Name: A collection of tracts and treatises illustrative of the natural history, antiquities, and the political and social state of Ireland, at various periods prior t
Author: James Hewitt Lifford, 4th viscount (1811–1887)

Brian Boru slain at the Battle of Clontarf

Clontarf · parish · Dublin · 1014

Brian Boru, celebrated king of Munster who had defeated the Danes in many battles and become King of all Ireland, was killed in a bloody battle at Clontarf near Dublin on Good Friday, 23 April 1014, along with his son Murchard and many others, slain by Sitric, king of Dublin.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Brienns filim Cenedi Lorcani nepos cognomento Buruma sive Boro rex Momoniae, Princeps ob anirai wrtutes celeberrimna, postqu^m Danos multis prsaliis vicisset, totins HibernisB rex declaratus est anno 1002. Deinde enactis 12 annis ipse (post crucntam pugnam) in prseiio occisus est ad Chntarf, prope Dublinium, die Parascevea, 23 die Aprilis 1014, setatia Buse 74, {manibus et mertti', inquit Marianus Scotus, ad Deum infentus) unk cum filio suo MurcLardo et mnltis aliis, a Sitrico rege Dublinii. Csesi etiam, ex parte Sitrici, Mailmorda rex Lageni^ et alii quamplurimi. Sunt qui assorunt corpus Brieni ad £cclesiam Sancti Maignani deportatum (Kil-mainam earn nunc vulgo Tocamus, quae unico milliari k Dublinio distat) ibidem sepulturse faisse traditum, non procul k cruce lapidea circulo inclusa in summitate, quae etiamnum visltur, intra muros Prioratns (olim c«leberrimi) militum Hospitalariorum. Alii vero Brientun Armachse sepnltum volunt. Utcunque fuerit, eo interfecto, Malachias (uti diximua) regnum recuperavit, et tenuit usque ad 2 Septemb. 1023, quo nature cessit.
Interregnum annorum (ut aliqui volunt) 20, Cuano 0-Lachnan et Corcrano, clerico illustri, clavnm interim gnbemantibus. Corcranum autem obiisse anno 1040. (qui nobis est 1041) produnt Annales Ultonienses.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 16

As the companion tells it

Clontarf is the parish where one of the bloodiest battles in Irish history was fought on Good Friday, the 23rd of April, 1014. Brian Boru, son of Cennedi, grandson of Lorcan, was king of Munster, celebrated for his virtues. After defeating the Danes in many battles, he was declared king of all Ireland in 1002. Twelve years later, he was killed in a bloody battle at Clontarf, near Dublin. He was 74 years old. Marianus Scotus wrote that he died "with hands and merits inclined toward God." His son Murchard was killed beside him, and many others. They were slain by Sitric, king of Dublin. On Sitric's side, Maelmorda, king of Leinster, also fell, with many more. Some say Brian's body was carried to the Church of St. Maignan, now called Kilmainham, a mile from Dublin, and buried near a stone cross enclosed in a circle that could still be seen within the walls of the Priory of the Knights Hospitallers. Others say he was buried at Armagh. After his death, Malachy recovered the kingdom and held it until the 2nd of September, 1023.

Execution of the Spanish garrison at Smerwick

Smerwick · townland · Kerry · 1580

After surrendering the fort at Smerwick, the Spanish and Italian soldiers were refused any terms of custom of war or mercy, and were put to death on the Lord Deputy's orders, an act later remembered as 'sharpe execution.'

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Eudox. Indeed so have I heard it heere often spoken, but I perceive (as I alwayes verily thought) that it was most unjustly, tor he was alwayes knowne to be a most just, sincere, godly, and right noble man, fiirre from such sterneuesse, farre from such unrighteousnesse. But in that aharpe execution of the Spaniards, at the fort of Smerwicke, I heard it specially noted, and if it were true as some reported, surely it was a great touch to him in honour, for some say that he promised them life ; others at least he did put them in hope thereof.
Iren. Both the one and the other is most untrue ; for this I can assure yon, my selfe being as neare them as any, that he was so fiirre either from promising, or putting them in hope, that when first their Secretarie (called, as I remember) Signior Jeffrey, an Italian, being sent to treate with the Lord Deputie for grace, was flatly refosed ; and afterwards their * Coronell named Don Sebastian, came forth to intreate that they might part with their armes like aouldiers, at the least with their lives according to the custome of warre, and law of nations ; it was strongly denyed him, and tolde him by the Lord Deputie himselfe, that they could not justly pleade either custome of warre, or law of nations, for that they were not any lawfiill enemies, and if they were, he willed them to shew by what commission they came thither into another Princes dominions to warre, whether from the Pope or the

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 41

As the companion tells it

Somewhere close to Smerwick, in 1580, a Spanish and Italian garrison held a fort here. When they surrendered, the question of what was promised became a matter of sharp dispute. Some said the Lord Deputy promised them life. Others said he at least put them in hope of it. One man who was near the events says both claims are untrue. He says that when the garrison's secretary, an Italian called Signior Jeffrey, was sent to treat with the Lord Deputy for grace, he was flatly refused. After that, their colonel, Don Sebastian, came out to entreat that they might leave with their arms like soldiers, and at least with their lives, according to the custom of war and the law of nations. That too was strongly denied. The Lord Deputy himself told Don Sebastian they could not justly plead either custom of war or law of nations, because they were not lawful enemies. He willed them to show by what commission they came into another prince's dominions to make war, whether from the Pope or from some other power. The passage calls what followed the sharp execution of the Spaniards at the fort of Smerwick, and it was remembered as a great touch upon a man's honour, though one speaker insists the Lord Deputy was far from such sternness, a just and godly man.

Killing of an Irishman not treated as felony at Waterford

Waterford · city · Waterford · 1310

At a gaol delivery held before John Wogan, Lord Justice, at Waterford, Robert le Wayleys admitted killing John son of Ivor Mac Gillemory but argued no felony was committed since the victim was a 'pure Irishman' and not of free blood. The record shows killing an Irishman was punished only by a pecuniary fine (Ericke) rather than as felony.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Record: Wherin we may note, that the killing of an Irish man, was not punnished by our Lawe, as blan-slaughter, which is fellony and capitall, (for our Law did neither protect his life, nor revenge his death) but by a fine or pecnniary punishment, which is called an Ericke, according to the Brehon, or Irish Law.
Againe, at a GaoZ-delivery before the same Lord Justice at Limericke, in the Roll of the Bame year, we find, that ArtMv. m Wiiiielmutjiliug Robert rectatus de morte Rogeri de Caulelon jMim /eloniceper iptum interfecti, vetiit et dicit, quod feloniam ptr iHter/ectiomm pradictam committere non poiuil, quia dicit guod prmdict. Rogerut Hihemic. est, et non de libero sanguine; dicit eliam quod pradict. Rogerua fuil de cognomine de Ohederiscall et non de cognomine d* Caufetona, et de hoc ponit ae super patriam, <tc. Et Jurati dicunt super Sacramsuum quod pradictus Rogerus Hibernicus fuit et de cognomine de Ohederiecall et pro Hibernico hahebatur tota vita sua- Ideo predict. Willielmus quoad feloniam prtedict- quietus- Sed quia prxdictus Rogerus Ohederiscall fuit Htbemicu* Domini Regis, prtedict. Willielmus recommittatur Gaola, quougque plegioB invetierit de quinque marcts solvendis Domino Regipro solulione pradicti Hibernici.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

In 1310, at a gaol delivery in Waterford before John Wogan, Lord Justice, Robert le Wayleys admitted killing John, son of Ivor Mac Gillemory. He argued that no felony had been committed, because the dead man was a pure Irishman and not of free blood. The law of that time did not treat the killing of an Irishman as felony, which was a capital crime. The record states plainly that the law neither protected his life nor avenged his death. Such a killing was punished instead by a fine, called an Ericke, according to Brehon, or Irish, law. So the killing of John, son of Ivor Mac Gillemory, was not a hanging matter. It was settled with money, a measured penalty for a life the law did not protect as it protected others.

St. Patrick's Purgatory revealed as a mere cell

near Lough Derg · lake or lakes · Donegal · 1620–1625

The famous pilgrimage cave on an island in Lough Derg, long believed a gateway to Purgatory where pilgrims saw terrible visions, was investigated by order of the Lords Justices and found to be a small dark cell dug from rock. The friars there had induced fasting and told frightening tales to produce hallucinations in pilgrims before shutting them in the hole.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

strange and terrible things : which persvasion having lasted imtjll our times, the matter hath been discovered within these few yeares, and ibund to be a meer illosioii. This discoverie was made during the government of lUchard fioile, Earle of Cork, and Adam Loflus, Vicount of Elie, and Lord Chancellour of Ireland : which two being Lords Justices of that Kingdome in the last yeares of King James, and desirous to know the truth of the business, sent some persons of qnalitie to the place, to inquire exactly into the truth of the whole matter. These did find, that that miraculous and fearful cave, descending down to &e very Purgatory and Hell, was nothing else but a little cell, digged or hewn out of the rocky ground, without any windowes or holes, so as the doore being shut one could not see a jot within it; being of so little depth, that a tall man could but just stand upright in it, and of no greater capaci^, tiian to contfun six or seven persons. Now when that any I)erson desirous to go that Pilgrimage to Purgatory, was come into the Hand, the Friara, some small number whereof made their constant abode there for that purpose, made him watch and &st excessively : whereby, and tlmiugh the recounting of strange and horrible apparitions and &nta8mes, which he would meet withall in that subterranean pilgrimage, being well prepared, they did shut him up in that little dark hole; and being drawn out again from thence after some hours, altogether astonished and in a maze, he would be a good while before he came agwn to himself, and afterwards the poor man would tell wonderiull stories, as if in very deed he had gone a great way under the ground, and seen and suffered all those things, which his weak imagination, altogether coi^ rupted by the concurrence and sequel of so many causes to weaken the braine, did figure unto him.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 7

As the companion tells it

The road takes you near Lough Derg in Donegal, a lake with a long and strange reputation. On an island in this lake was a cave said to be Saint Patrick's Purgatory, a doorway down to the other world, where pilgrims went and saw terrible visions. That belief lasted until our own times, when the matter was found to be a mere illusion. The discovery came in the last years of King James, under the government of Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork, and Adam Loftus, Viscount of Ely and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. These two, being Lords Justices of the kingdom, wanted the truth of the business, so they sent persons of quality to the place to inquire exactly into the whole matter. What they found was that the miraculous and fearful cave, said to descend to Purgatory and Hell, was nothing but a little cell dug or hewn from the rocky ground. It had no windows or holes, so that with the door shut one could not see a jot inside. It was so shallow a tall man could but just stand upright, and held no more than six or seven persons. The friars, a small number of whom lived on the island for this purpose, would make any person come for the pilgrimage watch and fast excessively. Then through recounting strange and horrible apparitions and phantoms the pilgrim would meet underground, they prepared him well and shut him up in that dark hole. Drawn out after some hours, altogether astonished and in a maze, he would be a good while coming back to himself. Then the poor man would tell wonderful stories, as if he had gone far under the ground and seen and suffered all those things, which his weak imagination, corrupted by so many causes weakening the brain, did figure to him.

The Execution of Murrogh O'Brien at Limerick

Limerick · city · Limerick

At the execution of a notable traitor named Murrogh O'Brien in Limerick, an old woman who was his foster mother took up his severed head while he was being quartered and sucked up the blood, declaring the earth unworthy to drink it, then smeared her face and breast with it and tore her hair, shrieking.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Irett. I have observed a few of either; and who will better search into them, may finde more. And first the profession of their Bardes was (as Csesar writeth) moall amougst the Gaolea, and the same was also common amongst the Brittaines, and is not yet altogether left off with the Welsh, which are their posterity. For all the &shions of the Gaules and Brittaines, as he t«stifieth, were much like. The long darts came also from the Gaules, as you may read in the same _ Ciesar, and in Jo. Boemus. Likewise the said Jo. Boemos writeth, that the Ganles used swords a handfiill broad, and BO doe the Irish now. Also they used long wicker shieldB in battaile that should cover their whole bodies, and ho doe the Northeme Irish. But I have not seene such fiishioned targets used in the Sontheme parts, bat onely amongst the Northerns people, and Irisb-Scottes, I doe thinke that they were bronght in rather by the Scythians, then by the Ganles. Also the Ganles used to drinke their enemyes blood, and painte themselves therewith. So also they write that the old Irish were wont, and so have I seene some of the Irish doe, but not their enemyes bat friends blood. As namely at the execution of a notable traytor at Limericke, called Murrogh 0-Brien,I saw an old woman, which was his foster mother, takeup his head, whilst he was quartered, and sucked up all the blood that runne thereout, saying, that the earth was Dot worthy to drink it, and therewith also steeped her &ce and breast, and tore her haire, crying out and shrieking most terribly.
Eudoi^. You have very well ronne through such cnstomes as the Irish have derived from the first old nations which inhabited the land ; namely, the Scythians, the Spaniards, the Gaules, and the Brittaines. It now remaineth tiiat you take in hand the customes of the old English which are amongst the Irish : of which I doe not thinke that you shall have much cause to finde &ult with, considering that, by the English, most of the old bad Irish customes were abolished, and more civill fashions brought in their stead.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 41

As the companion tells it

As you pass through Limerick, the city carries an old and terrible scene. A notable traitor called Murrogh O'Brien was executed here, and the account of his death was set down by a writer who says he saw it himself. The writer had been speaking of customs the Irish shared with the ancient Gauls, among them the practice of drinking blood. He says the Gauls used to drink their enemies' blood and paint themselves with it. He says the old Irish were said to do the same, but he had seen some of the Irish drink not the blood of enemies, but of friends. And then he gives this as his example. At the execution of Murrogh O'Brien at Limerick, while the body was being quartered, an old woman who was his foster mother took up his severed head. She sucked up all the blood that ran from it. She said the earth was not worthy to drink it. She steeped her face and her breast in the blood. She tore her hair. She cried out and shrieked most terribly. The writer gives her words as they were spoken: that the earth was not worthy to drink it. That is all the record holds, a single scene, witnessed and written down, and it has stayed with Limerick.

Slaughter of Bruce's forces at Faughart near Dundalk

Faughart · parish · Louth · 1318

Bermingham, Verdon, Stapleton and other private gentlemen rose with the commons of Meath and Uriel, and at Faughart near Dundalk, described as 'a fatall place to the enemies of the Crowne of England,' overthrew a potent army, killing Edward Bruce.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

But Bremingham, Verdon, Slajdelan, and some other privat TSentlemen, rose out with the Commons of Mel/t and Uriell, and at Fagher neere Dondalke, a fatall place to the enemies of the Crowne of England, overthrew a potent armie of them. El fie (saith the Red Booke of the Exchequer, wherein the Ruhr. uhr. victory was briefly recorded) per manus communis popuU el i^' dertram del, deliberatitr jiojiulus dei a scrt-itutc mac/tinala et jiriecogilaia.
In the time of King Edaard the Third, the impediments of J?Ji™rrf.i S9 the

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

You are passing through or near the parish of Faughart, in Louth. In 1318, Bermingham, Verdon, and Stapleton, along with other private gentlemen, rose out with the commons of Meath and Uriel. At Faughart near Dundalk, a place the record calls "a fatal place to the enemies of the Crown of England," they overthrew a potent army and killed Edward Bruce. The victory was briefly recorded in the Red Book of the Exchequer.

Maguyre's Retort on Sheriff's Eric-fine at Fermanagh

near Fermanagh · county · Fermanagh

When Lord Deputy Fitz-williams told Maguyre that a Sheriff was to be sent into Fermanagh, Maguyre replied he wished to know the Sheriff's 'Ericke' or price of his head beforehand, so that if his people killed him, Maguyre could levy the fine upon the country. This illustrates the Brehon custom of paying a fine (Eric) rather than death for even the gravest crimes.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Foe, if we consider the Nature of the Irish Customes, we Th» n»- shall finde that the people which doth use them, must of[|„iriBh necessitie be Rebelles to all good Government, destroy the Cn»««ro". commonwealth wherein they live, and bring Barbarisms and desolation upon the richest and most fruitfull Land in the world. For, whereas by the just and honourable Law of Th« IiW England, and by the Lawes of all other well-governed King- ciuiodim, domes and Commonweals, Murder, Man-slaughter, Rape, 1^^^ Robbery, and I'heft, are punished with death ; By the Irish L>wea ud Custome, or Brehon Law, the highest of these offences was „( jidvili punished onely by Fine, which they called an Kricke. Tliere- 5?*'??'^ fore, when Sir William Fitz-williams, (being Lord Deputy) L»ir in told Maguyre that he was to send a Sheriffe into Fermaunagh, ^^^f^ being lately before made a County: your Sheriffe (saide Maguyre) shall be welcome to me, but let me knowe his Erickc, or the price of kit head afore hand ; that if my people cut it off, I may cnt the Ericke upon the Conntrey. As for 73 Oppn.'ssion
D,„i,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

As you pass through Fermanagh, you are in a country that was once ruled by Brehon Law. Under that law, the gravest crimes — murder, manslaughter, rape, robbery, theft — were punished not by death, but by fine. The Irish called this fine an Ericke. When Sir William Fitz-williams, the Lord Deputy, told Maguyre that a Sheriff was to be sent into Fermanagh — the country having been lately made a county — Maguyre gave him this answer. "Your Sheriff," he said, "shall be welcome to me, but let me know his Ericke, or the price of his head beforehand; that if my people cut it off, I may levy the Ericke upon the country." So Maguyre wished to know the fine for the Sheriff's killing before the man ever arrived, so that if his people killed him, the fine could be levied on the land. The writer of this passage saw in such customs a people who must of necessity be rebels to all good government, bringing barbarism and desolation on a rich and fruitful land. Under the law of England, and under the laws of all well-governed kingdoms, such crimes were punished with death. Under Brehon Law, the highest of these offences was punished only by fine.

Betrayal and murder of the Earl of Louth near Dundalk

Dundalk · town · Louth · 1329

John Bremingham, recently made Earl of Louth for his service against the Scots between Dundalk and the Fane, was treacherously murdered along with several principal gentlemen of his family by the Gernons, Verdons and others of the ancient colony in County Louth in 1329.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Shortly after, the Lord Jokn Bremingham, who was not long before made Earle of houth, for that notable service which he performed upon the Scots, betweene DundaUte and the Faher, was so extreamly envied by the Oernon», Verdana, and others of tbe ancient Colony, planted in the County of Louth, as that in tbe yeare, 1329, they did most wickedly betray and murder that Earle, with divers principall Gentlemen of his name and Family ; using the same speech that the Rebellions Jewes are saide to use in the Gospell :
Nalamua hunc regnare super no».

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

Dundalk is a town the road passes through. In 1329, John Bremingham, lately made Earl of Louth for his service against the Scots between Dundalk and the Fane, was envied by the Gernons, the Verdons, and others of the ancient colony planted in County Louth. They betrayed and murdered him, with several principal gentlemen of his name and family, using the words the rebellious Jews are said to use in the Gospel: Nolumus hunc regnare super nos.

Massacre of miners at the Tipperary Silver-Lead Mine

Kilmore · townland · Tipperary · 1641

During the outbreak of the 1641 rebellion, Irish rebels under Hugh O'Kennedy destroyed the silver-lead mine works near Kilmore in Upper Ormond and put the English and Dutch workmen employed there to the sword, sparing only a few who escaped by flight.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

All the Mills, Melting-hooses, Refining-houses, and other necessary Work-houses, stood within one quarter of a mile at the furthest from the pUce where the Mine was digged, every one of them having been very conveniently and sufficiently bnilt and accommodated by the Officers and substitutes of Sir William Russell, Sir Basil Brook, and Sir Qeorge Hamilton, whicb three persons successively had this Mine in farm from the King, but in the beginning of this present Rebellion all this hath been destroyed by the Irish under the conduct of Huffh O-kennedy, brother of lohn Mac-Dermott O-iennedy, on whose lands the Mine was situated : which Rebels not content to lay waste the mine, and to demolish all the works thereunto belonging, did accompany this their barbarousness with bloody cruelty agunst the poor workmen, such as were imployed about the melting and refining of the Oar, and in all offices thereunto belonging : the which some of them being English, and the rest Dutch (because the Irish having no skill at all in any of those dungs, bad never been imployed in this mine otherwise than to digg it, and to do other labours) were all put to the eword by them, except a very few, who by flight escaped their hands.
Sect, 4. This Mine free from deadly vapours, the which otherwise in Ireland are bred within the Earth, as well as in other Countries, as is instanced in a very remarkahle History,

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog

As the companion tells it

Somewhere close to Kilmore, in 1641, a silver-lead mine was destroyed and its workmen killed. The mine had been worked under lease from the King, held successively by Sir William Russell, Sir Basil Brook, and Sir George Hamilton. Within a quarter mile of the pit where the ore was dug, they had built mills, melting houses, refining houses, and all the workshops the operation needed. The land belonged to John Mac-Dermott O'Kennedy. When the rebellion broke out, Irish forces under Hugh O'Kennedy, John's brother, came to the mine and laid waste to the works. They demolished everything. But they did not stop at the buildings. The workmen there were English and Dutch, brought in because the Irish had no skill in melting or refining the ore and had only ever been employed to dig and carry. These men were put to the sword, all of them, except a very few who escaped by flight. The source calls it bloody cruelty against poor workmen, barbarousness accompanying the destruction of the mine itself.

St Brigid's inextinguishable fire at Kildare

Kildare · town · Kildare

At Kildare, the nuns of St Brigid's convent kept a miraculous fire burning continuously from the saint's own time, so carefully tended that though much fuel was consumed over the centuries the ash never grew; the convent itself was called the 'house of fire'.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

De igne dicto inextinguibili, k Itf onialibns ccouobii, S. Stct. 6. Brigidie Eildarce, olim custodito, ita Giraldus Cambrensis, Topograph. Hibemife distiact. 2, cap. 34, Ajmd Kildariam, quam gloriosa Brigida reddit illustrem, digna sunt memoratu, miracula multa; inter qua primum occurrit ignis Brigida, quem inextinguibitetn dicunt, non qubd extingui non possit, sed qubd tarn solicit^ tarn accural^ Moniales et sancta mulieres ignem, suppetenle materia, fovent et nutriunt, til a tempore 81 Virginis,
D,„l,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 22

As the companion tells it

As you pass through Kildare, this is the town St Brigid made famous. Giraldus Cambrensis wrote of her fire here, called inextinguishable, not because it could not be put out, but because the nuns and holy women tended it so carefully from the saint's own time. Much fuel fed it over the centuries, yet the ash never grew. The convent itself was known as the house of fire.

Wood turning to stone and iron in Lough Neagh

near Lough Neagh · lake or lakes · Antrim

A widespread belief held that Lough Neagh's water had the power to turn wood into stone, and even into iron, with a stick planted in the ground showing stone in the submerged part and iron where it met the ground. The author's brother investigated near the lough but could not confirm the iron transformation, though many locals swore to the petrification.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Sect 8. 0/ the property of Lough Neauffh of turning Wood into Stone. Before we make an end of this Chapter, we must say something of the wonderfiill property which generally is ascribed to Lough Neangh, of turning Wood into Stone ; whereunto some do add, to double the wonder, that the Wood is turned not only into stone, but into Iron; and that a branch or pole being stack into the ground somewhere by the side where it is not too deep, after a cert^n space of time one shall find that peece of the stick which stuck in the ground, turned into Iron, and the middle, as &r as it was in the water, into Stone ; the upper-end, which remained above the water, keeping its former nature. But this part of the History I beleeve to be a Fable: For my Brother, who hath been severall times in places not fitr distant from that Lough, and who of the English thereabouts inhabiting hath inquired this business with singnlar dihgence, doth assure me, that he never could learn any such thing; bat that the turning of Wood into Stone was by every one beleeved for certiun, as having been tried divers times by severall persons : saying moreover to have understood of them, that the water hath thb vertue only at the sides, and that not everywhere, but only in some few phwes, especially
about

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 7

As the companion tells it

Lough Neagh carries an old reputation for a strange power over wood. People widely believed its water could turn wood into stone. Some went further and said it could turn wood into iron as well, to double the wonder. They described a branch or pole planted in the ground near the side of the lough, where the water is not too deep. Given time, the piece of the stick buried in the ground would become iron. The middle part, submerged in the water, would become stone. The upper end, staying above the water, would keep its former nature. The author of this account called the iron part a fable. His brother had been several times in places not far from the lough and inquired into the matter with singular diligence among the English living thereabouts. He assured the author he never could learn anything to confirm the iron transformation. But the turning of wood into stone was another matter. Everyone believed that for certain. Several persons had tried it, divers times, and found it so. They told the brother the water had this virtue only at the sides of the lough, and not everywhere, but only in a few places.

Murder of the Earl of Ulster at Knockfergus

Carrickfergus · townland · Antrim · 1333

William Bourke, Earl of Ulster and Lord of Connacht, was treacherously murdered by his own squires at Knockfergus, leaving behind only an infant daughter. This murder led to the flight of the Countess to England and the collapse of English governance in Ulster and Connacht.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Againe, in the seaventh yeare of King Edward the Third, the Lord William Bourke, Earle oiJJhler,KaA horde oiConaff/it, The E«rfe was treacherously murdered by his owne' Squires at Knocks- mmdnHi. ferffm, leaving hehinde him, Vnicam et unim anni pliant -^^^^ (saith Friar Clynne.^ Immediately upon the murder com- Ciftt. mitted, the Countesse with her young daughter, ftedde into ""*' England ; so as the Government of that Countrey, was wholly neglected, until, that young Ladie being married to Lionell Duke of Clarence, that Prince came over with an Army, to recover his wives inheritance, and to reforme this Kingdome, Anno 36 of Edward the Third. But in the mean time, what The E»ri«. became of that great Inheritance both in Ulster and Conaght 9 v^ „. Assuredly, in Ulster, the Sept of Huffh-Boy O Neal, then ^^'''' possessing Glaucoukei/n and Killeiyhtra in Tyrone, tooke the opportunity ; and passing over the Banne, did first expell the Abridgs- English out of the Barony of Tuscard, which ia now called ^^0^. the liout; and likewise, out of the Glynnei aud other Landes J*'!i ^""^ up as &rre as Knockefergus, which Countrey or extent of Baron Lande, is at this day called, the lower Clan IIugh-Boy. And '^J^ shortly afWr that, they came up into the great Ardes, which •rript the Latine writers call, AUiludines Ultonite, and was tfaer the inheritance of the Savages; by whom, they were valiantly resisted for divers yeares r but at last, for want of CastleB and fortifications (for the saying of He/irie Satage mentioned in 85 every
,„i,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

Somewhere close to Carrickfergus, in the year 1333, William Bourke, Earl of Ulster and Lord of Connacht, was treacherously murdered by his own squires. Friar Clynne records that he left behind him only a daughter, an infant of one year. Immediately upon the murder, the Countess fled with her young daughter into England, and the government of that country was wholly neglected. The young lady later married Lionel, Duke of Clarence, and in the thirty-sixth year of Edward the Third, that prince came over with an army to recover his wife's inheritance and to reform the kingdom. But in the meantime, a great inheritance was lost in Ulster and in Connacht. The sept of Hugh-Boy O Neal, then holding Glanconkeyn and Killeghtra in Tyrone, seized the opportunity. They passed over the Banne and expelled the English from the Barony of Tuscard, now called the Route, and from the Glynnes and other lands up as far as Knockfergus, a country still called the lower Clan Hugh-Boy. Shortly after that, they came into the great Ardes, which the Latin writers call the Altitudines Ultoniae, and was the inheritance of the Savages. The Savages valiantly resisted them for divers years, but at last, for want of castles and fortifications, they gave way.

Alternative tradition: Cormac killed by a herdsman near Leighlin

Leighlinbridge · town · Carlow · 908

A manuscript in the Cottonian library records an alternative tradition that King Cormac was killed by a herdsman near Béanna, close to Leighlin, while kneeling in prayer for his army during the battle.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

An. Dccccvi Flanns Melsechlini filius rex Hiberaise, coacto exercitu, in Momoniam irmit, eamqae proTinciam, ad Limericum (al. Ltunniacam) usque, diripuit et vastavit. Caeterum Cormacus, qui tempori cedens, fagfi evaserat, h&c injuria irritatus, anno insequente, Midiam cum copiis ingressos, Flauum prselio iudit, eumque ad conditiones quaadam obsernandas, dbi obsides tradere coegit iisq; acceptis, Ca^eliam reversus est Anno verb dccccviii (al. Dccccvn) Flanus, ut cladem nuper acceptam ulcisceretur, pactis et obsidibua traditis non obetantibus, cum Lagenienai et Conadenai regibus egit, ut conjuncda yiribus Momonienses adorirentur, eoque SQCcessu, ut maximis copiia instructus, signa adversus Cormacum extulerit: Momoniensium exercitui in loco djcto Mt>^- albet obviam &ctua est, ubi August! die xti, post longam et cruentam puguam, cessit ei victoria, Cormaco rege ibidem occiso. Cfeai etiam cum eo feruntur duces feii omnes primarii, seu mavis, reguli, inter quos nominatur Fogertachus Eerriensis et Kellacbus Ossoriensia. Sic Annales Hibemici. Ceeterum Caradocus Lhancarvanenais, Cormacum sub hoc tempore, 11 Danis in praelio occisum tradit. Memini etiam me legisse in codice quodam MS. bibliodiecse Cottonianse, eum & bubulco quodam occisum, ad Beanree prope Legblinam, dum ibidem, pro exercitu suo tunc pugnante, ad Deum preces fundens, in genua proeumberet. Tanta est de ejus csede discrepantia. Ego vero non possum uon assentiri, tam Annalibus Uttonienaibus, qukm iis coenobii Canonicomm Inis-fallanse in agro Ecrriano, qui a dicto Flani exercitu, victum eum et occisum tradunt Corpus ejus Casseliam delatum ibidem tumulo conditum est. Vir fiiit eruditus et Andquitatum Hibernicarum scientissimus, Scripsit lingu4 mk patriS, historiam Pgaller-Caakell vuigo dictam, quee etiamnum extat, et magno habetur in pretio. Excerpta qnsedam ex dicta Historia, in vetTisto babeo codice membraneo, Psalter-na ran appellato, ante annos plusqukm 300 exarato, ut ex characteris autiquitate liquet In eodem codice sunt multa miscellanea de rebus Hibemicia, partim Latinfe, partim Hibemici, collecta per Oengusium Celide, inter quse, catalognm babemus nudum (solum nimirum nomina) regum Hibernise, ab Heremone ad 89 Brienum

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 26

As the companion tells it

There is a tradition, found in a manuscript in the Cottonian library, that King Cormac was killed by a herdsman near Beanna, close to Leighlin. He was kneeling in prayer for his army, which was fighting at the time, when the herdsman struck him down. This is not the only account of how he died. The Irish Annals say that in 906 Flann, son of Melsechlinn and king of Ireland, gathered an army, marched into Munster, and devastated that province as far as Limerick. Cormac, who had yielded for a time and withdrawn, was provoked by this. The next year he entered Meath with his forces, fought Flann, and forced him to accept certain conditions and hand over hostages. Then in 908 Flann, to avenge the defeat he had lately suffered, made a pact with the kings of Leinster and Connacht to attack the men of Munster together. With a great army he raised his standards against Cormac. The army of Munster met him at a place called Muailbet. On a day in August, after a long and bloody battle, the victory went to Flann, and King Cormac was killed there. With him fell his chief leaders, among them Fogertach of Erris and Cellach of Ossory. Caradoc of Llancarfan gives yet another account, saying Cormac was killed by the Danes in battle. So great is the disagreement about his death. The author of this passage says he cannot disagree with the annals of Ulster and those of the monastery of canons at Inisfallen in Kerry, which say Cormac was defeated and killed by Flann's army. His body was carried to Cashel and buried there in a tomb. He was a learned man, most knowledgeable in Irish antiquities. He wrote in his own language a history commonly called the Psalter of Cashel, which still survives and is greatly valued.

Destruction of the Purgatory cave by papal authority, 1497

near Lough Derg · lake or lakes · Donegal · 1497

On St Patrick's Day in 1497, by the authority of Pope Alexander VI, the guardian of the Franciscan house at Donegal and others destroyed the famous cave-shrine on Lough Derg as a supposititious relic, though it was later restored and pilgrimage to it resumed.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

ciflci. Imula S- Dabeoci, al. Hoc ccenobium Canonicomm Angus* Avoffi, in lacu rubra, tinianomm in Regesto Johannis Bole *'ulgb, Logh-derff, qnondam Arcbiepiscopi Armachani apaliia Logh-gerg. P. pellatur Locu» ^lialia monaaterii Apostolorum Petri et Pauli Armacka, S. Dabeocnm fondfisse feront seculo 5, vivente S. Patricio. Alii S. Patricinm fondatorem volunt Prior loci olim appellabatnr Prior Pnrgatorii S. Patricii; sed antmm ipsnm, vulg6 Purgatorium <Uctmn, cujns inventio k qoibusdam ad Patricinm Abbatem, qui floruit anno 850, ab aliis, ad S. Patricinm refertur, in alia situm est insula ejusdem lacns, in qua plemmque nnus dnntaxat vel aliiu Canonicns osnobii S. Dabeoci mansit, ad nsum ecclesiEe et peregrinantinm. De hoc antro, mira fidem superantia nairantur. Dirutum Atiase, utpot^ suppositicium, ipso die S. Patricii, anno Dom. 1497, Alexandri 6 Papie anthoritate, k Qardiano domus fntram Minomm de Donegall et aliis, prodit ad eum annum, qui turn vixit, author Annalium Ultonlenaiiun. Attamen restanratum posted, et peregriuationibus denub frequentatnm constat. Sunt qui ridicol^ somniant Ulissem primum hunc effbdisse specum, cum Inferos aflkretur. Ulissem vero (quod obiter notare llceat) ab Homero vel historic^ dictum vel poetic^ Actum, Hiberniam, unam ^ Britannids insnlis, vel saltern 161 Britanniam
D,„l,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 33

As the companion tells it

Lough Derg in Donegal holds an island where a cave once stood, known as the Purgatory of St. Patrick. A monastery on the lake was said to have been founded by Saint Dabeoc in the 5th century, while Saint Patrick still lived. Others held that Patrick himself founded it. The head of the place was called the Prior of the Purgatory of St. Patrick. The cave's discovery was attributed by some to an abbot named Patrick who flourished around the year 850, and by others to Saint Patrick himself. Usually one canon of the monastery of Saint Dabeoc stayed on the island, serving the church and the pilgrims who came there. Miraculous stories beyond belief were told about the cave. On Saint Patrick's Day in 1497, by the authority of Pope Alexander the 6th, the guardian of the Franciscan house at Donegal and others destroyed the cave as a supposititious relic. The author of the Annals of Ulster, who was alive at that time, records this. Yet the cave was restored afterwards, and pilgrimages to it began again. Some even claimed that Ulysses first dug the cave, when he was said to have visited the underworld.

Piers Gaveston's campaign in the Dublin mountains and building of Newcastle

Newcastle · town · Wicklow · 1308–1309

Piers Gaveston, banished favourite of Edward the Second and made Lieutenant of Ireland, made a journey into the mountains of Dublin, broke and subdued the rebels there, and built New Castle in the Byrnes' Country and repaired Castlekevin.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

He was no sooner arrived heere, but he made a journey into the Monntaines of Dublin ; brake and subdued the Rebels there j built New-Castle in the Btrnes Conntry, and ^■'"*=? . repaired Castlekevin; and after passed up into Mounster Candem. and Thomond, performing everie where great service, with ^^^_ " much Vertue and Valour. But the King, who could not^'a*''"- live without him, revokt him within lesse than a yeare. After which time, the invasion of the Scotg, and rebellion of the Barons, did not onely disable this King to be a Conqueror, but deprived him both of liis kingdome and life. And when the Scottish Nation had overrun all this land under the conduct of Edward U Bruce (who stiled himselfe King of Ireland) England was not then able to send either men or money to save this Kingdome. Onely Buffer de Mortimer Manmcript then Justice of Ireland, arrived at Yougliall, cum 38 milit. cibu^ saith Friar Cliiin in his Annalles.
But Bremingham, Verdon, Slajdelan, and some other privat TSentlemen, rose out with the Commons of Mel/t and Uriell, and at Fagher neere Dondalke, a fatall place to the enemies of the Crowne of England, overthrew a potent armie of them. El fie (saith the Red Booke of the Exchequer, wherein the Ruhr. uhr. victory was briefly recorded) per manus communis popuU el i^' dertram del, deliberatitr jiojiulus dei a scrt-itutc mac/tinala et jiriecogilaia.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

As you pass through Newcastle in Wicklow, this town takes its name from what Piers Gaveston built here in 1308. Gaveston was the banished favourite of Edward the Second, made Lieutenant of Ireland. No sooner had he arrived than he made a journey into the mountains of Dublin. He broke and subdued the rebels there, built New Castle in the Byrnes' Country, and repaired Castlekevin. After that he passed up into Munster and Thomond, performing everywhere great service with much virtue and valour. But the King, who could not live without him, recalled him within less than a year. After Gaveston's recall, the invasion of the Scots and the Barons' rebellion did not only disable this King from being a conqueror, but deprived him both of his kingdom and life. When the Scottish nation had overrun all this land under Edward Bruce, who styled himself King of Ireland, England was not able to send men or money to save this kingdom. Only de Mortimer, then Justice of Ireland, arrived at Youghal with 38 knights. But Bremingham, Verdon, and some other private gentlemen rose out with the commons of Meath and Uriel, and at Fagher near Dundalk, a fatal place to the enemies of the Crown of England, overthrew a potent army of them. The Red Book of the Exchequer recorded the victory.

Capture of the Lord Justice at Thistledermot (Castledermot)

Castledermot · town · Kildare · 1264

Maurice Fitz-Morice the Geraldine grew so insolent in his war with the Bourkes over lands in Connacht that at a meeting at Thistledermot he took the Lord Justice himself, Sir Richard Capell, prisoner, along with several lords of Munster who were in his company.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

AoAiBB, those large scopes of Land, and great Liberties, The wu with the absolute power to make warre and peace, did rise JSn oHlw' the English Lordes to that height of Pride and Ambition, as ^^°^i^ that they could not endure one another, but grew to a mortall ona with warre and dissention among themselves : as appeareth by all '™''*'- the Records and Stories of this Eingdome. First, in the yeare, 1204, the Lades of AfcM, made Warre upon Sir John Courcif ; who having taken him by treachery, sent him prisoner into Enc/iand. In the yeare, 1210, King John Amaia comming over in person, expelled the Lacis out of the King- ^^jJJ^ *" dome, for their tiranny and oppression of the English: howbeit, uppon payment of great Fines, they were afterward restored. In the yeare, 1228, that &mily beeing risen to a greater height (for Hugh de Lacy the younger, was created Earle of Uhler, after the death of Courcy without yssue) there arose dissention and warre betweene that house, and William Marshall Lorde of Leinsier; whereby allJlf^M was destroyed and layd wast. In the yeare, 1264, Sir Waller Bourke having married the Daughter and heire of Lacy, whereby he was Earl of Ulster in right of his Wife, had mortall debate with Maurice Fiti-Morice the Oeraldine, for certaine Lands in Conaght. So as all Ireland was full of Wars between the Boiirkes and the Qeraldines (say our Annalles.) Wherein Maurice Fitz-Morice grew so insolent, as that upon a meeting at Thistledermoi, he took the Lord Justice himselfe, Sir Richard Cajiell, prisoner, with divers Lords of Mounxler beeing then in his Company. In the yeare, 1288, Richard Bourke, Earle of Ulster, (commonly called the Red Earle) pretending title to the Lordship of 2r 65 . ileth
,„i,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

The town of Castledermot was once called Thistledermot, and in 1264 it was the scene of a bold act of defiance. The English lords in Ireland held such large scopes of land and such great liberties, with absolute power to make war and peace, that they rose to a height of pride and ambition and could not endure one another. War and dissension grew among them, as the records and stories of the kingdom show. In 1204 the de Lacys made war upon Sir John Courcy, took him by treachery, and sent him prisoner into England. In 1210 King John came over in person and expelled the Lacys from the kingdom for their tyranny and oppression of the English, though upon payment of great fines they were afterward restored. In 1228 that family had risen further, for Hugh de Lacy the younger was created Earl of Ulster after the death of Courcy without issue, and there arose dissension and war between that house and William Marshall, Lord of Leinster, whereby all Ulster was destroyed and laid waste. Then in 1264 Sir Walter Bourke, having married the daughter and heir of Lacy, was Earl of Ulster in right of his wife, and had mortal debate with Maurice Fitz-Morice the Geraldine, over certain lands in Connacht. So all Ireland was full of wars between the Bourkes and the Geraldines. Wherein Maurice Fitz-Morice grew so insolent that upon a meeting at Thistledermot he took the Lord Justice himself, Sir Richard Capell, prisoner, with divers lords of Munster being then in his company.

Destruction of Waterford and Kilkenny in the Geraldine-Poer feud

Waterford · city · Waterford · 1327

A quarrel begun because Lord Arnold Poer had insulted the Earl of Kildare escalated into violent factional warfare between the Geraldines, Butlers and Berminghams on one side and the Bourkes and Poers on the other, during which the counties of Waterford and Kilkenny were destroyed by fire and sword until a parliament was called to end the feud.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

After, in tibe yeare, 1311, tbe same Red Earle (comnung to besiedge Bonrally in Tkomond, which was then held by Sir Richard de Ciare as his inheritance) was againe taken jHisoner : and all his Army (consisting for the most part of English) OTflrtbrown and cnt in pieces, by Sir Richard de Clare. And after this againe, in tbe yeare, 1327, most of the great Houses were banded one against another, (viz:) The Oeraldines, Buiierf, and Breminffhamii, on the one side, and the Bourlcea and Poerg on tbe other. The ground of the quarrell beeing none other, bat that the Lord Arnold Poer, bad caUed the Earle of Kildare, Rimer : But this quarrell was prosecuted with sach malice and violence, as tbe Counties of Waierford and Kilkenny were destroied witb fire and sword, till a Parliament was called of purpose, to quiet this dissention.
Shortly after, the Lord Jokn Bremingham, who was not long before made Earle of houth, for that notable service which he performed upon the Scots, betweene DundaUte and the Faher, was so extreamly envied by the Oernon», Verdana, and others of tbe ancient Colony, planted in the County of Louth, as that in tbe yeare, 1329, they did most wickedly betray and murder that Earle, with divers principall Gentlemen of his name and Family ; using the same speech that the Rebellions Jewes are saide to use in the Gospell :

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

This is Waterford. In 1327, most of the great houses of the colony banded against one another. The Geraldines, the Butlers, and the Berminghams stood on one side. The Bourkes and the Poers stood on the other. The ground of the quarrel was an insult. Lord Arnold Poer had called the Earl of Kildare a "Rimer." But the quarrel was prosecuted with such malice and violence that the counties of Waterford and Kilkenny were destroyed with fire and sword. The destruction went on until a parliament was called for the purpose of quieting this dissension. Shortly after, Lord John Bermingham, who had stood with the Geraldines and Butlers in this feud, and who had not long before been made Earl of Louth for notable service against the Scots between Dundalk and the Faher, was so envied by the Gernons, the Verdons, and others of the ancient colony in County Louth that in 1329 they betrayed and murdered him, with several principal gentlemen of his name and family.

Execution of Desmond followers by Sir Ralph Ufford in Munster

Munster · province · 1345

Sir Ralph Ufford, marching with an army into Munster, seized all the Earl of Desmond's possessions and took and executed his principal followers Sir Eustace le Poer, Sir William Graunt, and Sir John Cotterell, forcing the Earl himself to flee and hide.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

After this, the King being advertised that the over-large Graniits of Lands and Liberties, made to the Lords of English Blonde in Ireland, made them so insolent, aa they scorned to obey the Law, and the Magistrate, did absolutely resume all BQch Graants, as is before declared. But the Earle of Desmond above all men, found himselfe grieved with this resnmp- I|(*in"P- tion, or Repeal e of Liberties; and declared his dislike and Libeitiei. discontentment: insomuch as he did not onely refuse to come to a Parliament at Dublin, summoned by Sir William Morrit, Deputie to the Lord John Darcy, the Kings Lieuteoaiit: But (as we have said before) be raised such disscntion betweene the English of bloud, and the English of birth, as the like was never seen, &om the time of the first planting of our nation in Ireland. And in this factions and seditious AmaUt humour, he drewe the Earle ot Kildare and the rest of the Camdn. nobility, with the Citizens and Burgesses of the principall Townes, to hold a several! Parliament by themselves, at Kilkenny; where they framed certaine Articles agunst the Deputy, and transmitted the same into England to the King. Sir Kai^g Hereupon, Sir Raphe JJfford, who had lately before married Amaia *^® Countesse of Ulster, a man of courage and severity, was rit^T* """^^ Lord Justice : who forthwith calling a Parliament, sent Uimu*. a speciall commandment to the Earle oi Desmond, to appeare in that great Councel ; bat the Earle wilfully refused to come. AntaUt Whereupon, the Lord Justice raised the Kings Standard, and Candtn. " marching with an Army into Mttnsier, seized into the Kinges handes, all the possessions of the Earle, took and executed his principall followers, Sir Evstace le Poer, Sir William Graunt, and Sir John Cotterell ; enforced the Earle himselfe to fly and lurke, till 26 Noblemen and Knights, became Mainpernors for his appearance at a certaine day prefixed: But he making de&ult the second time, the uttermost advantage was taken against bis sureties. Besides, at the same time, this Lord Justice caused the Earle of Kildare to be arrested and committed to the Castle oi Dublin, indited and imprisoned manie other disobedient subjects, called in, and cancelled such Charters as were lately before resumed ; and proceeded every way so roundly and severely, as the Nobility which were wont

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

In 1345, Sir Ralph Ufford, Lord Justice of Ireland, marched an army into Munster, the province your road passes through. He seized all the Earl of Desmond's possessions and took his three principal followers, Sir Eustace le Poer, Sir William Graunt, and Sir John Cotterell. All three were executed. The Earl himself was forced to flee and hide. The trouble had been building. The King had resumed the large grants of lands and liberties made to the English lords in Ireland, and the Earl of Desmond took this repeal harder than any man. He refused to attend a Parliament summoned at Dublin by Sir William Morritt, deputy to Lord John Darcy, the King's lieutenant. He stirred dissension between the English of blood and the English of birth, and drew the Earl of Kildare and the rest of the nobility, with the citizens and burgesses of the principal towns, to hold a separate Parliament at Kilkenny. There they framed articles against the Deputy and sent them to the King in England. Sir Ralph Ufford, who had married the Countess of Ulster, was made Lord Justice. He called a Parliament and sent a command to the Earl of Desmond to appear, but the Earl refused. Ufford raised the King's standard, marched into Munster, seized the Earl's lands, executed his followers, and forced the Earl to fly and lurk. The Earl stayed hidden until 26 noblemen and knights became mainpernors, guaranteeing his appearance on a set day. He defaulted a second time, and the utmost advantage was taken against his sureties. Ufford also had the Earl of Kildare arrested and committed to Dublin Castle, indicted and imprisoned many other disobedient subjects, and called in and cancelled such charters as had lately been resumed.

Feagh Mac Hugh's stronghold at Ballinacor and Glenmalure

Ballinacor · townland · Wicklow

Hugh Mac Shane, father of Feagh Mac Hugh, rose to power by drawing thieves and outlaws into the fastness of Glenmalure adjoining his house at Ballinacor, using it as a sanctuary from which to raid the countryside.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

or that they were received to grace by them, and suffered to enjoy their lands, as unfit for any other, yet it seemeth, that in some places of the same they have pat foote, and fortified with sundry castles, of which the mines onely doe there now remaine, since which time they are growne to that strength, that they are able to lift up hand against all that state; and DOW lately through the boldnesand late good successe of this Feagh Mac Hugh, they are so &rre imboldened, that they threaten perill even to Dublin, over whose uecke they continually hang. But touching your demand of this Feaghes right unto that countrey which he claimes, or the seigniory therein, it is most vaine and arrogant. For this you cannot be ignorant, that it was part of that which was given in inheritance by Dermot Mac Morrough, King of Leinster, unto Strongbowe with his daughter, and which Strongbowe gave over unto the King and his heires, so as the right is absolutely now in her Majesty, and if it were not, yet could it not be in this Feagh, but in * O Brio, which is the ancient Lord of all that countrey ; for he and his auncestours were but followers unto O Brin; and his grand&ther Shane MacTerlagh, was a man of meanest regard amongst them, neither having wealth nor power. But his sonne Hugh Mac Shane, the &ther of thb Feagh, first began to lift up his head, and through the strength and great &stnes of Glan-Malor, which adjoyneth unto his house of Ballinecor, drew unto him many tbeeves and out-lawea, which fled unto the succour of that glynne, as to a sanctuary, and brought unto him part of the spoyle of all the countrey, through which he grew strong, and in short space got unto himselfe a great name thereby amongst the Irish, in whose footing this his sonne continuing, hath , through many unhappy occasions, increased his stud name, and the opinion of his greatnes, insomuch that now he is become a dangerous enemy to deale withall.
Eudox. Surely I can commend him, that being of himselfe of so meane condition, hath through his owne hardinesse lifted

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 41

As the companion tells it

Somewhere around here is Ballinacor, the stronghold of Feagh Mac Hugh in Glenmalure. The story of how this family rose begins with Feagh's grandfather, Shane Mac Terlagh, who was a man of the meanest regard among the followers of O'Brien, the ancient lord of all this country. He had neither wealth nor power. It was his son, Hugh Mac Shane, Feagh's father, who first began to lift up his head. Hugh drew on the strength and the great fastness of Glenmalure, which adjoins his house, and he drew to him many thieves and outlaws. They fled to that glen as to a sanctuary, and they brought him part of the spoil of all the country. Through this he grew strong, and in a short time got himself a great name among the Irish. Feagh Mac Hugh continued in his father's footing. Through many unhappy occasions he increased his name and the opinion of his greatness, so that he has become a dangerous enemy to deal with. He and his followers are now so emboldened that they threaten peril even to Dublin, "over whose neck they continually hang." The land Feagh claims as his right was given in inheritance by Dermot Mac Morrough, King of Leinster, to Strongbow with his daughter. Strongbow gave it over to the King and his heirs, so the right is now absolutely in her Majesty. The claim is called "most vaine and arrogant."

Rebellion and death of Girald, last Earl of Desmond

Decies · electoral division · Dublin

Girald, the last Earl of Desmond, attempted to impose Coigne and Livery upon the Decies in County Waterford, was resisted and overthrown by the Earl of Ormond, and this defeat led him into open rebellion against the Crown in which he was ultimately killed, ending his house.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

of Damond and Kildare were attainted by Partisinent at Th-offkeda, for alliance and fbatering with the Irish; and for biking Coiffnt and Livery of the Kings subjects, yet was De»~ mond onely put to death ; for the Elarle of Kildare received his pardon. And albeit theBonneofthisEarle of iVnn&fl^, who lost his head at Drofheda were restored to the EUrldom ; yet Tk> Coon- eonld not the Kings gnce regenerate obedience in that degeu Ifeiud. wrote honse, bat it grew ratlier more wilde and baHnroos, S2 H. a tben before. For from thenceforth they reclaimed a strange priviledge ; That the Earlet of Detmond thould tterer eonut to any Parliament or Orand-Coun*ell, or ttithin any walled towne, hut at their will and pleantre. Which pretended priviledge, Jamet Earie of Demnond, the Father of Girald the last Earie, renounced and snrrendered by fats Deed, in the Chancery of Ireland, in the 32 of Henry the Fight At what time, among the meer Irishry, he sabmitted himselfe to Sir Anthony Saini-Leffer, then Lord Deputy, tooke an Oath of Allegiance; Covenanted that he wonld snfF^ the law of Fngland to be execated in his Coontrey ; and assist the Kings Jadges in their Circnils; and if any Sobsidies should be granted by Parliament, he would permit the same to be levied upon his Tenants and followers. Which Covenants are as straunge as the priviledge itselfe, spoken of before. But tliat which I conceive most worthy of Observation, upon the fortunes of the house of Desmond, is this ; that as Maurice Fiti-Thomaa, the first Earie, did first raise the greatnes of that house, by Irish exactions and oppressions ; so Girald the last Earie, did at last ruine and reduce it to nothing, by using the like extortions. For certain it is, that the first occasion of his rebelUon, grew from hence; that when he attempted to charge the Decies in the County of Water/ord, with Cotyite and Livery, Black Rents and Cosherios, after the Irish manner, he was resisted by the Earie of Omiotid, and upon an encounter, overthrowne and taken prisoner ; which made his heart so unquiet, as it easily conceived treason against the Crowne, and brought forth actuall and open Rebellion, wherein he perished himselfe, and made a final extinguishment of his house and honour. Oppression and extortion did 90 mdntain

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

The road takes you through or near Decies, a place whose name is bound to the fall of a great house. Girald, the last Earl of Desmond, tried to impose Coigne and Livery, Black Rents and Cosherings, upon the Decies in County Waterford, after the Irish manner. The Earl of Ormond resisted him. In the encounter that followed, Girald was overthrown and taken prisoner. That defeat worked on his mind. The writer says his heart grew so unquiet that it conceived treason against the Crown, and brought forth actual and open rebellion. In that rebellion he perished, and made a final extinguishment of his house and honour. The writer finds a symmetry in this. Maurice Fitz-Thomas, the first Earl of Desmond, raised the greatness of the house through Irish exactions and oppressions. Girald, the last Earl, brought it to nothing by the same means. Before Girald, his father James had tried to bind the house to the Crown. In the 32nd year of Henry the Eighth, James renounced the old privilege by which the Earls of Desmond would never come to Parliament or Grand-Council, or enter any walled town, except at their will. He submitted to Sir Anthony Saint-Leger, then Lord Deputy, took an Oath of Allegiance, and covenanted that the law of England would be executed in his country, that he would assist the King's Judges in their Circuits, and that any subsidies granted by Parliament would be permitted on his tenants and followers. But obedience could not be regenerated in that house. The writer says it grew rather more wild and barbarous than before.

Bodies remain incorrupt and unburied on Aran

near Aran Islands · island or archipelago · Galway

Giraldus Cambrensis reports the tradition that on the island of Aran, human corpses are neither buried nor decay, but remain exposed to the open air and stay incorrupt, allowing people to see and recognize their ancestors across generations.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

ft in Reffiotiihtix ririiiix (ut ille habet) iiui/iox occidi-bat. Proximo melioris notse sunt txea A raiics insulsB, scilicet Inis-ier, Iiiig-maiie et Araii-more, quae nunc ad agmm Galviensem spectant, olira verb ad Momoniam pertinebiuit. Harum pnecipua est, Aran-More, id est, Arati'Magna, dicta etiam Arnna-ncBinh, sive Aran Sanctorum, ob eanctos ibi sepultos. De hac insula et S. Enna, aliks Endeo, primo ibidem Abbate, ita scriptor vitfe S. Albei, CiVm S. Alheux rererteretur de Camell, occurrit ei Entia abbas diceHK: revertere meciim ad regem (^ngusam) etquiETe jni/ii ad eo illain Iniittlam, i.e. Ar^, ut in tiomine Domini faciam ibi motiaslerium. Tunc rerergus SanctUK Albeiis adregem salutavit eum diccns: illam instilam posi/am in Oceana tnarin, da tiobii ut adijicemvs ibi tnonasleriiim. i?^x ait non vidi nee audtvi qualis et quanta sit ilia insula, et id^o neinini illam dabo, utpriiu sciani quomodh sit. Tunc virtus divina fecit regem videre totam earn itiaulam per longa spalia terrarum, et xcivit gualia et quanta fuit. Tradidit autern rex Sanctis insulam Arn, et sub S. Albeo, S. Erifia construxit ibiegregium nioHaaterium, et sub uno nomine t/oniinatur etiam insula, i. Am. Et magna est ilia insula, et est terra Sanctorum, quia nemo ecit numerum sanctorum, qui sepuUi sunt ibi, nisi solus Deas. Hsec ille: cui astipulatur Ecriptor vitse S. Endei, qui aaserit etiam Dariniam, Endei sororeni, iEngusse regis fiiisse uxorem. Sed audi porro &buloaam relationem de hac insula, ex Giraldi Cambrensis Topograph. Hibemiee Distinct, ii. Cap. vii, Est insula qtieedam in occidentali Conactia* solo posita cui nomen Aren, a S- Brendano, ut aiunt, consecrata. In kac, hominum cmpora nee humantur nee putrescunt, sed sub dio posita et exposita, permanent incorrupta. Hie homines avos, alavos et tritaion longamque slirpis sum retrb seriem, mirando conspiciunt et cogfioscunt. Est et aliud ibi nolabile, quia citm per totam Hiberniam copies^ nimis mures abundant, liac tamen insula mure caret: mus enim non nascitur hie, nee rivit inrectus, &c. Nescio an hic operae pretinm sit memorare incolas nonnullos qui fide digni vidcri volunt, affirmare se, ex his insulis, tasci- * Sah melius.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 37

As the companion tells it

The Aran Islands lie in the western sea. The chief of them is Aranmore, called Aran of the Saints for the holy men buried there, so many that no one knows their number but God. The story of how the island became a monastery begins with two saints. Enda was the first abbot of Aran. He told Albeus to return with him to the king and ask for the island, so that in the name of the Lord he might found a monastery there. Albeus went to the king and said: "That island placed in the ocean sea, give it to us that we may build a monastery there." The king answered that he had not seen or heard what manner of island it was or how great, and so he would not grant it until he knew. Then divine power let the king see the whole island across a great distance, and he saw what it was and how large. He gave Aran to the saints, and under Albeus, Enda built a notable monastery there. But there is another tradition about this island, recorded by Giraldus Cambrensis. He writes that the island was consecrated by Saint Brendan. On Aran, the bodies of the dead are neither buried nor do they decay. They are laid out and exposed to the open air, and they remain incorrupt. People there can look upon and recognize their ancestors, their great-grandparents and their great-great-grandparents, and the long line of their descent stretching back through generations. There is one more thing Giraldus notes: though mice overrun all of Ireland, no mouse is born on Aran, nor can one live there.

Brian Boru's body reputedly buried at Kilmainham

Kilmainham · townland · Dublin · 1014

Some sources claim Brian Boru's body was carried to the Church of St. Maignan, now commonly called Kilmainham, one mile from Dublin, and buried there near a stone cross still visible within the walls of the former Priory of the Hospitaller knights.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Brienns filim Cenedi Lorcani nepos cognomento Buruma sive Boro rex Momoniae, Princeps ob anirai wrtutes celeberrimna, postqu^m Danos multis prsaliis vicisset, totins HibernisB rex declaratus est anno 1002. Deinde enactis 12 annis ipse (post crucntam pugnam) in prseiio occisus est ad Chntarf, prope Dublinium, die Parascevea, 23 die Aprilis 1014, setatia Buse 74, {manibus et mertti', inquit Marianus Scotus, ad Deum infentus) unk cum filio suo MurcLardo et mnltis aliis, a Sitrico rege Dublinii. Csesi etiam, ex parte Sitrici, Mailmorda rex Lageni^ et alii quamplurimi. Sunt qui assorunt corpus Brieni ad £cclesiam Sancti Maignani deportatum (Kil-mainam earn nunc vulgo Tocamus, quae unico milliari k Dublinio distat) ibidem sepulturse faisse traditum, non procul k cruce lapidea circulo inclusa in summitate, quae etiamnum visltur, intra muros Prioratns (olim c«leberrimi) militum Hospitalariorum. Alii vero Brientun Armachse sepnltum volunt. Utcunque fuerit, eo interfecto, Malachias (uti diximua) regnum recuperavit, et tenuit usque ad 2 Septemb. 1023, quo nature cessit.
Interregnum annorum (ut aliqui volunt) 20, Cuano 0-Lachnan et Corcrano, clerico illustri, clavnm interim gnbemantibus. Corcranum autem obiisse anno 1040. (qui nobis est 1041) produnt Annales Ultonienses.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 16

As the companion tells it

Somewhere close to Kilmainham, a question remains about where Brian Boru was buried. Brian, son of Cennedi, grandson of Lorcan, surnamed Boruma, was king of Munster, a prince celebrated for his virtues. After defeating the Danes in many battles, he was declared king of all Ireland in 1002. Twelve years later, after a bloody battle, he was killed at Clontarf, near Dublin, on Good Friday, the 23rd of April 1014, aged 74. Marianus Scotus says he died "with hands and mind raised to God," along with his son Murchard and many others, slain by Sitric, king of Dublin. On Sitric's side fell Maelmorda, king of Leinster, and many more. Some say Brian's body was carried to the Church of St. Maignan, a mile from Dublin, and buried there near a stone cross with a circle enclosed at its top, still visible within the walls of the former Priory of the Hospitaller knights. Others say he was buried at Armagh. After his death, Malachy recovered the kingdom and held it until the 2nd of September 1023.

Death of King Cormac at Ballaghmoon

Ballaghmoon · townland · Kildare · 908

King Cormac of Munster was defeated and killed in a bloody battle at a place called Moyalbet (identified with Ballaghmoon) after a long and cruel fight on the 12th of August, with several regional chieftains also slain.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

An. Dccccvi Flanns Melsechlini filius rex Hiberaise, coacto exercitu, in Momoniam irmit, eamqae proTinciam, ad Limericum (al. Ltunniacam) usque, diripuit et vastavit. Caeterum Cormacus, qui tempori cedens, fagfi evaserat, h&c injuria irritatus, anno insequente, Midiam cum copiis ingressos, Flauum prselio iudit, eumque ad conditiones quaadam obsernandas, dbi obsides tradere coegit iisq; acceptis, Ca^eliam reversus est Anno verb dccccviii (al. Dccccvn) Flanus, ut cladem nuper acceptam ulcisceretur, pactis et obsidibua traditis non obetantibus, cum Lagenienai et Conadenai regibus egit, ut conjuncda yiribus Momonienses adorirentur, eoque SQCcessu, ut maximis copiia instructus, signa adversus Cormacum extulerit: Momoniensium exercitui in loco djcto Mt>^- albet obviam &ctua est, ubi August! die xti, post longam et cruentam puguam, cessit ei victoria, Cormaco rege ibidem occiso. Cfeai etiam cum eo feruntur duces feii omnes primarii, seu mavis, reguli, inter quos nominatur Fogertachus Eerriensis et Kellacbus Ossoriensia. Sic Annales Hibemici. Ceeterum Caradocus Lhancarvanenais, Cormacum sub hoc tempore, 11 Danis in praelio occisum tradit. Memini etiam me legisse in codice quodam MS. bibliodiecse Cottonianse, eum & bubulco quodam occisum, ad Beanree prope Legblinam, dum ibidem, pro exercitu suo tunc pugnante, ad Deum preces fundens, in genua proeumberet. Tanta est de ejus csede discrepantia. Ego vero non possum uon assentiri, tam Annalibus Uttonienaibus, qukm iis coenobii Canonicomm Inis-fallanse in agro Ecrriano, qui a dicto Flani exercitu, victum eum et occisum tradunt Corpus ejus Casseliam delatum ibidem tumulo conditum est. Vir fiiit eruditus et Andquitatum Hibernicarum scientissimus, Scripsit lingu4 mk patriS, historiam Pgaller-Caakell vuigo dictam, quee etiamnum extat, et magno habetur in pretio. Excerpta qnsedam ex dicta Historia, in vetTisto babeo codice membraneo, Psalter-na ran appellato, ante annos plusqukm 300 exarato, ut ex characteris autiquitate liquet In eodem codice sunt multa miscellanea de rebus Hibemicia, partim Latinfe, partim Hibemici, collecta per Oengusium Celide, inter quse, catalognm babemus nudum (solum nimirum nomina) regum Hibernise, ab Heremone ad 89 Brienum

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 26

As the companion tells it

Somewhere close to Ballaghmoon, King Cormac of Munster met his end in 908. The years before were a feud between two kings. Flann, son of Melsechlinn and king of Ireland, marched into Munster in 906 with a gathered army and ravaged the province as far as Limerick. Cormac had fled for a time, but this injury stung him. The next year he entered Meath with his forces, fought Flann, and forced him to accept certain conditions and hand over hostages. Then he returned to Cashel. Flann would not let it rest. To avenge his defeat, he broke the pact and abandoned the hostages. He negotiated with the kings of Leinster and Connacht to join forces against the Munstermen. With great strength he raised his standard against Cormac. The Munster army met him at a place the annals call Moyalbet, identified with this place. There, on the 12th of August, after a long and cruel battle, victory went to Flann. Cormac was killed on the field. Several chieftains fell with him, all the principal leaders, among them Fogertach of Kerry and Cellach of Ossory. The accounts of his death disagree. Caradoc of Llancarvan says he was killed by the Danes in battle. A Cottonian manuscript says he was killed by a peasant at Beanree near Leighlin, while he knelt praying for his army as it fought on without him. So great is the disagreement over his death. The author sides with the Annals of Ulster and the canons of Inisfallen, who say he was defeated and killed by Flann's army. His body was carried to Cashel and buried in a mound. Cormac was a learned man, most knowledgeable in Irish antiquities. He wrote in his native language a history called the Psalter of Cashel, which still exists and is greatly prized.

Destruction of Meath in Lacy-Marshall feud

Meath · county · Meath · 1228

In 1228, dissention and war broke out between the house of Lacy (risen to greater height after Hugh de Lacy the younger was created Earl of Ulster) and William Marshall, Lord of Leinster, resulting in all of Meath being destroyed and laid waste.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

AoAiBB, those large scopes of Land, and great Liberties, The wu with the absolute power to make warre and peace, did rise JSn oHlw' the English Lordes to that height of Pride and Ambition, as ^^°^i^ that they could not endure one another, but grew to a mortall ona with warre and dissention among themselves : as appeareth by all '™''*'- the Records and Stories of this Eingdome. First, in the yeare, 1204, the Lades of AfcM, made Warre upon Sir John Courcif ; who having taken him by treachery, sent him prisoner into Enc/iand. In the yeare, 1210, King John Amaia comming over in person, expelled the Lacis out of the King- ^^jJJ^ *" dome, for their tiranny and oppression of the English: howbeit, uppon payment of great Fines, they were afterward restored. In the yeare, 1228, that &mily beeing risen to a greater height (for Hugh de Lacy the younger, was created Earle of Uhler, after the death of Courcy without yssue) there arose dissention and warre betweene that house, and William Marshall Lorde of Leinsier; whereby allJlf^M was destroyed and layd wast. In the yeare, 1264, Sir Waller Bourke having married the Daughter and heire of Lacy, whereby he was Earl of Ulster in right of his Wife, had mortall debate with Maurice Fiti-Morice the Oeraldine, for certaine Lands in Conaght. So as all Ireland was full of Wars between the Boiirkes and the Qeraldines (say our Annalles.) Wherein Maurice Fitz-Morice grew so insolent, as that upon a meeting at Thistledermoi, he took the Lord Justice himselfe, Sir Richard Cajiell, prisoner, with divers Lords of Mounxler beeing then in his Company. In the yeare, 1288, Richard Bourke, Earle of Ulster, (commonly called the Red Earle) pretending title to the Lordship of 2r 65 . ileth
,„i,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

As you travel through Meath, you are passing through a county that was utterly destroyed in 1228. The great liberties granted to the English lords, with absolute power to make war and peace, raised them to such height of pride and ambition that they could not endure one another. The Lacy family had been expelled from the kingdom in 1210 by King John in person, for their tyranny and oppression of the English, but upon payment of great fines they were afterward restored. Then that family rose to greater height still, for Hugh de Lacy the younger was created Earl of Ulster after the death of Courcy without issue. In the year 1228, dissention and war broke out between that house and William Marshall, Lord of Leinster. The result was that all of Meath was destroyed and laid waste. The records and stories of this kingdom show that this was part of a wider pattern of mortal war and dissention among the English lords themselves, stretching across decades. Before this, in 1204, the lords of Meath made war upon Sir John Courcy, took him by treachery, and sent him prisoner into England. After Meath's destruction, the conflicts continued, with the Bourkes and the Geraldines filling all Ireland with wars in 1264.

Earl of Desmond executed at Drogheda

Drogheda · town · Louth · 1467

Thomas, Earl of Desmond, was beheaded at Drogheda (called Fontana in Latin, Tredagh in the vernacular) on 15 February on the order of John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester and Deputy of Ireland, for imposing exactions similar to those of his predecessors.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Nam is plurioiis Hibernise locb, per multoa posted amios, imposita, misellum populum graviter afflixenmt, etiam non obstantibus Statutis quibusdam Parlamentaiiis, quibus ist^direptiones et expilationea probibitie fiierunt, sub poena proditioois. Sed plus valent boni mores (ut rect^ Tacitus) qukm borne leges. De Comitb illius Seneschallo Johanne Cotterelt, morte mulctato, Radulphi de Ufford Uibemise Justitiarii mandato, quod multax graves, extratteas et intollerabiles leges exercuisset, tenuUset, et invenisset, vdd. Job. Olynni Annalee, ad annum 1345. Notant aliqui hocipsnm exactionum genus, tmi ex jam died Mauntii posteris fuisse exitiale : nam Thomas Comes Desmonise, ob similia tributa, qu» subditis imposuerat, cafute plexus est Fontanse, (quam Droghedam et vulgo Tredagh vocamus) Febmarii 15, anno Domini KCCCCLZvn, jossu Johannis Tiptofti Wigomife comitis Hibemijeque Deputati. Atqui Thomas Russellus in HIstoria Creraldinorum, quo authore nescio, Desmonium sublatum asserit, machinationibns Elizabeths Usoris Edwardi iv, in nltionem verborum qnae contra earn, ad Regem loquutus fiierat. Ad voces ipsas quod attinet; (Togn verbum est Anglicum, qnod pecuniam signi* ficat, et l<ttiers, in mitiori sensu, res necessarias, qua vel ex 62 debito
D,„l,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 21

As the companion tells it

Drogheda is a town the road passes through. In 1467, on the 15th of February, Thomas, Earl of Desmond, was beheaded here. The order came from John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester and Deputy of Ireland. The charge was that Desmond had imposed tributes on his subjects, exactions of the same kind that had afflicted the people of Ireland for many years despite statutes forbidding them under penalty of treason. As Tacitus said, good customs are worth more than good laws. Some noted that this kind of exaction had proved fatal to the Desmond line. There is another account. Thomas Russell, in his History of the Geraldines, claims Desmond was brought down instead by the machinations of Elizabeth, wife of Edward IV, in retaliation for words he had spoken against her to the King. The record also notes that John Cotterelt, a seneschal, had been put to death for harsh and intolerable laws, by mandate of Ralph de Ufford, Justice of Ireland, in 1345.

St Patrick's Purgatory: the marvellous cave on Lough Derg

near Lough Derg · lake or lakes · Donegal

On an island in Lough Derg stood the cave known as St Patrick's Purgatory, a place of pilgrimage and penance about which extraordinary and scarcely credible stories were told; the author even cites classical poets who linked such underworld entrances to Britain and Ireland.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

ciflci. Imula S- Dabeoci, al. Hoc ccenobium Canonicomm Angus* Avoffi, in lacu rubra, tinianomm in Regesto Johannis Bole *'ulgb, Logh-derff, qnondam Arcbiepiscopi Armachani apaliia Logh-gerg. P. pellatur Locu» ^lialia monaaterii Apostolorum Petri et Pauli Armacka, S. Dabeocnm fondfisse feront seculo 5, vivente S. Patricio. Alii S. Patricinm fondatorem volunt Prior loci olim appellabatnr Prior Pnrgatorii S. Patricii; sed antmm ipsnm, vulg6 Purgatorium <Uctmn, cujns inventio k qoibusdam ad Patricinm Abbatem, qui floruit anno 850, ab aliis, ad S. Patricinm refertur, in alia situm est insula ejusdem lacns, in qua plemmque nnus dnntaxat vel aliiu Canonicns osnobii S. Dabeoci mansit, ad nsum ecclesiEe et peregrinantinm. De hoc antro, mira fidem superantia nairantur. Dirutum Atiase, utpot^ suppositicium, ipso die S. Patricii, anno Dom. 1497, Alexandri 6 Papie anthoritate, k Qardiano domus fntram Minomm de Donegall et aliis, prodit ad eum annum, qui turn vixit, author Annalium Ultonlenaiiun. Attamen restanratum posted, et peregriuationibus denub frequentatnm constat. Sunt qui ridicol^ somniant Ulissem primum hunc effbdisse specum, cum Inferos aflkretur. Ulissem vero (quod obiter notare llceat) ab Homero vel historic^ dictum vel poetic^ Actum, Hiberniam, unam ^ Britannids insnlis, vel saltern 161 Britanniam
D,„l,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 33

As the companion tells it

Out on Lough Derg in Donegal stands an island with a cave long known as St Patrick's Purgatory. The monastery on the lake was founded, some say, by Saint Dabeoc in the fifth century, while Saint Patrick was still living. Others name Patrick himself as the founder. The head of the house was once called the Prior of St Patrick's Purgatory. The cave's discovery is given by some to an abbot named Patrick who flourished around 850, and by others to the saint himself. It sat on an island in the lake, where a canon of Saint Dabeoc's monastery usually stayed to serve the church and the pilgrims who came. About this cave, things are told that surpass belief. It was destroyed on St Patrick's Day in 1497, by order of Pope Alexander the Sixth, carried out by the Guardian of the Franciscan house of Donegal and others, as the Annals of Ulster record. Yet it was restored afterward and pilgrimages to it resumed. Some have claimed, rather absurdly, that Ulysses first opened this cave and found the underworld in it. Homer, whether as historian or poet, placed Ulysses in Ireland, one of the British isles, or at least in Britain.

Siege of Athlone Castle in Bourke-Verdun feud over Meath

Athlone · town · Westmeath · 1288

In 1288, Richard Bourke, Earl of Ulster (the Red Earl), claiming title to the Lordship of Meath, made war upon Sir Theobald de Verdun and besieged him in the Castle of Athlone.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

AoAiBB, those large scopes of Land, and great Liberties, The wu with the absolute power to make warre and peace, did rise JSn oHlw' the English Lordes to that height of Pride and Ambition, as ^^°^i^ that they could not endure one another, but grew to a mortall ona with warre and dissention among themselves : as appeareth by all '™''*'- the Records and Stories of this Eingdome. First, in the yeare, 1204, the Lades of AfcM, made Warre upon Sir John Courcif ; who having taken him by treachery, sent him prisoner into Enc/iand. In the yeare, 1210, King John Amaia comming over in person, expelled the Lacis out of the King- ^^jJJ^ *" dome, for their tiranny and oppression of the English: howbeit, uppon payment of great Fines, they were afterward restored. In the yeare, 1228, that &mily beeing risen to a greater height (for Hugh de Lacy the younger, was created Earle of Uhler, after the death of Courcy without yssue) there arose dissention and warre betweene that house, and William Marshall Lorde of Leinsier; whereby allJlf^M was destroyed and layd wast. In the yeare, 1264, Sir Waller Bourke having married the Daughter and heire of Lacy, whereby he was Earl of Ulster in right of his Wife, had mortall debate with Maurice Fiti-Morice the Oeraldine, for certaine Lands in Conaght. So as all Ireland was full of Wars between the Boiirkes and the Qeraldines (say our Annalles.) Wherein Maurice Fitz-Morice grew so insolent, as that upon a meeting at Thistledermoi, he took the Lord Justice himselfe, Sir Richard Cajiell, prisoner, with divers Lords of Mounxler beeing then in his Company. In the yeare, 1288, Richard Bourke, Earle of Ulster, (commonly called the Red Earle) pretending title to the Lordship of 2r 65 . ileth
,„i,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

Coming through Athlone now, a town on the Shannon in Westmeath. In 1288, this was the stage for a siege in a feud between two of the most powerful families in Ireland. The old records say that the great scopes of land and the liberties granted to the English lords, with the absolute power to make war and peace, raised them to such a height of pride and ambition that they could not endure one another. Mortal war and dissension grew among them, as all the records and stories of the kingdom show. There had been feuds before. In 1204, the Lacys made war upon Sir John Courcy and took him by treachery and sent him prisoner into England. In 1210, King John came over in person and expelled the Lacys for their tyranny and oppression, though they were later restored upon payment of great fines. In 1228, Hugh de Lacy the younger was created Earl of Ulster, and war arose between that house and William Marshall, Lord of Leinster, whereby all Meath was destroyed and laid waste. In 1264, Sir Walter Bourke, having married the daughter and heir of de Lacy and becoming Earl of Ulster in right of his wife, had mortal debate with Maurice Fitz-Morice the Geraldine over certain lands in Connacht. Then in 1288, Richard Bourke, Earl of Ulster, commonly called the Red Earl, pretending title to the Lordship of Meath, made war upon Sir Theobald de Verdun and besieged him in the Castle of Athlone.

Ancient Bondage: Servants and Betaghs Bound to Land

Kildare · town · Kildare · 1316

The text describes how the ancient Irish kept slaves who were bought and sold at fixed prices, and how villeins or betaghs were bound to the manor or soil, forced into servile labour such as ploughing, digging, and reaping without the right to bear arms.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

et aliis tnullis. Ita Regestom, fol. 45. Villani hi iidem fuerunt cum iU quos alii Nativoa, sive Oriffinarm, vel Originales inquilinox, alii Betof/iox vocant. De hetagiin fit raentio in antiquo Regesto Archiepiscop! Dublin. Tocato crede hihi nempe in duabns Bullis Urbani iv Papfe, necnon in libro nigro ecclosife Liamorenais, fol. 1. b. unde, ante illius libri combustionem, sequentia fuerunt desampta: Meinomndiim qiibii qualibet caruca de Betaffiis quolibet anno debet arare Domino {episcopo) unam acra>n,ad aeisinam frumenti, et unam acram ad seisinam avenarum, &C. Item Betagii deltent Irahere blada Domini. Distinguuntur ibi Betagii, ^ Tenetitihug. Item in charta Edwardi 2 regis Anglice data 14 die Maii anno regni ejus ix, hoc est, gratiae 1316, qui praifecit Johannem filium Thomse in comitem de Kitdare, dedit etiam illi castrum et villain de Kildare, t/na cuin sercitUt liberd Tenentiuin, Fir~ mariorum el Betaf/iorum, &c. Vox labium sonat Hibemicum. Sed qiuere, Servilia hujusce conditionis homines non pentiittebantnr munera ahqua subire militaria. Et more qtiidem veterrimo heroicorum temporum, ut ostendit Virgilina, ^neidos 9,
Quorum primavus Helenor,

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 38

As the companion tells it

Kildare town, in 1316, became the seat of a new earl. On the 14th of May that year, King Edward the Second granted the castle and villein of Kildare to John, son of Thomas, whom he made Earl of Kildare. The grant came with the services of free tenants, farmers, and betaghs. Betaghs were people bound to the soil. An old record, once kept in the Black Book of the Church of Limerick before that book was burned, set down what they owed. Every plough of betaghs had to plough for the lord one acre for wheat sowing and one acre for oat sowing. The betaghs also had to draw in the lord's crops. People of this servile condition were not permitted to bear arms or take on any military duty. The writer linked this to the oldest heroic customs, citing Virgil. The betaghs were distinguished from tenants. Their name, the writer noted, comes from the Irish tongue.

Battle at Gessill: Eber slain by Heremon

Geashill · town · Offaly

According to ancient Irish histories recounted by Giraldus Cambrensis, discord arose between the brothers Eber and Heremon after they divided Ireland between them. Following various conflicts, Eber was slain by Heremon in a battle fought at Gessill (also called Argetros).

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Ort& demum inter fratres discordiS, post varioa conflictus, Eberum in Prfelio ad Gessill, aliis, ad Argetros, ab Ileremone occiaum ti"adunt, turn que Heremonem, tanqukm alterum Romulnm, dictum Monarcbam. Ita pleriimque Giraldus Cambrensis et qui eum eequuntur, ex historii» Hjbernicis. Neque hac occasione omittendns, licet in quibuadam disseiitiat, Oengusus Celide, author antiquus, qui in libro dicto Psaliernarran, de Milesii poateris sequentia tradlt : Hibernia Insula, inquit, inter duosJiliosprincipaUs Militis (vulgo dicti Milesii,) Ileremon et Eber in duas paries dicisa est: Eber autein auslralem partem Hibernia accepit, Ileremon quidem Septentrionalcm, cum Monarchia accepit. Heremon autem primut de Scotia omnem Hiberniam regnavit, per 13 annon, ct quinque Jilios clectoe genuit, quatuor ex its regnarerunt Hiberniam, per 3 annos, et Jarel Propheta, 10 annas. De semine ipsitis, Hiberniain 58 Reges dominarerunt, anlequam Patricius HiberniensibusPassionemetCatkolicain Jidcm reguldmqueChriaii narrarel: et post Patricium, de prole ejus, SO lieges dominaverunl Hiberniam. Ab Ebero, originom duxisse dicuiitur (sed quam verfe nescio) 0-Brieni, Mac-Cartaii, O'Carolli, O-SuUevani, Mac-Cohlani, O-Kennedsi, 0-Hogani, O-Haifei, O-Grara?!, alii. Ab Heremone, 0-Neali, O-Connori, 0-Donelli, 0-Birni, O-Kellei, O-Flahertiei, O-Rourki, 0-Re!ei, 0-Melachlini, &c. Et ab Jero alio fratre, 0-Connori Kerrife, O-Feralli, Mac-RancIH, Magenisii, et alii pauci. Pergo. Imigrationum Partkolani, Nemefhi, ac demum irium Jiliorum 18 " Miliiin
,„i,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 16

As the companion tells it

Geashill is a town the road passes through or near, and its name belongs to one of the oldest stories told about Ireland. According to ancient Irish histories recounted by Giraldus Cambrensis, discord arose between two brothers, Eber and Heremon. They had divided Ireland between them, Eber taking the southern part and Heremon the north, with the monarchy. After various conflicts between them, Heremon slew Eber in a battle fought at Gessill, which some call Argetros. Heremon was then called Monarch, likened to a second Romulus. This account comes from Giraldus Cambrensis and those who followed him, drawing on Irish histories. An older writer, Oengusus Celide, tells more in a book called the Psalter. He says Heremon was the first from Scotland to rule all Ireland, reigning for 13 years. He had five sons, four of whom ruled Ireland for 3 years, and Jared the Prophet for 10 years. From their line, 58 kings held Ireland before Patrick brought the Christian faith. After Patrick, 80 kings from that same line ruled. Many Irish families traced their descent from Eber, from Heremon, or from another brother, Ith.

Blaithmac slain by Norse pagans on Iona

Iona · island or archipelago · 800–825

Blaithmac, son of an Irish king, was killed by Danes or Norwegians on the island of Iona, as recorded in his life written by Wallafrid Strabo. The text notes uncertainty whether this happened during Cellach's earlier massacre or a later one.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Anno 807, Daui et Norwegi in Hibemiam appulerunt, et Roscomaniam, regionemque adjacentem ferro flamm^ue vastHrunt. Eodera tempore Cellacus Abbas coeuobii S. Columbae Huensis, multis ^ sois, Norwegorum crudelitate, interfectis, in Hibemiam profugit, et Kenanusse, aliks Kenlisss in Midia, monasterium in honorem S. Columbse sive condidit, sive restauraTit Cum vero annos circiter 7 ibi pnefuisset Abbas, Dermitio quodam in dicto coenobio Abbate relicto, in Jonam sive insulam Huensem reversus est, ubi, post annum unum vel alterum, mortem obiit. Nescio an in laniena prsedicta, Tel posteriore aliqua, trncidatus fnerit Blaithmacus reguli Hibemici filius. Eum, sub bis temporibus, ^ Danis sive Norwegis ethnicis in Jona insula CKSum, ex vita ejus, ^ Wallafrido Strabone carmine descripta, liquet. Omitto hie commenta Saxonis Ctrammatici, qui (more suo) Fridelitbum, Frothonem 3, et Haconem, Danos, multis annoram centuriis, ante hsec tempora, Hibemiam infestaase fingit.
Anno 812, Classia Normanuorum Hibemiam insulam 99 aggressa.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 27

As the companion tells it

On the island of Iona, Blaithmac, the son of an Irish king, was killed by pagan Danes or Norwegians. We know this from his life, written in verse by Wallafrid Strabo. The record cannot say whether he died in the earlier slaughter, when Cellach the abbot fled Iona for Ireland, or in a later one. In 807 the Danes and Norwegians came to Ireland and ravaged Roscommon and the region around it with sword and fire. Cellach, abbot of Saint Columba's monastery on Iona, saw many of his people killed by Norwegian cruelty and escaped to Ireland. He founded or restored a monastery in honour of Saint Columba at Kells in Meath, leaving a man named Dermitius as abbot there. After about 7 years he returned to Iona, and died there a year or two later. In 812 a Norman fleet attacked Ireland.

Danes seize and sack Dublin then are driven out and it is restored

Dublin · city · Dublin · 850–851

Before 851 the Danes held Dublin and the neighbouring district called Fingal. A fierce battle led to Dublin's Danish garrison being routed and the city plundered by the victors, before Danish forces returned the next year with reinforcements and recaptured and restored Dublin.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Ante annum 851, Danos, Dublinio et regiuncula vicina quam Fingalliam vocamua, potitoa esse, ex Historicis Hibernicis liquet. Infer bos et alios ejuadem gentis, hoc anno, atrox commissum est praelium, in quo Dani Dublinienses profligati-, sunt, et Dublinium ^ victoribus direptum. Atqui fugii non panel elapsi, in patriam confngerunt, unde anno inaequente, aaxiliaribus copiis reversi, hostibua victis, Dublinium recuperdrunt et restaurarunt. Danos aive Ostmannos Dublinienses intelligit proculdubio vitte S. Coemgeni sive Keivini scriptor, cum de Dublinio et ejus civibua ita loquatur, Civitas AthrcUath est in aquilonali Laginiensiumplaga, super frctutn maris posita ; et id Scotich dicitur Duh-lein, quod sonat Latine nigra thernta : et ipsa civitas potens et belligera est, in qua semper habitant liri asperrimi inpraliis, et peritiesimi in elaxsibus.
Anno 852, Armacha, ipso Paschatis die, \ Danis devastata

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 27

As the companion tells it

Before 851, the Danes held Dublin and the neighbouring district called Fingal. In 851 a fierce battle was fought, and the Dublin Danes were routed. The victors plundered the city. But the fugitives escaped to their homeland, and the following year returned with reinforcements. They defeated their enemies, recaptured Dublin, and restored it. A writer of the life of Saint Kevin described Dublin as a powerful and warlike city set on the ford of the sea, its name Dubh-linn meaning "black pool," where "men most fierce in battle and most skilled in naval expeditions" always dwell.

Feagh Mac Hugh's threat to Dublin

Dublin · city · Dublin

Through the boldness and successes of Feagh Mac Hugh, the Byrnes and Tooles grew so emboldened that they threatened peril even to Dublin, hanging continually over its neck.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

or that they were received to grace by them, and suffered to enjoy their lands, as unfit for any other, yet it seemeth, that in some places of the same they have pat foote, and fortified with sundry castles, of which the mines onely doe there now remaine, since which time they are growne to that strength, that they are able to lift up hand against all that state; and DOW lately through the boldnesand late good successe of this Feagh Mac Hugh, they are so &rre imboldened, that they threaten perill even to Dublin, over whose uecke they continually hang. But touching your demand of this Feaghes right unto that countrey which he claimes, or the seigniory therein, it is most vaine and arrogant. For this you cannot be ignorant, that it was part of that which was given in inheritance by Dermot Mac Morrough, King of Leinster, unto Strongbowe with his daughter, and which Strongbowe gave over unto the King and his heires, so as the right is absolutely now in her Majesty, and if it were not, yet could it not be in this Feagh, but in * O Brio, which is the ancient Lord of all that countrey ; for he and his auncestours were but followers unto O Brin; and his grand&ther Shane MacTerlagh, was a man of meanest regard amongst them, neither having wealth nor power. But his sonne Hugh Mac Shane, the &ther of thb Feagh, first began to lift up his head, and through the strength and great &stnes of Glan-Malor, which adjoyneth unto his house of Ballinecor, drew unto him many tbeeves and out-lawea, which fled unto the succour of that glynne, as to a sanctuary, and brought unto him part of the spoyle of all the countrey, through which he grew strong, and in short space got unto himselfe a great name thereby amongst the Irish, in whose footing this his sonne continuing, hath , through many unhappy occasions, increased his stud name, and the opinion of his greatnes, insomuch that now he is become a dangerous enemy to deale withall.
Eudox. Surely I can commend him, that being of himselfe of so meane condition, hath through his owne hardinesse lifted

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 41

As the companion tells it

Coming up through Dublin now, the city the road passes through. This is the place Feagh Mac Hugh and his people once hung over like a weight on its neck. In some parts of the country they had established a foothold and fortified themselves with sundry castles, of which only the mines now remain. From that beginning they grew to such strength that they could lift up a hand against the whole state. Through the boldness and late good success of Feagh Mac Hugh, the Byrnes and Tooles became so emboldened that they threatened peril even to Dublin, over whose neck they continually hung. As for Feagh's claim to the country he calls his own, the author calls it most vain and arrogant. The land was given in inheritance by Dermot Mac Morrough, King of Leinster, to Strongbow with his daughter, and Strongbow gave it over to the King and his heirs, so the right is absolutely now in her Majesty. And if it were not hers, it could not be Feagh's, but O'Brien's, for O'Brien is the ancient lord of all that country. Feagh and his ancestors were but followers unto O'Brien. His grandfather Shane MacTerlagh was a man of meanest regard amongst them, having neither wealth nor power. But his son Hugh Mac Shane, Feagh's father, first began to lift up his head. Through the strength and great fastness of Glan-Malor, which adjoins his house of Ballinecor, he drew unto him many thieves and outlaws who fled to that glen as a sanctuary, and he brought unto him part of the spoil of all the country. Through this he grew strong, and in short space got unto himself a great name among the Irish. Feagh, continuing in his father's footing, through many unhappy occasions increased his name and the opinion of his greatness, so that he is become a dangerous enemy to deal with.

Kellach Frasach dies and is buried on Iona at the Tomb of the Kings of Ireland

Iona · island or archipelago · 778

Kellach Frasach, son of Fergal, died in 778 after reigning 15 years and was buried on the island of Iona (Hu, or I-Columb-Kill), perhaps beneath a tomb in the churchyard there inscribed 'Tumulus Regum Hiberniae' according to Buchanan.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Kellua Fraasach sive Nimbosus, filius Fergalli, obiit anno 778. ciim regnfisset annos 15, et sepultus est in Jona Insula, aliks dicta Hu et T-Columb-Kill, forte aub tumula, in ccemeterio Eccleaise ibidem, coi incisus est (secundum Bucbanannm) hie titulns,
TUMULUS REGUM HIBEBNIjE.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 16

As the companion tells it

On the island of Iona, Kellach Frasach, son of Fergal, was buried. He died in 778 after reigning 15 years. The island was also called Hu and I-Columb-Kill. He may lie beneath a mound in the churchyard there, carved with the words,

Complaints of surveillance under Tyrone's rebellion

Ulster · province · Ulster · 1603–1625

The text recounts that the Earl of Tyrone complained he was so closely watched by the state's spies that he could not drink a full carouse of sack without the State being informed within hours. This reflects the intensive surveillance following the suppression of rebellion in Ulster.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Againe, whereas the greatest advantage that the Irish had of us in all their Rebellions, was, Our Ignorance of their Countriet, their Pertons, and their Action* : Since the Law and her Ministers have had a passage among them, all their places of FastJiease have been discovered and laide open; all their paces cleared ; and notice taken of every person that is able to do either good or hurt. It is knowne, not onely how they live, and what they doe, bat it is foreseen what they purpose or intend to do: Insomuch, as Tirone hath been heard to complaine, that he hade so many eyes watching over him, as be coulde not drinke a full Carouse of Sacke, but the State was advertised thereof, within few honres after. And therefore, those allowances which I finde in the ancient Pipe* Rolles, Pro gmdagio, et tpiagio, may be well spared at this day. For the Under-Sheriffes and Baylifles errant, are better gnides and Spies in the time of peace, then any were fonnd in the time of war.
Moreover, these civil assemblies at Assises and Sessions, have reclaymed the Irish from their vrildnesse, caused them to cut off their Glibs and long Haire ; to convert their Mantles into Cloaks ; to conform themselves to the manner of England in all their behaviour and outward formes. And because they find a great inconvenience in moving their suits by an Interpreter; they do for the moat part send their Children to Schools, especially to leame the English language: so as we may conceive an hope, that the next generation, will in tongue and heart, and every way else, become Englith ; so aa 2 Y 3 115 there

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

As the road takes you through Ulster, this is a province that, after the rebellion was suppressed, came under close watch. The old advantage the Irish held in all their rebellions was that the English did not know their country, their persons, or their actions. Once the law and its ministers had passage among them, that advantage was gone. Their places of fastness were discovered and laid open. Their ways were cleared. Notice was taken of every person able to do either good or hurt. It was known not only how they lived and what they did, but what they purposed or intended to do. The Earl of Tyrone was heard to complain that he had so many eyes watching over him he could not drink a full carouse of sack, but the State was advertised of it within few hours after. The under-sheriffs and bailiffs errant were better guides and spies in time of peace than any found in time of war. The civil assemblies at assizes and sessions reclaimed the Irish from their wildness. They caused them to cut off their glibs and long hair, to convert their mantles into cloaks, to conform themselves to the manner of England in all their behaviour and outward forms. And because they found great inconvenience in moving their suits by an interpreter, they sent their children to schools, especially to learn the English language.

Ostmannic Cremation Burial Found in Dublin, 1646

Dublin · city · Dublin · 1646

In November 1646, an ancient burial mound was excavated in the eastern suburb of Dublin while a rampart was being formed, revealing a stone-built sepulchre containing a large quantity of burnt charcoal, ashes, and partly cremated human bones, believed to be the work of pagan Ostmen in memory of a chief or noble.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

In ipso Sepalchro, reperta est magna vis carbonmn combuBtorum, rinerum, et ossium hominis, partim exustomm, partim quasi aetniustorum, opus (ut creditur) Ostmannonmi, utpote ab iis dum Ethnici essent, iu reguli vel nobilis cujusdam memoriam, constmctnm. Qao autem modo Dani olim mortuos cremaTerint et cineres collegerint videre est apud Olaum Wormiam, in Danic. Monain. lib. 1. De antiquis sepnltnris, in montibos vel collibus, sic Virpliue ^neid. lib. 11 ;
Fuit ingens monle mb alto,

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 39

As the companion tells it

In November 1646, in the eastern suburb of Dublin, a great burial mound stood on high ground. While a rampart was being formed, the mound was opened, revealing a stone-built sepulchre. Inside was a large quantity of burnt charcoal, ashes, and human bones, partly burned, partly half-burned. It is believed to be the work of the Ostmen while they were still pagan, built in memory of a chief or noble.

St Colman's burial on Inishbofin nine years after founding monastery

near Inishbofin · parish · Galway · 676

St Colman, bishop of Lindisfarne, sailed to the island called Inis-bo-finde (Inishbofin) where he founded a monastery for monks of both Irish and English nations; he died there nine years later on 8 August.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

natam insulam qnam 0-Brasil vocant interduui sudo oslo prospexisse. In hnjas insulEe scrutinio, nonnulli nuper oleum et operam perdidertmt. At situm confidentiiis designant cliartffi queedam hydrographicas. De perdita hoc insula, sive insula Brendani, vide, si placet, quie habet Ortelius, in thesauro suo Geographico. PrEeterco hie fabellam de insula quadam maris Hibemici quaiu fantaxticam vocant, innlabili prinid, tandem per it/nein staiili facta, Talium cupidua petat jam dicti Giraldi Catnbrensis Tupogr. Hib. Distinct, ii. Cap. zii. Ad rem redeo. Inter Aratias et continentem, non paucie jacent insulfe exiguas. Magis vero ad Arctum, (inter alias minoris noise) jacent Ardillan, Ilaiiemiaher , I/iissharie, Insula Citniculorum et Inis-bo-Jind, id est, lunula taacte albie, in qnam ingentes massK ambne, (nos 3mfitrgKei« dicimus) aliquoties sunt cject^e. Htc S. Colmanus Lindis^nensis episcopus coenobium olim constraxit. Sic enim Beda, Ecclesiastics Historite lib. 4, cap. 4, Interest Colmanus, qui de Scotia erat epincopus, relinquetts Britanniam tuUt seciim omnes quo* in Liitdinfai-netm insula congregaierai Scotos: sed et de gente Angloruni tiros circiter trigiitta, qui utrique mvHoehica conrersationis erant studiis imbati. Et reliciis in eccictia sua aliquot fratrihus, primb lenit ad insulam Hu, uiide erat ad prtedicandam verbum Dei, Anglorum genti des/tnalUK. Deinde secessit ad trmuiam quandamparvani, quie ad occideiitaletn plagam ah Hibernia pnteul secretu, sermuiie Scotica IniS'bo-Jiiid, id est, insula ritulte alba nuncuiiatui: In banc ergb percenient consfnixil nioiiaslfriiim el monachm inihi, quos de utraque natione collecfw adduxerat, collocarit, &c. Navigatio Colmani ad i/isirlam vacccealb<e, in Annalibus Tigemaci, (qui floruit seculo xi) ad annum refertur dclxxvi. Ibi Colmannus ille naturae cessit noveniiio posteb., die; 8. August!. Eodein inde litore eminent liiixtiirk et Chn-cg, iu qua erat olitn cella ccenobii Knockmoyeusis. Intt-r lias vX continentem (in sinu Borisolensi) confertissimse jacent insular exigme. Turn utmqne Akil, major et minor, cum noto nautis scopulo magis ad occasum, dictu tlrt ISiatlt ISocH, dcinde Jnisken et DarilaH.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 37

As the companion tells it

Inishbofin is a parish you are passing near, an island off the western coast of Ireland. Its Irish name, Inis-bo-finde, means the island of the white cow. The passage notes that great masses of amber have sometimes been cast up on its shore. Saint Colman was bishop of Lindisfarne, an Irishman by birth. He left Britain and took with him all the Irish monks he had gathered at Lindisfarne, and also about 30 men of the English nation, both peoples trained in the monastic way of life. Leaving some brothers behind in his church, he first went to Ireland to preach the word of God to the English people. Then he withdrew to this small island off the western coast. There he built a monastery and settled the monks he had collected from both nations, Irish and English. Bede records this in his Ecclesiastical History, book 4, chapter 4. The Annals of Tigernach, flourishing in the 11th century, place Colman's voyage to the island of the white cow in the year 676. He died there 9 years after, on 8 August. The passage places this island among other small islands lying between Aran and the mainland: Ardillan, Inishmaher, Inishsharie, and Rabbit Island. From the same shore emerge Turduff and Chureg, where a cell of the monastery of Knockmoy once stood. Among these too are Akil, greater and lesser, the Flat Rock known to sailors, then Inisken and Darrilla.

Aedh the bearded cleric exiled for shaving pupils' heads

Ireland · place · 1053–1054

Aedh, known as 'the bearded cleric,' had gained a great reputation for learning and sanctity but was driven into exile in 1053 or 1054 after he was accused of shaving the heads of girls in his school in the manner of clerics.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Brienum filiam Cinedi, cognomento B&ro, de quo snpr&t cap. 4. Notaadum hlc coronidjs loco, Casseliam sedem fuisse dim pnecipuam Kegum Momonise, et tmam h primis Hibemue Synodia, ^ S S. Patricio, Albeo, et Declauo, ibi habitam, tempore .^Dgusffi Regis, de quo supi^ Seu. 3. Liceat his adjicere, utpote rem inusitatam, minim tonsurie morem, ab ^do Hibemo iutroductum. Is (k barba promissa vulgo Md clericus barbosus dictns) magnam eruditionia et sanctitatis opinionem consecutua fuerat; cffiteriim amio 1053, vel 1054, in ezilium pulsus est, quod in scbola sua, in qoa clericorum, puellarura et laicoruin magnum habuit nttmervm, Puelias MOBE CLEBICOXDU tuitderet, ut ex Mariano Scoto et Floreutio Wigomiensi liquet. Hlc animo conceperam ansam ampere describendi varias tonsursa formulas, ^ vcteribua, tam clericis (sive Presbyteris secularibus) quim monachis, olim usitatas, eariunque ori^nes, dum alii in vertice, tonanrll ateretttur, in modum coronse spinea Domini, form& sequenti,
alii, in anteriore tantum capitis parte, rotundft quidem tonsuri, sed imperfect!) orbe, ab aure ad aurem circumdncto; alii, modico circulo in vertice, aliique in toto fer^ capite, relictis tamen inferius, in modum coronse, capillis. Ciim vero observ^rim hsBC omnia, aliaque multa ad banc rem pertinentia, ex intima antlquitate antebac tractata Suisse, ab ernditissimo nuper Arcbiepiscopo Armachano, in Ecclesianun Britanmcarum Antiquitatibus, et k Prospero Stellartio, in Ubris de Coronia et Tonsuris Paganorum, Judaorum, Cbristianorum, mibi satis erit hie subindic&sse. Plurium cupidus petat libros suprk citatos.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 26

As the companion tells it

In the eleventh century, Ireland was home to a man called Aedh. He wore his beard long, and people knew him as the bearded cleric. He had won a great name for learning and sanctity. His school held a large number of clerics, laypeople, and girls, all studying together. Then in 1053, or perhaps 1054, he was driven into exile. The charge was that he had shaved the heads of the girls in his school in the manner of clerics, giving them the tonsure. Marianus Scotus and Florence of Worcester both recorded the matter. The tonsure itself had many forms among the old clerics and monks. Some shaved the crown of the head, in the manner of the Lord's crown of thorns. Others shaved only the front part of the head, a round tonsure but with an imperfect circle drawn from ear to ear. Others kept a small circle on the crown, and still others shaved nearly the whole head, leaving hair below in the manner of a crown. The Archbishop of Armagh had treated these matters in his work on the antiquities of the British churches, and Prosper Stellarius in his books on the tonsures of pagans, Jews, and Christians.

Cellach flees to Ireland, founds Kells monastery

Kells · town · Meath · 807–814

Cellach, Abbot of St Columba's monastery at Iona, fled to Ireland after many of his monks were killed by Norwegian cruelty, and founded or restored a monastery at Kells in Meath in honour of St Columba.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Anno 807, Daui et Norwegi in Hibemiam appulerunt, et Roscomaniam, regionemque adjacentem ferro flamm^ue vastHrunt. Eodera tempore Cellacus Abbas coeuobii S. Columbae Huensis, multis ^ sois, Norwegorum crudelitate, interfectis, in Hibemiam profugit, et Kenanusse, aliks Kenlisss in Midia, monasterium in honorem S. Columbse sive condidit, sive restauraTit Cum vero annos circiter 7 ibi pnefuisset Abbas, Dermitio quodam in dicto coenobio Abbate relicto, in Jonam sive insulam Huensem reversus est, ubi, post annum unum vel alterum, mortem obiit. Nescio an in laniena prsedicta, Tel posteriore aliqua, trncidatus fnerit Blaithmacus reguli Hibemici filius. Eum, sub bis temporibus, ^ Danis sive Norwegis ethnicis in Jona insula CKSum, ex vita ejus, ^ Wallafrido Strabone carmine descripta, liquet. Omitto hie commenta Saxonis Ctrammatici, qui (more suo) Fridelitbum, Frothonem 3, et Haconem, Danos, multis annoram centuriis, ante hsec tempora, Hibemiam infestaase fingit.
Anno 812, Classia Normanuorum Hibemiam insulam 99 aggressa.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 27

As the companion tells it

The road takes you through Kells, a town in Meath with an old monastic story. In 807, Danes and Norwegians fell upon Ireland and ravaged Roscommon and the lands around it. That same year, Cellach, abbot of Saint Columba's monastery on Iona, saw many of his monks killed by Norwegian cruelty. He fled to Ireland and at Kells he founded or restored a monastery in honour of Saint Columba. He governed there as abbot for about 7 years. Then he left a man named Dermitius as abbot in that house and returned to Iona, where he died a year or two later. The record is unsure whether Blaithmacus, son of an Irish king, was killed in that same slaughter at Iona or a later one. The writer passes over the tales of a Saxon grammarian who claimed Danes raided Ireland centuries before these times. In 812 a Norwegian fleet attacked Ireland again.

Danes burn and ravage Rathlin Island

near Rathlin Island · island or archipelago · Antrim · 794–795

The Annals of Ulster record the burning and devastation of Rathlin Island by the Danes around the year 794 (recorded as 795 in some reckonings), a raid explicitly attributed to the Danes by the Welsh chronicler Caradoc.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

partes censentur Tirconalliie, sive iit nnnc loquimur, agri DoiiegallensiA. Atque tiic, post insiilas qiiasdaiii perexiguas, quae ostiia Erni flu. Et portuuin Doiiegallice et Calebegse pra;jacent, in alto comparent 'msu.]3c dictx A rntiw A^aHuiini^'i, ad Aranarumsuprii niemoratarum differentiainipropequassunt s-opuli a nautis vocati 5Ci]t JetaggB, sive Cervi. Turn Cladagh conspicitur, et inagis ad orieiitem Torre, ad 8 milliare ii continente, terra satis fertiiis. IniK-vPn verb, (sive insida Evigenii) licet insula dicta, reverk peninsula est, et isthnio, continenti HiljemiEe annectitur. Huic maximum est ornameiituui Londoii-tli'rrg ci vitas, antiquitiis Deria et Dair-eaiffaic. Proximie sunt Qlrtssedy ct Strahul, al. Iniv-xlrti/iiil, Insulre scopulosse ad qnas Pbocse sc confenint, ut dormiunt et fictum edant. Turn Si:erres, deinde Ruffhliti, quae pars est agri Antriniensis et una leuca k continente abest, Plinio Uiniea, Ptolemaao Ricina, Antonino Ridutia. Cieteriim Historici Hibemici Recarn, et Rferain vocant, Sif/etiiinii Ahbattiii Jie EccleKiam de Recarii fuiiddxne aiittu dcxxxiv, vel dcxxit, prodit Tigemacus; et in Annalibus Ultoniensibns ad an. Dccxcrv, (qui nobis est dccxct) fit mentio Coinbustionii et naxtationis Recrtii'ti per Getiten. Danos hlc intelligi docet CaradocUB Lliancarvanensis, in Cambrise clironico: nam Daiii circa Aeec tempora {ut ille habet) wiiximani Hiheriiite parlfin popiilati, Rrcrein qiwque rnstdrtint. Johannes rex Anglife donavtt banc insulam (inter alia) Alano de Gulwai/, ut ex archivis constat. Inter cam et continentem jacent exiguse nonnuUie insula, et niagis ad sustrum, comparent novem insulse scopulosss dicta; Eijt nint ^aibs, non procul k peninsula Mttffie. His proximse sunt Insulie Coplandicse, i quibus exorsi eunnis, et cum quibus fincni huic capiti iniponcmus.
D,„l,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 37

As the companion tells it

Near the coast lies Rathlin Island, known to Irish historians as Rechra. Pliny called it Uiniea, Ptolemy called it Ricina, and Antoninus called it Ridutia. It belongs to the territory of Antrim and sits about one league from the mainland. Between the island and the mainland lie several small islands, and rocky islets stand nearby where seals gather to sleep and feed. Farther south appear nine rocky islands, not far from the peninsula of Moyle. The Copland Islands stand nearby as well. The Annals of Ulster record the burning and devastation of Rathlin in the year 795 by raiders they call the Gentiles. The Welsh chronicler Caradoc of Llancarvan, in his Cambrian chronicle, explains that by the Gentiles the Danes are meant. Around this time, he says, the Danes ravaged a great part of Ireland and destroyed Rathlin too. Before that destruction, Tigernacus records that Sigemonius, an abbot, founded a church on Rathlin in 634, or perhaps 624. Much later, King John of England gave this island, among other holdings, to Alan de Galway, as the archives show.

Drowning of Mr. John Usher at Rathfarnham

Rathfarnham · townland · Dublin

A dangerous brook near Rathfarnham, prone to sudden flooding, was the site where Mr. John Usher, father of Sir William Usher, drowned. Despite the presence of friends on both banks, on foot and horseback, no one was able to save him from the violent current.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

by which it passeth two miles from the sea, and the same distance from Dublin, is far the worst of the two, as taking its heginning out of those great tnountains South-wards from Dablin, from whence after any great nun such abandance of water is deacending to it, that the same, which at other times is of very little depth, groweth thereb)' so deep, and exceeding violent, that many parsons have lost their lives therein; amongst others Mr. John Usher, Father to Sir William Usher that now b, who was carryed by the current, do body being able to succour him, although many persons, and of hie neerest friends, both afoot and horseback were by on both the sides. Since that time a stone bridge hath been built over that brook (as over Dromconran-water there hath been one from antient tames) upon the way betwixt Dubhn and Rings-end ; which was hardly well accomplished, when the brook in one of those furious risings quite altered \\a channel for a good way, so aa it did not pass under the Bridge as before, but just before the foot of it, letting the same stand upon the dry land, and consequently making it altogether useless; in which perverse course it continued, unlill per force it was constrained to return to its old channel, and to keep within the same. To go from Dublin to Bafemam, one passeth this River upon a woodden-bridge ; the which although it be high and strong, nevertheless hath severall limes been quite broke, and carried away through the violence of sadden floods ; although at other times, and when that Brook doth only carry its ordinary water, a child of five yeares may easily and without danger wade through it; and a tall man on horseback riding underneath it, not being able to reach it; in the great floods the water many times riseth so high, as that it doth not only touch, but flowGth quite over the bridge.
D,„l,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog

As the companion tells it

Somewhere close to Rathfarnham, there is a brook that has taken many lives. It begins in the great mountains south of Dublin, and after any great rain, so much water descends into it that what is ordinarily very shallow becomes deep and exceeding violent. Many persons have lost their lives in it. Among them was Mr. John Usher, father to Sir William Usher. He was carried away by the current, and nobody was able to succour him, though many persons, and of his nearest friends, both afoot and horseback, were by on both the sides. They could do nothing against the force of the water. After that time, a stone bridge was built over the brook, upon the way betwixt Dublin and Rings-end. But the brook, in one of its furious risings, quite altered its channel for a good way, so that it did not pass under the bridge as before, but just before the foot of it, leaving the bridge standing upon dry ground and altogether useless. It continued in that perverse course until it was forced back to its old channel. To go from Dublin to Rathfarnham, you pass this river upon a wooden bridge. Though high and strong, it has several times been broken and carried away through the violence of sudden floods. Yet at its ordinary water, a child of five years may wade through it, and a tall man on horseback riding underneath it cannot reach it. In the great floods, the water rises so high it flows quite over the bridge.

Growth of towns at Maryborough and Philipstown from garrison forts

Maryborough · townland · Laois

Irenaeus cites Maryborough and Philipstown in Leinster as examples where, because of the forts placed there with only small wards remaining, two good towns had grown up, becoming the greatest stay of those two counties.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Connaght, the which I know doe so stronglj command all the passages that way. as that none can pass &om Ulster into Connaght, without their leave. The last 500 shall also remaine in their fort at Monaghan, and some of them be drawne into wardes, to keep the kaies of all that conntrey, both downwarda, and also towards O Relies countrie, and the pale; and some at Eniakillin, some at Belturbnt, some at the Blacke Forti and so along that river, as I formerly shewed in the first planting of them. And moreover at every of these forts, I woald have the seate of a town layde forth and incompasBed, in the which I would wish that there should inhabi* tanta of all sortes, as merchants, ardficers, and hnsbandmen, be placed, to whom there should charters and iraunchisea be graunted to incorporate them. The which, as it will be no matter of difficultie to draw out of England persons which wonld very gladly be so placed, so would it ia short space tume those part^ to great commodity, and bring ere long to her Majestic much profit; for those places are so fit for trade and trafficke, having most convenient ont-gates by divers rivera to the sea, and in-gates to the richest parts of the land, that they would soone be enriched, and mightfly enlarged, for the very seating of the garrisons by them ; besides the safetie and assnranee which they shall worke unto them, will idso draw thither store of people and trade, as I have seen ensample at Mariborogh and Philipstowne in Leinster, where by reason of those two fortes, though there were but small wardea left in them there are two good townes now growne, which are the greatest stay of both those two countries.
Eudox- Indeed (me thinkes) three such townes as you say, would do very' well in those places with the garrisons, and in short space would be so angmented, as they would be able with little to in-wall themselves strongly; but, for the pUnting of all the rest of the conntrey, what order would you take?

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 41

As the companion tells it

Somewhere around here is Maryborough, a place that grew from a garrison fort into a town. The writer of this old tract had seen it himself, and he held it up as proof of what garrisons and settlement together could achieve. His plan was that at every fort, the seat of a town should be laid out and enclosed, and that inhabitants of all sorts should be placed there, including merchants, craftsmen, and husbandmen. Charters and franchises should be granted to incorporate them. He said it would be no great difficulty to draw people from England who would gladly be so placed, and that in short space those parts would turn to great commodity and bring profit to her Majesty. The places, he said, were so fit for trade and traffic, having most convenient out-gates by divers rivers to the sea and in-gates to the richest parts of the land, that they would soon be enriched and mightily enlarged by the very seating of the garrisons beside them. The safety and assurance the garrisons worked would also draw store of people and trade thither. Then he gave his evidence. He had seen the example at Maryborough and Philipstown in Leinster, where by reason of those two forts, though there were but small wards left in them, two good towns had grown, which were the greatest stay of both those two countries. A second voice in the text agreed that such towns would do very well, and in short space would be so augmented as to be able with little to wall themselves strongly.

Malachy II dies at Iniscaltra

near Inishcaltra or Holy Island · townland · Clare · 1023

Malachy II (Melsechlin), who regained the kingship after Brian Boru's death, died at the age of seventy at Iniscaltra on 4 September 1023.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Melsechlinns al. Malachias II filius Donaldi, patri defiuicto Bnccessit anno 980, is Danos pneliis aliquot superavit. Sed cum regn&sset annos circiter 23, regnum ccssit Brienoregi MomoniEe, principi bellicosissimo. Occiso vero post 12 annos in prselio, Brieno, regnum quasi postliminio repetiit. Obiit 4 nonas Septembris anno 1023, septuagenarius, ad Iiiislogh-kaiiiin.
Brienns filim Cenedi Lorcani nepos cognomento Buruma sive Boro rex Momoniae, Princeps ob anirai wrtutes celeberrimna, postqu^m Danos multis prsaliis vicisset, totins HibernisB rex declaratus est anno 1002. Deinde enactis 12 annis ipse (post crucntam pugnam) in prseiio occisus est ad Chntarf, prope Dublinium, die Parascevea, 23 die Aprilis 1014, setatia Buse 74, {manibus et mertti', inquit Marianus Scotus, ad Deum infentus) unk cum filio suo MurcLardo et mnltis aliis, a Sitrico rege Dublinii. Csesi etiam, ex parte Sitrici, Mailmorda rex Lageni^ et alii quamplurimi. Sunt qui assorunt corpus Brieni ad £cclesiam Sancti Maignani deportatum (Kil-mainam earn nunc vulgo Tocamus, quae unico milliari k Dublinio distat) ibidem sepulturse faisse traditum, non procul k cruce lapidea circulo inclusa in summitate, quae etiamnum visltur, intra muros Prioratns (olim c«leberrimi) militum Hospitalariorum. Alii vero Brientun Armachse sepnltum volunt. Utcunque fuerit, eo interfecto, Malachias (uti diximua) regnum recuperavit, et tenuit usque ad 2 Septemb. 1023, quo nature cessit.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 16

As the companion tells it

Somewhere around here on Inishcaltra, also called Holy Island, a king of Ireland drew his last breath. His name was Malachy II, son of Donald. He came to power in 980, after his father's death, and beat the Danes in several battles. He reigned about 23 years before the kingdom passed to Brian Boru, king of Munster, a most warlike prince. Brian ruled for 12 years and was killed in battle at Clontarf, near Dublin, on Good Friday, April 23, 1014, at the age of 74. He fell alongside his son Murcard and many others, killed by Sitric, king of Dublin. On Sitric's side fell Mailmorda, king of Leinster, and many more. Some say Brian's body was carried to the Church of Saint Maignan, now called Kilmainham, a mile from Dublin, and buried near a stone cross with a circle at its top, still seen within the walls of the Priory of the Knights Hospitallers. Others say he was buried at Armagh. Either way, after Brian's death, Malachy took back the kingdom and held it until September 2, 1023, when he died here, seventy years old.

Muirchertach mac Erca drowns drunk in a vat of wine

Tara · parish · Meath · 527

Muirchertach, son of Erc, reigned for 21 years and died miserably drunk; some assert he was drowned in a vat of wine in the year 527.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Moriertacus filius Ercse, (nomine k matre tracto) dum vino se ingorgitaret, miser^ ebrius periit Non desunt qui immersnm assemnt in doHo vini, anno dxzzit, cnm regn£ksset annoB 21.
Tuathalm Mtpl;/arb regnare ccepit anno Dom. nzxxir, Regnavit annos 10, h, Mselmorda filio Airgets occisns, anno DXLir,' apud Grellachelte, in Conatia. Homicida autem k &miili3 dicU Regis captns, statim confossus est.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 16

As the companion tells it

The parish of Tara holds an old story. Muirchertach, son of Erc, reigned for 21 years. He died miserably drunk. Some say he was drowned in a vat of wine, in the year 527.

Richard Tuit crushed by falling tower at Athlone

Athlone · town · Westmeath · 1211

Richard Tuit, knight and lord of the district who had founded the Cistercian house near Lough Ree in 1210, died the following year when he was crushed by a collapsing tower at Athlone.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Richardus Tuit miles, loci Dominus fuiidavit circa annum 1210, et Cisterttensibus monachis implevit, e ccenobio B. Mariiejuxta Dublin. Is anno sequente Athlonse turre cadente obrutus periit
S. Columba ibi fundavit ccenobiolum Canonicis Kegularibus, sub mediom seculi quinU.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 31

As the companion tells it

You are coming through Athlone in Westmeath. In 1211 a tower collapsed here and killed Richard Tuit, a knight and lord of the district. He had founded a Cistercian house the year before, in 1210.

Ruined castles of the Byrnes and Tooles

Dublin Mountains · mountain or mountain range · Dublin

The ancient Byrne and Toole septs, descended from the Britons, fortified parts of their mountainous territory with castles, of which only ruins now remain, and from this base they grew strong enough to threaten Dublin.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

or that they were received to grace by them, and suffered to enjoy their lands, as unfit for any other, yet it seemeth, that in some places of the same they have pat foote, and fortified with sundry castles, of which the mines onely doe there now remaine, since which time they are growne to that strength, that they are able to lift up hand against all that state; and DOW lately through the boldnesand late good successe of this Feagh Mac Hugh, they are so &rre imboldened, that they threaten perill even to Dublin, over whose uecke they continually hang. But touching your demand of this Feaghes right unto that countrey which he claimes, or the seigniory therein, it is most vaine and arrogant. For this you cannot be ignorant, that it was part of that which was given in inheritance by Dermot Mac Morrough, King of Leinster, unto Strongbowe with his daughter, and which Strongbowe gave over unto the King and his heires, so as the right is absolutely now in her Majesty, and if it were not, yet could it not be in this Feagh, but in * O Brio, which is the ancient Lord of all that countrey ; for he and his auncestours were but followers unto O Brin; and his grand&ther Shane MacTerlagh, was a man of meanest regard amongst them, neither having wealth nor power. But his sonne Hugh Mac Shane, the &ther of thb Feagh, first began to lift up his head, and through the strength and great &stnes of Glan-Malor, which adjoyneth unto his house of Ballinecor, drew unto him many tbeeves and out-lawea, which fled unto the succour of that glynne, as to a sanctuary, and brought unto him part of the spoyle of all the countrey, through which he grew strong, and in short space got unto himselfe a great name thereby amongst the Irish, in whose footing this his sonne continuing, hath , through many unhappy occasions, increased his stud name, and the opinion of his greatnes, insomuch that now he is become a dangerous enemy to deale withall.
Eudox. Surely I can commend him, that being of himselfe of so meane condition, hath through his owne hardinesse lifted

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 41

As the companion tells it

These mountains were the stronghold of the Byrne and Toole septs, families descended from the Britons who were given these lands long ago. They put their feet in parts of the territory and fortified it with sundry castles. Of those castles only the ruins remain now. From that base they grew to such strength that they could lift a hand against the whole state. Lately, through the boldness and good success of Feagh Mac Hugh, they grew so emboldened that they threatened peril even to Dublin, over whose neck they continually hang. Touching Feagh's right to that country which he claims, or the lordship therein, the source calls it most vain and arrogant. The land was part of what Dermot Mac Morrough, King of Leinster, gave in inheritance to Strongbow with his daughter. Strongbow gave it over to the King and his heirs, so the right is absolutely now in her Majesty. And if it were not, it could not be in this Feagh, but in O Brien, who is the ancient lord of all that country. Feagh and his ancestors were but followers unto O Brien. His grandfather Shane MacTerlagh was a man of meanest regard amongst them, having neither wealth nor power. But his son Hugh Mac Shane, the father of this Feagh, first began to lift up his head. Through the strength and great fastness of Glan-Malor, which adjoins his house of Ballinecor, he drew unto him many thieves and outlaws who fled to that glen as to a sanctuary. They brought him part of the spoil of all the country, and through this he grew strong. In short space he got a great name among the Irish. His son Feagh continued in his footing and, through many unhappy occasions, increased his name and the opinion of his greatness, so that now he is become a dangerous enemy to deal with.

Tirdelvacus O'Brien dies at Kincora, once a royal city

near Kincora · monument · Clare · 1086–1087

Tirdelvacus O'Brien, grandson of Brian Boru, king of Munster, died at Kincora, which was in those times a frequent and royal city but is now merely a small village on the Bragainogh river.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Tir del vacua O-Brien, Brieni BorumEe k Thaddfflo filio nepos, rex Momonisa successit, obiitque Kincorie pridi^ Idus JuUi anno 1086. al. 1087. fetalis an. 77. Kincora, urbs erat iis temporibus (obiter adnoto) frequens et (ut annales Ultonienses babent ad annum 1061) Reffalis, nunc villula ad Bragainogh fluviuro, in Regione Mac-Coghlani, qute pars est agri Regii.
Paulo post^ regnum adeptus est Moriertacbus O-Brien, Tirdelvaci filius, qui, cum multos regnisaet annos, decessit 6 Idus Martii anno 1120, et sepultus est in Ecclesia Catbedrali Sancti Flannani Laonensi. Hunc Caradocus Lhancarvanensis et (qui tum vixit) Gutielmns Malmesburiensis Murchardum appellant. Earn et succeisores ejus (sic Malmesburiensis) quorum fama von extulit, ila devotos habuit noster Menricua (Primus) ut nihil nisi quod eum jtalparel, scriberent, nihil nisi quod juberet, agerent, quamvis feratur Murchardum, nencio qua de causa, pauets diebua irt/latiita in Anglos egisse, sed max, pro interdicto naoigio et tnercimonio navigantium, tumorem pectoris aedasse. Sunt qui interregnum 15 annorum subsequutum asserunt. Sed quW vere, quierant alii.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 16

As the companion tells it

Somewhere about Kincora, Tirdelvacus O'Brien died. He was grandson of Brian Boru, son of Tadhg, king of Munster. He had succeeded to the throne and died the day before the Ides of July in 1086, or 1087 by another count, aged 77. In those times this was a frequented and royal city, as the Annals of Ulster record for 1061. Now it is a small village on the Bragainogh river, in the territory of Mac-Coghlani, part of the King's Country. Shortly after, Moriertach O'Brien, son of Tirdelvacus, took the kingdom. He reigned many years and died in 1120, buried in the Cathedral Church of St Flannan at Killaloe. Caradoc of Llancarvan and William of Malmesbury call him Murchard. It is said Murchard harassed the English for a few days, but chiefly because he forbade navigation and trade, he died of a swelling of the chest. Some say an interregnum of 15 years followed.

Ulster plantation following defeat of rebellion

Ulster · province · Ulster · 1603–1625

The passage describes how the lands of Ulster, once the seat of the last great rebellion, were confiscated from the Irish and redistributed under royal plantation after providence 'cast out those wicked and ungratefull Traitors.' This established a mixed plantation of British and Irish settlers designed to civilize the region.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Lastly the possessions of the Irishry in the Province of T>i«piui- Ulster, though it were the most mde and unreformed part m^° of Ireland, and the Seat and Heat of the last great rebellion, are now better disposed and established, then any the lands in the other Provinces, which Iiave bin past and settled upon Surrenders. For, as the occasion of the disposing of those Lands, did not happen without the speciall providence and finger of God, which did cast out those wicked and ungratefull Traitors, who were the only enemies of the reformation of Ireland: so the distribution and plantation thereof, hath bin projected and prosecuted, by the speciidl direction and care of the King himselfe ; wherein his Majesty hatfa corrected the errors before spoken of, committed by King Henty the Second, and King JoAn, in distributing and planting the first conquered Landes. For, although there were six whole Shires to he disposed, his Majesty gave not an entire Country, or County, to any particular person; much lesae did he graunt Jura Regalia, or any extraordinary Liberties. For the best British Undertaker, had but a proportion of 3000 Acres for himself, with power to create a Manner, and hold a Court Baron: Albeit, many of these Undertakerg, were of as great birth and quality, as the best Adventurers in the first conquest. Again, his Majesty did not utterly exclude the Natives ont of this plantation with a purpose to root them out, as the Irish were excluded ont of the first EnglUh Colonies ; but made a mixt {danlation of British and Irish, that they might grow up together in one Nation : Onely, the Irish were in some places transplanted from the Woods and Monntainee, into the Flaines and open Countries, that being removed (like wild fruit trees) they might grow the milder, and beare the better and sweeter fi-uit. And this tnily, is 119 the
D,„l,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 42

As the companion tells it

As the road carries you through Ulster, you pass through a province that was once the most unreformed part of Ireland and the seat of the last great rebellion. After that rebellion was defeated, the lands of the Irishry here were confiscated and redistributed. The passage says this did not happen without the special providence and finger of God, which cast out those the writer calls wicked and ungrateful traitors, enemies of the reformation of Ireland. The plantation was projected and prosecuted by the special direction and care of the King himself. He corrected errors made by King Henry the Second and King John in distributing the first conquered lands. There were six whole shires to be disposed of, but the King gave not an entire country or county to any particular person, nor did he grant royal rights or extraordinary liberties. The best British undertaker had but a proportion of 3000 acres for himself, with power to create a manor and hold a court baron, even though many of these undertakers were of as great birth and quality as the best adventurers in the first conquest. The King did not utterly exclude the natives from this plantation. He made a mixed plantation of British and Irish, that they might grow up together in one nation. In some places the Irish were transplanted from the woods and mountains into the plains and open countries, that being removed, in the writer's words, like wild fruit trees, they might grow the milder and bear the better and sweeter fruit.

Underground Chambers Discovered Beneath a Hill Near Sligo

Sligo · town · Sligo · 1640

A round hill near Sligo, one mile from Castle-Coner, was found in 1640 to contain underground quadrangular stone chambers, discovered by a herdsman after the entrance had been blocked for centuries; the chambers are thought to have served as storehouses or as burial vaults for Ostman chieftains.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Non prsetermittendum tames nonnolloe reperiri colles rotnndos editos, quorum partibus interioribna in cameras eive concameratlones diviais, Magnates Ostmannici pro domiciliis, sic fiima perhibet, olim atebantur. Atqne talis est collis tile apud Sligoenses in Conada, imico nulliaiik Castle-Coner distans, ad cujus concamerationes sabtemmeas, introitus, per aliquot annorum centnrias, occlusus, anno tandem 1640, k bubulco qaodam, casu detoctns est et apertns. Camene ibi quadranguls sunt, k saxis ingentibas, arcuato opere, ctmi teril superimpositA, in collem formatA, constmctee, nnk cum meato circulari ad easdem. Ichnographiam Areie stmctune hujusce 2 c i!51 cameratie,
Diciilized by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 39

As the companion tells it

Near Sligo there is a round, prominent hill, a mile from Castle-Coner. Its underground chambers had their entrance blocked for centuries, until 1640, when a herdsman stumbled on it by chance and opened the way. Inside are quadrangular chambers, built of huge stones in arched work, with earth heaped over them to form the hill, and a circular passage leading to them. The belief is that Ostman chieftains once used such places as dwellings, or perhaps as storehouses or burial vaults.

Burial of King Cormac at Cashel

Cashel · townland · Tipperary · 908

After his death in battle, the body of King Cormac was carried to Cashel and there buried in a tomb, Cashel having long been the principal seat of the kings of Munster.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

An. Dccccvi Flanns Melsechlini filius rex Hiberaise, coacto exercitu, in Momoniam irmit, eamqae proTinciam, ad Limericum (al. Ltunniacam) usque, diripuit et vastavit. Caeterum Cormacus, qui tempori cedens, fagfi evaserat, h&c injuria irritatus, anno insequente, Midiam cum copiis ingressos, Flauum prselio iudit, eumque ad conditiones quaadam obsernandas, dbi obsides tradere coegit iisq; acceptis, Ca^eliam reversus est Anno verb dccccviii (al. Dccccvn) Flanus, ut cladem nuper acceptam ulcisceretur, pactis et obsidibua traditis non obetantibus, cum Lagenienai et Conadenai regibus egit, ut conjuncda yiribus Momonienses adorirentur, eoque SQCcessu, ut maximis copiia instructus, signa adversus Cormacum extulerit: Momoniensium exercitui in loco djcto Mt>^- albet obviam &ctua est, ubi August! die xti, post longam et cruentam puguam, cessit ei victoria, Cormaco rege ibidem occiso. Cfeai etiam cum eo feruntur duces feii omnes primarii, seu mavis, reguli, inter quos nominatur Fogertachus Eerriensis et Kellacbus Ossoriensia. Sic Annales Hibemici. Ceeterum Caradocus Lhancarvanenais, Cormacum sub hoc tempore, 11 Danis in praelio occisum tradit. Memini etiam me legisse in codice quodam MS. bibliodiecse Cottonianse, eum & bubulco quodam occisum, ad Beanree prope Legblinam, dum ibidem, pro exercitu suo tunc pugnante, ad Deum preces fundens, in genua proeumberet. Tanta est de ejus csede discrepantia. Ego vero non possum uon assentiri, tam Annalibus Uttonienaibus, qukm iis coenobii Canonicomm Inis-fallanse in agro Ecrriano, qui a dicto Flani exercitu, victum eum et occisum tradunt Corpus ejus Casseliam delatum ibidem tumulo conditum est. Vir fiiit eruditus et Andquitatum Hibernicarum scientissimus, Scripsit lingu4 mk patriS, historiam Pgaller-Caakell vuigo dictam, quee etiamnum extat, et magno habetur in pretio. Excerpta qnsedam ex dicta Historia, in vetTisto babeo codice membraneo, Psalter-na ran appellato, ante annos plusqukm 300 exarato, ut ex characteris autiquitate liquet In eodem codice sunt multa miscellanea de rebus Hibemicia, partim Latinfe, partim Hibemici, collecta per Oengusium Celide, inter quse, catalognm babemus nudum (solum nimirum nomina) regum Hibernise, ab Heremone ad 89 Brienum

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 26

As the companion tells it

Somewhere around here lies the burial place of King Cormac of Munster. In the year 906, Flann, son of Mael Sechnaill and king of Ireland, marched a gathered army into Munster and ravaged the province as far as Limerick. Cormac had given way for the moment and survived, but this injury provoked him. The next year he led his forces into Meath, fought Flann, and forced him to accept certain conditions and hand over hostages. Having received them, Cormac returned home. In 908, Flann moved to avenge his recent defeat. The pacts and hostages counted for nothing. He joined with the kings of Leinster and Connaught, and their combined power made a great army. They raised their banners against Cormac. The Munster army met them at a place called Magh-Albhae. There, on a day in August, after a long and bloody battle, victory went to Flann, and King Cormac was killed on the field. Noble leaders fell beside him, among them Fogertach of Kerry and Cellach of Ossory. The sources do not agree on how he died. One says the Danes killed him in battle. Another says a peasant struck him down near Bearna, close to Leixlip, while he knelt praying for his army as it fought. The author of this passage trusted the Annals of Ulster and the Annals of Inisfallen, which say Flann's army overcame and killed him. His body was carried to Cashel and there placed in a tomb. Cormac was a learned man, deeply versed in Irish antiquities. He wrote in his own language a history called the Psalter of Cashel, which still existed and was greatly valued.

Death of Bishop Walter de Salem en route to London

Tuam · town · Galway · 1258

Walter de Salem, appointed to the see of Tuam, died in London on his return from Rome shortly after his consecration in April 1258, without ever having seen his own diocese.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

EHaffkdunen»iuni . et reliituit, tola tempore sao, temjwralia et spiritualiadictiEpUcopatug, ut h Rot, Placitor. an. 34. Edw. 1. liquet, Concorde quodam episcopo consecrato, et regie assensu confirmato 8 Mail 1251, de injuria sibi illata frusti^ cooquerente. Florentii proximus successor Walterus de Salem, aliquando Decanus ecclesiffi S. Pauli Londineiisis (quern Matthfpus Parisiensis male Archie piacopum vocat Armacha- Dum) obiit Londiiji, in reditu li Roma, panlo post consecra-' tionem. mense niniirum Aprili 1258, antequ^m sedem suaia vidisset, ita at de eo, ad banc rem, non babeo quod dicam. Waltero defuncto successit Thomas 0-Conner, de quo suprk, qui eedi Tuaraensi simtil ac Enaghdunensi prsefuit annos 20. CiEterum sedente ibidem Stephano de Fulbum, vetus controrersia denuo suscitata est, inter eum et Johannein de Ufford, qui in episcopum Enaghdunensem electus, regium obtinuerat asaenaum Martii 16 (stylo Anglicano) 1282, in qua tamen TJffordus Buccubuit. Fulbumo defuncto 5 Nonas Julii 1288, Gulielmus de Birraingbam successit, cujus tempore Gilbertus quidam ordinia Minorum in episcoptim Enagliduiiensem electoB et conaecratus 1306, Teraporalibua episcopatus tandem restitutus est Julii 15, 1308. Archiepiacopo quantumvis invito et reclamante, Mitto bic (ue longus iiiuis sim) lites agitatas inter Malachiam Gulielmi successorem, et jam dictum Gilbertumejuaque successores, Jacob am KernEeum, Robertum Lk PlIU et Tbomara Malieum. Satia erit hie indicare Malachiam Tboma MalsBo, Avenione mortuo anno 1328, eccieaiam Enaghdunensem repertiisae, et ante obitum per aimos non paucos, administi'flsae. Atque ita tandem lis ea diutumx finita est. Venimua jam ad sedcm Elphinensem.
Elpkirne, E- S- Elpbina, sive (ut alii scribunt) Elfina,

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 38

As the companion tells it

Tuam, in Galway, is a town the road passes through or near. In 1258, a man was appointed bishop of this see who never reached it. His name was Walter de Salem. He had been Dean of St. Paul's in London. The chronicler Matthew Paris wrongly called him Archbishop of Armagh. Walter was the successor to Florence in the see of Tuam. After his consecration in April 1258, he was returning from Rome to take up his diocese. He died in London on the journey, before he had ever set eyes on his own see. The record says of him, about this matter, that there is "nothing to say." He was consecrated, and he died in transit, and he never came to Tuam. After Walter's death, Thomas O'Conner succeeded him, and governed the see of Tuam and Enaghdun for 20 years. A bishop was given a diocese he never visited, and the town never knew him. His journey ended in London, short of the place that was meant to be his.

Great Cairn of Stones at Baltinglass

Baltinglass · town · Wicklow

A vast heap of stones seen at Baltinglass in County Wicklow is discussed as possibly an ancient burial memorial for the slain, or an offering pile to Mercury, or a boundary marker.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Christianil, haud repents in tenebras abiit. Nam in perretnsto libro Canonum titnlorum 66, in Bibliotheca Gottoniana, Anglo- Saxonicis temporibus descripto, sub titulo, De nomine Batilica, et ejm ncisturd, ita legimus: Synod. Hibem. BomXw Qrack, rex hatink, hinc et hasilica regalit, qubd in primi* temporibus reges tanth.m aepeliebantur in ed, nomen lortita e»t- Nam caleri homines sive igne give acervo lapidum conditi aunt. Item, nemo alienus libertatem scindendi basilicam, tine principiii permissione habet : ei si hoc ausut/uerit, reddet tecunditm dignitatem ejusdem loci. Ita aynodus. Ubi et alius antiqnas apud Hibernos sepeliendi mos, sub acervo lapidum detegitnr, de quo vid. typuro, supr^ pag. 222. Si ad banc usum, seu in occisorum memoriam, non aggesta fuerit ingens ea kpidom Btnies, qus9 ad IBfntit'gattti in agro Wickloensi ccmitnr, rel acervus lapidum Mercurialis videator, in honorem Mercurii (ethnici viarum prEesidis) crebro lapidum jactn, k viatoribus autiquitils pro more congestus, vel, onus e monticalia illis lapidoBis qui pro terminis in agris limitandie olim erecti Scorpionei dicebantur. Atque hie in trivio sumus. Nee silentio hie pretermit tend um quod de jure corjjoris sepulti, ex antiqnfl Synodo Hibernicfi his verbis, habet jam dictns Liber Canonum, Omne corpus sejtultum habet in jure sua vaccam, et equnm, et vestimentum, et ornamentum sui lecti, nee quicqvam horum reddeiur in alia debita, quia corporiejut taiiquhm vernacula dehentur. De fceminarum Hibemicarnm vod&rationibus, sive ululatibus, et manuum complosionibns, amicorum fhnera prosequentium, ali& occasione suprk diximns cap. XII. Interdnm porrb mulieres ad mortuum lamentandum conducbe fuemnt, veterum Pr(eft'carum more. Servins Pra^ficam, planctuum principem vocat. Bomanis mulieribus fuisee olim ejulandi morem, ac comas genasque lact-randi, aatis liquet, ex antiquis rerum Romaimrum scriptoribus. Atqui moa ille, HI Tabularum legibus, liia verbis fuit interdictue ; Muliere* genoM ni radunlo. Mulier facieni nk carpito. Mulierea lessum (id est, lugubremejulationem)_/ff»w)»er^o w^ Aa5r?n/o. Tacitus, libro de moribus et populis Gfcrmanise : post descriptionem exequiarura veterum Germanorum, qui corpora clarorum riroriim certtn ligni* cremabatit, et sepuichra ceapite 254 erigebant.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 39

As the companion tells it

Near Baltinglass in County Wicklow, a vast heap of stones has long drawn the attention of the curious. The old record asks what it might be, and offers three answers without settling on one. It may be a memorial raised over the slain, a burial under a cairn of stones, following an ancient custom among the Irish of burying the dead beneath a heap of rock. The passage notes that in the old Canon law book, held in the Cotton Library and written in Anglo-Saxon times, the Irish Synod records that men were buried either by fire or by a heap of stones. Or it may be what the ancients called a Mercurial heap. Mercury was the pagan god of roads, and travellers in old times would cast stones upon a pile as they passed, building it up by custom and habit over many journeys. Or it may be one of those stone heaps raised on hilly ground to mark boundaries between lands, which were once called Scorpion stones. The same old Canon book sets down the right of a buried body: it has claim to a cow, a horse, a garment, and the ornament of its bed, and none of these may be taken for any other debt, because they belong to the dead as something native to the body. The passage goes on to speak of Irish women's lamentations at funerals, the keening and the beating of hands. Women were sometimes hired to mourn the dead, as the ancient Romans had their Praeficae, women skilled in mourning. The Romans once lacerated their cheeks and tore their hair in grief, until the Twelve Tables forbade it by law. Tacitus, writing of the Germans, said they burned the bodies of their noble dead and raised burial mounds over them.

John de Courcy expels canons at Down, installs Benedictine monks

near Downpatrick · town · Down · 1183

John de Courcy's primary seat was at Down in Lecale, where in 1183 he expelled the secular canons from the cathedral church and replaced them with Benedictine monks brought from St Werburgh's Abbey in Chester.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Ultonla jam adeunda, quam primus aggressus est Johannes Curcteus, al. de Curcy, anno 1177, Ulidiam Hibernice Ulittffh (ubi hodi^ comitatns Dtinensis) is brevi posteb,, a Rogero Poer, Almarico de S. Laurentio, Adamo Camerarlo ct aliia adjutus, debellavit, deinde anno 1182, Dalriatam, cujus pars est Roiita, territorium hodie in agro Antrimensi ; undo (ni fallor) exierunt olim Dalreudini ilU, de qnibus Beda mentionem fiicit, qui duce Reuda, de Hibernia egressi, vel amicitid ccl ferro, inler Pictos sedes, qtias Itactenits (lut ille) habetit vitidicdrunt. CurcfDi habitatio primaria erat Duni, in Lecalla, ubi anno 1183, ex ecclesia Cathedrali, seculares Canonicos ezpulit, quorum vice, introduxit monachos Benedictinoa, h coaiobio S. Werburgce Cestria; desnmptos. Vita ejus, quam e Latino Anglic^ reddidit Georgius Doudallus archiepiscopiis Armachanus, sub Henrico 8, MS. extat. Curcsei tempore, Anglicie gentis plurimi, sedes suas in Ultonia fixerunt, inter quos fuerunt Savagii, Whiti, Ridelli, MandeviUi, Jordan!, Stantoni, Logani, Sandalli, Poeri, Camerarii, Stokfei, Passelevi, Rosselli, Audlcei, Copland! et Martelli. Ultoniae porro pars erat Ergallia, sive Uriel, qua; antiquitiis complectabatur totani earn regioncm qua> posteSi divisa est in agros Loutheiisem, 202 Monagbanenscm
iClizedbyGoO^IC

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 36

As the companion tells it

Downpatrick is the place. The town sits in Lecale, and it was here that John de Courcy made his primary seat after he came into Ulster in 1177, aided by Roger Poer, Almaric de St Laurence, Adam Camerarius and others. He had already conquered Dalriata in 1182, the territory that includes Route, in what is now County Antrim. In 1183, at Down, he expelled the secular canons from the cathedral church and in their place installed Benedictine monks taken from the monastery of St Werburgh in Chester. His life was written in Latin and later translated into English by George Dowdall, Archbishop of Armagh, under King Henry the Eighth. During de Courcy's time, great numbers of the English settled in Ulster, among them the Savages, Whites, Ridells, Mandevilles, Jordans, Stantons, Logans, Sandalls, Poers, Camerariuses, Stokes, Passeleves, Rossells, Audlees, Copelands and Martells.

Proposed garrison plan against Feagh Mac Hugh at Ballinacor, Knockelough, Arklow, Shillelagh and Talbotstown

Ballinacor · townland · Wicklow

Lord Grey's plot for suppressing Feagh Mac Hugh called for garrisons of soldiers at Ballinacor to shut him from Glenmalure, at Knockelough against Carlow, at Arklow or Wicklow to guard the sea side, at Shillelagh to cut him from the Kavanaghs, at the Three Castles for Dublin, and at Talbotstown to block Kildare.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Iren. I my selfe, by reason that (as I told you) I am no martiall man, will not take upon me to direct so dangerous affaires, but onely as I understood by the purposes and plots, which the Lord Gray who was well experienced in that service, against him did lay downe: To the performance whereof he onely required 1000 men to be laid in 6 garrisons, that is, at BalHnecor 200 footemen and 50 horsemen, which should shut him out of his great glynne, whereto he so much trusteth ; at Knockelough 200 footemen and 50 horsemen, to answere the county of Catherlagh ; at Arclo or Wicklow 200 footemen and 50 horsemen to defend all that side towards the sea. In Shillelagh 100 footemen which should cut him from the Cavenaghes, and the county of Wexford ; and about the three castles 50 horsemen, which should defend all the county of Dublin ; and 100 footemen at Talbots Towne, which should keepe him from breaking out into the county of Kildare, and be alwayes on his necke on that side : The which garrisons so laide, will so busie him, that he shall never rest at home, nor stirre forth abroad but he shall be had ; as for his creete they cannot be above ground, but they must needes fell into their hands or starve, for be hath no festnes nor refuge for them. And as for his partakers of the Moores, Butlers, and Cava- 135 naghes
Diciilized by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 41

As the companion tells it

Somewhere around here, Lord Grey laid out a plan to trap Feagh Mac Hugh. The man telling it said he was no soldier himself, but he understood the design from Grey, who was well experienced in that service against him. Grey wanted 1000 men placed in 6 garrisons. At Ballinacor, 200 footemen and 50 horsemen would shut him out of his great glynne, the valley he trusted so much. At Knockelough, another 200 footemen and 50 horsemen were to answer the county of Catherlagh. At Arclo or Wicklow, 200 footemen and 50 horsemen would defend all that side towards the sea. In Shillelagh, 100 footemen would cut him from the Cavenaghes and the county of Wexford. About the three castles, 50 horsemen would defend all the county of Dublin. And 100 footemen at Talbots Towne would keep him from breaking out into the county of Kildare, and, as the source says, be alwayes on his necke on that side. Grey believed these garrisons would so busie him that he should never rest at home, nor stirre forth abroad but he should be had. His creete could not be above ground without falling into their hands or starving, for he had no fastness or refuge for them. The plan reached further, to his partakers, the Moores, Butlers, and Cavanaghes.

A "Nest of Thieves" at Kilmore, County Cork

Kilmore · townland · Cork · 1596

Irenaeus proposes stationing 200 soldiers about Kilmore in the county of Cork specifically to break up a notorious gang of thieves operating there, describing it as a den that threatened both Limerick and Cork.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Iren. I would have a hundred of them placed at the Bantry where is a most fit place, not onely to defend all that side of tbe west part from forraine invasion, but also to answere all occasions of trouble, to which that countrey being so remote is very subject. And surely there also would be planted a good towne, having both a good haven and a plentifoll fishing, and the land being already escheated to hei Majesty, but being forcibly kept from her, by one that proclaimes himselfe the bast^ son of die Earle of Clancar, being called Donnell Mac Garty, whom it is meete to foresee to : For whensoever the Earle shall die, all those lands (after him) are to come unto her Majesty, he is like to make a foule stirre there, though of himselfe no power, yet through supportance of some others who lye in the wind, and looke after the Ml of that inheritance. Another hundred I would have placed at Castle Mayne, which should keepe all Desmond and Kerry; for it answereth them both most conveniently : Also about Kilmore in the county of Cork would I have 2 hundred placed, the which should breake that nest of thieves there, and answere 152 equally
,„i,z.d by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 41

As the companion tells it

Somewhere around here, close to Kilmore, a writer called Irenaeus saw a problem in 1596. He proposed placing 200 soldiers in this part of the county of Cork. His reason was plain. He called this place a nest of thieves, and he wanted those soldiers to break it. Irenaeus was thinking in numbers. He wanted 100 soldiers placed at Bantry, to defend the west from foreign invasion and to answer trouble in a remote country. He wanted another 100 at Castle Mayne, to keep all Desmond and Kerry, because it answered them both conveniently. And then he came to this place. About Kilmore in the county of Cork, he would have 200 placed, the which should, in his own words, breake that nest of thieves there. He called it a nest. That word tells you what kind of place he believed this was, a gathering point, a den. The soldiers were not here to patrol a border or guard a haven. They were here to break up a gang.

Cathedral Archive of Lismore Destroyed by Fire

Lismore · townland · Waterford · 1612

A valuable book detailing the boundaries and benefactors' donations to Lismore cathedral, compiled by Bishop Thomas Purcell in 1487, was accidentally destroyed by fire around 1612.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Hibeniia, eo seculo et diu posted, Ethnicismi tenebris obvoluta jacuit, sed tsec obiter. Ecclesiain cathedralem restauravit Cormacus,filius Mureti, rex Momonise, ciri;a an. 1 130. Viearios chorales ibi primns inatituit et dotavit Griffinas CAris/ojihori episcopus Liamorenais, circa annum 1230. De tempore erectionia Decani et Capituli nihil mihi constat. Librum habait h(ec ecclesia lectissimum, de ejus junbas, et bene&ctomm donationibas, quein composuit Thomas Pursellm episcopus Lismorensis et Waterfordienais, anno Dom. 1487. Atqui, ma^o ecclesiie detrimento, liber ille igne fortuito combostus est, circa annum 1612. Hee du» sedes, Lismorensis inqoam et Waterfordiensia reali/er (ut loquimur) unit^ fiierunt et conjunctse ab Innocentio vi Pontifice, anno 1363. Prirons utrituque sedia episcopus post unionem fiiit Thomas quidam, qui h Canonico Lismorensi factua eat Lismorensis episcopus an. 1358, et Rogero Cradoco Mirorit^ episcopo Waterfordiensi ad sedem Landavensotn in ^\'allia transkto an. 1 362, utriiisque sedis unionem, k jam dicto Innocentio vi, panlo postea obtinnit. De antiqua urbis Lismorensis celebritate, Corollarii loco, audi vetuatum vit» S. Carthagi scriptorem; Egregia et aancia civitas eat Lextnior: cujue dimidivm cut A»ylum, in quo nulla mulier attdet intrare, aed plenum est celliii et monasterii* lanctia: et muUitudo virorum Mnctoram illic manel. Viri autem religiosi ex omni parte Hiberiiitf, et non solum, ted ex Anglia et Britatmia conjluunt ad earn, volentea ibi migraread Chrintum. Et est ipsa civitaa posita super ripam ^iiminit: quondam dicti Nem, modo aulcm Ahmi-mor, idestamnis magnus, inplaga regtonia Nan-Desi. Hunc fluvium Ptolemseus Dauronam vocat, Nechamua Arenmor, de quo ita ille;
Vrhem Lismor pertramit /lumen Avenmor, Ardmor cernit ubi coiicitm aqmr adit.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 38

As the companion tells it

Somewhere around here stands what was once the cathedral of Lismore. Cormacus, son of Mureti, king of Munster, restored this cathedral. Griffin, bishop of Lismore, was the first to institute and endow vicars choral there, around 1230. The church held a very fine book, recording its boundaries and the donations of its benefactors. Thomas Purcell, bishop of Lismore and Waterford, compiled that book in 1487. But to the church's great loss, the book was destroyed by accidental fire, around 1612. The two sees of Lismore and Waterford were united under Pope Innocent the Sixth, in 1363. The first bishop after the union was a certain Thomas, formerly a canon of Lismore, who had become bishop of Lismore in 1358. When Roger Cradoc, bishop of Waterford, was translated to the see of Landaff in Wales, Thomas obtained the union of both sees from Pope Innocent the Sixth shortly after. An old writer, in the life of Saint Carthage, praised the ancient fame of the city: "Egregia et sancta civitas est Lismor" — Lismore is an eminent and holy city. Half of it was an asylum, where no woman dared enter, full of cells and monasteries of saints, and many religious men stayed there. Religious men from all parts of Ireland, and not only from Ireland but from England and Britain, flocked to it, wishing to live there for Christ. The city sits on the bank of the river once called Nem, now called Avenmor, the great river, in the region of Na-Desi.

Aedh V Ornaid drowns or dies in battle at the fords of Athdaferta in Tirconnell

Tirconnell · townland · Fermanagh · 819–820

Aedh V, called Hugh Ornaid, son of Niall Frasach, died in 819 or 820 at age 60 at the fords of Athdaferta in Tirconnell; some accounts say he was killed instead in the battle called Cath-droma.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Edanus V. aliks Hugo cognomento Omaid, filius NelU Fraasach, obiit anno 819, vel ut alii habent 820, setatis snie 60, ad vada de Atkda/erla in Tirconallta. Sunt qui in pnelio Calhdroma dicto, occisum tradunt.
Concobarua aliks Cornelius, filius Bonati, obiit anno 832, 30 cCim

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 16

As the companion tells it

Close to Tirconnell, Aedh the Fifth died at the fords of Athdaferta. He was called Hugh Ornaid, son of Niall Frasach. He was sixty years old, and the year was 819, though some give 820. There are those who say he was not drowned at the fords but killed in the battle called Cath-droma.

Bertram de Verdun dies in Palestine after grant of Uriel lands

Louth · town · Louth · 1192

Bertram de Verdun, seneschal of Ireland, was granted four cantreds of land in Uriel and half a cantred in Louth, but he later died in Palestine in 1192.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Monaghaneiisem et Ai'machanum. Sub exitum Henrici 2, filius ejus Johannes turn Hibemise dictus Dominus et Comes Moretoniie, dedit Bertramo de Verdun, Hibemiie senescballo (qui in Palestine postea obiit anno 1192) tjuatuor Cantredtis trrrte in Vriele inadicta, et HimidiuHi Cantredas terra in Luia (al Loutha) illiid ncil. quod est verxtts mare, pro »eriitio iiO Militam. Kujus generis sunt alia non pauca, ex arcliivis plenlmqae petenda, quae alioruin penitiori indagini relinquimus. Mitto hlc varias Johannis Curcsei expeditlones et incursiones in alias Ultonise partes, necnon pnelia inter eum et Hibernos commissa, ut qme ad hunc locum non pertinent. Satis erit hlc indlcare, ob Ulidiam debellatam, et bedes quas ille et commili tones in e& potisauxLy^-^'eraiit, ^ Jocelino monacho Fumessensi (quvf^J^D vixit) in ProloffO ad vitam Sancti Patricii, appellatjjfo Ulidite Principem.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 36

As the companion tells it

As the road brings you through or near the town of Louth, it carries an old Norman memory. Near the end of King Henry the Second's reign, his son John, then called Lord and Earl of Mortain, granted Bertram de Verdun four cantreds of land in Uriel and half a cantred of land in Louth, the half that lies towards the sea. The price was the service of sixty knights. Bertram de Verdun was seneschal of Ireland. He did not long enjoy what he had been given. He died in Palestine in 1192.

Burial of Reimundus le Gros at Molana Abbey

Molana Abbey · ecclesiastical site · Waterford

Reimundus Crassus (Raymond le Gros), a prominent knight under Henry II who fought in the conquest of Ireland, was buried at the monastery of Molana on the island of Molana. The abbey there had been founded by S. Molanfidus in the 6th century.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Hoc ccenobium Canoniconun Regnlarinm Dar-inis olim dictum, S. Molanfidus primus ibidem Abbas fundavit, seculo 6. Frsefuit ibi posted S. Eachnanos cognomento Mongaeh i. Crinitns, quia cum ciesarie natu». Conaule Johannis Colgani Acta Sanctorum Hiberniie, ad 13 Martii. In hoc cceaobio sepultQS dicitor Reimundus Craasua (sive le Gros) vir magni oominis sub Henrico 2, qui in expugnanda Hibernia operam navavit egregiam. Mothil, M. SS. Coani Coenobium Motbilense originem soam tt Brogani. debet S. Brogano, cui (ni fiillor) suc-
cessit in pnefectura ccenobii, S. Coanns Tel Coanus, seculo Christi 6. Sunt qui 167 dicunt

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 34

As the companion tells it

Founded in the 6th century by S. Molanfidus, its first abbot, Molana Abbey on the island of Molana was a monastery of Canons Regular, formerly called Darinis. After Molanfidus, S. Eachnanus, surnamed Mongach, meaning the hairy one, because he was born with hair, presided there. In this monastery is buried Reimundus Crassus, or le Gros, a man of great name under Henry II, who served with distinction in the conquest of Ireland. The details of its saints are recorded in John Colgan's Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae, under March 13.

Burial of St Barri at Cork Cathedral

Cork · city · Cork

St Barri (Finbarr), first bishop of Cork, died peacefully at Cloyne and his body was carried to Cork where it was honourably buried in his church, with his bones later placed in a silver casket.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Barri, al. Finbarri. Barms, aliis Finbarrca, sive Barrns albas, dictos etiam antea Loclianus, in Oonati^ ortus, primus priefuit episcopna. Ecclesiam oathe> dralem is ibi loci Amdavit ineimte secido vn, et ctim aiinos Bedisset 17, rel secundtim alios solum 7, Clon^, quEe Corcagi& 16 circiter milliaria distat, 7 Kalendas Octobris, amicis drcumstatitibiis, placidi morte obiit: qno autom anno obierit non est omninb certam. Corpus ejos Corcagiam deportatnm, ibi in ecclesia sna, honorific^ sepnltum eat, et ossa, nescio qukm diti poatek, capsulse argente^ indita. Ejus est epistola Alcuino attributa, de ceremoniis Baptismi, si Dempstero credimua. In coemeterio est campanile k t«mp]o paritm distans, quod aliqui existimant Ostmannoram Corcagiensium fiusse opus, et pro specula Tel loco ubi ezcubiee agebantnr ab lis primhm usitatnm. Inter benefactores eccleaiEe primarios, numerantur Gilla-^da 0-Mugin episcopus Corcagiensis, qui nattine debitum peraolvit vald^ senez, an. Dom. 1 173, ejuaque proximi auccessores Gregorius et Reginaldus. In hoc tractu Ptolemsei state Coriondi habit&rnnt, eor&mque nominis Testigia qofedam retiuere videtur Gorca^, qnte et olim dicta Oorcagia magna, nisi quia malit ab Uibernico Concac, quod locum palnstrem sonat, fluxisse. Notandum hlc veteribus Hibemicis usitatissimum, nt c literam in fine dictionis, in aspirationem verterent, et aliquando etiam in initio dictionis.
GlotiCB, E. S. Colmani. Golmanus ille, filius Lenini, S. Finbarri discipuluB, vir doctus et pius, primus fuit ecdesiie Clonensis epiacopos et fundator. Conatructionis hujtts fit mentio, in vita S. Brendani Abbatis Clonfertensis, his verbis; Erat hie Golmanus Jiliu» Lenini vita atque dociritid, inter ganclo*, pradpuu/i. Ipue fundavit eccleniam Chiiemem, qiix eat hodii catkedralis et famona in parlihuK 2 B 2 237 Momonue.

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 38

As the companion tells it

Cork holds the burial of Saint Barri, known also as Finbarri or Finbarra, and once called Lochanus before he took his bishop's name. He was born in Connaught and became the first bishop of Cork. He founded the cathedral church there. After serving as bishop for 17 years, or according to some accounts only 7, he died at Cloyne, about 16 miles from Cork. The date was the 7th of the Kalends of October, which is September the 25th. He died peacefully, surrounded by friends. What year he died is not certain. His body was carried to Cork and buried with honour in his own church. At some later date his bones were placed in a silver casket, though it is not known by whom or when. A letter about the ceremonies of baptism has been attributed to him, connected also with Alcuin, if one believes Dempster's account. In the cemetery stands a bell tower, set apart from the church. Some believe it was built by the Ostmen of Cork and first used as a watchtower, a place where they kept guard. Colman, son of Lenini, was a disciple of Saint Finbarri. He was a learned and pious man, and became the first bishop and founder of the church at Cloyne. The life of Saint Brendan of Clonfert speaks of him, saying he was pre-eminent in life and learning among the saints.

Danish king slain, treasure found in Dublin treasury

Dublin · city · Dublin

Saxo Grammaticus records that Hugletus, a rich but avaricious king of Ireland, was defeated and killed in battle by Haco the Dane, after which a great sum of money was found in his treasury at Dublin. The author notes this story is rejected as fable by the best-informed Irish antiquaries.

Read the passage

Read off the scanned page by machine, so a word here and there is misread. Kept as the reading produced it, not corrected.

Sed bfec obiter. Ad rem veniendum est, ac prim6 qtuerendnm, an Hibemi ante Anglomm adventum, nummis nsi (uerint, Tel auro dontaxat, argento, tere, ant annnlis, ad certum pondns examinatb. SaxoGrammaticua,lib. 6, Historite Danicte narrat Hngletem regem Hibernise, divitem sed avaram, ab 119 Hacone
Diciilized by Google

Internet Archive acollectiontrac01thomgoog, Chapter 28

As the companion tells it

An old story from Saxo Grammaticus clings to this city. He writes of Hugletus, a king of Ireland, rich but avaricious, who was defeated and slain in battle by Haco the Dane. A great sum of money was then found in his treasury. The best-informed Irish antiquaries reject this tale as fable.

A collection of tracts and treatises illustrative of the natural history, antiquities, and the political and social state of Ireland, at various periods prior t

The stories, best first

Brian Boru slain at the Battle of Clontarf

Execution of the Spanish garrison at Smerwick

Killing of an Irishman not treated as felony at Waterford

St. Patrick's Purgatory revealed as a mere cell

The Execution of Murrogh O'Brien at Limerick

Slaughter of Bruce's forces at Faughart near Dundalk

Maguyre's Retort on Sheriff's Eric-fine at Fermanagh

Betrayal and murder of the Earl of Louth near Dundalk

Massacre of miners at the Tipperary Silver-Lead Mine

St Brigid's inextinguishable fire at Kildare

Wood turning to stone and iron in Lough Neagh

Murder of the Earl of Ulster at Knockfergus

Alternative tradition: Cormac killed by a herdsman near Leighlin

Destruction of the Purgatory cave by papal authority, 1497

Piers Gaveston's campaign in the Dublin mountains and building of Newcastle

Capture of the Lord Justice at Thistledermot (Castledermot)

Destruction of Waterford and Kilkenny in the Geraldine-Poer feud

Execution of Desmond followers by Sir Ralph Ufford in Munster

Feagh Mac Hugh's stronghold at Ballinacor and Glenmalure

Rebellion and death of Girald, last Earl of Desmond

Bodies remain incorrupt and unburied on Aran

Brian Boru's body reputedly buried at Kilmainham

Death of King Cormac at Ballaghmoon

Destruction of Meath in Lacy-Marshall feud

Earl of Desmond executed at Drogheda

St Patrick's Purgatory: the marvellous cave on Lough Derg

Siege of Athlone Castle in Bourke-Verdun feud over Meath

Ancient Bondage: Servants and Betaghs Bound to Land

Battle at Gessill: Eber slain by Heremon

Blaithmac slain by Norse pagans on Iona

Danes seize and sack Dublin then are driven out and it is restored

Feagh Mac Hugh's threat to Dublin

Kellach Frasach dies and is buried on Iona at the Tomb of the Kings of Ireland

Complaints of surveillance under Tyrone's rebellion

Ostmannic Cremation Burial Found in Dublin, 1646

St Colman's burial on Inishbofin nine years after founding monastery

Aedh the bearded cleric exiled for shaving pupils' heads

Cellach flees to Ireland, founds Kells monastery

Danes burn and ravage Rathlin Island

Drowning of Mr. John Usher at Rathfarnham

Growth of towns at Maryborough and Philipstown from garrison forts

Malachy II dies at Iniscaltra

Muirchertach mac Erca drowns drunk in a vat of wine

Richard Tuit crushed by falling tower at Athlone

Ruined castles of the Byrnes and Tooles

Tirdelvacus O'Brien dies at Kincora, once a royal city

Ulster plantation following defeat of rebellion

Underground Chambers Discovered Beneath a Hill Near Sligo

Burial of King Cormac at Cashel

Death of Bishop Walter de Salem en route to London

Great Cairn of Stones at Baltinglass

John de Courcy expels canons at Down, installs Benedictine monks

Proposed garrison plan against Feagh Mac Hugh at Ballinacor, Knockelough, Arklow, Shillelagh and Talbotstown

A "Nest of Thieves" at Kilmore, County Cork

Cathedral Archive of Lismore Destroyed by Fire

Aedh V Ornaid drowns or dies in battle at the fords of Athdaferta in Tirconnell

Bertram de Verdun dies in Palestine after grant of Uriel lands

Burial of Reimundus le Gros at Molana Abbey

Burial of St Barri at Cork Cathedral

Danish king slain, treasure found in Dublin treasury