C ^ ^ ^ vs \0 Lea&har? Na 5-ceaRC. THE BOOK OF RIGHTS tST- 6ea6haR nq 5-ceaRc, THE BOOK OF RIGHTS, NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME EDITED, WITH TRANSLATION AND NOTES, JOHN Q'DONOVAN, ESQ., M. R. I. A, \J JAERISTER AT LAW. DUBLIN: PRINTED FOR THE CELTIC SOCIETY. 1847. ^A US, A3 THIS COPY IS PRINTED KOK GEORGE DUGGAN, AN ORIGINAL ASSOCIATE MEMBER 01 ©I)c Celtic Society. DUBLIN 1 PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, BY M. H. GILL. OFFICERS ELECTED AT THE FORMATION OF THE SOCIETY. ^rcsiticnt : SIR AUBREY DE VERE, BART. Fice=^rcstocnts : Butt, Isaac, Esq., LL. D. Hudson, the Very Rev. Edward Gus- tavus, Dean of Armagh. Kane, Sir Robert, M. D., M. R. I. A., President of the Queen's College, Cork. Monsell, William, Esq., M. R. I. A. O'Brien, William Smith, Esq., M.P. M. R. I. A. O'Connell, Daniel, Esq., M. P. Renehan, the Very Rev. Laurence, D. D., President, Royal College of St. Patrick, Mavnooth. trustees : Hudson, Henry, Esq., M. D., M. R. I. A. Hutton, Thomas, Esq., M. R. I. A. Sweetman, Walter, Esq., M. R. I. A. ^Treasurer : O'Loghlen, Sir Colman Michael, Bart. Secretaries : Bindon, Samuel H., Esq. Webb, Patrick Robert, Esq. Council Barry, Michael Joseph, Esq. Crolly, the Rev. George, D. D., Pro- fessor, Royal College of St. Patrick, Maynooth. Duffy, Charles Gavan, Esq. Ferguson, Samuel, Esq., M.R.I. A. Fitzpatrick, Patrick Vincent, Esq. Graves, the Rev. Charles, A. M., Professor and F. T. C. D., M.R.I.A. Hardiman, James, Esq., M. R. I. A. Hudson, William Elliot, Esq., A.M., M. R. I. A. Kelly, the Rev. Matthew, Professor, Royal College of St. Patrick, May- nooth. Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan, Esq. Mac Carthy, Michael Felix, Esq. Mac Cullagh, William Torrens, Esq., M.R.I.A. Mac Ivor, the Rev. James, F. T. CD. Mitchel, John, Esq. Nowlan, the Very Rev. Edward, V.G. Ossory ; P. P. Gowran. O'Callaghan, Isaac Stoney, Esq. O'Hagan, Thomas, Esq. Pigot, John Edward, Esq. Starkey, Digby Pilot, Esq., A. M., M. R. I. A. Tenison, Edw. King, Esq., M. R. I. A. Tighe, Robert, Esq., A.M., M.R.I.A. Wilde, William Robert, Esq., M.R.I.A. Assistant Sccrctarr? : Mr. John Daly. ©orrcspoiVBing Secretaries : Cork. — John Windele, Esq. Kilkenny. — Robert Cane, Esq., M. D. Waterford.— Thomas Francis Meagher, Esq. Armagh. — Mr. John Corry. ©orrcsponTJing Associate 'abroati: Richard Robert Madden, Esq., M. D., M. R. I. A. The Council of the Celtic Society having intrusted me with the superintendence of this volume in its progress through the Press, I hereby certify that it is, in all respects, conformable to the rules of the Society. I also take this opportunity of expressing, upon the part of the Council, their thanks to the Royal Irish Academy , for the permis- sion to print this work from their most valuable MSS. ; to the Provost and Board of Trinity College, for access to their Manuscript Library ; and to the Rev. Doctor Todd, for facilities in the consultation of it which he was kind enough to afford. To John O Donovan, Esq., our thanks are pre-eminently due, for the learning and zeal which he has exhibited in the editing and general arrangement of the work. In it will be re- cognized a further proof of the critical and profound knowledge which he possesses of the language of our country, as well as of its topography and history. The services of Mr. Eugene Curry have been invaluable, and I am happy to record that his intimate knowledge of our ancient literature has throughout the work been made available. I cannot close these observations without tendering our warm gratitude to the dis- tinguished artist, Frederick W. Burton, Esq., R. H. A., whose pencil has graced our title-page with a group as classic as it is Irish, and which cannot fail to excite, in every Irish mind, true feelings of pride and satisfaction. It is to George Du Noyer, Esq., that we owe the drawings of the ancient chess-king from the cabinet of Dr. Petrie, which will be found in our Introduction ; and to Mr. Hanlon we are indebted for the wood- cuts used there as well as in our illustrated title-page. William Elliot Hudson, Member of the Council, •nth July,— list December, 1847 CONTENTS PAGE. Introduction. Of Leabhar na g-Ceart, i Of the Saltair Chaisil, xxii Of the will of Cathaeir Mor, and other pieces introduced into Leabhar na g-Ceart, xxxiii Of the References to Tomar as King or Prince of the Galls of Dublin, xxxvi Of the Tract prefixed to the Book of Rights, entitled " Geasa agus Buadha Riogh Eireann," xlii Of the Division of the Year among the ancient Irish, . . xlviii Of the Chariots and Roads of the ancient Irish, .... lvi Of Chess among the ancient Irish, lxi On the Irish Text and Translation, lxv ^eaya agur 6uat)ha Rfogh Gipecmn. Prose, 2 Poem — CI pip ain ia6ap in ceach, 8 Leabhaji na 5-Cearin. I. Olisheaoh Rijh Chaipil. First Prose, 28 First poem — tRijeao each pij 6 pij Caipil, 32 Second prose, 42 Second poem — Ceapc Chaipil, cen chpao 01a chupaio, . ib. Vlll CONTENTS. PAGE. I. Olijgheaoh TJijh Chairil. — Continued. Third prose, 50 Third poem — 6enen — beanoachc pop in n-jen, .... 52 Fourth prose, 60 Fourth poem — Cip Caipil in cualabaip, 62 Fifth prose, 68 Fifth poem — Q eolaij lTluman moipi, 70 Sixth prose, 80 Sixth poem — Ctca puno peanchap, puaipc ppeach, . . ib. Seventh prose, 86 Seventh poem — Qpa peapaoaip a n-joip, 88 II. Dlijheaoh Rijh Chpuachan. First prose, 96 First poem — ©'P^ij pe peanchap nach puaill, .... 98 Second prose, 110 Second poem — Uuapipcal cuicio Chonbacc, 112 III. Olijheaoh Riogh CCili^h, Oipghiall, agup Ulaoh. 1. tHijheaoh TCijh Cdl^h. First prose, 118 First poem— Ceapc pij dilij, eip[c]io pip, 120 Second prose, 126 Second poem — Q pip, ba n-oeachaip po cuaio, .... 128 2. Olijheaoh Righ Oipghiall. First prose, 134 First poem — Sipcij cam cluinebaip, 136 Second prose, 142 Second poem — In cheipc-pea pop chloino Colla, . . . 144 3. Olijheaoh TCigh Ulaoh. First prose, 154 First poem, — Gca puno pochop Ulao, 156 Second prose, ] 68 Second poem — tDlijio pij Gamna acup Ulao, .... ib. CONTENTS. IV. Olijheaoh TCijh Ueamhpach. First prose, First poem — OI1516 ptj Ueampa cuipim, Second prose, Second poem — Cip cuach TTI161, mop m peel, . . . . V. OligheabhTCish tai^hean, a^upUiomnuChachaeipmhoip. First prose, First poem — Ceapc pi£ ^aijean po luaib 6enen, . . . Second prose, Second poem — Coipci j, a Caijniu na laech, Third poem — Na paep-chlpa, plichc ao cuap, . . . . Fourth poem — Qca puno peanchap, puaipe, peanj-, . . VI. 6eannachc phaopuijj ajup Ceapc Riojh Gipeann a o-Ceamhpaigh, Introductory poem by Dubhthach Mac Ui Lughair — N16I15 cuaipe no ceanoaijeachc, First poem — Uearhaip, ceach a m-bf Ulac Cuinb, . Second poem — Uearhaip nocho Dip bo-pon, . . . Third poem — t)liji6 pig Ulao Gamna, .... Fourth poem — ^eapa pi£ Ulao Gamna, .... Fifth poem — Do ouaoaib pij Ulao uill, .... Sixth poem — t)liji6 pi Nctip, anopa, Seventh poem — Seachc (£)-capbaib ap a m-bia op, Eighth poem— ^)eapa pij Caijean ao chim, . . . Ninth poem — 6p'j'b bo peip im a pach, .... Tenth poem — tHijib pi Chaipil na (^)-cpeach, . . Eleventh poem — Upi buaba pij Chaipil cam, . . Twelfth poem — OI1516 6 plaith Cuimnij lip, . . Thirteenth poem — tDlijio pij Chopco fthaipcin, Fourteenth poem — ^eapa pig 6unnnij leachain, . Fifteenth poem — t)li£ib plaich Chpuachan, nd ceil, Sixteenth poem — ^eip 06 Cpuacha b' pap po epi, . Seventeenth poem — t)li£io pi h-Ua Ulaine mop, Eighteenth poem — tDlijib pi Hlioi in mapcaio, . . Nineteenth poem — ^eapa pig Gojain 'n-a chij, . . b 176 178 182 184 192 204 216 218 222 224 234 236 238 ib. 240 248 ib. 250 ib. 252 ib. 254 258 260 ib. 262 ib. 264 ib. 266 ib. CONTENTS. VARIOUS READINGS. pai;i:. In — £Jeara aSur 6"aoha Riosh Bipeann, 271 In — Ceabhap na 5-Ceapc: .1. I. Oligheaoh TC15I1 Chaipil, 274 II. Oligheabh Rijh Chpuachan, 278 III. 1. t)li5heaoh Ri5h CIili5h, 280 III. 2. Dlisheaoh RiSh Oip5hiall, 281. III. 3. Olisheabh TCi5h Ulabh, 282 IV. Oligheaoh Righ Ueamhpach, 283 V. tDlijheaoh'Rijh^aijhean, crjup Ciomna Chachaeip ITIhoip, 284 VI. 6eannache phaopuij, ugup Ceapt Riojh Gipeann a b-Ueamhpaigh, 287 Additional Remarks on the MSS., 290 Corrigenda, 294 Index, 295 ERRATA. Taqe 6, notes, col. 1, line 7, for in the first century, read A. D. 130. „ 9, col. 1, line 15, after sub tine, add and Trius Thaum, p. 133. „ 20, col. 2, line 4, for 1585 read 1505. „ 30, col. 1, line 3, add Holiday's Ed., p. 136. „ 31, text, line 19, and in note h, for Alplainn, read Alplann. „ 32, notes, col. 1, line 9, for all that part read all that part of Leinster. „ 40, col. 2, line 9, for Sliabh liludhma read Sliahh Uladhma. „ 46, col. 2, lines 19 and 21, for O'Eidirsceoill and Darfhiiie, read 0 h-Eidirsceoill and Dairfhine. „ 50, col. 1, line 1, for Fiacha Luighdhe, read Fiacha Suighdhe. „ 53 and 59, text and note, for Kaithlcann, read llaithlinn. ,, 58, notes, col. 2, at the eiid, for .Mac Cuilleanain, read .Mac Cuileannain. „ 59, col. 2, line It,/"/' Kilcrobane, read Kilcrohane. „ 71, text, lines lii, 17, for Ye and If ye are read Oh and If thou art. „ 72, notes, col. 2, line 21, for the son of, &c., read second son of Daire Cearba, and add See Ogygia, Part in. c. 81. „ 74 and 75, text ami mites on Dairbhre, far Dairfliine, read Duibhnc. i.e. Corca Duibhne. „ 79, notes, col. 2, line 10, for Eile Fhogartaigh read Kile Ui Fhogartaigh. „ 81, text, line 4, for Ye learned read Oh learned man. „ 88, notes, col. 1, line 7, dele which was called Laighin Deas-ghabhair bv the ancient Irish. „ 94, col. 2, line 5, for A. M. 305, read A. M. 3501. „ 108, col. 1, line 7, for Mae Diarmaid read Mac Diamiada. „ 143, notes, col. 2, line, 7, for pp. sol, 802, read 301, 302. „ 165, col. 1, line '.>,for Maigh lnis, read- Magli Inis. ,, 174, col. 1, lines 7 and 10, for Tuath, read Tuatha. „ 193, col. 2, line 5, for Clann Maeiliagh'ra read Clann Maelughra. „ 237, line 25, for Let him not be an old rusty vessel read That he be not a vessel of old words. „ 256, notes, line I, for 184, note n> read 49, note k- INTRODUCTION. Of Leabhar na g-Ceart. Two ancient vellum copies of this work are in existence, one in the Leabhar Leacain (Book of "Lecan") which was compiled from various other MSS., by Giolla Iosa Mor Mac Firbisigh of Leacan, in the county of Sligo, chief historian to O'Dubhda (O'Dowda) in the year 1418. This copy begins at folio 184, and ends at folio 193, comprising thirty- eight closely written columns of the book. The other copy is preserved in Leabhar Bhaile an Mhuta (Book of " Ballymote") which was com- piled by various persons, but chiefly by Solamh O'Droma, from older MSS., about the year 1390, for Tomaltach Mac Donnchadha (Mac Donough), then chief of the territories of Tir Oiliolla, Corann, Airteach, Tir Thuathail, and Clann Fearn-mhaighe, extending into the counties of Sligo, Roscommon, and Leitrim. This copy begins at folio 1 47 and ends at folio 154 a, col. 2, comprising thirty columns of that book. Various modern paper copies are extant and accessible, but they have been found, on comparison with the two vellum ones just referred to, to be of no authority, as they were evidently made, primarily or se- condarily from either of them, with several corruptions of the respec- tive scribes, none of whom thoroughly understood the language, as is quite evident from the nature of the corruptions (or, as they fancied, corrections) of the text made by them. ii Introduction. An abstract of this work was published by Hugh Mac Curtin in his Brief Discourse in Vindication of the. Antiquity of Ireland, pp. 173-175, and pp. 221-240. An abstract of it is also given by Dr. John O'Brien, li. C. Bishop of Cloyne, in his Dissertations on the Laws of the ancient Irish, a work which was published by Vallancey, in 1774, in the third number of the Collectanea de Rebus Hibernieis, where this abstract occu- pies from p. 374 to p. 389- The suppression of O'Brien's name in the publication of this has caused confusion. Thus, when the author says, " in my copy of the Annales Innisfallenses, I find," &c, all subsequent writers took for granted that this referred to Vallancey's copy of these Annals, whereas the fact turns out to be that the "my copy of the Annates Innisfallenses,'''' throughout this work, refers to a compilation of Annals made for Dr. John O'Brien, by John Conry, in 1760, at Paris, from all accessible Irish, Anglo-Irish, and English sources, of which the autograph is now preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, with various marginal condemnatory notes in the hand-writing of Charles O'Conor of Belanagare. In consequence of the suppression of O'Brien's name in connexion with that work, it has been quoted as Vallancey's own by all those who have since treated of the subject, but more particularly by Mr. Moore, who frequently quotes Val- lancey's Dissertation on the Laws of Tanistry, in his History of Ire- land, as a work of authority. The original Irish of the present work, however, never saw the light before the present edition, and writers have been quoting from it as the genuine work of Benean or St. Benignus, who was the disci- ple of St. Patrick, and his comharba or successor at Ard Macha (Armagh), but without letting the public know where the best copies of it are preserved, or what real claims it has to be considered the genuine work of St. Benean. Benean Avas of a Munster family, being descended from Tadhg mac Introduction. iii Ceina (the grandson of Oilioll Olum, king of Minister), to whom king Corraac mac Airt, about the year 254, had granted the territory of Cianachta Breagh, which comprised the district around Daimhliag (Duleek), and all the plain from thence to the hills of Maeldoid at the River Life (Liffey). The occasion of his conversion to Christianity is described in all the old Lives of St. Patrick, and in Benean's own Life1'- St. Patrick being at Leath Chathail (Lecale in Ulster), and having de- termined on celebrating the Easter of the year 433 near Teamhair or Tara, where, he knew, the Feis Teamhrach was then to be celebrated by the king and all his toparchs, took leave of his northern friend and convert Dicho, and, sailing southwards, put into the harbour of In bhear Colpa (Colp), the mouth of the Boinn or Boyne. There he left his boat in care of one of his disciples, and set out on foot through the great plain of Breagh (Bregia), in which the palace (of Tara) was situ- ate. On their way, and not long after landing, they went to the house of a respectable man (viri nobilis) named Sescnean, where they were entertained and passed the night. St. Patrick is said on this occasion to have converted and baptized this Sescnean and all his family, among whom was Benean, then seven years old, to whom, at the bap- tism, Patrick gave the name of Benignus, from his benign disposition. This boy became so attached to St. Patrick, that he insisted on going along with him. St. Patrick received him with pleasure into his so- a According to the genealogies of the his Supplement to the Lives of St. Patrick, saints collected by the O'Clerighs, Benean, Trias Thaum, p. 203. From these it would bishop and primate, was the son of Sesgnean, appear that the Life was in Irish, and son of Laei, son of Tadhg, son of Cian, son translated into Latin by Colgan, who in- of Oilioll Olum. See Leabharnag-Ceart, tended publishing it at the 9th of Novem- post, p. 50, where he is said to be of the her. There is an Irish Life of this saint iu Cianachta of Gleann Geimhin, of the race the Burgundian Library at Brussels, ac- of Tadhg, son of Cian. cording to Mr. Bindon's Catalogue of the b Considerable extracts from the Life of Irish MSS. in that Library, printed in the Benignus have been printed by Colgan, in Proceedings of the R. I. A , vol. iii. p. 485. a 2 iv Introduction. ciety, and Benignus thenceforth became one of his most favorite dis- ciples. According to the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, however, the apostle met Sescnean when he first landed at Inis Phadruig, near Dub- lin (lib. i. c. 45); but Doctor Lanigan thinks that this date is contra- dicted by the whole tenor of St. Patrick's proceedings. Be this as it may, we are informed in one of the chapters of the Life of St. Be- nignus, which Colgan has published in his Trias Tliaum., p. 205, that when he became qualified to preach the Gospel, he was employed in various parts of Ireland, and particularly in those regions which St. Patrick had not visited in person. Among these is particularly men- tioned " Iar Momonia", or "West Munster, and " Corcomrogia" Corcum- ruadh (Corcomroe, in the county of Clare). But he became in a special manner the patron of Connacht, where he erected his principal church, called in the time of the writer Cill Benein, at Dun Lughaidh, in the territory of Conmaicne Chineil Dubhain ("Kilbanan" in the barony of Dunmore and county of Galway, where the remains of a round tower still indicate the ancient importance of the place) ; and it is added that he blessed the province of Connacht " from the River Dro- bhaeis to Muireasc Eoghain near Luimneach, and from Leim Lara to Druim Snamha in the district of Gabhal Liuin" (Galloon, at Lough Erne), in which region the inhabitants paid him and his successors, yearly, " lacticiniorum, vitulorum, agnorum, idque generis animan- tium primitias." — Trias Thaum., c. 32, p. 205. But the relatives of St. Benignus, to wit, the race of Eoghan of Caiseal, the descendants of Oilioll Olum," and other Munster tribes, hearing that he had blessed the province of Connacht in preference to Munster, of the royal stock of which he was himself descended, though St. Patrick wished him to bless the south, were in no small degree offended; but St. Benignus, to make some amends for this obvious dereliction of provincial duty, commenced and composed that famous Introduction. v Chronicon, called the Psalter of Caiseal0, in which are described the acts, laws, prerogatives, and succession, not only of the monarchs of all Ireland, but also those of the kings of Minister. The passage runs as follows in the Latin of Colgan : — " Cognati Sancti Benigni, vt populus Eoganiai Casselensis, Olil- diana progenies, et alij Momonienses, audito preedicto eius facto, non parum offensi et contra virum Dei indignati dicuntur. S. autem Be- nignus, vt istam oftensam aliquo grato dilueret obsequio, famosum illud Chronicon, quod Psalterium Casselense nuncupatur, inchoauit et composuit: in quo non solum totius Hibernias Monarcharum, sed spe- cialiter regum Mumonias acta, jura, praerogativse, et successio con- scribantur."— Trias Thaum., c. 33, p. 205. Benignus afterwards, in 455, upon St. Patrick's retirement, suc- ceeded him, and, having himself resigned his bishopric in 465, died on the 9th of November, 4G8, and was buried at Ard Macha (Armagh)d. The passage, which we have just cited out of Colgan's extracts from the Life of St. Benignus, has been overlooked by our writers. It es- '' It is usually supposed that this work •was called Psalter because it was princi- pally written in verse. Doctor Lanigan, however, informs us (Eccl. Hist. vol. iii. p. 356, note 58), that '■ his deceased worthy friend, General Vallancey," informed him that this was a mistake, as the original title of the work was Saltair, " which, he said, signifies chronicle; and that lie states the same in his Prospectus of a Dictionary of t lie ancient Irish, at Taireae." Dr. Lanigan, however, though he would wish to agree with Vallancey in everything, was too pro- found a scholar to be led astray by his vene- ration for the memory ofhis departed friend, and, too honest to pass any opinion without SDnte authority, he had the courage to add '• Yet Saltair signifies also Psalter, .and the Psaltaxr, or Saltair -na-rann, was not a chronicle." ll Dr. Lanigan remarks (vol. i. p. 377): " How a story about Benignus having died at Koine, got into the Annals of lunisfallcn, I cannot discover." The Doctor was not aware that what he quotes throughout his Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, as the Annals of Innisfallen, is only a compilation made at Paris, A. D. 17<i(), from old Irish stories, the Caithreim Thoirdhealbkaigh, Giraldus Cambrensis, Pembridge's Annals, and Ware's Annals, by John Conry and Dr. O'Brien, author of the Irish Dictionary. We are indebted to the Irish Archaeologi- cal Society for this discovery. vi Introduction. tablishes the important fact that Benean commenced (inchoavit) the celebrated PsaJterium Casselense ; and as it is a matter of extreme inte- rest to examine the existing evidence as to that record, of which only a small fragment is known to exist, we shall collect what can be stated respecting it in a subsequent part of this Introduction. That passage further proves that Benean put together and entered in the Psalter an account of the rights (jura) of the monarchs of all Ire- land, and especially of the kings of Munster. Now, one of the poems in our book, in treating of those rights says (p. 52), that Benean put in the Psalter of Caiseal the history of each Munster king, and his income; and the conclusion reasonably follows that Benean commenced and composed some such Book of Rights as this, and placed it in the Saltair Chaisil. Edward O'Reilly (in his Irish Writers, p. 28), saw the fallacy of attributing the authorship of the Book of Rights, in its present form, to St. Benean, and expressed his doubts as to the fact, as the " language, and some internal evidences in the composition, show it to be at least enlarged and altered in a period nearer to our own times." In fact, though it cannot be denied that there was a Leabhar na g-Ceart drawn up after the establishment of Christianity, which received the sanction of St. Benignus, it cannot be pronounced that any part of the work, in its present form, was Avritten by that bishop. It gives an account of the rights of the monarchs of all Ireland, and the revenues payable to them by the principal kings of the several provinces, and of the stipends paid by the monarchs to the inferior kings for their services. It also treats of the rights of each of the provincial kings, and the revenues payable to them from the inferior kings of the districts or tribes subsidiary to them, and of the stipends paid by the superior to the inferior provincial kings for their services. These accounts are authoritatively delivered in verse, each poem being introduced by a prose statement; and of those joint pieces, Introduction. vn twenty-one in number, seven are devoted to Minister, and the rights of the ctpo pi£, or monarch of all Ireland, are treated of under this head ; for it first supposes the king of Minister to be the monarch, and then subjoins an account of his rights, when he is not king over all Ireland. Two pieces are then devoted to the province of Connacht, two to each of the three divisions of Ulster, two to Midhe or Meath, and two to Leinster, with an additional poem on the Galls or foreigners of Dublin, and a concluding piece on the rights of the kings at Teamhair or Tara. The prose usually purports to be a short statement or summary of the poem which follows, and Avhich it treats as a pre-existing docu- ment. These prose introductions almost uniformly conclude with an allegation that Benean said or sang as follows, de quibus Benean dixit, . . . avhuil ab peao 6enean . . . . uo beapc .... po cheac .... po cacain .... pop pio . . . . po jni . . . . po can 6enean; see pp. 32, 42, 52, 62, 70, 80, 88, 98, 112, 118, 128, 136, 144, 156, 168, 176, 184, 204, 218, 224, 238. Some of them go farther, and call him in c-iijoup, the author, p. 32, and in pill, the poet, p. 70. Nor is this direct allegation of Benean's authorship confined to the concluding prose lines ; it occurs in an opening at p. 97, and it is put almost as strongly at p. 50, ipiao po beop cecupca 6enen, " these are, further, the inculcations, or instructions of Benean;" and the in- troduction to the whole work in the Book of Baile an Mhuta, p. 30 (which has not a corresponding passage in the Book of Leacan), uses an expression but slightly different .... umcul po opoaij 6eneun, i. e. " the tribute and stipends of Ireland as Benean ordained,'''' . . . and it refers to the Book of Gleann da Loch as the authority. Now, it is curious that the poein^ themselves, in general, do not profess to be the productions of Benean; and the additional rann <>r stanza at p. 68, infra (.which is only found in the Book of Leacan), can scarcely be viewed as an exception to this. On the internal evidence viii Introduction. oi' the poems, as to the authorship of them, it will become very clear that he was not the author; and those who have "fathered" the Book on St. Benean, to use O'Reilly's expression (Ir. Writ. p. 109), must have confined their reading to the prose. It will appear upon careful consideration that most of the stipends and tributes mentioned in Leahhar na g-Ceart were traditional, and many of them of great antiquity. The tributes of Midhe (Meath) are said (p. 1 84), to be related as they were rendered from the time of Conn of the Hundred Battles. It is probable, indeed, that the accounts were originally digested, and perhaps put into metre, by St. Benean; but that the work was afterwards, towards the beginning of the tenth century, altered and enlarged by Cormac Mac Cuileannain, bishop-king of Caiseal or Munster, assisted by Sealbhach the sage, and Aenghus, so as to agree with the tribes and subdivisions of Ire- land at that period. This appears quite plain from the notices of Sealbhach and Aenghus, at p. 60, and of Mac Cuileannain, at p. 86. The poet Sealbhach was secretary to Cormac, " Seluacius S. Cor- maco a secretis vir eximia? pietatis et doctrine." — Acta SS. p. 5 ; and in the same place Colgan says that he survived Cormac for some years, and that he wrote concerning his virtues and death: "Vixit autem Seluacius aliquot annis post S. Cormacum, de cuius morte et virtu- tibus inter alia multa, pulchre scripsit." — Ibid. As Cormac, accord- ing to the Annals of Ulster, and to Ware, vol. i. p. 465, began his reign A. D. 901, and was killed at the battle of Bealach Mughna, A. D. 908, we can very nearly fix the date of the composition. We shall presently find further evidence to show that the poems, in their present form, cannot be ascribed to so early a period as the time of St. Benean; but there is every reason to believe that the older Book of Eights, which was said to have been written by St. Benean, was in existence in the time of Cormac. Introduction. IX Now, let us look closely through these several pieces. We have seen that the writer of the pr:ose attributes the first piece to the gifted author Benean, the son of Sescnean ; but the commence- ment of the poem immediately following leads to the inference that it was the composition of one who had arrived at the station of chief poet of Ireland ; for he claims for the men who held that office, and wore the Taeidhean, or ornamented mantle, made of the skins and feathers of various coloured birds (Cormac's Glossary), the true knowledge of the rights of Caiseal, which, to bardse, should be a question for ever. In the second poem there is a similar allusion, p. 42, for the poet sings that it is his duty to record the right of Caiseal, and that it is pleasing to the king of Gabhran to find it acknowledged by his poet. In the third piece the writer of the poem actually addresses Benean as a third person, and implores a blessing on him ; asserting that it was he who put in the Saltair Chaisil the tradition or history of the king of Caiseal and of his income. That was evidently an antecedent Saltair, which the writer afterwards refers to (p. 60), as the Psalter of the God of Purity, in which he had found it recorded that Benean had remained at Caiseal from Shrovetide to Easter. The writer of the prose, as usual, ascribes this poem to St. Benean, the son of Sescnean the Psalmist, but the poem itself furnishes internal evidence that it was not composed by him, or for centuries after his time. It refers to the cursing of Teamhair (Tara) by Saint Ruadhan, A. D. 563; see p. 53, n. u, infra; it mentions the Galls or foreigners of Dublin, and the duty of driving them out from Leinster and Munster (p. 54); and if those foreigners were the Northmen, such an allusion could not have been made before the eighth or ninth century. It states the great dignity and prerogatives of Caiseal, and complains that the e See page 183, and note ' there. x Introduction. people of Leinster and race of Conn did not subscribe to those preroga- tives; and in the concluding stanza the poem requests Sealbhach the Saei, or learned Doctor, to maintain those privileges. We have already, p. vii., mentioned the fourth piece, and its conclud- ing verse, p. 68, wherein Benean is made to speak in the first person. The fifth poem refers to Benean as the one who had shaped the stipends of Caiseal, and it does not say that he wrote the piece. Again, in the sixth poem, which begins at p. 80, and ends at p. 87, distinct mention is made of Mac Cuileannain himself, from which we must conclude that these poems were written during his time, and indeed possibly this particular poem was written by himself, for the writer pledges the support of Mac Cuileannain to the sage or ollamh who maintains the system he is expounding, as it is. Again, the poem which begins on p. 98, and ends on p. 11 1, plainly betrays a later age by mentioning (see p. 107, infra) the free tribe of " Siol Muireadhaigh," for the progenitor of this tribe, Muireadhach Muilleathan, king of Connacht, died, according to the Four Masters, in the year 700, rede 701 (see Tribes and Customs of Ui Maine, p. 73, note f ), and of course was unknown to Benean, though the prose, as usual, attributes the composition to him. He died in the year 468, i. e. 233 years before the ancestor whose race is mentioned in the poem. The language of the poem is, however, very different from the prose, and in its concluding rann the writer plainly distinguishes himself as the follower of Benean, not Benean himself, as follows: " Well has Beneun exactly found This knowledge — it is no injustice, / shall state it as it is, Ye noble people, hear it !" The mention of Leath Chathail in the poems, on Cladh, pp. 164 and 172, is decisive to show that they could not have been written by Introduction. XI Benean in the filth century. We have shown (p. 165, n. f) that an an- cestor of Cathal, from whom the territory took its name, was slain in the year 627. In the splendid volume on the Ecclesiastical Antiqui- ties of Down, Connor, and Dromore, by the Rev. Mr. Reeves, pp. 201, 257, n. u, and 365, n. x, now published, the reader will find the mate- rials for fixing the era of this Cathal to the middle of the eighth century, and of the adoption of the territorial name to the middle of the ninth, A. D. 850. So, the frequent references to the Galls, and to Tomar, as prince of Dublin, pp. 41, 206, demonstrate that the poems in which they occur could not have been written before the end of the ninth century, as will appear from a subsequent part of this Introduction. The writer of the poem, at p. 134, says that he had found the history of the race of Niall in books where Benean's faithful hand had traced it, making it as plain as language can, that the writer composed his poem founded upon previous books of which Benean was author. The allusions to Benean at pp. 155, 168, 178, all are to the like effect; that at p. 168 speaks of Benean as having inculcated the matter in his day, i. e., as if he were then dead; and that at p. 178, when it alleges that a Latin scholar had fully observed the right, must mean, either that Benean had composed his book in Latin, or that some other Latin scholar had intervened, and written on the subject in Latin. The language of the poem which commences at p. 204, is remark- able; viz., that "Benean related the right of the king of Laighin ; in the decision of an author he found it;" intimating the writer's testi- mony that Benean had recorded this right in conformity with the judgment of a previous author. Even the poem on the Galls of Atli Cliath does not purport to be written by Benean; for the writer says: '• The profits cf Alh Cliath / will not conceal, As Benean has fixed them." xii Introduction. This poem on the Galls or foreigners of Dublin, pp. 224, &c, and their conversion to Christianity by St. Patrick, may possibly have been produced about the same period of Cormac Mac Cuileannain, though it is difficult to believe that it was allowed to be transcribed into the Sal- tair Chaisil by Cormac and his secretary, who, living so near the period of the first Northman or Danish settlement in Dublin, could not be Supposed to lend their authority to such a story. It is much more likely that this poem was written and circulated at a much later period, when the Christian Danes refused to submit to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction or authority of Armagh; and when it was found useful by the Danish party to have it believed that their ancestors had been settled in Dublin as early as the fifth century, and converted to Christianity by St. Patrick, immediately after his having cursed Teamhair or Tara. The Danes of Dublin, on that occasion, placed themselves under Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury ; and the jea- lousy that existed between the two races at that period is manifest from the letter addressed to Ealph, Archbishop of Canterbury, by the clergy and burgesses of Dublin, published by Ussher (Syllog. No. 40), in which they tell him that the bishops of Ireland, and most of all the one who resided at Armagh, entertained a very great jealousy against them. " Sciatis vos revera, quod Episcopi Hibernia? maximum zelum erga nos habent et maxime ille Episcopus qui habitat Ardimacha?; quia nos nolumus obedire ordinationi* sed semper sub vestro dominio esse volumus." How early this Iberno-Danish figment was copied, as an authentic document, into the historical books of the nation, it is now difficult to determine, but it is quite obvious it had found its way into Leahhar na (j-Ceart long before the period of the compilation of the Books of Leacan and Ballymote, for it had been interpolated in the MSS. from which the copies as they now stand were made. This fiction also attempts to pull down the veneration for the Ne- Introduction. xiii potes Neill, by making St. Patrick curse the monarch of that race, from which it looks probable that some of the rival race of Oilioll Olum had a hand in the production of it; for it certainly was intended to raise the dignity of Caiseal above that of Teamhair, and to exalt the race of Oilioll Olum above that of Conn of the Hundred Battles. As this controversy respecting the claims of the northern and southern Irish kings to supremacy and renown gave origin to a great number of Irish poems by Tadhg Mac Daire (Teige Mac Dary) and the Mini- ster poets, which were replied to by Lughaidh O'Clerigh (Lewy O'Clery) and the northern literati, the Editor will offer a few thoughts on the subject in this place. See O'Reilly's Irish Writers, p. 149, un- der the year 1600. Dr. O'Brien appears, from various notices throughout his Irish Dic- tionary, to have thought that the race of Oilioll Olum never submitted to the race of Conn of the Hundred Battles ; for he speaks of Conn him- self, and of his grandson Cormac, and even of Flann Sionna, who de- feated Cormac mac Cuileannain in 908, as kings of Meath, and of the two northern provinces. But in this and other respects Dr. O'Brien has been led to make assertions relative to the Irish monarchs which cannot stand the test of true criticism, for though it must be acknowledged that the Irish monarchs had little influence in Leath Mhogha, or the southern half of Ireland, still we must believe that, since the introduction of Christianity the Irish monarchs were princi- pally of the race of Niall of the Nine Hostages, the ancestor of the O'Neills and their correlative families. In the ancient Lives of St. Patrick it is stated that when the Irish apostle came to Aileach, he predicted that sixteen of the race of Eoghan, the son of Niall, would become kings of all Ireland; and though we need not believe in this as a prediction, it is reasonable to conclude that those kings were well known and acknowledged ; and the fact is that they are mentioned and xiv Introduction. called kings of all Ireland even by the Minister writers themselves, whatever authority they may have exercised over the chieftains of Munster. Connell Mageoghegan, in his translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, gives us his idea of what was understood by " King of Ireland," in the following observation under the reign of Mael na m-Bo, ancestor of the family of Mac Murchadha of Leinster : " A. D. 1041. Dermott MacMoylenemo was king nine years. " The kings or chief monarches of Ireland were reputed and reck- oned to be absolute monarches in this manner : If he Avere of Leath Con, or Con's halfe in deale, and one province of Leath Moye, or Moy's halfe in deale, at his command, he was coumpted to be of sufficient power to be king of Taragh, or Ireland ; but if the party were of Leath Moye, if he could not command all Leath Moye and Taragh with the lordshipp thereunto belonging, and the province of Ulster or Connought (if not both), he would not be thought sufficient to be king of all Ireland. Dermott Mac Moylenemo could command Leath Moye, Meath, Connought, and Ulster; therefore, by the judgement of all, he was reputed sufficient monarch of the whole." According to the old Annals of Innisfallen none of the kings of Cai- seal or Munster attained to the monarchy of all Ireland, since the intro- duction of Christianity, except the five following : " 1. Oengus, son of Nadfraech ; 2. Eochaidh, son of Oengus, son of Nadfraech ; 3. Cathal, son of Finguine ; 4. Felim, son of Crimhthann ; 5. Brian, son of Cinn- eide." Of these the first was contemporary Avith St. Patrick, but there seems to be no authority for making him monarch of all Ireland, except this Munster chronicle, which Avas compiled in the monastery of Innis- fallen. According to the Book of Leacan, Laeghaire, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, was monarch of Ireland for thirty years after the arrival of St. Patrick, and, according to all authorities, Laeghaire was succeeded by his relative, Oilioll Molt, son of Dathi, and Oilioll was sue- Introduction. xv eeeded by Laeghaire's own son, Lughaidh, who died, according to the Annals of Tighearnach, in the year 508. After the death of Lughaidh there was an interregnum of five years, and the Munster annalist seems to have taken the opportunity of this interregnum, which was acknowledged by the UiNeill annalists, of placing the monarchical crown on the head of Eochaidh, the son of Aenghus, king of Caiseal, and making him wear it for thirteen years after 513, when Muircheartach Mor Mac Earca, the great grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, had, according to the other annalists, mounted the throne. The kings of Caiseal appear to have put forward no claims to the monarchy of all Ireland till the year 709, when Cathal, the son of Finguine, ancestor of the family of O'Caeimh (O'KeefFe), and king of Munster, plundered the plain of Breagh or Bregia, and compelled Fearghal, the son of Maelduin, monarch of Ireland, to give him hos- tages; in consequence of which he was looked upon by his own people as monarch of Ireland till his death, which occurred in the year 742. But the northern writers do not acknowledge him as monarch, for during the period which elapsed from the year 709, when he could have had some pretension to the monarchy, till 742, the other annalists set down as monarchs of all Ireland the following : 1. Fearghal, son of Maelduin, who died, according to Tighear- nach, on Friday, the lGth of December, 722. 2. Fogartach, son of Niall, who was monarch of Ireland for one year and some months. 3. Cinaeth, son of Irgalach, who was monarch of Ireland three years. 4. Flaithbheartach, son of Loingseach, seven years. 5. Aedh Ollan, son of Fearghal, nine years. From the death of Cathal, the son of Finguine, the Munster histo- rians claim no monarch of all Ireland down to the year 840, when Feidhlimidh (Felimy), the son of Crimhthann, king of Munster, and XVI Introduction. Niall, the son of Aedh, monarch of Ireland, had a meeting at Cluain- Fearta Brennain (Clonfert) in Connacht, where the monarch submitted to Feidhlimidh (Felimy), who was considered, at least by his own people of Munster, monarch of Ireland from that period till his death, ■which occurred in 847f- From this year, however, the kings of Caiseal had no pretensions to the monarchy till the year 1002, when the great Brian Borumha mounted the throne of Ireland. Mr. Moore, however, will not allow any monarch of all Ireland to the race of Eibhear, or the people of Leath Mhogha, or Munster, from the time of St. Patrick till the accession of Brian in 1002. This f Mac Curtin, in his Brief Discourse in Vindieatkm of the Antiquity of Ireland, p. 175, asserts that this Feidhlimidh was not king of Ireland, as Cambrensis erro- neously styles him, in his History of Ire- land, but that he was king of Munster for twenty-seven years. But Mac Curtin should have known that this should not have been attributed as an error to Cambrensis, as the older Munster annalists mention Feidhlimidh as one of the five Munster kings who obtained the monarchy of all Ireland, subsequently to the introduction of Christianity ; and it is quite evident from Mac Curtin's own account of Feidh- limidh's regal visitation of the provinces of Connacht, Ulster, Meath, and Leinster, to whose kings he made the usual mo- narchical presents, and from whom he received the entertainments due to the Irish monarchs, that he was considered the apo pij, or sole monarch of all Ireland. Mac Curtin's remark, that his progress through Ireland "had success upon ac- count of the union and amity the Irish princes had among themselves at this time," is beneath criticism ; for it is distinctly stated in the old Annals of Innisfallen, that Feidhlimidh, the son of Crimhthann, re- ceived homage from Niall, the son of Aedh, king of Teamhair, in the year 824 (a mis- take for 840), when Feidhlimidh became full king of Ireland, and sat in the seat of the abbots of Cluain Fearta (Clonfert) ; and in an Irish poein purporting to give a regular account of Feidhlimidh's circuit through Ireland, it is distinctly stated that he remained half a year in the plain of the River Finn, plundering the Cineal Chonaill, and that he also plundered Dal Riada and Dal Araidhe, and that he remained a whole year at Ard Macha, during which he preach- ed to the people every Sunday. The words of Giraldus are as follows : " Igitvr a tempore Felmidii Regis, et obitu Turgesii, vsque ad tempus I'otherici : Conactia? regnum durauit (Qui vltimus de hac gente monarcha fuit, & vsque hodie Conactia; prsesidet: Cuius etiam tempore, et per quern Rex Lageniae Dermitius scilicet Murchardi filius, a regno expulsus fuerat) septendecim Reges in Hibernia reg- nauerunt." — Topographia Hibernice, Dist. iii. c. 44. Introduction. xvii is a fact on which he frequently and emphatically speaks. See espe- cially his History of Ireland, vol. ii. pp. 142, 143. It is probable that the tributes paid to the Irish monarchs and provincial kings remained nearly the same as those described in the present form of Leabhar na g-Ceart till the destruction of the Irish monarchy- After the English invasion, the power of the provincial kings was very much limited ; the great Anglo-Norman families im- posed various tributes unknown to the ancient Irish, and in course of time the Irish chieftains who retained their power began to imitate them, and the old order of the country was disturbed and broken. Of this kind of exaction the following is quoted by Dr. 0' Conor, from an Irish MS. preserved in the Library of the Duke of Bucking- ham at Stowe, Codex iii. fol. 28. Stowe Catalogue, p. 168. It appears to have been taken from a poem by Torna O'Maelchonaire, chief poet of Connacht, who attended at the inauguration of Feidhlimidh CConcho- bhair on the hill of Cara Frasigh, A. D. 1315. " Qp iao po imoppo cuapapcail na pig-caoireac 6 Lla Conchobaip .i. od pp. beag mapc, acup oa pp. oeaj caopa i m-6eallcuine do mhajjj Oipeachcuij; oa pp. oeaj mapc, acup od pp. oeaj cope ja- cha Sarhna 66, acup a e-cabac a h-UBall. Ddpcjc. oeaj loil^each, acupod^. Oeaj caopa i m-6eallcuine o' O PionOaceaig ; Oct pp. oeag cope, acup od pp. oeag mane jacha Sarhna oo, acup a c-cabac a £uijnib Connachc bo. Xia pp. oea£ loil^ioch, acup od pp. oea-r caopa o' O TTIaoilbpenumn jacha 6eallcuine; oo pp. oeajjj mapc acup od;tx. cea^ cope gacha Sarhna 66, acup a c-cabac a Cip Piach- pac acup a Oviil Cndrha acup a Chuil Cheapnarha 66. Xia pp. oeag loil^each acup od pp. oeaj caopa ftheallcaine oo Lla piannagdin, acup od pp. oea^ mapc acup od pp. osaj cope jacha Sarhna 66, acup a c-cabach a Op Gmaljaio acup a h-loppup. " These are the stipends of the royal chieftains of Connacht from b xviii Introduction. O'Conchobhair [O'Conor], i. e. twelve score beeves*, and twelve score sheep on May-day to Mac Oireachtaigh [Mageraghty] ; twelve score beeves and twelve score hogs to himself [O'Conor] every AllhalloAvtide, and these are levied from Ubhallh. Twelve score milch cows', and twelve score sheep on May-day to O'Fionnachtaigh ; twelve score hogs and twelve score beeves every Allhallowtide to himself, and these are levied for him from Lnighne Chonnacht [Leyny]. Twelve score milch cows and twelve score sheep to O'Maoilbhrenuinn [Mnlrenin] every May-day; twelve score beeves and twelve score hogs every Allhallow- tide to himself, and these are levied for him from Tir Fhiachrach [Tireragh], and from Cuil Cnamhak, and from CuilCearnamha. Twelve score milch cows and twelve score sheep on May-day to OTlannagain; and twelve score beeves and twelve score hogs every Allhallowtide to himself, and these are levied in Tir-Amhalghaidh [Tirawley] and in lrrns [Erris]." It will be seen by comparing the stipends and tributes in this ex- tract with the two poems printed infra, p. 99 to 111, and from 113 to 1 17. that the tributes and stipends paid by these territories do not at all agree; and it is, therefore, evident that they were remodelled after the English invasion. The subsidy mentioned in the tract on Di Maine, preserved in the Book of Leacan, as paid by the king of Connacht to the chief of Ui Maine, will also appear to have belonged to a later period, for, accord- ing to that Tract (see Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many, p. 93), the king s Twelve scorebeeves.—T>T O'Conor trans- ' Milch- Cows. — Dr. O'Conor renders lutes this •• fifty cows and fifty sheep." but this sucking calves, but without any au- t>a pp. oeng is not fifty, but Oct picic thority. Dear. i. e. twelve score, i. e. two hundred k Cuil-Cnamha. a district in the east of and forty. the barony of Tireragh, in the county of 6 Ubliall. recti Vmhall. see page 98, SMgo, comprising the parish of Dromard. note ' ifn). See Ui Fiachrach, pp. 265, 4-24. Introduction. xix of l'i Maine is entitled to ten steeds, ten foreigners [slaves], ten stan- dards, and ten mantles [niatals] ; whereas, according to Leabhar na g-Ceeui, ut infra, p. 115, he was entitled only to -even, cloaks, -even horses, seven hounds, and seven red tunics. TDli^io pi£ h-Ua niaine, an mal. oech n-eic, cap paeb ppocaib pal, oech n-gode, pe gnim pepji a 5 pum, oech triepji ocup oech macail. [11 Maine, p. 92. Some curious specimens of these remodelled exactions are given by Mr. Hardiman in his Irish Deeds, published in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. xv., Xos. xiv. and xv., with the Rentals of O'Brien and Mac Namara, in the fourteenth century, and No. xxix., detailing some exactions of Mac Carthy More. The lasl Earl of Desmond seems to have raised these tributes and exactions to a most exorbitant extent, as appears by a list of his '• rents, victuals, and other revenues," in a MS. at Lambeth, Carew Collection, No. 617, p. 212. The same collection, No. 611, contains a list of "services and duties due to Mac Cartie More from Sir Owen O'Sullevan." More of these Irish exactions will be found detailed in the will of Domhnall O'Galchobhair, who was steward to Hugh Roe O'Donnell, who died in Spain, in the year 1602; and in a paper MS. in Marsh's Library, Class V., 3, Tab. 2. No. 20, which gives a list of the rents, services, customs, &c, due to O'Duinn (O'Doyne, now Dunne), chief of Iregan, in the Queen's County, and in various Inquisitions, amongst the most curious of which is one taken "apud the King's ould castle in the city of Cork, decimo septimo die Octobris, 1636, coram Willielnmm Fenton et alios," in which the rents and customs due to Daniel Mac Carty, of Kilbrittan, alias Mac Carty Reogh, then lately deceased, are minutely 1.2 xx Introduction. detailed. The following account of the duties and customs of East Breifny, furnished to Her Majesty's Commissioners at Cavan, by Sir John O'Reilly, on the 1st of April, 1585, will afford a fair specimen of modern Ilibemia Anglicana exactions. It is preserved in the Carew Collection at Lambeth, No. 614, p. 162. " By Her Majesty's Commissioners at Cavan, the 1st of Apriell, 1585. " Sir John O'Reily sett down the limites of your territories, and the baronies accordinge the new Indentures. " Item what rents, duties, and customs you ought to have out of every pole in the five baronies," &c. To the second of these questions he replies : "The Dewties and Customes, &c. " Orely by auncient custom and usadge of the country had always out of the baronies of the Cavan and Tullaghgarvy, and out of every of the other thre barronies which he hath lost by the division, yearly out of every barrony xlv. li. [i. e. £45], as often as he had any cause to cesse the said barronies, either for the Queene's rents and dewties, or for any charge towards Onele, or other matter, which sometimes was twise or thrise a yeare, and every time xlv. li. to his owne use, besides the charge of the cesse. " Item, he had lykewise by the said custome and usadge all manner of chargis that either his son, or any other of his men or followers, weare put into by reson of their beinge in pledge or attendinge by com- mandment of the Lord Deputy in Dublin, or otherwhere for matter of the said Orely. " Item, by the said custom Orely had all manner of fees and pen- sions, and recompenses given by the said Orely to any learned counsell or other solicitor or agent for the cause of the contry, borne and payed by the said contry. Introduction. xxi " Item, by the said custom Orely had yearely over and beside all other dewtis and customes towards his chargis in going to Dublin out of every pole, xvid. star. " Item, by the said custom he had yearely out of every viii. pooles of lande through the whole fyve barronis, one fatt beef for the spendinge of his house. " Item, by the said custom he had one horse for himselfe, one horse for his wife, and one horse for his son and heir, with one boye attend- inge uppon every horse kept through the whole fyve barronis yearely. "Item, by the said custom it was lawfull for Orely to cesse uppon the Mac Bradis, the Mac Enroes, the Gones, and the Jordans, by the space of iii. quarters of a yeare yearely, one foteman uppon every poole which the said sirnames had, to kepe his cattell, to repe and bynd his come, to thrashe, hedge and diche, and do other husbandry and mer- sanary work for the said Oreley. " Item, by the said custom the said Orely had upon the Bradis, the Gones, the Mac Enroes, and the Jordans, out of every poole of land yearely, thre quarters of a fatt beefe, and out of every twro pooles one fatt porke, and also the cessinge of strangers, their men and horses, as often as any did come in frendship to the country. "Item, by the said custom the said Orely had by dewty all manner of chardgis both for workmen rofe and laborers and victualls for the buildinge and maintaininge of his castell of the Cavan and all other necessary romes and offices about the same, borne and payed by the gentill and others of the barrony of the Cavan. " The dewtis of the towne of the Cavan also by the said custom, as rents, dringk, and other dewtis now takin and not denied. "Item, Sir Hugh Oreley, father unto the said Sir John, had in morgadge from divers of the gentill of Clonmahon xlviii. pooles in Gawne, 1. mylche ky-ne wcU morgage discended upon Sir John, and he xxii Introduction. was seised of the said xlviii. pooles untill the divission, which he desi- reth to continue possession of or els that he may be payed the said 1. milche kyne." Of the Saltair Chaisil. The Psalter of Caiseal is particularly referred to in the Bonk of Rights as the work in which St. Beneau entered the traditional history of the tributes of the kings of M mister : 6enen — beanoachc pop in n-jen, oo pao po a Salcaip Chcnpil, peancup each pi£ lp a pach, lp oeuch imcheic cip lllumcm. — Infra, p. 52. This passage occurs in a poem which we may take to have been the composition of Sealbach and Aenghus, to which Corinac Mac Cuileannain adds his approval, recording his direction that his secre- tary and scribe should preserve the privileges of Munster as Benean had left them. In another part of the poem the same document is evidently referred to under the name of the Psalter of the God of Purity, in which it was found that Benean remained at Caiseal from Shrovetide to Easter. — p. 60. There is another entry in our work, in an addition to the prose in the copy contained in the Book of Baile an Mhuta, alleging that the Psalter of Caiseal had said that Benean sang or wrote the song which follows: " hoc carmen nt Psalterium Caisil dixit." p. 238. It is clearly a mistake to attribute that poem, at least in its present state, to Be- nean; but it is not clear what particular document the writer of the prose meant to designate as the Psalterium Caisil. Therefore we proceed to lay before the reader some information Introduction. xxm respecting the Psalter or Psalters so called ; and this may seem the more requisite, as we have already, in giving the grounds for believing that Beuean or Benignus framed the original Book of Rights, shown a most ancient testimony, proving that he commenced and composed a Psalterium Casselense, in which the rights, or jura, of the Irish mo- narchs, &c, were stated: see Colgan's extracts from the Latin Life of Benignus, quoted above, p. v. It is remarkable that Colgan, who had that notice in the Life of Benignus before him, takes no notice of it, but in another place (Trias Tkaum., p. 205), ascribes the writing or compiling of the Psalterium Cas- « liaise to Cormac Mac Cuileannain. His words are as follows: " S. Cormacus Rex Momonia?, Archiepiscopus Casselensis, et mar- tyr, qui in patriis nostris annalibus peritissimus Scotorum appellatur, scripsit de Genealogia, Sanctorum Hibernia?, lib. i., et, de Regibus aliis- que antiquitatibus ejusdem, nobile opus quod Psalterium Cassellense appellatur, et in magno semper habetur pretio. Passus est S. Corma- cus an 903, vel ut alii 908." Keating, in his History of Ireland, Hali- day's edition, Preface, p. xcvi., makes a like allegation in a passage which we shall presently cite. Notwithstanding this testimony of Keating and Colgan, who seem to have been well acquainted with the literary monuments of their native country, we are informed by Council Mageoghegan, in the dedi- cation of his translation of the " Annals of Clonmacnoise" to Terence; Coghlan, dated April 20th, 1627, that the ''Psalter of Cashel" was compiled by the order of the great Irish monarch, Brian Borumha. His words are: " Kinge Bryen seeinge into what rudeness the kingdome was fallen, alter setting himself in the quiet government thereof, and restored cadi one to his auncient patrimonve, and repaired their churches and houses of religion, he caused open schools to be kept in the several xxiv Introduction. parishes, to instruct their youth, which by the said warres were growen rude and altogether illiterate. He assembled together all the nobilitie of ihe kingdome, as well spirituall as temporall, to Cashed in Minister, and caused them to compose a booke, containing all the inhabitations, events, and septs that lived in this land, from the first peopleing and inhabitation and discoverye thereof, after the creation of the world, un- till that present time, which booke they caused to be called by the name of the Psalter of Cashell; signed it with his owne hand, toge- ther with the hands of the kings of the five provinces, and also with the hands of all the bishoppes and prelates of the kingdome ; caused several copies thereof to be given to the kinges of the provinces, with strict charge that there should be no credit given to any other chro- nicles thenceforth, but should be held as false, disannulled, and quite forbidden for ever. " Since which time there were many scepts in the kingdome that lived by itt, and whose profession was to chronicle and keep in memo- rie the state of the kingdome, as well for the time past, present, and to come; and now, because they cannot enjoy that respect again by their said profession, as heretofore they and their auncestors received, they sett nought by the said knowledge, neglect their bookes, and choose rather to putt their children to learn English than their own native language; insomuch that some taylors do cutt with their scis- sars the leaves of the said bookes which were [once] held in greate account, and sleice them in long peeces to make measures of, so that the posterities are like to fall into grose ignorance of any things which happened before their time." Now these accounts look rather conflicting, but the probability is that they are all true: i. e. that St. Benean commenced the Psalter; that Cormac continued it down to his own time, and remodelled the Book of Rights so as to state the tributes and stipends of the country, as they Introduction. XXV then stood; or, to use the words of our text (pp. 107, 169, 190), map ucu ; and that King Brian had a further continuation framed to his time. It cannot be proved that the prose introductions in the present work were composed when King Brian compiled his Psalter; but they must have been written not very far from his time ; for it is plain that they were composed long after the poems of Cormac's day, to which they are prefixed, and there is every reason to believe from the entire context, that they were written before the Anglo-Norman invasion, and while the Northern Galls were masters of Dublin. Keating, and others of his day, whom we shall presently cite, men- tion the Psalter of Caiseal and the Book of Eights as separate works ; but we must recollect that the Book of Eights stood separate in the MSS. from which we print it, and no doubt in other MSS., some centu- ries before his time. The Psalter of Caiseal is constantly referred to by the Irish writers of the seventeenth century as the work of Cormac Mac Cuileannain, and as then extant. Keating (iibi supra) mentions it as the first and most important of the historical books extant in his time. The follow- ing are his words : k' Gjup an m£ib a Beanup pe peancup Gipeann lp inmeapca 50 paib bapancariiail, 00 bpij 50 n-glancaoi 1 b-Peip Ceuinpac juc rpeup bliaoain e, do lucuip uaiple, ea^laipe, ujup olluriian Gipeann. 6106 a piubnuipe pin ap na ppimleubpuib po plop ard pe na B-paicpin pop 1 n-Gipmn, map aca, falcuip Chaipil, bo pcpioB Copmac naorii- ra ITluc Cuileannain, pij oa coigeao Hlunmn a5uP cupb-eappoj Chaipil; CeaBap Gpbu fTlaca; CeaBap Chluana h-Gioneuc Pionn- cain, 1 fAioijip, Sulcaip nn Rann, 00 pcpiob Oonjup Cede t)e ; teuBap ^hliiine t)u f,oc; CeaBap nci 5-Ceupc, 00 pcpfoB 6enen niioiiicu ni'ic Seipjnein; Uibip Chiapam, 00 pjpioBub 1 5-Cluain rinc Noip; 6eaBap 6uibe miioling; ajup f -euBap Dub mholaju." xxvi Introduction. Wliicli may be translated as follows : " As to what belongs to the history of Ireland, it should be consi- dered that it is authentic, because it used to be purged at the Feis Teamhrach every third year, in the presence of the nobility, clergy, and ollamhs ; in evidence of which remain the following chief books, which are still to be seen in Ireland, viz. : Saltair Chaisil, written by the holy Cormac Mac Cuileannain, king of the two provinces of Munster, and Archbishop of Caiseal ; the Book of Ard Macha (Armagh); the Book of Cluain Eidhneach Fionntain, in Laeighis ; Saltair na Rann, written by Aenghus Ceile De; the Book of Gleann Da Loch; Leabhar na g-Ceart, written by the holy Benean, son of Sesgnean; Uidhir Chia- rain, which was written at Cluain mic Nois; Leabhar Buidhe Mholing; and Leabhar Dubh Mholaga." Doctor John Lynch, who was contemporary with Keating, men- tions these books in a different order, in his translation of Keating's History of Ireland: " Haec cum ita sint, et insignium etiam exterorum authorum testi- moniis comprobata, si vel leviter ad ea aspicerent recentiores Angli authores, amplain profeeto bene potius quam male de Hibernis lo- quendi ansam haberent; et quidem amplissimam, sidomestieaHilxTiiia? documenta legerent, et intelligerent, fidem enim ilia exigunt indubita- tam, quandoquidem tertio quoquo anno in Comitiis Teamorensibus a regni proceribus, prgesulibus, et literatis accurate excuterentur. Ilia quidem post Catholicam fidem ab insula susceptam, episcoporum custo- dia? tradebantur. Et sunt sequentes libri etiamnum extantes : Liber Armachauus'jPsalteriumCasselense, a sanctoCormacoCulenano, utrius- ' Liber Armachanus. — It is doubtful contains only some notices of the life of whether this is the MS. now called the Si. Patrick, and which was called Canoin Book of Armagh, which could scarely he Phadruig by the Irish. It was probably called a ppirhleub> ip peancupu, as it a historical Manuscript of the same sort as iSHESTNUT HJL/.. Introduction. XXVll que MomonisE Rege, Cassiliasque Archiepiscopo conscriptum : Liber Nuachongbhala™ ; Liber Cluain Egnach Fintoni" in Lesia ; Psalterium Rithmorum0 Aengi cognomento Dei familiaris, sive Colideus, (Clonjup Cede De); Liber GlindalochensisP ; Liber per Sanctum Benignum Seisgneui filium, confectus, inscriptus Jurium Liber'i (f.eaBap na 5-Ceapc); Uioip Chiapainr Cluanmacnosise perscriptus; Liber Fla- vus de Molings; Liber Niger de Molagga1." Sir James Ware also mentions the Psalter of Cashel (in his Irish Writers, at Cormac Mac Cuileannain, and in his Archbishops of Cashel, at Cormac), as extant in his time, and held in high esteem; and adds that he had some genealogical collections which had been extracted from it about three centuries before his time. Lhwyd, Nicholson, and Dr. O'Conor (Epist. Nunc. p. 65), have all mentioned that there is a part of the Psalter of Cashel in an old Leabhar na h-Uidhri, or the Annals of Clonmaenoise. 111 Liber Nuachongbhala. — There are at least six churches of this name in Ireland, one in Mayo, one in Westmeath, one in Londonderry, one in Clare, one in Cork, and we are informed by Colgan that it was the ancient name of "Navau,"in the county ofMeath. Nothing, however, remains, or at least is known to the Editor, to tell which of these places the book belonged to, or what became of it. " Liber Cluain Egnach Fintoni, i. e. the " Book of Clonenagh," a monastery near Mountrath, in the Queen's county, erected by St. Fintan. Keating elsewhere calls this the Annals of Cluain Eidhneach, and gives a long quotation from it, which treats of the Synod of Bath Breasail, and L'.ives tlie boundaries of the Irish dioceses as established by that Synod. This MS., which was one of great importance, is now unknown. 0 Psalterium Rithmorum A copy of this, on vellum, is preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. I' Liber Glindalochensis A consider- able fragment of this MS. is now preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. n Jurium Liber Tin's is the 6eab))(ip na j-Ceapc, now for the first time printed. r Uidhir Chiarain, now called Leabhar na h-Uidhri. A considerable fragment of this MS., in the handwriting of Maelmuire, son of Celiochair Mac Cuinn na m-Bocht, is now preserved in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy. s Liber Flavus de Moling. The Yellow Book of St. Moling is now unknown. 1 Liber Niger <l< Molagga — Now un- known. xxviii Introduction. MS. on parchment, in the Bodleian Library" at Oxford, consisting of 292 pages in large folio. This MS. was examined by Dr. Todd, who published an account of its contents, with observations on its age and history, in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. ii. p. 336. In the year 1844, and again in 1846, the Editor went over it with the most anxious care, to see how much of the Psalter it might preserve; and he has come to the conclusion that it contains a vcrv considerable fragment of that work. This MS., as it now stands, consists of 146 folios or 292 pages folio, paged consecutively in modern figures, though it is evidently defective by many folios in various places. When perfect it must have been very voluminous, as it appears, from various notices of the scribes, that it contained a transcript of all that could be then read of Saltair Ckaisil; Leabliair an Phreabain Chunga, i. e. the Book of the "Shred" of Cong; the Book of Rathain [Rahen, near Tullamore, King's county] ; the Leabhar Buidhe Fearna, i. e. the Yellow Book of Ferns. It was transcribed in 1453 by Seaan (John) Buidhe O'Cleirigh, and others, at Rath an Photaire (now called in Irish Rdc a' phocaip, and Anglice Pottlerath, a townland in which are some ruins of a castle, situate in the parish of Kilnamanagh, barony 11 O'Reilly states, in his Irish Writers, it by himself, though he never saw the p. lx., that the Psalter of CasheJ was ex- Psalter of Cashel. Dishonest compilers of taut in Limerick in 1712, as appears by a this description have imposed dignified large folio MS. in the Irish language, pre- names upon their own compilations, to un- served in the Library of Cashel, written in pose ou the credulity of purchasers. A Limerick in that year, and partly bran- copy of the Book of Ballvmote, with some scribed from the original Psalter of Cashel; additions made by Teige O'Naghten, now and he adds, that the original Psalter of preserved in the Library of Trinity Col- Cashel was long supposed to be lost, but lege, Dublin, H. 1. 15, bears the title of that it is now said to be deposited in the Sulruip nu Uectrhpac, i.e. the Psal- British Museum. The Cashel MS. here ter of Tara, and the Editor has frequently referred to by O'Reilly is a compilation heard it positively asserted that the Psal- made in 1712, by Dermod O'Connor, the ter of Tara is preserved in the Library of translator of Keating, who calls it the the University of Dublin, but there are no Psallei of Cashel; but this name was given other grounds !or saying so. Introduction. xxix of Cranagh, and county of Kilkenny), for Edniond, the head of a sept of the Butler family, who assumed the Irish chieftain name of Mac Richard. This MS. remained in the possession of Mac Richard till the year 1462, when he was defeated in a battle fought at Baile an Phoill, now anglicized " Piltown,'1 in the barony of " Iverk," county of Kilkenny, the property of the Earl of Bessborough, by Thomas, Earl of Desmond, to whom he was obliged to give up this very copy of the Psalter of Cashel (which was then more perfect than it is at pre- sent), and also another MS. called Leabhar na Carraige, i. e. the Book of Carrick [on Suir]. This appears from a memorandum in the mar- gin of folio 110 p. b. of which the following is a literal translation: " This was the Psalter of Mac Richard Butler, until the defeat at Baile an Phoill was given to the Earl of Ormond and to Mac Richard by the Earl of Desmond (Thomas), when this book and the Book of Carrick were obtained in the redemption of Mac Richard ; and it was this Mac Richard that had these books transcribed for his own use, and they remained in his possession until Thomas, Earl of Desmond, wrested them from him." This memorandum was written in the MS. while it was in the pos- session of Thomas Earl of Desmond, whose name " Thomas of Des- mond," appears in English, in his own handwriting, on folio 92, a. For a very curious account of this battle fought between the Butlers and the young Earl of Ormond, see the Annals of Dubhaltach Mac Fir- bisigh, " Dudley Firbisse," published in the Miscellany of the Irish Archaeological Society, p. 247, and the Editor's notes, pp. 295, 296. As Dr. Todd has already published a long account of this ma- nuscript, the Editor deems it necessary only to notice such parts of it as he thinks were transcribed from the Psalter of Cashel. It is not here intended to give the reader an idea of the general contents of the MS., for that would occupy many pages, but to show how much of that xxx Introduction. Psalter is preserved as it was copied foi Edmond Mac Richard Butler in 1453. At fol. 14, a. a., line 29, the transcriber states that there ends the part copied from the Book of Cong, called Leabhar an Phrcabain. The first notice of the Saltan' Chaisil occurs at fol. 42, b., where the limits of Ur Mhumha or Orraond are given. At fol. 58, b., the scribe writes that he had then transcribed all that he found together (consecutive, or without chasms) in the Psalter of Cashel (a Solcuip Chaipil), and much from Leabhar Rathain, and from Leabhar an Phreabain. At fol. 59, a. a., commences the Feilire Aenghuis or FestUogium of Aenghus Ceile De, which is accompanied, as usual, by an interlined gloss. This, which is in very good preservation, ends on fol. 72. It was evidently copied from the Saltair Chaisil. This is immediately followed by a poem headed Fingin cecinit oo Chopmac mac Cuile- nain, Finghin sang for Cormac Mac Cuileannain, and beginning: " t)u mab mipi ba pi peil." " Were I a king manifestly." Fol. 73, a. a. A poem on the genealogy of the kings of Munster, beginning : " Cain cuic maccu Cpimchuino ppeivh?" " Who were the five sons of Crimhthann Sreimh ?" This is undoubtedly copied from the Saltair Chaisil. Fol. 73, a., line 16, begins a poem on the descendants of Oilioll Olum, king of Munster : "Clann Qilella Oluim uill." "The sons of the great Aileall Olum." Between the folios now consecutively marked 74 and 75 there is an evident chasm. Introduction. xxxi Fol. 75, a. a., line 16, begins the genealogy of the race of Eir- eamhon (Heremon), undoubtedly copied from the Saltair Chaisil. " II Hernia insola inter duos filios principales Militis, id est Herimon et Eber, in duos partes divisa est.'''' This article is also to be found, totidem verbis, in the Books of Leacan and Baile an Mhuta (Ballymote), in which it is distinctly stated that it was transcribed from the Saltair Chaisil. At fol. 78 there is a chasm of many folios, though the modern pagination runs consecutively. Fol. 79, a. A part of Cormac's Glossary, beginning with the word imbup popopnoi. The remainder is perfect, but two folios are mis- placed. On the folio marked 8 1 is a short account of the seats of the kings of Caiseal. The glossary ends on folio 86, col. 3, where Seaan Buidhe O'Cleirigh writes a memorandum that he had finished the transcription of the Sanasan or Etymologicon of the Saltair Chormaic, on the fifth day of February and eighth of the moon, for Edmund But- ler Mac Richard. Fol. 80, b. A tract on the derivations of names of places in Ire- land, stated on the second last line of col. b., to have been transcribed from Leabhar Buidhe Fearna, i. e. the Yellow Book of Ferns. The matter, from this down to fol. 93, was probably taken from the Leabhar Buidhe Fearna, but from thence to folio 123 is evidently from the Saltair Chaisil. The principal contents are as follows: Fol. 93, a. a. Genealogy of the Race of Eibhear. The language very ancient. Fol. 93, b. a. line 29- A curious account of the sons of Eochaidh Muigh-mheadhoin, monarch of Ireland in the fourth century, and of their father's bequest to each of them. Fol. 93, b. b. An account of the cause of the expulsion of certain families from the north of Ireland, and their settlement in the south, beginning in Latin thus: " De causis qitibus exules Aquilonensium ad Mumenenses." xxxii Introduction. Fol. 9-1, b. b., line 17. A historical tale relating to Mac Con, mo- narch of Ireland, and Oiliol Olum, king of Munster. Fol. 96, a. a. An account of the Battle of Magh Mucrnimhe, fought near Athenry, County Galway, between the ex-monarch Mac Con, and Art, monarch of Ireland in the third century. Fol. 98, a. a., line 22. Curious historical stories, in very ancient language, relating to Crimhthann Mor Mac Fidhaigh, monarch of Ire- land, and other Munster kings of the race of Eibhear. Fol. 99, b. b. An account of the expulsion of the people called Deise from Midhe (Meath), and their settlement in Munster. The language is very ancient. Fol. 106, b., col. 3. A genealogical account of the Race of Ir, se- venth son of Mileadh or Milesius. This is very copious, and the lan- guage very ancient, as is manifest from its grammatical terminations and obsolete idioms. Fol. Ill, b. a. A list of the Milesian or Scotic kings of Ireland, from Eireamhon (Heremon) down to Brian Borumha. This affords strong evidence that the Saltair Chaisil was enlarged or continued by that monarch. Fol. 115, a., cols. 2, 3. A list of the bishops of Ard Macha (Ar- magh), synchronized with the kings of Caiseal. Colgan has published this list in his Trias Thaum., p. 292, as " ex Psalterio CasselensV It is carried down to Domhnall, who succeeded A. D. 1092, and who was living when this list was made out. Lanigan remarks, in his Ecclesias- tical History of Ireland, vol. iii. p. 357, note 59, that some writers pretend that Cormac was not the author of this, and that it was com- piled after his times ; and he acknowledges that " there are some cir- cumstances mentioned as taken from it, which belong to a later period; for instance, the latter part of the catalogue of the archbishops of Armagh (apnd Tr. Th., p. 292), which comes down to the latter end of Introduction. xxxiii the eleventh century. But this proves nothing more than that some additions have been made to the original work of Cormac, as has been the case with regard to numbers of historical works, particularly those written in the middle ages." Fol. 115. A list of the kings of Dal Araidhe, which is followed by a list of the Christian kings of Ireland, down to Maelseachlainn II., who died in 1022. Fol. 116, a., col. 2. A list of the Christian kings of Connacht. Fol. 1 19, a., col. 3. A list of the kings of Aileach. At the bottom of this folio the scribe writes, "^ach ni peomuie o'pajbail 'pu penleBup .i. u Sulccnp Caipil aea againn 'pa leabap po na "Rura." i.e. "Everything we could find in the old book, i.e. the Saltair Chaisil, we have [preserved] in this book of the Rath." From thence down to fol. 146 would appear to have been taken from a different MS. It is quite evident from the notices in this MS. that the Saltair Chaisil was not then perfect, and that even of what was then tran- scribed from it the Bodleian MS. contains but a small fragment. It affords no evidence whatever as to Leahhar na g-Ceart, except the fact that the Psalter of Caiseal, in which a certain form of it must have been preserved, was continued down to about the year 1020. Of the Will of Cathaeir Mor, and other pieces introduced into Leabhar na g-Ceart. The rights of the king of Leinster are introduced by a piece which is called the Will of Cathaeir Mor. It has no apparent connexion with the Book of Rights, save that some of the principal tribes of xxxiv Introduction. Leinster descended from the sons of Cathaeir, and that the rights and stipends of those descendants are treated of. Cathaeir was monarch of Ireland in the second century, and it was one of the great glories of the Leinstermen, that their kings had held that station. At a much later period Diarmaid Mac Murchadha (Dermot Mac Murrough) in haranguing his Leinster troops, is reported to have said, in reference to king Rudhraidhe O'Conchobhair (Roderick O'Conor): " Sed si Lage- niam quserit, quoniam alicui Connactensium aliquando subiecta fuit: ea ratione et nos Connactiam petimus quia nostris aliquoties cum totius Hibernia; subdita fuerat monarchia." — Hibernia Expugnata, Dist., c. viii. The king of Caiseal's right to be king of all Ireland is stated in our text (pp. 28, 51, 52, infra), as to which, and the controversy on the subject, we have already said so much (pp. xiii.-xvii.) So are the rights of the kings of Aileach (pp. 125, 127, 129) and of Teamhair (p. 177), to be monarch, i.e. the rights of the northern and southern Ui Neill. A similar recognition is given to the king of Laighin (p. 205). Of the will of Cathaeir Mor, in the shape in which it has been edited, there are extant three copies on vellum, i. e. besides those inserted in our two copies of the Book of Rights, there is another in what is called the Book of Leinster, or Leabhar Laighneach (Leacan, fol. 92), with which the text of the present edition has been compared. Besides these we have another vellum copy, or, we might say, another will, in the Book of Baile an Mhuta (Ballymote), fol. 74, a. b. It is very different from the text which we have adopted, but evidently less authentic, being longer, and very verbose and rhapsodical. There is also a paper copy in the O'Gorman collection, in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy. It is in the handwriting of Peter O'Connell, who made a translation of it into English for the use of O'Gorman, who prided himself on his descent from this great monarch. This hit rod art ion. xxxv jopy, which professes to have been taken from the Book of Gleanu Da Loch (Glendalough), accords in arrangement with the copy in B., but it appears, from some verbal differences, that it was not taken from it. The copy consulted by O'Flaherty, Ogygia, p. hi. c. 59, was different from any of these. This will has been mentioned by O'Flaherty and most modern writers on Irish history, as an authentic document contemporaneous with the testator. See p, 192. But the Editor is of opinion that it was drawn up in the present form some centuries after the death of Cathaeir Mor, when the race of his more illustrious sons had definite territories in Leinster. Whether there was an older form of this will, or whether it was committed to Avriting in Cathaeir's own time, are questions which the Editor is not prepared to settle. The Editor does not know of any copy of the Benedictio Patricii, save those from which our text has been printed (p. 234). But there is in Leabhar Breac (fol. 14, b. a.) a blessing of the saint on Munster, which bears some resemblance to that here given. Dubhthach Mac Ui Lughair, the author of poems quoted at p. 236, is noticed by O'Reilly in his Chronological Account of the Irish Writers under the year 433, Avhere it is stated that he was the poet and druid of Laeghaire, monarch of Ireland, at the commencement of St. Patrick's mission, and that he was converted to Christianity by that apostle. The reader will there find some account of him and his writings. But O'Reilly there assumes that the poem in the Book of Rights, commencing Cearhcnp ceac a m-bi mac Cuinn, is ascribed to Dubhthach; and he says that some doubts may be reasonably enter- tained that this poem is the production of Dubhthach. But nothing is found in our text ascribing the poem in question to him. The copy in the Book of Baile an Mhuta says that it was found in the Psalter of Caiseal. c2 xxxvi Introduction. A poet, Lughair, is named and quoted at p. 204, and called f,un File, or full poet. On the References to Tomaru as King or Prince of the Galls of Dublin. We have reserved to this place a discussion upon these very curious references, and they appear to us worthy of a separate consideration, as the investigation may lead to fix the exact period at which the Norse or Danish tribes settled in Dublin. In Mr. Lindsay's View of the Coinage of Ireland, where a great deal of information respecting the succession of the Hiberno-Danish kings of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Waterford is collected, nothing is found with regard to the name Tomar. The royal pedigree is traced up to the brothers Amlaf I. 853, 870, and Imar or liars I. 870, 872, but no higher. In our work (at page 40) the monarch, in making a circuit of Ire- land, arrives at the entrenched Ath Cliath (Dublin), where, it is stated, he is entitled to a month's refection, 6 maiciB Comaip, from Tomar's chieftains, and to have the king of the bounteous ford (Ath Cliath), to accompany him to the Leinstermen, viz., to Liamhain (Dunlavan). The Galls of Dublin, within the jurisdiction of the kings of Laighin or Leinster, were liable to pay heavy tribute to him, pp. 218-220, and on the other hand the stipends of the king of Leinster to them for their services were also large. These are said to be payable do rhupc Cho- maip, to the prince Tomar. The Four Masters, under the year 942, quote some lines, from Avhich it would appear that " Race of Tomar," was a kind of patrony- mic for the Galls, foreigners, or Danes of Dublin. 11 Pages 40 and 220, infra. Introduction. xxxvii " Ro copccpuo CIch Cliadi cluiobeuch co n-imuc pciac pceo ceajlac; po cpaibeab TTluincip Chomaip, 1 n-iapcap borhain, bebpao. " Ath Cliath of swords was plundered Of many shields and families ; The Race of Tomar were tormented In the western world, it has been manifested," The earliest reference to a Danish prince Tomar occurring in the Irish annals is at the year 847, where the Annals of Ulster contain the following notice of a Danish prince Tomrair, which is decidedly the same name as Tomar : "A. D. occcpclun. Car pe lTluelpechnaill pop jennci 1 Popaijjj, in quo cecioepunc pecc cee. 6ellum pe n-Olchobup, pi lTlurhan, acup pe 6opjan mac Ceallaij co 6cnjmu occ Sciac Nechcain in quo cecioic Uompaipv 6pell, canaipe pi£ Caiclinne, acupbcr cec bee imbi." Thus rendered in the old translation of these Annals preserved in the Library of the British Museum. Clarend. torn. 49. Ayscough, 4795. " A. D. 847. A battle by Maelsechnaill vpon the Gentyes" (_i- e. Gentiles or Pagan Danes] " at Fora, where 700 fell. Bellum by 011- chovar, king of Mounster, and Lorgan mac Cellai into Leinster [rectc, with the Leinstermen] vppon Gentiles at Sciah Nechtan, where fell Tomrair Erell, the next or second in power to the king of Laihlin, and 1200 about him." ' Compaip. Dr. O'Conor prints this MS- more correctly "Tomrair." Queen Domrair. The old translator reads the Corhap or Com pap, see p. xli. XXXV111 Introduction. The same events are recorded by the Four Masters, under the year 846, as follows: "Qoip Cpiopc, 846. Car ppaoineo pia ITIaelpeachlainn mac JTIaolpiianaio pop jallaio i Popaijou in po mapbab un. c. laip biob. "Car oile pju n-Olcobap pi lTluman, ajup pia Copcan mac Ceallaij pi Cuijean co Cuijnib agup TTIumain lompa pop £allaib ace Sceie Neccain, in po mapbao Uompuipw Gpla, canaipe T2i£ Coclainne, ajup bu ceo oec uime." " The age of Christ 846. A battle was gained by Maelseachlainn, the son of Maelruanaidh over the Galls [Danes] at Forach, where seven hundred of them were slain by him. " Another battle [was gained] by Olchobhar, king of Munster, and by Lorcan, the son of Ceallach, king of Leinster, with the Leinstermen and Munstermen about them, over the Danes at Sciath Neachtain, where Tomrair Erla, Tanist of the king of Lochlann, was slain, and twelve hundred about him." It Avill appear from a passage in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 994, that this earl or prince's ring, and the sword of Carlus, his contemporary, were preserved in Dublin, from which, coupled with the references* in Leabhar na g- Cea?% and the poem cited « Tomrair. — Dr. O'Conor prints this Tomrair, and the name is so written in the MS. copy made for the Chev. O'Gorman, now in the Royal Irish Academy. x This argument is much strengthened by the fact that Tomar is called cope in Leabhar nag-Ceart, see page 206. This term, which is also written ope is explain- ed "a king's son" in Cormac's Glossary, and by Michael O'Clery. Tore Tomar of Ath Cliath is then clearly the Tomrar, Earl, Tanist of the long of Lochlann, who was killed at Sciath Neachtain, in 847, and whose chain or ring was preserved at Dub- lin, in 994. The pedigree of Imhar, the ancestor of the Danish kings of Dublin, is given in none of the Genealogical Irish works hitherto discovered ; and in the ab- sence of direct evidence it is reasonable to assume that, as the Danes of Dublin had his ring or chain in 994, this ring or chain descended to them as an heir-loom from him ; and as they are called Muintir Thomair, in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the Introduction. xxxix by the Four Masters at the year 942, it may be inferred with much certainty that this Tomar or Tomrar was the ancestor of the Danish kings of Dublin, and very probably the father of Amhlaf and Imhar, the first of these kings, by whom his sword was preserved. The passage is as follows : " Qoip Cpiopc 994. pail Comaip agup claioeab Chaplupa bo cabaipc bo ITIuolpechlainn mac Domnuill ap eiccin 6 £allaib Qca Cliac." " The age of Christ 994. The ring of Tomar and the sword of Carlus were carried off by Maelseachlainn^, the son of Domhnall, by force, from the Galls of Ath Cliath (Dublin)." This Tomar is clearly the Erla and Tanist of the king of Lochlann, slain at Sciath Neachtain in the year 847 ; and Carlus, whose sword was carried away by Maelseachlainn, was the son of Amlaff I., king of Dublin, and the person who was killed in the battle of Cill Ua n-Daighre (Killoderry) in the year 866, as thus recorded by the Four Masters : "CIoip Cpiopc 866. piano mac Conaing cijeapnu 6pej uile, oo cionol peap m-6peu$, Caijen, agup jail, co Cill Ua n-t)aijpe, cuig mile lion a pocpaibe inb acchaib an picch Cloba Pmnleic. Nf paibe Gob ace aon mile nu mu, im Concobap mac Uaiog, pi Connacc, T?o peapab an car co biocpaib bucpaccac ecoppa, a^uy po rheabuib po year 942, it may be further inferred that descended respectively from the ancestors they were also his descendants ; for if we whose names enter into the latter part of examine the Irish tribe-names to which the tribe names. The word Muintir is, how- Muintir is prefixed, we will find that the ever, now more extensive in its application, second part of the compound is the name and means people or family. of the progenitor, as Muintir Macmordha, ? Maelseachlainn, called Malachy II. Muintir Murchadha, Muintir Eoluis, Muin- monarch of Ireland. This entry is the tir Chionaetha, &c, which were the tribe- theme on which Moore founded his bal- names of the O'Reillys, O'Flahertys, Mac lad, Kannalls, and Mac Kinaws, all of whom " Let Erin remember the days of old." xl Introduction. beoib cpia neapc lomjona ajup lomaipecc pop piopa 6pej pop tai- jin a^up pop jallaib, ajup po cuipeao a n-ap, «£up ropcpabap po- caioe mop oo jallaib lp in c-car pin. Copcaip cinn piann, mac Conainj, cijeapna 6pe£, agup Oiapmaib mac Gcceppceoil, cijeap- na Coca ^abap, agup Caplup mac Qmlaib mac eijeapna jail. Uopcaip b'on leic apaill Paccna mac IDaoilebiiin, "Riojoamna an Phocla h-i ppicjuin an caca. TTlannacan cijeapna Lla m&piuin na Sionna po mapb piann, oia n-ebpao: "fflop an buaio oo TTIanoacan Oo jlonn an ^aipccib juipg Cenb mic Conainj 1 n-a laim Oo baij pop loncaib mic Caiog." " The age of Christ 866. Flann, the son of Conaing, lord of all Breagh, collected the men of Breagh, Laighin, and the Galls, to Cill Ua n-Daighre, five thousand being the number of his force, against the king Aedh Finnliath. Aedh had but one thousand only, together with Conchobhar, son of Tadhg, king of Connacht. The battle was vigor- ously and earnestly fought between them, and at length the victory was gained through dint of fighting and conflict over the men of Breagh, over Laighin, and over the Galls, who were slaughtered, and great num- bers of the Galls were slain in that battle. In it fell Flann, son of Co- naing, lord of Breagh, and Diarmaid, son of Eidersceal, lord of Loch Gabhair* ; and Carlus, son of Amhlaibh, son of the lord of the Galls. There fell on the other side, in the heat of the conflict, Fachtna, son of Maelduin, prince of the north (i. e. of Aileach). Mannachan, lord of Ui Briuin na Sionna was he who killed Flann, of which was said : * Loch Gabhair. — The territory of this name Logore to this day. See Proceedings chieftain lay around Dunshaughlin. See of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. i. p. 424, Colgan's ActaSS., p. 422, note 14. The Mr. Wilde's Account of Antiquities found lake is now dried, but the place retains the there. Introduction. xli "Great the victory for Mannachan, For the hero of fierce valour, [To have] the head of the son of Conaing in his hand To exhibit it before the face of the son of Tadhg." There was another Tornar or Tainar at Limerick about a century later. He is mentioned in the work called Cogadh Gall fri Gaedh- alaibh (an important and curious tract, the publication of which has been contemplated by the Irish Archaeological Society), under the name of Tamar Mac Elgi. In the copy of that work preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 2, 17, p. 359, he is said to have come with a royal great fleet, some time after the death of the monarch Niall Glun-dubh, who was slain in the year 916, and to have put in at Inis Sibtond, at Limerick. The same person is mentioned in Mageoghegan's translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, under the year 922, where the following strange passage occurs : " A. D. 922. Tomrair Mac Alchi, king of Denmarck, is reported to go [to have gone] to hell with his pains, as he deserved." This is evidently the Tamar mac Elgi of H. 2, 17. The name Tomar and Tomrar became common as the proper name of a man among the Gaeidhil or Milesian Irish in the tenth and ele- venth centuries, like Maghnus, Raghnall, Amhlaeibh, Imhar, and other Danish names ; and a family of the Cineal Eoghain took the surname of O'Tomhrair from an Irishman who was baptized by the name of Tomh- rar from his mother's people. This family were seated near Lough Swilly, in the county of Donegal, where they built a family church, called from their surname Cill O'Tomhrair, i. e. church of the O'Tomh- rairs. This family still remains in many places in the province of Ul- ster, reduced, and obscure, and disguised under the anglicized name of Toner or Tonry. xlii Introduction. Of the Tract prefixed to the Book of Rights, entitled " Geasa agus Buadha Riogh Eireann." The Tract on the Geasa and Urghartha, and the Buadha and Adha, — i. e., as we have rendered the words, the Restrictions and Prohibitions, and the Prerogatives of the Kings of Eire or Ireland, — is curious for the glimpses which it aifords into the notions that prevailed in this country in the eleventh century, in the time of Cuan O'Lochain. Cuan O'Leochan or O'Lothchain, as he is sometimes called, or, as the name is more generally spelt, O'Lochain, was chief poet to Maelseachlainn (Malachy) II., monarch of Ireland, Avho died in 1022. After the death of this monarch there was an interregnum of twenty years, and we are informed that Cuan O'Lochain and Corcran Cleireach were appointed governors of Ireland; but Cuan did not long enjoy this dignity, for he was slain in Teabhtha (Tenia), A. D. 1024. Mr. Moore states, in his History of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 147, that " for this provisional govern- ment of Cuan he can find no authority in any of our regular annals ;" and it is certain that no authority for it is found in any of the original Irish annals, nor even in the Annals of the Four Masters ; but the fact is stated as follows in Mageoghegan's translation of the " Annals of Clonmacnoise" [Cluain mic Nois], a work which professes to be a faith- ful version of the original, although in some instances it has been ob- viously interpolated by the translator. "A. D. 1022. After the death of king Moyliseaghlyn, this king- dom was without a king twenty years, during [a portion of] which time the realm was governed by two learned men, the one called Cwan O'Lochan, a Avell learned temporall man and chiefe poet of Ireland, the other Corcran Cleireagh, a devoute and holy man that was [chief] anchorite of all Ireland, whose most abideing was at Lismore. The Introduction. xliii land was governed like a free state and not like a monarchic by them. "A. D. 1024. Cwan O'Loghan, prime poet of Ireland, a great chronicler, and one to whom, for his sufficiencie, the causes of Ireland were committed to be examined and ordered, was killed by one of the land of Teaffa ; after committing of which evill fact there grew an evill scent and odour of the party that killed him, that he was easily known among the rest of the land. His associate Corkran lived yett, and sur- vived him for a long time after." The death of Cuan O'Lochain is also recorded by Tighearnach, who died in the year 1088, and who may have seen him in his youth. His death is also entered in the Dublin and Bodleian copies of the Annals of Ulster as follows : "A. D. 1024. Cuan h-Ua Corcan ppirheicep Gpfnn do rhapbab i (o)-Uebra b' peapuib Ceabra pein: bpenaic a n-aen uaip in luccpo rhapb: pipe pile inpein." Thus translated by Dr. O' Conor, who has sadly mangled, if not falsified, many curious passages in the Irish annals : " Cuan O Lothcan, prcecipuus sapiens Hibernian occisus in Teffia. Judicium vseh cecidit in eos qui eum occiderunt.'' But the old translator of the Annals of Ulster, who was infinitely bet- ter acquainted with the Irish language than Dr. O'Conor, paraphrases it as follows, evidently from a text different from the two above re- ferred to: "A. D. 1024. Cuan O'Lochan, archpoet of Ireland [was] killed treacherously by the men of Tehva, ancestors of [the] Foxes ; they stunk after, whereby they got the name of Foxes, a miracle shewed of the poett." The notice of the killing of him, and the consequent visitation upon the murderers, is thus given in the Annals of Kilronan : xliv Introduction. "A. D. 1024. Cuan Ua £,6cam .1. ppirh-eijepp Gpenn, do rhapbuo la Cecpa. t)o pijne t)ia pipe pileb co pollup ap an luce po vinapb, oip po b&ppaijeb a n-opoch-oijeo lao, -| ni po h-aonaice6 a (j)-cuipp $up po£uil poeil 1 poluarham iao. "A. D. 1024. Cuan Ua Lochain, chief poet of Ireland, was killed by the Teffians. God wrought a miracle for the poet manifestly upon the party who killed him, for they met their deaths in a tragical man- ner, and their bodies were not interred until the wolves and birds preyed upon them." For a brief account of the poems ascribed to O'Lochain the reader is referred to O'Reilly's Irish Writers, pp. 73, 74. The first poem there mentioned has since been published in Petrie's Antiquities of TaraHill, Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. xviii. pp. 143. Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, in an anonymous pamphlet written by him in 1749, against Sir Richard Cox's Appeal on the Behaviour of Dr. Charles Lucas, writes as if he had in his possession some MSS. of Cuan O'Lochain. It appears from the Memoirs of his Life and Writings, written by his grandson, the late Dr. Charles O'Conor, p. 211, that Mr. O'Conor would never have acknowledged this pamphlet to be his production, were it not that his correspondence with Reilly, the pub- lisher of it, obliged him to acquiesce. In this pamphlet Mr. O'Conor says: "What I have advanced on this subject I have extracted from our ancient MSS., the only depositories of the form of our ancient consti- tution, and particularly from the MSS. of Cuan O'Loghan, who ad- ministered the affairs of Ireland on the death of Malachy II. Anno Domini 1022." Having premised thus much with regard to the author of the poem, we may now say something as to the subject of the tract; and first of the words used. Introduction. xlv ^eapa: in the Sing., Norn, jeip, Gen. jeipe (fern) — This word is in common use in the sense of conjuration or solemn vow; cuipim yd jeapctiti ru, " I conjure thee," is a common saying. — See tale of Deir- dre, in the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Dublin, p. 23, where O' Flanagan translates it '■'■solemn vow,'''' and "injunctions," in a note mi the word. In this tract, however, the word is clearly used to de- note " anything or act forbidden, because of the ill luck which would result from its doing:" " Aruspex vetuit ante brumam aliquid novi negotii accipere." — Terence. It also means a spell or charm. It is used here as the opposite or antithesis of buabct, and synony- mous with Up^apca : O'Reilly gives a word upjcipc (s. m.), which he ex- plains, "bad hick, misfortune, fatality;" but this word is rather to be formed from the verbal noun upjapao (mas.), signifying prohibition, interdiction, hindrance; see also eapjapao, in O'Clerigh's Glossary of ancient Irish words. It is used here as the antithesis of aba. 6uaoa : in the Sing, buaio (fern.) This is still the living Irish word for victory. When applied to plants or herbs in medical MSS. it denotes virtue, power, &c. See the Battle ofMagh Rath, pp. 84, 85, 280, where the three victories or remarkable events of the battle are called epf buaoa in cacha ; and see p. 239, infra, where it is translated "gift". Goct: in the Sing., Nom. ctb., Gen. aba (mas.) In a MS. in Tri- nity College, Dublin, H. 3, 18, this is explained by bucuo, and it is evidently here used instead of it: the things which will insure good luck and success. The word 66 is still used in every part of Ireland to denote good luck or success. Whether the customs and popular beliefs or superstitions, recorded in this poem, had ever been drawn up into a code before O'Lochain's time, it would now be difficult to determine ; but we find a collection of the xlvi Introduction. kind in the concluding piece of Leabhar na g-Ceart {infra, p. 238, &c), where some of the prohibitions are identical with O'Lochain's. Many of those matters are clearly of Pagan origin, and the reference to the king of Leinster drinking by the light of wax candles in the palace of Dinn Riogh, shows that the poet considered some of these customs as in existence from the most remote period of Irish history, as the kings of Leinster had not resided at Dinn Riogh since the introduction of Chris- tianity, for they deserted it for Nas (Naas) at a very remote period. The prohibition, " that the sun should not find him in his couch at Teamhair," has also reference to a period many centuries anterior to O'Lochain's time; for the monarchs of Ireland had not resided at Teamhair or Tara since about the year 565, when it was cursed by St. Ruadhan, or Rodanus, of Lothra. See MS. Trin. Col. Dub., H. 1 . 1 5, and Vita Sancti Rodani in the Codex Kilkenniensis, now preserved in Marsh's Library, Class v. 3, Tab. i. No. 4, F., and as published by the Bollandists at 25th April; and see also Connell Mageoghegan's trans- lation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, MS. Trin. Col. Dub., F. 3. 19, p. 45, and Petrie's Antiquities of Tara Hill, p. 101-103. Its abandon- ment is also mentioned in the Danish work called the Konungs-Skugg- sio quoted in Johnstone's Antiq. Celto-Scand., p. 287. From these facts it is quite obvious that some of those customs were regarded by the poet as derived from the most remote periods, and that the observ- ance of them in his own time was reckoned absolutely necessary to the welfare of the monarch and the provincial kings. We recollect little in Irish history to guide us to the origin of many of the curious restrictions here recorded ; but it is quite ob- vious that some of them have arisen from precaution, others from a recollection of mischances. Look at the following restrictions of the monarch of Ireland : To alight on a Wednesday in Magh Breagh ; to traverse Magh Cuil- Introduction. xlvii linn after sunset; to incite his horse at Fan-Chomair; to go on Tuesday into North Teabhtha ; to go on a ship upon the water the day after Bealltaine (May day). Such restrictions are not without parallels in the observances of other nations, and there are many maxims of a similar kind known to prevail even among wealthy classes in the present day, to an extent that is seldom acknowledged. The prohibition against beginning any new under taking on a Friday is quite a gets of the class mentioned in our text. The prohibition against sitting down to dinner, thirteen at table, is particularly remarkable, and every shift is commonly made to avoid or escape from it, with a real apprehension that, if the fatal number be complete, one of the party will surely die within the twelvemonth. So the prohibition that the bridegroom's mother shall not go to church with the bridal party is strictly submitted to ; she must not be present at the marriage ceremony anywhere — at church or at home ; and though the parties concerned be in the habit of caning such beliefs " superstitious," yet, when it comes to the point in this matter in their own case, it will be found that the geis will not be violated. Addison, in the Spectator, has a paper relevant to this point, in which he adduces curious instances of English superstitions, and tracts of the present day are not wanting, giving particular evidence on the same subject. Observances of a like nature were common among the Pagan na- tions of what is considered classical antiquity, as we learn from their writers : " Saepe malum hoc nobis, si mens non lreva fuisset, De csbIo tactas memini prredicere quercus. Saepe sinistra cava praedixit ab ilice comix." — Virg. Eclog. i. 1C. " Ipsa dies alios alio dedit online Lima Felices operum : quintain fnge ; pallidas Oreus xlviii Introduction. Eumenidesque satse ; turn partu Terra nefando Caeumque Iapetumque creat, saevumque Typhoea, Et conjuratos caelum rescindere fratres." — Id. Georg. i. 280. The origin of the adha or buadha may be similarly accounted for. Some of them savour strongly of Pagan notions. On the Division of the Year among the ancient Irish. As the seasons of the year are frequently mentioned in this book, it will be well here to add a few words on the divisions of the year among the ancient Irish. Dr. O'Conor has attempted to show, in his Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores, Epistola Nuncupatoria, lxxi. et seq., and in the Stowe Catalogue, vol. i. p. 32 : 1. That the year of Pagan Irish was luni-solar, consisting, like that of the Phoenicians and Egyptians, of 365 days and six hours: 2. That it was divided by them, as it is at present into four rathaov quarters, known by the names of Samh-ratha, Foghmhar-raiha, Geimk-ratha, and Iar-ratha, now corruptly Earrach, or summer, autumn, winter, and spring ; the first of these quarters commencing at the vernal equinox, the second at the summer solstice, the third at the autumnal equinox, and the fourth at the winter sol- stice; 3. That at the beginning of each of these ratha a religious festi- val was celebrated, but that the periods when they were celebrated were changed by the early Christians, to agree with the Christian festivals, and to obliterate the recollection of the origin of the Pagan rites which they were not able utterly to abolish. That such a change was made he infers from a passage occurring in all the old Lives of St. Patrick, which states that Patrick lighted the Paschal fire at Slane in 433, at the same time that King Laeghaire was celebrating the festival of Bealltaine at Teamhair ; which would be fair enough if the fire were Introduction. xlix called Bealltaine by any of Patrick's ancient biographers ; but it is not, and therefore Dr. O'Conor's inference wants the vis consequential. In the oldest Life of St. Patrick extant, namely, that by Mocutenius, preserved in the Book of Armagh, the fire lighted by the king of Teamhair, and Patrick's Paschal fire, are mentioned as follows : " Contigit vero in illo anno, idolatries sollempnitatem quam gentiles incantationibus multis, et magicis inventionibus, nonnullis aliis idola- trias superstitionibus, congregatis etiam regibus, satrapis, ducibus, principibus, et optimatibus populi, insuper et magis, incantatoribus, auruspicibus, et omnis artis omnisque doli inventoribus doctoribusque vocatis ad Loigaireum, velut quondam ad Nabcodonossor regem, in Temoria, istorum Babylone, exercere consuerant, eadem nocte qua Sanctus Patricius Pasca, illi illam adorarent exercentque festivitatem gentilem. " Erat quoque quidam mos apud illos per edictum omnibus inti- matus ut quicumque in cunctis regionibus sive procul, sive juxta, in ilia nocte incendissent ignem, antequam in domu regia, id est, in pala- tio Temoria?, succenderetur, periret anima ejus de populo suo. " Sanctus ergo Patricius Sanctum Pasca celebrans, incendit divinum ignem valde lucidum et benedictum, qui in nocte refulgens, a cunctis pene plani campi habitantibus vissus est." — Book of Armagh, fol. 3, b. It is also stated in the Leabhar Breac as follows : "Ceicpdcpaic lap pincn Pepca pep Peicc. Gbancap eemio occa lp in inub pin pepcop na Cape. Pepgaichep Coejaipe 60 chi in cenio, ap ba h-ipin geip Uempach oc^oe&el'Uib; ocup nt larhao nech cenio b'pacob 1 n-Gipino lp ino lou pin, no cu n-abanca h-i Cempaij ap cup lp in pollamain." — Fol. 14, a 1. " Patrick goes afterwards to Fearta Fear Feicc. A fire is kindled by him at that place on Easter eve. Laeghaire is enraged as he sees the lire, for that was the gets [prohibition] of Teamhair among the Gaedhhil ; d 1 Introduction. and no one dared to kindle a fire in Ireland on that day until it should be first kindled at Teamhair at the solemnity." Now, however these two passages may seem to support Dr. O'Conor's inference, it is plain that the fire lighted at Teamhair is not called Bealltaine in either of them. It should be also added that it is not so called in any of the Lives of Patrick. According to a vellum MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 3. 17, p. 732, the fire from which all the hearths in Ireland was supplied was lighted at Tlachtgha [at Athboy] in the Munster portion of Meath, and not on the first of May, but on the first of November; while, according to Keating, the author of the Dinnseanchus, and others, the fire called Bealltaine was lighted at Uisneach, in the Connacht portion of Meath, on the first of May, which for that reason is called La Bealltaine to the pre- sent day. The probability then is, that the fire lighted at Teamhair, on Easter eve, A. D. 433, was not the Bealltaine, but some other fire, and it is stated in the second life of St. Patrick, published by Colgan, that it was the Feis Teamhrach, or Feast of Teamhair, that Laeghaire and his satraps were celebrating on this occasion ; while the author of the Life of St. Patrick in the Book of Lismore, asserts that Laeghaire was then celebrating the festival of his own nativity, which appears to have been the truth, and if so it was not the regular sep- tennial Feisa, which met after Samhain, but one convened to celebrate the kings birth-day. From these notices it is quite clear that O'Conor's inference, that the Bealltaine was lighted on the 21st of March by the Pagan Irish, is not sustained. In the accounts given of the Bealltaine a This is usually called triennial, as in of L., p. 22, though the other reading there the passages quoted from Keating, &c, in B. makes it every fifth year, p. 273, above, p. 25, 26, jac rpeap bliuoain; n. 46. See also the poem, p. 240, infra, but it is every seventh year in this work, where both copies, L. & B., have each in the prose of L. at p. 6, and in the Various peaclicrhuo San na, i. e. every seventh Readings of B., p, 272 ; and in the poem Samhain. Introduction. H in Cormac's Glossary, and in H. 3. 18, p. 596, as quoted in Petrie'a Antiquities of Tara Hill, no time is specified for the lighting of it, nor could we be able from them, or from any other written evidence yet discovered, to decide in what season it was lighted, were it not that the first of May is still universally called in Irish La Bealltaine. But Dr. O'Conor argues that this name was applied in Pagan times to the 21st of March, and that it was transferred to the first of May by the early Christians, to agree with a Christian festival. This, however, is contrary to the tradition which still prevails in many parts of Ireland, namely, that the fires lighted in Pagan times, on the first of May, were transferred by St. Patrick to the 24th of June, in honor of St. John the Baptist, on the eve of whose festival they still light bonfires in every county in Ireland, and not on the first of May, except in Dublin, where they continue to light them on the 1st of May also. The observances still practised on May-day (which have no connexion whatever with Christianity) and the traditions pre- served in the country respecting it, found a strong argument that it must have been a Pagan festival, while the 21st of March is not remark- able for any observances. The same may be observed of Samhain, the 1 st of November, on which, according to all the Irish authorities, the Druidic fires were lighted at Tlachtgha. The Editor is, therefore, con- vinced that Dr. O'Conor has thrown no additional light on the division of the year among the Pagan Irish, for his conjecture respecting the agreement of the Paschal fire of St. Patrick with the Bealltaine of the Pagan Irish is visionary, inasmuch as it is stated in the second life by Probus that it was the Feis Teamhrach that Laeghaire was then cele- brating. The words are given in very ancient Irish, as follows, by the original author, who wrote in the Latin language : " If ip ino aim) lp pin tun bo pignebh peip Cempaohi la ^oejaipe mac Weill -| la f ipu Gipeann," i. e. " It is in that time indeed that the Feis Temh- (12 lii Introduction. radhi was made by Loegaire, son of Niall, and by the men of Eire." — See Colgan's Trias Thaum., pp. 15, 20. The fact seems to be that we cannot yet determine the season with which the Pagan Irish year commenced. As to Dr. O'Conor making earrach, the spring, the last quarter, because, in his opinion, it is com- pounded of iar and ratha, postremus anni cursus, it can have no weight in the argument, because there is not the slightest certainty that this is the real meaning of the term, for in Cormac's Glossary the term is explained urughadk, i. e. refreshing, or renewing, and it is con- jectured that it is cognate with the Latin ver: it may be added that it is almost identical with the Greek 'lap, tapog. That the Pagan Irish divided the year into four quarters is quite evident from the terms Earrach, Samhradh, Foghmhar, and Geimhridh, which are undoubtedly ancient Irish words, not derived from the Latin through Christianity ; and that each of these began with a stated day, three of which days are still known, namely, Bealltaine, otherwise called Ceideamhain, or beginning of summer (see p. 20, infra), when they lighted fires at Uisneach, in the beginning of Samhradh ; Lughnasadh, the games of Lughaidh Lamh-fhada, which commenced at Taillte on the first clay of Foghmhar, the harvest ; and Samhain, i. e. Samh-fhuin, or summer-end, when they lighted fires at Tlachtgha. The beginning of Earrach, the spring, was called Oimelc, which is derived from oi, ewe, and melc, milk, because the sheep began to yean in that season, but we have not found that any festival was celebrated. In a MS. in the Library of the British Museum (Harleian MSS., H. I. B., No. 5280, p. 38), the names of the days with which the sea- sons commenced are given in the following order : "O Sctrhpucm co h-Oimelc, h-o Oimelc co 6elcine, h-o 6elcine co 6pon-rpojain," i. e. "from Samhsuan to Oimelc, from Oimelc to Beltine, from Beltine to Bron-troghain." And the following explana- tions are then given by way of gloss : Introduction. liii " Sarhain bno .1. pampum .1. puin in e-pampaio ann, ap ip oe poinn no bib pop an m-pliaoam ano .1. in pampab o 6eilcine co Sarhpuin, acup in ^eirhpeo 6 Sariipuin co 6elcine," i.e. "Samhain, i. e. Samh- f huin, i. e. the end of Samradh [summer] is in it, for the year was divided into two parts, i. e. the Samradh, from Beltine to Samfhuin, and the Geimhredh, from Samfhuin to Beltine." A similar explanation of Sampuin is given in H. 3. 18, p. 596, and in O'Clery's Glossary. Oimelc is derived from imme-folc, and explained eaioe an eap- pai£, i. e. the beginning of Spring, or from oi-melc, sheep-milk: " lp hi aimpip innpenn a cicc app caeipiuc acup 1 m-bleagaup coipicch," i. e. " This is the time when the milk of sheep comes, and when sheep are milked." In Peter O'Connell's MS. Dictionary, oimelc is also written imbuLc, and explained Peil 6pijoe, i.e. St. Bridget's festival, 1st February, which day has for many centuries been called La Feile Briglide, the older name being obsolete. Beltine, the name of the first day of summer, is thus explained : "6elcine .1. bil cine .1. cene poinrhech .1. 06 ceneo bo jnfbfp la h-aepp peccai no opui co cinceclaib mopaib, -| 00 lecbfp na cecpa ecappae ap ceomannaib cecha bliabna; no 6elbine ; 6el bin ainm t)e loail; ip ann oo[c]ap pelbc! oine gaca cerpa pop peilb 6eil." " Beltine, i. e. biltine, i. e. lucky fire, i. e. two fires which used to be made by the lawgivers or druids, with great incantations, and they used to drive the cattle between them [to guard] against the diseases of each year. Or Bel-dine ; Bel was the name of an idol god. It was on it [i. e. that day] that the firstling of every kind of cattle used to be exhibited as in the possession of Bel." See a similar passage quoted in Petrie's Antiquities of Tara Hill, p. 60. Bron-troghain, the name of the first day of the next season is ex- plained Lughnasadh [Lammas], i. e. " Came Pojamaip .1. ip ant> 00 liv Introduction. bpome rpo^ain .1. ralarh po coiprip. Cpoj^an bin ainm bo cdlarii," i.e. "the begining of Foghamhar, i.e. in it Troghan brings forth, i. e. the earth under fruits. Troghan, then, is a name for the earth." In the Book of Lismore, in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, (fol. 189, a) mip cpojcnn is explained, Cujnapa, Lammas. In Cormac's Glossary (as we have already intimated), eppac, the spring, is explained upujab, i. e. refreshing, and derived from the Latin ver; but it is much more like the Greek 'U% sccpos. Sampan is thus explained in Cormac's Glossary: " Sampab, quapi path ip inb 6bpa pol lp in 6aicm unbe bicicup Sampon .1. pol eopum. Sampab oin .1. piao picep 3r,an5 1 T unb aP mo bo [c]aicne a poillpe acup a h-aipoe, i. e. Samhradh, quasi samh in the Hebrew, which is sol in the Latin, unde dicitur Samson, i. e. Sol eorum. Samhradh, then, a riadh, i. e. a course which the sun runs, and it is in it that its light and its height are the most resplendent." In O'Clery's Glossary, the monosyllable samh is explained by Sam- pao, summer. It is clearly the same word as summer. In the same Glossary the harvest is defined as the name of the last month, oo'n mip bei^enaij po h-ainmnijeao, and derived quapi Po- £amup .1. pora mip n-^aim, the foundation of the month of Gamh or November. It has a close resemblance to, and perhaps the same origin as, the Greek onaipx, for if we prefix the digamma, and aspirate the w, we have Foipapct. This, and the relationship of e«p, e#gos with eappuc, have never been remarked before. In Cormac's Glossary, Geimhredh, winter, is conjectured to be from the Greek Gamos (Tcifios), and this conjecture is attempted to be strengthened by the remark, "hide [in eo] veteres mulieres duxeriint /" In the same Glossary, voce Cpoicenn, as well as in O'Clery's, the mono- syllable 5am is explained hiems, jeimpeao, and it is quite evident that this, or geirh, is the primitive form of the word, and it is cognate with I ii traduction. lv the Welsh gauaf, the Greek %sificc, and the Latin hjems. Tlie proba- bility, therefore, is, that the terminations radh or readh, added to the simple samh and </amA, or geimk, are endings like the er in the Saxon summ-cr, wint-er, though there is a possibility that they may be compounded of samh, and gamh or geimh, and re, time. There is not the slightest probability that the terminations rack, radh, ar, readh, in the terms earrach, samradh, foghmhar, geimhreadh, are corruptions of ratha, a quarter of a year, as Dr. O'Conor takes for granted. It might at first sight appear probable that the year of the Pagan Irish began with Oimelc, the spring, when the sheep began to yean and the grass to grow, but this is far from certain ; and if there be no error of transcribers in Cormac's Glossary, we must conclude that the last month of Foghamhar, i. e. that preceding Mis Gamh or November, was the end of their summer, and of their year, Pojorinap .1. oo'n mip beijenai$ po h-ammni jeao, i. e. Foghamhar, was given as a name to the last month. Since the conversion of the Irish to Christianity they began the year with the month of January, as is clear from the Feilire Aenghuis. Besides the division of the year into the four quarters, of which we have spoken, and into two equal parts called 5am or genii (Welsh gauaf) and p ctrh (Welsh haf), it would appear from a gloss on an ancient Irish law tract in H. 3. 18, p. 13, T. C. D., it was divided into two unequal parts called Samh-fucht [cucc, i. e. time'], or summer-period, and Gamh-fucht or Geimh-fucht, i. e. winter-period ; the first comprising five months, namely, the last month of Spring, and the three months of Summer, and the first month of Autumn; and the other the two last months of Autumn, the three months of Winter, and the two first months of Spring. This division was evidently made to regulate the price of grazing lands. lvi Introduction. On the Chariots and Roads of the ancient Irish. The mention of chariots in this work requires some observations. St. Patrick, according to his Tripartite Life, published by Colgan, vi- sited most parts of Ireland in a chariot. The carbad is also men- tioned in the oldest Irish stories and romances, as in the Tain Bo Cuailghne, in which Cuchullainn's carbad (chariots), and his ara, or charioteer, are constantly mentioned. There was a locality at Teamh- air or Tara, called Fan na g-Carbat, or slope of the chariot, and it is distinctly stated in the Life of St. Patrick preserved in the Book of Armagh, that the Gentile or Pagan Irish had chariots at Tara before their conversion to Christianity. According to the ancient Irish annals, and other fragments of Irish history, the ancient Irish had many roads which were cleaned and kept in repair according to law. The different terms used to denote road, among the ancient Irish, are thus denned in Cormac's Glossary, from which a pretty accurate idea may be formed of their nature : ""Roc .1. pouc .1. po-pec .1. mo oloap pec .1. pemica umup ani- malip. Gcaic cpa ll-anmanna pop conaipib .1. pec, poc, pamuc, plije, lam-pocae, cuaD-pocae, bocap. Sec cecamup uc ppeoipcimup. "Roue .1. Da pacac no Da cuac cappac 00 aenach Dae imme 00 ponao ppi hecpaice menooca pop meoon, Rariiac .1. mo oloap poc .1. uppcup bfp pop up ouniB pij. Cac comaijcecln a cip 00 po cuice olejap oe a jlanao. Slije oin 00 pcucao cappac pech apaile 00 ponca ppi h-imco- mapc ba cappac .1. cappac pig ocup cappac eppcoip co n-oechaio cac ae oib pech apaile. ^ampoca .1. icep oa plijiD, pbje Dap cuaipcepc menooca, apade Dap a oepcepc ppi leppu ppi cae do ponao. Introduction. lvii Uuujpoca pop alien pep cpeBap conaip ooapcnurh poicoi nopleibe. &6chap cpa .1. calla 01 bom alanae pop poc, apaile pop cappna pop a calluc a laeij no a n-jariina ma pail, ma6 1 n-a n-biai£ bepp upcup in bo bep oa eppi. Gccuc ceopa glunca 00 cac ae. Cpf haimpepa 1 n-glancap .1 ampep echpuachaip, cumpip chuae, aimpep cochca. Ice a cpi glanca .1. glanao a peoa ocup a uipce -\ a coclaib. Ice aicpi pop a nglan- cap .1. rip nellneo a cappac oc oul pop coe ap nellneo a ech- pame oc cechc bo aenach -|ca." " Rot, i. e. rout, i. e. ro-shet [a great set, or path], i. e. greater than a set. i. e. semita unius animalis. There are many names upon the roads, i. e. sed, rot, ramhat, slighe, lamh-rotae, tuadh-rotae, bothar : "Set, imprimis, ut prcediximus [i.e. semita unius animalis']. " Rout [ro-shet, great path], a chariot goes upon it to the fair; it was made for the horses of a mansion in medium. " Ramhat, i. e. wider than a rot, i. e. an urscur, an open space or street, which is in front of the forts of kings. Every neighbour whose land comes up to it is bound to clean it. " Slighe : for two chariots pass by each other upon it ; it was made for the meeting of two chariots, i. e. the chariot of a king and the cha- riot of a bishop, so that each of them might pass by the other [with- out touching]. " Lamhrota, i. e. [it extends] between two slighes, one to the north of a mansion, and the other to the south ; it was made for forts and for houses. " Tuaghrota [farm road], for the passage of the husbandman, a passage which reaches to a rot, or a mountain. " Bothar: two cows fit upon it, one lengthwise, the other athwart, and their calves and yearlings fit on it along with them ; for if they were behind them the cow that followed would wound them. lviii Introduction. " There are three cleanings for each. Three periods at which they are cleaned, i. e. time of* horse-racing, time of cua, time of war. These are the three cleanings, i. e. cleaning of wood [brushwood], of water, of weeds. These are the causes for which they are cleaned : on account of their dirtying of the chariot going on a journey, for dirtying of the horses coming from the fair, &c." According to the ancient Irish topographical work, called Dinn- seanchus, there were five great roads in Ireland, called by the fol- lowing names, viz., Slighe Dala, Slighe Asail, Slighe Midhluachra, Slighe Cualann, and Slighe Mor. Lughaidh O'Clerigh, in his poeti- cal controversy with Tadhg Mac Daire, urges in support of the dig- nity of Conn of the Hundred Battles, the ancestor of the dominant families of Leath Chuinn, that these five roads, which led to the fort of Teamhair, were first discovered on the birth-night of this great monarch, and he is borne out in this assertion by the autho- rity of the Dinnseanchus, though neither of these great authorities, nor O'Flaherty, who reiterates the same wonderful fact (Ogygia, page 314), tells us the meaning of discovering these roads. It may be a bardic mode of recording that these roads were completed by Feidhlimidh the Lawgiver, on the day before Conn was born, and that the people travelled by them on the next day. But old stories of this kind are found among every ancient people, and are worthy of preservation for the historical facts which they envelope. At whatever period these great roads were made, they indubitably existed, and are frequently referred to in Irish historical tales, from which their posi- tions may be pretty accurately determined. Slighe Dala was the great south-western road of Ireland, which extended from the southern side of Tara hill, in the dh-ection of Ossory. Slighe Asail was a western road extending from the hill of Tara in the direction of Loch Uair (Lough Owel), near Mullingar, in Westmeath. A part of this road is distinctly Introduction. lix referred to in Leabhar na h-Uidhri, as extending from Dun na n-Airbhedh to the cross at Tigli Lomain. Slighe Midliluachra was a northern road, hut nothing has been yet discovered to prove its exact position. Slighe Cualann extended from Tara, in the direction of Dublin and Bray, and Slighe Mor was the great western road, the lie of which is defined by the Eiscir Eiada, a line of gravel hills extending from Dublin to Meadh- raighe, near the town of Galway. See Petrie's Antiquities of Tara Hill, p. 205, and see the 6ealac t)uiblmne mentioned in our work at p. 14. Besides these great highways there are various others of inferior character mentioned in the Irish annals, and in the bardic histories of Ireland, at an early period. Keating mentions the following: Bealach Cro, Bealach Duin Bolg, Bealach Chonglais, Bealach Dathi, Bealach Gabhrain, Bealach Mughna, Bealach Mor, in Osraidhe [another name for Slighe Dala], Bealach na Luchaide, in North Munster. The fol- lowing roads are referred to in the Annals of the Four Masters, at various years. The dates are added to such as are mentioned before the English Invasion: Bealach an Chamain, Bealach an Chluainin, Bealach an Chrionaigh, Bealach an Diothruibhe, Bealach an Fhiodhfail, Bealach an Fhothair, Bealach an Mhaighre, Bealach Bodhbha, A. D. 866 ; Bealach Buidhe an Choirrshleibhe, Bealach Chille Brighde, Bea- lach Coille na g-Cuiritin, Bealach Chonglais, Bealach Cro, Bealach Duin, Bealach Duin Bolg, A. D. 594 ; Bealach Duinn Iarainn, Bealach Ele, A. D. 780; Bealach Eochoille, A. D. 1123; Bealach Fedha, A.D. 572; Bealach Fele, A.D. 730; Bealach Gabhrain, A. D. 756; Bealach Guirt an Iubhair, A.D. 1094; Bealach Ithain, Bealach Leachta, A. D. 976; Bealach Lice, A. D. 721; Bealach Mor Muighe Dala, Bealach Mughna, A. D. 903; Bealach Muine na Siride, A. D. 1144; Bealach na Bethighe, Bealach na Fadhbaighe, Bealach na g-Corr-ghad, Bealach na n-Gamhna, Bealach na h-Urbhron, Bealach natha, A. D. 866 ; Bea- lach Ui Mhithidhein, Bothar Mor Cnamhchoille, Bothar na Mac Riogh. lx Introduction. Various other roads are mentioned in the lives of the Irish saints, and in the Irish historical tales, but it would be out of place to dwell further upon the subject in this place. There is, however, one road, the position of which it is necessary to fix before we can determine the boundary between Laighin Tuath-ghabhair and Laighin Deas-ghabhair, or north and south Leinster, namely, that of Gabhair. This seems to have been the name of a road somewhere near Carlow, but its exact position and extent have not as yet been ascertained. The following reference to it in a historical tale preserved in the Book of Leinster, a MS. of the twelfth century, preserved in Lib. Trin. Col. Dub., H. 2. 18, may help to fix its position, or at least direction. The champions conversing are Lughaidh mac na d-tri Con and Conall Cearnach, who are introduced as standing on the banks of the River Liffey: " \ia jac-pa, ap Cujaio, pop 6elac ^abpucnn co n-becup pop 6eluc Smechuin. Clipg-piu [.1. eipij-piu] amne pop jabuip pop TTlaipj £aijen co corhcuppem i lTlaij CTipjec TCoip." — Fol. 78, b. " I shall go, said Lughaidh, upon Bealach Gabhruain till I get on Belach Smechuin. Now go thou upon Gabhair on Mairg Laighean, that we may meet on Magh Airgead-Eos." Mairg Laighean is the mountain of Sliabh Mairge, Anglice Slew- margue, a barony on the west side of the Barrow, in the south-east of the Queen's County, across which, doubtlessly, this road extended. Magh Airgead-Ros, where the champions appointed to meet, was the ancient name of a plain on the River Eoir, Anglice, the Nore, in Ossory ; and its position is marked by the fort of Rath Bheathaidh op 6oip i n- Ctipjec-'Rop, now Rathveagh, on the Nore. See Annals of the Four Masters, Anno Mundi, 3501, 3516 ; and Tighe's Statistical Account of the County of Kilkenny, Antiquities, p. 629. Introduction. lxi Of Chess among the ancient Irish. The frequent mention of chess in this Avork shows that chess-play- ing was one of the favorite amusements of the Irish chieftains. The word piccectll is translated " tabula? lusorige," by O'Flaherty, where he notices the bequests of Cathaeir Mor, monarch of Ireland, Ogygia, p. 311. In Cormac's Glossary, the picceal is described as quadran- gular, having straight spots of black and white. It is referred to in the oldest Irish stories and historical tales extant, as in the very old one called Tochmarc Etaine, preserved in Leabhar na h-Uidhri, a Manuscript of the twelfth century, in which the piccell is thus re- ferred to: " Cict c'ainm-peo ? ol Gochaio. N i apoaipc pon, ol pe, ITIioip 6pej Ceic. Cib ooc poacc? ol Gochaio? Do imbipc pibcille ppicpu, ol pe. Qm maic pe em, ol Gochaio, pop piccill ? Q ppomao bun, ol ITIioip. Gca, ol Gochaio ino pijran 1 n-a coclub, lp le in cech aca in piccell. Qca puno cenae, ol TTIibip piocell nao meppo. 6a pip on : clap napjic ocup pip oip, ocup puppunao [.i. lapao] caca huip- 01 popp in clap 01 Inc lojmaip, ocup pep bolj 01 pigi pono cpeou- riiae. Gcpuio ITIibip in piocill lap pin. lmbip, ol TTIibip. Ni im- mep ace 01 jiull, ol Gochaio. Cio jell biapann? ol TDioip. Cumma lim, ol Gochaio. Roc bia lim-pa, ol TTIiDip, ma cu bepep mo co- cell caegac jabup n-bubjlap." " ' What is thy name?' said Eochaidh. ' It is not illustrious,' replied the other, ' Midir of Brigh Leith.' 'What brought thee hither?' said Eochaidh. ' To play fithcheall with thee,' replied he. ' Art thou good at fithcheall?' said Eochaidh. 'Let us have the proof of it,' replied Midir. ' The Queen,' said Eochaidh, ' is asleep, and the house in which the fithcheall is belongs to her.' ' There is here,' said Midir, ' a no worse fithcheall.' This was true, indeed: it was a board of silver and pure Ixii Introduction. gold, and every angle was illuminated with precious stones, and a man-bag of woven brass wire. Midir then arranges the fithcheall. ' Play,' said Midir. ' I will not, except for a wager,' said Eochaidh. 'What wager shall we stake?' said Midir, 'I care not what,' said Eochaidh. ' I shall have for thee,' said Midir, ' fifty dark grey steeds, if thou win the game.' " The Editor takes this opportunity of presenting to the reader four different views of the same piece, an ancient chess-man — a king — found SI in Ireland, which is preserved in the cabinet of his friend, George Petrie, LL.D. ; he has never discovered in the Irish MSS. any full or detailed description of a chess-board and its furnitureb, and he is, b See the line in p. 242, poipne CO B. In another place, pa.ue 246, we have n-a b-pichchillaiB, MS. L the fa- pichchill acup bpunoub ban, mily, brigade, or set of chessmen,— a chessboard ami white chessmen; which poipne pinna is the reading in MS. words mav be considered to determine the Introduction. Ixiii i lien lore, unable to prove that pieces of different forms and powers, similar to those among other nations, were used by the Irish, but he is of opinion that they were. From the exact similarity, as well in style as in material, of the original, to those found in the Isle of Lewis, and which have been so learnedly illustrated by Sir Frederick Madden, in an Essay published in volume xxiv. of the Archasologia, the Editor is disposed to believe that the latter may be Irish also, and not Scandina- vian, as that eminent antiquary supposed. It would, at all events, seem certain that the Lewis chess-men and Dr. Petrie's are contempo- raneous, and belonged to the same people ; and no Scandinavian speci- color, white. The chess king in Dr. Petrie's cabinet is of bone, of very close texture, and is the same size as the above engraving. The Editor takes this opportunity of adding to the note on " swords," p. 32, the following extract from O'Flaherty : After quoting the passage in Cambren- sis, he adds, without any comment: " They wear, likewise, very sharp and long swords, sharp at one side only, wherefore they strike with the side only and not the point." — Ogygia, part iii. c. 39. lxiv Introduction. mens, as fur as the Editor knows, have been as yet found, or at least published, which present anything like such a striking identity in character. Dr. Petrie's specimen was given to him about thirty years ago by the late Dr. Tuke, a well-known collector of antiquities and other curiosities in Dublin; and, as that gentleman stated, was found with several others, some years previously, in a bog in the county of Meath. The peap pircdle, or chessman, is also frequently referred to in old tales, as in the very ancient one called Tain bo Cuailghne, in which the champion Cuchullainn is represented as killing a messenger, who had told him a lie, with a peap pibcille: kt 6a anoboi Cuchullainn oc imbipc piocille ocup £/Oej mac TCiun- jabpae a aupa peipin. lp com cuicbiuo-pa on, op pe, oo bepca bpec un nac meapaije. Capobuin bo Ueci bia pepaib piocilli oon rechcaipe co mboi pop lap a incinne." " Cuchullainn and his own charioteer, Loegh, son of Eiangabhra, were then playing chess. ' It was to mock me,' said he, ' thou hast told a lie about what thou mistakest not.' With that he cast [one] of his chessmen at the messenger, so that it pierced to the centre of his brain." — Leabhar na It- I "nhi. Again, in a romantic tale in the same MS., the Feap piocilli is thus referred to : "Ciap bo mop ocup ciap bo aipe^oa cpa Coejuipe cullapcaip i n-oen jlaic ino pip Dob painic peiD callab mac bliaonu, ocup coc nomailc ecip a 61 Boip lappuibiu arhail eaipionioep pep piocdli pop cuipioin." " Though great and illustrious was Loeghaire, he fitted on the palm of one hand of the man who had arrived as would a one-year- old boy, and he rubbed him between his two palms, as the fear fitkchilk is drawn in a tairidin." See also Battle of Magh Rath pp. 36, 37. Introduction. lxv On the Irish Text and Translation. On a careful comparison of the two vellum copies of which we have spoken in the opening of this Introduction, it was found that the copy in the Book of Leacan, though not free from defects and errors, is by far the more correct one, and it has, therefore, been unhesitatingly adopted as the text of the present edition. Sentences, words, &c, omitted from the copy in the Book of Leacan, and found in the other copy, have been supplied [in brackets] to the Irish text ; and the more remarkable varies, lectiones have been added for the inspection and consideration of the critical scholar at the end of this volume. It has not been considered necessary to notice the omis- sions of the Book of Baile an Mhuta in all cases. The exact orthography of the Book of Leacan has been preserved throughout, but the contractions have been dispensed with ; and the grammatical marks, such as hyphens, apostrophes, and stops, and also the marks of long quantity, eclipsis, and aspiration, have been supplied according to the genius of the language and the most approved modern pronunciation, except in the first piece (which is not part of Leabhar na g-Ceart, though usually prefixed to it), which has been printed without these latter marks, as a specimen of the text, showing to what a small extent the dot, as a mark of aspiration, was used of olda. The letter h postfixed to consonants (being capital letters) to denote aspiration, and the 5- or other consonant prefixed to mark eclipsis have been enclosed (in parentheses) to point out to the reader the addition even of a letter made by the Editor, and to distinguish at once to his eye these latter from the additions [in brackets] obtained a See some further remarks connected Readings," at the end of the volume, p. 290, with this subject given with the " Various infra. e lxvi Introduction. from the second copy of the text. The reason for supplying the aspira- tions and eclipses must be evident to all those who understand the gram- matical structure of the Irish language, for in many instances the sense of the language, and particularly the syntactical concord, is uncertain without them. The Irish text, stripped of its aspirations and eclipses, might be said to resemble the Hebrew text of the Old Testa- ment given without the Masoretic points which determine the sounds ; but the use of the Irish marks is still more important. It is true that if the language became a dead one it could be understood without the aspirations used at the middle and end of words, as, papugao, benam, mncub, which might be as intelligible to the eye as papujab, Denarii, mncnb; but the aspirations and eclipses which, at the beginning of words, point out the gender and number of words, and determine the force of particles, can never be dispensed with without obscuring the sense. For example, the letter a, as a possessive pronoun, denotes some- times his, sometimes her, and at another time their: as, if it be required to say her head, the c will have its radical sound, a ceunn; if his head, the c will be aspirated, a ceann ; and if their head, the c will be eclipsed, a 5-ceann ; from which it is quite evident that, if the aspiration and eclipsis were omitted, the meaning of the word a could not be seen. It has been asserted that the ancient pronunciation differed from the modern in retaining the sounds of many consonants which are now aspirated ; but there is no proof of this, as the same letter in the same grammatical situation is found sometimes aspirated and some- times not, in the most ancient Irish MSS. extant; and it is quite fair to conclude from this fact, that these marks of aspiration were omitted as one might neglect to dot an i, or to cross a t, and the omission took place through the mere haste of transcribers, though sometimes perhaps intentionally, especially on those consonants which were always pro- nounced as aspirate, as b in the termination of the dative or ablative Introduction. ixvn plural, and 5 and b in the termination ujsjuo, and o in ut>, the ter- mination of active participles, or progressive active nouns. The eclips- ing consonants are also equally necessary to the sense, for when they are omitted, the sense is sometimes so obscured that the meaning can only be guessed at, or discovered by investigation too troublesome to impose at all times on a reader. geasa agus buaoha Ribgh eipeaNN. geasa agus buaoha pfogh eireeaNR ^6QSQ -] upjapca pig 6penb -\ pig na cuiceao annpo pip. Seachc n-upjapca pij h-6pino anopo .1. Uupcbail 5peni paip ina I0151 1 lTluij1 Uheampach; cuplaim* Cheacaine 1 TTluij 6peag; lmcheachc TTIuiji Cuillino lap pumeao n-jpene; plaioi a each3 1 Pan4-chomatp ; ceachc 01a fflaipc pop Ueaehpa5 chuaipcepc; bpoineach6 pop beachpa in Cuan lap m-6eall- raine7; plichc pluaij pop Gch Dlaijne [in TTlaipc] lap Samuin8. Ci peachc m-buaoa: lapc 6omoi [oa comailc]; piao 6uibniji; meap TManano ; ppaechmeap 6pij Ceichi9; bipop 6popnaioi; uipce ehobaip Oilachr- 5a; milpao Maipi10: h-i Calaino Quguipc oo poichoip pin uili oo pig Ueampach. Gn bliaoam 1 cemleao m&pin ni cheijeao 1 n-ai- peam paegail bo11 1 lp piam no moijeao ap cac lear. Coic upgapca pij £aigean anopo .1. Uaipmchell Ceraine pop Uuaich ^aijean pop ruaichbeal; coo- 1 The numerals refer to the various readings, which will be found at the end of the work. a Of the provinces cuiceao. This Now only four provinces are recognised, word literally means a fifth part, and is and still CU15 cuiceao na h-Gipeann translated Quintana by O'Flaherty in his is a common expression to denote all Ireland. Ogygia, p. 24, but it came to denote a b Magh Teamhrach This should be, province in Ireland, from the fact that that at Teamhair, as in the poem. kingdom was anciently divided into five c Left-hand-wise ruaichbeal, i. e. great divisions. See Keating's History of sinistrorsum. See Toland's Critical His- Ireland, Haliday's edition, p. 123-145. tory of the Celtic Religion, p. 143, where THE RESTRICTIONS AND PREROGATIVES OF THE KINGS OF EIRE. The restrictions and prohibitions of the king of Eire (Ireland), and of the kings of the provinces3 down here. Seven are the " urgharta" (prohibitions) of the king of Eire, i.e. : The sun to rise upon him on his bed in Magh Teamhrach1' ; to alight on Wednesday in Magh Breagh; to traverse Magh Cuillinn after sun- set; to incite his horse at Fan-chomair; to go on Tuesday against north Teabhtha (Tenia) ; to go in a ship upon the water the Monday after Bealltaine (May- day); [to leave] the track of his army upon Ath Maighne the Tuesday after Samhain (All-Hallows). His seven " buadha" (prerogatives): The fish of the Boinn (Boyne) to eat; the deer of Luibneach; the fruit of Manann (Mann); the heath-fruit of Brigh Leithe; the cresses of the Brosnach ; the water of the well of Tlachtgha ; the venison of Nas (Naas). On the calends of August all these things reached the king of Teamhair (Tara). The year in which he used to eat of these was not reckoned as life spent, and he was wont to rout his enemies before him on every side. The five prohibitions of the king of Laighin (Leinster) here, viz. : To go round Tuath Laighean left-hand-wise0 on Wednesday ; to sleep he writes : " This sanctified tour, or round, land, p. 20. In the Leabhar Brcac, fol. 126, by the south, is called Deiseal, as the un- the word CUCtlchbel is used as follows: hallowed contrary one by the north, Tua- pholl (sinistrorsum)." See also Martin's " UaiP T PaP bo' a'Se0 CPTC Description of the Western Islands of Scot- in a cpoich .1. ppip in carpaij B 2 4 5ecTa a5uT' fructoha icip Oochpa i t)uiblinb -| a cheanb pop a leach bpajaib; popbaipi nae cpach pop muijib Cualano; lmchecc 6uain cap bealach n-Ouiblinbi; each pulach peipeab12 6ub pai cap Hlaj lTlaip- cean. Qceac a aoa imoppo: Hleap Glmame ; piao ^lnb' Seappaij; ol13 ppi coinblib ciapcha i n-Dino-l^ij op 6eapba; cuipm Chualanb; cluichi Capman. Coic upjapca pijg TTUiman: Qippechc pia peip14 Gaca £ein oo chaichim on Cuan co poili ; peip aiochi police Pojarhaip pia n-^eim ll-C-eicpechaib; popbaip nae cpach15 pop Siuip; bal choiccpichaip lm ^abpan; opnab ban Plui^i Pemin 5a n-bochpaibi bo epceacc 0016. Q cuic buaoa .1. Cpob Cpuachnai la jaipm chuach; lopcao Caijean chuachja- baip; coijeabal chepca copjaip 1 Caipil17; imcheacc Sleibi Cua caeca18 lap pib bepcepc Gpenb; ceacc co pluaj lechobap 01a TTlaipc cap TTIaj n-Qilbe. Coic upjapca pij choicib n-Oilneajmacc19 anopo .1. Cop imM Chpuachain [lap piocain] bia Samna; ceachc a m-bpuc bpic pop eoch jlap bpic 1 ppaech Cuchaib 1 n-t)al Chaip; ceachc 1 m-bannoail a Seajaip; puioi pojamuip 1 peapcaib21 mna ITIaine ; comluch22 pia mapcach eich leich leacl^uill in n-Qch ^jallca53 icip oa chleich. Q choic buaoa .1. Gllab?4 giall [a copac] a h-Oipbpean; pealj Slebi £oja ; lach- aipc" chopma cee 1 TTluij lYIuipipce; ebiuo oaipbpi 6peici bia bpuc jap puachap na Upi T3op; oal choiccpichaip ppi cuachaib Ueam- pach ic Qch G-uain26; macan Ceacpariiain 1 maenmaij ace na pa oeicci pop Dapmaj27. lepupalem, -| lp paip boi aijet) to him was bepp [dextrorsuni], to Christ." Gonjini 1 in ni po pu cuachbel ll Geim — A part of the year among the bopum ip peo on po bo bepp 00 ancient Irish, comprising seven months. Cpipc, i. e. For it is westwards Christ's See the Introduction, face was [turned] on his cross, i.e., to- e Lent, copjjap.. — This, like the French wards the city of Jerusalem ; and it is careme, anciently caresme, seems an abbre- eastwards Longinus's face was [turned], viation of Quadragesima, as is cincirep, and what was cuachbel [siniitrorsum] "Whitsuntide, of Quinquagesima. It is ftfogh Gipecinn. 5 between the Dothair (Dodder) and the Duibhlinn, with his head in- clining to one side ; to encamp for nine days on the plains of Cualaim ; to travel the road of Duibhlinn on Monday ; to ride on a dirty, black- heeled horse across Magh Maistean. These are his " adha" (prerogatives), viz. : The fruit of Almhain ; the deer of Gleann Searraigh ; to drink with wax candles at Dinn Riogh over the Bearbha (Barrow); the ale of Cualann ; the games of Carman. The five prohibitions of the king of Mumha (Munster) : To remain to enjoy the feast of Loch Lein from one Monday to another ; to feast by night in the beginning of harvest, before Geimd, at Leitreacha ; to encamp for nine days upon the Siuir ; to hold a bor- der meeting at Gabhran ; to listen to the groans of the women of Magh Feimhin when suffering violation. His five prerogatives, i. e. : The cattle of Cruachan at the singing of the cuckoo ; to burn north Laighin (Leinster) ; to keep the obligation of Lente at Caiseal (Cashel) ; to pass over Sliabh Cua with [a band of] fifty after pacifying the south of Eire ; to go with a greyish host on Tuesday over Magh Ailbhe. The five prohibitions of the king of the province of Oilneagmachtf (Connaught) here: To make a treaty respecting Cruachan after making peace on Samhain's day ; to go in a speckled garment on a grey speckled steed to the heath of Luchaid in Dal Chais ; to go to an assembly of women at Seaghais ; to sit in Autumn on the sepulchral mounds of the wife of Maine; to contend in running with the rider of a grey one-eyed horse at Ath Gallta, between two posts. His five prerogatives, i. e. : To take hostages first from Oirbsean ; the chase of Sliabh Lugha ; to drink hot ale in Magh Muirisce; the clothing of the oak of Breice with his cloak after a rout through the Tri Rosa; a border meeting at Ath Luain ( Athlone) with the tribes of Teamhair ; to be on Maen-mhagh on May morning, but so as that he goes not over upon Dar-mhagh. also written cap^ay1, which is not unlike province of Connacht, possibly the Nag- the French Cares-me. See Cormac's Glos- natse of Ptolemanis. See O'Conor, l)is- sary, voce Cincigep. sert. sec. xiii. ; Book of I.cacan, fol, 221 ; ' Oilneagmacht was the old name of the Tigheamach. ad A. I). 33. 6 J5eara a5ur £>uc*t)ha Coic upjapea pij Ulao .1. Gachpaip "Raca 6ine icip 0501b t)al n-Qpaioe ; ecpeacc pe lua- main enjiall58 Cinoi Saileach lap puineab n-gpeni29; copouo peipi pop peoil caipb t)aipi mic Daipi30; ceace31 a mip lTlapca 1 TTIuij Choba; uipce 60 Nemm 00 ol lop Da Doipchi. CI choic buaoa .1. Cluichi Cuailnje ppi cpob m-bapc; maipi [a pluaij] pop TTlaij TTIuipcherhne; nnbpceaoala pluaijib 00 jpeap a h-Gamain TTIaichi ; pappach32 giall co Oun Sobaipci ; h-uachap33 Gamna TTlaici .1. pep puippi co n-ionu na ceopa ceac aiochi pia n-bul cap coicpich. ^uaj a puiji in n-Uipneach each peachemoo bliaoan -| ap cupcbail a maib: 1 ip cuma olejap be each coiceab 1 n-Gpinb. "Ro blijpeab- pom bin bo pij Ueampach pep Ueampach bo deanarh lappin, no bib peachc pij Ueampach pop Gpinb uili 1 ip ano no cheanbaijoip pij na coiceao a puioi a n-Uipneach; ba pi in chain 1 in ceanoach pin .1. buinoi ruub no bio ina lairh cacha placha inb Gpinb o'op beapg nop pacbao pin ma inab ola: ap in can no choimlibip na pij pin pep Ueampach no jleoip oala Gpinb co ceann peachc m-bliaoan cona puiglibip piaca na peicheamnapa na coiceapca co pin peip n-aili lap peachc m-bliabnaib. Ip bemin cpa 00 pijaib Gpenb bia peach- mallbip a n-geapa -| bia pacbabip a m-bua6a ni biab cuipel na cupbpoo popaib ni chicpab ceibm na caimleacca na plaich -\ ni buib- bibip upchpa aimpipi pe nochaio bliaoan34. Ni olij bin cuaipe no ceanoai^eacc in pill no in pai peanchaca nach piapapa aoa 1 upj- apca na pij po. v To pay for his seat at Uisneaeh This were celebrated annually on the first of name is retained to the present day, which May. See Keating's account of Uisneaeh, is that of a hill, now usually anglicized where it is added (in the words of the Usny hill, or Usnagh hill, parish of Killare, translation by Gratianus Lucius) " Census barony of Kathconrath, Westmeath. Ac- autem, qui Regi Conacia? (ut cujus impe- cording to Keating, Tuathal Teachtmhar, rio quondam Usnacha subjecta fuit) ex his monarch of Ireland, in the first century, en- nundinis provenerat, fuit, ut singuli dynast* larged the boundaries of the ancient Midhe qui ad nundinas accecissent, ad eum equum (Meath), by cutting oft' a portion of each cum paludamentis [eac 7 euppab] of the provinces, and erecting a royal pa- conferret." See also O'Flaherty's Ogygia, lace on each. According to him, King part iii. c. 56, and the Ordnance map of Tuathal erected a palace, and established the parish of Killare, on which the an- fairs or public marts at Uisneaeh, in cient remains of the hill of Uisneaeh are the Connacht portion of Meath, which shewn. For ma, qu. recti: 'ma laim. TCfojh Gijieann. 7 The five prohibitions of the king of Ulaclh (Ulster), i. e. : The horse-fair of Rath Line, among the youths of Dal Araidhe ; to listen to the fluttering of the flocks of birds of Linn Saileach after sunset; to celebrate the feast of the flesh of the bull of Daire-rnic-Daire ; to go into Magh Cobha in the month of March ; to drink of the water of Bo Neimhidh between two darknesses. His five prerogatives, i. e. : The games of Cuailgne with the assembly of the fleet ; the mus- tering of his army on the plain of Muirtheimhne ; to commence his hosting always from Eamhain Macha; to send his hostages to Dun Sobhairce; " The terror of Eamhain Macha," i. e. to feast there for three nights armed before passing over the border. To pay for his seat at Uisneach8 every seventh year on taking his place, and this is also the right of every provincial king in Eire. After this these required of the king of Teamhair to make the feast of Teamhairh ; the kings of the provinces used to purchase their seats at Uisneach, and the purchase and price they paid was this, i. e. the " hero's ring" of red gold which each prince wore on his hand, which he used to leave in his drink- ing seat; for when these kings had eaten of the feast of Teamhair, the assemblies of Eire were dissolved for seven years, so that they pronounced no decision on debts, debtors, or disputes, till the next feast, after [the expiration of] seven years. It is certain to the kings of Eire that if they avoid their " geasa" (restrictions), and obtain their " buadha" (prerogatives), they shall meet no mischance or misfortune ; no epidemic or mortality shall occur in their reigns, and they shall not experience the decay of age for the space of ninety years. The poet or the learned historian who does not know the " adha" (preroga- tives), and " urgharta" (prohibitions) of these kings, is not entitled to visitation or to sale' [for his poetry]. h The feast of Tara peiP Cearh- does not appear to be borne out by any of nach. This is translated " comitia Te- the old Lives of St. Patrick, the authentic morenaa," by Colgan, Lynch, O'Flaherty, Irish annals, or the older manuscript ac- and others, but it is more truly rendered counts of Tara- See Petrie's History and " cena Tamrech," by Tighernach, and the Antiquities of Tara Hill, pp. 58, 59. See original compiler of the Annals of Ulster. a'so Keating's account of the Feis Teumh- All the modern writers of the history of racA, as established by the monarch Tuathal Ireland assert that the Feis Teamhrach Teachtmhar. •was celebrated every third year, but this ' Sale, ceanocujeatc, literally, traffic. s 5eara asiir t>ua^a De quibup Cuan Ua Ceochan, in pai, cecinic. CI pip am iaoap in c-each, lp me in c-O Ceochan35 laioeach ; nom leic peachao lp reach ceano u puil aipbpij na h-Gipeano. CIp acum po gebchap do eolup — na ba h-imapjo — a peachc n-a6a imao m-bpij, la peachc n-upjapca aipopij. ^ejchap peachc m-bua6a — cia beao? Do pij Uearhpach; oia coippeac bio coipcheach oo in calarh epic, bi6 cach-bua6ach caingen-jlic. tl-i Calamo Gujuipc oo'n pij do poichoip do ap each cip : meappao TTIanann monap n-jle ; acup ppaechmeap 6pij Ceichi; TTlilpab Naipi36; lapc 6oinoi ; bipap 6popnai6i baioi; It alludes to the privilege which every m It will be no fiction, na ba h-imapjo, true poet enjoyed of selling his own com- which has not been fabricated by me, but positions. For a very curious reference to which has been handed down to me as this custom see the Tripartite Life of St. tested by the experience of ages. Patrick, published by Colgan, lib. iii. c. 21, n The ready earth shall be fruitful — It where it is stated that Dubhthach, chief poet was the belief among the ancient Irish, of Leinster, had sent his disciple Fiach to that when their kings acted in conformity present some poems of his composition to with the institutions of their ancestors, the princes of that province. the seasons were favourable, and that * Cuan (JLchan — See the introduc- the earth yielded its fruit in abundance ; tion. but when they violated these laws, that 1 Who closest the house. — He addresses plague, famine, and inclemency of weather the door-keeper of king Maelseachlainn were the result. See Battle of Magh Rath, (Malachy) II., at his palace of Dun na p. 100-103. sgiath (fort of the shields), near the north- ° Manann.— This is the present Irish west margin of Loch Aininn (Lough Ennel, name of the Isle of Mann, which seems to near Mullingar, Westmeath). have anciently belonged to the monarch Rfojh Gipeann. Concerning which things Cuan 0'Lochank the sage, thus sang: O noble man who closest the house1, I am the O'Lochan of the poems, Let me pass by thee into the powerful house, In which is the monarch of Eire. With me will be found for him The knowledge — it will be no fiction"1 — Of his seven prerogatives of many virtues, With the seven prohibitions of a monarch. Let the seven prerogatives be read — what harm ? For the king of Teamhair; if he observe them The ready earth shall be fruitful" for him, He shall be victorious in battle, wise of counsel. On the calends of August, to the king Were brought from each respective district, The fruits of Manann0, a fine present; And the heath-fruit of Brigh Leithep ; The venison of Nasq ; the fish of the Boinnr ; The cresses of the kindly Brosnachs; of Ireland; but there were many places in am or ppaocoja, not the berries of Ireland so called, so that it is not abso- the heath, but bilberries or whortleberries, lutely certain that it is the Isle of Mann Some of the old Irish suppose that this, that is here referred to. and not the heath, is the shrub from which p Brigh Leithe — This was the ancient the Danes brewed a kind of beer, name of Sliabh Calraighe (Slieve Goby), q Naas, in Kildare, where the kings of situated to the west of the village of Ard- Leinster had a residence till the tenth cen- achadh ( Ardagh, in Longford), as we learn tury, the site of which is still pointed out. from the Life of Bishop Mael, (Mel) 6 Feb. r Boyne. — This well-known river has its where it is stated that Bri Leith is situa- source in Trinity well, at the foot of a hill ted between Mael's church of Ard-achadh, anciently called Sidh Neachtain, Bar. Car- and the nunnery of Druimcheo, the for- bury, Kildare. It was the chief river of mer lying on the east, and the latter on the Irish monarch's territory of Meath, and the west side of it. Colgan, Acta SS. Hib. was always celebrated for its salmon. 261. col. 2. cap. ix., sub fine. Possibly s Brosna, a well-known river which the fruit of the heath, ppaecrh ecq\ rises at Bunbrosna, Westmeath, and passes herereferredto.iswhatwenowcallppaoc- through Loch Uair (Owel), Loch Aininn 10 geapa agup buaoha uipci robaip Clacrja be37; acup piao luac Cuibnibe. C^chap peachc n-jepi — ni jab, bo pij Ceampach ; bia coippeab 00 paipci pilleab39 caca acup abgall apbpacha39: Sltchc pluaij in TTlaipc lap Samain cap Qc ITIaijne beapmajaip; bpuineach ap beachpa bpoine lp in 6uan lap m-6ellcaine ; ITlaipc mp, m bli£ plaich peipc, 1 Ceachpa40 cuac juipm chuaipcepr: imcheacc lap puinneab n-jpeni TTluiji Callainb41 cpuaib plebe Uaipplim Ceacaine — ni ceal, ni bip bo pop opuimnib 6peaj; (Ennell), to the Shannon, a short distance to the north of the town of Banagher. 1 Tlaclttgha This was the ancient name of the hill now called the Hill of Ward, which is situated near the town of Athboy, Meath. According to a vellum MS. preserved in the Library of Trinity Col- lege, Dublin, H. 3, 17, p. 732, the hill of Tlachtgha is situated in that part of ancient Meath which originally belonged to Mini- ster, and in the territory of Ui Laeghaire, which, since the establishment of sur- names was the patrimonial inheritance of the family of the O'Cainnealbhains, now Quin- tans, the descendants of Laeghaire, the last Pagan monarch of Ireland. There is a remarkable earthen fort on the hill, said to have been originally erected by the mo- narch Tuathal Teachtmhar, towards the middle of the second century, where the Druids lighted their sacred fires on the eve of Samhain (All-Hallows). The well referred to in the text is at the foot of the hill, but not now remarkable for any sa- cred characteristics. >' Luibneach — This name is now ob- solete. It was applied to a place on the borders of ancient Meath and Monster. See the Book of Leacan, fol. 260, b. v Samhain Tliis is still the name for All-hallow tide, or 1st of November. It is explained by O'Clery as compounded of parh-puin, i. e. the end of Summer. " Ath Muighne — This was the ancient name of a ford on the river Eithne (Inny), parish of Mayne, Bar. Fore, Westmeath, a short distance to the west of the town of Castlepollard. It is mentioned in the An- notations of Tirechan in the Book of Ar- magh, as on the boundary between north TC105I1 Gipeann. 11 The water of the well of Tlachtgha' too ; And the swift deer of Luibneach". Let his seven restrictions be read, — no reproach. To the king of Teainhair ; if he observe them It will guard against treachery in battle, And the pollution of his high attributes. The track of an army, on the Tuesday after Samhainv Across Ath Maighnew, of fair salmons; To put ship on the water of the ships On the Monday after Bealltaine; On Tuesday a true king ought not at all to go Into the dark country of north Teabhthax ; Or traverse, after the setting of the sun, Magh Callainny of the hard mountain ; To alight on "Wednesday — I will not conceal it — It is not lawful for him, on the hills of Breach* ; and south Teffia. x North Teabhtha In the fifth century this name was applied to the region extend- ing from the river Eithne (Inny) to Sliahh Chairbre, a wild blue mountainous district on the northern boundary of the present comity of Longford ; in later ages this terri- tory was usually called Anghaile (Annaly). The apparent reason that the monarch was prohibited from entering this territory was, because Cairbre, the brother of the monarch Laeghaire, and this his territory of North Teffia, were cursed [on Tuesday] by St. Pa- trick. •v In the prose it is called Magh Cuil- linn. This would be anglicized Moyculltn. It is difficult to decide what plain this was, ;us there is more than one place of the name in Ireland. ' Breagh — This is usually called Magh (the plain of) Breagh, and Latinized Bre- gia. It was the name of a plain in the eastern part of the ancient Meath, compris- ing, according to Keating and others, five triocha-cheds or baronies. In latter ages, as appears from the places mentioned as in this plain, it would seem that it was the country lying between Dublin and Drogh- eda, or between the river Liff'ey and the Boyne, but its exact boundaries are not de- fined in any of our authorities. Mageogh- egan states, in his translation of the An- nals of Clonmacnoise, at the year 778, that Moy Brey extended from Dublin to Bea- Iach Breck, west of Kells, and from the hill of Howth to the mountain of Slieve Fuaid in Ulster. Druimni Breagh, which means dorsa Bregia; would appear to be the name of a hilly part of this territory. In Mac Firbisigh's Genealogical work (Marquis of 12 geapct agup buaoha jpian paip b'epji 1 Cearhaip choip: plaibe a each42 i Pan-chomaip. Cuan h-Ua Ceochan co li43 ^.aijin co[a]pi mab bia pi, ni chelpa44 paip a aba naio a jeapa gopm-jlana: ^eip do cuaipc, pia n-bul pop ceal, pop cuac 6aijean pop cuaic-bel; gep oo collab claine cinb lcip t)orpa acup tDuiblinb; ^eip bo popbaip — peagchap anb, nae epach pop muijib Cualanb; Drogheda's copy), p. 172, Rath ochtair C uilinn is placed l n-Opuimnib 6ped^. a The sun to rise upon him — This £e ip, fir forbidden thing, is not unlike the so- lemn injunction laid by Mahomet on his successors, that they should be at prayer before the rising of the sun. b Comar. — There are countless places of this name in Ireland, which means the con- fluence of rivers. Perhaps the place here alluded to is the place called Comar near Clonard, in the south-west of the county of East Meath. Fan-ehomair is the slope or declivity of the Comar. c Before going to heaven, i. e. while alive in this world. This expression is often used in old Irish writings, as is also £up cian CO Ciap ap ceal, which means, serus in caelum redeas, or mayest thou live long, an expression evidently translated by the Irish from the classical writers. See Horat. Lib. i. Od. n., Ovid. lib. xv. lin. 8C8, Tarda sit ilia dies, &c, and Cormac's Glossary, voce Ceal. H Tuath Laighean, the north of Laighin or Leinster. € Left-hand-wise — In Lcabhar na h- Uidhri, folio 59 (now folio 40), a. a, Ctiaicbil is used to denote northward, or to the left ; north and left are synonymous hi Irish. See above, p. 2, note c. f Dothair (fern.) Dothra — This !s the ancient Irish form of the name of the river Dodder, in the coimty of Dublin. The church of Achadh Finiche is described in the Feilire JEnguis, at 11th of May, and in the Irish calendar of the O'Clerys, as on the brink of the Dothair, in the territory of Ui Dunchadha, in Leinster— FOp bpu t)orpa i n-Llib Ounehaoa. s Duibhlinn. — This was the ancient name of that part of the river Life (Liffey) on which the city of Dublin stands. It is explained nigra; t her ma: by the author of the Life of St. Coemhghin (Kevin); so, Col- gan, " Pars enim Liffei jluminis, in cujus ripa est ipsa eivitas, Hibernis olim vocaba- tur Dubh-linn, i. e. nigricans alveus sive profundus alveus." — Trias Thaum., p. 112, n. 71. The city was and is called Ath Cliath, Ath Cliath Duibhlinne, and Baile Atlia Cliath, a name shortened into Blea Cliath. The above prohibition may have owed its origin to the fact of some king TCfojli Gipecmn. 13 The sun to rise upon him east at Teamhair* Or to incite his horse at Fan-chomair\ Cuan O'Lochan am I, of fame. Should I reach the king of Laighin, I shall not conceal from him his prerogatives, Nor his clearly-defined prohibitions. 'Tis prohibited to him to go round, before going to heaven0 Over north Laighind, left- h and- wisee ; 'Tis prohibited to him to sleep with head inclined Between the Dothairf and the Duibhlinng ; It is prohibited to him to encamp, let it be minded, For nine days on the plains of Cualannh ; of Leinster having been found dead in his bed in the district, with his neck crooked. h Cualann The situation and extent of this territory have been strangely mistaken by modern Irish writers. But we have evidences which will leave no doubt as to its exact situation, for in the Feilire jEn- guis the churches of Tigh Conaill, Tigh mic Dimmai, and Dun mor, are placed in Cualann. And in an inquisition taken at Wicklow on the 21st of April, 1G36, the limits of Fercoulen, i. e. Feara Cualann, are defined as follows : " The said Tirlagh O'Toole humbly de- sireth of his Majestie to have a certain ter- ritory of land called Fercoulen, which his ancestors had till they were expulsed by the earls of Kildare. That the said terri- tory containeth in length from Barnecullen, by east and south, and Glassyn[. . .]kie to Pollcallon by west the wind gates, viz., five miles in length and four in breadth, being the more part mountaines, woods, and rocks, and the other parte good fertile lands. Within the said territory were certain villages and craggs [recte creaghts] of old tyme, being now all desolate excepte onely Powerscourt, Killcollin, Beanaghebegge, Benaghmor, the Onenaghe, Ballycortie, Templeregan, Kilta- garrane, Cokiston, Ancrewyn, Killmollinky, Ballynbrowne, Killeger, and the Mainster." From this description of the territory of the Feara Cualann it is quite evident that it was then considered as coextensive with the half barony of Rathdown, in the north of the county of Wicklow, and adjoining the county of Dublin. Harris, in his edi- tion of Ware's work, vol. ii. p. 48, places this territory several miles out of its proper locality, for he describes it as "a territoiy in the east and maritime part of the county of Wicklow, comprehending the north parts of the barony of Arcklow, and the south of the barony of Newcastle." But Ussher, in whose time the name was still in use, places the river of Bray and Old Court in Crich Cualann [Primordia, p. 846], in which it will be observed that he is per- fectly borne out by the petition set forth in the inquisition above quoted, which was taken about the same time that he was writing his Primordia. 14 ^eapa a^up buablia jep do oul pe pluaj malle tuan rap 6elach n-'DuiBlinoi ; ^Jep do ap Hluij TTlaiprean oamuD45 pai each palac peipeao46 6ub: acear pin — ni oenanD pean, coic upjapca pij Caijean47. C-aech 5a puileaD cuic a6a pij Cai^ean lip Cabpaoa: meap Qlmaine do '5a chij; acup pia6 ^linoi Seappaij; Ol ppi comolib ciappra cai6 a n-[t)]inD-"Ri^ Do'n pi£ po jnairh, plan qiach cpiach cuamano Dinopain ; cuipm Chualann; cluicln Capmuin. Caippiul na pij paen in paich acaic cuic buaoa Dia plaich : ' Bealach Duibhlinne The road or pass of the Duibhlinn. See p. 12, note S. i The plain of Maistin, i. e. the plain around the hill of Maistin, or, as it is generally called, Mullaghmast, parish of Naraghmore, and about five miles east of the town of Athy, in Kildare. For some curious notices of events which occurred at this place, the reader is referred to Keat- ing's History of Ireland, reigns of Cormac Mac Art, and Brian Borumha; Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 1577, and Philip O'Sullivan Beare's History of the Irish Catholics, fol. 86. k The fort of Labhraidh, i. e. of Labh- raidh Loingseach, monarch of Ireland of the Lagenian race, A. M., 3682, for some stories about whom the reader is referred to Keating's History of Ireland, and O'Fla- herty's Ogygia, part in. c. 39. His fort was Dinn Riogh, vide infra, note °. 1 Almhain (Allen), a celebrated hill in the county of Kildare, situated about five miles to the north of the town of Kildare. ru Gleann Searraigh, i. e. the glen of the foal. The situation of this glen is unknown to the Editor. n Wax candles This is a curious re- ference, as it would appear that the kings of Leinster did not reside at Dinn Riogh since the period of the introduction of Chris- tianity. 0 Dinn Riogh, i. e. the hill of the kings. This is the most ancient palace of the kings of Leinster. Keating describes Dinn Riogh as "ap bpuac 6eapba lDip Chear- aplac 1 6eic£linn, oo'n leir ciap Do'n 6heapba, i. e. on the brink of the Barrow, between Carlow and Leighlin, on the west side of the Barrow;" Keating's TCfogh Gijiecmn. I") 'Tis prohibited to him to go with a host On Monday over the Bealach Duibhlinne' ; It is prohibited to him on Magh Maistean', on any account, To ride on a dirty, black-heeled horse : These are — he shall not do them — The five things prohibited to the king of Laighin. A hero who possesses five prerogatives, Is the king of Laighin of the fort of Labhraidhk : The fruit of Almhain1 [to be brought] to him to his house ; And the deer of Gleann Searraigh™ ; To drink by [the light of] fair wax candles" At Din Riogh0 is very customary to the king, Safe too is the chief of Tuaim in that [custom] ; The ale of Cualannp ; the games of Carman9. Caiseal of the kings, of great prosperity, Its prince has five prerogatives : Hist. Ireland, Haliday's edition, preface, pig mime i n-Dmbpig TTIaige p. 42. This place is still well known. It Clilbe hi bpuoin Cuama Cen- is situated in the townland of Ballyknockan bach ralnpUDj \a £abpaiO Coinj- about a quarter of a mile to the south of rech , p1oen mQC a,Ulla a,ne Leighlin Bridge, to the west of the River m)c c c mlc u Barrow. Nothing remains of the palace , . . moip 1 n-oigail a arap -| a penarap but a moat, measuring two hundred and .... . . . „ . ., no mapb Cobrach Coel. Cocao 6 thirty-seven yards in circumference at the ' ' base,sixty-nmefeetinheightfromthelevel ^m e,C,P Ca,5"iu 1 le^ Cuino/' "CobhthachCaelbreagh, thesonofUgaine Mor, was burned together with thirty kings ... ' . ', , .. about him at Dinn Riogh of Magh Ailblie, it presents a level surface, on which the & of the river Barrow, and one hundred and thirty- five feet in diameter at the top, where in the palace of Tuaim Teanbath, by Labh- raidh Loingseach, i. e. Maen, the son of Aileall Aine, son of Laeghaire Lore, son of Ugaine Mor, in revenge of his father and grandfather, whom Cobhthach Cael had slain. A war arose from this between Leinster and Leath Chuinn." " Cobcach Coelbpej mac Llj- p Cualann See p. 13, note ", supra. aine moip OO lopcub CO epichae 1 Carman This was the name of the king of Leinster's royal house evidently stood. In a fragment of the Annals of Tigher- nach preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, Rawlinson, 502, fol. 1. b. col. 1. the following passage occurs relative to the burning of this palace : l(j 5eara a5ur buaoha cpoo Cpuachna cui co corvjaip ; lopcao £,aijjn cuachjabaip; Caeca rap Sliab Cua na ceanb lap pichchain oepcepc 6peno; lmcheacc maiji — maich in moo, Qilbe pe pluaj leachooap; Ceabaij 1 Caipiul iap pcip co ceano caecaipi ap mip48 cacha bliaona pop — na ceil, aciao buaoa pij Caipil. TC15 Caipil, — ip cpao 01a cheill aippeachr pe pep £aca Ce\n — o'n Cuan co poili a caichim — ip copac 01a riujlaichiB49: ^eip 00 aibcln poilc pia n-^eim pojariiaip il-6eirpeachaib ; popbaip nae cpach pop Siuip puam: oal choicpichaip im ^abpuam ; site now occupied by the town of Wexford. ' SHabh Cua — This was the ancient It appears from the Irish work called Dinn name of the mountain now called Cnoc Seanchus, that the kings of Leinster cele- Maeldomhnaigh, situated to the south of brated fairs, games, and sports at this place Clonmel in the county of Waterford. The from a very early period. name is still preserved, but pronounced r The cattle of Crnachan — This ob- Sliabh Gua, and now popularly applied to viously means that it would be a lucky or a district in the parish of Seskinan, in the success-insuring thing for the king of barony of Decies without Drum, lying be- Caiseal to plunder the plain of Rath Crua- tween Dungarvan and Clonmel. chan, and carry off the cattle of the king u The plain of Ailbhe, lTlajr, QilBe. of Connacht within the period during This was the name of an extensive plain in which the cuckoo sings. The Editor has Leinster, extending from the river Barrow not met anything to throw any light on the and Sliabh Mairge, to the foot of the Wick- origin of this extraordinary injunction. low mountains. From the places mention- 8 The northern Leinster, i. e. Wicklow, ed in the Irish authorities as situated in this Kildare, south Dublin, &c, and part of the plain, it is quite evident that it comprised King's County. Meath, north Dublin, &c. the northern part of the barony of Idrone, were not considered part of Leinster at this in the county of Carlow, and the baronies of period. Kilkea and Moone, in the county of Kil- Ri'ojh Gipeann. 17 The cattle of Cruachan1, when the cuckoo sings ; The burning of northern Laighin8 ; By fifty attended o'er Sliabh Cua' to pass After the pacification of the south of Eire ; To cross the plain, in goodly mode, Of Ailbhe", with a light-grey host; A bed in Caisealv, after fatigue To the end of a fortnight and a month Each year, moreover, — do not conceal it, Such are the prerogatives of the king of Caiseal. The king of Caiseal — it will embitter his feeling To wait for the feast of Loch Leinw — To stay from one Monday to another to enjoy it — It is the beginning of his last days ; 'Tis prohibited to him [to pass] a night in beginning of harvest Before Geimx at Leitreachay ; To encamp for nine days on the silent Siuirz ; To hold a border meeting at Gabhrana ; dare. The situation of this plain is thus > Latteragh is a parish in Lower Or- described byUssher: "Campus ad ripam mond, Tipperaiy. fluvii quern Ptolemeus Birgura, nos Bar- 7- Suir. — This celebrated river, which has row vocamus, non procul a monte Margeo its source in Sliabh Ailduin, (the Devil's positus." — Primordia, pp.936, 937. The Bit mountain,) in the county of Tipperaiy, author of the Irish poem called Laoi na unites with the Barrow and the sea about Leacht, describing the monuments of Lein- one mile below Waterford. ster, asks exultingly, "Where is there in * GabJaran (Gowran), in Kilkenny any province of Ireland a plain like Magh According to Keating, the territory of Or- Ailbhe?" mond extended as far as this place, but v A bed at Cashel, i. e. wherever the this cannot be considered as its boundary king of Munster may have his palace, it is for the last thousand years, for then the absolutely necessaiy to his prosperity and greater part of Ossory would belong to good luck, that he should sleep at Cashel Munster ; but this we cannot believe on the for six weeks every year. authority of Keating, as Ossory is described " Loch Lein. — This is still the name in the oldest Lives of St. Patrick as the of the Lake of Killarney, in the county western portion of Leinster, " Occidentalis of Kerry. Laginensium plaga." See Ussher's Prtmor- x Geim, seep. 4, note rt. dia, pp. 805, 969. But it would appear C 18 J)eapa a^up buatoha lp $ep t>o cloipceachc iap pin ppi h-opna6aij ban Peimin ica n-oochpaibi na m-ban: lnao jepi pij ffluman. TTIapaiD punb — ni puaill in pmachc, buaba lp g-eapa pij Conbachc: pi£ Conoachc — cia nach cuala ? ni bill cean bicb buaba. 6uaib ba buabaib pe40 each m-buaio, allao41 giall a h-Oipbpm puaip; pealg Slebi C-o ja male ; lachaipe chopma 1 VTIU15 ffluipppce ; TTlaich bo puachap na Cpi "Rop b'pacbail a bpuic ac 6eapnop lm baipbpi m-6peici m-bua6ach lp in cuaipceapc cpean cpuaoac; t)al choicpichaip urn Qch Cuain ppi eunthaib Ueampach cuach chluain: that the kings of Minister claimed jurisdic- tion over Ossory as far as Gowran, while the Ossorians, on the other hand, in right of the conquest of Magh Feimhin, made by their ancestor iEngus Osraigheach, con- tended that their country of Osraighe should comprise all the lands extending from the river Siuir to the Bearbha, and from the mountains of Sliabh Bladhma to the meeting of the Three Waters, in Water- ford harbour. But this claim was never established ; for the territory does not ap- pear to have comprised more than the pre- sent diocese of Ossory since the time of St. Patrick. See Keating, reign of Cormac Mac Airt. b Feimhin, more generally called Magh- Feimhin, was the ancient name of a plain comprising that portion of the present county of Tipperary which belongs to the diocese of Lismore. It is described as ex- tending from the river Siuir northwards to Corca Eathrach, otherwise called Machaire Chaisil, from which it is evident that it comprised the whole of the barony of IfTa and Offa east. See Colgan's Trias Thaum. p. 201 ; Heating's Histoiy of Ireland, reign of Cormac Mac Airt ; and Lanigan's Eccles. History of Ireland, vol. i. p. 282. c Oirbsean, i. e., to take the hostages of the Ui Briuin Seola, and other tribes seat- ed around Loch Oirbsean (Lough Comb in the county of Galway). d Sliabh Logha, more usually called Sliabh Lugha, a well-known mountain- ous territory in the county of Mayo, com- Piogb Gijieann. 19 'Tis prohibited to him, after this, to listen To the moans of the women of Feimhin6 [Arising] from the violation of those women: Such are the prohibitions of the king of Mumha. Here are — not trifling the regulation, The prerogatives and prohibitions of the king of Connacht The king of Connacht, who has not heard of him ? He is not a hero without perpetual prerogatives. One of his prerogatives, which is before every prerogative, The taking of the hostages of the chilly Oirbsean0 ; The hunting of Sliabh Lughad also ; The drinking of the fresh ale of Magh Muiriscee ; Good for him the rout of the Tri Rosaf , [and] To leave his cloak at Bearnas2 Around the victorious oak of Breice'1 In the strong, hardy north ; To hold a border meeting at Ath Luain' With the states of Teamhair of the grassy districts ; prising that part of the harony of Costello which belongs to the diocese of Achonry, viz., the parishes of Kilkelly, Kilmovee, Kil- leagh, Kilcolman, and Castlemore-Costello. c' Muirisc, i. e. Sea plain There is a narrow plain of this name situated between the mountain of Cruach Phadraig (Croagh- patrick) and Cuan Modh (Clew Bay), in the west of the county of Mayo. It also became the name of a small abbey situated in this plain, on the margin of the bay, from which the barony of Murrisk received its name. This name was also applied to a district in the barony of Tir Fhiachrach (Tirtragh) and county of Sligo, extending from the river Easkey to Dunnacoy, and comprising the townlands of Rosslee, Cloon- nagleavragh, Alternan, Dunaltan, Bally - kilcash, Dunheakin, Dunneill, and Bally - eskeen. It is difficult to decide which of these plains is the one referred to in the text. f The three Rosses — It is difficult to de- cide what Rosses are here referred to, but the editor is of opinion that they are, either the district so called in the north, or that in the west of the county of Donegal. s Bearnas — This is evidently the re- markable gapped mountain called Barnis- more, and locally Bearnas, in the barony of Tirhugh and county of Donegal. h The oak of Breice. — The editor has discovered no other notice of this lucky tree. ' Ath Luain (Athlone), a ford on the Shannon, from which the town of Athlone has taken its name. The ford is on the boundary between Connaught and Meath. c. -1 20 ^eapa ajjup 6uat>lia maicean Ceiceamon ceac m-bla6 a niaen-ma^, na pig Dap-bao. Qcaic upgapca oo'n pij Conoachr, coimeab acipM: cop lm Chpuacham oia Samna ni h-a6a, ace lp eacapba ; lmchup pe mapcach eich leirh a n-Gch ^allca lop oa chleich ; banoal pop Seajaip co pe ; paiji 1 peapcaib mna fflaine ; CI m-bpuc bpic ni ciapcap leip a ppaecb Cuchaic in n-Dail Chaip : aciac pin ciap in each ran cuic upjapca pij Cpuachan. Cluineao pij Lllab53 aoa oopom pe meap bo pala54 : cluichi Cuailjne cpob m-bapc m-beo: mapi pluaij a TTluipcheThneo; J Maen-magh, a celebrated plain in the present county of Galway, comprising the lake and town of Loughrea, the townlands of Mayode and Fimnire, and all the cham- paign country around Loughrea. See Tribes and Customs of the Ui Maine, p. 70, note z, and p. 130. k Dar-nihugh This isprobably the place sometimes called Darhybrian, in the moun- tain of Sliabh Echtghe, on the southern boundary of the plain of Maen-magh. 1 Cruachan. — This was the name of the ancient palace of the kings of Connaught, situated near Belanagare, in the county of Roscommon. The place is now called Rathcroghan, and contains the remains of several earthen forts. m Ath Gallta — This place was in Ui Maine, but the editor has not beep, able to identify it witli any name now in existence. n Seaghais. — This was the ancient name of the mountainous district now called Coirr-shliabh, or the Curlieu mountains, situated on the borders of the counties of Roscommon and Sligo. 0 Fearta-mna-Maine, i. e. the grave of the wife of Maine. This monument is un- known to the. editor, unless it be the place called Tuaim mna, i. e. the tumulus of the woman, now anglicized Toomna, and situ- ated on the river Boyle, in the barony of Boyle, and county of Roscommon. p Luchuid. — This place still retains its ancient name among those who speak Irish, but it is anglicized Lowhid. It is situated near the hamlet of Toberreendoney in the barony of Inchiquin and county of Clare, and near the boundary of the barony of Rfogh Gipecmn. 21 On May morning, of first flowers. To visit Maen-maghJ, but touch not Dar-mhaghk. These are things prohibited to the king Of Connacht — let him observe them in his country ; To form a treaty concerning Cruachan1 on Samhain's day Is not prosperity, but it is misfortune; To contend with the rider of a grey horse At Ath Gallta™, between two posts; A meeting of women at Seaghais" at all; To sit on the sepulchre of the wife of Maine" ; In a speckled cloak let him not go To the heath of LuchaidP in Dal Chais: These are at every time, in the west, The five prohibitions of the king of Cruachan. Let the king of Uladhq hear his prerogatives, To him with honour they were given: The games of Cuailgner, [and] the assembling of his swift fleet ; The mustering of his host in Muirthemhnes ; Kilianan, in the county of Galway. Keat- allgne mountains, and the district is thus ing, — in the reign of Diarmaid Mac Fear- described: "lp amlcno aca an cip ghusa Ceirbheoil, — describes the country of pm nu pinbe .1. an aioBeip cain- the Dal Cais, which was originally a part cede cuBpac cupaoioeac -| an of Connacht, as extending from Beam tri pul-rhuip pioblac pulBopb ap Carbad to Bealach na Luchaide, and from raob 01 -\ pleibce apoa aibBpeaca Ath n.i Borumha (at Killaloe) to Leim Con- iip-aoiBne Ian bo pporaiB pionn- chulainn (Loophead). cubpaca pfop-uipce, -\ bo jleann- *i Uladh, i. e. Ulster. ettib rairneariiaca caob-uame, -| r Cuailgne — This name is still pre- no cc-,Uclb' min-ciumpaca, coih- served, but corrupted to Cuailghe, in Irish, cocpoma ap an caob edi 61." — and anglicized Cooley. It is applied to a « This district is thus situated : the noisy, mountainous district in the barony i »f Lower froathy, wailing sea, and the flowing fierce Dundalk, in the county of Louth. In an brine on one side of it, and lofty towering Irish story, entitled, Toruidheacht Gru- delightful mountains, full of white-foaming aidht Grian-sholuis, written by a native pure -watered streams, of delightful green- of this district, the well-known mountains sidea v;1nc.vs, and of smooth-skirted waving of Sliabh Fidhit and Sliabh Feadha, are woods on th<' other side" distinctly mentioned as two oi these Cu ■ Muirtheimhne. — This territory com- 22 JJeccya a5l,f buaoho Cmopceabal pluaijio co pe do jpeap a h-Garhain TTlaichi; poppach giull — ip cian po clop, co Dun Sobaipci polop; Seoib ap cupcbail a maib a n-Uipneach lThbi mijio" in cac peachcmao66 bliaoan bain uao bo pij Uipni£ lmlain57. Gcaic upgapca ana oo pi£59 Ulab imbana: ecpaip59 [ille] Raca Cine60 tap ocaib Gpaioe ; Gicpeachc pe luamain en^iull61 Cinbi Saileach oia puin gpian ; prised that part of the present county of Louth, extending from the Cuailgne (Coo- ley) mountains to the river Boyne. Dun- dalk, Louth, Drumimsklin, now Drumiskin, Faughard, and Monasterboice are men- tioned as in this territory. See Annals of Tighernach ad arm. 1002. — Ussher's Pri- mordia, pp. 627, 705, 827, 902. This ter- ritory was also called Machaire Oirghiall, as being the level portion of the extensive country of Oirghiall, and the ancient inha- bitants were called Conaille Muirtheimhne. 1 Eamhain Maichi, more usually writ- ten Eamhaiu Macha. This was the name of the ancient palace of the kings of Ulster, from the period of Ciombaeth, its founder, who flourished, according to the accurate annalist, Tighernach, about three hundred years before Christ, till A. D. 332, when it was destroyed by the three Collas, the ancestors of the people called Oirghialla (Oriels). From this period it remained without a house till the year 1387, when Niall O'Neill, presumptive king of Ulster, erected a house within it for the entertain- ment of the literati of Ireland. Colgan, who does not appear to have ever seen this place, describes the state of the ruins of the Ultonian palace as follows, in 1647: " Emania prope Ardmacham, nunc fossis latis vestigiis murorum eminentibus, et ruderibus, pristinum redolens splendorem." — Trias Thaum. p. 6. See also O'Flaher- ty's Ogygia, part iii. c. 36. Dr.Lanigan, in his Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. i. p. 314, note 135, writes: " The growth of Armagh contributed to its downfall." But this observation is quite untenable, as Emania had been deserted for a whole century before Armagh was founded. The ruins of Eamhain, or, as it is now corruptly called, the Navan fort, are to be seen about two miles to the west of Armagh, to the right of the road as you go from Armagh to Kinard or Caledon. They are well described by Dr. Stuart in his Historical Memoirs of Armagh, pp. 578, 579. TCfojli 6i]ieann. 23 The commencement of his hosting, also, Always at Eamhain Macha1 ; The confinement of his hostages — of old 'twas heard, At Dun Sobhairce11 the bright ; A rich gift on taking his place At Uisneachv of Meath of the mead, In every seventh goodly year, To be given by him to the rightful king of Uisneach. There are noble prohibitions To the bold king of Uladh : The horse-race of Rath Linew, also, Among the youths of Araidhex ; To listen to the fluttering of the flocks of birds Of Linn Saileach5" after set of sun ; The editor examined the site of Eamhain with great care in 1835, but could not find any trace of stone walls (vestigiis muro- rum cmincntibus) there ; the earthen works, however, are very extensive, and show that it must have been a place of considerable importance. 11 Dun Sobhairce, Sobhairce's fort (Dun- severick), an insulated rock containing some fragments of the ruins of a castle, near the centre of a small bay, three miles east of the Giant's Causeway, in the county of Antrim. See Colgan, Trias Thaum., p. 182, where its situation is described as follows : " Dunsobhairce est arx maritima et longe vetusta regionis Dal Riedise, quae nomen illud a Sobarchio filio Ebrici, Rege Hibernia?, primoque arcis illius conditore circa annum mundi 3668, desumpsit, ut ex Ouatuor Magistris in annalibus, Cata- logo Regum Hibernia; Ketenno, Lib. i., et aliis passim rerum Ilibernicarum Scriptori- bus colligitur." Charles O'Conor of Bela- □agare, and all the writers on Irish topo- graphy, down to the year 1833, had assumed that Dun Sobhairce was the old name of Carrickfergus, but the editor proved, in an article in the Dublin Penny Journal, p. 361-363, May 11th, 1833, that it is the place now called Diuiseve - rick. v Uisneach See note ?, p. 6, supra. w Ruth Line. — This rath, which was otherwise called Rath mor Maighe Line, is still in existence in the plain of Magh Line (Moylinny), Lower Massareene, Antrim. See it referred to in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 680, and in the An- nals of Connaught, at 1315. * Araidhe, i. e. of Dal Araidhe, a large region in the east of Ulster, extending from Newry, in the south of the county of Down, to Sliabh Mis (Slemmish), in the barony of Lower Antrim, in the comity of Antrim. Magh Line, above described, is a portion of Dal Araidhe. It extended from Lough Neagh to near Carrickfergus. >' Linn Saileach, i. e. the pond of the sal- 24 ^eapct ct^uf buaolia copcao peipi pop peoil caipb Daipi mic t)aipi oono-jatpb ; Ueachc imp ITIapca a TTIaj Choba do pi j Ulao62 m h-aoa ; uipci 60 o'ol — oopaib be, Merino icip oa ooipche. Gca punb ploinoceap co ceanb62 00 chuic pijaib na h-6peano, im pij Uearhpa cuchc ica a n-aoa 'pa n-upjapca. Ni 0I15 cuaipc cuicib co ceano62 na ollarhnachc na h-Gpeanb cacha pipi puaill nach an pili laip nach pajbaijcheap0*. ITIab peapp lib pe64 limb la beanao65 uili aen eimna, beanaib bepeapc ap t)ia n-bil lp leop o'aoa[ib] each aen pip. Q pip. lows. This place is unknown to the edi- tor. * Daire-mic-Daire, i. e. roboretum filii Darii. This name would be anglicized Derrymacdeny or Derryvicdary, but the editor is not acquainted with any place of the name. a Uisce Bo Neimhidh, i. e. the water of the cow of Neimhidh. This name would be anglicized Uskabonevy, but there is no stream, well, or locality in Ulster at pre- sent bearing the name, and the editor has Rfogh Gijiecmn. 25 To celebrate the feast of the flesh of the bull Of Daire-inic-Daire1, the brown and rough ; To go in the month of March to Magh Cobha To the king of Uladh is not lucky ; To drink of the water, whence strife ensues, Of Bo Neimhidh1 between two darknesses. Here are, let them be proclaimed boldly, To the five kings of Eire, With the king of Teamhair, through all time, Their prerogatives and prohibitions. He is not entitled boldly to make the visitation of a province, Nor to the ollamh-ship of Eire, Nor to what he asks, be it ever so trifling, The poet to whom they are unknown. If ye wish for a life of many days, Make ye all one will, Hold charity for the sake of the good God, Which is prerogative sufficient for every man. O manb, &c. never met any authority to show where in so closely written that it would not be Ulster it was situated. always easy to distinguish the end of one b O man, Q pip. — A part of the first poem from the beginning of another, with- liue is usually repeated at the end of every out some notice of this kind. It also serves separate poem. One reason evidently is to as an indication that the particular piece prevent mistake, as the vellum MSS. are is concluded. ceabhQR Na 5-ceaRU. ceabbaR Na 5-ceaRr. i._ t)ci^heat)h rci^h chaisit. [INCipiC oa £eabup na c-Ceapc moipceap oo cipaib -| cua- papclaib Gpeann ariiail po opbai^ 6enean mac Sepcnen pailm-cec- laio phuopuij, ariiail ac peb £ebap ^linne t)a taca.] X)o olijeaoaib chipc Chaipil, -| oia chfpaib, -| oia chdnaib, mo -| app, ano po pip, -| oo chuapapcalaib pij TTluman -| pij h-Gpino ap- cheana, 6 pij Caipil, in can oa pallna plaichip ino. Caipil Don caipil1 .1. clocli Fopp a puipmibip geill, no cfp ail 1 app an ail chipa 00 bepchea 6 peapaib Gpino 06. Sio-opuim Ono ba peao a amm an maib pin ppiup. t)o pdla bin oa mucaio 1 n-aimpip Chuipc meic 6uijoeach ic cacnai^i na culcha pin, ppf pe pdichi ic meappao a muc dp ba bpuim piobaioi h-e2. 6abap h-e a n-anmanoa na mucaioi .1. Oupopii, mucaio pij h-Gle, -| Culapdn, mucaio pij Hlupcpaibi. Co cappap boib oealb pa glomichip3 gpein, 1 juch binoichip meano chpoc a Cis ail, i. e. tribute rent. This deri- c Core, the son ofLughaidh — The date vation is also given in Cormac's Glossary. of his death is not given in the authentic The term Caiseal, which is the name of Irish annals, but we may form a pretty many places in Ireland, as well as of the correct idea of his period from the fait that ancient metropolis of Minister, denotes a cir- his grandson, Aengus mac Nadfraech, was cular stone fort ; and there can be little doubt slain in the year 489. that Core, king of Minister, erected a fort '' Ele — At this period the territory of of this description on the rock, when he Jik- comprised, besides the country after- changed its name from Sidh-dhruim to wards called Ely O'Carroll in the King's Caiseal. County, the present baronies of Eliogarty " Sklh dhruim, 1. e. fairy hill. and Ikerrin, in the county of Tipperary. THE BOOK OF RIGHTS. I.— THE PRIVILEGES OF THE KING OF CAISEAL. The Book of Rights which treats of the tributes and stipends of Eire (Ireland) as Benean, son of Sescnean, the psalmist of Patrick, ordained, as the Book of Gleann-Da-Loch relates. Here follows concerning the laws of the right of Caiseal (Cashel), and of the tributes and rents given to it and by it, and of the sti- pends given to the kings of Mumha (Minister), and the other kings of Eire, by the king of Caiseal, when it is the seat of the monarchy. Caiseal [is derived] from cais-il, i. e. a stone on which they used to lay down pledges, or cis-ail*, i. e. payment of tribute, from the tribute given to it by the men of Eire. Sidh-dhruimb was the name of the place at first. It happened in the time of Corcc, the son of Lnghaidh, that two swine-herds frequented that hill for the space of a quarter of a year to feed their swine on acorns, for it was a woody hill. The names of those swine-herds were Durdru, the swine-herd of the king of Eled, and Cularan, the swine-herd of the king of Muscraidhee ; and there eMuscraidhe(T/iire). — This was the an- 151, 4C1, and the Feilire Aenguis, Jan. dent name of the district now comprised 5, and Oct. 27. It is stated in a letter in the baronies of Upper and Lower Or- written by Sir Charles O'Carroll to the mond, in the north of the county of Tippe- Lord Deputy, in 1585 (and now pre- rary. The church Gill Cheire (Kilkeary, served in the Lambeth Library, Carew near the town of Nenagh), and Leatracha, Collection, No. G08, fol. 15), that the name (Latteragh, about eight miles south of the Lower Ormond was then lately imposed same town), are mentioned as hi this tor- upon " Muskry-heery," by the usurpation ritory. See Colgan's Acta Sanctorum, pp. of the then Earl of Ormond. 30 teabhaji laip ic beanoochao na culcha -| in Baili ic caippnjipi pdcpaic -| ap bepc : Po, po, po, peap pallnapcaip4 Caipil, Copp cemeanbach i n-anmaim an Qpb-Qchap5, Sceo TTIeic na h-lnjine, La pach Spipuc Maeiii ; Gppuc6 maipeach, mop, maich, 6dp beacha co m-bpeidieamnap, Cinpap Cpinb dpo ainglig Xy aep each uipb co n-ilgpdbaib, Ca pojnurh Cpipcchairh. lp h-i cpd belb bae ano pin .1. Uiccop ainj^el [pdcpaic] ic caip- cheabul pdopaic -j opbain -\ aipeochaip Gpinb bo Beich 00 jpeap ip in baili pin. Cib pil ann bin ace ip ceano-popc7 bo phdbpaic -| ip ppim-chachaip 00 pi£ h-Gpinb in baili pin. Qcup ole^ap cip -| pojnum peap n-Gpeanb 00 pij in baili pin bo £peap9 .1. bo pij Caipil cpe beanbac- cain pdbpaic mic Qlplaino. Qxe anb po, imoppo, cuapipda na pij 6 pi£ Caipil mu6 pij h-Gpinb h-e -\ a chuaipc-peom 1 a biaca-pom poppa bia chmb .1. Ceac copn 1 ceac claioeam -| ceac n-each -| ceac n-inap uao bo pij Cpuachna 1 biachab bd pdidn 6 pij Cpuachan bo-pom 1 a 6ul laip a Uip Chonaill. Pichi pdlach -\ picbi pichchell -| pichi each bo pi£ ceneoil Co- naill 1 biadiab mip 6 chenel Conaill 06-pom -| ceacc laip 1 Uip n-Gojain. Caeca copn 1 caeca claioeb 1 caeca each bo pij G1I15 -| bia- chao mip uabu bo-pom -| coijeacc9 laip a Uulai£ n-Og. Upicha copn -| epicha claibeB q epicha each bo plaidi Uhulcha f There appeared to them a figure, Sfc. Victor was the name of St. Patrick's guar- This story is also given by Keating in dian angel. But Dr. Lanigan asserts that his History of Ireland. " there is no foundation for what we read S The angel Victor According to the in some of his Lives concerning his being Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, published by often favoured with the converse of an an- Colgan, lib. i. c. 19, and Jocelin, c. 19, gel Victor," &c. Eccles. Hist, vol. i. p. 144. net 5-Cecqic. 31 appeared unto them a figure*", brighter than the sun, with a voice sweeter than the angular harp, blessing the hill and the place, [and] predicting [the arrival of St.] Patrick, and it said: Good, good, good the man who shall rule Caiseal, Walking righteously in the name of the Great Father, And of the Son of the Virgin, With the grace of the Holy Spirit ; A comely, great, good Bishop, Child of life unto judgment, He shall fill noble angelic Eire With people of each order of various grades, To serve Christ the benign. The figure which appeared there was Victor^, the angel of Patrick, prophesying [the coming of] Patrick, and that the grandeur and supre- macy of Eire would be perpetually in that place. Accordingly that town is a metropolis to Patrick, and a chief city of the king of Eire. And the tribute and service of the men of Eire are always due to the king of that place, i. e. the king of Caiseal, through the blessing of Patrick11, the son of Alplainn. Now here are the stipends of the kings from the king of Caiseal, if he be king [monarch] of Eire, and his visitation and refection among them on that account, i. e. One hundred drinking-horns, one hundred swords, one hundred steeds, and one hundred tunics [are given] from him to the king of Cruachan ; and refection from the king of Cruachan to him for two quarters of a year, and to accompany him into Tir-Chonaill. Twenty rings, twenty chess-boards, and twenty steeds to the king of Cineal Conaill, and a month's refection from the Cineal Conaill to him, and to escort him into Tir-Eoghain. Fifty drinking-horns, fifty swords, and fifty steeds to the king of Aileach, and a month's refection from him to him, and to escort him to Tulach Og. Thirty drinking-horns, thirty swords, and thirty steeds to the lord h Through the blessing of Patrick, the son of Calforn. In St. Patrick's Confcssio, son of Alplainn He is moi-e usually called he says that his father was Calpomius, a 32 Ceabliaji Og -] biachao od chpdch oeag laip -| a cheachc10 laip a n-Oipgiall- aib. Ochc Unpeacha 1 peapcac inap -| peapcac each do pig Gipgiall -; a biachao pe mip a n-Grhain 1 a choimiceachc in n-Llllcaib. Ceao copnn -| ceac macal -| ceac claioeb -\ ceac n-each -| ceac long11 00 pig Ulao, biacao mip12 bo-pom a h-Ullcaib, -| Ulaib laip co Ueamaip. Upicha luipeach 1 cpicha pdlach -| ceac n-each -| cpicha pich- chell 00 pig Ueampach -| biachao mip 1 Ueampaig patp -\ ceicheopa pine Uheampach laip co h-Qch Cliach. [Dec mna 1] oeich n-eich -\ oeich longa 00 pig Qca Cliach -\ biacao mip 6 pig Qca Cliach 06-pom 1 a chaemcheachc ll-Caigmb. Cpicha long 1 cpicha each 1 cpicha curiial -\ cpicha bo 00 pig Caigean -\ biachao od mip 6 Caignib 06-pom .1. mi 6 faigin cuach- gabaip 1 mi 6 £aigm beap-gabaip. Upicha each 1 cpichu luipeach -] ceacpocao claioeb. lciao pin a cuapipcla -\ a comaioeachca conio ooib-pioe14 ao peo in c-ugoap buaoa .1. 6enen mac Sepcnein : tDligeao each pig 6 pig Caipil, bio ceipe ap bdpbaib co bpach, po gebchap 1 caeib na Uaibean ac puaio na n-^aeibel co gndch. Ceo copn, ceac claioeam a Caipil, ceac n-each, ceac n-map pia aip, deacon. Seethe remarks on this passage laureate of all Ireland. It is described in in the Introduction. Cormac's Glossary. < The Four Tribes of Tara ; see the ' A hundred drinking-horns, or goblets. Battle of Magh Rath, \). 9,where those tribes — O'Brien derives the word Copn from are mentioned, viz., the families of O'h-Airt; copn, a horn, Latin cornu, ai O'Ceallaigh, of Breagh ; O'Conghaile ; and that drinking cups were anciently of horn. O'Riagain. '" A hundred swords The word J Laighin Tuath-ghabhair All that claioeam, or doibeam, is evidently part north of Bealach Gabhrain, the road cognate with the Latin gladius. It is re- of Gabhran. markable that Giraldus Cambrensis ( Topo- k Along with the Taeidhean Taeidhean, graphia Hibernia Distinct, iii. c. x. makes or tuighean, was the name of the orna- no mention of the sword among the mili - mented mantle worn by the chief poet or tary weapons used by the Irish in his time. na g-Ceajir. 3.S Tuiach Og, [who gives him] refection for twelve, days and escort? him to the Oirghialla. Eight coats of mail, sixty tunics, and sixty steeds to the king of the Oirghialla, [by whom] he is entertained for a month at Eamhain and escorted to the Ulstermen. A hundred drinking-horns, a hundred matals, a hundred swords, a hundred steeds, and a hundred ships to the king of Uladh, and the Ulstermen give him a month's refection and escort him to Teamhair (Tara). Thirty coats of mail, thirty rings, a hundred steeds, and thirty chess-boards to the king of Teamhair; and he receives a month's refec- tion at Teamhair, and the four tribes of Teamhair1 escort him to Ath Cliath (Dublin). Ten women, ten steeds, ten ships to the king of Ath Cliath, and a month's refection [is allowed] to him from the king of Ath Cliath, who accompanies him to the Leinstermen. Thirty ships, thirty steeds, thirty cumhals (bondmaids), and thirty cows to the king of Laighin, and two months' refection from the Leinstermen to him, i. e. a month's from northern Laighini and a month's from southern Laighin; [to whom he presents] thirty steeds, thirty coats of mail, and forty swords. Such are his stipends and escorts, of which the gifted author Benean the son of Sescnean said : THE EIGHT of each king from the king of Caiseal, Shall be question to bards for ever : It shall be found along with the Taeidheank With the chief poet of the Gaeidhil constantly. A hundred drinking-horns,1 a hundred swords™ from Caiseal, A hundred steeds, a hundred tunics" besides, The mention of the swords in this work, of the Irish from the Scythians, as among the weapons presented by the n Tunics, map. This word is trans- kings to their chieftains, shows the inac- lated "cloaks" by MacCurtin, in his Brief curacy of Cambrensis. Spenser considers Discourse in Vindication of the Antiquity that the Irish always had "their broad of Ireland, p. 173; but in a MS. in the nwordes," and he adduces them as an evi- Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 2, deuce of his favourite theory, the descent 13, it is used to translate the Latin tunica. 34 Ceabhap ap a eip, co ceilip, ruachail, Do'n pij jeibip Cpuacham caip. 6iacha6 bd pdichi on pij pin bo chupaib TTIurhan ap mil, oul leip pi cpeap a (b)-Uip Conaill, co pij eapa m-(6)o6oipnn mip. 12i5 Conoacc la cupaib Caipil co caraib 6edpnaip, — nl bpej; pi Conaill co clanbaib 605am capao bo'n oeopaio lap ceic. Pichi palach, pici pichchill, pichi each co po 6ap-puaib bo'n P15 bo nap beapbap bo^ains'5, bo P15 bedpnaip Conaill chpuaio. 6iacha6 mip 6 riiaichib Conaill bo chvnceao muriian a maip5, acup bia pi5 — nt bli516 beolai5, pia n-oul a (b)-Cip n-6o5am n-dipb. Caeca copnn lp caeca claioeb, caeca each jlepca co gndcli b' pip paich 6 t)(h)oipib na n-bai^-rheap, bo plaich O1I15 ainceap each. 0 Cruachan (Rathcroghan, near Balena- aim, called Assaroe, and sometimes the Sal gare, Roscommon), where the ruins of se- mon Leap. It is on the River Erne, at the veral forts and other monuments are still town of Ballyshannon. to be seen. This was the ancient palace of r Bearnas, i. e. a gap in a mountain, now the kings of Connaught. See above, p. Barnismore, a remarkable gap in a motui- 20, n. '. tain situated about rive miles to the east of p Tir- Chonaili, i. e. the country of Co- the town of Donegal, nail. This was nearly co-extensive with the s Tribes of Eoghan, i.e. the families present county of Donegal. It derived its descended from Eoghan, the son of Niall name from Couall Gulban, the son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, seated in the present of the Nine Hostages. counties of Tyrone and Londonderry, and q The cataract of Badharn, i. e. the in the baronies of Raphoe and Inishowen, cataract Eas Aodha Ruaidh mic Badh- in the county of Donegal. na 5-Ceajic. 35 From his country, actively and prudently, To the king who obtains the pleasant Cruachan0. Entertainment for two quarters from that king- To the heroes of Mumha (Munster) for their valour, [And] to escort him with a force to Tir Chonaill1' To the king of the rapid cataract of Badharnq. The king of Connacht with the heroes of Caiseal [goeth] To the battalions of Bearnasr, — it is no falsehood ; The king of Conall goes with him As guide to the stranger to the tribes of Eoghans. Twenty rings', twenty chess-boards", Twenty steeds at the great Eas-ruaidhT To the king for whom no sorrow is fated, To the king of the gap of the hardy Conall"'. A month's refection from the chiefs of Conall In grief [is given] to the province of Mumha, And to their king — no gratuitous law, Before going into the noble Tir-Eoghainx. Fifty drinking-horns and fifty swords, Fifty steeds with the usual trappings To the man of prosperity of the Doiresy of goodly fruit, To the prince of Aileach who protects all. 1 Twenty rings Pichi palctij. Mac w Beornas Chonaill, i.e. Conall'sgap or Curtin translates this twenty gold rings, gapped mountain — See page 34, note '■. p_ 173. x Tir- Eoghain, i. e. Eoghan's country, u Twenty chess-boards. — pichi pic- now anglicized Tyrone, but the ancient Cill " Twenty pair of Tables." Mac Tir-Eoghain was more extensive than the Curt. The pirceall is described in Cor- present county. — See page 34, note s. mac's Glossary as quadrangular with straight y O Dhoiribh — Doire, Derry, London- spots of white and black, ip cerpacctip deny, formerly Doire Calgach, afterwards in pircell, ocup ic bipge a cire, Doire Choluim Chille. The plural name ocup pino ocup oub puippe. seems to allude to the oak woods there, so v Eas-ruaidh, i. e. cataracta Run, see often mentioned in the Lives of St. Colum page 34, note 1. Chille. D 2 36 Ceabhaji 6iacha6 mip oo vhac-platch ffluman, a mui^ lTlurhan, — ni paeb peach'0, o'pip cuiciD 6pannbuib jan beojuin, 6 chlanoaib Gojain nu n-each. Cpicha copnn -\ cpicha clameab, cepc cpicha puaib each oo'n poo, bo'n pip 'c-a m-bib17 bpumclao uaine, do plaich Uhulcha uaine O5. 6iacha6 oa chpach &euj co oeaola bo pi£ murir,an, mlbic baipb, 6 pi j Uhulcha O5, cean bea^uil no co cop co19 h-Garhain aipb. Ochc luipecha oo plaich Gip^iall a h-oipeachc Caipil ceac cpech oo1!! pip popp m-(b)ib ceapca cinab, peapcac map, peapcac each. &iachab mip a mullach Gamna 6 Gip^iallaib aca moip, 00 pi£ Caipil chaip o'n chuchcaip, oul laip a n-Lllcaib a n-oip. 1 The province of Branndubh, i. e. the province of Leinster, from Brann Dubh, one of its celebrated kings. It is here put for the king of Cashel's territory by a poetical license. See page 40, note r. a Green tumulus, opumclab uaine. This alludes to the hill on which the chief of Tulach Og used to inaugurate the Irish monarchs of the northern Ui Neill race. See Addenda to the Ui Fiachrach, note L, on the Inauguration of the Irish chiefs, pp. 425, 431, &c. b Tulach Op, i. e. the hill of the youths (Tullaghoge, corruptly pronounced Tully- hawk), a small village in the parish of Deserterenght, barony of Dungannon, Ty- rone. After the establishment of surnames in the tenth century, the chief family of this place took the surname of O'h-Again (O'Hagan). See last reference. c Eamhain This was the ancient palace of the kings of Ulster ; but after the year 332 it lay in a state of desertion, though occasionally referred to as the head residence of the Oirghialla, as in the present instance. d Coatsofmail, luipeacha The Irish word luipeach, (which is cognate with, if not derived from the Latin lorica), certainly signifies mail armour. e Uhtermen — Uladh was originally the name of the entire province of Ulster, but after the year 332 it was applied to that , net 5-Cecqir. 37 Refection of a month to the young princes of Mumha, From the plain of Mumha, — it is no false account, To the man of BranndubhV province without opposition, From the clans of Eoghan of steeds. Thirty drinking-horns and thirty swords, Thirty red steeds [fit] for the road, To the man who has the green tumulus3, To the chief of the green Tulach Ogh. Twelve days' refection nobly To the king of Mumha, the bards notice. From the king of Tulach Og, without separation Until he escorts him to the noble Eamhainc. Eight coats of maild to the prince of the Oirghialla From the host of Caiseal of the hundred preys To the man who has the chastisement of crimes, Sixty tunics, sixty steeds. A month's entertainment on the summit of Eamhain [is due] From the Oirghialla of the great ford To the king of pleasant Caiseal from the kitchen, [And] to escort him to the Ulstermene eastward. portion of the east of Ulster (Down and wards between them [i. e. the Clann-Colla] Antrim) bounded on the west by the Lower and the Clanna Rudhraighe, and the Clanna Bann and Lough Neagh, and by Gleanu Rudhraighe never returned across it from Righe, through which an artificial boundary that time to the present. On an old map was formed, now called the Danes' Cast. of Ulster the river of Newry is called Owen This boundary is distinctly referred to in Glanree fluvius. a manuscript in the Library of Trinity Col- O' Flaherty and others, who have written lege, Dublin, H. hi 18, p. 783, in the fol- on the history of Ireland in the Latin lan- lowing words : t)on cuob abup Do guage, have for the sake of distinction ^liono TCije 00 prjnecib copunn adopted UUdia to denote the.circumscribed (^leanna Ri;j;e o'n lubap anuap territory to the east, and Ultonia to denote eacoppa -| Clannaib l^ubpai^e -\ the entire province of Ulster. See O'Flaher- nip pilleuoctp clanna VJuopai^e ty'sOpy^ia, part III. c. 78, p. 372 ; Ussher's anon 6 pin a le, i.e. on the hither side Primordia, pp. 8 H>. 1048; O'Conor's Dis- of Gleann Righe, the boundary of Gleann aert p. 176, and Lan. EccL Hist. vol. ii. Righe t\a^ farmed from the Newry up- p. "28. 38 Ceabhcqi Ceo copn, ceac claioeb, ceac macal oo milij 6oipchi — nf baerh, ceac each, ace ip o'eachaib bonoa, acup beich lonja bo'n laech. &iacao Da aen riiip a h-Ullcaib o'uapal pi£ Caipil, o'n chill, blijib ac Uulaij caip Cheapnaij; Ulaib laip co Ceampaij cinb. Upicha luipeach bo laech Ceampach, cpica pdlach — lp pip pm, ceac n-each ni pcichaba pcich pei6m,p, la cpichaio pichcill ac pleio. 6iacha6 mfp a mullach Uheavhpach bo chpean-peapaib20 Caipil cpuinb; caibeacc21 laip pine ap a puipmim, pip Tllibi, co (Duiblinb n-ouinb. t)eich mna, beich lon^a co leapchaib 6 laech Caipil acup Cliach, f A hundred matals Ceac macal. Mac Curtin translates this " one hundred Mantles," p. 174. Matal was probably another name for the palainj which in latter ages was applied to the outer cover- ing or cloak ; but this is far from certain. Matal is applied in Leabhar Breac, fol. 64, 1), a, to the outer garment worn by the Ke- deemer. Giraldus Cambrensis describes the outer covering of the Irish in the twelfth century as follows, in his Topographia Hibernia, Dist. III. c. x. : " Caputiis modicis assueti sunt & arctis, trans humeros deorsum, cubito tenus pro- tensis : variisque colorum generibus panni- culorumque plerunque consutis : sub quibus phalingis laneis qunque palliorum vice utuntur, seu braccis caligatis, seu calligis braccatis, & his plerunque colore fucatis." Dr Lynch says that the falaing was the outside rug cloak. See Cambrensis Eversus, p. 104 ; but Ledwich asserts (Antiquities, second edit, p, 267) that " this it could not be, for Cambrensis describes it as worn under the hooded mantle." He als< i asserl s tbat the name falaing is not Irish, but that it is derived from the Saxon Folding, and that it came with the manufacture into this island ; but this is all gratuitous assertion. s Boirche. — A territory, now the ba- rony of Mourne, the mountains of which were called Beanna Boirche. This clearly appears from a notice of Boirche in the Dinn - seanchus, and also in the Annals of Tighear- net 5-Ceajic. 39 A hundred drinking-horns, a hundred swords, a hundred matalsf To the warrior of Boircheg — not foolish, A hundred steeds, but bay steeds, And ten ships'1 to the hero. Twice one month's refection from the Ultstermen To the noble king of Caiseal, from the church, Is due at the pleasant Tulach Chearnaigh1 ; The Ulstermen escort him to strong TeamhairJ. Thirty coats of mail to the hero of Teamhair, Thirty rings — that is true, A hundred steeds not wearied in a fatiguing service, With thirty chess-boards for a banquet. A month's refection on Teamhair's summit [Is due] to the mighty men of round Caiseal ; And the tribes come with him on his march, The men of Midhe (Meath), to the brown Duibh-linnk. Ten women, ten ships with beds From the hero of Caiseal and Cliach1, sach at the year 744, where it is stated ' Tulach Chearnaigh, i. e. Cearnach's that the sea had thrown ashore in the dis- hill, Tullycarney, in the county of Down, trict of Boirche a whale with three golden j Tara.— Ueamaip, the ancient pa- teeth; and Giraldus Cambrensis, in noticing iace 0f the nionarchs of Ireland till it was the same story, states, that this whale cursed by St. Ruadhan ofLothra, in the was found at " Carhnfordia in Ultotiia" reignof Diannaid, thesonof FearghusCeir- See his Topographia Hibernia, Dist. ii. c. bheoil, who died in the year 50.3, after 1 0. There is a moat near the source i which it became a ruin, but the Irish mo- the Upper Bann, still called moca bean- narchS) and Sljnietimes the kings of jI(,a||| net 6oipce. were carjed from it kings of Teamhair.— 11 Ten ships — The word long is in See Petrie's History and Antiquities of common use to denote a ship. AVe have yet Tara Hill, pp. 100-104. See p. 7, note \ no evidence to prove the size or construe- supra. don of the vessels here referred to. It is k Duibhlinn.—See p. 12, note e, supra. curious toremark, thatthe monarch bestows ' Cliach, a territory around Cnoc Aine in ships upon those princes only whose territo- the county of Limerick, introduced here to ties extended along the sea. fill up the metre. 40 CeabTiap oeich n-eicli a n-uaip blaca bldouij &o pij Gcha claoaij Cliuch. 6iacha6 mip 6 rhaichib Comaip2* do chi^eapna Caipil chaip, pf in ara bilcaij, nach baij-beip, bo chichcam a 6aijnib laip. Upicha long bo laechpaib 6iarhna, laiceap cpica oeaj each bo, blijib im na cpicha im Chapmon53 cpicha ban-mob, cpicha bo. &iachao oa Ian mfp 6 Ca\ jnib oo laech TTluvhan a lTluij TCach, cuib mfp a Hluij 6panouib bpojba 6 clanbaib Conbla peach each. Cpicha each, en cpicha luipeach bo laech ^abpan jloine-4 bach, nocho n-eachlacha po ploioeao24; ceachpaca claioeam i (j)-cach. Gc26 pin cuapipcla pij h-Gpino 6 pij murhan rholaib27 pip, 'p-a m-biachao 6"n luce pin uile, beapb pe each n-bume po blij'9. [Olijeao.] m Ath CHath. — The name for Dublin — place of this name in Leinster. See p. 12, note s, supra. r Magh Brann-duibh, i. e the plain of n Tomar's chieftains — See Introduction. Brann Dubh, king of Leinster, who resided 0 Liamhain This place was also called at Rath BrainnorDun Brainn, near Baltin- Dun Liamhna. It was an ancient seat of glas. See p. 36, note z, supra. the kings of Leinster, and still retains its « Connla. — He was the ancestor of Mac name under the anglicized form of Dunla- Giolla- Phadruig and his correlatives, who van, in the county of Wicklow. See the were seated in the ancient Os-raidhe (Os- Circuit of Muircheartach Mac Neill, p. 36. sory), extending from the Sliabh Bludhma p Carman This was the ancient name mountains to the meeting of the Three of the place where the town of Wexford Waters, and from the river Bearbha to now stands. See p. 15, note 1, supra. Magh Feimhin. See pp. 17, ', 18, b, supra. 1 Magh Rath, i. e. the plain of the raths l Gabhran —See p 17, notea, supra. By or forts. The Editor does not know any hero of Gabhran is here meant "the king na 5-Ceajic. 4 1 Ten steeds in their prime condition To the king of the entrenched Ath Cliath"". A month's refection from Tomar's chieftains" To the lord of pleasant Caiseal, The king of the bounteous ford, which is not unhealthy, [Is] to come to the Leinstermen with him. Thirty ships to the heroes of Liamhain0, Thirty good steeds are sent by him, There are due to the districts around Cannanp Thirty women-slaves, thirty cows. Two full months' refection from the Leinstermen To the hero of Mumha at Magh Kathq, A month's feasting at Magh Brannduibhr the fortified From the race of Connlas beyond all. Thirty steeds, thirty coats of mail To the hero of Gabhran1 of fair colour, It was not grooms that lashed them" ; Forty swords for battle. Such are the stipends of the kings of Eire From the king of Mumha whom men praise, And their refections from all the other parties, Which, as is certain to each person, are due. THE RIGHT. or chief lord of Ossory." serts, that the Irish did not use spurs, but " It was not grooms that lashed them, incited their horses \x\t\\ rods crooked at nocho n-ectchlacha po ploibeuo, the head. His words are: i. e. it was not grooms but chieftains who " Item sellis equitando non utuntur, non rode them. The meaning of ploioeao, ocreis, non calcaribus : virga tantum, quam which is explained jeappao, cutting, by manu gestant, in superiori parte camerata, O'Clerigh, must be here determined from tarn equos excitant, quam ad cursus invi- tlie kind of whip, goad, or spur, with which tant. Frenis quidem utuntur, tarn" chami the ancient Irish incited their horses. The quam freni vice fungentibus: quibus & writer of Cath Guana Tarbh states, that equi, semper herbis assueti ad pabula ne- the king of Leinster drove his horse with a quaquam impediuntur. Prasterea nudi & rod of jew, immediately before the battle of inermes ad bella procedunt. Habent enini ( .'hmtarf (A D 1014) ; and Giraldus Cam- arma pro onere. Inermes vero dimicare pro brensis, who wrote about the year 1185, as- audaciareputant." Top.Hib. Dist.iii.c. 10. 42 Leabhap C6GI2C Caipil acup pig Ccupil 6 chuachaib ap meuoon aim po [pip]. O m(h)upcpaioio cheaoamup cup na cana-pa .1. beich ($)-ceuo bo -] beich (5)-ceab cope anb pin 6 TTl(h)upcpai6ib. Ceo bo 1 ceac muc -\ ceac n-bam 6 Llaichnib ano pin. t)a ceac mole 1 c6ac cope -| ceac bo -| ceac leanb uame a h-Qpaib ino pin. Ceo bo 1 ceac bam 1 ceac cope 6 Chopco 6ai6i pin. Oeich (j)-ceac oarh -\ beich (£)-ceac bo 6 Chopco Duibne beop. Deich (5)-ceac bo-| oeich (5)-ceac cope co Chiappaioi fcuachpa. Deich29 (5)-ceac bo -\ beich (g)-ceac bam 6 Chopco 6aipcino. Tllili bo 1 mill oam -| mill peichi 1 mill bpac a 6oipinb. Ceb bo 1 ceac bam -| ceac cpdnab ap in [e]-Seachcmoo. Da mill cope -) mill bo 6 na t)epib. Noch ap oaipi cpd icaib na cipa pin, ace cap ceanb30 a (b)-cipi -) ap pufpi chipe [cineoil] Chaipil 1 ap a beanbochab 00 phabpaic amal ab peac 6enean: C6QTJU Chaipil, cen chpdb bia chupaio, po chaipij oam blijib; maich le pij ^abpdin in geajaip a pajbail '5-d Filij. O m(h)upcpaicib cean paiob n-eirhij, 00 Chaipil apo uaichib v Muscraidhe. — According to all the Irish O'Cuirc; 5, Muscraidhe Iarthair Feimhin, genealogical works, these were the descen- the country of O'Carthaigli; 6, Muscraidhe dants of Cairbre Muse, the son of Conaire Thire, the country of O'Donghaile and Mor, monarch of Ireland in the beginning O'Fuirg. O'Brien, in his Irish Dictionary, of the third century. See O'Flaherty's after enumerating the several Muscraidhes, Ogygia, part iii. c. 63. According to O'h- has the following remark : " It is referred lidhrin's topographical poem there were to the judicious reader if it be a likely story six Muscraidhes, all in Minister, namely, that one Cairbre Muse, supposed son of a 1, Muscraidhe Mitine, the country of king of Meath in the beginning of the O'Floinn ; 2, Muscraidhe Luachra, the third century, and of whose progeny no country of O'h-Aodha, along theAbhainn account has ever been given, should have Mhor (Black water) ; 3, Muscraidhe Tri given the name of Muscry to every one of Maighe, the country of O'Donnagain; 4, these territories, so widely distant from Muscraidhe Treitheirne, the country of each other in the provhice of Munster." na 5-Ceajic. 43 THE RIGHT of Caiseal and of the king of Caiseal from [his] ter- ritories generally, down here. With the Muscraidhe, in the first place, this tribute begins, i. e. ten hundred cows, and ten hundred hogs from the Muscraidhe. A hundred cows, and a hundred pigs, and a hundred oxen from the men of Uaithne. Two hundred wethers, and a hundred hogs, and a hundred cows, and a hundred green mantles from the men of Ara. A hundred cows, and a hundred oxen, and a hundred hogs from Corca Luighe. Ten hundred oxen and ten hundred cows from Corca Dhuibhne, also. Ten hundred cows and ten hundred hogs from Ciarraidhe Luachra. Ten hundred cows and ten hundred oxen from Corca Bhaiscinn. A thousand cows, and a thousand oxen, and a thousand rams, and a thousand cloaks from Boirinn. A hundred cows, and a hundred oxen, and a hundred sows from Seachtmhodh. Two thousand hogs and a thousand cows from the Deise. It is not for inferiority [of race] that they pay these tributes, but for their territories, and for the superiority of the right of Caiseal, and for its having been blessed by Patrick, as Benean sang : THE EIGHT of Caiseal, without grief to its heroes, It is my duty to record ; It is pleasing to the king of Gabhran the fierce To find it [acknowledged] by his poet. From the Muscraidhev without knotty falsehood, To noble Caiseal from them [are due] On these words it is necessary to remark, any authority), and of O'Floinn and others, that there is as much authority from Irish his descendants, we should with equal rea- history for the existence of Cairbre Muse, son reject every other fact belonging to as there is for any other fact belonging to this period stated by those genealogists, the same period; and that if we reject the See Battle of Magh Rath, p. 340. For account handed down of him and his father, the account handed down by the Irish ge- who was full monarch of Ireland (not king aealogists of Cairbre Muse, giving name to f Meath, as O'Brien makes him, without those territories, O'Brien substitutes an ety- 44 Leablicqi mill bo, — pin pope a (m)-bpacaip, mfli cope 6 chuachaib. Ceo bo pop cnuc ppi h-am n-aipceap3', ceac muc chall oia (o)-caipcio, ceac n-oam bo'n c-[p]luaj aicpeib coipcib 6 Uaichnib a n-aipci6. Da ceac mole o'n oaim ao beapaio32, ceao cope, in chain chanaiD33, mological conjecture of his own, namely, that, it is likely that Muscraidhe is derived from mus, pleasant, and crioch, a country ; but this is beneath criticism, as it is an un- doubted fact that the termination (which is a patronymic one, somewhat like idjjc in Greek) is raidhe, not craighe, as we learn from tribe-names similarly formed, as Cal- raidhe, Caen-raidhe, Ciur-raidhe, Greag- raidhe, Os-^raidhe, Trad-raidhe. This being the case, we see that the root is m use, and that O'Brien's etymology is visionary. Dr. Lanigan, who, because he corrected proofs for Vallancey, was imbued with the rage for etymological delirium which was commenced by the British etymolo- gists, and was taken up by O'Brien, and brought to its acme by Vallancey, approves of this silly etymological guess of O'Brien's, as highly probably, and writes as follows : " There were several tracts in Minister named Muscrighe, so called, says Colgan, (Tr Th. p. 186) from a prince Muse, son of King Conor [recte Conaire] the great. O'Brien, with much greater appearance of truth, derives that name from mus, plea- sant, and crioch, country." The delusion will, it is hoped, stop here, and will never be supported by a third authority worth naming. 1. The extent of Muscraidhe Mitaine, or, as it was called after the establishment of surnames, Muscraidhe Ui Fhloinn, is now preserved in the deanery of " Musgry- lin," which comprises, according to the Liber RegaJis Visitutiunis, fifteen parishes in the north-west of the county of Cork. 2. Muscraidhe Luachra was the ancient name of the district in which the Abhainn Mhor (Blackwater) has its source ; it was so called from its contiguity to the moun- tains of Sliabh Luachra (in Kerry). — O'Brien says that Muiscrith Luachra was the old name of the tract of land which lies between Kilmallock, Kilfman, and Ard- patrick, in the county of Limerick ; but for this he quotes no authority, and it is against every authority, for we know from O'h-Uidhrin that the tribe of Muscraidhe Luachra were seated about the Abhainn Mhor (im abainn moip mai^pic;), but the position given them by O'Brien would leave them many miles from that river, as well as from Sliabh Luachra, from which they derived their distinguish- ing appellative. 3. Muscraidhe Tri Maighe, i. e. Muscraidhe of the three plains, which belonged to O'Donnagain, was not the ba- rony of Orrery, as O'Brien asserts, for Orrery is the anglicized form of Orbli- raidhe, of which presently, and we have proof positive that " Muskerry-Donegan," na 5-Cecqic. 45 A thousand cows. — it is the seat of their relative" A thousand hos;s from their territories. A hundred cows on the hill at time of calving. A hundred pigs within to be stored, A hundred oxen to the resident host are ord<j From the men of Uaithne" freely. Two hundred wethers from the host I will say, A hundred hogs, the tribute they exact, red which was granted by King John (see Charter 9°. ann. Reg.) to William de Bam', is included in the present barony of Barry- more. Thus O'Brien's wild conjectures, which he put as if they were absolute de- monstrated truths, vanish before the light of records and etymology. 4 and 5. The territories of Muscraidhe Breoghain, orMus- craidhe Ui Chuirc, and Muscraidhe of the west of Feimhin, are now included in the barony of Clan william, in the south-west of the county of Tipperary, as appears from Keating, who places in Muscraidhe Chuirc CHI Beacain (Kilpeacon) in the barony of Clanwilliam ; from the Book of Lismore, fol. 47, b, b ; the Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick, Lib. iii. cap. 32, which places in Muscraidhe Breoghain the church of Cill Fiacla (Kilfeakle), in the barony of Clan- william, about four miles and a half to the north-east of the town of Tipperary ; and this is more particularly evident from the Ormond records, in which this territory is particularly denned. See grant of Edward III. to the Earl of Ormond. 6. Muscraidhe Thire includes the present baronies of Up- per and Lower Ormond, in the county of Tipperary, as we can infer from the places mentioned as in it, such as Cill Ceri (Kil- keare parish in Upper Ormond), and Leit- reacha Odhrain (Latteragh, in the barony of LTpper Ormond), about eight miles to the south of Nenagh. See Felire Aenpuis, at 27th October and 5th January, and Colgan's Acta Sanctorum, pp. 151, 401. The extent of this territory is defined by Sir Charles O'Carroll, in a letter to the Lord Deputy in 1595, in which he calls it " Muscryhyry," and states that the earl lately called it by the false name of Lower Ormond, a name which it had never borne before, inasmuch as it was always consi- dered a part of " Thomond." w Relative. — The Muscraidhe descend from Saraidh, the daughter of Conn of the Hundred Battles; and the kings of Cashel of both houses, of Eoghanacht and DalCais, from Sadhbh her sister, who was married to Oilioll Olum, king of Minister. x Uaithne, i. e. Uaithne Cliach and Uaithna Tire. The former now the barony of " Ow- neybeg," in the county of Limerick, and the latter the barony of " Owney," adjoin- ing it, in the county of Tipperary. After the establishment of surnames the fami- lies of Mac Ceoach (Mac Keoghs), and O'Loingsigh were dominant in Uaithne Tire, and those of O'h-Iffernain (Hef- femans), and O'Cathalain (Cahallans), in Uaithne Cliach, afterwards dispossessed by the Leinster family of O'Maoilriain (O'Mul- rians), of the race of Cathaoir Mor. u Leabhcqi ceo bo bo cheanb buaili ac bpujaio, ceac leano n-uaine a h-Gpaib. O Chopco Caiji co laechaib ceac bo ac caible34 lp ruachail, peapcac cam n-oono — nocho oichaio, cear cope cpom 6 chuachaib. mill oarh — lp i in bpeach beapma, nip ic3i cpeach pe-m'36 cuirhni, mill bo, ni map37 bu baiobi, oo bpu tDaipbpi O t)uibni. > The farmer's dairy.^-Qne hundred cows which have enriched the buaile of the brughaidh. As to buaile, "booley,"see Spencer's View of the State of Ireland, p. 51. z From the men of Ara, i.e. Ara-Tire, now the barony of " Ara," or " Duhara," in the north-west of the county of Tip- perary, and Ara Cliach, a territory in the west of the county of Limerick. Ac- cording to the Irish genealogists, the peo- ple of Ara are of the Rudrician race, ami descended from Feartlachta, the son of Fearghus, king of the province of Ulster, in the first century See O'Fla. Ogygia, part iii. cap. 46 Ara-Tire is the present baron}' of "Ara," in the north-west of the county of Tipperary ; but the name of the territory of Ara Cliach is not preserved in that of any barony, but we know from the oldest Lives of St Patrick, and various other authorities, that it adjoined the ter- ritory of Ui Fidhginte on the east side, and that it comprised the parish of Kilteely and all the barony of Ui Cuanach, " Coo- nagh," in the east of the county of Lime- rick, and the hill of Cnoc Aine, anglice Knockany, in the barony of "Small Coun- ty," in the same county. It appears from a tract in Leabhar na h-Uidhri, fol. 83, that the territory of Ara was divided from that of Ui Fidhginte by the River Samhair, which appears from various rea- sons to be the " Morning Star." In the course of time the people, originally called by the name Ara, were driven out or sup- pressed by the dominant race of Oilioll Olum, and a tribe of the race of Eoghan, son of this Oilioll, gave it the name of Eoghanacht Aine Cliach, of whom, after the establishment of surnames, O'Ciar- mhaic (now barbarized to " Kirby"), was the chief. — See O'h-Uidhrin's topographi- cal poem, and O'Flaherty's Ogygia, part iii. cap. G7. a Corca Luigke, i. e. the race of Lugh- aidh, one of the tribe-names of the family of O'Eidirsceoill (O'Driscolls), and their correlatives, who were otherwise called Darfhine. It appears from a curious tract on the tribes, districts, and history of this territory, preserved in the Book of Lea- can, fol. 122, that before the families of O'Donnobhain, O'Maghthamhna, O'Suil- leabhain, and others, were driven into this territory after the English invasion, it comprised the entire of the diocese of "Ross." This too, we may presume, was na 5-Ceapr. 47 A hundred cows that enriched the farmer's dairy?, A hundred green mantles from the men of Araz. From Corca Luighea of heroes A hundred cows frisking and skipping, Sixty brown oxenb — not a small number, A hundred heavy hogs from the chieftainries. A thousand oxen — it is the judgment I pass, They required not to be distrained0 in my memory. A thousand cows, not like cows of ravensd, From the brink of Dairbhre O'Duibhne*. its extent when this poem was written. In latter ages, however, " O'DriscoU's coun- try" of Corca Luighe was narrowed to a very inconsiderable territory, in consequence of the encroachments of" O'Mahony, O'Do- novan, and O'Sullivan Beare ;" and in the year 1G15 it was defined as containing oidy the following parishes in the barony of Car- bery, viz. " Myross, Glanbarahane, (Cas- tlehaven) Tullagh, Creagh, Kilcoe, Agha- down, and Cleare Island." The tract in the Book of Leacan is well worth publishing, as throwing much light on the ancient to- pography of the south of Ireland. b Sixty brown (dun) oxen — A hundred in the prose. See page 43. c Distrained, nip IC cpectc It is not necessary to levy by force; — or, I remem- ber not when levied by force. d Cows of ravens, i. e. lean, dying cows, such as the ravens watch and perch on. •' Dairbhre O'Duibhne This, which is the name of the island of " Valencia," in the west of Kerry, is here put for Cor- ca Dhuibhne, a large territory in Kerry, belonging to the families of O'Failbhe (O'Falvys),; O'Seagha (O'Sheas), and 1 >'< !onghaile (O'Coimells). Shortly ante- rior to the English invasion, O'Falvy pos- sessed the barony of " Corcaguiny," O'Shea that of " Iveragh," and O'Connell that of " Magunihy ;" but about the middle of the eleventh century the Ui Donchadha (O'Do- noghoes) settled in Magunihy, and drove the O'Coimells westwards into Iveragh, where they were seated at Bally carbery, near Ca- hersiveen. After the English invasion, about A. D. 1192, the families of O'Suilleabhain (O'Sullivans), and Mac Carthaigh (Mac Carthys), who had been previously seated in the great plain of Minister, as will be pre- sently shown, were driven by the English into Kerry, and then those baronies were seized upon by the Mac Carthys and O'Sullivans, who reduced the families of the race of Conaire Mor to obscurity, in- somuch that the old "Annals of Innis- fallen," the chronicle of the district, does not even once mention any of them ex- cept O'Falvy, who, being chief of all this race, retained a considerable territory till finally overwhelmed by the increasing pow- er of the Mac Carthys and O'Sullivans, as well as of the Fitzgeralds, Ferriters, Husseys, Trants, and other Anglo-Irish families, who settled at an early period in his territory of Corca Dhuibhne, and -nere 48 Leabhaji O Cfiiappaioib claip nci claioeurh oeich (5)-ceac bo in38 cam cuman, beich (£)-ceac cope uaichib cean anuow, a40 6uachaip na lubnip. O 6(h)aifcniB oa ceac bo ap baechaip o'd pach cpo cap cpichaib Oo'n pij po chap Oine ouchaij, mill bam, ni oicliaij. mill bam, mill bo beanaim, oo'n oun lap 16 llloijim41 mill peich, ap42 n-a n-ac43 o'olaino, mill bpac a 6oipino. Sloino cam Seachrmaiji na pinoach44, ni opeachcaioi45 opeanoach; ceac epem46, nochap chpo cean cheanoach, ceac n-barin, ceac bo beanoach. t)a mill cope lap n-a (o)-coja cup in cnoc map cheapa, mill bo na n-t)epi ; bana 6 t)(h)epib ci ao beapa? supported against him by the Earls of S Baiscinn This was the namn of a Desmond, who resided principally at Tra- very celebrated tribe, giving their name to lee. a territory in the south-west of the county ' Ciurraidhe, i.e. the race of Ciar, son of of Clare, of which Leim Chonchulainn Fearghus, king of Ulster, by Meadhbh, queen (Loophead) forms the western extremity, of Connacht in the first century. The prin - They were the descendants of Cairbre Bas- cipal family of this race took the surname chaoin, or Cairbre of the Smooth Palm, of O'Conchobhair (OConor). His country, the brother of Cairbre Muse, already men- which is often called Ciarraidhe Luaehra, tioned. This territory originally comprised from the mountain of Sliabh Luachra, ex- the baronies of " Clonderalaw," " Moy- tended from the harbour of Tralee to the arta," and " Ibrickan," in the county of mouth of the Shannon, and from Sliabh Clare ; but, after the expulsion of the Mac Luachra to Tarbert. From this territory Gormans from Leinster, shortly after the the county of Kerry has received its name. English invasion, they were settled by The Ciarraidhe were also called the race of O'Brien in the north of Corca Bhaiscinn, Feoma Floinn. See note further on. adjoining Corcomroe. After the establish- na 5-Cecqic. 49 From the Ciarraidhef of the plain of swords Ten hundred cows is the tribute I remember, Ten hundred hogs from them without delay, From Luachair of the lepers. From the men of BaiscinnS two hundred lowing cows As increase of stock [paid] for their territories To the king who loved his own tribe, A thousand oxen, not calves. A thousand oxen, a thousand cows I exact, For the palace in a day I ordain A thousand rams, swelled out with wool, A thousand cloaks from Boirinn\ Name the tribute of the men of Seachtmhadh"1 of the foxes, Not a quarrelsome host, — A hundred sows, no unpurchased property, A hundred oxen, a hundred horned cows. Two thousand chosen hogs To the hill [Caiseal] as tribute [are given], A thousand cows, from the Deisek ; A fine for distraining from the Deise who can mention ? ment of surnames, in the eleventh century, that of O'Lochlainn (anglice, O'Loughliu the chiefs of this territory took the surname or O'Loghlen). It is strange that Corcom - of O'Domhnaill (O'Donnell), and O'Bais- ruadh is omitted here, though given in the cinn ; but, on the increasing of the popula- next poem. tion and power of the Dal Chais, the family ' Seachtmhadh This territory is not of Mac Mathghamhna (Mac Mahon) be- mentioned by O'h-Uidhrin. Dr. O'Brien, in came chiefs of this territory (which in lat- his Dissertations on the Laws of the ancient ter ages comprised only the baronies of Irish, Vail. Collect, vol. i. p. 383, thinks Clonderalaw and Moyarta), and reduced that it was the barony of Iveragh, in the the race of the monarch Conaire Mor to county of Kerry ; but this coidd not be so, comparative insignificance. as that barony is mentioned under the name 11 Boirinn, i. e., a rocky district, Bur- of Dairbhre. It -was in the county of Tip- ren, a barony in the north of the county perary, adjoining Ara. of Clare. The chief of this territory is of k Deise, called Nandesi (na n.Desi) in the same race as " O'Conor Kerry," and, the Life of St. Carthach — See Ussher's Pri- after the establishment of surnames, took mordia, pp. 781, 865. These were de- E 50 Ceabhap Cip pm cap ceanb dpi, ap copaij, paipi in (c)i po leapai j47, nt ap oaipi na n-bcmi bian tDepij, ace paipi chldip Chaipil. Qn cip [p]m murhan, co mapcaib, co pia bunab beccai£, pdopaic, in puipe op na popcaib, a pe Chuipc po cheapcaij [C6C112C CQ.] IS iat)-SO beop cecupca 6enen meic Sepcnean pailm-cheac- laij49 pdbpaic: i oo Chianoacca ^leanoa ^evhin oo pil Uaibc meic Cen a TTlurhain49 maip bo .1. cop ab ceano coicceann caich corhapba Caipil, peib ipeao corhapba pdopaic; -| in can net ba pi£ Gpino50pij Caipil, ipeao ap bip51 06 popldvhup pop leich Cpinb ,1. 6 Chij n-t)uino lap n-Gpinb co h-Qch Cliach Gaijean. t)flep cuapipcail 1 corh- aioeachca pij Caipil 00 gpeap .1. pil 6pepail 6pic .1. Oppaibi. 'Oleajaio [Gaijean ap] baij aen luichi ceachc la bdi j pij Caipil 1 (j)-ceanb Chuinb no allrhapac. Olijeab bin52 6 ^(h)allaib Gtha Cliach, -| 6 oeopaoaib Gpinb scended from Fiacha Luighdhe, the elder took the surnames of O'Braic (Brick), and brother of Conn of the Hundred Battles, O'Faelain (Phelan). They were dispos- monarch of Ireland, and were originally sessed by the Powers and Butlers shortly seated in the present barony of " Deece," after the English invasion. Oeipe Cearhpac, to the south of Tara, ' Cianachta — This tribe were descended in Meath, but they were expelled from from Cian, son of Oilioll Olum. They gave Meath by the monarch Cormac mac Airt, name to the present barony of Keenaght, when they settled in Munster, and sub- in the county of Deny. After the esta- dued that part of the country extending blishment of surnames, the head of this from the River Suir to the sea, and from family took the surname of O'Conehobhair Lismore to Credanhead, the eastern ex- (O'Conor) of Gleann Gemhin, which was tremity of the present comity of Wa- the name of that part of the vale of the terford. In the fifth century, Aenghus, River Roa (Roe), near the village of Dun king of Munster, granted them the plain Gemhin (Dungiven). This family was of Magh Feimhin, lying between Cashel dispossessed by the family of O'Cathain and Clonmel, in the present county of Tip- (O'Kanes), before the English invasion, perary. See Keating, in the reign of Cor- and they are now all reduced to farmers mac mac Airt, and O'Flaherty's Ogygia, or cottiers. part iii. c. 69. After the establishment of m Comharba — This word is here used surnames the chief families of this race to denote heir or successor to property, na 5-Ceajic. 51 A tribute this for their territory, originally, Noble is he Avho ordained it, Not [on account] of ignobility in the vigorous hosts of the Deise, But of the nobleness of the plain of Caiseal. That is the tribute of Mumha, perpetual, Until the end of time shall come, Patrick, of this city over cities, In the time of Core adjusted it THE EIGHT. THESE ARE further the inculcations of Benean, son of Sescnean, the psalmist of Patrick. He was of the Cianachta1 of Gleann Gemhin, of the race of Tadhg, son of Cian of great Mumha (Munster), i. e. that the comharbam of Caiseal is a general head of all, inasmuch as he is the comharba of Patrick ; and when the king of Caiseal is not king of Eire, the government of the half of Eire is due to him, i. e. from Tigh Duinn11, in the west of Eire, to Ath Cliath (Dublin) of Leinster. The hereditary receivers of stipends and the attendants of the king of Caiseal are the race of Breasal Breac0, i. e. the Osraidhe. The Lein- stermen are bound to come to attend the king of Caiseal any day in battle, against Connp or aliens. The Gaill (foreigners) of Ath Cliath (Dublin )q, and the exiles in Eire which is the true meaning of it when it of this Breasal Breac, are descended the is not applied to the representatives of Osraidhe (i. e. the men of Ossory). See saints or founders of churches. p. 17, note a, supra. n Tigh Duinn, i. e. the house of Doim. P Against Conn, i. e. against the descen- This name is applied to three islands at dant of Conn of the Hundred Battles, who the mouth of the bay of Ceami Mara (Ken- were the dominant race in the northern mare), now called the Cow, Bull, and Calf. half of Ireland. Donn, the sonofMileadh (Milesius), is q The Gaill 'of Ath Cliath, i. e. the North- said to have been lost here when the Mile- men, Ostmen, &c, of Dublin. The first peo- sian colony from Spain attempted to land pie to whom the Irish applied the term were, on the coast of Kerry, and hence, his spirit a colony of Galli from the coast of France, having been believed to haunt the place who settled in Ireland, tempore Labhra where he was lost, the place received the Loingseach, A. M. 3682. See O'Fla. name of Tigh Duinn. See Keating's His- Ogygia, part iii. c. 139, p. 262 : and Keat- tory of Ireland (Haliday's edition), p. 292, ing, in the reign of Labhraidh. It after- and 0' Flaherty's Ogygia, part iii. e. 16. wards came to signify any invaders, but it ° Breasal Breac. — From Connla, the son was usually applied, before 1172, to the E2 52 Ceabhap [up ceana] oula laip 1 (£)-ceanb cacha ap (b^celgub a (b)-c!p; ^ oli£io aipcib ap coicpich 6 Chonbaccuib. Ipeao bno pop [p]uaip pin cpopcao do naebaiB imoaib 1 (b)-Uemaip, -| piabe pa33 culach chijeapnaip oo 6aijnib co car t)poma Deapjaioi, tip lp ano bo bach poppo a (j)-cuio bo mag TTI161 conub54 bileap cloinoi Neill 6 pin llle. lpeab imoppo poo baibi plaich" Ceampach cpopcao pdopaic co n-a riiuincep pop Caejaipi mac Neill, ocup cpopcab Ruaoan Ccchpa mac Qenjupa co na naebaib Gpinb pop t)(h)iapmaib mac CepBaill, -| pop ceichpi pinib na Ueampach; -| po jellpab na naeib- pin nd biab ceach 1 (b)-Ceamaip 6 6aejaipe nd 6 ptl Neill, co m-beicli 6 ptl n-Gililla Lllaim. Upi pij bno ll-Ceich TTloja nach (b^cupjnab cfp 00 pij Caipil .1. pij Oppaioi -| pi Raichleano 1 pi 6aca 6em: be quibup 6enen mac Sepcneun in pailm-ceaclaib [dijcic]: 6GN6N — beanoachc pop in n-gen, bo pao-po a palcaip Caipil, peancup each pij lp a pach lp beach lmcheic cip murhan. ■Ri Caipil, 'n-as6 chinb op chdeh, ipeab pil punn co ci in bpdc, Norwegians, &c, who first began to in- lies of the southern Ui Neill (Xepotes fest the coasts of Ireland in the year 795. Nelli, as they are called by Adamnan, See Dubhaltach Mac Firbisigh's genealogical Vita Columba, lib. i. c 49), were the fol- work (Lord Roden's copy), p. 3G4, and lowing, viz, O'Maoilsheachluin (O'Melagh- Colgan's Acta Sanctorum, p (303, n. 11. lin), Mac Catharnaigh, in later ages call- r Border tribute, i.e. for preserving their ed Sionnach (i.e. Fox), Mac Eochagain border from hostile encroachment. (Mageogbegan), O'Maolmhuaidh (O'Mol- * The battle of Druim Deargaidh. — loy), O'Coindhealbhain (O'Quinlan). ( ')'(.>- According to the Annals of the Four Mas- allaigh (O'Kellj-) of Breagh or Bregia, and ters, this battle was fought in the year 507, several others, who sunk into insignificance between Fiacha, tin- son of Niall of the Nine soon after the English invasion. Hostages, ancestor of the family of Mac u The fasting of Ruadhan of Lotkair, Eochagain (Mageoghegans), and the Lein- i. e. (by bis name in Latin) St. Rodanus, stermen, when the latter were defeated. the patron saint of Lortha (Lorha), now 1 Claim NeiU, i. e. the descendants of a small village in the barony of Lower Niall of the Nine Hostages. After the esta- Ormond, Tipperary, and six miles to the blishment of surnames, the principal fami- north of Burrisokan* (recte Burgheis Ua na 5-Cecqic. ,53 are bound to attend with him into battle, tor maintaining them in their territory; and he is entitled to a border tribute1" from the men of Con- nacht. The cause that he obtained this was, that many saints had tasted at Teamhair, which was the royal hill of the Leinstermen till the battle of Druim Deargaidhs, when it passed away from them, and their part of the plain of Midhe has been the lawful property of the Clann NeilF ever since. The cause of the extinction of the regality of Teamhair was the fasting of Patrick and his people against Laeghaire, the son of Niall, and the fasting of Ruadhan of Lothair", the son of Aengus, with the saints of Eire, against Diarmaid, son of Cearbhall, and against the Four Tribes of Teamhair' ; and these saints promised [i. e. predicted] that there should not be a house at Teamhair of the race of Laeghaire, or of the seed of Niall, [but] that there should be of the race of Oilioll 01umw. There are three kings in Leath Mhogha, who do not render tribute to the king of Caiseal, i.e. the king of Osraidhe, the king of Raith- leann, and the king of Loch Lein ; concerning which Benean, the son of Sescnean, the psalmist, said : BENEAN — a blessing on the man, [Is he] who put this in the psalter of Caiseal, The history of every king and his income, The best that walk the land of Mumha. The king of Caiseal, as head over all, Is what is here [ordained] until the [day of] judgment, Cathain). For the whole story relating no authority for this promise or prediction to the cursing of Tara, in 5C3, by this of the saints in any of the Lives of Saint saint, sec Petrie's Antiquities of Tara Hill, Patrick, or even in that of Rodanus, who page 101. was himself of the race of Oilioll Olum. * The Four Tribes of Tarn. — After the According to the genealogies of the saints, establishment of surnames these were the collected by the O'Clerighs, St. Ruadhan families of O'h-Airt (O'Harts), O'Riagain Lothra was the son of Fearghus Birn (not (O'Regans), O'Ceallaigh (O'Kellys) of Aengus, as above in the text), who was Breagh, and OConghalaigh(O'Connollys). son of Eochaidh, son of Deardubh, son of Sic Battle of Magh Rath, pp. 9, 10, and Daire Cearba, the ancestor of the family supra, p. 32, note'. of O'Donnabhain (O'Donovans), and the " Oftht race of Oilioll alum. — There is fourth in descent from Oilioll Olum. 54 Ceabhcqi puijell beanbaccan Oe t)uinb, alcoip pdbpaic meic Cllppainb57. Caipil, — bo chmo op each chid ace pdopaic, ip 12 i na T2ino aipD-pi in oomain, ip TTIac t)e, — ace pin bleajaio a lino. Qn can nach pi ap58 Gpinb am uipo-pi Caipil co n-a chain, ip leip baili59 e&ip uill 6 Qch Cliach co cijib t)uinb. Op bileap Dia olijeao oe pine alainb60 Oppaibe, uaip cucaio a n-eapaic am do pij Caipil co n-a chain. C'lijeao do pi Caijean lonD each61 ip cuipn co Caipil cpom, op acup lnbrhap cap muip ipeab oleajap62 6 6aijnib. Oleajaib Caijm oula leo i n-ajaib ^a^ FP' gach gleo, Dia (o)-ci[a]pcap chucu, coft pip, la pij Caipil a (5)-cop bib. t)lijib pein, pi Caipil chain, cpi ceao n-eabach ap S(h)amam, caeca each n-bub-£opm n-oaca, po comaip each ppim-ehacha64. Co peapaoap meic ip mna, uaip ip l n-a leach ica; * The place of great Eibhear (Heber), stating that Ireland was divided between i. e. the southern half of Ireland. See Keat- the two principal sons of Mileadh, " Here- in^, reign of Eireamhon (Heremon). O'Fla- mon" and " Heber ;" that "Heber" go- herty ( Ogygia, part iii. cap. 17), quotes verned the south of Ireland, and that Psaltair na-Bann, as a work written by " Heremon" enjoyed the north, with tb< Aenghus Ceilc De, in the eighth century, monarchy. na 5-Ceapr. 55 The consequence of* the blessing of the Lord God, [And] of the altar of Patrick, son of Alprann. Caiseal, — which excels every head Except Patrick, and the King of the Stars The supreme-king of the world, and the Son of God, — To these [alone] its homage is due. When the supreme-king of Caiseal with his law Is not king of noble Eire, He owns the place of great Eibhearx From Ath Cliath to Donn's houses. Subject to his rights therefore [Arc] the beauteous tribe of the Osraidhe, For they were given as a noble ericy To the king of Caiseal with his law. Bound is the mighty king of Laighin [to render] Steeds and drinking-horns to sloping Caiseal; Gold and riches [brought] across the sea2 Are what is due from the Leinstermen. The Leinstermen are bound to go with them [the Munstermen] Against the Gaill (foreigners) in every battle, Should they [the foreigners] come to them, truly, The king of Caiseal is bound to drive them out from them. He himself, the king of fair Caiseal, is entitled To three hundred suits of raiment at Samhain [from Leinster], To fifty steeds of dark-grey color In preparation for every great battle. And it is known to children and women, For it is in their behalf this is ; ! Eric, a fine. See in Harris's Edition vol. i. p. 380), says " it may be concluded, "I Ware's Antiquities, vol. ii. c. 11, p. 70, from the quality of some of the subsidiary the observations respecting " eric." presents made by the king of Minister to ' Brought across the sen, i e. imported. his chieftains, that a foreign trade and Dr. O'Brien, in his Dissertations on the commerce was carried on in Ireland in Laws of the Ancient Irish (Vail. Collect. those days." 56 Leabhap olijeao do each pij lap pin, ap a (o)-celcao 'n-a (o)-cipibfo. Qn ran pa pioach ppip 6eaeh inopi moipi mac lTlileao, 0I1516 cam Connacc, cean cleich, ap a (b)-celj5a6 'n-a (o)-cpean 6eichf* Gpeao in oli^eao67, — ni 56, caeca oam lp68 caeca bo, caeca each lp ampa a (b^paill69, ceac m-bpac do bpacaib Urhaill. O pa chpaipceaoap na nairh pop C(h)eampaij pochlaca, paip, oo piachc Do pi Caipil chpuinD beannacc p&cpaic70 mic Qlppaino. Ni bia reach 1 (o)-Ueampaib Pail, — 516 mop an oil o'lnip pail, — ic Caijin, nach ac pil Cum&, co n-oeapneap la cloino n-lulaim71. C16 maich m peanchap popp ou, ni leapaijcheap pe laijniu ; a Entitled to the tribute of Connacht, Maille. See further as to fJmhal and the i. e. when Leath Chuinn, orthe northern half clann TTihaille, in the Ui Fhiachrach, of Ireland, is at peace with the king of p. 43, note l, and p. 181, notes ', -i. Caiseal, the latter is entitled to receive c The blessing of Patrick — The writer tribute from the chiefs of Connacht. says, that after the cursing of Teamhair, b Umhall, a territory in the county of the blessing of St. Patrick was transferred Mayo, comprising the baronies of " Bur- to Caiseal, which had never been cursed, rishoole" and " Murresk." These two ter- He next insinuates that the race of Conn ritories are usually called " The Owles," would not be worthy to re-erect Team- by English writers, from their pronuncia- hair, and consequently that the race of tion of Umhall, viz., Oo-al. After the Olioll Olum, who would one day restore the establishment of surnames, the chief family royal seat, would become the dominant of Umhall took the surname of O'Maille, family of Ireland ; but this has not been not from the territory, as is supposed by granted, as the southern annalists do not some modern writers, but from an ancestor even pretend to have had any monarch na 5-Ceapr. 57 Every other king is bound to pay in like manner For maintaining them in their territory. When at peace with him is the Half Of the great island of the sons of Mileadh, He is entitled to the tribute of Connachta, without concealment, For maintaining them in their great Half [i. e. in Leath Chuinn]. "What they owe is, — [it is] no falsehood, Fifty oxen and fifty cows, Fifty steeds, costly their bridles, A hundred cloaks of the cloaks of UmhalP. Since the saints fasted Against the renowned, noble Teamhair, To the king of round Caiseal has come The blessing of Patrick0, son of Alprann. There shall not be a house at Teamhair of Fal, — Though great the reproach,"1 to Inis Faile, — With the Leinstermen, or the race of Conn, Until erected by the race of 01umf . Though good the history on which I am [engaged], It is not taught by the Leinstermen ; of the race of Olioll Olum after the pe- riod of the cursing, except Feidhlim Mac Criomhthainn and the renowned Brian Borumha. AAt Teamhair of Fal, \ O-UectmpaiO pail ; so called from its having the Lia Fail, which was preserved there. This has been translated "Stone of Fate," or " Des- tiny," on what authority deserves inquiry. The same word here rhymes or corresponds with itself in the same sense in this and the succeeding line. See p. 39, n. J. r Inis Fail.- — This was one of the an- cient names of Ireland, and it is said to have been derived from the Lia Fail. See Keating (Haliday's edition), p. llti; also Petrie's Antiquities of Tara Hill, p. 135. ' Till they are erected by the race of Olvm, i. e., by the race of Olioll Olum, who were at that period the dominant family of Minister. This prophecy has not been fulfilled, but it is very likely that it was generally believed, in the time of Feidhlim Mac Criomhthainn, king of Caiseal, that the southern race would remove St. Ruadh- an's curse, and re-erect Teamhair, and the same opinion may have prevailed during the reign of Brian Borumha. 58 teabhaji (ii coimecap pe Ceach Cvmio, peanchup Gililla Uluim. Coirheopao-pa 1 (5)-Caipil chdid po pimchap a n-imapbaio do choiceab pail72 puno pop leach lp a cupgnorii ap aen leach71. lp h-e in reach pin Wluriui mop, ip e in od chuiceao in ploj; ip a TTIuirhain mm, meao geall, ip coip dnb-plaichiup Gpeann. 12ob be ich ip meap ip maich a rnumain min co meo patch; mio ip cuipn ip cuipm ip ceol oo peapaib TTIurhan ip eol. Pil cpi prja a74 muriiam rhoip, a (5)-cdin oo Chaipil ni coip, pi ^abpdn, nd gabchap jeill, pi TCaichleano, pi Cacha Cein. B // is not preserved by Leath Chuinn, i. e. by the inhabitants of the northern half of Ireland. From these lines it is quite evident that the kings of the northern or southern Ui Neill, or those of Leinster, did i nit acknowledge the claim of the race of ( llioll Olum to the sovereignty of Ire- land. Indeed, it appears that the contro- versy which took place between the bards of Ireland respecting the claims of the north- ern and southern Irish kings to supremacy and renown, about the beginning of the seventeenth century (when they were both prostrate), was but a continuation of dis- putes which had existed among them from the earliest ages. To sustain their argu- ments the Munster writers circulated va- rious stories about the bravery of their kings, such as Toraidheacht Cheallachain Chaisil, and other exaggerated tracts : but these, though used to support the bardic disputes, as if they were genuine history, must now be submitted to a sterner histo- ric test than appears to have been applied to them at that time. It would appear from Irish history that the northerns were generally more powerful (excepting only during the time of Brian Borumha), for they defeated the southerns in most of the great battles that had taken place between them, from the battle of Magh Leana (fought A. D. 192), in which Conn of the Hundred Battles defeated Eoghan Mor, the father of Olioll Olum, to the battle of Bealach Mughna (in 908), where Flann Sionna deflated Cormac Mac Cuilleanain! ncc 5-Ceapr. 59 It is not preserved by Leath Chuinn8, The history of Oilioll Oluni. I shall preserve at sacred Caiseal All that is claimed in the controversy For the province in which this [palace] is exclusively, And it shall be collected into one house. That is the house of great Mumha (Munster), Those two provinces are the host ; It is in smooth Mumha, highly prized, That the supreme-sovereignty of Eire ought to be. There are corn and fruit1' and goodness In smooth Mumha of much prosperity ; Mead and drinking-horns and ale and music To the men of Mumha are known. There are three kings in great Mumha, Whose tribute to Caiseal is not due, The king of Gabhran'1, whose hostages are not to be seized on, The king of Raithleannk, the king of Loch Lein1. In the year 1185 the comparative warlike (Ossory); vide supra, p. 17, n. g, p. 40, n. l. characteristics of those rival races of Leath k The king of Raithleann. — This was Mhogha and Leath Chuinn were described the name of the seat of O'Maghthambna as follows, in the partizan language of (O'Mahony), who, according to O'h-Uidh- Giraldus Cambrensis, who held both in rin, was chief of the Cineal m-Bece, whose abhorrence: "Sicut ergo Borealis Hiber- territory extended on both sides of the nhe bellica : sic semper Australia gens sub- river Bandain (Bandon). His territory was dola. Ilia laudis, haec fraudis cupida. Ilia erected into the barony of " Kinelmeaky." Martis, haec artis ope confisa. Ilia viribus In later ages a sept of the same tribe set- nititur, base versutiis. Ilia praeliis, haec tied in Corca Luighe, O'Driscoll's coun- procUtionibus." — Hib. Exp. lib. ii- c. 18. try, where they became masters of the h There are corn and fruit, frc, i.e. Cai- district called Fonn Iartharaeh, or the seal, which was blessed by St. Patrick, and western land, which comprised the parishes which is the palace of a righteous king of " Kilmoe," " Scool," " Kilcrobane," entitled to the monarchy of Ireland, is the " Durris," " Kilmaconoge," and " Cahe- source and fountain of all prosperity, luck, ragh," in the south-west of the county of and affluence to the men of Munster. Cork. 1 Tlir king of Gabhran, i. e. of Osraidhe ' T/it king of Loch Liin. — The ancient 60 Cectbliap No ppieh i paleaip t)e t)ein, peach ni chuilleao75 nl beibel, 6 lnic co Caipc, — ni chel, a (jr^-Cuipil po baj 6enean. t)dl Caip ni pobao ll-lean, po £abpub pe FPu,r F'P"^n bo pab co h-ilapoa, cpean, eijjeapna 'c-a m-bai in 6enean. . . . [6GNeCiN]. f-eapai^eab Sealbach [po] in pai, acup Qen^up, ap aen cat, pochap lTluriian, map ao beap, umail po pacaib76 6enean 6[GNGQN]. C1SQ ITIuman ap meaoon beop ano po bo Chaipil, acup lp each bliaona bo beapap .1. pmachc i biaehab -\ eupjnurh77 -| paeparh. Cpi dear mapc cheabamup a TTIupcpaibi, i cpi ceab cope acup cpi ceab bo, [no ceab bpac acup ceao bo]. Upi ceao cope i cpi ceab leano -| ceao luljach 6 Uuichnib atib pin. Ceac bo -\ epicha cope -\ epicha mapc -| epicha bpac a h-dpaib inb pin. Seapcac barin -| peapcac mole -\ peapcac bo 6'r\ c-Seachcmab [ann]pm. Caeca bo -\ caeca bam -\ caeca mapc 6 h-Opbpaioib inn pinn. Upi chaeca bam, cpi chaeca luljach 6 t)(h)aippine beop78. Upicha bo i epicha bam -| epicha bpac 6 Copco Duibne. [Se ceab bo, pe ceab oath, pe ceao cpanab a Ciappaibi]. Seache (^-ceac bpac, peace (5)-ceac mole, peachc (5)-ceac bo, peachc (5)-ceae cpanao 6 Chopco 6aipcinb. chiefs who were seated at Loch Lein were reduced these and other families of the race of the family of O'Cearbhoill (O'Carrolls,) of Conaire Mor, and erected a new terri- of the race of Aedh Beannan, king of tory, to which was given the name of Minister ; but the family of O'Donnchadha Eoghanacht Locha Lein, and afterwards (O'Donohocs), who were originally seated Eoghanacht Ui Donnchadha, anglicized in the plain of Caiseal, settled at Loch Lein Onagh-I-Donohoe. (the Lake of Killarney), and dispossessed or '" Sealbhach the sage — He was a Mun- na 5-Ceapc. 61 There was found in the psalter of the God of Purity, It was neither more nor less, That from Shrovetide to Easter, — I shall not conceal it, At Caiseal Benean remained. The Dal Chais were not in grief, They followed a host of holy men Given to them copiously, mightily, By the lord with whom Benean was BENEAN. Let Sealbhach the sagem preserve, And Aenghusn, in the same manner, The privileges of Mumha, as I say, As Benean left [them] BENEAN. THE TRIBUTES of Mumha in general further here to Caiseal, and it is every year they are rendered, i. e., submission and refection and attendance and provision. In the first place, three hundred beeves from the Muscraidhe, and three hundred hogs and three hundred cows, or a hundred cloaks and a hundred coics. Three hundred hogs and three hundred mantles and a hundred milch-cows from the men of Uaithne. A hundred cows and thirty hogs and thirty beeves and thirty cloaks from the men of Ara. Sixty oxen and sixty wethers and sixty cows from the Seachtmhadh. Fifty cows and fifty oxen and fifty beeves from the Orbhraidhe (Orrery). Three times fifty oxen, three times fifty milch-cows from the Dair- f hine moreover. Thirty cows and thirty oxen and thirty cloaks from Corca Dhuibhne. Six hundred cows, six hundred oxen, six hundred sows from the Ciarraidhe. Seven hundred cloaks, seven hundred wethers, seven hundred cows, seven hundred sows from Corca Bhaiscinn. ster poet who was contemporary with the See O'Reilly's Irish writers, p. 61. famous Cormac Mac Cuilleanain, king of u Aenghus — See the Introduction, and Mumha (Munsier), and Bishop of Caiseal. p. ii3, note". 62 Ceabhccji Ceo caepuch i ceac cpdnab -\ beich (5)-ceac bam -| beich (5)-ceac bpac79 6 C(h)opcampuao. TDili bam i mill caepach -| mill bpac i mill luljach 6 na Oepib. Ceo bo a h-Opbpaioi -| ceac bpac pinb -\ ceac cpdna6. Hi icaio Gojanacc nach cip, dp80 if leo na peapinba po^naib Caipil81. Mi fcaib clanba Caip, no "Raichlinb92, no a ^leanb Gmam, no a £,ochaib Cein, no a h-Uib pijinnci, no a h-Qine Cliach; conao aipi-pin ab beapc in bap buaoa 6enen in ouain93: CIS CaiSIC in cualabaip b'd84 cupaib 6 chdch? a (b)uibni 'c-d m-buan pdjail each bliabain co bpdeh84. Upi ceac mapc a TTIupcpaibi ap jupc, — nocho 56, cpi ceac cope, nach cupcbuibi, ceac bpac ip ceac bo. Upi chec cope 6 Uaichnibs6 00 Chaipiul can choll; cpi ceac leanb, ip Ian puaichnij, la ceac luljach lono. Cpicha cope nd copjabaib, epicha mapc ip mop, epicha bpac 6 bopb Gpaib, ceac n-65-bo 01a n-6l. Seapca oam ppi bdij-peachcmain, peapca copp-molc ciap, peapca glan bo o^n glan c-Seachcmao bo Chaipil na cliap. " The tribute of Caiseal The tributes these for the support of his household, and here mentioned are different from those also of his troops, in time of war. mentioned in the first poem. The first v Museraidhe. — See p. 42, note !', supra. were, probably, for the support of the 1 Vaithne. — See p. 45, note x, supra. king's household in time of peace; and r Ara — Seep. 4G, note y, supra. na 5-Ceapc. 63 A hundred sheep and a hundred sows and ten hundred oxen and ten hundred cloaks from Coreamruadh. A thousand oxen and a thousand sheep and a thousand cloaks and a thousand milch-cows from the Deise. A hundred cows from the Orbhraidhe, and a hundred Avhite cloaks, and a hundred sows. The Eoghanachts pay no tribute, for theirs are the lands which serve Caiseal. The Clanna Chais, or [the people] of Raithleann, or of Gleann Amhain, or of Locha Lein, or of the Ui Fhighinnte, or of Aine Cliach, pay no tribute; concerning which the highly-gifted son, Benean, composed this poem : THE TRIBUTE OF CAISEAL0 have ye heard For its heroes from all? Its troops constantly receive them Every year for ever. Three hundred beeves from the Muscraidhep On the field, — 'tis no falsehood, Three hundred hogs, not fit for journeying, A hundred cloaks and a hundred cows. Three hundred hogs from the men of Uaithneq To Caiseal without failure; Three hundred mantles, all variegated, "With a hundred strong milch-cows. Thirty hogs which are not able to rise, Thirty beeves which are large, Thirty cloaks from the fierce men of Arar, A hundred young cows for [the sake of] drinking [their milk]. Sixty oxen for a good week's [feast], Sixty smooth black wethers, Sixty fine cows from the fine Seachtmhadhs For Caiseal of the companies. 5 Seachtmhadh See p. 49, note', supra. are mentioned in an order in this, different Here it will be observed that the territories from that used in the first poem. G4 Ceabhaji Caeca an bo a h-Opbpai6i, caeca mupc pia97 meap, caeca oarh can oobbuioi do Chaipil cean cheap. Upi cheo oarh 6 t)(h)aippine, 6'n oaim-pea o'a b-(c)op, pe ceac lul^ach, Ian buib]ss, 6 clanbaib TTlec-con. Cpicha cap bpar, ceac-(p)uaici89, ip copcaip nop90 cum, cpica Oaj bo a Duibneachaib, cpica oarh a Dpuing91. Seachc (j)-ceac cpain92 a Ciappaibi, peachc (£)-ceac bo, — ni bpeaj, peachc (j)-ceac oarh a oiarh ooipib9J oo Chaipil na (^)-ceaz. Seachc (j)-ceac bpac 6 6(h)aipcneachaib, peachc (j)-ceac mole, nach mael, peachc (£)-ceac bo 694 buip-ceachaib, peachc (g)-ceac cpain95, nach cael. t)leajap a cpich Copcampuab, ceac caepach, ceac cpan, beich (j)-ceac oarh a oonn 6oipinb, mill bpac, nach ban. I Orbkraidhe, Opbpaibe in the text, but always now Opbpaioe, and anglice Orrery, a barony in the north-west of the county of Cork. The tribe who gave their name to this territory were descended from Fereidheach, the son of Fearghus, king of Uladh (Ulster), in the first century. See O'Flaherty's Ogygia, part iii. c. 46. This territory is not mentioned in the first poem. II Dairfhine — This was one of the tribe- names of the family of O'h-Eidirsceoil (O'Driscolls), and their correlatives, who possessed a territory co-extensive with the diocese of " Ross," in the south-west of the county of Cork. In the first poem they are called Corca Luighe. See p. 46, note a, supra. "Mac-con. — He was Lughaidh Mac-con, who became monarch of Ireland in the year 2.50. He was the head of the Corca na 5-Ceapc. 65 Fifty fine cows from the Orbhraidhe1, Fifty beeves to be estimated, Fifty oxen without staggering, To Caiseal without sorrow. Three hundred oxen from Dairfhine" From this sept to their lord, Six hundred milch-cows, right good, From the septs of Mac-con v. Thirty napped cloaks with the first sewing Which are trimmed with purple ; Thirty good cows from the men of Duibhneachw, Thirty oxen from Drung. Seven hundred sows from the Ciarraidhe*, Seven hundred cows, — no falsehood ; Seven hundred oxen from the gloomy oak forests, From Caiseal of the hundreds. Seven hundred cloaks from the men of Baiscneachy, Seven hundred wethers, not hornless, Seven hundred cows from their cowsheds, Seven hundred sows, not slender. There are due from the country of Corcumruadh* A hundred sheep, a hundred sows, Ten hundred oxen from brown Boirinn, A thousand cloaks, not white. Luighe or Dairfhine, and the ancestor of century. The country of Corcumruadh, O'h-Eidirsceoil. See last note. as can be proved from various authorities, w Duibhneach, i. e. from the Corca Duibh- was co-extensive with the diocese of " Kil- ne in Kerry. See p. 47, note e, supra. fenora," and comprised the present baronies * Ciarraidhe See p. 48, note f, supra. of " Corcomroe" and " Burren," in the ? Baiscneach See p. 48, note e, supra. county of Clare. After the establishment 1 Corcumruadh., i. e. the descendants of surnames, the two chieftains and rival of Modh Ruadh, the third son of Fearghus, families of this race took the surnames of dethroned king of Ulster, by Meadhbh O'Conchobhair (O'Conor), and O'Lochlainn (Mauda), queen of Connacht in the first (O'Loughlin), and in course of time divided F 66 Lectbhcqi Oeich (j)-c6ac Dam a t)eipeachaib, mill caepach caerii, mill bpac co m-bdn chopaip, mill bo ap m-bpeich laej. Cec 6 peapaib Opbpaioi oo Buaib beapchap 06; ceac bpac pino co pino Chaipil, ceac cpdnao ppi* cpo. Ni 00 olea^ap97 bo Go^anacc cip na bep co bpap, dp lp leo na peapmoa pojnaio* Caipil cap. [Ni oli£ ou clannaib Caip cip Caipil na (j)-cuan; ni 0I15 a ^lenn Gmain, naca TCaiclinn puao.] Ni oleajap" 6 laechaib Cem nach a ^aBaip jaipj, ni olea^ap o' (U)ib Pioinci nacha a h-Qine dipo. the territory equally between them, O'Co- nor, the senior, retaining the western por- tion, which still retains the original name, and O'Lochlainn the eastern portion, which from its rocky surface is called Boirinn (Anglice Burren, or Burrin). The territory of Corcumruadh is omitted in the first poem, but it is probable that Boirinn is sub- stituted for it, in the same way as Dairbhre is put for Corca Dhuibhne. a Deise — See p. 49, note k, supra. b Orbhraidhe, already mentioned in this poem, p. 64, note \ supra. c The Eoghanachts. — These were the descendants of Eoghan Mor, the eldest son of Oilioll Olum, and ancestor of the family of Mac Carthaigh (Mac Carthys) and their correlatives, in south Minister. See O'Fla- herty's Ogygia, p. iii. c. 67. Dr. O'Brien (Vail. Collect, p. 384), says that "all the tribes descended from Oilioll Olum by his three sous, Eoghan Mor, Cormac Cas, and Cian, were considered as free states, ex- empted from the payment of annual tribute for the support of the king's household." d That serve Caiseal, i. e. that supply forces to assist the king in his wars at their own expense. e Heroes of Lein, i. e. of Loch Lein (Lake of Killarney). na 5-Cecqir;. 07 Ten hundred oxen from the Deisea, A thousand fine sheep, A thousand cloaks with white borders, A thousand cows after calving. A hundred from the men of the Orbhraidheh Of cows are given to him ; A hundred white cloaks to fair Caiseal, A hundred sows for the sty. The Eoghanachtsc owe to him no tribute Nor custom readily, For to them belong the lands Which serve fair Caiseald. The clann of Cas are not liable To the tribute of Caiseal of the companies: It is not due from Gleann Amhain Nor from red Eaithlinn. No tribute is due of the heroes of Leine Nor of the fierce Gabhairf : No tribute is due of the Ui Fidhgheinte8 Nor of the noble Aineh. 1 Gabhair, i. e. of Gabhran. See p. 40, note ', supra. S The Ui Fidhgheinte The people who bore this appellation possessed that portion of the county of Limerick lying to the west of the River Maigh (Maigue), besides the barony of " Coshma'' in the same county. In the time of Mathghamhain (Mahon), king of Munster, and his brother Brian B-orumha, Donnobhan (Donovan), the pro- genitor of the family of 0' Donovan, was called king of this territory, but his race were driven from these plains by the Fitz- geralds, Burkes, and O'Briens, a few years anterior to 1201, when Amblaoibh O Don- nobhain (Auliffe O'Donovan) was seated in Cairbre in the county of Cork, having a few years before effected a settlement there among the tribe of 0' h-Eidir- sceoil (O'Driscolls) by force of arms. These people were exempt from tribute as being the seniors of the " Eugenian" line, being descended from Daire Cearba, the grand- father of the great monarch Criomhthann Mor Mac Fidhaigh. See O'Flaherty's Ogygia, pp. 380, 381, and Cath Mhuighe Rath, pp. 338-340, note s. h Aine, i. e. of Eoghanacht Aine, situate around " Knockany", Limerick, the chief of which was O'Ciarmhaic (Kirby). f2 68 Uabhcqi Sochap maipeach mop Chaipil meampaio leue cac mip; ni muc ap beino TTlumaine nech co caingne cip." CIS. ITIipi 6enen binopoclach, bap buaoa map Bip, puapip, a cpeib m^aneaij, oo Chaipil a chip CIS CdlSlfc. r"UQRQSU^Q pi£ Caipil oo pi^aib a ehuaeh : Q leaeldm cheaoup, acup oeich n-eich acup oeicb n-eppijacup od pdlaij acup od pichhall oo pij Odil Caip; acup copacb laip a (5)-cptch anechtaip, acup lope lap (g)-cdch. t)eich n-eich acup oeich (5)-cuipn acup oeicb (5)-clai6ib acup oeicb pceie acup oeicb pcinji acup od pdlaij acup od piehchill oo p's 5a°P",n inD rin* Oeich n-eich acup oeich mooaij acup oeich mnd acup oeich (j)-cuipn oo pij Gojanacc in ran nach pi Caipil. Ochc moouio acup oce mnd acup ochc (5)-clai6im acup ochc n-jabpa acup ochc pceirh acup oeich longa oo pij na (n)-tDepi. Coic eich acup coic macail acup cuic cuipnn acup cuic claioim oo pij h-Ua Ciaehdin. Oeich n-eic acup oeich (^)-cuipn acup oeich pceich acup oeich (5)-clai6ib acup oeich luipeacha oo pij Raiehleano. Seachc n-eich acup peachc n-inaip acup peace (j)-coin acup pechc luipeacha oo pij Ulupcpaici. Seachc (jj-claioim acup peachc (j)-cuipn acup peachc luip- eacha acup pechc lonja acup pechc n-eich oo pij Oaippine. Seachc (5)-coin acup peace n-eich acup peachc (5)-cuipn oo pij t)aippine in c-(p)leibi. Seachc n-eich acup peachc (g)-cuipn acup peachc (5)-clai6ib acup peace pceich acup peachc (5)-coin oo pi Cacha £em. Seachc mnd acup peachc macail co n-6p, acup peachc (;c)-cuipn acup pechc n-eich oo pij Ciappaioi 6uachpa. Seachc n-eich acup pechc pceich acup pechc (;$)-clai6ib acup pechc lonja acup pechc luipeacha oo pi Ceimi in Chon. na 5-Ceaiic. 09 The goodly income of great Caiseal Remember thou every month ; No one is a son on the lap of Mumha Until he exacts tribute THE TRIBUTE. I am Benean the sweet- worded, Gifted son as I was, I have discovered, oh wonderful tribe, For Caiseal its tribute THE TRIBUTE OF CAISEAL. THE STIPENDS of the king of Caiseal to the kings of his terri- tories : A seat by his side in the first place, and ten steeds and ten dresses and two rings and two chess-boards to the king of Dal Chais; and to go with him in the van to an external country, and follow in the rear of all on his return. Ten steeds and ten drinking-horns and ten swords and ten shields and ten scings and two rings and two chess-boards to the king of Gabhran. Ten steeds and ten bondmen and ten women and ten drinking-horns to the king of the Eoghanachts when he is not king of Caiseal. Eight bondmen and eight women and eight swords and eight horses and eight shields and ten ships to the king of the Deise. Five steeds and five matals and five drinking-horns and five swords to the king of Ui Liathain. Ten steeds and ten drinking-horns and ten shields and ten swords and ten coats of mail to the king of Raithlinn. Seven steeds and seven tunics and seven hounds and seven coats of mail to the king of the Muscraidhe. Seven swords and seven drinking-horns and seven coats of mail and seven ships and seven steeds to the king of Dairfhine. Seven hounds and seven steeds and seven drinking-horns to the king of Dairfhine of the mountain. Seven steeds and seven drinking-horns and seven swords and seven shields and seven hounds to the king of Loch Lein. Seven women and seven matals [trimmed] with gold, and seven drinking-horns and seven steeds to the king of the Ciarraidhe Luaclna. Seven steeds and seven shields and seven swords and seven ships and seven coats of mail to the king of Leim na Con. 70 Ceabhaji t)eich n-eich do pij h-Ua Conaill ^abpa, acup oeich pceich acup oeich (5)-cluioib acup oeich (£)-cuipn; acup jan jiallu uao ace luju po lairh pij Caipil. Sechc n-eich do pij h-Ua Caipppi, acuppeachc (£)-cuipno acup peachc (5)-clai6irh acup pechc n-gilla acup peachc mojaioh. Ochc (5)-cuipnn oo chupaio Cliach, acup ochc (5)-claioirh acup ochc n-eich, od pdlaij acup od pichchill. Seachc n-eich acup peachc (j)-cuipnn acup pechc pceich acup pechc (5)-claioirh oo pij ^leano Grhnach. Ochc n-eich acup ochc (5)-claioirh acup ochc (;r)-cuipn, la gpdoaib placha acup dipo-pi j, oo pi£ na n-Uaichni. Ochc n-eich oo pij Gill, ochc pceich acup ochc (5)-clai6irh acup ochc (5)-cuipn acup ochc luipeacha. Ice pin cuapipcal na pij, amail ao peo in pili, .1. 6enen : a eo^ai^ murhciN moipi, mapuo cuiriineach canoine, eipij, lp leapaij 'n-a chij ceapc pij Caipil 6 chpichaib. Uopach laip 1 (o)-cip n-aili la pi Odl Caip — ni cede; lopg na pij Odil Caip in ceoil, ic caioeacc 1 epich n-aineoil. Oeich n-eich 00 pij ^abpdin 5-uipm 6 pij Odla, acup oeich (5)-cuipn, oeich (5)-claioirh, oeich pceich, oeich pcinj, bd Falaij lp od pichchill. i The first with him, i. e. to lead the van. m Two rings and two chess-boards J Dal Chais, i. e. the families of O'Briain Dr. O'Brien renders this " two cloaks and (O'Briens), Mac Maghthamhna (Mac Ma- two suits of military array" ( Collectan. p. hons), Mac Conmara (Mac Namara), 375); and in his Irish Dictionary he ex- O'Deaghaidh (O'Deas), O'Cuinn (O'Quins), plains Fithcheal, "a full or complete ar- and their correlatives in the county of Clare. mour, consisting of corslet, helmet, shield, k King of Gabhran See p. 40, note '. buckler, and boots," &c. But this meaning 1 Tenscings Sging, "part of the trap- of the word seems drawn merely from the pings of a horse." — O'Reilly's Ir. Diet. stores of his own imagination, as it never na 5-Ceapc. 71 Ten steeds to the king of Ui Chonaill Ghabhra, and ten shields and ten swords and ten drinking-horns ; and no hostage [is asked] from him except to swear by the hand of the king of Caiseal. Seven steeds to the king of Ui Chairbre, and seven drinking-horns and seven swords and seven serving-youths and seven bondmen. Eight drinking-horns to the hero [king] of Cliach, and eight swords and eight steeds, two rings and two chess-boards. Seven steeds and seven drinking-horns and seven shields and seven swords to the king of Gleann Amhnach. Eight steeds and eight swords and eight drinking-horns, with the office [of chief officer of trust] of a sovereign and monarch, to the king of the men of Uaithne. Eight steeds to the king of Eile, eight shields and eight swords and eight drinking-horns and eight coats of mail. Such are the stipends of the kings, as the poet said, i. e. Benean : YE LEARNED OF MUMHA the great, If ye are mindful of the canon, Arise, and proclaim in his house The right of the king of Caiseal from his territories. The first with him' into another country Belongs to the king of Dal ChaisJ — I will not conceal it ; To take the rear of the king belongs to the Dal Chais of music, On coming from a strange land. Ten steeds to the king of blue Gabhrank From the king of Dala, and ten drinking-horns, Ten swords, ten shields, ten scings1, Two rings and two chess-boards1". bore any meaning among the ancient or meaning for piCceall, namely, a "phi- modern Irish, but a chess-board of a qua- losopher," a meaning which he inferred drangular form, marked with black and from Cormac's conjectural derivation of the white spots. See Cormac's Glossary, in term, which states that the black and white voce. O'Reilly, who copies O'Brien ver- spots on the board had a mystical signi- batim in too many of his explanations, has fieation. — See the passage from Cormac. avoided this, but he gives us an additional cited p. 35, note ", supra. 72 Leabhaji Oeich mo6ai6, oeich mna mopa acup oeich (j)-cuipn chorhola, menib leip Caipil nu (j)-cachr, oeich n-eich oo pij Gojunacc. Ochr mooaio, ochc mnd oonoa do pij t)epi, lp oeich lonja, ochc pceich, ochc (5)-clai6irh p6 5U111, ip ochr n-jubpa rap jlap-muip. Cuic eich, cuic macail co n-6p, acup cuic cuipn pe coiiiol, ciiic claioirh pe cop each aip 00 pij laechoa h-Ua Ciachain. Oeich n-eich 00 pi£ Raichlecmo puaio, oeich (j)-cuipn 6 pij Caipil chpucuo, n Ten horns, Sfc Dr. O'Brien trans- lates this " ten golden cups," but " golden" is added by himself. 0 Unless Caiseal belong to him, i. e. when the king of Caiseal was of the Dal Chais. According to the Will of Oilioll Okun, the kings of Caiseal were to be alternately- elected from the descendants of his sons, Eoghan Mor and Cormac Cas. In the early ages the stock of Mac Carthaigh (the Mac Cartkys), O'Ceallachain (the O'Callagh- ans), and O'Donnchadha (the O'Dono- hoes), were the chiefs of Eoghanacht Chaisil; but immediately before the Eng- lish invasion the tribe of Mac Carthaigh were by far the most powerful of all the Eoghanachts. Dr. O'Brien says that " the O'Donoghoes of Eoghanacht Chaisil were of a different stock from those of Loch Lein" (Collectan. vol. i. p. 375); but in this he is undoubtedly mistaken, for the family of O'Donnchadha (O'Donoghoes) of Ixich Lein were the most royal family of that name in Munster, for their ancestor, Dnbh-da-bhoireann, who was slain in 957, was king of Minister, and his son Domh- nall commanded the forces of south Mun- ster (Desmond) at the battle of Cluain- tarbh, in 1014. p Deise — See p. 49, note k, and p. 66, note a, supra. It will again be observed that ships are presented to the chiefs of ter- ritories verging on the sea. t Across the sea, i. e. imported. See p. 55, note z. r With gold, i. e. ornamented with gold. O'Brien makes this "a sword and shield of the king's own wearing, one horse richly accoutred, and one embroidered cloak." — ( Collect, vol. i. p. 378). There does not seem to be anything to warrant this translation. s Ui Licit hain. — This tribe derived their name and origin from Eochaidh Liatha- nach, the son of Daire Cearba. After the establishment of surnames, O'Liathain and 0' h-Anmchadha were the chief families of na 5-Ceajic. 73 Ten bondmen, ten large women And ten horns for carousing", Unless Caiseal of the prisons belong to him0, Ten steeds to the king of the Eoghanachts. Eight bondmen, eight brown-haired women To the king of the Deisep, and ten ships, Eight shields, eight swords for wounding, And eight horses [brought] across the green seaq. Five steeds, five matals with gold1", And five horns for carousing, Five swords for all slaughter To the heroic king of Ui Liathains. Ten steeds to the king of red Eaithlinn1, Ten drinking-horns from the king of hardy Caiseal, this tribe. After the English invasion their territory was granted to Kobert Fitzste- phen, who granted it to Philip de Barry, as appears from the confirmation charter of king John, who, in the eighth year of his reign, confirmed to William de Barry, the son and heir of this Philip, "the three cantreds of Olethan, Muscherie-Dunegan, and Killede." Now, we leam from Giral- dus (Hib. Exp. lib. ii. c. 18, 19) that when Fitzstephen and Milo de Cogan came to a partition, by lot, of the seven cantreds granted them by Henry II., the three can- treds to the east of the city of Cork fell to Fitzstephen, and the four to the west fell to the lot of De Cogan. We know also from Irish history, that the present village of Castle-Lyons, or Caislean Ui Liathain, a nd the island called Oilean mor ArdaNeimhidh, now the " Great Island," near Cork, were in l'i Liathain, which gives us a good idea of its position and even extent, and from these facts we may infer with certainty that the three cantreds confirmed by King John, namely, "Olethan, Muscherie-Dunegan, and Killede," are included in the baronies of " Barryrnore," ' ' Kinatalloon," and " Imo- killy," in the county of Cork, and " Cosh- more" and " Coshbride" in that of Water- ford. Harris asserts, in his edition of Ware's Antiquities, p. 50, that "Hy-Lia- thain is a territory in the south of the county of Waterford, in the barony of De- cies, on the sea coast, opposite to Youghal. But this is unworthy of Han-is, who ought to have known that " Olethan," which be- longed first, after the Anglo-Norman inva- sion, to Fitzstephen, and passed from him to Barry, was not on the east side of the river of Eochaill (Youghall), but on the west, for in the charter of Henry II. to Robert Fitzstephen and Milo de Cogan, he giants them the lands "as far as the water near Lismore, which runs between Lismore and Cork." 1 King of Ruithlinn. — See p. 59, notek. 74 Leabhaji oeich pceich, oeich (5)-clai6irh chalma, oeich luipeacha Idn baoba. Seachc n-eich, peachc n-maip oeapja, peachc (j)-coin pe caichim pealja, peachc luipeacha 1I-I6 jailli oo'n pip p'd m-btao TTlupcpaioi. Seachc (5)-clai6irh, peachc (j)-cuipn chama, peace luipeacha, pechc lonja, peachc n-eich ppi paijine peapc do pij t)aippine in oepceapc. Seachc (^)-coin ppi copao n-dioi, peace n-eich, a n-dipeavh n-aile, pechc (5)-cuipn ppi caicheajh pepi Oo pij Daipbpi in oai£ pleibi. Seachc n-eieh oo pij; 6acha 6£in, pechc (5)-cuipn, pechc (5)-claioirh oo cen, peachc pceich, a n-dipearii n-uaeaio, peachc (£)-coin dilli a n-Ippluachaip. Seachc macail co m-buinoib o'op, acup peachc (;$)-cuipno ppi corhol, peachc n-eich, ni h-iapmcupi oaill, oo pij Ciappaioi in choriilaino. Seachc n-eich oo laech in 6eimi, peachc pceich co peach na jpeni, peace (5)-clai6riu cpoma caeha, peace longa, peachc luipeacha. u Muscraidhe — See p. 42, note v, supra. graphical poem, this territory is called Ur- v Dairfhine — See p. 46, notez, on Corca luachair, and the country of O'Caoimh Luighe, and p. 64, note u, supra. (O'Keeffe). Its position is marked by the w Dairbhre. — This shoidd be Dairfhine. crown lands of "Pobble O'Keeffe," situate See p. 47, note e, supra. in the barony of " Duhallow," on the con- x Loch Lein — See p. 59, note ', supra. fines of the counties of Cork, Limerick, -v Irrluachair — In O'h-Uidhrin's topo- and Kerry, and containing about 9,000 ncc 5-Ceapc. 75 Ten shields, ten swords fit for war, Ten coats of mail full strong. Seven steeds, seven red tunics, Seven hounds for the purpose of the chase, Seven coats of mail for the day of valour To the man under whom are the Muscraidheu. Seven swords, seven curved drinking-horns, Seven coats of mail, seven ships, Seven steeds bounding over hills To the king of Dairf hinev in the south. Seven hounds to chase down stags, Seven steeds, in another enumeration, Seven drinking-horns for the banquet To the king of Dairbhrew (Dairfhine) of the good mountain. Seven steeds to the king of Loch Leinx, Seven drinking-horns, seven swords [imported] from afar, Seven shields, at the smallest reckoning, Seven beautiful hounds in Irrluachairy. Seven matals with ring-clasps of gold, And seven horns for carousing, Seven steeds, not used to falter, To the king of the Ciarraidhez of the combat. Seven steeds to the hero of the Leapa, Seven shields with the brightness of the sun, Seven curved swords of battle, Seven ships, seven coats of mail. statute acres ; but this territory was origi- z Ciarraidhe See p. 48, note f, supra. rally much more extensive, for we learn a Hero of the Leap, i. e. king of Corca from Cormac's Glossary, in voce, that the Bhaiscinn. He was so called from Leim mountains called Da Chioch Danann, now Chonchulainn, now Loop-head (rectius "the Pap mountains," were in this terri- Leap-head), the south-western extremity of ton-. See also Keating's History of Ireland, his territory. Dr. O'Brien asserts, that Holiday's Edit. p. 204. the Leim here referred to is " Leim Con in 76 Leabhap Se h-eich do pij Copcampuao, pe claioriii pe cippab pluaj, pe cuipn, pe pceich po geba, pe coin ailli, aen-jelu. t)eich n-eich bo pij h-Ua n-^abpa, oeich pceich, oeich (5)-clcuoirh chalma, oeich (jrj-cuipn 'n-a bun po oeriie, cean geill uao, cean eicepi. Seachc n-eich oo pij frpoga-pij, peachc (5)-cuipn ap a n-eba pin, pechc (5)-claioini, lp cop popaio, peachc n-gilla, pechc m-ban mojaio. the west of Carberry, of which O'Driscoll oge was chief."— ( Collect, vol. i. p. 379). But in this he is unquestionably wrong, for the people next mentioned are the Cor- cumruadh adjoining Corca Bhaiscinn on the north. See p. 48, note tr, supra, and p. 85, note z, infra. b Corcumruadh (Corcomroe) See p. 65, note z, supra. c Ui Ghabhra, i.e. the Ui Chonail Ghabh- ra, now the baronies of Conillo, in the west of the county of Limerick. After the estab - lishment of surnames, the chief families of this race took the names of O'Coileain (Col- lins), O'Cinfhaelaidh (Kinealy), O'Flann- abhra(Flannery), and Mac Inneirghe (Mac Eniry). Dr. O'Brien says, (Collect, vol. i. p. 377), " that Mac Ennery and O'Sheehan of this race were descended fromMahon, an elder brother of Brian Borumha.'' But for this he had not sufficient authority, for, ac- cording to the pedigrees of the Ui Fidhgheinte (given in the Books of Leacan, and Baile- an-mhota, and by Dubhaltach Mac Firbi- sigh), and in O'h-Uidhrin's topographical poem, Mac Inneirghe is set down as chief of Corca Mhuichet, a sept of the Ui Fidhgheinte ; and the parish of " Castletown Mac Eniry" in the south of the county of Limerick, where he resided, is still called Corca Mhui- chet. The same inaccurate writer asserts in his Irish Dictionary, voce Conall, that " Conall Gabhra, from whom the country of Ibh Conaill Gabhra derives its name, was the ancestor of the stock of the O'Conels, widely spread throughout the counties of Limerick, Kerry, and Cork ;" but this is not supported by any authority ; and, besides, it contradicts what the same writer says, in his Dissertation, &c. (Collect. vol. i. p. 380), where it is asserted, that " O'Shea, O'Connel, and O'Falvy are all descended from Core, son of Cairbre Muse, son of Conaire, son of Mogh Laimhe, king of Leath Chuinn." This latter statement is nearly correct, according to the Irish ge- nealogical books, but again, the same writer (who appears to have had a bad memory) calls this same Cairbre Muse, " one Cairbre Muse, supposed son of a king of Meath in the beginning of the third century, and of whose progeny no account has ever been na 5-Ceajic. 77 Six steeds to the king of Corcvunruadhb, Six swords for the maiming of hosts, Six drinking-horns, six shields he gets, Six beautiful hounds, all-white. Ten steeds to the king of Ui Ghabhrac, Ten shields, ten swords fit for battle, Ten drinking-horns in his protective fort, Without hostages from him, without pledges. Seven steeds to the king of Brugh-righd, Seven horns from which wine is drunk, Seven swords, it is a happy engagement, Seven serving-youths, seven bond-women. given." See his Dictionary, voce Muiscrith. If the pedigrees of the O'Sheas, O'Falvys, and O'Connells are traced to him, some ac- count has been given of his descendants. d King of Brugh-righ, i. e. of the Ui Chairbre Aebhdha, who had their seat at Brugh-righ (Bruree), on the river Maigh (Maigue). Dr. O'Brien says, that "the king of Cairbre Aobhdha, who was O'Do- novan, had his principal seat at Brugh-righ, and that his country was that now called Kenry, in the county of Limerick." ( Collect. vol. i. p. 377). This assertion, which has been received as fact by all subsequent writers, is wofully incorrect, for " Kenry" is a small barony lying along the Shannon, in the north of the county of Limerick ; whereas Brugh-righ, its supposed head-resi- dence, is many miles distant from it, in the other end of the county. The fact is, that the country of the Ui Chairbre Aebhdha, of which O'Donnobhain was the chief, compri- sed the barony of " Coshma," the districts around " Bruree" and " Kihnallock" and the plains along the river Maigh (Maigue) on the west side, down to the Shannon. This appears from the traditions in the county which state that O'Donnobhain resided at Brugh-righ, and Cromadh (Croom) on the river Maigh (Maigue) ; from the Feilire Aenghvis, at 26th March, which places Gill DaChealloc (Kihnallock), in Ui Chairbre ; and from O'h-Uidhrin's topographical poem, which states that O'Donnobhain of Dun Chuirc (a name for Brugh-righ, as being one of the seats of Core, king of Minister) possessed, free of tri- bute, jan ciop the lands extending along the Maigh (Maigue), and the plains down to the Seannain (Shannon),— na clctip fiop co Sionnainn. See the Battle of Magh Ragh, p. 340. That Caenraidhe (Kenry) was a part of Ui Chairbre Aebhdha is highly probable, but we have the authority of O'h-Uidhrin to show that O'Maelchallainn (Mulholland), was the chief of Caenraidhe, and that near him was O'Bearga, in the district of Ui Rosa, (now the parish oflveruss, Ulb T2or-a, on the Shannon, and in the barony of Kenry). These were sub-chiefs to O'Don- nobhain as chief of all Ui Fidhgheinte, as he frequently was, and perhaps as chief of Ui Chairbre Aebhdha also. 78 Cectbhap Seachc (£)-cuipn do chupaio Qme, peachc (5)-claiorhi — ni cop caioi, pechc n-eich Do'n laech ym pe lino, Oct Falaij ip Da picchill. Seachc n-eich, peace (£)-cuipnn oo'n laech luaeh, oo pi puipeach na (b)-Popchuach, peachc pceich, pecc (5)-clai6irii 1 (g)-cach beapap do pij ^leano Qiiinach. Seachc n-eich do pi na n-Uaichm, peachc (5)-clai6irh, ip cop cuaichli, peachc (5)-cuipn oia n-oarhaib o'an oil beich a n-gpaoaib an aipo-pij. Ochc n-eich do pi£ Gle in dip, ochc pceich, ochc (5)-clai6ini ip coip, occ (j)-cuipn, nop conjaib ac pie 16, ochc linpeacha 1I-I6 jaipcio. e Hero of Aine, i. e. the king or chief of Eoghanacht Aine Cliach. See p. 39, note ', supra. { King of the Forthuatha, i. e. the king of Feara Muighe, i. e. the tribe of O'Dubh- again (O'Dugans), descended from the celebrated druid Mogh Ruith, and here called Forthuatha, as being strangers placed centrally between the Ui Fidhgheinte and the Eoghanachts of Gleann Anihnach, who were two tribes of the royal blood of Oilioll Olum. sKing of Gleann Amhnach, i. e of Eogh- anacht Gleanna Amhnach. This was the country of a branch of the tribe of O'Caoimh (O'Keeffes), comprising the country about Gleann Amhnach, Glanworth, barony of Fermoy, Cork. Before the English invasion, O'Caoimh and O'Dubhagain possessed the regions now called " Fermoy, Condons, and Clangibbons ;" but the boundary between them (O'Keeft'e and O'Dugan) could not now be determined ; all we know is, that O'Dubhagain was between O'Caoimh and the Ui Fidhgheinte, and consequently to the north of them. After the English invasion the country of Feara Muighe Feine was granted to Fleming, from whom it passed, by marriage, to the Roches, and it is now usually called Crioch Roisteach, or Roche's country. h Uuithne. — See p. 45, note x, supra. ' Eile — This was the name of a tribe and an extensive territory, all in the ancient Mumha or Munster. They derived the name from Eile, the seventh in descent from Cian, the son of Olioll Olum. According to O'h-Uidhrin, this territory was divided into eight " tuatha," ruled by eight petty chiefs, over whom O'Cearbhaill (O'Carroll) net 5-Cectpu. 79 Seven drinking horns to the hero of Ainee, Seven swords — not an engagement to be violated, Seven steeds to that hero during his time, Two rings and two chess-boards. Seven steeds, seven drinking-horns to the swift hero., To the lordly king of the Forthuathaf , Seven shields, seven swords in battle Are given to the king of Gleann Amhnach8. Seven steeds to the king of the men of Uaithneh, Seven swords, it is a wise covenant, Seven drinking-horns to their companies to whom it is due To be in office under the monarch. Eight steeds to the king of Eile1 of the gold, Eight shields, eight swords are due, Eight drinking-horns, to be used at the feast, Eight coats of mail in the day of bravery. was head or king. The ancient Eile (Ely) comprised the whole of Eile Ui Chearbhaill (Ely O'Carroll) which is now included in the King's county, and comprises the baro- nies of Clonlisk and Ballybritt; also the baronies of Ikerrin and Elyogarty, in the county of Tipperary. The boundary between '■Ely O'Carroll" and the ancient Midhe (Meath) is determined by that of the diocese of Killaloe with the diocese of Meath, for that portion of the King's county which belongs to the diocese of Killaloe was " Ely O'Carroll," and originally belonged to Mini- ster. The other portions of the original Eile, such as ' ' Ikerrin" and ' ' Elyogarty," were de- tached from O'Cearbhaill, shortly after the English invasion, and added to " Ormond;" but the native chieftains O'Meachair (O'Mea- gher) and O'Fogartaigh (O'Fogarty), were left in possession, but subject to the Earl of Ormond. Sir Charles O'Carroll, in bis letter to the Lord Deputy in 1595, asserts, that " the Earl of Ormond had no right to any part of the country lying north of Bar ■ nane Ely" (now the Devil's Bit moun- tain), but this cedes him "Elyogarty," which appears to have been his indisputa- ble property7 since the time of Edward III. According to O'h-Uidhrin, O'Fogartaigh, the chief of the southern Eile, i. e. EileFho- gartaigh (Elyogarty) is not of the race of the Eleans, but descended from Eochaidh Bailldearg (king of Thomond in St. Pa- trick's time) ; from which we may perceive that the southern Eile had been wrested from the original proprietors before the English invasion by a sept of the Dal Chais, but nothing has been yet discovered to de- termine when or how the ancestors of the family of O'Fogartaigh obtained it. 80 Ceabhap (Ic pin cuapipcal each piji; 6 pi j Caipil co (j)-ceac pnim ; lam 6eneom po chaipi^ pin; leapa.j aeab a eolaij. . . . Cl eOtai£ mUTTiaN. Otl^GGt) ocup pooail na (b)-cuapopcal pin beop ano po 6 pi£ Caipil oo pijaib cuach acup mop chuach, lap pochap a (b)-popba acup a (5)-ceneoil, a peib blijio acup buchupa; acup ap pochap $P"b acup bilmaine, ap rheab a nipc acup a (b)-poplamaip, acupap Immaipi a (b)-pechca acup a ploij;i6, acup ap poipbi acup ap pob- paioi, acup ap pinopepi acup comaipli100, ponb acup pebpa, lp poichib pin mibichip101 a (b)-cuapipcla boib, ap plicc puao acup peancupa10*, ay bepr 6enen anb po : QUQ SUNT) peanchap, puaipe ppeach, b;p ainpip103 minab eolach ; cuapipcal pij Caipil choip b'd pi jaib caema a (£)-ceac6ip. Upach nach (m)-bia piji ac Dail Caip cop104 pop clanbaib Go£ain apb, moip,oi, leach-^uala pi£ Caipil chain 516 imoa o'a ai^eabaib106. tDeich (^)-cuipn co n-6p each Samna, epicha claioeam, cop arhpa, epicha each alamo llle107 do pi j t)al Caip cul-buibe109. t)lijib pi Oppaibi em, 6 61b pijai1"', a po peip109, in each bliabna b'd baile110 ba chuapipeal eojaibe. t)lijio 6 pij Ueampa chuaio111 pi Oppaioi co n-apo buaib beich pceich acup beich (3)-claibirh ip beich n-eich cap mop moijib"2. k Dal Chais See p. 70, note-), supra. macCas, and ancestor of the Ui Fidhgheinte 1 Eoghan — He was the brother of Cor- and all the Eoghanachts. na 5-Ceajir. 81 Such is the stipend of each king From the king of Caiseal with the hundred powers; The hand of Benean it was that shaped that; Inculcate it ye learned YE LEARNED OF MUMHA. THE LAW and distribution of these stipends further here from the king of Caiseal to the kings of his districts (stranger tribes) and great territories, according to the revenues of their lands and family, accord- ing to law and inheritance ; and it is according to deserts of their office and fealty, to the greatness of their strength and superiority, and to the number of their expeditions and hostings, and to their prospe- rity and affluence, and to seniority and counsel, foundation and excel- lence, that these stipends are apportioned among them, on the authority of the learned and of history, as Benean says here : THERE IS HERE the history, pleasant the series, Which thou knowest not unless learned ; The stipends of the just king of Caiseal To his fair kings in the first place. When the just Dal Chaisk have not the sovereignty Over the race of the high, great Eoghan1, [Their king] sits by the shoulder (side) of the king of Caiseal Though many be his guests. Ten drinking-horns [ornamented] with gold each Samhain™, Thirty swords, a good covenant, Thirty beautiful steeds hither To the king of Dal Chais of yellow hair. The active king of the Osraidhe" is entitled [to have] From two kings, as his full claim, Every year at his house Two choice stipends [that is to say] : Entitled from the king of north Teamhair Is the king of the Osraidhe of great prerogatives To ten shields and ten swords And ten steeds across the great plains : ■" Samhain, i. e. the first of November. " Osraidhe — Sec p. 59, note K a 82 Ceabhcqi t)li;*jib 6 pig Caipil cpuaio113 aipb-pij Oppaioi co m-buai6114 oeich pceich lp oeich (g)-cloi6irh choip"5 acup bd pdlaig beapg oip. Uuapipcol pi na n-t)epi 6 pig Caipil ao glepi116 claibeam co n-6p, each lp blab117 acup long pa lam-peolao. t)ligio cuapipcal, can cap118, pi Ian laechoa119 Ua £,iachan, pciach pig Caipil, claibeam, coin120, each lp eppib cap apb moip. t)ligm oip-pig TTluigi Pian each 6 pig Caipil, lp ppian, bligio pciach ip claibeam, com''21, pi Peap-lTluiji co mop joil. Clanb Chaipppi ITlupc, mop a m-blub oligio a pig cuapipcal pciach pig Caipil co n-beni, a each 'p-a chu coin-eilli. t)ligib pig Raichleanb co pach ip cpean mop in cuapipcal, beich (g)-claioim acup beich (g)-cuipn, beich m-bpuic copcpa, beich m-bpuic guipm. "Oil jib pi tDaippine ouinb 6 pi Caipil in chomlaino 0 Tivo rings of red gold This esta- " Fermoy," in the county of Cork. After Wishes the meaning oifalach. the establishment of surnames, the chief of P Deise See p. 49, note k, supra. this territory took the name ofO'Dubha- 1 Ui Liathain Seep. 72, note s, supra. gain (O'Dugan), from Dubhagan, the de- r Brought across the high sea, i. e. a scendant of the druid Mogh Ruith, who was 'steed and battle-dress imported. of the same race as O'Conchubhair Ciar- sMagh Fian, i.e. of Feara Mhuighc, now raidhe (O'Conor Kerry). Of the race of na 5-Ceapc. 83 Entitled from the hardy king of Caiseal Is the noble king of the Osraidhe as a prerogative To ten shields and ten swords And two rings of red gold0. The stipend of the king of the Deisep Given from the king of Caiseal [Is] a sword [adorned] with gold [hilt], a steed with renown And a ship under full rigging. Entitled to stipend, not contemptible, Is the full-heroic king of Ui Liathainq, To the shield of the king of Caiseal, a sword, a hound, A steed and trappings across the high sear. Entitled is the petty-king of Magh Fians To a steed from the king of Caiseal, and a bridle ; Entitled to a shield and sword [and] hound Is the king of Feara Mhuighe of great prowess. The race of Cairbre Muscc, great their renown, Their king is entitled to a stipend, The shield of the vehement king of Caiseal, His steed and his hound from his hound-leash. The prosperous king of Kaithlinn" is entitled To a very great stipend; Ten swords and ten drinking-horns, Ten red cloaks, ten blue cloaks. The king of the brown Dairfhine* is entitled From the king of Caiseal of the battles this druid, who was a native of Dairbhre, several churches in Minister have been de- now the island of Yalentia, in Kerry, was dicated. Cuanna Mac Cailchine, chief of Feara ' The race of Cairbre Muse, i. e. the Mhuighe, in the seventh century, who was Muscraidhe. See as to these tribes, p. 42, as celebrated for hospitality and munifi- note v, supra. cence in Munster as Guaire Aidhne was u Raithlinn — See p. 59, note k, supra. in Connacht ; and of his race also were v Dairfhine, i. e. of Corca Luighe. See the saints Mochuille and Molaga, to whom p. 46, note a, supra. G 2 84 Ceabhaji cpi claibrhi coinbli Dacha, cpi lonja, cpi Unpeacha. Uuapipcol pi Opuinj, nach Dip, 6 pi£ Gpinb, — ni bimip, cpi cloibrhi cama caela, ip cpi longa122 l&n-caema. Uuapipcol pij 6acha Cein 6 pi£ Gpino co n-aipb men, beich n-gabpa bonna bachum, beich longa, beich luipeacha. Uuapipcal pij Peopna piainb 6 uib Qililta Olaim, beich n-eich ap na n-gleap bo'n jpaio' 'p-ct chochall peang ppollecaij1'25. Uuapipcol pij £eim in Clion 6 pij Chaipil, — ip caem chop, a long oingbula bacach, each, claibeam, copn com-pumachw5. Uuapipcol pij 3a^Pa,n'27 glo'" 6 pij mop TTluman meaoaipm, cem pop (p)aeliw9 'n-a chij chpuim, 0I1516 in pij a leach-jualainn130. Ip in cpach ceib bia chij pen blijio each ip eppib131 eim, acup in lin 00 cheib132 poip each ip eppio1" each en pip. Uuapipcol pig 6poja-pi5'34 6 pig Gpinb can mipnim, w KingofDmng — Drung is a conspi- cuous hill in the north of the barony of " Iveragh," put here for the country of the race of the monarch Conaire Mor, in " Kerry." See p. 64, line 12, supra. x Loch Lein — See p. 17, note w, supra. V Feorainn Floinn This was another name of the Ciarraidhe, from their ancestor, Flann Feorna, i. e. Flann of the shore. See p. 48. note f, svpra. rice 5-Ceapc. 85 To three swords of flaming brightness, To three ships, three coats of mail. The stipend of the king of Drungw, which is not small, From the king of Eire — 'tis not contemptible, Three curved narrow swords And three ships very beautiful. The stipend of the king of Loch Leinx From the king of Eire of noble mind, Ten horses of bay colour, Ten ships, ten coats of mail. The stipend of the king of Feorainn Floinny From the sons of Oilioll Olum, Ten caparisoned steeds out of the stud And his own graceful satin cochal. The stipend of the king of Leim na Conz From the king of Caiseal, — a fair condition, His own befitting beauteous ship, A steed, a sword, a trophy drinking-horn. The stipend of the king of fair Gabhrana From the king of great and merry Munster, A pleasing distinction in his crowded house, This king is entitled to sit by his side. And at the time he [Caiseal] goes to his own [Gabhran's] house He [Gabhran] is entitled to a steed and trappings too, And of the number who go [with Caiseal] eastward A steed and dress for every man. The stipend of the king of Brugh-righ1' From the king of Eire without sorrow, * The king of Leim an Chon, now al- O'Brien. See p. 48, note 5, supra. ways Leim na Con (i. e. fern.) Saltvs a King of Gabhran — See p. 59, note •. Cuoni, the king of Corca Bhaiscinn, in the b The king of Brugh-righ (Arx regis), south-west of the county of Clare, not of i. e. of Ui Chairbre Aebhdha. See p. 77, Leim Con, in Carbery, as asserted by note "', supra. 86 Ceabhap beich n-inaip, bonna beapga, ip oeich n-goill can ^aeoelga'33. Uuapipcol pij Gine aipb 6 pi Caipil claioirh gaipg, aue peach ,p a claibearh gle137, epicha bo each 6eallcaine. Cuapipcol pij na n-Llaichne 6 pig Caipil139 — ip cuaicle139, pe pceich ip pe claibirh cam ' l pe h-eich l n-a paijnib140. OI1516 pij Qpa6 co n-aib 6 pij Cpino ai jeao chain pe cloibirh, pe pceich molca i pe141 leanoa lan-copcpa. Cuapipcol pig Gli in dip142 6 pig Caipil in chorhoil pe pceich l pe claibirh chain, pe mobaio, pe ban mogaio143. 616 pai, no bib ollarh an, aca ppip lDac Cuilinbdn144, — ni pep bee inomi pe la145, — each aen 'g-d m-bia po map cd. . QCQ[SUNt)]. DO POPUQ16 pig Caipil [aTTIurhan] ann po .i. &pug-pig acup TYluilcheab146 acup Seanchua Chain acup T2op Raeoa acup Cluain Llarha acup Cachaip Chnuip acup Cachaip pinoabpach, Cachaip Chuaigi, Cachaip ^lenn Qrhnach, Cachaip Chinb Chon, Dun Pip Gen Cholca, Cachaip TTIechaip, [bun n-^aip], Uearhaip Suba, Qpb 6ili, Qenac m-6eappdin, lTlag Cailli, Qpo Conaill, Qpb lTlic Conainb147, Qpb Ruibi, Uuaipceapc TTlai^i, lT)ag Saipe, na cpi h-Cupne ap muip mdip, Qenach Cuipppi, Opuim TTlop, Opuini <■ Without Gaedhealga (Gaelic or Irish), d King of noble Aine, i. e. king of Eogh- i. i'. foreign slaves or servants who could anachl Aine Cliach, which country lay imt speak Irish. This is very curious. round the conspicuous hill of Cnoc Aine na 5-Ceapr. 87 Ten tunics, brown red, And ten foreigners without Gaedhealgac [Irish]. The stipend of the king of noble Ained From the king of Caiseal of the terrific SAvord, His shield and his bright sword, Thirty cows each May-day. The stipend of the king of the Uaithnee From the king of Caiseal — it is wise, Six shields and six fine swords And six steeds of the choicest. The king of Araf of beauty is entitled From the king of Eire of the comely face To six swords, six praised shields And six mantles of deep purple. The stipend of the king of Eilef of the gold From the king of Caiseal of the banquets, Six shields and six bright swords, Six bondmen, six bondwomen. Be he sage, or be he distinguished ollamh, He has the support of Mac CuileannainS, — Not a man of small wealth is he in his day [He must be pro- fessor in his day], — He who maintains this [system] as it is. THERE IS HERE. OF THE SEATS of the king of Caiseal in Mumha here, i. e. Brugh-righ and Muilchead and Seanchua Chaein and Ros Raeda and Chxain Uamha and Cathair Chnuis and Cathair Fhinnabhrach, Cathair Thuaighe, Cathair Ghleanna Amhnach, Cathair Chinn Chon, Dun Fir Aen Cholca, Cathair Meathais, Dun Gair, Teamhair Shubha, Ard Bile, Aenach m-Bearrain, Magh Caille, Ard Chonaill, Ard Mic Co- nainn, Ard Ruidhe, Tuaisceart Muighe, Magh Saire, the three Aras in the great sea, Aenach Chairpre, Druiin Mor, Druim Caein, Cathair (Knockany) in the barony of Small County, fAra, File — See p. 46, note z, and county of Limerick See p. 67, note h, and p. 78, note ■, supra. p. 78, note e, supra. S Mae Cuileannain — See p. 61, nn. "> e Uaithne See p. 45, note x, supra. and fl, and see the Introduction. 88 Ceabhaji Ca'n, Cachaip Chuipc, TTlup-bolcan, ^eibcine, ^papann, Gill TTlic Cuipp, lTluj Nai, nf)aj5 n-Goapbane149, h-Uachc-maj, Caechan149 66ipne, ITIup-ma^, lTla^ n-Ganm£, Cuaim n-Gacnin, TTla^ n-Qpail1A0, Gibliu, Llchc-na-pijna, Cuilleunn, Cua, Claipi, lnoeoin, Gine, Opbo, Llilleanb Gean, Coch Ceanb151, Ceano Nachpach, Rapanb, t)puim Cain, t)puim Pinjin, Upeaoa-na-pi£152, TCaich Gip153, TCaich Paelao, TCaic Gpoa154, Raich t)poma Oeilji1-", 6eanncpaiji, Cpec- paibi, Opbpuibi acup h-Ua Chuipb150; conab 061b po cheat; in bpeo [buaoa] 6enen: ai?a pGasaocnrc a n-5o.P epaic Peapjupa Scanoail? caehub: ab beip a peapa157 6 Gopaib co Durhaij148 n-Dpeapa. Gpic peapjupa in pi£, lcip peocali9 acup cip; nip bo beg leo 1160 n-a juin Ca\pn oeap-jabaip co muip. [1. Opp — B. in marg.~\ X)o chipc Chaipil co n-a bpij 6pu^-pij acup muilcheab'61 map, Seanchua chain, teop T?aeba1(i2 peil, acup leip'6j Cluain Uariia an. Cachaip Chnuip, Cachaip Pinoabpach, Cachaip Chuaiji164 co n-a bail, h Fearghus Seannal See next note. on the west bank of the River Maigh ' From the Eoir to Dumha Dreasa. — (Maigue), in the barony of Upper Connello The tract of land extending from the River and county of Limerick, about four miles " Nore" (an Eoir or an Fheoir) to a moimd to the north of Kilmallock. There are ex- near Cnoc Grafann (Knockgraffon), Tip- tensive ruins of earthen forts here, said by peraiy. This comprises the greater part of tradition to have been erected by Oilioll the ancient Ossory, which was called Laigh- Olum, the ancestor of the O'Donovans. in Deas-ghabhair by the ancient Irish, and There are also the ruins of a circular wall said to have been forfeited to Munster by defended with square towers. The circular the Lagenians for their murder of Fearghus wall is evidently very ancient, and is said Seannal ; or, according to other accounts, of by tradition to have been built by an O'Don- Eidirsceal, thefather of the monarch Conaire nobhain, before the English invasion; but Mor. SeeBookofLeacan,M.22b, b.; 220 6. the square towers are evidently several k Brugh-righ, i. e. Arx regis (Bruree), centuries more modern, and are said to na 5-Ceapc. 89 Chuirc, Mur-bolcan, Geibhtine, Grafann, Aill Mic Cuirr, Magh Naei, Magh n-Eadarbane, Uacht-magh, Caechan Boirne, Mur-mhagh, Magh n-Eanaigh, Tuaim n-Eatain, Magh n-Asail, Eibliu, Ucht-na-rioghna, Cuilleann, Cua, Claire, Inneoin, Aine, Ord, Uilleann Eatan, Loch Ceann, Ceann Nathrach, Rafann, Druim Caein, Druim Finghin, Treada-na-righ, Raith Eire, Raith Faeladh, Raith Arda, Raith Droma Deilge, Beanntraidhe, Greagraidhe, Orbhraidhe and Ui Chuirb; of which the gifted luminary [flamnia sacra] Benean sang : KNOWEST THOU what is called The eric of Fearghus ScannaP ? I know it : I will give a knowledge of it From the Eoir to Dumha Dreasa1. The eric of Fearghus the king, Both in jewels and territory; They obtained in full satisfaction for his death South Laighin even to the sea. Of the right of Caiseal in its power Are Brugh-righk and the great Muilchead1, Seanchuam the beautiful, Ros Raeda11 the bright, And to it belongs the noble [fort of] Cluain Uamha0. Cathair Chnuisp, Cathair Fhionnabhrachq, Cathair Thuaighe1" with its appurtenance have been erected by that branch of the county of Limerick. famous family of Lacy or De Lacy, de- " Ros Raeda Unknown to the Ed. scended from William Gorm, the son of ° Cluairi Uamha, i. e. the Lawn or Mea- Sir Hugh De Lacy, by the daughter of dow of the Cave, Anglice "Cloyne," the head RuaidhriO'Conchobhair(RodericO'Conor), of an ancient bishop's see, in the county the last monarch of all Ireland of the Mile- of Cork. sian race. Brugh-righ is mentioned the P Cathair Chnuis. — Unknown to the Ed. first in order in this list, as it was the prin- q Cathair- Fhionnabhrach. — This is the cipal seat of Oilioll Olum, the ancestor of name of a remarkable stone fort, of the the kings and dominant families of Minister. kind called " Cyclopean," near the village 1 Muilchead Mmlchear, now applied of Cill Fionnabhrach (Kilfenora), in the to a river in the north west of the county county of Clare, also the head of an ancient of Limerick, is a corruption of this name. diocese. m Seanchua, Anglice " Shanahoe," in the r Cathair Thuaighe Unidentified. 90 Cectbhcqi Cachaip ^leano Cirhnach165, Cachaip Chino Chonn, t)un Pip Cten Cholga, Dun n-^aip. Cachaip lTleachaip, Ueamaip Suba, Qip 6ililG6 map, maineach, puao, aenach m-6eappun'67, TTIaj Cailli cafn, Gpo Conaill, pa comaip chuan'68. apo TTlic Conaill169, la h-CIpb Ruioi, Uuaipceapc TTIaiji, mufneach clap170, lTlaj Saipi171, po peajao aipriie, la ceopa Qipne ap muip map172. Qenach Caipppi, t)puim TTlop, t)puim Cain, Cachaip Chuipc pop aici173 muip, ITIupb-bolcan174, ^eibcine, ^Jpapano lp lep uili, Qill TTlic Cuipp'73. 8 Cathair Ghleanna Amhnach, i.e. the stone fort of Gleann Amhiiach, which is the ancient and real name of " Glanworth," in " Roche's country," in the north of the county of Cork. See Smith's Natural and Civil History of Cork, book ii. c. 7. I Cathair ChinnChon, Anglice " Caher- kincon," a (Cyclopean) stone fort near Eockbarton, the seat of Lord Guillamore, in the barony of Small County, and county of Limerick. There are extensive remains of such stone forts in this immediate neigh- bourhood, which indicate its having been anciently a place of importance. II Dun Fir Aen Cholga Unidentified. v DunGair This fort was on the hill of " Doon," over Loch Gair (Lough Gur), barony of Small Comity, Limerick. See Fitzgerald's Stat. Ace. Limerick. This hill and lake were fortified by Brian Borumha, in the tenth century. w Cathair Meathais — This was proba- bly the ancient name of the great (Cyclo- pean) fortress now called Cathair na Steige (Stague Fort), situated in the parish of Kilcrohane, barony of Dunkerron, in the county of Kerry. See Vail. Collect, vol. vi., and Baron Foster's model in the Museum of the Dublin Society. x Teamhair Shubha This was proba- bly another name for Teamhair Luachra, which was the name of a fort near Beal Atha na Teamhrach, in the parish of Dysart, near Castle Island, in the county of Kerry. yAir Bile, or, as it is written in the prose, Ard Bili, i. e. the height or hill of the tree. There is a place of this name near " Bally-mack-elligott," in the barony of Clanmaurice, and coimty of Kerry. z Aenach m-Bearrain Perhaps the fort N. by W. of Barrane, four miles E. of Kilrush, in Clare. a Magh Caille Unknown to the Ed. b Ard Chonaill, i. e. the height or hill of Conall Unknown to the Editor. c Ard Mic Conaill, Ard Ruidhe, Tuais- ceart Muighe, Magh Saire. These places, being mentioned immediately before the na 5-Ceajic. 91 Cathair Ghleanna Amhnachs, Catliair Chinn Chon', Dun Fir Aen Cholga", Dun GairT. Catliair Meathaisw, Teamhair Shubha*, Air Biley, the great, wealthy, red, Aenach m-Bearrain2, the beautiful Magh Caillea, Arc! Chonaillb, the meeting place of hosts. Arcl Mic Conaillc, with Ard Ruidhec, Tuaisceart Muighec, wealthy plain, Magh Sairee, worthy of reckoning, With the three Arasd in the great sea. Aenach Cairpre6, Druim Morf, Druim Caeing, Cathair Chuirch close to the sea, Mur-bolcan', Geibhtinek, Grafann1 All belong to it, [and] Aill Mic Cuirrm. Aras, are evidently in the county of Clare, but the Editor has not identified them. d The three Aras, i. e. the three islands of Ara (Arann) in the Bay of Galway, which originally belonged to Corcumruadh. Tlie largest of these islands was granted by Aenghus, king of Minister, to St. Eanna, who built several chinches upon it. For some accoimt of the forts on these islands, see O'Flaherty's Iar-Connacht, by Hardi- nian, pp. 77, 78. e Aenach Cairpre, i. e. the fair of the territory of Cairbre. This is the place now called Mainister an Aenaigh, Anglice Mannisteranenagh, i.e. the Monastery of the Fair, from a great monastery erected by the Ui Bhriain (O'Briens), a short time previous to the English invasion. It is situated in the barony of " Pubblebrian, " hi the county of Limerick. f Druim Mor, i. e. the great ridge. This is probably the Dromore near Mallow. S Druim Caein, i. e. dorsum amanum, " Drumkeen," but which of the many places so called, in Minister, has not been deter mined. b Cathair Chuirc, i. e. the stone fort of Core ; probably the ancient name of Cathair- gheal, a great fort near Cahersiveen. ' Mur-bolcan, i.e. the inlet "Trabolgan," east of the entrance of Cork harbour. kGeibhtine, now Eas Geibhtine (Askea- ton), on the Daeil (Deel). 1 Grafann, now Cnoc Grafann, Anglice Knockgraffon, a townland giving name to a parish hi the barony of Middlethird and county of Tipperary. There is a very large moat here surrounded by a fosse. This was the principal seat of the Ui Suileabhain (O'Sulhvans), till the year 1192, when they were driven thence by the English, who erected a castle close to the moat. For some liistorical references to this place the reader is referred to Keating's History of Ireland, reign of Cormac mac Airt, and the Annals of the Four Masters, A. D. 1192. '» Aill Mic Cuirr, i. e. the cliff of Mac Cuirr. Unknown to the Editor. 92 Cectbhaji TTIu^ Muf176, ITIa^ n-6oapba, Uachr-map77, Caechan 66ipni, buan in poo bo'n pij178, TDup-Triaj map, lTlaj n-6anai£ Ropa, Cuaim n-Gi6in179, abpa do rip. Qpal, Gibleo, Llcc-na-pijna, in muip im a lina lopj, Cuilleanb lp Cua tp Cldipi, lnoeoin acup Qine lp Opb. h-Llilleanb Gcan [ip] Coch Ceano, Ceanb Nachpach, alca Rapann, ip a pip' <Dpuim Cain, t)puim pm^in peba181, ip leip cid Upeaba-na-pij. n Magh Naei, Sfc. — These, which were names of plains on which the king of Mini- ster had forts, are unidentified. ° Caechan Boime This was the name of a fort in Boirinn (Bun-en), in the county of Clare, where, though there are countless (Cyclopean) forts, there is none bearing this name at present. p Mur-mhagh, i. e. sea plain — This is probably "Murvy," in the great Island of Ara. 1 Magh Eanaigh Rosa Unknown to the Editor. r Tuaim n Eidhin.. — Unknown to the Editor. 8 Asal. — This fort was at Cnoc Droma Asail, now Tory Hill, near Croom, in the county of Limerick. 1 Eibhleo This was a fort in Sliabh Eibhlinne, in the county of Tipperary, ad- joining the barony of " Coonagh," in the county of Limerick. u Ucht-na-rioghna, i. e. the breast of the queen. Unknown to the Editor. v Cuilleann, now Cuilleann 0 g-Cua- nach, in the barony of Clanwilliam and county of Tipperary, but originally, as its name indicates, in the territory of Ui Chuanach, which is supposed to be included in the present barony of " Coonagh," in the county of Limerick. w Cua This seat was at Sliabh Cua, in the county of Waterford, a short dis- tance to the south of Clonmel. See p. 1 6, note ', supra. * Claire — This was the name of a con- spicuous hill situated immediately to the east of Duntryleague, in the barony of Coshlea, and county of Limerick. There are, however, two forts still called Dun g- Claire, said to have been regal residences of the kings of Minister ; one now called Lios Dun g-Claire, i. e. the fort Dim g-Claire, situated on the boundary be- tween the townlands of Glenbrohaun and Glenlara, in the barony of Coshlea, and county of Limerick ; and the other in the townland of Farrannacarriga, parish of Ballynacourty, barony of Corcaguiny, and county of Kerry. y Inneoin — This place is now called mullac lnneona, i.e. the summit of Inneoin, Anglice Mullaghinnone, a town- land in the parish of Newchapel, near the na 5-Ceajic. Magh Naein, Magh n-Eadarba", Uacht-magli", Caechan Boirne", constant the road for the king, The great Mur-mhaghp, Magh Eanaigh Rosaq, Tuaim n-Eidhinr, with its brow to the land. Asals, Eibhleo', Ucht-na-rioghnau, The fort with its numerous attendants, Cuilleannv and Cuaw and Claire*, Inneoiny and Ainez and Orda. Uilleann Eatanb and Loch Ceann0, Ceann Nathrachd, the houses of Rafann6, it is true, Druim Caeinf, Druim Finghing of the wood, And with it Treada-na-rioghh. 93 town of Clonmel, barony of Iffa and Offa East, county of Tipperary. Here are the ruins of a castle, which probably occupy the site of the more ancient fort. See Keating, in the reign of Connac mac Airt. z Aine, now Cnoc Aine, a conspicuous hill in a parish of the name, in the barony of Small County, Limerick. There is a fort on the summit of this hill which commands an extensive prospect of the country in every direction. For some ac- count of the places which can be seen from it, see Book of Leinster, in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 2, 18, fol. 105. a Ord. — Unknown to the Editor. b Uilleann Eatan Unknown to the Ed. c Loch Ceann, i. e. lake of the heads. — Unknown to the Editor. d Ceann Nathrach, head or hill of the adder or adders, the ancient name of Ceann Sleibhe, a beautiful mountain over the lake of Inchiquin, near Corofin, in the county of Clare. From this place Aenghus Cinn Nathrach, the fifth son of Cas, and ancestor of the family of O'Deaghaidh (O'Dea), took his cognomen. e Rafann — See Grafann, p. 9 1 , note ', supra. f Druim Caein — This was probably the name of a subdivision of Sliabh Caein, now Sliabh Riach, on the borders of the coun- ties of Limerick and Cork. S Druim Finghin. — This is the name of a long ridge of high ground extending from near Castle Lyons in the county of Cork, to the Bay of Dungarvan in the county of Waterford, and dividing the barony of De- cies within Drum, from that of Decies without Drum [i. e. without or outside Druim Finghin]. h Treada-na-rioffh, i.e. Tre-dui na riogh, the triple-fossed fort of the kings. This was probably the ancient name of the great moat at Kilnnnan, near Kilmallock, in the county of Limerick, which consists of a moat placed in the centre, and three outer ramparts of circumvallation. The Editor was once of opinion that this was one of the forts called Dun g- Claire, but he has been convinced of the contrary by the ex- istence elsewhere, and not distant, of a fort called Dun g-Claire. 94 Leabhcqi Raich Gipc, Raich paelao, Raich Gpoa lp leip "Raich t)poma t3eilj cheap, 6eanDcpaiji, ^pecpaibi, Opopaioi acup h-Ua Chu.pp a po Feap. CLKO. [peaSCfoaR]. ■ Rath Eire, i. e. Earc's fort. Unknown in the county of Limerick, to the Editor. See poem on the druid ' Rath Arda, i. e. the fort or rath of the Mogh Euith, verse 22, Book of Lismore, height. This is evidently the place called fol. 103, b. Eath Arda Suird, in the Annals of the k Rath Faeladh, i. e. Fraeladh's rath, Four Masters, A. M. 305, which is that or earthen fort — This is probably the an- now called Eath-Suird, a townland situated cient name of Eath Gaela, or " Eathkeale," in the parish of Donaghmore, near the city ncc 5-Cectjic. 95 Rath Eire1, Rath Faeladh\ Rath Arda" And eke Ratli Droma Deilgm south, Beanntraidhe", Greagraidhe0, Orbhraidhep And Ui Chuirpq as is known KNOWEST THOU. of Limerick. Tliere is an old castle there, "Beanntraidhe, now Bantry, in the coun- situate on a rising ground, and, close to ty of Cork. it on the western side, the ancient fort to ° Greagraidhe Unknown to the Ed. which the name was originally applied. p Orb/traidhe, Anglice Orrery. See p. m Rath Droma Deilg, i. e. fort of the 64, note ', supra. ridge of the thorn. Unknown to the Ed. i Ui Chuirp Unknown to the Ed. 9G Ceabhap iL— Dcisheaoh rci^h cnrcuachctN. t)0 SOCnCfR Chonbace ano po pip, ariiail ab pet) 6enen: Cipa acup euapipcla Conbace .1. mop chip Conoacc lap bia- ehao1 acup corhioeache: ceaoamup co Cpuachain: Q h-Llmall brio eipnijeeap cipa Conoacc co Cpuachain ppiup: Coic pichic bo acup coic pichic cope acup coic pichib leano a h-Urhull [mn] pin. Coic pichic barn acup coic pichic luljach acup cpt pichic muc2 acup peapca3 bpac 6 ^(h)pe5paioi anb pin. Ceachpacha ap bet cheb bpac acup od cheb bo acup pichi ap cheao muc 6 Chonmaicnib pin. Ceo bo acup ceac n-barin 6 Chiappaibib inb pin: peapca bpac oeapj acup peapca cope 6 Chiappaioib beop ano pin. Se chaeca luljach, cpi chaeca cope, cpi chaeca bpac 6 na Cui£- nib cacha 6eallcaine, acup cpi chaeca oam ; acup ni ap baipi na (b)-pineabach pin, ace ap oafpi peip acup peapamb4. Ceachpaca ap cheo bo acup peachc (5)-ceac caepach5 — no ip 00 chaepaib lapainb, — caeca ap cpi ceac muc acup caeca ap cpi ceao oam 6 na Copcaib ino pin. Caeca ap cheab bpac beapj acup caeca ap ceac cope acup caeca ap ceacn-oam 6 na Oealbnaib inopin, ap a (o^eealgao 'n-a (b)-cip(i. Seachcmoja bpac, peachemoga cope a h-Uib lTlaine cap ceano a (b)-cipi. VVUa&piuin acup Sil ITIuipea^aij acup Ui Piacpach acupcenel n-Geba paep-chuacha inb pin, acup corh-paepa ppi pij [lacj, acup ni chiajaib peachc no pluaigeuo ace ap chpoo; acup ni ehiugaib 1 (sj)-cach la pij ace ap a log7 ; acup bia mapbehap acup co pu mapbehap 0I1516 in pij a n-epic 00 ic on pij, acup in can nach (m)-bia8 piji la Sil Piachpa, no Cteba, no ^ua'P1, T ^eo guala beup pij Conbace lap in (b)-peap ip peapp bib. TTId 06 (b^eeajma ap beo- na 5-Ceajiu. 97 II.— THE PRIVILEGES OF THE KING OF CRUACHAIN. OF THE REVENUE of Connacht down here, as Benean has related : The rents and stipends of Connacht, i. e. the great tribute of Con- nacht both refection and escort: first to Cruachain: From Umhall the tributes of Connacht are first presented to Crua- chain : Five score cows and five score hogs and five score mantles from Umhall. Five score oxen and five score milch-cows and three score hogs and sixty cloaks from the Greagraidhe. Two hundred and forty cloaks and two hundred cows and a hun- dred and twenty hogs from the Conmaicne. A hundred cows and a hundred oxen from the Ciarraidhe; also sixty red cloaks and sixty hogs from the Ciarraidhe. Six times fifty milch-cows, three times fifty hogs, three times fifty cloaks from the Luighne every May-day, and three times fifty oxen ; and this is not in consequence of inferiority of [race in] those tribes, but in consequence of the liability of the grass and laud. A hundred and forty cows and seven hundred caercha (sheep) — or caera iarainn (masses of iron) — three hundred and fifty hogs and three hundred and fifty oxen from the Corca. A hundred and fifty red cloaks, a hundred and fifty hogs and a hundred and fifty oxen from the Dealbhna, and this for maintaining them in their territory. Seventy cloaks, seventy hogs from the Ui Maine for their terri- tory. The Ui Briuin and the Siol Muireadhaigh and the Ui Fiachrach and the Cineal Aedha are free tribes, and they are equally noble as the king, and they do not go upon an expedition or hosting except for pay ; H 98 Cectbhaji paioeachc a (j)-cpich n-aili, ip leo juala pij Caipil, no pij Naip, no pi j Barhna lTlaichi. Conao ooib-pin9 po chachain in bill buaba 6enein: eisci^ Re seaNchas nach puaiii aipb-pij Conbacc claibearii puaib; oo neoch oligeap 6 chip chall10 'n-a eineach, 'n-a eimcclanb. IDop chip Conbacc co Cpuacham cean ofvheap, 6 6ea£-chuachaibn, each nf oia n-blij bilpi12, pmachc, biachao acup coiriiioeacc. Coic pichic bo, buan a m-blab, coic pichic cope, caeb leacan, coic pichic leanb, lijoa [a n-jgapc, a h-Urhall oo pi Conoacc. Qipb chip na n-^peagpaibi a bep13 : bo pf14 Conbacc buij ao beap15 cuic pichib barii co n-a n-oach'6, bo pij Conoacc ip Cpuachan. Cpf pichic muc, mop in pmachc, acup epi pichic pij bpac, 3 Tribute — eineaclann. This word is which two parts, Upper and Lower, it has used by Dubhaltach Mac Firbisigh in the in latter ages been divided, the town of sense of stipend or salary ; but when applied Cathair na Mart (Westport) standing on to a king it means " a tribute paid to him the boundary between them. These two in consideration of his protection." It some- divisions were in former times usually times means eric or fine. called " the Owles" (Ools) by English b Cruachain. — Vide supra, p. 20, note '; writers, and absurdly Latinized Pomum, p. 34, note °. For the remains still to be as " O'Malley de Porno," State Papers, seen at this place the reader is further re- temp. Henry VIII. vol. ii. part iii. p. 4, ferred to the Editor's translation of the A. D. 1515. Since the introduction of sur- Annals of the Four Masters, pp. 204-206. names the family of O'Maille (O'Malley) c Umhall, hi the west of Mayo, com- have been chiefs in this district. They are prising the baronies of " Burrishoole" and descended from Conall Oirbsean, one of the " Murrisk" (see p. 19, note ', supra), into twenty-four sons of Brian, the common an- na 5-Ceajic. 99 and they do not go into battle with the king but for reward; and it' they be killed, and upon their being killed, the king is bound to give eric to their king ; and when the kingdom [of Connacht] does not be- long to the race of Fiachra or Aedh or Guaire, the best man of them is privileged to sit by the right shoulder of the king of Connacht. If they happen to be in exile in another territory, they are to sit at the right shoulder of the king of Caiseal, or of the king of Nas, or of the king of Eamhain Macha. Of which things the gifted scion Benean sang: HEARKEN TO A HISTORY, which is not trifling, Of the supreme-king of Connacht of the red swords ; What he is entitled to from his own country For his protection, [and] as tribute*. The great tribute of Connacht [to be conveyed] to Cruachaiu' Without disrespect, from goodly districts, Everything that to right is due, Tribute, refection and escort. Five score cows of lasting condition, Five score hogs of broad sides, Five score mantles, beautiful their texture, From Umhallc to the king of Connacht. The high tribute of the Greagraidhed I shall mention: To the king of Connacht they certainly shall pay Five score oxen of good color, To the king of Connacht and Cruachain. Three score hogs, great the tribute, And three score royal cloaks, cestor of the families of O'Conchobhair, the county of Sligo, supposed to be co-ex- O'Flaithbheartaigh, and other chieftain tensive with the barony of ''Coolavin." See families of Connacht, and are not of French O'Flaherty's Ogygia, part hi. c. 46 ; but it origin, as some of themselves now wish to be was originally much more extensive. The believed. See O'Fla. Ogygia, part iii. c. 79. ancient inhabitants of this district were de- A Greagraidhe, now ridiculously called scended from Aenghus Fionn, the son of •' the Gregories," a district in the south of Fearghus, king of Ulster in the first century. H 2 100 Ceabhaji coic pichic loiljeach anall 6 Chpecpaibi na (j^-caem-cpanD17. t)a pichic oec bpac co m-bpij, oa ceac bo cean imap pirn19, ochcmoja muc, mop a m-bloioiy, bleajap oo na Conmaicmb. Coic pichic bo mop, co m-blcno, coic pichic bam bo oamaib 6 Chiappaioi, cpuaib in pmachc, do chabuipc'20 bo pi Conoachc. e Conmaicne, i. e. descendants of Con- mhac, son of Fearghus, ex-king of Ulster, in the first century, by Meadhbh, queen of Comiacht. There were three territories of this name in Connacht, namely, Con- maicne Cluneal Dubhain, now the barony of Dumnore, in the north of the county of Galway ; Conmaicne Cuile Toladh, now the barony of Kilmaine, in the south of the county of Mayo ; and Conmaicne Mara, now the barony of Ballynahinch, in the north- west of the county of Galway. It should be remarked that before the Dalcassian families, called Dealbhna, settled in West or Iar Connacht, the Conmaicne Mara, or maritime Conmaicne, had possession of all that part of the present county of Galway lying west of Loch Measca (Mask) and Loch Oirbsean (Corrib), and between Galway and the harbour of Cael Shaile Ruadli (Killary), all which district has its old name still revived or preserved in the cor- rupted form of " Connamara." See Hardi- man's edition of O'Flaherty's Iar-Connacht, pp. 31, 92, &c. &c. f Ciarraidhe. — These were also de- scended from Fearghus, ex-king of Ulster, and derive their name and origin from Ciar, one of the illegitimate sons of Fearghus, by Meadhbh, queen of Connacht. The Ciar- raidhe of Connacht had been seated in Mini- ster for some centuries before they removed to Connacht. According to a MS in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 3, 17, p. 875, they removed to Connacht in the reign of Aedh, son of Eochaidh Tirm- charna the eighth Christian king of Con- nacht, under the conduct of Cairbre, son of Conaire. As the account of the Ciar- raidhe of Connacht given in that manu- script is very curious, and determines the situation of an ancient Irish church, the position of which has much puzzled mo- dem writers, the Editor is tempted here to present the reader with a literal trans- lation of it. " When first did the Ciarraidhe come into Comiacht? Not difficult. In the time of Aedh, son of Eochaidh Tirmcharna. Which of them came in first ? Not diffi- cult. Coirbri, son of Conairi, who came from the south of Minister, whence he had been expelled. He came with all his peo- ple to Aedh, son of Eochaidh Tirmchania. Coirbri had a famous daughter, and king Aedh asked her of her father. She came na 5-Ceapn. 101 Five score milch-cows [are also brought] over From the Greagraidhe of the fine trees. Twelve score cloaks of strength, Two hundred cows without defect of reckoning Eighty hogs, great their fame, Are due of the Conmaicnee. Five score great cows of repute, Five score oxen of oxen From the Ciarraidhef, heavy the tributeg, Are given to the king of Connacht. one time to her father's house, and her fa- ther conceiving great grief in her presence, she asked him whence his grief arose. ' My being without lands in exile,' said he. Messengers afterwards arrived from the king to see the daughter, but she resolved not to go to the king imtil he should give a good tract of land to her father. ' I will give him,' said Aedh, ' as much of the wooded lands to the west as he can pass round in one day, and St. Caelainn, the pious, shall be given as a guarantee of it.' Coirbri afterwards went round a great ex- tent of that country, according to the mode directed, and finally returned to his house, and settled his people in these lands. The men of Connacht greatly criminated Aedh for the too great extent of land, as they deemed, which he had given away, and said that Coirbri should be killed. ' This cannot be done,' said Aedh, ' for Caelainn is guarantee for himself and for his land. But, however, let some beer be made by you for him, and give him a poisonous draught in that beer, that he may die of it.' A feast was, therefore, afterwards prepared. This whole affair was revealed by the Lord to St. Caelainn, and she came to the feast. ' Why hast thou violated my guarantee ?' said she to Aedh. ' I will violate thee as regards thy kingdom.' ' Accept thy own award in compensation for it,' said the king. ' I will,' said Caelainn. ' Pass thy sentence then,' said the king. ' I will, said she. ' Because it is through the me- dium of beer thou soughtest to destroy Coirbri, may the king of Connacht meet decline or certain death if ever he drink of the beer of the Ciarraidhi.' Hence it came to pass that the Ciarraidhi never brew any beer for the kings of Connacht. ' Grant land to myself,' said the mm. ' Choose it,' said the king. The Tearmonn Mor was afterwards given, where her church is at the present day." St. Caelainn, who was of the race of Ciar, son of Fearghus, is still held in the highest veneration in the territories of Ciarraidhe Aei (in the west of the county of Roscom- mon), and Ciarraidhe Locha na n-Airneadh (in the barony of Costello, and county of Mayo). Her church is still sometimes called Tearmonn Caelainne, and sometimes Tearmonn Mor. It is situate in the parish of " Kilkeevin," in the territory of Ciar- raidhe Aei, about one mile to the east of 102 LeaUicqi Cpi pichio bpac oeapj, nach Dub'1, cpi pichic rope, caeb lebap, 6 ChiappaioiB, cpuaib in bpear2'-, 'p-a (o)-cabaipc23 uili ap oen learh. t)leajap bo £,ui£nib cean lochc, a (o)-cup5norh ppip in long-pope24, peachc (5)-caeca lul^ach ille oo chobaipe cacli 6ellcaine'-4. Cpi chaeca cope, lp capboa, a (o)-copaccain each Samna, cpi caeca bpac co n-a m-blao oo pi£ Conbacc ip Cpuchan. lp Don chain cheacna, po clop, can eajoip26, can ain-b-plaichup, cpi caeca oarh ap 16 ille27 oo ppichailearh28 chpebaipi. the town of "Castlerea." See the Ord- nance Map of the county of Roscommon, sheets 20, 26. See also the Aimals of Ulster and the Four Masters, at the year 1225, where it is stated that the English and the people of Minister, having gone into the province of Connaeht to attack O'Neill (who had gone thither to assist the sons of Ruaidhri O'Conchobhair), attempted to plunder this church of Tearmonn Cael- ainne, but that they were slaughtered through the miracles of the saint. We are, however, informed by the Annals of Kilro nan, that in the year 1236 the Justiciary of Ireland went to Connaeht to assist Wil- liam Burke, and succeeded in burning Tearmonn Caelainne, in despite of the peo- ple, regardless of the sanctity of the place. See Mac Firbisigh's Genealogies of the Irish Saints, p. 733, and an Inquisition, taken on the 27th of May. 1017, which finds that " Termon-Kealand" belonged to the mo- nastery of Roscommon. See Tribes and Customs of the Ui Fiachrach, page 153, note ". We have still sufficient evidence to prove the extent of the country of the Ciarraidhe of Connaeht. It comprised the whole of the present barony of Claumor- ris, in the county of Mayo, except the Tearmonn of Balla; also that portion of the barony of Costello belonging to the arch- diocese of Tuam, namely, the parishes of A.ghamore, Knock, Bekan, and Annagh, which was called Ciarraidhe Locha na n-Airneadh; the district of Ciarraidhe Aei, now Claim Ceithearnaigh (O' Flaherty's Ogygia, part iii. c. 46), in Roscommon, ex- tending, according to the most intelligent of the natives, from the bridge of" Cloon- alis,"near Castlerea, westwards to "Cloon- eane," where it adjoins the county of Mayo, and from " Clooncan" to Cluain Creamh- choille, " Clooncraffield," where it adjoins the territory of Airteach, and thence in the na 5-Cecqic. L03 [Also] three score red cloaks, not black, Three score hogs of long sides From the Ciarraidhe, hard the sentence, Are all to be brought to one place. There are due of the Luighne'1 without fault, As a supply for the residence, Seven times fifty milch-cows hither To be brought every May-day. Thrice fifty bull-like hogs To be brought every Samhain, Thrice fifty superb cloaks To the king of Connacht and Cruachain. Of the same tribute, it was heard, Without injustice, without tyranny, Thrice fifty oxen on a day hither To supply the ploughing. other direction to " Cloonaff," adjoining Lord Mountsandford's demesne ; and also Ciarraidhe Airtich, which is still well known, and comprises the parishes of Tibo- hine and Kilnamanagh, in the modern grand jury barony of " Frenchpark," in the north-west of the county of Roscom- mon. S Great the tribute. It will be observed that the lungs of Connacht contrived to make the Ciarraidhe and other tribes, who had migrated from Munster, pay more than a rateable tribute for their territory. See the tribute paid by the Luighne, the descend- ants of Cormac Gaileanga, son of Tadhg, son of Cian, son of Oilioll Omm, king of Munster, and by the Dealbhna, who were of the race of Cormac Cas, son of the same Oilioll. See note °, p. 106, infra. h Luighne These derived their name and origin from Luigh, son of Cormac Gaileang, just mentioned, and were other- wise called Gaileanga from the cognomen of their ancestor. The exact limits of their territory are preserved in those of the dio- cese of Achadh Chonaire (Achonry) in the comities of Sligo and Mayo. The name Luighne is still preserved hi that of the barony of " Leyny" in the county of Sligo, which was the territory of the family of O'h-Ara (O'Hara) ; and that of Gaileanga, their alias name, in that of the barony of " Gallen," in the county of Mayo ; but these modern baronies do not comprise all the territory of the Luighne or Gaileanga, for we have the clearest evidence that the entire of Sliabh Lugha, which forms about the northern half of the barony of Costello, belonged to O'Gadlira (O'Gara) and was a part of the country of the Luighne or Gaileanga. On the increasing power of the Anglo-Norman families of Jordan de Exe- ter, and Nangle or Costello, the O'Gadhras were driven out of their original territory, 104 Leabhoji Ce oa beapaio29 Cui^ne llle a (5)-cain30 cap ceanD a (o)-cipe, ni h-iaD, na cuacha31, lp oaep ano ace in peapM ip a' peapano. Qipo-chip na (£)-Copc, cean chpuaioi, do chobaipe each aen uaipi33 do pij ITlaiji h-Qe34 na n-each peachc (b)-pichic bo, ni ban bpeach. Seachc (£)-caeca do chaepaib laipn, peachc (j)-caecao muc co mop jliaio35, peachc (5)-caecao oarh, Dilp pmachc, do beap do pi Conoachc36. Upf chaeca bpac copepa, ao clop, can am-pip, cean lmapbup37, ip oo t)(h)elbnaib oleajap pin do pij Connachc co Cpuachain38. and they acquired a new settlement for them- selves in the territory of the Greagraidhe ("Coolavin," as already stated). ' But the grass and the land. — The ter- ritory of Luighne or Gaileanga (for they were originally synonymous) anciently be- longed to an enslaved tribe of the Firbolgs (called " Gaileans" and " Damnonians"), who inhabited this territory down to the third century, when Cormac Gaileang, after having incurred the censure of his father Tadhg, in Munster, fled thither and obtained a grant of this Firbolg territory from his kinsman Cormac mac Airt, mo- narch of Ireland, subject, however, to the heavy tributes which had been paid by the dispossessed Aitheach Tuatha (Atta- cots). See O'Flaherty's Ogygia, c. 69. k Corca The Editor knows no tribe of this name in Connacht except Corca Ach- lann and Corca Firtri, who were both of the royal race of Eochaidh Muighmheadhan, and Corca Mogha (in Ui Maine), descended from Buan, the son of the druid Mogh Ruith ; D. Mac Firb. MS. Geneal. p. 535. That dis- trict is now supposed to be co-extensive with the parish of Kilkerrin, near Dun- more, in the north of Galway; but this small territory could not have paid the im- mense tribute mentioned in the text. 1 King of Magh Aei. — The king of Con- nacht was so called from the situation of his palace of Cruachain in the Plain of Magh Aei, or Campus Connaciw, now Machaire Chonnacht, a beautiful plain in the county of Roscommon, extending from near the town of Roscommon to the verge of the barony of Boyle, and from the bridge of " Cloonfree," near Strokestown, west- wards to Castlerea. These are the present limits of this plain, according to tradition, but it would appear from the position of Ciarraidhe Aei, that this plain extended farther to the west. na 5-Ceapc. 105 Although the Luighne bring hither Their tribute for their territory, It is not the tribes here are ignoble But the grass and the land1 [are liable]. The high tribute of the Corcak, without severity, To be given every time (year) To the king of Magh Aei1 of steeds, Seven score cows, no light award™. Seven times fifty masses of iron, Seven times fifty hogs of great battle, Seven times fifty oxen, lawful the tribute, They shall give to the king of Connacht. Three times fifty red cloaks, it was heard, Without injustice, without transgression, Of the Dealbhna11 are these due To the king of Connacht at Cruachain. mNo light award.— The Irish word ban is used to denote bl«wk in such compounds as the present ; as bdn-rhaiDm, a defeat caused by panic or terror, without shed- ding blood ; bdn-rhapcpa, i. e. martyr- dom effected by subduing the passions, without shedding blood. n Dealbhna. — The Dealbhna (Delvins) are descended from Sumann, son of Lughaidh Dealbhaeth, the third son of Cas, ancestor of the family of O'Briain, of North Munster. Their possessions in Connacht comprised the present barony of " Moycullen" in the county of Galway, which was anciently called Dealbhna Feadha, and Dealbhna Tire da Loch, from its situation between Loch Oirbsean (Cor- rib), and Loch Lurgan, or the Bay of Gal- way ; Dealbhna Cuile Fabhair, otherwise called Muintir Fathaidh, situate on the east side of Loch Corrib, and comprising fourteen Bailes or townlands, which be- longed to the family of O'Fathartaigh, "Faherty;" and Dealbhna Nuadhat, seated between the rivers Suca (Suck) and Sion- nain (Shannon) ; nearly all included in the barony of "Athlone," in the county of Roscommon. See O'Fla. Ogygia, part iii. c. 82 ; and Annals of the Four Masters, at the years 751, 816, 1142; D. Mac Fir- bisigh's Genealogical work (Marquis of Drogheda's copy), p. 345 ; and Tribes and Customs of the Ui Maine, p. 83. The family of Mac Conroi (now " King"), O'h-Adh- naidh (Hyney), and O'Fathartaigh (O'Fa- herty), were the chief families of this race after the establishment of surnames. The tribe of Dealbhna Nuadhat sank under the Ui Maine before the establishment of sur- names. The last notice of them, in the Annals of the Four Masters, occurs under the year 751. There were other territories called Dealbhna, in the ancient Meath, con- cerning whom see notes further on. 106 Leabhap Cpf chaeca cope cean cacha, cpf chaeca bam n-oeaj oaca 6 T3(h)ealbnaib ariiain — ni bpeag; olejap a' cam bo comeac39. Nocho n-ap oafpi na (b)-peap; mean bao h-e in peapann peapmap40 ni chibpaibip cam llle, mean bao ap ceanb a (o)-cipi.41 TTlop chain h-Ua TTlaine oo'n maij, ip mebaip le cac peanchaib; ochemoja42 bpac — noco bpej, ochemoja4* cpoc [cope], ip cpom-cpeac. ^e bo beapap in chain cain 6 Qib maine bo'n mop maij43, ip cap ceano a (b)-cipi chall oleajap in chain oo chomall14. Saep-chuacha Conbacc cean cheap45, ni bleajap oib cam coimbeap46; h-Lli 6pivnn na longaib na leap47, Sil Hluipeabaij na muinceap. 0 It is not for ignobility of the men, with his brothers Colla Uais and Colla that is, although the Dealbhna pay a great Meann, subdued the greater part of Ulster, tribute to the king of Connacht, they are and destroyed the palace of Eamhain Ma- not regarded by him as slaves, as were the cha (Emania), in the year 332 Vid. ibid. Firbolg tribes who preceded them, because pp. 54, 85, &c, and in the Life of St. Greal- they are of the royal blood of Munster ; Ian, the patron of this race there cited, a but having, by consent of the king, settled full account of Maine Mor, their progeni- in lands subject to heavy tribute at the pe- tor, who settled in this territory in the riod of their settlement, they were obliged reign of Duach Galach, the third Chris- to pay the tributes which had been ren- tian king of Connacht, who permitted dered by their enslaved predecessors — See them to dispossess Cian, the Firbolg king Tribes and Customs of the Ui Maine, of the district, which was then called p. 85, note f. Magh Sein-cheineoil, and of the extent of P Ui Maine, Anglice " Hy Many", &c. the territory of the Ui Maine, &c, &c. The i. e. the descendants of Maine, the fourth extent there defined must, however, be in descent from Colla da Chrioch, who, regarded as its extent after the conquest na 5-Cect|ic. 107 Thrice fifty hogs without deficiency, Thrice fifty oxen of goodly color, From the Dealbhna alone, — no falsehood ; It is lawful to maintain the tribute. It is not for ignobility of the men" ; Were it not for the grassy land They would not bring tribute hither, Unless on account of their territory. The great tribute of the Ui Mainep to the plain (of Cruachain), It is recollected by every historian ; Eighty cloaks, — it is no falsehood ; Eighty hogs, a heavy herd. Though this fine tribute is given By the Ui Maine to the great plain (of Cruachain), It is for their own country15 That it is lawful to keep up the tribute. The free tribes of Connacht without sorrow, No ample tribute of them is due ; The Ui Briuinr of the ships of the seas, The Siol Muireadhaigh5 of the tribes. of the Dealbhna Nuadhat, who possessed r The Ui Brinin (Nepotes Briani), the the territory lying between the rivers Suca descendants of Brian, brother of Niall of (Suck) and Sionnain (Shannon), till about the Nine Hostages. These were consi- the beginning of the ninth century, when dered the relatives of the king of Connacht, thej' were vanquished and enslaved by the and were exempt from the payment of tri- celebrated warrior Cathal, son of Oilioll, bnte. After the establislunent of surnames, king of Ui Maine Ibid. the principal families of this race were those i For their country, that is, because the of O'Conchobhair (O'Conors) of Connacht, Ui Maine (Nepotes Manii, the Ulster of O'Flaithbheartaigh (O'Flahertys) of tribe) were permitted by the king of Conn- the Ui Briuin Seola (the barony of Clare, acht to subdue the Firbolgs, who paid the in the county of Galway), of O'Ruairc tribute of an enslaved people. The for- (O'Rourkes) of West Breifne (the county of mer, therefore, were obliged to pay the Leitrim), and of O'Raghallaigh (O'Reillys) same tribute, though they were considered of East Breifne (the county of Cavan), with noble, as being of the race of Conn of the various collateral branches. Hundred Battles. s Siol Muireadhaigh, i. e. the seed or 108 Ceabhap h-Ui Piachpach in moiji moip, Cenel n-Geoa, — ni h-ecoip, ni oleajap oib cam nd pmachc4S do ehobaipc do pij Conoucc. Na clanDa pm can chip coin49, mao ail, ploinoeao50 a pochaip : corh-Duchai j 061b imale ce be oib oa po in pije. ^e bi oib oeach laip 1 (5)-cach le pij Conoachc lp Cpuuchan, Dia mapbehap do jaib no 'n-gleic5 oleagap54 a Ic 'p-a epeic. Uaip nocho 0I15 neach53 oib-pin oul 1 (5)-cach no coriilonoaib54 la pi ConDacc chaime cpuiD, minab55 ap ceano ruapipcuil. race of Muireadhach Muilleathan, king of Connacht. See the Introduction. After the establishment of surnames, the princi- pal families of this race, who were the most distinguished of the Ui Briuin, were those of O'Conchobhair (O'Conors) of Magh Aei, kings of Connacht ; of Mac Diarmaid (Mac Dermots) of Magh Lurg (Moylurg) ; of Mac Oireachtaigh (Geraghtys), chiefs of Muintir Roduibh ; of OTionnachtaigh, chiefs of Clanna Conmhuighe (Clancon- way) ; and various other collateral fami- lies. 1 Ui Fiachrach There were two tribes of this name in Connacht, descended from Fiachra, the brother of the Irish monarch Niall of the Nine Hostages. The more powerful tribe of the name, the northern Ui Fiachrach, possessed the present baro- nies of " Carra," "Erris," and "Tirawley," in the county of Mayo, and the barony of Tir Fhiachrach (Tireragh), in the county of Sligo. After the establishment of sur- names, the families of O'Dubhda and O'Caendiain were the most distinguished of this tribe. — See the Tribes and Customs, &c, of the Ui Fiachrach, passim. The other Ui Fiachrach of Connacht, the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne (south Ui Fiachrach), were seated in the south-west of the county of Galway, and their territory was exactly co-extensive with the diocese of Cill Mhic Duach (Kilmacduagh), as we learn from the Life of St. Colman Mac Duach (H. 2, 16, p. 495), who was their patron, and all whose territory was placed by Guaire Aidhne, king of Connacht, in his bishop- ric about the year 610. " Conio ip in rhaigin pin po porai^eao Cell rhic t)uac, coniD leip Qione uile, acupclann ^huaipe mic Colmain oppin amdc co bpac", i. e. " So that na 5-Ceajic. 109 The Ui Fiachrach1 of the great plain, The Cineal Aedhau, — not unjust, They are not liable to rent or tribute, To give to the king of Connacht. Of these tribes without any tribute, If it be pleasing, I shall name their privileges : Of the same race are they all together, Which ever of them shall attain to the kingship. Whoever of them goes with him into battle With the king of Connacht and Cruachain, If he die of wounds or be killed in battle, It is a duty (of the king) to pay his eric. For not one of these is bound To go into battle or conflicts With the king of Connacht of the fair rewards, Unless for the sake of stipends in that place was founded CillMic Duaeh, so that all Aidhne, and the race of Guaire, son of Colman, belong to him [Mac Duaeh] for ever." The principal families of this tribe after the establishment of surnames, were those of O'h-Eidhin (O'Heynes), O'Clerigh (O'Clerys), and Mac Giolla Ceallaigh (Kilkellys), who were descended from king Guaire Aidhne, and of O'Seachnasaigh (O'Sbaughnessys), who sprung from Aedh, the uncle of king Guaire. St. Colman, the patron saint of this tribe, was the son of Duaeh, who was the son of Ainmire, son of Conall, son of Eoghan Aidhne, the an- cestor of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne. u Cineal Aedha, i. e. the tribe of Aedh. This was the tribe-name of O'Seachnasaigh, a subsection of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne. Most modern writers have spoken of the Cineal Aedha and Ui Fiachrach Aidhne as if they were a different race, but the most ancient pedigrees make the Cineal Aedha a subdivision of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne. This incorrectness became general among the Irish writers. After the English inva- sion O'h-Eidhin and O'Seachnasaigh be- came independent of each other, when the former, being the senior, and of the race of Guaire, took the title of chief of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne, and the latter the title of chief of Cineal Aedha. v For the sake of stipend. — That is, these tribes were considered the king's re- latives, and they were not bound to serve the king in his wars except for pay ; and if any of them were killed in battle while in the service of the king of Connacht, the king was to pay to his tribe mulct or eric for him, according to his dignity. This was a great privilege enjoyed by the de- scendants of the brothers of the monarch Niall of the Nine Hostages in Connacht. 110 Ceabhoqi Qn epdch nach (m)-bia piji ehuaio ac pil Piachpa56 ip ^uaipi gluaip, ipeao bleajaib, — ni gpdin jape, leachjuala aipb-pij Conoacc57. t)d (o)-ceacrhab oo 6ei£-peap bib a rip o'pdcbdil pe h-ain-pip juala each pi£ chuicib com blijib each pi o'a pijoib. fflaith bo (p)uaip 6enean co beachc in c-eolipa, — ni h-egceapc; plombpeab-pa map acct pin, a baine ana, eipcij ! . . . BlSClg 126 S6NCUS. t)0 ChUCfRUSUOf,58 cuadi Conoacc ana po 6 dipo-pi£ Cpuachan: dp lp cap ceano peapaino59 ucup cuapipcail icaic-peom cipa, acup nocho n-ap oafpi ceneoil, dp id bpachaip an6ouppaio oib- linaib. Ipuibiu po bic comb'" be impai each plaichip acup each piji 6 n-gabail62 co pecchi, mma pallaij pal pin^aili, [no] popbpecc pop naebu6', no biulcub baipci, comb be impai plaic64 uaibib: acup conao lapam pojnaio65 cip acup gabaib cuapipcol 6 cellach nd pill acupnd bell a t)ia. Oligio bno plaich Sil TTIuipeaoaig pail acup eppib pij Conoucc, acup a pciach acup a claioearh acup a Cuipeach. Cuic eich acup cuic claibirh acup cuic lonja acup cuic lui- peacha bo pij Uihaill. Se pceich acup pe claibirh acup pe h-eich acup pe h-inaip acup pe cuipno bo pij Cpecpaibi. [Cuic cuipn ou pi t)elbna.] [Ceichpi map, ceichpi claioirh, ceichpi mo^aib, ceichpi mnd, ceichpi luipeca], bd pdlaij acup bd pichchill acup beich (5)-cuipn acup beich n-eich oo pij Conmaicne. Seachc m-bpuic acup peachc n-inaip acup peachc n-eich acup peachc (s)-coin oo pij h-Ua ITlaine. " / shall state it as it is The writer scribe the tribes as they stood in his own, had probably an older poem before him, not in St. Benean's time. See the Intro- vhich he shaped into such form as to de- duction. na 5-Cecqic. Ill Whenever kingship shall not be in the north With the race of Fiachra and the noble Guaire, They are entitled, — it is no trifling privilege, To sit by the side of the supreme-king of Connacht. Should it happen that a good man of them Should leave his territory through injustice, To sit by the side of the king of whatsoever province Is the right of each king of their kings. Well has Benean exactly found This knowledge — it is no injustice; I shall state it as it isw, Ye noble people, hear it ! . . . HEARKEN TO A HISTORY. OF THE STIPENDS of the chieftainries of Connacht here from the supreme king of Cruachain : for it is for the lands and stipends they pay tributes, and not for ignobility of race, for the chiefs of all are noble brethren. And it is in right of that [i. e. their equality of blood] that every one of them may approach to assume all sovereignty and kingship alike, if not debarred by the defilement of the slaying of a kinsman, or the oppressing of saints, or the renouncement of baptism, and it is by these alone his right to sovereignty should depart from him : and hence it is that they pay tribute to and receive stipend from a [regal] house which has not turned back or separated from God. The king of Siol Muireadhaigh is entitled to the ring and dress of the king of Connacht, and to his shield and sword and armour. Five steeds and five swords and five ships and five coats of mail to the king of Umhall. Six shields and six swords and six steeds and six tunics and six drinking-horns to the king of Greagraidhe. Five drinking-horns to the king of Dealbhna. Four tunics, four swords, four bondmen, four women, four coats of mail, two rings and two chess-boards and ten drinking-horns and ten steeds to the king of Conmaicne. Seven cloaks and seven tunics and seven steeds and seven hounds to the king of Ui Maine. 112 Leabhccp TDeich n-eich acup oeich m-bpuic acup oeich (5)-cuipn acup oeich (5)-cotn do pig £,uijne. Cuic eich acup coic maeailacup cuic claioim, [ci'115 luipeaca, od pdlaij, oeich n-ec, oeich (5)-clai6irh] acup oeich (5)-cuipn acup oeich mojaio acup oeich (B)-pichchilla 00 pi£ h-Ua m-6piuin. Cpi cuipn acup cpi claiorhi acup cpi h-eich acup oeich (b)-pdilji acup oeich (b)-pichchilla 00 pij h-Ua Piachpach in cuaipceipc. Seachc mojaio acup peace mnd oaepa acup peache (£)-cuipn acup cpi66 claiomi acup cpi66 coin 00 pij Ceneoil n-Qeoa. Upi h-inaip acup cpi cuipn acup cpi h-eich 00 pij papepaiji. Ipamlaio pin mioijceap pebpa [acup cuapipcla] pig cuach Con- 0 ice. Conio 061b po cheao in [bapp buaoac] 6enean [co n-abap] po. CUaR?SCa6 cuicio67 Chonoacc ll-lebap chaem 10 chonoapc, 'n-a (o)-cabaip o'a68 chuachaib chuaio pi Conoacc, ceano in mop pluaij. Oli^io in peap lp peapp olb 00 pil lTluipeaoaig 6'n pij pail acup eppib lp each, pciach, claioearh acup 6uipeach. tJlijio pi Urhaill, cean ace, coic eich 'n-a chip cean epomoache, cuic claioim choppa chacha, cuic lonja, cuic luipeacha. t)li£i6 pi Oelbna 6 D(h)puim Ceieh pe claioim acup pe peer, pe h-eich, pe h-inaip, co n-6p, acup pe cuipn pe69 com -61. OI1516 pi Cpecpaioi jloin pe70 h-aipm acup pe70 h-inaip, pe70 mojaio, pe mnd oaepa, pe luipeacha Ian chaerha71. * Siol Mvireadhaigh See p. 107, note ', supra. ncc 5-Ceapc. 113 Ten steeds and ten cloaks and ten drinking-horns and ten hounds to the king of Luighne. Five steeds and five matals and five swords, five coats of mail, two rings, ten steeds, ten swords and five drinking-horns and ten bondmen and ten chess-boards to the king of Ui Briuin. Three drinking-horns and three swords and three steeds and ten rings and ten chess-boards to the king of the northern Ui Fiachrach. Seven bondmen and seven bondwomen and seven drinking-horns and three swords and three hounds to the king of Cineal Aedha. Three tunics and three drinking-horns and three steeds to the king of Partraidhe. Thus are estimated the worthiness and the title to stipends of the kings of the territories of Connacht. Of them the gifted son Benean composed this [poem]. THE STIPENDS of the province of Connacht In a fair book I have seen, Which are given to his chieftaini'ies in the north By the king of Connacht, head of the great host. Entitled is the man who is best of them Of the Siol Muireadhaighx from the king To a ring and a dress and a steed, To a shield, sword and coat of mail. Entitled is the king of UmhalP, without condition, To five steeds in his country without heaviness, Five polished swords of battle, Five ships, five coats of mail. Entitled is the king of Dealbhnaz of Druim Leith To six swords and six shields, Six steeds, six tunics, with gold [ornaments], And six drinking-horns for banquets. Entitled is the king of fair Greagraidhea To six weapons and six tunics, Six bondmen, six bondwomen, Six completely beautiful coats of mail. y Umhall — See p. 98, note0, supra, a Greagraidhe. — See page 99, note d, * Dealbhna. — See p. 105, note u, supra. siiprci. 114 Leabhaji Olijio pi Continaicne coip oeich (5)-cuipn ap n-oul 'n-a ceac n-6il, oeich n-eich luacha pop a lino7'2 [ling, B.], ou pulaij lp oct pichchill. TDlijio pi h-Ua maine in meano peace m-bpuic, peace n-jabpa cap jleann73, pecc (5)-coin ppi copao pealja i[p] peachc n-maip upp-oeapja74. t)li^io pi Cui^ne75 na laech oeich n-eich, oeich m-bpuic, — nocho baech, oeich (5)-cuipn ppi caichearir6 meaoa, oeich (5)-com chaeriia chnep jela77. t>liji6 pi h-Lla m-6piuin co m-blaio78 cuic eich acup cuic macail, cuic claibivh, oeic (g)-cuipn chama, oeich mojaio, oeich (b)-picchealla. tHijib pi na (j)-Copc 6"n choill cuic maipe acup coic macaill, cuic claiorhi nap clai79 ppi cndim cuic luipeacha ppi lom jaib. tDlijio pf papcpaibi in puipc9u epi cuipn, epi claiovm 'n-o chaic, epi h-maip acup rpi h-eich 6 pig Cpuachan cean cam cleich. b Conmaicne Seep. 100, note P, supra. applied to a horse, and it is said to be c Ui Maine See p. 106, note P, supra. a corruption of the Welsh 'Goor.'" [Qua>re d Horses, Gabhra. — It is stated in Cor- gorwydd?] The author of the Life of Aedh mac's Glossary, that when tins word is or St. Aidus, published by Colgan, at 28th applied to a horse it should be written with February, translates Lochgabkra by stag- sea o; and indeed it generally is, but the man. equi; and Colgan remarks (note 14, scribes here have Gabhar in the text of both p. 422) that gahhar is a very ancient Scotic copies of the Book of Rights. Cormacsays: and British word for eqmis, which is each " Gabhar, written with an a, quasi ca- in modern Irish. per ; but when written with an o it is e Luighne — See p. 103, note h, supra. net 5-Ceapc. 115 Entitled is the king of hospitable Conmaicneb To ten drinking-horns on going into his drinking-house, Ten swift steeds on which to mount, Two rings and two chess-boards. Entitled is the king of Ui Maine0 the illustrious To seven cloaks, seven horsesd over the valley, Seven hounds for the purpose of the chase And seven deep-red tunics. Entitled is the king of Luighnee of the heroes To ten steeds, ten cloaks, — not silly, Ten drinking-horns for quaffing mead, Ten beautiful white-skinned hounds. Entitled is the king of Ui Brininf of fame To five steeds and five matals, Five swords, ten crooked drinking-horns, Ten bondmen, ten chess-boards. Entitled is the king of the Corcag of the wood To five war-horses and five matals, Five swords not to be resisted by a bone, Five coats of mail against bare javelins. Entitled is the king of Partraidhe'1 of the port To three drinking-horns, three swords as his share, Three tunics and three steeds From the king of Cruachain without any concealment. 1 Ui Briuin See p. 107, note r, supra. it would appear from Giolla Iosa Mor Mac g Corca. — See p. 104, note k, supra. Firbisigh of Leacan, that this territory was h Partraidhe. — This is still the name of originally more extensive See Tribes and well-known territory in the county of Customs of the Ui Fiachrach, pp. 47, 152, Mayo. It forms the western portion of the 187,189,202. See also O'Fla. barony of " Carra," and is now believed to part iii. c. xi., where mention is made of be co-extensive with the parish of Odhbha three territories of this name, viz. : " Par- Ceara (Ballovey, also " Partry"), in which trigia" of Ceara, which is the one just de- there i3 a range of mountains called Sliabh scribed ; " Partrigia" of the Lake, in which Partraidhe (Anglice Slieve Partry) ; but is situated the abbey of Cong, and the i2 116 Leabliap Hpf cuipn 00 pi h-Ua Piachpach, cpf cloioriii pe91 cloo cliachach, cpi h-eich noch caibne ceana [1 n-Qibne in leanna, B.] oeich (b)-pailji, oeich (b)-pichchilla. [t)li£ib pi Ceneoil Qe6a peace mnd, peace mojaib oaepa, cpf cuipn acup cpf claibirh acup cpf coin ppi ourha a n-oaipib]. lpeao pin oleajaio cuacha choicio Chonoaclic lp Cpuachna 6 pij lTluiji li-CTe82 na n-aj, do neoch olijeap cuapipcal CUQR1SCQ6. plain on which the first battle of Magh tain of St. Patrick (Cruach Phadraig) to Tuireadh was fought; and " Patrigia" of Loch Oirbsean (Corrib). the Mountain, extending from the moun- i Ui Fiachrach — Seep. 108, note '\ supra. na 5-Ceajiu. 117 Three drinking-horns to the king of Ui Fiachrach', Three swords for the overthrow of battles, Three steeds in Aidhne of the ale, Ten rings, ten chess-boards. Entitled is the king of Ceneal Aedha To seven women, seven enslaved bondmen, Three drinking-horns and three swords And three hounds for his forest hunting-shedk. To such are the chieftainries entitled Of the province of Connacht and Cruachain, From the king of Magh Aei of the oxen, Such as are entitled to stipend THE STIPENDS. k Hunting-shed Ourha is sometimes sat whilst his huntsmen and hounds were applied to a shed or hut, put up in a wood engaged around him in the chase — Vide or mountain, in which the king or chief OUriia peulga, in the Dinn-Seanchus. 118 Cecibliaji in.— t)6i^heat)h Rio^h ait 15b, omshiatt, a^us U6at)h. in. i. Dligheanh R15I1 Q1I15I1. C1SSQ pi£ Qilij acup a chuapipcal anb po, acup a chfpa-pon 6 chuachaib acup a cuapipcul-pon boib-peom. Ceo caepach acup ceac bpac acup ceac bo acup ceac cope 06 6 Chuileanopaioi ino pin. Cpica rope acup epicha bo acup epicha mole 6 Uhuaich Rata. [Cpi ceac cope acup cpi ceuc bo acup cpi ceac mole 6 [peapaib tuipfr] [Upi ceao bo, cpi ceao mapc, ceao cine 6] pij li-Ua Piachpach. Ceac mapc acup ceac bo acup ceac cope acup1 caeca bpac a h-Llib mic Caipchaino. Cpi cheac cope, cpi ceac bo, cpi ceac mapc 6 Chianoacca ^lenna ^emin. t)eich (j)-ceac2 luljach, ceac mapc, caeca bam, caeca cope 6 P(h)eapaib£ 1. Ceo luljach, caeca cope, caeca bpac 6 Llib Uuipcpi. Ceo mapc, ceac luljach, caeca bpac 6 peapaib ITIui^i lcha. Saep-cbuacha Q1I15 .1. Culach O5 acup Cpaeb acup lTIa^ n-lcba acup Imp Co^ain acup Cenel Conaill: conio 061b po cha- chain in c-eolacb .1. 6emen mac Sepcnen3: a It has already been explained that ster, unlike the other provinces, was at these headings are not in the original. this period divided into three great terri- They are merely used to make breaks, and tories, Aileach, Oirghialla, and Uladh, go- to mark the order of the work ; and it will verned by three chief kings, each indepen- here be observed that the province of Ul- dent of the other. rice 5-Ceapc. 119 III THE PRIVILEGES OF THE KINGS OF AILEACH, OF THE OIRGHIALLA, AND OF ULADH. III. — 1. The Privileges of the King of Aileach\ The tributes of the king of Aileach and his stipends here, andb his tributes from his territories, and his stipends to them. A hundred sheep and a hundred cloaks and a hundred cows and a hundred hogs from Cuileantraidhe. Thirty hogs and thirty cows and thirty wethers from Tuath Eatha. Three hundred hogs and three hundred cows and three hundred wethers from the men of Lurg. Three hundred cows, three hundred beeves, a hundred tinnes from the king of Ui Fiachrach. A hundred beeves and a hundred cows and a hundred hogs and fifty cloaks from the Ui Mic Caerthainn. Three hundred hogs, three hundred cows, three hundred beeves from Cianachta of Gleann Geimhin. Ten hundred milch-cows, a hundred beeves, fifty oxen, fifty hogs from the Fir Li. A hundred milch-cows, fifty hogs, fifty cloaks from the Ui Tuirtre. A hundred beeves, a hundred milch-cows, fifty cloaks from the men of Magh Iotha. The free chieftainships0 of Aileach, i. e. Tulach Og and Craebh and Magh Iotha and Inis Eoghain and Cineal Chonaill : of these the learned man, viz., Benean, son of Sescnean, sang : *>And, acur. This should be .1. id est, c Free chieftainships — These tribes were or videlicet, for the second part of the free from tribute, because they were of the clause expresses the same as the first, and same blood with the king of Aileach, being should not, therefore, be connected with it all descended from Niall of the Nine Hos- by a copulative conjunction. tages. 120 Leabhaji CeaRC pij CI1I15, eip[c]ib pip Icip baipib nach oimip bligio cpob, ni ctp uaiehib, 6 pinib, 6 P(h)op-chuachaib. Ceo caepacb, ceao bpac, ceao bo acup ceao cope eobaip 66, 6 Chuileanbpaio in chocaib oo pij G1I15 iap n-obaip. Upi cheao4 rope a Cuaich Rachu\ epi cheb6 bo co m-blicc baeha7, epicha mole a mfp buioi blijib pij Q1I1 j, uili. Cpi ceuc cope 6 peapuib tuipe, cpi cheb bo, ni bee in cpuio\ rpi ceac mole 1 n-u'1 m-beachui^ 00 pij Q1I15 aile leachain. t)lijib 00 pi b-Ua Piachpach epi ceac bo, — ni baj10 bpiachpac, ceab mapc lp ceac einbi cpom 00 pij pebail na (b)-paen long. d Aileach. — (Ely, Greenan-Ely) a fort, with remains in stone, in Donegal, near Lough Swilly, and on the isthmus divid- ing it from Lough Foyle, barony of Tnish- owen. The remains of Grianan Ailigh (the palace of Aileach), which was the palace of the kings of the northern Ui Neill (Ne- potes Neilli) is minutely described in the Ordnance Memoir of the parish of Temple- more. See also Colgan's Trias Thaum. p. 181, note 169: " A priscis scriptoribus Aileach Neid hodie vulgo Ailech appelle- tur. Fuit perantiqua Begum Hibernise se- des et post tempora fidei per eosdem dere- licta, Temoria denu6 repetita ct restaurata. Jacet in peninsula." e Forthuatha, i. e. strange tribes who settled in the province, not of the king's own race. f Cuileantraidhe — This territory is men- tioned in the Annals of the Four Masters at the year 1156, but nothing has yet turned up to show its exact situation. S Tuath Bat ha — (Anglice, Tooraah) a territory in the north-west of the county of Fermanagh, all included in tin- present barony of " Magheraboy." After the es- tablishment of surnames, the family of O'Flanagain (O'Flanagans) were the chief- tains of this territory, but tributary to na 5-Ceapu. 121 THE RIGHT of the king of Aileach*1, listen ye to it. Among the oak-forests immeasurable He is entitled to income, no trifling tribute, From the tribes [and] from the Forthuathae. A hundred sheep, a hundred cloaks, a hundred cows And a hundred hogs are given to him, From Cuileantraidhef of the war To the king of Aileach laboriously. Three hundred hogs from Tuath Ratha8, Three hundred cows with copious milk, Thirty wethers in the yellow month [August] Are due to the king of Aileach, all. Three hundred hogs from the men of Lurgh, Three hundred cows, not small the wealth, Three hundred wethers living To the king of Aileach of the spacious house. There is due from the king of Ui Fiachrach5 Three hundred cows, — not a promise of words, A hundred beeves and a hundred heavy tinnesi To the king of Feabhal (Foyle, i. e. of Aileach) of the ready ships. Mac Uidhir (Maguire). belonging to the see of Deny. Ussher h The men of Lurg — The inhabitants of states (Primordia, p. 857) that the church the barony of Lurg, in the north of the of Ardstraw, and man)' other churches of county of Fermanagh, are still so called. Opheathrach [O'Fiachrach] were taken After the establishment of surnames the from the see of Clogher, and incorporated family of O'Maelduin (O'Muldoons) were with that of Deny. This tribe of Ui Fiach- the chiefs of this territory, but tributary to rach are to be distinguished from those of head chiefs of Fermanagh. Connacht, already mentioned, p. 108, note', 1 Ui Fiachrach These were the people supra ; these were of the people called called by the Irish aunalists Ui Fiachrach Oirghialla, and descended from Fiachrach, Arda Sratha (of " Ardstraw"). They were son of Earc, the eldest son of Colla Uais, seated along the river Dearg, in the north- monarch of Ireland in the fourth cen- west of the county of Tyrone, and their tury. See (/Flaherty's Ogygiu, part iii. district comprised the parish of "Aid- c. 7b'. Btraw," ami some adjoining parishes, now J Tinne.-THaa word is explained bacun, 122 Ceablicqi Ceo mapc a h-Uib TTlic Caipcliamo acup ceac cope, — ni paipehim, caeca bo, cio oul oil ji6", caeca bpae co m-ban bilib1'-. Cpi cheo cope ppi cuillceap ehuai^1 cpi cheao bo ppi biuchao pluai j, epi cheao mapc, lp main cocaio, 6 Chiunoacea in cpom ehocaio14. t)eich (5)-ceac lul^ach 6 luce 6i, ceac mapc, lp bpeach pipmoi, lp caeca oam oo oarhaib la caeca cope cpom capaio15. bacon, in the Book of Leacan, fol. 165, and muc pailci, a salted pig, in a Glossary in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, and translated lardum, by O'Colgan, in his version of Brogan's metrical life of St. Brid- get, Trias Thaum. p. 516, line 23. It is translated a sheep in Vallancey's Collecta- nea, vol. iii. p. 514, but that was a mere guess. It will be observed that the prose here differs from the verse, the former having three hundred hogs (cope), three hun- dred cows (bo), and three hundred we- thers (mole); and the latter three hun- dred cows (bo), a hundred beeves, and a hundred cinni. The word is sometimes used, like the modern pine, to denote a ring of a chain, as einne apgaiO, a ring of silver — Cormac's Glossary, I'OcetDuap; einne oip, a ring of gold Irish Calen- dar, 17th June. It is quite evident from the text of this poem that einne is in- tended to denote some animal; and the bacun of the Book of Leacan, and the lardum of Colgan, prove to a certainty that it means a hog killed and salted. k Ui Mic Caerthainn, i. e. the descen- dants of Forgo, son of Caerthainn, who was son of Earc, grandson of Colla Uais, mo- narch of Ireland. The territory inhabited by this sept was called Tir mic Caerthainn, a name still retained in that of the barony of Tir Chaerthainn, Anglice " Tirkeerin," in the west of the county of Derry. O' Flaherty, in his Ogygia, part iii. c. 76, very correctly describes this tribe as " near the Bay of Lough Fevail" [Feabhail, Anglice Foyle], which washes the county of Deny, dividing it from the county of Donegal. 1 The Cianachta, Chein Iochta, i. e. the race of Cian, who was the son of Oilioll Oluin, king of Minister in the third century. The district is now the barony of " Kee- nacht." Before the family of O'Cathain (O'Kane) increased in numbers and power, this territory was in the possession of O'Con- chobhair of Gleann Geimhin (O'Conor of Glengiven), descended from Fionnehadh Uallach, son of Connla, son of Tadhg, son of Cian ; and though so displaced (in the twelfth century) the family was never via 5-Ceajiu. 123 A hundred beeves from the Ui Mic Caerthainnk And a hundred hogs, — 'tis not very trifling, Fifty cows, a lawful payment, Fifty cloaks with white borders. Three hundred hogs by which the north is replenished, Three hundred cows to feed the host, Three hundred beeves, wealth for war, From Cianachta1 of the abundant store. Ten hundred milch-cows from the people of Lim, A hundred beeves, it is the award of truth, And fifty oxen of oxen With fifty hogs of heavy bellies. rooted out, for the "O'Conors" are still numerous in " Glengiven," which was the ancient name of the vale of the river Eoa (Roe), near "Dungiven," which flows tlirough the very centre of this Cianachta. — See Dublin Penny Journal, vol. i. p. 103. It is curious to observe the great amount of the tribute paid to the king of Aileach by tins exotic tribe of the race of Eibhear, from Munster. 1,1 The people of Li, called Fir Li and Fir Li of the Bann. They were descended from Laeghaire, son of Fiachra Tort, son of Eochaidb, who was son of Colla Uais, monarch of Ireland, in the fourth century. See Ogygia, part iii. c. 76. The country possessed by this sept was sometimes called Magh Li, and sometimes translated Leceo- rum fines [Trias Thaum. p. 146], and is described in the Book of Leacan as ex- tending from Bir to Camus. That it was on the west side of the river Bann ap- pears from the Irish Calendar of the < >'01erighs, at 9th January, which places in it the church of Achadh Dubhthaigh (Aghadowey) a parish on the west side of the Bann, in the barony of " Coleraine." Thus: "^jucupe 6eaj 6 Gchao DubraijiTTIoijf/ipopBpuSanna, i.e. Guaire Beag from Achadh Dubhthaigh in Magh Li, on the brink of the Banna." But, on the increasing power of the family of O'Cathain, the Fir Li were driven across the Bann, and were unquestionably on the east side of it at the period of the English invasion. In the translation of the Tripar- tite Life of St. Patrick, Colgan errs egre- giously in placing this territory, and the mountain of Sliabh Callainn (Slieve Gal- lion), on the east side of the Bann ;