all 
 the Ui Neill from the Sinainn to the 
 
502 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Feidlimidh,'' SOX OF Crimtiianx. was both King of Munstcr 
 and Arclibishop of Cashel during these times ; and this Feidli- 
 midh marched into Leth Cuinn, and j^lundered it from Birra to 
 Temhair, in Breágh ; and lie rested at Terahair ; and Innrectach, 
 son of Maelduin, was slain at Temhair by his people. And 
 Feidlimidh, son of Crimthann, died when he had reigned over 
 Munster for seven and twenty years. The Leabar Iris gives this 
 testimony as to his merits : "'The most excellent sage and an- 
 choret of the Scoti has gone to rest.'"^ From this it may be 
 understood that Feidlimidh, son of Crimthann, was a learned 
 and a pious personage in his own day. 
 
 áea, whore such slaughter was made as 
 never before was heard of; however 
 the kings and chieftains, the lords and 
 toparchs escaped without slaughter or 
 mutilation." — Four ]\Iiuters. This vic- 
 tory it was, that must have given Tur- 
 gesius and his Norsemen tliat sway 
 over Meath and the East of Leinster, 
 that induced some to have set him 
 down as Sovereign of Ireland. We do 
 not find that NiuU Calli, the monarch 
 and the head of Northern Ui Neill, 
 had come to the aid of his relatives on 
 this occasion. 
 
 *' Feidlimidh. According to the 
 Annals of Innisfallen, lie was full mon- 
 arch of Ireland, as Cambrensis also 
 states ; but the Northern annalists do 
 not number him among the monarchs of 
 Ireland. He was certainly as powerful 
 a potentate as Niall, his Northern con- 
 temporary, and, if we are to judge from 
 what the latter annalists relate of him, 
 a.s gi'cat a devastator as any Norse- 
 man of tlicm all His being set down by 
 the Munstcr annalists as sole monarch 
 of Ireland, must have originated in his 
 having exacted the homage of Foran- 
 nan, the Primate, who was taken pris- 
 oner l)y him in 835 or 8.3(5, at Kildaro, 
 whither the latter had fled from the 
 Northmen ; and from the fact that he 
 overran Mcath, and rested for some 
 time at the Ancient Royal Beat of 
 Temhair. The latter event is thus re- 
 corded under A. D. 339: " Feidlimidh, 
 King of Munster, plundered Meath and 
 Brcagh, and he rested at 'JY'inhair, 
 after having in one day taken the host- 
 ages of Connaught.' — Four Masters. 
 It is to Vjc remarked, that this jjriiice 
 wae at the height of his power during 
 
 the time when Turgesms should have 
 reigned over Ireland, if at all. For, as 
 shall be shown hereafter, the Norse 
 tyrant was drowned by Maelsechlainn, 
 whilst both Feidlimidh and Niall Calli 
 were still alive. 
 
 ^ Optimus et sapiens anchmila 
 Scotorum quievit. 
 
 Some modern writers are very severe 
 upon the character of Feidlimidh, and 
 no doubt he did deserve censure for 
 his devastations of Leth Cuinn and Con- 
 naught, in endeavouring to assert his 
 claim to the Irish Monarchy, as the rep- 
 resentative of the line of Kber. That 
 he was, nevertheless, a brave and a wise 
 prince, within the limits of his own 
 principality, may be judged from the 
 fact that Munstcr was kept comparative- 
 ly free from the ravages of the North- 
 men during his lifetime. Perhaps, also, 
 like IJrian, in a subsequent age, he felt 
 himself to be alone capableof saving his 
 country from the emergency to which 
 it was then reduced. 'J'he Four Ma.s- 
 ters record his death in the following 
 laudatory terms : " A. I). 845. The 1st 
 year of Maelsechlainn, son of Mael- 
 ruanaidh, over Ireland, Feidlimidh, son 
 of Crimthann, king of Munster, the best 
 of the Iri.sh in liis time, died on the 
 ] 8th of August, of his internal wound, 
 infli('1(Ml through the Miracles of Ood 
 and St. Kiaran. Of the death of 
 Feidlimidh was said : 
 
 "'AlBsI O God, for Fcldlimldli— 
 The Wivve of dootli Ims drowned him I 
 () cause of woe to Irisli men 1 
 The Son of Claris dilof I» dead. 
 AVlth evil oition to the Gacll 
 ))id Ilia last hour arrive ; 
 O'er Sacri'il KrI slanphter spread, 
 When royal Feidlimidh had died.'" 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 oOS 
 
 After this, Tiglicrnach, King of Loch Gabar, routed the Loch- 
 lannaigh, at Doiri Disirt Dachonna ;" and it was in that year®' 
 that Olcobar, Abbot of Imlech lubair, assumed the sovereignty 
 of Cashel, and that Maelsechlainn, King of Meath, defeated the 
 Lochhmnaigh at Casau Linni,^* in Meath, where seven hundred 
 of these nivaders were slain. It was about this time, also, that 
 SaxoIbli,"°a chieftain of the men of Lochlainn, was slain by the 
 Kiannachta of Glenn Gemhin, on which occasion a great 
 slaugliter was made of his followers, and that another red 
 slaughter was made of those foreigners at Es-ruaidh.^ It was 
 after this that Ath-cliath was captured^ by the Lochlannaigh, for 
 the first time. 
 
 About this period, also, was born Cormac, son of Culinnan, 
 who afterwards reigned for seven years as King of Munster ; 
 being, at the same time. Archbishop of Cashel. 
 
 A battle was now gained by the Lochlannaigh over the 
 Connaughtmen,^ and in it fell Maelduin, son of Muirgheas. and 
 numbers of his people together with him. Brann, son of Fae- 
 lan. King of Leinster, died about this same time. After this, 
 the Lochlannaigh came upon Loch n-Echach {AJiágh), with a 
 large fleet,'* and thence they plundered the possessions of the 
 
 ^ Doiri-desirt-Dadionna, i. e. the 
 Oak Wood of St. Dachonua's Desert. 
 This place has not been ideutified. The 
 battle was gained in the second year 
 of the reign of Maelsechlainn, being 
 two years after the death of the present 
 monarch, and four after the drowning 
 of the pirate chief Turgesius. Keat- 
 ing has thrown several events into this 
 reign that occurred in the subsequent 
 one, for they could not well be inserted 
 in the reign of thirteen years which he 
 has inconsiderately assigned to the 
 tyrant. 
 
 "' Tlie same year. Olcobar, Abbot 
 of Emiy, had been already King of 
 Munster for a few years, when the last- 
 mentioned battle was fought ; for Ol- 
 cobar was the immediate successor of 
 Feudiimidh, who had retired to a 
 monastery a short time previous to his 
 death. 
 
 "■' Casan Linni. A river near Dun- 
 dalk, county Louth. It was other- 
 wise called Amhain Locha, and is now 
 known as Lagan. 
 
 '"" Saxolbh. He was slain and his 
 followers routed by the Kiannachta of 
 
 Glen Given, county Derry, in the fifth 
 year of Niall (836-837). 
 
 ' Es-ruaidli, now Assaroe, or Sal- 
 mon's Leap, on the river Erne. The 
 Norsemen were defeated at this place 
 during the last-mentioned year. 
 
 " Ath-cliath captured. The Four 
 Masters record the first taking of Ath- 
 cliath, or Dublin, by the foreigners, 
 under A. D. 836, the same year that 
 they defeated the southern Ui Neill, 
 when they had entered the Boyne and 
 Liifey with those large fleets which 
 have been already mentioned. 
 
 ^ A battle over the Connaughtmen. 
 This battle was fought daring the 
 sixth year of Niall's reign. In the 
 same year there was a royal conference 
 between the monarch and Feidlimidh, 
 King of Munster, at Cluain Conari 
 Tomain, a place now called Cloncurry, 
 in the north of Kildare. It was in 
 this year, also, that Brann, King of 
 Leinster, died. 
 
 ' A large feet. " A. D. 838. The 
 eighth year of Niall. A marine fleet 
 of the foreigners took its station on 
 Loch Eathach (Lough Neagh). The 
 
504 
 
 THE HISrORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 laity and the clergy of tlie norlli of Ireland; and Corcach and 
 Ferna were then burned by them likewise. 
 
 Niall Calli at this tiuic marched with a numerous army to 
 plunder and despoil the Fera Kell,' and the Delbna Ethra ; and 
 it was then that Murcadh, son of Aedh, King of Connaught, 
 died. 
 
 And, moreover, it was about this time that the Lochlannaigh 
 built a fortress at Linn Daachaill," whence the territory of Tebtha 
 was devastated by them. In like manner, they built a fortress 
 at Dubh-linn,' whence they laid waste Lcinster, and Ui Neill, 
 and all the territories of the laity and the clergy, as far as Sliabh 
 Bladma. After this, they pillaged Cluain Aidnech, and Cluain 
 Iraird, and Cluain-mic-Nois. And a dun (a fortress) was 
 erected by Turgesius, the Lochlannach chieftain, upon Locli 
 Eibh. Then Cluain-mic-Nois was pillaged again, and Cluain 
 Ferta of St. Brendan, and Tir-da-leth-glas, and Lothair, and 
 many other cities. After these events, Niall Calli, King of Ire- 
 land, gave battle to the Lochlannaigh, upon Magh Itha, where 
 numbers of them were slain. And, soon after that, Niall was 
 drowned in Callainn, as we have heretofore told. 
 
 churches and territories of the north of 
 Ireland were burned by them. The 
 burning of Ferna (Fernsj and Corcach- 
 mor (Cork) by the foreigners." — Four 
 Masters. 
 
 ' Fera Kelt, usually -written Feara 
 Ceall, DOW Fircall, in the Kings 
 County. Niall marched against this 
 territory in 839-840. 
 
 * Linn DuachaiU. now Magheralin, 
 in the County of Down, situated on 
 the river Lagan, which was anciently 
 called Casan Linni, and Amhain Locha, 
 as already seen. "A. D. 840. A fortress 
 was erected by the foreigners at Linn 
 DuachaiU, out of which the territories 
 and churches of Tebtha were plundered. 
 Another fortress was erected by them 
 at Dubh-linn, out of which they plun- 
 dered Ijcinster. and the Ui Niall, as 
 far as Slialjii Biadnia. An army was 
 led by Feidlimidh to Carman (Wex- 
 ford]. Another army was led by 
 Niall to Magh Ochtair (in Kildare), to 
 meet him. 
 
 "Tho crozler of Felfllimidh the Pious 
 Wa-s left behind nmoii;; the eloc-trecs, 
 For Niall forced It from lih (rrasn, 
 In battle, by the law of sworda. 
 
 It is clear, by the latter part of this 
 entry, that the rivalry between the 
 kings of Leth Mogha and Leth Cuinn 
 was not interrupted by the influx of 
 the Northmen ; in fact, neither the 
 hereditary territories of Niall (the 
 northern Ui Niall), nor of Feidlimidh 
 had as jet experienced much of the 
 fury of the invaders, whose principal 
 attacks were then directed against the 
 central province and the coasts. 
 
 Though the Four Masters state that 
 Niall gained a victory over his rival 
 on this occasion, still the annals of 
 lunisfallen assert that in 824 (which 
 corresponds to the year 840 of the 
 annalists just quoted), Feidlimidh re- 
 ceived the homage of Niall, King of 
 Tara, and thenceforth became sole 
 monarch of Ireland, to his death. 
 
 ' Dubh-linn, i. e. the Black Fool. 
 The modern name, Dublin, is derived 
 from Dubh-linn [Doo'in, or Duvlinn). 
 Tiie present castle of Dublin stands 
 upon the site of the ancient Danish 
 fortress, whose erection is here re- 
 corded. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 505 
 
 Tlie tyranny o/ T u RGESI US, /rom y1. D. 830, to .. . D. 843. 
 
 Turgcsius, the Norse tyrant, with his armies of the men of 
 Finn-LochlaÍLn, held supreme power in Ireland for thirteen 
 years, after he had previously been the scourge of that country 
 for seventeen years ; for during that length of time had he been 
 exercising violence and rapine upon its inhabitants. This he 
 was enabled to effect by the arrival of a large fleet, which had 
 arrived from Norwegia to his assistance, and which had come into 
 port in the north of Ireland. By this fleet the countiy was 
 devastated, and forced to deliver up hostages. And they 
 stationed it upon Loch n-Echach and Loch liibli, and furnished 
 it with crews and provisions, for the purpose of committing 
 depredations, as we have heretofore related, and as St. Colum- 
 kille had foretold, in the verse that has gone before. Berchan 
 of the Prophecy also had foretold that a tyrant king of the 
 nation of the Lochlannaigh should be over Ireland, and that 
 there should be a Lochlannach abbot over every church in 
 Ireland. Here follows the verse in which he made that pre- 
 diction : 
 
 " Then heathens shall come over ocean's wide wave, 
 By whom shall confusion be brought on the Gacil, 
 And of their race an abbot shall rule in each church, 
 And of their race a king over Eri shall reign." 
 
 But when the nobles of Ireland saw that Turgesius had 
 brought confusion upon their country, and that he was assuming 
 
 * This heading is inserted by the Diarmada (now Castledermot), Birra, 
 editor. The dates therein given are the Saighir (Seirkieran) saw their monas- 
 thirteen years during which he had teries pillaged. One fleet of the Norse- 
 reigned over Ireland, according to men floated on the Boyne, another was 
 Keating, ccmnted back from the year of stationed at Linn-Rois, another at Linn 
 his death, in the 12th year of the reigu Duachaill, another on Linn Sailech 
 of the last monarch, Niall Calli ; for (now Lough S willy), in Ulster. In 
 withhisreign the tyranny of Turgesius, A. D. 842 the monastery of Cluain 
 however far it extended, must have Ferta, of St. Brendan, was burned by 
 been nearly contemporaneous. Keat- them. In 843, the foreigners of Dub- 
 ing's date is not given at the head of lin marched to Cluain-an-Dobair, in 
 the reign, because it would throw the the King's County, and burned the 
 events of the ensuing reigns too far in fold of Kill-Achaidh, on which occa- 
 advance of the authentic Irish annals. sion Nuadath, son of Seigen, suffered 
 
 In A. D. 840 (the same year), oc- martyrdom at their hands. Dun Masg, 
 
 curred the plundering of the monastery now called Dunmase, was also then 
 
 of Cluain Aidnech, now Clonenagh, in plundered by them, where Aedh, son of 
 
 Leix, and the destruction of the monas- Dubdacrioch, Abbot of T i r-da-glas and 
 
 teries of Kill-achaidh-droma-fota, now Cluain Aidnech, was taken prisoner, 
 
 Killeigh, in Offaly, and of Cluain Iraird. and they carried him into Munster, 
 
 In A. D. 841, Caemhan, Abbot of where he suffered martyrdom for the 
 
 Linn Duachaill, was burned by the sake of God ; and Kethernach, son of 
 
 foreigners. Cluain-mic-nois, Disert Cudinasy, Prior of Kill-dara, with 
 
506 THE niSTOEY OF IRELAND. 
 
 supreme authority over tlicraselves, aud reducing them to thral- 
 dom and vassah^ge, they became insjnred with a fortitude of mind, 
 and a loftiness of spirit, and a hardihood and firmness of pui- 
 pose that urged them to work in right earnest, and to toil zeal- 
 ously in battle against him and his plundering hordes. 
 
 lie re follow some of the defeats' which the Gaels then gave 
 to these plunderers, to wit : 
 
 The route which the Dal-g-Cais {Daul Gash) gave them at 
 Ard Brecain. 
 
 The battle where the Lochlannach earl, Saxolbh, and his 
 army were slaughtered by the Ui Colgain. 
 
 The battle which Olcobar, son of Kinaedh, King of Munster, 
 and Lorcan, son of Kellach, King of Leinster, gained over them 
 at Sciath Nectainn, where Earl Tomar, the tanist of the King 
 of Lochlainn, was slain, and where twelve hundred of the 
 warriors of his nation were slain around him. 
 
 Besides this, the same Olcobar and the Eoganacht Caisil won 
 a victory over them close by Cashel, and five hundred of them 
 were slain therein. 
 
 In the north, the invaders were routed with slaughter, at Es- 
 ruadli. 
 
 The Ui Fidghenti slew three hundred and fifty of them at 
 Dun Maeili Tuli. 
 
 Two hundred of them fell by the tribe of the Kiannachta. 
 
 At Drum Dachonna, two hundred and forty were slain by 
 Tighernach, King of Loch Gabar. 
 
 And, in like manner, Maeilsechlainn, son of Maelruanaidh, 
 
 many others, was killed by tliem tlur- lion. In A. D. 843, or at farthest in 
 
 ing that plundering expi dition. Then 844, the star of that robber chief went 
 
 it was tliat Forannan, Primate of Ire- down, as is seen by the foilowin<^- entries 
 
 laud, was taken prisoner, wi til his relics whicli, with a very slij^ht discrepancy 
 
 and people, at Cluain Comliarba, and in the dale, is confirmed by all the 
 
 carried by the pirates to their ships at Irish annals : 
 
 Limerick. " A. I). 843. A battle was gained 
 
 An expedition was likewise made by over the foreigners by the King, Niall, 
 
 Turgesiiii, lord of the foreigners, upon son of Aedh, in Magh Itha, and a 
 
 Lough Ribh, and he plundered Con- countless number fell. Turgeis was 
 
 naught and Meath, and burned Cluain- taken prisoner by Maelseciilainn, 
 
 mac-nois, with its oraliones, and 'i'ir- son of Maei,ruanaidii, and he was 
 
 da-glas. Cluain-Ferta. of St. Brendan, afterwards drowned in Lorn Uair, 
 
 and many others. — See the Anmi's of tiirou(;u the miracle of God, and 
 
 the Fmir Mfistcrs, the Anna's of Ulster, Kiaran, and the saints in general." 
 
 and the Annals of Clon-mac-nois, from — Four Masters. 
 
 which these entrias are taken, in order ' Defeats. 'J'hesc engagements have 
 
 to bring Turgeis, or 'I'urgcsius the been cither already mentioned, or will 
 
 Tyrant, as he is called, to the culmi- be found under the reign of Macl- 
 
 nating point of his career of devasta- sechlainu. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 507 
 
 King of Meath, routed thuir host at the battle of GLas Linui, in 
 which fight one thousand seven hundred of the men of Lochlainn 
 were slain. 
 
 But though numerous were the battles and conflicts wherein 
 the Gaels fought against Turgesius and his Lochlannaigb, still, 
 by means of tlie greatness of his fleet, and of the numerous hosts 
 that it continued to bring over to his aid from Norwegia, and 
 other countries in the north of Europe, it came to pass that he 
 at length succeeded in vanquishing the Gaelic nation, and re- 
 duced it to bondage and serfdom to himself and to his Almur- 
 aigh." 
 
 OF THE THRxiLDOM^^ OF THE GAEIDIL UNDER THE LOCHLAN- 
 NAIGH, DOWN HERE. 
 
 Here follows an abridged account of the slavery of the Gaels 
 beneath the yoke of the Lochlannaigb, together with the rent 
 and tributes placed upon them by these foreigners, to wit : a 
 Lochlannach king over every canton in Ireland ; and a chief- 
 tain over every territory ; and an abbot over every church ; and 
 a steward -over every townland ; and a soldier or huanna over 
 every homestead. And the man of the house was not allowed 
 the disposal of as much as one egg of his own property ; and 
 though a family owned but one stripper, they were not allowed 
 on any night, to give its milk to either infont or child, but were 
 obliged to keep it up for the use of the soldier ; and though the 
 man of the house owned but one in-calf cow, he was forced to 
 kill the same for the use of his unwelcome guest, and, if he could 
 not satisfy the latter therewithal, he was compelled to place his 
 inheritance in pledge for the maintenance of the said soldier. 
 Besides this, the Lochlannaigb should either get an ounce of gold 
 each year for every man in Ireland, or they would have the nose^" 
 
 '• Almuraigh, i. e. pirates. The here recounted, as part of a universal- 
 plural of almuracb {alooragh). ly established system, must have been, 
 
 " Thraldom. The account that fol- practised at distinct epoclis and at dif- 
 low3 is greatly exaggerated and too fereut places, by various persons, and 
 universal in its nature. It is, besides, never over any great extent of the 
 probably borrowed from the foreign country at the same time. The op- 
 writers, who invented the story of the pression of the Northmen in Ireland, 
 reign of Turgesius over Ireland, which, consisted in ruthless bloodshed and 
 as before stated, Keating must have plunder, with the destruction of the 
 borrowed from Cambrensis ; for the civilization then existing in tlie land, 
 Irish records, which rarely mention rather than in permanent and legalized 
 Turgesius by name, though sufficiently domination. 
 
 diffuse in recounting the ravages com- '^ Nose. This was called nose-money, 
 
 mitted by his countrymen, afford not or nose-gelt, a species of taxation to 
 
 the slightest grounds for making liim, which the Normans had previously 
 
 at any time, exercise an established ty- been accustomed in their own coun 
 
 ranny over Ireland. The oppressions tries. 
 
508 THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 from off his face. Then no lord or lad)^ of the Irish was al- 
 lowed to wear any mantles or garments, except the cast-off 
 clothes of the Lochlannaigh, It Avas not allowed to give instruc- 
 tion in letters, nor to live in religious communities, for the Loch- 
 lannaigh dwelt in the temples, and in the duns ; no scholars, no 
 clerics, no books, no holy relics were left in church or monastery 
 through dread of them; neither bard, nor philosopher, nor mu- 
 sician pursued their wonted professions in the land ; no daughter 
 of king, or lord, or chieftain was allowed to wear either silk 
 dresses or precious ornaments; no son of king, or of lord, was 
 allowed to receive instructions in feats of agility, in shooting, or 
 in any martial exercise. No banquet of feast was allowed to be 
 enjoyed amongst friends until the Dainiir had first satisfied them 
 selves thereof 
 
 The result of the heavy oppression of this thraldom of the 
 Gaels under the Lochlannaigh was, that great weariness thereof 
 came ujion the men of Ireland, and the few of the clergy that 
 survived, had fled for safety to the forests and wildernesses, 
 where they lived in misery, but passed their time piously and de- 
 voutly. And now these same clergy prayed fervently to God to 
 deliver them from that tyranny of Turgesius, and, moreover, 
 they fasted against that tyrant, and they commanded every lay- 
 man amongst the faithful that still remained obedient to their 
 voice to fast against him likewise. And God then heard their 
 supplications in as far as the delivering up of Turgesius into the 
 hands of the Gaels. 
 
 ifaelsechlainn's Daughter — Death of Turgesius — Expulsion of the 
 
 Foreigners. 
 
 When Turgesius was in the possession of this usurped author- 
 ity, and whilst the Gaels were yielding him an involuntary obe- 
 dience, he had built himself a fortified residence not far from the 
 dun-lis {doon-liss) of Maelsechlainn, son of Maelruanaidh, King 
 of Meath, Then, upon a certain day, when he had come to the 
 dwelling of Maeilsechlainn, he chanced to sec a beautiful mar- 
 raigeablc maiden, who was the daughter of the Meathian King. 
 And, as the usurper, though now grown old, was still inveterate 
 in the indulgence of his lusts, he demanded the maid from her 
 father with the intention of making her his mistress. " My lord," 
 replied Maelsechlainn, "I know full well, that thou dost not 
 mean to take my daughter as thy married wife, but that what 
 thou desircst is to possess her for a while as thy mistress. 1 
 therefore beseech thee to make no public demand of ine for 
 my child, lest she be prevented from getting a husband. But, as 
 
THE IIISTOKY OF IliELAND. 509 
 
 Ihy ibr'ress is near this lis/' where I live, I shall send the maid- 
 en privately to thy dwelling, and she shall be acconi})anied by 
 iiftecn of the most beautiful and most lovely women in all Meatb, 
 and I know that when thou hast seen those women, thoa wilt 
 feel neither love nor desire for my own daughter, so much do 
 they exceed her in beauty." This plan was pleasing to Turge- 
 sius, and between them, they fixed upon a particular night when 
 the maiden and her attendant train of beautiful women were to 
 be brought into the fortress of the tyrant. 
 
 It so happened that, about this time, there was to be a general 
 assemblage and public convention around Turgesius at Ath-cliath, 
 and all that there was then in Ireland of Lochlannach chieftains 
 were gathered together thereat, for the purpose of taking counsel 
 as to how they might best guard the country and maintain their 
 own possession thereof. 
 
 Whilst they were staying there, Turgesius communicated the 
 arrangement made between himself and Maelsechlainn, to some 
 of the assembled captains, and he promised women to a certain 
 number of them, whom he had asked to accompany him. He 
 then set out with fifteen of the most venturesome and lascivious 
 of those lords, and they made neither stop nor stay until they 
 reached his fortress in Meath. 
 
 Maelsechlainn, during the same time, had privately brought 
 together fifteen of the most comely youths, Avithout beards, that 
 could be found in Meath, and caused them to put on female at- 
 tire, under which each of them carried a sharp sword in his gir- 
 dle. Thus, did he prepare to send these youths instead of wo- 
 men to meet Turgesius, in company Avith his daughter. Then, 
 when the night appointed for sending her to the tyrant had 
 come, the maiden set out with her band of counterfeit women, 
 and when she had come close to the fortress, thus escorted, a pri- 
 vate message was sent to Turgesius, acquainting him that she 
 had arrived with her female companions, and was ready to go 
 meet him. Turgesius, upon receiving this message, commanded 
 the chieftains, who were in his company, to proceed at once to 
 their chambers, telling that he Avould send the women thither to 
 them, according to his promise. Upon this they made a one 
 single pile of their arms upon the table, which stood in the hall, 
 and went each to his own private chamber, and there they waited 
 until the women should be distributed amongst them. Whilst 
 this was taking place, Maelsechlainn came up to his daughter 
 with an armed host, and there he commanded some of those 
 
 " Lis ; i. e., a circular fort, encircled story from Cambrensis, for the Irish 
 by an earthen dyke and a ditch. Keat- records do not recount it. 
 ÍDff has also borrowed this romantic 
 
510 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 youths, wlio had been disguised as women, to lay firm hold upon 
 Turgesius and to take him captive, as soon as ever he might at- 
 tempt to lay his hand upon the maiden in order to detain her 
 with himself; the others he commanded to seize upon the arms, 
 and to fall upon the chieftains that were in the house ; and 
 he promised, moreover, that he would himself dash in with his 
 host, upon hearing the first cry, in order to aid them in dispatch- 
 ing the Lochlannaigh. 
 
 His daughter, thereupon, entered the fortress through a post- 
 cm, and tarried not until she came to the chamber of Turgesius, 
 who immediately cast a scrutinizing glance upon the lady, and 
 upon her escort, and none of the latter was pleasing to him ex- 
 cept herself; and he thereupon laid his hand upon her, in 
 order to keep her in his company. But as soon as the youths 
 saw this, one body of them seized him with violence, and made 
 him their captive ; while another body seized upon the arms, of 
 which they immediiitcly made themselves the masters. Mael- 
 sechlainn soon after broke in with his armed host, and together 
 they fell upon all of the Lochlannaigh they found in tlie fortress, 
 and of them they spared neither chief nor serf, with the single 
 exception of Turgesius himself Tlien, having sacked the fort- 
 ress, they brought off Turgesius to the dun-lis of Maelsech- 
 lainn, where they held him for a short time in chains. 
 'Now when the rest of the Lochlannaigh throughout Ireland heard 
 that their principal chiefs had been thus slaughtered, and that the 
 tyrant, Turgesius, had been captured in Meath by Maelsech- 
 lainn, there icll a great terror and loss of confidence upon them 
 all, so that those of them that were stationed in the heart of the 
 country, far away from the great seaport towns, stole away by 
 night, thronging in gangs towards their ships, with the intention 
 of escaping out of Ireland : and those that were stationed in the 
 seaport towns, fled to their ships, to avoid the onslaught of the 
 Gaels, who were in chase of them. And, in this manner, were 
 all the Lochlannaigh driven out of Ireland at that time, Avith the 
 • 'xception of a small remnant that remained therein, after their 
 rout, under subjection to the Gaels. 
 
 Turgesius Avas then drowned by Maelsechlainn, in Loch 
 Aninn ;'* and from that deed it resulted that the Gaelic nobles, 
 with one accord, elected liim as Ard-righ of Ireland, for it was 
 he that had freed their country from the bondage of tlie men of 
 Lochlainn. 
 
 " Loch Aninn. Now Tvoch Ennell, Jjoch Owel, also near Mullitiiur, was 
 
 near Mullinirar, in the count}' of West- the lako in wliich the Prince of Mcath 
 
 mcath. Tliis is a mistake, for the Irish ha<l drowned the Norse Chief, 
 authorities state that Loch Uair, now 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 511 
 
 Buchanan relates that Gregoir, King of Alba, invaded Ire- 
 land with a numerous army in the year of our Lord eight hundred 
 and seventy-eight/' and that he both pillaged the country and slew 
 Brian and Concobar, the two guardians of the Irish king, for 
 (according to him) the King of Ireland was then in his childhood. 
 But this assertion cannot possibly be true, for nowhere in the Irish 
 records do we read, from the time of Slangi, (the first king of the 
 Fer-Bolgs,) to the invasion of the English, that any king had ever 
 reigned in Ireland, who had not arrived at the regal authority 
 through the choice of the people, and the greatness of his actions, 
 and the might of his arm. And besides it was the usurper, 
 Turgesius, that was tyrant over Ireland at that time. 
 
 MAELSECHLAINN, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 854.'* Maelsechlainn," son of Maelruanaidb, son of Dom- 
 nall, son of Murcadh, son of Diarmaid, son of Armedach Caech, 
 son of Conall Guth-binn, son of Suibni, son of Colman Mor, 
 son of Diarmaid, son of Fergus Kerbeol, of the line of Erimhon, 
 held the sovereignty of Ireland for sixteen years. Arog, daugh- 
 ter of Cathal, son of Fiachra, King of the Fera Kell, was the 
 mother of this Maelsechlainn. 
 
 Now, when the man of Lochlainn had been expelled by Mael- 
 sechlainn and the nobles of Ireland, as we have just related ; 
 the Finn-Lochlannaigh took counsel together in Norwegia, in or- 
 der to determine upon some means and some plan by which they 
 might obtain a foothold in Ireland, in hopes that they might 
 thus succeed in seizing upon the masterdom of that country a 
 second time. The plan adopted by them on this occasion, Avas 
 to equip three captains, sprung from the noblest blood of Nor- 
 wegia, and to send them with a fleet to Ireland, for the purpose 
 of obtaining the possession of some stations for purposes of trade. 
 And with them, they accordingly embarked many tempting 
 
 15 i^/o-Zii Hundred and Seventy-eight, not easy for a man of mature age to 
 
 Here Keating is thirty-five years or hold that always dangerous, and often 
 
 more in advance of the real time, in little more than nominal title, 
 
 consequence of his having assigned a '" A. D. 8-15. — Four Masters. 
 
 reign of 44 years to Domnall IV"., son " Maelsechlainn I. In Irisli this 
 
 of Murcadh, and liaving given one of monarch's name is pronounced 3Iai- 
 
 thirteen to Turgesius, who should not laughlm, the initial letter of scchlainn 
 
 have been at all enumerated amongst being mortified. It is found written 
 
 the monarchs. Buchanan's assertion Maeilsheachlainn in the more modern 
 
 is nevertheless untrue ; for it was im- Irish writers. In writing English, some 
 
 iossible, that there could have been an call him Melaghlin, which is well 
 
 rish king,^ who was a minor. The enough, but others barbarously trans- 
 
 heirship to' the throne was divided slate his name Malachy. 
 among so many noble tribes, that it was 
 
512 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 wares, and many valuable jewels, with the design of presenting 
 them to the men of Ireland, in the hope of thus securing their 
 friendship and peace, for they deemed that they might thus suc- 
 ceed in surreptitiously fixing a grasp upon the Irish soil, and might 
 then be enabled to oppress ^the Irish peojilc again. Here follows 
 what the Polychronicon relates upon this subject: "After the 
 death of Turgesins, throe brothers, named Amelanus, Cyriacus, 
 and Imorus, coming from the eastern parts of Norwegia, landed 
 on this island with their followers, as if for the purpos:^ of de- 
 manding peace, and under the pretext of establishing a trade, 
 and there, with the consent of the Iliberni, who Avere given to 
 peace, they took possession of some seaboard places, and built 
 three cities thereon, to wit, Watcrfordia, Dublinium, and Lymer- 
 icum, and from these cities, when their numbers had increased, 
 they frequently insulted the natives of the land."" 
 
 It ma}^ be easily understood from the words, just quoted, that 
 it was through the treachery of these three captains that the Finn- 
 Lochlannaigh from Norwegia found the means of repeating their 
 devastations in Ireland. And there were two causes for the 
 second growth of their strength in this country; the first 
 cause was that copious aid in men and ships kept constantly 
 arriving to them from Norwegia ; the second cause arose from 
 the hostilities and rivalries that prevailed amongst the Gaels 
 tlicmselves about that time, for by these the strength of the 
 Irish nation was very much wasted. And, besides, it was the 
 wont of the rival chieftains to give free quarters to warriors of 
 the Lochlannach race, whom they thus retained in their service. 
 Thence it resulted that they regained great sway in Ireland, and 
 retained it until the time of Brian Boromha, as shall be explain- 
 ed in the following pages upon the authority of the Iiish An- 
 nals. 
 
 Arrival of the DU^BII-LOCHLANNAIGH" or DANES. 
 
 Whilst the Finn-Lochlannaigh wore harassing the country 
 
 '" Post oljitum Tnrgesii, de Nnrwe- Tlio Fair Rtranf^cr.'i, or Finn-Lochlan- 
 
 gií3e partihus, quasi sub pacis intuitu ct nai.irli, were tlic Norwofiiaiis. The 
 
 mercatura; cxorccnclnc j)r?ptexta, trcs aliovc-nioutioned event is thus recorded 
 
 fratrcs, Amelanus, Cyriacus, et Imorus, in the Irish Annals, 
 (ium sua sequela in lianc insuhimappn- " A. I). 847. The 3rd year of Mael- 
 
 lemnt, ct dc consensu Ilibernorum, otio scclilainn. A fleet of seven score ships 
 
 deditorum, trcs civitates, viz., AVatcr- of the penplcof the kincfof the foreign- 
 
 fordiam, Dublinium et Lymcricuin con- era came to contend with the foreign- 
 
 stnixerunt, qui tamen numero succres- crs that were in Ireland before them, 
 
 ccntes contra indigcnas frequenter in- so that they disturbed the country be- 
 
 sultabant. tweeii them. 
 
 " Arrival of the Duhh-Lochlanmigh, A. I). H49. The Ditbh-Ghoill, i.e. 
 
 i. c. the Black Scandinavians, or Danes. Dark Strangers, or the Danes, arrived 
 
TOE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 513 
 
 after this fashion, there arrived a large fleet of Dnbh-Lochlan- 
 naighat Ath-cliath from Dania — that is, from Denmark; and the 
 coasts of the country were devastated by them, and great num- 
 bers of its inhabitants were slaughtered. Thereupon the Finn- 
 Lochlannaigh mustered their forces to repel the latest intruders, 
 and a battle was fought between both these foreign races at Linu- 
 Duachaill, where the Finn Lochlannaigh were put to the rout, 
 and one thousand of their warriors were slain. ,By this victory 
 the Dubh-Lochlannaigh gained great supremacy in Ireland 
 Soon after this, Amlaeibh/-" son of the king of Lochlainn, arrived 
 in Ireland, for the purpose of assuming the lordship of the 
 Dubh-Lochlannaigh or Danes, and forced a great number of the 
 men of Ireland to pay him tribute ! 
 
 It was about this that Olcobar, son of Kinaeth, King of Mun- 
 ster,'' died. Then, also, died Niall, son of Gellan, a man who 
 had lived for thirty years without food or drink. And Flath- 
 uiadh, bishop of Birra, and Cormac, bishop of Laithrech Briuin,^'' 
 died also about this time. 
 
 It was about this period that at a Regal Convention of the 
 men of Ireland was called together at Eath-Aeda-mic-Bric,"' 
 
 at Ath-cliath, and made a great slangh- 
 ler of the Finn-Ghoill (Fair Strangers, 
 or the Norwegians), and phmdered the 
 fortress of both people and property. 
 Another depredation by the Dubh 
 (jhoill upon the Finn-Ghoill at Linn 
 Duachaill, where they made a great 
 slaughter of the latter. 
 
 A. D. 850. A fleet of eight score 
 ships of the Finn-Ghoill arrived at 
 Snamh Eignech (now Carlingford 
 Lough), to give battle to the Dubh- 
 Ghoill, and they fought with each other 
 for three days and three nights ; and 
 the Dubh-Ghoill gained the victory, 
 and the Finn-Ghoill left their ships to 
 their vanquishers." — See Four Masters. 
 
 ^ Arnlaeibh. " A. D. 851. Amlae- 
 ibh [Ou'lave or Ouleevc), King of 
 Lochlainn, came to Ireland, so that all 
 the foreign tribes in Ireland submitted 
 to him ; and they exacted rent from 
 the Gaeidhil (the Irish)." — Id. 
 
 -' Olcobar, King of Mn-nster. This 
 death is entered under A. D. 849. The 
 men of Munster fought successfully 
 against the Sea-Kings during the short 
 reign of the royal bishop, Olcobar. 
 The battle which he fought against 
 them at Sciath Ncchtain. near Castle- 
 dermot, in the county of Kildare, was 
 
 prematurely introduced by Keating 
 under the last reign, as is seen by the 
 following entries : 
 
 "A. D. 846. A battle was gained 
 by Maelsechlainn,son of Maelriianaidh, 
 over the Danes, at Forach (near the 
 Hill of Skreen in Meath), where seven 
 hundred of them were slain. Another 
 battle was gained by Olcobar, King of 
 Munster ; and by Lorcan, son of Kel- 
 lach. King of Leinster, having the 
 Loinsterraen and Muustermen with 
 them, at Sciath Nechtain, whej^in 
 Earl Tomrar, tanist of the King of 
 Lochlainn, and twelve hundred along 
 with him, were slain. A hosting was 
 made by Olcobar, to demolish the first 
 of Corcach (Cork), against the for- 
 eigners." — Id. The plundering of 
 Iralech lubair, or Emly, by the for- 
 eigners, took place in the previous 
 year (845). 
 
 ^ Laithrech Briuin. Now Laragh- 
 brien, in Kildare. Cormac, scribe, 
 anchorite, and bishop, died in 854. 
 Niall, son of Gialan, died in the same 
 year. Flaithniadh (F/ú/i J2cca),sonof 
 'Congal, died in 851. 
 
 "^^Rath-Aeda-mic-Bric. Now Rath- 
 hugh, in the barony of Moycashel, 
 county Westmeath. "A. D. 857. A 
 
514 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 around MaelsecWainn, King of Temhair and Etligna, Comarba 
 of St. Patrick ; and there, Kcrball, King of Ossory, made sub- 
 mission to the Comarba of St. Patrick. It Avas there, also, that 
 Maelguala, sou of Donngal, King of Munster, and Kerball, King 
 of Osraide," made peace vnth Leth Cuinn. 
 
 Soon after this, the Northmen stoned to death Maelgnala, 
 King of Munster." About tlie same time Maelsechlainn, King 
 of Ireland, fought the battle of Drum-da-Maighe,"" where he made 
 a great slaughter of the Lochlannaigh of Ath-Cliath. About 
 the same time died Domnall, son of Alpin, King of the Picts ; 
 and Maelsechlainn, son of Maeh'uanaidh, King of Ireland, died 
 himself soon after. 
 
 great meeting of the chieftains of Ire- 
 land, was collected by King Maelsech- 
 lainn to Rath-Aeda-mic-Bric, ■with 
 Fethgna (or Ethgna), successor of St. 
 Patrick, and Suairlech, successor of 
 St. Fiunia, to establish peace and con- 
 cord between the men of Ireland ; and 
 here Kerball (Cearball), King of 0.s- 
 raide, gave the award of the succes- 
 sors of St. Patrick and St. Finuia to 
 the King of Ireland, after Kerball had 
 been forty nights at Ereros (in Meath), 
 and the son of the King of Lochlainn, 
 at first along with him, plundering 
 Meath. And after they had awarded 
 that the King of Osraide should be in 
 league with Leth Cuinn, Maelgualai, 
 son of Donngal, King of Munster, 
 tendered his allegiance. 
 
 f* Kerball, King of Osraide. This 
 toparch had recently been the ally of 
 the Danes, and had plundered Leinster 
 and Meath, in conjunction with Ain- 
 laeibh and Imhar (Ivar), the Danish 
 chiefs of Dublin. 
 
 " Maelguala, King of Mumter. At 
 the instigation of the foreigners, he 
 had refused to do homage to the Ard- 
 righ. But tlie latter had invaded his 
 principality in 85G, when he tarried 
 ten nights at Emly, defeated its chiefs 
 at Carn Lughdach, and carried off the 
 hostages of all Munster. This was 
 the second occasion on which Maelse- 
 chlainn had to make Munster acknow- 
 ledge his authority by the force of arms. 
 The stoning to death of Maelguala 
 happened shortly after his return from 
 the Royal Convention. 
 
 " Drum-da-Mai ghe, i. e. the Ridge 
 
 of the two Plains. A remarkable 
 Hill in the barony of Coolcstown, 
 King's county. "A. D. 859. The 15th 
 year of Maelsechlainn. The battle of 
 Drum-da-Maigh was given by Maelse- 
 chlainn to the foreigners of Ath-cliath, 
 Mhore many of the foreigners were 
 slain by him." — Four Masters. The 
 other principal victories, gained by the 
 Gaels over the foreigners and the abet- 
 tors, during this monarch's reign, are 
 thus recorded. 
 
 A. D. 845. The demolition of the 
 Island of Loch IMunremar (now Lough 
 Ramor), against a great crowd of the 
 sons of death (i. e. malefactors), of the 
 Luighni and Galcnga, who were plund- 
 ering the country at the instigation of 
 the foreigners , and they were de- 
 stroyed by him. A slaughter was 
 made of the foreigners of Ath-cliath. 
 at Carn Brammit, by Kcrball, son of 
 Dongall, Lord of Osraide, where twelve 
 hundred of them were slain. 
 
 A. D. 84G. Tighernach. Lord of 
 Loch Gabar, defeated at Doirre-Disirt 
 Dachoima. where twelve score of them 
 were slain h\ liim. 
 
 A. I). 847. The plundering of Dubh- 
 linn (now Dublin, and also called Ath- 
 cliath), by Maelsechlainn. and l)y 
 Tighernach, Lord of Loch (iabar. 
 
 A. D. 849. Kinacth, son of Conaiiig. 
 Ijord of Kiannachta-Breagh, Mas 
 drowned in the Aingi (now the river 
 Nanny), by the people of King 1sVm\- 
 scchlainn and Tighernach, Lord of Loch 
 Gabor, to revcntre upon him the acts 
 he had committed against both laity 
 and clergy. (These evils consisted in 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 615 
 
 AEDir FINN-LIATH, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 870." Acdh Finn-liath,** son of Niall Frasacb, of the 
 line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland for sixteen years. 
 Gormflaith, daughter of Domnall, son of Donncadh, was the wife 
 of this King; Maelmuri, daughter of Kinaeth, son of Alpin,'^' 
 King of Alba, was his wife, and it was she that was mother of 
 Niall Glun-dubh. 
 
 The following deeds were done during the reign of this prince: 
 Concobar, son of Donncadh,^" who was Kingoverthehalf of Meath, 
 was slain by Amlaeibh, son of the King of Loehlainn, at Cluain 
 Iraird. After this, the same Amlaeibh proceeded to Foirtrenn in 
 Alba, and there pillaged the Piets, from whom he bore off hostages. 
 
 It was now that Aedli Finn-liath, King of Ireland, won a great 
 battle" over the Lochlannaigh ; and thence he bore oif the bodi- 
 
 the plundering of the Soatliern Ui Fergus, chief of the Oirghialla, went to 
 Xeill, from the Shannon to the Sea, Al'oa, to strengthen the Dal lliada. at 
 
 during the previous year, by the aid of request of Kinaeth, sou of Alpiu."' 
 
 the foreigners ; the demolition of the See Four Masters. 
 island fortress of Tighernach, on Loch 
 Gabor; and the burning of the oratories 
 of Treoit (now Trevet), with 220 per- 
 sons therein. 
 
 ^ Concobar, son of Donncadh. He 
 
 was drowned at Clouard, in 862. 
 
 Meath had been overrun by the Danish 
 
 chiefs Amlaeibh, Imhar, and Uailsi, 
 
 A. D. 850. A slaughter was made during the previous year (A. D. 861), 
 
 of the foreigners in the east of Breagh, when the ancient j^yramidal mounds 
 
 of New Grange, Knowth, Dowth. and 
 
 and another slaughter was made of 
 them at Rath Aldain (now Rathallou, 
 near Duleck), by the Kiannachta, in 
 one month." — Id. 
 
 " A. D. 861.— /(/. This date is two 
 years behind the real time, which is 
 A.D. 863. 
 
 ^ Aedh VII. He was of the Ki- 
 nd Eoij'ain branch, of the northern 
 Ui Neiil. 
 
 '^ Kinaeth, son of Alpin. — He is 
 called Keneth Mac^lpin, or Keneth, 
 by the Scotch writers. He was the 
 34th King of the Dal-Riada of Alba. 
 "In A.D. 850, being the 12th year of 
 his reign, be engaged the Picts in a 
 battle, renewed seven times in one day, 
 and at last totally defeated thcra. 
 Marching thence to Scone, he put to 
 death Druskin, son of Feradath, the 
 last King of tha Picts, after which he 
 united their kingdom to his own." — 
 O'Flaliertij. That this conqueror had 
 received aid from his Irish kinsmen in 
 his victories over the Picts, we have 
 proof in the following entry, which is 
 found in the Irish annals, under the 
 fourth year of the reign of Xiall Fras- 
 ach : "A. D. 835. Gofraidh. son of 
 
 the Cave of the the Wile of Gobhan, 
 in the Great Mound at Drogheda, had 
 been broken upon and plundered by 
 them. 
 
 " Great Battle. "A.D. 864. A 
 complete muster of the men of the 
 North, was made by Aedh Finn-liath, 
 so that he plundered the fortresses of 
 the foreigners wherever they were, both 
 in Kinel Eogain and Dal Araide, and 
 he carried ofl their cattle and accoutre- 
 ments, their goods and chatties. And 
 the foreigners came together at Loch- 
 Febail-mic-Lodain (i. e. the Lake of 
 Febal, son of Lodan, now Lough 
 Foyle). After Aedh, King of Ireland, 
 had heard that they were gathering on 
 the borders of his country, he was not 
 negligent in attending to them, for he 
 marched towards them with all his 
 forces ; and a battle was fought Gerce- 
 ly and spiritedly between them. The 
 victory was gained over the foreigners, 
 and a slaughter was made of them. 
 Their heads were collected to one place 
 in presence of the King, and twelve 
 score heads were reckoned before him, 
 which was the number slain in tbni: 
 
516 
 
 THE IlISTORY OF IKELAND. 
 
 less heads of twenty of their chief captains, after having slaught- 
 ered twelve hundredof their host; and he plundered and sacked 
 their fortresses, taking away both their cattle and their treasures. 
 It was not long after that, when the fortress of Amlaeibh,,son of 
 the King of Lochlainn, atCluain Dalcain, was burned by the son 
 of Gaeitheu," and by Mael Kiarain, son" of Ronan," by whom 
 one hundred chiefs of the foreigners were slain. It was after 
 this that Amlaeibh sacked Ard Macha, where ten hundred of the 
 Gaels were either killed or grievously wounded;'* and whence he 
 carried off much property and treasure. 
 
 It was during this time, also, that Kennfaeladh,''" son of 
 Moch-tigherua, died, having then reigned for tliirteeu years as 
 King of Munster : and, after him, Donncndh, son of Dubdaboi- 
 renn, held the kingdom of Munster for fourteen years. Now 
 also died Conall, bishop of Kill-Sgiri.'^ And then, a battle was 
 fought between the Picts and the Dubh-LoehlanniMgh, in which 
 great numbers of the former nation were slain. After that, 
 Rughri, son of Moirminn," King of Britain, escaped to Ireland, 
 fleeing before tlie Lochlannaigh; and the relics of St. Columkille" 
 
 battle, besides the numbers of them 
 that •were wounded and carried off by 
 him in the agonies of death, and who 
 died of their wounds sometime after- 
 wards." — Four Masters. 
 
 ^ Son of Gaeithen. His name was 
 Kinneidigh, and he was chieftain of 
 Ijieighis, or Leix, the country ol tlie 
 O'Moores. Amlaeibih's fortress, at 
 Cluain Dolcain (now Clondalken), was 
 destroyed by him in 8G5. He defeat- 
 ed the Danes again, within the same 
 year, at Dublin, where he slew their 
 chief, Odolbh Micle. 
 
 ^ Maelhiaran, son of Ronan. This 
 chief, one of the most valiant cham 
 
 " Rughri, son of Morrminn. "A.D. 
 
 874. Ruaidhri, son of Moirmind, King 
 of Britain (Wales), came to Ireland to 
 shun the Dubh-ii-henti." — Four Masters. 
 
 ** Relia of St. CohimkiUe. ." A. D. 
 
 875. The shrine of Cohimkillc was 
 brought to Ireland to avoid the for- 
 eigners." — Id. 
 
 A. D. 8G1. The killing of the fo- 
 reigners atFerta-na-g-caeraeh, by Ker- 
 ball (King of Osraidc), so that 40 heads 
 were left to him, and that he banished 
 them from the territory. (This place 
 is now called Fertagh, barony of tíal- 
 moy, county Kilkenny.) 
 
 A. D. 804. A victory was gained 
 
 jtions of his time, was slain during tbe over the foreigners of Eochaill (Youg- 
 His death is thus re- hal, then a Danish station), by the 
 
 ensuing year, 
 corded, under A. D. CT : " Maelkiaran, 
 i-(jn of Ronan, champion of the East of 
 Ireland, and a hcro-])lunderer of the 
 foreigners, was slain." — Four Masters. 
 
 *' Killed 01- Wounded. "Ten htui- 
 dred was the number there cut off both 
 by wounding and suffocation." — Id. 
 This happened in 807. 
 
 ■■' Kcnnfaeladh. He had been abbot 
 of Emly, and succeeded the unfortu- 
 nate Maelguala on the throne of (>a- 
 shcl. He died about the year 870. 
 
 '* Kill-Sgiri, now Killskeery in 
 ^Inath. The bishop, Couall, died in 
 665. 
 
 Desi, and the fortress was destroyed. 
 A slaughter was of the foreigners, by 
 the men of the North of Oferaidc, and 
 by Kinneidigh, son of Gaeithen, at 
 .Alindroichet (now ^lonadrehid, near 
 Borris-in-Ossory.) 
 
 A. D. 8G5. (Jnimbcolu, chief of the 
 foreigners of Corcach (Cork), was slain 
 by the Dcsi. 
 
 A. D. 8GC. Flann, son of Conaing, 
 Lord of Breagh, collected the men 
 of lireagh and Tx^instcr, and the fo- 
 reigners to Kill Ua n-Daighri {kcel-oo- 
 voiric), four thousand was the number 
 of his forces, against the King Acdh 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 517 
 
 were brouglit from Alba into Ireland to preserve tlieni from 
 the same ravager.s. 
 
 Cormac, son of Culiuan, relates that Lorcan, son of Lactna, 
 was, at this time, King of Thomond. He says, likewise, that 
 the north side of Cashel, as far as the gates of the palace, be- 
 longed to the Dal-g-Cais, whenever the rule of that tiibe was 
 confined to Thomond, or North Munster. The territory of this 
 tribe was composed of twelve tricha-ked, or cantons, and com- 
 prised all the land that lies from Leim Concidainn to the Belach 
 Mor or Great Road of Osraide, and from Sliabh Echtaide {Slieve 
 Atighti/\ to Sliabh Yj\h\m\\\ {Slieve Eilimn). It was their right 
 to march in the van of the host of Munster, when invading a 
 hostile territory, and to form the rear guard when retreating 
 before the foe; as Cormac, son of Culinan, has said in the fol- 
 lowing verse : 
 
 •• When the foe is invaded, they march in the van ; 
 And the rear is their right on the homeward retreat ; 
 'Tis a meed of their prowess in battle's rude shock, 
 Whose perils ne'er daunted the Children of Cas."' 
 
 Aedh Finn-laith^' died at Drum Inasglainn, in the territory of 
 Conalli ; and Tigernach, sou of Muredach, bishop of Drum Inis- 
 glainn, died about the same time. 
 
 Finn-liath. Aedh had only one thous- 
 and, together with Concobar, son of 
 Tadg Mor, King of Connaught. The 
 battle was eagerly and earnestly fought 
 between them, and the victory was at 
 length gained over the men of Breagh 
 and the Leinstermenand the foreigners ; 
 and a slaughter was made of them, and 
 a great number of the foreigners were 
 massacred therein. Flann, Lord of 
 Breagh, Diarmaid, son of Edersgel, 
 Lord of Loch Gabor, and Carlas, son 
 of Amlaeibh, i. e. son of the Lord of 
 the foreigners, were also slain in that 
 battle. There fell on the other side, 
 Factna. son of Maelduin, Eighdamna 
 (i.e. King elect), of the North, in the 
 heat of the battle. (Kill-Ua-n Daighri 
 is probably Killaderry, in the county 
 of Dnbliii.)—J(/. 
 
 The principal depredations recorded 
 as committed by the invaders, besides 
 those already recorded, are, the slaying 
 of Kermad, son of Cathernach, Lord of 
 Corca Basbinn, in 862 ; Conn, son of 
 Kinaedh, Lord of Ui Barchi-tiri (now 
 Slievemargy, Queen's county), was 
 slain in 866, while demolishing a for- 
 tress of the invaders ; Eodois, son of 
 
 Dongal, suffered martyrdom from the 
 foreigners at Disert Diarmoda (Castle- 
 dermot), in 867 ; Maelseclilainn, Lord 
 of South Breagh, was slain by them in 
 808 ; in 869 Ailill, or Olild, King of 
 Leinster, was slain by them ; the men 
 of the Three Plains and the Comainus 
 (in the North of Kilkenny), as far as 
 Sliabh Bladma, were plundered by the 
 lords of the foreigners, during the 
 snow at Bridgetmas, in 870 ; the 
 Danes of Ath-cliath plundered Mun- 
 ster in 871 ; the church of Kill-mor- 
 mic-Emhir (now Kilmore, near Ar- 
 maiih), was plundered by them in 859. 
 Besides these, the Finn-Glicnti and the 
 Pubh-Ghenti fought against one an- 
 other on Loch Cuan, where Alljand, 
 the chief of the Dubh-Ghenti or Danes, 
 was slain. In fact, the contentions 
 between the two nations of invaders, 
 seem to have now counterbalanced 
 those of the Gaelic tribes, and saved 
 the latter from the subjugation that 
 might otherwise have resulted from 
 their intestine feuds. 
 
 =«' Aedh Fhm-llafh, died. The real 
 year of his death is 879. He left two 
 sous, namely Niall Gluu-dubh, after- 
 
518 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRf:LAND. 
 
 FLANN SINNA, AKD-lilGU. 
 
 A. D. SSC)/" Flanu Sinna,'^ son of Maelsechlainn, sou of Mael- 
 ruanaidii, of the line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland 
 fur thirty-eight years. Lann, daughter of Donngal, sou of Ter- 
 gal, King of Osraide, was the mother of Flann, sou of Mael- 
 seclilainn. 
 
 It was in his reign that the following deeds were done, to wit: 
 the whole of Munster"' was pillaged and despoiled by this king, 
 and he carried off the hostages from that principality ; it was in 
 his reign that Domnall, son of Murigen," ^v•as killed by his own 
 companions, and that Fiachna, son of Anbith, who had been 
 King of Ulidia for one year, was slain by his own people ; and it 
 wastlien, also, that Donncadh,*' son of Dubdaboirenn, died. Kill- 
 dara and Cluain Iraird" were plundered by the Lochlannaigh 
 within the same period. The royal aenach, or fiiir of Talti,"" was 
 cek'brated by Flann Sinna, son of Maelsechlainn, King of Ire- 
 land. Dublactna reigned as King of Munster, during seven' 
 years of this reign, at the end of which he died. It was then 
 that Sitric, son of Imhar, was slain by a band of the folk of Nor- 
 wegia; and that Aidith, King of Ulidia, was slain by his own 
 people. During the same period, Ard Macha was plundered" 
 
 wards monarch of Ireland, from whom 
 the sept of Neil 1 is descended, and 
 derives its name ; and Domnall, King 
 of Ailech, from whom descended the 
 Ui Eathach Droma Lighenn, who, 
 when surnames were established, took 
 the name of O'Donghailé, called in 
 English, O'Donnelly. IJrum-Mesglain 
 lies near Castle-Bellingham in Louth, 
 iuid is now known asDrumiskin. — O'D. 
 " A. D. 877. — Four Masters. 
 *' Sinna, i. e. of the Shannon ; pro- 
 nounced Shiiwa. 
 
 *'■ The whole of Munster. In the first 
 year of his reign, " Munster was plun- 
 (lored from Boromha, (now Belboroo, 
 near Kallaloe,) to Corcach, [now Cork,) 
 hy Flann, son of Maelsechlainn. — Four 
 Masters. 
 
 *■' DomaaU, sou of Murigen ; he was 
 King of I/jinster, and was slain in the 
 first year of Flann ; Fiachna, son of 
 Anlti'th. was not slain till the tenth year 
 of this monarch. 
 
 " Do)incadli, son of Dubdaboircnn, 
 King of Munster, died in the seventh 
 year, and his successor, Maelgnala, in 
 the fourteenth of the same reign. 
 
 *^ Kill-dara and Cluain Iraird júun- 
 dcred. '-A. D. 883. The seventh year 
 of Flann. Kill-dara was plundered by 
 the foreigners, who carried off with 
 them fourteen score persons into cap- 
 tivity to their ships, with the prior, 
 Suibni, son of Dubdaboirenn, besides 
 other valuable property. A. I). 887. 
 The eleventh year of Flann. Kill-dura 
 and Cluain Iraird were ])lundcred by 
 the foreigners." — Four Masters. Kill- 
 dara was again plundered in the nine- 
 teenth year of Flann. 
 
 ■'" Tlic Fair of Ta.'ti. This royal as- 
 sembly is recorded as having been cele- 
 brated twice during this reign ; first by 
 the monarch himself, in the eleventh 
 year of his reign. Again, in the eigh- 
 teenth year of his reign, we read of the 
 renewal of the Fair of Coiniaught, (i.e. 
 of Cruaehain,) by Tadg, son of Concc- 
 bar, and the renewal of that of Talti 
 by Diarmaid, son of Korball. From 
 these entries it would appear that those 
 ancient festivals were now falling into 
 di.-<use among the Gaels. 
 
 " Ard Macha plundered. There are 
 two pluuderings of tliis primatial scut 
 
THE niSTOKY OF IRELAND. 519 
 
 by the Lochlannaigh of Loch Febail, on which on which, occa- 
 sion they captured Cumasgacli, King of Ulidio-, and his son, Aedh, 
 son of Cumasgach. It was then also that Domnall,*" son of Con« 
 stantine, the King of Alba, died. 
 
 Cormac*^ son of Culinan^ Archhishop of Cashd and King of Mun- 
 ster — Battle of Belach Mughna^ cOc. 
 
 Cormac, son of Culinau, son of Selbach, son of Allgenan, son 
 of Eocaidh, son of Bresal, son of Aengus, son of Nadfraech, son 
 of Core, son of Lugaidh, son of Olild Flann Beg, son of Fiacaidh 
 Maeil-lethan, son of Eogan IMor, son of Olild Glum, assumed 
 the sovereignty of Munster about this time. And great was the 
 prosperity^" of Ireland during his reign; for the land became filled 
 with tlie divine grace, and with worldly prosperity, and with 
 public peace in his days, so that the cattle needed no cowherd, 
 and the flocks no shepherd, as long as he was king. The shrines 
 of the saints were then protected, and many temples and mon- 
 asteries were built ; public schools were establishecl for the pur- 
 pose of giving instruction in letters, law, and history ; many 
 were the tilled fields, numerous were the bees, and j)lenteous the 
 beehives under his rule ; frequent was flistingand prayer, and every 
 other work of piety ; many houses of public hospitality were built, 
 and many books written, at his command. And, moreover, when- 
 ever he exacted the performance of any good work from others, 
 he was wont to set them the example himself by being the first 
 to practise it, whether it were a deed of alms, or benevolence, or 
 jirayer, or attending mass, or any other virtuous deed. It was 
 the good fortune of Ireland during that epoch, that, whilst he 
 was reigning over Munster, the country was abandoned by what- 
 
 recordcd under the reign of Flann. We was Domnall, or Donald V., the thirty- 
 read that in " the fourteenth year of ninth King of the Dal Riada of Alba, 
 Flann, Ard Macha was plundered by who died, according to Tighernach, in 
 Gluniarainn, (i. e. Iron-knee,) and the A. D. 900. 
 
 foreigners of Ath-cliath ; and that they " Coivnac, son of Culinan. He suc- 
 
 carried 710 persons into captivity after ceeded Finguine, who was called Kenn- 
 
 having destroyed part of the church, ghegan, on the throne of Munster, in 
 
 and broken the oratory." Again, in the twentieth year of Flann (896). 
 
 the seventeenth year of his reign, which Finguine had been slain by his own 
 
 is that mentioned above, it is recorded tribe after a reign of six years, 
 
 that Ard Macha was plundered by the ^ Prosperity, "etc. What is here as- 
 
 forcigncrs of Loch Febail, or Lough serted of the prosperity of the kingdom 
 
 Foylc, and Cumasgach made prisoner, during the reign of Cormac, must be 
 
 and his sou Ard slain. — See Four understood as said only of the part of 
 
 Masters. it over which he ruled, namely, Mun- 
 
 ^ Domnall, son of Constant ine. This ster. 
 
520 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ever of the Lochlannaigli had previously infested it for tlie pur- 
 poses of plunder. 
 
 Upon a certain occasion, wlicn Cormac was staying at Cashel, 
 awaiting the coming of Easter, he sent })roelan\ation to the Eo- 
 ganacht tribes," requiring of them to send him hither food and 
 treasures for the celebi'ation of that august festival; but lliey 
 gave him a refusal. Upon hearing this the Dal g-Cais sent a 
 large supply of food and treasures to the king, so that he felt 
 grateful to them. He again sent word to the clans of the race 
 of Eogan, demanding of them to send him jewels and valuables 
 for the purpose of making presents to strangers, as they had sent 
 him no food. But upon this what the men of the race of Eogan 
 did, was to send him the worst arms and goods that they had 
 then in their possession, and Cormac was very much displeased 
 thereat. The Dal-g-Cais heard this also, whereupon thc}^ sent to 
 him the choicest of their weapons and wearing apparel, their 
 jewels and treasures and armor, in order that he might make 
 presents thereof Thus did Cormac feel again most grateful to 
 that tribe, as he tells us himself in the following verse : 
 
 " i\ray our truest fidelity ever be given 
 To the brave and generous clansmen of Tal ;^ 
 And for ever may royalty rest with their tribe, 
 And virtue, and valor, and music, and song." 
 
 "We read in the Senchas that forty-four kings of the line of 
 Eogan Mor held the sovereignty of Munster from the reign of 
 Aengus, son of Nadfraech, to that of Mathgamhain," son of Ken- 
 ncidi, and that during that time the line of Cormac Cas had given 
 no king to Munster, with the exception of Lorcan, son of Lact- 
 na, who, according to O'Dubagain, succeeded Cormac, son of 
 Culinan, for one year and a half, as King of Munster. I3ut dur- 
 ing that period the Dal g-Cais had acquired the sovereignty of 
 all the land that lies between Leim Conchulainn, or Loo]:) llead, 
 in the west of Corca-Baskinn, and Slighe Dala" {Ske Daula), which 
 
 " EoganacJtt tribes. As these tribes of Kennedy. The Irish name, when 
 belonged themselves to the royal blood written in vulgar characters, is spelled 
 of Munster, they were were free from !Matlighamhain Mac Cinncide, and pro- 
 all tribute to the King of Cashel. noimccd Makdwin Mac Kinnaidic. 
 Hence the subsidy demanded of them ''' Sli<r/ie Bala. This, which was one 
 by Cormac, must have been asked as of the five great roads of ancient Ire- 
 a voluntary gift a,nd not as a tribute, land, ran from the southern side of the 
 Neither were the Dal g-Cais bound to Hill of 'i'ara, or Temhair, in the di- 
 jjay any tribute to Cashel. rection of Ossory. It was the great 
 
 '■' Till. Clan Tail, i. e. the Children south-western road. 'I'lie other four 
 
 of Tal, was one of the tribe names of great roads were, a western road, called 
 
 the l)al-g-Cais. the Hiighe Asail, which ran from 'J ara 
 
 " Malkgumhain. lliis chieftain's towards Loch Owel, near Mullingar; 
 
 name has been anglicized Mahon, son the northern road was called the Sligho 
 
THE IIISTOKY OF IRELAND. 521 
 
 is called Belacli ]\[or na li-Osraide, that is, tho Great Road of Os- 
 sorj. And, moreover, it Avas this same tribe of Cas that was 
 wont to bear the brunt of the wars which the Kings of Cashel 
 waged cither against Leinster or Loth Cuiiin, as the bard relates 
 in the following verse: 
 
 " 'Tis the wont of tlie men, that from Lugaidh^^ have sprung, 
 In the battles of -Mumha to head the array, 
 And they follow always in the rear of her host, 
 When from foemen returning through regions unknown." 
 
 When, indeed Cormac, son of Culinan, had spent seven years 
 in peace and happiness as sovereign of Munster, he was instigated 
 by some of his nobles, and more especially by Flathbertach, son 
 of Inmanen, Abbot of Inis Cathaigh,'^" a man of the royal blood, 
 to make a demand of chief-rent from the principality of Leinster, 
 upon the pretext that it formed a portion of Leth Mogha. 
 Thereupon, Cormac convened a general assembly of the men of 
 Munster; and when his nobles had met together thereat, the 
 plan which they adopted, was to march into Leinster for the 
 purpose of levying that chief-rent, in I'ight of the division which 
 had been formerly made between Mogh Nuadath and Conn of 
 the Hundred Battles. Notwithstanding this resolve, it was with 
 great unwillingaess that Cormac proceeded upon this expedition, 
 for it had been foreshown to him that he should fall himself 
 therein ; but he consented to go upon it nevertheless. Previous 
 to his marching, he made a will, in which he bequeathed certain 
 legacies, wliich were to be given by Munster to some of the prin- 
 cipal churches of Ireland, to wit: An ounce of gold and an 
 ounce of silver, with his accouterments and his steed, to Drum- 
 Abradh, which is called Ard Finnain ; a chalice of gold, and 
 a chalice of silver, with a satin vestment, to Lis-mor ; a chalice of 
 gold, and a chalice of silver, with four ounces of gold, and five 
 ounces of silver, to Cashel ; three ounces of gold and a mass-book, 
 to Imlech lubair; an ounce of gold and an ounce of silver, to 
 Glenn-da-loch ; his wares and clothes, with an ounce of gold and 
 a satin mantle, to Kill-dara; twenty-four ounces of gold and of 
 silver to Ard-Macha; three ounces of gold to LiisCathaigh; and 
 three ounces of gold and a satin vestment, and his own blessing, 
 to Mungarid. The wilP" itself is contained in the following 
 verses : 
 
 Midluachra {Shlee Meehoghra) ; the in the second century, who conquered 
 
 Slighe Cualanu ran from Tara towards the territory, now called Clare, from 
 
 Dublin and Bray ; the Slighe Mor was the Counaughtmen, and added it to 
 
 the great western road, which extend- Munster. 
 
 ed from Dublin to Galway.— O'D. '" Inis CathaigJi, now Innishcathy, 
 
 " Lugaidh ; i. e. Lugaidh Menu, son or Scattery Island, in the Shannon. 
 
 of Aengus Tirech, King of Thomond, " The Will The metrical copy of 
 
522 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 " 'Tis time my testament ■were made, 
 For danger's hour approacheth fast ; 
 M}' days shall henceforth be but few, 
 My life has almost reached the goal 
 
 My golden cup of sacrifice. 
 Wherewith 1 holy offerings make, 
 I will to Seuan's^ brotherhood. 
 At luis Cathaigh's sacred fane. 
 
 The bell that calleth me to prayer, 
 "Whilst on the green-robed earth I stay ; 
 Forget not with my friend to leave 
 At Conall's'*'' shrine, where Forgas flows. 
 
 My silken robe of graceful flow, 
 O'erlaid with gems and golden braid, 
 To Ros-cre, Paul and Peter's fane. 
 And Cronan's'^ guardianship I leave. 
 
 My silver chessboard, of bright sheen, 
 I will to Uladh's roj*al chief; 
 My well-wrought chain of faultless gold, 
 To thee, Mochuda,™' I bequeath. 
 
 Take then my amice and my stole, 
 AncMake my mauuple likewise ; 
 To Lenin's son, who lies at Cluain, 
 To Colman,"' who has found his bliss. 
 
 My psalter of illumined leaves, 
 AVhose light no darkness e'er can hide — 
 To Caisel I for ever leave 
 This potent gift without recal. 
 
 And my wealth, I bequeath to the poor. 
 And my sins to the children of curses ; 
 And my dust to the earth, whence it rose, 
 And my spirit to Ilim, who has sent it." 
 
 Great, indeed, arc tlic commendations which king Cormac 
 has bestowed upon the community of Mungaid, according to 
 
 King Cormac's will, from which the the founder of the monastery of Inis 
 
 editor has made the translation, above Cathaigh. 
 
 given, is found but in one of his MS. "* ConnV. St. Conall,son of Modon, 
 
 copies, and that one is modern and received the ?rown of martyrdom in 
 
 somewhat incorrect. A version of it A. D. 721. The F(jrgas is now called 
 
 has been given in Dermod O'Connor's, the Fergus, a river of Clare. 
 
 but it woidd appear Ijy its omission by " Cronan. St. Cronan, the patron 
 
 the learned Dr. Lynch, the Latin trans- saint of Ros-cre. 
 
 lator of Keating, "tlia< it was not given "■' Mnchwla, i. e. St. Carthach, called 
 in the more correct copii.s of the Foras Mochuda, the founder of Lismore. 
 Feasa. It seems imperfect, inasmuch "' Co//nar), i.e. St. i!olman, son of Le- 
 as it does not mention all the legacies nin, the founder of the church of Clu- 
 contained in the prose summary pre- ain Uamlia, now called ("loyno, in Ui 
 vioiiily given. Jvcathain, County Cork. This saint 
 " Seiian. St. Scnan, or Senanus, was died in A. D. 600. 
 
TIIK HISTORY OF IRELAND, 523 
 
 what Ave read in the duau which begins with the line, •' A gliilhi, 
 ccngail ar loinn." He therein sets down the number of monks 
 that were attached to the six temples that stood within the walls of 
 that great monastery, which was also then called " Cathair Deocain 
 Nesain," that is, the city of Ncsan''^ the Deacon. The following 
 is the number of its members, to wit : five hundred monks, who 
 were men of learning, and whose office it was to preach to the 
 people; six hundred choristers, who sung in the choirs; and 
 four hundred seniors, who were devoted to the meditation of 
 divine things. 
 
 But to return to Oormac, when he was about to march into 
 the territory of the Leinstermen, he sent for Lorcan, son of 
 Lactna, the King of Thomond, whom he received with welcome 
 upon his arrival at the royal palace of Cashel. He then pro- 
 claimed to the nobles of the line of Eogan, that it was the right 
 of Lorcan®* to assume the kingdom of Munster after his own 
 death, for so it had been regulated by the will of Olild Olum, 
 which ordained that the sovereignty of Munster should be pos- 
 sessed alternately by the posterity of Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan and 
 by that of Cormac Cas. However, the desire of the king was 
 not fulfilled in this matter. 
 
 After this, Cormac, having mustered a large host around him- 
 self and around Flathbertach, son of Inmanen, marched into the 
 territory of the Leinstermen, and denmnded of them to give him 
 hostages and to pay him tribute as King of Munster, upon the 
 grounds that their country (Leinster) formed part of Leth 
 Mogha." Now, when the host of Munster had come together 
 and was all collected into one camp, previous to marching upon 
 the intended expedition, it happened that Flathbertach, son of 
 Inmanen, the abbot of Inis Cathaigh, having mounted upon 
 
 ^ Nesan, i. e. St. Nasaii, called the Field of Lugaidh,which now constitutes 
 
 leper, the founder and patron saint of the county of Clare. Their exclusion 
 
 the monastery of Mungarid, now called might also have resulted from the 
 
 Mungret, near Limerick, who died, as accidental fact, that Aengus, the first 
 
 heretofore stated, in A. D. 551. Christian king of Munster, happened 
 
 •^ Lorcan, son of Lactna. He was to be of the race of Eogan Mor. Cor- 
 
 the chief of the line of Cormac Cas, mac sought to put an end to this in- 
 
 whose race had now been for some justice by appointing Lorcan his heir, 
 
 centuries deprived of their right to the In this, however, he did not succeed, 
 
 alternate sovereignty of Munster. Their for Lorcan did not acquire the full 
 
 exclusion was not, however, the result sovereignty of Munster until after the 
 
 of the weakness of the Dal g-Cais, but death of Flathbertach, the turbulent 
 
 it arose from the fact of their being abbot of Inis Cathaigh. 
 placed upon the northern frontiers of " Letk Mogha, i. e. Mogh's Half of 
 
 Munster, where they were engaged in Ireland, as apportioned between Mogh 
 
 constant war, either in the defence of Nuadath and Conn of the Hundred 
 
 their original territories, or of their Battles, 
 more recent sword land, the Rugged 
 
524 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 horseback, rode through the street of the encampment, and that 
 whilst he was thus engaged, his horse fell beneath him into a 
 deep trench. This was esteemed an unlucky omen, and its 
 consL^quencfi, was that a large portion both of his own people and 
 of the whole arni}^ retired from the expedition, having first pro- 
 posed the adoption of peaceful measures — so unfavorable a prog- 
 nostic did the}' deem the sudden ildl of the holy abbot when he 
 had mounted his steed. 
 
 Then ambassadors arrived from the Leinsternien, and from 
 Kerball, son of Murighcn, charged with proposals of peace to 
 king Cormac. These proposals were ; first, to have one universal 
 peace maintained throughout Ireland until the following month 
 of May, for it was then the Fortnight of the Harvest, and for 
 that end to place hostages in the hands of Maenach, son of 
 Siadal, abbot of Disert Diarmoda,"' who was a holy, pious, learn- 
 ed and wise man ; and, next, to give a large quantity of jewels 
 and valuables to Cormac himself, and also to Flathbertach, son 
 of Inmanen, as a recompense for having assented to such a peace. 
 Cormac was most willing to grant their request ; w^hereupon he 
 immediately proceeded to acquaint Flathbertach, that these 
 ambassadors had come to him from the king of Leinster, demand- 
 ing peace until the ensuing month of ]\tay, and offering jewels 
 and valuables to them both from the people of Leinster, provided 
 they would return home in peace to their owm country. But 
 when Flathbertach had heard him out, he fell into a violent rage, 
 and he exclaimed, " How easily seen is the weakness of thy 
 mind, and the littleness of thy intellect and thy spirit ! " And 
 after this fashion he then addressed much of abusive and con- 
 temptuous language to Cormac. The latter replied to him in the 
 following words, " I know full well what will be the rosidt of all 
 this, to wit, a battle shall be fought with the men of Leinster, in 
 which I shall be slain, and in which it is probable that thou 
 shalt meet thy death likewise." 
 
 Having uttered these words, Cormac proceeded, sad and de- 
 jected, to his own tent. When he had taken his seat therein, a 
 basket of apples was set before him, which he began to share 
 amongst his attendants, saying, "My dear friends, I shall never 
 more share any apples amongst you, from this hour forth." 
 "Dear lord," said his folk, "thou hast cast us into sadness and 
 grief Why art thou thus wont to prophesy evil for thyself? " 
 "Believe what I now say, friends of my lieart," said Cormac, 
 "for though I am wont to distribute ajiplcs amongst you with 
 my own hands, it will belittle wonder if somebody else in my 
 stead should share them amongst you henceforth." 
 
 "DtóertDúirmaíia, now called Castle-dcrmot, in the county of Kildare. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 525 
 
 Corinac tlicu gave orders to have a guard placed upon bis 
 tent, and the ]nous and learned Maenach, son of Siadal, tlie suc- 
 cessor of St, Comgall, sent for, in order that he might confess 
 his sins to that holy man, and make his testament in his j^res- 
 ence. He then received the body of Christ from Maenacli, before 
 whom he renounced the world, for he was certain that he should 
 be slain in the impending battle, but he did not wish that his 
 warriors should know this. He willed that his body should be 
 brought to Cluain Uamha, if it were possible to bring it thither, 
 but if this could not be done, to have it brought to the cemeterj^ 
 ofDiarmaid, son of Aedh Roin," that is, to Disert Diarmoda, 
 where he had formerly spent a long time as student ; but he 
 Ijreferred to be buried at Cluain Uamha (Cloyne), with the son 
 of Lenin. Maenach, however, preferred to have him buried at 
 Disert Diarmoda, where there was at that time a convent of 
 monks of the followers of St. Comgall, for IMaenach himself was 
 at that time the comarba, or successor, of St. Comgall." He was, 
 as before stated, a man of piety and wisdom, and he had gone 
 through much annoyance and labor on that occasion in endeavor- 
 ing to bring about a peace between the men of Leinster and the 
 King of Munster. 
 
 But, likewise, numbers of the men of Munster had deserted 
 from that expedition without leave, for they had learned that 
 Flann Sinna, son of Maelsechlainn, monarch of Ireland, was in 
 the encampment of Leinster, accompanied by a numerous force, 
 both of cavalry and infantry. It was then that Maenach, son 
 of Siadal, said, " Good people of Munster, it were wise on your 
 part to take the noble hostages, namely, Kerball, King of Lein- 
 ster, and the son of the king of Osraide, that are offered to you, 
 and either to keep them yourselves, or to place them in the 
 hands of some devout men until May nest." Thereupon the 
 whole of the men of Munster replied unanimously, that Flath- 
 bertach, son of Inmanen, was the man who had forced them 
 to invade Leinster. 
 
 When this complaint was ended, the army of Munster 
 marched eastwards over Sliabh Margi," to the Droiched Leith- 
 
 "* Son of Acdh Roin. Diarmaid bot of Benuchoir, in right of -which 
 
 was the grandson, not the son, of Aedh dignity lie presided over all the monas- 
 
 Roin, King of Ulidia, who was slain teries that followed the rule of St. 
 
 in 732. From Diarmaid, Disert Diar- Comgall. Maenach, the holy man 
 
 mada, i. e. Diarmaid's Desert, has its above mentioned, who was called " the 
 
 name. He was an anchorite and a best scribe of all the Irish race," died 
 
 distinguished doctor in his day, and in A. D. 919. 
 died in A. D. 823. ^ Sliabh Margi, now Slievemargy, 
 
 ^ Comarba of St. Comgall, i. e. ab- in the Queen's county. 
 
626 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IKELAND. 
 
 glinni." Here Tibradi, the coniarba of St, Albi,"" took up his 
 station, accomi)anied by a numerous array of ecclesiastics, and 
 ■with him were left the camp followers and the baggage horses. 
 Then the men of ^lunster sounded their trunipc;ts, and gave the 
 signal for forming into line of battle, and marched onward upon 
 Magh Ailbi, where they took up a strong position in front of a 
 wood, and there awaited the enemy. 
 
 Ilie army of Munster was drawn up in three equal divisions. 
 Of these, the first was commanded by Flathbcrtach, son of 
 Inmanen, and Kellach, son ofKerball, Kiiigof Osraide. Cormac, 
 sonof Culinan, King of ^funster, commanded the second devision, 
 and Cormac, son of Molta, King of the Desi, was the leader of 
 the third. And the warriors were disheartened by reason of the 
 multitude of their enemies and of the fewness of their own host, 
 for some authors assert that the army of Leinster was four times 
 more numerous than that of Munster. 
 
 Woeful, indeed, was the tumult and clamor of that battle ;" 
 for there rose the death cry of the men of Munster as they fell, 
 and the shouting of the Leinstermen, exulting in the slaughter 
 of their foes. There were two reasons why the fight went so 
 suddenly against the Munstermen. The first was, because 
 Keilichar, a relative of Kcnnghegan, " a former king of IMunster, 
 
 "" Droichet Leithglinni, i. e. the 
 Bridge of I^itligleu, now called Leigh- 
 lin, in Carlow. 
 
 ™ Comnrbn of St. Albi, i. e. the suc- 
 cessor of that saint. The abbot of 
 Imlech lubair, now called Emly, in 
 the county of Limerick, was thus 
 styled. 
 
 " That battle. The battle of Belach 
 Mughua, i. e. Mughain's Pass, or 
 Road, which is now called Ballagh- 
 moon, a place that lies two miles and 
 a half north of the present town of 
 Kildare, is thus recorded by the Four 
 Masters : 
 
 "A. D. 903. The 27th year of 
 Flann. 'I'lic battle of Belach Mnghna 
 was fought liy Flann, son of Mae!- 
 sechlainn, king of Ireland, and by Kcr- 
 ball, son ofMurighcn, king of Loinstor, 
 and by Catlial, son of Concobar, king 
 of Connaught, against Cormac, son of 
 Culennan, king of Caisel. 'J'he battle 
 was gained over Cormac, and he him- 
 self wivs slain, though his loss was 
 mournful, for he was a king, a bishop, an 
 anchorite, a scribe, and profoundly 
 
 learned in the Scotic tongue. These 
 were the nobles that foil Avith him, 
 namely, Fogartach the Wise, son of 
 Suibni,lord of Kiarraide Cuirche, now 
 called Korrycurriky, in the county of 
 Cork ; Kellach, son of Kerball, lord 
 of Osraido ; Maelgorni, lord of Kiar- 
 raide ryiuu'hn», in Kerry ; ISIaelinorda, 
 lord of Rathleim ; Olild, son of Eogan, 
 abbot of Trian (Jorcaighc, (i. c. the 
 Third of Core) Colman, abbot of Kenn 
 Etigh, and the lord of Corca Duibni, 
 and many other nobles besides them, 
 and KÍ.\ thousand men along with 
 them." 
 
 " Keiwghcgan. 1 1 is proper name 
 was Finguini. 'J'his king was the im- 
 mediate ijrcdcce^sor of Cormac, to 
 whom he relinquished Cashel in A. D. 
 HOG, the year after which he was slain 
 t)y his own tribe, namely the Kincl 
 Aengnsa, or the race of Aengus, son 
 of Nadl'raech, which was afterwards 
 known as the Mac Carthies, CKeciTcs 
 and O'Callaglians. Cormac belonged 
 himself to this tribe. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 527 
 
 jumped hastily upon his steed, and as soon as he found himself 
 mounted, cried out, " Flee, Free Clans of Munster, flee from 
 this terrible conflict, and let the ecclesiastics'^ fight it out them- 
 selves, since they would accept no other condition but that of 
 battle from the people of Leinster," Having thus spoken, he 
 quitted the field of strife, followed by many of the combatants. 
 The other reason why the men of Alunster were routed was 
 because Kellach, son of Kerball, king of Osraide, when he per- 
 ceived the carnage that was made amongst his people, jumpjd 
 likewise with haste upon his steed, and thence addressed his 
 host in these words, "Mount your steeds," said he, "and banish 
 these men, who stand up against you." But though he used 
 this language, he did not mean to encourage them to drive off 
 their enemies by fighting, but he thus let them know that it was 
 time for themselves to run away. The result of these two causes 
 was that the ranks of the men of Munster were broken, and they 
 were put to sudden and general rout. Alas ! great indeed was 
 the carnage that then spread over Magh n-Ailbi. Neither lay- 
 man nor ecclesiastic found quarter therein ; both were slaughtered 
 indiscriminately, and if any man of either class happened to be 
 spared, he owed his life not to the mercy but to the cupidity of 
 the vanquishers, covetous of his ransom» 
 
 Hereupon Cormac rushed toward the van of the first division, 
 but his horse fell beneath into a ditch, and he was himself dash- 
 ed upon the ground. Some of his people who were running 
 away from the battle, saw him in this position, and they came at 
 once to his relief and replaced him upon his steed. It was there 
 that Cormac met one of his own pupils, a free-born man named 
 Acdh, who was distinguished for his proficiency in wisdom, laws, 
 and history, and in the knowledge of the Latin tongue. To him 
 the royal prelate addressed these words: "Dear son, do not fol- 
 low me ; but betake thyself hence, as well thou maycst, and remem- 
 ber that I had said that I should myself be slain in this battle." 
 Cormac then rode forward, and full of the blood of horses and of 
 men was the way before him. But the slipperiness of that field 
 of carnage soon caused the feet of his horse to glide from under 
 him, and he reared and fell backwards, crushing his rider be- 
 
 " Ecclesiastics. O'Halloran assigns Monaster Emhin, or the monastery of 
 a cause for the expedition of Cormac St. Emhin, near the river Barrow, 
 into Leinster, which may explain, if The object of the war, according to 
 not excuse, the great numbers ofecclesi- him, was the restoration of their mon- 
 astics engaged in this battle. Accord- astic privileges to these monks. It is 
 ing to him, it was entirely undertaken evident that Cormac was not very 
 for a religious oliject. Kerball, king popular among his own kinsmen, per- 
 of Leinster, had expelled a convent of haps because of the favor he showed 
 monks, composed exclusively of Muu- to their rivals, the Dal g-Cais. 
 stermen, from Ros Glas, called, also, 
 
528 THE niSTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 ueatli him. The neck and back of Cormac were broken in ihat 
 fall, and he died sajnng, " Into tli j hands, Lord, I commit my 
 spirit! " Then, some wicked folk came up and pierced liis body 
 with their javelins and cut off his head.'* 
 
 Hanmer states in liis chronicle, that it Avas the Lochlannaigh 
 that slew Cormac, together with Kerball, son of Murighen," king 
 of Leinster, in the year of our Lord nine hundred and five; but 
 such is not the fact, for this battle was not fought by the Loch- 
 lannaigh, but by Flann Sinna, King of Ireland ; and Kerball, son 
 of Murighen, was not slain therein. This is evident from the 
 historic tale, which is called the Battle of Belach Mughna, where 
 Cormac, son of Culinnan, fell. 
 
 The number of noble ecclesiastics, kings, chiefs and warriors, 
 slain in this battle, was very great. Kellach, son of Kerball, king 
 of Osraide, and his son, fell in the very beginning of the conflict. 
 Therein also fell: Fogartach, son of Suibni, king of Kiarraidc;" 
 and Olild, son of Eogan, a learned nobleman ; and Colman, Ab- 
 bot of Kenn-etigh," Ard-ollamh of the Brchons of L-cland ; and 
 numbers of their followers were slaughtered around them. The 
 following noblemen likewise fell thei'cin, namely : Ct^rmac, son 
 of Molta, king of the Desi ; Dubagan," King of Fermaighe ; 
 Kennfaeladh," King of Ui Conaill Gubra; Aidin, King of Aid- 
 ni,^" who had been driven an exile into Munster; and Maelmu- 
 
 ■* Cut off his head. The stone on Tliej', togother with the Coilleains 
 
 which the head of the royal sage of or Collins, the Mac Ennovics, O Flan- 
 
 Cashel was cut off, is still pointed out neries, and 0"Sheehans, formed the tribe 
 
 at Ballaghmoon. The name of the of Ui Conaill Gabra, whose ancient 
 
 man that beheaded him, has been re- territories lay on the west of Limerick, 
 
 corded. It was Fiach Ua Ugfadan, and are now known as the baronies of 
 
 ofDenlis. U]iper and Lower Conillo. They were 
 
 " Kerball, son of Murighen. He was a branch of the Ui Fidirlienli, a race 
 slain, according to an old poem quoted descended from Eogan Mor. son nf Olild 
 in the Four Masters, by a foreigner Olum, and had no relation to the ('on- 
 named Ilulb, one year and a day after noils of Magh O g-Coinchin. now Mag- 
 tlie death of liis adversary Cormac. He unihy in Kerry— though some, misled 
 was the last king of T^inster, who held by the resemblance in sound between 
 his residence in the ancient royal seat the English form ofConncll and the L-ish 
 of Nas, now Naas, in Kildare. word Conaill, have asserted Ihat the 
 
 ■'' Klarraide, i. e., of Kiarraide Caut- ()'(Jonnells were once chiefs of the Ui 
 
 chi, now Kerrycurriky, in the south of Conaill (labra, (Í7 Conaill Gowrci). 
 
 Cork. I^iit the Irish form of Conncll is 
 
 '' Kenn Eti^h. New Kennity, in Conghailr, which is now pronounced 
 
 the Barony of Ballybrit, and Kings co. somcw Íiat like Concdij, and is derived 
 
 '' Jhihafran. 'J'lie ancestor of the fiom the ]iropcr name C'ongal or Con- 
 
 Dubagains, now O Dugans or Dug- glial, not Conall. They are of the race 
 
 gans, once lords of Fermoy. of Conari, son of Mogh Lamha, and not 
 
 ''* Kennfaeladh. It is probably from of Olild Olum. 
 
 this chief, that O Kinealies, in' Irish "■" Aidni, i. c. Ui Fiachrach Aidni, 
 
 Cinnfhaelaidh,havc taken their name, in Connaught. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 529 
 
 adh,^^ Madigan, Dubdaboirenn, Conall and Feradacb ; and also 
 Aedh, King of [Ji Liathain, and Domnall, King of Dun Kermna. 
 The following Avere the chieftains who won that battle over the 
 Munstormcn, namely: Flann Sinna, son of Maelsechlainn, mon- 
 arch of Ireland; Kerball, son of Murighen, khig of Leinster; 
 Tadg, son of Faelan, hing of the Ui Kennselaigh ; Teminen, king 
 of Ui Degadh ;''' Kellach and Lorcan, the two kings of the Ki- 
 neil ;" Inneirghi, son of Dubgilla, king of the Ui Drona;" Fol- 
 lamhain, son of Olild, king of the Fotharta Fea;"' Tuathal, son 
 of Ugari, king of the Ui Muredaigh i*"^ Odran, son of Kenne- 
 idigh, king of Laeighis ; JMaelcalann, son of Fergal, king of the 
 Fortuatha;'' and Cleirkin, king of the Ui Barchi."* 
 
 After this battle, Flann Sinna, monarch of Ireland, marched 
 with a large and regal host of cavalry into Osraide, in order to 
 install Diarmaid,'' son of Kerball, as king over that territory, after 
 his brother Kellach, son of Kerball, who had previously held 
 that dignity, and who had just fallen in battle, fighting at the 
 side of Cormac; for he had been the subject of the latter prince, 
 inasmuch as his territory formed portion of Leth Mogha, of 
 which Cormac had been sovereign. 
 
 When the conflict was over, certain folk came into the pres- 
 ence of Flaim Sinna, to whom they had brought the head of Cor- 
 mac, soi^f Culinnan ; and they addressed that monarch : " Life 
 and he^^ to thee, mighty and victorious king ! We have 
 
 "' Maelinuadh ; This is probably the **" Ui Muredaigh. This tribe then 
 
 lord of Rathlenn, who is called Mael- occupied the northern half of the coun- 
 
 morda by the Four Masters. ty of Kildare, "J'heir chief sept after- 
 
 ^' Ui Degadh. A tribe of this name, wards took the name of O'Tuathail; and 
 
 which is otherwise spelled Ui Deaghadh, they now call themselves Toohill Toolea, 
 
 ( U Daa) , was situated south of Arklow, or Tu thills. 
 
 in the county of Wicklow. " Fortuatha. This, according to 
 
 '^ Kineil ; i. e. of the Tribes. The Dr. O'Donovan, was an alias name for 
 
 editor does not know what tribes are Ui Mail, (Imailc), a well known tcrri- 
 
 here meant, if it be notthe Cinél Cobh- tory lyinsi- round Gleudaloch, in the 
 
 thaigh {Kinail Cowhigh), a tribe de- county of Wicklow. 
 
 scended from Cathaeir Mor, seated at *■* JJi Baircki. This tribe, descended 
 
 Ard Ladrann in Wexford. from Dari Barach, son of Cathaeir Mor, 
 
 " Ui Drona. They were seated in was at the time of this battle seated in 
 
 Idrone, in the county of Carlow. Their the county of Kildare, between the Ui 
 
 chief family afterwards took the name Drona and Ui Muredaigh ; their terri- 
 
 of O Riain, now anglicized Ryan, tory lay east of the River Barrow, in 
 
 These are not the O Maeilriains of the county of Kildare. Their chief fam- 
 
 Uathini in Munster, whose name has ily took the name of Mac Gormain, and 
 
 been also anglicized Ryan. eventually migrated to Ibrickan, in the 
 
 ^ Fotharta Fea. They were seated county of Clare, 
 
 in the present barony of Forth, in Car- "^ Diarmaid. He had, apparently, 
 
 low. Nualain or O Nolan, was after- been expelled from his native country 
 
 wards their chief family. during the reign of his brother. 
 
 34 
 
530 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 brought thee hither the head of Corrnac, king of Alunster. Take 
 it then, and press it beneath thy thighs ; for it has been a custom"* 
 amongst the kings that have gone before thee, -whenever they 
 had slain another king in battle, to cut off his head and to press 
 it beneath their thighs." However, they were disappointed in 
 their expectations ; for the sovereign not only returned them no 
 thanks for their present, but he condemned them in severe terms 
 for the evil deed they had committed. And he both said, that 
 it was a sad and cruel act, to have cut off the head of that holy 
 bishop, and declared that he would never exult over it. He 
 then took the consecrated head of the pious bishop into his hands 
 and kissed it, and turned round three times therewith. After 
 this, the head was carried with honor to where the body lay, 
 and to Maenach, son of Siadal, the successor of St. Comgall, 
 by whom both were borne to Disert Diarmada, and there 
 buried with great honor. Some historians will have it, that 
 Inis Cathaigh is the place whither Cormac's remains had been 
 carried for sepulture. What heart would not feel saddened at 
 that deed, to wit, the deatli and mutilation of so sacred a person- 
 age, who was the wisest of the men of Ireland in his own day; 
 a learned scholar in the Gaelic and Latin Languages; an arch- 
 bishop who was filled Avith devotion, and sincerity and prayer, 
 and chastity, and godliness ; the head of doctrine and trtj^ihilos- 
 ophy and good morals, and the Ard-righ of the two^d^PFchates 
 of Mumha ? 
 
 Flann Sinna, monarch of Ireland, at length returned to his 
 home, when he had established Diarmaid, son of Kerball, as 
 
 *• A Custom. — The editor has met monarch Flaun. One year previously, 
 
 with no mention elsewhere, of any A. D. 902, the 2Gth year of the reign 
 
 such atrocious custom as that above of Flann, we ai'e told, that " an army 
 
 named. The passage alluding tn it lias of the men of ^lunster, was led by (Jor- 
 
 beeu altogether omitted in Dermot mac, son of Culonnan, and by Flathber- 
 
 O'Connor's translation ; and the pres- tach, to Magh Lena, (in the king's 
 
 ent editor would willingly be spared county). The people of Lcth Cuinn 
 
 the task of rendering it, did candor al- collected against them, about Flaun. 
 
 low of his passing it over. If 'such a son of Maelsechlainu ; and a battle was 
 
 custom ever had existence, it might fought between them in which the men 
 
 possibly have originated in some lior- of Ijcth Cuinn were defeated, and 
 
 ribly distorted aud heathenish tradition iSIaelcraeibi Ua Cathalain, was slain, 
 
 of that primitive lOastcrn custom, in Another army was led by C'ljrmac. and 
 
 accordance with which servants were \>y Flatlibcrtach, against the Ui Ncill 
 
 wont to swear obedience, l)y ])lacing of the south, aud against tlie Con- 
 
 their hand beneath the thigh of their naughtmcu ; and they carried away the 
 
 master, of which an example is seen in hostages of Connaught in their great 
 
 Genesis xxiv. 2. ilects on the Shannon ; and the islands 
 
 The engagement just recorded, was of Loch liibh were plundered by thep)." 
 
 not the only one where Cormac had — See Four blasters. 
 measured his strength with that of tlie 
 
thí: hiptouy of ikeland. 531 
 
 king of Osraide, and liad made peace between that chief and his 
 kinsmen. The Leinsternien also returned to their homes, exult- 
 ing in their victory ; and Kerhall, son of Murighen, king of 
 Leinster, next marched towards Kill-dara, whither he had brought 
 a great number of Munstermen who had become his prisoners, 
 and amongst these was Flathbertach; son of Inmanen. Flathber- 
 tach Avas then brought into Kill-dara ; and there the clergy of 
 Leinster set about reproving him with great severity, for they 
 were well aware that it was through his contrivance that so de- 
 structive a conflict had been brought about. But, when Ker- 
 ball, King of Leinster, had died, Flathbertach was released ; and, 
 in a year after, Muirenn, Ban-comarba"^ of St. Brighitt, conveyed 
 him out of the city and sent a large body of the clergy of Leins- 
 ter as his escort, with directions that they should guard him un- 
 til he should reach Magh n-Airb.®" Then, when he had arrived 
 in Munster, after this manner, he returned to his own monastery 
 of Inis Cathaigh, where he spent a short time in the practice of 
 piety and devotion. After some time he came out of his monas- 
 tery, for the purpose of assuming the sovereignty of Munster, as 
 the successor of Dublactna, son of Maelguala, who had reigned 
 over that jDrincipality for seven years, ^^ after' the death of Cor- 
 mac. As king, he continued to rule his territories for twenty 
 
 It ^Hh^^^ the facts, above recorded, are related in the an- 
 cient Dool^which is called the Annals of Cluain Aiduech in 
 Laeighis, which give a full and clear account of this battle of 
 Belach Mughna; and it is so, that they are read in the historic 
 lay compc iP''d by Dalian, the Ollamh of Kerball, king of Leinster, 
 in which he has given an abridged snmmar}^ of the battle itself, 
 and has stated the number of warriors that fell therein. But I 
 shall not quote here any more than the first verse of this lay, 
 because the noblemen that fell on that field have been already 
 mentioned by name. The following is the verse : 
 
 "' Ban-Comarba, of St. Brighitt, i. e. from tlie death of Cormac to the acces- 
 
 Female-succcssoi*. This was the title sion of Flathberthach ; or, as is not 
 
 of the Abbess of Kill-dar.i. unlikely, no chieftain was found strong 
 
 °' Magh n-Airb. A plain in the enough, during that time, to get him- 
 
 barony of Crannagh, and county of self inaugurated at Cashel. O'Hallor- 
 
 Kiliienny. an has also fallen iuto the error of 
 
 '■^ Seven ijears. This is a mistake. Dub- placing Dublactna, son of Maelguala, 
 
 lactna had died in A. D. 890, and was on the throne of Munster, when the reigr.3 
 
 succeeded by Finguini, called Kcnng- of two of his successors had already 
 
 hegan, who was the immediate prede- pa.sscd by. O'Dubagain's Poem, as 
 
 cessor of Cormac, son of Culinan. published by O'Daly, makes Flathber- 
 
 Either Lorcan, king of Thomond, must tach the next sovereign after Cormac. 
 have held the chief power in Munster, 
 
532 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 " Cormac of Fíinlienn, Fogartach, 
 Colman and Kellach. of hard conflicts 
 Were slauglitcrcd, ■with six tliousand more, 
 I» that great fight of Belacli Mughna." 
 
 Flann Sinna, monarch of Ireland, died eventually at I'alti, of 
 the plague. 
 
 The greater part of the long reign 
 of Flann had some respite from the 
 attacks of tlic Northmen. Still the 
 annals of hi? reign are but too full of 
 the devastating incursions of these 
 pirates, and we therein read of some 
 victories gained by them over the Irish 
 chiefs, and of frequent plunderings of 
 those religious establishments, which, 
 all through this long and desperate 
 struggle, the indomitable piety of the 
 Gaels seems to haA'e renovated and re- 
 paired as fast as tiiey were d(>stroyed. 
 The following are the principal advan- 
 tages then gained by the invaders, be- 
 sides those already mentioned : 
 
 A. D. 885. Flann was himself de- 
 feated by them before Ath-cliath (i. e. 
 Dublin), where Acdh, King of Con- 
 naught and the abbots of Kill-dara 
 and Kill Delga (i. e. Kildalkey, in 
 Meath),were slain. Erimhon.king of 
 Ulidia, was, in the same year, slain by 
 Eloir, son of largni, one of the foreign- 
 ers. A. D. 891. Fiannagan, .son of 
 Kellach, lord of all Breagh, was slain 
 at Olbda by the Norsejnen. A. 1). 
 892. Maelctigh, lord of Fera Rois, 
 was slain y)y them. A. D. 895. They 
 were upon Loch n-Ethach (Lough 
 Neagh), and they seized upon the 
 Etach Padraig, i. e. St. Patrick's 
 vestment. A. D. 900. Ailecli Frigh- 
 rcnn (the royal seat of the northern 
 Ui Neill), was plundered ))y a foreign 
 host. A. I). 908. The contest seems 
 to have been even carried across the sea, 
 we read that " A victory was then 
 gained by tlie foreigners over the 
 Ulidians in the region of Saxon-land." 
 
 'J'hc following were the chief advan- 
 tages gainexl l)y the Gaels : 
 
 A. D. 887. A slaughter was made 
 of the foreigners by the Ui Amlial- 
 gaidh of North Connaught, in which 
 fell Eloir, son of Barith, one of their 
 chieftains. A. D. 888. A battle was 
 
 gained by Riagan, son of Dungal, over 
 the foreigners of Port J^argi, Loch 
 Carman and Tech Moling (i. e. of 
 Wati rford, Wexford and St. Mullins), 
 in which 200 heads were left behind- 
 A. I). 891. A slaughter was made of 
 the invaders by the Conalli (i. e. the 
 men of Down), and by Athdeidh, son 
 of Laighni, in which Amlacibh, grand- 
 son of Jmhar, and Gluntradna, son of 
 Gluniarann, fell, with 800 of their fol- 
 lowers A. D. 897. The foreigners 
 from Ireland (i. e. the Irish-born), were 
 expelled from the fortress of Ath-cliath 
 (Dublin), by Kerball, son of Murighen, 
 and tlie I A'instcrnK'n, and by ^^faelfinnia, 
 son of Fiannagan, and the men of 
 Breagh, when, leaving great numbers 
 of their chiefs behind, tl^jjtecaped 
 half dead across the sea^^^^B 
 
 Thus did the balancc^^^^}'^ lean 
 for some time towards the Gaels : but 
 near the close of this reign, vast rein- 
 forcements of the Northmen came to 
 the aid of their kinsmen in Ireland. ]n 
 A. D. 912, a new and great fleet of 
 the foreigners came into LocliDacaech 
 (Waterford Harbor), and placed a 
 stronghold there. In A. I). 913, Corc- 
 ach. Li.s-mor and Achadh-bo were plun- 
 dered by them. Great and frequent 
 reinl'orcements of foreigners arrived in 
 IjOcIi Dacaech, by whom the lay dis- 
 tricts and churches of Munster were 
 constantly plundered. In A. D. 914 
 (thi- year oi' Flami's death, according 
 to the I-'onr Masters), (Jebeiinach,lord 
 of Ui Fidghenti. and Anli, son of 
 (iathan, lord of Uaithni C'liach, were 
 slain by them. The foreigners of Loch 
 Dacaech continued to plunder Munster. 
 — See Four Masters. 
 
 The death of Alfred the Great of 
 JOngland, is recorded as having hap- 
 pened in the 24th year of this reign, 
 in the following t«rms : "A. D 900 
 (correctly 901), Alfred, the king who 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 533 
 
 NIALL GLUN-DUBH, ARD-EIGH. 
 
 A. D. 924.'* Niall Glun-dubli,'^ son of Aedli Finn-liath, son 
 of Niall Calli, son of Aedh Oirnighe, son of Niall Frasach, of 
 the line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland for three 
 years. 
 
 ^riie royal fair, or assembly of Talti was renewed by this king. 
 It was, also, this Niall that marched with a strong force of the 
 Gaels to give battle to the Lochlannaigh of Loch Da-caech,"^ in 
 Ulster, on which occasion great numbers both of the natives 
 and the foreigners were slain. It was, likewise, during his 
 reign that the pirate chieftain Imhar routed the Leinstermen in 
 
 instituted the laws and ordinances of 
 the Saxons, and who was the most 
 distinguished for prowess, wisdom and 
 pietv of the Saxon kings, died." — lb. 
 
 ""'A. D. 91o.— lb. 
 
 "^ Niall IY. This is the ancestor 
 from whom the O'Neills of Tyrone 
 take their name. From his elder 
 brother Domuall. king of Ailech, or 
 north-western Ulster, came the sept of 
 O Doungali, now called O'Donnelly. 
 
 °° Loch DaQQecIi, -in Ulster. This is 
 a very great mistake. Loch Dacaech 
 was the old name of Watcrford Har- 
 bor, which lay between Leinster and 
 Munster. Port Largi, i. e. the Port 
 or Fort of Larac, the more modern 
 Gaelic name of the city of Waterford, 
 was not in all probability given to it 
 until after the death of the Northman 
 chieftain Larac, who flourished in A. D. 
 951. The name of Waterford was 
 given to it by the Danes or Norsemen, 
 who wTÍte it Vedrafjord, wich is sup- 
 posed to signify " weather bay." — O'D. 
 
 "A. D. 915. Sitric, grandson of 
 Imhar, with his fleet, took up at Kenn- 
 fuait, in the east of Leinster. Ragh- 
 nall, grandson of Imhar, with another 
 fleet, went to the foreigners. 
 
 " A slaughter was made of the for- 
 eigners by the Munstcrmen. Another 
 slaughter was made of them by the 
 Eoganachta and the Kiarraighe. 
 
 "An army of the Ui Neill of the 
 south and north was led by Niall, king 
 of Ireland, to the men of Munster, to 
 wage war against the foreigners. He 
 pitched his camp at Tobar Gethrach, 
 
 in Magh Femhenn (South Tipperary), 
 on the 22nd of August. The foreign- 
 ers entered that territory on the same 
 dayv The Irish attacked them the 3rd 
 hour before noon, so that 1100 men 
 were slain between them. But more 
 of the foreigners fell, and they were 
 defeated. There fell here, in the lieat 
 of the conflict, the chief of Carraig 
 Brachaide, and Maelfinnen, son of 
 Donnagan, chief of Ui Kearnaigh, Fer- 
 gal, son of Murighcn, chief of Ui 
 Crimthainn, and others. Reinforce- 
 ments set out from the fortress of the 
 foreigners to relieve their people. The 
 Gaels returned back to their camp be- 
 fore the arrival of the last host, which 
 was commanded by Raghnall, king of 
 the Dubh Goill (Danes), who had an 
 army with him. Niall set out against 
 them M'ith a small force, so that God 
 prevented their slaughter througli him. 
 Niall remained encamped against the 
 foreigners for twenty nights after this. 
 He then requested of the Leinstermen 
 to continue the siege. This the latter 
 did, until Sitric, grandson of Imhar, 
 gave them battle at Kenn-fuait, where 
 six hundred were slain around the 
 lords of Leinster, together with their 
 king Ugari, son of Ailall. These are 
 the names of some of the chiefs : Mael- 
 morda. lord of Airther Lifi ; Mugron, 
 lord of the three Comainns and of 
 Laeighis ; Tuathal, lord of Ui Feincch' 
 lais, and many other chiefs, with the 
 archbishop Maelmaedog, son of Diar- 
 maid, who was of the Ui Conannla, 
 abbot of Glenn Uiscan, a distinguished 
 
534 THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the battle of Kenn-faaid," wherein six hundred of the latter were 
 slain, around Maelmorda, son of Murighen, king of the territory 
 west of the Lifi; around Ugari, son of Olild; around Moghron, 
 or Odran, son of Kenneidigh, king of the three Coinainns and 
 of Laeighis, and around many other chiefs that I shall not now 
 name. 
 
 It was about this time that Oitir, another chieftain of the 
 Lochlannaigh, sailed with a numerous host from Loch-da-caech 
 to Alba, wliere Gnas,'* son of Aedh, mot him in battle, wherein 
 Oitir fell himself, together with great numbers of his followers. 
 
 During the reign of Niall, there arrived in Ireland another 
 great host of the foreigners, under the conduct of Sitric and the 
 sonsof Imhar. These seized upon the city of Ath-cliath, in spite 
 of the men of Ireland. Thereupon, Niall Gluu-dubh assembled 
 the full force of Leth Cuiun, and with which he engaged the 
 Lochlannaigh in battle at Ath-cliath,"' where he was himself 
 slain, together with Concobar Maelsechlainn, the heir apparent 
 to the sovereignty of Ireland, and Aedh, son of Eocagan, king 
 of Ulidia, and Maelniithigh, son of Flannngan, king of Breagh, 
 and }klaelcraeibi O Dublin naigh, king of Oirghiaila, and many 
 chieftains and warriors of inferior degree. 
 
 DONNCADII, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 927."' Donncadh,^ son of Flann Sinna, son of 
 Maelsechlainn, of the line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of 
 
 scribe and anchorite, and an adept in enumerated, there fell likewise Kellech, 
 
 the Latin learninii and the Scotic son of For?:artach, lord of South 
 
 language." — Four Masters. Breach, and Maelcraeibi, son of Doil- 
 
 *' Kenn-fuaid. Now Confey, near ghen, lord of Ui Tortain. 
 
 Leixless, county Kildarc. The foreign- '"" A. D. 918. Four Masters. These 
 
 ers at this place jjlundercd Kill-dara annalists give this prince a reigu of 25 
 
 soon after the battle just mentioned, years. 
 
 Those of Ath-cliath plundered it again ' Do.vncadii II. lie was the flrst 
 
 next year, when they also plundered that took tlie surname of O'Maelscch- 
 
 Leithglinn,where Maelpadraig, a priest, lain, being the 0, or grandson of King 
 
 and Mongan, an anchorite, with many Maelsechlainn I. 
 
 others, were slain. — See Four Masters. Kennanus, now Kells, was plun- 
 
 * Cuas. This name is wrongly dered by the foreigners in the 1st year 
 
 spelled. Perhaps it is a mistake for of his reign, and its stone church, 
 
 ('uan. According to our annals, Co:i- or daimli-liag, was razed to the earth, 
 
 stantine, son of Aedh, wasthe name of But soon after the monarch cngag- 
 
 thc king of Alba tliat defeated Oitir ed Ihein in battle at a place called 
 
 and the Northmen of Watcrfnrd in Tigh mic n-Ethach, in the Kiannachta 
 
 A. D. 916. (if Breagh, wherein a countless num- 
 
 " The battle of Ath-cliath. This IxT of them were slain. " Indeed," 
 
 battle was fought on tlie ITtli of Octo- say the Four Masters, "in this battle 
 
 ber, in A. D. 917, at Kill Mosainhog, revenge was had of them for the 
 
 now lvilma.sho'4-ue, near Katlifarnham, slaugiiter of Ath-cliath, for there fell 
 
 CO. Dublin. Besides the chiefs here here of the njbles of the Norsemen, as 
 
TIiE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 535 
 
 Ireland for twenty years. Gorn-iflaith, daughter of Flann, son 
 of Conaing, was tlie mother of this Donncadh. 
 
 It was while he was monarch of Ireland that the following 
 event took place ; for it was in the beginning" of his reign that 
 KclLachan, son of Buadcan, who is called Cellaehan Caisil 
 {Callaglian CYishi'U), or Kellachan of Cashel, assumed the 
 sovereignty of Munster, which he held for ten years. But 
 before Keilachan had been made king, Kenneidi, son of Lorcan, 
 came to a convention of the chiefs of Munster, which was held 
 at Glennamhain' {Gknnowin), and there strove to supplant him 
 in the royalty. But, thereupon, the mother of Kellachan went 
 thither from Cashel, where she was wont to dwell with her 
 fosterfather, the Comarba of St. Patrick, and when she arrived 
 at the place of the convention, she besought Kenneidi to remem- 
 ber the compact formerly made between Fiacaidh Maeildethan 
 and Cormac Gas, by which it was ordained that the royal inherit- 
 ance of Munster should be alternately possessed by their respect- 
 ive descendants. In memory of this intervention, the words in 
 which the lady then addressed him have been transmitted to us 
 in the following verse : 
 
 " Kenneidi Cas, revere that law, 
 Which Fiacaidh and Cormac willed, 
 
 many as had fallen of the nobles and 
 plebeians of the Gaels in the battle of 
 Ath-cliath. Murkertach, son of Tigher- 
 nan, heir apparent of Brefni, was 
 wounded in this battle, so that he 
 afterwards died of his wounds." The 
 annals of Clommacnoise say, " that not 
 one half of the Danish army was left 
 alive, and that there never was such a 
 massacre made of them before in Ire- 
 laud." 
 
 ■ In the beginning. This can scarcely 
 be, if we allow that he reigned but ten 
 vears ; for we find by the Irish annals 
 that in A. D. 920, Flathbertach, son 
 of Inmanen, I'csigned the kingdom of 
 Cashel to Lorcan, son of Conligan, and 
 went upon a pilgrimage. Kellachan 
 is first mentioned in Irish records in 
 the year 934, the 17th year of Donn- 
 cadh, when he distinguished himself by 
 plundering Cluain-mic-Nois. From 
 that time until liis death, in 953, being 
 the 11th year of the reign of Con- 
 gal, or Congalacli, he occupies a prom- 
 inent place in our annals. This, sup- 
 posing him to have assumed the king- 
 dom of Munster in the former year, 
 
 would give him a reign of 18, not 10 
 years. During the 14 years that 
 intervened between his first appearance 
 and the resignation of Flathbertach, 
 Munster must have been successively 
 ruled by Lorcan, son of Conligan, and 
 by his namesake, Lorcan, son of Lactua. 
 That the former was a different person 
 from the latter, and of the royal blood 
 of the Eoganachta, we have evidence 
 in the record of the death of his father. 
 Con]igan,son of Corcran, who was slain 
 in 898, in revenge for Kennghcgan, 
 i. e. Finguini, king of Munster, who 
 had been " slain by his own tribe." 
 The ambitious Flathbertach did not, 
 however, die until 944, and he might 
 have resumed the throne. 
 
 ^ Glennamhain. It is now called 
 Glanworth, and is situated on the 
 river Tuncheon, in the barony of Fer- 
 moy, county Cork. It was one of the 
 royal residences of the Eogauacht prin- 
 ces, and became afterwards the chief 
 seat of that branch of their tribe which 
 took the name of O'Caeimh, or as now 
 spelled, O'Keeffe. 
 
536 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 By which a \:uv^ from cither sprung, 
 Should Mumha rule alternately." 
 
 The final result of her expostulation was that Kenneidi retired 
 from the contest, and relinquished the sovereignty to Kellachan. 
 Some time after this, the Lochlannaigh made Kellachan their 
 captive, bv a treacherous scheme, but the Sil Eogaiu and the Dal 
 g-Cais soon rescued him by force from their bonds. 
 
 The captivity* and rescue of Kellachan of Cashcl. — His victories 
 over the Lochlannaigh. 
 
 When, indeed, Kellachan and the men of Munster had routed 
 the Lochlannaigh in many battles, and had driven them out of 
 his principality, the plan adopted by Sitric, sonof Targeis, their 
 principal chiei'tain, was to propose a matrimonial alliance to the 
 Munster king, that is, he offered to give Kellachan his own 
 sister, Bebinn, as his wife, promising at the same time to free 
 Munster thenceforth from all the attacks and all the demands of 
 his countrymen. lie did this in order that, when Kellachan 
 went to wed his sister, and trusted himself to his protection, he 
 might slay both the king himself, and as many of the nobles of 
 the Gaels as might accompany him. With this treacherous 
 stratagem he acquainted Donncadh, son of Flann, king of Tem- 
 hair, because that monarch was at enmity with Kellachan, who 
 had refused to paj^ him the chief-rent of Munster, For the lat- 
 ter reason, did Donncadh give his consent that Sitric should put 
 his treason into execution against Kellachan and his southern 
 nobles. ^v 
 
 Having matured his plans, Sitric sent ambassadors to Munster, 
 to treat of the proposed alliance. When they had explained 
 their instructions to the king, his first intention was to take a 
 large army Avith him, when going to wed the lady. " That is 
 not the proper course," said Kenneidi, son of Lorcan, "Ibr it is 
 not proper to leave Munster unguarded ; but what thon shouldst 
 do is to take a strong and sufficient guard with thee, when thou 
 goe.st to wed that woman." And this was the counsel that was 
 then followed. 
 
 * The captivity, ^c. The account romantic. The Irish annals tell us 
 
 here pivcn of Keilaclian's capture and that Kellachan was indeed captured ; 
 
 rescue has been taken by Keating from l»ut that it was l)y Murkertach, son of 
 
 an old historic tale called " Toruig- Niall, kinji of Ailech, not the North- 
 
 hccht Cheallachain Cacsil " (Toreeaght men. The following is the record they 
 
 Cidtaghnuin Caihcl), i. e. "Tlie Pursuit give of the fact : 
 after Kellachan of Cashel." Moore " A. D. 939. Tiie 22iid year of 
 
 and others have treated it as altogether Donncadh. Murkertach, son of NialL 
 
THE IIISTOKY OF IRELAND. 
 
 >37 
 
 Now, when Kellachan had set out upon that expedition, and 
 on the night before he reached Ath-cliath, iLor, daughter of 
 Aedh, son of Eocaidh, king of the Isle of the Finn-Goill, who 
 was also the wife of Sitrie, demanded of her husband the reason 
 why he was about to contract this matrimonial connection with 
 Kellachan, by whom so many of the chiefs and nobles of Loch 
 lainn had fallen ? " It is not for his good luck, that I have pro- 
 posed it to him," replied Sitric, "but for the purpose of dealing 
 treacherously by him." The woman became frightened at these 
 M^ords, for she had long cherished a secret love for Kellachan, 
 Avhom she had formerly seen at Port-Largi. Prompted by this 
 feeling, she arose early next morning, and went out privately upon 
 the road by which Kellachan was expected to be coudng ; and, as 
 soon as she met him, she took him apart and told him of the treach- 
 erous deception which Sitric had contrived for his assassination. 
 When Kellachan had heard this, and thought to turn back, he 
 found that it was no longer possible for him to do so ; for the fields, 
 
 with the men of the iiortli and of 
 Breagh, went into the territory of the 
 Osraide and theDesi, and he pkiudered 
 and ravaged the entire country as far 
 as Lis Ruadhrach, in the county of 
 Waterford, so that they submitted to 
 him. A fleet was next fitted out by 
 Murkertach, and he carried off much 
 plunder from Insi Gall, i. e. the Isles 
 of the Strangers (now the Hebrides), 
 after gaining victory and triumph. A 
 slaughter was then made of the Desi 
 by Kellachan, and by the men of Mun- 
 ster, because they had submitted to 
 Murkertach, when two thousand of 
 them, together with Kelichar, son of 
 Cormac, Maelgorm, son of Giblichan, 
 Seghda, son of Naebelan, and Cleir- 
 cell, son of Sesta. Another battle 
 was gained by the Desi and the Os- 
 raide over the king of Caisel, in which 
 many were slain. Murkertach after- 
 wards assembled the Kinel Conaill 
 and Kinel Eogain, and the people of 
 the north at Ailech, where he selected 
 ten hundred of the chosen heroes, and 
 made a circuit of Ireland, keeping his 
 left hand to the sea, until he arrived at 
 Ath-cliath, and thence he brought 
 Sitric, lord of that city, with him as a 
 hostage. He then marched into Lein- 
 ster, where the Leinstermen at first 
 opposed him, and finally agreed to sub- 
 
 mit to him, and he carried off Lorcan, 
 son of Faelan, their king. He then 
 marched to the men of ilunster, who 
 were in readiness to give him battle, 
 but they finally agreed to give him up 
 their king, Kellachan, upon whom a,- 
 fetter was placed by Murkertach. He 
 next proceeded into Counaught, where 
 Coucobar, son of Tagd, came to meet 
 him, but neither gyve nor fetter was 
 put upon him. He then returned to 
 Ailech, carrying these kings with him 
 as hostages, and they were for nine 
 months feasting there ; and at the end 
 of that time, he sent the hostages to 
 Douncadh, because it was he that was 
 at Temhair, and the sovereignty had 
 fallen to him." — Such is the account 
 which the northern antiquaries give of 
 Kellachan's captivity. It may possibly 
 have afforded the groundwork of the 
 historic tale, of which Keating has 
 given an abridgement, or the latter 
 may have been founded on some other 
 captivity, which the Ui Neill anti- 
 quaries omitted, on account of its 
 reflections upon their hero, Murker- 
 tach, and upon the monarch, Donncadh. 
 It is to be remarked, that Cormacan 
 Eigeas relates that Kellachan was de- 
 livered up by his people to Murker- 
 tach at his own request. 
 
538 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 on either side of tlic road, were full of ambuscades, composed 
 of foreign soldiers, avIio lay in wait for the purpose of capturing 
 him. As soon, then, as lie attempted to return, those soldiers 
 rushed upon him from all sides, and slew some of the noblemen 
 who were in his compan_y ; not, however, until the latter had 
 slain some of their assailants. But the great bulk of the attack- 
 ing force bore down upon the king himself, so that he was made 
 captive together with Donncuan, son of Kenneidi ; and then 
 both were carried into Ath-cliath in chains — whence they were 
 sent off to Ard-Machn, where nine earls of the Lochlannaigh, 
 with their several bands of \varriors, were set to guard them. 
 
 As to those of the Munstcr nobles, who had escaped from that 
 conflict, they returned immediately to their own country, and 
 there they explained their adventure to Kenneidi, son of Lor- 
 can" ; and thereupon Kenneidi mustered two armies for the pur- 
 pose of going in pursuit of Kellachan. These armies consisted 
 of a force destined to act upon land, and one destined to act upon 
 sea. And the captain tliat was set over the land forces was Donn- 
 cadh O'Caeimh,** king of the two territories of Fermoighe ; and 
 then Kenneidi lauded this chieftain, and ennumerated eleven of 
 his immediate ancestors, who had held the sovereignty of Mun- 
 stcr; such as Finguini, who is called Kennghegan ; Artri, son 
 of Cathal ; Cathal, son of Finguini ; Finguini, son of Cathal; 
 Catlial, who is called Cu-gan-mathair ; Cathal, son of Aedh 
 Flann-Cathrach; Carbri Crom ; Crimthann Srebh ; Eocaidh ; and 
 Aengus, son of Nadfraech. Kenneidi next added ten hundred 
 warriors of the Dal g-Cais,' to the army of Donncadh, and over 
 these he placed three captains, namel}^, Cosgarach, Lonnargan, 
 and Congalach, as we learn from the lay which begins with the 
 line, " Let twenty hundred northwards march." Here follows 
 the verse of that lay, which repeats the words Kenneidi : 
 
 ' Kenneidi, son of Lorcan. This cadh, prandson of Caciinh [Kuceve.) 
 
 prince did not always continue the faith- lie was the first that bore the name of 
 
 ful ally of Kellaclian tliat he is here re- O'Caeimh, and was the founder of the 
 
 presented. In A. U. 942, a victory was sept now called O'Keeffe. His father 
 
 gained over him Ijy the latter at Mag-li- was Cathal, son of Caenih, (from whom 
 
 duin, v.'here many were slain. lie was O'Caeimh,) son of Finjiuini, called 
 
 the fatlier of Brian Boromha, whose Kenn^-heiian.and had his chief rcsideucc 
 
 birth is entered under tiie year 025 in at (ilennainhain, now called (jianworth. 
 
 the following terms: "The Kth year of 3000 warriors of the Eopanachta 
 
 Donncadh. Brian, son of Kenneidifrh, placed themselves under his command 
 
 was born this year, that is, 24 years be- on this oeca.sion. 
 
 fore (his rival) Maelsechlainn, son of ' Of the Dal p;-Cais, that is, of his 
 
 Domnall." — However, the year 941 own inmiediate sept of the Dal g-Cais. 
 
 has been proved to be the true year of For the tribe of Cas, like its rival 
 
 Brian's birth, as shall hereafter appear, tribe of the Eoganacht, was already 
 
 ' Donncadh O'Caeimh, i. e., Donn- divided into .several powerful clans. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 539 
 
 "March lliithor, Cosgarach of fights, 
 jMurcli thither, gentle Lonnargan, 
 And Cong'ulach, now leave thy lake — 
 My brothers three, I bid ye march." 
 
 Ill addition to these, Keuneidi sent with that expedition, 
 another division of the Dal g-Cais, consisting of five hundred 
 warriors of the Clann Coilein, under their own immediate 
 chieftain, Esida, son of Sida.' Anotlier division of five hun- 
 dred of the Dal g-Cais was placed under the command of De- 
 gaidli, son of Domnall.' Besides these, a large contingent was 
 furnished bj the other Saer Clanna, or free clans" of Thomond. 
 The other great host was embarked upon the sea, and Falbi 
 Finn, King of Desmond,^^ was chosen as its commander. Then 
 Donncadh O'Caeimh led the land forces out of Munster into 
 Connaught, where he sent out foragers to the Muaidh,'^ and to 
 Irrus, and to Umhall," for the purpose of bringing in spoils to 
 the camp of his Munstermen. But the warriors had not been 
 long encamped, waiting for the return of these foragers, when 
 an armed and well-appointed host was seen advancing towards 
 them in military array ; and the number of this host was one 
 thousand men, and one youthful wai'rior marched apart from 
 
 * Esida, son of Sida. The chief rep- ble clans who were not sprung from 
 
 resentatives of his clann, are the Mac Cormac Cas. These wei'e, then, the 
 
 Conmaras, called in English, Macna- Basgnigh of Oorca Baskinu, and the 
 
 maras. His name is pronounced in chiefs of Corcamruadli. The former 
 
 Gaelic Essheeda,son of Sheeda. One of are now represented by the O'Donnells 
 
 the meanings of Sida or Sioda, is Silk ; of North Munster ; the latter, by the 
 
 hence many of this clan barbarously O'Lochlins of Burriu, and the O'Con- 
 
 called themselves Si/Zi; Macnamara. uors Corcamruadh. The chief part of 
 
 '•' Dcgaidh, son of Domnall. His these had joined the fleet under Falbi. 
 clann was then called the Kind Fer- " King of Desmond. Falbi Finn, 
 
 maic. His descendants afterwards whose name is usually written. Failbhe 
 
 called themselves O'Deghadh (O'Dao), (Falvie) Fionu, was king of Corca 
 
 in English, O'Dea and Dee, from this Duibui, now Corcaguiny, in Kerry. 
 
 Degaidh. Kenneidi, Esida and De- and not of Desmond or South ]\Iunstcr. 
 
 gaidh, represented three of the sons of The dignity of King of Desmond 
 
 Cas, son of Couall of the Fleet Steeds, should have belonged to Donncadh 
 
 namely Blod, Caisin, [Casheen] and O'Caeimh. From Falbi, the O'Fal- 
 
 Aeugus Kenn-athrach. Another son of vies, of Corcaguiny, took their name. 
 
 Cas, Aengus Kenn-atinn, founded the His kinsmen of Magh Og Coinchinn, 
 
 clann Ifernain, of which O'Cuinn, of and Ui Rathach (now the O'Connells 
 
 North Munster, now called O'Quinn, and O'Sheas,) followed in his division, 
 
 was the chief sept. From Delbaeth, and also the Kiarraide, (now O'Con- 
 
 another son of Cas, came the Dclbna uors, Kerry.) 
 
 in Connaught and Meath, of whom the " T/i.e Muaid, now the river Moy, 
 
 Mac Cochlans, O'Finuallans, &c. were in Mayo, 
 the chief septs. '^ Irrus and Umhall, now called Erris 
 
 '" Free Clans. That is, those no- and the Owles, in the west of Mayo. 
 
540 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the rest, in front of its foremost rank. Then, when this warrior 
 had arrived near the camp, Donncadh O'Caeimh demanded of 
 him, " What marshalled host is that yonder ? " " This host," 
 rephed the warrior, " consists of a portion of the men of Mun- 
 ster ; namely, of the Galen gaigh" and the Luighnigh, descended 
 from Tadg, son of Kian, son of Olild Olum ; and of the men 
 of Delbna^ descended from Delbaeth, son of Cas, son of Conall 
 of the Fleet Steeds. And these have now come hither to join 
 the strength of their arms to your own, prompted by the frater- 
 nal love which they bear you, who are their kinsmen ; and there 
 are three brave and fortunate chieftains in command of yon 
 host, namely, Aedh, son of Dualgasach, around whom all the 
 Galengaigh are arrayed ; Diarmaid, son of Finnactach, around 
 whom all the Luighaigh march ; and Donncadh, son of Mael- 
 domnach, who commands the men of Delbna." In memory of 
 this event, was composed that historic lay, which begins with the 
 following verse : 
 
 " In yonder host march Kio.n's clans, 
 AVuh Del bacth's sons in order ranged ; 
 Your perils they have come to share ; 
 They've come to strike the foe with yon." 
 
 The force that had here come to join theirs w-asthns composed ; 
 to w'it, it consisted of five hundred men, armed with sword and 
 shield, and of five hundred bowmen. 
 
 Thus reinforced, the army marched onward into Tir Conaill, 
 and spoils were borne off from that country by the allied hosts. 
 Thereupon, Murkertach, son of Kennfiieladh, King of Kinel- 
 Conaill, came, and in upbraiding language, demanded a restora- 
 tion of the spoils from Donncadh O'Caeimh. To him Donncadh 
 repli(^d, that he Avould return no spoils, except those that might 
 be left after all his army was satisfied. Upon this the King of 
 Kind Conaill, went away in anger from the host of Munster; 
 and he sent private word to the sons of Turgeis at Ard Macha, 
 informing them that an army was marching thither in pnrsuit 
 of Kellachan, in order to rescue him from their hands. 
 As to the sons of Turgeis; the nine carls retreated from Ard 
 Macha, upon receiving this information, taking with them the 
 force under their command, together with their prisoners, Kel- 
 lachan and Donncuan. 
 
 The Munster forces arrived soon after, at Ard Macha, and 
 there tlicy slew every Loehlannach upon whom they could lay 
 
 1« Galengaigh, (fc. These Ebcrian tribes, who were settled in Connaught, 
 have been alrea<ly described. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 541 
 
 hands ; and when they had heard that Sitric and liis host had 
 retreated to Dun Delgain/'' thej marched thilher next day in 
 pursuit of him. But when Sitric perceived them approaching 
 the town, he retreated to his ships with all his forces, taking 
 OÍF Kedachan and Donncuan on board with him. The Mimsicr 
 host then marched down to the edge of the beach, and came so 
 near to the ships of their enemies that they conversed with 
 those on board. 
 
 They were not long in this position, when there was seen sail- 
 ing into the harbor, a fleet which the Munstermen recognized as 
 the armament of Falbi Finn. This chief led his shijis straight- 
 way towards those of the enemy, and immediately attacked in 
 person the vessel that carried Sitric, Tor and Magnus ; and he 
 jumped on board into the midst of his enemies, holding a sword 
 in each of his hands. With the sword which he held in his left, 
 he cut asunder the ropes wherewith Kellachan was tied up to 
 the mast, and thus loosed his captive king, set him standing 
 upon the deck, and placed in his grasp the sword which he had 
 till then borne in his left hand. Kellachan cut his way to the 
 ship of his deliverer, whilst Falbi remained lighting in the midst 
 of his enemies, until he fell overpowered by numbers, and then 
 the Lochlannaigh immediately cut off his head. Upon this Fi- 
 angalach, a captain of Falbi's people, took his chieftain's place 
 in the conflict, and fiercely seizing Sitric round the body, he 
 flung himself overboard with his foe in his grasp, and both went 
 to the bottom together, and were thus drowned. Segha and 
 Conall, two other caj^tains, next rushed forward, and clasped 
 their arms around Tor and Magnus, the two brothers of Sitric, 
 and each of them jumped overboard with his adversary, so 
 that the four were thus drowned. And like bravery was display- 
 ed by every other portion of the host of the Gaels ; for they 
 rushed upon the Lochlannaigh with such vehemence, that the 
 latter were everywhere routed, and broken, and slaughtered, and 
 thrown into confusion, and of them there survived but a small 
 remnant that escaped by the fleetness of their ships. The ]Mun- 
 ster warriors then landed, having at their head their king, Kel- 
 lachan, whom they had just liberated by their hardihood and 
 by the strength of their arms. 
 
 Having thus vanquished the foreigners, the warriors next de- 
 termined to attack the king of Kind Conaill ;^'' for, as we have 
 
 " Dun Bel gain ; i.e., the Fort of having ever carried his arms so far north 
 
 Delgan ; it is now called Dundalk. as Kinel Conaill. In A. D. 937 (two 
 
 '° Kind Conaill. Some of the expedi- years previous to his being led oif host- 
 
 tions of Kellachan into Leth Cuinn age by Murkertaeh, sou of Niall,) he 
 
 arc recorded in the Annals of the Four led an army composed of Munstermen 
 
 Masters ; but they do not mention his and Northmen into Meath, the church- 
 
542 THE HISTORY OF IREI.AND. 
 
 heretofore related, it was lie that had given information of their 
 march, and bad advised the Lochlannaigh to take Kellachan to 
 Dun Delgain. But that king did not make head against them, 
 wiicreupon they ravaged his teiTÍtories, and took much of cattle 
 and valuables therefrom. They then sent an embassy to Donn- 
 cadh, son of Flann, monarch of Ireland, to challenge him to bat- 
 tle ; for he had previously given his consent to the capture of 
 Kellachan at Ath-cliath. But Donncadh refused to fight them ; 
 and in consequence thereof, they plundered his territories of 
 Temhair. Thence they marched to Munstcr, where Kellachan 
 resumed the sovereignty of his own country. But, as they were 
 proceeding homewards from Ath-Cliath, Murcadh, son of Flann, 
 king of Leinster, prepared to give them battle, in vengeance for 
 the numbers of the Lochlannaigh they had slain in rescuing 
 their prince. But when he perceived the fortitude and valor of 
 the men of Munster, he shrunk from the fight and let them ])ass 
 through his territories without opposition. 
 
 AVhen Kellachan had now returned to his kingdom, he took 
 into consideration all the oppressions which the Lochlannaigh' 
 had exercised over his people; and he entered into counsel 
 with his nobles, with the intention of making a vigorous effort 
 for their expulsion. He then led his forces against Luimnech, 
 and there slew five hundred of the marauders, and forced the re- 
 mainder to deliver up hostages. After that, he sacked Corcach, 
 whence he bore ofí:' hostages likewise. He next plundered 
 Cashcl, where he slew three hundred of the same people. Thence, 
 he marched against Port-Largi, which town was stormed by his 
 army and given up to pillage. And he gave a great defeat to 
 Sitric, son of Lnhar, of whose followers, five hundred were slain; 
 but Sitric, himself, escaped to his ships. Kellachan on his re- 
 turn thence, came to Domnall O'Faclain, king of the Desi, to 
 whom he gave his own sister, namely, Gormflaith, daughter 
 of Buadcan to wife. It was not long after, when Kellachan 
 died." 
 
 After him Fergraidh, son of Alghenan, son of Donngal, held 
 
 cs and lay ilistricts of which he plun- their name from Carthaeli, son of Saor- 
 
 dercd as far as Cluain Iraird, and brethach, son of Donncadh. The O'Cal- 
 
 thonce led off many captives. In 949, laglians talj:e llioir name, not from him, 
 
 we find him ai^ain in Lcth Cuinn, plun- but from Kellachan, son of Domnall, son 
 
 dorinj^ Cluain-forta of St. Brendan, of Murcadh, also son of Donncadh, at 
 
 and tlie Sil Anamcadha, a sept of the v/lnim llicir lines respectively branch off. 
 
 Ui Mani. Maelfoirartach, son of Flann, of the 
 
 " Kellachan died. A. D. 952, is the line of Eojian, was tiie immediato suc- 
 
 rccordc'd date of his death. The Afac ce,ssor of Kellachan. lie died in 855. 
 
 (Jarlhies and (J'Calluirhans, of Munstcr, Maclf )i^arlac!i {Muiloii^arlai^lL) way 
 
 are descended from Donncadh, son of succeeded by Dubdaboirenn, [Duvda- 
 
 thÍ3 prince. The Mac Carthiea have vorrenn,) son of Acngus (called son of 
 
THE niSTOEY OF IRELAND. 
 
 543 
 
 the sovereignty of Minister for two ycnrs, until he was treacher- 
 ously murdered by his own tribesmcu.^^ 
 
 Malhgamaini commonhj called ITalion, son of Kenneidi, King of 
 Mimsier, A. D. 960 to 976.^^ 
 
 Mathgamain (Mahoiuin), son of Kenneidi, assumed the sover- 
 eignty of Munster, after the death of Fergraidh. He held it for 
 twelve years, his brother, Echtigherna^" [Agh-heerna), son of Ken- 
 neidi, being king of Thomond, during the same time. It was 
 this Mathgamain and his brother, Brian, son of Kenneidi, then a 
 youth, that won the battle of Sulchoid"^ over the Lochlannaigh. 
 In this engagement fell Tethild, the Champion, and Ruadnan and 
 Bernard and Muiris of Luimnech,-- and Torold, together with 
 seven thousand of their host, who were slain around them ! Math- 
 gamain, Brian and the Dal g-Cais pursued their routed enemies 
 thence into the very centre of Luimnech, and slaughtered multi- 
 
 Domnall, in the Four Masters,) an an- 
 cestor of the O'Donoghoos of Kerry. 
 He died in 957. 
 
 '^ Fergraidh — This king was slain 
 in 958 or 959, that is in the 5th or 6ch 
 year of the reign of Domnall, sou of 
 Murkertach, monarch of Ireland. He 
 was slain, say some authorities, by Ma- 
 elmuaidh, son of Branu, chief of the 
 Eoganaclit of Ratlilenn, because he had 
 not made opposition to the monarch 
 Domnall. Maelmuaidh then became 
 king of Desmond in his stead. 
 
 '•' Neither the above heading nor 
 dates are given in the original. Dr. 
 Keating has here committed a great 
 oversight, in making the reigns of Kel- 
 lachan and his successors Fergraidh 
 and Mahon, or Mathgamain, over Mun- 
 ster, cotemporaneous with thatof Donn- 
 cadh, son of Flann, monarch of Ireland ; 
 for the last ten years of Kellachan's 
 reign, were cotemporaneous with the 
 reign of Congal, the next succeeding 
 monarch after Donncadh. Congal died 
 the year after Kellachan, wliile Mael- 
 fogartach was king of Cashel. The 
 last year of the short reign of the latter 
 prince, together witli the equally short 
 ones of Dubdaboircnn and Fergraidh, 
 passed by within the first 5 years of the 
 monarchy of Domnall, in the 5th or 6th 
 year of which, Mathgamain must have 
 assumed the sovereignty of Munster. 
 
 •" Echtigherna. This name is derived 
 from " ech" (agh), a steed, and " tigh- 
 erna" [teeraa), a lord ; and it may 
 mean, " chief of cavalry." Echtigherna, 
 who was king of Thomond, under his 
 brother Mahon, was founder of the 
 Dalcassian sept of h-Echligherna (0 
 hagh heerna), the descendants of which 
 now call themselves Ahern, Hearn, 
 Hern, or even Herring. He was also 
 the ancestor of the sept of Mac Craith, 
 now called Magrath, of North Mun- 
 ster. 
 
 -' Sulchoid. This place lies in the 
 borders of the counties of Limerick and 
 Tipperary ; not far from the town of 
 latter name. It is now called Sullog- 
 hod, and Sallowhead. It has been al- 
 ready mentioned as the scene of an en- 
 counter between the Red Branch knight 
 Cuchulainn, and the Munster hero Cu- 
 raidh, son of Dari. Mathgamain gain- 
 ed his famous victory of Sulchoid over 
 the Northmen, in A. D. 968. Brian was 
 about 27 years old at the time of the 
 battle of Sulchoid, having been born 
 in A. D. 941, as has been heretofore 
 stated in these notes. But he should 
 have been very young indeed, were the 
 reign of Mathgamain cotemporary with 
 that of the monarch Donncadh, in the 
 eighth year of which, he was born. 
 
 " Luimnech ; i. e. the present city of 
 Limerick. Mahon had already chas- 
 
544 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 tudes of them in the streets and in the houses thereof, and they 
 bore off a large quantity of gold and silver and of jewels and 
 valuables from this city* and they likewise burned and razed its 
 castles and fortifications! Soon "after this, ]\Iathgnniain, son of 
 Kenneidi was betrayed" by Donnoban,'* in the latter s own 
 house, and he was delivered up by his captor to Maelmuaidh, son 
 of Brann, and to the strangers, 'in breach of the safeguard of 
 Colum, son of Kiaragan, Comarba of St. Barra," in violation ot 
 the guarantee of which saint he was thereupon put to death by 
 the people of the son of Brann at Lecht Mathgamna"' {Laghth 
 Valwwna) upon Musiri Mor, in Musgi'aide, 
 
 Sequel of the reign of Donncadh. A. D. 918-942. 
 
 It was also in the days of Donncadh, son of Flann Sinna, mon- 
 arch of Ireland, of whose reign we are treating, that those events 
 
 tised the Danish colonists settled here. 
 In 965 he had twice delivered their town 
 up to pillage ; on the latter occasion of 
 which, he burned their ships. Mael- 
 ruadnaidh, son of Flann, Tanist of Os- 
 raide, was slain while storming the 
 fortress. — The same year he marched 
 his army to Sciath-an-Eigis, (now the 
 hill of Skea, south of the river Bandon), 
 whence he carried away the hostages of 
 Munster, and expelled the son of Brann, 
 (Maelmuaidh) Lord of Desmond. — In 
 967 we find him at the head of the Eli, 
 Desi. and Osraide, and the Northmen 
 of Waterford, marching into Leinsler 
 to oppo.sc -Murcadh, son of Finn, king of 
 that territory. In the same year, he 
 spent three nights in the Danish city 
 of Cork, and carried off the hostages 
 of Desmond. In 969 he drove the 
 Northmen out of their fortress of Lim- 
 erick. 
 
 ■^ W(i<t betrayed. The chiefs of the 
 Koganachta, fearing lest tlie sovereign- 
 ty of Miin-ter should lor ever pass 
 away from their house, plotted with the 
 Danes for his destniction. Donnaban, 
 {Dorirvfimi) son of (!athal, king of the 
 Ui Fidghenti, whose territory of Ui 
 Oairljri Aedba lay nearest to Thom- 
 ond, invited him to a banquet at his 
 house, giving Cohim, bishop of Cork, 
 and gevcnU of the clergy of Desmond, 
 ag sureties of his good faith. But 
 
 there, he treacherously seized upon his 
 royal guest, whom he delivered up to 
 Maelmuaidh, son of Brann, and Irahar 
 of Limerick, by whose people he was 
 slain in the very presence of the clergy- 
 men who had guaranteed his safety. 
 "When Maelmuaidh saw him slain, he 
 rode away swiftly, saying to one of 
 those clergymen, " Cure that man ifhe 
 come to thee." The latter cursed him. 
 and predicted that he would come to an 
 evil end. — See a full account of this 
 trcachcrcus assassination, pp. 702-703 
 notes to the Four Masters, wh icli is there 
 translated by Dr. Donovan from the 
 Cogadh Gall re Gaedhal, i. e. "the 
 War of the Stranf}:ers with the Gaels." 
 
 " Donnoban. The sept of O'Don- 
 nabhain, now O'Donovan, are the de- 
 scendants of this treacherous chieftain 
 of the Ui Fidgh(>nti. 'J'he S('])t of 0' 
 Mathgamna, now O'Mahony .has sprung 
 frnm his accdmplice, or perhaps, insti- 
 gator, the ruthless Maelmuaidh. 
 
 ^ Comarba St. Barra, i. e. bishop 
 of Cork, of which St. Barra, or Finn- 
 barr was the founder. Bishop Colum 
 maledicled all that were concerned in 
 the murder of Mathgamain. 
 
 ■■" Lcrht Mnth<ranuta, \. e., Mahons 
 Heap. It is situated on ^luisiri-na- 
 mona-moiri. now the Mushera moun- 
 tains near Macroom. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 545 
 
 occurred, wliicli we arc about to record; such as the death of 
 Kiaran, bishop of Tolón." 
 
 This Donncadh went once to drive spoils from Connaught; 
 but great numbers of his people were slain at Dubthir," near 
 Ath-luain, and amongst them fell Kinaetb, son of Concobar, king 
 of Ui Falghi. 
 
 It was about this time that Cluain-mic-Nois was again plun- 
 dered by the Lochlannaigh, who, on their return thence upon 
 Loch Kibh, plundered the country along both its shores. They 
 also pillaged and devastated En-inis,''' where they slew twelve 
 hundred of the Gaels. After that, twelve hundred of the pirates 
 were themselves drowned in IjocIi Rudraide.^" Then, also, Fae- 
 lan, son of Muredach," king of Leinster, was captured, together 
 with his children, by the Lochlannaigh of Ath-Cliath, and Dun 
 Sobarki^^ was plundered by the Lochlannaigh of Loch Cuain, 
 and Kill-dara, by those of PortLargi. But soon after, a great 
 slaughter^ was made of these invaders by the men of Ulster, led 
 by Murkertacb, son of Ni;dl, on which occasion eight hundred 
 of the foreigners fell, together with their three chieftains, namely, 
 Albdann, Anfer, and Rolt. 
 
 It was about this period that the commerce^ of Ireland was so 
 
 ^ Bishop of Tolen. Kiaran, bishop 
 of Tolen, or Tuilen, now the parish of 
 Tullane near Kells, in Meath, died 
 A. D. 919: 
 
 ^ Dubthir ; i.e., the black district 
 of Ath-luain, situated in the present 
 barony of Athlone, county Galway. 
 This expedition was mads in A. I). 
 928. 
 
 '^ En-inis, i. e., Bird Island. The 
 name is now unknown, but is stated to 
 have been situated in Fotharta-thiri, 
 {Foharta-heeri), now the barony of 
 Forth, in Carlow. They were the 
 Foreigners of Limerick that made this 
 destructive incursion in A. D. 920 ; on 
 which occasion a scribe, named Abel, 
 suff.ired martyrdom at their hands. 
 
 ^ Loch Rudraide. The mouth of the 
 river Erne, was thus called. 1200 
 NorthmcQ were drowned there in A. D. 
 922.— .See Four blasters. 
 
 '' Faelan, son of Muredach. He was 
 captured with his son Lorcan, in A. I). 
 923. 
 
 ^^ Dun Sobarki, now Dunsevcrick, 
 was plundered in 924, and many were 
 slain therein. 
 
 ^ A great slaughter. This victory 
 
 was gained, say our Annalists, at the 
 bridge of Ath-na-g Crumhther [Aiuh- 
 na-gryffer), on the 28th of December, 
 924. It would appear that one half of 
 the Northmen were slain ; for we are 
 told that the other half was besieged 
 for a week at Ath Cruithni, a place 
 near Newry, until Godfrey, lord of the 
 foreigners, came to their relief from Ath- 
 Cliath.— Killdara was plundered twice 
 in this year ; once by the pirates of 
 Port Largi, and again by those of Ath- 
 cliath. 
 
 ^ The flourishing condition of com- 
 merce, to which our author here al- 
 ludes, must have been principally owing 
 to the marts established in the Danish 
 or Norse seaports of Dublin, Water- 
 ford, Cork, &c., which places the 
 Gaelic chieftains allowed the foreigners 
 to hold, notwithstanding their frequent 
 ravages, for the purpose of carrying on 
 the external trade of tlie nation. The 
 Gaels themselves disdained to practice 
 commerce. Arms and letters were 
 their only studies ; for, previous to the 
 arrival of the men of the North, all 
 commercial and industrial pursuits were 
 left to the Daer Clanna, or subject 
 
5-íQ 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 extensive. "Whereupon a Locblanuacli earl, named Oliinn, 
 mustered the full strength of bis countrymen, both from Leinster 
 and Connaught, for the purpose of attacking tbe fair of Eos 
 Cre^ held on the festival of Saints Peter and Paul. But, accord- 
 ing to the treatise Avbich Fingbin ]\Iac Cartbaigh has written 
 upon Irish affairs from the earliest to tbe present times, the folk 
 of the fair marched out against him and engaged him in a battle, 
 in which four thousand of the foreigners were slain, together 
 with that earl himself 
 
 Tadg, son of Catha!,^® reigned for twenty jeavs as king of Con- 
 naught during these times. During the same period died Sitric, 
 son of Imhar,^^ h:ing of both the Firm-Lochlannaigh and the 
 Dubh-Lochlannaigb. 
 
 It was also about this time that a great slaughter was made of 
 the Lochlannaigb of Loch Oirbscn,^^ by the men of Connaught, 
 and another was made of those of Loch n-Ecbach, by Couaing, 
 son of Niall f^ on the latter occasion, one thousand of them were 
 slain. 
 
 After this tbe invaders came upon Loch Erni,*' whence they 
 
 tribes, composed of Fer-Bolgp, 'J'uatha 
 De Donann, and other conijucred or 
 foreign races. The Danish or Norwe- 
 gian invaders, had tlien for a time, 
 conferred at least the benefit of an ex- 
 tended trade, upon the Irish nation — 
 if that may be truly called a benefit. 
 As we no longer hear much of the an- 
 cient Irish races, who were not Gaels 
 by paternal descent, it is to be sup- 
 posed that they began to amalgamate 
 freely with the foreigners of the North, 
 amongst whom and amongst the sub- 
 sequent Nurman, AVelch, and English 
 settlers, all trace of them was finally 
 lost — with, as O'Flaherty tells us, the 
 single exception of the O Benachains 
 and I^yns of Connaught, the de- 
 scendants of the Belgian kings, of 
 which clans, the representative of the 
 former continued lord of a territory in 
 Sligo, down to a recent period. 
 
 "■' Ros Cre. Now called Roscrca, in 
 the north of Tipperary. A(;cording to 
 O'llalloran, the liattle of Ros tJre 
 was fought in A. D. 942. The Irish 
 had received timely notice of the in- 
 tended attack, and liad come to the 
 fair prepared to meet their assailant.s. 
 
 '* Tadg, son of Catlial. He was 
 otherwise called Tadg an Tuir, {Tcig- 
 ne an Tooir, i. c. Tadg of the Towor,) 
 
 He reigned from A. D. 914 to A. D. 
 954, and was the father of Concobar, 
 also king of Connauiiht from A. D. 
 954 to A. D. 972. From the latter, 
 his descendants took the name of 
 Concobair. They are now repre- 
 sented by the O'Connors Don, and 
 other races of the name of O'Connor, 
 sometimes vulgarly called Connors, who 
 still dwell in Connaught. 
 
 ^ Silric, son of Imhar. Lord of tbe 
 Black and Fair Strangers, i. e., both 
 Danes and Norwegians, died in 926. 
 
 * Lodt. Oirbscn ; now Lough Corrib. 
 The foreigners here entrenched, were 
 slaughtered in A. D. 927. 
 
 ^' Connnifr. son rf Niall. He was the 
 son of Niall CIun-dul)h, the late mon- 
 arch of Ireland. He won this victory 
 in A. D. 931. 
 
 *" Loch Erni • now Lough Erne. 
 A. D. 922. A fleet of the foreigners 
 now came upon this lake, and i)lunder- 
 ed its islands ; and, having ravaged the 
 country nn every side, tliey remained 
 on the lake till the ensuing summer, 
 when they left the country. A.I). 931. 
 They again took up their march, and 
 ravaged the country as far as Loch 
 (jamhna, (now Loch Gowna, in Long- 
 ford). Ard Macha was jilundcred in 
 the same year by Amlaeibh, son of 
 
THE HISTORY OF IREL.AJSÍD. 
 
 547 
 
 laid waste tlie properties both of tlie laity and the church. Gof- 
 raidh, chieftain of the Lochlannaigh of Loch Cuain, plundered 
 Ard Macha; Amlaeibh, son of Gofraidh, plundered Kill Cuil- 
 inn/^ out of which he brought oif ten hundred captives. The 
 Lochlannaigh next plundered Ailech Ncid,^ where they cap- 
 tured Murkertach, son of Niall; but God afterwards rescued him 
 miraculously, from their hands. Soon after this event, Arolt,*^ 
 son of Imhar, chieftain of the Lochlannaigh of Luimnech, was 
 slain by the men of Connaght ; and Amlaeibh, son of Gofraidh, 
 king of both the Finn-Lochlannaigh and the Dubh-Lochlannaigh, 
 died : and Lorcan, son of Faelan,*^ was slain by the folk of Nor- 
 wegia. According to Hanmer, it Avas about this time, that the 
 prince of Britain,^ came to ravage Ireland ; but he was slain by 
 
 Godfrey, and the foreignei's of Loch 
 Cuain, (Strangford Lough). Amla- 
 eibh and his band next plundered Ul- 
 ster as far as Macnaraha, (Mucknoe), 
 on the east, and Sliabh Betha, (Slieve 
 Beagh) on the west ; " but," say our au- 
 thorities, " they were overtaken by 
 Murkertach, son of Niall, (Gluu-dubh) 
 who fought and routed them ; and they 
 left with him two hundred of their 
 heads (cut off), besides prisoners and 
 spoils." 
 
 ^' Kill Cuihnn ; now Kilcullen. "A. 
 D. 936. Amlaeibh, son of Godfrey, 
 came to Dublin again, and plundered 
 Kill Cuilinn, whence they carried off 
 1,000 prisoners." 
 
 There was then a challenge of battle 
 between Donncadh, king of Ireland, and 
 Murkertach, son of Niall Glun-dubh, 
 lord of Ailech ; but God pacified them ; 
 and they went with both their forces to 
 lay siege to the foreigners of Ath-cli- 
 ath, (Dublin), so that they spoiled and 
 plundered all that was under the do- 
 minion of the foreigners, from Ath- 
 cliath to Truisten, (a ford on the river 
 Greece, near Mullaghmart) . 
 
 *^ Ailech-Neid, i. e., Elagh,near Lon- 
 donderry. The brave Murkertach was 
 captured in 937, and taken to the ships 
 of the pirates, but, say our Shanua- 
 chies, " God redeemed him." "We find 
 him next year marching with the mon- 
 arch Donncadh, to compel Munster to 
 give up hostages as sureties for submis- 
 sion. The next year after, he made 
 the grand circuit of Ireland, when he 
 bore off the Danish lord Sitric, of Dub- 
 
 lin, Kellachan of Munster, Faelan 
 king of Leinster, and the royal heir of 
 Connaught, as his hostages. He Í3 
 known in Irish history as " Muirchear- 
 tach na g-cochal croicenn" {Miirrcetagh 
 na ^oghal Creckenn), i. e., Murkertach, 
 of the Leather Coats. "Murketach, son 
 of Niall Glun-tlubh, lord of Ailech, the 
 Hector of the west of Europe, was slain 
 at Ath-Firdiah (nowxVrdee),by Blacari, 
 lord of the foreigners, on the 2Gth of 
 March. Ard Macha was plundered by 
 the foreigners the day at'Ler." — Four 
 Masters. 
 
 « Arolt. A. D. 938, Arolt, son of 
 Sitric, son of Imhar, lord of the Danes 
 of Limerick, was killed in Connaught, 
 by the Caenraidhe, [Kainree) of Aidni, 
 (a tribe then seated in the north of 
 Galway).— Amlaeibh, son of Gofraidh, 
 or Godfrey, did not die in this reign. 
 
 ''■' Lorcan, son of Faelan. He was slain 
 in 941 , while he was plundering Dub- 
 lin, having first defeated and slain many 
 of the foreigners who occupied it. 
 
 ^^ Frince of Britain. This was prob- 
 ably the man called Aedh Albanach, 
 (i. e., Aedh, the Scotchman) by the 
 Irish Annalists. He was slain in A. 
 D. 839, by the Ui Falghi, which tribe 
 gained two great victories over invad- 
 ers in this year, as is thus entered ; "A 
 slaughter was made of the foreigners 
 by the Ui Falghi, by Amergin, son of 
 Kinaedh. who slew 1200 of them at 
 Magh-Kisi, (in the north of the King's 
 county)." 
 
 And again we read, that another 
 battle was gained over the foreigners 
 
548 
 
 THE HISTOKY OF IRELAND. 
 
 the Irish in the year of our Lord nine hundred and sixty-six. 
 It was now also, that Ath-chath was plundered'"* by Congal, son 
 of Machnithigh, who slew seven hundred and forty of the 
 Lochlannaigh therein, and bore ofi' much treasure and valuables. 
 After these events, Donncadh, son of Flaun Sinna, monarch of 
 Ireland, died. 
 
 CONGAL, ARD-EIGH. 
 
 A. D. 947.'*' CongaV* son of Maelmithigh, son of Flannagan, 
 sonofKellach, son of Oonaing, sonof Congal, son of Acdh Slanni, 
 son of Diarmaid, son of Fergus Kerbeol, son of Conall Cremthan- 
 ni, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, held the sovereignty of 
 Ireland ten years, Muiri, daughter of Kinaeth, son of Alpin, 
 king of Alba, was the mother of this Congal, 
 
 It was in his reign that the following events took place ; for it 
 was during it that Etimon,^' king of Saxon-land, and Blacari,'*'' 
 king of Norway, died. And it was tlien, that Congal, son of 
 Maelmithigh, king of Ireland, gained the battle of Muini Breo- 
 gain" over the Lochlannaigh, of whom he slew therein seven 
 thousand ; but great numbers of the Gaels also were slain in that 
 engagement. 
 
 of Ath-cliath, by Ihc Ui Falghi, where 
 there Icll 1,000 of ihein, tof^ethcr with 
 Aedh Albanach, and many other 
 chiefs." — Four Blasters. 
 
 *" Ath clialh plundered. The last 
 year of Donncadh's rei,?!! was rendered 
 famous by the destruction of the fort- 
 ress of Dublin by his successor Congal. 
 The fact is thus recorded : " A. D. 
 942. The destruction of Ath-cliath by 
 the Gaels, that is, by Congal, sou of 
 Maelmithigh, heir apparent to the 
 monarchy of Ireland ; 13raen, son of 
 Maelmorda. king of I/^instcr, and Kel- 
 lach, son of Faelan, heir of Leinster. 
 The destruction brought upon it was 
 this, that is, its liou.ses, division?, ships, 
 and all other structures were Iturned, 
 its women, Ijoys, and plebians, were 
 carried into bondage. Its men were 
 totally destroyed by killing, drowning, 
 burning, and capturine. excepting a 
 small number, that fled in a few ships 
 to Dclg Inis, (now Dalkv Island)." — 
 See Id. 
 
 Notwithstanding this, we find tliat 
 the same foreigners were allowed to re- 
 possess themselves of the same city al- 
 most immediately after. 
 
 " A. D. 943.— Fo2{r Masters. 
 
 " Congal III. He is called Con- 
 galach by the annalists just cited, who 
 assign to him a reign of twelve years. 
 
 ■"■ Elimon, i. e., Edmund. 
 
 "• Blacari. This chief was slain in 
 946, in a battle that is thus recorded : 
 " It was in the fourth year of his (Con- 
 gaVs) reign, that the battle of Ath-cli- 
 ath was fought by him against Blacari, 
 grandson of Inihar, lord of the Norse- 
 men, where Blacari himself was slain, 
 together with 1900 men, in revenge for 
 Murkertach, son of Niall Glun-dubh, 
 slain by him some time before. — Lrab- 
 har Gabliala. 
 
 " Muini Breogain, otherwise Mu- 
 ini Brocain, i. e., Brocan's Brake. It 
 was not by Congal that this victory 
 was gained ; but bylluaidri, {Roori/). 
 O'Canaunain, king of Kind Conaill, 
 then contending with him for the sov- 
 ereignty. In the year 949, we are told 
 that this chief, having invaded Mcatli 
 and Breiigh, and having gained a vic- 
 tory over the monarch Congal, whom 
 he reduced to great straits, encamped 
 for six months at Muini iirocain, whith- 
 er the duca of the king of Ireland were 
 
F' 
 
THE HISTOllY OF IRELAND. 
 
 549 
 
 Brian^ son of Kenneidi^ King of Munsier. — A. D. 978-1002. 
 
 It was in the fourth year of the reign of Congal,^" the present 
 monarch, that Brian, son of Kenneidi, assumed the sover- 
 eignty of Munster. And in the second jqvix after his assump- 
 tion thereof, he challenged Maelmuaidh, son of Brann, king 
 of the Ui Eachach, to meet him in battle, at Belach Lechta*^ 
 {Bailagh Laghta,) in order that he might wreak vengeance" 
 
 sent to him from every quarter. Au 
 engagement took place soon after be- 
 tween him and the foreigners, on the 
 feast of St. Andrew, the Apostle. 
 The foreigners were defeated therein ; 
 for there fell of them six thousand 
 mighty men, besides boys and camp-fol- 
 lowers. Kuaidri, heir to the monarchy 
 of Ireland, fell, however himself, in the 
 heat of that conflict, as did also Irahar, 
 Tanist of the foreigners. But God- 
 frey, son of Sitric, escaped, with some 
 others. The exact site of Muini Bre- 
 ogain, is unknown. — Four Masters. 
 
 ^'' A. D. 978, &c. — These dates are 
 here inserted in order that the reader 
 may not be set astray by Dr. Keating's 
 having antedated the reign of tlais 
 prince, over Munster, by more than 
 30 years. Neither his reign, nor that 
 of his brother Mathgamain were con- 
 temporaneous with any part of that 
 of the monarch Congal. See the An- 
 nals of the Four blasters and 0' Dono- 
 van's notes thereon ; ' Flaherty ' s 
 OgUgia ; Moore's History of Ireland ; 
 O'Halloran, fyc. 
 
 '- The fourth year of Congal. It 
 was in the the 22d of Domnall lY., the 
 successor of Congal, and two years after 
 the murder of Mathgamain, that Brian 
 became King of Munster, by the death 
 of Maelmuaidh, son of Brann, who had 
 held the sovereignty of Munster for 
 two years subsequent to the murder of 
 Brian's brother, Mathgamain. During 
 those two years Brian was apparently 
 engaged in establishing his sway over 
 Thomoud or North Munster. 
 
 ^ Belach Lechta. Antiquarians are 
 not agreed as to the situation of this 
 place. Some assert that it lies at the 
 confluence of the rivers Lee and Sul- 
 lane, near Macroom, in the county of 
 Cork. Others say that it lay at Cnoc- 
 ramhra [Knock-rowra], south of Mal- 
 
 low, on the road between that town 
 and Cork. Others again will have it 
 that the battle between Brian and 
 Maelmuaidh, king of Munster, was 
 fought at Bearna Derg, now called 
 Red Chair, a place situated in the 
 parish of Kilflin, on the borders of the 
 counties of Cork and Limerick. It is a 
 chasm lying between two hills, and the 
 high road from Cork to Limerick 
 passes through it. The battle of Be- 
 lach Lechta was fought in the year 
 978 ; and thereby Brian conquered the 
 sovereignty of the two Munsters. 
 Maelmuaidh fell in this battle by the 
 hand of Murcadh, son of Brian, then 
 but a youth, who signalized his first 
 campaign by slaying the murderer of 
 his uncle. Having thus avenged his 
 brother and placed himself on the 
 throne of Munster, Brian granted 
 peace to the Eoganachta, and even gave 
 his daughter Sadb in marriage to Kian, 
 the son of his rival Maelmuaidh, who 
 succeeded his father as chief of the Ui 
 Eachach and king of Desmond, which 
 dignity he held until after the battle 
 of Clontarf. 
 
 " Wreak Vengeance, fyc. His first 
 effort was directed against the Danes 
 of Limerick, and he slew Imhar their 
 king, with two of his sons. Donno- 
 bau, king of the Ui Fidghenti, the be- 
 trayer of iMathgamain, then sent for 
 another of Imhar's sons, whom he 
 caused to be elected king of the Danes 
 of Munster. As soon as Brian had 
 heard this, he ravaged the lands of the 
 Ui Fidghenti, seized an immense prey 
 of their cattle, and slew Donnoban, 
 their king. He also plundered Limer- 
 ick, where he slew Harold, king of the 
 Danes, of which people he made a 
 slaughter and then returned home, 
 loaded with immense spoils. 
 
550 THE IIISTOKY OF IRELAND. 
 
 for bis brotlier Matligamain, son of Kcniieidi, who Lad been 
 treacherously murdered by fhe people of Maehnuaidh, Macl- 
 muaidh thereupon mustered a great arm}'-, composed as well 
 of strangers iis of Irish ; for he had with him a body of one 
 thousand five hundred of the Lochlannaigh, together with a 
 large force of the Gaels lilcewise. lie was nevertheless routed 
 at Belach Lechta, b}^ Brian and the Dal-g-Cais, by whom a 
 countless multitude of his followers were slaughtered : and those 
 of them that were not killed became the captives of Brian. After 
 this, Domnall O'Faelain," king of the Desi, aided by the Loch- 
 lannaigh, proclaimed war against Brian, and the greater part of 
 Munster was ravaged by him and his foreign allies. However, they 
 were soon overtaken by Brian, who gave them battle at Fan 
 Conracli,^ where the king of the Desi and his foreigners were 
 completely vanquished. Brian then pursued their routed host 
 to Port Largi, where he slew Domnall O'Faelain himself. He 
 next made captives of the greater part of the inhabitants of that 
 city, which he plundered and then burned. 
 
 In eight years aftcr"^ Brian had assumed the kingdom of 
 Munster, the entire of Leth Mogha was compelled to submit to 
 him as its sovereign. However, after the death of Domnall 
 Claen,^ king of Leinster, both the Lochlannaigh and the Gaels of 
 that principality rebelled against his authority. Ujion this, 
 Brian called together the full strength of the ]\[en of Munster 
 
 " Domnall O'Faelain. This chief Annals of the Four Masters record the 
 should ratlier be styled 3/«cfW(;7;i, i.e. death of Domnall, son of Faelan, king 
 son of Faelan. The surname O'Fae- of the Desi. The kings of Leinster 
 Ian could scarcely have been yet and Osraide, or Ossory, and the Danes 
 adopted by the lords of Desi ; for Fae- of Limerick, Cork, and Leinster, had 
 lain, son of Cormac, (apparently the entered into a formidable confederacy 
 father of this Domnall), from whom the against Brian, the designs of which 
 O'Faelains of the Desi Mumhan have he defeated by this victory. After the 
 taken their name, had not been tiien battle, Brian invaded Leinster, re- 
 many years dead. lie had died king duced it to obedience, received host- 
 of the Desi in A. D. 904. 'J'iie mem- ages from both its kings, who had 
 bers of the sept that lias s])rung from come to his camp in person to tender 
 Faelan now call themselves either him their allegiance. 
 O'Felan, Phelan or Whclan. " Ei<!;lii years after. This was prob- 
 
 " Fan Conrach, i.e. the Slope of ably about the time of the battle of 
 
 Curaidh. In some of the editor's Á18S. Fan Conrach, when, having received 
 
 it is called Ferann (Jonrach ; i. c. the the hostages and the homage of the 
 
 land or farm of Curaidh. The Annals of kings of Leinster, he had reduced all 
 
 Imiisfallcn call it Fan Mic Coiiracli, i.e. Leth Mogha beneath his sway, 
 
 the .Slope of the son of Curaidh ; its sit- "* Doinnall Claen. Domnall Claen, 
 
 uation is unknown to the editor. 'J'hc son of I>(jrcan, was king of Leinster 
 
 annals, just named, enter the liatlle of from A. I). 1)70 to 983. The battle of 
 
 this place A. D. 979, which can scarce- Clenn Mama was not fought before 
 
 ly be it.s time ; for A.D. 99.5, is the A. D. 99.S, the 20th year of Maclsech- 
 
 ycar under which the more accurate lainn as raonarcli of Ireland. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 551 
 
 and to attack the men of Leinstcr and tlieir foreign allies : and 
 he fought the battle of Glenn Mama^' against their united forces, 
 and therein he vanquished them both, and slew four thousand of 
 their warriors. 
 
 Sequel of the reign of Congal^ A. D. 944 to A. D. 956." 
 
 Congal, son of Maelmithigh, Monarch of Ireland, afterwards 
 marched into Munster, which he pillaged and despoiled, and 
 where he sIcav two of the sons of Kenncidi," son of Lorcan ; 
 namely, Echtigherna and Donncuan. 
 
 After this, Kenannus, Domnach Padraig," Ard Brecain, Kill 
 Sgiri, and many other churches besides, were plundered by 
 Gofraidh, son of Sitric, and the foreigners of Dublin, on which 
 occasion they made captives of three thousand persons, whom 
 they bore off into captivitj^, together with much of gold and 
 silver, and valuable Avares. 
 
 '' Glenn Mamn ; a valley near Dun- 
 lavan, county Wicklow. The glory of 
 this battle should more probably be 
 given to Maelscchlainn II., for it -was 
 he that commanded the Irish army 
 upon that occasion, M-hilst Brian acted 
 but as his ally. Some Munster Anti- 
 quaries would usurp all its. glory for 
 their favorite hero, for which purpose, 
 apparently, they antedated it by several 
 years. Dr. Keating was possibly mis- 
 led by these. Some northerns would, 
 on the other hand, exclude Brian from 
 his proper share therein. The follow- 
 ing entry of the engagement is given 
 by the Four Masters : 
 
 " A. D. 998 [or 999,) the 2Ist year 
 of Maelsechlainn. An army was led 
 by King Maelsechlainn and by Brian, 
 son of Kenneidigh, to Glenn Mama. 
 The foreigners of Ath-cliath came 
 thither to attack them, but the latter 
 were routed and slaughtered together 
 with Aralt, son of Amlaeimh, and 
 Cuilen, son of Etigen, and other of 
 their chiefs ; and many of the foreign- 
 ers were cut off in this conflict. After 
 it Maelsechlainn and Brian entered 
 Ath-cliath, where they remained for a 
 full week and carried off its gold, silver, 
 and prisoners. They burned the fort- 
 ress and expelled the lord of the for- 
 > eigners — namely, Sitric, son of Am- 
 aleimh." 
 
 "> A. D. 944 to A. D. 956. For the 
 correctness of these dates, the reader is 
 
 referred to O'Flaherty's Ogygia and 
 O'Donovan's notes to the Annals of the 
 Four Masters. 
 
 •^' The Two sons of Kenncidi. The 
 incursion in which they were slain was 
 made in A. D. 948. whilst Kellachan 
 of Cashcl was King of Mnnster, and 
 whilst their father, Kenneidi, was still 
 King of Thomond. This entry should 
 in itself have shown to Dr. Keating 
 tl>e absurdity of placing the accession 
 of Brian to the throne of Munster in 
 the fourth year of this reign, i. e. seven 
 years before the death of Kellachan, 
 and when five other princes, namely, 
 ]\[aelfogartach, Dubdaboireun, Ferg- 
 raidh, IMathgamain and Maelmuaidh 
 were yet to occupy that position before 
 him. Brian was then but a child, and 
 in addition to the remaining years of 
 his father's reign, those of the reigns of 
 his elder brothers Lactna and Math- 
 gamain had stiU to pass by before he 
 became king even of Thomond. 
 
 ^'^ Domnach Padraig, ífc. " A. D. 
 949. Kenannus, Domnach Padraig, 
 Ard Brecain, Tulan, Disert Kiarain, 
 and Kill-Sgiri, and other churches fall 
 in East Meath), were plundered by 
 Godfrey, son of Sitric, and the for- 
 eigners of Ath-cliath. It was out of 
 a camp, pitched at Kenannus, they 
 were all plundered. They carried off 
 upwards of 3000 persons into captivity, 
 besides gold, silver, raiment, wealth 
 and goods of all kinds.'' — Four Masters. 
 
552 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 About this time died Etlmi," daughter of Fergal, Queen of 
 Irehmd, and wife of Congal, son of i^iaehnithigh. Then, also, 
 died Maelcoluim, son of Domnall," King of Alba ; Gacithini, 
 Bishop of Dun-da-leth-glas, and Tadg, son of Cathal," king of 
 Connaught. 
 
 Soon after these events, Congal, son of Maeilmithigh, King of 
 Ireland, was slain at Ard Macha,°" by the Leinstermen, and the 
 Lochlannaigh of Ath-cliath. 
 
 DOMNALL, ARD-RIGH, 
 
 A, D. 957. Domnall," son of Murkertach of the Leather 
 Coats, son of Niall Glun-dubh, son of Aedh Finn-liath, son of 
 Niall Calli, son of Aedh Oirnighe, son of Niall Frasach, of the 
 line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland for ten {correctly 
 for twenty-four'^^) years. 
 
 " Eitkni died. She died in A. D. 
 951. 
 
 *' Maelcoluim, son of DomnaU. He 
 in called Malcolm I. by the Scotch 
 writers. He was assassinated by his 
 own people in A. D. 953. He was 
 the 41st kin;r of the race of the Irish 
 Dal Hiada that reigned over Alba, or, 
 as it is now called, Scotland. — Sec the 
 Ogij^ia. 
 
 •^ Tadg, son of Catlml. This prince, 
 who is also called Tadg of the Three 
 Towers, died in 456. Gaeithini, Bishop 
 of Down, died in the same year. 
 
 ^ Slain at Ard Macha. This is a mis- 
 take : Congal was slain at a place 
 called Tigh Gighrain, situated on the 
 river Liffey, and near Dublin. The 
 true year of his death is 95G, l>ut it is 
 thus recorded l)y the Four Masters, 
 under A. D. 954, for these annalist.s arc 
 about two years behind the vulgar 
 era at this period : 
 
 "A hosting by Congalach, King of 
 Ireland, into Lcinster, and after he had 
 despoiled Leinster, and held the Fair 
 of Lifi, (i. e., Aenach ('ohnain in Magh 
 liifij for three days, infDrination thereof 
 wa;s sent to the Goill of Ath-cliatli, 
 and Amlaeimh, son of Godfrey, lord of 
 the (Join, laid a battle ambush for the 
 king, and he was taken therein, with 
 his chieftains, at Tigh Gighrain. The 
 
 following are those who were then 
 slain : Congalach himself, Madudan, 
 son of Aedh, son of Maclmithidh, and 
 Cormac, son of Cathalan, lord of Fera 
 Arda, now Ferrai'd, in Louth, and a 
 great many others." 
 
 •^ DoMNALL IV. The date in the te.xt 
 chances to be correct with regard to 
 the accession of this king, lie was 
 commonly called Domnall O'Neill, 
 being the 0, i. e., the grandson, of 
 Niall Ghuwlubh. With him origin- 
 ated the family name of the O'Neills 
 of Tir ííogain, or Tyrone. 
 
 ^ Twenty-four years. The learned 
 O'Flaherty has ascertained, on compar- 
 ing the various Irish annals, that such 
 was the real length of the reign of 
 Domnall O'Neill. Kither Keating or 
 his Iranscriljcrs have evidently curtail- 
 eil it by fourteen years in endeavoring 
 to make the career of Brian, as King 
 of Munster, cotemporaneous with the 
 rcigas of Congal, Domnall and Mael- 
 scchlainn. As there is no authority 
 for such curtailment found in the Irish 
 aimals, which are perfectly clear and 
 distinct upon the subject, the editor, 
 in giving the dates of the ensuing 
 reigns, shall be guided by the number 
 of years which lie has above inserted, 
 in italics, and shall disregard altogether 
 the number (ten) given in the text. 
 
THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 553 
 
 During the reign of this monarch, Kill-dara was plundered"' 
 by Amlaeibh, son of Sitrie, and the Lochlannaigli of Ath-cliath. 
 
 It was now that the monarch of Irehind, L)omnal], son of 
 Murkertach, marched into Connaught, which he pillaged and 
 despoiled, and whence he brought a large prey, together with 
 many captives, taken from Fergal O'Euairc,'" who was king of 
 Connaught at that time. 
 
 It was, also, about this time that the great temple of Tuaim 
 Greni was built b}^ Cormac O'Killini, bishop of that see. About 
 the same time Fergal O'Euairc, King of Connaught, was slain 
 by Domnall, son of Congal, son of Maelmithigh. It was then, 
 likewise, that Luimncch was plundered" and burned, in spite of 
 the Lochlannaigli, by Brian, son of Kenneidi, King of Minister. 
 After this,'' Domnall O'Neill marched into Leinster with a 
 numerous army, and laid that country waste from the river 
 Berba eastwards to the sea, and he continued encamped therein 
 for two months, in spite of both the Lochlannaigh and the Lein- 
 stermen. 
 
 It was now, also, that Maelfinnen," son of Uctan, Bishop of 
 Kenannus and comarba of St. Ulltan, died. Soon after, Am- 
 laeibh Cuaran and the Lochlannaigh of Leinster plundered Ken- 
 annus,'* whence they carried off a great prey and many valuable 
 articles, and the Ui Neill suffered a terrible and great defeat,'^ in 
 
 ^ Kill-dara plundered. "A. D. 9G2. victories over Donnoban and Mael- 
 
 Kill-dara was plundered by the foreign- muaidh, and in the 22nd year of the 
 
 ers, and a great number of seniors and reign of Domnall O'Neill. 
 
 ecclesiastics were taken prisoners there, '^ After this. It was several years 
 
 but Xiall Ua h'Eruilbh ransomed before this, namely, in A. D. 966, that 
 
 them Avith his own money." — Four Domnall made this invasion of Leinster, 
 
 Masters. but Keating frequently uses the phrase 
 
 These annals tell us that Amlaeibh, " after this" in a very indefinite sense. 
 
 son of Sitrie, was defeated within the " Maelfinnen. He died in A. D. 
 
 same year, at Inis Tioc, now Ennis- 967. 
 
 tiogue, on the Nore. by the men of '^ Keiiannus plundered. It was 
 
 Osraide. In 979, Kill-dara was again jilundered by Amlaeibh Cuaran, in 
 
 plundered by the foreigners. On the A. D. 968, when he carried oif a great 
 
 latter occasion they captured Domnall prey of cattle, but lost numbers of his 
 
 Claen, King of Leinster. own people. On this occasion, the 
 
 '" Fergal Ruairc. A. D. 963 is foreigners and the Leinstermcn defeated 
 
 the date of the monarch's invasion of the Ui Neill, that is, the ISIeathmen. 
 
 the territories of this prince. Fergal at Ard Maelcon, now Ardmulchau, on 
 
 gained a victory on the Shannon over the Boyne. Kenannus, or Kclls, had 
 
 Matligamain, King of Munster, in 962. been also plundered during the prcvi- 
 
 He was slain by Domnall, lord of ous year, by Sitrie, son of Amlaeibh, 
 
 Breagh, and son of the last monarch, and Murcadh, sou of Finn, King of 
 
 in 96-i. Cormac O'Killine, successor Leinster, but Domnall O'Neill over- 
 
 of St. Kiaran, died in the last-mention- took and defeated them. 
 
 ed year. " The Ui Neill defeated. This was 
 
 " Luimnech plwidered. This oc- in A. D. 969, when the southern Ui 
 
 curredin A. D. 9(8, previous to Brian's Neill, or Clann Colmain, having 
 
554 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 wliich numbers fell on both sides. About the same time, the 
 battle of Kill-na-^[ona'^ was gained by Domnall, son of Congal, 
 and the Lochlannaigh of Ath-Cliath, over Domnall, son of ]\Iur- 
 kertach. King of Ireland, wherein fell Ardgal, son of Madagan, 
 who had been king of Ulidia for seventeen years, and Donuagan, 
 son of Maelmuri, King of Oirghiall, and a great many other 
 nobles, together with them. 
 
 Very soon after, Becan, Bishop of Oilfiun, and Kinaeth O'h- 
 Artagain, "' Primate of Ard Macha, died. It was then, also, that 
 Ugari, son of Tuathal, King of Lsinster, was captured by the 
 Lochlannaigh of Ath-Cliath. After this, Inis Cathaigh" was pil- 
 laged, in spite of the Lochlannaigh, by Brian, son of Kenneidi, 
 King of ]\Iunster, who slew five hundred of them therein, and 
 who there captured three of their chieftains, namely, Imhar, 
 Amlaeibh and Dubghenn, It was of this that the bard com- 
 posed the following verse : 
 
 " That slaughter made at Inis Cathaigh 
 AVas not unwortliy of thy fame, 
 AV^here cliieftaius of the stranger perished, 
 Where Imhar and where Dubgheun fell." 
 
 It was about this time that the battle of Bithlann" was gained 
 over the Leinsterinen by the Lochlannaigh of Ath-Cliath, and 
 Ugari, son of Tuathal, King of Leinster, was slain therein. 
 
 Shortly after this, Domnall, son of Murkertach, King of Ire- 
 land, died'" at Ard Macha. 
 
 leagued with the foreigners, drove King Meath, and not of Oilfinn, now Elphin, 
 
 Domnaill northwards across Sliabh Fu- in Koscommon. The latter died in 
 
 aid ; but he immediately mustered the- A. D. 971. An account of the works 
 
 Kinel Eogan and Kinel (.'onaill against of Kinaeth O'h-Artagain, several of 
 
 them, so that he pluiidcrcd ail their wliieli are still extant, will be found in 
 
 fortresses, and spoiled the Ui Falghi O'Rei/ly's Catalogue of Irish Writers. 
 
 and Fothartha likewise, and, say our " Inis Cathaigh. This ex]iloit was 
 
 annalists, " he then took revenge for performed in A. D. 977, while Brian 
 
 their opposition to him, for he erected was yet but King of Thoniond. and 
 
 a camp in every cantrcd of Meath, previous to his taking of Luimncch, or 
 
 from the Sianinn to Belach-duin," now Limerick. 
 
 Castle Kieran, near Kells. " liitlilann, now Belan, in the south 
 
 '" A'í7/->ía-mo/i/í, otherwise Kill-mona, of Kildare, about four miles from the 
 
 and now Killmoon, in the barony of town of Athy. The battle of Bithlann 
 
 Skreen, county Meath. This battle was fouglit in A. D. 978. 
 
 was fought in tlie same year with that '■" Doinnnll died. "A. D. 978 (more 
 
 of Belach I^chta, i. e., A. D. 978. correctly A. I). 979). After Domnaíl, 
 
 " Kinaeth O'h-Artagain. Both son of Murkertach of the Lcalher 
 
 these entries are wrong. Kinaeth O'h- Cloaks, son of Niall Glun-dubh, had 
 
 Artagain was Chief Poet of Ireland, been twenty-four years in the sovei"- 
 
 and not Primate of Armagh. His cignty of Ireland, he died at Ard 
 
 death is entered under .\. I). 973. Maclia, after the victory of i)enance." 
 
 Becan was Bishop of Cluaio Iraird, in — Four Masters. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 555 
 
 MAELSECHLAINN MOR, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 980," Maelsechlainn,^' son of Domnall, son of Douncadh, 
 son of Flann Sinna, son of Maelsecblainn, son of Maclruad- 
 naidh, of the line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland 
 for twenty-three years. Donnflaith," daughter of Mnrkertach, 
 son of Niall, was the mother of this monarch. 
 
 It was in this reign that Gluniarainn," King of Lochlainn, ar- 
 rived in Ireland. It was, moreover, during this reign that the 
 following deeds were done ; for it was IMaelsechlainn in person 
 that won the battle of Temhair,^* over the sons of Amlaeibh, and 
 the Lochlannaigh of Ath-cliath. In this engagement there fell 
 five thousand of the foreigners, together with Kaghnall, son of 
 Amlaeibh, the heir-apparent to the sovereignty of the Loch- 
 lannaigh. 
 
 After this success, Maelsechlainn, King of Ireland, accompani- 
 ed by Eocaidh, son of Ardgal, who was King of Ulidia for 
 
 ^' A. D. 980 is the year of his acces- 
 sion. — See Ogygia. 
 
 '^ Maelsechlaixn II. He is also 
 styled IMaelsecblaiiin Mor, i. e., the 
 Great, a title he well merited, notwith- 
 standing the calumnious aspersions of 
 the shauaachies of Munster. 
 
 " Donnflaith. This lady, after the 
 deathof Maelsechlaimi's father,I)omnall 
 O'Maelsechlainn, had been married to 
 Amlaeibh, lord of the foreigners, by 
 whom she had Gluniai'rann, who was, 
 thus, the brother of the Irish king. 
 
 ** G/«ni«?-a;iii, i.e. Iron Knee. "He 
 was probably so called from having his 
 knees cased in iron mail, against the 
 stroke of the battle axe." — O'D. In 
 A. D. 982, we find him aiding his 
 maternal brother, in a victory which 
 the latter gained over Imhar of Port 
 Largi and Domnall Claen of Leinster, 
 where many perished, both by drown- 
 ing and killing, among whom was Gilla- 
 Padraig, son of Imhar, and many others 
 of distinction. — Four Masters. 
 
 " The battle of Temkair. This bril- 
 liant victory, second only to that of 
 Clontarf. was gained by Maelsechlainn 
 in A. D. 979, immediately previous to 
 his accession to the throne. " Invaded," 
 says Moore, '• in the heart of his do- 
 
 minions, by the Northmen of Dublin 
 and the isles, he not merely repelled 
 the invasion with spirit, but, turning 
 assailant in his turn, attacked the main 
 body of the enemy's force, consisting 
 of Danes collected from all parts of 
 Ireland, and continuing the conflict 
 with but little interruption for three 
 days and nights, forced them to submit 
 to whatever terms he chose at the 
 sword's point to dictate." The Four 
 Masters record it thus : " The battle 
 of Temhair was gained by ]\Iaelsech- 
 lainn, son of Domnall, over the foreign- 
 ers of Ath-cliath and of the islands, and 
 over the sons of Amlaeibh in particu- 
 lar, where many were slain, together 
 with Raghnall, son of Amlaeibh, heir 
 to the sovereignty of the foreigners, 
 Oonamhail, son of Gilla-Arri, and the 
 orator of Ath-cliath, and a dreadful 
 slaughter of the foreigners around them. 
 There also fell in the heat of the battle 
 Braen, son of Murcadh, royal heir of 
 Leinster. Congalach, son of Flann, lord 
 of the Galenga, and his sou, Maelan ; 
 Fiachna and Cndalich, sons of Dub- 
 laech. lords of Fera Tulach, now Fer- 
 tullauh in West Meath ; and Lactna, 
 lord of Muehdorna Maighen, now Cre- 
 morue, in Monaghan. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 twenty-five years, marched against Ath-cliatli/" in order to pillage 
 and despoil that stronghold of the invaders. At this place he 
 remained encamped for three days and three nights ; thereupon 
 all of the Irish nobles, that Avere held in captivity by the Loch- 
 lannaigh, were delivered from their bonds, and amongst them 
 Domnall Claen, King of Lcinster, and all the hostages of the Ui 
 Neill likewise. He compelled them, moreover, to acknowledo-e 
 his authority, and to give up all their claims for tributes or lines 
 upon any of his territories, from the Sinainn to the sea. 
 
 It was about this time that Amlaeibh, son of Sitric," the head 
 chieftain of the Lochlannaigh, was banished out of Ireland, and 
 forced to dwell an exile at Aei Coluini Killi, in Alba, whither he 
 had been driven by the Gaels. 
 
 Alaelseehlainn 7iext marched to plunder and despoil the terri- 
 tories of the Dal g-Cais, and he there cut down the great tree of 
 Magh Adair;'' but, reader! this deed did not pass unavenged, 
 as shall hereafter be made evident. Glenn-da-loch Avas also then 
 
 ^ Marched against Ath-cb'ath. "A. D. 
 980. A great army was led by ]\Iael- 
 scchlainn, Kingof Ireland.aml Eocaidh, 
 son of Ardgar, King of Ulidia, against 
 the foreigners of "Ath-cliath. They 
 laid siege to them for three days and 
 three nights, and carried thence all the 
 hostages of Ireland, among whom was 
 Domnall Claen, King of lcinster. Two 
 thousand was the number of these 
 hostages, besides jewels, goods and the 
 freedom of the Ui Xeill from the Sin- 
 ainn to the sea from tribute or taxa- 
 tion. It was then that Maelsechlainn 
 himself issued his famous proclamation, 
 in which he said, ' Let every one of 
 the Gaeidhil who is now in servitude 
 and bondage iu the territories of the 
 strangers return to his own land in 
 gladness and peace.' Tliis was the 
 Babylonian captivity of the Irish, until 
 they were released "by Maelsechlainn. 
 It was, indeed, next to the captivity of 
 hell." — Four Mast rs. 
 
 " Amlaeibh, son of SItric. lie was 
 expelled from Dublin, or Ath-cliath, 
 after the battle of Temhair, and died 
 next year in lona, " on his pilsrrimage 
 after penance and a good life." — lb. 
 "This is the first instance in the Irish 
 annals of a Danish chieftain being a 
 Chriitian. Ware thinks the Danes 
 of Dublin embraced the Christian reli- 
 gion iu the year 930." — 0' Donovan. 
 
 ^ The great tree of Magh Adair. 
 It was called in Irish " Bile Maighe 
 Adhair" [Billch Moye Ire). It was 
 under this tree that the kings of Tho- 
 niond were inaugurated. Magh Adhar 
 is now called Moyre, and is situated in 
 the townland of Toonagh, parish of 
 Cloney, and barony of Upper Tulla, iu 
 the county of Clare. In A . D. 980, " Dal 
 g-Cais was plundered by Maelsech- 
 lainn, and the Tree of Aenach Maighe 
 Adair was cut after being dug from 
 the earth with its roots." — FourMastcrs. 
 Maelsechlainn gav(! another defeat to 
 the Dal g-Cais at Fordroma, wliere he 
 .slew seven hundred of their warriors. 
 In A. D. 994, he pillaged Ormond, 
 burned Aenach Tcte, now Nenagh, 
 and routed before him Brian and the 
 men of]\Iunster. It would appear that 
 the rival kings had madti ]X'aee soon 
 after this, for iu A. D. 997 we fiud they 
 had joined their forces, " to the joy of 
 the men of Ireland;" when Maelsech- 
 lainn, with the men of Meath, and also 
 Brian, with those of Munster, marched 
 to Ath-cliath, and comiielled the for- 
 eigners to deliver up liostages and 
 jewels. The Lochlannaigh soon again 
 rebelled, when, having attacked the 
 allied kings at Glenn Mama, they were 
 defeated in the great battle of that 
 ))lace, which has been ])rematurely 
 inserted under the reign of Congal III. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELiVND. 557 
 
 plundered** by the three sons of Kerball, son of Lorcan ; but im- 
 mediately after the whole three were killed on the same night, 
 by the miracles of St. Caeimghin, who was held in reverence at 
 that place. 
 
 It was about this time that ]\ror,°° daughter of Donncadh, son 
 of Kellach, Queen of Ireland, died. Then, also, died Erard, son 
 of Coisi,'' Primate of Ireland. Domnach Padraig was plundered^^ 
 soon after by the Lochlannaigh of Dublin, and by Murkertach 
 O'Congalaigh ; but God wreaked vengeance upon them for the 
 deed, for death came upon them before the end of that very 
 month. 
 
 It Avas now that Maelsechlainn forcil)ly carried off a collar or 
 ring of goh?^ from a chieftain of the ISTorthmen, who was called 
 Tomar f* from another of their chieftains, named Carlus,''^ he 
 carried off a sword. 
 
 Dethronement of Maelsechlainn^ A. D. 1002. 
 
 At length the nobles of Leth Mogha, and the majority of those 
 of Connaught, considered that it was Brian, son of Kenneidi, 
 that bore the labor and trouble of expelling the Lochlannaigh 
 from the country, Avhilst Maelsechlainn, who was then King of 
 Ireland, was delivering himself up to luxury,*'' effeminacy and 
 ease — a course of action that was by no means conducive towards 
 
 " Glenn-da-Ioch phmdercd. This having taken their stronghold, he car- 
 took place in A. D. 982. ried off the collar or ring of Tomar, and 
 
 >» Mor. She died in A. D. 985. the sword of Carlus. 
 
 " Erard Mac Coisi. He was not ^' Collar of gold. Moore has founded 
 Primate of Ard Macha, but Chief his ballad, " Let Erin remember the 
 Poet of Ireland. He died in A. D. 990. days of old," upon this entry. 
 Keating has already made a similar mis- '•"* Tomar. "There was no Tomar 
 take with regard to KinaethO'h-Arta- in Malachy (Maelsechlainn II.'s) time, 
 gain, led astray apparently by the and the chain or ring referred to was 
 accidental resemblance there is in sound certainly preserved at Dublin as an 
 between the Gaelic word primh-fhaidh heirloom by the Danish kings of Dub- 
 (a chief poet), and primhaidk (a ^wi- lin, the descendants of Tomar, or Tom- 
 mate), which is corrupted Latin — both rair. the Earl, tanist of the King of 
 being sounded somewhat like preeuaWi. Lochlain, who was killed at Sciath 
 Another chief poet of this name, some Nechtain, near Castledermot, in the 
 of whose compositions still survive, year 947." — 0' Donovan. 
 died in 1023. '' Carlus. It would appear that the 
 
 °'- Domnack Padraig plundered. This sword of Carlus was another heirloom, 
 
 happened in A. D. 994. The same Carlus, whose sword was now carried 
 
 church had been plundered by the Loch- away by Maelsechlainn, was son of 
 
 lannaigh two years previously. It is Aralaff I. (Amlacibh), King of Dublin, 
 
 now called Donaghpatrick, and lies iu who was killed at Kill Ua n-Daighré, 
 
 Meath. It was probably iu revenge in A. D. 8G6. 
 
 for this outrage that Maelsechlainn ^ Luxury, fyc. " This is all proviu- 
 
 again chastised the Danes of Ath- cial fabrication, for Maelsechlainn had 
 
 cllath within that very year, when, the Danes of Dublin, Meath, and 
 
558 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ridding the nation of its enemies. For this reason, Brian took 
 counsel with the nobles wlio sided with him, and the measure on 
 which they determined was to send an embassy to the monarch, 
 with instructions to inform him that it was not just that any man 
 should hold the sovereignty of Ireland, except one who would 
 toil strenuously in banishing the foreign enemies from the land ; and 
 to tell him likewise, that it had now become the right of Brian to 
 assume the sovereign power, inasmuch as the entire labor of their 
 expulsion had fallen upon him, and, also, inasmuch as it was he 
 that had delivered the country from the oppressions of the 
 pirates. They demanded of him, moreover, to grant a personal 
 conference to Brian, upon the plain !Magh-da-caemhog. But to 
 none of these proposals would Maelsechlainn consent. 
 
 Brian then called together a general gathering and muster of 
 all the nobles of Leth Mogha, both Gaels and Northmen ; for all 
 the Xorthmen, that dwelt in Leth Mogha, were at that time held 
 in subjection by Brian. With these he marched to Temhair" 
 of the Kings, and thence he sent another embassy to ^Mael- 
 sechlainn, demanding of that monarch, either to send him hostages 
 as a token of submission to himself as his sovereign, or else to 
 meet him in arms on the battle field. lie left the choice of 
 either of these conditions to Maelsechlainn. The latter replied to 
 the embassadors, by saying that if Brian would gi*ant him a re- 
 spite of one month, in order that he might have time to summon 
 around him the army of Leth Cuinn, that he would, at the end 
 of the period, either give battle or send hostages to the King of 
 Leth Mogha. He also desired the embassadors to request of his 
 rival not to devastate or pillage Meath for that month, because 
 he would submit, if he could not fight, as soon as he had received 
 
 Ijcinster coinpletoly mastered, until Brian's desic^ns were then bafllcd, as is 
 
 Brian, whose dauj^litcr w;is married to seen by the foilowin;^ entry : " A great 
 
 Sitric, Danish king of Dublin, joined hosting by Brian, son of Kcniieidigh, 
 
 the Danes against him. Never was with the chiefs and i'orces of South 
 
 there a character so historically ma- Connauglit, Osraide, and L<Miister. and 
 
 ligncd. as that of Maelsechlainn II., by with the foreigners of Ath-cliatli, to 
 
 the Munster fabricators of liistory ; proceed to Tenihair. But the foreign- 
 
 but Mr. Moore, by the aid of authen- crs set out before them with a plund- 
 
 tic Irish annals, has laudably cndea- ering party of cavalry into Magh 
 
 vored to clear his character from the Broagh, where Maclsochlainn apposed 
 
 stains with which their prejiulices and them ; and a spirited battle was fought 
 
 calumnies have attempted to imbue between tlum, in which the foreigners 
 
 it." — O'Donovan's Notes to the Four were defeated, and only a few of them 
 
 Masters. escaped. Brian then proceeded to 
 
 ^ Marched to Temhair. The first Ferta Neimhidh in Magh Breagh, but 
 
 hostile attempt made by Brian again.st returned thence without battle, with- 
 
 the monarch, took place the year afUir out Ijurning. This was the finst turn- 
 
 the great victory, which their united ing of Brian and the Connau£rhtmen 
 
 arms had achieved at Glenn !Mama. against Maelsechlainn." — FourMasters. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 559 
 
 answer from Leth Cuinn. " If that be so," said Brian, "I grant 
 biin the respite which lie requires." 
 
 Hereupon the measure determined upon by Maclseehlainn was 
 to depute Gilla-Comgaill,'* in place of his own Ollamh,"" to Aedh 
 O'Neill, King of Ailech, to Eocaidh, son of Ardgal, King of 
 Ulidia, and to Cathal O'Concobair, King of Connaught, request- 
 ing of these princes to march without delay, and join him giving 
 battle to Brian and the Dal g-Cais ; and he likewise sent them 
 word by this ambassador, that he should himself deliver up host- 
 ages, and make his submission to Brian, for he was not strong 
 enough to meet him in battle, unless they would all come with 
 one accord to defend the free royalty of Temhair, Avhich their 
 race had now held for so long a period ; " And, in truth," said 
 he, "it will be no greater shame for myself personally to refuse 
 to fight in the defense of Temhair, than it will be for the whole 
 race of Niall and for all the host of Leth Cuinn." 
 
 Gilla-Comgaill then proceeded on his embassy, bearing this 
 message from the monarch to the nobles of the race of Conn. To 
 these he made known the object of his mission ; but the follow- 
 ing was the reply which he received from Aedh O'Neill : " When- 
 ever," said he, " Temhair happened to be possessed by the Kinel 
 Eogain,- they were themselves wont to defend its rights, and 
 sought no other aid ; therefore, let him, who holds it now, stand 
 up himself and fight for its freedom as best he may," He said, 
 moreover, that he would not draw down the hostility of the Dal 
 g-Cais upon himself by fighting in defense of the sovereignty 
 of another man. 
 
 Gilla-Comgaill then returned to Mailsechlainn, to whom he 
 delivered the answer, which Aedh O'Neill had made to his 
 request. Having heard it, the monarch went himself to visit 
 that prince, whom he personally besought to come to his aid in 
 giving battle to Brian and the Dal g-Cais, and he addressed him 
 
 * Gilla-Comgaill. This was Gilla- who was slain in A.D. 1022; Dom- 
 
 Comgaill Ua Sleibhiu, who died chief nail in A. D. 1168, &c. 
 Poet of Ireland in A.D. 1031. He ^'^ In place of his own Ollamh. It 
 
 was the ancestor of the sept of O'Slei- Avould appear from this, that Gilla- 
 
 bhni or O'Sleibhin, now represented Comgall was not, then, actually the 
 
 by the O'Slevins and Slevins of Ulster, monarch's own Ollamh. The reason 
 
 Sieibni, the founder of this family, was for selecting him for the mission to 
 
 decended from Feidlimidh, fourth son Aedh O'Neill was probably because 
 
 of Eogan, son of Niall of the Nine it was thought that he would have the 
 
 Hostages. The clan was originally more influence with the Kinel Eogain, 
 
 seated west of Lough Foyle, but from the fact of his being of that race 
 
 was in after times driven thence by himself The speech delivered by 
 
 the race of Couall Gulban. There Gilla Comgall on this occasion is still 
 
 were several distinguished poets of this extant in the Irish work called the 
 
 name ; such as Muredach O'Sleibhin, Cogadh yall re Gaedlialaibh. 
 chief Poet of the North of Ireland, 
 
560 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 in these words : " If tliou wilt not fight in defence of Temhair for 
 my sake, defend it for thine own, and I sliall give thee hoátages, 
 as sureties for my leaving thee in the quiet possession thereof: 
 for I prefer that thou shouldst hold it, rather than Brian." Upon 
 this, Aedh called together a general convention of the tribe of 
 the Kinel Eogain, and acquainted them both with the personal 
 visit of Maelsechlainn, and with the offers made to himself, in case 
 he should march to aid him in his war with Brian and the Dal 
 g-Cais. To him the Kinel Eogain made answer, and unanimously 
 declared that the promise of Maelsechlainn was nothing more 
 than a treacherous lure ; " For," said they, " he knows well that 
 he is himself an older and a more powerful man than thou art, 
 and that, consequently, thou couldst not strive to wrest the 
 sovereignty of Ireland out of his hands during his lifetime ; of 
 this he is satisfied, however desirous he may be at present to get 
 us and thee to help him in his contest with the Dal g-Cais." 
 Notwithstanding this general declaration, Aedh requested of his 
 tribesmen to form a secret council amongst themselves, and there, 
 both to enter into a serious consideration of the j^roposals of the 
 monarch, and to prepare a suitable reply thereto ; ''In order that," 
 said he, " this visit of Maelsechlainn to us may not result in our 
 having let the sovereign power slip through our hands»" The 
 Kinel Eogain then took private counsel together thereupon. 
 And it was their opinion, that it was likely that very many of 
 them would never return from the war, in case they should now 
 march against the Dal g-Cais. For which reason, they declared, 
 that it was meet, that they should first acquire an inhei itance for 
 their children after them. " Because," said they, " it is idle to 
 expect, that any possessions or any wealth will ever come to 
 them from our return to our homes, if we once march against 
 that tribe, namely, the Dal-g-Cais, whose warriors are the hard- 
 iest and the bravest upon all battle-fields. Their race has never 
 yet fled before the Lochlannaigh ; and it is as certain that it will 
 not now flee before us." • Upon these grounds, they came to the 
 determination of demanding from Maelsechlainn the one half of 
 Meath,^*' together with the district around Temhair for a posscs- 
 
 "* One half of Meath. At the first lessen either the wealth or the political 
 glance, this would seem a much less importance of the Clanu Colmain. llo 
 grant, than that of the crown of Ire- knew also that Brian Avould never 
 land. It was, however, a much greater ; come to settle his Dalcassiuns in Mwxth. 
 for by doin;;- so, Maelsechlainn would He, therefore, made choice of the saf- 
 have destroyed the power and strength est as well as the most patriotic course 
 of his tribe, who were then the posses- that could, under such difficulties, be 
 sors of Meath, and would rob hLs own adopted. Throughout the whole of 
 kinsmen of their inheritance. His these proceedings, the conduct of 
 yielding up of the crown was more a Maelsechlainn is generous and high- 
 personal sacrifice ; and did not much minded ; that of Aedh O'Neill and the 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 561 
 
 sion for themselves and tlicir posterity after tliem, as the reward 
 of their going with him upon the present expedition. This re- 
 solve was forthwith made known to the monarch, who was 
 seized with great anger thereat, and forthwith returned home, 
 exceedingly indignant and dissatisfied at the result of his visit. 
 
 Upon his return home, he called around him an assembly of 
 the Clann Colmain and made known to them the reply of Aedh 
 O'Neill and the Kinel Eogain ; and when his tribesmen had heard 
 it, they came to the resolution of having Maelsechlainn set out 
 at once, at his own risk, and visit Brian unconditionally at his camp 
 at Temhair, where the latter had now been staying for one 
 month, during which time his army had been supported by the 
 men of Meath. Maelsechlainn therefore went to Temhair, es- 
 corted by twelve score of horsemen. Thus accompanied, he 
 arrived upon the green of Temhair, and proceeded at once to the 
 residence of Brian without either surety or safeguard. He 
 there acquainted his rival with all his proceedings from begin- 
 ning to end. He said that he would have given him battle, had 
 he been in a position to fight ; but, as he was not in such a posi- 
 tion, that he had now come to give hostages and to submit. 
 When Brian had heard him, he said, " As thou hast come thus 
 to my dwelling, without surety or safeguard from me, I now 
 grant thee a further respite of one year, during which time I 
 shall demand neither homage nor hostages at thy hands. And 
 in the meantime I shall pay a personal visit to those northern 
 folk, both Aedh O'Neill and Eocaidh, son of Ardgal, king of 
 Ulidia, in order that I may learn what kind of answer they will 
 make to me. And then, should they give me battle, thou mayest 
 help them against me, if thou wilt." But here Maelsechlainn 
 declared, that he would not fight against him after any such 
 manner. However, he told Brian that he would not advise him to 
 march northwards just then ; and said, that it was now better for 
 him to return to his own home until another time. " For," said 
 he, "it is enough that thou hast received my submission, as the 
 result of thy present expedition." They finally ngreed upon 
 this, and the Dal g-Cais were well pleased thereat, for they had 
 almost consumed all their provisions for the campaign. Then, 
 as he was about to march homewards, Brian presented twelve 
 score of steeds^ to Maelsechlainn, together with a large quantity 
 of gold and silver, which was to be distributed amongst his 
 people. 
 
 rest of the race of Conn, unchivalrous, lord-paramount. For the c'ifts or sti- 
 selfish, and wily. pends which the superior Irish chief- 
 ' Twelve Score Steeds. These were tains were wont to give to their feud- 
 given to Maelsechlainn, as a stipend, atories, see The Book of Rights. 
 by Brian, who had now become his 
 36 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Afterwards, wlien one 3^car had passed b}', Brian called to- 
 gether a general muster of the whole force of Leth IMogha, both 
 Gallic and Gaelic. There came thither the Lochlaunaigh^ of 
 Ath-cliath, Port-Largi, Loch Carman, and Corcach, together 
 with those that dwelt in Ui Eachach Mum-han, Corca Luighe 
 and Ui Kennselaigh. With this host, Brian marched to Ath- 
 luain,^ where the nobles of Connaught gave him hostages as 
 13ledges of their submission to him as their Ard-righ. lie sent 
 an embassy thence to IMaelsechlainn, requesting of him to send 
 his hostages thither likewise. Upon receiving this message, 
 Maelsechlainn came and delivered up his hostages and made his 
 submission in person. Thereupon, Brian mustered the full 
 strength of the men of Munster, Connaught, Leinster, and Meath, 
 and therewith marched to Dun Delgain, where he received the 
 hostages and submission of all Ulidia. 
 
 It w^as thus that Brian Borhoma acquired the sovereignty of 
 Ireland. He did not acquire it by treason, "as some will have it, 
 but by the bravery and hardihood of his deeds of arms, and by 
 his chivalrous valor. For it was not the usage of the Gaels, 
 that son should succeed to father in the sovereignty of Ireland, 
 as is evident from what has been stated hitherto in this book ; 
 but the sovereign power fell to the share of whatever man was 
 most distinguished for his personal worth, and for the greatness 
 of his actions. And therefore did the nobles of Ireland select 
 Brian Boromha as the sovereign ruler of their country, because 
 he was the man, who was most distinguished for worth and gieat- 
 ness* amongst the Irishmen of his own day. And those of the 
 
 - Lochlannaigh. " Since Brian had hostai^cs." But he did not receive liost- 
 conceived the ambitious project of de- ages from eitiier Ulidia or the North- 
 posing Maelsechlainn, he invariably ern Ui Neill within that year. For, 
 joined the Danes against him, and this when, Iiaving joined his forces to those 
 is sufiQcicnt to prove that the subjuga- of Maclsccldainn. lie liad marched to 
 lion of tlie Danes was not Brian's chief Dun L'elgain, or Dundalk. he wqs there 
 object. The Munster writers, with a met by the Uiidians. the KinelKogain, 
 view of exonerating Brian from the Kind Conaili. and Oirghialla, under 
 odium of usurpation, have asserted Acdh O'Neill and Eocaidli, son ol' 
 that, previously to his first attack, he Ardgar, who did not alhjw him to tid- 
 had been solicited l)y the king and vance further, ))ut •' they separated in 
 the chieftains of Comiaught to depose peace without hostages or booty. 
 Maelsechlainn and become monarch spoils or pledges." — See Foitr Masters. 
 himself ; but no authority for this as- ' Worth and Greatness. He was 
 sertion is found in any of our authentic certainly the ablest and most successful 
 Irish Annals." — O'Donovan's Notes to warrior amongst the Irishmen of his 
 the Four blasters. day, and perhajjs the most clever states- 
 
 ' Ath-luain ; now Athlone. Brian man, but it is (lucstionablc whether in 
 
 marched thither in A. D. 1001, " when, greatness of soul and real patriotism 
 
 having weakened the southern Ui Xeill he was not inferior to Maelsechlainn. 
 and the Connaughtmen, he took their 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 oGS 
 
 nobility who did not willingly consent to liis assumption of the 
 royal dignity, were forced to yield liim liomage against their 
 will. 
 
 It was after this manner that Maelsechlainn was compelled to 
 resign the sovereignty of Ireland and to deliver it over to 
 Brian. 
 
 BRIAN BOROMIIA,^ ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 1002. Brian Boromha, son of Kenneidi, son of Lorcan, 
 son of Lactna, son of Core, son of Anluan, son of Mathgamain, 
 son of Tordelbach, son of Cathal, son of Aedh Caemh, son of 
 Conall, son of Eocaidh Bal-derg, son of Carthann Finn, son of 
 Blod, son of Gas, son of Conall of the Fleet Steeds, son of Lu- 
 gaidh Menn, son of Aengus Tirech, son of Fer-corb, son of 
 Mogh-corb, son of Corniac Cas, son of Olild Olum, of the line of 
 Eber,^ held the sovereignty of Ireland for twelve years. Be- 
 
 * Boromha ; i. c. of the tribute. 
 According to some authorities, he re- 
 ceived the surname Boromha [Boroo], 
 otherwise written Boroirahe [Borivvie), 
 from his having revived the Boromha 
 Laighen, i. e. the Tribute of Leinster, 
 which we have seen abolished during 
 the reign of Finnacta II, A. D. 67-1- 
 694. 
 
 * Of the line of Eber. No prince 
 of this line had been universally ac- 
 knowledged as monarch of Ireland since 
 the time of Crimthann I\Ior, son of 
 Fidach. who ruled Ireland from A. D. 
 366 to A.D. 379. However, the claim 
 of the descendants of the eldest branch 
 of the children of JNIiledh to Irish mon- 
 archy had. during that time, been 
 maintained by several Eberian chief- 
 tains, such as Core, son of Lugaidh ; 
 Aengus, son of Nadfraech ; Cathal, son 
 of Fiugiiini ; Feidlimidh, son of Crim- 
 thann (styled king of Ireland by some 
 foreign writers) ; and Cormac, son of 
 Culinnan, &c., all of whom, at some 
 time, either demanded or forced the 
 king of Temhair to give them hostages. 
 It is true, that these were all of the 
 Eogauachta or Engenian liranch of the 
 line of Eber, and that in Brian's pedi- 
 gree we have to go back to Duach 
 Dalta Degadh, son of Carbri. who was 
 monarch some time previous to the 
 Christian era, before we find any direct 
 
 paternal ancestor of Brian holding the 
 sovereignty of all Ireland. For this 
 latter reason, some have styled him a 
 usurper, and such he would probably 
 be according to modern ideas, and 
 more particularly according to English 
 law. But that he was no usurper ac- 
 cording to any law of the Gaels, will 
 be evident to any one, who will take 
 the trouble of examining their institu- 
 tions : for his descent from the royal 
 stock.through a long line of distinguish- 
 ed chiefs, was so clear, that his ene- 
 mies dare not contest it in his day. 
 This, and the support of the majority 
 of the Gaelic nation, was the only valid 
 right to the Irish throne. It is certain 
 that Brian had the latter ; wherefore, 
 whatever objection may be urged 
 against the policy or the patriotism of 
 his deposition of Maelsechlainn, no ob- 
 jection can be urged against the legiti- 
 macy of his right to throne. His pro- 
 vincial rivals, the chiefs of the Eogaa- 
 achta. had raised no objection on the 
 grounds of prescriptive right, cither to 
 his own or to his brother Mathgamain's 
 title to the sovereignty of Munster, 
 from which, with the single exception 
 of Lorcan, son of Lactna, the Balcassi- 
 an family had been excluded during the 
 reigns of more than forty provincial 
 kings. Neither did the sons of his 
 brother Mathgamain object to his right 
 
56i THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 binn, daugliter of Arcadh, son of Murcadh, king of West Con- 
 naught, was tlie mother of Brian. The following Avas the de- 
 scent of Bebinn: Kianog, daughter of Kiacaran, one of the 
 Connaughtmen, bore a son and a daughter to a Leinster chief- 
 lain, named Criachan, through the prayers of the abbot Carcll, 
 and his seven hundred monks, who had joined him in making 
 supplication to God, whom they besought to grant a progeny to 
 the above-named married pair, for they had remained barren 
 for a long time. And God heard the prayers of Carell and his 
 community, and Kianog bore a son and a daughter to her hus- 
 band Ci-iachan. The son they called Maelmithidh, and Osna 
 was the name of the daughter. This daughter was afterwards 
 married to Arcadh, son of Murcadh, son of Maenach, king of 
 the West of Connaught, and to him she bore Bebinn, who was 
 the mother of Brian Boromha. 
 
 It is from a brother of Eocaidh Bal-derg, son of Carthann Finn, 
 who has been mentioned above, that the sept of O'h-Ilcedha' 
 ( O'/Zee/cee), has sprung; to wit, from Fergal, son of Carthann 
 Finn; for Ikidh, from whom the sept has its name, was the 
 soil of Makin, son of Artgal, son of Cuilen, son of Urthal, son 
 of Donngal, son of Acluan, son of Fergal, son of Carthann 
 Finn. 
 
 It was in the reign of Brian Boromha that the following event 
 took place. For it was then that Sitric, son of Amlaeibh, set 
 out in his fleet on a predatory expedition to Ulster, where he 
 plundered Kill Clethi^ and Inis Cumsgraigh, whence he brought 
 off many captives and much treasure. Soon after this, Naem- 
 han,' son of Maelkiarain, Chief Artificer of Ireland, died. Brian 
 
 to the chieftaincy of the Dal g-Cais on has not deemed it rin:ht to omit any 
 the grounds that he was the youngest notice, made in any of his originals, re- 
 son of his father Keimeidi. IJrian, lativo to any sept of the (Jaels. 
 then, was no usurper; and it is some- * Kill-Ctcthi ; now Kilclief in the 
 v;ho.t strange that some moderns, im- barony of Lecale, county Down. /)i?.s- 
 bucd with English ideas, will brand Cumsgntigh — It is now called Innish 
 him with an epithet which his cotcni- courcey, a peninsula formed by the 
 ])orory rivals (who sliould know the western branch of Loch Cuan, near 
 matter best) did not affix to his name. Saul, in the same county. Sitric plun- 
 For the names of the chiefs that in- dercd these places in A.D. 1001. 
 tervcned between Olild Olum and * Naemluin. lie died in A. D. 1003. 
 Duach, monarch of Ireland, see the In this year the Ui ISeill of the north 
 pedigree of MacCarthaigh, Part II. had not yet submitted to Brian. For 
 ' O'h-Ikcdha; in English, O'llickey, our aimals tell us that Mael.scchlainn 
 or simply Hickey. This sept wa-s a and he then led an army into Nortli 
 branch of the Clann Coilcin, of which Coimaught, as far as Traigh Eothali, 
 the Macnamaras were chiefs. The near I'allysadare, for the purpose of 
 above entry, which seems rather mis- making the circuit of Ireland, but they 
 placed here, is not found in all the were there stopped by the Ui Neill of 
 copies of Keating. But the editor the North. In this year also was 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 565 
 
 soon marched uitli a numerous army into tlie territories of the 
 Kinel Eogain in Uhster. lie proceeded thence into Meath, and 
 stayed for one night at Talti. From the hitter place, he marched 
 to Ard Alacha, where he remained for a week, and where he laid 
 twenty ounces of gold upon the altar of the primatial church. 
 He next visited the territories of the Dal Araide,^** so that he 
 had now received hostages and pledges of peace from the entire 
 principality of Ulidia. Soon after, he led another great army 
 into Tir Eogain and Tir Conaill, from which territories he car- 
 ried away very many captives as securities for the maintenance 
 of peace. 
 
 It was about this time that Maelruanaidh,^^ son of Ardgal, 
 King of Ulidia, was slain. Soon after died Clothna,^ son of 
 Aengus, chief poet of Ireland, and, likewise, Cathal,^^ son of Con- 
 cobar, who had been King of Connaught for twenty years, when 
 he died at Irrus Domnan. 
 
 After these events, ]\Iurcadh, son of Brian, with the men of 
 Munster and Leinster ; and some of the Ui ISTeill of the north, 
 around Flathbertach, son of Aluredach,^* attended by a band of 
 warlike youths ; made a predatory expedition into the territory 
 of the Kinel Luighdech'^ {Kinnaile Lueeagh), which he despoiled 
 and devastated. 
 
 fouijlit the battle of Craebli Tulcha, 
 in Antrim, between the Kinel Eogain 
 and the Ulidians, in which fell Eocaidh, 
 son of Ardgal, or Ardgar, king of 
 Ulidia, and numbers of his people. 
 His opponent, Aedli O'Neill, king of 
 Ailech, and heir-apparent to the Irish 
 monarchv, fell there likewise. 
 
 •" Dai Amide. '^A. D. 1004. A 
 hosting by Brian, son of Kenneidigh, 
 with the men of the south of Ireland, 
 into Kinel Eogain and Ulidia, to de- 
 mand hostages. They marched through 
 Meath, and remained a night at Talti ; 
 thence they marched northwards, and 
 remained a week at Ard Macha, where 
 Brian left twenty ounces of gold upon 
 the altar. After that, they went into 
 the territories of the Dal-Araide, 
 whence they carried off pledges both 
 of that tribe and the Dal Fiatach." — 
 Four Masters. It does not appear by 
 any authentic annals that Brian had 
 received the submission of the northern 
 Ui Ncill upon this occasion. 
 
 " Maelruanaidh. He was slain in 
 A. D. 1005. He had then reigned 
 two and a half years. [Madadan, sou 
 
 of Domnall, his slayer and successor, 
 was himself slain very soon after, by 
 Dubthuni, called Tore, in the middle 
 of Dun-da-leth-glas, " in violation of 
 the guarantees of the saints of Ireland." 
 By this murder Tore became King of 
 Ulidia, but Muredach, son of Madadan, 
 slew him immediately after, in revenge 
 for his father, " through the miracles 
 of God and St. Patrick." Thus was 
 the sovereignty of Ulidia seized by 
 four princes in one vear. 
 
 '- ChAlina. He died in A. D. 1008. 
 
 " Cathal, son of Conccbar. He was 
 grandson of Tadg of the Tower, and 
 died in A. D. 1009. 
 
 '* Son of Mnreúach. The reading 
 should be, son of Murkcrtach. "A. D. 
 1011, Murcadh, son of Brian, with 
 the men of Munster and Leinster, and 
 the Ui Xeill of the south, together with 
 Flathbertach, son of Murkcrtach, lord 
 of Ailech. and the soldiers of the north, 
 invaded Kinel Luighdech, whence they 
 carried off three hundred persons, and 
 a great prey of cattle." — Four Masters. 
 
 " Kind Luighdecli. This was the 
 tribe-name of the section of the Kinel 
 
566 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 At this time an army was also led by Brian, son of Kenneidi, 
 to Magli Corrann, -whence he led off Maelruanaidh O'Mael- 
 doraidh/^ King of Kind Conaill, in captivity to Kenn-coradh. 
 
 Soon after, the principality of Leinster was plundered and 
 burned by ^Murchadh, son of Brian, as far as Kill Maighncnn,^' 
 and thence to Glenn-da-locli. 
 
 It was about this time that the Lochlannaigh arrived in ^fun- 
 ster with a great fleet, on which occasion they plundered and 
 burned Corcach ; but God took vengeance upon them for that 
 deed, for Amlaeibh, son of Sitric, King of Lochlainn, and Matli- 
 gamain, son of Dubgall, son of Amlaeibh, were shortly after 
 treacherously slain by Cathal, son of Domnall,^^ son of l)ubda- 
 boirenn. After this, the Lochlannaigh and the Leinstermen 
 
 Conaill that afterwards assumed the 
 surnames of O'Docliartaiuli, O'Dom- 
 naill and O'Buisihill — in English, 0'- 
 Doliert)-, O'Donnell and O'Boyle. They 
 took their tribe-name from Lugaidh, 
 son of Sedna, son of Fergus Kenn-fada, 
 son of Conall Gulban, the common 
 ancestor of all the Kinel Conaill. The 
 first mention of the surname 0"I)onnelI 
 occurs in this year, namely, Maelru- 
 anaidh O'Domnaill, chief of Kind 
 Luighdech, who Mas then slain by the 
 men of Magh Itha. The territory of 
 the Kinel Luighdcch extended from the 
 stream of Dobhar to the river Suillighe, 
 now, anglice, the Swilly, in the present 
 county of Donegal. 
 
 '"' O'MaeUoraidh. At this time, 
 and until after the English invasion, 
 the family O'Maeldoraidh [0' Mail- 
 dory), and that of O'Canannain were 
 the ruling races of the M'hole of the 
 Kinel Conaill. The O'Donnells and 
 their correlatives were then but chiefs 
 of f he Kinel Luigdech, mentioned in the 
 last note. Both the former families lost 
 their preeminence on the rise of the 0'- 
 Doimells in the 11th and 12th centuries. 
 Tiie name O'Maeldoraidh is suppo-sed 
 to 1)0 extinct, but a branch of the sept 
 still exists under the name of !Mac 
 (iilla-Finnen, sometimes anglicized (iil- 
 finnen, but oftener Leonard. The line 
 of Mac Gilla-Finnen has been traced 
 down to John Mac Gilla-Finnen, who 
 lived about A. J). 1C12. Dr. O'Dono- 
 van informs us that " tlie present repre- 
 sentative of this family, which is one of 
 the most royal in Ireland, is unknown." 
 
 " KtU Mai glmenn; wow Killniainhan, 
 near Dublin. Murcadh's invasion of 
 Leinster is recorded under the year 
 1012. It seems to have been made in 
 consequence of a war which his ally 
 Maelsechlainn, now King of Meatli, 
 was then waging against the Leinster- 
 men and the Danes, in which he had 
 been defeated. Both events are thus 
 recorded by the Four Masters : "A. D. 
 1012. Great forces were led by Mael- 
 sechlaimi into the territoiy of the for- 
 eigners, and he burned their country as 
 far as Edar, (now llowlh) ; but Sitric 
 and Maelmorda overtook one of his 
 ])reying parties, and slew two hundred 
 of them, amongst whom were Flann, 
 Maelsechlainn's son, Lorcan, son of 
 Eclitighern, lord of Kinel Meachair, 
 and numbers of others. This was the 
 defeat of Draighnen" (now Drinan, co. 
 Dublin). After this, they record the 
 plundering of Leinster by Murcadh, 
 '• whence he carried off great spoils 
 and innumerable captives." 
 
 '" Catlial, son nf Domnall. His 
 Hither, Domnall, was then king of the 
 Ui Eachach-Mumhan, whose territories 
 bordered upon Corcach, or Cork. The 
 O'Donoghoos, or O'Donohoes of Kerry, 
 are descended and derive their name 
 (in Irish 0'Do»ncliadha), from Donu- 
 cadli, brother of this Cathal. Kian, 
 son of Maolmuaidh, chief of another 
 branch of the same sept, was at this 
 time King of Desmond. The above- 
 menlioncd burning of Cork took place 
 inA. D. 1012. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAXD. 567 
 
 invaded Mcath, where they plundered Termonn Fechin/^ and 
 whence tliey carried off' great numbers of captives ; but for this, 
 also, God wreaked speedy vengeance upon them, as is evident 
 from what we have already related of that destructive invasion, 
 which Murcadh, son of Brian, made into Leinster, when he de- 
 stroyed the territories of the Leinstermen and the Lochlannaigh, 
 after the manner which we have mentioned. 
 
 The Benefits conferred upon Ireland by Brian Boromha. 
 
 With respect to Brian, son of Kenneidi, numerous, indeed, 
 were the benefits which he conferred upon Ireland, according to 
 Avhat we read in our historic books. Here follows a brief sum- 
 mary of some of these benefits : 
 
 First of all he built churches, and delivered up his own pro- 
 per temple to each clergyman, according to his ecclesiastical 
 rank, and to his right thereto. He next built and organized 
 public schools for the purpose of giving instruction in letters and 
 the other sciences. He likewise gave either books, or the price 
 of books to those who could not afford to buy them, and who 
 were detexmined to devote themselves to the pursuit of litera- 
 ture. 
 
 To his lords and territorial princes he granted freedom from 
 oppression ; and he bestowed upon the Gaels all the wealth of 
 which he had deprived the Lochlannaigh ; and he released all 
 his countrymen from every vestige of foreign slavery. Besides 
 this, it was not to his own tribesmen that he gave those territo- 
 ries from which he had expelled the foreigners by the 230wer of 
 his arms, but he restored them to whatever Irish tribe such ter- 
 ritory had originally and rightfully belonged. 
 
 It was also Brian that first instituted specific surnames^ 
 amongst the men of Ireland, so that the members of one family 
 or sept, might be thereby distinguished from those of another. 
 
 " Termon Fechin, i. e., the sacred true, sprun,? into existence since the 
 
 ground, or the sanctuary of St. Fechin. days of Brian ; but they appear to 
 
 It is now Termon-fecken, in the barony have grown out of the necessity, or the 
 
 of Ferrard, county Louth. The in- fashion of the times rather than any 
 
 cursion in which Tcrraon Fechin was pre-arranged plan. Some family names, 
 
 plundered took place a short time be- as 0'MacÍsechlainn,0'Neill, O'Maeldor- 
 
 fore the battle of Clontarf, and in it aidh, O'Canannain, >tc., existed before 
 
 the foreigners carried off many cap- his time. And many others, such as 
 
 tives. those of his own descendants, O'Briain, 
 
 -° Surnames. The attributing of the and Mac Mathgamna, did not come 
 
 institution of surnames to Brian, is into general use until long after ; 
 
 somewhat hazarded. It is not likely neither did he himself adopt any sur- 
 
 that they were ever established by any name but that of ]\IacCenneidigh, i. e., 
 
 regular enactment or decree. Most of son of Kenneidi or Cenneidigh,who was 
 
 the Irish family surnames have, it is his own father — a thing that was the 
 
568 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Moreover, it was Brian that built the temple of Kill-da-luadh," 
 and the temple of Inis Keltrach, and that repaired the belfry of 
 Tuaim Greni." Many bridges, causeways, and great roads, were 
 constructed by him likewise. He erected, or reconstructed, nu- 
 merous duns and insulated fortresses." By him were fortified 
 Cashel of the Kings, and Kenn-abradh, Inis Locha Ke, Inis Locha 
 Goir, Dun Eochair Maighe, Dun lasg. Dun Tri Liag, Dun Grott, 
 and Dun Ani Cliach, Inis-an-Ghoill-Duibh, Inis Locha Saigh- 
 lenn, Ros-na-righ, Kenn-coradh of the Boromha, and the other 
 royal fortresses of Munster. 
 
 It was in the reign of Brian, that a lone woman had travelled 
 from Toun Clidna'' in the south of Ireland, to Torach, in the 
 north thereof, bearing in her hand a wand, upon which there 
 was a ring of gold ; and that no man was found hardy enough 
 either to rob, or insult her during her journey, so severe was the 
 justice with which Brian ruled Ireland. It was on this subject 
 that the bard composed the following verse : 
 
 " From Tor to lovely Clidna's wave, 
 AVith rings of gold upon licr wand, 
 AVhiist Brian reigned, severe and just, 
 One woman"^ lone through Eri roamed." 
 
 Ireland was indeed prosperous, wealthy and peaceable, during 
 the twelve years that this monarch reigned; in testimony 
 whereof a bard has sung the following verse : 
 
 " A raven of the sea was he ; his might like whelming flood ; 
 On many-colored Banba's isle, his glory flashed like fire. 
 He banished sadness from his land ; lie quelled all wrath and guile ; 
 And P>i saw twelve happy years, while conquering Brian reigned." 
 
 usage amongst the Irish from the carl- Mhich are unknown, and are elsewhere 
 
 iest time. It was but by degrees that pointed out. 
 
 3Iac, a son, and or Un, a grandson, " Tonn Cllilna ; \. e., the wave of 
 
 lost their primary significations in Irish Clidna [Clcena), in Glandore Ilarbor. 
 
 proper names, and came to signify any 'I'orach, otherwise called Toraidh and 
 
 descendant. Tor-inis, and now known as 'J'ory Isl- 
 
 ■-' KiU-da-luadh ; now Killaloc, in and, lies off the Iiorth-Avcst coast of 
 
 the county of Clare. The church built Donegal. 
 
 here by Brian, exists still. lais Kd- " One woman. Upon this tradition 
 
 track, is an island situated in Lough Moore has founded his ballad of " Rich 
 
 Derg, in the Shannon. and rare were the gems she wore." 
 
 " TvMÍm Gr'mi ; now Tomgrany, In Dennod O'Connor's iranslation, 
 
 CO. Clare. ' there is here inserted a list of the 
 
 '■^ Fortresses. The situations of all various tributes received by Brian from 
 
 the fortresses here mentioned, arc still his subject princes. But the present 
 
 known, with the exception of Inis-an- translator has not found it in any man- 
 
 Goiii-Duibh, i. e., the Isle of the Black uscript copy of Keating, avaikiblc to 
 
 Stranger, and Inis Locha Saighlcnn, him. lie therefore omits it, as he 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 569 
 
 Tke haitle of Cluain Tarhh, (Clooin Tarve), and its immediate 
 
 cause. 
 
 A. D. 1014. When Brian had been thus fully established in 
 the sovereignty, and whilst he v>"as dwelling in peace and happi- 
 ness at Kenn-coradh, he requested of the king of Leinster, 
 namely, of Maelmorda,°°son of Murcadh, to send him three masts 
 of excellent timber from the forest of Fidh Gaibli." These mast 
 were accordingly felled by the king of Leinster, and he set out 
 therewith for Kenn-coradh,^^ where Brian was then abiding. 
 One of these masts he requested the Ui Falghi^' to carry ; another 
 was carried by the Ui Faelain ; and the third by the Ui Muredaigh. 
 But an altercation for precedency arose between these tribes, as 
 they were approaching a morass, that lay in the forest where the 
 masts had been cut ; and thereupon the king of Leinster himself, 
 put his shoulder to the one, which was borne by the Ui Faelain, 
 whilst he wore a satin mantle, adorned with a border of golden 
 tissue and fastened with a silver clasp, Avherewith Brian had pre- 
 sented him a short time previously. He then exerted himself 
 so violently in urging on the mast, that this clasp was torn off 
 from his mantle. Thus did the king of Leinster arrive at Kenn- 
 coradh ; and there he took off his mantle and gave it to his sister 
 Gormflaith,'" (Gormla), who was the wife of Brian, requesting of 
 lier to retix the clasp thereon. The queen thereupon took the 
 mantle into her hands, but she immediately flung it into a fire 
 that burned before her, and commenced forthwith to revile hex 
 brother for remaining the vassal of any man upon earth. "A 
 
 places little faith in its being genuine. ^ Kenn-Coradh ; i. e., the head of 
 
 For a correct list of the tributes which the Weir. It ts anglicized Kincora. 
 
 the kings of Munster received, when It was the name of a hill in the town 
 
 mouarchs of Ireland, as well as when of Killaloe, where the Kings of Tho- 
 
 merely rulers of their own province, he moud had a palace. It extended from 
 
 refers the reader to the Leabhar na g- the present Catholic church to the 
 
 Ceart, or Book of Rights, and to the brow of the hill over the bridge ; but 
 
 notes thereunto annexed, as edited by no vestige of it now remains, 
 
 the learned Dr. O'Donovan, for the "^ Ui^Faliihi. Afterwards knov.n as 
 
 Celtic Society. O'Connors Faly and their correlatives. 
 
 •" Maehnorda. This prince, although The Ui Mured'aigh were the tribe of 
 styled Mac Mnrcadha, i.e., son of Mur- which O'Tuathaií or O'Toole Avas the 
 cadh, was not the ancestor of the fam- chief sept. The Ui Faelain was the 
 ily of Mac Murrough, afterwards kings tribe to which Maelmorda himself be- 
 ef Leinster. But he was the father of longed. The O'Brainns or O'Byrnes, 
 Brann, the ancestor from whom the 0' were its chieftains in after times. 
 Byrnes of Leinster, have taken their '"^ Gormjlaith. She was daughter of 
 surname. Murcadh, son of Finn. She had been 
 
 "" Fidh Gaihli. A famous wood previously the wife of Amlaeibh, king 
 
 along the river Figile, in the parish of of the Danes of Dublin ; and at some 
 
 Cloousast, barony of Coolestown, and period the wife of Maelsechlaiuu. 
 ia Kings county. 
 
570 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 thing," said she, " to Avliich thy father never stooped. But now, 
 Brian's son will demand the same vassalage from thine." 
 
 Maelmorda stored up this rebuke of the queen in his heart ; 
 and, whilst pondering thereupon the next day, he came to where 
 Murcadh, son of Brian, and Conaing, son of Donncuan, were 
 playing at chess, (according to some historians it was the Comar- 
 ba of St. Caeimghin of Glenn-da-loch, that was playing with 
 Murcadh.) Here the king of Leinster advised the adversary of 
 Murcadh to make a certain move, whereby he won the game. 
 Hereupon, Murcadh said: "Thou hadst, likewise, once given a 
 counsel to the Lochlannaigh, but its consequence was their total 
 rout at the battle of Glenn Mama." "If," replied Maelmorda, 
 "I did give them counsel which caused their defeat in that con- 
 flict, I shall now give them another counsel, whereby in their 
 turn they shall defeat thee." "I defy thee to do it," said Mur- 
 cadh. ^Maelmorda then left the company in wrath ; and he went 
 immediately to his sleeping apartment, whence he could not be 
 induced to come to the banquet-hall for tliat night. At dawn 
 next morning, he set out for his home without bidding farewell 
 to Brian. 
 
 When the monarch had heard that the king of Leinster had 
 departed after this manner, without bidding farewell to himself, 
 he sent a page, who was one of his own kinsmen, to request of 
 the angry chieftain to stay until he should have received his 
 stipend from his sovereign. This youth came up with 
 Maelmorda at Kill-da-luadh, on the east side of the Shannon, 
 as he was mounting his steed, and to him he at once delivers 
 the message of Brian. Hereupon, Maelmorda, the king of Lein- 
 ster, turned angrily upon the youth, and struck him three times 
 with a wand of yew, which he carried in his hand, so that the 
 youth's skull was fractured thereby, and he had to be car- 
 ried back to the residence of Brian. Cogaran was the name of 
 this youth ; and from him have descended the Ui Cogarain of 
 Munster. Some of the household of Kenn-coradh were now 
 anxious to pursue the king of Leinster, and not to allow him to 
 escape until he should have submitted to the will of the mon- 
 arch. However, Brian declared that no treachery should be 
 wrought upon a guest of Kenn-coradh. "But," added he, "sat- 
 isfaction shall, nevertheless, be required of him at liis own bed- 
 2:)0sts." 
 
 But Maelmorda, having returned to his own country, forth- 
 with summoned around him tlie nobles of Leinster. To them he 
 made known the insult and the reviling words which had been 
 flung both at himself and his entire principality, in the palace of 
 Kenn-coradh. Upon this, they determined to revolt against 
 Brian, and to resist him with the whole of their own strength 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 571 
 
 and tliat of the Loclilannaigli. From this arose the battle which , 
 was contested at Cluain Tarbh. But there remained no longer 
 alive in Ireland a sufficient number of the Lochlannaigh to con- 
 tend with Brian in a pitched battle ; for he had only allowed a few 
 of that nation to hold a mercantile possession of Áth-cliath, Loch 
 Carman, Port Largi, Corcach, and Luimnech, for the purpose of 
 kee))ing u]) the foreign commerce of the country. Therefore did 
 the kingofLeinster and those foreigners, who still remained, send 
 ambassadors to the king of Lochlainn, beseeching him to send a 
 strong force to their aicl, in order that they might thus be ren- 
 dered able to engage Brian in battle at Cluain Tarbh, upon Magh 
 u-Elta. When this embassy had reached the king of Lochlainn, 
 he sent his two sons, namely, Carlus Cnutus, and Andreas, to- 
 gether with a force of twelve thousand men," to assist the king 
 of Leinster and the Irish Lochlannaigh in the approaching con- 
 test. When this host had landed at Ath-cliath, i^Iaelmorda bid 
 defiance to Brian, and challenged him to meet him in battle upon 
 Cluain Tarbh. 
 
 To return to Brian, son of Kenneidi, king of Ireland ; that 
 monarch having called together the strength of Munster and 
 Con naught, marched therewith to Ath-cliath, in order to give 
 battle to his enemies on the appointed field. In his army 
 marched the Children of Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan,'^ with all the 
 branching septs of that stock — a host both numei:ous and impos- 
 ing. 
 
 " Twelve thousand men. There is Eugenians, the ruling race of Desmond, 
 
 little reason to suspect that this num- or South Munster. They constituted 
 
 ber is exaggerated. " Not only from the bulk of the second division of Bri- 
 
 Scotland, the Orkneys and Hebrides, an's army at Clontarf. Their com- 
 
 the Isle of Man and the isles of Shetland, manderwasthemonarch'sson-iu-law,the 
 
 did they muster together all the dispos- king of Desmond, namely, Kian, son of 
 
 able strength of their fellow Northmen, Maelmuaidh, son of Brann, (ancestor 
 
 but even to Denmark, Norway, and of the O'Mahonies), who is said by our 
 
 other parts of Scandinavia, messengers historians to have" exceeded in stature 
 
 were sent to solicit immediate succors ; and beauty all other Irishmen ;" with 
 
 and such were the accounts circulated him were Domnall. son of Dubdaboi ■ 
 
 by them of their prospects of success, renn, chief of the Ui Eachtsch. (ancoi- 
 
 that — as a French chronicler of that tor of the O'Donoghoos ) ; IMurker- 
 
 age states — a large fleet full of north- tach, son of Amncadh, chief of the Ui 
 
 ern adventurers, were induced by these Liathain (the Lehans or O'Lyons, and 
 
 representations to crowd to the Irish the O'h-Anmcadhas) Sgannlan, son of 
 
 shores, bringing with them their wives Cathal, chief of the Eogauacht of Loch 
 
 and children, and hoping to share, as Lein (of this tribe the O'Moriarties and 
 
 he adds, in the conquest and enjoyment O'Carrolls of Kerry, were the chief 
 
 of a country •' which contained twelve families, the latter were the immediate 
 
 cities, most ample bishopricks, and descendants of Sgamilan) ; I^oingsech, 
 
 abundant wealth." — Moore's History of son of Dunking, chief of Ui Conaill 
 
 Ireland. Uabra, (i. e., the O'Kinealies, the 
 
 ^- The Children of Fiacaidh Maeil- O'Cuilleans, or Collins, and their cor- 
 
 lethan. — These were the Eoganachta or relatives) ; Cathal, son of Don- 
 
672 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Tliitlier marched the Children of Cas," son of Conall of the 
 Fleet Steeds, namely; the Ui Bloid," the Ui Casin," the clan of 
 Aengus Kcnn-athrach,'" the Kinel Baeith, the Kinel Cuallach- 
 ta, the Kinel Albi, and the Clann Eachach around Kellach, son 
 of Dubghen ; and the Clann Coilein around Menma/' son of 
 Aedh, son of Enda, son of Esida, son of Sida, son of Maelcluithi, 
 and the Kinel Fennaic, around Maelnieda ,'* son of Baedan. 
 
 naban, cliicf of Carbri Aedlia, (ances- 
 tor of the O'Donovans) ; these were 
 the chiefs of the Eogaiiachta. In the 
 same division niarclied Mac Bctlia, son 
 of Muredach, king of Kiarraidc Luach- 
 ra, (ancestor of the O'Connors Kerry ;) 
 Gebiuacli, son of Dubagan, king of 
 Fera-Maighe-Funi, now called Fermoy, 
 (ancestor of the O'Diibagains or Dug- 
 gans) ; Molta, or Mothla, kMng of the 
 Desi (ancestor of the O'Fekns) ; Ker- 
 ball, son of Aedh, king of the Eli, i. e., 
 the O'Carroils and O'Moaghers and 
 their correlatives (Kerball was the 
 progenitor of .tlic former sept). The 
 Oirghialla, likewise, fought in this 
 division : as their own territories lay 
 farthest north of any of the Irish en- 
 gaged in this battle, they made choice 
 of fighting by the side of the descendants 
 of Eogan Mor, because their land lay 
 farthest south. They were led by Mac 
 Uidhir, prince of Fera ]\Ianach, now 
 Fermanagh (ancestor of the Maguires), 
 and Ua Kerbaill, king of Oirgialla — 
 " the two most illustrious Irishmen," 
 saj'S the chronicler, " that graced the 
 field on that day ; and therefore, 
 worthy," he adds, " of fighting under 
 the banner of Kiaa." — Moore's Iltstonj 
 of Ireland. 
 
 =" The Children of Cas ; i. c., the 
 Dal g-Cais or Dalcassians. This was 
 the tribe of which Brian himself was 
 the chief Together with the force 
 which Maelseciilainn had led from 
 Mcath, it formed the first division of 
 the Irish army. It was placed undi'r 
 the immediate command of Murcadli, 
 the eldest son of Brian. 
 
 •' Ui Bloid. Tiie territory of this 
 tribe lay in the north-e.a.«t of Clare. 
 Blod, son of Cas, from whom it was 
 called, was the common ancestor of 
 many septs of the Dal g-Caig. It was 
 the sept or tribe to which Brian himself 
 
 belonged. — See tke pedigree of O'Briain, 
 Part III. 
 
 '^ Ui Caisin. The Macnamaras, 
 called also Sil Aeda, and the Mac Clan- 
 cliics, Brehons of Thomond, were des- 
 cended from this sept. Caisin was the 
 brother of the Blod, who is mentioned 
 in the last note. 
 
 ^ Aengus Kenn-Athrach. Ho was 
 also the brother of Blod, and son of 
 Cas. The O'Deas of Kinel Ferraaic, 
 are sprung from liim ; and also the Ki- 
 nel Baeith, of which the chiefs took the 
 name of O'Muehneda, which their de- 
 scendants have probably changed to 
 Mulvy; the present representatives of 
 the Kinel Cwdachla, are unknown to 
 the editor, unless by it is meant the 
 Muintir Conlochta, also descended from 
 Aengus Kenn-Athrach, of which the 
 O'Dubghinns, now possibly translated 
 by Duggan, descended from the Jvel- 
 lach, son of I)ul)ghenp. mentioned iu 
 tiie text, were the chiefs. The Kinel 
 Albi and Kinel Eachach, are unknown 
 to the editor ; they were, probably, 
 branches of the same as the foregoing. 
 
 ^ Mcnmn. He was the direct ances- 
 tor of the ]\[acnamaraH, who had their 
 name, in Irish Mac Conmara, from Con- 
 mara. son of Domnall, son of Meuma. 
 
 ** Maclmela. 'J'he Kinel Fcrmaic, 
 of which he was the chief, have been 
 already classed amongst tlie descend- 
 ants of Aengus Kenn-athrach. It is 
 ]i03sibly from him that th(; surname 
 O'Maeilmeda is derived. 
 
 The catalogue above given by our 
 author is very confused ; and it would 
 appear, that the several alias names of 
 the race are given therein, as those of 
 separate tribes. The great divisions 
 of the Dal g-Cais then were the Ui 
 Bloid of wliicli lirian and his immediate 
 relatives were tin; chiefs; the Ui (^'aisin, 
 or Clann Coilein, commanded by Men- 
 
THE IIISTOKY OF IRELAND. 
 
 573 
 
 There went tliitlicr moreover, the children of Kenneidi," son of 
 Lorcan, namely : Annluan Lactna, Oosgarach, Senchan, Ogan, 
 Maelruanaidh and Angidh ; and Murcadh, son of Brian, with 
 his son Tordelbach, and with his five brothers, namely : Tadg, 
 Donncadh, Domnall, Concobar, and Flann ; and thither went 
 likewise, the children of Donncuan, son of Kenneidi, namely: 
 Lonnargan, Keilichar, Kenneidi, Fingalach, and Innractach and 
 Eocaidh, son of Innractach, with Dubghen, son of Eocaidh, and 
 Beolan ; and all of their kinsfolk and dependents that followed 
 these chieftains. 
 
 Thither marched likewise, a large host of the men of Con- 
 naught,*" around Tadg, son of Murcadh O'Kellaigh, king of Ui 
 Mani ; and around Maelruanaidh na-Paidre" h-Eidin, king of 
 Aidni, and besides these, there came a great number of the other 
 nobles of Connaught through love of their relative, Brian, whose 
 mother, Bebinn, was a Connaught woman. In addition to these, 
 Maelsechlainn, son of Domnall, king of Meath, marched thither, 
 leading the entire strength of his kingdom to the aid of Brian. 
 
 Then, when the adverse hosts had arrived thus constituted upon 
 Magh n-Elta,"*" they were drawn up in battle array, *^ each host 
 
 ma ; the Kind Fermaic, or Clann Aen- 
 gusa Kenn Athracli, commanded by 
 Maelmeda and Kellach ; and the Clanu 
 Ifernaiu, or race of Aengus Kenn- 
 atinn, not mentioned by this name, 
 though one of its chiefs, Niall, sou of 
 Conn, (the ancestor of O'Quinn), fell at 
 Clontarf, fighting by the side of Mur- 
 cadh, son of Brian, whose henchman he 
 then was. The name of Clann Ifer- 
 nain has been preserved in that of O'h- 
 Ifernaiu, now generally called Heffer- 
 uan. 
 
 ^" Cinldren of Kenneidi, Sfc These 
 were the members of Brian's immedi- 
 ate family. Many of them were found- 
 ers of Irish septs, to which they left 
 their names, such as Senchan, of the 
 Shannahans, of North Mimster ; Ogan, 
 of the O'Hogans ; Kenneidi, of the 
 O'Keunedies of Ormond ; Lonnargan 
 of the O'Lonnergans ; Kelichar of the 
 O'Kellchers ; Maelruanaidh, of the 0' 
 Muvronies ; Beolan, of the O'Bolans ; 
 Inurachtach, of the Mac Innrachtaigh, 
 or Mac Enrights. — See Pedigree of 
 O'Briain, Part II. 
 
 "" The Men of Connaught. They 
 formed the bulk of the third division 
 of the Irish army at Cloutarf. Some 
 
 Munster tribes also, are recorded as 
 having fought in this division They 
 were the men of Corca Baskin, under 
 its chieftain Domnall, son of Diarmaid, 
 (ancestor of the O'Dounells of Clare ;) 
 the people of Musgraide Bréogain. now 
 Clan William, in Tipperary, under 
 Murkertach, son of Core (ancestor of 
 the 'Quirks) ; the meu of Ui Cua- 
 nach, (now Coonagh, co. of Limerick,) 
 under Aedh, son of Lochlainn ; the men 
 of Musgraide h-Aeda, neur the source 
 of the Blackwater, co. Cork, under 
 Echtigherna, sou of Donnagau, (ances- 
 tor of the Donnagaus). 
 
 ■" Na Paidre ; i. e.. of the Prayer. 
 
 « 3I(igh n-Elta. Clontarf lay in the 
 famous plain called by this name. 
 
 " The battle array, ifc. The army 
 of the Lochlannaigh and Leinstermen. 
 was also drawn up in three divisions or 
 columns. The first of these is describ- 
 ed as consisting of the Danes of Dub- 
 lin, or Ath-cliath, under the command 
 of Dolat and Conmacl ; and of a por- 
 tion of their foreign au.xiliaries, under 
 the Norwegian princes, Carol and An- 
 rud, (Carlus and Andreas) ; amongst 
 the latter were 1,000 clad from head to 
 foot in iron mail. This division was 
 
574 
 
 TFTE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 in its respective position. On the one side stood the king of 
 Leinstcr and tlic Loclilannaigh ; and pver this host the two sons 
 of the king of Lochlainn, namely, Carlus and Andreas, were the 
 commanders-in-chief On the other side stood Brian, and the 
 nobk^s of Munster, Connaught and Meath ; and here Murcadh, 
 son of Brian, was the commander-in-chief of his father's army. 
 It is, however, to be observed here, that Maelsechlainn would 
 notallow*Miis forces to aid either host in the conflict that ensued. 
 The battle^* was then jioured forth, and both armies strove with 
 hardihood for the victory. But at length the Lochlannaigh and 
 the Laighnigh were .completely vanquished ; and the two sor.s 
 of the king of Lochlainn were slain, and around them fell the 
 captains of the fleet, which they had led to Ireland, together with 
 six thousand and sixty*" of their immediate followers. Besides 
 these, there fell in that slaughter four thousand of the Lochlan- 
 naigh, who came from Ath-cliath, and other Irish seaports. Ma- 
 elmorda,^' king of Leinster, was likewise slain therein; with him 
 
 opposed to the first column of the nation- 
 al army under Murcadh and Maelsech- 
 lainn. The second division of the enemy 
 consisted of the Irish of Leinster, under 
 their kinf^ ]\Iaelraorda, and his sub- 
 chiefs ; they were supported by a cntli* 
 or battalion of the fcreig-ners. This 
 division was opposed by the second 
 column of the Irish, under the com- 
 mand of Kian, king of Desmond. The 
 foreign auxiliaries from the Hebrides, 
 the Orkneys, and the coasts of the 
 Baltic, under the earls Bruadar and 
 Lodar, formed the third division ; with 
 them were joined a number of Britons 
 from Wales and Cornwall, under their 
 respective chiefs. The third division 
 of the Irish, under Maelruanaidh, king 
 of Ui Fiacrach 7\.idni, and 'J'adg, king 
 of Ui Mani, was opposed to these. 
 
 ^' Maelschlamn would not allow, fyc. 
 This assertion is not true, as shall be 
 shown further on. Keating has too 
 easily adopted it from the Munster 
 calumniators of JNIaelsechlainn. 
 
 " T/ic battle. "The Danes were 
 better armed than the Irish, in this 
 battle ; for thc^y had 1,000 men dressed 
 in armor from head to foot in iron 
 mail. In a dialogue between the ban- 
 shee, Aeibill, or Aeibinn, of Craglea 
 and theliero, Kinacth O'llartagain, the 
 
 * The cath consisted of 3,000 men. 
 
 former is represented as advising the 
 latter to shun the battle; "for Gaei- 
 dil (the Gaels) were only dressed in 
 satin shirts, while the Danes were in 
 one mass of iron :" 
 
 " Leinteacha sróil ar shiol n-Gaeidhll, 
 Is GoiU iia ii-aenbliroin iarainn." 
 
 — O'Donovan. 
 
 ^ Six thousand and sixty. " In the 
 Chronicle of Adcmar, monk of St. 
 Eparchius of St. Angoulcme, it is 
 stated that this battle lasted for three 
 days ; that all the Norsemen M'cre 
 killed ; and that crowds of their wo- 
 men, in despair, threw themselves into 
 the sea ; but the Irish accounts agree 
 that it lasted only from sun-rise to sun- 
 set on Good Friday.'' In the Nialla 
 Saga, published in Johnston's Ant. 
 Ccllo-Scand., a Northman prince is in- 
 troduced as asking, sometime after the 
 battle, what had become of his men, 
 and the answer was, that " they were 
 all killed ! "—Id. 
 
 *' Maelmorda slain. Amongst the 
 chiefs who fell with him were Dunla- 
 ing, son of Tuathal, ion of Ugari, royal 
 heir of I/'inster, (ancestor of the 
 O'Tooles) ; and Brogarban, son of Con- 
 cobar, taiiist of Ui J^'alghi, (ancestor of 
 the Connors Falghi), " and," say oin- 
 annalists, " a countless slaughter of the 
 
THE HISTORY OF IKELAND. 
 
 575 
 
 fell the greater jDart of his nobles, and three thousand three hun- 
 dred of the men of Lcinster. 
 
 On the other side fell Murcadh/' son of Brian, heir apparent 
 to the sovereignty of Ireland, around whom were slain the greater 
 part of the nobles of Munster and Connaught, together with four 
 thousand of his people. 
 
 It happened also, that a body of Lochlannaigh, in fleeing at 
 random from the carnage, came upon the royal ])avilion, and re- 
 cognized Brian therein ; upon which, Brodar, who was the cap- 
 tain of this band, attacked and slew the monarch in his tent.^^ 
 He was, nevertheless, slain himself at the same time, by Brian 
 and his attendants. 
 
 The following are the names of some more of Brian's people, 
 who were slain in that battle, to wit : Tordelbach, son of Mur- 
 cadh,^° son of Brian ; Conaing, son of Donncuan, son of Kennei- 
 digh ; Molta, son of Domnall, son of Faelan, king of the Desi 
 Mumhan ; and Eocaidh, son of Dunadach, chieftain of Clann 
 Sganlain, with Niall Ua Cuinn, and Cuduligh, son of Kennei- 
 digh, these were the three companions of Brian; and Tadg Ua 
 Kellaigh,^! king of Ui Mani; Maelruanaidh na Paidre h-Eidin, 
 
 Leinstermen aloug with them." Neither 
 O'Morda, chief of Leighis, nor O'Nolun, 
 chief of Fotharta, fought against Brian 
 on this occasion. 
 
 •"* Murcadh. He fell by the Danish 
 chief Anrud, whose brother he had just 
 slain, and who had sought him out for 
 vengeance. " On seeing him approach, 
 the Irish hero rushed forward to meet 
 him, and seizing him firmly with his left 
 hand— the right having been enfeebled 
 by the constant use of his weapon — 
 shook him fairly out of his coat of mail 
 and there transfixed him with his sword. 
 The Norwegian, however, in dying, 
 had his full revenge ; for as the con- 
 queror stooped down over him, he 
 drew forth the knife or dagger, which 
 hung by Murrough's (Murcadh's) side, 
 and plunged it into his heart." — 
 Moove. 
 
 ■'^ Slew the monarch in his tent. " It 
 was in the midst of the rout and car- 
 nage of the defeat, that the Danish ad- 
 miral Bruadar, having fled for refuge 
 with a few followers into a wood, into 
 the ncighborliood of Brian's tent, per- 
 ceived from his lurking place that the 
 monarch was surrounded with but few 
 attendants — most of his body guards 
 
 having joined in pursuit of the enemy, 
 — and was kneeling, with hand up- 
 raised and his mind on prayer intent. 
 Taking advantage of the moment, 
 Bruadar rushed into the tent, and, after 
 a short struggle, put the aged monarch 
 and a boy, who was in attendance upon 
 him, to death. Then, unable to restrain 
 his triumph, he held up his blade, still 
 warm from the royal victim's heart, 
 and cried out, "Let it be proclaimed 
 from man to man, that Brian has fallen 
 by the hand of Bruadar." — Id. 
 
 "^ Tordelbach, son ofMwcadh. " Tor- 
 delbach, the king's grandchild, then 
 but fifteen years old, was found drown- 
 ed near the fishing weir of Clontarf, 
 with both his hands fast bound in the 
 hair of a Dane whom he had pursued 
 into the sea." — Annals of Clonmacnoise. 
 
 " Tadg Ua Kellaigh. He was the 
 first that was called Ua Ce'laigh or 
 O'Kelly ; from him all the families of 
 the Kellies of Ui Mani, or Hy Many 
 in Gidway, are descended. The Ui 
 Mani, afterwards represented bv the 
 O'Kcllies, the O'Maddens, O'Mulallies 
 or Lallies and others, sufiPercd dread- 
 fully in this battle. Tadg Mor ( Tigue 
 More) , their chief, performed prodigies 
 
576 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 king of Aidni,^2 CTcbenacli, son of Dubagnn, king of Fera 
 Maiglie ; Mac-Bcth;\igh, son of Muredach Clacn, king of Ciar- 
 raide Luaclira; Domnnll, son of Diarmaid, king of Corca-Bas- 
 kinn; Sganlan, son of Cathal, king of tlie Eoganacht of Loch Lein ; 
 and Domnall, son of Emhin, son of Cannech, Maer-nior of Marr,^ 
 in Alba; and Muredach, Maer-mor of Lemhain;^ and with 
 these fell many other nobles whose names are not mentioned 
 here. 
 
 One thousand and tliirty-fonr, was the year of our Lord in 
 ■which the battle of Clnain Tarbh was fought. The conflict took 
 place on the Friday before the Easter of that year. Here follows 
 a record, left by a'^bardic historian in testimony of the number 
 of years that liad elapsed from the birth of Christ to the death of 
 Brian, son of Kenneidigh : 
 
 " Four and thirty years,"' in truth, 
 Above one thousand then had passed, 
 Since Clirist had come to heal our woes, 
 When Brian died on Bregha's plain." 
 
 of valor, and "was one of the principal 
 heroes in tlie battle. 
 
 " King of Aidni. Maclruadh- 
 naidh O'h-Eidhin {Mmlroone O'llyne), 
 was the first that bore tlie surname of 
 O'h Eidin. His brother, Maelfabaill, 
 was the immediate progenitor of tlic 
 O'lTeynes, or Hynes, of Soutli (Jon- 
 naught. The Ui Fiachrach Aidhni, 
 {ee Feeghrash Ei/nic), the tribe wiiich 
 Maelruanaidh Jed to Clomarf, is now 
 represented by the O'lleynes, O'CIcr- 
 ies, Mac Kilkellies, Shauglinessies and 
 their correlatives. See Pedigree of 
 O Sechmmigh, Part HI. 
 
 Tiie king of Connaught is represent- 
 ed by Mr. Moore and some modern his- 
 torians as having conmianded the Con- 
 naughtmen at Clontarf. But of this 
 tliere is no historic evidence, if we re- 
 ject some legendary and higlily exag- 
 gerated romances. There is nothing in 
 our aimals to show that any other of 
 the Connaughtmen than two tribes just 
 named, had partaken in that conflict. 
 
 " Maer-mor of Marr. " He was 
 the chief of the lioganachta of Magh 
 Geir-gliiiin, or Marr in modern Scot- 
 land, and descended from Mani Lemna 
 (the brotlier of Carbri Ijuachra, ances- 
 tor of the O'Moriarties, of Kerry,) son 
 of Core, son of Lugaidh, son of Olild 
 
 Flann Beg, son of Fiacaidh Maeil-le- 
 than, son of Eogan Mor, son of Olild 
 Ohnn, king of Munster, and common 
 ancestor of King Brian, and of this 
 Domnall (or Donald), of Marr, who 
 assisted him against the common ene- 
 my." — 0' Donovan. 
 
 " Maer-mor of Lemhain ; i.e., Great 
 Steward of Lemliain, [Levvin, or Leio- 
 7?i?i), in Latin Levinia, and in English, 
 Lennox. O'Flaherty is of opinion tliat 
 tlic Stuarts, carls of Lennox, and after- 
 wards kings of Scotland and England, 
 arc maternally descended from the 
 Gaelic Maer-niors of Lemhain, and he 
 informs us that in the reign cjI' Robert 
 H., (A. D. i:]70— 1395), Alan Stuart, 
 a relative of that monarch, marrying 
 the heiress of Donncadh, or Duncan, tlie 
 last chief of this family, transferred the 
 title of liCnnox to his family. — -In the 
 note last quoted, there is what seems an 
 oversight on the part of its learned 
 author ; for O'Flaherty states that the 
 Great Stewards of Marr, were descend- 
 ed from Carbri, called Cruithncch, or 
 the Pict ; and the Great Stewards of 
 Ijcnnox, from Mani Lemna, his brother. 
 
 " I'^iur and thirty ; i. e., in (Taclic, 
 Ceithre hliaglina trichad. The copy of 
 the poem from which Keating has 
 quoted this verse, must have been cor- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 577 
 
 And his age was eight years above four score at that time : as a 
 bard has told us in the following verse: 
 
 " For four score years and eight 
 (Riiiht truly is their number told), 
 Ilad Brian lived in victories, 
 Before that rougli and desperate fight." 
 
 And, moreover, Murcadh, son of Brian, was three score and 
 three years when he fell in that same battle of Cluain Tarbh. 
 
 The return from the battle — The Dal g- Cats reject the claims of the 
 
 Eoganachta. 
 
 At length, after winning the battle,^ and after the deaths of 
 Brian and Murcadh, and very many of the Gaels besides them, 
 and after the rout of the Lochlannaigh and the Leinstermen, 
 with the slaughter of the greater part of their forces, the Dal g- 
 Cais and the tribes of Fiacaidh Maeil-lethan marched together in 
 harmony as far as Mullach Masdenn.^'' But here, the descend- 
 
 rupted. In a copy of the romantic tale 
 called the Battle of Clontarf, now in 
 the editor's possession, the verse gives 
 the date thus : 
 
 "Ceithre bliaghna défr, Is deimhin, 
 Agus mile gan mebhaill, &e." 
 
 In English : 
 
 " Fonrteen years to a certainty, 
 And one thousand without falsehood, Ac." 
 
 This has been proved to be the true 
 date, and is probably the correct read- 
 ing of the verse. Keating's having 
 placed too much reliance upon the one 
 given in the text, has probably hel])ed 
 to cause him to make so many mistakes 
 in chronology with regard to Brian 
 and his cotemporaries. 
 
 "^ After winning the battle, ^c. On 
 the day after the battle, all the wound- 
 ed of the Irish army, were conveyed to 
 the camp at Kill Maighcnn, now Kil- 
 mainhani, by Tadg, son of Brian, and 
 Kian, son of Maelmuaid. On the fol- 
 lowing day, the monks of St. Colum, at 
 Swords, came to bear away the mon- 
 arch's body to have it interred in the ca- 
 thedral of Ard Macha. From Swords 
 it was conveyed to the monastery of 
 St. Kiaran at Daimliag, now Duleek. 
 
 37 
 
 Thence it was borne to Louth, where 
 the Primate, Maclmuri, awaited the 
 royal remains, and had them borne to 
 the archiepiscopal city. The bodies of 
 Murcadh and the other chiefs of the 
 family were borne thither at the same 
 time. Brian's body was deposited in 
 the north side of the cathedral, and 
 those of Murcadh and the others, on 
 the south. There, for twelve nights, 
 the religious of the order of St. Pat- 
 rick kept watch over the dead, chauut- 
 ing hymns, and offering prayers for the 
 repose of the departed souls. — See 
 Mo're. 
 
 '"'' Mullach Masdenn. Now Mullagh- 
 mast in the county of Kildarp. Doun- 
 cadh, son of Brian, was not at the bat- 
 tle, he had been absent, with a portion 
 of the Dal g-Cais, on a predatory into 
 Leinster, whence he returned on Holy 
 Satuiday with immense booty. Having 
 formed a junction with his brother Tadg 
 (Teiijue), and the Eugenian chieftain, 
 Kian, and having sent much offerings to 
 the Archbishop of Ard Macha, the 
 camp at Killmainham was broken up ; 
 and the army of IMunster commenced 
 its first day's march homeward, at the 
 end of which the above mentioned se- 
 cession took place. 
 
578 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 ants of Fiacaidli !Macil-letlian, formed themselves into a distinct 
 body and separated from the descendants of Oas. And then, as 
 the latter found that they were themselves superior to the Dal g-Cais 
 in the number of their warriors and followers, thej determined 
 to send an embassy^ to demand hostages from Donncadh, son of 
 Brian, and to explain to him that, inasmuch as they had lately 
 given hostages to his father Brian, and ])rcviously to his fiithcr's 
 brother, Mathgamain, son of Kenneidigh, it was now their right 
 to possess the sovereignty of Munstor, according to the rule of 
 alternate succession. To this, Donncadh, son of Brian, replied: 
 "It was not with your own good will that you ever gave any 
 hostages to father or relative of mine ; but it was they themselves, 
 that compelled both you and the other men of Ireland to pay 
 them involuntary homage." And he added, " that he would 
 give no hostages, or other pledges of submission either to their 
 race or to any other ; and he said moreover, that he would not 
 himself, have allowed them to have separated from him even then, 
 had his host been numerous enough to meet them in battle, until 
 they should have given pledges of their remaining as submissive 
 to himself, as they had been to his father." 
 
 When this reply Avas told to the chiefs of Desmond, they arose 
 in haste, and seizing their arms, they went out to give immedi- 
 ate battle to the Dal g-Cais. Whereupon Donncadh, son of 
 Brian, commanded his people to place their wounded men within 
 the rath of Masdenn, and to leave one third of his force, as a 
 guard upon them; "and then," said he, "let the other two 
 thirds give their answer to yonder folk upon the battle field!" 
 He gave these orders, though the Dal g-Cais were then little 
 more than one thousand strong, whilst their adversaries of Des- 
 mond, had a force of three thousand men. But whcu the 
 wounded men had heard the orders of their chieftain, they arose 
 hastily from their beds, and having put moss upon their wounds 
 and hurts, they with one accord determined to participate in the 
 expected battle. 
 
 "• To send an embassy, ^c. It was ity of our ancient historians. " 'i'iiis 
 Kian, King of Desmond, that sent prince bore a high character for wis- 
 this embassy ; and it was liis undoubted dom and bravery. ' No one,' says Ihi,- 
 right according to the will of Olild historian, 'seemed more worthy of 
 Olum, tlie common ancestor of tlie the crown of Munstcr or monarchy 
 Eoganachta and the Dal g-Cais. He is of Ireland, than Kian ; and liad fate so 
 condemned by many historians for his decreed it in all appearance, Ireland 
 attempt on this occasion ; but whatr would not have felt those calamities 
 ever its immediate policy or consoquen- which she has so long endured.' Ac- 
 CC3 were, there can lie no doubt that he cording to Erard Mac Coisi, chief 
 was every way qualified to till the post chrf)niclcr of the Irish, who died anno, 
 to which he aspired. Ilardiman, in his 1023, Kian was as gallant and geuer- 
 Irisk Mimlrelsy, bears the following ou.s a prince as tlie house of Eber ever 
 testimony to his worth, on the author- produced." — Irish Minstrc'sy,]). 3GC. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 570 
 
 UpoM this, wlien the descendants of Fiacaidh Maeil-letlum, 
 had seen the fortitude with which the warriors of the Dal g-Cais 
 — the wounded as well as the unwounded — were prejjariug 
 themselves for the conflict, they retired from the field^" without 
 fighting, and returned to their homes, without having received 
 any hostages from the rivals of their tribe. 
 
 ^^ Tkcij retired from the field, ifc. 
 Keating has both confounded ',vhat 
 took place on this occasion with wliat 
 occurred subsequently in the case of 
 the Ossorians, and has not at all stated 
 the real cause of the retiring of the 
 Eoganachta. O'Halloran has given a 
 wrong idea of the immediate pre- 
 liminaries that led to it ; and Mr. 
 Moore has been entirely misled as to 
 the motives that actuated the chieftain 
 who brought it about. The following- 
 quotation, translated from the Cath Clu- 
 ana Tarbh,&n ancient talc not likely to 
 flatter the opponents of the sous of 
 Brian, may assist the reader in forming 
 his own judgment thereon.—" "When 
 Domnall, son of Dubdaboirenn, saw him 
 thus preparing to force hostages from 
 the sons of Brian, he demanded of Kiau, 
 what advantage would be conferred by 
 the latter chief upon himself, as the 
 reward of his assistance in that attempt. 
 In reply to this Kian told him that he 
 should receive nothing more than the 
 possession of his own lordship of Ui 
 Eachach, free from tribute. " Then by 
 my word,'' said Domnall, " I shall risk 
 neither hurt nor hardship in winning a 
 sovereignty for thee." " I care little," 
 rejoined Ivian, " whether ray attempt 
 have thy consent or not, for thou shalt 
 be forced to march out and assist me 
 to the throne." " Then if we be to 
 suffer compulsion," said Domnall, seced- 
 ing from Kian. AVhen Donncadh, son 
 • of Brian, had learned that a quarrel be- 
 tween themselves had sprung up 
 amongst the chiefs of the race Éogan 
 Mor, he struck his camp, carried off 
 his wounded men, and marched." — Such 
 v.'as the reason why the Engenians did 
 not fight. When the half of his own 
 sept (for Domnall and he both belonged 
 to the same branch of the race of 
 Eogan,) had deserted him, and, very 
 likely, several other southern septs, less 
 
 interested in his success, had followed 
 their example, Kian was no longer 
 strong enough to attack the Dalcas- 
 sians. After his return to Rathlenn, 
 he challenged Domnall to a battle, 
 which was almost immediately fought 
 upon the plains of jSIagh Guillidhe. In 
 this conflict Kian and his two brothers, 
 Cathal and Raghallach, were slain, 
 with great numbers of his followers. 
 Mathgamain, or Mahon, the son of 
 Kian, would then have shared his fa- 
 ther's fate, had not his maternal uncles, 
 Donncadh and Tadg, speedily led their 
 Dalcassians to his assistance. Domnall 
 risked another battle against Mahon, 
 thus reinforced, but he was totally de- 
 feated, and lost his eldest son, Cathal, 
 therein. After this, Mathgamain was 
 for a short time reinstated in his father's 
 principality. But within the same 
 year, the two Dalcassian princes quar- 
 relled amongst themselves, and came to 
 open hostilities. Thereupon Domnall 
 again attacked their nephew, whom he 
 killed in a pitched battle. He then led 
 the Eoganachta to Limerick, in the be- 
 ginning of A. D. 1015; but he was 
 there met in battle by the sons oi 
 Brian, then temporarily reunited. In 
 this engagement the men of Desmond 
 were routed and cut to pieces, and Dom- 
 nall himself slain. — It i? from the 
 Mathgamain. or Mahon, just mention- 
 ed, that the Desmond sept of O'Math- 
 ganina, in English, O'Mahony, has its 
 name. It is to be distinguished from 
 the Dalcassian sept of Mac Mathgam- 
 na, or Mac Mahon, of Corca Baskinn, 
 and also from that of ilac Mahon of 
 Oirghialla. — " A sad tale v.'as that," 
 says Macliag, the chief historian and 
 chief physician and biographer of Brian, 
 in recording his death; " for there was 
 not in Ireland in his own time, any 
 man more distinguished for generosity 
 and nobility than that Kian." 
 
580 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Tlic Dal g-Cais in Osraide — Repuhe of Donncadh, son of 
 Gilla-Padraig. 
 
 As to the Dal g-Cais, they marched onward from Mullach Mas- 
 denn to Ath-Aei**, on the brink of the Berba, where they com- 
 menced to drink water from that river. But hither Donncadh, 
 son of Gilla-Padraig, king of Osraide, had come to attack them, 
 with a numerous force, composed of Leinstcrmen and Ossorians, 
 which he had mustered upon the plain of Clann Kellaigh.^^ 
 Thence he had sent out scouts to discover the route by wliich 
 the Dal g-Cais were coming, for he held them in the greatest 
 hatred, because Brian had placed his father^^ in bondage, and he 
 had detained him in chains two years, and also because he had 
 plundered and devastated all Osraide, and had sLain numbers of 
 its inhabitants. Therefore did the son of Gilla-Padraig store up 
 hostility towards the Dal g-Cais ; and in consequence thereof, he 
 sent arnbassadors to meet them at Ath-Aei, with instructions to 
 demand hostages from them as the condition of his allowing 
 them to march through his territories unmolested. But Donn- 
 cadh, son of Brian, at once told these ambassadors that he would 
 deliver up no hostages to their chief " Then," said they, " thou 
 shalt reply to the demand of the son of Gilla-Padraig by a bat- 
 tle." "And a battle he shall get," said Donncadh ; but_ it is a 
 sad thing, that I did not meet with a death like that which my 
 father found, before I suffered the insult of having hostages de- 
 manded fiom me by the son of Gilla-Padraig." Hereupon the 
 ambassadors expostulated with the angry chieftain of the Dal g- 
 Cais, requesting him not to feel so very indignant, whilst it was so 
 evident that his force was not sti'ong enough to give battle to 
 that led by their own king. To this Donncadh thus rejoined: 
 " Were it ever lawfid to punish any ambas.--adors for the pur- 
 port of the message they conveyed, I would now have had your 
 tongues plucked out of your heads for this present insolence. 
 For, though I had but one solitary camj) follower to stand by 
 me, I should never think of refusing to contend in battle with 
 the son of Gilla-Padraig and the nun of Osraide." 
 
 '" Alh-Aei; otherwise, Baile-atha- Ossory, luive their name. He had been 
 
 aci. A ford on the river lierba or Bar- captured by Brian in A. D. 982, and 
 
 row, where the town of Athy, in the was shiin in A.I). 095 by Donnoban, 
 
 county of Kildarc, now stands. son of Imhar. i.ord of the J)anes of 
 
 " Tlie Plain if Clann Kelhiifrh. "Waterlord. 'I'he latter cliief was son 
 
 The territory of the Clann Kellaigh of ln«rlK'n, danrr-hter of i)onnoban 
 
 (not the O'Kellies) lay in the north of (from whom the O'Donovans,) the 
 
 the present county of "Wicklow.—O'/). kin.;; of the Ui Fid,i;hcnti, who was 
 
 '= His father ; i. e., Gilia-Padraif?, slain by Brian in A. 1). 977, in ven- 
 
 the prog-enitor from whom the Fitzpa- geance for his brother, Mahoa. 
 tricks, or the Mac fjiiiiu-ratricks of 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 5S1 
 
 Donncadh, then, again gave orders, that one third of his host 
 Bhould be pUiccd on guard as a protection for the wounded, and 
 that the other two thirds should meet the expected battle. But 
 when the wounded men heard of these orders, thej sprung up. 
 in such haste that their wounds and sores burst open ; but thoy 
 bound them up in moss, and grasping their lances and their 
 swords, thej came thus equipped into the midst of their comrades. 
 Here tiiey requested of Donncadh, son of Brian, to send some 
 men to tlie forest with instructions to bring thence a number of 
 strong stakes, which they proposed to have thrust into the 
 ground, ." And to these stakes," said they, " let us be bound with 
 our arms in our hands, and let our sons and our kinsmen be 
 stationed by our sides ; and let two warriors, who are unwound- 
 ed, be placed near each one of us wounded, for it is thus that we 
 will help one another with truer zeal, because shame will not al- 
 low the sound man to leave his position until his wounded and 
 bound comrade can leave it likewise." This request was com- 
 plied witb, and the wounded men were stationed after the man- 
 ner wdiich thev had pointed out. And, indeed, that array in 
 which tlie Ual g-Cais wei'e then drawn, was a thing for the mind 
 to dwell upon in admiration, for it was a great and amazing 
 wonder.''^ 
 
 And tlie men of Leinster and Osraide were seized with fear 
 and dismay when they saw the astounding courage wherewith 
 the Dal g-Cais stood up against them. And what they said 
 was, " It is not of marching off" or of running away, or of break- 
 ing their ranks, or of 3^ elding to panic, that yonder men are 
 thinking, but of doing their»utmost to defend themselves by mak- 
 ing a firm, obstinate, and hand to hand fight. For this reason, 
 we will not now contend with them in battle, for to them life 
 and death are alike indifferent." Hereupon the son of Gilla- 
 Padraig spoke and said: "It is cowardly on your part to 
 speak thus ; for you are numerous enough to eat up yonder folk 
 were they but cooked." "That is true," replied they, "but it 
 is equally true, that not one man of them can be slain, until five 
 or six of us have first fidlen by his hands. And then what ad- 
 vantage will result to us from dying in their company ? " 
 " Then," said the son of Gilla-Padraig, " as you will not give 
 them battle, you will at least pursue and harass them on their 
 homeward march, for they are impeded by the number of their 
 wounded, and are, consequently, unable to contend with you 
 in skirmishing." And this course of action was what was 
 
 ^^ An Amazing Wonder. For a lory of Ire' and. lie alludes to it in his 
 more rationally told account of this al- ballad of " Remember the glories of 
 most fabulous array, see Moore's His- Brian the brave." 
 
582 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 adopted ; and the army of the Dal g-Cais suffered more losses 
 from the skirmishes that thence ensued, than it could have done 
 from a pitched battle. From Ath-Aei, they marched through 
 want and hardship towards their own country ; and at length 
 there reached home under Donncadh, son of Brian, but eight 
 hundred and fifty of their number, for they had lost ten men 
 above seven score, in their skirmishes with the men of Osraide/' 
 who had continued to harass them, while they persisted in re- 
 fusing to stand a pitched battle, 
 
 Maelsechlainn's Account' of the Batik of Cluain Totrhh. 
 
 The following is the account which Maelsechlainn, son of 
 Domnall, king of ;Meath, gave of the battle of Cluain Tarbh, 
 within one month after it had been fought. For when the chiefs 
 
 0' Osraide. It does not appear that treachery on the part of this prince, 
 
 any of this tribe had been engag-cd on -n-hom they describe as a true patriot 
 
 cither side at Clontarf. But it is said and mao-nanimous hero. The Dalcas- 
 
 that its chief had lield aloof upon tlie sian writer, however, in order to exalt 
 
 plain of Clann Kcllaigh, determined to the character of the popular hero, 
 
 shape his conduct by the result. Brian, did not hesitate to blacken, 
 
 The only sons of Brian that survived unjustly, the fame of his injured com- 
 
 the battle of Clontarf were Tadg petitor." — Were there, indeed, no other 
 
 (Tei'^ue) and Donncadh [Dnnoúgha], evidence of its falsehood, than the acts 
 
 ^ C ' ' ., -• , 11 i-nfT -■ ; _\ ,.<• ii.:„ ,.1. ;,..,!„«.,„ „,.,1 ™„,,„-«„r, v^..;..r<r> 
 
 Of the others, Murcadh [Morongha). of this chivalrous and generous prnice 
 his eldest son, had lallen there, and during the whole course of his long 
 Concobar, Flann and Domnall, though life, the latter alone should be iiroof 
 mentioned by Keating as engaged enough to show that he was incapable 
 therein, had either died or been slain of treacherously conspiring with his 
 previously. The surviving brothers cí)uní<ry's enemies. INlr. Moore does 
 fell out soon after their return to Kenn- ample justice to his conduct. This 
 Coradh, and in the same year (A.D. writer, though he has been guided by 
 1014) fought a desperate' battle, in foreign rather than by Irish ideas and 
 which victory declared in favor of custcnns, in condemning as an usnrjia- 
 Tadg, and where RuaidriO'Donnagain, lion, the accession of Brinn to Urn 
 Lord of Aradii, and many others were throne— an accession that, in truth, dif- 
 slain. But they were soon after rccon- fered in nothing from several prcccdiuu' 
 oiled by the mediation of the clergy of occasions, except in his not having kil!- 
 Munster, and reigned in partnership, as ed his predecessor. He informs us that 
 kincs of 'Leth Mogha, until A. D. 102.3. " When the mortal wound received by 
 when Tadg was treacherously murder- Murrough (Murcadh,) the son of Brian, 
 cd by the men of Eli, at the instigation iu the battle of Clontarf, deprived the 
 of his own brother. army of its acting leader, the conimaud 
 " MadsechlaJn'x Acrotmt, l^c. — This devolved upon the patriotic and high- 
 account is pure fiction. It was ab- minded Malachy, (Maelsechlainn) by 
 stracted bv Keating from the historieal whom llio victory, then all but acrrnn- 
 tract called Cnth Cluana TtirWi,"which" i)lishcd was folhjwed up to its full and 
 says Dr. O'Donovan, " is a Minister perfect success." — Jlistortj of Ireland. 
 production, full of prejudice against The fact that Maelsechlainn acted as 
 the dethroned Maelsechlainn, but the a tru(> patriot, and faithlul ally on that 
 northern annalists acknowledge no occasion, is amply borne out by the ac 
 
THE HISTOKY OF IRELAND. 
 
 583 
 
 of the Clann Colmain had requested him to give them a descrip- 
 tion of the conflict, he addressed them and said, " That in his 
 opinion, he had never witnessed any battle like unto that one ; 
 for." said he, "were one of God's angels to come from heaven 
 to give a description thereof, it would appear incredible even 
 from him. During that engagement I stood aloof with my 
 forces and remained a spectator of the contest, but at no greater 
 distance than the breadth of a single fallow field and its hedge. 
 And then, as soon as the warriors had come to close quarters, 
 and were fighting breast to breast and hand to hand, striking 
 and cutting at one another, like, indeed, unto that from a crowd- 
 ed flock of Avhite gulls, when the summer tide is making for the 
 land, was the dazzling glare of the bright shields, brandished 
 above the heads of the combatants. And even if we felt any 
 
 counts of the battle, as banded down to 
 us in the annals of the Four Masters, 
 and the annals of Ulster. The follow- 
 ing" is the simple and unadorned entry 
 which the compilers of the former have 
 made thereof; — "A. D. 1013,(correctly, 
 1014.) An army was led by Brian, 
 sou of Kenneidigh, son of Lorcan, 
 King of Ireland, and by Maelsechlainn, 
 sou of Domuall, King of Temhaii-. The 
 foreigners of the AVest of Europe as- 
 sembled against Brian, and Maelsech- 
 lainn, and they took with them ten hun- 
 dred men with coats of mail. A spirit- 
 ed, fierce, violent, vengeful and furious 
 battle was fought between them, the 
 likeness of which was not to be found 
 in that time, at Cluain Tarbh, on 
 Friday before Easter precisely. In 
 this battle were slain Brian, son of 
 Kenneidigh, monarch of Ireland, who 
 was the Augustus of all the west of 
 Europe, in the 88th year of his age ; 
 Murcadh, son of Brian, royal heir of 
 Ireland (Righdamna Erenn) in the 63d 
 year of his age ; Conaing, son of Don- 
 cuan, son of Brian's brother ; Tordel- 
 bach, son of Murcadh, son of Brian ; 
 Mothla (or Molta.) son of Domnall, son 
 of Faelan, Lord of the Desi Mumhan ; 
 Eocaidh, son of Dunadach, i. e., the 
 Lord of Clann Sganulain ; Niall Ua 
 Cuinn ; Cuduiligh, son of Kenneidigh, 
 the three companions of Brian ; Tadg 
 Ua Kellaigh, Lord of Ui Mani ; Mael- 
 ruadnaidh na Paidré hEidin, Lord of 
 Aidni ; Gcbennach, son of Dubagan, 
 Lord of Fera Maighe ; Mac Betha, 
 
 son of Muredach Claen, King of 
 Kiarraide Luachra ; Domnall, son of 
 Diannaid, Lord of Corca Baskin ; 
 Sgannlan, son of Cathal, Lord of Eo- 
 ganacht Locha Lein ; and Donmall, 
 son of Erahin, son of Cainncch, Great 
 Stewai-d of Marr, in Alba. 
 
 " The forces were afterward routed 
 by dint of battling, bravery and 
 strikipig, by Maelsechlainn from Tul- 
 cainn (the small river now called the 
 Tolka, which joins the sea at Clontarf,) 
 to Ath-cliath, against the foreigners 
 and the Leinstermen ; and there fell 
 Maelmorda, son of Murcadh, son of 
 Finn, King of Leinster, &c. — {See 
 list, alrrady given) — there were also 
 slain Dubgall, sou of Amlaeibh 
 and Gilla-Kiarain, son of Gluniairn, 
 two tanists of the foreigners ; Sic- 
 frith, son of Lodar, Earl of Ins- 
 h-Orc, (the Orkneys ;) Brodar, chief of 
 the Danes of Denmark, who was the 
 person that slew Brian. The ten hun- 
 dred in armor were cut to pieces, and 
 at least 3000 of the foreigners were 
 slain— Maelmuri, son of Eocaidh, Co- 
 marba of St. Patrick, proceeded to 
 Sord Coluim Killi, (Swords,) with seni- 
 ors and relics, and they carried thence 
 the body of Brian, King of Ireland, and 
 the body of Murcadh, his son, and the 
 head of Conaing, and the head of Moth- 
 la. Maelmuri, with his clergy, then 
 waked the body with great honor and 
 veneration, and they were interred in a 
 new tomb." 
 
584 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 desire to help either party, it was no longer in our power to in- 
 terfere, because our spears and arms were entangled above our 
 heads by the clotted hair ; for the wind of the spring had 
 borne down upon us clotted locks of hair, torn from the heads and 
 beards of heroes, as they cut, and hacked, and slaughtered one 
 another with weapons sharp and fleet. So that from this cause 
 alone, we had much to do in keeping the handles of our spears 
 and battle-axes clear of each other. And Ave then considered that 
 those actually engaged in the fight could not have suffered more, 
 than the men who had to continue spectators of such a fight, 
 and keep themselves from running mad." 
 
 The reader must here observe that, although Maclsechlainn 
 and the men of ]\[eath, had marched to the field as part of the 
 army of Brian, there was nevertheless a treacherous plot be- 
 tween himself and the Lochlannaigh, by reason of which, he did 
 not lead his men into the line of battle Avith the rest of the 
 monarch's forces ; but Avhat he did Avas to draw his followers 
 aside from the fight, as had been previously arranged Avith the 
 strangers. 
 
 Neither Avere the Kinel Eogain nor the Kinel Conaill present 
 at that engagement ; but their absence AA'as caused by no fliult 
 of theirs, for they had proffered to march thither, but Brian had 
 himself refused their aid, saying in the greatness of his soul, that 
 as he had gained all the victories he had ever gained Avithout their 
 help, so should he gain this one. 
 
 MAELSECHLAINN, ARD-RIGH. 
 
 A. D. 1014.*''' j\raelsechlainn, son of Domnall, resumed the 
 sovereignty of Ireland after the death of Brian, and reigned for 
 nine years. It Avas during this period that the following events 
 took place : 
 
 Maclsechlainn, aided by O'Neill and O'Macldoraidli, led a 
 numerous force against Ath-cliath, Avhich he burned," in spite 
 of the remnant of the Lochlannaigh, that had survived the 
 
 °° A. D. 1014-15. Aft'ir the death res5. Tlicy tlicnmarcliod into Ui Kenn- 
 
 of his rival, Brian, and liavint,' com- selaigh, and do.'ipoilcd the wliolc territo- 
 
 plcted the victory of Clontarf, Mael- ry, carrying off many thoinand cap- 
 
 sechlainn regained the unopposed lives and cattle. However, a party of 
 
 possession of the sovereignty of Ire- his foragers were intercepted, and 
 
 land. many of tliom were slain, ^[aelscch- 
 
 *" Alh-cliafh hurned. " A. T). 101<). lainn tlien returned into T.PÍnsttM', fol- 
 
 An army was led V)y Alaclsr-chlainn, lowed hy O'Neill, O'Maeldoiaidli and 
 
 O'Neill and O'Maeldoraidh (the Princes O'lluairc (Prince of Prefni.) when ho 
 
 of Kinel Eogain and Kine! Conaill) to carried off the hostages of T/>ins(e.r, 
 
 Ath-cliath; and tliey burned the fort^ and gave that principality to Donn- 
 
 rcss, and all the houses outside the fort- cuan, sou of Dunlaing. Hence he pro- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 585 
 
 slaugliter of tlieir race by Brian, upon tlie field of Cluain TarLli. 
 Thence be marched against the Ui Kennselaigb, the whole of 
 whose country he pillaged and burned, of whose people he slew 
 great numbers. After this, the monarch marched into Ulidia," 
 whence he carried off very many hostages. 
 
 It was about this time that Donnagan,'''* King of Leinstcr, and 
 Tadg O'Piiain,"' lord of Ui Drona, with several other noble per- 
 sons, were slain in the middle of Lcithglinn by Donncadh, son 
 of Gilla-Padraig. Maelsechlainn, King of Ireland, then made a 
 hosting into Osraide, where he slew Donngal, son of Gilla-Pad- 
 raig, son of Donncadh, and many other people together with 
 him, and whence he carried off" immense spoil and great numbers 
 of captives. It was about this time that Mac-Liag,'" the Arch- 
 poet of Ireland, 'died. 
 
 It was this Maelsechlainn, of whose reign we are treating, that 
 founded the monastery of St. Mary's, at Ath-cliath, about the 
 year of one thousand and twenty-two. '' In the latter part of his 
 
 ceeded unto Osraide, whence lie car- 
 ried off inuumerable preys aud many 
 prisoners. — See Four Masters. 
 
 ^ IJUdia. Maelsechlainn received 
 the hostages of Ulidia in A. D. 1016. 
 " Were any further refutation of the 
 calumny (against this king,) want- 
 ing, we should find it in the prompt 
 according assent of the whole nation, 
 and to his immediate resumption 
 of the supreme power, and the instant 
 vigor with which, on his accession, 
 leaving no respite to the renniant of 
 the Danish force, he attacked them in 
 their head quarters, Dublin, and set- 
 ting fire to the citadel and the houses 
 around it, destroyed the greater part 
 of that city." — Moore. 
 
 "'' Donnagnn. His name was Donn- 
 cuan, not Donnagan. He was the 
 king whom Maelsechlainn had placed 
 over Leinstcr a short time previ- 
 ously. The murder was perpetrated 
 at Tx'ith-glinn, in A. D. 1016. Tadg 
 Ua Riaiu was slain by the son of Gil- 
 la-Padraig upon the same occasion. 
 " After they had made friendship, and 
 taken a mutual oath in the beginning 
 of the day." Maelsechlainn invaded 
 Osraide within the same year, and 
 avenged his murdered vassal by slay- 
 ing Doimgal, the brother of the treach- 
 erous Donncadh, and destroyed the 
 country as related above. 
 
 "* O'Riain, now Ryan. This family 
 is still numerous in Idrone and through- 
 out Leinster, but they are to be dis- 
 tinguished from the O'Maeilriains, or 
 O'Mulryans, now O'Ryans, of Owny 
 O'^lulryan, in Tipperary. Both are 
 of the race of Cathaeir Mor, King of 
 Ireland, but their pedigrees are differ- 
 ent. The Ui Drona descend from 
 Drona, 4th in descent from that King. 
 The Ui Maeilriain spring from Fergus, 
 son of Bogan Goll, son of Nathi, son of 
 Crimthan, son of Enna Kennselach, 
 son of Labraidh, son of Bresal Belach, 
 son of Fiacaidh Bacheda, son of Cath- 
 aeir Mor. — O'D. 
 
 '" Mac-Liag. His name was ]Mur- 
 kertach, son of Cukertach. He was the 
 chief physician and secretary of Brian 
 Boromha, of v/hich monarch he is said 
 to have written a life, which, accord- 
 ing to Dr. O'Donovan, was extant in 
 MS. in the last century, though no 
 copy of it is known to exist at pres- 
 ent. He died in A. D. 1016. See some 
 extracts from his writings in Hardi- 
 man's Irish Minntrelsij. 
 
 " One thousand and twentji-two, 
 O'Connor's translation has it Í045 ; 
 one of the editor's MSS. 1034, and 
 another has the one given above, which 
 has been adopted as the least objection- 
 able. 
 
586 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 life, this monarch had iiuleed necome a good and a pious man." 
 When the strength of Lochlannaigh had been broken in the 
 battle of Cluain Tarbh, and when they no longer held any au- 
 thority in the country, except the warden ship of some seaport 
 towns, whence, indeed, they still made occasional plundering 
 incursions into the interior, though not strong enough to give a 
 pitched battle to the Gaels, then did Maelsechlainn, after the 
 example of Brian" begin to reorganize the public schools, and to 
 build new churches and to repair those tliat had fallen into 
 decay. We are told, moreover, that he maintained three hun- 
 dred students in those schools, at his own cost. 
 
 It was, also, in the reign of Alaelsecldainn that Braen'* son of 
 Maelmorda, son of Murcadh, who had been king of Leinster for 
 two years, was treacherously blinded by Sitric, son of Amlaeibh, ' 
 at Ath-cliath. Kenannus," of IMeath, M^asnow robbed and pil- 
 
 '■ A good and piom man. Judging 
 from all that is trustworthy in the re- 
 cords of bis own time, IMaelsechlainu 
 was a good man, not only subsequently 
 to the death of his rival, but during 
 the whole course of his own career. 
 He was not alone good, but he stands 
 forth prominent as the most stainless 
 and the noblest of all the Irish laymen 
 of his time. — " In approaching the 
 close of this eminent prince's career." 
 Mr. Moore has truly observed, '" it 
 should not be forgotten, among his 
 other distinguished merits, that, unlike 
 the greater part of those chieftains, who 
 flourished in what may be called the 
 Danish period, he nover, in any one in- 
 stance, sullied his name by entering into 
 alliance with the spoilers of his country; 
 and as the opening year of his reign 
 had been rendered memorable by a 
 great victory over the Danes, so, at the 
 distance of nearly half a century, his 
 closing hours were cheered by a tri- 
 umph over the same restless, but no 
 longer formidable foe. In the siimmer 
 of 1022, being sunninoned to the field 
 by some aggres.sion of the Northmen, 
 he encountered their force at the Yel- 
 low Ford, a place now called Athboy, 
 and defeated them with great .slaugh- 
 ter. Retiring soon after the battle to 
 a small island upon Loch Annin, he 
 there ended his life in ])enitencc and 
 prayer ; being attended in iiis dj'ing 
 moments by the three comarbas of tít. 
 
 Patrick, St. Columba and St. Kiaran ; 
 one of his latest cares being to endow 
 a foundation for the support of 300 or- 
 phan children, to be selected out of the 
 principal cities of the island. " — History 
 of Ireland. 
 
 '^ After the exam-pie of Brian, It 
 was not enough to have robbed Mael- 
 sechlainn of his merits during the life- 
 time of his rival, but the i\[unster 
 writers would even deprive him of part 
 of the praise due to the meritorious 
 deeds he performed after that hero's 
 death. He was, however, no less dis- 
 tinguished for his pious munificence, 
 victories, and attention to the internal 
 improvement of his country during his 
 first reign, than he was after his resto- 
 ration ito the throne. In these Brian 
 might rather be said to have imitated 
 him. 
 
 ">* Bram. Tie was blinded by the 
 former allies of his father, in A.\). 1018. 
 Blinding was the usual mode of incapa- 
 citating a prince from reigning. Braeu 
 died in consequence of this ill-trcat- 
 menl. 
 
 " Kcnanmis robbed. Kcnannus, or 
 KcUs, in Meath, was robbed in A. D. 
 1019, and many persons were slain in 
 tlic middle by the church. ]\Iaelscch- 
 lainn was then at eimiity with the 
 Kinel Eogain of the North, by whom 
 his two sons, Ardgar ami Ardcu, were 
 slain. The restless plunderers of Dub- 
 liu seemed to have seized upon that 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 587 
 
 lagcd by this same Sitric and the Loeldannaigh of Ath-diatli. 
 On this occasion many persons were slain by these plunderers, 
 and numbers were carried oft' into captivity. 
 
 Some time after, Sitric, son of Amlaeibh, and the inhabitants 
 of Ath-cliath, received a great defeat from Ugari, son of Dun- 
 laing,'^ son of Cathal, who was king of Leinsterfor three years: 
 a dreadful slaugliter was made of the Lochlannaigh therein. 
 But, not long afterwards, Donnslebi, son of Maelmorda, burned 
 the house of Ugari, at Dubh-loch."of Lis Culi, and Ugari himself 
 perished in the flames. It was also about this time, that Sitric, 
 son of Imhar" lord of the Lochlannaigh, of Port Largi, was slain 
 by the king of Osraide. At length, Maelsechlainn,'" king of 
 L'cland, died at Cro-inis," inLocli Anind. 
 
 From the death of this monarcli to the invasion of the Anglo- 
 Normans, I am of oj^inion that no king was ever universally 
 acknowledged as the sovereign ruler of Ireland ; for, although 
 
 opportunity for making an incursion 
 into his dominions. It M'as but two 
 years previously that he had defeated 
 them with great slaughter, at Odba ; 
 and in 1021 he avenged the agression 
 by ravaging tlieir territories. 
 
 '" Ugari, son of Dunlaing, He 
 gained this victory in A. D. 1021, at 
 Dclgni Mogarog, now called Delgany, 
 in the barony of Rathdown, County 
 Wicldow. 
 
 " Duhloch ; i. e., the Black Lough 
 Its situation is unknown. The death of 
 Ugari did not take place for two years 
 after that ofMaelsechlainn, as is.seen by 
 the following entry : " A. D. 1024. 
 Donnslebi, Lord of Ui Faelain, took a 
 house forcibly from Ugari, king of 
 Leinster, and from Maelmorda, son of 
 Lorcan, Lord of Ui Kennselaigh, and 
 from his son ; and the three were slain 
 therein." — Four Mastrs. 
 
 '" Sdric, son of Imhar. He was slain 
 in A. D.1022. 
 
 " Maelsechlainn died. "A. D. 1022. 
 The victory of Ath Buidhe Tlactga 
 (i. e., the Yellow Ford of Tlactgo, now 
 Athboy, in Meath,) was gained by 
 Maelsechlainn, over the foreigners of 
 Ath-cliath, and numbers were slain 
 therein ; of which was said : 
 
 His last red victory was gained, 
 One evening at the Yellow Ford ; 
 And thirty boiindini: days he saw, 
 From t.hii until his final huur. 
 
 He lived but a month after this. Mael- 
 sechlainn ]\Ior, sou of Domnall. son of 
 Donncadh, pillar of the dignity and 
 nobility of the Western world, died at 
 Cro-inis, of Loch Aniud, after receiving 
 the body of Christ and his blood, after 
 being anointed by the hands of Amal- 
 gaidh, Comarba of Patrick ; and the 
 Comarba of Colum Killi, and the 
 Comarba of Kiaran, and most of the 
 seniors of Ireland were present at his 
 death ; and they sung masses, hymns, 
 psalms and canticles, for the welfare of 
 his soul. SorroM'ful to the poor of the 
 Lord was the death of Maelsechlainn, 
 as is evident from this quatrain : 
 
 Four hnndred forts that king possessed, 
 In which both flesh and food were given. 
 Guests from the elemental king, 
 Found welcome in each fort of these." — Fo^ir 
 Masters. 
 
 ^ Cro-inis, i. e., the isle of the house 
 or hut. It is still called Cro-inis in 
 Irish, but Cormorant Island in English. 
 It lies in the north-west part of Lough 
 Eunell, near Mullingar. Some frag- 
 ments of the ruins of a small castle, or 
 stone house, are still to be seen on the 
 island. The fort of Dun-na-Sgiath (i. 
 e., the Fort of the Shields), the seat of 
 Mae'.sschlainu, which consisted of sev- 
 eral concentric entrenchments, is sit- 
 uated on the bank of the lake opposite 
 this island. — O'Donovan. 
 
588 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Listorians name certain cliieftains as Ard-righa, or supreme 
 king.s, after his time, still I find that none of these reigned with- 
 out opposition," notwithstanding their assumption of the title of 
 monarchs of the whole kingdom. To this fact a historic bard 
 has borne testimony in the following verse : 
 
 " After the happy Maclsechlainn, 
 Sou of Domnall, son of Donncadh, 
 Each noble king ruled his own tribe, 
 But Eri owned no sovcreig-n lord." 
 
 DONNCADH, ARD-RIGn, 
 
 Go Fresabra. 
 
 A. D. 1028." Donncadh," son of Brian Boromha, son of Kennei- 
 digh, son of Lorcan, of the line of Eber, held the sovereignty of 
 the greater part of Ireland, and, more especially, that of the 
 kingdom of Leth Mogha, for fifty years." This is the opinion of 
 Finghin MacCarthaigh," as written in his book on the histor}^ of 
 
 *' Without opposition, i. e , gan fres- 
 abhradh" (gonnfrassowra). Maelsech- 
 lainn may be justly styled the last full 
 king of Ireland. So several of the pro- 
 vincial kings were styled ard-righa by 
 their own partizans, after his time, and 
 are even named as such by foreign 
 writers, still it does not appear that 
 any of them was ever either regularly 
 installed as monarch, or accepted as 
 such by the majority of the nation. By 
 our antiquarians, the toparch, whose 
 power predominated for the time, was 
 styled, " Righ go fresabhradh " (Ree go 
 frassowra) , i.e., king with opposition, 
 or rather king iinder protest. 
 
 '^- A. I). 1023. In this year, Donn- 
 cadh, having procured the assassination 
 of his brother and co-regnant, as already 
 stated, became sole king of Munster, 
 and he soon after received hostages of 
 Osraide, Connaught, Ix'inster and the 
 Danes of Dublin. At this time, how- 
 ever, the power of Flathl)ertach O'- 
 Neill was paramount in Meath and 
 Ulster; whilst the sages. Corcran the 
 Cleric, and Cuan O'Lochain, were nom- 
 inally considered as the regents of Ire- 
 laud. 
 
 *^ Donncadh III. 
 
 *^' Fiftij years. This number is en- 
 tirely wrong ; for there elapsed but 
 
 fifty years, in all, from the battle of 
 Clontarf to the deposition of Donncadh, 
 in A. I). 10G4. During that period, 
 I\Iaelsochlainn reigned for nine years ; 
 after which the nominal regency lasted 
 according to some, for six years. About 
 the year A.D. 1053, Donncadh's power, 
 even in the .«outhern half of Ireland, 
 began to sink beneath that of Diar- 
 maid, son of Donncadh, styled Mael-na- 
 mbo, King of Ixlnster, and the f(jster- 
 father and protector of Tordelbach, 
 son of the murdered Tadg. Under this 
 power, the fortunes of Donncadh finally 
 sank in A.D. 1003. Donncadh then, 
 cannot, with the utmost latitude of ex- 
 pression, be considered as having been 
 sole king, even of all Ij&ih. Moghn, for 
 a longer period than thirty years. At 
 no time can he be considered as mon- 
 arch of all Ireland, for none of the 
 northern tribes liad ever suljiiiittcd to 
 his authority. His title to be styled 
 Ard-righ Erenn is, indeed, much less 
 ostensible than that of any of those 
 toparchs, whom our ancestors have 
 called righa go frcsabradk. 
 
 "' Fnighin MacCdrthaigli ; otherwise 
 Florence MacCarthy. lie lived in the 
 fifteenth century, and wrote a history of 
 Ireland, said to be still extant in man- 
 uscript. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 589 
 
 Ireland, and it is also that of some otlicr Irish antiquarians; and 
 I do m^-sclf deem it more likely to be correet, than that of those 
 who say that Donncadh held the sovereignty for no longer than 
 twelve years; for the opinion of Finghin is in accordance with 
 the number of years that elapsed from the time of Biian to the 
 Anglo-Norman invasion, whilst the other assertion does not 
 accord^'^ therewith. 
 
 It Avas during the reign of Donncadh that Harold Conan," 
 Prince of Britain, lied to Ireland, where he found sheltei', in the 
 year of our Lord one thousand and fifty-one. It was then, like- 
 wise, that Mathgamliain O'Kiagain,^' King of Breagh, captured 
 Amlaeibh, son of Sitric, Lord of the Lochlannaigh of Ireland, 
 and forced him to pay a ransom of two hundred cows and sixty 
 steeds, for his liberty. It was, moreover, during the .reign of 
 Donncadh, that Flathbertach O'Neill*® set out upon his pilgrim- 
 age to Eome. After this, Tadg O'Lorcain,*'' king of Ui Kenn 
 selaigh, died at Glenn-da-loch, where he had been doing penance 
 About this time, likewise, died Gormflaith,®^ daughter of Donn- 
 
 ^ Does not accord. The reason of 
 the discrepancy here noticed, was ap- 
 parently caused by the fact that the 
 partizans of each pretender to the 
 throne had styled their chieftain king 
 of Ireland, from the time of his access- 
 ion to the rulership of his own tribe or 
 province. In our authentic annals, 
 which acknowledge no monarch after 
 Maelscchlainn, there is no such confu- 
 sion of dates. 
 
 ^ Harold Conan. Harold, son of 
 Earl Godwin, and the last of the Saxon 
 kings of England, is here meant. '1 he 
 second wife of Donncadh was the sister 
 of Harold. The latter fled to Ireland 
 after the rebellion of his father against 
 Edward the Confessor. In this coun- 
 try, saj-s the Saxon Chronicle, he re- 
 mained " all the winter on the king's 
 security." Donncadh afterwards sup- 
 plied him with a fleet and a body of 
 armed men, wherewith he made a suc- 
 cessful landing in his own country. 
 
 ""* Mathgamaiii Ua R la gain ; in En- 
 glish, Mahon O'Eef^an. "A.D. 1029. 
 Amlaeibh, son of Sitric, lord of the fo- 
 reigners, was captured by Mathgamain 
 O'Riagain, lord of Brcagha, who ex- 
 acted 1,200 cows as his ransom, toge- 
 ther with 140 British horses, and sixty 
 ounces of gold, and tlie Sword of Carlus, 
 
 and the Irish hostages both of Leinster 
 and Leth Cuinn ; and sixty ounces of 
 silver as his fetter-ounce (i. e., the 
 price of his fetters) ; and eighty cows, 
 for word and supplication ; and four 
 hostages to Ua Riagain, as securities 
 for peace ; and the full value of the life 
 of the third hostage."- — Four Masters. 
 This account is more likely to be near 
 the truth than Keating's. — Ed. 
 
 '" Flathbertach O'Neill. He was king of 
 Ailech, from A. D. 1004, to A. D. 1Ó36. 
 He was a distinguished and powerful 
 chieftain in his day, and might be 
 styled king of the North of Ireland, 
 from the death of Maelsechlaiuu to his 
 own. His pilgrimage to Rome took 
 place in A. D. 1030, whence he returned 
 next year. He is thence styled in th? 
 O'Neill pedigrees, An Trosdain, i. e.. of 
 the Pilgrim Staff. 
 
 ^ Tadg O'Lorcain. "A.D. 10.']7. 
 Tadg Ua Lorcain, tanist of Ui Kerni- 
 selaigh, was taken prisoner at Kill 
 Cuillinn, (Kilcullon,) l)y Donncadh, 
 son of Gilla-Padraig, and he was after- 
 wards blinded by the son of Mael-na- 
 mbo." — Four Masters. 
 
 " Gormjiaith. "A. D. 1030. Gorm- 
 flaith. daughter of Murcadh, son of Finn, 
 mother of Sitric, king of the foreigners ; 
 of Donncadh, son of Brian, king of 
 
590 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 cadh, son of Flann, King of Lcinstcr, and mother of Sitric, son 
 of Ainaleibh, Lord of tlie Loclilannaigh of Ireland. She was 
 also the mother of Donncadh, son of Brian Boromha. 
 
 It was no.w that Cluain Ferta, of St, Brendan, was plundered 
 bj Art Coilech O'Euairc/' King of Brefoi ; but Donncadh, son of 
 Brian Boromha, overtook him on the same day, and made a 
 dreadful slaughter of his people, in vengeance of the sacrilege 
 which they had committed. Soon after this, Cathal, son of Ruaid- 
 ri," King of the west of Connaught, went upon a pilgrimage to 
 Ard Macha. 
 
 In a few years after. Port Largi was plundered and burned by 
 Diarmaid, son of Mael-na-mbo,'* King of Leinster. It was then, 
 also, that Cluain-mic-Nois was plundered"' and burned by the 
 Conmacni, but God and St. Kiaran wreaked prompt vengeance 
 upon them for that sacrilegious deed, for the greater part of the 
 people of this tribe, together with their cattle, died soon after of 
 a plague. 
 
 It was about this time that Garth ach, son of Saerbrethach,"* 
 
 llunster, and of Concobar, son of Mael- 
 sechlainn, kiiif? of Temhair, died, It 
 was this Gormlaitb that made the three 
 leaps, of which was said : 
 
 " Goniilaith made the leaps, 
 Wliicli woman never more shall make; 
 One at Atli-diiith, one at Temhair, 
 And one at Caisel of Cups, over al]."—Four 
 Masters. 
 
 She had ijcen fiiat queen of tlic Danes, 
 t'.icii of Brian, and lastly of Maelscch- 
 kiun. She was the sister of Maclmor- 
 da, king of Leinster. Finn, not Flann, 
 ■was her and his grandfather's name. 
 
 '' Art CoHech ; i. e., Art the Cock. 
 Art O'Ruairc, v/lio was king of (Jon- 
 naught, was slain l)ytlie Kiiiel Conaill, 
 in A. D, 104C. 'The plundering of 
 Cluain Fcrta, of St. Brendan, men- 
 tioned above, took place in A. D. 1031. 
 
 "^ Cathal, son of Ruaidri. lie went 
 on his pilgrimage to Ard Macha in 
 A, D. 1037, where he died, in A. D. 
 1013. 
 
 ''' Diarmaid, son of Mael-nn-mho. He 
 was the first of the immediate ances- 
 tors of the MacMurrough, that became 
 King of Leinster, Maelmorda, son of 
 Murcadh, was ancestor of the O'Byrncs. 
 Port Largi (now Water ford) was plun- 
 dered by iiim iu A, D. 1037. From 
 
 thai time until his death, he continued 
 to be one of the most warlike and 
 powerful of the Irish princes. During 
 part of it, some antiquarians style him 
 monarch of Ireland. 
 
 "^ Cluain-mic-Nois plundered. The 
 Conmacni, who plundered this ecclesias- 
 tical establishment on the present oc- 
 casion, were most probably of the 
 branch of that tribe tliat dwelt in 
 Mayo and Ix;itrim. It was done at the 
 suggestion of O'Ruairc, who was then 
 sovereign of Connaught, for we are 
 told that when " the unknown plague 
 was sent amongst them, so that the 
 booleijs and their cattle were laid waste 
 after the death of all the sheplicrd peo- 
 ple, the clergy of St. Kiaran received 
 an award in atonement therefor, name- 
 ly, the son of O'Ruairc, who was callwl 
 >lac-na-h-oidhché {mac na fieehie, i.e., 
 the Son of Night,) and twelve sons of 
 thesub-cliiefs, the best of the (ionmacni. 
 along with him, and a sgrchall from 
 every f7 Mi). " This happened in A. D. 
 lOM. It was plundered again iu A. 
 D. lO.'iO. 
 
 " C(irthach,sonofSaerhrcthach. This 
 is the progenitor from whom the royal 
 Bcpt of MacCarthaigh [Mac Caarha) of 
 Desmond, now anglicized MacOarty, 
 takes its nama This chieftain had do- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 591 
 
 king of the Eoganaclit of Casliel, was burned, together with 
 many other nobles, in a house which was set on fire by the 
 grandson of Lonnargan, son of Donncuan. 
 
 At last, Donncadh, son of Brian, was deposed" from the sov- 
 ereignty ; whereupon he Avent on a pilgrimage to Eome. There 
 he died, in the monastery of St. Stej)hen. 
 
 The races of Power ^ Plunlceit^ and Fitz- Eustace. 
 Many people assert that the Paeraigh,s8 Plunketaigh and 
 
 foatcd the united forces of Ormond and 
 Osraide, or Ossory, iu A. D. 1043, at 
 Maeilcacnnaigh (a place near the vil- 
 lage of Golden), where Mac-Craith 
 O'Donnagain, lordof Aradh, was slain. 
 The Lonnargan above mentioned was of 
 the Dal g-Cais tribe, and ancestor of the 
 O'Lonnargains, who very probably then 
 made their first settlement at Cathair- 
 duin-iasgach, in Tipperary, which is 
 now called Cahir. 
 
 *' Donncadh deposed. " A. D. 1064. 
 Donncadh, sou of Brian, King of Mun- 
 ster was deposed ; and he afterwards 
 went to Eome, where he died under the 
 victory of penance, in the monastery of 
 St. Stephen the Martyr. — Fotir Mast-rs. 
 
 After the assassination of his brother 
 Tadg, Donncadh had soon encountered 
 an active and warlike opponent in his 
 nephew, Tordelbach. This accomplish- 
 ed prince, favorably received by the 
 Irish chieftains, and affectionately sup- 
 ported by his kinsman Diarmaid, King 
 of Leinster, soon became a formidable 
 rival to his uncle. Seconded by the 
 reluctant tributaries of the Donncadh, 
 Tordelbach gained several successes 
 over the suborner of his father's mur- 
 der, by which he compelled him to ex- 
 onerate both Conuaught and Leinster 
 from tribute. In A. D. 1058, Donncadh 
 was routed in a battle fought near 
 Sliabh Grod (tlie Gaulties) by Diar- 
 maid, son of Mael-na-mbo, the friend 
 and protector of his nephew. This 
 chief again invaded Munster, in A. D. 
 10Gl,and defeated the forces of Donn- 
 cadh with great slaughter at Cnamh- 
 coill, near Tipperary. Next year he 
 made another invasion of this princi- 
 pality, when he a second time burned 
 Limerick. But at last Diarmaid and 
 
 Tordelbach, leading against him the 
 united forces of Connaught and Leins- 
 ter, gave Donncadh the final fatal over- 
 throw, which compelled him to resign 
 in favor of his nephew, and retire into a 
 foreign monastery to atone for his frat- 
 ricide, among his other sins. The 
 events preceding his resignation are re- 
 corded as follows: "A. D.'^IOGO. A great 
 army was led by the son of Mael-na- 
 mbo, into Munster ; and the chief's of 
 the plain of Munster, came into his 
 house and left hostages with him. The 
 son of Brian (Donncadh) and his son 
 Murcadh, of the Short Shield, came to 
 attack Tordelbach, after the departure 
 of Diarmaid ; but Tordelbach defeated 
 Murcadh, and slaughtered his people. 
 Diarmaid again entered Munster, and 
 took its hostages from the Water 
 southwards, to St. Brendan's Hill, 
 (now the Brandon mountains, in Kerry) 
 and those hostages he delivered into 
 the hands of Tordelbach, who was his 
 foster-son." — Four Masters. This Donn- 
 cadh is the king who is stated to have 
 carried the crown and regalia of Ire- 
 land to Rome, and there, with the con- 
 sent of the Irish nobility, to have de- 
 livered both them and the supreme 
 sovereignty of his country into the 
 hands of the Roman Pontiff. But it is 
 evident from all the records of his time, 
 that he had never become possessed of 
 any crown or regalia of Ireland, which 
 he could so bestow, and that at the 
 time of his resignation or deposition 
 his possessions had been reduced with- 
 in very narrow limits. 
 
 °* Paemigh, ifc; i. e., the families of 
 Power, Plunkett, and FitzEustace ; 
 which names have been hibernicizcd 
 Paer, or Paor, Pluinceatt, and Eustas. 
 
592 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Evisdasaigh are descended from this monarch. But I have not 
 found a single lay, or other writing, in proof of the descent of 
 any of these races from Donncadh, son of Brian Boromha, with 
 the exception of one verse that is contained in a duan,^' begin- 
 ning with the hue, " I shall confer a favor on the sons of Tal," 
 which duan has been composed by a man who is a cotemporary 
 of our own, namely, by Maeilin MacBruaidin. There is also an 
 oral tradition, repeated by many ignorant persons, Avliich saj-s, 
 that after his arrival in Kome, Donncadh had an intrigue with 
 the daughter of an emperor, then dwelling in that citv, and that 
 she bore him a son, who became the progenitor of the three 
 tribes here mentioned. But this tradition cannot be true, be- 
 cause, Avhen Donncadh set out upon his j)ilgrimage, he was a very 
 old man, inasmuch as he had then passed his eightieth year; for 
 which reason it is not at all likely that any emperor's daughter 
 could feel desirous of holding an inti'igue Avith any such veteran 
 as he. Besides this, it would have been exceedingh' unbecom- 
 ing for a man, who had gone to Rome as a pilgrim, in order to 
 do penance for his sins, to have had an amorous intrigue with 
 any woman in the world. For these reasons I judge that Donn- 
 cadh had no intrigue with any emperor's daughter, and that no 
 son was borne to him in Rome, from whom the above mentioned 
 races could have sprung. 
 
 The truth of my opinion may be the more readily estimated 
 from what is read in the book of Annals, which was copied 
 about three hundred years since, out of the Leabar Brcc, or 
 Speckled Book of ]\iacAedagain. For it is there stated, that, 
 
 ^ A duan. The duan here referred scarcely liave bad at that time any in- 
 to is a metrical frenealogy of the terestcd motive in coining a fictitious 
 O'Briens of Thomond. The verse in relatinn«liipljc*wccn these noble families 
 question is introduced but incidentally and that of his patrons. Vic have 
 therein. The following is a transla- seen that Donncadh was doubly con- 
 tion : nectcd with foreigners. By his mother, 
 
 '■ From Ponnea^llfs branching stock have sprung ^^, ^íf /,■"-' l^l'«^''"^',^.«f ^^'^ Banish King 
 
 The noble tribfs of Power and Plunkett; Ot Duolin, and his secoildwile waS 
 
 Tried viarriors from the upland field.»- Briella, daildltcr of Earl (Jndwill. Bv 
 
 Thence Enrung the martial race, FitzEustacc. i,„„ i,„ i.„ i'"„ i t-v n 
 
 ' " ' her no nad a son named Bonniall, or 
 
 Dr. Keating, in denying the truth of Domnan, who may possibly have mi- 
 
 tho assertion contained in this rnnn, grated to Normandy or Briltany, and 
 
 has not adduced the slightest adniissa- there lbun(Vd the above named races, 
 
 ble proof of its iixisehood. It were This is rendered less tnilikely from 
 
 strange, indeed, that such a tradition Donnradh's family relationship with 
 
 should have got amongst the Dalcassian the ])td)lin Danes — a people of the 
 
 shannachies, without some foimdation ; same blood as the Normans. Accord- 
 
 nor d(KS the fact of Dr. Keating's never ing to OJIalloran, Dr. Keating has, in 
 
 having seen any " lay or writing"' in order to refute MacBruaidin, taken up 
 
 support thereof, prove that such docu- some vulgar tradition that would cou- 
 
 ments did not then, and may not still vert the Saxon lady Driella into tha 
 
 exist. The bard, MacBruaidin, could daughter of an emperor. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 593 
 
 after performing his pilgrimage to Kome, Domieadli entered the 
 monaster}^ of St. Stephen, in that city, where he took upon him- 
 self the yoke of religion, and where he passed what remained of 
 his hfe in the practice of penitence, up to the day of his death. 
 We also find the name of Kobert le Poer,"" from whom the 
 Paeraigh and Eiistasaigh are more immediately sprung, men- 
 tioned in the Chronicles of the Strangers, where they record the 
 names of those foreign nobles that came over to Ireland in the 
 very beginning of the Anglo-Norman invasion. The same 
 authorities tell us, that the Piunketaigh are descended from the 
 Lochlannaigh (i. e., the ISTorthmen or Danes). 
 
 TORDELBACH O'bRIAIN, ARD-RIGH, 
 
 Go Fresabra. 
 A. D. 1064.1 Tordelbach, son of Tadg, son of Brian Bor- 
 
 "" RoheH le Pocr. In Ireland, Ro- 
 bert became the founder of the uoble 
 Anglo-Norman sept of Power, or Le 
 Poer, whose principal settlements lay 
 in the territories of the southern Desi, 
 now the county of Waterford, where 
 several of its members still rank 
 amongst the highest of the local aristoc- 
 racy. The name is also widely spread 
 amongst the brave peasantry and 
 wealthy farmers of that county, as all 
 ancient names usually are. In the 
 reign of Elizabeth, the heiress of the 
 eldest branch of this race married into 
 the English family of Beresford, to 
 which family she transferred a large 
 portion of its domains. This branch is 
 now represented by the chivalrous, 
 though anti-national Marquis of Wa- 
 terford — no degenerate representative 
 of the good and, perhaps, of the evil 
 qualities of the knightly spoilers of 
 olden time. The eldest male branches 
 are represented by the houses of Gur- 
 teeu and Douisle, or Dunhill. But 
 other branches, also, still retain the 
 ownership of large portions of their 
 ancient conquests. — Several members of 
 the sept founded by Eobert le Poer, as 
 if ashamed of any drop of old Irish 
 blood that might chance to have been 
 transmitted to them therewith, have bar- 
 barized their name to Powers. Augus- 
 tin Thierry has, amongst others, rather 
 unfairly cited the nom-de-guerre of 
 the progenitor of the sept of Power, 
 38 
 
 as a proof of the humble class from 
 which the mass of the Anglo-Norman 
 invaders of Ireland had sprung. But 
 his mistaking the very name of that 
 founder, whom he calls Raymond, 
 shows that he had not taken the trou- 
 ble to examine whether his example 
 was in point or not. Poer is, accord- 
 ing to him, the Norman-French for 
 pauvre, i. e., poor. But as well might it 
 be said, that King John of England 
 was sprung from the dregs of the po- 
 pulace, because he was surnamed Sins- 
 terre, or Lack-land. Then, Robert le 
 Poer was not one of the mass, he was 
 one of the leaders of the invasion, and 
 though possibly poor, as most soldiers 
 of fortune are, he was of noble blood ; 
 for. according to the traditions of this 
 family, one of the earliest known of its 
 progenitors won his knighthood at the 
 Crusades. There is also no reason why 
 that progenitor might not have been 
 either the son or the grandson of the 
 above-mentioned Domnan. 
 
 The other sons of Donncadh who left 
 offspring, were the Murcadh, of the 
 Short Shield, a distinguished warrior, 
 who was ancestor of several septs of the 
 O'Briens ; and Diarmaid, from whom 
 sprang the O'Briain, of Etharla, or 
 Aharia ; the Mac Ui Briain O'g-Cua- 
 nach, or Mac O'Briens, of Coonagh; 
 and, some say the Mac Ui Briain Ara, 
 or Mac O'Brien, of Ara. 
 
 ' A. D. 1073 is the date of the year 
 
594 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 omha, of the line of Eber,^ held the sovereignty of the greater part 
 of Ireland, but more especially that of Leth Mogha, for twelve 
 years. Mor, daughter of Gilla-Brighdi O'Maelmuaidh,^ king of 
 the Kinel Fiacadh and the Fera Kell, was the mother of this 
 Tordelbach. It was in his reign that the following deeds were done. 
 
 For it was in it that Coucobar, son of Maelsechlainn, king of 
 Meath,* was treacherously murdered by the son of his own 
 brother, namely, by Murcadh, son of Flann. It was then also 
 that the head of this prince was forcibly carried off out of Cluain- 
 mic-Nois, on the Friday after Easter Sunday, by Tordelbach 
 O'Briain, who took it with liim to Kenn-Coradh ; but the same 
 head was carried northwards again to that monastery, on the next 
 following Sunday ; and this happened through the miracles of 
 God and St. Kiaran. 
 
 It was also in this reign, and with the permission of the Irish 
 king, Tordelbach O'Briain, that AYilliam Eufus,^ King of Saxon- 
 land, sent to Ireland for timber to roof the Hall of Canterbury. 
 This happened in the year of our Lord one thousand and ninety- 
 eight ; and it was during the previous year that the first bishop 
 of Port Largi^ was consecrated. 
 
 afier the death of Diarmaid, son of 
 Mael-na-mbo, who reip^ned for uinc 
 years as king of Leth Mogha, after the 
 deposition of Donncadh. Tordelbach 
 ruled Munster during the same period, 
 apparently as the vassal of his friend 
 and kinsman. Diarmaid, having been 
 slain by Concobar 0'í»[aelsecliIainn at 
 the battle of Odba, in A. D. 1072, 'i'or- 
 delbach may thenceforward be con- 
 sidered a.s king of Leth Mogha and the 
 greater part of Ireland. This I )inrmaid 
 had vanquished the Danes of Dublin 
 and Fine Gall (now Fingal) in A. D. 
 1052 ; and having expelled their chief- 
 tains, assumed the lordship of the for- 
 eigners of Leinstcr into his own hands, 
 he bestowed it upon his son Murcadh 
 (father of Diarmaid, of the English), 
 who thus became the first lord of the 
 Danes who was of Irish, or rather of 
 Gaelic, blood. 'J'liis Murcadh subdued 
 the Isle of Man, whence he brought 
 off tribute. In recording the death of 
 Diarmaid, our annalists style him the 
 " King of Leinstcr, Lord of the For- 
 eigners, and of Leth Mogha." 
 
 ' Tordelbach I. This prince's name, 
 which is also spelled Toirdhealbhach 
 (Turraylagk), is said to signify tower- 
 
 like, being derived from tor, a, tower, and 
 delb, or dealbh, a form, or likeness. 
 Persons of this name are now called 
 Terence, which, though wrong, is not 
 so objectionable as Turlough, which 
 gives neither the vulgar pronunciation 
 nor the true etymology. Tordelbach 
 was the first person called O'Briain. 
 being the O, or grandson, of Brian 
 Boromha. 
 
 = Gilla-Brighdi 0' Maebnuaidk. The 
 Fera Kell, or Fcara Ceall, of which he 
 was chief, are nov/ represented by the 
 0".Molloys, for it is thus that O'Mael- 
 mhuaidh {Mailvooi, or Mailooi) has 
 been rendered into English. Tiieir 
 tribe-land is now called Fircall, and lie.s 
 in the King's Cormty. 
 
 ■* Concobar, King of Meath. This 
 prince was murdered in A. D. 1073. 
 
 ' Wdliam Rufus. The date given 
 for this circumstance is wrong ; for 
 Tordelbach died in A. D. 108G. It 
 was, also, for roofing the Hall of West- 
 minster, not Canterbury, that William 
 is said to have sent to Ireland for oak 
 timber. 
 
 ° The first Bishop of Port Lnrgi- 
 'J'he Danes of Waterford, or Port 
 Largi, having now become Christianp, 
 
THE HISTORY OF IKELAND. 
 
 595 
 
 It was also about this time that DerborgailV daughter of Tadg 
 Mac Gilla-Padraig, and wife of Toixlelbach O'Briain, king of the 
 greater part of Ireland, died; and soon after her died Tordelbach* 
 O'Briain himself, having then spent twelve years in the sover- 
 eignty of Ireland. 
 
 MURKERTACH MOR O BRIAIN, 
 
 Go Fresabra. 
 
 ARD-RIGH, 
 
 A. D., 1086.9 ]\Iurkertach,'° son of Tordelbach, son of 
 Tadg, son of Brian Boromha, of the line of Ebcr, held the 
 sovereignty of the greater part of Ireland, but more especially 
 that of Leth jMogha, for twenty 3'ears. Caillecli De (i.e., the 
 Nun)," daughter of O'h-Eidin, Avas the mother both of this prince 
 and of Euaidri O'Concobair.^^ It was during the reign of this 
 Murkertach that the following events took place. 
 
 For it was in the early part of his reign — to wit, in the year 
 
 would have a bishop of their own race. 
 The uame of their first bishop was 
 Malchus. 
 
 ' Derborgaill. This entry is mis- 
 placed. See note 11, on next reign. 
 
 •* Death of Tordelbach. "A. D. 
 1086. Tordelbach O'Briain, King of 
 Ireland, with opposition, after having 
 suffered from long illness (for he was 
 not well since the head of Concobar 
 O'Maelsechlainn had been lirought 
 from CIuain-Mic-Nois), died in the 
 22d year of his reign, and in the 77th 
 year of his age, on the Ides of June 
 precisely, after intense penance for his 
 sins, and after taking the body of Christ 
 and his blood." — Four Masters. This 
 was 22 years after the resignation of 
 his uncle Donncadh in A. D. 10(54, and 
 14 after the death of his ally, Diarraaid, 
 King of Leinster, in A. D. 1072. 
 
 » A. D. 1086. " On the death of 
 Torlough (Tordelbach), the kingdom 
 of ilunster was equally divided between 
 liis three sons — 'i'cigue, Murkertach, 
 and Derraot (Diarmaid). But in the 
 course of the same year, Teigue having 
 died on the l)ed of his father, Murker- 
 tach banished his brother Dermot into 
 Connaught, and took sole possession 
 of the throne." — Moore. 
 
 Thence ensued a long series of hos- 
 tilities, during the continuance of which 
 Murkertach cannot be considered as 
 full king of Lcth Mogha and nominal 
 
 monarch of Ireland, until about the 
 year 1094. 
 
 "" Murkertach II. A. D. 1094. " For 
 72 years after the death of Maelsech- 
 lainn," says the learned and judicious 
 O'Flaherty, " the supreme throne of 
 Ireland was destitute of any monarch ; 
 but in 1094 two monarchs ruled Ire- 
 land — one in the north, and the otiier 
 in the south. Of these, iNIurkertach, 
 great grandson of Brian, ruled the 
 south of Ireland for 25 years, and 
 Domnall O'Lochlainn governed the 
 north for 27. 
 
 " The Nun. She was apparently thus 
 styled from her having taken religious 
 orders at Glenn-da-loch, either after the 
 birtli of her sons, or the death of her 
 husband. That she was not the daugh- 
 ter of O'h-Eidin is seen by the follow- 
 ing entry—" A. D. 1098. Dearbhfor- 
 gaill (DervorgiU), daughter of Tadg 
 Mac Cilla-Padraig, the mother of ]\Iur- 
 kertach and Tadg Ua Briain, died at 
 Glen-da-loclia.'' — Four blasters. Mor 
 was the name of tlie daughter of O'h- 
 Eidin. Sadb, daughter of Carthach 
 (ancestor of Mac Carthy), is also 
 named as having been, at some time, 
 the wife of Tordelbach O'Briain, the 
 father of this Murkertach ; and Gorm- 
 flaith, daughter of O'Fogarta, another 
 of his wives, died in A. L>. 1077. 
 
 ■^ Ruaidri O'Co/icobair. lie was the 
 father of Tordelbach, and grandfather 
 
596 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRP:LAN'D. 
 
 of our Lord one thousand one hundred and one— that ho made 
 a grant of the city of Oashel as a sacred offering to God and St. 
 Patrick.^3 
 
 It was also during this reign that a general synod of the men 
 of Ireland, both lavmcn and ecclesiastics, was convened around 
 Murkertach O'Brialn at Fiadh-mic-Aengusa.^* Here follows the 
 number of ecclesiastics that attended at that meeting — to wit, 
 M;iclmuri O'Dunain/' Archbishop of ^Nlunster ; Kellach,!'^ son of 
 Acdh, Comarba of St. Patrick, Vicar-Grencral and Primate of all 
 Ireland ; with whom were tliirty bishops, three hundred and sixty 
 priests, abbots, and priors ; one hundred and forty deacons ; and 
 many other persons belonging to religious orders, who are not 
 enumerated here. At this synod," regulations, laws, and cus- 
 
 of Rnaidri, or Roderick, afterwards 
 nominal monarchs of Ireland. He is 
 called Ruaidri na Soig-lie buidhi — i. e., 
 Roderick of the Yellow (ireyhound 
 Bitch. He reigned over Coiiiiauffht 
 from A. D. 1076 to 1092, when he was 
 blinded by Flathbertach Ua Flatlibcr- 
 taigh {biahertagh 0' Flaherty), Kiris^ 
 of NVcst Connaught. lie did not die 
 mitillUS. - 
 
 '^ Cnsliel granted to God and St. 
 Patrick. "Among the warmest sup- 
 porters of ecclesiastical interests was 
 the monarch Murkertach, who, in the 
 year 1101, having convoked a great 
 assembly of the people and clergy, made 
 over, by solemn donation, to tlie church 
 that scat of the Momonian Kings, the 
 city of Cashcl, dedicating it to God 
 and St. Patrick." — Moore. 
 
 " A. D. A meeting of Jjcth 
 Mogha was held at Oaisci by Murker- 
 tach Ua Briain, with the chiefs of the 
 laity, and Ua Dunaiu, noble bishop 
 and chief senior, with the chiel's of the 
 clergy ; and there Murkertach Ua 
 Briain made such a grant as no king 
 had ever made before, namely, he 
 granted Oaisel of the Kings to religious, 
 without any claim of layman or clergy- 
 man upon it, but to religious of Ireland 
 in general. "—jPou?- blasters. 
 
 '^ Ficulli mic Acngusa; i. e., the land 
 of the son of Aengns. This was the 
 name of a place near the hill of Uisnech, 
 in Mcath. O'D. OlTalloran thinks 
 that the Synod of liath ]3rosai! was 
 but a continuation of this, Rath Brc- 
 
 sail being, according to him, a fort 
 near Fiadh-mic-Aeiigusa. Some, how- 
 ever, suppose the place of meeting to 
 have been situated in Ui Bresail, now 
 Clanbrassil, Co. Armagh. 
 
 " Maehnnri O'Dunain. His death 
 is recorded as having occurred in A. D. 
 1117, some years after the Synod of 
 Fiadh-mic-Aengusa. Dr. O'Donovau 
 thinks it an error to call him Arch- 
 bishop of Munster, for he is found 
 styled Senior of Leth Cuinn in a con- 
 temporaneous document, a charter 
 contained in the Book of Kells. He 
 concludes that he was the same as 
 Idunan. Bishop of Meath, who flour- 
 ished in the year lOiXJ. He might, 
 however, have been translated from 
 one see to another. 
 
 '" Kcllach, son of Acdii. His name 
 is latinized Celsus. His appointment 
 to the See of Armagh, which he held 
 until 1129, is thus recorded — " A. D. 
 llOfi. Kcllach, son of Acdh, son of 
 Maeilisa, was appointed to the succes- 
 sorship of St. Patrick, by the election 
 of the men of Ireland ; and ho received 
 his ordination on the dav of the Festi- 
 val uf St. Adamnan (2:!d Sept.)"— 
 Four Mnxicrs. lie died at Ardpatrick, 
 in Munster, on his visitation of that 
 province in 1129, and was buried, ac- 
 cording to his own will, at Lis-mor, 
 of St. Mochuda, after an active and 
 beneficent career. 
 
 " This Sijnod. It is otherwise 
 called the Synod of Uisnech (now 
 Usnagh Hill, "in Meath). It was hold 
 
THE UISTORY OF IRELAND. 597 
 
 toms were enacted for the guidance both of the hiity and of tlie 
 clergy. Maehnuri O'Danain, Archbishop of MunsLor, died soon 
 after this event. 
 
 It was also in the reign of this jNlurkertach that another genei'al 
 council, or synod, was convened in Ireland at Kath Bresail,^^ 
 about the year one thousand one hundred and ten, for so we 
 read in the ancient Book of Cluain Aidnech, of St. Fintann, in 
 Laeighis ; in which authority, the principal affairs transacted at 
 this latter synod are recorded. It was Gilla-Esbog, Bishop of 
 Luimnecli, that presided at the council of Eath Bresail, for he 
 was at that time the Pope's Apostolical Legate in Ireland. The 
 following are the principal arrangements made thereat. 
 
 Just as the twelve bishops of the southern part of Saxon-land 
 were ranged around the see of Canterbury, and the twelve of 
 the northern part under that of Eborach,^^ so were the prelates 
 of Ireland similarly grouped at this synod of Eath-Bresail ; to 
 wit, the twelve bishops of Leth Mogha, and the twelve bishops 
 of Leth Cuinn ; and more the two bishops that were in Meath. 
 It was upon this occasion that the churches of Ireland were given 
 up, in full possession, to the Irish prelates, who Avere thencclbith 
 to hold them for ever, free from the authority or rent of any 
 temporal lord. It was here, likewise, that certain and distinct- 
 boundaries were laid out for the Irish dioceses, and that a limit 
 was set to the number of bishops thereof. The following Avere 
 the bishops then appointed to preside over the church of Leth 
 Cuinn — to wit, six over the province of Ulster, amongst whom . 
 was the primate ; five over the province of Connaught ; and two 
 over Meath : these constituted the twelve bishops of Leth Cuinn, 
 without reckoning the primate as one of their number. The 
 episcopal sees of Ulster were these : Ard Macha, the seat of the 
 Archbishop, who was primate of all the bishops of Ireland ; and 
 Clochar, Ard-Sratha, Doiri, Cunniri, and Dun-da-leth-glas. The 
 sees of Meath were Doimliag and Cluain Iraird ; those of Con- 
 naught were Tuaim-da-gualann, Cluain Ferta of St. Brendan, 
 Conga, Kill-alaidh, and Ard-Carna. The sees of Munster were : 
 Cashel, the seat of the Archbishop of Leth Mogha, Lis-mor, or 
 
 in the year 1111, as is seen by the fol- morals for all, both laity and clev^j." 
 
 lowing entry : — " A. D. A synod — Four Masters. This enumeration ia 
 
 was convened at Fiadh-mic-Aengusa, more likely to be exact than that given 
 
 by the chiefs of Ireland, with Kellach, by Keating. 
 
 Comarba of St. Patrick ; Maelmnri '* Rath Bresail. One copy of Keat- 
 
 Ua Danain. noble Senior of Ireland ; ing gives the date of this synod 1115 ; 
 
 with 50 bishops, 300 priests, 3000 another in 1098. It was probably a 
 
 students ; together with Murkertach prorogation of the former synod. 
 Ua Briain, and the chiefs of Leth " É/wrac/i.i. e. York, the Latin name 
 
 Mogha, to prescribe rules and good of which is Eboracum. 
 
598 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Port Liirgi, Corcach, Rath-maighc-deskirt, Imlech lubair, and 
 Kill-da-luadh : these were the seven sees which were decreed to 
 Munster in that synod. There were five sees allowed to Leinster, 
 namely, Kill Cainnigh, Leith-glinn, Kill-dara, Glenn-da-loch, and 
 Ferna, or Loch Carman : thes^, with the bishopricks of Munster 
 (not counting that of the Archbishop), constituted the twelve 
 episcopal sees of Leth Mogha. 
 
 The reason why I have not numbered the bishoprick of Ath- 
 cliath amongst the above is because it was customary with its 
 bishop to receive his degrees of ordination in Saxon-land, from 
 the Archbishop of Canterbury. Upon this fact Ilanmer has 
 grounded a false statement, in which he says that the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury had exercised a jurisdiction over the Irish clergy 
 from the time of the monk St. Augustine to that of the English 
 invasion. But it is nowhere found that the prelates of Canter- 
 bury had ever claimed any authority over any portion of the 
 clergy of Ireland, except during the prelacies of the Archbishops 
 Lanfranc, Eanulph, and Anselm ; and even then, it was only 
 over a few of the Irish clergy that they held supremacy, namel}', 
 over the bishops of Ath-cliath, Loch Carman, Port Largi, and 
 Luimncch — places whose inhabitants were sprung from the re- 
 " mains of the Lochlannaigh, and whose bishops, through a kindly 
 feeling towards the Normans, who were of the same origin with 
 themselves, had chosen the Archbishop of Canterbury for their 
 primate. This fact is clearly proved in the work of Doctor 
 • Usher. Their reason for having done so, was because there 
 would be no equality in the election if it were left to the voice of 
 the people to decide between a man of their own nation and a 
 man of the Gaelic race, should both be candidates for the episco- 
 pal dignity ; for, in such a case, the majority of the voices of the 
 people would be given to the Gael, in preference to any one of 
 them. 
 
 Now, though it is not so stated, I am myself of opinion, that 
 the number of bishops then decreed to Munster was but six, and 
 that there were six more given to Leinster, and that the Arch- 
 bishop of Cashel jDresided over the whole twelve, as it was cus- 
 tomar}^ with the metropolitan of Leth Moglia, after the example 
 of its temporal princes. This opinion I have already stated 
 Tinder the reign of Lacgari, son of Niall. 
 
 I now proceed to point out the extent and boundaries^" of each 
 diocese, as they were laid down at the said Synod of Rath Bre- 
 sail. 
 
 The Sees of Ulster. — The diocese of the Archbishop of 
 Ard Macha extended from Sliabli Breagh to Cuailli Kiannacta, 
 
 " Boundaries. The moderu names will be found in the preceding notes- 
 of many of the places here mentioned, Several of them are now unknown. 
 
THE lIIS'IOIiY OF IRELAND. 599 
 
 and from Birra to tlie Amhain Mor. The diocese of Clooliar, 
 extended from tlic Amhain Mor to Gabail-liuin, and from Sliabh 
 Botha to Sliabh Larga. The diocese of Ard-Sratha extended 
 from Sliabh Larga to Carn-glas, and from Loch Craei to Benn 
 Foibni. The diocese of the bishop of Doiri or Eath-both extend- 
 ed from Es-ruadh to the Srubh Broinn, and from Srubh 
 Broinn to Carn-glas. The diocese of the bishop of Cunniri 
 extended from Benn Foibni to Tor Buirg, and from Port 
 Murbuilg, to Ollnrba, to the harbor of Snamh Aighni, and from 
 Glenn Eighe to Colba n-Germainn. The limits of the diocese of 
 the Bishop of Dun-da-leth-glas are not stated in the ancient book. 
 
 The Sees of JSIeath. — The diocese of the bishop of Doim- 
 liag extended from Sliabh Breagha to the Carn of Dun Cuair, 
 and from Lochan na-h-Lnirki to the sea. The diocese of Clnain 
 Iraird extended from Clochan westwards to the Sinainn, and 
 from Ur-coillti to Cluain Conari. 
 
 The Sees of Connaught. — The diocese of Cluain Ferta 
 of St. Brendan extended from the Sinainn to Boirenn, and from 
 Sliabh Echtighe to the Suca. The diocese of Tuaim-da-gualann 
 extended from the Suca to Ard Carna, and from Ath-an-termaiun 
 to the Sinainn. The diocese of Conga extended from Amhain 
 0-m-Broin in the north to Neimthin, and from Ath-an-termainn 
 westwards to the sea. The diocese of Kill- Alaidh extended from 
 Neimthin to Es-ruadh, and from Kill-Ard-bili to Srathau Fer- 
 ainn. The diocese of Ard-carna, which is also called Ard-acadh, 
 extended from Ard-carna to Sliabh-an-iarainn, and from Keis 
 Corainn to Ur-coillti. [However," this arrangement was made 
 but provisionally with regard to Connaught, for Ave find the fol- 
 lowing condition appended thereto.] "This distribution has our 
 fullest sanction provided it meet with the consent of the clergy 
 of Connaught. But, should they not deem it satisfactory, let 
 them make whatever other distribution may seem best to them- 
 selves. Whatever division they may determine shall meet with 
 our approbation. But there shall, nevertheless, be no more than 
 five bishops in their province." 
 
 The Sees of Munster. — The Arch-diocese of Cashel ex- 
 tended from Sliabh Eiblinui to the river Siuir, and from Cnamh- 
 
 -' However, ^c. The words in brack- proceedings, and the editor has there 
 ets are inserted by the editor, as from also supplied a connecting link between 
 the abruptness MÍth which the succeed- the quotations and what precedes them, 
 ing passage, (which is evidently a quo- From the proviso attached to the Tes- 
 tation from the Resolutions of the olutions passed with regard to the 
 Synod,) is introduced, he suspects that Sees of Connaught and Leinster, it is 
 there is here some omission on the part evident that the majority of the clergy 
 of Dr. Keating's transcribers. The of those provinces were not present, 
 omission occurs again in relation to these 
 
600 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 coin near Tibraid Arann eastwards to Grian Airb and to Cros 
 Greni. The diocese of Lis-mor, or Port Largi, extended from 
 Port Largi to Miledach on the brink of the Eiver Berba, to 
 Cumar-na-thri-n-iski, and thence to Cork; and from the Siuir 
 southwards to the sea. The diocese of Corcach extended from 
 Corcach to Carn Ui Neid, and from the southern Anihain Mor 
 to the sea. The diocese of Path Muighe Deskirt extended from 
 Baei Bera to Kenn-Mara, and from the Piver Fial to the sea. 
 The diocese of Kill-daduadh extended from the road called 
 Slighe Dala to Leim Couculaiun, and from Sliabh Echtighe 
 {Slieve Aghiee) to Sliabh-oighedh-an-righ {Slieve-eeyanree), and 
 thence to Sliabh Cacin, or Glenn Caein. The diocese of Luim- 
 nech extended from Mael-carn eastwards by Ath-ar-coinui-Lo- 
 dain and Loch Guir, and the Lathach Mor or the Great Bog ; and 
 ■westwards from Ani, taking in Ard Padraig, Bclach Febradh, and 
 Tulach Lias towards the south as far as the Fial and Tarbert, in- 
 cluding Cuinchi in Thomond and the Crosses on Sliabh-Oighedh- 
 an-righ and the Dubh-amhain. "And," [added the decree of the 
 council], " if any person go beyond these limits he will act in 
 violation of the will of the Deity, and of St. Peter, St. Paul, and 
 St. Patrick, and the men that have succeeded these saints in the 
 government of the Church of Christ;" and the temple of St. 
 Mary in Luimnech was its chief church. The diocese of Imlech 
 lubair extended from Cluain Caein to the Piver Amhain Mor, 
 and from Cnamh-coill near Tibraid Arann to the Piver Ella. 
 
 The Sees ofLeinstei?. — The diocese of Kill Cainnigli extend- 
 ed from Sliabh Bladma to Miledach, and from Grian 2\irb to Sliabh 
 Margi. The diocese of Leith-glinn extended from Sliabh Bladma 
 to Sliabh Uighe of Lcinster, from Sliabh Margi to Bclach 
 Carcrach, and from Belach ^íughna to Tigh Moling and its ter- 
 mons. The diocese of Kill-dara extended from Pos Finn-glasi 
 to Nas of Leinster, and from Nas to the Cumar of Cluain 
 Iraird. The diocese of Glenn-da-loch extended ft-om Granach 
 to Beg Eri, and from Nas to Pechrainn. The diocese of 
 Ferna, or Loch Carman extended from Beg Eri to ]\iiledach 
 on the west side of the Berba, and from Sliabh Uighe 
 of Leinster southwards to the sea: "And," [said the council] 
 " we now pass this decree subject to the approbation of the 
 clergy. Should the arrangement tlierein made not seem good to 
 them, let them adopt another; but there shall nevertheless be 
 hot more than five bishops amongst them." And the benediction 
 of the Trinity, and of St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Patrick was 
 invoked upon each bishop of the twenty-five," here appointed, 
 that no Easter might ever pass over them without their conse- 
 crating and blessing the sacred oil : " And many other good stat- 
 
 -■^ Twenty-five. Couutiiig the primattá, the uumber would be twenty-six. 
 
THE niSTORY OF IRELAND. 601 
 
 utes were decreed at this holy synod -wliich, for the sake of 
 brevity, are omitted here."" 
 
 And the benediction of the Comarba of St. Peter, and of his 
 legate Gilla-esbog, bishop of Luimncch; and the blessing of 
 Gilla-Kellaigh,** Comarba of St. Patrick, that is, the Primate of 
 Ireland ; and that of Mael-Isa O'h-Anmiri-' Archbishop of Cashel, 
 and of all the laymen and clergymen who attended that synod 
 of Rath Bresail, was pronounced upon all who would cany out 
 its ordinances, and their malediction was given to all who would 
 rebel against the same. 
 
 It is read in the Chronicle of Hacluith that, whilst Murkertach 
 O'Briain held the sovereignty of Ireland, ambassadors were sent 
 to him by the people of the Isles,^'^ requesting him to depute 
 some man of the royal blood to rule over their territories during 
 the minority of Amlaeibh, or Aulang, son of Gofraidh, who was 
 the person whose right it was to reign over their people. In com- 
 pliance with their request, we are told that Murkertach sent them 
 a nobleman of his own family, named Domnall, son of Tadg 
 O'Briain, who governed them for three years, at the end of Avhich, 
 the islanders banished him back to Ireland, because he had be- 
 gun to practice tyranny towards them. 
 
 We also read in the same author, that Magnus," son of Am- 
 laeibh, son of Aralt, who was then King of Norwegia, sent a cer- 
 tain embassy to ^Murkertach O'Briain, commanding the latter 
 prince, to j^lace upon his shoulders the shoes of the said ]\Iagnus, 
 which tlicy had brought with them for that purpose : and, when 
 the embassadors had come into the presence of Murkertach, and 
 had explained their mission to him, he tells us, that the Irish 
 monarch quietly took those shoes, and did place them upon his 
 
 -' Et multa alia bona statuta sunt in date alone proves that it must have 
 
 hac sancta syuodo quaj hie non scrip- been made during the lifetime of his 
 
 simus propter brevitatcm. father, Tordclbach. The prince sent 
 
 "* GiVa-Kellaigh. This name must to govern these islands is called, in 
 
 be a mistake, or by it we must under- their chronicles, Dofnald, son of Tade. 
 
 stand Kellach, son of Aedh. " Magnus. This was the powerful 
 
 " Mael-Isa O'k-Anmiri died at Lis- Norwegian King Magnus, ruler over 
 mor of St. Mochuda, in the 88th year Norway, the Hebrides, and the Isle of 
 of his age, in the year 1135. He is Man. The Scandinavian, as well as 
 styled Bishop of Port Largi and chief the Irish authorities, show that he en- 
 senior of Ireland in the Irish annals, tertaiued the project of adding Ireland 
 but not Archbishop of Cashel, as to his other conquests. Tlie marriage 
 here. of his son Sigurd with the daughter of 
 
 "^ The people of the Isles. The peo- JNIurkertach formed part of his plan, 
 
 pie of the Isle of Man are meant. The He invaded Ireland in A. I). 1098, 
 
 Chronicles of Man state, under the and, having landed at Dublin, was 
 
 year 1075, that this application had there met by a large force of the Irish, 
 
 .been made to Murkertach O'Briain, However, no battle took place then, 
 
 but, as our histories justly remark, the for a peace was concluded, in conso- 
 
602 
 
 THE HISTORY Oí^ IRELAND. 
 
 shoulders :" and tliat, when the nobles in attendance were filled 
 with indignation at having witnessed his act, and had begun to 
 rebuke hnn for what he had done, Murkertach made answer to 
 them by saying, " I prefer that this thing should now be done 
 by me than that Magnus should devastate even one single prov- 
 ince of Ireland." 
 
 Nevertheless, Magnus, soon after, equipped a large fleet, with 
 which he made an expedition to Ireland, with the intention of 
 causing ruin and desolation therein; but, when he had come near 
 to the Irish shore, such was his eagerness to begin hostilities, that 
 both himself and his wife immediately left the fleet and made a 
 landing : and then, after his landing, the inhabitants of the 
 country laid an ambuscade for hira, in which he fell, together 
 with the band that had followed him upon tliat inroad. There- 
 upon, when the forces, which he had left after him on board the 
 
 qucnce of -nhich the Irish kiiii^ bcsiow- 
 ed his daughter's hand u])oii Sigurd, 
 whom his I'atlier had made King of 
 Isles. Notwithstanding this, Magnus 
 invaded the country again in the fol- 
 lowing year, when he was cut off as 
 above stated. The chronicler of Man 
 states that this invader was buried in 
 the church of St. Patrick, in Down. — 
 See Moore. 
 
 ^ Placed the shoes upon his shoulders. 
 Our native chroniclers say nothing of 
 this circumstance. O'HalÍoran denies it 
 upon the authority of the Mac Bruaidin 
 chronicle, lie says that " this valuable 
 record tells us that a Danish prince did 
 send such a message to ]\Iurkertach, who 
 ordered, in presence of his court, that 
 the ears of the embassadors should be 
 cut off, telling them to inform their mas- 
 ter that such was his answer to his de- 
 mand." He further tells us that it 
 waá in consequence of this act that 
 Magnus invaded Ireland as above re- 
 lated. 
 
 However, the chief adversary of this 
 prince, was not a foreigner ; it was the 
 king of Ailech. Domnall O'Lochlainn, 
 chief of the O'Neills, and founder of the 
 sept of O'Lfichlainn or Mac I/iughlin, 
 of Ulster. During this wiiolc reign, 
 though, perhaps, tJie ablest prince that 
 claimed to rule over Ireland from the 
 days of Brian to the Norman invasion, 
 Murkertach found a man nearly every 
 way his equal in this northern chieftain. 
 
 In A. D. 1101, O'Briain did, indeed, 
 make liis famous circuit of Ireland, at 
 the head of the men of Leiuster, ^luu- 
 ster, Meath, Osraide and Connaught, 
 when he plundered the territories of 
 the Kinel Eogain and Kind Conaill, 
 and destroyed the fortress of Ailech ; 
 but we do not find that the king of 
 these northern tribes ever made sub- 
 mission to his rule. However, the 
 fortunes of O'Lochlainn soon after 
 recovered this temporary overthrow 
 and, towards the end of Murkertach's 
 life, he was certainly more powerful 
 than the nominal monarch. The 
 northerns name him amongst the Irish 
 monarchs, and assign him a reign of 
 twenty -seven years cotemporaneous 
 with that of his rival. He survived 
 the latter for two years. His death is 
 thus recorded. " A. D. 1121. Dom- 
 nall, son of Ardgar, son of Lochlainn, 
 the most distinguished of the Irish for 
 personal form, I'amily, sense, prowess, 
 prosperity, and happiness — for the be- 
 stowing of riches and i'ood both upon 
 the mighty and the needy — died at 
 Doiri Coluira Killi (Derry) after hav- 
 ing been twenty-seven years in the 
 sovereignty of Ireland and eight in the 
 kingdom of Ailecli, in the TM\ year of 
 his age, on the night of Wednesday, 
 the 5tii of the Ides of February, 
 being the festival of St. Machuarog."— 
 Four Masters. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 603 
 
 fleet, had heard that their chieftain had thus fallen, they set sail 
 homewards for Norwegia. 
 
 This Murkcrtach O'l^riain, of whom we have been treating, at 
 length died^" penitently at Ard JMacha, and was buried at Kill- 
 da-luadh, after five years' suffering from a languishing disease.'" 
 
 TOEDELBACH MOR O CONCOBAIR,' 
 
 Go Fresabra. 
 
 ARD-lilGII, 
 
 A. D. 1119." — Tordelbach Mor," son of Euaidri O'Concobair, 
 of the line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty of Ireland for 
 
 " Murkertach died. " A. D. 1119, 
 Murkertach Ua Briain, king of Ire- 
 land, prop of the glory and magnifi- 
 cence of the West of the world, died, 
 after the victory of sovereignty and 
 penance, on the festival ofSt. Mochae- 
 mog of Liath, on the 4th of the Ides 
 of March, and was interred in the 
 church of Kill-da-luadh (Killaloe), in 
 the sixth year of his illness." — Four 
 Masters. 
 
 ^ A languishing disease. " In the 
 year 1114, he was seized with an at- 
 tack of illness so violent as to incapaci- 
 tate him for the time for managing the 
 affairs of his kingdom ; and a chance of 
 succession was thus oflered to his am- 
 bitious brother, Dermod (Diarmaid), 
 of whom that prince eagerly took ad- 
 vantage. In the following year, how- 
 ever, an amicable arrangement appears 
 to have been entered into by the two 
 brothers ; and the monarch, finding his 
 malady continue, and being desirous of 
 passing the remainder of his days in se- 
 clusion and devotion, resigned the royal 
 authority into Dermod's hand, and took 
 holy orders in the monastery of Lis- 
 more (Lis-mor)." — Moore. 
 
 As shall be seen, Diarmaid succeeded 
 him not as sovereign of Ireland, but as 
 king of Muuster. This Diarmaid, 
 younger brother of Murkertach Mor, 
 was the founder of the O'Briens, princes 
 of Thomond. Murkertach himself left 
 three sons, namely, Domnall Gearr- 
 lamhach, or the short-handed, a distin- 
 guished warrior, who was appointed 
 lord of the foreigners of Dublin during 
 his father's reign ; having resigned 
 this position in 1118, and entered holy 
 orders, he died, in 1135, at an advanced 
 
 age, in the monastery of Lis-mor. Of 
 Mathghamhaiu [Mahowin) or Mahon, 
 ancestor of the Mac Mahons, lords of 
 Corca Baskinn, in the south of the 
 county of Clare, whose death is re- 
 corded by the Four Masters under 
 A. D. 1129, the posterity are now 
 the sole surviving representatives of 
 Murkertach Mor O'Briain. Of his 
 third son, Kenneidigh, nothing further 
 than the name is known. 
 
 " O'Concobair ; usually spelled 
 O'Conchobhair in modern Irish, in 
 which it is pronounced O'Connoghooir, 
 and often, but very corruptly, O'Crog- 
 hooir. It has been anglicized O'Connor. 
 
 =« A. D. 1119. Tordelbach is not 
 considered to have become powerful 
 enough to be styled nominal monarch 
 for seventeen years after the death of 
 Murkertach Mor, and for fifteen after 
 that of Domnall O'Lochlain. Having 
 recorded the death of the latter, O'Fla- 
 herty tells us that the supreme I'egal 
 seat of Ireland lay vacant for fifteen 
 years, and that the true date of Tor- 
 del bach's accession to the supreme 
 jiower, was A. D. 1126, whence, until 
 his death in A. D. 1156, there elapsed 
 twenty years. 
 
 ^ Tordelbach II. During the fifteen 
 years of interregnum that preceded the 
 accession of this prince to supreme 
 power in 1136, his most powerful rival 
 was Concobar O'Briain, surnamed 
 na g-Catharach {na Gaharagh), i. e. 
 of the fortresses, who succeeded his 
 father, Diarmaid, on the throne of 
 Munster, in A. D. 1120. Twice, in 
 the course of two successsve years 
 (1132 and 1133), this brave and able 
 prince carried the war into the heart 
 
604 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 tAventy years. It was in bis reign tliat the following deeds were 
 done. 
 
 It was lie that erected three great bridges"* in Connanght, 
 namely, the bridges of Ath-luain and Ath-crochta, on the Sina- 
 inu ; and the bridge of Dun Leogha, on the Suca. 
 . This Tordclbach made a hostiug into Munster," where he pil- 
 laged Cashel and Ard-Finain ; but ^\■hen he was marching to pil- 
 lage the latter place, a body of the ^lunstermen attacked his 
 army on the rear and slew Aedh 0'h-p]idin, King of Ui Fiacrach 
 Aidni, Muredach O'Flathbertaigh,^^ King of lar-Connacht, and 
 many other nobles who arc not enumerated here. After thi^ 
 Tordelbach proceeded to Corcach Muinhan" whither he brought 
 a numerous force, both by sea and land, and there he divided 
 Munster into two equal parts. The more southern of these he 
 
 of Connaugfht, and defeated Tordel- 
 bach upon his own ground. Having 
 defeated tlie king of Leinster and the 
 Danes of Dublin, he led his forces into 
 Connaught a third time, determined to 
 bring tlie struggle for supremacy to a 
 final issue, when the clergy interfered 
 to prevent bloodshed, and, under the 
 auspices of the Archbishop of Tuam, 
 a peace was concluded between the 
 rival princes. This peace was event- 
 ually followed by a great preponderance 
 of power on the side of the king of 
 Connaught, who, " availing himself of 
 the hereditary jealousy of the Euge- 
 nians (Eloganachta) respecting their 
 right of alternate succession to the 
 Munster throne, .separated this gallant 
 tribe from the Dalcassians, and even 
 introduced for a time desertion amongst 
 the l^rave Dal g-Cais themselves." — See 
 Moore. 
 
 ^ Three bridges. "A. D. 1120.— 
 The bridge of Ath-luain, the bridge 
 of Ath-croich, on the Sinainn. and the 
 bridge of Dun-Leodha, on the Suca, 
 were made l)y Tordelbach O'Concobar, 
 king of Connouglit." — Four Corners. 
 Ath-luain is now known as Athlone ; 
 Ath-croich, or Ath-crochta, lies near 
 Shannon Harbor ; and the bridge of 
 Dun-Ijcodlia, or ])m\-l/ oglia (Doon- 
 Loc), cro.ssed the river Suck opposite 
 Dunlo street, in the present town of 
 Ballinasloe.— O'D. 
 
 The royal fair of Talti was this 
 ■year celebrated by Tordelljach, who 
 
 thereby indicated his claim to the sove- 
 reignty of Ireland. 
 
 =^ Hosting into Munster. A.D. 11 21. 
 An army was led by Tordelbach O'Con- 
 coljair and the men of Connaught, into 
 Desmond, when they plundered the ter- 
 ritories of both laymen and ecclesiast- 
 ics, from Magh Femhinu (South Tippe- 
 rary) to Traigh-Li (Tralee) . lie also 
 made another predatory excursion, until 
 he reached the termon lands of Lis-mor, 
 and obtained countless cattle spoils ; 
 but he lost, on that occasion, Muredach 
 O'Flathertaigh, lord of AVest Con- 
 naught, Aedh O'h-Eidin, lord of Ui 
 Fiacrach Aidni, ^luirgheas O'Lorcaiu, 
 and many others." — Four blasters. 
 
 =" O'Flathbertaigh; in English, 0'- 
 Flaherty. The tribe name of the 
 O'Flaherties was Muinter Murcadlia, 
 and they were, originally, chieftains of 
 Magh Seola, now the barony of Clare, 
 in the county of Galway. 'J'hey were 
 of the royal race of Comiaught, being 
 descended from Duacli Tengumha. son 
 of Fersrus, son of Muredach ^1 ael-Iethan, 
 king of Connaught, about A. D. ()20, 
 by his son Fergus, whilst the O'Con- 
 nors, kings of Connaught, are descend- 
 ed from a brother of the same Duacb 
 Tengumha. 
 
 '^ Corcach Mumlian ; i. c, Cork, of 
 Munster. -'A. D. 1127. An army • 
 wa.s led by Tonldbach ()'Concol)air, 
 by sea and land, until he reached Cor- 
 cach .Mor, in MunsU'r ; and he drove 
 Cormac [Mac Carthaigh], king of Dea- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 605 
 
 gave to Donncadh Mac Carthaigh,'' and the more iiortlicrn to 
 Concobar O'Briain ; and from them both he carried off tliirty 
 hostages. 
 
 It was about this time the Temple of Cormac" was consecrated 
 at Cashel, in presence of a great assemblage of the nobles and the 
 clergymen of Munster,who attended thereat. This took ]>lace in , 
 the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and thiity-four. 
 Soon after, Cormac Mac Carthaigh, King of Munster, was treach- 
 erousl}- murdered" by Concobar (correctly by Tordclbach) 
 O'Briain, who was his own son-in-law and gossip. Some time 
 
 mond into Lis-mor, and divided Mun- 
 ster into three parts, and carried off 
 thirty hostages from that country." — 
 Fmir Masters. 
 
 ^ Donncadh Mac Carthaigh. He 
 was the younger brother of Cormac, 
 mentioned in the last note. He had 
 traitorously joined Tordelbach with a 
 large body of Eogauachta, and was re- 
 warded for deserting his chieftain by 
 the deposition of his brother, who was 
 then compelled by the invader to enter 
 the monastery of Lismore. Donncadh 
 was, however, expelled into Connaught, 
 with two thousand of his adherents, 
 almost immediately after. 
 
 Then Cormac, by the aid of Con- 
 cobar O'Briain, resumed the sovereign- 
 ty of Desmond. After this, there was 
 a naval engagement between the men 
 of Connaught and Munster, in which 
 the latter were again defeated. Tor- 
 delbach had previously made another 
 naval expedition to Desmond, in A. D. 
 1124, when he seized upon the fleet of 
 South Munster. In the same year 
 (1224), we read of his having put to 
 death the hostages of Cormac Mac 
 Carthaigh, among whom was that 
 prince's son. In A. D. 1126, the king 
 of Connaught, having succeeded in 
 making his son king of Leiuster and 
 Dublin, had again attacked and defeat- 
 ed the king of Desmond, at Slabh-an- 
 Caidhligh, in Kerry. On this occa- 
 sion, having continued encamped in 
 Ormond from Lammas to the iestival 
 of St. Brighitt (i?/-eí>)//í/t), he plundered 
 Munster as far as Glenn Maghair, near 
 Cork, and the south of Osraide. " A 
 great storm of war," say our annalists, 
 *' then raged throughout all Ireland, so 
 
 that Kellach, Comarba of St. Patrick, 
 had to be a year and one month from 
 Ard Macha, establishing peace among 
 the men of Ireland, and promulgating 
 good rules and customs amongst the 
 clergy." — See Four Masters. 
 
 ''■' The Temple of Cormac. Some 
 suppose this temple to be what is now 
 called King Cormac's Chapel, on the 
 Eock of Cashel, while many persons, 
 Avith, perhaps, equal reason, suppose it 
 to have been some other edifice, on 
 whose site the present ruined Cathedral 
 stands. The erection is thus recorded : 
 " A. D. 11.34. A church, vrhich was 
 erected by Cormac, grandson of Cart- 
 hach, king of Cashel, was consecrated 
 by a synod of the clergy, assembled in 
 one place." — Four Masttrs. 
 
 ^° Cormac murdered. A great' mis- 
 take has been here committed, eitlier 
 by Keating or his transcribers, in nam- 
 ing Concobar O'Briain as the insti- 
 gator of the murder of the pious and 
 munificent Cormac. He was slain at 
 the instigation of Tordell^ach O'Briain, 
 the brother of Concobar, as is seen by 
 the following entry: "A. D. 1138. 
 Cormac, son of Muredach, son of Cart- 
 hach, king of Desmond, bishop of the 
 kings of Ireland for the bestowal of 
 jewels and wealth upon the clergy and 
 the churches, an improver of territories, 
 was treacherously killed in his own 
 house by Tordelbach, son of Diarmaid 
 O'Briain, and by the two sons of O'Cou- 
 cobair - Kiarraide." — Four Masters. 
 Some doubt the fact of Cormac's hav- 
 ing been really a bishop as well as a 
 king. He may, nevertheless, have actu- 
 ally entered holy orders Avhen driven 
 into the monastery of Lis-mor in 1127, 
 
606 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 after this, í^raelmaGdog,'" called Malachias. who was Archbishop 
 both of Eri and Alba, died. 
 
 Tordelbach O'Concobair a second time invaded Munster with 
 a large army, composed of the strength of Counaught, Lcinster, 
 ]\Ieath, Tebtha and O'Ruairc's country. With this he traversed 
 Munster in a hostile manner, until he aiTÍved at Glenn Maghair/' 
 where he was met by Tordelbach O'Briain, King of Munster, and 
 the sou of Concobar O'Briain and the men of Munster. Three 
 battalions'*' was the strength of their host. Thereupon, the battle 
 of Moin Mor" was contended between them f and the Dal g-Cais 
 
 by Torbclbach O'Concobair, and after 
 the birth of his children. He is the 
 ancestor of all the septs of the Mac 
 Carthies, kings of Desmond. 
 
 " Maelmacdog. The family name 
 of this distinguished ecclesiastic was 
 O'ilorgair. He succeeded to the suc- 
 cessorship of St. Patrick in A. D. 1 132, 
 and his eminent sanctity and Christian 
 zeal have been rewarded by his canon- 
 ization under the baptismal name of 
 Malachias. He died in A. D. 1148, in 
 the 54th year of his age, and in the 
 14th year of his primacy, during which 
 he had been twice appointed as Legate 
 of the Pope to the Irish church. 
 
 " Glenn Maghair ; now Glanmire, 
 near Cork. The king of Ireland was 
 here joined by Diarmaid, son of Cor- 
 mac Mac ("urthaigh, now king of Des- 
 mond, and a large portion of the Eoga- 
 uachta, at whose solicitation he is said 
 to have made this invasion of Munster. 
 It would appear that a portion of the 
 Dal g-Cais was also in the monarch's 
 army under Tadg Ule O'Briain, a pre- 
 tender to the throne of Thomond, who 
 had fled for protection to Connaught. 
 
 " Battalions, 'i'hc Irish cath {aih) 
 • )r battalion, consisted of 3,000 men. 
 'I'hcre were then 9,000 of the Dal g- 
 Cais engaged in this fight. 
 
 " Moin Mor; i. e., the Large Bog. 
 There arc several places of this name 
 in Munster, but that where this batr 
 lie was fought would seem to be 
 Moanmore, in the parish of Kmly and 
 ■ ounly of Tiperary. — O'D. 
 
 '' The battle fought upon this occar 
 sion in which the Muiistfrmen Kuflercd 
 ihc greatest overthrow they iiiul receiv- 
 ed since the battle of Bclach Mughna, 
 
 where Cormac^ son of Culinnan, fell, in 
 A. D. 903, is thus recorded : " A. D. 
 1151. An army was led by Tordel- 
 bach Ua Concobair into Munster, and 
 Diarmaid Mac ^lurcadha, king of 
 Leinsler, went to join him with the 
 I^instermen. They plundered Mun- 
 ster before them, until they reached 
 Moin Mor. The Dal g-Cais, the men 
 of West Munster, and the Sil Briain, 
 had set out on a predatory excursion 
 into Desmond under Tordelbach Ua 
 Briain, king of Munster ; and, on their 
 return from the south, they fell in with 
 the men of Connaught, Leinster, and 
 Meath. A battle was then fought, in 
 which the men of ^lunster were defeat- 
 ed and slaughtered. Seven thousand 
 was the luunber of the Munstermen 
 that fell in this battle of Moin Mor. 
 According to the Book of Lacan, the 
 following are the chieftains who were 
 there slain : j\Iurkertach, sou of Con- 
 cobar O'Briain, lord of Thomond, the 
 second best man of the Dal g-Cais; 
 Lugaidh, son of Domnall O'Briain ; 
 Mac Conmara, lord of Ui Casin ; 2 
 of the Ui Kennadigh (O'Kenncdics) ; 
 8 of the Ui Degadh (O'Deas), with 
 Flathbertach Ua Degadh ; 9 of the Ui 
 Senchain (O'Sliannahans) ; 5 of the Ui 
 Cuinn (O'Qiiins) ; 5 of the Ui Crada 
 (O'Cradies), with Ancslis Ua Grada; 
 24 of the Ui Ogain (O'Hogans) ; 4 of 
 the Ui Aichir (O'llehirs or Hares); the 
 gi-andson of Eocaidh OTjoinirsigh 
 O'Lynch) ; 4 of the Ui Neill-Buidhc 
 the O'Neills of Tradraide, in the coun- 
 ty of Clare) ; and 5 of the Ui Kchtig- 
 hcrna (O'Aherns) ; with numbers of 
 good mei'. besides them ; and there sur- 
 vived but one shattered battalion of 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 607 
 
 and the men of Munster were vanquished therein, and the numbers 
 of their people that were slain went beyond reckoning. Tordel- 
 bach (O'Briain) was then exiled to Tir Eogain," and Tordelbach 
 O'Concobair made a partition of Munster between Tadg O'Briain 
 and Diarmaid, son of Cormac Mac Carthaigh. 
 
 It was very soon after this victory when Tordelbach O'Conco- 
 bair, King of the greater part of Ireland, died,*' in his sixty-eighth 
 year, and he was buried beside the great altar of St. Kiaran, 
 at Cluain-mic-Nois. 
 
 Great, indeed, were the legacies which this prince left to tlie 
 clergy for the repose of his soul, namely, four hundred and forty 
 ounces of gold, and forty marks of silver, and all the other valu- 
 able treasures he possessed, both cups and precious stones, both 
 steeds and cattle and robes, chess-boards, bows, quivers, arrows, 
 equipments, weapons, armor and utensils. And he himself 
 pointed out the manner in which its particular portion thereof 
 should be distributed to each church, according to its rank and 
 order. 
 
 It was about this time that Tadg O'Lonnargain,*' Bishop of 
 Kill-da-luadh, died. 
 
 MURKERTACH O'lOCHLAINN,*' ARD-RIGH, 
 
 Go Fresabra. 
 A. D. 1156.^" — Murkertach, sonof Niall Mac Lochlainn, of the 
 
 the three that had come to that place. Kiaran, having made his will and dis- 
 
 On the side of Connaught were slain, tributed gold, silver, cows, and horses 
 
 Tadg, son of Liathach O'Concobair ; among the clergy and churches of Ire- 
 
 Murkertach Ua Cathalain, chief of land in general." — Fcur Masters. 
 Clan Fogartaigh ; and Maelrnanaidh This prince had been inaugurated 
 
 O'Follamhain, chief of Clann Uadach ; chieftain of his own tribe, the Sil 
 
 4 of the Liughni ; and many others. Muredaigh, in A. I). 1106, so that he 
 
 Chief sway over Munster was assumed had, at the time of his death, been in 
 
 by Tordelbach Ua Concobair, upon the enjoyment of regal power, either as 
 
 this occasion, and Tordelbach Ua Bri- chief of his tribe, king of Connaught, 
 
 ain was banished.'' — Sec Four Masters, or monarch of the greater part of Ire- 
 
 ^° Tir Eogain. Through the rising laud for full half a century. He was 
 
 power of Murkertach O'Lochlainn, the first of the Connaught branch of 
 
 prince of this country, the exiled king the line of Erimhon that had received 
 
 of Munster was restored to his domin- the title of Ard-righ, or monarch of 
 
 ions in 1154. Ireland ; Eocaidh Muigh-medon, king 
 
 ^' Tordelbach died. " A. D. 1156.— of Ireland, A. D. 358-365, being the 
 
 Tordelbach O'Concobair, king of Con- last of his direct ancestors who had 
 
 naught, Meath, Brefni, and Munster, been saluted sovereign. From Brian, 
 
 and of all Ireland with opposition, son of this EocaiiUi, Tordelbach O'Con- 
 
 ilood of the glory and grandeur of Ire- cobair was the 23rd descendant in the 
 
 laud, a man full of charity, mercy, hos- male Hue — See Pedigree cf O'Ccnnor 
 
 pitality, and chivalry, died, after the Roe, Part III. 
 
 68th year of his age, and was interred ^^ Tadg O'Lonnargain ; otherwise 
 
 at Cluain-mic-Nois, beside the altar of O'Longargain. He died in A. D. 1161, 
 
608 
 
 THE HTSrORT OF IRELAND. 
 
 line of Erimhon," held the sovereignty of Leth Cuinn, and of 
 the greater part of Ireland, for eighteen years;" at the end of which, 
 he was slain bv the men of Fernmagh and the Ui Briuin (of 
 Brefni). 
 
 It ^vas in the seventh year of the reign of this man, that an 
 assembly and general council of the Irish chnrch was convened 
 at Kenannus," of Meath, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
 one liundred and fifty-two, for the purpose of laying down the 
 Catholic Faith, and of purifying and correcting the customs of 
 the people ; moreover, for the purpose of consecrating four Arch- 
 bishops, and of presenting each of them with a pallium,'^ for, 
 before then, there were but two Archbishops in Ireland, namely, 
 the Primate of Ard Macha and the Archbishop of Cashel. Gilla- 
 Criost O'Conari, Bishop of Lis-mor, head of the monks of Ireland 
 and Apostolic Legate, together with a cardinal, named Johannes 
 PapiroD," were the superiors appointed by the Pope to preside 
 at that council, which was commissioned to make regulations for 
 the government of the Church of Ireland, and to reform its disci- 
 pline, and also to do a thing which Ireland took more to heart 
 than these, namely, to distribute the four Pallia; for Ireland 
 
 four years after the monarch in whose 
 reigu he is here improperly entered. 
 
 "" O'Lochlainn. The sept descended 
 from this prince now more generally 
 style themselves Mac Loughlin, and 
 are still numerous in Ulster. They 
 arc of the same tribe as the O'Xeilis 
 of Tyrone, of which sept they are the 
 elder branch. They must be distinguish- 
 ed from the O'Lochlainns or O'Longh- 
 lins, of Burren, in the county of dure, 
 who are of a totally different stock. 
 
 '^ A. D. 1156. '" The first year of 
 Murkertach O'Lochlainn over Ireland." 
 — Four Masters. 
 
 " Murkertach III. Keating's ac- 
 count would throw this king'3 reign 
 several years behind its real time. Tlie 
 date here given has been ascertained 
 and received as the correct one by our 
 other historic authorities. — See O'Fla- 
 fi£rtij, (yHalloran, Moore, !fc. 
 
 " Eighteen years. He reigned for 
 only ten years, but during this brief, 
 though eventful period, he succeeded in 
 having himself acknowledged king of 
 Ireland gfi/i fresnhrndh, i. c., without 
 oppo.sition : for, in the year 1101, Diar- 
 maid Mac Murcadha, king of Lcinster, 
 paid him homage for his kingdom ; 
 Roaidri O'Concobair gave him host- 
 
 ages from Ui Briain, Conmacni, Meath, 
 and the half of Munster. On this oc- 
 casion, O'Concobair accepted the king- 
 dom of Connaught, and the lialf of 
 that of ^Meath at his hands ; the other 
 half of Meath O'Lochlainn conferred 
 upon Diarniaid O'Maolsi'clilainn (O'- 
 Melaghlin), its rightful king. At the 
 same time, he confirmed Diarniaid Mac 
 Murcadha as king of Lcinster. With- 
 in the same year, he again met " the 
 men of Ireland, both laity and clergy, 
 at Ath-na-I)airbrighe (now Dcroor, in 
 Meath), where ho obtained all their 
 hostages. Murkertach O'Lochlainn 
 was, therefore, monarch of Ireland, 
 without opposition." — Four Makers. 
 
 '■^ Kcnannns. According to the 
 Four Masters, it was at Droichet-Atha 
 or Drogheda, that this council was 
 held. It met, not in the seventh year 
 of Murkertach O'Lochlainn. but four 
 years loefore the death of his predeces- 
 sor as nominal monarch of Ireland. 
 
 " Pallium, i. c, the robe of state 
 of an archbishop. Its plural is pallia. 
 
 " Jolinnncs Papiron ; otiicrwise Jo- 
 hannes Pajiaro. This cardinal had ar- 
 rived in Ireland during the year l)cfore 
 tliat in which w;isheld thesynod of Kells, 
 as is seen by the following eu try : "A.D. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 609 
 
 thought it enough''''' to have one pallium at Ard Macha and 
 another at Casliel : it was more especially" by the churches of 
 Ard Macha and of Dun-da-leth-glas that it was considered an in- 
 fringement upon privilege to have pallia granted to any other 
 sees besides those of Ard Macha and Cashel ; for it is thus we 
 are informed by the ancient record of the church of Cluain Aid- 
 nech, in which the substance of what was transacted at this coun- 
 cil has been set down. When, indeed, the members of the coun- 
 cil were met in session, they instituted certain laudable customs 
 and ordinances at the granting of the four pallia. Here follow 
 the words of the old book of history, which was written at Cluain 
 Aidnech, of St. Fintann, in Laeighis: " In the year of our Lord 
 one thousand one hundred and fifty-two, from the incarnation of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, being a bissextile year, a famous council 
 was held at Kenannus, in the season of spring, presiding over 
 which, Johannes, Lord Cardinal and a priest of the blessed St. 
 Lawrence in Damaso, assisted by twenty-two bishops, five elect, 
 with very many abbots and priors, on the part of the holy apostles, 
 Peter and Paul, and of the Apostolic Lord, Eagenius, extirpated 
 and condemned simony and usury by every means, and com- 
 manded by apostolic authority that tythes should be paid. He pre- 
 sented four pallia to the four Archbishops of Ireland, namely, to 
 those of Dublin, Tuam, Cashel, and Armagh. He, moreover, 
 ordained the Archbishop of Armagh as primate over the others 
 as was meet ; and then, immediately after the council was dis- 
 missed, Cardinal Johannes commenced his voyage on the ninth 
 of the Kalends of April and went across the Seas. The follow- 
 ing were the bishops who assisted at that council namely, Gilla- 
 
 1151. A cardinal of the Comarba of apud Ceananmis celebratum fuit; in 
 St. Peter, namely, Johannes Papiron, quo presidens domiuus Johannes, cardi- 
 arrived in Ireland to establish rules nalis, presbyter beati Laurentii in Da- 
 aud good morals, and to correct all maso, inter viginti duos episcopos et 
 from their faults. He remained a quinque electos, et inter tot abbates et 
 week in the house of the Comarba of priores, ex parte beatorum Petri et 
 St. Patrick, and imparted his bless- Pauli et domini apostolici Eugenii, su- 
 ing." — Four Masters. moniam et usuras omnibus modis extir- 
 
 ^ For Ireland thoiigJd it enough, &c. pavit et damnavit, et decimas dandaa 
 
 Oir ba Icor le h-EirinnTJa/ZzMTO in Ard apostolica authoritate praicepit. Qua- 
 
 Macha aguspa//iu;>i i g-Caiseal. — Orig- tuor pallia quatuor archiepiscopis Hi- 
 
 inal Gaelic. bernia?, Dublinieusi, Tuamensi, Caise- 
 
 ^'' It was more especially. Agus go lensi, et Ardmachanso tradidit. Insu- 
 
 h-airighthe, is tar sarughadh eaglaise per Ardmachanum episcopum in pri- 
 
 Arda ]\Iacha agus Duin-da-leath-glas matem super alios, prout decuit, ordin- 
 
 do bhiadh acht pallium in Ard Macha avit. Qui etiam cardinalis Joannes, 
 
 agus pallium i g-Caiseal. — Original protiuus post peractum concilium, iter 
 
 Gaelic. arripuit et nono calendas Aprilis trans- 
 
 ^ MCLVn, anno ab incarnatione fretavit. Hi sunt episcopi qui hoc con- 
 
 domini nostri Jesu Christi, bissextili, cilio supcrfuerunt." 
 
 nobile concilium in vernali tempore The rest of this quotation from the 
 39 
 
610 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 chriost O'Conari, Bishop of Lis-mor and Legate of the Pope in 
 Ireland ; Gilla-Macliag, Comarba of St. Patrick, and Primate of 
 Ireland ;^^ Domnall O'Lonnargain, Arcld)ishop of Munstcr; Aodli 
 O'h-Oi.-^in, Archbishop of Tuaim-da-Gualann ;*° Mac-Greni (or 
 Greri), Bishop of Ath-cliath Duibh-linni ;" Tostius, Bishojj of 
 Port Largi ;" Domnall O'Fogartaigh, Vicar General and Bishop 
 of Osraide; Finn Mac Gormain, Bishop of Kill-dara;** Donngal 
 
 book of Cluain Aiducch (now Clone- 
 nagli near Mountrath, in the Queen's 
 County), is givgn in Gaelic as above 
 rendered into f]nglish. 
 
 '^ Gilla-Mac-Liag. His name lias 
 been latinized Gelasius. He presided 
 over the primatial see from 1145 to 
 1173, during which time he occupies a 
 distinguished place in the history of 
 the Irish church. 
 
 " Aedh-0'h-Oissin. This name is 
 not found in the editor's manuscript 
 copies of Keating. In Dermod O'Con- 
 nor's translation, it is given as " Hugh 
 O'Heyn, Archbishop of Connacht, that 
 is of 'J'uaim Greni." But Tuaini Gre- 
 ni, now Tomgrany, in Clare, was not 
 the archiepiscopal see of Connaught, 
 it wiis Tuaim-da-Gualann, now called 
 l\iam, of which Aedh O'h-Oissin, in 
 English, Hugh O'Hcssian, died bishop 
 in A. D. ilGl. Aedh Oh-Kidhin 
 might, it is true, have been either the 
 predecessor of 0"h-Oissin as Archbish- 
 op of Tuam, or he might have been 
 Bishop of Tuaim Greni, but in the lat- 
 ter case he could not have been styled 
 Archbishop of Connaught. For these 
 reasons the present translator has in- 
 sertetl the name of Aedh O'h-Oissin, in- 
 stead of Hugh O'Heyn, as given by the 
 translator just named. 
 
 "' Ath-cliath Duihh-lmni, i. e., the 
 Ford of Hurdles of the Black I'ool ; 
 it is now culled Dublin, a word derived 
 from the latter part of the old Irish 
 name of the part of ihc river Liff'ey, 
 on which that city wa.s built ; that is 
 from Dtihh Linn, in English, the Black 
 Pool. The real name of its bishop at 
 the time of the above-mentioned synod 
 was Gregory or (Jreri, who was appar- 
 ently an Irish Dane. 
 
 " Tnstius, otherwise Tosti, Bishop 
 of Port Largi, or Waterford. He was 
 also of Danish origin. 
 
 ^ Fin7i Mac Gormain. The editor 
 finds the surname of this prelate writ- 
 ten both IVfac Cianain and Mac Tigh- 
 crmain. This he deems a mistake of 
 the transcribers, for he finds by the 
 Four Masters, that Finn Mac Germain 
 died Bishop of Kill Dara or Kildare. 
 in IIGO. 
 
 "* Torgesitis, otherwise Torgeis and 
 Torgelsi. This ecclesiastic, who was 
 of Danish blood, died bishop of Limer- 
 ick, in A. D.,11G7. 
 
 With the exception of the name of 
 Archbishop of Connaught above men- 
 tioned, and the surname of the Bishop 
 of Kill Dara, the editor has ascertained 
 from the Irish Annals, that all the 
 others did really preside over their res- 
 pective sees, about the time of the 
 synod of Kenanmis or Kells. Sever- 
 al of them are here entitled from the 
 tribes over whose territories their sees 
 extended, but the reader may easily as- 
 certain the names of the scat ff their 
 episcopal chin-chcs, by referring to the 
 map, and to the notes upon the chapter 
 upon the Irish bishops prefixed to this 
 history. 
 
 " Domnall O'Lonnargain. "A. D., 
 Domnall Ua Longargain, Archbishop 
 of Case], chief senior of Munstcr, a 
 paragon of wisdom and charity, died 
 at an advanced age." — Four Ilaslera. 
 
 '"' Murkertach son of Niall died. — 
 He was slain in A. D., IIGG, at the 
 battle 0Í Lctir Liuin, fought in the dis- 
 trict called the Fews in the county of 
 Armagh. An army of three batta- 
 lions, composed of the men of Oirghial- 
 la, Ui Briuin Brcfni, and Ui Conmac- 
 ni was led thither against him ))y Donn- 
 cadh O'Kerbaill, King of Oirghialla; 
 and there, say our annalists, " fell Mur- 
 kertach Ua Lochlainn, monarch of all 
 Ireland, chief lamp of valor, chivalry, 
 hospitality, and prowess of the west of 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 611 
 
 O'Caellaighc, Bishop of Leitb-glinn ; Gilla-an-Coirade O'h-Ard 
 maeil, Bishop of Imlech-Iubair; Gilla-Criosd 0' Maidin, Bishop 
 of Corcach; Maclbrenainn Mac Konaia, Comarba of St. Bren- 
 dan of Ard-ferta, or Bishopof Kiarraide; Turgesius," Bishop of 
 Luimnech; ]\[urkertach O'Maeluidir, Bishop of Cluain-mic- 
 Nois ; Maeil-Isa O'Connachtain, Bishop of East Connanght ; 
 Maolruadnaidh O'Euaidin, Bishop of Lnighni ; Mac-Craith 
 O'Mughroin, Bishop of Conniacni; Ethrnadh O'Miadaehain, 
 Bishop of Cluain Iraird; Tuathal O'Connachtaigh, Bisliop of 
 Ui Briuin (Brefni); Mureduch O'Cobthaigh, Bishop of Kinel 
 Eogain ; Maelpatrick O'Banain, Bishop of.Dal Araide ; and Mael- 
 Isa Mac-an-Clerigh-cuir, Bishop of Ulidia." 
 
 This synod commenced its session on the day before the Nones 
 of March, and there the jurisdiction of the archbishops ^Yas de- 
 creed and laid down after the following manner : The archbishop 
 of Ard-Macha presided over the See of Coinniri, Dun-da-leth- 
 glas, Lugh-magh, Ard-acadh, Eath-both, Eath Lurigh, Daimh- 
 liag, and Doiri. The Archbishop of Cashel's jurisdiction ex- 
 tended over the Sees of Kill-da-luadh, Luimnech, Inis Cathaigh, 
 Kill Finnabrach, Imlech lubair, Eos Ore, Port Largi, Lis Mor, 
 
 the world in his time ; a man who had 
 never been beaten in battle or conflict 
 until then, and who had won many 
 battles." — Four Masters. 
 
 Besides that of Kells or Kenannus, 
 which was really held during the reign 
 of Tordelbach O'Concobair, there were 
 three synods of tlie Irish church held 
 during the ten years that Murkertach 
 reigned. Of these the first was held at 
 Droicliet Atha, or rather at Mellifont, 
 near Droichet Atha, in A. D. 1157, 
 which was presided over by Gilla-Mac- 
 liag. Primate and Pope's Legate and at- 
 tended by seventeen bishops, and by the 
 monarch himself, together with Tigher- 
 nan O'Ruairc, King of Brefni, O'Ker- 
 iiaill, King of Oirghialla, and O'h- 
 iOocadha, King of Ulidia, and count- 
 less numbers of every other degree. It 
 was ou this occasion that the church of 
 Mellifont was consecrated. After the 
 ceremony, Murkertach presented the 
 church with forty cows, and sixty 
 ounces of gold for the health of his 
 soul ; he likewise granted them the 
 townland of Finnabair na-n-Inghen, op- 
 posite the mouth of the Mattock, in 
 the parish of Donore, county Meath. 
 O'Kerbaill gave them sixty ounces of 
 
 gold ; and the wife of O'Ruairc, and 
 daughter of O'Maelsechlaiun, gave as 
 much more, with a chalice of gold for 
 the altar of St. Mary, and clotli for 
 each of the other nine altars that wore 
 in that church. Next year a synod 
 was held at Bri-mic-Taidg, near Trim, 
 which was attended by twenty-five 
 bishops, and presided over by the 
 Pope's Legate, the Primate Gilla-Miv 
 chag. It was here that the bishopric 
 of Derry was established, or as the 
 Four Masters record it, there was then 
 ordered "a chair like that of every 
 other bishop for the Comarba of Co- 
 lumkille, Flathbertach Ua Brolcain, 
 and the Arch-abbacy of the churcliea 
 of Ireland in general." In A. D. 
 1162, Gilla-Mac-Liag presided over 
 another synod, at which twenty-six 
 bishops and many abbots attended, and 
 which was held at Ciaenadh ( Clane) 
 in the county of Kildarc. Amongst 
 other decrees passed on this occasion, 
 it was enacted that no person should 
 be a professor of theology in any church 
 in Ireland, who had not been an alum- 
 nus or student of the university of Ard- 
 Macha. 
 
612 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Cluain Uamha, Corcach, Ro> Alithir, and Ard Ferta. The Arch- 
 bishop of Ath-cliatli Duibh-liuni presided over the Sees of 
 Glenn-da-loch, Ferna, Osraide, Leith-glinn, and Kill Dara. The 
 Archbishop of Tuaim-da-ghualann presided over the Sees of 
 Magh Eo, Kill Alaidh, Ros Coniain, Cluan Ferta, Acadh Cona- 
 ri, Cluain-mic-Nois, and Kill-niic-Duach. But, however, the 
 M-hole of these sees do not exist at present, for several of them 
 have been since united under one bishop. 
 
 Soon after the completion of this council, died Domnall 
 O'Lonuargain," who had been archbishop of Munster; and it was 
 not long after, when Murkertach, son of Niall, who had been 
 then sovereign ruler over Leth Cuinn, and the greater part of Ire- 
 land, died." 
 
 RUDRAIDE O'CONCOBAIR, ARD-EIGII, 
 
 Go Fresabra. 
 
 A. D. 1166." Ruaidri (or Rudraide), son of Tordelbach, son of 
 Rnaidri O'Concobair, of the line of Erimhon, held the sovereignty 
 of Connought and part of Leth Cuinn for eight years.** He is 
 also stvled monarch of all Ireland in our chronicles, from the 
 fact that the kings of Oirghialla, Meath, and Brefni, had ac- 
 knowledged him as their sovereign. He was, nevertheless, but 
 a pretender to the sovereignty (Righ-go-fresabradh), that is, a 
 
 "^ J. D. The editor's MSS. arc not were those of his greatest power, lie 
 
 in accord as to the date of this kin,<r's was then in tlie fiftieth j'car of liis age. 
 
 accession, one has 11 C3, while Dermod Kudraide II. Some hold that 
 
 O'Connor gives it 11G8. The one Ruaidri, or Ruaidhri, the usual form 
 
 above given is the true date of the in which this princes name is found 
 
 death of his predecessor, immediately spelled, is a word of dilfereut origin 
 
 after which, as we read in the Annals from the ancient (Gaelic name, Rud- 
 
 of the Four Masters, "An anny was raidc, or Rudhraidiu' (Rooree). The 
 
 led by Ruaidri O'Concobair to Es- editor does not, however, see any rea- 
 
 ruaidli. and he took the hostages of son to deem it any other than a mere 
 
 Kind Conaill." He next led an variation of the latter ; for, even 
 
 army composed of the men of Con- though the supposition that Ruaidhri 
 
 naught. Meath and Tebtha, to Ath- is derived from the proper name llode- 
 
 cliath, where he was inaugurated king ric be correct, it is likewise possible 
 
 " as honorably as any king of the that Roedric, Rudhraidhe, may in re- 
 
 Gaeidhil was ever inaugurated." He mote antiquity have been composed of 
 
 next received the hostages of the king the same ( lemcnts. Therefore docs the 
 
 of Leinster ; and having afterwards translator enter him as Rudraide H., 
 
 marched into Munster, where " all tlie the first monarch of the name being 
 
 kings of Lctli Mogha came into his Rudraide Mor, who died monarch of 
 
 house and submitted to him, he di- Ireland, A. M., 4981. 
 
 vidcd Mimster into two parts, one of '^ Eifrlit Years. From his accession 
 
 which he gave to the Sil Briain, and to his sulimission to Henry H., there 
 
 the other to Diarmaid, son of Cormac were but seven years. He had ruled 
 
 Mac Carthaigh." — See Four Mdsters. over Connaught from his father's death 
 
 11 GC was then not only the year of his in 11.50, and did not die <mtil A. D., 
 
 accession, but that and the following 1298. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 613 
 
 king, whom very many of the nobles of Ireland refused to ac- 
 knowledge as their monarch. 
 
 It Avas while Kuaidri held this questioned sovereignty, that 
 the wife of Tighernan Cacch O'Ruairc, King of Brefni, a lady 
 whose name was DerborgailV daughter of ISIurcadh, son of 
 Flann, King of Meath, sent a private message to Diarmaid Mac 
 Murcadha, King of Leinster, requesting of him to come to take 
 hei" away from Tighernan, and make her his own wife; and she 
 instructed her messengers to tell him that her husband was about 
 proceeding on a pilgrimage to the Cave of St. Patrick's Purga- 
 
 °° DerborgaiJl. This name is pro- 
 nounced Dcrvorgill, and has been lat- 
 inized Dervorgilla. Her elopement 
 with Mac Murcadha, did not take place 
 in this reign, it occurred fourteen years 
 previously, during the reign ot" Tor- 
 delbach, the father of Ruaidri, and 
 not after the manner stated by Keat- 
 ing, on the authority of the Anglo- 
 Norman writers. The following is the 
 simple narration of the event as given 
 by the Irish authorities. — " A.D. 1152, 
 An army was led by Ua Lochlainn in- 
 to Meath, as far as Kath Kennaigh. 
 Tordelbach (then monarch) proceeded 
 into Meath to meet Ua Lochlainn and 
 Diarm.aid MacMurcadha, King of Lein- 
 ster. On this occasion, Meath was di- 
 vided into two parts ; from Cluain 
 Iraird westward, was given to Mur- 
 cadh Ua Maelsechlainu, and East 
 Meath to his son Maelsechlainn. From 
 Tighernan Ua Ruairc, whom they had 
 defeated, they took Conmacni, and they 
 burned the town of Bun Cuilinn, (now 
 Dangan, in Roscommon,) and gave the 
 chieftainship to the son of Gilla-bradi 
 O'Ruairc, and their hostages were 
 given up to Tordelbach O'Goncobair. 
 On this occasion, Derbforgaill, daugh- 
 ter of Murcadh Ua Maelsechlainn, and 
 wife of Tighernan O'Ruairc, was car- 
 ried off with her cattle and furniture, 
 by Diarmaid, King of Leinster, who 
 took with her, according to the advice 
 of her brother, Maelscchlaiu." — Four 
 Masters. 
 
 Deborgaill was next year taken away 
 from her lover by the monarch Tordel- 
 bach, by whom she was delivered up to 
 her kinsfolk in Meath, " with her cut- 
 tle and furniture." There is every rea- 
 
 son to suppose that she afterwards re- 
 pented of her transgression. lu 1157, 
 the wife of O'Ruairc is found vying 
 with kings in her munificence to the 
 monastery of Mellifont. In A. D. 1167, 
 the year after Mac Murcadha's banish- 
 ment, we find her " finishing a church 
 for nuns at Cluain-mic-Nois. To sup- 
 pose a renewal of her criminal intrigue 
 with jMac Murdagh in any part of the 
 present reign, is an absurdity. Mac 
 Murcadha, who was king of Leinster 
 as early as A. D. 1135, must have been 
 theii an old man, and she was then cer- 
 tamly an old woman, for she was forty- 
 four at the time of her first elopement. 
 Previous to her marriage with O'- 
 Ruairc, an attachment is said to have 
 existed between herself and Mac Mur- 
 cadgha, which may account in some 
 way for her first transgression at a 
 rather advanced period of life, but 
 could scarcely for a second. 
 
 '" Banished him out of Ireland. His 
 own oppressed subjects had apparently 
 as much to do with the banishment of 
 Diarmaid as either the justice of O'Gon- 
 cobair, or the vengeance of O'Ruairc. 
 The following entry is given of that 
 event : " A. I). 1106. An army com- 
 posed of the men of Brefni and j\Ieath, 
 and of the foreigners of Ath-cliath, and 
 the Leinstermeu, was led by Tigher- 
 nan Ua Ruairc into Ui Kennselaigh, 
 and Diarmaid Mac Murcadha M^as 
 banished over sea, and his castle at 
 Ferna was demolished. They set up 
 as king (in his stead) Murcadh, the 
 grandson of Murcadh, he giving seven- 
 teen hostages to Ruaidri O'Concobar, 
 to be sent to Tir Fiacrach Aidni." — 
 Four Masters. 
 
614 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 torv, and that a favorable opportunity for taking her off into 
 Leinster would be afforded to him thereby. There had, indeed, 
 been previously a criminal intrigue between this pair. Therefore^, 
 upon receiving her message, Diarmaid went to meet the woman, 
 attended by a baud of armed horsemen, and when he had arrived, 
 thus accompanied, at the place where Derborgaill Avas awaiting 
 him, he commanded her to be placed forcibly on horseback be- 
 hind one of his attendants. Thereupon, the woman deceitfully 
 cried and screamed aloud, in order to make people think that 
 she had been carried off by violence. Having thus succeeded in 
 his object, Diarmaid returned home into Leinster. 
 
 Then, when Tighernan returned to Brefni, and had learned 
 that his wife had been carried off by violence, and against her 
 consent, he went to make a complaint of the outrage both to 
 Ruaidri O'Concobair, and to his own friends likewise. Tliere- 
 upon, Ruaidri O'Concobair summoned a muster of the men of, 
 Connaught, Brefni, Oirghialla and Mcath, and then marched 
 attended by a numerous army to lay waste the territories of 
 Leinster, and thus to avenge the deed which Diarmaid had com- 
 mitted. Now, when Diarmaid had heard tliat Ruaidri was march- 
 ing to devastate his coimtry, he likewise summoned a general as- 
 semblage and muster of the nobles of Leinster from all parts of 
 his principalit3% But when^these had come together into one 
 place, the answer which they gave to their king was, that they 
 would not go and stand up in defence of the evil deed which he 
 had committed ; and then a great number of them forsook his 
 standard, and })laced themselves under the protection of Ruaidri, to 
 whom they complained of the many acts of tyranny and injus- 
 tice which Dinrmaid practiced towards them. By reason of this 
 desertion, the King of Leinster was not able to meet his adver- 
 sary in a pitched battle ; whereupon the latter commenced laying 
 waste the lands of tliose of the Lciustermen that remained faith- 
 ful to their king, and, having marched to Ferna, he threw down 
 the palace of Diarmaid, and levelled his dun ; after which, he 
 banished him out of Ireland altoijethcr.'" 
 
 Flirjldof Mac MuTcadha — his intervieiv with Henry II. of England^ 
 — alliance ivilh the Anrjlo- Norman Lords, and secret return io 
 Leinster. A.D. 11G6-1167." 
 
 Diarmaid then proceeded to the second Henry, King of Sax- 
 
 " A.D. 1166-C7. During the in- Ruaidri, accordiiiíí to our Annals, had 
 
 terval that elapsed between the cxpul- succeodod in establishing in his realm, 
 
 5(ion of Diarmaid in the former, and his an unusual degree of peace and subor- 
 
 retura in the latter of these years, diuation to his authority. As this was 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 615 
 
 on-land, wlio was then in France, and when he arrived in this 
 king's presence, he was received with a welcome, and with a 
 very great display of friendship. And when he had explained 
 the object of his visit to his host, the latter furnished him with 
 kindly letters to bring with him to the land of the Saxons. In 
 
 the last period of comparative peace 
 combiiied with national independence, 
 which Ireland was to see for ages to 
 come, its records are here transcribed 
 in full from the venerable annalists who 
 have been so often quoted in these notes. 
 
 "The Age of Christ, 1167. Tor- 
 gelsi, bishop of LuLmnech, Ua Flan- 
 nain, bishop of Cluain Uamha ; Kin- 
 aeth O'Ketheruaigh, priest of Inis 
 Clothrann ; Mor, daughter of Dom- 
 nall O'Concobair-Falghi, Abbess of 
 Kill Dara ; Maelmichael Mac Dothe- 
 chain, noble priest, chief sage and pil- 
 lar of piety of the community of Ard 
 Macha ; and Gailagori Ua Dubachain, 
 comarba of Endi of Ara, died. 
 
 Tordelbach, son of Diarmaid Ua 
 Briain, King of Munster and of Leth 
 Mogha, a man who aimed at the sov- 
 ereignty of all Ireland, the best man 
 that came in his time for bestowing 
 jewels and wealth upon the poor and 
 the indigent of God, died. 
 
 Murkertach, son of Ladmann, Lord 
 of Fordruim, pillar of the magnificence 
 of all the north cf Ireland, was treach- 
 ously slain by Donncadh Ua Dubdior- 
 ma, and by all the people of Bredach, 
 in the middle of Magh Bili, and two of 
 his sons were slain on the following 
 day, and another was blinded. Conn 
 Ua Maelmiadaigh, chief of Muinter 
 Eolais, died. 
 
 A great meeting was convened by 
 Kuaidri Ua Concobair, and the chiefs 
 of Leth Cuinn, both lay and ecclesias- 
 tic, and the chiefs of the foreigners 
 (Danes) at Ath Buidhe Tlactga, (now 
 Athboy, in Meath). To it came the 
 Comarba of Patrick (Gilla-Mac-Liag) ; 
 Cadla Ua Dubthaigh, Archbishop of 
 Connaught ; Lorcan Ua Tuathail, 
 Archbishop of Leinster ; Tighernau Ua 
 Ruairc. lord of Brefni ; Donncadh Ua 
 Kerbaill. lord of Oirghialla ; Mac 
 Donnslebi Ua h-Eocadha, King Uli- 
 dia ; Diarmaid Ua Maelsechlahin, 
 
 King of Temhair ; Eaghnall, son of 
 Raghnall, lord of the foreigners. The 
 whole of their gathering was 13,000 
 horsemen, of which 6,000 were Con- 
 naughtmen, 4,000 with Ua Ruairc, 
 2,000 with Ua Maelsechlainn. 4,000 
 with Ua Kerbaill and Ua h-Eocadha, 
 2,000 with Donncadh Mac Faelain, 
 (chief of Ui Faelain, in Kildare), 1,000 
 with the Danes of Ath-cliath. At this 
 meeting they passed many good resolu- 
 tions respecting veneration for church- 
 es and clerics, and the control of tribes 
 and territories, so that women used to 
 travel Ireland alone, and a restoration 
 of his prey was given by the Ui Fal- 
 ghi to the Comarba of Patrick, at the 
 hands of these kings aforesaid. They 
 afterwards separated in peace and 
 amity without battle or controversy, 
 or without any one complaining of 
 another at that meeting, in conse- 
 quence of the prosperousness of the 
 king who had assembled those chief- 
 tains with their forces at one place. 
 
 A hosting and mustering of the men 
 of Ireland, with their chieftains, was 
 made by Ruaidri Ua Concobair. Thith- 
 er came Diarmaid, son of Cormac (Mac 
 Carthaigh), lord of Desmond ; Mur- 
 kertach Ua Briain, lord of Thomond ; 
 Diarmaid Ua Maelsechlainn, king of 
 Meath ; Donncadh Ua Kerbaill, lord 
 of Oirghialla ; and all the chieftains of 
 Leinster. They afterwards arrived in 
 Tir Eogain, and Ua Concobair divided 
 that territory into two parts, that is, 
 he gave that part of Tir Eogain, north 
 of the Callainu Mountain, to Niall Ua 
 Lochlainn, for two hostages, namely, 
 Ua Cathain of Craebh, and Mac-an- 
 Gaill Ua Brain ; and that part of the 
 tribe-land, south of the mountain, he 
 gave to Aedh Ua Xeill for two other 
 hostages, namely, Ua Maelaedha. one of 
 the Kinel Aengusa, and Ua h-Urthali, 
 one of the Ui Turtri, Ua Neill's own 
 foster-brothers. The men of Ireland 
 
616 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 tHesc he trave him permission to enlist every one of the Saxons, 
 who miglit be Avilliug to go with liim to Ireland, and there aid 
 in recovering the soverLÍgntv of his own country. Upon re- 
 ceiving these, Diarmaid bid farewell to that king, and set out for 
 the country of the Saxons. When arrived there, he caused the 
 letters of Henry'- to be publicly read at Brisdol, and at the same 
 time made a proclamation in which he promised large rewards 
 to all persons who would aid him in the recovery of his territ- 
 ories. It was there that he met Eichard Fitz-Gilbert," Earl of 
 Strigul, with whom he made the following compact; to wit, 
 
 returned back southwards, over Sliabli 
 Fuaid, through Tir Eogain and Tir 
 Conaill, to meet their sea fleet ; and 
 Ua Concobair escorted the lord of Des- 
 mond, with his forces, southwards, 
 through Thomond, as far as Cuoc Ani, 
 with many jewels and riches. 
 
 Diarmaid Mac Murcadlia returned 
 with a force of Gauls, and he seized the 
 kingdom of Ui Kennselaigh (his own 
 tribe). Another army was led by 
 Buaidri Ua Concobair and Tighernan 
 Ua Euairc into Ui Kennselaigh until 
 they reached Kill 0.snadh. A battle 
 was fought between some of the re- 
 cruits and cavalry of Connaught, and 
 the cavalry of the Ui Kcimselaigh, and 
 six of the Connaughtmen, together 
 with Domnall, son of Tadg. son of Mael- 
 ruanaidh, were slain in the first conflict ; 
 twenty-five of the Ui Kennselaigh, to- 
 gether with the son of the king of Brit- 
 ain (i.e., of Wales), who was the battle- 
 prop of the island of Britain, who had 
 come across the sea in tlie army of Mac 
 Murcadh were slain in the second con- 
 flict by Ua Ruairc. Diarmaid Mac Mur- 
 cadha, afterwards came to Ua Conco- 
 bair ; and gave him seven hostages for 
 ten cantrods of his own native territory, 
 and one hundred ounces of gold were 
 given to Ua Ruairc, as an atonement 
 for the wrong done to that prince. 
 
 Derbail, daughter of Donncadh Ua 
 Maelsechlainn, died at (Jluain-mic-Nois 
 after the victory of will and confe.ssion. 
 Uada Ua Conceanainn, who had been 
 at first Lord of Ui Diarniada, and af- 
 terwards in religious orders, died at 
 Cluain-mic-Nois. 'J'he church of the 
 nuns at Cluain-mic-Nois was finished 
 by Derborgaill, daughter of Murcadh 
 
 Ua Maelsechlainn, (the wife of Ua 
 Ruairc, and the Helen of Irish ro- 
 mance). Fobar Fechini, Ailiinn, and 
 Birra, were burned. ]\[uredach, the 
 son of Mac Cana, was slain by the sons 
 of Ua Lochlainn. A church w'as erect- 
 ed at Cluain-mic-Nois in place of the 
 Derlhach, by Concobair Ua Kellaigh 
 and the Ui Mani." 
 
 "'- Letters of Hem-y. Henry H. who 
 was then in Aquitaine, and too busily 
 occupied both in reducing some of his 
 continental vassals to obedience, and in 
 maintaining his controversy with St. 
 Thomas a Becket, to avail himself in 
 person of the opportunity ofiered by 
 Diarmaid's treason, adopted this mode 
 of keeping up civil strife in Ireland 
 until he should be more at leisure to 
 turn it to his advantage. His letter 
 was of the following purport : " Henry 
 King of England, Duke of Norman- 
 dy and Aquitaine, and Earl of Aujou, 
 to all his liegemen, English, Norman, 
 Welsh and Scotch, and to all other 
 nations under his dominion, sends greet- 
 ing. As soon as the present letters 
 shall come to your hands, know that 
 Dcrmod, prince of Leiuster, has been 
 received into the bosom of our grace 
 and benevolence. "Wherefore, whoso- 
 ever within the ample extent of our 
 territories, shall be willing to lend 
 aid towards the restoration of this 
 prince, as our faithful and liege subject, 
 let such person know that we do here- 
 by grant to him, for said purjjose, our 
 licen.se and favor." 
 
 " liirJinrd Fiiz-Gilbcrt, i. e., Richard 
 son of (iiilxTt or Gislebert. His real 
 nam(! was liichard de Claire, or Clare, 
 Earl of Fembrokc and Strigul, and he 
 
THE HISTOEY OF IRELAND. 617 
 
 Diarmaid promised to give his own daug-hter, Aciii, to this earl 
 as bis wife, and with her he promised him the inheritance of 
 Leinster after his own death. The earl bound himself upon his 
 part, to follow the exiled prince into Ireland, and there to a.ssist 
 him in reconquering his lost principality. 
 
 Having completed this compact, Uiarinaid set out for Britain 
 (Wales) to visit a prince named Ralph Griffin,'^ who then ruled 
 over that country under the sovereignty of King Hemy. To 
 him, likewise, Diarmaid explained the object he had in view. At 
 that time this prince happened to hold in j)rison a nobleman of 
 distinguished valor, whose name was Robert Fitz-Stephen, who, 
 having rebelled against his king, saw no better means of escaping 
 punishment than engaging to go to the aid of Mac Murcadha in 
 Ireland. Upon this, when the Bi.^hop of St. David's and Maurice 
 Fitz-Gerald had heard that Diarmaid had gone to the prince to 
 solicit the enlargement of Robert Fitz-Stephen from the prison in 
 which he lay, they went themselves likewise, to petition for the 
 liberty of that nobleman, and to beg that he would be allowed 
 to proceed to Ireland to join the King of Leinster, The children 
 of one mother, ^^ indeed, were that Bishop, Robert Fitz-Stephen 
 and Maurice Fitz-Gerald. By these solicitations the prince was 
 induced to grant his liberty to Robert, u])on the expressed condi- 
 tion that he should follow Mac Murcadha into Ireland in the 
 course of the summer then ensuing.'"' To Robert Diarmaid he 
 promised to grant Loch Garman and the two cantreds of land 
 that lay next thereto, as a reward for his agreeing to come to his 
 assistance. 
 
 bore the nickname of Strongbow, a two (or three) sons, and the second of 
 
 cognomen which his father had borne them was the brave adventurer, Maur- 
 
 befoi*e him. He was a man of ruined ice Fitz-Gerald, now enlisted in the 
 
 fortunes, and of a daring, adventurous service of the Irish king. His mother, 
 
 and unscrupulous spirit. From him Nesta, having been carried off by a 
 
 the early Anglo-Norman settlers in Ire- Welsh prince, named Caradoc, became 
 
 land have been called Strougbownians. on Gerald's death, the mistress of the 
 
 " Ralph Griffin. His real name constable Stephen de Marisco, and by 
 was Ilees Ap Gryffyth. He had de- him had a son, Robert Fitz-Stephen, 
 taiucd Fitz-Stephen in prison for three the same who engaged at this time in 
 years. It was probably a son of his the Irish wars, in common with his 
 that is styled son of the King of Bri- half brother, Maurice Fitz-Gerald. 
 tain (i. e., Wales) in the above given Like the Earl of Pembroke, they were 
 extract from the Four Masters, where both fitted by broken fortunes and po- 
 he is stated have fallen fighting for litical difficulties, to embark in any en- 
 Mac Murcadha. terprize, however, desperate, which held 
 
 " The children of on», mother. They forth a prospect of speedy relief and 
 
 were the sons of Nesta, the beautiful change. — See Moore's History of Ireland. 
 
 mistress of Henry I. This lady, after '^ The summer then ensuing. Fitz- 
 
 separating from her royal lover, mar- Stephen did not arrive in Ireland until 
 
 ried Gerald, Governor of Pembroke, the beginning of the second next sum- 
 
 and Lord of Carew, by whom she had mer, that of A.D. 11 G9. 
 
618 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 
 
 Then, having ratified all his covenants with these people, 
 Diarmaid sailed homeward" for Ireland, and those that followed 
 him on his voyage, were but few, though he \vas returning to a 
 land where his enemies abounded, and his friends were scarce. 
 After his landing, he proceeded secretly to Ferna Mor of St. 
 Maedog, and placed himself under the protection of the clergy 
 and brotherhood of that monastery, and there he dwelt in sad- 
 ness and obscurity for a short time, until the summer had set 
 in. 
 
 First landing of Anglo-Normans under Bohert Fitz- Stephen, in 
 the month of May, A. D., 1169. 
 
 In due time Robert Fitz-Stephen arrived in Ireland, in fulfil- 
 ment of his compact with Mac ]\Iurcadlia. The number of the 
 host nnder his command was thirty knights, sixty esquires, 
 and three hundred footmen. And the place where they made 
 their landing was at Cuan-an-bainbh, " {Cooan-an-vonniv\ on the 
 south coast of Loch Garman, at a spot which is called Bag 
 and Bun. This took place in the year of our Lord one 
 thousand one hundred and seventy," in the seventh year of the 
 reign of Ruaidri O'Concobair. In the company of Robert Fitz- 
 Stephen, there was also on that expedition, anotlier Knight of 
 distinction who was named Hervé de Monte-Marisco,^" a 
 nobleman of the house of the Earl of Strigul, whom the 
 latter had sent to Ireland before himself, for the purpose of 
 
 " Diarmaid sailed homeward. Tliis si.xtj' men at arms, and three Imndrcd 
 
 account, given by KeatiDs of the few- archers. On the day after his arrival, 
 
 DCS3 of his followers ou his homeward he was joined by Maurice de Preiider- 
 
 return, is exaggerated. Though prob- gast, a gentleman of Wales, who then 
 
 ably none of the Norman men-at-arms landed with a force consisting of ten 
 
 then accompanied him, he must have knights and sixty archers. Previous 
 
 been accompanied by a considerable to this, we read of the arrival of a 
 
 body ofWelshmen, under that son of the fleet of the Flemmings, who "came 
 
 King of Britain whose death is record- from I'higland in the army of Mac 
 
 ed by the Four Masters. If he was at Mnrcadlia, to contest the kingdom of 
 
 all constrained to conceal himself at Lcinster for him. They were seventy, 
 
 Ferna, or Ferns, it could not have been men dressed in coats of mail.'" — Four 
 
 for many weeks, for he made head Masters. 
 
 against tlic monarch within the very " Seventy — Correctly: sixty-nine, 
 year of his return, was then strong " Jlervé de Monte-Marisco. He is 
 
 enough to secure the peaceable pos- also called ITervey of Mount Maurice, 
 
 session of part of liis former territo- and was the paternal uncle of Strong- 
 
 ries by a treaty of peace. bow, F>arl of Pembroke. He is said to 
 
 '" Cuan-dii-bainblL ; i. e., the harbor have been a person in needy circum- 
 
 or creek of the Suclcing Fig. It is stances, wlio, without arms or means, 
 
 now called Bannow, in tlie county Wcx- had joined in this expedition as the 
 
 ford. Fitz-Stephen had with him on emissary of his nephew, 
 this occasion a force of thirty Knights, 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 619 
 
 reconnoitering and forming an estimate of this country. Then, 
 when they had arrived at the above-named place, Eobert sent 
 a message to Diarmaid, thereby informing the latter of hisarrival 
 in Ireland. Diarmaid was seized Avith joy upon receiving the 
 tidings thereof, and he marched forth immediately followed by 
 five hundred warriors to meet his allies. 
 
 Having formed a junction with these, both he and his confed- 
 erates with one accord determined that the first step to be taken 
 was to attack and gain possession of Loch Garman.^^ Thither 
 they accordingly marched, but, as they were approaching the 
 town, the burgesses adopted the counsel of making their sub- 
 mission to Diarmaid forthwith, and of sending four of the 
 nobles of their town to that prince as hostages, in pledge of their 
 peaceable demeanor towards him, and of their paying him rent 
 and fines, and doing him homage as their liege lord. It was 
 then indeed that Diarmaid fulfilled his promise to Robert Fitz- 
 Stephen. by granting him the town of Loch Garman, together 
 with the cantred of land that lay next thereto. He likewise 
 gi'anted the two cantreds that lay next to this," to Hervé de 
 Monte-Marisco, thus completing the engagements which he had 
 contracted with both these knights in Britain. 
 
 Having arranged these matters, Diarmaid next summoned 
 together a general muster both of his own partizans and of the 
 strangers, and when they had come into place, the number of 
 the entire host there assembled was three thousand men in all, 
 counting both the Gauls and the Gaels. This force he immedi- 
 ately led into Osraide, which he commenced to plunder and de- 
 vastate therewith ; for at this time the Ossorians were ruled by 
 Donncadh, son of Domnall Remhar, who had been his inveterate 
 
 *' Loch- Garman ; otherwise called by so brave a resistance that lie was 
 Loch g-Carmann, and now known to compelled to withdraw his troops and 
 the English as the town of Wexford, content himself with burning the ships 
 This place was then one of the mara- then lying in the harbor. Next day, 
 time cities, held by the descendants of the robber chieftain caused masses to be 
 the Lochlannaigh, or Danes. The citi- solemnly said in his camp, and was pre- 
 zens did not submit as passively as the paring for another assault, when a 
 above given account would imply. For, peace was made between the citizens 
 though they had fled back in disorder, and their enemies, through the medium 
 when first they had been called out to of two bishops, and the town was 
 meet their foes— frightened, it is said, at thereupon delivered up to the King of 
 the armor and discipline of the Nor- Leinsteras its liege lord. — See Moore. 
 mans, but perhaps also by the num- ^" The tu-o cantreds next to this. These 
 bers of the Irish force that followed are now comprised within the baronies 
 Mac Murcadha—they immediately of Forth and Bargy, whose present in- 
 adopted the resolution of burning their habitants are chiefly descendants of the 
 suburbs ; and when Fitz-Stephen led Flemmings, then planted in the ancient 
 his men to scale their walls, he was met Fotharta of the O'Larkins. 
 
620 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 enemy/* But, as he was thus laying waste this territory, its 
 chieftain, finding himself unable to defend it, with the advice of 
 the nobles of his tribe, adopted the resolve of sending hostages 
 to Diarmaid and of submitting to pay him chief-rent. It 
 was thus that Donncadh prevented Diarmaid from devastating 
 Osraide. 
 
 But now, when the nobles of Ireland had heard" of tlie ar- 
 rival of Diarmaid and the Gauls, and had been informed of the 
 success of their united forces, they proceeded to take counsel 
 with Euaidri O'Concobair, who at that time had taken upon him- 
 self the sovereignty of Ireland. And the resolution, which they 
 then ado})ted was to place at his disposal an auxiliarj^ i^i'i^'^.y, 
 collected from all the principalities of Ireland. 
 
 A force so composed was accordingly brought together, 
 whereupon Euaidri marched therewith into the territory of Ui 
 Kennselaigh, Avith the intention of expelling both Diarmaid and 
 the strangers out of Ireland. But as soon as the monarch had in- 
 vaded Leinster, Diarmaid and the Gauls and all of the Leinster- 
 men that followed his standard, retreated into certain dark woods 
 and fastnesses that lay near Ferna Mor of St. ^Maedog, in order 
 
 ® Hifi inveterate enemy. He had been 
 one of the first to turn against Diar- 
 maid. He had also, during the prcvi- 
 ons year, in a paroxysm of jealousy, or- 
 dered the eyes of one of the sons of tlie 
 King of Ixiinstcr, named Enda, to be 
 put out. "J'his liarbarous practice was 
 common in England as well as in Ire- 
 land at that time. — " Henry the Second, 
 in his excursion into Wales iu 1164, 
 having received as hostages the child- 
 ren of the noblest families of that coun- 
 try, gave orders that the eyes of all the 
 males should be rooted out, and the 
 ears and noses of the females amputated. 
 In the reign of Henry IV., it was 
 made felony (in England) ' to cut out 
 any person's tongue, or to put out his 
 eyes ; crimes, which,' the act says, 
 ' were very frequent.' " — Moore's Histo- 
 ry of Ireland. See also, Lingard, Hume, 
 ifc. 
 
 " IVlicn the nobles of Ireland had 
 heard, f^c. From the fact that Irish 
 chieftanis liad been accustomed to em- 
 ploy foreign mercenaries in their domes- 
 tic wars, neither they nor the monarch 
 Ruaidri seem to have been conscious, 
 neither now, nor long after the present 
 time, of the danger that threatened their 
 
 national independence,from the Normau 
 mercenaries of the King of Leinster. — 
 Amongst the various entries under the 
 year 1169, Euaidri's march into Lein- 
 ster, and the peace he concluded with 
 Mac ]\Iurcadlia, is thus cursorily set 
 down by our annalists : " The King of 
 Ireland afterwards proceeded into 
 Leinster ; and 'IMghernan Ua Ruairc, 
 lord of Brefni. and Diarmaid O'Mael- 
 sechlainn. King of Temhair, and the 
 foreigners of j\th-cliath, went to meet 
 the men of Munster, Leinster and Os- 
 raide ; and they set nothing hy the 
 Flcnnnings ; and Diarmaid Sfac Mur- 
 cadha gave his son as a liostage to 
 Ruaidri Ua Concobair." — Four Mas- 
 ters. 
 
 In the previous year, Eri had seen for 
 the last time, her princes, nobles and peo- 
 ple assembled for the last time at the 
 ancient royal fair of Talti, which " was 
 cck:brated on this occasion by the 
 King of Ireland, and the men of Ixtb 
 Cuinn, and their horses and cavalry 
 were spread out from Mullach Ati (now 
 the Hill of Loyd, near Kells) to Mul- 
 lach Taltenn," (now the summit of Tell- 
 town, a space of si.x miles.) 
 
THE HISTORY OF lEELAND. 621 
 
 to save himself from the numerous army led by Euaidri. Here- 
 upon, when Euaidii perceived that his enemies had no intention 
 of giving him battle, he sent messengers to Eobert Fitz-Stepheu, 
 commanding him to leave the countr}^, on the grounds that he 
 had no right to any inheritance therein. But to these messen- 
 gers Fitz-Stephen replied that he would never forsake the lord 
 with whom he had come to Ireland, His messengers returned 
 indue time to Euaidri with this answer; and then, when he 
 found that neither Mac Murcadha, nor the Gauls w^ould quit 
 the country upon any condition, he prepared to fall upon them 
 with the full force of the large army under his command, and 
 thus to crush and destroy their host. However, when the clergy 
 of Leinster saw that the country was in danger of being de- 
 stroyed by this contest, they exerted their utmost influence to 
 bring about a peace between Euaidri and Diarmaid. The fol- 
 lowing were the conditions upon which that peace was finally 
 concluded ; to wit, the kingdom of Leinster was to be left to 
 Diarmaid, as it was his by right of inheritance, upon condition 
 that he would do homage for the same to Euaidri as his liege 
 lord, and submit to his authority, just as all the kings, that had 
 ruled Leinster before him, had been wont to submit to all the 
 monarchs of Ireland, who had preceded Euaidri. Then as a 
 surety for his observance of the peace thus concluded, Diarmaid 
 gave one of his own sons, named Art," to Euaidri as his host- 
 age. Upon his part, Euaidri promised to give his own sister 
 in marriage to Diarmaid. Upon the completion of these condi- 
 tions, they separated from one another in peace. But before 
 they did so, Diarmaid promised Euaidri that he would bring 
 over no more Gauls into Ireland. 
 
 Arrival of Maurice Fitz-Oerald. 
 
 It was not long after the conclusion of this peace, when Maur- 
 ice Fitz-Gerald arrived in Ireland, both in fulfilment of his own 
 compact with Mac Murcadha, and in order to receive the re- 
 ward which, during the past harvest, the latter had promised to 
 bestow upon him, and upon Eobert Fitz-Stephen, provided they 
 would come to Ireland to aid him in the recovery of his own 
 territories. The force that followed Maurice upon this occasion, 
 
 ^ Named Art. According to the his country to implant his foreign allies 
 
 Faur Masters, the name of this sou in the land, by the subjugation of the 
 
 would appear to have been Concobar. Danish feudatories of the kingdom of 
 
 After this unfortunate treaty was con- Leinster, as well as the refractory tribes 
 
 eluded, Euaidri drew off his army, of his own kindred, 
 thus allowing the treacherous enemy of 
 
622 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 consisted of ten kniglits, thirty esquires, and one hundred foot- 
 men. And where they made tlieir first landing was at Loch 
 Garman ; and then, no sooner did Mac I^furcadha and Eobert 
 Fitz-Stcphen hear of his arrival, tlian they came to this place to 
 welcome him. 
 
 It was now that Mac AEurcadha called to mind all the injuries 
 that the inhabitants of Ath-cliath had committed towards both 
 himself and his fother before him ;"' and for this reason did he 
 gladly enlist this host in order to lead it thither at once, and to 
 sack that city therewith ; for he had to leave Robert Fitz-Steph- 
 en engaged in building a castle at a place which is now called 
 Carraigh, and which lies two miles outside Loch Garman. Ac- 
 cordingly Diarmaid and Maurice Fitz-Gerald, attended by the 
 the greater part of the Gauls, marched into Fine Gall." So that 
 they plundered and burned up the greater part of that territory. 
 Hereupon, when the burgesses of Ath-cliath saw that the coun- 
 try all round their city was plundered and laid waste, they took 
 counsel together, and the measure upon which they determined 
 Avas to send very many objects of value and large presents of gold 
 and silver to Mac Murcadha, in order to procure a peaceable 
 settlement of their quarrel with that prince. And in addition to 
 these treasures, they likewise sent out hostages to him over the 
 walls of their city. 
 
 Mac Murcadha aspires to the sovereignÍTj of Ireland — His lelier to 
 Sironghow — Arrival of Raymond le Gros, A.D. 1170. 
 
 "When Mac ' ^[urcadha now found that he was succeeding in 
 all his undertakings,'* he recalled to his mind that the sovereign- 
 ty of all Ireland had been possessed by several of his own di- 
 rect ancestors, namely, by Concobar Abradh-ruadh, Cathaeir 
 
 ** His father before him. This was lin, and still retains its ancient appellor 
 
 Donncatlh Ua Macl-na-mbo, King of tion witli r;1i,irlit alteration in tho an- 
 
 Txiinsfcr, who was slain in 1115 by the {flicized form, Fingal. 
 
 Irish Danes of Dublin, connnanded by " Sxtcceeding in all his imdertnldvp^s. 
 
 their lord. Doninall, son of Murkcrtacli His success Avas as yoi confined to the 
 
 Mor O'Briain. taking of Wexford, the submission of 
 
 " Fine Gall, i. c, the tribe, or rath- Ossory and Did^lin. and the acluicwl- 
 
 er, figuratively, the tribe-land of the cdgcnient of his authority by some of 
 
 Gauls or strangers. The first part of theseptsof his own tribe — events that, 
 
 this name has no relation to Finn or such was the state of isolation in which 
 
 Fionn in Finn-Gall, i. e., a fair-haired the interest of the various tribes that 
 
 stranger, the Irish name for a Norweg- composed the Gaelic nation then stood 
 
 ian. It h fine, pronounced ^ínw/í, a with regard to one another, were of 
 
 race, tribe, or kindred. T'.ie territory as little immediate interest to the rest 
 
 of tlie strangers, i. e., the Danes, desig- of the country as if they had takca 
 
 natcd by this name, lies north of Dub- place in a foreign land. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 623 
 
 Mor,*' Labraidh Loingsecli, Lacgari Lore and lugani Mor, and 
 all the other kings of this line who preceded them upon the 
 Irish throne. Therefore did he saj to himself that no king of 
 these had ever possessed any greater power to uphold him in 
 the sovereignty of Ireland, than what he had then at his 
 own disposal. For this reason he took both Maurice Fitz-Gerald 
 and Eobcrt Fitz-Stephen into a private place, and there ac- 
 quainted them with his secret desires upon this subject, and he 
 asked their advice as to the measures to be taken in furtherance 
 thereof These men thereupon answered him with one accord, nnd 
 assured him that it would be easy for him to accomplish his ob- 
 ject, if he were only willing to send to Saxon -land for more men. 
 Mac Murcadha then desired them to send messengers thither 
 immediately, with instructions to invite over all their kinsmen 
 and companions ; and he added that he would give his own 
 daughter as Avife either to Maurice Fitz-Gerald, or to Robert 
 Fitz-Stephens ; but neither of them would consent to take her, 
 because they remembered that he had previously promised her 
 to the Earl of Strigul, with the kingdom of Leinster for her 
 portion, as the reward of that Earl's aiding him in recovering 
 the sovereignty of his own country. Both these knights con- 
 cluded by advising their ally to write to the said earl at once, 
 and to request of him to come over to Ireland and fulfill his 
 promises; "And explain to him," said they, "that thou art 
 prepared to fulfil thy part of the engagement, in as far as regards 
 giving him thy daughter in marriage, and with her the king- 
 dom of Leinster after thy own day ; and tell him moreover thy 
 prospects of subjecting the four provinces of Ireland, which 
 thou dost not yet own, to thy sovereignty and tribute. 
 
 Mac Murcadha accordingly despatched a letter to this effect to 
 the earl of Strigul. And when the bearer thereof had reached 
 him, and when he had read the letter, and had heard of the 
 great power, which Mac Murcadha, Eobert Fitz-Stephen, and 
 Maurice Fitz-Gerald had acquired in Ireland, he set out imme- 
 
 ^ Cothaeir Mor, ^'c. Mr. Moore as- more admissible, for his claim to the 
 sumes, in one of the notes to his History sovereignty on the ground of his des- 
 of Ireland, that it was in right of his cent from Cathaeir Mor, his twenty- 
 maternal descent from Murkertach Mor second ancestor, was just as legitimate 
 O'Briain, that Diarmaid then laid in Brehon law, as those of Brian Bor- 
 claim to the Irish monarchy. But, had omlia, or of Tordelbach, the father of 
 he considered the usages of the ancient Ruaidri, the actual king. Mac Mur- 
 Irish, he would have understood that a cadha was himself aware of this, and, 
 claim so founded would not be acknowl- ruthless destroyer as he was, he may be 
 cged by a single Ollamh, Brethemh or supposed to have known his country- 
 Bard of the Gaels, however plausible men well enough not to have shocked 
 it might seem to Mac Murcadha"s for- their hereditary prejudices by wantonly 
 eign friends. Keating's account is then advancing any other. 
 
624 ' THE HI3T0KY OF IRELAND. 
 
 diately for the place where the King of Saxon-land was then 
 staying, and there he solicited the permission of that monarch 
 to go and make a conquest in whatever country he had a mind. 
 But when the king comprehended the object of liis request, he 
 did not grant him his request in full, neither did he give him a 
 direct refusal. The earl, nevertheless, went off with the ambig- 
 uous consent -which he had received, and forthwith set about 
 equipping himself and his followers for the intended expedition. 
 Then, as he was not ready to set out immediately upon his voy- 
 age in person, he sent off Kaymond le Gros,'" son of William 
 Fitz-Gerald, the elder brother of Maurice, with a band of armed 
 followers to go before him into Ireland. 
 
 Upon arriving in this country, Kaymond effected a landing 
 at Dun Domnoinn,'' four miles outside of Port Largi, towards 
 the south. According to Stanihurst, the number of the people 
 of this captain was ten knights and three score footmen. As 
 soon as landed, they constructed a fortified embankment of 
 stones and clay in that place. 
 
 When the news of the arrival of these Gauls in their neigh- 
 borhood, had reached the citizens of Port Largi and Maelsech- 
 linn OTaelain, King of the Desi, they were seized with hatred 
 and alarm at their approach, and they came together to take 
 counsel as to how they should act upon the emergency. The 
 result of their consultation was, that they resolved to attack the 
 strangers in their fortress, and thereto slaughter and destroy them. 
 They then assembled their forces together in one place, and the 
 number they led against the foe amounted to three thousand 
 men. W^lien Kaymond saw them approaching, he sallied out 
 rashly and unthinkingly to meet and oppose that numerous 
 host, and to give them battle with the small band under his com- 
 mand. But when he found that he was not strong enough to 
 
 *■ Raymond Ic Grris ; i. c. Raymond llicy purposed to await the arrival of 
 
 the Big. " This young officer, wliose .Strongbow. The engagement between 
 
 name was Raymond Fitz-William, but these invaders and tiie citizens of Wa- 
 
 who bore the cognomen Le Gros, as a tcrford, aided by OTaelain, is not 
 
 personal characteristic, was of the same mentioned by the Four Masters. It is, 
 
 noble race whence sprung so many no doubt, exaggerated here. Mr. 
 
 others of the leaders of this Irish ex- Moore tells us that the Irish had pur- 
 
 pedition, being the second son of Wil- sued Raymond's force into the fort, and 
 
 liam Fitz-Gerald, and nepliew l)oth to that it was when tluis pressed, that 
 
 Maurice Fitz Gtiraid, and Roljert Fitz- Raymond turned round and struck the 
 
 Stephen." — Moore. foremost of those who were within the 
 
 "' Dun Dimnainn, now called Down- gates through the body, and then, this 
 
 donnell, near Watorford. Ilervcy do example having animated his band and 
 
 Monte-Marisco, and some otlier knights dismayed his assailants, lie sallied out 
 
 joined him soon after his landing, and again at the head of his small f<»ra% when 
 
 here they erected a small fort, where the whole multitude fled in dismay. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND, 625 
 
 engage his assailants in the field, he began to retreat with his 
 face to the foe, towards the entrenchment which he had previ- 
 iously constructed. However, upon finding his enemies press- 
 ing upon his rear, he turned upon his pursuers with hardihood, 
 and flinging himself upon them, he made an incredible slaught- 
 er of that large host of the Gaels, so that, besides what he killed, 
 he maimed and wounded^^ five hundred, of their men in the course 
 of that one hour. 
 
 Arrival of Richard dc Clare, Earl of Slrigul and Pemhrohe — com- 
 monly called Earl jSironghow, A. D. 1170 
 
 On the approach of the feast of St. Bartholemew, the Earl of 
 Strigul arrived in Ireland in person ; and the number of his fol- 
 lowers was two hundred Knights, and one thousand Esquires, 
 archers, and soldiers of every other description. And the place 
 where he cast anchor was in the harbor of Port Largi. 
 
 When, indeed, the news of the arrival of the Earl of Strigul 
 had spread throughout Ireland, Mac Murcadha, attended by 
 the nobles of Leinster, together with Robert Fitz-Stephens, 
 Maurice Fitz-Gerald and Raymond le Gros came to meet him, 
 full of joy and hope. Next day they marched by common con- 
 sent to attack and capture Port Largi, ^' and when they had 
 come under that city, they set themselves determinately about 
 taking it by a simultaneous assault. And then, in addition to 
 the hardships which they had previously inflicted upon the in- 
 habitants of this city, having taken the walls by storm, they 
 
 " H" maimed and wounded, ^c. Of inhabitants of this city had previously 
 these, seventy of the principal citizens allowed themselves to be shamefully 
 of Port Largi, or Waterford, were beaten by the small band of Raymond, 
 taken prisoners in the rout. For their and had allowed him to remain for three 
 ransom large sums of money were of- months unmolested in their ueighbor- 
 fered by their fellow-citizens, who even hood, they now made a rather vigorous 
 proffered to surrender their city itself resistance to the more formidable army 
 to the strangers as the price of their of Strongbow. With the aid of OTae- 
 friends' liberation. But their fate was lain, prince of the Desi, they twice re- 
 left to a council of war, where, by the pulsed their assailants. At length 
 persuasion of Hervé de Monte-Marisco, Eaymond le Gros, perceiving a small 
 and against the will of Eaymond, it house projecting on timber props from 
 was determined that they should be the east angle of the wall, ordered some 
 executed, for the pnrpose of " striking of his knights to hew down these 
 terror into the Irish." They were ac- props, so that the house fell, and with 
 cordingly borne away to the rocks, and it part of the wall. A breach being 
 there most cruelly put to death, by first thus opened, the troops poured into the 
 breaking their limbs, and then casting city, and there took dreadful revenge 
 them headlong into the sea. — See for the resistance they had encountered 
 Moore. by a general slaughter of all whom 
 
 " Port Largi captured. Though the they met. — See Moore. 
 40 
 
626 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 rushed into the interior, and massacred every person upon whom 
 they could lay hands. Nevertheless, at the request of Mac 
 Murcadha, they spared the Life of Maelsechlainn O'E'a-.dain, 
 King of the Desi, whom they had there captured. 
 
 Mac Murcadha had on this occasion brought with him liis 
 daughter, who was named Aeifi,^* to meet the earl, and to him 
 she was immediately married at this place. And then, as soon 
 as that alliance was duly ratified by all parties, the carl, having 
 left a strong garrison in Port Largi,'' immediately led forth his 
 army against Ath-cliath, 
 
 Now, there was not upon earth any man whom the citizens 
 of Dublin more hated to see approaching them than Mac Mur- 
 cadha, thus attended by those Gauls; and, upon his side, Mae 
 Murca<lha was equally full of hatred and enmity towards them, 
 for it was they that had slain his fatlier, whom they then buried 
 insultingly and ignobh", by placing him in one grave with 
 a dead dog, as a mark of contempt. Therefore were the folk of 
 Ath-cliath seized with terror upon the approach of that army of the 
 Gauls, and of the full strength of Leinster now marching against 
 them. For this reason they deputed the Archbishop of Ath-cliath, 
 namely, Lorcan O'Tuathail,*" as their ambassador to solicit a 
 
 "* Aeifi. The Normans called her 
 Eva. Mac Murcadha was doubly a 
 traitor in granting the inheritance of 
 the kingdom of Leinster to the hus- 
 liand of this lady ; for he knew that not 
 one of the royal tribes in Leinster, who 
 were every man of them legitimately as 
 eligible to the chieftancy as himself, 
 would acknowledge such a title one 
 hour longer than external force com- 
 pelled them. And so we read in the 
 subsequent annals of Ireland, of several 
 Kings of Leinster, of the ancient regal 
 and direct line, some of whom, as the 
 brave Art Mac Murcadha O'Caemha- 
 naigh, forced involuntary homage to 
 their regal titles even from the Norman 
 colonists, but we do not find one man, 
 styled King of Leinster by either Eng- 
 lish or Irish, of those that sprung from 
 Aeifi and Riclianl de (Jlarc. 
 
 The arrival of Strougbow and tak- 
 ing of Waterford, is thus entered by 
 the Four Masters. " A. D. 1170. 
 Richard, son of Gilbert, i. e. Earl 
 Strongbow, came from Saxon-land into 
 Ireland with a numerous force, and 
 many knights and archers, in the ar- 
 
 my of Mac Murcadha, to contest Lein- 
 ster for him, and to disturb the Gaels 
 of Ireland in general ; and Mac Mur- 
 cadha gave his daughter to Earl Strong- 
 bow for coming into his army. He 
 took Loch Garman, and entered Port 
 Largi by force ; and they took prisoner 
 Gilla-Mari, the oiScer of the fortress, 
 and Ua Faelain, lord of the Dusi, and 
 his son, and they killed seven hundred 
 persons tliere." 
 
 ^ A slrong garrison at Port Larrji. 
 Waterford was soon after retaken by 
 Mac Carthaigh, and the Eoganachta. 
 Under this same year, we are told ^^hat 
 " a victory was gained by the son of 
 Connac, grandson of (Jarthacli, and 
 the people of Desmond, over the 
 kniglits who were left to guard Port 
 Largi."— F. M. 
 
 ■" Lorcnn (y Tuathail. He is bettor 
 known as St. Lawrence O'Toole. " This 
 great and good man," says Mr. Moore. 
 " who was destined to act a distinguisli- 
 cd part in the coming crisis of his 
 country's fate, po.ssessed qualities both 
 of mind and heart which would have 
 rendered him an ornament to any com- 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 627 
 
 peaceful settlement from the earl, and to him the said archbishop 
 promised large presents and hostages from the folk of the city, 
 provided lie would grant them peace and protection. However, 
 whilst they were arranging the terms upon which they requii-ed 
 peace was to have been ratified, Raymond le Gros accompanied 
 by Milo de Cogan, and a number of other young knights, who 
 were stationed upon the other side of the city, found means of 
 effecting a breach in its fortifications, through which they made 
 an entry and, rushing upon the inhabitants, slaughtered every 
 person upon whom they could lay hands therein. Having 
 thus gained possession of Ath-cliath,*' they made but a short 
 stay in that place. However, the earl left Milo de Cogan, and 
 a certain number of his armed followers to hold possession of 
 the city as its garrison. 
 
 Then Mac Murcadha, cherishing vengeance and hatred to- 
 wards O'Ruairc, King of Brefni, led the united armies of the 
 Gauls and Gaels into the country of that prince, and he soon 
 succeeded in plundering and burning the territories of Brefni, 
 
 o 
 
 munity, however advanced in civiliza^ 
 tion, and public virtue." Speaking of 
 the present taking of Dublin, we read 
 that, " in the midst of the slaughter 
 and massacre, the great and good St. 
 Lawrence (Lorcan) was seen expos- 
 ing himself to every danger, and 
 even, as his biographer describes him, 
 dragging from the enemies' hands the 
 palpitating bodies of the slain, to 
 have them decently interred. He also 
 succeeded at great risk in prevailing 
 on the new authorities to retain most 
 of the clergy in their situations, and 
 recovered from the plunderers the 
 books and ornaments belonging to the 
 several churches." — Moore. 
 
 " Ath-diath taken. The state of dis- 
 cord and anarchy that ensued after the 
 taking of Dublin, may be estimated by 
 the following extracts from the entries 
 of some of the events of the year 1170. 
 By them may be seen that the powerful 
 toparchs of ]S[eath, Oirghialla, and 
 Thomond, had then thrown off their 
 submission to the Irish monarch. '• An 
 army was led by Ruaidri, King of Ire- 
 land ; O'Ruairc, lord of Brefni ; and 
 O'Kerbaill, lord of Oirghialla, against 
 the Leiusterraen and their foreign al- 
 lies ; and there was a challenge of bat- 
 
 tle between them for the space of three 
 days, until lightning burned Ath- 
 cliath ; for the Danes of that fortress 
 had deserted from the Connaughtmen 
 and the people of Leth Cuiun. A 
 miracle was now wrought against the 
 Danes of Ath-cliath, for Mac Murcad- 
 ha and the Saxons acted treacherously 
 towards them, and made a slaughter of 
 them in the middle of their own for- 
 tress, and carried off their cattle and 
 their goods, in consequence of the vio- 
 lation of their word to the men of Ire- 
 land. 
 
 " An army was led by Mac Murcadha 
 and his knights into Meath and Bref- 
 ni, and they plundered Cluain-Iraird, 
 and burned Kenannus, Kill Taltenn, 
 Dubadh, Slani, Tuilen, Kill Sgiri, and 
 Disert Kiarain ; and they afterwards 
 made a predatory incursion into Tir 
 Briuin (Brefni), and carried off many 
 prisoners and cows to their camp." 
 
 The hostages of Diarmaid Mac Mur- 
 cadha, were put to death by Ruaidri 
 OConcobair, King of Ireland, at Ath- 
 Luain ; namely, Concobar, son of Diar- 
 maid, and Diarm.aid's grandson, the son 
 of Domnall Caemhanach ; and Ua 
 O'Caellaighe, the son of his foster- 
 brother. 
 
628 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 and in gaining great advantages both over O'Ruairc, and every 
 other Iiish chieftain, that he went against. 
 
 At length, when Euaidri O'Concobriir, who was king of Con- 
 uaught and the greater part of Irehnid, saw that Mac ^turca- 
 dha had violated the peace which had been made between 
 them, he sent ambassadors to that prince to complain of his 
 breach of the conditions upon which it had been granted, 
 and to reproach him with having brought over more Gauls 
 into Ireland, without his own permission or advice. And 
 when the king's ambassadors had come in the presence of 
 Mac Murcadha, they addressed him in these terms : " We now 
 know that thou hast not any regard either for thy oaths or for 
 the safety of thy son, whom thou hast delivered up on thy part 
 as a hostage for the maintenance of peace. Therefore does Ru- 
 aidri O'Concobair, King of Connaught, declare to thee that 
 he will send thee thy son's head, unless thou wilt consent to put 
 away those foreigners from thee, and that, unless this be done, 
 he will not then be satisfied with anything less than driving 
 thee again into exile to Saxon-land." Mac ^lurcadha replied to 
 this message by saying that he would not only not send away 
 the foreigners at tlie command of Euaidri, but that he would 
 even invite over others besides those already in the country. 
 He added, moreover, that he never would make peace with any 
 portion of the Gaelic nation, until he had gained possession of 
 all Ireland. His ambassadors then returned to Euaidri, to 
 whom they made known the answer which they had received 
 from Mac Murcadha, whereat he was seized with exceeding great 
 wrath. Besides this, the fame of the valorous deeds of the Gal- 
 lic invaders had now so spread throughout all the land, that the 
 men of Ireland Avere filled with hatred and dismay at their ap- 
 proach. 
 
 Domnall Brcaghach and the men of fleet upon the Sliannon to plunder 
 
 East ^feath turned against Ui Ruairc Munsf er. 7'he Ui Maui made a preda- 
 
 and Ua Concobair, and delivered host- tory ÍDCiirsion into Orraond, in which 
 
 ages to Mac Murcadha. ITie hostages they plundered, and they destroyed the 
 
 of East Meath were put to death by Ua wooden bridge of Kill-da-luadh. A 
 
 Ruairc. Mac Murcadha led an army pred:it(jry incursion was made by the 
 
 into Brcfni, where a party of his peo- peo])li' ol' West Connaught into Tho- 
 
 ple were defeated by the soldiers of Ua mond. 
 
 Ruairc ; and they afterwards made an A predatory incursion was made by 
 
 attack upon the camp in which he him- Tighcrnan Ua Ruairc into (Jalenga 
 
 self was with the Ijcinstermcn, Gauls, and Saitlini, (in Meath) whence he car- 
 
 and the men of Meath and Oirghialla ried off many cows. A jjrcdatory in- 
 
 about him, and they slew numbers of cursion was made by the Oirghialla 
 
 them, and then left their camp. (now, aj)parently, the allies of the King 
 
 Domnall Ua Briain and the Dal g- of Leinsterj into Tir Briuin (O'Ruairc'3 
 
 Cais turned against the monarch. Ru- country). — Four Masters. 
 aidri Ua Concobair brought a great 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 629 
 
 In the meantime accounts from the earl and his followers, had 
 reached Saxoii-land; and when the king of that country had 
 heard the rumoi-s that were afloat about their proceedings, he 
 made proclamation that no ship or bark should sail to Ire- 
 land from any of the countries that belonged to himself, and 
 that there should be no trade or communication kept up with 
 that country by any of his subjects. He likewise made procla- 
 mation to all those who had gone from Saxon-land into Ireland, 
 to return forthwith to their homes, under the pcnalt}'- of for 
 ever losing their properties. Upon this, when the earl saw that 
 his people would be compelled to leave him by the proclama- 
 tion of the king, he proceeded to take counsel with them as to 
 what was to be done in the emergency. Thereupon, the step 
 that seemed most advisable to them was, to send Kaymond le 
 Gros to the King of Saxon-land, with instructions to explain to 
 that monarch that it was with his own consent and approbati<jn 
 that both the earl himself and all the Gauls, then under his com- 
 mand, had passed over into Ireland for the purpose of aiding 
 and assisting a man that had promised to pay him homage and 
 vassalage, namely, Diarmaid Mac Murcadha, King of Leinster; 
 and they told him to assure their king, that it was subject to his 
 will that they wished to hold whatever conquests they had made 
 in Ireland, as well as all the benefits they had received from 
 Mac Murcadha. 
 
 Raymond then proceeded with this expostulation to the king 
 of Saxon-land ; and Gascony was the place where that king was 
 then staying ; and it was the year in which St. Thomas, Bishop 
 of Canterbury, was murdered on the fifth day of Christmas, 
 in the year of our Lord, one thousand one hundred and seventy- 
 one. 
 
 It was in the course of the following month of May, tha,t 
 Diarmaid Mac Murcadha, King of Leinster, died,^^ and he was 
 buried at Ferna Mor of St. Maedog. 
 
 ^ Diarmaid Mac Murcadha died, will, without penance, without the 
 
 " A. D. 1171, Diarmaid Mac Murcadha, Body of Christ, without unction, as his 
 
 King of Leinster, a man by whom a evil deeds deserved." — Jt/. Diarmaid 
 
 trembling sod was made of all Ireland, is thus described by Cambrensis : 
 
 after having brought over the Saxons, " This Dermicius was a man of tall 
 
 after having done extensive injuries to stature and large frame, warlike and 
 
 the Irish, after plundering and burning daring among his nation, and of hoarse 
 
 many churches, as Kenannus, Cluain voice, by reason of his frequent and con- 
 
 Iraird, &c., died of an unknown dis- tinuous shouting in batie. He desired 
 
 ease, for he became putrid while living to be feared rather than to be loved ; he 
 
 through the miracle of God, Colum- oppressed the noble and elevated the 
 
 Kille and Finnen, and the other saints lowly ; he was the enemy of his coun- 
 
 of Ireland, whose churches he had trymeu ; he was hated by strangers, 
 
 burned and profaned ; and he died at The hand of all men was against him, 
 
 Ferna Mor (Ferns) without making a and his hand was against all." 
 
630 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Arrival of Henry IT. in Ireland., on the 18lh of October., A. D. 
 
 1171. 
 
 The king soon after returned into Saxon-land, and, when 
 arrived there, lie dispatched one of his people, a knight named 
 Hervt' de Moute-Marisco, in company with Raymond le Gi'os, to 
 Ireland, with a letter to the earl of Strigul, wherein he com- 
 manded him to return into Saxon-land without any delay ; and 
 when these had reached Ireland, and Hervé delivered his king'.s 
 message to the earl, the latter immediately returned to Saxon-land 
 in his company ; and, when arrived there, he came before his sove- 
 reign, and promised that he would deliver up Port Largi, Ath- 
 cliath and the seaport towns of Leinster to him and to his heirs, 
 forever, provided he would allow the province of Leinster to be 
 possessed b}' him.self and his posterity. Then, when a compact 
 to this effect had been conducted between them, the king set out 
 for Ireland in the earl's company, attended by a numerous army, 
 and cast anchor in the harbor of Port Largi, in the year of our 
 Lord, one thousand one hundred and one. Five hundred knights, 
 together with a large force of cavalry and infantry, was the 
 strength of his host."" 
 
 At Port Largi the king remained for some time, and thither 
 came the nobles of the Gauls, who had been previously in Ire- 
 
 ^" The .itrenrrfh of his host. ''Henry Ireland. Many were slaughtered on 
 
 11. landed at Crook, in the county of both sides — as well Saxon knigiits as 
 
 Waterlbrd, on the 18th of Octol)or, Danes of Ath-cliath. Asgall, son of 
 
 1171. He was accompanied by Stronir- Raíí-hnull. fell therein, and Koan (John), 
 
 bow, William Fitz-Aldelm, Humphrey a Dane from Inis h-Orc (Orkney Isles), 
 
 de Bohun, llughde Lacy, liobert Fitz- and numbers besides them. 
 
 Barnard, and many other lords. His An army was led by Ruaidri Ua 
 
 whole force, which, according to the Concobair. Tighernan Ua Rnairc, and 
 
 most authentic English accounts, was Murcadh Ua Kerbaill to Ath-cliath. to 
 
 distributed into 400 ships, consisted of lay siege to Earl Strongbo^v and Milo 
 
 500 knights and about 4,000 men at de Cogan. There were conflicts and 
 
 anns.'' — U'Donovan. skirmishes between them for the space 
 
 I'revious to the landing of Henry, of a fortiiiglit. After this, O'Conco- 
 
 and subsctiuent to the death of Diar- bair went against the Lcinstermen, 
 
 maid, the Irish annals contain the fol- with the cavah-y of the men of Brefni 
 
 lowing brief entries, relative to the and Oirgliialla, to cut down and burn 
 
 events in which the foreign mercenaries the corn of the .Saxons. The earl and 
 
 of tiie Irish traitor were concerned : Milo de Cogan then entered the camp 
 
 '■A. D. 1171, Daimliag Kianain of Letli (hiinn, and slew many of their 
 
 (Duleek of 8t. Kianan) was plundered commonalty, and carried oif their pro- 
 
 by the knights of Milo de Cogan, some visions, armor, and honscs. 
 
 of whom were slain on the following A victory was gained by the sou of 
 
 day by the Danes of Ath-cliath in re- Cormac Mac Carthaigh over the 
 
 veiige of (St.) Kianan. — The battle Danes of Luimnech, numbers of whom 
 
 of Ath-cliath was fought between Milo were slain by him; and he burned 
 
 dc Cogan and Asgall, who had been their market and half their fortress, 
 some lime before king of the Danes of 
 
THE HISTORY OF IREI,AND. 
 
 631 
 
 land, together with the Igirgcsses of Loch Garman, to present him 
 with their homage, and to do him honor. Thither, also, caine 
 Diarmaid Mac Carthaigh, king of Coreach,""' who there made act 
 of homage and vassalage in liis presence. The knig proceeded 
 to Cashel, and thither Doranall O'Briain came to meet him, and 
 to make act of homage and vassalage similar to that which Mac 
 Carthaigh had already made. Upon this, Henry placed a garri- 
 son of his own men in Corcach, and Luimnech. After these, 
 the other nobles of Munster presented him with like acts of 
 homage and honor. He then returned to Port Largi, where 
 he was met by the king of Osraide, who made his submission 
 after the example of the other kings. The king next marched 
 to the city of Ath-cliath, whither the Gaels of Leinster came to 
 pay him like acts of homage, and to do him honor. 
 
 ISÍOW, indeed, when Euaidri O'Concobair, king of Connaught 
 and of the greater part of Ireland, had perceived that the majori- 
 
 An array was led by Ua Euairc, 
 with the men of Brefni Oirghialla, a 
 second time, to Atli-cliath, where they 
 made battle with Mile de Cogan and 
 his knights, in which battle the men 
 of Brei'ni and Oirghialla were defeat- 
 ed ; and Aedh, sou of Tighernan Ua 
 Ruairc, and the grandson of Diarmaid 
 Ua Cuinn,were slain, with many others. 
 
 A predatory incursion was made by 
 the son of the earl, and he plundered 
 the churches of Magh Laighen, and 
 many of the Ui Faelaiu. — A predatory 
 incursion was made by the son of the 
 earl, in which he plundered Cluain 
 Conari, Galinni, and Lathrach Briuin. 
 
 The fleet of Connaught upon the 
 Siuainn and upon Locli Deirg-deirc 
 from [the season of] Samhain to Bel- 
 tani. — A peace was made by Domnall 
 Breaghach with Ua Euairc, and the 
 people of East ]\Ieath came into his 
 [Ua Ruairc's] house. 
 
 The King of England, the second 
 Henry, Duke of Normandy and Aqui- 
 taine, and Earl of Andegavia, and 
 Lord of many other countries, came to 
 Ireland this year. Two hundred and 
 forty was the number of his ships, and 
 he put in at Port Largi."— F. M. 
 
 '"" King of Corcach, i. e., king of 
 Desmond, of which Corcach or Cork 
 was the most important city. There 
 can be no doubt but that Mac Cart- 
 haigh and the other Irish toparchs, in 
 
 making their submission to ilcnry, did 
 not consider that they were thereby 
 making over to the head of a company 
 of monopolizing land-jobbers the ter- 
 ritorial property of the several tribes 
 of Saer Clanna, or Free Clans, of which 
 they were but the temporary guardi- 
 ans. They could not transmit any 
 such exclusive property in these lands 
 to their own children, and very proba- 
 bly deemed that, in doing homage to 
 Henry, they but yielded to a tempor- 
 ary emergency in performing an idle 
 ceremony, all consequences of which 
 would pass away, as soon as the im- 
 mediate political pressure should be 
 removed. Such submissions were cus- 
 tomary amongst their own nation — for 
 example, such was that of Maelsech- 
 lainn Mor to Brian Boromha — and such 
 had been the submissions and the host- 
 ages delivered from lime immemorial 
 by the weaker to the more powerful 
 chieftains. They affected these chiefs 
 themselves personally, but rarely dis- 
 turbed [except in case of thorough 
 conquest] the free ownership of their 
 kinsmen in the common inheritance of 
 the lands of their tribes. The event has 
 turned out otherwise than these chiefs 
 had then expected, and their cowardly 
 temporizing has been punished by the 
 almost total conversion of their several 
 descendants into the class of Helots in 
 the land of their inheritance. 
 
632 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 ty of his provincial kings, both those J:hat paid him rent and 
 tributes, us well as tliose to whom he had liimself given wages 
 and stipends, had placed themselves under the protection of the 
 king of Saxon-land, he considered in his own mind that he 
 would be less disgraced, by offering voluntary homage, than by 
 being forced to submit to it against his will. Thereupon, Henr}' 
 sent two of his people to hold an interview with Euaidri O'Con- 
 cobair; and the persons so deputed were Hugo de Lacy and 
 William Fitz-Aldelm. Euaidri came to meet these as far as the 
 bank of the Sinainn, where he made peace and friendship with 
 the king of Saxondand, to whom he there made act of submis- 
 sion and homage. Murcadh, son of Flann, king of Meath, came 
 likewise, and delivered himself up to Henry, after the same man- 
 ner as the others. Thus, there was now no king nor chieftain, nor 
 lord in Ireland' that did not, at that time, pay homage to tlie king 
 of Saxon-land, and acknowledge his supremacy over themselves. 
 Afterwards, when the winter had come on, the weather became 
 so excessively cold and tempestuous that it was not possible for 
 any ship or bark to arrive in Ireland from the country of the Sax- 
 ons with news to its king, until the middle month of the spring 
 had set in ; but then some Saxon ships arrived in Ireland, which 
 brought that king certain news from his subjects, which he was 
 by no means ghid to hear. The most important news which 
 they had brought him was, that the Pope had sent over two 
 cardinals to Saxondand, for the purpose of inquiring into the 
 murder committed upon St. Thomas, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 and that, unless the king would come in person and make satis- 
 foction to them for that murder, they threatened to lay an inter- 
 dict upon every country in which he might abide. Though these 
 were sad tidings for Henry, he soon received others from his son,' 
 which were still sadder. These v.-ere, that the eldest of his sons 
 had taken possession of the crown, in the hojic that he could be 
 able to keep it against his father's consent. An indescribable 
 gloom came upon King Henry upon hearing these evil tidings. 
 However, lie was; more affected by what he had learned regard- 
 ing the murder of St. Thomas, than by anything that be had 
 heard about either his son or his subjects. For this reason he 
 called around him the chiefs of his people, for the purpose of ex- 
 plaining his position to them, and of consulting them upon the 
 dangers that hung over him. The plan adopted at this council, 
 
 ' No chipftain nor lord in Ireland, the scribes of the foreign spoilers, and 
 
 This is an exaggeration, and not true, is very ])ro1)ably of the same nature 
 
 in fact. The chinft of tlie nortliorn witli tlie forged till(! which was made 
 
 tribes made no acts of sulimission to out for Henry, that first of the 
 
 Henry. The submission of tiie monarch Irish landlords through Donncadh 
 
 Ruaidi-i, rests upon the authority of U'liriain. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 683 
 
 was to send a large body of his people before liim into his king- 
 dom, and to have himself follow them very soon after. This resolve 
 was then put into execution ; and King Henry remained behind a 
 little longer, engaged in placing garrisons and wardens of his own 
 over Ireland : for, when it was time for himself to return to Saxon- 
 land, he appointed certain persons to hold possession of the coun- 
 try in his stead. Thus, he left Hugo de Lacy in Meath, with a 
 force consisting of twenty knights, and he likewise granted this 
 territory^ as a perpetual hef to Hugo, and his posterit}^ More- 
 over, he left the city of Ath-cliath under the wardenship of Robert 
 Fitz-Stephen and Maurice Fitz-Gerald, under whose command 
 he left twenty knights and their several followers. Loch Gar- 
 man, also, he' left to the care of William Fitz-Aldelm, Philip de 
 Hastings, and Philip de Brus, with whom he likewise left twenty 
 knights. Port Largi he left in charge to Humphrey de Bohun, 
 Hugo de Gundeville, and Robert Fitz-Barnard, and under them 
 he left forty knights. 
 
 From this last place, the king sailed for Saxon-land/ and there, 
 as soon as he came into the presence of the cardinals, he offered 
 to the Pope whatever award he would be pleased to demand, 
 both as an eric for the murder of St. Thomas — though he had 
 himself had no secret participation* therein — and as a means of 
 bringing about a settlement between himself and the king of 
 France, for Henry was then at war with that monarch. 
 
 ^ Granted this territory. — That is, he, ing compassed the murder of this great 
 
 made his vassal, De Lacy, feudal land- man as well as good and holy prelate. 
 
 lord of the tribe-lands of the Clann Other writers have, however, proved 
 
 Colmain and their correlatives. This less indulgent to his royal memory, 
 
 was one of the first consequences of the and he now stands in history as fully 
 
 dastardly homage of the Irish chiefs to convicted of having instigated the 
 
 the invader, and one of the first steps martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canter- 
 
 towards converting the Saer Clanna bury, as if that base deed had been 
 
 into serfs of feudal lords of foreign done in his presence, and at his express 
 
 race, and, finally, to what is worse than command. 
 
 the serfs of any feudal lord — the rack- The proceedings of King Henry, 
 rented tenants and cotters of the land- during his seven months' stay in Ire- 
 usurers, whom modern civilization and land, though copiously treated of by 
 enlightened legislation has introduced English and foreign writers, have been 
 into the places of the feudal barons of passed over in silence by most of our 
 old. native chroniclers. Under the year 
 
 ^ The king sailed for Saxon^lnnd. 1172, they relate that the brave Tigh- 
 
 Henry set sail from Wexford on East- ernan Ua Ruairc, lord of Brefni, was 
 
 er Monday, being the 17ih of J^pril, treacherously slain at Tlactga by Hugo 
 
 1172, and arrived, on the same day, at de Lacy and Domnall, son of Annadh 
 
 Portfinnan, in Wales. Ua Ruairc, one of his own tribe ; and 
 
 * No secret participation, &c. Dr. that he was then beliiadod. and carried 
 
 Keating, in the superabundance of ignomoniously to Dublin, where his 
 
 charity, or of his respect for royalty, head was placed over the town gate, 
 
 would exonerate Henry H. from hav- and his body gibbetted, with the feet 
 
634 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 The title under which Henry II., King of England, claimed the 
 Sovereignty of Ireland. 
 
 If the reader will liere inquire, why it was that Diarmaid Mac 
 Murcadha, the king of Leinster, had gone to the king of Saxon- 
 land, who was then in France, to protest and complain of his 
 own expulsion out of Ireland, rather than to the king of France 
 itself, or to any other potentate, he must learn that he did so in 
 consequence of an act done by Donncadh, son of Brian Boromha,* 
 
 upwards, on the north side of the city, 
 " a woful spectacle to the Irish." We 
 are next told that Doninall Ua Fergail 
 [O'Farrell] , chief of Coumacni, was 
 slain, and Anghali [Anally] phindered, 
 by the people of the king of Saxon-laud, 
 and the son of Annadh Ua Ruairc ; 
 that the Kind Eogain were defeated in 
 battle by Flathbertach Ua Maeldor- 
 adh and the Kinel Conaill ; that the 
 Primate, Gilla-Macliag, made the 
 fourth visitation of Connaught ; and 
 that a general synod of Ireland, both 
 of the clergy and the chiefs of the 
 laity of Ireland, was held at Tuam, at 
 which Ruadri O'Concobair, monarch 
 of Ireland and Cadla O'Dubthaig 
 [O'Duffj-], Archbishop of Connaught, 
 presided ; that three churches were 
 there consecrated : but we are told 
 nothing of the acts of the king of Sax- 
 on-land himself, though pregnant with 
 future evil was his presence upon Irish 
 soil. 
 
 ' Donncadh, son of Brian Boromha. 
 Though this prince's name is inserted 
 in the roll of Irish monarchs by some 
 Munstcr shannachies, we have already 
 seen, from the ancient authorities 
 quoted in these notes, and even from 
 Keatings own narrative, that he was 
 never acknowleged monarch of Ireland 
 during the whole course of his long 
 life. Even Dr. O'Brien, the panegyrist 
 of the iJalcassiau Kings, does not claim 
 for him the sovereignty of all Ireland. 
 The period of his good fortune, oven as 
 king of Loth .Mogha, had closed some 
 years before his final dethronement. In 
 A. I). l]r)S, his power over the south 
 of Ireland began to go down at the 
 
 battle of Sliabh Grott, under that of 
 Diarmaid, son of Donncadh Mael-na-m- 
 bo, king of Leinster, and that of his 
 own nephew, Tordelbach. In 1159, 
 he became the vassal of Aedh O'Con- 
 cobair, king of Connaught. In 1153 
 the hostages of all Munster were de- 
 livered up to Diarmaid, son of Mael- 
 na-m-bo, who thereby became king of 
 Leth Mogha in his stead. At the 
 time of his final deposition by his 
 nephew, with the consent of Diarmaid, 
 king of Leth Mogha, in 1164, he pos- 
 sessed no sovereign rights, even over 
 IMmistcr, which he could transfer to 
 either pope or prince, though wc 
 .should admit the equity of such trans- 
 fer. It is clear, then, that, not being 
 sovereign of Ireland, he could never 
 have legally transferred it to another, 
 even were the elected chief of the kings 
 of this country invested with all the 
 prerogatives of a feudal sovereign. But, 
 were he actiuilly the chief of the Irish 
 kings, he could not, according to Irish 
 law, transfer such chieftainship to 
 another ; for, as such chief of kings, he 
 was but the nominee of the association 
 of tribes that had chosen him, and thus 
 even his very children had no more 
 title to fill that place after him than 
 any other man of pure Gaelic blood; 
 Nay, he could not transfer the chieftain- 
 ship of his own tribe, the Dal-g-Cais, 
 to a foreigner ; nor yet could he that 
 of the Ui DIoid, his own immediate 
 sub-section of that tribe ; for there, too, 
 he was but the temporary representa- 
 tive of the whole of his kindred, and 
 could lei^alli/ transmit no special in- 
 heritance, cither of his chieftainship 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 6Í 
 
 with the consent of the true nobles of Ireland f for these, having 
 been quarreling among one another' for the masterdorn of Ireland 
 
 over them, or of the proprietorship of 
 any portion of the tribe-land, whieh 
 was the common property of the said 
 kindred, to any other. 
 
 " With, the consent of the true nobles 
 of Ireland. This assertion is perfectly 
 absurd. Who were those nobles, who 
 so deputed a deposed prince to deliver 
 the sovereignty of Ireland to a foreign- 
 er? It was, certainly, not his van- 
 quisher, Diarmaid, son of Mael-ua-m- 
 bo, then at the height of his power, and 
 striving for the Irish monarchy ; it 
 was not Aedh of the Broken Spear, 
 king of Connaught, to whom Donn- 
 cadh had made his personal submission 
 in 1059 ; neither was it Ardgar Mac 
 Lochlainn, king of Ailech, the head 
 of the Northern Ui Neiil, who had 
 never submitted, either to Douncadh, 
 or Diarmaid, son of Mael-na-m-bo, 
 and who was as much king of Ire- 
 land as either of them in the half of 
 Ireland, called Leth Cuinn ; nor yet 
 can we suppose that his nephew, Tor- 
 dolbach O'Briain, then king of Mun- 
 ster, would have delegated any such 
 commission to the instigator of his 
 father's murder and to his own personal 
 enemy. This consent must then be 
 considered as a clumsy addendum to 
 the original fiction, whereby a forged 
 title to the sovereign proprietorship of 
 Ireland was made out for the murderer 
 of St. Thomas. 
 
 ' Quarreling amongst themselves. 
 There would be some excuse for the 
 fraudulent robbery of the Irish people, 
 then commenced, were that nation a 
 very flagrant exception to the general 
 state of things in other European 
 countries at that epoch — it might have 
 been an excuse, were the deputed paci- 
 ficator otherwise either a good man, or 
 an enlightened legislator, and the de- 
 scendants of the rubbed of that period 
 might, perhaps, now forget, and even 
 be thankful for the wrong then perpe- 
 trated upon their ancestors, had any 
 better state of social existence been 
 introduced amongst the mass of their 
 
 people u\j to the present day. That 
 the latter has not been so, one need 
 only now visit the wretched homes of 
 the down-trodden peasantry of Ireland, 
 the purlieus of her towns and cities, 
 and those bastiles for the starving and 
 the helpless, where the surplus multi- 
 tude — of old so much more honorably 
 cleared off upon the battle field — are 
 to-day as eifectually dispatched by 
 a lingering and ignoble death. That 
 neither the contrast between the social 
 state of Ireland and the rest of Eu- 
 rope, nor the personal character of 
 Henry, could then have aSbrded any 
 jDalliation of the fraud and robbery 
 committed on the Irish, the following 
 paragraph from a recent publication 
 succintly proves, from well estaljlishcd 
 facts : — " The disunion among the na- 
 tive princes of Ireland at this era, does 
 not appear to have been more wide- 
 spread than among other European 
 nations. Thus, Sismondi tells us, that 
 about the same period, France was di- 
 vided between three foreign domina- 
 tions. There was, on the west, an 
 English France ; on the east, a Ger- 
 man ; and, on the south, a Spanish 
 France. For instances of domestic 
 dissensions, we have to travel no far- 
 ther than the family of the first of the 
 Plantagenets, whose son GeofFroy, 
 count of Brittany, when supplicated, 
 by the most sacred things, to spare 
 the effusion of blood, and relinquish 
 the crime of Absalom, replied — " 11 est 
 dans la destiuée de notre famille que 
 nons ne nous aimions pas I'un Fautre. 
 C'est la notre heritage, et aucun de 
 nous n'y renoncera Jamais" [It is part 
 of the destiny of our family not to lovz 
 one another. That is our birthright, 
 and not one of us iril/. resign our right 
 thereto.] King Henry II. died cursing 
 himself and his rebellious children. 
 All the entreaties of the bishops and 
 ecclesiastics, by whom he was sur- 
 rounded on his death bed, could not 
 induce him to revoke his fearful male- 
 dictions. " Honte," s'ecriait-il, " honte 
 
636 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 from the time of Brian to that of Donncadh, had, in the year of 
 our Lord one thousand and ninety-two, delivered up the possession 
 of Ireland into the hands of Urbanus, the second Poi)e of that 
 name ;' and, from that time, the possession of the authority and 
 sovereignty of Irehmd was held by the Pope of Rome until 
 Adrianus, the fourth Pope of that name, had assumed the suc- 
 cessorship of St. Peter, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
 one hundred and lifty-four. The latter Pope was a Saxon by 
 birth, and his baptismal name was Nicholas Breakspear; and, 
 according to the chronicle of Stow, it was he that made over the 
 kingdom of Ireland to the second Henry, King of Saxon-land, in 
 the first year of the reign of the latter, and in the year of our Lord 
 one thousand one hundred and fifty- five. And the same author 
 informs us that the Pope then made that grant of Ireland to the 
 King of Saxon-land upon the following special conditions, to wit: 
 that he should re-establish the Faith which was prostrate in that 
 country; that he should reform the habits of its people; that he 
 should maintain and protect every privilege and all the termon- 
 lands which the Irish church then possessed ; and that the said 
 king should pay yearly the Penny of St. Peter to the Pope for 
 every house that might be in Ireland. 
 
 After receiving this grant, Henry II. deputed John, Bishop 
 of Salisbury, to Ireland, with the authorit}^ which the Pope 
 had bestowed upon him. This bishop soon landed at Port 
 Largi ; and, when the clergy of Ireland had heard that he had 
 come to the country Avith the authorization of the Pope, they 
 thronged thither to meet him from all quarters of the lana. 
 Then, when they were assembled together in one j)lace, the bishop 
 
 a un roi vaincu ! Mandit soit Ic jour the Irisli crown and rei^alia to Pope 
 
 ou je suis né, et maudits de Dicu Urban, or to any other Pope, is eqnal- 
 
 soient les fils que je laisse ! " ["Sham"," ly well founded. It does not appear 
 
 cried he, '• shame to a vanqukhi^d king ! that any such trappings were attached 
 
 Accursed be tJie day on which I was to the office of Ard-righ, and, if any 
 
 born, and accursd be t!te sons that 1 such ever had existence, they must 
 
 /eat)? after me ! "] have remained in the possession of 
 
 * Urbanus, thf. second Pope of titat either the Northern. or the .Southern Ui 
 
 name. Urban II. did not become Neil!. ITad the chieftains of these tribes 
 
 Sovereign Pontifl" until the year 1088, relinquished such important insignia to 
 
 just twenty-four years after the death Brian on his accession, our annalists 
 
 of Donncadh, son of Brian. He was would surely have mentioned it. as 
 
 succeeded in the pontificate by Pas- they did the taking of the collar of To- 
 
 chal II., in the year 1099. As Pope, mar and the sword of Carlus from the 
 
 he was then cotemporary with the Danes of Dubli-i. There were then, 
 
 early part of the reigns of the able proljaljly, no regalia to give away, 
 
 competitors for the Irish monarchy, unless he had got them manufactured 
 
 Murkertach Mor O'Biiain and Dom- for the occasion, whilát he was staying 
 
 nail O'ljochlainn. The story of the in Kome. 
 deposed king of Munster's presenting 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 637 
 
 (this John, already mentioned) read to them the charter by 
 which the Pope had granted Ireland to the second Henry and 
 to his jiosterity, subject to the several conditions which that 
 document specified. Then, when the clergy had considered 
 over these conditions, they all not only assented thereto, but 
 they gave their several written signatures* to that same John in 
 testimony thereof. With these, John returned to Saxon-land to his 
 king, who sent him oif forthwith to the Pope with his news. 
 Thereupon, the Pope, upon seeing the consent of the Irish clergy, 
 sent a ring to the second Henry as a token of the latter's right to 
 own Ireland. 
 
 Bellarmine agrees with the account just given, where he 
 speaks as follows : " Pope Adrianus the Fourth, an English- 
 man by his nation, a wise and pious man, granted the island of 
 Hibernia to Henricus the Second, king of the Angli, upon the 
 express condition that he should implant virtue in that island, 
 and eradicate the vices thereof; that he should preserve inviolate 
 all its ecclesiastical privileges, and should take care that one dena- 
 rius were paid to St. Peter every year out of every house therein. 
 This diploma is extant in the twelfth volume of the Annals of 
 Cardinal Baronius."" 
 
 Stanihurst confirms the same fict in his Chronicle, where he 
 relates that Henry the Second had procured from the Pope, 
 Adrianus, a bull, in which the clergy and nobility of Ireland 
 were commanded, under pain of excommunication," to give 
 
 ' Affi:ced their signatures thereto. " Under pain of excommunication. 
 
 This was doue at the synod of the " Some have attempted to cast doubts 
 
 Irish clergy, or, rather, of part of the upon the authenticity of the two bulls 
 
 Irish clergy, held at Cashel during the procured by the artifices and agents 
 
 stay of Henry II. in Ireland. As told in of Henry, but they produce no argu- 
 
 the text, the story conveys an imputa- ments in support of their view, which 
 
 tion upon the Irish clergy, which they is simply and sufficiently refuted by 
 
 did not merit. It is true that many O'Halloran in his history of Ireland, 
 
 of them, as well as of the lay chieftains, when he says, ' We have every reason 
 
 meanly complied with the requisitions to think them genuine. They were 
 
 of their country's invader, and yielded published in the lifetime of Alexander 
 
 to superior force, at Cashel ; but they by Cambreusis (an ecclesiastic), who, 
 
 were not guilty of plotting, beforehand, though in most instances as devoid of 
 
 with foreigners, for their nation's ruin, truth and candor as any one that ever 
 
 '" Adrianus Quartus, Papa, natione took up the pen, yet would not pre^ 
 
 Anglus, vir sapiens et pius, Hiberniae sume, on the present occasion, to pub- 
 
 insulam, Henrico Secundo regi Anglo- lish a bull as AJoxander's, if he were 
 
 rum concessit ea conditione, ut in not well authorized so to do ; and the 
 
 ea insula virtutes plantaret et vitia authenticity of this confirms that of 
 
 eradicaret et jura ecclesiastica illibata the other.' Of the effect produced in 
 
 servaret et a singulis domibus quotan- aid of the Norman arms by those 
 
 fiis denarium sancto Petro pendi cura- bulls, we find the following testimony 
 
 ret. Extat diploma Tom. XII. Car- in the well-known letter of O'Niall, in 
 
 dinalis Baronii. 1330, Ko Pope John, asking his help 
 
638 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 homage and submission to Henrj the Second, king of Saxon- 
 land, under the pretext of purifying the faith of their nation, and 
 of reforming the habits of their people. And he informs us, 
 moreover, that this bull had been sent into Ireland by Henry, 
 and there read in a general convention of the nobles and clergy 
 of Ireland, which was held at Cashel. 
 
 We read, also, in the same author, that Alexander, the third 
 Pope of that name, had deputed to Ireland a cardinal named 
 Vivianus,*' who was commissioned to make known to the Irish 
 the grant of their country, which both himself and his predeces- 
 sor had bestowed upon the king of Saxon-laud and to his lieirs, 
 subject to the condition that both he and every Pope that came 
 after him should receive the Penny of St. Peter every year from 
 every household that existed in Ireland. 
 
 The reader can now form an estimate of the reason why Diar- 
 maid Mac Murcadha had gone to France to make his complaint 
 to the king of Saxon land rather than to the king of any other 
 country. 
 
 The Irish Defended from the charge of irreligion, set forth against 
 them in Pope Adrian's Bull. 
 
 I must here express my wonder at one of the covenants" con- 
 tained in the above-mentioned papal bull, wherein Adrianus 
 made a grant of Ireland to the second Henry. The following is 
 the purport of this covenant, according to Stow's chronicle; to 
 wit, that it was obligatory upon the said second Henry to reibrm 
 and establish the Faith, which had at that time fdlen into decay 
 in Ireland. I feel astonished thereat, because it is not probable 
 that the Pope would have inserted any such covenant in his 
 bull, were it not that some persons had given him to understand 
 that the religion of that country had then actually become cor- 
 rupted. But those persons, whoever they were, that vended any 
 
 a,Q,-aini3t the oppression of tlie English : remarked, tliat Dr. Keating docs not 
 
 ' During the course of so many ages, seem to question either the perfect 
 
 our sovereigas preserved tlie indcpend- equity of the grant made by Pope 
 
 ence of their country ; attacked more Adrian to the English king, or that 
 
 than once by foreign powers, they Pope's right to make it. He merely 
 
 wanted neither force nor courage to defends the Irisli nation from the 
 
 expel the bold invaders ; but, that charges made therein, which he attrib- 
 
 wliich they dared to do against force, utes to the Pontiíí's having been do- 
 
 they could not against the simple de- ceived — na if the granting of tlie bull 
 
 cree of your predecessors.' " — Invasion itself, as he represented it (if bull it 
 
 of Ireland bij the An{jlo-Normans, by were), and the use made thereof, were 
 
 Gerald Supple. not a more irreligious and nelhrious 
 
 " Vivianus. He did not arrive in crime than any ever committed by 
 
 Ireland until A. D. 1177. the worst amongst the people against 
 
 ** One of the covetiantá. It is to be whom it had been directed. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 639 
 
 sucli information to the Pope, had asserted Avhnt was false, in 
 fact; for it is evident that the religion, which St. Patrick formerly- 
 introduced into Ireland had never itdlen into decay down to 
 that time. Of the truth of this, many trustworthy authors, be- 
 longing to foreign nations, have borne testimon}^ from age to 
 age ; for, notwithstanding that Bede relates, in his History of the 
 Saxons, that there had been a schism amongst the Saxon clergy 
 relative to the celebration of Easter, and that some of the Irish 
 clergy were once defiled bj the heresy of Pelagius, it is, never- 
 theless, proved that the majority of the Irish church was free 
 from both these stains. And then, in as far as regards the con- 
 dition of the Faith during the period that elapsed from the days 
 of Brian Boromha to the Anglo-Norman invasion, it is clearly- 
 manifest that the Christian religion was then full of life and 
 vigor in Ireland. It was, therefore, not true for those, w^ho had 
 pei'suaded the Pope that religion was prostrate in Ireland, at the 
 time when he granted it to Henry the Second. In testimony of 
 the truth of what I have just asserted, I shall here cite the fol- 
 lowing examples. 
 
 In the first place, it is evident that the Faith was then full of 
 life in this country, from the fact that, jDrevious to the invasion, 
 numbers of the highest of the Irish nobles were, from time to 
 time, in the habit of entering some of the principal churches of 
 Ireland, towards the close of their lives, and of ending their days 
 therein in penitence and prayer. Amongst these was Flathber- 
 tach O'Neill, wdio is called Flathbertach of the Pilgrim's Staff, 
 who, having first commenced a course of penitence, went on a 
 pilgrimage to Rome, in the year of our Lord one thousand and 
 twenty; and Donncadh, son of Brian Boromha, went likewise on 
 a pilgrimage to Rome, and there ended his life penitently in the 
 monastery of St. Stephen; and Tadg O'Lorcain, king of Ui 
 Kennselaigh, w^ho closed his life in penitence in the church of 
 St. Caeimghin, at Glenn-da-loch ; and Cathal, son of Ruaiclri, 
 king of West Connaught, who spent the latter years of his life 
 penitently at Ard Macha ; and Murkertach O'Briain, king of 
 Leth Mogha and of the greater part of Ireland, "svho spent five 
 years in penitence at Ard Macha, until finally he died there. 
 And so it was with a great many others of the true nobility of 
 Irdand, -who died penitently, and like devout Catholics, all 
 along from the time of Brian doAvn to the Anglo-Norman inva- 
 sion. Hence, it is manifest that those persons who persuaded 
 Pope Adrianus the Fourth that the Catholic Faith was not kept 
 up in Ireland previous to the landing of Gauls therein, had told 
 him a direct falsehood. 
 
640 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 was well maintained in Ireland before the arrival of the Gauls 
 therein, is the fact of the number of monasteries that had been 
 built therein immediately ])revious to their invasion, and these 
 monasteries were all erected by the nobles of the Gaels. In the 
 first place, Maelsechlainn, King of Meath and of all Ireland, 
 founded the monastery of St, Mary's, in the city of Ath-cliath, 
 about the year of our Lord one thousand and twenty-two ; 
 Donncadh O'Kerbaill, King of Oirghialla, founded the monastery 
 of Mellifont, in the county of Louth, at the suggestion of St. 
 Malachias, Bishop of Dun-da-leth-glas, in the 3'ear of our Lord 
 one thousand one hundred and forty-two; St. Malachias, Bishop 
 of Dun-da-lcth-glas, built the monastery of lubar-kinn-tragha, 
 in the county of Down, in the year of our Lord one thousand 
 one hundred and forty-four; Monaster-na-Buili" waá founded 
 in the year one thousand one hundred and sixty-one ; Diarmaid 
 Mac ;Murcadha, King of Leiustcr, founded Monaster-an-Belaigh, 
 otherwise the Abbey of Baltinglas, in the year of our Lord one 
 thousand one hundred and fifty-one; the posterity of Maelsech- 
 lainn, King of Meath, founded the monastery of Bectif, other- 
 wise called De Beatitudine, in Meath, in the year one thousand 
 one hundred and fiftj^-one; the year of our Lord in which 
 Monaster-na-Maighe was founded, in the county of Luimnech, 
 was one thousand one hundred and fifty-one; Monaster- 
 0-Torna," in the county of Kiarraide, was likewise built in 
 the year one tliousand one hundred and fifty-one; the monastery 
 of the Holy Cross, in the county of Tibraid Arann, Avas founded 
 by Domnall O'Briain, King of Luimnech, in the year of our 
 Lord one thousand one hundred and sixty-nine ; the year of our 
 Lord, Avhen the monastery of Fcra Maighe'* was built, in the 
 county of Corcach, was one thousand one hundred and seventy. 
 Many other temples and monasteries were constructed about 
 the same period, but we shall not name them here, for we have 
 mentioned enough to prove that the Catholic Faith was alive in 
 Ireland immediately before the arrival of the Gauls. 
 
 The third proof which I shall cite that the faith was then in a 
 flourishing condition, is the fact that we read in the ancient an- 
 nals of Ireland, that tliree general councils had been organised 
 in tliis country l)y the prelates and the nobles during the time 
 that intervened between the reign of Donncadh, son of Bnan 
 Boromha, and the Anglo Norman invasion, and that in these 
 councils, the laws and the rights of both the laity and the clergy 
 of Ireland had been duly examined and sanctioned. 
 
 '■* Mona-itT-na-Buile. Now Boyle, dornoy, in the county of Kerry, 
 in the county of Roscommon. " Ftra Maiqhp. Now Fermoy, in 
 
 ^ Monaster-O-Toma. Now Abbey- the county of Cork. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 641 
 
 Of these, the first council was that held in the first year of 
 the reign of Murkertach, son of Brian, and in the year of our 
 Lord one thousand one hundred and five," at Fiadh-mic-Aengusa, 
 where laws and regulations were instituted, and Avhere the state 
 of religion was amended. Another general council was held in 
 the fifth year** of the same Murkertach, on which occasion both the 
 nobles and the ecclesiastics of Ireland assembled at Rath Bresail, 
 in the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and ten : it 
 was here that the extent of the Irish dioceses was laid down and 
 their several boundaries pointed out ; it was here, likewise, as 
 we have already stated, that a fixed limit was put to the number 
 of the Irish bishops. 
 
 The third general council held by the clergy and nobility of 
 Ireland, was that of Kenannus, in Meath, at which presided Chris- 
 tianus, that is, Gilla-Criost O'Conari, Bishop of Lis Mor, and 
 Papal Legate in Ireland at that time, together with the Cardinal, 
 whose name was Johannes Papiron. This was the council con- 
 vened for the purpose of presenting the four pallia^ that is, for 
 instituting four archbishops over Ireland, and also for condemn- 
 ing simony and usury; for enforcing the payment of tithes, and 
 for putting down robbery, and violence, and lust, and bad 
 morals, and every other evil thenceforth. 
 
 Consequences of the Invasion — The missionary lohors of the Anglo- 
 Normans. 
 
 It is manifest from the above cited facts, that the Catholic 
 Faith was still alive amongst the Irish, immediately before the 
 invasion of their country by the Anglo-Normans ; and, what- 
 ever may be said of the evil habits of the Gaels previous to the 
 landing of these foreigners on their shores, it is equally manifest 
 that there arrived with that invasion, five men amongst its chief- 
 tains, A\ho committed more evil deeds, than all the Gaels that had 
 lived from the days of Brian Boromha to their own — I mean, in 
 as for as regards the plundering of churches and ecclesiastics, the 
 commission of base acts of treachery and blood, and the exercise 
 of outrageous tyranny. The following are the names of those 
 five : The Earl of Strigul (called Strongbow), Robert Fitz- 
 
 " Oil" hundrrd and five, &c. It was " The fifth year, 7. c, perhaps five 
 
 held in the year 1111, as before shown years after the former, being the 21st 
 
 in these notes. Neither this nor the year of said reign, or in 1Í15-1116, 
 
 year mentioned above was tlie first of when Murkertach partially recovered 
 
 the reign of Murkertach. This synod from his ilhicss, and, having made his 
 
 was held in tlie 13th year of his reign, brother Diarmaid prisoner, resumed 
 
 assaidreigniscomputcdbyO'Flaherty. his kingdom for a short time. 
 41 
 
642 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 Stephen, Hugo de Lacy, John de Courcy and William Fitz- 
 Aldelm. It is easy to íearn the truth of what I shall hereafter 
 state respecting the acts of these men, for they are found in the 
 chronicle of Stanihnrst, and also from the foct that the posterity 
 of the greater part of them became extinct'^ on account of their 
 evil acts, and they left no son to possess their inheritance. The 
 Earl of Strigul, Kobert Fitz-Stcphen, John de Courcy and some 
 others of the captains that came over in the beginning of the 
 Anglo-Norman invasion, but whom I shall not mention here, 
 are examples of what I have asserted. 
 
 In as far as relates to Eichard Strongbow, Earl of Strigul, we 
 find by the chronicle of Stanihurst, that he died in Ath-Cliath, 
 in the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and seventy- 
 seven, that is seven years after his landing in Ireland, having, 
 up to that time committed numberless plunderings and rob- 
 beries, both of the clergy and the laity ; and that he had no 
 more offspring by Aeiii, daughter of Diarmaid, than one daughter, 
 who was named Isabella. This daughter was in time married to 
 William Mareschall,-" to whom she bore five sons and five daugh- 
 ters, but all the sons died one after the other, and no offspring 
 or inheritors remained after any of them. The daughters were 
 married to some of the nobles of Saxon-land, amongst whom, the 
 estates inherited from the earl were partitioned in the year of 
 our Lord one thousand two hundred and thirty. It is from these 
 daughters that the Mortimers, Bruces and others have sprung. 
 
 Now, with respect to Hugo de Lacy,"^ we learn that he had no 
 sooner received the rulership of Meath, from Henry II., than he 
 began to massacre and behead all of the nobles of the Clann 
 Colmain," and of the other septs of that territory whom he could 
 
 " Became extinct. Our autlior has ■" William Mareschall, otherwise 
 beenraistaken in this assertion. Thede- William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, 
 scendants of Strongbow have, it is true, called Prince of Leinstcr by some En- 
 become extinct in the male line, but glish authors, in right of his wife, 
 of William Fitz-Aldclm, called, also, '^' Hus:o de Lacy. — lie was for many 
 vViliiam de Burgo, the posterity rivals years Chief (Jovernor of Ireland under 
 in numbers that of many of the Gaelic Henry II. — an able and politic man, say 
 tribes, lie is the founder of the nu- the English writers, which means a 
 mcrous septs of the name of Burke, successful spoiler. He was created 
 De Courcy's descendant still holds the Lord Palatine of Meath by his master, 
 oldest title in the Anglo-Iri.sh peerage, of which country he was the conqueror 
 and, though no numerous tribe claim and the scourge. He is described by 
 him a.s ancestor, his name is not yet Canibrensis as a mau of dark and deep 
 extinct among the Irish people — nor set eyes, small size, rei)ulsivo features, 
 has that of FitzRtephen, now usually short mck and deformed shaiic, care- 
 called Stephens. The celebrated rebel, ful of his jjrivate interests, of Gallic 
 Pierce Og I^acy, of Bruree and BrufT, sobriety, avaricious, ambitious and 
 who flourished in the reign of Elizabeth, lustful, 
 was the 18th in descent from Hugo. " Clann Colmoin. — This was the 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 64Í 
 
 get into his clutches. But, as he was building a fortress at Dur- 
 Magh (Durrow), of Meath, a young nobleman-' of that country 
 
 head branch of the southern Ui Neill, 
 i. e., the rulinfi i)eople of ]\Ieatli. The 
 family of O'Melag-blin, in Irish O'Mael- 
 scchlainn, were its chiefs. This noble 
 race, which had twice delivered Ireland 
 from the Northmen — first under Mael- 
 secldainn I., (from whom the family 
 name), and again under ilael.scchlaimi 
 II. — and who under the latter king had 
 completed the final overthrow given to 
 the laea-kiugsby Brian at CluainTarlih, 
 was now one of the first to succumb 
 under the power of the Anglo-Norman 
 robber De Lacy. ]\Iaelsechlainn, pre- 
 vious to his resignation of the Irish 
 throne to Brian, had in A. I). 1002, 
 ofiered to deliver it to Aedh O'Neill, 
 chief of a kindred tribe, in order 
 to preserve it in the race of Niall, 
 but revoked his offer upon Aedh's de- 
 manding on the part of Kinel Eogain, as 
 the price of their aid, the property and 
 inheritance of a portion of the tribe 
 lands of the Clann Colmain — a very 
 difierent thing amongst the Irish from 
 the receiving of homage and hostages. 
 He preferred to deliver hostages and 
 make act of homage to the Dalcassian, 
 who did not purpose to encroach upon 
 the inheritance of the southern Ui 
 NelU. Similar act of homage was 
 made to Henry II. by one of Maelsech- 
 lainn's successors, as chief of Clann 
 Colmain, but with a far different result ; 
 for the latter king, not satisfied with 
 homage and hostages, took the right of 
 treacherously granting to his minion, 
 De Lacy, the proprietorship of the 
 lands of Meath, to the disposal of 
 which the said chieftain had no trans- 
 ferable or transmissible right, more 
 than that possessed by every other 
 man of his tribe. Such, it is to be 
 inferred, were the submissions made 
 to the stranger by the other chiefs 
 of the clans of this counti'y, and equally 
 treacherous was the advantage taken 
 thereof. 
 
 "^ A Young Nobleman. — In the ori- 
 ginal the terra used is, " duine uasal 
 og" [dynnoosal ague) and there is 
 meant thereby, a young man who was 
 
 a member of a noble tribe, or family. 
 The editor has used the words, noble and 
 nobleman, to translate the Gaelic, uasal 
 and duÍ7W uasal, throughout this work, 
 in preference to the term gentleman, 
 which is now applied in a very indeflnite 
 and vague sense amongst English-speak- 
 ing peoples. Dermod O'Connor having 
 rendered " duine uasal og " in this in- 
 stance by young gentleman, Mr. Moore 
 has thereupon taken an opportunity of 
 casting at the venerable I)r. Keating a 
 sneer that is as ungenerous as it is un- 
 founded. That Avriter states in his 
 History of Ireland that " De Lacy met 
 his death by a hand so obscure, that 
 not even a name remains associated 
 with the deed," to which he appends 
 the following note : " Several names 
 have been assigned to the perpetrator 
 of this act, but all differing so much 
 from each other, as to show that the 
 real name was unknown. Geoffrey 
 Keating, with that love of dull inven- 
 tion which distinguished him, describes 
 the assassin as a young gentleman in 
 disguise." 
 
 Now, in the first place, the editor, 
 who has also felt the dulness and seni- 
 lity of many of the tales which his 
 author has emljodied in his work, de- 
 nies that the reverend doctor has drawn 
 upon his own invention for any one of 
 them. Keating has stated such tales 
 just as he found them, with little judge- 
 ment, perhaps, and often to the exclusion 
 of authentic historic matter, but always 
 in perfect candor and good faith. In 
 the present instance, as in all others, 
 he has told the fact as he had read it, 
 without, however, naming the meritori- 
 ous young man, who avenged the ruin 
 of his kindred upon the tyrant Do 
 Lacy, and without describing the dash- 
 ing and daring manner, in which his 
 noble deed was accomplished. Dr. 
 Keating has been to blame in this ; 
 for that youth's name ought to be 
 written in letters of light on the page 
 of Irish history, so that Ireland, when 
 her bards shall yet " hail lior free," 
 may not forget to raise his pillar stone 
 
644 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 approached him under the semblance of a clown, as if for the 
 purpose of soliciting employment, and thus succeeded in slaying 
 Hugo. Stanihurst tells us in his chronicle that this Hugo was 
 a very lustful as well as a very avaricious man. He says, also, 
 that his son Hugo, the younger, and JohndeCourcy commenced 
 to commit numerous acts of plunder, massacre and wrath upon 
 the people of Meath in vengeance for his death, 
 
 and inscribe it with his ogumis, when 
 she shall raise a monument to that 
 other more recent youthful hero, whose 
 epitaph is yet unwritten, thou:Th his 
 name and virtues are imprinted upon all 
 true Irish hearts. — However, notwith- 
 standiug Kcating"s omission, the name 
 of the youth who struck down that 
 tyi'ant in the height of his power is not 
 lo3t to memory, nor has his example 
 been entirely lost to Ireland. The bards 
 and shannachies of Eri might blush for 
 shame were his name f.)rgotten. Our 
 annalists tell us that he was called 
 Gil!a-gan-inathar O'.Miadhaigh (Guilla- 
 gonn mna'iar O'Mceai). His surname 
 is now anglicized O'.Meycy, and accord- 
 ing to Dr. O'Donovan, is still frequent 
 in Westmeath, and in the parish of 
 MagherosS in the county of Monaghan. 
 Neither is Mr. Moore warran'cd in 
 saying there is any discrepancy as to 
 his name amongst Irish authors, as the 
 following extracts will prove : — "A. D. 
 118G. Hugo de Lacy, the profaner and 
 destroyer of many churches, L)rd of 
 th.3 English of .Mjalli, Brefni an 1 Olrg- 
 hia!la ; he who had conquered the 
 greater part of Irelan 1 for the English, 
 and of whose Englis!i castles, a!l Meath, 
 from the Sinainn to the sea, was full ; 
 after having finished the cast'.e of Dar- 
 Magii, set out accompanied by three 
 Englislimen to view it. One of the 
 men of Tebtha, a youth named Gilla- 
 gan-inathar O'Miad laigh, approached 
 him and drawing out an axe, which he 
 had kept concealed, he, with one blow, 
 severe 1 his head from his body ; and 
 trunk and head fell into the ditch of 
 the castle. This was in revenge of 
 Colura Killi. Giila-gan-inathar then 
 fled, and by his fleetn -.ss of loot made 
 his escape from the English and lrÍ!»h 
 to Coill-an-Clair (i. e. the wood of Kiil- 
 clare). Jle afterwards went to the 
 SmiiucJi (the Fox) and to O'Bracin, 
 
 at whose instigation he had done the 
 deed." — Four Masters. 
 
 "A. D. 1186. Hugo de Lacy, the 
 profaner and destroyer of the churches 
 and sanctuaries of Ireland, was killed 
 in revenge of Colum Killi, while 
 building a castle at Der-magh. He 
 was slain by O'Miadhaigh of Tebtha." 
 Annals cf Ulster. 
 
 ''A. D. 1186. Hugo de Lacy went 
 to Dur-magh of St. Colum Killi to 
 make a casile there, having a countless 
 number of English with him. For he 
 was king of Meath, Brefni aud Oirghi- 
 alla, and it was to him the tribute of 
 Connaught was paid. Meath from the 
 Sinainn to the sea was full of liis castles 
 aud English followers. After the com- 
 pletion of this work by him, he came 
 out to look at the castle, having the 
 Englishmen along with him. There 
 came then one youth of the men of 
 Meath up to him, having his batile axe 
 concealed, namely, Gilla-gan-inathar 
 O'Miadhaigh, the foster sou of the S:n- 
 nach himsell', and he gave him one blow, 
 so that he cut off his head and he fell 
 both head and body into the ditch of 
 the caitle." — Annuls of K Ironan. 
 
 " Now it is quite clear," says Dr. 
 O'Donovan, from whose edition of the 
 Four Masters these extracts are taken, 
 " that Mr. Moore is wrong in charging 
 Keating with inaccuracy for having 
 written that the murderer (?) of De 
 Lacy was a young gentleman in dis- 
 guise. He should have remembered 
 that Keating had many documents, 
 which he, Mr. Moore, could niit under- 
 stand, and which are probably now 
 lost. As to calling O'Meyey a genlle- 
 maii, we must acknowledge that the 
 term could then be properly enough 
 applied to a youth, who had been fos- 
 tered by an Irish prince of va.sl terri- 
 torial possessions, till he had been de- 
 prived of them by De Lacy." 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 645 
 
 The same chronicler informs us that William Fltz-Aldclm ^vas 
 a " deceitful, treacherous, and evil-minded man ; " and he sets 
 forth the insidious and fidse-hearted manner in which he became 
 possessed of a manor, that was their rightful estate, from the 
 sons of Maurice Fitz-Gerald ; and we are further told by the 
 saxne chronicler, that he cherished an inveterate envy towards 
 the same Maurice, and towards his children. We read, more- 
 over, in the ancient annals of Ireland, that whilst this William 
 Fitz-Aldelm was governor of Luimncch, under the king of 
 Saxon-land, there arose a contest for the sovereignty of Con- 
 naught, between two brothers" of the fiimily of O'Concobair, 
 
 The family name O'Miadhaigli is not 
 a name likely to be given to the de- 
 scendant of a clown, for " Miadh " 
 {Meca'i), signifies honor or respect ; and 
 " Miadhach " (Meeagh), whence O'- 
 Miadhaigh, an honorable or estimable 
 man. We see also by the above quo- 
 tations that O'Miadhaigli was a mem- 
 ber of the noble tribe of Tobtha ( T<-ffa) 
 in Westraeath, a tribe descended from 
 Mani, son of the Irish monarch. Niall 
 of the Nine Hostages, of which O'Cat- 
 harnaigli {O'Caharmj) styled the Sin- 
 nach, i.e., the Fox, was then chief. 
 O'Braein [O'Erem), was also chief of 
 a branch of the same tribe, which was 
 seated in Breagh-mani, now Brawney 
 in the same county. Keating then was 
 not wrong in calling Gilla-gan-inathar 
 duin-^ vasal . g — for he was probably as 
 noble as his chieftain, the Fox — though 
 the brave youth might not indeed be 
 styled a young gentleman, if he present- 
 ed himself with his battle axe in the mod- 
 ern arisiocratic Saons of Europe, and 
 not, perhaps, even in those of the hour- 
 geoiyi — he certainly would not have 
 been styled such in an English Court of 
 law. He was nevertheless as much hamc' 
 nob lis as Mucins Scaevola, and the deed 
 which the Gaelic noble wrought, was 
 full as glorious and great as that which 
 the young patrician of ancient Rome 
 essayed to execute. Had, indeed, that 
 Irish sapling of NialFs stock — so sure 
 of hand and fleet of foot — been either a 
 young gentleman, or a genteel young 
 man, as the terms are now understood, 
 he would not have dared to strike down 
 the destroyer of his kinsfolk in the 
 midst of his myrmidons — or, if his 
 
 heart prompted him to the deed his 
 hand would have failed him, and the 
 act would either have remained unac- 
 complished, or would not have been 
 done half so well. — Ireland, to-day, 
 produces too few daeiné ua:slé oga like 
 Gilla-gan-inathar, she has by fjir too 
 many genteel young men ; wherefore 
 are her sons still ruthlessly hecatombed 
 on mammon's altar by those baser 
 tyrants, who have succeeded the san- 
 guinary De Lacies of A.nglo-Norman 
 times ; wherefore doth the genus Hay- 
 warden, and HcuUy, and Lorton, and 
 Co. abound and flourish ; wherefore is 
 the produce of her green and fertile fields 
 consumed by strange land merchants, 
 who commit ruthless though insidious 
 havoc upon the wretched remnants of 
 her Free Clans. 
 
 Dur-magh Coluhn KiUi ; i. e. Oak- 
 field of St. Columkille, now known as 
 Burrow, where De Lacy was slain, had 
 been formerly granted to St. Co'um- 
 kille by Brendan, Prince of Tebtha, 
 an ancestor of the Fox, and probably 
 of O'Miadhaigh. In recent times a 
 somewhat similar event took place at 
 Burrow. Its proprietor, the Earl of 
 Norbury was slain by an unke.own 
 hand, after having built a castle on the 
 site of that erected by Be Lacy, and 
 perha])S, after having outraged St. 
 Columkille by preventing the families 
 under that saint's patronage from bury- 
 ing their dead in the ancient cemetery 
 of Burrow. 
 
 '" Brothers. Cathal Crobh-derg was 
 the youngest brother of King Ruaidri, 
 and con.sequently the grand-uucle of 
 Cathal Carrach. 
 
64:6 THE HISTORY OF IKELAXD. 
 
 namely, between Cathal Carrach and Catlial Crobh-derg ; and 
 that John de Courcy took part ^vith Cathal Crobh-derg, while 
 "William took part with his adversary Cathal Carrach. The 
 hostilities between these brothers were fostered and kept alive, 
 on the one side by John de Courc}^, and on the other by William 
 Fitz-Aldelm, until the whole of their territories had been plun- 
 dered and devastated between them, and until a great number 
 of the nobles of Connaught had been beheaded, in consequence 
 of this intestine quarrel. At length a pitched battle came off 
 between the two Cathals, each aided by foi-eign allies— for there 
 were Gauls fighting on both sides. In this battle, Cathal Car- 
 rach and his allies were defeated, and he lost his own life in the 
 conflict. After this, William Fitz-Aldelm erected a castle at 
 Milec-Ui-Madagain," in which he left a strong garrison, and then 
 returned to Luimnech. Thereupon Cathal Crobh-derg came to 
 lay siege to this fortress, but the garrison stole out of it hj night 
 and followed William to Luimnech ; and Cathal Crobh-derg 
 razed the castle of Milec to the ground. In consequence of this, 
 William Fitz-Aldelm mustered an army, with which he invaded 
 Connaught, where he plundered and destroyed both the 
 churches and the territories and the laymen, and made a dreadful 
 massacre of all the inhabitants that he could find. For these 
 atrocities, the clergy of Connaught gave him their malediction, 
 as we read in those ancient annals of Ireland, which were written 
 down about three hundred and thirty years since, in that chief 
 book of history, Avhich is called the Lebar Brec of Mac Aedgain. 
 In the same record we read that God miraculously sent down a 
 foul and incurable disease u])on tliis man, as a punishment for 
 his evil deeds,'^ and that he finally suffered a loathsome death in 
 consequence thereof He received neither penance nor extreme 
 unction, nor was his body laid in any consecrated ground, but 
 he was buried on a desolate farm. 
 
 ■^ Milec Ui Madagam ; i. e. Meelick The statements of the Irisli authors 
 
 of O'-Madilen. It is situated on the niay,howevcr, be somewhat overdrawn, 
 
 brink of the Shannon, in the soutli of anil (!ambrcnsis, who was liis enemy, 
 
 county of (ialway and liarony of I^ong- may have belied him, as he has belied 
 
 ford, anciently called Sil Anmcadha, tlie Irish. De Burgo was perhaps nci- 
 
 the county of O'Madden. th(!r a worse nor a better man tlian the 
 
 ^ His evil deeds. "William Fitz- rest of his companions. He is said to 
 
 Adelm de Burgo is called ^V'iIliam the have been descended from Charlo- 
 
 CoiK|neror by the Irish, because he magne. Ilis death is thus recorded l)y 
 
 .subdued the greater part of ('onnaught. the Four Masters under tiie year 1 204. 
 
 He is the ancestor of all the De I3ur- " AVilliani T?urke plundered Connaught, 
 
 gos, or Burkes of Ireland. He is rc]>- both ehurrhes and territories, but (jod 
 
 resented as a very bad man, as well and the Saints took vengeance upon 
 
 by his countr}Tnan Cambrensis as by him therefor ; for he died of a singular 
 
 the Irish authorities of his own times, disease, too loathsome to mention." 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 647 
 
 Hostilities broke out, after some time, between John de 
 Courcy and Hugo de Lacy the younger. In consequence of 
 their quarrel, the territories of Ulidia and Meath were plundered 
 and laid desolate, whilst numbers of the Ulidians and the men 
 of Meath fell upon either side. This contention finally resulted 
 in the treacherous capture of De Courcy by Hugo, who, having 
 made a charge of treason against his captive, delivered him into 
 the hands of the people of the king. By the latter he was sent 
 as prisoner to Saxon-land, where he remained for some time in 
 captivity. However, the king finally granted him his pardon, 
 with permission to return to Ireland. He thereupon set out 
 upon the sea, with the intention of going back to that country, 
 but there immediately arose a violent storm, by which he was 
 driven back to land. This was the result of fourteen successive 
 attempts, each of which ended in his being thrown back upon 
 Saxon-land by the violence of the wind. At length, as we are 
 told in the chronicle of Stanihurst, upon making his fifteenth 
 attempt, he was driven by the storm to the coast of France, in 
 which country he died soon after. 
 
 We also read in the chronicle last-mentioned, that a young 
 nobleman of the family of John de Courcy, who was then abiding 
 in Ireland, had been slain by Hugo de Lacy the younger, and 
 by his brother Walter de Lacy, and that, in consequence thereof, 
 many quarrels and conflicts had arisen between the friends of 
 this young nobleman and those sons of Hugo de Lacy. By 
 these events, King John was forced to march into Meath with a 
 large army, composed of Gauls and Gaels, for the purpose of 
 punishing the two sons of De Lacy. But, when the latter heard 
 that the king was approaching, they retreated to Carraig Fergusa, 
 and, upon his pursuing them thither, they took shipping and 
 fled over to France. Here they disguised themselves as laborers, 
 and went to work in the garden of a certain abbey in Normandy, 
 and there they remained for some time in that humiliating and 
 counterfeited position. However, after some time, they made 
 their secret known to the abbot, whom they besought to solicit 
 the king of Saxon-land to grant them his peace and pardon. 
 This the abbot procured for them, and they then returned to 
 Ireland, where the king had them restored to their blood and 
 their estates. Then King John died, in the year of our Lord 
 one thousand two hundred and sixteen. 
 
 After this, in the time of the third Henry, there arose a great 
 war between Hugo de Lacy the younger and William Mare- 
 schall ; so that the whole of Meath was destroyed between them, 
 and that great numbers of the Gaels, some of whom fought on 
 each side, were slaiu in their conflicts. 
 
648 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 There also arose a great war between Meyler Fitz-IIenry," 
 GcoiFrey Mares,"* and William Marcschall ; and on each side 
 multitudes of the men of Leiustcr and Munster were destroyed 
 between them. Ilanmer informs us that the above-named Mey- 
 ler was maledicted by the Bishoj:) of Ferna, for having robbed 
 that prelate of a manor which he had owned, and that he even- 
 tually died excommunicated in Saxon-land. Then, as his 
 children would not restore the property which their father had 
 acquired by his robbery, the Avhole live of his sons died, one 
 after the other, so that no one was left to inherit his estates. 
 This Meyler had also once made an excursion to Cluain-mic- 
 Nois, attended by a numerous army, and, having encamped 
 there for twelve nights, he not only plundered the town of cattle 
 and food, but he moreover robbed its temple and monastery 
 likewise. 
 
 When, indeed, the Gaels perceived the robberies and sacrileges 
 of those men, whom I have mentioned, they at length thought 
 of delivering themselves from the oppressions of such tyrants. 
 For, according to Stanihurst's Clironicle, Lis Mor, with its ter- 
 mon lands, had been robbed by Hervé de Monté-Mariseo and 
 Raymond le Gros," although we are told that the same Hervé'" 
 afterwards assumed the habit of a monk, and had built the 
 monastery of Dun Broith" in the county of Loch Garman, as an 
 atonement for the crimes he had committed in Ireland, in the 
 year of our Loi'd one thousand two hundred and seventy-nine. 
 In like manner, tlie Church of Inis Cathaigh, with its termon 
 lands, was plundered by AVilliam Fitz Aldelni. And again, in 
 the excess of pride and iiaughtiness, that had sprung up amongst 
 them, these same Gaids had given themselves up to fomenting 
 quarrels amongst themselves, and to the wasting and destroying 
 of the Gaels, who took part in their several contentions. 
 
 The Irish Essay to combine against their despoilers. — Apology for 
 the rebellious nature of the Gaels. 
 
 The Gaels likewise found out that the new-comers had no in- 
 
 ■'' Meyler Fitz-Hcnry. He was the the An^Io-Normans, is the ancestor of 
 
 natural son of Kinj^ Henry I. of Knf^- tlie Irish family of Grace;. He was the 
 
 land, by Nesta, who was also the mo- Ronof William Fitz-Gerald, the brother 
 
 ther of Maurice Fitz-Gerald. Ho was of Maurice, 
 
 made T^ord Justice of Ireland in 1199. ** Jkrvi. de Monte-Mar isco. He is 
 
 '■* Geoffrey 3Inres. He is called also called Hervey of Mount-^Iaurice. 
 
 Geoflrey de Marisco and De Mariscis He was of the race of the French 
 
 by English writers. He was made Montmnrcncics. His Irish descendants 
 
 Governor of Ireland in 1210, and Lord have, it is said, taken the names of 
 
 Justice in 1220. The war above men- Montnioreney and Morris. 
 
 tinned liroke out in 1207. " Dan Jiioith. Now the ruii;ed ab- 
 
 ■* R(iij7iwnd le Gro^. This warrior, bey of Dunbrody, in the county of 
 
 one of the most dariiii; of the chiefs of We.xford. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 649 
 
 tention of cither correcting the religious discipline, or of im- 
 proving the moral habits of the Irish nation. For these reasons 
 did they strive to rid themselves of their stranger tyrants. Con- 
 sequently, a number of the Gaelic nobles came to the residence 
 of Concobar of Maen-magh," who was then abiding at Dun 
 Leogha" in Ui Mani, for the purpose of appointing him their 
 sovereign. First of all, there came thither Domuall O'Briain, 
 King of Luimnech ; and Ruaidri Mac Donnslebi, King of Ulidia; 
 and Domnall Mac Carthaigh, King of Desmond; and ]\Iael- 
 seehlainn Beg O'Maelscehlainn, King of Meath; and O'Euaire, 
 King of Ui Briuin and Ui Conmacui. But the measures there 
 determined upon were never put into execution, whatever they 
 might have been ; for, before they were finally arranged, Con- 
 cobar, of Maen-magh, was accidentally slain. 
 
 It is evident, from the facts which we have just stated, that 
 the great amount of disobedience and resistance which the Gaels 
 have since displayed under the rulership of the Anglo-Normans, 
 has resulted irom the tj^ranny, and wrong, and disregard of 
 their own laws, of which their foreign governors were themselves 
 guilty. For I do not think that there is any race in Europe 
 that Avould obey these laws more than the Irish, if even-handed 
 justice were dealt out to them. The following is the testimony 
 which John Davis has borne to their character in the last page 
 of the first book of the work which he wrote upon Ireland : 
 
 "There is no nation of people under the sun that doth love 
 equal and indifferent justice more than the Iiish, or will rest 
 better satisfied with the execution thereof, although it be against 
 themselves, so as they may have the protection of the laws when 
 upon just occasion they require it." 
 
 From the testimony of this author, it must be understood that 
 it is through no natural defect in their character'* that the Irish 
 
 "* Concobar of Maenrmagh. This Donncadh O'Briain's surrender of the 
 prince had succeeded to the kingdom sovereignty of Ireland to the Pope 
 of Connaught, upon the deposition of Urliauus, whose cotemporary he was 
 his father liuadri. He was slain by not, had been an established fact of his- 
 members of his own tribe, and appar- tory, and that such surrender was 
 ently by design. He was an able perfectly legal, equitable and proper in 
 prince, and the temporary union of the itself, and also deeming the assignment 
 Irish chiefs under his sway took place of that sovereignty to Henry and his 
 in A. D. 1189. — See extract from the heirs by the Popus, Adrian and Alex- 
 Four Miisteis quoted at the end. ander, to have been equally reasonable 
 
 '^ Bun Lengha. This fort was situ- and equitable transactions, has thought 
 
 ated at Ballinasloe, in the county of it right to close his historic narrative 
 
 Galway. by apologising for the want of grati- 
 
 =' No natural defect in their character, tude shown liy his countrymen for such 
 
 Dr. Keating, good man that he was, kind and paternal consideration. 'I'hat 
 
 seemingly taking it for granted that he has made out a strong case to justify 
 
650 
 
 THE HISTORY OP IRELAND, 
 
 have so often shown a want of submission to the laws, but 
 through the fault of their rulers, who did not administer these 
 Jaws amongst them with even-handed justice. 
 
 The Irish Septs descended from the Sen- Ghmll,^^ or Anglo-Normans. 
 
 Besides those five men whom we have mentioned already, 
 there arrived in Ireland in the beginning of the Anglo-Norman 
 invasion, several other chieftains, who did not commit any deeds 
 
 the Irish rebellions in the eyes of the 
 legal and constitutional supporters of 
 the fait accompli, there can be little 
 doubt, fur, allowing the said transac- 
 tions to have been perfectly right and 
 just in themselves, the provisions of 
 the said grants had been violated 
 almost immediately after by the jjarties 
 to whom tlu-y had been made, and 
 the Poiie has had just cause to revoke 
 them any time within the last GOO years 
 and more. Uut to those who hold 
 with tlie majority of the Irish people, 
 that those grants were perfectly frau- 
 dulent, unjust and nefarious, no such 
 apology is needed. Apology is rather 
 wanted' for those of the Irish chiefs 
 who tamely made their submissions to 
 Henry upon his arrival amongst them. 
 All that can be said in favor of the 
 temporizing of these men is, that they 
 had no conception cither of the con- 
 struction that would be put upon their 
 several acts of homage, or of the dread- 
 ful national consequences that were 
 about to result therefrom. They might 
 have considered that their submissions 
 to the stranger king were of like mean- 
 ing and import with those which they 
 had been wont to make to one another, 
 and which consisted in making act of 
 homage, and delivering up hostages as 
 securities for the maintenance of their 
 several treaties, but which did not con- 
 fer upon the liege-lord any right to the 
 arbitrary disi)osal of the landed prop- 
 erty f)f whatever tribe the liegoman 
 was then chief. When indeed those 
 Irish chieftains found that such right 
 to disjioic of the common inhcritani'ii 
 both of themselves and their kindred 
 was a-ssunvd by the enliiihteners that 
 had been sent to them, then did they 
 commence that endless series of wars 
 
 which continued almost unceasingly 
 for more than 400 years ; and which, 
 with occasional interruption, has con- 
 timied down to the present day. These 
 wars have been called rebellions by the 
 spoilers and the scribes of the spoilers, 
 and this word sounded as harshly in the 
 ears of Dr. Keating as it does in those 
 of some good souls of our own times. 
 Therefore does he excuse and palliate 
 so glaring a national defect. But it 
 is to be hoped that that rebellious 
 characteristic, which is now apparently 
 as inherent in Irish nature as it was iu 
 the days of Concobar O'Concobair of 
 Maen-magh, will ever remain the pre- 
 dominant trait of every true Irishman, 
 until the Irish people, whether of 
 Saxon or Norman or (iaelic or Belgic 
 stock, shall again own the Irish soil ; 
 and until neither money-broker nor 
 landlord shall have power to spread 
 desolation and famine and woe through 
 her homes and her fields. The Irish 
 people should never forget that those 
 fertile fields belonged to their own 
 forefathers, and that those, who now 
 call them theirs, have no more right 
 thereto than the roljber has to the 
 purse of his victin). Home, it is true, 
 have bought out the robber's titles 
 with the fruits of, perhaps, honest indus- 
 try ; l)ut though men are also found 
 who buy their prey from the sons of 
 the highway, it does not thence follow 
 that they acquire thereby any just right 
 to goods so ac(|uired. 
 
 =^ rii" Sen-Ghoill ; i.e. the old Gauls 
 or strangers. Many other noble fami- 
 lies, besides those here mentioned by 
 Keating, arc descended from the Sen- 
 (Jhoill. 'I'lie majority of the leaders 
 weri! Norman-French, and most of 
 them had sprung from Welsh mothers. 
 
THE niSTOIiY OF IRELAND. 
 
 651 
 
 of base treachery similar to tliose of wliich the said five had been 
 guihj. Oil the' contrary, the chieftains to whom I now allude, 
 conferred many benefits upon Ireland, inasmuch as they built 
 chuiches and monasteries, and performed many good works 
 besides. Therefore, in reward thereof, has God granted them 
 the blessing of a numerous progeny, in the many noble septs 
 who now represent them in Ireland, such as the Fitz-Geralds 
 and Burkes, the Butlers and Barries, the De Courcies and 
 Kuehes, the Powers and Graces, the Prendergasts and Flem- 
 mings, the Purcells and Prestons, the Nugents and Walshes, the 
 Tobins and Shortalls, the Blanches and Morrisscs, the Everards 
 and Mandevilles, the Birminghams and Barretts, the Ilacketts 
 
 A large portion of their followers were 
 altogether Welshmen — a race of kin- 
 dred origin, customs and language 
 with the Gaels. This no doubt facil- 
 italed their amalgamation with the 
 former natives, with whom they freely 
 intermarried, and their children be- 
 came, in a century or two, more Irish 
 than the Gaels themselves. Of this 
 race sprung some of the truest and no- 
 blest Irishmen of her subsequent his- 
 tory, and some of the most rebellious. 
 — The editor's copies do not agree in 
 all the names in the list which is given 
 above, and he has inserted one or two 
 of them from Dermod O'Connor's 
 translation of Keating, but of those 
 found in the latter work he has only 
 inserted those, for whose early Norman 
 origin he has had corroborative au- 
 thority. Dr. Keating evidently did 
 not intend to give a complete list of 
 the septs descended from those ancient 
 colonists. However, those he has omit- 
 ted will be found in the explanation of 
 the map. The families of Plunkett, 
 Wise, Betagh, and even some of those 
 above given, are supposed to be of 
 Scandinavian origin, and anterior to 
 the invasion. 
 
 The editor here transcribes the fol- 
 lowing extracts from the Annals of the 
 Four Masters, giving the Irish account 
 of the several transactions between the 
 Gaels and their invaders down to the 
 death of Euaidri, the last Ard-righ of 
 Ireland. By them it may be seen that, 
 outside of certain parts of Leinster and 
 Meath, the early invaders occupied the 
 position rather of mercenaries than of 
 conquerors. 
 
 A. D. 1174. 
 
 " The Earl Strongbow led an army 
 to plunder Munster. King Ruaidri 
 led another army to defend it against 
 him. When the strangers had heard 
 of the arrival of lluaidri in Munster, 
 for the purpose of giving them battle, 
 they solicited to their assistance the 
 Ostmen of Ath-cliath, and then made 
 no delay until they reached Durlas 
 (Thurles.) Thither came Domnall Ua 
 Briain and the Dal g-Cais, the bat- 
 talion of West Connaught and the 
 great battalion of Sil Muredaigh (the 
 O'Connors), besides numerous other 
 good troops left there by the King 
 Ruaidri. At this place a brave battle 
 was fought between the p]nglish and 
 the Irish, and in it the English were 
 finally defeated by dint of fighting. 
 Seventeen hundred of the strangers 
 were slain in this engagement, and 
 only a few of them survived with the 
 Earl, who proceeded in sorrow to his 
 house at Port Largi. Ua Briain re- 
 turned home in triumph. 
 
 Magnus Ua Maelsechlainn, lord of 
 East Meath, was hanged by the Eng- 
 lish, after they had acted treacherously 
 towards him at Ath-Truim (now Trim.) 
 
 Ruaidri Ua Concobair, King of Ire- 
 land, marched an army into Munster ; 
 he expelled Dorauall Ua Briain from 
 Thomond, and much wasted that coun- 
 try. 
 
 A. D. 1176. 
 
 Fobar and Kcnannus (now Fore and 
 Kells) were laid waste by the English 
 and the Ui Briuin of Brefni. 
 
 Louth was laid waste by the Saxons. 
 
 The English were driven from Luim- 
 
'652 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 and ^iocklers, the Arthurs and Whites, the Condons and Cant- 
 wells, the Kices and Ilowleys, the Stritchcs and Creaghs, the 
 Longs and the Foxes, the Bruces and D'Arcies, the Goolds and 
 Galways, the Ten-ies and Skiddies, the Fannings and De Verdons, 
 the Browns and Sherlock?, the Walls and Cummerfords, the Dil- 
 lons and Nagles, the Keatings and Bagots, the Corbcts, Staunions, 
 Supj)les, Daltons, Bigots, iSavadgcs, Stapletons, Fitz-l\ustaces, 
 Fitz-Gibbons, Fitz-j\laurices, the Rokidicc^ and many other 
 noble septs of the Sen-Glioill, descended from the chieftains of 
 the Anglo Kormans, but which we shall not mention in this place. 
 
 nech (now Limerick) by Domnall Ua 
 Bn'ain, by laying siege to them. 
 
 An Eiiglisii castle was in progress 
 of erection at Kenannus. 
 
 The English Earl (Strongbow) died 
 in Ath-cliath, of an ulcer which had 
 broken out in his foot, through the 
 miracles of Saints IJrighii t and Colura- 
 kille, and of all the other saints whose 
 churches had been destroyed by him. 
 He saw, as he thought, Saint Brighitt 
 in the act of killing him. 
 
 The castle of SUini (Slane) in which 
 was llichard Flemniing with his forces, 
 and from which he used to ravage 
 Oirghiulla, Ui Briuin and Meath, was 
 plundered by Maelsechlainn, son of 
 Mac Lochlainn, Lord of the Kind 
 Eogain, with the Kinel Eogain them 
 selves and the men of Oirgiiialla. They 
 killed 500 or more of the English, 
 besides women, children and horses, 
 and not one individual escaped with 
 his life from the castle. Three castles 
 were leli desolate in Meath the follow- 
 ing day, through fear of the Kinel Eo- 
 gain, namely, the castles ol' Kenainms, 
 Caitruini, and Doiri Phadraig (now 
 Kelis, Ualtrim and Derrvpatrick.) 
 A. D. 1177. 
 Cardinal Yivianus arrived in Ireland. 
 A synod of the clergy of Ireland, both 
 of bishops and abbots was convened liy 
 this cardinal on the 1st Sunday in Iji'nt, 
 and they enacted many ordinances not 
 now observed. 
 
 An ;irmy was led by John Dc Cour- 
 cy and tiic knijrhts into Dal Araide and 
 to Dmi-da-leth-Lrlas; they slew Domnall, 
 the granilson of Catha.sach, Lord of Dal 
 Araide. Dun-da-leth-irlns vvasplunder- 
 cil and dijstroyed by John De Courcy 
 
 and tho knights who came in his army. 
 A castle was tliere built by them, and 
 out of it they defeated tlie Ulidiaiis 
 twice, and the Kinel Eogain and Oir- 
 ghialla once, and slew Concobar 
 O'Carellain, chief of Clann Diarmoda, 
 Gilla-Mac-Liag O'Dongali (now O'Don- 
 nelly) chief of Ferdroma ; and Dumnall 
 O'Fiathbertaigh (now O'Laverty) was 
 so wounded by arrows, that he dietl of 
 his wounds in the church of St. Paul, 
 at Ard Macha, after having received 
 the Body and Blood of Clirist, and 
 after Extreme Unction and Penance. 
 Many other chiefs were there slain be- 
 sides these. During the same expedi- 
 tion De Courcy marched his forces to 
 Ui Tuirtri and Fir Li ; however, be- 
 fore his arrival, Cu-Midhe Ua Fiainn 
 {Coowcc O'Lijiin or O'Flynn) had set 
 Ather-Maigho (now Armoy) on iire 
 Cul llathain (now Coleraine) and many 
 other churches were burned on this ex- 
 pedition. 
 
 Murcadh, son of Ruaidri O'Conco- 
 bair, bronglit Milo de Cogan and his 
 knights with him to llos Coniain, to 
 ravage ('oiniaught and to annoy his 
 father, lluaidri. The Connaught men 
 immediately burned Tuuim-da-gualann 
 and other cluirches to prevent the Eng- 
 lish from quartering therein. They 
 afterwards deviated the English, and 
 forcibly drove them out of Connaught, 
 and lluaidri put out the eyes of his son 
 in revenge for this expedition. 
 A. D. 1178. 
 John de Cimrcy with his foreigners 
 repaired to Machari Coiialli (in Louth), 
 and cdnuiiitted depredations there. 
 'I'hey encamped for a night in Glenn 
 liighe, where Murcadh O'Kerbaill 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 653 
 
 (now O'Oarroll), Lord of Oirgbialla, 
 and Cu-Uladh Mac Donslebi (now Mac 
 Donlevy), King of Ulidia, niiide hostile 
 attack upon them, in which they 
 drowned and otherwise killed 450 of 
 them. 100 of the Gaols, together with 
 Ua h-Anbith (now O'ilanvey) Lord of 
 Ui Meith-Macha, fell in the "heat of the 
 battle. 
 
 De Courcy soon after went to plun- 
 der Dal Araide and Ui Tuirtri, and 
 Cu-Midhe OFlaiim, Lord of Ui Tuirtri 
 and Fir Li, gave battle to him and his 
 foreigners, and defeated them with 
 great slaughter, through the miracles 
 of Saints Patrick, Columkille and 
 Brendan, and John himself, being 
 severely wounded, escaped with diffi- 
 culty and fled to Ath-cliath. 
 
 The Constable of the King of Eng- 
 land in Ath-cliath and East Meath 
 marched with his forces to Cluain- 
 mic-Nois, and plundered all the town 
 except the churches and the bishop's 
 houses. God and St. Kiaran wrought 
 a manifest miracle against them, for 
 they were unable to rest or sleep until 
 they had secretly absconded from Cuirr 
 Cluana next day. 
 
 A victory was gained by Art Ua 
 Maolsechlainn, the men of Ui Falghi 
 and the English over the people of 
 Delbna Ethra, Maelsechlainn Beg and 
 a party of the men of Tebtha; in 
 this battle Muredach, son of the Sin- 
 uach (i. e. the Fox) was slain. 
 
 " Corcach was plundered by the 
 grandson of Doranall Mac Carthaigh 
 and the Green Gauls. Corcach was 
 besieged by Milo de Cogan and Fitz- 
 Stephen. A party of their people 
 made an excursion to Acadh-da-eo 
 (Aghadoe), where they remained two 
 day and two nights, and then returned 
 to Corcach. After this they marched 
 towards Waterford, but the Gaels 
 gathered against them at the hill of 
 Lis Mor (now Lismore) and killed near- 
 ly them all. —Annals of Innisfallen. 
 
 Our Annals are silent as to the pro- 
 ceedings of the invaders during A. D. 
 
 1179. They record the death of St. 
 Lawrence, or Lorcan O'Tuathail, under 
 
 1180. In the latter year was fought 
 the battle called the Battle of the Con- 
 cobars, between Coucobar of Macn- 
 
 magh, son of the Monarch Ruaidri, 
 and Coucobar O'Kellaigh, Lord of Ui 
 Mani. Next year they record a great 
 battle, in which Flathbertach Ua Mael- 
 doraidh. Prince of Kiniil Conaill, de- 
 feated the sons of Ruaidri O't.'uncobair, 
 and in which there fell 16 ol" the sons of 
 the principal lords and chiefs of Con- 
 naught. " And many others fell, both 
 of the nobles and the plebeians. The 
 Kinel Eogaiu held the Connaughtmen 
 in subjection for a long time alter this 
 battle."— F. M. 
 
 A. D. 1182. 
 
 " Domnall, son of Aedh O'Lochlainn, 
 marched with an army to Dun-bo, 
 where he gave battle to the English ; 
 but the Kinel Eogain were there de- 
 feated, and Baghnall Ua Breslein, with 
 Gilla-Criosd Ua Cathain and many 
 others were slain." [In this year, ac- 
 cording to the Annals of Kilnonan, 
 Milo de Cogan was killed by Mac Tiri, 
 Prince of Ui Mac Calli (Imokilly) ; 
 and in it died Raymond le Gros and 
 the two sons of Fitz Stephen. No 
 important event is recorded under 
 A. D. 1183.] 
 
 A. D. 1184. 
 
 Art O'Maelsechlainn, Lord of West 
 Meath, was treacherously slain by 
 Diarmaid, son of Tordclbach O'Bri- 
 ain, at the instigation of the ling- 
 lish, whereupon Maelsechlainn Beg 
 (O'Maelsechlainn) assumed hia place, 
 and in three days afterwards defeated 
 the same Diarmaid in a conflict where- 
 in many were slain, amongst whom 
 was the son of Mathgamaiu O'Briain. 
 
 A castle was erected by the English 
 at Kill Air (in Meath). Another cas- 
 tle was plundered by Maelsechlainn 
 and Concobar O'Concobair of Maen- 
 Magh, in which many of the English 
 were slain. Thirty of the best houses 
 of Ard Macha were plundered by the 
 English of Meath. 
 
 A. D. 118.5. 
 
 Philip of AVorcester (Lord Justice) 
 remained at Ard Macha with his Eng- 
 lishmen during six days, in the middle 
 of Lent. 
 
 The son of the king of England, 
 that is, John, son of Henry II., came 
 to Ireland with a fleet of GO ships, to 
 assume the government of the king- 
 
654 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 dom. He took possession of Ath- 
 cliuth and Leinstor, and erected castles 
 at Tibraid Factna (now Tibrovmhney) 
 and Ard Finain, out of which he 
 plundered Munster ; but his people 
 were defeated with great slauirhtcr by 
 Domnall O'Briain. John then re- 
 turned to England to com])lain to his 
 father of Hugo de Lacy, who was the 
 King's deputy in Ireland on his arrival, 
 and who had prevented the Irish Kings 
 from sending him (John) either tribute 
 or hostages. 
 
 A general war broke out in Con- 
 nanght, among the rijyal heirs, namely, 
 Ruaidri O'Concobair and his son 
 Concobar of Maen-Magh ; Ooncobar 
 O'Diarmada ; Cathal Carrach, son of* 
 Concobar of ]\Iaen-Magh ; and Cathal 
 Crobh-derg, son of Tordelbach. In 
 the contests between them many per- 
 sons were slain, after which Ruaidri 
 and his son made peace with the other 
 chiefs. 
 
 Tlie West of Connaught was burned, 
 as well churches as houses, by Domnall 
 O'Briain and the English. 
 
 Cathal Carrach, the son of Concobar 
 of Maen-Magh, son of Ruaidri, burned 
 Kill-da-luadh, as well churches as 
 houses, and carried off all the jewels 
 and riches of the inhaVtitants. Tho- 
 mond was destroyed and jilundcred by 
 Concobar of Maen-Magh and the Eng- 
 lish. The English came as far as 
 Ros Comain MÚth the son of Ruaidri, 
 who gave them 3,000 cows as wages. 
 
 Diarmaid Mac Carthaigh, Lord of 
 Desmond, was slain by the English of 
 Corcach. 
 
 A. D. 1186. 
 
 Ruaidri O'Concobair was banished 
 into Munster by his own son, Concobar 
 of Maen-Magh. In the contest between 
 them both, the Connaught men were 
 destroyed. However, by the advice of 
 the Sil-Muredaigh (Sfieel 3Iurrni/e), 
 Ruaidri was recalled, and a cantred 
 of land was given to him. [Hugo de 
 Lacy slain — Sec extract already quoted.] 
 A. I). 1187. 
 
 The castle of Kill Air, which Wivs in 
 possession of tlic English, was burned 
 and demolished by Concobar O'i^onco- 
 bair of Maemnagh, and Maelsechlainn 
 
 Beg, and not one of the English escaped 
 thence, liut all were sufft)cated or other- 
 wise killed. Thoy carried away their 
 shields, arms, accoutrements, coats of 
 mail and horses, and slew two knights. 
 
 And Drum-cliabh. (now Druniclilf.) in 
 Sligo. was plundered by the son of Mael- 
 secldainn O'Ruairc, Lord of Ui Briuin 
 and Conmacni, and by the son of Cathal 
 O'Ruairc, accompanied by the English 
 of Meath. But God and St. Columkille 
 wrought a remarkable miracle in this 
 instance, for the son of Maelsechlainn 
 O'Ruairc was killed in Conmacni a 
 fortnight afterwards, and the eyes of 
 the son of Cathal O'Ruairc were put 
 out by O'Maekloraidh, in vengeance 
 for St. Columkille; and, also 120 of 
 the followers of the son of Maelsech- 
 lainn were killed throughont Conmacni, 
 through the miracles of that saint. 
 A. D. 1188. 
 
 The English of the castle of ^lagh 
 Coba, in Down, and a party of the Ui 
 Eathach (the peojde of Iveagh) made 
 a predatory into Tir Eogain. and came 
 to Leim-mic-Neill, where they seized 
 upon some cattle ; but Domnaill 0'- 
 Lochlainn pursued them with his re- 
 tainers, and came up with them at 
 Caban-na-g-crann-ard, where a battle 
 was fought between them, and the Eng- 
 lish were routed with great slaughter. 
 But Domnall, son of Aedh O'Lochlainn, 
 Lord of Ailech, and meet heir to the 
 throne of Ireland, by reason of his sym- 
 metry of form, intellect and wisdom, 
 alone received a thrust from an English 
 spear, and fell in the heat of the con- 
 flict. His body was carried to Ard 
 Macha on the same day, and there in- 
 terred with great honor and solemnity. 
 
 John de (,'onrcy and the English ot 
 Ireland made an incursion into Con- 
 naught, accompanied by (.'Oncobar O'- 
 Diarmada, whereupon Concobar of 
 Maen-magh, King of Connaught, as- 
 seml)led all the chiefs of his country, 
 who were joined by Domnall O'Brian 
 and some of the men of Munster. The 
 English set fire to .some of the churches 
 of the country as they passed along, 
 but they made no delay until they 
 reached Es-dara (now Ballysadare], 
 with the intention of going into Tir 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 655 
 
 Conaill, for the Connaughtmen would 
 not suffer them to tarry any longer 
 in their cduntry. But as soon as Flulh- 
 bertach O'jNIaeldoraidli heard of tlieir 
 approach, he mustered the Kincl Con- 
 aill, and marched to Drum-cliabh to 
 oppose them. Upon hearing of this 
 movement, the English burned the 
 whole of Es-dara, and retreated. As 
 they passed by the Coirr-Sliabh (the 
 (.'urlew Mountains,) they were set upon 
 by the men of Munster and Connaught, 
 by whom gi-eat numbers of them were 
 slain. The survivors escaped with 
 difficulty from the country, in which 
 they had committed no trifling destruc- 
 tion upon this occasion. 
 A. D. 1189. 
 
 Domnall, son of Murkertach Mac 
 Lochlainn, was slain by the English of 
 Dal Araide while he was staying 
 amongst them. 
 
 Mac-na-h-oidhché {Mac-nia-heehie, i. 
 e.. Son of Night) O'Maelruanaidh, lord 
 of Fera Manach , was driven from his 
 lordship, and fled to O'Kerbaill. Soon 
 after an English army arrived in that 
 country, to whom O'Kerbaill and O'- 
 Maelruanaidh (O'Carroll and O'Mul- 
 rony) gave battle ; but O'Kerbaill was 
 defeated therein and O'Maelruanaidh 
 killed. 
 
 Concobar of Maen-magh, the son of 
 Ruaidri, King of Connaught, both 
 English and Irish, was killed % a party 
 of his own people and tribe ; namely, 
 by Magnus, son of Flann O'Finachta, 
 called the Crosach Doun ; Aedh, son 
 of Brian of Brefni, son of Tordelbach 
 O'Concobair ; Murkertach, sonof Diar- 
 maid, son of Cathal, son of Tadg ; and 
 Gilla-na-naemh, son of Gilla-Comain, 
 son of Muredach Ban O'Maelmichil of 
 the Tuatha. Alas for the party that 
 plotted this conspiracy against the life 
 of the heir presumptive of the throne 
 of Ireland ! To him the greater part 
 of Lcth Mogha had submitted as king. 
 Domnall O'Briain, King of Munster, 
 had gone to his house at Dun Leodha 
 {Doon-Lo), where he was entertained 
 for a week, and to him O'Concobair 
 gave sixty cows out of every cantred 
 in Connaught, and ten articles of price, 
 ornamented with gold ; but O'Briain 
 
 did not accept any of these, save one 
 goblet, which his own grandfather, 
 Diarmaid O'Briain, had once owned. 
 Euaidri MacDonslel)i, King of Ulidia, 
 had come into his house. MacCarthaigh, 
 King of Desmond, was in his house, 
 and to him O'Concobair gave a great 
 stipend, namely, five horses out of every 
 cantred in Connaught. Maelsechlainn 
 Beg, King of Temhair, was in his house 
 likewise, and took away thence a large 
 stipend ; and O'Ruairc, King of Brefni, 
 had also come into his house, whence 
 he also carried off a large stipend. 
 
 When Concobar of Maen-magh had 
 been slain, the Sil Muredaigh, (his own 
 tribe,) sent messengers to Ruaidri O'- 
 Concobair, the former King of Ireland, 
 to tell him of the death of his son, 
 and to ofier him the kingdom ; and as 
 soon as Ruaidri had reached Magh 
 Naei, he took the hostages of the Sil 
 Muredaigh, and all Connaught, for at 
 that time the hostages that had been 
 delivered up to Concobar of Maen- 
 magh were then on Inis Clothrann, an 
 island in Loch Ribh. 
 
 Concobar, grandson of Diarmaid, 
 was slain by Cathal Carrach, son of 
 Concobar of Maen-magh, in revenge for 
 his father. 
 
 Richard I. was crowned King of 
 England on the 1st of July. 
 
 Flathbertach O'Maekloraidh march- 
 ed his forces against the men of Con- 
 naught, and pitched his camp in Cor- 
 ran. All the Connaughtmen, both 
 English and Irish, came to oppose him. 
 However, they were not able to injure 
 him, and both parties departed without 
 coming to a battle. 
 
 A. D. 1190. 
 
 A meeting was held at Cluain Ferta 
 of St. Brendan, to conclude a peace 
 between Cathal of the Red Hand and 
 Cathal Carrach. All the Sil Mure- 
 daigh came to this meeting, together 
 with Concobar MacDiarmoda, Co- 
 marba of St. Patrick and Arechtach 
 O'Roduibh ; but they were not able to 
 effect a reconciliation on this occasion. 
 A. D. 1191. 
 
 Ruaidri O'Concobair set out from 
 Connaught, and came to Flathbertach 
 O'Maeldoraidh, in Tir Conaill, and he 
 
656 
 
 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 passed thence into Tir Eogaiu, to re- 
 quest forces i'rom the north of Ireland 
 to enable him to recover his kingdom 
 of Connauglit ; but the men of Ulster 
 refusing to aid hiui in procuring lands 
 from the men of Connaught, he repaired 
 to the English of Meath, and these hav- 
 ing also refused to go with him, he 
 passed into Munster, whither the Sil 
 Muredaigh sent fur him, and gave him 
 lands, namely, Tir Fiacrach and Kiuel 
 Aeda of Ectighe. 
 
 A. D. 1192. 
 
 The English were defeated at the 
 weir of Echaradli {Aughera), by the 
 Muinter Maeil-t-tíinna, (i. e., the sept 
 of MacCarron of Meath, called in Irish 
 MacCargamna.) 
 
 The English of Leinstcr committed 
 gi'eat depredations against Domnall 
 O'Briain. They passed over the plain 
 of Kill-tla-hiadli until they reached 
 Magh Ua Thoirdhelbhaigh (3'Ioij-O- 
 Hurrayltg), near (he Shannon, where 
 they were met by the Dal g-Cais, who 
 slew great numbers of their host. 
 
 Domnall O'Briain defeated and made 
 a great slaughter of the English of Os- 
 raide. 
 
 A. D. 1193. 
 
 Derborgaill, wife of Tighernan O'- 
 Ruairc, and daughter of Murcadh 0'- 
 Maelsechlainn, died in the monastery of 
 Droiched xVtlia (Mellifont), iu the 85th 
 year of her age. 
 
 Aedh O'Maelbrenain, (now O'Mul- 
 renin,) chief of (!lann Concobair, was 
 slain by the Engli.sh of Ath-cliath. 
 
 O'Kerbaill (O'Carroll), Lord of 
 Oirghialla, was captured by the Eng- 
 lish, who first put out his eyes and then 
 hanged him. 
 
 A. D. 1194. 
 
 Domnall, son of Tordelbach O'Briain, 
 King of Minister, a beaming lamp in 
 peace and war, and tlie brilliant star of 
 the hospitality and valor of the men of 
 Munsier and of all Leth Mogha, died, 
 and Murkertach, his son, assumed his 
 place. 
 
 The English landed upon Inis-'O. 
 Fintain, but were forcibly driven out 
 of it. 
 
 Cu-^iidhe O'FIairm {Comvce 0'- 
 Flynn, the hero who had defeated De 
 
 Courcy,) was slain by the English. 
 Gilbert MacCostello marched witli an 
 English army to Es-ruadh. but was 
 compelled to return without gaining 
 any advantage by his incursion. [The 
 English name of MacCostello was De 
 Nangle. He was of English parentage.] 
 A. D. 1195. 
 
 Cathal O'Concobair of the Red 
 Hand and MacCostello, with some of 
 the English and Irish of Meath, march- 
 ed into Munster, and arrived at Cashel 
 and Imlech luljair. There they burned 
 four large castles and some small ones. 
 Cathal MacDiarnrada marched from 
 Munster into Connaught, and passed 
 victoriously through that province until 
 he reached Loch Mesg and Inis Rodba, 
 where he seized upon all the vessels of 
 Cathal of the Red Hand, and brought 
 them away to Caislean-na-Caillighe 
 (now Hags Castle), whence he com- 
 menced to commit great ravages in all 
 directions, until Cathal of the Red 
 Hand came, accompanied by a party 
 of English, and made peace with him. 
 A. D. 1196. 
 
 Murkertach, sou of Murkertach 0'- 
 Lochlainn, Lord of Kinel Eogain, pre- 
 sumptive heir to the throne of Ireland, 
 tower of the valor and achievements of 
 Leth Cuinn, destroyer of the cities and 
 castles of the English, founder of 
 churches and fair sancluarics, was slain 
 by Donncadh, son of Blosgadh O'Cat- 
 hain. His body was carried to Doiri 
 of St. Colunikille, and there buried 
 with great honor and respect. 
 
 Ruaidri MacDonslebi, with the Eng- 
 lish and the sons of the cliief of Con- 
 naught, marched against the Kinel 
 Eogain and the Airthertha (the men 
 of Orior). The latter marched against 
 them to the plain of Ard Macha, and 
 there gave them battle. MacDonslebi 
 was dcfl-atcd with great s!auglit^>r, and 
 twelve of the sons of the chiefs of Con- 
 naught, with many of an inferior degi'§e, 
 were slain. 
 
 Domnall, son of Diarmaid MacCart- 
 haigh (lelealed the ]inglish of J^imcrick 
 and Munster with dreadful slaughter, 
 and then drove them out of Limerick. 
 He also defeated them iu two other 
 battles within this year. 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 657 
 
 Mathgamain, (or Mahon,) son of Con- 
 cobar of Maen-magh, heir apparent to 
 the throne of Connaught, was slain by 
 Domnall O'Morda and the men of 
 Laeighis, who prevented him from 
 bearing off spoil, which he had taken 
 from the English ; but O'Morda was 
 slain by Cathal Carrach, in revenge of 
 his brother. 
 
 A. D. 1197. 
 
 John de Courcy and the English of 
 Ulidia, marched Avith an army to Es- 
 Oraeibi {Ass-Crecva, now Salmon Leap, 
 on the River Bann), and built the castle 
 of Kill Sanctain, and wasted and deso- 
 lated the territory of Kiannachta. He 
 left Rotsel Pituu with a large body of 
 forces in the castle, out of which they 
 set about plundering and ravaging the 
 churches and the lands of the laity. 
 Rotsell Pitun thence made a predatory 
 excursion to the harbor of Doiri 
 (Derry), and plundered the churches of 
 Cluain-I, Enach and Derg-bruach ; but 
 Flathbertach O'Maeldoraidh, Lord of 
 Kinel Eogain and Kinel Conaill, over- 
 took him with a small party of the 
 the Northern Ui Neill. A battle was 
 fought between them on Traigh Ua 
 Congbala (now the Strand of Fau- 
 ghavale), in which the English and the 
 son of Ardgal MacLochlainn were 
 slaughtered, through the miracles of St. 
 Columkille, Canice and Brecan, whose 
 churches they had plundered. 
 
 Flathbertach O'Maeldoraigh, Lord 
 of Kinel Eogain, Kinel Conaill and 
 Oirghialla, contender for Temhair, heir 
 to the monarchy of all Ireland, a Con- 
 
 aill in heroism, a Cuchulainn in valor, 
 a Guairi in hospitality, a MacLughach 
 in feats of arms, died at Inis Saimer, 
 on the second day of February, after 
 long and patient suffering, in the 30th 
 year of his' reign and 59th of his age, 
 and was interred at Drum Tuama, [now 
 Drumhome,] with due honor. 
 
 Echmarcach O'Dochartaigh (O'Do- 
 herty) immediately assumed the chief- 
 tainship of Kinel Conaill. In a fort- 
 night after, John de Courcy crossed 
 Tuaim into Tir Eogain with a nume- 
 rous army. Hence he proceeded to Ard 
 Stratha (now Ardstraw), and marched 
 round to Doiri of St. Columkille, where 
 he and his troops remained for five 
 nights. They then set out for Cnoc 
 Nascain, to be conveyed across it ; but 
 the Kinel Conaill had come against 
 them, and a battle was fought between 
 them, in which many fell on both sides. 
 The Kinel Conaill were much slaugh- 
 tered, for 200 of them were slain, 
 amongst whom Echmarcach himself, 
 and many other nobles. The English 
 then plundered Inis Eogain, whence they 
 carried off a great number of cows, 
 and then returned. 
 
 A. D. 1198. 
 
 ruaidri o'concobair, king of 
 Connaught and all op Ireland, both 
 THE Irish and the English, died, 
 among the canons at Conga, after ex- 
 emplary penance, victorious over the 
 world and the devil. His body was 
 conveyed to Cluain-mic-Nois, and 
 buried at the north side of the altar 
 of the great church. 
 
 42 
 
I^^HT III. 
 
 OF THE BRANCHINGS OF THE CHILDREN OF MILEDH, DOWN HERE. 
 
 Some of our liistoriaus maintaÍB tliat tliere are in Ireland 
 twelve tribes of tbe Saer Clanna, or genuine nobles of the race 
 of Gaedal ; to wit, six tribes in Lcth. Moglia, and six others in 
 Leth Cuiun. The following are the tribes which tliey assign to 
 Leth Mogha, namely, the Dal Eogain {Daul-Oioin\ Dal Fiacach 
 {Bend- Veeghagh), Dal Barrinni, Dal Darini, Dal Kein/ and Dal 
 Cais. The following are the tribes assigned to Leth Cuinu, 
 namely, the Dal Cuinn, Dal Kein, Dal Araide, Dal Fiathach, and 
 Dal ]SIiadh Cuirb. Ilowever, this is not the arrangement" which 
 I shall adopt in tracing up the branchings of the children of 
 Miledh ; but I shall follow up, successively, the posterity of 
 each of the three sons of Miledh of Esbain, who left offspring 
 after them in Ireland ; namely, the posterity of Eber, that of 
 Ir, and that of Erimhon, together with the posterity of Lugaidh, 
 son of Ith, who was the son of a brother of the father of 
 Miledh. 
 
 The reader must here imderstand that there are also in Ire- 
 land six races of Athach-Tuatha {Ahagh Tooha), or Daer-Clanna, 
 that is of enslaved clans, or plebeians, whose history it is not 
 proper to trace, notwithstanding the fact, that some of them are 
 of the Gaelic nation. The first race of these is composed of the 
 remains of the Fer-Bolgs, and Tuatha De Danann ; the second 
 is composed of persons who had left their own territories, and, 
 though sprung from Saer Clamia, had subjected themselves to 
 pay servile rent to the peojile of another tribe ; the third race 
 consists of a portion of the Saer Clanna, whose territory has 
 been converted into sworddand, and who have remained in 
 serfdom therein under the rule of their enemies ; the fourth race 
 consists of a certain portion of the Saer Clanna, who have been 
 condemned to a servile condition, by reason of their evil deeds, 
 
 ' Dal Kein. — This tciTii is vvrittoii O'Afcaphers, and tlieir corrdativcs, did 
 
 Dal g-Ceide in two of the editor's MS. actually form one of the great trilw- 
 
 copies. It is also so written in Dcrniod firoiqis of Ixith Mof^ha, as well as of 
 
 O'Connor's translation. 'I'hcabovijrcad- Jvcth Cuinn, while liie name of Dal g- 
 
 ing has been adopted on the authority of Ceide. is unknown to the editor, 
 one MH., because the ]hd Kein, or des- ■' Tk" arrangement, etc. — Kcatiuj? 
 
 cendants of Kian, son of Olild Olum, rejects the territoiial arrang-emcnt, us 
 
 comprising the O'Carrolls, of Kli, the leading to confusion, for tribes descended 
 
 [668] 
 
THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 659 
 
 and who have lost tlieir blood and their estates according to law ; 
 the fifth race are the folk that are descended from foreign sol- 
 diers, that is, from hired warriors from other lands, who left 
 progeny after them in Ireland ; the sixth race is composed of 
 the descendants of those slaves that came into Ireland with 
 the children of Miledh. 
 
 But one thing at which many persons are surprised,' is, how 
 it could have been possible that no portion of the descendants 
 of the Daer Clanna or plebeians, who came into Ireland with 
 the children of Miledh, have survived to the present time. My 
 answer to these persons is, that Tuathal Tectmar had made a 
 dreadful massacre of descendants of these plebeians, as soon as 
 he acquired the sovereignty of Ireland, in vengeance for the 
 treason which they had previously perpetrated towards the Saer 
 Clanna, as has been related in the body of this history. He 
 then vanquished them in twenty-five battles in each of the pro- 
 vinces of Ireland, and if after him, any remnant of them has still 
 remained alive in the country, it is not lawful, and moreover, 
 it not possible, for any historian either to trace their ramifi- 
 cations, or to follow up their pedigrees. Neither can any his- 
 torian trace the genealogies of any of the other five races, of 
 which we have spoken ; and if any ollamh of history would at- 
 tempt to trace out their branchings, it is unlawful to give the 
 respect due to history to anything that he may assert on the 
 subject. 
 
 The reader must now learn that we are about giving down 
 the principal historic branches of the real nobility of the 
 Gaels, and in doing so, we shall give precedence to the posterity 
 of Eber Finn, because that is the senior* branch ; but it must be 
 
 of the same stock, were sometimes lo- becomingthe wives or concubines of the 
 cated most widely apart from each other, Gaels. It is also to be supposed that 
 as the Kiarraide, or O'Connors of Tver- many of them became amalgamated 
 ry, and the Dal Araide of Down and with the early Danish and English 
 Antrim, the Milesian Ernaans of ^lun- settlers, whose laws of inheritance were 
 ster, and the Dal Riada, of the North in one particular, less exclusive than 
 of Ireland, and of Alba. those of the Irish, and who did not 
 ' Many are surprised, etc — Many much regard paternal descent. These 
 causes conduced to their disappearance, very possibly took English or Danish 
 The first, and perhaps the greatest, was names, and finally became confounded 
 the fact that they could have no inheri- with the other serfs of the lords of Nor- 
 tance in any of the Gaelic tribe-lands, man pale, and the inhabitants of the 
 the entire right to which was vested in various seaports and principal towns, 
 the male descendants of the conquering ■* Right o/sen/orí7í/,cíc. — Giving pre- 
 cast. The next consists in the fact of cedence to seniority In arranging of pri- 
 ils being unlawful to trace their pedi- mary divisions of the Gaelic nation, 
 grees, and perhaps another, which is he sets the most distinguished, rather 
 not very improbable, may have been, than the eldest of its tribes at the head of 
 in the greater part of their females each division of these. For instance the 
 
660 THE HISTORY OF IRELAND. 
 
 understood that we shall bring into the direct lines certain 
 branches that occupy the first places therein, not in right of the 
 seniority of their immediate founder, but in right of the great 
 deeds in which their ancestors excelled those of the seniors by 
 right of priority of birth. 
 
 The following examples will suffice to show how much more 
 often the sovereignty both of Ireland and its principalities was 
 possessed b}^ the younger than by the elder branches. For it is, 
 indeed, evident that there were more monarchs of Ireland of the 
 hne of Erimhon, who was a younger son of Miledh, than of 
 that of Eber Finn, who was his elder brother ; and that there 
 were more monarchs of Ireland of the posterity of Cobthach 
 Gael Breagh, who was the younger son of lugani Mor, than of 
 that of his elder brother, Laegari Lore, and that there were 
 more kings of Ireland, of the race of Niall of the Nine Hos- 
 tages, who was the youngest son of Eocaidh Muigh-medon, than 
 of those of his four elder brothers ; and, again, that there were 
 more of the kings of Connaught of the posterity of Duach Galach, 
 who was the youngest of the children of Brian, son of Eocaidh 
 Muigh-medon, than tliat of any of the twenty-three brothers 
 who were his seniors by birth ; and that there were more kings 
 over Leinster, who were sprung from Fiacaidh Bacheda, the 
 youngest son of Cathaeir Mor, than from any of his nine 
 brothers elder brothers, who left a progeny after tliem. Thus 
 we see, that it was not in right of priority of birth, that men 
 succeeded to the sovereignty, either of the nation, or of the pen- 
 tarchates, but in right of the greatness and glory of their own 
 acts. And for this reason we desire to set down the several 
 branches of relationship and boughs of consanguinity of each 
 group, near those of their kindred tribes, and to deduce each 
 offshoot from its own particular place on each branch. 
 
 family of O'Donovan, not MacCarthy, of Cormac Caa, nor O'Neill, of the Ui 
 
 represents the eldest branch of the line Neill. This is the peculiarity of nearly 
 
 of Kber or Heber, neither is the sept of all the Irish tribes, down to their 
 
 0'13riain, the eldest branch of the line smallest sub-septs. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF THE POSTERITY OF EBER FINN, DOWN 
 
 HERE. 
 
 We shall commence with the line of Eogan Mor (Owen More), 6on of Olild 
 Olum. This Olild Olum had but three sons who left offspring after them, 
 namely, Eogan Mor, Cormac Cas, and Kian ; and there now survives no more 
 of the race of Eber Finn than what has sprung from the descendants of these 
 three. 
 
 [Note. — K. M. stands for King of Munster ; R. H. for Rex Hibemiae, &c., 
 or Monarch of all Ireland. The comments in italics are not in the original. 
 All the rest is. Ed.] 
 
 THE PEDIGKEE OF MAC CARTHY MORE, HERE. 
 
 1. Doranall, the first earl.* [He was 
 
 created earl of Clancare, m Irish 
 clann Carthatgh, in A. D. 1.5G5. 
 Ed.] son of 
 
 2. Domnall an Drumainn, son of 
 
 3. Cormac Ladhrach, son of 
 
 4. Tadg Liath, son of 
 
 5. Domnall an Dana, son of 
 
 6. Tadg Manistrcch. [He had this sur- 
 
 name from having built the Mon- 
 astery of irriallach, on Loch 
 Lein, noic the Lake of Kdlarneij], 
 son of 
 
 7. Domnall. [This Domnall had a 
 
 brother who was called Diarmaid 
 Mor Musgraide, i. e. Diarmaid the 
 Great of Muskerij : Eogan, or 
 (Jw n, of Bord Mangi, was also a 
 brother of his ; as was also Donn- 
 cadh, from whom descend the 
 families of Ard Canachta and 
 Cnoc Ornachta] son of 
 
 8. Cormac. son of 
 
 9. Domnall Og, son of 
 
 10. Domnall Ruadh. [From him des- 
 cend the Claim Domnaill Ruaidh, 
 /. e. the Mac Cartlues of Clandonill- 
 Roe ; and from his brother Diar- 
 maid of Traigh Li (new called 
 Tralee) descends the sept of Mac- 
 Finghin, in Enp^lish MacFinnen, 
 of Kethrinn, in Kerry] son of 
 
 11. Cormac Finn. [Of the race of 
 this Cormac Finn arc the Mac- 
 Carthies of the territory of Ella, 
 
 [fi61] 
 
 now called Buhallow, and also the 
 kings of Desmond. The Mac- 
 Carthies of Carbery, that is, the 
 sept of MacCarthai frh Riabhach, 
 i. e. MacCarthy the Grey, called in 
 English MacCarthy Reagh, and 
 all the branches sprung from it, 
 are descended from a brother of 
 this Cormac, namely from Dom- 
 nall Gott.] son of 
 
 12. Domnall Mor na Curra, son of 
 
 13. Diarmaid of Kill Baghani. [From 
 
 Diarmaid of Kill Baghani has 
 sprung the sept of the Mac Carthies 
 called Clann Taidg Ruaidh na 
 Sgarti] son of 
 
 14. Cormac of MaghTamnaigh. [This 
 
 Cormac liad a brother named 
 Tadg, from whom sprung the sept 
 of MacAmlaeibh, i. e. the MacAu- 
 liffes of the county of Cork] son of 
 
 15. Muredach. [He was the first of 
 
 this line who was called Mac- 
 CaHhaigh, being the Mac or son 
 of Carthach. In Gaelic the name 
 of the latter chief is pronounced 
 Caurhagh, and the family name of 
 his descendants MacCaurha. It is 
 now known in English as Mac- 
 Carthy. — Ed.] son of 
 
 16. Carthach [from whom all the 
 Sil Carthaigh, i. e. the offspring of 
 Carthach, have derived their name] 
 son of 
 
662 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 17 
 
 , Saerbrethach. [This Saorbrethach 
 had a brother, named Murcadh, 
 from whom sprung the Bcpt of 
 O'Callaghan, ?n Irish O'Kellach- 
 a in] son of 
 
 . Donncadh, son of 
 Kellachan of Cashel. K. M., son 35. 
 of 36, 
 
 , Buadachan, son of 
 Lactna, son of 
 Artgal, son of 
 
 Snedgus. [This Snodgus had a 
 brother, named Fogartach, from 
 whose son, Finguiui, have sprung 
 the Muintcr Finguini] son of 
 Donngal, son of 
 Faelgns, son of 
 Nadfraech, son of 
 Colsran, son of 
 
 Faibi Fiann, K. M. [This Falbi 37. 
 Flann had a brother, named Fing- 
 hin, from whom has sprung the sept 38. 
 of O'Sullivan ; and the Book of 
 Munster tells us that Finghin was 
 the elder brother of Falbi Flann, 
 and in testimony thereof a certain 39. 
 bard composed the following verse 40. 
 when Falbi Fhinn succeeded to 
 Finghin as sovereign of Munster : 
 
 " Dire Is our loss, Finzliln Is pone, 
 And Calsel now has cause of woe: 
 Sliefeelsasifhfrertofall, 
 Though Falbi Flann is now her king." 
 Fa/67 ru'ed Munster from A. D. 41. 
 622 tn 633] son of 42. 
 
 Aedh Dubh, son of 43. 
 
 Crimthann, son of 
 Feidlimidh, son of 
 Aengus, K. M. [This Aengushada 
 son, named Kocaidh Finn, from 
 whom is descended the sept of 
 O'Kcefft! : from another son of his. 
 named Enna, sprung that of O'- 
 Dalaigh, in English O'Dnleij, of 
 Munster. Amguswnstfie first king 44. 
 of Munster who became Christian. 4.5. 
 He wns slnin in A. I). 984] son of 46. 
 Nadfraech, K. M., sfm of 47. 
 
 Core, K. M. I This (!orc had a son, 48. 
 named Cas Mac ('uirc, from whom 
 have sprung the following septs, 49. 
 namely, O'Donoghoo More, from 
 which branched O'Donoghoo of fJO. 
 the Glen; and O'.Mahony Finn, T)!. 
 O'Mahony Roe, O'Mahony of Ui r)2. 
 Floinn Tjaei, and O'Mahony of f).']. 
 Curbery ; and also O'Miillane, and 54. 
 
 O'Cronin. From Carbri Luachra, 
 otherwise Carbri the Pict, son q/ 
 Core, father of Nadfraech, have 
 descended the O'Moriarties; aijd 
 from Enna, son of Nadfraech, have 
 descended the O'Garvans] son of 
 Lugaidh, son of 
 
 Olild Flann Beg, K. M. [This 
 Olild Flann Beg had a son, named 
 Dari Kerb, from whom has des- 
 cended the sept of O'Donovan 
 and tliat of O'Coilleain, or Collins, 
 of Carbery ; and again this Dari 
 Kerb had a son called Fiacaidh 
 Fidghenti, from whom have 
 sprung the septs O'Miadhachain, 
 noiv &MeeJian, O'hAithchir, now 
 O'Hehir, and the clan of Mac 
 David in Thomond] son of 
 
 Fiacaidh Macil-lethan, K. M., 
 son of 
 
 Eogan Mor. [From this Eogan or 
 Owen, all the septs of the Eoga- 
 nachta or Eugenians of Munster 
 have been named] son of 
 
 Olild Olum, K. M., son of 
 
 Mogh Nuadath, K. M. [He is 
 also styled Eogan Mor of Magh 
 Lena, and Eogan Taighlech, or 
 Owen the Splendid. It was he 
 that founded the kingdom of Leth 
 Mogha.] son of 
 
 Mogh Niad, son of 
 
 Derg, son of 
 
 Dergthini. [He is also called Corb 
 Olum. He was one of the three 
 heirs of the royal houses of Ireland 
 that were saved from the massacre 
 of the Irish nobility, by the subject 
 tribes at Magh Cro, about A. D. 10. 
 He was cotcmporary with Fcradach 
 the lust, monarch of Ireland.] son 
 of 
 
 Enna Muncaein, son of 
 
 Ijoch Mor, son of 
 
 M ogh Fcbis, son of 
 
 Muredach Muchna, son of 
 
 Eocaidh (iarbh. [He is also styled 
 Encaidh Fcr Ani.] son of 
 
 Duach Dalta Degadh. B. II. [He 
 is also styled Duach Donn.] son of 
 
 (Carbri Losg-lethan, son of 
 
 Lugaidh Luaighni, son of 
 
 Jnnadniar, R. 11., son of 
 
 Niixdli Segamhain, \l. H., son of 
 
 Adamar FoUcaeiii, R. II., son of 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 663 
 
 65. Fer-Corb, R. H., sou of 
 
 56. Mogh Corb, R. H., son of 
 
 57. Cobthuch Cacmh, son of 
 
 58. Recta Rigli-derii, R. 11., son of 88. 
 
 59. LugaiJli Laighdi, R. H., son of 89. 
 
 60. Eocaidh, R. H., son of 
 
 61. Olild Finn, R. H., son of 
 
 62. Art, R. II., son of 
 
 63. Lugaidh Lamh-derg, R. H., son of 
 
 64. Eocaidh Uarchcas, R. H., son of 
 65^ Lugaidh lar-donn, R. H., son of 
 
 66. Euna Derg, R. H., son of 
 
 67. Duacli Finn, R. H., son of 
 
 68. Sedna lunaraigli, R. H., son of 90. 
 
 69. Bres-righ, R. H., son of 
 
 70. Art Imlcch, R. H., son of 
 
 71. Elim, R. H., son of 
 
 72. Rothectach, R. H., son of 
 
 73. Roan Righ-galach, son of 91. 
 
 74. Falbi Il-crothach, son of 
 
 75. Cas Ked-caingnech, son of 
 
 76. Afdergoid, R. H., son of 92. 
 
 77. Munemhon, R. H., son of 
 
 78. Cas Clothach, son of 93. 
 
 79. Eirereo Ard. [He ?s also called 94. 
 
 Fer-Ard, or Fer-Arda.] son of 
 
 80. Rothectach, son of 95. 
 
 81. Rosa, or Ross, son of 96. 
 
 82. Glas, son of 
 
 83. Nuadha Degh-lamh. [Nudhatt, 97. 
 
 pronounced Nooath, is aha a form 
 
 of this na7ne.] son 0Í 98. 
 
 84. Eocaidli Faebar-glas, R. H. son of 
 
 85. Conmael, R. H., son of 99. 
 
 86. Eber Finn, R. H. [His name is 
 usually written Heber in English 
 booh. The more modern Irish 
 write it Eibhear, and Eimhear, 
 which they pronounce Aivsr ; the 100 
 more ancient write it Eber and 101. 
 Emer. He is the founder of tite 102. 
 Eberian, or Heber ian races of Ire- 103 
 land. The surname Finn, signi- 104. 
 Jies, Fair.] son of 
 
 87. MiLEDH OF EsBAiN. [From this 
 chief the Irish are called Clanna 
 Mdidh, i. e., the clans of Milcdh. 
 His name has been not very happily 
 rendered into Latin and English 
 by Mdesius, and that of his pos- 
 terity by Milesii and Milesians. 105 
 Tlie Irish words Miledh h-Esbaui, 
 mean the Warrior of Spain, i.e., 106 
 Miles Hispaniae. Galamh, which 107 
 seems to be a synonymefoi' Miledh, 
 
 as it apparently comes from the 
 
 Gaelic word Gal, i.e., battle, is 
 said to have been his real name.] 
 son of 
 
 Bili, King in Spain, son of 
 Breogan, King in Spain. [His 
 name is written in modern Irish, 
 Breoghan, and pronounced Brcoan. 
 From him the Brigantes are said to 
 take their name. The territory of 
 Breagh or Bregia in Ireland teas 
 called from a branch of his descend- 
 ants, that adopted the appellation of 
 Clanna Breoghain,'] son of 
 Bratha. [He was the leader of the 
 Clanna Gaedhail, or Gaels, that 
 emigrated from Gaethluighe, whicli 
 has been called Gothia by Keating, 
 into Spain.] son of 
 Degatha, {King in Gaethluighe: 
 his name is also written Degh-f ha- 
 tha,) son of 
 
 Arcadh, King in Gaethluighe, son 
 of 
 
 Allod, King in Gaethluighe, son of 
 Nuadha, King in Gaethluighe, son 
 of 
 
 NinualljíTmg- in Gaethluighe, son of 
 Febric Glass, King in Gaethluighe. 
 [His name is also written Ebric.) 
 Adnamhon Finn, King in Gaeth- 
 luighe, son of 
 
 Eber Glun-Finn, King in Gaeth- 
 luighe, son of 
 
 Lamh-finn. [It was he that, accord- 
 ing to our shannachies, led the Clan- 
 na Gaedail, from a country they 
 have called Scythia, to Gaethluighe,) 
 son of 
 . Adaoin, son of 
 . Tath, son of 
 , Eogarahan, son of 
 . Beogamhan, sou of 
 , Eber Scot. [It is he that is said 
 to have led the wandering children- 
 of Gaedal from the island of Creta 
 to the Scythia of Irish legend. From 
 Eber Scot, are possibly called the 
 Cine Scuit, one of the names by 
 which thelrish call themselves.) son 
 of 
 
 , Sru. (The leader of the emigra- 
 tion from Egypt to Creta,) son of 
 . Esru, son of 
 
 . Gaedal Glas, from ■whom the 
 Gaeidiiil {Gayil) that is, the 
 Gaels, have been named, son of 
 
664: 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 108. Niul, who first settled in Egypt, 
 son of 
 
 109. Fe.vics Farsaidh. (From him 
 his posterity are called Feni, ac- 
 cording to the following ancient 
 verse : 
 
 "Feni, o Fenius adbertha, — 
 
 Brigb gan dochta : 
 Gaeidhil, o Gaeddal Ghlas gartha ; 
 
 BcniT o Sgota." 
 
 In English — 
 
 I'eni/rom Fenius they are named 
 Not forced the meaning ; 
 
 From Gaedal Ghlan we call th^m Gaels ; 
 And Scots from Scota." — Ed. 
 
 110. Baath, son of. {Neither this nor 
 the succeeding names seem to have 
 been handed down through the me- 
 dium of t/ie Gaelic tongue. Their 
 forms, with perliaps, tlie exception 
 of Naei, i. e. Noah, and Adamh 
 (Auve) i. e. Adam, are foi'eign to 
 that idiom.) 
 
 111. Magog, son of 
 
 112. Japhett, son of 
 
 113. Naei, son of 
 
 114. Lamech, son of 
 
 115. Mathusalem, son of 
 
 116. Enoch, son of 
 
 117. Jared, son of 
 
 118. Mahaleleol, son of 
 
 119. Cainan, son of 
 
 120. Enos, son of 
 
 121. Seth, son of 
 
 122. Adamii. 
 
 Comment by Eogan O'Caeimh. 
 
 * Domnall the first earl. — This Dom- 
 nall (Donall) had but one legitimate 
 child, who was named Eibhliu Inghin 
 Mhic Carthaigh (Eveleen or Ellen 
 daughter of MacCarthy) . This daughter 
 was married to the son of MacCarthy 
 Reagh, namely, to Finghin {called 
 Florence by the English), son of Donn- 
 cadh, son of Domnall, son of Finghin, 
 son of Diarmaid an Duna, who came 
 into DeHmoad, and assumed the position 
 and rights of MacCarthy More; and it is 
 from iiim that the MacCarthy More of 
 the present time, A. I). 1724, is sprung, 
 namely, Raghnali (Randall), son of 
 Cormac Ruadh. The above-named 
 Finghin was afterwards taken prisoner 
 
 by the ordci-s of Queen Elizabeth, and 
 he was kept confined in the Tower of 
 London until he died. \Eogan 
 O'Caeimh, in English Owen O'Kcefe, 
 was a celebrated Irish scholar, bard, and 
 scribe of the beginning of the laM cen- 
 tury. — Ed.] 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF O'SULLIVAN MORE, 
 HERE. 
 
 1. Domnall — May God protect him ! 
 
 son of 
 
 2. Eogan Ruadh. [This Eogan died 
 in Dublin A. D. 1C87 ; and all 
 Leth Mogha was filled with the 
 glory and greatness of his be- 
 nevolence, honor, generosity, and 
 poesy, and his every other noble 
 and laudable quality.] son of 
 
 3. Domnall, son of 
 
 4. Eogan, son of 
 
 5. Domnall, son of 
 
 6. Eogan, son of 
 
 7. Domnall, son of 
 
 8. Domnall, son of 
 
 9. Domnall na Sgrednighe, son of 
 
 10. Domnall, sun of 
 
 11. Ruaidri. [This Ruaidri had a 
 brother named MacCraith, from 
 whom is descended the race of 
 MacCraith of Kep-na-Coisi — that 
 is, the branch of the 0' Sullivans, 
 so called] son of 
 
 12. Dunlaing, son of 
 
 13. Buadach, son of 
 
 14. Bernard, son of 
 
 15. Murkertach Mor, son of 
 
 16. Dunlaing, son of 
 
 17. Gilla-Mochuda, from whom has 
 sprung the sept of Maciiillacuddy 
 and the branches thereof, son of 
 
 18. Domnall Mor of Carraig Finn- 
 maighe, son of 
 
 19. MacCraith, son of 
 
 20. Buadach, son of 
 
 21. Cathal, son of 
 
 22. Aedh, son of 
 
 23. Buadach of Ath-Cro, [being the 
 grandson of 0' Sullivan, he was the 
 first of the 0' Sullivans.] 
 
 24. Loorean, son of 
 
 25. Sun.UDAN, from whom all the Sil 
 
 Suillibhain {Shecl Sooillivauin) 
 i. e. the offspring of Suillibau, 
 have taken their name, son of 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 665 
 
 26. Maelura, son of 
 
 27. Echtigherna, son of 
 
 28. Murcadh, son of 
 
 29. Dubinnrccht, son of 
 
 30. Flann Roba, son of 
 
 31. Fiachra an Gaisgi, son of 
 
 32. Sechnasach, or Sereach, son of 
 
 33. FiNGHix, K. 31., son of 
 
 34. Aedh Diibli. See No. 29, pedigree 
 of MacCarthy More. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF THE RACE OF MAC- 
 CRAITH, HERE. 
 
 1. Diarmaid, son of 
 
 2. Eogan, son of 
 
 3. Concobar, son of 
 
 4. Diarmaid, son of 
 
 5. Buadach, son of 
 
 6. Eogan, son of 
 
 7. Concobar, son of 
 
 8. Doranall, sou of 
 
 9. Mac-Craith. [The branch of the 
 
 O Sullivans called by this name 
 must not be confounded with the 
 Dalcassian sept of MacCrath, or 
 Magrath of Thomond.] son of 
 
 10. Duulaing O'Sullivan. See No. 12, 
 
 Pedigree of O'Sullivan More. 
 
 9. 
 10. 
 11. 
 12. 
 13, 
 14. 
 
 PEDIGREE OF SULLIVAN BEARRA, 
 HERE. 
 
 Doranall, son of 
 
 Philip, son of 
 
 Eogan, son of 
 
 Eogan, son of 
 
 Domnall, son of 
 
 Diarmaid an Phudair, son of 
 
 Domnall Cron, son of 
 
 Diarmaid, son of 
 
 Tadg, son of 
 
 Amlaeibh, son of 
 
 Ana, son of 
 
 Philip, son of 
 
 Gilla-na-b-Flann, son of 
 
 Domnall Mor of Carraig Finu- 
 
 maighe.^&e No. 18, Pedigree of 
 
 O'Sullivan More. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF O SCLLIVAX MAEL 
 
 MEG FiXGHiN DUBH, {Mac Finccn 
 
 Duff.) HERE. 
 
 Diarmaid, son of Eogan, son of Fix- 
 GHix, &c. ( The editor's copy docs 
 
 not show whose son this Finghin 
 was. But it is most likely that he 
 was son of the Domnall marked No. 
 1 in the pedigree of O'Sullivan 
 Bearra ; for that would bring the 
 line of Bearra down to within one 
 of that of O'Sullivan More. 
 
 VI. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF MAC GILLICUDDY, 
 HERE. 
 
 1. Donncadh, son of 
 
 2. Concobar, son of 
 
 3. Donncadh, son of 
 
 4. Concobar, son of 
 
 5. Donncadh, son of 
 
 6. Concobar, son of 
 
 7. Concobar, son of 
 
 8. Gilla-Mochuda, son of 
 
 9. Concobar, sou of 
 
 10. Gilla-cuda, son of 
 
 11. Duulaing Mac Gilla Mochuda, in 
 English, Mac Gillicuddu, son of 
 
 GiLLA-MocHUDA : the word from which 
 this surname is derived, means fol- 
 lower of St. Mochuda, otherwise 
 called St. Carthach. — See No. 17, 
 pedigree of O'Sullivan More. 
 
 VII. 
 THE PEDIGREE OF THE CLANN LABHRAIS, 
 OR CLAX LAWREXCE, HERE. 
 
 1. Concobar, son of 
 
 2. Donnall, son of 
 
 3. Donncadh Dubh, son of 
 
 4. Donuall, son of 
 
 5. Eogan, son of 
 
 6. Donnall, son of 
 
 7. Labhras, ( T/iis name is pronounced 
 
 Lowrausse. It is the Irish version 
 of the name Lawrence. 
 
 8. Gilla-na-bh-Flann.— &e No. 13, ped- 
 
 igree of O' Sullivan Bear re. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF O'maHOXY FIXX, HERE. 
 
 Now this O'Mahouy was king of 
 Rathlenn, noio the Hdl or Skea of the 
 River Bandon, by unquestioned right ; 
 and it was his privilege to occupy the 
 seat of the king of Cashel, when no 
 king sat thereon ; and he owed no fur- 
 ther duty to the said king of Cashel, 
 when not king himself, than to bow 
 the head in his presence. 
 1. Concobar, or Connor, son of 
 
666 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 2. Domnall, son of 
 
 3. Couobai- Fiun, son of 
 
 4. Couobar, na' g-Cros, son of 
 
 5. Conobar Finn, na n-Ech, son of 
 
 6. Conobar Cabach, sou of 
 
 7. Diarmaid Ilautach, son of 
 
 8. Finghin. [One . of tlie brothers of 
 
 this Finghin was named Domnall ; 
 another was Diarmaid Mor, called 
 also Diarmaid Og, O'Mahouy. 
 Of the posterity of Domnall, is the 
 family of Kill-uargluairi {K/lna- 
 glom-y) in Barrett's Country ; and 
 of the ofE-pring of Diarmaid is the 
 race called Meirgeach in Desmond, 
 [/. e. of tlie Siandurd] and also the 
 sept of Concobar Dubh in Barry's 
 Country. Sy Desmond must be here 
 understood no more than the terri- 
 tory of Mac Carthy More in the 
 We.it of Cork and Kerrj.} son of 
 9. Diarmaid Mor, son of 
 
 10. Donucadh of Eath Dreoain, son of 
 
 11. Tadg, sun of 
 
 12. Diarmaid Mor Eli, [He is also sur- 
 
 namcd na n-Ech mais, i. e. of the 
 Fine Steeds.] 
 
 13. Donncadh na h-Imircc Timchill, 
 
 [He was king of the Eoganacht 
 of Rathlenn on the arrival of the 
 English. His surname signifies, 
 of the cltanging about, which he 
 might have got from the fad that, 
 leaving been for a time expelled 
 from his territory and chieftaincy by 
 Cathal 0' Donoghoo, aided by the 
 English, he succeeded ir, recovering 
 them again with the aid of his sover- 
 eign, MacCarthy Kmg (f Desmond. 
 tie was killed fighting against the 
 English in A. D. 12Í2.] son of 
 
 14. Kian, son of 
 
 15. Donncadh Donn, son of 
 
 16. Cumara O'Mahony. [Cumara 0'- 
 Mathghamhna, i. e. grandson of 
 Mathghamain, pronounced in Irish 
 O'Mahowna, aiid called in English 
 O'Mahony, was the first of this line 
 tluit bore way the first the family 
 name. He defeated the Desi in A. 
 D. 1072.] son of 
 
 17. Brodcu, son of 
 
 18. Mathgamain. [Pronounced Ma- 
 howtn, and called in English Ma- 
 hon, from whom the Ui Math- 
 ghamhna are named.] son of 
 
 19, 
 
 Kian. [He was King of Desmond, 
 and commanded the Eugenians of 
 Munster at Clontarf A. D. 1214] 
 son of 
 
 Maelmuaidh, K. M., son of 
 
 Brann, son of 
 
 Kian, son of 
 
 Sbellan, son of 
 
 Cathniadh, son of 
 
 Concobar, son of 
 
 Cucongelt, son of 
 
 Olild Brugha, son of 
 
 Conna, son of 
 
 Artgal, son of 
 
 Fcrdalethi, son of 
 
 Beki, from whom are named the 
 Kinel ra-Beki, [Kinalmeakey,) son 
 of 
 
 Fergus, son of 
 
 Fiedlimedh, K. M.. son of 
 
 Tighernach, son of 
 
 Aedh Nar-garbh, {From him the 
 Kinel Aedha of the territory now 
 called Kinalea in the county of Cork 
 are called. From Lacgari, brother 
 of this Aedh, descend the O'Don- 
 oghoos.] son of 
 
 Crimthann, son of 
 
 Eocaidh,/yom wimm the Ui Eachach 
 
 are colled, son of 
 
 Cas, the founder of the race, son of 
 
 Core, K. M. — See No. 34, pedigree 
 of MacCarthy More. 
 
 THE PEDIGREK OF MAIIOXY OF UI 
 
 FLOINN LAEI, HERE. 
 
 1. Donncadh, son of 
 
 2. Concobar an Crochair, sou of 
 
 3. Diarmaid, sou of 
 
 4. Scaghan, or John, son of 
 .5. Diarmaid, sou of 
 
 G. Donncadh, sou of 
 
 7. Diarmaid Buidhe, son of 
 
 8. Finghin, son of 
 
 9. Tauo an Oir, son of 
 
 10. Donncadh of Hath Dreoain, &c. — 
 
 See No. 10, pedigree of O'Mahomj 
 Finn. 
 
 X. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OP O'MAHONY OF CAR- 
 BERY, HERE. 
 
 1. Mathganiain, or Mahon, son of 
 
 2. Kian, son of 
 
 3. Maelmuaidh, son of 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 667 
 
 4. FinghÍD, son of 
 
 5. Finghin, son of 
 
 6. Diarmaid Spainech, son of 
 
 7. Tadg Buidlie, son of 
 
 8. Carbri, son of 
 
 9. Donncadh Mael, son of 
 
 10. IMagnus. son of 
 
 11. Kian, sou of 
 
 12. Acdh, son of 
 
 13. CoxcoBAR, son of 
 
 14. Donucadli na h-Imirce Timchill. — 
 
 See No. 13, Pedigree of O'Mahony 
 Finn. 
 
 PEDIGREE OF MAHONY OF CLAN CON- 
 NOR, HERE. 
 
 1. Donncadh, son of 
 
 2. Concobar, son of 
 
 3. Finghin Og, son of 
 
 4. Finghin, son of 
 
 5. Donncadh, son of 
 
 6. Mathgamain, or Mahon, son of 
 
 7. Donncadh, son of 
 
 8. Concobar, from whom they are cal- 
 
 led Clann Concobair, or in English 
 Clann Connor, son of 
 
 9. Mathgamain, son of 
 
 10. Kian. — See No. 11, pedigree of 
 
 O'Mahonij of Carbery. 
 Note. — The editor's copies of Keat- 
 ing, contain pedigrees of no other of the 
 Clans descended from Eogan Mor than 
 those above given. Those that follow, 
 which show the descent of some impor- 
 tant branches of that stock, are given 
 on the authority of their pedigrees, as 
 published by Dr. O'Donovan in the Bat- 
 tle of Magh Eath. 
 
 ADDENDA TO CHAPTER I 
 THE PEDIGREE OF O'dONOVAN, REPRESEN- 
 TATIVE OF THE ELDEST BRANCH OF THE 
 CHILDREN OF MILEDH. 
 
 1. Doranall, inaugurated chief of Clan 
 
 Cahill in 1584, son of 
 
 2. Domnall na g-Croikenn, 
 
 3. Tadg, son of 
 
 4. Diarmaid, son of 
 
 5. Concobar, son of 
 
 6. Murcadh, son of 
 
 7. Tadg, son of 
 
 8. Catlial, from whom Clann Cathail, 
 
 or Clan-Cahill is named. 
 
 9. Crom, driven from the county of 
 
 Limerick, by the 2d Baron of Oph- 
 aly, and was slain in 1254. Son of 
 
 10. 
 11. 
 12. 
 13. 
 14. 
 
 15. 
 
 16. 
 17. 
 
 18, 
 19. 
 20. 
 21. 
 22. 
 23. 
 24. 
 25. 
 26. 
 27. 
 28. 
 29. 
 30. 
 
 31. 
 
 32 
 
 33, 
 
 34, 
 
 Mah'oni or Maelrnanaidh, son of 
 
 Eaghnall, son of 
 
 Aueslis, son of 
 
 Amlaeibh O'Donovan. 
 
 Cathal, who fought at Clontarf, 
 son of 
 
 Do.xNOBAN, from whom the name 
 O'Donnobhain, in English, O'Don- 
 ovan is derived, son of 
 
 Cathal, son of 
 
 Uainighe, son of 
 Cathal, son of 
 
 Kennfaeladh, sou of 
 
 Dnbdaboirenn, son of 
 
 Aedh Roiu, son of 
 
 Eogan, son of 
 
 Crunmael, son of 
 
 Aedh, son of 
 
 Aengus, son of 
 
 Lapi, son of 
 
 Olild Kenn-fada, son of 
 
 Kennfaeladh, son of 
 
 Ere, son of 
 
 Carbri Aedba. [From him TJi Car- 
 bri has its name. MacEneiry is 
 descended from his fourth son.] 
 son of 
 
 Brian, [from Conall, son of Fiu- 
 tait, son of Dari, son of this Brian, 
 ancestor of O'Collins and O'Kin- 
 nealy, the territory of Ui Conaill 
 Gabhra has its name.] 
 
 Fiacaidh Fidghenti. [The elder 
 brother of Fiacaidh was Fidach, 
 father of Crimthami Mor, one of 
 the most illustrious of the mon- 
 archs of Ireland, who reigned A. D. 
 366-378. He was the senior re- 
 presentative of all the INIilesian 
 race ; but as he died without issue, 
 the eldest representative of Miledh 
 must now exist somewhere amongst 
 the Ui Fidghenti, the widely scat- 
 tered progeny of his second brother 
 Fiacaidh.] son of 
 
 Dari Kerb. [From Eocaidh Liath- 
 anach, one of the sons of this Dari, 
 are descended O'Liathain, in Eng- 
 lish,0'Lyons, and h-Anmcadha.] 
 son of 
 
 Olild Flann Beg, K. 'SL—See No. 
 3G, pedigree of MacCarthij More. 
 
 PEDIGREE OF O KEEFE. 
 
 1. Domnall, who went to France in the 
 
66S 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 sixteenth year of his age at the 
 head of his father's regiment of 
 foot, son of 
 
 2. Domnall Og, slain at Aughrim in 
 
 1691. 
 
 3. Domnall the Heroic, son of 
 
 4. Magnus, son of 
 
 5. Art, sou of 
 G. Art, son of 
 
 7. Domnall, son of 
 
 8. Art, son of 
 
 9. Magnus, sou of 
 
 10. Domnall, sou of 
 
 11. Art, sou of 
 
 12. Domnall, son of 
 
 13. Art, son of 
 
 14. Concobar, son of 
 
 15. Eogan Finn, son of 
 
 16. Magnus, son of 
 
 17. Finguiui, son of 
 
 18. Aedh, sou of 
 
 19. Finguiui, son of 
 
 20. Doniuall, son of 
 
 21. Aedh, son of 
 
 22. Douucadh O'KeefiFe, the first of the 
 
 name, son of 
 
 23. Cathal, son of 
 
 24. Caemh, from whom is named 
 O'Caeimh, in English, O'Keefle, 
 son of 
 
 25. Finguini, K. M., son of 
 
 26. Gorman, son of 
 
 27. Artri, K. M., son of 
 
 28. Cathal, K. M., son of 
 
 29. Finguini, K. M., son of 
 
 30. Cu-gau-mathair, K. M., son of 
 
 31. Cathal, K. M., son of 
 
 32. Aedh Flanu-cuthrach, son of 
 
 33. Carbri Crom, K. M., son of 
 
 35. Crumthaun Srebh. K. M., son of 
 
 36. EocAiDH, K. M., died A. D. 523, 
 
 son of 
 
 37. Aengus, K. U.—See No. 32, pedi- 
 gree of MacCart/ty More. 
 
 Note. — Previous to the reign of 
 Kellachan of Cashel, in which lived 
 Doiiucadli O'Caeimh, the first that bore 
 the family name, this line gave more 
 kings to all Munster, than that of any 
 other of the offspring of Eber. 
 
 III. 
 
 PEDIGREE OF O'dONOOIIOO, OTHERWISE 
 SI'EI.LF.D o'DOXOIIOIO. 
 
 1. GclTry of Gleutiesk, eon of 
 
 2. Tadg, sou of 
 
 3. Geffry, son of 
 
 4. Tadg, son of 
 
 5. Domnall, son of 
 
 6. Ruaidri, son of 
 
 7. Geffry, son of 
 
 8. Domnall, son of 
 
 9. Concobar, sou of 
 
 10. Jeffry, son of 
 
 11. Aedh, son of 
 
 12. Concobar, son of 
 
 13. Amlaeibh Mor na Cuimsenna, son 
 
 of 
 
 14. Aengus, son of 
 
 14. Donncadh O'Donncadha, in Eng- 
 
 lish, O'Donoghoo, the first of the 
 name, son of 
 
 15. Cathal, son of 
 
 16. Donncadh, from whom O'Donn- 
 
 cadha is called, son of 
 
 17. Domnall, who held joint command 
 of Eugenians with Kian, son of 
 Maelmuaidh,at Clontarf,A.D.1014. 
 
 18. Dubdaboireun, K. M., son of 
 
 19. Aengus, son of 
 
 20. Flathniadh, son of 
 
 21. Anblethi, son of 
 
 22. Duulaing, son of 
 
 23. Ealathi, son of 
 
 24. Solbach, son of 
 
 25. Clarinach, son of 
 
 26. Carbri Riastrim, son of 
 
 27. Aedh Kisrigh, son of 
 
 28. Laegari, son of 
 
 29. Crimthann, &c. — See No. 36, pedi- 
 gree of O'Ma/iony Firm. 
 
 TV. 
 
 pedigree of mac carthy earl of musk- 
 
 ERY, FROM DERMOD O'CONNOR's TRANS- 
 LATION OF KEATING. 
 
 1 . Robert, Lord Muskery, son of 
 
 2. Domicadh, Earl of Clancarthy, exiled 
 
 with James II. of England, son of 
 
 3. Kclhichan, or Callaghan, son of 
 
 4. Donncadh, General in Munster 
 
 against Cromwell, A. D. 1652, 
 sou of 
 
 5. Cormac Og, son of 
 
 6. Cormac. [From him sprung Tiidg, 
 
 ancestor of the MacCartiiies of 
 Aglish, and Domnall, ancestor of 
 the MacCarthies of Carrignavar.] 
 son of 
 
 7. Diarmaid, ancestor of the Mac Car- 
 
 tliics of Inshirahell, son of 
 
 8. Tadg, ancestor of the Mac Carthics 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 669 
 
 of Cuairt Brec, and of Oormac, or 
 Charles, Mac Carthy of Ballea, 
 Castlemore and Clonghroe, son of 
 
 9. Cormac Ladir Og, son of 
 
 10. Cormac Ladir, 
 
 11 . Tadg, from whom sprung the Mac 
 
 Carthies of Drishane, son of 
 
 12. Cormac, son of 
 
 13. DiARMAiD MoR, of Musgraidc or 
 
 Muskery, slain by the O'Álahonies 
 in A. D. 1367, son of 
 
 14. Cormac. — See No. 8, Pedigree of 
 Mac Carthy More. 
 
 Pedigree of the Counts O'Mahony 
 OF France, from a copy thereof, 
 lodged in Bibliotheque Royal of 
 Paris in 1788, and still extant. 
 
 1. Barthelemy, Count O'Mahony, 
 Knight of the Cross of St. Louis 
 and Malta, Colonel Commandant 
 of the regiment of Berwick in the 
 service of France, born in the 
 County of Kerry in 1748, and af- 
 terwards married to Mile, de Gouy. 
 [His descendants still exist in 
 France, and are now represented by 
 the present Count O'Mahony.] son 
 of 
 
 2. Michael of Cnocan-na-h-Eglaisi, in 
 
 Kerry, son of 
 
 3. Eogan or Eugene, son of 
 
 4. Tadg or Thadeus, son of 
 
 5. Domitius, son of 
 
 6. Domnall or Daniel, son of 
 
 7. Demetrius, sonol 
 
 8. Finghin or Florence, son of 
 
 9. Tadg Meirgech. [He had a son 
 
 named Domnall, who settled at 
 Tibraid or Tubrid, in the County 
 of Cork, where his descendants 
 
 were known as Sliocht Domnaill 
 of Tubrid : of this branch has 
 sprung the Count O'Mahony of 
 Spain, formerly Lieutenant Oene- 
 ral in the army of Spain, and am- 
 bassador plenipotentiary of his 
 Catholic Majesty at the court of 
 Vienna.] son of 
 
 10. Concobar, sou of 
 
 11. Diarmaid, son of 
 
 12. Seaghan, or John, son of 
 
 13. Diarmaid Og. [He emigrated into 
 Kerry in 1355, where he was made 
 Seneschall of Desmond by Mac 
 Carthy Mor, king of that country, 
 from whom he recieved a terri- 
 tory sufficient to uphold that ofiSce. 
 This dignity continued in his 
 family until 1565, when Domnall 
 Mac Carthy Mor, having ex- 
 changed his title of king of the 
 then extremely narrowed domains 
 of Desmond, for that of Earl of 
 Clancare, Finghin O'Mahony was 
 by letters patent, created Sheriff 
 of the County of Kerry, in ex- 
 change for his ofiBce of Seneschall.] 
 son of 
 
 14. Diarmaid Rantach. — See No. 8, 
 Pedigree of O'Mahony Finn. 
 
 Note. — The editor would wish to 
 have given the pedigrees of several 
 others of the septs sprung from Eogan 
 Mor, with those above given, such as 
 MacCarthy Reagh, O'Moriarty, O'Cal- 
 lahan and others, but he has been unable 
 to procure authorities from which to 
 transcribe them. In a future edition, 
 more ample details may be possibly 
 given of the septs, both of this and 
 other tribes, hereafter to be mentioned. 
 
 CH APTEK II. 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF THE RACE OF CORMAC CAS, THE SECOND 
 SON OF OLILD OLUM, DOWN HERE. 
 
 PEDIGREE OF O BRIEN OF THOMOND HERE. 
 
 1. Henry, 7th Earl of Thomond, son of 
 
 2. Brian, son of, 
 
 3. Dormcadh. [This Donncadh, called 
 
 in English Donough, had two sons, 4. 
 namely, Henry and Brian : of these, 
 Henry was the elder, but he died 
 
 without leaving any male issue. 
 However,his daughter was married 
 to the son of Brian, namely, to 
 that Henry with whom we begin 
 the pedigree.] sou of 
 Concobar. [Tadg of Dromore and 
 Sir Domnall of Carricahowlig, 
 were sons of this Concobar.] son of 
 
670 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 5. Donnchad. [This Donnchad had for 
 brothers, Pomnall Murkertuch, 
 Tadg an Choniadh and Tordel- 
 bach O'Brien. J son of 
 
 6. Concobar. [This Coucobar had for 
 brother Murcadh, who was the fir.-t 
 Earl of Thomond and firpt Eurou 
 of Inchiquin. — From Donncadh, 
 or Donog/i, second son of the said 
 Murcadh, Sir Lucius and hishoth- 
 er, William Smith O'Brien, are 
 ninth in descent.] son of 
 
 7. Tordelbach, son of 
 
 8. Tadg, son of 
 
 9. Tordelbach, son of 
 
 10. Brian Catha an Acnaigh, i. c. 
 
 Brian of the Battle of Nenagh. (Of 
 the posterity of this Brian of the 
 Battle of Nenagh is the sept of 
 O'Briain Cumarach, i. e. O'Brien 
 of the Cummeraghs in the county 
 of Watcrford. — It was this Brian 
 that won the Battle of Nenagh 
 against the Earl of Desmond, 
 namely, against Garret, son of 
 Maurice, son of Thomas, on which 
 occasion he captured that Earl ; 
 and it was from this victory that 
 he was called Brian of the Battle 
 of Nenagh.) son of 
 
 11. Matliganiain of Maen-magh. (This 
 
 Mathgamain, or Mahon, had a son 
 named Concobar, from whom has 
 descended the sept of O'Brien of 
 Carraig o g-Coinnell, now culled 
 Castleconnell.) son of 
 
 12. Murkertach, son of 
 
 13. Tordclhach, (Son of this Tordel- 
 bach was Donncadh, who granted 
 the lordship of Thomoiid for three 
 years to the Poor Friars for the 
 purpose of aiding them in building 
 the Monastery of Ennis. lie was 
 afterwards treacherously murdered 
 in A. D. 1311, by Murcadh Maim- 
 chiu, sou of Matligamain O'Brien, 
 in Glenn Caein,) son of 
 
 14. Tadg Caeluisgi. (This Tadg Ca- 
 
 eluisgi had a brother named J3rian 
 Ituadli, from whom sprang the 0'- 
 Brian of Ara,) son of 
 
 15. Concobar na Siudaini. (It was 
 from having been killed on the 
 Siudaiu that he has been uamcd 
 Concobar na Siudaini,) son of 
 
 16. Donncadh Curbrcach. (This Donn- 
 
 cadh Carbreach, was the first per- 
 son that was ever styled tiie 
 O'BRIEN' ; and it was also he that 
 bestowed the Alonastery of Donn 
 cadh Carbreach, outside Limerick, 
 to Cod for his soul's welfare ; and 
 the reason why he was called Donn- 
 cadh Carbreach, ?. e. Doimcadh of 
 Carbri, was because he had been 
 fostered in Ui Carbri Acdba.) 
 son of 
 
 17. Domnall Mor, K. M., A. D. 1163- 
 1194. [This Domnall wa? the last 
 King of Cashel, ;. e. of Munster, 
 and of Limerick, From him have 
 sprang the Muinter Consadin, i. e. 
 the family of Consadine and Mac 
 Gitla-Iasachta, nou' called Lysaght.'] 
 
 IS. Tordelbach, K. M. 
 
 19. Diurmaid, K. INI. The elder brother 
 
 of this Diarmaid was Murker- 
 tach Mor, Monarch of Ireand A. 
 D. 1094-1119, and from him, ;ic- 
 cording to one of the Ollamhs of 
 the Dal-g-Cais themselves, has 
 sprung the clan of MacMahon of 
 Thomond. Here is what he says : 
 
 " Clann Thoirdlielbiiigh, na tlielb trold, 
 Muiichcrtach Mor is ÍJiarmaid ; 
 Barr crainn clilcclitacli da g-claen flodb ; 
 Muirchcrtach s»er, a seinser. 
 
 Clann don ti is oifrc aco, 
 
 Siol m-Briain i n-diaish Dhlarinaid; 
 
 Fa clann natli-chalnia olechtach. 
 
 Clann Mhathgliamlina o Mbuirchcrtach." 
 
 jf?! English : 
 
 •Tordclbach"s sons, wbofliunncd not war, 
 Were Diarmaid and Murkertacli Mor — 
 Tall trees to wlioni a forest bowed I — 
 Murkertacb was tbe elder son. 
 
 From tbe yonnprcr cbleftain sprang 
 O'Brien, lord of Diarmaid"» line: 
 MaeMahon's clan, tbe brave in battle, 
 Claims noble Miirkirtacli for sire." 
 
 The above named Diarmaid has another 
 son named Concobar nag-Cathrach 
 2. e. of the Fortrcescs, who is also 
 Slapar-salach i. e. of the Spattered 
 Kobe, lie was the eldest son of 
 Diarmaid to whom he succeeded 
 as King of Munster, in which posi- 
 tion he proved himself a warlike 
 and able prince. From him sprung 
 the line (if Tadg Gle O'Briain, chief- 
 tains of Ui Bloid and princes in 
 Ormond.] son of 
 
 20. Tordelbach O'Briain, R. H. [Ue 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 671 
 
 was the first that bore the sur- 
 name, Ua Briain, or O'Briain, in 
 English O'Brien, he being the 
 or Ua, i. e., the grandson, of Brian, 
 R. H.] son of 
 
 21. Tadg. [From Donncadh, R. H. an 
 elder brother of this Tadg, have 
 sprung the MacO'Brien of Cooa- 
 agh and the MacO'Brien of Ahar- 
 low.] sou of 
 
 22. Brian Boromiia, R. H. slain at 
 
 Clontarf A. D. 1014. [Brian had 
 six sous ; namely, Murcadh, Tadg', 
 Donncadh, Doranall, Concobar, 
 and Flann. Of these we have not 
 found that any left issue but the 
 following two ; namely, Tadg, from 
 whom this branch of Thomond de- 
 rives its origin ; and Donncadh, R. 
 H., from whom descend the Mac 
 O'Brien of Aharlow already men- 
 tioned.] son of 
 
 23. Kenneidigh. (Kenneidigh had 
 twelve sous ; but the posterity of no 
 more than pjur of these has surviv- 
 ed ; namely, Brian, Donncuan, Ech- 
 tigherna and Mathgamhaiu or Ma- 
 hon. From Brian descend the Sil 
 Bhriain [S'lcel Vreein) or O'Briens. 
 Donncuan had six sons ; to wit, two 
 named Kenneidigh, and Riagan. 
 Lonnargau, Kelichar, and Couga- 
 lach ; from one of those named 
 Kenneidigh, has descended the sept 
 O'Conaing, in English, Gunning ; 
 from the other Kenneidigh has 
 descended that of 0' Kenneidigh, 
 in English O' Kennedy ; from Ria- 
 gan have sprung the O'Riagaius 
 or 0' Regans of Munster ; from 
 Lonnargan, the O'Lonnergans ; and 
 from Kelichar, the O'Kelehers. — 
 From Mathgamain or Mahon, K. 
 M. san of Kenneidigh, have de- 
 scended the following septs ; name- 
 ly, O'Beolain, O'.Sbe'llain, O'h-Ann- 
 rachain, Maclnneirigh, O'Oonga- 
 laigh and O'Tuama, in English, 0' 
 Bolan, O'Spilfnne, O'Sheehan, 0'- 
 Hanraghan, MacEneiry,^ 0' Con- 
 nelly" of North Mamter, and 0'- 
 Toomy. From Echtigherna [Ag- 
 heerna), son of Kenneidigh, the 
 sept of Magrath or MacGrath, 
 Brehous of Thomond ; and that of 
 O'Aliera or O'Hearn. Note — 
 
 1 . The sept of MacEneiry, mention- 
 ed above, is not of the Dalcassian 
 race. It belongs to the Ui Fid- 
 ghenti of Eugenian origin. 2. 
 These Dalcassian 0' ConneUies must 
 not be confounded luitli the O'Con- 
 galaigh or O' ConneUies of Leth 
 Cuinn, who are of a different stock. 
 Congalach, son of Kenneidigh, left 
 no issue. — Ed.) son of 
 
 24. Lorcan, K. M. (The following 
 ai"e the surnames of the clans 
 descended from Lorcan ; to wit : 
 from Cosgarach, son of Lorcan, 
 have sprung the Muinter Senac- 
 hain. or O'S'iannagkans ; the Muin- 
 ter Cnaimhin or MacKnevins ; the 
 Muinter Ogain or O'Hogans, the 
 Muincer Allathaigh, or 0' Hollies ; 
 the Muinter Uallachain or 0'- 
 Hoolaghans ; Muinter Maelrua- 
 naidh or O'Midronies ; the Muinter 
 Glodhairn, Muinter Angedha and 
 Muinter Maui. 
 
 It is also from this Lorcan that 
 the race of Brian Finn in Dubh-thir 
 [Duffeer) of Leinster are descended. 
 
 Note. — The word " 3Iuinter,'' 
 signifies household family, people, 
 and sometimes posterity, tms 
 " Muinter Ogain " means the pos- 
 terity of Ogan, and here means Hie 
 same thing as Uih-Ogain.) son of 
 
 25. Lactna, son of 
 
 26. Core, son of 
 
 27. Anluan, son of 
 
 28. Mathgamain, or Mahon, son of 
 
 29. Tordelbach. (This Tordelbach had 
 
 a son named Algenan, from whom 
 sprang the sept of O'Meadhra, in 
 English O'Mara.) son of 
 
 30. Cathal. (This Cathal had a brother 
 named Congal, from whom des- 
 cended O'Neill — that is, the Mun- 
 ster sept of that dcno7nination, but 
 not the great O'Neill of Ulster — and 
 O'n-Eoghan : They are both 
 sprung from Niall, the ancestor of 
 the race of ]\laclnnrachtaigh, in 
 English MacEnright.) son of 
 
 31. Aedh Caemh, K."M. (It was this 
 Aedh Caemh, that seized upon 
 Cashel in spite of the race of Eo- 
 gan Mor. He reigned from A. D. 
 571 to A. 7). GOl.) son of 
 
 32. ConalI,sonof 
 
672 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 33. Eocaidh Baklerg. [This Eocaidh 
 
 Bal-derg had a brother named 
 Fergal, from whom sprung the 
 Muinter Ikedha, i. e., the clan of 
 O'H/ckey — the physician sept of 
 the Dal g-Cais. He had another 
 brother named Aengus, from whom 
 are descended the clans of the fol- 
 lowing surnames,namely,thc Muin- 
 ter Loingsigh Tuath-Mumhan, 
 in English 0' Lynch, of Tliomond ; 
 the Muinter Uithnidhe or Uaith- 
 nin, sometimes translated by Green, 
 and sometimes by Jloneen and Han- 
 non ; the Mumter Brenain, in 
 English O'Brenan ; the Muinter 
 Sechtnain, pronounced Sliaghtnaw- 
 in in Irish, but translated into 
 English by Sexton; the Muinter 
 Riada, in English 0' Ready ; the 
 Muinter Cormacaiu, or Cormaic, in 
 English O'Cormacan and MacCor- 
 mick ; the Muinter Brechra ; the 
 Muinter Samradh. Tiie modern 
 names of the two clans last named 
 are unknown to the Editor.^ son of 
 
 34. Carthann Finn, son of 
 
 35. Blod. (This Blod had a brother 
 named Caisiii {Casheen) from 
 whom sprang the Sil Aedha {Sheel 
 Aych), that is, the clan of Mac- 
 Coimiara, in English Mncnamara, 
 and from this clan branched the 
 sept of MacFlannchadha, in Eng- 
 lish MacClanchy and C lance y, who 
 were the Brehon sept of Tliomond. 
 This Blod had also a son called 
 Brenann Ban, from whom descend- 
 ed the A[uinter Urthali, in English 
 O' Hurley; the Muinter Maeldomna, 
 in English O'Mnlowny ; the Mu- 
 inter Grada, in English 0' Grady ; 
 and the Muinter Caisin, in Eng- 
 lish O'Casliin) son of 
 
 36. Gas, from whom the Dal g-Gais 
 
 [Daulgash] are named. [This 
 Gas (Cass) had twelve sons, name- 
 ly, Blod, Gaisin, Lugaidh, Sedna, 
 Aengus Keim-Athrach, Gormac, 
 Carthann, Kcimeich, Aengus 
 Kenn-atinn. Aedh, Losgenn and 
 Delbaeth. From Blod sprang the 
 stock of this branch ; from Aengus 
 Kenn-Athrach sprang O'Dea of 
 Kind Fermaic, the Ivinol m-Iiaci 
 and the Kind g-Guallachta : from 
 
 Aengus Kenn-atinn sprang the 
 Muinter Ifernain and the Muinter 
 Nechtain, in English O'Naugh- 
 tan, but commordy called Norton, 
 and the Muinter Artagain, in 
 English O'Hartagan ; from Aedh, 
 son of Gas, sprang the Muinter 
 Aedha, in English O'llay or 
 O'Hca and Hayes, that is, the 
 Thomond sept so called, for there 
 are several families of the name 
 who belong to distinct tribes ; from 
 Delbaeth sprang MacCochlain, in 
 English SlacGoughlan, and the 
 other septs of the tribe of the Delb- 
 na — a tribe whichhad its name from 
 this Delbaeth ; from Lugaidh son of 
 Gas sprang the Muinter Dobhar- 
 chon, tn English O'Davoran ; the 
 Muinter Kearnaigh, in English 
 0' Kearney ; the Muinter Gonraei, 
 in English MacConroy, but some- 
 times barbarized to King ; the Mu- 
 inter Aengusa, in English O'Hen- 
 essy ; the Muinter Dubhthigh, in 
 English O'Duhig. Of the Dal g- 
 Gais, or tribe descended from this 
 Cos, are also sprung MacDemi, 
 MacAsiodha, Mac an Fiiairchini, 
 in English MacAnerny ; O'h-Aiun- 
 li, in English O'Hanly, and O'Hcafy 
 of the county of Limerick. — Of 
 the Dalcassian septs, thos^ of Mac 
 Bruaidin or MacBruodin, and Mac 
 Curtain held high rank as hereditary 
 bards and historians of the tribe. 
 From Ca<i were also descended the 
 clans of O'Slattery, O'Nunan, 
 O'Liddy and O'Caseif, — that is, 
 OCathasaigh of the toillli Mnbi- 
 necha, in the south of the county of 
 Limerick, for there was another 
 O'Cathasaigh or O' Casey, who was 
 of the line of Kian, son of Olild 
 Olum, and wliose territory lay in 
 the Kiannachta Breagha in East 
 3Ieath.] son of 
 
 37. Gonall Ech-luath, K. M. (" Ech- 
 luath," pronounced Agh-looah, sig- 
 nifies of tlie Fleet Steeds. He was 
 King ofMunster, A.D. 3GG.) son of 
 
 38. Lugaidh Menn, K. M. (It was 
 this Lugaidh Menn that carried off 
 hostages from all parts of Ireland, 
 so that they were forced to promise 
 to pay him tribute.) son of 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 673 
 
 39. Aengus Tirech, K. M., son of 
 
 40. Fer-Corb, son of 
 
 41. Mogh-Corb, K. M., son of 
 
 42. CoKJiAC Cas, K. M., son of 
 
 43. Olild Olum, K. M.— See No. 39, 
 pedigree of MacCarthy More. 
 
 Note. — Donncadh and Concobar, 
 marked Nos. 5 and 6 in this pedigree 
 of O'Brien, were the cotemporarics of 
 Domnall, 1st Earl of Clancare, with 
 whom the pedigree of MacCarthj' More 
 commences. The jireseut one has then 
 been begun four or five generations 
 later than that of MacCarthy, so that 
 the number 43 of the Dalcassiau line, 
 corresponds closely with the number 39 
 of the Eugenian. — The numbers jjre- 
 fixed to the several names are given 
 merely to facilitate reference, and by no 
 means intended to establish any parallel- 
 ism in time, which could not be done 
 after that manner, for several pedigrees 
 commence many generations later than 
 others. 
 
 II. 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF O'bRIEN OF CASTLE- 
 CONNELL, HERE. 
 
 Mathgaraain, or Mnhon., of Maen- 
 magh, son of Murkertach, son of Tor- 
 delbach, son of Tadg [Teiguc) Cael- 
 uisgi, son of Concobar na Siudaui, two 
 sons had he, namely, Brian of the Bat- 
 tle of Ncnagh, from whom descends the 
 O'Brien of Thomond ; and Concobar, 
 or Connor, from whom has sprung the 
 O'Brien of Carraig-0-Coinnell, called 
 Castleconnell in English. The year of 
 our Lord when the said Concobar came 
 to settle at Carraig-O-Coinnell was 
 1449. 
 
 Two sous had this Concobar, namely, 
 Diarmaid and Brian Dubh. Diarmaid 
 died without issue. 
 
 Brian Dubh had one son, namely, 
 Donncadh MacBriain Duibh. 
 
 This Donncadh had eleven sons, but 
 they all died without issue, with the 
 exception of Mahon or Mathgamain 
 MacDonncadha. 
 
 The children of Mahon were Donn- 
 cadh and Murkertach. 
 
 Murkertach had but one son, namely, 
 Tadg ; but Donncadh had a numerous 
 offspring, namely, Brian Dubh, Domnall, 
 * * * * * Mathgamain, Tordel- 
 bach, Kenneidigh called the Gillii 
 43 
 
 Dubh, i. c. tiie Black Chiel, Concobar 
 Cuauach, Murkertach, Diarmaid and 
 Donncadh. Sucli was the progeny of 
 Mathgamain of Maen-magh, son of Mur- 
 kertach, son of Tordclbach, son of Tadg 
 Cael-uisgi, for so far. 
 
 Concobar, son of Mathgamain Maen- 
 magh, from whom have sprung the 
 O'Briens of Carraig-O-Coinncll and 
 Pobal Briain, [now called Castleconnell 
 and Pobblebrien in the county of Lim- 
 erick), was for eight years 'J'he O'Brien 
 of Thomond. Pobal Briain was por- 
 tioned among the eleven sons of Brian 
 after the following manner.' * * * 
 But, to return to those eleven sons of 
 Donncadh, son of Brian, to whom we 
 have brought down this line, they all 
 died without leaving any jiosterity but 
 females, with the exception of his fourth 
 son, namely, Mathgamain, son of Donn- 
 cadh,,. sou of Brian Dubh. These are 
 the children of the said Mathgamain, 
 namely, Domnall, Concobar Jilael, Brian 
 Dubh, Tadg, Diarmaid and Mathga- 
 main. 
 
 These are the children of Domnall, 
 son of Donncadh, namely, Donncadh 
 and Murkertach. Concobar Mae), son 
 of Donncadh, had one son, namely, Tor- 
 delbach. Brian Dubh, son of Donn- 
 cadh, had one son, namely, Donncadh. 
 Tadg, son of Donncadh, son of Mathga- 
 main, had a numerous oííspring', name- 
 ly, Concobar Mael, who went to Spain ; 
 Domnall, Diarmaid, Tordelbach and 
 Murcadh. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF THE ABOVE-NAMED 
 DONNCADH, SON OF BRIAN DUBH OF 
 CAERAIG-0-COINNELL, HERE. 
 
 1. Donncadh, Brian, Murcadh, and 
 
 Domnall, sons of 
 
 2. Domnall, son of 
 
 3. Donncadh, son of 
 
 4. Domnall, son of 
 
 5. Donncadh, son of 
 G. Brian Dubh, sou of 
 
 7. Donncadh, son of 
 
 8. Mathgamain, son of 
 
 10. Donncadh, son of 
 
 11. Brian Dubh, son of 
 
 12. Concobar, who was The O'Briau 
 of Thomond for eight years, from 
 A. D. 1406 to A. D. 1414, when 
 he resigned the chieftaincy to his 
 nephew, Tadg, sou of Brian, and 
 
674 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 ■who settled at Carraig-0-ConnelI 
 
 in A D. 14-19r sou of 
 
 13. Mathgamain of Maen-magli, «Src— 18. 
 
 See No. 11, Pedigree of O'Brien 19. 
 
 of Thomond. 
 
 20. 
 XoTE 1. — Here follows a list euuine- 21. 
 rating of the several jwrtions of those 22. 
 eleven sons, with their several sub-de- 23. 
 nominations, which the editor omits, 
 both on account of the prolixity of the 24. 
 list itself, and because he has by him at 25. 
 present no means of discovering their 
 present names and pointing their sev- 
 eral situations. — Ed. 26. 
 Note 2. — Dr. O'Brian in his Law 27. 
 of Tanistry, published in Yallancey's 28. 
 Collectanea, thinks that it was Brian, 29. 
 the son of Concobar, that settled in 30. 
 Castleconuell in this year. — Ed. 31. 
 
 32. 
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 The following Dalcassiau pedigrees 
 are taken from those arranged by Dr. 33. 
 'Donovan, and published with the 
 Battle of Magh Rath. 
 
 derived the.surname Mac Conmar 
 ra or I\Iacnamara, son of 
 Domnall, son of 
 
 Menma, who fought at Clontarf, 
 A. D. 1014, son of 
 Aedh, sou of 
 Euda, son of 
 Essida, son of 
 
 Sida a Eich Buidhe, i. e. of the 
 Yellow Steed, son of 
 Maelcluthi, son of 
 Coilcan, from whom the tribe- 
 name, Clann Coilein, is derived, 
 son of 
 
 Artgal, son of 
 Dongal, son of 
 Eogan, son of 
 Acluan, sou of 
 Fergal, son of 
 Carthenn, son of 
 
 Caisin, from whom is derived 
 the tribe-name, Ui Caisin, {Ui 
 Cashcen,) son of 
 
 Cas, from whom the Dal g-Cais 
 are called. — See No. 36, Pedigree 
 of O'Brien of Thomond. 
 
 TnE PEDIGREE OF MACXAMARA, CHIEF 
 UI CAISIX, OR CLANN COILEIN. 
 
 1. Cumedha, hanged in A. D. 1587, 
 
 son of 
 
 2. John. [From Donncadh, brother 
 
 of this John, descended John Mac- 
 namara Finn, alive in A. D. 1714. 
 He was son of Francis, son of 
 John, son of John, son of Tadg, 
 son of the said Donncadh.] son of 
 
 3. Tadg, who died in A. D. 1571, son of 
 
 4. Cumedha, son of 
 
 5. Cuniara, son of 
 
 G. Seaghan, or John, son of 
 
 7. Mac-con, son of 
 
 8. Sida Cam, son of 
 
 9. Mac-con, son of 
 
 10. Cumedha, son of 
 
 11. Mao-con, son of 
 
 12. Lochlaiun, son of 
 
 13. Cumedha Mor, son of 
 
 14. Niall, son of 
 
 15. Cumara, son of 
 
 16. Domnall Mac Conmara. ['J'he first 
 that bore the family name, which 
 has been rendered into English by 
 Macnamara.] son of 
 
 17. CuMAKA, from whom has been 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF O DEA OF KINEL 
 FERMAIC. 
 
 1. John, son of 
 
 2. Lochlainn, son of 
 
 3. Concobar, who slew De Clare in 
 
 A. D. 1318, son of 
 
 4. Domnall, son of 
 
 5. Donncadh, son of 
 
 6. Euaidri, son of 
 
 7. Gilla-Padraig, son of 
 
 8. Flathbertach, son of 
 
 9. Lochlainn, son of 
 
 10. Flathbertach, son of 
 
 11. Muredach, son of 
 
 12. Gilla-Coiri, son of 
 
 13. Aicher O'Deghadh, the first that 
 
 bore the family name, which is 
 rendered into English by O'Dea 
 and Dee, son of 
 
 14. Donncadh, son of 
 
 15. Deííaidii, from whom the surname 
 
 is derived, son of 
 
 1 6. Donniall, son of 
 1 7. Donn, son of 
 
 18. Dubsalach, son of 
 
 19. Flanncadh, son of 
 
 20. Flann Scribail, son of 
 
 21. Ferkingclt, son of 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 675 
 
 22. Fermac, from whom is dorivcd tin; 
 tribe-name, Kiuel Formaic, son of 
 23 Cu-allta, son of 
 
 24. Slebin, son of 
 
 25. Dima, son of 
 
 26. Senacli, son of 
 
 27. Kethi, son of 
 
 28. Aengus Kk.vn-atiirach, sou of 
 
 29. Cas, &c.—Sec No. 30, Pedigree of 
 
 O'Brien of Thomond. 
 
 III. 
 
 THK PEDIGREE OF o'QUI.V OF CLANX 
 IFERNAIN. 
 
 1 . Ooncobar, son of 
 
 2. ])omuall, sou of 
 
 3. Domuall, son of 
 
 4. Thomas, sou of 
 
 5. Domnall, sou of 
 
 6. Donncadh, son of 
 
 7. Gilla-Senain, son of 
 
 8. Donncadh, sou of 
 
 9. ilurcadh, son of 
 
 10. Core, the tutor of Murkertach, 
 prince of Thomond, A. D. 1142, 
 sou of 
 
 11. Feidlecar O'Cuinn, first of the 
 name, son of 
 
 12. Niall, slain at Clontarf, A. D. 
 1014, son of 
 
 13. Conn, from whom is derived the 
 surname, O'Cuinn, in English, 
 O'Quinn, son of 
 
 14. Donncadh, son of 
 
 15. Sida, sou of 
 
 16. Conligan, son of 
 
 17. Faelcadh, son of 
 
 ] 8. Ifernau, from whom the tribe-name 
 of Clann Ifernain, son of 
 
 19. Core, son of 
 
 20. Abartach, son of 
 
 21. Uiliu or Cuilin, son of 
 
 22. Gemdelach, sou of 
 
 23. Colman, son of 
 
 24. Conall, sou of 
 
 25. Aengus Kexx-atinn, sou of 
 
 26. Cas, kQ.—See No. 36, Pedigree of 
 O'Brien of Thomond. 
 
 IV. 
 
 PEDIGREE OF MAC MAHON, CHIEF OF 
 CORCA RASKIN, IN THOMOND. 
 
 1. Tadg, SOU of 
 
 2. Murcadh, son of 
 
 3. Tordelbach, sou of 
 
 4. Tadg Og, son of 
 
 5. 'I'adg Mor, son (JÍ' 
 
 6. Donncadh na Glaki, sou of 
 
 7. Ruaidri Buidhe, son of 
 
 8. Diarmaid, son of 
 
 9. Donncadh Carrach, sou of 
 
 10. ]Murcadh na u-lngnadh, i. c. of 
 the Wonders. [This Murcadh was 
 carried off from Corca Jiaskiu. 
 and never afterwards heard of. 
 He left after him but one son. 
 namely, J)onncadh Carrach, an- 
 cestor of the Mac Mahons.] sou of 
 
 11. Murcadh ]\Iac ]\[athghauihna, 
 ];)ronouuced Mac Mahowna by the 
 Irish, but called Mac Mahou in 
 the tongue of the stranger, son of 
 
 12. ]\lATirGAMAiN 0"Briain, iu Eng- 
 
 lish, Mahou O'Brien, sou of 
 
 13. Murkertach Mor O'Briain, King 
 
 of Munster and ISIonarch of Ire- 
 land, A. D. 1094-1119, from 
 whose younger brother Diarmaid 
 sprang the O'Briens, Kings of 
 Thomond, son of 
 
 14. Tordelbach O'Briain, monarch of 
 Ireland, A. D. 1072-1086.— See 
 No. 20, Pedigree of O'Brien of 
 Thomond. 
 
 Note. — The names iu the foregoing 
 pedigree of the sept of Mac Mahou, are. 
 with the exception of No. 13, given 
 on the authority of Dermod O'Cou- 
 uor's translation of Keating. No. 1? 
 has been inserted on the authority of 
 the verses heretofore quoted iu the ped- 
 igree of O'Brien, and of the uncon- 
 tested traditions of the Dalcassiau 
 tribe. — See Dr. O'Brien's Laws of 
 Tanistry, Vol. 1 of Vallancey's Collec- 
 tanea, and O'Halloran's History of 
 Ireland. 
 
 v. 
 
 PEDIGREE OF MACNAMARA, OF ROS ROE, 
 
 From Dermod O'Connor's transla- 
 tion of Keating. 
 
 1. Donmall, Donncadh, and Tadg, 
 
 whom that translator calls Daniel. 
 Donough, and Teigue, sous of 
 
 2. Sida (Sheeda) sou of 
 
 3. Finghin [Finneen.) called Florence, 
 
 son of 
 
 4. Finghin, sou of 
 
 5. Lochlainn, son of 
 
 6. Finghin, son of 
 
 7. Sida Cam, &c. — See No. 8, Pedigree 
 
 of Macnamara, already given. 
 
676 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF THE POSTERITY OF KIAN, THIRD SON OF 
 OLILD OLUM, DOWN HERE. "^ 
 
 Two sons, indeed, had Tadg, son of Kian [Tigue, son of Kcean), namely, 
 
 1 mi 
 
 1, had 
 
 Connlá and Cormac Galcng-. Connla, ag:ain, had two sods, namely, Imcad'h, 
 from whom has sprung O'Carroll of Eli O'Carroll, and Finnacta, from whom 
 descends O'Meagher. From Cormac Galeng, brother of Counla, came O'llara 
 and O'Gara. 
 
 Note. — The sept O'Carroll, (in Gaelic, O'Cerbhaill, pronounced O'Carrooil 
 and O'Cancill,) lords of Eli, has been confounded with that of O'Carroll, lord of 
 Oirghialla, which, though of the same name, was of a totally diifercnt stock. The 
 latter sept sank into obscurity soon after the English invasion, and gave way as 
 chiefs of the Oirghialla, to the kindred clans of ]\Iaguire and ]\[ac Mahon. Th.c 
 0"Carrolls of Eli maintained their position as chieftains down to a much more re- 
 cent period, as did also the clan of O'Meachair (called in English O'Meagher and 
 Maher), lords of the Ui Cairin, whose tribe lands arc now known as Ikerrin, in 
 North Tipperary. The other clans of the Kiannachta, or descendants of Kian, arc 
 those of O'Kellaigh and O'Cathasaigh, lords of the Kiannachta of Breagh, in 
 East Meath, or, as they are called by those that speak the foreign idiom, the 
 O'Kellies and O'Casies. These clans must be distinguished from the O'Kellies 
 of Ui Mani, and the Dalcassian O'Casies of Coillti jiíabinecha, in the barony of 
 Coshlea and county of Limerick. Of the race of Kian are also the O'Connors 
 of Keenaught in Ulster. — Ed. 
 
 PEDIGREE OF O CAREOLL OF ELI, HERE. 
 
 1. Seaghan, son of 
 
 2. Maelruanaidh. (This Maelnianaidh 
 
 had a brother named Tadg, son 
 of Tadg, who dwelt at Baile-an- 
 Cnocain.) son of 
 
 3. Tadg. (The brothers of this Tadg 
 
 were Sir Maelruanaidh, who was 
 The O'Carroll of Uaithni, and 
 Uonncadh.) son of 
 
 4. Uiliiam Odhar. (This Uilliam Od- 
 
 har had a brother named Tadg 
 Cacch, who was The O'Carroll 
 (1.5.32-1554) and also a lord baron, 
 entitled the Baron of Bailé-an- 
 bhrodta, and he was the senior 
 of Uilliam Odhar, who succeeded 
 him as The O'Carroll, until he was 
 slain in A. I). 1581.) son of 
 
 5. Fer-gan-Aiimi. The brother of this 
 
 Fer-gan-Ainm was Maelruanaidh 
 Og, who was the eklcst son of 
 
 6. Maelruanaidh, sou of 
 
 7. Seaghan, or John. (This John 
 
 was married to the daughter of 
 O'Kennedy Finn, so that his son 
 Maelruanaidh had the same mother 
 with Grani, 07- Grace, who was 
 
 the wife of Mac Uilliam Uachtar, 
 namely, with Ulic of the Heads, 
 whose son was afterwards created 
 the first Earl of C'lanrickard,which 
 Earl was called Eickard Sags- 
 anach.) son of 
 
 8. Maelruanaidh, (This Maelruanaidh 
 
 had a brother named Donncadli, 
 from whom descend the family of 
 Magh Dremni and Buaile-Brcc.) 
 son of 
 
 9. Seaghan. (This Seaghan had for 
 
 brothers, Uilliam, from whom 
 sprang the family of Cninni-au- 
 Cliabhain ; Tadg, from whom arc 
 descended the families of Calog, 
 Cluain O'g-Cionach and Uaithni 
 Mor an Belaigh ; jMaelruanaidli 
 Og na Tualrfch ; and lluaidri Car- 
 rach, from whom has s])rung the 
 family of Cluain Echail.) son of 
 
 10. Maelruanaidh na Fesoigi. (This 
 Maelruanaidh had a brother nam- 
 ed Ponncadh, I'rom whom sprang 
 the O'Carrolls of Birra, or Birr.) 
 son of 
 
 11. Tadg of Gaibhli Maighi Gloisi, 
 
 ('J'his Tadg had for brothers Ruai- 
 dri Cacl, from whom descended 
 the family of robal-an-Acnaigli, 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 6 
 
 I I 
 
 who are called Sliocht Ruaidri 
 
 Cliaeil, i. c. the posterity of Ruaidri 
 the Slender, and Doniicadh, from 
 whom descended the family of Kill 
 Cuimrith.) son of 
 
 12. Tadg of Callaiu. (Brothei* to the 
 
 Tadg of Callain was Beaghau or 
 John, from whom sprang the 
 Clan Mac Seaghaiu O'Carrcll, 
 who have been recently known as 
 the family of Bailé Nuadh {Imlli/- 
 noe) ; and this John was The 0'- 
 Carroll until he was slain by the 
 sous of ]\[athgamain, or Muhon 
 O'JSecaiu, at Lis-buáili-cael. This 
 happened in A. D. 1337.) son of 
 
 1 3. Ruaidri, son of 
 
 14. Maelruanaidh. (Brother of this 
 Maelruanaidh was Domnall, from 
 whom spruno: the Sliocht Dom- 
 naill Bailé-Edain, i. e. the pos- 
 terity of Domnall of Bailé-Edain ; 
 and it was he that immediately 
 before the conquest was The 0- 
 Carroll both of i^li and of Oirg- 
 hialla, and it was he that held Cal- 
 lan and most of the country around 
 it, according to what some of 
 the old Anglo-Norman clans set 
 down in their own chronicles ; 
 and Giraldus Cambrensis names 
 this Domnall as one of the seven 
 most honored and renowned chief- 
 tains that were in Ireland upon 
 the arrival of Henry the Second 
 therein. These are the names of 
 the said seven, to wit, Diarmaid 
 Mac Carthy, prince of Cork ; 
 Domuall O'Brian, prince of Lime- 
 rick ; Maelsechlainn O'Faelain, 
 prince of the Decies, or Desi, and 
 of Waterford ; O'Neill in Ulster ; 
 Domnall O'CarroU of Eli and 
 Oirghialla, and Ruaidri Mor O'- 
 Connor, who was monarch over 
 them all. 
 
 Note.' — Our author has been en- 
 tirely led away by Cambrensia in this 
 statement, in as far as it has caused 
 him to confound the chiefs of the to- 
 tally distinct tribes, the Eli and the 
 Oirghialla, whose territories lay widely 
 apart, and which no one chief could 
 then rule, unless he had made himself 
 master of the powerful intervening 
 tribes, which no chieftains of either 
 
 O'OarrolIs ever did. Murcadh O'Car- 
 roU was lord of Oirghialla immediately 
 previous to the arrival of Henry 11. ; 
 for we find him leading his tribo in the 
 army of King Ruadri O'Connor at 
 the siege of Dublin. The slaying of 
 Ruadri O'CarroU is recorded in our 
 annals, where he is styled Lord of Eli, 
 as having happened in A. D. 1174, 
 three years after the departure of 
 Henry. So that Domuall O'CarroU 
 had but little time to extend his sway 
 over the clans of Colla in Oirghialla and 
 the clans Kiau in Eli during the in- 
 tervening period. It being now noto- 
 rious that the territories as well as the 
 origin of north-eastern and the cen- 
 tral O'Carrolls lay widely apart, it 
 Avere idle to pursue this subject fur- 
 ther. — Ed.] son of 
 
 15. Tadg, son of 
 
 16. Finn. [This Finn had a brother 
 
 named Donncadh, from whom 
 
 came the Sliocht Priora Daighri 
 
 and the Sliocht Breuchner, who 
 
 are called Mic Murcadha, i. e. the 
 
 sous of Murcadh. 
 
 Note. — These races are unknown 
 
 to the editor. The latter are probably 
 
 some subsept of the O'Carrolls, who 
 
 were known amongst their own tribe 
 
 as the Mac Murroughs or Murphies.] 
 
 son of 
 
 17. Guill-bhelach, otherwise Goll an 
 Bhelaigh, slain in A. D. 1205. son 
 of 
 
 18. Donncadh. [O'Connor, the trans- 
 lator of Keating, has appropri- 
 ated to this chief the deeds of 
 another Donncadh O'CarroU, or as 
 he has been heretofore called by 
 the present editor, O'Kerbaill, the 
 illustrious founder of ^lellifont 
 and chief Oirghialla, who ruled 
 his tribe from A. D. 1133 to A. I). 
 1168, during which time the death 
 of a son of Finn, lord of Eli, is 
 entered, as before stated, under the 
 year 1163. — Ed.] sou of 
 
 19. Maelruanaidh, sou of 
 
 20. Finn, son of 
 
 21. Domuall. [Brother to this Dom- 
 
 nall was Righ-bardan, of whose 
 posterity are the race settled at 
 Call na bh-Fearnog, Craeibhe, 
 Cuil na g-CreI)har, Ros Cuana, 
 
o78 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 Baile-na-cloiché aud Sen Kath, 
 and of that race there now sur- 
 vives but a few, besides those who 
 have spruiii;' I'rora Tadg. son of 
 Douucadh Jjanu. 
 XoTE. — 'I'he MS. from which this 
 16 taken ends here ; what foHows is 
 from Dermod O'Connor's '• English 
 Keating." — Ed.] son of 
 
 22. Righbardan. slain in A. D. 1058. 
 
 23. Cucoiriii 0' Carroll, or O'Kcrbaill, 
 son of 
 
 24. Maenacli, sou of 
 
 25. Kekball. [This name is mostly 
 written Cerbhall or Cearbhall, the 
 letter C being sounded hard. 
 From tills Kerball. who fought 
 a,t Clontarf in A. D. 1014, the 
 surname O'Cearbhail, in English 
 O'CarroU, is derived.] sou of 
 
 26. Aedh, son of 
 
 27. Dublaer, son of 
 
 28. Cnaimhin, son of 
 
 29. Maeuach, son of 
 
 30. Sechnasach, son of 
 
 31. Angidh, son of 
 
 32. Ultan, son of 
 
 33. Maelruanaidh, son of 
 
 34. Altiu, son of 
 
 35. Louann, son of 
 
 36. Indach, sou of 
 
 37. Fiach, son of 
 
 38. Tal, .sou of 
 
 39. Meachar. son of 
 
 40. Amruidh. son of 
 
 41. Druidh, sou of 
 
 42. Eli Rigli-derg, from whom the 
 tribe-name Eli is derived, son of 
 
 44. Ere, son of 
 
 45. Sabarnach, sou of 
 
 46. Imgon, fram whose brother Tadg 
 sprang the sept of O'Meagher, son 
 of 
 
 48. Connla, son of 
 
 49. Tadg. [This 'I'adg had another 
 
 sou named Corniac (íaleug. I'rom 
 wjiom s])rang the 0"JIaras and 
 0'Gara.s, an(l also one of tlie 
 septs named UTIaimagan, O'Dul- 
 chonta, in English Deliilmnhj, the 
 O'Corcoraus of this tribe, aud the 
 O'Casies of Breagh.] son of 
 
 50. KiAN, the founder of alt the tribes 
 
 of the Kiunnachfn, son of 
 .Í1. Olild Olum, K. M.—See No. 39. 
 Pedigree of Mac Carthy More. 
 
 I'KDIGKEE OK SIR DAXIEL O CARROLL, 
 
 in the order given by Uermod O'Con- 
 nor, in his " Keating." 
 
 1. Daniel and Johu, sons of 
 
 2. Sir Daniel, kuight of St. Jago, in 
 
 Spain, son of 
 
 3. John, son of 
 
 4. Daniel, son o*" 
 
 5. Donough, sou of 
 G. Kian, son of 
 
 7. Tadg, sou of 
 
 8. Donough, son of 
 
 9. Maelruanaidh, &c.—See No. 8, Ped- 
 
 igree of O'CarroU of Eli. 
 
 The Pedigree of O'Gara, taken 
 from the Epistle Dedicatory, where- 
 in Brother Michael O'Clery in- 
 scribes the Annals of the Four Mas- 
 ters to Fergal O'Gara, chief of 
 that sept, A. D. 1634. 
 Having referred to the munifi- 
 cence of Ó"(íara, who had enabled him 
 and his collaborators to collect mate- 
 rials for their great work, and to 
 bring it to a close, that last of Ire- 
 laud's Chief-Historians says : — " For 
 every good that will result from this 
 book, in giving light to all iu general, 
 it is to you that thanks should be 
 given, and there should exist no m'ou- 
 der or surprise, jealousy or en\'y at any 
 go<Kl that you do, for you are of the 
 race of ]iber, sou of ^Sliledh, from 
 whom descended thirty of the kings of 
 Ireland, and sixty-one saints ; and to 
 Tadg, sou of Kian, son of Olild Olum, 
 from whom eighteen of these saints are 
 sprung, you can be traced generation 
 by generation. The descendants of 
 Tadg branched out and inhabited 
 various parts throughout Ireland, 
 namely, the race of ('ormac Galeug 
 in liuighui Connaclit, from whom 
 ye, tiic Muiuter Gadhra {Gara), the 
 two Ui h-1'^adhra in Couuaught, aud 
 O'h-Eadln-a (O'Hara) of the liuta, 
 O'CarroU of Eli, O'Mechair iu Ui Cai- 
 rin, aud the Kianachta of Glen-Geim- 
 liiu. As a proof of your coming from 
 this noble Ijlood we have mentioned, 
 here is yo>u- pedigree, Fergal 0'- 
 Gadhra, thou son of 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 679 
 
 Tadg, son of 
 Olild, son of 
 Diarmaid, son of 
 Eogan, son of 
 Diarmaid, son of 
 Eogan, son of 
 Tomaltach Oi?, son of 
 Tomaltach,son of 
 . Diarmaid, son of 
 . Raighni, son of 
 
 Congalacli, son of 
 
 Donuslebi, son of 
 
 Ruaidri, son of 
 
 Donnslebi, son of 
 
 Concobar, son of 
 
 Ruarc, son of 
 
 Gadhra, from whom the I^Iuintei 
 
 Gadhra (the O'Garas) are sur- 
 
 namcd, son of 
 
 Glethnechan, son of 
 
 Saergus, sou of 
 
 Bee, sou of 
 
 Flaithius, son of 
 
 Taichleach, son of 
 
 Kennfacladh, son of 
 
 Diarmaid, son of 
 
 26. Finnbarr, son of 
 
 27. Brenann, son of 
 
 28. Nadfraech, son of 
 
 29. Fiden, son of 
 
 30. Fidchuir, son of 
 
 31. Art Corb, sou of 
 
 32. Niadh Corb, son of 
 
 33. Lui, from whom the Luighni are 
 named, son of 
 
 34. Tadg, &c.—See No. 49, Pedigree 
 of 0' Carroll of Eli. 
 
 Note. — Some generations between 
 Lui and Cormac Galeng, son of Tadg, 
 have been omitted or skipped over iu 
 this pedigree. It would appear also 
 that some extra names have been in- 
 troduced by Derraod O'Connor, or some 
 one else, into the pedigree of O'Carroll, 
 in order to make out Donncadh, King 
 Oirghialla, one of the ancestors of the 
 chiefs of Eli. O'Halloran classe? the 
 septs of MacKeogh, O'Riardon, and 
 O'Corcoran, as of the race of Kian. — 
 Ed. 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF THE POSTERITY OF IR, SON OP MILEDH 
 OF ESBAIN, DOWN HERE. 
 
 Those of the descendants of Ir that left offspring after them were chiefly two, 
 namely, Conall Kearuach and Fergus Mac Roigh. 
 
 From Conall Kearnach came Mac Aengusa, anglicised Magennis, and 
 O'Morda, Anglicisel O'More and O'Moore, with their correlatives. 
 
 From Fergus sprang the O'Concobhair Kiarraidhe, anglicised O'Connor 
 Kerry, the O'Concobhair Corcamruadh, anglicised O'Connor Corcomroe, and 
 O'Fergail, anglicised O'Ferrall and O'Fearrall, with their correlatives. 
 
 I. 11. Echmilcdh, son of 
 
 PEDIGREE OF MAGENNIS, OF UI EA- 
 THACH ULADH, HERE. 
 
 1 . Art Ruadh, son of 
 
 2. Aedh, son of 
 
 3. Domnall Og, son of 
 
 4. Domnall Mor, son of 
 
 5. Aedh, son of 
 
 6. Art, son of 
 
 7. Aedh. [Tlie 3IS. copies begin the 
 
 series with Donncadh, brother of 
 this Aedh. The above seven names 
 are found in Dermod O'Connor's 
 translation. — Ed.] son of 
 
 8. Art na Madhmann, son of 
 
 9. Murkertach, son of 
 
 10. Riagan, son of 
 
 12. Ruaidri, son of 
 
 13. Gilla-Coluim, son of 
 
 14. Dubinnsi, son of 
 
 15. Aedh Remhar, son of 
 
 16. Flathbertach, son of 
 
 17. Echmiledh, son of 
 
 18. Aengus Og Magennis, in Irish, 
 MacAengusa, The first of this sur- 
 name, son of 
 
 19. Aengus Mor, from whom is the 
 
 name Magennis derived, son of 
 
 20. Echmiledh, son of 
 
 21. Aedh, son of 
 
 22. Aengus, son of 
 
 23. Adita, son of 
 
 24. Laignenn, son of 
 
680 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 25. Blatbmac, son of 
 
 26. Doninall, sou of 
 
 27. Concobar, sou of 
 
 28. Bresal 15él-derg, son of 
 
 29. Fergus, son of 
 
 30. Aedan, son of 
 
 31. Mougan, son of 
 
 32. Sarau. (Of the posterity of this 
 is Mac Cartan.) 
 
 Note. — According to Dr. O'Dono- 
 van, tlie Mac Cartans, of Kinel Fagh- 
 artaigh, now Kiuelarty, are descended 
 from Caelbadli, brother of Eocaidh 
 Coba, mentioned further on. The se- 
 ries is evidently defective in this place, 
 for either this is not the tíaran, King 
 of Uladh, and ancestor of Magennis, 
 who was cotemporary with St. Pa- 
 trick, or some of the links connecting 
 him with Cronn Badraei have been left 
 out by Keating or his transcribers. 
 The name Mongan occurs in the pedi- 
 gree of Congal Claen, King of Uladh, 
 as that of one of the brothers of his 
 father, Sganulan of the Broad Shield. 
 The series runs thus : 1, Congal, slain 
 at Magh Kath, A. D. C37 ; 2, Sganu- 
 lan, brother of ]\Iougau — the latter 
 was slain 626 ; 3, Fiachna Lurgan, or 
 Fiachna Finn ; 4, Baedan ; 5, Eo- 
 caidh, who died in 553 ; 6, Connla ; 
 7, Mani ; 8, Fothadh ; 9, Connla, 
 cotemporary with St. Patrick ; 10, 
 Caelbadh ; 11, Cronn Badraei. The 
 editor's MSS. malce Saran son of Cael- 
 badh ; O'Connor's translation gives 
 the names marked 33, 34, 35.] sons of 
 
 33. Mani, son of 
 
 34. Fothadh, son of 
 
 35. Oonall, son of 
 
 36. Caelbadh, king of Ulidia for fif- 
 teen years, and monarch of Ire- 
 land for one, slain A. D. 358, son of 
 
 37. Cronn Badraei, king of all Uladh, 
 sou of 
 
 38. Eocaidh Cobha, from whom is 
 derived the tribe-name, Ui Eath- 
 hach Coba, son of 
 
 39. Lugaidh, son of 
 
 40. Ross, K. U., son of 
 
 41. Imcadh, K. U., son of 
 
 42. Feidlimidh, K. U., son of 
 
 43. Gas, son of 
 
 44. Fiacaidh Araide, K. U., from 
 
 whom the Dal Araide, or Dalara- 
 dians, have their name, son of 
 
 45. Aengns Gaibnen, K. U., son of 
 
 46. Fergus Foghhxs, or Galini, son of 
 
 47. Tibi-adi Tirech, K. U., A. D. 181, 
 son of 
 
 48. Bresal Brec, son of 
 
 49. Ferb, son of 
 
 50. Mai, K. U. for thirty-five years, and 
 monarch of Ireland for four, sou of 
 
 51. liochraide, sou of 
 
 52. Cathbadh, son of 
 
 53. Giallcadh, son of 
 
 54. Duucadh, son of 
 
 55. Finncadh, son of 
 
 56. Muredacli, son of 
 
 57. Fiacaidli Fiuuaninais, son of 
 
 58. IrialGluiimar, K. U. [The brother 
 of this Irial was Laeighsech Keun- 
 mor, from whom the O'Moores 
 of Leix have sprung.] son of 
 
 59. Conall Kearnach, Knight of the 
 Red Branch, son of 
 
 60. Amirghin, son of 
 
 61. Cas, son of 
 
 62. Fiacaidli or Factna, son of 
 
 63. Capi, son of 
 
 64. Giuga. [Rosa Ruadh, the father 
 of Fergus Mac Roigh, was the 
 brother of this Giuga.] son of 
 
 65. Rudraide Mor, ]\[onarch of Ire- 
 laud, from whom the Clauua Rud- 
 raide have their name, son of 
 
 66. Sithrighe, son of 
 
 67. Dubh, son of 
 
 68. Fomhar, son of 
 
 69. Argedmar, Monarch of Ireland, 
 
 son of 
 
 70. Siorlamh, Monarch of Ireland, 
 son of 
 
 71. Finn, j^ionarch of Ireland, sou of 
 
 72. Bratha, sou of 
 
 73. Labraidh, son of 
 
 74. Carbri, son of 
 
 75. Ollamii Fodla, Monarch of Ire- 
 land, son of 
 
 76. Fiacaidh Finnsgothach, Monarch 
 of Ireland, sou of 
 
 77. Sudna, monarch of Ireland, son of 
 
 78. Artri, son of 
 
 79. Ebric, son of 
 
 80. Eber, sou of 
 
 81. Ir, sou of 
 
 82. Miledh of Esbain, &c.—See No. 
 87, Pedigree of Mac Carlhij Mor. 
 
 Note. — Of the same descent with 
 Mageuuis were also the O'Laverties, 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 681 
 
 O'Garveys, Wards or Mac-an Blairds, 
 the Mac Gilla Riabhaigh (perhaps 
 Mac Gilroy,) and several others. 
 
 II. 
 
 TflE PEDIGREE OF O'CONXOR KERRY, 
 HERE. 
 
 1. Cathal Ruadh, who went to France 
 in 1G9'2, when the nobles of Irelaud 
 were forced to flee thither, son of 
 
 2.. Concobar Cam, son of 
 
 3. Concobar, son of 
 
 4. Douucadii Mael. (Instead of Donn- 
 
 cadh Mael, another copy and 
 O'Connor, in his translation, trace 
 the line from his brother, Concobar 
 Finn, through Concobar Bacuch, 
 to Seaghan an Fhiona, or John of 
 the Wine.) sou of 
 
 5. Concobar, sou of 
 
 6. Seaghau, son of 
 
 7. Concobar, sou of 
 
 8. Concobar, son of 
 Concobar, sou of 
 
 . Diarmaid, son of 
 . Mathgaraain, or Mahon, sou of 
 . Diarmaid Sluagach, sou of 
 . Concobar, son of 
 
 Mathgamain, son of 
 
 Core, sou of 
 
 Mac-Betha, O'Connor, or O'Con- 
 
 cobair, who was slain at Clontarf, 
 
 A. D. 1014, son of 
 
 Muredach, son of 
 
 Concobar, from whom the name 
 
 is derived, son of 
 
 Cathal, son of 
 
 Aedh, sou of 
 
 Tadg, son of 
 
 Ruaidri, son of 
 
 Culuachra, son of 
 
 Diarmaid, son of 
 
 Concobar, son of 
 
 Fiun, sou of 
 
 Maelsschlainn, son of 
 
 Flann Fearna, son of 
 
 Colman, sou of 
 
 Cobthach, sou of 
 
 Recta Brath, son of 
 
 Maeltuili, sou of 
 
 Aedh Logha, son of 
 
 Durthacht, son of 
 
 Seuasg, sou of 
 
 Recta or Rechtach, son of 
 
 Ferba, sou of 
 
 Imcadh, son of 
 
 9. 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 12, 
 
 13, 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 22. 
 23. 
 24. 
 25. 
 26. 
 27. 
 28. 
 29. 
 30. 
 31. 
 32. 
 33. 
 34 
 35, 
 36 
 37 
 38 
 39 
 40 
 
 41. Ebric, son of 
 
 42. Mochduini, son of 
 
 43. Umlaibh, son of 
 
 44. ilesincon, son of 
 
 45. Sabhal or Saul, son of 
 
 46. Mogh-Art, son of 
 
 47. Oirbsenmar, or Orb Senmar, son of 
 
 48. Eocaidh, sou of 
 
 49. Artri, son of 
 
 50. p]ochamaiu, or Aghnamain, son of 
 
 51. Fiadmain, son of 
 
 52. Dclbnaei, son of 
 
 53. Enua, son of 
 
 54. Lamui, (called son of Ulsach, son 
 
 of Tamhain by Dermod O'Comior.) 
 son of 
 
 55. Astamaiu, sou of 
 
 56. Mogh-Taeth, son of 
 
 57. Kiar, sou of 
 
 58. Fergus Mac Roigh, K. U. [He 
 was called Mac Roigh from his 
 mother.] sou of 
 
 59. Rosa Ruadh, sou of 
 
 60. Rudraide, monarch of Ireland, &c. 
 — See No. 66, Pedigree of Magen- 
 nls. 
 
 From Kiar {Keear) son of Fergus 
 Mac Roigh, the Kiarraidhe, i. e. 
 the race of Kiar, have their uame. 
 Hence comes the modern term, 
 Kerry. Son of Fergus, son of Rosa 
 Ruadh was Core, from whom 
 sprang O'Connor of Corcomroe, 
 O'Lochliu of Burren, aud the 
 Muiuter Arga and Muiuter Flath- 
 bertaigh of North Munster. From 
 Coumac, sou of Core, sprung the 
 Mac Rauuells, or Reynolds, and 
 the O'Farrells, with their cor- 
 relatives. Of the race of Ir, son 
 of Miledh, are also the Muiuter 
 Maniun, or O'Mannings.the Muiu- 
 ter Eocadh, or Mac Keoghs, the 
 Muinter Kethiru, or Kearus, and 
 the Clanu Mic an Bhaird, or Mac 
 Wards. 
 ISToTE. — The O'Duggans and O'Cos- 
 grans of Fera Maighe Feni, aud the 
 O'Cathails, or O'Cahils, of Kerry, are 
 of the same stock with the O'Connors 
 Kerry. Of this race are also the 
 O'Lalors of Laeighis, of the same race 
 with the O'Mores. In this territory 
 there were seven septs of the descend- 
 ants of Laeighsech Kenu-mor, of the 
 line of Ir. — Ed. 
 
682 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF THE POSTEKITY OF EKIMKON, DOWN HEKE. 
 
 luGANi MoK is the source wbeuce sprang all that lives of the progeny of 
 Erimhon. All the children of lugaui passed away -without leaving any off- 
 spring with the exception of two. namely Laegari Lore and Cobthach Gael 
 Breiigh. The race of Erimhon settled in Leinster is descended from Laegari : 
 and the race of Erimhon in Leth Cuinn from Cobthach Cael Breagh. 
 
 THE I'EDIGREE OF O'.VEILL, WITH EVERT 
 LIMB THAT BRANCHED THEREFROM, UR 
 TO XIALL, DOWN HERE. 
 
 1. Seaghan, or John, son of 
 
 2. Aedb, or Hugh, son of 
 
 3. Ferdorcha, sou of 
 
 4. Conn Bacach, sou of 
 
 5. Henry, son of 
 
 '!. Eogan. (At this Eogan branches 
 off the family of Feidlimidh lluadh 
 O'Xeill.) son of 
 
 7. Niall Og, son of 
 
 8. Niall Mor, son of 
 
 9. Aedh, son of 
 
 10. Domnall, son of 
 
 11. Brian Catha an Duin, ?'. e. Brian 
 rifthe Battle of Doivn, son of 
 
 12. Xiall Ruadh, sou of 
 
 1.3. Aedh, called the Macaemh Toiu- 
 Icsg, son of 
 
 14. Murkertach of Magh Liui, son of 
 
 15. Tadg Gliuni, sou of 
 
 16. Ooucobar na Fiodbaighe, sou of 
 
 17. Domnall, i. e. the Og-damh. sou of 
 
 18. Aedh Athlamh. (This Aedh Ath- 
 
 lamh had a son named Douuslebi. 
 from whom sprang the sejit of Mae 
 Suibni Fanaitt, in English, Mac 
 Sweeney of Fanaid, and from it 
 sprang Mac Suibni ua d-Tuadh, i. c. 
 Mac Sweeney of the Battle Axes, 
 and Mac Sweeney Banagh.) sou of 
 
 19. Flathbcrtach an Trosdain, son of 
 
 20. Muredach Midach, son of 
 
 21. Domnall O'Neill of Ard Macha, 
 
 R. H. (This Domnall had a 
 brother named Aedh. from whom 
 sprang the Clanu Aedha Buidhe, 
 i. e. the O'Neill of Claneboy. 
 Domnall was the first of the race 
 that was called O'Neill, i. e. the 
 grandson of Niall Glun-dubh.) son 
 of 
 
 22. Murkertach na g-Cochall g-Croi- 
 
 kenn, i. e. Murkertach of the 
 Leather Cloaks, son of 
 
 23. 
 
 24. 
 2f>. 
 2G. 
 
 28. 
 29. 
 30. 
 31. 
 32. 
 33. 
 
 34. 
 35. 
 
 36. 
 
 Niall Glcx-dubh, R. H, from 
 whom the O'Neills have taken 
 their name, sou of 
 
 Aedh Finn-liath, E. H., son of 
 
 Niall Calli, R. H., son of 
 
 Aedh Oirniglie, R. H., son of 
 
 Niall Frasach, R. H. (From Con- 
 cobar, the brother of this Niall 
 Frasach, sprang O'Cathain, in 
 English, O'Kane.) son of 
 
 Fergal, son of 
 
 Maelduin, son of 
 
 Madsithrigh, son of 
 
 Aedh Uariduach, R. H., sou of 
 
 Domnall ll-chelgach, R. H., son of 
 
 Murkertach Mor Mac Erca. R. H. 
 (This Murkertach had a brother 
 named Mani, from whom sprang 
 0"Gormledha, in English, O'- 
 Gorraley.) sou of 
 
 Muredach, sou of 
 
 Eogan. (This Eogan, or Owen, 
 had five sons who left posterity 
 after them, namely, Muredach, 
 Olild, Fergus, Feidlimidh and 
 Eocaidh Binnicc. Of the oifspring 
 of iNIuredach is the stock of this 
 branch, i. e. the Mac Lochlins, 
 O'Neills, Mac Sweeneys, ODon- 
 nellies and their correlatives. Of 
 the posterity of Olild. son of 
 Eogan, are the Muintcr Kellaigh ; 
 of the posterity of Fergus, sou of 
 Eogan, is O'Connor of Magh Itha ; 
 of the posterity of Feidlimidh, son 
 of Eogan, is O'Duibhdiorma, or 
 O'Dooyirma, and O'Slevin; of 
 the posterity of Eocaidh Binnicc, 
 son of Eogan. are the Kinel Bin- 
 nic. From this Eogan the names 
 Tir Eogain, or Land of Eogan, in 
 English, Tyrone, and Kinel Eog- 
 ain, or Tribe of Eogan, are deriv- 
 ed. His posterity are also called 
 the Northern Eugenians by some 
 writers m foreign tongues.) son of 
 
 Niall of the Nine Hostages, R. H., 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 683 
 
 ;5s. 
 
 39. 
 40. 
 41. 
 42. 
 43. 
 
 'i4. 
 45. 
 46. 
 
 47. 
 
 48. 
 49. 
 50. 
 
 (Niall of the Nine Hostages had 
 eight sons, namely, Laegari, K. H., 
 Eogan, Fiacaidh, Enna, Carbri, 
 Maui, Conall Culban, and Conall 
 Cremthaimi. From Laegari, mo- 
 narch of Ireland, on S.t. Fatrick's 
 arrival therein, descends O'Coiu- 
 delbain, called in Eiiglish, O'Kin- 
 delan and O'Quinlivan ; from 
 Eogan sprang the stock of this 
 branch ; of the posterity of Man! 
 are the following septs, namely 
 the Sinnach, i. e. the Fox, 
 \Yhose family name was origin- 
 ally O'Catharuaigh, O'Hagan, 
 O'Ronan, i. e. ORouan of'the 
 Ui Neill race, but not 0"Iiouan, 
 or O'Rouayne of Munster, Mac 
 Coiumedha, or Mac Conway, the 
 Muiutir Slamhaiu, the O'Duigen- 
 an, O'Mulconry, O'Breen, the 
 Muinter Coiblicain, O'Siadail, or 
 O'Shiel, O'Cahalau, the Muinter 
 Muirghesa, O'Carghamua, now 
 Mac Carron, and Mac Amhal- 
 gaidh, now Mac Awley of Cal- 
 raide ; from Conall Gulban sprung 
 O'Dounell, with the septs of that 
 tribe, as we shall set down here- 
 after ; of the race of Conall Crem- 
 thaui sprang O'Maelsechlainn, in 
 English, O'Melaghlin, and the 
 branches of that stock. Of the 
 posterity of Carbri and Enna we 
 kuow nothing-.) son of 
 Eocaidh Muigh-medon, R. H., sou 
 of 
 
 Muredach Tirech, R. H., son of 
 Fiacaidh Srabthini, R. H., sou of 
 Carbri Lificar, R. H., sou of 
 Cormac Ul-fada, R. H., sou of 
 Art Aeinfer, R. H , son of 
 Conu of the Hundred Battles, R. 
 H., sou of 
 
 Feidlimidh Rectmar, R. H., son of 
 Tuathal Tectmar, R. H., son of 
 Fiacaidh Fiiuiolaidh, R. H., sou of 
 Feradach Finn-fechtnach, R. H., 
 son of 
 
 Grimthauu Niadh Nairi, R. H., 
 son of 
 
 Lugaidh Riabh-u-derg, R. H., sou 
 of 
 
 The three Finns of Emhain, i. e. 
 " Mac na d-Tri bh-Fiun Enihna.' 
 — See remarks upon tins strange 
 
 expression, under the reign of the 
 said Lugaidh and Eocaidh Feid- 
 Icch.) sou of 
 
 51. Eocaidh Feidlecli, R. IL, son of 
 
 52. Finn, sou of 
 
 53. Finnlogha, son of 
 
 54. Roighucu Ruadh, son of 
 
 55. Esamhain of Emhain, son of 
 
 56. Blathacta, sou of 
 
 57. Labraidh, son of 
 
 58. Enna Aighnech, R. H., sou of 
 
 59. Aengns Tuirmech of Temhair, R. 
 
 H., sou of 
 GO. Eocaidh Folt-lethan, R.H., son of 
 
 61. Olild Cas-Fiaclach, R. H.. son of 
 
 62. Counla Cruaidh-chelgach, R. H., 
 son of 
 
 63. larauu Gleo-fathach, R. IL, son of 
 
 64. Melgi Molbthach, R. H., son of 
 
 65. Cobthach Cael-Breagh, sou of 
 
 66. lugani Mor, R. H.. sou of 
 
 67. Eocaidh Buadach, sou of 
 
 68. Duach Laghrach, R. H., sou of 
 
 69. Fiacaidh Tolgrach, R. H., son of 
 
 70. Muredach Bolgrach, sou of 
 
 71. Simeon Brec, R. H., sou of 
 
 72. Aedgan Glas, son of 
 
 73. Nuadha Finn Fail, R. H., son of 
 
 74. Giallcaidh, R. H., son of 
 
 75. Olild Olcacin, son of 
 
 76. Siorua Saeghalach, R. H., son of 
 
 77. Dian, sou of 
 
 78. Rothectach, R. IL, son of 
 
 79. Maeu, son of 
 
 80. Aeugus Ol-mucaidh, R. H., son of 
 
 81. Fiacaidh Labranni, R. H., sou of 
 
 82. Srairgoll, son of 
 
 83. Enboth, son of 
 
 84. Tigherumas, R. H., son of 
 
 85. Follamhan, sou of 
 
 86. Ethrial, R. H., son of 
 
 87. Irial the Prophet, R. H., son of 
 
 88. Erimhox, R. H., son of 
 
 89. MHedh of Esbain, ko.—See No. 
 
 87, Pedigree of Mac CaHhy More. 
 
 n. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF O'dOXNELL OF KINEL 
 COXAILL, HERE. 
 
 1. Aedh, son of 
 
 2. Ruaidri, son of 
 
 3. Aedh, who died in A. D. 1600, and 
 
 whose son, Aedh Ruadh, fled to 
 Spain, where he died, A. D. 1602 
 son of 
 
 4. Magnus, son of 
 
684 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 5. 
 
 6. 
 
 7. 
 
 8. 
 
 9. 
 
 10. 
 
 11. 
 
 12. 
 
 13. 
 
 14. 
 
 1.5. 
 
 16. 
 
 17. 
 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 25. 
 
 30 
 
 Aedh Dubb, son of 
 
 Aedh Ruadh, son of 
 
 Niall Garbli, son of 
 
 Tordclbach an Fhina, son of 
 
 Niall Garbh, son of 
 
 , Aedh, son of 
 
 , Domnall Og, son of 
 
 , Domnall Mor, son of 
 
 , Eignechan, son of 
 
 , Douncadh, son of 
 
 , Domnall, son of 
 Aedh, sou of 
 
 , Tadg, son of 
 
 , Conn, son of 
 Cathbar, soa of 
 
 Gilla-Criost O'Domnaill, (in Eng- 
 lish, O'Donncll, the first of the 
 race that bore the family name, 
 and who died A. D. 1038,) son of 
 Cathbar, son of 
 
 Domnall IMor, progenitor of the 
 O'Donnells, whose name is spelled 
 O'Domhuaill, and pronounced 0'- 
 Donill by the Irish,) sou of 
 Eignechan, son of 
 Dalach, (from whom the tribe 
 Sil Dalaigh, take their name,) 
 son of 
 
 Murkertach, (This ilin-kertach 
 had two brothers, namely, Mael- 
 duin, from whom has descended 
 O'Boyle, and Fianan, corredli/ 
 Fiaman, from whom has sprang 
 O'Doherty.^ son of 
 Kennfaeladli, son of 
 Garbh, sou of 
 Ilonan, son of 
 
 Lugaidh, ancestor of the Kind 
 Luii^hdeclt, the tribe-name of this 
 sept of the Kinel Conail. 
 Fergus (brother of Fergus, son of 
 Sedua, was Anmiri, K. 11., father 
 of Aedh, son of Anmiri, 11. 11. 
 from whom sprung O'Muldory 
 Mac Gilla-Finncn and O'Gallagh- 
 er.) son of 
 Sedna, son of 
 Fergus Kenn-fada, son of 
 
 CONALL GULBAN, SOn of 
 
 Niall of the Nine Hostages, R. II. 
 See No. 36, Pedigree of O'Neill 
 of Kinel Eogain. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF O GALLAGHER. 
 
 1. Aedh Og, who was living in the lat- 
 
 ter part of the 17th century, and 
 was the senior representative of 
 the race of Conail Gulban, son of 
 
 2. Art, son of 
 
 3. Aedh, son of 
 
 4. Eogau, son of 
 
 5. Art, son of 
 
 6. Eogan, son of 
 
 7. Edmond, son of 
 
 8. Tuathal, son of 
 
 Í). Donncadh, sou of 
 
 10. John, son of 
 
 11. Nichol, son of 
 
 12. Gilhx-Coimdhe, son of 
 
 13. Aedh, son of 
 
 14. Fergal, son of 
 
 15. Donncadh, son of 
 10. Nichol, son of 
 
 17. Maelruanaidh, son of 
 
 18. Aedh, son of 
 
 19. Diarmaid, son of 
 
 20. ])omnall, son of 
 
 21. Amlacibh, son of 
 
 22. Donncadh Gallchobhair, in Eng- 
 lish, O'Gallagher, son of 
 
 23. Magnus, son of 
 
 24. Galcobar, from whom the name is 
 derived, son of 
 
 2.5. Rurcan, son of 
 
 26. Ruaidri, son of 
 
 27. Donncadh, son of 
 
 28. Domnall, sou of 
 
 29. Keliach, R. H. from 642 to 654, 
 son of 
 
 30. Maelcoba, R. H. son of 
 
 31. Aedh, R. H. son of 
 
 32. Anmiri, R. H. son of 
 
 33. Sedna, R. H. son of 
 
 34. Fergus Kenn-fada, &c. See No. 
 
 32, Pedigree of O'Donnell. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF O DOHERTY. 
 
 1. Cathaeir, otherwise called h?ir Cahir 
 
 O'Dohcrty, slain A. D. 1608, son 
 of 
 
 2. Seaghan Og, son of 
 
 3. Seaghan, son of 
 
 4. Feidlimiilh, son of 
 
 5. Concol)ar (!arrach, son of 
 
 6. Brian Dubh, son of 
 
 7. Domnall, sou of 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 685 
 
 9. 
 
 10, 
 
 11. 
 
 12. 
 
 13. 
 
 14. 
 
 15. 
 
 16. 
 
 17. 
 
 18. 
 
 19. 
 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 
 22. 
 
 23. 
 
 Ooncobar an Einigh, son of 
 Seaghan, son of 
 . Domiiall, son of 
 
 Aeudiles, sou of 
 
 Concobar, son of , 
 
 Bomnall, sou of 
 
 Euadri, son of 
 
 Aengus, 
 
 Murkertacli, 
 
 Diarmaid, 
 
 Concobar, 
 
 Domuall Finn, 
 
 Donucadh Doun, 
 
 Donniall, 
 
 Maengal, 
 
 Douncadh O'Dochartaigh or O'Do- 
 
 herty, the first that bore the fami- 
 ly name, son of 
 
 Maengal. 
 
 DocHARTACH, ffom whom the name 
 
 O'Doherty is derived, son of 
 
 Maengal, son of 
 
 FiAMAX. sou of 
 
 Kennlaeladh.— See No. 26, Pedi- 
 gree of O'Donnell. 
 
 PEDIGREE OP O'bOTLE, OF BOYLAGH. 
 
 1. Tordelbach Ruadh, chief, son of 
 
 2. Tadg Og, son of 
 
 3. Tadg, son of 
 
 4. Tordelbach, son of 
 Niall, son of 
 Tordelbach Og, son of 
 Tordelbach Mor, son of 
 Niall Euadh, son of 
 Menman, son of 
 
 10. Concobar, son of 
 
 11. Kellach, son of 
 
 12. Gilla-Brighdi, son ot 
 Aendiles Baighill, in English, 
 
 O'Boyle, son of 
 Garban, sou of 
 15. Baighel, from whom the name is 
 derived, son of 
 Bradagax, son of 
 Murkertach, &c. See No. 25, 
 Pedigree of O'Donnell. 
 
 13. 
 14. 
 
 16. 
 17. 
 
 Note. — The foregoing three pedi- 
 grees are arranged from those pub- 
 
 lished by Dr. O'Donovan with thL' 
 battle of Magh Ratb. I'he Ibilowing 
 is from IJurmod O'Connor's Irausiatiou 
 of Keating. 
 
 THE pedigree OF MAGEOGHEGAN. 
 
 1. Concobar, or Connor, and Conula, 
 
 sons of 
 
 2. Calbhach, son of 
 
 3. Connla, son of 
 
 4. Couall, son of 
 
 5. Niall, son of 
 
 6. Rosa, son of 
 
 7. Connla, sou of 
 
 8. Coucobar, son of 
 
 9. Laighnech, son of 
 
 10. Conula, sou of 
 
 11. Aedh Buidhe, son of 
 
 12. Diarmaid. son of 
 
 13. Douncadh, sou of 
 
 14. Murkertach, son of 
 
 1 5. Congalach, son of 
 
 16. Congalach, son of 
 
 17. Murkertach, sou of 
 
 18. Murkertach, son of 
 
 19. Cucalma, son of 
 
 20. Anluan, son of 
 
 21. Congalach, son of 
 
 22. Douncadh, son of 
 
 23. Murcadh, sou of 
 
 24. Amalgach, son of 
 
 25. Flauu, son of 
 
 26. Eocaidh, son of 
 
 27. Eocaidh, son of 
 
 28. Crimthaun, sou of 
 
 29. Gilla-Callaiu, son of 
 
 30. Amalgach, son of 
 
 31. Ruaidri, son of 
 
 32. lueirgi Mac Eochagain, or Ma- 
 geoghegan, son of 
 
 33. EocHAGHAN, from whom the family 
 name is derived, son of 
 
 34. Cosgarach, son of 
 
 35. Amalgach, son of 
 
 36. Tuathal, sou of 
 
 37. FiACAiDH, son of 
 
 38. Niall of the Nine Hostages, R. H. 
 «fee. See No. 36, Pedigree of 
 O'Neill. 
 
686 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF THE POSTERITY OF BRIAN, SON OF E0CAID1Í 
 MUIGH-MEDON, DOWN HERE. 
 
 EocAiDii MciGH-MEDOx had five sons, namely, Brian, Fiacaidh or Fiachra, 
 Olild and Fergus, who were the four sons of Mongfinn, daughter of Fidacii ; 
 and the fifth sou was Xiall of the Kine Hostages, wliose mother was daughter 
 of the king of Britain. And althougli Niall was the youngest of the five, we 
 have nevertheless given him the precedence in this genealogy, because his worth 
 and glory were the greatest, and because it was his offspring that gave the 
 greatest number of kings to Ireland. There are two of the sons of Eocaidh, of 
 whose posterity mx- can find no trace ; we shall then give down here the pedi- 
 gi-ees of those two who left a progeny after them, namely, Brian and Fiacaidh 
 or Fiachra. 
 
 THK PEDIGKEE OF O CONNOR ROE, INTO 
 WHICH WE SH.\I.L BRING THE WHOLE 
 
 RACE OF BRIAN, SON 
 MUIGH-MEDON, HERE. 
 
 OF EOCAIDH 
 
 Cathal Og, son of 
 Aedh, son of 
 Tordelbach, son of 
 Tadg Buidhe, son of 
 Cathal Ruadh, son of 
 Tadg, son of 
 
 7. Tordelbach, son of 
 
 8. Aedh, son of 
 
 9. Feidlimidh. [Brother of this 
 
 Feidlimidh was Tordelbach Bonn, 
 from whom sprung O'Connor 
 Don.] son of 
 
 10. Aedh, King of Connaught, A. D. 
 
 1309. 
 
 11. Eogan, K. C, in 1274, son of 
 
 12. Ruaidri, son of 
 
 13. Aedh, K. C, in 1228. 
 
 14. Cathal Crobh-derg, i. e. the Red- 
 handed, K. C, who died in 1224, 
 son of 
 
 1.5. Tordelbach Mor, R. 11. [This 
 Tordelbach had five sons, who 
 Itave left a posterity ; namely, 
 Cathal the Red-handed, his 
 ijoungest son, from Mhom sprang 
 O'Connor Roe and O'Connor 
 Don ; Brian Laighncch, from 
 whom sprang O'Connor Sligo ; 
 Aedh Dall, from whom sprung 
 O'Gelbuidhe {O'Gilvoi/) ,• Magnus, 
 from whom sprung .M'Manus of 
 Tir-Tuathail ( Tirooil) ; and Con- 
 cobar na Midhe, ancestor of clan 
 Con-Afni ; and Ruaidri, the last 
 Monarch of Ireland, and tlie eldest 
 
 of the sons of Tordelbach Mor, 
 wliose race is extinct^ son of 
 
 16. Ruaidri na Soighc Buidhe, i. e. of 
 the Yellow J found, K. C, son of 
 
 17. Aedh an Gai Bearnaigh, i. c. of 
 the Broken Spear, son of 
 
 18. Tadg an Eich Ghil. i. e. of the 
 White Steed, K. C. [Tadg, of 
 the White Steed, had a son 
 named Maelruauaidh, from M'hom 
 sprung MacDermott of Moylurg, 
 and from j\IacUerniott sprung 
 MacDonough of Tircrril ; and 
 MacDermott Roe, from whom 
 sprung the two O'Crowleys iu 
 Munster.] son of 
 
 18. Cathal, son of 
 
 19. Concobar. [Brother of this Con- 
 cobar was Tadg, from whom 
 the Clann Taidg arc descended.] 
 son of 
 
 20. Tadg O'Concobair, the first of the 
 name, K. C. \It is he that is 
 called Tadg of the Tower.'] son of 
 
 21 . Cathal, son of 
 
 22. Concobar, K. C, A.D. 8l9,fro7n 
 whom the family name is derived, 
 
 23. Tadg, son of 
 
 24. ]\Iuirghcas, K. C. [Brother to this 
 
 Muirgheas was Diarmaid, from 
 whom sprung MacOircchtagh, in 
 English MacGeraghtij.lj son of 
 
 25. Tomaltach. [Brother to this To- 
 maltaoh was Diarmaid, from 
 whom spr\nig MacConcannon and 
 O'Fallon] son of 
 
 26. Inrachtacii, K. C. [Of tlic poste- 
 rity of this Inrachtach, is O'Beirne 
 ff Connaughf] son of 
 
 27. Muredach Maeil-lcthan . [Of the 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 U 
 
 posterity of Cathal, son of this 
 Muredach, are the septs of O'Fian- 
 nagan of Connaught; O'jMuh-enin ; 
 and O'Maehnocheirghe, in English 
 O'Mulmoghery and Early; of the 
 race of Fergus, son of Mured;\ch 
 Mael-lethan, is ^MacSaiuhragain, 
 1. e. Magauran — sometimes trans- 
 lated into Somers.'] son of 
 
 28. Fergus, son of 
 
 29. Raghallach, K. C. 
 
 30. Feradach, K. C. 
 
 31. ^edh, K. C. [Of the posterity of 
 this Aedh is O'Flyn Lini.] 
 
 32. Bocaidh Tirmcarna, K. C, son of 
 
 33. Fergus. [Of the posterity of this 
 Fergus, arc O'Ruairc and MacTier- 
 man ; from Fergus likewise sprung 
 O'Reilly, and MacBrady, and Mac- 
 Cosnamha, now translated Forde ; 
 another son of Fergus was Duach 
 Teng-umha (K. C, slain A. D. 
 530), from whom sprung O'Flah- 
 erty, and MacAedha, now translat- 
 ed McHugh, Hughes, and Hayes]. 
 
 34. Muredach'Mal, K. C, son of 
 
 35. Eogan Sriabh, K. C, son of 
 
 36. Duach Galach, K. C, son of 
 
 37. Briax, K. C. [This Brian had 
 a son named Oirbsen, from whom 
 sprung O'Malley ; he had another 
 son named Erca Derg, from whom 
 sprung MacBranan, MacKeogh, 
 and O'Hanly. From him the 
 O'Cannors, O'Ruaircs, O'Reillies, 
 and their correlatives, took the 
 generic name of Ui Briuin or Ui 
 Briain] son of 
 
 38. Eocaidh Muigh-medon, R. H., &c. 
 
 See No. 37, Pedigree of O'Neill. 
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF O'cONNOR DON. 
 
 1. Cathal or Charles, author of the 
 Dissertation on the History of 
 Ireland, born A.D. 1710, sou of 
 
 2. Donncadh or Denis, sou of 
 
 3. Cathal Og, son of 
 
 4. Cathal, son of 
 
 5. Aedli, son of 
 
 6. Diarmaid, son of 
 
 7. Carbri, son of 
 
 8. Eogan Oaech, sou of 
 
 9. Feidlimidh Gencach,son of 
 
 10. TOKDELBACII DoNX, SOU Of 
 
 11. Aedli, &c. See No. 10, Pedigree 
 
 of O'Connor Roe. 
 
 TlIE PEDIGREE OP O'fL.AHERTY, OK WEST 
 CONNAUGHT. 
 
 1. Ruaidri Og, or Roderic, author of 
 the Ogygia, son of 
 
 2. Aedh, son of 
 
 3. Ruaidri, son of 
 
 4. Murker tach, sou of 
 
 5. Aedh Og, son of 
 
 7. Aedh, son of 
 
 8. Cilla-dubh, son of 
 
 9. Brian na Noiusech, son of 
 
 10. Domnall na g-Comthach, son of 
 
 11. Murkertach an Ghiberi, son of 
 
 12. Ruaidri, sou of 
 
 13. Aedh, son of 
 
 14. Ruaidri of Loch Kimi, son of 
 
 15. Muredach Mor O'Flathbertaigh, 
 in English, O'Flaherty, son of 
 
 IG. Maelculaird, son of 
 
 17. Flathbertach, from whom the 
 surname is derived, son of 
 
 18. Emhin, sou of 
 
 19. Murcadh, son of 
 
 20. Uromhan. 
 
 21. Maenach, son of 
 
 22. Flathniadh, sou of 
 
 23. Fiangalach, son of 
 
 24. Flan Rodba, son of 
 
 25. Amalgaidh, son of 
 
 26. Kennfaeladh, son of 
 
 27. Colgan, son of 
 
 28. Aedh, son of 
 
 29. Senach, son of 
 
 30. Duach Teng-TJmha, K. C, son of 
 
 31. Fergus, son of 
 
 32. Muredach Mael-lethan, K. C, &c. 
 
 See No. 27, Pedigree of O'Connor 
 Reo. 
 
688 
 
 GENEALOGY 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF THE POSTERITY OF FIACHRA, SON" OF 
 EOCAIDH MUIGH-MEDON, DOWN HERE. 
 
 THE 
 1. 
 
 2. 
 o 
 
 4. 
 5. 
 
 9. 
 10. 
 11. 
 12. 
 13. 
 
 14. 
 15. 
 
 16. 
 17. 
 18. 
 19. 
 20. 
 21. 
 22. 
 23. 
 24. 
 25. 
 26. 
 27. 
 28. 
 29. 
 30 
 31. 
 32. 
 
 33 
 
 PEDIGREE OF O'SHAUOIINESSV, HERE. 
 
 Sir Diarmaid, son of 
 
 Eiiaidri, son of 
 
 Diarmaid, son of 
 
 Gilla-Dubh, son of 
 
 Diarmaid. son of 
 
 AVilliam, sou of 
 
 Seagban Buidlie, son of 
 
 Eocan, son of 
 
 AViliiam, son of 
 
 Gilla-na-naemh, son of 
 
 Iluaidri, son of 
 
 Gilla-na-naemh, son of 
 
 Kaghuall O'Sechuasaigh, in Eng- 
 lish 0' Shaughnessy, or O'Shagh- 
 
 nessy, son of 
 
 Gelbuidhe, son of 
 
 Sechxasacu, from whom the O'- 
 Sechuasaigh is derived, son of 
 
 Douncadh, son of 
 
 Cumaighe, son of 
 
 Fcrgal, son of 
 
 Maelkiarain, son of 
 
 Cas, son of 
 
 Murgal, son of 
 
 Macituili, son of 
 
 Sithmani, son of 
 
 Nochba, or Nobile, son of 
 
 Egna, son of 
 
 Nadsedna, son of 
 
 Gabran, or Garban, son of 
 
 Tobach, or Toban, son of 
 
 Brauan, son of 
 
 Brann Leth-dcrg, son of 
 
 Murcadh, son of 
 
 Aedh, from whom the Kinel 
 Aedha, ?. e., the tribe to which 
 O'Shaughnessy belonged, are called 
 son of 
 
 Artgal, [son of this Artgal was 
 Ardgal, from whom descends 0'- 
 Heyne and O'Comhaltan (Coul- 
 ton), O'Keady, O'Cathmogha, in 
 Enirlish, 0' Coffey [not the same 
 O'CfJwhig or Cofl'ci/ of the west of 
 Cork), and Mac Kilkelly. From 
 IMurcadh, son of Aedh, son of 
 Artgal, are descended O'Branain of 
 Kind Aedha and O'Clery,] son of 
 
 34. Guairi the Hospitable, K. C., son 
 of 
 
 35. Colman, son of 
 
 36. Cobtliach, son of 
 
 37. Eogan Aidni [from the surname 
 of this Eogan, the southern Ui 
 Fiachrach were called Ui Fiach- 
 rach Aidhnij , son of 
 
 38. Goibneun, son of 
 
 39. Conall, son of 
 
 40. Eogan, son of 
 
 41. Eocaidh Brec [of the posterity of 
 this Eocaidh Brec are the follow- 
 ing septs, namely, O'Muldoon, 0'- 
 MaelFhoghmhair, O'Coman, 0'- 
 Creghan, O'Lenan, O'Lahilly, and 
 O'Suanaigh.] son of 
 
 42. Dathi, E. H. (of the posterity of 
 Dathi is O'Dowda), son of 
 
 43. FiACiiR.v FoLT-SNATHACH, from 
 whom the Ui Fiachrach are called, 
 son of 
 
 44. Eocaidh Muigh-medon, E. H., &c. 
 — See No. 27, pedigree of O'Neill. 
 
 Note. — The names between Aedh, 
 the ancestor of the Kinel Aedha, 
 marked 32, and Cobthach, marked 36, 
 have been interpolated, as has been 
 shown by Dr. O'Donovan, in his notes 
 to the tribes and customs of the Ui 
 Fiachrach. Colman, the father of 
 Guairi the Hospitable, was the brother 
 of Aedh, the ancestor of the Kinel 
 Aedlia, and Cobthach, son of Goibuenn. 
 was their common father. — See pedigree 
 of O'Heyiie, hereafter annexed — Ed. 
 
 The Pedigree op O'Hevíie, m Irish, 
 Oh'Eidhin, of Ui Fiachrach Aidni. 
 From the Tribes and Customs of the 
 Ui Fiachrach. 
 
 1. Eogan, son of 
 
 2. Aedh Buidho, son of 
 
 3. Aedh Buidhc, chief of Ui Fiach- 
 rach, who died in 1594, sou of 
 
 4. Efigan Mantach, son of 
 
 5. Edmond, son of 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 689 
 
 6. 
 
 7. 
 
 8. 
 
 9. 
 10. 
 11. 
 12. 
 13. 
 14. 
 15. 
 IG. 
 17. 
 18. 
 19. 
 20. 
 21. 
 22. 
 
 23. 
 
 24. 
 
 25. 
 
 26. 
 27, 
 28, 
 29, 
 30. 
 31, 
 32, 
 33, 
 34, 
 
 Flann, son of 
 CoDcobar, son of 
 Brian, son of 
 Acdh, son of 
 Murkcrtach, son of 
 Donncadh, son of 
 Aedh, son of 
 John, sou of 
 Eogan, son of 
 Gilla-na-naemh, son of 
 Gilla-Kellaigh, son of 
 Aedh, sou of 
 Concobar, son of 
 Fhxnn, son of 
 Gilla-na-uaemh, son of 
 Cugaela, son of 
 
 Maelfabaill Oh'Eidhiu, in English, 
 O'Heyne and Hynes, whose bro- 
 ther, Maelruauaidh, was slain at 
 Clontarf, A. D. 1014, son of 
 Flaun, son of 
 
 Edin, from whom the family natne 
 is derived, son of 
 
 Cleirech, from whom the 0' Clerics 
 derive their name, they being des- 
 cended from Iilaellabaill, his eldest 
 son, sou of 
 Kedadach, son of 
 Cumasgach, son of 
 Cathmogh, son of 
 Torpa, son of 
 
 Fergal Aidni, K. C. son of 
 Artgal, son of 
 Guairi Aidni, K. C, son of 
 CoLMAN, K. C., son of 
 Cobthach, &c. — See No. 36, Pedi- 
 gree of 0' Shaughncssy. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF O CLERY. 
 
 This was once a chief family of Ui 
 Fiachrach Aidni. A branch of it af- 
 terwards became chief historians of Tir 
 Couaill. Its members obtained pos- 
 sessions in various parts of Ireland, 
 through their talents as historians and 
 bards. 
 
 1. Cu-coigcrichi, or Peregrine, one of 
 
 the compilers of the Annals of the 
 Four Masters, who died in A. D. 
 1664, and whose sixth descendent 
 is now living, son of 
 
 2. Lugaidh, son of 
 
 3. Mac-con, son of 
 
 4. Cu-coigcrichi, son of 
 
 5. Diarmaid, son of 
 
 6. Tadg, son of 
 
 7. Diarmaid of the Three Schools, son 
 
 of 
 
 8. Gilla-Riabhach, son of 
 
 9. Gilla-Brighdi, son of 
 
 10. Cormac, who settled in Tir Con- 
 aill, A. D. 1352, son of 
 
 11. Diarmaid, son of 
 
 12. John Sgiamhach, son of 
 
 13. Domnall, son of 
 
 14. Gilla-Isa, son of 
 
 15. Tadg, son of 
 
 16. Muredach, son of 
 
 17. Tighcrnach, son of 
 
 18. Gilla-na-naemh, son of 
 
 19. Domnall, son of 
 
 20. Eogan, son of 
 
 21. Braen, son of 
 
 22. Cugaela, Chief of Ui Fiachrach 
 Aidni, died A. D. 1025, son of 
 
 23. Gilla-Kellaigh, Chief of Ui Fiach- 
 rach Aidni, from whom the sept 
 Mac Gilla Kellaigh or KiUikelly, 
 has its name. 
 
 24. Conhaltou, Chief of Ui F. A., son 
 of 
 
 25. Maelfabaill, Chief of Ui F. A., 
 who died A. D. 887, son of 
 
 26. Cleirech, the progenitor from 
 whom the surname is derived, &c. 
 — See No. 25, Pedigree of O'Heyne. 
 
 THE pedigree OF O'DOWDA, OR o'DOWD, 
 OF XORTHERN UI FIACHRACH. 
 
 1. David, slain A. D. 1690, son of 
 
 2. Dathi Og, son of 
 
 3. James, son of 
 
 4. Dathi, son of 
 
 5. Dathi, son of 
 
 G. Tadg Riabhach, chief of his name, 
 slain A. D. 1536, son of 
 
 7. Eogan, son of 
 
 8. Concobar, son of 
 
 9. Diarmaid, son of 
 
 10. Maelruauaidh, son of 
 
 11. Ruaidri, son of 
 
 12. Domnall Cleirech, son of 
 
 13. Sen Brian, son of 
 
 14. Taithlech Mnaidhe, son of 
 
 15. Maelruauaidh, son of 
 
 16. Donncadh Mor, son of 
 
 17. Aedh, son of 
 
 18. Taithlech, son of 
 
 44 
 
690 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 19. Acdh, son of 
 
 20. Murkertach, son of 
 
 21. Aedh, son of 
 
 22. Taithlcch, son of 
 
 23. Niall, sonof 
 
 24. Maelsechlainn, sou of 
 
 25. Maelruanaidh, son of 
 
 26. Aedh O'Dublida, in English, 
 
 ODowda, King of North Con- 
 naught, son of 
 
 27. Kellach Mac Dubhda, son of 
 
 28. Dubhda, from whom the surname 
 
 is derived, and from whose brother 
 Caemhan sprang O'Cacmhain, son 
 of 
 
 29. Conraach, son of 
 
 30. Donncatlia, K. C. died A.D. 768, 
 
 son of 
 
 31. Cathal, san of 
 
 32. Olild, son of 
 
 33. Donncadh Murski, son of 
 
 34. Tibradi, son of 
 
 35. Maeldubh, or Maelduin, son of 
 
 36. Fiachra Elgach, son of 
 
 37. Datiii, R. H., son of 
 
 38. Fiachra Folt-Snathach,from whom 
 
 all the Ui Fiachrach are called, &c. 
 See No. 42, Pedigree of Sliaugh- 
 nessy. 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF THE POSTERITY OF EOCAIDH DUBLEIN OF 
 THE LINE OF EEIMHON, DOWN HERE. 
 
 EocAiDH DuBi.EiN, son of Carbri Lificar, and brother of Fiacaidh Srab- 
 thini, was the father of the Three Collas. From Colla Uais, the eldest brother 
 of these, came the septs that bear the following surnames ; to wit, the clan of 
 Mac Donald, both in Ireland and in Scotland ; the clan of Mac Dugald, or 
 Mac Bowell ; the clan of Mac Sheehy ; and the Ui Brcsail Macha. 
 
 From Colla Da Crioch, sprang O'Kelly of Ui Mani, Mac Mahon of Oir- 
 ghialla, Maguire, O'Hanlon, O'Naghtan {sometimes called Norton), and O'Madden. 
 We shall here give the first place to the clan of Mac Donald. 
 
 I. 12. Raghnall, son of 
 
 13. Samharli, son of 
 
 14. Gilla-Brighdi, son of 
 
 15. Gilla-Adamnain, son of 
 
 16. Solamh, or Solomon, son of 
 
 17. Mcdraidc, son of 
 IH. Suibni, son of 
 
 19. Niallgus, son of 
 
 20. Mani, son of 
 
 21. Gofraidh, son of 
 
 22. Fergus, son of 
 
 22. Ere, son of 
 
 23. Crimthann, son of 
 
 24. Eocaidh, son of 
 
 25. Eric, son of 
 
 26. Carthann, son of 
 
 27. Colla Uais, R. H. son of 
 
 28. Eocaidh Duiblein, son of 
 
 29. Carbri Liiicar, R. II.— .*?cc No. 40, 
 Pedigree of O'Neill. 
 
 Note 1. — The letter m. is silent in 
 this word, as pronounced by moderns. 
 It is also to be remarked that the double 
 L, and double n of the modern Irish, is 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF MAC DONALD, I. E., OF 
 MAC SAMHARLI, EARL OF ANTRIM. 
 
 1. Raghnall, or Randal, son of 
 
 2. Samarli, called also Surly, son of 
 
 3. Alasdrum, Alister, or Alexander, 
 
 son of 
 
 4. Eoin Cathanach. son of 
 
 5. Domnall I3allach, King of the He- 
 
 brides, son of 
 
 6. Eoin Mor, son of 
 
 7. Eoin, son of 
 
 8. Aengus Og, son of 
 
 9. Aengus, son of 
 
 10. DoMNAi^L Oo.' (From this Dom- 
 
 nall the name Mac Domnaill, 
 in English, Mac Donald, is de- 
 rived. This Domnall or Donald 
 had a brother named Alasdrum, 
 from whom sprang the clan of 
 Mac Sheehy, in Gaelic, Clann 
 Sithigh, i. e. the descendants of 
 Sithach, son of Echduin, son of 
 Alasdrum, son of Domuall.) son of 
 
 11. Domnall, son of 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 601 
 
 nearly always found written ld and nd 
 in the more ancient MSS. Thut the 
 D was Ibrmcrly fully pronounced in 
 such positions, its retention by the 
 Gaels of modern Scotland in such 
 words as Donihnald, Raglniaid, Dubh- 
 gald, which the Irish write and pro- 
 nounce Domlniall, Raghnall, Dubhgall. 
 is rather conclusive proof. — Ed. 
 
 Note 2. — Tn this pedigree several 
 generations have been omitted in the 
 editor's copies, between Gofraidh. or 
 Godfrey, No. 21, and Eric, sou of Car- 
 thann. No. 25.— The names in italics 
 are supplied from the Ogi/gia. 
 
 II. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF o'KELLY OF UI MANX, 
 HERB. 
 
 1. fKellach of Aughrira, slain A. D. 
 
 1641, son of 
 
 2. fTadg of Aughrim. (These two 
 
 names arc supplied from the pedi- 
 gree of the O'Kelley, published 
 with the tribes and customs of 
 the Ui Maui.) son of 
 
 3. Ferdorcha, chief of Ui Mani, sou of 
 
 4. KelIach,son of 
 
 5. Domnall, son of 
 
 6. Aedh na Coilli, son of 
 
 7. Uiliam, son of 
 
 8. Maelsechlainn, son of 
 
 9. Uiliam J3uidhe, son of 
 
 10. Donncadh Muimnech, son of 
 
 11. Concobar Mor, son of 
 
 12. Donnall Mor, son of 
 
 13. Tadg Taltenn, son of 
 
 14. Concobar of the Battle, son of 
 
 15. Diarmaid, son of 
 
 16. Tadg, son of 
 
 17. Concobar, son of 
 
 18. Concobar, son of 
 
 19. Tadg Mor of the Battle of Brian, 
 
 slain at Clontarf, A. D. 1014, son 
 of 
 
 Murcudh O'Kellaigh, in English, 
 O'Kellv. who died A. D. 960. son 
 of 
 
 Aedh, son of 
 
 Kellach or Ceallach, from whom 
 the Ui Kellaigh have their name, 
 son of 
 
 Finnacta, son of 
 Olild, son of 
 25. Inractach. (This Inractach had a 
 brother named Cosgarach, from 
 
 20. 
 
 21. 
 
 99 
 
 23. 
 
 24 
 
 whom has sprung Mac Aedagain, 
 or Mac Egan.) Son of 
 20. Fithkellach, son of 
 
 27. Dluthach, son of 
 
 28. Dicolla. {Fif/ikellach, son of this 
 
 Dicolla, was the ancestor of O'Don- 
 ricllan.) sou of 
 
 29. Eogan Finn, (Brother to this 
 
 Eogan Finn, was Eogan Buadach, 
 or Bnac, from whom sprung 0'- 
 Madden.) son of 
 80. Cormac, son of 
 
 31. Carbri Crom, son of 
 
 32. Feradach, son of 
 
 33. Crimthann Cael {ancestor of the 
 
 Cruffons.) son of 
 
 34. Lngaidh, son of 
 
 35. Dalian, son of 
 
 36. Bresal, son of 
 
 37. Mani Mor, from whom the Ui Ma- 
 ni or Hy Mani are called, sons of 
 
 38. Eocaidh Fer-da-ghiall, son of 
 
 39. Domnall, sou of 
 
 40. Imcadh. (This Imcadh had 
 brothers, namely, Degaidh Dorn, 
 from whom Mac Mahon of Monagh- 
 an sprang, and also O'h-Inriich- 
 taigh, in English, O'Hanralty ; 
 Rocadh, from whom sprang Ma- 
 guire and Mac Tiernan of Clan 
 Fergail ; and Fiachra, from whom 
 sprang O'Hanlon and O'Niallain 
 son of 
 
 42. CoLT.A Da Crioch, son of 
 
 43. Eocaidh Duiblein, &(i.—See No.29, 
 Pedigree of Mac Donald. 
 
 THE pedigree OF MAGUIRE, FROM DER- 
 
 MOD O'Connor's translation of 
 
 KEATING. 
 
 1. Cuconuacht Mor, slain at Augh 
 
 rim, son of 
 
 2. Aedh, son of 
 
 3. Brian, son of 
 
 4. Cuconuacht, son of 
 
 5. Cuconuacht, son of 
 
 6. Cuconuacht, son of 
 
 7. Brian, son of 
 
 8. Philip, son of 
 
 9. Thomas, son of 
 
 10. Aedh, son of 
 
 11. Flathbertach, son of 
 
 12. Donn, son of 
 
 13. Domnall, son of 
 
692 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 14. Gilla-Criost, or Christianus, son of 
 
 15. Donn Mor, son of 
 
 16. liaglinall Mac Uidhir, in English, 
 Maiiuire, son of 
 
 17. UiDuiR, from whom the sept has 
 taken its name, son of 
 
 19. fCairdech, .son of 
 
 20. •iOirííhiallach, son of 
 
 21. t Uidhir, sou of 
 
 22. fOairnech, son of 
 
 23. fLuan, son of 
 
 24. fUairghidladh, son of 
 
 25. f Crimthann, son of 
 
 26. jFeidthech, son of 
 
 27. RociiAD, sou of 
 
 28. CoUa Da Crioch, &c. — See pedi- 
 gree of 0' Kelly. 
 
 Note. — The names thus marked (f) 
 seem to have been altogether corrupted 
 by Dermod O'Connor, and several 
 names have been omitted ; but no 
 pedigree of this ancient sept is imme- 
 diately accessible to the present editor, 
 whereby he could set it right. 
 
 Uidher, from whom Maguire is call- 
 ed, was, according to O'Flaherty, sou 
 of Serrac, son of Orgiell, son of Uid- 
 hir, son of Kernach, sou of ]\Iuredach 
 Meidh, son of Imcadh, son of Colla Da 
 Crioch. 
 
 II. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF O'lMADDEN, OF SIL 
 •ANMCADHA. 
 
 1. Anmcadh or Ambrose, chief of 
 his name, w-ho died in 10.37. son of 
 
 Domnall, son of 
 Seaghau, or John, son of 
 Brcsal, son of 
 Seaghau, son of 
 Murcadh, son of 
 Eogan, son of 
 Carrach, son of 
 Murcadh, son of 
 
 Eogan Mor, son of 
 , Murcadh, son of 
 
 Eogan, son of 
 
 Murcadh, son of 
 
 Cathal, son of 
 
 Madudan, son of 
 
 Diarmaid, son of 
 
 Madudan Eemhar, O'Madud- 
 
 haiu, and anglicised O'Madden, 
 
 son of 
 
 Diarmaid, son of 
 
 Madudan Mor Adagan, from 
 
 whom the surname is derived, sou 
 
 of 
 
 Gadhra Mor, son of 
 
 Dunadach, son of 
 
 Gadra, son of 
 , Loingsech, 
 
 Dunadach, sou of 
 
 Cobthach, son of 
 
 Maelduin, sou of 
 
 Conngalacli, son of 
 
 Anmcadh, from whom the Sil 
 Anmcadha are called, son of 
 
 Eogan Buac, son of 
 
 Cormac, &c.—See No. 30, Pedi- 
 gree of 0' Kelly. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF THE POSTERITY OF EOCAIDH FINN AND FI- 
 ACAIDII SUIGUDI, THE B1Í OTHERS OF CONN OF THE HUNDRED 
 BATTLES, AND OF FIACAIDH FER-MARA, SON OF AENGUS TUII>- 
 MECH OF TEMHAIR, R. II., DOWN HERE. 
 
 Conn of the Hundred Battles had two l)rothers, namely, Eocaidh Finn and 
 Fiacaidh Suighdi. From Eocaidh Finn sprang ()'XoIaii,V//(f/ O'Lwjvt/n ; and 
 from Fiacaidh Huighdi sprang O'Felan and (J'P.rif, of the Dcsi Muinhan. 
 
 Eiina Aighnech, monarch of Ireland, hail a brother named Fiacaidh Fer- 
 mara, from whom descended Conari, son of i\logh Eamha, the son-in-law of Conn 
 of the Hundred Battles ; and it was this Conari that was the father of the 
 three brothers named Carbri, namely, Carbri Riada, Carbri Musg, and Car- 
 bri Baschaein ; and it is the posterity of these that are called the Ernaigh 
 Mumhan, cr Ernaansof Munster. 
 
 From Carbri Riada sprang the race called Dal Riada, to which belong the 
 
GENEALOUY. 
 
 693 
 
 following septs, settled in Alba, namely, the Kinel n-Guain, Mac Adamnain, 
 Mac Eoghain, Mac Boitlireoh, Mac Grilla-Eoin, and Mac Gilla-Lagliman.' 
 
 From Carbri Musg, are named all the septs of the Miií^-raide that dwell in 
 Munster, and ol' this race is O'Falvy, O'Connell, and O'tíhea of Desmond, and 
 0"Qiiirk of Musuraide. From Carbri Baschaein, Corcobaskia has its name, 
 but we know nothing of his posterity.'' 
 
 Note 1. — The editor does not know the English forms of those tribe-names 
 2. The descendants of Carbri Baschaein are, according to our most judicious 
 antiquarians, the O'Donnells and O'Baskins of the county of Clare. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF THE DAL RIADA, OF 
 ALBA, HERE. 
 
 1. Constantine, King of Alba, or Mod- 
 
 ern Scotland, A. Í). 995, son of 
 
 2. Corllen, in 967, sou of • 
 
 3. Dubh, sou of 
 
 4. Kenneidigh, or KiTiaeth, son of 
 
 5. Maelcoluim, sou of 
 
 6. Constantino, sou of 
 
 7. Kenueidigli or Kinaeth, conqueror 
 
 of the Picts, son of 
 
 8. Alpin, sou of 
 
 9. Eocaidh, son of 
 
 10. Aedgan Finn, son of 
 
 11. Domangort, son of 
 
 12. Fergus Mor Mac Mire, founder of 
 the Kingdom of Dal Riada, in 
 Alba, son of 
 
 13. Ere, son of 
 
 14. Eocaidh Maurenihar, son of 
 
 15. Aengus Fort, son of 
 
 16. Feidlimidh Aislingthech, son of 
 
 17. Aeugas Buiduech, sou of 
 
 18. Feidlimidh Roinic, son of 
 
 19. Sen-Cormaic, sou of 
 
 20. Cruthluath, son of 
 
 21. Fidfergi, otherwise Finncadh, son 
 of 
 
 22. Egar Kerr, sou of 
 
 23. Eocaidh Andoid, son of 
 
 24. Fiacaidh Cathmael, son of 
 
 25. Foirded, son of 
 
 26. Ere, son of 
 
 27. Carbri Riada, son of 
 
 28. Conari R. H., son of 
 
 29. Mogh Lamha, son of 
 
 30. Lugaidh Ellathach, son of 
 
 31. Dari Dorn-Mor, son of 
 
 32. Carbri Fiun-mor, son of 
 
 33. Conari Mor, R. II. son of 
 
 35. Edirsgeol, R. H. son of 
 
 36. Eogan, son of 
 
 37. Olud, son of 
 
 38. Tar, son of 
 
 39. Degaidh,son of 
 
 40. Sin, son of 
 
 41. Rosin, son of 
 
 42. Tren, son of 
 
 43. Rothren, son of 
 
 44. Mani, son of 
 
 45. Forga, sou of 
 
 46. Feradach, son of 
 
 47. Olild Eronn, from whom the Er- 
 naigh were named, sou of 
 
 48. Fiacaidh Fer-mara, sou of 
 
 49. Aeugus Tuirmech, of Temhair, R. 
 
 H.—See No. 60, Pedigree of 
 O'Neill. 
 
 Note. — Keating has followed the 
 Scotch genealogists in the names that 
 connect Fergus, the founder of the Dal- 
 Riada of Scotland, with Carbri Ria- 
 da. According to O'Flahorty, the 
 Irish genealogists say, that Eocaidh, 
 father of the said Ere or Eric, was sou 
 of Aeugas Fer, son of Fergus Ulidh, 
 son of Eocaidh Fortamhail, son of 
 Feidlimidh Lamh-doid, son of Kinga, 
 son of Guairi, son of Fiuutau. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE GENEALOGY OF THE MEN OF LEINSTER, OF THE LINE OF 
 ERIMHON, DOWN HERE. 
 
 CoBTHAcn Mael-Breagh, had a brother named Laegari Lore, from whom 
 have descended the Leinster tribes of the line of Erimhou. Of these we shall 
 give precedence to the Caemhanaigh, i. e. the O'Kavanaghs. 
 
694 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 1 -. Alurcadh, son of 
 
 2. Doinnall Spainech, son of 
 
 3. Catliaiir Carrach, son of 
 
 4. Miirkertacli, sou of 
 
 5. Art Iluidlie, son of 
 
 6. Domnall. son of 
 
 7. Gerald, son of 
 
 8. Art 0.i>-, son of 
 
 9. Art, King of Leinster, son of 
 
 10. ^lurkortach. (This Murkortach had 
 a brother named Art, from whom 
 has descended the Sliocht Diar- 
 niada Lamh-dirg, i. e. , the posterity 
 of Diarmaid, the Red Handed ; to 
 ■vvit, JMurcadh, son of Brian, and 
 the branches of his kindred.) son 
 of 
 
 1 1 . Maurice, son of 
 
 1 2. Murkertach, son of 
 
 13. DoMXALL CAEMnANACH, from 
 
 whose surname the Ui Caeniha- 
 uaigh, in English, the O'Kava- 
 naghs, take their name. (This 
 Domnall had two brothers, namely, 
 Art, put to death by Euaidri 
 O'Concobar, King of Ireland, in 
 A. 1). 1170, who left no posterity, 
 and Enna, who is the ancestor of 
 the 0"Kinshellaghs.) son of 
 
 14. Diarmaid na n-Gall, i. c. Dermod 
 
 of the Gauls or Strangers, King of 
 Leinster, from A. D. 113;") to 
 1171. (Brother to this Diarmaid 
 na n-Gall, was Murcadh of the 
 Gaels, or Irish, from whom sprang 
 Mac David Mor, othenvise called 
 Mac Damore V. — It was this Mur- 
 cculh that was elected King of Lein- 
 ster upon the expulsion of Diar- 
 maid, A. I). 11G6.) son of 
 l.T. Donncadh, 
 
 16. Murcadh. appointed King of the 
 
 Danes of Duljlin, and from whom 
 tlie IVIac Murroughs are called, 
 son of 
 
 17. Diarmaid, K. L. and called by 
 
 soms writers monarch of Ireland, 
 son of 
 
 18. Donncadh, called Mac! na m-Bo, 
 
 K. L., son of 
 
 19. Diarmaid, son of 
 
 20. Donmall, sou of 
 
 21. Kellach, son of 
 
 22. Kinaeth, son of 
 
 23. 
 
 24. 
 25. 
 26. 
 27. 
 28. 
 29. 
 30. 
 31. 
 
 32. 
 33. 
 
 34. 
 
 35. 
 
 36, 
 
 37. 
 38. 
 39. 
 
 40. 
 
 41. 
 42. 
 
 43, 
 
 44, 
 45, 
 
 4G. 
 
 Carbri, son of 
 Acdh, son of 
 Ruaghalach, son of 
 Oncu, son of 
 Faelen, son of 
 Faelan, son of 
 Silan, son of 
 Eogau Cacch, son of 
 Nathi. (From Fergus, son of 
 Eogan Goll, son q/'this Nathi des- 
 cend the Muintcr Maeilriain, i. e. 
 the O'Rynns or O'Mulryans of 
 Owneu VI Tipperary.) son of 
 Crimtnann, K. L. son of 
 Enna Kennsclach, K. L. son of 
 (This Enna Kennselach, had a 
 son named Feidlimidh, from whom 
 8pr.ang O'Murphy and O'Dowling.) 
 Bresal Belach, son of 
 Fiacaidh Bacheda. (Of the pos- 
 terity of Fiacaidh Bacheda, are 
 O 'Byrne and 'Toole) 
 Cathaeir Mor, E. H. (Son of 
 this Cathaeir Mor, was Rosa 
 Falghi, ancestor of O'Connor 
 Falghi,and from O'Connor Falghi 
 sprang O'Dunn, O'Dempsey, and 
 ]\Iac Colgan. Another son of 
 Cathaeir Mor, was Dari Barrach, 
 from whom sprang O'Gorman.) 
 son of 
 
 Fcrdlimidh Firurglas. K. L., son of 
 Cormac Gelta-gaeth, K. L., sou of 
 Niadh-Corb, K. L. son of 
 Cu-Corb, K. L. (Sou of this Cu- 
 Corb was Carbri Cluthecar, from 
 Avhom sprang O'Dwyer, cf Kilua- 
 managh.) son of 
 Mogli-Corb, K. L. son of 
 Concobar Abra-Ruadh, R. H., son 
 of 
 
 Finn the Poet, K. L., son of 
 Rosa Ruadh, K. L. son of 
 Fergus Fargi, K. L. son of 
 Nuadlia Nect, R. H. (This Nu- 
 adiia had three sons, namely, Fer- 
 gus Fargi, from whom lias s]irung 
 the stock of this branch ; Baeis- 
 gni, from whom descended Com- 
 hal, the father of Finn Mac Corn- 
 hail, commonly called Fingal by 
 the Anglo-Scotch; and (Jnathallach. 
 Bani, daughter of Sgal ]>albh, 
 King of Sagsa, was the mother 
 both of Comhal and of Feidlimidh 
 Rectmar, monarch of Ireland. 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 695 
 
 47 
 48, 
 49, 
 
 :>o. 
 
 51. 
 52. 
 53. 
 54. 
 55. 
 56. 
 5Y. 
 58. 
 59. 
 60. 
 61. 
 62. 
 63. 
 64. 
 65. 
 66. 
 
 Sedna Sithbac, K. L. son of 
 Lngaidh Lothfinn, K. L. son of 
 Bresal Brec, K. L. [This Brosal 
 Brcc had a son named Connhi, 
 from whom sprang the kings of 
 Osraide, now called Ossory, as we 
 shall hereafter explain.] son of 
 Fiacaidh Fobrec, son of 
 Olild (jrlas, son of 
 Fiacaidh Foglas, son of 
 Nuadha Follamhain, son of 
 Alloid, son of 
 Art, sou of 
 Mogli Art, son of 
 Crimthaun, son of 
 Feidlimidh Fortruin, son of 
 Fergas Fortamhail, son of 
 Bresal Breggamhaiu, sou of 
 Aeugus Follamhain, son of 
 Olild Brachaeu, son of 
 Labraidh Loingsech, R. H. son of 
 Olild Aui, sou of 
 Laegari Lorc, R. H. son of 
 lugani Mor, R. H. See No. 61, 
 Pedigree of O'Neill. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF FITZ-PATRICK, HERE. 
 
 1. Brian, son of 
 
 2. Tadg, sou of 
 
 3. Finghin. (This Finghin had an el- 
 
 der brother, uaraely, Brian Og, 
 Lord of Ossory, but he died with- 
 out issue, with the exception of 
 an only daughter, who was the 
 grandmother of Lord Dunboyue. 
 Another brother of his was Dom- 
 nall, of Gort-na-clethi, and Sea- 
 fra or Godfrey, of Bailé-Aralacibh. 
 Margaret Butler, daughter of the 
 Earl of Ormond, was the mother 
 of these. Brothers also to this 
 Finghin were Tordelbach and 
 Diarmaid, whose mother was the 
 daughter of O'Connor Falghi. 
 Seaghau, or John of Bailé-Ui- 
 Gaeithin, Kellach, and Tadg, who 
 dwelt at Coill-Uachtarach, were 
 the natural brothers of Finghin.) 
 son of 
 
 4. Brian Og, son of 
 
 5. Brian, son of 
 
 6. Seaghau, son of 
 
 7. Finghin na Cul-Coilli, son of 
 
 8. Finghin, son of 
 
 9. Domuall Dubh, son of 
 
 10. Seafra Finn, son of 
 
 11. Seafra Bacach, son of 
 
 12. Domuall Mor of Magh Laeighsi, 
 son of 
 
 13. Sgaunlan Mac Gilla-Patrick, sou 
 of 
 
 14. Gilla-Padraig, or Gilla-Patrick, 
 from whom the surname of the sept 
 is derived. 
 
 15. Donncadh, son of 
 
 16. Kellach, son of 
 
 17. Kerball. (This Kerball had a son 
 named Braen, from whom sprang 
 O'Brenan.) son of 
 
 18. Donngal, son of 
 
 19. Anmcadh, son of 
 
 20. Cukerda, son of 
 
 21. Faelau, son of 
 
 22. Cronmael, son of 
 
 23. Rouan Righ-flaith, son of 
 
 24. Colman Mor, son of 
 
 25. Bigui Caech, son of 
 
 26. Laighnech Faeilech, son of 
 
 27. Sganlau Mor, son of 
 
 28. Kenufaeladh, son of 
 
 29. Roman Duach, son of 
 
 30. Conall, son of 
 
 31. Carbri, sou of 
 
 32. Nedbuan, son of 
 
 33. Eocadh Lamh-dow, son of 
 
 34. Angidh, sou of 
 
 35. Laegari Bearn-buadach, son of 
 
 36. Aengus Osraide. [From this Aen- 
 gus the tribe and tribe-land of Os- 
 raide (Osrce,) in English, Ossory, 
 have their name.] 
 
 37. Crimthaun, son of 
 
 38. Ere, son of 
 
 39. Enna, son of 
 
 40. Olild, sou of 
 
 41. Lugaidh, son of 
 
 42. Labraidh, son of 
 
 43. Carthaun, son of 
 
 44. Nuadha, son of 
 
 45. CoxNLA, son of 
 
 46. Bresal Brec, &c. See No. 49, 
 Pedigree of O'Kavanagh. 
 
 Of the posterity of Connla, son of 
 Bresal Brec, are the following sur- 
 names, as we read in the duan which 
 begins with the line — " Nas na riogh, 
 togha na d-tulach ;" i. e. " Nas of the 
 kings, the choice of heights" — to wit, the 
 Muinter Baithin, [Baiheen,) Muinter 
 Diunemhla, (JDinnoola,) Muiuter Osaiu, 
 
696 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 Muinter Foraunain, Miiiuter Tuachair, 
 ^[uinter Gulbain, Muinter Liuaigli, 
 [I^enij) 'Slmwiav Uarpusa, Muinter 
 Crevliiiochain, Muinter Iradhain, Muin- 
 ter Naeidhcnain, Muinter Maeincchain 
 Cobhartha, and many others. 
 
 Note. — The editor has access to no 
 authority whereby he could ascertain 
 the modern names of the last-named 
 septs iu time tor this publication. 
 
 35. Muirini, son of 
 3G. Fiuncadh, son of 
 
 37. Firrath, son of 
 
 38. Firruath Derg, son of 
 
 39. Firini, son of 
 
 40. Lugaidh, son of 
 
 41. Arm bar, son of 
 
 42. Oarbri Cluthecrar, son of 
 
 43. Cu-Corb. ka.—Sce No. 40, Pedi- 
 gree of O'Kavariagk. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF o'dWYER, OF KILXA- 
 MANACn, FROM DERMOD O'CONNOR'S 
 
 TRANSLATION OF KEATING. 
 
 
 1. 
 
 1. Philip, son of 
 
 
 2. 
 
 2. Anthony, son of 
 
 
 3. 
 
 3. Diarmaid, sou of 
 
 
 4. 
 
 4. Thomas, son of 
 
 
 5. 
 
 5. Concobar, or Connor, son 
 
 of 
 
 6. 
 
 6. Thomas, son of 
 
 
 7. 
 
 7. Thomas, son of 
 
 
 8. 
 
 8. Concobar, son of 
 
 
 9. 
 
 9. Thomas, son of 
 
 
 10, 
 
 10. Thomas, son of 
 
 
 11. 
 
 11. Gilla-na-naemh, son of 
 
 
 12. 
 
 12. Gilla-na-naemh. son of 
 
 
 13. 
 
 13. Lochlainii, son of 
 
 
 14. 
 
 14. Gilla-na-naemh, son of 
 
 
 1.5. 
 
 15. Lorcan, son of 
 
 
 16, 
 
 16. Kellach, son of 
 
 
 17. 
 
 17. Gilla-na-naemh, son of 
 
 
 18. 
 
 18. Kellach, son of 
 
 
 19. 
 
 19. Lorcan, son of 
 
 
 20. 
 
 20. Aedh, son of 
 
 
 21. 
 
 21. Donncadh O'Duibhir, in 
 
 English, 
 
 
 O'Dwyer, the flrst that 
 
 bore the 
 
 22. 
 
 family surname, son of 
 
 
 
 22. Lorcan, son of 
 
 
 23. 
 
 23. DuiBHiR. or Duibhidliir, from whom 
 
 
 is derived the name 1) 
 
 uibhidhir 
 
 24. 
 
 {O'Dweeir,) anglicized 
 
 O'Dwyer, 
 
 25. 
 
 son of 
 
 
 26. 
 
 24. Sbellan, son of 
 
 
 27. 
 
 25. Suibni, son of 
 
 
 28. 
 
 26. Donncadh, son of 
 
 
 29. 
 
 27. Duadh-flaith, son of 
 
 
 30. 
 
 28. Collan, son of 
 
 
 31. 
 
 29. Colman, son of 
 
 
 32. 
 
 30. Crath, son of 
 
 
 33. 
 
 31. Ruaidri, son of 
 
 
 34. 
 
 32. Grellan, son of 
 
 
 35. 
 
 33. Lubna, son of 
 
 
 36. 
 
 34. Lughna, son of 
 
 
 37. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OP O'CONNOR FALY, FROM 
 DERMOD O'CONNOR'S TRANSLATION OF 
 KEATING. 
 
 Donncadh and Maurice, sons of 
 
 Coll, son of 
 
 Seaghan or John, son of 
 
 Donncadh, son of 
 
 Seaghan. son of 
 
 Donncadh, son of 
 
 Seaghan, son of 
 
 Diarmaid, son of 
 
 Kcrball or Charles, son of 
 
 . Conn, son of 
 
 . Calbach, son of 
 
 . ^lurcadh, son of 
 
 . Murkertach, son of 
 
 . ISIurkertach, son of 
 
 . ^laclmorda, son of 
 
 . Murkertach, son of 
 
 . Donncadh, son of 
 
 . Conafni, son of 
 
 . Murkertach, son of 
 
 . Congalach, son of 
 
 . Connslebi O'Concobair Falghi, or 
 
 O'Connor Faly, son of 
 
 Brogarban, who was slain at Clon- 
 
 tarf, A. D. 1014, son of 
 
 Concobar, from whom the surname 
 
 O'Connor, is derived, son of 
 
 Congalach, son of 
 
 Finn, son of 
 
 Maelmorda, son of 
 
 Concobar, son of 
 
 Flapagan, sou of 
 
 Kinaeth, son of 
 . Mughram, son of 
 
 Fiann Ca Congal, son of 
 
 Cimasach, son of 
 
 Congalach, son of 
 
 Forannan, son of 
 
 Maelmuaidh, son of 
 
 Cathal, son of 
 
 Bruidhc, son of 
 
GENEALOGY. 
 
 697 
 
 38. Eogan, son of 
 
 39. Nathi, sou of 
 
 40. Rosa Falghi, i. c. Rossa of the 
 Rings, from whom the tribe- 
 
 name Ui Falghi, is derived, 
 son of 
 41. Cathacir Mor, &c.—See No. 36 
 Pedigree of O'Kavanah. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF THE POSTEEITY OF LUGAIDH, SON OF ITH, 
 
 DOWN HERE. 
 
 THE PEDIGREE OF DRISCOLL, HERE. 
 
 1. Pinghiu, called Sir Florence by the 
 
 English, sou of 
 
 2. Concobar, son of 
 
 3. Concobar, son of 
 
 4. Fiughin, son of 
 
 5. Mac-Con, son of 
 
 6. Mac-Con, son of 
 
 7. Donncadh, sou of 
 
 8. Mac-rCath. sou of 
 
 9. Donncadh Mor, son of 
 
 10. Fothad, sou of 
 
 11. Finn, son of 
 
 12. Mac-Conn, O'h-Edirsgeoil, in Eng- 
 lish O'DriscoU, sou of 
 
 13. Fothad, son of 
 
 14. EDiRSGEOL,/ro?ft whom the name is 
 
 derived, son of 
 
 14. Finn, sou of 
 
 15. Nuadha, sou of 
 
 16. Donngal, sou of 
 
 17. Maeltuli, son of 
 
 18. Dungus, son of 
 
 19. Aengus, son of 
 
 20. Folactach, sou of 
 
 21. Fannan, sou of 
 
 22. Comdau, sou of 
 
 23. Colmau, son of 
 
 24. Flannan, son of 
 
 25. Brannamh, sou of 
 Edirsgeol, son of 
 Nathi, son of 
 Aengus, son of 
 Mac-Con, R. H., 
 
 30. Mac-Niadh, K. M., 
 
 31. Lugaidh, son of 
 
 32. Dari or Dari Fer Ulni. son of 
 
 33. fFer-Ulni, son of 
 
 34. JEdbolg, son of 
 
 35. fDari, sou of 
 
 36. tSithbolg, son of 
 
 37. Edamrach, or Degaidh Temrach, 
 son of 
 
 26. 
 27. 
 
 28. 
 29. 
 
 38. Degaidh Derg, son of 
 
 39. Derg Thiui, son of 
 
 40. Nuadha Airgthoch, sou of 
 
 41. Luchthaui, son of 
 
 42. Logh Feidlech, son of 
 
 43. fErimhon, son of 
 
 44. fEdamhain, son of 
 
 45. Osa or Eosamhain, son of 
 
 46. Sin, son of 
 
 47. jNIathsin, sou of 
 
 48. Lugaidh, son of 
 
 49. Edamhain, son of 
 
 50. Mai, son of 
 
 51. Lugaidh, son of 
 
 52. Ith, sou of 
 
 53. Breogau, king in Spain, and grand- 
 father of Mdedlt, the founder of the 
 
 Clanna 3Ididh,^c. See No. 89, Pe- 
 digree of Macarthy Mor. 
 
 Note. — The names marked thus (f ) 
 have been inserted from the pedigree of 
 Lugaidh, called Mac-Con, R. H , given 
 in the body of this history. — Ed. 
 
 Of the posterity of Lugaidh, sou of 
 Ith, are the following claiis, namely, 
 Mac Flaucadha, of Dartraide, i. e. Mac 
 Clanchij or Clancy, of Dartry, in the 
 county of Leitrim; O'Cowhig, or Coffey, 
 O'Curneen, O'Flynn Arda, O'Bari of 
 Rinu-Muintir-Bari, O'Leary, of Roscar- 
 bery, O'Trevor, O'Carnau ; and like- 
 Wise the sept of Mac Allen, in Alba, i. 
 e. modern Scotland, which descended 
 from Fathadh Conau, sou of the Mac- 
 Con, sou of Mac-Niadh. 
 
 Note. — Several names appear to have 
 been left out of this pedigree, in as 
 much as it falls short by several genera- 
 tions, of the royal Hues descended from 
 Ebcr and Erimhon, the companions of 
 Lugaidh, son of Ith. The descendants 
 of the Clanna Breogain or Irish Brig- 
 
698 
 
 GENEALOGY. 
 
 antes, are still numerous in the South- upon Corca Luighe, not long since pub- 
 west of Munster. and North-west of lishcd by the Celtic Society of Dublin, 
 Connaught. For the several family with a translation and annotations by 
 names, by which they are now known. Dr. O'Donovan. 
 the reader is referred to the ancient tract 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 HERE FOLLOWS AX ENUMERATION OF THE COUNTIES WHICH ARE 
 
 IN IRELAND. 
 
 Ix Mumha' (Moowa) there are six counties, namely, the county of Corcach, 
 the county of Kiarraide {Keeree), the county of Luininech, the county of Port 
 Largi, the county of Tibraid Arauu, and the Couuty of the Cross.'-' In all six 
 counties. 
 
 In Laighcn' [Loijen) there are eight counties, which are the following seven 
 that Camdeu has given down in his work, namely, the county of Kill Cainnigh 
 the county of KiU'Dara, the couuty of Ketharlach (Cahcrlagh,) the county of 
 Laeighis (Li^ees/t),'' the county of the Dangen,^ the county of Loch Garmau, 
 the county of Ath-cliath, [Awh-deeah) and the eighth county is the one which 
 has been recently constituted, namely, that of Kill Mantain.e 
 
 In Midhe' {Mee) there are three counties, namely, the county of Oirther INIidhe 
 [Irrher Me. ,) the county of larthar Midhe, {Eerher Mce) and the county of 
 Long-phort. 
 
 In the province of Connacht, there are five counties, namely, the county of 
 Clar, the county of Gallimh [GaUiv), the county of Magli Eo (Moijoe,) the coun- 
 ty of Sligech {'Sliggagh,) the county of Liathdrum, and the county of Eos Co- 
 main. 
 
 In Uladh {Ulla) there are ten counties, namely, the county of Lugh-mhagb 
 (Loovaw), the county of Caban, the county of Fera Manach, the county of 
 Munechan, the county of Ard Macha, the county of the Dun, the county of 
 Anntruim, the county of Cuil Rathain," the county of Tir Eogain ( Teer-owin,) 
 and the county of Tin Conaill, or Dun-na-n-Gall. 
 
 Mumha ; now called Munster. 
 
 County of ike Cross ; 
 .' Laiglicn; Leinster. 
 * Laighis ; now Lcix, 
 preacnt Queen's County. 
 
 e. Ormoncl. 
 meaning the 
 
 6 County of the Dangcn ; i. e. of the 
 Fortress ; now the King's County. 
 
 ' Kill Mantain ; now Wicklow. 
 
 ' Midhe ; now Meath. 
 
 ' Cuil-Rathain ; i. e. Colcrain, mcan- 
 the present county of Derry. 
 
 THE END OF THE FORAS FEASA AR EIRINN. 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 KINGDOM OF MUMHA, OR MUNSTER. 
 
 77i« Kingdom of Munster; in Irish, Mamha, Mumlian, and Mumliain, is said to derive its 
 name from Eocaidh Mumho,* wlio was kini; of Munster and monarcli of Ireland, of the race of 
 Kber, about eight centuries before the Cliristian era. Ancient Munster comprised the present 
 counties of Tipperary, AVaterford, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, and part of Kilkenny, to which was 
 added the territory now forming the county of Clare, by Lugaidh Menn, king of Munster, of the 
 race of the Dalcassians, in the latter end of the third century. Ancient Munster contained 
 the following sub-divisions, namely, Tuaflh Minnhan, or North Munster, anglicised Thomond; 
 I>6ii Mamhan, or South Munster. rendered Desmond; UrmJturaha or Oirinhumha, East 
 Munster, and anglicised Ormond, and Inr 3fii»t7ian, or West Munster. 
 
 The Eberians, or the Milesians of the race of Eber, possessed Munster; but the descendants 
 of Ith, son of Brcogan, and uncle of Milesius, also possessed in early times a great part of it. 
 The race of Eber furnished most of its kings, many of whom were m( narchs of Ireland. These 
 Eberians are called by the old annalists Dergthini, from one of their kings. 
 
 The race of Itli also furnished many kings of Munster, and some monarchs to Ireland, In the 
 earlier ages. They were called Darini, from one of their kings. The Dergthini and Darini had 
 frequent contests, before the period of the Christian era, for the sovereignty of Munster, which they 
 they at length ag eed to hold alternately. While the head of one race reigned as lilng, the other 
 held the o'iiice of chief Brehon or judge. 
 
 The C'diina Dcgnidh. another race, settled in Munster a short time before the Christian era. 
 They were named Degadhs. from Degadh, their chief, and they were also called Ernan8,fi-om 
 Olild Eronn, a prince of Ulster, and grandfather of Degadh. These Degadians, or Ernans, were 
 of the race of Erimhon. Being expelled from Ulster by the race of Ir, they went to Munster, 
 where they were favorably received, and had lands allotted to them by Du.ach, king of Munster, 
 of the race of Eber, who was then full monarch of Ireland. The Clanna Degaidh make a re- 
 markable figure in the ancient history of Munster. They had there extensive possessions, and 
 they were the chief milit.ary commanders of Munster, and once nearly masters of the entire 
 country. Some of 'them became kings of Munster, and three of them even monarchs of Ireland, 
 namely. Edirsceol, and his son Conari, and Conari II., a descendant of Conari I., who was 
 monarch of Ireland in the beginning of the third century. From Carbri Iii.ida, son of Conari II., 
 descended the Dalriadians, princes of Ulster, who jdanted a colony in Alba or Scotland, in the 
 third century. From them were descended the Scottish kings of the Milesian race, and the 
 royal house of Stuart. In the second century, the Degadhs becoming so powerful as nearly to 
 assume the entire sovereignty of Munster, to the exclusion of the race of Eber, they were 
 attacked and conquered by the celebrated Eogan Mor, or Mogb Jíuadath, who expelled them 
 from Munster, except such families of them as yielded him submissiou. Amongst the chiefs of 
 the Clanna Degaidh, .are mentioned Dari, and his son Curigh Mac Dari, famous warriors in 
 Munster about the beginning of the Christian era. 
 
 About the beginning of the Christian era. Eucaidh Af/radh-ruadli, or Eocaidh of the Eed 
 Brows, of the race of Eber, a man of gigantic stature, was king of South Munster, and Curigh Mac 
 D.ari was prince of North Munster. lie was succeeded by Carbri Finn Mor, son of the monarch 
 Conari. who was also of the Clanna Degadh, as king of Munster. In the second century, amongst 
 the battles fought by the monarch Tuathal Tectmar, are mentioned those of Magli Eaighni, 
 .indofClaror Clare, in which fell Felim and Conall, two princes of the Degadhs of Munster. 
 Eocaidh, the son of Dari, succeeded as king of both Munsters. In the latter end of the second 
 centur}', Ebgan, Mor, or Mogh yuadat/i, cMed also Eogan Taidlech, or Eiigan the Splendid, 
 of the race of Eber, and matcrna'ly descended from the Clanna Degadh, w!is a celebrated 
 warrior; and having contended for the monarchy of Ireland witli Conn of the Hundred Battles, 
 they at last divided the island between them ; but Eogan was afterwards defeated and forced 
 to fly into Spain, w^here he lived mjiny years in exile, and married Eera, a S|i.anish firincess, 
 daughter to Eber, a Spanish king, and entering into a confederac.y with Fraech, the son of Eber, 
 collected a powerful army, with which they landed in Ireland, to recover the sovereignty from 
 Conn of the Hundred Battles, and both armies, A D. 19.5, fousht a tremendous h.aftle on the 
 plain of Magh Lena, in which Conn was victorious, and Ec')gan Mor was killed by Goll, the son of 
 Morna, the celebrated Fenian chiimpion of Cocnaught of the Fer-bolg race. 
 
 Olild Olttm, the son of Eogan Mor by the princess Bera, and son in-law of the monarch 
 Conn of the Hundred Ba'tles, being married to his daughter S-aba, having contended with Lug- 
 aidh Mac Con, a prince of the race of Ith, for the sovereignty of Munster, defeated him and 
 Nemeth, prince of the Ernans, in a great battle at Kenn Febradh, in which Eogan, the son of 
 Olild. flew Dadar the Druid, and Nemeth was slain by Carbri Eiada: after this victory, Olild 
 Olnm became king of Munster. 
 
 Olild Olum had three sons, Eogan, Cormao Cas, and Kian, and by his will lie made a re- 
 
 IÍOTE. — This appendix is chiefly taken in an abridged form from the description of the Irish 
 provinces, given in the notes to Connellan's Translation of the Four Masters. It is intended to 
 serve as a suido to the map. 
 
 * It is much more likely that Eocaidh Mumho derived his surname from Mumlia. 
 
700 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 gulatlon that the kingdom of Manster should bo ruled alternately by one of the posterity of 
 Eogaa and Coriiiac Cas. 
 
 From Coniiac Cas, king of Miinster, Dal o-Cai.% anglicised Balcassians, the various families 
 of whom were located chiefly in that part of Thonioiid which forms the present county of Clare, 
 and the ruling family of tliem were the O'Briens, kin^rs of Thomond. 
 
 From Kogan, eldest son of Olild Olum, were descended the Eor/anachU or Eitgenian»,yt\iO were 
 styled kings of Cashel. The Eupenians possessed Desmond, or South Jlunstcr, the present 
 counties of Cork and Kerry, tliov held also part of the present county of Tiiipirary, called the 
 Eoganacht of Civsbel. The head" fiimily of the Eugenians Avcre the Mac Cai tliys, princes of 
 Desmond. 
 
 From Kian. the third son of Olild Olum, were descended the Clan Kin?), who were located 
 chiefly in Ormoud, and the chief of which families were the O'C.arrols, princes of Ely. 
 
 In the latter end of the third century, Lu(jaidh Menv, kinjr of Munster, of the race of the 
 Dalcassians, took the territory afterwards called the county of Clare from Connausht, and added 
 it to Thomond. Conai-L EcitLCATii, or Conall of the Swifc Steeds, son of this Lniraidh Menn. 
 became kins of Munster. C.\s, the son of Conall, was prince of Thomond, and Carlhon Dubh, 
 the £on of Cas, succeeded as prince of the Dalcassians. 
 
 O'Eourkes. probably a branch of the O'Rourkcs, 
 princes of I'.refney; the Mac Egans were his 
 hereditary Brehons, and the O'llalys and O'- 
 Duinins were his hereditary poets and anti- 
 quaries. 
 
 •1- O'STTii-LmnAiN (O\^oo!hiauin), or O'Sul- 
 livan. The O'SuIlivans held the ancient terri- 
 tory of Beara, now the baronies of Beare and 
 Bantry. in the county of Cork, and were thenco 
 called O'Snllivan Beara, princes of Beara. An- 
 other branch of the familj- called O'Sullivan Mor 
 were lords of Dunkerron, and possessed tho 
 barony of Dunkerron, in the county of Kerry, 
 and their c liicf seat w.is the castle of Dunkerron, 
 ne.ir the river Kenmarc. The O'SuIlivans were 
 or^inally seated .at Knoekratfan, in Tipperary. 
 They are of the same descent as the Mac Carthys 
 of Desmond. They h.ad several strong castles, 
 tho chief of which were those of Dunboy, Ar- 
 dea, and < arrigantu'^s. In the reign of James I., 
 their extensive possessions were confiscated, in 
 consequence of their adherence to the earls of 
 Desmond and Tyrone in the Elizabethan wars, 
 and the lieads of the family retired to Spain, 
 where many of them were distinguished oflflcers 
 in the Spanish service, and had the title of 
 Counts of Bearhaven. 
 
 3. O'Hedirsceoii,. or 0'DrI.sooll, head of the 
 Ithian race, was chief or prince of Corcaluighe, 
 otherwise called Cairbreacha, comprisinL' ancient 
 Carberv, an extensive territory in the south- 
 west of Cork The O'Driscolls of the twelfth 
 century are designated in O'llcerin's topographi- 
 cal poem : 
 
 Des-Mumha. 
 
 The territory called Dhs-Mttmha [Dassona, 
 or i)as«-r»r«], i.e.. South Munster, called Des- 
 mond in Eng.isb, comprised the whole of the 
 county of Cork, and the greater [.-art of KeiTy, 
 with portions of the counties of Waterford and 
 Tipperarv. In tliis latter county, the district 
 called Eoganacht Caisil (Owenaijlit ' om/) be- 
 longed to Desmond The principality extended 
 from Brandon Hills, in Kerry, to the river Black- 
 water, near LIsmore, in the coimty of Water- 
 ford. In later times, when the Fitzgeralds were 
 styled Earls of Desmond, and the Mac Carthy 
 Mors its kings, this kin^doni was confined to 
 the baronies of Bear and Bantry, some i)ortions 
 of the south-west of Cork, and that part of 
 Kerry that lies soutli of the river Many. 
 
 The Eugenians ruled as kings over Desmond, 
 and the Dalcassians over Thomond, and from 
 each race was .alternately elected a king of all, 
 which mode of government continued from the 
 third to the eleventh century, when Brian Boru, 
 of the Dalcassian race, became king of Munster 
 and monarch of Ireland, and his descendants, 
 the O'Briens, were kings of Munster and kings of 
 Thomond, and the Mac < .arthys, who were then 
 the head of the Eugenian race, were kings and 
 princes of Desmond. 
 
 1. Mac CAnrnv The Mac Carthys of the 
 twelfth century are thus designated in the topo- 
 graphical poem of O'lleerin : — 
 
 "Heroes of Munster, from the fortress on the 
 Shannon, 
 Are the race of Eogan, the son of Olild, 
 Mac Carthaigh, the maintainer of its tributes, 
 Is like an incessant stormy wave" 
 
 The Mac Carthys maintained long contests 
 for their independence with the Fitzgeralds, 
 earls of Desmond, the Butlers, Earls of Ormond, 
 and other An;rlo-Xon:ian and English settlers, 
 and held their titles .a» princes of Desmond, with 
 considerable possessions, down to the reign of 
 Elizabeth. They were divided into two great 
 branches, the head of which was Mac Carthy 
 More, of wluim Donal Mc Carthy w.is created 
 earl of Olencarc or Clancare, A. D. ITitiS, by 
 Queen Elizabeth ; the other branch, called Mac 
 Carthy licagh, were princes of Carbery. Be- 
 sides the earls of Clancare, the Mac Carthys 
 were also created at various periods barons of 
 'Valentia, earls of Claroartby. earls of Muskerry, 
 and earls of .Mountcashcl. and had several strong 
 castles In various parts of Cork and Kerry. Ac- 
 cording to Windele, the Mac C.nrthy More was 
 inaugurated at LMan^narv'iir in Kerry, at 
 whii h c<remony presided O'Sullivan Mor and 
 O'DonogLoe Mor ; his captains of war were the 
 
 'To the race of Lugaidb by the shore, 
 1 1 now proceed beyond tjie bounds), 
 It is not meet to pass the tribe, 
 I must record the warriors' fame. 
 
 ' O'Dri-icoII. brad chief of the land 
 Of Corcaluii-'he I now treat of 
 lie s<izc(l upon the coasts of Clt^ri, 
 A headland meet for princely lord." 
 
 They had castles at Dunnsbad and Dunalong, 
 near Baltimore, the castle of Dunamore on Cape- 
 clear island, and others. 
 
 4. O'Caoimii, or O'KeefTc, Is given by O'lleerin 
 as chief of GUn Ainhain and of Urluftchra. 
 (rlen .\mhahi is now Olanworth. in the barony of 
 Ferinoy. county of Cork. Tho O'Keetles held 
 tho territory of Fcrmuighe l''eni. now the 
 barony of Kermoy, in the county of Cork, wlilch 
 afterwards was possessed by Ihe Anglo-Norman 
 family of lloebe, vlscountsof Fermov, and called 
 Koche's country. The O'Dugan» and O'Cos- 
 cralgbs were the more ancient chiefs of Fermoy. 
 They are thus designated by O'lleerin: 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 701 
 
 "Chief of Fcrmoy of well fenced forts, 
 Is O'Diii.in of l)uiiiii:iiiann — 
 A tribe of Gaols of precious jewels — 
 O'Kceffe is chief of Gkn Avon. 
 
 •'O'KcefTc of the brown and handsome brows, 
 Is chief of l>lu;K-hra of the fertile lands, 
 The inheritor of the land of the hospitable, 
 Which vie in beauty with the fair plains of 
 Meath " 
 
 The O'Keoffes were marshals of Desmond and 
 princes of I'erinoy. They had several castles, 
 the chief of which were those of Dromagh and 
 Dunragil. 
 
 6. Mao Doxncadiia, or Mac Donogli, was 
 chief of Duhalla, now tlic barony of Duhallow, 
 in the county of Cork. The Mac Donaghs were 
 a branch of the Mae C'arthys ; they were princes 
 of Duhallow, and their chief residence was the 
 magnilicent castle of Kanturk 
 
 6. CMatdguamiina ((?'J/i//iOTr)i«), orO'Ma- 
 hony. The O'Mahonys are given by O'Heerin 
 as chiefs of Ui Eachach, and also of Kinel ni- 
 Beci; the latter is now the barony of Kinal- 
 raeaky. in the county of Cork, and I'i Eachach 
 was in aiodem tiiues called Ivaugh, which com- 
 prises the whole peninsula in the baronj'of West 
 Carbery, extending from Ballydchob to the bay 
 ofDunmanus. The territory Kinel Aedha also 
 was anciently possessed by the 0"Mahonys ; it 
 is now called the barony of Kinnalea, in the 
 county of Cork. They had also a large territory 
 in Muskerry, south of the river Lee, in the 
 county of Cork, and also another territory called 
 Tiobrad, in the count}' of Kerry. They are 
 thus designated by O'Heerin: 
 
 " Ivahagh, most western part of Banba (Ireland), 
 Is the great estate of O'Mahony — 
 A well watered land of fair fortresses — 
 Extensive are its brown nut producing plains. 
 
 "Of K^nnalmeaky, of pleasant fields 
 All round Bandon, of fair woods. 
 The warlike chief, in victory supreme. 
 Is O'Mahonv of the coast of white foam." 
 
 The 0"Mahonys had several castles, as those 
 of Eosbrin, Ardintenant, Blackeastle, Ballydes- 
 mond, Dunbeacon, Dunmanus, Eingmahon, &c., 
 all along the sea coast 
 
 7. 0"CF,LLAcnAiN, or O'Callaghans, given by 
 O'Heerin as chiefs of Clar Beri, and of Kinel 
 Aedha. The territory of the O'Callaghans was 
 also called Pobul O'Callaghan, signifying O'Cal- 
 laghan's people, and extended from Mallow west- 
 ward, on both sides of the Blackwater, in the 
 barony of Duhallow, county of Cork, and com- 
 prised the present parishes of Clonmeen and 
 Kilshannick, an extensive territory containing 
 about tifty thousand acres They are thus men- 
 tioned in the poem of O'Heerin : 
 
 " Over Kinnalca of the fertile lands, 
 Eules O'Callaghan of the plain of Beara, 
 A land of blue waters and bright sunshine. 
 Is that country of the most expanded bay." 
 
 The O'Callaghans are of theEugenian race, and 
 of the same branch as the Mac Carthys. 
 
 8. O'LiATiiAK, or O'Lehan, by some rendered 
 to Lvne and Lyons, is given by Heerin chief 
 of TJi Liathain, and of Ui Anmchadha. The 
 O'Lehans had the territory in the count}' of 
 Cork, afterwards called the barony of Barry- 
 more, from the Anglo-Norman family of Barrj's, 
 
 who became its posse.ssors. The O'Lehans 
 took their name from one of their chiefs in 
 the beginning of the eleventh century, named 
 Cuileán O'Liathan, who, in A.D. 1 0, built Ca.s- 
 tle Lehan, now Castlclyons, which w.as the chief 
 seat of that family. The O Lehans are thus 
 mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 "Lord of TTi Liathain, a warrior of fame. 
 Is the hardy leader of the battalions of Mun- 
 
 ster ; 
 Of Ui Anmcadha he is rightful chief— 
 The host of keen arms, of high nobility." 
 
 9. O'Floinn, or O Flynn was cliief of Arda and 
 Ui Baghanma, according to O'Heerin, a territoT}- 
 in the barony of Carbery, and also of Mtiiscrith 
 Miotaine, or Mniscrigh L'i Fhloinn, a district in 
 the barony of Muskery, both in the county of 
 < ork. The di.-stnct in Muskery possessed by the 
 O'Flynns, according to O'Heerin, extended from 
 the river Dribseach or Dripsey, to Ballyvoor- 
 ney. O'Maelfabhail is another chief given by 
 O'Heerin in the same territory. The O'Flynns 
 are thus mentioned by O'Heerin: 
 
 "O'Flynn Arda of the blooming woods, 
 A tribe of the purest pedigree ; 
 Heir to the lordship is each man. 
 They are the clan of Ui Baghamna. 
 
 " Of the race of Conari of the great forces, 
 Let us speak of the chiefs of Muscraide, 
 A host whom the bright sun salutes 
 On the land of the Martineansof Munster." 
 
 Ui Baghamna is now the barony of Ibane and 
 Barryrop, adjoining Carbery. 
 
 10 Mac Amlaeibh, or Mjic AulifFe, given 
 by O'Heerin as chief of the country from Am- 
 hain Ella westward beyond Glenn Salcain. This 
 territory was in the barony of Duhallow, in the 
 county of Cork, extending westward from the 
 river Alia to the borders of Limerick These 
 Mac Aulifi'es were a branch of the Mac Carthys, 
 and possessed the territory called Glen Omr.a, 
 in the barony of Duhallow. The last chief of 
 the family was colonel of a regiment in Spain, 
 and died about the year 1720. Their chief scat 
 was Castle Mac Auliffe, near Newmarket. The 
 Mac Anliffes are thus mentioned by Heerin : 
 
 "Far beyond the beautiful river Ella, 
 To the west of Glen Salcain of tall trees, 
 A fair land of aíHuence undenied ; 
 The territory belongs to the noble Mac Au- 
 lilfe." 
 
 Another chief in this territory is mentioned 
 by O'Heerin, as follows : 
 
 " An estate of the plain of Core belongs. 
 It is Acs Ella of the fine level land. 
 To the stately scion of Banba of the ringleted 
 
 hair. 
 He is O'Tedgamna of Dun Durlais." 
 
 11. O'Donnagain, or Donncgan, chiefs of 
 Muiscrith-na-dtri-Magh, or Muscry of the Three 
 Plains, now the h.alf barony of Orrery, in the 
 county of Cork. They are thus mentioned by 
 O'Dugan: 
 
 'The country of O'Donnegan is certiflod, 
 The great Muskery of the Three Plains, 
 It belongs to the host of polished steel — 
 A district of charming sunny lands." 
 
í02 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 O'Cullenan is given by O'Brien as a chief in 
 same territory. Tlie O'Cullenans were cele- 
 brated as liereditary pliysicians of Munster: 
 
 12. O'HiN.MnaiNEiN, chief of Tuath Saxon, is 
 thus mentioned by O'Hecrin : 
 
 " Tuath Saxon of the fair pleasant plain, 
 To O'iiininanen I proclaim, 
 A country of harbors abounding in afifluence, 
 Belonixs to the hardy sept of Clan C'onari." 
 
 J3. 0"Maei,bleog!iaidii, of the race of Core, 
 chief of Muiscrith Treithirne, is thus mentioned 
 by O'Heerin : 
 
 "Muscraide of Trethirni, miirhty men. 
 Eightfully belongs to the race of Core ; 
 O'Maelbleoghain is powerful over the land, 
 Ue possesses the country of smooth plains." 
 
 14 O'Bbf.giiaix, or O'Bregan.O'Glaisin, O'Mic- 
 tirc and O'Caelidh. or O'Kieley, likewise O'Cia 
 ran, are given by O'Heerin, O'lJrien, and O'Hal- 
 loran, as chiefs of Ui Mac Calii, or t Maccuile, 
 now the barony of Imokilly, cc"i.i:ty of Cork. 
 O'Bregan and O Glaisin are thus mentioned by 
 O'Heerin : 
 
 "A valiant clan, warlike in pursuit, 
 Kuled Imokilly of the hospitable banquets; 
 Two tribes possessed the smooth plains — 
 O'Bregan and the fair O'Glasin." 
 
 15 0''CiiiRi or O'Curry, of Clan Torna, chief 
 of Ciarraidhe Culrchi, now the barony of Kerri- 
 currehy, in the county of Cork, is thus men- 
 tioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 " Kerricnrrihy of the fair co.ost. 
 That country belongs to Clan Torna; 
 O'Curry obtained the fertile land ; 
 In its green aspect it is like the plains of 
 Meath." 
 
 16 O'GoBTnAiGn, anglicised O'Cowhig and 
 O'Cowhys, O'Coffey of Fuinn Clidna, were chiefs 
 of Triocha Medliona, now the barony of West 
 Barryroe, in the couuty of Cork. The O'Cow- 
 higs were in ancient times powerl'ul chiefs, and 
 Ij.ad seven c;ist!cs a!ong the coast in the barony 
 of Ibawne and Barryroe. They are thus men- 
 tioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 •'Lord of the county of Triocha Mcona, 
 Is OT'owhig of the white-stoned shore ; 
 The land of Clidna is the plain of O'Cowhig, 
 In the sea fights they are valiant foes." 
 
 17. OFiciitLLA, or OFihelly.«. a name angli- 
 cised to Field, are also given by O'Brien as chiefs 
 in West BarrjToe. 
 
 IS. O'lÍAÉi'is given by O'Heerin as cliief of 
 Mnintir Bavi. and by O'Halloran as chief of 
 Aron. In O Brien's Dictionary the O'BarCs are 
 stated to possess a territory and foreland called 
 Muintir Bar), part of ancient C.arbery, in the 
 county of Cork. This name has been anglicised 
 to Barry, and is often confounded with the Nor- 
 man Dc Barries; they were of the Ithlan or 
 Liigadlan ra'-e, and defended from Fathadh .'Vrg- 
 thecli. a king of .Munster in the Ihinl century, 
 according to O'Heerin, by whom they are thus 
 designated : 
 
 •' Muintir Bari of the fair fortress^ 
 They are of the race of Fathai'Ili Airgthech; 
 O'Bari rnlcs over the land of waves, 
 Which is not surpassed by the smooth plains 
 of Mana." 
 
 19. O'LAEGnAiRt, or O'Leary, chiefs of Ui 
 Laosrhaire or Iveleary, were of the Lugadian or 
 Ithian race, and possessed in ancient times the 
 city of lioscarbery and its environs. Iveleary, 
 or OI.,eary's country, lay in Muskerry, in the 
 county of Cork, between Macroom and Incha- 
 geela, where thoy had several castles, as those of 
 Carriirat'oiiky, ('arrÍLrnaneelat;h, Carrignacurra, 
 Dundarierk and Drumcurragh. 
 
 2 1. The 0"ilK.AS were chiefs of Pobble OHea, 
 in Carbery. 
 
 21. The O'DoNOVANS, of whom an account 
 shall bo giv.cn in the chapter on Thomond, like- 
 wise settled in Cork, and were chiefs of Clan 
 Cathail, an extensive district in West Carbery. 
 where they had their chief residence at Castle 
 Donovan. 
 
 22. O'Beci is given by O'Heerin as a chief of 
 Beantraidhe, now the barony of Bantry, comity 
 of Cork, and is thus designated : 
 
 " O'Beci, chief of the fair land. 
 Rules over Bantry of delifrhtful bloom ; 
 Heroes, whose noble actions I certify. 
 They are of the race of Fergus of Ulster." 
 
 2.3. The O'Casevs were chiefs of Coillte Ma- 
 binecha, a territory near Mitchelstown, in the 
 county of Cork. 
 
 24. The O'Healys or O'Helys were chiefs of 
 Domhnach Mor O'Healy, or Pobble O'Healy, a 
 larse parish in the barony of Muskerry, county 
 of Cork. 
 
 25. The 0'nERi.inTS or O'Hurleys were cliiefs 
 of a district in the barony of Muskerry, and he 
 states they were hereditary wardens of the 
 church of St. Gobnait of Bally voorny, and were 
 possessors for many ages of the large parish of 
 that name 
 
 20. The O'NiTNANS were chiefs of Tullaleis 
 and Castlelissen, now the parish of Tullileasc, in 
 the b.arony of Duliallow, county of Cork, in 
 which they were hereditary wardens of St. Bren- 
 dan's church. , 
 
 27. The O'Dalvs had the parish of Kilcro- 
 hane, in the barony of West Carbery, county of 
 Cork, and were bards to the Mac Carthys, O'Ma- 
 lionys. Carews, .and other great families. 
 
 1-i. The Mac Egans were Brehons.in the conn- 
 ties of Cork and Kerry, under the Mac Carthys, 
 kings of Desmond. The Mac Egans were also 
 hereditary Brehons or judges of Ormond 
 
 '.9. The Mac Swernevs were military com- 
 manders under the Mac Carthys, princes of Des- 
 mond, who, in thf tliirtienlh century, brought a 
 body of them from Tirconnell or Donegal. The 
 Mac Sweeneys had the parish of Kilniurry, in 
 the barony of Muskerry, county of Cork, and 
 their chief ca'^tle at Clodagh, near Macroom, and 
 had also Castlemore, in tlie parish of Movidy. 
 
 30. The Mac Shkehif.s were a warlike clan, 
 brought fnjm Connaught in the fifteenth century 
 by tlie Fitzu't-ralds, earls of Desmond, who ap- 
 pointed tliom their body guards They were 
 afterwards nuiiurous in the counties of Cork 
 and Limorick. 
 
 3 . The O'Jvearnevs were a clan near Kin- 
 sale, in the county of Cork, where they are 
 placed on tlif Ma]) of Ortellus. and are men- 
 tioned by OHeerin as chiefs of Ui Floinn. 
 
 ÍÍ2. The O'llioanANs were a clan of note in 
 Muskerry, In the county of Cork, and distin- 
 gulsliid milllary chiefs in ancient times. 
 
 83. The OCuijwi.EV.s were chiefs of Kilshal- 
 low, we^t of Bandon, in the county of Cork, but 
 orltrlnally came from Connaught. 
 
 34. The O'.Ml'rpiiyb, originally from Wexford, 
 were a nutnorous clan in Muskerry. 
 
TOPOGEAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 703 
 
 86. The O'AiiBiiNS, 0"Eon\tve9, and O' 
 Hbynes, were also old and respectable laniilies 
 In the county of Cork. 
 
 Iae-Mumua. 
 
 86. The O'CoNcOBUAiR, or O'Conors, kings of 
 Kerry, are thus mentioned by O'lleerin in his 
 topographical poem : 
 
 " Let us leave the warlike race of Conari, 
 Princes of Erna of golden shields, 
 ■\Vc come to our friends the race of Fergus, 
 They .ire entitled to command our attention. 
 
 "The king of Kiarraide over the clans of Kiar, 
 O'Conor'rulcs the land by right, 
 ( hief of the plain of fertile fields, 
 From the sea shore to the Shannon of clear 
 
 streams." 
 
 They took their name from Conchobhar or 
 Conor, one of their ancient chiefs. The O'Con- 
 ors Kerry were very powerful as kinfrs and 
 princes of Kerry. In the thirteenth century, 
 the Fitzmaurices, earls of Kerry, got much of 
 the possessions of the 0"Conors, whose ancient 
 principality was diminished to the territory call- 
 ed Oireacht Ui Chonchobhair, signifying the in- 
 heritance of 0"Conor, now forming the barony 
 of Iraghticonor. The O'Conors Kerry had sev- 
 eral strong castles, the chief of which was that 
 of Carrigafoyle, at the small island of Carrig, 
 near the mouth of the Shannon, but after the 
 Elizabethian and Cromwellian wars most of 
 their estates were confiscated. 
 
 87. O'DosxcuADHA. or O'Donoghoes, given by 
 O'Heerin as chiefs of Lough Lein, and also of 
 Clan Selbhuidhe, and thus designated in his 
 topography, together with the O'Carroll; : 
 
 "O'Donoghoe of Lough Lein, 
 And of the 1- lesg who is full powerful, 
 Rule over the Clan Selbaide. 
 They are men of happiness in Munster." 
 
 " O'Donoghoe of Lough Lein — 
 He is prince of that Eoganacht ; 
 O'Carroll is there our kinsman, 
 Of pure and noble origin." 
 
 The O'Donoghoes were of the Eugenian race 
 of Ibh Echach, the other great sept of which 
 tribe took the name n'Mahony ; and originally 
 settled in that part of Desmond, now the county 
 of Cork, where they riossessed a large territory, 
 extending from Iniskcan to the borders of Ban- 
 try, and from thence northward to Ballyvurny 
 aiid Macroom, comprisins the district called 
 Iveleary. i which is part of Carbery,) and also a 
 great portion of Muskerry: but in the twelfth 
 century, the O'Donoghoes were expelled from 
 Cork by the Mac Carthys and O'Mahonys, and 
 settled in Kerry, where they became proprietors 
 of all the country about Loch Lein and Killar- 
 ney. The O'Donoghoes continued powerful 
 chiefs down to the reign of Elizabeth, when, in 
 consequence of having ioined the earls of Tyrone 
 and Desmond, most of their estates were" con- 
 fiscated. The O'Donoghoes were divided into 
 two great branches, namely, those of Loch Lein, 
 and those of Glenf.osk. the" Latter called O'Dono- 
 ghoe More The O'Donoghoes. lords of Loch 
 Lein, had their chief castle at Eoss Island, on 
 one of the lakes of Killarney, the romantic ruins 
 of which still remain. 
 
 83. O'DoMHNAiLL, or O'Donnell, of the same 
 race as the O'Donoghoes, is given by O'lleerin 
 
 as a chief of Clan Shalvcy, and mentioned aa 
 follows : * 
 
 "Clan Selbaide of the limpid streams. 
 Recorded as a well known land. 
 Belongs to O'Domnaill of the powerful hand, 
 Who took possession of tlic brown nut i>lain." 
 
 39. O'Cathaii-l, or O'Cahill. A branch of 
 the Kiarraide took this name from Cathal, one 
 of its chiefs. The race is of the siime blood as 
 the O'Connors Kcrr.v. The name is still numer- 
 ous in the counties of Kerry and Cork. 
 
 40. The O'Carbollr, princes of Loch Lein, are 
 mentioned by O'lleerin, .and also in the .\nnal3 
 of Inisfallen, in the eleventh and twelfth cen- 
 turies. 
 
 41. O'Faltíhi, or O'F.ilvey, given by O'lleerin 
 •as chief of Corca Duibhne, and of the territory 
 from the Mang, westward to Fiontraighor Von- 
 try. Corca JJaih/i-n.", is now the barony of Cor- 
 caguiney, in the county of Kerry. The O'Fa!- 
 veys were powerful chiefs, and in ancient times 
 held the rank of hereditary admirals of Des- 
 mond. 
 
 42. O'Seadha, or O'Shea, is also given SJ5 a 
 chief of Ibh Ratha or Iveragh. 
 
 43. O'CoxGHAiLL, or O'Connell, is given by 
 O'Heerin, as chief of J/aff/t O (j-Coinchinn. now 
 the barony of Magonihy, in Kerry. The three 
 last mentioned chiefs are stated by O'Heerin, in 
 his topography, to be of the race of Clan Conari, 
 that Is. the descendants of Conari II., monarch of 
 IreLand, in the beginning of the third century, 
 who was of the race of the Clanna Degitd, of 
 Munster. They are thus designated by O'Hee- 
 rin: 
 
 " After the battalions of Clar Broni, 
 Let us treat of the clans of Conari, 
 Fair Fenian heroes from TuIach-an-Trir (an 
 
 ancient name of Tara.) 
 Rulers in Munster of the smooth streams. 
 
 "Three chiefs who possessed the lands, 
 Of Corca Dubui of the fine forces, 
 O'i'alvey the warrior, and O'She.a, 
 The strengthening bond of the eastern parts. 
 
 " O'Connell of sharp swords 
 Rules over the shady fortress of Magonihy, 
 Like a stately tree in hazel woods. 
 Is the Munster leader of the cavalry forces. 
 
 "From Mang, westward, is the estate. 
 Possessed by O'Falvey as far as Yentry ; 
 "Without dispute an extensive land. 
 'W.as obtained by O'Shea, chief of Iveragh." 
 
 44. O'Laeghain. O'Leyne, or Lane, chief of 
 L'i Ferba; and O'Duibhduin, chief of Ui Flan- 
 naln, districts in the county of Kerry, are thus 
 mentioned by O'Heerin : — 
 
 "O'Laeghain, a warrior of fame, 
 We found him over Ui Ferba ; 
 O'Cathnendaigh obtained the land. 
 Firmly settled under the high hills of Cualan. 
 
 " Ui Flannain an extensive Land, 
 A verdant country of delightful streams, 
 O'Duivdin over this fertile soil, 
 Rules as its chief and protecting lord." 
 
 * These must not be confounded with the 
 great O'Domhnaills orO'Donnelis of Tirconnell. 
 —Ed. 
 
04 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 45. The O'JÍEDis and Clax Coxari are given 
 chiefs of Alltraighe, or of Clar Ciarraidlier that 
 is, the plain of Kerry, and thus mentioned by 
 O'Heerin : 
 
 "The men of AUtrai^rhe maintain, 
 Two chiefs of the plain of Kerry ; 
 A clan of the most active in pitch of battle. 
 Their chiefs arc 0'>edi and Clan Conari." 
 
 46. 0"DrNor>ArDn, or 0"l)nnady.chicf of Slieve 
 Lnachr.i. that is. tlie district about tlif moun- 
 tains ofSlievelosher, on tlie borders of Limerick 
 and Kerry, is tlius mentioned by 0"IIeerin : 
 
 "The plain of Luachra, a productive country, 
 Belongs to the liberal O'Dunady, 
 A tribe of hard fighting battles, 
 A district of fair well-watered lands." 
 
 47. O'MtrrBCHEAKTATGH, or O'Moriarty, and 
 0"Hinnasbhain, chiefs of Aes Asdi of Oriar El- 
 taigh, are thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 "Aes Asdi of the plain of flocks 
 Which the chief of O'Moriarty obtained ; 
 A fair country of blooming aspect. 
 Which was possessed by Ó'llinnesvan." 
 
 The O'Moriartys had the parish of Templenoe. 
 and some adjoining districts in the barony of 
 Dankerron. 
 
 48. The Mac GiLi-icrDDYs, a branch of the 
 0"Sullivans, were chiefs of a territory in the 
 barony of Dunkerrnn. and from thcni the moun- 
 tains called Mac Gillicuddy's Keeks got their 
 name. 
 
 49. The Mac Ei,i.igotts were an ancient 
 family in Kerry, from whom the p.irish of Bal- 
 lymacclligott, in the barony of Trughenackmy, 
 got its name. 
 
 50. The Mac Finneens, a branch of the Mac- 
 Carthys, or .accordin:; to others, of the 0"SuiIi. 
 vans; the Mac C-cliaiis; the O'Scanlans; and 
 O'Uarneys, were also clans of note in Kerry. 
 
 AngJo-Xorman ftirnilie» in Dexmoitd. 
 1. The FiT20EP.Ai.PS, descended from the An- 
 c'o-Xorman chief. Maurice Fitzcerild, who got 
 lartre possessions in Cork and Kerry, and whose 
 posterity were created earls of Dofmond in the 
 rei^n of Kdward III. Another branch of the 
 Fitzgeralds, also descended from Maurice Fitz- 
 perald. became earls of Kildare. The earls of 
 Desmond hoc.ime one of the most powerful 
 families in Munster, and several of them were 
 lords deputies of Ireland in the fourteenth and 
 fifteenth centuries. Gerald Fitzscrald, sixteenth 
 ear! of Dc-inond, was one of the greatist subjects 
 in Europe, and held the rank of a I'lince Pala- 
 tine, V. ith the authority of a provincial king: ho 
 had many strong castles, and his vastpos.sessions 
 e.xtendcd 150 miles over the counties of Cork, 
 Kerry, Limerick, and Waterford, comprising 
 nearly six hundred thousand acres of profitable 
 land, independent of immense tmcts of waste 
 land^. not surveyed, so that his entire property 
 amounted to nearly one million of atres. He 
 had an immense number of vas.sal.s, ami could 
 raise at a call a force of two thousand foot and 
 six hundred horse, and had hcsidf'S, in his reti- 
 ane of his own kindred, five hundred gentlemen 
 of the Fitzseralds. The earl of Desmond hav- 
 icc re-istcd the Reformation in the reign of 
 Elizabeth, and waged war aeainst the English 
 government, his forces nfter long contests were 
 dcfcnted, and he him«elf was slain by one Kelly, 
 an Irish soldier, in a glen near Castie Island, in 
 
 county of Kerry, on the 11th November, 1588; 
 his head was cut off and sent to England by 
 Thoni.is Butler, earl of Ormond, as a present to 
 the queen, who caused it to be fixed on London 
 bridge. 
 
 The other principal Norman families of the 
 county of Cork were the Cogans, Carews, Con- 
 dons, or Cantons, de Courcys. Barrys. Barnwalls, 
 Barretts, lioelics, Mac Gibbons, or Fitzgibbons, 
 a branch of the Fitzgeralds; the Fleiiimings, 
 Sarsfields, Xagles, Murtells, Eusscls. IMgotts, 
 Prendeigasts, Morgans, Cotters, ilurroghs, Sup- 
 ples, Stactpoles, \\ hitcs, Uodnetts, Kents, &c. 
 
 Danish families. 
 
 The Coppingers, Goulds, Gallways, Skiddys, 
 and Terrys, who are considered to be of Danish 
 descent, were in former times very numerous and 
 powerful families in Cork, and a vast number of 
 them were lord mayors of that city, from the 
 fourteenth to the seventeenth century. 
 
 'J. The De CorncYs were barons of Kinsale, 
 and some of the familj- took the Irish name of 
 Mac Patrick, being descendants of one of the 
 earls named Patrick. 
 
 3. The De Bareys, Anglo-Normans, became 
 earls of Barrymore, and gave name to the baro- 
 nies of Biirrymore and B,Hrryroe; some of them 
 took the name of Mac David. 
 
 4. The lIocHES. The Anglo-Norman family 
 of de la Pupe or Kochc became viscounts of 
 Fermoy, and their territory was called Roche's 
 country. 
 
 5. The Saesfieids, Anglo-Normans, settled 
 in Cork, and also in Limerick. The Sarsfields 
 of Limerick were created viscounts of Kilmal- 
 lock, the first who got the title being Sir Domi- 
 nick Sarsfield, chief justice of the common pleas, 
 in the reign of James I. Patrick Sarsfield, of the 
 same family, was created earl of Lucan by James 
 II., under whom ho was celebrated as a com 
 mander of the Irish forces. 
 
 6. The Bareetts srave name to the barony of 
 Barretts; the CoNnoxa, a brave Norman sei)t, 
 who were .imonwt the last to yield to Cromwell, 
 to the barony of Condons. 
 
 7. The De Bap.nwai.ls, Anglo-Normans, were 
 styled lords of liearhaven, and once h.id larcep' s- 
 Sissinns In that district, but were expelled by the 
 OSnllivans, and bavins settled in Dublin and 
 Meatb, founded several great families, as the 
 Barnwalls, barons of Trimblestown and Turvey, 
 and viscounts Kingsland. 
 
 S. The HonNETTS. Some of the family of 
 IFodnett took the Irish name of Mac Sherry, and 
 their chief residence was at Court Mac iherry; 
 from the Magner.i, Castle Manner got its name. 
 
 9. The Nagt.e-s had extensive posses.'^ions, and 
 from them the Na^'lcs mountains derive their 
 name; of this family was Sir Hichard Nagle, 
 attorney-general to .James II. 
 
 Aiujln-Xormniifamili a in Kerry. 
 
 10. The FiTZMAiiEicEs, earls of Kerry, de- 
 scended from Raymond le Gros. Raymond 
 bavins formed an alliance with Deniiod Mac 
 Cartliy, king of Desmond, trot lar^e giants of 
 lands In Kerry, in the territory called Lixnaw, 
 which, from being possessed by hisson M.iuricc, 
 got the name of Cl.inmaurice. From Maurice 
 were dlscended the Fitzmaurices, carls of Kerry. 
 The other i)rincipal English families were the 
 Browns, Stack.s, Godfreys, Rices, &c. 
 
 Nnhiliiy. 
 
 The following have been the titled families In 
 
 the county of Cork : The de Courcys, larons of 
 
 Kinsale and RIngrone; the Fltzgen'ild.s, earls of 
 
 Desmond, barons of Dtclcs, and seneschals of 
 
TOPOGEAPIIICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 705 
 
 Imokllly. Tlie Care ws, marquises of Cork. The 
 Mac Ciithys, carls of Clancare, earls of Claii- 
 cartby, carls of Muskerry, und earls of Mouut- 
 casbel. The Barrys, barous of Oletban, viscounts 
 of Battevant, ami earls of Barrymore. Tbe 
 Kocbes, barous of Oastleloagb, and viscounts of 
 Fermoy 
 
 In Kerry, tbe following bave been tbe noble 
 families since tbe reign of king Jolin. Tbe Fitz- 
 maurices, barons of L,ixnaw and U'Dorney, vis 
 counta of Claninaurice and earls of Kerry; tbe 
 Fitzgeralds, kniglits of Kerry ; tbe Browns, earls 
 of Kenmare, and viscounts of Castleross. 
 
 Thomond. 
 
 TnoMOJJD under its ancient kings, extended 
 from the Isles of Arran, olftbe coast of Galway 
 to Sliabb Eiblinni, now tbe Felim mountains, 
 In tbe county of Tiiii)L'rary, and thence to 
 Knockany, in tbe county of Limerick ; and from 
 Loopbead "t tbe mouth of the tjhannon, to 
 Ossory, on tbe borders of Tipperary, Kilkenny, 
 and tbe Queen's county, thus comprising the 
 county of Clare, and tbe greater part of those 
 of Limerick, and Tipperary. But in later times, 
 Thomoud was conliued to tbe present county 
 of Glare. 
 
 1. Tub 0"Brie:«s, Kings of Tuomond. — Tbe 
 sept of O'Brien, or O'Brian, took its name from 
 its ancestor Brian Boromha. Prom the time of 
 tbis monarch, it bad become not only the ruling 
 family of Dalcassians, but of tbe whole race of 
 Kber. At the time of the English invasion, 
 the brave Domnall O'Brialn, one of its members, 
 was sovereign of Casbel, of which be was last 
 king. The O'Briens maintained a long and 
 fierce contest for their independence, with tbe 
 Anglo-Norman. Tbey succeeded in maintain- 
 ing their power as kings of Thomond and 
 Limerick, until the year 1543, when Murcadb 
 O'Brien renounced tbe titles of O'Briain, and 
 King of Tlijraond, for tbe English style of Earl 
 of Thomoud. Tbe OBriens are still a very 
 numerous race, though scattered throughout 
 Munster, and Leinster,and other parts of Ireland. 
 Note. — Unlike most other Irish races, tbe sept 
 still possesses, amongst its members, one man, 
 ■with whom none, either of the clan of Bi ian Bo- 
 romha, the tribe of Cas, tbe line of Eber, or of tbe 
 whole nation sprung from Miledh of Esbain, 
 can dispute the first place. Other tribes are, 
 it is true, still represented by nominal chiefs, 
 who usurp the ancient elective titles of their 
 septs — titles which could only be conferred, 
 either by tbe voice of tbe majority of their tribes. 
 or by the Iiead-chieftain of their kindred — and 
 some do even coin new quasi-Irish titles for 
 themselves, never heard of in the days when 
 the Gaels flourished They dub themselves 
 The O' — or The Ma? — merely because tboy 
 chance to retain, or acquire some portion of tbe 
 ancient inheritance of their kindred ; but they 
 never think of asking tbe consent of tbe mem- 
 bers of such kindred to tbe assumption, and 
 they never at all consider whether tbc-y are 
 themselves tbe best men of their several races. 
 The Ui Briain, however, are now represented 
 by no sucli self-created chiefs. William Smith 
 0''Briev needs not the assumption of tbe ancient 
 title of his family, be needs not set forth bis 
 clear and unquestioned descent from its founder, 
 Brian Boromha, for the chieftain's wand is his, 
 because he is pre-eminent amongst his tribe 
 for his personal worth, and for bis devotion to 
 the caase of old Ireland — because be is the first 
 of his tribe in truth, honor, chivalry, and all 
 that ennobles the hero, the patriot, and the 
 man. — Ed. 
 
 2. O'DEGHADn, or O'Dea, chief of Trlocha 
 TT.acbtaracb, called also Kinel Fermaicand Disert 
 Ui Dhegha, or Dysart O Dea, now the parish of 
 Dysart, barony of Inchiquin, county of Clare. 
 The O'Deas are thus mentioned by O'lleerin : 
 
 " With due respect we give the lead 
 To the high lands of Triocba Uachtar, 
 O'Dea is tlie inheritor of tbe country. 
 Of the brown nut producing plains ' 
 
 The O'Deas bad several castles in this terri- 
 tory, of which some ruins still remain. 
 
 3. O'CuiN, or O'Quin, chief of Muintir 
 Ifernain, a territory about Curofln in the county 
 of Clare. Ui Ifernain, was tbe name of tbe 
 tribe who possessed the territory over which 
 O'Quin n"a3 chief Tbey are thus mentioned 
 by O'Heerin: 
 
 " O'Quin of the honest heart, 
 Is chief of the bountiful Ui Ifernain, 
 Whose land is fruitful and fair. 
 Around Curofln of tbe banquets." 
 
 4. CFlaitiiri, or O'FIattery, and O'Cathaill, 
 or O'Cabil, chiefs of Finn-coradb. They are 
 thus designated by O'Heerin : 
 
 " O'Flatbri who commands our praise, 
 Possesses tbe land of Fincbora, 
 The country of O'Cahil to the east and west 
 Is the smooth plain of tbe fields of yews." 
 
 5. O'Maoilmeda, chief of Kinel m-Baith, or 
 Brentire, now Brentry, near Callan Hill, in tbe 
 county of Clare. They are thus mentioned by 
 O'Heerin : 
 
 "Kinel Baitb a numerous tribe. 
 The noble chiefs of I rentiri, 
 O'Mulmea of the bright fair plains, 
 Possessed tbe woods about delightful Einigh." 
 
 6. O'HAixncmn, or O'Hehirs, chiefs of Hy 
 Flanchadha and Hy Cormac. districts in the 
 barony of Islands, county of Clare. They are 
 thus designated by O'Heerin : 
 
 "Of the race of Eogan of Oirir Cliach 
 Are the Ui Cormaic of the fair plain, 
 To O'Hehir belongs tbe fertile country, 
 A lord from whom great nobles sprung. 
 
 " Chiefs who are powerful in each bouse 
 Are of tbe noble clans of O'Hehir, 
 They rule over Ui Flancha of hospitable man- 
 sions, 
 Tbey are noble and well armed Fenian war- 
 riors." 
 
 7. O'DiriBnGHrax. or n'Duigin, chief of Muin- 
 tir Conlocbtaidb, a district in the pari.sh of Tom- 
 graney, in tbe barony of TuUagh, county of 
 Clare, is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 " O'Duigin of fair and ruddy face 
 Rules over comely Muinter Conlochta, 
 A chief who gained bis possessions 
 By force of spears ia battle.'' 
 
 8. O'Grad.v, or O'Grady, chief of Kinel Don- 
 phuile, a larse territory comprising the present 
 barony of Lower Tullajb, in tbe county of Clare. 
 The O'Gr.adys are thus designated by O'Heerin, 
 and several chiefs of them are mentioned in tho 
 course of this work : 
 
106 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 "O'Grada took the entire lands 15. 0"MAELMArABA, or O'Mackessy, chief of 
 
 Of ttie proiitable Kind Dongali, CorcaOiciie; andOBerga. chi<'f of Tiiatli Ilossa, 
 
 His swords yeilow-bal':ed Jire keen, districts in tlie county of Limerick, are thus 
 
 Strong are the blows of his forces in battle." mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 9. Mac Conmara, or Mac Kamara. The Mac 
 Namaras have taken their name from one of 
 their ancient cbiefs in the tenth century named 
 Cumara. a descendant of Conall Echiuatb. or 
 Conall of the Swift Steeds, who was king of 
 Munstcr In the fourth century. The word Cu- 
 mara makes, in the ircnitive. Conmara, and 
 signifies a warrior of the sea. The Mac Nama- 
 ras were chiefs of Tricha Ced I'i Caisin, which 
 territory is now the barony of Tullagh, in the 
 county of Clare ; it contained also part of the 
 barony of Bunratty. The * ac Namaras are also 
 sometimes styled cliiefs of Clan Cuileain, which 
 was the tribe name of his family. The Mac Na- 
 maras are thus designated by Oileerin : 
 
 '• A princely chief of well fought battles 
 Is Mac Namara from Magh Adair, 
 A land of riches is liis country. 
 It is tli8 territory of Clan Caisin.'' 
 
 The Mac Namaras held the office of hereditary 
 marshals of Thomond, where they had numer- 
 ous castles 
 
 10. O'CosCHTiBnAiK, or (/'Conor, chief of Tri- 
 ocha <"ed Fer n Arda and of Corcamruadh, the 
 ancient name of the barony of Corcomroe, in the 
 county of Clare, anciently called Crioch Cuirc, 
 or the territory of Core, which name it got from 
 Core, prince of the r.ice of Ir from Ulster, who 
 settled there in the first century. TheO'Conors 
 are thus designated by Oileerin : 
 
 " The territory of Fer Arda of go d, 
 Corcomroe of the hosts of flashing battalions, 
 O'Conor obtained the land, 
 The heights from delightful Conagh." 
 
 11. O'LocHLAiNN, or O'Lonehlin, chief of 
 Boirenn now the barony of Burren, county of 
 Clare, sometimes called Eastern Corcomroe ; 
 they are thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 ••Warlike O'Lochlin, leader of hosts, 
 Bulcs o'er the fertile plains of Burren, 
 The lands of Core he holds by right, 
 A country of cattle and abundant wealth." 
 
 They held their rank as lords of Bnrren down 
 to the reign of Elizabeth. These O'Conors and 
 O'Loghllns were of the same descent. 
 
 12. Mao Aneip.idiie, or Mac Eneiry, chief of 
 Corca Muikedha, also called Conaill Uachtarach, 
 or the barony of Upper Conello, in the county of 
 Limerick. 
 
 ■' Mac Eneiry, hero of precious gems, 
 Rules Corca Muikeda of the mounds, 
 A noble Fenian who doth flourish, 
 As doth fair bloom on apple tree.' 
 
 13. OBII.I.RAIDHE, a chief in I'I {'onnill G.ib- 
 hra, now the baronies of ('ppcr and Lower Con- 
 ello, in the county of Limerick, is thus men- 
 tioned by O'Heeiin: 
 
 •'O'Billry, bestower of cattle. 
 Was cliief of fertile Conall Oaura, 
 Bounteous men of tlie fair plains, 
 liich lands of teeming irops." 
 
 " Corca Oichi of pleasant woods. 
 Sand white mantles and clear streams, 
 Land of great fertility. 
 Is govornod by O'Maelmacasa, 
 O'Berga of fair country iield. 
 The districts of I'i Eossa, a ricli portion." 
 
 16. O'MAELCUALLors', now MulhoUand, a chief 
 in Cacnraidhc, now the baronj' of Kenry, county 
 of Limerick, is thus mentioned by Oileerin: 
 
 " The Fenian chief of Kenry of fair lands, 
 Is O'Mulcallen of the numerous tribe." 
 
 17. O'Cleirhcixn and CFlanxabhua, or O' 
 Flanncry, chiefs of Dal Carbri Aedhbha, a ter- 
 ritory in the barony of Kenry, in the co nty of 
 Limerick, thus mentioned by Oileerin: 
 
 "The portion of th- delightful Dal CarSri Eva, 
 Princes of Cashcl of white f^tandards, 
 Lasting is his prosperity to the cO' ntry. 
 The brave an i high chief O Cleircinn." 
 
 18. O'DoxNOBiiAiN, or O'Donovan, is given 
 by O'Brien at the word < airbre, as chief of 
 Cairbre Aodhbha, now the barony of Kenry, 
 m the county of Limerick, which was the an- 
 cient territory of O'Donovan, O'Cleirchin, and 
 O'Flanncry ; O'Donovan is thus designated by 
 O'Heerin : 
 
 " Heirdom of O'Donovan of Dun Cuirc, 
 Is this district, the land of his fortune. 
 To him without tribute belongs Maihmoill, 
 And the level plains down to Shannon." 
 
 The O'Donovans had their chief castle at Bruree. 
 
 19. O'CiARMAic, anglicised O'Kirwick and 
 Kirby, chief of Eoganacht Ani. called by O'Hal- 
 loran, Ani Cliach now the parish of Knockaney, 
 in the barony of Small County, county of Limer- 
 ick. The O'Kerwicks are thus mentioned by 
 Oileerin: 
 
 " Of Eoganacht Ani of wealthy lands, 
 O'Kirwick is the mainstay of the territory, 
 A country inhabited by the most noble tribes. 
 They arc Ui Enda, Ani, and Auluim." 
 
 20. O'Maelduin, or O'Muldoon. is also given as 
 a chief in Eoganacht Ani, and thus mentioned by 
 O'Heerin : 
 
 "The race of O'Maelduin from Dun Cais, 
 Over Eoganacht Ani in order rules — 
 A numerous tribe from o'er the waves. 
 These armed Fenians from Aughrim." 
 
 21. O'CiNNFAELAinii, now O'Kinealy, chief of 
 Eoganacht Grian Gabhra, a district comprising 
 parts of the baronies of Coshma and Small 
 countv, in Limerick, and thus mentioned by 
 O'Heerin : 
 
 "The Eoganacht of fertile Qrian Gaura, 
 A land producing sweetest apples, 
 A crown of female households in fame, 
 Belongs to O'Kinfaela of red arms. 
 
 14. O'Cl'illei.s, or O'Cullane, by some ron- 22. O'Conttino, a name anglicised to Gnn- 
 
 dered Collins; O'Kenealy and O'Shechan, were ninsf, was chii'f of Crioch Saingil and Acs Qrcnl, 
 
 chiefs in the baronies of ConuUo, county of Llm- which trrritories arc now coriiprlsi-d In the 
 
 erick. barony of Small county, in Liiucrlck, Crioch 
 
TOPOGKAI'IJICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 0} 
 
 iVi 
 
 Saingil is called Single Land, and situated Bear 
 by O'Ueerin : ° ^"""'"«^ ^'^ '^^ mentioned 
 
 •' Acs Greni of the finest plains, 
 ^^as "wued by OCiinin-; ofCriocli Saingil, 
 He ehecrlully held tlie beautious Grian 
 t rom tlie noble race of Eogan." 
 
 rv??" O'Caelaidii, OCadiila, or O'Kecly : and 
 O Maille, or (J-Malley, are given as chiefs of Tu 
 
 oj ni'?'"^''®' ""^ "'*' '^'«'^'■''^t ''bout Limerick 
 '■*• L> Ceadfadua is given as chief of Triocna- 
 
 Coad-an Chalaidh, called Gala Luimne, that A 
 
 •he port or ferry of Limerick, 
 -'o. OIIaodua, O'IIea, or Hayes chief of 
 
 Musgraidhe Luachra, a territory lyfng be ween 
 
 Kilmallock and Ardpatrick, in' the barony of 
 
 s'gn'aird brc^Sfuf "' ^""""^'^' - "'- -i- 
 
 '•O'Hea, the bestower ofcattle. 
 Has held the vide Musgi-ui.le Luach a. 
 The ribe of the liur land of melodious song, 
 Dwelt along the great salmon stream." 
 
 inf'ffú'Xv^T''t-^l" "": ^íu'nter Domhnaill, 
 R.f-k?n^ ^t- ^' chiels of Triooha Cead Corca 
 liai^kmd, which accordmgto O'Halloran, is now 
 tlie barony of Moyart^ in the county of Clare 
 ^Iiolcorcra js given as chief of Ui Brecain' 
 
 rorca R,- r "-^ "'■ ^'^'■"'•'^''^°- ^° the poem two 
 Gorca Baibkins are mentioned, one of which m-.is 
 
 r^^f w?^',f f',^"'"''''''^^^'- -^i«= Donneirs dis- 
 trict was cjdled Darach : he was also called O'- 
 
 O'Heerin- "'"''''' ''''' """" designated by 
 
 " Two cantreds we record. 
 The two delightful Gorca Baiskins, 
 Ihe Mac Donnells were its inheritors 
 Ihe host who have shared the country. 
 
 "Another chief of this land of music 
 Noble is the origin of his descent, 
 Was O'Baiskinn's stately tree, 
 A tribe that marched with force. 
 
 " O'Dicholla's possessions Ijy iuherilMK.- 
 A.? '".f;"''C<"."i-oe of the intrepid l-attalions. 
 Also O Maeleithigh of the hospitable 
 W ho znaintained Ids hereditary rights." 
 
 chief of bheve Lise Finn and of Kinel Pedna a 
 district on the borders of Glare and Gal wa' is 
 thus mentioned by o'Heerin : "a.waj , is 
 
 "The lands about the fair Slicve Else 
 Are possessed by the Clan Sedna of melodious 
 
 oaras, 
 
 ÍV'IHT,'"^ firmly support their clans ; 
 ^hiel of their territory is O'Drennan." 
 
 31 O'Neill or O'Nihell, chief of Clan Dcl- 
 buidhe and of Tradraidhe. a district in the barony 
 ^'/"r^«J"!°' county 0Í Clare, is thus mentioned 
 0} Ulieeiin: 
 
 "The land of Clan Dalvy of the poets 
 A^as ruled by O'Neill, chief of Finnluarach, • 
 i he forces of Tradree came to his fortress, 
 ihe descendant of the yellow-haired chiefs." 
 
 ,• ,^t' ^-^f O'CjiEAGHS, many of whom were val- 
 mLr V"' ^''''""' ^"'"'^^^ victories over the 
 iJanes : and on one occasion, having worn green 
 
 .^S." "I '^''' ^"''"^^t*- '^^y f^om^this drfum" 
 stance got the name (/Crao/bh, which signifies, 
 
 Creth '"of íh•■''f''^'^''™'^'^«^ anglicised to 
 
 V^t^!„" r 1 'v'^' ^""'y '•'''^ Wchard Creagh, 
 
 ?iP^ A 1?'* Íí2l"= Archbishop of Armagh, wdio 
 
 t;!., t' 7' ^°^°'/n eminent writer on ecclesias- 
 
 Q r^-,".'^' ""'^ *''° ''^■'■s of 't^e h-ish saincs. 
 
 ATntf-, r'^^u^'^'i^*''' °'" O'Davoran, chief of 
 
 ^ZJ^ek'^^^,"^^''' °'" ^^" OLiddys, the tribe 
 name of this clan. 
 
 "Ím ?^J'X?r^^^ of wise and learned men, 
 C Mefs of O Liddy of whom I treat. 
 They belonged to the clans of Sinnell 
 And are the maintainers of nobility." 
 
 •The lord of Ibraekan of silken garments 
 A chief who musters mighty forces ' 
 Is O'Maelcorcra of wide'fame, ' 
 Whose laud extends from both the bays. 
 
 ■•The two territories of the entire Tochla 
 Are possessed by the valiant race of Coiaii 
 Along the land of Braen-magh 'tis true 
 Its lawful defender is O KceV— ' 
 
 We leave the race of Conari of Battles, 
 Ihe princes of Erna of the golden shields." 
 
 if'""\i"v^ MATnoHAMiiNA, or Mac Mahon. The 
 ^/c^r^^T ^'.■«'■'"'^■•V''« «f'"^'^ fW^fs as lords 
 ' f ?r P'^'""?"^, """.'^ possessed the baronies 
 of Moyavta and Clonderlaw, in the county of 
 Clare down to the reign of Elizabeth. The 
 Mac Mahons are a l)ranch of the O'Brien» the 
 posterity of Brian Boru, and therefore, of qui e 
 :i difterent descent from the Mac Mahons. lords 
 of Monaghan, who are of the race of Clan Colla 
 
 2*. O'GoEMAiN, or O'Gorman, was chief of 
 TuUichrin a territory comprising parts of the 
 of Clare' "'^ ^°>''""*'^ '"'^ Ibraekan, ijl the county 
 
 29 O'DicuoLLA and O'Maeleithigh, are ''iven 
 as chiels of Corcomroe, in the county of Siaro 
 andthus mentioned by O'Heerin: ' '■''«'^e, 
 
 r,ot ., ^ Moi-oNETs were chiefs of Cuilte- 
 
 fn^i T ''^^Paf'sh of Kiltonanlea. in the barony 
 '"*ie barony of Tully, county of Clare. 
 r-K -^u^ i-EAENETS, chiefs of Abhuin Ui 
 
 Chearnaidh, or O'Kearney-s river, a district 
 ^^°"' Six-Mile-Bridge, in the baronies cf Tu U 
 and Bunratty, county of Clare. 
 
 86. The O'Caseys given as chiefs of Eath- 
 Limwiik -^ °^ Pnbblebrien, county of 
 
 37 The O'DiNNAHA-s or O'Dinans, chiefs of 
 L auhne, now the barony of Owney beg, in Lime- 
 s':'. The OHallinans and Mac SnEEHTS 
 chiefs of Bally hallinan, in the barony of Pubble' 
 bnen, county of Limerick. ' ^ ""^^'^ 
 
 3:». The O'Hallorans, chiefs of Faith ui-IIaí- 
 urain, a district between Tulla and Clare, in 
 thecoiinty of Clare. v^me, ju 
 
 Mi^; V\^ 'V° ^í"'-'-^ Iosachta, .1 name an- 
 glicised to Ly.saght are placed on the map of 
 Ortelius, about Lnnistymon. 
 
 41. Ihe Mac CoNsiDixES, are placed in the 
 barony of Ibraekan. 
 
 II" Í!"' 9^^"^^*' •" ^^'^ barony of Burren. 
 ClondJilaw^^'' GiLi-EREAOHs, in the barony of 
 
 44. The Mac Clancvs, in the barony of Tnlla 
 
 4o. 1 he Mac Bruodins, in the barony of 
 Inohiquin, all in the county of Clare 
 
 The following families are also placed on the 
 map. m the county of Limerick: the Mac Arthurs 
 m the barony of Pubblebrien ; the O'Scanlans in 
 
•08 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 tho b.irony of rubblebrien ; and the O'Mornj-s, 
 in the barony of Lower (Jonello 
 
 In the year llSil. kin? Henry II. granted the 
 kin<^doin of Liraeriek to Herbert i-itzlierbcrt, 
 but he having resisrned his claiius, it was granted 
 by king John to William and Philip de Braosa. 
 In the latter end of the twelfth, and beginning 
 of the thirteenth century, the Anglo Normans 
 penetrated into Thomond, and formed some set- 
 tlements about Limerick, under William de 
 Kraosa and William de Burgo ; and in the thir- 
 teenth century, king Henry IIL gave a g'-ant of 
 the whole kingdom" of Thomond, or O'Briens 
 Ci'iiitti-t/, to Thomas de Clare, son of the earl of 
 Gloucester; and the Fitzgeralds, Burkes, and 
 other Anglo-Norman families, also got large i os- 
 sions in Limerick and Clare. The O'Briens, and 
 other chiefs, maintained for centuries fierce con- 
 tests with the Anglo-Norman and English set- 
 tlers, in defence of their national independence. 
 The following were the chief families of Anglo- 
 Normans, and early English settlers, in the 
 counties of Limerick and t'lare. The de Burgos 
 or Burkes, Fitzseralds, Fitzgibbons, a branch of 
 the Fitzgeralds, the i c Clares, De Lacies, 
 Browns, Barretts, Koches, Eussels, Sarsfields, 
 Stritcbes, Purcells, &c. 
 
 Oemo>"I) and the Desi. 
 
 Ormond, in Irish Oir Miimhan, Oir Mumha, 
 or U'-mhumha, [Orrooa, or Orruvu,] signify 
 ing East Munster, was one of the large divisions 
 of ancient Munster. Ancient Ormond extended 
 from Gabhran, now Gowran, in the county of 
 Kilkenny, and westward to Cnamhehoili, or 
 Cleath-choill, [Cnaichill. or C'ag/iil/.] near the 
 town of Tipperary, and from Bearnan Ele, now 
 Caroanelly, a parish in the county of Tipperary, 
 in which is situated the Devil's I?it Mountaiu, 
 and from thence southward to ()ilean-ui-Bliric, 
 [l/-kitim'e^- Vrú:]oT O Bric's Island, near Bonma- 
 lion, on the coast of Waterford, thus comprising 
 the irreater part of Tipperary, with parts of the 
 counties of Kilkenny and Waterford. The name 
 of Ormond is still retrained in the two baronies 
 of Ormond, in Tipperary. 
 
 The Dk9i, was an ancient territory comprising 
 tbe greater part of Waterford, with a part of 
 Tipperary, and got its name from the tribe of 
 the Oe»i. The Desians becoming numerous and 
 poweiful in Munster, Aencus, king of Munster 
 in the (ifih century, conferred on them addi- 
 tional land", and annexed to their territory Magh 
 Femhen, which extended north of the river Suir, 
 as far as Corca Ethrach, comprising: the country 
 culled Machari Casil, or the I'lain of Cashel, and 
 districts about Clonmel. forming the present 
 barony of Middlethird, with part of OtTa, in Tip- 
 perary. The territory comprised in this grant 
 of king Aengus was distinu'uished by the name 
 of Desi Tuaiskert, or North Desi, and the old 
 territory, in Waterford, was called Desi Dcis- 
 kert, or South Desi. The name of Desi is still 
 retained in the two baronies of Decies, in the 
 cotinty of Wateribrd, The two principal faml 
 lies of the Desi were the O'Felans, princes of 
 Desi, and the CBrics, chiefs in Desi. 
 
 /rixk CtiS/fs arul Clann of Ormon I and iJeni. 
 
 The folliiwing is an account of the chiefs and 
 clans of Ormond and Desi, and tho territories 
 posflcssed by each in ancient and modem times, 
 collected from various works. /7i Z>e»i the fol- 
 lowing were the chiefs and clans : 
 
 1. 0'Faf.lain, or OTelan. The O'Felans 
 were princes of Dosl. Malachy O'Felan was 
 prince of Desi at the period of the Anglo-Nor- 
 man Invasion. Soon after they lost their posses- 
 
 sions and rank in the county of Waterford, and 
 their territory was transferred to the Le I'ocrs, 
 and other Anglo-Norman settlers, but there still 
 survive several families of the O Fclans, or Phe- 
 lans, in the counties of Waterford, Tipperary, 
 Kilkenny and Queen's county. 
 
 2. O liKic was the other head chief of Desics, 
 and of the same descent as O'Felan. The O'Bric» 
 were .styled chiefs or lords of South Desi, an 
 extensive territory in tho southern part of Wa- 
 terford. but in early times were expelled from 
 that county by the Eugeuians of Desmond. Tho 
 territory of the O'Brics was also called latl» 
 O'Nechach. The O'Felans and O'Brics are tlui.s 
 designated by O'Heerin ; 
 
 "Two gentle chiefs whose names I tell, 
 liule the Desi, I afiirm it. 
 O'Bric the exactor of tributes. 
 With him the wise and fair O'Felan. 
 
 " In Moylacha of the fertile slopes. 
 Kules O Felan for the benefit of his tribe. 
 Great is the allotted territory 
 Of which O'Felan holds possession. 
 
 " Ui Neachaoh the delightful lies 
 In the south of woody Inis Fail, 
 O'Bric's fair lot along the waves, 
 From Leo Logha to Liathdrum." 
 
 3. O'Bei.uns. The O'Briens, a branch of the 
 O'Briens of Thomond, had extensive possessions 
 along the Oummeragh mountains, comprising 
 the valleys between Jiungarvan and the river 
 Suir. 
 
 4. O'OitOTTiES. The O'Crottys, a branch of 
 the O'Briens, princes of Thomond, possessed the 
 country about Lismore, and there are still many 
 families of the name in tho county of Water- 
 ford. 
 
 .'■). The Mac Ckaiths, or Magraths, are old 
 and respectable families in the county of Water- 
 ford. There are several other ancient Irish 
 families such as O'Sheas, O'Uonayne.s, O'llelys, 
 O'Callaghans, O'Coghlans, O'Mearas, &c., in tho 
 county of Waterford. 
 
 Ill Ormond, the following have been the 
 chiefs and clans of note. O'Heerin thus des- 
 cribes Cashel in commencing his topography of 
 that territory : 
 
 '■ W^e shall tell of our visit to Cashel of kings. 
 And to the race of Core who practise no evil 
 
 deeds. 
 We shall unfold the history of their tribes. 
 And of their sages and of their people. 
 
 " Let us henceforth record each hero, 
 Around the plain of Cashel's protecting ram- 
 parts ; 
 A country of fruitful woods, the chief fortre*» ; 
 We are well acquainted with their history. 
 
 " Let us give the lead to the chief territory, 
 To Cashel of the smooth and level plain. 
 It is known l)y the name Corca Ethrach, 
 And boldly over districts march its battalions. 
 
 "There dwelleth the lord of tho land. 
 At Cashel of the brown-nut plains, 
 In comfort and joy holds he Ids sway, 
 A protector to the country of Cashel." 
 
 1. O'DoNruADiiA, or O'Donoghoe, was chief 
 of Eoiianacht of Cashel, and some of them were 
 styled kings of Cashel. These O'Donoghoe» 
 were of the Eugculanracc, and the same as tho 
 
TOPOGRAPH ICAI. APPENDIX. 
 
 7<)y 
 
 Mac Carthys, kings of : esinond. They are thus 
 <lesignatcd" by Olleerin : 
 
 "The Eognnacht of Ca^hcl is the plain of Kian, 
 Ua Doniicadha is its lineal inheritor 
 Its name in other times was Keineu ; 
 It extends to tlie border of the brown nut 
 plain." 
 
 The ancient Icings of Cashel, or Munster, of 
 the Eiigenian race, were inaugur.ated on the 
 hock of Cashel. 
 
 •2. OKeuhhail, or OCarrolI, prince of Eli, 
 who was the he:id of the Clan Kian race, a.s the 
 Mac Carthys were of the Eugenians, and the 
 O'lJrieus of the Dalc.a<sians. The territory of 
 Ely, in Irish i'/i, got its name from Eli, one of 
 its kings in the fifth century, and from being 
 ]io»sesfed by the O'Carrolls, was called Ely 0' 
 Carroll. It comprised the present barony of 
 Lower Ormond, in the county of Tipperary, 
 with the barony of Clonlisk and part of Bally- 
 brit, in the King's county, extending to lieve 
 B'.oijm Mountains, on the borders of theQueen"s 
 county. 1'he O'Carrolls are thus designated by 
 O'Hct-rin, who states that they ruled over eight 
 subordinate chiefs : 
 
 "Lords to whom great men submit. 
 Are the O'Carrolls of the plain of Birr ; 
 Princes of Eii as far as tall Slieve Bloom, 
 The most hospitable land in Erin. 
 
 " Eight districts and eight chiefs .ire ruled 
 By the prince of Eli, land of herds; 
 Valiant in enforcing their tributes. 
 Are the troops of the jellow-ringleted hair." 
 
 The O'Carrolls had their chief castle at Birr, 
 in the King's county. As princes and lords of 
 Eli, they were very powerful from the twelfth 
 to the sixteenth century. 
 
 3. O'Ceinneide, O'Kenneidigh, or O'Kennedy. 
 The O'Kennedys are given by O'lleerin as chiefs 
 of Glenn Omra. They were of the Daleassian 
 race, and possessed the barony of Upper Or- 
 mond, in the county of Tipperary. Tliey were 
 very powerful chiefs, and held their rank from 
 the twelfth to the sixteenth century. The 
 0''Kennedys are thus mentioned by O'lleerin : 
 
 " O'Kenneidigh, the reddener of spears. 
 Rules over the smooth and wide Glen Omra, 
 His tribe possesses the brown plains gained 
 
 by valor; 
 He has obtained his land without opposition." 
 
 4. O'ToiEDnKLBUAiDn, or, as it is written in 
 the Books of Leacon and Ballymote, O'Urthaile, 
 anglicised to O'Hurley. The O'llurleys are of 
 the D.alcassian race: this tribe was also desig 
 nated Clann Tail, a term which was applied to 
 the Dalcassians. The O'llurleys are thus men- 
 tioned by O'lleerin : 
 
 " O'Hurley of the tribe of Tail, 
 Near dwells Killaloe of St. Flannan; 
 Delightful are its woods and productive its 
 
 plains. 
 And from thence westward to the Shannon." 
 
 Of the O'llurleys of Limerick was Dermod 
 O'Hurley, a celebrated archbishop of Cashel, in 
 the reign of Elizabeth. 
 
 5. O'EicHTiGERN, O'Ahern or Hearne, chief 
 of Ui Cearnaidh, is thus mentioned by O'llee- 
 rin: 
 
 " Over Ui Ccarnaigh of valiant liosts, 
 Kules O'Echtigern of the land of tribe», 
 A joyful country is that of the upright man. 
 As far as the hospitable port of the Shannon." 
 
 G. O'Sexciiain or O'Slianahan, by .=ome ren- 
 dered to Shannon, by others erroneously angli- 
 cised Fox. The O'Shannhans were chiefs of a 
 territory called Feadha 1,'i Kongali, ( Faa ee I'on- 
 neelie), or the Woods of Ci Kongali, comprising 
 the country about Eibhiine, or Siieve Feliui. 
 The O'Shanahans are thus mentioned by O'llee- 
 rin: 
 
 " The forest of Ui Rongiili of the level plain, 
 Is possessed by the hospitable O'Shanahan, 
 The entire country about Eviinno 
 To the smooth plain of Maenmagh." 
 
 V. O'DtJBURAio, or O'l>oorie, of Doon Branni 
 and Tuath Congali is thus mentioned by O'llee- 
 rin : 
 
 "The Clan Dubhraic of Dun Braine, 
 Are chiefs of the country of Ui Congale, 
 Their fortresses lie round the beauteous Bo- 
 
 ruma, 
 A tribe remarkable for their golden tresses." 
 
 S. O'DriBuiBHiR, O'DcriBHii:, or O'Dwyer, is 
 given by O'lleerin as chief of Ui xVmlirith, or 
 Aimrit, and thus designated : 
 
 " Ui Aimrit, the land of hospitality, 
 Is inherited by the tribe O'iJwyer; 
 Above all others they own the country. 
 They are the pillars each battle ford." 
 
 The O'Dwyers were a branch of the Hcremo- 
 nians of Leinster, and chiefs of notes in ancient 
 times ; they possessed an extensive territory in 
 the present barony of Kilnamanagh, county of 
 Tipperary, and there are still several respectable 
 families of the name in that county. Some of 
 the O'Dwyers ware commanders in the Irish 
 brigade in the service of France. General 
 O'Dwyer is mentioned by Mac Oeoghegan as 
 governor of Belgrade, and there was an admiral 
 O'Dwyer in the Russian service. 
 
 9. O'Deagha, or O'Dea, and O'llolilla. are 
 given by O'Heeriu as chiefs of Sliabh Ardach, 
 now the barony of Slieveardagh. in Tipperary, 
 and ti)us mentioned in the topographical poem : 
 
 "Slieve Ardagh of the fair lands 
 O'Dea inherits as his estate, 
 A band of that tribe from the head of the 
 
 plain, 
 And also O'llolilla from Binn Bracain." 
 
 10. O'Carthaidh, or O'Carthy, chief of Mui- 
 scridh larthar Feimin, Is thus mentioned by 
 O'lleerin : 
 
 "The portion of O'Carthy by right 
 Is Muscry-Iarhar-Feimin, 
 Rath-na-ni-Brandubh is now its name, 
 A name well known to fame. 
 
 This territory, was situated near Emly, in Tip- 
 perary. 
 
 11. O'Mearaidhe, or O'Mear.a, chief of Ui Fa 
 thaidh, Ui Niaill, and Ui Eochaidh Finn. The 
 O'.Mearas had an extensive territory in the ba- 
 rony of Upper Ormond. county of Tipperary, 
 and the name of their chief residence, Tuaim-ni- 
 Meara, is still retained in the town of Toomn- 
 vara, in that district. They are tlius designated 
 by O'lleerin ; 
 
7iO 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 " O'Mcara, a coolly prince, 
 The chief of I'i Fahy, hold wide lauds, 
 And Vi Ni;iill of tlie'race of Eogan the Fair, 
 Are all tho heroes whom I enumerate." 
 
 12 O'Meachaib, or 0"Mcaghar, by some ren- 
 dered Maher, chief of Crich-ui-Cairin, (Kreeh- 
 ee-Karrin i, i. e 0"Carin"s territory, is thus 
 mentioned by Ollecrin : 
 
 " Powerfully have they peopled their land, 
 The OMeaphcrs of the land of Ui Carin, 
 The tribe who dwell at Bearnan Eli, 
 It is right to extol their fame." 
 
 The O'Meashers were formerly powerful chiefs, 
 and h.vl the territory tow forming the barony of 
 Ikerrin, in the county of Tipperary. 
 
 13. • "Flasagai!!, or O'Flanagans, chiefs of 
 Uachtar Tire, (Ooghtar lleerie\ and of Kinel 
 Arga, are thus mentioned by 0"IIeerin : 
 
 ■•OFlanapiin holds the country 
 Of Uiictitar Tire, a rich and fertile land, 
 Which always yields the choicest produce — 
 The plain is ciad with a matchless verdant 
 mantle 
 
 " OTIanasain of the miphty hand. 
 Is chief of the entire of Kinel Arga, 
 He is of the race of Tadg, the son of Kian the 
 
 Sage, 
 Of the noble hospitable stock of Olild." 
 
 It appears that there were two chiefs of thtse 
 OFl.ina^ans, one of Kinel Arja, a district in Eli 
 O'Carroll. in the King's county, and the other of 
 Uachtar Tire, or the upper country, in the baro- 
 ny of Iffa and Offa, on the borders of Tipperary 
 and Wax rford 
 
 14 O'I'.REiSLF.tv, or O'BrcsIan, chief of Ui 
 Athaidh Eli, is thus mentioned by 0"IIeerin : 
 
 " Ui Athaidh, of Eli, a.s far as the shore. 
 It w:us obtained by the force of battle, 
 Ita fierce chief and brave in conflict, 
 Is O'Breslen of the well-proportioned limbs." 
 
 This territory appears to have been a part of 
 Ely O'CarroU, situated near the Shannon. These 
 O'Bre.^lans were probably a branch of the O'Bres- 
 lans of Donegal 
 
 1.5. 0"CEiN,orO'Kean, chief of HyFodhladha, 
 a district supposed to be on the borders of Tip- 
 perary and Waterford, is thug mentioned by O'- 
 Hecrin : 
 
 " Ui Foladha it is onr duty to record, 
 We treat of its blooming forest, 
 O'Kean from Machuin Meadaidli, 
 His fame shall spread over tribes." 
 
 IC. O'DoNNAOAiN. or O'Donnegan, Is given by 
 O'lleerin as high prince of Aradli, and thus des 
 ignated : 
 
 "The high prince of Ara, who rules over its 
 tribes. 
 Is O'Donnagain of the hospitable countenance. 
 The country yields plenty of produce, 
 To the prince of Ara in great abundance." 
 
 The 0"Donnegans were of tho race of the 
 Clanna Deagadh, or Ernans of Ulster, and, ac- 
 cording to the Annals of Inisfallen. were princes 
 of Muscraide Thirl, now Lower Onnond, in Tip- 
 perary, or, according to O'llalloran, they had 
 Aradh Cliach, In Tipperary, now the barony of 
 
 Owney and Arm, as mentioned in the foregoing 
 verse. 
 
 )7. O'DoNKOALAiDH, or O'Donnclly, ond O'- 
 Fuirig, probably O'Furrcy, are also given by 
 O'lleerin as chiefs in Muiscrith Tire, and thus 
 designated : 
 
 " Over Muscry Tire of hospitality, 
 Rule two of the most noble chiefs, 
 O'Dongally and also O'Fuirig, 
 They are of Ormond of the smooth fertile 
 plain." 
 
 IS O'StnLLiBiiAiN, or O'SuUivan, is given by 
 O'lleerin as chief of Eoganacht Mor of Cr.oc 
 Eaffan, and thus designated : 
 
 " O'Sullivan, who delights not in violence, 
 Eules over the great Eoganacht of Munster ; 
 Around Knockfaffan he obtained his lands. 
 After the victory of conflicts and battles." 
 
 These O'Sullivans afterwards migrated to 
 Beara. in the county of Cork, and of them an 
 account has been given in the note on Desmond. 
 
 1Í». OToGAKTAfcn, or O'Fogarty, is given by 
 O'lleerin as chief of Eli Deiskert,'or south Ely, 
 and thus designated: 
 
 " South Ely of well established tributes — 
 Its clans are of the race of Eocaidh Baldcrg — 
 A country of affluence, abounding in hazel 
 
 woods. 
 It is the land which O'Fogarty obtained." 
 
 The O'Fogartys were chiefs of Eile ui Fhogar- 
 taigh, [Aylf/ Og'arti/.] now the barony of Elio- 
 garty, in 'Tipperary, and had their chief seats 
 about Tlmrles ; it was called South Ely to dis- 
 tinguish it from North Ely, or Ely O'Carroll. 
 
 20. O'CriLLF.ix, O'CuUcn. or Collins, chief of 
 Eoganacht Aradh; O'Caeillidhe, or O'Keely. 
 chief of Aelmuighe, are thus mentioned by O' 
 Heerin: 
 
 " O'Cullen who has griined good fame, 
 Ru es over the hospitable Eoganacht of Ara; 
 Over the land of the fair Aelmagh, 
 Kules the powerful and hospitable O'Keely." 
 
 The districts of these chiefs appear to have 
 been in the barony of Owney and Arr.a, In Tip- 
 perary. 
 
 21. O'DtTtNP.cnAiR, a name anglicised to O* 
 Dinnahanc and O'Dinan, and r)annaher, is 
 given by t)'lleerin aschief of Eoganacht Uaithne 
 Agamar, and thus designated : 
 
 '• UaithnI .\gamar, green are its hills, 
 Tho Eo'.'anacht of the land of Cathbadh ; 
 Delightful are the borders of the extcn.sive 
 
 plain. 
 The hereditary right of the clan of Dinna- 
 
 hane," 
 
 This territory comprised p.irt of the counties 
 of Tippcrarj- and Limerick, now the baronies of 
 Ownev and Owneybeg. 
 
 22. The O'Ktans. or O'Mulrains, of Tipperary, 
 afterwards possessed Owney in Tipperary, and 
 Owneybnrg In Limerick, and are placed there 
 on the Map of Ortclius. These O'Kyans were a 
 clan of note. 
 
 2.S. O'Merodiia, orO'MERGAiN, chief of Eoga- 
 nacht Kos Argld,-ls thus mentioned by O'lleerin : 
 
 " To O'Mcrgaln belongs the land 
 Of the mir Eoganacht of Kos Argid, 
 A lord in peace and a vulture In war. 
 Besides near the great Cam Maghanl." 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 711 
 
 24 Mac Ceoch, or Mao Kengh. chief of Uai- 
 thne Tire, is tlius mentioned by O'lleerin : 
 
 "Over Uaitlini Tire of rich produce, 
 Jiules MacKeogh as his chosen place, 
 Tiie O'Lynches, men of lands. 
 Dwell in that wood opposite the foreigners." 
 
 This territory was situated in ancient Owney, 
 which comprised the present baronies of Owney 
 and Arra, in Tipperary, and Owneybeg, in Lim- 
 erick. 
 
 25. The O'Loi.VGSion, or O'Lynches, a tribe 
 mentioned in the foregoing verse, as dwelling 
 here opi)Oiite the foreigners, which means th.it 
 they were in the neighborhood of the Danes, 
 who possessed Limerick. 
 
 26. O'Ifern.vn, or O'Heffernain, and 0'C.ith- 
 alain, probably O'Callan, were chiefs of Uaithne 
 Oliach, and are thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 "Uathni Cliach of the fair bright sun 
 Is an estate to the O'lloffernan.s, 
 A clear plain by the side of each hill, 
 Mildly 0\ allan enjoyed the land." 
 
 This territory was situated in the barony of 
 Owney and Arra, county of Tipperary, and the.se 
 0"Het*ernans were a branch of the O'Heifernans 
 of Clare. 
 
 27. Mac Lon-gachai-V, probably Long, or Lon- 
 gan, chief of Crota Cliacli, and of Ui Cuantich, 
 is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 " A territory was obtained about Crota Cliach, 
 By Mac Longahan the gray-haired chief; 
 He is lord there of the plain of hosts, 
 Ui Coonagh of the fair fertile lands." 
 
 This territory was situated partly in the barn- 
 ny of Owney and Arra, in Tipperary, and partly 
 in the barony of Coonagh, county of Limerick. 
 The O'Dwyers, of whom an account has been 
 given as chiefs of Kilnaraanagh, in Tipperary, 
 were also located on the same territory as 
 O'Longachan, and are mentioned in the poem as 
 follows : 
 
 " Of the same tribe who own this land. 
 Are the O'l wyers of the white teeth, 
 The plain of the seventh division and fine 
 
 fortress 
 Is justly possessed by that free tribe." 
 
 2S. The O'Lojf AROANS were the ancient chiefs 
 and proprietors of Cahir, and the adjoining dis- 
 tricts in Tipperary, till the fourteenth century, 
 when they were dispossesse 1 by the I utlers, 
 earls of Ormond. The O'Lnnargans were, in an- 
 cient times, a powerful clan, and three of them 
 are mentioned in Ware, in the twelfth and thir- 
 teenth centuries, as Archbishops of Cashel, 
 
 29. The Mac-I-i KiENs, a branch of the O' 
 Priens of Thomond, descended from Brian Koe 
 O'Brien king of Thomond, had Large posses- 
 sions in the barony of Owney and Arra, in Tip- 
 perary. and in the barony of Coonagh, county of 
 Limerick. They were styled Mac-1-Briens, lords 
 of Arra and Coonagh, and several of them are 
 mentioned in the course of these Annals. 
 
 80. Mac ConcKAiN. or Mac Corcoran, chief of 
 Clan Kuainni. is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 " Cl.in Tiuainni of the flowery avenues, 
 A delijlitfu! fair land of small streams; 
 Mac Corcoran from the populous country. 
 From the borders inhabited by fa:r-haired 
 heroes." 
 
 31. O'llAKonARAiy, or O'llogan, chief of 
 Criocb Cein, is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 "O'Hogan of Crioch Kian, 
 Rules over Clan Inmanein of the fair land, 
 A district which enriches e.ich field. 
 With honey-dew on all its blossoms." 
 
 The O'llogans are placed on tlie map of Ortel- 
 lius about Lower Ormond, in Tipperary. 
 
 87. Mac Gilla-Phoilt,, (i. e. follower of St. 
 Paul,) or Mac Gilfoyle, chief of Clan Conliagan, 
 is thus men ioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 "A ehief for whom the nut trees produce fair 
 fruit, 
 Eulos over Clan Quinlivan o' immense wealth, 
 The scion of Birra of tlie warlike tribe, 
 Is Mac Gilla-Phoill of fair fortune." 
 
 The Mac Gilfoyles appear to have been located 
 on the borders of Tipperary, and the King's 
 county. 
 
 Si. The O'QuiNLivANS. some of whom have 
 changed the name to Quinlan, are numerous in 
 Tipperary and Limerick. 
 
 3 i. O B AN AiN, or O'Bannan, chief of Ui Dechi, 
 is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 "Ui Dechi, the fine district of hills, 
 The extensive land of fair fortresses, 
 A fruitful country which thev inherit, 
 Is the estate of the tribe of O'Bannan." 
 
 Ui Dechi, the territory of the O'Bannans, ap- 
 pears to have been situated in the north of Tip- 
 perary, and there are still many families of the 
 name. 
 
 35. 0"Ai,CHi, (O'ilalcM, perhaps O'llally,) 
 chief of Tuatha Taralt, is thus mentioned by 
 O'Heerin: 
 
 " Tuatha Faralt of the clear woods. 
 That is the territory of O'h-Alchi; 
 A plain of fair fortre-ses and a numerous tribe. 
 Like the lands of the shallow rivers of Talti." 
 
 3G. *0'CATnAiL, or O'C.ahil, chief of Corca 
 Tine, is thus mentioned by O'Heerin: 
 
 " Corca Tini the blooming is profit.able, 
 About Drumsalech of blue streams, 
 O'Cahill above all others obtained 
 An inheritance at Achaidh lubhair." 
 
 The district of the O'C.ahills appears to have 
 been situated on the borders of Tipperary and 
 Kilkenny, and the name is still numerous in 
 Kilkenny and Carlow. 
 
 37. The O'DivEARTAiGHS (O'Dinerty,"! and 
 O'Ai.MRiTHS I O'Hamery,), ire mentioned as clans 
 by O'Heerin, and appear to have been located 
 on the borders of Tipperary .and Kilkenny 
 
 36. O'Spelain-, or O'Spillan. chief of Ui Luigh- 
 deach, is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 "The chief o'' Ui Luighdeach, (ee Lueedagh) 
 
 of slender spears. 
 Is O'Spillan of the bright spurs; 
 Mighty is the march of the warrior's battalions. 
 Increasing as they proceed along the plains of 
 
 Macha " 
 
 The territory of the O'Spillans appears to have 
 been situated on the borders of Tipperary and 
 Kilkenny. 
 
 * There was another family named O'CahilL 
 located in Kerry. 
 
712 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 39. The Ma.0 Egaxs, in the barony of Arra, 
 were herediUrv Brehons of OrinouJ ; aa J the 
 O'Cullenans, or'M ic Oallenaas, were h-TCil tary 
 physicians ami many of them very learned men 
 in Orinmid The O'Hanragbaus, O Lani'jjans, 
 and Mairraths, were also clana of note in Tippo- 
 rary; and the O'Uoueens, (in IrLsh O'-fiUiiith- 
 rti/t,) who anglicised the name to Green, were 
 nameroiis in Tipperary and Clare. 
 
 Anglo-Norman and English familUs in Tip- 
 perary and W'iUer/ord. 
 
 1. The PowEES, or Le Poers. A. D 1177. 
 King Henry II. gave a grant of Dcsi, or the 
 entire coiintv of Waterford. together with the 
 city, to Robert Le Poor, who was his marshal. 
 The le Poers were, at various periods from the 
 thirteenth to the seventeenth century, created 
 barons of Donlsle and of Curraghmore, viscounts 
 of Decies, and earls of Tyrone The Le Poers 
 becanae very numerous in the county of Water- 
 ford They have now changed the name to 
 Power They posses-ed the greater part of the 
 baronies of Decies and Upperthird, and their 
 territory was called Power's country ; there are 
 many families of the name in the counties of 
 W.aterford and Kilkenny. 
 
 2 The FiTZOEKALDS. earls of Desmond, of 
 whom an account has been given in the section 
 on Desmond, had extensive possessions and nu- 
 merous c-astles in the county of Waterford. in the 
 baronies of Coshmore and" Coshbride, and had 
 also the title of ba ons of Decies. 
 
 8. In the reign of Henry VI , A. D. 14t7. the 
 celebrated warrior, Sir John Talbot, Earl of 
 Shrewsburv. lord lieutenant of Ireland, got 
 grants in Waterford, together with the castle 
 and Imd of Dun<:arvan, and the title of earl of 
 Waterford, and viscount of Dungarvan 
 
 4. The chief families of English doscint settled 
 in Waterford and Ti|)p<'rary, were the following: 
 The Aylwards, Anthony's. Butlers, Browns, 
 Brunnocks, Barrons, Burkes, Comerfords, D' 
 Alton?, Ducketts, Everards, Fitzgeralds, Greens, 
 Grants, Hacketts, Hales, J.acksons, Keatings, 
 Mandevilles, Mocklers, Nugents. Powers, Pren- 
 dergasts, Roches, Rices, Sherlocks. Strongs, To- 
 bins, Walls, Walshes, Waddings, Wyses, Whites, 
 ácc The e.arly English families principally pos- 
 sessed the territor. called from them Gal-tir, 
 signifying the country of the foreigners, now the 
 harony of Oaultiere. 
 
 5. The WAL8IIES, called by the Irish Bran- 
 naghs, or Brothnachs signifying Britons or 
 Welshmen, as they originally came from Wales. 
 are still very numerous, and many families of 
 them in the counties of Waterford and Kilkenny. 
 
 6. The BcTLEBS The ancestors of the But- 
 lers came from Normandy to England, with 
 Wi'.liam the Conqueror, and got extensive pos- 
 sessions in Norfolk, SufiToik, and Lancaster. 
 Tlicir original name was Fitz- A'alter, from Wal- 
 ter, one of their ancestors, and Theobald Fitz- 
 Walter came to Ireland with king Henry H., 
 and got large grants of lands, and had the office 
 of chief Butler of Ireland confe edon him, the 
 duty attached to which wiis to attend at iheco - 
 onation of tiie kings of England, and p esent 
 them with the fi st cu;' of wine ; f om the office 
 of the Butle ship of I eland they took the name 
 of Butlc- The Butle s became ve y nume ous 
 and powe ful in I eland, and acqui ed ve y ex- 
 tensive poss ssions in Tippe a y, Kilkenny, Wa- 
 te fo d, Wicklow, Ca low. Queen's county, Dub- 
 lin, Kilda e, Meath, Lime ick, and G.alw.ay. In 
 the reign of Edwa d IIL, Tippe a y was fo med 
 into the Countif PdUitineof Or>noiid,iinAe the 
 Butlers. The Butlers thus becoming so power- 
 ful, diffe-ent b anehes of them fu nished many 
 of the most distinguished families in Ireland, 
 and a g eat number of them, from the thi teenth 
 to the eighteenth centnry, held the olTices of 
 lords justices, lords deputies, and lords lieuten- 
 ant of Ireland, and different branches of them 
 furnished numerous noble families, being created 
 at various periods, earls, marquises, and dukes 
 of Ormond, earls of Ossory. earls of Carrick, earls 
 of Kilkenny, earls of Gowran, earls of Glengall, 
 and carls of Arrau ; viscounts of Clonmore, of 
 Ikerrin, of Thnrles, of Mountgarrett, and of Gal 
 mov ; and barons of (,'ahir, of Clouirligrennan, of 
 Tullyoplielim, of Arklow, of Aughrim, of Kells, 
 and of Dunboyne. 
 
 Nobiliii/. 
 The following have been the noble families in 
 Tipperary and Waterford from the reign of King 
 Jolm to the present time : — In, Waterford, the 
 Le Poers, mow Powers, i barons of Donisle and 
 of Curr.aghmore, viscounts of Decies, and earls 
 of Tyrone. The Fitzgeralds, barons of Decies 
 and earls of Desmond; the Talhofs. earls of 
 Shrewsburv in England, and earls of Waterford 
 and Wexford in Ireland: the C'Brions. e.arls of 
 Clare in the reisn of James II. , had also the title 
 of viscounts of Lisinore: the O't^'allaghans are 
 viscounts of Llsmore in Waterford, but residents 
 in Tipperary. la Tipperar;/, the Butlers, of 
 whom an account has been given above were 
 earls, marquises, and dukes of Ormond, and 
 also had the following titles in Tipperary : earls, 
 of Carrick, earls of Glengall, viscounts ofThurlcf, 
 viscounts of Ikerrin, and barons of Cahir. The 
 Mao Carthys were formerly earls of Mount- 
 cashel. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF LAIGHEN, NOW CALLED LEINSTER. 
 
 The ancient kingdom of Loinstcr comprised the present counties of Wexford, Wicklow, Carlow, 
 and Queen's county, the gre.ater part of Kilkenny, King's county, and Kildare, and that part of 
 Dublin, south of the river Liffey Parts of Kilkenny, bordering on Tipperary, and the southern 
 parts of the King's county, belonged to ancient Munster, and some of the northern part of the 
 King's county belonged to the province of Meath. The above-named territories continued to 
 be the limits of Leinster down to the rel^'n of Elizabeth, but in after times the old kingdom of 
 Meath was added to Lcinster, and also the county of Louth, which was part of the ancient king- 
 dom of Ulster. 
 
 Lelnster was anclnntlv called OaUen or Colgi OaJl"», and got its name, as stjited In O Conors 
 Dissertations, and In Keating, by its b.ing pos.sc>scd by the tribe of tho Firbolgs, called Flr- 
 Gallcn, signifying Spear-men, but it afterwards got the name of Laighean from the ciruuistanca 
 related by Dr. Keating, under the reign of Labraldh Loingsech. 
 
TOPOGRAPnrCAL APPENDIX. 
 
 713 
 
 Ouala, Cualaii, or Crio'ih Canlan, tlrit Is the country Cualan, was the designation of the 
 ancient territory now lorniing tho county of \Vicliloi7, and its name was deriviMl I'loin Cuala, 
 son oi'Iireogan, one of tho comiuanrlers of the Milesian colony from Spain, wlio took posssesiou 
 of this country, called after him Sliabh Cualan, or tho mountain of Ciiala, now Dclgany. 
 
 The Mac Murrouirhs, or sept of Mac Mtireadha, 
 gave kings to Leinslcr fur soim; time previous 
 to the English invnsicni. They iiiaintaincd lluir 
 indepondenco, and held the title of kin^s of Leln- 
 ster, with large possessions in ^^ cxlbrd and Car- 
 low, down to the reign of Elizabeth, and waged 
 war with tlie Englisli for many centuries. Art 
 Mac Murrough Ol'avenagh, famous for his con- 
 tests with the English forces, under king liiehard 
 II., in A. D. 13 9, was one of the most celebrated 
 chiefs; Doual O'Cavenagh, surnamed Spainagh, 
 or the Spaniard, was afamous leader in Leinster, 
 in tlie wars against Elizabeth. The ancient kings 
 of Leinster had royal residences, at Dinnrigh, 
 near the river Barrow, between Carlow and 
 Leighlin. and at the Naas in Kildaro. In after 
 times they had castles in the city of Ferns, which 
 was their capital, and at Old-Ross, in We.xlord, 
 and at Ballymoon, in Carlow. The Mac 
 Murroghs were Inaugurated as kings of Leinster, 
 at a place called Cnoc-an-Bogha. attended by 
 O'Noian, tho kings marshal, chief of Forth, in 
 Carlow. by O Doran, the chief Brehon of 
 Leinster, and by Mac Keogh, his chief bard. 
 The Mac Murroghs are thus designated in the 
 topographies of O'Dugan and 0"Heerin : 
 
 " Let us now proceed to Leinster, 
 
 A wide land of rich warriors, 
 
 Of lasting fame are the mansions of the heroes. 
 
 Where lie the tombs of the valorous Gael. 
 
 " From the east I shall now recount 
 The noble chiefs of the province in due order, 
 A scion from whom no unkindness well receive, 
 With Mac Murrogh we take our abode. 
 
 "We give the lead from the chiefs of the Gael 
 
 To the princes of tho clans of Catheir; 
 
 Let us mention respectively in the eastern 
 
 country, 
 Each chief of them over his own territory. 
 
 " The high king of Naas, the tree of Brogha, 
 The Lord of Leinster is ^ ac Murrogh, 
 The province he holds in his possession, 
 The Fenian hero charters all its lands." 
 
 The O'Cavenaghs in modern times became 
 the representatives of the Mac Murroghs, kings 
 of Leinster. They held a territory called Ui 
 Cavenagh, now the barony of Idrone East, in 
 Carlow. 
 
 2. O'TnATHAiL or O'Toole, chief of the Ui Mur- 
 eadaigh, is thus mentioned by 0"IIeerin: 
 
 " O'Toole of the fortress famous for mead, 
 Is chief of the valiant tribe of UI Murray, 
 As far as Almain of melodious music, 
 Of verdant, grassy, fertile plains." 
 
 Ui Murray, or Ui Muredaigh, was an extensive 
 territory in the western part of Wicklow, com- 
 prising the greater part of the present baronies 
 of Talbotstown and Shilelagh, in that county ; 
 and it appears from the poem that the power "of 
 the O'Toolcs extended as far as Almain, now 
 the hill of Allen, in the county of Kildare, thus 
 containing a great portion of the baronies of 
 Naas, Kilcullen, Kilkea and Moone, and Connell, 
 In that county. Tho O'Tooles were in later 
 times styled princes of Imalle, which appears to 
 
 have been a name applied to their territory, 
 and i>i still retained in the Glen of Inia'ie, in 
 Wicklow, where they had their chief residence; 
 and they also had castles at Carnew, (astlekevin, 
 Castledermot and other places. They took 
 their name from Tuathal, one of their princes 
 in the tenth century, and being one of tlio head 
 families of Leinster, of tlie Karae race as the > ac 
 Murrogh.'i, they were eligible to be kings of that 
 l)rovince. The celebrated St. Lawrence O'Toolo, 
 archbislio[> of Dublin at the time of the English 
 invasion, was son ofMnrtogh O'Toole, prince of 
 Ui Muredaigh. Tliey maintained tlieir rank, and 
 held large possessions down to the Elizabethan 
 and Cromwellian wars, when their estates were 
 conlisealed. Sir Charles O'Toole, an officer in 
 king Jame-s's army, is said to have been the 
 person wiio killed tho Duke Schomberg at the 
 battle of the Boyne. Several of them were 
 distiULMiished officers in the Irish Brigades In 
 the service of France and Spain. The O'Tooles 
 are still numerous in the counties of Wicklow, 
 Dublin and Kildare. 
 
 3. O'Brainn, O'Uroin, or O'Byrne, is thus men- 
 tioned by OHeerin : 
 
 " Another exalted noble tribe, 
 
 Are the O'Byrnes, a clan fierce in pursuit," 
 
 The O'Byrnes took their name from Brann, one 
 of their chiefs in the tenth century They pos- 
 sessed an extensive territory in the county of 
 Wicklow, called Hy Briuin Cualan, comprising 
 the greater part of the barony of Ballinacor, 
 which was called O Byrne's country, and also 
 the Kanelagh ; hence they were styled lords of 
 Eanelaffh. and had their chief castle at Ballinacor. 
 The O'Tooles and O'Byrnes, at the head of the 
 Wicklow clans, for a period of three hundred 
 years, maintained an incessant warfare wi;h the 
 English, whom they defeated in numerous fierce 
 engagements. The O'Byrnes are still numerous 
 in Wicklow, Dublin, Kildare, and many other 
 parts o Ireland. 
 
 4. O'Ceallaigh, or O'Kelly, and O'Taidhg, or 
 O'Teige, are given by OHeerin as chiefs of Ui 
 Maile, and of Ui Teigh, and are thus mentioned : 
 
 " O'Teige obtained a productive country, 
 Imaile, a land which is I'ree from gloom ; 
 O'Kellv obtained UiTeigh eastward 
 By purchase for his valiant clan." 
 
 This ancient family of O'Teige have anglicised 
 the name to Tighe, and the O'Kellys here men- 
 tioned were of the same race as the Mac Mur- 
 roghs, O'Tooles, O'Byrnes, and other families 
 called Cahirians, or Leinster Heremonians, and 
 are therefore of a different descent from the 
 O'Kellies, princes of Hy Mani, in Galw.ay. Tho 
 OKellies were chiefs in Crioch Cualan, a name 
 which was applied to the northern part of 
 Wicklow, and comprised the baronies of Eath- 
 down, Newcastle, and Arklow. 
 
 5. Mac Gilla-Mociiolmoo is given by 0'- 
 Ileerin, as a chief of Cualan, and thus men- 
 tioned: 
 
 " A lord whose lands are rich and verdant, 
 Is the gentle Mac GIUa-Mocholmog, 
 Free and powerful warriors in their woods, 
 They rule over the mild men of Cualan." 
 
714 
 
 TOrOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 The chief called Mac Gilla-Mocholmog, is men- 
 tioned in the contests of tlio Anglo-Norman?, 
 under Stron?bow and his foUowors, with the 
 Danes of Dublin. 
 
 6. O'CosoEAiDH. O'CosgTv, Or O'Cosgrave, and 
 OTiachraidh, other chiefs in Cualan, are thus 
 mentioned by O'llceriu and O'Dugan : 
 
 "Other princely chiefs also obtained this land. 
 The nut-producingcountry of the plain of Cualan 
 O'Cosgrave of the numerous clan, 
 Rules over saffron-clad conquering warriors 
 
 "The prince of Ui Kineclilais in the east, 
 Is O'Fiachry of the extensive lands. 
 The subduer of the foreÍLrners resides here, 
 I mean O'Cosgrave on the plain of Cualan." 
 
 7. O'GAtTniN, or O'Gahan. and O'Dunlaing, 
 O'Dowlinsr, are given by O'lieerin as chiefs of 
 Siol Elaigh and the Liigan, and thus mentioned : 
 
 « The race of Elaigh, the tribe of steeds. 
 To protect which is proper for OGahan, 
 Chief of the clan, powerful in friendship, 
 O'Dunlaing was the warrior of the Lagan." 
 
 The territory of these chiefs called Siol Elaigh, 
 is now the barony of Shilelagh, in the south of 
 Wlcklow. 
 
 8. O'MuRCHADA, or O'Murphy, chief of Criocb 
 O'FeUin or Ui Feidhlime, is thus mentioned by 
 O'Heerin : 
 
 " An extensive and profitable lordship 
 
 "Was obtained by O'Murphy of smooth and fair 
 
 plains, 
 The country of Ui Feliniy the chief received 
 An inheritance handed down from his ancestors." 
 
 The O'Murphys were one of tlie Cahirian 
 families of Leinstcr, a branch of the same race 
 as the Mac Murroglis. kings of that province. 
 The territory of Ui Fetlmy, wliich ttiey pos- 
 sessed, exteiided along the sea coast, and was 
 commonly called the Murrowes, and comprised 
 the barony of Ballairhkeen, in the county of 
 Wexford. The O'Murphys were powerful chiefs 
 in ancient times, and at the present day the 
 name is one of the most numerous in Ireland; 
 and found in all the counties of Leinster, and 
 in various parts of Munster, Connaught, and 
 Ulster. 
 
 y. O'GAir.nniDn, or O'Oarvey, another chief in 
 Ui Felimy, is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 "In Hy Felimy. a delightful district. 
 Fair aif the lands possessed by the O'Garveys, 
 Fenian heroes of the hill unite in tlic tribe. 
 Each man of whom Is free from grief and 
 sorrow." 
 
 10. O'CosGBAiDn, or O'Cosgrave, chief of Bean- 
 traidhe, is thus mentioned by O'lieerin : 
 
 "From the Barrow eastward to the Slancy, 
 Is tlie country possc.ssed by the Clan Cosgrave, 
 The host of Bantry of ringletted hair, 
 A noble tribe with hawk like sparkling eyes." 
 
 The territory po8ses.scd by tlie O'Cosgrave, is now 
 the barony of Bantry, in the county of Wexford, 
 n. O'DriBiioix, probably O Outran, another 
 chief is thus mentioned by O'lieerin : 
 
 " Lord of the extreme southern land, 
 Which is worthy of being recorded, 
 O'Ducan i.s its rightful iidieritor. 
 Over the host from the dark pool of the fair 
 ehrubs." 
 
 The territory of this chief being mentioned as 
 in the extreme .southern laud, must have been 
 in the barony of t^helburne, in Wexford. 
 
 12. O'LoROAiN, or Larkiu, chief of Fothart, is 
 thus mentioned by O'lieerin : 
 
 " The Fenian heroes of Forth of the Carn, 
 The fair rising ground of strength and be.auty, 
 A hero whose deeds are mighty in spears. 
 He is the affluent chief O'Larkin " 
 
 The territory possessed by this chief, is now the 
 barony of Forth, in the county of Wexford, and 
 Cam, where he had Ids fortress, is the head land, 
 called Carnsoro point. 
 
 13. O'Hautooile, O'llartloy, chief of Crioch- 
 na-g-Cinel, is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 Criochnaginel, a delightful district 
 In the land of the fertile soil, 
 A country the fairest under the sun, 
 Its rightful heir is O'Hartley." 
 
 His district lay near that of O'Larkin. 
 
 14. O'RiAiN, or O'liyan, lord of Ui Drona, is 
 thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 " Hereditary to O'Ryan is a fair district, 
 A territory, extensive is the land, 
 Ui Drona of peaceful pleasures. 
 Is more meet for him than foreign land." 
 
 The territory of Ui Drona comprised the pres- 
 ent baronies of Idrone, in the county of Carlow. 
 The O'liyanswero powerful chiefs, and styled 
 princes of Ui Drona. These O'liyans arc not the 
 same tribe as those of Tipperary! They are still 
 numerous in Carlow. 
 
 15. O'NuAi-LAiN, O'NoLAN, or O'NowIan, 
 chief of Fotharta Fedha, is thus mentioned by 
 O'Heerin : 
 
 " O'Nolan, a faultless hero. 
 The hospitable chief of Fothart." 
 
 The territory of Fothart.a, possessed by the O'- 
 Nolans, is now the barony of Forth, in the 
 county of Carlow; they were marshals of Lein- 
 ster, and presided at the inauguration of the Mac 
 Murroghs. The name is still numerous in the 
 counties of Carlow and Wexford. 
 
 IC). Tlio O'KiNSELLAGiis, O'Caliills, O'Doyles, 
 O'Bolgers, and Mac Coskleys were numerous 
 and powerful clans, and had large possessions in 
 the counties of Carlow and Wexford. The O'- 
 Briens, or Mai- Brieiw, mid O'Moores, were also 
 respectable families in Wexl'ord. The O'Dorans 
 held the ollicc of lu'reditary Brehons of Leinster, 
 and had extensive possession.s under the ancient 
 klnu's. 
 
 Tlio chief Anglo-Normans who came over 
 with Strongbow, and got largo grants of lands in 
 AVcxford, were Maurice Fitzgerald, ancestor of 
 the carls of Kildare and Desmond; Hervey do 
 Monte Marisco, nnil llobert Fitzstephen. The 
 other old lCIlL'li^ll families who settleil in Wex- 
 ford were, the Canws, Talbots, Devereuxes, 
 Staffords, Sinnotts, Suttons, Keatings, Powers, 
 Walshes, Fitzharrises, Fitzhenrys, Dercnzys, 
 Mastersons, Butler.s, Brown.s, líedmondfS Es- 
 monds, llores, Harveys, Hayes, Huirhes, Codds, 
 Commerfords, Lamberts, Mor^rans, Furlongs. 
 
 The chief old Eii-li>li fanilllc>s who settled 
 in Carlow were the following': the Butlers, 
 Browns, Bagnals, Carews, Eustaces, liochforts, 
 Blackneys. Doynes, »fec. 
 
 In Wlcklow, Maurice Fitzgerald and hlsde- 
 sccndanta in the reigns of Henry II. and King 
 
TOPOGKAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 715 
 
 John, get extensive grants of lands about Ark- 
 low; and Walter de Kiddlcsford, who had the 
 title of baron of liray, got from King John a 
 grant of the lands of linaile, in \\ickliiw, and of 
 Castledermot in Kildare, both of which beloniied 
 to the ancient principality of O'Toolo. The 
 other chief Knglish families of Wicklow were 
 tho Butlers, Talbots, Eustaces, and Howards. 
 
 Kobility. 
 
 The following have been the ancient titled 
 families in Wexford, Wicklow, and Carlow : 
 
 In W^exford, the Ue Montchenseys and De 
 Valences, lords of Wexford; the Talbots, earls 
 of Shrewsbury in England, and earls of Water- 
 ford and Wexford in Ireland; the Butlers, vis- 
 counts Mountgarrct ; the Heatings, barons of 
 Kilmananan ; tlie Esmonds, barons of Limbrick ; 
 the Carews, barons Carew. 
 
 In Carlow, the De Bigods, Mowbrays, and 
 Howards, dukes of Norfolk, were lords of Car- 
 low ; the Butlers, barons of Tullyophelim, and 
 viscounts of TuIIow; the Carews, barons Idrone ; 
 the O'Cavenaiihs, barons of Balian. 
 
 In Wicklow the Howards, earls of \' Icklow ; 
 the Butlers, barons of Arklow; the Eustaces, 
 viscounts of Baltinglass. 
 
 OssoBT, Oftaley akd Leix. 
 
 OssoRT, in Irish Osraidhe, comprised almost 
 the whole of the present county of Kilkenny, 
 with a small part of the south of Tipperary, and 
 also that portion of the Queen's county now 
 called the barony of Upper Ossory; and tho 
 name of this ancient principality is still retained 
 in the diocese of Ossory. Ancient Ossory ex 
 tended from the river Nore to the Suir, and was 
 sometimes subject to the kings of Leinster, but 
 mostly to the kings of Munster. Conari Mor, 
 or Oonary the Great, monarch of Ireland at the 
 commencement of the Christian era, having 
 made war on the people of Leinster, to punish 
 them for having killed his father, Edirsceol, 
 monarch of Ireland, imposed on them a tribute 
 called Eric Edirsgeoil, separated Ossory from 
 Leinster. and having added it to Munster. gave 
 it to a prince of his own race, named Aengus, 
 .ind freed it from all dues to the kings of Mun- 
 ster, except the honor of composing their body 
 guards. 
 
 Oi-FALET, or Ophaley, in Irish Vi Falphi, de- 
 rived its name from Ííossa Falghi, or Eossa of 
 the Rings, king of Leinster, son of CathaeirMor, 
 monarch of Ireland towards the end of the second 
 century. The extensive territory of Ui Falghi, 
 possessed by the posterity of Kossa Falghi, com- 
 prised almost the whole of the present Kings 
 county, with some adjoining parts of Kildare and 
 Querns county ; and afterwards under the O'- 
 Connors, who were the head family of the de- 
 scendants of Eossa Falghi, and styled princes of 
 OflFaley, the territory of Offaley comprised the 
 present baronies of Warrenstown and Cooles- 
 town. and the greater part of Philipstown, and 
 part of Gea<=hill, in the Kinss county, with tlie 
 barony of Tinnehinch. in Queens county, and 
 those of East and West OflFaley, in Kildare, in 
 which the ancient name of this principality is 
 still retained. 
 
 Lkix —In the latter end of the first century, 
 the people of Munster made war on Cucorb, king 
 of Leinster. and oiinqniT.^ci that province as far 
 as the hill of Maxtenn, now Mullaghmasc, in the 
 county of Kildare; but Cucorb having appointed 
 as commander in chief of his forces. Lug.iidh 
 Laeighis, a famous warrior, who was grandson to 
 
 the renowned hero, Conal Kearnach, or Conal 
 tho Victorious, chief of the lied Branch Knights 
 of Ulster, both armies fought two territic battles 
 about A D. 90, one at At/ttrodan, now Athy, in 
 Kildare, and the otlier at Cdiitkini, or ilaijh 
 Jiidda, now the plain or heath of Maryboro, in 
 the Queens count)-, in which, after many thou- 
 sands had been slain on each side, the men of 
 Leinster were victorious, having routed the 
 Munster troops from the hill of Mastenn across 
 the river Berba, now the Barrow, and pursued 
 tho remnast of their forcijs as far as Sliabh Dala 
 mountain, or Belach Mor, near Borris in Ossory, 
 on the bordersof Tipperary and Queen's county. 
 Cucorb being thus reinstated in his kingdom of 
 Leinster, chiefly through the valor of his general, 
 Lugaidh Laeighis, in gratitude confer ed on him 
 an extensive territory, to which he gave the 
 name of Laeii/hin, or the seven districts of Laei- 
 ghi.s, a name anglicised to /.cite or Leix, and 
 still retained in the name of Abbeyleix. This 
 territory was pos-sessed by Lughaidh Laeighis 
 and his posterity, who were princes of Leix. 
 
 The following were the Irish chiefs and clans 
 of Osso y, Oft'aley, and Leix. 
 
 1. Mao Gilla-Padrak; or Mac Gilpatrick, an- 
 glicised to Fitzpatrick, is thus designated in the 
 topographies of O'Hecrin and O'Dugan, in which 
 his territory of Ossory is thus mentioned by 0- 
 Ileerin : 
 
 " "We journey across the Berba of ancient 
 
 streams. 
 After treating of the heroes of Leinster, 
 To the level plain, the land of my heart. 
 To the noble hosts of Ossory. 
 
 "To Mac Gilpatrick of the fine fortress. 
 The land of Ossory is by law ordained, 
 From Bladhma, southward to the sea; 
 Brave are his battalions in the battles." 
 
 Donal Mac Gillpatrlck, prince of Ossory in the 
 twelfth century, carried on various contests with 
 Dermod Mac Murrogh, king of Leinster, and his 
 English allies under Strongbow and others, who 
 had invaded and ravished his territory. It is 
 stated in Maurice Eegan's account of these 
 affairs, that the prince of Ossory had a force of 
 five thousand men, and fought many fierce bat- 
 tles with the English and their Irish allies. In 
 early times, the Mac Gillpatricks ruled over the 
 entire of the county of Kilkenny, and part of 
 Queens county ; but in after times, were dis- 
 possessed of tlie greater part of their possessions 
 by the Butlers and other English settlers in Kil- 
 kenny, and were confined to the barony of Up;>er 
 Ossory, in the Queens county. The Fitzpatricks 
 are still found in the Queens county, but are 
 much more numerous in the counties of Cavan 
 and Leitrim. to which they were driven at an 
 early period by the English. 
 
 2. O'Ceakbhaill, or O'Carroll, and O'Doncha- 
 dha or O'Donoghoe, are given by O'Dugan and 
 O'Heerin as ancient chiefs or princes in Ossory, 
 and thus designated : 
 
 " O'Carroll of the reddened spear.s, 
 O'Donoghoe of the generous aspect, 
 Sloigh Liag of tho productive land ; 
 They are two princes in the same country. 
 
 "Near to tho Barrow of productive borders. 
 Is the chief of the territory you have heard 
 
 recorded. 
 The man who is elected over Moy Mail, 
 Is O'Donoghoe of the fair Gowran." 
 
'16 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 The territory possessed by O'CarroIl and O"- 
 Donoghoe appears to have been the barony of 
 Gowran and Slogh Liag, which is probably the 
 barony of Shillelogher, both in Kilkenny. Tliese 
 0"CarroIIs were probably a branch of the OCar- 
 rolls, princes of Ely ; and the O Donoghoe?, prob- 
 ably a branch of the O'Donophoes, princes of 
 Cashel ; an account of both thise families have 
 been piven in the section on Ormond 
 
 8. O'CoNCiiOBUiK, or O Conor, prince of Ui 
 Falghi or Offaley, and his territory, are thus de- 
 signated by O'Dugan and O'llocrin : 
 
 •'Let us westward proceed to Ui Falghi, 
 To which brave heroes make submission, 
 Of their laws I make mention, 
 Of their convention I make remembrance." 
 
 " The lord of Ui Falglii, a land of mirth. 
 Not unknown to the poets, 
 Is OConor the mainstay of the fair plain. 
 Who rules at the green mound of Cruachan." 
 
 The O'Conors were the head chiefs of the 
 Cahirian race, the descendants of liossa Falghi, 
 eldest son of Catliaeir Mor, monarch of Ireland, 
 and were consequently a brancli of the llere- 
 monians of Leinster, and of a different descent 
 from the OX'onors, kings of Connaiight ; they 
 make a remarkable figure in Iiisli history 
 durini' their contests with the English for more 
 than three hundred years, whose forces they 
 defeated in numerous battles; they generally 
 fought in conjunction with the Mac Geoghe- 
 gans, powerful and valiant chiefs in V/est- 
 meath. The O'Conors had their chief fortressat 
 Dan^an, now called I'hilipstown, in King's 
 county, and several castles in other parts of that 
 county and in Kildare : they maintained their 
 independence and large possessions down to the 
 reign of Elizabeth. 
 
 4. O'MoHuiiA. or O'Moore, prince of Laelghis 
 or Lcix, and his territory, are thus designated 
 by OHeerin: 
 
 " After Ui Fa'ghi of the ancient lands 
 ■We advance to Leix of Leinster; 
 Its brown-haired heroes in wealth abound. 
 On their history for some time wo dwell. 
 
 "The great district of Leix of keen swords, 
 It is of Leix of Eiada, I now treat ; 
 And O'Moore the fighter of battles, 
 Of the one-colored golden shield." 
 
 The O'Moores, princes of Leix, were of 
 the Irian race, or ('lanna llory of Ulster, 
 They held the high rank of marshals and trea- 
 surers of Leinster. They had thfir chief fortress 
 at Dunamase, a few miles from Maryboro, 
 erected on a rock situated on a hill ; it was a 
 place of almost Impregnable strenL'th, of which 
 some ma-ssive ruins still remain. Ilory O'Moore, 
 a celebrated chieftain in the rci-THS of Queen 
 Mary and Elizabeth, defeated the English forces 
 In many engagements, and recovered the terri- 
 tory of Lr-ix. possessed by hh ancestors, which 
 he "held till his death, in l-^'s, when he was 
 killed In a conflict with Fi'zpatrlr-k, baron of 
 Ossory, who had joined the ICnglish. Among>t 
 the heroic actions of Ilory O'Moore, it Is men- 
 tioned that on one occasion, having been be- 
 trayed and surprised at nizht at his residence in 
 the woo'ls, by Robert ITartpole, at the head of 
 two hundred of the English, the va'lant O'Mooro 
 alone performed the amazing exploit of cutting 
 his way through their ranks with his sword, and 
 
 escaped in safety. Ills son, Owen O'Moore, 
 generally ca'led Owney Mac Rory (.)'Moore, was 
 a famous cominandcr in the wars against Eliza- 
 beth, and defi-attd the English in many engage- 
 ments, in one of which, in the year 1Ó99, he cut 
 off a great number of tlie troops under the Earl 
 of Essex, in a defile on their jirogress through 
 Leinster, at a place called from that circumstanlie 
 Beun>a Cl-eitigh. signifying the I'uas of Plumes^ 
 from the great quantity of plumes left there 
 which were worn by the English knights who 
 were slain. Another of Owen O'Moore 's daring 
 exploits is recorded, namely, that at a parley 
 held with him in the ye.ir l(i 0, near Kilkenny, 
 by Sir George Carew, "president of Munster, tlie 
 earl of Thomond, and Thomas Butler, earl of 
 Ormond, O'Moore boldly took the earl of Or- 
 mond prisoner, and detained him from the K'th 
 of April to the 12th of June, when he liberated 
 him, on receiving for his ran.som three Iliousand 
 pounds. linger b'.Moore, his descendant, a man 
 of extraordinary abilities and bravery, is cele 
 brated in Irish history as the chief leader who 
 organized the great insurrection of 1C41 
 
 5. ODimasaigii, orO'Dempsey, lord of Clann 
 MaeiUighra, or Clanmaliere, is thus mentioned 
 by O'Hcerin, with an introduction to the other 
 chiefs of Offaley : 
 
 "The clans of the country of extensive plains, 
 Let us now proceed to treat of their chieftains, 
 ■What hosts are more wealthy than they. 
 Over the territory of Offaley of fair lands? 
 
 "Clanmaliere above all tribes. 
 Noble is the source of their pedigree. 
 The smooth plains of the land they have de- 
 fended. 
 The country is the inheritance of O'Dempscy.' ' 
 
 The territory of Clanmaliere pos.sessed by the 
 O'Dempscys contained parts of the baronies of 
 Ge.ishill and Philipstown, in the Kings county, 
 w ith part of Portnehinch, in Queen's county, and 
 part of Offuley, in Kildare, including Jlon.'istere- 
 van and the adjoining ilistricts. The O'Demp- 
 seys were a branch of the Cahirian race, of the 
 same descent as the O'Conors Faly, and were 
 princes and lords of Clanmaliere, and Offaley. 
 In the twelfth century they contended with the 
 English forces under Strongbow, earl of Pem- 
 broke, who. In the year 1178, together with his 
 son-in-law Ilobert de Quiney, orde Quincy, con- 
 stable and standard-bearer of Leinster. marched 
 a powerful force Into Kildare and Offaley ; but 
 bein;r opposed by the Irish clans, commanded 
 by the O'Dempseys, chiefs of Clanmaliere, the 
 English wercd<'feated with great slatiL'hter : and 
 amongst the sl.-dn was de Quincy, the ptnndard- 
 bearer; the affair Is thus mentioned by Matirice 
 Regan, in TIarris'r. Ilibernica: "From thence 
 the earl i Strongbow i went to Kildare, making 
 many incursions into Offaley. upon O'Dempscy, 
 loril "of that country, who refused to come unto 
 him. and to de'lver hostatres; the earl, to sub- 
 due him, made a journey In i)erson \ipon him ; 
 Offaley was burned and harassed, the whole 
 prev of the country taken, and the army retired 
 towards Kildare; in the retreat, the carl, with a 
 thousand men, inarched In the vanguard, and 
 the rear was commanded by Robert de Quincy; 
 in the p.ass, when the vanguard was passed, O'- 
 bempsey gave upon the rear, at which charge 
 Robert de Quincy, with many others, were 
 slain, and the banner of Leinster lost: and for 
 his dc.ith, as well by the earl as by the whole 
 army, great lamentation was made." The O'- 
 Dempseys had their chief castle at Ocaahlll, in 
 
TOPOOUAPniCAL APPENDIX. 
 
 717 
 
 the Kings county, and many others in that 
 county, :úfi> \n tlie barony of DlTaley in Kildare, 
 and one at Hallybrittas, in the barony of I'ortne- 
 hineli, in the Queens county. The O'Dempseys 
 were deprived of most of tlieir possessions after 
 the Elizabethian wars. 
 
 G. O'DuiNx, O'Dunn, or O'Dunne, chief of 
 Ui liiagain, is tlius mentioned by O'lieerin: 
 
 "Over Ui Riagain of tlie mighty victories, 
 Are active warriors who conquer in battle, 
 O'Dunn is chief of the conquering troops, 
 The mainstay of tlie battling spears." 
 
 The territory of UI Kiagaln, po.ssessed by the 
 O'Dunns, now forms the barony of Tinneliinch, 
 in the Queens county. 
 
 7. 0'Ri.\GAiN or O'Eegans were, it appears, 
 the ancient chiefs of Ui Ei.igain, and gave its 
 name to tli.it territory, which is still retained in 
 the parish of Oregan or Rosenailis, in the barony 
 of Tinnehinch. Of the ancient clan of the O'- 
 Regans was Maurice Regan, secretary to Der- 
 mod Mac Murrough, king of Leinster, and who 
 wrote an account of the Anglo-Norman invasion 
 under Strongbow arid his followers, which is 
 published in Harris's lliberuica. Sir Teigue 0'- 
 Regan w;»s a distinguished otiicer in the army of 
 King James the Second. 
 
 8. O'Brokhabain, prob.ably O'Croghans, are 
 given by O Dugan as chiefs on the same terri- 
 tory as O'Dunn and O'Dempsey, and thus men- 
 tioned: 
 
 "The O'Brogans dwell in their towns, 
 The Clan Kenny and Clan Conor, 
 Their lands are well known to support 
 O'Dunn and O'Dempsey." 
 
 9. O'lI.vENGusA or O'llennesey, chief of Clar 
 Colgan, and O'llahmirgin, chief of Tuath Gcisille, 
 are thus mentioned by O'Dugan and O'lieerin : 
 
 ■'Of the chiefs of the fair fertile plain 
 Vre O'Hennesey and O'llahmirgin ; 
 Strong voiced are their troops, and great their 
 
 fame. 
 And magn.animoas are the Clan Murchadhan." 
 
 -Another chief who is known to us, 
 O'Hennesey who rules over Clar Colgan; 
 His lands are fair beyond those of the Fenians 
 
 ofFal, 
 He closely adjoins the borders of Croghan. 
 
 ■•The fair district of G-eashill is possessed 
 By a chief on the borders of Leinster; 
 His rapid progress is a march of power. 
 The name of this chief is O'Hahmirgin." 
 
 Another O'Hennesey is mentioned by O'Dugan 
 as chi«f of Galinga Beg, now the parish of Gal- 
 len, in the barony of Garryc.istle. 
 
 10. O'Maolciiein^, probably O'.Milliken, or O'- 
 Mulligan, some of whom have changed the name 
 to Molyneau.-i, chief of Tuath Damhui<:h, is 
 thus mentioned by O'Heerin, and the district 
 possessed by him appears to have adjoined that 
 of O'Hennesey : 
 
 "Over Tuath Damhuigh of the fair fortress 
 Is O'MaoIchein of the happy heart; 
 Delightful is the smooth district of the pl.ain, 
 Its borders resemble the fairy land." 
 
 11. O'MAOLMUAiDn, or O'Malloy, prince of 
 Fear Ceall, is thus designated by O'Dugan : 
 
 "The prince of Ferc.all of the ancient swords 
 Is O -Mulloy of the free-born name; 
 Full power ha<l fallen to him. 
 Ho held his country uncontroled." 
 
 The extensive territory possessed by the O'- 
 MuUoy» comprised the present baronies of Eg'ish 
 or Fearcall, Bally cowan, and Bally boy in the 
 Kings county, and formed originally a port of 
 the ancii'nt kingdom of Meath. The O'.Mulloys 
 were of the race of the southern Ui Nialls or 
 Clan Colman. 
 
 12. The O'Cakrot.ls, princes of Ely O'Car- 
 roU, possessed the b.arony of Lower Orraond, 
 in Tippcrary, and those of Clonlisk and Bally- 
 britt, in the Kings county, and had their cliicf 
 castle at Birr. 
 
 IS. Mac CociiLAix or Mac Cogblan, prince of 
 Delbhna Ethra, and O'Maellugiiach, probably 
 O'Mulledy, cnief of the Brogha, are thus men- 
 tioned by Dugan : 
 
 "Mac Coghlan is the valorous mainstay, 
 And prince of delightful Delvin Ahra, 
 The chief of the Brogha of great prosperity, 
 Is O'Mulledy of the brilliant achievements." 
 
 The territory of the Mac Coghlans, lords of 
 Delvin Ahra, comprised the present barony of 
 Garrycastle, in the Kings county. They were 
 of the race of the Dalcassians. 
 
 Brogha, the district of the O'Mulledy», above- 
 mentioned, appears to have adjoined Mac Cogh- 
 lan's territory, and was probably part of the 
 barony of Garrycastle, in Kings county, and of 
 Clonlonan, in Westmeath, as there were in 
 former times many families of not'^ of the 
 O'Mulledys in 'Westmeath. 
 
 14. O'SiNNAion, lord of Teffia. O'Dugan, in his 
 topography, gives O'Cath.arnaigh as head prince 
 of Teflia, whom he thus designates, 
 
 " High prince of Teffia, who obtained renown. 
 Is O'Caharney of the battling arms." 
 
 This name was rendered O'Kcarney, and the 
 ancient cijicfs possessed an extensive territory 
 in Teffia, or 'Ú''estmeath, and there aro still 
 many families of the O'Kearneys 'n Me.ath and 
 "Westmeath ; the chief branch took the name of 
 Sinnach O'Catharnaigh, and the word Sinnach 
 signifying a fox, the family name became Fox, 
 and the head chief was generally designated cm 
 tiin?iach, or thf ^oj'. They were of the race of 
 the southern Ui Neill. and their territory was 
 called JIuintir T.adhgain, and comprised an ex- 
 tensive district in Teffia, containing p.arts of the 
 baronies of Rathconrath and Clonlonan, in 'West- 
 meath, with part of the barony of Kilcourcy, in 
 Kings county. 
 
 15. Mac Amhat-gaidh, Mac Auley, or Macaw- 
 ley, is given by O'Dug.an, as chief of Calraidhe- 
 an-C'hala, and thus designated ; 
 
 " The fair Mac Auley rules over 
 The entire of the ports of Calry." 
 
 The territory called Caliy, comprises the present 
 parish of Ballyloughloe, in the barony of Clan- 
 lonan, in Westmeath ; and the ports alluded to 
 in the above passage, were those of the Shannon, 
 to which this parish extends; according to 
 Mac Geogbegan, the Mac Auleys, lords of Calry, 
 also possessed part of the barony of Kilconrsey, 
 in the Kings county. 
 
 16. O'GoRMAiN, O'Gorman» or Mac Gorman, 
 is given by O'Dugan and O'lieerin, as chief of 
 Crioch O'lJairce, and thus designated by them: 
 
'18 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 " The tribe of Eocaidh, of exalted fame, 
 Kule over the clans of Ui Fualaia, 
 Mac Gorman, of great valor, 
 Rules over the fair Ui Barchi. 
 
 The country of Ui Barchi, of the fair fortress, 
 Of the melodious race of Dari Barach, 
 O'Gorman took possession of the lands, 
 A chief who actively rushed to battle." 
 
 The territory of the O'Gormans is now called 
 the barony of Slievemarpue, in the Queens 
 county; some of them settled in the county of 
 Clare, where they held large possessions. An 
 account of these has been given with the clans of 
 Thomond. 
 
 17. O'Drinn, or O'Duff, chief of Ui Crim- 
 thain, is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 "About Dun M,asc of the smoothest plains, 
 0"Diilf rules over Ui C'rimthain, 
 Chief of the country of great produce, 
 A laud which yields the tinest fruits." 
 
 The district of Ui Crinithain, about Dun Maes, 
 or Dunamase, comprised the greater part of the 
 two baronies <if Maryboro', in the Queens county. 
 IS. Mac Fhiodhb'huidhe, Mac .Vodhbuidhe, or 
 MacEvoys, chiefs of Tuath-Fiodhbhuidhe, in the 
 Queens county, are thus mentioned by O'Heerin: 
 
 "The ancient country of Fighbuigh, of the fair 
 lands, 
 la a good lordship for a chieftain. 
 The Clan Mac Evoy are its inheritors. 
 The yellow-haired host of hospitality." 
 
 The territory of the Mac Evoys appears to have 
 been situ.ateii in the barony of Stradbally, in the 
 Queens county. The Mac Evoys were of the 
 Clan CoUa. of Ulster; and they also possessed a 
 territory in Teffia. called Ui Mac Uais, now the 
 barony of Moygoisli, in AV'ostineath. Some of 
 them have now changed the name to Mac Veagh. 
 
 19. O'CEALtAiGn. or O'Kcllys, chiefs of Magh 
 Druchtain and cf Gailinc, arc thus mentioned by 
 O'Heerin : 
 
 "Over Moy Druchtain, of the fairy fortress, 
 Hules O'kelly over the plain of the salmon; 
 The smooth aspect of the level country 
 Is like the fruitful land of promise. 
 
 " Oaline, of the pleasant rivers. 
 Is O'Kelly'g undl^^puted right. 
 Powerful is the tribe in hunting. 
 Over the sunny lands of Galine." 
 
 These territories of the O'Kellys appear to have 
 been situated in the baronies of .Stradbally and 
 Ballyadams. in the Queens county, along the 
 Barrow, iis alluded to in the above passages in 
 the poem, where the districts are mentioned as 
 the plain of the salmon, and of the plea?ant 
 rivers. 
 
 20. O'Caoli.aidiie, 0'Kcelcy,orO"Keily,cliief 
 of Crloch O'Muighe, Is thus mentioned by 
 "J'Hccrln : 
 
 "The country of Omoy, of the fair plains, 
 Alon'_' the Barrow of the flowing streams. 
 To O'Keeley is the pleasant land, 
 A chief who always ruled in pe.ice." 
 
 This district, situated along the Barrow, is now 
 probably, the parish of Tullowmoy, in the barony 
 of Ballyadams, Queens county. 
 
 21. O'Leathlabhair, O'Lawlors, or O'Lalore 
 took their name from Lenthlabhor, prince of 
 Dalaradia, or Ulidia, now the county of Down, 
 In the tenth century, who was their ancestor, 
 and they .are therefore of the Irian race, or Clanna 
 Rory of Ulster, and of the same descent as the 
 0"Moore3, princes of Leix. Tne OLawlors had 
 in ancient times extensive possessions in Leix. 
 in the baronv of Stradbally, Queens county. 
 
 2-2. O'DiTBiiLANi, orO'Delany. chief of Tuath- 
 an-Toraidh, is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 " High chief of the productive territory. 
 From the delightful Coill Oughteragh, 
 Is O'Delany, the man of hospitality, 
 F'romthe mountain ofthe most delightful bay." 
 
 The O'Delaneys were a clan of note In the 
 barony of Upper Ossory, Queens county, and 
 also in Kilkenny. 
 
 23. O'Bkaenain, or O'Brennan, chief of Ui 
 Duach, is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 "Iduagh of Ossory, ofthe fertile land. 
 The fair wide plain ofthe Nore, 
 Throughout this plain rules most active. 
 Its rightful chief O'Brennan." 
 
 The territory of the O'Brennans, chiefs of Iduagh, 
 now forms the barony of Fassadining, in Kil- 
 kenny, where the name is still numerous. 
 
 24. Mac Bkaoin, or Mac Breen, and O'Broith, 
 or O'Brce, chief of Magh Scadna, are thus men- 
 tioned by O Ileerin : 
 
 " Mac Breen, of the land of the fortres.». 
 Rules over the clans whom I remember, 
 A fair, nut-producing country, 
 O'Brec is chief of the free Moy Scdna." 
 
 25. OTAiBimEAN-iini, O'Coveney, or O'Kev- 
 enys, chiefs of .Magh .Virbh and Clar Coill, are 
 thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 " Over Moy Arve let us now record 
 O'Keveney, ofthe woody plain. 
 Head of each conference was the fair coun- 
 sellor, 
 ■Who resides at Coill O'Cathosaigh." 
 
 The plain of Magh Airbli comprised the present 
 barony of Cranagh, in Kilkenny. 
 
 26. O'Gi.oiAiKN, O'Gloran, "or Mac Gloran, 
 chief of Callalnn, is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
 " O'Glor.in, the flourishing scion. 
 Obtained a territory in a delightful country, 
 A smooth land about charming Callan, 
 He inherits a country without reproach." 
 
 The name of this territory is still retained in the 
 parish of Callan, barony of Kells, county of 
 Kilkenny. 
 
 27. O'C'AKLi.AtDiiE, or O'Keeley, chief of Ui 
 Bearchon, is thus mentioned by Ó'lleerln : 
 
 " Ibercon, ofthe yellow m.intles, 
 Chief of the countrv is O'Keeley, 
 The plain ofthe ho'st of great wealth, 
 Tlie land ofthe Barrow of limpid streams.'' 
 
 This territory wa* Ibercon, an ancient barony, 
 as stated by Seward, now joined to that of Ida, 
 In the county of Kilkenny; and there is a 
 parish calUd íioshcrcon, in the barony of Ida. 
 
 2H. O'KitfAiiAtii, O Broder, orO'Brody, chief 
 of UI n-Eirc, is thus mentioned by O'Heerin : 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 719 
 
 "Lord of Iverk, of the swift steeds. 
 Is the friendly O Bro.ler, like a stately tree ; 
 A sandy country, from the lieavy floods, 
 A land as delightful as Moenmoy." 
 
 This territory is now the barony of Iverk, in the 
 county of Kilkenny. 
 
 28. The O'SiiEAS, who changed the name to 
 Sliee, were niunerous in former times, in the 
 county of Kilkenn}', and were some of tlie 
 O'Sheas, chieft of note in Munsttr, of whom an 
 account has been given in the sections on Tho- 
 mond and Desmond. 
 
 29. The OKYANsand OTelaxs, ancient fami- 
 lies of note in Carlow, Tipperary, and Water 
 ford, of whom accounts have been given in the 
 section on Ormond, Desies, and Ui Kinsellaigh, 
 were also numerous and respectable in Kilkenny. 
 
 80. The TiGHEs, of whom there are some re- 
 spectable families in Kilkenny and other parts 
 of Leinster, are said to be of the ancient Ii-ish 
 clan of the OTeiges, who were chiefs in Wick- 
 low and Wexford, and of whom an account has 
 been given in the notes on Ui Kinsellaigh and 
 Cualan. 
 
 81. The Floods, of whom there are many re- 
 
 spcct.iblc families in Kilkenny, and other parts 
 of Ireland, are said to be of Irish dcsiiiit, though 
 supposed by some to be of Knglish origin, as many 
 of the ancient clans of the O'Maelluiii, and of the 
 Mac Thellighs, or Mac Tullys, changed the name 
 to Flood, thus translating the natiie from the 
 Irish Tiiile, which signifies a Flood 
 
 82. The .Mac Oosckvs, or Cosgraves, ancient 
 clans in Wicklow and Queens county, changed 
 their name to Lestrange The O'.Mooneys :;r6 
 placed in the Queens county on the map of 
 Ortelius; and the Dowlings and O'liiocbals, 
 or O'Nicholls, are mentioned by some writers .13 
 clans in Queens county. The O'Beehaii?, or 
 O'Behans, were a c'an in the Kings and Queens 
 counties. 
 
 The following are the chief races of Norman 
 descent settled in Ossory, Lci.K and Offaley. The 
 Fitzgerald?, c.irls of Kildare; and the Butlers, 
 earls" of Ormopd; the Graces, barons of Courts- 
 town ; the Walshes, Cantwells, Shortalls, Powers, 
 Purcells, Morises, Stapletons, Daltonf,Lawlcs?es, 
 Digbies, Husseys, and Fitszimons. Some of the 
 latter look the Íriíh title of Mac Kidire, anglicized 
 Mac Euddery, i.e., son of the King. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF MEATH AND BKEGIA, WITH MAGH LIFFI. 
 
 The plain of Heath which included the greater parts of the present counties of Meath and 
 Dublin, was known by the name of Magh Breagh, signifying either the Magnificent Plain, or, as 
 mentioned by the Latin writers under the name of Bregia ;— the Eev. Dr. OX'onnor has trans- 
 lated it on the authority of ancient tradition. Campus Brignniium, or the Plain of the Brigantes, 
 from being possessed by the Brigantes, who were called by the Irish Clunna Breogain. Part 
 of the territory of Bregia obtained the name of Fingal 'from the Danes, or Norwecians, who 
 planted a colony there in the tenth century, along the coast between Dublin and Drogheda, 
 and who were called by the Irish Fine <;a/?," signifying, the Race or Tribe of Foreigners; hence 
 the name Fingall. The plain of Bregia e.xtended from Dublin to Drogbeda, and thence to Kells, 
 and contained the districts about Tara, Trim, Navnn, Athboy, Dunboyne, &e. Another great 
 division of ancient Meath was called Tebtha, or Tcffia, which comprised the present county 
 of Weslmeath, with parts of Longford and the Kinis county. 
 
 Meath was for manv ages the seat of the Irish monarchy : and from the kings of Meath were 
 generally elected the monarchs of Ireland From the ea'rliest period to the fifth century, the 
 monarchs of Ireland were occasionally elected from the descendants of each of the three sons 
 of Milesius, namelv, from the races of Eber, Erimhon, and Ir; but from the fifth to the 
 eleventh century, durins a period of six hundred years, the Ui Xeiil, of the race of Erimhon, held 
 exclusive possession of "the Irish monarchy, until A. D. 1002, when Brian Boromha, king of 
 Munster, of the race of Eber, dethroned "Maelsechlainn, or Malachy the Second, and became 
 monarch of Ireland. 
 
 The Ui Neill took their name from their inimrdiate ancestor, Niall of the Aine Ilostage.s, 
 who was monarch of Ireland from A.D. 379 toA.D. 406. They were divided into two great 
 families, denominated the northern and southern Ui Neill. One branch of the northern con- 
 sisted of the 0'Neills,who were descended from Eogan, one of the sons of Niall of the Hostages, 
 and were princes of Tyrone, and often kings of Ulster and monarchs of Ireland: the other 
 branch consisted of the ODonnells. princes of Tyrconnell. and some of whom were also monarchs 
 of Ireland. Thev descended from Conall Gnlban, another son of the monarch Kiall. 
 
 The southern tJi Neills were descended from four other sons of Niall, bnt chiefly from bis son 
 Conall Crimthanni, many of whose descendants were kings of Meath and monarchs of Ireland. 
 Tills family took the name of Clan Colmain. from Colman Mor, son of Diarmaid, son of Crimthann, 
 monarch of Ireland from A. D. 554 to A. D. 5(15. The descendants of the Clan Colman. kings 
 of Meath, tookthc name of O'Maelsechlain or O'Melaghlin. 
 
 The chiefs and clans of the kingdom of Meath, 
 and the territories they possessed in the twelfth 
 century, are given in O'Dugan's Topogr.-iphy as 
 follows : to which are added various clans not 
 mentioned by O'Dugan, but whose names are 
 collected from other sources. 
 
 1. O Melaohlins, kings of Heath. 
 
 2. O'Hhaip.t, or O'llairt 
 8. O'RiAQAiN, or O'Resran. 
 
 4. O'Cellaaiqh, or O'Kelly. The O'Kellys 
 
 were lords of Bregia, long before the Anglo- 
 Norman invasion:' they were of a different 
 race from the O'Kellys of Ui Mani. being a 
 branch of the southern Ui Neill, and descended 
 from Aedh Slnni. monarch of Ireland. 
 
 5. O'CoNGALAiDH, now OXonoUv, whom O'- 
 Dugan describes as one of the four princes of Tara. 
 
 6. O'RiAtDniu. or O'Rory, now anglicised to 
 Rogers, lord of Fluu Fochl'a. in Bregia. 
 
 f. O'Fallamhajn, or O'Fallon, lord of Crioch- 
 
í20 
 
 TOPOGKAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 na-g-C^dacli, so called from O'.Ul Cedach, son of 
 Catbaeir Mur. king of Leinster, and monarch 
 of Ireland in the 'iud century. The country of 
 the O Fallons was near Athlone, in the county 
 of Weitineath, hut they were afterwards driven 
 across the shannon into Roscommon. 
 
 8. OCoiXDELBiiAiN. Or 0"Kendellan, or O'- 
 Connellan, prince of Ui Laeghari, or Ive-I.eary, 
 an extensive territory in the present counties 
 of Meath aud Westineath, and was possessed hy 
 the descendants of Laegari, who was monarch 
 of Ireland at the time of St. Patrick. The 
 parish of Castletown, Kendellan in Westmeath, 
 shows one part of this ancient territory, and the 
 townlandof Kendellans town nearNavan shows 
 another part of it. 
 
 9. O'Bkaeis, or O'Breen, chief of Lui^hini, 
 now the parish of Leney, in the barony of 
 Oorcaree, Westmeatli. 
 
 10. OIIaengisa or O'Hennesy, chief of Ui 
 Mac-Uais, now the barony of Moygoish, in "West- 
 meath. The Clan .Mac Uais, or .Mac Evoys, 
 sometimes called Mac Veaghs, of the race of Clan 
 Colla, Were the original chiefs of this territory. 
 
 11. 0"Haodha, supposed to be Hushes or 
 O'Hea, chief of Odba (probably Odra or" Odder, 
 in the barony of Skrine, near Tara.) 
 
 12. O'Dlbhain, or O'Duan, chief of Cnodba, 
 now Knowth, near Slane. 
 
 13. O Uamueitii, or O'llanvey, chief of Fer- 
 bili, now the barony of Farbilf in Westmeath, 
 
 14. O'Cathasaiou, ortyCasey, chief of Saithni, 
 now Sonagh in Westmeath. 
 
 15. OXeociiaix, or O'Loughan, chief of 
 Galenga, now the parish of Gallen, in the 
 barony of Garrycastle, Kings county. 
 
 16. O'DoNCADHA, or O'Donoghoe, chief of 
 Tell.ich .Moaharain, probably now Tullamore, 
 in the Kings county. 
 
 IT. 0'HI.^•RADUAI^^, or O'llanrahan, chief of 
 Corcaraidlie, now the barony of Corcaree, in 
 Westmeath. 
 
 18. O'Maolmuaidh, or 0"MulIoy, prince of 
 P'erceall, comprising the present baronies of 
 Ballycowen, Ballyboy, and liglish or Fercall. 
 
 19. O'DuBiiLAiDiiK, or O'Uooley, chief of 
 FertuUach, the present barony of Fertullagh, 
 in Westmeath. 
 
 •20 O'Fi'O-.vAt.LAi.v, or O'Finnellan, of the 
 race of Eber, and tribe of thfe Dalcissians, lord 
 of Delbhn:i .Mor, now tlie barony of Delvin, in 
 Westmeath. 
 
 21. OMaolludiiaCh, or O'MuUcdv, chief of 
 Brogha. part of the now baronies of l)elvin and 
 Farbill. 
 
 2i. Mao Cociilan, or Mac Coshlan, of the 
 Dalcassians, lord of Doalbhna-Katlira, now tlio 
 barony of Garrycastle, in the Kings countv. 
 
 2?. 'O'ToLAiuo, or OToler, chief of Quírcne, 
 now the b.arony of Kilkenny West, in West- 
 meath. 
 
 24. Mac Eociiagaix, or Mac Geoghcgan, 
 prince of Senel Fiahcaidli, now the baronV of 
 Moycashel. with parts of Kathconnth and Fer- 
 tnlfaL'li. The Mac Oeoghegans were one of the 
 principal branches of the southern VI Neill, 
 and were called Kinel Fiacha, from Fiacaidh, 
 one of the sonsof Niall of the Nine Hostages. 
 
 tó. Mao IIuaiec, or Mac Kourkc, chief of 
 .Arml Er'la, descended from Enda, son of Nlall 
 of the Hostftiies. This clan w.-us located in th3 
 district in which issltuatod the Hill of Uisneach, 
 in the barony of Rathconrath In Westmeath. 
 
 2C. O'Caip.biib, or O'Carborry, chief of Tuath 
 Blnn. 
 
 27. OHf.odhadha, or O'Heoghy, chief of 
 Klnel-Aciigusa. 
 
 28. O'Maelcolain, now Mulholland, chief of 
 
 Delvin Beg, or Little Delvin, adjoining the 
 barony of Delvin. 
 
 TehtUa or Teffií', formed a great portion of 
 ancient kingdom of Meath. Tcttia became the 
 territory of Mani, one of the sons of Niall of the 
 Nine Hostages, and of his descendants. It com- 
 prehended the greater part of the presentcounty 
 of Westmeath, with nearly the whole of .\nally 
 or the county of Longford. It was divided 
 into north and south Tcffia North TelTia, or 
 Cairbre Gabhra, was that porlion of Anally 
 about Qranard, which obtaineil its name from 
 Carbri,oneofthesonsofNiall ofthe Nine Ilosta- 
 gesand hi- descendants, who were its possessors. 
 South Ti'tlia comprised the remaining portion 
 in Annally and Westineath. O'Dugan, in the 
 continuation of his Topography of Meath, enu- 
 merates the (litferent chiefs and their territories 
 in Telfia. The principal chiefs of Tetlia, accord 
 ing to him, were the following: 
 
 1. O't'ATiiARNAir.ii, or O'Kearney. 
 
 2. O'CcriNK, or O'Quinn. 
 
 8. O'CoiNFiACLA, now O'Convally. 
 
 4. O'Laciitnatn, or OLoughnan, by some 
 anglicised to Loftus. 
 
 5. O'MuiREAGAi?;, or O'Murrigan. The O'- 
 Quinns were chiefs of Muinter Giolgain, and 
 had their chief castle in Kathcline, in Longford. 
 
 C. OTlannac.ain, or O'Flannaian, chief of 
 Comar, which O'Dugan places beside OBraein's 
 country 
 
 7. OBraein, or O'Breen, ofBreaghmani, now 
 the barony of Brawney in Westmeath. 
 
 S. Mac Conmedua, or Mac Conway of Muin- 
 tir Laodagain. 
 
 9. Mao Aoi>ha, Aodha or Mac Hugh, of 
 Muintir Tlamain. 
 
 10. Mac Taidg, or Mac Teige (by some angli- 
 cised to Tiglie, by others to Montague), of Muin- 
 tir Sirthachain. 
 
 11. Mai- Amiialgaidii, or Mac Gawley, chief 
 of Calraidhe or Calrigia, a territory on the bor- 
 ders of Westmeath and the Kings county. 
 Mac Geoshegan states that this territory com 
 prised the barony of Kilconrcy, in the Kings 
 county. 
 
 12. 'Mac Oarouamma, or Mac Carron, of 
 Muintir Maoilsionna. 
 
 13. O DvLAiGii, or O Daley, of Corca Ad- 
 liaimh, or Corcaduin. On the map of Ortelius, 
 by O'Conor, O Daley isjiiven as in, or contiguous 
 to, the barony of Clonlonan, in Westmeath. 
 
 14. O'ScoLAiDiiE, or O Scully, of Delbna lart- 
 bar.or West Delvin. 
 
 15. O CoMBAiDK, anglicised to Currj', of Ui 
 Mac Uais, the present barony of Moygoish in 
 Westineath 
 
 15 O Haodiia, or O'llugh, or O'Hea, of Tir 
 Teabtha Shoir, or East Teflia. 
 
 IC. O'Ceariiiiailt,. or O'CarroII, of Tara. 
 
 17. O DriNM, O'Doyne or O Dunn, of the 
 districts of Tar,a. 
 
 IS. Mac Giolla 3eachloin.v, or Shaugli- 
 lin, of Deisee;irt Breagh, now the parish of 
 Dy.sart in Westmeath. 
 
 19. O'Konain of Carbri Guara, or nortbcrn 
 TelBa. 
 
 2:). O Haonousa, or OTIennesey, of Galenga 
 Beg, now the parish of Gallon, in the King s 
 county 
 
 The following chiefs and elans in Meath and 
 Westmeath have not been given by O'Dngan. 
 O'Sin'tirjIi^ anglicised to Fox and "Shnnny of 
 the southern Ui Nlall, lord of Muintir Tadh- 
 galn,an extensive territory in Teffia, containing 
 
 Í «arts of the baronies of liathconrath and Clon- 
 onan In Westmiath, with part of the barony 
 of Kllcourcy, In the King's county. They wero 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 721 
 
 the same as O'Catharnaigh. The head of this fam- 
 ily wasdistiiiguisheil by the title of The Fox. 
 
 The O'.NÍALo.NES, a branch of the O Conors, 
 kings of Connauglit, who had large possessions 
 in the barony of Urawney, in Westiiu-ath. In 
 former timos these chiefs had the title of barons 
 of Clin-Malone, and afterwards obtained that of 
 barons tíunderlin, of Lalie Suuderlin, in West- 
 meat!" . 
 
 The 0"Faoans, a numerous clan, in Meath 
 and West Meatli, of whieh tliere were many 
 respectable families, the head of which had the 
 title of baron of Feltrim in Finsral. The follow- 
 ing also were clans of note in Westnicath, viz,, 
 the OCoffeys, and O'lliggins. In Meath, O'- 
 Lingseachs,'or O'Lynches, O Murphys. and O'- 
 Mnrrays, theO'Brogans, and otliers. The chiefs 
 and clans of ancient Meath were, with few ex- 
 ceptions, of the race of the sonlhern Ui Niall. 
 There are now but few families of any note, 
 descendants of the ancient chiefs of Meath. 
 
 In the year 1172 Henry II., granted to Hush 
 de Lacy, for the service of iifty knights, the 
 whole kingdom of Meath, of whicli that chief- 
 tain was made Lord Palatine, with as full and 
 ample powers as Murcadh O'Melaghlin, then 
 ing of Meath. Do L-.ioy divided Meath 
 iiraongst his various chiefs, who were com- 
 monly denominated De Lacy's barons. Hugh 
 Tyrrell obtained Castleknock ; and his descen- 
 dants were for a long period barons of Castle- 
 knock. Gilbert de Angulo, or Nangle, obtained 
 Magherigallen, now the barony of Morgallion, 
 in licath. Jocelin, son of Gilbert Nangle, ob- 
 tained Navan and Ardbracean. The Nangles 
 wore afterwards barons of Navan. Many of the 
 Nanglcs took the Irish name of Mac Costello, 
 and from them the barony of Costello in Mayo 
 derived its name. William de Missett obtained 
 Luin; and his descendants were barons of 
 Lune near Trim. 
 
 AdamFeipo or Phepoe obtained Skrine, San- 
 treff, or Santrv, and Clontorth, (either Clonturk 
 or Cli-itarf.)' This family had the title of 
 baroii^'jf Skrine, which title afterwards passed 
 tothefamily of Marward Gilbert Fitz-Thomas 
 obtained the territories about Kenlis ; and his 
 descendants were barons of Kells. Hugh de 
 Hose, orllussey, obtained Dees, or the barony of 
 Deecein Meath. The Husseys were made barons 
 of Galtrim. Richard and Thomas Fleming ob- 
 tained Crandon and other districts. The Flem- 
 ings became barons of Slane, and a branch of 
 the family viscounts of Langford. Adam Dul- 
 lard or Dollard obtained Dullennevarty. Gil- 
 bert de Nugent obtained Delvin, and his 
 descendants were barons of Delvin, and Earls 
 of Westmeath. Richard Tuite received large 
 prants in Westmeath and Longford. The 
 Tuites received the title of barons of Moyashell, 
 in Westmeath. Robert de Lacy received Rath 
 wire in Westmeath, of whieh his descendants 
 were b.arons. Jeoffrey de Constantine received 
 Kibixey in Westmeath, of which his descend- 
 ants were barons. William Petit received 
 Castlebreck and Magheritherinan, now the 
 barony of Magheradernon in Westme.ith. The 
 Petits received the title of barons of MuUingar. 
 Myler Fitz-Henrv obtained Magherneran, Rath- 
 kenin and Athinorker, now Ardnorcher. 
 Richard de Laohapelle, brother to Gilbert 
 Nugent, obtained much lancL 
 
 The following great families, either of English 
 or Norman descent, settled in Mcatli in early 
 times. The Plunketts, a family of Danish 
 descent, became Earls of Fingal, and branches 
 of them barons of Dunsaney, and Earls of 
 Louth, The Prestons, viscounts Qormanstown, 
 
 and another branch viscounts of Tara. The 
 Harnwalls, barons of Trimblestowu, and vis 
 counts Kingsland. The Netterviiles, barons of 
 Dowth. The Bellews, barons of Duleek The 
 Darcys of Platten, some of whom were barons 
 of Navan. The Cusacks, barons of Clonmullen, 
 The Fitz-Eustaces, barons of Portlester. 
 
 The following were also families of note in 
 Meath: The de Bathes, of Athcarn. The 
 Dowdalls of Athhimney. The Flemings of 
 Staholmock. The lietaghs of Moynalty, of 
 Danish descent. The Cruises of Cruisetown 
 and Cruise-Rath, ice. The Drakes of Drak-rath. 
 The Corballys. The Everards. The Cheevers, 
 some of whom liad the title of barons of Mount 
 Leinster. The Dardises. The Delahoids. The 
 Caddells. The Scurlocks or Sherlocks. 
 
 In Westmeath the following great families of 
 English descent were located, together with 
 those already enumerated. The Dillons, who 
 some say, were originally descended from a 
 branch of the southern Ui Neili; their an- 
 cestor, a chieftain named Dillune or Delion, in 
 the Vtti century, went to France, and being a 
 famous warrior, became Duke of Aquitaine. 
 One of his descendants came to Iieland with 
 king John, and got large grants of land in West- 
 meath and Anally; his descendants were lords 
 of Drumrany, in tlie barony of Kilkenny West, 
 and having founded many great families in 
 Meath and Connaught, became Earls of Ros- 
 common, viscounts Dillon in Mayo, barons of 
 Clonbrock, and barons of Kilkenny West, and 
 several of them were counts and generals in 
 the French and Austrian service. The Daltons 
 and Delameres obtained large possessions in 
 Westmeath and Anally. The chief seat of the 
 Daltons was at .Mount Dalton, in the barony of 
 Rathconrath, of which they were lords, and some 
 of them were distinguished in the service of 
 foreign states, and counts of the Holy lioman 
 Empire. The Deases in Meath and Westmeath. 
 
 Magh, Lirji, signifying the Plain of the Liffey, 
 was the name applied in ancient times to the 
 plains on both sides of the river Liffey. compris- 
 ing a great part of the present county of Kil 
 dare on both sides of the river Litfey, including 
 tlie Curragh of Ki'dare, which was called Cuir- 
 eai'h Liffe, and also parts of Dublin along the 
 Liffey. 
 
 The O'Melaghlins, kings of Me.ith, and their 
 co-relatives, having ruled over the diítricts 
 north of the river Liffey, the following particu- 
 lars both of them and of some other of the tribes 
 of the Southern Ui Neill, whose names have been 
 already given in the preceding portion of this 
 chapter, are here given at the head of the clans 
 of Magh Liííi, as they are found arranged in 
 the work from which this appendix is, with a 
 a few exceptions, an extract. 
 
 1 O'Maeilseciilain'x, OMaoileaehlain, orO'- 
 Melaghlin. The MelaghUns were the head 
 family of the southern Ui Niall race, called Clan 
 Colman, and took their name from Maeilsech- 
 lainn.orMalaohy I , king of Meath and monarch 
 of Ireland in the ninth century; they were for 
 many centuries kings of Meath, and several of 
 them were monarchs of Ireland. Many of them 
 were also Icings of Tara, princes of Bregia, and 
 lords of Clan Colman ; the territory called Glan 
 Colmnn was situated in ancient Tefiia, and com- 
 prised the middle and southern parts of the 
 present county of Westmeath. The O'Melagh- 
 lins, .as kings of -Meath. h.ad their chief residence 
 at D'tn-na-S-iath, or the Fortress of the Shields, 
 situated on the banks of Lough Ainnin, now 
 Lough Ennell, ne-ar .Mullingar. Murtogh 0"MeI- 
 aghliu was king of Meath at the time of tha 
 
722 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 Anglo-Norman invasion ; liis liincdom -was trans- 
 ferred to Hush do Lacy by a Krant from Henry 
 II., and he was tlie last independent kin? of 
 Meath; ijut tlie O'Melaghlins, f>r many cen- 
 turies afterwards, amidst incessant and lierce 
 contests witb tlie English settlers, maintained 
 their position and considerable possessions in 
 ■\Vestmeath. with their titles of kings and princes 
 of Meath and lords of Clan Colman, down to the 
 reign of Elizabeth. Many distinguished chiefs 
 of the O'Melaghlins are 'mentioned from the 
 tenth to the sixteenth century. Some chiefs of 
 thom are mentioned during the Cromwcllian 
 and Williamite wars, but after those periods all 
 their estates were confiscated, and in modern 
 times scarcely any of the O'.Molaghlins are to be 
 found. It is' however said that the name has 
 been changed to Mac LoEhlin It is remark- 
 able, that of the five royal Milesian families, all 
 of whom were eligibleto the monarchy, none 
 have become so utterly decayed as the 'OMel- 
 aghlins, for the others, namely, the O'Neills, 
 kings of Ulster ; the O'Conors, kings of Con- 
 nanght, and the O'Briens, kings of Mnnster, 
 many high families still exist, and the Mac Mur- 
 roghs. kings of Leinster, are represented by the 
 O'Cavenaglis. 
 
 2. Mac'Eochagaix, or Mac Geoghegan, chief 
 of Einel Fiacadh, is thus mentioned by O"- 
 Dugan : 
 
 "Precedence be given to the horoic clan. 
 The noble tribe Mac Geoglugan : 
 Host of the pleasant verdant lands. 
 That rule o'er the warlike Kinel Fiacadh." 
 
 The Mac Geoghegans took their names from 
 Eochagan, one of their ancient chiefs, and were 
 a branch of the southern \'\ Neill. The terri- 
 tory of Kinel Fiaeha comprised the barony of 
 Moycasliel, with parts of Moyashol, Kathcon- 
 rath, and Fcrtullagli, and the districts about Mul- 
 lingar, in Westmeath. The Mae Geogheiians 
 were princes of Kinel Fiaeha, and of them there 
 were many and valiant chiefs, who di t'catcd the 
 English forces in several battles. l!iili:ird Mac 
 Geoghegan, a distinguished commander in the 
 war against Elizabeth, was particularly cele- 
 brated for his defence of the castle ofDnnboy, 
 In the county of Cork. The Mac Geoghegans 
 held their rank, and considerable possessions, in 
 Westmeath, down to the Cromwellian wars and 
 revolutions, after which their estates were con 
 flscated. 
 
 8. O'Haiet or O'llart, OTJagain or O'Kegan, 
 O'CeallaIgh or O'Kelly, and O'Conghalaigh, or 
 O'Connoly — the Four Tribes of Tara are tiius 
 mentioned by O'Dugan : 
 
 " The princes of Tara I here record. 
 The royal O'llart and likewise O'Kegan, 
 The host who purchased the harbors. 
 Were the O'Kcllies and the O'ConnoUles." 
 
 These tribes of Tara were also styled princes 
 of Brcgia, and appear to have possessed the ter- 
 ritories about Tara in Meath, and also parts of 
 the present county of Dublin. 
 
 4. O'liuAiDiiui.'or OHory. a name anglicised 
 to Kotrers, is mentioned by O'Dugan as prince of 
 Finnfochla, and thus designated : 
 
 " Of the men of Brcgia an experienced chief 
 Is O'ltory, prince of Finnfochla." 
 
 5. O'CiAnnnA, O'Cary, or O'Kcary, chief of 
 Calrbri O'Clardha, is thus mentioned by O'- 
 Dugan and O'llcerln : 
 
 " O'Carey rules over Carbery of bards. 
 He is of the tribe of Niall of the Nine Hostages. 
 There are none but themselves there, 
 Of the clans of Niall over Leinster." 
 
 6. O'MrRCAiN, chief of Fidhgaibhle, is thus 
 mentioned by Olleerin ; 
 
 " O'er Llffoy's plain of the fertile slopes, 
 O'Murcan, chief, rules green Fidhgabhla." 
 
 7. O'Bracain, or Bracken, were chiefs in 
 Moy Liffey. The O'Murcains and O'Brackens 
 appear to have possessed the dirtricts along the 
 Litfev. near Dublin. 
 
 S. "O'Cellaidh, or O'Kelly, chief of Tuath 
 Leghe, is thus mentioned by'O'Heerin: 
 
 " Delightful the land, its fame has spread, 
 Tuath Leghe of the shining slopes; 
 O'Kelly of Leghe, from the eastern strand, 
 Is chief of the pleasant country of yews." 
 
 These O'Kellys po.ssessed a territory near the 
 river Barrow, parts of the baronies of West Nar- 
 ragh and Kilkeii, in tlie county of Kildare ; and 
 they were sometimes called Mac Kellys; had 
 their chief residence and castle at liathascul, or 
 the Moat of Ascul, near Athy, and they also had 
 the district about Naas. 
 
 9. O'Gelbroin, chief of Clar Life, is thus men- 
 tioned by O'Heerin: 
 
 "The plain of Liffey of Black Ships, 
 A verdant country of the finest produce. 
 Westward of Tara, the house of Conn, 
 O'Gelbroin is the chief of the fair land." 
 
 From the description of this territory of Clar 
 Lifli, or the I'lain of the Liffey, westward of 
 Tara, it appears to have been situated on the 
 plains of the Liflfey, on the borders of Dublin 
 and Kildare. 
 
 10. O'Fiaciira, or O'Fiachry, chief of Vi Ine- 
 chriiis at Alnihuin, and O'Haodha, O'Hugh, or 
 O'IKa, chief of Ui Deaghaidh, are mentioned as 
 follows by O'Heerin : 
 
 "Over the entire of Ui Ineachruis 
 Ruled O'Fiachry, chief of Allen ; 
 O'Hugh over Ui Degadh of learned 7ncn, 
 To whom tribes bow in submission." 
 
 These territories were situated in Kildare. 
 
 11. 0'.M!"iitTnF., or O'Muiridho, probabl.v O'- 
 Murray, chief of Kinel Flathcmhuin.and O'Fin- 
 tighern, chief of Ui Mealla, are thus designated 
 by O'Heerin: 
 
 "O'Murry of great eloquence, 
 Is chief of fair Kind Flahaven ; 
 Over Ui Mella of the fast sailing ships. 
 Firmly settled is the chief O'Fintierncy." 
 
 The territories of those chiefs were situated in 
 Kildare. O'Finticrney's district appears to have 
 adjoined it. and was jirobably in West Ophaley. 
 near the Barrow, from the mention made of 
 ships in the ]ioem. 
 
 VI. The O'Cri.i.PNS are said to have possessed 
 a territory culled Cdill CulMiin, or the Woods of 
 Cullen, on the borders of Kildare and Wicklow. 
 wliicli now forms thebaronj- of Kilcullcn in Kil- 
 dare. 
 
 13. The O'Coi.oANB were ancient chiefs In 
 Kildare, and there are still many famlliea of the 
 name in that county. The Mac Donnels were 
 also numerous In Kildare. 
 
 14. O'DuiiinnAKJit, or O'Duffey.— The O'- 
 Duffys were one of the Leinster clans of tbo 
 
TOPOGRAPUIC.\-L APPENDIX. 
 
 723 
 
 Cahiriaa race, and of the same descent as the 
 .Vac Murroghs, kin^s of Leiiister, aud the O"- 
 Tooies andO Byrnes, chiefs of Wicklow. 
 
 15. The Faoans, some of whom have been 
 called O Fa^;ms and Mae Fagans, are considered 
 by some to be of Irisli origin, but according to 
 others they were of Knglisli or Danish descent, 
 and tlie name is still numerous in the counties 
 of Meath, Westmcath, and Dublin. 
 
 16. Tlie O'Mlllkns are one of the Leinster 
 clans, and were numerous in Meath, Dublin, and 
 Kildare. 
 
 17. Mac Gilla-mocholmoo iindO'Dnnchadha 
 or O'Donoghoe, are mentioned in 0'l>ugun as 
 lords or princes of Fine Gall, that i:, of Fingall 
 near Dublin; and it may be observed that there 
 was another Mac Gilla-mocholmog, lord of a 
 territory on the bordtrs of Wicklow, and men- 
 tioned in the note on Cualan. 
 
 Is. O'Mup.cuEBTAiuii, or O Murtogh, chief of 
 the tribe or territory of O Maine ; and U'Modarn, 
 chief of Kinel Kuchain, are mentioned in O'- 
 Dugan as chiefs over the Britons or Welsh, and 
 appear to have been located near Dublin. 
 
 i'J. Mao Mlregain, prince of East LiCfey, is 
 mentioned in the Annals in some battles with 
 the Danes in the tenth century. 
 
 Ill the County and City of Dublin the fol- 
 lowing have been the principal families of 
 Anglo-Norman descent : The Talbots, Tyrrells, 
 Plunketts, Prestons, Barnwalls, St. Lawrences, 
 Cruises, Cusacks, Gogans, Whites, Walshes, 
 Walls, Warrens, Wogans, Woodlocks, Darcys, 
 Nettervilles, Marwards, Phepoes, Fitzwilliams, 
 Fitzsimons, Flemmings, Archbolds, Archers, 
 Aliens, Aylmers, Balls, Bagots, De Bathes, But- 
 
 lers, Barrys, Barrets, Berminghams, Bretts, Bel- 
 lews, Blakes, Brabazons, Finglases, Sweetmans, 
 Uollywoods, Howths, Hu3sey.s, Dowdalls, Dil- 
 lons, S^'agraves, Sarsllelds, Staniliurts, Lawlesses, 
 Oadells, Drakes, Gracvs, Palmers, Eustaces, 
 Browns, Nangles, Tuites, Trants, Luttrells, De- 
 lahoydes, Usher.s, Grattans. 
 
 /h the County oj Kildare, the following have 
 been the chief faniilies of Anglo-Norman and 
 English descent ; Earl Strongbow, having be- 
 come heir to the kingdom of Leinster, a.sson-in 
 law of Dermod Mac Murrogh, king of Leinster, 
 whose daughter Eva lie had married, gave grants 
 of various parts of Leinster to his followers. 
 Amongst othrr grants, Strongbow gave in Kil- 
 dare to .Maurii» Fitzgerald ; Naas, Otl'elan, which 
 had been O'Kelly's country ; to MylerFit/.henry 
 he gave t'arberry ; to Robert de Bermingham, 
 Otfalcy, part of O'Conor's country ; to Adam and 
 Kichard de Hereford, a large territory about 
 Lei.\lip, and the district De SuUu /Saimoui.i, or 
 the Salmon Leap, from which the barony of 
 Salt derived its name; and to Kobert Fitz 
 Kichard he gave the barony of Narragh. The 
 family of do Eiddlesford, in the reign of king 
 John, got the district of Castledermot, which 
 was part of the territory of O'Toole, prince of 
 Imaile, in Wicklow, and Richard de St. Michael 
 got from Kins John the district of Rheban, near 
 Athy, part of 0' Moore's country, and from the 
 St. Michaels, lords of Rheban and AS'oodstock, in 
 Kildare, with Dunamase in the Queens county, 
 passed to the Fitzgeralds, barons of Offaley, in 
 the year 14-24, by the marriage of Thomas Fitz- 
 gerald with Dorothea, daughter of Anthony O'- 
 Moore, prince of Leis. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF ULADH OR ULSTER. 
 
 The Kingdom of VMer —The name in Irish is C7af?A, pronounced UUa, and latinised Ultonia 
 the people were called r'taiijlt, in Latin UUonii. and Cltoniense.% anglicised Vltonians. This 
 ancient kingdom comprised the counties of Louth, Monaghan, Armagh, Down, Antrim. Tyrone, 
 Derry, Doneiral, and Fermanagh, and the old tcrritorif>s"of Orgiall, Dalaradia, Ulidia, Dalriada, 
 TirEogain, Tirconnell. and Fermanagh; the county of Cavan, which was part of Brefney, belonged 
 to C'onnaught, but was afterwards added to Ulster, and the county of Louth, which was part of 
 ancient Ulster was added to Leinster. 
 
 Tip. Eogain. 
 
 This territory comprised the present counties 
 of Tyrone and Derry, with a large portion of 
 Donegal, between Lough Foyle and Lough 
 Swilley, namely, the peninsula of Inisowen, 
 and the greater part of the barony of Raphoe. 
 In this territory, on a high hill or mountain, 
 called Grianan, on the eastern shore of Lough 
 Swilly. south of Inch Island, was situated the 
 i^eiebrated fortress called the Griiinan of Ail- 
 each, from Grianan. a palace or royal resi- 
 dence, and Ailech or Oileach, which signifies 
 a stone fortress. It was also called Ailech 
 A'Ví'/, having derived its name, according to 
 O'Flaherty, from Neid, one of the Tuatha-de- 
 Dannan princes. This fortress was for many 
 ages the seat of the ancient kings of Ulster. It 
 was built in a circular form of great stones 
 without cement, and was of immense strenitth. 
 In that style denominated Cyclopean architec- 
 ture, and some of its extensive ruins remain to 
 this day. 
 
 Tir Eogain obtained its name from Eogan, 
 or Owen, son of Niall of the Mne Hostages, 
 who conquered this territory in the beginning 
 of the fifth century, and hence its name, Tir 
 
 Eogain. or the country of Owen, afterwards an- 
 glicised into Tiroen, or Tyrone. In conse- 
 quence of the conquest of this country by 
 Eogan, when it was taken from the old pos- 
 sessors of the race of Ir, or Clanna Rory, its 
 sovereignty was transferred to the race of 
 Erimhon. From the circumstance of its being 
 possessed bj' the descendants of Eogan, called 
 Cinel Eogain, or Kinel Owen, the territory also 
 obtained the name of Kinel Owen. According 
 to the Books of Leacan and Ballymote, and 
 other authorities, this territory was divided be- 
 tween the ten sons of Eogan, whose descend- 
 ants gave names to the various districts. In the 
 chapter on the kingdom of Meath. it has been 
 stated th.at the Ui Neill, or the descendants of the 
 monarch Niall of the Nine Hostages, were divid- 
 ed into two sreat branches, namely, the Southern 
 and Northern. The southern Ui Neill were 
 kinm of Meath, and many of them monarchs 
 of Ireland. The northern Ui Neill, of which 
 there were two great branches, namely, the race 
 of Eogan, princes of Tyrone, and the race of 
 Conal. princes of Tirconnell, also furnished 
 many monarchs of Ireland ; but the descend- 
 ants of Eogan were the most celebrated of all 
 the Milesian clans ; of them a great many were 
 
724 
 
 TOPOGKAPHICAL APrENDIX. 
 
 kings of Ulster, and sixteen were monarchs of 
 Ireland. The race of E.)g:iu to.)k tlie name of 
 O Neill in the tenth century, from Niall Glun- 
 dubli, who was killed in a great battle with the 
 Danes, near Dublin, A. D. i'JO. The elder 
 branch of the O Neill took the name of O'Loch- 
 lainn, and Mac Lough. in, from Lochlainn. one 
 of their ancient chiefs. The O Neills after- 
 Avards recovered the supremacy, and made a 
 distinguished tigure iu Irish history, down to 
 the seveuteenth century, as ]»rinces of Tyrone, 
 and liin;;s of L'lster. The O'Neills had" their 
 chief seat .at Dungannon. and were inaugurated 
 as jirinces of Tyrone, at Tullaglioge palace, be- 
 tween Grange and Donaghenry, iu the pariih of 
 Desertcrcight, barony of Dungannon, where a 
 rude seat of large stones served them as a cor- 
 onation chair. 
 
 The cliicfs and clans of Tir Eogain, and the 
 territories possessed by each in the twelfth cen- 
 tury, are collected from ODugan as follows:— 
 O'Dugan commences with the territory of 
 Aileiich of the. Kings, of which he gives — 
 
 1. ONeill and Mac Loughlin as priaces or 
 kings. 
 
 2. O'Cathain. or O'Kane. who was of the race 
 of Eogan, or a branch of the O'Neills, and who 
 ■was the chief of Cianacht of Glenna Gebhin, or 
 Keenaght of Glengiven. The O'Kanes were 
 also chiefs of the Oreeve, now the barony of 
 Colerain. In after times this powerful clan 
 possessed the greater part of the county of 
 Derry, which was called O'Kane's country. 
 
 'i. O'CoNCOBAiR or the O'Conors, who were 
 chiefsofCianachta before theO Kanes, and were 
 descendants of Cian, son of Olild Olum, king of 
 Munster; hence their territory obtained the 
 name of Cianachta, a name still pre:»ervod in 
 the barony of Keenaught, county of Derry. 
 
 4. O DciBMDionMA or O'Dooyiorma, some- 
 times anglicised O'Dermott or Mac Dermott. but 
 a distinct clan from Ma'i Dertnott, prince of .Moy- 
 lurg in Connaught. The O'Dooyiormas were 
 chiefs of liredach, a territory which lay along 
 the western banks of Lough Foyle, and com- 
 prised tlie parishes of Upper and Lower Moville, 
 in the barony of Ini-iowen. The name of this 
 district is still preserved in the small river 
 Bredag, which falls into Lough Foyle. 
 
 5. 0'GoBxii.Ei>AiBn, or O'Goriiiiey, chief of 
 Kinel Moain, or Moen, now the barony of Itap- 
 hoe, county of Donegal. This district derived 
 Its name from Moan, one of the descendants 
 of Eogan. 
 
 -Magh Itha, or Moy Ith, and Kind Enda 
 were two districts adjoining Kinel Moain, 
 partly in the barony of I'aphoe, and partly in 
 the barony of Tirkeeran in DeiTy. Acco ding 
 to O'Dngan, tlie following were the chiefs of 
 Moy Itli. namely, 1. 0']$aoh;iiile, or O'lioyle; 
 2. O'.Maolbreasiai.; O'Cuiun, or OQuinn; 
 (>'CioNAr.TiiA. or O'Kcnny. 8. O'Bri'auair, or 
 O'Brody; 4. 0'MAi>iLrAHHAiLK; O'IIocain, 
 chiefs of t'arruic I'rachulghe, still traee.-iblo by 
 the name Carricbrack, in the barony of Inisowen. 
 "). Oil AííAiN. or O'llagan. cliief of Tiilachog, or 
 Tnllaghoge, in the parish of Desertcrcight, 
 barony of Dungannon, county of Tyrone. 
 6. OTJuNAOAiN, or O'Donegan. "7. Mac Mun- 
 i(AJ)ii, or Mac Murrouch. 8. O'Feroail, or 
 O'Fteel. 9. Mao liUAlunRl, or liogers, chiefs 
 of Tealach Alnblth. and of Muinter Blrn. dis- 
 tricts in the baronies of Dungannon and Stra- 
 hane. 10. O'Ckallaidii, or O'Kelly, chief of 
 Kin.rl E'lehaidli, or Corca Eachaidh, probably 
 Corkaghee, barony of Dungannon. lI.O'Tio- 
 HEAKNAiDit. or O'Ticmey", 12. O'Ciauaik, or 
 O'Kleran, chiefs of Fearnmuigh. 18. O'Duibh- 
 
 DtTANAiDn; 14 CFlAiGnMAiLL, Or Hamill. 15. 
 O Hkitiokin or OEtigan, chiefs of three districts 
 called Tcallach C^athalain, Teullach Duibh- 
 ailbe, and Teallach Uraenain. lt>. O'.Maklfot 
 iiARTAiiii. and O Heodhasa, or O lleosey, chiefe 
 of Kiuel Tigbearnaigh IT. O'CirANAicii, or 
 O'Coonoy. Is. OIJaothgralatcm, chief of Clan 
 Fergus. " 19. O'Murcadha, or O .Murrogh, and 
 O'.Meallain. chiefs of Siol Aodha-Eauaigh. 20. 
 Mac FiAcnnAiGit, chief of Kinel Feradaigh in 
 the south of Tyrone. -Jl. O Hairnin, OMael- 
 FABiiAiLL, and the Clan (.'atlimaoil, chiefs of 
 Kinel I'iradhaidh, in the north of Tyrone. This 
 name was sometimes changed to Mac Campbell, 
 and Mac Caghwell, and also to Caulfield. The 
 MacCathmaolls were a powerful clan in Tyrone. 
 and many of them in .Monaghan, Louth, and Ar- 
 magh. 22. The clans of .NJaolgiimridh and of 
 Maolpadraig. who possessed the two di.-tricts 
 of Kinel Fireiihaidh, in the east of Tyrone. 
 
 23. MtjixTEK Taitiiligii. of Ui Laoghaire, of 
 Lough Lir, a name anglicised to Mac Tullv. 
 
 24. t)'llAiNBiTiR,chicf of UiSeaain 25. OCui- 
 o.^nAI^', chief of lly Fiachra, a territory which 
 comprised the parish of Ardstraw, and some 
 adjoining districts in Tyrone, and is mentioned 
 in the Annals at A.D. 1200. 2t). OQuinn, chief of 
 Moy Lugad, and of Siol Cathusaigh. Moylugad, 
 according to the Books of Leacan and Bally- 
 motc, Lay in Keenaught of Glengiven, county 
 of Derry. 27. The O'Ceaubhai-laids, O'Cearb- 
 hall.ains, or O'Carolans, a name sometimes angli- 
 cised to Carleton, chiefs of Clan Uiarmada, now 
 the parish of Clandermod, or Glendermod, in 
 Derry. 28. The O'Brolchains, or O'Brolchans, 
 a name sometimes elianged to Bradly. These 
 were a numerous clan near Derry, but origi- 
 nally of the Kinel Feradaigh, in the south of 
 Tyrone, and were a brancli of the Kinel Owen. 
 2'J. Mac Blosgaidh, or the Mac Closkeys, a nu- 
 merous clan in the parish of Dungiven, and 
 some adjoining parts : they were a branch of 
 the O'Kanes. KG. The O'Drvlins, chiefs of 
 Muintir Devli, near Lough Keagh, on the 
 borders of Derry and Tyrone. 81. The O LooN- 
 EYS, chiefs of Muinter Loney. a .listrict known 
 as the Monter Loney .Mountains in Tyrone. 
 82. CoNNELLAN. chlof of Crioch Tullach, In 
 Tyrone, a name which has beeu by some 
 changed to Conolly. 82. 0'DoNonAiLE,or O Don- 
 nellys chiefs in Tyrone, at Ballydonnelly, and 
 other parts. 84. O'Nena, or O'Nenvs. or Mac 
 Ncnys, a n.ame which has been anglicised to 
 Bird. These possessed the territory of Kinel 
 Naeua, in Tyrone, bordering on Monaghan. Of 
 this family was Count O'Neny, of Brussels, in 
 the Austrian .service, under the empress Maria 
 Theresa. 35. O'Fr.AiiKRTv. or O'Laverty, lord of 
 Kinel Owen. 86 The O'Murrys, given in 
 O Conor's Map of Ortelius, .as a clan in Derry. 
 37. The Mao Suane.i, a name anglicised to 
 Johnson, who were a clan in Tyrone. 87. The 
 O'Mulligans, anglicised to Molineux, who were 
 also a clan in in Tyrone. 8s. The O'Gnimiis, 
 O'Onives, or O'Gneeves, hereditary bards to 
 the O'Neills. This name has been anglicised 
 to Agnew. 
 
 The O'Neills, as already stated, maintained 
 their indepedence down to tho end of the six- 
 teenth centurv, as princes of Tyrone; and in 
 the ri'iirns of Henry VI 11. and Elizabeth, bore 
 tho titles of earls of Tyrone, and barons of 
 Dungannon TIk! lust celebrated chiefs of tho 
 name were Hugh O'Neill, tho «reat earl of 
 Tyrone, famous as the commander of the north- 
 ern Irish In Ihcdr wars with Elizabeth ; lind 
 Owen lioe O'Neill, the general of the Irisli of 
 Ulster, in IGll, and the Cromwellian wara. 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 72Ó 
 
 Several of the O'Neills have been distinguished 
 in the niiiitaiy service of Spain. Friuice, and 
 Aastria. 
 
 TiR CONAILL. 
 
 This territory comprised the remaining 
 portion of the county of Donegal not con- 
 tained in Tir Kogiiin. the boundary between 
 both being Lough Swiily; but in the twelfth 
 century the OMuidorrys and O Uonnclls, 
 princes of Tir (.'onnell, became masters of 
 the entire of Donegal, thus making Lough 
 Foyle and Fin the boundaries between Tir 
 (Jonnell and Tir Eogain. This territory got 
 its name frotn C'onall tíulban, who tooic posses- 
 ion of it in tlie beginning of the tilth century, 
 lie was brother to Kogan, who conquered Tir 
 Eogain. and son of the monarch Niall of the Nine 
 Hostages, and from liim the territory olitained 
 the nurae of Tir Conaill. or the country of 
 Oon.all. and his posterity were designated 
 Kind Conaill, or the race of C'onall, a name 
 which was also applied to the territory. 
 
 The race of Conall Gulban, who possessed 
 Tir Connell, are (•elebr.ated in Irish history, and, 
 according to OFIaherty and others, furnislied 
 ten of the monarchs of Ireland. In the tentli 
 century a branch of the Kinel Connell, or de- 
 scendants of Conall Gulban, toolt the n.imc of 
 t)"('anannain, many of whom were celebrated 
 chli'l's. particularly Kuaidri O'Canannain, who 
 was distinguished for his great valor and abili- 
 ties. Another branch of the race of Conall 
 Gulban took the name CMathioraidh, or 
 O Muldorry, and became jirinccsof Tir Connell. 
 In the Annals of the Four Masters in the luth, 
 nth. and l'2th centuries, accounts are given of 
 many contests between the O'Canannains and 
 O Maeldoraidhs, those rival chiefs of the same 
 race, as contending for the sovereignty of Tir 
 Connell. 
 
 The ODoNNELLS. in the 12th century, became 
 princes of Tir Connell. and were of the same 
 race a* the 0"Canannaius and O'Muldorrys. 
 Their tribe-name, at an early period, was Clan 
 Dalaigh from Dalach. one of their chiefs. 
 They are called in O'Dugan's poem, ■' Chin»a 
 DcUaigh na n-ít'nin srjiath,'" that is, of the 
 brown shields. They afterwards took the name 
 O'Domhnaill, or Donnel, one of their ancient 
 chi.fs. The O'Donnells. from Domnall, or 
 Donal from the 12th to the end of the 16th 
 century, make a very distinguished figure 
 in Irish history, as princes of Tircounel. 
 The l.i.st celebrated chief of the name was 
 Eed Hugh O'Donneil, long famous as one of 
 the chief commanders of the northern Irish, 
 in their wars with Elizabeth. Kory O'Donneil, 
 the hist chief of the race, was created earl of 
 Tyrconnell, but died in e.xile on the Continent, 
 and his estates were confiscated in the reign of 
 James I. Many of the O'Donnells have been 
 celebrated generals in the service of Spain, 
 France, and Austria. The O'Donnels were in- 
 augurated as princes of Tirconnell on the Kock 
 of Doune. at Kilmacrenan, and had their chief 
 castle at DoneL'al. 
 
 The following clans and chiefs in Tir Conaill 
 in the twelfth century, are given by O'Dugan 
 under the head of Kinel Conaill : 
 
 1. O'Maoldokaidh.O'Caxannain, and Clann 
 Dal.aigh were the principal chiefs. The Clan 
 Dalaigh was the tribe name of the O'Donnells 
 as before stated. 
 
 2. O'BvoioniLT. or O'Boyles, were chiefs of 
 Clann Chinnfaeladh, of Tir Ainmireach, and of 
 Tir Baghani, which territories comprised the 
 
 present baronies of Boy lagh andBannagh.Crioeh 
 Bacighil leach, or the country of the O'lloylea, 
 gave name to the barony of Boylagh, Tir Beg- 
 hane was the barony of Banagh. 
 
 5. O'.Maeilm.^giisa, or O'Mulvany, chief ol 
 Magh Seireadh; Magh Seireadh may probably 
 be traced in a townlaud called Mastarcy. 
 
 4. O'IIaediia or O'llugh, chief of Ésruadh, 
 now Ballyshannon, in the barony of Tir Hugh. 
 
 b. O'Tairchirt, chief of Clann Nechtain, 
 Clann Snedgali. 
 
 6. Mac Dubuain, or Mac Duvanys, chiefs 
 of Kinel Nenna or Kinel Enda. This distiict 
 lay in Inisowen. 
 
 7. Mac Loixqseachaix, or Mac Lynchys, 
 chiefs of Gleann Binne. or Gleann-ni-Binue, 
 and O Brzsle.v, chief of Fauaid, on tlic western 
 shore of Lough Swilly. 
 
 8. O'Dochaktaigii, or O'Dogherty, chief of 
 Ard MiJhair. The O'Uoghertys were a power- 
 ful sept, a branch of the O'Donnells, and b.-came 
 chiefs of Inisowen. The O'Doghertys maintain- 
 ed tlieir rank as chiefs of Inisowen down to the 
 reign of James I., when Sir Cahir O Dt^gherty 
 was killed in a contest with the Engli-h. 
 
 9 Mac Gillesamh-vis, chief of Los Guill, 
 now Kosgull, in the barony of Kilmakrenan. 
 
 10. O'Ceahnachain, or O'Kernaghan. 
 
 11. O'Dalachai.v, or O'Dullaghan, chiefs of 
 the Tualh Bladhadh. 
 
 12. U'Maelagaix, or O'MuUigan, chief of 
 Tir Mac Caerthain. 
 
 13. O'DosNAGAiN, and MacGaiblln, chiefs of 
 Tir Breasail. 
 
 14. O'Maolgaothe, chief of Muintir Maoil- 
 gaoithe. Some of this name have been angli- 
 cised to Mac Ghee, and others to 'W'ynn. 
 
 15. And Mao Tighekxain, or Mac Ternan, 
 chief of Clan Fcarghoile. 
 
 l(i. Mao Suibni or the Mac Sweenys, a 
 branch "f the O'Neills which settled In 
 Donegal, and formed three great families, 
 namely, Mac Sweeny of Fanaid, whose exten- 
 sive territory lay wett of Lough Swilley, and 
 whose castle was at Kathmullin ; Mac Sweeny 
 Boghamach, or of Tir Boghani, now the barony 
 of Banagh, who had his castle at Rathaiii, and 
 in which territory was situated Ee?chrain 
 Muintiri Eirn, now Eatlilin O Bcirne Islands ; 
 and M.ac i^weeny Na d-Tuath, signifying Mac 
 Sweeny of the Battle-axes. His districts were 
 also called Tuaiha Toraighe. or the districts of 
 Tory Island. This Mac Sweeny's possessions 
 lay in the barony of Kilmakrenan. These 
 chiefs were called Mac Sweeny Na d Tuagh, 
 signifying Mac Sweeny of the Battle-axes, a 
 title said to be derived from their being stan- 
 dard bearers and marshals to the O'Donnells, 
 and chiefs of Galloglasses. A branch of th'ise 
 Mac Sweenys. who were distinguished military 
 leaders, settled in Munster in the county Cork, 
 in the thirteenth century, and became com- 
 manders under the Mac Carthys, princes of 
 Desmond. 
 
 17. O'Galciiobair or O'Gallaghers, derived 
 from Gallchobhair. a warrior, in the baronies 
 of Eaphoe and Trihugh ; they had a c.istle at 
 Ballyshannon, and also pos.'sessed the castle of 
 Liiford, and were commanders of O Donnells 
 cavalry. 
 
 18. O'FrRANAry is given by O'Dugan in his 
 poem as chief of Fiond Ruis, which probably 
 was the Rosses in the barony of Boylagh. 
 
 19. O'DoMNGAi.T, or O'bonnelly, chief oi 
 Fer Droma, a district in Inishowen. 
 
 20. O'Lainidh is mentioned as chief of Kinel 
 Moain. a district in the barony of Eaphoe. 
 
 21. O'Cleeigh or O'Clerys, celebrated as the 
 
726 
 
 TOPOGlíArHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 hereditary historians to tho O'Donnclls, and the 
 learned authors of the Annals of the Four 
 Masters, and many other valuable works on 
 Irish history and antiquities. Tliey had large 
 possessions in llie barony of Tirhugli, and resi- 
 ded In their castle at Kilbarron, the ruins of 
 whicli still remain situated on a rock on the 
 shore of the Atlantic, near Ballyshannon. 
 
 ■22. Mac Ay liiiAAiKD.or the MacWards.were a 
 clan in Donegal, and many of them bards to 
 the O Donrells; and were very learned men. 
 
 OlRGIlIALLA. 
 
 The ancient kingdom, or princip.ility of 
 Oirghiall, comprised an extensive territory 
 in Ulster, and was called by Luin writers, 
 Orgalli'i, and ErgaUUi ; and by the English 
 Oriel, and L'riil. In the beginning ol the 
 fourth century, three warlike princes, called 
 the three Colitis, sons of Eocaidh Doinilein, son 
 of Cairbre Lil'echar, m<riiarch of Ireland, of the 
 race of Erimlu'ii. made a conquest of a great part 
 of Ulster, which they wrested from the old pos- 
 sessors, princes of the race of Ir, called the 
 Clanna Rory, or liudericians. The three Collas 
 in the great battle of Achalethdcrg, in Fear- 
 muish. in Dalaradia, on the borders of Down 
 and Antrim, A. D. 332, defeated the forces of 
 Fe;ga.s, king of Ulster, who w.as slain: and the 
 vietiirs burned to the ground Enihain Maoha, or 
 Emania, (near the present city of Armagh,) the 
 famous palace of the Ultoiiian king.s, which had 
 stood for si.t centnrl'is. and had been long cele- 
 brated by the Irish bards. The place where this 
 battle was fought is called also Carn Achy Leth- 
 Dersr, and is now known as the parish of Agha-. 
 d^rg. in the barony of Iveagh, county of Down, 
 where there still remains a huge Carn of loose 
 stones, near Louglibriekland. The sovereignty 
 of Ulster thus piissed from the race of Ir, to the 
 race of Erimhon. The names of the three 
 chiefs were Colla U.iis, or Colla the noble, Colla 
 Monn. or Colla the famous, and Colla-d!>Chrich, 
 or Colla of the two territories. Colla Uais be- 
 came monarch of Ireland, A. D. 327, and died 
 A. D. Z^-1. The territory conquered by the three 
 Collas. comprised the present counties nf Louth, 
 Monaghan, and Armairh, and obtained the name 
 of Oirghialla, from the circumstance of the Collas 
 havini'siipulateil with the monarch of Ireland, 
 for themselves and their pos:erity, that if any 
 chiefs of the Clan Colla should be at any time de- 
 manded as liostages, if nharA-led, their fetters 
 should be gold; thus, from the Irisli or. gold, or 
 pint', a liostage, came the name oirr/Ziiafn. 
 The term Oriel, or Uriel, was in general conlined 
 by the English to the present county of Louth, 
 wiiich. in former times, was part of Ulster: that 
 province extending to the Boyne, at Droglieda. 
 O'Carkolt, was the name of the ruling' sept of 
 Oirglii.illa for .some time previous to the English 
 invasion. They continued kings down to the 
 12tli centurv, \vhen they were dispossessed by 
 the An^lo-Xorm.ans. under John de Courcy. 
 Donne.idh O'Carroll, prince of Orghlalla. the last 
 ce'pbrated head of this race, founded the great 
 Abbey of Mellifont. in Louth, in the 12th cen- 
 turv. Tho territorv of Louth is mentioned in 
 the' earliest times under the names of M<i;/h 
 .Vurtri^mni, or tlie Plain of Miirthemni, so 
 callid from Murthemni, sou of Breogan. undo 
 of Milesius. who possessed it. I'art of the tcr 
 ritory of Louth and .Vrmagh was called Cuailgnl, 
 fromCu-iilgnl, another son of Breogan. who, ac- 
 cording to our old Annalists, was kilh^d there in 
 I» battle between the Milesians and the Tuatha 
 De-Dananns, about 1000 years before the Chris- 
 
 tian era. Sliabh Cuailgni, now Slicve Gullion 
 mountain, in Armagh, acquired its name from 
 him. Louth was in ancient times also called 
 Maehairi Chouaill, or the Plain of Conall, from 
 Conall liearnach, the renowned warrior, who was 
 chief of the lied Branch knights of Ulster, about 
 the commencement of the I'hristian era, and 
 whose descendants originally possessed this ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 The descendants of Conall Kearnach, were 
 theMagennises, lords of Iveagh, in Dalaradia, or 
 county of Down, the 0'Mor.a.s. or 0"Moores, 
 princes of Leix, in Kildare and Queen's county, 
 and others. Amongst the other chief clans who 
 possessed Louth, were the Mac Canns, Mac Car- 
 tans, O'Kellys, O'Moorcs, OCallaghans, O'Car- 
 raghars, Mac Colmans, Mac Cair.pbell.s. Mac 
 Ardells, Mae l\ennys. O'Devins, O'Markys, 
 O'Branagans, Mac-Scunlons, and others. 
 
 In the r.i-u <.f king John, A.D. 1210, Louth 
 was formed into a eounty, and acquired its name 
 from the town of Louth," in Irish, Lxgh Mliagh. 
 In the Inquisitions the eounty is called Lovidia. 
 The chief Anglo-Noinian or British families 
 settled in Loutii, were the De Lacys, De Verdons, 
 De GernoMs. ])e l\|iards, De Fleniinings. barons 
 of Slane; the Belle ws of Barmeath, who had for- 
 merly the title of barons of Duleek; the De 
 Berminghams, earls of Louth, a title afterwards 
 possessed by the Plunkets. a great family of 
 Danish descent; the Taattes, earls of Carliog- 
 ford; the Balls, Brahazons, Darcys, Dowdals, 
 Clintons, and the Dromgools, of Danish descent. 
 The posterity of the three Collas, called ' Ian 
 Colla, founded inany powerful clans and noble 
 femilies in Ulster, and otlier parts of Ireland. 
 From Colla Uais were descended the Mac 
 Donalds, earls of Antrin, in Ireland, and lords of 
 the Isles, in Scotland; also, the Mac Rorys, agreat 
 clan in the Hebrides, and also many families of 
 that name in Ulster, now anglicised to Rogers. 
 
 From Colla Da Clirioch. were descended the 
 Mac Mahons, princes of Monaghan, lords of 
 Ferney. and barons of Dartree. at t'onagh, where 
 they h.ad their chief seat. The Mac Mahons 
 were sometimes styled princes of Orgiall. It 
 tfi-xf be observeil tliat several of the Mac Mahons, 
 in former times, changed the name to Mathews. 
 The other chief clans of Monasrh.in were the 
 Mac Kknnas, chiefs of Trnai:h ; Ih.. Mac Catses; 
 tho Mac Nknevs, anglieiz.d to ISird; the Mac 
 Aki)ei.ls,>L^c Cassidvs. ODiifeys. O'Corrys, 
 OCosoRAS, Mac Cuskers, or Mac Oscars, 
 chansed to Cosgr.aves, wlio possessed, according 
 to 0'i)ugan. aterrltory called Fe.arra Rois, which 
 comprl.sfd the district about Carrickmacross, in 
 Monazhan, with the parish of Clonkeen, adjoin- 
 ing, in tlie county of Louth; the Boylans, of 
 Dartree; the Mac Gili.a-Miciiils, changed to 
 Mitchell ; the :MacDonnei,i,s; the O'Coxnelys, 
 and others. 
 
 This part of Orgiall was overrun by the forces 
 of Ji.hn de Conrcy, in the reign of king John, 
 but the Mac Mahons maintained their national 
 independence to the relirn of Elizabeth, when 
 Monaghan was formed into a county, so called 
 from its chief town Muincachan, tliat is, the 
 Town of Monks. 
 
 From Cilht-iln-Chrioch were also descended 
 the Mac GriiiES, lords of Fermanaih. and ba- 
 rons of iMiniskillen ; the O'Ft.asaoans of Fer- 
 managh; the OHAM.ONS, chiefs of Ui Melth- 
 Tiri. now the barony of Orior, in Armagh, who 
 held the offleo of hereditary rtgal standard- 
 bearers of TTIster ; tho Mac C ana, or Mao Cann.s, 
 of Clan Bresall, in Armagh ; the O'Kellys, 
 princes of Ul ManI, In tho counties of Galway 
 and Eo.scommon, and tho O'Madaoanb. or 
 
TOPOGRAPH ICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 727 
 
 O'Mnddens, chifrft of Siol Aniiiphadha, or Sil- 
 anchia, now the barouy of Longl'onl, in tlie 
 county of Galway. 
 
 Colia Meann's posterity possessed the territory 
 of Moilhurn, that is, the disiricts about the moun- 
 tains of Mourne. 
 
 That part of Uircliialla, afterwards forinin": the 
 county of Armni.'ii, was possessed, as already 
 stated, partly by the Ollanlons and -Mac Canns, 
 and partly by the O'Neills, O'Larkins, O'Duv- 
 anys, and OGarveys, of the Clanna Rory, wlio 
 possessed the Craohh liiiadh, or territory of the 
 famous Ke<l Bran(ih liniglits of Ulster ; O'Han- 
 rattys, cif L'i-Meitli Macha ; O'Bonegans of Brea- 
 sal Mcalia, and otlicrs. 
 
 The native chiefs held their independence 
 down to the reign of Elizabeth, when Armagh 
 was formed into a county, A.l). 1586, by the 
 lord deputy. Sir John Perrott. 
 
 Fera Motuich, an aucient territory of about 
 the same extent as the present connty of Fer- 
 managh. It formed part of the ancient princi- 
 pality of Oirghialla. 
 
 In the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, 
 the head chief of this territory was O'Dubhdara. 
 The ODuKiiDAKAs were probably of the same 
 race as the Mac Guires, who afterwards became 
 princes of Fermanagh. The latter name in Irish 
 ii Mac Ui'lHr, sometimes written 3Iuguihhir, 
 which is pronounced Mac Ivir, and has been 
 translated Mac Guire aud Maguire. The Mac 
 Guires took this name from L'idhir, one of 
 their ancient chiefs; and they are of the race of 
 Clan Colla, of the same descent as the Mac 
 Mahons, lords of Monaghan ; tlie 0"Hanlons, 
 chiefs of Orior, in Armagh ; the O'Kellys, lords 
 of Ui Mani, in Galway and Roscommon. In 
 O'Dugan's Topography of the twelfth century, 
 Mac Uidhir, or Mac Guire, is given as chief of 
 Feara Mouach, or Fermanagh, and designated 
 in terms which may be thus translated: 
 
 "Mac Guire, the chief of hosts. 
 Rule the mighty men of Manach, 
 At home munificent in presents. 
 The noblest chief in hospitality." 
 
 ■K 
 
 The Maguires were inaugurated as princes 
 of Fermanagh on the summit of Cuilcagh, a 
 magnificent mountain near Swanlinbar, on the 
 borders of Cavan and Fermanagh, and some- 
 times, also, at a place called Sciath Gabhra. now 
 Lisnaskea. They possessed the entire of Fer- 
 managh, which was called Mae Guires countrt/, 
 and maintained their independence as lords of 
 Fermanagh, down to the rcian of James I., 
 when their country was confiscated, like other 
 parts of Ulster. Several chiefs of the Mac 
 Guires are mentioned during the Cromwellian 
 and Williamite wars, and many of them were 
 afterwards distinguished officers in the Irish 
 Brigade, in France, and also in the Austrian 
 service. The Mac Guires prodticed several 
 eminent and learned ecclesiaitios ; .imongst 
 whom m;iy be mentioned Cafhal, or Charles 
 Mac Guire. archdeacon of Clogher, in the fif- 
 teenth century, tlie author of the celebrated 
 Annals of Ulster. The Mac Guires are still 
 numerous, particularly in the counties of Fer- 
 managh and Cavan. 
 
 The following chiefs and clans of Fermanash, 
 and the territories they possessed in the twelfth 
 century, have been collected from O'Dugan's 
 Topography : 
 
 1 O ']\lAOLDri>', or O'Muldoon, chief of Muin- 
 ter MaelduÍH and Fera Luirg. This territory is 
 now known as the barony of Lurg. 
 
 2 MuisTiE Taithlioh, or Mac Tnllys, chiefs 
 
 of Ui Laoghaire, or Lough Lir, a district which 
 lay in the barony of Lurg, near Lough Erue, 
 towards Tyrone. 
 
 8. MAcDuiLGEy. 
 
 4. O'Flannagain, or O'FIanagan, chief of 
 Tu.'vth Ratha, a territory wliich e.\tended from 
 Belmore to Belleek. and from Lough Melvin to 
 Lough Erne, comprising the present barony of 
 Maheraboy. It contained the ancient districts 
 of larth.ar Maighe and .Magli Xiadh, and its name 
 is still retained by the muuntaiii Tiir.a. 
 
 5. Mac Gilla-Fineix, or .Mac < iillfinnen, chief 
 ofMuiutir Peodacliain of the Port. This terri- 
 tory, on the borders of Fermanagh and Donegal, 
 is still traceable in the name of Pettigoe ; and 
 he was styled lord of Lough Krne. 
 
 6. MacGilla-Michil, chief of Clan CongaiL 
 Clan Cougail and O'Ceanfoda, lay in Tir Manach. 
 Tirkenncdy barony is probably Tir O'Cean- 
 f hoda. The nanie Mac Gilla-Michil, has been 
 anglicized to Mitchell. 
 
 7. O'Maolkuana, or O'Mulrooney, and O'- 
 Eignigh, or O'Heignigh, probably O'lleaney, 
 who were chiefs of Muintir Maolruanaidh, and 
 of Maoith Leirg Mouach. 
 
 S. Mac Do.miinaill, or MacDonnell, chief of 
 Clann Ceallaigh, now the barony of Clankelly. 
 
 9. The Mao Manvsks, formerly a numerous 
 clan, chiefly in Tirkenncdy. who had the con- 
 trol of the shipping on Lough Erne, and held the 
 office of hereditary chief managers of the fisher- 
 ies, under Mac Guire. 
 
 10. The Mao C vssidts, who were hereditary 
 physicians to the M.ac Guires, and many of the 
 name also learned ecclesiastics and historians, 
 amongst whom may be mentioned Roderick Mac 
 Cassidy, archdeacon of Clogher, who partly com- 
 piled the Annals of Ulster. 
 
 11. The O'Criochans, or O'Creehans, a nume- 
 rous clan in Ferinanash, many of whom have 
 changed the name to Creighton. 
 
 l'2."The ?lAGKATns, who held some posses- 
 sions at Termon Magrath, where they had a 
 castle in the parish of Templecarne. 
 
 DALAKADIA AND ULIDIA. 
 
 The name Uladh was applied to the whole 
 province of Ulster, but in after times was 
 confined to a large territory comprising the 
 present county of Down anil part of Antrim, 
 and was latinised UHdia. This territory also 
 obtained the name of Dal Araidhe. The word 
 Dal signifies a part or portion, and also de- 
 scendants, or a tribe, and hence Dal-Araidhe 
 signifies the descendants or tribe of Araidhe, 
 as being descended from Fiacaidh Araidhe, 
 king of Ulster in the third century, of the 
 race of Ir. or Clan Rory, called Rtidericians, 
 whose posterity possessed this territory, whose 
 name was latinised Dalaradia. It comprised 
 the present county of Down, with a great part 
 of Antrim, extending from Newry, Carlingford 
 Bay, and the Mourn mountains, to Slieve Mis 
 mountain, in the barony of Antrim ; thus con- 
 taining, in the south and south east parts of An- 
 trim, the districts along the shores of Lough 
 Neagh and Belfast Lougli, Carrickfergus, and 
 the peninsula of Island M.igee, to Larne. and 
 thence In a line westward to the river Bann. 
 The remaining portion of the county Antrim 
 obtained the name of Dal Riada. It has been 
 erroneously stated by some writers th.at the 
 boundary between Dal-.Vraidhe and Dalriada 
 was the river Euai.->, or Bush, in the barony of 
 Dunluce. county of Antrim. 
 
 The chief» and clans of Dalaradia or Ulidia, 
 and the territories which they possessed in the 
 
728 
 
 TOPOGEAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 twelfth century, as collected from O'Dusran's 
 Topography, are as follows : The Craohli Ituadh, 
 or the portion of the Uedbraiich Kniyhts of 
 Ulster, a large territory, which comprised the 
 central parts of the present county of Down, 
 with some adjoining parts of Armagh, is given 
 by O Dugan a? the head territory of Uladh. 
 The principal chiefs of the Craobh liuadh were : 
 
 1. O L»trxNSi.Kni, culUd by the Annalists Mac 
 Dunns!ehi. as king of Uladh, which name has 
 been anglii-iied O Dunlevy or Mac Dunlevy. 
 
 2. OTicociiADiiA. anglicised to O'lleoghy, or 
 Hoey, a branch of the Mac Dunslevy. 
 
 8. OHiiDiTn. 
 
 4. O'EoCllAGAIN". 
 
 5. O'Lauukadua. 
 
 6. OLr-TULOBHRA. 
 
 7. OXciNusiGH, or Lvnch. 
 
 8. O'MOBAN. 
 
 9. O'MATUGHAMnNA. 
 
 10. Gaieííuitu, or 0"Garvey. 
 
 11. O'AiNiiiTH, or O'Hanvey", were chiefs of 
 Ui Eachach Coba, now the barony of Iveagh. 
 
 12. Mao Aengusa, or Magennis, chief of 
 Clan Aodha, or Clan Hugh, the tribe name of 
 the family. The Magennises Iiad the baronii-s of 
 Iveagh and Lecale, and part of Mourne, and 
 were lords of Iveagh, Newry, and Mourne. 
 They were descended from the famous warrior 
 Conal] Kearaach,and were the liead of the Clanna 
 Kory of Ulster. 
 
 13. Mac Artai.v, or Mac Cartan.chief of Kim 1 
 Fagartaigh, now the baronies of ICinelarty and 
 Dutferin. 
 
 14. O'DriBHEXAiGH, or ODnvany, chief of 
 Kinel Amalgaidh, or Amhargaidh UiMorna, or 
 Ui Mughroin, now Clanawley, in the county of 
 Down. 
 
 15. Mac Duilechain, or O'Duibhleachain, 
 chief of Clan Bresail Mac Dnileathain, near 
 Kinelarty, in the barony of Castlereagh. 
 
 K). O'CoLTARiAN, or Coultcr, chief Dal Coirb, 
 in the barony of Castlereagh. 
 
 17. O f'l.oiKN, or O'Flynn, and O'Domhnal- 
 lain, or O'Donnollan, chii fs of Ui Tuirtre. The 
 territory of Ui Tuirtre lay along the northern 
 shores of Lough Neatrh and the river Bann, and 
 extendedto Siieve Mis, comprising the baronies 
 of Toome and Antrim, in the county of Antrim, 
 and wa« afterwards known a-s northern Clanaboy. 
 
 18. OTIeirc, or Ere. chief of Ui Fiachrach 
 Finn, in the barony of Massarcene. 
 
 19. O'Criodain, or O Credan. chief of Machaire 
 Meadhaidh, now the parish of Magheramisk, in 
 the barony of Massareene. 
 
 20. O'IIaedha, or Ollngh, cliief of Fearn 
 mhoighe. or Fernmoy, in the county of Down, 
 on the borders of Antrim, and in the barony of 
 Lower Iveagh. 
 
 21. O'CAEMHArx, or O'Keevan, chief of Magh 
 Linl, now Moy Linny, a district in the barony of 
 Antrim. 
 
 22. O'Machoiden, chief of Mughdorn, or 
 Monme. 
 
 2.3. OXAcnuAiN, or O'Loiighnin, chief of Mod- 
 ham Beag, or Little Mourne. 
 
 24. The .Mac Gees of Is'andmasce. 
 
 25. The Mac Gii,i,m<iki:«, a warlike clan, who 
 possessed the districts of the great Ardg. 
 
 20. The Mac Uorys, or Kogers, chiefs of Klll- 
 warlin. 
 
 27. The O'KEi.i.vsof Clanbrasll Mac Coo'echan 
 in the county of Down. 
 
 2S. The Mac Wards. 
 
 29. The Mac GoiinAor^. or Mac Gowans, also 
 given by some writers as O'Gabhans or O Gow- 
 ans, a name which has been anglicised to Smith. 
 These were a powerful clan of the race of Ir, or 
 
 the Clanna Eory, and were descended from the 
 famous warrior Conall Kearnach. They were 
 mostly «pellcd by the English into Donegal, 
 from whence great numbers of them emigrated 
 to the county of Leitrim, and they are still very 
 numerous in Kos.-iiiver. as well as in the county 
 of ("avan. Dal Buinnc was a district in Dalaradia 
 not given by O'Dugan, but occurring in the 
 Annals, and derived its name, aceoiding to 
 O'Elaherty. from Buinni, son of Fergus Mac Hoy. 
 It was situated on the borders of Down and An- 
 trim, and contained the parish of Drumboc, in 
 Down, with those of Lisburn, Magheragall, 
 Magheramask, Glonavy, Aghalee, and Aghagal- 
 len, in Antrim. 
 
 In the fourteenth century, Aedh Buidhe O'- 
 Neill, prince of Tyrone, with his forces, crossed 
 the IJann. and took possession of the northern 
 part of Dalaradia, which, from its being pos- 
 sessed by bis posterity, who were called ( 'lunn 
 Aodha Buidhe. was anglicised to (Vtinehoy or 
 Clttnrhhoy. It e.xtended from Carrickfergus 
 Ba3'. and the river Lagan, westward to Lough 
 Ne.agh. and contained, according to Dubourdieu 
 and other authorities, the baronies of Belfast, 
 Mas.-^areene. Antrim, and Upper Toome, in the 
 ct'linty of Antrim. This territory was called 
 North Claneboy, to distinguish it from South 
 Claneboy, which was in the county of Down. A 
 part of North Claneboy also obtained the name 
 of Brian Carragh's country from having been 
 aken from the O'Neills by" a chief of the Mac 
 Donalds, who was called Brian Carragh. 
 
 South Chtitchoy, a territory which derived its 
 name from the same liiigli Buidh O'Neill, com- 
 piiPe<i the baronies of Ards, Castlerea, Kinelarty, 
 and Lecale, and extended, according to Mac- 
 Geoghegan, from the Bay of Dundrum to the 
 Bay of Carrickfergus, or Belfast Lough. 
 
 In A. I). 1177, John de Courcy, with his 
 forces, overran a trreat part of Orgiaíl and Ulidia, 
 or Dalaradia, and for a period of twenty years 
 carried on an incessant warfare with the native 
 chiefs, lie fi.xed bis head quarters at Down- 
 patrick. After De Courcy had been driven out 
 of Ireland by his great rivals, the de Lacys. lords 
 of Meath. the latter obtained possession of Ulidia, 
 and were created earls of Ulster. The De Bur 
 gos next became earls of Ulster, and possessors 
 of Ulidia, which title and possessions afterwards 
 passed to the Mortimers, earls of March, in Eng- 
 land. The chief Anglo-Norman and English 
 settlers in Ulidia, under De Courcy and his suc- 
 ces^ors, were the Andleys, Bissetts, Copelands, 
 Fllz«imons, Chamberlains. Bagnalls, Martells, 
 Jordans, Mandevilles, Riddles, Russells, Smiths, 
 Statmtons, Logans, Savadges, 'Walshes, and 
 Whites. The Fitzgeralds, earls of Kildare, ob- 
 tained Lecale in the reign of Queen Mary, The 
 Blackwoods, barons of Luiferin. 
 
 DAL EIADA. 
 
 This ancient territory comprised all the re- 
 maining portion of the county of Antrim, not 
 comprised in Dalaradia, with a small iiartof the 
 present county of Derry. Dal Ariadia was 
 named from Carbri Riada, son of Conari, mon- 
 arch of Ireland in the third century. Some 
 Irish chiefs from Ulster, descendants' of Carbri 
 RIada, founded a colony In Alba, afterwards 
 called Scotland, and after having conquered llie 
 Plcts of that country, became the founders of a 
 kini/dom a'so called Dal RIada, From the chleft 
 of the Dalrladians were descended the ancient 
 Scottish kings, and also the house of Stuart. 
 
 Dal RIada was divided into two large districts: 
 1st The Olynns, so called from its consisting o! 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 729 
 
 several lareo glens, extended from Oldcrfleet or 
 Larnc, to tin" viciniry nf Uallycustle. alon'^' the 
 sea shore, un.l contained the barony of Glcnarni, 
 and part of Carey 2d. Tlio Routes, called He- 
 uta, or Kuta, wliich couii)reliended the baronies 
 of IJunluce and Kilconway. 
 
 The chief elans in Dalriada were the O'Kanos, 
 above mentioned. 
 
 1. The Mao Uiduilik, or Mac Quillans, who 
 held the territory of the Koutes, and had their 
 chief seat at Dunluco. 
 
 2. The .Mac Donalds, having inv.aded the ter- 
 ritories of Antrim and Derry, where they after- 
 wards made settlements. In the reign of Eliza- 
 beth. Somharli Buidhe Mae Donald, called by 
 English writers Sorley Boy, a chief from the He- 
 brides, (descended from the ancient Irish of the 
 race of Clan Colla, as given in the note on 
 Origiall,) came with his forces and took posses- 
 
 sion of thcGlynns. After many long and fierce 
 battles with the Mac tiuill.ins, the Mac Donalds 
 made themselves masters of the country, and dis- 
 possessed the Mac (iuillans. Dubourdieu, in hs 
 Survey of Antrim, says: "A lineal descendant 
 of the chief Mac Quillan lives on the road be- 
 tween Belfast and Carrickforgus, near the silver 
 stream, and probably enjoys more happiness ad 
 a respectable farmer, than his ancestor did as a 
 prince in those turbulent times.'' The Mac 
 Donalds were created earls of Antrim, a dignity 
 which thev still enjoy. 
 
 a The O'IIabas, a br.anch of the great family 
 of Ollara in S'igo, have a'so been bmg settled in 
 Antrim. Several families of the O Neills h.ivo 
 been also in Antrim from an early period. The 
 other clans in this territory were the 0"Si.idhaii8, 
 or O'Shiels, the O Quinns, O'Furries, Mac Alis- 
 ters, Mac Gees, &c. 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF CONNACHT. 
 
 The name in Irish is Conacht, pronounced Conaght, and latinised Canada ; the people were 
 called Conaehtaigh, in Latin Coiiarii, and Conachteiif!e-% Conacians This ancient kingdom 
 comprised the present counties of Gahvay, Mayo, Sligo, Itoscommon, Leiirim, and C'avan. with 
 the northern part of Longford, bordering on Leitrim and Cavan; in ancient times, at different 
 periods, the territory of Clare in Thomond, formed part of Connaught, but was ultimately added 
 to Mimster, and the county of Cavau was added in the reign of Elizabeth. 
 
 Xn FIACHEA. 
 
 Ui Fiachra or Ui Fiachraoh, was a name 
 applied to the territories possessed by the race 
 of Fiachra, one of the sons of Eocaidli Muigh- 
 niedon, of the race of Erimhon. Fiachra was for 
 some time Kiiig of Connaught. He was a cele- 
 brated warrior, and commander-in chief of the 
 Irish forces under his brother Niall of the Nine 
 Hostages. According to the Book of B.illymote, 
 folio 14Ó, on his return home victorious from a 
 great battle which he had fought with the men 
 of Munster, A. D. 402. he died of his wounds at 
 a place called Mac-Uais in Meath, where he 
 ■was buried .with great honors, and where a 
 monument was erected to his memory with an 
 inscription in Ogham characters, on which oc- 
 casion fifty prisoners taken in the battle, were, 
 according to the Pagan customs, sacrificed 
 around his tomb. The place called Ui Mao 
 Uais, is now the baronj- of Moygoish in West- 
 meath. Dathi, son of Fiachra, was king of 
 Connaught, and monarch of Ireland ; he was 
 one of the most celebrated of the Irish 
 monarehs, and carried his victorious arms to 
 Gaul, where he was killed by lightning at the 
 foot of the Alps, A. D. 429. His body was 
 brought to Ireland, and buried in Rolis-na- 
 Uigh, the ancient cemetery of the Irish kings, 
 at Cruachan, near Elphin. Dathi was the last 
 Pagan monarch of Irel.and. Olild Molt, son of 
 Dathi. was also king of Connaught and mon- 
 arch of Ireland, in the fifth century. Amal- 
 gaidh. another son of Fiachra, was also king of 
 Connaught, and from him the territory of Tir 
 Amalgaidh. or Tirawley, in Mayo, obtained its 
 name. Dathi the monarch, had a son called 
 Fiachra Elgaeh. whose posterity gave name to 
 the territory of Ui Fiaehrach Muaidhe or Ily 
 Fiachra of the Moy, also called Tir Fiachracli, 
 and afterwards Tireragh barony, in the coun- 
 ty of Sliuo. This Fiachra had a son called 
 Ama'gaidh. who raised a earn of gre.at stones, 
 called Carn Amalgaidh, where great assem- 
 
 blies of the people were held, and where Am- 
 algaidh himself was buried. It is supposed 
 thas this carn was on the hill of Mull.ighcarn, 
 near the town of Killala At Carn Amal- 
 gaidh the chiefs of the O'Dowds were inau- 
 gurated as princes of Ui Fiachra, though ac- 
 cording to some accounts the O'Dowds were 
 sometimes Inaugurated on the hill of Ardnarea 
 near Ballina. Brian, king of Connaught, ances- 
 tor of the Ui Briuin race, and Niall of the Nine 
 Hostages, ancestor of Ui Neill, were brothers 
 of Fiachra, son of Eocaidh Muigh-medon; and 
 hence these three brothers were progenitors 
 of the kings and head chiefs of Meath, Ulster 
 an.i Connaught. The territories possessed by the 
 race of Fiachra were counties of Sligo and Mayo, 
 with a great portion of Galway. The territory 
 of Ui Fiachra in Gahvay, or southern Ui Fiaeh- 
 rach, was called Ui Fiaehrach Aidhni, from 
 Eogan Aidhni, son of Kocaidh Brec, son of 
 Dathi, monarch of Ireland The posterity of 
 Eogan Aidhni. the chief of whom were the 
 O'Heynes, O'Clerys, and O'Shaughnessys, pos- 
 sessed this territory, which was co-extensive 
 with the Diocese of Kilmacdu.ogh ; and an 
 account of its chiefs and claus will be found 
 in the note on South Connaught. The chiefs 
 of North Ui Fiaehrach in Sligo and Mayo were 
 the O'Dowds, &c. According to O'Dugan and 
 Jiiac Firbis, fourteen of the race of Ui Fiachra 
 were kings of Connaught, some of whom had 
 their residence in Aidhni, in Galway; others 
 at Cera, now the barony of Carra, in Mayo; 
 and some on the plain of Muaidhe, or the Moy 
 in Sligo. 
 
 The Clans of Ui Fiachra are thus designated 
 by O'Dugan: — 
 
 " Einn sluagh nam-borb cliatliach.'" 
 " The music-loving hosts of fierce engage- 
 ments." 
 
 O'DunnDA, a name sometimes anglicised 
 O'Dowda, Dut mrrc frequently 0'Do«-d, and 
 
30 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 by some O'Dowde, by others O'Dooda and 0"- 
 Doody, was the h?ad chief of Xortli Ui Fiach- 
 rach. Their territoTy comprised nearly the whole 
 of the present county ofSligo, witli the greater 
 part of Mayo. The uame i>ithh(hi, is derived 
 from I>iih/i,\\aT\i or black. The O'Dowds are 
 descended from Fiachra Klgach, son of Dathi, 
 and took their name from Dubdlia, one of 
 their ancient chiefs. Tlie ODowds liad largo pos- 
 se.=sions in the county of Sligo until the Crom- 
 wellian wars, when their estates were confis- 
 cated. Tliey were inaugurated as princes of 
 Ui Fiachrach or North Connaught at Cam 
 Amalgaidh, near Killala. Tla-y appear from 
 history to have been a valiant race ; and many 
 of tiicin. even down to modern times, were 
 remarkable for their strength and stature ; 
 indeed, it may be observed that most of the 
 clans of Sligoand Mayo furnished many men 
 of great size and strength. 
 
 The following chiefs and clans of Ui Fiach- 
 rach and of the territories they possessed in 
 the twelfth century in the present counties 
 of Sligo and ilayo, have been collected from 
 O'Dugan and other authorities : 
 
 1. MAOLoi.ricuE, or O'Mulclohy, chief of 
 Cairbre. now the barony of Carbur}-, county of 
 Sligo. Carbury derived its name from Carbri. 
 son of Niall of the Hostages. This name has been 
 anglicised to Stone, and there are still many of 
 the family in Carbury. 
 
 2 M.\c DiARMADA, or Mac Dermott, chief of 
 Tir Oiliolla, now the barony of Tirerill, in Sligo, 
 ■wldch derived its name from Oilioll, one of the 
 eons of Eocaidh Muigh-medon, monarch of Ire- 
 land. The Mac Bermotts were also princes of 
 Moylurg, a large territory in the county of Ros- 
 common. They afterwards became chiefs of 
 CooJavin, as successors to the O'Garas, lords of 
 Coolavin. 
 
 8. Mac DoxcnAron, that is, Mac Donogh, a 
 brancli of the Mac Dermotts, afterwards cliiefs 
 of Tirerill and of Goran, now the barony of 
 Coran in Sligo. 
 
 4. O'DoxciiATHAiGir, is given as a chief by 
 O'Dugan in Coran, and is also mentioned in the 
 
 iiocm of Giolla losa More >rae Firbis, in which 
 le is styled 0"Dunchada, of the "learned men," 
 and it is stated that liis territory e.ttended as far 
 far as the beauteous stream of the salmons, by 
 which was meant the river of 15ally.--adare. Tliis 
 name has been anglici-sed ODonagh or O"- 
 Donaghv. 
 
 5. O'DoBRAiE»!, or O'Devlin, is given as 
 another cliicf in Corran. 
 
 C. O'llEAunRA, or O'llara, chief of Luighni, 
 now the barony of Lieney, in the county of 
 Sligo ; t)ut Lieney anciently comprised part 
 of tlio baronies of Costelío and Gallen in 
 Mayo. The O'llaras were dcseendeil from 
 Corinac Galens, son of Tiege, son of Kian, son 
 of Olild Olurri, king of Munster in the third 
 century, of tlie rac« of Eber, and therelbre of 
 the same stock as the Eberians of Munster. 
 The O'llaras took their name from Eairlira, lord 
 of IJeney in the tenth century. From the 
 twelfth to the seventeenth century they held 
 their rank as lords of Lieney, and had large pos- 
 sessions to the period of the Cromwillian wars. 
 The O'llaras are thus designated by O'Dugan : 
 
 " The lords of Lieney, of high fame: 
 The men of Lieney, of warlike swords." 
 
 0. OGabiira, or OOara, given by O'Dugan 
 as a chief of Lieney, but in after times lord' of 
 Cull O bh-FInn, now the baronv of Coolavin 
 In the county of Sligo, and sometimes styled 
 
 lord of Moy O'Gara, of Coolavin, and also 
 Sliabh Lugta, wldch latter district extended 
 into a part of the barony of Costello in Mayo. 
 The O'Garas derived their descent from Tiege, 
 son of Kian, son of Olild Olum, being ex- 
 actly of the same stock as the O'llaras. They 
 took their name from Gadhra, one of thiur 
 ancient chiefs. They retained consid.nible 
 rank and po.sses.^ions in the county ol r;ligo 
 down to the seventeenth century; and one of 
 them, Fcrgal O'Gara, lord of Moy O'Gara, and 
 Coolavin, is justly celebrated as a great jiatron 
 of learned men, particularly of the OCIerys 
 and other authors oiik'Jic Annals of the Four 
 Masters. 
 
 S. O'Ciarsaciiain and O'Huathrahara'n, given 
 by O'Dugan as chiefs in the territory of Lieney. 
 
 9. 0'Muii;ei>i!aii;ii, or O'Murray, chief of 
 Ceara, now the barony of Carra, in lllayo. The 
 O'Murrays were a race of Ui Fiachrach, and 
 were also chiefs of the Lagan, a district in the 
 northern part of the barony of Tyrawley in 
 Mayo. 
 
 10. O'TionERNAiGU, or O'Tierney, a chief in 
 Carra. 
 
 11. O'GoiiMOO is al.'o given as a chief in Carra. 
 
 12. 0'MAiLi.E,or O'Malley, chief of Umhal, 
 which O'Dugan states Wiis divided into two 
 territories. The n.ame has been rendered some- 
 times into Umalia and I'i Malia. This territory 
 comprised the present baronies of Murri-k and 
 Burrishoole in the cmuity of Mayo. The O'Mal- 
 leys are of the ITi Briuin race, descended from 
 Brian, king of Connaught in the fifth century, 
 who was also the progenitor of the O'Connors, 
 kings of Connaught, of the O'Kourkes, O'lieil- 
 leys, Mac Dermotts and other chiefs, as ex- 
 plained in the note on Brcfney. They are thus 
 designated by O'Dugan: 
 
 " A good man yet there never was, 
 Of the O'Malleys, who was not a mariner. 
 Of every weather they are prophets, 
 A tribe of brotherly affection and of friend- 
 ship." 
 
 12. O'Talchaeain, chief of Conmaicno Guile, 
 now the barony of Kilmain, county of Mayo. 
 
 13. O'CAnii.MAi)», chief of lorrus, now the 
 barony of Erris, in Mayo ; the name was an- 
 glicised to O'Caheny : but few of the family 
 exist at the present day. 
 
 14. 0'Ckau.achain, or O'Callaghan. The O'- 
 Callaghans were chiefs in Erris butof a different 
 race from the O'Callaghans of Munster. 
 
 15. O'Caomiiain, a name anglicised to 0'- 
 Keevan and O'Oavanagh, a senior branch of 
 the O'Dowd family, and chiefs of some districts 
 on the borders of Sliiro and Mayo, in the ba- 
 roniis of Tireragh, Corran, and Costello. 
 
 I'i. O'GAiiiHTiiiíAniAiN, or O'Gavagan, and 
 O'.MaoiiriiioiiaorO'.MulKn'Mey, duels of Calrai- 
 ghc of .Moy Iliit (ig, a district in whicli was com- 
 prsed the preso:.t parish of Crossmolina, in the 
 barony of Tyrawley, in Mayo. 
 
 17. O'GoÍRMiALLAion, or O'Gormley, and 
 O Dorchaidhe, a name anglicised to Dorchy, 
 and by others to Darcy. These were chiefs 
 of P.irtraiglie or I'artry, an ancient terriiory in 
 the I'artry mountains in Mayo The present 
 parish of Ballyovcy, also called the parish 
 of I'artry, shows the situation of this an- 
 cient territory. The O'Dorciys were o dis- 
 tinguished clan, but many families of them in 
 Mayo and Gahvay, having anglicised the name 
 to Darcey or D'Arcy, have been erroneously 
 supposed to be some of the D Arcys of Mcath, 
 of English descent. 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 731 
 
 18. O'Lachtnaiií, or O Louithnan, by some 
 anglicised to Loftus. The () Loii!,'linaiis were 
 cliielsi'f a territory called the Two Baes, now 
 the pari.sli of Baes, situated between Lough Con 
 and the rivi r Moy in Mayo. 
 
 19. O'.Maolfoiiii.mauí and O'Maolbrennuin, 
 chiefs of l"i Eachaoh Muaidlie, a district extend- 
 ing along the western banks of the Moy, be- 
 tween ]$,Hllinoand Killala This name, O Maol- 
 brcun.iin, lias been anglicised to Mulrcnnin, and 
 the name O Maolfoghmair has been by some 
 rendered into Milford. 
 
 2). The O .Morgans, or O'Mangans, chiefs of 
 Breach Magh, a district in the parish of Kil- 
 more Moy, in Sligo. 
 
 21. O < 'oxNiALLAiN, Or O'Conncllan, chief of 
 Bim-ui-Conniallan, now Bunnyconnellan, a dis- 
 trtot in the barony of Gallon, county of Mayo, 
 and also of Cloonconnellan, in the barony of 
 Kilmain This clan an a branch of the south- 
 ern Ui Xeill, descended from Laegari, monarch 
 of Ireland in the fifth century, and are of the 
 same family as the O'Coimlcalbhains or O'Ken- 
 de'lans, princes of Ui Laeghaire in Meath, but 
 long settled in the counties of Mayo, Sligo, 
 and Eoscommon. 
 
 22. O'Ceip.ix, or O'Kecrin, chief of Ciarraighe 
 Loch-na-naireadh, an ancient territory in the 
 barony of Costello, county of Mayo, comprising 
 the parishes of Aghamore, Bekan and Knock. 
 
 There are various other elans, many of them 
 still numerous, in the counties of ilayo and 
 Sligo, as the O'Bannans, O'Brogans, Mac Com- 
 bains, O Beans or Whites, OBeolans, 0"Beirnes, 
 O'Flattellcys, O'Creans, O'Careys, O'Conaoh- 
 tains or 0"Conaghtys of Cabrach, in Tire- 
 ragh, OTlannelleys, O'Coolaghans, O'Burns, 
 0" Hughes, O'Huada or O'Fuada, and O'Tapa, 
 — a name anglicised to Swift,— O'Loingsys or 
 O'Lynches, U'Maolmoicheirghe, anglicised to 
 Eariey, 0"MuIrooneys or Kooneys, O'Morans, 
 O'Muldoons, O'Meehans, O'Catt'reys, O'Finne- 
 gans, 0"Morriseys, Mac Gcraghtys, O'Spillans. 
 
 The ODonnells and Mac Swocneys from 
 Donegal, who settled in many parts of Sligo 
 and Mayo, particularly when the O'Donnells, 
 princes "of Tirconnell, e.xtended their power 
 into Sligo. Many families of the O'Donnells 
 and Mac Sweeneys were settled in Sligo and 
 Mayo. 
 
 The O'CoNOES Sligo. A branch of the 
 O'Conors of Eoscommon, descendants of the 
 kings of Connaught, settled in Sligo, and be- 
 canie very powerful in the sixteenth century 
 The head of the family was designated the 
 O'Conor Sligo, and appears to have extended 
 his power "over the greater part of that 
 country. 
 
 The "Mac Fiebises, called Clan FiriUiffh, 
 were a branch descended from the same stock 
 as the 0"Dowds, princes of Ui Fiachra. Their 
 original territory was Magli Brion in Tyraw- 
 ley; they afterwards settled in Rosscrk, be- 
 tween Balina and Killala, and lastly at Letican, 
 in the parish of Kilglass, barony of Tircragh, 
 east of the river Moy, where they had estates 
 and a castle, the ruins of which still remain. 
 The Mac Firbises held the office of Ollnmhn, 
 that is, of historiographers and poets, of Ui 
 Fiachra, and at one time of all Connaught. 
 
 Ui BnitnN Brefsi. 
 
 This ancient tcrritoiTV comprises the present 
 countif? of Cavan and Leitrim, and was part of 
 the Kingdom of Connaught down to the reign of 
 Elizabeth, when it was aiidcd to the province of 
 Ulster, and formed into the two counties just 
 
 mentioned. The name of Ui Driutil Breifni, or 
 Ui Briune Brefney, from its being possessed by 
 the race of Li Bruiiu. The Ui Briuin race de- 
 rived their name f.-wm bring the descendants of 
 Brian, king of C"iinauglit, in the fourth cen- 
 tury, son of Eoi-haidh Muigh-medon. Brian, 
 above-mentioned, had twenty-lour sons, whose 
 posterity possessed the greater part of Con 
 naught, and were called the Ui Briuin race. 
 Of this race were the O'Conors, kings of Con- 
 naught; the O'liourkes; i Jiteillys ; Mac Der- 
 motts; Mac Donoghs ; OFIahcrlys; O'Malleys; 
 Mac Oiraghtys; U'Fallons; OFlynns ; O Ma- 
 lones; Mac Gaurans; Mac Tiirnans, or Mac 
 Kcrnans ; Mac Bradys, and some i ther clans. 
 From Fiachra, brother of Brian, king of Con- 
 naught, were descended the race of Vi Fiachra, 
 of whom were the O'Dowds, O'lleyncs, 
 O'Saughnesseys, and other clans in Connaught. 
 From Xiall of the Nine Ilost.nges, another of 
 Brian's brothers, were descended, as mentioned 
 in the notes on Meath, Tir Eogain and 'lir Con- 
 aill ; the O'Melaghlins, kings of Meath ; the 
 O'Neills, kings of Ulster, and princes of Tyrone ; 
 the O'Donnells, princes of Tirconnell, and 
 some other chiefs of Ulster: thus these three 
 great branches, descended from Eoeaidh Muigh- 
 medon, were the chief rulers of the kingdoms 
 of Meath, Ulster, and Connaught. 
 
 The O'EoiTKKES and O'Keielbs derived their 
 descent from Aedh Fiiui, or Hugh the Fair, 
 king of Connaught, who died in the beginning 
 of "the seventh century, A. D. 611, and was 
 buried at Fenagh. This Aedh Finn was a des- 
 cendant of Brian, king of Connaught; and from 
 him the O'Eourkes and O'Eiellys were called 
 Clann Aedha Finn, that is, the posterity of 
 Hugh the Fair. The liiiarcachu, O'Euaircs, 
 O'Euarcs, or O'Eourkes, took their name from 
 one of their ancient chiefs, Euarc, who was 
 prince of Brefney in the tenth century. Many 
 celebrated chiefs of the O'Eourkes often con- 
 tended with the O'Conors for the sovereignty 
 of Connaught ; and in the tenth century, one 
 of them, namel)', Fergal O'Eourke, became 
 king of Connaught, and reigned from A. D. 960, 
 to Á.D. 964. when he was killed in a battle with 
 the men of Meath. The O Eourkes had the 
 title of kings of Brefni and Conmacni, and in 
 latter times that of princes of West Brefney, 
 that is, of the county of Leitrim, the Eeillys 
 becoming princes of East Brefney, or the 
 county of Cavan. Ancient Brefney was, in the 
 10th century, divided into two principalities, 
 the O'Eourkes, as princes of West Brefney, being 
 the principal chiefs, and the O'Eeillys, as prin- 
 ces of East Brefney, possessing the territory of 
 the present county of Cavan. O'Eourke's coun- 
 try was called Brefney (>''Jiour/re, and O'Eeilly 's 
 country Íj/v/hí?/ O^Itdlly. 0'E<iurke's ancient 
 principality comprised the present county of 
 Leitrim, with the present barony of Tullaghagh, 
 and part of Tullaghonoho, in the countyof Cavan, 
 the river at Ballyconnoll being the boundary 
 between Brefney O'Eourke and Brefney 
 O'Eielly. Brefney O'Eourke was separated 
 from Fermanagh or Mac Guire's country, by 
 Lough Melvin, Lough Mac Nean, and Cuilcagh 
 mountain. It appears also that a small portion 
 of the barony of Carbery, in the county of 
 Sligo, belonged to Brefney O'Eourke. Con- 
 nuacni, also called Conmacni of Moy Eein, of 
 which the O'Eourkes were also lords, was an 
 ancient territory which derived its name from 
 Conmac, one of the sons of Meva, the celebrated 
 queen of Connaught, at the beginning of the 
 Christian era; it comprised the southern part of 
 Leitrim, namely the baronies of Carrigallen, 
 
732 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 Leitrini, find Moliiil, -with a portion of the 
 northc-rn p;ii-t of Anally, or county of Longft.rd, 
 extending nearly to Granard. It is recorded 
 that the lioufkf-s were inaugurated as prin- 
 ces of Brefnty at a place called Cruauhan 
 O Cuprain, supposed to be Ooaglian, near 
 Killohandra, iis it is stated that the O'lieillys 
 and the people of Tullyhuiico met O Kourke s 
 party at BallvoonneH, to oppose the inaugura- 
 tii)n. The O Kourkes had tlieir chief c:tst!e5 at 
 Dromah^iire, Lcitrim, Cloucoriek or Carrick- 
 allen, and Castle Car. neiir Manorliainiltou. 
 They maintained their independence, as princes 
 of West Brefney, down to the reign of James I., 
 and had considerable possessions even until the 
 Croinwellian wars, when their estates were con- 
 fiscated. 
 
 The 0"Ri:iLLTS, as above stated, were descend- 
 ed from the same ancestor as the O'Eourkes, 
 namely Aedk Finn, or Hugh the Fair, king of 
 Conna'ught, in the beginning of Ihe seventh 
 century- They took the name R.-iighilligh 
 or 0'llagh.allaigh. pronounced O'Koiliigli, and 
 rendered into O Reilly, from Kaghallach, 
 one of their celebrated chiefs, in the tenth 
 century. The O Iiei:lys also took the tribe 
 name of Muiuter Maolmordha, or the people of 
 Maelmordlia, from Maelmorda, another of 
 their celebrated chiefs. This name Maelmor- 
 da, or Mnlmora, latiuised Milesius and an- 
 glicised Miles was a favorite name with the 
 O Reillys, and was borne by many of their 
 chiefs. 
 
 Tlie princip.ality of Brefney O Reilly com- 
 prised originally the greater pa"rt of the pres<int 
 county of Cavan, the boundary between it and 
 Brefney O Rourke being, as already stated, the 
 river .at B:illyconnell, and being separated from 
 FermanaL'h, or Mac Quires country, by the 
 Ballyconnell mountains. It appears also that 
 once the O Reillys e.vtended their territory and 
 authority into the borders of the English Pale, 
 a.s far .tsKilm.ainham wood, to the Black Watei 
 near Kclls, and to Crossakeele and Oldc.astle in 
 Meath, from thence a.s far as Granard in Long 
 ford, and to parts of Westmeath. In the year 
 1.3Sii and U15, it is stated that Thomas, son of 
 Mah.)n O Reilly. lord of Clan Mahon, and prime 
 of Brefney destroyed eighteen castles of the 
 Knglish in the Pale, and overran the country 
 from Drogheda to Dublin. This Thomas 
 O'Reilly erected a caetle at Balling Lough, in 
 Westmeath. The O Reillys, exercising an inde- 
 pendent sovereignty, as princes of Brefney, 
 coined their own inonev ; as appears by a 
 Parliament held at Tritn, A. D. 1447, in the 
 reign of Henry VI., by Sir John Talbot, carl of 
 Phrew.-ibury, "lord lieutenant ; and bv another 
 Parli.ameut he'd at Naas, A. D. 14.57, by the 
 lord ileputv, Thomas Fitgerald, Earl of Kild.are, 
 In which Acts were parsed prohibiiing the cir- 
 culation of the Irish coinage, called O fieiUi/ a 
 mjn"y, in the English Pale. From the thir- 
 teenth to the sixteenth century many valiant 
 chiefs of the O Reillys are mentioned, who 
 foueht several battles'wlth the Eng'ish forces 
 of the Pale, over whom they gained many 
 victories. The O Reillys, located on the bor- 
 ders of Meath, were obliged to maintain an 
 lnc«i-ant warfare to defend the fnmtiers of 
 Ulster against the English of the Pale, 
 who made constant incursions into the 
 northern territorie.s. Camden, writing in the 
 rcig.n of E izabi-th. says that the O Reilly.s were 
 famous for cavalry ; and Kyncs MorrNon, In his 
 acfount of the wars of Hugh O Neill, earl of 
 Tyrone, a-.-alnst Elizabeth, states that the 
 O Kelllys of Breuny bronghlto the standard of 
 
 O'Neill eight hundred foot, and two hundred 
 horse. The O Reillys maintained their inde- 
 pendence down to the reign of -James I., and pos- 
 sessed great property and influence even until 
 the Crorawel.ian wars, after which their estates 
 were confiscated- Maolmora O Reilly, com- 
 monly called .Miles the Slasher, w.as a celebrated 
 chief, di.sliuguished for his great strength and 
 undaunted valor : he fought many battles in 
 Cavan and other placas during the Cromvvellian 
 war, and fought at the battle of Benburb, under 
 Owen lioe O Neill. The O Reillys were elected 
 and inaugurated in early times as princes and 
 tanists of Brefney, on the Hill of Seitiitoman 
 or Shantoman, a large hill between Cavan and 
 Ballyhaise, on the summit of which may still 
 be seen the remains of a Druidical temple, co^i- 
 sisiing of several huge stones standing upright. 
 In after times the O Reillys were inaugurated 
 on the Hill of Tullymongan, above the town 
 of Cavan. The O Rcillysliad castles at Tully- 
 mongan, Ba'lynacargy, Tullyvin, Li-gannon, 
 Beltiarbet, Ballyconnell, Cloughoutgliter, Kil- 
 more, Li.*inore, and Camett, near Cro.ssdoney; 
 at Tonagh, and llallinrinke. near Lough Sheelin; 
 at Kilnacrott, Loughramor, and Mullagh; at 
 Tonragee, now Bailehorough, and at Muff, near 
 Kingscourt, the ruins of some of which castles 
 still remain. The O Reillys are still extremely 
 numerous, being estimated at about 2 ',0.)0 per- 
 sons of the name in the county of Cavan. 
 
 The chiefs and clans of Brefney, and the terri- 
 tories they possessed in the twelfth century, 
 are, according to 0"Uugan, as follows: 
 
 1 O'Ru.wuc, or O'Rourke, who is designated 
 by O'Dugan ArdridhBreifne ax huanswacM, 
 that is, chief king of Brefney of lasting sway, 
 and to whom, he states, the rents or tributes of 
 Connaught were paid. 
 
 2. O R.\Gii.vLi..\ii;n, or 0"Reilly, chief of Muin- 
 ter Maoilmordha, designated as — 
 
 "Head chief of fierce conflicts, 
 O'Reilly of the red arms or shields." 
 
 3. Mac TiGiiF.RNAiN,or the MacTiernans, also 
 rendered Mac Kiernan, and by some anglicised 
 to Masterton who were chiefs of 'Icllach Dun- 
 ch.ada, signifying the tribe or territory of Don 
 ogh, so called from one of their chiefs, a name 
 wliich has been made Tullaghonoho, now the 
 barony of TuUyhunco, in the county of Cavan. 
 MacTiernan is designated .as " the true defender 
 of valiant chiefs-"' The Mac Kiernans are still 
 very numerous in the counties of Cavin and 
 Leitrim, and several of their chiefs are mention- 
 ed in the course of these .\nnals. 
 
 4. Mao Samiibauiiain. designated "alondof 
 strength," who was chief of Tellach Eacliach,or 
 Eochaidh, which signifies of the tribe or terri- 
 tory of Eocaidli, so called from one of their 
 chiefs, and now the barony of TullaglKurh, 
 county of Cavan. This name is now ircuerally 
 made Mac Gauran, .and by bomc anglicised, or 
 rather translated, Somers, from the word 
 Sttinfirdilli, which signifies summer. The Mac 
 Gaurans in modern times are very numerousin 
 the counties of Cavan and Leitrim. 
 
 h. Mac CoNHNAMiiA, chief of Clan Cionnaith, 
 or clan Kennv, now known as the Muintir 
 Kenny mountiiins, and adjoining districts, near 
 Lough Allen, in the parish of Innism.agrath, 
 county of Liitrim This name has been angli- 
 cised to F'ord, and there are several of the clan 
 Btill in those districts. 
 
 fi. Mac ('aoaiiiiain-, chief of Clan Fearmaighe, 
 a district south of Dartry, and in the i)rescnt 
 barony of Dromahaire, county of Leitrim. Thla 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 name lias been aiigUcisod Cogan or Coggan. 
 OJJiien, in his dictionary, at ttio word Eagan, 
 statfj that tliu Mai; Egans were clnefs of Clan- 
 fttarainuiglu^ in Brefue)- ; lience Mac Cagadhain 
 and -Mac Eagain may probably have been the 
 same clan. 
 
 7. Mao DAUcnAinn. which O'Brian writes 
 Mac Dorchuighe, chief of Kiiiel Luachain, a 
 district in the barony of Mohill, county ofLeit- 
 rini, which may probably be traced in the namo 
 of the townland of Laheen. Tliis namo has 
 beeu by some anglicised to Darcy. 
 
 S. Mac Flanncuadua, of the race of Ith, a 
 name rendciedinto Mac Clancy, who was chief 
 of Dartraidhe, or Dartry, an ancient territory 
 co-extensive with the present barony of Ross- 
 clogher, in Leitrim. 
 
 9. O'FixM and O'Cbakbiiatll, or O'CarroIl, 
 who were chiefs of Calrait;he, a district adjoining 
 Dartry, la the present barony of Drouiahaire, 
 county of Leitrim, and which appears to liave 
 comprehended an adjoining porfion of Sligo, 
 near the present parisli of Calry, in that county. 
 This district comprised the parishes of Drum- 
 lease and Killf.rgy in Leitrim, with part of the 
 parish of Calry in Sligo. 
 
 10 Mac MAOiLioSA,chief ofMaghBreacraighe, 
 a district oi the borders of Leitrim and Long- 
 ford. 
 
 11. Mac Fionbhair, or Finnevar, chief of 
 Mulnter Greadain, or Gearadhain, a district in 
 the southern part of Leitrim. 
 
 12. Mao Kagiinaill, or Mac Kannall, a name 
 anglicised to lieynolds, were chiefs of Muin- 
 ter Eoluis. This territory was sometimes 
 called Clonmacni of Moj-rein, and comprised 
 almost the wliole of the present baronies of 
 Leitrim, Mohill and Carrygallen, in the county 
 of Leilrim, with a portion of the north of Long- 
 ford. They were of the race of Ir, or Clanna 
 Eory, and of the same stock as tlie O'Ferrals, 
 princes of Analh', or Longford. They had 
 c.^5tles at Rinn, Leitrim and Lough Scur. 
 
 13. O'Maoilmiaduaigh, or O'Mulvey, chief of 
 Magh Neise, or Nisi, a district which lay along 
 the Sh.-.nnon in the west of Leitrim, near Car- 
 rick-on-Shannon. 
 
 1-1. Mac Bp.adaigh, or Mac Brady. The Mac 
 Bradys, sometimes called O'Bradys, are given 
 by Mac Geoghegan as a branch of the O'CarroUs, 
 chiefs of CaTry, a territory in Leitrim, in the 
 baron}- of Dromahaire, as already explained in 
 the preceding part of this article; and they are, 
 in fact, often called O'Carrols at the present 
 day, particularly by persons speaking in Irish, 
 who desi;inate them CarooUaghs. The Mac 
 Bradys are extremely numerous in the county 
 of Cavan, particularly in the harony of Lough- 
 tee. Baron Thomas Br.ady, a distinguished 
 field marshal for many years in the Austrian 
 service, and who died at Vienna in IS'27, was a 
 native of the county of Cavan. 
 
 l.i. The Mac Gobhains, Mac-an-Gliobhains, 
 or OD&obhains, a name which has been anglicis- 
 ed to Smith, are very numerous in the county 
 of Cavan, particularly in the parishes of Lavey, 
 Laragh and Killinkere The Mac Gowans are 
 also very numerous in Eossinvcr, in the count}- 
 of Leitrim, .as explained in the section on Dala- 
 radia, or county of Down The Mac Gowans 
 are of the race of Ir, or Clanna Eory. Many of 
 the name have proved their distinguished 
 descent, being remarkable for great strength 
 and bravery, and having been chiefs of gallow- 
 glas.ses under the O'Eeillys. The Mac Gowans 
 were originally a clan in Dalaradia, or the county 
 of Down, and in early times produced many 
 eminent ecclesiastics, learned men and poets, 
 
 too numcrons to bo here mentioned ; and ir. 
 modern times there aro families of the name of 
 Smith in many parts of Ireland, supposed of 
 English descent, who may trace their descent 
 from the Milesian Mac Gowans 
 
 1(5. Mac GiLi.ADUiBii, or Mac GilldiifT. In the 
 Annals, at the year IS.'i^, Manus Mac Giolla'iuibh 
 is mentioned ns chief of Tealhu-li (iairbheith, 
 now the barony of Tullygarvey, in the county 
 of Cavan. 
 
 17. MauTaiculaioii, orMacTully. The Mac 
 Tuilys were chiefs of a district comprising the 
 greater part of the parish of Drung, in the 
 barony of Tullygarvey. 
 
 18. i\[ac Cabks, a clan originally from Monag- 
 han, but settled for many centuries in the 
 county of Cavan, where they are verv nume- 
 rous, particularly in the baronies of Tullygarvey 
 and Clankee. The Mao Cabes were a warlike 
 clan, and aro frequently mentioned in the Book 
 of Cavan as commanders of battle axe men 
 under the O'Koillys, in their wars with the Eng- 
 lish of the Pale 
 
 19. The O'Sheridans, an ancient clan in the 
 county of Cavan, and still numerous, particu- 
 larly in the barony of Clanmahon Of this clan 
 were several persons distinguished in the liter- 
 ary world for the most brilliant abilities, as the 
 Eev. Dr. Thomas Sheridan, president of tho 
 great school of Cavan, the friend and favorite 
 companion of Dean Swift, and distinguished for 
 his great wit and talents ; Thom.as Sheridan, 
 his son, a celebrated actor, and author of an 
 English Dictionary and other works, and 
 Eich.ard Briasley Sheridan, the son of Thomas, 
 well known for his splendid genius, and one of 
 the most eminent men of his ago as an orator, 
 dramatist and poet. Many other members of 
 this family have also been highly distinguished 
 in the literary world 
 
 20. The O'CoERVS, or O'Cutrys. given in the 
 Map of Ortelius as a clan in Cavan, in the 
 barony of Tullygarvey. They were located 
 about the place afterwards called Cootehill. Of 
 this family was J.amcs Curry, M.D., the cele- 
 brated writer on the civil wars of Ireland. 
 
 21. The OClerts, or Clarkcs, a branch of the 
 O'CIerys of Connaught and Donegal, and of the 
 same stock as the celebrated authors of the 
 Annals of the Four M.astcra. numerous in the 
 county of Cavan, particularly in the baronies of 
 Tullvgarvey and Clankee. 
 
 22.' The O'Dalys and 0"Mulligans, clans in 
 the count V of Cavan. who were hereditary bards 
 to the O'Eeillys. 
 
 23. The FiTZPATRiCKS, a numerous clan in the 
 county of Cavan, chiefly located in the baronies 
 of Tullyhunco and Loughtee. They were 
 originally of the Fitzpatricks of Ossory, but 
 have been settled for a long period in the county 
 of Cavan. 
 
 24. The FiTZsiMONS, a numerous clan in the 
 county of Cavan, chiefly in the barony of Castle- 
 rahan, who c.ame originally from the English 
 Pale, being of Anglo-Nofman descent, but 
 have been long located in the county of Cavan. 
 
 25. The 0'Farkei.lt8, a numerous clan, par- 
 ticularly in the parish of Mullagh, county of 
 Cavan. 
 
 2n. Several other cl.ans settled in considerable 
 numbers in various parts of the county of 
 Cav.an, as the O'Murrays, Mac Donnells, 0'- 
 Cona!ihtys,0'Connell3, MacManuses, O'Lyches, 
 Mac Gillig.ans, O'Fays, Mac GafTnevs, Mac 
 Uuihs, O Dolans, O'Droms, Ac. 
 
 27. Several clans in the county of Leitrim, 
 not mentioned by O'Dugan, as the Mac Gloins 
 of Eossinver, the Mac Ferguses, hereditary 
 
734 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX . • 
 
 erénaclis of the ctiurehcs of Eossinycr, and 
 whose name has bei-n anglicised to Ferguson, 
 the O'Cuirnins, an ancient clan in the baronj- of 
 Dromahaire. and many of whom were celebrated 
 bards and historians, the Mac Kennys, or 
 Kcanej's ; the Mac Cartans, O'Murrays and 
 O'Meehans, are also numerous in the county 
 ofLeitrim. 
 
 SlL MlTBEDAIGH. 
 
 This territory was so called from the descend- 
 ants of Muredach Mael-letlian, a king of Con- 
 naoght in the latter end of the seventh century, 
 who died A. D. "Oil, who was sjirung from the 
 above-named Brian, son of Eocaidh Muigh-me- 
 don, king of Connaiight. They became the chief 
 branch of the Ui Kriuin race, and possessed the 
 greater pan of Coiinaught, but were chiefly 
 located in the territory now forming the 
 county of Roscommon, and hence the term 
 Siol Murray was applied to that territory. 
 
 The O'CoxoKS of Connauglit were the head 
 chiefs of Sil SIuredaigh,and took their name from 
 Conchobhar, or Conor, who was king of Con- 
 naught in the tenth century. The name Ua 
 Conchobhair, pronounced Concoovar, is derived 
 from Cu or Con, which figuratively signifies a 
 warrior, and Cobhair e\á\ hence "it signifies a 
 helping warrior. Teige, king ofConnaught, in 
 the beginning of the eleventh century, who 
 died A. I). l'i.30, and was called TaOlig an eich 
 ghil, or Teige of the White Steed, was the first 
 who took tlic name of 0"(.'onor, from Concovar, 
 or Conor, his grandfather, king of Connaught. 
 Between the fourth and eight centuries fourteen 
 of the race of Ui Fiachrach were kings of Con- 
 naught, as stated in the section on North Con- 
 naught, and two or three of the O'liourkes were 
 kings of Connaught in the tenth century in the 
 Annals of the Four Masters AVith these excep- 
 tions, the ancestors of the O'Conors of the race 
 of Ui Briuin, and Siol Murray, and the O'Conors 
 themselves, held the sovereignty of Connaught 
 from the 5th to the 15th century, for a period 
 of more than lu:;n years, and two of them 
 became monarchs of Ireland in the 12th century, 
 namely, Tordelbach, and his son, Kuaidri O'- 
 Conor, who was the last Milesian monarch of 
 Ireland. Torlogh O'Conor, called Tordelbach 
 Mor, or Torlogh the Great, was many ye.ars 
 king of Connaught, and afterwards monarch of 
 Ireland for twenty years, from A. D. 113C to 
 1 15C. Euaidri or Itoderick O'Conor, his son, 
 was the last Milesian monarch of Ireland, and 
 after having reisued eighteen years, abdicated 
 the throne A. D. 11S4, in conseipience of the 
 English invasion, and retired to tlie monastery 
 of Consr, in Mayo, where, after a religious .seclu- 
 sion of thirteen years, he died, on Sunday the 
 iiTth of November, A. D. 11S1, in the 82nd year 
 of his age, and was burled in the same sepulchre 
 with his fatlier, in the cathedral of Clonmacnois. 
 According to Dr. CVConor. king Turlogh O'Conor 
 was thrice married. His fir.-.t wile was Talter.ia, 
 daughterofMurtoihO'.M.Ia-hlin. kingofMeath; 
 his second was DervorL'illa. daughter of Donald 
 O'Mcla^rhliii, prince of Meath, and his third wa.s 
 TJuvcola, daiiiihter of .Mulroonev Mac Deruiott, 
 prince of Moyhirg. By Ills last wife lie had 
 a son. Cathal Crobhderg O'Conor, the famous 
 king of Connaught ?o often mentioned in the 
 Irish Annals. The O'Conors, kings of Con- 
 naught, had royal residencies at Cruachan, near 
 Elpliln, and at Cluan Fraeich, near Tulsk, in 
 Roscommon; also at Dunmorc, in Galway, .ind 
 at Cong in Mayo, and many castles in various 
 
 parts of Connaught. The ancient kings o^ Con- 
 naught were inaugurated at Cruachan, near 
 Elpliin, but it appears from these Annals that 
 in after times tlie O'Conors were Inaugurated as 
 kings of Connaught at the Hill of Carii l^raeich. 
 ne.ar Tulsk, in lioscouiiuon. The ( I'Conors 
 lield their rank as kings of Connaught dmvu to 
 the reign of Elizabeth in the IGtli century. In 
 the Memoirs of Charles O'Conor ofBclengar, it 
 is stated, that in the latter end of the fourteenth 
 century, the two head chiefs of the O'Conor.s, 
 namely, Torlogh Koe, and Torlogh Donn, hav- 
 ing contended for the lordship of Siol Murray, 
 agreed to divide the territory between them. 
 The faiidlics descended from Torlogh Donn 
 called themselves O'Conom jMin. or the Brown, 
 and the descendants of Torlogh Roe called 
 themselves 0'('c«)i(>/'.s7íf/í, or the Ked. Another 
 branch of the O'Connors got great possessions 
 in the county of Sligo, and were styled the O' 
 Conors Sligo. 
 
 The O'Connors are thus designated in the 
 topographical poem of O'Dugan, written in the 
 fourteenth century : 
 
 " The kings of the hosts that refuse nought 
 Are at great Cruachan of the fair grassy plains, 
 "Which refuse not abundant fruits 
 To the tribe of Clan Conor. 
 
 "The undisputed patrimony of this race, 
 "Was Siol Murray of broad raths. 
 A warlike tribe defended 
 The illustrious kings of Cruachan." 
 
 The O Conors at the present day are very 
 numerous. 
 
 The following chiefs and clans in Koseommon 
 and Galwey, the territories possessed by them 
 in the twelfth ccntur)', have been collected as 
 follows from O'Dugan's Topography, and other 
 sources : 
 
 M.\.c DiAKMADA or Mac Dermott. The Mac 
 Dermotts derive their descent from the same 
 ancestor as the O'Conors, kings of Conn.iught, 
 namely, from Teige of the White Steed, king of 
 Connaught in the llth century, and therefore 
 are a branch of the O'Conors. This Teige had 
 a son named Maelruanaidh, the progenitor of 
 tlic Mac Dermotts, hence their tribe name was 
 Clan Maolruanaidh, or Clan Mulrooney. Diar- 
 inaid, grandson of Mulrooney, was the head of 
 the clan in the 12th century, and died A. D. 
 TIC), and from him they took tne name of M.ac 
 Dermott. The Mac Dermotts had the title of 
 princes of Moylurg, Tir Oilill, TirTualhail, Air- 
 teach and Clan Cuain. 
 
 Moylurg, called Magli Luirg an Daghda, in 
 O'Dugan, signifies the Plain of the Track of 
 Daghda, nncl got its name from Daghd.a, one of 
 thcTuath De Daiiann kings. This territory com- 
 prised the I'lains of Boyle, in the county of 
 Jioscommon, consisting of some of the finest 
 lands in Ireland, and famous for their fertiflty 
 and beauty. Tir Oilill is now the barony of 
 Tirrerill in SHlto. Airteach, a district in lios- 
 conmion, near Lough Gara. on the borders of 
 Sligo and Mayo. Clan Cuaiu was a distiict in 
 the north of the barony of Carra, county of 
 Mayo. TlrTuathall was" a district in the barony 
 of Boyle, bordering on Leitrim and Sligo, to- 
 wards Lough Allen ; thus Mac Dermott's terri- 
 tories comi>rised the present barony of Boylc, 
 in the county of IJoscommon, together with 
 Tirerrill in Sligo, and Clan Cuain in Mayo, at 
 Ca.stlebar, which comprised the liresent parishes 
 of Islandcady, Turlough, ami BreaflTv. 
 The Mac Dermotts had Uieir chief fortress at 
 
TOPOGKAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 735 
 
 the Eock of Longh Key, on an island in Lough 
 Key, near Boyle, and they held the high and 
 honorable olfico of hereditary marshals of Con- 
 naught, the duties attached to which were to 
 rise and regulate the military forces, and topre- 
 jjarc them'for battle as commanders-in-chief, 
 also to preside at the inaui;uration of the O'- 
 Conors as kings of Connaught, and to proclaim 
 their election. They held their rank as lords of 
 Moylurg, down to the reign of Elizabeth, and 
 considerable possessions down to the period of 
 the Crorawellian wars, wlien their estates were 
 confiscated ; but it is a singular fact that, of all 
 the Milesian chiefs, the Mac IJermotts alone 
 have retained their title of prince, as the Mao 
 heritioU is to this day recognized as prince of 
 Coolavin, in the county of Sligo, holding a 
 part of the hereditary possessions of his ances- 
 tors. There are several families of the Mac 
 Derniotts in Connaught at the present day. 
 The Mac Donoghs, of whom an account has 
 been given in the section on North Connaucrht, 
 were a branch of the Mac Dermotts, and lords 
 of Tirerrill and Corran in Sligo. It may be 
 observed that O'Dugan gives the following as 
 the ancient chiufs of Moylurg, before the time 
 of the Mac Dermotts. He designates them thus : 
 
 " The ancient cliief of Moylurg of abundance, 
 Mac Eoach (or Mac Keogh), Mac Maen tho 
 
 Great 
 And Mac Eiabhainh (or Mac Eevy), of effi- 
 cient forces." 
 
 Ul MaNI and TJi FlACKAClI AlDNI. 
 
 1. O'Cellaigh, or OKelly. The name O'- 
 Cellaigh is derived from one of their ancestors, 
 Ceallach, a celebrated chief in the ninth century. 
 The O'Kellys are a branch of the Clan CoUa, 
 of Orgiall in Ulster, and of the same descent as 
 the Maguires, lords of Ferm.inagh, the Mac 
 Mahons, lords of Monaghan, the 0"Hanlons, 
 chiefs of Oirior in Armagh, and some other 
 clans, of whom an account has been given in 
 the note on OrrjhiaUa. In tho 4th century 
 Mani Jlor, or Mani the Great, a chief of the 
 Clan CoUa, liaving collected his forces in Org- 
 hialla, on the borders of the present counties of 
 Tyrone, Monaglian and Armagh, marched to 
 Connaught, and having conquered a colony of 
 the Firbolgs, who possessed the territory called 
 Magli Sei/i-ohineoil, expelled the Firbolgs, and 
 to that territory, which was possessed by his pos- 
 terity, he gave tlie name Ui Mani, which has 
 been laJnised to //i/ Mania and /Mania. 
 This extensive territory comprised a great part 
 of South Connaught, in the present county of 
 Galway, and was afterwards extended beyond 
 the river Suck to tlie Shannon, in the south of 
 Eoscommon. and comprised the baronies of 
 Ballymoe, Tiaquin, IviUian and Kileonnel, with 
 part of Clonmucnoon in Oalway, and the barony 
 of Athlone in iioscommon. The O'Kellys were 
 princes of Ui Mani. Ily Mania is thus describ- 
 ed by O'Dugau : 
 
 " A great division of Connaught is that plain, 
 Of Ui Mani of vast assemblies. 
 Extending from the Shannon of fairy streams 
 To Cnoc Meadh of the great kinsrs." 
 
 The 0"Kellys held the office of high treasur- 
 ers of Connaught, and the Mac Dermotts that of 
 marshals. TaiUig or Teige O'Kelly, was one of 
 tho commanders under Brian Boroimhe at the 
 battle of Clontarf. The O'Kellys had castles at 
 
 Aughrim, Garbally, G.allagh, Monivca, Moy- 
 lough, Mullaghmorc and Aghrane, now Ca-lle- 
 Kelly, in the county of Galway, and at Athlone, 
 Athieaguc, Corbcg, Galy and Skryne, in the 
 county of Eoscommon. The chiefs of the O- 
 Kellys were inaugurated at Clontuskert, about 
 llvo miles from Eyrecourt, in th-i county of 
 Galway and held their rank as princes of Ui 
 Maine to the reÍLrn of Elizabeth 
 
 2. Mac Oip.eai nrAion, or Mac Oiraghfy, a 
 name anglirise<l Mac Geraghty, or Geraghty, 
 descended from the same stock as the O'Conors, 
 kings of Connaught. 
 
 " Mac Oiraghty of the Steeds was the ruling 
 chief. 
 Of Muiutir Eoduiv of rightful laws— 
 A fearless warrior as ho ranged the woods.'' 
 
 Mac Oiraghty, chief of Clan Tomaltaigh. Tho 
 districts of Clan Tomaltaigh and Muintir 
 Eoduiv, were situated in the barony of Eos- 
 common, county of Eoscommon. When de- 
 prived of their territories, some of tho clan 
 settled in Mayo and Sligo, and are to this day 
 the chief possessors of the island of Inis Murray, 
 off the coast of Sligo, their having, it is said, 
 given name to the island from their former title 
 as head chiefs of Siol Murray, and are still 
 governed by a chief of the tribe As a remark- 
 able circumstance connected with the Mac 
 Oiraghtys who reside at Croagh Patrick in 
 Mayo, an antique bell is kept by them, and is 
 traditionally stated to liave been one of those 
 used by St. Patrick. 
 
 3. O'FiNN'ACiiTA, or O'Feenaghtys, chiefs of 
 Clan Conmaigh and Clan Murchadha, districts 
 in the t\^ iialf baronies of Ballymoe, in the 
 counties ^of Eoscommon and Galway. Two 
 distinct chiefs of the O'Feenaghtys are given by 
 O'Dugau. one of Clan Murrogh, and the other 
 of Clan Conway ; the former being designated 
 "Chief of Clan Murrogh of the Champions." 
 O'Feenaghty, chiefs of Clan Conway, had their 
 castle at Dunamon, near the river Suck, in the 
 county of Eoscommon. 
 
 4. O'Fallamiiain, or O'Fallons, chiefs of 
 Clan Uadach, a district in tho barony of Ath- 
 lone, in the county of Eoscommon, comprising 
 the parishes of Cam and Dysart, and had a 
 castle at Milltown. The O'Falions were origin- 
 ally chiefs in Westmeath near Athlone. By 
 O'Dugau they are designated in terms which 
 may be thus translated : 
 
 " The O'Palloos who marched with force 
 Were chiefs of Clan Uadaeli of wine banquets, 
 Men who let not their spears decay. 
 Of those are the freeborn clans." 
 
 5. O'BiuN, or O'Beirnes, chiefs of Mura 0'- 
 Mannachain, otherwise called Tir Briuin-na- 
 Sionna, or Tir Briune of the Shannon. Ttiis 
 territory lay along the Sh.annon, in the barony 
 of Ballintoblier, in Eoscommon. comprising the 
 parishes of Kilmore of the Shannon, Cloonaif, 
 Aughrim and Kilumod, extending nearly to 
 Eldhin. 
 
 6. O Mannachain, or O'Monnaghan, was 
 also a chief on the same territory as O'Bfirne. 
 
 It is to be observed that these O'Beirnes are 
 of a different race from the O'Byrnes of Wick- 
 low. 
 
 T. O'IIainlidwe, or O'Hanleys, chiefs of Kincl 
 Dobhtha, a large district in the barony of Ballin- 
 tobber, county of Eoscommon, along the Shan- 
 non. 
 
736 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 8. Mac Brasain, or Mac Breennan, some- 
 times made O'Brtiinan, and O'Mai'.michil, or 
 O'Mulviliil, sometimes an'^lii.iseJ to Mulville 
 and Mitchell. The Mac Hrennans and O'.Mulvi 
 hils were chief's of Corca Aelilann, a large 
 district adjoining Kinel-Dobhtha, in the baronv- 
 of Koscommon. This district formed part of 
 the Tuatha in which was situated the Slieve 
 Bann Mountain. 
 
 9. O'Flan.nagain, or O'Flanna^ans, chiefs 
 of Clan Cathail, a territory in the' barony of 
 Eoscommon, north of Elpbin. O'Maolniordlia, 
 O'Cartliaidh, or O'Carthy, and O'Mushroiu, 
 were a!so subordinate chiefs of Clan Catiiail. 
 
 " Four active chieftains 
 Euled over the Clan Cathail. 
 Kins:i.en who have not l>een dispraised 
 Are these four whom we enumerate. 
 
 "O'FIanagan, chief of tlie territory, 
 0"Mu'imora whom I praise ; 
 With cheerfulness they were still supported 
 By the blithe O'Cartliy and O'Muroin.'" 
 
 10. O'Maolbkensain, a name anglicised to 
 O'Mulrenan, were chiefs of Clan Conchobhair, 
 or Clan Conor, a district in the barony of lios- 
 common, near Cruachan ; they are thus desig- 
 nated by O'Dugan : 
 
 " O'Mulbrenan of renown, 
 Was chief of Clan Conor of the fertile plains, 
 Their mcn'above all others I record. 
 They are of the tribe of Clan Cathail.'' 
 
 11. O'CATnALAiv, chief of Clan Fogartaigh. 
 O'Maonaigh, or OMoeneys, sometimes made 
 O'Mooneys, were cliiefs of Clan Murthuile. 
 Clan Fo;_'artaigh and Clan Murtliiiile were dis- 
 tricts in Ballintobber, county of Eoscommon. 
 OX'afhalain and O'Mooney are thus mentioned 
 in O Dugan: 
 
 " Catlia'ain is the chartered chief 
 Of Clan Fogarty of the grassy plains. 
 And powerful are his conquering forces; 
 Chief of Clan Murthuile is O'Mooney." 
 
 12. O'CoNCEANAiN-, Or 0"Concannon, chief of 
 Ui Diarmada, a district on the borders of Eos 
 common and Galw.ay.in thebaronifsof Athlone 
 and Ballymoe. The O'Concannons are thus 
 mentioned in O'Dugan : 
 
 "The Vi Diarmada of protecting men, 
 Tlieir heroes are kinsmen to kings. 
 Oovernor of the territory 
 Is O'Concanain, its undisputed chief." 
 
 13. Mac MunciiAPiiA. or Mac Murroirh, 
 sometimes anglicised to Mac Morrow, a chief 
 of Clan Tomaltaigh, in Eoscommon, of which 
 Mae Oira^hty was also cliief 
 
 14. O'Floinx, or OFlynn, cliief of Siol Maol- 
 rualn, a large district in the 1 arony of Ballin- 
 tobber. county of Eoscommon, in which lay 
 Slieve I'i Kliloinn, or OFlynn s Mountain, and 
 wliich comprised the fiarishcsof Killkoevan and 
 Kiltulla'.'h. and also part of the pari~h of Bally- 
 nakill, In the barony of Ballymoe, county of 
 Gahvay. OMaolmuaMh, or Ó'MiilIov, is also 
 given as achief over Clan Taldlig, or CianTelge, 
 In the p.ime district. 
 
 15. O'EoTiit.AiJi. chiefs of Colli Fothaidh, a 
 district on the borders of Eoscommon and 
 Mayo. 
 
 16. O'Sgaithoil, or Mac Bgathgil, chief of 
 
 Corca Mogha, a district which comprised the 
 parish of Kiikeeran, in the barony of Killian, 
 county of Galway. O'Broin, anglicised to Burns, 
 was chief of Lough Gcalgosa, adistrict adjoining 
 Corca Mogha. 
 
 IT. O'TALCiiARArji, chief of Conmaicnc Cuile, 
 a di-trict in the barony of Clare, county of Gal- 
 way. 
 
 18. O'Cadhl.*., or O'Cawley, chief of Con- 
 macni Mara, now the barony of Ballynahinch, 
 in the couutj' of Galway. 
 
 19. Mac Cosroi, or Mac Conroy, chief of 
 Gno Mor, and O'Haidhnidh, chief of Gno Beag, 
 districts wliich lay along the western banks of 
 Lough Corrib, between that lake and the bay 
 of Galway, in the barony of MoycuUen, county 
 of Galway. O'Dugan says : 
 
 " Mac Conroy possesses in peace 
 Gno Mor of the numerous harbors." 
 
 20. Mac Aedua, or Mac Hugh, called also 
 Hughes, chief of Clan Co.sgraidh, a district on 
 tlie eastern side of Lough Corrib, thus dcsignat- 
 by O'Dugan : 
 
 "The race of Mac Aedha on the eastern side 
 Of the extensive ])lain of Clan Co^gry, 
 An active host from the plain of Medha, 
 Mild and hospitable are their tribes." 
 
 21. O'FL.^TnuEETAiGii, Or O'Flaherty, aname 
 derived from Fi<t>th, a chief or hero, and hear- 
 Íí/í7), of deeds ; hence it may signify a chief of 
 noble deeds. They are styled by ODiigan 
 chiefs of Muintir Murchadha, now the barony 
 of Clare, county of Galway. In the 13th century 
 they were expelled from this territory by the 
 English, and having settled on the other side of 
 Lough Corrib, got extensive possessions there 
 in the b-irony of MoycuUen, and were thence 
 styled lords of lar Conacht, or West Coiinanght. 
 They had the chief naval command about Lough 
 Corrib, on the islands of which they had castles. 
 They are thus designated by O Dugan : 
 
 " Cl.in Murcadha of the fortress of hospitality 
 Was governed by the Clan Flaherty of swords, 
 Who from the shout of battle would not flee; 
 To them belongs the regulation of the fair 
 ports. 
 
 23. O'HEiDinN, or O'lleyne, .sometimes angli- 
 cised to Hynes. O'Heyne was styled prince of 
 I'l Fiachra Aidhni, so called as being of the 
 race of V\ Fl.ichr.i. The territory of Ui 
 Fiachra Aidhni, also called South Ui Fi:i.'hra, 
 was co-extensive with the diocese of Kilma'.'- 
 duagh, and comprised the borony of Kiltartan, 
 and parts of the baronies of Dunkcllin and 
 Loughrea, in the county of Galway. The 0- 
 Heynas were descended from Gnairi Aidhnn, a 
 king of Conimiight in the seventh century, who 
 is cilfbratcd by all the ancient anna'ists for his 
 hos])itallty to all classes, and charity to the i)oor; 
 henee it passed into a proverli, in P])eakiiig of 
 an hosjiitable person, that he was '-as generous 
 .as Gualre;" and the poets in their figurative 
 language stated that his riuht hand had become 
 much longer than hi.i loft in consequence of 
 being co!istantly extended in giving charity. 
 The O'lleynes took their name from Fidhin, 
 one of their chiefs In the tenth century, and 
 Maolrnanaidh O'Heyne, prince of i'i I'iachra, 
 was a cominaridcr under Brian Boroinha at the 
 battle of Cl'.nt.irf. and it may berei'i.:rkcd that 
 Brian Boromha w.as married to Mor, iho daugh- 
 ter of Flann, father of Maolruanaidh O'llcyno. 
 
TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 737 
 
 fh! ; Spon^-^-"»". or O Sliaughnessey, of lays are given by O'Diigan as tl.e two chiefs of 
 
 the same descnit as O'loyne, and chief or Kind Maon Magh, or Moenmoy, a territory which 
 
 Acdha, sometimes calle.l Ki.iel Aedha-na-h- according to <>'Flal,e.ty, got its name from 
 
 Echtge, that is Kiiiel Hugli ..1 Lclity, a mount- Moen, one of the sons of Ugani. This tcrritorv 
 
 ainous district on the borders of Galway and was an extensive plain, comriri^ln" a "reat part 
 
 Uare. Kmel Iliigli was a large district in the of the present banmies of Loii"liii:r,niri Leitrim 
 
 barony of Iviltartan,_ coimty of Galway. 0-' in the county of Galway. 'J he ( .■^;,L■htansand 
 
 Cathail, orOCahal, r.l the race of Ui Fiachra, O'Miilallys are branches of the Clan Lolla and 
 
 •wasalsoacj^iief 01 Kinel Hugli. _ _ are thus designated by O'Dugan : ' 
 
 "The chiefs of Moenmoy the champions, 
 Whose estate is ttie fertile plain. 
 Two who defend that district 
 ArcO'Naghten and O'Mnlally, 
 Their warfare is heavy in battles, 
 The land is theirs as far as Ui Fiachra." 
 
 The O'Miilallys, when dispossessed of their 
 
 24. Mac Gili-a Cixlaigii, or .Afac Gilkelly, 
 sometimes made Killikelly, also of the race of 
 Ui Fiachra, and another chief of Aidhne. 
 
 25. O'Cleirigii, or O'Clcrv, a name some- 
 times a.iglicised to Clarke, likewise of the race 
 of Ui Fiachra, and chiefs in Aidhne. and some- 
 times styled chiefs of Ui Fiachra Finn. They 
 took the name from Cloirach, one of their cele- 
 brated cliiefs in the tenth century. Many of 
 
 these O'Clcrys were highly distinguished in sncient territoties, settled at Tullach-na-Dala, 
 litei-ature, and a branch of them having settled near Tiiam, where they had a castle. The head 
 
 in Donegal became bards and historians to the 
 O'Donnells, princes of Tyrconnell, and were the 
 authors of the Annals of the Four Masters. 
 Other branches of the 0"Clerys settled in Bref- 
 ney O'Reilly, or the connty of Cavnn. 
 
 26. O'DuiiiUGiLLA, chief of Kinel Cinng.imhna. 
 Mac F" ■ " 
 
 chief 
 
 of the family having removed to France, a 
 descendant of his became celebrated as an o afor 
 and statesman at the time of the French Revo- 
 lution, and was known by the name Count 
 Lally Tollendal, faking liis title from his ancient 
 
 trDuiiiUGiLLA, chief of Kinel Cinng.imhna, territory in Ireland. Several of the O'Lallys 
 .""iachra, chief of Oga Beaihra, O'Cathain, were celebrated commanders in the Irish 
 of Kinel Sedn.i, and O'.Maghna, chief of Brigade in France, and one of them was created 
 Caenridhe, all chiefs in Aidhne. The chiefs of Marquis de Lallv Tollendal, and a peer of 
 Aidhne are thus designated by O'Dugan : France, by Jiapoleou. 
 
 „^ ^ , 3Í. O'CoNAii.L, or O'Connell. The O'Con 
 
 Let us approach Aidhni of Steeds, nells and Mae Mac Egans were marshals of the 
 
 And his noble chiefs of hospitality, forces to the O'Kellys, princes of Ui Mani, and 
 
 And let us trace their kings who are not few, of the same de.'=cent as the O'Kellys. 
 And treat of the host of the free clans. 82. Mao Ardhagatn, anglicised Mac Egans, 
 
 were chiefs of Clan Diarniaila, a di.striet in the 
 
 "The noble clan of Mac Gilkelly, barony of Leitrim, county Galway, and had a 
 
 The OTIeynes of the sleek and slender steeds, castle .it Dun Doighre, now Duniiy. The Mac 
 
 ■Whose defence and pride is the strength of Egans were celebrated as Brehons in Connacght 
 
 their arms. 
 Are of the race of Giiaire the Fair, 
 Good and hospitable is the chief, 
 O'Clery sprang of tlie same race. 
 
 ' Two other chiefs of Kinalea. 
 O'Shaughnessey whom I will not shun, 
 Together withO'Cahill of learned men, 
 Smooth are his fields and fertile his moun- 
 tain." 
 
 and in Ormond, and many of them were emi- 
 nent literary men. They are thus mentioned 
 by O'Dugan : 
 
 " Precedence for his valor and fame 
 Be given to Mac Egan the noble. 
 Record him for the activity of his warriors, 
 Of his prosperity and great renown." 
 
 8.3. Mao Gilla Finnagain, or O'Finnegans, 
 a name sometimes rendered Finnucane, and 
 27. O'Madag AiN, or O'Mndadhain, anglicised ^ Cion.aoith, or O Kenny, chiefs of Clan Laithem- 
 O'Madden, chief of Siol Aumclindha, a name '''='•"- <=^"«'l =*'-'" Muintir Cionaith, a district in 
 latinised to SilanchUt, and which t'ot its name *"" barony of Moycarnon. county of lioscora- 
 
 from Anmchadh, one of their ancient chiefs. 
 This territory comprised the present barony of 
 Longford, in the county of Gahvay, and the 
 ]iarish of Lusmagh, on the other side of the 
 Shannon, in the King's County. The O'Mad- 
 dens are a br.anch of the Clan Colla. and of the 
 
 same descent as the O'Kellys, princes of Ui __. , „. „„..„ , ^ , 
 
 Manl. and took their name from M.adudan More, of Clan Breasail, a district in "the Tarony^of 
 one of their ancient chiefs. There are several Leitrim, county of Galway. The ODonnellans 
 families of the name still in Connaught. are thus mentioned by O'Dugan : 
 
 28. O'lIuALLAcnAiN, or O'lloolasrhan. some- 
 
 mon. They are thus mentioned by O'Dugan: 
 
 Mae Gilla Finnegan the mild. 
 And the valiant Clan Kenny, 
 Two tribes who are fair so be seen 
 Rule over the brave Clan Flahavan.' 
 
 84. O'DoMnxALLAiN, or O'Donnellans, chiefs 
 
 times anglicised O'Coulairhan and Mac Conlag- 
 han, and also given by O'Dugan, as chiefs of Siol 
 Anmchadha. O'lloolnghan is thus designated 
 by O'Dugan ; 
 
 "A noble chief of lasting fame 
 RuIps over the plain of the race of Anmch.a, 
 A valiant rough-fettering warrior. 
 Of keen-edged weapons is O'lloolaghan." 
 
 29. O'Maelalaidh, or O'Mulally, sometimes 
 made Lally. 
 
 80. O'NEAcnTAiv, or O'Nashten, sometimes 
 made Norton. The ONaghtens and O'ilulal- 
 
 " Noble the blood and acbievcnients 
 Of the O'Donnellans of handsome figure, 
 Rushing to the battle like a torrenti 
 Such are the yellow-haired Clan Breasail." 
 
 Tliere are still many families of the O Don- 
 nellans in Connaught. 
 
 .S."i. O'DoNciiAnuA, or O'Donoghoe, chief of 
 Clan Coiniaic, a district in Moonnioy, in Gal 
 wiiy, which lias .already been defined. 
 
 lifi. O DnniiGiii.vD, or O'Deiglian. chief of 
 tlie twelve Ballys, or Townlnnds, of O'Duibhg- 
 Iiind, a di.strict near Loughrsa, in the county of 
 Galway 
 
738 
 
 TOPOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 3T. 0'DocoMr.A.iN, cliief of Eidhnigh, and O'- 
 Gtbhrain, or UGauran, chief of Dal Druithne. 
 districts about Lou^lirea. 
 
 3i OWlAOiLiiKiiiiiDE, or O'Miilbrides, or Mac 
 Brides, cliiefs of Magli Finn and of Bredaeli, a 
 larae district in the barony of Athlone, county 
 of Koscominon, east of the river Sack. 
 
 S'X OMainsin, orO-.Mannin, or U'Mannings, 
 chiefs of Sodlian, alargo territory in tlie barony 
 of Tiaquiii, which was made into six divisions, 
 ciiUed the six Sodhans. The O'Mannins liad 
 iheir chief residence at the castle of Clogher, 
 barony of Tiaquin, county of Galway, and 
 afterwards at Menlou^h, in the parish of Killas- 
 cobe, in the same barony. The otiier cliiefs 
 given by O'Dugan on the i^ix Sodhans were 
 Mac-ar.-ltliaird-, or Mac Wards; O'Sguarra, or 
 O'Scurrys; O'Lennan, or O'Lennans; O'Casain, 
 orO"Cashins; OGialia, or O'Giallain, rendered 
 O'Gealaas and Gillays.and O'.Maigins, OWIigins, 
 or O'Maginns. The chiefs of Sodhan are thus 
 mentioned by O'Dugan : 
 
 -The six Sodbans let us not shun, 
 Their chiefs are not to be forgotten ; 
 Brave are their predatory hosts, 
 To wliom belonged the spear-armed Sod- 
 hans." 
 
 iO. O'Cathail, or 0"CiliiU ; O'Mngliroin, or 
 O'Moran; O Maoiruanaidh, or O'Mulrooncy, 
 were the three chiefs of Crumthan. an extensive 
 territory sometimes called (Jrutl'on, comprising 
 the barony of Killian, and part of Ballyiioe, in 
 the county of Gahvay. These chiefs are thus 
 designated by O'Dugan : 
 
 " O'Cahill and O'Murain the active, 
 O'.Mulrooney of the splendid banquets. 
 Like trees wliicli slielterthe fertile land. 
 Are the chiefs of Crumthan of the woody 
 plains." 
 
 41. O'LAEDor;, or O'Laedhaigh, anglicised to 
 O'Leahy, chiefs of Caladh, a larire district in the 
 barony of Kilconnell, county of Galway. They 
 are thus mentioned by O'Dugan : 
 
 " The brave O'Leahys I must mention, 
 Chiefs of the broad lands of Caladh, 
 Men who won and hold the sway 
 Of Caladli by Shannon of clear streams.'' 
 
 42. O'IIavtsrtt, chief in the barony of Ath- 
 enrv, and county of Oalway. 
 
 4S. The 0'DAt.V8, a branch of the O'Donnells 
 of Donegal, princes of Tirconnell, whose tribe 
 name was Clan Dalaigh. The O'Dalys, it ap- 
 pear-*, settled in Connaught as early as the 
 twelfth century, and accounts of many of them, 
 very eminent as poets and learned men in Con- 
 naught and In Munster. Several of lliein were 
 illstinguished ecclesi.istics. Tlie O'Dalys had 
 large p')ssoiSions in the counties of Galway .and 
 Jioscommon. 
 
 44. The O'Hai.loh.vns, given in O'Flaherty's 
 Ogygla (vol ii. p. 296), as chiefs of Clan Fer- 
 gaill, a largo district on the e-ist side of the 
 river of Galway. near Lough Corrib. From 
 these was descended O'llallor.an the historian. 
 
 45. The O'Cai.i.anass and O'Canavaiis. men- 
 tioned by O'Flaherty as hereditary physicians 
 In G.ilway. 
 
 4'). The O'DuDiiTHAiGiw. or O'DufTeys, fami- 
 lies of note in Galw.'iy and Uoscommon, .and 
 many of them learned men and emimiit ecclesi- 
 astics, sevenil of tlicm liaving been archbishops 
 oITuam, and bishops in Elphin. 
 
 47. The O'BuiEMS, a branch of the O'Uriens 
 of Thomond, in the county of Clare, and lords 
 of the Isles of Arran, olt' the coast of Galway, 
 which they held from the thirteenth to a late 
 period in the sixteenth century, and, as captains 
 of the sea coast, kept a large maritime force. 
 
 48. Mac Csaimuin, or .N.ac Ncvin, according 
 to the book of Leacan, chiefs of a district called 
 Crannog Mac Cn;iimhin, or Crannagh Mac 
 Nevin, in the parish of Tynagh, barony of 
 Leitriin, and county of Oalway. There are 
 still some families of the Mae Nevins in the 
 county of Gahvay. 
 
 40. Mac Eochaidh, or Mac Keogh, a br.^nch 
 of the O'Kellys, chiefs of Omhanach, now Onagh, 
 in the parish of Taghmacounell, in the barony 
 of Athlone, county of Roscommon. There are 
 still many famifies of the Mac Keoghs, or 
 Keoghs, in Connaught 
 
 50. Mac Gilladi-uíii, or Mac Gilduffs, some- 
 times rendered Kildull's, chiefs in Caladh, alon;.- 
 with the O'Leahys, in the barony of Killconnell, 
 county of Galway. 
 
 ^\. The O'LoRCAiNS, or O'Larkins; the O- 
 Gebenaighs, or O'Gevennys; the O'Aireach- 
 tains, anglicised to Harrington ; the O'Fahys, or 
 O'Fays; O'Laidins, or O'Lanes, and the O'- 
 Horan.s, all clans in Ui Mani, in the county of 
 Galway. 
 
 62. O'ConnTHAiGH, or O'Coffeys, a branch of 
 the O'Kellys, princes of Ui Mani. The OCof- 
 fiiys possessed a large district in the barony of 
 Clonmocnoon, county of Galway, and had their 
 principal residence at a place called Tuam Catli- 
 raigh. There are several families of the name 
 in the counties of G.alway and Uoscommon. 
 
 :t-i. The Mac Manlsks, M.ac Keons, O'Com- 
 iiiins, and O'Eonans, clans in Roscommon. 
 
 Shortly after the English invasion, AVilliam 
 dc Buriio, and other Anglo-Norman leader?, led 
 their forces into Connaught, and after fierce 
 contests with the O'Connors and other chiefs, 
 got possession of a considerable portion of the 
 country. From Richard, or Rickard de Burgo, 
 a gie.at part of tlie county of Galway got the 
 name of Clanrickard, whicli comprLsod, accord- 
 ing to Ware, the baronies of Clare, Dunkellin, 
 Lougliaea, Kiltartan, Athenry and Leitrim. 
 The de Burgos became in time the most power- 
 ful family in Connaught, and were its chief 
 governors under the kings of England. They 
 were styled Lords of Connauiiht, and also be- 
 came Earls of Ulster ; but on the death of Wil- 
 liam de Burgo, Earl of Ulster, in the thirteentli 
 century, and the marriage of liis daughter, 
 Elizabeth, to Lionel, Duke of Clarence, son of 
 King Edward III., ins titles passed into the 
 royal family of England, by whom they are still 
 held. In the beginning of the fourteenth 
 century, the heads of the two princip.al branches 
 of tlie Burkes took the Irish name of .Mac 
 William, and adopted the Iri.sh lanuuage and 
 customs. Sir AVilliam, or Ulick Biirlie. the 
 progenitor of the E.arlsof Clanrickard, had groat 
 po.sse.ssions in Galway and Roscommon, and 
 took the name M.ae William Eighter, and Sir 
 Edm\ind Burke, called Albanach, took the 
 name Mac William Oughter, had large posses- 
 sions in Mayo, and was ancestor of the Earls of 
 Mayo. 
 
 In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries seve- 
 ral English and Welsh families settled in the 
 town of Galway. and other parts of the county, 
 the iirincliial of whom were the Athys, Ber- 
 minghams. 15l.ake<i, Bodkins, Brownes, Blundcls, 
 I)>-aiies, Dillons, D.arcys, Frenches. Joyces, Klr- 
 wan^i. Lynches, Lawiesses, Morrisses, Martins, 
 Whites, &c. It is to bo observed that the O'- 
 
TOPOG HAPHICAL APPENDIX. 
 
 739 
 
 Loinsighs, who are also called Lynch in Eng- 
 lish, are also an Irish clan. The O'Ki-rovaus 
 are also an Irish clan, and tho name luis been 
 anglicised to Kirwan. Tho Mac Dorchys, or 
 O'Dorchys, Avere chiel's in I'artry, in the county 
 of Mayo, and also in Galway, and in:iny of them 
 anglicised the name to D'Aroy, and were con- 
 sidered to be of English descent. The Martins 
 of Galway were considered by O'Brien. Val- 
 lancey and others, to be of Firbolg origin, de- 
 scended from the old race of the Fir Doiiinians, 
 so frequently mentioned in the old annalists 
 under the name of Mairtinigh, anglicised Mar- 
 tineans. Tlie Joyces, or de Jorses, came from 
 Wales to Galway in the reign of Edward I., and 
 having formed alliances with the O'Flahertys, 
 chiefs of West Connaught, got large possessions 
 in Connemarra, in the barony of Koss, and 
 towards the borders of Mayo, a large territory, 
 which is still called Joyces' Country, where 
 they are very numerous to the present day, 
 and many of them remarkable for ioimense 
 strength of body and gigantic stature. 
 
 FOREIGN BACES THAT TOOK GAELIC SURNAMES. 
 
 Many of the Danish settlers are considered to 
 have taken Irish surnames, and prefixed Mac to 
 their names, as did many of the Anglo-Norman 
 and English families in early times ; but it does 
 not appear that any of those settlers adopted the 
 prefix O, as that was confined chiefly to the 
 Milesian families of the highest rank. The fol- 
 lowing Anglo-Norman or English families 
 adopted Irish surnames : The de Burgos, or 
 Burkes, of Conn.aught, took the name of Mac 
 "William, and some of them that of M ic Philip ; 
 the de Angulos, or Nangles, of Meath and Ma}'0, 
 chansred the name to Mae Costello; the de 
 Exeters of Mayo to Mac Jordan ; tho Barretts 
 of Mayo, to Mac Wattin ; the Stauntons of Mayo, 
 to Mac Aveeley, in Irish Mac-an-Mhilidh. signi- 
 fying the Son of the Knight; the de Bermfug 
 hams of Connaught and otlier places, to Mac 
 
 Feorais, or Peorais, signifying the son of Pierce, 
 from one of their chiefs; the Fitzsimons of tho 
 King's County, to Mac Kuddcry, signifying the 
 son of tho Knight, from llidirú, a knight; the 
 I'oers of Kilkinny and "W.aterl'ord, to Mac 
 Shere; the Butlers, to Mac Pierce; the Fitz- 
 geralds lo Mac Thomas and Mac Maurace ; tlio 
 de Courcys of Cork, to Mac Patrick ; the Barrys 
 of Cork, to Mac Ailam, and many others in like 
 manner. Many of the Milesian Irish, on the 
 other hand, anglicised their names, of which 
 numerous instances have been given in tlie 
 course of this topographical appendix, and many 
 of tliem have so translated and twisted their 
 surnames, that it is extremely dillicult to detcr- 
 inini' whctlur those families are of Irish or 
 English descent. In the reigns of the Ilonrys 
 and Edwards many penal acts of parli:iment 
 were jjassed, compelling the ancient Irish to 
 adopt English surnames, and the English lan- 
 guage, dress, manners an<l customs, and, no 
 doubt, many of the Milesian Irish took English 
 surnames in those times, to protect their lives 
 and properties, as otherwise they forfeited their 
 goods, and were liable to be punished as Iri.«h 
 enemies. In modern times, many of the old 
 Irish families omit the O and Mac in their 
 surnames, an absurd practice, as such names 
 lose much ot their euphonious sound by the 
 omission, and are neither English nor Irish ; 
 and It may be observed that none of the 
 Scotch Macs omit that national designation, or 
 metamorphose their names as the Irish hava 
 done. Without O and Mae, the Irish have no 
 names, according to the old verse : 
 
 " Per O, atque Sfac, vei'os cognoscis Hibernos 
 His duobus demptis, niiUus Hibernus adest." 
 
 " By ^lac and O. yon'll always know, 
 True Irishmen, they say : 
 But if they lack both O and Mac, 
 No Irishmen are they." 
 
 Ar na clirlcliniigbadh i g-catbair Briicluinne, laimh re li- 
 Eboracli Nuadb, le Seagbau, Mac Dombnaill, mbic Thomas 
 Oig na bb-Foradb Ui Mhagbtbambna, o Choill Bbeitbne, láimb 
 re SHabb Grott ris a raidbter an Gbaillte Mbor aniu, ar an 
 t-ccbtinbadb la deg de mbi luil, is au m-bbadbaiu d\cis an 
 Tigberna 1857 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Aboo, the war-cry, Preface xl. ? 
 
 
 Ariamar, 
 
 . 2.>S 
 
 Adauian, Saint, . 
 
 . 40 S, 482 
 
 Aeilgar. 
 
 . 39-! 
 
 Á.edii Kuadb, 
 
 244 
 
 " MacAnmirech, 
 
 . 445,453 
 
 " Slanni, . 
 
 . 461 
 
 " Uaridnaeh, . 
 
 4GT 
 
 " Ollan, . 
 
 . 466 
 
 •' Oirnighe. . 
 
 489 
 
 " Fiiin-liath, 
 
 . rjl5 
 
 " Albanach, . 
 
 547 n 
 
 " OKeil, 
 
 559 
 
 " Caenih, 
 
 . 862 71 
 
 Acdhs, the three, 
 
 . 404 
 
 Aengus, OU-Buadach, 
 
 . 227 n 
 
 '• Oll-Muoaidh, 
 
 . 227, 2->S n 
 
 Ollauih, 
 
 . 257 
 
 " Tuirmcch, 
 
 257 
 
 " (driven IVom Muster bi 
 
 Eogau 
 
 Mor,' . 
 
 . 809 
 
 " MacNadfraech, (baptize 
 
 d by St. 
 
 Patrick,) 
 
 4()T, 431 n 
 
 Aeifl, íEva,) . 
 
 . 2T:), 620 n 
 
 Aei, 1 lona,) the Island of. 
 
 4-11 11, 444 n 
 
 Agneis, 
 
 . 410 
 
 Aiicch-ncid, 
 
 . S3, .'547 
 
 Aircliinnacli, . 
 
 . 466 
 
 Aileran, Saint. 
 
 477 n 
 
 Alba, (Scotland,) 
 
 . 373 
 
 •' Iriih invasion of, 
 
 877 
 
 Albanactiis, . 
 
 12S, 874 
 
 Alldor^'oid, (killed by Ollanih 1" 
 
 odia,) . 231 
 
 Altnhii, or Almhain, (Finn's for 
 
 tress,) . 346 n 
 
 Alf'cd, King, pedigree of, Prcfa 
 
 :e, Ix-vii 
 
 Anielanus, the Danish chief, 
 
 .512 
 
 Aniirghin, . 
 
 177, 19.S 
 
 Anscfm, i^aint, 
 
 393 
 
 Andii, isee Usnacli.) 
 
 
 Anmlri. 
 
 . 4-14 
 
 Arciibishops of Ireland, list of, 
 
 93 
 
 Arcch Februadth, . 
 
 . 17S 
 
 Ard liigha, 
 
 2114 ■» 
 
 Ard-lemnacta, battle of, 
 
 . 210 
 
 Ardan, i see Usnach.) 
 
 
 Ard-Nemidh, (now Great Isl 
 
 ind, Cork 
 
 harbor,» 
 
 83, 119,809« 
 
 Ard-Macha, inow Armagh,) 12.S 
 
 496, 499, 51 6, .518 
 
 Armagh, the Book of. 
 
 412 
 
 Art I in lech, 
 
 . 237 
 
 " the Second, . 
 
 241 
 
 " Aeinfcr, (the Solitary.! sor 
 
 1 of Conn 
 
 of the llundred Battles, 
 
 213 
 
 Argedmar, . 
 
 . 242 
 
 Arinorli'a, Preface x.xiii. n. 
 
 
 Arthur, King, Preface xxv. 
 
 
 Asi^aroo, 
 
 214 n 
 
 Alh-cliatli, (now Dublin,) S3, 3 
 
 10, 508, 534, MS, 
 
 
 56i;, 5s4, 627 n 
 
 Ath-diath Mcdraide. (now Clor 
 
 in"H bridge, 
 
 nt iir Galway,) . 
 
 , 88» 
 
 Ath BiiidheTlactga, (Yellow F 
 
 ord,) battle 
 
 of, ... 
 
 . 587«. 
 
 Athacli Tuatha, . . . .291 
 
 Ath Boroinh.'», (at Killaloe,) . . 44i 
 
 Atli Scnaid, battle of, . . . 486 n 
 
 Ath -Hag, battle of, . . .490 
 
 Ath-luain, (now Athlone,) . . 562 
 
 Attendants of Irish Sovereigns, . 354 
 
 Baedan, .... 44(5,444 
 
 Baethin, Saint, .... 427, 478 
 Banba, .... SU, 141, 193 
 
 Beothach, . . ... S3 
 
 Benn-Edar, (now Hill of llowth,) . 116 
 
 Benen, Saint, . 411,412 w, 419 
 
 Berngal, . . . . ,234 
 
 Bcalcu-Brofni, .... 274 
 
 Becan, Saint, . . . 438, 554 
 
 Bede, the Vevicrable, Preface xxis. n 375 
 
 Belach-Liicadi, ( now Lowhid, Co. Clare,) 441 
 Belach-Fcli, battle of, ... 486 
 
 Belach Datlii, battle of, . . 445 and ra 
 
 Belach Munagh, battle of, . . 526 
 
 Belach-Cro, battle of, . . . 48Sn 
 
 Bertus, .• ... 480 
 
 Bcnnchor, (now Bangor,) . . . 479 n 
 
 Bladth, 191 
 
 Blathnaid, .... 282,284 
 
 Bladnia, i now Slieve Bloom, Kings Co.,) 457 
 Blathniac, . . , . .469 
 
 Blethin ap Conan, . . . 192 
 
 Birra, mow Birr, ' battle of, . . 443 
 
 Boroinha, Boroimhe, Anglice Boru,) 303 ?i,4Sl M 
 " Brian, (see Brian Boroimhe.) 
 " Laighen, .... 416 
 Borenn, . ... 4S7 
 
 Bishops of Ireland, list of, . , 94 ?( 
 
 Bratha, . , . , , 179 
 
 Braen, ..... 586 
 
 ]5rann-Duldi, .... 892, 406 
 Brendan, > or Brainnon,) Saint, . 432,443 
 
 Breogan, . . . . 177, 179, 191 
 
 Breogan, tower of, . . . . 195 
 
 Brelions, Preface xxxviii. n, Ixi. n. 
 
 Bresigh 237 
 
 Brescal Brcc, .... 2."'5 
 
 " Bo-diliadh, . . . 262 
 
 " Son of Diarmnifl, . . . 4í>9 
 
 Brian Boronilia, or Boroimhe, 549, 563, 563, 575 
 
 Britain, .... .88 
 
 '■ Mael 127, 190 
 
 Britjiin, invasion of, by the Scots and 
 
 Picts, . . . , 8S1 
 
 Brighitt, Saint, . . 42.'5, 444, 468 
 
 Bniighin-da-Cogadh, Ijattle of . 464 
 
 Brigantes, . ... 191 
 
 Brugh, . . . . 856 re 
 
 J5uelianan, ((pioted,) . . . 877 
 
 Buikedh Brugh, ... 330 
 
 • ^ 
 
 Cambrcnsis, Preface xxiv. v, (quoted,) di- 
 
 vl.^ion of Ireland, ... 84 
 
 Camden, (quoted,; Preface xxvl., xli. 
 Cambria, .... 128,874 
 
INDEX. 
 
 741 
 
 312 
 476 
 292 
 3G0 
 443 
 
 215 
 
 440 
 508 
 
 3T6 
 
 . 35S 
 
 122» 
 
 432 and n 
 
 203 n 
 
 2C3 n, 4T3 
 
 2i)5 n 
 
 45;) ii. 
 
 458 n 
 
 Caelbacli, .... 367 
 
 Caeinhan, Saint, .... 4i5li 
 Caein, Inis, .... 495 
 
 Cainuecli, ..... 404 
 Cainiin, Saint, .... 434, 4iO 
 Cannice, Saint, (.see Cainnech,) 
 Coinncll, ..... 
 Cam Oonaill, battle of . 
 Carbrl Oat-Konn, .... 
 '• Liticar, 
 
 " Crom, .... 
 
 Cath Finn Tragha, (battle of Ventry,) 
 
 Pi-elacc xlvi. 
 Cathluan, ..... 
 Cathaeir Mor, 255, 303, list of bis sons 
 Catbach, (sec St. Finlan.) 
 Carthacb, ancestor of Mac Carthaigh of 
 
 Desmond, . . . 590 n 
 
 Carthach, Saint, • . . 459, 473 
 
 Carn-Fcradaig, (now Knockany,) battle 
 
 of, 
 
 Casan Linni, (now tbe Lagan,) battle of, 
 
 Caisel, (now Cashol,) . — ; 
 
 Oacilti Preface, iii. 
 Csesar, (quoted,) 
 Cemeteries of the Irish kings, 
 Cinibri, . 
 
 Cluan Fert.a, (now Clonfort,) 
 Claana Degaidh, . 
 " Kudraide, 
 Clidna, ^Glandore,) 
 Clocbar Desa, (now Cloghcr,) 
 Clonard, College of, 
 Cluain-ilac-ííois, (Clonmacnois,) 94 n, 594, 590 n 
 the book of, . 412 
 
 Clontarf, battle of, . . 500 and 582 ?i 
 
 Coirr-chleirech, . . . 452 n 
 
 Coigi, ..... 84 
 
 Coruiac Cas, ancestor of the clans O'Brien, 
 
 Mac Xamara, and Mac Clanchy, &;c. 816 
 " Mac Art, . . 320, 350, 355 
 
 " Ul-Fad.a, . . 328, 329 to, 340 
 
 " Mac Culinain, Preface x^ái. 7i, 519, 524 
 
 527 
 
 " Conlinsas, . . . 267, 278 
 
 '• Mac earthy . . . 005 
 
 Corb Ulum, .... 292 
 
 Couaiiig, ..... 125 
 
 Beg Eglach, . . .240 
 
 Collas. the three .... 303, 306 
 
 Uoucobar, (Connor, ~i 207, 272, 277, 447, 49S, 515 
 
 Abradh Kuadh, . . .289 
 
 Corc.ach, (Cork, burned by the Danes . 5o4 
 
 Corca Duibni, (now C'>rc,iguiny,Co.Kerry,) 251 n 
 
 Core, ancestor of the O'Connors Curcom- 
 
 roe, and OXochUns, of Barren, Co. 
 
 Clare, . . . 269 », 333, 370 
 
 Corca-Lnigbe . . ISO ?;, 244 >i 
 
 Conmac, ..... 209 
 
 Conlaech, . . . . .279 
 
 Conari Mor, ancestor of the Ernaans of 
 
 Munster, . . . 280 n 
 
 " ancestor of the Gaels of Alba, . 313 
 Conn of tlie Hundred Battles, 291, 308 ; 
 
 his partition of Ireland, . . 309 
 
 Connaclit, (Counaugbt,, I division of . 88 
 
 Conall, kingof the Dal-Kiada, . . 444 
 
 " Clogach, of the Bells, . 454 
 
 " son of Suibni, . . . 404 
 
 " Crcmthani, . . . 420 n 
 
 " Collamracb, . . . 2')0 
 
 " Kearnach, . . 274 
 
 " of the Swift Steeds, . 309 n 
 
 Conmael, first king of the race of Eber, 220''» 
 
 Connla 255, 814, 342 
 
 " Cru.'.'idh-Ke!gach, . . 253 
 
 Congal Claringnech, . . . 262 
 
 " Clnen, . . . 463,471 
 
 Congal Kenn Maghair, 
 
 •• the third, 
 Comgal, Saint, 
 C'oiiuian, Saint, 
 Computation of time. 
 Coluian, Saint, 
 
 " kimidh, 
 
 " Beg, 
 Cogaran, . 
 Columkillc, Saint, 
 
 483 
 . 543 
 424 
 . 473 
 , errors in. Preface, Ixviii 
 413, 465 
 407 
 . 443 
 570 
 425, 439, 441 n, 4,51 
 458 n, 616 
 Craebh-Ruadh, (Bed Branch,) see Clanna 
 
 lludraide. 
 
 Cronan, Saint, .... 473 
 
 Crom Ciuach, the first pagan idol, . 223 n 
 
 Crom-Connaill, .... 431 
 
 Criinthanu Sciathbell, . . 214« 
 
 " the Vanquisher, . . 201 
 
 Niadh Nair, . . 289 
 
 " O'Cuinn, see Columkillo and 45S n 
 
 Crinna, battle of, . . 324 
 
 Cruithnigh, (Picts,) . . 177 n, 190, 213 
 
 " invasion of the, into Britain, . 331 
 
 Cruifl 292 
 
 Cruachain, (now Eath Crogan, Co. Eos 
 common,) 
 
 " Assembly of, . 
 CuanaLaech Liathmani, 
 Cuan Mara, .... 
 
 " Moighi, 
 
 " Slebii, .... 
 
 Cuala, . 
 Cualgni, 
 Cuchulainn, 
 Cnmin Fada, Saint, 
 Cumin, or Comaeini, . 
 Cuil-cael, battle of, 
 
 " Dremni, battle of, 
 
 266 il 
 
 418 
 
 474 it 
 
 245«, 
 
 191 
 . 191, 204 
 
 . 279, 232 
 
 484, 449, 473 n 
 
 446 
 
 464 
 
 451 
 
 Curigb, 
 Ciirnun, 
 
 llathain,! now Coleraine,) battle of, 4-52 
 
 Feda, battle of, . . 452 
 
 232 
 
 451 
 
 Cumasgacb, 
 
 481, 489 
 
 Daball, 278 
 
 Dal-Araidhe, .... 113, 505 
 Dal Kiada, . . .113, 314, 343 n 
 
 Settlementof the, in Alba, . 422 
 
 Dal-g-Cais, (Dalcassians,) . 572 and ii, 580 
 
 Dal-Fiatach, clau of . . . 203 n 
 
 Dan!i, ..... 140 
 
 Daniel, Samuel, (quoted,) Preface xxix. 
 Dari Barach, . . . . SOS n 
 
 " Dornmar, ... 309 
 
 Dalian Forgail, the king poet, . . 443,455 
 
 Darini, the tribe of, . . . 317 
 
 Dathi, 189, 394 
 
 Derborgaill, Preface xxyiii. ; her elope 
 
 meut, .... 014 
 
 Dela 84 
 
 Derdri 267,270 
 
 Dergthini, the tribe of . . . 317 
 
 Degaidh, clans of, (the Dfgadians,) whence 
 
 sprung Daniel O'Connell, . 234 n 
 
 Delbna, the seven, . . . 327 7i 
 
 Deman, king of Uladh, . . .443 
 
 Desics, the tribe of. . . 314 n, 336 
 
 Diarmaid, king of Ireland, . . . 442 
 
 the liuthful. . 4G9, 476 n 
 
 " Mac Murcadha, flight of to Ilcnry 
 
 II . . . . . . 614 
 
 Disert Diarmada, now Castle Dermott, Co. 
 
 Kerry, . . . 524, 529 
 
 Domnall, . 442, 4CS, 471, 487, 552, 602 n 
 
 Donagan, king of Lcinster, . . 535 n 
 
 Donncadh, . 400, 491 «, ti'^A n, 591 and n 
 
 Domnach Padraig, now Donagh Pat- 
 rick, ..... 551,557 
 
(42 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Donn, . . . . .178 
 
 Droiii-Ketli, convention oC, . . 443, 44i> 
 
 Droin-Sneotlia, the Book of; . 1C6, 147 n 
 
 SruQ) Kiaraiii. battle of, . . 4S5 
 
 Drimi-(la-Maii,'lie, in Kings Co^ battle of, 514 n 
 Druiils, . " . . . . 121 TO 
 
 Duacb Finn, .... 2-JS 
 
 " Lagliraeh, . . . 24-2 
 
 " Dalta Uegaidh, . . 262, 263 n 
 
 " Tensumlia, . . . 442 
 
 Dubh-Eglafs, (the Black Church,) . 456 
 
 Dubli-linn, i Dublin,» ... 504 
 
 Dubti-Lochlanuaigh, (the Danes,) 512 and « 
 Dubtbacb O Lugair, ... 410 
 
 Dael-Cladh, . .263 
 
 Dnmha Achair, the battles of, . . 442 n 
 
 Dun-da-leth-'rlas, now Down, . 4C2 n, 409 
 Dnn-bdlg. battle of, . . . 465 
 
 Dun Kethian, battle of, . . . 4G'J 
 
 Dun Del^rair, now Dundalk. battle of, 541 
 
 Dur-mhagii, now Darrow, Kings Co., 459 7i 
 
 EberScot, . 
 
 Eber, 
 
 Eber Finn, . 
 
 Ebleo, . 
 
 Ectach, 
 
 Echtigherna, 
 
 Edirs^col, 
 
 . 167«. 
 
 84, lS-3, 204, 207 n, and 212 
 
 . 177 
 
 191 
 
 32S and n 
 
 64:3 
 
 . 285 
 
 E!im Olllinnecta, . . . 236 
 
 '• Son of Conra, . . 293, 297 
 
 Emhain Maclia. now Navan Foi-t, Co. Ar- 
 magh, . 245, 216 w 309 
 " " wife of Cronn, 
 " " Assembly of, . . 413 
 Enna Argthegh, tlie Deipoiler, . 229 
 " Derg, money first struck oflf in Lis 
 
 reign, .... 229 
 
 " Aighncch, . . . .261 
 
 Eochaidh-Abra Knadh, province of . 90 
 
 " O Fliiinn. his account of the sons 
 
 ofMiledh, . . 196 and» 
 
 " Edgothach, . . 224 
 
 " Faebar-G!a.s . . . 225 
 
 " Muiiiho, (,Munster,j . 227 
 
 " Apthagh, . . . 237 
 
 " I'arkeas, . . . 240 
 
 " Fiadmuini. the Iluntc-r, . 24'J 
 
 " the Kighth, . . . 241 
 
 " Folt-lethan, . . 253 and » 
 
 " Fiedlech (the Pentarchy restor- 
 ed, . 204 and n, 283 n 
 " Aremh, . . 285 n. 
 " Aimkenn, . . *i4 
 
 " Finn 314 
 
 " son of Domn.'ill, . . 44^i 
 
 " king of Ulidia, . . . 559 
 
 " Gimath, . . . 36) 
 
 " Muigh-iiicdon, . . . S67 
 
 " king oI'Leinster, . . 890 
 
 Eogau, chieftain of Ferntnaighe, (Fcr 
 
 moy;, .... 268, 270 
 
 " Mor, .... 8()9 
 
 Eoganachta, (Eugcnians,) . 495,520,571 
 
 Er, . . . . . 8;J 
 
 Erl 80, 141 198 
 
 Eric, Preface, liv. 
 
 Erluihon, (licrcmon,) 84, 1'.8, 200, 205, 207«.. 
 
 212.217 
 Emaans, tribe of the, • 286 n, 837 n 
 
 Ethiar the Druid, ... 2ol 
 
 Ethrial, i-onof Irlal, . . 219 and ;i 
 
 Etharhi, now Aherlow, . . . 324 
 
 Ethni Ollamda, . . 830, 851 
 
 " I'athach, Preface x.\iil., 833 and n. 
 
 " mother of St. Coluuikille, . 461 
 
 Factna Faihach, .... 263 
 FathadU Airgthech, ... 302 
 
 Fathadh Cairpthoch, 
 
 302 
 
 Falbi Finn, . 
 
 . 539 and n 
 
 Ferann, . . . • 
 
 S;} 
 
 Fer-Bolgs, 
 
 . 127, 12:t 
 
 " the chiefs of the. 
 
 . 127, 129 
 
 Per Galeon, . 
 
 13-, 
 
 " Doinuans, 
 
 1:10 
 
 " More, 
 
 25^ 
 
 Ferna, now Ferns, burned by the Danes, 5 .^ 
 Fergal. ..... 4--J 
 
 Fert, now Belfast, battle of, . 473 and 11 
 
 Feigraidh, .... 541 n 
 
 Fergus Dubh dedach, . . . 3J3 
 
 " Cas-tiaclach, . . 323 
 
 " Folt-lebar, . . . 323 
 
 " the Thinl, ... 412 
 
 " the Pott, . . .410 
 
 " Korlamhail, . . . 259 
 
 " Mor Mac Erca, first king of Scot 
 
 land, Preface xxv. 
 " Mac INiigli, . . 207, 275 
 
 " Fer-da-liach, or Maeil-Iethan, ances- 
 tor of the Ma^ C.irthy, O Sullivan, O'- 
 Kceffe. and O'Callaghan, 315, 340, 571 
 
 Feradach Finn-Fectuach, . . 291, 2.»4 
 
 Fechin, Saint, . . . 475, 4TT n 
 
 Ffinh.'n, battle of, . . . 443 
 
 Feidliiiilidh llectmar, the Lcg:J . 3u7 
 
 Fenius Farsa, . . . 147, 153, 150, l-S 
 
 FeisTemrach, .... 414 
 
 Feidlimid, . . . 415, 502 and 71 
 
 Feidlin, ..... 3;t2 
 
 Fiann, the order of; Preface, xlvi. . 34;i 
 
 Fiall, . . . . . 201 TO 
 
 Fiatach Finn, . . . 292 
 
 Fiachaidh Labranni, . . . 227 
 
 " Finn Sgothach, of the Wine Flow- 
 ers, ... 230 
 Fobric, .... 255 
 
 " Fin-alcheas, . . 234 n 
 
 Tolgrach, . . . 241 
 
 " Fer-mara. . . . 259 
 
 " Finufolaidh, . . 293, 295 
 
 " Finn, . . . 204 
 
 " Suighdi, . . .314 
 
 " son of Baedan, . . 443 
 
 " the Seventh, ; . . 8b2 
 
 Fladh-mic-Aengusa, Synod of, 596 and 11 
 
 File.lh.1, iPoL-ts,i . . . 446 454 
 
 Filedhacht, 'the Poetic order.) see Filedha. 
 
 Finghin Mac Carthaigh, (^Floroace Mac 
 
 Carthy,) ... £83 
 
 Finn Mac Cumhail, (Fingal of MatPhor- 
 
 son. ) Preface xlv. . lUn, 3i^S 
 
 " son ofBratha . . 213 
 
 " Lochlannaigh, (Nora-eghans, 1 612 »< 
 
 Finacta, son of Ollamh Fodla, . 283 
 
 Finnacta Fleadach, . . . 4S0 
 
 Finnbar, Saint, . . , 460. 4Í3 
 
 Finnabair, now Fenor, . . 245 >i. 
 
 Finnau, Saint, - . 480 
 
 Fintan, or Finnen, Saint, 110 », 452, 409 »fc » 
 the Book of. 412 
 
 Fitzpatrick, . .MacGilla Patrick,) 25.5, .'>Si) 
 
 Fitz Kiistai'o, race of, . . 591 
 
 Flanri .'^liina, . , . 51S 533 n 
 
 Flalhbcrla-h, . . . 4S5. .520 
 
 Fochart, battle of, . . . 435 n 
 
 Fodia, .... SO.l 41 
 
 Foinorlans, . 116, 124._142 
 
 Foras Fea-^a ar Eirinn, . . 7;i 'i 
 
 Forbaitlc, . . . 273 
 
 Fortola. battle of, . .447 
 
 Fogartuch, .... 484 
 
 Foratian, . • . . 497 // 
 
 Four .Masters. Their account of transjic- 
 tlons between the Gaels and their 
 Invaders, to lioderic O'Connor's reign 651 n 
 
INDEX. 
 
 743 
 
 Free Clans of Thomotid, (see Saer Claana.) 
 Freuihain, now Frewin, Co. WestmoatU, 2S5 
 Fruad, .... 191, 2»4 
 
 Fursa, Saint, ... 477 
 
 Gabra, the battle of, . . . 861 
 
 LiH, battle oi; . , . 442 
 
 Gai^thlia, • . . . 17(ire 
 
 Gactliluigh, . . . 179 n 
 
 Gacidil;;! i Uaelic'i origin of, . . 190 
 
 " five dialects of, . . . 157 
 
 Gacdal, Preface .wiii. w, 150, 158, 162, 180, 1S4 Ji 
 Gaelic, (see Gaeidilgi.) 
 
 Gaedil, (theOaels,! . 150,167,107,173,507 
 Galainli, isee Milcdli.) 
 
 Gallia Lugdensis, . . . .186 
 
 Galimli, (Ualway.) ... 310 
 
 Galloglasi, Preface li. n. 
 
 Ganianraidlie, a tribe ofFer-bolgs, 266 and ii 
 Gaveliiind, Preface liv. n. 
 
 Gedlii Oll-gotliach, . . 234 
 
 Gesa, (Vows of Chivalry,) . 349 and n 
 
 Giallcaidh, .... 237 
 
 Gildas, (quoted,) Preface xxix. 
 Gilla-Comgaill, ... 559 
 
 " Padraig, . . . 580 n 
 
 " Mara falsely named King of Ire- 
 land, Preface xxv. 
 Glen-da-loch, the Book of, 456, see Preface Ixiii. 
 Glenmahain, (now Glanworth, co. Corlc,) 
 
 Convention of, . . . 535 
 
 Glen Fais, ^now Glenofaush, co. Kerry,) 201 
 " Mama, battle of, . . . 551 
 
 Gort-an oir, (now Gurtanore, co. Kerry,) 323 
 Gothi, . . . . .179» 
 
 Good, Master, (quoted,) Preface li. 
 Gradlia G:iisiii, degrees of chivalry,) 343 and n 
 Grellach-Doiaith, battle of, . .4^1 
 
 Grilfin ap Conan, ... 192 
 
 Gud, . . . . • 215 
 
 Gurguntius, King of Britain, . . 193 
 
 Hanmer, Dr. his false statements. Preface xlvi. 
 
 Hall of Mi Cuarta, . . 333 and » 
 
 Harpers, Order of. Preface sxxviii. n 
 
 Harold, King of England, . . 589 
 
 Hengist, the 8axon Chief, Preface sxxvi. 
 
 Heber, see Eber. 
 
 Heremon, see Erimhon. 
 
 Hlberr.ia, . . ... 82 
 
 Humphrey of Gloucester, (quoted,) . 1S5 
 
 Hugo de Lacv, . . . 642, 644 n 
 
 Hymn of Columkille, . 447, 450, 453 
 
 larann Gleú-fathach, . • 257 and n 
 
 larlathi, Saint, ... 420 
 
 Ibath, 127 
 
 Iinhar, . . . .533 
 
 Inber Slangi, now Wexford Bay. 81, 130, 197 
 " Skeui, now Kcnmare Elver, 115, 193 
 
 Inis-Fail, .... SO 
 
 " Saimer, .... 115 
 
 " Phadraig, . . . 497 ra 
 
 " Fitha, .... 493 
 
 '• Muredaigh, . . .493 
 
 '■ Cathaigh, Pillage of, . . 554 
 
 " Elga 80 
 
 Innis Clolhram, . • . 276 
 
 Ireland, Invasions of, before the Flood, 105 & n 
 
 Colouizations of, . . 11-3, 121 
 
 " First Kings of, . 131 and n 
 
 " Conquest "of, by the Tuatha-de- 
 
 Dananns . . . 135 
 
 " Five Dialects of the Language of, 157 
 " Heathen writers of, . 413 
 
 " Arrival of Henry the Second in, 030 
 
 " Henry's title to, . . 684 
 
 Ir, ..... 82 
 
 Irin, or Iris, .... " 
 
 Irial, the Prophet, the raths he built, his 
 
 battle.s, SiC. . . . 218, 36T 
 
 Irreligion of the Irish disproved, . 633 
 
 Ith, 18!) 
 
 lugani Mor, . . . 85, 109 
 
 " Division of Ireland by, . 243 
 
 lubar-Kinn-tragha, now Newry, . ^3 and ra 
 
 Japhet, — the Scotie r,ice traced to him, . 147 
 
 Johannes Baronius, (quoted,) . . 189 
 
 Jonas the Abbot, (quoted,) . . . 875 
 
 Juvcrnia, .... 82 
 
 Kadwallin, . . , . .192 
 
 Kellach, Saint, .... 430 n 
 Kellachan of Cashcl, . . 535, 543 
 
 Kenannus, now Kells, . . 551, 553 n, 5s6 
 
 Kenn-Coradh (Kincora), council of, 569, 6i 9 
 Kenneidi, .... 534, 533 
 
 Kenn Berr.iide, .... 273 
 Kennfaeladh, . . . 156,479,516 
 
 Kenn-selach, Enna, . . 863 and n 
 
 Kennghegan, . . . 520, 52S n 
 
 Kenn-fuald, battle of, . . . 534 
 
 Kermad Mil-beol, three sons of, . 1S2 
 
 Kermna, , . . . 85, 225 
 
 Kerball, 531 
 
 Keth, 278 
 
 Kevin, Saint, .... 461 
 
 Kiarnitt, . . . . .350 
 
 Ki.ar, ancestor of the O'Connors Kefrv, 269 
 Kiaran, Saint, . . . 424, 429, 463 
 
 Kian, ancestor of the O'Meagher, O'JIara, 
 
 &c., .... 317, .578 
 
 Kiannachta of Glengiven, . 444 7i; 5C3 
 
 Kikal, or Cical, .... 116 
 
 Kill-Becain, now Killpeacon, co. Tipperary, 439 
 
 Killdara, iKildare, ) . 4s3, 501 7i, 613 
 
 Kill Cuilinn, iKilcullen,) . . 547 ii 
 
 Kill-da-liiath,'(Killaloe.) . . .503 
 
 Kill Maighnen, (KilLmainham,) . 566 n 
 
 Kinel I arbri, . . . 479 n 
 
 " Eogain, .... 565 
 
 " Fermaic, . . . 572 w 
 
 " Conaill, . . . 540, 565 
 
 Kinaeth, . . . . . 4s5 
 
 0"Hartig.iin, . . . 81,554 
 
 Kine Scuit, (See Alba.) 
 
 Labraidh Loingsech, . 
 Laegari Lore, the Parricide, 
 
 " the Victorious, 
 
 " sonofKiall, 
 Lagenians, 
 
 252, 253 n, 256 
 
 . 250 
 
 276 
 
 401, 416 
 
 254 
 
 Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, (quot- 
 ed,) 393 
 
 Laighen, (Leinster,) division of, . 89 
 
 Lawrence O'TooIe, Saint, . . . 626 
 
 Leim Conchullain, now Loophead, . 441, 520 
 Leim Duachill, defeat of the Norwegians at, 513 
 Le Poer, Robert, . . . 593 » 
 
 Leth Mogha, . . . 405, 523 n 
 
 Lia Fail, . . . . SI jt, ]87 
 
 Liath Manchain, .... 477 
 Liathain, now Barrymore, Co. Cork, 309 
 
 Lis-mor Lismore, Co. Waterford, 471,500 
 
 Lochlainn, Denmark, Preface xiii. n. 
 Lochlannaigh (Scandinavians, or Danes,) 
 
 first arrival of . . 492 
 
 " their defeats by the Gaels, 506, 510 
 
 Lochlannach, . . . 493 n 
 
 Loch n-Echach, (Lough Neagh,) 496, 508. 505 
 
 546 
 
 Loch n Lushmagh, (Dundalk Bay,) 496, 500 
 
 " Kibii, (Lough Kee,) 496, 5o5 
 
7U 
 
 ESTDEX. 
 
 Loch Bricrcnn, now Louirlibrickland, 501 
 
 " Oirbien, now Lough Corrib, 140, 546 
 
 " Garinan (^W'^onl,^ see Inber Slan- 
 
 gi and . . . 619 n 
 
 " Eri t Lough Erne), . . . 516 
 
 Loch da-caecb, battle of^ . . 533 n 
 
 " Gabar, battle of . . . 479 
 
 Loegrius, . . . . 1-á 
 
 Lorcan OTaathail, (see Lawrence O'Toole.) 
 
 Lugaidh lardonn, .... 233 
 
 Lam-derg, . . . 21i) 
 
 La?hch, .... 24.' ;i 
 
 " Lothtinn, . . . 2.« 
 
 " Liiaigni, .... 2G'i 
 
 EiabPi-n-Derg, . . 2>7 
 
 LamfadiH . . . .301 
 
 Ellathach . . . 8lt9 
 
 * " Mac Conn, . . .819 
 
 La^a 324 
 
 " tlie Fourth, . . .421 
 
 Luigni and Laigni, sons of Erimhon, 217 
 
 Luimncch, now Limerick, . 543, 553 
 
 Macnainaras, preface, xsxi. n.. 
 M.ac -Murrogh, . . . 26S ii 
 
 " Giila i'adraig, (see Fitzpatrick.) 
 " Coill, .... 182 
 
 " Con, 319 
 
 " Clanchy, .... 321 7i- 
 
 " Awly, 322 
 
 " Allnn of Alba, . . . 322 
 
 " Csrthy, . . . .542 
 
 " Mahons. Preface, xxx. n. 
 " Sweenies, " — 
 " Shceliies, " — 
 Macha Mong Enadh, (the Eed Tresses,) 245 
 Maeiljrhenn the Bruid, . . . Sol 
 
 ilaon, (sec Labraidh Loiogsech,) 2.)1 
 
 Maclmorda, . . . 429 «, 5i;9 
 
 Maelcaba, .... 448, 463 
 
 Macdng, or Mogiic, Saint, founder of the 
 
 bishoprick of Fern'*, . . 473 
 
 Maelsechlainn, ivul'jo Malachy,) 503, 5 i8, 511 
 
 jVfoin Mor. battle ., . . . 606 
 
 Moiisou. I^liineas, calumnies of. Preface, xlviii 
 Moling, f^aiiit, .... 506 
 
 '■ ihe yellow book of, 412, see Pre- 
 face, Ixiii. 
 Molaga, the black book of, 412, see Pre- 
 face, Ixiii. 
 Molasi, Saint, . . .443 7i, 469 
 
 Morna, the tribe of, . . . 862 
 
 Morann, the collar of, . . . 296 
 
 Miiic Inis, .... 197 n 
 
 Muimni, son of Kiimhon, . . . 217 
 
 Miiini Breogan, battle of, . . 54S 
 
 Muironu, ..... 475 
 .^lullach Mixsdenn, now MuUaghmast, 877 
 
 Minister, .... 91, 518 
 
 Munemhon, who instituted "The Collar 
 
 of Gold," .... 23) 
 
 Murtherani, . . . 191 
 
 Muredach Bolgrach, . . .239 
 
 Tirech, ... 865 
 
 " Maeil-k-than, . . 482« 
 
 Murchadh, .... .505, 575 
 
 Murkertach, . . . 474, 547 
 
 " O'Loclilainn, . . 607 
 
 Music, Professors of. Preface, xx. xix. 
 
 National Eeeord.s — Book of Eights, Book 
 
 of Armagh, &c., Preface Ix and n- 
 Nar, ...... 190 
 
 Neniedh, .... 121,124,181 
 
 Kiall of the Nine Hostages, 189, 872, 39;», 893 n 
 " Frasach (of the showers), . . 431, 4^9 
 
 " Calli 500,504 
 
 " Glundubh (ancestor of the O'Xoils 
 
 of Tyrone), ... 688 
 
 " Seven sons of, . . . . 872 n 
 
 Niadh Segamhain . . . 260 7i 
 
 Niul (son of FeniusFarsa), . . 159» 
 
 Koah, genealogy of, . . . 104 
 
 Nuadath Finn-Fall, . . . .237 
 
 " Nect (from whom Maynooth 
 
 .285« 
 
 Maelsechlainn the Second, 
 Maelgiiala, . 
 Maelmacdog, 
 Magh-L''na, battle of, 
 
 " Ailbi, 
 
 " Giiillidhe, b.att!e of, . 
 Itha, 
 
 514 
 
 60(; ;i 
 
 312 and n 
 
 52ti 
 
 . 579 n 
 
 116, 180 
 
 255, 308 
 
 821 M 
 
 . 898 
 
 398 
 
 595, 003 
 
 Sleet, rthe Pl.iin of Prostration,) 223 n 
 Bolg. now Moybolguc,cos. Meathand 
 
 Cavan, . . . 293 w. 
 
 Tnredh, battles of; . . . 139 
 
 Fcmen, now Iffa and Offa East, 142 
 
 3G3 
 110, 408, 409 
 . 4T1 
 
 4i2 
 
 6)2 
 307 ii 
 
 4Gt n 
 477 n 
 
 Adair, the (ree of 
 
 " Bill, now MovlUc, 
 
 " Eath, battle of, 
 
 " Culim, battle of, . 
 Magonlus, see St. Patrick.) 
 Magnus, I Danish chief,) 
 MaT, . . 
 
 Malachy, (see Ma«lsechlalnn.), 
 Manainn, (Isle of Man,; 
 M.ancban. Saint, 
 Mains, the Seven, (see Medb.) 
 Medb, 
 
 Mida, Saint, 
 
 Midhe, (Moath,) dlvisli-iis of, 
 Mlledh Esbaini, . 
 
 " branchings of his children, 
 MIlcslus, ■ sec Miledh.) 
 Mochna, Saint, 
 
 Mochuda, Saint, (sec Carthach.) 
 Mochcllog, Saint, founder of Kllmallock, 477 
 Mogh-Corb, . . . 257, 7i 361 n 
 
 " Nuadath, (see Eogan Mor.) 
 
 took Its name),. 
 5T4"sNnbrigensis (quoted). Preface xxvi. 
 555, 6.57, 581, .98S 
 
 O'Byrne lO'Brinn), Preface xxxii. 
 
 OBarii 
 
 O'Briain, Murtough, 
 
 " Turlough, 
 
 "• Murkertach Mor, 
 
 " Donncadh (his treaty with Pope 
 
 Urban II. . . . 034 
 
 O'Cavanagh. Preface xxxii., . 25.5, 8GS n 
 
 O Carroll, . . . . 317,521 n 
 
 O'Casey, .... 317,827 
 
 O'Callaghan, .... 5-12 n 
 O Concobair. See íordelbach, and Euaidri. 
 O Connor Falghi, . . . 2 5, 308 
 
 " of Keenaght, ... 817 
 
 O'Connel, .... 52a n 
 
 O Cowhig, or Coffee . . . 321 
 
 O Cullane, (Collins,) . S21 n, 528 n 
 
 265, 2C9, 27T 
 
 432 re 
 
 80 and n 
 
 175, 1S3, 194 
 
 . 658 
 
 4C9, 473 
 
 OCnrneen, 
 OcliJi, battle of, 
 ODump-ey, 
 O Uonnell, 
 C)I)((novan, 
 ODonoghoo, . 
 ODea, . 
 O'Dowling, 
 O Dunn, . 
 O'Dwyer. 
 O'Diiscoll, 
 Odran. Saint, . 
 Odba. battle of, 
 O'Fahy, 
 0"Flalierty, 
 O'Flannerlcs, . 
 
 221 
 
 420 
 
 . 255, 808 
 
 313 n 
 
 . 321 n 
 
 870, 416 «.,571 n 
 
 539 n 
 
 36S n 
 
 2.55, 308 
 
 255, 808 
 
 18 ) 7i., 821 fl 
 
 428 
 
 467 
 
 Si4n 
 
 604 n 
 
 628 n 
 
INDEX. 
 
 745 
 
 O'FUnn, . 
 
 321 
 
 O'Gara, .... 
 
 317, 827 
 
 Ogygia, Preface, xli. n.. 
 
 83 n 
 
 O'Hara, 
 
 317, 827 
 
 O'Heyncs, 
 
 844 n 
 
 Oisin, (Ossian) 
 
 802 n 
 
 O'Koette, 
 
 29 In, 536 
 
 OKinsliellagh, 
 
 868 n, 584 
 
 Dlcobar, . 
 
 503 n, 513 
 
 Olflun. 
 
 . 546 
 
 Ollarnh Fodla, . 
 
 231 
 
 Olild, (supremacy vrrested from the race 
 
 of Ir,) . . . . .234 
 
 " Finn, ... .241 
 
 " Ani, . . . .251 
 
 " Cas Fiaclach, (bent teeth,) . 258 
 
 " Mor, .... 266,209 
 
 " Olum, . . . 812, 815 n, 318 
 
 " Molt, 417 
 
 " Flann Beg, ... 842 
 
 O'Leary, ^OXnegari.) . . . 321 
 
 O'Lyons, (O'Lialhain or O'Lehan, see Ui 
 
 Liathian,) 
 O'Maliony, . 821 n, 370, 446 n, 571 n 
 
 O'Mcagher, .... 817 
 
 O'.MiiHano, ..... 370 
 O'Muipbv, . . . . 368 ?!. 
 
 O'Neill, ^see Aedh,) 
 
 O'Nolan, .... 255, 314 n 
 OEtilv, of Brcfni, . . .449 71 
 
 O'Kyan, . . 255, 368, 529 n. 585, 7i 
 
 O'Kuairc, of Brcfni, . . 554», 59) 
 
 O'Shcehan, . . . 294n,52S 
 
 O'Slevin, ..... 559 n 
 O'Shaughnessv, . . . 344 » 
 
 Osraide, ( O.'^sory,) . . 449, 457 
 
 OToole, Preface xxxii. . . 255, 529 n 
 
 Palladius, 
 
 Pancti, battle of . 
 
 Partholan, 
 
 Patrick, ?aint 
 " Mission of, 
 " Death of, 
 
 402 n 
 
 447 
 
 83, 114, 120 
 
 874, 387, 460 
 
 401 
 
 423 
 
 " Purgatory of, Preface xliii n, 
 " Eentof, ... 499 
 
 Patron Saints, of the Gaelic tribes, . 465 n 
 
 Pembroke, Earl of, (Strongbow,) Arrival 
 
 in Ireland, . . 192, 616, G25 
 
 Physicians, ancient. Preface, xxxviii. 7i, 
 Picts, (see Cruithnigh,) 
 
 Plunk ett, race of, . . . 591 
 
 Polychronicon, . . . 398 
 
 Power, race of, .... 591 
 
 Primh-roik-g, (see Cemeteries,) 
 Psalter of Tara, (see Saltair Temrach.) 
 
 Eaghallach, king of Connanght, . . 474 
 
 Kath AeJa-iriic Brie, (now Hathhugh) 
 
 convention of . . 513 
 
 " Beg, .... 442 
 " Bresail, synod of . . 597 
 
 " Kenaid, now Eathkenny, . 455 
 Eathain, monastery of . . . . 469 
 
 Eavmond le Gms, arrival of, in Ireland, 622 
 Eent of St. Patrick, i see Patrick,) 
 Eftim Eiogra, i Eoyal EoU,) . . 898 
 
 Eectaidh Eigh-Berg, . . . 243 
 
 Eistard Crat'bach (Eichard Creagh, Pri- 
 mate of Ireland), . . . ISl n 
 Eonan, Saint, HI., . . . 477 n 
 Eos Cre. now Eoscrea, battle of, . .')46 
 lius-na Eigh, now Eossnar, on the Boyne, S57 
 Eosa, . . . . .410 
 Kothectach, .... 229 
 " the Second, (four horse chariots 
 first used in his reign,) . . 286 
 
 Eudraide Mor, iinccstor of the Eed Branch 
 Knights, (/<>;• account of his l/uttlea 
 see iiotn), .... 261 
 
 Eudraide the Second, O'Concob.'iir, . 612 
 
 Euadan, Saint, .... 112 n 
 
 Sadb, 315 
 
 Saer Clanna (free clans) of Thomond, 539 n 
 Saint Patrick, (sec Patrick.) 
 Saltair Temrach, (.Psalter of Tara,) 302, 855 n 
 Saran Saebli-derc, .... 466 
 Saradh, mother of the three Carbris, . 314 
 
 Scot Beria (Scotic tongue), . 122,130 
 
 Scota, .... 160, 177, 201 
 Scots, the, • ... 150 ,375 
 
 " inroad of into Britain, . . 3S0 
 
 Scythia, .... 150 n 
 
 Sechuasach, . ... 478 
 
 Sedna, 239 
 
 " Innaraigh of the "Wages, . 233 
 
 Sees, Episcopal, .... 597 
 Senacli, Saint, .... 445 
 
 Senchas Mor, . , • . 411 
 
 Sen-Ghoill, or Anglo-Normans, septs de- 
 
 ceuded from them, . . 650 and n 
 
 Sganlan Mor, .... 449 «.456 
 Sbannachie, .... 803«. 
 
 Simeon Brec, . . . .127 338 
 
 Sinnach Cro, .... 434 
 
 Sinainn iriver Shannon^ . . 501 
 
 Siorua the Long-lived, . . 234 235 n 
 
 Siorlarah, .... 239 
 
 Sitric the Dane, ... 534 564 
 
 Skelg Michel, now Skellig Isles, Kerry, . 200 
 Skothniamh, .... 312 
 
 Slanoll, 233«. 
 
 Slangi, Preface, sxxlii. 
 
 Slemliain, battle of, ... 464 
 
 Sliubh Mis, battle of, . . . 201 
 
 Sliabh Femhenn, (Siieve-na-man,) 227 «, 844 
 Slighe Dala, . . . . 520 « 
 
 Sligech, battle of, . . . 428 n 
 
 Sobarki, son of Ebric, . . 85, 225 
 
 Solinus, (^quoted.) Preface, xxix. 
 
 Spencer, (^quoted,) Preface, xxix. 
 
 Sru, ...... 160 
 
 Stanihurst, his ignorance of Ireland, Pre- 
 face, xxxiii. 
 Stronirbow, ( see Pembroke.) 
 Succath, I, see St. Patrick.) 
 Sulchoid, battle of, . . . .543 
 
 Tadg, (Teigne,) . . . 323, 546 
 
 Talamonach, king of Ui Liathain, now 
 
 Lyons, ..... 477 
 
 Talismans of the Tuatha de Dananns, 137 
 
 Talti, battle of, . . . . 204 
 
 '• palace of, ... 301 
 
 " fair of, ... 435 n, 518 
 
 Tanlst, Preface, Ivil. n. 
 
 Tegasg Eigh, i book of precepts for kings.) 332 n 
 Temhair, i Tara, i convention of, called by 
 
 Oliamh Fordla, 
 
 231 
 
 Temhair, battle of, . 
 
 . 555 n 
 
 " palaces of. 
 
 414 
 
 " Laegari's convention at. 
 
 . 414 
 
 " Assembly of. 
 
 418 
 
 Termon lands. Preface, Ivi'.. n. 
 
 
 Tcthor, .... 
 
 80 
 
 Ti.actiia, now Ward Hill, co. Meath 
 
 . 299/1 
 
 Tola, now TuUa, battle of, 
 
 443 
 
 Toniar, .... 
 
 . 557 
 
 Tonn Clidna, 
 
 568 
 
 Tordelbach Mor O'Concobair, 
 
 . 603 
 
 TibradiTirech, . 
 
 . 292, 309 
 
 Tighernach, 
 
 503 
 
 Tighcrnmas, (distinctions of dress) 
 
 istab- 
 
 liáhcd. 
 
 . 223» 
 
746 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Tir ConaiU, Csce Kind Cocaill.) 
 
 Tuatha-de-Dananns, 80, 12T, 185, 140, 197 
 
 " " •' kings of the, . 143 
 
 " Fidgi, . . . .215«. 
 
 Tuathal, .... 85,297,803 
 " Mael-garb, . . 427 
 
 Tuaim Greai, . . . 553 
 
 Turgesius, . . . 492,505« 508 
 
 Uar the Druid, . . . .201 
 
 Ua Congbala, the book of, . . 413 
 
 Ugani Mor, (see lugani Mor.) 
 Uladh (.Ulster), division of, • . 88 
 
 " " origin of the name, 279 n, 442 
 
 Ultan, Saint, . . . . 477 n 
 
 Usnach, the sons of, . . . 36T 
 
 Uisnech, now Usnagh Hill, Meath, 65, 30O 
 
 L'i Barchi, . . . . 529 J^ 
 
 " Bloid, . . . . 572 « 
 
 " Caisin, ..... 572 n 
 " Drona— (Sec O'Ryan. 
 " Fidghenti, now O'Donovans and O'Cul- 
 
 lanes, &c., . . .369 n, 476 n 
 
 " Kennselaigh, . . . 5S4 
 
 " Liathaiu, now Lyons, co. Cork, 124, 369 7!, 
 
 477 ii, 
 " Muredaigh — See O' Toole. 
 " Eathach (Iveragh) Kerry, landing of the 
 Danes at, . . . .49^ 
 
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