V...- -^^^
!^-aP:l.^A
|
r , |
|
|
; ■ |
ii«!j»'. '^
..^^V-' --Vkv^ 5.,,-Ate-..^.
iMi
.;^-^:.'*^-'^^r^^:-.*
■^^'^;
fe.v.-lf^-"
;"^vr»
■fc,:^-
V -tec:.. -#:Q.%i;"
.i^f^i^
W^' ;i
^K^r^Wl^ ' ^'^
the ppesence of this Book
in
thej.m. kelly liBRAPy
has Been made possiBle
thRouqh the qeneposity
of
Stephen B. Roman
From the Library of Daniel Binchy
'4
Jt
I
. 1(1^ The Book of Rfghts, cd,tcd by John
M Lj. Ui/w> CU
Oy<^^.kj •TgJlM"ts\r-ejjr-
•T-a .
Z. i^U/ -^ ".viv jvut^v r^ uvi ^W,v<.t^
f^^. }d ^Q '^'nfj- C^yVj^^yfM,iT.)
20H-
■N.
'vS-
aiz-
ceabiiaR nq 5-aeaRU. THE BOOK.'bF EKJ-JITS.
:« '4
» . >
:
I
I
teabliciR NCI 5-ceaRc,
OK
THE BOOK OF RIGHTS,
NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME EDITED,
WITH TRANSLATION AND NOTES.
nv
JOHN O'DONOVAN, ESQ., M. IJ. I. A.,
iJAllRlSTEU AT LAW.
D u r> L I N :
I'UINTED FOR TIIK CELTIC SOCIETY.
18'17.
DUBLIN ;
riUXTKD AT THE UNIVEUSITY PKESS,
BY M. H. GILL.
OFFICERS
ELECTED AT THE FORMATION OF THE SOCIETY.
■^rcsitlEnt : SIR AUBREY DE VERE, BART.
Ftce='^rcsltjcnts :
Butt, Isaac, Esq., LL. 1).
Hudson, the Very Rev. Edward Gus-
TAvus,Dean of Armagh. Kane, Sir Robekt, M. D., M. R. I. A.,
President of the Queen's College, Cork. MoNSELL, AViLLiAM, Esq., M. R. I. A.
O'Brien, William Smith, Esq., M.P.
M. R. I. A. O'CoNNELL, Daniel, Esq., M. P. Renehan, the Very Rev. Laurence,
D. D., President', Royal College of
St. Patrick, Maynooth.
trustees :
Hudson, Henry, Esq., M. D., M. R. I. A. Hutton, Thomas, Esq., M. R. I. A. S-weetman, Walter, Esq., M. R. I. A.
O'Loghlen, Sir Colman Michael, Bart.
Strrttaius :
BiNDON, Samuel H., Esq. Webb, Patrick Robert, Esq.
€oundl :
Barry, Michael Joseph, Esq.
Cholly, the Rev. George, D. D., Pro- fessor, Royal College of St. Patrick, Maynooth.
Duffy, Charles Gavan, Esq.
Ferguson, Samuel, Esq., M. R. I. A.
FiTZPATRicK, Patrick Vincent, Esq.
Graves, the Rev. Charles, A. M., Professor and F. T. C. D., M.R.I.A.
Hahdiman, James, E.S(1., M. R. I. A.
Hudson, William Elliot, Esq., A.M., M. R. I. A.
Kelly, tiie Rev. Matthew, Professor, Royal College of St. Patrick, IMay- nooth.
Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan, Esq.
Mac Carthy, Michael Felix, Esq. Mac Cullagii, William Torrens,
Esq., M.R.I.A. Mac Ivor, the Rev. James, F. T. CD. MiTCHEL, John, Esq. NowLAN, the Very Rev. Edward, V.G.
Ossory; P.P. Gowran. O'Callaohan, Isaac Stoney, Escj. O'Hagan, Thomas, Esq. Pigot, John Edm'ard, Esq. Starkly, Digby Pilot, Esq., A. M.,
M. R. I. A. Tenison, Edw. King, Esq., M. R. I. A. Tighe, Robert, Esq., A.M., M.R.I.A. Wilde, William Robert, Esq.,
M. R. I. A.
Assistant Sctrctnrn : Mr. .John Daly.
dToncsponUing 'tetrctniics:
Cork. — John Windele, Es(|. Kilkenny. — Roiieht Cane, Es(|., M. D. Waterford. — Thomas Francis Meagher, E8(|. Anna>;h. — Mb. John Cohry.
CTorrcspoutJing Associate ^broalj: Kiciiahd Robert Madden, Es*)., M. I)., M. H. 1. .V.
Ihe Council of the Celtic Society having intrusted me with the superintendence of this volume in its progress through the Press, I hereby certify that it is, in all respects, conformable to the rules of the Society. I also take this opportunity of expressing, upon the part of the Council, their thanks to the Royal Irish Academy, for the permis- sion to print this work from their most valuable MSS. ; to the Provost and Board of Trinity College, for access to their Manuscript Library ; and to the Rev. Doctor Todd, for facilities in the consultation of it which he was kind enough to afford. To John O' Donovan, Esq., our thanks are pre-eminently due, for the learning and zeal which he has exhibited in the editing and general arrangement of the loork. In it 7vill be re- cognized a further proof of the critical and profound knowledge which he possesses of the language of our country, as well as of its topography and history. The services of Mr. Eugene Curry have been invaluable, and I am happy to record that his intimate knoivledge of our ancient literature has throughout the work been made available.
I cannot close these observations without tetideriiig our warm gratitude to the dis- tinguished artist, Frederick W. Burton, Esq., R. H. A,, whose pencil has graced our title-page with a group as classic as it is Irish, and which cannot fail to excite, in every Irish mind, true feelings of pride and satisfaction. It is to George Du Noyer, Esq., that we owe the drawings of the ancient chess-king from the cabinet ofDr.'Petrie, which will he found in our Introduction ; and to Mr. Hanlon we are indebted for the wood- cuts used there as tvell as in our illustrated title-page.
William Elliot Hudson,
Member of the Council, •illh Jul!/,—2lst December, 1847
CONTENTS.
-♦ —
r.VGE.
Introduction.
Of Leabhar na g-Ceart, i
Of the Saltair Chaisil, xxii
Of the will of Cathaeir Mor, and other pieces introduced
into Leabhar na g-Ceart, xxxiii
Of the References to Tomar as King or Prince of the Galls
of Dublin, xxxvi
Of the Tract prefixed to the Book of Rights, entitled
" Geasa agus Buadha Riogh Eireann," xlii
Of the Division of the Year among the ancient Irish, . . xlviii
Of the Chariots and Roads of the ancient Irish, .... Ivi
Of Chess among the ancient Irish, Ixi
On the Irish Text and Translation, Ixv
■Jeapa agup buaoha Rfogh 6i]ieann.
Prose, 2
Poem — Q pip am laoap in ceach, 8
Ceabliaji na g-Ceajic.
1. Olijheubli ^^ijh Chaipil.
First Prose, 28
First poem — t)lij5eab each pi^ 6 pi^ Cuipil, .32
Second prose, 42
Second poem — Ceapc Chaipil, cen clipoo uici thupuio, . ib.
Vlll CONTENTS.
PAGE.
I. t)li^heaoh T^ijh Chaipl. — Contimied.
Third prose, 50
Third poem — 6enen — beanoachc pop m n-jen, .... 52
Fourth prose, 60
Fourth poem — Cip Caipil in cualabaip, 62
Fifth prose, 68
Fifth poem — Ct eolaij murhan moipi, 70
Sixth prose, 80
Sixth poem — Qca punb peanchap, puaipc ppeach, . . ib.
Seventh prose, 86
Seventh poem — Qpa peapaoaip a n-joip, 88
II. t)li5heaDh Rijh Chpuachan.
First prose, 96
First poem — ©'pcij pe peanchap nach puaiU, .... 98
Second prose, 110
Second poem — Uuapipcal cuicio Chonoacc, 112
III. Olijheabh Rio^h Qilijh, Oipjhiall, ajup Ulaoh.
1. tDlijheaDh Ri^h Qilijh.
First prose, 118
Firstpoem— Ceapc pig Qilij, eip[c]i6 pip, 120
Second prose, 126
Second poem — Q f?ip, Da n-oeachaip p6 cuaio, .... 128
2. Dligheabh Rijh Oipjhiall.
First prose, - . . . . 134
First poem — Sipcig cam clumebaip, 136
Second prose, 142
Second poem — In cheipc-pea pop chloinb Colla, ... 144
3. tDligheauh Rijh ULaoh.
First prose, 154
First poem, — Qca puno pochop UIqd, 156
Second prose, ] 68
Second poem — t)liji6 pi^ Bamna acup Ula6, .... ib.
CONTENTS.
IX
IV. Olijheaoh Rijli Ueamhpach.
First prose,
First poem — tJlijio ptj Ueariipa cuipim,
Second prose,
Second poem — CJp cuach TTlibi, mop jn peel, ....
V. Olijhenbhl^ijhCaijhean, ajupUiomnuChachaeipmhoip.
First prose,
First poem — Ceapc pij ^aijean po luaiD 6en^n, . . .
Second prose,
Second poem — Coipci^, a ^aijniu na laech,
Third poem — Ha paep-chipa, plichcao cuap, . . . . Fourth poem — Qca puno peanchap, puaipc, peanj, . .
VI. 6eannachr phabpui^ "S^P Ceapc Riojh 6ipeann a
D-Ueatnhpaigh,
Introductory poem by Dubhthach Mac Ui Lughair
Hioli^ cuaipc no ceanoaijeachc,
First poem — Ueariiaip, ceach a m-bi ITlac Cuino, Second poem — Ueamajp nocho bip o6-pon, . . Third poem — t)li5i6 pij Ulao eariina, . . . Fourth poem — '^(iO\'a pi^ Lllao Gariina, . . . Fifth poem — t)o Buci6aib pij Ulao uill, . . . Sixth poem — t)li^i6 pi Nuip, unopa, .... Seventh poem — Seachc (5)-capbaiD ap a m-bia op Eighth poem — ^eapa pij Caijean ao chim, . . Ninth poem — 6pij5ib do p^ip im a padi, . . . Tenth poem — t)liji6 pi Chaipil na (j5)-cpeach, . Eleventh poem — Upi buaoa pij Chaipil cam, . Twelfth poem — tDlij^io 6 ploich 6uimni^ lip, Thirteenth poem — Oli^io pij^ Chopco 6haipcin, Fourteenth poem — ^eapa pij 6uimnij5 leachain, Fifteenth poem — tDlij^ib plaich Chpuachan, nu cei Sixteenth poem — 5^'p bo Cpuacha b' pap p6 cpi, Seventeenth poem — Oli^iopi h-Uu TTluine mop, Eighteenth poem — Olij^io \\< TDidi in mcipcaio, . Nineteenth poem — ^eapa pij Bojam 'n-a chij, .
PAGE.
176 178 182
184
192 204 216 218 222 224
234
236 238
ib. 240 248
ib. 250
ib. 252
ib. 254 258 260
ib. 262
ib. 264
ib. 266
ib.
X CONTENTS.
VARIOUS READINGS.
PAGE,
In — ^eapa ajup 6ua&ha l^iojh ©ipeann, 271
In — ^^eabhap na j-Ceapc: .1.
I. Dligheaoh Rijh Chaipil, 274
II. Dlijheabh Rijh Chpuachan, 278
III. 1. tJlijheaDh Righ Qiligh, 280
III. 2. DligheaDh Rijh Oipghiall, 281
III. 3. Dligheabh l^ijh Ulabh, 282
IV. t)li5heaDh TJigh Ueamhpach, 283
V. tDligheaDhRigh Caighean, ajup Ciomna Chachaeip
mho.p, 284
VI. 6eannachc phdopuij, ajup Ceapc Riojh Gipeann
a b-Ueamhpaijh, - . 287
Additional Remarks on the MSS., 290
coreigenda, 294
Index, 295
ERRATA. Page 6, notes, col. 1, line 7, /or in the first century, read A. D. 130.
9, col. 1, line 15, after sub fine, add and Trias Thanm, p. 133.
29, col. 2, line 4,/o?- 1585 read 1595.
30, col. 1, line 3, add Ilaliday's Ed., p. 136.
31, text, line 19, and in note '', for Alplainn, read Alplann.
32, notes, col. 1, line 9, fur all that \>&Ytread all that part of Leinster.
40, col. 2, line 9, for Sliabh BUulhma read Sliabh liladlima.
46, col. 2, lines 19 and 21, for O'Eidii'Sceoill and Dai-fliine, read 0 h-Eidirsceoill and
Dairfhine.
50, col. 1, line 1, for Fiacha Luighdhe, read Fiacha Suighdhc.
63 and 59, text and note, /or Raithlcann, read Raithlinn.
58, notes, col. 2, at the end, for Mac Cuilleanain, read Mac Cuiloannain.
59, col. 2, line 14, /or Kilcrobane, read Kilcrohane.
71, text, linos 16, 17, for Ye and If ye are read Oh and If thou art.
72, notes, col. 2, line 21, for the son of, &c., read second son of Daire Cearba, and add See Ogj'gia, Part iii. c. 81.
74 and 75, text and notes on Dairbhre, for Dairfliine, read Puibhne. i.e. Corca Duibhnc.
79, notes, col. 2, line 10, /or Eile Fhogartaigh read Eile Ui Fhogartaigh.
81, text, lin'' 4, /or Ye learned read Oh learned man.
88, notes, col. 1, line 7, dele which was called Laigliin Deas-ghabhair by the ancient Irish.
94, col. 2, line 5, for A. M. 305, read A. M. 3501.
108, col. 1, line 7, for Mac Diarmaid read Mac Diarmada.
143, notes, col. 2, hne, 7, /or pp. 801, 802, read 301, 302.
165, col. 1, line 9yfor Maigh Inis, read Magh Inis.
174, col. 1, lines 7 and 10,/or Tuatb, read Tuatha.
193, col. 2, line 5,/or Clann Maeiliaghra read Clann Machighra.
237, line 25, /o»- Let him not be an old nisty vessel read That he be not a vessel of old words. 256, notes, line 1,/or 184, note "> read 49, note •*•
INTRODUCTION.
Of Lcabhar na g-Ccart.
Two ancient vellum copies of this work are in existence, one in the Leabhai- Leacaiu (Book of "Lecan") which was compiled from various other MSS., by Giolla losa Mor Mac Firbisigh of Leacan, in the county of Sligo, chief historian to O'Dubhda (O'Dowda) in the year 1418. This copy begins at folio 184, and ends at folio 193, coniprising thirty- eight closely written columns of the book. The other copy is preserved in Lcabhar Bhaile an Mhuta (Book of " Ballymote") which Avas com- piled by various persons, but chiefly by Solamh O'Droma, from older MSS., about the year 1390, for Tomaltach INIac Donnchadha (Mac Donough), then chief of the territories of Tir Oiliolla, Corann, Airteach, "** * Tir Thuatliail, and Clann Fearn-mhaighe, extending into the counties of Sligo, Roscommon, and Leitrim. This copy begins at folio 147 and ends at folio 154 a, col. 2, comprising thirty columns of that book.
"Various modern paper copies are extant and accessible, but they have been found, on comparison with the two vellum ones just referred to, to be of no authority, as they were evidently made primarily or se- condarily from either of them, with several corruptions of the respec- tive scribes, none of whom thoroughly understood the language, as is quite evident from the nature of the corruptions (or, as tiny fancied, corrections) of the text made by them.
a
ii Introduction.
An abstract of this work was published by Hugh Mac Curtiu in his Brief Discourse in Vindication of the Antiquity of Ireland, pp. 173-175, and pp. 221-240. An abstract of it is also given by Dr. John O'Brien, R. C. Bishop of Cloyne, in his Dissertations on the Laws of the ancient Irish, a work which was published by Vallancey, in 1774, in the third number of the Collectanea de Rebus Hihernicis, where this abstract occu- pies from p. 374 to p. 389.' The suppression of O'Brien's name in the pviblication of this has caused confusion. Thus, when the author says, " in my copy of the Annales Innisfallenses, I find," &c., all siibsequent writers took for granted that this referred to Vallancey's copy of these Annals, whereas the fact turns out to be that the "my copy of the Annales Innisfallenses,'''' throughout this work, refers to a compilation of Annals made for Dr. John O'Brien, by John Conry, in 1 760, at Paris, from all accessible Irish, Anglo-Irish, and English sources, of which the autograph is now presarved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, with various marginal condemnatory notes in the hand-writing of Charles O'Conor of Belanagare. In consequence of the suppression of O'Brien's name in connexion with that work, it has been quoted as Vallancey's own by .all those who have since treated of the subject, but more particularly by Mr. Moore, who frequently quotes Val- lancey's Dissertation on the Laws of Tanistry, in his History of Ire- land, as a work of authority.
The original Irish of the present work, however, never saw the light before the present edition, and writers have been quoting from it as the genuine work of Benean or St. Benignus, who was the disci- ple of St. Patrick, and his comharba or successor at Ard Macha (Armagh), but without letting the public know where the best copies of it are preserved, or what real claims it has to be considered the genuine work of St. Benean.
Benean was of a Mixnster family, being descended from Tadhg mac
Introduction. iii
Cein* (the grandson of Oilioll Olum, king of Minister), to whom king Corraac mac Airt, about the year 254, had granted the territory of Cianaclita Breagh, which comprised the district around Daimhliag (Duleek), and all the plain from thence to the hills of Maeldoid at the River Life (Liffey). The occasion of his conversion to Christianity is described in all the old Lives of St. Patrick, and in Benean's own Life''. St. Patrick being at Leath Chathail (Lecale in Ulster), and having de- termined on celebrating the Easter of the year 433 near Teamhair or Tara, where, he knew, the Feis Teamhrach was then to be celebrated by the king and all his toparchs, took leave of his northern friend and convert Dicho, and, sailing southwards, put into the harbour of Inbhear Colpa (Colp), the mouth of the Boinn or Boyne. There he left his boat in care of one of his disciples, and set out on foot through the great plain of Breagh (Bregia), in which the palace (of Tara) was situ- ate. On their way, and not long after landing, they went to the house of a respectable man (viri nohilis) named Sescnean, where they were entertained and passed the night. St. Patrick is said on this occasion to have converted and baptized this Sescnean and all his family, among whom was Benean, then seven years old, to whom, at the bap- tism, Patrick gave the name of Benignus, from his benign disposition. This boy became so attached to St. Patrick, that he insisted on going along with him. St. Patrick received him with pleasure into his so-
» According to the genealogies of the liis Supplement to the Lives of St. Ratiick,
saints collected by the O'Clerighs, Benean, Trias Thaum, p. 203. From these it would
bishop and primate, was the son of Sesgnean, appear that the Life was in Irish, and
son of Laei, son of Tadiig, son of Cian, son translated into Latin by Colgan, who in-
of Oilioll Olum. See Leubhama y-Ceart, tended publishing it at tlie 9th of Novem-
poBt, p. 50, where he is said to be of the ber. There is an Irish Life of this saint in
Cianaclita of Gleann Geimhin, of the raco the Burgundian Library at Brussels, ac-
ofTadlig, son of Cian. cording to Mr. Bindon's Catalogue of the
'' Considerable extracts from the Life of Irish MSS. in tliat Lilirary, printed in the
Bcniginis have been printed by Colgan, in Proceedings of the R. I. A., vol. iii. p. 485.
a 2
iv Introduction.
ciety, and Benignus tlienceforth became one of his most favorite dis- ciples. According to the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, however, the apostle met Sescnean when he first landed at Inis Phadriiig, near Dub- lin (lib. i. c. 45); but Doctor Lanigan thinks that this date is contra- dicted by the whole tenor of St. Patrick's proceedings. Be this as it* may, we are informed in one of the chapters of the Life of St. Be- nignus, which Colgan has published in his Trias Thaum., p. 205, that when he became qualified to preach the Gospel, he was employed in various parts ^of Ireland, and particularly in those regions which St. Patrick had not visited in person. Among these is particularly men- tioned " lar Momonia", or West Munster, and " Corcomrogia" Corcum- ruadh (Corcomroe, in the county of Clare). But he became in a special manner the patron of Connacht, where he erected his principal church, called in the time of the writer Cill Benein, at Dun Lughaidh, in the territory of Conmaicne Chineil Dubhain ("Kilbanan" in the barony of Dunmore and county of Galway, where the remains of a round . tower still indicate the ancient importance of the place) ; and it is added that he blessed the province of Connacht " from the River Dro- bhaeis to Muireasc Eoghain near Luimneach, and from Leim Lara to Pruim Snamha in the district of Gabhal Liiiin" (Galloon, at Lough Erne), in which region the inhabitants paid him and his successors, yearly, " lacticiniorum, vitulorum, agnorum, idque generis animan- tium primitias." — Trias Thaum., c. 32, p. 205.
But the relatives of St. Benignus, to wit, the race of Eoghan of Caiseal, the descendants of ^Oilioll Oluni,' and other Munster tribes, hearing that he had blessed the province of Connacht in preference to Munster, of the royal stock of which he was himself descended, though St. Patrick mshed him to bless the south, were in no small degree offended; but St. Benignus, to make some amends for this obvious dereliction of provincial duty, commenced and composed that famous
Introduction. v
Chronicon, called the Psalter of Caiscal"^, in Avhich are described the acts, laws, prerogatives, and succession, not only of the luonarchs of all Ireland, but also those of the kings of Munster.
The passage runs as follows in the Latin of Colgan : —
" Cognati Sancti Benigni, vt populus Eoganias Casselensis, Olil- diana progenies, et alij Momonienses, audito prcedicto eius facto, non parum offensi et contra virum Dei indignati dicuntur. S. autem Be- nignus, vt istam ofFensam aliquo grato dilueret obsequio, famosum illud Chronicon, quod Psalterium Casselense nuncupatur, inchoauit et composuit: in quo non solum totius Hibernite Monarcharum, sed spe- cialiter regum ]\Iumonia3 acta, jura, prajrogativa;, et successio con- scribantur." — Trias Thcmm., c. 33, p. 205.
Benignus afterwards, in 455, iipon St. Patrick's retirement, suc- ceeded him, and, having himself resigned his bishopric in 465, died on the 9th of November, 468, and was buried at Ard Macha (Armagh)*^.
The passage, which we have just cited out of Colgau's extracts from the Life of St. Benignus, has been overlooked by our writers. It es-
•• It is usually supposed that this work "Yet Saltair signifies also I'snftcr, and
was called P.va/<er because it was priiici- the Psaltair, or Suliair-nu-rutni, -was not r
pally written in verse. Doctor Lanigan, clironicle."
howLver, informs us (Pxcl. Hist. vol. iii. "i Dr. Lanigan remarks (vol i. ]). 377):
p. 35(1, note 58), that " !iis deceased wortliy " How a storj' about Iknigiuis having died
IVicnd, General Vallancey," informed hini at Rome, got into the Ailnals of Innisfalkn,
that tiiis was a mistake, as tlie original title I cannot discover." Tlie Doctor was not
of the work was Saltair, " wliich, he said, aware tiiat what lie ipiotcs tln-oughout his
hignilies chronicle; aud that he states the Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, as tlie
.sime iu his Prospectus of a Dictionary of Annals of Innisfallen, is only a coniiiilatioii
theani'ient Irish, at T'HjVtvjc.'' Dr. Lanigan, made at Paris, A. D. 17<iO, from old Iri.^h
liowever, though he would wish to agree .stories, the Cailhrciin Tlwirdlifalbliuigli,
with Vallancey in everything, was too pro- Giraldiis famlirciiais, Pcmbridge's Aiuials,
found a scholar to be led astray bj- his vene- and NN'an-'s Anna!', by .lolm Conry and
ration for the memory of his dc|)artt'd fricinl. Dr. < )'Hricn, author oftlie Iiish hielionary.
and, too holiest to pass any opinion without We are indcljted to l!ic Irisii Arrlueologi-
some authority, he had the courage to add : tal .Society for this discovery.
vi Introduction.
tablislies tlie important fact that Benean commenced (inckoavit) the celebrated Pscdtermm Casselense ; and as it is a matter of extreme inte- rest to examine the existing evidence as to that record, of which only a small fragment is known to exist, we shall collect what can be stated respecting it in a subsequent part of this Introduction.
That passage further proves that Benean put together and entered in the Psalter an account of the rights {jura) of the monarchs of all Ire- land, and especially of the kings of Munster. Now, one of the poems in our book, in treating of those rights says (p. 52), that Benean put in the Psalter of Caiseal the history of each Munster king, and his income ; and the conclusion reasonably follows that Benean commenced and composed some such Book of Eights as this, and placed it in the Saltair Chaisil.
Edward O'Keilly (in his Irish Writers, p. 28), saw the fallacy of attributing the authorship of the Book of Rights, in its present form, toBt. Benean, and expressed his doubts as to the fact, as the " language, and some internal evidences in the composition, show it to be at least enlarged and altered in a period nearer to our own times." In fact> though it cannot be denied that there was a Leabhar na g-Ceart drawn up after the establishment of Chi'istianity, which received the sanction of St. Benignus, it cannot be pronounced that any part of the Avork, in its present form, was. written by that bishop.
It gives an account of the rights of the monarchs of all Ireland, and the revenues payable to them by the principal kings of the several provinces, and of the stipends paid by the monarchs to the inferior kings for their services. It also treats of the rights of each of the provincial kings, and the revenues payable to them from the inferior kings of the districts or tribes subsidiary to them, and of the stipends paid by the superior to the inferior provincial kings for their services.
These accounts are authoritatively delivered in verse, each poem being introduced by a prose statement; and of those joint pieces.
Introduction. vii
twenty-one in number, seven are devoted to Munster, and the rights of the ajib pi j, or monarch of all Ireland, are treated of under this head ; for it first supposes the king of Munster to be the monarch, and then subjoins an account of his rights, when he is not king over all Ireland. Two pieces are then devoted to the province of Connacht, tAvo to each of the three divisions of Ulster, two to Midhe or Meath, and two to Leinster, with an additional poem on the Galls or foreigners of Dublin, and a concluding piece on the rights of the kings at Teanihair or Tara.
The prosa usually purports to be a short statement or summary of the poem which follows, and which it treats as a pre-existing docu- ment. These prose introductions almost uniformly conclude with an allegation that Benean said or sang as follows, de qidbus Benean dixit, . . . amail ao peab 6enean . . . . uo beapc .... po cheac .... po cacam .... pop pio . . . . po pV\ . . . . po can 6enean; see pp. 32, 42, 52, 62, 70, 80, 88, 98, 112, 118, 128, 136, 144, 156, 168, 176, 184, 204, 218, 224, 238. Some of them go farther, and call him in c-ujoap, the author, p. 32, and m pili, the poet, p. 70. Nor is this direct allegation of Benean's authorship confined to the concluding prose lines; it occurs in an opening at p. 97, and it is put almost as strongly at p. 50, ipiao po Beop cecupca 6enen, " these are, further, the inculcations, or instructions of Benean ;" and the in- troduction to the whole work in the Bo»k of Baile an Mhuta, p. 30 (which has not a corresponding passage in the Book of Leacan), iises an expression but slightly difi'erent .... umail po opoajj 6enean, i. e. " the tribute and stipends of Ireland as Benean ordained,'''' . . . and 'it refers to the Book of Gleann da Loch as the authority.
Now, it is curious that the poems themselves, in general, do not profess to be the productions of Benean; and the additional rann or stanza at p. 68, infra (which is only found in the Book of Leacan), can scarcely be viewed a^ an exception to this. On tlic internal evidence
viii Introduction.
of the poems, as to the authorship of them, it will become very clear that he was not the author ; and those who have " fathered" the Book on St. Benean, to use O'Reilly's expression (Ir. Writ. p. 109), must have confined their reading to the prose.
It will appear upon careful consideration that most of the stipends and tributes mentioned in Leahhar na g-Ceart were traditional, and many of them of great antiquity. The tributes of Midhe (Meath) are said (p. 1 84), to be related as they were rendered from the time of Conn of the Hundred Battles. It is probable, in^ed, that the accounts were originally digested, and perhaps put into metre, by St. Benean; but that the work was afterAvards, towards the beginning of the tenth century, altered and enlarged by Cormac Mac Ciiileannain, bishop-king of Caiseal or Munster, assisted by Sealbhach the sage, and Aenghus, so as to agree with the tribes and siibdivisions of Ire- land at that period. This appears quite plain from the notices of Sealbhach and Aenghus, at p. 60, and of Mac Cuileannain, at p. 86.
The poet Sealbhach was secretary to Cormac, " Seluacius S. Cor- niaco a secretis vir eximiaj pietatis et doctrine." — Acta SS. p. 5; and in the same place Colgan says that he survived Cormac for some years, and that he wrote concerning his virtues and death: "Vixit autem Seluacius aliquot annis post S. Cormacum, de cuius morte et virtu- t^lnis inter alia miilta, puldire scrips! t." — Ibid. As Cormac, accord- ing to the Annals of Ulster, and to Ware, vol. i. p. 465, began his reign A, D. 901, and was killed at the battle of Bealach Mughna, A. D. 908, we can A-ery nearly fix the date of the composition.
We shall presently find further evidence to show that the poems, in their present form, cannot be ascribed to so early a period as the time of St. Benean; but there is every reason to believe that the older Book of Rights, which was said to have been written by St. Benean, was in existence in the time of Cormac.
Introduction. ix
Now, let us look closely through these several pieces.
"We have seen that the writer of the prose attributes the first piece to the gifted author Beilean, the soil of Sescnean ; but the commence- ment of the poem immediately following leads to the inference that it was the composition of one who had arrived at the station of chief poet of Ireland ; for he claims for the men who held that office, and wore the Taeidhean, or ornamented mantle, made of the skins and feathers of various coloured birds (Cormac's Glossary), the true knowledge of the rights of Caiseal, which, to bards^, should be a question for ever.
In the second poem there is a similar allusion, p. 42, for the poet sings that it is his diifi/ to record the right of Caiseal, and that it is pleasing to the king of Gabhran to find it acknowledged by his poet.
In the third piece the writer of the poem actually addresses Benean as a third person, and implores a blessing on him ; asserting that it was he who put in the Saltair Chaisil the tradition or history of the king of Caiseal and of his income. That was evidently an antecedent Saltair, which the writer afterwards refers to (p. 60), as the Psalter of the God of Purity, in which he had found it recorded that Benean had remained at Caiseal from Shrovetide to Easter.
The writer of the prose, as usual, ascribes this poem to St. Benean, the son of Sescnean the Psalmist, but the poem itself furnishes internal evidence that it was not composed by him, or for centuries after his time. It refers to the cursing of Teamhair (Tai-a) by Saint Ruadhan, A. D. 56.3; see p 53, n. ", infra; it mentions the Galls or foreigners oi^ Dublin, and the duty of driving them out from Leinster and Munster (p. 54); and if those foreigners were the Northmen, such an allusion could not have been made before the eighth or ninth century. It states the great dignity and prerogatives of Caitseal, and complains that the
" Sco page 183, and note ' there.
X Introduction.
people of Leiuster and race of Conn did not subscribe to those preroga- tives ; and in tlie concluding stanza the poem requests Sealbhach the Saei, or learned Doctor, to maintain those privileges.
We have already, p. vii., mentioned the fourth piece, and its conclud- ing verse, p. 68, wherein Benean is made to speak in the first person.
The fifth poem refers to Benean as the one who had shaj^ed the stipends of Caiseal, and it does not say that he wrote the piece.
Again, in the sixth poem, which begins at p. 80, and ends at p. 87, distinct mention is made of Mac Cuileannain himself, from which we must conclude that these poems were written during his time, and indeed possibly this particular poem was written by himself, for the writer pledges the siipport of Mac Cuileannain to the sage or ollamh who maintains the system he is expounding, as it is.
Again, the poem which begins on p. 98, and ends on p. Ill, plainly betrays a later age by mentioning (see p. 107, infra) the free tribe of "Siol Muireadhaigh," for the jirogenitor of this tribe, Muireadhach Muilleathan, king of Connacht, died, according to the Four Masters, in the year 700, recte 701 (see Tribes and Customs of Ui Maine, p. 73, note '^), and of course was unknown to Benean, though the prose, as usual, attributes the composition to him. He died in the year 468, i. e. 233 years before the ancestor whose race is mentioned in the poem. The language of the poem is, however, very different from the })rose, and in its concluding rann the writer plainly distinguishes himself as the follower of Benean, not Benean himself, as follows :
" Well has Benean exactly found This knowledge — it is no injustice, / shall state it as it is, Ye noble people, hear it!"
The mention of Leath Chathail in the poems on Uladh, pp. 164 and 172, is decisive to show that they could not have been written by
Introduction. ^ xi
Benean in the fifth century. We have shown (p. 165, n. ^ ) that an &\\- cestor of Cathal, from whom the territory took its name, was slain in the year 627. In the splendid volume on the Ecclesiastical Antiqui- ties of Down, Connor, and Dromore, by the Rev, Mr. Reeves, pp. 201, 257, n. ", and 365, n. ^, now published, the reader will find the mate- rials for fixing the era of this Cathal to the middle of the eighth century, and of the adoption of the territorial name to the middle of the ninth, A. D. 850.
So, the frequent references to the Gallsj and to Tomar, as prince of Dublin, pp. 41, 206, demonstrate that the poems in which they occur could not have been written before the end of the ninth century, as will appear from a subsequent part of this Introduction.
The writer of the poem, at p. 1 34, says that he had found the history of the race of Niall in books where Benean' s faithful hand had traced it, making it as plain as language can, that the writer composed his poem Ibunded upon previous books of which Benean was author.
The allusions to Benean at pp. 155, 168, 178, all are to the like cft'ect; that at p. 168 speaks of Benean as having inculcated the matter in his day, i. e,, as if he were then 4ead; and that at p. 178, when it alleges that a Latin scholar had fully observed the right, must mean, either that Benean had composed his book in Latin, or that some other Latin scholar had intervened, and written on the subject in Latin.
The language of the poem which commences at p. 204, is remark- able; viz., that " Benean related the right of the king of Laighin; in the decision of an author he found it;" intimating the writer's testi- mony that Benean had recorded this right in conformity with the judgment of a previous author.
Even the poem on the Galls of Ath Cliath does not purport to i)e written by Benean ; for the writer says:
" The prolits of Atli Cliatli / will not conceal, As Benean lias fixefl them. "
xii Introduction.
This poem on the Galls or foreigners of Dublin, pp. 224, &c., and their conversion to Christianity by St. Patrick, may possibly have been produced about the same period of Cormac Mac Cuileannain, though it is difficult to believe that it was allowed to be transcribed into the Sal- tair Chaisil by Cormac and his secretary, who, living so near the period of the first Northman or Danish settlement in Dublin, could not be supposed to lend their authority to such a story.
It is much more likely that this poem was written and circulated at a much later period, when the Christian Danes refused to submit to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction or authority of Armagh ; and when it was found useful by the Danish party to have it believed that their ancestors had been settled in Dublin as early as the fifth century, and converted to Christianity by St. Patrick, immediately after his having cursed Teamhair or Tara. The Danes of Dublin, on that occasion, placed themselves under Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury ; and the jea- lousy that existed between the tAvo races at that period is manifest from the letter addressed to Ralph, Archbishop of Canterbury, by the clergy and burgesses of Dublin, published by Ussher (Syllog. No. 40), in which they tell him that the bishops of Ireland, and most of all the one who resided at Armagh, entertained a very great jealousy against them. " Sciatis vos revera, quod Episcopi Ilibernice maximum zelum erga nos habent et maxime ille Episcopus qui habitat Ardimacha;; quia nos nolumus obedire ordinationi, sed semper sub vestro dominio esse volumus."
How early' this Iberno-Danish figment was copied, as an authentic docviment, into the historical books of the nation, it is now difficult to determine, but it is quite obvious it had found its way into Lcabhar na g-Ccart long before the period of the compilation of the Books of T.eacan and Ballymote, for it had been i^iterpolated in the MSS. from which the copies as they now stand were made.
'J'liis fiction also attempts to pull down the veneration lor the Ne-
' Introduction. xiii
potes Neill, by making St. Patrick curse the monarch of that race, from which it looks probable that some of the rival race of OilioU Olum had a hand in the production of it ; for it certainly was intended to raise the dignity of Caiseal abo-fe that of Teamhair, and to exalt the race of Oilioll Olum above that of Conn of the Hundred Battles. As this controversy respecting the claims of the northern and southern Irish kings to supremacy and renown gave origin to a great number of Irish poems by Tadhg Mac Daire (Teige Mac Dary) and the Mun- ster poets, which were replied to by Lughaidh O'Clerigh (Lewy O'Clery) and the northern literati, the Editor will offer a few thoughts on the subject in this place. See O'Reilly's Irish Writers, p. 149, un- der the year 1600.
Dr. O'Brien appears, from various notices throughout his Irish Dic- tionary, to have thought that the race of Oilioll Olum never submitted to the race of Conn of the Hundred Battles ; for he speaks of Conn him- self, and of his grandson Cormac, and even of Flann Sionna, who de- feated Cormac mac Cuileannain in 908, as kings of Meath, and of the two northern provinces. But in this and other respects Dr. O'Brien has been led to make assertions relative to the Irish monarchs which cannot stand the test of true criticism, for though it must be acknowledged that the Irfsh monarchs had little influence in Leath Mhogha, or the southern half of Ireland, still we must believe that since the introduction of Christianity the Irish monarchs weie princi- pally of the race of Niall of the Nine Hostages, the anccbtor of the O'Neills and their con'elative families. In the ancient Lives of St. Patrick it is stated that when the Irish apostle came to Aileach, he predicted that sixteen of the race of Eoghan, the son of Niall, would become kings of all Ireland; and though we need not believe in this as a prediction, it is reasonable to conclude that those kings were well known and acknowledged; and the fact is that the}- arc mentioned and
xiv Introduction.
called kings of all Ireland even by the Munster writers themselves, whatever authority they may have exercised over the chieftains of Munster. Connell Mageoghegan, in his translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, gives us his idea of what was understood by " King of Ireland," in the following observation under the reign of Mael na m-Bo, ancestor of the family of Mac Murchadha of Leinster :
" A. D. 1041. Dermott MacMoylenemo Avas king nine years.
" The kings or chief monarches of Ireland were reputed and reck- oned to be absolute monarches in this manner : If he were of Leath Con, or Con's halfe in deale, and one province of Leath Moye, or Moy's halfe in deale, at his command, he was coumpted to be of sufficient power to be king of Taragh, or Ireland ; but if the party were of Leath Moye, if he could not command all Leath Moye and Taragh with the lordshipp thereunto belonging, and the province of Ulster or Connought (if not both), he would not be thought sufficient to be king of all Ireland. Dermott Mac Moylenemo could command Leath Moye, Meath, Connought, and Ulster; therefore, by the judgement of all, he was reputed sufficient monarch of the whole."
According to the old Annals of Innisfallen none of the kings of Cai- seal or Munster attained to the monarchy of all Ireland, since the intro- duction of Christianity, except the five foUoAving : "1. Oengus, son of Nadfraech ; 2. Eochaidh, son of Oengus, son of Nadfraech ; 3. Cathal, son of Finguine; 4. Felim, son of Crimhthann ; 5. Brian, sonof Cinn- eide." Of these the first was contemporary with St. Patrick, but tliere seems to be no authority for making him monarch of all Ireland, except this Munster chronicle, Avhich was compiled in the monastery of Innis- fallen. According to the Book of Leacan, Laeghaire, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, was monarch of Ireland for thirty years after the arrival of St. Patrick, and, according to all authorities, Laeghaire was succeeded by his relative, Oilioll Molt, son of Dathi, and Oilioll was sue-
Introduction. xv
ceeded by Laeghaire's own son, Lughaidb, ^yho died, according to the Annals of Tighearnacli, in the year 508, After the death of Lnghaidh there was an interregnum of five years, and the Munster annalist seems to have taken the opportunity of this interregnum, which was acknowledged by the UiNeill annalists, of placing the monarchical crown on the head of Eochaidh, the son of Aenghus, king of Caiseal, and making him wear it for thirteen years after 513, when Muircheartach Mor Mac Earca, the great grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, had, according to the other annalists, mounted the throne.
The kings of Caiseal appear to have put forward no claims to the monarchy of all Ireland till the year 709, when Cathal, the son of Finguine, ancestor of the family of O'Caeimh (O'Keeffe), and king of Munster, plundered the plain of Breagh or Bregia, and compelled Fearghal, the son of Maelduin, monarch of Ireland, to give him hos- tages ; in consequence of which he was looked upon by his own people as monarch of Ireland till his death, which occurred in the year 742. But the northern writers do not acknowledge him as monarch, for during the period which elapsed from the year 709, when he could have had some pretension to the monarchy, till 742, the other annalists set down as monarchs of all Ireland the following :
1. Fearghal, son of Maelduin, who died, according to Tighear- nach, on Friday, the 16th of December, 722,
2. Fogartach, son of Niall, who was monarch of Ireland for one year and some months,
3. Cinaeth, son of Irgalach, who was monarch of Ireland three years.
4. Flaithbheartach, son of Loingseach, seven years.
5. Aedh OUan, son of Fearghal, nine years.
From the death of Cathal, the son of Finguine, the Munster histo- rians claim no monarch of all Ireland down to the year 840, when Feidhlimidh (Felimy), the son of Crimhthann, king of Munster, and
XVI
Introduction.
Niall, the son of Aedli, monarcli of Ireland, had a meeting at Cluaiu- Fearta Brennain (Clonfert) in Connacht, where the monarch submitted to Feidhlimidh (Felimy), who was considered, at least by his own people of Munster, monarch of Ireland from that period till his death, which occurred in 847'^- From this year, however, the kings of Caiseal had no pretensions to the monarchy till the year 1002, when the great Brian Boruniha mounted the throne of Ireland.
Mr. Moore, however, will not allow any monarch of all Ireland to the race of Eibhear, or the people of Leath Mhogha, or Munster, from the time of St, Patrick till the accession of Brian in 1002. This
f Mac Curtin, in his Brief Discourse in Vindication of the Antiquity of h-eland, p. 175, asserts that this Feidhlimidh was not king of Ireland, as Cambreiisis erro- neously slyles him, in his History of Ire- land, but that he was king of Munster for twenty-seven years. But Mac Curtin should have known that this should not have been attributed as an error to Cambrensis, as the older Munster annalists mention Feidhlimidh as one of the five Minister kings \iho obtained the monarchy of all Ireland, subsequently to tlie introduction of Christianity ; and it is quite evident from Mac Curtin's own account of Feidh- limidh's regal visitation of the provinces of Connacht, Ulster, Meath, and Leinster, to' whose kings he made the usual mo- nai'chical presents, and from whom he received the entertainments due to the Irish monarchs, that he was considered the ^P'^ r'5' 01' ^^^^ monarch of all Ireland. Mac Curtin's remark, that his progress through Ireland "had success upon ac- count of the union and amitj' the Irish princes had among themselves at this time," is beneath criticism; for it is distinctly
stated in the old Annals of Innisfallen, that Feidhlimidh, the son of Crimhthann, re- ceived homage from Niall, the son of Aedh, king of Teamhair, in the j'ear 824 (a mis- take for 840), when Feidhlimidh became full king of Ireland, and sat in the seat of the abbots of Cluain Fearta (Clonfert) ; and in an Irish poem purporting to give a regidar account of Feidhlimidh's circuit through Ireland, it is distinctly stated that lie remained half a year in the plain of tlie River Finn, plundering the Cineal Chbnaill, and that he also plundered Dal Eiada and Dal Araidhe, and that he remained a whole year at Ai'd Macha, during which he preach- ed to the jieople eveiy Sunday. The words of Giraldus are as follows:
" Igitvr a tempore Felmidii Regis, et obitu Turgesii, vsque ad tempus Rotlierici : Conactire regnum durauit (Qui vltimus de hac gente monarcha fuit, & vsque hodie ConactitE prtesidet : Cuius etiam tempore, et per quem Rex Lageniai Dermitius scilicet Murchardi tilius, a regno expulsns fuerat) septeudccim Reges in Hibernia reg- nauerant." — Topographia HibernicB, Dist. iii. c. 44.
Introduction. xvii
is a fact on which he frequentl}' and emphatically speaks. See espe- cially his History of Ireland, vol. ii. pp. 142, 143.
It is proliable that the tributes paid to the Irish monarchs and provincial kings remained nearly tlic same as those described in the present form o{ Leabhar na g-Ceart till the destruction of the Irish monarchy. After the English invasion, the power of the provincial kings was very much limited ; the great Anglo-Norman families im- posed various tributes unknown to tlie ancient Irish, and in course of time the Irish chieftains who retained their power began to imitate them, and the old order of the country was disturbed and broken.
Of this kind of exaction the following is quoted by Dr. O" Conor, from an Irish MS. preserved in the Library of the Duke of Bucking- ham at Stowe, Codex iii. fol. 28. Stowe Catalogue, p. 168. It appears to have been taken from a poem by Torna OMaelchonaire, chief poet of Connacht, who attended at the inauguration of Feidhlimidh O'Concho- bhair on the hill of Cara Frasigh, A. D. 1315.
" Qpiao po imoppo cuapapcail na pij-raojpeac 6 UaConchoBaip ,1. Da ;cj:. Oeaj mapc, acup oa ;c;c. oeaj caopa i m-6eaUcuine do rnhaj Oipeachcuij; cape;:, oeaj mapc, acup od ;c;c. oeaj cope ja- chu Sorhna do, acup a c-cabac a h-UlioU. t)d;c;c. t>ea'^ loiljeach, acup Dc'i ;t;c. feaj caopa i m-6eallcuine o' O Pionbaccai^ ; oa ,r;c. oeaj cope, acup ou ;cr. oeaj^ mapc ga^ha Surhnu do, acup a c-cal3ac u 6uijnib Ccnnachc bo. t)a pcpc. oeaj^ loil^ioch, acup od xx. oear caopa d' O Hlaoilbpenuinn gacha 6eaUcuine-, do ;cr. oeajij mapc acup Dd;c;c. oeaj cope jacha Suriuia 66, acup a c-caBaca Cip Piach- pac acup a Cuil Cndrha acup a Chuil Chectpnnma 66. t)d t;c. oeoT loiljeach acup odp:;c. o^ag caopu 6heuUcaine do Lla pianna^din, acup od ;c;c. oeajg mapc acup dd ;c;c. Deaj cope jacha Samna 66, acup a c-cabach a Cip Qmaljaio acup a h-loppup.
" These are the stipends of the royal chieftains of Connacht from
b
xviii Introduction.
O'Conchobliair [O'Couor], i. e. twelve score beeves^, and twelve score sheep on May-day toMacOireachtaigh [Mageraghty] ; twelve score beeves and twelve score hogs to himself [O'Conor] every Allhallowtide, and these are levied from Ubhall''. Twelve score milch cows', and twelve score sheep on May-day to O'Fionnachtaigh ; twelve score hogs and twelve score beeves every Allhallowtide to himself, and these arQ levied for him from Liiighne Chonnacht [Leyny]. Twelve score milch cows and twelve score sheep to O'Maoilbhrenuinn [Mtxlrenin] every May-day; twelve score beeves and twelve score hogs every Allhallow- tide to himself, and these are levied for him from Tir Fhiachrach [Tireragh], and from Cuil Cnamha'', and from Cuil Cearnamha. Twelve score milch cows and twelve score sheep on May-day to O'Flannagain; and twelve score beeves and tAvelve score hogs every Allhallowtide to himself, and these are levied in TirAmhalghaidh [Tirawley] and in Irrus [Erris]."
It will be seen by comparing the stipends and tributes in this ex- tract with the two poems printed infra., p. 99 to 111, and from 113 to 1 1 7, that the tributes and stipends paid by these territories do not at all agree ; and it is, therefore, evident that they were remodelled after the English invasion.
The subsidy mentioned in the tract on Ui Maine, preserved in the Book of Leacan, as paid by the king of Connacht to the chief of Ui Maine, will also appear to have belonged to a later period, for, accord- ing to that Tract (see Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many, p. 93), the king
B Twe/jje score 6eet)es.—Dr O'Conor trans- ' Milch- Cows. — Dr. O'Conor renders
latesthis "fifty cows and fifty sheep," but this suckhig calves, but without any au-
Da ;:;:, beag is not fifty, but Da picir thority.
oear, i. e. twelve score, i. e. two hundred '' Cuil-Cnamha, a district in the east of
and forty. the barony of Tireragh, in the county of
" Ubhall, recte Unihall, see page 1)8, Sligo, comprising the parish of Dromard.
note •", infra. See Ui Fiachrach, pp. 265, 424.
hitroduction. xix
of Ui Maine is entitled to ten steeds, ten foreigners [slaves], ten stan- dards, and ten mantles [niatals]; whereas, according to Lcalhav no g-Ceart, ut infra, p. 115, he was entitled only to seven cloaks, seven horses, seven hounds, and seven red tunics.
t)liji6 P15 h-Ua ITIctine, an mul, bach n-eic, cap paeB pporaib pal, oech n-joile, pe jnliti F^PJi "S F"'"i oech mepgi ocup oech macail.
[ Ui Maine, p. 92.
Some curious specimens of these remodelled exactions are given by Mr. Hardiman in his Irish Deeds, published in- the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. xv., Nos. xiv. and xv., Avith the Rentals of O'Brien and Mac Namara, in the fourteenth century, and No. xxix., detailing some exactions of Mac Carthy More. The last Earl of Desmond seems to have raised these tributes and exactions to a most exorbitant extent, as appears by a list of his " rents, victuals, and other revenues," in a MS. at Lambeth, Carew Collection, No. 617, p. 212. The same collection, No. 611, contains a list of "services and .duties due to Mac Cartie More from Sir Owen O'Sullevan." More of these Irish exactions will be found detailed in the will of Domluiall O'Galchobhair, who was steward to Hugh Roe O'Donnell, who died in Spain, in the year 1602; and in a paper MS. in Marsh's Library, Class v., 3, Tab. 2. No. 20, which gives a list of the rents, services, customs, &c., due to O'Duinn (O'Doyne, now Dunne), chief of Iregan, in the Queen's County, and in various Inquisitions, amongst the most curious of which is one taken "apud the King's ould castle in the city of Cork, decimo septimo die Octobris, 1636, coram Willielmum Fen ton et alios," in which the rents and customs due to Daniel Mac Carty, of Kilbrittan, alias Mac Carty Reogh, then lately deceased, are minutely
b2
XX Introduction.
detailed. The following account of the duties and customs of East Breifny, furnished to Her Majesty's -Commissioners at Cavan, by Sir John O'Reilly, on the 1st of April, 1585, will afford a fair specimen of modern Hihernia Anglicana exactions. It is preserved in the Carew Collection at Lambeth, No. 614, p. 162.
"By Her Majesty's Commissioners at Cavan, the 1st of Apriell, 1585.
" Sir John O'Reily sett down the limites of your territories, and the baronies accordinge the new Indentures.
" Item what rents, duties, and customs you ought to have out of every pole in the five baronies," &c.
To the second.of these questions he replies :
" The Dewties and Customes, &c.
" Orely by auncient custom and usadge of the country had alwaj-^s out of the baronies of the Cavan and Tullaghgarvy, and out of every of the other thre barronies which he hath lost by the division, yearly out of every barrony xlv. li. [i. e. £45], as often as he had any cause to cesse the said barronies, either for the Queene's rents and dewties, or for any charge towards Onele, or other matter, which sometimes was twise or thrise a yeare, and every time xlv. li. to his owne use, besides the charge of the cesse.
" Item, he had lykewise by the said custome and usadge all manner of chargis that either his son, or any other of his men or followers, weare put into by reson of their beinge in pledge or attendinge by com- mandment of the Lord Deputy in Dublin, or otherwhere for matter of the said Orely.
" Item, by the said custom Orely had all manner of fees and pen- sions, and recompenses given by the said Orely to any learned counsell or other solicitor or agent for the cause of the contry, borne and payed by the said contry.
Introduction. xxi
" Item, by the said custom Orely Iiad yearely over and beside all other dewtis and customes towards his chargis in going to Dublin out of every pole, xvi**. star.
" Item, by the said custom he had yearely out of every viii. pooles of laude through the whole fyvebarronis, one fatt beef for the speudinge of his house.
- " Item, by the said custom he had one horse for himselfe, one horse for his wife, and one horse for his son and heir, with one^boye attend- inge uppon every horse kept through the whole fyve barronis yearely.
" Item, by the said custom it was lawful! for Orely to cesse uppon the Mac Bradis, the Mac Enroes, the Gones, and the Jordans, by the space of iii. quarters of a yeare yearely, one foteman uppon every poole Avhicli the said sirnames had, to kepe his cattcll, to repe and bynd his corne, to thrashe, hedge and diche, and do other husbandry and mer- sanary work for the said Oreley.
" Item, by the said custom the said Orely had upon the Bradis, the Gones, the Mac Enroes, and the Jordans, out of every poole of land yearely, thrc quarters of a fatt becfo, and out of every two pooles one i'att porke, and also the cessinge of strangers, their men and horses, as often as any did come in frendship to the country.
"Item, by the said -custom the said Orely had by dewty all manner of chard^is both for workmen rofe and laborers and victualls for tlie buildingc and maintaininge of his castell of the Cavaii and all other necessary romes and offices about the same, borne and pa^-ed by the geutill and others of the barrony of the Cavan.
••' The dewtis of the towne of the Cavan also by the said custom, as rents, dringk, and other dewtis now takiii and not denied.
"Item, Sir llugli Oreley, father luito the said Sir Jolui, li;ul in morgadgc from divers of the gcntill ol' Cldnmahon xlviii. pooles in Gawnc, 1. mylchc kync w'^'' inorgagc drscended upon Sir John, and he
xxii ' Introduction.
was seised of the said xlviii. pooles tintill the divission, which he desi- reth to continue possession of or els that he may be payed the said 1. milche kyne,"
Of the Saltair Cliaisil.
The Psalter of Caiseal is particularly referi-ed to in the Book of Kights as the work in which St. Benean entered the traditional history of the tributes of the kinors of Munster:
6enen — beanonchr pop in n-jen, t>o pao po a Salcaip Chaipil, peancup each pi^ )p a pach, ip Deucli imcheic cip muman Lifra, p. 52.
This passage occurs in a poem Avhich we may take to have been the composition of Sealbach and Aenglius, to which Cormac Mac Cuileannain adds his approval, recording his direction that his secre- tary and scribe should preserve the privileges of Munster as Benean had left them. In another part of the poem the same document is evidently referred to under the name of the Psalter of the God of Purity, in which it was found that Benean remained at Caiseal from Shrovetide to Easter. — p. 60.
There is another entry in our work, in an addition to the prose in the copy contained in the Book of Baile an Mhuta, alleging that the Psalter of Caiseal had said that Benean sang or wrote the song which follows: '■'• hoc carmen lit Psalterium Caisil dixif'' p. 238. It is clearly a mistake to attribute that poem, at least in its present state, to Be- nean ; but it is not clear what particular document the writer of the prose meant to designate as the Psalterium Caisil.
Therefore we proceed to lity before the reader some inforjuation,
Introduction. xxiii
respecting the Psalter or Psalters so called ; and this may seem the more requisite, as we have already, in giving the grounds for believing that Benean or Benignus framed the original Book of Rights, shown a most ancient testimony, proving that he commenced and composed a PsaUerium Casseleme, in which the rights, or jura, of the Irish mo- narchs, &c., were stated: see Colgan's extracts from the Latin Life of Benignus, quoted above, p. v.
It is remarkable that Colgan, who had that notice in the Life of Benignus before him, takes no notice of it, but in another place (Trias Thaum., p. 205), ascribes the writing or compiling of the Psalteriitvi Cas- iellense to Cormac Mac Guileannain. His words are as follows:
" S. Cormacus Rex Momonige, Archiepiscopus Casselensis, et mar- tyr, qui in patriis nostris annalibus peritissimus Scotorum appellatur, scripsit de Genealogia Sanctorum Hibernian, lib. i., et, de Regibus aliis- que antiquitatibus ejusdem, nobile opus quod Psaltermm Cassellense appellatur, et in magno semper habetur pretio. Passus est S. Corma- cus an 903, vel ut alii 908." Keating, in his History of Ireland, Ilali- day's edition, Preface, p. xcvi., makes a like allegation in a passage which we shall presently cite.
Notwithstanding this testimony of Keating and Colgan, who seem to have been well acquainted with the literary monuments of their native country, we are informed by Connell Mageoghegan, in the dedi- cation of his translation of the " Annals of Clonmacnoise" to Terence Coglilan, dated April 20th, 1627, that the "Psalter of Cashel" Avas compiled by the order of the great Irish monarch, Brian Borumha. His words are:
" Kinge Bryen seeinge into what rudeness the kingdome Avas fallen, after setting himself in the quiet government thereof, and restored each one to his auncient patrimonyc, and repaired their cliurchcs and houses of religion, he caused open schools to be kept in the several
xxiv Introduction.
parishes, to instruct their youth, which by the said warres were growen rude and altogether illiterate. He assembled together all the nobilitie ,) of Ihe kingdome, as well spirituall as temporal], to Cashell in Munster, / and caused them to compose a booke, containing all the inhabitations, events, and septs that lived in this land, from the first peopleing and inhabitation and discoverye thereof, after the creation of the world, un- till that present time, which booke they caused to be called by the name of the Psalter of Cashell; signed it with his owne hand, toge- ther with the hands of the kings of the five provinces, and also with the hands of all the bishoppes and prelates of the kingdome ; caused several copies thereof to be given to the kinges of the provinces, with strict charge that there should be no credit given to any other chro- nicles thenceforth, but should b2 held as false, disannulled, and quite
.forbidden for ever. S
" Since which time there were many scepts in the kingdome that
lived by itt, and whose profession was to chronicle and keep in memo-
rie the state of the kingdome, as well for the time past, present, and
to come; and now, because they cannot enjoy that respect again by
their said profession, as heretofore they and their auncestors received,
they sett nought by the said knowledge, neglect their bookes, and
choose rather to putt their children to learn English tlian their own
native language; insomuch that some taylors do cutt with their scis-
sars the leaves of the said bookes which were [once] held in greate
account, and sleice them in long peeces to make measures of, so that
the posterities are like to fall into grose ignorance of any things which
happened before their time."
Now these accounts look rather conflicting, but the probability is
that they are all true: i. e. that St. Benean commenced the Psalter; that
Cormac continued it down to his own time, and remodelled the Book
of Rights so as to state the tributes and stipends ol' tlie country, as they
Introduction. - xxv
then btood; or, to use the words of our text (pp. 107, 169, 190), niup ucu ; aud that King Brian had a further continuation framed to Ills time. It cannot be proved that the prose introductions in the present work were composed when King Brian compiled his Psalter; but they must have been written not very far from his time; for it is plain that they were composed long after the poems of Cormac's day, to which they are prefixed, and there is every reason to believe from the entire | context, that they were written before the Anglo-Norman invasion, ? aud while the Northern Galls were masters of Dublin. I
Keating, and others of his day, whom we shall presently cite, men- tion the Psalter of Caiseal and the Book of Rights as separate works ; but we must recollect that the Book of liights stood separate in the MSS. from which we 2?rint it, and no doubt in other i\ISS., some centu- ries before his time.
The Psalter of Caiseal is constantly referred to by the Irish writers of the seventeenth century as the work of Cormac Mac Cuileannain, and as then extant. Keating (uhi supra) mentions it as the first and most important of the historical books extant in his time. The follow- ing are his words:
" Qjgup an rii^iD a beanap pe peancup 6ipeann tp inriieapra 50 ]ui\Xi bapuncuriiuil. Do Bpij 50 n-glancuoi 1 b-Peip Ceuiiipac juc cpeap bliaoain e, bo laraip uaiple, eajjlaipe, ajup olUiriuin Gipetinn. 6106 u pKi6naipe pin up nu ppiriileubpuib po piop ara pe na B-puicpni pop 1 n-Gipinn, map aru, Solcaip Chuipjl, do pcploli Copmac nuoni- ra rriuc Cuileannuin, piji; do coijgcaD muriicm ojup aipD-eappoj Chaipil; ^,eubap QpDu mucu; ^eubap Chluana li-Gioneuc Pionn- r*nn, 1 ^,<io)j^ip; Salcoip na Rann, do pcpiob Qotij^iip Cede t)e; r^eabap ^Idmne (Da f,ot; T^eabap nu j-Ceupr, oo pcpiob 6enen naoiiica mac Seipj^nein; lliDip Chuipam, 00 pjpiobuo i j-Cliiain liiic Noip; ^.cubup 6ui6e lllholing; agiip /'.eubtip Oub mholajf.."
XXV i Introduction.
Which may be translated as follows:
" As to what belongs to the history of Ireland, it should be consi- dered that it is authentic, because it used to be purged at the Feis Teamhrach every third year, in the presence of the nobility, clergy, and oUamhs ; in evidence of which remain the following chief books, which are still to be seen in Ireland, viz. : Saltair Chaisil, written by the holy Cormac Mac Cuileannain, king of the two provinces of Munster, and Archbishop of Caiseal ; the Book of Ard Macha (Armagh) ; the Book of Cluain Eidhneach Fionntain, in Laeighis; Saltair na Rann, written by Aenghus Ceile De; the Book of Gleann Da Loch; Leabhar na g-Ceart, written by the holy Benean, son of Sesgnean ; Uidhir Chia- rain, which was written at Cluain mic Nois ; Leabhar Buidhe Mholing ; and Leabhar Dubh Mholaga."
Doctor John Lynch, who was contemporary with Keating, men- tions these books in a different order, in his translation of Keating's History of Ireland:
"Haic cum ita sint, et insignium etiam cxterorum authorum testi- moniis comprobata, si vel leviter ad ea aspicerent recentiores Angli authores, amplam profecto bene potius quam male de Hibernis lo- quendi ansam haberent; et quidem amplissimam, sidomesticalliberuiaj documenta legerent, et iutelligerent, fidem enim ilia exigunt indubita- tam, quandoquidem tertio quoquo anno in Comitiis Teamorensibus a regni proceribus, prsesulibus, et litei'atis accurate excutorentur. Ilia quidem postCatholicam fidem ab insula susceptam, episcoporum custo- dise tradebantur. Et sunt sequcntes libri etiamnum extantes : Liber Arniachanus', PsalteriumCasselense, a sancto CormacoCulenano, utrius-
' Liber Armachanns -It is doubtful contains only some notices of the life of
ivhether this is the IMS. now calleil the St. Patrick, and which was called Canoin
Book of Armagh, which could scarely be Thadrnig by the Irish. It was probably
called appirinletibcip peancupa, as it a historical Manuscript of the same sort as
Introduction.
xxvu
ijue Momouiae Rege, Cassiliseqiie Archiepiscopo conscriptum : Liber Nuachongbhala™ ; Liber Cluain Egnach Fintoni" in Lesia ; Psalterium Hithraorum° Aengi cognomeuto Dei familiaris, sive Colideiis, (Qonjup Ceile t)e); Liber GlindalochensisP; Liber per Sanctum Benignum Scisgneni filium, confectus, inscriptus Jurium Liber'i (^-euBap tia T-Ceupr); LliDip Chiapumf Cluanmacnosiie perscriptus; Liber Fla- A'us de Moling^; Liber Niger de Molagga'."
Sir James Ware also mentions the Psalter of Cashel (in his Irish Writers, at Cormac Mac Cuileannain, andiuhis Archbishops of Cashel, at Cormac), as extant in his time, and held'in high esteem ; and adds that he had some genealogical collections which had been extracted fr6m it about three centuries before his time.
Lhwycl, Nicholson, and Dr. O'Conor (Epist. Nunc. p. 65), have all mentioned that there is a part of the Psalter of Cashel in an old
U'jiWiar na h-Uidhii, or the Annals of Clonniai-noisc.
'" Liber Nuachonyhlmla. — There arc at least six churches of this name in Ireland, one in Mayo, one in Westmeath, one in Londiinderry, one in Clare, one in Cork, :nid we are informed l>y Colyan that it was tlie ancient nameofNavan," in the county of Meath. Nothing, however, remains, or at lea.st is known to the Editor, to tell ■which of these places tlic book belonged to, or what became of it.
" Lilxr Cluain Egnach Fintoni, i. e. tlie " Hook of Clonenagli," a monastery near Monntralh, in the (Jueen's county, (.•rected by St. Fintan. Keating elsewliere calls this the Annals of Cluain ICidhneacli, and gives a long rinotation from it, wliich treats of the Synod of Katli IJreasail, and gives tlie Ijoundaries of the Irish dioceses as established by tliat Synod. This MS-,
which was one of great importance, is now unknown.
o Psalterium Rithmonim A copy of
thi.s, on vellum, is preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.
P Liher GUndalnchensis A consider- able fragment of this IMS. is now preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.
'I Jurium Liber Tliis is the ^ectbliap
HU T-Ceupc, now for the (irst time printed.
■■ Uidliir Chiarain, now called Leabhar na h-Uidhri, A considerable fragment of tliis J\IS., in the handwriting of Maehnuire, son of Celiocliair Mac Cuinn na m-Hocht, is now preserved in the Library of tlie Uoyal Irish Academy.
» Liher Fliivus de Mii/inq. Tlii' Vcllnw IJook of St. Mohng is now unknown.
' Librr Sif/er i/e Molariga. — Now un ■ 1< nown.
xxviii Introduction.
MS, on parchment, in the Bodleian Library" at Oxford, consisting of 292 pages in large folio. This MS. was examined by Dr. Todd, ■who published an account of its contents, with observations on its age and history, in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. ii. p. 336. In the year 1844, and again in 1846, the Editor went over it with the most anxious care, to see how much of the Psalter it might preserve; and he has come to the conclusion that it contains a very considerable fragment of that work. This MS., as it now stands, consists of 14'j folios or 292 pages folio," paged consecutively in modern figures, though it is evidently defective by many folios in various places. When perfect it must have been very voluminous, as it appears, from various notices of the scribes, that it contained a transcript of all that could be then read of Saltair Ckaisil; LeabJiair cm Phreahain Chunga, i. e. the Book of the " ShrecV of Cong; the Book of Rathain [Rahen, near Tvxllamore, King's county] ; the Leahhar-Buidlw Fearna, i. e. the Yellow Book of Ferns. It was transcribed in 1453 by Seaan (John) Buidhe O'Cleirigh, and others, at Rath an Photaire (now called in Irish TJar a' phocaip, and Anglice Pcttlerath, a townland in which are some ruins of a castle, situate in the parish of Kilnamanagh, barony
» O'Reilly states, in his Iiisli Writers, it by liiniself, tliough lie newr saw liie
p. Ix., that the Psalter of Cashel was ex- Psalter of Cashel. Dislionest conipik-rs of
taut in Limerick in 1712, as appears by a this description have imposed dignitied
large Iblio JNIS. in the Irish language, pre,- names upon their own compilations, to im-
b.r\ed in the Library of Cashel, written in pose on the credulity of puichasers. A
Limerick in that year, and partly tran- copy of the IJook of Ballymote, with some
scribed from the original Psalter of Cashel; additions made by Teige O'Naghtcn, now
and he adds, that the original Psalter of preserved in the Library of Trinity Col-
Casliel was long supposed to be lost, but lege, Dublin, II. 1. 15, bears the title of
that it is now said to be deposited in the Sulcuip nu Ceavripac, i. e. the Psal-
British Museum. Tlie Cashel MS. here ter of Tara, and the Editor has frequently
referred to by O'Reilly is a compilation heard it positively asserted that the Psal-
made in 1712, by Derniod O'Coimor, the ter of Tara is preserved in the Library of
translator of Keating, who calls it the tlie University of Dublin, but there are no
Ibalttr of Cashel; but this name was given other grounds ior saying so.
Introduction, xxix
of Cranagh, and count}' of Kilkenny), for Edmond, the head of a sept of the Butler family, who assumed the Irish chieftain name of Mac Richard. This MS- remained in the possession of Mac Richard till the year 1462, when he was defeated in a battle fought at Baile au Phoill, now anglicized " Piltown," in the barony of " Iverk," county of Kilkenny, the property of the Earl of Bessborough, by Thomas, Earl of Desmond, to whom he was obliged to give up this very copy of the Psalter of Cashel (which was then more perfect than it is at pre- sent), and also another MS. called Leabhar na Carraige, i. e. the Book of Carrick [on Suir]. This appears from a memarandum in the mar- gin of folio 110 p. b. of which the following is a literal translation:
" This was the Psalter of Mac Richard Butler, until the defeat at Baile an Phoill was given to the Earl of Ormond and to Mac Richard by the Earl of Desmond (Thomas), when this book and the Book of Carrick were obtained in the redemption of Mac Richard ; and it was this Mac Richard that had these books transcribed for his own use, and they remained in his possession until Thomas, Earl of Desmond, wrested them from him."
This memorandum Avas written in the MS- while it was in the pos- session of Thomas Earl of Desmond, whose name " Thomas of Des- "mond," appears in English, in his own handwriting, on'folio92, a. For a very curious account of this battle ftmght between the Butlers and the young Earl of Ormond, see the Annals of Dubhaltach Mac Fir- bisigh, " Dudley Firbisse," published in the Miscellany of the Irish Archaeological Society, p. 247, and the Editor's notes, pp. 2'J5, 296.
As Dr. Todd has already published a long account of this ma- nuscript, the Editor deems it necessary only to notice such parts of it as he thinks were transcribed from the Psalter of Cashel. It is not here intended to give the reader an idea of the general contents of the MS., for that would occupy many pages, but to show how much of that
XXX Introduction.
Psalter is preserved as it was copied for Edmond Mac Richard Butler in 1453.
At fol. 14, a. a., line 29, the transcriber states that there ends the part copied from the Book of Cong, called Leabhar an Phreahain. The first notice of the Saltair Chaisil occurs at fol. 42, b., where the limits of Ur Mhumha or Ormond are given.
At fol. 58, b., the scribe writes that he had then transcribed all that he found together (consecutive, or Avithout chasms) in the Psalter of Cashel (a Salcuip Chaipil), and much from Leabhar Rathain, and from Leabhar an Phreabain.
At fol. 59, a. a., commences the Feilire Aenghuis or Festilogium of Aenghus Ceile De, Avhich is accompanied, as usual, by an interlined gloss. This, which is in very good preservation, ends on fol. 72. It was evidently copied from the Saltair Chaisil. This is immediately followed by a poem headed Fingin cecinit Go Chopmac mac Cuile- najn, Finghin sang for Cormac Mac Cuileannain, and beginning :
" t)a ma6 mipi bap i peil." " Were I a king manifestly."
Fol. 73, a. a. A poem on the genealogy of the kings of Munster, beginning :
" Cam cuic maccu Cpimchumo ppeiih?"
" Who were the five sons of Crimhthann Sreimh ?"
This is undoubtedly qopied from the Saltair Chaisil. ' Fol. 73, a., line 16, begins a poem on the descendants of OilioU Olum, king of Munster:
"Clann Qilella Oluim uill."
' ' The sons of the great Aileall Olum."
Between the folios now consecutively marked 74 and 75 there is an evident chasm.
Introduction. xxxi
Ful. 75, a. a,, line 16, begins the genealogy of the race of Eir- eamhon (Ileremon), undoubtedly copipd from the Saliair Chaisil. " Ilihernia insola inter duos filios pi'incrpales Ililitis, id est Ilerimon et Eber, in duos partes divisa est^ This article is also to be found, totidem verbis, in the Books of Leaoan and Bailean Mhuta (Ballymote), in which it is distinctly stated that it was transcribed from the Saltair Chaisil.
At fol. 78 there is a chasm of many folios, though the modern pagination runs consecutively.
Fol. 79, a. A part of Cormac's Glossary, beginning with the word imbup popopnoi. The remainder is perfect, but two folios are mis- placed. On the folio marked 81 is a short account of the seats of the kings of Caiseal. The glossary ends on folio 86, col. 3, where Seaan Buidhe O'Cleirigh writes a memorandum that he had finished the transcription of the Sanasan or Etymologicon of the Saltair Chormaic, on the fifth day of February and eighth of the moon, for Edmund But- ler ]\Iac Richard.
Fol. 80, b. A tract on the derivations of names of places in Ire- land, stated on the second last line of col. b., to have been transcribed from Leahhar Buidhe Fearna, i. c. the Yellow Book of Ferns. The matter, from this down to fol. 93, was probably taken from the Leahhar Buidhe Fearna, but froni thence to folio 123 is evidently from the Saltair Chaisil. The principal contents are as follows :
Fol. 93, a. a. Genealogy of the Race of Eibhcar. The language' very ancient.
Fol. 93, b. a. line 29- A curious account of the sons of Eochaidh Muigh-mheadhoin, monarch of Ireland in the fourth century, and of their father's bequest to each of tlicin.
Fol. 93, b. b. An account of the cause of the expulsion of certain families from the north of Ireland, and their settlement in the south, beginning in Latin thus: '■' De causis quihus cxulcs AqnUoncnsium ad Mumenenses.''''
xxxii Introduction.
Fol. 94, b. b., Hue 17. A historical tale relating to Mac Con, mo- narch of Ireland, and Oiliol Olum, king of Munster.
Fol. 96, a. a. An account of the Battle of Magh Mucruimhe, fought near Athenry, County Galway, between the ex-monarch Mac Con, and Art, monarch of Ireland in the third century.
Fol. 98, a. a., line 22. Curious historical stories, in very ancient language, relating to Crimhthann Mor Mac Fidhaigh, monarch of Ire- land, and other Munster kings of the race of Eibhear.
Fol. 99, b. b. An account of the expulsion of the people called Deise from Midhe (Meath), and their settlement in Munster. Tlie language is very ancient.
Fol. 106, b., col. 3. A genealogical account of the Race of Ir, se- venth son of Mileadh or Milesius. This is very copious, and the lan- guage very ancient, as is manifest from its grammatical terminations and obsolete idioms.
Fol. Ill, b. a. A list of the Milesian or Scotic kings of Ireland, from Eireamhon (Heremon) down to Brian Borumha. This affords strong evidence that the Saltair Chaisil was enlarged or continued by that monarch.
Fol. 115, a., cols. 2, 3. A list of the bishops of Ard Macha (Ar- magh), synchronized with the kings of Caiseal. Colgan has published this list in his Trias Thaum., p. 292, as "eaj Psalterio Casselensi.''^ It is carried down to Domhnall, who succeeded A. D. 1092, and Avho Avas living when this list was made out. Lanigan remarks, in his Ecclesias- tical History of Ireland, vol. iii. p. 357, note 59, that some writers pretend that Cormac was not the author of this, and that it was com- piled after his times ; and he acknowledges that " there are some cir- cumstances mentioned as taken from it, which belong to a later period; for instance, the latter part of the catalogue of the archbishops of Armagh (cqmd Tr.^h., p. 292), which comes down to the latter end of
Introduction. xxxiii
the eleventh century. But this proves nothing more than that some additions have been made to the original work of Cormac, as has been the case with regard to numbers of historical works, particularly those written in the middle ages."
Fol. 115. A list of the kings of Dal Araidhe, which is followed by a Ust of the Christian kings of Ireland, doAvn to Maelseachlainn II., who died in 1022.
Fol. 1 16, a., col. 2. A list of the Christian kings of Connacht.
Fol. 119, a., col. 3. A list of the kings of Aileach.
At the bottom of this folio the scribe writes,
"^ach ni peomaic o'pajbail 'p" penleBup .i. a Salcaiji Caipil acu ajamn 'p<^ leabap po na Rdra."
i. e. " Everything we could find in the old book, i. e. the Saltair Chaisil, we have [preserved] in this book of the Kath."
From thence down to fol. 146 would appear to have been taken from a different MS.
It is quite evident from the notices in this MS. that the Saltai?' Chaisil was not then perfect, and that even of what was then Iran- scribed from it the Bodleian MS. contains but a small fragment. It affords no evidence whatever as to Leabhar na g-Ceart, except the fact that the Psalter of Caiseal, in which a certain form of it must have been preserA'ed, was continued down to about the year 1020.
Of the Will of Cathacir Mor, and other pieces introduced into
Leabhar na g-Ccart.
The rights of the king of Leinster are introduced by a piece whicli is called tha Will of Cathacir Mor. It has no apparent connexion with the Book of Rights, save that some of the principal tribes of
xxxiv Introduction.
Leinster descended from the sons of Cathaeir, and that the rights and stipends of those descendants are treated of. Cathaeir was monarch of Ireland in the second century, and it was one of the great glories of the Leinstermen, that their kings had held that station. At a much later period Diarmaid Mac Murchadha (Dermot Mac Miirroiigh) in haranguing his Leinster troops, is reported to have said, in reference to king Rudhraidhe O'Conchobhair (Roderick O'Conor) : 'i Sed si Lage- niam quasrit, quoniam alicui Connactensium aliquando subiecta fuit: ea ratione et nos Connactiam petimus quia" nostris aliquoties cum totins Hibernise subdita fuerat monarchia." — Hibernia Expugnata, Dist., c. viii.
The king of Caiseal's right to be king of all Ireland is stated in our text (pp. 28, 51, 52, infra), as to which, and the controversy on the subject, we have already said so much (pp. xiii.-xvii.) So are the rights of the kings of Aileach (pp. 125, 127, 129) and of Teamhair (p. 177), to be monarch, i.e. the rights of the northern and southern Ui Neill. A similar recognition is given to the king of Laighin (p. 205).
Of the will of Cathaeir Mor, in the shape in which it has been edited, there are extant three copies on vellum, i. e. besides those inserted in our two copies of the Book of Rights, there is another in what is called the Book of Leinster, or Leabhar Laighneach (Leacan, fol. 92), with which the text of the present edition has been compared. Besides these we have another vellum copy, or, we might say, another Avill, in the Book of Baile an Mhuta (Ballymote), fol. 74, a. b. It is very different from the text which we have adopted, but evidently less authentic, being longei', and very verbose and rhapsodical. There is also a paper copy in the O'Gorman collection, in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy. It is in the handwriting of Peter O'Connell, who made a translation of it into English for the use of O'Gorman, who prided himself on his descent from this great monarch. This
Infrodiicfion.
XXXV
copy, which professes to have been taken from the Book of Gleann Da Loch (Glendalough), accords in arrangement with the copy in B., but it appears, from some verbal differences, that it was not taken from it. The copy consulted by O'Flaherty, Ogygia, p. iii, c. 59, was different from any of these.
This will has been mentioned by O'Flaherty and most modern writers on Irish history, as an authentic document contemporaneous with .the testator. Seep. 192. But the Editor is of opinion that it was drawn up in the present form some centuries after the death of Cathaeir Mor, when the race of his more illustrious sons had definite territories in Leinster. Whether there was an older form of this will, or whether it was committed to writing in Cathaeir's OAvn time, are questions which the Editor is not prepared to settle.
The Editor does not know of any copy of the Benediciio Patricii, save those from which our text has been printed (p. 234). But there is in Leahhar Breac (fol. 14, h. a.) a blessing of the saint on Munster, which bears some resemblance to that here given.
Dubhthach Mac Ui Lughair, the author of poems quoted at p. 2.36, is noticed by O'Reilly in his Chronological Account of the Irish Writers under the year 433, where it is stated that he was the poet and druid of Laeghaire, monarch of Ireland, at the commencement of St. Patrick's mission, and that he was converted to Christianity by that apostle. The reader will there find some account of him and his writings. But O'Reilly there assumes that the poem in the Book of Rights, commencing Ceattioip ceac a m-bi mac Cumn, is ascribed to Dubhthach; and he says that some doubts may be reasonably enter- tained that this poem is the production of Dubhthach. But nothing is found in our text ascribing the poem in question to him. Tlie copy in the Book of Bailo an Mhnta says that it was found in the Psalter of Caiseal.
e2
xxxvi Introduction.
t
A poet, LiTghair, is named and quoted at p. 204, and called ^an pile, or full poet.
On the References to Tomav^ as King or Prince of the Galls of
Dublin.
We have reserved to this place a discussion upon these very curious references, and they appear to us worthy of a separate consideration, as the investigation may lead to fix the exact period at which the Norse or Danish ti-ibcs settled in Dublin.
In Mr. Lindsay's View of the Coinage of Ireland, where a great deal of information respecting the succession of the Hiberno- Danish kings of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, and Waterford is collected, nothing is found with regard to the name Tomar. The royal pedigree is traced up to the brothers Amlaf I. 853, 870, and Imar or Ifars I. 870, 872, but no higher.
In our Avork (at page 40) the monarch, in making a circuit of Ire- land, arrives at the entrenched Ath Cliath (Dublin), where, it is stated, he' is entitled to a month's refection, 6 rhairib Comaip, from Tomar's chieftains, and to have the king of the bounteous ford (Ath Cliath), to accompany him to the Leinstermen, viz., to Liamhain (Dunlavan). .
The Galls of Dublin, within the jurisdiction of the kings of Laighin or Leinster, were liable to pay heavy tribute to him, pp. 218-220, and on the other hand the stipends of the king of Leinster to them for their services were also large. These are said to be payable oo chupc Uho- maip, to the prince Tomar.
The Four Masters, under the year 942, quote some lines, from which it wovdd appear that " Race of Tomar," was a kind of patrony- mic for the Galls, foreigners, or Danes of Dublin.
" Pages 40 and 220, infra.
Introduction. xxxvii
" Ro cofccpuo Clrh Cliacli claioBeach CO n-imar fciuc pceo ceajlac; po cpai6ea6 muincip Uhomaip, I n-iuprap Dorhain, oebpao.
" Ath Cliath of swortls was plundered Of many shields and families ; The Race of Tomar were tormented In the western world, it has been manifested."
The earliest reference to a Danish prince Tomar occurring in the Irish annals is at the year 847, where the Annals of Ulster contain the following notice of a Danish prince Tomrair, which is decidedly the same name as Tomar :
"A. D. Occcxluii. Car pe maelpechnuiU pop jennci i Popaij, m quo cecioepunc pecc c6c. 6ellum pe n-OlchoBup, pi TTlurhan, acup pe Copjdn mac Ceallaij co 6ai jniu occ Sciuc Nechcain in quo ceciDjc Compaip* Gpell, ranaipe pij <^airlinne, acupoct cec b^c «mbi."
Thus rendered in the old translation of these Annals preserved in the Library of the British Museum. Clarend. torn. 49. Ayscough, 4795.
" A. D. 847. A battle by Maelsechnaill vpon the Gentyes" [i. e. Gentiles or Pagan Danes] " at Fora, where 700 fell. Bellum by 011- chovar, king of Mounster, and Lorgan mac Cellai into Leinster [i-ectc^ with the Leiustermen] vppon Gentiles at Sciah Ncchian, where fell Tomrair Erell, the next or second in power to the king of Laihliii, and 1200 about him."
' Compaip. I )i()'Conor prints this MS. more correctly "Tomrair," Quart. Domrair. Tlie old translator rends fli'> CoiTlctp or Uompcip, see p. yli.
XXXVlll
Introd'udion.
The same events are recorded by the Four Masters, under the year 846, as follows;
"Qoip Cpiopc, 846. Car ppuoine6 pict ITIaelpeachlainr) mac maolpuanaiD pop jallaib i Popaij ou in po mapBab un. c. luip biob.
"Car oile piu n-Olcobap pj JTIurhao, agup pia Copcdn mac Ceallaij pf 6ui jean co Caijnib agup Dluriiam lompa pop jallaib ace Sceir Meccam, m po mapbao Uompaip^ 6pla, canaipe Rij 6oclainne, ajup ou ceo oec uime."
" The age of Christ 846. A battle was gained by Maelseachlaimi, the son of Maelruanaidh over the Galls [Danes] at Forach, where seven hundred of them were slain by him.
" Another battle [was gained] by Olchobhar, king of Munster, and by Lorcan, the son of Ceallach, king of Leinster, with the Leinstermen and Munstermen about them, over the Danes at Sciath Neachtain, where Tomrair Erla, Tanist of the king of Lochlann, Avas slain, and twelve hundred about him."
It will appear from a passage in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 994, that this earl or. prince's ring, and the sword of Carlus, his contemporary, were preserved in Dublin, from which, coupled virith the references" in Leahhar na g- Ceart, and the poem cited
" Tomrair Dr. O'Conor prints this killed at Sciath Neachtain, in 847, anil
Tonirair, and the name is so written in the MS. copy made for the Chev. O'Gormau, now in the Royal Irish Academy.
'^ This argument is much strengthened by the fact that Tomar is called cope in Leabhar nag-Ceart, see page 206. Tliis term, which is also written opc is explain- ed "a king's son" in Cormac's Glossary, and by Michael O'Clery. Tore Tomar of Ath Cliath is then clearly the Tomrar, Earl, Tanist of the king of Lochlann, ■wlio was
Avhose chain or ruig was preserved at Dub- lin, in 994. The pedigree of Imhar, the ancestor of the Danish kings of Dublin, is given in none of the Genealogical Irish works hitherto discovered ; and in the ab- sence of direct evidence it is reasonable to assume that, as the Danes of Dublin had his ring or chain in 994, tliis ring or chain descended to them as an heir-loom from him ; and as they are called Muintir Thomair, in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the
Tntrod'uction. xxxix
by the Four Mas-ters at the year 942, it may be inferred with much certainty that this Tomar or Tomrar Avas the ancestor of the Danish kings of Dublin, and very probably the father of Amhlaf and Imhar, the first of tliese kings, by whom his sword was preserved. The passage is as follows :
"Ctoip Cpiopc 994, PuiL Uomaip ajup claioeab Chaplupu do rabaipr bo TTIaolpechlainn mac DorhnaiU ap diccm 6 jallaiB Qca Cliae."
" The age of Christ 994. The ring of Tomar and the sword of Carlus were carried off by Maelseachlainny, the son of Domhnall, by force, from the Galls of Ath Cliath (Dublin)." .
This Tomar is clearly the Erla and Tanist of the king of Lochlann, slain at Sciath Neachtain in the year 847 ; and Carlus, whose sword was carried away by Maelseachlainn, was the son of Amlaff I., king of Dublin, and the person who was killed in the battle of Cill Ua n-Daighre (Killoderry) in the year 866, as thus recorded by the Four Masters :
"QoipCpiopc 866. piano mac Conamj ciseapnu fipej uile, bo rionol peap ni-fipeaj, ^01501, ajup jail, co CiU Ua n-t)ni^pe, cuij mile lioii a pocpuibe mb acchaib un picch Qoba pmnleir. Y\\ paibe Qob ucc aoM mile iiu ma, im Concobap mac Uaioj, pi Connacr. l?o peapub a»i car co biocpaib burpuccac ecoppa, agup po riieabuib p6
year 942, it may be fiirtlier inferred that dcscciuU-d respectively from the ancestors
they were also his descendants ; for if wc whose names enter into the latter part of
examine the Irish tribe-names to which the tribe names. The word Jliiiiitiris, how-
Mnintir is prefixed, we will find that the ever, now more extensive in its application,
second part of the compound is the name and means people or family.
of the progenitor, as Miiintir Macniordlia, 1 Maeheachlainn, called iMala»l\^' 11.
Muintir iMurcliHtIha, Miiintir l^oluis, IMiiin- iiioii.-irch of Ireland. This entry is the
tir C'hionaetha, &c., which were the tribe- theme on which .Moore founded his bal-
names of the (j'Ueillys, OT'laliertys, Mac lad,
Haimalls, and Mac Kinaw.t, all of whom "Let Kriii lemembi r ihr days of oUl.''
xl Introduction.
6eoi6 cpici neapc lomgona ajup lomaipecc pop piopct bpej pop 6ui- jin ajup pop jallaib, n-^uy po cuipeao a n-ap, ajup copcpaoap po- caioe mop do jallaiB ip m c-car pin. Uopcaip ann piann, mac Conainj, ci5eapna 6pe5, ajup Oiapmaio mac Gcceppceoil, cijeap- na Coca ^abap, ajup Caplup mac Qrhlaib mac cijeapna jail. Copcaip b'on leic apaill paccna mac maoileouin, Riojoamna an Phocla h-i ppir^uin an cara. Dlannacan cijeapna Ua m-6piu)n no Sionna po mapb piann, oia n-ebpao:
"TTlop an buaiD DO rhanoacan t)o jlonn an jaipccio jju'pj CenD mic Conainj i n-a laim Oo baij pop loncaib mic Caioj."
" The age of Christ 866. Flann, the son of Conaing, lord of all Breagh, collected the men of Breagh, Laighin, and the Galls, to Cill Ua n-Daighre, five thousand being the number of his force, against the king Aedh Finnliath. Aedh had but one thousand only, together with Conchobhar, son of Tadhg, king of Connacht. The battle was vigor- ously and earnestly fought between them, and at length the victory was gained through dint of fighting and conflict over the men of Breagh, over Laighin, and over the Galls, who were slaughtered, and great num- bers of the Galls were slain in that battle. In it fell Flann, son of Co- naing, lord of Breagh, and Diarmaid, sou of Eidersceal, lord of' Loch Gabhair^ ; and Carlus, son of Amhlaibh, son of the lord of the Galls, There fell on the other side, in the heat of the conflict, Fachtna, son of Maelduin, prince of the north (i. e. of Aileach). Mannachan, lord of Ui Briuin na Sionna was he who killed Flann, of which was said:
* ' Loch Cabhair— The territory of this name Logore to this day. Sec Proceedings
chieftain lay aronnd Dunshaughlin. Sec of the Koyal Irish Academy, vol. i. p. 424,
Colgan'a Acta SS., p. 422, note 14. The Mr. Wilde's Account of Antiquities found
laljc is now dried, but the place retains the there.
Introduction. xli
"Great the victory for Mannachaii, For the hero of fierce valour,
[To have] the head of the son of Conaing in his hand To exhibit it before the face of the son of Tadhg."
There was another Toraar or Tamar at Limerick about a century later. He is mentioned in the work called Cogadh Gall fri Gaeclh- alaibh (an important and curious tract, the publication of Avhich has been contemplated by the Irish Archaeological Society), under the name of Tamar Mac Elgi. In the copy of that work preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 2, 17, p. 359, he is said to have come with a royal great fleet, some time after the death of the monarch Niall Glun-dubh, who was slain in the year 916, and to have put in at Inis Sibtond, at Limerick. The same person is mentioned in Mageoghegan's translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, under the year 922, where the following strange passage occurs :
" A. D. 922. Tomrair Mac Alchi, king of Denmarck, is reported to go [to have gone] to hell with his pains, as he deserved."
This is evidently the Tamar mac Elgi of H. 2, 17.
The name Tomar and Torarar became common as the proper name of a man among the Gaeidhil or Milesian Irish in the tenth and ele- venth centuries, like Maghnus, Raghnall, Amhlaeibh, Imhar, and other Danish names ; and a family of the Cineal Eoghain took the surname of O'Tomhrair from an Irishman who was baptized by the name of Tomh- rar from his mother's people. This family were seated near Lough Swilly, in the county of Donegal, where they built a family church, called from their surname Cill O'Tomhrair, i. e. church of the CTomli- rairs. This family still remains in many places in iIk' province of Ul- ster, reduced, and obscure, and disguised under the anglicized name of Toner or Tonry.
xlii Introduction.
Of the Tract prefixed to the Booh of Riglits^ entitled " Geasa agus
Buadha Riogli Eireann."
The Tract on tlie Geasa and Urghartha, and the Buadha and Ad/ia, — i^., as we have rendered the words, the Restrictions and Prohibitions, and the Prerogatives of the Kings of Eire or Ireland, — is curious for the glimpses which it affords into the notions that prevailed in this country in the eleventh century, in the time of Cuan O'Lochain.
Cuan O'Leochan or O'Lothchain, as he is sometimes called, or, as the name is more generally spelt, O'Lochain, was chief poet to Maelseachlainn (Malachy) II., monarch of Ireland, who died in 1022. After the death of this monarch there was an interregnum of twenty years, and we are informed that Cuan O'Lochain and Corcran Cleireaeh were appointed governors of Ireland; but Cuan did not long enjoy this dignity, for he was slain in Teabhtha (Teffia), A. D. 1024. Mr. Moore states, in his History of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 147, that " for this provisional govern- ment of Cuan he can find no authority in any of our regular annals '" and it is certain that no authority for it is found in any of the original Irish annals, nor even in the Annals of the Four Masters ; but the fact is stated as follows in Mageoghegan's translation of the " Annals of Clonmacnoise" [Cluain mic Nois], a work which professes to be a faith- ful version of the original, although in some instances it has been ob- viously interpolated by the translator.
"A. D. 1022. After the death of king Moyliseaghlyn, this king- dom was without a king twenty years, during [a portion of] which time the realm was governed by two learned men, the one called Cwan O'Lochan, a well learned temporall .man and chiefe poet of Ireland, the other Corcran Cleireagh, a devoute and holy man that was [chief] anchorite of all Ireland, whose most abideing was at Lismore. The
Introduction. xliii
laud was governed like a free state aud nut like a uiouarohie by them.
"A. D. 1024. Cwan O'Loglian, prime poet of Ireland, a great chronicler, and one to whom, for his sufficiencie, the causes of Ireland were committed to be examined and ordered, was killed by one of the land of Teaffa ; after committing of which evill fact there grew an evill scent and odour of the party that killed him, that he was easily known among the rest of the land. His associate Corkran lived yett, and sur- vived him for a long time after."
The death of Cuan O'Lochain is also recorded by Tighearnach, who died in the year 1088, and who may have seen him in his youth. His death is also entered in the Dublin and Bodleian copies of the Annals of Ulster as follows :
"A. D. 1024. Cuan h-Ua ^^occan ppiiiieicep Gpfnn do mapbub \ (D)-Uebca b' peapaib Ceabca pein: bpenaic a n-aen uaip in luce po riiapb: pipe pile inpein."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor, who has sadly mangled, if not falsified, many curious passages in the Irish annals:
" Cuan O Lothcan, prsecipuus sapiens Hiberniic occisus in Teffia. Judicium vseh cecidit in eos qui eum ocoiderunt.''
But the old translator of the Annals of Ulster, who was infinitely bet- ter acquainted with the Irish language than Dr. O'Conor, paraphrases it as follows, evidently from a text different from the two above re- ferred to:
"A. D. 1024. Cuan O'Lochan, archpoet of Ireland [was] killed treacherously by the men of Tchva, ancestors of [thcj Foxes ; they stunk after, whereby they got the name of Foxes, a miracle shewed of the poett.'
The notice of the killing of him, and the consctjuent visitation upon the murderers, is thus given in the Annals of Kilronau:
xliv Introduction.
"A. D. 1024. Cuan Ua <^6cain .1. ppirh-dijep)^ 6penn, do mapBao lu Uerpa. t)o pijne t)ia pipe p)le6 co poUup ap an luce po vhapB, 6\p po bappaijeo a n-opoch-oi^eo lab, -| ni po h-aonaiceo a (5)-cuipp jup pojuil poeil 1 poluarham lat).
"A. D. 1024. Cuan Ua Lochain, chief poet of Ireland, was killed by the Teffians. God wrought a miracle for the poet manifestly upon the party who killed him, for they met their deaths in a tragical man- ner, and their bodies were not interred until the wolves and birds preyed upon them."
For a brief account of the poems ascribed to O'Lochaiu the reader is referred to O'Reilly's Irish Writers, pp. 73, 74. The first poem there mentioned has since been published in Petrie's Antiquities of Tara Hill, Transactions of the Eoyal Irish Academy, vol. xviii. pp. 1 43.
Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, in an anonymous pamphlet written by him in 1 749, against Sir Eichard Cox's Appeal on the Behaviour of Dr. Charles Lucas, writes as if he had in his possession some MSS. of Cuan O'Lochain. It appears from the Memoirs of his Life and Writings, written by his grandson, the late Dr. Charles O'Conor, p. 211, that Mr. O'Conor would never have acknowledged this pamphlet to be his production, were it not that his correspondence with Reilly, the pub- lisher of it, obliged him to acquiesce. In this pamphlet Mr. O'Conor says :
/"What I have advanced on this subject I have extracted from our ancient MSS., the only depositories of the form of our ancient consti- tution, and particularly from the MSS. of Cuan O'Loghan, who ad- ministered the affairs of Ireland on the death of Malachy II. Anno Domini 1022."
Having premised thus much with regard to the author of the poem, wc may now say something as to the subject of the tract; and first of the words used.
Introductioti. xlv
^eapa: in the Sing., Nom. ^eip, Gen. jeipe (fern) — This word is in common use in the sense of conjuration or solemn \ovf\ cuipim pa jenpaiB ru, " I conjure thee," is a common saying. — See tale of Deir- tlre, in the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Dublin, p. 23, where O'Flanagan translates it " 5o/e7?m voiy," and "injunctions," in a note on the word. In this tract, however, the word is clearly used to de- note " anything or act forbidden, because of the ill luck which would result from its doing:" " Aruspex vetuit ante brumam aliquid novi ncgotii accipere." — Terence. It also means a spell or charm.
It is iised here as the opposite or antithesis of buaba, and synony- mous with
Upj^npra : O'Reilly gives a word upjapr (s. m.), which he ex- plains, "bad luck, misfortune, fatality;" but this word is rather to be formed from the verbal noun iipjapao (mas.), signifying prohibition, interdiction, hindrance; see also capjapao, in O'Clerigh's Glossary of ancient Irish words. It is used here as the antithesis of a6a.
6via6a : in the Sing, buaio (fem.) This is still the living Irish word for victory. "When applied to plants or herbs in medical MSS. it denotes virtue, power, &c. See the Battle of Magh Rath, pp. 84, 85, 280, where the three victories or remarkable events of the battle are called cpi bunoa in cacha ; and see p. 239, infra, where it is translated
"gift".
Qdu: in the Sing., Nom. u6.. Gen. u6a (mas.) In a MS. in Tri- nity College, Dublin, II. 3, 18, this is explained by buaio, and it is evidently here used instead of it : the things which will insure good luck and success. The word 66 is still used in every part of Ireland to denote good luck or success. »
Whether the customs and popular beliefs or superstitions, recorded in this poem, had ever been drawn up into a code before O'Lochain'stime, it Avould now bo ditlicult to determine ; but we find a collection of the
xlvi Introduction.
kind in the concluding piece oi Leabhar na g-Ceart {infra, p. 238, &c.), where some of the prohibitions are identical with O'Lochain's. Many of those matters are clearly of Pagan origin, and the reference to the king of Leinster drinking by the light of wax candles in the palace of Dinn Riogh, shows that the poet considered some of these customs as in existence from the most remote period of Irish history, as the kings of Leinster had not resided at Dinn Riogh since the introduction of Chris- tianity, for they deserted it for Nas (Naas) at a very remote period. The prohibition, " that the sun should not find him in his couch at Teamhair," has also reference to a period many centuries anterior to O'Lochain's time ; for the monarchs of Ireland had not resided at Teamhair or Tara since about the year 565, when it was cursed by St. Ruadhan, or Rodanus, of Lothra. See MS. Trin. Col. Dub,, H. 1 . 1 5, and Vita Sancti Rodani in the Codex Kilkenniensis, now preserved in Marsh's Library, Class v. 3, Tab. i. No. 4, F., and as published by the BoUandists at 25th April; and see also Connell Mageoghegan's trans- lation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, MS. Trin, Col. Dub., F. 3. 19, p. 45, and Petrie's Antiquities of Tara Hill, p. 101-103. Its abandon- ment is also mentioned in the Danish work called the Konungs-Skugg- sio quoted in Johnstone's Antiq. Celto-Scand., p. 287. From these facts. it is quite obvious that some of those customs were regarded by the poet as derived from the most remote periods, and that the observ- ance of them in his own time was reckoned absolutely necessary to the welfare of the monarch and the provincial kings.
"We recollect little in Irish history to guide us to the origin of many of the curious restrictions here recorded; but it is quite ob- vious that some of them have arisen from precaution, others from a recollection of mischances. Look at the following restrictions of the monarch of Ireland :
To alight on a Wednesday in Magh Breagh ; to traverse Magh Cuil-
Introduction. xlvii
linn after sunset; to incite his horse at Fan-Chomair; to go on Tuesday into North Teabhtha ; to go on a ship upon the water the day after Bealltaine (INIay day).
Such restrictions are not without parallels in the observances of other nations, and there are many maxims of a similar kind known to prevail even among wealthy classes in the present day, to an extent that is seldom acknowledged. The prohibition against beginning any new undertaking on a Friday is quite a geis of the class mentioned in our text. The prohibition against sitting down to dinner, thirteen at table, is particularly remarkable, and every shift is commonly made to avoid or escape from it, with a real apprehension that, if the fatarfnumber be complete, one of the party will surely die within the twelvemonth. So the prohibition that the bridegroom's mother shall not go to church with the bridal party is strictly submitted to; she must not be present at the marriage ceremony anywhere — at church or at home ; and though the parties concerned be in the habit of calling such beliefs " superstitious," yet, when it comes to the point in this matter in J;heir own case, it will be found that the geis will not be violated.
Addison, in the Spectator, has a paper relevant to this point, in whichhe adduces curious instances of English superstitions, and tracts of the present day arc not wanting, giving particular evidence on the same subject.
Observances of a like nature were common among the Pagan na- tions of what is considered classical antiquity, as we learn from their •writers :
" SaepS malum line nobis, si mens non laeva fuisset, De caelo tactas memini praedicere quercus. 9)Si\yG sinistra cava prajilixit ab ilice comix." — ^'irg. EclnfC. i. Ifi.
" Ipsa dies alios alio dodit ordiiic Luna
Felices opernm : quintani fuge ; pallidus Oituh
xlviii Introduction.
Eumenidesque satoe ; turn partu Terra nefaiido
Caeumque lapetumque creat, steviimque Typhcea,
Et conjurato3 caslum rescindere fratres." — Id. Georg. i. 280.
The origin of the adha or huadha may be similarly accounted for. Some of them savour strongly of Pagan notions.
On the Division of the Year among the ancient Ii'ish.
As the seasons of the year are frequently mentioned in this book, it will be well here to add a few words on the divisions of the year among the ancient Irish. Dr. O'Conor has attempted to show, in his Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores, Epistola Wuncupatoria, Ixxi. et seq., and in the Stowe Catalogue, vol. i. p. 32 : 1. That the year of Pagan Irish was luni-solar, consisting, like that of the Phoenicians and Egyptians, of 365 days and six hours: 2. That it was divided by them, as it is at present into four ratha or quarters, known by the names of Samh-ratha, Foghmhar-ratha, Geimh-ratha, and Tar-7'atha, now corruptly Earrach, or summer, autumn, winter, and spring ; the first of these quarters compiencing at the vernal equinox, the second at the summer solstice, the third at the autumnal equinox, and the fourth at the winter sol- stice; 3. That at the beginning of each of these ratha a religious festi- val was celebrated, but that the periods when they were celebrated were changed by the early Christians, to agree with the Christian festivals, and to obliterate the recollection of the origin of the Pagan rites which they were not able utterly to abolish. That such a change was made he infers from a passage occurring in all the old Lives of St. Patrick, which states that Patrick lighted the Paschal fire at Slane in 433, at the same time that King Laeghaire was celebrating the festival of Bealltaine at Teamhair ; which would be fair enough if the fire were
Introduction. xlix
called Bealltuine by any of Patrick's ancient biographers ; but it is not, and therefore Dr. O'Couor's inference Avants the vis conseque7itice. In the oldest Life of St. Patrick extant, namely, that by Mocuteuius, preserved in the Book of Armagh, the fire lighted by the king of Teamhair, and Patrick's Paschal fire, are mentioned as follows :
" Contigit vero in illo anno, idolatria? sollempnitatem quam gentiles incantationibus multis, et magicis inventionibus, nonnullis aliis idola- , triic superstitionibns, congregatis etiam regibus, satrapis, ducibus, principibus, et optimatibus popiili, insuper et magis, incantatoribns, auruspicibus, et omnis artis omnisque doli inventoribus doctoribusqne vocatis ad Loigaireum, velut qtiondam ad Nabcodonossor regem, in Temoria, istorum Babyloue, exercere consuerant, eadem nocte qua Sanctus Patricius Pasca, illi illara adorarent exercentque festivitatem gentilem.
" Erat quoque qviidam mos apud illos per edictum omnibus inti- matus ut quicumque in cunctis regionibus sive procul, sive juxta, in ilia nocte incendissent igneni, antequam in domu regia, id est, in pala- tio Temorise, succenderetur, periret anima ejus de populo suo.
" Sanctus ergo Patricius Sanctum Pasca celebrans, incendit divinum ignem valde lucidum et benedictum, qui in nocte refulgens, a cunctis pene plani canipi habitantibus vissus est."— Book of Armagh, fol. 3, b.
It is also stated in the Leabhar Breac as follows :
"CeicPucpaic lap pin en Pepcn pep Peicc. Qbancap cemio occti ip II) inuD ym pepcop na Cape. Pepjaichep fxoejuipe do clii in cenio, up bci h-ip\n jeip Cenipucli oc^oe&eluib; ocuj'ni luriiub necli remo D'pc'c66 I ri-GipmD ip ino lou pin, no cu n-u6anca h-i Ceiiipcnj^ iqi ri'ip ip in j^oUttriicnn." — Fol. 14, a 1.
" Patrick goes afterwards to Fearta Fear Feicc. A fire is kindled by hiui at that place on Easter eve. Laeghaire is enraged as he sees the fire, fur that was \\\cgeit< [prohibition] of Teamhair among the Gaedhhi! ;
a
1 lyitroduction.
and no one dared to kindle a fire in Ireland on that day until it should be first kindled at Teamhair at the solemnity."
Now, however these two passages may seem to support Dr. O' Conor's inference, it is plain that the fire lighted at Teamhair is not called Bealltaine in either of them. It should be also added that it is not so called in any of the Lives of Patrick. According to' a vellum MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 3. 17, p. 732, the fire from which all the hearths in Ireland was supplied was lighted at Tlaclitgha [at Athboy] in the Munster portion of Meatli, and not on the first of May, but on the first of November ; while, according to Keating, the author of the Dinnseanchus, and others, the fire called Bealltaine was lighted at Uisneach, in the Connacht portion of Meath, on the first of May, which for that reason is called La Bealltaine to the pre- sent day. The probability then is, that the fire lighted at Teamhair, on Easter eve, A. D. 433, was not the Bealltaine, but some other fire, and it is stated in the second life of St. Patrick, published by Colgan, that it Avas the Feis Teamhrach, or Feast of Teamhair, that Laeghaire and his satraps were celebrating on this occasion ; while the author of the Life of St. Patrick in the Book of Lismore, asserts that Laeghaire was then celebrating the festival of his own nativity, which appears to have been the truth, and if so it was not the regular sep- tennial Feis'', which met after Samhain, but one convened to celebrate the king's birth-day. From these notices it is quite clear that O'Conor's inference, .that the Bealltaine was lighted on the 21st of March by the Pagan Irish, is not sustained. In the accounts given of the Bealltaine
a This is ii'-.ially called tncnnial, as in ofL., p 22, though the other reading there
tlie passages quoted from Keating, &c., in 15. makes it every fifth year, p. 273,
above, p. 25, 26, ^ac cpeap bliaoain ; "■ ^'^- See also tiie poem, p. 2-10, infra,
but it is every seventh year in this woi'k, ^vliere both copies, L. & M.^ have each
in *hc prose of L. at p. G, and in the Various )"eeichcriluD Sumna, i. e. every seventh
Headings of B., p. 272 ; and in the poem S,onh<ihi.
Introduction. li
ill Cormac's Glossary, and in H. 3. 18, p. 596, as quoted in Petrie's Antiquities of Tara Hill, no time is sjjecijied for the lighting of it, nor could ^v(i be able from them, or from any other written evidence yet discovered, to decide iu what season it was lighted, were it not that the first of May is still universally called in Irish La Bealltaine. But Dr. O'Conor argues that this name was applied in Pagan times to the 21st of March, and that it was transferred to the iirst of May by the early Christians, to agree Avith a Christian festival. This, however, is contrary to the tradition which still prevails in many parts of Ireland, namely, that the fires lighted in Pagan times, on the first of May, were transferred by St, Patrick to the 24th of June, in honor of St. John the Baptist, on the eve of whose festival they still light bonfires iu every county in Ireland, and not on the first of May, except in Dublin, where they continue to light them on the 1st of May also. The observances still practised on May-day (which have no connexion whatever with Christianity) and the traditions pre- served in the country respecting it, found a strong argument that it must have been a Pagan festival, while the 21st of March is not remark- able for any observances. The same may be observed of Samhain, the 1st of November, on which, according to all the Irish authorities, the Druidic fires were lighted at Tlachtgha. The Editor is, therefore, con- vinced that Dr. O'Conor has thrown no additional light on the division of the year among the Pagan Irish, ibr his conjecture respecting the agreement of the Paschal fire of St. Patrick witli the Bealltaine of the Pagan Irish is visionary, inasmuch as it is stated in the second life by Probus that it was the Feis Teamhrach that Laeghaire was then cele- brating. The Avords are given in very ancient Irish, as foUoWvS, by the original author, who wrote in the Latin language : " 1]' ip inn nini| i[i |MM (un f>o pi^nebb feip CempcJohi la f.oej^mpe mac Weill -\ In I i|iu Bipeaiin," i. c. " It is in that time iiidi'i'd tliat I lie Fcis Temh-
.1 ■>
lii Introduction.
radhi was made by Loegaire, son of Niall, and by the men of Eire." — See Colgan's Trias Thcmni., pp. 15, 20.
The fact seems to be that we cannot yet determine the season with Avhich the Pagan Irish year commenced. As to Dr. O'Conor making earrach, the spring, the last quarter, because, in his opinion, it is com- pounded of iar and ratha, postremus anni cursus, it can have no weight in the argument, because there is not the slightest certainty that this is the real meaning of the term, for in Cormac's Glossary the term is explained urughadk, i. e. refreshing, or renewing, and it is con- jectured that it is cognate with the Latin ver: it may be added that it is almost identical with the Greek lap, 'iapoQ.
That the Pagan Irish divided the year into four quarters is quite evident from the terms Earrach, Samhradh, Foghmhar, and Geimhridh, Avhich are undoubtedly ancient Irish wordsj not derived from the Latin through Christianity ; and that each of these began with a stated day, three of which days are still known, namely, Bealltaine, otherwise called Ceideamhain, or beginning of summer (see p. 20, infra), when they lighted fires at Uisneach, in the beginning of Samhradh ; Lughnasadh, the games of Lughaidh Lamh-fhada, which commenced at Taillte on the first day oi Foghmhar, the harvest; and Samhain, i. e. Samh-flmin., or summer-end, Avhen they lighted fires at Tlachtgha. The beginning of Earrach, the spring, was called Oimelc, which is derived from oi, ewe, and melc, milk, because the sheep began to yean in that season, but we have not found that any festival was celebrated.
In a MS. in the Library of the British Museum (Harleian MSS., II. I. B.,'No. 5280, p. 38), the names of the days with which the sea- sons commenced are given in the following order:
" O Sariipuan co h-Oimelc, h-o Oimelc co 6elcine, h-o 6elcine CO bpon-cpojam," i. e. " i'rom Samhsuan to Oimelc, from Oimelc to Beltine, from Beltine to Bron-troghain.''' And the following explana- tions are then given by way of gloss : .
Introduction. liii
" Samain bno .1. p'arhpuin .1. puin in c-pampaio tnin, ap ip oe poinn no bi6 pop un m-pliu6ain ano .1. in pari.pcib o 6eilcine co Sarhpuin, aciip in ^eirhpeo 6 Sathpuin co 6elcine," i.e. "Samhain, i. e. Samh- fhuin, i. e. the end o^ Samradh [summer] is in it, for the year was divided into two parts, i. e. the Samradh, from Beltine to Samfhuin, and the Geimhredh, from Samfhuin to Beltine."
A similar explanation of Sarhpuin is given in H. 3. 18, p. 596, and in O'Clery's Glossary.
Oimelc is derived from imme-folc, and explained caioe an eap- paij, i. e. the beginning of Spring, or from oi-melc, sheep-milk: " Ip hi aimpip innpenn a cicc app caeipiuc acup 1 m-bleajaup coipicch," i. e. " This is the time when the milk of sheep comes, and when sheep are milked." InPeter O'Connell'sMS. Dictionary, oimelc is also written imbuLc, and explained peil ftpijoe, i.e. St. Bridget's festival, 1st February, which day has for many centuries been called La FeUe Brighde, the older name being obsolete.
Beltine, the name of the first day of summer, is thus explained :
"6elrine .1. bil cine .1. zt^ne poinTnech .1. Da reneo bo jniDip la h-oepp peccai no opui co cinceclaiB mopaib, 1 do lecDip na cerpa ecappae op reomannaib cecha bliaona; no 6elDine ; 6el Din oinm t)e loail; ip ann oo[c]ap pelbci oine jaca cerpa pop peilb 6eil."
" Beltine, i. c. biltine, i. e. lucky fire, i. e. two fires which used to be made by the lawgivers or druids, with great incantations, and they used to drive the cattle between them [to guard] against the diseases of each year. Or Bel-dine ; Bel was the name of an idol god. It was on it [i. e. that day] that the firstling of every kind of cattle used to be exhibited as in the possession of Bel." Sec a similar passage quoted in Petrie's Antiquities of Tara Hill, p. 60.
Bron-troghain, the name of the first day of the next season is ex- plained Lvghnasadh [Lammas], i. c. " Uaioe Pojamaip .1. ip (inn Do
liv Int.roductlo7i.
bpoine cpo,^ani .1, calam po roiprip. Cpo^an Din ainm &o calarii," i.e. "the begining of Foghamhar, i.e. in it Troghan brings forth, i. e. the earth under fruits. Troghan, then, is a name for the earth."
In the Book of Lismore, in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, (foh 189, a) mip cpojain is explained, Cujnapa, Lammas.
In Cormac's Glossary (as we have already intimated), eppac, the spring, is explained upugab, i. e. refreshing, and derived from the Latin ver; bnt it is much more like the Greek 'iu^ 'ix^o<;.
Sariipao is thus explained in Cormac's Glossary:
" Sampao, quapi parh ip inb 6bpa pol ip in Caicm unbe oicicup Sampon .1. pol eopum, Sariipao oin .1. piao picep ^pian, -| ip ano up mo 00 [r]aicne a poiUpe acup a h-aipoe, i. e. Samhradh, quasi samh in the Hebrew, which is sol in the Latin, nnde dicitur Smnson, i. e. Sol eonim. Samhradh, then, a riadh, i. e. a course which the sun runs, and it is in it that its light and its height are the most resplendent."
In O'Clery's Glossary, the monosyllable samh is explained by Sarh- pao, summer. It is clearly the same word as summer.
In the same Glossary the harvest is defined as the name of the last month, Do'n nnp oei^enaij po h-ainmnijeao, and derived quapi Po- ^ariiup .1. pora niip n-^cnrii, the foundation of tlie month of Gainh or November. It has a close resemblance to, and perhaps the same origin as, the Greek o-ptm^h, for if we prefix the digamma, and aspirate the tt, we have Fo<p&'pc«. This, and the relationship of £«p, e«g«s with eappac, have never been remarked before.
In Cormac's Glossary, Geimhredh, winter, is conjectured to be from the Greek Gamos (Tcc/^oi), and this conjecture is attempted to be strengthened by the remark, '■'■ inde [in eo] veteres midieres diixerunt P^ In the same Glossary, voce Cpoicenn, as well as in O'Clery's, the mono- syllable garii is explained hiems, j^eiriipeao, and it is quite evident that this, or jeirii, is the primitive form of the word, and it is cognate with
Introduction. Iv
the Welsh gmiaf, the Greek ^sr^tta, and the Latin hijems. The proba- bility, thea'efore, is, that the terminations radh or readh, added to the simple samh and gamh, or geimh, are endings like the er in the Saxon summ-e/', wint-er, though there is a possibility that they may be compounded of samh, and gamh or geimh, and re, time. There is not the slightest probability that the terminations rach, radh, ar, readh, in the terms earrach, samradh, foghmhar, geimhreadh, are corruptions of ratha, a qiiartcr of a year, as Dr. O'Conor takes for granted.
It might at first sight appear probable that the year of the Pagan Irish began with Oimelc, the spring, when the sheep began to yean and the grass to grow, but this is far from certain; and if there be no error of transcribers in Cormac's Glossary, we must conclude that the last month of Foghamhar, i. e. that preceding 3Iis Gamh or November, was the end of their summer, and of their year, Po^nrhap .1. oo'n mip Dei jenaij5 po h-ainmnijeao, i. e. Foghamhar, was given as a name to the last month. Since the conversion of the Irish to Christianity they began the year with the month of January, as is clear from the Feilire Aenghuis.
Besides the division of the year into the four quarters, of which we have spoken, and into two equal parts called ^aiii or jeim (Welsh gauaf) and pam (Welsh haf), it would appear from a gloss on an ancient Irish law tract in H. 3. 18, p. 13, T. C. D., it was divided into two unequal parts called Samh-fucht [cucc, i, e. time'], or summer-period, and Gamh-fucht or Geimh-fucht, i. e. winter-period ; the first comprising five months, namely, the last month of Spring, and the three months of Summer, and the first month of Autumn; and the other the two last months of Autumn, the three months of Winter^ and tlio two first months of Spring. This division was evidently made to reguhxte the price of grazing lands.
Ivi hitroduction.
On the Chariots and Roads of the ancient Irish.
The mention of chariots in this work requires some observations. St. Patrick, according to his Tripartite Life, published by Colgan, vi- sited most parts of Ireland in a chariot. The carhad is also men- tioned in the oldest Irish stories and romances, as in the Tain Bo Cuailghne, in which Cuchullainn's carhad (chariots), and his ara, or charioteer, are constantly mentioned. There was a locality at Teamh- air or Tara, called Fan na g-Carbat, or slope of the chariot, and it is distinctly stated in the Life of St. Patrick preserved in the Book of Armagh, that the Gentile or Pagan Irish had chariots at Tara before their conversion to Christianity.
According to the ancient Irish annals, and other fragments of Irish history, the ancient Irish had many roads Avhich were cleaned and kept in repair according to law. The different terms used to denote road, among the ancient Irish, are thus defined in Cormac's Glossary, from which a pretty accurate idea may be formed of their nature :
"T^oc .1. pouc .1. p6-pec .i. nio oloap pec .i. pemica uniup ani- malip. Qcdic z\\a. il-anmaiina pop conaipiB .1. p^c, poc, pariiuc, plije, Idrh-pocae, cua6-pocae, borap. ^
Sec ceramup uc ppeoipcimup.
■Roue .1. Da pacac no oa cuac cappac t)0 aenach Dae imme do ponao ppi hecpaice menooca pop meoon.
Ramac .1. mo oloap poc .1. uppcup bip pop up DuniB pir. Cac comaijcecli a cip 00 p6 cuice olejap De a glanao.
Slije Din DO pcucao cappac pech apaile Do ponca ppi h-imco- riiapc Da cappac .1. cappac pig ocup cappac eppcoip co n-oechaio cac ae olb pech apaile.
6arhpoca .1. icep Da plijiD, plige Dap ruaipcepc menooca, apaile Dap a oepcepc ppi leppu ppi cae do ponao.
hitroduction. Ivii
Uuajpoca pop chen pep cpeBap conaip ooapcnciiti poicoi nopleiBe.
66diap cpa .1. calla bt Boin alanae pop poc, cipaile pop rappna pop a calluc a lueij no a n-gaihna ina pail, mab 1 (i-a n-oiaij bepp upcup in bo bep oa eppi.
Qcdic ceopa jlanca 00 cnc ae. Cpi haimpepa 1 n-jlancap ,1 ampep echpuachaip, aimpip chuae, aimpeji cochca. Ice a cpi jlanca .1. jlanao a pe6a ocup a uipce 1 n cocluib. Ice aicpi pop a njlan- rcjp .1. ap nellneo a cappac oc bul pop coe ap nellneo a ech- paioe oc rechc bo aenach -|ca."
" EoT, i. e. ROUT, i. e. ro-shet [a great set, or path], i. e. greater than a set. i. e. semita unius animalis. There are many names upon the roads, i. e. sed, rot, ramhat, slighe, lamh-rotae, tuadh-rotae, bothar :
" Set, imprimis, ut prcediximus [i. e. semita unius animalis'].
"Rout [ro-shet, great path], a chariot goes upon it to the fair; it was made for the horses of a mansion in medium.
" Ramhat, i. e. -wider than a rot, i. e. an urscur, an open space or street, which is in front of the forts of kings. Every neighbour whose land comes up to it is bound to clean it.
" Slighe: for two chariots pass by each other upon it; it was made for the meeting of two chariots, i. e. the chariot of a king and the cha- riot of a bishop, so that each of them might pass by the other [with- out touching].
" Lamiirota, i. e. [it extends] between two slighes, one to the north of a mansion, and the other to the south ; it was made for forts and for houses.
*' Tuagurota [farm road], for tlie passage of the husbandman, a passage which reaches to a rot, or a mountain. ^
" Bothar: two cows fit upon it, one lengthwise, the otlicr athwart, and their calves and yearlings fit on it along with them; for if thoy were behind them the cow that followed would wound tlicin.
Iviii Introduction.
" There are three cleanings for each. Three periods at which they are cleaned, i. e. time of horse-racing, time of cua, time of war. These are the three cleanings, i. e. cleaning of wood [brushwood], of water, of weeds. These are the causes for which they are cleaned : on account of their dirtying of the chariot going on a journey, for dirtying of the horses coming from the fair, &c."
According to the ancient Irish topographical work, called Dinn- seanchus, there were five great roads in Ireland, called by the fol- lowing names, viz., Slighe Dala, Slighe Asail, Slighe Midhluachra, Slighe Cualaun, and Slighe Mor. Lughaidh O'Clerigh, in his poeti- cal controversy with Tadhg Mac Daire, urges in support of the dig- nity of Conn of the Hundred Battles, the ancestor of the dominant families of Leath Chuinn, that these five roads, which led to the fort of Teamhair, were first discovered on the birth-night of this great monarch, and he is borne oixt in this assertion by the autho- rity of the Dinnseanchus, though neither of these great authorities, nor O'Flaherty, who reiterates the same wonderful fact {Ogygia, page 314), tells us the meaning oi discovering these roads. It may be a bardic mode of recording that these roads were completed by Feidhlimidh the Lawgiver, on the day before Conn was born, and that the people travelled by them on the next day. But old stories of this kind are found among every ancient people, and are worthy of preservation for the historical facts which they envelope. At wdiatever period these great roads were made, they indubitably existed, and are frequently referred to in Irish historical tales, from which their posi- tions may be pretty accurately determined. Slighe Dala was the great south-western road of Ireland, which extended from the southern side of Tara hill, in the direction of Ossory. Slighe Asail was a western road extending from the hill of Tara ig. the direction of Loch Uair (Lough Owel), near Mullingar, in Westmeath. A part of this road is distinctly
Introduction. lix
referred to in Leabhar na h-Uidhri, as extending from Dun na n- Airbhedli to the cross at Tigh Lomain. Sligbe Midhluachra was a northern road, but nothing has been yet discovered to prove its exact position. Slighe Cualann extended from Tara, in the direction of Dublin and Bray, and Slighe Mor was the great western road, the lie of which is defined by the Eiscir Riada, a line of gravel hills extending from Dublin to Meadh- raighe, near the toAvn of Gal way. See Petrie's Antiquities of Tara Hill, p. 205, and see the 6ealac t)uiblinna mentioned in our work at p. 14. Besides these great highways there are various others of inferior character mentioned in the Irish annals, and in the bardic histories of Ireland, at an early period. Keating mentions the following: Bealach Cro, Bealach Duin Bolg, Bealach Chouglais, Bealach Dathi, Bealach Gabhrain, Bealach Mughna, Bealach Mor, in Osraidhe [another name for Slighe Dala], Bealach na Luchaide, in North IMunster. The fol- lowing roads are referred to in the Annals of the Four Masters, at various years. The dates are added to such as are mentioned before the English Invasion: Bealach an Chamain, Bealach an Chluainin, Bealach an Chrionaigh, Bealach an Diothruibhe, Bealach an Fhiodhfail, Bealach an Fhothair, Bealach an Mhaighre, Bealach Bodhbha, A. D. 866 ; Bealach Buidhe an Choirrshleibhe, Bealach Chille Brighde, Bea- lach Coille na g-Cuiritin, Bealach Chonglais, Bealach Cro, Bealach Duin, Bealach Duin Bolg, A. D. 594 ; Bealach Duinn larainn, Bealach Ele, A. D. 780; Bealach Eochoille, A. D. 1123; Bealach Fedha, A.D. 572; Bealach Fele, A. D. 730; Bealach Gabhrain, A. D. 756; Bealach Guirt an lubhair, A. D. 1094; Bealach Ithain, Bealach Leachta, A. D. 976; Bealach Lice, A. D. 721; Bealach Mor Muighe Dala, Bealach Mughna, A. D. 903; Bealach Muiue na Siride, A. JD. 1144; Bealach na Bethighc, Bealach na Fadhbaighe, Bealach na g-Corr-ghad, Bealach na n-Gamhna, Bealach na h-Urbhron, Bealach natha, A. D. 866; Bea- lach Ui Mhithidhein, Bothar Mor Cnaiuhchoille, Bothar na Mac Kiogh.
Ix Introduction.
Various other roads are mentioned in the lives of the Irish saints, and in the Irish historical tales, but it would be out of place to dwell further upon the subject in this place. There is, hoAvever, one road, the position of which it is necessary to fix before we can determine the boundary between Laighin Tuath-ghabhair and Laighin Deas-ghabhair, or north and south Leinster, namely, that of Gabhair. This seems to have been the name of a road somewhere near Carlow, but its exact position and extent have not as yet been ascertained. The following reference to it in a historical tale preserved in the Book of Leinster, a MS. of the twelfth century, preserved in Lib. Trin. Col. Dub., H. 2. 18, may help to fix its position, or at least direction. The champions conversing are Lughaidh mac na d-tri Con and Conall Cearnach, who are introduced as standing on the banks of the River Liffey:
" Ra jac-pu, ap ^ujaio, pop 6elac ^aBpuain co n-oecup pop 6eluc Smechuin. Qip^-piu [.i. eipig-piu] amne pop gabuip pop TTlaipg (Laijen co corriaippem i ITlaij Qipjec "Roip." — Fol. 78, b.
" I shall go, said Lughaidh, upon Bealach Gabhruain till I get on Belach Smechuin. Now go thou upon Gabhair on Mairg Laighean, that we may meet on Magh Airgead-Eos."
Mairg Laighean is the mountain of Sliabh Mairge, Anglice Slew- margiie, a barony on the west side of the Barrow, in the south-east of the Queen's County, across which, doubtlessly, this road extended. Magh Airgead-Ros, where the champions appointed to meet, was the ancient name of a plain on the River Eoir, Anglice, the Nore, in Ossory ; and' its position is marked by the fort of Rath Bheathaidh op ©oip i n- Qipgec-'Rop, now Rathveagh, on the Nore.
See Annals of the Four Masters, Anno Mundi, 350], 3516 ; and Tighe's Statistical Account of the County of Kilkenny, Antiquities, p. 629.
Introduction. Ixi
Of Chess among the ancient Irish.
TuE fre(|ueut mention of chess in tliis work sliows that chess-play- ing was one of the favorite amusements of the Irish chieftains. Tlie word picceall is translated " tabula3 lusoria?," by OTlaherty, where he notices the bequests of Cathaeir Mor, monarch of Ireland, Ogijgia, p. 311. In Cormac's Glossary, the picceal is described as quadran- gular, having straight spots of black and white. It is referred to in the oldest Irish stories and historical tales extant, as in the very old one called Tochniarc Etaine, preserved in Leabhar na h-Uidhri, a Manuscript of the twelfth century, in which the pircell is thus re- ferred to:
" Ciac'ainm-peo? ol Gochaio, Ni apoaipc pon, ol pe, mioip h]\f^ f.eir. CiD ooc peace? ol Gochuib? t)o imbipc pibciUe ppicpu, ol pe. Qm maic pe em, ol GochaiD, pop pircill ? Q pporhao ovin, ol niioip. Qca, ol Gochaio mo pigan \ n-a cocluo, ip le m cech aca in piccell. Qca puiiD cenae, ol TTlibip piocell nao meppo. 6a pfp on : clup napjic ocup y'\\\ oip, ouup puppunao [.i. lupao] caca haip- Di popp in clap Ol liic lojmcdp, ocup pep bolj bi piji pono cpeou- riiae. Gcpuio ITIiOip m piocill lap pin. Imbip, ol IDioip. Mi im- mepacc Di jiull, ol GochaiD. Cib jell bitipunn? ol TTliDip. Gumma lim, ol Gochaio. Roc bia lim-pu, ol Dlioip, mu cu bepep mo co- cell caejac jubup n-oub^lap."
" ' What is thy name?' said Eochaidh. ' It is not illustrious,' I'eplied the other, ' Midir of Brigh Leith.' 'What brought thee hither?' said Eochaidh. ' To play fitheheall with thee,' replied he. ' Art thou good at fitheheall?' said Eochaidh. 'Let us have the prqof of it,' replied !Midir. ' The Queen,' said Eochaidh, ' is asleep, and the house in which the fitheheall is belongs to her.' ' There is here,' saiil Midir, ' a no worse fitheheall.' This was true indeed: it was a l)()anl nf silver and pure
Ixii
Introduction.
gold, and every aiigle was illuminated with precious stones, and a man-bag of woven brass Avire. Midir then arranges the fithcheall, 'Play,' said Midir. 'I will not, except for a wager,' said Eochaidli. 'What wager shall Ave stake?' said Midir, 'I care not what,' said Eochaidh. ' I shall have for thee,' said Midir, ' fifty dark grey steeds, if thou win the game.'"
The Editor takes this opportunity of presenting to the reader four different views of the same piece, an ancient chess-man — a kimr found
in Ireland, which is preserved in the cabinet of his friend, Georoe Petrie, LL.D. ; he has never discovered in the Irish MSS. any full or detailed desciijjtion of a chess-board and its furniture", and he is,
I* See the line in p. 242, poipne co B. In anotlier place, page 246, we have
n-a. b-pichchiUaiB, MS. L_tlie fa- Kichchill ucup bpanbub ban,
mily, brigade, or set of chessmen,— a chessboard and white chessmen; which
po.pne pinna is the reading in MS. ,vonls nmy be considered t., determine the
Introduction.
Ixiii
therefore, unable to prove that pieces of differeut forms and powers, similar to those among other nations, were used by the Irish, but he is of opinion that they were. From the exact similarity, as well in style as in material, of the original, to those found in the Isle of Lewis, and which have been so learnedly illustrated by Sir Frederick Madden, in an Essay published in A^olume xxiv. of the Archasologia, the Editor is disposed to believe that the latter may be Irish also, and not Scandina- vian, as that eminent antiquary supposed. It Vvfould, at all events,
seem certain that the Lewis chess-men and Dr. I'etrie's are contempo- raneous, and belonged to the same people; and no Scandinavian speci-
cdIoi-, wliilc. Tlie clii'ss Iciiij; in Dr. INitric's At"lcr qunting the iiassa;,'^ in Cainlnvii-
caliinct is of bone, of very close texture, si.s, lie adds, williout any eoinnient: "They
and is tlic same size as the above engraving. wear, likewi.se, very .sharp and long sword.s.
The ICditor takes this opporliniity of sharp at one side only, « hircfurc llicy strike
adding to tin- note on " swords," p. ;V2. witli tlie side only and nut the point." —
llic. following extr.icl from ( )'l''lah('rty : '^,'/.'/.'/'", part iii. e. :)'.».
Ixiv Introductioti.
mens, as far as the Editor knows, have been as yet found, or at lelbt published, which present anything like such a striking identity in character. Dr. Petrie's specimen was given to him about thirty years ago by the late Dr. Tuke, a well-known collector of antiquities and other curiosities in Dublin; and, as that gentleman stated, was found with several others, some years previously, in a bog in the county of Meath.
The peap pirciUe, or chessman, is also frequently referred to in old tales, as in the very ancient one called Tain bo Cuailghne, in which the champion Cuchullainn is represented as killing a messenger, Avho had told him a lie, with a peap pibcilLe:
" 6a anoboi Cuchullainn oc imbipc piocille ocup ^oej mac 'Rian- jabpae a aupa peipin. Ip com cuicbiu6-pa on, op pe, do bejica bpec im nac nieapaije. 6apo6ain bo lleci bia pepaib piocilli oon cechcaijie co mboi pop lop a incinne."
" Cuchullainn and his own charioteer, Loegh, son of Eiangabhra, were then playing chess. ' It was to mock me,' said he, ' thou hast told a lie about what thou mistakest not.' With that he cast [one] of his chessmen at the messenger, so that it pierced to the centre of his brain." — Leahhar na h- Uidri.
Again, in a romantic tale in the same MS., the peap piocilli is thus referred to :
"Ciap bo mop ocup ciap bo aipejoa cpa ^oejaipe callapcaip i n-oen jlaic mo pip ooD painic peib callao mac bliaona, ocup coc nomailc ecip a 61 boip lappuibiu arhail caipionioep peji piocilli pop cuipiDin."
"Though great and illustrious was Loeghaire, he fitted on the palm of one hand of the man who had arrived as would a one-vear- old boy, and he rubbed him between his two palms, as the fear Jithchille is drawn in a tairidin.''^ See also Battle of Magh Rath pp. 36, 37.
Introduction. - Ixv
On the Irish Text and Translation.
Ox a careful comparison of tlie two vellum copies of wliicli we have spoken in the opening of this Introduction, it was found that the copy in the Book of Leacan, though not free from defects and errors, is by far the more correct one, and it has, therefore, been unhesitatingly adopted as the text of the present edition.
Sentences, words, &c., omitted from the copy in the Book of Leacan, and found in the other copy, have been supplied [in brackets] to the Irish text; and the more remarkable varioe lectioneshave been added for the inspection and consideration of the critical scholar at the end of this volume. It has not been considered necessary to notice the omis- siom of the Book of Baile an Mhuta in all cases.
The exact orthography of the Book of Leacan has been preserved throughout, but the contractions have been dispensed with ; and the .grammatical marks, such as hyphens, apostrophes, and stops, and also the marks of long quantity, eclipsis, and aspiration, have been supplied according to the genius of the language and the most approved modern pronunciation, except in the first piece (which is not part of Leabhar na g-Ceart, though usually prefixed to it), which has been printed without these latter marks, as a specimen of the text, showing to what a small extent the dot, as a mark of aspiration, was used of old''. The letter h postfixed to consonants (being capital letters) to denote aspiration, and the 5- or other consonant prefixed to mark eclipsis have been enclosed (in parentheses) to point out to the reader the addition even of a letter made by the Editor, and to distinguish at once to his eye these latter from the additions [in brackets] obtained
•See some further remarks connected Headings," at the end of the volume, p. 20i), witli this subject given with tiic " Various infra.
e
Ixvi Introduction.
from the second copy of the text. The reason for supplying the aspira- tions and eclipses must be evident to all those who understand the gram- matical structure of the Irish language, for in many instances the sense of the language, and particularly the syntactical concord, is imcertain without them. The Irish text, stripped of its aspirations and eclipses, might be said to resemble the Hebrew text of the Old Testa- ment given without the Masoretic points which determine the sounds ; but the iise of the Irish marks is still more important. It is true that if the language became a dead one it could be understood without the aspirations used at the middle and end of words, as, yapugao, oenam, mnatb, which might be as intelligible to the eye as papujab, benarh, mnctib; but the aspirations and eclipses which, at the beginning of words, point out the gender and number of words, and determine the Ibrce of particles, can never be dispensed with without obscuring the, sense. For example, the letter a, as a possessive pronoun, denotes some- times his, sometimes her, and at another tvaiQtheir: as, if it be required to say her head, the c will have its radical sound, n ceunn; if /iw head, the c will be aspirated, a ceann; and if their head, the c will be eclipsed, a g-ceann; from which it is quite evident that, if the aspiration and eclipsis were omitted, the meaning of the word a could not be seen. It has been asserted that the ancient pronunciation differed from the modern in retaining the sounds of many consonants which are now aspirated ; but there is no proof of this, as the same letter in the same grammatical situation is found sometimes aspirated and some- times not, in the most ancient Irish MSS. extant; and it is quite fair to conclude from this fact, that these marks of aspiration were omitted as one might neglect to dot an i, or to cross a t, and the omission took I^lace through the mere haste of transcribers, though sometimes perhaps intentionally, especially on those consonants which were always pro- nounced as aspirate, as b in the termination of the dative or ablative
Introduction. Ixvii
plural, and 5 and D in the termination uj^ud, and d in ao, the ter- mination of active participles, or progressive active nouns. Theeclips- ino- consonants are also equally necessary to the sense, for when they arc omitted, the sense is sometimes so obscured that tlie meaning can only be guessed at, or discovered by investigation too troublesome to impose at all times on a reader.
Seasa a^us 6uaoha
5easa a^us buaolia
^©QSQ -| upjapca pij Gpeno i pij na cinceao annpo pip.
Seachc n-upjapca pij li-Gpino anopo .k
Uupcbail 5peni paip ma I0151 1 TDui^' dieampach; ruplaim* Cheacaine 1 IDuij Gpeaj; imrheachc minji Cuillino lap puineao n-5pene ; plaioi a each' i Pan^-chomaip ; ceaclic bia niaipc pop Uearhpa* chuaipcepr; bpoineach^ pop beachpa m 6uan lap m-6eall- raine"; pljchc pliiaij pop Qrh TTIaijne [in VTIaipc] lap Samiiin'^.
Q peachr m-buaoa:
lapc 6oinDi [do romailc]; piao Cuibni^i; meap manano ; ppaechmeap 6pi5 6eichi^; bipop 6popnaiDi; uipce chobaip Cldachr- 5a; milpab Maipi'°: h-i Calaino Qujmpc do poichoip pin uili do pij Ceampach. Qn bliaoain i cemleao inopin ni cheijeab 1 n-oi- peum paejail do" -\ ip piam no moijeoD ap cac lear.
Coic upjapra pig ^aigean anopo .1.
Caipmchell Cecaine pop Uiiuich Coijean pop cuaidibeal; coo-
' The numerals refer to tlie various readings, wliicli wilt be found at tlie end of tlie worl;.
» Of the provinces cuiceao. This Now only four provinces are recognised,
word literally means a fifth part, and is and still CU15 cuijeab na h-Bipennn
translated Quintana by O'Flaherty in his is a common expression to denote all Ireland.
Ogygia, p. 24, but it came to denote a '' Magh Teamhrach This should be,
province in Ireland, from the fact that that <it Teamhair, as in the poem.
kingdom was anciently divided into five c Left-hand-wise cuaicbbeal, i. e.
great divisions. See Kcating's History of sinistrorsnm. See Toland's Critical Ilis-
Ireland, Ilaliday's edition, p. l^.'i-Mf). tory of the Celtic Religion, p. 14.", where
THE RESTRICTIONS AND PREROGATIVES OF THE KINGS OF EIRE.
The restrictions and prohibitions of the king of Eire (Ireland), and of the kings of the provinces* down here.
Seven are the " urgharta" (prohibitions) of the king of Eire, i.e.: The sun to rise upon him on his bed in Magh Teamhrach'' ; to alight on Wednesday in Magh Breagh ; to traverse Magh Cuillinn after sun- set; to incite his horse at Fan-chomair; to go on Tuesday against north Teabhtha (Teffia) ; to go in a ship upon the water the Monday after Bealltaine (May-day) ; [to leave] the track of his army upon Ath Maighne the Tuesday after Samliain (All-Hallows). His seven " buadlia" (prerogatives): The fish of the Boinn (Boyne) to eat; the deer of Luibneach; the fruit of Manann (Mann); the heath-fruit of Brigh Leithe; the cresses of the Brosnach ; the water of the well of Tlachtgha ; the venison of Nas (Naas). On the calends of August all these things reached the king of Tcamhair (Tara). The year in which he used to eat of these was not reckoned as life spent, and he was wont to rout his enemies before him on every side.
The five prohibitions of the king of Laighin (Leinstcr) bore, viz.: To go I'ound Tuath Laighean left-hand-wise*^ on Wednesday ; to sleep
ho writes: " This sanctified tour, or round, land, p. 20. h\L\\c Leabfiur Brcac,M 12G, by the south, is called Deiseal, as the uii- the word CUCtichbel is used as follows: hallowed contrary one bv the north, 7'ua-
pholl (siniRtrorsum)." See also Martin's "Uaip ip piap boi ai?;eO Cpipr
Description of fbp Western Islands of Scot- in a cpoich .1. fpip in carpoij
B 2
4 ^eay^a a^uj' buaoha
icip Oochpa -] t)uiblmD i a cheant) pop a learh bpajaiD; popbaipi nae cpach pop muijib Cualutro; imchecc ^iiain cap bealach ii-Duiblinoi; each pulach peipeab'^ Dub pai cap ITIaj TTlaip- cean.
Qceac a aoa imoppo:
nieapQlmaine; piao ^linbJ Seappaij; ol" ppi coinolib ciapcha i n-t)ino-l^i5 op 6eapba; cuipm ChualanD; cluichi Capman.
Coic upjap-a p)j5 TTIiiman:
Ctippechc pia peip'^ Caca Cein do chaichim on 6uan co poili ; peip aiochi poilcc Pogarhaip pia n-^eim il-Ceicpechaib; popbaip nae epoch" pop Siuip; tDal choiccpichaip im ^abpan; opna6 ban niuiji Petnin ja n-DochpaiOi Do epceacc do"'. ,
Q cuic buaoa .1.
Cpo6 Cpuachnai la jaipm chuach; lopcao ^aijean chuachja- baip; coijeaDol chepca copjaip 1 Caipil'^; imcheacc Sleibi Cua caeca'^ lap pib oepcepc Gpeno; ceacc co pluaj lechoDap Dia TTlaipc cup TTIaj n-Qilbe.
Coic vipjapcu pij choiciD n-Oilneajmacc'^ anopo .1.
Cop im^" Chpuachain [lap piocain] Dia Samna; ceacl^c a m-bpuc bpic pop eoch glap bpic 1 ppaech ^uchaiD J n-t)al Chaip; ceachr ) m-bannoail a Seajaip; puioi Pojamuip 1 peapcaib*' mna niaine ; comluch^^ pia mapcach eich leich leachguiU in n-Qch ^allca^' icip DO chleich.
Q choic buuDO .1.
QUao'^ jiall [a copac] a h-Oipbpean; pealj Slebi ^oja; lach- a^pc" chopma cee 1 TlTuij TTIuipipce; eDiuo oaipbpi 6peici Dia bpuc lap puachap na Upi l^op; oal choiccpichaip ppi cuachaib Ueam- pach ic Qch Cuam-''; macan Ceacpamam i niaenilaaij ace r\a pa oeicci pop tDapmaj^'.
lepupalem, -| ip paip boi aijeo to him was Depp [dea<;w«Mm], to Christ."
Conrini "| in ni po pu cuachbel •' Geim. — A part of the year among the
Dopum ip peD on po bo Depp do ancient Irish, comprising seven months.
Cpipc, i. e. For it is westwards Christ's See the Introduction,
face was [turned] on his cross, i.e., to- « Zew*, copgap. — Tliis, like the French
wards the city of Jerusalem; and it is ca?-w«e, anciently caresme, seems an abbre-
eastwards Longinus's face was [turned], viation of Qwctrfra^'esma, as is c incite p,
and what was cuarhbel [sinistrorst(iii~\ ^\'hitsuntide, of Quinquagesitiia. It is
l?(o5li 6i]ieaTin. 5
between tlie Dotliair (Dodder) and the Duibhlinn, with his head in- clining to one side; to encamp for nine days on the plains of Cualann; to travel the road of Duibhlinn on iNIonday ; to ride on a dirty, black- heeled horse across Magh Maistcan.
These are his " adha" (prerogatives), viz. :
The fruit of Almhain ; the deer of Gleann Searraigh ; to drink Avith wax candles at Dinn Kiogh over the Bearbha (Barrow); the ale of Cualann ; the games of Carman.
The five prohibitions of the king of Mumha (Munster) :
To remain to enjoy the feast of Loch Lein from one Monday to another; to feast by night in the beginning of harvest, before Geini'', at Leitreacha; to encamp for nine days upon the Siuir; to hold a bor- der meeting at Gabhraa ; to listen to the groans of the women of Magh Feimhin when suffering violation.
His five prerogatives, i. e. :
The cattle of Cruachan at the singing of the cuckoo; to burn north Laighin (Leinster) ; to keep the obligation of Lent^ at Caiseal (Cashel) ; to pass over Sliabh Cua with [a band of] fifty after pacifying the south of Eire; to go with a greyish host on Tuesday over ]\Iagh Ailbhe.
The five prohibitions of the king of the province of Oilneagmacht^ (Connaught) here:
To make a treaty respecting Cruachan after making peace on Samhain's day ; to go in a speckled garment on a grey speckled steed to the heath of Luchaid in Dal Chais ; to go to an assembly of women at Seaghais; to sit in Autumn on the sepulchral mounds of the wife of Maine ; to contend in running with the rider of a grey one-eyed horse at Ath Gallta, between two posts.
His five prerogatives, i. e. :
To take hostages first from Oirbsean; the chase of Slial)h Lugha; to drink hot ale in Magli jMuirisce; the clothing of the oak of Breice with his cloak after a rout through the Tri Kosa; a border meeting at Ath Luain (Athlonc) with the tribes of Teamhair; to be on Maen-nilmgh <iu May morning, but so as that he goes not over upon Dar-mhagh.
nlso wiiUcii cop^ct)\ wliicli is not uiiliki- luoviiicc of Coiiiuulit, |M>s.siljlv tlio Nac-
1 lie Frciuli ('(/;■(. s-m*'. See ('onnat'.'- (llds- iiata- of I'lolcniipu.s. Sci O'Coikt, Dis-
sary, vorc Ciriti^ep. nrt. sec. xiii. ; Book ol Lcatiin, fol. '22\ :
' Oiliiniqmuihi was llio old name of the Ti{,'licarnadi. a<l A. f). .Vd.
6 ^eapa aguf buaoha
Coic upjapca pjj Ulao .i.
6achpaif T3aca Cme icip ojaib tDal n-Qpaioe ; ecpeacc pe lua- tnain enjiall'* 6inDi Saileacb lap puineab n-jpeni^^; copouD peipi pop peoil raipb tDaipi mic Oaipi^"; ceacc^' a mip TTlapca i muij Choba; uipce 60 HemiD bo ol icip ba boipchi.
Q choic buaoa .1.
Cluicbi Cuailnje ppi cpob m-bapc; maipi [a pluaij] pop IDaij rnuipcheriine ; cinopceaoal a pluaijib bo gpeap a h-6amain Dlaichi ; pappacb" jiall co t)un Sobaipci ; b-uachap^* 6amna maici j, pep puippi CO n-ibnu na ceopa ceac aiocbi pia n-bul cap coicpicb. ^uag a puiji in n-Uipneacb cacb peachcmoo bliaban 1 op cupcbail a inaib: -\ ip cuma olegap be cacb coiceab 1 n-Gpinb. Ro blijgpeab- pom bin bo pij Ueamjiacb pep Uearhpacb bo beanarii lappin, no bib peacbc pij Ceampacb pop Gpinb uili -| ip ano no cheanbaigoip pij na coiceoD a puioi a n-Uipneacb; ba pi in cbam -| m ceanoacb pm .1. buinoi niub no bio ma lairh cacba plachu inb Gpinb o'op Deapj nop pacBao pm ma inab ola: ap in can no choimlibip na pij pm pep Ueampacli no gleoip oala Gpinb co ceann peacbc m-bliaoan cona puijlibip piacana peicheamnapanacoiceapcaco pin peipn-aili lap peacbc m-blia6naib. Ip beriiin cpa do pijaib Gpenb bia peacb- iiiallbip a n-jeapa 1 bia pacbabip a m-buaoa ni biab cuipel na cupbpoo popaib ni chicpab ceibm na caniileacca na plaicb 1 ni buib- bibip vipcbpa aimpipi pe nocbaio bliaoan". Hi olij bin cuaipc no ceanbai^eacc in pili no m pai peancbaoa nacb piapapa aoa 1 upj- apca na pij po.
? To pay for his seat at Uis7ieach This were celebrated annually on the first of
name is retained to the present day, which Slay. See Keating's account of Uisuoach,
is that of a hill, now iisually angliciz;Kl where it is added (in the -words of the
Usny hill, or Usnagh hill, parish of Killare, translation by Gratianus Lucius) " Census
barony of Ilathconrath, AVestmeatli. Ac- auteni, qid Regi Conaciag (ut cujus impe-
cording to Keating, Tuathal Teachtmhar, rio quondam Usnacha subjecta fiut) ex his
monarch of Ireland, in the first century, en- nimdinis provenerat, fuit, ut singnli d^-nastw
larged the boundaries of the ancient Midhe qui ad nunttlnas accccissent, ad eum equuni
(iMcath), by cutting off a portion of each cum paludamentis [eac 7 eappab]
of the provinces, and erecting a royal pa- conferret." See also O'Flaherty's Ociutjia,
lace on each. According to Iiiui, King part iii c. 56, ;inil the Ordnance map of
Tuathal erected a jialace, and established tiie parish of Killare, on Avhich ilie an-
fairs or pubhc marts at Uisneacli, in ciciit remains of tlie hill of Uisnoacli arc
the C'onna-.Iit portion of ]\I<ath, wliich shewn. For liiu, ov /rc'c 'mu Unrii.
Rtogli Gijiecmn. 7'
The five prohibitions of the king of Uladh (Ulster), i. e. :
The horse-fair of Rath Line, among the youths of Dal Araidhe ; to listen to tlie fluttering of the flocks of birds of Linn Saileach after sunset; to celebrate the feast of the flesh of the bull of Daire-mic-Daire ; to go into Magh Cobha in the month of March ; to drink of the water of Bo Neimhidh between two darknesses.
His five prerogatives, i. e. :
The games of Cuailgne with the assembly of the fleet; the mus- tering of his_ army ou the plain of Muirtheimhne ; to commence his liosting always from Eamhain Macha; to send his hostages to Dun Sobhairce; " The terror of Eamhain Macha," i. e. to feast there for three nights armed before passing over the border. To pay for his seat at Uisneachs every seventh year on taking his place, and this is also the right of every provincial king in Eire. After this these required of the king,of Teamhair to make the feast of Teamhair'' ; the kings of the provinces used to purchase their seats at Uisneach, and the purchase and price they paid was this, i. e. the " hero's ring" of red gold which each prince wore on his hand, which he used to leave in his drink- ing seat; for when these kings had eaten of the feast of Teamhair, the assemblies of Eire were dissolved for seven years, so that they 2)ronounced no decision on debts, debtors, or disputes, till the next feast, after [the expiration of] seven years. It is certain to the kings of Eire that if they avoid their " geasa" (restrictions), and obtain their "buadha" (prerogatives), they shall meet no mischance or misfortune; no epidemic or mortality shall occur in their reigns, and they shall not experience the decay of age for the space of ninety years. The poet or the learned historian who does not know the " adha" (preroga- tives), and " urgharta" (prohibitions) of these kings, is not entitled to visitation or to sale' [for his poetry].
'' The feast of Tnni peip Ueuril- <l'»'s iKit appt'jir to lj« lioriie out by any of
pach. This is traiislatfd " coniitia To I'"" ^''^' Lives of St. Patrick, tlio autli.iiti.'
inorensia," by Colgaii, Lyncli, CFlaliL-rty, ^''s'' annals, or the older inaniiscrii)( .k -
and others, but it is more truly rendered counts of Tsira. See Petrie's History and
"venu Tamrecli," by Tinhernacli, and tiic Antiquities of Tara IJill, pp. 68, 59. See
original compiler of tliu Annals of I'l.ster. "'^" Ke^iling's aeeount of the J'rix Titimh-
All the niotlern writers of the liistory of mc/i, as established by the monarch Tuathal
Inland assert tliat (lie Fiix Tnim/iK/ili 'IVachtinhar.
was (Tlebratcd every lliird year, but tiii. '»(/«•. ceHMOiTl^eUCC, liltu'ally. Irallii.
8 5^^r" «5^T t)uat)ha
De quibup Cuan Ua 6eochan, in pai, cecinic.
Q pip am laoap in c-each,
ip me m c-O Ceocban" laioeach ; nom leic peachao ip ceach ceano a puil aipbpij na h-Gipeano.
dp acum po jebchap do eolup — na ba h-imapgo — a peacbc n-a6a imaD m-bpij, la peacbr n-upgapca aipopij.
Cejchap peacbc m-bua6a — cia beab? DO pij Ueariipacb ; Dia coippeac biD coipcbeacb oo in calam que, bi6 cacb-bua6acb camgen-jlic.
h-i Calamo Qujuipc Do'n pij DO poicbbip DO ay each cip : meappab TTIanann monap n-jle; acup ppaecbmeap 6pi5 ^eichi;
rtlilpao Naipi^'*; lapc &oinDi ; bipap 6popnai6i baioi;
It alludes to the privilege wliich every "'ItwiUbenofiction,nahah-}ma\}'go,
true poet enjoyed of selling his own com- which has not been fabricated by me, but
positions. For a very curious reference to which has been handed down to me as
this custom see the Tripartite Life of St. tested by the experience of ages.
. Patrick, published by Colgan, lib. iii. c. 21, " The ready earth shall be fruitful — It
where it is stated that Dubhthach, chief poet was the belief among the ancient Irish,
of Lcinster, had sent his disciple Fiach to that when their kings acted in conformity
present some poems of his composition to -with the institutions of their ancestors,
the princes of that province. the seasons were favourable, and that
k Cuan O'Lochan See the introduc- the earth yielded its fruit in abundance ;
tion. but when they violated these laws, that
' JFho closest the house. — He addresses plague, famine, and inclemency of weather
the door-keeper of king Maelseachlainn ^ere the result. See Battle ofMagh Rath,
(Malachy) II., at his palace of Dun na p. 100-103.
sgiath (fort of the shields), near the north- ° M«n«nw,_This is the present Irish
west margin of Loch Aininn (Lough Ennel, name of the Isle of Mann, which seems to
near Mullingar, Wcstmcath). have anciently belonged to the monarch
Ri'o^li Gipeann. 9
Concerning which things Cuan O'Lochan'' the sage, thus sang : J~fO 2M-
O noble man who closest the house', I am the O'Lochan of the poems, Let me pass by thee into the powerful house, In which is the monarch of Eire.
AVith me will be found for him
The knowledge — it will be no fiction™ — Of his seven prerogatives of many virtues, With the seven prohibitions of a monarch.
Let the seven prerogatives be read — what harm ? For the king of Teamhair ; if he observe them The ready earth shall be fruitful" for him, He shall be victorious in battle, wise of counsel.
On the calends of August, to the king
Were brovight from each respective district, The fruits of Manann°, a fine present; And the heath-fruit of Brigh LeitheP ;
The venison of Nas'' ; the fish of the Boinn""; The cresses of the kindly Brosnach* ;
of Ireland; but there were many places in am or ppaocoja, not the berries of
Ireland so called, so that it is not abso- the heath, but bilberries or whortleberries,
lately certain that it is the Isle of Mann Some of the old Irish suppose that this,
that is here referred to. and not the heath, is the shrub from which
P Briyh Z-etMe.— This Wiis the ancient the Danes brewed a kind of beer. name of Sliabh Calraighe (Slieve Golry), n Naas, in Kildare, where the kings of
situated to the west of the village of Ard- Leinster had a residence till the tenth cen-
achadh (Ardagh, in Longford), as we learn tury, the site of which \i still pointed out. from the Life of B^jshop Macl, (Mel) G Feb. ■■ Boyne. — This well-known river has ils
where it is stated that Bri Leith is situa- source in Trinity well, at the foot of a hill
t«d between Mael's church of Ard-achadh, anciently called Sidh Ncachtain, Bar. Car-
and the nunnerj' of Druimcheo, the for- bury, Kildare. It was the chief river of
mcr lying on the east, and the latter on the Irish monarch's territory of Jleatli, and
the west side of it. Colgan, Acta SS. Ilib. vas always celebrated for its salmon. 261. col. 2, cap. ix., sub fine. Possibly ' Brosna, a well-known river which
the fruit of the heath, ppuecriiecip, rises at Bunbrosna, Wcstmcatli, and passes
hcrcri fin( (ltd, is wlint willow call pjHioc- through Loch Uair ((hvcl), Loch Ainiun
10
Uifci cobaip Cluccgu be'"; Qcup piao luac ^vnbnibe.
Cejrhap peachc n-jepi — ni juo, bo pij Ueampach ; bia coippeub DO paipci piUeab'5 cara acup abjciU apbpacha*:
Slichc pluaig in Hlaipc lap Saniuin oap Qc rriaigne beapmajaip; bpuineach ap beachpa bpome ip in ^uan lap m-6ellcaine ;
niaipc inp, ni bli5 plaich peipc,
1 Ueadipa*" cuar juipni chuaipcepr: imcheacc lap puinneab n-jpeni TTIuiji Callainb^' cpuaib plebe
Uaipplim Ceacaine — ni ceal, ni bip bo pop opuimnib Speaj;
(Ennt'll), to the Shannon, a short distance to the north of the town of Banagher.
' Tlachtgha This was the ancient
nauae of the hill now called the Hill of Ward, which is situated near the town of Athboy, Meath. According to a vellum MS. preserved in the Library of Trinity Col- lege, Dublin, H. 3, 17, p. 732, the hill of Tlachtgha is situated in that part of ancient Meath which originally belonged to jMun- ster, and in the territory of Ui Laeghaire, which, since the establishment of sur- names was the patrimonial inlieritance of the family of the O'Cainnealbhains, now Quin- lans, the descendants of Laeghaire, the last Pagan monarch of Ireland. There is a remarkable eaithen fort on tlie hill, said to have been originally erected by the mo- narch Tuathal Teachtmhar, towards the middle ol' the second ccntiuv, where the
Druids lighted their sacred tires on the eve of Samhain (All- Hallows). The well referred to in the text is at the foot of the hill, but not now remarkable for any sa- cred characteristics.
" Luibiieach. — This name is no^v ob- solete. It was applied to a, place on the borders of ancient Meath and Munster. See the Book of Leacan, fol. 2()0, b.
" Sunihaiu. — This is still the name for All-hallow tide, or 1st of November. It is explained by O'Clery as conipouiidcd of parh-pum, i. e. the end of Smnmer.
" At/i Maighne Tliis was the ancient
name of a ford on the river Eitlme (Inny), jiarish of Mayne, Bar. Fore, Westnieath, a i^Iiort distance to the west of the town of Castlepollard. It is mentioned in the An- notations of Tirechan in the Boole of Ar- magh, as on the boundarv between norlh
Riogli 6i|ieanTi.
11
The water of the Avell of Tlachtgha' too; Aud the swift deer of Luibneach".
Let his seven restrictions be read, — no reproach, To the king of Teamhair; if he observe them It Avill guard against treachery in battle, And the pollution of his high attributes.
The track of an army, on the Tuesday after Sandiain^, Across Ath Maighue"', of fair salmons; To put ship on the water of the ships (.'n the Monday after Bealltaine;
On Tuesday a true king ought not at all to go Into the dark country of north Teabhtha" ; Or traverse, after the setting of the sun, Magh Callainuv of the hard mouutaiu ;
'IV) alight on Wednesday — I will not conceal it — It is not hnvful for him, on the hills of Breagh'';
ami Muith Tiiflia.
" Nurt/i Teahhtha — In the fifth century this name was applied to the region extend- ing from the riv^er Eithne (Inny) to Slialih Chairbre, a wild blue nKiuntain<iu.s district on the nortliern bouislary of tl)e present county of Longford ; in later ages tliis terri- tory was usually called Anghaile (Annaly). The apparent reason that tlie monarcli was jiroliibited from entering this territory was, because Cairbre, the brother of the monarch Laeghaire, and tins his territory of North Tcllia, were cursed [on Tuesday] Ijy St. Pa- trick.
> In the prose it is called Magh Cnil- liini. Tins would be anglicized Moyculicn. It is (bllicull to ilccide wliat plain I Ids was, as there is more than one place of th<' name in Ireland.
' Ihiitfjh This is usually calli d M.il:!i
(the plain of) Breagli, and Latini/.oil Bre- ffiu. It was tiie nauie of a plain in the eastern pai't of the ancient Meath, comitris- ing, according to Keating and others, live triocha-eheds or baronies. In latter ages, as appeai-3 from the places mentioned as in this plain, it would seem that it Wiis the countr}- lying between Dublin and Drogh- eda, or bet\veen the river Lilfey and the lloyne, but its e.\act boundaries are not de- iined in any of oiu: authorities. Mageogh- egan states, in his translation of the An- nals of Clonmaenoise, at tlie year 778, tliat .Moy Brey extended from Dublin to Bea- lach Breck, west of Kells, and from Ibc liill of Ilciw th to the UKiuidain of Slieve l''u;dd in ri,--tcr. Diuiiniti Unayh, wiiich mc.-uis ilDrfii f>'rr)/i((; woidd apjx'ar to I'c the name of a billy part of this territory. In IMai l'irlii-.ij^bV (ienealogi<uI work (]Mar'|iii> ot
12
^eapa ajuf buaolia
5pian paip o'epji i Ueurhaip choip; plai6e a each''* i Pan-chomaip.
Cuan h-Ua Ceochan co li^' ^aijin co[a]pi maG Dia pi, ni chelpa^^ paip a aba naiD a jeapa jopm-jlana :
^eip oo cuaipc, pia n-bul pop eeal, pop cuar Caijean pop cuaic-bel; jep DO coUa6 claine cino icip tDorpa acup Ouiblino;
^eip bo popbaip — peajchap ano, nae cpach pop muijib Cualanb;
Drogheda's copy), p. 172, Eath ochtair Cuiliiin is placed i n-OpuiTTinib bpedj.
=* The sun to rise upon him — This je ip, or forbidden thing, is not unlike the so- lemn injunction laid by Mahomet on his successors, that they should be at prayer befoi-e the rising of the sun.
^ Comar There are countless places of
this name in Ireland, which means the con- fluence of rivers. Perhaps the place here alluded to is the place called Comar near Clonard, in the south-west of the county of East Meath. Fan-chomair is the slope or declivity of the Comar.
'^ Before going to heaven^ i. e. while alive in this world. This expression is often used in old Irish writings, as is also gup ciun CO ciap ap ceal, which means, serus in ccelum redeas, or mayest thou live long, an expression ev-idently translated by the Irish from the classical writers. See Ilorat. Lib. i. Od. ii., Ovid. lib. xv. lin. 8(J8, Tarda sit ilia dies, kc, and Cormac's Glossary, voce Ceal.
'' Tuatli Laighean, the north of Laighin or Leinster.
• Left-hand-wisi. — In Lcahhar na h-
Uidhri, folio 59 (now folio 40), a. a, ruairoiL is used to denote northward, or to the left ; north and left are synonymous in Irish. See above, p. 2, note •=.
f Dothair (fem.) Dothra This is the
ancient Irish form of the name of the river Dodder, in the county of Dublin. The church of Achadh Finiche is described in the Feilire jEnguis, at 11th of May, and in the Irish calendar of the O'Clerys, as on the brink of the Dothair, in the territory of Ui Dunchadha, in Leinster — pop Bpu t)ocpa 1 n-Uib*t)unchaDa.
s Diiibhlinn. — This was the ancient name of that part of the river Life (LifFey) on which the city of Dublin stands. It is explained iiigrce t her ma: by the author of the Life of St. Coemhghin (Kevin) ; so, Col- gan, " Pars enim Liffei fluminis, in cujus ripa est ipsa civitas, Hibemis olim vocaba- tur Dubh-linn, i.e. nigricans alveus sive profundus alveus." — Trias Thaiim., p. 112, n. 71. The city was and is called Atli Cliath, Ath Cliath Duibhlinne, and Baile Atha Cliiith, a name shortened into Blea Cliath. Tlie above prohibition may have owed its origin to tlic fact of some king
Pfogh 6i|ieann.
13
The sun to rise iipon him east at Teamhair* • Or to incite his horse at Fan-chomair''.
Ciian O'Lochan am I, of fame.
Should I reach the king of Laighin,
I shall not conceal from him his prerogatives,
Nor his clearly-defined prohibitions.
'Tis prohibited to him to go round, before going to heaven*^, Over north Laighin*^, left-hand-wise^; 'Tis prohibited to him to sleep Avith head inclined Between the Dothair^ and the DuibhlinnS ;
It is prohibited to him to encamp, let it be minded, For nine days on the plains of Cuaknn'' ;
of Leinster ha's-iiig been found dead in his Ijed in the district, \nth his neck crooked.
'• Cualann The situation and extent of
this territoiy have Iwen strangely mistaken by modern Irish writers. But we have evidences wliich will leave no doubt as to its exact situation, for in the Feilire JEn- fn'is the churches of Tigh Conaill, Tigh niic Diramai, and Dun mor, are placed in Cualann. And in an inquisition taken at Wicklow on the 21st of April, 163G, the limits of Fercoulen, ;. e. Feara Cualann, are defined as follows :
" The said Tirlagh O'Toole humbly de- sireth of his Majestic to have a certain t«r- ritorj' of land called Fercoulen, wliich his ancestors liad till they were cxpulscd by the earls of Kildarc. That the said terri- tory containeth in length from Bamecullen, by east and south, and (Jlassyn[. . .]kie to Pollcallon b_y west the wind gates, viz., five miles in length and four in l)rcadtii, being the more part mountaines, woods, and rocks, andtheofher [)arte good fertile laiuls. Witiiiu the Buid territt)ry were certiiin villages and craggs [^recie creaglifs] of old tyuie, being
now all desolate excepte onely Powerscourt, Killcollin, Beanaghebegge, Benaghmor, the Onenaghe, Ballj'cortie,Templeregan, Kilta- garrane, Cokiston, Ancre\vj-n, Killmolliuky, Ballynbrowne, Killeger, and the Mainster." From this description of the territory of the Feara Cualann it is quite e%ident that it was then considered as coextensive with the half barony of Kathdown, in the north of the county of Wicklow, and adjoining the county of Dublin. Harris, in his edi- tion f)f Ware's work, vol. u. p. 48, places this territory several miles out of its proper locality, for he describes it as "a territory in the east and maritime part of the coimty of Wicklow, comprehending the north parts of the barony of Arcklow, and the soutli of the barony of Newcastle." But Usshcr, in whose time the name was still in use, places the river of Bray and Old Court in Cridi Cualann \_I'rini<)r<lia, p. 8-lG], in which it will be observed that he is per fcctly borne out by the petition sot forth in the inquisition above quoted, which was taken about the same time thai he was writing his I'rimur.Hu.
14
^eafa ajuy^ buabha
gep 00 Dul pe fluaj malle Cuan cap 6elach n-tDuiblinoi ;
^ep bo ap niuij ITIaipcean oamub^'^ pai each palac peipeao**' 6iiB: oceac pin — ni oenano pean, coic upjapca P15 f-aigean''^.
f,oech 5a puileao cuic a6a pij ^aijean lip Cabpaba: meap Qlmaine 00 '5a chij^; aciip pia6 ^linbi Seappaij;
01 ppi coinblib ciappra cai6
a n-[t)]inD-Ri5 Do'n pij po jnaich, plan cpach cpiach cuainanb DniDpa)n; cuipm Chualann; cluichi Capmum.
Caippiul na pij^ paen in paich acaic cuic buaba bia plaich;
' Bealach Duibhlinne The road or pass
of the Duibhlinn. See p. 12, note S.
J The plain of Maistin, i. e. the plain around the hill of Maistin, or, as it is generally called, Mullaghmast, parish of Naraghmore, and about five miles east of the to%vn of Athy, in Kildare. For some curious notices of events wliich occurred at this place, the reader is referred to Keat- ing's History of Ireland, reigns of Cormac Mac Art, and Brian Borumha; Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 1577, and Philip O'Sullivan Beare's History of the Irish Catholics, io\. 86.
^ The fort ofLabhraidh, i. e. of Labh- raidh Loingseach, monarch of Ireland of the Lagenian race, A. M., 3682, for some stories about whom the reader is referred to Keating's History of Ireland, and O'Fla- liprtj's Opj/fjia, part ill. c. .T9. His fort
was Dinn Riogh, vide infra, note °.
' Almhain (Allen), a celebrated hill in the county of Kildare, situated about tive miles to the north of the tovm of Kildare.
'" Gleann Seai-raigh, i. e. the glen of the foal. The situation of this glen is unknown to the Editor.
" Wax candles This is a curious re- ference, as it would appear that the kings of Leinster did not reside at Dimi Riogh since the period of the introduction of Chris- tianity.
" Dinn Riogh, i. e. the hill of the kings. This is the most ancient palace of the kings of Leinster. Keating describes Dinn Riogh as "ap bpuac 6eapba ibiji Cheac- aplac 1 6eic^lmn, bo'n leic riap bo'n 6heapba, i. e. on the brink of the Barrow, between Carlow and Xeigiilin, on the west side of the Barrow ;" Koating's
l?i'o5li Gijieann.
1')
'Tis prohibited to liini to go with a host On iNIoiiday over the Bealach Duibhlinno' ;
It is prohibited to him on^Magh Maisteani, on any aoconnt. To ride on a dirty, black-heeled horse : , These are — he shall not do them — The five things prohibited to the king of Laighin.
A hero who possesses five prerogatives.
Is the king of Laighin of the fort of Labhraidh'' :
The fruit of Almhain' [to be brought] to him to his house ;
And the deer of Gleann Searraigh*" ;
To drink by [the light of] fair wax candles" At Din Riogh° is very customary to the king, Safe too is the chief of Tuaim in that [custom] ; The ale of CualannP ; the games of Carman''.
Caiseal of the kings, of great prosperity, Its prince has five prerogatives:
I list. Ireland, Ilaliday's edition, preface,
11. 42. Tliis place is still well known. It
is situated in the to%vnland of Ballyknockan
about a fiuartcr of a mile to the .south of
Li'iglilin Bridge, to the west of the Kivor
Barrow. Nothing remains of the palace
liiit a moat, measuring two hundred and
thirty-seven yards in circumference at the
h;i.<e, sixty-nine feet in height from the level
of the river Barrow, and one hundred and
thirty-five feet in diameter at the top, where
it |)resents a level surface, on which the
king of lycinster's royal house evidently stood.
In a fragment of the Annals of Tigher-
nach preserved in the Bodleian IJbrary at
Oxford, Rawlinson, 502, fol. 1. b. col. 1.
the following passage occurs relative to llic
burning of this pal.ice:
" Cobrcjch Coelhpe^ mac U^- nuu' moip DO lopciio CO rpichac
pij5 imme i n-t)inDpij; nictije Qilbe hi bpuom Cuama Cen- bach painpuo, la Cabpaio r,oin^- pech .1. nioen mac Qilella Qine mic ^oejaipe ^.uipc mic lljaine moip 1 n-Dij^ail a arap -\ a penarap po mapb Cobcach Coel. CocoG 6 pern etcip f.ai^nui -\ ler Cmno." "C'obhthachCaclbreagh, thosoudfrgainc Mor, was burned together with thirty kings about him at Dinn Kiogh of jMngh Aillihe, in the palace of Tuaim Teanbath, by Labh- raidh Loingseach, i. e. Jlaen, the son of Aileall Aine, son of Laeghaire Lore, son of Ugaine Mor, in revenge of his father and grandfather, whom Cobhthach C'ml had slain. A war arose from this between Lcinster and Ix-atli Chiiinii."
1' Cuulann See p. 13, note '', supra.
1 Carman This was the n.uiic of the
U)
5eafa ajup buat)ha
cpoo Cpuachna cui co conjaip; lopcao Caijjn cuachgabaip;
Caeca rap Sliab Cua nft ceano lap pichchain oepcepr Gpeno; imcheacc maiji — maich in moo, Qilbe pe pluaj leachooap;
^eabaij i Caipiul lap pcip CO ceanb caecaipi ap mip*^ cacha bliaona pop — na ceil, aciao buaoa pij Caipil.
Rij Caipil, — ip cpao oia cheill aippeachc pe pep Caca Cein — o'n Cuan co poili a caichirii — ip copac Dia ciujlaichiB^^:
^eip 00 aibchi poilc pia n-^eim Pojarhaip il-Ceicpeacbaib ; popbaip nae cpach pop Siuip puain; oal clioicpichaip im ^abpuain ;
site now occupied by the town of Wexford. It appears from the Irish work called Dinn Seanchiis, that the kings of Leinster cele- brated fairs, games, and sports at this place from a very early period.
*■ The cattle of Cruachan This ob- viously means that it would be a lucky or success-insuring thing for the king of Caiseal to plunder the plain of Rath Crua- chan, and carry off the cattle of the king of Connacht within the period during which the cuckoo sings. The Editor has not met anytliing to throw any light on the origin of this extraordinary injunction.
' The northern Leinster, i. e. Wicklow, Kildare, south Dublin, &c., and part of the King's County. Meath, north Dublin, &c. were not considered part of Leinster at this period.
' Sliahh Cua — This was the ancient name of the movmtain now called Cnoc Maeldomhnaigh, situated to the south of Clonmel in the comity of Waterford. The name is still preserved, but pronounced Sliabh Gua, and now popularly applied to a district in the parish of Seskinan, in the barony of Decies without Drum, lying be- tween Dungarvan and Clonmel.
" The plain of Ailbhe, Tllaj^ Qllbe. This was the name of an extensive plain in Leinster, extending from the river Barrow and Sliabh Mairge, to the foot of the Wick- low mountains. From the places mention- ed in the Irish authorities as situated in this plain, it is quite evident that it comprised the northern part of the barony of Idrone, in the coimty of Carlow, and the baronies of Kilkea and Moone, in the county of Kil-
Riogh Gipeann.
17
The cattle of Cruachan'', when the cuckoo sings ; The burning of northern Laighiu*;
By fifty attended o'er Sliabli Cua' to pass After tlie pacification of tlie south of Eire; To cross tlie plain, in goodly mode, Of Ailbhe", with a light-grey host ;
A bed in Caiseal'', after fatigue
To the end of a fortnight and a month
Each year, moreover, — do not conceal it.
Such are the prerogatives of the king of Caiseal.
The king of Caiseal — it will embitter his feeling To wait for the feast of Loch Lein"' — To stay from one Monday to another to enjoy it — It is the beginning of his last days ;
'Tis prohibited to him [to pass] a night in beginning of harvest Before Geim'^ at Leitreacha" ; To encamp for nine days on the silent Siuir"; To hold a border nieetinor at Gabhran*;
dare. The situation of this plain is thus described by Ussher : "Campus ad rijiam fhivii quern Ptolenieus Birguni, nos \'>ar- row vocanius, noii procul a monte Margeo po.^itus." — Primordia, pp. 936, 937. Tlie author of the Irish poem callod Lani na Lcacht, describing tlic niniiuments of I^ein- 8ter, asks e.\ultingl3-, " Where is there in anj- province of Ireland a plain like Magh Ailbhe V"
* A bed at Cashel, i. e. wherever tlio king of Munster may have his palace, it is absolutely necessary to his prospcritj- ami good luck, that he should sleep at C'a.'^hel for si.\ weeks every year.
"■ Locli Lein. — 'This is still the name of the Lake of Killaniey, in the county of Korrj'.
" f -'ft III, SCO p. 4, note ''.
y Latterayh is a parish in Lower Or- niond, Tipperarj'.
' .S'«(>. — This celebrated river, ■which lias its source in Sliabh Ailduin, (the Devil's liit mountain,) in the county of Tipperary, unites with the Barrow and the sea about one mile lielow Watcrfurd.
» Gahhran (Gowran), in Kilkenny
According to Keating, the territory of Or- mond extended as far as this jilace, ^ut this cannot be considered as its boundary for tlie last thousand jears, for then the greater part of Ossory would belong tA Mimster; but this we cannot believe on the autliorily of Keating, as Ossory is described in the oldest Lives of St. Patrick as the western portion of I^instcr, " Occidentali.^ Laginensiimi plaga." See Fs.sher's Prinidr- ili<i. pp. ftfi.5, OdO. But it would aj.]-.ear
C
18
^eapa agiif 6iiat)ha
]p jep tjo cloipceachc lap pin ppi h-opna6aij ban Peimni ica n-DoclipaiDi na m-ban: inoD gepi pij TTIuriian.
rriapaiD punt) — ni puaill m pmachr, bua6a ip jeapa pij Conbachc: pij Conoachc-,— cia nach cuala ? ni bill cean bich buaba, -
6ua)6 ba bimbaib pe*" each m-buaio, allao*' jiall a h-Oipbpin puaip; pealg Slebi 605a male ; larhaipc chopma 1 ITlujj TTIuipppce ;
niaich DO puachap na Cpi T^op D'pacbail a bpuic ac 6eapnop tm baipbpi m-6peici m-buabach ip in ruaipceapc rpean cpuaoac;
tDal choicpichaip im Qch 6uain
ppi cuachaib Uearhpach cuach chluam;
that the kings of Munster claimed jurisdic- tion over Ossory as far as Gowran, while the Ossorians, on the other hand, in right of the conquest of Magh Feimhin, made by their ancestor ^ngus Osraigheach, con- tended that their country of Osraighe should comprise all the lands extending from the river Siuir to the Bearbha, and from the mountains of Sliabh Bladhma to the meeting of the Three AVaters, in Water- ford harbour. But tliis claim was never established ; for the territory does not ap- pear to have comprised more than the pre- sent diocese of Ossory since the time of St. Patrick. See Keating, reign of Cormac Mac Airt.
*» Feimhin, more generally called Magh- Feimhin, was the ancient name of a plain
comprising that portion of the present comity of Tipperary which belongs to the diocese of Lismore. It is described as ex- tending from the river Siuir northwards to Corca Eathrach, otherwise called Machaire Chaisil, from which it is evident that it comprised the whole of the barony of IfFa and Offa east. See Colgan's Trias Thaum. p. 201 ; Keating's History of Ireland, reign of Cormac Mac Airt ; and Laiiigan's Eccles. History of Ireland, vol. i. p. 282.
<^ Oirbsean, i. e., to take the hostages of the Ui Briuin Seola, and other tribes seat- ed around Loch Oirbsean (Lough Cori'ib in the county of Galway).
•1 Sliabh Logha, more usually called Sliabh Lugha, a well-known mountain- ous territory in the county of Mayo, com-
Ri'oj;b Gipeann. 19
'Tis prohibited to him, aftei' this, to listen To the moans of the women of Feimhin'' [Arising] from the violation of those women: Such are the prohibitions of the king of Mumha.
Here are — not trifling the regulation.
The prerogatives and prohibitions of the king of Connacht: The king of Connacht, who has not heard of him ? He is not a hero without perpetual prerogatives.
One of his prerogatives, which is before every prerogative, The taking of the hostages of the chilly Oirbsean*" ; The hunting of Sliabh Lugha"* also ; The drinking of the fresh ale of Magh Muirisce* ;
Good for him the rout of the Tri Rosa^ , [and] To leave his cloak at Bearnas^ Around the victorious oak of Breice'* In the strong, hardy north ;
To hold a border meeting at Ath Luain'
With the states of Teamhair of the grassy districts;
prising that part of the barony of Costello kilcash, Dunheakin, Dunneill, and Bally-
which belongs to the diocese of Achonrj', eskeen. It is difficult to decide which of
viz., tlie parishes of Kilkelh^ Kilmovee, Kil- these plains is the one referred to in the text.
leagh, Kilcolman, and Castlemore-Costello. ^ The three Rosses It is difficult tode-
* Muirisc, i. e. Sea plain. — There is a cide what Rosses are here referred to, but
narrow plain of this name situated between the editor is of opinion that they are, either
the mountain of Cniach Phadraig (Croagh- tlie district so caUed in the north, or that in
Patrick) and Cuan Modh (Clew Bay), in the west of the county of Donegal.
the west of the county of Mayo. It also ^ Bearnas Tliis is evidently the r«-
became the name of a small abbey situated markablc gapped mountain called Barnis-
in this plain, on the margin of the bay, more, and locally Bearnas, in the barony of
from which the barony of Murrisk received Tirhugli and county of Donegal.'
its name. This name was also applied to '' The nak of Breice The editor has
a district in the barony of Tir Fhiachracjj^ discovered no other notice of this lucky tree.
(Tireragli) and%)unty of Sligo, extending ' /itk Luain (Athlone), a ford on the
from the river Ka.Kkey to Dunnucoy, and Shannon, from wliidi the towi of Athlone
comprising the to wulands of Hos.slee, Cloon- has taken its name. Tlic ford is on the
nagleavragh, Altenian, Dunaltan, Bally- boundary between Connanght and Meatb.
c 2
20
5ec(pa aguf buaoba
maicean Ceireamon ceac m-blaS a maen-ma^, na pij t)ap-baD,
Qcajc up^apca Do'n pij^ Conoachr, cojineab cirip*'-: cop im Chpuachain Dia Samnn ni h-a6a, ace ip eacapbu ;
Imchup pe mapcach eich leirh a n-Qrh ^allca icip oa chleirh ; banoal pop Seajaip co pe ; pai ji J peapcaib mna maine ;
Cf m-bpuc bpic ni ciapcap leip
a ppaech 6uchaic in n-t)ail Chaip: aciac pin ciap in each can cuic upjapca pij Cpuachan.
Cluineao pi^ Lllab" aoa Dopom pe nieap do pala*^ : cluichi CuQiljne cpo6 m-bapc m-beo; mapi pluaij a rnuipdieriineo;
J Mam-magh, a celebrated jilaiii in the jiresent county of Gahvay, comprising the Like and town of Loughrea, the townhinds of Mayode and Finnure, and all the cliam- paign conntry around Loughrea. See Tribes and Cvstoms of the Ui Maine, p. 70, note ', and p. 130.
I* Dar-mh agh — Th i s is probably the place sometimes called Darhybrian, in tlie moun- tain of Sliabli FA'htghe, on the southern boundary of the plain of j\Iaen-magh.
' Cruachan — This was the name of the ancient palace of the kings of Connauglit, situated near Belanagare, in the county of Iloscommon. The place is now called Rathcroghaii, and contains the remains of several earthen forts.
■>' Aih Gallta This place was in Ui
Maine, but the editor has not been able to
identify it with any name now in existence.
" Seaghais. — This was the ancient name of the mountainous district now called Coirr-shliabh, or the Curlieu moimtains, situated on the borders of the counties of Roscommon and Sligo.
" Fearia-mna- Maine, i. e. the grave of the wife of Maine. Tliis moninnent is un- known to the editor, unless it l)e the place called Tuaim mna, i. e. the tumulus of the woman, now anglicized Toonma, and situ- ated on the river Boyle, in the barony of Boyle, and county of Roscommon.
I' Liic/iuid. — Tiiis place still retains its ancient name among those wlio speak Irish, but it is anglicized Lowlii*. It is situated near tlie liamlet of Toberreendonej^ in the barony of Incliiquin and county of Clare, and near the boundarv of the baronv of
T^fojli 6i|iearm.
21
On May morning, ot" first flowers,
To visit Macn-maghJ, but touch not Dar-mluigh'*.
These are things prohibited to the king
Of Connacht — let liim observe them in his country ;
To form a treaty concerning Cruachan' on Samhain's day
Is not prosperity, but it is misfortune;
To contend with the rider of a grey horse At Ath Gallta™, between two posts; A meeting of women at Seaghais" at all ; To sit on the sepulchre of the Avife of Maine" ;
In a speckled cloak let him not go
To the heath of LiichaidP in Dal Chais:
These are at every time, in the west,
The five prohibitions of the king of Cruachan.
Let the king of Uladh^ hear his prerogatives, To him with honour they were given :
The games of Cuailgne"^, [and] the assembling of his swift Jk-et ; The mustering of his host in Muirthemhne* ;
Kiltartan, in the county of Gahvay. Keat- ing,— in the reign of Diarmaid Mac Fear- ghuis'i Ceirbheoil, — describes the country of the Dal Cai", wliich was originally a part of Connaclit, as extending from 15earn tii C'arbad to IJealaeh na Luchaide, and from Ath na Boruniha (at Killaloe) to Leim Cou- chulainn (I.i0ophcad),
n Cfuelfi, i. e. Ul>ter.
' Cuailyne Tliis name is still jirc-
served, but corrupted toCuailglie, in Irish, and anglicized Cooloy. It is applied to a mountainous district in the barony of I>ower Dundulk, in the county of Louth. In an Irish stoiy, entitled, Turuitlhrar/it (iru- uidhr (jridn-sholuis, written by a luitivc of tills district, tiie wcll-knovn mountains of Sliabh I'idliit and Sliabii Feadiia, are 'listinctly mentioned as two of these Cii-
ailgiie momitains, and the district is thus described: "Ip amlcnb cicu ut) cip pin na pui6e .1. an uioBeip ciiui- ceuc cubpac capuoioenc -| tm pul-riiinp pioblac pulbopb fip ruob 01 -| pleibce apoci cimbpeucn up-aoibne lun Go pporaib pionn- cubpaca piop-uipce, -| 00 j^leann- rtiib cairneamaco caob-uuine, 1 DO coiUcib nnin-cunTi)xicu, coiii- cocpomci ap un cuob eili 61." — " This district is thus situated : the noisy, froatliy, wailing sea, and the flowing tierce brine on one side of it, and lofty towering <ie!iglitful mountains, full of white-foaming piire-wMliicd streams, of delightful green- sided valleys, and of sniootii-skirtcd waving woods on the other side."
» Miiirl/irimhnf. — 'liiis territory ifini-
22
^eajo a^u]' biictolm
"Cinopceubul j^uai^io co )^e
DO 5peap a h-6arhain ITIaichi; poppach jiall — ip cian po clop, CO t)un SoBaipci poktpj
SeoiD ap cupcbail a mam a n-Uipneach ITltbi mijiD" in cac peachcmao*'' bliaoan bain ua6 00 pjj Llipni^ imlain^''^
Qcaic upjapca ana GO pij*^ Ula6 imoana: ecpaip*^ [ille] Rara 6ine^'' icip ocaib Qpaioe;
Gicpeachc pe luamain enjiall^' Cinbi Saileach Dia pum jpmn ;
prised that part of the present couuty of Louth, extenduig from the Ciiailgne (Coo- ley) moimtams to the river Boj'iie. Dun- dalk, Louth, Drumiiiisklm, now Dnimiskin, Faugliard, and Monasterboice are men- tioned as in this territoiy. See Annals of Tighemach ad ann. 1002. — Ussher's Pri- mordia, pp. 627, 705, 827, 902. This ter- ritory was also called Machabe Oii'ghiall, as being the level portion of the extensive country of Oirghiall, and the ancient inha- bitants were called Conaille Muirtheimhne. ' Eamhain Maichi, more usually wi'it- ten Eamhain Macha. This was the name of the ancient palace of the kings of Ulster, fi'om the period of Ciombaeth, its foimder, who flourished, according to the accurate annaUst, Tighernach, about three hundi'ed years before Christ, till A, D. 332, when it was destroyed by the three Collas, the ancestors of the people called Oirgiiialla (Oriels). From this period it remained without a house till the year 1387, when Niall O'Neill, presumptive king of LUster,
erected a house witliiu it for the entertain- ment of the literati of Ireland. Colgan, who does not appear to have ever seen this plac«, describes the state of the nuns of the Ultonian palace as follows, in 1647: " Emania prope Ardmacham, nunc fossis latis vestigiis miu-orum eminentibus, et ruderibus, pristinum redolens splendorem." — Trias Tkaum. p. 6. See also O'Flaher- ty's Ogygia, part iii. c. 36.
Dr.Lanigan, in his Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. i. p. 314, note 135, writes: " The gi-owth of Ai-magh contributed to its downfall." But this observation is quite imtenable, as Emania had been deserted for a whole centmy before Armagh was founded. The ruins of Eamhain, or, as it is now corruptly called,, the Navan fort, are to be seen about two miles to the west of Armagh, to the right of the road as you go from Armagh to l^inard or Caledou. They are well described by Dr. Stuart in his Historical Memoirs of Armagh, pp. 578, 579.
Riojli 6i|ieann.
23
The commencement of his hosting, also, Always at Eamhain Macha' ;
The confinement of his hostages — of old 'twas heard, At Dun Sobhairce" the bright ;
A rich gift on taking his place At Uisneach^ of Meath of the mead, In every seventh goodly year. To be given by him to the rightful king of Uisneach.
There are noble prohibitions To the bold king of Uladh : The horse-race of Rath Line**, also, Among the youths of Araidhe'' ;
To listen to the fluttering of the flocks of birds Of Linn Saileach^ after set of sun ;
The editor examined tlie s^ite of Eamhain with great care in 1835, but could not tind any trace of stone walls (vestigiis nniro- riim eminentihus) there ; the earthen worksi, however, arc very extensive, and show that it nni.st have been a place of considerable iniport^inoe.
" Dun Sobhairce, Sobhairce's fort (Dun- severick), an insulated rock containing ^ome fragments of the ruins of a castle, near the centre of a small bay, three miles cast of the Giant's Causeway, in the county of Antrim. See Colgan, Trias Thaum., p. 1 82, where its situation is described as follows : " Duiisobhairce est arx maritima et long^ vetusta regionis Dal Riedia;, qua; iKiincn illud a Sobarcliio filio Ebrici, Regc llibcnua>, primoque arcis illius conditorc circa annum mundi 3CG8, desumpsit, ut ex Quatuor Magistris in aimalibiis, Cata- liigo Rpguni Ilibcriiia; Kctcnno, Lib. i., et ;diis passim rcriim llil)crnicarum Scriptori- Ims colligitur." Charles O'Conor of Bcla- nagarc, and all the writers on Irish topo-
graphy, down to the j-ear 1833, had assiuncd tliat Dun Sobhairce was the old name of Carrickfergus, but the editor ]irnv('d, in an article in the Dublin Penny Journal, p. 361-363, May 11th, 1833, tliat it is the place now railed Dunseve- rick.
* Uisneach Sec note f, p. 6, supra.
™ Ruth Line Tliis rath, which was
otherwi.sc called Rath mor Maighe Lino, is still in existence in the plain of Magh Line (Jloylinny), Lower Massareene, Antrim. See it referred to in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 680, and in tlie An- nals of Coimaught, at 1315.
" Araidhe, i. e. of Dal Araidhe, a large region in the east of Ulster, extending froni Xewry, in the .'^outli of tlie county of Down, to Sliabh Mis (SU'nnnisli), in tlie barony of Lower Antrim, in the county of Antrim. Magh Line, above described, is a portion of Dal Araidhe. It extended from Lough Neagli to near Carrickfergus.
> Linn Sailcach, i.e. lhei>ond of the sal-
24 '^eaya agup 5uat)]ia
coy^caD peip pop peoil caipb t)oipi mic Daipi oono-jaipb ;
Ceachc mip ITIapca a ITIaj Chobu oo pij UloD^- ni h-aoa; uipci 60 o'ol — DopaiD De, Heihi6 lop oa ooipche.
Qca puno ploinoceap co reanb^^ DO chuic pijaib na h-Gpeano, im pij Ueampa cuchc ica a n-aoa 'pet n-upjapca.
Hi blij cuaipc CUIC16 CO ceano^^ na oUariinachc na h-Gpeano cacha pipi puaiU nach an pil) laip nach pagbaijcheap®'.
niao peapp lib pe*^^ limb la beanao*'^ uili aen cimna, Deanaib bepeapc ap t)ia n-oil ip leop D'aDa[ib] each aen pip. Q pip.
lows. This place is uuknown to the edi- the name.
tor. * Uisce Bo NfimJiidh, i. e. the water of
» Daire-mic-Daii-e, i. e. roboretum iilii the cow of Neimhidh. This name would
Darii. This name would be anglicized be anglicized Uskabonevy, but there is no
Derrymacderry or Derryvicdary, but the stream, well, or locality in Ulster at pre-
editor is not acquainted with any place of sent bearing the name, and the etlitor has
l^iojli Gfjieann.
25
Tu eek'brate the feast ul' tlie Ik'sh of the bull Of Daire-mic-Daire^, the brown and rough ;
To go in the month of March to Magh Cobha To the king of Uladh is hot kicky ; To drink of the -water, whence strife ensues, Of Bo Neinihidh* between two darknesses.
Here are, let them be i)roclaimed boklly. To the five kings of Eire,
"With the king of Teamhair, through all time, Their prerogatives and prohibitions.
He is not entitled boldly to make the visitation of a province, Nor to the ollamh-ship of Eire, Nor to what he asks, be it ever so trifling, The poet to Avhom they are unknown.
If ye wish for a life of many days. Make ye all one will,
Hold charity for the sake of the good God, Which is prerogative sufficient for every man. O man'', &c.
never met any authority to show where in Ulster it was situated.
" O man, Q y\\\. — A part (if the first line is usually repeated at the end of every separate jioem. One reason evidently is to prevent mistake, as the vellum MSS. arc
so closely written tliat it would not be always easy to distinguish the end of one poem from the bei;iniiing of another, with- out some notice of this Ivind. It also serves as an indication tliat the particular piece is concluded.
11^ ^ • f^^
ceobbai? NQ 5-ceaRC.
ceabhOR NQ 5-ceaRr.
L— t)6i5heat)h i^i^h chaisi^.
[INCipiC oa r^eabuji na c-Ceapr inoipreap do cipuiB -| cua~ pafclaib Gpeann ariiail po opbaij 6enean mac Sepcnen jxiilTTi-cec- laiD phuopuij, amail ac peo 6ebap ^linne t)a Caca.^
tDo olijeaoaib cJiipc Chaipil, -\ oia chfpaib, -| oia clianaib, mo -| app, ano po pip, -| do chuapapcalaib pij rDurhan -] pij h-6pino ap- cheana, 6 pij Caipil, in can oa pallna plaichip ino.
CaipiL Don caipil' .1. clocli popp a puipmiDrp jeill, no cip uil lapp an ail cliipa do bepchea 6 peapaib ©pino do. SiD-opuim Dno ba peoD a amm an inaiD pm ppiup.
t)o pala Din oa mucaio i n-aimpip Chuipc meic Cui^oeacli ic cachai 51 na culcha pin, ppi pe paichi ic meappao a muc ap ba Dpuim piobaiDi h-e^ 6dDap h-e a n-anmanoa na mucaioi .1. tDupopu, mucaio pij h-6le, 1 Culapan, mucaio pij TTlupcpgiDi. Co cappap Doib oealb pa jloinichip^ 5P^'"> 1 S"^^ binoichip meano clipoc
* Cis ail, i. c. tribute rent. This deri- "^ Core, the son of Lughaklh The date
vation is also given in Cormac's Glossaiy. of his death is not given in tlie authentic
The term Caiscal, wliich is tlie name of Irish annals, but we may form a pretty
many places in Ireland, as well as of the correct idea of his period from the fact that
ancientmetropolisof Munster, denotes a cir- his grandson, Aengus mac Nadfraech, was
cultu- stone fort ; and there can be little doubt slain in the j'ear 489.
that Core, king of Munster, erected a fort '' Ele — At tliis period the terjitory of
of this description on the rock, wlien he Ele comprised, besides the country after -
changed its name fiom Sidh-dhruim to wards called Ely O'Carroll in the King's
Caiseal. County, the present baronies of Eliogarty
" Sidh-dliruim, i. c. fairy hill. and Ikcrrin. in the county of Tipperan,-.
THR BOOK OF RIGHTS.
t
I THE PRIVILEGES OF THE KING OF CAISEAL.
The Book of Rights which treats of tlie tributes and stipends of Eire (Ireland) as Benean, son of Sescnean, the psahnist of Patrick, ordained, as the Book of Gleann-Da-Loch relates.
Here follows concerning the laws of the right of Caiseal (Cashel), and of the tributes and rents given to it and by it, and of the sti- pends given to the kings of Mumha (Munster), and the other kings of Eire, by the king of Caiseal, when it is the seat of the monarchy.
Caiseal [is derived] from cais-il, i. e. a stone on Avhich they used to lay down pledges, or cis-ail*, i. e. payment of tribute, from the tril)ute given to it by the men of Eire. Sidh-dhruim'' was the name of the place at first.
It happened in the time of Coix^ the son of Lughaidh, that two swine-herds frequented that hill for the space of a quarter of a year to feed their swine on acorns, for it was a woody hill. The names of those swine-hi!i-ds Avere Durdru, the swine-herd of the king of Ele"*, and Cularan, the swine-herd of the king of Muscraidhe^ ; and there
« Miiscraiilke ( Tliiic). — This was the an- cient name of the di.itni-t now comprised in the baronies of I'ljper and Lf)wer Or- inond, in the north of the county of Tippe- rar}'. The churcli Cill C'heire (Kilkeary, near tlie town of Nenajjh), and Leatraeha, ( l>attera{;h, about eiglit miles south of tlie same town), arc mentioned as in tliis ter- ritory. .Ve Colpan's ,irfa Sanctorum, pp.
151, 401, and the Feihre Aenguis, Jan. 5, and Oct. 27. It is stated in a letter written by Sir Charles O'Carroll to the Lord Deputy, in 1585 (and now pre- served in the Lambeth Libran,-, Carew Collection, No. 608, fol. 15), that tJie name Lower Ormond was tlien lately imposed upon " Muskrj'-heer}'," by the usur])atina of the then Karl of Oriiu'iiil.
30 Ceabhap
la\y ic beanoochao na rulcha i in Baili ic ruippnjipi pdcpaic -| ap bepc :
Po, po, po, peap FaUnapraip*;Caipil,
Copp cemeanbach J n-anmaim an QpD-Qrhap',_
Sceo rrieic na h-lnjine,
^Q pach Spipuc Naeiii ;
Bppuc^ maipeach, mop, maich,
6up beacha co m-bpeicheariinap,
Ctnpap Gpino apo binjlij
t)' aep each uipD co n-iljpdbaiB,
^a pojnuTTi Cpipcchairii.
]p h-i cpa belb bae ano pin .1. Uiccop ainjjel [pucpaic] ic caip- cheaoal pdopaic -] opbain -j aipeochaip Gpmo Do beich do jpeap ip in baili pin,
Cib pil ann Din ace ip ceono-popc^ Do phaDpaic 1 ip ppirh-charhaip DO pij h-GpinD m baili pin. Qcup olejap cip -| poj"""! F^<^P n-6peanD do pij in baili pm Do jpeap^ .1. do pij Caipil cp6 beanDoc- cain pabpaic mic Qlplaino.
Qce anD po, imoppo, ruapipcla na pij 6 pij Caipil mdo pij h-GpinD h-e -| a chiiaipc-peom 1 a biaca-pom poppa Dia chinD .1.
Ceac copn -| ceac claioearii -] cear n-each -\ ceac n-inap ua6 DO pij Cpuachna -| biachaD Da paichi 6 pij Cpuachan Do-pom -\ a Dul laip a Cip Chonaill.
Pichi palach -| y\c)u pichchell -| pichi each Do pij ceneoil Co- naill -] biachaD mtp 6 chen^l ConaiU oo-pom -| ceacc laip i Uip n-6ojain.
Caeca copn 1 caeca claioeB 1 caeca each do pij Ctilij -| bia- choD mip uabu Do-poni -| coi jeacc^ laip a Culai j n-Og.
Cpicha copn 1 cpicha claiDeb 1 cpicha each Do plaich Chulcha
f There appeared to them a figure, Sfc. Victor was the name of St. Patrick's guar-
• — This story is also given by Keating in dian angel. But Dr. Lanigan asserts that
his History of Ireland. " there is no foundation for what we read
K The angel Victor. — According to the in some of his Lives concerning his being
Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, ])ublishcd by often favoured with the converse of an an-
Colgan, lib. i. c. 19, and Jocelin, c. 19, gel Victor," &c. Eceles. Hist., vol.-i. p. 144.
na 5-Ceapr. 31
appeared unto them a figure*^, brighter than the sun, with a voice sweeter than the anguUir harp, blessing the hill and the place, [and] predicting [the arrival of St.] Patrick, and it said:
Good, good, good the man who shall rule Caiseal,
Walking righteously in the name of the Great Father,
And of the Son of the Virgin,
With the grace of the Holy Spirit ;
A comely, great, good Bishop,
Child of life unto judgment,
He shall fill noble angelic Eire
With people of each order of various grades,
To serve Christ the benign.
The figure which appeared there was Victor^, the angel of Patrick, prophesying [the coming of] Patrick, and that the grandeur and supre- macy of Eire would be perpetually in that place.
Accordingly that town is a metropolis to Patrick, and a chief city of the kincr of Eire. And the tribute and service of the men of Eire are always due to the king of that place, i. e. the king of Caiseal, through the blessing of Patrick'', the son of Alplainn.
Now here are the stipends of the kings from the king of Caiseal, if he be king [monarch] of Eire, and his visitation and refection among them on that account, i. e.
One hundred drinking-horns, one hundred swords, one hundred steeds, and one hundred tunics [are given] from him to the king of Ouachan; and refection from the king of Cruachan to him for two (juarters of a year, and to accompany him into Tir-Chonaill.
Twenty rings, twenty chess-boards, and twenty steeds to the king of Cineal Conaill, and a month's refection from the Cineal Conaill to him, and to escort him into Tir-Eoghain.
Fifty drinking-horns, fifty swords, and fifty steeds to the king of Aileach, and a month's refection from him to him, and to escort him to Tulach Og.
Thirty drinking-horns, thirty swords, and thirty steeds to the lord
'■ Through the blessing of Patrick, the son of Calforii. In St. Patrick's Con/<«»i«, son of Alplainn He is more usually called he says that his father was Calporniiis. a
32 Ceablia]!
O5 1 biachao ba chpach oeaj laip -] a cheachc'" laip a n-Oipjiall- aib.
Ochc U'lipeacha 1 peapcac map -| peapcar each do pij Qipjiall -j a biachab pe mip a n-6iTinin -\ a choirhiceachc m n-Ullcaib.
CeoD copnn -\ ceac macal -\ ceac claioeb 1 ceac n-each 1 ceac long" do pij Ula6, biarao mip'^ bo-pom a h-UUcaib, -] Ulaib laip CO Ueamaip.
Upicha liiipeach -| cpicba palach -\ ceac n-eacb -| cpicha pidi- cliell 00 pij Ueampach ■] biachao mip 1 Uearhpaij paip -| ceicheopa pine Cheaiiipach laip co h-Qch Cliach.
[Dec mna -)] oeich n-eich -] oeich longa do pij Cfca Cliach -| biacao mip 6 pij Qca Cliach oo-pom •] a chaemcheachc il-^ai^nib.
Upicha lonj 1 cpicha each 1 cpicha cumal 1 cpicha bo do pij ^ai^ean -j biachuo od mip 6 ^aijnib oo-pom .1. mi 6 faijin cuach- jabuip -| mi 6 f-aigin Deap-jabaip. Upicha each -| cpicha luipeacli -\ cearpocao claibeb,
Iciab pin a cuapipcla -] a corhaioeachca conio ooib-pioe'* ao peo in c-iijoap buaoa .1. 6enen muc Sepcnein:
t)li5eaD each pij 6 pij^ Caipil, biD ceipc ap bdpbaib co bpach, po jebchap 1 caeib na Uaibean oc puaiD na n-^aeibel co jnach,
Ceb copn, ceac claibeam a Caipil, ceac n-each, ceac n-inap piu aip,
deacon. See the remarks on this passage laureate of all Ireland. It is described in
in the Introduction. Cormac's Glossaiy.
i The Four Tribes of Tara ; see the ^ A hundred drinking-horns, or gohlets.
Battle of Maph Rath, Y>-^,'Vi-'here those tubes — O'Brien derives the word copn from
are mentioned, viz., the families of O'h-Airt; copn, a horn, Latin cornu, and asserts
O'Ceallaigh, of Breagh ; O'Conghaile ; and that drinking cups were anciently of horn.
O'Kiagain. ■" A hundred swords The word
i Laiffhin Tuath-ghahhair All that claioeam, or cloibeam, is evidently'
part north of Bealach Gabhrain, the road cognate with the Latin gladins. It is re- ef Gabhran. markable that Giraldus Cambrensis ( Topo-
^ A long with the Taeidhean Taeidhean, graphia HihernicB Distinct, iii. c. x. ' makes
or tuighean, was the name of the orna- no mention of the sword among the mili-
mcnted mantle worn by the chief poet or tniy weapons iiSed by the Irish in his time.
na 5-Cea|ir. 33
Tulach Og, [avIio gives him] refection for twelve days and escorts liini to the Oirghialhi.
Eight coats of mail, sixty tunics, and sixty steeds to the king of the Oirghialla, [by whom] he is entertained for a month at Eamhain and escorted to the Ulstermen.
A hundred drinking-horns, a hundred matals, a hundred swords, a hundred steeds, and a hundred ships to the king of Uladh, and the Ulstermen give him a month *s refection and escort him to Teamhair (Tara).
Thirty coats of mail, thirty rings, a hundred steeds, and thirty chess-boards to the king of Teamhair; and he receives a month's refec- tion at Teamhair, and the four tribes of Teamhair' escort him to Ath Cliath (Dublin).
Ten women, ten steeds, ten ships to the king of Ath Cliath, and a month's refection [is allowed] to him from the king of Ath Cliath, who accompanies him to the Leinstermen.
Thirty ships, thirty steeds, thirty cumhals (bondmaids), and thirty cows to the king of Laighin, and two months' refection from the Leinstermen to him, i.e. a month's from northern LaighinJ and a month's Irom southern Laighin; [to whom he presents] thirty steeds, thirty coats of mail, and forty swords.
Such are his stipends and escorts, of which the gifted anfhor Benean the son of Sescnean said :
THE EIGHT of each king from the kingof Caisea], Shall be question to bards for ever: It shall be found along Avith the Taeidhean'' With the chief poet of the Gaeidhil constantly.
A hundred drinking-horns,' a luiudred swords'" from Cais(>al, A lumdrcd steeds, a hundred tunics" besides,
The mention of the sworiU in this worit, of the Iii.sh from tlic Scythians. US amonp tlie weapons presented by the " Tunics, inup. Tiiia word is trims- kings to their chieftains, shows tlie inae- lated ''cloaks" by ^[acCurlin, in liis Hncf curacy of Cambrensis. Spenser consich'rs Discourse in Vindication of tlie Aiiti(|uiiy lliat the Irish always had "their broad of Ireland, p 173; but in a IMS. in the .swordcs" and he adduces them as an evi- Library of Trinity College, Dublin, II. 2, dence of his favourite theon-, the descent I:!, if is u^cd to translate fjie T,alin tunica.
1>
34
LeabTiap
ay a rip, co reilip, cuachail, Do'n pij jeibip Cpuachain caip.
6iacha6 &a paichi 6'n pij pin DO chupaio TTluTiian ap rhil, Dul leip pi rpeap a (D)-Uip ConaiU, CO pij eapa Tn-(6)o6oipnn mip.
Rij Conoacc la cupaib Caipil CO cacaib 6eapnaip, — ni bpe^; pj Conaill CO clanbaiB ©ojain capao Do'n Deopaio lap ceic.
Pichi palach, pici pichchill, pichi each co po Gap-puaiD bo'n pij DO nap beapbap Dojainj'^, Do pij beapnaip Conaill chpuaio.
6iarha6 mfp 6 rhaichib Conaill DO chuiceao ITluriian a maipj, acup Dia pij — ni Dlij'*^ Deolaij, pia n-Dul a (D)-Uip n-Cojain n-aipo.
Caeca copnn ip caeca claioeb, caeca each jlepca co jndcli d' pip paich 6 t)(h)oipib na n-Daij-meap, DO plaich Oilij ainceap each.
" Cruachan (Kathcroghan, near Balena- gare, Roscommon), where the ruins of se- veral forts and other monuments are still to be seen. This was the ancient palace of the kings of Connaught. See above, p. 20, n. '.
P Tir- Chonaill, i. e. the covmtry of Co- nall. This was nearly co-extensive with the present county of Donegal. It derived its name from Conall Gulban, the son of Niall of the Nine Hostages.