ILLUSTRATED 
 
THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 From the collection of 
 James Collins, 
 Drumcondra, Ireland. 
 Purchased, 1918. 
 
 914-163 
 it G 
 
 BOOKSTACKS 
 

THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
ILLUSTRATED EDITION 
 
 OF 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 RECAST AND ENLARGED . 
 
 The liberty for frail, for mortal man 
 To roam at large among unpeopled glens 
 And mountainous retirements, only trod 
 By devious footsteps ; regions consecrate 
 To oldest time.” 
 
 Wordsworth’s “Excursion.” 
 
 DUBLIN : 
 
 SEALY, BRYERS AND WALKER 
 
 94, 95 & 96 MIDDLE ABBEY STREET. 
 
 “ How divine, 
 
 (A. T. & C., L.), 
 
 1894. 
 
DUBLIN % 
 
 PRINTED BY SEALY, BRYERS & WALKER 
 (a. T. & C. L.), 
 
 94, 95 & 96 MIDDLE ABBEY STREET. 
 
 mrnmrn Negative # 
 h—.u.ilUes Preservative ..... 
 
'X- £ b 
 
 ID 
 
 CsL 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 tO 
 
 AY by day increasing intercourse with our 
 g^H neighbours, and the growth of correct 
 information, are making Ireland better 
 JWK known. Hence it comes that between 
 powerful England, with her piles of money, 
 and the “ Sister Isle,” where most of the people are 
 poor is taking place a diffusion of kindly feeling 
 which will of necessity lead to beneficial results, 
 especially for the latter. 
 
 Happily the old caricature depicting Erin as a 
 land where nothing is to be seen but fighting, 
 drinking, and superstition, has been taken down 
 from its high place, and it is no small satisfaction 
 that our island is now being regarded as one of the 
 most desirable places in the world to spend a holiday 
 with pleasure and profit. There is no Irish county to 
 which this inviting description is more applicable than 
 the one here submitted to the notice of the public. 
 Wicklow, no doubt, and the Killarney Lakes furnish 
 softer and more sylvan beauty, but in what is grandest, 
 as well as most exciting in landscape, above all in 
 early remains, and memories of the past, Donegal is 
 unsurpassed, while its coast offers some of the finest 
 cliff scenery in the world. 
 
 A glance at the map attached to these Excursions 
 
 438x26 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 will enable the traveller to understand their arrange- 
 ment, and at any moment to define his position. One 
 main route is traced, touching at the most attractive 
 centres, and from these there are trips to all the other 
 places of interest. By this plan the visitor can con- 
 template on the spot all that is most venerable, all 
 that is most stirring, in the history of Tyrconnell, and, 
 indeed, of Ireland, while he will be able to interpret 
 more accurately the traditions and legends of the 
 Donegal Highlands, for their poetic, if not their 
 historic interest. Then, as he wanders on, over or 
 under the cloud-capped mountain, into the lonely 
 glen, by the margin of the shining lake, Nature on 
 her throne salutes him at every turn, while he drinks 
 deep draughts of the bracing air, is made pensive with 
 the ocean’s roar, or cheered by the laugh of the 
 tumbling river. 
 
 Though most of the ground covered maybe admir- 
 ably suited to the pedestrian, strapped, Bohemian-like, 
 to his knapsack, still “ the outside car,” on the whole, 
 is not only the readiest means of progress, but deci- 
 dedly the best for seeing the country, and, perhaps, 
 for comfort also, in the absence of rain falling or 
 threatening. Railway locomotion is a luxury of 
 modern civilization that has nqt so far invaded the 
 virgin solitudes of Donegal. The heart of its High- 
 lands, is, however, pierced by two excellent narrow- 
 guage lines running from the Finn Valley Terminus 
 at Stranorlar — one through the frowning gap of 
 Barnesmore to Donegal, and the second in course of 
 construction by the winding Finn over the purple 
 heather into Glenties. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 vii 
 
 There are at present many good hotels in Donegal, 
 and, if in some places the supply is not all that could 
 be desired, the visitor will be sure to find the people, 
 civil, intelligent and kind. In the meantime let us 
 hope devoutly that the want of proper accommodation 
 in every promising resort, within its bounds, will soon 
 be met by building and fitting up substantial struc- 
 tures, without any attempt at display, but exclusively 
 for comfort. Nothing more can be reasonably ex- 
 pected, and nothing less will succeed in making a 
 sojourn in the Donegal Highlands popular. To divert 
 the golden stream of jaded brain-workers and strained 
 bread-winners in Great Britain from tedious, expensive 
 tours abroad, while within a few days’ journey of home, 
 they leave unvisited scenery incomparably finer than 
 much of what they go so far to see, is a truly patriotic 
 work. There is really nothing formidable in the 
 undertaking, so that with a little more of the generous 
 enterprise, as well as organising capacity, exhibited by 
 the gentlemen of the Irish Tourist Development 
 Scheme, its triumph may be looked upon as 
 assured. 
 
 Donegal, they say, is richer in mineral wealth than 
 any other part of Ireland. Besides its marbles, it 
 possesses rare and useful clays, such as pipeclay, 
 also iron ochre, iron, and copper pyrites, lead ore, and 
 granite in great abundance. Yet, though so encou- 
 raging a field for mining speculation, it has not been 
 fortunate enough in bringing the capitalist to its 
 borders. Mines have been opened, here and there, 
 but in every case abandoned, chiefly, it would appear, 
 from want of funds. 
 
Vlll 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The proportion of unreclaimed waste to the arable 
 land of the County, though so much as seven to 
 three, shows a considerable change for the better 
 during forty years of the near past The number of 
 acres of arable and pasture land to each person in 
 Donegal in 1841 was only 1*3 as compared with 2*9 in 
 1881. So, too, within the same period there has been 
 a wonderful improvement in the great social blessing 
 of primary education, for the figure 617 of the persons 
 over five years old, who could neither read nor write in 
 1841, was reduced to 39-8 in 1881 ; while in 1866, or 
 thereabouts, there were between eighteen and twenty 
 thousand children in the National schools, which are 
 vigorously pushed by the Catholic clergy, especially in 
 the remote districts. In 1841, the population num- 
 bered 296,448, but in 1851 it fell to 255,161; in 
 1861, to 237,395 ; and in 1891 to 185,635. 
 
 That there is in these pages too much of local 
 history for the general tourist, is perhaps true, but 
 the book is not intended for fugitive or travelling 
 readers only. It was right, therefore, in fact 
 necessary, to introduce a good deal of what may 
 have little or no interest for outsiders, but they too 
 cherish a love for the memories of native home, and 
 will be glad to know something of those proud ones 
 that cling to the Donegal Highlands, which, to say 
 the least, possess as many charms for the tourist as 
 any part of the United Kingdom. 
 
 Dublin, June, 1893. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Preface 
 
 Belleek to Ballyshannon 
 Ballyshannon 
 The Abbey Asharoe 
 The Ford Athseanni 
 The O’Donnell Castle ... 
 
 Helen O’Donnell 
 
 Kilbarron Castle ... ... 
 
 I.— Excursion to Bundoran and Lough Melvin 
 Bundoran 
 Kinlough 
 Garrison 
 
 PAGE 
 ... v 
 
 7 
 
 16 
 
 ... 17 
 
 ... 19 
 
 ... 19 
 
 20 
 
 ... 23 
 
 ... 25 
 
 ... 25 
 
 26 
 
 ... 28 
 
 II. — Excursion to Lough Derg 
 The Marty rology of Donegal 
 Pettigo to Donegal 
 Drumholme 
 Donegal 
 Donegal Abbey 
 
 Bed Hugh, the Bayard of Tyrconnell 
 Battle of the Curliew Mountains 
 The Traitor, Nial Garv ... 
 
 The Four Masters 
 
 The O'Donnell Castle at Donegal ... 
 
 The Battle of Kinsale, 1601 
 
 The Bayard of Tyrconnell dies in Spain 
 
 29 
 
 31 
 
 3 2 
 37 
 
 39 
 
 40 
 
 47 
 
 53 
 
 56 
 
 61 
 
 64 
 
 65 
 68 
 
 III.— Excursion to the Gap of Barnesmore, Ballybofey, 
 
 Stranorlar, and Butt’s Grave ... ... 72 
 
 From Ballybofey to Glenties ... ... ... 74 
 
 A 
 
2 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Dumboe Castle 
 Glen of Glenties 
 Reelan Bridge 
 
 Donegal to Killybegs 
 Banagh and Boylagh 
 Inver 
 MacSwine 
 Killybegs 
 
 Killybegs to Kilcar and Carrick 
 Fintra 
 Muckross 
 Kilcar 
 Carrick 
 
 IV.— Excursion to Slieve League 
 Carrigan Head 
 The Awark Mor 
 The One Man’s Path 
 View from the top of Slieve League... 
 A Tale of Slieve League 
 Story of the Spaniard 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ... 74 
 
 ... 75 
 
 ... 75 
 
 ... 78 
 
 ... 78 
 
 ... 80 
 
 ... 84 
 
 ... 86 
 ... 91 
 
 ... 91 
 
 ... 93 
 
 ... 93 
 
 ... 96 
 
 ... 97 
 
 ... 97 
 
 ... 98 
 
 ... 99 
 
 ... 102 
 
 ... 105 
 ... no 
 
 V. — Excursion from Carrick to Glencolumbkille, or 
 
 Sean Glean 
 
 VI. — Excursion from Glencolumbkille, round Glen 
 
 Head and Slieveatooey to Glenties ... 
 
 The Sturrell 
 The Sawpit 
 Tormore 
 
 A Hiding-place of the Pretender 
 
 Sailing under the Cliffs of Slieveatooey 
 
 View from Summit of Glenlough 
 
 The Caves of Maghery 
 
 The Pass of Glengesh 
 
 Ardara 
 
 Glenties 
 
 VII. — Excursion to Iniskeel, Portnoo, and Kilclooney 
 Iniskeel 
 
 120 
 
 126 
 
 127 
 
 127 
 
 128 
 
 131 
 
 *32 
 
 135 
 
 137 
 
 137 
 
 138 
 138 
 141 
 141 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 4 : 
 
 O 
 
 Kilclooney 
 
 VIII. — Excursion to the Rosses 
 
 The Problem of Congested Districts... 
 
 Dungloe 
 
 Crohy Head 
 
 Burton Port and the Islands 
 Glenties to Gweedore ... 
 
 Lough Finn and its Legend 
 
 Finntown 
 
 Ducarry 
 
 Lough Barra 
 
 Glenveagh 
 
 A Lineal Descendant of the McSwine Chief 
 
 Glenleck 
 
 Dunlewey Valley 
 
 The Poisoned Glen 
 
 Gweedore Hotel 
 
 Bunbeg 
 
 IX.— Excursion to Errigal, Derrybeg, &c. 
 Gweedore to Dunfanaghy 
 Bloody Foreland 
 Falcarragh or Crossroads 
 Excursion to Torry Island 
 St. Columba’s Colony in Torry 
 The Nun’s Grave in Torry 
 From Falcarragh to Muckish 
 St. Columba’s Huge Cross 
 Horn Head ... 
 
 Dunfanaghy ... 
 
 MacS wine’s Gun 
 
 Dunfanaghy to Letterkenny 
 The Master of Ards 
 Doe Castle 
 
 Owen Roe O’Neil Lands at Doe Castle, in 1642 
 The Battle of Benburb ... 
 
 Kilmacrenan 
 
 PAGE 
 ... 144 
 
 ... 147 
 
 ... 147 
 
 ... 150 
 
 ... 151 
 ... 152 
 ... 155 
 ... 156 
 
 ... 158 
 ... 158 
 
 ... 159 
 ... 160 
 
 ... 161 
 ... 166 
 
 ... 167 
 ... 167 
 ... 168 
 
 ... 168 
 
 ... 170 
 - 173 
 ••• 173 
 
 ... 174 
 
 ... 174 
 ... 1 77 
 
 ... 178 
 
 ... 179 
 
 ... 180 
 
 ... 181 
 ... 181 
 ... 185 
 ... 186 
 ... 187 
 ... 189 
 
 ... 192 
 
 ... 197 
 ... 200 
 
4 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Inauguration of the O’Donnell 
 The Rock of Doon 
 DoonWell 
 
 The Rising of Sir Cahir O’Doherty ... 
 Sir Cahir shot at Rock of Doon 
 Sir Arthur Chichester 
 Lough Salt ... 
 
 Letterkenny ... 
 
 FAGE 
 ... 201 
 ... 202 
 ... 202 
 ... 204 
 ... 210 
 ... 212 
 ... 217 
 ... 221 
 
 X. — Excursion to Gartan 
 
 Scariff-Hollis 
 Bishop Heber MacMahon 
 Birth-place of St. Columba 
 St. Columba ... 
 
 Cathac of St. Columba ... 
 
 The Derryveagh Evictions 
 
 XI. — Excursion to Rafhoe 
 
 Raphoe ..* 
 
 St, Eunan 
 Convoy 
 
 Castlefin ... 
 
 Lifford 
 
 Famous School of Clonleigh 
 
 Letterkenny to Rosapenna 
 Ruined Abbey of Killydonnell 
 Ramelton ... ... 
 
 Milford 
 The Mulroy ... 
 
 The Murder of Lord Leitrim 
 Carrigart 
 
 The Buried Mansion of Lord Boyne 
 Rosapenna Hotel 
 
 From Rosapenna to Rathmullen ... 
 Fanad of the Galloglasses 
 Portsalon or Croughross ... 
 
 ... 222 
 ... 225 
 
 ... 225 
 
 ... 228 
 ... 230 
 
 ... 23 * 
 ... 234 
 
 ... 243 
 
 ... 243 
 
 ... 243 
 ... 245 
 
 ... 246 
 
 ... 248 
 
 ... 248 
 
 ... 252 
 ... 252 
 
 ... 254 
 
 ... 254 
 
 ... 255 
 ... 255 
 ... 258 
 ... 259 
 
 ... 26l 
 
 ... 26l 
 
 ... 262 
 ... 263 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 s 
 
 The Lake of Shadows ... 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ... 264 
 
 Rathmullen ... 
 
 
 ... 264 
 
 Flight of the Earls 
 
 
 ... 264 
 
 Death of the Earl of Tyrconnell 
 
 
 ... 270 
 
 Romantic History of Mary O’Donnell 
 
 
 ... 272 
 
 The Great O’Neil, Earl of Tyrone ... 
 
 
 ... 278 
 
 From Rathmullen to Buncrana ... 
 
 
 ... 281 
 
 The Abbey of Fahan 
 
 
 ... 281 
 
 Grianan of Aileach 
 
 
 ... 284 
 
 Legend of Aileach 
 
 
 ... 286 
 
 Rye or Ryemochy’s ancient Cloister... 
 
 
 ... 287 
 
 Inishowen 
 
 
 ... 288 
 
 Buncrana 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 289 
 
 XII. — Excursion to Dunree, Gap of Mamore and Clonmany 290 
 
 Buncrana to Moville 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 292 
 
 Carndonagh 
 
 
 ... 292 
 
 Malin 
 
 
 ... 295 
 
 Culdaff 
 
 
 ... 296 
 
 Moville 
 
 
 ... 296 
 
 From Moville to Inishowen Head ... 
 
 
 ... 297 
 
 From Moville to Strabane 
 
 
 ... 297 
 
 Fort of Culmore 
 
 
 ... 298 
 
 Derry 
 
 
 ... 299 
 
 Strabane 
 
 
 ... 301 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 — *j 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 Map of Co. Donegal ... ... ... ... Title 
 
 Ruins on Devenish Island, Lough Erne ... ... 7 
 
 St. Patrick in the Act of Blessing the King and 
 
 Crown Prince of Tyrconnell ... ... 9 
 
 Ballysht* nnon Falls, Co. Donegal ... ... 16 
 
 Lough Melvin, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 26 
 
 Lough Derg, Do. ... ..; ... 34 
 
 Franciscan Abbey Ruins at Donegal ... ... 40 
 
 Figure of St. Columba ... ... ... 44 
 
 McSwyne’s Castle, Rathmullen, Co. Donegal ... 48 
 
 Donegal Castle, Donegal ... ... ... 64 
 
 Barnesmore Gap, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 72 
 
 One Man’s Pass, Slieve League, Co. Donegal ... 100 
 
 Malin Bay, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 104 
 
 Glencolumbkille, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 120 
 
 Glengesh, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 138 
 
 Portnoo, The Glenties, Co. Donegal ... ... 141 
 
 The Rosses, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 146 
 
 Ducarry Bridge, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 158 
 
 Glenveagh Castle, Co. Donegal... ... ... 160 
 
 Gweedore, Dunlewey, Co. Donegal ... ... 170 
 
 Torry Island, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 178 
 
 Doe Castle, Do. ... ... ... 190 
 
 Portrait of Owen Roe O’Neill ... ... ... 194 
 
 Abbey of Kilmacrenan, Co. Donegal ... ... 200 
 
 Doon Well, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 202 
 
 St. Eunan’s Cathedral, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal... 221 
 Home of St. Columba, Co. Donegal ... ... 228 
 
 Iona and St. Martin’s Cross, Co. Donegal ... 230 
 
 Gartan Lake, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 234 
 
 Killydonnei. Abbey, Co. Donegal ... ... 252 
 
 Mulroy Bay, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 256 
 
 Carmelite Ruins, Rathmullen, Co. Donegal ... 264 
 
 Grianan of Aileach, Co. Donegal ... ... 284 
 
 Lough Swilly, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 288 
 
 Gap of Mamore, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 290 
 
 Mintiagh’s Lake, Co. Donegal ... ... ... 292 
 
fHt H8RABY 
 OF Ififc 
 
 OTOSITY Of (HINDIS 
 
RUINS ON DEVENISH ISLAND, LOUGH ERNE. 
 
BELLEEK TO BALLYSHANNON. 
 
 N the Season, Tourist Tickets are issued by Great 
 Northern Railway Co., so that it would be 
 well to ascertain their arrangement at the 
 Amiens Street Station before leaving Dublin 
 for Enniskillen (4^ hours. Hotels : Imperial 
 and Royal . Pop. about 6,000). 
 
 After a sail from Enniskillen down Lough Erne, that 
 beautiful Irish Windermere, and passing Devenish Island, 
 furnished with the greenest of carpets, the most wonderful 
 of ecclesiastical relics, and the finest example of Round 
 Towers, the traveller lands at Belleek (Johnston's Hotel ), a 
 small village of pottery or porcelain notoriety, reposing 
 very picturesquely on the western end of the lake. The 
 first colony in Ireland was planted by Partholan, the Scythian, 
 about fifteen centuries before Christ. A favourite dog 
 (Saimer), belonging to his queen, was killed on a little 
 island near the Fall at Ballyshannon. Hence Inissaimer, 
 and river Saimer, now the Erne, which, from this point, 
 pursues a broad and rapid course westward to the sea. 
 A ford here in past times formed one of the oftenest 
 contested points in the history of the Irish wars. Towards 
 the end of the fourth century of the Christian era (379) 
 reigned Niall of the Nine Hostages, among the most 
 
8 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 celebrated of the Pagan Kings of Ireland, and founder of the 
 Hy-Niall, a Royal Line for many an age in 
 
 Tyrconneii and the i anc p His eight sons divided their 
 
 Tyrone. 
 
 number equally between the North and 
 South of Ireland, and Grianan of Aileach, on the hill of 
 the same name, overlooking the Swilly, was long the chief 
 residence of the Princes of the Northern branch of the 
 stock of Niall, who for many centuries shared the monarchy 
 of Erinn, alternately with the collateral branch, the 
 Southern Hy-Niall. From Conall one of the four, who 
 settled in * Ulster, came the race of Kinel-Conall and the 
 territory of Tyrconneii, while Eoghan (Owen), his brother, 
 was the father of Kinel-Owen, and Chieftain of Tyrone. 
 That Connall was a man far above the common sort we 
 may gather from the traditions in which his strength and 
 daring have been handed down with all the exaggeration of 
 an Ossianic tale. Having been fostered at Ben-Gulban, the 
 modern Benbulben of County Sligo, he is known as Conall- 
 Gulban. 
 
 In a.d. 432 St. Patrick came to Ireland with the message 
 of Salvation, but instead of its being duti- 
 st v p % t r * fully accepted by Carbery, another brother 
 Tyrconneii, of Conall-Gulban and one of the Royal 
 founders of the Northern Hy-Niall, “he 
 desired to slay Patrick, and scourged his household into the 
 river Seile. Whereupon Patrick used to call him 4 God’s 
 foe,’ and he said to him thy seed shall serve thy brothers 
 descendants, and of thy seed there shall never be a King.” 
 Again, when the Apostle in the progress of his mission through 
 Ulster, arrived on the Southern bank of the Erne, which 
 marked the limit of Carbery’s dominion, he characterised the 
 
oft usfugr 
 of let 
 
 umvasur flf ILUMOfl 
 
ST. PATRICK IN THE ACT OF BLESSING THE KING AND CROWN 
 PRINCE OF TYRCONNELL. 
 
 Page 9 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS.' 
 
 9 
 
 conduct of that wicked and impenitent Prince : — “ The 
 river (Erne) that God hath given thee, O ! Cairbre, saith 
 Patrick, thy share therein shall not be fruitful in regard of 
 fishing. Howbeit the share of Conall will be fruitful.” 
 Then pointing to the opposite side he promised that St. 
 Columba would render it more pleasing to God than it was 
 made now by his own prayers. These particulars are taken 
 from the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, edited by Mr. 
 Whitley Stokes, and Colgan’s interesting narrative gives 
 them still more fully. Plere we are also told that St. Patrick 
 having crossed the Erne near the fall of Asharoe ascended 
 the graceful slopes (amoenum ilium collem) of Mullagh- 
 nashee, and passing through its golden gates he 
 found himself in the fairy palace (sidh or shee) where 
 Conall-Gulban was sitting in council with his State Officers. 
 The King prostrating himself before the Apostle, begged 
 his blessing, which was about to be imparted, when Fergus, 
 son of Conall, knelt by his father's side, and asked to be 
 included. St. Patrick immediately complied, and resting his 
 right hand on the head of the young Prince, he bent over 
 it in silent prayer for many minutes ; then, with significantly 
 rapid movement, he turned his left hand on the King, and 
 raised him up. Conall felt evidently disappointed, and the 
 Saint noticing this said : — “ ‘ I can see that you are mortified 
 at the preference shown Fergus ; but do not be hurt, for a 
 youth, that is Colomb-Cille, will be bom of his (Fergus’s) 
 tribe ; (St. Columba was grandson of Fergus). He will 
 be a sage, a prophet, a poet, a beloved light, pure, clear, 
 who will utter no falsehood.’ Now, after that Patrick left a 
 blessing on the strongholds, on the estuaries, and on the 
 churches of Conall.” 
 
10 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 The next stage of the Apostle’s progress in Tyrconnell 
 was through the gap to Donaghmore, where Eugene, a 
 brother of Conall-Gulban, and well disposed towards the 
 Christian faith, had his royal residence. The success of 
 this mission is also detailed in the same Tripartite narrative 
 after the following fashion : — “ The man of God (St. 
 Patrick), determined to visit another son of King Niall, 
 whose name was Eugene, and to announce the faith of 
 Christ unto him. He therefore began his journey through 
 that gap, called Barnesmore Tire Aodha (great gap of 
 Tyrhugh), and through the territory of Magh Itha, and came 
 to the place in that country where he built the Church, 
 called Donaghmore, over which he appointed one of his 
 disciples, Dubdubaun, the son of Corcan.” St. Patrick 
 after resting on Magh-Ith in Cinel-Chonaillhe, went in his 
 chariot the next day to the stream Daol (the river Burndale). 
 The spindles of the chariot broke, were mended, and broke 
 again ; and then Patrick, addressing those with him, said^ 
 through the spirit of prophecy : — “ Do not wonder, for the 
 land from the stream northwards does not stand in need of 
 a blessing, for that a son shall be born there, who shall be 
 called the Dove of the Churches (Collum-Cille), who will 
 bless the land to the North, and it is in honour of him 
 that God has prohibited my blessing this land ” (Marty rology 
 of Donegal). Ath-an-Charpaid (ford of the chariot) is the 
 name of that spot, and it is at the mouth of the river 
 (fluminis ostium) near Lough Deil, some ten miles from 
 Raphoe, on the top of Cark mountain. From this the 
 Apostle proceeded to the Grianan of Aileach as the guest 
 of King Eoghan, whom he baptized, and then evangelized 
 the whole of what was subsequently known as Inishowen. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 1 1 
 
 Conall-Gulban met his death in an encounter with a 
 hostile tribe inhabiting a part of the present 
 origin of the County Cavan. It is recorded that Owen 
 
 O’Donnell. died of grief at the loss of his brother, and 
 was buried in the peninsula, which is 
 named after him, Inishowen. The love between the patriarch 
 brothers, Conall and Owen, was literally strong as death, 
 but it did not descend through their posterity in unruffled 
 stream. 
 
 In a.d. 811, we find Niall Caille of the Kinel-Owen, 
 taking a lead against the Danes, on whom he inflicted a 
 severe deleat at Derry, and fifty years later Hugh Finliath 
 of the same race, defeated them at Lough Foyle, and else- 
 where. The bards of the time celebrate in immortal verse 
 this brave and chivalrous Hugh, and they sing with a still 
 warmer inspiration the exploits of his gallant son, Niall 
 Glundubh (of the black knee), who after many a valorous 
 deed was killed in the prime of life. This Niall left a son 
 worthy of himself, by name Muir Kertoch, the most 
 formidable adversary the Danes yet encountered in 
 Ireland. He attacked them in their strongholds far away in 
 the Hebrides, and made his memorable “ circuit of Erinn ” 
 for the purpose of uniting all the Irish Princes against the 
 Pagan Norsemen. Beginning with Dublin, the bold Muir 
 Kertoch carried all before him as far as the Grianan of 
 Ailech, near Derry. Here he handed over to Donagh, 
 then (939) Monarch of Ireland, Sitric, brother of the 
 Danish King ; Lorcan, King of Leinster ; Callaghan, King 
 of Munster, and Conor, King of Connaught, whom he had 
 taken prisoners. 
 
 In 941, Muir Kertoch, or “the Hector of the West,” as he 
 
12 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 was now styled, had a desperate fight with the Danes at 
 Ardee, in the County Louth, where he was carried 
 off the field mortally wounded. His son and successor 
 adopted the O’Neil as his name, to perpetuate the memory 
 of his chivalrous grandfather, Nial of the black-knee 
 (Glundubh), and about the same time Caffar, the head 
 of Tyrconnell, took the O’Donnell from his grandfather, 
 Donnell, who flourished in 950. Such was the origin o l 
 the O’Donnell and the O’Neil, names afterwards so illus- 
 trious in the story of Ireland. This was the first instance of 
 a hereditary surname in the country, but the practice soon 
 after was made obligatory by Brian Boroimhe, who had his 
 palace at Kincora (Ceann Coradh) on the banks of the 
 Shannon, near Killaloe, in the County Clare, where he lived 
 in true regal splendour. In a.d. 965, he succeeded as 
 King of Thomond or Munster when he made a law that 
 every family should adopt a particular surname in order 
 to preserve the genealogy and distinctive traditions of the 
 different tribes. His own descendants began by taking 
 O’Brien, and in future each family followed the example 
 by adopting their title from a patriotic ancestor, generally 
 some chief of the tribe, remarkable for valour, piety, wisdom, 
 &c. They prefixed Mac (a son), others O (a grandson), 
 and so the interesting fact has come down in unbroken 
 succession. The O’Neil and the O’Donnell stood highest 
 among the Irish chieftains. The best and most numerous 
 bodies of disciplined troops belonged to them, and for 500 
 years, between the 12th and 17th centuries, they maintained 
 their independence, not only against the Anglo-Irish Pale, 
 but the great armies of England. The O’Neil resided at 
 Dungannon, and his succession was proclaimed near hand at 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 T 3 
 
 Tullahogue, where the stone, used for the purpose, got broken 
 and the fragments scattered about by orders of Lord Deputy 
 Mountjoy in the reign of Elizabeth. The O’Donnell had his 
 principal Castle at Donegal, but his inauguration took place on 
 the rock of Doon, near Kilmacrenan, where the ceremony was 
 invariably performed by the Coarb of Columbkille, that is 
 the successor of St. Columba in the abbacy of Derry, Raphoe 
 and Kilmacrenan. His name was O’Ferghil because he had 
 his descent from Ferghil, great grandson of Eoghan, the 
 brother of St. Columba. The history of their children is 
 from the first checkered by alterations of close alliance and 
 friendship one day, and fierce battle the next. At the same 
 time though their records present specimens of the bad, 
 sufficiently numerous and revolting, they are happily re- 
 deemed by as much of the good and noble as the reader of 
 history will find in the career of any section of the children 
 of men. By the side of their contemporaries the Lords of 
 Tyrconnell appear to advantage. Most of her chieftains, 
 in those days, who did not fall gloriously on the field of 
 battle, “died,” to use the impressive phraseology of the 
 Annals, “in the religious habit, after the victory of penance.” 
 It is from Belleek one is best able to operate on Lough 
 Erne, which contains some of the finest trout in the world, 
 running from two to twenty lbs. weight, and take the fly well. 
 The fishing on it is practically free, and so it is in Lough 
 Melvin, and all the other places of the kind in the neighbour- 
 hood, except in the river at Ballyshannon, where the 
 Angler for salmon is charged £ 4 a week, and all the fish 
 except two to be given up. In the four miles between 
 Belleek and the sea there is an incline of 149 feet in the bed 
 of the river, so that the stream in its course is broken 
 
14 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 into a series of rapids, which the pedestrian would do well to 
 explore. The car road to Ballyshannon (four and a half miles) 
 runs nearly parallel with the river, which, however, is not always 
 visible from it. At a short distance from Belleek is Cliff, 
 formerly the residence of the late T. Conolly, Esq., M.P., who 
 had extensive estates in Donegal. The ownership of such 
 enormous territorial bounds as large, or perhaps larger, than 
 a German principality of the olden time, was derived from one, 
 who starting in the race of life from a very humble home in 
 Donegal won his way to great wealth and high office. 
 
 During an election about the year 1650, one of the 
 leading parties in the Irish House of Commons, in order to 
 secure Ballyshannon, sent two of their best agents there to 
 work the constituency. They put up in a small ir n, kept 
 by Mr. Patrirk Conolly, who had a little son, William, 
 very bright, and very intelligent. The bo y, during the 
 contest, was a good deal with the two Dublin gentlemen, 
 who, finding him remarkably keen and deliberate, they 
 came to take an interest in his future. Indeed, before 
 leaving, they promised the father that if he consented to 
 part with William they would not only pay for his education, 
 but start him in life. Accordingly young Conolly made his 
 way to Dublin very soon, and calling on his kind patrons, 
 they first sent him for a few years to one of the best Grammar 
 Schools in the city, and then put him in training for the 
 solicitor’s profession. After a most satisfactory apprentice- 
 ship he was duly admitted, and rose by leaps and bounds 
 until he became the Right Hon. William Conolly, Speaker 
 of the Irish House of Commons. In all the stages of this 
 astounding professional success, he, in addition to a 
 lucrative practice, held some good Crown appointments, 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 T 5 
 
 and, being of a saving turn, he was able to purchase 
 no end of lands from the trustees of forfeited estates, 
 as well as an extensive property near his native Bally’ 
 shannon. He died about 1729, and not long after in 
 an interesting description of Loug Erne, at present in 
 the British Museum, his career is thus noticed : — “ The 
 greatest honour of the town of Ballyshannon is its having 
 given birth to the late Right Hon. William Conolly, who 
 was zealously attached to the Protestant interest and 
 liberties of the people. After having exposed himself to 
 imminent dangers in evil times, his country at length 
 raised him to the highest honours of the State, to be 
 Speaker of the House of Commons, and one of the Lords 
 Justices of Ireland, in which eminent stations he acquitted 
 himself with wisdom, integrity and zeal for many years, till 
 his death. He left after him the amiable character of an 
 affectionate father of his country, and a faithful minister to 
 his Prince.” Speaker Conolly having no children, the 
 wide domain was left to his grand-nephew, Tom 
 Conolly of Castletown. He also died childless, and 
 his widow, Lady Louisa Conolly, after enjoying the 
 property for life passed it to her nephew, Colonel 
 Pakenham, who acknowledged the rich succession by 
 assuming the Conolly name. From him all that remains 
 of this vast inheritance has descended to the present 
 Mr. Conolly of Celbridge. 
 
 About two miles farther to the right, in a field, are 
 mouldering parts of an old Castle, and on the left is an 
 ancient u dun,” called Raheen Fort. Passing the grounds 
 of Camlan Castle ( — Tredennick, Esq.), and one or two 
 other residences, the road gains an elevated point from 
 
i6 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 which there is a good view. The river courses in almost 
 majestic stream, spanned by a bridge of sixteen arches, 
 every one of which you have the satisfaction of seeing^ 
 while the town, rising abruptly from the waters edge, 
 ascends a steep hill, surmounted by two churches, whose 
 1 ‘ silent fingers point to heaven.” You now drop suddenly 
 into the Purt, as the town lying on the south side of 
 the river is called, and crossing the bridge you are in 
 the heart of 
 
 Bal^shannon (Hotels — The Imperial , The Erne . 
 
 Pop. 2,750.) — This place is a favourite halt for the lovers of 
 Isaak Walton’s peaceful sports, and rich in memories of the 
 past. Within three minutes’ walk of either of the Hotels 
 are the Falls, where the whole body of the Erne is projected 
 over a cliff of from fourteen to sixteen feet high. The scene 
 exhibits a noble crest-line of some 150 yards, down which 
 the water is distributed equally, and with a deafening roar 
 falls in a creamy sheet that contrasts finely with the black 
 basin below. But, it is hardly less interesting as a cascade 
 than a Salmon-Leal, and should the visitor hit on a time 
 when the troops of these fish, in full career, rising fourteen 
 feet in a spring, go bounding up that raging flood-gate, he 
 will be slow to come away from the spectacle. 
 
 This is Asharoe, which owes its name to an incident, 
 that heads one of the most interesting chapters in the 
 romance of Irish history. Some three hundred years or 
 more before the Christian era, three cousins, Deorba, 
 Ee-Rua, and Kimbahe claimed separately the Kingship of 
 Erinn. The Druids were called in and settled the dispute 
 by binding the three claimants in the most solemn manner, 
 to an arrangement that each would reign in succession for 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 1 7 
 
 seven years at a time. Ee-Rua after holding the Sovereignty 
 for three terms was drowned accidentally at the Falls, 
 named after him Eas (cataract), Ee (Hugh), Rua (Red), 
 now contracted into Asharoe. His body was recovered, 
 and buried on Mullagh-nashee where the Protestant church 
 now stands. Ee (Hugh) left but one child, a daughter by 
 name Macha Mongruadh, or Macha of the golden hair, 
 who, when her father’s turn to the seven years’ reign came 
 round, demanded his right, but Deorba and Kimbahe 
 refused because of her sex. Whereupon, the strong- 
 minded Macha proclaimed war, and made good her claims 
 by force of arms. Deorba was slain, his five sons were 
 banished, and the victorious queen completed her triumph 
 by marrying the only surviving co-sovereign, Kimbahe, as 
 well as by tracking the exiled sons of Deorba into their 
 hiding-place among the rocks of the distant Burren. 
 She spared their lives on condition of building her a 
 Court, which they did some two miles west of Armagh, now 
 the Navan Fort, upon foundations traced by herself on 
 the spot with one of the sharp pendants from her jewelled 
 necklace. Thus was begun the Royal Palace of Eomuin 
 (Emania from Eo a brooch, and Muin, the neck), the 
 residence of the renowned Red-branch Knights and Kings 
 of Ulster for more than eight hundred years. 
 
 From the Falls to the Abbey is a short 
 ThC *aroe ASh " wa ^> and the visitor by following up the 
 
 river will be pleased with the view of the 
 Erne estuary on a bright evening. The Abbey is the name 
 given to the little that is left of the monastery of Asharoe, a 
 house of the Cisterican Order of Monks, founded according to 
 Archdall’s Monasticon Hibernicum , in 1178 by Roderick 
 O’Canannan, Prince of Tyrconnell. But Jongelinus (in his 
 
 B 
 
i8 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 Notitiaab . Ord. Cis .) says that high authorities set down its 
 foundation at 1188, while the Annals of Boyle give 1184, and 
 this last date has been adopted by the Four Masters, who 
 mention the fact as follows: — “The monastery ofAssaroe 
 was granted to God and St. Bernard by Flaherty O’Muldory, 
 Lord of Kinell-Connell for the good of his soul.” The build- 
 ing has been so badly preserved that a single lineament of what 
 it undoubtedly was in the days of its splendour can hardly 
 be traced. One of the sidewalls, however, is still standing, 
 and a part of the western gable, which, when joined to the 
 enduring reverence of the people for the place, prove con- 
 clusively that it, and not Inis-Samer, is the original site, 
 How cold and lonely the Abbey Asharoe now looks is 
 pathetically described in the following lines : — 
 
 4 ‘Grey, grey is Abbey Asharoe by Ballyshannon town, 
 
 It has neither door nor window, the walls are broken down ; 
 
 The carven stones lie scattered in briar and nettle-bed ; 
 
 The only feet are those that come at the burial of the dead. 
 
 A little rocky rivulet runs murmuring to the tide, 
 
 Singing a song of ancient days in sorrow, not in pride, 
 
 The bore-tree and the lightsome ash across the portal grow, 
 
 And heaven itself is now the roof of the Abbey Asharoe.” 
 
 This is the picture as drawn by a native artist, and if the 
 reader be not already acquainted with “ Laurence Bloomfield 
 in Ireland ” and other “ occasional poems ” by the same 
 author, he is a loser, for there are few who sang in so sweet 
 or so pure a strain as the late William Allingham. Elsewhere 
 he writes : — 
 
 44 And if the Lord allow me, I surely will return 
 To my native Ballyshannon, and the winding banks of Erne. 
 
 Your mountains are so sweet when the days are long and sunny, 
 When the grass grows round the rocks and the whin-bloom smells 
 like honey ; 
 
 But the winter’s coming fast, with its foggy, snowy weather, 
 
 And you’ll find it bleak and chill in your hills among the heather.” 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 19 
 
 The ford Athseanni, or ancient Ballyshannon, was 
 always regarded as the key to Tyrconnell, and consequently 
 the O’Donnell had his strongest keep here. As far back as 
 1010, Brian Boroimhe (Borii) forced the Northern Hy-Niall 
 to acquiesce in his sway over the whole of Ireland. But the 
 proud spirit of Ulster did not long submit to Dalcassian 
 ascendancy, and accordingly Donal O’Loughlin, or 
 MacLoughlin, a representative of the Kinel-Owen, marching 
 from Aileach with his formidable battalions bore down on 
 the palace of Kincora, which he took after a stubborn 
 resistance, and the proud Boroimhe (Boru) had to sign his 
 own deposition from the Supremacy, which cost him so much 
 blood and treasure. This humiliation sank like iron into 
 the soul of his son, Murtough O’Brien, and to wipe out the 
 disgrace he appealed to the men of Thomond, who with 
 contingents from other parts of the South, answered to his 
 call. At the head of this tremendous array Murtough crossed 
 the ford of Ballyshannon into Tyrconnell, wasting property 
 all along the line and taking a true Dalcassian’s revenge on 
 the Grianan of Aileach, which was utterly wrecked, and its 
 stones brought to Limerick, where they were used in 
 enlarging the O’Brien Castle. This raid, however, did not 
 extinguish the supreme authority of Donal O’Loughlin, who 
 vigorously retained the monarchy of Erinn till his death in 
 1121. The contest between the Northern and Southern 
 
 Chieftains was never regularly fought out, though it lasted 
 
 - 
 
 for half a century. 
 
 The O’Donnell Castle. — Ballyshannon was also the 
 chief point in the contests of the English with the 
 Northern Chieftains. In 1597, Sir Conyers Clifford with 
 twenty-two regiments of foot, and two of horse appeared 
 
20 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 suddenly on the south side of the ford. Having moved* 
 over, he established his head quarters in the monastery of 
 Asharoe, and laid siege to the O’Donnell fortress, which,, 
 with its slender garrison of 80 men, was on the point 
 of capitulating, when the warriors of Tyrconnell came 
 to their relief. At once the tide of war rolled back and 
 Clifford, though reinforced by a train of artillery sent 
 round to him by sea from Galway, was so pressed by the 
 O’Donnell’s picked men that he had to retire. Before the 
 break of day one morning, he effected a retreat a little above 
 the Falls, where many of his soldiers were caught in the 
 strong current, and carried down the cataract. In the settle- 
 ment between Rory O’Donnell and James I. of England in 
 1603, Ballyshannon with one thousand acres were reserved 
 to the King, and from this time the O’Donnell Castle often 
 changed masters until 1652, when it was captured and 
 demolished by the Earl of Clanrickarde. Not a vestige of it 
 is now to be seen save a piece of the old wall, incorporated 
 with some back building, attached to the premises of Mr. 
 Stephens. 
 
 Helen O’Donnell. — It seems that profuse hospitality was 
 traditional in the family of Tyrconnell’s Chieftain, and in 
 none of his numerous residences was it dispensed more 
 freely than at Ballyshannon, where the royal cellars were 
 stocked with the best and rarest wines the Spanish vineyards 
 could yield. The O’Donnell’s coming there was always 
 heralded by flying his ancient flag from the battlements, and 
 the castle was then hardly eve? without a party of distin- 
 guished visitors. The days were generally spent in hunting 
 the red deer in the neighbouring forests, and the evenings 
 devoted to feasting and music. On one of these occasions 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 21 
 
 all the Northern Lords were gathered to confer with 
 their head on keeping the English out of Ulster. 
 Shane O’Neil, Tyrone’s proud master, was also present as 
 a suitor for the hand of O’Donnell’s fair daughter, Helen, 
 whose praise got noised throughout the land. All the 
 best in the blood of Ireland’s chiefs made advances, but 
 her choice had just fallen on Fermanagh’s gallant leader, 
 Reginald Maguire. He was a chivalrous youth of noble 
 presence, who moved in the highest circles on the Continent, 
 where he had been educated, and held an appointment in 
 the Spanish Court. On his father’s death he came home to 
 rule Fermanagh under the suzerainty of the O’Donnell, and 
 thus learned to know Helen who had now consented to 
 become his wife. He was among the great ones who thronged 
 the Castle of Ballyshannon on the occasion of this memor- 
 able reunion, and surpassed them all in princely bearing. 
 The O’Neil, on arriving, communicated his intentions 
 to the chieftain, who frankly but firmly told him that his 
 daughter had been quite recently betrothed to the Maguire 
 of Fermanagh, who seemed worthy of her in every way. 
 The spirit of the O’Neil was troubled, and from time to 
 time during the stay his jealousy knew no bounds. This was 
 especially the case whenever he encountered on the terrace 
 his more fortunate rival. He grew desperate, and on the 
 spot registered a vow to make the young Princess his own 
 at any cost. His plan was quickly framed, and to be carried 
 out at the first favourable opportunity that offered. This 
 happened on the day fixed for closing the present round of 
 festivities, when her betrothed arranged with Helen that 
 he would retire as soon as possible after the stirrup-cup, 
 to join her outside for a long and affectionate parting. 
 
22 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 Accordingly at a moment when the revelry was at its highest 
 the Maguire withdrew from the banquet-hall, unobserved as 
 he thought, and taking with him Helen’s small harp 
 as he passed through her apartments, he went out into 
 the garden. “ O ! Reginald,” she exclaimed, “ why have you. 
 been so long in coming — let us go walk by the water,” 
 and unlocking a secret door in the wall, she led him on to 
 a gravelled path that followed the windings of the lough in. 
 the direction of Belleek. It was an evening in Mid- 
 summer, and the sun still hot and bright, shot its rays 
 down upon the green landscape in thick bars of gold. The 
 young people, bounded rather than walked, quite oblivious 
 of the fact, and quite unconscious of their steps being dogged. 
 They now reached a bend in the shore, fringed by a thick 
 clump of timber, and finding the place lighted up with a glow 
 from the West, they entered and sat down on a bank of 
 soft turf. “What a bower of roses,” remarked Reginald, 
 as he glanced around, “ and how delicious this balmy air ! ” 
 Then unfastening the harp, and handing it to Helen, he 
 asked her to sing. Having adjusted the scale to her compass, 
 she replied — “Yes, Reginald, I will sing you a few stanzas,” 
 and awakening a swell of the softest notes she burst forth 
 into one of those airs that touch the tenderest chords in 
 the Irish heart. 
 
 When the last sounds died away, Reginald whispered : — 
 “ Helen, you have surpassed yourself ; but do you hear there 
 is some tramping of feet behind us?” She listened, and in 
 her great terror clung to Reginald. O’Neil now stood before 
 them, and pointing to the lady, he ordered his heavy troopers 
 to seize and carry her off. Maguire, springing to his feet, with 
 Helen in the grasp of his left arm, and holding his sword in. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 2 3 
 
 the right hand, he slashed furiously at his assailants. In an 
 instant, however, a huge dagger was plunged into his heart, 
 and he rolled at the feet of his beloved, who flung herself 
 upon the body still warm with a life that was ebbing fast. 
 The murderers tearing the prostrate figure from the bleeding 
 breast of their victim, bore her away with fleet horses that 
 were in waiting, and in due time she was safely lodged in a 
 tower of Dungannon Castle. Her father at the head of his 
 clansmen, marched rapidly into Tyrone, and cutting his way 
 to Dungannon, the fortress of its false chieftain, thundered 
 at the gates. The O’Neil, in the meantime, having in vain 
 exhausted all the resources at command to make his offer of 
 marriage acceptable to the captive Princess, easily surrendered 
 to the father’s summons, and gave her up to be brought 
 back in triumph to what was lately a brilliant and happy 
 home. But the world had no longer any joys for her, and 
 now that the light of her life was so suddenly and so 
 violently put out, she resolved to spend what remained of it 
 in seclusion and prayer. 
 
 Kilbarron Castle — Some four miles from the Falls, on 
 a cliff overhanging the sea, stands Kilbarron Castle — “ An 
 ancient fortress of the O’Clerys, renowned in their day for 
 skill in science, poetry and history” (Murray). Three of the 
 Four Masters were members of this illustrious family, and the 
 fate of one of these three, Peregrine or Cugory O’Clery, we 
 learn from the Records of an Inquisition held at Lifford in 
 May 1632, where after mentioning his name it is added — 
 “ that being a mere Irishman, and not of English or British 
 descent or surname, his lands were forfeited to the King.” 
 It was thus the profound scholar, and the last of the Lords 
 of Kilbarron was expelled from his ancient heritage, and 
 
24 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 driven to live on the charity of his friends. He died in 1666 
 in County Mayo where he received an humble shelter, and 
 left a will from which an extract is worth quoting: — “I bequeath 
 the property most dear to me that ever I possessed in this 
 v.'orld, namely, my books, to my two sons, Dermott and John. 
 Let them copy from them without injuring them, whatever 
 may be necessary for their purpose, and let them be equally 
 seen and used by the children of my brother Carbry, as by 
 themselves . . . and I request the children of Carbry 
 to instruct their children.” Not far from the Castle is all 
 that has survived of the old Church of Kilbarron, which has 
 given its name to the important parish where Ballyshannon 
 is situated. Its foundation is attributed to St. Columbkille 
 himself about 544, and the interesting circumstances which 
 led him to erect it are given by his kinsman Manus O’Donnell 
 in his well-known life of the'Saint. A relative of St. Columba, 
 by name St. Barrann, a descendant of Conall-Gulban, was 
 appointed to the charge of this Church, and he is commemo- 
 rated in the Martyrology of Donegal at the 21st of May. 
 The student of Irish history will, no doubt, have food for 
 melancholy reflection in wandering among these ruins ; but 
 he will also have something to cheer him in the contemplation 
 of the glorious prospect spread out before his vision. 
 
1. — EXCURSION TO BUNDORAN AND LOUGH 
 MELVIN. 
 
 E Railway Station at Ballyshannon 
 is close to the bridge, and thence 
 to Bundoran (4 m.) by train does 
 not take many minutes. Should 
 the luxury of an outside car be 
 d, the visitor will soon find himself 
 emerging from the narrow street of the Purt, and pursuing 
 his way over a road, which has nothing in its immediate 
 neighbourhood to interest one, except the striking combina- 
 tion of sea and mountain in the distance. Down amidst 
 a waste of sand-hills on the right is the crumbling old 
 parish church of Innismacsaint, the site of which is supposed 
 to have been an island before he drifting of the sand. 
 Next comes 
 
 Bundoran (Hotels : — Sweeny's, Hamilton's , the Coterie), 
 u the great North-West bathing place, to which the rank and 
 fashion of Ireland have been of late resorting ” (Murray). 
 It has a commanding position on a bold coast, an 
 extensive strand, breezes fresh from the Atlantic to 
 recommend the place, good scenery to drive to, and 
 an imposing panorama to look at. The view over Donegal 
 bay with its promontories and intervening inlets backed 
 
26 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 by a mountain barrier terminating in the steep cliffs 
 of Slieve League, is truly grand. A marine cave, called the 
 Fairy Bridge, deserves a visit. It is a narrow causeway over 
 a natural arch, twenty-four feet in span, under which the 
 wild waves rush in angry tumult, and farther down the coast^ 
 the Drowes or Duncarbery Castle, built by Isabel MacClancy 
 in the reign of Elizabeth, exhibits its worn battlements. 
 To the South-West rising abruptly from the sea, 
 Benbulben presents itself, and joined to it is Truskmore, 
 stretching far inland with the clouds racing along its 
 chain in rapid procession. Beyond the Drowes the visitor 
 turns to the left from the Sligo road, into that which 
 leads up to 
 
 Kin lough, a village with a charming position on the west 
 shore of Lough Melvin, which winds away seven and a half 
 miles in an eastern direction, with a slight deflection to the 
 South. “ There is good salmon until the middle of May 
 after which grilse come in, also splendid trout-fishing y 
 especially of the sort named gillaroo ” (Murray). There are 
 a few aristocratic residences, and a sprinkling of small 
 islands, on one of which may be still seen the outlines of 
 Rossclogher, a stronghold of renown in these parts, men- 
 tioned by the Four Masters, under 1421 : — “ Cathal 
 O’Rourke and his sons made a nocturnal attack on 
 MacClanchy, on Iniskeen, an island of Lough Melvin, and 
 the guards of the lake delivered up the boats to them. 
 They took young McClanchy prisoner, and possessed 
 themselves of Lough Melvin and its castle.” The lands of 
 the McClanchys were confiscated after the rebellion of 1641, 
 but their name is still in the district. Another of these 
 little islands contains : “ the ruins of the ancient chapel 
 
LOUGH MELVIN. CO. DONEGAL 
 
XIII. llBSUBt 
 
 Of Wt 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 n 
 
 of Rossinver, supposed to have been that of the nunnery 
 of Doiremel, founded by St. Tigernach, for his mother,^ 
 St. Mella ” (Lewis). 
 
 That Lough Melvin and its surroundings are the region 
 over which William Allingham has thrown the glamour of 
 his genius may be easily read between the 
 scene o-f lines 0 f « Laurence Bloomfield in Ireland.”’ 
 
 “ Laurence 
 
 Bloomfield in The subject of this vividly-drawn word- 
 picture is the agrarian trouble, which to 
 some extent still unhappily exists in this country. The scene 
 is laid in a locality near which the poet evidently spent his 
 early days. It is a large estate, teeming with a bold peasantry, 
 and though inland, is not far from the coast, with mountain, 
 moors and bogs, a wide, rich plain, a pretty lake, and a 
 pleasant river. The heir to all this is “ Laurence Bloomfield,” 
 who has just taken his degree at Cambridge and comes over 
 at once to visit the property where both his parents long 
 since died. He is warmly welcomed by all the great 
 people about, who give large parties in his honour, and 
 on these festive occasions the guests invariably make it a 
 point to tell him their views about the country and its 
 people. Young Bloomfield without accepting all that he 
 has heard, departs for Egypt, and, after travelling abroad 
 for some years, returns and marries a lady, clever like 
 himself, and possessing the same large sympathetic heart. 
 With her in due course he comes among his own people, 
 and resides in the old family mansion, now fully repaired, 
 and decorated up to date. Here he soon begins to see 
 how matters stand. He is an eye-witness of many a tender 
 parting with the poor emigrant, it may be for ever, and 
 finds himself present at an eviction scene. Bloomfield 
 
28 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 is deeply moved, and pours out his feelings to the loving 
 partner of his joys and sorrows : — 
 
 u A plenteous place ot hospitable cheer 
 Is ‘ Holy Ireland/ Often did I hear 
 That song in Gaelic from my nurse — Poor land ! 
 
 There’s honey where her smiling vales expand. 
 
 Her sons and daughters love her ; yet they fly 
 As from a city of the plague and why P ” 
 
 He takes the management of the estate into his own hands 
 and it is soon changed into a home of peace and plenty. 
 Bloomfield is now supremely happy with an affectionate 
 family-circle to love him, and a grateful tenantry to bless 
 him. Such is the story, and now for the moral. Mr. 
 Allingham writes : — 
 
 il Ireland of bitter memories, thickly sown 
 From winding Boyne to Limerick’s treaty-stone 
 Bare Connaught hills to Dublin Castle wall, 
 
 Green Wexford to the Glens of Donegal, 
 
 Through sad six hundred years of hostile sway, 
 
 From Strongbow fierce to cunning Castlereagh ! 
 
 These will not melt and vanish in a day. 
 
 These can yet sting the patriot thoughts which turn 
 To Erin’s past, and bid them weep and burn.” 
 
 Garrison, on the eastern shore of Lough Melvin, is another 
 good fishing-ground, but nothing more, so that if the visitor 
 be not disposed to rest there, he may proceed at once by the 
 direct road (9 miles) to Bally shannon. 
 
IL— EXCURSION TO LOUGH DERG. 
 
 ALLYSHANNON is a good starting-point for 
 seeing Lough Derg (22 miles) 
 
 ^etre^o? t ^ ie Potential retreat known 
 Lough Derg. as St. Patrick’s Purgatory. Why 
 it got that name is told in a 
 little work, intituled Mirror of Penance , published 
 in Louvain about the middle of the 17th century, 
 The writer goes on to relate that: — “St. Patrick entered 
 a cave in the island of Lough Derg, in order to pray 
 more fervently to God, being removed from all the dis- 
 tractions of the external world in that gloomy Derc, 
 and while his mind was earnestly directed to the Divinity, 
 he prayed that the pains of Purgatory might be shown 
 unto him. His request was granted, and lo ! before his 
 heaven-touched fancy the regions of Purgatory sprang 
 into existence, and he saw the souls of millions undergoing 
 the process of purification, each placed in such a crucible as 
 was fitted to soften and remove the terrestrial dross that 
 stained the etherial essence of the spirit, some marked with 
 a deep hue, which much destroyed their heavenly radiance, 
 but which blackened them not wholly ; others half-dimmed, 
 half-bright, and in the rapid progress of becoming spirits of 
 light from the action of the purifying element of fire ; some 
 
3 ° 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 becoming effulgent by slow and almost imperceptible degrees, 
 as having no friends to pray for them ; while others glowed 
 in the furnace, and cast off the foul crust with amazing 
 rapidity by the force of the prayers and alms, which their 
 friends offered for them on earth. Some he saw escaping, 
 from the flames, and winging their course to heaven ; others 
 almost bright woke to attempt the same. But deep buried 
 in the abyss he perceived others who were destined to 
 converse with the groans of ten thousand years for 
 having been guilty of venial sins, which though they 
 bordered very closely on mortal, did not stain the soul 
 through and through, as mortal sin doth. These 
 looked up with piteous eyes towards earth, expecting the 
 prayers of their children and friends, and feeling the punish- 
 ment of one second there longer and more severe than that 
 of a hundred years on earth. St. Patrick awed by the 
 vision, departed from the cave, and ordered that hence- 
 forward the island should be a terrestrial Purgatory, where 
 sinners could wash off all their sins by prayer and fasting. 
 They were all to be confined in the cave, and should they 
 see the same vision, vouchsafed to St. Patrick (which many 
 did) it was a favourable sign of the acceptability of their 
 prayers and mortifications.” St, Dabheog or Davoc, a 
 disciple of St. Patrick, remained behind to carry out the 
 behest of his Apostolic master, which he did by establishing 
 on the spot, consecrated by this vision, that seat of retire- 
 ment and penance, which has been now before the public 
 mind for fourteen centuries. St. Davoc founded here also 
 a venerable Augustinian Monastery and a church, soon to 
 grow into one of those great centres whence issued the 
 broad and deep stream of piety and learning, which made 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 31 
 
 Ireland, before the Danish invasion, foremost among the 
 nations of Europe. 
 
 The Martyrology of Donegal is a calendar of the 
 Saints of Ireland, published in 1864 by the Irish 
 Archaeological and Celtic Society, Dublin. This work was 
 compiled by Brother Michael O’Clery of the Order of 
 St. Francis, chief of the celebrated antiquaries known 
 by the name of the Four Masters. The present beautiful 
 edition contains the original text, and a translation, the 
 joint work of the Rev. J. H. Todd, F.T.C.D., and the 
 Rev. H. Reeves, gentlemen to whom the Irish literature 
 of our age is deeply indebted. The Martyrology was 
 finished at the Convent of Donegal on the 19th of April, 
 1630. “It is a compilation,” writes Dr. Todd, “ made by 
 a scholar, peculiarly well qualified for the task, who had 
 access to all the original authorities then extant in the Irish 
 language, the matter of which he has transferred either in 
 whole or in part into the present work, quoting in almost 
 every instance the sources from which he drew his infor- 
 mation/’ (App. to Indrod., p. xiii.) In this authoritative 
 record we read under the 1st of January the following notice 
 of Lough Derg : — “ At the eastern extremity of that lake are 
 Patrick’s Purgatory and Dabheog’s Island ; there is also a 
 monastery in which there were Canons, at the eastern 
 extremity of the same lake . . . There are five beds of 
 hard penance, round which the pilgrims go — the bed 
 of Patrick, of Columbkille, of Brigid, of Adamnan, of 
 Dabheog.” Therefore to shift the scene of St. Patrick’s 
 Purgatory from Lough Derg in Donegal to Croagh- Patrick 
 in Mayo, as was done in 1497, is as unwarrantable as 
 the statement on the subject, made by Dr. Lanigan in 
 
32 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 his Ecclesiastical History of Ireland. At page 368 he 
 says : — “ It will not be expected that I should waste 
 my time with giving an account of the so-called Patrick’s 
 Purgatory of Lough Derg (Donegal), or examining, if there 
 could have been any foundation for attributing it to our 
 Apostle. It is never mentioned in any of his lives, nor 
 was it, I believe, heard of until the eleventh century, the 
 period at which the Canons Regular of St* Augustine ap- 
 peared. For it was to persons of that Order, as the story 
 goes, that St. Patrick confided the care of that cavern of 
 wonders. Now there was no such persons in that island in 
 which it is situated, nor in that of St. Davoc in the same 
 lake, until I dare say about the beginning of the twelfth 
 century.” Surely no one could think of discrediting the 
 authority of the Martyrology of Donegal on such slender 
 grounds as are here advanced. 
 
 Setting out on this excursion from Bally shannon the road 
 runs eastward along the north bank of the Erne, passing 
 Cliff Castle, Rockfield House, Belleek, where it begins to 
 take a north-eastern direction, affording beautiful and rapidly- 
 changing views over Lough Erne to the south. Some two 
 miles from Belleek is Keenaghan Lough, and on the opposite 
 side Magheramenagh Castle, with Lough Scolban on the 
 left, while on the right, the extensive grounds of Castle- 
 caldwell stretch away to the edge of Lough Erne, which here 
 expands into a sea, dotted with numerous islands. Crossing 
 the Waterfort river where there is a handsome residence 
 of the Bartons, you arrive in less than half an hour 
 at Pettigo on the river Termon, in the parish of 
 Templecarne, near the Glebe-house, “ of which are the 
 ruins of Termon Magrath, a strong keep, with circular 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 33 
 
 towers at the angles, said to have been the residence 
 of Myler Magrath, first Protestant Bishop of Clogher ” 
 (Murray). Pettigo is on the border of a wild and desolate 
 region, in which lies Lough Derg between four and five 
 miles to the north. The Rev. Caesar Otway, in a sketch 
 of an excursion made by him to this solitude has left 
 a graphic description of the approach to it : — “ The road from 
 the village of Pettigo, leading towards Lough Derg, runs along 
 a river tumbling over rocks, and then after proceeding for a 
 time over a boggy valley you ascend into a dreary and moun- 
 tainous tract, extremely ugly in itself, but from which you have 
 a fine view, indeed, of the greater part of the upper lake of 
 Lough Erne, with its many elevated islands, and all its hilly 
 shores ... I had at length after travelling about three 
 miles, arrived where the road is discontinued, and by the 
 direction of my guide, ascended a mountain path, that 
 brought me through a wretched village, and led to the top 
 of a hill. Here my boy (guide) left me, and went to look 
 for the man who was to ferry us across, and on the ridge 
 where I stood, I had leisure to look around. To the 
 south-west lay Lough Erne, with all its isles and cultivated 
 shores ; to the north-west Lough Derg, and truly never did 
 I mark such a contrast. Lough Derg under my feet ; the 
 lake, the shore, the mountains, the accompaniments of 
 all sorts presented the very landscape of desolation — its 
 waters expanding in Highland solitude, amidst a wide 
 waste of moors, without one green spot to refresh the eye, 
 without a house or tree, all mournful in the brown hue of its 
 far-stretching bogs, and the gray uniformity of its rocks ; the 
 surrounding mountains even partook of the sombre character 
 of the place ; their forms without grandeur, their ranges con- 
 
34 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 tinuous and without elevation. The lake was certainly as fine 
 as rocky shores and numerous islands could make it, but 
 it was encompassed with such dreariness . . . . 
 
 I said to myself, 4 I am already in Purgatory/ A person 
 who had never seen the picture that was now under my eye, 
 who had read of a place, consecrated to the devotion of ages 
 might imagine that St. Patrick’s Purgatory, secluded in its 
 sacred island, would have all the venerable and Gothic 
 accompaniments of olden time ; and its ivied towers and 
 belfried steeples, its carved windows and cloistered arches, 
 its long, dark aisles and fretted vaults, would have risen out 
 of the water, rivalling Iona or Lindisfarne ; but nothing of 
 the sort was to be seen.” (, Sketches in Donegal , Letter IV.) 
 
 Lough Derg itself is a large melancholy sheet of water 
 about six miles from north to south and four miles from east 
 to west. At its eastern end there is a small green island 
 known as the 44 Saint’s Island,” connected with the shore by 
 a bridge, now gone, but the buttresses on which the arches 
 rested may still be seen in the clear water. It was upon this 
 44 Saint’s Island ” and not the present narrow strip of rock 
 called the 44 Station Island,” that St. Davoc fixed his cele- 
 brated home of pilgrims, saints and scholars. The fact is 
 set down in the most definite manner by an Inquisition at 
 Donegal, dated the first year of the reign of James I. : — 
 44 In the parts of Ulster near the territory called O’Donnell’s 
 countrie, are the walls and monuments of a certain monas* 
 tery or priory, late house of the canonical friars called the 
 priory of Lough Derg, also commonly called 4 St. Patrick’s 
 Purgatory,’ which priory is now very much on the decay, and 
 has these many years past been totally abandoned and dis- 
 solved. The aforesaid priory lies and is situate in a certain 
 
LOUGH DERG, CO. DONEGAL, 
 
TBt i mm 
 OF flit 
 
 UXOfEESilY ap IL110IS 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 35 
 
 small island in the middle of a lake, called Lough Derg, 
 about fifteen miles from the village of Donegal aforesaid. 
 The Prior of the monastery aforesaid was seized as of fee a 
 right of the priory aforesaid, of the site, circuit, ambit, and 
 precinct of the said late house with the appurtenances, in 
 which are one old church, very ruinous, and walls of 
 stone lately levelled, with small pieces of land circumjacent, 
 containing acres of land, and of the whole island afore- 
 said, containing about io acres, and of certain lands and 
 hereditaments to the said house and island adjacent, called 
 Termon Magrath and Termon M‘Monghan, containing 
 four quarters of land of the great measure.” . 
 
 Now the bare rock on which the station is actually held does 
 not contain io acres in extent, nor is it land, and conse- 
 quently it must be inferred that the island described in the 
 Inquisition is the “ Saint’s Island.” How and when the 
 locale of the station was changed from the “ Saint’s Is- 
 land ” to the present “ Station Island ” is stated by the Rev. 
 Caesar Otway in the same letter, IV., of his Sketches in 
 Donegal , just quoted. He there relates that in 1632 “the 
 State ordered Sir James Balfour and Sir William Stewart to 
 seize unto his Majesty’s use this island of Purgatory, and ac- 
 cordingly we find that Sir William proceeds to the island, and 
 reports that he found an abbot and forty friars, and that 
 there was a daily resort of four hundred and fifty pilgrims, 
 who paid eight pence each for admission to the island. Sir 
 William further informs the Privy Council that in order to 
 hinder the seduced people from going any longer to this 
 stronghold of Purgatory, and wholly to take away the abuse 
 hereafter, he had directed the whole to be defaced and 
 utterly demolished j therefore the walls, works, foundations, 
 
36 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 vaults, &c., he ordered to be rooted up, also the place called 
 St. Patrick’s Bed, and the stone on which he knelt. These 
 and all other superstitious relics he commanded to be thrown 
 into the lough ; and he made James McGrath, the owner of 
 the island, to enter into recognizances that he should not in 
 future permit the entrance of Jesuits, friars, nuns, or any 
 other superstitious order of Popery to enter therein.” It was, 
 no doubt, consequent upon this thorough iC rooting-up” by 
 Sir William Stewart that the pilgrims had to abandon the 
 “ Saint’s Island” for the “ Station Island,” which is only 
 about half a mile from the shore, and for some years past has 
 been furnished with a commodious and devotional group ot 
 buildings for the proper carrying out of the penitential exer- 
 cises. There is a ferry-boat in which some 15,000 pilgrims 
 pass and re-pass every year from the 1st of June to the 15th 
 of August. 
 
 It has been justly observed by the writer of Murray’s 
 Handbook that it is foreign to the scope of such a work to 
 describe the details of religious ceremonies. However, as it 
 is there stated, on the authority of another, that the penitents 
 are made to pass on their knees over hard and pointed 
 rocks, the present writer, who has had the very best oppor- 
 tunities of knowing the exact truth in the matter, thinks it 
 right to state that no such observance is practised on the 
 island. The sum total of the austerities of the three days 
 “ retreat” at Lough Derg consists in fasting on bread and 
 water (which the pilgrims by a beautiful fiction call wine) 
 and keeping vigil for one whole night in the church. The 
 essential work of the “ station” here is to withdraw from all 
 temporal affairs, to make three days’ spiritual recollection, 
 ending in a confession. And, indeed, no place could be 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 37 
 
 better suited to such a holy object. The mountain solitudes, 
 the vast desolation, and other mournful surroundings of the 
 place — all kindle in the soul feelings of awe and reverence, 
 and fill it with a keen sense of the power of God, and of 
 the strict account He will require of each one when the brief 
 term of this life is brought to a close. 
 
 Drumholme. — Instead of going direct from Pettigo to 
 Donegal, it is much better to drive to Ballintra, in order to 
 see the Pullens at Brownhall (14 miles) where the lover of 
 good scenery will find something to please. The Pullens 
 are a deep ravine darkly shaded with wood, through which 
 a mountain torrent leaps joyously, then suddenly plunges 
 into a cleft in the rock of from thirty to forty feet in depth, 
 making here and there an acute angle, now disappearing 
 under some cavernous arch, then re-appearing beyond. Thus 
 it pursues its uneven way until about half a mile further 
 down it emerges in a placid stream, to lose itself again 
 immediately in a black chasm some sixty feet deep, from 
 which it comes out under a natural bridge and courses on in 
 a straight line to Ballintra, whither the visitor will be sure 
 quickly to follow. His way is now through the parish of 
 Drumholme, where he will search in vain for any fragment of 
 broken wall or pillar to mark the existence of an ecclesiastical 
 foundation in the 6th century, pointed out here by history 
 as exercising much influence for good in the greatly abused 
 “Dark Ages.” St. Adamnan tells us that directly the 
 pure soul of St. Columba quitted its earthly tenement, it 
 was received by a choir of angels, who sang most divinely 
 while they wafted their precious burthen up through the 
 clouds into that realm 01 light from which they had just 
 descended. While this was happening away in Iona, and 
 
38 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 at that very moment, it passed before the enraptured vision of 
 a former disciple of St. Columba, the holy Ernan or Ernanus, 
 a member of the devout community of Dorsum Thom^e 
 in a remote corner of Ireland. The circumstances are 
 recorded in the life of St. Columba by Manus O’Donnell, 
 who belonged to the Saint’s family. Colgan also notices the 
 fact, and at page 7 of his Acta Sanctorum he tells us every 
 thing about St. Ernan himself, as well as the situation of 
 Dorsum Thom^e : — “St. Ernan,” he writes, “also called 
 Ferreolus of an illustrious family, but more illustrious for his 
 sanctity of life. . . . He and his brother Cabtacus, 
 
 became monks in Ireland, under the direction of his relative 
 St. Columba, and both were soon among the most distin- 
 guished of the Saint’s disciples. Hence when St. Columba 
 resolved to go and convert the Piets and Scots, he took with 
 him twelve disciples, and among them the two brothers 
 Ernan and Cabtacus. But after the holy man, Ernan, had 
 laboured many years in spreading the Gospel, and had reaped 
 a rich harvest, he returned, with the permission and blessing 
 of St. Columba, to Ireland, and fixed himself at a place called 
 Druim Thuoma, now Drumholme, in Tyrhugh, a territory of 
 Tyrconnell, formerly a celebrated monastery, but at present 
 only a parish church of the diocese of Raphoe, where he 
 performed many labours, until worn out by fasting and old 
 age, he died and was buried in the church ol Druim 
 Thuome.” This Druim Thuome or Dorsum Thom^e was, 
 therefore, a religious establishment of some eminence for 
 centuries, as is also evident from its mention in the Annals 
 under several dates. In this our day of boasted progress, not 
 a tendril of ivy, not a local tradition can be hunted up to recall 
 the greatness of Dorsum Thom^e. Even the memory of St. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 39 
 
 Ernan hardly lives, except in the name given by a Mr. 
 Hamilton to his residence, built on a small island in the 
 north of the Donegal harbour, and connected with the main- 
 land by a causeway. Two miles from Ballintra is Coxtown, 
 beyond which you drop into the village of Laghy, where the 
 scenery begins to be diversified with attractive bits of land- 
 scape. Admiring the situation of Belle Isle (A. H. Foster, 
 Esq.) on the left, and a little farther on, that of St. Ernan’s, 
 you arrive at 
 
 Donegal. — (Hotels : — Arran Arms , M‘ duty's, Smullerfs . 
 Pop, 1,400.) In 1584, Sir John Perrett assumed the Lord- 
 Deputyship of Ireland, and the following year is memorable 
 for a Parliament assembled by him at Dublin. The Four 
 Masters, in their list of the Septs present on this occasion 
 set. down Hugh O’Neil in the first place, then Hugh 
 O’Donnell, chief of Tyrconnell. Other names from 
 Tyrconnell figure in the roll, viz., John Oge O’Doherty, 
 chief of Inishowen ; Turlough O’Boyle, chief of Boylagh ; 
 Owen O’Gallagher, O’Donnell’s marshal. The decree 
 that Tyrconnell shall be henceforth the County of Donegal 
 (Dun-nan-Gal, fort of the stranger), was now passed, but 
 the O’Donnell indignantly resisted this interference with 
 the autonomy of Tyrconnell, and firmly declined to admit 
 the English Sheriff into his territory. 
 
 As the port is shallow, and beset with numerous shoals, it 
 is not favourable for much shipping. The Diamond occu- 
 pies three sides of a central triangle, and not far from it 
 is the entrance to the Abbey. Time, with its corroding 
 action, has not left much of the chapel, but enough remains 
 to enable one to determine that it was a large cruciform 
 structure, with probably a central tower, and very graceful 
 
40 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 windows. Of the cloisters, too, there is a memorial of 
 thirteen arches, which, with their supporting couplets of 
 pillars, retain evidence of graceful finish, variety of design, 
 and admirable execution. They are of the small size, 
 common in examples of Irish monastic architecture. But, 
 though the material lineaments of the building are so sadly 
 effaced, it has left an impress on Irish history, indelible as 
 that history itself. 
 
 The Ahlbey; — In 1428, Nial O’Donnell, or Nial the Bold, 
 joined Tyrone, and levied black-mail on all the English 
 colonists up to Meath; but owing to some imprudence 
 O’Donnell, the bravest man of his time, was captured by the 
 enemy, who sent him to the Tower of London. He died five 
 years afterwards in the Isle of Man, where he had been re- 
 moved to make arrangements for the payment of a ransom 
 with which he had agreed to purchase his liberty. He left 
 sons, who were basely disinherited by his brother Naghten 
 but after an interval of some years, one of them, Hugh Roe, 
 was installed in the chieftaincy. In 1495, we fi n d him on a 
 visit to the King of Scotland, and the Scotch writers of the 
 period speak of him as “ the Great O’Donnell.” His pious 
 wife, Nuala O’Connor, in 1474, began to build the Donegal 
 Abbey for the Order of St. Francis, but dying before it was 
 finished, his second wife, Fingalla, daughter of O’Brien, 
 King of Thomond, had the honour of completing it. The 
 O’Donnell himself richly endowed it ; indeed it seems to 
 have been specially favoured from the first by that princely 
 family, many of whom lie buried there, and some of them 
 took the habit of St. Francis, within its sanctuary “This 
 O’Donnell was the full moon of the hospitality and nobility 
 of the North, the most genial and valiant, the most prudent 
 
FRANCISCAN ABBEY RUINS, CO, DONEGAL 
 
Of THt 
 
 tHIiyliSrtt If l< MMII8 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 41 
 
 in war and peace, and of the best jurisdiction, law, and 
 rule of all the Gaels in Ireland. For there was no de- 
 fence made in Tyrconnell during his time, except to close 
 the doors against the wind ; the best protector of the Church, 
 and the learned, a man who had given great alms in honour 
 of the Lord of the elements ; the man by whom a castle \sas 
 first raised and erected at Donegal, that it might serve as a 
 sustaining bulwark for his descendants ; and a monastery of 
 friars de Observantia in Tyrconnell, namely, the monastery 
 of Donegal ; a man who had made many predatory excur- 
 sions around through Ireland, and a man who may be justly 
 styled the Augustus of the north-west Europe. He died 
 after having gained the victory over the devil and the world, 
 and after Extreme Unction, and good penance, at his own 
 fortress in Donegal, July 20th, in the seventy- eighth of 
 his age and forty-fourth of his reign, and was interred in the 
 monastery of Donegal.” {Annals,) 
 
 During the second half of the fourteenth century Tyr- 
 connell was able to turn the tide of war against his combative 
 rival, the O’Neil, and the standard with the “ In hoc signo 
 vinces ” of O’Donnell waved in triumph over Tyrone. But 
 many of the years that followed were years of hard fighting 
 between the two great chieftains, and each year witnessed 
 fresh proofs of the indomitable spirit of the Clan-Conall. 
 After the death of the Hugh Roe O’Donnell, who so gener- 
 ously co-operated with his holy wife in raising the Abbey of 
 Donegal, he was succeeded by his son Hugh Oge or Hugh Duv. 
 He made a pilgrimage to Rome in 15 n, and O’Neil, taking 
 advantage of this absence, made a raid into Tyrconnell, 
 for which O’Donnell, on his return, caused him to pay dearly. 
 Hugh Oge visited Scotland in 1513, and was treated with 
 
42 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 great honour by James IV., who, it appears, had determined 
 to invade Ireland, but was dissuaded by his guest from the 
 enterprise. Next year the O’Donnell made good his claim 
 to the sovereignty over Inishowen, Fermanagh, and other 
 territories, formerly in the possession of the O’Neils, so that 
 in two years his sway was extended to Sligo, where he 
 employed cannon — the first use of artillery we read of in 
 Ireland. 
 
 The Earl of Surrey writes of him to his Royal Master, Henry 
 VIII., in 1520 : — “ I fynde him a right wise man,” and not 
 long after he reports of both O’Donnell and O’Neil, that : — 
 “ It would be dangerful to have them both agreed,” and that 
 “ the longer they continue in war the better it should be for, 
 “ Your Grace’s poor subjects here.” 
 
 To the imperious summons of Tyrone: — “ Send me tribute, 
 or if you don’t, — O’Neil,” Tyrconnell returned the defiant 
 answer : — a I owe you no tribute, and if I did,— O’Donnell.” 
 It was a fearful contest, that between O’Neil and O’Donnell, 
 since O’Neil had the address to create a strong coalition 
 against the growing power of Tyrconnell. There were almost 
 all the Princes of Connaught, English as well as Irish ; there 
 were the O’Briens and O’Kennedys from the distant Tho- 
 mond ; there were quotas from Meath and Leinster ; there 
 were the men of Oriel and Fermanagh ; and there was a 
 Scottish legion under MacDonnell of the Isles, who all 
 came to fight on the side of Tyrone. The O’Donnell called 
 his clans, and they came — the O’Boyles, the O’Dohertys, 
 the MacSweenys, the O’Gallaghers, and some other branches 
 of the Clan-Conall — a small phalanx, compared with the 
 multitude against them. O’Donnell awaited the enemy on 
 the east bank of the Foyle, opposite Lifford, the usual pass 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 43 
 
 between Tyrone and Tyrconnell ; but O’Neil entered by 
 another route, and laid waste the country as far as Bally- 
 shannon. However, after several marches and counter- 
 marches, both armies encamped over against each other at 
 Knocavoe, near Strabane. O’Donnell took the initiative by 
 a night attack, which resulted in an utter route of O’Neil, 
 with the loss of nine hundred men. The victorious chieftain 
 next marched rapidly to Sligo, where a body of O’Neil’s 
 allies were besieging his castle, but at his approach they 
 broke up and fled. The result of this short campaign added 
 immensely to the prowess of O’Donnell, who turned into 
 Tyrone, where he was committing awful havoc, until the 
 Earl of Kildare, then Lord-Deputy, induced the belligerants 
 to make a truce, and invited them to an assembly of the 
 nobles at Dublin, to adjust their differences. The O’Donnell 
 was represented at this assembly by his son Manus ; but all 
 efforts to effect a peace were in vain, and the fight between 
 Tyrone and Tyrconnell went on bitterly as before. Manus 
 O’Donnell, in spite of the O’Neils, built a strong frontier 
 castle, called Port-na-dtri-namhad, at the pass at Lifford, and 
 here, a few years later, he wrote an Irish life of his illustrious 
 relative, St. Columbkille. He married Lady Eleanor 
 MacCarthy, the famous aunt of Gerald, representative of 
 the house of Kildare — a marriage that gained for the infant, 
 Gerald, a safe asylum in Tyrconnell, after the execution of 
 Silken Thomas and his uncles. His father,- the veteran Hugh 
 Oge or Hugh Duv, died in the monastery of Donegal in 1537, 
 and of him the Four Masters say : — “ He did not suffer the 
 English to come into his country, but he made a league of 
 peace and friendship with the King of England, when he 
 saw that the Irish would not yield superiority to anyone 
 
44 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 among themselves, but that friends and blood-relations con- 
 tended against each other.” They add that : — “ He died on 
 the 5th of July, having first taken upon him the habit 
 of St. Francis, and having wept for his crimes and iniquities, 
 and done penance for his sins and transgressions. He was 
 buried in the monastery of Donegal with great honour 
 and solemnity, as was meet.” 
 
 When Manus O’Donnell, after his father’s death, began 
 his tenure of the chieftaincy of Tyrconnell, it had become 
 the fashion to stand well with the English, and Manus, 
 though late, showed a leaning in the same direction. 
 Accordingly in 1542 he journeyed to London to pay his 
 respects to Henry VIII. and we find a courtly writer of the 
 day marking him out by his “ coat of crimson velvet, with 
 twenty or thirty pair of golden aiglets, his great double cloak 
 of crimson satin, bordered with black velvet, his bonnet 
 with a feather set full of aiglets of gold.” The King was 
 friendly, and conferred upon O’Donnell the title of the Earl 
 of Tyrconnell, which remained in abeyance until 1603. 
 Meanwhile there was treason at home in Tyrconnell. 
 Calvagh rose in red rebellion against his father, Manus, but 
 was defeated in a battle fought at the present town of Bally- 
 bofey on the river Finn. Calvagh, however, having secured 
 the service of a body of Scottish auxiliaries, once more took 
 the field, made his father prisoner, and confined him in one of 
 his castles. 
 
 But before long the ungrateful Calvagh sorely needed the 
 advice of his ill-used father, for there had arisen in Tyrone 
 one O’Neil, surnamed Shane, the Proud, a man of impetu- 
 ous, fiery temper, and of insatiable ambition, who thought 
 there was now a favourable opportunity for crushing Tyr- 
 
/ 
 
 TMfe UiftAST 
 oi ! m 
 
 mmsnt m imis 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 45 
 
 connell and bringing it under his own sway. The experienced 
 Manus counselled his son to oppose the adversary by 
 stratagem rather than in a pitched battle. Accordingly 
 O’Donnell hovered on the march of the redoubtable 
 Shane, till at a fit moment, while O’Neil lay encamped 
 one night at Balleehan, near Manorcunningham, he attacked 
 the camp, which he entered without resistance, and 
 slew all that came in his way, O’Neil having narrowly 
 escaped through the back of his tent (1558). Shane the 
 Proud, however, soon recovered from the shock of this 
 reverse, and with the characteristic rapidity of his move- 
 ments surprised and carried off Calvagh O’Donnell, who, 
 with some members of his family, was staying at the abbey 
 of Killydonnell, on Lough Swilly. The Tyrone chieftain 
 had thus a cheap triumph, and hurried back into his own 
 territory, carrying with him the O’Donnell and his wife. 
 Calvagh was ransomed two years after, when the Lord- 
 Deputy Sussex came into Tyrconnell with an armed force 
 and reinstated him in his strongholds. 
 
 In 1563 his father died. “ O’Donnell (Manus), son of 
 Aedh Oge, son of Aeah Ruadh, lord of Tyrconnell, 
 Inishowen, Cinel Moen, Fermanagh, and Lower Con- 
 naught ; a man who never suffered the chiefs who were in 
 his neighbourhood to encroach upon any of his superabun- 
 dant possessions, even to the time of his decease and 
 infirmity; a fierce, obdurate, wrathful and combative man 
 towards his enemies and opponents until he had made them 
 & obedient to his jurisdiction ; a mild, friendly, benign, 
 amiable, bountiful, and hospitable man towards the learned, 
 the destitute, the poets, and the Ollamhs, towards the 
 Orders and the Church, as is evident from the old people and 
 
46 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 the historians ; a learned man, a man skilled in many arts, 
 gifted with a profound intellect and the knowledge of every 
 science ; died on the 9th of February, at his own mansion 
 at Lifford, a castle which had been erected in despite of the 
 O’Neill and the Cinel-Eoghain, and was interred in the 
 burial-place of his predecessors and ancestors at Donegal, 
 in the monastery of St. Francis, with great honour and vene- 
 ration, after having vanquished the world and the devil,” 
 {Annals.) 
 
 Calvagh succeeded, but was not permitted long to enjoy 
 the chieftaincy. His unnatural conduct towards an inoffen- 
 sive and distinguished father was visited with signal punish- 
 ment, by an awfully sudden death, described under 1566 by 
 the Four Masters : — “ Calvagh O’Donnell, the son of Manus? 
 son of Hugh Duv, son of Hugh Roe, fell dead from his horse 
 in the beginning of winter, that is, on the 26th of October, 
 on the public road between Balleehan and the church of 
 Raymoghy, in the midst of his cavalry, without the slightest 
 starting, stumbling, shying or prancing of his horse, after 
 his return from England, where he had been that same year.” 
 
 The ill-fated chieftain thus made way for his brother, 
 Hugh O’Donnell, who resolved to put an end to 
 O’Neil’s arrogant claims, and with this object he made a 
 successful military dash into Tyrone. The haughty Shane, 
 hred with indignation, once more set out to take summary 
 vengeance on the new chieftain of Tyrconnell. He crossed 
 the S willy at low water, two miles below Letterkenny, and 
 attacked the O’Donnell, who, with a comparatively small 
 force, awaited him in position at Ardnagarry on the Northern 
 side. The onslaught was fearful beyond description, and 
 for a while the cause of Tyrconnell seemed lost, but the 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 47 
 
 able generalship of O’Donnell, and the unflinching resolution 
 of his Clan-Conall prevailed, so that Tyrone was driven back 
 into the returning tide with the loss of 3,000 men. Shane 
 himself fled barely for his life up the river which he succeeded 
 in crossing near Scariff Hollis, and made his way home, but 
 never recovered from this blow. 
 
 Red Hugh, the Bayard Gf Tyrone!!,— It was 
 prophesied of old that a mighty champion of the Irish 
 race would arise in the person of an O’Donnell, born 
 with a blood-mark on his side. Hugh O’Donnell was now 
 (1584) old and feeble, but there was growing up to him a 
 son, another Hugh, “ whose name and renown spread 
 through the provinces of Ireland, even before he had arrived 
 at the age of manhood, for his goodly growth, wisdom, 
 sagacity, and noble deeds, and the people in general used 
 to say that he was really the prophesied one.” {Annals.) 
 This was Red Hugh, heir-presumptive to the chieftaincy of 
 Tyrconnell, whom the Lord-Deputy, Sir John Perrott, tried 
 to put out of the way by foul means. He had a ship 
 fitted up, and well-stored with Spanish wines, sent round 
 from Dublin with orders to put into Lough Swilly. Accord- 
 ingly the vessel sailed up the Lough, and cast anchor 
 opposite Rathmullen Castle, where the young prince, Red 
 Hugh, happened to be on a visit with the MacSwine of 
 Fanad. It was given out that the strange ship was a 
 Spanish trader in wines, and the crew opened a traffic with 
 the people on shore. The plot succeeded. A messenger 
 was despatched from the Castle for a good supply, but the 
 Captain sent back his compliments that all the wine for 
 sale had been disposed of. If, however, the noble com- 
 pany would condescend to pay him a visit, he would 
 
48 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 / 
 
 take it as a great honour to treat them to the choicest 
 samples in his stock. There was no need to press the 
 invitation. The young O’Donnell, with a few of his com- 
 panions, came on board and were entertained in royal style. ' 
 But while partaking of the good things in the cabin, the 
 hatches were closed down, the young men disarmed, the 
 cable slipped, and the sails spread to the wind. The ship 
 in due time reached Dublin, and Sir John Perrott, highly 
 delighted with the success of his scheme, consigned Red 
 Hugh to the dungeons of Dublin Castle. In the February 
 of 1589 O’Neil wrote to Walsingham that he had “ matched 
 a daughter of his to O’Donnell, who for his father lieth as a 
 pledge in Dublin Castle. As I have great care of his well- 
 doing, I would willingly see some proofs of him in his 
 father’s time. I humbly beg of you to procure his liberation.” 
 Evidently this prayer did not succeed for the Red Prince, 
 after being immured for over three years behind these prison 
 bars, contrived (1590), late on a winter’s evening, to get 
 swung down from a window on to the roadway, and pass 
 through the gates of the city unobserved. After the hardship 
 of a night’s wandering over the Three Rock Mountain, 
 and the rugged heights beyond, which had nearly cost him 
 his life, he found shelter with Felim O’Toole of Wicklow. 
 The Government soldiers, who were in pursuit, easily traced 
 the fugitive, and conducted him back to his cell. But the 
 wary Tyrone had an eye on him, and Perrott being now suc- 
 ceeded in the Lord-Deputyship by Sir William Fitzwilliam,‘ f a 
 man of cruel and sordid disposition, ?/ there is reason to be- 
 lieve that Fitzwilliam’s vigilance relaxed under O’Neil’s gold. 
 Two years after his first attempt to escape, the O’Donnell, with 
 two young O’Neils (luckless princes), also long confined, 
 
E'S CASTLE, RATHMULLEN, CO DONEGAL, 
 
 __ _ 
 
TMt I iSAABY 
 Of ret 
 
 wiiaft m numis 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 49 
 
 effected an egress through a sewer of the Castle, and jointed 
 in the street by a guide, stationed there by Tyrone, hurried 
 through the cfty. One of the young O’Neils strayed from 
 the party in the streets, but the other with Red Hugh, and 
 the guide, struck out for the Wicklow mountains towards the 
 castle of Fiagh Hugh O’Byrne in Glenmalure. It was 
 Christmas night and bitterly cold when they reached the 
 pass into that wild mountain region. This and a blinding 
 snowstorm, which overtook them, proved too much for the 
 youths whose strength was already wasted by a long and hard 
 imprisonment. They collapsed under the hardship, but the 
 guide ran on to Glenmalure, and O’Byrne made haste to send 
 succour. A troop of his hardy men # sped fleetly on their 
 errand to the spot where the servant had left the youths : — 
 
 “ Their bodies were already covered with white-bordered 
 shrouds of hailstones, freezing around them, and their light 
 clothes adhered to their skin, so that, covered as they were 
 with the snow, it did not appear to the men who had arrived 
 that they were human beings at all, for they found no life in 
 their members, but just as if they were dead.” ( Annals .) 
 
 On being lifted from the ground Art O’Neil fell back and 
 expired, but the Red Prince slowly revived, and was carried 
 insensible to Glenmalure. 
 
 Impatient to get to the North as soon as able to travel, 
 he departed and eluding the English, who were on the 
 watch for him along every route northward through the 
 Pale, he reached Dungannon, whence after a short stay with 
 O’Neil, his father’s castle at Ballyshannon was gained. 
 He had travelled fast, but his fame had travelled faster, and 
 the clans of Tyrconnell assembled in great numbers on the 
 banks of the Saimer (Erne) to greet this “ son of prophecy.” 
 
 D 
 
5o 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 His aged father resigning, he was at once proclaimed 
 chieftain of Tyrconnell, and the white wand, the simple 
 sceptre of his sway was formally placed in his hand 
 on the traditional Rock of Doon, by the Coarb of Columbkille. 
 The young chieftain is described as of fine figure, and hand 
 some presence. One who fought under his command, and 
 exchanged the sword for the cowl of St. Francis (Father 
 Mooney), has sketched him as “ of middle height, ruddy, of 
 comely grace, and beautiful to behold. His voice was like 
 the clarion of a silver trumpet, and his morals unimpeach- 
 able.” 
 
 Red Hugh delayed not a moment to proclaim eternal 
 hostility to the English, and it was not long before he gave 
 a specimen of the stuff in him. Two English officers coming 
 by sea from Sligo to Donegal, fortified themselves at Bally- 
 weel, a small island at the mouth of the harbour, and seized 
 the Abbey from which they pillaged the country round. 
 Though still suffering from the effects of that dreadful night 
 on the Wicklow mountains, the valiant Hugh Roe was up 
 betimes the next morning after his arrival, and mustering a 
 force from those who had gathered to welcome him home, he 
 marched at their head to Donegal. The enemy fled at his 
 approach, and he returned to Ballyshannon, having restored 
 the friars to their monastery. Now at length he was fain to 
 submit his frost-bitten feet to the treatment of the surgeons 
 who found it necessary to amputate both his great toes. The 
 next object of his sword was Sir Turlough O’Neil, who main- 
 tained the English interest in Tyrone. He speedily subdued 
 this degenerate son of patriot chiefs, and compelled him to 
 resign all claim to the title he assumed, together with dismiss- 
 ing his English guard, so that once more the O’Neil and 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 5 I 
 
 O’Donnell were supreme in Ulster. Then he took the side 
 of MacGuire of Fermanagh against the English, and the arm 
 ■of Tyrconnell enabled that chief to achieve a glorious 
 triumph over the united forces of the Pale. 
 
 In 1594 he opened his next campaign with the in* 
 wasion of Connaught, where the English authority had been 
 long paramount, and whence Governor Bingham, a man 
 whose barbarities were so flagrant as to procure his recall by 
 Elizabeth, had lately issued to plunder the coasts of Tyrcon- 
 nell. At the head of a small contingent, probably not num- 
 bering more than one English regiment, but all animated 
 with the spirit of their chivalrous young captain, he ^des- 
 cended through the passes of Northern Connaught, and 
 in two months destroyed every English settlement all the 
 way to Annally (County Longford). Next year (1595) we 
 And him exercising royal powers in that province, adjudicat- 
 ing on the disputed titles of chieftains, restoring to their 
 property the people dispossessed by Bingham, and de- 
 stroying strongholds where the English might again get a 
 footing. Towards the close of this year O’Connor of Sligo, 
 returned after a long stay in England and joined with 
 zealous loyalty in all the measures of Sir Conyers Clifford, 
 the successor of Bingham. Clifford’s character was exactly 
 the opposite of Bingham’s. Brave, generous, and humane 
 he soon grew into popularity. The English interest rose once 
 more, and Red Hugh was indignant. In cold December he 
 drove off every head of cattle belonging to those who had 
 joined O’Connor ; and in the following month he returned 
 with a large force and swept Connaught, as far as the walls 
 of Galway, and then returned north to reverse all that had 
 been done by Clifford and O’Connor. Meanwhile* the Eng- 
 
52 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 lish were not idle. Late in July Sir Conyers Clifford 
 having mustered the Royalist forces at Boyle, marched to 
 Sligo, thence to the Erne, and invested the Castle of 
 Ballyshannon until O'Donnell appeared. As has been* 
 related in the notice of Ballyshannon, the English, at the 
 early dawn of the 15th of August, silently crossed a ford of 
 the Erne above the cataract of Asharoe, and retreated at 
 full speed to Sligo. From this time (1597) Red Hugh seems 
 to have made Ballymote his headquarters, whence he was 
 able to stretch his arm over Connaught and Tyrconnell, as 
 need might be. His residence at Ballymote was a castle 
 which had been in the hands of the Royalists, and there- 
 fore fell to O’Donnell by the right of war ; but it is worth 
 noting, as an illustration of the character of this Bayard of 
 Tyrconnell, that he paid M^Donagh, the original owner of 
 the place, the full value of the property — viz., ^400, and 
 300 cows. 
 
 On the 13th of September, 1598, Philip II. of Spain 
 breathed his last without ever finding himself in a proper 
 position of sending the O’Neil and the O’Donnell, fearlessly 
 fighting the legions of Queen Elizabeth, the help they prayed 
 for so unceasingly and expected so confidently. The practical 
 affection of his lamented father for the Irish cause, Philip III. 
 regarded as a sacred trust, and he was not long making this 
 felt in the proper quarter. Addressing both the Northern 
 chieftains shortly after the late King’s death, he says : — 
 “ Philip, by the grace of God, greeting — Your letter 
 reached me at the time I was in very great grief for 
 the loss of my dear father. Knowing his good will 
 towards you, I received it with much satisfaction, both be- 
 cause of your constancy in defending the Catholic faith and 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 53 
 
 of the victories which you have gained over its enemies. I 
 congratulate you on both, and I exhort you to persevere 
 courageously in your good work. You need have no doubt 
 about my good will towards you, and you shall see proofs of 
 it when opportunity offers, as you can learn from the 
 messenger, who brought your letter to me.” The assist- 
 ance, so faithfully promised, was not delayed, for on the 
 28rd September, 1601, a Spanish fleet, bringing 3,000 
 splendid troops, anchored in front of Kinsale. A little be- 
 fore this, however, O’Neil needed the arm of the 
 O’Donnell. Red Hugh came gladly at his call, and what 
 with the prestige of his name, the soul-stirring effusions of 
 his poet, Fearfesa O’Clery, and the valour of his men, he 
 contributed in great measure to Hugh O’Neil’s splendid 
 victory over the English at the Yellow Ford, two miles from 
 Armagh, in the August of 1598 : — “ It was a glorious victory 
 for the rebels,” says the contemporary English historian, 
 Camden, “ and of special advantage, for hereby they got 
 arms, and provisions, and Tyrone’s name was cried up all 
 over Ireland as the author of their liberty.” 
 
 Battle of the Curliew Mountains.— In the following 
 year (1599) Elizabeth sent her best general, the Earl of Essex, 
 to Ireland, for the purpose of crushing the North, and with 
 him came 20,000 foot and 2,000 horse — an immense army 
 compared with that of the Ulster chieftains. O’Connor 
 of Sligo declared for the English commander, and Red 
 Hugh hastened to chastise him ; but O’Connor fled 
 form post to post till he was at last cooped up in Colooney. 
 Essex ordered Clifford to the relief of O’Connor, and 
 he set out from Athlone with the assured prospect of victory. 
 Simultaneously from Bally mote marched the O’Donnell, 
 
54 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 supported by MacSwine of Fanad, O’Doherty of Inishowen,, 
 and O’Rourke, Lord of Breffney, whose father some time 
 previously, while in Scotland, with the object of procuring 
 the assistance of James VI., was treacherously sent under 
 arrest to Elizabeth, who had him, after a term of imprison- 
 ment, hanged at Tyburn. The opposing armies met at the 
 pass of Ballaghboy in the Curliew Mountains, on the borders 
 of Roscommon and Sligo. In the serious matter of number 
 and equipments, the odds were incomparably against Red 
 Hugh, but he had the selection of the ground, and accord- 
 ingly occupied the defile, where the large trees were felled 
 and placed across the path of the English approach. On the 
 morning of the 15th of August, a day of prayer in the 
 Catholic Church, he disposed his men on the mountain side,, 
 and rising in the saddle, with his clarion voice, spoke in 
 Irish to this effect : — “The great dispenser of eternal justice 
 has already doomed to destruction those assassins who have 
 butchered our wives and children, plundered us of our pro- 
 perties, set fire to our dwellings, demolished our churches, 
 and have changed the face of Ireland into a wild, unculti- 
 vated desert. Brothers in arms, we have just purified our 
 consciences, and prepared ourselves to defend honestly the 
 cause of justice, against men whose hands are reeking with, 
 blood, and who, not content with driving us from our native 
 lowlands, come to hunt us, like wild beasts, into the moun- 
 tains of Dunaveragh. On this day, dedicated to the greatest 
 of all the Saints, I trust in the most special manner to have 
 the protection of that Blessed Mother, whom these 
 enemies of our holy religion endeavour to vilify. 
 But, brave countrymen, you have now the opportunity 
 for revenge. Scorning the advantage of the impreg- 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 55 
 
 nable situation, let us rush down and show the world, that, 
 guarded by the Lord of life and death, we are determined to 
 exterminate those oppressors of our race. He who falls will 
 fall gloriously, fighting for justice, liberty and country. His 
 name will be remembered while there is an Irishman on the 
 face of the earth, and he, who survives, will be pointed to as 
 the companion of the O’Donnell, and defender of his country. 
 The congregation will make room for him to the altar, with 
 the exclamation 1 that hero fought at the battle of Duna- 
 veragh.’ ” The echo of these inspiring words was rever- 
 berating among the rocks, when the enemy’s vanguard, 
 advancing at a measured and steady pace, made frantic 
 efforts to carry the Irish position. A desperate hand- 
 to-hand fight for over an hour and a half ensued, when 
 Sir Alexander Radcliff, who led the assault, was killed. 
 The English column wavered, and Sir Conyers Clifford 
 himself, in trying to turn them back, fell, shot through the 
 heart. The English cavalry now charged, but were so 
 hacked by the battle-axes of the Gallowglasses, and the pikes 
 of the Kerns, that they had to retire with great slaughter. 
 The struggle soon ended for the valiant O’Rourke, burning 
 to revenge his father’s cruel death, swooped down with a 
 brigade of Breffni veterans, on the scattered enemy, who fled 
 in terror before the fierce onslaught, and the wild war cry of 
 their pursuers as far as Boyle. Amongst the slain the body of 
 Sir Conyers Clifford was recognized, and treated with much 
 respect by the chivalrous Red Hugh. O’Connor surrendered, 
 and the generous revenge of the O’Donnell was to reinstate 
 him in his territory, and even give him cattle to stock his 
 lands. 
 
 On the 1 6th of ivlay following (1600), an English fleet of 
 
56 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 sixty-seven sail, carrying 4,000 foot and 200 horse— a force 
 stronger than the entire army of Ulster — under the command 
 of Sir Henry Dowcra, entered Lough Foyle. Earl Mountjoy, 
 thenew LordDeputy, madeafeint against Ulster by the Black- 
 , water, thus drawiug off the attention of O’Neil and O’Donnell 
 from Dowcra, until the latter had time to fortify himself in 
 Derry. Part of Dowcra’s plan was to send a detachment of 
 1,000 foot and 50 horse by sea to Ballyshannon, but this 
 idea was abandoned, since he had quite enough on hands to 
 keep his post at Derry. As he could not tempt the English 
 to venture beyond their lines, Red Hugh left Nial Garv 
 O’Donnell to watch them, while he himself set out against 
 Clanricarde and Thomond, who were in close alliance with 
 the enemy. This time he overran almost the whole of 
 Clare, and again appeared before Derry in an incredibly 
 short space of time. At the end of July, this almost 
 ubiquitous chieftain encountered Dowcra in a sortie, in 
 which the English general was beaten, and pursued up to the 
 very walls of Derry. Dowcra after this remained in his 
 fortress, and O’Donnell being needed elsewhere, he departed 
 once more against the obnoxious Dalcassian, who styled 
 himself Earl of Thomond. Swiftly and surely he marched 
 on that devoted principality and terrorized all Thomond from 
 Corcomroe to Loop-Head, 
 
 The Traitor Nial Carv. — But a dark day was coming on. 
 While Red Hugh was thus carrying all before him in the west 
 and south; his cousin, the active Nial Garv, accepted a 
 bribe from Dowcra, and took service under the colours of 
 England. Nial, commonly known as The Fierce (Garv) from 
 his violent manner, proved himself not only skilled but 
 dauntless in the field, so that, while yet comparatively young. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 57 
 
 and in the blaze of military success, he was accepted in marri- 
 age, by Nuala, favourite sister of Red Hugh. If the chieftaincy 
 of his despicable grandfather, Calvagh, (See pages 44, 45, 46), 
 had been allowed to descend regularly, the gradson, Nial 
 Garv, instead ot the nephew Hugh Roe would be actually 
 reigning in old Tyrconnell. Therefore the stormy soul of 
 Nial was seized with jealousy of the more fortunate Red 
 Hugh, and now that a good opportunity had arisen, he re- 
 solved to betray his unsuspecting and illustrious kinsman to 
 the English. Without delay he made advances, and Saxon 
 gold, with a promise not only of broad acres, but of the Lord- 
 ship of Tyrconnell, soon satisfied his guilty conscience. Fynes 
 Morrison, private Secretary of Mountjoy, in his notice of the 
 transaction, says : — “ The Lord-Deputy desired to have an 
 authority out of England to pass Tyrconnell or Donegal to 
 Nial Garv, reserving only 800 acres about Ballyshannon, 
 and the fishing of the Erne to Her Majesty. Such was the 
 opinion of the service this turbulent spirit could render the 
 State, that he got the command of three hundrd foot and a 
 hundred horse in Her Majesty’s pay.” The contract was duly 
 signed, and Nial Garv joined the camp of the enemy, but 
 Nuala, his high-minded wife, left him immediately on his 
 defection. The traitor, having first put the enemy in posses- 
 sion of the O’Donnell fortress at Lifford, pushed on to 
 Donegal at the head of an English force, together with his own 
 followers, and took the Abbey, but the inmates escaped. 
 One of these has left a report of the exciting event in a 
 manuscript history of the Irish Franciscan Convents, to be 
 seen at the Burgundian Library, Brussels : — “ In the year 
 1600,” he writes, “our Community at Donegal consisted 
 of forty brethren, by whom the divine office was sung day 
 
58 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 and night with great solemnity. I had charge of the 
 sacristy, and I had in it forty priests’ vestments with all 
 their belongings ; many of these were of cloth of gold and 
 silver, some of them interwoven and wrought with gold 
 ornaments ; all the rest were of silk. We had, moreover, 
 sixteen large silver chalices, of which two only were not gilt. 
 And we had two ciboriums for the Blessed Sacrament- 
 The church furniture was very respectable. The windows 
 were all glazed. But when the war grew more fierce, and 
 the heretics were getting a firmer footing, they made their 
 way to the town of Donegal while the Lord O’Donnell was 
 busily engaged elsewhere, and on the feast of St. Lawrence, 
 the Martyr, they placed a garrison of soldiers in the 
 monastery. Some of the brothers, who had been warned 
 of their coming, fled into the woods, some miles off, having 
 first put on board a ship the church furniture, in order 
 to save it. I was the last to leave the monastery, and I came 
 away in that ship. The monastery was besieged soon after 
 by the Lord O’Donnefl, and the English, who were in it, 
 were reduced to great straits. A wonderful thing happened. 
 At one and the same time fire seized on the buildings of the 
 convent, burnt many of the soldiers, consumed the whole 
 convent and church, and the vessel which was in the 
 harbour, with provisions for the garrison on board, was 
 dashed against a rock. The English, who survived, took 
 refuge in the trenches, which they had dug, and were 
 arranging to surrender, treating of the terms and conditions. 
 News reached our Prince that the Spaniards, under Don 
 Juan del Aquila, had come to aid the Irish, and were landed 
 at Kinsale ; and that after they had taken possession of the 
 town, they were besieged therein by the heretics. He 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 59 ' 
 
 thought it was his duty to hasten to their relief, and leaving 
 things as they were in Donegal, he set off in all haste for 
 Munster. Having arranged to meet O’Neil and the others 
 on the way, all of them went to the relief of the Spaniards. 
 But things did not turn out well at Kinsale, and the 
 Spaniards were forced to surrender. When the Catholics 
 were worsted in this way, the Prince O’Donnell went to 
 Spain, and in the following year, 1602, all his territory came 
 into the hands of the heretics, and the church furniture too 
 of our convent of Donegal was seized by Oliver Lambert, 
 Governor of Connaught. He made drinking-cups of the 
 chalices, and tore up the vestments and used them for 
 profane purposes, and so both the convent and all its 
 furniture were destroyed.” 
 
 Red Hugh being absent in Connaught operating against 
 Clanrickarde, who was once more at the head of a great 
 military movement in favour of the English, hastened to 
 Donegal, and summoned his false cousin to surrender. 
 Nial Garv was brave, and resisted to the last, so that, 
 the avenger had nothing for it but to sit down before the 
 monastery. On the night of the 19th of September a 
 fire, from which it never recovered, broke out in the 
 building, and Red Hugh seized the occasion for an 
 assault. The men on both sides fought like lions. All 
 through that memorable night did the fierce struggle last, 
 the flames adding a ghastly horror to the wild work of death, 
 till at length in the early morning Nial, with the survivors of 
 the garrison, retreated, keeping along the strand under 
 cover of a ship, and took refuge in the neighbouring convent 
 of Magherabeg. 
 
 The baseness of Nial Garv’s character was not long in. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 <)0 
 
 impressing itself upon the attention of his English pur- 
 chasers, who after a short but bitter experience felt that in 
 buying him over they made a bad investment. Dowcra, in 
 a despatch from Derry to the Lord-Deputy Mountjoy (1602), 
 while acknowledging Nial’s bravery and good services, says : 
 — “ He is full of pride, ambition, and covetousness, with 
 importunities, continual begging, and wasting of whatever 
 he got. Though he is prone to extravagance, and under- 
 hand jugglery, it would not be well to charge him with any 
 of these faults, lest he should revolt against the English 
 Government, and become a desperate rebel.” Dowcra then 
 accuses him of having tampered with the loyalty of 
 MacSwine, and driven this peaceful chief into insurrection. 
 He complains of Nial being so insolent and so guilty of 
 treasonable practices, that it became necessary “to take 
 from him his cows, horses, and all his substance, for that 
 he forbade his people to yield any relief to the English 
 garrison, threatened to set fire to Lifford, refused to 
 admit any sheriff, and swcre he would go into rebellion 
 rather than any Englishman should enjoy a foot of church 
 land in his county.” 
 
 What wonder that the English hesitated to transfer the 
 Lordship of Tyrconnell to so dangerous an ally ? Nial, 
 however, pointed to the bond, and grew impatient. 
 Mountjoy dangled before his eyes the title of Earl and 
 shuffled ; but Nial, preferring the ancient and honoured 
 name of the O’Donnell, and tired of waiting for its investi- 
 ture, repaired to Kilmacrenan, despite the Lord-Deputy, and 
 had himself there proclaimed chieftain from the Rock of 
 Doon. This act of contempt confirmed the worst suspicions 
 of the English, who, in 1608, for complicity in O’Doherty’s 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 6 I 
 
 rebellion, ordered Nial and his only son Nachten to be 
 arrested in the town of Raphoe, and sent to the Tower of 
 London, where they rotted out the remainder of their lives 
 (1626). The memory of Nial Garbh lives in the suggestive 
 fact that but for his treachery Red Hugh would have driven 
 the English out of Donegal and Derry — probably Ireland. 
 The O’Donnell branch, to which Nial Garv belonged, 
 was propagated by his brother Hugh Buoy, or Yellow Hugh 
 of Ramelton, who held a commission in the army of the 
 Irish Confederate Catholics in 1641, and died in 1649. 
 His son, John, made Spain his adopted country, where he 
 became father of the celebrated Hugh Balderg O’Donnell, 
 who, quitting his Spanish Brigade without leave, reached 
 Ireland a few days after the battle of the Boyne (June 
 30, 1689), an d with the magic of his name raised in six 
 weeks for the fallen Jacobite cause eight regiments of foot and 
 two of horse. But the jealousy of the Anglo-Norman settlers 
 towards the old Irish proved too strong for him, as it did 
 more than forty years before to the famous Hugh Roe 
 O’Neil, and his movement ended in a fiasco. After the 
 siege of Limerick he surrendered to General Geikel, and 
 became a pensioner on the English purse, but ultimately got 
 restored to his military position in Spain. His family is 
 represented by the O’Donnells of Larkfield, Co. Leitrim, 
 who gave Field Marshal Count O’Donnell to Austria, and 
 Count Maximilian O’Donnell as aide-de camp to Francis 
 Joseph, its present popular Emperor. 
 
 TEte Four Masters, — After some years the friars, who 
 fled from the Abbey when they heard of Nial Garv’s 
 coming to take it, crept out from their hiding, and sheltered 
 themselves in some huts which they built among the ruins 
 
6 2 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 of their late home, In these cottages — the primitive form 
 of monastery — during the four years and six months 
 between January, 1632, and August, 1636, was written 
 the chronicle known as the “ Annals of the Four Masters ,” 
 which has given to the Abbey of Donegal its special celebrity. 
 It is an exhaustive account of Erinn from its inception, 
 back in the mists of antiquity, down to 1616 a.d., by four 
 great scholars of the Order of St. Francis, viz., Michael 
 O’Clery, Cugory O’Clery, Conary O’Clery, and Peregrine 
 O’Duigenan, with the assistance of two hereditary historians 
 of the King of Connaught, Fearfarsa O’Maelihonaire, and 
 another of the same name. The President, Michael O’Clery, 
 author of many learned works on Irish subjects, was born 
 about 1580, in the Castle of Kilbarron, near Ballyshannon 
 (see pages 23, 24). He was descended from a family of here- 
 ditary scholars, lay and ecclesiastical, and received, we may 
 presume, the rudiments of his education at the place of his 
 birth. In due course he entered the Franciscan Order, but 
 we do not know the exact date. 
 
 The outcome of the labours of this - distinguished staff is 
 the link that connects Ireland of the past with the Ireland 
 of the present, and the part of it that reaches to the 
 English Invasion (1171) was translated by the learned Dr. 
 O’Connor, librarian to the Duke of Buckingham at Stowe* 
 and by him published with the original Irish in 1824. Owen 
 Connellan, Irish Historigrapher to their Majesties George IV 
 and William IV. did the same for the remainder in 1845, and 
 added a wealth of most valuable notes. Again in 1851 the 
 Annals after passing through the competent hands of Dr. 
 O’Donovan, M.R.I.A., were published in seven volumes, 
 quarto. “ In whatever point of view,” says the late Professor 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 63 
 
 O’Curry, “ we regard these Annals, they must awaken feelings 
 of deep interest and respect ; not only as the largest collection 
 of national, civil, military, and family history ever brought to- 
 gether in this or perhaps any other country, but also as the final 
 winding-up of the affairs of a people, who had preserved their 
 nationality and independence for a space of over two thousand 
 years, till their complete overthrow about the time at 
 which this work was compiled. It is no easy matter for an 
 Irishman to suppress feelings of deep emotion, when speak- 
 ing of the compilers of this great work, and especially when 
 he considers the circumstances under which, and the objects 
 forwhich, itwas undertaken” (Lecture VII.). Dr. O’Connor 
 in his Catalogue of Stowe MSS., p. 133, writes : — “ The 
 grand object of the Four Masters is to give chronological dates, 
 and, with some exceptions, nothing can be more accurate. 
 The years of foundations, and destructions of churches and 
 castles, the obituaries of remarkable persons, the inaugura 
 tions of kings, the battles of chiefs, the contests of clans, the 
 ages of bards, abbots, bishops, &c., are given with a meagre 
 fidelity, which leaves nothing to be wished for, but some details 
 of manners, which are the grand desideratum in the chronicles 
 of the British Islands.” “ With all that Dr. O’Connor 
 has so judiciously said here I fully agree,” observes 
 O’Curry, — “A book consisting of 11,000 quarto pages, 
 Beginning with the year of the world 2242, ending with 
 the year of our Lord’s incarnation, 1616, thus cover-ing 
 the immense space of 4,500 years of a nation’s history 
 must be dry and meagre of detail in some if not in all parts 
 of it. And although the learned compilers had at their dis- 
 posal, or within their reach, an immense mass of historic 
 details, still the circumstances under which they wrote were 
 
64 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 so unfavourable, that they appear to have exercised a sound 
 discretion, and one consistent with the economy of time and 
 of their resources, when they left the details of our very 
 early history in the safe-keeping of such ancient original 
 records as from remote ages preserved them, and collected 
 as much as they could make room for of the events of more 
 modern times in which they lived themselves . . . 
 
 Among the many illustrious dead who sleep with the Four 
 Masters within these sacred precincts there is a name, new, 
 perhaps to some, and it is that of Menelaus MacCormac, 
 educated in Oxford, where, according to Anthony Wood, the 
 historian of that ancient University, he was known as 
 Carmgan Hibernicus. After having been Dean of Raphoe 
 for some years he was consecrated Bishop of that diocese on 
 the 15th July, 1484, and when he had fulfilled that high 
 trust with distinguished zeal and ability for thirty-one years, 
 he died on the 5th of May, 1515. Before his death he 
 begged to be clothed in the habit of St. Francis, and directed 
 that he Be buried in the convent of that Order in Donegal. 
 
 In the immediate vicinity of the Abbey the great 
 O’Donnell Castle was built in 1505 by the 
 The O’Donnell chieftain, Hugh Roe, and the place upon 
 Donegal. which it stood at the head of the bay is ex- 
 quisitely beautiful. The long narrow sheet 
 of water placid as a lake, decked on either side by grassy 
 slopes, robed in many-tinted woods, and here and there a 
 steep incline green to the water-line, all make up a scene 
 of unsurpassing loveliness. The Lord-Deputy Sydney visited 
 it in i^66, and carried away the following impression : — “ It 
 is one of the greatest castles I ever saw in Ireland, in any 
 Irishman’s hands, and would appear in good keeping one of 
 
DONEGAL CASTLE. 
 
HIE t {BRAKY 
 
 of the 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 65 
 
 the fairest, situate in a good soil, and so nigh the portable 
 water as a boat of ten tons may come within twenty yards of 
 it.” 
 
 On that awful night of September 19th, 1601, when the 
 recreant Nial Garv, had withdrawn to the refuge of Maghery- 
 beg, Red Hugh speedily followed, and couriers arrived at 
 his camp . They brought him an urgent message to the effect 
 that an expedition, sent by the King of Spain to aid the Irish 
 against Elizabeth, had arrived at Kinsale, and there awaited 
 the presence of the Irish chieftains, especially O’Neil and 
 O’Donnell. To this call Red Hugh promptly responded, 
 but before leaving he had the noble residence of his family, 
 with all its splendour and tender associations, completely dis- 
 mantled, in order that the enemy might not have a chance of 
 so rich a spoil. The English, coming into possession shortly 
 after, made over by crown grant the wrecked pile on Sir 
 Basil Brook, and out of it he built, right on the bank of the 
 river, the present Castle of Donegal. Here, though it is not k 
 given to the visitor to look upon the Royal residence of the 
 O’Donnell, still the object is remarkable, and must be viewed 
 from a distance to catch the lines of its gabled tower, sur- 
 mounted by a bartizan turret rising to a dizzy height, “ a 
 beautiful Elizabethan building, combining defensive with 
 domestic purposes ” {Murray). The chief points of interest 
 within are a fine chamber, or drawingroom, containing a 
 grand chimney-piece, sculptured in good style, with the 
 arms of Brook and Leicester, and lighted by a glorious 
 window. There are some good stone-mullions, and a low 
 room richly vaulted, with the stones placed edgeways. 
 
 The Battle of Kinsale, 1601. — Red Hugh was the first 
 of the Ulster chieftains on the way to Kinsale in 1601. At 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 the head of some 2,500 men, drawn from Tyrcormell and 
 Northern Connaught, he began his journey at the end of 
 October in that year. When Tipperary was reached, he 
 found that Sir George Carew, with a much superior force, lay 
 on his path in the plain of Cashel, while St. Lawrence was 
 rapidly coming up behind with the army of the Pale. Then 
 a high and difficult mountain rose on his right, so that he 
 was hemmed in. But the gallant chieftain could not be 
 stopped, and a heavy frost setting in during the night, greatly 
 facilitated his progress over Slieve Phelim, impassable though 
 it appeared. Carew being informed of the movement, 
 hastened to intercept, but by the time he got as far as 
 Kilmallock, Red Hugh was at Croom, having marched in 
 one day thirty-two Irish miles over the roughest ground 
 imaginable, “the greatest march,” writes Carew, “with 
 carriage, that hath been heard of” ( Pacata Hibernia). Sir 
 George thinking it folly to cope with “ so swift-footed a 
 general ” as he expressed it, returned direct to Mountjoy, 
 who had pitched his camp before Kinsale. On the 21st of 
 December, O’Neil, O’Donnell, and the Munster chiefs, 
 except MacCarthy Reagh, and Cormac MacCarthy, lord of 
 Muskerry, encamped on the heights of Belgoley. O’Sullivan, 
 chief of Bear, came at the head of his own men, with 200 
 Spaniards, from Castlehaven The besieging army was now 
 itself besieged, and the veteran O’Neil saw that, cut off as it 
 was in supplies from all quarters, every hour that passed made 
 its defeat surer. But the Spanish General had sent messages 
 pressing an attack on the English, while he would make a 
 sortie from the town, and O’Donnell, roused more by 
 some of the Spaniard’s cutting observations than by the 
 natural impetuosity of his own character, recommended 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 67 
 
 an immediate assault. In a council of war he carried the 
 majority against the better judgment of O’Neil, and the 
 early dawn of the 24th December was fixed for the attack. 
 During the night of the 23rd, the Irish army was set in 
 motion, and before daybreak the first division, in consequence 
 of the difficult nature of the ground, and the darkness, sud- 
 denly found themselves confronted by the enemy, standing 
 under arms in excellent order. Then ensued not a battle but 
 a carnage. When O’Donnell, who was following far in the 
 rear, came up, the panic had become general. He called 
 on the men to stand and fight the enemy, “ until his voice 
 and speech,” as the Four Masters express it, “were strained by 
 the vehemence, and loudness of the language in which he 
 addressed all in general, requesting his nobles to stand by 
 him and fight their enemies.” But all in vain. The disorder 
 was irretrievable, and O’Neil with O’Donnell retreated to 
 Inishannon, near Bandon. The Annalists counted the loss 
 in killed and wounded as a trifle compared with the loss of 
 prestige. This reverse seems to have depressed the sus- 
 ceptible spirit of Red Hugh to a degree which is hard to 
 realise. “He was seized with great fury, rage, and anxiety of 
 mind, so that he did not sleep, or rest soundly for the space 
 of three nights ” (Annals). The Spanish expedition had 
 been a mismanaged affair altogether. The force sent was not 
 at all up to the mark, and it landed just at the very place where 
 the English power had its strongest hold, while the Spanish 
 leader, though brave, held an insulting tone to the Irish, whom 
 he did not take the trouble to understand. To the Irish 
 chieftains the pain of this disaster was more acute than the 
 loss of the memorable Spanish Armada or Naval Invasion 
 -despatched by Philip II. in 1583 against Queen Elizabeth to 
 
68 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 paralyse her arm raised against Irish Catholics, as well as to* 
 punish her for the assistance she rendered to the Protestant 
 Netherlands in their opposition to Catholic Spain. Formid- 
 able battle ships to the number of 140, carrying over 30,000 
 fighting men, and 2,431 pieces of artillery, were then 
 scattered by the winds and the waves, and their wreckage 
 strewn on our shores ; yet the defeat at Kinsale was more 
 blasting to Irish hopes. 
 
 The Bayard of Tyrconnell dies in Spain —Red Hugh 
 now resolved to proceed to Spain for the purpose of inducing 
 Philip III. to follow up the Kinsale Expedition by another 
 under better auspices, and O’Neil having reluctantly agreed, 
 the O’Donnell immediately sailed from Castlebaven, followed 
 by “ the loud clapping of hands, pitiful and mournful to 
 hear, the intense tearful moaning, and the loud wailing 
 lamentation of his men ” (Anna/s). Wafted by a favourable 
 wind to Corunna, he was received there with extraordinary 
 respect. On the eve of his starting from Ireland, he delegated 
 the chieftaincy of the Cinel-Conall to his brother Rory, a 
 circumstance carefully noted by the Four Masters as 
 follows : — “ Rury O’Donnell was he to whom O’Donnell 
 had, on the night before his departure, left the government 
 of his people and lands, and everything that was hereditary 
 to him until he should return. And he commanded 
 O’Neill and Rury to be friendly to each other, as they 
 themselves both had been. And they promised him this 
 thing.” 
 
 Philip III. hearing that the lord of Tyrconnell had taken 
 his passage for Corunna, wrote to Count Caracena, Governor 
 of Galicia : — “ One of the most gracious letters ever a king 
 directed, and His Majesty stated that he would endanger 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 69 
 
 his kingdom to succour the Catholics of Ireland in their 
 struggle ; for the perfecting whereof great preparations were 
 in hand ” (Pacata Hibernia ). The Irish chieftain on arriving 
 the 13th of January, was received with all the honours due 
 to his exalted rank, and lodged in Government House : — 
 “Caracena evermore gave the O’Donnell his right hand? 
 which, within his government, he would not have done to 
 the highest Duke in Spain ” ( Pacata Hibernia ). The 
 
 morning of the 27th was fixed for the departure to Zamora 
 in order to catch the King, then on a tour in that part of 
 Spain. A brilliant cortege came as far as Santa Lucia, where 
 His Excellency the Governor in parting, put a thousand 
 ducats into the hand of his royal charge. Here, after resting 
 for the night, early next day His Highness the Red Prince 
 started for Compostella, where he was met by all the great 
 people of that ancient and venerable city. On the following 
 morning there was a solemn Mass in the Cathedral of St. 
 James, at which the Archbishop pontificated, and Hugh 
 Roe communicated at the High Altar. In the evening His 
 Grace had a brilliant party for dinner to meet his distinguished 
 guest, whom he presented with a large purse on taking his 
 leave. Accompanied by Father Florence Conry, afterwards 
 Archbishop of Tuam, Redmond Burke, Hugh Mostin, and 
 other eminent countrymen, the O’Donnell reached Zamora 
 in good time. He was warmly welcomed by the King, who 
 showed him royal honours, and generously promised to have 
 an expedition, according to his programme, fitted out imme- 
 diately. Hugh Roe returned to Corunna to rest there until 
 all things should be in readiness. The Winter wore away, 
 and the Spring, and as yet no appearance of the fleet which 
 'was to sail for Ireland. Summer came and passed, and 
 
70 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 the solitary figure of the Irish chieftain might still be seen 
 on the high beach at Corunna, looking out over the 
 heaving element, that divided him from the country he loved 
 so well. His impatient spirit could endure the delay no 
 longer. He started once more for the Court, but died on 
 the way at Simancas in the King’s palace, and was buried’ 
 with great solemnity in the Franciscan Church at Valladolid? 
 on the ioth of September, 1602, in the 29th year of hi& 
 age. 
 
 “ And he, the chieftain of the North, 
 
 The Red O’Donnell, 
 
 Who led her banded legions forth, 
 
 In Green Tyrconnell, 
 
 O’er fortressed height and battle plain 
 So many a day to death or danger — 
 
 He, tended by the hireling stranger, 
 
 He drops — he sinks — he dies in pain, 
 
 He breathes his last in far-off Spain.” ( Mangan .) 
 
 That he was foully poisoned by one Blake, who followed hin? 
 from Sir George Carew for this diabolical purpose, has been 
 conclusively proved by the accomplished scholar and Irish 
 archaeologist, the Rev. Denis Murphy, S.J., in the admirable 
 introduction to his translation of the life of Red Hugh, just 
 published from the original Irish. “ Thus closed the career 
 of one of the brightest and purest characters of any history. 
 His youth, his early captivity, his princely generosity, his 
 daring courage, his sincere piety, won the hearts of all who 
 came in contact with him. He was the sword as O’Neil 
 was the brain of the Ulster Confederacy ; the Ulysses and 
 Achilles of the war, they fought side by side without jealousy 
 or envy for almost as long a period as their prototypes had 
 spent in besieging Troy ” (M ‘Gee’s History of Ireland ) _ 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 n 
 
 What was done to revive Donegal Abbey immediately 
 after the sad death of Red Hugh has been transmitted by a 
 contemporary historian as follows : — “ The brethren still 
 live together in secure places within the limits of the con- 
 vent, and they have at all times a guardian and community 
 of twelve at least, but some of them have been transferred 
 to other convents. When peace was restored, and after the 
 death of the lord in Spain, his brother Rory was put in pos- 
 session of the greater part of his territory, and was made an 
 earl by the King of England, a title far inferior to that which 
 he had before. He began to rebuild the convent, but learn- 
 ing that the English were plotting to take away his life, he fled 
 with Earl O’Neill to Flanders ; from that he went to Rome, 
 where both of them died. Now the English heretics have 
 possession of the whole country, and they allow the older 
 brethren to live in remote places, knowing that all of them 
 must die soon, but they will not readily allow any younger 
 men to join them. Such is the present state of that con- 
 vent.” 
 
III.— EXCURSION TO THE GAP OF BARNESMORE, 
 BALLYBOFEY, AND STRANORLAR. 
 
 ~ ~9> J.VXWUU taiua ucgui inass away to the loft and 
 
 soon to approach your path. At the end of the third mile 
 you are gladdened by the sight of Lough Esk, a basin 
 some three and a half miles broad, under an outlier of 
 that fine range. The border in great part rises with 
 abruptness, sufficient to give the effect of precipice, 
 yet it holds enough of earth to nourish a coat of 
 fresh-coloured grasses, mixed with the purple blossom 
 of the heath. Though in one or two places this line 
 is broken rudely by the mountain torrents, there is at 
 the lower extremity the pleasant greenness of easy slopes, 
 in the midst of which reposes Esk House (Thomas Brook, 
 Esq.). At the upper extremity there is room for Ardnamona 
 with its warm clumps and fringes of trees, while the waterfall 
 at Ashdown sparkles in the sun, like a tiara of diamonds, as 
 it leaps down some 80 feet to swell the ripples on the Lough. 
 
 is an easy run from Donegal to the Gap of 
 Barnesmore, a pass which every tourist in the 
 Donegal Highlands ought to see. The road 
 is up the valley of the Esk, and directly you 
 leave the town the dark forms of the Bluestack 
 
BARNESMORE GAP, CO DONEGAL 
 
 ssM# 
 
THE 1 ISRARY . 
 
 of mi 
 
 UHiEBSiTY 6? ILLINOIS 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 73 
 
 But in all this there is not that which makes a scene of soft 
 beauty, for despite these agreeable accessories the eternal hills 
 are still the main characteristics of the landscape. On a 
 small island in the lake are the broken walls of a keep belong- 
 ing to the O’Donnell, and said to have been used chiefly as 
 a prison. Notwithstanding the etymology of the word Esk, 
 which means fish, neither the lake nor the river is at the 
 present day remarkable for an abundance of fish ; but the 
 waters possess, they say, the richer property of pearl-pro- 
 ducing — some pearls of great beauty having been found in 
 them. 
 
 Crossing the Lowreymore river, the road brings you soon 
 into quite a different scene, the Gap of Barnesmore. It is 
 truly a noble gorge of some three or four miles, cutting 
 right through, and shut in on either side by a threatening 
 wall — that on the right rising 1,724 feet, and that on the 
 left, to the height of 1,491 feet. The escarpments at 
 some points run out into beetling cliffs, at other parts 
 are furrowed by rents, dark and ghastly, scooped out 
 by the water-courses, which, with a peculiarity not unusual 
 to mountain torrents, show a partiality for the steepest 
 places, as if for a headlong leap. The defile though wild, 
 does not, however, wear a look of utter desolation, for there 
 is an abundance of vegetation, consisting of grass and heath, 
 chiefly of a brown colour, but under the various conditions 
 of weather producing a rich variety of those beautiful hues 
 which can be caught only in mountain scenery. “ Oh, how 
 I wished,” writes the Rev. C. Otway, “ even at the expense 
 of a thorough wetting, to go through this pass after a fall of 
 rain — to see hundreds of cataracts tumbling headlong on 
 ^either side, to hear the rush of the river, the roar of the 
 
74 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 waterfalls, and moanings of the mountain blast — realising the 
 poet’s descriprion, when 
 
 Red came the river down, 
 
 And loud and long the angry spirit of the waters shrieked.” 
 
 At the further end of Barnesmore the watershed is reached 
 and at a little distance you will observe on an eminence to- 
 the left, the dark ruin of a castellated mansion, built during 
 King James’s reign, where the Huguenot historian, Rapin,. 
 compiled his voluminous history. On the right, close to the 
 road, is Lough Mourne, the source of the Mourne Beg river,, 
 which, flowing eastward into Tyrone, courses on to unite its 
 waters with the Finn at Lifford. The surroundings of Lough 
 Mourne are of the most sombre and dreary character, but 
 somewhat relieved by a few white cottages and some patches 
 of green. Here a road is given off to the left, which leads 
 to Meenglass (the green plain), seat of Viscount Liftord, and 
 in a few minutes you reach a busy thriving little town on 
 the river Finn. 
 
 Stratb-bo-Fiach, now Ballybofey (Hotel : — Magee's y 
 pop. 1,000). There is some good scenery to be met with 
 by following the Finn up on the north side to Finntown, or 
 on the south side to Glenties. The road runs alongside the 
 river on the opposite bank of which are the dense woods of 
 Drumboe Castle (Sir Samuel Hayes), and passing Glenmore, 
 it cuts round the base of Altnapaste, a conical hill (1,199 feet),, 
 which on this side comes close to the water’s edge. If it be 
 dry weather the traveller will not fail to notice the marked 
 attrition of this mountain stream, which has furrowed deeply 
 the solid rock that forms its bed. Here a cross road winds 
 over the Finn to the right, where there is a pretty cascade, and 
 meeting the highway on the northern bank of Cloghan Lodge 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 75 
 
 keeps near the river to its source at Finntown, some ten miles 
 up in the heart of the mountains. The direct way, however, 
 leads on to Glenties, and affords throughout wild scenery, 
 rich and varied. At the Reelan Bridge we find ourselves in 
 the midst of the Highlands, and following up this route there 
 are at every turn new views of a noble group of steeply- 
 escarped hills, which “ shoulder each other ” close on the 
 left, the highest being Gaugin (1,365 feet). Having arrived 
 at a point eight hundred feet above the level of the sea, 
 you begin to descend Ballinagrath, presenting a splendid 
 prospect northward over Aghla, Scraigs, and the Glendowan 
 peaks. A little further on we pass Lough Ea, a small tarn, 
 guarded by savage-looking precipices, under the Binbane 
 range, which the eye may trace from this westward behind 
 Ardara, and running out to the ocean cliffs of Slieveatooey.. 
 From Lough Ea our road is down a rapidly-descending 
 course into the Glen of Glenties, one of the most 
 pleasing of highland valleys. The gray mountains, 
 standing in threatening line at the head of the Glen, the 
 brown hills subsiding into green slopes, the meadowy 
 holms over which the stream meanders, recalling by its many 
 windings the poet’s happy idea of the river unwilling to leave 
 its source, all realize Dante’s conception of the dolcemente 
 feroce (sweetly fierce). From Martin’s Bridge the valley lies 
 smiling before you into Glenties. 
 
 Butt’s Grave. — Before leaving Ballybofey, however,, 
 the visitor would do well to take a short walk to the little 
 cemetery, attached to the Protestant parish church of Stran- 
 orlar. If the u shades of evening ” be now falling so much 
 the better, for the heart will more readily respond to the 
 poetic pathos of Gray’s famous Elegy. The memory 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 76 
 
 of the dead, and the thoughts of one’s own passing away so 
 crowd upon the mind, that one cannot help kneeling down 
 and weeping. In the south-eastern angle is the grave, still 
 fresh, of the eloquent patriot, Isaac Butt, where it is simply 
 covered with the green sod of the old land he loved so well. 
 He it was who started the agitation for “ Home Rule,” and 
 put in training the ideas which Mr. Parnell matured imme- 
 diately after. Isaac Butt for the best part of his public 
 career, was admittedly the Irish orator of the English House 
 of Commons as well as the ornament of the Irish Bar, where 
 he shone with the revived splendour’ of Curran and Plunkett. 
 It was in a Grammar School near his father’s house, and not 
 far from Stranorlar, that he first developed that enormous 
 appetite for intellectual culture which he possessed. He 
 always retained an affectionate memory of native home, and 
 wished to leave his bones there. The letter in which he 
 expressed this desire was published after his death, and is 
 very affecting. It is addressd to his dear friend the late Dr. 
 O’Leary, M.P., and has marked on its envelope “ to be 
 religiously observed.” 
 
 “Dublin, St. Stephen’s Day, 1876. 
 
 M My Dear O’Leary, 
 
 u I write to you in fulfilment of an intention I have often expressed. 
 If I die in England, I think it better I should be buried in Brompton 
 Cemetery, in the grave with my mother and child. 
 
 If, wherever I die, the expense would not be an inconvenience, I 
 would wish to be buried in Stranorlar churchyard, as close as may be 
 to the south-eastern angle. The ground is, or was, a good deal lower 
 than the rest of the churchyard. A veiy shallow grave would be enough, 
 with a mound of earth or a tomb raised over it. Put no inscription 
 over the grave, except the date of my birth, and death ; and wherever I 
 am buried let the funeral be perfectly private, with as few persons 
 attending, and as little show and expense as possible. 
 
 “ Yours very truly, 
 
 Isaac Butt . 1 
 
THEDONKGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 77 ' 
 
 And so poor Butt was buried in the country churchyard. 
 
 “ Far from the city’s ceaseless hum, 
 
 Hither let my relics come !” 
 
 Stranorlar is also the birth-place of Frances Browne, the 
 well-known blind poetess of Donegal. The village (pop. 420) 
 is separated from Ballybofey by the bridge, which joins 
 them, and just opposite the handsome Catholic church is the 
 railway station where the visitor may take the narrow-gauge 
 West Donegal train, and return through the gap of Barnes - 
 more to the town of Donegal in less than an hour. 
 
DONEGAL TO KILLYBEGS. 
 
 NDER the Light Railways Act, 1889, a capital 
 sum of about £ 1 , 100,000 was made available 
 as a grant for the construction of railways 
 wherever in Ireland they were most needed. 
 Under this Act the West Donegal narrow-gauge line 
 has been extended from Donegal to Killybegs, a 
 distance of 18 miles, at an estimated cost of ^117,000. 
 The visitor may travel by this more expeditious means, but to 
 catch the views an outside car is incomparably better, and 
 then the route coasts westwards along Donegal Bay. Crossing 
 the Esk the road is through smiling fields, and at the end of 
 the first mile descends upon an inlet of the sea, which is 
 seen to best advantage at high water, when it looks an 
 extensive inland lake, with low banks, green as emerald. 
 Here begins a stiff ascent and you slowly climb up to 
 Mountcharles, a large village perched on the side of a steep 
 hill. Away below, the Hall of the Marquis of Conyngham 
 looks pretty with its white wings, bathed in sunshine, while 
 this arm of the bay and the uplands of Tyrhugh are 
 resplendent with the same influence. 
 
 Banagh and Boylagh. — In 1609, when the Northern 
 chieftains with their adherents had been exterminated, came 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 79 
 
 that favourite project of James I., and the long-desired 
 of the undertakers, known in Irish history as the “ Plantation 
 •of Ulster.’’ By this legalized process of assuming ownership 
 nearly all Tyrconnell was appropriated by adventurers, 
 chiefly from Scotland, at a nominal Crown-rent of three 
 halfpence an acre for good, and nothing for bad or unprofit- 
 able lands. Accordingly Banagh and Boylagh, or 10,000 
 acres, constituting the bulk of this North-West Donegal, 
 were practically bestowed on a Mr. John Murray, Laird 
 of Broughton, near Edinburgh, who happened to be in 
 the King’s household, and a tremendous favourite with 
 His Majesty. The names of the several sub-divisions, 
 covering this immense scope, occupy over three columns 
 of the printed Ulster inquisitions, with the official notifica- 
 tion of the transfer as follows : — “ And all and every of 
 which the before recited several proportions and lands doe 
 together contayne 10,000 acres of land, or thereabout, and 
 doe lye in the said barony or precinct of Boylagh and 
 Banagh. The said late King, on the 13th of December, in 
 the 1 8th yeare of his reigne of England 1620, by his letters 
 patent did give and graunte all the said proportions, townes, 
 villages, hamletts, quarters, parts, and parcells of land, tene- 
 ments, hereditaments, and premises, unto John Murray, 
 Esq., one of the groomes of his said late Majesty’s bed- 
 chamber, his heirs and assignees for ever.” The title of 
 Earl of Annandale became extinct in the family of this 
 lucky “ groome of his said late Majesty’s bed-chamber” 
 about the year 1658, but a considerable slice of his West 
 Donegal confiscation-grant is inherited by the present 
 Mr. Murray Stewart. Though represented by an active 
 agent in Killybegs, he is an inveterate absentee, one of 
 
8o 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 those feudal lords, now happily almost abolished in Ireland 
 “ who sow not neither do they spin.” The largest section,, 
 however, of Boylagh and Banagh is actually in the 
 possession of the Marquis of Conyngham, descended 
 from the Rev. Alexander Conyngham, a Scotchman, 
 Protestant Rector of the parish of Inver, in 1611, and 
 subsequently Dean of Raphoe. This worthy clergyman 
 married the daughter of Mr. Murray, the fortunate Laird of 
 Broughton, to whom the vast territory of Banagh and 
 Boylagh was conveyed by his royal master. Henry, Earl 
 Conyngham, dying without an heir something over a 
 hundred years ago, was succeeded by his nephew, Mr. 
 Burton, of the Co. Clare, who took the title as well as the 
 estates of the noble house of Conyngham. Unlike Mr. 
 Murray Stewart, the Marquis of Conyngham resides on his 
 broad acres. Most of the year he spends at Slane Castle, 
 on his Meath property, while a part of the Summer and 
 Autumn is divided between the Hall at Mountcharles and 
 the Lodge at Glenties, among a struggling, but industrious 
 tenantry, who do not appear to derive much benefit from his 
 presence. 
 
 Salt Hill is nicely situated on the coast, but instead of 
 following this flat and uninteresting road the visitor ought 
 to pursue the direct way to the crown of the hill above 
 Mountcharles, where the prospect is decidedly good, to 
 whatever point of the compass you turn your eyes. Two or 
 three miles to the right is Drumkeelin, in which were found 
 those fossil remains that have made 
 
 Inver familiar to every student of geology and Irish 
 archaeology. The parish (Imber-Naalis or Inver) is the 
 largest in the diocese of Raphoe, and has its name from 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 81 
 
 Naalis or Natalis, who is commemorated in the Martyrology 
 of Donegal (see page 31). The Saint’s mother was a fervent 
 daughter of the King of Leinster, and his father Engus, 
 King of Munster, in the act of being baptized by St. Patrick, 
 had his foot pierced by the sharp point of the Apostle’s 
 crozier, falling heavily on it. Yet the royal patient bore 
 the pain without a murmur, and moved not until the sacred 
 rite had been fully conferred. 
 
 The Acta Sanctorum Hibernia , or Acts of the Irish 
 Saints, is the production of the Rev. John Colgan, a 
 native of Glentoher, near Carndonagh, in Inishowen, where 
 the name is still in evidence. As a child he lisped in 
 Irish, as a boy he learned his lessons in Irish, and by 
 untiring application he acquired more than a boy’s know- 
 ledge of Irish. His parents destined him for the Church, 
 and being sent to a High School for the preparatory 
 studies, he gave his days and nights to Latin, thus laying 
 the foundation of the purity as well as the facility with 
 which he afterwards wrote in that ancient classic. While 
 still young he joined the Irish Community of St. Francis, 
 who sent him to their house at Louvain, in Belgium, 
 where after a time he was placed on the teaching-staff, and 
 ultimately made Warden of the College. All the time that 
 could be spared by him from the pressing duties of these 
 offices, was devoted to the composition of his great book, and 
 in this he had the unstinted assistance of Father Hugh Ward, 
 a Donegal man also, and a Franciscan, who after winning 
 high honours at Paris and Salamanca, came to lecture on 
 theology at Louvain. Colgan’s account of the Irish Saints 
 for the first three months of the year, expanded under his 
 teeming brain into such proportions, that he found it 
 
 F 
 
Sz THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 necessary to wind-up the first volume without ever after 
 being able to resume the narrative at that point. In 
 his Second Volume he has set forth no less than seven 
 different sketches of St. Patrick’s life, five of St. Columba, 
 and six of St. Bridget. The first volume was brought out in 
 1643, and the second in 1647, both at Louvain, where the 
 lamented author died in 1658. Under January 27th of the 
 Church Calendar, in telling us the most prominent and 
 interesting facts about St. Naalis, he says : — “ There are not 
 wanting other very weighty testimonies of the great sanctity 
 of St. Natalis or Naalis, and the solemn veneration, formerly 
 paid him,, in different parts of this kingdom. Some 
 menalogies relate that he, by merit, derived the fountain of 
 his faith from the rock, and that he is venerated on the 27th 
 of January with solemn festivity, and the honour due to 
 a patron where he discharged the office of Abbot . . . 
 in the church of Inber-Naaile,. in the County of Tireonnell.” 
 The religious foundation which flourished under St. Naalis 
 at Inver, together with its property, were appropriated by the 
 planters, and are now in the possession of their heirs, as is 
 evident from an Inquisition taken at Lifford, in the seventh 
 year of the reign of James I., in the following terms : — “ The 
 Jurors, upon their oathes, say and present, that in the saide 
 baronie (Tirew), is also the parish of Enivernaile, containing 
 in all three ballybetaghs, whereof half a quarter is church- 
 land, and now in the possession of the Bishop of Raphoe, 
 and that the usual rent thereof is fifty meathers of butter, and 
 thirteen shillings and foure pence Irish in monie.” 
 
 The route now lies down hill, giving off to the right a road 
 to Glenties, passing Frasses Catholic Church, crowned with 
 an attractive new tower, and flanked by a distinguished 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 S3 
 
 group of school-buildings, with a bright and well-kept 
 priest’s residence. At the source of the Eanybeg, some 
 five or six miles away, in a secluded dell, called Dysert, 
 are the grass-grown relics of an ancient chapel, and a well of 
 St. Collum-Cille, where many interesting traditions of the holy 
 man are told. Right above Dysert towers the rugged peak 
 of Carnaween, which has a Cromlech on its summit, and 
 commands a splendid prospect of the north-western coast of 
 Donegal, with the distant cloud-capped mountains to the 
 East and South. On the other side of the Eanybeg bridge 
 the road creeps up a long and tedious hill, with the huge 
 mass of Binbane rising on the right. Looking back the 
 traveller gets superb views, and when the watershed is 
 reached, his course becomes enlivened by shifting panoramas 
 as he journeys over the heathy heights. He then descends 
 into the valley of the Owentucker, a torrent which accom- 
 panies him by the side of its rocky channel as far as Kilrain, 
 where he joins the main route between Ardara and Glen ties. 
 
 By not quitting the direct road at the Glenties crossing, 
 one soon finds himself in front of the Protestant church with 
 its neat spire at Inver. There are two mansions standing 
 on opposite sides of the river, with a few neat farm-houses, 
 variously grouped, and all half-hidden among trees, which 
 make a rustic scene of more than ordinary beauty. A 
 short distance from Inver Bridge up the river, is a bit 
 of romantic scenery at Bonyglen (Sinclair, Esq.), whence 
 j the route from Donegal to Ardara wanders for miles upon 
 miles over a dreary waste. 
 
 The highway to Killybegs after crossing Inver bridge, is 
 also over rather uneven ground, but “ notwithstanding the 
 tediousness of those hilly roads, the tourist will rarely 
 
8 4 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 find the time hang heavy ; for the views of the Donegal 
 mountains are superb” (Murray). At the top of this long 
 stretch is Dunkineely , an improving village of one street ; 
 then a slope of good land, the Protestant church and 
 comfortable Parsonage of Killaghtee. Here the tourist may 
 make a detour to explore St. John's Point, a singular tongue 
 hardly a mile in mean width, but running some seven miles 
 into the sea. Following the way branching off from 
 Killaghtee, the tourist has on his right MacSwine’s Bay, on 
 the shore of which, at a place called Castle-point, is a heap 
 of the merest rubbish, once the proud dwelling of the 
 MacSwine of Banagh, and nearer to the road are the remains 
 of an old church. Further down at a place called Ballysaggart 
 (Priest’s Town), are the grass-grown relics of an abbey, and 
 at the extreme point there is a lighthouse, standing ninety- 
 seven feet above the sea. 
 
 MacSwine. — It has been already noted (page 12) that 
 Nial Glundubh of the royal blood of Eoghan (Owen), when 
 Monarch of Ireland in a.d. 919, made himself so famous 
 in battle with the Danes, and otherwise, that in honour 
 of him his grandson Donnell took O’Neil for a surname. 
 A few generations passed away, and this O’Neil’s great grand- 
 son was one Donslebi, father of the MacSuibne, M‘Swine, 
 or M‘Sweeney family, who, being of an adventurous turn, 
 chose Scotland as their best hunting-ground. But after a 
 wholesome experience they sighed for pastures new, which 
 were found within easy distance, on their own native shore, 
 directly opposite. Leaving behind in Scotland a sufficient 
 number to perpetuate their race and name, they set sail for 
 the extreme north-west coast of Donegal, and, having waved 
 their flag on Rathlin O’Beirne, an island off Malin Beg, they 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 85 
 
 entered M‘Swine’s Bay, and landed on St. John’s Point. 
 Here they made themselves masters of the whole of the pre- 
 sent barony of Banagh, the ancient Tir Bochaine, and 
 planted it with a considerable section of their party, under 
 the name of the MacSwines of Banagh. At Castle-point, 
 their leader erected a suitable home, where the occupant 
 became such an important factor in making history that he 
 is deemed worthy of an obituary notice in the Annals 
 of Ireland , under a.d. 1524 ' “ MacSweeney, of Tir 
 
 Boghainrie (*>.), Nial Mor, the son of Eoghan, the most 
 renowned constable of his own noble tribe for action and 
 honour, for determination of mind and counsel, for arranging 
 and attacking, for hospitality and generosity, for great troops 
 and active warriors, by whom most dangerous passes were 
 forced, died after extreme unction and repentance in his 
 own castle at Rathane (Rahan), St. John’s Point, on the 
 14th December.” This M‘Swine immigration having thus 
 successfully deposited its first colony, swept eastward round 
 the iron bound coast and established at Doe and Fanad two 
 other settlements more important than that of Banagh. 
 
 The fighting strength under the Irish chieftains was largely 
 made up of light infantry (ceithern or kerns) and the heavy 
 foot or galloglasses, from Gall (a foreigner), Og (young) and 
 Laoch (a champion). The bodies of these galloglasses were 
 clad in coats of mail, their heads encased in steel, their sides 
 furnished with long swords or claymores, and their hands with 
 huge battle-axes, which they wielded with such force in close 
 quarters as to cleave the skull of the adversary through the 
 heavy plates of his helmet. To move freely under the weighl 
 of such armour, and to manipulate these ponderous weapons 
 with ease, men were needed of powerful build and tall in 
 
86 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 proportion — stalwarts in fact. Such, as a rule, were the 
 MacS wines, so that from them the rank and file of the gallo- 
 glasses had chiefly to be recruited, while the chieftain's 
 standard-bearer or marshal was invariably the head of the 
 M‘Swine clan. This explains how the name comes to be 
 identified with the galloglasses and battle-axes, and it also 
 accounts for the fact that in the thirteenth century a chosen 
 community of the name from Donegal, settled in the County 
 Cork at the invitation of the Prince of Desmond, who 
 confided to them the high honour and lucrative post of 
 regimenting his warriors. 
 
 You must now retrace your steps to join the Killybegs 
 road, which leads by Bruckless, where the Catholic church 
 and presbytery occupy an elevation on the east bank of the 
 Carker river, diving here into a ravine, bordered by a dark 
 wood, from which a pillar of blue smoke may be seen 
 ascending on a quiet afternoon. Crossing the Oiley Bridge 
 there is a good mile of rising ground, patched with furze 
 and brown grasses, and then you “ descend upon the most 
 charming of landlocked bays," on one side of which, com- 
 pletely sheltered from the storm, is 
 
 KeSIybegS (Hotels : Coane’s, Rogers’, Royal Bay View), 
 “ a clean, pleasant, little seaport, which, without any preten- 
 sions to the dignity of a watering-place, will, as far as situa- 
 tion goes, well repay a visit ” (Murray). The town is built 
 literally on the edge of the sea, and the harbour opens to 
 the south by a narrow entrance, at which there is a light- 
 house on an insulated mass called the Rotten Island. In 
 fact, it is so completely secured and affords such excellent 
 anchorage that it has been strongly recommended as a 
 national harbour by the Royal Commission. The shore all 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 87 
 
 round is abrupt and craggy, but there is enough of green to 
 redeem it from wildness. The visitor should take an hour’s 
 boating in the bay for sake of the views, especially of the 
 town, and its rocky back-ground, which seems to float on 
 the tide. 
 
 The Northern chieftains when taking the field against 
 Queen Elizabeth to quench the fury of her persecution in the 
 old land, felt that, humanly speaking, they had but slender 
 chance of success, unless their arms were supported by the 
 help of Philip II. of Spain, the generous defender of Catho- 
 licity every where, and the most powerful Catholic crowned 
 head in Europe. This profound conviction O’Neil and 
 O’Donnell promptly conveyed to the Spanish sovereign not 
 only by special messenger, but in the following letter, dated 
 25th September, 1595 : — “ Our only hope of re-establishing 
 the Catholic religion rests on your assistance. Now or never 
 our Church must be succoured. By the timidity or negli- 
 gence of the messengers our former letters have not reached 
 you. We therefore again beseech you to send us 2,000 or 3,000 
 soldiers, with money and arms before the feast of Sts. Philip 
 and James. With such we hope to restore the faith of the 
 Church, and to secure you a kingdom.” The answer came 
 early in the following year by the arrival in Killybegs har- 
 bour of a considerable naval demonstration from the Spanish 
 Government, carrying Alonso Cobos or Copis as Envoy 
 Extraordinary to determine on the spot how the military 
 assistance, so fervently sought for, could be best forwarded. 
 The hope of immediate relief, thus forcibly inspired, so 
 gladdened the heart of the Bishop of Raphoe, Dr. Nial 
 O’ Boyle, residing at Killybegs, that he despatched to Philip 
 II. a letter full of grateful acknowledgment “ for the aid he 
 
88 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 was about to send, especially on behalf of the Church, 
 which was spoiled by the English heretics.” This holy 
 and patriotic prelate is buried in the old Abbey, on the 
 island of Iniskeel, at the mouth of the Gweebarra. The 
 local chief at Killybegs (M‘Swine of Banagh) joined the 
 Bishop in the expression of satisfaction on the occasion by 
 writing to the Spanish monarch that “ he had received His 
 Majesty’s letter ; that he was chief of a territory and of one 
 side of the harbour into which His Majesty's messengers 
 had come ; that he had treated them with all kindness, as 
 he was bound to do, and aided them to bring their business 
 to an end as soon as possible, and would do the like so long 
 as he lived, so that His Majesty’s ships could make a stay 
 in the harbour with security at all times. He asked for guns 
 and 500 men to be put under his command for the welfare 
 of the country.” 
 
 Killybegs, anciently called Calla-beaga (little churches), or 
 Na-Calla, as it is still designated by the Irish-speaking popu- 
 lation, must have been greatly favoured by St. Catherine, 
 seeing that she has presided over it from an early period. 
 The Annals under a.d. 1513, record the fact thus : — “ Owen 
 O’Malley came by night with the crews of three ships into 
 the harbour of Killybegs, and the chieftains of the country 
 being all at the time in O’Donnell’s army, they plundered 
 and burned the town, and took many prisoners in it. They 
 were overtaken by a storm, so that they were compelled to 
 remain on the coast of the country, and they lighted fires 
 around touching close to the ship. A youthful stripling of 
 the MacSweeneys, that is Brian, and the son of Brian, and 
 a party of shepherds, overtook them and attacked them 
 courageously, and slew Owen O’Malley and five or six score 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 89 
 
 along with him, and also captured two of their ships, and 
 rescued from them the prisoners they had taken, through the 
 miracles of God and St. Catherine, whose town they had 
 profaned.” Quite near the town on the Western shore there 
 is a Ptobatica or well, the miraculous virtue of which is 
 attributed to St. Catherine. It marks the spot where stood 
 the Priory, founded by MacSwine of Banagh, in honour of 
 this patron saint, and after this venerable establishment had 
 been levelled, its place was taken by the Catholic parish 
 church. But this, like the old priory, is long since gone. The 
 rich pastures belonging to the MacSwine foundation are 
 converted into a glebe, a neat parsonage succeeds to the 
 old abbey, and the present St. Catherine’s Catholic church 
 is on a rock, high over the town, presenting in its fine 
 proportions a commanding object. Adjoining it on the same 
 lofty platform is the turretted dwelling of the pastor, who 
 looks down with a loving eye on his faithful flock. One of 
 his predecessors, Donatus MacMonagle, occupies a niche in 
 the temple of fame. Promoted to the government of the 
 ancient see of Raphoe in the last half of the sixteenth century, 
 he repaired to Trent in the Austrian Tyrol, and took part in 
 the closing sessions of that great Ecclesiastical Council. An 
 interesting manuscript, to be seen in the British Museum, 
 London, refers to this illustrious Irish prelate in the following 
 eulogistic terms : — “ He was the third great bishop that took 
 part in the Council of Trent ; he was an active and well quali- 
 fied man \ he could write well, and speak the Latin, English, 
 and Irish tongues. He commonly accompanied O’Donnell 
 when he came to Dublin before the State. He dealt much 
 for the business of the Church, and at length he obtained 
 letters under My Lord Deputy’s, Sir Henry Sydney’s, and 
 
9 o 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 the Council’s hands for the immunity of the Church ; tha 
 neither English nor Irish should have cess or press 
 upon the Church lands, and if any number of persons 
 should offend contrary to the Lord Deputy’s and Council’s 
 order, established in that behalf, such delinquent shall 
 pay into the Church tenfold as much as should be 
 thus wrongfully exacted.” The Four Masters tell us that Dr. 
 MacMonagle surrendered his distinguished and useful life at 
 Killybegs, on the 25th September, 1589. There is not even 
 a stone to mark his grave — no monument in marble or brass 
 to record his memory. There is, however, an old ruin with 
 a decayed cemetery, not far from Killybegs, which is pointed 
 out as the resting-place of the great bishop, but local tradi- 
 tion is the only means of identifying it ! 1 
 
KILLYBEGS TO KILCAR AND GARRICK. 
 
 HE tourist should now take a car, there 
 being no other public conveyance, to explore 
 the district beyond Killybegs, which, as far 
 as scenery goes, is equal to anything in 
 Ireland, and deserves to be thoroughly 
 
 well-known ” ( Murray ). Starting from 
 
 Killybegs, the horse begins at once to labour against a 
 steep ascent, from which, looking back, one gets a view, 
 that for variety of incident, is rarely equalled. The little 
 town under your feet, with its gigantic barrier of crags, 
 standing up behind it, the placid basin, with its translucent 
 
 waters, and brim of rock and pasture, are interwoven in 
 
 every conceivable figure. All this, looking clear and 
 bright, even in murky weather, and the distant hills, cutting 
 the horizon into long and graceful lines, are the character- 
 istics of the scene. After the first mile you suddenly drop 
 upon a maritime dell, with a singularly bold back ground. 
 T'here is abroad strip of yellow strand, from which FintraBay 
 spreads out, and upon the beach is Fintra House, embosomed 
 in trees, while close behind, tower the dark steeps of Cronarad. 
 The road now keeps along the coast, which slopes rapidly to 
 the sea, having still the ridge of Cronarad, gray and rugged, 
 on the right, and commanding seaward Donegal Bay. with its 
 
9 2 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 southern coast-line from the sand-hills of Eundoran to the 
 distant mountains of Erris and Tyrawley. At the fifth mile 
 the direct way bends inland, but the tourist had better 
 go by the less-frequented one, skirting the base of Muck- 
 ross (916 feet), on the side next the sea, and affording 
 bits of coast scenery that will more than repay the 
 inconvenience of the detour. Perched high on what is more 
 a cliff than a hillside, are the airy tenements of fishermen, 
 who in addition to the precarious livelihood, drawn from the 
 deep, manage to raise potatoes among the rocks. Arrived 
 at a spot where there is a school-house standing by itself, one 
 will have no difficulty in finding among the houses in the 
 neighbourhood a guide to the caves, which open on the sea 
 at the end of Muckross Point. These are a series of marine 
 chambers, each consisting of three sides of a square, cut 
 clean out of the living rock, and a fiat roof of immense 
 flags, admirably jointed together. In the largest, called the 
 Market House, there is an enormous cube of rock ; they 
 are not accessible at the higher stages of the tide, but it is 
 worth while to wait till the water has receded sufficiently to 
 allow one to explore them. Above, on the western extremity 
 of this headland, is shown a heap of stones which, judging 
 from the traditions, as well as the incidents of the situation, 
 was probably one of those Cyclopean towers of the Pagan 
 period, so common in the south and west of Ireland. 
 Looking cowards Carrigan Head, there is a noble vista of 
 precipices, standing like pillars at the entrances into 
 Tamney and Teelin Bays. If the day be not unusually 
 fine, the visitor should spend half an hour on the strand 
 under the school-house, to observe the majestic roll of 
 the waves, which, under most conditions of weather, 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 93 
 
 attain here a volume greater than anywhere else all round 
 this stormy coast. He cannot fail to be struck with 
 the position of the school-house, built into the abrupt 
 acclivity of the mountain. The pupil on leaving the door, 
 sees below a line of awful precipices, under which the 
 Atlantic thunders unceasingly. Above there is the hardly 
 less awful Muckross, so steep that the unaccustomed visitor 
 cannot look up without a sensation of uneasiness lest he 
 might fall back into the sea. Along the mountain side, the 
 huge boulders threaten every moment to come down — 
 stones not unfrequently do descend, acquiring in the fall a 
 momentum equal to a cannon shot. The road cuts its way, 
 touching at two or three points, on the verge of precipices 
 that take one’s breath away, and quitting its dizzy course, 
 declines into a short fiord, the western side of which is very 
 precipitous, but covered with clusters of small houses 
 and cultivated patches of land. Distant about half a mile 
 lies 
 
 Kilcar, “a romantic village on the slope of a hill, at 
 the foot of which is the Protestant church, and a 
 brawling mountain torrent, forming altogether a charming 
 picture” {Murray), The Catholic church, neatly railed 
 off the street, with the handsome new parochial house 
 showing prominently above, constitute the most striking 
 architectural feature in the place. On the hillside over 
 the Protestant church, are the remains of the old Abbey, 
 from which Kilchartach (the Church of Carthac), or the 
 more euphonius Kilcar y is derived. St. Carthac was 
 the brother or nephew of St. Natalis, who presided over 
 Inver. He had his training under St. Kieran, and 
 advanced so much in the spirit of the cloister, that he was 
 
94 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 chosen abbot of many a monastery throughout the provinces. 
 Two of the holy wells at Kilcar are ascribed to him, but the 
 third, strangely enough, is attributed to St. Patrick. Pilgrims 
 do not flock to these sacred fountains as of old. The pious 
 people of the mountains now seem to reserve their devotion 
 in that respect for the holy places consecrated by the pre- 
 sence of St. Columba in the neighbouring 
 
 The hermits _ . „ . 
 
 st. Hugh Mac- Sean-glean or Glencolumbkille. This, no 
 
 ^st^Asic us ^ doubt, explains too, why the hermitage of 
 
 the holy recluse, Hugh MacBracken, as 
 well as the remains of the cell and oratory of the austere 
 and contemplative Bishop, St. Asicus, on the summit of 
 Slieve League near the precipices, are not now the scene of 
 crowded pilgrimages, as tradition represents them to have 
 been in the not far distant past. St. Hugh MacBrice, or 
 Breaky, or MacBracken, is thus commemorated in the 
 Calendar of Cashel : — “ Hugh, the son of Brecii, of the race of 
 Frachii, son of Neil, Bishop of Kildare in Meath, and of 
 Slieve Liag, in Tir bochain (Tirconnell). The age of Christ, 
 when his spirit went to heaven, 588.” Colgan in his account, 
 notes “ that St. Hugh MacBracken is venerated as patron in 
 several churches, as for instance in Enach-Crinnian, in the 
 county of Musery (Muskerry) in Munster, and in Sleabh 
 Liag, in Tirconnell, where a chapel is consecrated to him, 
 and a solemn pilgrimage performed in his honour. He died 
 in the year 588, according to the Chronicon Cluanense and 
 the Annals.” Of St. Asicus, who inhabited an oratory on 
 the same wild and desolate spot, we are told by the late Rev. 
 Matthew Kelly in his notice of the “ Patron Saints of Ireland” 
 that St. Asicus (Asaach) was the first Bishop of the diocese 
 of Elphin, and a disciple of St. Patrick, who obtained from 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 95 
 
 a Druid the land on which the church of Elphin was built. 
 In a penitential spirit, St. Asicus renounced the charge of his 
 diocese, and retired to the mountain of Sleabh Liag, in the 
 present county of Donegal, from which he could not be 
 persuaded to return. He died in his retreat, and was buried 
 in the church of Rathcunga in Tirhugh, Donegal. His name 
 is in the Martyrology of Tallaght , on the 26th of April, and 
 his festival is observed on the following day in the diocese 
 of Elphin. A much fuller notice of him is given by Colgan : 
 — ' “The most holy and chaste Bishop, Asicus,” he says, 
 “ when on a certain occasion it was necessary to state a fact, 
 uttered a falsehood, having spoken without sufficient reflection. 
 In consequence of this fault, he became so great a penitent, 
 that he determined never to be seen in the place where he 
 had given so great a scandal. Wherefore, having resigned 
 his see, and the government of the monastery in which he 
 lived, he retired to the northern parts of Ireland, and on a 
 certain mountain in the county of Tir-boghain, called 
 Sleabh Liag, he led a solitary life for seven long years. 
 Meanwhile, his monks, by their untiring exertions discovered 
 him in that solitude, and implored that he might return to 
 his deserted see and monastery ; but he refused sternly, 
 because he considered himself guilty of a great scandal in 
 telling a falsehood, and that he, therefore, ought not to be 
 seen where he had given the scandal. They prevailed, how- 
 ever, on him, to remove to another solitary place, where he 
 shortly after slept in the Lord, and was buried by his 
 disciples in the county of Serthe, at a place called Rath- 
 cunga.” 
 
 There is a new road to the left, and an old one to the 
 right, from Kilcar to Garrick which keeps the valley of the 
 
9 6 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 Bally duff river for a good mile, when it ascends a slope of 
 moorland, and shows, nestling in the bosom of the giant 
 Slieve League, 
 
 Garrick, a small village, situated on the Teelin river. 
 The tourist should make Carrick his head quarters, at 
 the Glencolumbkille Hotel, where he will find great comfort 
 in every way, "“with peculiar advantages for exploring a 
 district teeming with coast and mountain beauty ” (. Murray ). 
 The lover of cliff scenery, especially, will have a high 
 holiday in this district. The writer of Murray's Handbook 
 truly remarks that “ the twenty miles from Teelin Bay to 
 Loughros Bay is, as far as coast scenery goes, not to be ex- 
 celled by any locality in Great Britain.” But it is well to 
 observe that the line of coast alluded to is nearly twice 
 twenty miles ! Anglers, too, may enjoy themselves here 
 very pleasantly for a time, and guests, staying at the hotel, 
 have leave from the proprietors (Messrs. Musgrave), of the 
 estate, to fish the rivers and lakes without charge, if they 
 hold a “ salmon license ” for that district. 
 
IV.— EXCURSION TO SLIEVE LEAGUE (Pony, 5/-, 
 Guide for a Party 5/-). 
 
 - 
 
 A , HE party, on starting, should tell the guide to 
 lead first to Carrigan Head by 
 i carrigan Head, the left bank of the Teelin 
 river, and then along the estuary 
 of the same name. Teelin is perfect in that peculiar 
 beauty, belonging to landscape, in which all the lines 
 of the picture are sharp, and every feature striking. In the 
 little bay, with all its bold surroundings, there are views in 
 rich abundance, which, one having a turn for drawing, will 
 be tempted to sit down and sketch. At the end of the 
 third mile, a path on the right leads over the hill to the old 
 Martello Signal-tower, where begins the work of exploring the 
 magnificent precipices of Carrigan Head, a truly noble pier, 
 745 feet high, terminating in Slieve League at its southern 
 end. On the mind susceptible in the least degree of the 
 sublime, the impression produced is intensely sensational. 
 
 A word about the visitor of weak nerve, and unaccustomed 
 to cliff scenery. To such a one coming close to the verge, 
 suddenly every object, except the immense expanse of 
 ocean far below, and the empty space of sky before and above, 
 goes out of sight, and there is a feeling as if the ground had, 
 by some magical influence, shot back from under the feet, 
 leaving the climber poised in mid-air, and this awful imagina- 
 
9 8 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 tion may at once grow into that of helpless terror. Often 
 one thrown into some such panic, by the presence of an 
 abyss, is made miserable by the well-meant encouragements 
 of others in the party. Encouragement is a necessary remedy, 
 but it is not to be accompanied with banter, which only 
 serves to irritate the mind more and more; nor by vehemence 
 of argument, because the will is for the moment beyond the 
 dominion of reason. The best course is to let the person 
 so affected rest awhile on the lesser elevations, until the eye 
 has become somewhat familiarised with the scenery, and 
 learned to measure steadily all its lines. When the visitor 
 can look calmly on the spot where he plants his feet, and feels 
 the ground solid under him, it is a sign that he has recovered 
 the even balance of his faculties. He may then proceed, 
 and those sensations which were before panic or terror, be- 
 come the most elevating and delicious of excitements, surpass- 
 ing anything that the finest efforts of the stage could produce 
 From Carrigam Head the cliff curves slightly inward, 
 making a small bay, called Sunglass. As- 
 The Awas-k Mo r cenc [i n g a short stretch of hill, one suddenly 
 
 or Groat View. 
 
 finds himself on the platform, where a 
 view of singular magnificence bursts upon the vision- 
 al view of its kind, probably unequalled in the British 
 Isles. The lofty mountain of Slieve League gives, on the 
 land side, no promise of the magnificence that it presents 
 from the sea, being in front a r mural precipice of nearly 
 2,000 feet in height, descending to the water’s edge in one 
 superb escarpment — 
 
 u Around 
 
 Whose cavern’d base the whirlpools and the waves. 
 
 Bursting and eddying irresistibly. 
 
 Rage and resound for ever.” — Shelley. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 99 
 
 The place where you stand is called the Awark-Mor, that 
 is, the Great View, and, indeed, it is in very truth a great 
 view. As one halts at the end of a curve, a large portion 
 of the face of the wall is brought within his ken. At first 
 the extraordinary altitude of the cliffs, descending sheer 
 to the ocean, produces a sense that so absorbs the mind as 
 to leave no room for other impressions. But when by degrees 
 the eye comes to take in the picture in detail, a play of 
 line and colour in wonderful combination, enchants the 
 spectator. All round the sweep there is a variety and rich- 
 ness of colour. The hues of the different strata of rocks, the 
 stains of metals, the various tints of clays and mosses — in 
 short every colour in the rainbow, and every variety of shade, 
 come out before you in the sunshine — a magnificent mosaic 
 work, beside which the noblest efforts of human art sink into 
 the veriest miniature. Then the depths below, supplying this 
 wonderful crescent, with a translucent floor of blue, dark 
 almost to blackness, and the line beyond, breaking as it 
 recedes into abutments, and towers, and aerial tableaux, 
 all go to make up the foreground of the Awark-Mor. 
 Somewhat to the right, not many feet below the edge is a 
 dark dint in the face of the precipice called the Eagle’s 
 Nest, a fit abode truly for the royal bird. 
 
 To enjoy the scenery well, the visitor should climb 
 by a path from Bunglass the whole way 
 Th jf Man’s U p # On approaching the summit he will 
 Bunglass. find that the mountain narrows to an edge, 
 called the “ One Man’s Path,” from the 
 circumstance that they, who are bold enough to tread it, 
 must cross in single file over the sharp ridge. On the 
 land side an escarpment, not indeed vertical, but straight 
 
100 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 enough to seem so from above, recedes more than a 
 thousand feet to the brink of a small tarn ; while on 
 the side facing the sea, the precipices fall, down from 
 1,300 to 1,800 feet, literally as a wall, to the ocean. 
 A narrow footway, high in air, with both these awful 
 abysses, yawning on either side, is the “ One Man’s Path,” 
 which in the language of the people of the district is the 
 special characteristic of Slieve League, a distinction that it 
 surely merits. The writer, while he agrees with the obser- 
 vation in Murray's Handbook, as to the absence of real 
 danger, would be sorry to press any visitor of weak nerve 
 to venture on the dizzy ledge, which abounds in awful 
 incident of the kind that had proved nearly fatal to Lady 
 Staunton. “She,” says the story-teller of the Heart of 
 Mid-Lothian, “was an admirer of the beauties of nature, a 
 taste which compensates many evils to those who happen 
 to enjoy it, and appeared to feel an energy while in the 
 open air, traversing the mountain landscapes with the 
 two boys, whose ears she delighted with stories of what 
 she had seen in other countries, and what she had to show 
 them at Willingham Manor. One day, she walked five long 
 miles, and over rough ground, to see a fine cascade in the 
 hills ; and the scene, when she reached it, amply rewarded 
 the labour of the walk. The view of the shoot, however, 
 was broken by a jutting rock. Those who love nature 
 always desire to penetrate into its utmost recesses, and 
 Lady Staunton asked David whether there was not some 
 way of gaining a view of the abyss at the foot of the fall. 
 He said that he knew a station on the shelf at the further 
 side of the intercepting rock, from which the whole waterfall 
 was visible, but the road to it was steep, slippery and 
 
ONE MAN’S PASS. SLIEVE LEAGUE, CO. DONEGAL, 
 
mi uBftAPiY 
 
 of m 
 
 ansvERsmr of iouois 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 10 1 
 
 dangerous. Bent, however, on gratifying her curiosity, she 
 desired him to lead the way ; and accordingly he did so, 
 over crag and stone, anxiously pointing out to her the resting- 
 place where she ought to step ; for their mode of advancing 
 soon ceased to be walking, and became scrambling. In 
 this manner clinging like sea-birds to the face of the rock, 
 they were enabled at length, to turn round it, and came full 
 in front of the fall, which here had a tremendous aspect, 
 boiling, roaring and thundering with unceasing din, into a 
 black cauldron, a hundred feet at least below them, which 
 resembled the crater of a volcano. The noise, the dashing 
 of the waters, which gave an unsteady appearance to all 
 around them, the trembling, even, of the huge crag on 
 which they stood, the precariousness of their footing — for 
 there was scarce room for them to stand on the shelf of 
 rock which they had thus attained — had so powerful an 
 effect on the senses and imagination of Lady Staunton, that 
 she called out to David she was falling, and would, in fact, 
 have dropped from the crag, had he not caught hold of her. 
 The boy was bold and stout of his age, still he was but 
 fourteen years old; and as his assistance gave no confidence 
 to Lady Staunton, she felt her situation become really 
 perilous. The chance was, that in the appalling novelty of 
 the circumstances, he might have caught the infection of her 
 panic, in which case it is likely that both must have perished 
 She now screamed with terror, though without hope of 
 calling any one to her assistance. To her amazement the 
 scream was answered by a whistle from above, of a tone so 
 clear and shrill that it was heard even amid the noise of the 
 waterfall.” Of course this whistle was the harbinger of 
 sure relief. 
 
102 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 The View from the Top of Slieve League.— The 
 
 party who may be afraid of the One Man’s Path from 
 Bunglass, can make a round by Teelin, and gain the 
 heights beyond by a gravelled walk, to the top of the 
 mountain, where will be seen in a little hollow, the scattered 
 stones of the hermitage in which St. Hugh MacBracken and 
 St. Asicus hid themselves to commune with God, away from 
 the noise of the world. Here again is another “ One Man’s 
 Path,” not, indeed, so dizzy as that which leads up from 
 Bunglass, but still sufficiently tremendous to appal the 
 unaccustomed visitor ; yet it was, till the making of the 
 broad road to Malinmore and Malinbeg the great thorough- 
 fare between those coasts, and the interior of the country. 
 As there is no risk, unless in the case of a strong wind 
 blowing from the land, the tourist ought to cross to the other 
 side, where the cliff attains its highest elevation, 1,974 feet. 
 The view is worthy of this great maritime Alp, Southwards 
 you take in a noble horizon of mountains, ranging from 
 Leitrim to the Stags of Broadhaven, and in the dim distance 
 are seen Nephin above Ballina, and, when the atmos- 
 phere is peculiarly clear, Croagh- Patrick above Westport. 
 Looking inland you behold a sea of eternal hills receding 
 in waves as far as the rounded head of Slieve Snaght and 
 the sharp cone of Errigal. But, wondrous as is this view, it 
 is in the majesty of the cliff that the scene becomes 
 unrivalled. On the farther side, are one or two groups 
 of slender quadrilateral pillars, standing in singular 
 isolation and called chimneys by the country people. 
 Strange fancy ! — and they are beautifully tapering ones 
 to an edifice two thousand feet high. The tourist, guarding 
 his steps, should follow the guide down to one of the 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. I03 
 
 « chimneys,” not so much with a view to inspect the example 
 itself as to gain a new standpoint from which to see the 
 precipice. A quarry lately opened here shows this part of 
 the mountain to be formed of piles of thin small flags 
 of a beautiful white colour, thus proving — what the geologist 
 would have seen at the first glance — that “ the chimneys” 
 are portion of the formation which have not wholly yielded 
 to the atmospheric action that has worn the rest into a 
 smooth incline. And here observe how much there is in a 
 name, for Slieve League (or Liaga) means the mountain 
 of flags. 
 
 Let the visitor now from this spot contemplate the 
 wondrous architecture of the great cliff. 
 The wondrous The immense field of precipice which he 
 architecture surveys is the result of a combination of 
 
 of the great . . . . . _ 
 
 cliff. projections, cavities, and ledges. Here 
 
 a line, presenting a sharp edge, cut into 
 a series of indentations ; there a recess, running down the 
 abyss, like the hollow of an enormous fluted column ; there 
 again is a forest of projecting rocks, assuming every form of 
 crest, and all marvellously checkered with seams of stunted 
 heath, dwarf shrubs, and peculiar herbs : 
 
 “ The rocky summits split and rent, 
 
 Form’d turret, dome, or battlement, 
 
 Or seemed fantastically set 
 With cupola or minaret ; 
 
 Wild crests as pagod ever deck’d, 
 
 Or mosque of eastern architect.’’ — Scott. 
 
 Far below, through the splintered crags, is a vista of 
 brightest green — a delicious carpet, soft-looking as a palace 
 park. 
 
io4 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 The range of precipices continues unbroken, but gra- 
 dually diminishing in elevation to Malinbeg (five miles), 
 and the sights along this whole line will amply repay the 
 fatigue of a walk to Rossarell Point. At Malinbeg, where 
 the sea has cut a crescent into the lofty beach, is a belt of 
 beautiful strand called Traban (white strand), at the northern 
 extremity of which one can see a good example of fort or 
 “ dun,” called by the people of the locality the Doon, and 
 in an adjoining creek there is a superb monolith standing 
 up out of the bright water. At the coastguard station there 
 are a few clean houses, and one of these is pointed out as 
 having been, during part of a summer, the lodgings of 
 the genial and accomplished painter, Sir Frederick Leighton, 
 President of the Royal Academy. From Malinbeg the tourist 
 can proceed to Malinmore, two miles farther on, where he is 
 sure to find comfortable quarters at the house of Miss Walker. 
 
 Should the visitor desire to sail under the sea-cliffs of 
 Slieve League, an excursion, which ought by all means be 
 made, weather permitting, a boat and crew may be had at 
 Teelin, a starting-point whence to coast all the way to 
 Malinbeg.. As so much has already been said about this 
 view, there is no need of further describing the characteristics 
 of the scenery, except to add that there are some caverns, 
 which the boatmen will point out. 
 
 Many years ago, on the occasion of a great fair at 
 Killybegs, a clergyman engaged two poets, famous in 
 the locality, in a bardic contest, assigning to one for 
 a theme Slieve League with its surroundings, and to 
 the other the Muineagh, a hill rising behind Ardara. 
 Each bard was put into a separate room for a stated 
 time, after which he was led forth to recite his pro- 
 
MALIN BAY, CO. DONEGAL. 
 
M 1 1SBABT 
 
 OF M 
 
 iHTOffiRsinr er ilumois 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. IOJ 
 
 duction before the general company. The result was two 
 ballads of the true Homeric stamp, which are still remem- 
 bered in the recesses of Donegal. The poet of Slieve 
 League sings of the slopes “ running with honey as with 
 mountain dew,” and the “ sweet milking of the kine,” and 
 the “ frisking calves,” and the “ cliff-birds in playful debate 
 about their lodging for the night,” and “the hounds and 
 wolf-dogs let loose at early dawn,” and “ the pleasant gather- 
 ings of the people,” and “the little fairy horsemen,” and so on 
 with an inspiration full and rushing. Then stopping short to 
 dilate upon the cliffs, he exclaims : “ Here the monarchs 
 of the ocean hold high festival below,” while “ the peak 
 above sees many a wondrous sight,” and then as if silenced 
 by the vastness of the object, he abruptly breaks off his 
 description. The ballads of course are in the Irish language, 
 and, like most ballads, would lose their charm by translation. 
 It is a sublime idea that of the noblesse of the great deep 
 holding tournament under these walls, and it may be, indeed, 
 questioned, whether in the infinite range of ocean border all 
 round the earth there be another scene so worthy of their 
 distinguished companionship as that under Slieve League. 
 It is hardly necessary to observe that many of the effects 
 alluded to in these remarks are lost in cloudy or stormy 
 weather, in which event, however, the visitor will be com- 
 pensated by many other attributes, brought out by the play 
 of storm and cloud in this scenery, sublime under every 
 aspect. 
 
 Many “ a tale traditionary ” hangs round Slieve League. 
 
 Here is one related to the writer, while he 
 
 a Tale o-FSheve res t e d on the steep declivity ofthemoun- 
 
 League. . . 
 
 tain on the Malinbeg side, by an intelligent 
 
io 6 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 young man who accompanied the narrative with many 
 handfuls of juicy bilberries (found in great abundance at 
 that spot about the middle of the month of August), which 
 he gathered while he told the story. One fine sunny day, 
 early in September, a woman, who dwelt at the Teelin end 
 of Slieve League, taking her child, a little girl of some ten 
 months old, in her arms, came out into a field close by her 
 cottage where the husband and some others were making 
 hay. She remained chatting, and fondling her little darling 
 till it went to sleep. Then, making a soft bed of the 
 newly-saved hay, warmed in the sun, she laid the child down 
 and watched by it, tenderly, raising the margin of the bed here 
 and smoothing it there. By-and-by dinner-hour came, and 
 the mother was needed for a moment within. Looking at 
 her tender offspring, and fidgetting once more with its bed, 
 she soliloquised: — “Til not disturb the little lanu, she is 
 sleeping so quietly, she is sheltered from the air, and shaded 
 from the sun. I'll just run into the house, and give the 
 men milk for their dinner, and then I’ll run back here. God 
 keep you my lanu ; I’ll be back in a minute.” The woman 
 went round to the cottage, and made haste to set the 
 simple dinner before the humble household ; which done, 
 she hastily left to return to the field. But just in stepping on 
 to the threshold, she came to a dead stand, and was speech- 
 less for a moment ; then uttering a wild cry that made 
 those within bound in their seats she darted from the 
 door. 
 
 That shriek, in the quiet noontide air, when all the 
 peasants were indoors at their mid-day meal, and not a 
 sound in the fields, penetrated far up and down the valley, 
 and over the mountain-side. In an instant every little eleva- 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 107 
 
 tion around, whether of rocks or fence, or hillock, held a 
 female in tragic attitude, or a man with head bare, and 
 hands shading his eyes, or a promiscuous group gaining 
 every instant fresh accessions of the very old, or the very 
 young, ail looking, and pointing with a wild energy, but 
 without clamour, towards one object. The cynosure of all 
 this intense regard was a large dark eagle, holding an infant 
 in his talons, circling slowly over the head of the mother of 
 the child, who stood in the field below with hands clasped 
 convulsively, and her head and neck stretched upwards, as 
 she followed with fixed gaze the gyrations of the bird of 
 prey. Slowly still, and proudly did the eagle wind upwards 
 his spiral way, till suddenly stopping, and balancing himself 
 for a moment in mid-air, he shot towards the sea, and 
 disappeared behind the cliff above the well-known eyry. 
 The mother staggered, and fell to the earth ; but after a 
 long swoon returned to consciousness a helpless maniac. 
 The highly-wrought feelings of the spectators — the astonish- 
 ment, awe, and horror, hitherto hushed by the dread 
 suspense and all-absorbing interest in the issue of the 
 spectacle, now found utterance in a cry that seemed to make 
 the mountain tremble to its foundations. Keeping up a wild 
 and confused shout, the whole population rushed to the cliff. 
 
 When the crowd had fairly congregated on the edge of 
 the precipice, and the place had become a perfect Babel 
 for the confusion of voices — ejaculatory prayers, frantic 
 exclamations, anathemas, blessings, discussions, encourage- 
 ments, warnings — all urged with a vehemence and volubility, 
 peculiar to the Irish character and language, the uproar was 
 suddenly hushed by a fresh surprise. The eagle, gliding 
 out from beneath, made a rapid sweep over B unglass, 
 
io8 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 showing as he gained a higher elevation, at each successive 
 flap of his enormous wings, the child still coiled in his 
 talons, as if by black ropes, and set out majestically in a 
 horizontal line over the ocean. 
 
 The murmur was beginning to rise again from the crowd, 
 when a certain man, venerable for his years, and his virtues, 
 and of high repute in the locality, invited all to fall on their 
 knees, and to pray to God, “ for,” said he, “ we ought to 
 know that God and only God can command the eagle.” 
 The crowd obeyed on the instant, and the old man con- 
 tinued, “Pray God that if it be His holy will, He may 
 rescue that helpless infant. Pray also to her, who is herself 
 a mother — the Great Mother — most loving and most pure, 
 — pray that she may intercede with her Divine Son in behalf 
 of the wretched mother, who has been robbed before our 
 eyes of her darling babe.” They prayed fervently. Presently 
 the old man again said : “ Cease to look after the bird of 
 evil that you may pray without distraction; leave me to 
 watch him in his course, for God has gifted me with a power 
 of sight beyond most men in Teelin.” And they bent low- 
 in prayer, while above the hum of their fervent orisons, the 
 old man traced the onward course of the eagle. “ Pray, 
 pray old and young, for the bird does not return, but flies 
 still farther over the ocean. Pray with all your soul, pious 
 mothers, for the bird goes farther and farther away, as I 
 know by its size growing smaller and smaller. Pray with 
 your whole hearts ; it is getting smaller and smaller. Pray, 
 pray one and all, old and young, the speck fades into bright 
 air. O my God, does the hope fade from my eyes ? Pray ; I 
 can see it still, though it is but a pin’s point in the far ofl 
 sky. Pray, and give thanks to God ; I see it still, it does 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. I09 
 
 not get smaller. Give thanks, give thanks, the bird returns, 
 for the speck grows larger — yes larger and darker. The 
 eagle comes back in the same course in which it went out. 
 It comes nearer still, and nearer. God has heard your 
 prayers. The infant shall not be food for the eagles.” The 
 bird approached, glided in, dropped its unconscious burden 
 in the eyry, and immediately rose again. Directly the bird 
 had flown out into space, a female, with eyes starting from 
 their places, and hair flowing wildly back, disappeared over 
 the precipice. The awe-struck crowd, who had seen the 
 movement, held their breath. It was the mother ; she had 
 come to the cliff under the care of her relatives, and while 
 the people were absorbed in prayer, had been lying prostrate 
 on the earth, apparently unconscious of what was going on, 
 but, with the instinct peculiar to such cases, she recognised 
 the advancing eagle, as well as its immediate departure, and, 
 quick as thought, ran to the edge of the precipice. The 
 absence of reflection was her security. The rough face of 
 the cliff became for her a ladder, every little crevice or wart 
 serving for a step. She quickly descended, entirely un- 
 conscious of the awful surroundings, gained the eyry, which 
 was spacious enough to admit her. She took the child, and 
 kissing it with frantic passion, secured it in the train 
 of her gown, drawn up over her shoulders, after a certain 
 fashion, peculiar to the humbler matrons of the district, so 
 as to form a bag on the back and climb the steep with the 
 same unfaltering firmness and unconcern, as if it were a wall 
 only a few feet from the ground. Great, of course, was the 
 joy of the neighbours, and deep their gratitude to God as 
 they returned home. The mother recovered her reason 
 together with her child, who grew up to be a comely girl ; 
 
no 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 and in due time the mother of a daughter “who,” said my 
 intelligent narrator, “ lived to be a very old woman, and was 
 well-known to the person who told me what I have related.” 
 But the legend of Slieve League, and the one which the 
 passing visitor is most likely to hear, is “ the 
 story of the Story of the Spaniard,” as they entitle it in 
 the district. The most prominent figure in 
 the recent traditions of this locality is a certain priest, who, 
 however, like every hero, real or imaginary, does not appear 
 without secondary actors. Father Carr was always attended 
 by a clerk, who, as in duty bound, blindly obeyed his master. 
 The clergyman invariably rode a gray pony, which must have 
 been an excellent specimen of the species, for tradition 
 endows it with the faculty of intelligence. Happening on 
 one occasion to be in Malinbeg, Father Carr accepted the 
 invitation of an honest and well-to-do farmer of the place to 
 spend the night at his house. He retired early, for the day 
 had been one of unusual fatigue, and then the clerk became 
 the guest of the evening, a distinction that always pleased 
 him. Seated in the midst of the simple family round the 
 kitchen fire, he talked away in his best vein till it was late 
 bedtime, when the younger members began to drop off one 
 by one. But the clerk showed no desire to retire just then ; 
 and it was, indeed, the kind of night on which one would 
 appreciate a comfortable hearth, for the wind moaned 
 dismally abroad, a storm having sprung up in the evening, 
 and growing more violent every moment. He and the 
 “ man of the house ” talked on till a late hour. At last the 
 clerk heard his name called from the room, occupied by his 
 master, which adjoined the kitchen. He opened the door 
 of the chamber and found him dressed. “ Owen, my 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 son,” said the latter, “get the pony saddled immediately, for 
 we must cross Slieve League as soon as we can ; and mind, 
 do not make any noise about it, for I wish to slip off as 
 quietly as possible.” The clerk stood aghast at the 
 command ; but recovering himself in a moment he promised 
 prompt obedience, for there was that in the priest’s tone 
 which was to him a sure indication that remonstrance was 
 useless. The “ man of the house ” did all in his power to 
 dissuade his reverence from going out. He reminded 
 him of the dangerous nature of the road along the precipices 
 of Slieve League, over the One Man’s Path, and that on a 
 night in which the wind was, to use his own strong mataphor, 
 “ enough to blow the horns off the cows.” Father Carr inter- 
 rupted him : — “ Donal,” said he, “it is moonlight, and even 
 if it were dark, I know the road well, and the pony knows 
 every inch of it. The One Man’s Path is the same to me as 
 a broad road.” The horse was brought round to the door, 
 and the priest, bidding a blessing on the family, mounted. 
 “ Owen, my son,” began Father Carr when they had advanced 
 a little on their journey, “ have you lost your tongue? I fear 
 you are a coward after all.” “ No, I am no coward, and you, 
 Reverend Father, know I’m no coward.” “Good, Owen, 
 good ! I’m glad you are able to speak.” “ Well, Father, it 
 is strange, to say the least, that anyone with right reason in 
 his head, should venture over Slieve League on a night when 
 every human being ought to pray and give thanks to God for 
 the shelter of a house.” “ Owen, the angels are abroad in 
 stormy as in calm weather. Courage, my son, courage, the 
 angels will guard us,” The fear that had possessed the 
 clerk for the moment arose from a sense of discomfort more 
 than from any real terror ; it was, therefore, dispelled by this 
 
1 1 2 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 little speech, and his natural courage — for he was fearless as 
 a lion — coming back to him, he struck out into a bold, 
 rapid walk. 
 
 Father Carr now apparently for the first time took note 
 of the weather. He first directed his searching glance over- 
 head, and the struggle between the moon, now high in the 
 heavens, and the rushing clouds, was something worthy his 
 rapt contemplation. It was glorious to see the shining orb, 
 with edge sharp as a lance, plunge madly into the broken 
 masses that flitted around it, near and far, rushing forward 
 in a whirling, tossing, aimless motion, and unwearied velocity, 
 while it tore the flying sheets of cloud into a thousand rags, 
 and sent the fragments floating away behind it. Below, the 
 light accorded well with the fury of the elements — now a 
 long spell of doubtful shade darkening the headlands and 
 the ocean into dim shadows, then a flood of bright moon- 
 shine, suddenly revealing the waters in wild dance, and 
 breaking the coast-line of cliff and mountain into gigantic 
 columns of jet and silver. The wind, which was from the 
 sea, opposed by the lofty wall of precipice, rushed upwards, 
 in fierce gusts, and bursting over the margin above, with a 
 force much increased by compression, often brought the 
 travellers to a dead stand for several minutes. The terrific 
 howlings of the wind as it rushed up those steeps, and the roar 
 of the waters breaking in fury against the rocks below together 
 with the proximity of the pathway to the awful abysses, made 
 the journey of our travellers on that tempestuous night more 
 exciting and perilous, perhaps, so far as we know, than any 
 in the records of adventure. It was, indeed, a dreadful night, 
 says the story, but it had no terrors for the aged priest who sat 
 through all in quiet unconcern, on his brave little steed. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 IX 3 
 
 About half way between Malinbeg and the One Man’s 
 Path, the footway touched the very verge of a beetling cliff, 
 from which a good view of portions of the steeps farther on is 
 obtained, and as the travellers neared it, the wind unexpect- 
 edly ceased. “Owen, my son,” said the old man, “this sudden 
 calm bodes no good, I should not be surprised if we had a 
 whirlwinduptheprecipices directly.” Owen shuddered, brave 
 though he was. True, Father, true for yoii, better let us 
 go back from the edge and life down for a little.” “ No need 
 of hurry, Oweti ; the gray pony is sure. Just let us look 
 over, and see if anythihg is going on below.” The moon 
 was shining brightly at the moment, and the priest, pointing 
 with his riding cane, spoke in a somewhat excited tone » 
 “ Look ! look ! the whirlwind is under the One Man’s Path. 
 See that dark spot ! It is lifting the water.” The phenomenon 
 was not new to the veteran priest, neither was Owen 
 entirely unacquainted with it. It was One of those tornadoes 
 that form at the base of the sea-cliffs, and the clerk felt real 
 alarm. *“ Let iis go back,” he exclaimed — “back at once ! 
 It may come this way, and if it do, woe betide us.” “ Do not 
 be afraid,” said the priest, “I have seen the like of this 
 before now. It seems as if all the. wind from Traban 
 to Carrigan Head, was gathered into that little spot, whirling 
 round and round, one part driving the other before it faster 
 and faster every instant. Halloa ! it comes round this way; 
 it did wild work, I’m sure, on the other side of that precipice. 
 See, it stops — it is held for a moment between the rocks. 
 Oh ! it eddies on the surface of the water, trying to screw its 
 way down through it, but it cannot, and therefore, it lashes 
 the water against the precipices. Ha ! Now it rises. We 
 must be alive, Owen, it may come upon us. See, there it 
 
1 14 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 goes up with the strength of ten thousand giants ! ” The 
 effects of the phenomenon as it ascended in a slanting 
 direction, were almost too terrible to be grand. Rising at 
 first like a dense cloud, it lifted a quantity of the water, 
 which it dashed into thin spray on the rocks, and sent it 
 here and there in shoots or waterspouts far up the cliff, leaving 
 the sea below in a fury frightful to behold. On it came, 
 toppling crags of stone, and heaps of gravel, displacing rocks, 
 tearing out pieces of earth, sweeping plots of shingle, and 
 sending the debris tumbling down in promiscuous confusion, 
 accompanied by a deep rumbling noise, as if the whole moun- 
 tain was going to pieces. The travellers withdrew quickly 
 into the moor, keeping the while an eye on the course of the 
 tornado. The clerk was sore afraid, and the priest himself 
 now began to be anxious, for the tornado was coming towards 
 them. He dismounted, and holding the bridle firmly in his 
 hand, led the pony back still farther. “ Owen, can you find 
 no place where we might lie down and hold by. That tor- 
 nado is so strong that it will lift us off the earth like straws.” 
 Owen could find nothing else to hold by than the scanty 
 grass of the moor. “ It will never do,” said the priest. The 
 terrible whirlwind approached steadily. They were crouching 
 in its direct course. A pause, and Father Carr exclaimed, 
 “'We are safe, thank God ! ’’ By one of those eccentric 
 movements, usual to these eddying winds, it stopped ’ short, 
 and taking almost a contrary direction, it mounted up the 
 side of Sfieve League’s loftiest peak, and spent itself among 
 the heights. “Owen,” 'said the priest, as he rose from the 
 ground and remounted his pony, “do not the angels guard 
 us ? The storm is over, that is the last kick of the dying 
 giant.” 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 IT 5 
 
 Nothing daunted, but, on the contrary, considerably ani- 
 mated by the terrible incidents of the last quarter of an 
 hour, and a certain religious enthusiasm, they went forward on 
 their difficult path, up a very steep assent,, culminating in the 
 highest point of the mountain, and immediately struck upon 
 the One Man’s Path. It were hard to imagine a more 
 dangerous road for a horseman than this narrow link between 
 yawning abysses. Father Carr, without hesitation, rode his 
 sure-footed pony out on the very brow, the clerk following 
 behind. Presently, the pony came to a dead stand, and 
 turning its head over the awful precipice began to snort, 
 while the rider patted it on the neck and asked, “ Owen, 
 did you hear any strange sound ? ” “ The Lord preserve 
 
 us ! ” was Owen’s only answer. Both listened with breath- 
 less attention. A long, deep groan as of a man suffering 
 intense pain, came floating up from below in the now calm 
 air, and after a brief interval, another, and then .another. 
 The priest dismounted, or rather slid from his horse 
 “ Owen, that is some poor Christian in sore distress, 
 perhaps, both of soul and body. There is a wreck below-^- 
 I can see the spars breaking the surface of the swells.. Stay 
 you here with the pony, and do not attempt to. move till I 
 return.” “For God’s sake, Father, take care. Do you mean 
 to throw yourself down ? ” “ Do not be alarmed, my son ; 
 
 when I was young I often traversed these steeps, for though 
 they overhang the sea, they have hollows and rents. God often 
 takes good out of evil; I knew every crevice and landing 
 down here, and what I did then Tor vanity, will enable me 
 now, perhaps, to save a poor soul. True, it needs great 
 strength of muscle as well as of nerve to make progress down 
 this wild place, but though I’m old, my feet are still used to 
 
n6 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 the rocks, and I feel myself as strong this blessed night as I 
 was forty years ago.” The old man spoke thus, while he 
 divested himself of his great coat, and having consigned it 
 to the clerk, he let himself out over the verge of the cliff, 
 and descended, using feet and hands with marvellous 
 dexterity, repeating as he disappeared, “ And better than 
 all, Owen, the angels guard us.” 
 
 “ The angels guard him,” echoed the clerk, almost un- 
 conscious of what he was saying. After four long hours of 
 awful suspense on his airy watch-tower, the course of Owen's 
 musings. was suddenly interrupted by a startling change in 
 the demeanour of the horse, which sagacious animal began 
 all at once to neigh, to paw the ground, and to start as if 
 gathering itself for a spring over the precipice. The next 
 thing that attracted him was the priest's voice, when Father 
 Carr himself presently came scrambling up, and stood 
 before him. He reached the clerk his hand. “ Owen, 
 my son, do not the angels guard us ? ” The clerk seized 
 the proffered hand in both his, and kissed it with passionate 
 reverence; but it was strange that so voluble, and so curious 
 a man, as Owen was known to be, did not utter a word, nor 
 did he ask a single question till they had crossed the One 
 Man's Path, and got down into the valley of Teelin. Then 
 his tongue was loosened, and he had many a question to 
 ask, while the priest gratified him with a full account of the 
 adventure. 
 
 Father Carr directed by the groans, which issued at regular 
 intervals from a recess ill the recks below, reached the 
 spot, and found a man in a dying condition lying there. He 
 was a Spaniard, and, as the priest had studied in Spain, 
 a communication was easily opened between them. The 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 117 
 
 history of the stranger contained a deep lesson. He had 
 been blessed with a good and pious mother, who, when 
 he was a little child, taught him among other prayers, a 
 short petition for the assistance of a priest at his death, 
 and she used to make him promise to say this every 
 night before going to bed. She fell ill and died, while 
 he was yet a boy. He grew up into a dissolute young man, 
 but through all his excesses he continued to repeat the short 
 prayer taught him by his mother, whose memory he ever 
 cherished with deep affection. After dissipating his fortune 
 at home, he emigrated to the Spanish settlements in the 
 West Indies. Here he changed his ways. Turning all the 
 resources of his mind to the pursuit of gain, he soon became 
 rich, and after the lapse of many years, an eager longing for 
 home possessed him. He converted what he could of his 
 property into cash, and set sail for Spain with all his money, 
 in the safest ship that frequented the West Indian "waters. 
 A strong southerly wind, blowing the whole time of the 
 voyage, bore the vessel to the North far out of her course, 
 so that when this side of the Atlantic was reached, she 
 stood into Donegal bay. She was caught in the tempest 
 of that evening, and as the early part of the night was dark, 
 the captain did not observe accurately his proximity to the 
 shore. When the moon rose, revealing by its fitful gleams, 
 the precipitous cliffs of Slieve League, the crew did all they 
 could to keep the vessel off the rocks, but the wind growing 
 stronger every moment, proved too many for them. 
 
 When all hope was given over, the Spaniard took a sum of 
 gold coin, and putting it into a leathern girdle, used by 
 him in long and dangerous journeys as a purse, fastened it 
 tightly round his waist. He had hardly come up on deck, 
 
115 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 when the ship now close to the rocks, was spun round by a 
 whirlwind, and left floating in splinters among the breakers. 
 The familiar prayer taught him by his long-lost mother, 
 came to the lips of the Spaniard, and he repeated it fervently 
 as he sank into the mighty deep. After his immersion he 
 rose to the surface, and being an expert swimmer, he struck 
 boldly for the shore, when the seething waters through which 
 he was cutting his way, suddenly rushed back with great 
 force, dragging him over pointed rocks* He now felt a sense 
 of blindness and suffocation from the foam, and his head, 
 he thought, was bending, as if from the repeated buffets of 
 waves, till it turned completely under, and then he seemed 
 to himself to be sinking, sinking, head downwards into 
 awful depths. He lost all consciousness from that moment 
 -till, awaking from a dream in which he saw the sweet face 
 of his mother, and felt the gentle pressure of her hand while 
 she bathed his throbbing temples with a sponge. He found 
 himself stretched on a ledge of rock barely out of the reach 
 of the waves, which, at frequent intervals, sent a shower of 
 . $pray on the cliffs above bum. He was not long in realising 
 the danger of his position, and though sadly wounded by the 
 tossipg among the sharp rocks, he began to crawl upwards, 
 resting every now and then, till at length he lay down ex- 
 hausted in the recess in which Father Carr had found him. 
 While he lay there he repeated many a prayer with deep 
 earnestness, but none more fervently than the one he 
 cherished so dearly for his mother’s sake, and at each 
 repetition of it he groaned bitterly at the reflection that he 
 had made himself unworthy of its being heard. Those were 
 the sounds that drew the priest to the spot. 
 
 The feelings of the Spaniard may be more easily imagined 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 TI9 
 
 than described when he found that a priest, speaking his 
 mother tongue knelt beside him. His strength was failing 
 fast, the cold chill of death was creeping over his members. 
 He had just time' to tell his history to the good priest, to 
 whom he handed over the gold he had upon his person to 
 build a chapel in thanksgiving for this great grace. Father 
 Carr having shrived him, and administered all the con- 
 solations of religion, the Spaniard died, and his remains 
 were afterwards laid in a decent resting-place. The chapel 
 was built in due time, and the passer-by may still see the 
 walls of it on the road-side between Kilcar and Carrick ; 
 —it is called “ the Chapel of the Spaniard ” to this day. 
 
V.— EXCURSION TO GLENCOLUMBKILLE. 
 
 VISIT by all means should be paid* 
 to Glen, a district which tourists 
 should not; fail to explore, instead of 
 stopping shorf at Slieve League, as 
 most are content to do ” {Murray). 
 Lor the first two miles the route is 
 along, the Owenwee, having Slieve League on the right. 
 There is a cross-road at Lough Oona, the one to the 
 left descending into the Glen, of; Malinmore, and that 
 to the right leading into Glen Columbkille — the glen 
 of the celebrated St. Columb-Cille, and the Sean Glean 
 of which mention is so often, made in Irish ecclesias- 
 tical history. The road passing Loughunshagh falls 
 rapidly into the valley where there is a Catholic church, 
 and a Protestant church farther on, which is believed to 
 stand on the very site of the old monastery of St. Columba. 
 Many years ago the place was excavated by Rev. Dr. 
 Todd of Trinity College, Dublin, and Dr. Petrie, the 
 eminent Irish antiquarian, but with what result has not so 
 far been announced. The relics brought to the surface at 
 the time were carefully packed in large cases and transported 
 
Page i2o GLEN COL U MBKILLE, CO e DONEGAL 
 
fHt U8BARY 
 OF THfc 
 
 wrasmr ■ af ilukois 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS* 1 2 1 
 
 for the convenience of experts to Dublin where they are 
 deposited. The little churchyard is also venerable, with its 
 many broken tombs and old crosses. On one of the freshest 
 of the graves there is a simple headstone, inscribed with the 
 name, age and manner of death of the young Commander 
 of the * Wasp,’ whose body clothed in uniform, drifted in here 
 from Tory Island where the ill-fated gunboat was wrecked 
 September 22nd, 1884, with the loss of all but six hands. 
 At a turn in the road there is a stone cross, which there is 
 every reason to believe from the evidence of the monument 
 itself as well as from local tradition, was fixed there by the 
 Saint himself. Not far from this, on a slope on the northern 
 side, is the Saint’s well, and adjoining it is the Saint’s bed, 
 where probably there was , a cell to which St. Columba 
 withdrew from time to time, at a short distance from the 
 monastery. 
 
 The Sean-Clean. — Glen is seen to best advantage 
 in the pensive hour of evening. It opens on the sea, 
 the valley terminating in strand, on which the waves 
 of the Atlantic break for ever. The hill that encloses 
 it on the northern side presents a find escarpment, breaking 
 into precipices where it runs out and forms a noble 
 ocean cliff, called Glen Head. It is in very truth a retreat 
 to the mind of the pious contemplative, who, in this 
 remote vale, shut in between Slieve League and Slieveatoocy, 
 may have his meditations on the divine attributes 
 quickened and elevated into higher contemplations by the 
 presence of some of the sublimest and most awful aspects 
 of nature. In all his native mountains St. Columba could not 
 have chosen a more suitable solitude. The story of his coming 
 here is told by his relative and biographer, Manus O’Donnell, 
 
122 
 
 tHE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 who begins with a short description of the Sean-Glean : — 
 “ It was,” he writes, “ then notorious for being a strong- 
 hold of evil spirits. They came from Cruaghan-Oigle 
 (Croagh Patrick, on the Connaught coast opposite) whence 
 they had been banished by St. [Patrick. They migrated to 
 the Sean-Glean, and covering it with a black cloud, dense 
 and impenetrable to human sight, and making the boundary 
 river impassable by infecting its waters with a poisonous 
 stench. On one occasion an Angel appearing to St. Columba 
 
 directed him to go to 
 the Sean-Glean, expel 
 the demons, who had 
 fixed themselves there, 
 and consecrate it to 
 God. In obedience 
 to this angelic com- 
 mand, Columba, ac- 
 companied by a nu- 
 merous retinue of holy 
 men, set out for the 
 place, and having 
 penetrated to the bank 
 of the poisoned river, 
 one of the evil spirits hurled a heavy pole from the 
 opposite side which struck one of the Saint’s com- 
 panions called Cearc, and killed him on the spot. 
 Columba, inflamed with holy indignation at such a daring 
 act of the demon, flung back the pole, chasing away the 
 thick darkness, and the devils in its course, until it fell 
 on a spot where it struck its roots into the soil and was 
 changed into a holly tree, which continues to flourish even 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 123 
 
 to the present day. After this the Saint blessed the river, 
 and having crossed it, he was met by the Angel, who handed 
 him a large blue stone with angles upon it, and told him to 
 cast it into the Egyptian darkness before him. He did so, 
 when lo ! the sun shot its bright rays into the gloom, and the 
 evil spirits were seen crowding on a precipitous cliff, impend- 
 ing over the sea. Again, St. Columbaby the Angel's direc- 
 tion, wielded the stone, and the bell called dubh Duaibseach, 
 and casting them at the crowds of infernal spirits, bade 
 them, in the name of Christ, precipitate themselves into the 
 sea, and injure no one for the future. At the Saint’s com- 
 mand, and his invocation of the sacred name, a violent 
 shock was felt over the mountain, a chasm was opened in 
 the cliff, and through it the evil spirits disappeared. The 
 Saint then prayed for the recovery of the stone and the 
 bell, and directly he perceived them both borne through the 
 air and falling at his feet. By the great force of the fall the 
 bell lost its tongue and sank many feet 1 deep into the 
 earth. The bell and stone are carefully preserved and 
 regarded with deep veneration in the district which the 
 Saint blessed, and ordained that it should henceforth 
 possess immunity from evil power. With the stone many 
 miracles were afterwards performed, and the tongueless 
 bell lies still buried in the hole, which it made in its 
 fall, and will remain there to avenge any and every violation 
 of the immunity of the place.’’ 
 
 Such is the strange account of St. Columbkille’s first 
 visit to the Sean-Glean, and some of the incidents, men- 
 tioned in it, are recorded in enduring memorials, which are 
 pointed out to this day. For instance, the grave of Cearc, 
 one of the Saint’s companions who was crushed by the pole, 
 
124 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 wielded by the evil spirit, is shown on the Kilcar side of the 
 Glen river, and the townland where it is situated is called 
 Stranakirke. The cleft in the precipice through which the 
 demons collapsed into the sea, and the hole in which the 
 bell lies buried, are all to be seen ; but the tongue of the 
 bell, said to have been found only a few years since by a 
 small farmer of the locality, is not at present in evidence. 
 In his biography Manus O’Donnell also tells us that long 
 before the introduction of Christianity, Finn, son of Cubhall, 
 the most renowned Soothsayer among the Pagan Irish, 
 foretold St. Columba’s connection with the Sean-Glean. 
 Speaking of the remarkable prophecies that existed regarding 
 St. Columba’s birth, he says : — -“Not only did these and 
 others who were advanced in Christian perfection, and men 
 full of God, foretell the birth and holiness of St. Columba, 
 but also many heathen Soothsayers long before the light of 
 Christianity blazed ; : in Ireland. Of these, perhaps, the most 
 celebrated was Finn MacCubhall, a man whose great physical 
 strength, and numerous victories over his enemies, have 
 rendered him famous, not only in history, but in story. He in 
 one of his hunting expeditions dropped upon a swift stag, and 
 let loose his best and fleetest hound in pursuit of the animal. 
 On went the stag bounding over the plain towards the river 
 which separates the Sean-Glean from the surrounding 
 country, and arriving at the water’s edge, plunged in and 
 swam boldly to the opposite bank. The Sean-Glean is in 
 the extreme west of Tirconnell, running out far into the 
 ocean, rising into lofty bare mountains, and terminating in 
 steep cliffs. It has been long sacred to St. Columba, and 
 one of his principal monasteries stand there. The hound 
 in pursuit, though never before vanquished in the chase, did 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 125 
 
 not follow the stag into the water, but arrested his course, 
 and stood immovable on the river’s bank, Finn astonished 
 at this unusual faltering in his invincible dog, employed his 
 power of divination to discover the cause, which by God’s 
 permission he succeeded in finding out, and announced it as 
 follows : — ‘There shall be born in this country a child by 
 name Columba in the ninth generation from Cormac now 
 reigning. He will be endowed by the great God with many 
 graces and gifts, many churches and monasteries will be 
 dedicated to him, and that region to which the stag fled for 
 refuge will be sacred ' to him, as well as a safe asylum for all 
 who avail themselves of it.’ The path traversed by the stag 
 is at the present time called path of the -stag.” 
 
VI.— EXCURSION ROUND GLEN HEAD AND 
 SLIEVEATOOEY TO ARDARA. 
 
 "HE cliffs round Glen Head and ; Slieveatooey 
 are only second to those of Slieve League, and 
 the tourist, therefore should not fail to see them. 
 It will hardly take away from its attractions that 
 but the fewest of the very few who visit the coast scenery 
 of Donegal make this excursion. Our visitor then may 
 set out with the idea that he is “ doing” the next thing to 
 crossing some lofty unexplored Alp, and he will need tc 
 start early, having to traverse a coast line of some eighteen 
 miles from Glen to Ardara. If he make the Hotel at 
 Carrick his starting-point, he should engage a car to Glen, 
 which he might order to meet him the other side of 
 Slieveatooey, on the M&ghery road or at the police barrack 
 at the head of Glengesh, to take hinx through that grand 
 pass to Ardara. 
 
 But the night before this excursion may be spent at Miss 
 Walker’s of Mallinmore, a nearer starting-point by four miles 
 than Carrick. The road round to Glen (two miles) is capital, 
 and affords exciting views of Glen bay. It will be easy 
 to find a guide; the first intelligent peasant you meet 
 will do. There is a bridle-path some two miles over the head- 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 127 
 
 land, and one can easily identify Glen Head by the Martello, 
 tower. Having surveyed this cliff which rises 800 feet from 
 the water, he should ask the guide to lead on to the Sturrell 
 or Camas-binne (bentcliff), keeping close to the margin all the 
 way, to enjoy the precipices from different points along the line 
 of this rugged coast. Ii> general these headlong steeps 
 present an even front, awful for their unbroken altitude, the 
 predominating colour being a pale yellow, with lines of 
 watercourses and landslips here and there running from the 
 top to the bottom. Among the rocks there are sparse scraps 
 of green, which the natives sometimes come at by being 
 swung down from above. 
 
 A gravelled walk leads to a seat from which the visitor 
 may, without a sense of insecurity, survey 
 The sturrell. the Sturrell. This stupendous object is 
 almost insulated, being connected with the 
 main range by a narrow neck, rising up on both sides, and 
 ending sharply at the top. Beyond this the peninsula 
 widens somewhat, . and attains to the height of 850 feet. 
 There are some patches of bright herbage which relieve 
 pleasantly the weather-beaten face of the precipices. 
 Care should be taken not to trust oneself among these, 
 which on the northern side do not appear from a distance 
 so impracticable as they really are. A few of the natives 
 whose legs and heads have been formed by long habit, 
 venture all round this enormous breakwater in quest of 
 birds’ nests, or the sweet grasses that grow in the crevices. 
 
 The tourist should now proceed to the Sawpit, which is 
 a cleft of about seven feet in width, and 
 
 The Sawpit. can p ass ^ own through this open, picking 
 his steps over loose stones, to within about 
 
128 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 fifty feet of the waves. The especial characteristics of the 
 Sawpit are the precipices, which rise on either side of the 
 narrow passage like walls of finely chiselled stone, joined 
 with exquisite art, and vertical as a plumb-line. The wall 
 on the left as you look down advances into the sea 
 considerably beyond that on the right, and below the point 
 where the latter breaks off, the rock sinks into an even slope, 
 falling gently to the waves. The visitor might be tempted to 
 step on this embankment, but there is need of nice balancing, 
 for a slip might lead to destruction, as the surface presents 
 few inequalities for either hand or foot to hold by. 
 
 About a mile farther on there is a break in the coast line 
 and a strip of strand, forming a little har- 
 Tormore. bour, called Purt or Port, a name which 
 can be properly applied to it only by com- 
 parison with the other portions of the inhospitable coast. At 
 the northern extremity of this indentation the steeps 
 appear again in great magnificence, and TorMore, the centre 
 of a group of insulated boulders, begins to be a con 
 spicuous object. Inland ^there is a valley in the black 
 moor, a few green fields, and a group of four cottages of the 
 humblest kind, built without reference to aspect or road, for 
 here road there is none. Grossing a brawling brook, the 
 russet bed of which may betoken mineral wealth in the 
 bowels of the mountains, but it does not tempt one to linger 
 by its waters. The traveller is now conducted to the 
 Tormore, and cautiously surveying his ground as he 
 advances, he should approach the edge which sinks 
 down, sharp and clean as a knife. Here on this vantage 
 ground, raised 818 feet above the level of the ocean, he 
 may rest awhile to contemplate the scene before him. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 I29 
 
 The geologist will strive to determine, according to the 
 conditions of his theory, whether the family of rocks, 
 scattered here amidst the waves of the Atlantic, are the 
 fragments of a mountain, torn by the war of elements, or 
 have risen from the deep, destined to serve as the foun- 
 dation on which a new mountain shall in time be built. An 
 instructive lesson surely, and of a noble science, may thus 
 be gained. But a yet nobler lesson is suggested by the 
 scene. The mountain solitudes, the awful cliffs round 
 
 whose base the waves rage and roar for ever, the vast 
 limitless ocean, expanding far into the horizon, and beyond 
 it the sky stretching farther still, until it is lost in the 
 unimaginable depths of space — all kindle in the soul the 
 feeling of the infinite; and the little thing man is, in the 
 comparison, becomes annihilated by the sense of the majesty 
 and the power, whose presence one here must recognise. 
 Salutary lesson of greatness and of nothingness ! The person 
 must have an ill-constituted mind who can stand to con- 
 
130 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 template the scene around, and not feel his soul glow with 
 emotion. The least thoughtful will think of Him, who 
 “ compassed the sea with its bounds, and set a law to the 
 waters that they should not pass their limits.” An 
 incident, related to the writer, in view of the spot, lends 
 a melancholy interest to Tormore. One morning not many 
 years ago, a boy, who had been in the habit of visiting this 
 cliff from time to time in quest of the birds’ nests of this 
 wild region, came here to ply his dangerous trade. In very 
 calm weather, one well acquainted with the intricacies of the 
 coast, can make his way at low water from this island-rock 
 to the mainland. This day, however, a storm rose suddenly, 
 which the boy, engaged in his exciting occupation, did not 
 perceive in time, so when he came to cross to the shore, he 
 found himselfencircled by breakers. Thestorm lasted formore 
 than a week, and during the whole of that time the waves con- 
 tinued to beat round the rock, with unabated fury, rendering 
 all approach to it, or departure from it, certain destruction. 
 The boy died of cold and hunger on that desolate crag, 
 which, however, furnished clay enough to cover his remains, 
 and he was buried on a narrow ledge, high up the precipitous 
 side of the rock. Peaceful be thy slumbers, poor boy ! Thy 
 trade was a dangerous one, and thou hast paid for thy hardi- 
 hood, a dear reckoning. The winds and the waves, making 
 common cause with the sea-fowl, conspired to crush thee, 
 and thou wast in truth a feeble reed in the midst of their 
 warring circle. Still, thou hadst that which made thee 
 greater than they; thou hadst knowledge of thy end 
 they were unconscious of their power. Thou wast immeas- 
 urably less than they in the part of thee that was of earth, 
 but infinitely greater in the part that is immortal. Even 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 131 
 
 now thou hast thy triumph. The awful accompaniment? 
 that made thy death so terrible, still surround thy tomb. 
 The waves and the winds make ceaseless moan around thee, 
 while the screams of the wild sea-bird mingle with the sad 
 dirge that goes on for ever, and for thy resting-place thou 
 hast found a monument, greater than column or pyramid, 
 ever raised to hold the bones of earthly potentate. 
 
 If the visitor be a poet, the history of this poor boy is a 
 fit theme for an effort. The rock itself is already admirably 
 characterised in Keat’s noble address : — 
 
 “ Hearken thou craggy Ocean Pyramid ! 
 
 Give answer from thy voice, the sea- fowl’s screams ! 
 
 When were thy shoulders mantled in huge streams ? 
 
 When from the sun was thy broad forehead hid? 
 
 How long is it since thy mighty power bid 
 Thee heave to airy sleep from fathom dreams ? 
 
 Sleep in the lap of thunder, and sun-beams, 
 
 Or when gray clouds are thy cover-lid ? 
 
 Thou answer’st not, for thou art dead asleep ! 
 
 Thy life is but two dead eternities — 
 
 The last in air, the former in the deep ; 
 
 First with the whales, last with the eagle-skies — 
 
 Drown’d wast thou till one earthquake made thee sleep, 
 Another cannot wake thy giant size.” 
 
 A curious story is told, and universally believed in Glen, 
 
 to the effect that it had been for some time 
 
 a hiding-place t h e j ast hiding-place of the Pretender, before 
 of the . 
 
 Pretender. he was able to make his way from the shores 
 
 of these kingdoms. The Rev. Mr Griffiths, 
 when incumbent of Glencolumbkille, ably discussed this 
 tradition in a paper, published many years since by the 
 Dublin University Magazine, which they, who take an interest 
 in the details of English history, should read. It would be 
 worth the historian’s while to examine the grounds of this 
 
132 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 interesting belief. According to the tradition, the Prince 
 used to spend the greater part of the day stretched on this 
 headland looking out for the ship which was to convey him! 
 to another country. 
 
 The coast retains its precipitous character throughout,, 
 and as it is serrated, one will gain various and exciting views 
 of these marvellous steeps along his path to Puliska, where 
 an indentation forms a basin of calm water amidst surround- 
 ings the most savage it is possible to conceive. Looking 
 out from any of those airy headlands, on the vast field of 
 ocean, one gets the idea of its immensity, its beauty of line 
 and colour, and others of its attributes. Still, from your 
 high position, the sea below seems calm, the swells look 
 shadows, passing over the waters, and the surges like the 
 breaking of the ripples on a quiet lake. But if you could get 
 into a boat, and move a stone’s throw from the shore, the 
 sea completely loses this gentle character. 
 
 Amongst the most profound and vividly remembered emo- 
 tions, produced in the mind of the writer, 
 Sailing under by anything he has seen in nature, were 
 siieve'atooey! those received by him while passing under 
 the cliffs of Slieveatooey, at their entrance 
 into Puliska The starting point was Dowros, some eight 
 miles to the north-east. The weather had been beautiful 
 for weeks before, and that morning so fine that there 
 was hardly wind enough to fill our sail. The sea was, as 
 the phrase goes, at rest. Once fairly out in the deep, the 
 element that had appeared to us from the shore to lie in 
 calm and peaceful slumber, gave no token of a fixed law, or 
 a regular succession of incidents. Now it is nothing but a 
 broken surface of wave-crests in wild disorder. Sitting here 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 *33 
 
 on a level with the waves themselves, you realize the rest- 
 lessness, the fitful change, the unfathomable depth, the 
 irresistible might, the unsubdued power of the ocean. Our 
 little boat moves lazily across the sound, and passes into the 
 shadow of Slieveatooey. As we advance, rocks that were 
 before unseen, now appear above the surface, and other 
 rocks that were visible only as specks in the distance, 
 rise up like sable monsters from the deep, while a thin mar- 
 gin of beautiful white, turned out to be an array of surges 
 that we dared not approach. Advancing still we come 
 closer to the shore. Threatening us on our left rose the 
 cliffs of Slieveatooey, 
 darkening half of the 
 heavens : close ahead 
 .a precipice projected 
 a short way into the 
 sea, and the waves 
 broke upon it with 
 great fury. Just oppo- 
 site, at a short distance 
 was an island rock of a 
 large size, appearing not more than two or three feet 
 above the sea-level. On this the swell rose tremulous, 
 and broke at the instant it was leaving, making the 
 place a circle of foam, in the midst of which the black 
 area immediately began to show above the water, as 
 the spray danced in a thousand miniature fountains 
 down its edges. The narrow passage between this and 
 the opposite wall was white with foam from the meet- 
 ing of the two breakers, so narrow was the space between 
 them. Beyond this white line was literally a forest of 
 
I 34 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 islanded rocks, round which the waters surged in un- 
 appeasable anger, and fretted in the open spaces. It 
 seemed as if we were borne by some irresistible destiny 
 into a region of horrors. The boatmen saw alarm in some 
 of our faces. “-No fear, no fear,” they said as they brought 
 our frail skiff slowly between the two watery walls that 
 threatened to engulph us. It was not till after we got 
 clear of our Scylla and Charybdis that there was real need 
 of caution. Suddenly our pilot dashed his oar into the 
 water, and with two or three powerful strokes turned the 
 bow of the boat and then all pulling together in strong, rapid 
 strokes, the little craft bounded forward on the crest of a 
 great wave, and in a moment we were moving silently through 
 the calm water of Puliska. Here we found ourselves in 
 a circle of rough, naked rocks, standing round in grim array, 
 like so many giants ready to smite anyone who should dare 
 to invade those solitudes. Within, a cascade of considerable 
 volume falling into a deep ravine, cut through the precipice 
 sheer as far as the water of the basin. Towards this point 
 our boat glided, and stopped near it, alongside a narrow 
 ledge. One of the boatmen stepped out, and led the way, 
 the rest of the party clmbing up the steep after him. 
 
 If his visit to this part of the coast fall on particularly 
 fine weather, the tourist should by all means explore 
 this region from the sea, and he can learn at Ardara 
 where a boat is most likely to be found. The most con- 
 venient starting place is Loughros Point, some two or three 
 miles from Ardara, but a good arrangement would be to walk 
 from the headland to Puliska and have a boat waiting at 
 that place, which is the centre of the most interesting part 
 of the scenery. There are many caves under Slieveatooey,, 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 *35 
 
 which are spoken of with great enthusiasm in the neighbour- 
 hood. The writer feels bound to say that he has not seen 
 these caves, though he has often tried to do so. The 
 approach to them is so guarded by dangerous breakers, 
 that rarely one can effect an entrance. He has heard, 
 however, from intelligent gentlemen, whose attempts were 
 more fortunate than his own, that these marine chambers 
 almost surpass imagination, presenting a perfect labyrinth 
 of subterranean architecture. 
 
 The precipitous side of Slieveatooey, rising over Puliska 
 is precarious, and one, therefore, had better follow up 
 for a short distance the course of the Glenlough river, 
 which here brings its brief career to so striking an end, and 
 then face the mountain. He will not fail to notice that the 
 virgin solitude is broken by a solitary tenement, the lone 
 habitation of a shepherd, 
 
 “ Whose precious charge, 
 
 Nibble their fill at ocean’s very marge.” ( Endymion .) 
 
 From the summit of Glenlough Hill a singularly fine pros- 
 pect opens out. To the north-east the 
 view -from the deeply-indented coast presents a rapid suc- 
 cession of creek and headland, receding in 
 glorious perspective all the way to the dis- 
 tant Bloody Foreland. The visitor should here consult the 
 map, as this is a capital position from which to get a clear 
 notion of the part of Donegal that faces the Atlantic. Below 
 is Loughrosbeg Bay, running up under Slieveatooey 
 (mountain to the north), because it is the northern side of 
 
 the peninsula, which has been followed since leaving Killybegs. 
 Beyond is Loughros Point, a flat tongue of land, and then 
 Loughrosmore, with its extensive tideway to Ardara, a “ lurk- 
 
136 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 in g town ” (to use Wordsworth's beautiful expression), from 
 which may be traced the valley of the Owenea as far as 
 Glenties, where it enters a highland glen for some five miles. 
 Dowros and Crohy Head are two bold promontories, 
 guarding Boylagh Bay, whence the estuary of the Gweebarra 
 runs inland until it is lost from view. Beyond Crohy Head 
 is a coast marvellously irregular, and a multitude of islands, 
 covering the blue waters in that region. High above all is 
 xArranmore, standing out in the sea, as if to protect the others 
 from the violence of the Atlantic; then Rutland, looking like 
 an enormous sandbank, and Owey, in the distance, are con- 
 spicuous objects in the panorama. Slieveatooey itself is 
 of absorbing interest, for its whole northern face is precipitous, 
 and will keep the visitor, who scrambles over it, constantly ex- 
 cited. These inaccessible wilds, like those of Slieve League, are 
 still the favourite haunt of the eagle, so that there is a chance 
 of meeting a member of the species, and here, if anywhere, 
 the royal bird may revel in unrestrained freedom, for rarely, 
 indeed, does the voice of human being break those solitudes. 
 
 “ And sure there is a secret power that reigns 
 Here, where no trace of man the spot profanes, 
 
 Nought but the herds, that pasturing upward creep, 
 
 Hung dim — discovered from the dangerous steep. ” Wordsworth. 
 
 The highest point of the mountain is Croagh Ballaghdown, 
 standing 1,692 feet over the sea, its altitude seeming much 
 greater than it really is because of the steep escarpment 
 to the water. The tourist may now keep along the ridge to 
 join the main route at the constabulary barrack and descend 
 by Glengesh into Ardara, or take the headlong path that 
 drops into the wild Granny Glen to Maghery where a few 
 cottages are nestling under the shadow of the mountain. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 137 
 
 In the immediate neighbourhood are half a dozen caves, 
 three of which have narrow passages, like 
 The caves or corridors in a catacomb, tunnelled some 
 
 Maghery, 
 
 hundreds of yards right into the bowels of 
 the mountain. The most interesting is the Croach-an- 
 Darchadas (the dark cave), which can be entered only at 
 low water. There will be no difficulty in finding a guide 
 among the Maghery people, and one must not forget to pro- 
 vide a torch or candle, without which much of the interest 
 of his visit would be lost. From Maghery to Ardara the 
 path lies at the base of the mountain, down which leaps 
 many a brawling torrent ; and Asherancally, a waterfall, 
 about half a mile from Maghery, deserves a special visit 
 should the visitor happen to be in this neighbourhood 
 during wet weather. It is now evening, and one may fairly 
 note down : — 
 
 “ Many the wonders I this day have seen ; 
 
 The sun, when first he kist away the tears 
 That filled the eyes of morn ; 
 
 The ocean with its vastness, its blue green, 
 
 Its ships, its rocks, its caves, its hopes, its fears, — 
 
 Its voice mysterious, which whoso hears 
 Must think of what will be, and what has been,” 
 
 ( Keats to his brother George.) 
 
 The tourist who proceeds by the direct route from Carrick 
 to Ardara, takes the road that runs parallel 
 Giengesh. with the Glen river for some distance, and 
 then leaves it to follow up the course of 
 the Crove river. After a long melancholy stretch, relieved, 
 however, by some bold elevations on the right, and glimpses 
 of the sea on the left, the watershed (1,000 feet) is 
 reached, when all at once he finds himself above the most 
 
138 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 striking pass, perhaps, he has anywhere seen. A spiral road 
 screws its way into Glengesh, or Glengeask, having Croagh- 
 alery on the left, rising some 1,200 feet from the road, and 
 on the right Glengesh hill, standing 1,652 feet over the sea 
 level. About two miles from these mountain walls the road 
 from Killybegs turns sharply, and pursues its way through a 
 happy valley into 
 
 Ardara (Hotels : — Nesbitt Arms , Brennan! s Commercial ; 
 pop., 550), “which has an extremely pretty situation at the 
 wooded base of steeply escarped hills ” {Murray). It is a 
 good centre from which to explore the magnificent scenery 
 of Slieveatooey, and a fine field for the lover of sport. 
 Above the northern extremity of the town there is a 
 Danish fort, not very far from Woodhill, the residence 
 of General Tredenick, which, with its thick belt of 
 trees, clothes the immediate surroundings, and makes the 
 town look exceptionally sheltered and picturesque. From 
 Ardara the road follows up the Owentucker river, an interest- 
 ing drive, affording rich variety of scene. Towards the 
 end of the third mile there is a striking view of Glenties, 
 with its back ground of mountains ; a view which has been 
 fairly expressed by Mr. Falkner, in a painting exhibited by 
 him in the Dublin Exhibition of 1864. From this high 
 point, or “ Maxwell’s Hill,” the road soon approaches the 
 bank of the Owenea, a river that derives its name and source 
 from Lough Ea, a tarn some six miles away among the 
 mountains, and crossing the stream a little higher up passes 
 into 
 
 Glenties (Hotels: — O’Donnell’s, Molloy’s ; pop., 450), 
 “ a small town, the situation of which, at the numerous 
 converging glens, is its best point ” {Murray). If its. 
 
GLENGESH, CO DONEGAL, 
 
 S|>l 
 
 * • ' -sf 
 
 V - ' :■ 
 
 V ‘i •§£ 'A ■ ; 
 
 'Mil 
 
rut i iBfiAftt 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ORtVEESSIY fif ILLINOIS 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 *35 
 
 mountain-border were warmly timbered, Glenties would 
 possess all the features that go to make up a pretty High- 
 land village. Its tidy appearance, its rushing river, its fringe 
 of greenwood, its spacious Catholic church and bell turret 
 on a commanding position above, the neat little Protestant 
 church, with its ivy-clad walls below, and the few dwellings 
 that crown the neighbouring heights, form an impressive 
 group. In the centre there is one broad street, which, 
 though shadowed by a monster poor-house and hospital, 
 presents a lively aspect, especially when thronged with 
 the hardy race, who pour down there from the hills 
 in their great variety of brighfcoloured costume. 
 Glenties is the centre of the barony of Boylagh, of 
 which Lewis, in his Topographical Dictionary, wrote forty or 
 fifty years ago, that it was remarkable for its “ woollen stock- 
 ings of excellent quality.” This department of Irish manufac- 
 ture, which had wofully declined, has for the past twenty-five 
 years or more received a fresh impulse. It gives employ- 
 ment, particularly during winter, to the women and girls of 
 the impoverished, but extensive territory of Boylagh, Rosses, 
 and Gweedore. The majority earn only a mere pittance, 
 but even this is a great boon to those creatures, whose life 
 in their own miserable holdings is no better than a constant 
 struggle for existence. Now that Glenties has got its free 
 gift of twenty-four miles of excellent narrow-gauge railway 
 to Stranorlar, her native products must become more remune- 
 rative. 
 
 Excellent grouse shooting is to be had in the neighbour- 
 hood of Glenties, and capital sport in the rivers and lakes. 
 “The angler,” says the author of Murray's Handbook , “in 
 the river Owenea, will have sport, if he is on at the time of 
 
14° THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 a spate, but as it rises and falls very quickly, it will be hardly 
 worth his while to *go there on a chance.” The antiquary 
 will find, in a field adjoining the road near the town, one 
 of those pillar-stones, “ which evidently owe their upright 
 position not to accident, but to the design and labour of an 
 ancient people” ( Wakeman's Handbook of Irish Antiquities'). 
 This specimen is more slender and graceful than most 
 examples of pillar-stone, though it stands only six feet over 
 the surface of the ground. About half-a-mile from the town, 
 on a hill, called from the circumstance the Castle, are the 
 remains of what, it is almost certain, was one of those stone 
 Cathairs or Duns belonging to the Pagan period, the ruins of 
 which are found so common along the southern and western 
 coasts of Ireland. The visitor ought to note the fact that 
 the thick wall enclosing the very extensive farm at the head 
 of which the “ Castle” stood is built of stones, taken from the 
 fort in the memory of people still living. Enough remains 
 to enable one to trace the circle enclosing about an acre of 
 the crest of the hill ; the rest must be supplied from 
 what he knows of works of its class — from examples else- 
 where remaining in a more perfect state of preservation. 
 Staigue Fort, in the county of Kerry, is one of the most 
 perfect Cathairs remaining in Ireland. “ It consists of a 
 circular wall of uncemented stones, about eighteen feet in 
 height, and twelve in thickness, enclosing an area of eighty- 
 eight yards in diameter. Upon the internal face of the wall 
 are regular flights of steps leading to the highest part of the 
 building. The doorway is composed of large unhewn stones 
 and is covered by a horizontal lintel ” ( Wakemarfs Hand- 
 book of Irish Antiquities , p. 46). 
 
PORTNOO, THE GLENTIES, CO. DON 
 
rat liisftfcfflf 
 OF VAi 
 
 WllfflSflTf ®F llLIESSS 
 
VII.— EXCURSION TO INISKEEL, PORTNOO AND 
 KILCLOONEY. 
 
 HE greater portion of the first two miles is 
 over a moor land, but from every point of the 
 road fine mountain views are obtained. At the 
 third mile a detour should be made by the 
 road leading to the right, to Portachurry to 
 join the direct route again at Maas, which, 
 carried along the declivities of the Derryloughan hills 
 abounds in exciting incident, and affords splendid views 
 of the Gweebarra. The tourist will be struck with the 
 wonderful profusion in which granite boulders — some of them 
 gigantic blocks — are sown broadcast on the surface of the 
 ground over which he is passing. 
 
 “ A primitive little fishing village is Narin, pleasantly 
 situated opposite the island of Iniskeel, on 
 iniskeei, which the antiquary will find a couple of 
 ruined churches ” (Murray). A monastery 
 was founded on the island by St. Connell, who is mentioned 
 in the Martyrology of Donegal , under May 22nd, as fol- 
 lows : — “ Connall, xAbbot of Iniscaoil, in Cinel Connaill, and 
 he is himself of Cinel Connaill.” His name also occurs in 
 the Festology of ^Engus Cile De in the Leabhar Breac, fol. 
 34a, at nth of May, and indeed there is hardly another name 
 more celebrated in Irish Ecclesiastical history, because of 
 
-142 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 St. Conners connection with the celebrated rule, drawn 
 up at the time for keeping Sunday free from all servile 
 work. The Saint’s paternal name was Caoil, and hence 
 the name Inis-Caoil, pronounced Iniskeel. Colgan, 
 in his Acts of the Irish Saints , mentions that the merits 
 of St. Connell have been eloquently told by an intimate 
 friend and enthusiastic admirer. This was St. Dalian, 
 
 an accomplished scholar, and author of the Ambra 
 Collum-Cille, a brilliant eulogium on St. Columba, 
 pronounced in the famous Synod of Drumceat, where St. 
 Columba himself was present. St. Dalian was often at 
 the monastery in Iniskeel, having a tender regard for St. 
 Connell, so great in fact that he devoutly wished to 
 be near him even in death. He, therefore, earnestly and 
 frequently prayed that if he died first his body should 
 be buried in the grave, marked out for St. Connell ; and 
 during one of his usual visits he laid a solemn injunction on 
 St. Connell himself to the same effect. God heard his 
 petition, for the island was stormed by a band of pirates, who 
 in their search for treasure found St. Dalian, cut off his 
 head, flung it out into the waves, and then left with all the 
 plunder they could find. When they had completely got out 
 of sight, St. Connell came forth from his hiding-place, and 
 being told of the terrible fate of his dear friend, he fell upon 
 his knees, and after supplicating heaven with great fervour, the 
 head of St. Dalian was seen to rise out of the waves, and, float- 
 ing in, joined the body from which it had been severed. The 
 corpse was tenderly cared, and buried by St. Connell in the 
 grave destined for himself, so that the two saints now sleep 
 their last sleep, under the shadow of those cloisters where 
 they had spent together such a holy and such a happy time. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 143 
 
 The Bell of St. Connell, or the Bearnan-Chonail, is 
 described by Dr. Petrie in his paper on the ancient Irish 
 bells in the R. I. Academy, as well as by Dr. O’Donovan in 
 his unpublished notes for the Irish Ordnance Survey. 
 They speak of its workmanship as elaborate, a very beau- 
 tiful specimen indeed, and resembling a good deal the bell 
 of Armagh. They inspected it at Woodhill, near Ardara, 
 then the residence of Major Nesbitt, who bought it for £ 6 
 from a decayed member of the family, who claimed St. Connell 
 as belonging to their stock, and in whose safe-keeping this 
 remarkable and valuable charge was retained for centuries. 
 From Major Nesbitt the relic passed to one of his heirs, a 
 Mr. Evans at Ardara, who brought it with him to England, 
 where, after patient search, it has been quite recently hunted 
 up in the British Museum, by Mr. W. J. Doherty, C.E., 
 whose zeal in this department of Irish antiquities seems 
 to be truly a labour of love. Iniskeel is a great resort 
 for pilgrims, who come in large numbers during the 
 summer months to beg the intercession of St. Connell. 
 Opposite the island to the south is a coastguard station at 
 Portnoo. The author of Murray's Hand book says : — 
 “This whole promontory between Narin and Ardara is 
 worth exploring for the sake of the remains. On Dunmore 
 hill, a headland one mile to the west, there are ten old forts. 
 It was probably the grand signal-station, so that a signal 
 made there would alarm the rest.” The view from this hill 
 is fine, embracing the magnificent cliffs of Slieveatooey, and 
 the mountains above Glenties, forming a splendid link, with 
 the more distant peaks of the Glendowan, Slieve-Snaght, and 
 the Errigle range. 
 
 Above Narin is Lough Doon, on which there is a 
 
144 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 Bawan, in a tolerable state of preservation. It embraces 
 the whole area of a small island close to the shore. Near 
 Lough Doon is Lough Birroge, where a similar Bawan 
 may be inspected. Then after a short distance comes 
 Kiltooris Lough, with Eden House (Major Johnstone) on its 
 east bank, and about a mile further on is Mossville (Lieut. - 
 Colonel Hamilton) the residence of the late lamented 
 Recorder of Cork, who was passionately fond of spending 
 all his free time here in his native highlands, circulating 
 freely among the simple people, and endearing himself 
 to everybody with his kindly affectionate greeting. To the 
 west of Kiltooris, on an island, are the remains of a castle 
 belonging to the O’Boyles, once the Lords and Masters of 
 Boylagh, and a ruling Sept in the district. 
 
 Kilclooney, — From this place a hilly road leads to Kil- 
 clooney, where there is a Cromlech, near the road, at a short 
 distance beyond the Catholic church. The table, or cover- 
 ing stone, measures about eighteen feet from east to west 
 twenty from north to south, and is from six to eight in thick- 
 ness. This gigantic slab slopes with a considerable incline 
 towards the west. Close to the larger “ bed ” there is 
 
 another of about one-third its size, and both are en- 
 closed by a stone circle. As the people of the locality 
 never call this monument by the name of Cromlech, 
 the visitor should ask to have Lebacha Diarmid 
 Agus Grainne pointed out to him, a disignation which has 
 orignated in a very ancient and popular tale. The renowned 
 Cormac Mac Art had a daughter, Grainne, celebrated far and 
 wide for her personal charms, whom the still more famous 
 Finn MacCumhall solicited in marriage. Cormac was 
 favourable to the giant’s suit, and accordingly to his Court 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 145 
 
 at Tara came Finn, attended by a chosen body of warriors, 
 amongst whom were his son Oisin, his grandson Oscar, and 
 Diarmid O’Duibhne, one of his chief officers. A banquet 
 suitable to the occasion and the dignity of the guests, was 
 prepared, at which the beautiful Grainne did the honours as. 
 mistress of the palace. It was the custom in those remote 
 times for the lady presiding at table to fill a rich drinking-cup 
 with the choicest liquor, and to send it round to be tasted by 
 the guests. In due time Grainne’s precious cup was carried 
 round by her attendant, until all drank of it except Oisin and 
 Diarmid, and as the bowl circulated great was the praise 
 pronounced on the delicious draught. But the murmur of 
 compliment quickly subsided into death-like silence, for the 
 nectar in which they pledged the young hostess proved a 
 powerful narcotic that threw everyone 
 who had tasted it into a deep sleep. 
 
 Having thus far succeeded, she ap- 
 pealed to the characteristic chivalry of 
 Oisin and Diarmid to rescue her from 
 an overwhelming misery. Finn was 
 an old and war-worn man. How could 
 she become his wife? But as her 
 father had agreed to the match, the 
 only way to escape the deep misfortune 
 was by flight. Oisin, of course, could 
 not dishonour his own father, but Diarmid might become her 
 partner and protector. The lady’s eloquence prevailed. 
 Diarmid and Grainne bade a hasty adieu to Oisin, and 
 departed. Great was the rage of King Cormac and Finn 
 when they awoke from their trance to find that the bird had 
 flown. The renowned Finn started at once in pursuit, and 
 
146 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 the sequel occupies the chief portion of an interesting Fenian 
 romance, called “ The Pursuit of Diarmid and Grainne,” 
 with a literal translation, published many years since by the 
 Ossianic Society. Looking to the East from Kilclooney, the 
 visitor will easily identify Carnaween, the highest point in that 
 quarter. On this lofty summit there is another Cromlech, 
 and by utilizing it the fugitives succeeded for a time in 
 eluding pursuit. Finn, as all the world knows, had a tooth 
 of divination which he consulted in difficulties by putting his 
 thumb under it. When Diarmid had passed the first night 
 at Kilclooney, being prevented by the sea from going further, 
 he took with him a sack full of sand and returned by a 
 detour to Carnaween, where he spread the sand on the 
 heather for a bed. Meanwhile, Finn applied his thumb to 
 the divination tooth and received for answer that the 
 fugitives were passing the night on the sand. He went in 
 consequence to the bed at Kilclooney and was, of course, 
 disappointed. Next morning Diarmid having concealed his 
 bag of sand, took a bundle of the heather to Kilclooney. 
 Finn as usual, when the night came, consulted bis tooth, and 
 got for answer that Diarmid and Grainne were resting on the 
 heath, and he accordingly sought them on Carnaween. Thus 
 was the giant baffled, his gift of divination notwithstanding 
 From Kilclooney one may return to Glenties by Loughfad. 
 
THE ROSSES, CO. DONEGAL. 
 
rat msAfff 
 
 Of Tilt 
 
 ummm e* ms 
 
VIII. -EXCURSION TO THE ROSSES. 
 
 ^ HOULD the tourist at the call of duty be forced 
 to bring his holiday in Donegal to a close for 
 the present, Glenties is admirably suited for 
 doing so. It divides the scenery pretty equally, 
 and its railway, now being made to Stranorlar, 
 is comparatively level, though as seen in 
 the distance, winding away through the mountain passes, it 
 gives the impression as somewhat alpine and uneven in its 
 progress. It will leave you in good time on the Finn Valley 
 branch, and in the near future carry you back with the 
 summer’s sun to take up the virgin scenes of the Donegal 
 highlands, and its echoes of the olden time, where they were 
 unavoidably interrupted. If, however, one be free, and 
 disposed to prosecute his present tour, let an excursion be 
 made to the Rosses which, with the neighbouring Gweedore, 
 constitute the most congested of all the congested parts not 
 only of Donegal but of Ireland. 
 
 The Problem of Congested Districts.— Gweedore, 
 for example, with its population of 5,000 comprises 
 40,511 acres, at sixpence halfpenny an acre according 
 to Griffith’s valuation, thus giving to each individual four 
 and a half acres under a rent of two shillings and sixpence 
 per annum for the whole plot. In June, 1858, a Parliamen- 
 
148 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 tary Committee sat to inquire into the impoverished con- 
 dition of the Gweedore tenantry. In course of the investi- 
 gation one of the local clergymen stated in evidence that of 
 the 70 families in a townland called Carrick, 50 used sea- 
 weed as part of their food, 55 had neither blankets nor beds, 
 and 20 were without a cow to give them milk. Of the 31 
 families in another townland, 20 lived mostly on sea- weed, 
 while only 3 had the comfort of a bed, and so on with many 
 more cases of the kind. The visitor will find in Rosses and 
 Gweedore the “ bits ” of land throughout to be mostly red 
 bog, mixed with rock, but teeming with a fine people, 
 who can neither clothe themselves sufficiently nor 
 support nature out of the bad and scanty supply of 
 crop, yielded by the spongy and sterile quality of the 
 soil. The men, therefore, are obliged to migrate in 
 search of wages during the summer months, and to 
 increase their little savings by denying themselves proper 
 nourishment, and wearing away their vitality by over- 
 working. Far more demoralizing, however, than this is 
 the fact that whenever the potato fails, as it does very 
 often, there is an appeal for help, and thus every feeling 
 of self-respect as well as of self-reliance is weakened. 
 To lift the poor, but spirited people out of this slough of 
 intermittent distress by developing local industries, is the 
 beneficent mission committed to the members of the 
 Congested Districts Board. The women seem to take 
 best to the knitting, but for the men fishing is the 
 readiest and most natural industry. They have, it 
 
 appears, in their deep sea circle, most promising grounds, 
 but the coast is so stormy and iron-bound that large 
 boats only can venture out in unsettled weather. To 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 149 
 
 buy a few of these suitable boats, and furnish them with the 
 right gear is therefore a necessity on the part of the 
 Government, who are engaged in establishing some 
 fishing-centres with safe harbour accommodation, and 
 an odd curing-station to employ many hands. Thus the 
 tourist in these parts will have an excellent opportunity of 
 testing on the spot the principle of helping people to help 
 themselves, upon which the vexed problem of congestion 
 in a poor agricultural population is being solved. 
 
 The direct way of getting to the Rosses from Glenties is 
 blocked by an inlet of the sea, called the Gweebarra, which 
 winds for seven miles into the mountains. This barrier is 
 now happily about being removed by the enlightened action of 
 the Congested Districts Board, who have undertaken to span 
 the estuary at a convenient point by an iron bridge. In the 
 meantime, leaving Glenties for the Rosses, the main route is 
 followed up to the third mile, where the road goes off to the left 
 by Derryloghan hill, and then turning to the right keeps along 
 the Gweebarra as far as Ducarry. The shore facing the 
 north is barren, rocky and untenanted, but the opposite 
 district, called Lettermacaward, is cultivated and thickly 
 dotted with cottages. The estuary lies at your feet 
 all the way, and there is a view of the valley, running 
 inland as far as the mountains of Slieve Snaclit and 
 Glendowan. From Ducarry you ascend by a zig-zag 
 road, and looking back one sees the pass to Lough 
 Barra. When high ground has been fairly attained, the 
 “ way lies through an untamable wild country, but with 
 shifting panoramas of mountains that the attention is never 
 fatigued ” ( Murray ). Away to the right are the Glendowan 
 .and Derry veagh ridges, with Slieve Snaght in the foreground, 
 
I 5° 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 while the white peak of Errigal is seen peering from the 
 clouds behind. “ In fact if the weather is fine — and all 
 depends on that — there is scarce such another mountain view 
 in the kingdom” {Murray). To the left are the Crohy hills, 
 subsiding here into waves of stunted heath, with nothing to- 
 strike one in their conformation along which the road is 
 carried to 
 
 D U n g 1 O e (Hotels : — Sweeny's, Boyle's ; pop., 450), 
 a “ tiny town,” but wonderfully smart and thriving to 
 
 grow in such a dis- 
 trict. The great Irish 
 scholar, Dr. O’Donovan, 
 when he came to Dun- 
 gloe in 1835 on busi- 
 ness connected with the 
 Ordnance Survey, says 
 he found the inn to 
 be far from comfort- 
 able. At present Dun- 
 gloe can boast of two 
 fairly-sized hotels where 
 the visitor may get a 
 clean bed, good plain cooking, a cozy parlour, and a 
 warm fire if required. Then these hotels are well 
 filled every season as soon as the rush sets in for the 
 excellent trout-fishing in the numerous open loughs 
 of the neighbourhood. The sportsman can also have 
 in Dungloe plenty of wild fowl and seal shooting, for 
 the place is situated at the head of a rather wide inlet 
 of the sea, guarded on the outside by the island of 
 Inishfree. The water is so shallow that it is not a fit station. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 * 5 * 
 
 even for the smallest boats, and at the foot of the town is a 
 brawling mountain torrent, which in rainy weather is carried 
 over its rocky bed with a deafening roar. “ Cloghanlea,* 
 writes Dr. O’Donovan, “ is the real name of the mountain 
 village. Dungloe proper lies between the townland of 
 Keadew and the sea, exactly opposite Oilen Leehan. There 
 a fortification of lime and stone existed in ancient times, 
 of which the foundations alone can now be traced. It stood 
 on a rock, and commanded the little bay ; but where or by 
 whom it was built no one knows. A fair had been held near 
 the site of the fortress until about 80 years ago, when it 
 was removed to the growing village of Cloughanlea. ,, 
 
 The tourist by all means should pay a flying visit to Crohy 
 
 Head, for the sake of the view to be ob- 
 
 Crohy Head. 
 
 tained from that part of the extensive 
 parish of Templecrone. The distance is but four miles, the 
 road running along the shore as far as the Martello tower. 
 The Head is about 800 feet high, and from it you look 
 northward on a singular seaboard, carved into rocks and 
 lakelets, presenting a perfect chaos of land and water, with a 
 multitude of islands, “ looking,” to borrow Thackeray’s 
 image, u like dolphins playing in the bay.” To the south- 
 west, overlooking Gweebarra, is a curious landslip, 
 called by the inhabitants Tholla Bristha (broken earth). 
 “ The rocks seem to have been shaken and shivered to 
 pieces — in fact, macadamized on a prodigious scale, and 
 offer an awfully shattered appearance. The chasm varies in 
 its dimensions, the greatest gash being twelve feet in width 
 and upwards of twenty feet in depth. At some places the 
 edges accurately correspond, and aie serrated” {Murray). 
 There are a few fine cliffs on the south-west side of the 
 
*52 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 Head, and there is also some good cave scenery, accessible 
 only by boat. 
 
 Returning to Dungloe from Crohy Head, the tourist will 
 next proceed to visit Burton Port and the 
 and the islands Islands. At the second mile the road 
 passes Meenmore Lough, near which there 
 is an old, disused barrack, where Mr. Herdman, of a well- 
 known firm of linen manufacturers in the North of Ireland, 
 comes every summer with his family to be fortified with 
 plenty of bracing air, and to do good. Evidently Mr. Herd- 
 man is in congenial touch with the normal state of poverty 
 in which this deserving population is steeped. The assist- 
 ance, which a clever man of business alone can give, he 
 accords freely to the active pastor, Father Walker, as well as 
 to the neighbouring clergymen, and Mr. Hammond, of 
 Lackbeg House, Burton Port (local agent of the Marquis of 
 Conyngham) in their effort to make the fishing industry of 
 these parts a success. Not only are they co-operating with 
 the action of the Congested Districts Board, but generously 
 and vigorously maintaining a little steamer, started at 
 their own expense, to minister to the material wants of the 
 many communities, scattered over this dangerous coast. 
 
 Two miles from Meenmore Lough, you reach Burton 
 Port, which is the chief point of connection between the 
 islands and the mainland. Within a quarter of an hour’s 
 rowing is “ Rutland Island, where during the Lord Lieu- 
 tenancy of the Duke of Rutland in 1785, ^40,000 was 
 expended in making a military station, and general emporium 
 for this part of the country ” {Murray). The island is 
 now a mere heap of sand; about a dozen of small 
 dwelling-houses only remaining. Off Rutland is Arran- 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 153 
 
 more, on which there are some eighty families. If the 
 tourist be fond of boating, and not pressed for time, 
 he may have an abundantly interesting day’s excursion, 
 when the weather is fine, in exploring its cliff and 
 cave scenery, which is very good, particularly near the 
 lighthouse, and, indeed, all round the north-west side of the 
 island. 
 
 From Burton Port the pedestrian, wishing to go to Gwee- 
 dore, may follow the by-road, passing Kadu strand, and on 
 to Kincaslagh, with its large, well-built Catholic church, 
 thence to Mullaghderg, where there is a considerable lake, 
 separated only by a sand-bank from the sea. Out on the 
 coast are one of those Martello towers, and a crag called 
 the Spanish Rock, from the circumstance of a Spanish 
 vessel, supposed to belong to the Armada, having been 
 wrecked there. In the memory of the inhabitants of this 
 } parish a number of well-finished brass guns were fished up, 
 but unfortunately they got into the hands of some travelling 
 tinkers, who had them broken into pieces for their own profit. 
 Off the coast, a little to the north, is a group of rocks called the 
 Stags, which, according to a legend, told in the district, had 
 once upon a time been a fleet of seven magnificent ships, 
 belonging to that order of beings known as “ gentle-folk,” 
 but were changed by some powerful enchantress into ocean 
 rocks. After a period of years they are permitted to resume 
 the form they had at the moment in which they were meta- 
 morphosed, and they are then allowed to sail away, under 
 the condition that no human eye sees them. It is needless 
 to add, that the moment of emancipation for the unfortunate 
 u Stags” has invariably arrived when the eyes of some one 
 were directed towards them. Some twenty years ago, as it 
 
154 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 was told to the writer, an old man living in the neighbourhood 
 of Annagray, saw seven ships in full sail setting from the 
 shore. It was a beautiful evening about midsummer ; the 
 vessels were of immense size, and the rigging gorgeous ; the 
 sails were of silk, resembling the rich colour of a cloud irt 
 the setting sun, while streamers of the same colour floated 
 from every mast ; the decks were alive with busy crews, dressed 
 in caps and jackets of bright red. The old man gazed on 
 the sight for a moment in rapt admiration, when presently 
 the bright sails collapsed, gathering the entire rigging 
 into thick folds, like an umbrella, quickly shut, and when he 
 rubbed his eyes hard and looked again, the beautiful vision 
 had vanished, and nothing was seen but the “Stags” pointing 
 their sharp heads up from the blue waters. He then 
 recollected how he had often ridiculed the story of their 
 enchantment, but now he doubted it no more. From Mullagh- 
 derg the pedestrian may keep along the coast to a place 
 called the Point, where he will easily find a boat to take him 
 across to Bunbeg, and proceed thence to the Gweedore 
 Hotel. 
 
 The direct road from Dungloe to Gweedore (13 miles) 
 traverses a flat surface, for the most part desolate, but 
 relieved in fine weather by the mountains that bound the 
 view to the right, and the broken coast away to the left, 
 which has been already noticed. At Lough Anure there is 
 work for the geologist : — “The environs consist of Mica 
 slate, with coarse granular dolomite. . . . On one spot 
 will be found basilar idiocrase and epidote, crystallised in 
 six-sided prisms, with common garnet of a reddish-brown 
 colour” (Giesecke). At the head of Annagray, skirting a 
 most melancholy-looking marsh, fed with quite a number 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 155 
 
 of inlets of sea and soft sand, you are still in the Rosses, 
 where the gloom and desolation of the scenes have been 
 lighted up within the past year by “ The Borrowed Pride,” a 
 remarkable poem, just published in New York, by Mr. 
 Patrick Sarsfield Cassidy. The author is fast adorning the 
 literature of the Great Republic of the West, his adopted 
 country, and it is gratifying to add that the poetic gift is as 
 fresh and brilliant in him as the purple of his native heath on 
 the mountains of Donegal. At the head of x\nnagray Creek 
 the solitude is broken by a hamlet, and a little further on 
 you enter Gweedore by crossing “the river at a spot, where 
 a combination of rock and waterfall offers charming scenery 
 (Murray). Thence the road runs over a bare inhospitable 
 tract, to Gweedore Hotel. 
 
 Cienties to Gwsodoro. — The Dungloe route just traced 
 is the usual one between Glenties and Gweedore, and it is 
 the more direct. But the visitor can easily explore this 
 afterwards by special excursion from Gweedore, and travel 
 from Glenties to Gweedore by a far better way, passing 
 the valleys of Lough Finn, Lough Barra, and Lough Beagh, 
 or Lough Veagh, which in all the more striking characteristics 
 of Highland scenery surpass anything in Donegal, and would 
 be lost to the passing tourist, who should follow the beaten 
 track by Dungloe. The proposed journey is thirty- nine 
 miles, while that by Dungloe is thirty ; but a difference of 
 nine miles will not, one should suppose, weigh much against 
 the pomp of lofty mountain, deep lake, headlong torrent, 
 and toppling precipice. The great, in fact, the only, incon- 
 venience of this route is the absence of hotels on the way 
 it will be necessary, therefore to take a car and to start 
 early. 
 
356 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 Lough Finn and its Legend.— Leaving Glenties, the 
 route takes a north-easterly direction, following the valley 
 of the Shallagan river, and having on the left the Derry- 
 loghan mountains, and Aghla on the right. After the 
 third mile, a road is given off to the left which leads 
 to Ducarry. The tourist, however, will be careful to 
 keep by Finntown, skirting Knockrawer, which looks 
 from a distance like a gigantic pyramid. At the fifth 
 mile he gains the watershed ; and following for a short 
 distance a gentle incline, comes suddenly on Lough Finn, 
 a narrow strip of 
 water, extending some 
 three or four miles 
 from south-west to 
 north-west. On the 
 .right rises the immense 
 mass of Aghla (1,961 
 feet), sheer from the 
 water, when its threat- 
 ening sides, clothed 
 with dark heath, and 
 torn by mountain tor- 
 rents, give the place 
 .an air of wild grandeur. Still the scene is not savage, 
 for there are plots of cultivated ground on the margin 
 of the water. There is a legend that a giant, called Fear 
 Go wan, one of the famous Fenian heroes, perished on 
 the bank of this lake. The story goes that the Fear- 
 Gowan, who had his principal residence at Clenlehin, some 
 six miles to the north-west, returning from a visit to the 
 .South of Ireland, approached the haunt of a wild boar that 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 157 
 
 had long ruled supreme in the mountains south of Lough 
 Finn, and had come off victorious from many a bloody 
 encounter with the bravest Fenian huntsmen. The Fear- 
 Gowan was young, but had an elder sister of the true 
 Fenian stamp, who advised him strongly to keep clear of 
 this formidable boar, and his friends the Fenians “ up the 
 country ” gave him similar advice. But it was the rule with 
 this youth, says the story, to do exactly the reverse of 
 whatever he was advised. He was proud of his own 
 giant proportions, and had with him three dogs, which he 
 fancied invincible. Accordingly he sought the monster in 
 his den, a recess near the head of the big glen about 
 three miles from the present Glenties. The encounter began 
 here and was continued by the heads of the other glens on 
 towards Lough Finn. Confident that any of his dogs 
 would be a match for the boar, the Fear-Gowan first slipped 
 one, which after a bloody struggle was left dead on the grass. 
 He let loose a second, but it was also killed; and then 
 his last and best dog was put forward, soon to be torn 
 in pieces by the infuriate animal, which now turned on 
 the giant himself. The Fear-Gowan struck out powerfully, 
 retreating the while over mountain and moor, till at length 
 the combatants, struggling down the awful sides of Aghla, 
 were brought to a stand on the eastern shore of Lough Finn. 
 The boar was proving too many for the giant, who now 
 began to shout lustily for his sister, and his stentorian voice 
 shook the mountains for miles around. The sister heard 
 him, and came speedily over the hills towards Lough Finn, 
 filling her apron, as she advanced, with large stones that 
 lay along her path. By the time she reached the place, 
 her brother and the boar were both prostrate. He was able 
 
1 5 8 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 to call, but owing to the echoes of the mountains she 
 mistook the point whence the shouts proceeded. At a 
 part where the lake was not deep she waded across, but 
 when she got to the other side, the voice seemed to come 
 from where she had left, and when she returned, the sound 
 .again seemed to issue from the opposite side. Thus was she 
 kept crossing and re-crossing, till at last her brother’s cries 
 becoming fainter and fainter, and the echoes gradually dying 
 out, she succeeded in reaching the spot. There lay the boar 
 dead on the ground, and near it the Fear-Gowan, a mass of 
 torn flesh. The sister, exhausted by her wild efforts to 
 relieve the brother, as well as by her anguish of mind, sank 
 down beside him, and both died about the same moment. 
 Her name was Finn, and hence Lough Finn. 
 
 Fintltown. — The eighth mile brings one to Finn- 
 town, a hamlet shining brightly on the brow of the lake, 
 where a Catholic chapel of .ease, resting on a green slope, 
 the priest’s neat residence, a police barrack, and a few 
 farm-houses with a piece of young plantation, make altogether 
 a pleasant Highland picture. On the opposite side rise the 
 cliffs of Scraigs (1,410 feet), bare and weather-beaten 
 This lake is the source of the River Finn, which courses east- 
 ward by Ballyboffey and Stranorlar, where it spreads into 
 a broad channel, and uniting with the Mourne at Lifford, 
 flows on with power and majesty to Derrv. 
 
 Ducarry. — From Finntown to Ducarry the distance is 
 four miles, and the road abounds in all the incident of rocky 
 defile, steep hill, and mountain tarn. Ducarry possesses 
 many attractions both for the general tourist and for the 
 angler; but it lacks that one indispensable need of every 
 :such resort, an hotel. Here is a promising place for one of 
 
DU CARRY BRIDGE, CO. DONEGAL, 
 
I'tSt S tttfUHt 
 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 159 
 
 those comfortable Scandinavian hotels, which are being now 
 introduced into the centres of Irish scenery, where they are 
 most required, by active promoters of the Tourist Develop- 
 ment Scheme in this country. Ducarry is the depot of the 
 Gweebarra fishery,, and Lord Cloncurry, who has a lease 
 of it, would surely be generous in his permission to anglers 
 staying at the hotel. 
 
 Loilgh Barra, — From Ducarry the road follows the 
 course of the Owenwee river up the valley of the Gweebarra, 
 which soon becomes a fine mountain pass. The sixth mile 
 brings you into the lone region of Lough Barra, a small 
 sheet of placid water, black as ink, with a border of golden 
 sand, contrasting finely with the dark waters of the lake. 
 Two torrents, Schruhan-Crolee, and Scardangle, come head- 
 long down the side of Slieve Snaght, forming two water- 
 falls of an impressive character, which may be easily 
 approached. If the visitor be a tolerable climber, 
 he may enjoy a few hours’ exciting mountaineering by 
 ascending Slieve Snaght, which is more easily accomplished 
 than Errigal, and affords almost the same wealth of prospect 
 far and wide. He should keep along the crest of the mountain, 
 a pathless course on which the history of many a storm is 
 written, till he stands over the Poisoned Glen, where the 
 view will amply repay him for the fatigue of the excursion. 
 It is a deep vale, so savage, and so lonely that the visitor is 
 not likely soon to forget this wild mountain recess. On the 
 right Glenveagh lies beneath his feet, and he should direct 
 his steps to regain the road, which passes between Slieve 
 Snaght and Crockbrack till the watershed is gained, and 
 then winds down into Glenbeagh or Glenveagh (glen of the 
 birch trees). Here the tourist may consult his map with 
 
i6o 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 advantage, for standing on this point of observation one will 
 gain a clear idea of the physical arrangement of the Donegal 
 Highlands. The great pass that traverses the county from 
 the Gweebarra to the Mulroy Bay, is now to a great extent, 
 under the eye. Almost parallel with this is the stretch from 
 Glenties up to Finntown. On the southern side of the 
 Glendowan range to the right, is the valley in which repose 
 the waters of the beautiful Gartan Lough, and again behind 
 Derryveagh, on his left, is the gorge opening to Glenveagh. 
 As you begin to descend your attention is attracted 
 by glimpses of the narrow strip of water “ still and 
 deep,” enclosed between these thickly wooded and preci- 
 pitous sides, 2,147 feet at the highest point, like the deep 
 Trossach, 
 
 “So wondrous wild, the whole might seem 
 The scenery of a fairy dream.” Scott. 
 
 Glenveagh. — It is truly a wild region, still frequented 
 by the eagle, and down the Glen at a turn in the road, 
 your vision is startled by the Castle, rising like an 
 apparition out of the lake, with its battlements, stately 
 tower and waving flag, as if Royalty dwelt within. But 
 Mrs. Adair is the Queen here, and unlike her late hus- 
 band of eviction notoriety, she is well talked about in the 
 locality. She is said to have expended ^20,000 in improving 
 the Castle and its surroundings, besides laying out an 
 enormous deer-park with 500 miles of paling. 
 
 The Rev. Caesar Otway has left the following sketch of 
 Glenveagh : — “ We proceeded to Glenveagh, and at length 
 reached it after a very deep descent. We were delighted 
 with the beautiful water, winding far between immense 
 mountains, and apparently without end, losing itself in gloom 
 
OLENVEIGH CASTILE 
 
Tttt 1 iliftARt 
 Of THfc 
 
 ttWJfilSin li?' 1LUMSIS 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. l6l 
 
 and solitariness, amidst the distant gorges and defiles of the 
 hills. On the right hand side of the lake, the mountain 
 rises like a steep wall out of the water, lofty and precipitous 
 for a thousand feet, and this cliff is the secure eyrie of the 
 eagle and jer-falcon. On the other side the shore was lofty 
 also, and mountainous, but still there was room for the oak 
 and the birch, the rowan and the&lder, to strike their roots 
 amidst the rocks, and clothe the ravines and hollows with 
 ornamental copsewood. The lake itself is studded with 
 wet woody islands, out of which rose perpendicular columns 
 of smoke, which told full well that in this solitary secluded 
 spot the illicit distiller was at his tempting and hazardous 
 work. I have never been in Switzerland or Scotland ; it has 
 not been my lot at leisure to wander along the waters of 
 Westmoreland or Cumberland, but I have»seen good draw- 
 ings of these most frequented scenes ; and have thus admired 
 Loch Katrine, the subject of the poet’s pen and painter’s 
 pencil. But if my glen and my lake were not Irish, if the 
 curse of being out of fashion did not put everything Irish 
 under attainder, I would venture to show Glenveagh against 
 any of those foreign fashionables, and would encourage my 
 mountain nymph to hold herself as fair in varied beauty as 
 any of them. . . . ** 
 
 A Lineal descendant of the EVIcSwsne Chief.— “ I 
 
 cannot,” says the same writer, “take leave of Glenveagh 
 without calling to mind a visit we paid to a characteristic 
 dweller of this singular and solitary scene. In a sunny nook, 
 where a dark deep ravine expanded itself into a little grassy 
 valley, affording room for a potatogardenand a small meadow, 
 and beside a small garrulous brook, rose a cabin — I dare not 
 call it a cottage, for that supposes and associates cleanliness, 
 
 L 
 
162 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 neatness, the woodbine bower, the rose-covered lattice, with 
 its idea, and such a spot on • Ulleswater or Windermere 
 would have been blessed 'and beautified with such accom- 
 paniments ; but here we had no such amenities — the grunt 
 of a sleeping sow, the growl of a gaunt greyhound, were the 
 sounds that accosted us as we bent our heads to enter the 
 narrow apperture that served almost as much for a chimney 
 as an entrance. When you entered, 1 however, things bore 
 somewhat a more satisfactory appearance ; there was better 
 furniture than is generally to be seen in an Irish cabin, some 
 old-fashioned high-backed chairs, some old, carved, broken, 
 brass-mounted chests ; a decent dresser on which were 
 
 ranged some pewter 
 dishes and plates ; im- 
 plements of fishing 
 were suspended along 
 the walls, and a long 
 French musket, its 
 barrel mounted with 
 brassy hung right over the immense mantelpiece of the 
 chimney that jutted out almost into the centre of the 
 apartment. Above the gun was an old mezzotinto print 
 of the Holy Family after Raphael, and over that again an 
 old armorial bearing on which you could observe a 
 salmon, a , liom passant, and « a bloody hand, all well 
 smoked.- Beneath the canopy of the immense chimney, 
 and beside the hoby in a. comfortable high-backed chair, 
 made of straw in the manner of a beehive, sat Jack McSwine, 
 the master of the mansion. He rose apparently with pain 
 as we entered. I thought he would never cease rising, so 
 slowly did he unbend his extraordinary height, and with 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 163 
 
 apparent difficulty, as suffering under rheumatic pains, he 
 advanced to meet my friend, whom he accosted with all the 
 ease of an old gentleman, and all the cordiality of 
 an ancient Irishman. All the humbler class of Irish are 
 particularly civil and attentive to you when ycu enter their 
 houses. I never in any oh the provinces entered under a 
 poor man’s roof that I was not received with the smile of 
 pleasure and language of benignity, the best seat wiped and 
 offered for my acceptance, the pig expelled, the dog pun- 
 ished if he dared to growl at my entering ; but here was 
 even something better than this, for there was the Irish 
 heartiness, adorned with the urbanity of a .gentleman. If he 
 were the lord ofia palace he could not have received us 1 with 
 more kind and unembarrassed courtesy than did the dweller 
 of the lonely mountain hut, and when I was introduced to him 
 as one who came from Dublin to see and admire the beauties 
 of Glenveagh, nothing could exceed the anxious kindness 
 with which he expressed his desire to do everything to fur- 
 ther my views ; he lamented he had not a boat, that his 
 fowling convenience and fishing tackle were not in trim for 
 our use ; in short, he seemed to feel a double pang that he 
 was a poor man. But who was Jack McSwine ? The lineal 
 descendant of the ancient sept of the McSwines, who, next 
 and only inferior to the O’Donnell, preserved a large portion 
 of Tyrconnell. Our friend of Glenveagh maintained that he 
 was the McSwine-na-Doo — the Connfinny, or head of the 
 family. And surrounded by poverty as -we saw . him, the 
 dweller of the wretched hut, without one shilling of income, 
 with nothing to live on but the produce of his potato garden 
 and the milk of a few cows that ranged the mountains, yet 
 Philip II. of Spain, ruling over dominions on which the sun 
 
164 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 never set, was not prouder in his bearing, nor richer in the 
 recollections of his Austrian ancestry, than this fading shad- 
 dow of an Irish Tanist ; the man literally lived, moved, and 
 had his being as dependent on his family associations ; and 
 still life was only supportable under the one hope which he 
 cherished. Amidist chilling discouragements, insurmount- 
 able obstacles, and endless rebuffs, he had now come to the 
 verge of the grave ; gray he stood and tempest-worn, like 
 one of the withering oaks on the side of Glenveagh, and 
 still he put forth the leaf and struggled for existence, hoping 
 against hope. The McSwines, as proprietors of a large por- 
 tion of the mountain district of Donegal, had usually sided 
 with the O’Neils against the O’Donnells, and O’Neil’s 
 demand of sixty cows as tribute from O’Donnell was often 
 enforced by the assistance of McSwine ; and when James I. 
 conquered the O’Donnells and escheated their lands, as a 
 reward to McSwine for his opposition to this cheiftain, his 
 mountains, perhaps because not worth confiscating, were left 
 him in peace, and in the following reign of Charles, when 
 the execrable rebellion of 1641 broke out, the McSwine for 
 some reason did not join it. There was no proof of massacre 
 or murder against him, and the Act of Settlement left him 
 his property as an innocent Papist. Here then, down to 
 the present century, the McSwines lived the lords paramount 
 of these glens and mountains, in barbarous and profuse 
 hospitality. Here, surrounded by followers and retainers, 
 amidst fosterers and cosherers ; their hall full of horse-boys — 
 all idlers, all gentlemen, all disdaining any trade or occupa- 
 tion — fishing, fowling, hunting, or fighting by day ; feasting, 
 quarelling and carousing by night — the McSwines, from 
 father to son, lived ; borrowing money, and mortgaging one 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 165 
 
 mountain tract, or line of sea, after another. This is the 
 common history of an Irish Castle-Rack rent family ; and 
 thus the common fate of the Sir Thadys and Sir Condys of 
 Ireland, attended the McS wines, and our poor friend Jack 
 came into the world the inheritor of his forefather’s name, 
 pride, recollections, and imprudences ; but alas ! his lands 
 had all vanished, and became under foreclosed mortgages 
 the properties of families, who possessed the low-born English 
 and Scotch propensity of foresight and frugality. Still Jack 
 McSwine clung to the hope and expectation of recovering 
 some of his alienated lands ; he told us how certain portions 
 were illegally conveyed away from him by his father, and he 
 besought me with all the anxiety of a man who was: catching 
 at vague impossibilities, that I would search .* the records of 
 Dublin Castle for him, and make • out his title. No one 
 could possibly have seen this fine old man, so tall, so meagre 
 and yet so decent in his coarse attire, and so urbane and 
 gracious in the old-fashioned manner of the last century, 
 without wishing that some portion of the wide domains of 
 his ancestors was returned to him, and that his gray hairs 
 might descend in decency to the grave. Rather it would 
 better become my desire and my prayer to turn these 
 immoderate hopes, these ceaseless anxieties from such unreal 
 fancies, from these fallacies of earthly ambition, to seek 
 property in a better country — an inheritance with the saints 
 in light — desiring to be found in Christ, clothed in His 
 righteousness, endowed with His unspeakable gifts and pos- 
 sessing His unsearching riches. Every year this hearty old 
 Milesian comes down from his mountain glen, and spends a 
 day at the hospitable glebe-house of my friend, and he 
 regularly brings to the younger part of the family an appro* 
 
1 66 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 priate present, a gift which, from the remotest times, a king 
 might accept, and a noble might bestow — a young eagle or 
 jer-falcon of the true hunting breed, from the cliffs of Glen- 
 veagh. Before I left the country this genuine gentleman 
 brought me such a present as a grateful recompense (the 
 only one he could bestow) for the hearty interest and atten- 
 tion which I, as he said, condescended to take in the fallen 
 fortunes of poor John McSwine {Sketches in Donegal ). 
 
 Glenleck.— rA short distance below the Castle is Glen- 
 leck, a hollow in .the mountain side down which a stream 
 frets and foams in a channel, hidden under thick evergreens. 
 The visitor will find a path to ascend the ravine through 
 the heath, which here grows and blossoms to great perfec- 
 tion. The place gives forth thundering echoes; a gun ex- 
 ploded from a boat at certain points of the lake is answered 
 by a loud crashing noise as of the mountains falling to 
 pieces. The road through the glen, though not in favour 
 with drivers; is very fair, and borders the lake, which is 
 some four miles long, all the way down to the lower end ? 
 where it joins the direct < route between Letterkenny and 
 Gweedore. Here the Owencarrow river, flowing from 
 Loughveagh, in the same north-easterly direction, on to 
 Glenlough, thence to the sandy shores of Rosgul, is crossed 
 at Glenveagb bridge, trends to the west, skirting Kingarrow, 
 and leaving Muckish (2,214 feet) to the right, it 
 ascends the valley of the Culabber, a singularly wild High- 
 land vale. On the left is the great Dooish range, already 
 seen from Glenveagh, while on the right are Crocknalaragh 
 (1,554 feet), Aghla-beg (1,860 feet), Aghla-mor (1,916 feet), 
 and towering loftily over the very end of the valley, is the 
 shapely summit of Errigal (2,466 feet), with its glistening 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 IO7 
 
 seams of quartz. As the traveller proceeds, he gains 
 charming peeps of Glen Lough in the foreground, while 
 near the summit level, the attention is arrested on the right 
 by Altan Lough, a dark, savage-looking tarn, in a deep gap 
 between Aghla-mor and Errigal, both of which mountains 
 fall down upon the water with great rapidity. When the 
 high ground is gained, a view opens up which is hardly 
 to be surpassed in Great Britain. 
 
 Dunfewey Valley. — Before you is the mountain valley 
 of Dunlewey, enlivened by some white houses, and in the 
 middle lies the most 
 beautiful lake, whose 
 glassy surface is 
 broken by & few 
 islands, covered with 
 ash trees. Near it is 
 built a Protestant 
 church of white 
 marble, found here 
 in great abundance, 
 and a little beyond on 
 a wooded slope, rising 
 from the lake, is 
 Dunlewey House (W, Hepburn, Esq.). 
 
 -The Poisoned Glen. — To the left is the Poisoned Glen, 
 a dark defile, ending .. above in a fine range of cliffs, 
 that rise some a, 000 feet like mural battlements around. 
 Hugging the steep base of Errigal, -the road is carried 
 by Upper Lough Nacung, near which there is a graceful 
 round tower and neat .Catholic church, built for the 
 poor of this remote valley by the late Mr. William Ross, 
 
i68 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 a wealthy Belfast manufacturer, and on by the Clady river 
 to the 
 
 Gweedord Hotel- — This well-appointed and welcome 
 refuge for the weary traveller, with its surroundings of 
 green sward and bright leafage of young trees, as well as other 
 amenities, making an oasis in the midst of the untamed 
 wilderness, reminds one of how much might have been 
 done, and how little has been done for the unrivalled scenery 
 of the Donegal Highlands.. It is more than half a century 
 since Lord George Hill of Ballyarr, near Letterkenny, bought 
 23,000 acres here, and began at once to turn to account 
 this vast area of bare mountain and almost useless bog, en- 
 hanced, however, by a fine salmon river, and various fresh 
 water loughs. Not, only was the bright, cheerful Gweedore 
 Hotel built with its little forest of cosy parlours below, and 
 tiny bedrooms above; but Lord George himself kept about 
 it a good deal, seeing after every detail, and greeting the arrival 
 of the lovers of nature “stern and wild.” His genial presence 
 has been missed since 1870, when he died, but his tradirions 
 are faithfully preserved. Care is taken to have everything 
 scrupulously clean, and the table well supplied with creature- 
 comforts of the plainest kind, but of the very best for ^3 a 
 week, and an extra £1 during the visit for the privilege of 
 angling. 
 
 Bunbeg i s a tittle port with less shipping, about four 
 miles from the hotel, and near it, at Derrybeg, there is a 
 ravine, through which an overflow from the lake courses 
 rapidly to the sea. It was in this deep hollow the faithiul 
 worshipped, during the period their religion was proscribed. 
 Sentries were posted around to watch while the priest 
 officiated at a small rustic altar, constructed on a ledge of 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 169 
 
 rock, and the people were thickly packed in the narrow 
 space between the walls of precipice, with the sky as their 
 covering in every state of weather. The place, because of its 
 memories, came to be regarded so sacred, that when the 
 Catholics of Gweedore were allowed to come forth from their 
 hiding place, and build a parish church, they did so across 
 the stream at the bottom of this great rent in the hill. One 
 Sunday, not many years ago, when the inhabitants were all at 
 Mass, this stream got so much swollen by a waterspout from 
 the mountain, that it burst its bounds, and breaking into the 
 church, swept away 
 some members of the 
 congregation. It has 
 been succeeded by a 
 still better church, but 
 the old hallowed site 
 is retained, so tena- 
 ciously do the people 
 cling to the scenes of 
 their captivity. A few 
 steps, cut into the 
 embankment, lead to 
 the priest’s house close by, and over these steps on a gravelled 
 walk, Police-Inspector Martin lost his life, during the Spring 
 of 1889, in venturing to arrest a favourite pastor, in the pre- 
 sence of his devoted flock, under the shadow of his own 
 sanctuary, and immediately after he had celebrated the most 
 solemn mysteries of his faith. It was a time of intense excite- 
 ment, when the rent-quarrel between the local landlords and 
 their tenants was very angry, and the parish priest had been 
 prominently fighting on the side of his people. 
 
IX. — EXCURSION TO ERRIGAL. 
 
 HE tourist should not omit 
 to make an excursion to 
 the top of Errigal (2,466 
 feet). He may have a car 
 to the foot of the mountain, 
 about six miles from the 
 hotel, and as Errigal rises 
 rapidly, the ascent can be 
 made in two hours. The 
 path is on the south side 
 and winds in great part over a 
 , . shingly surface, consisting mainly of 
 
 loose stones, of a pure white colour, which 
 make this splendid sugar-loaf appear from the 
 distance like a snow-capped Alp, to which circumstance, 
 probably, it owes its name, “the White Peak.” The 
 footing is not exactly precarious, but there is need of pick- 
 ing one’s steps near the top, where the acclivity narrows to 
 an edge, with yawning depths on either side. When you have 
 reached the summit, which is only a few feet across, you 
 command a prospect of land and sea, which might satisfy 
 an eagle’s circuit of vision. Oh, for a clear day ! Looking 
 down, you feel yourself circled by abysses so deep, so 
 silent, that it takes time to realize how your watch-tower is 
 
ra^e 166 GWEEDORE, DUNLEWEY, CO. DONEGAL 
 
ret t mftA8| 
 
 OF Tilfc 
 
 UfMliW W IIUM8IS 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 171 
 
 Touilt on a solid foundation. To the south, over against 
 you, rises Slieve Snaght, seeming so near, that one imagines 
 he could step on it, and linked to it are the summits of 
 the Derryveagh range, bare and desolate ; and close behind 
 a throng of mountain-tops, receding in a tumultuous sea, 
 southward still as far as Benbulben, and Northern Connaught. 
 And with these are joined the forms of many mountains 
 in the counties of Tyrone and Derry, crowding the horizon 
 away to the distant Knocklayde in the north-east of Antrim. 
 More to the north are seen the hills of Caledonia looming 
 afar off, 
 
 “ Like the bright confines of another world.” 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 Then a low azure ridge cuts even against the sky ; there 
 is no mistaking it ; it is the ocean, and your eyes come 
 quickly homeward over its unbroken field, till they rest on 
 the headlands of Inishowen,.Fanad, the shores of Lough 
 Foyle, Lough Swilly, the 'broken line of Mulroy, and 
 nearer still, the solitary Torry. The western coast lies at your 
 feet. Beneath is Gweedore, spread out like a leaf, and the 
 sixteen quarter lands of Rosses, a rocky region, where from 
 the multitude of its lakelets one would imagine land and 
 water were left still commingled in original chaos. Then 
 an array of islands, the chief being Owey, Cruit, Gola, and 
 Arranmore, which looks a mountain from the plain below ; 
 but seen from this lofty peak, it lies a quiet level. 
 Inland you penetrate into a thousand and one valleys, that 
 have in this mountain — the symbol of a higher unity — a 
 common friend through whom they hold communion 
 with each other. An impressive spectacle truly, the whole 
 of the wide circle, visible from this pinnacle! and if it 
 
172 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 shows not “the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of 
 them,” it speaks a higher revelation — it reveals the Infinite, 
 and surely inspires sober thought, as well as the deepest rever- 
 ence. Another interesting Excursion from Gweedore Hotel is 
 one to Dungloe and the Rosses, but it has been already traced 
 under the Excursion from Glenties to the Rosses, Dungloe 
 and Gweedore (page 147). The reason why it ought to be 
 made from Gweedore, instead of Glenties, has also been 
 stated, so that the tourist is now ready to proceed from 
 
GWEEDORE TO DUNFANAGHY 
 (17 miles), 
 
 ETTING out from the Gweedore Hotel 
 with its comfortable associations, the 
 road for seven or eight miles traverses 
 a wild and desolate region, with Errigal 
 on the right, and on 'the left Bloody 
 Foreland (1,000 feet high), stretching 
 away into the sea, and distinguished 
 by one of those martello towers, which 
 abound on the north-west coast of 
 Donegal. About this bold headland 
 there is a story that, after their defeat by Brian 
 Boru, the Danes, to be out of the reach of their pursuers, 
 fled from the battle-field of Clontarf to this most north- 
 western point or Farland, afterwards changed into Foreland. 
 The victorious enemy, how r ever, following rapidly, soon 
 came up with them even in this remote corner, when the 
 encounter was so sanguinary that the place ever after went 
 by the name of Bloody Foreland. After crossing the 
 Tullughobegly river, green fields, and little hamlets begin to 
 enliven the landscape. Bedlam is a characteristic bit of a 
 village, beyond which the Catholic parish church, and near 
 it, conspicuous in a field, Glenna, the parish priest’s hand- 
 some residence, embellish the scene. A little farther on 
 passing the Protestant rectory, at the head of Ballyness Bay, 
 
174 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 and a group of islands, Innishboffin, Inishdooey and 
 Inishbeg, you arrive at 
 
 Falcarragh or Crossroads (Hotels Sweeneys, Brew- 
 siers ), a small village, occupying an exposed situation on the 
 northern coast, and commanding a fine view of the mountains 
 inland. The geologist may find interesting occupation in 
 examining the tideways to the north-west, as there are striking 
 indications of a subsidence in that quarter of the coast 
 Torry Island. — Lying out by itself in the midst of a 
 
 vast blue, field of ocean, 
 Torry Island with its rocks, 
 rising tower-like from the 
 waves, fixes itself on the 
 attention of the traveller. 
 Falcarragh is a convenient 
 point for starting on an 
 excursion to Torry, which 
 is sometimes written Tory, 
 Torree, Inis-Torry. It is 
 some eight miles from the 
 coast, and nearly three 
 miles long, very narrow, and affording but a small area 
 capable of producing any kind of crop, so that its population, 
 of seventy or eighty families, lives altogether by fishing and 
 kelp-making, sources sufficiently precarious. “ They are said 
 to feed their cattle upon fish, and to tether their turbots by 
 the tail in salt-water till the Derry and Sligo boats come to 
 buy.” There is a neat Catholic chapel and a resident 
 priest on the island, also a National school, and a light- 
 house, which has lately been placed by the Government in 
 telegraphic communication with the mainland. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 175 
 
 “ The rock scenery of the coast of Torry is very fine, and 
 characteristic. Porphyritic Syenite appears to be the geo- 
 logical structure ” ( Murray ). But its chiefest attractions are 
 for the antiquary. In remote pagan times it was a principal 
 stronghold of the Fomorians, one of whose chiefs erected a 
 tower at the eastern extremity of the island, called Tor- 
 Connaing, celebrated in our prerChristian annals as 
 
 “The Tower iof the Island, the Island of the Tower, 
 
 The citadel of Connaing, the son of Toclar ” ( Book of Leacan), 
 
 Here was fought a famous battle, in which the fierce tribes 
 of those early days maintained the conflict on the strand at 
 Port Doon, till the returning, tide buried nearly all the 
 combatants in the waves. Here the formidable “ Balor of 
 the mighty blows ” had his head-quarters. This Balor still 
 lives in the traditions of the Island, where a very curious 
 story is told of him. It appears this famous King of 
 Torry had one eye in the middle of his forhead, and 
 another directly opposite it in the back of his head. 
 The latter eye,- like that of the basilisk, had a mortiferous 
 power, and was kept constantly closed, except when Balor 
 wished to destroy an adversary with it. A Druid had 
 prophesised that Balor should be murdered by his own 
 grandson. To nullify this prediction, he shut up his only 
 child, a daughter, in an impregnable tower, built on the top 
 of a cliff on the north-east of the Island, under the care of 
 twelve matrons, whom he strictly charged to keep her from 
 intercourse with the outside world. Time went on, andEthnea 
 grew into a beautiful woman. Balor now, apparently secure 
 against the prediction of the Druid, at the head of an ad- 
 venturous band of sea-rovers, swept the neighbouring coast, 
 
176 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 where a chief, called MacKineely, was the lord of a large 
 district. His heart became so moved with sympathy for 
 Ethnea’s enforced seclusion in the lonely dwelling on Torry, 
 that he resolved to win her in marriage, and for this purpose 
 called in the aid of his friendly sprite, “ Biroge of the 
 mountain.” She dressed him in robes of a young girl, and 
 wafting him across the sound to the tower of Ethnea, where 
 by representing her ward as a noble lady, just rescued from 
 a tyrant in an attempt to carry her off, she succeeded in 
 introducing MacKineely to Ethnea, who soon accepted him 
 as her husband. The result was that in due time Ethnea 
 gave birth to three sons, whom Balor secured at once, and 
 rolling them up in a sheet, fastened with a delg or pin, sent 
 them out in a boat to be consigned to the deep. The delg 
 or pin gave way as the boat crossed the harbour, when 
 one of the children fell into the water and disappeared ; the 
 other two were drowned at a spot which is, from this 
 circumstance, called Port-a-delg. The child that had fallen 
 out and disappeared was invisibly carried away by the 
 Banshee, “ Biroge of the mountain,” to his father on the 
 mainland. Balor, hearing how MacKineely had deceived 
 and injured him, crossed the sound with a band of his fierce 
 associates, and landing at a place called Ballyconnell, 
 succeeded in making him prisoner, and laying his head on a 
 large white stone, cut it clean off with one blow of his pon- 
 derous sword. The stone, with its red veins, still tells of 
 this deed of blood, and gives its name to the present 
 Cloghaneely. It may be seen in the grounds of the late 
 Wybrants Olpherts, Esq., who carefully placed it on a pillar 
 six feet high. Mr. Olpherts was the owner, and Ballyconnel 
 is the centre of the property where a few years ago the 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 177 
 
 soldiers of the Plan of Campaign met the Queen’s troops* 
 and the notorious battering-ram was brought into action by 
 the Royal army. Should the visitor not be familiar with the 
 incidents of this, one of the most memorable episodes of 
 the recent land-war in Ireland, he would do well to spend 
 a day at Falcarragh in going over those parts of the 
 field where the fight was hottest, and ascertaining its 
 eventful history on the spot frorman eye-witness. , 
 
 The heir of MacKineely had in the meantime grown up to 
 be a powerfully-built man. Fully aware of the circumstances 
 of his own birth and escape, as well as his father’s cruel 
 death, he meditated revenge. This he soon >was able to 
 accomplish, for Balor one day came to a forge on the main- 
 land, where the young MacKineely was also on business, 
 and happened in the course of conversation to allude with 
 pride to his victory over; MacKineely, never suspecting 
 that he was speaking to the son of his victim. The young 
 chief, fired with rage, watched his opportunity, #nd taking 
 a glowing rod from the furnace, thrust it through the basilisk 
 eye of Balor, thus amply avenging his father’s death, and 
 fulfilling the prediction of the Druid. ; 
 
 St, Columba’s Colony in Tosry.— About the middle 
 of the sixth century a voice from heaven came to St. Columba 
 in one of the seclusions of his native mountains, commanding 
 him to proceed to Torry and bless it by his presence, as he 
 did the Sean-glean. He lost no time in ^departing with a 
 few of his monastic brethren.. Having arrived safely on 
 the shore in sight of the island, the Saint, out of the 
 abundance of his great humility, began to insist that there 
 was among his companions some one far more fitted than 
 himself for the holy work on which they had come. A pious 
 
* 7 $ 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 controversy arose between them, and it was settled by each 
 casting his pilgrim’s staff out upon the heaving waters in 
 the direction of Torry, when that of St. Columba not only 
 distanced the ^others by miles, but actually reached its 
 destination. The Saint, therefore, consented to take charge 
 of the mission, and entering Torry, with the king’s favour 
 he> consecrated the island to the praises^of God, by establish- 
 ing his monks there. They continued to flourish through 
 a long lapse of ages down till Queen Elizabeth’s Governor 
 of Connaught, the notorious Bingham, made , a descent on 
 the place, and destroyed every thing he could not carry 
 away. A round tower called the Clog-teach (Bell House) 
 is still standing,, and the foundations of seven little churches 
 or dells can be identified. 
 
 The Nun’s Crave in Terry.— In a retired corner there 
 is a little mound, known as the “Nun’s Grave,” and the his- 
 tory of it; as told among the islanders, is a beautiful example 
 of their simple faith. Long ago while Torry had been visited 
 by a terrible storm, the remains of a nun were washed up by 
 the wild waves and on taa soft bed, adjoining one of the sunny 
 spots of the island. “ Rocked in the cradle of the deep,” the 
 deceased seemed more like one sleeping than dead, so peace- 
 ful, so calm was the appearance she presented. The body must 
 have been badly beaten against the pointed rocks that guard 
 the coast there, and ~yet no wound could be seen, no ugly 
 gash, not even a scratch. ‘The hands remained clasped as 
 in prayer, but in no way wrenched by the seething element 
 which rends the thickest iron or steel plates as if they were 
 frail timbers. The face was very pale, but very sweet, and 
 the rays of light that darted from it at intervals marked every 
 feature with painful distinctness, while the aroma of her 
 
TQRRY ISLAND. 
 
Bit i iBftABY 
 ‘ Of THE 
 
 wmnm m ilukoij 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 179 
 
 virginity spread itself upon the air. As soon as the discovery, 
 with its startling circumstances, became known, all the natives 
 flocked to see it. The religious habit, with its leathern 
 girdle and beads, was new to the spectators, yet they felt it 
 to be too sacred for them to touch, and they stood at a 
 respectful distance gazing with reverential awe on the strange 
 object. How to dispose of it properly threw them into a 
 state of suspense and anxiety, when they fell upon their 
 knees and prayed earnestly for light what to do. In response 
 they thought they heard a voice telling them the body was 
 that of a holy nun, to bury it under the green sod where it 
 was laid, and in the dress with which it was clothed. All 
 this they did as lovingly as they could, and from that time 
 the “Nun’s Grave” is usually graced with the presence of 
 some poor islander, prostrated before it in humble petition 
 to God through the favour of her, whose bones are interred 
 therein. The efficacy of this intercession is fully attested by 
 the fact that not a boat is ever known to put out to fish 
 without having a handful of the earth from the Nun’s Grave 
 carefully deposited in the stern. Indeed the drain on the 
 clay has been so exhaustive that no one can now take more 
 than a pinch of it at a time, and no wonder, for many a father 
 of a family, many a poor widow’s son it has rescued from 
 drowning. The instances related of this and similar favours 
 are so numerous that there is hardly a household in the island 
 without one : — 
 
 “Ye crags of the ocean, ye caves in whose gloom 
 The saint found a home, and the martyr a tomb.’* 
 
 Muckish. — Beyond Falcarragh a road branches off 
 to the right, running up to the Gap, which is the easiest 
 approach to Muckish (Pig’s Back), a mountain that 
 
i8q 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 will repay the tourist for the trouble of an excur- 
 sion, though the ascent is fatiguing. “ The geolo- 
 gical structure consists of a very thin slaty mica and 
 granular quartz, and silver mica. At the height of 500 
 feet is an i extensive bed of white quartz sand, in very 
 minute grains, which has been exported to the glass-works 
 of Dumbarton, being?; considered an excellent material’’ 
 (Giescktij. The summit, which looks a sharp linear ridge 
 from the distance, is a flat stretch, well covered with moss and 
 peculiar grasses, amongst which the pretty saxifrage (London 
 Pride) abounds. . The view of earth and ocean is wondrous 
 fine, but as it ds nearly the same as that seen from Errigal’s 
 lofty tower, it is only necessary here tomote, in addition to 
 the outline presented from that pinnacle, that the shores of 
 Sheephaven are now at your feet. 
 
 Returning from Muckish, you follow the highway of 
 Falcarragh, across the Ray river, to the old 
 st. Coiumba’s churchyard, where there is a . huge cross, 
 made by St. Columba, from one stone 
 block, which, tradition says, he hewed out of the side of 
 Muckish, at Ballycross, and that, owing to his prayer, angels 
 carried 'it from that place to the Myrath cemetery. It is 
 lying on the ground at the west end, with its head to the 
 north, and, though broken in two places, it is one of the 
 largest*, if not the very largest, of the ancient Irish crosses. 
 Its arms at the junction are bound together by a: circular 
 rib, the width across the arm being 7 feet 6dnehes, and the 
 whole length 20 Teet f inches, the shaft averaging 2 feet 
 wide by about 2 inches thick. The stones in which it was 
 originally fixed are still preserved, and from some fragments 
 that have been discovered it would appear the lower pait of 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. , 1 8 1 
 
 the shaft was held between two circular stones. A wedge or 
 pin was then driven through a hole in the shaft itself, cor- 
 responding with holes in the two circular plinths, which, 
 being built round, would effectually prevent the removal of 
 the cross. Four miles further on the road cuts off a pro 
 montory, named Horn Head, because it ends in a gigantic 
 wall of rock, projecting somewhat after the manner of two 
 great horns, and then enters 
 
 Dunfanag'hy (Hotel : — Stewart Arms ; pop. about 600). 
 “ The view from Horn Head is one per se, and should not 
 be omitted by the northern traveller in 
 ^ornHcad 0 Ireland” (Murray). Setting out from Dun- 
 fanaghy, you cross, after half a mile, a mas- 
 sive bridge that spans a, narrow channel, through which the 
 tide rushes, thus 
 insulating the 
 Head. 
 
 After the sub- 
 mission of O’Neih 
 and O’Donnell in 
 1 6 o 2 , a large por ti on 
 of their property was 
 transferred to Eng- 
 lish adventurers, 
 who, at their own 
 expense, raised 
 troops, and fought 
 for Queen Elizabeth 
 against the North- 
 ern chieftains. Prominent among these was one Sampson, to 
 whom the Crown assigned an extensive territory, lying on the 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 182 
 
 sea between Doe Castle and Falcarragh, where, at Bally- 
 connell, another of these fortunate English undertakers (Mr. 
 Olpherts), established himself on a grant, extending far and 
 wide towards Gweedore. In 1 700 a Captain Charles Stewart, 
 of old Scottish blood, having the motto, “ Avant Dandey,” 
 engraved upon his seal, happened to come into these parts. 
 He was so taken with the peninsula of Horn Head that he 
 purchased it on the spot from Mr. Sampson, though his 
 own gallant services at the battle of the Boyne had been 
 acknowledged < with rich possessions in the King’s County. 
 He built the present Horn Head House, where the family 
 live on, in the full enjoyment of their ancient lineage, and 
 from it a good road runs for some miles to within easy 
 distance of . the “ Horn.” The visitor should keep close 
 to the precipices towards the north-east, where there is a 
 castellated structure, and near to it is Horn Head proper, 
 protruding from a line of cliffs rising 800 feet, sheer from 
 the water. The Rev. Caesar Otway has left a lively sketch 
 of the scene “ Did Shakespeare see these enormous battle- 
 ments ; of Ireland? Dover Cliff, of which he gives such a 
 sublime description, is, perhaps, magnified in the imagery of 
 the poet; but /certainly I conceive Horn Head comes up to 
 his representation. One would think the Muse had caught 
 up from Stratford-upon-Avon the poet of nature, and droppped 
 him on this mighty promontory, until he had formed in his 
 mind’s eye the whole magnificent scene. 
 
 * How fearful 
 
 Aftd dizzy ’tis to cast one’s eye so low ! 
 
 The crows and choughs that wing the midway air, 
 
 Show scarce so gross as beetles : halfway down 
 TTangs one that gathers samphire ; dreadful trade ! 
 
 Methinkk he seems no bigger than his head ; 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 183 
 
 The fishermen that walk upon the beach 
 Appear like mice ; and yon tall anchoring bark 
 Diminished to her cock ; her cock a buoy 
 Almost too small for sight. The murmuring surge 
 That on unnumbered idle pebbles chafes, 
 
 Cannot be heard so high^-I’ll look no more. ’ . 
 
 Nothing, indeed, could be more astonishing* than the 
 whole scene; there was a mist hanging* over the Atlantic, 
 that gave a mysteriousness to its magnificence, like the way 
 into the eternal world-shadows, cl-ouds, and darkness rested 
 upon it; there was no wind, it was a perfect calm, and yet 
 the roll of the waves, and the roar of the tides, as they rushed 
 and rolled amidst the caverned cliffs, communicated an awful 
 grandeur to the whole scene. . It was the moan of suffering 
 endurance under the ceaseless exertion of the Atlantic. . 
 Now, in the midst of July, if it was a scene pregnant , with? 
 grandeur, it was alsb one teeming with life. ,f 
 
 The view northward is : one- of boundless ocean ; to the 
 north-west lies Torry, to the south-west the group Inishbeg,® 
 Inishdooey, and Inishboffin. Then on* the north-east the 
 headlands of Northern Donegal, namely, Melmore, Rinmore^ 
 Fanad, Dunaff, and Malin, , retire in rugged perspective^ 
 while away in the distance * is .seen the little island of 
 Inishtrahull. The geologist will have much to occupy 
 him in examining these cliffy while “the student of natural 
 history will find plenty of ornithological interest in the. 
 various sea-birds, amongst which are the shelldrake (Tudorna 
 Vulpauser), the guillamot (Uriatroide), ' the sea-parrot? the 
 cormorant, the shag (Phalacrocorox), the gannot, the stormy 
 petrel, the speckled diver (Colymbus glacialis), and many 
 others (. Murray ). The “ Horn ” is also a favourite 
 
 hunting-ground for the eagles, and in an account of a visit to 
 
184 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 the place in 1853, the fact is well told : — u We had,” says the 
 writer, “ some wet walking, and a good deal of jumping and 
 climbing. Once on topping a little sand-hill, we saw in the 
 hollow a large eagle tearing a rabbit. She was not four 
 yards below us, and her eaglets were with her, to teach them 
 probably, a lesson of gastronomy. Our party, shouting, 
 ran down towards her, when deserting her prey, she strove 
 to run, sweeping the sand with her strong, long wings, and 
 half-running, half-flying, till having obtained sufficient air 
 beneath her pinnions, she rose to a great height. At times 
 lying still as the air, and uttering a wild cry, like barking, the 
 young ones came circling round her, and presently we saw 
 the male bird sailing majestically from the cliff to join her. 
 It was really a magnificent sight, these two noble birds, in all 
 the pride of their strength, and native wildness, hovering 
 over us, which they continued during the whole time we 
 remained on the Head. The incomparable splendour and 
 majesty of the proud eye ; the broad, brown, strong shoulder, 
 the fierce crook of the rigid, yellow beak ; the wild bark or 
 cry ; the huge flap of the powerful wing ; the round legs, 
 feathered thickly to the very toes ; and the claws crooked 
 and cruel — these were all plainly recognised by us when we 
 first observed the female on the ground, and now as they 
 both crossed, and re-crossed over our heads, watching us as 
 if we had come like a storming-party to seek and destroy 
 their eyrie.” 
 
 An excursion in a boat round the Head is very exciting 
 when the weather is fine, and, indeed, the tourist need not 
 be reminded of the influence of weather upon scenery of 
 every kind. Horn Head under all conditions of atmosphere, 
 offers effects of the most striking character. It is, however, 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 *35 
 
 most glorious when lighted up by the beams of the early 
 morning ; but no matter at what hour of the day, at what 
 season it is seen, whether under the golden sun, or the silvery 
 moon, in cloud or flood of light, in calm or rough weather, 
 the visitor will come away from Horn Head deeply 
 impressed. 
 
 MacSwine’s Cun. — The guide now turns towards the west 
 to a point from which, looking back you see Templebreaga, 
 a natural arch of great beauty. After a rest here to con- 
 template the wonders, scattered around in such profusion, 
 you are conducted, in a short .walk, to the roof of a monster 
 sea-cave, in which there is a remarkable orifice, open to the 
 surface above. In times of storm, the waves dashing into the 
 cave leap upwards with great force, causing an explosion 
 like the cannon’s roar, with which the air is made to tremble 
 ominously, and is often heard at a great distance. For this 
 reason it has been called a gun, and MacSwine’s Gun, in 
 honour of the former chief of this locality. To the south of 
 this striking natural phenomenon there is a most inviting 
 promenade of sandy beach, by which you may return to 
 Dunfanaghy, a distance of about two miles. 
 
DUNFANAGHY TO LETTERKENNY (21J miles). 
 
 HE route now takes a south-easterly 
 direction. On the right is the 
 dark mass of Muckish, on the left 
 Sheephaven, of which attractive 
 views are obtained from various 
 turns in the road. At first, skirting 
 shore, the way passes Seissagh 
 Lough, a mile from Dunfanaghy, and traversing hilly ground, 
 touches the Catholic church of Clondahorky. 
 
 Ards — Two miles further on, a road to the left leads to 
 Ards, “ which, with its , extensive woods and adjacent farm, 
 is one of the most desirable places in the North of Ireland. 
 The views, however, are not so diversified or pleasant as they 
 are from Rosapenna” {Murray). 
 
 Another of the English soldiers of fortune, who faithfully 
 served Queen Elizabeth in her wars with Red Hugh, the 
 bravest of Tyrconnell’s chieftains, and in return received 
 a slice of the O’Donnell forfeiture in 1603, was John Wray. 
 He got 1,000 acres at Carnegilla, near Letterkenny, 
 to which was soon added Castle Wray, a green slope 
 on the Swilly, now held by the descendant of a Captain 
 Mansfield, who secured 1,000 acres at Killygordon from 
 James I. in his plantation of 1610. John Wray, lord of 
 Carnegilla and Castle Wray, married the daughter of 
 Mr. Sampson, his more fortunate countryman of the 
 Dunfanaghy settlement. With her came possession of Ards, 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 I8 7 
 
 where, in the centre of one of the most smiling scenes in 
 nature, he had a noble residence erected on a sunny bank of 
 Sheephaven Bay. Here in this delightful spot, sheltered from 
 the north and north-east, tender flowers bloomed in the 
 open air, and expanded, in an infinite variety of colour, down 
 to the very margin of the salt sea. Amidst these tropical 
 surroundings, with woods and pleasure-grounds, extending 
 far away over the 
 winding landscape* 
 
 John Wray passed a 
 long and happy life. 
 
 His eldest son, Henry, 
 with his wife, the sister 
 of Lord Arran, re- 
 moved to Oak Park, 
 near Letterkenny, 
 where his branch of , 
 the family is still re- 
 presented. Thesecond 
 son, Humphrey, was 
 the father of the famous Master of Ards (old William 
 Wray), who, for many a year, presided over that enchant- 
 ing principality, in feudal state, wielding a sceptre more 
 powerful than that of many a crowned head in Europe 
 at the time. He married the sister of Sir Henry 
 Hamilton, and was connected by degrees of relationship 
 with nearly all the “planted” families in Donegal, and 
 neighbouring counties. To these he dispensed hospitality 
 with true regal splendour, so that covers for twenty 
 guests were always laid in the dining room, and twenty 
 stalls always reserved in the stables for their horses. Lough 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 1 88* 
 
 Salt mountain blocked the way to these festive meet- 
 ings, but, nothing daunted, William Wray had a road 
 made over it, and bullocks, posted at convenient points to 
 help the horses in dragging the equipages of his visitors up 
 and down the great barrier. The host from his lawn, 
 fourteen miles distant, watched, through a powerful 
 telescope, the procession, descending the mountain on the 
 Ards side, and seeing it safely landed below, he ordered his 
 little army of servants to prepare the dinner. Thus, to 
 borrow a phrase from Chaucer, the home of the Master of 
 Ards “ snowed of mete and drink, and the enormous 
 expenditure began to be felt. But the proud, energetic, 
 eccentric, and stately old William Wray, would not be re- 
 strained, for he was as tenacious of < his profusion as 
 he proved himself jealous of what he deemed his manorial 
 rights. One day walking on the white strand near Ards, he 
 encountered a girl, gathering oysters, who told him she came 
 there by permission of * her landlord, Mr. Stewart, of Horn 
 Head. Regarding this as a flight upon his authority, he 
 commanded her to leave at once, and tell Mr. Stewart that 
 the right of coming there for such a purpose belonged to the 
 Master of Ards, and to him alone. The defiant message 
 was too much for a Stewart, who had the blood of Darnley 
 in his veins, and he resented it by sending his son next day 
 with twelve powerful men — all armed to the teeth — to 
 gather oysters at the same place. The answer to this was 
 the following challenge from Wray : — 
 
 “ I must have speedy satisfaction, though I am sorry to do so with 
 a man of your years, but my honour is at stake. Be master of your 
 own weapons ; fix the time and place ; you must come alone, as I will, 
 for the sooner this affair is ended, the sooner will revenge cease. 
 
 “ William Wray.” 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 1 89 
 
 The stern Williamite officer, though over 70 years, and 
 weakened with gout, wrote immediately as follows : — 
 
 “ November gth, 1793. 
 
 "Sir, — Y ou say that you have received a deal of ill-usage from me. 
 I am quite a stranger to that, but not so to the base usage that you 
 have given me, and all the satisfaction you intend from me is banter by 
 your sham challenge. If you be as much in earnest as your letter says, 
 assure yourself that if I had but one day to live, I would meet you on 
 the top of Muckish rather than lose by you what I have carried all my 
 life. “ Yours, 
 
 ‘‘‘Charles Stewart.’* 
 
 It is hardly necessary to add that the< duel never came off. 
 Mutual friends interfered, and the affair was amicably 
 arranged. The financial ruin, however, so long threatening 
 William Wray, came at last, and Mrs. Wray died under the 
 shock. The old man, broken with grief, retired to France, 
 where his son was leading an extravagant and dissipated 
 life. In a few years he, who was so long the proud Master 
 of Ards, died in a foreign land, poor, unfriended and 
 forgotten. His beautiful home with its broad acres, was 
 sold to Mr. Alexander Stewart, brother of the Marquis of 
 Londonderry, from whom it has descended to his grandson, 
 the present owner, known commonly as Stewart of Ards, 
 and nearly related to < the notorious Lord Castlereagh of 
 unhappy memory. 
 
 A mile or more brings you to Creeslough, a village 
 perched upon an upland between Muckish and the sea, with 
 a stronghold a short way off, commanding the most southern 
 inlet of Sheephaven. This is 
 
 Doe Castle or Castle Doe, the residence for centuries 
 of the MacSwine, who like the O’ Doherty and heads of the 
 other ruling septs of Tyrconnell, held their possessions in fief 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 190 
 
 from the chieftain (O’Donnell), and by him were installed in 
 their respective sway. MacSwine’s patrimony was made up 
 largely of extensive districts or dTuatha in the native 
 tongue, which literally meant the people, and from them it 
 came to be applied to the place where they lived. Hence 
 MacSwine na dTuatha, but as Doe is the euphonious form 
 of dTuatha, MacSwine was mentioned as MacSwine na 
 Doe, more commonly than MacSwine na dTuatha, and his 
 family seat, as well as the adjoining parish, were, and still 
 are designated by the same name, so that we have now 
 Doe Castle, and the parish of Doe. The MacSwine na 
 Doe had the honour of being foster-father to Red Hugh 
 O’Donnell, who was actually staying at Doe Castle in 1588, 
 the year of his memorable kidnapping by Sir John Perrott, 
 at Rathmullen. 
 
 The Lords of Doe in theiir line of succession, from a remote 
 age down to the confiscation of Ulster in 1609, present 
 specimens of the fierce, lawless hunter, with “ his foot 
 upon his native heath, as well as of the most refined and 
 fascinating of Irish gentlemen. Such was Sir Hugh MacSwine 
 na Doe, surnamed the Red (Ruadb), tall and handsome in 
 person, engaging in manner, and brilliant in wit, one of the 
 most perfect of the many favourites, who graced the Court of 
 Queen Elizabeth. But in striking contrast with him was Miles 
 Maolmurrogh, or MacSwine, of the Club, rugged and terrible 
 like the wildest of his mountains. In the great ancestral 
 hall he sat passing judgment on his offending vassals, and any, 
 found guilty, if they belonged to the better class, the barbar- 
 ous MacSwine clubbed them on the spot with his own hand, 
 while others, of inferior social position, were delivered over 
 to a fighting, savage family of retainers, Furey by name, 
 
DOE CASTLE, CO DONEGAL 
 
m 
 
 tf ItUMB 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 1 9 1 
 
 who strung up their victims from the parapets of the 
 castle. 
 
 In 1603 Doe Castle and its lands, were made over by the 
 Crown to a Mr. Harte, one of the English adventurers of 
 Queen Elizabeth's army in Ulster. As a place of defence 
 the building was considered impregnable. It was under 
 its protection the experienced, but unprincipled, Nial Garv 
 O'Donnell, advised Sir Cahir O'Doherty to entrench himself 
 as soon as his stratagem of capturing the garrison at Culmore, 
 and setting fire to the city of Derry, succeeded. Accord- 
 ingly Inishowen's young chief, after avenging himself of 
 the English insult in the blood of Sir George Paulet, 
 led his followers behind the MacSwine fortification at 
 Sheephaven, and here, too, General Wingfield, with 3,000 
 chosen English troops, in pursuit of the outlawed O’ Doherty 
 expected to come up with him. When Sir Cahir’s rebellion 
 ended in his tragic death, Doe Castle reverted to 
 Captain Harte, Governor of Culmore, v who had refused un- 
 flinchingly to »• surrender his trust to Sir Cahir, even under 
 the threat of instant death. Since then Doe Castle is 
 in the possession of the Harte family. Many years ago it 
 was occupied by General Harte of the Indian Service, who 
 took part in- the memorable capture of Seringapatam, and 
 brought home with him not only the reputation of untold 
 wealth, but a Hindoo soldier, who went about in Asiatic 
 costume, and armed to the teeth, slept every night on a rug 
 outside his master’s bedroom. On the General's death, his 
 son, Captain Harte, lived in Doe Castle until he was killed 
 there by falling down the great stone steps leading to the 
 banquet hall. The place passed then to Lieutenant Harte, 
 who rented it to a Mr. Maddison, and from his time it has 
 
192 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 been let to a tenant. The fortress of other days is in our 
 own a pleasant mansion. The circular architecture of the 
 keep or prison has preserved its external identity, but within 
 the grim visage of the gaoler has given place to the radiant 
 face of the dairymaid. Instead of a fosse, guarded by frown- 
 ing bastions, the visitor will find a few small pieces of 
 ordnance reposing peacefully on a smiling lawn. 
 
 Owen Roe O’Neil lands at Doe Castle from Belgium 
 in 1642, and takes command of the Catholic Con- 
 federate Army in Ireland.— It was in the neighbourhood 
 of Doe Castle that the famous Owen Roe O’Neil landed 
 from Belgium in 1642. Nearly twenty years before 
 this date the Irish Catholics paid King Charles I. the 
 sum of ^120,000 to release them from the pressure of 
 those sanguinary measures, introduced by Queen Elizabeth 
 to extinguish their religion, and which she was bluntly 
 assured would leave her in Ireland “ nothing to reign 
 over but ashes and carcases.” The persecution continued 
 relentlessly, nevertheless, under James I., “ the wisest fool 
 in Europe,” who, when waited upon by a deputation of com- 
 plaining Irishmen, coolly told them, there was nothing to 
 find fault with in his Government, “ unless they would have 
 the Kingdom of Ireland like the Kingdom of Heaven 1” 
 But Charles I. in return for the ;£i 20,000, undertook to give 
 his Irish Catholic subjects free altars and free homes. 
 Primate Usher, however, head of the Protestant Church in 
 Ireland, publicly declared that “it would be a grievous sin 
 to permit Catholics the free exercise of their religion,” and 
 the King became false to his promise. His generous subjects 
 were sacrificed to this spirit of religious intolerance, and the 
 unscrupulous Irish Viceroy, Earl Strafford, tried to screw 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 193 
 
 their Catholic conscience into the crime of apostacy by 
 bribing a batch of venal inquisitors to invalidate the titles 
 of the best Irish Catholic families to their estates, on the 
 principle that Ireland was a conquered country, and its 
 inhabitants held their lands by the good will of the State. 
 
 The dread of Primate Usher’s fanaticism was not the 
 only influence that drove the ill-fated monarch to break 
 faith with the Irish Catholics. Any concession, whatever, 
 to Popery on his part would, he feared, exasperate more and 
 more the Puritans of England and Scotland, who were then 
 making him tremble for his crown, and indeed for his 
 head to wear it. In the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary, 
 many sturdy followers of the Reformation in England, 
 like John Knox and his adherents in Scotland, withdrew to the 
 Calvanistic atmosphere of Geneva, where, having “ purged ” 
 their Protestantism of “ Popish abominations,” they returned 
 after the Queen’s death, determined to exterminate from 
 their midst, Popery and Papists. They were nicknamed 
 Puritans in England, because they advocated greater purity 
 of doctrine as well as of discipline, and Presbyterians 
 in Scotland, because they rejected Bishops, and put Presby- 
 ters or Elders into their place. It was chiefly from these 
 Scotch Presbyterians James I. took “ the planters,” whom 
 he fixed throughout the six Ulster counties, in 1609. 
 
 In 1641 these Puritans carried through both Houses of 
 Parliament a resolution never to consent to the toleration 
 of Catholic worship in Ireland. News had also arrived that 
 an army was being equipped in Scotland for service in 
 Ireland to clear out all the Catholics there, root and branch, 
 and in the March of that year, the first section, 10,000 
 strong, of this Scotch invasion, disembarked at Carrickfergus, 
 
194 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 under General Monroe, where he was joined by the 
 Protestants of Down and Antrim. The Irish Catholics 
 thus menaced with annihilation, and having expended their 
 money, time, and respectful remonstrance for nearly half a 
 century in vain to obtain relief, resolved at last to appeal 
 to physical force. They believed that Catholic subjects, 
 if able and willing, can lawfully take up arms against 
 any form of constituted government that tries to compel 
 them at the point of the* sword to renounce the truth, 
 and embrace a religion which has been declared infal- 
 libly by their Church to be heretical. Accordingly the 
 Catholic Bishops of Ulster on the 22nd March, 1641, in a 
 meeting at ’ Kells, pronounced ! the war undertaken by the 
 Catholics of Ireland to be lawful and pious, but denounced 
 murder as well as usurpation. Immediately the Irish Catholic 
 population began to enrol themselves in a Confederation, 
 directed by representatives of the old Irish Chiefs, such as 
 O’Moore, Maguire, MacMahon, Sir Phelim O’Neil, Lord 
 of Kinnare, and others who had been robbed of their 
 inheritance. Communication was opened with the exiled 
 Catholic gentlemen, serving in the armies of Spain, Italy, 
 France, Austria, Poland, and they entered warmly into the 
 project by sending money as well as arms, with the assurance 
 of their own presence at the right time and place. Soon, 
 however, the Catholic cause began to suffer for want of a 
 proper heady when a deputation from .the Catholics of the 
 North waited upon Owen Roe O’Neil, at his residence in 
 Brussels, to offer him the command of the Irish Confederate 
 army. He was at the time Ireland’s best general on the 
 Continent. His father, Art Oge, was nephew of the 
 great O’Neil, and accompanied him into exile on the 
 
OWEN ROE O’NEILL 
 (From an original Portrait in Flanders). 
 
 Page 192 
 

 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 195 
 
 occasion of “the Flight of the Earls” in 1607. Young 
 Owen (Ruadh Red) being now without father or pro- 
 perty in Ireland, went to Spain, where after graduating 
 in the University of Salamanca, obtained a commission in the 
 foot-guards of His Majesty, Philip III. In 1625 he changed 
 into the Spanish force in the Netherlands where he rose 
 rapidly, and defended the frontier town of Arras against an 
 overwhelming assault of the French. It was in 1608 the 
 hunted Earl of Tyrconnell died in Rome, and immediately 
 after his brother Caffar, followed him to the grave, leaving 
 a young widow, . the beautiful and accomplished Lady 
 Rose O’Doherty, sister of the ill-starred but gallant 
 Sir Cahir. She soon quitted the scene of her great 
 sorrow, and taking her infant son as well as little Hugh 
 Alfred, the only child of the deceased Earl of Tyrconnell, 
 came to the Archducal Court at Brussels, where Owen Roe 
 O’Neil learned to admire and marry her. He now in 1642 
 gladly responded to the call of his native land, and became 
 the proud recipient of warm congratulations . from Pope 
 Urban VIII., who accompanied his message by a very 
 substantial sum of money to meet the expenses of this 
 expedition to poor Ireland. Then it was that more than a 
 hundred Irish officers, serving abroad, flocked to the side of 
 the Confederate general. A frigate, well stored with war 
 material was secured, and Owen Roe O’Neil, accompanied 
 by three of his sons, together with this numerous company 
 of Irish-Continental officers, stole out from a retired nook 
 near Dunkirk, in the small hours of the morning of the 18th 
 of June, 1642. After an exciting chase, and many a narrow 
 escape from the English cruisers in pursuit, the foreign 
 vessel, on one of the last days of July, turned a corner on the 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 I9U 
 
 wild, north-west coast of Donegal, and running up the 
 inlet of Sheephaven Bay, the captain found there a safe 
 and secluded spot for disembarking. 
 
 Owen Roe immediately reported himself, and there was 
 joy in the camp of the Ulster Confederates, for Monroe had 
 been sweeping all before him so completely that the 
 Catholic leaders were thrown into a state of despondency, 
 and preparing to depart. The serious character of the 
 situation is well given in Colonel O’Neill’s “Journal of 
 the memorable transactions of Owen Roe,” at the time: — 
 
 “ Monroe marched to 
 Newry which surren- 
 dered to his summons, 
 and he acted without 
 mercy, so that a great 
 many of the clergy 
 and laity were hanged, 
 killed, and drowned 
 about the bridge of 
 the town. He was 
 prepared to overrun 
 the whole of Ulster, 
 so that all were on 
 the point of flying the country when the news from Owen 
 Roe came, that he arrived at Castledoe, where Sir Phelim 
 O’Neil and the other Ulster chiefs went to meet him, and 
 1,500 choice soldiers who accompanied him through the 
 most secure ways, which was accordingly done by Bally- 
 shannon side, they came to Charlemont, where Monroe had 
 just left to join General Leslie in Antrim, who had arrived 
 from Scotland.” 
 
*97 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 The Cattle of Benburb. — It was not until 1646 that 
 Owen Roe O’Neil found himself ready to strike a decisive 
 blow, and on the ist or 2nd of June, 1646, he was marching 
 at the head of hardly 6,000 all told, a force small in number 
 but large in daring, and on the 4th of the same month a 
 halt was ordered, when this brave little army filed past their 
 valiant General. He encamped near Benburb, a steep cliff 
 over the Blackwater, on the borders of Tyrone and Armagh. 
 It was the day before the battle, and the soldiers were made 
 
 happy by the loving assurances and sweet consolations of 
 their religion. O’Neil did not delay long in giving 
 signal proof of his consummate skill. He posted his 
 men under the shade of two moderately-sized hills and 
 a wood behind, thus compelling the enemy to plant their 
 lines right opposite a dazzling summer sun that blazed 
 into their faces. Moreover, O’Neil knowing that Monroe 
 had ordered up his brother, Colonel Monroe, with cavalry 
 
igS 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 from Coleraine, took advantage of the sun’s glare, which he 
 had cleverly turned upon the enemy’s vision, to intercep 
 the expected assistance. At the right time he had a strong 
 detachment on a well-chosen point of the road to confront 
 the reinforcement from Coleraine and drive them back. It 
 happened accordingly, and the victors were returning to join 
 their comrades in the great battle, when the Scotch General, 
 seeing them in clouds of dust, at a great distance, with the 
 sun in his eyes, easily took them for his brother’s squad- 
 rons. But as soon as the Confederate uniform became 
 painfully distinct, Monroe sent round word to his principal 
 officers to retire in good order. Owen Roe saw at a glance 
 that his tactics had succeeded, and riding down the front 
 he addressed his troops, panting for the fray, in a few 
 rousing sentences on the subject of their bleeding 
 country. Then wheeling round he shouted the charge, 
 which was made so effectually that even Monroe, without 
 waiting to pick up his hat, cloak and sword, tore away on 
 his fleet horse, Ventre a terre, until he reached Lisburn, 
 Among the 4,000 killed on the Scotch side Lord Blaney 
 fell, and among the prisoners was Lord Montgomery, while 
 of the Irish only seventy were killed and 200 wounded. 
 Colonel MacTully O’Neill was in action that memorable day, 
 and in his interesting journal, he tells us, after giving a vivid 
 account of the battle, that : — “ If God had not put this timely 
 stop to Monroe’s career, his instructions and intentions were 
 to harass the whole country before him till he came to 
 Dunmore near Kilkenny, as was found by a memorial delivered 
 by my Lord Montgomery’s own hand when a prisoner.’- 
 The gallant Colonel also mentions how the fruits of the 
 victory, so gloriously won on this occasion, were sadly 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS* 
 
 199 
 
 blighted by a cursed division among the Irish Catholic leaders. 
 This overwhelming proof of military genius, on the part of 
 Ireland's only General, was not suffered to be brought into 
 play even for: a second time. The traditional split sank like 
 iron into the souls of the Confederate chiefs, and. grew into 
 such unfortunate proportions as to scatter the most expressive 
 and promising combination ever formed by Irish Catholics 
 for their religious freedom. The splendid powers of Owen 
 Roe were so obstructed at every turn, by the miserable 
 jealousy of the Anglo-Irish party, that he became completely 
 broken and . disgusted. In 1649, being on his way from 
 Derry to the head quarters of the Royal army, he was stricken 
 by a fatal illness, and had to be carried on a litter to his 
 brother-inf-law's castle, on an island in Lough Oghter, be- 
 tween Cavan and Killeshandra. Here his malady, which it 
 appears, was not from poison as is commonly stated, showed 
 such alarming symptoms that the doctors declared there was 
 no hope of saving his life. In four days the last dread 
 summons came, and a personal witness describes the 
 scene thus : — “ He died in our Lord on the 6th of 
 November, 1649, a true child of the Catholic religion, in full 
 sense and memory, many of both secular and regular clergy 
 assisting him in such a doubtful transit. Being most devout 
 to all religions, and ever during his life, especially to the 
 Order of St. Dominick, he wore his habit as a sure buckler 
 against the rigour of future judgment, and was interred in 
 the monastery of St. Francis, Cavan, to oblige both 
 Patriarchs." 
 
 “ Sagest in the Council was he, kindest in the hall ; 
 
 Sure we never won a battle— kwas Eoghan won them all, 
 
 Soft as woman’s was your voice, O’Neil ! bright was your eye. 
 
 Oh ! why did you leave us, Eoghan ? why did you die ? ” 
 
200 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 In eight months his son Henry, who had married the 
 daughter of Sir Luke Fitzgerald, was made prisoner by Sir 
 Charles Coote, on the field of Scariff Sollis, near Letter- 
 kenny, and sent before a Court Martial in Londonderry, 
 where he was executed. Owen Roe’s other two sons 
 escaped to the Continent, but when and where they died 
 has not been ascertained. His amiable wife, Lady Rose 
 survived him many years, and sleeps in the same grave with 
 the murdered youth, Bernard, a son of the first and great 
 Earl O’Neil, in the Franciscan Convent at Louvain. 
 
 Leaving Creeslough, the road traverses a tract of cold 
 country, affording a magnificent panorama of the Muc.kish 
 and Errigal group, the Dooish and Glandowan ranges, while 
 close on the left rises Lough Salt mountain (1,546 ft.). 
 About three miles from Creeslough, the Owencarrow is 
 crossed when the traveller enters Barness Gap, a long defile, 
 intersecting one of the outliers of Lough Salt Mountain. 
 The sides of this pass are rugged and precipitous, and near 
 the top almost grand. On emerging from it the road 
 strikes into an open territory, gradually assuming a more 
 cultivated character, as you advance, and affording views, 
 away to the right, which keep the attention constantly excited. 
 Passing Tarmon Catholic church, you drop into 
 
 Kilmacrenari, or Cill-Mac-Nenain, which is remarkable 
 for being the foster-place of St. Columba, who founded here 
 a favourite Abbey. It was largely endowed by Nenain, the 
 Saint’s brother-in-law, and lord of the territory, who lived in 
 the neighbourhood. Around this important Ecclesiastical 
 establishment grew up rapidly, as was usual in those days, a 
 considerable town after the name of its benefactor, Nenain. 
 Still later, another member of this princely family added a 
 
KILMACRENAN, CO DONEGAL 
 
 
ftf 
 
 vtfaaxt ftf ^ 5IS 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 201 
 
 splendid Franciscan Priory, but on its site stands the 
 Protestant parish church, and over its principal door, in the 
 wall, is inserted a fragment of sculpture, representing the 
 head of an Abbot or Bishop. Of St. Columba’s own 
 venerable Abbey nothing is left but a slender tower, pierced 
 with a few pointed windows, and round about some decayed 
 pieces of wall. The town itself, so patronized by Nenain, 
 is now a poor dilapidated village, contrasting miserably 
 with its pretty situation in a highland valley, through which 
 a fine rushing river bounds on in its course. 
 
 Inauguration of The O’Donnell.— Here, too, either in 
 the Abbey church, or at a short distance from Kilmacrenan, 
 on the Rock of Doon, the Coarb, that is, the Successor of 
 St. Columba, invested the O’Donnell on his accession to 
 the chieftaincy. Lynch, a well-informed author, has left us 
 the following description of what took place on the occasion. 
 He says : — u That when the investiture of the O’Donnell 
 took place at Cel-Mhac-Crenain, he was attended by 
 O’Ferghail, successor to Columbkille, and O’Gallachuis, his 
 Marshal, and surrounded by all the Estates of the country. 
 The Abbot, O’Ferghail, put a pure white, straight, unknotted 
 rod into his hand, and said, ‘ Receive, Sire, the auspicious 
 ensign of your dignity, and remember to imitate in your 
 government the whiteness, straightness, and unknottiness of 
 this rod, to the end that no evil tongue may find cause to 
 asperse the candour of your actions with blackness, nor any 
 kind of corruption, or tie of friendship, be able to prevent 
 your justice ; therefore, in a lucky hour, take the government 
 of this people, to exercise the power given you with freedom 
 and security.’ ” The proud recipient of this religious 
 ceremonial, while taking the oath to maintain the laws and 
 
202 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 privileges of his ancient realm, was made to stand in the 
 foot-prints of the first Chieftain. These were cut into the 
 inauguration stone, which, according to the Four Masters, 
 was kept in the Abbey. It has, however, long since disap- 
 peared, and as to its fate, there is a good deal of conjecture. 
 Dr. O’Donovan, in his unpublished notes at the Royal 
 Irish Academy, mentions the belief that the stone is in 
 possession of the family of an unknown thief, while others 
 say that a pervert, by name MacSweeney, in the first fervour 
 of his apostacy, not only battered the features of the venerable 
 Catholic head at present in sculpture over the door of 
 the Protestant church at Kilmacrenan, but broke up the inau- 
 guration-stone into the smallest pieces, and scattered them 
 broadcast to prevent them from being ever after recovered. 
 
 The Rock Of Doon. — This eminence, rising sharply 
 from the ground, constituted a splendid natural fortress in 
 days when artillery was unknown. The story-tellers make 
 Doon a headquarters for the fairies : — “ There is a sort of 
 cave in the eastern side of the rock forming a vestibule to 
 an immense cavern, which is said to be within ; this is the 
 favourite abode of the Good People, and their council- 
 chamber. A thousand times troops of tiny people are seen 
 entering the cave, and some gifted mortals have observed 
 the door open, and have got a glimpse of sumptuous apart- 
 ments and splendid banquettings ” — Otway's Sketches . 
 
 Doon Well . — Near the rock is a holy well, to which 
 pilgrims come in large numbers at all seasons of the year, 
 and from the remotest parts of the country. Proofs are 
 advanced, with all the confirmation of name and date, of 
 miraculous cures effected by it, and there is hardly a 
 Catholic family in the whole country that does not keep 
 
DOON WELL, CO. DONEGAL. 
 
rat i iBHAitY 
 
 OF THI 
 
 uiiwjssiy m Illinois 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 203 
 
 at home, under lock and key, a bottle of water from Doon 
 Well. It is attributed to the blessing of Lector O’Friel, 
 or O’Ferghail, a holy priest, whose name is in benediction 
 with the Catholics throughout. Should the tourist in 
 Donegal wish to see Doon Well he must come there not to 
 scoff but to pray, and if he have his New Testament by him 
 it is a happy thought. He can open it on the way, and 
 read the whole of chap. xix. of the Acts of the Apostles, in 
 order to take in thoroughly the vividness with which the 
 sacred writer describes how the faithful at Ephesus “ brought 
 aprons and handkerchiefs which had touched the body of 
 St. Paul and applied them to the sick, when the diseases 
 departed from them.” Presently the reader of this inspired 
 narrative, steps on to a dreary waste, sodden ed by the 
 abundant tears of a sky, that hardly ever ceases to weep, 
 and he is face to face with an almost faithful repetition of 
 the Scriptural scene, enacted nearly 2,000 years ago, in the 
 great emporium of Asia Minor. He sees here at Doon the 
 pious natives of these Donegal Highlands, carrying their 
 sick over long and wearisome journeys not on the soft 
 cushions of smooth-running conveyances, but on the bare 
 planks of jolting carts. He contemplates these afflicted 
 creatures, as one by one they are helped by the tender 
 hands of a sorrowing parent, perhaps a fond brother or 
 sister, to prostrate themselves before a rude cross at the 
 head of a small spring, which is guarded by a circle of loose 
 stones. He watches these pale, wasted-looking groups, in their 
 intervals of fervent petition, as they stoop to drink of the 
 blessed fountain with a loving confidence that God has cured 
 them : — 
 
 u A breathing of prayer in the desert is heard, 
 
 The Angel comes down and the waters are stirr’d.” 
 
204 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 The heart of the visitor cannot but be moved, and if still 
 incredulous, he ought to fix his eyes for a few moments more 
 on the kneeling forms of those, who have faith, and by it are 
 tc made whole.” Let him take a parting look at this holy 
 well, its little forest of crutches, its floating rags of various 
 colours — the memorials of what true faith has done, and 
 can do. 
 
 The Risisig of Sir Cahir O’ Doherty. —There is a 
 tradition that Sir Cahir O’Doherty met his death at the 
 Rock of Doon. Of the many rulers in Tyrconnell, who 
 acknowledged the O’Donnell’s supremacy, the head of 
 Sir Cahir’s ancient family, stood first. He was not only lord 
 of many a fair valley of Green Inishowen, but of the 
 bravest, and most devoted people in the North, while he 
 loyally responded to the call of his suzerain in the hour 
 of danger. During the late wars with Elizabeth Inishowen 
 was well represented by Sir John O’Doherty, proud of his 
 lineage, and dauntless in maintaining its traditional glories. 
 In the memorable battle of the Curliew mountains (1599) 
 Sir John gallantly led his terrible pikemen to victory, and in 
 1601 he fell mortally wounded while helping Red Hugh, to 
 reckon with Nial Garv, who had just gone over to the English. 
 Sir John O’Doherty left an only child, Sir Cahir, a boy of 
 14, living in fosterage at Royal Aileagh, with Sir Phelim 
 MacDevitt, the head of another powerful sept in Donegal. 
 Red Hugh, as Lord paramount, in order to place the 
 sovereignty of Inishowen in safe-keeping, appointed Sir 
 Phelim O’Doherty, brother of the late chief, to succeed. The 
 friends of the minor, especially his foster-father, MacDevitt, 
 regarding this as an injustice, induced the youth to tender 
 his submission to the English, which he did after a short 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 205 
 
 time, when the uncle had to retire, and the nephew was 
 invested by the Lord Deputy in all the rights and 
 belongings of Inishowen. After this Sir Cahir, still a 
 mere lad, became a great favourite in and about Derry. As 
 a dashing young officer in one of Dowcra’s regiments, he 
 was in much request, and while yet hardly 20, he married 
 the Hon. Mary Preston, daughter of Lord Gormanstown, 
 whom he took to Burt Castle, his principal seat on Lough 
 Swiily. Here they were living happily, and in befitting 
 splendour, when one day towards the end of April, i6o8 ? 
 Sir Cahir, calling on business, was struck in the face by Sir 
 George Paulet, Governor of Derry, during a conversation 
 touching the flight of the Earls. Maddened by the indignity, 
 the proud O’Doherty registered a vow to wipe it out in blood. 
 This was a rash and hopeless step to take, and his faithful 
 friend, Sir Phelim MacDevitt, knew it w&ll, still, seeing that 
 it was a foregone ‘conclusion, he determined to stand by Sir 
 Cahir. Accordingly word was sent round to Owen 
 O’Doherty of Inishowen, and other sympathisers to summon 
 the clansmen, and be ready, at Buncrana, on the 3rd of 
 May to march with the young chief and Sir Phelim 
 MacDevitt on Culmore. The arrangements were conducted 
 without a hitch, when in the dead of night on the 3rd of 
 May Culmore was seized, and the English garrison put 
 to the sword. Leaving MacDevitt in charge of the fort, 
 Sir Cahir hastened to Derry, slew Paulet with his own 
 hand, sacked the city, and thence to Lifford. In this awful 
 act of revenge there is much to appal, but nothing whatever 
 to justify the version of it given by Cox, and other unreliable 
 writers, to the effect that the taking of Culmore was an 
 act of cool and base treachery . The story is that “ Towards 
 
206 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 the close of April Sir Cahir invited Captain Harte, Governor 
 of Culmore, his wife and infant child (O’Doherty’s godson) 
 to Burt Castle. After dinner Sir Cahir led Harte into 
 an inner apartment and told him that the blow he received 
 from Paulet demanded a bloody revenge. Harte remon- 
 strated, but no sooner was his voice heard by O’Doherty’s 
 retainers, concealed in another room, than they rushed 
 in, and drawing their swords, commanded Harte to deliver 
 Culmore into their hands, if he did not wish his wife and 
 child slain before his eyes. Harte, however, was inflexible, 
 and Sir Cahir thinkingthat afewhours’ reflection might induce 
 him to surrender his trust, motioned his followers to retire, and 
 on their leaving the chamber, he locked the door of his 
 prisoner. At the expiration of two hours, he returned, and 
 saw that Harte was in nowise inclined to comply with his 
 demand. He then grew furious, so much so, that the loud, 
 angry tone in which he vented his rage, was distinctly heard 
 by the two ladies — his own and Harte’s wife. The latter 
 suspecting that some foul play was meant her husband, forced 
 her way into the room where she found him face to face with 
 O’Doherty, who was urging his demand with a naked sword, 
 pointed at the Captain’s throat. Seeing this she fell on the 
 floor, like one struck dead, till Lady O’ Doherty, who had 
 come to her assistance, raised her up, with the assurance that 
 she had no complicity in her husband’s rash design. Stung 
 by this avowal, Sir Cahir thrust his wife and Captain Harte 
 down the stairs, ordering his men, who were on the alert 
 below, to seize the latter. Lady Harte being kept back, now 
 fell on her knees before Sir Cahir to implore mercy for all she 
 held dearest ; but instead of being placated by her entreaties, 
 he solemnly swore that she, her husband, and infant, would 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 207 
 
 be sacrificed on the instant, if Culmore were not surrendered 
 to him that night. Horrified by this menace she consented 
 to accompany him and his men to the fort, where they 
 arrived about midnight. On giving the password the gate 
 was thrown open by the warder, whose suspicions were 
 lulled, when Lady Harte told him her husband had broken 
 his arm, and was then lying ill in Sir Cahir’s house. The 
 parley was short, and the followers of Sir Cahir rushing in, 
 fell on the sleeping garrison, slaughtered them in their beds, 
 and then made their way to an upper apartment where 
 Lady Harte’s brother, recently come from England, was fast 
 asleep. Fearing that he. too might share the same fate, Lady 
 Harte followed them, and adjured the young man to offer 
 no resistance to Sir Cahir’s partisans, who broke open 
 trunks, presses, and other furniture, and seized what- 
 ever valuables they could clutch. Her thoughtfulness saved 
 the lives of her children, and brother; for as soon as Sir 
 Cahir had armed his followers with matchlocks, and powder 
 from the magazine, he left a small detachment to garrison 
 Culmore, and then* marched rapidly to Derry, where he 
 arrived about two o’clock in . the morning. Totally unpre- 
 pared for the eruption, the townsfolk were roused from their 
 sleep by the war-shout of the clan O’Doherty, who made 
 their way to Paulet’s house, where Sir Cahir, still smarting 
 under the insult of the angry blow, satisfied his vow of 
 vengeance, by causing that unhappy gentleman to be 
 hacked to death by Owen O’Doherty and others of his 
 kindred. After plundering the residences of the more 
 opulent inhabitants, seizing such arms as they could find, and 
 reducing the town to a heap of ashes, Sir Cahir led his 
 followers to the palace of BishopMontgomery, who fortunately 
 
208 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 for himself, was absent in Dublin. Not finding him they 
 captured his wife, and had her conveyed to Burt Castle, 
 where Lady O’Doherty, and infant daughter had remained.” — 
 Fate and Fortunes of the Earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell , 
 Ch. VIII. Fortunately there is against this narrative the 
 sworn statement of the jurors, who under James I. held an 
 Inquisition at Lifford, anent the O’Doherty affair. It runs 
 thus : — 
 
 “ Cahire O’Dohertie, late of Burt Castle, in the county of 
 Donegall, Knight, and Phelim Reagh MacDavid, late of the 
 same county, together with divers other and most wicked 
 traitors, in the year of the now King of England the Sixth, 
 at 'IBuncrannagh, in the said county of Donegall, treach- 
 erously, and as false traitors to the now King, assembled in 
 a warlike manner, and then and there by violence, and arms? 
 viz., swords, lances, and guns, designed, intended, and 
 plotted the death and destruction of the said now King, and 
 then and there conspired and designed to depose, and 
 deprive the said King, and his royal power and Government 
 of his Kingdom of Ireland, and to take upon themselves, 
 and henceforth to retain in their own power against the will 
 of the said King the government of the same Kingdom, and 
 to prosecute that false, treacherous, and infamous design, 
 the aforesaid Cahir O’Dohertie, Knight, and Phelim Reagh 
 MacDavid, with the said other most wicked and criminal trai- 
 tors and rebels, on the 20th of April, in the year aforesaid, at 
 Buncrannagh aforesaid, made insurrection, and every one of 
 them made insurrection, and then and there moved and excited 
 divers lieges, and subjects of the King to a rebellion against the 
 said King, and by violence and arms, viz. : — swords, lances, 
 guns, and other arms, offensive and defensive, then and there 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 209 
 
 raised cruel and open war against the said King, and his faithful 
 subjects, and from thence proceeded in a warlike manner as 
 far as the fort of Culm ore, in the said county of Donegal, 
 and took into their own hands and possession, the aforesaid 
 city of Derry, and the castles in it lying, and plundered, 
 burned, and demolished it from the foundation, and then 
 and there cruelly and treacherously murdered George Paulett, 
 Knight, the Vice-Governor of the said city, of Derry, and 
 divers other faithful and liege subjects of the King’s, and so 
 they stood, and many of them stood, in open and actual re- 
 bellion against the King and his faithful subjects, and against 
 the peace of the said now King, , his crown and dignity, and 
 against the form and effect of divers statutes in the same 
 case, made and provided. The said Sir Cahire O’Dohertie, 
 Knight, afterwards to wit, on the 5th of July in the year 
 aforesaid, being in rebellion at and near Kilmacrenan, in 
 the county of Donegall, together, with the said other traitors 
 fought, and contended with the army or soldiers of the said 
 King then and there remaining . . % On the 20th of 
 
 April, in the year of the said now King of England, the Sixth, 
 the aforesaid Cahire O’Dohertie, Knight, being in rebellion, 
 as is before mentioned, was seized as of fee of that whole 
 barony, country or territory in Inishowen, alias O’Dohertie’s 
 country, in the said county of Donegall, and all the castles, 
 manors, demesnes, messuages, lands, tenements and heridita- 
 ments, which are parcels of the possessions of the Erenagh 
 of churches, rectories, or any abbeys, or religious houses, 
 lately dissolved, and lying within the barony or country 
 aforesaid. The said Cahire O’Dohertie, Knight, at the time 
 of his being killed in actual rebellion, as is before said, was 
 
 seized of the aforesaid country, territories, castles, manors, 
 
 o 
 
210 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 lands, tenements and hereditaments, and of every parcel 
 thereof, except as before excepted, as by the survey taken 
 thereof, to which the jurors refer themselves, appears. But 
 of what goods and chattels the aforesaid Cahire was possessed 
 at the time of his being killed, aforesaid, the jurors aforesaid 
 have not the least knowledge.” Here we have the jurors 
 testifying on oath, that O’Doherty’s rebellion began, not at 
 Culmore, but at Buncrana, and thence the rebels under Sir 
 Cahire, and Sir Phelim MacDevitt proceeded in a warlike 
 manner to the fort of Culmore , and took it into their hands . 
 Therefore, the ghastly vision of O’Doherty’s act of “ cool 
 and base treachery ” exists only in imagination. 
 
 Sir Cahir recognised by an English soldier and 
 shot through the brain under the Rock of Doon. — 
 
 As soon as the news of O’Doherty’s outburst reached head- 
 quarters, Marshall Wingfield and Sir Oliver Lambert, 
 Governor of Connaught, were despatched in pursuit with a 
 flying column, 4,000 strong. They first searched Culmore, 
 where Sir Phelim MacDevitt held out until all his means of 
 defence were exhausted, and then he blew up the place. 
 Taking his men by water to Derry, he set fire to the city, 
 which was burned to the ground, but afterwards, in 1633, 
 rebuilt at the expense of the city of London, and consequent 
 thereon, its name was expanded into Londonderry. Sir 
 Phelim now lost no time in joining his outlawed friend, 
 O’Doherty, at Lifford, and having tried in vain to recover 
 that stronghold from the English, they took the road 
 to Doe Castle, where the best advantages for confront- 
 ing the enemy were expected. Meanwhile the government 
 troops hastened from the ashes of Culmore, to Burt Castle, 
 Where they found not O’Doherty, but his wife and child, 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 2 1 1 
 
 who were immediately sent under escort to her paternal home 
 at Gormanstown. The garrison of Burt Castle having sur- 
 rendered, Wingfield and his battalions crossed the Swilly, 
 and were scouring the country on the track of the 
 fugitives. Sir Cahir O’Doherty, believing that the deep 
 defile of Glenveagh was much safer than the fortifications of 
 Doe Castle for his slender and irregular force, he led them 
 into that gorge. Thither the enemy followed, and at a 
 convenient point they formed into three divisions, with orders 
 to carry the three Glenveagh fastnesses, blocked by 
 O’ Doherty’s men. One of the divisions, coming from 
 Kilmacrenan opened fire upon the rebels, who held the pass 
 on that side, and it was in driving them back upon the Rock 
 of Doon that Sir Cahir, in his impetuosity, exposed himself, 
 when an English soldier, recognising him by his tall, lithe 
 figure, and nodding plume, took deliberate aim, and shot him 
 through the brain. His head was sent to Dublin, and “set 
 on a pole of the East gate, called New Gate,” and according 
 to the Four Masters under 1608, “his body was quartered 
 between Derry and Culmore.” 
 
 The Lord Deputy sped to Dundalk, where he issued the 
 following proclamation : — 
 
 “ Whereas it hath pleased Almighty God so to bless His 
 Majesty’s army in pursuit of that wicked rebel O’Doghertie, 
 and his adherents, as that on Tuesday last, being the 5th of 
 this present month of July, the said O’Doghertie was happily 
 slain near a place called Kilmacrenan, in the county of 
 Tyrconnell. When God hath not only showed His just 
 judgment upon this treacherous creature, but doth plainly 
 declare to the nation and to all the world that shame and 
 confusion is the certain and infallible end of all traitors and 
 
212 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 rebels. We have, therefore, thought fit, not only to notify 
 and publish the killing of this said traitor to all His Majesty’s 
 good and loyal subjects, but also in regard to the adherents 
 and followers of the said O’Dohertie in his late rebellion, 
 who are nowv broken and scattered, and are likely to put 
 themselves and their goods under the wing and protection 
 of such as have continued in their obedience, we do forewarn 
 all good subjects that none of them do presume to relieve, 
 entertain, receive or protect any person or persons whatso- 
 ever, who have been counsellors or followers of the said 
 O’Dohertie in his late action and rebellion, upon pain to be 
 reputed, to .be adjudged traitors in as high a degree as the 
 said O’Dohertie himself or any of his adherents. . Notwith 
 standing we do hereby promise that whoever shall deliver or 
 bring unto, us the said Lord Deputy, or to any of His 
 Majesty’s principal commanders or officers of his army, the 
 body or bodies of any. person or persons, dead or alive, who 
 havebeen followers of the said O’Dohertie in his said rebellion, 
 being swordsmen or owners of goods or creathais (herds), 
 shall have for his reward not only His Majesty’s gracious 
 pardon, but also all the goods of such person or persons 
 whom he shall deliver or bring unto us, Phelim Reagh 
 MacDavid only excepted, who must expect no pardon, but 
 whoever shall bring in his head, to deliver, his body alive, 
 shall have the full benefit of aur former proclamation in that 
 behalf. Given at Dundalk, the 7 th of July, 1608.” 
 
 Sir Arthur Chichester, the author of this document, 
 was a native of Eggesford, in England, and accompanied 
 the Earl of Essex in 1599 to Ireland, a journey which 
 then cost him fifteen days from London. He rose to 
 be Governor of Carrickfergus, and afterwards in 1604 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 213 
 
 to the high office of Lord Deputy or Viceroy of Ireland 
 under James I. Lord Oxford, in his account of the 
 
 rise of the Annesley family, tells the following interesting 
 anecdote Mr. Annesley was butler to Sir Arthur 
 Chichester, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The Lord, one 
 day at play, won a considerable sum of money, and 
 leaving his purse on the table went out to wait upon his 
 company. On his return he missed the purse, and ques- 
 tioned Annesley, who said he had seen it, but denied taking 
 it, and yet nobody came into ye room, where he was. 
 My Lord grew enraged, and Annesley turned, and he suffered 
 some punishment. He was so uneasy in Ireland, that he re- 
 solved for England, and as he was just got on board, some 
 of my Lord’s servants came from him to desire he would 
 return and with some difficulty they prevailed with him. My 
 Lord met him with open arms, desired he would forgive him ; 
 he had wronged him, for the monkey had stole ye purse. 
 He took care to heap all places of honour on Annesley, and 
 thus the rise of his family began.” Sir Arthur Chichester 
 died in London in 1625, when his remains were conveyed 
 to Ireland, and buried in the Church of St. Nicholas, at 
 Carrickfergus. Besides suppressing the O’Doherty rebellion 
 he helped materially in maturing the scheme for the “ planta- 
 tion of Ulster,” that is, the expulsion of the Catholic natives 
 from two million acres of the fairest lands in Ulster, and 
 settling upon them Protestants from England, as well as 
 Presbyterians from Scotland. In return for these services 
 Sir Arthur received from the Crown the vast possessions of 
 the chieftain of Inishowen, out of which he built up the 
 present family and title of the Most Noble the Marquis of 
 Donegal. But among the officers commanding for Queen 
 
214 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 Elizabeth in Ireland there was not one, perhaps, who con- 
 trived to get so much of the “ spoil” as Sir Oliver Lambert, 
 one of the generals in charge of this expedition against 
 O’Doherty. In 1599 the Earl of Essex, during his own 
 absence, confided the supreme military control to Lambert, 
 who, after a few years more, was despatched as Governor to 
 Connaught, where he seized the principal properties, and 
 expelled their rightful owners. In fact the number of 
 estates he acquired in this province, as well as in other 
 parts of the country, was simply prodigious, as appeared 
 from an Inquisition taken shortly after his death. 
 
 Sir Cahir O’Doherty’s history has all the elements that go 
 to make up a popular hero. His youth, his handsome person, 
 his devotion to the popular cause, and the early period 
 put to his career have gained him a place in the memory 
 and imagination of most of his countrymen by the side of 
 Hugh Roe and Robert Emmet.. His sad and premature 
 end under the Rock of Doon- — he was only in his twenty- 
 first year — is thus recorded in an Inquisition of James I., 
 Chapter VI. : — “ The said Cahire O’Dohertie, Knight, after- 
 wards to wit, on the 5th of July, in the year aforesaid* 
 being in rebellion at and near Kilmacrenan, in the county 
 of Donegal, together with the said other traitors, fought and 
 contended with the army or soldiers of the said King, then 
 and there remaining. The aforesaid Cahire O’Dohertie, 
 Knight, so contending was slain, and the jurors saw the 
 body of the said Cahire then and there slain.” The fact 
 of his having been killed in red-handed rebellion at and 
 near Kilmacrenan is here stated under offi cial seal, so that 
 his alleged murder under the Rock of Doon by one Ramsay, 
 cannot be accepted. Still the tradition to that effect exists in 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 2I 5 
 
 Inishowen, and is founded on a fictitious incident, which has 
 made its way into print. It represents the O’Doherty and 
 MacDevitt in the dead of night going out from their camp in 
 Glenveagh to reconnoitre, and falling asleep under the Rock 
 of Doon. Ramsay happening to come round that way, 
 recognised the O’ Doherty and ran him through the body 
 with a dagger. His moans roused MacDevitt, who, seeing 
 his young friend’s life-blood ebbing fast, raised him gently 
 on to his shoulders, and ran in the direction of Glenveagh. 
 But he had not gone far when the sufferer whispered faintly 
 into his ears to lay him down to die, and the moment his 
 last breath was gone to take off his head, hurry with it to 
 Dublin, and demand the large Government reward. 
 The devoted Sir Phelim MacDevitt, in executing this 
 dying injunction, was soon on his way to Dublin, and got 
 as far as Swords, where he put up for the night. In 
 the meantime, Sir Arthur Chichester, who had been kept 
 fully informed of the errand and movements of the traveller, 
 contrived to reach the hotel at Swords long after MacDevitt 
 had gone to sleep. The case in which the head lay was 
 easily abstracted and carried off by Chichester, in the small 
 hours to Dublin Castle, where he secured the money. But, 
 the particulars of the engagement with the Royal troops in 
 which Sir Cahir O’Doherty met his death are set forth by 
 Philip O’Sullivan Beare, familiarly known as O’Sullivan 
 Beare, from Beare, near Bantry, in the county Cork. Here 
 his ancient family flourished until 1601, in the castle or for- 
 tress of Dunboy, famous for holding out so long against the 
 English, after their victory at Kinsale over the united 
 forces of the Spanish expedition and the Irish chieftains. 
 Philip O’Sullivan Beare went to Spain in 1602, and, after 
 
21 6 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 being educated at Compostella, entered the Spanish navy. 
 His principal work, written in Latin, is the History of Irish 
 Catholics , published at Lisbon in 1621, and in it at fol. 
 210, tome iv., and book ii. he writes: — “O’Doherty, con- 
 sidering his own unequal to the forces of the enemy, con- 
 cealed himself with all his troops in the wood of Gleann 
 Beatha (Glenveagh). Leading to the valley there were three 
 passes through which the army could advance to attack him. 
 These were at once seized by the Royal army, formed into 
 three divisions, commanded respectively by the English 
 generals, together with Nial Garv, and MacSwiney Doe. Sir 
 Cahir, hearing this, formed his comparatively small army also 
 into three divisions, and posted them at the three entrances 
 into the wood to prevent the advance of the Royal army. After 
 the lapse of a few hours, the enemy’s musketeers opened fire 
 on one of 0 ’Doherty ? s divisions, and the courageous but rash 
 young chieftain advanced at the head of another division to 
 drive back the enemy. In the melee he received the stab of 
 a double-headed javelin, and died in the space of two hours 
 without being expiated from his sins by sacramental absolu- 
 tion.’* 
 
 Thus Inishowen lost its last chieftain, and 6,000 of its 
 fine people were banished for ever. Sir Cahir’s only child was 
 a daughter, of whom nothing is known, but her young 
 mother soon married a son of Sir William Warren. Sir 
 Cahir’s two brothers, John and Rory, after a safe and pro- 
 tracted refuge under the hospitable roof of O’Rourke of 
 Breffni, went to Belgium, where they entered the Spanish 
 army serving in that country. The elder died after a short 
 time, but the younger established himself in Spain, and 
 there brought up a promising family. Sir Phelim 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 2 17 
 
 MacDevitt, the fast friend of the O’Doherty and chief 
 actor with him in this rebellion, was betrayed into the 
 hands of the English not long after the collapse at 
 Kilmacrenan. He was hanged at Lifford on the 27 th of 
 September, 1608, and the harrowing circumstances of his 
 death are set out by the same O’Sullivan Beare in his 
 History of Irish Catholics , 1621. 
 
 Lough Salt. — Leaving the Rock of Doon, the tourist 
 
 may return to the Kilmacrenan road and ascend at once 
 Lough Salt, a mountain which is the subject of one of 
 Otway’s most elaborate sketches : — “ We at length,” he 
 writes, “ reached the top of the mountain ridge, and suddenly 
 turning the point of a cliff, that jutted out and checked the 
 road, we came abruptly into a hollow, something like a crater 
 of an extinct volcano, which was filled almost entirely by a 
 
2l8 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 lovely lake, on the right-hand side of which rose the highest 
 peak of the mountain, composed of compact silicious sand- 
 stone — so bare, so white, so serrated, so tempest-worn, so 
 vexed with all the storms of the Atlantic, that if mere 
 matter could suffer, we might suppose that this lofty and 
 precipitous peak presented the portrait of material endurance ; 
 and still, though white was the prevailing colour, yet not one 
 tint or shadowing, that decks and points a mountainous brow 
 was wanting. Here were the brown heath, the grey lichen, 
 the green fern, the red crane’s bill ; and straight down the 
 cliff, from its topmost peak to the water’s side was branded 
 in a dark and blasted line the downward track of a meteoric 
 stone that had fallen from the atmosphere, and shattering 
 itself against the mountain’s crest, rolled in fiery and 
 smoking fragments into the adjacent lake. Last year, amidst 
 the crash of a thunderstorm, this phenomenon occurred, and 
 the well-defined line of its burning progress is, and will be 
 for years, apparent. On the other side of the lake a fair, 
 verdant bank presented itself, courting the traveller to sit 
 down and take his rest after winding his toilsome way up 
 the long ascent into this peaceful and unexpected retreat ; 
 gentle and grassy knolls were here and there interspersed, on 
 which sheep of most picturesque leanness, some black and 
 some white, with primitive crumpled horns, were grazing. 
 But the lake — not a breath was abroad on its expanse ; it 
 smiled as it reflected the gray mountain and the azure face of 
 heaven ; it seemed as if on this day the spirit of the Atlantic 
 had fallen asleep, and air, earth, and ocean were celebrating 
 the festival of repose ; the waters of the lake, of the colour 
 and clearness of the sky, were 
 
 * Blue — darkly, deeply, beautifully blue.’ 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 219 
 
 You could look down a hundred fathoms and still no 
 bottom ; speckled trouts floating at immense depths seemed 
 as if they soared in ether. Then the stillness of the whole 
 scene ; you seemed lifted, as it were, out of the turmoil of 
 the world into some planetary paradise, into some such 
 place as the Apostle in the Apocalypse was invited to, when 
 the voice said, ‘ Come up hither.’ You might have supposed 
 that sound had no existence here were it not that now and 
 then a hawk shrieked while towering over the mountain top, 
 or a lamb bleated beneath as it ran to its mother. I could 
 have gone to sleep here and dreamt of heaven, purchased 
 for poor sinners, like me, by a Saviour’s blood. I did at any 
 rate praise the God of nature and of grace, and drew near 
 to Him in Christ, grateful for all His blessings and all His 
 wonders of creating and redeeming love. But the day was 
 advancing ; we had farther to go and much to do, and my 
 friend drew me away from my abstraction and repose that 
 had settled and softened into prayer. So we mounted our 
 ponies and rode about a quarter of a mile along a level road 
 as smooth as a gravel walk, that coasted the lake until we 
 came to a steep bank where we let our horses graze along 
 the water’s edge and ascended a ridge or ruin, as I may call 
 it, of the cup or crater in which we were embosomed. All 
 of a sudden the most magnificent prospect that ever met my 
 eye presented itself — the whole range of the northern coast 
 of Donegal. Seemingly beneath your feet, but really some 
 miles off, lay the expanse of the Atlantic Ocean, like 
 eternity before you, over which fancy flew, and almost 
 impelled you to strain your eyes to catch a glimpse of 
 America. Some leagues out at sea, but apparently 
 within your grasp, lay Torry Island, rising out of 
 
220 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 the deep like a castellated and fortified city ; lofty towers, 
 church spires, battlements, bastions, batteries presented 
 themselves, so varied, and so fantastically deceptive were its 
 cliffs „ . . Directly under us was a most curious picture 
 to be seen ; the mountain on which we stood, as it de- 
 scended to the west, presented sundry shelves or valleys, in 
 each of which lay a round and beauteous lake. These tarns 
 looked like mirrors, set in the mountain side, to reflect the 
 upright sun ; and five or six of such sheets of silver pre- 
 sented themselves, until at the very root of the moun- 
 tain, a large expanse of water, studded with islands, 
 sufficiently wooded to be ornamental, finished the whole 
 picture, and formed the last beauty and curiosity I shall 
 record of this surpassingly interesting hill.” At the foot of 
 
 Lough Salt Mountain re- 
 poses the little village of 
 Glen, occupying a shel- 
 tered corner on the north- 
 ern shore of Glenlough, 
 an attractive sheet of 
 water, fed by the Owen- 
 carrow river. 
 
 From Kilmacrenan the 
 visitor traverses hilly 
 ground, enlivened by views 
 of the valley of the Lannan, 
 and the more distant Glenalla hills, rising between Mulroy 
 Bay and Lough Swilly. After a long and tedious pull one 
 gains a splendid prospect, extending from the Gartan 
 mountains, away to the green slopes of the Laggan. The 
 road now descends into a pleasant vale, and we enter 
 
THE LIBRMfT 
 
 0 ? m 
 
 UfJBSVH IkUMOlS 
 
221 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS, 
 
 221 
 
 Lefterkenny (Hotels : — Hegarty's , Laird's ), a pleasant 
 and thriving town of one large street, occupying the side 
 of a hill, and over-looking a large expanse of fertile country, 
 which is decked with the neat residences, and belted planta- 
 tions of a numerous gentry. Above it, on a height, is the 
 Catholic Cathedral, rapidly developing into handsome Gothic 
 proportions, under the magic wand of a learned and 
 earnest Bishop, who is as proud of his ancient diocese 
 as he is devoted to its fervent people. This remarkable 
 object of architectural beauty, and the palatial looks of the 
 County Asylum at the other end, while adding materially to 
 the grandeur of the place, help to cover the nakedness and 
 gloom of the Union Workhouse as well as the neighbouring 
 hospital. It was at Letterkenny that Theobald Wolfe 
 Tone was taken prisoner in 1798, immediately after the 
 defeat of the French squadron, by Sir J. B. Warren’s 
 fleet, off Tory Island. The Hoche, in which Tone was 
 embarked, during six hours, maintained a most determined, 
 but unavailing struggle with four sail of the line, and 
 a frigate. Tone commanded one of the batteries, and 
 fought with the utmost desperation, during the engagement, 
 as if he was courting death ! When the Hoche struck, and 
 was taken into Lough Swilly, the prisoners were landed, and 
 marched to Letterkenny. The officers, amongst whom Tone 
 passed for a Frenchman, were invited to breakfast at Lord 
 Cavan’s. One of the guests (Sir George Hill), a former 
 friend and fellow-student in the University, recognising Tone, 
 addressed him by name, and denounced him to the host. 
 
X.— EXCURSION TO GARTAN. 
 
 road passes through the spreading beeches 
 of Ballymacool demesne ( — Boyd, Esq.), 
 gM H I/q adjoining the town of Lefterkenny, and at 
 \ the end of the first mile skirts the ruins 
 of Conwall, where there was an ancient 
 priory, important enough to give a name to 
 the parish. O’Clery, one of the Four Masters, 
 says this is Con-baile, that is Compagus in 
 the original. Like other famous monastic 
 seats in ancient Ireland, this of Conwall 
 attracted a considerable population, but unlike Glendalough, 
 or Clonmacnoise, it has left hardly any remains of its former 
 greatness. An old churchyard now marks the site of this 
 historic place, and within it the few walls, that survive of 
 the great establishment, are at present beaten level with the 
 ground. Close to one of them on the south side is a very 
 curious tombstone, shaped like the lid of a coffin, with a cross, 
 and other sacred emblems, engraved upon it, exhibiting the 
 xesult of a very old style of art. Many distinguished names 
 are buried in this sacred dust. The Four Masters mention 
 some, as for instance under a.d. 913 : — “ Scamlan Airdun- 
 neach of Congbhail-glinne-Suilighe died,” and under a.d. 
 1204 : “Sitric O’Struthan Erenagh of Conwall, that is head 
 of the Hy-Murtele, and chief man of all the Clann- 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 223 
 
 Snadhgbile for his worth, died after exemplary penance, and 
 was interred in the church which he had himself founded.” 
 
 The important centre, which grew up around ConwalFs 
 hallowed fane, is remarkable for its connexion with one of 
 the most noteworthy incidents in the history of Tyrconnell. It 
 is a mistake to regard the invasion of the Anglo-Normans 
 (1169) as a war between the English on one side, and 
 the Irish on the other. It was a war between Irish chiets 
 themselves, in which the Anglo-Norman Knights took part, 
 as the auxiliaries or allies of one party. The numerous 
 hereditary feuds of the Princes, as well as the impulsive 
 character of the Irish race, created a great demand for the 
 sword of the stranger, and the Anglo-Norman, being brave 
 and unscrupulous, exacted a large payment in land, and held 
 it. Bodies of these mercenaries established themselves at 
 Slane and Kells in Meath, whence they issued from time to 
 time to plunder their neighbours in the North. Famous 
 amongst all the English Knights was John de Courcey. To 
 the physical strength of a giant he added a spirit of daring 
 and enterprise, beyond most free-lances of that adventurous 
 age. He claimed Ulster, and headed an organized follow- 
 ing of desperate men after his own heart, to make good 
 his pretension. His first incursion was into Down, where 
 he succeeded in the beginning, but afterwards suffered 
 so severely from the Kinel-Owen and Kinel-Conall, that he 
 retreated in disorder to Leinster in 1189. 
 
 These English barons had long set their hearts on 
 crushing Tyrconnell. Maurice Fitzgerald (1250) then Lord 
 Justice of Ireland, the boldest and bravest of the Anglo- 
 Normans, contrived through the aid of O’Connor, one 
 of his Irish auxiliaries, to cross the ford of Ballyshannon. 
 
224 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 «4nd hold his ground there at a time when Godfrey 
 O’Donnell and Rory O’Cananan were contesting the chief- 
 tainship of TyrconnelL But the Tyrconnellians made peace, 
 and drove the Anglo-Normans far beyond their borders. A 
 few years afterwards Maurice Fitzgerald once more led his 
 mailed warriors against TyrconnelL Godfrey O’Donnell 
 went out to meet him (1257). The armies encountered 
 each other at Creadran-Kille, in the north of Sligo, where 
 they fought long and fiercely. Fitzgerald and O’Donnell 
 met in single combat. O’Donnell clove his antagonist to 
 the earth, and the powerful baron was carried off the field to 
 die. O’Donnell, too, received a mortal blow in the en- 
 counter, but victory remained with him, and the English 
 fled from Lower Connaught. The chief of the O’Neils 
 took advantage of the dying condition of Godfrey to assert 
 the supremacy of the Kinel-Owen over the Kinel Conall. 
 Accordingly about a> year after, while the O’Donnell was still 
 lying ill of his wounds on an island in the secluded Lough 
 Veagh, messengers came to. him, from O’Neil, demanding 
 hostages and other tokens of submission. O’Donnell’s 
 answer was to summon Lis fighting-men from all quarters : — 
 “ Having assembled at his call, he ordered them to 
 prepare the coffin in which his remains should be buried, 
 to place him therein, and to carry it into the very midst 
 of his people. He told them to fight bravely, as he 
 was amongst them, and not to fear the power of their 
 enemies. They then proceeded in battle array, at the 
 command of their lord, to meet O’Neil’s force, till both 
 armies confronted each other on the banks of the Swilly” — 
 Annals . After a hard-fought engagement, the Tyronians 
 
 were routed, and the Tyrconnellians, returning from the 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 225 
 
 field, deposited on the street of Conwall the coffin in which 
 Godfrey lay, and the heroic spirit of the chieftain departed 
 amid the shouts of victory. The incident is very exciting, 
 and has found expression in a popular ballad : — - 
 
 “ Now proud and high Tirconnell shouts, but speeding on the gale, 
 Upon the ear ascendeth now a sad and sullen wail ; 
 
 For on that field, as back they bore, from chasing of the foe, 
 
 The spirit of O’Donnell fled ! — Oh, woe for Ulster, woe ! 
 
 Yet died he there all gloriously — a victor in the fight — 
 
 A chieftain at his people’s head, a warrior in his might. 
 
 They dug him there a fitting grave, upon that field of pride — 
 
 And a lofty cairn raised above, by fair Lough S willy’s side.” 
 
 Soariff°HoSlaS — Following up the right bank of the 
 Swilly, the road passes the Glebe-house, embosomed in a 
 dark wood, under which is the historic Scariff-Hollis, a safe 
 part of the river, which in former times served as one of the 
 chief passes into the hill country of Tyrconnell. It was 
 over this that the celebrated Shane O’Neil (the Proud) 
 fled, after his defeat by the chieftain Hugh Dubh O’Donnell 
 in 1569 (see page 46), and in the dismantled castle 011 the 
 bank above : — “Caffar, son of Manus, son of Hugh Dubh^ 
 son of Hugh Roe, Tanist of Tyrconnell, a man of a 
 bounteous, munificent, and truly hospitable character, and 
 a favourite of the distressed, and of the learned of the North 
 of Ireland, died in his own mansion seat of Scariff-Hollis, 
 on the 15th of October, and was buried at Donegal.” — - 
 Annals . 
 
 Bisliop Hebei* Mao Mahon. — After the death of Owen 
 Roe O’Neil, their only General, in 1649, Irish Catholics 
 were thrown into a state of wild dismay in seeing the Parlia- 
 mentary army marching to victory through Catholic blood. 
 
 A few of their more ardent prelates, like MacMahon of 
 
 p 
 
226 
 
 SHE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 Clogher, in the North, and the Bishop of Ross in the South, 
 left the sanctuary in response to what they believed the 
 sacred call of duty, and took the field against Cromwell. 
 On the 2 1 st June, 1650, Sir Charles Coote and Colonel 
 Venables came up with Heber MacMahon at Scariff- Hollis, 
 and summoned him to fight or surrender. The Bishop chose 
 the former, but the Cromwellian cavalry, more than twice 
 as numerous, all but annihilated his little army. The 
 people of the locality say the place has been called Scariff- 
 Hollis (ford of the light) from the circumstance of the 
 flashing of ordnance there during the night before the 
 battle. Many a saddle was emptied of its rider on that 
 day ; and the horses, left to themselves, continued long 
 after to roam about on the hill above, which has been 
 since, from this circumstance, called Crock-na-neach (i.e.) 
 hill of ' the ; horses. In the Curiosa Hibernica there is a 
 very interesting account of this unequal engagement from the 
 pen of Colonel Henry McTully O’Neil, the same who served 
 under the Confederate General, Owen Roe, and wrote a 
 Journal of that memorable campaign. Touching the affair 
 of Scariff- Hollis he says : — “ Being under cure of my wounds, 
 I was not an eye-witness of the action at Letterkenny, but 
 what I have is by hearsay, and from an officer in the action, 
 who assured me that the Bishop was 4,000 strong when he 
 marched to Tyrconnell. When the army came to Letter- 
 kenny Colonel Miles Swiney made an humble request of 
 the Bishop to give him and his regiment leave to march to 
 Castledoe, to try if he could gain it for their future security 
 in that part of the country, which permission was granted. 
 But the Colonel’s presence, as well as that of many others^ 
 that were left in garrisons up and down in those parts, was 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 227 
 
 afterwards needed, which very much weakened the army 
 the day of the action. It appeared to this gentleman 
 that the enemy’s horse of Scotch and English were 
 as many as the Irish had of horse and foot. The 
 
 Scotch, who were protected by the Bishop in those 
 parts, and particularly Colonel Saunderson, bore a great 
 share in defeating him the last day.; the first day’s en- 
 gagement being a fortnight before, was thus : — The 
 Bishop’s army coming to a pass on the river between 
 I afford and Derry, the tide beginning to flow, the 
 colonels were commanded to cast dice as to who would 
 venture over the ford with his regiment first. Phelim 
 McTual O’Neil, though his turn that day was to be in the 
 rear, said he wanld cast no lots, but would venture over, 
 which he did with some difficulty, and beat off the horse on 
 the other side, whereby he gave the whole army liberty to 
 march over leisurely, some having been forced to swim. All 
 that night they were obliged to stand to their arms ; next 
 day Sir Charles Coote appeared with his formidable army, 
 and drew them up by a Danish fort upon a narrow pass 
 leading to Derry. The Bishop also drew up his army in 
 battle array. Both armies being within musket-shot of each 
 other, Captain Taylor and Captain Cathcart, two of the 
 best horse-officers the enemy had, marched with two strong 
 brigades of horse towards the rear of our army in a full 
 career, who were repulsed bravely by our horse and some 
 foot, and beaten back into their own body with the loss 
 of both their fine captains, which ended most of the day’s 
 action, both armies withdrawing till the fatal day at 
 Letterkenny some while after. The enemy in this interval 
 preparing and increasing till the last blow was given, wherein 
 
228 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 we lost, after quarter given, Colonel Henry Roe O’Neil 
 Colonel Hugh Maguire, Colonel Hugh McMahon, Art Oge, 
 O’Neil, McShane Deveny, and Colonel Phelim McTual 
 O’Neil. Quarters were made good to move, but for George 
 Sexton Quarter Master-General, who was put to death after- 
 wards at Carrickfergus by order of the High Court of 
 Justice ; Major-General O’Cahan was killed on the spot 
 with 'a great many prime officers, and about 1,500 private 
 men, the Bishop was taken ten. days after by Major King near 
 Enniskillen and executed afterwards in Enniskillen. After 
 this every one shifted for himself the best he could, except 
 some parties who kept out about Slieve Bussell in Ulster ; 
 no general protection granted.” 
 
 Birth-place Of St, Columfoa.— Two miles beyond 
 Scariff-Hollis one leaves the bank of the Swilly and 
 ascends a rising ground with Foxhall (J. Doyne, Esq.) on 
 the left. Crossing Drumbolog bridge and passing Temple 
 Douglas where once stood an abbey, still traced in the 
 present graveyard, the road is carried up the side' of the 
 valley of the Lannan to Churchill, beyond which at a short 
 distance the two Gartan Loughs, separated by a very 
 narrow neck of land, break upon the eye; with peculiar 
 pleasure. This. great reservoir, with its margin of emerald, 
 reposes at the base of Glendowan Mountains, which rise in 
 an amphitheatre, and enclose the sparkling basin on the 
 north and west. Otway describes it as “ one of the 
 finest of those numerous sheets of water which are 
 interspersed through the valleys and mountains of this 
 highland district, either in the midst of the mountains, 
 forming the sources of rivers, or in the lowland valleys 
 expanding as their receptacles. High or low, small or large, 
 
- / 
 
 frit i iSrtABK 
 
 Of THt 
 
 omvEasmr m (U$(hs 
 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 229 
 
 they form interesting objects for the tourist ; and I am not sure 
 whether in this way our Irish lake may not be found as worthy 
 of a visit as one in Cumberland, or Scotland, or even 
 Switzerland.” 
 
 Bordering the lower lake or Lough Gartan proper, is 
 Belleview, the residence of — Hewitson, Esq., standing in 
 a retired but delightful glade, which separates it from the 
 glebe-house, with its modest but becoming front. Near the 
 western shore of the upper lake, or Lough-a-Gibbon, are 
 the remains of a chapel and abbey, built near the spot where 
 St. Columbkiile or Columba was born. “The father of 
 the Culdees,” .says the Rev. C. Otway, “could not come 
 to birth in a more appropriate place.” 
 
 An incident touching in itself, and illustrative of the 
 Saint’s affection for his native home, is related by Adamnan, 
 and so interesting that it deserves a place in this notice. 
 “ On a certain occasion while Columba was in Iona, he 
 told one of the brothers that a crane driven about by various 
 winds should come, weary and fatigued, and lie down on 
 the beach of the island quite exhausted. 4 Treat that bird 
 tenderly ’ said the Saint, 4 bring it to some neighbouring 
 house where it may be kindly received and well nursed for 
 three days and three nights. When the crane is refreshed 
 after that time, unwilling to sojourn any longer in this strange 
 land, it shall fly back directly to its lovely home in Ireland. 
 I am very anxious about this bird because it comes from my 
 own native place.’ The good brother obeyed, for the bird 
 came, and after three days 1 careful nursing, gently rose on 
 its wings to a great height, and marking its path through the 
 air homewards, it directed its course across the sea to Ire- 
 land, straight as it could fly on a calm day .”— of St . 
 Columba , by Adamnan, Trans., page 56. 
 
230 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 St. CoHumha. — To this day St. Columba is the pride 
 of Tyrconnell. He has given his name to one of its parishes, 
 and all over the county are scattered relics and traditions of 
 him in great abundance. These, together with a life of the 
 Saint by Adamnan, and another by Manus O’Donnell, who 
 belonged to the family of Columba, are amply suggestive 
 of a brief notice, suitable to these pages. 
 
 About 544 Columba, or Dove of the Churches, having 
 gone out from Kinel-Conall, returned to give the blessing 
 which, according to St. Patrick, had been reserved for him. 
 He was a youth of princely descent. His name was Crimthain, 
 his father being Felim, the grandson of Conal-Gulban, 
 and his mother Ethnea,. a daughter of the royal house 
 of Cahir-Mor of Leinster. Born in 521, he was, according 
 to the usage of the time, placed in fosterage with a rela- 
 tive at Kilmacrenan. “ From his boyhood,” writes 
 Adamnan,. “he had been instructed in the love of Christ, and 
 by the grace of God, and his zeal for wisdom had so pre- 
 served the integrity of his body and the purity of his soul 
 that though dwelling on earth he appeared to live like the 
 saints in heaven.” He: passed from his fosterage to the 
 school of St. Finian, and made a course of studies under this 
 famous master, at the head of Strangford Lough. Then he 
 went to Clonard, and from this to other celebrated seats of 
 learning, for already had there risen in Erinn many institu- 
 tions in which sanctity and science were taught hand in 
 hand. Soon the fame of Columba for knowledge, and still 
 more for his holiness of life, attested by splendid miracles, 
 spread throughout: the length and breadth of the land. After 
 taking holy orders he traversed Tyrconnell, leaving monu- 
 ments of his piety and zeal on the hill of Doire Calgaigh 
 (Derry), on the rocks of Torry, in the remote Sean Glean, 
 

 IONA AND ST. MARTIN’S CROSS. 
 
m uatUilT 
 
 of mt 
 
 ammsirr er Illinois 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 231 
 
 everywhere on sea-cliff, and in deep glen. Though these 
 memorials, like all that is perishable, have yielded to the 
 corrosive action of time, and, in but too many instances, to 
 the more destructive fury of man, the traveller of to-day will 
 be able, from the traditions still clinging to the rude cross, 
 or the blessed well, or the grass-grown remains of a chapel, 
 to gather a better record of him than could have endured 
 on inscribed stone. His blessing went beyond the limits 
 of Tyrconnell. His wonderful piety, and his many 
 miraculous tokens of divine favour, marked him out as indeed, 
 a man of God, and drew disciples around him. Thus he 
 became the father of an order of monks, distinguished, even 
 in that fervent age, for the severity of their rule. Among 
 the many abbeys which he founded in Ireland, were those of 
 Derry, Durrow, Swords and Kells — all houses renowned in 
 the Ecclesiastical Annals of Erinn. In the forty-second 
 year of his age (563), St. Columba, resolving to seek a foreign 
 country for the love of Christ, sailed from Ireland to Scot- 
 land. He was graciously welcomed by Conall, King of the 
 Albanian Scots, and a relative of his own, who gave him the 
 island of Hy or Iona. St. Columba had twelve disciples 
 with him, and laid the foundations of the monastery of Hy, 
 which soon became the most famous in Northern Europe, 
 and for centuries after, the recognised fountain of his orderj 
 From Iona he ventured to carry the light of Christianity 
 among the heathen, and with God’s blessing, he planted the 
 standard of the Cross in the Orkney Isles, in the Hebrides, 
 among the Northern Piets, and away south beyond the 
 mountains, over the Lowlands and into Northumbria. In 
 the midst of all these labours he found time for the cul- 
 tivation of letters, and his productions in this department 
 
232 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 are a title, only second to his imperishable services in the 
 cause of God, to the gratitude and veneration of man- 
 kind. He is said to have built three hundred houses 
 devoted to God’s service, and to have written as many 
 manuscript books, some of which have survived to the 
 present day, and are even now specimens of marvellously 
 fine penmanship. 
 
 In 573 the Saint revisited the old land in the suite of 
 Aidan, King of the Albanian Scots, to attend the great 
 National Convention of the petty kings, princes, chiefs, bishops 
 and clergy, summoned by Hugh Ainmire, Monarch of Erinn, 
 to Drumceat, for the settlement of some bitter controversies, 
 long agitating the public mind in Ireland. Whether 
 the Irish colony established in Scotland, should be still 
 considered dependent on the mother country, was the 
 first question discussed, and on it the opinion of the 
 Saint was accepted as definite, namely, that it should be 
 henceforth regarded as an independent State. The second 
 matter submitted to the deliberations of the Convention 
 was the withdrawal of their ancient privileges from the 
 bards, who had deteriorated, and became so numerous 
 and aggressive as to provoke a loud demand for suppress- 
 ing them. Their insolence had grown to be so intolerable, 
 that the Convention had resolved to extinguish the Asso- 
 ciation, but in deference to the advice of St. Columba, 
 it was decided to diminish only the number of its members, 
 and place them under stricter ordinances. St. Columba 
 died in the 76th year of his age, and was buried in 
 Iona, but his bones were afterwards removed to Downpatrick, 
 where they were placed in the same tomb with those of 
 the National Apostle and St. Brigid. Here they were found 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 233 
 
 in 1186— St. Patrick in the middle, St. Columba and 
 St. Brigid on either side — and translated to the cathedral 
 with great ceremony in the presence of Cardinal Vivian, 
 special envoy from Pope Urban III. 
 
 Adamnan, the biographer of St. Columba, and his eighth 
 successor in Iona, has left us this portrait of him 
 “Angelic in appearance, eloquent in address, holy in 
 work, with talents of the highest order, and consummate 
 prudence, he lived a good soldier of Christ during thirty- 
 five years in his adopted island (Iona). He never could 
 spend the space of even one hour without study or 
 prayer, or writing or some other holy occupation; and so 
 incessantly was he engaged night and day in the unwearied 
 exercise of watching and of corporal austerities, that the 
 weight of his singular labour would seem beyond the power 
 of human endurance ; and still he was beloved by all, for 
 a holy joy, ever beaming in his face, revealed the ecstacies 
 with which the Holy Spirit filled his inmost soul.” Baithen 
 the immediate successor of St. Columba in the Abbacy of 
 Ily, was his relative, and a native of Tyrconnell. Adamnan 
 also, from whom we have quoted so largely, was from 
 Tyrconnell, himself a saint, and one of the most remarkable 
 men of his time. Sprung from the royal stock ot the. 
 great Conal-Gulban, he seems to have devoted himself from 
 his earliest years to the service of God in the order of his 
 more renowned kinsman, St. Columba. In due time he 
 was elected to the Abbacy of Hy, being the ninth in order 
 from the holy founder. His talents and accomplishments, 
 as well as his extraordinary sanctity, made themselves 
 known under the rude garb of the monk, and kings and 
 legislators often invoked his assistance in matters of diffi- 
 
234 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 culty. He was the intimate friend of the famous Alfrid of 
 North Britain, and seems to have lived a good deal in 
 Ireland. At a legislative Assembly at Tara in the year 697 
 he procured the passing of the law of the innocents, namely 
 a law protecting women and children from the barbarities 
 of war — afterwards known as the Canon of Adamnan, a 
 memorial which a conqueror of the world might envy. The 
 venerable Bede bears testimony, and a more competent 
 witness there could not be, that Adamnan was “ a good 
 man, and wise, and a peer in the knowledge of the Scrip- 
 tures ” (H. E. lib. 5, ch. 15). 
 
 Cathac Of St Columba.— Part of the Psalter, which 
 St. Columba copied out with his own hands, was sealed up 
 in a strong box, richly gilt, some nine inches long, eight 
 wide, and two in depth. On its thick silver lid are engraved 
 figures of the Crucifixion, St. Columba, and other appro- 
 priate symbols, while the covering throughout is studded 
 with gems in great profusion. To this relic the chieftain 
 of Tyrconnell, in whose family it was transmitted, attached 
 the holy spell of ensuring victory, and had it always borne 
 before him into battle. It is known as the Cathach of St. 
 Columbkille, and may be seen among the treasures of the 
 R. Irish Academy, Dublin, where it was deposited some 
 years ago by Sir Richard O’Donnell, Bart. 
 
 The Derryveagh Evictions.— Running north-west from 
 the Upper Gartan lake is Derryveagh, the scene of the 
 “ Adair Evictions,” some sixty families having been turned 
 out there on the hill side, and their roof-trees broken down 
 in one day. Mr. John George Adair, a gentleman of pro- 
 perty in Kildare, came to Donegal for the first time in 
 August, 1857. “ Enchanted by the scenery,” to use his 
 
GARTAN LAKE, CO. DONEGAL, 
 
m 
 
 of 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 235 
 
 own words, he began by buying Glenveagh from Mr. Pitt 
 Skipton, then the Gartan Estate from Mr. W. C. Cornwall, 
 and in the September of 1858, he was made a Magistrate of 
 the county. 
 
 In December, 1857, Mr. Adair purchased, in the Encum- 
 bered Estates Court, a fee-farm rent of £ 25 Irish out of 
 Glendowan, as well as a fee-farm rent of £60 Irish 
 out of Derryveagb, and immediately he set up a 
 claim to the right of sporting in both cases, though 
 in his title the Court reserved this to “ the grantor and his 
 heirs ” (not his assignees). Mr. James Johnston, owner- 
 in-chief of the property, resisted, and when Mr. Adair, on 
 the opening of the season in August, 1858, presented himself 
 with his dogs and gun, to shoot over Derryveagh, a number 
 of Mr. Johnston’s tenants came out and warned him off. 
 Legal proceedings were instituted, but, in October, 1859, 
 Mr. Adair bound himself by agreement to pay Mr. Johnston 
 ^225 a year, or ^40 over the existing rents of the occupy- 
 ing tenants, for a fee-farm grant of Derryveagh (11,956 
 acres). 
 
 In January, i860, Mr. Adair served notices to quit on his 
 Derryveagh tenants, and early in 1861, having had sentence 
 of eviction passed upon them, he gave his reasons for doing 
 so, to the Under Secretary for Ireland in two letters of the 
 8th and 16th February. Those same causes for his action 
 he mentioned more definitely in a letter written on the 6lh 
 of the following April to both the Parish Priest, and Protestant 
 Rector of the locality : — “On these lands,” he says “ I was 
 attacked by a large armed party, most of whom I recognised 
 as inhabitants.” He is alluding to the demonstration made 
 by a few of the Derryveagh tenants when he came there in 
 
236 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 August, 1858, to assert his claim of shooting over it. But, it 
 does not appear that the party, who thus blocked his way, 
 had arms in their hands, and they were there not to “ attack/’ 
 but to deter him from invading the rights of their kind 
 landlord, Mr. Johnston. 
 
 Another justification put forward in these letters was : — 
 “About the same spot my Manager, Mr. Murray, was 
 murdered, and two or more of the Coroner’s jury in Murray’s 
 case, who found a verdict of wilful murder, were attacked. ” 
 The Protestant Rector of the parish (Rev. Mr. Maturin), 
 however, bore testimony to the good character of the accused, 
 and more than insinuated that the crime was the result of a 
 motive, then the common talk of the country, but in no way 
 connected with Derryveagh or its excellent people. The 
 fact of Murray being armed with a revolver, and his body 
 found on an open, bare mountain, pointed very suspiciously 
 to the murderer as one with this private motive, lurking in 
 his heart, who had been walking with his victim, and closed 
 upon him treacherously. 
 
 The allegation that: — “two or more of the Coroner’s 
 jury in Murray’s case, who found a verdict of wilful murder* 
 were attacked,” was assumed by Mr. Adair from a report 
 of a drunken row in which these “two or more” had 
 taken part. 
 
 In his list of grievances against the Derryveagh tenants, Mr. 
 Adair goes on to enumerate (3) “ A previous proprietor of 
 my estate, Mr. Marshall, was murdered a few years ago 
 
 (4) “While I was at the house of one of you (Rev. Mr. 
 Maturin) investigating the murder of Murray, two offices 
 belonging to the premises, were maliciously burned down ; ” 
 
 (5) “ My dogs on two occasions were poisoned, and large 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 237 
 
 numbers of my sheep have been done away with.” He con- 
 cludes his indictment by declaring “ that almost all the crimes 
 (of which he complains) were in some way connected with 
 Derryveagh, and that the perpetration of many of them 
 must have been known to the people of the district. He 
 purchased the property being enchanted with the scenery, 
 and he would not suffer himself to be diverted from his 
 design of improving the condition of the people, by the 
 infernal combination of the Ribbon Society, which had 
 fatally spread over the whole community.” Now, the 
 existence of this infernal combination ” in Derryveagh 
 seems to have been altogether imaginary. There is no 
 public record of it to be found except in heated assertion. 
 Moreover it is opposed to the good opinion of the people, 
 so positively proclaimed by the Rev. Mr. Maturin, and it 
 was challenged at the time in the House of Commons by an 
 Hon. Member, who said “ he had not been able to trace the 
 slightest semblance of Ribbonism among the inhabitants of 
 that property.” With regard to Mr. Marshall’s murder it 
 happened in 1840, nearly twenty years before Mr. Adair made 
 his acquaintance with Donegal. How then did he know that 
 the deed was ascribed to the peasants of Derryveagh, except 
 from hearsay evidence, and even this could hardly have been 
 available, seeing that Marshall was the landlord of the 
 Gartan estate, so that if his murder were agrarian it must 
 have been committed by some of his own aggrieved tenants 
 and not by any from Derryveagh, who had no connection or 
 quarrel with him. “ That the Rev. Mr. Maturing two offices 
 were maliciously burned down ” (4) cannot be accepted, 
 for the first to arrive on the scene of the fire was the con- 
 stable in charge of the neighbouring police-station, and he 
 
238 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 stated it was accidental \ So, too, Mr. Adair’s dogs were not 
 maliciously killed, as he believed (5), but died from eating 
 the poisoned material, distributed over his preserves to 
 protect the game from vermin. The second part of this 
 charge, that ‘Marge numbers of his sheep have been done 
 away with,” was made the subject of a magisterial inquiry, 
 when the Bench were unanimously of opinion that Mr. 
 Adair’s sheep were not “ done away with,” as the evidence 
 of the constabulary proved that 66 of his sheep were found 
 dead from the severity of the weather without any marks of 
 injury upon them. 
 
 Upon these grounds, given under his own hand, Mr. 
 Adair inflicted on his Derryveagh tenantry a penalty next to 
 death, and in doing so during the 8th, 9th, and 10th of 
 April, 1861, he was assisted by a force of 200 men from the 
 R. I. Constabulary, under the command of two officers and 
 a Resident Magistrate. The official return issued at the 
 time shows that-28 houses were levelled, 47 families evicted, 
 comprising 37 husbands, 35 wives, 159 children, and 13 
 other inmates, making a total of 244 souls. Of these 50 
 were driven into the workhouse, one old man died from the 
 hardships he endured, and two became insane, one of whom 
 sought relief in drowning. 
 
 On the 2nd of the following July Mr. Vincent Scully, 
 M.P., in pursuance of notice, rose in the House of Com- 
 mons to move : — “That an humble address be presented to 
 Her Majesty, representing Mr, John George Adair, one of the 
 Justices of the Peace for the county of Donegal, to have 
 recently ejected all the inhabitants from a tract of land in 
 that county, under circumstances which appear to this House 
 to affect seriously the general peace and well-being of the 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 239 
 
 district, and praying that she be graciously pleased to direct 
 an inquiry with a view to consider whether it was fitting 
 that Mr. Adair should continue to hold Her Majesty's Com- 
 mission.” After narrating the harrowing facts of the case, 
 Mr. Scully said : — “ If a landlord would assert his rights he 
 must not shelter himself under false excuses, and if he 
 became a disturber of the public peace it was a fit subject 
 for inquiry whether his name should be retained in the 
 commission of the peace. Mr. Adair had no right as a land- 
 lord to confound the innocent with the guilty — he had 
 visited the alleged sins of the fathers upon the children, for 
 amongst those whom he had evicted were 159 children. . . . 
 He did not bring this motion forward in any way as a public 
 prosecutor, but felt it his duty to afford Mr. Adair an oppor- 
 tunity of having his conduct fully inquired into. If the case 
 were his own he would be glad to have such an oppor- 
 tunity, and, as one of the landlord class, he was able to say 
 sincerely that no man would more rejoice than he should do 
 if Mr. Adair were able satisfactorily to vindicate himself, and 
 to show that he was worthy to retain his commission as a 
 magistrate. He trusted that Mr. Adair, when he came to 
 take a calm review of all the circumstances, would perceive 
 that his only escape from the position into which he brought 
 himself was to admit he had been wrong, retrace his steps, 
 and restore the unfortunate persons to their holdings.” 
 
 In the same debate, one of the most respectable mem- 
 bers of the house, Mr. More O’Farrell said : — “ It was a 
 fact to be noticed in the case that the rent of the parties 
 evicted had been paid up to the moment of their removal. 
 It was a question, then, whether the laws for the protection 
 of property had not been perverted to the purposes of 
 
240 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 vengeance, and he thought it a fitting subject for inquiry 
 whether the law could not be altered so as to restrain indi- 
 vidual landlords from these gross outrages, while preserving 
 the protection which it afforded to the rights of property. 
 He thought that in such cases a landlord should be made 
 to intimate his intentions beforehand to one of the Superior 
 Courts in Dublin, and that such wholesale evictions should 
 be carried out under the sanction and control of the law. 
 Great sympathy had been evoked by the eviction of these 
 poor people. They were the descendants of those who, 200 
 years ago, were driven from the fertile plains of Ulster. They 
 took shelter in those lone mountain recesses, and remained 
 unnoticed until the modern demand for land tempted specu- 
 lators, and stories were raised about the crime of the country 
 in order to justify their wholesale eviction. ” The motion, 
 after an interesting debate, in which Lord Palmerston 
 wound up, was rejected by a majority of 65. 
 
 Sometime after the terrible event the writer went into the 
 presence of the awful accompaniments that made this evic- 
 tion so distressing. The place lies in a lonely valley, skirted 
 by a broad lake with wooded banks, and terminating in an 
 amphitheatre of mountains. We entered when the sun was 
 descending rapidly in the West, but some rays still lingered 
 to enable us to perceive how dreadfully this scene of soft 
 beauty was disfigured by the many mouldering heaps that 
 marked the spots where, but yesterday, humble happiness 
 dwelt. Not a sound was heard except the moaning of the 
 wind, which floated up from the trees below, and while 
 listening an incident occurred which lent a melancholy in- 
 terest to the occasion. We saw coming towards us a man, 
 bent low with grief. He survived to tell the story of the 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 241 
 
 Derryveagh evictions ; but, sad to say, it pleased God to 
 deprive him of the power to do so. He was dumb, and it 
 was truly touching to see the look of despair on his face as 
 he raised it full upon us, and struggled to express the utter 
 desolation of his loneliness by a hollow and mournful ring 
 of the voice. He shook his head helplessly, and, waving 
 his hand high in air, pointed significantly to the broken 
 roof-trees around. We were standing close to the ruins 
 from which an old man of eighty was carried to the work- 
 house, where he died, and further on lived poor Bradley, 
 who was rendered insane by the shock. It was now the 
 pensive hour of evening, when feelings of depression are 
 quickened by the falling darkness. We hurried down the 
 glen, and our hearts were sore as we stood now and again 
 amidst the flitting shadows, “to cast one longing, lingering 
 look behind ” on that peaceful hamlet, strewn with the wreck 
 of many happy homes. 
 
 In one of those sparkling papers on “An Unknown 
 Country,” in the English Illustrated Magazine of 1887 
 the following passage occurs: — “Some years ago, in 
 Glenveagh was enacted a tragedy . . . The innocent suffered 
 with the guilty. Every family, women and children, young 
 and old, was turned out on the moor — for eviction here, in 
 this desolate place, means entire homelessness. 
 
 “ £ And what became of them ? ’ I asked, when the driver 
 and I were left alone in the carriage, and I had somehow made 
 him understand that I knew the story, and was sorry for the 
 poor souls — at least forthe old folks, the women and children.” 
 
 “‘Some died, ma’am, and some settled in other parts. 
 A good many went to America. Anyhow there is not one 
 of them left here — not one.’ 
 
 Q 
 
242 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 ‘“And Mr. Adair?’ 
 
 “ ‘He ’s dead.’ 
 
 “ The man set his teeth together, and hardened his face 
 — a face I should not like to meet on a lonely road. It was 
 the first glimse I had had since our coming to Ireland of 
 that terrible blood-feud now existing between landlord and 
 tenant, in which neither will see the others rights and wrongs, 
 nor distinguish between the just and the unjust, the good 
 and the bad.” The tourist may now return by Kilmacrenan 
 to Letterkenny, 
 
XL— EXCURSION TO RAPHOE. 
 
 ASSING the port of Letterkenny the traveller 
 journeys down the valley of the S willy for 
 about a mile, and then turning to the right 
 he holds a south-east course over an unin- 
 teresting country to 
 
 Raphoe (8 J miles), which : is well situated 
 a t the foot of the great range of Donegal 
 mountains, as they begin to decline into the lowlands 
 Raphoe, anciently Rath-Both (“the rath of the cottages,”) 
 is one of the oldest towns in Ireland, and, though it was in 
 the golden age of its prosperity, so flourishing as to give its 
 name to the diocese, has declined much of late years; 
 whole rows of houses being in a state of dilapidation. 
 St. Columba established a monastery here, which was sub- 
 sequently enlarged by his distinguished relative, the great 
 Adamnan, who ruled the famous Abbey of Hy in the last 
 half of the seventh century, and was second only to 
 St. Columba in the illustrious memories he left behind. 
 
 St. Eutian. — In the eleventh century another St. 
 Adamnan or Aoonan (Eunan) in the native dialect, con- 
 verted the place into an Episcopal See and became its first 
 Bishop. He it was who built the Cathedral, which, with 
 some notable alterations, exists there to this day. It is a 
 plain cruciform structure, with a square tower of the last 
 century, which is also the date of the transepts, added by 
 
244 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 the Protestant Bishop Pooley in 1702, The venerable 
 diocese of Raphoe was incorporated with that of Derry 
 by Act of Parliament in 1835, and the Palace now stands 
 near the Cathedral in a ruinous condition. The Catholic 
 Ecclesiastical division remains what it has been from 
 the earliest times, but the Catholic Bishop resides at 
 Letterkenny. The late Rev. Mathew Kelly, of Maynooth 
 College, in a notice of the patron Saint of Raphoe, 
 says: — “ His festival was formerly observed in that 
 diocese on the 7th of September. It is now on the 23rd 
 of that month, the day on which- all ancient calendars 
 commemorate the illustrious Abbot of Hy, St. Adamnan, 
 correctly pronounced Eunan.” Here - the learned Professor 
 is evidently, in error by representing “the illustrious 
 Abbot of Hy” as identical with Adamnan, first Bishop 
 of Raphoe, who is the same as St. Eunan. Ware in his 
 Irish Antiquities^ was the first to write Eunan. He did 
 not know Irish, and spelling the name as pronounced by the 
 people on the spot, he set it down Eunan. The confusion 
 thus created has been a difficulty to antiquarians. Thus 
 Harris speaks of the matter : — “ It seems it was St. Eunan 
 who erected the church of the Abbey into a Cathedral, and 
 who is looked upon to be the first Bishop of this See. But 
 upon the strictest inquiry I could make, I have not been 
 able to discover the exact time in which he lived.” No 
 wonder, for Colgan in his Acta Sanctorum , nowhere even 
 insinuates the existence of St. Eunan as distinct from St. 
 Adamnan, but invariably mentions St. Adamnan as first 
 Bishop of Raphoe. 
 
 The jurisdiction of the Bishop of Raphoe originally 
 included a larger territory than he now controls. In the 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 245 
 
 beginning the diocese was measured by the limits of 
 Tyrconnell, but these bounds have been notably contracted. 
 
 Reasons are given off-hand by some, who pretend to a 
 knowledge of the subject, but the amount of historical 
 foundation they possess one cannot easily see. What we do 
 know is that “in 1266 Germanus O’Cherballan, Bishop 
 of Derry, seized by violence, and appropriated a part 
 of the diocese of Raphoe.” Ware in his Irish Antiquities 
 states this fact, and for his authority he refers us to the 
 Registry of Clogher, which the writer has never been 
 able to see. The part of Raphoe, thus usurped, is Inish- 
 owen, or the peninsula of Eoghan, one of the sons of Nial 
 of the Nine Hostages, and founder of the O’Neil family, 
 who held it down to the fifteenth century. It then passed 
 to the O’Dohertys, descendants of Conal-Gulban, and they 
 were Lords of the district, till the violent and premature 
 end of Sir Cahir O’Doherty in 1610 (see p. 211). 
 
 CQOTVGy. — On the summit of a hill about two miles from 
 Raphoe, there is at Beltanny a fine example of a stone circle, 
 consisting of sixty-seven stones, and measuring one hundred 
 and fifty yards in circumference. The name Beltanny is 
 supposed to be a corruption of Baal-tinne, the “Fire of 
 Baal,” intimating a place where that deity was particularly 
 worshipped in Ireland ; just the same as the etymology in 
 Gaelic for the Beltani tree, burned at Midsummer. The 
 land around Raphoe towards the south and east is rich 
 and highly cultivated, the surface of the country being 
 uneven. A fine coup (Peril may be obtained from Mullafin (954 
 feet) eastward, over the green undulations and valleys of the 
 Deel and Finn, as well as beyond the Foyle away to the 
 distant hills of county Derry, while on every other side 
 
246 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 the Donegal ranges darken the horizon. Close at hand on 
 the north-west, is Cark mountain (1205 feet) near the top of 
 which, some ten miles from Raphoe, is Lough Deel, in which 
 the Burndale takes its rise (see page 10). This stream flows 
 south near Ballindrate, and joins the Foyle a little below 
 Lifford where the river is navigable by small craft. 
 “Hard by, near Convoy,” writes the Rev. C. Otway, 
 “ I observed a. kind of magnesian stone or steatite, that 
 might be applied to many uses in architecture and the 
 arts ; it is easily cut and carved as a piece of wood, and it 
 bears the fire so well that it would answer for crucibles.” 
 
 From Convoy the road 
 traverses an open country 
 through the clean village 
 of Killygordon, on the 
 Finn Valley Railway, 
 and within easy distance 
 of 
 
 CastSefin,— Here 
 stood formerly one of 
 those fortified centres 
 from which the Tyrcon- 
 nell chieftain ruled the 
 district down to the beginning of the seventeenth century. 
 It was assigned as a residence to the brooding Nial Garv, 
 instead of the more stately Castle of Lifford, which he alleged 
 had been bestowed upon him by the late chieftain, Hugh 
 Dubh. His grievance against the Red Prince for depriving 
 him of this grander edifice so worked up his old jealousy, 
 that he no longer, hesitated to sacrifice his valiant kinsman 
 to the enemy. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 247 
 
 In 1601 when Nial Garbh consummated his iniquity by 
 placing himself at the disposal of the invaders at Derry, 
 Hugh Roe happened to be in Connaught where he had 
 gone to chastise the chiefs there and in Munster for having 
 assisted the enemy to enter the Foyle. He heard at 
 Ballymote of the flagrant betrayal, and in order to confront 
 it, as soon as possible, he made for home in such rapid 
 marches that “none of his soldiers were able to keep up 
 with him except a few of his horsemen’’ (Annals). Meantime 
 Nial Garbh at the head of a considerable military command 
 from Dowcra had successfully stormed the O’Donnell 
 stronghold at Lifford, and seized it for the English (see 
 page 57 )- At this critical moment, Red Hugh reached 
 Castlefin and made it the seat of operations to recover 
 possession of Lifford: — “O’Donnell having heard of the 
 taking of this place (Lifford), came on the 12th of October 
 with 700 foot and 100 horse, and encamped himself 
 about three miles off at Castlefin. The next day he 
 came and showed himself before the town. Our garrison 
 made out, had a skirmish with him of an hour long,* 
 wherein Neale Garvie behaved himself bravely. Captain 
 Augustin Heath took a slight hurt in his hand, and some ten 
 or twelve men on each side were slain. On the 24th he 
 came again, and laid himself in ambush a mile from the town 
 watching to intercept our men fetching in of turf. . . . The 
 alarm taken, the garrison made forth again, and Neale 
 Garvie behaved himself bravely as before, charged home 
 upon them, killed one, hurt one or two more with his own 
 hands, and had his horse slain under him. Captain Heath 
 had a shot in the thigh, whereof he shortly after died, and 
 some twenty more were hurt and slain. ... All this time 
 
248 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 after Liffer had been taken O’Donnell kept up and down in 
 those parts, watching still to take our men upon some advan- 
 tage, but finding none, and hearing two Spanish ships that 
 were come into Killybegs with munition, arms, and money, 
 on the 10th of November, he departed towards them, and 
 between Tyrone and him they made a dividend of it” 
 (Dozucra’s Narrative ). Thus wearied and worn with the hard- 
 ships of the camp in this bitter winter the Bayard of Tyr- 
 connell broke up quarters at Castlefin to meet the traitor 
 at another time. 
 
 Lifford. — A few short miles from Castlefin is Lifford, the 
 ancient Liffer, and present Assize-town of the county Donegal. 
 It may be easily understood how Lifford, situated at the 
 confluence of the Finn and the Mourne, uniting their waters 
 to form the Foyle, which flows in majestic stream thence to 
 Derry, was one of the most important military positions 
 on the frontiers of Tyrconnell. At this pass, about 1525, 
 Hugh Oge, one of the best chieftains that reigned in 
 Tyrconnell, scattered the boasted army of his jealous foe, 
 the O’Neil (see p. 42). Then in course of a few years 
 Manus O’Donnell, son and successor of Hugh Oge, raised 
 on the coveted spot, in spite of the O’Neil, the strong 
 frontier Castle of Port-na-dtri-namhad, where he wrote in 
 Irish the well-known biography of St. Columba, the glory 
 of the O’Donnell family, and a member of the same (page 43). 
 In the year 1600 Nial Garbh O’Donnell, having joined the 
 English, established himself in this fortress, as has been 
 just related, and held it against the conquering hero, Red 
 Hugh, whom he had so basely deserted. 
 
 The famous School of Clon!eigh,— Near Lifford 
 flourished the famous School of Clonleigh, one of those 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 249 
 
 numerous seats which “induced people from every 
 country to flock to Ireland as to a mart of learning ” 
 ( Ven. Bede). The place was suppressed in the reign of 
 Edward VI., and in the report of an Inquisition, touching it 
 we are told: — “On the 10th day of December, and 27th 
 year of the reign of Henry VIII., late king of England, there 
 was a certain college or religious house, called Clonleigh, 
 situate, lying and being in the parts of Tyrconnell, lately 
 called the county of Donagall, near the river of Loughfoile, 
 not far from the Castle of Liffer, and there are situate and 
 lying there the ruined castle of the same late College or the 
 religious house, which College in the twentieth year of the 
 late King Edward VI., now abandoned, dissolved and sup- 
 pressed. The Provost of the said late College, or religious 
 house of Clonlighe, at the. time of the abandoning, dissolu- 
 tion and suppression of the same, was seized in his lordship 
 as of fee, in right of this said late house, and of two quarters 
 of land with the appurtenances of the said College adjacent, 
 together with all tythes of the same, and of two parts of the 
 tythes of the fish taken in the river aforesaid, near the land 
 aforesaid, and near the land of Liffer. The said Provost of the 
 College aforesaid, and other inhabitants upon the land of the 
 College aforesaid, were a long time, before the dissolution 
 of same, accustomed from time to time, to fish in and upon 
 the river aforesaid by licence from Lord O’Donnell, in that 
 part, obtained with one small cymba (cot) by right, and only 
 at ebbing of the water. The premises were of the yearly 
 value beyond reprisal of 3s., 4s. money of Ireland. By 
 reason of certain statutes, made, confirmed, and in the 
 Kingdom of Ireland established, all the premises appertain 
 to the now King as assured to the Crown of Ireland. From 
 
250 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 the time of the dissolution and suppression of the said late Col- 
 lege or religious house of Clonlighe divers Bishops of Derry 
 from time to time received, took and raised all and singular 
 the profits of the premises, until the time of the taking of this 
 inquisition, but of what right the jurors know not.” From 
 this statement, it is evident that Clonieigh, at the time of its 
 suppression, was a vast and richly-endowed ecclesiastical 
 establishment, with colleges, schools, religious house and 
 church. As a matter of course, therefore, it gave its name to 
 the present important parish of Clonieigh, in which is also 
 situated Strabane (white plain), one of the most thriving 
 towns in the north of Ireland. 
 
 The old church of Clonieigh is still there, bearing on its 
 aged walls the evidence of this past greatness. Colgan, in his 
 notice of St. Cairnechus, gives a prominent place to Clonieigh : 
 “ Hagiographers,” he writes, “ generally record that 
 St. Cairnechus was a bishop, but in what see he discharged 
 his Episcopal functions they have not made known. I think, 
 however, it was in his monastery. For that he was an abbot, 
 and had his monastery either in the place called Cruchan 
 Lighean, situated at the frith or arm of the sea, commonly 
 called Loch Febhail, and near the town of Liffer, or surely 
 in some adjacent place, an ancient writer has stated, who 
 says that the land of Cruaghan Lighan was bequeathed to 
 him in the will of Erca, his mother’s sister, the daughter of 
 Loarnus” (Acta SS., p. 782). In the parish of Clonieigh 
 there is a townland called Croaghan, and a hill of the same 
 name about two miles from Lifford — this, undoubtedly, is the 
 Cruaghan Lighean, which Colgan says was bequeathed to 
 St. Carnechus. It was upon the heights of Croaghan the 
 O’Donnell drew out his army in 1599, and challenged Docwra 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS, 25 I 
 
 to battle. The answer was a sortie, in which the English 
 general got severely beaten, and pursued up to the very 
 walls of Derry. Hence the people of Tyrconnell, as they 
 pass by, respectfully salute the historic scene, for it stirs up 
 within them the memory of their dauntless Led Hugh. 
 
 The tourist may now find himself in the matter of time 
 at a late afternoon, but he will not lose much by this, 
 seeing that the highway from Lifford to Letterkenny is 
 rather bare, and affords nothing special to interest him. 
 It is, however, a flax country par excellence , as he will be 
 sure to perceive if he happen to pass in the end of August, 
 or beginning of September, when the air is impregnated 
 with the abominable odour of the fibrous plant. There are 
 good views over the valley of the Swilly, into which the 
 road falls at the tenth mile and pursues its course up to 
 Letterkenny. 
 
LETTERKENNY TO BATHMULLEN. 
 
 Ryaned Abbey of 
 Killydonnell. 
 
 is a pleasant drive 
 on the western side 
 of the Swilly, pas- 
 sing Gortlea,Kiltoy 
 Lodge, Lisnenan 
 on the left, and on 
 the right Barn Hill, 
 Castlewray, and 
 Castle Grove, at 
 which point (four 
 miles), the direct 
 way turns inland. 
 But the tourist had better follow that which keeps 
 along the shore, for the sake of the exquisite picture, 
 presented by the spreading Lough and its coasts. Beyond 
 Ardrumman House (Captain Mansfield), are the ruins 
 of Killy donnell, a Franciscan friary, founded in the 
 sixteenth century by an O’Donnell A record of it 
 occurs in the Annals under a.d. 1558: — “Hugh Boy 
 O’Donnell, son of Hugh Duv, son of Hugh Roe, heir 
 to the lordship of Tyrconnell, a man much skilled and 
 learned in every science, who was much distinguished for 
 munificence and hospitality, for prowess in the field of 
 

 flit t isfuftt 
 
 Of Uii 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 253 
 
 battle and the gap of Danger, and who was expected for his 
 steadiness and other characteristics to attain to the lordship 
 of his own country (Tyrconnell), died at Cill O’d’Toughragh 
 (Killydonnel), on the 29th March, after having received 
 the Communion and Extreme Unction.” This abbey 
 is regarded as, perhaps, the finest specimen of early 
 ecclesiastical architecture to be found among similar ruins 
 in Ireland. A large portion of the side- walls of the chapel 
 is still standing, as also a turret or gable from which the 
 visitor may contemplate one of the most delightful land- 
 scapes on earth. Below him is a sea of purest sapphire, 
 bordered by a line, sloping off to the hills of Fanad and 
 Inishowen, and resplendent in its purple mantle of waving 
 forest : — 
 
 “ The bowery shore 
 Went off in gentle windings to the hoar 
 And light blue mountains, but no breathing man 
 With a warm heart, and eye prepared to scan 
 Nature’s clear beauty, could pass lightly by 
 Objects that looked out so invitingly 
 On cither side. . . . 
 
 r The sidelong view of swelling leafiness, 
 
 Which the glad setting sun in gold doth dress ; 
 
 Whence ever and anon the joy outsprings, 
 
 And seals upon the beauty of its wings. 
 
 The lovely turret shattered and outworn, 
 
 Stands venerably proud— too proud to mourn 
 Its long-lost grandeur.” — Keats. 
 
 The bell of Killydonnell, according to a popular legend, 
 is heard once every seven years at midnight. The story 
 goes that a party of marauders from Tyrone attacked the 
 abbey, and, carrying off amongst other things the bell, 
 put it on board a vessel which they had waiting off the 
 strand below, and departed with their booty across the 
 
2 54 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 estuary. But God’s justice overtook them, for a storm arose 
 and the sacrilegious robbers were all drowned, so that 
 rhe sacred bell never entered Tyrone. It is kept somewhere 
 at the bottom of the Lough, whence its muffled tones pro- 
 ceed once every seven years at the still hour of midnight. 
 
 Beyond Killydonrsoll is Fort Stewart, where there is a 
 ferry of the same name, touching on the opposite side within 
 about eight miles of Derry. At a short distance farther on 
 at Shellfield, are the ruins of old Fort Stewart, a place 
 built at the commencement of the seventeenth century. 
 Thence the route winds over a well-cultivated country to 
 
 Ramelton (Hotel : Stewart Arms ), which, with its plea- 
 sant boulevard or shaded promenade, is prettily situated on 
 the Lannan, a mountain stream that flows into Lough Fern, 
 and emerges under the same name, only a few yards from 
 its point of entrance. Like the Bann, it was at one time 
 remarkable for its pearls, and at present it furnishes good 
 sport for the angler. From Ramelton the tourist may take 
 the direct route to Milford, four Irish miles, or go round 
 by Tilly Bridge to feast his eyes on the abundance of inter- 
 esting scenery to be met with in this peninsula, formed by 
 Lough Swilly and Mulroy Bay, between Ramelton and 
 Milford, and only five miles from sea to sea. First, there 
 is a picturesque valley with the pretty seats of Claragh 
 ( — Watt, Esq.), and Ballyarr (Captain Hill), then Lough 
 Fern and its circumference of four miles in the heart of 
 a lovely country all the way to 
 
 Milford- — Here the visitor must pause to explore the 
 Bunlin, a river which pursues a romantic course until it 
 forms a fine cascade at the Golden Loup. From the back 
 of the inn the stranger is greeted by 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 255 
 
 Th© Mu3r©y 9 an estuary which for irregularity of coast- 
 line is hardly equalled anywhere. To explore this inlet of 
 the great Atlantic, so striking and so full of various incident, 
 go to Carrigart by the road that keeps along the western 
 shore of the bay of whose calm waters, and bold, broken 
 shores a splendid prospect may thus be gained. Leaving 
 Milford, therefore, on this journey, the visitor soon descends 
 into the shadow of Cratloe Wood, on the shore of the 
 Mulroy. 
 
 Th© Murder of Lord Leitrim.— Here at 9 o’clock on the 
 morning of the 2nd April, 1878, the notorious Lord 
 Leitrim, as he drove with his servant and clerk from 
 Manor Vaughan, received a sudden check from an armed 
 band, who in the name of a tenantry,' long smarting under 
 the lash of his arbitrary laws, commanded him to prepare 
 for instant death. He answered the ringleader at once by 
 a discharge of fire-arms, when in a few seconds the old man 
 with his gray hairs streaming in the wind, was literally 
 slaughtered, and his mangled body flung into the ditch. 
 The terrible deed produced a most profound sensation over 
 the kingdom, but the murderers escaped. The place 
 selected was the most suitable that could be imagined for 
 the purpose. All the circumstances seemed to favour them; 
 they were supposed to have come up the Mulroy in the 
 early dawn, when the tide and wind were favourable, and 
 found a place for their boat in a dark recess, where it could 
 not be seen. Lord Leitrim had left his house that particular 
 morning half an hour earlier than his usual time for 
 starting, and if he had not done so, the police on patrol 
 from Milford would most probably be on the spot, or quite 
 near to it when the murder took place. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 256 
 
 The chorus of condemnation for Lord Leitrim’s treatment 
 of his serfs was general, and over his estates, as well as in 
 the neighbouring districts there seems to have been a 
 universal feeling of relief on his being removed. We read 
 of a Roman noble, who had his thousand white slaves, 
 whom he could drive to market and sell, whom he could 
 flog until they expired, and we sicken at the thought. But 
 the day has come when the reader may peruse with 
 deep indignation the account of the Irish noble, who 
 scourged his thousand tenants with scorpions, and had 
 it in his power to turn them out any day to die by the 
 roadside. Lord Leitrim pushed his distorted notion of 
 “landlord’s rights’ 5 to cruel extremities. Even ludicrous 
 instances of this are related. On his property there 
 was a rule in force by which everything that was yielded 
 up by the great deep, and floated in upon the sea-board 
 of the estate, belonged to the lord of the soil. It 
 happened that a dead horse was flung upon the beach, and 
 the skin of the animal sold by a tenant. The fact came 
 to the ears of the landlord, when he insisted on the skin 
 being brought back and placed in his possession. His 
 lordship was the patron as well as manager of fourteen 
 or fifteen National Schools on his estates, and in that 
 capacity he governed teachers and pupils with a rod of iron. 
 One of his hobbies was to prohibit absolutely the children 
 from having books for home-use. What is called the 
 Heme Lesson was an unknown scholastic resource to 
 the poor children of his schools. He used to 
 
 defend this extraordinary regulation on three grounds — 
 1 st, the children, he said, were unable to buy books — 
 a strange reason, when it is well-known that the 
 
THfc uBSttSI 
 Of THE 
 
 iWiSSl'f? fif M.UH0IS 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 257 
 
 pupils of the National Schools throughout the country 
 purchase, according to the returns of the National Board, 
 upwards of ^30,000 worth of school-books and requisites as 
 a rule every year ; 2nd, the children, he said, had no time for 
 the use of lesson-books at home, as every moment when not 
 actually at school, should be devoted to the work of their 
 parents’ farms, farmyards and households ; and 3rd, that 
 if the children conned over and learned their lessons at 
 home, the teachers, who were paid for their work, would 
 have nothing to do in their schools. Yet this eccentric 
 nobleman, one would think, ought to be mindful of the fact 
 that the building-up of his own family to its peerage in 
 1783, was begun by a man, who decidedly won in the race 
 of life by his brains, and not by his arms, however powerful 
 they may have been. This was Daniel Clements, who 
 accompanied Cromwell to Ireland as a Cornet, in one of 
 those sanctimonious regiments who sought the Lord by the 
 light of their pistol shots. He left an only son, who held 
 the lucrative office of Deputy Treasurer for Ireland, and his 
 children’s children rapidly advanced into the front rank of 
 the Irish landed aristocracy, not, as might be expected, from 
 Daniel Clement’s connection with the regicide chief, for, as 
 far as the writer knows, the Leitrim estates have no place in 
 the records of the Cromwellian Settlement. 
 
 But the oppressive system, pursued by the murdered Earl, 
 was entirely reversed by his excellent nephew and heir. 
 In the depth and breadth of his sympathy, he spent nearly 
 all his time at Manor Vaughan in the midst of his 
 struggling tenants, teaching and encouraging them to make 
 their little farms more productive. Then turning a generous 
 attention to the development of local resources, be lost 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 258 
 
 not a moment in framing plans and giving them practical 
 effect. The fine steamship Melmore was soon built and 
 launched at his own expense, to convert the waters 
 of the Mulroy into a highway of commerce. This 
 splendid vessel is plying regularly between Glasgow 
 and Milford, while in the summer months she is employed 
 for a few days at a time in conveying excursion parties 
 to the various resorts round the North-west coast. With 
 the same object, as well as to attract the rising current of 
 tourist traffic, an hotel on the Scandinavian principle had 
 its foundation laid near Downing’s Bay. What a public loss, 
 therefore, when this enlightened and benevolent Lord Leitrim 
 was prematurely taken away for ever from the splendid 
 projects he loved so well? No wonder the expression of 
 sorrow for his early death last year found responsive echo in 
 many an humble cottage in Donegal. This exhibition of 
 tender feeling, as well as the vast throng of people and 
 priests, who followed his funeral-car to the peaceful cemetery 
 of the crumbling little Protestant church of Carrigart, 
 Milford, show conclusively how a good Irish landlord lives 
 in the affections of a grateful tenantry. 
 
 Carrigart. — Bidding farewell to Cratloe Wood, and its 
 instructive lesson, the traveller hurries rapidly by Manor 
 Vaughan over Cranford Bridge to the “ Narrows ” where the 
 rushing tide leaps and frets through its contracted channel. 
 Carrigart is the next halt, and the scene from it of rolling 
 desert, swept by the wail of the melancholy ocean, produces 
 a feeling of depression. This, however, is soon cheered by 
 a bright parochial house, and a Catholic parish church, so 
 spacious in its dimensions, and so ornate in its style, as to 
 make it worthy of a Cathedral town. Then its internal 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 259 
 
 arrangements are very simple, but very devotional, and the 
 scrupulous care with which they are kept, loudly proclaim 
 “ zeal for the glory of God’s house ” on the part of the 
 presiding priest, whose heart seems to be as large as his 
 presence is imposing. Not more than a mile from Carrigart is 
 
 The Buried Mansion of Lord Boyne.— Early in the 17th 
 century Sir Frederick Hamilton, belonging, like the ancestors 
 of the Duke of Abercorn, Barons Court, near Strabane, to 
 one of the best and oldest families in Scotland, came to 
 this country in the interests of King James I., and was 
 presented with a very substantial settlement, chiefly in 
 County Leitrim. Before casting his lot in Ireland he fought 
 abroad, under the standard of the celebrated Gustavus 
 Adolphus, and felt so proud of the fact that he had his 
 youngest son baptized with the name of the illustrious 
 Swedish monarch. This Gustavus Hamilton grew up to be 
 foremost in the defence of Enniskillen against the Jacobite 
 forces, a Captain in the Williamite army of the Duke of 
 Schomberg in 1689, and in command of a regiment at the 
 Battle of the Boyne. He then served under General 
 Ginkell, and distinguished himself at the capture of Athlone, 
 where he also acted as Governor. After sitting as a com- 
 moner in the first Parliament of Queen Anne, he was, 
 in 1717, raised to the House of Lords as Viscount Boyne, 
 in the peerage of Ireland. 
 
 The noble Lord’s estates in Donegal included Rossgull, 
 which in those days, as far as the eye could reach, rejoiced 
 in the highest state of cultivation and prosperity. Here on 
 Rosapenna, clothed with the richest verdure, stood for 
 many a day, in all the pomp of that time, the seat of Lord 
 Boyne. The state apartments and lofty halls, on the first 
 
26 o 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 floor, opened into a velvet lawn, laid out in terraces, and 
 studded with rare Italian sculpture ; while the shaded avenues, 
 the teeming garden, the luscious fruit, the soft-smelling 
 flowers, and the spreading park, gave the impression, 
 especially in that remote region, of Oriental luxury. So 
 sweet, indeed, was the vegetation all round that his Lordship, 
 on coming home, after his usual morning walk among the 
 hills, invariably found his boots dripping with wild honey. 
 But at present all this proud and flourishing existence is like 
 the grave of a “ buried city.” In little more than a hundred 
 years, Lord Boyne’s display at Rosapenna has disappeared 
 beneath the waves of red sand, leaving only a few pieces 
 of broken masonry to record its fate. “For miles not a 
 blade of grass, not a particle of verdure, but hills and 
 dales, and undulating swells,, smooth, solitary, desolate, 
 reflecting the sun from their polished surface, of one 
 uniform flesh-like hue.” 
 
 It would appear that one of the Lords Boyne was so 
 dominated with the hatred of the old faith that, in the 
 persecuting spirit of the age, he determined to expel all his 
 Catholic tenants from the homes of their fathers. This 
 terrible purpose was so strong upon him that, on a certain 
 occasion, when leaving home for his place in the Irish 
 House of Lords, he vowed “ to make the Papists in Rossgull 
 as sparse there as the eagles.” A few weeks afterwards, 
 during a heated debate, he flung across the benches a remark, 
 so cutting, that the Catholic Peer to whom it was addressed, 
 seizing his chair, in a fit of fury, hurled it at the head of 
 Lord Boyne, smashing his skull, and scattering the brains 
 over the floor. Such is one of the traditions, common in 
 Rossgull, and told quite recently to the writer as he stood 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 261 
 
 amidst the ruins of Rosapenna. According to my informant, 
 it was this occurrence that caused members’ seats in the old 
 Parliament House of College Green to be made fast to the 
 floor with strong iron chains ! The glory of Lord Boyne 
 has departed from Rossgull, but its fine Celtic population, so 
 far from being extirpated, is spreading its wings like the 
 eagles. There is at present great joy among them for 
 having given, within the last few months, to the Catholic 
 Church a great Prince ; to Ireland her only Cardinal ; and 
 to the Primatial see of Armagh its first Cardinal, since the 
 foundation of St. Patrick, in the middle of the 5th century. 
 
 Rosapenna Hotel. — About ten minutes’ drive from 
 this scene of fallen greatness, you are, with agreeable 
 surprise, ushered into a spacious suite of drawing, dining, 
 coffee, reading, and billiard rooms, with large sleeping 
 accommodation attached, on the most approved modern 
 principle; lawn tennis, and the best natural golf links in 
 the country. This is the Rosapenna Hotel, just opened by 
 the trustees of the good Earl Leitrim, who, dying not long 
 ago a comparatively young man, left to his son and heir 
 what is infinitely more valuable than his coronet, namely, 
 the bright example of a compassionate landlord. Stepping 
 from the lofty verandah of this comfortably equipped Scandi- 
 navian structure, the visitor may saunter for miles on a 
 pleasantly sanded beach, listening to the voices from the 
 great deep, and inhaling the purest air in the whole world. 
 The numerous lakes and rivers on the estate afford as much 
 of gentle exercise as a jaded system may desire, while one 
 day in each week the new fast screw boat, Melmore , leaves 
 Downing’s Pier close by for an excursion round the coast to 
 Portrush, and a well-appointed coach plies every week day 
 
262 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 between the Hotel and Rathmullen, which is about ore 
 hour from Londonderry. Thus by leaving Dublin or Belfast 
 with the limited mail in the morning, one can lunch in Derry, 
 then proceed by train and steam ferry to Rathmullen. 
 Here at 3 p.m. the Rosapenna conveyance is waiting to 
 whisk you off during three hours’ fast trotting through a 
 shifting panorama of bold but delightful scenery to the 
 Hotel. The arrival is timed for a dinner, prepared, in every 
 way a la mode , by a French chef, under the intelligent 
 
 management of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Wain, who 
 are sure, to make your 
 stay more than com- 
 fortable at the very 
 moderate charge of 
 1 os.. 6d*. per day. 
 
 Fanad of th® 
 Gal Soglasses. -From 
 Carrigart the tourist 
 shall again seek the 
 Mulroy shore by the nearest way. Crossing the ferry from 
 Lowertown, let him follow the road on the eastern side, 
 traversing Fanad, the land of the Galloglasses, “ the 
 MacSwines of the axes” (see page 84 , et seq.). Fanad in 
 the beginning was the property of the sept of the O’Breslans? 
 descendants of Connaing, third son of Conall-Gulban, 
 sovereign of Tyrconnell. The O’Breslans, however, were 
 succeeded by the MacSwines, who established themselves 
 there in formidable strength at an early period. “ Physically 
 speaking, Fanad is intersected by three short ranges of 
 hills, running across the peninsula, viz., the Rathmullen 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 263 
 
 range, the Knockalla Hills, which attain to a height of 1,200 
 feet; and a still more northerly group about 800 feet” 
 {Murray). The road skirting the base of Knockalla, and 
 keeping close to the sea-shore, abounds in all the incident 
 of exciting coast scenery, and mountain ranges away to the 
 left. About a mile or so from Rosnakill, on an inlet of the 
 Mulroy, opposite Tamney, is Moross Castle, one of the many 
 fortresses that belonged to the MacSwines. Some two miles 
 from this near Kindrum, the mountain of Cashelmore pre 
 sents a height of 560 feet, from which it is easy to survey 
 the old tower of Melmore, commanding the entrance to 
 the Mulroy. Below, at the foot of Cashelmore, is a farm- 
 house, from which the historic Miss Patterson emigrated to 
 America in the beginning of this century, and was there led 
 to the altar by Jerome Bonaparte, who swore to cherish 
 her as his wife till death did them part. But his brother, the 
 great Napoleon, presuming to dissolve the marriage tie, 
 ordered a divorce, and Mrs. Bonaparte bore the wrong with 
 edifying resignation until her death, at a ripe old age, in the 
 land of her adoption. 
 
 Portsaloil or Croughross. — The pedestrian should 
 now proceed northwards by one of the pathways to explore 
 the cliffs at Rinmore Point, and continue on to the light- 
 house (ninety feet above high water) on Fanad Head. 
 Turning down along the coast, after stopping at Doagh 
 to examine one of the most primitive native villages it is 
 possible to conceive, he will find himself in good time to 
 rest his weary limbs in the neat little hotel, opened a few 
 years ago at Portsalon or Croughross. The house, though 
 it does not pretend to much, is exceedingly comfortable, and 
 in the centre of all the attractions to be seen in this land of 
 
264 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 wonders. It is built near the beach of golden sand on 
 Ballymackstoker Bay, where the frigate Saldanha was 
 wrecked in i8it, whose captain, the Hon. W. Pakenham, 
 has his tomb in front of the old Abbey at Rathmullen, 
 The coast scenery is particularly fine, especially at the Seven 
 Arches , a series of marine caves, accessible by land. The 
 visitor, who is not disposed to make the walking tour, 
 which has just been sketched, can reach Portsalon by the 
 car-road running from Rosnakil, or Kerrykiel on the Mulroy, 
 across the peninsula, and from this pleasant hotel in due 
 time direct his course southward. 
 
 The Lake Of Shadows. — Leaving the Knockalla Battery 
 on the way, and looking up and down the Lough, one rests his 
 eyes with welcome on its heaving bosom, in which, with 
 marvellous precision, are reflected those crowding visions of 
 cloud, sunshine, and sylvan pomp, that make the Swilly in 
 reality what it is in name, the “ Lake of Shadows.” Close on 
 the right are the Knockalla heights, whose broken summit, 
 line and numerous off-shoots give grandeur and variety to the 
 soft beauty of the landscape, while on the left there is a 
 receding glimpse of the Inishowen sea-board, and mountains 
 in the background, culminating in Slieve Snaght. Near 
 Lamb's Head Bay at the village of Drumhallagh, there is a 
 tolerably perfect Giant’s Bed, formed of large flat stones, 
 placed on their edge. From Lamb's Head Bay, the road 
 descends into a warm country, skirting Kinnegar strand, 
 and, first passing Fort Royal then the “ sweet home ” of 
 T. Batt, Esq., you enter 
 
 Rathmullen (Hotel: Denny'S) pop. 500), a little town, 
 charmingly placed on the very margin of S willy's gay 
 shore. Behind is a range of hills, the highest point of 
 
m »*' 
 
 of v.it 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 265 
 
 which, Crockanaffrin, is 1,137 feet. It is worth while to 
 make an excursion to the top of Croaghan (1,010 feet), 
 which is nearer, in order to gaze on the indentations 
 which put the traveller in mind more of Norwegian fiords 
 than of Irish scenery. In the town are the ruins 
 of an Abbey in tolerable preservation, thus forming an 
 exception to the rule of thorough “ rooting up,” which 
 has been pursued with vandal effect towards the most 
 venerable of the ancient Ecclesiastical establishments in 
 Tyrconnell. This was originally a Carmelite priory, and 
 exhibits some fine specimens of pointed Gothic, while over 
 the east window there is still to be seen a striking figure of 
 St. Patrick — life size. 
 
 Adjoining the priory are the remains of a strongly built 
 castle, and in one of its gables a slab is inserted with the 
 armorial bearings of the MacSwines of Fanad, sculptured on 
 it, showing thereby the seat to have been the ancestral 
 home of that family, once so powerful in these parts. In 
 1618 Turlogh Oge MacSwine was compelled to hand over 
 possession of this castle, with its manor and appurtenances, 
 to Dr. Knox, just appointed Protestant Bishop of Raphoe, 
 who introduced many improvements after the Tudor style, 
 to make it a place befitting his rank and high office. 
 
 Flight Of the Earls. — It was while dining one day in 1 588 
 in this castle with his friend, MacSwine of Fanad, that the 
 gallant Red Prince, heir presumptive to the throne of Tyr- 
 connell, was treacherously spirited away by the English 
 Lord Deputy in Ireland, and lodged as hostage in a prison 
 cell at Dublin (see p. 47). But some nineteen years later 
 the little town of Rathmullen witnessed another incident far 
 more important and far more touching than the kidnapping 
 
266 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 of the young Hugh Roe O’Donnell. This is known as ct the 
 Flight of the Earls,” and chronicled by the Four Masters in 
 the following passage : — “ A ship carried from Rathmullen 
 the Earl O’Neill (Hugh, son of Ferdorah) and the Earl 
 O’Donnell (Rory, son of Hugh, who was son of Manus), and 
 many other nobles of the province of Ulster. These are 
 the persons who went with O’Neill, namely, his Countess 
 Catherina, daughter of Magennis, and her three sons — Hugh 
 the Baron, John and Brian. . . . These were they who went 
 with the Earl O’Donnell, namely Caffar, his brother, with 
 his sister Nuala, Hugh the Earl’s child, wanting three weeks 
 of being one year old ; Rose, daughter of O’Doherty and 
 wife of Caffar. . . . They embarked on the festival of the 
 Holy Cross in Autumn (1607). This was a distinguished 
 company, and it is certain that the sea has not borne and the 
 wind has not wafted in modern times a number of persons in 
 one ship more eminent, illustrious, or noble in point of gene- 
 alogy, heroic deeds, valour, feats of arms, and brave achieve- 
 ments than they. W ould that God had but permitted them to 
 remain in their patrimonial inheritance until their children 
 should arrive at the age of manhood ! Woe to the heart 
 that meditated, woe to the mind that conceived, woe to the 
 counsel that recommended the project of this expedition, 
 without knowing whether they should to the end of their 
 lives be able to return to their native principalities or patri- 
 monies ” ( Annals , a.d. 1607). 
 
 Sir John Davis or Davies, who accompanied Lord Deputy 
 Chichester in a careful inspection of Ulster, and was one of 
 the first two English Sheriffs, appointed for that province, 
 concludes his curious narrative of “The Flight of the Earls” 
 with a few pregnant words. The difficulties England had 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 267 
 
 to contend with in conquering Tyrone (Earl O'Neil) are 
 there acknowledged with all the frankness of a generous 
 foe: — “As for us that are here,” he says, “we are 
 glad to see the day wherein the countenance and majesty 
 of the law and civil government hath banished Tyrone 
 out of Ireland, which the best army in Europe and the 
 expense of two millions of sterling pounds, had not been 
 able to bring to pass.” The memorable event came about 
 in this way. Upon the failure of the Earl of Essex (1600) 
 to crush the rebellion in Ulster, Lord Mountjoy was en- 
 trusted with the task, and the discomfiture of the O’Donnell 
 and O’Neil at Kinsale, towards the end of 1601 (page 65, 
 et seq.) gave him an advantage which he did not fail to make 
 the most of. He established a network of strongly-garrisoned 
 fortresses all over the north, and employed a large force 
 during the summer in laying waste the country. A famine 
 followed, the details of which make one’s blood run 
 cold. Fynes Morrison, who acted as Mountjoy ’s secretary, 
 relates many harrowing instances of this direful visitation, 
 such as his having seen families near Newry, maddened 
 with the pangs of hunger, roasting the bodies of their 
 children on piles of burning timber in the fields, and 
 feasting like cannibals on this human flesh. He adds : — 
 “ And no spectacle was more common in the ditches 
 and towns, and especially on door-steps sometimes, than 
 to see multitudes of these poor people dead, with their 
 mouths all coloured green from eating nettles, dockings, 
 and all things they could rend up above the ground.” Cox 
 in his history, speaking of the same scourge, says the 
 famine during the siege, and taking of Jerusalem by 
 the Romans, was not greater than what took place 
 
268 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 in Ireland at this time. Thus the black flag kept 
 floating over the fair plains of Ulster until the proud 
 spirit of its humbled chieftains was so completely subdued 
 that they felt the terrible fate of their perishing subjects, 
 demanded giving in with honour. While in this frame of 
 mind, Rory O’Donnell, in the winter of 1603, as we are told 
 by the Four Masters, received a message from Mountjoy 
 requesting him to come to terms, for news arrived that his 
 brother had died in Spain, and it would be a tremendous 
 responsibility if he held out any longer. Rory called his 
 advisers to consider with him what he ought to do, when 
 some of them said the report of Red Hugh’s death was not 
 true, but fabricated to deceive. Others asserted the contrary, 
 and, therefore, deemed it prudent to accept the overtures of 
 ratifying a peace, which was accordingly done. On the 
 14th of December, 1603, Rory O’Donnell made his submis- 
 sion to the Lord Deputy Mountjoy, who soon afterwards 
 accompanied him to London, where he was received with 
 great distinction by James I. By the settlement agreed 
 upon, Donegal shall be subjected henceforth to the adminis- 
 tration of English lav/ ; but O’Donnell was to remain in 
 possession of his sway, with the title of Earl of Tyrconnell, 
 which though conferred on his grandfather, Manus, sixty-one 
 years ago by Henry VIII., remained in abeyance until the 
 present. O’Neil accepted the same terms as well as the 
 confirmation of his Earldom of Tyrone, with which Conn 
 Bacagh O’Neil had been invested in 1542, and both 
 Tyrone and Tyrconnell returned to Ireland. 
 
 They soon felt that cupidity, jealousy, religious intoler- 
 ance, and other kindred passions warred against them, the 
 treaty of peace notwithstanding. Though continuing for 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 269 
 
 a few years to pick their steps with the utmost caution, 
 they found themselves so unexpectedly and so alarmingly 
 confronted with the terrible accusation of conspiring to 
 murder the Lord Deputy and to set Dublin Castle on fire, 
 that they deemed it necessary to fly with their lives 
 from their native land, as swiftly and secretly as possible. 
 The fact of this hideous charge being trumped up by 
 Robert Cecil (Earl Salisbury) the English Secretary ot 
 State at the time, to compass the destruction of the last of 
 poor Ireland’s ancient chieftains, is stated by Dr. Anderson, 
 a learned English divine, in his Royal Genealogies , published 
 in London, 1736. At p. 786, he writes: — “ Artful Cecil 
 employed one St. Lawrence to entrap the Earls of Tyrone 
 and Tyrconnell, the lord Delvin, and other Irish chiefs, into 
 a sham plot, which had no evidence but his. These chiefs 
 however, being warned that informers were to be hired 
 against them, foolishly fled from Dublin, and so taking guilt 
 upon them, they were declared rebels, and six counties in 
 Ulster were at once forfeited to the Crown, which was what 
 the Crown wanted.” CeciFs agent, in fastening this wicked 
 imputation round the necks of its unsuspecting victims, was, 
 it appears, St. Lawrence of the Howth family, who, by 
 arrangement, dropped at the door of the Privy Council 
 Chamber an anonymous letter, mentioning the conspiracy, 
 and pointing to the two Northern Earls as its authors. 
 Thus it happened, that early in September, 1607, a packet was 
 delivered to the O’Neil, while on a visit with the Lord Deputy 
 at Slane. He took leave abruptly of his host, and hastened 
 to the shore of Lough Swilly, where the O’Donnell met 
 him, when the two with their families, under cover of the 
 darkness, rowed out from Rathmullen to a trading vessel, made 
 
270 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS, 
 
 ready to start, and bade adieu for ever to their inheritance. 
 They landed in a Norman port, and here agents of the English 
 government, demanded their surrender. Henry IV. of France 
 however, declined to give them up, so that they made their way 
 to Rome, where Pope Urban VIII. not only gave them a 
 royal reception, but maintained them with princely hospitality. 
 
 Death of the Earl of Tyrconnell in Rome — The 
 
 earthly career of O'Donnell did not last long in the Eternal 
 City. His heart, though cheered by this affectionate welcome 
 of the Supreme Pontiff, was breaking, when he remembered 
 his happy home in Tyrconnell. His health gave way so rapidly 
 under this violent wrench of exile, that he expired in the fol- 
 lowing July, and two months later, his brother Caffar, went 
 down also into the valley of death. It was very sad, and 
 amongst Mangan’s translations from the Irish, is a tender 
 elegy, composed by the O’Donnell’s own bard, Owen Roe 
 MacWard, who accompanied the chieftain in his banishment. 
 This touching poem is addressed to the high-minded sister of 
 the O’Donnell, who parted with her degenerate husband, 
 Nial Garv, when he sold himself to the English (see p. 56). 
 The bard finds this queenly woman in solitary grief at the 
 grave of her illustrious brother, in San Pietro, in Montorio 
 (St. Peter’s Hill at Rome), where so many loving hearts 
 congregated quite recently, on the occasion of the Irish 
 Pilgrimage. MacWard’s poetic soul is deeply moved, and 
 he breaks forth into the following inspiration ; — 
 
 * * O woman of the piercing wail. 
 
 Who mournest o’er yon mound of clay 
 With sigh and groan, 
 
 Would to God thou wert among the Gael ! 
 
 Thou wouldst not then from day to day 
 Weep thus alone. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 271 
 
 ’Twere long before, around a grave 
 In green Tyrconnell one could find 
 This loneliness ; 
 
 Near where Beann-Boirches banner’s wave 
 Such grief as thine could ne’er have pined 
 Companionless. 
 
 What do I say ? Ah, woe is me ! 
 
 Already we bewail in vain 
 Their fatal fall ! 
 
 Then daughter of O’Donnell, dry 
 Thine overflowing eyes, and turn 
 Thy heart aside, 
 
 For Adam’s race is born to die. 
 
 And sternly the sepulchral urn 
 Mocks human pride! 
 
 Embrace the faithful Crucifix, 
 
 And seek the path of pain and prayer 
 Thy Saviour trod ; 
 
 Nor let thy spirit intermix 
 With earthly hope, and wordly care 
 Its groans to God! 
 
 Look not, nor sigh, for earthly throng, 
 Nor place thy trust in arm of clay— r 
 But on thy knees 
 Uplift thy soul to God alone, 
 
 For all things go their destined way 
 As He decrees. 
 
 And Thou, O mighty Lord ! whose ways 
 Are far above our feeble minds 
 To understand, 
 
 Sustain us in these doleful days 
 And render light the chain that binds 
 Our fallen land ! 
 
272 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 Look down upon our dreary state, 
 
 And through the ages that may still 
 Roll sadly on, 
 
 Watch thou o’er hapless Erin’s fate, 
 
 And shield at least from darker ill 
 The blood of Conn ! ” 
 
 Poor Nuala ! she also left her bones in the same holy ground 
 on the Janiculum within the shadow of “ the dome of Peter.” 
 Tyrconnell’s infant and only son grew up to be on the 
 staff of the Spanish Archduchess at Brussels in 1619, but 
 while yet very young he met with a melancholy end in 
 drowning. The direct male issue of the great O’Donnell 
 was thus irretrievably cut off, for the Red Prince when he 
 breathed his last in Valladolid (see page 68) at the early 
 age of 29, left no son, then the only boy of his third brother, 
 Caffar, by Lady Rose O’Doherty, did not live to propagate 
 his noble race, and Manus, fourth and last brother, while 
 yet unmarried, was foully murdered by his brutal and 
 jealous cousin, Nial Garv. 
 
 Romantic history of Mary O’Donnell — Rory’s wife, 
 Bridget, daughter of Henry, Earl of Kildare, being near her 
 confinement, at the time of “ the flight,” was considered a 
 bad subject for the hardships of an exciting chase across the 
 stormy seas that divide Donegal from the Continent. It was, 
 therefore, arranged that she should wait until the clouds rolled 
 by, and seek her husband abroad by easy stages. The secret, 
 however, transpired when the Countess ofTyrconnell on 
 attempting to leave the country was intercepted by the 
 authorities at Dublin, who had her watched and conducted 
 to London, where, after a few weeks, her infant 
 daughter was born and baptized as Mary. When the 
 interesting news came to King James I., he determined to 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 273 
 
 befriend the helpless offspring of an ill-used and expatriated 
 Irish chieftain, whom he recently learned to respect. Ac- 
 cordingly, the little stranger was carried into his august 
 presence, formally taken under his sovereign protection, and 
 invested with the name of his royal line. He directed that 
 in future she shall be called Mary Stewart instead of Mary 
 O’Donnell, and upon the mother, who was introduced on 
 this auspicious occasion, his Majesty fixed a pension of 
 a year out of her husband’s forfeited estates. How her 
 features and distinguished bearing impressed him, is told 
 by an eye-witness in a letter to Lord Shrewsbury : — “ She 
 kissed his Majesty’s hand, and a sweeter face you never saw. 
 Indeed, the king wondered her husband left so fair a face 
 behind him.” 
 
 When the appalling intelligence arrived of Tyrconnell’s 
 sudden passing away before the tomb of the Apostles, his 
 widow cried bitterly, and refused to be comforted. Being 
 invited into the King’s presence, she poured out her anguish 
 in much weeping, and pleaded for permission to withdraw 
 with her tender charge for a few years into the native glens 
 and mountains of her dear, departed husband, there to 
 mourn his loss and mitigate her own great sorrow. The 
 “ fair face ” and its raining tears prevailed, when the 
 afflicted Countess lost no time in seeking the seclusion of 
 far-off Donegal. Here the days and nights were affectionately 
 given to forming the character of her little Mary, whose 
 first lesson consisted in lisping many a holy name and aspira- 
 tion, consecrated to Catholic prayer. Then as the child’s 
 ideas began to shoot her tender intelligence was duly 
 impressed with the story of her beloved father’s reign, his 
 devotion to, and sacrifices for the old faith, the confiscation 
 
274 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 of his chieftaincy, his banishment, and lonely death in a 
 foreign land. Night after night as the orphan listened to 
 the music of her fond mother’s voice in narrating the links 
 of this pathetic tale, she sobbed herself to sleep, and 
 the visions of what she heard deepened into indelible 
 memories. 
 
 Twelve years were spent happily in this retirement when 
 the mother became Countess of Kingsland, and the daughter, 
 by direction of James I., was brought back to London under 
 the wings of her wealthy grandmother, the Dowager Countess 
 of Kildare, who stood high in the King’s confidence. After a 
 few years Mary Stewart’s promising girlhood blossomed, 
 and shone in the society of the Court, where she moved by 
 favour of the Monarch. The fragrance of her mother’s 
 prayerful training not less than the striking resemblance 
 she bore to the two great families from which she sprung, as 
 well as the Royal dowry, which was sure to come, 
 won the heart of many a gilded youth, whose pedi- 
 gree was only inferior to Princes of the blood. 
 
 She had a series of brilliant offers of marriage which 
 were quickly rejected. There was, however, one not to be 
 so lightly treated, for it came with all the weight of the 
 Dowager Countess of Kildare’s recommendation and, pressed 
 by the King, with the promise of a marriage portion quite 
 regal in its munificence. But the incomparable young 
 nobleman in question was a Protestant, and the daughter 
 of the proud O’Donnell regarded “ a mixed marriage ” on 
 her part as false to her cherished religion, an insult to her 
 father’s memory, as well as a stain on the fair escutcheon of 
 her ancient family. She, therefore, firmly but respectfully 
 declined, and the importunities, as well as the Royal threats 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 275 
 
 that followed, made her heart sore. Often from the depths 
 of its anguish did she cry, “ Had I not better run away 
 from this temptation of the world’s splendour than be un- 
 faithful to holy Church, and dishonour the traditions of my 
 noble race ?” In one of these distressing paroxysms a secret 
 message came to her from Constantine O’Donnell, and 
 Hugh O’Rorke — near relatives — to the effect that being 
 compromised some years ago in the mad rebellion of poor 
 young O’Doherty, they had just been dragged prisoners from 
 Ireland, and lodged in the Tower of London. Here they 
 were actually awaiting certain death unless she, through her 
 Court connections, effected their deliverance. She suc- 
 ceeded in doing so, and the suspicion, directed upon her by 
 this dangerous venture, assumed such grave consequences 
 that a powerful friend, who knew the situation, trembled 
 for her head. In a stolen interview he showed conclusively 
 that to save her life there was nothing for it but either obey 
 the King by marrying his choice, or fly immediately beyond 
 the reach of the English Government. She elected to go, 
 and having taken her faithful maid, as well as a Catholic 
 young lady friend into confidence, they formed a plan of 
 starting without delay for Brussels. After midnight three 
 fleet horses were posted at an appointed place in a quiet 
 London suburb, where the fugitives presented themselves in 
 male attire as Mr. Randolph Huntly and Mr. James Hill, two 
 young English gentlemen, with their valet, Richard Shalsi. 
 Slowly and as noiselessly as possible the open country was 
 gained when the travellers pushed forward in a quick gallop 
 to a wayside inn, where fresh horses carried them out of the 
 range of pursuit just as Aurora was appearing. From 
 this point the journey was pursued for some days with a 
 
276 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 sense of comparative security, and slackened pace, until, 
 after a succession of exciting and narrow escapes from 
 detection, the interesting party arrived within easy distance 
 of Bristol. Here they shipped for an obscure port on the 
 French coast ; but the channel was so rough, and the sailing 
 craft pitched so badly that they experienced great difficulty 
 in preserving their incognito.. From their landing stage on 
 the other side to Paris, no cause for serious alarm occurred, 
 and still less from Paris to Brussels, where the central figure 
 had the supreme happiness of meeting for the first time, her 
 brother, the boyish Earl of Tyrconnell, then in the suite of 
 the Infanta Isabella, who governed the Low Countries for 
 Spain (see p. 272). Mary Stewart, or rather O’Donnell, 
 on being introduced by her brother to his Royal 
 Mistress, received an affectionate welcome, with all 
 the honours due to her high rank. In the archducal 
 palace she was at once proclaimed a confessor of the 
 faith, and the story of her sufferings or adventures in that 
 capacity, got noised in every Catholic Court throughout 
 Europe, so that its echo after reverberating along the banks 
 of the Tiber, came back to the heroine in the following pa- 
 ternal congratulations of the then Roman Pontiff :« — li Urban 
 VIII. to our daughter in Christ, Mary Stewart, Princess of 
 Tyrconnell, greeting; health and Apostolical benediction. 
 The sacrilegious mouth must be at length closed, which has 
 dared to affirm, that the inspiration of Christianity enervates 
 the soul, and checks the generous emotions of the heart. 
 You, our dear daughter, have given to the world a proof of 
 the contrary, and have shown what strength and courage are 
 imparted by the true faith ; how superior to all dangers, and 
 to the very efforts of Hell itself. This heroic courage is 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 277 
 
 worthy the protection of Rome, and the praises which fame 
 confers. Your horror of an alliance with a Protestant has 
 been fully displayed, and resembles that terror which an 
 apprehension of fire produces. The allurements of Court, 
 and the menaces of its Sovereign, have tended only to excite 
 your abhorrence of both. The sea and its accompanying 
 dangers have placed no obstacle to your flight, the honour of 
 which is more glorious than a triumph. Even though moun- 
 tains were to be overwhelmed and buried in the deep, your 
 confidence in the mercies of the Lord remained unshaken, 
 and that country is now yours where religion is triumphant. 
 You have succeeded in escaping from the English inquisitors, 
 and, protected by angels, you have been preserved from 
 every accident throughout your journey; accompanied by 
 our paternal regards, you have arrived at the Court of the 
 Infanta, where religion hath received you into its bosom. 
 We, therefore, implore the Lord, who has been your sup- 
 port, to reward you as your virtues have merited. We write 
 with a hope of dispelling the remembrance of your fatigue 
 and sufferings which are worthy to be envied since they 
 have earned for you a crown of glory. Receive our most 
 tender benedictions, and as you have abandoned both 
 relatives and country in obedience to the love for Jesus 
 Christ and us, receive also our assurance that instead of 
 exile you have found a mother who loves you tenderly — 
 you yourself know that such is the name and character of 
 the Roman Church ; she will cherish you as her worthy 
 daughter who does honour to the British Isles, 
 
 “ Given at St. Peter’s, under the Fisherman’s Ring, on the 
 13th February, 1627, the fourth year of our Pontificate.” 
 This sensational episode in the life of the last of Earl 
 
278 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 Tyrconnell’s children, so interested the learned Dr 
 O’Donovan that he had it translated from the French of the 
 Abbe MacGeoghan into his own editorial notes to the Annals 
 of the Four Masters. His conclusion is that Mary Stewart 
 is the daughter of Rory O’Donnell, mentioned by Lodge 
 in his Peerage , as the first wife of Luke Plunkett, created 
 Earl of Fingall on the 28th September, 1628. 
 
 The Great O’Neil, Earl of Tyrone.— The renowned 
 Tyrone broke down also very soon in exile. The shock of 
 losing O’Donnell so soon made a serious inroad on the 
 declining strength of his old age.. As early as 1616, a few 
 years only since the green shores of the Swilly faded for 
 ever from his tearful vision, a funeral procession wound its 
 mournful way up the steep ascent leading to San Pietro in 
 Montorio, and there consigned the remains of the great 
 Earl O’Neil to dust in the grave next to that of Tyrconnell, 
 the partner of his flight. His obituary is thus noticed 
 in the Annals: — “ O’Neill (Hugh), son of Ferdoragh, 
 who was styled Earl of Tyrone at the parliament of 
 1585, and was afterwards styled O’Neill, died at an 
 advanced age, after having passed his life in prosperity 
 and happiness, in valiant and illustrious achievements, in 
 honour and nobleness. The place at which he died was 
 Rome, on the 20th of July, after exemplary penance for his 
 sins, and gaining the victory over the world and the 
 devil. Although he died far from Armagh, the burial-place 
 of his ancestors, it was a token that God was pleased with 
 his life, that the Lord permitted him no worse burial-place, 
 namely, Rome, the head city of the Christians. The person 
 who here died was a powerful, mighty lord, with wisdom, 
 subtlety, and profundity of mind and intellect ; a warlike, 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 279 
 
 valorous, predatory, enterprising lord in defending his religion 
 and his patrimony against his enemies ; a pious and charit- 
 able lord, mild and gentle with his friends, fierce and stern 
 towards his enemies, until he had brought them to sub- 
 mission and obedience to his authority ; a lord who had 
 not coveted to possess himself of the illegal or excessive 
 property of any other except such as had been hereditary in 
 his ancestors from a remote period ; a lord with the authority 
 and praiseworthy characteristics of a prince, who had not 
 suffered theft or robbery, abduction or rape, spite or 
 animosity to prevail during his reign, and had kept all under 
 the law as was meet for a prince.” 
 
 His Countess, the daughter of Macgennis, Lord Iveagh, 
 was a most holy and accomplished person, and lived after 
 him for many years. He married her after the death, 
 in 1596, of his second wife, Mabel, the sister of Sir 
 Henry Bagnal, who succeeded his father as Marshal of the 
 English military occupation in Ireland. The match was 
 most objectionable to the head of her family, and in 
 order to prevent it the young lady had been removed from 
 her home in Newry to her sister, the wife of Sir Patrick 
 Barnw r ell, at Dublin. The O’Neil followed, and while 
 engaged successfully in disarming the suspicion of her 
 friends, his fiancee disappeared, and having joined him at the 
 time and place appointed, they were duly united in the 
 bonds of matrimony, with all the solemnity of religion. 
 The Marshal stormed to no purpose, and gave vent to his 
 feelings thus : — “ Having procured the good-liking of the 
 girl, he (O’Neil) took advantage of her years, and caused 
 her to steal away with one William Warren, at whose house 
 the Bishop of Meath stood in readiness and married them. 
 
22 8 O THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS, 
 
 • . . I can but accurse myself and fortune, that my blood, 
 which in my father and myself, has often been shed in re- 
 pressing this rebellious race, should be now mingled with so 
 traitorous a stock.’’ 
 
 The first Lady O’Neil was Joanna, sister of Hugh Roe, 
 and she died in 1590. The Earl’s youngest child, Con, was 
 so frail at the time of his father’s escape that he had to be 
 left behind. Lord Deputy Chichester, however, had him 
 carefully shadowed ; but after being in Eton for some 
 years, the Tower became his enclosure, until he there 
 succumbed to a severe attack of illness, or was murdered, 
 as some strongly suspect. The second boy, Bernard, 
 while at school in Brussels, had his vital spark put 
 out by the hand of an assassin, evidently hired to do 
 away with him (page 200). In 1600 Henry, the third 
 son matriculated in the University of Salamanca, and after 
 some time received the Knighthood of St. Iago, as well as 
 the command of an Irish regiment in the Spanish service. 
 The English Envoy, however, at the Court, intrigued against 
 his advancement, so far as to deprive him of the hand of a 
 noble and wealthy Spanish heiress. Though the exact year 
 of his death does not appear, it is certain that he did not live 
 long after coming of age. The eldest brother, John, was 
 appointed to Henry’s command, but fighting against the 
 insurgents in Catalonia, he fell at St. Flew, and thus all the 
 sons of the Great O’Neil passed away without issue. 
 
FROM RATHMULLEN TO BUNCRANA. 
 
 HE Abbey Of Fahan.— From Rathmullen the 
 tourist crosses the Lough by the steam-ferry 
 to the pier, built in upon the valley of Fahan, 
 so often mentioned in the Ecclesiastical records 
 Ireland: — “a.d. 657, Ceallach, son of Saran, 
 ot of Otham-Mor died; a.d. 716, a shower of 
 silver fell here ; a.d. 757, Robhartach, son of Cuana, Abbot 
 of Atham-Mor died ” ( Annals ). From these entries it 
 
 appears the Abbey of Fahan (Fatham) went by the name of 
 Atham-Mor, and Otham-Mor. It was called Fatham 
 (Fahan)-Mura from St. Mura or Muranus, who once 
 governed it as abbot with extraordinary success, and left 
 an illustrious name behind him. The life and character of 
 St. Mura, the destruction of his monastery, and all its sacred 
 belongings, are described at length and eloquently by 
 Colgan in his Acta Sanctorum : — “ In the Northern parts of 
 Ulster in the peninsula, commonly called Inis-Eoghan, 
 about the beginning of the 7th century, flourished a 
 holy man, named Mura or Muranus, who was descended 
 from most noble ancestors, but he far surpassed the 
 nobleness of his family by the splendour of his virtues. 
 Though this holy man is ranked among the chief Saints of 
 his own province, so that even at this day, his memory 
 and veneration flourish in the fresh observances of his 
 festival among our people. Still we have not yet seen 
 
282 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 his acts, which certainly were formerly in existence. I have, 
 however, resolved to produce the very few notices, which I 
 have collected about him in the following points. He 
 derived his descent from the most illustrious family of the 
 O’Neills (i.e.) Kinel-Owen, being the son of Fredacius. The 
 father of Romanus was Eugenius (Owen), but this is not the 
 Eugenius who was the great progenitor of the famous family 
 (O’Neill), but his grandson by his son Muredacius, who for 
 distinction sake, was surnamed Merchrom. The mother of 
 St. Mura was called Derimilla, famous for her descent from 
 the great rank of nobility ; but now renowned for the happy 
 and blessed fruit of her womb. This fortunate woman was 
 the mother of six children, who were all engaged in the 
 service of God, and honoured by posterity with the vene- 
 ration and respect of Saints, though all were not the fruit of 
 one marriage. Their names were — St. Mura, Abbot of 
 Fathan (Fahan); St. Mochurra, Abbot of Drumbo ; St. 
 Cillenus of Aichadh-Cail ; St. Domangard,son of Eochadius, 
 St. Ailanus or Ailevius, and St. Ardanus. Though the want 
 of ancient monuments and the injury of time have withdrawn 
 from us the knowledge of the masters and disciples, and the 
 acts of this Saint, enough, however, remains to show that he 
 was an abbot, and ruled a convent of monks in the monastery 
 of Fathan (Fahan) in the diocese of Derry, at the distance of 
 a few miles towards the West from the city of Derry. That 
 monastery, which was endowed with much lands, was for 
 several centuries held in great veneration both on account of 
 the noble monuments of antiquity, which were preserved there 
 until the time the heretics got possession of the place, when 
 they with abhorrence and rabid fury, carried off and 
 destroyed all its sacred things. But by the ravages of time, 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 283 
 
 and neglect of the rulers, that monastery, formerly celebrated, 
 became afterwards delapidated and demolished, and at length 
 a parish church. There existed one little book in which 
 St. Mura had written, in the metre of his country’s 
 language, the Acts of St. Columbkille, and fragments of it are 
 extant at this day, which are often quoted in other acts of 
 the same Saint. There was also another large and very old 
 manuscript of chronicles and other histories of the whole 
 country, which was always held by antiquarians in great 
 esteem, and often highly praised by them. Besides there 
 were until lately various relics of St. Mura and of other 
 Saints, who dwelt in the same place, but how many of 
 them were saved from the fury of the heretics and preserved 
 to the present time is altogether unknown to me, who am 
 now living in Belgium, at a great distance from my native 
 land, though formerly I was intimately acquainted with this 
 very place. There remains at this day, and is preserved as a 
 most valuable treasure, the crozier or pastoral staff of the 
 holy Abbot, which is commonly called Buchall-Mura, the 
 staff of Mura, studded over and adorned with gems, and en- 
 closed in a case, which is gilt with gold. By this several miracles 
 have been wrought, and on it were accustomed to swear the 
 poor people, and the nobles, particularly those descended 
 from the family of the O’Neills ; in short, all those who 
 wished to vindicate virtue and revenge falsehood, or to 
 remove all ambiguity from their assertions, and terminate 
 angry dissensions, by the solemnity of an oath. There 
 existed also before the troubles of those times, the Office, 
 belonging to the Saint, of which we formerly saw fragments, 
 and in which many of his virtues are recorded ; but now 
 neither in this nor in any other is to be found such docu- 
 
284 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 ment in which his miracles and acts are to be seen. It 
 is well to remark that St. Mura is the great patron of the 
 family of the O’Neills, from whom he is descended, and that 
 in the church of Fathan (Fahan) in the country of Inis- 
 Eoghan, his festival is celebrated as the patron of the place, 
 on this day, the 12th of March.” Not a trace exists at 
 present of this remarkable crozier of St. Mura, which 
 Colgan mentions as having seen. It is idle to speculate as 
 to what happened to it, but in all human probability it was 
 brought to the Continent by some pious Catholic, or 
 destroyed in the Revolution of 1688. Even St. Mura himself 
 is now hardly known throughout the scene of his great 
 triumphs. It is right, however, to state that much has 
 been done on the spot to rescue the memory of Fall an ’s 
 illustrious abbot and monastery from that effacement of 
 which Colgan so loudly complains. Fahan in our day 
 is clothed with the richest vegetation. It was a howling 
 wilderness when the monks of St. Mura fixed themselves in 
 its solitude, but soon a great abbey rose, and what was barren 
 waste became green with heavy meadow, or yellow with 
 golden corn. This is all that has come down of this historic 
 institution. The venerable buildings, once the pride of 
 Fahan, are dispersed or lying in the dust. 
 
 Crianan Of AiSeaoh.— Quitting the railway station 
 at Fahan, the visitor in very little time arrives at Burt 
 (page 205), where Greenan Hill rises 800 feet, and on 
 its summit is the Grianan of Aileach (page 8). No one 
 who knows anything of ancient Ireland will omit a visit to 
 this enchanted dwelling of our early kings. As the word 
 Grianan signifies a Sunny Chamber, some have fancied 
 that there was at one time here a temple dedicated to 
 
THt UBtttRt 
 
 OF THt 
 
 «S?IISSiTTf if HAMS 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 285 
 
 the worship of the sun ; but this opinion seems to have 
 no other foundation than the etymology of the word. It 
 is certain that it was the principal palace of the Northern 
 Hy-Niall Kings down to the twelfth century. It is a Cyclopean 
 construction, consisting of a cashel, whose circle encloses 
 an area seventy-seven feet in diameter. The fence is not 
 vertical, but rises with a curved incline, and around the thick 
 wall on the inside are galleries, beginning at the gateway, 
 from which they are strongly separated, and embracing 
 one-half the entire circumference, they are ascended from 
 the interior. In the centre of the cashel is a small oblong 
 building, which probably was a chapel, and a more recent 
 erection than any other portion of the structure. On 
 the outside, the cashel is defended by three extensive 
 ramparts, running in concentric circles, and built of earth, 
 mixed with lines of uncemented stones. During the last 
 decade or more, Aileach’s Sunny Chambers have been 
 repaired as nearly as practicable on the old plan, at the 
 expense of Dr. Bernard, of Derry, a gentleman, whose 
 study of his country’s ancient civilization, is evidently not of 
 the cheap, sentimental kind, so common in these days. To 
 this wonderful monument of ages, there is but one 
 entrance, and from the bare round height above it, a 
 fine and varied prospect speads out. The visitor may 
 behold again the blue pomp of Lough S willy, and the 
 pageantry of its shores already traced from the venerable, 
 Killydonnell, on the opposite side. Southward, the view 
 extends over the whole of the Lcrggan (low country), the 
 district between Letterkenny and Derry. When Ith, the ad- 
 venturous pioneer of the Milesians, sailed from Spain to 
 seek “ the land to the West ” (Inisfail), it was on the shores 
 
286 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 of the Laggan he landed, and here on the plain, called 
 Magh-Ith after him, the Tuatha de Dannans attacked 
 his army on march. Ith escaped to his ship, but not before 
 he received a wound, that proved fatal, and was carried back 
 to Spain. Then followed that second expedition, 
 which led to the establishment of the Milesians in the 
 land. 
 
 Legend Of Aiieach. — One of the most familiar legends 
 of Inishowen is that a troop of Hugh O’Neil’s horse lies in 
 magic sleep in a cave under the hill of Aiieach, where the 
 Princes of the country were formerly installed. These bold 
 troopers only wait to have the spell removed in order to 
 rush to the aid of their country, and a man (says the 
 legend), who wandered accidentally into the cave, found 
 them lying beside their horses, fully armed, and holding 
 the bridles in their hands. One of these entranced 
 warriors lifted his head, and asked, “ Is the time 
 come ?” and when he received no answer — for the intruder 
 was too much frightened to reply— dropped back into 
 his lethargy. Some of the old people about consider 
 the story an allegory, and interpret it as they desire; 
 the legend has inspired a stirring ballad beginning as 
 follows : — 
 
 '* God bless the gray mountains of dark Donegal ! 
 
 God bless royal Aiieach the pride of them all ; 
 
 For she sits evermore like a queen on her throne, 
 
 And smiles on the valleys of green Inishowen, 
 
 And hardy the fishers that call them their own — 
 
 A race that nor traitor nor coward have known, 
 
 Enjoy the fair valleys of green Inishowen.” 
 
 Sir C. G Duffy. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 287 
 
 Rye or Ryemochy’s ancient Cloister.— 
 
 Having thus gone over royal Aileach, and 
 its wonderful relics, the industrious visitor 
 could not do better than turn aside for a few 
 hours in the direction of Manorcunningham. 
 
 About a mile from the village he will come upon 
 Bellaghan, where the glory of Rye or Ryemochy’s grand 
 old cloister has departed, and the place is now occupied 
 “by a spacious Gothic church, about which the people 
 know nothing” (O' Donovan). A very beautiful incident in 
 connection with Rye or Ryemochy’s monastic fame is told 
 by Colgan in his Acta Sanctorum , p. 510 : “ St. Cruthnecanus 
 (the tutor of St. Columba),” he says, “ was on a certain 
 solemnity of our Lord’s nativity, invited by the holy Bishop 
 Brujacius, son of Degadius, to go to him at the Church 
 of Rath-Enaigh, now Rye or Rye-mochy, in the territory 
 of Tircvna. He did so, and brought with him the holy 
 youth Columba. After they arrived the office was recited, 
 but the holy Cruthnecanus, worn with old age and the 
 fatigue of his journey, was obliged to stop in the middle of 
 the Psalm, ‘ Misericordias Domini in octernum cantabo / 
 when the boy Columba, immediately took up the Psalm 
 just where St. Cruthnecanus left off, and continued to 
 recite his every alternate verse till the office was concluded, 
 though he had never been taught to read this or any 
 other Psalm.” Ballaghan is the English for Baile-aghadh- 
 chaoin (plain of the beautiful aspect), where in 1557 the 
 aggressive attempts of the proud Shane O’Neil to bully 
 his rival of Tyrconnell into subjection by force of arms, 
 met with a signal repulse from the skilled generalship of 
 Calvagh O’Donnell (page 44). Six years afterwards Calvagh 
 
288 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 himself, while living in the same neighbourhood, was sud- 
 denly struck dead by the hand of God, chiefly, as people 
 believed, for having behaved so badly towards his sagacious, 
 pious, and eminent father, the chieftain Manus O’Donnell 
 (page 46). 
 
 In their account of this awful occurrence the Four Masters 
 mention a well Cabhartach as being in the vicinity. It is, 
 no doubt, the same as the Tober-Slaun (healing-well) in 
 the townland of Drimoghil. Ryemochy is now the name 
 of the three parishes that make up the Laggan, and nowhere 
 else in the province is “ the Plantation of Ulster ” more en 
 evidence . To this day the district is almost entirely covered 
 with the planters’ descendants, of whom O’Donovan in his 
 notes remarks that “ probably the Scotch Murrays came from 
 this territory, seeing that one of its most prominent leaders, 
 in a.d. 1267, was Hugh O’Murray. Moreover, from an 
 early period, a considerable number of the Tyrconnell 
 families emigrated to Scotland, and returned with the 
 plantation. They emigrated as MacSwines, MacLoughlins, 
 &c., and they returned as Maxwells, MacClaynes, &c.” 
 
 lnishOW@BI. — Back from Manorcunningham to Burt, 
 whence the tourist should proceed northward to spend a few 
 days in Inishowen. This is the peninsula of Eoghan 
 (Owen) or the O’Neill family (pages n and 84). They 
 possessed it down to the fifteenth century, from which 
 time the O’Dohertys, descendants of Conal-Gulban, were 
 lords of the territory till 1610 when their young chief, 
 Sir Cahir was slain in red rebellion against the English 
 (page 204, et seq.). Leaving Burt or rather Burnfoot, the 
 railroad from Derry keeps along the Swilly’s shore until it 
 enters. 
 
LOUGH S 
 
uwraastfy m iuuiojs 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 289 
 
 ElSiraOF&roa. — (Hotel: — Heron! s Commercial ; pop. about 
 800), situated on the Lough, between the embouchures 
 of two rivers, the Mill and Crana, which supply the angler 
 with some agreeable pastime. Its harbour is practically 
 without trade, and though Her Majesty’s fleet might 
 ride in safety within its waters, there is only a solitary 
 guard-ship as a rule, and that stationed opposite Rathmullen. 
 We are told by Lewis in his Topographical Dictionary that 
 Buncrana was a place of comparative importance in the reign 
 of Elizabeth, but declined until 1717, when it revived under 
 the care of Sir John Vaughan, who built a modern castle 
 there in connection with the old stronghold of the 
 O’Dohertys, and laid out the grounds with their fine 
 approach in the present picturesque form. 
 
 T 
 
XII. -EXCURSION TO DUNREE, GAP OF MAMORE 
 AND CLONMANY. 
 
 jEEPING along the base of Aghawell (1,106 
 feet) near the shore, and passing Linsfort, 
 as well as the ruins of Ross Castle at 
 Castleross bridge, the road at the seventh 
 mile runs out to Dunree Head (329 feet) 
 where there is a fort commanding the entrance 
 into Lough Swiliy. The scenery here, and indeed 
 all along to Dunaff (622 feet) a noble headland, defend- 
 ing Lough Swiliy from the Atlantic, is, indeed, very 
 exciting. But, seeing that a good part of this precipitous 
 journey is more suited to the pedestrian, let the general 
 tourist on arriving at the Urris Hills make for the Gap of 
 Mamore, and over the rough steep road ascend to the top of 
 it, 760 feet. 
 
 Standing here, or still better on the peak of Raghtin More 
 in front, one surveys a glorious prospect, extending in 
 clear weather to the Paps of Jura and to Islay. The 
 traveller having descended slowly from his watch-tower can 
 lunch at Clonmany, a village, with some wooded surround- 
 ings, and a tolerably good river for fishing. Clonmany is 
 also a parish, and in it on the site of the old graveyard in 
 the townland of Binnion, flourished in days of yore 
 Bothconnais, where a holy and renowned community of 
 monks occupied cells, edifying the country round with the 
 sanctity of their lives, and keeping the lamp of learning 
 
GAP OF MAMORE, CO. DONEGAL, 
 
i3h*8i 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 291 
 
 burning brightly in this remote corner of the Island 
 of Saints. In the Acta Sanctorum there is a very 
 interesting chapter on this religious foundation, in which 
 Colgan speaks with enthusiasm of its fame, and no 
 better testimony than his on the subject, for he was 
 born near it, and in his boyhood often sauntered within 
 its ruins: — “ Bothconnais,” he says, “was formerly a great 
 and celebrated monastery in the diocese of Derry. It 
 stood in Inishowen, but the place is now profaned, and 
 a great many of the books written by the hand of St. 
 Melisa are still in the possession of some poor man in 
 the neighbourhood.” St. Melisa whom Colgan mentions 
 as the ornament of Bothconnais belonged also to Inishowen, 
 and to the royal stock of Eugene. His family gave many 
 distinguished ecclesiastics to the churches of Derry and 
 Armagh. His learning was of the same high order as his 
 holiness of life, for he wrote a number of very remarkable 
 books as Colgan states. But not one of them can be 
 found, nor in the neighbourhood does there appear to 
 be any clue to their whereabouts. 
 
BUNCRANA TO MOYILLE. 
 
 HE distance from Clonmany to Buncrana is 
 ten and a-half miles, yet it will repay the 
 visitor to return to Buncrana for the night, in 
 order to start from there early in the morning 
 for Carndonagh, and thus have an opportunity 
 of seeing the pretty Mintiagh’S Lough, basking 
 in the sunshine of its natural charms. Leaving Buncrana, 
 therefore, the direct way to Carndonagh is inland, by the 
 left bank of the Owen Crana for some three miles. The 
 road then runs into the heart of the mountains, holding its 
 way by Mintiagh’s Lough, with Slieve Snaght (2,019 feet) 
 on the left, which is easily climbed, if one be so minded, 
 and at the end of the twelfth mile reaches 
 
 — (Hotels : — O' Doherty Arms, Canny 1 s ; 
 pop. 720), “a neat little town, which chiefly supplies the 
 commissariat of the Inishowen district. There is, however, 
 but little to see here save a fine cross in the churchyard ” 
 (Murray), or rather opposite the- church, at the 
 corner of a lane, half-a-mile from the town to the west. 
 Cardonagh is the capital of the parish of Donagh in which, 
 Rev. John Colgan, the learned Franciscan, was born 
 (pages 81 and 292). In one of his notes to the Tripartite 
 Life of St. Patrick he mentions the fact, for speaking there of 
 Donagh, he adds : — “ This was formerly an Episcopal See, of 
 which the first Prelate was MacCarten, brother of the 
 Bishop of Clogher. In the lands of this very Church 
 
MINI TAG H’S LAKE, CO DONEGAL 
 
 
mi libfiftKY 
 
 of m 
 
 OMYEBSI1Y fll ILLINOIS 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 293 
 
 I was born (townland of Glentoher) ; it is at this day only 
 a parish church in the diocese of Derry, and commonly 
 called Domnach, Glinne Tochaire. It is frequented 
 every year by a great concourse of pilgrims from the neigh- 
 bouring country, especially on the feast of St. Patrick, 
 patron of the place.” That this Domnagh-Glinne-Tochaire 
 was a foundation of St. Patrick is stated at Cb. CXX. 
 of his Tripartite Life Returning into the territory 
 of Eugene, which is called Inis-Eoghan, he (St. Patrick) 
 came into that part of it which belonged to Fergusius, 
 the son of Eugenius, and then set about measuring 
 at Achadb-D roman, a site for a church, but Coelbadius, 
 son of Fergusius, prevented him and drove him off by 
 violence, whereupon St. Patrick foretold to him the dis- 
 agreeable news of his future punishment, and that one 
 of his race should never build a dwelling on that site. 
 This prophecy was fulfilled soon after in the person of 
 Commanius, son of Algasacus, a descendant of the same 
 Coelbadius, for he began to build a house at Eas-Mac-Eric, 
 but before he got the roof on, some of the clergy, belonging 
 to the church of Domnagh-Mor-Minghe-Tochaire, pulled it 
 down and rooted up its very foundation. Aidius, son of 
 Coelbadius, grieved at the treatment St. Patrick received 
 from his father, Coelbadius, went to the Saint and pressed 
 him to accept a site for a church in his territory, which was 
 separated from his brother’s patrimony neither by wall nor 
 mound. St. Patrick readily accepted the kind and pious 
 offer, and at once set about measuring the site, and laying 
 the foundation of the church of Domnagh-Mor-Minghe- 
 Tochaire, in the disposition and arrangement of which he 
 spent forty days, and leaving therein a Bishop, Maccarthen, 
 
2 94 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 one of his own disciples, he proceeded eastwards to Bredach, 
 and there established the church of Mach-Bile or Moville ” 
 The spot on which St. Patrick ventured at first to clear the 
 foundations for his church, and from which he was thrust 
 violently by Coelbadius, was, according to the account given 
 
 in the extract just quoted, 
 near Eas-Mac-Eric. Now 
 Dr. O’Donovan says Eas- 
 Mac-Eric is a ledge of 
 rock over which the flood 
 is precipitated into a 
 deep basin below, and 
 the river with this same 
 obstruction in its channel 
 still courses through a 
 district of Inishowen. 
 This river rises in Sliab 
 Snachta,. flows through 
 the parish of Donagh, and empties 
 itself into Trawbrega estuary or 
 r . In its rapid progress the waters 
 meet at a certain point with a bar of rocks, which 
 makes them leap and fret until they dash over in a white 
 sheet of foam — opposite this but away from the bank 
 stood the church of Domnagh-Mor-Tochaire. The place 
 furnishes plenty of scope for the antiquarian, and is 
 situated within a lovely glen, guarded at the entrance by a 
 remarkable looking stone, with which there is connected a 
 curious local tradition. It appears the valley was in Pagan 
 times enchanted ground, and protected by a terrible serpent 
 called Tochaire. The story runs that St. Patrick on ventur. 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 295 
 
 ing into this fairyland found himself suddenly challenged by 
 a sentinel, namely Tochaire, the serpent, when the Apostle, 
 with the sharp end of his crozier, immediately chiselled some 
 sacred emblems on a rough block of stone beside him, and 
 having set it up at the entrance where he stood, Tochaire 
 vanished for ever. The foundation of Domnagh-Mor- 
 Tochaire has fallen from its early importance. St. Patrick 
 erected it into a Bishoprick, and though now reduced to the 
 level of a parish, it retains its ancient name and has 
 recovered much of its former glory by having given to litera- 
 ture and religion the illustrious author of the Acta Sanctorum . 
 This distinguished writer in the sketch he has left us of 
 Donagh, and from which so much has been already quoted, 
 says that even so late as his time, at Domnagh-Mor-Tochaire, 
 “ the penitential bed of St. Patrick and other ancient monu- 
 ments of that kind are frequently visited by a great number 
 of devout people.” At present not one of these sacred relics 
 can be seen in Donagh. That the bell with which St. 
 Patrick used to summon the faithful to prayer is the very 
 one now swinging in the tower of the Protestant church 
 there, a good many believe, but erroneously, for the 
 bell in question bears no marks whatever to justify such 
 antiquity. 
 
 Malin. — From Carndonagli the tourist should pro- 
 ceed to Malin, a village at the head of Travbreaga bay, 
 in which is Doagh Island, having at its north-western 
 extremity the walls of Carrickabrahy Castle, one of the 
 O’Doherty’s fortalices. The lover of cliff scenery, especi- 
 ally if he be disposed to walk long and difficult distances, 
 should explore the coast from Malin on to Malin Head, 
 Ireland’s most northerly point, following the cliffs from the 
 
296 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 “ Five Fingers,” a prominent assemblage of rocks, where 
 there is a lighthouse and a coastguard station. From Malin 
 Tower, which stands 226 feet over the waves, the cliffs trend 
 to the south-east, forming a line of grand mural precipices, 
 running some eight miles to Glengad Head : — “The cliffs 
 are very magnificent, being upwards of 800 feet in height, 
 and resembling those of Moher in county Clare, though 
 not presenting the same sheer wall of precipice ” ( Murray ). 
 From Glengad Head one had better return to Malin. 
 
 Cllldaff. — Leaving Malin, and after covering about four 
 miles of a good road, the tourist will cross the peninsula to 
 Culdaff, a village, well-protected from the bitter blasts by 
 a thick clump of trees, attached to the residence of the local 
 landlord. The tide comes up, and there is a river of the 
 same name which, rising a few miles off in the mountains to 
 the south, joins the sea : — 
 
 “ See the bountiful Culdah careering along — 
 
 A type of their manhood so stately and strong — 
 
 On the weary for ever its tide is bestrown, 
 
 So they share with the stranger in fair Inishowen.” 
 
 Sir C. G. Duffy. 
 
 From Culdaff the way runs through a wild but not 
 uninteresting district. After the sixth mile or so it enters 
 a broad valley, with Squire’s Cairn on the right, and 
 Craignamaddy on the left, from which it emerges upon 
 Lough Foyle, reaching after nine and a half miles. 
 
 M 0 V 8 B B 0 — (Hotel : — McConnell's ; pop. 1,200) — “ A 
 watering-place which the citizens of Derry love to frequent 
 in the Summer” (. Murray ), and it were hard to find a more 
 delightful sea-side resort. It is situated near the entrance 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 297 
 
 to the Lough, so that all the shipping of Derry, which is of 
 late very considerable, passes under the windows. There 
 the Anchor Line boats, plying between Glasgow and New 
 York, call off Moville to deliver and receive the Irish and 
 English mails, which are conveyed to or from Derry by 
 steam-tender. Northward the blue Atlantic bounds the 
 horizon, while eastward the view extends from the coast 
 away to the county Derry mountains, showing a fine range 
 behind Limavaddy. 
 
 From Moville to 
 Inishowen Head the 
 
 visitor ought to drive along 
 the coast, passing Green- 
 castle, where there is a 
 good modern fort, guard- 
 ing the entrance into the 
 Lough, between the Head 
 and McGilligan Point op- 
 posite. Here also are the 
 ruins of a formidable old 
 fortress, belonging to the O’Dohertys, and three miles further 
 on Inishowen Head is reached (300 feet high) from which 
 the lover of stern coast-scenery may set off on a most 
 enjoyable scramble over the precipices that here face the 
 Atlantic. 
 
 From MovsSSe to Strabane. — In the summer months 
 the tourist may go from Moville to Derry by steamer, and 
 enjoy a most delightful trip. About half way up, the Lough 
 expands into a splendid bay, narrowing again into an 
 estuary some four miles from Derry. It were hard to conceive 
 a more pleasing bit of country than that which greets the eye 
 
298 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 as one passes up the river. Before him rises the “ Maiden 
 City,” an amphitheatre of houses, surmounted by the 
 Cathedral spire, and supported on either side by green 
 heights with handsome suburban villas. The highly 
 cultivated shores rise fresh and luxuriant from the calm 
 water, going off gently to the peaceful hills of Inishowen 
 on the right, and on the left to the blue forms of the more 
 distant mountains of the county Derry. Should one, how- 
 ever, wish to travel by the road, it is a superb drive of about 
 nineteen miles. The route skirts the shore almost the entire 
 way, affording a panorama of great sylvan beauty. At the 
 end of the eighth mile, you come to the village of Car 
 rowkeel, off which the Foyle attains its greatest breadth. 
 Having Crockglass (1,296 feet) close upon the right 
 and crossing the Cabry stream, the way holds by the 
 coast, passing some four miles further on, Eskaheen, the 
 place where the renowned Eoghan (page 11), first lord of 
 Inishowen, was buried, though the exact site of the grave 
 has not been determined. It was in this neighbourhood 
 also that Toland, the teacher of Bollingbroke, and leader 
 of the Deistical School in the reign of Queen Anne, was 
 born. At a short distance from Eskaheen the traveller 
 lights upon Muff, a small place, adjoining which is Kilderry, 
 and down at the water’s edge is the historic 
 
 Fort Of Culmore (page 207). — About two miles 
 from the city the visitor will notice over the river an 
 imposing residence called Boom Hall, and underneath, 
 near the water, a red object. This is to mark the 
 spot from which the famous “ boom” or barrier was thrown 
 across the river to cut off all hope of aid coming by sea to 
 the perishing but no-surrender citizens during the memor- 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 299 
 
 able siege of Derry. On the 30th of July, 1689, a hundred 
 and five days after the siege began, two ships, carrying provi- 
 sions, swept down upon the blockade in full sail and forced 
 their way through. Another short mile, and one is landed 
 in the grounds of Belmont to see St. Columb’s Stone, which 
 long served for the inauguration of the chief in this 
 district — thence to 
 
 Derry. — (Hotels : — Imperial, Jury's, Rodjs, the City, &c.; 
 pop. 30,000). Here the visitor, after reviving his memory 
 of Lord Macaulay’s stirring chapter on the siege of Derry, 
 and making a circuit of the “ walls, ” may leave the Great 
 Northern Railway Station. The line runs close to the 
 estuary of the Foyle, passing Carrigans, then St. Johnston 
 (eight miles). Quitting St Johnston, one sees on the 
 right a pretty Catholic church, and near it “ a square 
 tower, all that is left of the Castle of Mountgevlin, in which 
 James II. held his court till the termination of the siege of 
 Derry” (Murray). But, this refuge of Royalty is still more 
 remarkable for having been a principal residence of the 
 celebrated Ineen Dubh, daughter of Macdonnell, Lord of 
 the Isles, and mother of Red Hugh, the Bayard of Tyr- 
 connell. She has come down to us as “ excelling in all the 
 qualities that become a woman ; yet possessing the heart of 
 a hero, and the soul of a soldier.” Her connection with 
 Mountgevlin is recorded in a State paper document to this 
 effect : — “ The poynte of lande, whereon Burt standeth, 
 maketh a boge, in the bottome of which stands an old fort, 
 called Cul-Mac-Tryan, this was wont to be held by (The) 
 O’Donnell. From Cul-mac-Tryan runs a bogg three myles 
 in length to the side of Lough Foyle — in the midst of the 
 bogg is a standing loughe, called Bunaber, here at 
 
3 °° 
 
 THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 Bunaber dwells O’Donneirs mother (Ineen Dubh Mac- 
 donnell). Three miles above Cargan stands a fort called 
 McGevyvelin (Mongevlin) upon the river of Lough foyle — 
 O’Donnell’s mother’s chief house.” Other neighbouring 
 places from which the ancient families were turned out to 
 make room for the English and Scotch favourites of King 
 James I., in 1610, are also mentioned in the same official 
 list. Thus, for instance, “ Four miles up the river of 
 Loughfoyle is the Liffer — here dwelt the O’Donnell. Four 
 miles above the Liffer stands Castle fene (Finn) — Nial 
 Garvs’s (O’Donnell) house. Four miles above Castle fene 
 is a fryers house called Drumboy (Drumboe). Three 
 myles above Drumboe stands a fort called Ballakit — 
 here dwelte Donnell Gallocar (O’Gallagher), one of 
 O’Donnell’s chief Counsellors. Ten miles above Ballakit 
 is Lough fene (Finn) upon the river Fene (Finn) where the 
 river hath its first head.” Then in the Letterkenny and 
 Rathmullan direction similar confiscations are enumerated : — 
 “ Fyve miles above Ramullan there is a Castle of Hugh 
 McHugh Duffe’s (O’Donnell) called Ramalton (Ramelton) 
 standing upon the Lannan (river) which falleth in Lough 
 Swilly — Hugh Duffe’s own house. Three myles above 
 Ramaltan upon the Lough syde in a baye is the Abbey of 
 Kil O’Donaell in Hugh McHugh Duffe’s country — here 
 dwells only fryers. Five miles above Kil O’Donnell there 
 is a ford passable at low water, wherein hath sometime been 
 a fort called the Farcet (Fearsad) of Soloughmore. Three 
 miles from the ford, towards Birt stands an Abbey, called 
 Ballaghan, over against Kil O’Donnell — here dwelt fryers. 
 Three miles from Ballaghan towards Birt is a poynte of lande 
 which runs far into the Lough e when hath been a strong 
 
THE DONEGAL HIGHLANDS. 
 
 301 
 
 fort, but now broken downe, and is called Dunboye— here 
 dwells Shane Mac Manus Oge (O’Donnell).” 
 
 The train pursues its way along the stately stream, 
 crossing it above Porthall, where it passes into Tyrone, in 
 which county is 
 
 Strains. — Hotels : — Abercorn Arms , Commercial ; 
 
 pop. 4,200). From this convenient point the Great 
 Northern Railway Company has a u limited mail” to 
 Dublin and a splendid service to all the great centres in the 
 North. But the tourist in Ireland with “the Donegal 
 Highlands” on his programme, who may find himself at 
 Belfast or Derry, will make for this thriving town of Stra- 
 bane as his starting-point. In this event he shall begin his 
 Donegal visit just where it has been brought to an end by 
 the tourist, who may have chosen to enter the county from 
 Enniskillen, and reverse the order of excursions 
 traced in this little book — that is, follow. them 
 from finish at Strabana to start at Enniskillen 
 instead of start at Enniskillen to finish at 
 Strabane. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Adair, John George (Derry veagh 
 Evictions), 234-242. 
 
 Adamnan, St., Abbot of Hy, 233. 
 
 ,, Biographer of St. Col- 
 
 umba, 230. 
 
 ,, Canon of, 234. 
 
 Aghawell (Mt.), 290. 
 
 Aghla (Mt.), 155. 
 
 Aghla Beg (Mt.), 166. 
 
 Aghla Mor (Mt/), 16 6. 
 
 Aidan (King of Albanian Scots), 232 
 Aileach, Grianan of, 8, 284, 285. 
 
 „ Legend of, 286. 
 
 Ainmire (Monarch of Erinn), 232. 
 Allingham, W. , Occasional poems, 1 8 
 „ Laurence Bloomfield 
 
 in Ireland, 27, 28. 
 Altnapaste (Mt.), 74. 
 
 Alton (Lough), 166. 
 
 Amiens Street (Gt. Northern Rail- 
 way Station), 7. 
 
 Anderson, Dr. (The plot to get rid 
 of the Earls), 
 
 Annagray, 153, 154. 
 
 Anure (Lough), 154. 
 
 Annals of the Four Masters , 61-64. 
 Annesley, Lord (rise of the family), 
 213, 214. 
 
 Aquila del Don Juan (Spanish Com- 
 mander at Kinsale), 58. 
 Ardnagarry (Battle of), 46. 
 
 Ardara, 137. 
 
 Ardnamona, 72. 
 
 Ardrummon, 252. 
 
 Ards, 186. 
 
 ,, Famous Master of Ards (old 
 William Wray), 187-189. 
 
 „ Stewart of Ards, 189. 
 
 Armada (Spanish), 67, 153. 
 Arranmore (North Arran), 152, 171. 
 
 Arran, Lord, 167. 
 
 Asharoe (Cataract of), 16, 17. 
 
 „ Abbey of, 17, 18. 
 
 Ashdown (Waterfall), 72. 
 Asherancally (Waterfall), 136. 
 Asicus, St., 94, 95. 
 
 Athseanni (Ford of), 19. 
 Ath-an-Charpaid (Ford of the 
 Chariot). See Burndale, 10. 
 Awark Mor (Slieve League), 98, 99. 
 
 Bagnal, Sir Henry, 279, 280. 
 Baithen, St., 233. 
 
 Ballinagrath (Mt.), 75. 
 
 Ballindrate, 246. 
 
 Ballintra, 37. 
 
 Ballaghboy (Pass of), 54. 
 
 Ballyarr, 254. 
 
 Ballybofey (Strath-bo-Fiach), 74. 
 
 „ Battle of, 44. 
 
 Ballydufif (River), 86. 
 
 Ballymacool (Demesne), 222. 
 Ballycross, 180. 
 
 Ballyness (Bay), 173. 
 
 Ballyconnell, Residence, 176. 
 
 „ Scene of the Plan of 
 Campaign, 176, 177. 
 Ballymote (Sligo), 52, 53. 
 Ballyshannon (Falls of), 16. 
 
 ,, Castle of, 19, 20. 
 Ballysaggart, 84. 
 
 Balleehan (Battle of), 45, 287. 
 Ballymackstoker (Bay;, 264. 
 Ballakit (Ancient seat of O’Galla- 
 gher), 300. 
 
 Balor (Pagan King of Torry), 175- 
 
 177. 
 
 Banagh (Tir Bochaine), 85. 
 Barnesmore Gap, 73. 
 
 „ Mountain of, 73. 
 
3°4 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Barnes Gap (Tarmon), 200. 
 
 Barn Hill (Residence), 252. 
 
 Barran, St., 24. 
 
 Barra (Lough), 149-158. 
 
 Bayard of Tyrconnell (Red Hugh), 
 47, 69, 52, 248, 299. 
 
 Bawan (Lough Doon and Lough 
 Birroge), 144. 
 
 Bedlam, 173. 
 
 Belgoley, 66. 
 
 Belleek, 7, 22. 
 
 Belleview (Residence), 229. 
 
 Belmont (St. Columb’s stone), 299. 
 Beltany (Stone Circle), 245. 
 Benbulben (Mt.), 2, 26. 
 
 Bernard, Dr. (repaired Aileach), 285 
 Benburb, Battle of, 197, 198. 
 Binbane (Mt.), 83. 
 
 Bingham (Governor of Connaught 
 in Torry), 178. 
 
 , , His barbarities and recall, 
 
 5 1 * 
 
 Binnion, 290. 
 
 Birroge (Lough and Bawan), 144, 
 Bloody Foreland, 173. 
 
 Bloomfield, Laurence (Poem), 27, 28 
 Bluestack (Mt. range), 72. 
 Bollingbroke (Deistical School), 298 
 Bonaparte Mrs. (Miss Patterson). 
 263. 
 
 Bonyglen (Residence), 83. 
 
 Boom (Barrier on Foyle at Siege of 
 Derry, 1688), 298. 
 
 „ Hall, 298. 
 
 Borrowed Pride (Poem), 154. 
 Bothconnais (Monastery of), 290,291 
 Boyne, Lord, 259, 260. 
 
 ,, Buried Mansion of, 259 
 
 Boylagh (Barony), 80. 
 
 „ Bay of, 135. 
 
 Bredagh (Moville), 294. 
 
 Brian Boru (Law of assuming sur- 
 names), 12; 
 
 ,, Deposed from his su- 
 
 premacy, 19. 
 Broadhaven, Stage of, 102. 
 Brownhall (Pullens at), 37. 
 
 Browne, Frances (Blind Poetess of 
 Donegal), 77. 
 
 Bruckless, 86. 
 
 Buncrana, 289. 
 
 Bundoran, 25, 26. 
 
 B unbeg, 167. 
 
 Bunlin (River), 254. 
 
 Bunglass (Slieve League), 98. 
 Burndale, 10, 246. 
 
 Burnfoot, 284. 
 
 Burren, 17. 
 
 Burt, 284, 288. 
 
 „ Castle of Sir Cahir O' Doherty, 
 205, 206, 208. 
 
 Burton Port, 15 1, 152. 
 
 Butt’s grave, 75, 76. 
 
 Cabhartach (Tober Slaun) healing 
 well, 288. 
 
 Cabry (Stream), 289. 
 
 Cairnechus, St., 250. 
 
 Callaghan (King of Munster), 11. 
 Camlan Castle, 15. 
 
 Caracena (Spanish Governor), 69. 
 Carbery (Son of Niall of the Nine 
 Hostages), 8, 9. 
 
 Carew, Sir George, 66, 70. 
 
 Cargan, 300. 
 
 Cark (Mt. ), 10, 246. 
 
 Carker (River), 86. 
 Carmganllibernicus (Bp. ofRaphoe, 
 I5i5)> 6 4- 
 
 Carndonagh, 292, 295. 
 
 Carnegilla, 186. 
 
 Carnaween (Mt.), 83. 
 
 „ Cromlech, 83, 144. 
 
 Carr, Father (Story of thejSpaniard), 
 110-119. 
 
 Carrigan Head, 97, 98. 
 
 Carthac, St. (Kilcar), 93. 
 
 Carrick (Glencolumbkille), 96. 
 
 ,, Glencolumbkille Hotel, 96. 
 Carrickabrahy Castle, 295. 
 Carrickfergus, 213, 214. 
 
 Carrigart, 258, 259. 
 
 Carrowkeel, 298- 
 
 Cashelmore (home of Mrs. Jerome 
 Bonaparte), 263. 
 
 Cassidy, P. Sarsneld (Author), 154. 
 Castledoe (see Doe Castle). 
 Castleross, 290. 
 
 Castlefin (Castle of), 246. 
 
 ,, (Camp of Red Hugh). 
 Castlegrove, 252. 
 
 Castle-point (MacSwine Castle), 85. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 305 
 
 Castlewray, 252. 
 
 Catherine, St., 88. 
 
 „ Well of, 89. 
 
 „ Priory of, 89. 
 
 Caithairs or Duns, 139, 140. 
 
 Cearc (Companion of St. Columba), 
 122, 123. 
 
 Cecil, Robert (Lord Salisbury), 269. 
 Chichester, Sir Arthur (Lord De- 
 puty), 213, 214. 
 
 Churchill, 228. 
 
 Claragh (Residence), 254. 
 
 Clements, Daniel, founder of the 
 Leitrim family, 257. 
 
 Cliff (Residence), 14 
 Clifford, Sir Conyers, 19, 20, 51, 
 52 , 55 - 
 
 Cloghan Lodge, 74. 
 
 Cloghaneely, 176, 
 
 Cloghteac'i (Bell House, Torry), 178 
 Clondahorky, 186. 
 
 Clonleigh (Famous School and 
 Church), 248, 250. 
 
 Clonmany, 290, 291. 
 
 Coarb of Columbkille, 50, 201. 
 Cobos Alonso (Spanish Envoy), 
 87. 
 
 Columba, St. (Birth-place of), 229. 
 
 „ Sketch of him by 
 
 Adamnan, &c., 230, 
 233 - 
 
 „ His Ecclesiastical 
 
 Foundations, 231. 
 
 „ His presence at the 
 
 Nat. Convention of 
 Drumceat, 232. 
 
 „ His Death and Burial- 
 
 place, 232. 
 
 „ Cathac of, 234. 
 
 ,, Cross of, 180. 
 
 Colgan, 81, 292. 
 
 „ Ada Sand ovum Hibernia. 
 81, 82. 
 
 Conall-Gulban, 8. 
 
 ,, His Conversion by 
 
 St. Patrick, 9. 
 
 Confederation of Irish Catholics 
 (1641), 192-200, 
 
 Congested Districts Board, 147- 149. 
 Connor (King of Connaught), 11. 
 Connolly, Rt. Hon. William, 14, 15. 
 
 Connolly, Tom, M.P., 14. 
 
 Connell, St., Abbot oflniskeel, 141. 
 
 ,, Bell of, 143. 
 
 Conwall, Abbey of, 222. 
 
 ,, Battle of, 223-225. 
 Convoy, 245, 246. 
 
 Conyngham, Marquis of, 78, 80. 
 
 ,, Rev. Alexander (Dean 
 of Raphoe), 80. 
 Coote, Sir Charles, 200. 
 
 Coxtown, 39. 
 
 Corcan, (father of one of St. 
 
 Patrick’s Disciples). 10. 
 
 Cormac, Mac Art (King of Ireland), 
 126. 
 
 Corunna, 68, 69. 
 
 Courcey, De John (Anglo-Norman 
 Knight), 223. 
 
 Craignamaddy Castle, 236. 
 
 Crana (River), 289. 
 
 Cranford Bridge, 258. 
 
 Cratloe Wood (Scene of the murder 
 of Lord Leitrim), 255. 
 
 Creadran Kille (Battle of), 224. 
 Creeslough, 200. 
 
 Croaghan (Townland), 250. 
 
 Hill of, 250. 
 
 „ Battle of, 250, 251. 
 Croagh-an-Darchadas (Cave of), 136. 
 Croaghballaghdown (Mt.), 136. 
 Crockanaffrin (Mt.), 264. 
 
 Crockglass (Mt.), 298. 
 
 Crockhrack (Mt.), 159. 
 
 Ciocknalara (Mt.). 16 6. 
 Crock-na-neach (Hill of the Horses), 
 226. 
 
 Crohy Head, 151. 
 
 Cromlech (Carnaween), 83. 
 
 „ (Kilclooney), 144 
 Cronarad (Mt.), 91. 
 
 Cioom, 66. 
 
 Crossroads, 173. 
 
 Crove (River), 137. 
 
 Croughross, 208. 
 
 Cruthnecanus, St., 287. 
 
 Culabber (River), 166. 
 
 Culdaff, 296. 
 
 Culmore (Fort), 298. 
 
 „ Slaughter of the Garrison, 
 207. 
 
 Curliew (Mt.), Battle of, 53-55. 
 
 U 
 
3°6 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Curiosa Hibernica (Battle of Scar iff 
 Holies), 226, 228. 
 
 Dallan, St. (Iniskeel), 142. 
 
 Danes, 12. 
 
 Daol (Deel), Lough, 21. 
 
 „ „ River, 10. 
 
 Davis (Davies), Sir John, 226. 
 Davoc, St (Lough Derg), 30, 31, 34. 
 Deorba (Pagan King of Ireland), 16, 
 19. 
 
 Derry (sacked and burned), 191, 
 206, 208, 21 1. 
 
 ,, Changed into Londonderry, 
 211. 
 
 ,, Diocese of, 244, 245. 
 
 „ Siege of, 298, 299. 
 
 Derrybeg (Gweedore), Flood in the 
 Church, 167, 168. 
 
 „ Fatal attack on Police 
 Inspector Martin, 167, 
 168. * 
 
 Derry loghan (Mt.), 141, 149. 
 
 Derry veagh, 234. 
 
 ,, Evictions of, 234, 242. 
 Devenish Island (Ruins). 7. 
 
 Doagh (Village), 263 ; Doagh Is- 
 land, 295. 
 
 Doe Castle, 194. 
 
 „ MacSwiney Doe, 189 
 
 190. 
 
 ,, Landing of Owen Roe 
 
 O’Neil (in 1642), 
 192. 
 
 Doire Calcagh (Derry), 230. 
 Doherty, W.J.(Bell of St. Connell), 
 143- 
 
 Doiremel, St. (Nunnery of), 27. 
 Donnagh-Glinne-Tohair (Donagh), 
 292, 295. 
 
 Donagh ( Parish of)* 292-295. 
 
 ,, (Monarch Irish), 11. 
 Donaghmore (St Patrick’s Visit), 
 19. 
 
 Donegal (County of), 39. 
 
 „ (Town of), 39. 
 
 „ (Abbey of), 40, 41, 50, 
 57, 58, 59' 62, 71. 
 
 „ (Castle of), 64, 65. 
 
 „ {Marty rology oj), 31, 32. 
 
 Doon (Rock of), 202. 
 
 Doon (Well of), 202, 203. 
 
 ,, (Sir Cahir O’Doherty killed 
 here), 204, 210, 214, 215. 
 
 „ Lough of (Bawan) in Boy- 
 lagh, 143, 144. 
 
 ,, Port of (Tony), 175. 
 
 Dowcra, Sir Henry, 56. 
 
 ,, His Arrival in Derry, 56. 
 
 ,, His Sketch of Nial Gary’s 
 character, 60. 
 
 Downing’s (Bay), 258; Downing’s 
 Pier, 261. 
 
 Dowros (Head and Bay), 132, 135. 
 Drimohill, 288. 
 
 Drumboe (Castle), 74, 
 
 „ Abbey of, 300. 
 
 Drowes or Duncarbery Castle, 26. 
 Drumceat (National Convention in 
 575), 252. 
 
 Drumholme (Parish), 37. 
 
 ,, (Monastery), 37, 38. 
 Drumkeelin (Fossil Remains), 80. 
 Drumhallagh, 264. 
 
 Drumbollog, 228. 
 
 Ducarry Bridge, 1 49, 158. 
 
 Dunaff Head, 290. 
 
 Dunaveragh, 54. 
 
 Dunboy (Castle), 216. 
 
 Dunfanaghy, 181. 
 
 Dungannon, 12, 23. 
 
 Dungloe, 150. 
 
 Dunkineely, 84. 
 
 Dunlewy (Gweedore), 166. 
 
 ,, (House and Church), 166. 
 Dunmore (Ancient Fort), 143. 
 Dunree Head, 290. 
 
 Dubdubaun (Disciple of St. Patrick), 
 10. 
 
 Dysert (Ancient Chapel and Holy 
 Well), 83. 
 
 Ea (Lough), 75. 
 
 Eagle’s Nest (Slieve League), 09. 
 Eanybeg (River), 83. 
 
 Ea-Rua (Pagan King drowned in 
 Falls of Ballyshannon), 16, 17. 
 Eas-Mac-Eric (Foundation of St. 
 
 Patrick), 293, 294. 
 
 Eden (House), 144. 
 
 Elders, 123. 
 
 Emania (Palace of), 17. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 3 ° 7 
 
 Engus (King of Munster), 81. 
 Enniskillen, 7, 259. 
 
 Eoghan (Owen, on of Niall of the 
 Nine Hostagses), 8, 10, 11, 288, 
 298. 
 
 Errigal (Mt.), 170. 
 
 Erinn (Monarchy of), 8. 
 
 Erne (Lough), 7, 13. 
 
 „ (River), 7, 8, 9, 16. 
 
 Ernan (St.), 3 8 > 39- 
 Esk (River), 72, 73. 
 
 „ (Lough), 72, 73. 
 
 „ (House), 72, 73. 
 
 Eskaheen, 298. 
 
 Ethnea (Torry Island), 175, 176. 
 Eugene (Son of Niall of Nine 
 Hosta ges), 10. 
 
 Eunan, St. (first Bp. of Raphoe), 
 243,244. 
 
 Excursions, (see Contents in front). 
 
 Fahan, 281. 
 
 ,, Abbey of, 281-284. 
 
 Fairy Bridge (Bundoran), 20. 
 Falcarragh, 173, 174, 179. 
 
 Falls (Ballyshannon), 1 6. 
 
 Fanad (of the Galloglasses), 262. 
 
 „ Head, 263. 
 
 Farcet or Farcetmore, 300. 
 
 Fate and Fortunes of Earls Tyrone 
 and Tyrconnell, 208. 
 
 Fear-Gowan (Fenian hero), 15 5 _ 1 5 7- 
 Fergus (son of Conall-Gulban), 9. 
 Fern Lough, 254. 
 
 Fingalla (wife of Hugh Roe O’Don- 
 nell, Donegal Abbey), 40. 
 
 Finn (Lough), 155. 
 
 „ „ Legend of, ISS-IS7- 
 
 ,, River, 74. 
 
 Finntown, 157, 158. 
 
 Finn Mac Cumbhall (giant), 123,144 
 Fintra House, 91. 
 
 ,, Bay, 91. 
 
 Fitzgerald. Maurice (single combat 
 with Godfrey O’Donnell), 223, 
 224. 
 
 Fitzwilliam Sir W. (Lord Deputy), 
 48. 
 
 Flight of the Earls, 265-270. 
 
 Four Masters, 61, 62. 
 
 „ Annals of, 62-64. 
 
 I Fort Stewart, 254. 
 
 [ Fort Royal, 264. 
 
 Foyle (Lough), 296, 300. 
 
 „ River, 299. 
 
 Foxhall, 228. 
 
 Frasses, 82. 
 
 ,, Catholic Church and Schools, 
 
 33. 
 
 Gallo wglasses, 85, 86. 
 
 Garrison, 28. 
 
 Gaugin (Mt.), 75. 
 
 Gartan Loughs, 228. 
 
 „ Birth-place of St. Columba, 
 229. 
 
 „ (Mountains), 220. 
 
 Glen (Village), (Rosgul), 166, 221. 
 
 „ Lough of (Rosgul), 221. 
 
 „ Poisoned (Gweedore), 166. 
 
 ,, (Bay of), 126 
 Glenal'a Hills, 120. 
 
 Glencolumbkille (Sean Glean), 120. 
 „ Parish of Glen, 1 20 
 
 „ Bed and Well of 
 
 St. Columba, 120. 
 Glendowan (Mt.), 159, 228. 
 Glengesh (Pass of), 136, 137. 
 Glengad Head, 296. 
 
 Glen Head, 126. 
 
 Glenlehin (Mt.), 156. 
 
 Glenleck, 165. 
 
 Glenlough (River), 134. 
 
 „ (Hill), 135. 
 
 Glenmalure, 49. 
 
 Glenna, 173. 
 
 Glenties, 75, 138-140. 
 
 „ (Big Glen of), 75. 
 
 ,, Pillar Stone and Cathair, 
 
 75 ‘ 
 
 Glentoher, 81, 292. 
 
 Glenveagh, 159-161. 
 
 „ Castle of, 159. 
 
 Golden Loup (Cascade), 254. 
 
 Gortlea, 252. 
 
 Granny (Glen), 136. 
 
 Great Northern Railway, 7, 301. 
 Greencastle, 297. 
 
 Gweebarra (Estuary), 141, 149, 
 151, 158, 159. 
 
 Gweedore, 147, 148. 
 
 ,, Hotel, 167. 
 
308 index. 
 
 Gweedore, Police Inspector Martin, 
 fatal attack on, 167, 
 168. 
 
 Hall, the (Mountcharles), 78. 
 Hamilton, late Mr., Recorder of 
 Cork, 144. 
 
 ,, Lt. -Colonel, 144. 
 
 Hammond, Mr., 152. 
 
 Harte, Family of, 191. 
 
 „ Captain, 206, 207. 
 
 Hebrides, 11. 
 
 Herdman, Mr., 151. 
 
 Hill, Lord George (Gweedore), 
 167. 
 
 Hoche, 221. 
 
 Horne Head, 181, 182-185* 
 
 Hugh Finliath, II. 
 
 Hy Niall, 8. 
 
 Inauguration (of the O’Donnell), 
 13, 202. 
 
 „ (of the O’Neil), 12,13. 
 Inishstrahall, 183. 
 
 Innishannon, 67. 
 
 Innisboffin, 173, 182. 
 
 Innisbeg, 173, 182. 
 
 Inissaimer (Erne), 7, 18. 
 
 Inishowen (origin of), n, 288, 297. 
 
 „ 204, 205, 213, 216, 291. 
 
 Inislceel (Island), 14 1. 
 
 ,, Abbey of, 142. 
 
 Inver (Parish of), 80, 81. 
 
 Iona (St. Columna), 231. 
 
 Kadu, 152. 
 
 Keadew, 159, 
 
 Keenaghan (Lough), 32. 
 
 Kerns (Ceithern), 85. 
 
 Kerrykiel, 264. 
 
 Kilbarron (Castle), 24. 
 
 ,, (Old Church), 24. 
 
 Kilcar (Town), 93. 
 
 „ Abbey of, 93. 
 
 „ Holy Wells, 94. 
 
 Kilclooney, 144. 
 
 ,, Cromlech of, 144. 
 
 ,, Lebacha Diarmid agus 
 
 Grainne, 149- 1 51. 
 
 Kildare (Dowager Countess of), 
 274. 
 
 Kilderry, 298. 
 
 Killaghtee, 84. 
 
 Killybegs (Town), 86. 
 
 „ (Harbour), 86. 
 
 „ (Arrival of Spanish Fleet), 
 
 87. 
 
 Killygordon, 246. 
 
 Killydonnell (Abbey), 252, 253. 
 
 „ (Bell oi), 253-6. 
 Kilmacrenan, 200. 
 
 ,, Eccl. Remains, 201. 
 Kilmallock, 66. 
 
 Kilrain, 83. 
 
 Kiltooris (Lough), 144. 
 
 Kiltoy Lodge, 252. 
 
 Kimbahe (Pagan King), 16, 17. 
 Kincora, 12. 
 
 Kincaslagh, 153. 
 
 Kindrum, 263. 
 
 Kinlough, 26. 
 
 Kingsland (Countess of), 274. 
 Kinel-Conall, 8. 
 
 Kinel-Owen (Eoghan), 8. 
 
 Kinsale (arrival of Spanish Army), 
 
 65. 
 
 ,, Battle of, 65-7. 
 
 Knocavoe (Battle of), 43. 
 
 Knockalla (Hills), 262, 263, 264. 
 Knockrawer (Mt.), 155. 
 
 Lackbeg, 152. 
 
 Laggan, 285, 286. 
 
 Laghy, 39- 
 
 Lambert (Sir Oliver), 59, 214. 
 Lamb’s Head (Bay), 264. 
 
 Lannan River, 254. 
 
 Larkfield, O’Donnells of, 61. 
 Leighton, Sir F. (at Malinbeg), 
 104. 
 
 Leitrim, Lord (murder of), 255. 
 
 ,, His notion of landlord 
 
 rights, 256, 257. 
 
 ,, His benevolent suc- 
 
 cessor, 257, 258, 
 
 Lebacha Diarmid agus Grainne 
 (Legend of), 149- 1 51. 
 Letterkenny, 221, 251. 
 Lettermackaward, 149. 
 
 Lewis ( Topographical Dictionary ), 
 138, 289. 
 
 Lifford, 248. 
 
INDEX* 
 
 309 
 
 Lifford, Castle of, 248. 
 
 Lisnenan, 252. 
 
 Linsfort, 290. 
 
 Lorcan (King of Leinster), 11. 
 Loughros (Point), 134, 135. 
 
 „ Bay, 138. 
 
 Lough Derg (St, Patrick’s Purga- 
 tory, 29, 32. 
 
 „ Description of, 33-36. 
 
 „ Penitential Practice of, 
 
 36 , 37 - 
 
 Lough fad, 146. 
 
 Loughunshagh, 120. 
 
 Loughveagh, 160-165. 
 
 Lowertown, 262. 
 
 Lcwreymore River, 73. 
 
 Maas, 141. 
 
 Macaulay, Lord (Siege of Derry), 
 299. 
 
 MacBracken, Hugh, St., 94, 102. 
 Macha Mongruadh, 17. 
 
 MacClancy or MacClanchy, 26. 
 MacCormack, Menelaus (Bishop of 
 Raphoe), 64. 
 
 MacGee’s History of Ireland , 70. 
 MacLoughlin (Kingof Aileach), 19. 
 MacCarthy (Reagh), 66. 
 
 ,, Cormac, 66. 
 
 MacDevitt, Sir Phelim, 204, 205, 
 208, 210, 215, 217. 
 
 MacGilligan Point, 297. 
 
 Mackineely, 175, 176. 
 
 MacMahon (Bp.), Battle of Scariff 
 Hollis, 225-228. 
 
 MacMonagle (Donatus), Bp. of 
 Raphoe, 89, 90. 
 
 MacSwine (Origin of Clan), 84, 85. 
 „ Of the Galloglasses or 
 Battle-Axes, 85, 86. 
 
 „ Of Banagh (Castle and 
 Bay), 85. 
 
 „ Of Doe, 190. 
 
 „ Of Fanad (Castles of 
 Rathmullen and 
 Moross), 262, 263, 265. 
 MacSwine’s Gun, 185. 
 
 MacSwine, Jack (story of), 161- 
 165. 
 
 MacWard, Poet, 270. 
 
 Maghery (Caves of), 136. 
 
 Magrath, (Myler), 33. 
 
 „ (Termon), 32. 
 
 Magh Ith, 286. 
 
 Maguire, Reginald, 21-23. 
 Magheramenagh Castle, 32. 
 
 Malin, 295. 
 
 „ Head and Tower, 296. 
 Malinbeg Bay, 104, no. 
 
 Malinmore, no. 
 
 Mamore (Gap of), 290. 
 
 Mar.gan, 70, 270. 
 Manorcunningham, 287. 
 
 Manor Vaughan, 257, 258. 
 
 Martin, Police Inspector (Gwee- 
 dore), fatal attack on, 165. 
 Martyrology of Donegal, 31. 
 Meenglass, 74. 
 
 Meenmore, 151, 152. 
 
 Melisa, St., 291. 
 
 Mella, St., 27. 
 
 Melvin (Lcugh), 27. 
 
 Melmore (Tower of), 263. 
 
 „ Steamer, 258, 261. 
 Milford, 254. 
 
 Mill (River), 289. 
 
 Mintiagh’s Lough, 292. 
 
 Monasticum Hibernicum, 17. 
 Monroe (General), 194, 198. 
 
 Moross (Castle), 263. 
 
 Morrison, Fynes, 57, 267. 
 
 Mossville, 144. 
 
 Mountch arles, 78. 
 
 Mourne (Lough and River), 74. 
 Mountgevlin Castle, 299, 300. 
 Mountjoy (Lord Deputy), 56, 60, 
 66, 267. 
 
 Moville, 296. 
 
 Muckish (ML), 179, 180. 
 
 Muff, 298. 
 
 Muineagh (Mt.), 104. 
 
 Muckross (Point), 92. 
 
 Muir Kertoch, n. 
 
 Mullafin (Mt.), 245. 
 
 Mullaghderg, 153. 
 
 Mullaghnashee, 9, 17. 
 
 Mura, or Muranus, St., 281. 
 
 Mulroy Bay, 255, 258. 
 
 Murphy, Rev. Denis, S.J., 70. 
 Murray (Laird of Broughton), 76- 
 78. 
 
 Murray, Stewart, 80. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 3 IQ 
 
 Murray’s Handbook {passim). 
 Musgrave, Messrs. (Carrick), 96. 
 Myrath (Graveyard), 180. 
 
 Naalis, or Natalis, St., 81, 82. 
 Nacung, Lough, 166. 
 
 Narin, 141. 
 
 Narrows, The, 258. 
 
 Nephin, Mt., 102. 
 
 Niall of the Nine Hostages, 7. 
 Niall Caille, 11. 
 
 Niall Glundubh, 11. 
 
 Nial Garv (see O’Donnell). 
 
 Nuala (wife of Nial Garv), 57,272. 
 Nun’s Grave (Torry), 178, 179. 
 
 Oak Park, 187. 
 
 O’Boyle, Chief of Boylagh, 144. 
 
 ,, Castle of, 144. 
 
 O’Boyle, Dr. Nial (Bp. of Raphoe, 
 1593). 87, 88. 
 
 O’Brien (Brien Boru), 12, 19. 
 
 ,, Murtagh, 15. 
 
 O’Ferghail (O’Friel), 201, 202. 
 O’Cananan, Prince of Tyrconnell, 
 17- 
 
 O’Cherballan, Bp. of Derry, 245. 
 O’Clery (Kilbarron Castle), 23, 24. 
 ,, Martyrology of Donegal , 
 3L 32. 
 
 ,, Annals of Four Masters ,61- 
 64. 
 
 O’Connellan, Owen {Annals of Four 
 Master s), 62. 
 
 O’Connor, Nuala (begins Abbey of 
 Donegal), 40. 
 
 O’Connor, Dr. (Stowe Library), 62, 
 63- 
 
 O'Connor (Chief of Sligo), 53, 55. 
 O’Curry, Professor, 62, 63. 
 O’Doherty (descended from Conall- 
 Gulban), 288. 
 
 O’Doherty, Chief of Inishowen from 
 15th century to (1610), 288. 
 
 O’ Doherty, Sir John, 204. 
 
 ,, Sir Phelim, 204. 
 
 ,, Sir Cahir, 204-218. 
 
 ,, Lady Rose, 195, 200, 
 
 266. 
 
 O’Donnell (Origin of name). 12, 13. 
 
 ,, Castle at Bally shannon, 
 19, 20. 
 
 ,, Inauguration of The 
 O’Donnell as Chief- 
 tain of Tyrconnell, 
 201, 202. 
 
 ,, Helen (Story of), 20-23 
 
 „ Godrey (1257), Battle of 
 
 Creadran-Kille, 224. 
 
 „ Godrey, Battle of Con- 
 
 wall, 225. 
 
 ,, Nial the Bold (1428), 40. 
 
 „ Hugh Roe, the Augustus 
 
 of the North West 
 Europe (Donegal 
 Abbey), 40, 41. 
 
 „ Hugh Oge (1500), suc- 
 
 cessful wars with 
 O’Neil, 42, 43. 
 
 „ Manus, marries the Aunt 
 
 of Gerald of Kildare — 
 Visits Henry VIII. — 
 Got the title of Earl 
 of Tyrconnell — Built 
 O’Donnell Castle at 
 Lifford, and wrote 
 the life of his kinsman, 
 St. Columba, 248. 
 
 „ Calvagh, treason of, &c., 
 
 44, 45, 46, 287, 288. 
 
 „ Hugh maintains auton- 
 
 omy of Tyrconnell, 39. 
 
 „ Final defeat of the 
 
 O’Neil (Shane the 
 Proud), 46, 47. 
 
 „ Hugh Roe (Red Hugh), 
 
 the Bayard of Tyrcon- 
 nell — Kidnapped at 
 Rathmullen — Escaped 
 from Dublin Castle- 
 Inaugurated Chieftain 
 of Tyrconnell — Be- 
 comes Master of Con- 
 naught — United with 
 Hugh O’Neil -De- 
 feats Clifford in the 
 battle of the Curliew 
 Mountains — Is de- 
 feated at Kinsale — 
 Mission to Spain and 
 
INDEX. 
 
 311 
 
 death there, 47-70. 
 
 O’Donnell, Nial Garv betrays Red 
 Hugh — He seizes the 
 Castle at Lifford, and 
 Abbey of Donegal for 
 the Englisli-His char- 
 acter— Dies in the 
 Tower of London — 
 His branch of the 
 family is now repre- 
 sented by the O’Don- 
 nells of Larkfreld, 57- 
 61. 
 
 „ Ro>y y succeeds in the 
 
 Chieftaincy to his 
 brother Red Hugh, 
 68— Submits to Eng- 
 land and takes his 
 title ofEarlofTyr- 
 connell — Quits Ire- 
 land with his family 
 for ever, and dies in 
 Rome, 265-270. 
 
 „ Caffar y brother of Rory 
 
 and Red Hugh — 
 Marries Lady Rose 
 O’Doherty — Quits 
 Ire'and with his bro- 
 ther and family — 
 Dies in Rome, 270. 
 
 „ Mary (daughter of 
 
 Rory) — Her ro- 
 mantic history, 272- 
 278. 
 
 „ Castle at Donegal, 64, 
 
 6 5 - 
 
 ,, Hugh Balderg (1689), 61. 
 
 O’Donovan, Dr. (Editor of Annals 
 of Four Masters ), 62. 
 
 O’ Donovan (his unpublished notes, 
 R. I. Academy), see passim. 
 
 O’ Donovan (his conclusion about 
 the story of Mary O’Donnell), 
 278. 
 
 O’Ferghil (O’Friel), Coarb of Col- 
 umbkille, 13, 201. 
 
 Oghter Lough, 199. 
 
 Oiley Bridge, 86. 
 
 O’Loughlin, Donal (King of Ai- 
 leach), 19. 
 
 O’Malley, Owen (Chieftain), 88. 
 
 O’Muldory (Lord of Kinell-Con- 
 
 nell), 18. 
 
 One Man’s Path (Slieve League), 
 
 100, 102. 
 
 O’Neil, Origin of name and Chief- 
 taincy, 12. 
 
 „ Con Mor (1500) Wars with 
 Hugh Oge O’Donnell, 
 43 - 
 
 ,, Shane (the Proud), Wars 
 with the Chieftains, Cal- 
 vagh (1556) and Hugh 
 O’Donnell (1570), 
 
 ,, Con Bacagh, created Earl 
 (in 1542), 268. 
 
 ,, Hugh, grandson of Con 
 Bacagh, joined Red 
 Hugh O’Donnell against 
 the English — Battle of 
 the Yellow Ford, <£:c., 
 47 » 5 °> 53 > 66. He sub- 
 mits to England and 
 adopts the title of Earl 
 of Tyrone, 268. He 
 quits Irel-nd for ever 
 with Ids family, 266- 
 270 His death in Rome, 
 and the end of his direct 
 issue. 278-280. 
 
 ,, Sir Turlough, 50. 
 
 ,, Owen Roe, head of the 
 army of the Catholic 
 Confederation in 1642- 
 49— Battle of Benbmb, 
 192-200. 
 
 „ Sir Piielim, Lord of Kin- 
 nair, 194. 
 
 „ Col. M'Tully O’Neil, in 
 the army of Owen Roe, 
 196-/98. End of Owen 
 Roe’s branch of the 
 family, 200. 
 
 Oona Lough, 120. 
 
 O’Rourke of Breffai, 79, 80. 
 
 O’Sullivan Bear (the Chief of Dun- 
 boy), 66. 
 
 , , Author of the His- 
 
 tory of Irish Ca- 
 tholics ■, 215. 
 
 O’Toole, Felim (Wicklow), 48. 
 
3 12 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 Otway, Rev. Caesar, Sketches in 
 
 Donegal, 34. 
 
 „ Sketch of Lough Derg, 33- 
 
 35 * 
 
 „ Sketch of Barnesmore, 73, 
 
 74 - 
 
 ,, Sketch of Glenveagh and 
 
 Jack McSwine, 161-165. 
 
 „ Sketch of Horn Head, 
 
 182, 183. 
 
 ,, Sketch of Lough Salt, 
 
 217-220. 
 
 Owenea River, 138. 
 
 Owey Island, 171. 
 
 Owentucker River, 83. 
 
 Owenwee River, 120. 
 
 Owencrana River, 292 
 
 Pacata Hibernia (Sir George 
 Carevv), 66-69 
 
 Pakenham, Colonel, 15. 
 
 „ Hon. W., 264. 
 
 Partholan (Scythian), planted first 
 colony in Ireland, 7. 
 
 Patrick, St., Visit to Tyrconnell, 
 8-11. 
 
 Patterson, Miss (Mrs. Bonaparte), 
 263. 
 
 Paulet, Sir George (Governor of 
 Derry), 205-207. 
 
 Perrott, Sir John, 39, 47. 
 
 Petrie, Dr., 120. 
 
 Philip II. (of Spain) supports 
 O’Neil and O’Donnell against 
 Queen Elizabeth, 87. 
 
 Philip III. (of Spain) — His letter 
 of assurance to the Northern 
 Chieftains, 52, 53. He sends an 
 Expedition to Kinsale, 65. 
 
 Pillar Stones, 159. 
 
 Poisoned Glen (Gweedore), i 65 . 
 
 Portachurry, 141. 
 
 Porta-delg, 175. 
 
 Port Doon, 176. 
 
 Portnoo, 143. 
 
 Porthall, 301. 
 
 Portsalon (Croaghross) Hotel, 
 263. 
 
 Presbyterians, 193. 
 
 Preston, lion. Mary (wife cf Sir 
 Cahir O’Doherty), 205. 
 
 Prince Charles the Pretender hiding 
 in Donegal, 131, 
 
 Puliska (Cascade), 132. 
 
 Pullens, The, 37. 
 
 Puritans, 193. 
 
 Purt (Bally shannon), 16, 25. 
 
 Rahan (Rathaine), 85. 
 
 Raheen Fort, 15. 
 
 Railway, Finn Valley from Stra« 
 bane to Stranorlar,246. 
 „ West Donegal, from 
 
 Stranorlar and Killy- 
 begs, 77, 78. 
 
 „ West Donegal, from 
 
 Stranorlar to Glen- 
 ties, 39. 
 
 Railways Act (Light) of 1889, 78, 
 Ramelton, 254. 
 
 ,, Castle of Hugh M‘Hugh 
 
 Duff O’Donnell, 300 
 
 Raphoe, 243. 
 
 „ Monastery of, 243. 
 
 ,, Church of, 243. 
 
 „ Diocese of, 244, 245. 
 
 Rapin (Huguenot historian), resi- 
 
 dence of, 74. 
 
 Rathcunga, 95. 
 
 Rathlin O’Beirne (Island), 84. 
 Rathmullen, 265. 
 
 „ Castle of, 265. 
 
 „ Priory of, 265. 
 
 ,, Flight of the Earls, 
 
 265-270. 
 
 Rathan Mor (Mt.), 290. 
 
 Ray River, 180. 
 
 Raymochy (Rye) Cloister, 287, 
 
 288. 
 
 Reel an Bridge, 75. 
 
 Rinmore Point, 263. 
 
 Rock of Doon, 202. 
 
 Rosses, 147- 1 54. 
 
 Rosgull, 259-261. 
 
 Rosapenna Sands, 259. 
 
 „ Hotel, 261, 262. 
 
 Rossarell Point, 104. 
 
 Rossclogher stronghold, 26. 
 Rosnakill, 264. 
 
 Rosin ver, ruins of, 27. 
 
 Rotten Island (Killybegs), 81. 
 Rutland Island, 132. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Sampson (Ards), 181, 182. 
 
 Saimer, Erne), River, 7. 
 
 Saint John’s Point, 84. 
 
 Saldanha (wreck of), 244. 
 
 Saint Ernan’s (Residence), 39. 
 
 Salt Hill, 80. 
 
 Santa Lucia, 69. 
 
 Sawpit (cliff), 127, 128. 
 
 Scat dangle (Waterfall) 158. 
 Scariff-Hollis (Battle of), 225-228. 
 Schruhan-Crolee (Waterfall), 158. 
 Scraigs (Mt.), 158. 
 
 Sean-Glean, 121-125. 
 
 Seissagh (Lough), 186. 
 
 Seven Arches, 264, 
 
 Shadows Lake of (Swilly), 264. 
 Shallagan River, 155. 
 
 Shellfield, 254. 
 
 Sheephaven Bay, 187. 
 
 Simancas, 70. 
 
 Sitric (Danish King), ix. 
 
 Slieve League (Carrigan Head), 97, 
 
 98. 
 
 ,, One Man’s Path, 100, 
 
 102. 
 
 ,, Awark Mor, 98, 99. 
 
 „ View from the top, 
 
 102, 103. 
 
 ,, The great cliff, 103, 
 
 105. 
 
 ,, Tale of Slieve League, 
 
 105- 1 10. 
 
 , , Story of the Spaniard, 
 
 110-119. 
 
 Slieve Snacht (Lough Barra) Mt., 
 158. 
 
 „ (Inishowen), 292. 
 Slieveatooey (Mt.), 126-132. 
 
 ,, Cliffs of, 132-135. 
 
 ,, Hiding place of 
 
 Prince Charles 
 Stewart, 13 1. 
 
 Boloughmore (Fearcet), 300. 
 Squire’s Cairn (Mt.), 296. 
 
 Stags, The (Group of Ocean rocks), 
 153 - 
 
 Staigue Fort, 140. 
 
 Staunton, Lady (incident in her 
 life), 100. 
 
 Stewart of Horn Head, 182, 188. 
 of Ards, 189. 
 
 3 T 3 
 
 Stewart, Sir William (Lough Derg), 
 
 35 - 
 
 Stokes, Whitley, Mr., 9. 
 
 Story of Macha (Red haired), 17. 
 Story of the Spaniard, no-119. 
 Strafford (Earl), 192. 
 
 Stranakirke, 123. 
 
 Stranorlar, 75, 77. 
 
 Sturrell (Cliff), 127. 
 
 Swilly Lough, 221, 252, 253, 264. 
 
 „ River of, 225. 
 
 Sydney, Lord Deputy (Donegal 
 Castle), 64. 
 
 Tale of Slieve League, 105- no. 
 Tamny, 263. 
 
 Tarmon, 200. 
 
 Teelin Bay, 97. 
 
 Templecrone, Parish of, 151. 
 Temple Douglas (Abbey), 228. 
 Termon River, 32. 
 
 „ Magrath, 32, 35. 
 
 Thomond, 12, 19. 
 
 Three Rock (Mt.), 48. 
 
 Tigernagh, St., 27. 
 
 Tilly Bridge, 254. 
 
 Tochaire, 295. 
 
 Toland (Deist) birth-place of, 
 298. 
 
 Todd, Rev. Dr., T.C.D., 120. 
 
 Tone, Theobald Wolfe (place of 
 arrest), 221. 
 
 Topographical Dictionary (Lewis), 
 136, 289. 
 
 Tormore, 128-131. 
 
 Torry Island, Antiquities of, 174-177 
 ,, Balor the giant, 175, 176* 
 
 ,, Colony of St. Columba, 177, 
 178. 
 
 ,, Nun’s grave, 178-179. 
 Traban (Malinbeg), 104. 
 
 Traubrega Bay, 294. 
 
 Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, 9, 
 10, 292. 
 
 Truskmore (Mt.), 26. 
 
 Tyrconnell, 8 and passim. 
 
 ,, Countess of, 272-274. 
 Tyrone, 8 and passim. 
 Tulloghobegly, 173. 
 
 Tourist Development Scheme, 158 
 and Preface. 
 
3*4 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Ulster chiefs, 196. 
 
 Usher, Primate, 192. 
 
 Urban VIII., Pope. 
 
 „ His hospitality to the exiled 
 Earls O’Neil and O’Don- 
 nell in Rome, 270. 
 
 ,, His letter to Mary O’Don- 
 nell (Stewart), 276-277. 
 Urris Hills, 290. 
 
 Valladolid, 70 . 
 
 Ward, Father (Colgan’s associate), 
 79 * 
 
 Wakeman ( Antiquities ), 140. 
 Walker, Miss (Hotel), 104* 126. 
 Ware, Irish A?ifiquities i 245. 
 Wasp, wreck of gunboat, 12 1. 
 Waterfoot River and Residence, 32. 
 Windermere, the Irish (Lough 
 Erne), 7 
 
 Woodhill, Residence, 137. 
 Wingfield, Marshal, 210. 
 
 Wray (Master of Ards), 186-189. 
 
 Yellow Ford, Battle of, 53. 
 
 Zamora, 69. 
 
 Printed by Sealy, Bryers & Walker (A. T. & C., L.), 94-9G Mid. Abbey St., Dublin.