Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/historyarchitectOOgrav THE HISTORY, ARCHITECTURE, AND ANTIQUITIES OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST. CANICE, KILKENNY. BY THE REV. JAMES GRAVES, A.B., AND JOHN" G. AUGUSTUS PRIM, DUBLIN: HODGES, SMITH, & COMPANY, GR AFTON-STR EET, BOOKSELLERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 1857. DUBLIN : pintcti at tijc 2Rntonshe ^rcas, BY M. B. OILI.. DAW TO THE MEMORY OF THE MOST HONORABLE JOHN, MAEQtJIS OF ORMONDE. o 7 COMMENCED UNDER HIS AUSPICES, FURTHERED BY HIS ENCOURAGEMENT, AND ENRICHED FROM HIS INVALUABLE ANCESTRAL MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS, IS, WITH SORROAY FOR HIS UNTIMELY DEATH. DEDICATED BY THE AUTHORS. Lml 599 P R E F A C E. fT^HE completion of this work having been delayed long beyond the period originally contemplated for its publication, the Authors feel called on to assure their readers that the interval has been unremittingly devoted to the examination of every public and private source of information, manuscript and printed, whence light could be thrown on their subject. Their toil has. in some cases, been productive only of a negative result ; in most instances, however, it has been rewarded by stores of new and interesting material. It was at first designed to comprise within the limits of the work, in addition to what is now given to the public, a history of the See and Bishops of Ossory, as well as of the Episcopally founded Corporation of the Trishtown of Kilkenny, and to have included within the Section of Monu- mental Antiquities memoirs of many persons known to have been buried within the walls of the cathedral, although their tombs no longer exist there. The great accumulation of materials, already alluded to, rendered it, however, necessary either to increase the size and price of the work, or to abandon a portion of the original plan. The Authors were prepared to carry out the whole to the fullest extent, but the Publishers, who had undertaken the work at their own risk, came to the conclusion that to vi PREFACE. make one part of the subject as complete as possible, was better than to issue a compendium of the entire. It was also thought desirable to touch with brevity on the history of those personages whose actions have already been recorded in easily accessible publications. It is right to observe that the Authors never stipulated for any pecuniary recompense for their labours ; and as, independently of a considerable increase in the number of illus- trations, the amount of letter-press devoted to the work as now issued, exceeds by more than a third the quantity originally promised to Sub- scribers, the Publishers have little hope of ultimate reimbursement, not to say profit. It is hoped that hereafter sufficient encouragement may be given to bring out a separate work embracing the rest of the matter collected by the Authors during the progress of the present volume. In printing the monumental inscriptions, the errors of O'Phelan, and of those who have used his MS., were at first noticed as they occurred; but this plan was quickly abandoned, in consequence of the amount of space requisite for so many additional notes. Accuracy has been insured by repeated comparison of the proofs with the monuments themselves. The greater part of the illustrations have been drawn by the Rev. James Graves — the architectural portion from actual admeasurement. The Authors have to thank Mr. E. Fitzpatrick for two drawings; and, wherever necessary, competent artists have also been employed. The careful wood engraving of Mr. W. Oldham and Mr. G. A. Hanlon has been combined with the known excellence of the University Press to bring out the work in a manner which, it is hoped, will reflect credit on Irish Artists and Publishers. Where many have been kind, it must seem invidious to single out a few: yet the names of the Rev. William Reeves, D. D., who has read the proof-sheets PREFACE. vii as they issued from the press, and otherwise given his able assistance to the Authors ; and of John O'Donovan, Esq., LL. D., whose invaluable stores of information were ever at their service when required, cannot be withheld. To them, and to their many other generous friends and fellow-workers, the Authors return their unfeigned thanks : they have (if they may venture to adopt the words of one who could more worthily use them) but "as poor labourers carried the carved stones and polished pillars, from the hands of the more skilful architects, to be set in their fit places, which here they offer upon the altar of love to their country, and wherein they have held it no sacrilege to rob others of their richest jewels to adorn this their most beautiful nurse, whose womb was their conception, whose breasts were their nourishment, whose bosom their cradle, and lap (they doubt not) shall be their bed of sweet rest, till Christ by His trumpet raise them thence." Kilkeitst, August, 1857. CONTENTS. SECTION I. THE CATHEDRAL. CHAPTER I. PAGE. Introductory. — Seir-Kieran and Aghabo, 1 CHAPTER II. Kilkenny, 22 CHAPTER III. The Architecture of the Cathedral, 65 CHAPTER IT. The Round Tower, 108 SECTION II. MONUMENTAL ANTIQUITIES. CHAPTER I. Introductory. — Classification of the Monuments, 127 CHAPTER II. Inscribed Monuments, . 142 b LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Those marked by asterisks are Plates; the remainder are 'Woodcuts in the text. NO. PAGE. 1 . Section of Ancient Septum of Seir-Kieran, 13 2. Ancient Irish Tombstone at Seir-Kieran, 13 3. Restored Cross on ditto, 14 4. Ancient Bronze, supposed to represent St. Canice, 19 5. Sculpture belonging to a more Ancient Church at Kilkenny, 26 6. Monstrance, A.D. 1644, 40 * Plan of the Cathedral and Round Tower of St. Canice, to face 65 * Portions of the Ancient Glass of the Cathedral, to face 73 7. Elevations and Sections of the Ancient Leads of ditto, 74 8. Portion of the Ancient Stone Fittings from the Choir, 75 9. The Ancient Font, 76 10. Sculpture from the Font, 76 * Specimens of the Ancient Pavement Tiles, to face 77 * The Cathedral and Round Tower, South-east View, to face 80 * Section of the Nave and Aisles, looking West, to face 82 11. Sections of Moldings, Caps, and Bases from the Nave, 82 12. Elevation of Pillar from the Nave, 83 13. Respond, and portion of the North-West Belfry Pier, 84 14. Bosses and Foliaged Capital from the Nave, 85 15. Boss with Human Face from ditto, 85 16. Plan of the North-west Belfry Pier, 87 17- Plan and Elevation of Capitals and Moldings, South Belfry Arch, .... 88 18. Details of Windows in the North Chapel, 97 19. View in the Nave, 98 20. Aumbry in the Parish Church, 99 * The West Door, External View, to face 1 00 2 1 . Details of the West Door, 101 # >cii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. NO. PACK. * The South Porch, to face 102 22. Details of the External Archway of ditto, 102 23. Door of the North Transept, restored, 103 24. Details of the North Transept Door, 104 25. Specimen of Foliage from ditto, 104 26. Door of the Round Tower of St. Canice, Ill 27. Plan illustrative of Excavation beneath the Pound Tower, 115 28. Skulls found beneath ditto, 117 29. Door of the Pound Tower of Kilmacduagh, 123 30. Door of the Pound Tower of Oughtcrard, 123 31. Window of the Pound Tower of Swords, 124 32. Window of the Pound Tower of Swords, 124 33. Window of the Round Tower of Kclls, 124 34. Effigy of a Bishop, St. Canice's Cathedral, 132 35. Fragments of Incised Slab, Female Figure, ditto, 133 30. Cross Slab with Human Head, ditto, 133 37. Cross Slab, ditto, 134 38. Restored Incised Male Figure, ditto, 134 39. Fragments of Incised Slab, Female Figure, ditto, 135 * Supposed Monument of James, ninth Earl of Ormonde, ditto, . . . to face 136 40. Female Effigy, ditto, 137 41. Cross Slab of Elena, the Daughter of Edward, ditto, 144 42. Cross Slab of John Talbot, ditto, 149 43. Monument of John de Karlell, ditto, 156 44. Token struck by Lucas Wale, • . . 162 45. Token struck by Thomas Talbot, 163 46. Effigy of James Schorthals, lord of Ballylarkan, St, Canice's Cathedral, . . 166 47. Detail from sword of ditto, 166 48. Cross Slab of John Moghlande, St. Canice's Cathedral, 174 * Effigies of Piers, eighth Earl of Ormonde, and his Countess, ditto, . to face 182 49. Effigy of John Grace, Baron of Courtstown, ditto, 258 50. Effigy of Richard, Viscount Mountgarret, ditto, 269 51. Cross Slab of Bishop Gafney, ditto, 271 52. Cross Slab of William Donoghou, ditto, 275 53. Cross Slab of William Hollechan, ditto, 285 54. Monument of Bishop Deane, ditto, 286 55. Portrait of Bishop Roth, 296 56. Cross Slab of Richard Clonan, St. Canice's Cathedral, 315 THE HISTORY, ARCHITECTURE, AND ANTIQUITIES OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST. CANICE. SECTION I. THE CATHEDRAL. CHAPTER L INTRODUCTORY. — SEIR-KIERAN AND AGHABO. AT the outset of a work professing to treat of the Cathedral of Ossory, the reader will naturally expect to meet with some notice of the ancient monastic communities of Seir-Kieran and Aghabo, supposed by nearly every writer 8 who has touched on the subject to have served in turn as the mother churches of the diocese, ere Kilkenny became the cathedral city ; the more so, as the question suggested by the connexion which existed between the primitive monasticism and episcopacy of Ireland is one of great interest to the student of ecclesiastical history. The full discussion of this subject will, however, more properly claim our attention in a separate work to be especially devoted to the history of the bishops and see of Ossory ; suffice it, for the present, to observe that the hagiology and authentic annals of Ireland almost universally represent the primitive Irish bishop as the head of a body of clergy and disciples whom his missionary exertions and the fame of his sanctity had gathered round the cell, founded oftentimes by their prelate when an ascetic dweller inter ethnicos, or ■ See a MS. Treatise, Be Ossoriensi Dioescesi vol. i., p. 398, &c. ; Eihn. Dominicana, pp. 18, §4, Mus. Brit., Cod. Clarend., torn, li., p. 19; Acta 297; Mason's Parochial Survey, vol. L, p. 33; SS. Hibn., torn, i., p. 473, coL a; Harris's Ware, Shee's St Canice, p. 12; &c. B* 2 SEIR-KIERAN. [sect. I. in cremo, amongst the heathen or in the desert. The code by which the new- made converts regulated their daily life was given to them by their spiritual father. Thus a coenobium was formed, from whence, as from a centre, the joint labours of the bishop and his clergy gradually extended amongst the surrounding heathen, until met by the similarly widening circles of kindred Reeves' Eeei communities ; and as monastery after monastery sprang up, the abbot-prelates Amtiq.f pp. 13G, 137. resided in this place or in that, as one church rose into fame, or another sank into obscurity. Seir-Kieran*. — There can be little doubt that from a community thus con- stituted the first preachers of Christianity went forth amongst the rude and tur- bulent tribes of ancient Ossory ; and it is not at all improbable that on this spot was also erected one of the earliest Christian churches in Ireland, a date anterior to the advent of St. Patrick being generally assigned to the founding of the cell at Saighir by Kieran (Chiarain) the son of Lughaidh. It is true, that in the op- Eed. Hut, posite scale must be placed the authority of the accurate and judicious Lanigan ; *' PP ' ' who, deterred by the many difficulties which beset the advocacy of an earlier date, has fixed on the latter end of the fifth century as the more probable era of its foundation. But thus totally to reject all testimony in favour of the earlier epoch does not seem to be in accordance with the rules of sound criticism, much as it may tend to smooth the path of the historian. The Lives of Kieran, and those of Declan, Ailbhe, and Ibar, are unquestionably of great antiquity, and although comprising much that is fabulous, do not bear the marks of documents forged to support a preconceived theory. They are all opposed to Dr. Lanigan's conclusions ; and it is assuming too much to suppose that they Todd's church are altogether without foundation, especially when we recollect that they derive if 15. Patr,ck ' support from almost every historical authority bearing on the ancient Church history of Ireland. Saighir, called, from its founder, Saighir-Chiarain, is situate in the King's County, and barony of Bally britt, not far from the south-western extremity of the *Uap, gelidus, Old Life of St. Patrick; cidpain, Four Masters ; Seyrkieran, VasconRoll, Fluuiuin Huar appellatum, Vita Tripart. S. Pat. ; 1 7 Edw. I., Tur. Lond. ; Sayrkeran, Lib. Rub. Os- Fuaran, 1" Vita S. Kierani, Acta SS. Ilibn., sorien, fol. 1 ; Serrkeran, Clyn's Annals ; Shyre torn, i., p. 458 ; Sdiguap (nomen fontis), Felire keran, Inquisition on surrender of priory ; Seir- Aengus, 5° Martii ; Saaigip, Saigpe, Saigip Kieran, modern usage. CHAP. I.] SEIR-KIERAN. 3 Slieve Bloom (Sliabh Bladhma) mountains. It gives its name to a parish which, although insulated by the diocese of Killaloe, is under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Ossory, — thus affording an extremely interesting landmark of the sway borne in ancient times by the kings of Ossory over the territory of Eile O'Carrol. In the First Life of Kieran the geographical position of Saighir is most accu- rately marked: it is described as lying within the district of Eile, in the very centre of Ireland, on the confines of its ancient northern and southern divisions, Leath-Chuinn and Leath Mogha, and (a strong proof of the antiquity of the Life) in the region of Munster 3 . In the Gloss on the Festilogium of Aengus (5 U Martii) the name is written Sai^uan, and explained as "nomen fontis," the MUeeiL oftiu name of a well, and there can be little doubt that such was the true and ancient note a. ' orthography, Saijj being the proper name, and uaji, cool, gelidus, the descriptive epithet. The Leabhar Breac contains the injunction given by Patrick to Kieran, when, on his way to Rome, the Apostle of Ireland met the latter returning home to his native countrv. It runs as follows: — Saij uap, Cumoais canp pop a bpu, 1 arm 'ixr bliaoan bant> Conopicpem anD n cu. Saig the cold, Erect a city on its brink, At the end of thirty revolving years There shall I and thou meet. — Fol. 42, now 32. The same inference may be drawn from the words of the Latin Life of Kieran 3 " Et ait S. Patricius ad S. Kieranum; vade of the two provinces is thus incidentally alluded ad Hiberniam ante me, & adi fontem in medio to: — " Veniens siquidem S. Pulcherius ad ori- Hibernia? in confinio Australium & Aquilona- entalem plagam Mumuniae, qua? dicitur Eile con- lium Hiberniensium, qui voeatur Fuaran; & tra Occidentalem terram Laginensium, qua' constitue ibi Monasterium, Fons vero ille Ossraighi nominatur." — Id., p. 591, col. a. Eile sicut supra dictum est, in confinio (alias par- or Ely O'Carroll anciently comprised the baronies titan) Prouinciarum Hibernie constat; sed tame of Ikerrin and Eliogarty in the county of Tip- in Australi plaga & regione Mumonia?, videlicet perary, in addition to those of Clonlisk andBally- in plebe, quae voeatur Hele." — Acta SS. Hibn., britt in the King's County, to which that terri- tom. i., p. 458, col. b. In the very ancient Life tory was in after ages confined. The baronies of of St. Mochoemog, or Pulcherius, the boundary Clonlisk and Ballybritt are part of the present B 2 1 SEIR-KIERAN. [sect. I. quoted by Ussher, and of the First Life of the same saint, printed by Colgan, "Adi fon tern — qui vocatur fuaran" a : whilst the immediate import of the word is fixed in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, " Iluaran enim, siue Fueran, idem zv. a,., p. t86, Hibernis sonat quod fons viuus, siue viua vol frigida aqua e terra scaturiens." All over Ireland at this time Paganism was prevalent; indeed we can trace the existence of the Pagan priesthood at a much later period b : the coun- try around Saighir was then, moreover, a desert, clothed with dense forests, and untenanted save by wild beasts. Thither St. Kieran retired from his dis- w«m, p. its, ciples ; and there, about a. d. 402, constructed a cell of the humblest ma- id, h. AA. SS. Jlilm., lorn, i., p. 4.)8, COl. b. civil province of Leinster, but they still form a portion of the ecclesiastical province of Munster, thus affording one amongst many instances which might be adduced to prove that the present ec- clesiastical divisions of Ireland preserve traces of its ancient civil boundaries. For the extent of ancient Ossory, which appears at an early pe- riod to have included Eile, and the claim set up by the Mumonians to the tract extending from Knockgraffon, in Tipperary, to the river Nore, see The Book of Rights, edited for the Celtic So- ciety by Dr. O'Donovan, pp. 17, n. a ; 78, n. and 88, n. 1 ; also the same writer's tract on The Tribes and Territories of Ancient Ossory, enlarged from the Transactions of the Kilkenny Archae- ological Society, for the year 1850, p. 15. ■ In the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, pars ii., cap. ix., Huar is given as the name of a river, — "juxta fluvium Huar appellatum." — TV. Th., p. 130, col. b. The etymology of Saighir given in the text rests on the high authority of Dr. O'Donovan and Eugene Curry, Esq. b Acta SS. Hibn., torn, i., p. 460, col. a. A catena of the various passages referring to the Pagan cultus of Ireland, previous to the intro- duction of Christianity, which occur in our ha- ^iography, would form a most interesting work, and correct many erroneous opinions on the sub- ject now afloat. c Acta S'S. Hibn., torn, i., p. 458, col. b. On the south-eastern shoulder of Slieve Bloom, not far from the spot where the road to Seir-Kieran branches off the great Limerick road, the pea- santry point out an irregular enclosure, some- what less than an acre in extent, as St. Kieran's Park, and they tell you that the saint in the first instance pitched on this spot as the site of his cell, and proceeded so far as to enclose the area with a wall; but, having been disgusted by the thiev- ish propensities of the women of the neighbour- hood, he migrated to Saighir, and there settled. The occupier of the land in 1 846 (then an old man) stated to us that he remembered St. Kieran's Park to have been surrounded by a wall built of rough blocks of stone, of great size, piled on each other: these stones, with the exception of some still remaining on the south-east side, had been sold to Mr. Birch of Koscrea, and removed for buildi ng purposes. A fine translucent spring gushes out from the hill side, nearly in the cen- tre of the area already described, and is called St. Kieran's Well. It is easily seen how impor- tant a spring well would be, nay, how indis- pensable to one who, like Kieran, had fixed his residence where " eremus lata, densa siluis per circuitum erat" (Acta SS.): and no less neces- sary was it to the monastic and collegiate com- munities, wherever established. We know that St. Patrick not only instructed his followers as to the fashion of their churches, but also consi- CHAP. I.] SEIR-KIERAX. 5 terials, — its walls of wicker-work, its roof of dried grass 3 . For a time the usher, saint's sole companions were the wild animals, many of which he appears to £"w£.' havetamed b ; and, except for their presence, he there lived as a solitary dweller p " 1091 " in eremo. But his disciples discovered the place of his retreat, and soon the wicker hut grew into a famous monastery, and subsequently an ecclesiastical tk civitas" gathered round the walls of his church . Xot long after the estab- lishment of the monastery, Dvmma, Chief of the neighbouring territory of Ui aa. ss. wi*.. Fiachach d . threatened to expel the saint, but, according to the legend, was mi- «.!' P 4 ° y ' raculously restrained. The two Lives of St. Kieran, printed by Colgan, throw some light on the dered a spring of such importance, that the com- pilers of his Acta frequently represent him as working a miracle in order to supply that ne- cessary adjunct. In the Tripartite Life the church of Oran, in the county of Roscommon, is stated to have been thus favoured ; and from the copious well which burst forth at the saint's bidding, the name Oran or Huaran was derived. It is not, therefore, at all necessary to suppose that St. Patrick, in his injunction to Kieran, meant to denote any particular well, but merely to indicate, as the site of the future mo- nastery, the neighbourhood of a spring about the centre of Ireland. St. Kieran's Park is distant from Seir- Kieran about eight miles in an easterly direction. * This may be gathered from the First Life of Kieran. A wild boar, which has been miracu- lously tamed, provides for the saint " virgas et fenum ad materiam cellae construendae." — Acta SS. Hibn., torn. L, p. 458, col. b. b Kieran appears to have had a peculiar fond- ness for the lower animals. See his First Life, passim. c Postea sui discipuli et alij plures ad S. Kie- ran u in ipso loco conuenerunt vndique, & ibi in- ceptum est clarum Monasterium. Et postea ciuitas creuit Dei dono per gratiam S. Kierani; qua? omnia vocantur uno nomine Sayghir — Acta SS. Hibn., torn. i.. pp. 45 S, col. b ; 459. col. a. St Kieran is said, in both the Lives published by Col- gan. to have converted his mother Liadhaine to the Christian faith, and to have erecttd a cell for her in the neighbourhood of Saighir: — " Mater S. Kierani veniat ad eum, quae a filio suo fidelis Christiana & sancta Dei famula effecta est; & cedificauit S. Kieranus Sancte matri suce Liada- nise, cellam in propinquo loco seorsim, & sanctas virgines congregauit ad earn inibi." — Id., p. 459- col. a, where a curious story is told about one of St. Liadhaiue's nuns, named Bruinecha, and Dvmma, Chief of Ui-Fiachcach. Colgan identifies St. Liadhaine' s nunnery with Kill- Liadhaine, now Killyon (Liadhaine is pronounced Leean), situate between Saighir and Birr, in the barony of Fir- cal, King's County ; and says that she was com- memorated on the 15 th of August. (Id., p. 464. col. a, n.). There are no remains of the pri- mitive convent of St. Liadhaine now existing ; fragments of the walls of a more modern erec- tion were, however, standing there in 1 846. For a notice of Killyon, and some curious discoveries made there, see Transactions of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society, vol. i., p. 215. d Cinel Fiachach extended from Birr, in the neiffhbourhood of Saighir. to the hill of Uis- neach in Westmeath. — Four Masters, voL i., p. 166, n. '. 6 SEIR-KIERAN. [SKCT. I. economy of the monastery at Saigliir at an early period ; probably affording us an incidental portraiture of the community, contemporary with the writer's era. / i. ss Hitm. } For example, we learn that subordinate to the abbot was the propositus, ,".',!'.' '/,! " ''' ' who attended to the temporal concerns of the community. We read also of a idem, p. 162, cellarer, who busied himself with the entertainment of the guests. The monas- w«m, i»vita, tery was rich in swine, sheep, milch kine, and draught oxen for the plough. There were also fifty draught horses employed in tillage, and the community possessed a building for the rearing of calves, which had ten doors and ten sepa- rate stalls". In the treasury of the monastery was a miraculous bell, bestowed by St. Patrick on Kieran, and which the Apostle of Ireland had prophesied should remain mute until the latter arrived at the place designated as the site of his future monastery b . This bell, which was called "Bardan Kierani" ("forte," M«»,p 158, observes Colgan, " Bodhran,\. e. muttim"), had been made under the inspection Col. b. m of Germanus, the Gallican instructor of St. Patrick: it was extant, and held in high veneration at Saighir, when the First Life of Kieran was composed; it was also universally honoured throughout Ossory, being carried to the treaties of princes, sworn on for the defence of the poor, and used to sanction the col- lection of the tribute due to the monastery by the people of Ossory. The Idem, p. 41)2, paschal fire, according to the practice of the Eastern Church, was lighted every V.' 1 ',' . „ Easter, and kept burning in the church during the entire year. So numerous a Coi^'tom i com P an y of disciples gathered round Kieran at Saighir that Aengus terms the p. 470, coi. b. s a i n t " Kieranum populosum ;" some of these he ordained priests; others he tct. ss. mbn., raised to the episcopate; on others he conferred the minor orders of the Church, col. a; 467, n. Residing at Saighir with the clergy which he had thus gathered round him, he idem, pp. 460, had there his "cathedra;" and the people of Ossory having by his instrumen- tal a. ' "' tality been converted to Christianity, that region was his " parochia." The a The scholiast (Maguire) on the Festilogium Hibn., torn, i., p. 471, col. a. of Aengus, at the 5 th of March, is thus trans- " The fame of this miracle is still traditionally lated by Colgan: — " Fuit etiam vir valde locu- handed down amongst the peasantry of Seir- ples in armentorum possessionibus. Domus eius Kieran, who point to Bell Hill, a townland in armentaria siue bouile dece habebat portas & the immediate neighbourhood, lying to the north decern particularia reclusoria: in singulis erant of the church, and Bell Bush (a ragged white- decem vituli: & singulos vitulos decern alebant thorn growing thereon) as marking the place vaccae. Habebat etiam equos iugales quin- and even the very spot where the Bardan Kierani quaginta pro aratro & agricultural' — Acta SS. regained its voice. CHAP I.] SEIR-KIERAX. : hospitality of the community, and their bounty to the poor, were on a large scale. On one occasion, when St. Patrick, accompanied by Aengus, King of Aetass. BUm., Munster, and a numerous retinue of chiefs, visited St. Kieran at Saighir, eight 00L*!" ' iw ' oxen, together with a proportionate quantity of the best wine, were provided for their entertainment. At another time the entire army of AUDI, King of Cashel, which encamped near the monastery, was supplied with food\ The cemetery of St. Kieran's monastery at Saighir came at an early date to be esteemed of peculiar sanctity ; for the saint, in answer to one of his three last prayers, is said by the legends to have obtained for it the privilege that the idem, v . 463, gates of hell should not, after the judgment day, be closed upon those who were toL buried near his " cathedra." Dymma, Prince of Ui-Fiachach, after his repen- tance and reconciliation with St. Kieran, ordered that his posterity should be there interred b . And, from a passage in Keating's History of Ireland, it ap- see p. s. ,wte », pears to have been also the burial-place of the kings of Ossory. The cemetery post ' of Saighir was, probably, at first enclosed by the customary earthen rampart or stone cashel ; but be that as it may, there was no trace of cashel or of rampart m Acta SS. Hibn., torn, i., p. 461, col. a. The miraculous agency introduced, on the most trivial occasions, all through the legends of our Irish saints, is allowed to be fictitious by Dr. Lanigan, Alban Butler, and every Roman Catholic writer who has touched on the subject. But, granting all this, no nation in Europe can produce such a mass of curious matter, containing so much historical and topographical information of ex- treme antiquity, interspersed though it be with a set of legends of the wildest extravagance. Our Irish hagiology is the work of men who loved home associations, and who borrowed little or nothing from the cold matter-of-fact tone of the Continental school. b Acta SS. Hibn., torn, i., p. 459, col. b. There were rights of considerable importance accruing to the church or monastery from the participators in the privilege of sepulture within the ceme- teries. " Omne corpus," say the ancient Irish canons printed by D'Achery, " habet in jure suo vaccam, et equum, et vestimentum; et orna- tum lecti sui: nec quicquam horum redditur in alia debita; quia corpori ejus tanquam verna- cula debentur." — Spicilegium, Paris, 1723, torn. L, p. 496, col. a. Whilst burial in the paternal se- pulchre was also strictly enjoined: " Maledictus omnis homo qui non sepelitur in sepulcro pa- trum suorunv' — Idem, p. 495, col. b. D'Achery attributes these canons to the eighth century. c Sometimes these septa were constructed solely of earth; Beacan, the founder of the church of Kill Beacan in Muskry-Cuirc, was digging with great labour a ditch to surround his churchyard, when Diarmuid, King of Ireland, visited him by the advice of St. Columbkille. — Keating's Hitfory of Ireland, book ii.,p.23, ed. 1723. They were also frequently built with an external facing of stones to the earthen rampart; it was thus St. Cuthbert, an Irish ecclesiastic, enclosed his monastery on the island of Farne, " quem videlicet murum, non secto lapide, vel latere et caemento, sed impolitis prorsus lapidibus et cespite, quem de medio loci fodiendo tulerat, 8 SEIR-KIERAN. [sect, i. remaining in the year 917, — perhaps it may have been obliterated when the Danes, issuing from their ships moored in Linn-Hois opposite Ross-na-Ree on the Boyne, wasted Saighir and Birr, in the year 842 a . Geoffrey Keating, in a passage omitted by his English translator, who was, probably, ashamed of the wildly fabulous strain which pervades it, relates that Sadbh, daughter of Donn- chadh, the son of Kellagh, Lord of Ossory, grieved that Saighir, the burial-place of her ancestors, lay open and defenceless, whilst so many famous churches in Ireland were encircled by walls, induced her husband, Donnchadh, son of Flann Sinna, monarch of Ireland, to assemble a large number of masons from Meath, and erect a suitable wall of stone around the cemetery 1 ". coinposuit. E quibus quidam tantce erantgran- ditatis ut vix a quatuor viris viderentur potuisse levari." — Bedcc Opera Historica, edited by Steven- son for the English Historical Society, torn, ii., p. 84, Vita S. Cudbercti. In many instances the church or monastery was surrounded by one or more stone walls, or cashels; Flaherty O'Brol- laghan ( Flaithbheartach O'Brolchain) erected a cashel round the churches of Derry, and pronounc- ed a curse on any one who should come over it. — Four Masters, vol. ii., p. 1 147, a.d. 1 162 ; Trias Thaum.,\). 505. Thcsesepta differed little from the military erections of the ancient Irish, and in fact were similarly designated, Rath, Lis, Cathair, Cashel, or Dun, according to the varieties of their form and construction. But, beside the idea of security, that of seclusion also entered into their plan. Cuthbert's septum was so built that he could only behold the heavens from within it: the external face of the wall being only about the height of a man, whereas inter- nally the area was sunk in the rock to a much greater depth, and this was done purposely, " ad cohibendam occulorum simul et cogita- tuum lasciviam, ad erigendam in superna desi- deria totam mentis intentionem." — BetiLc Opera, ut supra. These enclosures were recognised by the ancient Irish Canons: — " Qui occiderit hominem intra septa monasterii exul cum dain- natione exeat, 1 ' &c Spelmani Concilia, Lond. 1G39» torn. L, p. 266. In the Reformatio Ec- clesiastica Ludovici Pii, a. d. 816, the " claus- tra canonicorum" are ordered to be surrounded " firmis undique munitionibus," to preclude entry except by the gate. Collectio Constitut. Imperial. Melchioris Goldasti, torn., Hi., p. 21 1 ; see also this subject fully treated by Dr. Petrie, Origin and Uses of the Round Toivers of Ireland, pp. 440-447. Saighir seems to have had two septa, an internal cashel of stone, and an exter- nal rath, formed of earth faced with stones. a The Four Masters place this event in the year 841, but the true date is 842. Archdall, Monast. Hibn., p. 405, not being aware of the variation in the chronology of the authorities he quotes, makes three burnings and plunder- ings of one, placing them under the years 839, 841, and 842, respectively. Neither can his no- tices of Disert-Kieran, under the years 855 and 951, refer to Saighir: Disert-Kieran, now called Castlekieran, is situate in the County Meath, on the Blackwater, two miles from Kells. See Four Mast., vol. i., pp. 374,ra.% 489,513; vol. ii.,p. 665. b The following curious account of the trans- action has been kindly transcribed for this work by John O'Donovan, Esq., LL. D., from a Latin version of Keating's History of Ireland, made by Dr. John Lynch, the author of Cambrensis CHAP. I.] SEIR-KIERAN. 9 Notwithstanding, however, this mark of royal favour, the monastery seems to have gradually fallen into decay : our annals, which afford us a Eversus. It is not given in the printed English translations of Keating, having been, probably, considered too fabulous ; the accessories do not, however, invalidate the fact of the erection of the septum by the persons, and at the time, in- dicated. The passage is not to be found in any copy of Keating, except that made by John, son of Torna O'Mulconry, in Keating's own time, and now deposited in the manuscript Li- brary of Trinity College, Dublin (H. 5. 26, p. 149). O'Mulconry's copy is, however, high authority (being exceeded only by Keating's au- tograph, which is believed to be preserved at St. Isidore's, Rome), and in this instance it is supported by the Genealogical Work of Duald Mac Firbis, of which the original is in Lord Eoden's possession, and a transcript in the Li- brary of the Royal Irish Academy. The publi- cation of O'Mulconry's transcript, interpaged with Lynch's version, would confer a great boon on the student of Irish history : — "a. a 917- Ad Regni postea gubernacula admotus est Donatus Flanni Sinnei, et Gorm- laithse filioe Flanni neptisConungi Alius; qui ux- orem habuit Sabam Donati filij Calachi, Osiria? Reguli filiani, cujus nagitationibus solicitatus, Saigriam Kierani muro cinxit. Ilia enim ajger- rime tulit elarissimas quasque Hibernian Eccle- sias muris ambiri, illam vero in qua majores sui •• Uluinceji Oonncmb thoin meic Cealluig, &c, ideal. " Turba frequentabat, Donate create Kelacho, Nobilium vestram crebris accessibus aulam. Qua? quoque voce chori modulantis dulciter bymnos Personuit nobis immistis sa;pe catervae. Ilium per latos stipabant per agmina campos Insectata feras : haec tecta subinde subibant Ad commiscendum formosis culta puellis, Magnificis satrapis multoque decora decore Clamorem miles, can turn chorus addidit altum, Fidaque cinxerunt semper latus agmina Regis, Qua? satiata epulis fremuerunt murmure lseto, Oraque gestarunt hilari suffusa rubore. Turn sol aestivos ut fudit ubique calores, Hae vario cursu lassarunt arva cohortes, Eximijque Lyrae crepuere per atria Regis, Et permulserunt gratis concentibus aures, Atque animi curas subduxit fabula vatum, Qui multo et cultu cecinere poemate laudes Foelicis Raniae Regis, sumptique laboris Larga recedentes retulerunt praemia laeti. O soboles magno Raniie de Rege creata Die ubi crateres auro argentoque rigentes, Die ubi sunt extincti patris honores? Quod tot cantores habuit comitumque catervas, Gloria magna fuit, vitae illi fata tenorem Foelicem dederant, fuerat dum vita superstes Baptismo dudum lotus migravit ad astra Xuper, et ad meritos, 'dum vitam duxit, honores Nos illi fuimus. nian:-it dum vita, ministri : Sed voces nostras jam quilibet auribus hausit." " Tarn horribili autem specie fuerunt hsec spectra, ut qui obtutum in ea figebant, e terrore sepulchro mandabantur, eo sive munimento, sive maximo, viginti saltern et quatuor horarum mor- ornamento, carere. Opificum igitur Midiaa pro- fectorum, multitudine, operi peragendo jam ad- mota, Sabee Reginai patrem e vivis excedere contigit : qui postquam tumulo illatus fuit, ves- pertinis tenebris jam inchoantibus, novem spec- tra sepulchro insedentia, oculiset dentibus nivem candore, ca3teris artubus carbonem nigredine su- perantibus, sequens carmen Hibernicum, Ossirise Regulo dictum bombilabantes efferebant : — bo efficerentur. Singulis autem noctibus ad eundem tumulum ilia carmina susurro profere- bant, ita ut Ecclesiasticis et Laicis non mediocri admirationi fuerit, cur viri tumulus, qui sumrae pietatem coluit, a Daemonibus eo pacto frequen- taretur. Nonnulla pietatis ejus exercitia hue produce Animi etenim sordes per confessionem crebro eluere, sacraque synaxi se quam ssepis- sime munire consuevit : Apostolorum vigil ij s. 10 SEIR-KIERAN. [sect. I. numerous list of the obits of its bishops, abbots, and learned men, reaching down to the close of the eleventh century, cease, for several hundred years from that period, to notice Seir-Kieran. It is recorded, that the monastery was plundered in prima; notac per Ossiriam Ecclesijs stipem egenis largiorcm conferre ; in amicorum aedibus per totam Ossiriam, vel parcntibus orbum ali- queni, vel paupertate laborantem enutrire, soli- tus erat. In singulis etiam Ossiria) domibus tres coriasios saculos haberi curavit, in quorum uno decimam edulij sui partem singuli recondebant: alter stipem pauperibus assignatum Hibernice imp michll, id est, portio Michaelis, asservabat: Postremo mica; et reliquiae, matrefamilias potis- simum sollicitante, committebantur. Sed et unde digressus sum eo me recipiam. Clerus precibus et jejuniis triduanis sedulo incubuit ut rei misterium mereretur accipere. Tandem uui ex illis e Dalfiachorum stirpe, Angelus se videndum prabuit, dicens: magno vobis adju- mento fuit, quod jejunio praecationes adjunx- eritis, spectra ilia novem e clero [recte e sodalitio poetico] Congeodensi, qui tertio jam e tartaro Hiberniam ingressi, cum Ossiria; Kegi vivo mo- lestiam creare non poterant, ejus extincti tu- mulum infestant : vos autem crastina die sacrum facite, et tumulum ac ccomiterium lustralis aqua; aspersione irrorate : hac enim Daemones facile abigentur. Ecclesiasticis igitur ministeria ab Angelo indicta obeuntibus, Le- mures, nigras aves ementiti, sublimes in Eera supervolitant, coemiterium aut tumulum attin- gere divinitus prohibiti, horrendo etiam stridore clangentes, jejunijs, illos pracationibusque coe- meterij tumulique sacrationem acceptam referre debere, quodque ipsi tumulo Ossiria? Reguli amplius non officirent, alioquin a tumultu et tumulo officiendo nunquam se recessuros fuisse: quandoquiden ejus animae caslo jam illata; offi- cere non potuerunt. Hkc ubi effutiverant, ab omnium conspectu sublati, amplius non compa- ruerunt. Porro superiores versus dum a spectris perstrepercntur, memoriae mandarunt Crossanus Candidus O'Kingus et Macriomtachus O'Cono- ranus, qui ejusmodi carminum generi pangendo, toto postea vitac decursu se totos addixerunt : Carmen autem illud Hibernice Crossan, Latine obliquum dicitur, quod ex pugnantibus inter se sententijs plerumque conflari soleat." " The Crossans," observes Dr. O'Donovan, " were poets, whose principal office was to com- pose funeral dirges or family panegyrics, but who frequently degenerated into satirists, like the modern keeners. From this order of poets the family of Mac-I-Crossan, now Crosby, in Ulster and Leinster, is sprung. It is a curious fact that the celebrated family of Glandore was of the Leinster bards of this name : for it appears from a letter in the State Papers Office, London, dated December 2nd, 1601, in the handwriting of the then aged Earl of Ormonde, that the first of this family was an Irishman from Leix, and the son of Mac-I-Crossan, O'More's bard. The Earl tells his history, and complains that he became 'very insolent' when he got into power. See Tribes of Ireland, by Aenghus O'Daly, edited by J. O'Donovan, LL. D., p. 25. The story is also curious for the reference to cleip Ui Coijeob, CPCongeo's band of poets, to whom I have seen no other reference. O'Congeo must have been some satirical Crossan whose followers were believed to have all gone to the lower regions. It appears to me further, that this story was penned at a very early period, to natter the royal family of Ossory, and to bring the order of poets called Crossans into disrepute, for the Crossan Finn O'King, and his contemporary O'Conoran, are said to have committed to memory, and after- wards imitated, the song of the demons." — Ori- ginal Letter, penes auct. CHAP. I.J SEIR-KIERAN. 11 by the people of Minister thirty-five years after the piety of Donchadh's consort a. d. 952. Four Masters, procured its enclosure: but the only other notice afforded by the annals is the vol. ii., p. 671. burning of the monastery by O'Carrol and the English in the year 1548. Ac- idem, vol. v., cording to Ware, the Canons Regular of St. Augustine were introduced into Seir- P ' Kieran; he does not supply the date, but it was probably about the middle of the twelfth century, when that order found entrance into the greater part of the Monast. Ha> n ., Irish monastic houses. The priory of Seir-Kieran does not appear to have re- covered from the devastation inflicted by O'Carrol and the English ere the general suppression of monastic houses supervened some twenty years later, as the Inquisition 3 on the surrender, taken at the neighbouring castle of The Leap, speaks of the walls of what had lately been the church, and, alluding to its pros- trate condition, states that a large stone building, thatched with straw, was then used as the parish church, whilst two other thatched houses served the canons for their place of residence. The precinct of the priory was found to comprise one acre, thus identifying it with the present churchyard. The rectory of Seir- Kieran, valued at forty shillings 5 , was impropriate in the canons ; as was also a A transcript of this Inquisition, so far as it relates to Seir-Kieran, ishere subjoined, as Arch- dall does not give a very clear summary of its contents. The dissolved Religious Houses to which it also relates are "de Insula Vivencium," and " Eoscre in Ealy." This Inquisition is at present preserved in the Chief Remembrancer's Office, Dublin, and was held on the 28th of De- cember, 1568, " apud Lemyvanane in Ely sub gubernacione O'Kerroll," before Michael Fitz- Williams, Esquire, and Francis Delahyde, Gen- tleman, commissioners appointed by the Queen : the jury find, with regard to Seir-Kieran, " q& prioratus canonico^ noiatus prioratus scti Ke- rani, alias prioratus de Shyre Kerane in Ely pd", spect' ad dnam Regina racioe ctci pliamenti, & qd" scitus dicti prioratus continet una, acra in qua suntmura lapictdudu ecctie diet' prioratus, una turris parva, una magna dom9 lapid" straie tecta que dom9 modo est ecctia pochialis ut ecctia pd pstrata fuit, r t ii. alie domus straie tecte ubi ca- nonici habitaverunt que valent p annii ultra re- pacloe iii s . iiij d . Et dicunt qd viit de shyre pti- nebat ad diet' prioratu, t modo ad dnamReginam in qua sunt vi. cottag', % in campis ejusd" sunt xl. acre terre arr' t pastur' valentes p ann' vi s . viii d . Et dicunt qd Rector' de Shyre alias Shyrekerane spect' ad diet' dudu prioratu, '\ modo ad dnam Regina, unde decime cu alteragiis valent p ami' ultra stipend" curatoris r tc\ xl s . Tc'." Archdall gives the 27th of December as the date of this inquisition — Monasticon, p. 406. Lemyveenane, L e. Leim-i-bdndhn, O'Banan's Leap, now Leap Castle, and the seat of the Darby family, is situate between Seir-Kieran and Ros- crea. It was one of O'Carroll's chief fortresses: " there was scarcely any castle at that period (1516) better fortified and defended." — Four Masters, vol. v., p. 1 337, and n. b The composition for the vicarial tithes in 1832 was £78 7s. 9d., from which twenty-five per cent, must now be deducted. 2 L2 SEIR-KIERAN. [SKCT. I. the villa or townland of Seir-Kieran, forty-one acres in extent, on which then Rot i'm . stood six cottages. Queen Elizabeth, on the 3rd of August, 1578, demised, for 1 Jac. I., ni. x., . No. is, fade, twenty-one years, at a rent oi live pounds Irish, per annum, to Sir William O'Carroll, this priory, with its site, precinct, and possessions in land and tithes. In 1586, Sir Luke Dillon, Knight, Privy Councillor, and Chief Baron of the Exchequer, obtained from the Crown a lease of the premises for sixty years, after the expiration of the first-mentioned term ; and on the 9 th of January, 1604, Captain, afterwards Sir William, Taafe, was, by James I., granted the property, to hold in capite by the twentieth part of a knight's fee; and by him, \fmait. Wibn., according to Archdall, it was subsequently assigned over to James Earl of Ros- common. The circuit of the ecclesiastical " civitas" may yet be traced with tolerable exactness. It apparently embraced an area of about ten acres in extent, en- closed by a fosse and double rampart of earth. On the north side these defences are tolerably perfect ; they are in good preservation also towards the south-west, where the inner rampart is still of considerable height, and strengthened by an external facing of stone ; and the south-western angle is defended by a lofty earthen fort or tumulus. The principal entrance seems to have been placed at the north side, and another gate may be traced in the southern rampart. The entire area slopes with an eastern exposure down to a small stream, and its upper portion is very much intersected by earthworks, many of them running at right angles to each other, and presenting the appearance of streets 3 . The present churchyard lies nearly central in the larger area, but nearer the upper or western side : it contains about one acre, and is clearly the original precinct of the monastery: its boundary wall is, for the most part, extremely ancient, and may, with great probability, be assumed to retain some portions of the ' These remains indicate the existence here at acres, which seems to have been also connected some period of one of those avnobia where a with the monastery. At some distance south- vast number of monks lived in separate cells, east of the church, St. Kieran's well is shown, ranged in streets around the principal church, beneath an old ash tree; there is nothing re- See Inquiry into the Origin and Uses of the markable about it. On Bell Hill, in the town- Round Towers of Ireland, p. 422. In the de- land of the same name, there is an old whitethorn mesne of Oakley, on the opposite side of the called Bell Bush, which tradition points to as public road, may be seen another intrench- occupying the spot where the saint's bell found ment of irregular form, enclosing about two its voice, as alluded to at p. 6, n. \ ante. CHAP. I.] SEIR-KIERAX. 13 septum erected early in the tenth century, at the instance of the Queen of Donn- chadh, monarch of Ireland, as related in the curious extract from Keating, already quoted (page 8, n. b ). The accompanying dia- gram will give some idea of its peculiar construction. Both faces batter inwards several inches, and it will be seen that the slope of the coping is not equi- angular, the internal face being the most upright. The character of the masonry is best seen at the south side, where a considerable portion of the an- cient wall still remains perfect. The work exhibits one or two well-defined courses, composed of large boulder stones, apparently dressed but on one sur- face, fitted carefully together, and spawled ; the centre is compacted of small stones, grouted with mortar of extreme hardness. The granite base of an early cross, and four examples of ancient tombstones, also occur in the churchyard; two of the latter (one of which is here figured) >>M.'0O MP* No. 1. No. 2. exhibit the graceful incised cross peculiar to Ireland, and to those portions of England and Scotland evangelized by Irish ecclesiastics. The diagram given in the next page represents the restored outline of a very elegant cross incised on another slab : and the commencement of an ancient Irish inscrip- tion, 6? OO, are barely legible on the third. It is highly probable that the 14 AGHABO. [SKCT. I. sward of the burial-ground conceals several monumental slabs of a similar age and character, which, should they ever come to light, may serve further to illustrate the scanty annals of Seir-Kieran. A few sculptured stones, which may have formed portions of a church contemporary with the ancient septum, or, at latest, erected in the eleventh century, lie scattered about the cemetery. One is the voussoir of a door-arch, carved with a bold three-quarter round moulding; another presents traces, in relief, of a cross within a circle, like that sculptured over the early square-headed doorway of Fore Abbey". The parish church, lately rebuilt by the Ecclesiastical Com- missioners of Ireland, preserves in its east window some remains of an earlier fabric ; the details, though transitional in character, may be referred to the close of the Early English period of Gothic architecture ; the engaged angle shafts and capitals are espe- cially worthy of attention. No trace of a Round Tower is now discoverable, did such an appendage to the monastery ever exist ; but a small stone-roofed turret (no doubt the " turris parva" of the Inquisition), still extant in the ceme- Dubiin Penny tery, has been gravely set down by an anonymous writer as the depository of the i,Ti4. 1S3J ' sacred fire ! A cursory inspection serves to show that the date of this structure is, comparatively speaking, very modern — the existence of a tier of shot-holes proving it to have been erected after the introduction of firearms. AGHABO b . — Having brought our brief notice of Seir-Kieran down to the present day, it will be necessary to revert to the sixth century of the Christian era, when the monastic house, which ultimately became, in the modern sense of 1 See this doorway figured by Dr. Petrie, in " Clchab bo, Martyrology of Aengus, Gloss, his Inquiry into the Origin and Uses oj 'the Round Oct. 11; Achad bou, latine campulus bovis, Towers of Ireland, p. 171. AdamnarCs Life of St. Columba, Tr. Thaum., CHAP. I.] AGHABO. 15 the word, for a short period, the cathedral of the diocese of Ossory, was founded, and began to supplant, in the estimation of the tribes of the district, the earlier establishment of St. Kieran. The first order of Irish saints, the contemporaries of Patrick and Kieran of Saighir, had now passed away 3 . They were for the most part bishops, ordained in great numbers in order to supply the wants of an infant Church, and pro- mote the effectual preaching of Christianity to the heathen Irish ; and they lived collegiately with their inferior clergy, " caput Christum, et unum ducem Patricium habentes." But although thus conforming to the rule given them by the Apostle of the Irish, they were not, strictly speaking, monks b , being rather the predecessors, de facto, of the secular clergy, and engaged in the active duties of the Church. In process of time, however, when the Irish people had generally embraced Christianity, and the influence of the then prevailing mystic theology came to be felt amongst them, monachism, in its most rigid form, made rapid progress in the Irish Church : the simplicity of the primitive rule was departed from, many new ones introduced, and greater strictness affected. During this period, the commencement of which may be placed about the year 542, flou- rished the second order of Irish saints , many of whom, although but simple presbyters, rose in estimation above the episcopal order, and even, as in the p. 353, col. a; Gcha& b6 Chamtng, Four Mas- ters, a.d. 1116 ; Aghabo, modern umge. a " Primus ordo catholicoruin Sanctorum erat in tempore Patricii. Et tunc erant Episcopi om- nes clari & sancti & spiritu sancto pleni CCCL. numero, Ecclesiarum fundatores. Unum caput Christum, & unum ducem Patricium habebant : unam Missam, unam celebrationem, unam ton- suram (ab aure usque ad aurem) sufferebant. Unum Pascha, xiv. Luna post sequinoctium ver- nale, celebrabant : & quod excommunicatum esset ab una Ecclesia omnes excommunicabant. Mulierum administrationem & consortia non respuebant : quia super Petram Christum fun- dati, ventum tentationis non timebant. Hie ordo Sanctorum per quaterna duravit regna, hoc est, pro tempore Laogarij. 4' Aila Muilt, 4' Lugada filio Laogarii, 4' Tuathail. Hi omnes Episcopi de Eomanis, & Francis, & Britonibus, & Scotis exorti sunt." — De Britan. Eccl Primord., p. 913, ed. 1623. b St. Kieran, although an ascetic, was not a monk. For the difference between ascetics and monks, see Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church, b. vii., c. i., sections 1-5. c " Secundus ordo catholicorum Presbytero- rum. In hoc enim ordine pauci erant Episcopi, & multi Presbyteri, numero CCC. Unum caput Dominum nostrum habebant, diversas Missas celebrabant & diversas Regulas, unum Pascha quartadecima Luna, unam tonsuram ab aure ab aurem : abnegabant mulierum administrationem, separantes eas a Monasteriis. Hie ordo per qua- terna adhuc regna duravit, hoc est ab extremis Tuathail, et per totum Diarmata Eegis regnum, et duorum Muredaig nepotum, et yEe/ofilii Ain- 10 AG1IABO. [sect. I. case of Columbkille, acquired jurisdiction over the bishops in the districts where they were venerated a . On the model of St. Columbkille's foundation at Iona, Canice (Cainneach), the intimate friend of the Apostle of the Picts, and one of the most illustrious amongst the second order of saints, seems to have framed his monastery at Agh- abo. The precise date is not supplied either by the early life of St. Canice, pre- served in Archbishop Marsh's Library, Dublin b , or by Colgan's valuable folios. From the pages of the latter may, indeed, be gathered some data which render it highly probable that the monastery of Aghabo was not founded before the year 558, and that it was in existence before 577 c . We learn, however, from the life of the saint already referred to, that between Colman the son of Fearaide, " dux regionis Osraide," Chief of Ossory, and St. Canice an intimate friendship existed, and that Colman bestowed on the latter many townlands (villas), whereon St. Canice erected monasteries, and amongst them his " civitas" of Aghabo' 1 . Seated amidst some of the richest pasture lands in Ireland — lands which retain their proverbial fertility to the present day c — the name Gchao bo, merech Quorum nomina htec sunt. Duo Finiani Cainecus," &c. — De Britan. Eccl. Primord., p. 914. 1 " Habere autem solet ipsa insula rectorein semper abbatem presbyterum, cujusjuri et om- nis provincia, et ipsi etiam episcopi, ordine in- usitato, debeant esse subjecti, juxta exemplum primi doctoris illius, qui non episcopus, sed presbyter extitit et monachus." — Bede's His- toria Eccl. Gentis. Ang., lib. iii., cap. iv., § 160. b The Life of Canice, in the Burgundian Li- brary, Brussels, printed by the late Marquis of Ormonde, is equally vague as to dates. ' This would appear from the following con- siderations. St. Canice is styled the founder of a monastery when he accompanied SS. Com- gall, Brendan, and Cormac (of whom the same statement is made) to visit St. Columba at Hy : " Quatuor ex Hiberniaj illo a;vo praecipuis Sanctis, Venerabiles Patres & Monasteriorum fundatores, Comgellus scilcet Abbas Benchorensis, Canne- chus Abb. Achadhboensis, Brendanus Abbas Cluainfertensis, & Cormacus OLiethain Abbas Darmagensis vna ex Hibernia profecti in Ionam Insulam veniunt ad S. Columbam invisen- dum." — Tr. Thaum., p. 428, col. b. See also p. 367, col. b, where Adamnan places this visit to Columba at Hinba or Himba, an island which has not as yet been identified. Dr. La- nigan {Eccl. Hist., vol. ii., p. 6G) proves that Bangor could not have been founded before the year 558, and Brendan of Clonfert died in the year 577 {Four Masters, vol. i., p. 209). Dr. La- nigan (vol. ii., p. 38) places this visit after the year 563. probably because 564 is the latest date assigned to the foundation of Brendan's monastery at Clonfert. — Four Masters, vol. i., p. 190, n. m . d " Colmanus Alius fearaide dux regionis os- raide sancto cainnico amicus erat. et ipse multas villas dedit ei, in quibus sanctus Cainnicus edifi- cauit monasteria et civitates." — Vita Cainnechi, cap. xxxviii., MS., Marsh's Library. e The grass lands which surround the site of CHAP. I.] AGHABO. 17 Ager boum, is graphically descriptive of the situation of the monastery. Agh- abo lies in the north-eastern angle of the parish of the same name, in the barony of Clarmallagh a , and Queen's County. The Acta of Canice afford little or no information as to the internal po- lity of his monastery at Aghabo ; but the conjecture, already hazarded, that it followed the rule of Columbkille, derives much force from the intimacy known to have existed between these eminent ecclesiastics, taken in connexion with the prominent position assumed by this community amongst the Osso- rians b at a period when Scanlan their Prince was under great obligations to St. Columbkille. As to its subsequent history, our information, apart from the obits of its bishops, abbots, and learned men , is very scanty ; but the silence of our ancient annalists on a point which naturally assumed a prominent position in their brief chronicles, renders it extremely probable that Aghabo enjoyed an unwonted exemption from violence for three centuries and a half after its founda- tion ; having been, apparently for the first time, in the year 913, plundered by the " Strangers," of whom a fresh horde had about that period entered the estuary of the Nore, Suir, and Barrow, then known as Loch-Dachaech d . Somewhat more than a century afterwards, when the country had recovered from the ra- vages of the Northmen, and ecclesiastical architecture had received a renewed impetus, a.d. 1052, the church of the monastery was rebuilt, and the shrine of the monastery of Aghabo are well known as nies, thus ignoring the ancient barony of Upper amongst the richest pastures in Ireland. That Ossory, which up to that period comprised both, portion of them locally termed the " bullock b The authorities for this assertion, and a park" (campulus bovum) will fatten a bullock notice of the transactions which took place be- and a sheep per acre, or produce perpetual mea- tween St. Columbkille and Scanlan Prince of dowing without sensible deterioration. It cannot Ossory, will find their proper place in the early be denied that the founders of our primitive mo- history of the see. The Rev. William Reeves nasteries were excellent judges of land, and it is has printed a very curious and early Rule of equally clear that they were the great agricul- Columbkille taken from a manuscript preserved turists, road-makers, and bridge-builders, of in the Burgundian Library, Brussels. — Primate their day. The remains of an ancient causeway, Cohort's Visitation, p. 109- stretching across the bog from the monastery of c Their names will be found in the forth- Aghabo towards Castletown, is traditionally, coming history of the see of Ossory. and without doubt correctly, assigned to the J Four Masters, vol. ii., p. 585. Archdall makes engineering skill of the monks. two plunderings out of one here, and sets down, a The Ordnance Survey has erected the can- but erroneously, the second under the year 915. treds of Clandonagh and Clarmallagh intobaro- {Monast. Hik, p. 588.) D* 18 AGHABO. [sect. I. St. Canicc deposited in it\ O'More, chief of Leix, surnamed Faelan, or the Blind, in consequence of having had his eyes put out in 1041 by Murchadh, son of Dunlaing, entered this monastery, where he died a.d. 1069 b . About Four Matter; the year 1100 Aghabo was a noted place of resort for religious pilgrims. ' ' The Annals of Clonmacnoise state the curious fact, that the family or commu- r.mr Masters, n [ty f Kilkenny, which here must mean the monastic community of St. Canice vol. li., p. 985, J J ' J •»• of Aghabo, gave an overthrow to the community of Leighlin in the year 1106; id., vol ii., and in the beginning of Lent, a.d. 1116, the monastery was consumed by fire. id., voi iii., I" 1234 "the great church of St. Canice of Aghabo," was again rebuilt , but in the year 1346 was, together with the shrine and relics of the saint, ruthlessly burned by Diarmid Mac Gillapatrick the One-eyed. Clyn's graphic notice of this outrage is as follows : — " Item, on Friday the 13th of May, Diarmid Mac Gillapatrick the One-eyed, ever noted for treachery and treasons, making light of perjury, and aided by O'Carroll, burned * Manuscript Annals of Leinster, quoted by Ware (Bishops, p. 398). The passage says " built," but it is quite evident there was a church there long before this period. b Four Masters, vol. ii., pp. 839, 896, 897. Faelan O'More (son of Aimergim, the great grandson of Mordha, a quo the O'Mores of Leix) having been taken prisoner by Donnchadh, son of Aedh, was delivered over by him to Mur- chadh, who, to disqualify him for the chief- tainship, put out his eyes. After this cruel mutilation it is most probable that he became a member of the religious community of Aghabo. This barbarous custom was prevalent in France and England as well as in Ireland. When kings or chieftains were deprived of their sight they were rendered unfit to reign, and the next po- pular candidate was elected. In the year 1018 Bran or Braen, ancestor of the O'Byrnes of Leinster, had his eyes put out, by procurement of Sitrick, the Danish King of Dublin, where- on he retired into the Irish monastery at Co- logne, and there died a.d. 1052. — Four Masters, vol. ii., pp. 862, n. ; 863. c The authority quoted by O'Donovan for this fact is the modern compilation of Irish Annals, made at Paris in 1760, by John Conry for Dr. John O'Brien (see Book of Rights, Introd., p. ii.), wherein, sub anno 1234, the following passage, evidently much corrupted, is to be found : — "Ceampull mop cille Cambig .1. acabo Do t>6anarh 16 Coriiapba Ciapdin paigpe," accom- panied by this translation, — " The great church of Kilkenny, i. e. Aghaboe, was built by the successor of St. Ciaran ofSaighir, i. e. the Bishop of Ossory." — Annals of Innisfallen, fF. 227> 228, Royal Irish Academy. Dr. O'Donovan is of opinion that the word cille has crept into the text, and that the older Annals will be found to want it ; acabo is an evident error for acaobo. In the face of so many inaccuracies we can scarcely depend on the assertion that the church was built by the successor of Kieran. Besides, the bishop of the day was at this very period engaged in building the new cathedral at Kil- kenny, which renders the statements of the an- CHAP. I.] AGHABO. 19 the town of Aghabo, and, venting his parricidal rage against the cemetery the church and the shrine of that most holy man St. Canice the abbot, consumed them, together with the bones and relics, by a most cruel nre" a . In the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy is preserved a small ancient bronze, representing, in relief, the figure of an ecclesiastic, bearing in the left hand a book, and in the right a short episcopal staff or cambutta h . This antique, here figured to a scale one-half that of the original, was found in the church-yard of Aghabo : it would seem, from the rivet- holes remaining, to have been a portion of the ornamental Avork of an ancient shrine. Perhaps it is the sole remaining vestige which has survived " the most cruel fire" of the one-eyed Mac Gillapatrick. The chancel of the monastic church erected in 1234, and which served for parochial purposes in Dr. Ledwich's day, was demolished about thirty years since to make way for nalist still more improbable. Archdall asserts that the church had been previously plundered in 1125, but the authorities cited do not sup- port him. — Monast. Hibn., p. 589. a " Item, die Veneris iii° Nonas Maii, Der- micius M°Gilpatrick monoculus, qui semper insidiis et prodicionibus intendere consuevit, perjuriaque parvi pendens villam de Athebo combussit, associato sibi O'Kayrwyll et secum ducto, et in cimiterium et ecclesiam, ac Sancti Cannici abbatis viri sanctissimi, patroni patrie et loci fundatoris, scrinium cum ossamentis et reliquiis ejus igne crudelissimo (tanquam dege- ner filius in patrem) crudeliter deseviens, igne crudelissimo combussit et consumpsit." — An- nals of Ireland, by John Clyn, published by the Irish Archaeological Society, pp. 32, 33. The Anglo-Norman castle, built, probably, by William Earl Mareschall when he received the villa and cantred of Aghabo from Hugh Rufus Bishop of Ossory, in exchange for lands nearer D Kilkenny, held out but a short time after the monastery was devastated; for we learn from the Irish Exchequer Records, that in January. 1349, and long before that date, " Hibernici les m c gilfatrickes felones t inimici domini regis debellaverunt castrum de Aghbo, t inuaserunt totam patriam adiacentem, depredaciones ulci- ones et incendia de die in diem faciendo super populum domini regis ibidem." — Rot. Memo?:, 28 and 29 Edw. III., m. 16. b Mr. Westwood, in a paper on the peculiari- ties exhibited by the miniatures and ornamen- tation of ancient Irish illuminated manuscripts, printed in the Journal of the Archaeological Institute, vol. vii., p. 19, gives an engraving, copied from a representation of St. Luke, which strikingly resembles the bronze above engraved. The original of Mr. Westwood's illustration forms one of the illuminations in the Gospels of Mac Durnan, preserved at Lambeth Palace, and is considered by that eminent palaaographist to 2 20 AGHABO. [SKCT. I. an unsightly modern structure". A plate of the ruins of the abbey, engraved for Grose's Antiquities of Ireland in the year 1793 (vol. ii. p. 39), shows, in the south wall of the chancel, a pointed arch enriched with the dog-tooth ornament: and a hexagonal turret, the only vestige of the older building now extant, although disfigured by a modern head, affords some indication of the character of the ancient structure, and excites regret that this interesting example of the Early English style should have been so needlessly and ruthlessly destroyed. Led- wich, who was himself vicar of Aghabo, has left on record a good description of the ancient church, to which the reader is referred b . Although the history of the Dominican abbey subsequently founded at Aghabo by the Mac Gillapatrick family does not come within the scope of the present work, it may be allowable to remark, that the existing remains exhibit some good Flamboyant work in the windows, and that a very beautiful piscina, furnished with a shelf within the niche, still remains in the south wall of the chancel. The windows of the present parish church also are Flamboyant in character, and seem to have been torn from the walls of the abbey. Aghabo now presents few vestiges of its ancient ecclesiastical importance 3 . form, in conjunction with the Aghabo bronze, and a similar metal casting on the Cumdach, figured by Dr. O'Connor (Jier. Hibn. Scriptores, torn, ii., sub jinem), the earliest known represen- tations of the short pastoral staff used by the Irish prelates. a By an entry remaining on the Register of the neighbouring parish of Skeirke, two persons from the parish of Aghabo are recorded to have been married in the parish church of Skeirke, on September, 3rd, 1815, "the church of Agh- aboe being in a ruinous state." b A choir arch of red grit-stone, external but- tresses, richly moulded niches, sedilia, and pis- cinia, and an elaborately ornamented doorway in the south wall, seem to have been the chief characteristics of the remains existing in Dr. Ledwich's day. See Mason's Parochial Survey of Ireland, vol. i., p. 37. c See Archdall's Monasticon, pp. 589, 590. De Burgo, Hibn. Dom., pp. 297, 298, proves Al- lemand and his follower Harris to have errone- ously assigned the thirteenth century as the pe- riod of the Dominican foundation, which he shows could not have taken place till the con- clusion of the fourteenth century. The latter date agrees perfectly with the style of its archi- tecture. d The high road which runs by the monastery is frequently termed by the peasantry the "street of Aghabo," thus affording an instance of the traditional remembrance of the economy of the ancient ccenobium which, in all probability, con- sisted of a multitude of separate cells ranged in streets (See Petrie's Inquiry into the Origin and Uses of the Round Towers, p. 422). Some indi- cation of the ancient importance of the place is also afforded by the fairs, "haud minus celebres" (De Burgo, Hibn. Dominicana, p. 297), held here on August 1st, and the 21st and 22nd of Octo- CHAP, i] AGHABO. 21 The site and appurtenances of the Dominican abbey, together with the advowson of the rectory and vicarage of St. Canice of Aghabo, were, inter alia, granted by Elizabeth, in the forty-third year of her reign, to Florence Fitz Patrick, Baron of Upper Ossory. This grant was confirmed by letters patent ^ ° of the 9th of James I., which state the rectory and vicarage to have formed parcel of the dissolved priory of Innistiogue, in the south of the county of Kilkenny, to which they seem to have passed from some representative or grantee of William Earl Mareschal, with whom, on the translation of the see from Aghabo to Kilkenny, Hugh Rufus, the first Anglo-Xorman prelate of Ossory, exchanged the bishop's lands at the former place for others more con- venientlv situated near his new cathedral, and at the same time received from the Earl Mareschal the advowsons of the churches of St. Mary of Kilkenny and St. Patrick of Donaghmore, in lieu of the church of St. Canice of Aghabo, and the other churches of that neighbourhood*. The rectory of Aghabo at present constitutes a portion of the corps of the Deanery of St. Canice, under which its present value will be found. The per- petual advowson of the vicarage has lately been purchased by the Rev. Thomas Harpur, rector of the union of Maryborough, from the Rev. George Carr, owner in fee of a considerable portion of the abbey lands. The vicarial rent-charge amounts to £197 6s. 2c?. ; a large glebe, comprising 299a. 1r. IS^p., is also attached to the vicarasre. — J. G. o ber. On the two latter, being the vigil and feast rish of St. Patrick of Donaghmore was the pre- of St. Canice, old style, the " patron" of St. Ca- sent parish of St Patrick, Kilkenny, which nice, suppressed about 1815, was held. forms a portion of the corps of the Deanery of m Liber Albus Ossor. It appears from another St Canice. A townland in the parish still re- charter extant in this manuscript, that the pa- tains the name of Donaghmore. 22 KILK ENNY. [SKCT I. CHAPTER II. KILKENNY . Albertus Mi- riEus, Poliria I-'cclesiastica, lib. i, c. 52. r I MIE anonymous author of a tract on the diocese of Ossory b presents us with so picturesque a description of its cathedral city, and at the same time advances so probable a theory of the origin of the latter, that we are tempted to place before the reader his very words — the rather as they have never before been given to the public, and as they embody our own previously formed views on the subject. The passage alluded to is as follows: — " Est itaque ciuitas base vulgo nominata Kilkenia quasi fanum siue cella Canici (ut recte Mirajus), quani, nunc ampliatam et priuilegiis pluribus ornatam regiis, composita dictionc vocare licet Canicopolim. Sita est ad fluuiura Eiorium, quern transmittis duplici ponte marmoreo, cum interuallo duorum circiter stadiorum. Porrigitur in longitudine ab Aquilonc ad Austrum. In Aquilonari parte prominetEcclesia Cathedralis ampla et magni- fica D. Canico Abbati sacra. In Australi et magis ad Euronotum surgit Castrura seu verius pluribus castris et turribus munitum propugnaculum. Ab ipsis duobus, id est a templo et castro initium et incrementum totius ciuitatis prouenit, politeia sacra pariter et ciuili coeuntc ad ejus exaidificationem. Si vetustatem spectes cooeva est ejus origo con- questus et expugnationis Anglicanae in Hibernia primordiis." " So this city is commonly named Kilkenny, that is the fane or cell of Canice (as Mirscus rightly hath it), but may, since the recent accession of honours and privileges con- * Ceall Cainoig. i*o?/r Masters; Cill Cainnift, CHeerin; Kilkennia, Patent, Close, and Remem- brance Rolls, passim ; Canicopolis, Clarendon Manuscripts, torn, li., 4796; Eyrupolis, Hove- den in Annal., apud Wilkins, Concil., torn, i., Dissert, in vet. et modern. Synod. Anglican, constitut., p. xix. ; " Eyrupolensis abEyro flu- mine, vulgo Neoro, quod Kilkenniam alluit," Hibn. Dominican., p. 205, n. h This manuscript is preserved in the British Museum, amongst the Clarendon Collection (torn, li., addit. number 4796, pp. 19-30), and is enti- tled " De Ossoriensi Dicescesi." A transcript in a contemporary hand exists in the Manuscript Library of Trinity College, Dublin (e. 4. 18). From internal evidence this tract would appear to have been written by the learned David Rothe, Roman Catholic Bishop of Ossory, between the years 1624 and 1641. It is imperfect, the con- clusion of the tract being deficient in both copies. chap, ii.] KILKENNY. 23 ferred on it by royal favour, be aptly styled, in composite diction, Canicopolis. Seated on the river Nore, which flows beneath two marble bridges distant from each other about two furlongs, its greatest length is from north to south. On the north stands boldly forth the large and magnificent cathedral church sacred to St. Canice, the abbot; southwards, and verging towards the east, rises the castle, or rather a fortress guarded by many castles and bulwarks. From this twofold source sprang the civic community — the temple and the fortress were the nurses of its infancy — the civil and ecclesiastical polities contributing equally to the growth of its buildings. To the inquirer as to the period of its foundation I reply that it is coeval with the English conquest in Ireland." In support of the views here put forward it is worthy of observation that the early annals of Ireland pass over the name of Kilkenny in silence — pre- sumptive evidence that it had not any very great or ancient importance. It is not vita s. Kierani . it* n tt- i i , apud Colgan, once mentioned m the Lives of St. Kieran or St. Canice, although Kieran s Acta ss. HOm., travels in the district are duly recorded, and we have St. Canice passing from his & c . ' monastery of Aghabo to the casteUum or rath of Colman King of Ossory, through Vita S. Caine- chi cc 39 40. Magh Raighne, a district nearly coextensive with the present barony of Kells a , in the county of Kilkenny. Still further negative evidence may be drawn from the ancient poem styled " The Circuit of Ireland," an undoubted compo- sition of the tenth century. The author, Cormacan Eigeas, who accompanied his Circuit of Ire- hero, Muircheartach Mac Neill, in a hostage-hunting expedition, Anno Domini for the Irish 941, represents the Prince of Aileach as entering the ancient kingdom of pp . 38-41. Ossory by the Bealach, or pass of Gabhran (now Gowran in the barony of the same name), where he is hospitably entertained by the local dynast whose daughter he had married. A night is passed by the river named piiooaip pino (the clear Fliodais), probably the Nore (an pheoin), whose waters Spencer has immortalized for their " grey" translucency : whilst Tubbrid-britain, on the " cold Magh Airbh," a plain nearly represented by the present barony of Cra- nagh, was the scene of a second bivouac. Now a glance at the Ordnance index map of the county will at once show that the line of march thus indicated must have passed over, or close to, the site of Kilkenny, yet the poet does not once mention the name. Granting also, as we do, the early existence of a church here, it is worthy of remark, that the primitive Christian ecclesiastics loved to 1 This route could not be far wide of the site times called King of Magh Raighne — "foelicis of Kilkenny. The King of Ossory was some- Rania: Regis." — See note, p. 9, ante. 24 KILK I'.NN Y. [sect. I. Four Mnslirs. vol. ii., p. 928, Uld nule '. found their cells, not in towns or places of resort, but for the most part in solitudes and deserts. Hence it seems pretty evident that Kilkenny possessed at all events no early civil importance*, and we are irresistibly led to the conclusion, that round the primitive cell of St. Canice (Htbemice, Cainneach, pronounced Kenny) gathered the first rudiments of the future city. The earliest supposed allusion to Kilkenny occurs in the Annals of the Four Masters, Anno 1085, and relates exclusively to the church there, — " Ceall cainr>i£ oo lopecaoh oujirhoji, Ceall-Cainnigh was for the most part burned." Whereby, observes Dr. O'Donovan, it " may be intended to denote the church of St. Canice, in the city of Kilkenny, or it may be any other church dedicated to that saint ; but the probability is that St. Canice's church, in the now city of Kilkenny is here alluded to." The authority of the learned editor of the Four Masters — confirmed by constant local tradition and the consent of * Although few will now be found disposed to break a lance in his favour, yet the perverse ingenuity of Dr. Ledwich's statements cannot here be passed over in total silence. In his " Antiquities of Ireland" (2nd ed., p. 382), he labours to identify the Iernis of Ptolemy and the Hernia of Richard of Cirencester with the Irishtown of Kilkenny. It is a pity that this notable theory should be completely demolished by the correlative nature of the very term on which it is raised. The Doctor forgot that till an English settlement took place at Kilkenny there would not be an Irish town. Again, as to the etymology of the name Kilkenny, he tells us that " the first settlement of the Gael was along the margin of the Nore, the higher land extending from the site of the Cathedral to the Castle, was covered with wood, and from this circumstance had a Celtic name, Coil or Kyle- ken-ui, or the wooded head, or hill near the river; and by the natives, Cilcanuigh, or Kil- kenny" (" a truly wooden-headed etymology," says Lanigan, Eccl. History of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 202). Harris and Ussher the Doctor acknow- ledges to be in favour of " the popular opinion, which deduces the name Kilkenny from St. Canice or Kenny, an imaginary personage, to whom the Cathedral is dedicated" (p. 385); to whom, nevertheless, a substantial existence is allowed when it suits Ledwich's own purpose (p. 509). But it is needless to weary the reader with more of this charlatanism ; it being now universally allowed that Kilkenny means the church of Cainnech. " It is written Cill Cainnig, i. e., church of Cainneach or Canice," says Dr. O'Donovan, " in the oldest notices of it in Irish manuscripts, and universally so pro- nounced by the native Irish; coill, pronounced coyle, means a wood ; but cill, a church, is a different word, pronounced kill, the k remark- ably hard and slender. Dr. Ledwich might as well deny that Kilpatrick meant the cell or church of St. Patrick, or Kilmurry the cell or church of Mary, as that Kilkenny means the church of Kenny. To believe, on the authority of Ledwich's etymology, that ccun- nijj in this name is ken-ui, and that ken means head, and ui water, would be to reject fact and set up an illiterate and silly conceit in its place; for ken does not mean head, and ui does not mean water, in this name, nor in the Irish lan- guage." — Original LeiUr, penes auct. CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 25 every writer 3 , except Ledwich, who has touched on the subject — warrants our assigning this passage to the ecclesiastical foundation at Kilkenny, which must have been of some importance, at all events towards the close of the eleventh century, to demand from our meagre and concise annals even a notice of its destruction. To all who conceive, with us, that Petrie has established the Christian origin of the Round Towers of Ireland, the very fine example of that singular class of building, still remaining, affords positive proof of the early ecclesiastical occu- pation of Kilkenny. Judging from the style of its masonry, and the total absence of ornament in its constructive features, the Round Tower of St. Canice may have been erected in the lifetime of that saint, or at any time from that period to the end of the tenth century. The edifice partially destroyed in 1085, we may safely conjecture to have been a timber structure, as we know that of Kieran at Saigher was ; but of whatever material constructed, it was soon rebuilt, as appears by the record of a second conflagration, seventy-one Four Master,. ... vol. ii., p. 999. years later (a. d. 1114), probably the result of the civil discord consequent on the usurpation of the kingdom of Minister by Diarmaid, great-grandson of Brian Borumha, during the sickness of his brother Muircheartach, in that year. Nor was Kilkenny the only sufferer from the internecine fury of the contending parties ; a long list of churches and monasteries recorded by the Four Masters as destroyed by fire at the same period proves that the Irish chieftains had but too well learned the lesson of sacrilege from the vikings of Norway and Denmark. That the church of St. Canice was about this period, or at all events during the twelfth century, again erected in a more durable manner, and with more costly materials, seems probable from the late discovery of massive foundations adjoining the choir of the present cathedral, to give room for the building of which, they have evidently been cut through 6 . We have also further evidence of this in the existence of the moulded base of a double jamb-shaft, orna- mented with a grotesque and bearded human face, which, as will be seen, * Camden, Britan., London, 1607, p. 744; Al- mer, Chronicle of Ireland, Dublin, 1633, p. 63; bertus Miraeus, Kotitia Episcopal., Antwerp, Harris's Ware, vol. i., p. 403 ; De Burgo, Hibn. 1613, lib. i, p. 80; Ussher, De Britannicar. Ec- Dominicana, p. 204, &c. clesiar. Primordiis, 4to, p. 957; Stanihurst apud b See the ground plan of the cathedral: the Hollinshed, Description of Ireland, p. 386 ; Han- old foundations are indicated by dotted lines. E 26 KILKENNY. [sect. I. affords a highly characteristic example of the style of architecture prevalent in Ireland during the first half of the twelfth century. This witness of the exis- tence of an earlier church has been casually preserved in the masonry of the present cathedral, having been inserted, in an inverted position, as an ordinary building stone, as will appear by the accompa- nying wood-cut. It may still be seen in the gable of the south transept, near the foundation, where it was first observed by the writer, on the removal of the accumulated earth, in the No. 5. year 1845. It is sadly indicative of the anarchy which so long reigned in this unhappy country, that bloodshed and turbulence strongly characterize the scanty annals even of its ecclesiastical establishments. To this sad category the church of F.mr Masters, Kilkenny affords no exception. The Four Masters, under the year 1146, record vol. ii., p. 1081. J .... the murder, "in the middle of Cill-Cainnigh," of Gillaphadraig, the grandson of Donnchadh, lord of Ossory, where he was treacherously slain by the O'Brennans, Trans. Kiiken. a tribe settled in Ui-Duach, an ancient territory of which the present barony of Archaol. Soc, _ . vol. i., p. 230. Fassadmeen, in the county of Kilkenny, now forms a part. The bounds of the diocese of Ossory, as they at present remain, had by this time been fixed by the canons of the Synod of Rathbreasail*. The see, however, still remained at Aghabo, and we have no reason to suppose that, before the translation of the cathedral to Kilkenny, the church of St. Canice could lay claim to any dignity beyond the parochiaP, destined although it was shortly to a Keating has preserved the canons of this true one. — King's Memoir of the Primacy, p. 84. synod; but they are not correctly rendered in b The entry in the Annals of Clonmacnoise, any of the English translations of that author, under the year 1 1 06 [rede 1 ] 07], to the effect For Lynch's faithful Latin version of these im- that " the family of Kilkenny gave an overthrow portant decrees, see Kelly's edition of Cambrensis to the family of Leighlyn" (Four Masters, vol. ii. Eversus, vol. ii., p. 783. Mr. Kelly inclines to p. 985, n.), would seem to militate against this the date of 1120; but Mr. King, a still higher statement, for 'family' here undoubtedly stands authority, regards 1110, Keating's date, as the for a society of ecclesiastics living under the rule CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 27 rise into importance and cast into the shade the more ancient seats of the episcopal authority. The event, however, which was the remote cause of this revolution in the humble parish church of Kilkenny, was of equally momen- tous import to the entire island. The more distant of the Irish princes seem to have beheld with unconcern the landing of Richard Fitz-Gilbert a and his handful of mail-clad followers at the embouchure of the Nore and its kindred streams, in aid of Diarmaid Mac a.d. n:o. Murrough ; but as town after town yielded to their assault, and the sinewy but naked tribesmen went down before the lance, and sword, and iron mace, of Strongbow's Cambro-Norman b men-at-arms, King O'Connor and his dynasts composed their suicidal quarrels and turned on the Irish traitor and his foreign allies. It was, however, now too late to give effective resistance. The princely seigniory of Leinster, acquired by virtue of the conquest, and under Norman, not Irish law c , through Eva, the daughter of Diarmaid Na-n-Gall d , was confirmed by Henry II. to Fitz-Gilbert, on the surrender of his wide acquisi- tions ; and the kingdom of Ossory, co-extensive with the present diocese of the same name, was the brightest gem in Earl Pembroke's almost regal coronet. To consolidate his power in this district, the Earl would naturally fix on and fortify some central point, and what situation more suitable for his purpose than Kilkenny, occupying the centre of the rich and pleasant plain which forms of a superior, similar to that founded at Leighlin Le Gros, and the Fitz-Stephen. Strongbow's by St. Laserian. But as not the faintest record daughter Isabella was a Celt by her mother, of the abbats of Kilkenny proper appears on the Eva-Ny-Mic-Murchadha, and thus the min- face of our annals, we are forced to the conclu- gled blood passed into the veins of the proudest sion that by " Kilkenny" is here meant the nobles of England, and finally, through the church of St. Cainnech of Aghabo. Mortimers, of royalty itself. So much for the * So Strongbow styles himself in the charter war-cry of " the Celt and the Saxon." whereby he grants half the cantred of Aghabo, c By the native or Brehon law, a woman could with the town, to Adam de Hereford, " as fully not inherit the chieftainship or land of the tribe ; as Dermod O'Kelly held the same." This unique the male child, or infirm male adult, was as document, under the seal of Fitz-Gilbert, is pre- strictly excluded ; and the choice rested on " the served amongst the Ormonde manuscripts, Kil- oldest and worthiest" of the royal or princely kenny Castle. For the charter at length, and family. lithograph of the seal, see Trans. Kilkenny Ar- d Diarmaid- Na-n- Gall, i. e., Diarmaid of the chaol. Soc, vol. i., p. 503. Foreigners, — so Dermod Mac Murrough is styled b Celtic blood was inherited from Nesta, daugh- by the Four Masters, after the earlier annalists : ter of Gryfiydh ap Bys, by the Fitz-Henry, the the reason of the epithet is obvious. E 2 28 KILKENNY. [sect. I. the largest and most central portion of ancient Ossory, varied by gentle undu- lations, and watered by the Nore with its various tributaries? The bogs, woods, and mountains of Upper Ossory were as yet tenaciously occupied by the Irish under their old dynast, the Macgillaphadraig ; the moory hills and fastnesses of Ui-Duach afforded a retreat to the O'Brennans ; and the southern districts bordering on the lower streams of the Nore and Barrow were rugged and mountainous. Thus Kilkenny naturally grew into importance ; and even in 1174 there may have been a fortress of some kind here (probably a stockaded mound), for on the defeat, at Thurles, of the combined Normans and Danes, or Gauls, of Dublin, in that year, the former, according to some anonymous annals formerly in the possession of Vallancey a , retreated to Water- ford, having evacuated the castle of Kilkenny ; and after their departure the town was demolished. In 1 1 76 b Richard Fitz-Gilbert, under that strange fatality which clung to so many of the conquerors and their descendants, died without issue male; and his widely extended inheritance fell to his daughter Isabella, then a minor, who, a. n. ii89. having remained for fourteen years a ward of the crown c , was given in marriage chrot^p. 172. t0 William Earl Mareschal the elder, who thus became Earl of Pembroke and Lord of Leinster. 1 Collectanea, vol. ii., p. 354. These annals place the occurrence two years earlier, but this is an error, the true date appears as above in the Four Masters (vol. iii., pp. 15-19, and notes), who, however, do not give the particulars about Kilkenny. The same event is placed under 1173, in King's Manuscript Collections, p. 587, Royal Dublin Society. "By means of this mishap," says Cambrensis, "the Irishmen in euerie place tooke such a heart and comfort, that the whole nation with one consent and agree- ment rose up against the Englishmen, and the earle, as it were a man besieged, kept himselfe within the wals and citie of Waterford, and from whence he mooued not." — The Conquest of Ireland, Hooker's translation, p. 34, col. a. Cam- brensis (ibid.) states that the forces from Dub- lin passed through Ossory, "where on a certeine night they lodged themselues." As they were bound for Cashel, Kilkenny was on their line of march. b This is the date given by the Four Masters (vol. iii., p. 25), and by Mathew Paris ; Pem- bridge and Giraldus Cambrensis place Strong- bow's death a year later. Some short annals which occur in the Liber Primus of the corpora- tion of Kilkenny point to a different date — " Anno dni m°. c°. lxxv . dictus comes Eicardus de Pembrok obiit quinto anno post adquisi- tionem de Leynester" (p. 57). There is also a strange uncertainty as to the day of the month on which he died. • Dowling's Annals, p. 13; Annals in theLiber Primus Kilkennia;, p. 57. chap, ii.] KILKENNY. 29 With this powerful nobleman may be said to commence the authentic history of our cathedral city. The reputation of his prudence and personal prowess, together with the vast estate he held in Ireland in right of his wife, recom- mended him to John (Richard I. being then a captive in Austria) as the fittest Cox's Hibn. person to undertake the government, and best calculated to repress the turbu- voL i., p. 45. lence of the Anglo-Norman barons, and the hostility of the Irish chieftains. In this capacity he came to Ireland in the year 1191, and remained until 1194, Harris's ware, when, having appointed Peter Pepard his deputy, we may suppose that he re- ' P turned to England. According to the Annals in Ware, a castle was erected at Kilkenny, a. d. 1192, during his stay. Ledwich, therefore, is most likely mis- taken in his unsupported assertion, that the castle was rebuilt in 1195, as the Antiquit., 2nd Earl was not in Ireland at that period. It is plain, however, that the castle e ' p " and bridge were in existence before 1 202, the year of Felix O'Dullany's death, as that prelate granted 3 to Prior Osbert and the rest of the brothers of the Hospital of St. John, at the eastern end of the bridge of Kilkenny, the tithes of all the provisions of the castle, in pure and perpetual alms. In 1207 the Earl Hanmer's c/ir - Mareschal returned to Ireland, when, probably, having greater leisure to attend ™* 6 *' 9 A to his private affairs, "he [re]builded the castle of Kilkenny, and gave the w ^ tAL ' town a charter b , with privileges which they enjoy to this day." But although we find O'Dullany thus far connected with the castle of Kil- kenny, yet that prelate — an Irishman by birth, and raised to the see of Ossory before the Anglo-Norman invasion — would find little congenial to his taste in the neighbourhood of the Earl Mareschal's Norman fortress and municipality: accordingly, it appears, on the very highest authority, that his cathedral was, to the period of his death in 1202, still at Aghabo c in Upper Ossory. There was a See excerpts from the Cartulary of the Hos- pital of St. John, Kilkenny, in Sir James Ware's autograph, dated June 5th, 1638, British Mu- seum, Lansdowne MSS., Plut. lxxvi. e. 418. This foundation at the eastern side of the bridge over the Nore must not be confounded with the subsequent translation of the community to the contiguous site at present occupied by the ruins of the Priory of St. John, when they received a second charter from the Earl Mareschal. b This charter is transcribed into the Liber Primus Kilkennice, p. 64, from an inspeximus of 7 Ric. II. It is witnessed, amongst others, by Hugh Bishop of Ossory, and therefore must have been given between 1202 and 1218. "Ita ... in Ossoriensium Episcoporum Ca- talogo annotatum invenimus, ' anno Domini mccii. obiit reverendus pater Felix Odullane episcopus Ossoriensis; cujusEcclesia cathedralis tunc erat apud Aghboo in superiori Ossoria.' " — 30 KILKENNY. [sect. I. indeed little to induce the Irishman O'Dullany to remove the sec from the centre of an unconquered a district to the heart of the English settlement at Kilkenny 1 *. But with his successor matters assumed a different aspect. Hugh Rufus or de Rous, an English Augustinian canon, and Prior of Geoffrey de Marisco's Norman foundation at Kells in Ossory, was elected " primus Anglicus Episcopus Ossoriensis," the first English Bishop of Ossory, as the ancient chartulary of his priory does not fail to record . De Rous would, on the other hand, find neighbours little suited to his taste amongst the O'Mores and Macgillapatricks of Leix and Upper Ossory, and as one of the causes which warranted the translation of a see, according to the canon law, was the danger of desecration at the hands of an enemy d , we may with safety assume that he removed the episcopal chair to Kilkenny immediately after his election in 1202. We have undoubted evidence that De Rous transferred the ancient see lands at Aghabo to the Anglo-Norman Lord of Leinster, in exchange for others " in locis ei utilibus et competentibus" ; whilst the friendly feeling which existed between them is further shown by the bishop's grant to the Earl of the land lying Ussher, De Britan. Eccl. Primord., p. 957. This authority, nearly conclusive in itself on the sub- ject, is further confirmed by documents which will be presently cited. The date is by mistake printed mcii. in both the Dublin and London editions and that of the late Dr. Elrington, in his collected edition of Ussher's Works (vol. vi., p. 526) : but, as Lanigan observes, this was evi- dently an error of the press in the first in- stance, Eccl. Hist. vol. iv., p. 239- * Donnell Macgillapatrick, King of Ossory, the uncompromising foe of the English, lived till 1 185. — Four Masters, vol. iii., p. 69- b Sir James Ware states that O'Dullany " is reported to have quitted Aghavoe, and to have removed the Episcopal See to Kilkenny" (Har- ris's Ware, vol. i., p. 403); but whilst we should be most unwilling to impugn a direct statement made by this eminent and accurate antiquary, it may be permitted to dissent from this conjec- ture of bis, contradicted as it is by the direct testimony of Ussher. Harris's quotation from John Hartrey, a late authority, is valueless. Ware doubtingly says that O'Dullany " seems to be the person who laid the foundation of the Cathedral of Kilkenny."— Idem, p. 399- c See a very full abstract of this document made by Sir James Ware, and preserved in the British Museum, Lansdowne MSS., Plut. lxxvi. e. 418, pp. 24-30. i " Quarta [causa translationis cathedralium] si continuisbellis, vel crebrishostium incursibus diuexentur." — De Eccles. Cathedral Tractatus, authore Mich. Ant. F. de Vrrvtigoyti, Lugd., 1665, p. 117, col. a. ' The ancient see lands of Aghabo, environed by Irish enemies, were useless to the Anglo- Norman bishop. The Liber Albus Ossoriensis preserves William Earl Mareschal's deed of transfer, whilst an early copy of the bishop's counterpart exists amongst the Ormonde Manu- scripts, Kilkenny Castle. CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 31 between Cottrell's Bridge over the Bregach a , and St. KenerockV well, " ad ampliandam villam" c , to enlarge the town lately chartered by the latter. We have been thus particular in adducing proof to show that the transla- tion of the see to Kilkenny took place during the time of Hugh de Rous d , be- cause the certainty of this fact seems to fix the date of the foundation of the still existing cathedral church of St. Cainnech to a period shortly after the year 1202; and having, as we trust, established this important point, we are com- pelled to turn aside for the present from the more stirring annals of the Earl Mareschal's burgh and feudal fortress to the scanty records of the cathedral. Should life and health permit, we trust, at no distant period, to take up again the thread of Kilkenny history. Its municipality, its monastic houses, and its castle present an ample field, and there are materials in abundance still uti- wrought by the historian or the antiquary. Time and man's destructive hand have leant more heavily on the records of the see ; the annals of the fabric and the meagre record of the events which took place within the walls of the Cathe- dral of St. Canice may, therefore, with facility be condensed into the ensuing pages of this chapter. Although O'Dullany cannot be accounted the founder of the present cathe- a.i». dral, recent discoveries tend to show that, at the period when he filled the see, * The river Bregach formed from this period the boundary between the Irish, and the High, or English, Town; Cottrell's Bridge probably stood where Watergate Bridge now crosses the Bregach. Cottrell occurs as a com- mon and early name amongst the burgesses of Kilkenny. b St. Kenerock's well is now called St. Kie- ran's well, midway between the Bregach and the castle. Cuaraft the Wise was also called Mo- chuaroc {Four Masters, vol. ii., p. 1012, note k ), and Kieran Kierock Kewerock Keraerock are va- riations easily understood. " The old chappell neare Kirock's well," mentioned in Bishop Ot- way's Visitation Book, is no longer in existence. c This charter is preserved in the Liber Albus Ossor. ; amongst the Clarendon Manuscripts in Mus. Brit., torn, li., Additional No. 5796 ; and in the Tower of London. For this augmen- tation the Earl bound himself and his suc- cessors to pay to the bishop four ounces of gold annually. d In support of the conclusion advocated in the text, the authority of the learned and judi- cious Lanigan may also be adduced : speaking of O'Fogarty, O'Dullany's predecessor in the see, that writer observes: — "It is supposed that in his time the see of Ossory was at Aghaboe, the famous monastery of St. Cannich or Kenny. Yet this is doubtful; but it is certain that it was therein the time of his immediate successor, Felix O'Dullany, who held that see from 1178 to 1202: nor was it, as far as I can judge, until after O'Dullany's death that it was removed from Aghaboe to Kilkenny." — Eccl. Hist., vol. iv., p. 237. 32 KILKENNY. [SKCT. I. a parish church of no mean importance stood on its site 1 . In the summer of 1845 some ancient foundations were discovered on removing the earth which the burials of six centuries had accumulated above the base line of the buildincr These foundations, which were found, on examination, to have been cut through, in order to prepare for the erection of newer work, would appear to have formed the nave of the more ancient church, its chancel extending eastward beyond that of the existing structure. The sculptured base of a double jamb- shaft, which has been used as building stone in the wall of the south transept (see cut, p. 26, supra), was, no doubt, a portion of this earlier erection, and serves to fix its date to about the middle of the twelfth century. It is probable that Hugh de Rous, on the translation of the see to Kilkenny, was content with the structure which he found there, for whilst it is on record that he conferred many benefits on the priory of Kells, from which he was promoted, we find it distinctly stated that he did nothing for his episcopal see b . There remains no reliable evidence to prove that the four prelates who followed De Rous had any part in the reconstruction of the mother church, if we except Harris's unsupported assertion, that he and his two immediate successors, Peter Malveisin and William of Kilkenny, are " said to have forwarded the building of the cathedral." In the Ormonde Manuscripts, however, there is preserved an original letter from Bishop Malveisin to Theobald Walter the younger, first chief butler of Ireland, enjoining him, under pain of excommunication, to pay " in the cathedral church of St. Canice," a sum of 128 marks, for certain reasons therein set forth . This document proves that a cathedral existed at Kilkenny before 1229, when Malveisin died, which may have been the older building already alluded to. There is, however, a remote probability that the choir had been finished by Malveisin before his death, and, as we know was often 1 This may have been the church of which, according to Ware and the author of the manu- script De Ossoriensi Dioescesi, O'Dullany laid the foundation at Kilkenny ; and which Harris, quoting John Hartrey, a late and doubtful au- thority, states that he dedicated to St. Canice. — Harris's Ware, vol. i., p. 403. b " Qui diuersa bona in dicto monasterio per- petrauit, nihil in sede epali." — Nomina reuien- dorura prum Epurum Ossorien" cum quibusdarn eorum bonis, <$'C, Collect, de Rebus Hibern., Cod. Clarend., torn, li., 4796, Mus. Brit. c This curious document must have been writ- ten at some period before 1229, when Malveisin died, and subsequent to the year 1221, as Theo- bald was a minor of five or six years of age on his father's death, in 1206 — Carte's Ormonde, Introduction, pp. xxi., xxii. CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 33 the case, used as the cathedral anterior to the completion of the remainder of the structure. Peter Malveisin filled the episcopal chair at a time when the traces of the Norman style were fast fading away and giving place to the pure Early English ; and if the chancel was built before his death we would, d priori, expect to find the latter style preponderating, indeed, but still exhibiting some of the characteristics of the preceding architectural era. These indications pre- sent themselves in the round heads of the lancet lights with which the north and south walls of the choir are pierced, whilst the strictly Early English character of the capitals and mouldings of these very windows show the predo- minance of that style. However this point may be determined, it is certain that bishop Hugh a.d. 1251- de Mapilton a did more for the fabric than any of the prelates that preceded him. No specific record remains to tell of what portions he was builder, but the MS. catalogue of the Bishops of Ossory, already quoted, calls him the original founder, adding that he put the first hand to it, and, at his own proper labour and cost, nearly brought the pile to a completion ; having been alone prevented from so doing, according to Ware, by his untimely death. We may hence conclude that little, if anything, had been done by his predecessors in the see. The short incumbency of Hugh III. seems to have left the fabric as it stood a.d. 125 on Mapilton's death ; and to Geffry St. Leger, who succeeded in 1260, belongs the honour of completing the cathedral, at great cost. Hence he has been termed its second founder b . The chaste unity of style which the building exhibits may be thus attributed to the fact of its having been commenced and brought to completion during the prevalence of that most beautiful style of Gothic architecture,— the Early English. • "Hugo deMapiltonhuius nomine secundus, se d mor te immatura sublatus, operi ultimam primus fundator ecctie sti Canici Kilkennie qui ma num non imposuit."— ##. 1354. repairing the damage inflicted on the fabric by the fall of the tower, and new furnished the windows with painted glass of the most exquisite design, more especially the three eastern lancet lights of the choir, on which the history of the Gospel was portrayed in so masterly a manner that the like was not to be found in all Ireland. The famous parliament of Kilkenny having been held in this year, it is more a. d. 1367. than probable that the excommunication, which gave additional sanction to its ordinances, was pronounced by the assembled prelates in the cathedral of St. Canice . John de Tatenale, who succeeded De Ledrede, released all the procurations a. i>. lseu- belonging to his church, except 26 s. 8d., devoting them to the fabric of the Harrises Ware, cathedral" 1 . ecclesiam cathedralem a campanilidesuper versus b " Utcunque, sub finem anni 1354, in gratiam orientem cum capella beatas virginis perfecte de receptus est, & hac tempestate sedata, reliquum plumbo cooperiet, cum omnibus suis adminicu- astatis in magna tranquillitate transegit, Eccle- lis, infra quatuor annos proximo sequentes." — siam cathedralem hie multum ornavit, omnesque A Contemporary Narrative, fyc, pp. 36, 37. fenestras de novo erexit, ac vitro obduxit, inter a " 1332. Cecidit campanile Sancti Kannici, quas enituit fenestra orientalis, opere tam exi- Kylkennie,et magna [magnam?] pars [partem?] mio adornata, utinuniversa Hibernia par ei non chori, vestibulum capellarum, et campanas, et inveniretur." — Hibernia Sacra, p. 144. Ware's meremium confregit, die Veneris 1 1 kal. Junii ; assertion that De Ledrede, " omnes fenestras de unde horribile et miserabile spectaculum erat novo erexit," must have reference to the glazing, contuentibus." — The Annals of Ireland, by Friar as the stonework of the windows belongs in- John Clyn, c\-c., p. 24. The same event is more dubitably to the previous century, succinctly narrated in some brief, but ancient Tracts Relating to Ireland, printed for the Irish annals, preserved in the Liber Primus of the Cor- Archaeological Society, vol. ii., p. 119. poration of Kilkenny, p. 56. i If we are to assume as an average the procu- F 2* p. 411. 36 KILKENNY. [sect. I. i.d 1406 Thomas Snell gave to his cathedral church a new mitre set with precious 1416 stones, gloves, episcopal sandals, and one fair silken " capa" or cope woven with golden spots or patterns*. a. ». 1 160 The original Early English vaulting of the tower having probably been de- stroyed by the fall of the latter in 1332, it was re-erected of cut stone by David Hacket b , who succeeded Bishop Barry in 1460. This noble example of Perpen- dicular work, still extant, fully bears out its builder's fame as an architect . In 1443 Fineen and Dermot, the two sons of Macgillapatrick, Lord of Four Masters, Ossory, were beaten to death in Kilkenny by Alexander Croc, John Begg O'Con- nor^ ' nallay, and the son of Walter Sirry, at the instigation of Mac Richard Butler. a. i>. L478. Thirty-five years after, the Ossorians had their revenge, for Eichard, the son of Edmond Mac Richard Butler who procured the murder, was slain by the son of one of the murdered men, Fineen Roe, the son of Fineen, " in the doorway of the church of St. Canice." A n ,.-,27 Milo Baron presented to his cathedral a pastoral staff of silver, and a fair Haas's ware, marble table for the altar. ^d'isss* 15 ' I n y ear tne Council of Ireland write to Cromwell, that, in pursuance state Papers f fa e [ r intention to visit the " fowre shires above the Barrowe," " not oonlie for vol. in., part * Lii.,pp. in, publishing of the Kingis injunctions, setting furth of the Wurd of God, and the Kingis Supremycie, together with the plucking downe of ydolles, and the extin- guishing of ydolatrie, and the Bishop of Romes auctoritie, but also aswell for levieng of the first fructes and twentie parte, with other the Kingis revennues, in theis fower shires above the Barrowe, as keping of cessions, and redresse of rations levied by the Archbishop of Dublin, at his visitation of the diocese in 1351, this donation would be a liberal one, the total being £72 Os. 9^- But the Liber Ruber Ossoriensis, which records the fact, also states, that this sum was exorbi- tant, amountingto twice the usual charge. When Ireland was prostrated by the Scottish invasion under Edward Bruce, A. D. 1318, the procura- tions of the diocese of Ossory only amounted to £4 25. life?. — Liber Ruber. Ossor., folios 21 dorso, 24, 24 dorso, 26 dorso. 1 " Qui ecclie cathedrali novam mitra gemis p?tiosis ornatam, chirotecas, sadalia pontificalia, et unam pulchram capam sericam notulis aureis contextam dedit." — Nomina Eporum Ossor\, E. 3. 13, Trin. Coll. Dubl. b " Testudinem prseterea campanilis Ecclesia? Canicana?, e polito lapide, erigi curavit." — Hib. Sacra, p. 147. " Sed tholum campanilis e tecto surgentis concamerauit lapidea fornice Dauid Hacketus." — De Ossor. Dimscesi, Cod. Clar., torn, li., 4796. The door of the ancient chapter room also belongs to this period. c He was, probably, the architect of the fa- mous monastery of Batalha in Portugal — See a note in Murphy's Batalha. CHAP, n.1 KILKENNY. 37 the peoples complaintes here," they arrived at Kilkenny, where, after being " interteyned by thErle of Ormonde," we may suppose they proceeded to the cathedral as the principal church, where on '* Xewyers daie th Archebishop of Dublin preched the Wurd of God, having veray good audience, publishing the Kingis said injunctions, and the Kingis translacion of the Pater Xoster, Ave Maria, thArticles of the Faithe. and Ten Commaundementes in Inglishe ; clivers papers wherof we delivered to the Bishop, and other Prelates of the diocese, commaunding them to do the like thorough all their jurisdiccions." John Bale, on his accession to the see, broke down the statues and effigies of A . d. 1552. the saints in the cathedral, sparing, however, the painted windows put up by De Ledrede a . On the 26th of July (the news of the death of Edward VX a.d. 1553. having reached Kilkenny the day before) Bale says that " a very wicked justice Harleian Mit- called Thomsa Hothe b . with the Lorde Mountgarret, resorted to the cathedxall isio, vol. tl, churche, requyrynge to have a communion, in the honour of S. Anne pp ' 449 ' 4 ° 2 ' The prestes made hym answere, 'that I had forbydden them that celebracion, savynge only upon the Sundayes:' as I had, in dede for the abhomynable ydo- latries that I had seane therein. 'I discharge you (sayth he) of obedience to your bishop in this point, and commaunde you to do as ye have done hereto- fore." And again, " on the Thursdaye after, which was the laste daye of August, I beinge absent, the clergie of Kilkennie. by procurement of that wicked justice Hothe. blasphemously resumed agayne the whole Papisme. or heape of supersticions of the bishop of Rome; to the utter contempte ofChriste and his holy wurde, of the Kinge and counsell of Englande. and of all ecclesiasticall and politike ordre, without eyther statute or yet proclamacion. They ronge all the belles in that cathedrall, minstre, and parish churches: they flonge up their cappes to the battlement of the great temple, with smylinges and laughinges most dissolutely, the justice hymselfe being therewith offended." Sir Henry Sydney, Lord Deputy of Ireland, writing to the Council in Eng- a. d . 1575. land on the 16th of December, in this year, says: " There [in Kilkenny] Rorie * " Cum .... impudicus Ganeo Johannes runt" — De Ossoriensi Diascesu ut supra. Balasus confregisset et violasset quascuque re- b Thomas St. Laurence, alias Howthe, was perire poterat sanctorum statuas et effigies, ab a Justice of the King's Bench at this period: he his tamen fenestris tarn ipse quam alii post eum died in January, 1554. — Liber Munerum Hiber- inuasores Episcopi manus violentas continue- nia, part il, p. 32. 38 KILKENNY. [sect. I. Oge [O'More] came unto me upon the Earle of Ormond's woorde, and in the cathcdrall churche of Kilkennye, submitted hymself, repenting (as he saied) his former faultes a , and promisinge hereafter to lyve in better sorte (for worse than he hath bene he cannot be), .... I accepted hym upon entreatye and tryall of amendment till my retorne" b . a.d. i Gii. In this year the gate, and steps commonly called St. Canice's Steps, were erected at the expense of the Dean and Chapter ; as appears by an inscription still extant over the gate. At this period the Cathedral stood in a " close," on which opened the bishop's palace, the dean's house, the common hall of the vicars chorals, and most of the dignitaries' and prebendaries' residences, and to which this gate was the entrance from the town side. At a late period a wall was built enclosing the church-yard, and leaving a public road round the south-east and part of the north sides of the cemetery, whereby the place was deprived of its close-like cha- racter. An engraving of the gate and steps will be given in a subsequent page. A.n. ig3o. " The 9 th of Octobre, 1630. — The pish bell was newly cast in the tyme of The Most An- Patrick Gaffney was Portriff, by one Thomas [blank] a Walshma, for wch he the corporation rec' of M r Patrick Morphy, & M r 01iv r Eoth the som of seaven pounds ten M. 98.' ° wn ' shillings sterling, for his labo r , he finding all mann r of necessaryes, as also stocking and setting it upp into the bellfrye, for wch occacon of casting the bell, as also for oth r necessaryes the oute pish was seste in vi pounds four shillings, as ensueth: — Viz. Therle is grange, .... 2 s 6 d st.' Rochfords Ardaghe, . . . 02 s d Palm?towne, 7 s 6 d Dunningstoune, ... 07 s d Ballyburr, 7 s 6 d Keatingstoune, . . . . 10 9 6 d ffennestowne, 15 s Thornback and Chappie, . 07 s 6 d Bolyshee, 07 s 6 d Coldgrange, 07 s 6 d Clora, 10 s 6 d Talbots Inch, 07 s 6 d Lackenehlonteh, . . . . 03 s 6 d New P k , 04 s 6 d Cappehnegereh, .... 5 s 6 d Ballyneleynah, .... 06 s d Bonnestoune, 10 s d Rathinnehgan 02 s d 6 1 ' 4 s st' * Rorie Oge had little intention to forego his ancestors had been chieftains. " former faultes;" least of all had he thoughts b Cotton MS., Titus, B, 10, fol. 16, dorso, Brit, of " renouncing that aspiringe Imagination of Mus. The letter is printed in Collins' Letters Tytle to the Countrie" of Leix, over which his and Memorials of State, voL i., pp. 81-85. CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 39 The day and yere afforsayd the in pissioners being assembled uppon warning given bye the church Wardens, M r Patrick Morphy and 01iv r Koth, in the pish chappie 3 , they agreed uppon that they, the inhabitants of the Irishtowne and ffreere streets shalbe seste for the leavijng of six pounds sterling towards the casting of the sayed bell, buying of ropes for the same, and for one small sancts bell, as alsoe for glasing the chappie, and buying oth r necessaries for the same." The fierce storm of the " Great Rebellion" did not pass over the cathedral a. d. i6«. without leaving the marks of devastation in its track. Griffith Williams, one The Persecution of the chaplains of Charles I., was in this year appointed to the see of Ossory. He l} d johnBuU° n had no sooner, he says, " seen Kilkenny, and preached once in that cathedral, "nw{m S r "£l h but the Rebellion then brake out the October following." We next find Joseph tZufghtRev. Wheeler of Stamcarty, a son of the lastbishop, and others, deposing on oath, "that for^ilid'n one.Unsill Grace and divers other rebells in Kilkenny broke open the dores of 1664 ' p ' 6 ' the Cathedrall Church there, and robbed the same church of the challises, sur- Mo'nTo/iui' plesses, ornaments, books, records b , and writings there being ; and made gun- i^bra^Trin. powder in St. Patrick's church, and digged the tombs and graves in the churches Co11 ' DabL in Kilkenny, under colour of getting up mouldes whereon to make gunpowder." John Keavann, also, a prebendary of the cathedral, swears, " that the Cathedrall Church and common hall of Kilkenny were ryfled, ransacked, and robbed by idem. the sept of the Coddies, Dobbins, and the servants and confederates of Red- mond Purcell of the Irishtowne of Kilkenny." From another deposition we learn that the cathedral had then an organ ; for John Watkinson, parson of idem. Castlecomer, deposed, " that James Kevan, Vicar of Castlecomber, hath revolted to the Mass, and hath joyned himself unto the Popish faction, and doth, in the Cathedrall Church of S. Kenn'yes, in Kilkennie, as it is generally reported, exer- cise his skill in singing and playing upon the organe." Again, James Benn deposed, " that on the sunday in the morning next after that this depon' was idem. robbed of his goods [15th December, 1641], hee this depon* went to the Church a This was a chapel in the cathedral which b It is but fair to state that Bishop Wheeler's the vicars choral were bound to serve; about son is himself charged by Griffith Williams this time the Lady Chappel served as the parish with abstracting the Records of the see, or at church De Ossor. Dicescesi, § 33. The pro- least with suffering them to be purloined. — A viding a sanctus bell at this period is curious. Small Part of the Great Wickedness, &c. p. 26. 40 KILKENNY. [sect. I. \. i>. 1644. Transactions of the Kilkenny Archaol. Soc, vol. i., pp. 92, 93. A.D. 1645. Xunziatura in Irlanda, Fi- renze, 1814, p. 72. of S ct Kennys in Kilkenny to pray, where he beheld and sawe one M r Smith, a Protestant Minister, late of Ballinekill, and one M r Lemon, a Scottish Protes- tant, and late a Schoolmaster in Kilkenny, which M r Smith was then and there stark naked, and the said Lemon hadd only a paire of breeches on left, both being stript in the church, and standing trembling at the Altar, where the de- pon 1 neither being able to releeve nor helpe, left them in that poore state." Kilkenny having become the head-quarters of the Confederates, and the Roman Catholic ritual having been re-established in its cathe- dral, churches, and monasteries, bishop David Roth presented to his cathedral of St. Canice a large silver gilt monstrance, of which the ac- companying cut, engraved from a drawing by Mr. Fitzpatrick, of Freshford, is a representa; tion. This monstrance, as well as several cha- lices, embroidered vestments, crosses, &c, hav- ing passed into the hands of an ancient Kilkenny family, descended by the female side from the Roths — theBryans of Jenkinstown — have been lately presented by them to the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Kilkenny. Round the glazed cen- tral compartment of the monstrance runs the quotation : — ecce tabeknacvlvm dei cvm hominibvs et habitabit cvm eis. On the base is engraved : — david roth EPISCOP. OSSORIEN. ME FIERI FECIT. ANO. 1644. ORA PRO CLERO ET POPVLO DICE- CESSIS OSSORIEN. Rinuccini, the Papal Nuncio, entered the city on the 12th of November in this year. He was met outside St. Patrick's gate by the clergy, magistrates, and principal men of the place ; and from that point to the cathedral, about as long, he observes, as the Lungara, at Rome, the streets were lined at each side by musketeers. Robed in his pontifical hat and rochet, he walked beneath a canopy, borne amidst torrents of rain by uncovered citizens, and so passed by the lofty and graceful market-cross in the High-street to the cathedral church, at the door of which he was met by the aged bishop Roth, who handed him the aspersorium No. 6. CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 41 and, having offered him incense, led him to the high altar ; from whence, the prayer proper to the ceremonial having been recited, Rinuccini gave the bene- diction to the assembled multitudes, and published the indulgence of which he was the bearer ; in conclusion, another oration expressive of joy for the Nuncio's safe arrival was recited. On the 18th of August, in this year, Bishop Roth was induced by the Nuncio a.d. 1646. and the Congregation of the Clergy at Waterford, who were opposed to the peace AngikaL^la. concluded by the Supreme Council with the Marquis of Ormonde, to publish 169! part ' p " an Interdict, enjoining a general cessation of all divine offices throughout the city and suburbs of Kilkenny. The cathedral, no doubt, was the scene of this act of Roth's. A sentence of excommunication, dated October 5, 1646, from his palace of mbn. Domini- residence at Kilkenny, was fulminated by the Nuncio against all supporters of ' P the peace, and, of course, published in the cathedral. The Nuncio, on the conclusion of the Cessation with Inchiquin, May 22, a.d. 1648. caused a protest against it, which the bishops had privately signed on the 27th of Ireland, vol. of April previously, to be affixed to the doors of the cathedral of St. Canice, o ; co P nor r s m s - and when this was contemptuously torn down by Dr. Fennel, Rinuccini issued party., PP . 346) an excommunication on the 27th of May, interdicting all cities, towns, and vil- 3i '' lages from the celebration of divine service, the sacraments, and Christian rites, if they should adhere to or favour the truce. That Bishop Roth, h OW~ Hibn. Domini- ever, refused his sanction to these violent proceedings, appears from a letter mentum, p. 897. addressed to him by Fleming, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin. Father Peter Walsh, author of " The History and Vindication of the Loyal a.d. ms. Formulary, or Irish Remonstrance," in the July of this year, whilst Owen Roe History and O'Nial's tents could be seen from the walls of Kilkenny, spurred on by repeated a^LofaiFot and urgent messages from the Supreme Council, sat at one table for three days p P "xw.',tivi. and three nights writing the answers to the queries propounded by that body to Bishop Roth and the clergy then assembled at Kilkenny on the lawfulness of the Cessation ; — "And I remember also very well," he proceeds, "how, for the same reasons, I was forc'd to watch, moreover, even the very two next dayes and nights (immediately following the former three) for studying the first Sermon that was preach'd in Ireland of purpose on the Subject of the foresaid Censures, against them and the Nuncio. Nor could I, even for G 42 KILKENNY. [sect. I. this other reason, otherwise choose. On the Sunday before, it was publish'd in all the churches of the Town that kept not the Interdict [the Dominican and Franciscan orders alone obeyed it], that I would next Sunday following Preach in the Cathedral on the great and then present Controversie. To perform which duty (notwithstanding I had not shut my eyes for five dayes and nights before), God gave me strength. My Text was that of Susannah in the Prophet Daniel, Angustia; sunt mild undique, Dan. 13. 22. viz., answerable to the great perplexity I was in, 'twixt fear of the Nuncios indignation of one side, if I did my duty, and my belief of God's vengeance threatening me on the other hand, if I did not." a .d. 1 6 1 8. When Charles Mac Mahon's " Dispvtatio Apologetica" was ordered by the Supreme Council to be burned by the common hangman in Kilkenny, on the occasion of its being circulated amongst the Confederates there, Peter Walsh, " by the command of the then supream Council, preach't nine Sermons five Sundays one after another in St. Kennys Church on that text of Jeremiah — Quis est ex vobis sapiens qui consideral hoc, quare perierit terra" — in order to coun- teract the opinions promulgated by that writer, whom Walsh terms " the mon- ster Jesuit" 3 . During his stay at Kilkenny, Rinuccini offered to purchase the eastern win- dows of the chancel for £700 ; but this tempting offer was refused by Bishop Roth. We may, perhaps, regret that these ancient glass paintings were not a.d. 1650. removed to Italy, for in a few years they ceased to exist. In 1G50, Cromwell, having occupied the Irishtown (and, we may suppose, the cathedraP) on the 25th of March, lodged there the night before his attempt to breach the town wall near the Franciscan Abbey. On this occasion, tradition has it that the aisles Shee's st. Ca- of the cathedral church were converted into stabling for the horses of the Pro- tector's troopers. Kilkenny fell the next day by the treachery of the townsmen, * The sentiments of this atrocious book may eticos hostes occissos fuisse credo, et vtinam be judged from the following extract: — "Hi- omnes." — Dispvtatio Apologetica, Dublin reprint berni mei agite, pergite, et perficite incceptum of 1849, p. 125. opus defensionis, et libertatis vestra?, et occidite b A History or Brief Chronicle of the Chiefe Mat- haereticos aduersarios vestros, et eorum fautores, ters of the Irish Warres, London, 1650, states et adiutores e medio tollite. Iam interfecistis that, before he took the town, " the L. Lieut, centum quinquaginta milliahostium his quatuor, beate the Enemy from two of the churches in vel quinque annis, ab anno scilicet 1641, vsque Kilkenny where they had fortified." Again, it ad hunc annum 1645 in quo hsec scribo, vt ipsi records that, ere the castle and town surrendered, aduersarij in suis scriptis demugientes palam fa- Irishtown and Patrick's Church were taken, — so tentur, et vos non diffitemini, et ego plures haer- that the other church was the cathedral. nice, p. 10. CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 43 and the results of the Cromwellian occupation will be best told in the quaint language of Bishop Williams. After relating that the " fanatick Limbs of the Beast" had "beheaded" most of the churches in his diocese, " the Roofes of them, both Slates and Timber, being quite taken off," and the walls "thrown down even to the Ground," so that of above an hundred parishes he saw " not ten Churches standing, nor half so many well repaired," he thus proceeds : — " And the great, and famous, most beautiful Cathedral Church of Saint Keney, they have Seven Treatises. utterly defaced, and ruined, thrown down all the Roof of it, taken away five great, and goodly t "i e ^obserTe'I Bells, broken down all the Windows, and carried away every bit of the Glass, that, they say, S^ 1 ^^^ was worth a very great deal; and all the doors of it, that Hogs might come, and root, and don, loei. the Dogs gnaw the Bones of the dead ; and they brake down a most exquisite Marble Font monstrance, (wherein the Christian's Children were regenerated) all to pieces, and threw down the many many goodly Marble Monuments, that were therein, and, especially, that stately and costly Monument of the most honourable and noble Family of the House of Ormond, and divers others, of most rare and excellent Work, not much inferiour (if I be not much mistaken) to most of the best (excepting the King's), that are in Saint Paul's Church, or the Abby of Westminster." On the 12th of August, in this year, the Commonwealth party, then supreme A ^: t 16 ^ k in Kilkenny, and in some degree ashamed of the ruinous state of the cathedral and St. Mary's church, the result of their over-heated zeal and unbounded cupidity in the first instance, passed the following " Act for the Reparation of the Churches." However, with regard to the cathedral at least, it would not appear that their intentions were carried out, probably in consequence of the desired contributions not having been sent in by the inhabitants of the town : — " The Mai r Aldermen and Citizens of this Citty in Comon Councell assembled seriously considering the ruinous condition of S* Maryes and S l Kennyes Churches, and also remem- bring how zealously forward the wisdome of former times have beene, in workes of this nature, and how greate an ornam 1 the same would bee unto this towne & County, as well as convenient for y e worshipp of God, and houlding itt their duety as m ch as in them lyes to preuent y e totall Ruine therof, and to endeauour there may be sett up more of the sayd churches, a good Ringe of Bells, and to putt y e sayd churches in as good repaire as y e pre- sent condition of affaires will give way, doe therefore hereby inuite all psons whatt soever cheerefully to contribute to soe honorable and good a Worke, seeing that withoutt agenerall and liberall contribution y e inhabitants of y e sayd Citty are noe wayes able to repayer y e sayd church or churches, and whatt any pson or psons shall give or doe for this purpose, G 2 44 KILKENNY. [sect. r. the same shalbe and is hereby ordered to be registered amongst y c records of y c sayd Citty, as a testimony of their thankfull acceptance of y e same ; And fory e better and more speedy finishing of y c sayd worke y c Mai r of y'~ sayd Citty for y° time being is heerby authorized and desired to appoint a Comitty or Comittees and to write letters and use all other lawfull wayes and means w<* to him shall seem meete, y e better to bring in moneyes to re- payer y sayd Churches, &c. And itt is further enacted by y Mai r Aldermen & Cittizens with their full assent and consent and by y e authority of the same, that if itt shall soe fall outt thatt money doe or shall nott speedely enogh be raised, come, or be brought in, by any of y' wayes aforesayd, or thatt any pson or psons shall either voluntarily contribute, or shall nott voluntarily contribute sufficiently, both respecting their abilityes, and y e sum requisite to finish y c sayd worke, thatt then y e Mai 1 ' for y e time being by and with y c consent of two or more of the Aldermen of y e sayd Citty, shall lay, or cause to be layed taxed or assessed upon every ofy c sayd inhabitants, or residents, and likewise upon every other pson or psons whatsoever, that now hath or hereafter shall have either any reall or psonal estate within y e sayd Citty, Libertyes, or County of y e sayd Citty, soe much money as shall be requissite for y c suficient repayer of the sayd churches, thatt now are, or hereafter shall be allowed of by y e chiefe magistrates ofy c ' Comon wealth of England, Scottland and Ireland for y' worsh pp and Service of God, and alsoe for provideing and hanging up of a good ring of Bells, and keeping them in good repaier and condition as often as they shall stand in need of any amendm' or reparation, and y e sayd money soe assessed and taxed, shall leavy & collect by distress and sale of y e goods of every or any ofy* sayd inhabitants, or psons afore- sayd, any law usadge or custome in y e sayd Citty heretofore to y e contrary in any wise nott withstanding. And itt is further enacted by y authority aforesaid for y e more efectuall car- rying on of the ends aforesayd thatt y p Mai r for y e time being with any two or more ofy' Aldermen shall appoint a Colector or Colectors Receaver or Receavers of the sayd mony and alsoe shall and may agree with any pson or psons for y e reparation of y e Churches and pro- viding of bells as aforesayd and shall cause y e same to be done accordingly and y e money soe taxed and assessed to be rec d , collected, and payed to y p workemen aforesayd, by or r under y c hand of y e Mai r ; And all other thing and thinges requisitt and necessary in and aboutt y e premises herein omitted or nott herein mentioned, shall for y p more spedy and efec- tuall bringing to efect y e worke and ends aforesayd, be wholly left to y e Mai r of y e sayd Citty for y" time being, whoe shall and may, and is hereby authorized to doe and causey* same and evry thing requisitt to be done, and sayd Mai r and all other psons acting therein shall be justifyed for y e same by vertue of this actt, any law usadge or custome heretofore within y' sayd Citty to y p contrary in any wise nott withstanding." « A.». 1660. The condition in which Bishop Williams found his cathedral and palace The Perseeu- A //on, &c, p. 16. is thus described in another of his works: — " Then, things being somewhat CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 45 setled, I went to live upon my Bishoprick, in Kilkenny, where I found the Cathedral Church and the Bishops house all ruined, and nothing standing but the bare walls, without Hoofs, without Windows, but the holes, and without doors." u And when I desired M r Connel, my Register, to begin to repair some places a.d. i66i. of that Church and to set up some Benches and Forms, to let the people to !2*PrefatonT understand, that we intended and hoped (though it should cost two thousand Eemonitrailce - pounds) to have all the Church repaired ; some of the Anabaptists (as we have good reason to think so), came in the night time (the Church having no doors), and with Axes and Hammers or Hatchets brake them down, and carried them quite awav, and did other unseemlv Abuses besides."' He also a.d. 1663. The P^TSf CM— states, that, besides the first year's income of the bishoprick expended on the turn and Op- church, he has " since bestowed more, as forty pounds the last Summer for p. 17. repairing the Steeple of the Cathedral, and this Summer six score pounds for to make a Bell, worth they say 200/., and yet a thousand pounds more will not sufficiently repair that Church." At the 11th of October, in this year, the following entry appears on the Book of the Corporation of Irishtown : — " This day agreed upon by the Portrive and Burgesses of Irishtowne that for the making A . D . 1661. upp of the seat in S : . Kennys church for the Portrive and Burgesses, and for other neces- ^c^rpor^mf earys, That y e Portrive and Burgesses shall pay each of them to the Portrive for the uses oflrukton. and ends aforesaid the sum of ten shillings each man. " The names of them that did pay accordingly : — Capt n Tho 5 Tomlins, 10 3 Rich. Sruyler 10* Ensign George Lodge, .... 10 s Josias Hadock, 10 3 Ffrancis Rowlidge, IO Tho s Dowly IO William Warren, 10 s George Barton, 10 s John Phillips, 10 s Edw d Hide, 10 s Barth. Connor, 10* Dannell Redman, 10 3 In another tract, from the prolific pen of the bishop, " The sad condition A . D . 16 e4. of the Church and Clergy in the Diocess of Ossory ; and I fear not much better 6 . in all Ireland" he writes : — " Truly, I have done my best, beyond my ability, let Demas and the detractors say what they please, to repair the Quire of St Kenny" expending thereon " above four hundred pounds."' /<£, p. 28. 46 KILKENNY. [sect. I. a.d. 1671. The Chapter made some small repairs of the chancel, and provided a chest A. A p. i9. 1 for the Chapter Room, for which latter they paid £1 3s. Id. a. d. 1672. On the 29th of December, John Parry, Bishop of Ossory, entered, on behalf of the Dean and Chapter, into an agreement with Mr. Bartholomew Connor, " to uphold, maintain, and repair, and keep all the timber and carpenter's work of the several roofs of the Cathedral of St. Canice, Kilk y ," for twenty -one years, at 20s. sterling per annum ; for the due performance of which a bond of £100 was entered into by Connor. a. d. 1672. On the 2nd of April the Dean and Chapter paid £10 as their proportion 1,1 • '' :! towards roofing and slating St. Mary's Chapel, which had, no doubt, remained in a dilapidated condition since the cathedral had been ruined during the Cromwellian occupation. It is probable, from the fact of the Dean and Chapter paying a proportion only of the expense, that the parish of St. Canice was assessed for the remainder, and that St. Mary's Chapel still, as on former occa- sions, served for the Parish Church. a.i,. 1673. Amongst certain accounts entered in the Chapter Books under the 21st of ' p ' 5 ' May, in this year, are the following items: — £ s. d. April y c 12th, payed to the glaziers, 2 5 Itm, for y c table, forms, and frame in y e Chapter house, .18 Itm, to W m Trumball, glazier 1 12 6 Itm, for the iron work for the church gates, „ 14 Itm to M r Logharne for two Common Prayer Books, ..190 Itm, for taking away part of the rubbish out of y e church, .,,40 Itm, for lime, sand, bricks, and paving the church, ... 3 15 Itm, for making up the north door of the church, which was thoroughly broken by high winds, and a great bar and other small work in the Chapter house ,, 16 Itm, for the Iron work and mason's work about putting up the great hooks and hinges on the great gates, ...100 Itm, for the church new style, 12 From the charge here made for " taking away part of the rubbish out of the church," it would appear that it was still far from being in good repair, although Bishop Williams had done so much for it. The table and chest before mentioned are still extant: they are of oak. CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 47 May 3rd. John Soyer, bricklayer, entered into articles of agreement with a. d. 1673. the Dean and Chapter to lay flags " from the west door of the body of the said M ' p " 21 ' Cathedral, unto the Bellfry, and from the north door to the south door in the same manner, and from the little north door to the bellfry, and reset the flags under the bellfry, and clear the body of the church from rubbish," for £30, to be paid in three gales. At the 3rd of October in the same year, the following entry occurs in the books of the Corporation of Kilkenny : — " Then Agreed upon that y e surhe of Ten pounds sterling be paid towards y e building White Booh. upp a large Seate in St. Kennyes church Kilkenny, for y e Maior, Aldermen, & Common Councill men, in such decent & fitting manner as y e rest of y e seates are: ffifty shillings whereof is allredy upon y e acct. of Painting." On the 9th of October in this year, the Dean and Chapter agreed to give chapter Booh, A., p. 27. £9 towards a sum of £23, which Bishop John Parry proposed to collect, " towards raising, and making up anew the Deans, Dignitaries, and Prebends stalls in the chancel of the Cathedral of St. Canice." On the 6th of May in this year "it was ordered that Mr. Dean [Benjamin a.d. 1674. Parry, afterwards Bishop of Ossory] do agree with Owen Jenkins and W m M ' p ' 3o ' Hyland for plastering and whitening the whole Cathedral Church, Chappells, and lies, except the Chancell, and for stopping up the south window of St. Mary's Chappell." By the articles of agreement for the above, " Imprimis it is id., p. 30. concluded, &c, that the said Owen Jenkins and W m Hyland shall for the consideration hereafter expressed, sufficiently picke, plaster, and whitewash, without clay, all the lies and body and pillars of the church, all St. Mary's chappell, vestry, and outland passage, at present uncovered ; also all the windows, and to point the same, all the whole Cathedral church (except the Quire) ... as also to stop up the great south window in St. Mary's chappell within 14 days from the date hereof " b . • The sum of £15, and a lease for forty years of the above entry in the Chapter Books, says of the " great stone House" adjoining St. Ca- that " all the Marble Pillars of the Nave have, nice's steps on the west side, at one shilling a not many Years since, been, by I know not what year over and above all taxes and charges — stupidity, plaistered and white- washed, and the Chapter Book, A., pp. 28, 35. beauty of them greatly injured." — Ware, vol. i., b Harris, who appears to have been ignorant p. 434. Common fame, which even Harris's 48 KILKENNY. [sect. I. w . p 40. On September Gth. William Yarwood, carpenter, petitioned the Chapter for £32 5s., above the sum agreed to be paid for building the galleries and seats in the chancel of St. Canice, on account of his making an addition to the said works not contracted for. The ensuing disbursements appear amongst the accounts of this year: £ s. d. 2 10 „ to Walter Barry for Bell mettal for the use of the Bells, 6 8 4 to Tho s Barry for iron work for the Tenor, . • . . 8 18 ,, to M r Rothe for block Tin for the use of the Bells, 6 12 10 „ for the Kings Lfe for mettal for the Bells, .... 7 Spent going to Callan to get y cract mettal for y e use of y c Bells 2 G Paid to Dan 1 Connel for Bell mettal for use of said bells, 5 7 Spent twice going to Durrow for timber for y e frame of y° 5 6 Paid to M r Marshall for tymber for y c bell frames, . . . 2 ,, for putting the bars into the church windows, . . . 1 10 5 6 ,, to the Glaziers in part for new glazing the church, 12 10 The following letter, addressed by Bishop Parry to the mayor and aldermen, is preserved amongst the Haydock papers in the Evidence Chamber, Kilkenny Castle: — " S rs " I finde his Grace y Duke of Ormond to be very desirous that y e designed Ornam' of this Citty (a Ring of bells) should be perfected, by whose interposal we hope to be furnished with some metal from Callan for y e present, his Grace hath been also pleas'd 'to promise nobly an hundred pound toward that service ; and it is now y' this opertunity may be made use of or never to compleat that designe ; and that you may understande the statement proves to be erroneous, lays to the charge of Bishop Pococke the whitewashing of the carved stone work of the cathedral : the quotation from the Chapter Books, if further proof were necessary, gives a date which is long anterior to his time; and it is probable that the whitewashing of 1674 was not the first opera- tion of the kind which the church underwent. Many of our ruined abbeys which have lain un- roofed since the reign of Henry VIII. show evident traces of whitewash. In truth our old ecclesiastics disliked the cold surface of the stone, and when they could not paint it, they used plaster or whitewash. CHAP. II. KILKENNY. charge of the two bells already cast, and that neither my selfe or y* Dean <5c Chapter have been behinde hande to our power towards the work, I have subjoyned a brief of &cc u past, whereby also you may have a prospect of y future expenses. S 1 ^, I do desire you may take a speedy course that w' is already subscribed in y* citty and countrv, as also w : new subscription may had, may by y r assistance & favour be procured, & the mony thereof pavd unto the bearer hereof M r William Cooke, whome I do hereby appoynt to receive y { sume. I must desire also y l y' Companies may be call'd together that they may bring in w : was promisd & designed from them, & if all of y 5 ~ be pleasd to act heerin I doubt not, by Gods blessing, but that ag 5: Christmass next all may be finished. Thus desiring y r effectual promoting heereof (which may prove a standing ornam' for ever to this place) I rest " Y r loving ffrend & humble Ser^. Sber 13. 1674. ■ Joh : Ossoby. The Charge of y* 2 bells aUready cast : — li. s. d. Disburst by M r Cooke in severall materialls, .... 021:17:06 Disburst more for blockt Tinn, Iron work, mettalL &c., 038: 14: 10 For casringe & other expenses to y* BeUfounders, . . . 037:18:06 Totall, . . 098:10:10 Towards y- paym c whereof rec d these surhes : — ffrom y ? Roman Catholicks by M r Rafter, &c, 5-, besides 5 !i expended for bricke, &c., 005 : 00 : 00 ffrom M r Cooke & M r Blott by Citty & Contry subscrip- tions, 017:17:00 Payd by y- Bppe & Deane & Chapter. 075 : 13: 10 besides 20* weight in metall worth 4 :i :13 5 :4 d : p cent', which comes to 93 li : 13 5 : 04 d ster'. which was gcured & discharged by y* BpTpe. Deane, & Chapter. The charge of v« 4 bells to be cast : — ffor 20 s weight of mettall, besides what can be had from Callan, Gowran, &c will come to 093: 13: 04 ffor blockt Tinne, 012 : 00 : 00 ffor Iron worke Tymber & y € frame, 070 : 00 : 00 ffor casting y* 4 bells, 050:00:00 225:13:04 Addressed: — " ffor y- Mayor, Aldermen, & Comon Councel of Kilkenny. The9e." Indorsed in the mayor, Josias Haydock's, hand: — ■ Bp. of Ossory. about the bells. Octob. 13, 1674."' H 50 KILKENNY. [sect. I. a. i). 1G75. Some steps would seem to have been taken in consequence of this letter, ' Booh ' as, at the 20th of April following, this entry appears on the Corporation Books of Kilkenny: — " The Masters of y° Companies are desired to assemble their Companijes, with all convenient speed, to finish & pfect their subscription for the Bells of St. Canice." From the bishop's own letter, together with this record, it would appear that Harris is not quite correct in his statement that Harris's Ware, Bishop Parry, " in 1675, at Ids own expense, furnished the Steeple of the ' P Cathedral with a Ring of six Bells, amounting in weight to seventy hundred two quarters and five pounds ; the charge of which, besides the price of the Metal, came to 2461. 13s. lOd." There can be little doubt, however, that the bishop defrayed the chief part of the expense. Two of these six bells were recast in 1724, and the remaining four in 1851. The four bells which came down to the present time bore legends in raised Roman capitals, which, with the size and weight of the bells, were as follows: — No. 1. Height, 3 feet; diameter at mouth, 4 feet 1| inches; weight, 21 cwt. 3 quarters ; legend : — JOH ■ PARRY : S : T : P : OSSORIENSI : EPISCOPO : PROCVRANTE : M = DCLXXV : D : O I M ! IMPERANTE : CAROLO : SECVNDO | HVGONE : DRYSDAILE • ARCHIDIACONO I OSSORIENSI : NOS : FVDIT i ROGERVS : PVRDVE : CVM I SOCYS i A : DNI = a No. 2. Height, 2 feet 5 inches ; diameter at mouth, 3 feet 1 inch ; weight, 9 cwt. 26 lbs. ; legend: — R : P : W I C b : ANNO : DOMINI : M : DC : LXXIV i No. 3. Height, 2 feet 4i inches ; diameter at mouth, 2 feet 9 inches ; weight, 7 cwt. 3 qrs. ; legend : — ROGERVS i PVRDVE : ET I GVLIELMVS ■ FVDERVNT : NOS : OMNE c : 1674 : 1 The inscription, in raised Roman capitals, b The letters " R ; P • w ; c" stand for runs round the bell in two lines. The words Robert Purdue and W. Covey, two of the Rogervs Pvrdve have been nearly chiselled off, " socii" or company of founders. This bell was but are still legible. There seems to have been recast in 1851. no room left for the date in the second line, c This word would seem to form the com- which terminates as above. This bell was re- mencement of the sentence " omne reshrans cast in 1851. The Purdues appear to have been lavdet dominvm," for the remainder of which inhabitants of Kilkenny, and the name has only there was not room on the circumference of the become extinct there in the present generation, bell. This bell was recast in 1851. CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 51 No. 4. Height, 2 feet 4 inches ; diameter at mouth, 2 feet 8i inches ; weight, 7 cwt. 1 quarter and 10 lbs ; legend : — FYDERE ■ G i COVEY : CVM i SOCYS i A : D : M i DC i LXXIV ■ D : O : M : S : IN : VSVM : ecclesi^; ; s • canici ; kilkenls: • rip; ioh ; parry : s • t : d • tvnc ■ episcopo : ossor ; oiine i respiraxs = lavdet : DOJIIMVM i PSAL : CL : VERSV : VI : * These four bells ranked, as to size, in the peal of six belonging to the cathe- dral, as 1, 4, 5, and 6 b . The inscriptions were copied from the old bells, and have been verified by rubbings. At an assembly of the Corporation of Irishtown, held on the 14th of October in this year, it was ordered that the seat of the portrieve and burgesses of the Irishtown, in the cathedral church of St. Canice, should be " suffi- ciently repaired before y e 23d of this instant" . Bishop Parry, by his will dated the 19th of October in this year, bequeathed £100 " to buy Plate for the Cathedral of Kilkenny, as like as possible to the Plate of Christ-Church, Dublin." A. D. 1676. Second Book of the Corporation of Irishtown. A. d. 1677. Harris's H are, vol. i., p. 42'J. ■ This bell was recast in 1851. In 1683 the following table of fees " for ringing the bells" appears on the Chapter Book, A., p. 88: — Imprimis fortoling to the grave, Is. Od. per hour. Itm for passing bell in day time, Is. Od. do. Itm for passing bell in night time, 2s. Od. do. In 1761 it was "ordered that the ceconomist do pay W™ Watson for having instructed the new set of ringers of the Cathedral." — Chapter Book, A., p. 364. b It is probable that the bell, which Bishop "Williams had put up, was recast at this period. It had been originally composed of the metal of two broken bells of St. Mary's Church, which he bought from the churchwardens of that parish at I5d. per lb., but which, he says, the skilful in the art rated only as worth 1 Od. per lb. The bishop complains 'of unkind and discourteous treatment on the part of the churchwardens, and says the bell cost him £154. — A Small Part of the Great Wickedness, &c, p. 28. H On the 26th of May, 1680, the sum of 5s. was paid by the town treasurer of the Corpora- tion of Irishtown, " for repairing the Portrieve's seat in St. Canice's Church." — Second Book of the Corporation of Irishtown. And from the same record we take the following — " List of all the Burgesses, &c„ that paid the money towards the repair of the Portriffs & Burgesses seat in the Cathedral, according to the [order] of 11th Octo r 1684:— Mr. Portriffe, 4 s 6 d Alderman Tovey, .... 4 s 6 d Rob 1 French, Burgess, . . . 4 s 6 d Rob' Scarborough, .... 4 s 6 d John French, 4 s 6 d Richard Williams, .... 4 s 6 d John Murphy, 4 s 6 d Walter Bishopp, 4 5 6 J Lieutenant Peter Bulkley, . 4 s 6 d Henry Bradish, 4 s 6 J Bryan Brown, 4 s 6 d 2 52 KILKENNY. [sF.CT. I. Thomas Otway, who succeeded to the see in 1679, was also a benefactor to the cathedral. The Chapter Book has on record the following: — " Memorandum that on the day and year aforesaid (July 23rd 1684) the R l Rev d Father in God, Tho s Otway, delivered to the said Dean and Chapter, for the use of the Cathedral Church for ever, as a free gift, these following pieces of gilt plate, viz : — Ounces. Penny w". Two servers", weight, . . 51 15 Two communion cups b , \ Two Covers, . . . ! 120 10 Two Plates, . . . j One large Flagon, 95 One other large Flagon, 96 Also, presented by the Dean, D r J. Pooley, — One large basin , weight, 61 2 These donations form the present stock of plate belonging to the cathedral : of these, the two large flagons, the two servers, and large basin or alms-dish, are alike in pattern, being embossed in low relief with cherubim. The basin bears the following inscription: — " Ex dono Joh: Pooley Dec: S t; Canic : Kilken: anno 1684." The two chalices, or " communion cups," with their "covers" or patens, are of a much more elegant pattern and earlier date. The two " plates" are devoid of ornament. Harris thus records Bishop Otway's gift: — " On the twenty fourth of July 1684 he made a present of gilded Plate to the Dean and Chapter for the use of the Cathedral, to the amount of 363 oz. 5 pwt; for which Dona- tion the Dean and Chapter in a Body gave him solemn Thanks, and entered the same on their Chapter-Books to preserve the Memory of the benefaction to perpetuity. The greatest part of this Plate did belong to Christ-Church, Dublin; but the Dean and Chapter of that Church bought new Plate on the 18th of December 1683, and sold this to Dr. John Pooley, then Dean of Ossory, at 5 s 6 d per Ounce, for the use* of the Cathedral of Kilkenny ; and on the 8th of February following this Bishop paid 116Z. 13s. 4<2. for it ; of which there are Entries in the Chapter Books of Christ- Church." a They bear the London assay mark for 1662, with the letter f in a scutcheon, viz.: "leopard's head crowned, lion passant, C?." c It bears the Dublin assay mark, subsequent b These chalices, with their covers, bear the to lG38,viz. : "harp crowned,/* in a scutcheon." London assay mark for 1635, same as above, The flagons show no assay mark. CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 53 Otway is also said by Harris to have " beautifyed and compass-cieled" the id, ». chancel of his cathedral; the communion table of which he also railed in, and covered it with a rich cloth. During his incumbency it was agreed by the d. icm. chapter, — " That a new Throne be erected for the L d B? of Ossory, towards which every Dig- chapter Book, nitory is to pay 30 s , and M* Dean double, and every Prebend [sic] 20 s . A '' p ' 9 °* Harris, speaking of the chancel as it appeared in 1739, gives us some idea of the improvements above recorded: — " The Choir hath nothing famous in it with respect to Seats ; except a fine old Seat Harris's Ware, belonging to the Ormond Family. The Compass-Cieling of the Choir is chiefly remark- ° ' ''' P ' able for its fine Fret-work ; in which are a great number of curious Modillions ; and in the Center a Groupe of Foliage, Festoons, and Cherubins, that excells any thing of the kind I have seen." This bishop also erected an organ in his cathedral. id., P . 431. The following entry appears on the Chapter Books, under the 20th of ad. 1689. September in this year: — " Whereas there is not any Coach-way from the City of Kilkenny to the Cathedral, Chapter Book, but a tedious way through the Butts, or by the Dean's sufferance thro' his yard, ordered A ' p ' 1U2 ' that a convenient Coach-way be forth with made from Dean-street in Irishtown to the south door of s d Cathedrall, for the convenience of the Duke of Ormond's Family and other persons of quality resorting to the said church." This approach is still used, and known as " the Coach Road." On the 27th of May in this year, £15 was given for works in St. Canice's a.d. 1701. cathedral by the Corporation of Kilkenny. The Chapter Books supply us with the information that there was a pro- a. d. 1705. ject set on foot at this period to raise the central tower of the cathedral, and chapter Book, A, p. 126. " beautify" the round tower. John Pooley, a benefactor to the see whilst Dean of Ossory (see previous page) had not forgotten his former church, although raised successively to the sees of Cloyne and Raphoe ; for on the 5th of Feb- ruary it is recorded that — " Whereas all acc ts being ended between the Dean and Chapter and the R l Rev d John Lord Bp of Raphoe, late Dean of the said Cathedral and Proctor ; his IAhip having been 54 KILKENNY. [sect. I. pleased to bestowc the surae of £120 stg. for coping, repairing, and beautifying the round Tower, and towards the raising the steeple of the said Cath 1 Church 30 feet higher in stone work, ordered that an entry be made of the same on the chapter books, and that this inscription be made on some convenient stone of y c said round Tower: — " RESTAURAT IMPENs' JO. POOLEY OLIJI DECANI, NUNC EPI RAPOTENS." Neither of these objects was ever effected*; and perhaps it is fortunate that the belfry and round tower were not subjected to the deterioration which the condition of architectural taste at the period would have entailed on them, if the good intentions of Bishop Pooley had been carried out. There is no trace of the proposed inscription on the round tower. ch I'^B k rector y of Kathkyran was let to Mr. Thomas Bulkley at £12 per an- a, p. 132. num, " he giving a table cloath of red broad cloath for the chapter house table." a. i.. i7i2. A new organ, built by John Baptist Cuvillie, was erected this year in the H^rrisi Ware, cathedral. Harris describes it as " a neat set of Organs," and " a great Orna- yol L, p. 434. ment ^ Q ^ QJjq^ » a.d. 1717. February the 4th, it was ordered that the chapter house be enclosed from Chapter Book, " . a, p. 176. the common passage ol the stairs, so as to be made more private and conve- nient. From this entry it would appear that the old vaulted chapter room con- tinued in use down to this period ; the " stairs" alluded to were, probably, those leading to some gallery in the choir, which seem to have been walled off from the old chapter house in pursuance of this order. Ten shillings ordered to be paid to the widow of John Meoghan, " in con- si deracon of a fall he got from the belfree of which he dyed." a. n. 1722. It would seem that the chapter had not lost sight, as yet, of Bishop Id., p. 186- Pooley's intentions, for on the 7th of February in that year (1721 old style) — " Mr. Dean having produced in Chapter several draughts of a dome to be A.D. 1710. Id., p. 179. * In addition to the gift above recorded, the bishop at his death, in 1712, left another sum of £120, payable out of a bond due to him by Agmondisham Cuffe, all deficiencies to be sup- plied by his executors, to be applied " towards raising the Steeple of St Canic's Church in Kilkenny, and to mend, dash, and point the Round Tower." — Harris's Ware, vol. i., p. 282. This legacy does not appear to have been paid for some time, as, in 1717, the ceconomist was ordered to file a bill in Chancery for its reco- very. — Chapter Book, A., p. 176. CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 55 erected over y e Belfry, drawn by Captain Portall, he is desired to write to him a letter of thanks, in the name of the body, for his pains taken herein." And on the 6th of February (1722, old style) — " The Chancellor is re- a.d. 1723. quested to write to the Surveyor General to send down a person of sufficient Id ' P 1U6 ' skill in Architecture to view the steeple of the Cathedral, and to give his opi- nion what is necessary for the repair thereof ; together with an estimate of the charge." This request would not appear to have been complied with, for on the 27th of June, in the same year, we find the " (economist" empowered " to agree with id., P . 199. proper workmen for the immediate and sufficient repair of the steeple, bellfry, and battlements of the church in their present form." The Earl of Arran (brother to the exiled Duke of Ormonde) gave £60 a.d. 17Z4. for the repair of the cathedral. Id " p " 232 ' On the 23rd of June, in this year, an agreement was entered into by the dean a.d. 1724. and chapter with Mr. Joshua Kipling, bell-founder, for new casting the fourth ' p ' 28 ' and fifth bells belonging to the cathedral, at £1 10s. Od. per hundred weight ; and the vicar and parishioners of St. John's were asked to contribute a broken bell belonging to that church, a new bell being provided for them. Subse- quently a certificate was ordered to be given to Joshua Kipling, to the effect id., P . 234. that he had performed his work skilfully. These two bells were again recast in 1851. Their size, weight, and the legends they bore, were as follows: — No. 1. Height, 2 feet 9 inches ; diameter at mouth, 3 feet 7^ inches ; weight, 13 cwt. ; legend : — " THO . YESEY . BAR 10 . EPISC . OSSOR . ROB . MOSSOM . S . T . B . BECAKO . IOSHVA . KIPLING . FVBIT . A . B . 1724." No. 2. Height, 2 feet 4 inches ; diameter at mouth, 3 feet 3 inches ; weight, 10 cwt. 2qrs. ; legend: — " THO . VESEY . BAR T0 . EPISC . OSSOR . ROB . MOSSOM . BECAXO .I.E.. FVBIT . A . B . 1724." The shingled roof of the belfry, taken down in 1851, was probably repaired id., PP . 227. about this time, as we find a resolution, 3rd June, 1724, " that the shingles of " the steeple be primed." In 1742 upwards of four tons of lead were expended on the roofs of the church. 56 KILKENNY. [sect. r. A.D. 1729. On the 7th February (1728, old style), it was " ordered y l y c salary usually paid for taking care of y c clock be immediately stopped, there being no clock or chimes." a. p. 1718. A Tour in Ireland, published about this period, thus describes the state o the cathedral before Bishop Pococke began his repairs: — .i Tow in /re- " The choir is very beautiful, and the Ceiling adorned with curious Fret-work. The English Gentle- Stalls are composed of Wood, but very well ornamented ; and the Rays of the Sun, painted Dublin"iM8 ovcr Communion-Table, seem as if they gave Light to the Whole. The Organ pp 175, 177, is a very fine Instrument In short ... it is a noble pile of Gothic Building, and the whole Fabrick, within and without, is kept in exact Repair There is a Ring of tune- able Bells in the Tower of the Church, the first I have heard in this Kingdom." 1755. By an entry on the Chapter Books, dated June 12th, in this year, it was Chapter B J J > a. p. 330, ordered that " The Chapel in the North Isle" should be forthwith fitted up for a chapter house, " by flooring thereof, making a chimney therein, and stopping up the arch over it. By " the north isle," perhaps, is meant the north transept, as there is no chapel, nor trace of any such having ever existed, in the north side Jlihn. Sacra, p. aisle ; notwithstanding that Ware makes Bishop O'Hedian be buried (a. d. 1497) " in quadam capella juxta portam occidentalem ecclesise cathedralis." The project does not seem to have been carried out, as we find an order to fit up a new chapter house (probably that now serving as such, in St. Mary's Chapel), dated the 11th June, in the following year. A.,,. 1756. "Bishop Pococke," promoted to this see in 1756, found his cathedral, ■l"i' imt '' p ' says Ledwich, " in a most ruinous condition, being totally neglected by his pre- decessors 8 : its galleries decaying, its roof tumbling down, its monuments broken, and scattered about." This prelate was, however, scarcely installed, when he commenced the work of renovation. By an entry in the Chapter Books, of the chapter Booh, 11th June, 1756, we learn that the bishop having communicated to the dean and chapter a design for improving and adorning the inside of the choir, his lordship having subscribed fifty guineas, the thanks of that body were voted to Id < ft . him. And, on the 30th of July following, they agreed to give thirty guineas annually until the work was completed. 1 From the facts given above, this assertion that the writer previously quoted, a passing cannot be strictly true. It is possible, however, tourist, did not examine the fabric very closely. chap. n.J KILKENNY. 57 ■ With that love of religion and decency," writes Ledwich, " which strongly marked his Antiqmt.. p. character, he zealously set about its [the cathedral's] reparation : he warmly sollicited sub- 91 ' scriptions : purchased every necessary material at the best rate : in person superintended the workmen, and that often from four o'clock in the morning : beautified and adorned it through- out, and left a memorial of his piety and regard for his episcopal church, which the city of Kilkenny, and the diocese of Ossory, still gratefully remember." From this panegyric of Ledwich's no right-minded person will dissent, and if the discriminating eye discovers many solecisms and incongruities in the works and repairs which Bishop Pococke effected, it must be remembered that they were the faults not so much of the man as of the age ; and that, probably, but for him this venerable cathedral would now be a ruin 3 . Had he lived in our day, his appreciation of the architecture of the building would, no doubt, put to shame the apathy of those, who, while they see without regret the decay of the fabric, look with coldness on every suggestion which does not originate from themselves. The choir was, at this period, fitted up as it now appears. The episcopal throne, prebendal stalls, galleries, pews, &c, are all of a fine dark-grained oak, but, being carved in the Ionic style, there is a sad want of harmony between them and the architecture of the fabric. We find by an entry on the Chapter Books chapter Book. (a.d. 1762) that the bishop was permitted to dispose of the materials of the M old choir" as he should think fit : but as these had been put up subsequently to the Restoration, it is probable their loss is not much to be deplored. We learn from the Chapter Books that Pococke did not confine himself to the remodelling of the choir ; he also built a colonnade reaching from the north tran- sept door to the palace garden ; by an entry in the Chapter Books we find that this work was not commenced until after 30th May, 1758, on which day per- a.d. 175a mission was granted to the bishop to erect it. This colonnade is a handsome ' p "° 4 '' structure, in the Grecian Doric style, but it completely disfigures the gable of the north transept, very much concealing the fine door from view, and hiding the lower part of the windows by its roof ; indeed Pococke. whether from want of funds to defray the cost of glazing them, or from want of taste to appreciate * TheDean and Chapter of St.Canice, in voting they owed him " almost the very beeing of our him their thanks for what he had done, say that cathedral." — Chapter Bool;, A., page 393. I 58 KILKENNY. [sect. I. a. n. 1762. Id., p. 3f>9. Shec's St. Cu- rtice, p. 42. Harris's Ware, vol. i., p. 434. Shee's St. Ca- nice, p. 42, and Advertisement Id., p. 11. Id., p. 42. Ledwich'a An- quit., p. 389. the beautiful proportions of the original design, shortened all the principal win- dows considerably. Thus, at the 4th of September, the following entry appears on the Chapter Books : — " Whereas the bishop has undertaken the direction of putting the cathedral into order, and designs to shut up some of the windows and open others — It is ordered, that his lord- ship make such alterations in the windows, at his own expense, as he chooses." The parish church, a chapel within the cathedral, owes its repair to the same excellent prelate, by whom also the remaining fragments of the early stained glass were collected and placed in the great west window, where they remained, until removed some years since. The ancient monumental effigies and inscribed tombs, some of which Harris saw piled up in the chapel adjoining the chancel on the north, were by Pococke's orders collected, repaired, and arranged, though not all in their original position, or with much care or accuracy ; and he em- ployed John O'Phelan — " a learned and ingenious man," who at that time kept a school in Kilkenny, where he taught the Greek, Latin, Irish, and English languages — to copy all the inscriptions existing 3 . Bishop Pococke intended also, it is said, to raise the belfry some feet higher than it is at present, but was deterred by the adverse opinion of the architect consulted by him, who pro- nounced it to be unsafe to do so, — there can be little doubt, however, that these fears were unfounded. This prelate also covered the communion table with purple velvet, richly embroidered with gold lace, and placed over it the painting of a Glory brought by him from Italy, which still remains. He erected, in the south transept, a place for his Consistorial Court, the material of which is of panelled oak ; this has, not many years since, been removed to St. Mary's Chapel, where it now stands. In the Chapter Room the inscription, here given, is engraved on a stone set over the fireplace and surmounted by a Gothic moulding taken from some other part of the cathedral. By a black marble slab set in the wall of the north transept, it appears that HANC BASILICAM VETUSTATE LABESCENTEM RESTITUERUNT ORNARUNT OSSORIENSES ANNO MDCCLXIII. 1 O'Phelan made two copies of this MS. ; the original was kept by Pococke, and is not now known to exist. Ledwich seems, however, to have used it for his work, and it may have been lost with his other papers. The other copy was purchased from O'Phelan, " for a trifling consi- deration," by Mr. Henry Shee, of Irishtown, and from it was printed, by Dr. Peter Shee, the " In- scriptions on the Tombs in St. Canice." This MS. is now penes auctorem. ceap. n. KILKENNY. •59 the subscriptions collected by Bishop Pococke, on his first setting about the work of restoration, were very considerable. This record, never having been accu- rately printed, deserves to be preserved, and is as follows : — BEXEFACTORS FOR ADORXCsG THE CATHEDRAL OF S*- CASTCE. 1756. Ej_i-5D 1I05SOM. ESQ* Tnn «>i Watte. Esq-'. =7:^1 ■ • 100 100 cj rrrz z-z. M. Veszt. A IL 10 Ralph Hivrt. A 1L 10 L Peice. A M. 10 >L ASCHDAI-E. A IL 20 Asr>:v3 ~~zzz. A. M. 10 L Mm.KT. AM. 5 Josy Wabisg. A IL 10 W. Waits. A IL 9 W. Austis, LI_ B. 5 T. r.- - - -T- A_ -L 5 R. Lloyd. 5 H. Caxdlee, A M. 10 C. Jacksox. A >L 10 R. Coxsaxx, L. B. % D. Cuffe. A >L 5 IK. Fe~- 5 T. Pack, A M. 5 P. Soxe. A M. S L Veset. AIL 8 T. Cajdleb. A. B- 10 Eapj. OF OsSOBY. Eael of Wajtdesfoeix L* VlSCOOtT IIOCXTGARBIT, L* Vecocst Chablexo3t. L : VlSCOCST ASHBEOOK. 30 12 20 14 20 FEEIXDLT BeOTEEES CtTT KlL- tasT, 10 S-" W= EvAjts Mobees. Bae-. 10 Patrick Wexys, Esq*. 10 J axes Agar. Esq-". Gowbas. 10 Heec* Lasgbishe. Est?. 5 T. A. [ ] Esq'. 11 G. Bishofp. Esq' 5 Rex Vicaes. Esq '. 2 C Doyle. Esq 1 '. 5 Redmoto Esq'. 5 Tho. Tesisos. Esq". 5 11^ Aechboltx 5 POCOCXE, SkS*. 10 M"* Pococke J trs*. 5 E. Beeeztoj>. Est/. 5 llF Miri riT. Vicab-Geseeal OF THE PbOVTSCR, 5 SCTSXAi. IK Pococke. Bishop of Os- soet. 100 Deas asd Chaptee of S 1 Casice, 232 Mum itm lev OF THE CHAPTER V S r Caxice. L Letts. Dea5. 30 D r Dawsos. Chastoe. 15 R-Cocklsg, Chancellor 10 L Stassaed. Tbeasueee, 10 ] Aechdeacox, 10 R Stewaet. Peek, 10 W. Cossell, Peek. 6 IK Satofoed. Peeb. 15 W. CocKBCEJf. A 1L. Peeb. 20 R Watts. A 5L. Peeb. 10 L Alcock. D. D_ Peeb. 10 BXEGESSES OF S : CA3TICB- R. Dawson. Esq". 10 LV Hewetsojt. 10 E. 5I«mx, Esq/. 10 ASTOST BLtTST, ESQ". 5 & ILaetes. A IL 20 T. Bceton, A. IL 20 Feeejces op S' Caxice Hugh Waeesg. Esq'. 5 On Sunday. October 2nd in this year. John TTatters, Esq.. Mayor of Kil- a.d. i:<*. kenny, '* attended by the Sheriffs, Aldermen, Common-Councilmen, and City " Regalia, went in procession from the Tholsel to the Cathedral Church of St. Canice, where an excellent sermon, suitable to the occasion, was preached by the Rev. Mervyn Archdall. The procession to and from the cathedral was preceded by a considerable number of the Charter-school boys, singing psalms through the streets with becoming decency and regularity." i 2 60 KILKENNY. [sect. I. It docs not appear that the project, alluded to in the following extract from the Corporation Books of Kilkenny, was ever carried out : — a. r>. 1773. u 30th October. — Ordered that the Worshipful the Mayor of this City do pay a visit to Hook. the Lord Bishop of Ossory & request the favour of his Lordship to Immediately Purchase and Erect in the Bellfry of St. Canice a Grand set of Bells befiting the Dignity of the antient and flourishing City of Kilkenny, at the expence of the Mayor & Citizens thereof. And that the Treasurer do pay his Lordship the Ballance of such sum as the same may amount to when the Sum raised by the Sale of the present set of Bells is first applied to that purpose." By an entry of the same date it was ordered : — Id. " That the sum of Ten Pounds be paid yearly to M r Richard Mekins Organist of S' Canice, to Commence from the 29" 1 day of Sep tr last in manner in which M r Ximenes was paid his Sallary of Eight Pounds a year" a . a. i>. 1778. The author of a tour, published in this year, gives us the following quaint peep at the cathedral and its congregation : — Trip to KU- " The Cathedral, in the Whole, is not beautiful; it has Neatness, but is destitute of ^'"j"^' ''''' 1 oi ' Grandeur. The Service began at eleven o'Clock, and ended at one. The Organ is a pretty good One ; on the Side of it, in the same Gallery, six or eight Boys were sitting with Sur- plices on — some of them with neither Stocking nor Shoe on — they sung Sternhold and Hopkins to the Magdalen-chapel Tunes. The congregation was remarkably small, and in general paltry. 1 noticed some Handicrafts with their Aprons tied about them, and others that had them tucked up by a corner." a I.. 1795. The nave was re-roofed at the expense of the Chapter in this year, and during nice, p. 11. the incumbency of Bishop Hamilton the doors and windows of the entire church were renewed. a. n. 18-J7. The chancel was new slated at a cost of £227 7s. 6d Chapter Book. A D. 1830. Chapter Book. Aum"'''' A contract was entered into with Mr. John Shaw to re-roof the north and south transepts and Chapter Room. At this period the Consistorial Court was removed from the south transept to St. Mary's Chapel. a.d. 1843. The Rev. Charles Vignoles, D. D., was installed as Dean, and immediately commenced a series of most important improvements in the cathedral and ceme- 1 The liberality of the Corporation of Kil- to him half yearly as is paid the organist of S l kenny did not, however, last long, as appears by Canice, commencing 29"' Sept r last." the following entries : — " That the sum of £10 formerly ordered to " 21' January 1775 — That Eich d Hobbs or- Kich d Mekins organist of S' Canice by the City, ganist of S' Mary's do have the same sallary paid be from this day discontinued." chap, n.] KILKENNY. 61 tery. From his own purse, aided by some subscriptions, he defrayed the cost of removing the accumulated coatings of whitewash from the arches and pillars of the nave. The greater part of the windows were restored to their original pro- portions, the unsightly masses of stone-work which blocked them up being re- moved, and glass inserted where required. Externally, the earth and rubbish, which had accumulated to the height of several feet above the original ground- line of the structure, were removed, and the original proportions of the church thus restored ; whilst at the same time the future stability of the building was insured by permitting the walls to dry, and allowing the drip from the eaves to run off. In the course of the excavation a large quantity of the broken glass and leads, which originally belonged to the windows put up by De Ledrede, were discovered beneath the north lancets of the chancel, and several specimens of the original flooring tiles of the church were turned up. The external base of the round tower was also uncovered ; its floors were restored, and con- nected by means of step-ladders, all of substantial timber. Many other improve- ments were effected, amongst which we may mention the re-establishment of the choral service and repairing of the organ. The parish church, a chapel off the north transept, having been in a very a.d. i860. Chapter Be dilapidated condition for many years, was put into thorough repair by the Chap- ter. The roof was raised to its original pitch, and the windows refitted with cast-iron sashes. The unsightly screen which closed up the arch communicating with the north transept was removed at the same time. The old, shingled, spire-shaped roof, which, surmounted by its weathercock, a. dl issi. Chapter Bo was so long associated in the minds of the people of Kilkenny with the cathe- dral, and was probably the work of Bishop "Williams, was taken down, the Chapter having entered into a contract to remove it, lower the bells to the nave, and erect a new bell-frame of oak, with new floor, and roo£ at a cost of £300. The bell-story does not now show above the battlements of the tower. The tenor having been cracked, and some others of the bells injured, the Chapter contracted, at this period, with Mr. Thomas Hodges, of Middle Abbey-street, Dublin, to recast four of the bells, and supply stocks of oak, 11 wheels, and ropes, for the sum of £185. Subsequently, from the impossibility of bringing the old bells into tune, the remaining two were recast, — the entire cost being £301 2s. The legends borne by the old bells were reproductd 62 KILKENNY. [sect. I. on the upper portion of the new ones, whilst round the lower rim there was added, in raised Roman capitals, the following inscription : — " JACOBO . THOMA . O BIIIEN . EPISCOPO . CAROLO . VIGNOLES . S.T.P. DECANO . CRIN . IRWIN . A. M. ARCIIIDIACONO . THOMAS . HODGES . DE . NOVO . FVDIT . VICTORIA . REGINA . A. D. 1851." The weights and notes of the new bells, as here given, have been supplied by Mr. Charles Bolger, foreman to Mr. Hodges, under whose superintendence the casting was effected : — Cwt. qrs. lbs. Cwt. qrs. lbs. Tenor, ... 22 2 11) Note E Fourth, ..9 2 Note A Second, . . 15 3 10 „ Ftf Fifth, ... 7 3 24 „ B Third, ... 12 2 „ G# Sixth, ... 6 3 24 „ C# The new bells are good specimens of loam casting, and are, perhaps, the most musical peal of their size in Ireland. Previously to their removal from Dublin they were examined by many gentlemen skilled in such matters, and finally by Dr. Stewart, and pronounced to be in perfect tune. The first peal was rung out from the new bells, by the ringers of Christ Church, Dublin, on a.d. 1853. the night of the 5th of April, 1853; next day, at 5 a. m., the pealing again commenced, and continued at intervals during the day. From the difficulty, however, of procuring instruction for the ringers, the practice has been dis- continued, the bells being now chimed by ropes attached to the tongues ; and by a very ingenious contrivance one person is enabled to chime any number of changes which the bells are capable of, and even play simple tunes on them. The novelty of such music at the time inspired several of the local versifiers, — the following stanzas are, perhaps, worthy of being preserved" : — " O'er the startl'd city, The chimes awake the echoes As in the olden times, O'er wood and hill-side gay ; Bursts forth the joyful music They are heard in rural places, Of the gray cathedral's chimes. Like fairy tinklings clear Beneath, from abbey towers, They swell, in loudest changes, The gladsome echo swells— O'er the fields and gardens near. Their silenc'd choirs awaken Old men and youths are list'ning To the clangour of the bells. To their soft melodious spells, The river bears that music And maiden's eyes are glistening Along its waters gray — At the pealing of the bells." * These lines are from a poem written by Mr. Paris Anderson. CHAP. II.] KILKENNY. 63 The old organ having defied all efforts at repair or improvement, the Chap- a.d.1863. Chapter Hook. ter, on the 19th of September in this year, purchased from Bevington and Sons, of London, organ builders, the organ built by them, and at that time standing in the eastern gallery of the Great Exhibition Building, Dublin. The total cost, including the setting up of the organ in the cathedral, was £600 a . Ac- cordingly, the chancel arch, which for many generations had been closed up with masonry, was opened, and a platform erected (at a cost of £24) on the site of the old rood loft, — on this platform the new organ was placed. This fine instrument was first used, with full choral service, on Sunday, January 15, 1854, a. d. i8o4. and its capabilities may be estimated from the following detailed account of the various stops : — Great Organ (CC to F). Open Diapason, No. 1. Fifteenth. Open Diapason, No. 2. Sesquialtern, 3 ranks. Stopped Diapason, and Claribel. Mixture, 2 ranks. Principal. Trumpet. Twelfth. Clarion. Choir Organ (CC to F). Bourdon (Bass). Viol di Gamba (to Tenor C). Double Diapason (Treble). Principal. Dulciana (to Tenor C). Flute (to Tenor C). Stopped Diapason (Bass). Cremona. Stopped Diapason (Treble). Swell (to Tenor C). Double Trumpet. Principal. Double Diapason. Doublette. Open Diapason. Cornopean. Stopped Diapason. Clarion. Thus the Great Organ contains 10 stops, comprising 702 pipes. The Choir Organ contains 9 stops, comprising 323 pipes. The Swell contains 8 stops, comprising 378 pipes. The Pedal Organ contains 1 stop, and a great open sixteen-foot Diapason — in all 27 pipes. There are 5 copulas for connecting the * A considerable portion of this sum was supplied by subscriptions. f>4 KILKENNY. [sect. i. benches of keys to each other, and three composition pedals ; forming a grand total of 32 stops and 1430 pipes, i d. 1854 On the death of John Marquis of Ormonde, who had a short time pre- chapter Hook, ^^jy, rcmovec i ^ monuments of his ancestors into the south transept, space for a vault was granted to the Ormonde family there, for £20 fine on each interment, and the usual fees. The vault, wherein rest the bodies of many members of that noble race, lay, probably, beneath the choir ; but having been disused in consequence of the burial elsewhere of the great Duke of Ormonde, his son, the famous Earl of Ossory, and his grandsons, the second Duke of Ormonde and the Earl of Arran, by whose death without issue that line became extinct, the situation of the ancient family burial-place could not be discovered. a. n. 1855. In the April of this year it was ordered by the Chapter " that the last quatrefoil window on the north side of the nave of the cathedral be built up for the present, until the funds of the Chapter admit of its being put in new," which, for the credit of all concerned, it is to be hoped will soon be done. — J.G. chap, in.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. Go CHAPTER III. THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. r 1 ^HE Early English style a of Gothic architecture having been fully developed ere the Cathedral of St. Canice was commenced, and the germs of the lighter and more ornate, although not more elegant architectural fashion, aptly termed Decorated, not having made their appearance before its completion, the structure affords a good and chaste example of a pure and beautiful period. Although in Ireland the mother church of Ossory cannot, as a whole, be sur- passed by any cathedral still remaining, and notwithstanding that a feeling, a finish, and an artistic perfection are apparent in the simplest of its moldings and sculptured ornaments, enough to challenge comparison with the most ornate buildings of the same date extant ; yet it must be allowed that in size and splendour it is surpassed by many an English parish church. We do not, therefore, purpose to claim for our cathedral any importance beyond what it really possesses, but, ere we have done, we hope to show that it deserves the attention even of the architectural student who has revelled amidst the sublime beauties of the cathedrals of England. The plan of the cathedral of St. Canice, as laid down in the accompanying plate, is that of a Latin cross, having chapels and other accessory buildings Arrangement clustering north and south of the choir. The total length, from of the buiidmg. eagt tQ west? i s 2 1 2 feet 3 inches ; total breadth across transepts, 117 feet ; total breadth of nave and side aisles, 63 feet 10 inches ; the area of the vaulting of the tower is nearly 26 feet square. No very great accuracy appears to have been observed in laying down the plan for the masons, the measurements of any two corresponding parts rarely agreeing with each other. The internal i The distinctive terms of Early English, De- in this work as the best known names of the corated, and Perpendicular, have been adopted successive developments of Gothic architecture. K 66 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. dimensions of its principal parts, clear of the walls, are as follows having reference to the accompanying plan: — A. Nave; 107 feet, by 28 feet 3 inches. P>. North side aisle; 107 feet, by 14 feet 7 inches. C. South side aisle; 107 feet, by 13 feet 8 inches. D. North transept; 38 feet 10 inches, by 28 feet 11 inches. E. South transept; 38 feet 8 inches, by 28 feet 10 inches. F. Choir; 73 feet 10 inches, by 28 feet 8 inches. G. Parish church; 17 feet 5 inches, by 14 feet 5 inches. H. North chapel; 48 feet 6 inches, by 15 feet 10 inches. I. Anchorite's cell ; 22 feet 7 inches, by 14 feet. J. Open yard; 12 feet 8 inches, by 15 feet 11 inches. K. Ancient chapter house ; 29 feet 8 inches, by 15 feet 11 inches. L. Lady chapel ; 28 feet 7 inches, by 20 feet 8 inches. M. Porch; 15 feet 7 inches, by 15 feet 3 inches. The only parts of the cathedral as to which any doubt of their original destination prevails are those marked H and L. By an error in the lettering Vol. i., P . 397. of the plan given in Harris's Ware, the chapel adjoining the choir to the north, (II in the accompanying plan), is called St. Mary's chapel, whilst the chapel marked L is not designated further than as being the site of the consistorial court. That Harris is not answerable for the error of his engraver appears from the letter-press of his work. He alludes to both the chapels in question, and leaves no obscurity as to his meaning. Thus as to the north chapel (called Harris's »r Q >v, St. Mary's chapel on his plan) he writes: — " Adjoining to the North Cross is a little place railed in, and set apart for a Parish Church; between which and the Choir is a large nameless Appartment, wherein are several curious old Monu- ments of Men in Armour, and other Stones which are parts of ancient Monu- ments, lying loose against the Wall." It is plain that if Harris had ever heard this portion of the cathedral called St. Mary's chapel, he would not have termed it nameless : but it further appears that he was well aware of the situation of the chapel of the Blessed Virgin. He thus lays it down: — "Adjoining to the ibid. South Cross is a large open space ; where the Bishop's Consistory Court is held ; between which, and the Choir is the Chapter House ;" and, speaking of the 126. monument of Bishop Roth, he describes it as existing "in the Consistorial [sect. I. — the letters CHAP. III. THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. < ; Court of the Cathedral of Kilkenny, antiently called St. Marys Chappel." But had we no means of proving by Harris's own testimony that his plan has been erroneously lettered, the higher and earlier authority of the Chapter Books afford evidence that cannot be gainsayed. By an extract printed at p. 47, supra, we find certain persons contracting, in 1674, " to stop up the great south window in St. Mary's Chappell." Now as the chapel so called on Harris's plan is bounded by the choir on the south, it can have no south window at all; and as the portion of the Cathedral marked L on our plan, and at present occupied by the consistorial court and chapter room, is the only chapel which, by any possibility, could have a great south window, there can be no question that it was the ancient Lady Chapel; and its south window may well be termed " great," as it originally occupied nearly the entire length of the south wall, although at present the central compartment is closed up with masonry 3 , and the hood-moulding knocked off flush with the surface of the wall. If further evidence were required, the Chapter Books afford it in abundance ; we shall, however, only cite the following. By an entry dated May 19th, 1687, it was chapter Book, agreed that the executors of Mrs. Frances Foulkes, on payment of £10 fine, A ~* 9 " shall have a grant " of the ground in St. Mary's Chappel where the said M r> Foulkes monument is now built." The original site of the Foulkes' monument is shown by Harris's plan to have been in the chapel opening off the south transept, which is thus proved to be the ancient Lady Chapel. The position of the ancient chapter house is determined by the passage from Harris, already quoted, to have been between the Lady Chapel and the choir. "Ware says, that Bishop O'Hedian was buried in a chapel near the west door of the cathedral, but unless we take the bishop's resting-place to have been totally unconnected with the main building, one must suppose that usually accu- rate writer to have been mistaken, — the most careful examination not having revealed any trace of connecting arch or doorway. The foundations brought to light in 1S45 have already been alluded to (see pp. 25 and 32. supra). They appear to have belonged to the nave of an earlier building, the chancel of which lay eastward of the present structure. These re- mains are indicated by the dotted lines north and south of the choir on the plan. * Harris's View of the cathedral shows that up by the contractors in 1674 was confined to the the portion of " the great south window" built most eastern of the three compartments. K 2 08 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. I. The tradition of Kilkenny has it, that there are extensive vaults beneath the cathedral; but, if so, they are as yet undiscovered. This tradition is connected in the popular mind with the vague idea of hidden treasure, and it is said that an archway was struck on some years since in digging a grave near the north side of the choir. We could not learn that any further exploration was attempted; it is probable, indeed, that no such discovery was ever made. Perhaps this is the best place to quote a description of the cathedral written in the early part of the seventeenth century, probably by a native of Kil- kenny, the learned David Roth, Roman Catholic Bishop of Ossory. It is a matter of great regret that the manuscript copies of the tract " Dc Ossoriensi Dioescesi" preserved in the British Museum and the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, are imperfect, breaking off at the most interesting part of the writer's account of the cathedral. We give a translation, appending the original Latin as a note 3 : — " And that I may present to nearer view an actual representation of that munificent holiness, which had its birth in times of old, it will be permitted to take, at least, a hasty survey of the cathedral church, with its appurtenances and component parts, to the end that the faithful of our time may learn and admire the piety of their ancestors. "Situation has its advantages in displaying the proportions and magnificence of a fabric; for a building which possesses a situation moderately lofty, and enjoys a free air, is * Atq>vtipsamadumbrationem munifica?huius sanctitatis antiquitus inchoata? propius intueri detur, fas milii erit cathedralem Ecctiam cum appendicibus et membris eius saltern perfunc- tione circumire ; ut discant Orthodoxi nri et diligant pietatein suorum progenitorum. Plurimum valet ipse loci positio ad conside- randa fabrics; amplitudinem et magnificentiam ; qua; etiam editiore situ ct liberiore potitur aura, salubrior esse solet et splendidior. Itaq> Ecctia ha?c S. Canici turn quod emineat in erectiori tumulo, tanquam excubitoria specula libere pro- spectans et ciuitatem modice subiectam, et am- ple circumiectum territorium, turn quod struc- tura solidissima e saxo sectili polito surgat ab imo fundamento, comniendat se intuentibus earn propius In aquilonari latere chori contigua muro ex- teriori Ecclesie ha?rebat cella anachoretica ex qua per fenestellam lapideam, qua; inibi posita erat in pariete ad dexterum cornu summi altaris, nempe a pte Euangelij, diuina mysteria dura perag?entur prospicere poterat inclusus Ana- choreta Ipse chorus Ecclesiae S. Canici satis amplus est et splendidus, quem exornat mirifice vasta ab oriente fenestra, qua nescio an vspiam in toto hoc regno alia vlla vel capacior sit vel ornatior, duobus ordinibus columnarum e saxo viuo dis- tincta, et vitro variegato pellucens, in qua scitis- sime depingitur historia totius vita?, passionis, resurrectionis, et ascensionis Dominica?. Cuius tanta et tam venusta est respondentia, tantusq? ornatus et decor, ut cum novelli iconoclasta? sub chap, in.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 69 wont to appear more exhilarating and beautiful. So this church of St. Canice, as well from its situation on a gentle eminence from whence, as from a watch-tower, it looks freely abroad on the city lying beneath, and wide-spread surrounding district, as well as because it rises from its foundation a structure of the most solid nature, composed of cut and polished stone, commends itself to the near beholder "Adjoining the north side of the choir, and close to the external wall of the church, an anchorite's cell was attached, whence from an aperture in the wall near the right, or Gospel side, of the high altar the enclosed anchorite could behold the performance of the divine mysteries " The choir of the church of St. Canice is ample and splendid enough, adorned by a won- derfully large eastern window, than which I know not of any, in all this kingdom, of greater size or more replete with ornament. It is divided by two piers furnished with columns of solid stone, and the light streams in through painted glass, on which is most skilfully depicted the history of the entire life, passion, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord. Such is the elegance and splendour of this work, so great is the ornament it affords to, and so much does it become the building, that when the new iconoclasts, who sprung up under King Edward, and again under his sister Elizabeth, offered violence to the holy images, and that shameless miscreant, John Bale, had broken and violated all he could find of the statues and effigies of the saints, nevertheless both he, and the other intrusive bishops after him, restrained their violent hands from these windows. " On the left side of the choir, as you enter, the bishop occupied an apse near the altar, elevated on steps of hewn stone. Then the minor prelates, separated by a short space, had their stalls in the circuit of the presbytery, each acording to their dignity, — the Dean Edouardo Rege, et rursus sub Elizabetha eius sorore, vim intulissent sacris imaginibus, etim- pudicus Ganeo Johannes Balseus confregisset et violasset quascuq> reperire poterat sanctorum statuas et effigies, ab his tamen fenestris tarn ipse quam alij post eum inuasores Episcopi manus violentas continuerunt. Ad lauium latus ingredientiu choru prope altare episcopus habebat absydem gradatam e saxo structili : secundarii vero antistites, non magno ab inde interuallo in circuitu pnes- byterii habent suas sedes iuxta cuiusq dignitatis eminentiam erectas: Decanus primam, Prajcen- tor secundarn, Cancellarius tertiam, Thesaura- rius quartam, quib' accedit Archidiaconus, nam et ipse intuitu saltern prasbenda? quam habet officio annexam ingreditur pra?sbyterifi sedemq occupat cum aliis dignitariis : Neq> vero ex his solum modo dignitatib' capitulum Ossoriense coficitur, habet enim canonicos siue prajbenda- rios qui voturn habet et sufFragium capitulare et numero denario constat: Ecclesias quas singuli sortiuntur infra recensebimus. Habet templum ipsum satis spatiosum ambitu, intra quern et domus capitularis, et Sacellu B Virginis continetur, quod inseruit pro Ecclesia parochiali, atq> ipsa nauis Ecclesia?, no tantii cho- rus, prsebet monumenta sepulchralia proceru vtriusq ordinis, tam Antistitum, quam etiam nobilium." — De Ossoriensi Dicescesi, Cod. Clar. torn, li., 4796, British Museum ; and E. 4. 18, Library Trin. Col. Dub., sections 25-29, and 33. 70 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. i. first, next sat the Precentor, in the third place the Chancellor, and fourth the Treasurer, to whom is added the Archdeacon, for he also, in right of his prebend which he holds annexed to his office, enters the presbytery and sits with the other dignitaries. Nor is the chapter of Ossory composed of those dignitaries alone, it possesses also canons or prebendaries, to the number of ten, who have vote and suffrage in the chapter. The churches which were allotted to them we shall recount hereafter. "The church itself is of considerable size, and comprises within its walls both a chap- ter house and chapel of the Blessed Virgin which serves for the parish church. The nave of the church, no less than the choir, contains sepulchral monuments of men of rank both in church and state." .... Before we pass on to the architectural description of the cathedral it may be well to offer a few observations on the foregoing. Of the anchorite's cell described by the author of the MS., the foundations still remain. The floor of the cell was nearly four feet below the level of the choir, and the remains of the earlier church had evidently been adapted for that purpose ; at the south-west angle there is a niche in the choir wall 3 feet 8 inches wide, and of shallow depth ; this is approached by three steps, and if entirely freed from masonry, would, doubtless, be found to contain the fenestella lapidea, or " low side window," commanding a view of the high altar. In the north-east angle is a rude circular cavity cut into the old wall, apparently for a fireplace, and there are three rude lockers or niches cut into the north wall, each about two feet wide. There must have been some superstructure, now removed, to raise the roof above the window already described, but it is probable that there was no door, as the anchorite was " inclusus," shut up in his cell a . The site of the ancho- rite's cell is marked I on the plan. During the process of clearing out the area of the old " anker-house," in the summer of 1846, a very interesting discovery was made, serving to throw some light on the character of De Ledrede's windows, so vividly described by the 1 The writer of the MS. adds, when speaking cetur. Erat etiam cella Anachoretica in Aghure of the cell: " Eratq in pluribus huius regni Ossorien' dioc'. Nam de successione Anachore- Ecclesiis principalibus pia ilia obseruatio tenen- tarum Fourensium qua? etiam nuc viget, pro- da? colenda?q> Anachoreseos, sicuti de cella S. prius dicendi locus erit in Dioccesi Midensi, etex Iinarij diximus in Ecclesia Ardmachana ; de cella ilia occasione inserem' regulas vita? Anachoretica? etiam S. Carthagi in Ecclesia Lismorensi alibi di- tarn illas qua? olim conscripta? erant, quam qua? chap, in.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 71 writer of the MS. About four feet beneath the surface the workmen struck on a stratum of painted and stained glass, broken into fragments more or less minute, and intermixed with portions of the ancient leads. This stratum was immediately beneath the three lancet lights which pierce the north wall of the choir at its eastern end, and extended about three feet from the wall. It was evidently the debris of the windows above, as scarcely a quarry of the glass remained entire, and the leads were much bent and twisted. It would appear, too, that the spoliators had a keen eye to profit, as the remains of a large wood fire, amounting to nearly a horse-load of charcoal, was close at hand, into which the glass, when torn down from the windows, had evidently been cast for the purpose of melting out the lead which bound it together. Here were found hoc tempore obseruantur, in ista qua; nunc su- per est Anachoresi." -De OssorieraiDicescesi, § 27. The anchorite's cell at Fore still remains ; St. Doulough's, near Dublin, a remarkable example, and that of St. Munna, of Taghmun in West- meath, maybe added to the instances enumerated by the writer of the MS. Mariacus Scotus, the celebrated annalist, was an incluse. It seems to be a misnomer to call such " in- clusorir' anchorites, who have their name from Samj[ufcu, because they usually retired to a desert place. They are more properly ascetics, who lived apart in a celL The Bules pro- mised in the MS. are still desiderata: but by a Rule -drawn up by Grimlaic, an anchorite priest of the ninth, or, at latest, tenth century ^ anchorites were required to live near churches. A Bavarian Rule directs the cell to be of stone, twelve feet square, with three windows, one op- posite the choir, by which the Eucharist was to be received, the second for admitting food, and the third for light, to be closed by horn or glass. Of this kind appears to have been the cell at Kil- kenny. The cell at '* Aghure" (Freshford), about seven miles from Kilkenny, has been totally re- moved. In England a few " ankerhouses" re- main, as in the south transept of Norwich Cathe- dral, and at Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire, in the tower. Many ankerhouses were wooden struc- tures close to the church, so that their occupants dwelt, as the author of " The Ancren Riwle" of the thirteenth century, published by the Camden Society, says, under the eaves of the church- These ascetics were of both sexes. The ceremony of inclusion was attended with a solemn service, of which an example, with rubrical directions, is preserved in the Harleian Collection, No. 873, Mus. Brit. In cases of great strictness (which was voluntary on the part of the incluse), the anchorite was locked in for life, and the bishop, whose consent was necessary, placed his seal upon the cell. Occasionally the entrance was closed np with masonry. The incluse lived upon the alms of the pious. So we find Henry IL bequeathing gifts to the incluses of Jerusalem, England, and Normandy. In a will of the fif- teenth century there is a bequest to M the Anker in the Wall beside Bishopsgate," London : and St. Richard, Bishop of Chichester, makes be- quests to the incluses (in one instance a female) of Pageham, Hoghton, Stopeham, and Hering- ham. A contemporary Bishop of Norwich men- tions several "ankers" and incluses in his will, and especially his niece Ella " in reclusorio" at Massingham. — See for the authorities The Arch- aeological Journal, vol. xi., pp. 1&4-200. 72 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAE. [sect. i. lumps of conglomerate matter composed of melted glass, lead, and charcoal. The quantity of glass discovered was considerable, and it was at first hoped that it might bear leading, and be placed in some of the windows of the cathedral ; but the damp nature of the soil, by which it had been for nigh two centuries covered, had rendered it extremely brittle and liable to come away in flakes, the soda, which enters into the fabrication of all glass, having become decom- posed, and separated from the silica. The glass was of various kinds, viz., white, opaque, painted, and stained; there were many varieties of the latter, as purple, blue, ruby, yellow, amber, green, amethyst, and a rich ultramarine, with intermediate shades of all these colours. The painted glass exhibited chiefly portions of floral designs painted in a reddish stain on white and semi-opaque glass, and then burned in. On a careful examination of the entire mass, not more than four or five fragments exhibiting traces of the human figure presented them- selves. Immediately after the discovery, the writer, being desirous to ascertain the age of the specimens discovered, in order to identify them with De Ledrede's glass, communicated the facts to Mr. Charles Winston, whose " Inquiry into the Difference of Style observable in Ancient Glass Paintings" is a standard work of reference on the subject. Mr. Winston's reply was entirely in favour of the conjecture that the fragments of glass discovered belonged to the four- teenth century. He stated that fourteenth century glass is distinguishable by the nature and texture of the material, by its colour, and by the mode of painting on it. The texture of the glass is sometimes impure, and often nearly opaque ; frequently it is encrusted with a brown ferruginous coating, or perforated by little round holes about the size of a pin's head, — the effect of decomposion in both cases. Glass of this period has a tendency to exfoliate like mica. The plain glass is frequently of a rich sea-green hue, varying in depth according to the manufacture and thickness of the sheet. Some of the plain and coloured glass of this period is very thick, ranging from a quarter of an inch to a sixteenth or under. The colour, and mode of producing it, afford also criteria to judge of the age of glass. In the fourteenth century the yellow and ruby stains were pro- duced in a very peculiar way, namely, by a coating of yellow or ruby glass laid over a substratum of white, often presenting a streaked and uneven appear- ance, as if laid on with a brush. This yellow stained glass is not to be con- founded with a homogeneous yellow glass which was in use during all the CHAP. III.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 73 periods over which glass-painting extends, and which, with all such homoge- neously tinted glass, of whatever colour, is termed " pot-metal." Ruby glass is invariably stained on one side only of the sheet, the substratum being white glass ; and the layer of colouring matter varies much in thickness according to the age of the glass, the oldest being of considerable substance. Frequently, when viewed edgeways, it is found to consist of several laminaj of ruby embedded in white glass 3 . Geometrical patterns, consisting of combinations of the circle, spherical triangle, &c, are especially characteristic of fourteenth century glass work, whilst the floral patterns in vogue consisted of running scrolls formed by tendrils, with ivy, maple, vine, or oak leaves springing from them ; the lines of the design being strongly marked, and painted in an enamel tint of a red- dish-brown colour, composed of an oxide of iron, mixed with a soft flux, which, when exposed to heat, permanently adhered to the glass. Fine cross- hatchings were much used at this period also. Examples of every variety of the different kinds described by Mr. Winston were found amongst the glass exhumed in 1846 from beneath the north windows of the choir. Some cha- racteristic specimens have been represented in tinted lithography on the accom- panying plate, and give a faithful idea of the originals, except that it was found impossible adequately to reproduce the brilliancy of the ruby tint of the glass. Examples of the geometric and floral patterns, already alluded to, have also been included in our illustration. The delicacy of the tendrils represented on one of the specimens will be observed, and aflbrds a striking example of the attention bestowed on work which, from its height above the spectator's eye, could only present the general effect of colour or form. A fragment of the draped arm of a human figure may be seen painted on another of the specimens figured in the plate. But the age of glass may be judged of as much by the character of the leads in which it is set, as by its own peculiarities. It may be observed of all leads of the period to which our glass belongs, in contradistinction to those manu- factured in modern times, that they present a narrow surface to the eye, whilst strength and rigidity, in a line at right angles to the plane of the window, is a Purple glass was sometimes, at this period, example of this kind has occurred amongst the produced by enclosing a stratum of blue glass glass found beneath the choir windows of the between two strata of the ruby stain, — but no cathedral. L 74 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. I. obtained by their peculiar form. These will be seen, by the accompanying woodcut, to be the characteristics of the leads found along with the St Canice' glass. Three varieties are here represented, of the same size as the originals, one used for the smaller patterns, the others, which are much stronger, for the larger glazing panels and general outlines. An- ciently leads were cast in a mould, and the fragments discovered at St. Canice's have very much that cha- racter. It were to be wished that modern Irish ma- nufacturers would take a lesson from these ancient examples, where the same or a smaller quantity of No. 7. metal is so managed as to afford flexibility sufficient for the composition of the most intricate patterns, great rigidity to the action of storms, and a surface so narrow as not to interfere with the design of the window, — qualities, in all of which modern leading is sadly deficient. From the foregoing data it may safely be concluded, that the glass and leads, rxhumed in 1846, once formed portions of the celebrated windows erected by De Ledrede five hundred years before. It is true that an objection presents itself. The windows of De Ledrede are said to have been adorned by a series of compositions, most probably in the medallion form, illustrative of the history of our Saviour ; whilst, amongst the fragments recovered, but few can be re- ferred to the human figure. But, irrespective of the fact that some specimens of the painted glass must be referred to that class of design, there are two con- siderations, which serve, in a great degree, to obviate this objection. The first is, that any representation of the human form would have been peculiarly ob- noxious to the iconoclastic zeal of the Puritan despoilers of the cathedral ; all such portions they would, undoubtedly, take particular care to deface. Secondly, we must recollect that the glass and leads discovered in 184G appear to have been broken down from the northern windows of the choir, whilst all testimony concurs in assigning the glass paintings commemorating the Gospel history to the great eastern window. We may fairly suppose that the side windows were kept subordinate to the great design, and, although rich in all the varied hues of stained and painted glass, were chiefly filled with the mosaic, geometric, and floral patterns, of which the exhumed fragments present examples. At all CHAP. III.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 75 events, " that the glass 3 in question is of the fourteenth century," to quote Mr. Winston's words, " there cannot be the slightest doubt." The description of the arrangement of the choir, given by the writer of the MS., is not very clear. He describes the choir as having been furnished with an apse, in which was the bishop's throne, and the high altar. The term ' apse' is usually applied to the circular or polygonal eastern terminations of ancient churches, which, although frequently to be met with in England, seem never to have been used by our Irish architects. Perhaps the writer meant to convey the idea, that the presbytery or choir was raised insteps; on the highest or eastern- most was the altar, to the left of which stood the bishop's throne. The remain- der of the description is easily understood. The material of the ancient choir fittings was probably carved stone, and we may judge of the style of the rest by the two sides or arms of a stall, carved in Kilkenny marble, and adorned with early English foliage, which is preserved in the north transept, and is traditionally termed " St. Kieran's Chair." The stone-work forming the present seat is modern ; the arms are undoubtedly of the thirteenth century, contemporary with the cathedral itself, but not of an earlier date ; it pro- bably was one of the stalls of the canons or prebendaries. Another portion of the church furni- ture, coeval with the cathedral itself, which has come down to our day, is the font. There are no means of tracing its history b except that the style in which it is carved, and the mode in which its five supporting pillars are arranged, prove it to be of the same date as the church to which it belongs. The accompanying illustration, carefully drawn to perspective scale of three-eighths a The glass and leads alluded to above hare by the "fanatic limbs of the beast" in 1650, been deposited in the Museum of the Kilkenny seems to have been a different one erected in the Archaeological Society by the Dean of Ossory. choir after it was appropriated to the reformed b The " marble font," broken " all to pieces" worship See p. 45, supt a. L 2 7(» THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. I. Glossary of Terms used in Gothic Archi- tecture, sub vo- ce "Tiles." of an inch to a foot, will give the best idea of its form. There was originally a drain carrying down the water to the earth through the thick central sup- No. 9. No. 10. port, but it seems now to be closed up. The bowl of the font is cylindrical, and in the spaces between the circle and the external square are well marked and characteristic carvings ; we give an engraving of this ornament, drawn to a scale of half an inch to a foot. At what period the font was re-erected in its old position, near the south porch, is not known. Fonts of similar pattern exist, belonging to St. Mary's Church, Kilkenny, and the parish (originally collegiate) church of Gowran in the county of Kilkenny — both of them Early English structures. To conclude our notices of the ancient fittings of the cathedral, a few words on the flooring tiles used in the building may here be allowed. It is now impos- sible to trace, with any degree of certainty, the connexion between the tile pavements of our ancient religious edifices, and the tesselated pavements of the ancient Romans. That the former sprang from an adaptation of the principle of the latter seems, however, almost self-evident. Neither can the date of the introduction of tile pavements be assigned with precision ; all we at present know is that they occur in churches at dates ranging from about the year 1200 to the end of the fifteenth or sixteenth century, though found in Normandy of a somewhat earlier date. In England attention has long been directed to the subject, and the use of this beautiful style of pavement has been very extensively Stuwnf Palirnirur S! CaJiioc Cathedral. CHAP. III.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 77 revived there. In Ireland, although numberless specimens lie scattered in the ruins of our churches and abbeys, no notice of their existence was taken until Mr. Thomas Oldham printed his treatise on " Ancient Irish Pavement Tiles," some years since. Irish specimens of three varieties have been observed, viz. : 1. Impressed; 2. Inlaid; 3. In relief. In the first class, the tile, from four to six inches square, and from one to two inches thick, was fashioned out of pieces of well-compacted clay: on this was impressed the pattern, geometric, floral, or, in some instances, heraldic ; over all a glaze was passed, and then the tiles were burned. The next step was to impress the pattern more deeply and broadly, and into the cavity thus left after the withdrawal of the stamp was forced white or coloured clays, care being taken to have the inlaid clay different in tint from the ground. The third variety is easily understood. Examples of the first two varieties alone have been found in the Cathedral of St. Canice ; and the impressed pattern occurs in much greater quantity than the inlaid ; so much so as to lead one to the conclusion that the latter kind were very sparingly used. The accompanying plate presents six varieties ; and, besides these, several plain tiles, and the pattern represented in Mr. Oldham's plate, No. 4, have been found. A considerable number of fragmental examples, and some few whole tiles, were discovered by the workmen engaged in clearing the accumulated earth from the external walls of the cathedral in 1845 ; several kave been turned up in making graves in the churchyard near the north transept, and a few were found in situ close to the wall in the parish church when it was under repair in 1850. Whenever the present flooring of the cathedral is disturbed, specimens, more or less perfect, present themselves. In short, it is evident from the quantities discovered, that the entire building was originally floored with them. It is now, of course, impossible to ascertain the arrangement of the tiles, or to say in what portions of the building the different varieties were used, or whether they were exclusively used in any part. The impressed tiles have alone been found in situ, as already observed, in the parish church ; and perhaps the inlaid patterns, as being the richest and most ornamental, were confined to the choir, or immediate vicinity of the altar, whilst in the aisles and transepts the more simple impressed patterns were employed. There can be little doubt that in both cases plain tiles were used to relieve the ornamental ones, and afford framework for the various patterns. It is observ- <> 78 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. i. able that half, quarter, and even quartered ornamental tiles again diago- nally divided, have been discovered ; and the same observation applies to the plain tiles. Some of the patterns were completed in four tiles, but others required a greater number, and some of the patterns are evidently intended to be repeated frequently in juxtaposition to each other a . Should the cathedral of St. C anice ever have the good fortune to be restored in accordance with its original plan, it is to be hoped that the important item of ornamental tile pave- ment will not be neglected ; and, perhaps, the original patterns would best suit the plain but elegant architectural style of the structure, to the consideration of which we now pass. Although there is nothing of an ornate character about the exterior of the cathedral, yet the very absence of all pretension, the general fitness and har- Externai mony of its parts, and the massiveness of its proportions, impress the character. beholder with greater pleasure than arises from the examination of many buildings of more ambitious design. It has been objected, indeed, to our cathedral that its effect is spoiled by the want of height in the central tower, and, no doubt, this objection is well founded. That a low " stumpy steeple" did not enter into the design of the original architect, we have evidence from the record already quoted (page 35, supra) of the fall of the tower in 1332. The bell story, with, perhaps, its triplet lancet lights on each face, was then lost, and what remains to us is but the stump, shorn, very likely, of at least forty feet of its original height. With this additional elevation — the summit crowned by that peculiar pinnacle work, of which the neighbouring tower of the Domi- nican abbey (although of a later date) affords a good example, and the stair- turret at the south-western angle carried up above the rest, and terminating by a pinnacle and small ornamental vane — the effect of the entire building would be greatly improved. The south-western aspect of the cathedral has been so frequently engraved, that it has been here omitted, in favour of other more * The specimens of the ancient pavement tiles the examples found at the cathedral occurs a discovered at St. Canice's Cathedral have been mass of tiles united by a partial fusion of the deposited in the Museum of the Kilkenny and clay, which must have occurred in the process South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society, of burning, thus serving to show that the tiles where they are illustrated by many similar spe- were manufactured on the spot; as it is most cimens found in the ancient abbeys of the sur- unlikely that such imperfect specimens would rounding district. It is observable that amongst have been imported chap, in.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 79 necessary illustrations. From this point of view the principal feature is the western gable, which, with its tall triple lancet window and richly sculptured doorway, its buttresses, surmounted by terminal pinnacles, carrying the eye up- wards, and varying the light and shade of the whole, and its tall, cross-sur- mounted gable, presents a coup cVceil of considerable architectural merit. There is a peculiarity in the arrangement of the triplet window, of which we do not remember to have seen another example : the lancets at each side come down below the central one, and the space is occupied by an oblong, rectangular panel containing three small multifoil openings, lighting a triforium-like gallery which runs across the base of the window internally. The apex of the gable contained a large multifoil window, but it is now partially closed up, and has, besides, lost a considerable portion of its moldings. The western door is well worthy of attention, and will be fully described in a subsequent page. Originally there were crosses on the wings formed by the lean-to of each side aisle, but of these the sockets alone remain. Passing round to the southward, the porch, an unusual feature in Irish churches, attracts attention on account of its elegant entrance arch: fortunately the original pitch of the gable wall has been allowed to remain unaltered, although the roof has been lowered considerably. This gable had its cross, of which the socket only now remains. The side aisle windows, both on the north and south sides and in the western gable, are of inferior workmanship, and would appear to have been hurriedly got up: they consist each of two lancets surmounted by a small quatrefoil, all combined into one window by a hood-mold. The clerestory lights are quatrefoil in shape, and from their large size and the absence of tracery, present a rather bald appearance. The south transept is furnished with angle buttresses, and is lighted by four lofty lancets, set in pairs, two in the west wall and two in the south gable ; above the latter, in the apex of the gable from which the cross has been removed, is a multifoil window. As we pass on to the eastward, leaving the round tower to be described here- after, we come on the Lady chapel, and perceive that originally along the entire surface of its southern wall extended one unbroken window, composed of nine lancet lights combined into three groups by hood-molds. Of these the central compartment is now closed up, and the hood-mold industriously chipped away. The remaining windows are much shortened. The gable also, when in its 80 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. I. primitive state, presented a very large extent of glass, the wall being pierced with six lancets, the two central ones rising considerably above the others, and each group of two surmounted by a quatrcfoil and hood-mold. This fine win- dow has been sadly mutilated, the hood-molds having been broken away, the mullions removed from the two side couplets, and the opening closed up with masonry. The central lights are also much shortened. The chapter-house, which comes between the Lady chapel and the choir, does not present any feature of much interest. It was originally lighted by one small lancet in the south wall, now closed up, and a small triple lancet window to the east ; the latter is now much shortened. There are traces of a door in the east wall, adjoining the choir. In our external survey the choir next presents itself. It has angle buttresses, and its walls are pierced by thirteen lights, viz. : two square-headed windows at each side near the tower, a group of three tall, round-headed lancets in each side wall near the eastern end, whilst the gable is furnished with a multifoil opening near the apex of the gable (which has lost its terminal cross), and beneath it a magnificent triple lancet window. All the windows at the eastern end of the choir have been shortened, and are consequently much injured as to their proportions. The plate which fronts this page represents the south-eastern view of the cathedral, having the round tower in the fore-ground. Passing round to the north side, the north chapel and parish church present themselves. The former has been, in modern times, shedded up against the choir, but the skew-table or weathering of the old gabled roof is apparent against the transept wall, as are also the doors and passage in the wall which gave access to the valley between the roofs. The external surface of the gable of this chapel is v-eather-slated, covering up the two side lights of a triple lancet, and injuring the general effect of the whole. Were this inappropriate covering removed, and the roof restored to its original form, it would prove a very great improvement to this part of the building. The parish church was re-roofed in 1850, the original pitch being preserved. It is lighted by two lancets in the gable, and two in the north wall. Of the north transept little more need be said than that it is a counterpart of its southern fellow, w T ith the exception of a doorway which will be described chap, in.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 81 hereafter. The windows are much shortened ; those to the west unnecessarily, the northern ones, in consequence of the unsightly roof of the "colonnade'' encroaching on their lower portions. It should have been stated before, that the gables of both transepts are pierced by two circular windows ; one, a large multifoil, immediately over the two lancets, and grouping with them ; the other, much smaller, and simply quatrefoiled, in the apex of the gable. The gable of this transept has lost its terminal cross. There is nothing in the north side aisle or north side of the nave that requires remark, except that the side aisles do not appear ever to have had parapets, that the northern windows belong to the same low class of workmanship as those on the south side, and that one of the clerestory quatrefoils, that next the west end, has been recently closed up with masonry. We are glad to learn, however, that this arrangement is only temporary. The masonry of the entire building is that termed spawled rubble, with quoins and dressings of cut-stone. In the rubble work, which is very good of its class, the limestone of the district is almost entirely used : the dressings are chiefly of sandstone. The battlements seem to preserve their original form ; the corbel table is plain, except in a very few instances, where carvings of roses, &c, are introduced. The battlement of the tower is not corbelled out from the wall, — the molded string which, no doubt, formerly indicated the commencement of the bell-story, taking the place of the usual corbel table ; the stair turret also ends abruptly, thus proving that the present battlement is merely a make-shift, having been erected (though, no doubt, at an early date) on the stump of the fallen tower. Having thus briefly surveyed the external features of the cathedral, let us now proceed to examine in detail the characteristics of the interior. Entering by the west door, the view of the interior is very striking. The massive, yet not ungraceful, columns, and richly molded arches which connect Nave and the nave w ^ n tne s ^ e aisles, the shafted piers of the belfry leading side aides, e y e U p t0 tne e i e g an t fan-tracery of its vaulting, and the choir stretching away beyond all, form a picture not easily surpassed. "When first the dead wall, which had for so many years closed the choir arch, was removed, and ere the opening was again, in a great degree, blocked up by the erection of the present unsightly organ-case, the eye, ranging along the entire extent M 82 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. I. of the building, could appreciate the effect produced by the strong light admitted through the lofty and numerous lancets at the eastern end, as con- trasted with the deeper shade of the tower vaulting in the middle distance : and one was in some degree enabled to imagine the beauty of the whole when a richly carved roof spanned the nave and choir ; when shaft, and arch-mold, and capital were rich with colour, and De Ledrede's painted windows — " Innumerable of stains and splendid dyes, As are the tiger-moth's deep-damask'd wings," — lent their glorious tints to perfect the picture. A view of the nave, as seen through the west doorway, will be given hereafter. The plat% on the opposite page shows the sectional arrangement of the nave and aisles. The arches are richly molded, each consisting of two orders, and have, on each face, hood-molds terminating in corbel-heads and bosses of foliage a short distance above the caps of the pillars. The accompanying diagrams afford sections, at one inch to a foot, of the arch-molds, two 1 ; . . I . . I . . I . . I No. 11. varieties, each representing half the thickness of the wall (figs. 1 and 2). To the same scale are drawn sections of the cap-mold (fig. 3), and of three chap, in.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. S3 varieties of the base-mold of the pillars (figs. 4, 5. and 6). We also subjoin an elevation of one of the pillars of the nave, drawn to a scale of five-eighths No. 12. of an inch to a foot, showing the base and capital, and a corbel-head termi- nation of the hood-mold, as above described. The plan of these pillars may be represented by a square of eighteen inches, having semicircles described on all its sides, thus presenting the appearance of a cluster of four cylindrical shafts, half of each being engaged in the substance of the column. Each column measures 9 feet 6^ inches in height, or thereabouts, including the base and capital. At the western end of each of the rows of arches, the half pillars, or responds, are similar in design to those we have described ; but in the eastern responds the molded soffit-ribs of the arches are carried by m 2 84 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL [sect. I. single engaged filleted shafts of much smaller dimensions. The abacus of the capitals of each of these shafts is continued along the face of the belfry pier, and forms also the upper member of the capitals of the two slender angle-shafts, thus connecting them with the central one. This arrangement is represented in the view of the parish church, given in a subsequent page, where one bay of the nave arcade forms the foreground. The annexed woodcut shows the base, capitals, MAM.0N No. 13. and a portion of the shafts (which are filleted) of the north-eastern respond. The capitals of the angle-shafts are sculptured with the foliage of the period 3 ; " " The foliage [of the Early English period] of the leaves ; there is frequently considerable is very remarkable for boldness of effect, and stiffness in the mode in which it is combined, it is often so much undercut as to be connected but the effect is almost always good: the pre- with the mouldings only by the stalks and edges vailing leaf is the trefoil." — Glossary of the T erms CHAP. III.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 85 the stems of the leaves being represented as running up the neck of the capital, and the foliage clustering on the bell a , as shown in the accompanying drawing No. 14. made from the south-eastern respond (fig. 1). Generally the foliage curves outwards ; but frequently, as in this last example, it is upright and recurved. The bosses which corbel off the terminations of the hood-molds are peculiarly elegant in design, and of ex- cellent workmanship. We give examples from the north and south arcades (see cut, figs. 2 and 3), and here en- grave another from the south arcade, representing the head of an ecclesiastic peeping out from amidst foliage, the stalks of which he holds in his hands. The arches by which the side aisles open into the transept are, com- paratively speaking, plain, the edges of the soffits and piers being simply chamfered ; and the soffit ribs, semi- octagon in section, are carried by engaged filleted shafts on one side (that abutting on the belfry piers), whilst on the other side they are corbelled off about three feet used in Gothic Architecture, sub voce, " Early English." The central rib of each leaf is gene- rally carried in an elevated ridge towards the apex, where it sometimes swells out into a knob- like excrescence. a Gothic capitals consist of three parts : the No. 15. abacus, the bell, and the neck; which in the Early English style are, in general, each a third part of the entire capital : this proportion is fol- lowed almost invariably in the capitals of the Cathedral of St. Canice.— See Paley's Manual of Gothic Moldings, p. 69. 86 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. i. below the neck-mold of the capital. The nave has a fine group of three lancets, separated by massive piers, in the west gable: originally a multifoil of some size pierced the apex of the gable, but it is now closed. The lancets are neither splayed nor hollow in the head, the arrises of their jambs being merely cham- fered continuously. There are five large quatrefoil windows in the clerestory at each side, which have upright, unsplayed sides, and segmental escoinson ribs internally ; they are hollow in the head, and the sills are very much splayed to allow the light to fall freely into the nave. The side aisle windows afford an early example of plate tracery, but seem from the inferiority of their execution to have been the work of other hands than those employed on the remainder of the church. They consist each of two small lancets enclosed beneath a trefoiled arch internally, the tympanum above the lancets being pierced by a small quatrefoil. An example is engraved in the view which illustrates the section descriptive of the parish church. The windows which light the western ends of the side aisles resemble those just described, except that they are not splayed nor trefoiled in the head internally. In the buttress which is attached to the south-west angle of the southern side aisle a spiral stair is formed ; thence, by a passage in the wall, and across the end window of that side aisle, there is access to another spiral stair formed in one of the buttresses which run up the external face of the west gable, and so to the battlements of the roof. It would almost seem that a clerestory gallery, or priest's walk 3 , entered into the original plan of the cathedral, as the passage, already alluded to, is carried across the base of the great west window, the piers which separate the lancets being pierced for that purpose. Connected with this passage are the three small singular circular opes, already described, which occupy, exter- nally, the space by which the central lancet is shorter than its side companions : opposite to these, internally, there is what may be called a small unglazed window, with plate tracery in its head; its form, which will be found indicated on the section given at p. 82, supra, is that of a double trefoiled opening, * Churches of large size are generally fur- and below the clerestory; but such a feature nished with a triforium or arcade, with a pas- did not, it is evident, enter into the plan of this sage behind it; the latter often continued in the cathedral. When the plan did not admit of thickness of the wall round the entire building. this arrangement, the gallery was often carried The triforium was placed over the pier arches along the clerestory windows. CHAP. III.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 87 surmounted by a quatrefoil, all comprised beneath a hood-mold ; the trefoiled sub-arches are carried by detached shafts at the jambs, and a corresponding shaft in the centre. Perhaps the walls, which are not buttressed, and have to bear the thrust of a wide roof, were found to be too thin to allow of the passage being carried along the clerestories. The arches, which support the belfry and connect the nave, transepts, and choir, are of good design, and the proportions of each may be represented Belfry arches by an a ^ most right-angled spherical triangle placed on a square of and vaulting, t W enty-five feet. The piers are massive, and yet not too heavy. The accompanying diagram shows the plan of the north-western pier a ; and the corre- sponding or south-western pier is similarly arranged, except that the angles of the eastern face are cut away, giving that face a semi-octagonal instead of a rectangular cha- racter. What has been said as to the eastern and western responds of the nave arcades applies equally to the northern and southern faces of the western or nave arch of the belfry. There are engaged filleted shafts at the angles (of one of which a plan is given on an enlarged scale within the plan of the pier here engraved). An engaged and filleted shaft also runs up the centre of each pier, and carries the soffit-rib, which is semi- octagonal in section ; the soffit is ornamented at its angles by bold groups of roll-moldings deeply undercut, and the western face is furnished with a hood-mold b . An elevation of the north-western pier is given in the view which illustrates the parish church. The northern and southern, or transept, arches are devoid of angle-shafts, and from the piers of the southern arch the arris has been re- moved, and a chamfer 1 foot 9 inches wide left. The diagram on the next page, No. 1G. " This plan was accidentally reversed in draw- ing it on the block for the engraver. b When the whitewash was removing from the belfry arches in 1 85 1 , it was found that the cement (used originally in setting the stone- work, and which had been allowed to remain protruding from the joints) consisted of finely powdered yellow sandstone mixed with lime. 88 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. I. drawn to a scale of three-eighths of an inch to a foot, affords a section (at a b) of the south arch-mold; the engraving also comprises half-elevations of the i i i i i i 12 3 4 No. 17. capitals at each side, and shows how the moldings of the soffit die into the plain chamfer of the pier. Engaged and filleted shafts convey the soffit-rib, which is circular where it rests on the capitals, but then passes into the semi- chap, in.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 89 octagonal section, as represented in the illustration. The lower portions of the bases of these shafts are semi-octagonal, above which are circular moldings. The eastern, or choir, arch is similar to the two last described; its piers are also of the same character, or nearly so, the only difference being the presence of engaged filleted shafts which run up at the intersection of the choir and transept piers, and seem to have been in some way connected with the original Early English vaulting which fell with the tower : at present they are unmean- ing appendages, but they, no doubt, had their use when originally designed. The vaulting of the belfry is divided into four pendentives 3 by longitudinal and transverse ridge ribs, the vaulting ribs having all the same curve: in other words, each pendentive resembles a fourth part of an inverted curvilinear conoid covered with ribs spreading over it like a fan. The area of the belfry vault is about 25 feet square ; and each quarter or pendentive comprises nine ribs, besides two half-ribs adjoining the walls, which diverge from the point of the pendentive, and stretch upwards to the ridge ribs, being equidistant from each other on a semicircle, the radius of which is half the side of the square of vault- ing. The central ribs of each pendentive are diagonals, and the two adjoining ones, on each side of it, are produced till they meet the corresponding ribs of the adjoining pendentives, and so form a network of intersections around the apex of the vault. This arrangement is shown on the plan (see p. 65, supra), and in the accompanying view taken from the north transept. The ridge and vaulting ribs are of the same size, measuring 7| inches by 5^ inches, chamfered on each angle to the width of 3 inches. The spaces between the ribs are filled with rubble vaulting. There are five perforations at the points where the trans- verse ridge and vaulting ribs intersect with the ridge rib which runs east and west. Through these it is supposed that the bell ropes originally passed. Similar openings occur in the abbeys of Holycross, Kilcooly, Dunbrody, and Jerpoint; and at Bristol and Exeter cathedrals the ropes, used to chime the bells, may still be seen depending through similar perforations. The vaulting of the tower of St. Canice rises 44 feet above the flooring of the church, and bears a resemblance, in its constructive features, to that chef d oeuvre of Perpendicular work, the roof of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, supposing the latter to be a This term is used to designate that portion longitudinal and transverse ridge ribs, and the of a Gothic vault which is bounded by the side walls of the building. N 90 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. I. stripped of its beautiful tracery and ornamentation. The principle is the same : but Bishop Racket's taste was too pure to allow him to introduce profuse and gorgeous carvings in a building otherwise remarkably plain in its features: and the belfry vault of St. Canice does not detract from the fame of him who designed a vault of so daring a span at Batalha, that the centres were ordered to be struck by condemned malefactors 3 . Passing eastward, we enter the choir by the ancient door of the rood-screen. The latter is a plain wall, pierced in the centre by a pointed arch doorway of simple Early English form. The material of the jambs and voussoirs The choir. (or arch stones) is a soft yellow sandstone, and it has met with much ill treatment. The corbels which supported the timbers of the rood-loft remained till removed in December, 1853, when the new organ was in course of erection. They were plain, four in number, and 10 feet 6 inches above the present flooring. Above the corbels occurred a door, 3 feet wide, flat-headed, and chamfered, and at each side two small flat-headed loops or windows splayed towards the nave. The old work ranged about a foot above the door and windows alluded to, measuring in all about 16 feet from the floor. The masonry which filled up the choir arch above this was modern loose rubble- work. It is a question whether the rood-loft b stood in front of these openings or above them ; we are inclined to the latter supposition : most probably the cor- Giossary of bels served to give support to the struts used to sustain its flooring, the under in verbo*"™' side of which was generally formed into a large coved cornice, ornamented with small ribs and other decorations, connected with the screen below. On * The vault of the chapter-house at Batalha striking the centres : therefore he ordered, from was 85 Portuguese palms square (the Portu- the different prisons of the kingdom, such men, guese palm measures 8-niu inches), and con- as were sentenced to capital punishments, in structed of "hewn stone." " It is recorded, that order that, if the like disaster happened a third in constructing the vault, it fell twice in striking time, none should suffer, but those, who had al- the centres, with great injury to the workmen, ready forfeited their lives to the offended laws of But the King, desirous, at all events, to have a their country." — Murphy's Batalha, pp. 45, 46. room without the defect of a central support, b This was a gallery built to support the promised to reward the Architect, if he could " Rood," or group of the Crucifixion accompa- accomplish it. At this, he was animated in such nied by figures of St. John and the Blessed a manner that he began it again, as if confident Virgin, one at each side. It always stood above of success. The King, however, would not ha- the screen which separated the nave from the zard any more the lives of his workmen in choir. — Glossary of Architecture, in verbo. chap, in.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 93 entering the choir, the feeling which predominates in the well-instructed mind is regret that so much good workmanship and fine old oak timber should be thrown away on the fittings erected by Bishop Pococke. That a man just returned from foreign travel, at the period when he lived, should prefer the Grecian architecture, of the Ionic style, to the Gothic, is, however, nothing won- derful, and, perhaps, we should be grateful that his active and liberal disposi- tion did not lead that prelate to remodel the entire building in the former style. The choir is of good proportions, and the fine assemblage of windows at its eastern end defies the tendency of hideous " compass-ceiling," and incongruous pews and gallery to destroy its effect. The eastern triplet is widely splayed, thus reducing internally the massive piers to a narrow face, up which ran graceful detached shafts, which were secured at intervals by molded bands, and carried the escoinson" ribs of the interior or rear vault, thus connecting the entire triplet into one magnificent window. The centre lancet rises to a considerable height above the side ones ; the heads are hollow ; and the escoinson ribs form pointed trefoils: they are richly molded, having trails of the undercut tooth ornament running along one of the deepest of the hollows. The capitals, enriched with foliage, and the nail-head ornament, still remain, but the detached escoinson shafts are wanting, and, what is more deplorable, the three engaged bands, which secured the shafts in their places, and divided them into four tiers, have been completely broken away b . The triple lancet lights, with which the north and south walls are pierced at its eastern end, are similar to the eastern group in decoration and plan: they are, however, round-headed, both as regards the external arch, and trefoiled internal escoinson rib ; the capitals of their escoinson shafts are, if anything, of more elegant workmanship than those of the eastern window. The shafts and bands are wanting here also, the latter, of which there were two sets dividing the shafts into three tiers, having been broken away. The repeated coatings of whitewash to which the carved work " Escoinson, in the old French, means the in- Fortunately, the arrangement may yet be reco- terior edge of the window-jamb and arch, where vered from the windows of the Lady chapel, where the wall is of considerable thickness Glossary the molded bands and a portion of one of the of Architecture, in verbo. shafts still remain. Amongst the details of the b It is much to be wished that these shafts door of the north transept will be found the plan and bands should be, in every instance, restored, and elevation of a very effective molded band. N 2 92 THE ARCHITECTURE: OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. i. of these windows has been subject has rendered it impossible to make drawings of the details just described. Near the western end are four short lights, two in each wall, close together, which, though retaining in other respects the charac- teristics of the Early English lancet, are flat-headed externally, the lintel being carved into a sort of inverted ogee ; these lights have rear vaults and chamfered segmental escoinson ribs, and are widely splayed, especially in the sill, to allow the light to fall freely into the choir ; they are set high up in the wall, in order to be free from the side chapel roofs. According to the map given by Harris, the choir was approached by doors from the chapter-room and north chapel, but these are now closed up. It seems probable that the latter was originally intended as an aisle to the choir, and if at any future time the exami- nation is made, it is most likely that the row of arches which connected them Avill be found blocked up in the wall. The present fittings of the choir are in perfect keeping with the huge black marble monument erected near the altar by Lord Mountgarret, the General of the Confederate Catholics, during his own lifetime. It stands within the communion rails against the south wall, and, no doubt, occupies the site of the ancient sedilia and piscina, which, it is much to be feared, have been destroyed. The south transept is lighted by four lancets, and two foiled windows in the apex of the gable. The lancets are set in couplets in the west wall and south gable, and resemble the windows of the choir in plan and ornamen- Tr . ard Cc. chap, nr.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 103 molding has been removed. The external arch measures 7 feet 1^ inches to the spring, and is 8 feet 4 inches wide. It was not adapted for the recep- tion of a door. The internal entrance is 6 feet 8 inches wide, and of much plainer design, the arch-mold being carried by a single nook-shaft at each side, the capitals of which are sculptured with foliage; the arrises of the jambs, both externally and internally, are ornamented by double roll-moldings, with deep hollows between. The hood-mold is supported by corbelled heads. Internally the jambs are carried up much higher than on the outside, and surmounted by a drop-arch of the segmental character. The material used in the decoration of the porch is exclusively limestone. The north door of the nave, which, as shown in the illustration facing p. 102, is exactly opposite the porch entrance, does not need a detailed notice, as it is almost a fac-simile of the internal porch door; we will, therefore, pass on to the entrance door of the north transept, which, although not by any means the most beautiful, is, perhaps, the most in- teresting feature of its kind in the church. It is constructed altogether of soft yellow sandstone, and has, in consequence, suf- fered very much from time and ill usage. The drawing, which is here engraved, re- presents a careful restoration of this door- way, made with scrupulous fidelity, and to an accurate scale. Of its present con- dition it will be sufficient to observe, that the nook-shafts are removed, their bases and capitals much defaced, and that all the floral ornaments, save one, are gone from the deep hollow in the arch-mold. It was found impossible to give a clear representation of the corbels which carry the hood-mold, but their remains prove them to have been human heads, carved with flowing hair, and beardless. The feature of a round arch beneath a 104 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. I. pointed one, which this door presents, is one of its chief peculiarities ; but this does not prove it to be of earlier date than the remainder of the structure, as the ornaments of this very round arch are strictly Early English in their character, consisting of an at- tached and filleted roll of large size, banded at short intervals, and car- ried round the jambs and arch con- tinuously. The details, here re- presented, are worthy of attention. Fig. 1 shows a section and plan of the jamb; fig. 2 gives an eleva- tion of the same ; fig. 3, an eleva- tion of the filleted roll, and one of its bands ; fig. 4, a section and plan of the same — all drawn to a scale of one inch to a foot. Fig. 5 re- presents a section of the arch and hood-mold ; and fig. 6, a section of the mold of the small shallow qua- trefoil panel with which the tympa- num is ornamented : both of these sections are to a scale of half an inch to a foot. The annexed engraving is from a drawing of the floral enrich - ment of the arch-mold; it was quite undercut, as the section, fig. 5, already given, shows. This example is from the apex of the arch, all the others have been broken away, but their places of attachment may be traced still. As in the case of the other doorways, the internal arch does not conform to the external, the former being flat and segmental ; its arrises are simply chamfered. Having thus brought the architectural description of the cathedral to a close, a few observations on the present state of the fabric, and the feasibility of a thorough restoration, may be allowed, ere we proceed to a survey of the round No. 24. No. 25. chap, in.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 105 Tower, — that witness of an antiquity, which, at the least, more than doubles the six centuries whose winter storms and summer suns leave their stamp of age on the neighbouring church. It has already been observed, that the cathedral church of Ossory, however we may deplore the disfigurement of some of its architectural features, has state of suffered little positive loss by the action of time, or the far more the &bnc. destructive hand of man. Its sculptured decorations are, except in a few instances, in excellent preservation, and simply require the removal of the obstructions by which they are in some instances concealed from view, and a careful cleansing to free them from the accumulated coats of whitewash with which many of them are still clogged and disguised 3 . Its walls seem but to have become more compact and firm by the lapse of centuries b , and the plumb- line shows them to be as upright as when first erected. "With ordinary care of the water-tables and roofs, the structure bids fair for a duration as protracted as that which has elapsed since its foundation. That the Dean and Chapter will feel it to be their first duty to keep " stiff and staunch" the venerable building , to the care of which they have succeeded, we do not doubt ; and therefore beg leave to recall to their notice the judicious remarks which con- a Old whitewash is best removed by scrub- and the recasting of the peal of bells, at a time bing with sand and water — the latter being pre- when the Chapter were in possession of a com- viously acidulated with about - 04 of its weight petent opinion on the dangerous condition of the of commercial hydrochloric acid. The commonest roof of the nave, does not say much for the fore- variety of the acid, to be had for Id. or l^d. per sight of that body. If. as we are credibly informed, pound, should be used for the purpose, — Hie it is the opinion of professional men, that the roof Builder, vol. xiv. p. 278. The use of the chisel of the great central aisle of the nave is in such a should, by all means, be avoided. precarious state that its fall may occur at any b It is now generally acknowledged that the moment ; and if, as we believe to be the case, the compactness of ancient mortar is due (in every fine organ is already so much injured by damp, case, of course, allowing for the employment of as to render it impossible to use its larger pipes, pure sand and good lime in the requisite propor- the glue having in many cases given way, and tions) to the action of time, which transmutes this in consequence of the damp with which it again to stone, restoring to the lime the cha- the walls are saturated, and the defective state racter it possessed ere it was calcined. of the roof, — it would surely have been more c The gutters, downpipes, and water-tables judicious to have rendered the fabric staunch are at present in a most defective condition, throughout, before these very desirable, but This, coupled with the recent expenditure of not strictly necessary, appendages were pro- nearly £1000 on the purchase of a new organ, vided. 106 THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. [sect. I. elude a report on the condition of the fabric, laid before that body in the year 1813, by the late William Robertson, architect. They are as follows : — " Whatever repairs arc attempted to be made, let them be done permanently, and in such a manner as not to require to be done again: the contrary practice, namely, the employment of temporary expedients, the use of old and bad materials, and patching, &c, will be found to deserve the name of extravagance and waste. A small revenue, thus applied incessantly, and with regularity, will in a few years rid the Chapter of the heavy expense now incurred by hasty and bad repairs injudiciously applied, and restore to Kil- kenny a building well deserving of being handed down to posterity as a model of chasteness of style and simplicity of design, in both of which it certainly is not surpassed, if it is equalled, by any building that Ireland possesses." To this we would add, that were the Dean and Chapter to procure from a competent architect a set of judicious plans, with the necessary working drawings and specifications, for the remodelling of the choir, and thorough re- storation 3 of the entire building, including new open roofs and the raising of the tower, it would be but the work of time to make the cathedral as beautiful as when it came fresh from the hands of its original builders. It may be objected that the funds at the disposal of the Chapter are small, and that the cost thus incurred would be a useless expenditure. The reply to this is, that £50, £60, or even £100, thus laid out, would in the end prove conducive to the econo- mical administration of the Chapter funds. That body would no longer be at the mercy of every petty builder or tradesman employed by them ; they could see clearly what they were about ; and when funds were available for any neces- sary change or repair, they could proceed so far in the right direction, and that without the uncomfortable reflection, which ill-advised outlay ever brings * When we use the word "restoration," it may be well to guard against the idea that we would wish every injured portion of the carved stonework to be taken out and replaced, even in fac-simile. Let the old work stand as a re- cord of the skill and taste of the olden builders. It matters little though it be more or less de- faced; if any of it remain, and that the stability of the fabric do not require its renewal, we would have no modern hand meddle with it. It gives us pleasure to be enabled to record the judicious restoration of the north-western clere- story window to the nave, to the temporary blocking-up of which we have already alluded. Its renovation, effected whilst these sheets were passing through the press, is due to the exer- tions of the Rev. Luke Fowler, prebendary of Aghour, who procured, by subscription amongst his friends, and the members of the Chapter, the sum necessary for that purpose. CHAP. III.] THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL. 107 with it, that all must be done over again, if ever a thorough restoration of the fabric be attempted. With regard to the best plan for the remodelling of the choir, it appears evident, that the formation of arches in its north and south walls, so as to make the ancient chapter-house and north chapel serve as aisles, would permit the present unsightly galleries to be dispensed with, and answer all the purposes required. It has already been suggested that the north chapel is in reality an aisle to the choir, and that the necessary arches exist in the wall, although now blocked up. That this arrangement would interfere much less with the effects of the interior, and be more convenient than the removal of the organ screen to the western arch of the tower, thus including the two transepts in the space required for public worship, cannot, we think, be reasonably disputed. *\Ve will now close this digression by pointing out the advantages which attend the use of plain green glass in church windows, where stained glass cannot be obtained. It is as cheap as the common white glass, much stronger, and its effect is very good, sobering down the light, and harmonizing admi- rably with the gray tint of our Kilkenny limestone. The windows of the cathe- dral will presently require to be newly glazed, and whether the lattice-work is constructed of lead or cast-iron, — and we trust the former will be chosen, — this description of glass will be found the most desirable material to form the quarries. — J. G. p 2 108 THE ROUND TOWER. [sect. r. CHAPTER IV. THE ROUND TOWER. XT is beyond the scope of this work to enter at large on the much-vexed J- question of the age and purpose of those singular pillar towers to be found in close proximity to so many of the ancient churches of Ireland, and of which a fine example stands 6 feet 6 inches from the eastern gable buttress of the southern transept of the cathedral of St. Canice 3 . Suffice it to say, that, although we do not hold the subject to have been completely cleared of the doubt and mystery with which it has been so long shrouded, yet we avow our- selves to have been convinced by the able and learned author of the Inqniry into the Origin and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, that these structures are of a date posterior to the introduction of Christianity into this island, and that they are, what Giraldus Cambrensis termed them more than six centu- ries ago, " turres ecclesiastics. " Dr. Petrie, in the work already cited, holds that they served for the three-fold purpose of — 1. Belfries; 2. Places of refuge and defence for the clergy of the neighbouring church or churches, as also for the safe custody of the books, treasures, and relics of the church ; and 3. Oc- casionally as watch-towers. The Round Tower of St. Canice is 100 feet in height ; its circumference at the base, and above the plinth, is 46 feet 6 inches ; the diameter to external surface of walls is, at the base 15 feet 6 inches, at the windows of the top * See plan at p. 65, svpra. The position of the bearings of which were communicated to the towers, in relation to their coeval churches, us by Mr. Henry O'Neill, two are south of the was generally to the west, north-west, or south- church; two, south-south-west; one, south-west; west, to be near the door of the church in the one, west-south-west; three, west; one west- west gable. The traces of the old church of St. north-west; three, north-west; and one, north- Canice (see plan) show that here the tower stood north-west; one stands south-east, and one, near the south-west angle. Of sixteen towers, north-east. w o u H GC Pn O P3 W o H n P o w K H o GO ft o h- I ft 9 w I — H-i H O P5 < P « EH •■psjjo OAoqB His jo iqffpH 00 CO ^< r- HI m rH 9 rH rH o o 1 a 1 s Ft. In. • • Me 1 He* H^ 1 He' He* ""(w Cfi W CO W M Width above. Ft. In. He* -ht -r-r He t O TP -t ^1 Extern PI Ft. In. • to iO c 1 i a 5 Height. Ft. In. • CO CN CO CM He* -te* He* He* He* He* CO CO CO CO CO w 1 (3 8 s ■■3 Width 1 above. Ft In. O rH O H O He 4 He* He* He* U TJ« CO Tj* TJ* O Interna Width below. Ft. In. • •** CM rH O * nH -c*iHc«Hc« iO to iO "Q O O < ea o cffcT&T •Xajojs iptoiu joqmnx rH CO 'ipjnjo u.wojj 0} joopjojqlhoii Ft. In. CO • • Door. ■q3.m jo Snuds .loop jo qjpi.tt Ft In. •[II s 11 Joopjo q 1P i A v Ft. In. e» . • • • 1IBAV JO sssmpiuj. Hot = £ CO c*t CO O CO O CO CO O CN t» Hn CO ts. eo CO O •jssjjojomplAV £ "* ■>* "* ■* 1 - I ■Xdjojs hobo jo ?i[3ph Ft In. 11 4 CO .-H eo 03 CO rH 00 rH CO rH CO CO rH CO A A Observations on the Internal arrangement of each storey. The height of this storey is measured -s from the pavement, uncovered in the | course of the examination of the base , of the Tower in 1S47, to the first offset. J The stones are not dressed to the exact -. curve internally. The walls swell out at fi or 7 feet above the first offset, and thus the next ofTset is formed. This arrangement is repeated in each storey. The door sill is !> feet 2 inches above the external base course of the Tower, and bears S. by E. The stones not dressed to con-ect curve. i There is one row of pntlock boles in- ternally. The window bears N. by W. , Hotter finished than No. 3. Two rows | of put lock holes. The window bears E. by N. J Internal finish same as No. 4. Two rows 1 of putlock holes, and six projecting 1 stones or corbels, irregularly placed, j The window bears S. by E. J Internal finish good. One row of put- ~| lock lioles, and four projecting stones irregularly placed. The window bears 1 W. by N. J This storey has no window. Two rows of 1 putlock holes, and six projecting stones irregularly placed, some of which project so much as to render the Boor inconvenient for occupation. - Tlie internal masonry good. Tlie six h windows are equidistant, A and 1) bearing E. by S. and W. by N. Tlie south jamb of A has been broken away to admit of access to the roof. J •Xajojs 1 - 1 » 1 ^ 1 "* 1 * 1 « CHAP. IV.] THE ROUND TOWER. 109 storey, 11 feet 2 inches; it therefore batters or diminishes towards the summit, externally, 2 feet 2 inches. It is divided into eight storeys by internal set-offs. In the first storey no aperture was formed ; the second contains the doorway ; the third, a large window nearly over the door a ; the fourth, fifth, and sixth storeys are each furnished with one small window; the seventh is quite dark; but the eighth is a complete lantern, being pierced by six large openings. Annexed is a tabular view of the dimensions of all the parts from actual admeasurement. The mode here adopted is suggested, with much diffidence however, as a method whereby the dimensions of the Round Towers, gene- rally, may be registered. The presence of floors, and means of communication between them, enabled the writer to make the Table tolerably complete b . Had we the dimensions and peculiarities of all the Round Towers of Ireland similarly tabulated, it might go far to settle some of the questions concerning them. The external elevation of the Round Tower of St. Canice will be found in the general view of the cathedral from the south-east, already given at p. 80, supra. When the accumulated earth was removed from the external base of the Round Tower in 1846, a plinth or projecting base-course about six inches wide was exposed. It was at first supposed, from the apparent necessity of a secure foundation, that this plinth, with perhaps another lower set-off, would be found resting on the compact limestone gravel of the ridge which is crowned by the cathedral and Round Tower: however, on examination, it plainly appeared to all present, amongst whom was the writer, that the plinth already discovered constituted the sole foundation of the superincumbent masonry, and that this plinth, which was not more than about two feet in depth, rested, not on ■ This aperture is considerably larger than any of the other windows, except those in the top storey. Dr. Petrie has observed the almost universal occurrence of a large window, or, as he terms it, second door, immediately over the doorway proper, and supposes the object to have been defensive. — Inquiry into the Origin and Uses of the Round Towers, &c.,4to, pp. 397-8,408, 411. b These floors, with their connecting stairs, were erected on the original set-offs of the Tower in the autumn of 1847, chiefly by the private liberality of the Dean of Ossory, the Very Rev. Charles Vignoles, D. D., at a cost of £20. The joists are of substantial oak, and the floors and stairs of pine. A friend suggests the expediency of the formation of a " Flooring Society," in order to render all the Towers similarly easy of access for the purpose of measurement. Until this is done, reasoning as to their uses will, in the ab- sence of correct data, be mostly hypothetical. no THE ROUND TOWER. [sect. I. the gravel, but on a black and yielding mould, from which protruded human bones in an east and west direction, — a fact in the architectural history of the tower afterwards fully confirmed by a careful examination of its internal base, to be described hereafter. The plinth is composed of moderate-sized stones, not over carefully put together. Above the plinth, the masonry is ashlar work, irregularly coursed and carefully spawled, the stones, of moderate size, being accurately dressed to the curve and batter, and the joints well broken 3 ; the inclination or batter of the walls forming a right line. The material used is principally the mountain limestone of the district, intermixed for about twenty feet above the ground with the dolomite, or dove-coloured cavernous magnesian limestone, found at Archer's Grove, and other places, a short distance north and west of the city of Kilkenny. A few stones, from the grits either of the coal measures, or the old red sandstone, are also to be seen, especially about the doorway b . The mortar is extremely compact, and was abundantly used in the construction of the tower. The doorway, as shown in the accom- ■ u In their masonic construction," remarks Dr. Petrie, when speaking of the masonry of the Round Towers, " they present a considerable variety: but the generality of them are built in that kind of careful masonry called spawled rub- ble, in which small stones, shaped by the ham- mer, in default of suitable stones at hand, are placed in every interstice of the larger stones, so that very little mortar appears to be intermixed in the body of the wall ; and thus the outside of spawled masonry, especially, presents an al- most uninterrupted surface of stone, supple- mentary splinters being carefully inserted in the joints of the undried wall. Such, also, is the style of masonry of the most ancient churches; but it should be added that, in the interior of the walls of both, grouting is abundantly used. In some instances, however, the towers present a surface of ashlar masonry, — but rarely laid in courses perfectly regular, — both externally and internally, though more usually on the exterior only ; and, in a few instances, the lower portions of the towers exhibit less of regularity than the upper parts." — Inquiry into the Origin and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, p. 356. h The predilection for granite or sandstone evinced by the ecclesiastics who carved the anci- ent crosses, and built the primitive churches and Round Towers of Ireland, is curious, and has not been hitherto satisfactorily explained. The dis- tance to which granite or sandstone crosses of enormous size and weight were carried by them, when the material could not be procured on the spot, is proved by the frequently occurring le- gend of miraculous agency applied to their trans- port. At Kilkenny, in the centre of a limestone district, we find these builders trying the gray dolomite, because it looked like sandstone, — al- though it forms, in consequence of its cavernous nature, an indifferent building stone, — and trans- porting large blocks of sandstone from a distance of eight or nine miles. The superior quality of the limestone, however, soon recommended itself to the favour of the builders of the Round Tower of St. Canice, and we find, as above observed, the great mass of the structure composed of it. CHAP. IV.] THE ROUND TOWER. Ill panying engraving, is devoid of ornament; it has inclined jambs, and a semi- circular head, composed of three stones, which run through the wall, but are not put together on the true principle of the arch, the door-head being rather cut out of, than formed of, them: their two upper joints are not straight lines, being slightly dished, or curved, to receive the quasi key-stone. The annexed Xo. 26. representation, drawn on the block by the writer with the most scrupulous care, and faithfully engraved by Mr. Hanlon, of Dublin, shows the external appear- ance of the doorway, taken before the joints of the lower part of the tower were pointed with mortar, some years since : the scale is an inch to half a foot. The two stones which form the sill a are of the mountain limestone, the jambs ■ A third stone was added internally -when the tower was furnished with floors in 1847 Q 112 THE ROUND TOWER. [sect. r. are composed of dolomite, and the stones of the head are of grit. The jointing and dressing of the jambs, but especially of the head, are very carefully executed, in fine punched work. Just below the spring of the arch on the east side, two of three stones forming a course are slightly higher than the third, and the superincumbent arch stone is accurately "joggled" to suit the inequality. The external surface of the stones forming the doorway is much weathered: internally, instead of following the curve of the tower, the wall is worked to a fiat, so that a door larger than the opening would lie against it, and the upper stone of the head has an oblong stop, projecting internally to prevent the door being prized up. Before the recent alterations there was a massive hanging-iron for a door embedded in the upper stone of the western jamb internally, and indications of a corresponding appliance for a second hinge below. These irons seemed to be contemporary with the doorway itself. The windows of the tower are all flat-headed, with inclined sides; they are of finely punched stone, and well worked. Internally the presence of floors and connecting stairs enables us to make a closer examination of the peculiarities of the tower than is possible in most other structures of a similar kind. Ascending from floor to floor, one cannot fail of being struck by a remarkable feature, namely, that the windows are placed so low (on an average about one foot above the floor, see Table facing p. 109, supra) as to render each storey totally inappropriate, either for lengthened residence or for the convenient storage of goods, except on shelves or pegs. Even for defensive purposes, the opes (if large enough, which they are not) are placed inconveniently low. Indeed, the unsuitableness of the structure for any save a passive resistance, is apparent to the most casual observer ; and, to add to the inappropriateness of the storeys for living in, the ends of thorough stones, left projecting here and there, are very much in the way, giving the visitor an unpleasant intimation of their position by frequent contact with the head. All through, the inner surface of the walls is less carefully built than the out- side ; the stones are rudely hammered, and rarely to the proper curve. It must also be looked on as a strong presumptive proof that these buildings were, like our tall factory chimneys, constructed " over-hand," or from the inside, without external scaffolding, when we find, as we do in the tower at present under consideration, rows of putlock holes in the internal face of the wall, CHAP. IV.] THE ROUND TOWER. 113 whilst there are none outside. There are tiers of these holes, generally one, but sometimes two, in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh storeys; the first and second could be reached by means of a slight scaffolding externally, and the cap, or conical termination (there being little doubt that the tower was originally, in common with others, thus finished at top), built from a platform placed on beams run out from the large windows of the eighth store}* 3 . It is, indeed, extremely probable, that to this constructive necessity is owing the lantern form of the storey immediately beneath the cap in all the towers — the opes being of sufficient size to allow of the projection of scaffolding, and egress and regress to the workmen employed; whilst at the same time they partly served for the emission of sound b . The six windows of the eighth storey of the tower of St. Canice are placed without reference to the cardinal points of the compass. The dolomite is used in their dressings along with limestone, the former sparingly. The workmanship of all is good, and the joints carefully dressed. The existing roof is formed by a vault, slightly domed, having a rise of barely seven and a half inches in the centre : it is composed for the most part of dressed blocks of sandstone, some of which remain, unused, in the windows, and were, probably, constituent parts of the old conical cap. The impressions of the boards which formed the centreing are still apparent. Above the vault are laid thin flags of limestone, and there are small square * The head of the Round Tower of Antrim has the marks of the internal " drum" of wicker work round which the masons worked. That the person believed to be saved, by the mira- culous interposition of an angel, as recorded by Adamnan in his Life of St. Columba, lib. iii., cap. xv., was employed, externally, in the con- struction of the cap of a Round Tower, M cul- men magna damns "or "monasteriirotundi,'''' when he fell, is, we think, apparent. The miraculous asency does not affect the inference. See the passage quoted in full, with the author's reason- ing thereon, in Petrie's Inquiry into the Origin, &c, pp. 382-4. b A writer in the Builder, vol. xiv., p. 23, says that the notes of bells are improved by their ele- vation, 100 feet not being too high even for the smallest. That the Round Towers contained bells in the eleventh century, when hand-bells were exclusively used in Ireland, appears from the Four Masters, who state, in the year 1020, the cloictheach of Armagh, " with its bells," was burned. — Four Masters, voL ii. p. 797. That, however, they were occasionally furnished with bells of larger size than those commonly used, is apparent from the record by the same writers, sub arm. 1552, that " Clonmacnoise was plun- dered and devastated by the English of Athlone ; and the large bells were taken from the cloic- theach. There was not left, moreover, a bell, small or large which was not carried oSr—Id., vol. v.p. 1592. Q2 114 THE ROUND TOWER. [sect. I. holes in the sailing course of the parapet which surrounds the top, to allow the water to run off. The parapet is much ruined, having been loosely built of small stones ; its thickness is about 1 foot 2 inches. That the vaulted roof and its appurtenances are more modern than the remainder of the tower is, we think, evident, for — 1st, if the original design contemplated a Hat arch, with parapet, and stair to roof, all would have been provided for in the construction of the tower ; but, 2ndly, this is not the case: on the contrary, the jamb of one of the windows (that marked A in the Table of Dimensions), together with its lintel, have been broken away, and formed into a rude stair ; whilst, 3rdly, at this point, where the thickness of the vault is exposed, there is an arch constructed of regularly dressed voussoirs, the face of which is flat, and does not coincide with the curve of the wall, which must have been the case had it been in existence previous to the breach made in the latter. It would appear, that, at a period subsequent to the construction of the cap, in order the better to adapt the tower to a look-out station, the original conical termination was removed, and the present vault and parapet erected in its place. The internal base of the tower had been, beyond memory, filled with accu- mulated rubbish to within 2 feet 8 inches, or thereabouts, of the sill of the doorway. As it was most desirable that this extraneous matter should be removed, and the base examined, the Dean of Ossory commenced to excavate in the July of 1847 ; and we now place on record the mode of proceeding, and the character of the different deposits. The first stratum removed was 4 feet 6 inches thick ; it consisted chiefly of the " guano" of birds, intermixed with which were stones, some human bones, and the bones of several of the inferior animals, as of the horse, cow, calf, sheep, pig, and of various fowls. The human bones, amongst which was a skull of singularly idiotic conformation, occurred near the surface, and had evidently been thrown into the tower from time to time. The bones of the lower animals were found principally in a layer of about 18 inches thick at the lower part of the stratum. The guano was so pure that, when sifted, it sold for £5. The next stratum was about 18 inches thick, its upper portion varying from 10 to 2 inches in depth, con- sisting of calcined clay, containing fragments of burned human and other bones, and of charcoal in large masses and scattered fragments; the lower part of the stratum was made up of rich loam, mixed with some calcined clay, small frag- CHAP. IV.] THE ROUND TOWER. 115 ments of burned and unburned bones, and charcoal. Beneath this occurred a stratum of ricli black earth, 1 foot 7 inches thick, containing fragments of bones, both human and belonging to the lower animals, the former predominating ; with these were mixed spawls of the dolomite partially used in the construction of the tower; there were also found the tusks of a boar, of large size, and two pieces of pure copper much oxydized. Some of the bones were calcined, and one or two of the dolomite spawls showed the action of fire. When the last described deposit was cleared away, a wide layer of stones, resembling a pave- ment, was found extending over a considerable portion of the internal area of the tower ; it ranged with the upper surface of the internal set-off, on a level with the external base-course. About two feet in breadth of this pavement renamed at the east side, and a strip of it extended all round the wall. The dotted lines in the annexed diagram re- present the boundary of the void or un- paved portion of the area of the tower. The pavement was covered by a coat- ing of mortar about 1 inch in thickness. This pavement having been removed, the excavation was cautiously conti- nued, and on the west side, close to the foundation, the skull of an adult male was exposed, and this skull was found to form a portion of a perfect human skeleton, which had been buried in the usual Christian position, with the feet to the east ; no trace of coffin or cist of wood or stone presenting itself. Having cleared a trench about 3 feet wide, and 1 foot 9 inches deep, across the centre of the area, and collected all the bones of this skeleton, the writer proceeded to remove carefully, with his own hands, the clay towards the north, when the crumbling remains of timber, apparently oak, presented themselves, and then the ribs and vertebrse of a child were found. The upper portion of this skeleton, which lay parallel to the adult one just described, was concealed by the western foundation of the tower, and over the ilium lay the skull of another child's skeleton, the extremities of which No. 27. 11G THE ROUND TOWER. [sect. I. also extended towards the east : but the most extraordinary circumstance con- nected with these two children's skeletons, and one that, were we not only an eye-witness, but also the actual excavators ourselves, would almost seem incredi- ble, was the evident occurrence of a timber coffin, about an inch in thickness above, below, and, so far as followed, around the skeletons. The remains of the upper and lower planks were brought, at some points, nearly into con- tact by the superincumbent pressure, but where the larger bones intervened they were more widely separated. The traces of timber extended under the foundation of the tower along with the upper portion of the first-described child's skeleton, and that in such a way that it could not have been placed there after the tower was built. The timber, although quite pulpy from decay, exhibited the grain of oak ; no traces of nails were found". On proceeding with the excavation, a second adult skull, that of an aged man, was found near the foot of the child's coffin, and the skeleton to which it belonged was then traced, until further search must have undermined the eastern foundation of the tower, beneath which its lower extremities were concealed from the hips down- wards. The diagram already given shows the position of the several skeletons, together with traces of the coffin already alluded to ; all of which lay beneath the level of the foundation of the tower. Some detached human bones were found in the clay surrounding those skeletons, and on sinking still deeper in the centre, the bones of another adult skeleton presented themselves. A regard, however, to the safety of the tower precluded further examination, the earth having been already removed to a considerable depth beneath its foun- dations. The clay which surrounded the human remains just described was a rich, black, unctuous loam, similar to that occurring in any long-used grave- yard. The skulls of the adults, and such fragments of the child's skull as * It may seem strange that all the skeletons corpse being brought to the grave in a well-made should not be enclosed in wooden coffins, but coffin, and, the grave being carefully lined with we have no reason to suppose that the use of fresh green sods, the body, wrapped solely in its coffins was general. Down to about half a century winding-sheet, was placed therein, the head being since, the families of Tracy, Doyle, and Daly, supported by a pillow of dried grass and moss : with their connexions, whose burial-place was more sods, supported by planks, were placed the graveyard of the Priory of St. John, about over it, with the grassy side down, and the grave a mile south of Enniscorthy, in the county of was then filled in as usual. — See Wexford Inde- Wex ford, buried their dead without coffins : the pendent, of May 3, ]&. r >6. chap, iv.] THE ROUND TOWER. 117 could be collected, having been reserved, the remainder of the bones were placed in a cist, formed of large stones, in the centre of the area, and then the base of the tower was filled up with small stones to the first offset, in order to guard against any sinking of its foundation; and we are happy to state that now, after a lapse of nine years, no injury to the stability of the structure has resulted from the excavations. The writer was present during the entire of the opera- tions. The Dean of Ossory, the Kev. Samuel Madden, and Mr. John G. A. Prim, saw the children's skeletons in situ; and during the removal of which, two medical men, Drs. Cane and Grant 3 , were present. Dr. Cane took away the skulls of the two adults, with the fragments of that belonging to the child, and he subsequently favoured Dean Yignoles with the following interesting description of these remains : — " Wtftiam-streeL Kxlkercny. " December 29, 1847. *' Very reyerexd Sir, — I have much pleasure in furnishing you with some account of the human bones, which, with your permission, I had removed from the Round Tower of St. Canice, upon the occasion of your recent valuable research beneath its foundation. The bones which I have taken were those of two adult heads, one of them very imperfect, and some detached bones of the head of one of the children. Xo. 28. M The adult heads [see accompanying engraving of the perfect specimen], as to con- formation or physical character, presented nothing very remarkable b . They were the heads * This gentleman, who subsequently left Kil- b Since the period when the letter was written, kenny and went to reside in London, is now dead. I have submitted the heads to Dr. M'Elheran, lis THE ROUND TOWER. [sect. I. of ordinary men, and their frames were of ordinary stature. The adults were males, as evi- denced by the ossa ilia, and other bones forming the hips and pelvis. One skull belonged to a very aged man, perhaps eighty years old, to judge from the extensive absorption which had taken place in the nearly edentulous jaw-bones. The other was that of a man between forty and fifty, the teeth all perfect, but remarkably worn, and the incisor or cutting teeth so completely deprived of cutting edges as to present the appearance of teeth worked constantly in the process of grinding very hard food, having flat rubbing surfaces, just like the proper molar or grinding teeth. " I did not see the head of the third, or lower adult skeleton, as it lay too far out under the foundation to be reached with safety. The other head was that of a child, whose age is easily fixed by the fact that some of the first set, or milk teeth, had fallen, and that the incisors of the second, or permanent set, were coming down, but had not descended to the level of the gum ; the age was about seven years. " The adult bones were all fast crumbling to decay, but the bones of the child's head, which had separated and were detached, as parietal, frontal, &c, presented a remarkable appearance, which I noted at the time to the Rev. Mr. Graves and Mr. Grant, who handed them to me. They were so moist and pliant as to bend under the slightest pres- sure, giving a sensation to the finger not unlike that of wetted pasteboard or damped biscuit, and which I then attributed to their own delicacy of texture, and the influence upon it of the rich mould beneath which they had lain for so many centuries. These bones have since dried out completely, and in doing so have lost their flexibility, and are most easily broken, exhibiting a short and brittle fracture ; but that which has principally arrested my attention is the remarkable similitude which they now bear to burnt bones in colour, texture, and appearance: so much so that every one I have shown them to has pronounced them to be bones that were exposed to fire, and had been burned ; and I would myself conclude such to be the fact, had I not assisted in removing them from the earth, and felt them while yet wet and pliant from the rich soil they lay in. "I am thus particular in alluding to this matter, because we so frequently hear of burned bones being found in these towers, that the fact observed here suggests a doubt, whether all these bones described as being burned, were really so, — or whether the appearance may not be the result of time and peculiar alkaline soils acting on bone young and full of animal matter, whereby the animal matter is converted into soap and escapes, moisture fills up the porous cellular texture of the bone, and so makes it soft and pliable ; but when exposure to dry air drains off the moisture, the cellular structure then remains with open cells and dry brittle walls, as in burnt bone, where fire performs these offices more speedily. whose writings on ethnology are well known, to be good specimens of crania of the purely The skulls of the adults were considered by him Celtic type. R. C. CHAP. IV.] THE ROUND TOWER. 119 " I cannot conclude this brief notice of the bones found beneath the Round Tower of St. Canice, without, as a reader of Petrie's elaborate book on the Round Towers, expressing my poor evidence in favour of his views, — views to which I have become a convert from the perusal of his work, having previously held a very opposite opinion. In addition to his powerful arguments, I have now witnessed these bodies taken up from beneath the level of the tower's foundation, — I have seen the foundation stones actually built over, and resting on, their graves, — that they were, all five, buried head to the west and feet to the east, as in modern and Christian church-yards. I feel no doubt that these bodies were interred previously to the building of the tower, in earth used as a cemetery or burying ground, and that they have been there at least eight hundred years. « Finally, permit me, as a citizen of Kilkenny, to thank you for the zeal and labour you have displayed to preserve and improve the remains of our ecclesiastical antiquities, as well as in aiding to unravel the mystery in which the early history of our Round Towers has been involved ; and I know that my feeling of obligation to you in this matter is par- ticipated in by all those of the citizens at large who value antiquarian research, and regard with veneration the remains of ancient Ireland. " I remain, Very Reverend Sir, " Yours truly, " Robert Cane. " Hie Very Rev. the Dean of Ossory." An inspection of the diagram, given at p. 115, supra, will show that one of the adult skeletons has the greater portion of its lower extremities concealed by the foundations of the tower, a little to the north of the east point ; and it is a remarkable fact that the summit of the structure overhangs its base about two inches at this point 3 . This deviation from the perpendicular may seem small, but still it proves the occurrence of a considerable subsidence, when a wall originally built to a batter of 26 inches leans over its base even to the small extent of two inches. The natural inference to be drawn from these premises is, that the tower, built over a cemetery, subsided at the point of least resistance afforded by the substratum, i. e. over the spot left vacant by the natural decay of the subjacent adult human body. From what has been said, it appears that the body of at least one of the adults, together with those of the two encofiined children, must have been placed in the earth ere the foundations were laid. It * The extent of deviation from the perpendi- on a calm day. The projection of the parapet cular has been ascertained by careful plumbing was not taken into account. R 120 THE ROUND TOWER. [sect. I. has, indeed, been objected that architects possessing the skill apparent in the superstructure of the tower could not have been so totally indifferent to all the principles of sound architecture, as to base so ponderous a mass on such an insecure foundation. To one reasoning d priori this conclusion seems inevi- table 1 . Facts, however, are stubborn things, and for those whose eyes beheld the position of the skeletons there is no escape from the self-evident conclusion, that the Round Tower of St. Canice, when, or by whomsoever erected, had been built on the unbroken surface of a thickly peopled burial ground, the soil of which had for ages been made fat by fresh accessions of the mortal remains of poor humanity. If we search for the motive which prevented the builders of the tower from penetrating the few feet of church-yard earth interposed between its foundations and the compact limestone gravel, it may perhaps be found in the early and general repugnance which prevailed amongst all Chris- tians, against any disturbance or desecration of the resting-places of the dead b . In considering this evidence in favour of the Christian origin of the Round 1 One of those « priori reasoners observes, with reference to this very subject; — "To us ... it seems an exorbitant absurdity to imagine how any man could recklessly lay his materials on such a foundation as decayed coffin-boards and crumbling bones; just as well might he choose a layer of egg-shells for his basis." — Letter of a Member of the South Munster Antiquarian So- ciety, Kilkenny Moderator, October 30, 1847. h There are in existence laws enacted by Faramund L, King of the Franks, by Charle- magne, and Charles the Bald, strictly forbidding the disturbance of the dead, some of them de- nouncing banishment and death for what then must have been looked on as a great crime. It should be remembered that Christianity was in- troduced by Irish missionaries into almost every nation in western Europe; Charlemagne espe- cially was under the influence of the Irish eccle- siastical element. The practice, therefore, of the Continental Church at this period must be looked on as that of Ireland also. We find the follow- ing amongst many similar enactments which occur in the " Leges Salicse" of Faramund I., made A. D. 424, at Saltzburg in Franconia: — " Si quis corpus jam sepultum effbderit, aut ex spoliaverit, vvargus \_sic\ sit, hoc est expulsus de eodem pago." — Melchioris Goldasti Collectio Con- slitutionum Imperialium, torn. iii.,p. 15. Again, the " Capitulare Karoli Magni" enjoins, A. D. 780, — " Ut nullus ossa mortuorum de sepulchris audacter ejiciat." — Idem, p. 124. Also, in the " Capitula Spartacana" of Charles the Bald, enacted A. D. 846, we find a very stringent injunction on the subject, which, from the allu- sion to the "loculus" or coffin as being then in use amongst Christians, is particularly applica- ble to our purpose: — " Nec quisquam ossa cujus- libet mortui de sepulchro suo ejicere [sic~], aut sepulturam cujusquam temerario ausu quoquo modo violet, sed unumquemque in loculo sibi ideo praparato atque concesso adventum sui judicis pra;stolari concedat: maxime cum non solum divinse leges, sed etiam et humana; apud humanam rempublicam, sepulchrorum violato- res reos mortis dijudicent." — Idem, p. 274. CHAP. IV.] THE ROUND TOWER. 121 Tower of St. Canice, it should also be borne in mind, as already observed, that all the skeletons, even to that of the central adult, which did not extend beyond the area of the walls, lay in the church-yard earth below the level of the foun- dation ; and that although it is possible, whilst yet improbable, that this, the central interment, was made after the tower was erected, with regard to the others such a supposition connot for a moment be entertained. "What, then, are the conclusions forced on us by the premises ? Plainlv, 1st, that the tower was erected within a previously used Christian burial ground, and over the undisturbed interments of children 3 and adults. But why in a Christian cemetery ; may not the dead have been Pagans, and so the tower, after all, have been of fabulous antiquity? To our mind the position of the skeletons, which all lay head to west and feet to east, is a convincing proof that the cemetery was a Christian one b ; for although it may be granted that Pagan nations sometimes buried their dead in this position, yet it was not by any means their general method of interment, and seems to have arisen, when used, more from indifference to the position of the deceased than from anything else ; whereas with Christians this mode of burial prevailed from the earliest times, arising from the idea that our Lord was so placed in the tomb, and that it was fitting His servants should be interred in a similar manner. We have, moreover, direct proof that the Pagan Irish, on their conversion to Chris- tianity, made a change in their mode of burial, and that this change consisted in depositing their dead with the face to the east. In proof we may cite the Sencap na pelec, or History of the Kegal Cemeteries of Ireland, which Dr. Inquiry into the Petrie has printed from the Leabhar na h-Uidhre : a manuscript of the twelfth of the Hound century, several centuries earlier than which that learned writer places the date w^p- "h*™' of the tract in question. To quote from Dr. Petrie's translation: — Cormac Mac Art, monarch of Ireland, " the third person who had believed, in Erin, before the arrival of St. Patrick," is represented as having " told his people not to bury a The most enthusiastic advocate of the sepul- of burying the priests with their feet to the west, chral or monumental character of our Round prevailed in the ancient Irish Church, it would Towers will scarcely say that the Round Tower serve to show that the bodies found beneath the of St. Canice was built to perpetuate theme- Round Tower of St. Canice were laics. There is mory of inter alios — two infants ! no evidence, however, to prove that the practice is b If the custom, at present existing in Ireland, older than the middle of the seventeenth century. R 2 122 THE ROUND TOWER. [sect. I. him at Brugh (because it was a cemetery of Idolaters), for he did not worship the same God as any of those interred at Brugh ; but to bury him at Ros na righ with /lis face to the east." 2ndly, that the date of the tower cannot be even placed very early in the Christian era, inasmuch as several centuries must have elapsed, and many generations been changed to kindred dust therein, ere the soil of the cemetery could assume the character it presented beneath the founda- tion of the building. 3rdly, that, to account for the calcined clay and human remains found within its base, we must suppose that at some early period its timber floors, together with human beings then within its walls, were consumed by fire". And, 4thly, that the Round Tower of St. Canice is not well adapted as a place of refuge or defence; was most probably erected as a belfry; and certainly has been used as a watch-tower. We now come to consider the date of the structure. It is the opinion of inquiry into the Dr. Petrie that — " the oldest towers are obviously those constructed of spawled Origin and Uses of the Round masonry and large hammered stones, and which present simple quadrangular p. 396.' and semicircular-arched doorways, with sloping jambs, and little or no orna- a The church of St. Canice was destroyed by fire in 1085, and again in 1114 (see pp. 24, 25, supra). It is not a very great straining of pro- bability to suppose that the Round Tower shared in the conflagration at either or both dates, and it is quite possible that the clergy of the church may have been consumed within its walls. The records of similar events frequently occur in our annals : thus, the Four Masters, as quoted by Petrie, relate that in 948, " the cloictheach of Slane was burnt by the Danes, with its full of reliques and good people, with Caoinechair, Reader of Slane, and the crozier of the patron saint, and a bell, the best of bells." Again, A. D. 1097: — " The cloichteach of the Monastery, i. e. ' of Monasterboice,' with many books and trea- sures, was burnt." And under the year 1171, the same writers state that " the cloictheach of Telach Ard was burnt by Tighernan O'Ruairc, with its full of people in it." Whilst, to bring the practice of Round Tower burning closer to Kilkenny, the Annals already quoted record, under the year 1156, that "Eochaidh O'Cuinn, the Chief Master, was burnt in the cloictheach of Ferta." — Inquiry into the Origin, &c, pp. 369, 371 • We may here remark, that the Round Tower, or cloictheach, of Ferta, situate about twelve miles north of Kilkenny, is split, as by fire, from top to bottom, thus affording a singular confirmation of the Annals. Will it be believed that a writer could be found so indifferent to all the rules of evidence as to assert, that " all these remains of combustion [the calcined clay and bones found in the St. Canice Tower] may, at least with equal probability, be relics of a Pagan pyre, at which, more Scythico, animals as well as men were cruelly sacrificed ; and we have an instance of this, quoad the latter, in the immolation of the captives of Fiachra, after the batte of Caonry, fought in A. D. 380. -Book ofBallymote, fol. 1 G6." — Letter of a Member of the South Munster An- tiquarian Society, Kilkenny Moderator, Oct. 30, 1847. The captives may have been burned ; but was the holocaust made in a Round Tower? CHAP. IV.] THE ROUND TOWER. 123 ment, perfectly similar to the doorways of the earliest churches." From this statement few will be found to dissent ; and, on the grounds therein put forward, we must place the date of the Round Tower of St. Canice at a com- paratively early epoch, its peculiarities corresponding exactly to the criteria above given. Its doorway resembles those of the towers of Kilmacduagh in the county of Galway, and of Glendalough in the county of Wicklow, both, id., P . 399, 400. thinks Dr. Petrie, " erected early in the seventh century." We here insert No. 29. No. 30. that skilful artist's delineation of the former, as also of the door of the tower of Oughterard (No. 30), which bears a striking resemblance to that of St. Canice 3 . Oughterard tower is, probably, of not much later date than a church founded there in the sixth or seventh century. The windows of our tower are, as already observed, flat-headed apertures, with inclined sides, and are almost identical * " The great church of Kilmacduagh was masonry of the tower to that of the original por- erected about the year 610, for St. Colman Mac tions of the great church, leaves no doubt of their Duach, by his kinsman, Guaire Aidhne, king of being cotemporaneous structures." — Inquiry Connaught; and the perfect similarity of the into the Origin, &c, p. 400. 124 THE ROUND TOWER. [sect. I. with those figured by Dr. Petrie in the accompanying engravings of two of the windows of the Round Tower of Swords, Nos. 31 and 32, which is connected with a church that, owing its origin to the great St. Columbkille, was id., p. 398. possibly erected previously to the year 563. We annex from Dr. Petrie's work, a repre- sentation of one of the windows of the Round Tower of Kells (No. 33) which also resemble those of our tower. Kells tower was in existence before the year 1076 a . Judging from these criterions, we cannot be far astray if we place the date of our Round Tower between the sixth and the ninth centuries: and it is possible that to St. Canice himself, who lived to the close of the sixth century, its erection may be assigned; none of that saint'sLives,however, make any mention of Kilkenny b . We fear that by many we shall be thought to show ourselves, in these con- clusions, insensible to the poetry which clings round our pillar towers as natu- rally as the mosses and the many-hued lichens incrust their time -stained walls. Fain would we, too, like many of our antiquarian brethren, who are staunch supporters of the Pagan theories, trace their origin from the distant plains of No. 32. Asia or Hindustan, or be- No . 33 . No. 31. 1 In this year Murchad, grandson of Flann tion of the Annals of Ulster, quoted by Dr. O'Maelsechlainn, king of Meath, " being 3 Petrie, Inquiry, &c, p. 369- nights in the steeple of Kells, was killed by b " The first notice [in the Irish annals] Maolan's sonne, king of Galleng." — Old transla- which occurs of the cloictheach, or Bound Tower, CHAP. IV. | THE ROUND TOWER. 125 lieve them to have formed the shrines of the primeval worshippers of fire, or to have had reference to the rites of Buddhist idolatry. But we cannot obey the prompting of that portion of our common nature which revels in the mystery of the past: the stern rules of evidence coerce us; and we are forced to assign to our own Round Tower a purpose familiar to us all, and a date which must fix its place far down the stream of ascertained history. Yet, we trust, few will be found to hold that a monument of our primi- tive Irish Christianity, as peculiar to our country as was the anomalous nature of its ancient episcopacy, affords less to interest our feelings than any monument of Paganism, no matter how ancient? An antiquity of ten or twelve centuries surely gives scope enough to the " faculty divine'' of poetry. — evidenced, we think, in the subjoined sonnets to the Round Tower of St. Canice, from the pen of one, now no more*, who loved well his native city, and its antiquities. The absence of all written record as to when and by is that at the year 950. relative to the burning of the cloictheach or Round Tower of Slane, as al- ready given at p. 370 ; and the earliest authentic record of the erection of a Round Tower is no earlier than the year 965. This record is found in the Chronicon Scotorum, and relates to the tower of Tomgraney in the county of Clare, — a tower which does not now exist, but of which, according to the tradition of the old natives of the place, some remains existed about forty years since. The passage is as follows : — " ' A. D. 965. Copmac h-Ua CilUn, oo uib b-piacpac Qi&ne, comopba Ciapam - Com- ain i comopba Cuama 5F eTie ; ' a T a1 5 e oo ponao cempul mop Cuama 5r eTie ' ' a claigceac. Sapienp - pene;t ec epipcopup. — quieuic in Chpipco.' " Thus translated by Colgan, who seems to have found it in his copy of the Annals of the Four Masters, though that part of it relating to the erection of the church and tower is not Lc, p. 375. The general absence of distinct notices of buildings in the ancient lives of the Irish saints, and the extreme meagreness of the Irish Annals anterior to the tenth century, easily account for the absence of earlier notices of the Round Towers. a The late Rev. James Leckey, incumbent of "Willenhall, diocese of Chester, whose untimely death prevented the publication of his poems. We trust they may yet see the light 126 THE ROUND TOWER. [sect. [. whom the Round Tower of St. Canice was raised gives ample room to the imagination of the writer, and warrants the idea of the second sonnet: — I. " O mystic Tower, I never gaze on thee — Altho' since childhood's scarce remember'd spring Thou wert to me a most familiar thing — Without an awe, and not from wonder free ; Wild fancies, too, oft urge themselves on me, Working as though they had the power to fling The veil aside, year after year doth bring More closely round thee, thing of mystery ! Yea, thou dost wake within me such a sense As few things earthly can, — thy airy brow Hath felt the breeze for centuries immense ; Who knows what hand hath raised thee, or how? And Time so much of his own reverence Hath lent to thee, we venerate thee now." II. " O structure strange, and column-like, and high ! What thought had he who first contriv'd thy plan, Thou seeming most unfit for use of man ? Thy lofty brow is lifted towards the sky, And all things human that around thee lie, Thou, lonely watcher here ere they began, Saw'st as they rose around thee. Thou the van Of Time didst hold, and none with thee can vie; For sacred fane and lordly castle hall, O time-worn Tower ! was it thine to see, And city homes, and long-encircling wall, Rise one by one, and range themselves round thee, — Of some hast thou beheld the rise and fall, But nothing human knows thy history." J. G. SECTION II. MONUMENTAL ANTIQUITIES. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. — CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. THAT the cathedral of St. Canice was, in former days, rich in the sepul- chral monuments of men eminent in their age and country, we know on the already quoted testimony of Bishop Roth, who was familiar with its fea- See p. to. s*pr a . tures ere the troops of the Commonwealth, by Cromwell's order, stormed the cathedral; when, " The Civil fury of the time Made sport of sacrilegious crime ; For dark Fanaticism rent Altar, and screen, and ornament, And peasant hands the tombs o'erthrew." But even did we lack direct evidence, the remains which have come down to our day are of themselves sufficient to prove the truth of Roth's statement. There are, doubtless, elsewhere to be found many far more ancient examples of monumental art ; the megalithic cross and curiously carved tombstone of early Celtic Christianity are not here to be found by the side of their contemporary Round Tower ; but we question if there is another church in Ireland which can compare with this cathedral in the number, variety, and interesting nature of its existing mediceval monuments. Perhaps this may, in part, be attributable to the immunity from fire which the building has enjoyed. s 128 CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. [sect. ii. Although the Cathedral of St. Canice never suffered actual assault except from the " fanatiek limbs of the beast," as Griffith Williams terms the defacers of his church, yet it seems, in common with many another structure primarily devoted to religion, to have been always accounted a " strong place," and gar- risoned accordingly. Thus, the Red Book of the Corporation of Kilkenny states, that, in anno 1599, when Tyrone was up in arms, and rebellion had spread far and wide over Ireland, it was ordered by the civic authorities, " for S l Kenny's Church, the L (1 Bishop and the Irishtowne to take order for the defence thereof, as heretofore they were appointed :" and again, the same year, " that the Steeple of S l Patrick's Church shall be warded with six warders, and sufficient victuals provided for them ; and that S 4 Kenny's Church shall be also warded with a strong ward of the Inhabitants of the Irishtowne, and such soldiers as shall be sent unto them for that purpose." Since the previous sheets of this work passed through the press, a record of the " Proceedings of Crom- well's Army in Ireland" has been printed, rendering certain what is there sought to be proved, at p. 42, supra, viz., that the cathedral had suffered storm. Dr. Jones, Bishop of Cloyne, who was present at the siege of Kilkenny, thus ms. f. iv. i6, records the fact of the storming of the cathedral in his Private Notes : — " 25th Trinity College, r , „ . - - . Dublin.— see [March, 1650], our battery, of two demi-cannon and one culvenn, played from Magazine, voL Patrick's church on the town- wall near the castle. Kenny's church being ob- \iv. p. 3. serve( j a p] aC e commanding the town in some parts, a party was sent to storm and possess it, our men in the meantime diverting the town-garrison by essaying the breach at the battery. The church we possessed, but were repulsed at the breach with the loss of ten men." It is surprising that the injury inflicted on the church and its monuments, by the storming and military occupation of the place, was not much more extensive than it has proved to be. It is not, happily, necessary to enter into any lengthened argument to show that the study of monumental remains is of the highest importance to the elu- cidation of history ; but what the Rev. Charles Boutell has so well said of one interesting class of monument, numerous in England, but here almost entirely wanting, — although our cathedral is not without traces that monumental brasses once ornamented its aisles, — may well be quoted. After observing that such records afford a " vivid representation of the long dead denizens of ages past," and " bring before us in all points as they were in life, the prince, the noble, chap, i.] CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. 129 the lady, the knight, the citizen, and the ecclesiastic," thus enabling us " to reinvest the personages, whose names make history famous, with form and fashion true to the very life," he proceeds : — " But, much more than has already been suggested, may be learned from these memo- Monumental rials. To the genealogist they afford authentic cotemporary evidences: to the herald they slabs, pv. 3, L furnish examples of the original usage in bearing arms, and authorities in the appropriation and adjustment of badges and personal devices : the architect here will find, in rich variety, the details and accessories illustrative, as well of peculiar modes of arrangement and com- bination, as of the distinctive characteristics of style and design : the chronologist hence may deduce authentic data to determine, with truly remarkable exactness, successive eras and epochs : to the general antiquary, from the same source, widely diversified infor- mation will accrue : the palaeographer also is hence enabled to fix the distinctive form of letter used at certain periods, together with the prevalent peculiarities of contraction and abbreviation [of words] Of the important judicial testimony deducible from brasses, the decision upon the Camoys peerage affords a remarkable and memorable ex- ample. And, beyond all, the deep tone of combined piety and humility which characterizes so forcibly these memorials of the departed, — as well the attitude of the figure, as the legend on the scroll, contrasting strikingly with the inconsistent designs, and the vain, and too often flippant encomiums, so prevalent in monumental structures of more modern date, — ' these must be our admiration, and ought to be our pattern,' — thus, of a truth, do our ancestors being dead, yet speak with powerful though silent eloquence." It is needless to add any observation of our own to this eloquent and con- vincing passage. It has been already said that traces of brasses remain in the cathedral of St. Canice 3 . These consist of some slabs exhibiting the matrixes of quatrefoiled a The only existing Irish brasses are to be tions several in Dublin, now lost (MS. Tour, found in Dublin : but we are not to suppose that penes Sir T. E. Winnington, Stanford Court, their use, although not here so generally adopted Worcestershire.) Waterf'ord cathedral was, at as in England, was confined to the metropolis, one time, rich in brasses. It was sworn before Along with the indications of their occurrence a Commission, appointed after the Restoration in the cathedral of St. Canice, we have remaining by the Irish House of Lords, to inquire into the the matrix of the efEgial brass of Bishop Saun- plunder abstracted by the Cromwellian party ders (ob. 1549) in the cathedral of Old Leighlin. from the cathedral of Waterford, that numerous Thomas Dineley, who travelled in Ireland in the " brasses, eschocheons, and atchements," were reign of Charles II., gives a pen-and-ink sketch ruthlessly torn by them from "the ancient of the matrix of a fine canopied brass which was toinbes, many of which were almost covered with then preserved in the cathedral of Cashel, com- brasse." — Transactions of the Kilkenny Archao- memorating Archbishop Hamilton ; he also men- logical Society, vol. ii., p. 78. s2 130 CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. [SKCT. II. Harris's Ware, vol. i.. p. 434. Shoe's St. Ca- niee, Advertise- ment. Antiq., 2nd ed., pp. 392-409. ornaments, and of a small square plate, at present forming a portion of the pave- ment of the north chapel. Nothing, however, remains to indicate the age of the monuments, or the persons whom they commemorated. It is not at all unlikely that other vestiges of this style of monumental art exist, the slabs being reversed, as was often the case, and serving as more modern tombs, or even as plain pavement flags ; such remains not being likely to have attracted the attention of O'Phelan, who was employed by Bishop Pococke to re-arrange the monuments. With the exception of the fragments alluded to, the existing monuments are exclusively of stone, — the compact limestone, or black marble, of the district, being the material used. It is probable that Bishop Williams, when putting his cathedral into such order as he could, stored up the monu- mental remains, which he found broken and defaced, in the north chapel ; at all events, Harris, when he visited the cathedral in Bishop Este's time, found them there " lying loose against the wall," and suggested that they ought to be " refixed and preserved." Harris's suggestion was not, however, car- ried out until Bishop Pococke had repaired the cathedral. That prelate, as we are informed by Shee, employed John O'Phelan to copy all the inscrip- tions then remaining in the cathedral, and had the monuments re-erected, most probably under O'Phelan's inspection. The Monumentarium then compiled was done in duplicate, O'Phelan retaining one copy, whilst the other passed into the hands of Pococke, and was probably the text from which Ledwich printed the " Monuments and Inscriptions in the Cathedral." O'Phelan's private copy became the property of Dr. Shee, of Irishtown, Kilkenny, and was the text of his " Epitaphs on the Tombs in the Cathedral Church of St. Canice," the plates of which were drawn by a self-taught Kilkenny artist, named Coffey, and etched by William Martin, a private soldier, belonging to a regiment then quartered in Kilkenny. Neither the text of Ledwich nor of Shee afford correct renderings of O'Phelan's MS., which is, in the main, faithful to the originals, and can be charged with very few errors or omissions. Dr. Shee used the original manuscript as " copy" for his printers 3 , but they were either unable to decipher it, or Shee did not take care to compare the proofs • This is proved by the state of the MS., the possession of the Rev. James Graves. Shee's greater portion of which, with Shee's additions, book was printed in Dublin by Graisberry and and directions to the printer, is at present in Campbell, in 1813. CHAP. I.] CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. 131 with the manuscript before sending it for press, as many serious errors have crept in, especially with regard to the dates. OThelan, in compiling his Monumentarium of the cathedral, grouped the inscriptions together according as they occurred in the different portions of the church, an arrangement which would naturally be adopted by the person who superintended their re-erection. There could be little objection to O'Phelan's plan, if the placing of the monuments was satisfactory, or one that precluded future change in their position ; but as his arrangement is far from what could be desired, and, in consequence, has since rendered several changes necessary, and a total re-arrangement desirable, it has been deemed better to abandon situation, and adopt date as the groundwork of the classification used in this work. It is true that it has been found impossible to ascertain the precise year to which some of the monuments should be assigned, but this objection has been, at least partially, avoided in the following pages, by adopting centenary divisions. The monuments range, in point of date, from the thirteenth century 3 to the present day ; and it may be convenient in this place to indicate the character- istics of each period, in order that the sequence of the Monumentarium may not be interrupted by adverting to it hereafter. Of the monuments of the thirteenth century few have survived, and nearly all have suffered much from time and violence. We know not how many other effigial tombs there may have been in the cathedral besides those erected to the memory of three" 5 of the prelates who filled this see during the century : of these but one has been preserved to our day. In Ware's time Bishop Mapil- ton's tomb was in existence ; but although he mentions Bishop St. Leger's, he does not, as in the former case, speak of having seen it . An outline of the 1 That there were monuments of an earlier date connected with the original parish church of St. Canice we cannot doubt ; but all traces of their existence have perished. b The peculiarity subsequently noted as cha- racterizing the only existing effigy of a bishop, shows it to have belonged neither to Mapilton nor St. Leger. It must have stood in a niche formed in a north wall, a position not possible in the south transept Perhaps it represents Roger, of Wexford, who died in 1289, and, ac- cording to Ware, " in ecclesia sua dicitur huma- tus." — Hibernia Sacra, p. 143. c " In ecclesia sua sepultus est, prope capellam beatae Mariae, ubi tumulum videmus statua operis exquisiti ornatum." Of St. Leger's tomb Ware merely observes — " tumulo conditus est prope Mapiltonum, statua ejusaffabre ornato" (Eiber- 132 CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. [sect. ii. only existing effigial tomb of this century is here given, and it will be seen that the bold and effective style of the sculpture, the early form of the mitre and No. 34. chasuble, and the foliage on the pastoral staff and bracket which supports the feet — all lead us to assign the sculpture to the period at present under con- sideration. It represents the prelate arrayed in full episcopal robes from the mitre to the sandals, gloves, and ring" : the right hand, much mutilated, is raised in the act of blessing ; the left holds a simple, but elegant, pastoral staff. There is an individuality about the features that would lead one to conceive the face to be a portrait: the brow is broad and massive, and expression stern, but good. This effigy must have been intended originally to be placed in a mural niche formed in a north wall, the sculptor having designed, and finished with care, only such parts as can be seen from the right or south side of the figure b . It via Sacra, p. 142) ; the Clarendon MS., Add. No. 4789, adds, " in altero tumulo lapideo alto ante capellam beatee J/an'ep," which fixes the original site of the tivo monuments in the south transept. The niche described at p. 93, supra, may have contained either of the effigies. 1 To begin at the feet, which are encased in sandals of an old form, we have first the "alb," with the tasselled end of the girdle appear- ing beneath it. The alb has no embroidery or " apparels" either at the bottom or sleeves. Over the alb appear the two ends of the " stole :" over this the " tunic" or " rochet," and above it the " dalmatic." Above all appears the " cha- suble," a vestment of nearly circular form, with an aperture in the middle for the head : in later times it was slit up at the sides, but here its folds rest on the arms. From the left hand de- pends the " maniple," a narrow strip like the stole; both hands are covered with the "gloves," and over the glove, on the middle finger of the right hand, is worn the " ring." On the head is the " mitre," and in the left hand is the " pas- toral staff," its crook turned outicards, as was customary with bishops. The staff is encircled by the scarf or " vexillum." — See Boutell's Mo- numental Brasses and Slabs, pp. 96-101. b Perhaps its original place was the beautiful CHAP. I.] CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. 133 is at present placed altar-wise near one of the windows of the north side aisle, and, therefore, seen to disadvantage. The cathedral does not contain any other figure of this period ; but there is re- maining a curious palimpsest monu- ment, which may have borne an effigy, now chiselled away to make room for sculptures and an inscription of the six- teenth century 3 . The edges of this slab (which is of large size, measuring 3 feet by 8) bear Early English moldings, and the angles are ornamented by bold and well-carved foliage of the same period. Of the class which may be described as incised slabs, the fragments, here repre- sented, may be referred to the century under consideration : one shows the upper portion of the figure of a female, wearing the wimple, a neck-covering peculiar to the period; the other, the feet, whether of this figure or another it is difficult to say : in both the figure is indicated by deeply cut lines. There are several coffin-shaped b slabs in the Xo. 35. No. 36. cathedral, bearing crosses with foliated terminations cut in relief, of whicli those having inscriptions will be noticed in the next chapter. One here figured Early English niche still existing in the north every reason to suppose that it was originally transept. placed to the memory of some person, or per- a At present this stone commemorates the sons, of the former name. Cottrell and Lawless families. There seems b This term is used, in this and the subse- 134 CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. [sect. ii. affords a connecting link between the efligial and cross slabs, the figure being indicated beneath the cross with the head alone fully sculptured. We also give an engraving of a cross-slab of peculiar form belonging to this period, from No. 37. which an inscription of later date than the cross has been almost entirely effaced. Besides those now mentioned, there are two uninscribed cross-slabs in relief, one in a very imperfect condition. The lettering used on monuments in this century was what has been termed the Lombardic capital. The monuments of the fourteenth century remaining in the cathedral are confined to simple incised slabs, either with or without foliated crosses, unless we include some fragments bearing portions of the human figure marked by No. 38. incised lines, which may belong to the early part of this century, their imper- fect state rendering it impossible to assign the date with certainty. Our artist has combined four fragmentary portions together, so as to form two figures (Nos. 38 and 39), a male and female ; the conjectural portions being indicated by dotted lines. The crosses in fashion at this period are of the same form as quent, pages of this work, to denote that form of of stone coffins; but were often simple memorial monumental slab which narrows towards the stones laid in the floor of the church over the foot. These slabs frequently served as the lids grave of the defunct. CHAP. I. CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. 135 those of the previous century, but they are universally incised (we speak of those occurring in this cathedral alone), instead of being carved in relief. Their No. 39. general form is indicated by the engraving of the cross to be found on the tomb of John Talbot, given at a subsequent page. The lettering used in the inscrip- tions was the Lombardic capital, and frequently the black letter. Of the fifteenth century there are very scanty remains in the cathedral of St. Canice, — indeed to this period but one tomb, that of Richard Talbot, can positively be assigned. The fifteenth century, so prolific in monumental sculp- ture elsewhere, has left in Ireland few examples of that art. It was there a time of war and turbulence. Many of the Anglo-Xorman feudal lords led their retainers out of Ireland, to perish with themselves in the Wars of the Roses ; and the Irish, taking advantage of their absence, made a general, though uncom- bined, effort to recover their ancient patrimonies, and in many districts suc- ceeded in driving out their conquerors, narrowing the English rule to the district subsequently termed the Pale. Many religious houses were, it is true, erected in this century, but noble, knight, and citizen, remain for the most part unchronicled in stone. The sixteenth century, on the contrary, is rich in monumental art : persons of all classes seem to have availed themselves freely of the chisel of the sculptor to perpetuate their memory ; and our cathedral abounds in the effigial and cru- cially ornamented tombs of this period. The sixteenth century effigies were all designed to be placed on altar-tombs, the sides being supported by slabs, carved into canopied niches filled with figures of the Apostles, or else bearing what have been called the arms of the Crucifixion, i. e., the cross, the crown of thorns, scourges, hammer, nails, pincers, spear, ladder, cup placed on the end of a staff, reed that bore the sponge, pillar and thongs, palm branch, seamless T L36 CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. [sect. ii. coat, dice, thirty pieces of silver ; also, sometimes, the sword used by Peter, the ear cut ofT the servant of the high priest, the cock, and the heart of the Blessed Virgin pierced by swords, &c. At the west end, or head of the tomb, a panel carved with the Crucifixion and the two Marys is generally found, and at the foot a shield with the arms of the deceased ; shields of arms are also some- times introduced, in place of other ornaments, into the spandrels of the canopied niches. A characteristic example of this class of monument is given on the accompanying plate, being the effigial altar-tomb supposed to have been intended to perpetuate the memory of James, eighth Earl of Ormonde, but which remained uninscribed after his death. It is drawn to a scale of somewhat less than 2 inches to 3 feet, and is a favourable specimen of this class of monu- ment, of which other examples will be noticed in the subsequent pages of this work. The grotesque figures of animals carved in the spandrels of the niches which ornament the side of the tomb are worthy of notice 3 . The history of defensive armour and military weapons in Ireland is a subject on which little has been accurately written, and which receives much interesting illustration from the effigial tombs in the cathedral of St. Canice. There can be little doubt that the Anglo-Normans introduced into this island the arms and armour then in use in England and France ; the suit of mail, or hauberk, which covered the body cap-a-pie, being its distinctive feature. In England and on the Continent chain mail gradually gave place to plate armour; the former almost entirely disappearing about 1450. In Ireland, however, our sculptured memo- rials (and we possess scarcely any other record) give no reason to sup- pose that the fashions either of dress or armour progressed pari passu with those of the sister island. Remoteness of situation, difficulty of communica- tion, and comparative want of means, no doubt, retarded the progress of change, so much so that the Irish sculptured effigies of the first half of the sixteenth century represent the fashions which prevailed in England in the reign of Richard II., and even earlier. The truth of this observation will be apparent when the reader has perused the description of the effigial tombs in the next chapter, and compared them, and their accompanying illustrations, with any good work on English monumental sculpture. In the effigial tombs of this period 1 The recurrence, during the Perpendicular moldings, surface ornamentation, and grotesque period of Gothic architecture, to the shallow forms of the Romanesque, is very remarkable. 2 CHAP. I.J CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. 137 the effigy of the wife is frequently found by the side of that of her lord, both being represented in that recumbent attitude so peculiarly indicative of repose, often with the hands joined in prayer: Piers, Earl of Ormonde, and his Countess. Margaret, daughter of the Earl of ELildare. will be found thus represented at a subsequent page. Besides the effigy of this noble lady, the cathedral contains a nameless, but highly interesting, representation of a female belonging to a more humble rank of life. This effiarv, here engraved to a scale of somewhat less Ha 40. than 2 inches to 3 feet, is robed in an ample supertunic, confined round the waist by a plain girdle and buckle, and reaching to the feet. The hair is not apparent, a coverchef, neatly plaited or crimped, coming down low over the forehead, and descending in regular folds to the breast. Over all is gracefully arranged the hooded mantle a , which is gathered up and held, with considerable * Some twenty-five years ago this mantle was still in general use in the county of Kilkenny. The material was generally blue cloth, and (when the means of the wearer could afford it) of the finest description. Its ample breadth was plaited into a small falling collar at the neck, aDd beneath the latter was attached a large hood gathered in front by a ribbon; the hood hung down on the back, or was worn over the head, at pleasure. Married women wore a cap be- neath this hood, but unmarried females used no other covering for the head, when the hood was thrown back. Bonnets, and shawls or capes, have now nearly supplanted this graceful, com- fortable, and characteristic national garment, for so it may be called, as its shape was univer- sal, although the colour and material varied in different counties, red cloth being used in por- tions of the west of Ireland, and gray frieze in the Queen's County, Carlow, and other districts. The dress represented on this effigial tomb evidently represents the ancient form of the kirtle, or supertunic, and mantle, alluded to in the following by-law, extracted from the Red Booh of the Corporation of Kilkenny, fol. 290: — " 8th May, 1612. — No maid servant to have any coat or hyrteR with plates or lalQ. slieves, after the Irish fashion, on fine of \2d. : Sd. paid to the T 2 138 CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. [sect. II. grace, in the hands. It is probable that the sculptors of all these monuments were natives: at all events that of Grace, Baron of Courtstown, bears the name of its maker, as follows: — Iftoricus ©ttoune fabricatut tstam tubam\ The greater proportion of monuments belonging to this century are ornamented with inter- laced crosses, which, with the inscriptions, are carved in relief ; sometimes the emblems of thePassion are present, or else the sun and moon, representing Christ and his Church. The inscription is generally carved in black letter. Examples of the crosses will be found engraved in the next chapter. There is one unin- scribed cross slab of this century in the cathedral. Although the seventeenth century is not without its crucially ornamented slabs, of the same character as those in use in the previous period, yet its dis- tinctive feature is the prevalence of mural monuments designed in the Renais- sance or Jacobean style. The emblems of the trade of the deceased are sculp- tured on some of the monumental slabs of this century ; the examples will be found engraved in the following chapter. The most elaborate and magnificent monument of the period which the cathedral contained was that executed by Stone, a London sculptor, to the memory of Thomas, the tenth Earl of Ormonde, which is now totally destroyed. This tomb, we are told, was ornamented with the effigy of that nobleman, and was rich in painting and gilding ; there are still some traces of the latter species of decoration on the mural monuments of the Murphy, Blanchfield, and Shee, families. It is impossible not to be struck with the gradual debasement of monu- mental art, as exemplified in the remains of this century, and the retrogression continued until, in the eighteenth, and the first half of the nineteenth, centuries, Corporation, and 4(7. to the Mayor; the master or mistress giving such coat to forfeit 6s. 8c?., to be divided as aforesaid. No woman servant to have more than eight yards at most for the biggest woman. No woman servant to have any cloak dyed with Spanish woad, but black tawney, or sheep's colour." The Corporation of the Irishtown of Kil- kenny, on the 12th of August, 1603, passed a by-law against excess in feasting at christen- ing children, whereby it was enacted, that the officers appointed for that purpose " shall take the cloaks, mantles, rolls or kerchefs" of all women frequenting christening feasts. — First Book of the Corporation of Irishtown. The "man- tle," and " roll or kerchef," are both repre- sented on the tomb. 3 The effigial tomb of Donald Archdekin, alias Cody, and his wife, a member of the Blanchville family, in the churchyard of Dungarvan, county of Kilkenny, also bears the name of its sculptor : — ^ar [sj'c] me 28ater iterren mason. 1581. CHAP. I.] CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. 139 we reach the lowest point to which it was possible for it to descend. Pagan emblems, such as the inverted torch and cinerary urn, usurped the place of the insignia of Christianity, and inflated encomiums on the deceased superseded the simple fBtc facet of our fathers. Happily, however, a revival has taken place in our day, and in a monument to the memory of one of Ireland's worthiest sons, the late John, Marquis of Ormonde, soon to be erected in the cathedral, we may hope for the inauguration of a better era. Having closed the chapter on the architecture of the cathedral by some observations on the best mode of restoring that venerable fabric to its pristine beauty, it may be allowed to introduce here a few brief remarks on the ne- cessity of a fitting and durable re-arrangement of the ancient monuments contained within its walls. In considering the rearrangement 3 of the tombs, they naturally fall into the two classes of altar-tombs and slabs, — the latter often ornamented by a cross. The greatest error which had been committed by O'Phelan was the separation of the effigies of Piers, eighth Earl of Ormonde, and his lady, Margaret Fitz- gerald, thus disuniting the effigies, when the original design, as evidenced by the inscription carried continuously round the edge of both slabs, never con- templated their separation, both being intended to rest on one altar-tomb. It is needless, however, to dwell further on this mistake, as it has been obviated by the change made by the late Marquis of Ormonde, who, a short period before his own death, collected the monuments of his family into the south transept, re-united the " Red Earl" and his countess, and at the same time restored to the effigial tomb of Richard, Viscount Mountgarret, a side-sup- porting slab, with the arms of that nobleman carved on it, which had been previously appropriated to the monument of the Earl of Ormonde. Little more remains to be effected to render the effigial tombs a credit to the cathe- dral, if we except the very desirable removal of the effigy of the bishop from its present position to the vacant mural niche in the north transept, for which it seems to have been originally designed. The case is, however, far different with regard to the second class of monuments already alluded to, — the many slabs which lie prostrate on the floor, and which are sculptured a This subject has already been brought for- fore the Kilkenny Archaeological Society. See ward by one of the authors, in a paper read be- Trans, of the KUk. Arch. Society, vol. L, p. 218. 140 CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. [sect. II. with the richest variety of interlaced and floriated crosses to be found, per- haps, in the kingdom. We can aver, to our own knowledge, that several of the inscriptions and ornaments on these slabs, perfectly legible and discernible when first we knew them, are now quite obliterated. This work of defacement gradually and surely progresses, being the inevitable consequence of the appropriation of the monuments as common flooring flags. The losses of history, Gibbon has remarked, are, indeed, irretrievable. When the productions of fancy or science have been swept away, new poets may invent, and new philosophers may reason ; but if the inscription of a single fact be once oblite- rated, it can never be restored by the united efforts of genius and industry. The consideration of our past losses should incite the present age to cherish and perpetuate the valuable relics which have escaped. The words of the historian of the Roman Empire are strikingly applicable to the monuments which are gradually becoming obliterated, in place of being preserved, in the cathedral of Ossory, — the foot of every thoughtless visitor who saunters through its aisles, understanding little of what he sees, and, perhaps, caring less, and the busy thronging of the Sunday congregations, rapidly effacing from them every record of the past. This sad result might easily, and without much expense, be prevented by the removal of all tomb slabs from the thoroughfares between the principal doors and the choir, and their arrangement in places where it is unnecessary for the foot of the passenger or worshipper to tread. They should be grouped together in centuries, and, in most instances, raised a few inches above the floor, in order to show the chamfer or molding round the edge, and give an intelligible hint that they should not be regarded as common flooring flags. When one considers the number, beauty, and value of those remains, forming in themselves almost a complete museum for the study of Anglo-Irish sepul- chral antiquities, we cannot but suppose that most persons will agree with us that, to make a perfect arrangement and classification of them, to take efficient measures for their future careful preservation, might be called a national work. In any movement for such a purpose the Dean and Chapter might safely reckon on the support and sympathy of the public at large. To complete the con- gruous arrangement of the effigial tombs would be attended with very small expense indeed: to take up and classify the slabs, at present trodden upon by CHAP. I.] CLASSIFICATION OF THE MONUMENTS. 141 every passing foot, would be easy of accomplishment. We have taken the trouble to ascertain from a professional builder the expense of the re-arrange- ment of the monuments, and learn that it would not exceed £20 ; and we have no doubt but that this sum would quickly be subscribed. In a wide sense, these monuments are national property, intimately connected with the country's history. In a more circumscribed point of view they are of value to Kilkenny men, being endeared to them by early associations, by a natural reve- rence for the remains of the olden time. and. in some instances, by the memory of the pleasure conferred by the study of that art and history on which they are calculated to shed not a little light — J. G. 142 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. n. CHAPTER II. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. TOMBS of the Thirteenth Century. — There are but five tombs of this period which bear inscriptions. All of them are more or less injured, and but one remains in a tolerably good state of preservation: — [i.] + hia j iAaec : livs • lieNmai \ De i ponco : De ; lyra i qi ■ obiic : in : Die s DeaoLLAaois : bi : ioTTis ; BApcisce ; anno ; DNi : hi • da i lxxxv . . Translation : — «f> Here lieth son of Henry de Ponto de Lyra (or of Lyra) who died on the feast of the beheading of St. John the Baptist, A.D. M.CC.LXXXV . . This, if not the most ancient monument in the cathedral, is, at least, the most ancient bearing a date a . The injuries to which it has been subjected may be judged of from the circumstance that it has been broken into two parts, which are to be found widely separated. The portion on which the beginning and end of the inscription have been cut now forms a flooring flag in the north transept, near the entrance arch of the parish church ; whilst the other half, with the remaining part of the inscription, lies under the gallery stairs in the north side chapel. The inscription runs round the edge of the slab, and the only central ornament was a heater-shaped shield in relief, charged with armo- rial bearings ; but this has been nearly chiselled away, it would seem, with the view of allowing a door to open freely. A portion of the shield remains, on which appear to be sculptured two quatrefoils ; but these formed only a small part of its original heraldic charge. * This tomb escaped the observation of O'Phe- Ledwich or Shee : the inscription is now for the lan, and, consequently, has not been noticed by first time printed. CHAP II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 143 The sculptor apparently made a mistake in cutting upon the stone the word Ponto for Ponte. The name of De Ponte occurs in the Irish Records at a very early period. John de Ponte seems to have filled some important legal office in this country at the period to which the monument belongs; and we even find him discharging official duties in connexion with the City of Kilkenny. In the year 1302 he was nominated by the king to hold an investigation into the circumstances attending the discovery of treasure in Kilkenny. "William Utlawe, Rot. Pat., 31 or Outlawe, a merchant of that town, made a complaint to the crown that "Wil- liam Kiteler a , sheriff of the Liberty of Kilkenny, by the direction of Fulk de la Freyne, seneschal of the Liberty, had forcibly entered his house by night with an armed retinue, and, having dug therein, discovered and carried away a sum of £3000, which he had there hidden underground for Adam le Blund, of Callan, and Alice his wife, in trust for whom he had received it ; whilst at the same time the said sheriff had found and appropriated £100 of Utlawe's own money, the restoration of all of which he applied for. The instructions to De Ponte were, that he should search out the truth of the allegations, and see that the moneys were, in the meantime, deposited in a safe place, under his own seal and that of the seneschal of the Liberty, until it should be deter- mined to whom they of right belonged, — the king being inclined to think that, coming under the denomination of " treasure found," they ought to be adjudged the property of the crown. The result of these curious proceedings is not recorded. The words on the monument, " de Lyra," may be a part of the surname of the person for whom it was erected ; but, perhaps, it may be sug- gested as more probable that they indicate that personage to have been the proprietor of the manor of Lyrath, near Kilkenny, subsequently the property of the Tobin family, and now the estate of Sir Charles Cuffe, Bart. It is scarcely necessary to point out that " ra" is the common pronunciation of the Irish word " rath" applied to an earth-fortified dwelling-place. a Utlawe being the son of the celebrated re- monetary transactions, in fact, to have acted on puted Kilkenny witch, Dame Alice Kyteler, this an extensive scale as bankers, lending large sums William was, no doubt, a connexion of his. Adam of money to the crown and to the nobility and Le Blund was the second husband of Dame gentry of Ireland. This accounts forthe powerful Alice; and both Utlawe and he appear, from lay interest exerted to save Dame Alice and her various entries on Close and Patent Rolls of supposed accomplices from the doom prepared Chancery, to have been frequently engaged in for them by the Bishop of Ossory. U 144 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. [2.] .... IAaeC i ROSIA : BVL i AMITT1C : pROpiGICCVR i DS . Translation: — [»J" Here] lieth Rosia Bui [on whose] soul may God have mercy. A fragment very much injured, being but three feet in length by half a foot wide. The centre of the slab, round the verge of which the inscription ran, seems to have been originally ornamented with an incised cross, of which a small part of the base only remains upon the portion of the tomb stW. extant 3 . The name Bull or Bulle is to be found in Ireland about the period to which the tomb belongs. John Bulle was bail for the sheriff of Limerick in 1335; and in 1417, according to an original municipal rent-roll of the 5 Henry V., in the office of the Registrar of the diocese of Ossory, Thomas Bull, of Fowkestown, was a tenant to the Corporation of Kilkenny for a garden situate within St. Patrick's gate. It is possible that the lady for whom the monument was here placed belonged to the family of Bull, seated at Fowkestown, in the county of Kilkenny. [3.] + lua : iAaec ; 6lgna ; filia : odwardi ; avivs \ Ale ; prcopiai- gtvr = De : in : vie a \ ecercNAm \ Am. Translation : — Here lieth Elena the daughter of Edward, on whose soul may God have mercy for life eternal. Amen. Although broken across in several places, this tomb is in a pretty good state of preservation. It is a coffin-shaped slab, of small size, a hollow chamfer No. 41. running round the edge. A cross, in relief, of a very uncommon and graceful character, although of simple design 15 , fills the centre, and the inscription runs " This tomb is altogether omitted by Shee; b A cross of a nearly similar form occurs on a and Ledwich, following a mistake in O'Phelan's monument at Dorchester, Oxfordshire. See Spe- manuscript, gives the name of the person for cimens of Grave Stones, issued by the Oxford whom it was erected as fiosice Ruu. Architectural Society. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 145 in two lines along the left side from top to bottom. The sculptor omitted the letter r in the word eternam, which he subsequently interlined. The accom- panying engraving, drawn to a scale of half an inch to a foot, affords an accurate illustration of the monument. Who Ellen, the daughter of Edward, was, we have been unable to discover, but the absence of a surname would indicate that she was not of gentle degree. She was, probably, of the wealthy burgess class, as the tomb was, no doubt, a somewhat costly one for the period. [4.] 6 : LYVNS i G . . C : iai i DeV i DC i SA : ALTT1 Translation: — Here lieth [ ]e Lynns, on whose soul may God [have mercy]. The only tomb, or rather portion of a tomb, now remaining, which bears a Norman-French inscription". The fragment measures 2 feet 4 inches, by 2 feet 2 inches, being the upper part of what appears to have been originally a coffin-shaped slab, but to have been reduced to its present dimensions to form a conveniently sized flooring flag! It was ornamented with an incised inter- laced cross, exactly similar to that on the tomb of John Talbot (No. 8, infra), except that in the centre of the cross, which is left unsculptured on Talbot's tomb, there is a floriated ornament resembling a rose. This is, perhaps, the monument of an ancestor, in Kilkenny, of the family of Lyons, also frequently spelled, in old documents, Lyoun. In the years 1338 and 1347 John Lyons filled the office of one of the two portreves of Kilkenny, Liber Primus • • i • i r • • p ■ • iii r Kilkennia. the original title of the civic functionaries who, by the charter of 9 James I., were named sheriffs. Robert Lyoun was admitted a burgess of Kilkenny in 1383, and Philip Lyoun in 1389. [5.] ALLAN • aVIVS : AN ITT) e ■ ]m Translation : — [Here lieth ] Allan, on whose soul [may God] have mercy. This is a mere fragment of a floor-slab b , now measuring 2 feet by 1 foot a It appears to have been overlooked by inscription, but Ledwich and Shee do not seem O'Phelan, and was, therefore, not given by to have thought it worthy of insertion in their Ledwich or Shee. catalogues, — so that it has not been heretofore b O'Phelan transcribed what is legible of this printed. u2 140 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. n. 4 inches. It appears to have been devoid of any ornamental sculpture, and the inscription, which is in incised Lombardic characters, is so very imperfect that it would be idle to hazard any speculation as to the individual whom it was designed CmneWs Book, to commemorate ; but we may mention that a John Allan, or Aleyn, filled the office of portrcve of Kilkenny in 1336, and that of sovereign in 1340. Tombs of the Fourteenth Century. — There are six inscribed monuments of this period, which, although not all uninjured, are in a better state of preser- vation than those of the previous century. [6.] -j- liid: iAaec = dns : sirnoN : dvning : ctuonda : piReaeNcorc = iscms: eaae : qui = obiic •■ in ■■ Fesco ■ BeAce = iriAme : iriAGDALeNe = anno : dni = lfi ' ada = pc^qpc ■■ quArcco. Translation: — »J« Here lieth Master Simon Duning, formerly precentor of this church, who died on the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, A.D. m.ccc.xxxiv. A large, plain floor-slab, which has not received any injury. It measures 7 feet by 2 feet 8 inches, and the inscription, in incised Lombardic characters, runs all round the edge*. The Dunnings, Donnings, or Downings, as the name seems to have been indifferently spelled originally, were a family of ancient note amongst the bur- gesses of Kilkenny, and gave name to the townland of Dunningstown, near the pua Roil, 6 Ed. city. In 1312 we find Roger Duning residing at Booly, near Kilkenny, now known as Booly-Shee, and situate in the neighbourhood of Dunningstown. Rot. Mem., 13 111 1319 Simon Dunning, of Kilkenny, was cited to answer to the king and the merchants of the company of the Ricards of Luca, for the sum of £20 alleged to be due of him to that firm. The seneschal of the Liberty of Kilkenny received a precept to hear and decide the case, and Simon Dunning having appeared in his court, " proved that he had been quit of the debt, and so he departed." But, whether this personage was the Simon Duning of the monu- ment under consideration, or another member of the family bearing the same name, we cannot vouch, as in the pleading there is no addition given to his style Ed. II., m. 46 ' O'Phelan erroneously copied the date on this Ledwich and Shee, thus taking an entire century tomb as M.cccc.xxxiv., and it is so printed by from the real age of the monument. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 147 and title which would show him to have been an ecclesiastic. However, the D mi- nings are found in Kilkenny during the previous century. Amongst the " Pleas of the Crown," of the year 1289, recorded in the Liber Primus, or most ancient book of the Corporation of Kilkenny, is contained a statement of an investiga- tion held by Arnald le Poer, seneschal of the Liberty, sitting in his court on the Monday next after the feast of St. Michael, the 18th Edward I., into a com- plaint made against the retainers of Walter de la Pille, that they had gone forth from Kilkenny with horses and arms, and, coming to the corn fields of William Dunning, and other burgesses of that town, had despoiled them of a quantity of corn in ear, breaking down the stacks and carrying away the sheaves, contrary to the peace ; and that the hue and cry having been raised, and the burgesses having assembled and attempted to stop the depredators, a townsman, named Bartholomew Folyng, had been dangerously wounded by a lance-thrust from one of the plunderers. In the years 1293, 1295, 1305, and 1312, Allan Don- ConnelVs Book, ning or Douning filled the office of sovereign or chief magistrate of Kilkenny ; 0nnonde MSS ' and in 1323 and 1324 William Dounings held the same position in the munici- pality. At this period, as appears from the inscription, we find a member of the family, to whom this monument was erected, a dignitary of the cathedral of St. Canice. [7.] .... IAaeC ■• R0B6RCUS : DOBBYN = pAC : 6C : AV6 : Translation : — [Here] lieth Robert Dobbyn [ ] Pater and Ave [••••] This monument is nearly covered by the altar tomb of Kichard Viscount Mountgarrett, and does not appear to have borne any ornament. The inscription has been so worn under foot as to be all but illegible throughout, and completely so in some parts a ; however, from a most careful examination, we entertain no doubt that, so far as we have given the inscription, we have done so correctly. John Dobbin was one of the portreves of Kilkenny in 1376, and appears Cmneira B„ k, on the list of burgesses of that town in 1383. In 1403 he was placed on the " second twelve," and in 1405 on the " upper twelve" of the municipal council. Liber Primus In 1533 James Dobbin was portreve of Kilkenny. Thus it would appear that 4 It seems to have baffled the ingenuity of his MS. The portion of the inscription which O'Phelan, as no notice of the tomb appears in remains legible is now for the first time printed. 148 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. It. a family of the name was early settled and held a respectable position in the city, from which, however, we lose all trace of the name after the last date above given. But, in the county, we find a branch of the Dobbins near Inis- tiogue in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and under the denomination of the " sept of the Dobbins" they make a conspicuous figure in the Depositions of 1641 as plunderers of St. Canice's Cathedral on the breaking out of the Great Rebellion. However, connected with the city, from the time that we lose sight of the Dobbins there, we find a family named Tobin, the residence of whose head was at the castle of Lyrath, near at hand a , and we are disposed to consider that they were of the same stock and lineage. The family of De Sancto Albino, or De St. Aubyn, who were amongst the first of the Anglo- Norman settlers to become Hibernis ipsis Hiberniores, quickly changed the name which had been left them by their progenitors, or at least suffered it to be cor- rupted into Tobin. The Tobins of the Compsey, a district on the borders of Tipperary and Kilkenny, are described by the annalist Clyn, in the fourteenth century, as a restless and turbulent clan, more dreaded by the neighbouring English settlers than the aboriginal Irish, and, from the proximity of their ter- ritory to his residence at the Franciscan friaries of Kilkenny and Carrick, he must have been well acquainted with them. The letters t and d being con- vertible, the transition from Tobin into Dobbin seems even more easy and natural than from De St. Aubyn into Tobin b . [8.] + ffyc facet Eoftcs Talbot cut 9 ate pptctct' lis. Translation : — »J" Here lieth John Talbot, on whose soul may God have mercy. This is a floor-slab ornamented with an incised interlaced cross of a very * In 1556 Robert Tobin wasportreve of Irish- town. In 1608 Thomas Tobin " de Leyes Rath, gent.," was called to the same office, as was Richard Tobin in 1645. Lyrath would seem to have derived its name from the family of Ley or Lye, who were numerous, ancient, and respect- able in Kilkenny, and were probably its original possessors. b The Dean of Clonmacnoise, in the Notes and Appendix to Grace's Annals, edited by him for the Irish Archaeological Society, satisfactorily traces the name of Tobin from that of De St. Aubyn. We have not put forward the specu- lation that Dobbin was another corrupted form of the same name, without submitting our con- clusion on the subject, and our reasons for arriv- ing at it, to Dean Butler, and receiving his qua- lified approval of the suggestion. The omission of the S from St., and retention of the T sound, is common, as in Taunton for St. Anthony. CHAP. II. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 1-U graceful pattern. The inscription is also incised, in old English characters, in some degree approaching to the Lombardic, which had been fashionable in the previous century and the beginning of that to which this tomb belongs. So. 42. A branch of the noble English family of Talbot seems to have settled very early in the district, and to have become connected with the municipality of Kilkenny*. The charter granted by Theobald Walter to his burgesses of Gow- ran, in the reign of Richard L, is witnessed by a Robert Talbot. In 1322 Thomas Talbot received a royal pardon for all trespasses against the rights of the crown by him committed, in consideration of the services which he had rendered to the king, in company with William de Bermingham. in fighting against the O Xolans, and other native Irish clans inhabiting the district on the eastern border of the county of Kilkenny. In 1327 Richard Talbot, who, it appears, had married Elizabeth Comyn, cousin of Adamar de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, held of the king in capite, amongst other property, the town of Jeri- pont in the Liberty of Kilkenny. The first notice which we can find of the John Talbot for whom this tomb was placed in the cathedral of St Canice, occurs in the early part of the reign of Edward III., when we discover him fillin g the office of sheriff of the Cross b of Kilkenny, and rendering an account from the eighth to the fourteenth year of that king, or from 133-1 to 1340; and this account would seem to have shown a deficit on his part, as in 1343 the Carte's Lift of OrmtnuU, In- troduction, p. xvni. Rot. Pat-. 16 Ed. II. In the MSS^ Tria. CclL D*bL. F. 1. 18. Pipe Rolls. T.-^-r. 1 The connexion formed by Gilbert Talbot, 6T.^;t.:r :: Iir'.i ::' i'-7r ur-. wi:"- KJ.- kenny, through his marriage with Petronilla, daughter of James, the £rst Earl :: Orziznie, may hare led to the settlement there of a mem- :~r :: Lis :ir^.;ly. Tiire -vis - iu;;e^j.ir_: in- termarriage between the Butler and Talbot fami- lies, by the alliance of Elizabeth, daughter of James, fourth Earl of Ormonde, with John, second Earl of Shrewsbury. : Le. The church lands within the Liberty : die king appointed the sheriff of the Cross. 150 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. Rot Mm . L6 scnesclml of Kilkenny was ordered to arrest John Talbot and bring him before & 17 Ed III m.48. ' the Court of Exchequer to account for his arrears. In 1345 we have him Rot. Mm . in before the barons rendering a fresh account, and acknowledging himself indebted T'*l III in 1 G to the crown in the sum of £10 10s. 3(3?., which being unable or unwilling to discharge, he was committed to the custody of the marshal on the 20th Octo- ber. Whether he remained in prison for three years we cannot say, but on the Rot. Mm., 22 10th March, 1348, we find a mandate issued from the treasurer to the senes- III. 1<>, dortO. chal of the Liberty of Kilkenny, directing the suspension of the distraint made on the property of John Talbot for the amount of his shrievalty arrears. Treasurer** Finally, he appears to have been forgiven the sum of £10 6s. 9c?., which was RoUofAttermir .... nation, in the within a few shillings of the amount of his debt. His credit does not seem to Exchequer, 1 to ° . 30 Ed. iii. have suffered much by his delinquency in the shrievalty, for in 1353 we find & 28 Ed. in., John Talbot accepted as security for John Fitz Oliver de la Freigne in the senes- Rot.Mem. 39 chalship of Kilkenny, and in 1366 he went bail for both the seneschal of the m . 16 ' ' ' Liberty and the sheriff of the Cross of Kilkenny. In 1357 John Talbot filled fmrnmeT* the office of portreve of Kilkenny, and the next year his name appears on the b*4i EdTiiL, li st °f commons or burgesses of the town. In 1367 his son, Robert Fitz- Rot'iiem., 48 John Talbot, was elected to his father's former office, that of sheriff of the Cross ; m.'iT. 1 ' an d in 1375 John himself answered in the Court of Exchequer, as attorney for Rot. Mem., 5 & Patrick de Freygne, Knight, seneschal of Kilkenny. In 1381 John a^ain became G Ric. II., m. ..... . . 54. security, in conjunction with John Wafferton, for his son Robert, who received from the crown the custody of two parts of the property of Hugh, Earl of Staf- ford, which had been seized into the king's hands by virtue of the Statute against Absentees. John Talbot was, no doubt, a very old man at this period, and he would appear to have died and received sepulture in the cathedral of St. Canice immediately after, as we can discover no subsequent mention of his name in the public records. His son, Robert, however, makes a much more important stanihurst. figure in the annals of Kilkenny, early chroniclers having handed down his Henry Marie- name to be honoured of posterity as the " worthie gentleman," who, in the year 1400, " inclosed with walls the better part of the towne, by which it was greatly fortified." A later annalist, Dowling, affirms that Robert Talbot executed this work at his own expense ; a statement which is scarcely credible, when we consider the station of the individual and the large outlay which the erection of the mural boundary of such a town as Kilkenny must have involved. It is chap, ii.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 151 much more probable that, whilst the walls were built under his direction and supervision, the means were supplied by the state, the lord of the Liberty, or the Corporation of the municipality*. Kobert Talbot is seen at the period in question filling prominent offices and exercising powers derived from these three sources: in 1381 and 1388 we find him nominated by the king as a custos sot.Pat., 5 Ric pacis, or justice of the peace, for the county of Kilkenny; in 1381 he was far- 205; mi Hut. mer of the property of Hugh, Earl of Stafford, the proprietor of the manor and m °i82. castle of Kilkenny, whilst in 1385 he was directed by the crown to pay out of Rot. Mem., 9 the profits of that trust a sum of 335. 4c?. to Thomas ffreynsshe, for his labour about the king's business in the Exchequer; for the years 1374, 1375, and conneir* Bo„/<. 1386 he filled the office of sovereign or chief magistrate of the town of Kil- rmonde s " kenny ; and from 1384 to 1408 his name is always placed first on the list of the Liber Primus . . Kilkennitr. twelve chief burgesses of the Corporation, answering to the modern aldermen. This benefactor of Kilkenny — for, whether he supplied the funds himself or merely administered those intrusted to him by the state or municipality for the purpose, it is obvious that through his instrumentality an important benefit was conferred upon the town — died in the year 1415, and doubtless, although Marlelurgh's the fact is not recorded, was interred, with his father, within the aisles of St. Canice. Other members of the family were at the same period office-bearers in the Corporation of Kilkenny, but we shall have occasion to refer to them in noticing the tombs of the ensuing century. [9.] $^tc : . . . . us : tot'Ilms : carlt'cl : qW : rector : rjocfn'l : ac : arcfjtcitacon 9 : mftf : $ : eccltat' : fcurjlmeV : cass' : ossor' : fern' : don' : 5 : corKag' : canom .... cut 9 : ate : pptckt' : tTs : am : Translation : — Here [lieth] Master William Carliel, rector of Youghal, and archdeacon of Meath, also canon of the churches of Dublin, Cashcl, Ossory, Ferns, Cloyn, and Cork, [ ] on whose soul may God have mercy. Amen. A coffin-shaped slab, 6 feet 1| inches long, by 2 feet 6 inches at top, and 2 feet at bottom. It would seem to have been intended originally to lie even with the floor, but it has been modernly elevated on a plain base, two feet high. a See more on this subject in a paper, by one of Kilkenny," in the Transactions of the Kilkenny the Authors, on " The Builder of the Walls of Archaeological Society, vol. i. p. 34. X 152 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. ii. The tomb is altogether devoid of ornament or sculpture, except the inscription, which is in large old English characters, deeply incised, some of the letters pre- senting curiously floriated flourishes. Master "William Carliel, or, as the name is more generally spelled, Karlell, although holding so many ecclesiastical benefices, seems to have been, as was not unusual with clergymen in his time, far more largely occupied in the dis- charge of civil duties and legal functions. We meet his name first in the public Rot Mem . r,8 records in the year 1364, when the Barons of the Exchequer received an order m. 4. '' " to compute the amount due to William de Karlell and Nicholas Lumbard, who had been commissioned to supervise and accelerate the collection of the debts due to the king in the counties of Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Tipperary, Cork, and Limerick, at a fee of 6s. 8d. each, per diem. The barons accordingly reported, on their oaths, that the said William and Nicholas had been so employed on the king's business from the 14th day of August of the 38th of the king's reign, to the 26th September next following, being forty -four days, iipe rioii, Etr- which left a sum of £29 6s. Sd. due to them. In 1369, having surrendered Twer. the custody of the lands which had belonged to Kalph, Earl of Stafford, in the county of Kilkenny, into the king's hands, he received an acquittance for the sum of £20, which had come into his possession as seneschal and custos of that Rot. cias., 4G property, from the 27th September in that year, to Easter next after. In 1372 Ed. in., m. i. have William de Karlell elevated to the dignity of second baron of the ni. »2. Exchequer; and grants were made to him of £20 for collecting the subsidies id., m. 67. in the counties of Kilkenny, Wexford, and Waterford, and a like sum in remu- neration of his labour and expenses in selling the fruits of the benefices in Ireland. In the same year, on the 8th of March, the king addressed an order to /,/.. m. 20. William de Karlell and Geofrey de la Launde, late farmers of the lands of Ralph, Earl of Stafford, pointing out that three years previously the royal per- mission had been given to the Earl to re-enter upon the possession of his pro- perty, previously forfeited in consequence of his absence from Ireland ; but the rents of the lordship of Tamelyn, of the town of Kilkenny, and of the third part of the lordship of Kilkenny, not having been then accordingly transferred to him, it was his majesty's pleasure that they should now see that duty performed. In the same year Karlell caused Sir William Wellesley to be arrested for not answer- ing in the Exchequer for the estate just come into his possession by the decease CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 153 of his father, Sir John Wellesley ; and in the following year Richard Batem an Lynch 's Fivdnl was found guilty of contumelious words, having said that " William de Karlell, £aromcs ' p - 98- the Baron of the Exchequer, was not worthy of arresting so great a Magnate as William de Wellesley, and that only he acted then in the King's service he should regret his doing so while he lived." In 1373 William Karlell, baron Rot.Mem.. \:& _ ° . . ... ... 48 Ed. III., m. of the Exchequer, was commissioned to ascertain by inquisition the value of y, d<>no. all the property, as well lay as clerical, in the king's hands, in the counties of Kilkenny, Wexford, Waterford, Tipperary, Cork, and Limerick ; to collect the king's debts, imprisoning those who should refuse to pay ; and also to inquire in the town of Youghal how many pipes of wine James, Earl of Ormonde, had received of the prizage of wines coming in ships or barges to the said town, from the time that the Earl had the prizage granted to him. The same year Ormonde mss. William de Karlell granted to the Earl of Ormonde 100 marks, a yearly rent issuing from one messuage, two curtilages, and a dovecot in Youghal a . In 1374 Rot. cl, 48 Ed. he petitioned the Lord Lieutenant, William de Wyndsore, and the Council of Ireland, for remuneration for his trouble and losses, incurred in the service of the state. He showed that he had been appointed by patent to clear the green- wax accounts within the counties of Waterford, Cork, Kilkenny, and Tipperary, and to take the election of the sheriffs of the crosses of Kilkenny, Tipperary, " The original grant is preserved in the Or- monde Evidence Chamber, Kilkenny Castle, and we think it worth transcribing here, as it gives some curious particulars with respect to boun- daries. It is as follows : — " Nou?int vniu?si p p'sentes me Willm' de Karlele rectorem Ecctiebeate Marie del Yoghyll concessisse't dedissedno Jacobo leBotiller Comit' Dormond cent' marcas annui redd' leuand' &c. in vno mesuag' duob' curtilagiis 't vno columbario cu ptin' in le Yoghyll que se extendut in longi- tudine a via Regia ex pte boreali vsque ten' Johis Norwiche ex pte australi 't in latitudine a ten' dci Johis Norwiche 't Johis Desshe de Can- tilupo ex pte orientali vsque venellam que ducit ad ecclesiam beate Marie del Yoghyll ex pte oc- cidentali que qu'dam fuerut diii Johis Tunstall X nup psone ecctie pdce 1 que ego dciis Willis heo ex dono 't feoffamento dni Johis de Hirst ctici, hend' &c, eidem com' &c, imppetuu &c. In cujus rei testimoniu p'sent' sigitt meu apposui. Dat' xviii die marcii anno r' r' Edwardi t?cii post conquest' Angt quadragesimo sexto 't ffrancie t?cesimo t?cio." The seal appended is of red wax, and bears, beneath a rich canopy, the Virgin and Child in one niche, and St. Catherine in the other. Round the edge, in black letter, runs the fol- lowing legend : — " jeigtllum : . . . t : t)e : Star- MP." The seal is small, measuring 1» inches in diameter. The matrix seems to have been beautifully executed, but, unfortunately, the impression affixed to this deed was much flat- tened whilst the wax was soft. 2 154 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. ii. and Woysford, and the counties of AVaterford and Cork, in the time of Robert de Assheton, late lord justice ; that he had taken divers inquisitions for the king's benefit, in some of which it was found that James le Botyller, Earl of Ormonde, had received above £200 of the prize wines at Waterford (with which he was charged of right to the king) under colour of the king's letters ; and that he had lost two horses, worth twenty marks, about the said affairs, and the arresting of a ship at Waterford for six weeks, and one horse worth £5 in going from Catherlagh to Tristernagh, by the lord justice's order, to take the oath of James de la Hyde, late seneschal of the Liberty of Meath, who, on account of the wars in Meath, could not come to Catherlagh to take his oath, in which journey two weeks were expended ; and that he also, by direction of the Lord Lieutenant and Council, had gone towards the county of Weysford, at great pains and expense, to inquire about found treasure. For all these ser- vices, on the 8th of June, he was rewarded with a grant of £20. In the same Rot. cza«*.,48 year a Parliament assembled in Dublin, in the octaves of St. Hilary, to which iso to 1 ^™. were summoned, amongst many peers and knights, " William de Karlell, clerk, and John de Karlell, clerk, who were of the king's counsel;" and in the follow- Rot. Pat., 49 m ~ vear William was confirmed in the possession of " the prebend of Killaugy, Ed. in.,m. 15. foggier w jt n the church of Coulstuff, to it annexed, and the canonry of . . . Rot. Mem., • ■ . . in the cathedral of Ferns." In 1380 we find the seneschal of Kilkenny 4 Kic. ii., or( j ere( j t0 distrain the goods of William Karlell, because that he having been appointed to receive the temporalities of the archbishopric of Cashel, and two parts of the profits of the prebend of Fennor, which were seised into the king's hands on account of the absenteeism of those to whom they belonged, had not duly rendered an account of his trust. He appears soon to have got out of this Rot. Mem., 7 & scrape, for in 1383 we have him filling the office of chief baron of the Exche- 2. ' quer, and as such commissioned, in company with John Bretton, chief remem- brancer, to ascertain the value of the property of Edmond de Mortimer, late Earl of March and Ulster, in Ireland. In the same year King Eichard II. Rot. Mem., 7 & ordered, that — " Inasmuch as our beloved consort, Anne, has appointed Wil- LOdow.' liam de Karlell her general attorney to levy and receive, by himself or his deputies, to her use, the queen's gold a , from the 22nd day of January in the a " Queen-gold (Aurum Reginae) is a royal England, during her marriage to the king, pay- duty or revenue belonging to every Queen of ableby persons in thiskingdom and Ireland, upon CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 155 5th year of our reign, on which day our said consort was in our said land of Ireland, viz., of each fine of 10 marks levied to us in said land, 1 mark, and of each fine exceeding 10 marks at the same rate, according to ancient custom in said parts" — it was his majesty's pleasure that the lord deputy, the treasurer, and the barons of the Exchequer, should aid and assist him in every way in the discharge of that duty. In the same year, 1383, we find the names of Wil- Liber Primus liam Carlele and Thomas Carlele a upon the roll of burgesses of the town of Kilkenny ; and in this year also it would appear that the former died, and was interred in the cathedral of St. Canice, it being recorded in the archives of the Exchequer that "William de Karlell, whilst acting as procurator of Henry not. Man., a Do wet, Dean of St. Patrick's, Dublin, during the absence of that dignitary at m.^cT the court of Rome on the king's business, died on Ash Wednesday, in the seventh year of King Richard II. ; and his brother having been sued, as his executor for his debts, the pleading serves fully to identify this William Kar- lell, or de Karlell, baron of the Exchequer, with the William Carleil of the monument under consideration, as he is expressly stated to have been Arch- R t. Mem., 9 deacon of Meath and parson of the church of Kells thereunto annexed. Ric. II.. in. [10.] acet tins fo^cs tie feaddl quJJa cancdlarius ccc tt pat'cti tiubltn 1 ac eccltaru ferno (J Iunt'tcen' canotV $ Translation: — [Here] lieth Master John de Karlell, formerly chancellor of the church [....] St. Patrick, Dublin, also canon of the churches of Ferns and Limerick, and [•...] A floor slab, originally coffin-shaped, but much broken and injured. The divers grants of the king, by way of fine or ob- ward the Third enclosed to his treasurer and lation, &c, being one full tenth part above the barons in Ireland a transcript of a statute entire fines on pardons, contracts, or agreements, (as he says) anciently edited and used and ap- which becomes a real debt to the queen, by the proved of in the Exchequer of England, corn- name of Aurum Reginoe, upon the party's bare manding them to enrol the same, and to observe agreement with the king for his fine, and record- it in levying the Queen's gold." — Lynch'' s Feudal ing the same." — Jacob's Lata Dictionary, sub Baronies, p. 12. voce. " Aurum regina;, or Queen's gold, appears =■ In 1384 Thomas de Karlell was empowered in many records to have been paid in Ireland to collect the king's debts in Cork and Lime- from a very remote period ; and on its being r i c k {Rot. Mem., 8 & 9 Ric. II., m. 2): his name questioned, or perhaps misunderstood, King Ed- frequently occurs in the public records. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. inscription, in deeply incised Old English characters, ran round the edge, and the centre would appear to have been left plain till the stone was appropriated as a monument for Bishop Deane in the seventeenth century, and his arms sculptured upon it, beside an inscription to the memory of that prelate, cut in relief. The striking contrast between the original and more modern inscriptions is faithfully shown by the accompanying engraving. . japeripififjuonfui ( 20 bi? menug f ebnariifewo hmm xmwA TOPiP» mjMM No. 43. John de Karlell was the brother of William, the baron of the Exchequer, and, like him — living at a period when education was a rare gift amongst the laity, and the chief offices of the state were, therefore, necessarily committed to ecclesiastics — he devoted his attention more largely to civil than clerical func- tions. We first notice his name in the records of the country in the year 1374, when, with William, he was summoned to Parliament as one of the king's counsel. Rot. Mr,,,.. 49 In 1376 Thomas Vernvill having pleaded, in excuse for non-attendance at a Par- & 50 Ed. III., . ° 1 ' m. 5 dorso. liament held in Kilkenny on the crastine of the Holy Trinity, 49th Edward III., that had he absented himself from his property in Meath, it would have been laid waste by the incursions of the O'Conors and Matthew Fitz-Redmond Brcmyngham, Master John de Karlell was associated with Walter de Cusack, knight, seneschal of the Liberty of Meath, to ascertain by inquisition the truth Rot.sfem., i & of these allegations. In 1380 John Karlell received from the crown a grant 5 Kic. II., m. ° ° 89. of the custody of two parts of the prebend of Taghmon, in the cathedral of Ferns, which had been seised into the king's hands on account of the non-re- sidence of John Keten, the prebendary, who continued to sojourn in England, Rot. Mem., 7& notwithstanding the statute against absenteeism. In the year 1383, on Thurs- bs dono ' day after the first Sunday in Lent, John de Karlell, clerk, came before the vene- rable father, the Bishop of Ossory, treasurer of Ireland and commissioner for CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. LS7 the collection of the king's dues, in whose presence he entered into security to account for, in the Exchequer, and fully satisfy all and singular the debts and accounts of "William de Karlell, clerk, deceased. The bails whom he gave for the due performance of this undertaking were Thomas de Karlell, of Kilkenny, John Aynsarowe, parson of the church of St Mary, "Wexford, and Thomas Black, parson of the church of Ballymany, county of Kildare. In 138.5 pro- ceedings at law were instituted against John, as his brother William's represen- Rot. Mem., 9 tative, for those debts due to the crown, and the suit seems to have been carried '' u " m ' ' on for a considerable period, and not to have terminated during his life. In the meantime, however, his interest at court appears to have been in no way diminished, as he subsequently obtained large preferment in the legal profession, and had various offices of trust confided to him. On the 20th April, 1386, a Rot. Pat.. 10 royal license was granted to John de Karlell. clerk, to bring to any port in the 226. county of Dublin fifty crannocks of wheat, and export them to Portugal, Gas- cony, and Bayonne, and to buy there wine, salt, and iron, " pro usu hospicii sui." In 1388, on the 8th March, the king, on his petition, gave permission Rot. Pat.. 12 that, during his absence from Ireland, he might have the power to levy the pro- 247. fits of the chancellorship of St. Patrick's, Dublin, of the prebend of Fynglas to it annexed, and of the prebend of Slewecolter in the cathedral of Ferns, and of the prebend of Offyn in the cathedral of Limerick, as also of the farm of the ward and marriage of Ralph Fitz-Morice, Baron of Burnchurche 2 , and of the farm of the deanery of Dublin and of the prebend of Crospatryk, with the church of Rosclare and the chapel of Ballymore to that prebend belonging. In 1391 we find John de Karlell filling the office of a baron of the Exchequer; Rat p a t.. 15 and in the following year we have the king ordering the treasurer of Ireland 43. 1L ' mm4a ' to remunerate him for his labour in arranging for the comincr of Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, into Ireland on two occasions b . He died in 1394, as appears * The Baron of Burnchurch, county of Kil- kenny, descended from Maurice Fitzgerald, the Black Knight, was a member of a family of an- cient importance, who lost their patrimony by adhering to the fortunes of the Stuarts. b Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, was nominated Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in July, 1393, and continued to hold the appoint- ment to October, 139-4, although he never came over from England to enter on the duties of the office ; so that it would appear the preparations twice ordered to be made for his reception by Master John de Karlell were unavailing. — Harris' Ware, vol. iL, p. 106. 158 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. Rot. M,;,,., is from proceedings entered into in the year 1411, when it was found, by an inqui- m. 8. " sition" held in Carlow before the barons of the Exchequer, on Monday before the feast of the Ascension, that " John Carlele, clerk, debtor of our lord the king," had deceased on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, in the eighteenth year of King Richard II., and at the time of his death was seised in fee of a certain tenement in the town of Kilkenny, of the yearly value of 135. 4.d., of which Sir Edward Perers, knight, was in occupation, as tenant, levying and receiving the profits of the same. The result was, that the crown took pro- ceedings against Sir Edward Perers to recover this property in satisfaction of the royal claim, but a jury of the inhabitants of Kilkenny having given a ver- dict in favour of the knight, the barons of the Exchequer determined to relin- quish the king's demand. "We have no subsequent mention of any member of the family of Carlele or de Karlell as being connected with Kilkenny. [11.] f§(c facet &n 9 MUmus uagl Translation: — Here lieth the Lord William Vayl [••••] A fragment measuring 2 feet 3 inches by 1 foot 5 inches. The inscription, in incised old English characters, ran round the verge, and the centre of the slab was devoid of ornament. The names of several English and Irish families have undergone various transformations in the lapse of centuries, but there is none, that we are aware of, which has suffered so many and such strange metamorphoses as that of the person whose monument is under consideration. The Anglo-Norman proge- nitor of the family was designated De Valle, doubtless from the situation of his residence or property, and that patronymic was carried down for a while by his ' The finding of the Inquisition, duly set out is recorded, under the date 15th April in that in the Memoranda Rolls of the Exchequer, fur- year (1392), to this effect, that Walter Eure and nishes, we believe, the best legal proof of the William de Carlell, executors of John de Car- time of his decease, and we, therefore, state it lell, clerk, prayed the Lord Justice and Council above on that authority ; nevertheless, there is for the custody of the goods, " q' fuerut le dit very good evidence extant that John de Karlell John jo r de son moriant," which were seised was dead at least two years before the feast of St. into the king's hands. Custody was granted Michael, 1394. In an original Irish Privy Council accordingly, on condition that the executors Roll of the 16th Richard II., preserved in the should pay his debts into the Exchequer. The Evidence Chamber, Kilkenny Castle, a minute order is dated from Trim. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 159 descendants ; but soon the language introduced by the conquering Normans began to lose some of its original characteristics, and the French, De Yalle, became the English, Vale. The orthography of the language was at the time, and for a considerable period subsequently, in a most unsettled state, and this name was spelled, as it suited the whim or pleasure of those who wrote it, Yale, Vayl, Veel, and Yeal. Now veal was French for the young of the cow, so that the translation of the name of Yale into Calf, by those who adhered to the Saxon language, was easy and natural enough, and thus throughout the four- teenth century we find the members of a single family indifferently called, and calling themselves, De Yalle, Yale, Vayl, Yeel, Calf, and Calfe. But in the next century the name presents itself to us in a new phase, as, by slightly changing the initial letter, it became Wale ; whilst in the seventeenth century it underwent a new and final transformation by changing the last letter, and took the form of Wall. There ire numerous families of the name still resident in the county and city of Kilkenny, all in humble circumstances ; and did not the public records of the country enable us to trace their patron}-mic, in all its phases, from the Anglo-Norman invasion to the present time, few indeed would be likely to recognise the connexion between the aristocratic Norman name of De Valle, and the plebeian cognomen of Wall 3 . The family of De Yalle seems to have made a very early settlement in Kilkenny. Between the years 1277 and common pi ea 1279 John de Valle filled the important office of seneschal of the Liberty, and e' Item. — The said jury present that the vycar of Castell Doughe is a Senciall and Judge, and sesith enormall acts and fashions, that is to saye, if any affraye be made betweene men aboute him where he dwelleith, so that there be bluddeshedde, he wille assesse a greyvyous fine or amercement upon the persons that so made the affraye, and the same fyne so assessed he will levye by way of distres, if they have lands or goods in whiche or wherby they maye be dystrayneid, to the use of the lorde of Sertall : and over that he will have ll d himself of every blodshedde, which he doth his owne self without inquyrie of the affraye so made by Inqueste, and taketh also the fyne himself. — Irishtown Pre- sentment, State Paper Office, London. Irish Papers, vol. ii., A. D. 1537. chap- n.] INSCRIBED MCOsTMEXTS. 171 prietors of the county. The presentment of the Corporation of Kilkenny alleges that the lord Shortall not only levied coyne and livery, but used another exaction very grievous to those holding land from him. -which -was to M usually sende his horses to the howses of husbandmen, and with every horse one or two horseboyes ; and [they] are founde at the costs of the said husbandmen, and there remaine during their pleasure." Another act of oppression is, by the presentment of the commons of the town of Kilkenny, laid to the charge of several gentlemen of the district, including t; the lord Sertall:"' — " Item, they do compell their tenauntes and other thinhabitauntes of the countrey to sell their vytalles, come, and other thinges whiche they have to selle, to one only person and will not suffer them to sell the same to any other person ;" this favoured trader, it being alleged, paying the lords and their lackeys a sum of money for securing them in the monopoly. Except that he was about o™«ufc : - seventy years of age in 1534, we can discover nothing more about the Casd^ member of the Shortall family who erected the monument in the cathedral of St. Canice ; but, respecting his successor in the property, who also bore the name of James, there is extant in the legal archives of the country some curious particulars of a family feud, in which he was one of the chief actors. It appears from the muniments of the Exchequer that, at a general session held at Kil- kennv, on Monday in the feast of St. Laurence the Martvr. 1583, before Sir Nicholas White, Master of the Rolls, and Edmond Butler, of Callan, Esq., Second Justice of the Chief Place, and their brethren, justices of gaol delivery, James Shortall, of Bourdheys, in the county of Kilkenny, gentleman, Walter Rochford, of Cloghcanny, gentleman, and "William Grace, of Uncellis Inch, gentleman, came into court in person, and bound themselves by bond to the Queen, in the sum of £100 of silver, Irish money, the condition of such bond being that the said James Shortall, of Bourdheys, should keep the peace towards James Shortall, of Ballylorcan, gentleman. But the quarrel between the par- ties, however it arose, did not end here, for at a general session of gaol delivery, held at Kilkenny, on Monday next after the feast of the Epiphany, in the year 1589, before Edward Fitzsimon, Esq., Sergeant-at-law, and Richard Beilinge, Esq., it was presented as follows: — " We fynde that James Shortall fitz Peirs, of Bourdsheys, Edmonde Grace, of Cowlis- Rot. Mem.. 32 shell, and others, came before her highnes' Commissioners at Kilkenny, and there did m " ' " 172 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. acknowledge themselves to owe to her highnes a some of money, to observe and pcrCorme hex highnes' peace to James Shortall, of liallilorcan ; and that the said James Shortall of Bourdsheys, contrarie to her highnes' peace, drew a skyne at the said James of Ballilorcan, and thoughte to thruste hym and put him in daunger of his lief; and bcinge not thereof contented, hath hurled stones at the saide James of Ballilorcan, the tenthe of June laste paste, 1589. And therefore Nicholas Walsh, the Second Justice of the Chief Place, and Roger Wilbraham, Solicitor General, justices of gaol delivery at Kilkenny on Thursday next before the feast of St. James the Apostle, in the 32nd of Elizabeth, send and certify the above mentioned recognizance and presentment to the Barons of the Exchequer, in order that execution might be done upon it." James Shortall, the defendant, appeared in person before the barons, at the Michaelmas term following, and pleaded that James of Ballylorcan had insulted, wounded, and ill-treated him, and also wished to deprive him of his free tene- ment in Bourdsheys, and he, therefore, was compelled to defend himself; so that if any damage happened to James of Ballylorcan, it was done by the defend- ant in his own defence. In the margin of the record are the words, " Eeplie, ex inimicia sua propria absque tali causa/' but judgment is not enrolled, and we are left in ignorance as to the result of these proceedings. The next pro- prietor of the manors of Ballylarcan, Ballykief, and Odogh, was Sir Oliver Shortall, knight, the son of James (who figured in the lawsuit just alluded to) by his wife, Owney Fitzpatrick, who outlived both her husband and son. Oliver hot. jut. c appears to have been in possession of the property in 1608, as there is a grant facie in., 8. rs amongst the patent rolls of James I., of the 19th May in that year, of certain lands " held of Oliver Shortall, Esq., as of his manor of Castledough." When he was knighted does not appear, but he died on the 9th of August, 1630, and i„ H m>. Temp., an inquisition was taken at Gowran on the 14th of April in the following Year, Car. I., Com. Kiik., No. 36. which found that Sir Oliver Shortall, knight, of Castledough, Ballylarkan alias Corbally, &c, had deceased at the time before stated, leaving a son and heir, James, of full age, and married, whose mother, Lady Ellen Shortall, was still living, with five other children ; and his grandmother was also alive, and had a charge of £20 per annum on the manor of Ballylarkan. Sir Oliver's lady was the widow of Nicholas Shortall, of Upper Claragh, who died 14th September, 1600, the daughter of John Butler, of Kilcash, and sister of Walter, eleventh Earl of Ormonde. She appears to have been married a third time to one of the Fitzpatrick family. James, the son of Sir Oliver and the Lady Ellen, died chap, n.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 173 on the 4th March, 1635, leaving a son, Thomas, then aged twenty-eight years, inquu., Temp, and married. After Cromwell's conquest of Ireland, the property of the Kiik., xo. to' Shortalls was declared forfeited, and their ancient manor of Ballylarkan was appropriated to Sir George Ayscue, knight, admiral of the English fleet under the Commonwealth, to whom it was confirmed by a grant under the Act of Settlement, dated 14th October, 1667, notwithstanding that the representative of the ancient proprietors petitioned King Charles II. for restoration to his family patrimony. The memorial is still extant in the Record Tower, Dublin mss. Lib. d., Castle, being that of Colonel James Dempsy, and the officers of his regiment, To™n Sbam showing that upon laying down their arms in Ireland, they left the country and served under the Prince of Conde, having first offered their services to Charles. On these grounds they prayed (but their prayer was unavailing) for a proviso in the Act of Settlement to restore them to their estates. The next signature to that of Colonel Dempsy is " James Shortall, heir of Oliver Shortall, of Bally- larkan." "Whether his claim was that of being the lineal representative of Sir Oliver, who died in 1630, or that he was the grandson of Thomas, living in 1635, by a son named Oliver, we have not been enabled to determine, but the latter appears most likely. The property has since remained alienated from the Shortall family. The castles of Ballylarkan and of Odogh have been utterly destroyed, but portions of the exterior defences of the bawn, with a curious flanking turret, relics of the ancient manorial fortress, still exist at Ballykeeffe. [15.] p*ic jacct magr fafjcs mog?)Ianiie a quo&a cantdlarius oss' recite qut otmt trie mcsis marcu &nno tmi mVcccVu p' cm 9 aia cuiltfa' tritctt ptt' or 1 !$ aue m 1 9cc5ut' a rcucijo p're ©ItuV cpo oss' xl tries itmlg. Qutsq's cr 1 q 1 tnfitY sta p'lcge plora. 5bm q5 cr' fueraq 1 q' cs p 1 me p'cor ora c . }of)cs mogtlantje tic monte. a O'PhelaD, by mistake, copied this name Cuochlantlc, and Ledwich and Shee have both so printed it. b O'Phelan copied this as DauiD, in which he was followed by Ledwich and Shee. The only bishop of Ossory, named David, was Hac- kett, who died long before Moghlande; but Oliver Cantwell was bishop at the time of the placing of the tomb in the cathedral, and the word in the inscription clearly reads (Dliu'o. c This distich, in an English form, is still much used in the grave-yards of Kilkenny. 174 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. Translation : — Here lietli Master John Moghlandc, formerly chancellor of the church of Ossory, who died the xixthday of March, m.ccccc.viii. ; for whose soul any person say- ing the Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary is granted xl days' indulgence by the reverend father Oliver, Bishop of Ossory. Thou who passest by pause, read, and lament. I am what you shall be. I was what you are. Pray for me, I beseech you. John Moghlandc of the mountain. This is a floor slab, in good preservation, ornamented by a very gracefully interlaced cross, the only example of the kind in the cathedral, and which is No. 48. here accurately figured. The inscription is in raised Old English characters, carried round the verge of the tomb. The rhyming distich is cut on the drooping ends of a band which runs across the shaft of the cross in the centre, and hangs down at either side; and the words " Johes Moghlande de monte" are inscribed on the graduated base of the cross, which, as well as the band, is in relief. It appears to have been the custom anciently, with notaries public, to have each a peculiar cross as his private mark. There are many very curious examples of interlaced and floriated crosses, sketched Avith pen and ink, as the private marks of notaries, existing amongst the records of the see of Ossory in the office of the Diocesan Register, and in the Evidence Chamber, Kilkenny Castle, each notary inscribing his signature on the base of the cross, exactly as on the monument under notice. That the form of cross Ormonde mss., sculptured on the monument was Moghlande's private mark, as a notary public, CmoT* 3 appears from two instruments bearing his notarial signature — an interlaced cross, of exactly the same form as that carved on his monument, with his name, " Jo. Mo. de monte," inscribed in an abbreviated form on the base. The Moghlandes were a family residing in the town of Kilkenny in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the name appearing occasionally on the bur- gage rolls ; but they do not seem to have ever held any municipal office. The CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 175 name was anciently written, indifferently, Moghlande, Molghan, and Mohland, and is evidently the same as the modern surname Moylan. Of the history of the member of the family for whom the tomb was placed in the cathedral, beyond what the inscription tells us, we have only been able to ascertain that he was a notary public, and, as such, certified an act of Oliver Cantwell, Bishop of Ossory, in the year 1501 — styling himself "Johannes Mohland clericus Ossoriensis diocesis, publicus sacris Apostolica et Imperiali auctoritatibus nota- rius ;" he likewise, as John Molghan, notary public, witnessed, with Master William Molghan, vicar of Knocktopher, the will of Sir James Butler, anno 1494 (see p. 190, infra). From the words u de monte" following his name we may presume he was a native of the hilly district in the modern baronies of Iverk and Knocktopher, known as the " Walsh Mountains." The head of the family of Walsh, who was the proprietor of the district, was always described as " Walsh of the mountain," a title in which his kinsmen took great pride, as would appear from some of the remains of bardic poetry, connected with the district, which have been handed down to our time by oral tradition. [16.] IBtc jam ^ctrtts Grant cancmtctts ©.ionic alumnus ct tricart tic 23aIIctarsnc q l oimt trie xxuf mensis jpcbruarit B° tit m°crccc t.x c cut ate p'ptcfet' ticus ©men. Translation : — Here lieth Canon Peter Grant, a student of Oxford, also vicar of Ballytarsna, who died the 23rd day of the month of February, A.D. m.ccccc.ix. ; on whose soul may God have mercy. Amen. This is a floor slab which has been so injured by being constantly walked over, that the inscription, which was carried all round the edge in Old English characters, is almost totally defaced, only an occasional letter being legible. We are, therefore, compelled to give the inscription as we find it published by Ledwich from OThelan's MS., without being able to vouch for more than its general accuracy. The centre of the tomb is occupied by a cross, the arms of which are enclosed in a cusped circle, formed of inverted segments of eight smaller circles, with a fleur-de-lis at each junction. The base is graduated. The cross is similar to that on the tomb of William Hollechan, the weaver, an engrav- ing of which will be found amongst the monuments of the ensuing century. 17G INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. lit It would appear from the list of literary worthies of his time supplied by Stanihurst, that it was not unusual for Irish students to frequent the English universities at the period; but the honour of being an alumnus of Oxford must have been deemed one to be not a little proud of, as we find it thus ostenta- tiously paraded on the monument of Peter Grant. He was a native of the county of Kilkenny, his family appearing to have been settled and to have taken a respectable position, from a period immediately subsequent to the Eng- lish Invasion, in the district where the ecclesiastical benefice which he held is ruus. ji. 11., situated — the barony of Iverk. From an extent of the rents and services Biit of the free tenants of the barony of Overke, taken in the seventh year of King Edward II. (1313), and which was preserved in the Earl of Ormonde's Book of Extents, — a precious manuscript, unfortunately destroyed some years since by an accidental fire, — it appears that David le Graunt then held of the Baron of Iverke, or Overke, one townland and a half in Hillid (Ullid) and Bally - trasnye (Ballytarsna), by suit of court, and 5s. regal service; also a fourth part of a townland in Ballycorry, by 12d. rent, without suit of court. At the same time William le Graunt held of the same baron half a carucate of land, with its appurtenances, in Clontory, by half a mark rent, without suit of court ; also Kym c hoyth, by suit of court, and 20s. regal service. The original grantee of the barony of Iverk was Miles Fitz David, one of the most distinguished of the knights who came over with Fitz Stephen on the invasion of Ireland. From him, or his immediate descendants, the property passed to the Le Poer family, Carte's Or- from whose representative, Roger Fitz Milo le Poer, Edmund le Botiller, Earl ducttm, ">™ of Carrick, purchased in the beginning of the fourteenth century the whole XXXI lordship of the barony of Iverke in Ossory ; the deed of conveyance being dated at Knocktopher, on the Wednesday after the feast of St. Gregory, in the twelfth year of Edward II. (1318). Still, the Le Poers retained posses- sion of the greater portion of the manor of Iverk, and seem to have continued to be looked upon by the ancient tenants as their feudal lords ; and thus, when the unfortunate Lord Eustace le Poer joined in Desmond's rebellion, and was rembridge, sub taken and hanged at the siege of Castleisland, in Kerry, in the year 1345, amongst the knights who were captured and executed with him was Sir William Rot. Pat., 20 Graunt, who had followed his fortunes in that rash enterprise. Sir William i .i iii., m . 105. wag attamte( j f or n i s snare i n the rebellion, and his property granted to Fulc chap, ii.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 177 de la Freigne ; whilst the forfeited patrimony of the Lord Eustace le Poer was conferred by the crown on the Butler family, and served to strengthen the Rot. Pat.. 32 influence of the Earls of Ormonde in Iverk. Still members both of the families of Le Poer and of Grant continued to hold lands and castles in the barony. In 1365, a jury of the county of Kilkenny was empanelled, on the octave of St. Rot. Mem. 39 - m u & 40 Ed. III., Hilary, to inquire as to the lands which had belonged to John Fitz Robert le m. 2c Poer, knight, deceased. They found that he had possessed, inter alia, the manor of Curlody in Iverk, which had passed into the hands of David Graunt a , and which said David still held. The ruins of the castle of Curlody still exist in the neighbourhood of Ballytarsna. In the beginning of the next century we have the ancestors of the person for whom this monument was placed ren- dering military service to the Ormonde family, as they had previously done to the Le Poers; for in 1421, we are told, a slaughter was made of the fol- Archdairs lowers of James, the fourth Earl of Ormonde, then Lord Deputy of Ireland, tu^Tf' by the sept of O'More, by whom they were attacked near the monastery of Leys (the modern Abbeyleix), where twenty-seven "English were slain, the chief of whom were Purcell and Grant, noblemen." The family continued to possess property in the barony of Iverk, and in contiguity to the parish of Bal- lytarsna, down to the middle of the seventeenth century ; for by an inquisition held at Thomastown on the 16th April, 1626, it was ascertained that David InquU. Com. Graunte had lately died seised of the town and lands of Ballynebooly, alias car. i. islu. Illundbeg, which he had held from the Earl of Ormonde, as of his manor of Grenagh. This property his successor forfeited for his connexion with the Grants under cause of the Confederate Catholics in 1641, and it was granted, and confirmed tmttnTiEx- under the Acts of Settlement and Explanation, to Cornet Robert Howford, a l^&^ocann. Cromwellian trooper. 8th part ' face 1 In 1359 David Graunt was one of eleven gen- horses to aid the king in his Scottish war. (Ry- tlemen nominated by the Crown to collect, in mer, vol. ii. p. 906.) The fact that amongst the the Liberty and town of Kilkenny, a subsidy knights engaged in this expedition to Scotland granted in aid of the war against Art Kavanagh. was Eustace le Poer, whom they looked upon as (Rot. Claus., 33 Ed. III., m. 34). Previously, their feudal chief, may serve in some degree to in the year 1335, William and David Graunte identify these esquires with the William and were amongst the Irish esquires summoned to David Graunt who at the time held lands by the attend John Darcy, Justiciary, with arms and tenure of military service in the barony of Iverk. 2 a 2 178 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. [17.] t GTantci fctlfccnt'c qui obttt xxbli* trie mests Sbcptebus anno firni m°ccccc°xti° cut 9 aic propuktur Translation: — of St. Canice, Kilkenny, who died the 27th day of the month of September, in the year of our Lord U.CCCCO.ZII., on whose soul may God have mercy. • A fragment of a floor slab, the remainder of which has been lost or destroyed. It seems to have been erected to commemorate some dignitary of the cathedral, but we are afforded no clue towards ascertaining who he may have been. The inscription, in raised Old English characters, ran round the verge, and the centre of the tomb was filled by a cross in relief, of which only the base and a portion of the shaft are now remaining. [18.] f^tc jam GFfiomas p fo Er q' obttt &nno cm jj*l°.ccccc .xtx°. (&\ /ttargcrta ^9nns6 uxor cms. 3)oljcs potoer films tt fjercs otctt ^fiome cu sua uxo . . . ^johaha safoaoge q obt'erut &nno B . . jW.cctcc . qutquagcssto. Ifttcus joiner cms 3oi)is films ct ficrcs quonttam burgenscs bt'IIe fttbcrntcc titliicm'e. qui Ifttcus obttt 27 tric- menst's jftlatt &° cm jftt°.ccccc° 83. (St Isabella Both uxor tilt 9 q obttt [ ] die menst's [ ] &° ont jPI°.ccccc° [ ] Translation : — Jesus. Here lie Thomas Power, who died in the year of our Lord m.ccccc. xix., and Margeria Pynson, his wife ; also John Power, son and heir of the said Thomas, with his wife Joanna Savadge, who died in the year of our Lord m.ccccc. and fifty; Richard Power, the son and heir of John; formerly burgesses of the Irishtown of Kilkenny ; which Richard died the 27th day of the month of May, in the year of our Lord 1583 b . And Isabella Roth, his wife, who died the [ ] day of the month of [ in the year of our Lord M.ccccc [ ]. A floor slab, displaying an interlaced cross in relief, differing very slightly from that on the tomb of Bishop Gafney, which will be found accurately engraved at a subsequent page. The shaft was originally entwined with a pro- fusion of interlaced bands, but these, as well as the base of the cross, were 1 Ledwich printed this nbt, notwithstanding that O'Pbelan copied it correctly. Shee omits all notice of the monument, apparently because of the inscription being imperfect. t> Shee has printed this date, 1538, reversing the two last figures. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 179 nearly cut away at a period subsequent to the original placing of the monu- ment, for the purpose of making additions to the inscription, in order to record the obits of other members of the family. The combination of Roman and Arabic numerals in the dates is curious, but it is not unusual in monumental inscriptions of the period. The Powers, or Poores, as the name is more frequently written in the muni- cipal records, were a branch of the important family of Le Poer, of the counties of Kilkenny and "Waterford, which settled in the town and engaged in trade at an early period. In 1339 Nicholas Power was one of the two portreves of Kilkenny; in 1394 Adam Power filled the same office; and in 1452 Patrick Power was portreve. The Richard Power of the monument, who seems to have been proud of being a burgess of the Irishtown, we find holding several offices in connexion with that Corporation. In 1552 Richard Poore was one of fi rst Book of the four members of the body elected auditors of the burgage accounts for the of Irishtown. year. In 1558 he was elected one of the constables of Irishtown. In 1561 he was raised to the dignity of portreve, or chief magistrate of that little borough; and in 1565 we have him taking the appointment of one of the appraisers of meat under the Corporation. [19.] $=>tc 3 aC£t ^fiowas fcarrofa a q l oimt xxbt tit nus' ^Jultt anno tot m D ccccc°n <£ut 9 ait p'pt'cktur ticus gtnun. Translation: — Here lieth Thomas Karroke, who died the 26th day of the month of July, in the year of our Lord M.ccccc.xx ; on whose soul may God have mercy. Amen. A floor slab, narrowing slightly towards the bottom ; the inscription in raised Old English letters ; the centre ornamented by a cross of that form which in heraldry is termed " flore," and it is the only monument in the cathe- dral which bears the crucial emblem thus depicted. The base of the cross, which is in relief, is graduated of four steps, and the shaft is plain, which is not usual in the tombs of this century, as they generally present an ornament not to be found in the monuments of those preceding it, in the shape of bands, » O'Phelan erroneously copied this name Sar»= ther mistake, followed by Ledwich and Shee, rone, and Ledwich and Shee so printed it. Ano- makes the date £K.tcctc.x. 180 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. which, from the simple form in which they first appear on Moughlande's tomb (No. 15), soon grew into a most marked feature of the device, being enlarged and interlaced to such an extent as to fill up the entire of the lower part of the slab. We can supply no information respecting Thomas Karroke, or his family ; the name does not appear in the municipal records of Kilkenny or Irishtown. [20.] IQtc facet tons lfro\)is ^attoel qu &a p'sentor tstt 9 eccltc q 1 obttt xbttt lite nies' nobcbrfe &° to 1 m°tcccc a xxxt° cut'9 ate p'pctet 1 ITs ame. ittflo eps oss' oft 9 btce'ttb 9 or'one btca | salutacoe ag'Uca p' aia p'&ct pfitorts tones q°cics 9 ccsst't xl tries tJjttlge'cte. I^t'c 3 acet 3)°!)~ c s J^ele ^Ijesaurarr? tstt 9 ecclte q l obttt [ ]. Translation : — Here lieth Master John Cantwel, formerly precentor of this church, who died the 18th day of the month of November, in the year of our Lord m.ccccc.xxxi., on whose soul may God have mercy. Amen. Milo, Bishop of Ossory, has granted forty days' indulgence to any one as often as he shall say the Lord's Prayer and the Angelic Salutation for the soul of the said precentor. Here lies Master John Nele, treasurer of this church, who died [ ]. These two inscriptions are cut on a slab ornamented with a cross in relief, bearing a general resemblance to that on the tombs of Peter Grant and Wil- liam Hollechan, the latter of which will be found accurately figured on a subse- quent page. The inscription to the memory of Cantwell is that proper to this monument, which was afterwards appropriated by Nele — a portion of the base of the cross having been cut away in carving the usurping legend. The date of Nele's death was never inserted. The Cantwell family was amongst the early Norman settlers in the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary. In the former they were proprietors of the castles of Cantwell's Court, Stroan, and Cloughscregg ; and their principal burying- place was at Kilfane church, where a magnificent cross-legged effigy of a knight, bearing the family arms on his shield, still remains a . The head of the Tip- perary branch resided at the castle of Moykarky, and their place of interment was Kilcooly abbey, where some interesting monuments, erected to their 1 See a paper, by one of the Authors, on Kilkenny," in The Transactions of the Kilkenny *' The Cross-legged Effigies of the County of Archaeological Society, vol. ii., p. 63. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 1S1 memory, still remain. Amonsst the kniskts who came over with Strongbow rranmer , tw -rr n • (edit- tO the conquest of Ireland was Hugh Cantwell. Sir Thomas de Kentewall is 1633), P . 137. one of the witnesses to a charter granted by Theobald Walter, first chief butler monde. Intro- of Ireland, to his town of Gowran, in the reign of Richard L, so that we have ue " p ' a member of the family brought into connexion with the county of Kilkenny at a very early period. In 1309 Thomas de Cantewelle was constable of the Rot. Pat.. 3 J J 1 Ed. II.. m. 228. castle of Offerclan; and in 1317 he was empowered to make a treaty with the Bat. Pat.. 11 Ed. II.. m. 129. O'Brenans and other felons of the Cantred of Odogh — i. e. the territory of Idough in the county of Kilkenny; but in 1319, being worn out with age, he was exempted from attending at assizes. In 1381 "Walter Cantwell, living Rot. Pat.. PJc II., m. 192. in the marches of Ballygaueran (the barony of Gowran), in front of the Irish enemies M'Morsh and O'Xolan, received a roval license to treat with those native chieftains for the protection of his own property and that of his tenants and dependents. In 1408 the custody of the lands and castles Rot.p a t.,\v . Hen. IV.. 2* of Robert, son and heir of Walter Cantwell, in Rathcool and Stroan, was pars. m. granted to Richard and Thomas Cantwell ; all his property in the county of pars. . . id. 48. Kilkenny, then in the king's hands, having been released to him a few months previously. The representative of the Kilkenny branch of the family, in 1641. was Thomas Cantwell, Esq., of Cantwell's Court, whom the Supreme Council of Confederate Catholics appointed their provost-marshal^ a post which the Original Depo- depositions of the Protestant inhabitants allege him to have filled with great f.'Tc'.^'w 1 cruelty. Be this as it may, he forfeited his property for his connexion with ColLDubL the Rebellion ; and the petition of his son, Captain John Cantwell, of Colonel 3/55 Berming- James Dempsey's regiment, to be replaced in his patrimony, at the Restoration, Dublin cL'tie. on the ground of his having served abroad under the Prince of Conde, and Llb ' D ' offered his services to King Charles II. whilst in exile, received no attention. Many of the Cantwells held high offices in the Church besides the precentor of the cathedral, whose tomb is under consideration. In the beginning of the Rot. p a t., 10 fifteenth century Master John Cantwell was Archdeacon of Ossory, and in 143. m ' 1431 was appointed sub-collector of the papal revenue in Ireland. In 1488 Oliver Cantwell, a Dominican monk, was consecrated Bishop of Ossory, and proved one of the most active and improving prelates who filled the see. James Cantwell was Official of Ossory in the early part of the sixteenth century. The last prior of the Augustinian abbey, and the last abbot of the Dominican con- 182 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. ii. Mfort iS6a vent °f Kilkenny, were members of this family, Richard Cantwell having sur- pp.870, 37-'. rendered St. John's, and Peter Cantwell the Dominican abbey, to the Crown in 1539. The family of Nele or Neil was not numerous in Kilkenny, or at least makes no figure in the municipal records. In the county, the name occurs on a monument in the parish church of Callan, erected by James Neales, burgess and sovereign of that town, in 1624. [21.] + pltc taccnt ^etrus buttdn <£omcs ©rmonte (J Oss' q l obttt xxbt iitc augustt gl° tin mVccc nxtx° QBt margareta ft' geratoc ©omt'ttssa uxor et 9 q obttt ix trie &ttgustt [ ] Translation: — «£« Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Here lie Piers Butler, Earl of Ormonde and Ossory, who died on the 26th day of August, in the year of our Lord m.ccccc. xxxix., and the Countess Margaret Fitzgeralde, his wife, who died on the 9th day of August [ This monument is of the table form, and is supported at the north side by a slab ornamented with six niches, within which are the figures of Apostles ; on the south, by another slab, carved with the figure of Christ bound to a pillar to be scourged, and the emblems of the Passion; as also two shields, one charged with the chief indented, surmounted by the word ©rmontlin Old English letters ; the other bearing five annulets a canton ermine, with the word (£antfodl above it in similar characters ; at the foot is a slab with the arms of Thomas, the tenth Earl of Ormond, grandson to the persons commemorated by the monument, and at the head a carving of the Crucifixion. It has already been stated (p. 139, supra), that the late Marquis of Ormonde brought together the effigies of Piers and his Countess, which had been incorrectly placed by Bishop Pococke on separate table monuments ; it is, therefore, almost needless to remark, that the supporting portions of the tomb cannot be, in any way, claimed as having ori- ginally belonged to it. The armour of the effigy of Piers, Earl of Ormonde (see Plate facing this page), is nearly identical with that already described in noticing Shortall's monument (see p. 166, supra). The differences are as follows: the visor of the less acutely pointed bascinet is pierced by a slit surrounded with holes, opposite each eye ; the coat of plates is shorter, consisting E regies o! Piers. Eighth Earl of Ormonde, and his Countess. Dublin : Hodges. Smith, and Co. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 183 of continuous bands of steel overlapping each other like those of the sollerets"; the sword-belt also, which is jewelled where attached to the scabbard, is here slung over the right shoulder instead of being buckled round the hips. The gauntlets, which are perfect, have the fingers jointed in plate, and protected by raised " gadlings" of steel. Upon the cushion at each side of the head is carved, in low relief, the Ormonde crest, a falcon. The feet rest on a dog. By the side of the Earl lies his Countess, her hands joined in prayer. She is clad in a " supertunic," with sleeves and skirt of ample width, the former gathered into bands at the wrists, from beneath which appear the closely fitting laced sleeves of the " kirtle" b . The collar of the supertunic is made low, and falls back over the shoulders; the dress is confined at the waist by a girdle, the end of which, richly jewelled and embroidered, depends below the knee ; on the head is worn the " horned head-dress," with its richly reticulated " caul" for the hair, over which appears the elaborately embroidered "coverchef" c depending in folds to the shoulders, and supported at each side by small figures of angels. The inscription is cut in relief on the slabs at the right side of the male, and the left of the female effigy. The year of the Countess's death was never inserted: the sculptor would appear, indeed, to have been interrupted in his work, as the words — tx &te Sugustt — are merely traced on the stone. The armour of James, Earl of Ormonde, son to the Earl Piers, who died in London, A.D. 1546 (if we are right in assigning to him the monument repre- sented at p. 136, supra), is identical with that worn by his father ; the feet rest » This seems to have been sometimes termed allwaye, after the maner of this lande; soo that white harness, or armour. In 1515 it was pro- every horssemanof landes, or of substaunce, have posed " that every gentyllman of landes be a payre of grayves, and a gauntlet for his lyfte chargeid to have hishorsseand bis harnoyse, and hande." — State Papers, vol. ii., part iii., pp. his speres, after the maner of Walshe speres . . 22, 23. .... and that hit be at his ecleetion to ryde in b A dress of a similar form is represented as whyt harnoyse, after the maner of England, worn by a lady, who died about A. D. 1400, and orelles to ryde in his jakke, with his halbryck whose brass is in St. Laurence's church, Norwich, [hauberk] and his gorgete, so that he shalle bere — See Monumental Brasses and Slabs, p. 87- his spere in the rest at his pleasur." And again, We have here used the words employed by " that every man of the noble folke be Mr. Boutell to describe the head-dress of Lady chargeyd to have his horsse and his harnoyse, Halle, as represented on the brass of her hus- that is to saye, his jakke, his halbryk, his gor- band and herself, in Heme church, Kent. The get, his basenet, his swerde, and his spere, reddy date is circ. 1420, more than a century before 2 B 184 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. on a lion, and at each side of the head are carved heater-shaped shields charged with a chief indented. This monument is uninscribed. James, third Earl of Ormonde, had, by his wife, Anne, daughter of John Lord Welles, two sons — James, by whom he was succeeded in the earldom, and Richard (so called after his godfather, King Richard II.), who was afterwards knighted, and settled at Paulstown, in the county of Kilkenny. Richard mar- ried Catharine, daughter of Gildas O'Reilly, lord of Cavan, and is best known as the father of the celebrated Sir Edmond Mac Richard Butler, who by his wife, Catharine, daughter of Maolrony O'Carrol, Barbatus, had, inter alios, Sir James Butler, his eldest son. The author of an unpublished pedigree of the House of Ormonde a thus writes: — " I hauc secne an Act of Parliament past in this Realme in the tyme of King Edw : y e 4 th , -whereby all attainders, judgements, and vtlaryes, had against y e s d James Butler fitz Edmond fitz Richard, were repealed; w ch attainders were produced because y c said James, & others of his Howse, tooke part with King Henry y e 6 th ag 8t the s d King Edw : y e 4 th . Note that y c s (1 King Edw : 4 : by his Letters Patents, bearing date y° 11th of Aprill in y e 8th year of his Raigne, granted vnto y c s d James, by the name of James fitz Edmund fitz Richard Butler, (in consideration of his faithfull service) the mann? of Callan, & y c Aduowson thereof (among other things) for and during y e naturall lyfe of y c s d James, as by y c s d Letters Patents remayneing among the s d Earle of Ormond's Euidences may appeare. It appears, by an old bookc remayneing in y c Towne of Carrick M'Griffin, in y c County & Liberty of Tipperary, with y c Portrefe & Burgesses of that Toune; that the s d John Buttler, late Earle of Ormond & Wiltshire by his deede bearing date y c 12th of October in anno 1472 1 ', & in y e 12° yeare of y e s d King Edw: y e 4 th , did constitute & appoynt the sayd James Butler, . . . (being his kinesman) to be his Atturney & Deputy to deale in all causes con- cerning y e s d Earle & his lands, lordships, and jurisdictions, in y e Realme of Ireland ; w 011 the period of the Countess of Ormonde's death. See Monuviental Brasses and Slabs, pp. 62, 63. * This pedigree, which remains in MS. in the possession of the Earl of Bessborough, is headed " The Pedegree of the most Noble House of Ormond, by Richard Lawless, of Kilkenny, Gentl. :" it displays much knowledge of original documents, and from internal evidence must have been compiled early in the reign of James L See more about the Lawless family in the notice of their monument. The volume also contains a transcript of a Treatise on Philosophy, printed at Paris A. D. 1651; "Mr. Thomas Russell's Relation of the Fitz Geralds of Ireland, written in the county of Clare, 22° die Octobris, A. D. 1638;" "The Pedegree of the Geraldines of Desmond;" and "The Pedegree of the Fitz Ge- ralds of Dromany," in which occurs the date 1688. The MS. is of the last date. b The date has been changed, in a later hand, to 1477 ; but this does not agree with the regnal year given by Lawless. CHAP. II. , INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. Commission was bv him vsed & executed accordingly. And v e s d James bv vertue of that Commission, layd downe certain Orders for Reformation & good Goverment of y e s d Toune of Carrick. The sayd James Butler htz Edmund (as y e sayd Thomas Fyan 1 doth write) was author of peace in his time, & was well beloued in his Country, his power and fortune was greate, and he had many victoryes vpon his enemyes. Hee built y e castle of Neghom neere Gawran ; and dyed y* 16° of Aprill A 1487 ; & is buried in y e Fryery of Callan, which himself had founded. The said James was marryed to Sawe Keuenagh, daughter of M c Murroghowe y e chief of his name 1 , by whom he had issue Piers Butler, knight/' Master Kichard Lawless has. in this passage, unquestionably told the truth, yet there is a secret history connected with the marriage of Sir James Butler with the daughter of Mac Murrough, unnoticed in the Ormonde pedigrees, but revealed by the original documents, still in possession of the family. Carte has already placed on record the tenor of the royal letter of denization, freeing Sabina Kavanagh from all Irish servitude, and granting to her all the privileges of English law ; but it is not generally known that Sabh, or Sabina, as the name is Latinized in old documents, and Sir James, were of kin sufficiently near, according to the canon law, to bar their marriage , unless dispensed with by Carte's Or- monde, vol. L, Introduction, p. xlv. * Fyan was a clergyman of the diocese of Os- sory, and a notary public b This was Donnell Eeagh (fuscus) twelfth in succession from Dermot Mac Murrough, King of Leinster, who succeeded in 1431 to the cap- taincy of his nation. The present Arthur Ka- vanagh, of Borris, Esq., descends from Art Oge. tenth in succession, who died in 1417. See Ta- ble of Descent from Dermot Mac Murrough. — Proceedings and Papers of the Kilkenny and South East of Inland Arch. Soc, toL L, p. 120, new series. ' None of the pedigrees that we hare seen give any clue to this relationship. The particular degree of consanguinity is set forth in the fol- lowing document issued from the Papal Peni- tentiary, at the request of Sir Piers Butler, A. D. 1517, of which the original, wanting only the seal, is still preserved in the Evidence Cham- ber, Kilkenny Castle: — " Leonardus. miseracione diuina &c, sancte Susanne p'b'r Cardinalis Discreto Tiro Official! Osseren' salt' in diio. Oblate nobis nuper pro- parte dilecti nobis in xpb Petri Boutiller, laici Osseren' dioc', peticionis series continebat qd" licet postq? quondam Jacobus boutiller et Sa- bina Kewanach, ipius exponentis parentes, no ignorantes se Secundo et Tertio ac Quarto simplici AJinitatis gradibus inuicem fore coiunctos uel se attinere, matrimonium inter se per uerba de pnti cotraxerant illudq; camali copula consu- mauerant, et prolem procreauerant ; aplicas tunc Epo Osseren' per quas ipos ab exeois snia qua propterea incurrerant absolui, secumq> ut ma- trimonium inter se de nouo contraherent, et in eo, postq> contractual foret, remanere ualerent. dispensare certa tunc expressa forma mandaba- tur, Iras obtinuerint ; treq= hmoi executioni fue- rint demandate. Quia tame de executione hrhoi solum per testium attestationes costat, ab aliqui- B 2 180 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. the Pope ; and that Sir James brought home his affianced bride, who had borne him two sons, Edmund and Theobald, before the dispensation was procured. The notarial instrument which proves these facts tells us that, when all legal impediments were removed, Sir James rode from Knocktopher castle to the parish church of Listerlin, nearly half way toward the Cavanaghs' country, accompanied by a train of his friends and retainers; and that, when the marriage was there formally solemnized in the face of the Church before a large assem- blage of the clergy and gentry of Kilkenny and Wexford, the previously born, and, by the common law, illegitimate infant children were placed with their parents beneath the stole" of Henry de Londres, vicar of Knocktopher, the officiating priest. It is probable that the marriage took place in the year 1467, for the letter of denization is dated the 10th of May, 7th Edward IV., but the t npubiuhed affiancing must be placed several years earlier. By an Act of the Parliament Kd. ivVc. 28. h olden in that year, all attainders, judgments, or outlawries for treason, had against James fitz Edmond, fitz Richard Botiller, were repealed ; and it was further enacted, that as, after affiance and before matrimony, the said James had issue, by " Saub" Cavanagh, Edmond and Theobald, who by law of the Church were muliers in virtue of subsequent matrimony, they should be adjudged muliers accordingly, and made capable of inheriting as if born in wedlock. This Act of Parliament serves to fix, approximately, the date of the birth of Piers, the bus simplicibus et iuris ignaris ac ipius expo- netis forsa emulis, asseritur tras predictas suo carere effectu, ac de absolutione et dispensation hmoi hesitatur. Ad ora igitur talium et alior' super hiis obloqui volentiumemulor' obstruenda, supplicari fecit huiliter dictus exponens sibi super hiis per sedem aplicam de oportuno reme- dio nuc provideri. Nos igitur Aucte diii ppe cuius pniarie curam geriruus, Discretion! tue comittimus, qtus, si vocatis vocandis tibi con- stiterit, de assertis declares tras predictas suum sortitum fuisse effectum, ac de absolutione et dispensatione aliis eciam Jocalia que jure hereditat' ad me ptinebant, ic And witnesses having been produced to prove the said wilL they were exa- 190 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. The Chronicles of Ireland, p. 83. Lawlns'a Pede- gree of the House of Ormonde. Carte's Or- monde. Intro- duction, p. xli. absentee uncle, the Earl Thomas) even called Earl of Ormonde, into which honour, says Stanihurst, " a bastard Butler had by abatement intruded." The Book of Ho\vth a also, an older and better authority than Stanihurst, styles him the " eirle of Wormon." He was left under the protection of Thomas, the seventh Earl, his father's brother b , and was brought up at the court of England, where he "grewe to bee expert in all feates of armes," and won the favour of Henry YII. In 1487 he did good service against the Geraldines, who sided with Lambert Simnel, for which he was knighted by the King. This Sir James Ormonde, commonly called " the black," was a valiant, but quarrelsome man , mined, and testified as follows, viz. : — Brother Donat O'Maly, Prior of the Augustan Friary of Callan, testified that he, with the other witnesses undernamed, was present in the Castle of Knock- topher when the said James Butler was dying, who made his will and disposed of his goods as in the said schedule was contained, de verbo in verbum ; Brother William Barred, monk of the said Fryary, Master William Molghan, vicar of Knocktophcr, Master John Horsman, chaplain, John Molghan, notary public, Evlina fforstall, and her son Edmund fforstall, James, son of Richard fforstall, and John O'lleadde, all de- posed that, along with said Donat O'Maly, they were present when the said will was made, as contained in the said schedule. Which testi- mony, having been reduced to writing, was pub- lished and authenticated in the presence of Richard, Baron of Burnchurch, Patrick Sieger, alias de Sancto Leodegario, chief of his nacion, and John Bowland, vicar of Burnchurch. There is also set forth an instrument of Oliver, Bishop of Ossory, granting to Piers Butler the admi- nistration of the goods of his father James, whose heir and executor the said Piers was, dated the [blank] day of [blank] 1495. III. An instrument whereby William ffyan, clerk of Cashel, and notary public, attests and confirms the foregoing second instrument, as having been present, and having reduced the said matters to writing, and published them. Which three instruments were reduced to writing, and published in the presence of Wil- liam White, mayor of Water ford, James Sher- loke, bailiff of the same, and William Morese, canon of the church of Ossory, under the nota- rial certificate and signature of Patrick Strong. The instrument bears the usual notarial mark, an interlaced cross, with the signature " Patri- cius de ffortis" on the base. a This MS., which is now in the Carew col- lection, Lambeth Library, vol. 623, is on vel- lum. We are assured by a competent authority that the " Discourse of the variance betwene the Erles of Kildare and Ormond," is written by one who learned to write and spell in the time of Henry VIII.; although the dates supplied by the latter portion of the " Discourse" prove it to have been written in the reign of Elizabeth. b Lawless says he was left in care of Thomas, by his brother John, the fourth Earl, who died " in pilgrimage to y e Holy Land, having noe issue but a base son, called James Butler, other- wise called y e Black James, who dyed without issue." Other writers have fallen into the same error. Carte rightly makes him the son of James, the fifth Earl. c The Book of Howth contains a quaint illustration of this trait in the character of the bastard Butler. After relating that Sir CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 191 ambitious, and noted for expertness with " his weapon." Against so formi- dable an opponent, Piers Butler, no doubt, found it difficult to make head; and, in casting about for aid, he would naturally turn to Sir James's deadliest enemy, Kildare. The opportunity which thus presented itself, of setting the Butlers against each other, was seized on with avidity by the head of the Geraldines, and, in the words of the Book of Howth — "Gerot, eirle of Kildare, about the yere of ou? L. 1485, beinge at wariens w' James A Discourse of Butler, eirle of Wormone, & y e reste of y e Butlers, maried his sister [daughter] called lady tweene the Erhs Margeret to one Persse Butler for polissye. This Persse was in wariens with the sayd °Q^^j re and James, & was mayntened by the eirle of Kildare, by mene wher of this sayd James could not well attend to were [war] w l the eirle of Kildare, nor so much harme doe as he was acos- tomed to doe: befor which tyme they so contendit that whe so eu? any of them gadred ther pouer apo a sodayne, the other coulde not with stad that And nowe sens the manage the eirle of Kildare made with Perce Butteler, & mayteined him, the eirle of WormSd was kept short, so that by that mens & polissy the eirle of Wormond was so occupied in his owne cotry he could not attend to do any domage to the eirle of Kildare, nor any of his frends." At this time Gerald, eighth Earl of Kildare, Avas Deputy to the Lord Harris's Ware, Lieutenant of Ireland, Jasper, Duke of Bedford. He was the father, not the vo ' u ' p ' brother, of the wife of Piers Butler ; but it is likely that her brother Gerald, afterwards the ninth Earl, was instrumental in bringing about the match. To the favour of the Lord Deputy, his son-in-law probably owed his knighthood, J ames (there called the " eirle of Wormond") had yow. Well, sayd S r Nicolas, pot upe your kneyffe come towards Dublin with "the Obrens & & heyre me pattiently; I swer by our lady of other his frends in the south e," and " at Killester the northe church of Houth, that butler, nor by Dublinge, beinge at diner w l S r Nicolas L. windrawer, nor tapster is not in Ierland, but I of Howth" had boasted that " yf any man in the dourste stand to defend this querrell, & yf your Inglishe pale wold stand in defens of the eirle of lordshepe be so stomaked, & wold eysee yowr Kildare he wolde even nowe fight w' him in y* hart, lett us bothe take a botte, & gooe to yonder quorrelL Well, sayd S r Nicolas, ther is fyue C. Ilande of Clone tarf, ther to eysse both yowr in the Inglishe pale that wold stand in that quo- stomake & myne, for o r companis her ar not rell agaynst you r L'shipe, ther duty always to indefferent. Well, sayd the eirle, S r Nicolas, ou r prince p'served. Well, sayd the eirle, dorst thy stoute & bullishe nature shall end thy dayes you hassart the battayll betwen you & me to before thy naturall age. So aft? diner departed trey the cause, be gods blode yf yow dorst, I in great fury." — A Discourse of the Variance be- could fynd in my hart to throust this knif throw tweene the Erles of Kildare and Ormond. 2 c 192 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. ix. as we shortly after find him termed Sir Piers Butler. An undated letter, addressed by Kildare to Thomas, Earl of Ormonde, the original of which is pre- served in the Tower of London, must probably be assigned to this period. We give it here, as it confirms the narrative quoted in a note to p. 190, supra, from the Book of Howth". It was evidently written by Kildare in his official cha- racter as Deputy: — " My Right Wurshipful Cousyn, " I recommaund me unto you. It iss that your cousyn James Ormond doth publysh in all places that he hath your interest and title in all your Lands here, by reason whereof he hath brougt into the Counties of Kilkenny & Tipperary the Obrenes b with diverse others, Irishe enemys, and theretwo destroyed the kyngs subjetts, and spareth no churches ne religious places, but hath spoyled them. And because he groundeth hym on the kyngs auctoritie and your likewise, I suffre hym theryn so to do for fere of the kyngs displees. And what your mynd and enterest is, or shalbe, in this matier, yif it like you to certifie me thereof, I will do what I kan for the reformation of the same. Yeuen under my signet at Kilmaynam, the 16 th day of Jan y . " Your Cousyn, " Gerald Erie of Kyldare. " To my Right Worshipful Cousyn, Thomas, Erie of Ormond." What was the Earl of Ormonde's reply does not appear, but it is probable that Sir James Ormonde's assertion was borne out by the fact, as a deputation exists, by which the former appoints his " nephew," Sir James Ormonde, his general and special attorney in the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary, giving him the government and custody of all his castles, lordships, manors, &c, during his absence from Ireland, with as full power and authority as if he, the said Earl, was personally present, and commanding, as well by his own authority as by that of the king's majesty, that all his relatives, bailiffs, constables, servants, &c, should aid, assist, and obey the said Sir James as fully as they were bound to do to the Earl himself, were he present amongst them. Thus, doubly fortified * This letter is here printed from a transcript Frederick Ferguson, Esq., of the Exchequer made by Lynch, the author of the " Feudal Ba- Record Office, Dublin. ronies of Ireland," on whose authority its place b Dr. O'Donovan states that the O'Briens of custody is assigned. We are indebted for attempted to make Sir James Ormonde chief of the use of Lynch's MSS. to the late James the Butlers. — Four Masters, y 61. iv., p. 1240. CHAP. II. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 193 by the deputed authority* of the Earl of Ormonde and the Crown, there can be little doubt that the Black Bastard would press hardly on Sir Piers Butler and his adherents. That he did so, -we have evidence in a letter addressed to Thomas, Earl of Ormonde, by Sir Piers himself, which tells its tale so graphi- cally, that we are tempted to lay it before the reader in full: — '• Right Honorable and myn especiall gode Lorde, " I recomend me in my moost herty wise unto yo r Lordship, certi- fiyng the same, that where I trusted to S r James Ormond, by his life daies, as moch as I wold have don to eny kynnesman of myn ly wing, so it is that he, w'out eny cause or occa- sion on my syde, kept from me al myn owne landes and dueties b , and ov r this toke and kept me in prison by a long season, contrarie to his othe and pmyse made upon the holy crosse and other grete relickes, upon suerte whereof I then came to hym ; and yit he nev r put me at lib?tie tyll my Lord of Desmond, by his great instant labo rs had goten me to my libuie, whose desyre he fulfilled upon trust that he shold have maried oone of the said Erles doughters. And after that, when the said Sir James understode that I resorted unto - We give this deputation, as copied by Lynch from the Patent Boll, 19 Hen. VIII., in the Tower of London : — " Omnibus Sac Thomas Comes Ormond salu- tem &c. Sciatis qd ego p'dictus comes ordino T constituo p presentes predilcm michi Jacobu Ormond nepotem meu deputatu supvisorem ac gen?ale T spalem attorn' meu de 1 in com" de Kilkenn' r t Tipperary in Hibii cu omibus 1 sin- gulis suis p'tin', ac eidem nepoti meo officium illud p p'sentes do t concedo hend' Ax. p se vel p sufficient' deputatu suu siue sufficientes de- putatos suos, p quo aut g quibus idem Jacob^ respondere volu/it 6cc. Et ulterius ego p'dictus comes do 1 concedo p presentes p'fato Jacobo Ormond custodia ac gubernacbem oim T singu- lor' castror', domor', man/ior', villar' &c, et ten' ac lib'/or' tenent' 't alior' tenent' meor' de et in Com' p'dict' cu oib 1 ? 1 eor' singlis ptin' hend' 1 tenend' p'fato Jacobo &c qmdiu me a . n. tra Hibn p'dict' absent lore contigJit, reser- uand' mihi p'fat' comiti pinde annuatim, dur- ant' absentia mea p'dict', talia reddit', rev/sion' 9 & pfic, que ego p?fat' comes ante dat' presentiu hui aut pcipi, pcipiend' annuatim p s?vient' 1 ministros meos pprios, Ulterius dans r t conce- dens p p'sent' eidem Jacobo durant' absencia mea in oitf et singlis p'missis adeo plena potestatem t auctoritatem, put herem si ibm p'sonaliter inter- essem. Et ulterius ego p'fatus comes tarn ex p'te metuendissimi ac illustrissimi principis Henrici regis Anglie qm ex p'te mea oihib? t singuUs consanguineis meis ac baH, constabular', p'posit' ministris et trar' tenent' resident' meis infra Com' p'dict', firmiter injungendo p presentes, mando qd ipi 't eor' quilt, prefato Jacobo in omib Q . isu. there are other indications of the friendship then existing between the Geral- dines and Butlers. In 1514, Gerald, Earl of Kildare, who on his father's Harhian mss., 3756, fol. 225. death had been appointed Lord Deputy, gave his brother-in-law, Sir Piers Butler, a " chief horse" or charger, a gray hackney, and a haubergeon. And Liber Primus we find them amicably uniting to frame regulations for the government of the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary. The published State Papers of the reign of Henry VIII. commence with a a. d. 1515. curious document, throwing much light on the social condition of Ireland at the period. The editors of that invaluable collection place its date about the year 1515. From it we learn that the King's laws were obeyed but in a very state Papers. small portion of Ireland, comprising half the counties of Louth, Meath, Dublin, pp.'s!"^" 1 Kildare, and Wexford ; that in the other halves of those counties, and in the entire of Waterford, Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Kerry, Carlow, and the pro- vinces of Connaught and Ulster, there was neither justice nor sheriff, whilst " all the Englyshe folke of the said countyes ben of Iryshe habyt, of Iryshe lan- gage, and of Iryshe condytions, except the cyties and wallyd tounes . . . and though that many of them obey the kinges Deputye, when it pleaseith them, yet ther is none of them all thatobeyth the kinges lawes." Ten English counties paid annual tributes, ranging from £300 to £20, to Irish chieftains, the Deputy being unable to defend the lieges against their aggressions. In such a condition of affairs it does not surprise one to find it stated that — " Syr Pyers Butler, knight, and all the Captaines of the Butlers of the countye of Kil- id., pp. 3, 7. kenny followyth the Iryshe ordre, and every of them makeith warre and pease for hymself, without any lycence of the King, or of any other temperall person, saive to hym that is strongeyst, and of suche that maye subdue them by the swerde." At this time an event took place which must have been long anxiously looked forward to by Sir Piers. On the 3rd of August, 1515, Thomas, Earl of Ormonde and "Wiltshire, died in England. He left no son, and his 2 E 208 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. daughters 11 inherited his large possessions in that kingdom. Sir Piers Butler ms. Pedtgret thereon, says Master Richard Lawless, " tooke vpon him the title and name of OrmondT" ° 3 Earle of Ormond ;" and it appears that he lost no time in placing on record evidence to prove his legal right to that title and the Irish property. We have already (see p. 205, supra), mentioned a notarial instrument recording a con- versation wherein Earl Thomas had declared that the Irish title and estates were vested in his heirs male. There exists in the Evidence Chamber, Kil- kenny Castle, another document (under the mark and certificate of Thomas Fyan, an Ossory clergyman, and notary public), whereby Oliver, Bishop of Ossory, makes known to all whom it may concern, that on the 8th of November, 1516, Piers Butler, Earl of Ormonde, petitioned him to record the testimony of certain witnesses in proof that the Earldom of Ormonde, and the property attached thereto, were entailed on heirs male. In the subjoined note will be found an abstract of the depositions of the several witnesses set forth in this curious document. • " The s d Thomas, Earle of Ormond & Will- shire, dyed the 7th yeareof King Henry y c 8th, hauing issue the Lady Anne Butler, marryed to S r James St. Leger of Deuonshire, knight, & y c Lady Margaret Buttler, marryed to S r Wil- liam Bullin, knight. The said Lady Anne Butler, y c eldest daughter, had issue by the s d S r James St. Leger, S r George St. Leger, knight, who had issue S r John St. Leger, who now liueth in poore estate. And y e s d Lady Margaret But- ler, Buttler, 2 d daughter to y e s d Thomas, Earle of Ormond & Willshire, had issue by the s d S r William Bullin, knight Thomas Bullin, which Thomas Bullin had issue George Bullin, & alsoe 2 daughters, vizt., Anne Bullin, (marryed to y s d King Henry y c 8), and Mary Bul- lin, marryed to Sir W m . Carey, knight." — Law- less's Pedegree of the House of Ormond. b Nicholas Tywe, 67 years of age, deposed, that he had heard his father, John Tywe (who was 78 years of age, and had been chamberlain to James, the White Earl of Ormonde), say, that if that Earl died without heirs male of his body lawfully begotten, that then the legitimate heirs male of Kichard Butler, brother to said James, would succeed to that Earl's inheri- tance; and that he heard his said father say, after the death of the said James, and of John his son, that it was a pity that those sons of Richard Butler who would succeed to that Earl's inhe- ritance were not brought up after the English fashion; and the deponent was well aware of the common fame, that the inheritance of that Earl- dom was entailed on the heirs male, and that Sir Piers Butler was now the true heir male of the said Earl. John Shorthals, lord of Roystoun and Clo- mantagh, of the age of 80 years, deposed, that he had heard his father, Robert, of the age of 80 years, who was sheriff of the county of Kil- kenny in the time of James, the White Earl, as often as he heard any talk about the inheritance of the Earldom of Ormonde, say, that if the said James should die without heirs male, that then the heirs male of his brother, Richard, would succeed to the inheritance ; and when chap, n.l INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 209 In 1516 Sir Piers Butler joined his forces with those of O'Brien, who had a.d 151c espoused the quarrel of John, M son of the Earl,'' against James, son of Maurice, vol t . p . 1337. heir to the Earldom of Desmond, who raised the siege of Lough Gur. and retired precipitately on the approach of the confederates. The Earl of Kildare having, in this year, made a successful foray against a.d. lois. the OTooles, next invaded Ely O'Carrol, where, says Cos, he was " joyned by su>*. A*gii- several Noblemen of Munster and Leinster, of English Extraction, and parti- "206* cularly by Pierce Earl of Ormond. and James eldest Son of the Earl of Desmond. 1 ' John and Thomas, the sons of the said EarL went to the Court of Rome, he heard him saying. " if they shall not return, the inheritance will remain to the heirs maie;" and he was well aware that Piers is the legitimate son of James, the son of Edmond, the son of Richard Butler. William Cant well, 66 years of age, gaTe like testimony. James Grant, 66 years of age, deposed, that he had heard his father, who was 80 years of age and upwards, and his grandfather, who was 80 years old and upwards, one of whom was con- stable of the castle of Knocktopher, and the other marshall (mariscallus) of the county of Kilkenny, often stating that the inheritance of the Earldom of Ormonde was entailed on heirs male, and that as often as that White Earl (comes ille candidus) went to EDgland, he was wont to appoint Edmond, the son of Richard, his brother, to rule in his place, saying, Keep well my lordships, for they shall all be thine from the days [of the deaths?] of my sons (a diebus filio- rum meorum). Brother Thomas Neyll, a monk of the monas- tery of Jerpoint, 60 years of age and upwards, deposed, that he had heard Thomas Neyll, lord of the greater part of Karrick, 60 years of age and upwards, and Walter Glome, steward of the Earl of Ormonde for the whole of Ireland, 80 years of age, often saying, that the Earl of Or- monde had no legitimate sons except James the 9 White, and Richard Butler, and that if the said James died without heirs male of his body, then the heirs male of that Richard ought to haTe the inheritance of that Earldom. Edmond Arlond, 78 years of age, deposed that, he was brought up with the said Glome, the steward, and heard him often, after the death of the White EarL saying, that if James of Wilt- shire, John, and Thomas, the sons of James the White, died without heirs male, then the heirs male of Richard Butler, his brother, would inherit that Earldom; and that he heard his father, Laurence by name, 80 years of age, who was of the counsel of the White Earl (de con- silio comitis candidi), saying, that the Earldom of Ormonde and its inheritance was entailed on heirs male; he heard divers persons, who were with Thomas the last EarL saying, that that Earl had declared that inheritance to be entailed on heirs male. John Cantwell, lord of Moykarky, 66 years of age, deposed, that he heard his father, John CantweU, Archbishop of CasheL 70 years of age, who used to be with the White Earl in all parts of Ireland before he was Archbishop, as also with John his son, saying confidentially in secret wise, in the time of the said John, that if John and Thomas, his brother, should die without heirs male of their bodies, that then the legitimate heirs male of Richard Butler would succeed the said Earl in his inheritance, and this he heard 9 210 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. n. In this expedition Ormonde aided the Deputy in the siege and demolition of his kinsman O'Carrol's chief castle of Lemyvenane (now called the Leap near Parsonstown), and was present at the surprise and surrender of Clonmel, the principal town of his own Liberty of Tipperary; and, the return of the Four Master*, Deputy to Dublin having left the component parts of his army free to follow w v.,p. 133,. p r j yate f eu j S) we fi n( i Ormonde, as already stated, joining the O'liriens against the Desmonds. The death of Thomas, Earl of Ormonde, soon caused a change to take place ;it the time that the said John had to do (trac- tatum habuit), with Raynalda, the daughter of O'Brien, and at other times afterwards ; he heard also the said Archbishop swearing by St. Pa- trick's Cross, and in the presence of John Butler fitz Edmond fltz Richard, who was fos- tered with the said Archbishop, and saying, " if John and Thomas had not heirs male, then the heirs male of your father are their heirs." Edmond Maresse, 66 years of age, deposed, that he heard his father, William Maresse, chief of his nation, 80 years of age, who always was near the White Earl (qui semper assistebat comiti candido), even at the time of his death, saying, that the Earldom of Ormonde was en- tailed on heirs male, and that he heard Master Nicholas Whyte, Rector of Callan, 70 years of age, who had a knowledge of that matter, saying, in like manner, that that inheritance was entailed on heirs male, and that Peter Whyte, father of the said Nicholas, saw that entail (vidit illam talliam), and that he heard by common fame that the heirs male of Richard would inherit all, notwithstanding the daughters of Earl Thomas. Isabella Blanchfell, an honest widow. 70 years of age, examined in the monastery of Callan, by commission directed to John Tobyn, rector of Callan, deposed, that she had heard by the com- mon report of good and honest persons of the county of Kilkenny, and especially of Robert Shorthals, lord of Ballyhyggyn, her husband, 60 years of age, and James Rysse, skilled in the king's laws, that the Earldom of Ormonde was entailed on heirs male, and that if John and Thomas should die without heirs male, that then the legitimate heirs male of the said Richard would succeed to that inheritance, not- withstanding the daughters of Earl Thomas, because the lands were entailed on heirs male. Gilbert Blanchfell, lord of Kilmodymog, de- posed, that he had heard by common report and fame through the counties of Kilkenny and Tip- perary, and especially from David Blanchfell, his father, lord of Blanchfelyston, the steward Glome, and Thomas Whyte, constable of Don- ferth, that the inheritance and Earldom of Or- monde was entailed on heirs male. The aforesaid witnesses were examined in the monastery of St. John, Kilkenny, by Master James Cantwell, official of Ossory, deputed for that purpose, and at the request of the said Lord Piers, made to the Bishop when present at a pub- lic assembly of the county of Kilkenny at " Fy- nyll hyll" near Kilkenny, on the 1 6th day of the month aforesaid; and their testimony was re- duced to writing and published under the seal of the Bishop of Ossory, used for greater causes, in presence of the said official, the Prior of the monastery of St. John, Master John Tobyn, Rector of Callan, James Shorthals, lord of Bally- lorcan, and numberless other persons called to- gether for that purpose. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 211 in the friendly relations which had so long existed between the Earl of Kildare and his brother-in-law. Sir Piers having, as the next surviving legitimate heir Ldand's Hist. male, assumed the title of Ormonde 3 , and taken possession of the Irish estates vol k., pp. 125, of the late earl, saw with impatience the greatness of the Geraldines, and keenly felt the depression of his own family. He was, therefore, determined, even at the sacrifice of the friendship of his wife's brother, to maintain the honour of his house ; and in this he was cordially supported by the energetic character of his wife, who had become, in heart and soul, a Butler, and instigated him to give a vigorous opposition to her own kinsmen. Having secured the favour of Wolsey, whom the pride and inexperience of Kildare had made his enemy, the Earl of Ormonde succeeded in having his rival removed from the govern- ment of Ireland ; and Thomas, Earl of Surrey, having been created Lord Lieu- a.d. 1519. tenant, the chief of the Butlers at once rose into power and importance. We find the king thanking Surrey shortly after his arrival in Ireland, "for the a.d. 1520. sending of thArchebisshop of Dublin, our Chauncelour there, to "Waterforde, for vol. iL, part iii.. the pacifying of suche discourdes, debates, and variaunces, as be betwixt thErle of Desmonde b and Sir Piers Butler ... so that they, being soo pacified, mought, with their puysaunces, joyne and attende personnally with and upon you, our Lieutenaunte, for your better assistence in repressing the temerities of our rebellious Irishe enimyes." A truce was, accordingly, patched up be- tween them, and Surrey informs Henry that the commissioners had returned on the 10th of July from Waterford, " where, with mouche defyculty, they have id, pp. 35. takyn a day of truys betwene the Erles .... to endure unto Candylmas next comyng." Ormonde being thus free from the apprehension of danger on the southern boundary of his territories, was enabled to aid the Lord Lieutenant, then engaged, with "the leest assistence of the Englishry that ever was seen," in laying waste Leix, the country of " Connell O'More." The power of the Earl of Ormonde at this period is well shown by the strength of the forces he led to the aid of Surrey, compared with those under the standard of the Chief Gover- a He was not, however, fully recognised as tion. — State Papers, vol. ii., part iii., p. 39. Earl of Ormonde till 1538, though in the patent b This was James, eleventh Earl of Desmond, by which he was appointed Lord Deputy of Ire- whose daughter, and heir general, Joan, after- land, dated 6th March, 1522, he is styled, " Pe- wards became the wife of Sir Piers' son and suc- trus Butler comes Ormond," without qualifica- cessor, James, ninth Earl of Ormonde. 212 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. stair raprrs, nor. Surrey's forces consisted of 150 horsemen sent to him out of Wales, 120 horsemen and 300 kerns in his pay, and 48 horse and 120 foot " of the Eng- lishry," being 318 horse and 420 foot in all ; whilst Ormonde brought into the field 100 horsemen, 200 galoglasses, and 200 kern of his own, besides 24 horse- men led by his kinsman Mac Murrough. Surrey then proceeds to inform the King as follows: — fit, p. 35, " The said Erl brought also 0'Kerroyll a [O'Carroll] to speke with me, who, sethens my coming, hath made oon invasyon, and doon mooche hurt. He is the moost estemed captcyn of the land; and, with mouche deficulte, he was sworn to Your Grace. After his othe takin, I examined him upon whate grounde he hadmoevid warre, considering he had promised Sir William Darcy to bee loving and servicchable unto me, your Lieutenaunt. He said, he was so mouche hurt by Englishmen in tymes past that nowe he sawe good season to revenge his hurtes. I said to him, that it was not for that cause, but that I knew well he had received a letter from the Erl of Kyldare, brought to him by an abbot, dwelling nere to him, which letter caused him to make warre. And he smyled. And both I, the Erl of Ormond, and Sir William Darcy, desirid him to showe the trouth of the said letter. And he answerid, saying he wold not distayne his honour for the pauelion ful of gold ; ne, if he had receivid any suche letter, wold disclose the same. Then the Erll of Ormond, he and Sir William Darcy, comynyng to gathers in Irish, the said Erl and Sir William advised me to examen the said O'Kerroyles brethern, of the said letter, for the said O'Ker- royl wold it shuld come out by theym. And they both sware, that they stode by, and herd the said letter redd. I examyned them, if it were signed with the Erl of Kildares hand ; and they said they coud not rede, and therfore they knew not b The said O'Karroyll hath confessid to Conyll O'More, and to Brene O'Conoghour, who have shewid me the same, that he woold haue made no warre, yf he had not been sent unto by the Erl of Kildare so to doo ; and that for fere of his displeasure, if he shuld retorne, he durst noon otherwise doo. And for noo thing that the Erl of Ormond and Sir William coude doo, he wold be sworne to Youre Grace, unto the tyme I said to hym, that I knewe, assuridly, Your Grace wold never suffer the Erl of Kildare to bee your Deputie here more ; and also to promise him to take a resonable peas with Connyll, such as the * O'Carroll was a kinsman of Ormonde's, whose grandmother was Catherine, daughter of Moel- rony O'Carroll, surnamed Barbatus (Archdall's Lodge, vol. iv., p. 17); hence the influence of the Earl with the Irish chieftain. b This letter, which is printed by Leland, vol. ii., p. 132, was carried to O'Carroll by the abbot of Monasterevan. It is given in the printed State Papers, vol. ii., part iii., p. 45. O'Carroll is urged to keep peace with Englishmen till an English Deputy came over; and then to do his best to make war with them. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 213 Erll of Ormond, Sir William Darcy, Cormock Oge, and he, wold make ; which, by the advise of all the best of the hoost, I consented unto. And so the peas is made, and Connyll sworn to Your Grace, and I had his son and heyre, and his brother, in plege, that he shall kepe peas, and bee true to Your Grace, and mee, your Lieutenaunt ; and I have dely verid theym to kepe, to the said Erl of Ormond. Also the same Erl, O'Kerroyll, Cormoge Oge, and oon Moriartagh Oge M c Morgho, the best of the M°Morgoos, be suertis to me for his good abering, and sworne that, if he doo not as he is sworne to doo, they all shall make warre upon him." In this year Surrey asked Wolsey, but without effect, to procure the Trea- a.d. 1520. surership of Ireland for Ormonde, " for sith my commyng he hath best deserved p' 39. J ° a/ ' e "' it, and I doubt not woll do hereafter." Four years after, that office was conferred on him. We find Surrey commending him at this time for a faithful adhe- pp- 47 > 48 - rence to the truce made with Desmond, which the latter had broken, and the Lieutenant expresses his intention of going shortly towards Munster to pacify the " varyances betwene thErllis of Desmond and Ormond, and theyre adhe- rentes." In the August of this year Ormonde attended Surrey in his expedi- Id < p- 49 - tion against O'Neill " with a right good power of horsmen, and also of fotemen. And over that," continues Surrey, writing to Wolsey, " where at this tyme there was lymytted betwixt me, and such Irishmen as have warre with the kinges subgietes, a day of comynycacion or treatyse, the said Erll, with good diligence, hath come above foure score myles, from his owne parties, to accompany and ayde me at the said treatyse ; and at all tymes sheweth hym self toward, to doo the Kinges Grace thankful service, such as no man in this land dooth, and to me right great ayde assistence." It is probable that it was Surrey's wish at this period to put an end to the disputed claim made by the heirs general of Earl Thomas to the title of Ormonde, and confirm his friend in the possession of it, as he asks the King, in id., p. 49. consideration of the services he had recounted, as given above, that the Act of Parliament " concernyng the said Erll," which he had a considerable time pre- viously forwarded to England, should be sent over, so that it might pass at the session about to commence on the 17th October. No such session, however, seems to have taken place 3 , probably in consequence of " the great trouble and * The Records of the Irish Parliaments are Irish Statutes, preserved in the Library of the very defective. Harris, in his abstract of the Royal Dublin Society, notes a memorandum, 214 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. byssynes with the warre of Iryshincn," which Surrey says would necessary make the intended meeting a short one. Piers, who died in a good old age in 1539, was now beginning to feel some of the infirmities of advancing years, and Surrey's mention of this fact also gives us, incidentally, the first notice of his eldest son, James, afterwards ninth Earl of Ormonde, and shows that he received his education in the court of England, at that period unstained by the subsequent vices and tyranny of Henry, and accounted one of the most refined and magnificent in Europe. Stat, Papers, " Also," writes Surrey, " pleas it your Grace to understand, that the said Erll, every wynter, is soo sore vexed and greved with the gowte in his fote, that he may not ryde, ne travaill; and yf 1 shuld have never somouche nede of his assistence, he may not repair to me and his men wol never goo furth, onles they have the said Erll, orels hys son and heyre, with theyme, to bee their capetayne. Wherefor I humbly beseche your Grace, that the said Erll is son, James, beeing with Your Grace, may be sent home with delygence, for thentent forsaid, which may doo the Kinges Grace right good service here, and me assis- tence, specialy at suche tymes as the said Erll may not labour; humbly beseching your Grace tenderly to consider the great ayde and loving assistance I have of the said Erll, both in the felde, and in his discrete counsail, with his famylier conversacion, which is to me great eas and comfort, that therefor your Grace wold wouchesauf, according my spe- ciall trust, to shew unto the said Erll suche favours, in bryefe expedycion of the premisses, that he may fele and perceyve to spede the better therein, by means of this my humble intercession and peticion." /./.. p. 50. Three days after this letter was written, namely, on October 6, Ormonde was at Clonmel, about to attend the Lord Lieutenant and Council to Waterford for the purpose of being reconciled to Desmond, and they write to the King, " asfor thErll of Ormond, we cannot desire to have hym more con- fourmable than he is." At this time, it appears from the letter now cited, that a project was on foot, which, if it had been carried to a successful issue, would have linked the house of Ormonde still more closely to the royal line of England, dated the 5th November, 12th Henry VIII., to the effect, that search having been made in "y c Treasury where y* kings Records were kept," it was found that the Roll of the Parliament held at Dublin, 7th Henry VIII., "evidently appeared to be new cutt within y c space of a month preceding, and part of the Roll taken away." CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 215 than even did Henry's subsequent marriage with Anne, the younger daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyne, and grand-daughter of Earl Thomas. Before Surrey came to Ireland he seems, in conjunction with others of the Council, to have suggested to Henry the advisableness of a marriage between Ormonde's accomplished son and Mary, Boleyne's eldest daughter. This we learn from the following passage in the Lord Lieutenant's despatch, which, from its interesting nature, we here transcribe: — " And where, at our beeing with Your Grace, divers of us moeved you to cause a state Papers. maryage to bee solempnysed betwene thErll of Ormondes son, beeing with Your Grace, ^ 50 ' and Sir Thomas Boleyns doughter ; we thynk, yf Your Grace causid that to bee doon, and also a fynall ende to bee made betwene theyme, for the tytle of landes depending in varyaunce, it shuld cause the said Erll to bee better wylled to see this land brought to good order; notwithstanding, undoubtidly, we see not but that he is as wele mynded thereunto, and as redy to geve his good advyse and counsaill in all causes for the furtherance of the same, as we can wyssh him to bee." The King was, at this period, favourably disposed toward the proposed inter- marriage, and in his reply to Surrey directs him to influence Ormonde " for id.. P . 57. his agreeable consent and mynde therunto," promising, in the meantime, to advance the matter with the lady's father, and inform the Lord Lieutenant how he found him inclined to the match. The project, however, slept for a twelve- id., vol. i., month, and finally came to nothing 3 . pa L ' P ' The exertions already alluded to had produced a cessation of the overt acts of enmity between the Earls of Ormonde and Desmond, both being sworn to 3 Surrey had previously expressed his desire that Lord James Butler should be sent to Ireland to head his father's retainers in the field, and his request seems to have been sup- ported by a letter from Ormonde himself. It appears that Henry was unwilling to lose sight of him, looking on him partly in the light of a hostage for his father's good behaviour, and to this motive may be traced the projected marriage with Mary Boleyne. Wolsey, writing to Henry from France in November, 1521, shortly before 2 his return to England, -which took place on the 27th of that month, says (State Papers, vol. i., part i., pp. 91, 92): — "Finally, Sir, I have considred the request and desire made unto Your Grace by Sir Piers Butler, conteigned in his letters, whiche I thinke veray reasonable; and surely, Sir, the towardnes of his sonne con- sidred, who is right active, discrete, and wise, I suppose he, being with his fader in that lande, slmlde do unto Your Grace right acceptable ser- vice. Howe be it, Sir, goode shall it be to prove, how F 216 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. IX. keep the peace and help each other in all lawful causes. Ormonde had brought siat» Paper,, to Surrey, at Waterford, " Cormok Oge and M'Carty Reagh, two Irish lordes u., part in., ^j. g rca j. p 0Wer> " wno W ere " of his band," and disposed at this time to surrender their native rights, and hold their lands of the King, " soo they may bee defended." The Lord Lieutenant asks Wolsey to " cause thankfull letters to /,/.. p . 58. bee sent from the Kinges Grace to the Erie of Ormonde, aswele for his deli- gence shewed unto me, at all tymes, as also for that he she with hymself ever, with his good advise and strenght, to bring the kings entended purpose to good effect. Undoubtedly," continues Surrey with friendly emphasis, " he is not oonly a wyseman, and hath a true English hert, but also he is the man of moost expe- rience of the feautes of warre of this countrey, of whome I have, at all tymes, the best counsail of any of this land. I wold thErll of Desmond were of like wisedome and order." a d. 1521. In the April of this year Ormonde, in company with Sir William Darcy, «., p . 64. was sent by Surrey " to pacyfy divers Irishmen, which were shrewdly dys- posid to have made warre upon the kinges subgietes," in which by threats of a " great power comyng hether with thErll of Kildare, and with divers others good dryftis," they partly succeeded. " Howe bee it," naively observes the Lord Lieutenant, " smale truste is in their promyses." In July " thErll of hi., p. re. Ormonde made sharp warre upon OKerrol, and hath doon his part right wele and Surrey asks the King to write " letters of thankes" to him " for his paynfull deli^ent service doon to Your Grace here." Surrey, perceiving that he could not continue in the government of Ireland with credit to himself unless he was enabled by larger supplies of men and the said Sir Piers Butler shall acquite hym self in thauctoritie by Your Grace lately to hym committed, not doubting but his said sonne being within your reame he woll doo ferrt the better; trusting therby the rather to gett hym home. And I shall, at my retourne to your presence, divise with Your Grace, how the marriage, betwixt hym and Sir Thomas Bolain is doughtier, may be brought to passe, which shalbe a reasonable cause to trade the tyme for send- ing his said sonne over unto hym; for the perfecting of whiche marriage, I shall endevour my selff, at my said retourne, with all effecte." By the phrase, " Sir Thomas Bolain is doughtier," can alone have been meant his eldest daughter Mary, as Anne, married to Henry VIII. in 1532, was at this period only fourteen years old, and had not returned from France, being a member of the household of Claude, Queen of Francis I. Mary Boleyne afterwards married William Carey, and her son, Sir Henry Carey, was created Lord Hunsdon by Queen Elizabeth, his first cousin. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 217 money from England to complete the conquest of the country, and besides, feeling his health much broken, had asked in the previous year to be recalled. In October, 1521, Henry sent his letters to Wolsey, then in France, expressing his intention to recall the Lord Lieutenant "thys nexte yere," and desired the Cardinal Legate to "devise uppon sum othre personage to be sent in to state Papers, these parties." Wolsey writes in reply from Calais at considerable length. It p.°69.' appears that Henry had suggested Lord Ferers, or Sir Piers Butler. The former, ' P ' ' ' Wolsey sets aside as being likely to be ruled by the Irish Council, not being expert in matters of weight ; and — suggesting that the appointment of an English Deputy must induce a larger expenditure of treasure than would be agreeable to Henry, now desirous to save money to meet the great charges he would be subjected to "by entering the werres," according to the convention made between him and the Emperor of Germany — he puts forward " the said Erie of Ormonde, now being the gretest personnage, and of mooste power amonges your obeisaunt subgiettes in that land," if he could be induced to act as the King's Lieutenant with as little expense to the Crown as when the Earl of Kildare was Deputy. " For whiche purpose," further writes Wolsey, " I have divised the minute of a letter to be sent by Your Grace to your said Lieute- nant." Pace replies to Wolsey, by Henry's desire, that the King had received id., PP . 76, 77. the minute in question, and approved of his advice as to the government of Ireland in general, except that, instead of making Sir Piers Butler Lord Lieu- tenant at once, he thought it better that Surrey should appear to sound his intentions " as of hym self, in secrete manner," and, if he should succeed in per- suading Ormonde to be his Deputy, " for a tyme," " with the same interteign- ment, or lesse, than the Earle of Kildare hadde," and the King be, on Surrey's return, fully informed " off the qualities off the sayde Sir Piers Butlare," that then he would have him appointed Deputy by " his royall autoritie." Both Wolsey's minute, and the King's letter to Surrey, altered therefrom, are still preserved, and have been printed amongst the State Papers of Henry VIII ; Id., vol. ii., we transcribe from the latter the passage relating to Sir Piers Butler 3 : — pp^s-W 1 In Ormonde's appointment to the Deputy- want of money. Hatred to the Geraldines, no ship we may trace the influence of Wolsey's doubt, also influenced the vindictive mind of the partiality, Surrey's friendship, and Henry's Cardinal Legate. 2 f 2 218 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. " We therefore coude be content, and the rather agreable, that ye shuldc retourne to this our Reamc, yf convenable provision mought be made for a substanciall and active per- sonage to be your deputie there in your absence, with suche interteignment as ye and he canne agre upon, for the defence of our seid lande. And in divising and debating with our Counsail what personage shuld be moost mete to occupie the rowme of your deputie there, We have remembrcd Sir Piers Butler, pretending himself to be Erll of Ormonde; who as We be enfourmed, aswell by your writing, as othcrwyse, is nowe reputed and taken for the best amonges other our obeisaunt subgiettes of that lande. In consideraclon wherof, our myndc and pleasure is, that ye, in secrete manor, shall declare unto the said Sir Piers 1 hitler, as if yourself, binding him, also, by the feithe of a gentelman, in lyke maner, to kepe the same secrete, that We entende to minishe our retynue there, and that We have sent for you, to have with you communicacions, aswell therin, as in other weighty matiers, and for the great wisedome and feithe ye have by dailly experience founde in hym towardes Us, above all other our subgiettes inhabiting within that our lande, towardes the politique governaunce of the same, ye may desire hym to take upon hym to be your deputie there, tyll ye shall retourne again. And percevyng his towarde mynde to occupie the said rowme under you, ye maye then further breke with hym, as of youre selfe, to knowe whether he coulde be contentyd to be your deputie there, if ye by your laboure, coulde induce Us to be agreable therunto, by declaracion of his wisedome and activenesse made unto Us, at your repaire unto our presence, with suche interteignment as the Erll of Kildare hadde, or lesse, as ye canne by good policie move hym to be contentyd with. And if ye canne induce hym to be your deputie there, in maner and fourme affbre rehersydde, then our pleasur is, ye shall repair to Us incontynently And, in the mean season, whiles ye shall move and procure hym to accepte that rowme, in such maner and fourme as is affbre expressed, We shall cause our licence to be made to you, for to surrogate a deputie there. And at your retourne unto Us, We wolbe by you, in ample manner, infourmyd of the qualities of the seid Sir Piers Butler, whether he be mete to occupie that rowme, or not, afFor he shalbe made our Deputie there by our royal auctoritie. An necessarie it is this matier be closely handelyd, that the said Sir Piers Butler, ne any other of our Coun- saill there, may, in any wise, take any suspicion or conjecture, that either We be agreable ye shulde cum home, otherwise than to retourne again, or that ye were mynded soo to do. For they, having the lest deteccion or overture therof, shall soo extremely sticke to theyr advauntage, that hard shall it to bring them to any reasonable wayes ; whereby both our pleasure, and your desirouse mynde, shulde be clerely frustrate." a. d. 1522. Ormonde, at the head of the Irish Council, after the departure of Surrey with P .°93. the English forces, asks the King for five or six ships to keep the Irish seas, awe the Irish rebels, and prevent any invasion from Scotland, expressing great CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 219 fears in consequence of the " extreme daunger and parell" which threatened state Pa P e, s . them. This letter is dated on the last day of February : on the 6th of p. 97.'' A rc Ii (ici II ' s the following month his patent as Deputy to the Earl of Surrey was Lodge, vol. iv., • D 1 9 signed, and on the 26th he took the oaths of office. " On the third daye after that, the said Lord Deputy departeyd from this cite of Dulyn" [Dublin], writes Stile (who had brought over the King's recall of Surrey) to Wolsey, "for to comune with Maghe Mur [Mac Murrough], and other Yrysshe cappytayns; and so from thens home to his awne contrey, to the county of Kilkenny, where the said Lord Deputy kepid his Ester. And yt plese your Grace, yt is said that within this 8 dais the Lord Deputy shall speke with theErle of Des- mond, in the marchis of his contrey of Mownster, and after that immedeately that the Lord Deputy will come hether to Dulyn at this Ester terme." Ormonde, having lost the support of the English contingent, had not the id., P . 93. power to preserve the same order in Ireland as his predecessor, and, besides, it should be remembered that the scarcely slumbering enmity of his rival Kildare was ready to burst forth on the slightest provocation, and was, at all times, secretly employed in fomenting disturbances amongst the Irish. Leland'x Hist. However, Ormonde's influence caused many of the native chiefs, with some of v^hTi^pp- 132, • 133 whom he was connected by ties of consanguinity or friendship, to make formal submissions to the Crown. About this time an embassy was sent by the " Regulus" of Upper Ossory to his brother chieftain, as doubtless the Macgillapatrick held the King of Eng- land to be, in form as follows: — "The Irish Ambassador to King Henry the Lambeth m.s. Eight, coming toward y e chapell vttered this oration — ' Sta pedibus Domine Rex 6U ' foL ult ' Dominus meus Gillapatricius me misit ad te, et iussit dicere: quod si non vis castigare Petrum Rufum (Piers Butler, Earl of Ossorie), ipse faciet Bellum contra te.' " There had been an old blood-feud between Earl Piers' branch of the Butlers and the Macgillapatricks. In 1443, Edmond Mac Richard Butler Seep. 36, supra. (the Earl's grandfather) had caused the two sons of the then Lord of Ossory to be slain in Kilkenny; and in 1478 the sons of the murdered men had stained the doorway of the very cathedral of St. Canice with the life-blood of Mac Richard's son. " Piers the Red," doubtless, lost no opportunity of carrying fire and sword into Upper Ossory to avenge his uncle's death; and in the records of the Corporation of Kilkenny for the year 1517 we catch a casual 22i i INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. Four Musters, vol. v., p. 1407. but graphic glimpse of this private warfare — the Tholsel of the town having been then partially rebuilt, and furnished with the iron grate of Macgillapa- trick's border castle of Coolkill, as a trophy of the prowess of the stalwart burghers, headed by their Sovereign, and aided by Sir Piers Butler a . It does not appear that " Piers the Red" was chastised by Henry, and whether the Ossorian " rcgulus" made good his ultimatum, and waged instant war against Henry's Deputy, is not recorded: we only know that, ten years afterwards, Ormonde's youngest son, Thomas, was slain in a fray with the Tanist of Ossory, Dermot Mac Shane Macgillapatrick, who was, however, delivered up, by his own brother, Brian, then chief of his name, to the Earl, by whom " he was fettered, in revenge of his son, and of every other misdeed which Dermot had committed against him up to that time." 1 The passage is so curious that we give it in the original, with a translation, premising that the previous entries show the Sovereign for the year 1517 to have been Walter Courcy: — " Item, anno regni regis infrascripti et anno Domini M°.ccccc. decimo septimo constructa fuerunt magnum solarium et parvum desuper, cum omnibus aliis ligneis edificiis et portis in eodem tolsito, per supervisum infrascripti Supe- rioris in expensis communitatis. " Item, eodem anno, modo premisso, constructa fuit nova porta lapidea inferius super latus ori- entale predicti tolsiti, et appositum est illo le graate ferreum violenter asportatum a castro bernardi tunc m'gillpatrige, nuncupato le Cowl- kyll in Ossoria, per superiore et communitate villeKilkennie tunc existentes in hostili exercitu cum domino Petro Butler milite et postea comite Ormonie. Et etiam in solario ejusdem tolsiti reparatus est in medio novus paries. " Item, plures bumbices facte sunt, et di- verse lorice empte,pro inhabitatoresville ad ejus defensionem. Item unum novum vexillum, per supervisum infrascripti superioris, rubeum in quo continetur arma vel scutum ville emptum est in expensis communitatis." Item, in the year of the King before written, and A.D. 1517, the great and little solars, with all the other timber structures and gates in the said Tholsel, were constructed under the super- vision of the said Sovereign at the public cost. Item, the same year, and in the manner afore- said, was built the new stone gateway below, on the east side of the said Tholsel ; and in it was placed the iron grate taken by force from the castle of Bernard, the then Macgillapatrick, called Coolkill, in Ossory, by the Sovereign and Commons of the town of Kilkenny, then in warlike array, aided by Sir Piers Butler, Knight, and afterward Earl of Ormonde. Also the new wall in the solar of the said Tholsel was repaired in the midst. Item, more cannon were made, and divers hau- berks were bought for the inhabitants, for the defence of the town. Item, there was bought, at the public expense, and under the supervision of the aforesaid Sovereign, a new red banner, charged with the arms or shield of the town. — Liber Primus Kilkennice, fol. 63 dorso. The ex- isting remains of the castle of Coolkill, seated in one of the passes which lead from the Queen's County into Kilkenny, show it to have been of no mean strength, and give warrant to the pardon- able vanity of the warlike burghers of Kilkenny. chap, n.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 221 But, to revert to our narrative: Kildare returned to Ireland in January, a. d. 15*3. having, during his stay in England, allied himself by marriage to a powerful party there, and in a great degree ingratiated himself with Henry, whom he attended P* rtL 'P-- 13 - to the Field of the Cloth of Gold. At first he seemed anxious to co-operate with the Deputy, by whose permission he invaded Leix to chastise Connel 0"More; who, on hearing of his return, had committed ravages in the county of Kildare, but, having fallen into an ambush, he escaped with difficulty himself, and retired with the loss of many of his followers. But this seeming concord did not long continue: the feud between the rival houses merely slumbered for a time, and even early in this year we find indications that Ormonde used his official power to weaken Kildare's party and strengthen his own position. Kildare's wife, Elizabeth Grey, daughter of the Earl of Dorset, in a letter dated May 25th. complains to Wolsey " of the Kynges Deputes sore and unfaworable State Paper t. demenour"' to Kildare, and gives it as the common report, of which she had pp. loifws" known her husband twice warned ere he rose out of his bed. u that vf the savd Deputie moght have my sayd Lord at eny advauntage, that he wold utterly dystroy hym," and insinuates that the cause of Ormonde's enmity was solely because Kildare would not promise to join him against the heirs general of Earl Thomas, irrespective of the King's will in the matter. " And now of late," con- tinues the Countess, " sens Maij last past, the sayd Deputy hath brokyn dywers castelles longeng to my sayd Lord, and to hys frendes, whych castelles was emong the kynges Iresh rebelles, and wer gret defens for the Kynges Ensrles subgyectes." all which she says. Kildare patiently endured, fearing the King's dis- pleasure if he took the law into his own hands, " and yf yt w ire not, therfor, lytyll wold he suffre such wronges." So that he had no remedy B onles yt be by the Kyng and youre Grace," as Ormonde would not be ruled by the Irish Council*. Kildare himself, writing the day before to Henry, makes similar ■ Kildare's complaints seem to have led to li This Awarde quaterpartite, indented, youen some attempt on the part of Henry to prevent and maide the sxviii- daie of Xovembre in the the occurrence of an open rupture between the fiftenthe yeare of the reigne of oure Souuereigne Earls. In the Evidence Chamber, Kilkenny Lorde Henry the viii~ of England and ffraunce Castle, there is still preserved the draft of a do- Kyng, Defensoure of the faithe, and Lord of Ire- cument endorsed " An order or award bet ween e land, Wetkesseth that wheire the right hono- Piers Earle of : Lo : Dep : &. the Earle of Kil- rable lordes Sir Peter Butler, Erie of Ormound, dare," to the following effect: — now being the kings deputie in his land of Ire- 222 INSCRIBED MONUMP:NTS. [sect. II. insinuations, and, in addition, charges Ormonde with entering into confederacy with O'Carrol, and others of the Irishry, " by whose assistance he intendeth to land foresaid, and Sir Geralde ffitzgarralde Erie of Kildayre, right accordingly to a certaine ar- ticle, to theime shoud, of the kings most gra- ciouse exhortacion for theire vnitie and concorde, to theime at the commaundement of his highnes declared by the most reverend ffaither in god George, Archbushupp of Armachan and prymait of all Ireland, hath ordeigned as arbitrers bie theime of oone consent chosynne, to ordre, iudge, stablish, and awarde all and euerie oone such grudgf, stryves, demaundies, ordebaytes before this daie movid or begonne, from the bygynnyng of the world vnto this daie, the moste reuerend faithers in god Hughe Archebusshup of Dublyn, thekingf chaunccller of the said land of Ireland, and the foresaid George Archbusshup of Arma- chan and Prymait of all Ireland, Sir John Raw- sonne, knight, priour of Sainct Johns Jerusalem in Ireland, and Treasurer of the Kyngf saied lande, and Patrik Brymygam cheef Justice of the Kingf benche theire, as more clearly ap- pearith by the condicions of their seu?all obli- gacions, dated the vii th daie of Octobre, the xv th yeare of oure saide souuereigne Lord ; by vertue wheirof, andinconsideracion of the Kingf moiste gracious pleass' in this behalue, with the quietie and restfullnes of his subgiettf in this his saide land, the whiche muche (as it appearith) stan- di th in the vnitie and concord of the noblis of the sayme, and inespeciall of the goode vnitie and concorde of the saied two Erles of Ormound and Kildayre, after diuerse and many threatf of thoccacions and varyaunce between the saied two Erles, and by the saied Arbitreres deligently herd and ponderid, haue orderid stablishid and awardid, as they haue thowghte expedient as by this present award they do declayre, That these two lordes, the saied Sir Peter Erie of Ormound, now the Kingf deputie of this his lande, and the foresaid Erie of Kildayre, fforgetting all old grudges and varyauncf, bee of oone concord and vnitie, ready to s?ue the Kingf highenes in re- sisting and defending the malice of his grace is dissobeysaunt subgiettf, aswell Englishe, as Irisshe Rebellis, and that as well for theire owne welth as outhir the kingf subgiettf here. And wheir, by thoccacion of seuerall peax and seuerall warre, haith growen many and diuerse grudgf between the foresaid two lordes, not alonely hurtefull to theyme selffe, but also greatly to the vnquietie and noysounnes of the kingf sub- giettf, whereforre the saied arbrtrers iudgith stablishitt and awardith that neither of theime in anywyse maike no seu?all bandes, seu?all warre, ne seuerall peax with Englishe or Irissh- men, without licence of the kingf grace, or con- sentof hisdeputy ande counsaill, and in thabsens of the deputy, the counsaill here, allonely ex- cepted theire be any suche peax or treux to a reasonable day taken, so that the kingf moiste noble grace or his deputie & counsaill here bee of that with all deligence shuid, infourmid, and ad- vertisid, and in the saide deputies absence the counsaill; after the whiche advertisement the said peax longar to bee kept or brokyn as shalbe the kingf saied grace is pleass r , or as the said deputy and counsaill shall thinke expedient, and in thabsence of the deputy, the counsaill. And also in determynynge of the like grudgf, stryves, debaitf, and varyancf between the foresaied two Erles by reasonne of tacking coyne andlyverye of duerse and many of the kingf subiettf, not allonely to their greate discontentacion ande dis- pleass r , but to the vtter impouvrshing of the kingf saied subjiettf here, the said arbitrers iudgith, stablishith, and by this presentf awar- dith that there be no coyne and lyuerey neither by the saied Erie of Ormounde the kingf deputie, CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 223 defend his title to thErldome of Ormond, be it right or wrong;" and mentions State Papers. the prevalence of a rumour that the King proposed shortly to remove him from ™ 100' the head of affairs in Ireland. nor yet by the saied Erie of Kildayre nor noone of their s?uauntf or kynsmen which they may rule, taiken uppon any of the kingf sbgiettf within the iiij obeysant shires, Meth, Vryell, Dublin, and Kildayre, owtherwise thanne is lymitid by certaine writingf indentid, made be- tween the right honorable lorde S r Thomas Howarde Erie of Surrey, Treasaurer of England, late Lieutenaunte of this the Kingf lande and the saied S ir Peter Butler Erie of Ormound now the Kingf deputie here. And yf any suche coyne and lyverybee taiken byaither of the saied lordes, theire servaunf or kyn semen outhirwis thanne by the saied writingf is expressid, thanne the saied lordes and aither of theime after know- lege had or made to theime theirof [iic] see dew redresse with satysfaction to the pairte theirby hurtidde. This notwithstanding the saied arbitrers doith not intend to prohibyt no coyne and lyverey from the saied Erie of Kil- dayre, by the fire wille of thenhabitauntf his tenauntf or outhers within the countie of Kil- dayre youen, and by him vsidde, or the Erie his faither before seasoune, for the speciall defence of theime and oithers the kingf subgiettf from the kingf Rebelles, and their ennemyes of the Irisshrye. But that the saied Erie may without forfeatoure take of the saide inhabitauntf suche coyne and lyverey as is beforre reherssid for the consideracon of the saied defence, this awarde innowyse withstanding. Also it shall be leafull to the saied Erie of Kildayre, whoime the saied Arbitrers by the consent of the saied deputie iudge moiste mete and hable as a defenso' in the said deputies absens to defend the Kingf saied foure obeysaunt shares, in which defending the saied Arbitrers deem and iudge hym worthy to 2 receyve and take, in all suche journeys for the defence of the invasions (or any outher journey thought mete by the counsaille and necessarie to bee doon for the comon welthe) suche coyne and lyverey as the deputie shulde have in that doinge ; ande according to the purport and trew tenoure of the saied bill indentid, right discreatly made and ev?more to be obs?ued aswell by the deputie for to come, as the deputie nowe prea- sent, for the great welth of this the kingf lande, between the foursaiede lorde, lord Thomas Erie bf Surrey laite the Kingf Lieutenaunt here, and the foresaied lorde deputie. The whiche bill indentid the saiede Arbitrers iudge and thinke verry expedyent, and for the welth of the Kingf subgiettes here right necesarye, that the foresaide two Erles of Ormound and Kyldayre and eyther of theyme indeavoure they me selfe to caus the sayme duely to be eobs?uid ande kepte, aswell toucheing toother lordes or gentlemen of this the Kingf land as of theire owne pairties. And bt- CAUSEthe saiedErle ofKildayre shuldebee moore prompt and attentyve in the defence of the sayme, the saied Arbitrers by agreament of the saied Deputie ande by this preasantf iudgith, stablishith, and awardith that for the goode and faithfull s?vice to bee doon by the saied Erie of Kildayre to the kingf highenes and his deputie in this behalve all the season that the saied Erie of Ormounde shalbe Deputie, to haue an hun- dreth poundes to be paied of the reuenue of his deputacion yearely at two termes in theyeare & by even porcions. ffl"RTHIrmo e the saied Arbi- trers iudgith &c. that the saied Erie ofKildayre suffer the saied Deputie, the kingf Treasaurer, ande their officers peasably to levye, gaither, and receyve as well tharreraigf of suche like subsidies 224 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. Allowing that Kildarc himself had policy enough to await the result of the charges made against his opponent, backed as they would be by the powerful influence of his wife's connexions ; it is certain that his followers & reuenues within the countic of Kildayre pay- able before this daie, as also hereaftirward to bee growen or dewe, and likewis the saicd Deputie to suffer the saied Erie of Kildayre and his ollicers to receyve and pereeyve all suche arrearaigf of suche like subsidies within the counties of Kil- kenney and Tepperairy as well as outher reue- nues to himdueby reasoune of his late deputacion or in the right of the Erie his faither somtyme Deputie here, yf it so be iudgid of the kingf cheef judgf of aither bench ande the cheefe baron of thexcheopuier here. And if the saied iudgf and cheefe baron cannot agre, thanne to stande at the determynacion ande iudgement of oone of the Kingf iustices of aither of the benches within England, suche oone as the cheefe iudge here shall nayme and thinke moiste expedient in this behalve. And where ther bee certaine perti- cular claymes between the saied two Erles as for cheefe rentes, taiking of stresses and outhers, they boith in all suche thingf to stand in arbi- trement of the said cheefe iudge of the kynges bench here. Moireocer the saied arbitrers ordereth &c. that aswell the saied Erie of Kil- dayre, as the saied Erie of Ormounde the kingf deputie, without colloure or ffrawde endeavo r theyme selff after the beste mainer they canne to ordre theire bredren kynesmen and s?uaunts after suche mainer of ffourme as may be beste to the pleasoure of Almightie god, the keap- ing of the kingf lawes, and the peasable restfullnes of the kingf subgettf, or outhirwis to bring theyme in vnto the kingf Deputie ande counsaille, and in the Deputies absens to the counsaill here, wheire they may at all seasounes bee ordered aftir the kingf saied lawes goode equitie and iustice. And ffurthir the saied arbitrers have ordeignid &c. that the saied Erie of Kildayre shall bryng, or caus to be broughtin, Sir Geralde Makshaine and his sonne before the kingf Deputie and counsaill at Dublyn with de- ligence, or in the Deputies absens befoire the counsaill theire, and befoire theyme to be exa- myned of suche demearities and defaultf as they have doen and comittid against the kingf hig- nenes and his subiettf , and theirforre to receyve punyshment acordyngly. Prouidid alway that in no mainer of wyse the saied Deputie do alye- nait or pardoune thefoiresaiedGeraldeMakshaine or his sonne from the ryghfull punnyshment of the saied Erie of Kildayre in suche thingf as concerneth the trespasse and offence doen to the said Erie, but that the saied S r Geralde and his sonne bee readeliue?d after such examynacion had, y f the counsayll think it so expedient, to the saied Erie of Kyldayre, to be iudgid within the countie of Kyldayre acording vnto the lawes of his li- bertie grauntid by the kingf grace to hym in this behalve and nowe outherwise. And ou?- moire the saied Erie of Kildayre with conve- nient dealigence shall expell and put out of his pyle callid Castle Conre, lying in theffrontiers of the landes of the deputie, Cono r obrenne, and from hensforthwardes shall not suffer the saied Cono' obrenne nornoone outhirthe kingf yrisshe rebelles or the saied Deputies ennymies to inha- byte theyme selff within the saied ffbrtres or any outhir his fortresses lying in the borders and ffron tiers of the saied Deputies landes. And in likewis the saied Erie of Ormounde now being the kingf Deputie shall expell and remoove all and euery one the kingf yrisshe rebelles, or en nymies vnto the saied Erie of Kildayre, out of all and euery one his fortresses adioyning and af- CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 225 could not brook the delay consequent on the course which prudence indi- cated. A friend of Ormonde, who " was partaker of all the deputies counsell," and believed by the Geraldines " to keepe a kalendar of all their dooings" a , frontying vppon the possessions of the saied Erie of Kildayre, nor hereafterwarde shall let any suche his fortresses to any of the kingf rebelles or yrisshe ennymies of the foresaied Erie of Kil- dayre, but theyme to expell withall dealigence, and that without frawde and prolongacion of time after due requeste to the saied Erie of Or- mound in thisbehalve made. And for ffy nail con - clusion of this awairde the said Arbitrers iudg- ithe &c. that from hensfurth the saied two Erles bee of one vnitie and concorde likwis as is before- saide and not to maineteyne no Quarrelles the one againste the oither but aither of theyme to bee ready too defende and preferre oothers right- full causes and quarrelles againste the kingf yrisshe rebelles, so that they both by help of other may raither the better attayne to doe the kingf grace in this lande thankefull s?wice lyke as the saied arbitrers doith truste it shalbe acceptable vnto almighty god, approvid vnto the kingf highenes, ande welthfull vnto this his lande, ande to theire great proufit, lawde, and prayse. And though the saied arbitres greatley deasie- rith this their aw airde of vnitie, concorde, iudge- ment, establishment, and determynacion of vari- auncf inviolably euvermoire to be obs?ved and kept, yet they aswell at the instant peticion of the saied two Erles, as for the descharging of their owne conscience, fforasmuch as the saied two Erles protestid at the sealling of their ob- ligacions they intendid not to bee bound to the saied great and grevous forfeature aboue the space of a twolmoneth after the dait of the lyuerey of this saiede awarde, wherefore they declayre by this presentf that of the saied two Erles, nor of none of theyme theyre bee no suche 2 forfeatf taiken by reason of theyr saide oblica- cions, so that this saied awarde be truely obs?ved and kept by the space of an hoole yeare, as it shall please the saied oure souereigne Lord the kingf grace. Youen at Dublyn the daie and yeare aboue written. Yet also at the special 1 peticion of the saied two Erles, and for bicaus in this said awarde aboue written theire be many diuerse and sundry articles, whereof some con- cerneth not allonely the vnitie and goode con- corde of the foresaid Lords, the Lorde Deputy Erie of Ormounde and the saied Erie of Kildayre, but also the comonwelth of this land, and some oither moore speciall the amycable peace between the saide Lordes as well as outher perticuler mactiers, wheirfore consequentlye it shulde fol- lowe some forfeatures to be taiken moire grea- vouslye thanne some outhers, the saied arbitrers theirt'ore doith reas?ue aswell the taxacion of the penaltie, whereof in some condicions to be taxid at ten pound, some at twentie poundf, and that as often as suche breche shall ffortune by the saied pairties or any of theime, and so upward as the greavousenes of the breche shall requier vnto the some of the saied obligacions, with the inter- pretacion of all doubtfull thingf wi'in this awairde to theime selffe, by theime to bee iudgid at all seasounes, and enterpretaite whensoeu? va- riance in that behalue shall ffortune." The " obligacions" alluded to in the foregoing "Awarde" have been printed in the State Papers (vol. ii., partiii., pp. 112, 1 13). Ormonde's bond was for 1000 marks; Kildare's was for the same amount. a " As if he were Ormond's spy on Kildare's actions." — Ware's Annals of Ireland. g2 220 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. ii. Stanihnnt'a Robert Talbot, of Belgard, was met by James Fitzgerald near Ballymore Eus- Chroniclet of . inland, p. 84. taee, who " slue him euen then vpon his iourneie toward the deputie to keepe his Christmas" with him" at Kilkenny. " With this despiteful murther," con- tinues Staniburst, "both sides brake out into open enimitie b , and especiallie the countcsse of Ossorie [Ormonde], Kildare his sister, a rare woman, and able for wiscdome to rule a realme, had not hir stomach ouerruled hir knowledge. Here began informations of new treasons, passing to and fro, with complaints and replies. But the marques Dorset had wrought so for his sonne in law [Kildare had married his daughter Elizabeth], that he was suffered to rest at a d. i52i. home, and onelie commissioners directed into Ireland, with authoritie to exa- mine the root of their griefes ; wherein if they found Kildare anie thing at all purged, their instructions were to depose the plaintiffe, and to swear in the Carte's other lord deputie." That Ormonde, however, still had friends at court, appears Ormonde, vol. i., . 1 . „ i m pxi introduction, from his appointment, dated May 13, to the office of Lord Treasurer of Ireland. ^w* in Ware. The Commissioners arrived in Dublin about midsummer-day (June 24), and heard the allegations of Ormonde and Kildare in the prior's house of Christ Church ; and although articles of agreement were signed by both the Earls on the 28th of July, the terms of which show that no very heinous offence could be proved against Ormonde, yet in two or three days after he was superseded, and Kildare made Deputy in his room, — a step which was clearly pre-arranged ere the Commission left England. To lay claim, however, to some show of stanihnrst's impartiality — " concerning the murtherer whom they might haue hanged, they /rt/«"rf'p 85 brought him prisoner into England, presented him to the cardinal Woolseie, who was said to hate Kildare his blood: and the cardinall intending to haue put him to execution caused him to be led about the streets of London haltered, and hauing a taper in his hand: which asked so long time, that the deane of Lichfield [one of the Commissioners] stepped to the king, and begged his pardon. The cardinall was sore inflamed herewith, & the malice not hitherto so ranke, was throughlie ripened, & therefore hensefor- warde Ossorie [Ormonde] brought foorth diverse proofes of the deputie his " The 'Annals' in "Ware state that the murder Dowling's Annals, p. 35. was perpetrated in September. c These articles of agreement are printed in b "PropterquodButleriistomachabantur." — the State Papers, vol. ii., part iii., pp. 104-8. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 227 disorder." A letter of Ormonde's, dated from Kilkenny on the 22nd of April, a d. 1525. confirms the latter part of this statement. It was written to the Lord James State Papers, Butler, still resident at the English Court, and is as follows: — pp. na, 119. " In my loving maner I recommende me unto you. And lately hath had relacion, that certain of the Counsaill, by the Deputies meanes, have written over thider, to have the Kinges letters addressed to me, prohibiting me to take any Irishe mens part. Whereupon ye most ever have good, secret, and diligent esspyall, lest the Kinges letters be so optayned, whiche then wold not oonly bee grete prejudice to me, and to you, in tyme commyng, but also great discorage to all myne adherentes, to continue any amytie to me, or you, here- after. Now ye may perceive the parcialitie of theym, that so certified, being ordred and conducted therin, as the Deputie wolde have theym. And during my being in thaucto- ritie, they never certified any of thErl of Kyldares apparaunt mysorder, or transgression, in any maner. Shewe the Kinges Grace, and my Lord Cardynall, of the soden wilfull invasion doon by the Deputie upon OKerroll, long after the date of the Kinges letters now directed ; whereof I have rather certified you by a frere of Mowskery. Wherupon ye must devise, in my name, to the King and my Lord Cardinall, as my trusty servaunt, Robert Couly shall penn and endite. As for thindentures, they bee infrenged by the De- putie, and in maner no point observed; and as for my part, 1 will justifie, I have truly observed theym, to my gret losses, in sufFring my adherents and servauntes distruccions. The Deputie, nowe afore Ester, did. set suche coyn and liverey in the 3 obedyent sheres, that mervaile it were to here two litell townes of myne, called Castell Warning, and Ogh- terarde, with [out] any other towne, ded bere 420 galloglas. For 4 myles the pore tenauntes be so empoverysshed, that they cannot paye my rentes, and the landes like to be clere wast. Now lately he hath sente out of the Exchequier a writ to Waterforde, that all maires and bailliffes, that were there sens the furst yere of our Souverain Lord that now is, shold appere in 15 Pa [quindena Paschse] to geve accompt, before the Barons, for al maner the Kinges duties, revenues, and poundage there ; whiche is doon for a cautell, to put me to losses and my heires. For Waterford hath a sufficient discharge, but oonly for my halff of the prises, and the 10£ of annuite a , with the 20 markes to the churche. And asfor the price, and 10£ of annuite, I must see theym discharged. Wherefore ye must labour to gette an especiall patent of the King, of all the prises in this land, according to my graunte, made to myne auncesters by his most noble progenitours, and specially in Waterford, and the 10£ of annuitie, without any accompt-making; with this clause, " absque aliquo com- poto," &c. If it bee not had, it will be moche prejudice to you, in tyme commyng; for this is doon to dryve you ever from the principal wynes, and the said annuitie, and not to 3 i. e. The creation fee of the Earldom of Ormonde. 228 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. have your prises, till ye have a discharge out of thExchequier, from tyme. In any wise, slepe not on this matier, and if ye do, the wost losses and trouble willbc yours, in tyme commyng. Immedeat upon the receipt herof, sende for Robert Couly, and cause hym to seche remedies for the same; and if James White" bee not commyng, let hym endevour hym self to obteigne it. Furthermore, I desire you to make diligent haste hyther, with the Kinges licence; for surely, onlesl see your tyme better employed in attendaunce of my great busynes, then ye have doon hither, I wolbe well avised, or I doo sende you any more, to your costes. Written at Kilkenny, the 22 daye of Aprill." state Papers, On the 20th of the following month the King writes to Kildare requiring voi.il., pa in., l{ w j t ] lout an y stopped or further delaye," to pay, within twenty days from that date, the half subsidy awarded to Ormonde by the late Commission, and other portions of the public revenue due to him, amounting in all to about £800; and, shortly after, Ormonde set sail for England, " without making the id., p. 123. Kinges Deputie or Counsaill pryve to the same" to urge his charges against Kildare. The Deputy, on his part, was not idle. Some time in the following month his brother-in-law, Lord Leonard Grey, was instructed to lay before id., pp. 120-4. Henry articles " towching the mysedemeanour of thErle of Ormond, sethens the departure of the Kinge's Commyssioners out of Ireland." We give some extracts as a sample of the rest. Kildare charges Ormonde with taking — " Coigne and liverey of all the kinges subgiettes within the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary, not only for his horsemen, kerne, and gallogla3, but also for his masons, car- penters, taillours, being in his owne werkes, and also for his sundry huntes, that is to seye, 24 personnes with 60 grehowndes, and houndes for dere hunting, another nomber of men and dogges for to hunt the hare, and a third nomber to hunte the martyn, all at the charges of the Kinges subgiettes, mete, drinke, and money ; the hole charges wherof surmountith 2000 markes by yere Item, whereas the said Deputie had warre with O'Ker- rull, which euer hath been oon of the Kinges grettest ennemyes in this land, and most hurte hath doon unto the Kinges obeisauntsubgietes of the same ; the said Erie of Ormond, at a certain tyme, when the said Deputie invaded the same OKerrull is countie, did sende 4 of his gunners, with gunnes and powder, to defende the said OKerrullis castell b , against * Probably the faithful " lackie" who aided Kildare, that the Castle of Lerny venane, or The Ormonde in his encounter with the base But- Leap, was warded by four gunners, servants to ler See p. 196, supra. the Earl of Ormonde, after Easter, in the year b It appears by the deposition of " Fergen- 1525. O'Carroll was Ormonde's kinsman. — naynne, eldest son to O'Keroll," taken before State Papers, vol. ii., part hi., p. 121, note. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 22D the Kinges said Deputie; and besides this, did make fast promysse with the same OKerroll to have taken his parte against the said Deputie, contrary to his alegeaunce Item, where as the late Bishop of Leghlyn was heynously murdered by thAbbot of Duske's son, being the said Erie of Ormondes neigh kynnesman, for that intent the said Abbot might have enjoyed that Bisshoprik; at the whiche murdre ther was 3 of the same Erie's servauntes, for the whiche he hath not as yet punyshed theym; and farthermore did succour the said Abbot, in his cuntre, at such tyme as the said Deputie did persecute hym as the procurer of the same murder 1 . Item, the servauntes of the said Erie of Ormond did burne, robbe, and spoile a towne of the said Deputies, called Lyvetiston, within the countie of Kildare, where they cruelly murdred and burned 17 men and women, diverse of theym being with child, and oon of theym, that fled out of the fire to the churche, was slayne on the high auter Item, the said Erie of Ormond kepeth a warde ofevill disposed personnes, in a pyle adjoyning to the see, called Arclow, which do not oonly robbe and spoyle the Kinges subgiettes, passing ther by, but also do ravishe women, maydens, and wydowes Item, all the churchis, for the more parte, within the said counties of Kilkenny and Typperary, are in suche extreme decaye, by provision, that, in maner, there is no devine service kept there, and shallbe well proved, that fewe or none laboureth to the Appostill for any benefice, without the consente of the said Erie, or my Lady, his wif, by whom he is only ruled b , which are the veray maynte- ners of all suche provision ; in so muche as they lately mayntayne certayn provisers against the said Erie is son being Archebisshop of Cashell , contrary to the Kinges letters directed in the favors of the said Archebisshop : so as, and if the Kinges grace do not see for the a Dowling says that Bishop Doran was slain, A.D. 1522, in Leix, between Kilneyn and Cloagh- ruish, by Maurice Cavanagh, surnamed "Guer, idest, sharp," who was Archdeacon of the diocese, because he wished to correct the perversity of the said Archdeacon and others. When Kildare was made Deputy, he crucified the Bishop's mur- derer " at the head of Glan Reynald by Leigh- len." — Dowling's Annals, p. 34. The severity of the punishment is accounted for by the pas- sage in the text, where Kildare seeks to impli- cate Ormonde in the guilt of his near kinsman. b We thus can trace to a Geraldine source Sta- nihursfs assertion, that Ormonde was "(saue onelie in feats of armes) a simple gentleman," and that he owed his reputation to " the singular wisedome of his countesse, a ladie of such a port, that all estates of the realme crouched vnto hir ; so politike, that nothing was thought substan- tiallie debated without hir aduice." — Stani- hurst, Chronicles of Ireland, p. 85. Doubtless the Earl did not spurn the advice of his strong- minded consort ; but that he was as well skilled in diplomacy, and more than a match for his rival Kildare at the Council-board, as well as in the field, the published State Papers of the pe- riod abundantly show. c This may account for the delay which took place in the consecration of Edmond Butler, the Earl of Ormonde's illegitimate son and bitterest enemy. Maurice Fitzgerald, his predecessor in the See, died in 1523; Edmond Butler was not consecrated until the year 1 527 Harris's Ware, voL i., p. 482. 230 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. hasty remedy of the same, there is like to bee no more Cristentie there, then in the myddes of Turkey; for the spirituall svverd is there clierly dispised Item, he hath used to sende over see, unto oon Robert Cowly, by whome diverse untrothes hath been proved, to indite complaintcs, at his oone pleasure or discression, against the said Erie of Kildare; having with him a signet of the said Erie of Ormondes, to seale the same". Item, in caas thErl of Ormond make any new matier of the letter, that thErl of Kildare scntc to thErl of Desmond, the trouth thereof was this" that he was " fayne to write unto the saide Erie of Desmond, to have metten with hym at a certain place, where he thought to have desired his aide against the Kinges said rebelles which letter his sister, the Lady of Ormond, caused to bee taken from oon of his servauntes that bare the same, he being then lodged in her owne house." Although we must allow for the exaggeration of malice in these statements, yet they probably present a true and melancholy picture of the miserable condition to which the contending factions had reduced the country. Kildare's complicity with his kinsman Desmond gave Ormonde a great advantage over his antagonist. Desmond had seized the conjuncture of Henry's war with France to enter into a treasonable correspondence with the enemy. ms Motion of Kildare, as Deputy, was ordered to march against and arrest him. "Vpon of lreiun.i. receipt thereof," writes Russell, "the Earle of Killdare, with the greatest forces he could make, comes with speed to the Province of Munster, to hunte out y c Earle of Desmond ; and hauing done in y* service what lay in his power, bee went his way as wise as he came ; but whether willingly and wittingly hee omitted the opportunitie as being loath to bee the minister of his cosen Des- monds mine, or that it lay not in his power to doe him hurt or harme, he missed the mark at which he aimed and, being summoned to England to answer this as well as other charges preferred against him by Ormonde, was committed to the Tower. The consummate ability which insured to Ormonde his own triumph, and the disgrace of his. opponent, and his thorough knowledge of Henry's arbitrary character, are well illustrated by his voluntary surrender, about this time, into ' See Ormonde's letter to his son at the Eng- the late Duke of Wellington. See a Paper on lish Court, p. 227, supra. Cowly, the confidential the Cowleys of Kilkenny, Transactions of Kil- servant of Ormonde, was a direct ancestor of kenny Archa-ol. Society, vol. ii., p. 102. chap, n.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 231 the King's hands, of the ancient Earldom of Ormonde, his claim to which he took so much trouble to prove on the death of Earl Thomas*. At this period 1 There is preserved in the Evidence Chamber, Kilkenny Castle, a parchment document, under seal, endorsed, "Indentures of coveimt betwixt theires gen?all of therle of Ormonde, and therle of Ossorie," and signed, in autograph, " Anne Seyntleger," "Kocheford," " George Seyntleg?," and M. B." for Margaret Boleyne. One seal, with its slip of parchment, is wanting, which, no doubt, bore the signature of Sir Piers Butler. The substance of the indenture is as follows : — The heirs general, and the heirs male of Thomas, Earl of Ormonde, "by the mediacion & direcon of the moste reu?end fFader in god Thomas, lord legat delat/e, & Cardynall Archebishop of York, di: chaunceller of Englond," agree to surrender to the King their respective claims to the " honor, tytle, style, & dignitie of the name of the Erie of Ormond, and the annuite of ten poundf of the fee ferme of the citie of Waterford in Irlond graunted lymyted or assigned for mayntenaunce of the same" to be " clerely and intierly at the disposicion, pleasure, Aiwill ofoure seid sou/aigne lord i of his heires." Further, the heirs general covenant not to disturb the claim of the heirs male to the manors of Cloncurry and Turvy, with their appurtenances, which were settled by fine on the heirs males of James Earl of Ormonde and Aleanore his wife, in the 4th year of Ed. III.: whilst Sir Piers and his son renounce all claim to the wide possessions indicated by the names thus recited: — " the castellf honourf and man/f of Carrykmakgryffyn, Boskre, Kylkenny, Baly- gawran, Knoktogher, Bush, Balyskadan, Black- castle, Oghterin, Oghterrard, C as tell Warnyng, Arcloo, Tullaghoffelyn, & the Barons Inne in Dublyn, and all other castellf, honours, lordships londf, tenementf, advowsons, knightf flees, rentef , ren?sions, possessions, A: hereditamentf , what so eu! they be, whiche were the seid Thomas a late Erie of Ormodf, or any of his a ancestors, or ony pson or psons to his or their vse in the seid londe of Irelond." At the same time the heirs ge- neral agree to "sett to ferme to the seid Sir Piers Butler and Jamys his son the castell of Kyl- kenny.&the maners of Balygawran. Knoktogher, & all other maners, lordships, londf, tenementf, and hereditamentf lying in the Counties of Kyl- kenny. Typare, & Ormond on the west pt of the Ryver of Barowe in the seid lond of Irlond," with all their rights and apurtenances, excepting the " maners and lordships of Carry kma gryflyu , & the castell and man? of Boskree," with their ap- purtenances, for a term of thirty years, at £40, English money, per annum, payable half yearly, " yppon the flbnt sett & being in the body of the Cathedrall churche of Sent Paule in the citie •:: L:u£:u." w;:b a clause :: surrender every three years on the part of the tenants, and a co- venant that in case the heirs general sell or ex- change the said property, or it be otherwise dis- posed of by the King or his fteirs, that then this lease, and all other leases or grants made by or to the parties, shall cease and determine. Provided also, that if Sir Piers or his son recover any of the property of the heirs general, not men- tioned in the indenture, " lying or being in the seid lond of Irlond on the seid west part of the seid Ewer of Barrowe oute of or frome the handf & possession of the Irysshe men, comenly callid the wild Irysshemen," or other property belonging to the said heirs general, and not then in the possession of either the said heirs general, or of Sir Piers Butler, that then the said lands be enjoyed by Sir Piers during the said term of thirty years, without any additional rent ; all the property of the late Earl to the east of the Bar- row being entirely reserved to the heirs general, free from all claim of the heirs male, with a co 1' :i ■2.V2 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. the Boleynes were entering on their brilliant, but short-lived, career. Sir Thomas Boleyne, Viscount Rochford, — a title taken from the manor of that name* in Essex, which he inherited through his mother, second daughter of the late Earl of Ormonde, — had set his heart on the Irish Earldom. Premising thus much, we Bhall allow Master Richard Lawless to continue the narrative: — "About y c 18 th yeare of the Raigne of y e s d King Henry 8. the s d S r Thomas Bullen, Lo : Viscount Rochford (being in high estimation & creditt with y e King) made suite vnto his Majesty in regard that hee was one of y e heyres generall of y e s d Thomas late Earle of Ormond & Wiltshire, & descended from one of his daughters, that hee might have y e title & mime of Earle of Ormond with y e Fee of creation oflO 1 ' reserued vpon y e Feefarme of ye Citty of Waterford incident to y c sayd name of honour. And albeit the King was very loath to give cause of discontent vnto y e s d S r Piers Butler then Earle of Ormond, being then a worthy servitor, & that hee knew y e s d Lo: Rochford had noe right to that name (y e said Earldome being entayled b as before, & y e s d Lo : Rochford descending of y e younger daughter of y c s d late Earle), yett notwithstanding his Maj tic to give contentmente vnto y e s d Lo: Rochford, intreated ye said S r Piers to relinquish his Title to y e s d name of honor, & Fee of Creation ; & to surrender y e same vnto his hands, to bee disposed of at his pleasure, w ch the s d S r Piers (in performance of his pleasure & for auoyding his Highnesses indig- nation) was contented to doe. After which surrender y e s d king by his Letters Patents vnd r y e greate Seale of England, bearing date the 1 9° yeare of his Raigne, created y e s d S r Piers Butler Earle of Ossory c , vnto him & y e heyres males of his body." venant to set the manors of Arklow and Tullow to Sir Piers and his son for such reasonable term of years and rent as may be agreed on between the parties. The indenture also contains a re- servation of the rights of all the parties to pro- ceed by law, within the next thirty years, for the recovery of any right they might respectively have to the property mentioned therein, such proceeding to be had before the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice of England, and their de- cision to be final ; " provided alwey that ney ther of the seid p'ties nor the heires of ony of theym at any tyme heraft? shall from hensforth make ony clayme, title, p'tens or demaunde to the seid hono r , name, style, title, & dignitie of the name of the Erie of Ormond nor to the seid an- nuite of x 1 ', nor to any part or p'cell therof, by ony right or title growen or had before the date of thes p'sentf." The indenture is dated 18th Fe- bruary, 19 Henry VIII. (1528), and, besides the signatures of the contracting parties, is signed in autograph byWolsey, as " T. Car'» Ebor." * The manor house and church tower of Roch- ford, both fine specimens of brickwork, are said to have been built by Thomas, Earl of Ormonde, in the reign of Henry VII. b Lawless had before stated that the Earldom was " instituted to y e heyres males of y e body of y e said James Butler first Earle of Ormonde:" but this was a mistake See p. 208, supra. c The same Patent gives him and his heirs male, as Earls of Ossory, £20 creation money annually out of the King's manor of New Castle of Lyons, in the county of Dublin. CHAP. II. INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 233 The patent was dated on the 23rd of February. 1527-8. In the Cottonian A.D. issa. Collection. British Museum (Titus. B. 11. foL 354, &c). is preserved the fol- lowing curious unpublished account of the ceremonies attendant on "The Creation of the Lord Pyerce Butler to be created Earle of Osserey :" — " The saydLord, honorably accompanied, the Saturday the xxii ,!l day of ffebruary the xix ,h yeare of our Soveraigne Lord King Henry the viii ,b , rode from London to the Castell of Windsore, where his lodging was in the sayd castle prepared for him. Howbeyt because that his coming thither was somewhat late, and also for that he was a little diseased, he remayned for that night in his lodging in the Toune, and on the morrow being Sunday the xxiij tb day of the saved moneth he went to his lodgings in the sayd Castell which was right honorably prepared for him, called the Lord Chaniberlaynes lodgings, neare the chappell, where was made good fiers in both chambers, and his breakfast was ordeyned for him, & other y l did accompany him ; and there remayned untill a little tyme before that the Kvnge was goinge to his high Masse; and some what before the kings coming forth, the savd Lord well accompanyed went into the Kings chamber, where he was honorably receaved of all the Lords there being present, w ,h other ; and ymmediately after his obey- sance done unto the Kinge, he went before his hignes, according to his rome [degree], to the Kin?s Closet, & there tarried until the saying of high Masse, and after the saying ware done, incontinent returned to his chamber, & the Lord Marques of Exeter, and the Earle of Oxenford great cham?lane of England, thErle of Rutland went also unto the sayd chamber, where thev all put in their Robes of Estate : And the Lord Marques of Exeter and the Earl of Oxenford did leade him, and the Earl of Rutland bare the sworde, the pommell upward, S ir Thomas Wriotheslev, gartier principal King of Arms, bare the Pattent of his creation, and other officers of armes went before him ; and also certaine gentlemen and the Kings Trumpetts tarried at y e Kings chamber dore, the residue of the gentlemen entered into the chamber of Estate, the King being under his Clothe of Estate nobly accompanyed. And y e third obeysaunce made, the sayd Sir Thomas, Gartier, presented the tres pattents of the sayd Lord unto therle of Oxenforde, being Lord chamberlaine of England, w cb pre- sented them unto the Kinge, and his Grace delivered the sayd pattents to Doctor Sampson Deane of the Kings Chappell, and of his College of Windsore, to reade. which in a audible vovce red it, and at the words cixctubam gladii thErle of Rutland presented the sworde to the Kin^e. and the Kinge gyrd the savd sworde about him bandewise, the sayd Lorde kneelinse, & the other Lordes standinge, w cb acte don, the Kinge comanded the new create Earl to rise and to stand up. Which done the sayd Maister Dean redd out his Pattent. and redelivered it unto the Kinge, and the Kinge with good wordes gave it unto the savd Earle of Ossory, which gave his Grace thankes for the great honour done unto him. That done the King departed to his Chamber, and the sayd Earle bearing his 2 H 2 •234 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. pattent him selfc, ledd as before ys sayd, therle of Rutland going on the right hand, and therle of Oxenforde, and all the other officers and gentlemen retourned to his lodging in like manner as they went thither; the Trumpctts, going before him, all blew till they came necrc to his chamber, and there stood aparte and blew continually tyll all the companie was entered the said Lodginge; and when the said Earle of Ossory was entered into his chamber S ir Thomas Wriothesley, Gartier, tooke his pattent of him to have a coppie thereof; and after the said new create Earle dyd off his sworde and mantill hauing his surcoat and hoode upon him, the other Lordes did off all theirc Robes, and after went together to dinner. Therle of Ossory kept the estate, and the other Lordes sate accordinge to their estates and auncientnes, where they were ryght honorably served and all at the Kings charges. And the sayd Earle right honorably agreed w th S' r Thomas Wriothesley, Gartier Principall Kinge of Armes, for his Apparell, and which is the fee accustomed of his office of Principall King of Armes, that ys to say [ blank in the manuscript ]. And because the Kinge kept noe household there was noe larges proclaymed, how be yt the Kinge and the sayd Earle of Osserey gaue unto the office armes \sic\ their rewardes, the Kinge gaue as he is accustomed, and the sayd Earle gaue us for his rewarde twenty nobles. The Trumpetts had for their rewarde xx 1 ', which were but v in number". The dinner doun the sayd new Earle did off his surcoat, and did on other apparell, and my Lord Mar- ques of Exeter tooke him by the arme, and accompanyed him to the Kinge, where after certain communication he tooke his leave of the Kinge and Queene, my Lady Princes. My Lord the.Viscounte Rocheford accompanyed him to his chamber, and diverse other noblemen, and after that the wayters had dyned he sent to the gentleman huysshier, Master Lye, and to other that gave him attendance, forty shillings for rewarde, and tooke his leave of them, and soe retourned to his Lodginge in the Toune, and on the morrowe after rode to London, and there tooke his leave of my Lord Leggatt and Cardinall of Yorke, and after retourned to his Countrey" b . Thus was the Earldom of Ossory acquired by Sir Piers Butler: and as the more ancient honour of his house was derived from the wide possessions pur- chased by his ancestor from De Braosa, known as Ormonde (Urmhumhain), or West Munster, and afterwards raised into the Palatinate or Liberty of Tipperary by Edward II. ; so this new title was, doubtless, chosen as being the name of the Irish principality conterminous with the ancient Liberty of Kilkenny, and • Ossory complains, subsequently, of his as appears by the following note in Sir James "charges in England." — State Papers, vol. ii., Ware's handwriting appended to the transcript: partiii., p. 132. — 41 This is a true coppie of Sir Thomas Wri- b We owe this curious contemporary account otesleys booke, who was Garter Principall King of the ceremony to Garter King of Arms himself, at Armes." CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 235 the present diocese of Ossory, in which the chief seat of the family, Kilkenny Castle, was situated. Two years afterwards, the coveted Earldom of Ormonde, in addition to that of Wiltshire, was conferred on Viscount Rochford, — soon, however, to revert to its previous possessor. We find the Earl of Ossory at Ross, in the county of Wexford, shortly after his return to Ireland. During his absence in England there had been State Papers. much disturbance in the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary, the Lord James puiaj! ^ Butler being absent, engaged in "great labours for thapprehension of the unhappy Erll of Decimon" (Desmond), but without effect. In the meantime, O'Connor, w.. pp. 12;- whose " black mail"' had been withheld by Kildare's Vice-Deputy, Lord Delvin, having arranged with the Chief Governor a "parliament" or conference " nighe O'Chonour's contrey, by a castle of Sir William Darces called Rathyn," seized on him u by trayn precogitate," on May the 12th, 1528. In this extremity, the Irish Council inform Wolsey that they chose " Sir Thomas Fizgarrat [brother to the Earl of Kildare] capitayn for our defence in this quarters 3 , bicaus that the Garrantynes be next for the defense of this parties, and thErlle of Osserie is so ferr from us, that the contrey •mought be sore dammaiged before his com- myng hither." " Almightie God," despondingly write the Council to the Duke of Norfolk 1 ", " grante that our Sovereigne Lorde may provide breve remedye ; or elles this poor Englisrie is lyke to have suche ruyne, that will nat be repaired in any mans daies lyving: for the Hirishemen (being never so strong as nowe) have spied their tyme, and our debilitie never more than then at this houre. The Holy Trinitie defend us, for here is none othir hope of socoure." On /. in :>.■= Br.riii I'Lz-.-.z^ — Aid. 4792. It is ques- tionable which is the oldest authority. * " Loricam meam." This expreaaon confirms the y-: i.z~.zi — 3. :: — e: zizi, :is chain-mail which appears below the coat of plates on his effigy is a true hauberk, and not a mere siir: :: e This bequest evinces tie Eiz'.'s anxiety to zz.zz.-.-. :_i zZzz&'Z :: i::::— iz. L;; in-ve 216 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. the Blessed Mary of Kilkenny and Rosponte, for my soul, the soul of my wife, and for the souls of our parents, ancestors, heirs, and successors. " Moreover, I order and appoint Master James Clere, Dean of Ossory, Nicholas Motvng, Chancellor of the same, and Renald [Roland], Baron of Burnchurch, supervisors of tins my will" 3 . * The administration was taken out, and a copy, under seal of the Bishop of Ossory, furnished to the executors, which is still preserved in the Evidence Chamber, Kilkenny Castle, which we here subjoin, as early documents of this nature are so rare in Ireland: — " In dei noie Amen. Anno Dili m'Vxxxix die vero mes' Maii xxviii, apud potellrath, Ego Petrus Butteler Comes Ormonie 1 Oss' lie' eger corp'e san9 tamen mete Condo testametu meu in hue qui sequitur modu. '• In primis lego alam mea olpotenti deo, beate marie virgini, ac tot' Curie celesti. Corpusq> meu sepeliendu in EcclTa Cathedrali sancti kanici ville kylkenie. Itm ordino t 9stituo hered' meu Jacobu Butler filiumeu seniorem. Itm executores mei testameti in p'te 'i in toto ordino ac 9stituo Margaretam fiz gerald mea. legittima vxorem Jacobu tRichardu meosfilios [ ] p equales porcoes. Itm lego meo filio Jacobo mea meliore togam 1 Richardo meo filio scdm meliore togam. Itm residuu meo| indumen- toj[ lego diuidi inter ecc ias % specialit? ecc 115 beate marie de Callan t Balligawran, scdm dis- crecoem supuisoj; 't execute^ meo]:. Itm lego deo Jacobo mea loricam 't meu equu. Itm lego Richardo filio meo aliu meu equu. Itm lego deo Jacobo mea magna le coller auri. Itm lego Richardo mea. paruii Kathena auri ats le chayn. Itm lego cuilibet Caruce infra Comitatu Kil- kenie vnu lapid' farri. " Inventuariu oim bonog meo| mobiliu t immobiliu seu sumam relinquo faciend' arbi- trio Margarete vxoris mee ac s?uoj? ac minis- trog meo Jacobs fiil9 me9 heres r t executor anni- u?sariu annuati solenit? imppetuu celebrari faciat in ecc' a cathedrali sancti kanici kilkenie ac sancti T'nitat' vat?i'ordie, 't beate marie de Callan, 1 beate marie de Clonmell, ac diiiiPat'cii de Caschell, sancti Johis eiusd', ac in ecc io sancti Johis Fidardie. Itm ordino ac 9Stituo cj> Ri- chard 1 ? scd"? fili9 me? \ executor solenit? cele- brari faciat meu anniu?sariu imppetuu in ecc" beate marie kilkenie 't Rosspontis g aia mea vxoris mee t pro aiab' parentu aficesso| hered' t successors nostroji. " Supuisores vero hui^i mei testameti ordino ac 9stituo dfim Jacobu clere, Decanu Oss', Nico- lau Motyng, cancellariu eiusd', ac Renald' barone de barnchurche. " Et nos Milo oss' Epus (ici diii Petri Butler Comitf Ormonie 't Oss' testametu nobis in forma p'missa tarn p fidedignog testiu atesta- coes quam ecia de scripti recitacoe exhibitu ratificam? infirmam*? r t quatu nobis possibile est 9firmam9 t appro bam9, dcis vero execu- torib9 scdm t juxta dci dni Petri volutatem potestatem rite r t certe administrandi dca bona t alia quecuqj conceding p p'sentes juramento corp'ali prius p'stito de fideli administracoe faci- enda r t de compoto nobis, cu requisiti fuerint, ac eojs q'lib' requisite fuerit, reddendo ac foro eccliastico no declinando. In cui9 rei fid' c t testio 5 sigillu quo ad similia vtimur p'ntibV duxim? apponend' p'sent' dno nicholao mothyn cancellario sci Kanici, baroni de barnchurch, r t duo pat'cio Aspoll." [Loco Sigilli.~\ CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 247 On the death of the Earl the rule of the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary Red council was committed to his widow, in conjunction with her second son, Sir Richard AdditMS., . 4790. Butler, and others. With the exception of this fact, we have been able to glean nothing more concerning the now aged Countess of Ormonde beyond what, in the subjoined letter to King Henry YIIL, she tells us herself: — " Pleas it Your Mooste excellent Highnes to be advertised, that lyke as my Lord my ^ D 1540 husband, whose sowle Jhesu rest, at tymes delytid to provyde suche pleasures in this land, ^^^^ni as sholde be acceptable to Your Majestie, soo, in semblable wise, do I recougnis my self p- 222. moche boundyn to declare my hart and duetie towards Your Grace of like sorte and dispo- cission. And having sent unto Your Highnes, by this berrer, two goshawkys, to be delyverid unto Your Majestie as of my pore gifte, for lacke of any convenient thing, at this tyme, being in my dispocission to be presentid to Your Grace ; in mooste humble wise I beseche Your Highnes to accept the same in goode parte And thus the Blissid Trinite preserve your mooste Royall Person long and tryumphauntly to reigne with moche victory. Writtin at Your Highnes Citie of Waterfoid the 8 th of July. " Your Graces moost humble boundin Subject " M. of Orjiond & Oss."' The signature of this letter is written with the trembling hand of extreme old age, and in two years more the Deputy, St. Leger, curtly announces her a. d. 1542. death to the King: — "The olde Ladie of Ormonde is deceassid." Her monument M " p ' *' supplies the day of the month — August 9th. " The Lady Margarett Countesse Pedegreeo/ of Ormond and Ossorye," writes Lawless, "liued some few yeeres after him [her t o^,lT° ) husband], & dureing that small remainder of her lyfe shee liued most godly in contemplation & prayer, giving almes bountefully unto poore and needy people ; and (at her proper costs and charges) built a scholehouse neere the churchyard of St. Kennys church" 3 . The Countess died intestate, as appears by the letters of administration 1 Stanihurst {Description of Ireland, p. 2") gives an interesting account of this school, which con- tinued to send forth many learned men, until the fabric was ruined in the civil war of 1641. From the Carte MSS. (vol. SS, fol. 278) in the Bod- leian Library, we learn that aCromwellian officer, 2 " Captaine John Joener, tooke away the mayne tymber of the free schoole house built by the house of Ormond in the church yard of St. Canice wherewith he built a house within a myle of Kilkenny comonly called Joeners Folly" — a name which the townland still bears. K 248 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. Stnnihurst's Chronicles of Ireland, p. 85. Pedegree of the /louse of Ormond. HfSS., Slate Paper Office. State Papers, vol. ii., part iii. p. 121. granted to her sons, James and Richard, and dated August 12, 1542, the original of which, under seal, is preserved in the Evidence Chamber, Kilkenny Castle. Margaret, Countess of Ormonde and Ossory, — according to a manu- script (F. 1, 21), preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, "the fairest daughter" of the Earl of Kildare, — was unquestionably one of the most remarkable women of her age and country, and proved, in every sense of the word, a " help mete" for her husband. That she bore a conspicuous part in public affairs is evident from the published State Papers which we have so frequently quoted, no less than from the writings of Campion and Stanihurst. In the management of her husband's property she seems to have taken a lively interest. We find her name coupled with his, in hundreds of original deeds still existing amongst the Ormonde Evidences. She is described by a contem- porary writer as — " Manlike and tall of stature, verie liberall and bountifull, a sure friend, a bitter enimie, hardlie disliking where she fansied, not easilie fan- sieng where she disliked : the onelie meane at those daies whereby hir husband his countrie was reclamed from sluttishnesse and slouenrie, to cleane beddine and ciuilitie." " The s d Earle & Countesse ," writes Lawless, " planted greate ciuility in y e countyes of Tipperary & Kilkenny, & to giue good example to y e people of that country, brought out of Flanders & other countryes diuerse Arti- ficers, who were dailye kept at worke by them in theyr Castle of Kilkenny, where they wrought, and made, Diaper, Tapistrey 1 , Turkey-carpetts, Cushions, & other like workes, whereof some doe remayne as yett with y e Earl of Ormond." The Earl's anxiety to promote the spread of agriculture is proved by the bequest of one stone of wheat to the owner of every plough in the county of Kilkenny ; and it appears from the " Presentments" of 1536 that he employed a large number of masons in his " buildings," whom, however, the Jury of the gentlemen of the county accuse him of quartering on the public. Like all the nobles of the Anglo-Norman race, he was fond of the chase. He kept a pack of sixty deer-hounds, of the famous Irish greyhound class, besides separate packs of dogs to hunt the hare and the martin ; his studs of horses were also numerous: all which, with the necessary attendants and horseboys, were main- tained in turn by his tenants and other dwellers in the county of Kilkenny, a See Transactions of the Kilkenny Archmol. Soc, vol. ii., p. 5. CEAP. EL] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 24ic taxct iitifjola - t£akfj£ii quoua burgts' faille Srtfctrut filius 5 fjcrcs p'fatt tfjomt fjactfjxij q l obut [ ] tux mxs' [ ] anno tiomtni milh'sxmo ctxcx.°ii ]. <£t margama 3rrfjn: uior efaflfe nixfjt q ofct'tt xxii irix mtV ap'h's SL°. tj l oo — m cccxt nbui q r' atab- p'ptxtxt' ox : ar. Tbakslatios: — Four hundred days' indulgence are granted to all devoutly saying the Lord's Prayer and the Angelical Salutation for the souls of the reverend father, David, by the grace of God bishop of Ossory ; and of Master Thomas MygheL bachelor in both laws, official of Ossory, and' canon of this church and of Cashel, who lie here; and of Thomas Hakkede, burgess of the town of Kilkenny. Here lieth Nicholas Hakhed, formerly burgess of the town of Kilkenny, son and heir of the aforesaid Thomas Hakhed, who died on the [ ] day of the month of [ A.D. M.ccccc.xx[ ]. And Marsaret Archer, wife of the same Nicholas, who died on the 29th day of the month of April, A.D. M.ccccc.xxvrn. ; on whose souls may God have mercy. Amen. 1 The Irish for the Countess's maiden name. of these traditions. We have heard scores of 1 See Shee's St. Canice, p. 48, for a specimen them from the peasantry ourselves. 2 k 2 250 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. see p. 36, mpra. A plain altar-tomb, in its original position, near the west end of the south mss., Trin. side aisle, where it was examined by Molyneux in the seventeenth century. The i /, ji!'foi.'i3. table bears a segmental cross and bands, and the inscription is in the Old English letter — all in relief. The Bishop of Ossory alluded to in the inscription was David Hackett, who built the vault of the belfry. The circumstance of his being thus named on the tomb of the Hackett family maybe taken as proof that this prelate was a Kil- kenny-man. The Master Thomas Myghel, or, as his name is sometimes written, Ormonde mss., Myell, referred to in the inscription, was a canon of the cathedral of St. ra>tie.° y Canice and Vicar-General of the diocese of Ossory at the end of the fifteenth century. Nicholas Hackett, or Hackhed, was sovereign of Kilkenny in 1526 and 1534. He appears to have erected the monument on the death of his first wife, Margaret Archer, in 1528 ; but he very soon after formed another matri- monial alliance, as an entry in the Liber Primus Kilkennie, dated May 1, 1530, sets out the terms of a grant then made by " that honest and discreet man, Nicholas Hacket, burgess of Kilkenny," to the Vicars of the Common Hall, of a messuage with its appurtenances in the town, in perpetual alms. The con- ditions of the grant were, that the Vicars and their successors should observe the anniversary of the donor, as also of Master John Cantwell, precentor of the cathedral, and of Margaret Archer and Johanna Knaresborough, the wives of the aforesaid Nicholas Hackett, and the anniversaries of their parents and heirs. However, should the Vicars or their successors neglect this duty, the property i narranyed was to pass to the Corporation of the town, for public purposes. The legal chltZfyf records of the year 1536 mention Nicholas Hackett and his wife, Johanna 28Hen.'viiL ' Knaresborough, as still living, John Hackett, burgess of Kilkenny, being the mss., state son and heir of the former. In the Irishtown presentment of 1537 Nicholas Paper office, jj ac k ett was d enounce d as a " Gray Merchant." [23.] capttancus tutbartoru comttts ormome q 4 obut quarto tite nouEbris &° tit m°tcc£C°xltx°. (J (KUcna gras ux' et 9 gt° W nftcccc [ ]• Translation: — captain of the Earl of Ormonde's light troops, who died the 4th day of November, in the year of our Lord m.ccccc.xlix. And Ellen Gras, his wife, A.D. m.ccccc. [ ]. chap, n.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 251 A fragment of a floor-slab, the upper half of which is ornamented with the arms of the Passion. On the lower part of the tomb was sculptured a minia- ture effigy of a man in armour, in low relief, of which the bust only now remains. The armour precisely resembles that represented on the tomb of Piers, Earl of Ormonde, already described, except that in this case there is no bascinet, the head being bare, and the hair cropped closely. The inscription, in raised Old English characters, ran round the edge of the slab, and it appears to have been quite perfect when O'Phelan compiled his catalogue of the monuments, in the middle of the last century. In O'Phelan's manuscript it is thus given : — ' ; facet (S&muntius ^Bursdl capttancus turbariorum conu'tt's ormont'c qui ofout quarto Hit nobcmtms anno bomi'nt mcciccxKx, ct Olkna Gras uxor cms q c obt'tt a ti 1 mccccc." Although OThelan certainly did not copy the inscription with literal exactness, yet there can be no reason to doubt that he gave correctly the name of the person for whom it was carved, as we find that there was an Edmund Purcell filling the position of one of the captains of the kerns of Piers Earl of Ormonde at the period. He is complained of more than once as an oppressor mss., state of the people of the district, in the Kilkenny presentments of 1537. In the PaptT °* ce " verdytofthe Commyners of the Towne ofKylkenny" the following paragraph occurs: — " Item, they do present that Garrard Fytzpiers, Captayn of my Lorde of Ostreys Kernetihge, Edmund Purcell, Edmund Gangher, with ther felowes, and Edmund Butler Fytzthomas and Rychard Forstall, do enforce peoplle whiche aire Inhabitauntes in the countrey, to prepare and ordeigne mete for ther dynner and suppers, and wyll paye no money therefor.'' Again we find him somewhat similarly charged in the " verdyt of the Com- myners of the Countye of Kilkennye," but by an error of the scribe his name is written " Purser." The passage is as follows: — " Item, the saide Jurye present that the saide Lorde of Ostrey hathe 2 severall com- paynes of Kernes going quarterly, that is to saye, eche of them 4 or tymes of the yere over all the countrey from one towne to another, and leave none, and ther take mete and drynke withoute paying therfore; and wher they lack mete they take money. And Edmund Purser and William Purser brethren, ar Captaygnes of the one Kerne, and Robert Astyken and Jamys Astyken ar Captaynes of thother kernes " 252 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. The wife of the captain of kerns was probably a member of the important family of Grace, of Courtstown, and she seems to have outlived him, and to have erected the tomb to his memory, as the date of her decease is left unfinished in the inscription. [24.] f^i'c gfacent &bam cottrell gjacob 9 cottrcll ifttcarb 9 Iatoks et toalter 9 lafoks cu et 9 uxore ktt'eta c°urcn qttoba burges' btlk IgtUfeeme ac trhi be tlalbott is Entbe q l (Walter 9 obttt s'ebo bte mes' beccbris a b l m ccccc q n(i"g mo quor' at'ab 9 p'ptriet' be 9 ame". |L^tc ^acet 9 Intoks frater et Seres -ftt'ebt Iatoks filtt et berebts SSlalten latoks q l obut ult° bte 3}ulu a° bn m ccccc°Ixu cut 9 ate p'pfcfet' be 9 ame <&t &bam latoks q l obttt xx° bte octobrt's 1600 ©tUettcta Sbbee uxor et 9 q c obttt 5 bte octobr' mccccclxxbt. (JDrebo qb rebeptor me 9 utut't (J tn nobtsstmo bte be t'ra surrectur 9 su us-- tEpi't isracl puEiu suu rccorciat 9 mte sue. UEtat 9 su t'n bis quE bt'eta sut m l in bomu biii tbtm 9 . Translation: — Here lieth James Purcell, the son of Philip, of Foukerath, who died on the 11th day of the month of October, A.D. m.ccccc.lii. And Johanna Shortals, his wife, who died on the [ ] day of the month of [ ], A.D. m.ccccc. [ ], on whose souls may God have mercy. Amen. Jesus. Mary. I believe that my Redeemer liveth, &C. He, remembering his mercy, &c. chap, n.j INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 263 A floor-slab, resembling that of Cottrell and Lawless in the arrangement of the inscriptions, although of later date. At the head are carved the arms of the Crucifixion; below the circular part of the scroll (which incloses the sacred monogram) are two hands holding up a heart ; next comes a shield charged with three boars' heads couped, and over it the word purccll. beneath which is another shield, bearing on a cross five lion's heads erased close, over which is the word sfjortals; and under all, the name of the sculptor — (LSilldtrrT ©tuntj fabritatrit 3jsta tuba pro mt pV, i. e.. William Otunny was the maker of this tomb: pray for me, I beseech you. The founder of the Purcell family appears to have been amongst the Xor- man adventurers who came over with William the Conqueror. They were early seated in Oxfordshire, and amongst the notable manors of that county Camden mentions Heyford-Purcell, u so named of the Purcels, or de Porcellis ancient Hoiiaou* gentlemen the old owners." The first of the name whom we find in Ireland p * 377. was a knight, stated by Hanmer to have been lieutenant of Strongbow's army, Hammers ckro- and to have been " slaine by the Waterfordians," not, however, it would seem, ~*-f dit - 163 - > - without leaving sons to receive the reward of his services and perpetuate his name in the conquered country. In the end of the twelfth, or beginning of the thirteenth, century. Sir Hugh Purcell married Beatrix, daughter of Theobald cartes or- Fitz Walter, first Chief Butler of Ireland, and appears to have received with dm* . ^iT^ her the important property in Ely O'CarToll. in the modern county of Tipperary, which her father had bestowed on her as a dower in marrying her first husband, Thomas de Hereford; for we find this Hugh granting to the Abbey of St. Thomas, hi, ib. of Dublin, the advowson of the church of Lochmy (Loughmoe) in that district ; and his descendants held the position of Barons Palatine of Loughmoe, till the representative of the house in the seventeenth century, who was one of the Com- missioners deputed to draw up the famous Conditions of Limerick, forfeited his estates and titular barony by following King James to France. The county of Kilkenny branch of the Purcell family may be presumed to have descended from Walter Purcell, probably brother to Sir Hugh, who is a subscribing witness to Hammers cw the charter of William Earl Marshall, the younger, to his burgesses of Kilkenny, " c/e * in the year 1223. Sir Philip Purcel was amongst the knights summoned in 1335 to join the Irish Justiciary's army, then proceeding to assist the King in his Bymer, yoJ. ll. Scottish wars. In 12 77 Walter Purcell was denounced as a favourer and main- p ' 906 ' 2 M 264 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. Rm Ron, taincr of Irish enemies, the O'Brenans, O'Morthes, and Mac Kormans, and it was, dona 1 " ' therefore, ordered that he should be attached and brought before the Justiciary at Dublin to answer for having " act and part" with such " felons and incendiaries." "Whether he cleared himself of the treasonable accusation does not appear, but in the succeeding century, at least, his family seem to have been looked upon as loyal subjects, and fitting to be placed in a position of trust under the Crown, Rot. Mem, for in 1385 Adam and Thomas Purcell were appointed " Custodes Pacis" in the j ii. im io, j-^kerty of Kilkenny, with power to assess all men for arms and horses, hobblers and footmen, according to the quality of their lands, to defend the Marches Tbid., i8k against the enemy; and in 1392 Thomas Purcell was again appointed, cum It il%owo. o&w, a justice of the king's peace in the baronies of Oskellan, Shill'r, and Obar- gon, in the Liberty of Kilkenny, with power to fine all rebels, and to restrain all idle men and kerns found in the act of taking meat, hay, corn, or other victuals from the lieges of the king. As the residence of these persons, thus com- missioned by the Crown, is not stated in the records, it is impossible to deter- mine to which of the Kilkenny branches of the family they belonged, for, besides the Purcells of Foulksrath, there were four other houses of the name in that county, viz., those of Ballyfoyle, of Lismain, of Ballymartin, and of Clone, near Rathbeagh. It is difficult now to say whether the Foulksrath or the Bally- foyle branch was of the greater importance. Both were held in high conside- ration amongst the landed gentry of Kilkenny. Philip Purcell, of Foulksrath, is mentioned, in a deed in the Evidence Chamber of Kilkenny Castle, as being alive in the year 1528, and then having a son named Thomas. In 1537 Philip Purcell was, amongst other landholders of the county, presented by the " verdyt of the Commyners of the Towne of Kilkenny" as an enforcer of unlawful and oppressive exactions, such as his ancestor, two centuries before, was commis- sioned to prevent the imposition of on the King's lieges. It is declared of him state by the presentment of the Kilkenny townsmen, that it was his wont, "in the A^vai"' tyme of Lent [to] take up otes of every plougheman of the countrey of Kyl- kenny, not paying money therfor, for to find his horse ;" and there is a further charge set out thus : — '* Item, they present that Richard Sertall and Philip Purcell did feloniously, in the daye tyme, breake the house of Davy Tobyn, and there stale 2 horses." Such deeds, however, were by no means deemed ungen- tlemanly proceedings in those days, when might made right. " The Lorde chap, ii.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 265 Pursell" is also presented by the Jury of the town of Irishtown, as one of " the freeholders of the said eountie of Kylkenny [who] doo use at their pleasure to charge their tenants, and all other the king's subjects within the said eountie, with coyne and lyverey." At the same time James Purcell, the son of Philip, mss., state Paper Office. for whom the monument was placed in the cathedral, was one of the Jury who formed " the Inquest of Gentlemen of the bodye of the Shyre of Kylkenny." James's successor in the property was Thomas Purcell, who died in the month of August, 1585, and was found by inquisition to have been seised in fee of injuis. Com. ° ■ . . •!■,/> Kilk ' Tem P- the castle and lands of Foulksrath and Roestowne, comprising one-eighth part ot car. i., No. 12. the proportion of land called " a Horseman's bed" a , which he held from the Earl of Desmond b , as of his manor of Coulcrahine. He was succeeded by his son, Robert, who was then aged only fourteen years. Robert Purcell died on the 6th ibid., Temp. , . . Car. L, No. 91. January, 1635 c , leaving the property to be enjoyed for a brief period by his son, Philip, then forty years old, and married; but a revolution soon swept over the land, and the Foulksrath branch of the Purcell family having, like most of the others, lost their patrimony by confiscation for their connexion with the rising of 1641, it was granted to a person named Bradshaw d , probably » " Horseman's bed" was a term derived from the system of taxation for the support of the militia of the various counties under English law. The county was divided into so many dis- tricts, each district to supply, arm, and main- tain a mounted soldier for the public service ; and thus each such district came to be designated " a horseman's bed." b The Earls of Ormonde were the lords of the manor from whom the Purcells held by pay- ment of a chiefry. The Earl of Desmond, alluded to in the Inquisition above cited, was not one of the Geraldines, but a Scotch adventurer, Sir Richard Preston, whom King James created Earl of Desmond, and gave the Ormonde estates to, on his marrying the daughter of Thomas, the tenth Earl. The manor of Coolcraheen was, in the thirteenth century, a possession of the De la Freynes, amongst whom a favourite Christian name was Fulc or Fulco. Hence, probably, 2 Fulc'sRath, pronounced more modernly Foulks- rath. c He appears to have been buried in the church of Coolcraheen, amongst the ruins of which, his tomb, an altar-shaped monument, still exists, but in a very dilapidated state. It bears an inscription in Roman letters, as follows : — HIC . JACET . ROBERTVS . PVRCELL . DE . FOVLKS- RATH . GENEROSVS ME . FIERI . FECIT . QUI . ETIAM EIVS . VXOR . ellenor . pvrcell The cover- ing slab is ornamented by a cross in relief, and on one of the supporting stones is an escutcheon of the Purcell arms, as on the tomb in the ca- thedral, but with a boar for the crest, and the mottO SPES MEA IN DEO EST. d A curious inscribed head-stone marks the grave of Bradshaw, in the churchyard of Do- noughmore, near Ballyragget, and situate within two miles of Foulksrath Castle. 2 266 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect, n . a relative of the regicide of that name. The castle of Foulksrath still remains in good preservation, and affords evidence of the wealth and importance of its ancient proprietors. [27.] Et btcarius bebonfarte obt't't xbm cue gjanuartj a W ccccc . Urn. 5Bns !)oc uxor quor' [atab 9 p'p]fcfet 1 oc 9 gtme. Translation: — [Here lieth] and vicar of Donfarte, who died the 18th day of January, A. D. m.ccccc.lvii the lord wife; on whose souls may God have mercy. Amen. This monument is partially covered by the ancient sedile vulgarly termed " St. Kieran's Chair." It is ornamented by the arms of the Passion, and a heart pierced with swords ; but the most important portions of the inscription are hidden from view. [28.] |^tc . 3>[acct] m° . ccccc . Ixbt . m . Hettcta . SSSalme . uxor . cuts . q . obt'it . [ ]&'*•[ ] vih 1 . [ ] anno . orit . mccccdx . [ ]. Translation : — Here lieth m.ccccc.lxvi. And Leticia Walme, his wife, who died the [ ] day of the month of [ ] in the year of our Lord m.ccccc.lx [ ]. A fragment of a floor-slab which was ornamented with a segmental cross in relief, the stem surrounded by plaited bands, the inscription, in Old English characters, running round the edge. [29.] f^fc'3facct ■ honest • ac • bts[crEtus • bit • oommu]s ■ iStcfioIaus ■ motnng ■ quotia • ca'cEllart 9 ■ istt 9 ■ ecc[Ue • 3 • rector] • Jje ■ fetltier ■ q • obitt • xuu • Ut£ • mE's' ■ feb'aru- a° • b 1 • • ccccc • Ixbtit ■ cut 9 • ale • p'ptctctut ■ &e 9 ■ amc ■ ^jesus +. Translation: — Here lieth that honest and discreet [man], Master Nicholas Motyng formerly chancellor of this church, [and rector] of Kilder (Kilderry), who died on the 14th day of the month of February, M. ccccc. lxviii., on whose soul may God have mercy. Amen. Jesus. This appears to have been originally a floor-slab, but it now forms a portion chap. n~ INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. of an elaborate mural tomb erected in the following century by the Murphy family. Motyng was, perhaps, related to the Murphys, and, therefore, they incorporated his tomb in their family monument, in doing which, however, they covered portions of the inscription with the bases of two pilasters which support the superstructure of the more modern work. The inscription, in Old English characters, runs round die edge of the slab, and the centre is carved with a segmental cross in relief; with floriated ornaments, and the sacred monogram in a small circle, on the stem. Nicholas Mothing. as chancellor of St Canice's cathedral, witnessed, on the c—rfr xssl loth September, 1531, the definitive sentence of the Bishop of Ossory, depriving Elicia Butler, Abbess of Kilkylyhym, alias De Bello Porta, of her office and dignity, in consequence of proof that she had dilapidated the convent, and mal- treated certain of the nuns, even u cum effusione sanguinis." In 1610 John acals Moutheing. son and heir of James Moutheing, the elder brother of" Sir Nicholas pas, ii. a. Moutheing, late chancellor of St. Canice, Kilkenny," carried out a deed whereto his father was party, for the use of Thomas, Earl of Ormonde, which deed was dated 6th August, 1586. The family seems to have been settled in the town of Callan. In 1537 James Moteing, of Callan, was a member of the Jury who jgssl sut* passed the presentment of " the Commyners of the Countye of Kylkennye." [30.] [|^tt fa]tn ins fouT bale quoba Galtr q obut xri* isir mrs' «Vlm. Ta±5=i^Ti05: — Here lieih maatei Will.'" Vile. :':~erly of this church, who died the 21st day of the month of M.cooccxxxr. A fragment of a floor-slab, very much defaced and injured, — the inscription in raised Old English characters, and presenting in the date a rather unusual combination of Roman numerals. The person for whom the monument was designed was an ecclesiastic, and appears to have been precentor of the cathedral ; in all the documents of the period which we have seen, however, his name is written "Wale." On the r ■■ f mss^ 16th May, 1543, James, Earl of Ormond, appointed William Wale, precentor of the church of Ossory, his attorney. In the year 1552 " S* Wyllm Wale, & cbin:: ? :: $:. Kizilz' cLurcr.c." vris -~ zi ±~ «lzz.aiii "-sen: R:"^r: 208 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. Tobin, portreve of Irishtown, learning that there was a quarrel and a weapon drawn amongst the servants of John Bale, then Bishop of Ossory, entered his lordship's palace, with " divers of his burgesses," and " then forfeyted ye weapon so drawne, and did leavy the frayes and bloodsheds don in the sayd Lord Bushopp's mano r house, with full consent of the Lord Bushopp, to w cb the L. Bushopp did the rather yelde for that his predecessors, Bushopps of Ossery, have time out of minde yielded the correction of such like to the portrive for the time being for ev r ." [31.] ?tyc 3Jac[et 3fttcar]tms ISutUr btcccomcs Jttontgartt q l otmt 20 bccfbr' 1571. Translation: — Here lieth [Richa]rd Butler, Viscount Montgarret, who died the 20th of December, 1571. This monument was of the table form, but of its original supporting stones but one remains, namely, a side-slab, carved, in low relief, with the arms of the Passion, and a shield, bearing, quarterly, the arms of Butler and Fitzgerald of Kildare, with a crescent for difference, proving it to have originally belonged to the monument of a second son of Piers, Earl of Ormonde, and the Lady Mar- garet Fitzgerald, daughter of the Earl of Kildare. At either side of the shield are the letters 3ft. 13., which serve further to identify it with Richard Butler, first Viscount Mountgarret. The persons who re-erected the monuments for Bishop Pococke placed this slab under the effigy of Piers, Earl of Ormonde, and, perceiving that the armorial bearings did not suit that personage, had them par- tially effaced by the chisel. When the late Marquis of Ormonde was arranging his ancestral monuments in the south transept, he replaced the effigy of Earl Piers with that of llichard, Viscount Mountgarret, thus restoring the arms to their true owner ; but the monument is still sadly in need of careful restoration 3 . In the armour of the sculptured effigy of Lord Mountgarret, here represented to a scale of 2 inches to 3 feet, the English fashion of the first half of the fifteenth K The present inheritor of the title will, we head of the family, and cause a judicious resto- trust, pardon the suggestion that he would do ration of his ancestor's monument to be carried well to follow the good example set him by the out under proper supervision. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 269 century is reproduced exactly. A vizored basinet still covers the head ; but, Monumental " 1 • Brasses and instead of a camail, it has firmly attached to it a steel " gorget," or " hausse-col, slabs, w . 58,59. which covers the throat, and rests upon the upper part of the "cuirass"*, to the No. 50. lower rim of which are attached the taces; the arms and legs are defended by plate armour, as in Shortall's monument, and a smaller sword, of the same cha- racter, is suspended over the right shoulder. The small tegulated plates between the taces and the cuirass, as shown in this effigy, are very curious. The joints between the cuirass and the rere braces, or defence of the arms above the elbow, are exposed in this figure. On English monuments these joints are generally represented as covered by plates of steel of various forms, placed in front of the shoulder. The cuirass is pigeon-breasted. This nobleman was the second son of Piers, Earl of Ormonde, and the Lady Margaret Fitzgerald, and seems to have inherited the high spirit of his parents. Lodge says he is " described to have been a Knight of goodly personage, and as comely a man as could be seen; he was a very honourable and worthy gentle- man, and performed many great services to the Crown of England." From a very early period we find him taking an active part in all the military operations which engaged his father's attention, and leading the feudal retainers of the House of Ormonde in the absence of the Earl, or of his eldest son, Lord James. Richard Butler was engaged in the unfortunate foray into the Fitzpatricks' ter- Archdall's Lodge's Peerage, vol. iv., p. 22. Ormonde MSS. , Kilkenny Castle. » Called also a "breast and back." " The breste leveyth the legges nakeyd, and the backe is more uneasye and paynful to bere, for footemen, than a jakke; and also it is more easye for every man to lye in fylde in a jakke, then in a breste." — A.D. 1515. — State Papers, vol. ii., part iii., p. 21. 270 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. u. sua* Paptrt, ritories, in 1532, in which his brother Thomas was slain. In 1537 he was placed p. 436.' ' in charge of the King's lands in Fasagh Bentry, and Old Ross, in the county of Wexford, for their protection against the Kavanaghs, and the same year he id . p. mi. joined the Lord Deputy Grey at the seige of O'Connor's strong castle of Dangan, subsequently designated Philipstown, bringing with him a force of horse and foot to aid the royal cause, his father being unable to attend in person id,, p. 556, ami from being laid up with a sore knee. In 1538 he was appointed Constable of l°49.' parU "'' the King's Castle of Ferns, and defended it against the Kavanaghs, who besieged it. As a recompense for his services, says Lodge, " the Lords of the Council, in their letter to the Lord Deputy, St. Leger, dated at Windsor, 5th August, 1550, Arvhdaii's transmitted the directions of King Edward VI. to create him Viscount Mount- Toifr* p. garret, which was accordingly done by patent bearing date, at Dublin, 23rd October following. He was continued as Constable of Ferns in the reign of Queen Mary, and, in 1559, was in two several commissions for the preservation of the peace in the counties of Kilkenny, Tipperary, and W r exford during the absence of the Lord Deputy Sussex in the north on his expedition against Shane O'Neill. [32.] fi^t'c gjatet ^atrictus l&crin quoru^ btllc fetlfeenu burges' q l obttt b° trie ittenst's februaru 1581 (St Joanna ilofolan uxor ct 9 q obttt b° fcie Jl"Unsts JJcccm- bn's 1575. Translation: — Here lieth Patrick Kerin, formerly burgess of the town of Kilkenny, who died the 5th day of the month of February, 1581 ; and Joanna Nowlan, his wife, who died the 5th day of the month of December, 1575. A floor-slab, much worn, but apparently without ornamentation. The inscrip- tion, in Old English characters, runs round the edge. The name of Kerin was common in the county and city of Kilkenny at the period ; but no member of the family rose to any position of distinction. [33.] [p^ic] 3Jacct (Efiristopftorus gafruus quoruY ossortensis cpus q l obttt m° titc iTTcsts Sugustt gtAt/. itt°.£cccc .lxxbt . Translation: — Here lieth Christopher Gafney, formerly Bishop of Ossory, who died the 3rd day of the month of August, A.D. m.ccccc.lxxvi. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 271 A floor-slab, ornamented by an interlaced segmental cross, here faithfully engraved. The mitre and pastoral staff of the prelate are carved in the monu- No. 51. ment, and the former is doubtless a tolerably faithful representation of the "new mitre set with precious stones," given by Bishop Snell to his church. The Seep. 36. su pra . crozier is also of much earlier fashion than the age of Bishop Gafney. It is extremely probable that cross-slabs were manufactured beforehand, and kept in stock by the masons of the period : this may account for the fact that the reformed prelate is commemorated by a style of monument in general use before the Reformation, but subsequently almost entirely confined to the members of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. For a memoir of Bishop Gafney the reader is referred to the forthcoming " History of the See of Ossory." [34.] [B]otolt quonfc' marcator [tt] burgeY btllc fitbcrntcanc Stlfecnt q 1 obitt 8 irk [ ] c Imrgrst's q l obi'i't [ ] iJic mcnsts [ ] ct (SItna . . . uxor et 9 . q . obtit 30 trie ittcnsus march' 1579. Translation: — .... [D]owli, formerly merchant and burgess of the Irishtown of Kilkenny, who died on the 8th day of [ ] burgess, who died the day of the month of [ ], and Elina . . . his wife, who died on the 30th day of the month of March, 1579. A fragment of a floor-slab, bearing an interlaced cross, like that on No. 39. [35.] p>tc . 3)acct SXcucrertli 9 pater i^tcfjolaus . toalsfie . q*W ossor 1 . Bpus . q l . obtit . We nus' . octcbrts xuu° .a b c Ixxib . Translation: — Here lieth the reverend father Nicholas Walshe, formerly Bishop of Ossory, who died on the 14th day of December, A.D. 1585. 2n 272 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. n. A plain altar tomb, without the interlaced cross. The inscription, in Old English characters, runs round the edge of the top slab. The monument, unlike most of those in the cathedral, seems never to have been disturbed. It stands under the most eastern window of the south side-aisle. For a memoir of Bishop Walsh e the reader is referred to the forthcoming "History of the See of Ossory." [3G.] (Shu dart fucrnnt filt spcsq* alma parcntu 33ourri)cri (ftfiarolus Jprc&cricusq' ^Jfiflippus <©ssa Immature simul flcbtlts nunc conticu't urna Jfflortc pucr ^jubcms birq* senerq' catrtt Ouorum alter obttt 17 nit Sbeptcmbrts 1584 alter biii nit Jttarttt Capdlart q l otriit xtx bit /Elms' gqrtembrts a° ti l ffl a tati°\xxxxi- Translation" : — Here lieth Master Robert Gafney, chaplain, who died the 19th day of September, A. D. m.ccccc.lxxxxi. A floor-slab, ornamented with a segmental cross in relief, interlaced, and the shaft surrounded by interplaiting bands, similar in character to the tomb of Bishop Gafney. who was doubtless a relative of this ecclesiastic. The inscription, in Old English characters, runs round the edge of the slab. Robert Gafney signed a bishop's lease, as witness, on the 20th September, omonde mss.. 1574, and styled himself "Treasurer of the cathedral of St. Canice." The Sfle."' representative of this family in the following century, Captain George Gafney, km^ 9 ^ of the Irishtown of Kilkenny, commanded a company in Colonel Edward gZ&FZd. hl, Butler's regiment of foot, in the army of King James, at the Boyne, and was fcffift,-,,., of attainted and deprived of his property by the Parliament of William and Mary. 6 t "^f£ Marv 2 h 2 274 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. [38.] ?tyc . jacct . {Efjomns . $cmb[rocK] . quontia . burgcs' . bilk . l&Ufame . qui . obu't . .t . trie . scptcbr' . tsn [€t Babfo pm] brock . filtus . tictt . tljomc . q l . obu't . 14 . trie . mcsts . ©ctobris . &° . ti 1 . 1590 ck . filtus . trictt . Babtb . una . cum a . 3&aggct . (J . ©atharina . gtrcfter omas . obttt . 25 . ^januarit . 1616 unus . primorum . bt'eccomt'tum .... £tltci'a . ragget . obttt . 21 . . . 85 . Batfiartna . Archer . obttt . us . filtus . trictt . ^fiome . pembrocft Joanna . <&aggct . uxor . trictt Translation : — Here lieth Thomas Pembrock, formerly burgess of the town of Kil- kenny, who died on the 10th day of September, A. D [And David Pern] brock, son of the said Thomas, who died on the 14th day of October, A. D. 1591 [Pembrojck, son of the said David, together with [Alici]a Ragget and Catherine Archer omas died on the 25th day of January, 1616 one of the first sheriffs Alicia Ragget died the 21st day of . . . [15] 85. Katharine Archer died son of the said Thomas Pembrock Joanna Ragget, wife of the said A fragment of a floor-slab, ornamented with interlaced segmental cross (like that on No. 33, p. 271, sapra), and bands. The original inscription ran round the edge, but subsequent additions were made, which caused the bands to be almost entirely used for that purpose. The characters are Old English. Ormonde mss., Sir Roger de Pembroke, Knight, seems to have been an extensive landed Kilkenny Castle. . . ... „ ._„. Rot. Mem., proprietor in the vicinity of the town of Kilkenny, m the beginning of the four- is Ed. in., m. teent jj cen t U ry ; and John de Pembroke was sheriff of the Cross in 1332. The The Most An- David Pembroke of the monument was portreve oflrishtown in 1575 ; and in cient Book of , , rv>Aii thriorpnraiion 1594 Thomas Fitz-David Pembroke filled the same office. About the same lioii of Accounts time the latter was fined in the Ecclesiastical Court for absenting himself from Causes Ecclesi- divine service according to the Reformed rites. However, in the year 1609, 34th to 38th the Sovereign and Corporation having obtained a new charter from King James, Corporation creating their chief magistrate a mayor, and the area of his jurisdiction a city, To'^'cTerk's Thomas Pembroke and Walter Ryan were thereby nominated the first two civic sheriffs of Kilkenny. This circumstance is alluded to in the mutilated CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 275 portion of the inscription on the tomb. In 1617 and 1619 Richard Pembroke OmnelTs Booh, was sheriff of the city, and in 1644 David Pembroke filled the same office. The latter was, probably, the " Mr. Pembroke, merchant," who, in the Deposi- mss.. Trin. Coil. tions of 1641, is denounced as one of the " cheefe citizens" who encouraged the rebels to plunder the Protestant inhabitants. [39.] p*tt 3jacct GullidirC Bonoghou quonba burgcnsi's bilk 5c Iristounc ^juxta feUfccnta q l drift xfff tfe tries' nofactnfarts 0° 5 l 1597 | Cattjerfna iWonf cf 9 tuor q* drift [ ] Translation : — Here lieth William Donoghou, formerly burgess of the town of Irish- town, adjoining Kilkenny, who died the 13th day of November, A.D. 1597. And Cathe- rine Moni, his wife, who died [ ]. This monument bears a graceful and elaborately interlaced cross issuing from a calvary ; at each side of the shaft are the emblems of the Passion ; No. 52. above are carved the sun and moon, denoting Christ and the Church. The monument is here carefully engraved to a scale of half an inch to a foot. The person for whom this monument was placed appears by his name to have been a member of the ancient sept of O'Donnchadha, the head of which was for- merly amongst the principal chieftains, or reguli, of Ossory, and seated at Gowran. The magnificent abbey of Jerpoint, founded by Donough O'Donnchadha in the end of the twelfth century, affords sufficient evidence of their wealth and power. The name has modernly been corrupted into Dunphy : and we find the member of the family who was interred in the cathedral, and who appears to have been a trader and member of the Corporation of Irishtown, called indifferently 276 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. n. Thr «od in- Donoghou and Dunphy in the municipal records. He was elected bailiff of ?h"c!>n>»ra'Ln Irislitown in 1573; portreve in 1582; and auditor of the Corporation accounts of j^g^ an( j i n {^q vear 1597 eighteen of the burgesses of the Irish- town, who were also freemen of Kilkenny, having joined in legal proceedings taken by the former Corporation to resist the encroachments of the municipal Corporation body of the latter town upon their privileges, the Kilkenny Corporation pro- Town cierk'a ceeded by a formal resolution, set out in the Great Red Book of Kilkenny, to the deprivation of all such parties of their civic rights, ordering that " the Sovereigne shall certifie to Waterforde their names, and to Bristoll, to the ende that they shall nott take benefit of the freedome of this Towne." Amongst the merchants thus disfranchised, and first on the list, was William Donoghou, and subsequently James and John Mony, who were, probably, relatives of his wife. However, a few days subsequently, the Kilkenny Corporation made the follow- i.i.m. ing order: — " floras much as William Dunphy and John Mony, of the Irish- towne, came before the sovereign since the last Friday, and were sworne upon the Evangelists not to contribute to any charge in the suit against this Corpo- ration, according to the order taken in that behalf; it is agreed by the Corpora- tion that they shall be restored to their former freedome." It appears, from the inscription on the monument, that William Donoghou or Dunphy died the same year in which these proceedings took place. [40.] ^t'c facet Ill's (J j&Ts tf a ©liana 23utlcr nobtltssimt bin t> ( fetrt Sutler Ormontac ©omtti's filt'a $ uxor cruontia pta clartsstmt ii DonaliJt obrtcrt tumunufa: comt'tts q obtt't 2 We 3)ulu 1597. Translation : — Here lieth the illustrious and noble Lady Ellena Butler, daughter of the noble lord Peter Butler, Earl of Ormonde, and late the pious wife of the most illustrious lord Donald O'Brien, Earl of Thomond, who died the 2nd of July, 1597. This monument appears to have been originally a floor-slab, but to have been modernly set up as an altar-tomb, and on supporting stones which have no proper connexion with it. The slab is adorned with a cross in relief, sur- rounded by the emblems of the Passion and Crucifixion, so as to be almost a fac-simile of the tomb of William Donoghou, last described. The inscription, in Old English characters, runs round the edge. The front supporting stones chap. n.J INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 277 represent five figures in perpendicular Gothic niches, three being intended for Apostles, and two for other saints ; but they are obviously fragments which had no original connexion, and are but roughly put together. Lady Ellen Butler was the sixth and youngest daughter of Pierce, Earl of Ormonde. Her marriage with Donogh O'Brien took place before 1533, as a member of the Irish Government, apparently Alen, Master of the Rolls, in a Report written in that year to Cromwell, minister of Henry YIIL, as to the means of remedying the " mysorders" of the country, mentions that — " ThErle state Papers. of Ossorie hath maryed oon of his doughters to M c Gyllipatrick, and, is denyzyn, p.°iri! m whome I knowe, thErle of Ossory willing, wolbe conformable to the same (the king's peace and English usages). Obrenes elder son, whoo is the moste man of power emongis the Irishrie, hath maried another doughter of thErle of Ossories, who may be like allurid, and is also denysyn."' This Donough, known by the sobriquet of i: the fat," was eldest son of Connor O'Brien, chief- tain, or, in the estimation of the native Irish, King of Thomond ; but, being a Archdair? minor at his father's death, he was set aside from the succession by his uncle, p^^,voLH. Murrough, on the principle of tanistry. We give this statement on the autho- P ' " rity of Lodge; but Donough must indeed have been very young when he formed the matrimonial alliance with Lady Ellen Butler, if the statement be correct, as his father-in-law, Earl Pierce, in writing to the Government on the 17th January, 1536, speaks of Connor O'Brien as being then still, or at least State Papers. during the previous year, alive, remarking: — ;i And ower that, yf I did not, to 1°. -230'. m my great cost and charge, kepe Obrens son, my son in lawe. from yoyning with his father, and other his kynnesfolkes, the Brens, in maner as an outlawe uppon his contre, they wold have joyned in werre with Thomas of Kyldare, or nowe." Donough probably foresaw that his uncle, the Tanist, would stand in his way of succeeding to the chieftainship of his clan, and, therefore, sought the con- nexion with the house of Ormonde, with the view of obtaining their powerful interest towards securing him in the seigniory, of which, according to English usage, he was the rightful heir 3 . This expectation was ultimately fulfilled, but • Donough O'Brien's Anglo- Irish matrimonial an English officer sent by the Lord Deputy in connexion was probably as distasteful to his fa- charge of some troops which accompanied the ther as to the rest of his clan, since it appears to retinue of Lord James Butler, eldest son of the haTe caused a feud between them. Ap Parry, Earl of Ormonde, in an expedition to Cork and 278 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. not for many years, as his uncle, Murrough, seized upon, and retained, the pro- statt papers, perty and title, during his life. The Butlers, aided by the Government, exerted pp. 860,861, ' themselves for a time to restore Donough to his father's position, by making '163 ■ hostile inroads into the O'Briens' country, and besieging their principal castles, which they handed over, when taken, to Donough; but he was unable to hold them when the troops sent to his assistance were withdrawn, the clan refusing to acknowledge his claims to the chieftainship in opposition to those of his Ajchdaii'a uncle. In the year 1543 Murrough's right was acknowledged, as a matter of expe- Peerage, vol. ii., diency, by the Crown ; and, having proceeded to England, and made an humble and free submission to the king, entering into an undertaking to observe English customs and laws for the future, he was created Earl of Thomond for life, and Baron of Inchiquin, with remainder to the heirs male of his body; whilst, as some recompense to Donough for his injustice to him, he was, at the same time, created Baron of Ibrackan, with the right of succession to the Earldom of Thomond at Murrough's death. Donough did accordingly succeed to that honour on his uncle's decease, and handed it down to his posterity. He died in 1553, leaving two sons and three daughters by his wife, the Lady Ellen Butler, who appears to have survived him for forty-four years. Limerick in the year 1535, in writing an account of what occurred on the occasion to Cromwell, mentions that near Limerick they " mett with Lorde Jamys hys brother ilaw, whyche ys Brens sone. And hys seyng ys thys to my Lorde Jamys : — ' I have marryd your syster ; and for bycawys that I have marryd your syster, 1 have forsakyn my father, myn unkyll, and all my frendes, and my counterey, to cume too yow to helpe too doo the Kyng servys. I have ben sore wonded, and I have no rewarde, nor nothyng to leve apon. What wold ye have me do ? YfF that yt wold plesse the Kynges Grace to take me unto hys servys, and that yow wyll cum in to the cunterey, and bryng with yow a pece of ordynance to wyn a castell, the whyche castell ys namyd Carygoguyllyn [Carrigogunnell], and Hys Grace to geve me that, the whych never was non Ynglyche manes thes 200 yere, and I wyll desyer the Kyng noo help, nor ayde of no mane, but thys Ynglyche captyn, with hys hon- derythe and od of Ynglysche men, to goe with me apon my father and myn uncyll, the wyche are the kynges enemys, and apon the Yryche men, that never Ynglysche mane were amonges; and yff that I do hurt or harme, or that ther be eny mystrust, I wyl put in plegys, as good as ye schall requyer, that I schall hurt no Yng- lysche mane, but apon the wyld Iresche men that are the Kynges enymes. And for all syche lond, as I schall conquyer, yt schall be att the Kynges pleser to sett Ynglysehemen in yt, to be holden of the Kyng, as hys pleser schall be ; and I too reffewys all syche Yrishe fashyons, and to order my self after the Ynglyche lawes, and all that I cane make, ore conquer. Off thys I desyer a nawnsware.'" — State Papers, vol. ii., partiii., p. 285. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. •279 [41.] pMc patent -Jacobus ^cntlrgcr tic 23aIhjfcnnon qui obitt prtmo tu'c JFcbruarit 1597 ct ©gQjta toben ci 9 uxor q obitt 2 fctc ittensts nobembrts 1570 (St ^Batrictus ^cnu Icgcr films sccuntms tor' q l obttt xxt tote iilcnsts februarit 1607, ct jllargarcta ^bec ci 9 uxor q obut [ ] trie ittenst's [ ]. Translation: — Here lie James St. Leger, of Ballyfennon, who died the 1st day of February, 1597, and Egidia Toben, his wife, who died the 2nd day of the month of No- vember, 1570. And Patrick St. Leger, their second son, who died the 21st day of the month of February, 1607, and Margaret Shee, his wife, who died the [ ] day of the month of[ .]. A floor-slab, the only ornament sculptured on which is an escutcheon at the right-hand corner, at the top, which is charged with a bend, and over it a legend, very much defaced, but evidently the words bin gulcn argen, signi- fying, we presume, argent, a bend gules. The inscription, in Old English characters, runs round the edge till it passes the escutcheon, when it takes an oblique direction, leaving the left-hand corner of the slab plain. The family for whom this monument was placed in the cathedral probably was planted in Kilkenny by Geffrey St. Leger, when created Bishop of Ossory in 1260 ; or they may have made a more ancient settlement in the place, as that prelate was treasurer of the cathedral before his elevation to the episcopal throne. "William St. Leger was seneschal of the Liberty of Kilkenny in 1312. Rot. Mem., He was seated at Tullaghanbrogue, a property which remained in his family until Pka Roh, forfeited in the seventeenth century, in consequence of the adherence of his descendants to the cause of the Stuarts. In 1359 Kins? Edward III. ordered Rot. Mem., 3? & 33 Eil III " our beloved valet," John de St. Leger, to be paid for the services of himself m . 19. and another man at arms at 12d., and eighteen hobellars at 4c?., per day, in the suite of Almeric de St. Almand, against the O'Mores. This John was " Custos Pacis" of Kilkenny in the following reign, and that office, as well as the shrievalty of the Liberty, was frequently held by members of the family during the two following centuries. The representative of the house in 1537 was styled, in the mss., state presentments of the time, " the lord" St. Leger, and denounced as an exactor Paper °^ ce ' of coyne and livery from his tenantry. The St. Legers of Ballyfennon, or, as we find it written everywhere save in the inscription above given, Ballyfenner, 2 2S0 IXSCIII fiKI) MONUMENTS. [sect. II. or Ballyfennor, appear to have been an offshoot of the Tullaghanbrogue family, although the armorial insignia on their tomb in the cathedral do not correspond with the arms on monuments of members of the latter house in the church- yard of Burnchurch, county of Kilkenny. These tombs at Burnchurch show escutcheons corresponding exactly with the arms of the present Doneraile family ; nevertheless, the seal of Edmond St. Leger, appended to a document of the year 1526, in Kilkenny Castle a , displays a bend between an annulet and a lion rampant, which resembles more nearly the arms on the monument of the Ormonde kb, Ballyfennor branch, in the Cathedral. We find Robert St. Leger possessed of Kilkenny Castle. or Ballyfennor about the year 1560: he was probably father of James, of the monu- ment. Patrick, the second son of James, who, as appears by the inscription, died in 1607, was appointed clerk of the crown and of the peace for the county inqw. Post of Kilkenny on the 1st February, 1581. The elder brother was Robert, who Oivit. KilAen., died in the month of August, 1635, leaving the lands of Fennerstown, alias ., . o. i !. g a ]jyf enuor) an( j Keilenebolle, alias Kiltreanell, in the county of the city of TnqnU. Co,,,. Kilkenny, to his son James, then aged ten years, but who subsequently, on Temp. Cw.Ti!, the 7th May, 1662, was adjudged attainted as having been a leader of Irish rebels, and his property was accordingly confiscated. * There are several documents in Kilkenny he saw reason to increase the ordinary force, he Castle which display the sturdy attitude of the was directed to call together the gentlemen, free- freeholders of the county when they considered holders, and inhabitants, and do nothing save by themselves unjustly burdened by the ministers their advice and consent; and that the country of the Crown for State purposes. It must be should "not be chargeid with black men [i.e. premised that, in 1524, the Commissioners sent men in hempen jacks — see p. 269, supra], saving over from England to adjudicate on the diffe- captaynes, sharefes, as all way is usid." — State rences between the Earls of Kildare and Or- Papers, vol. ii., part iii., p. 112. The result was monde, bound the latter lord, under a penalty the following curious manifesto of the freeholders of 1 000 marks, for himself and the freeholders of of the county of Kilkenny : — the county of Kilkenny, that there should be a " To all men that this p?sentwryting shall hir, sufficient force of armed men maintained for the see, or red, be yt knowyne thatwher as the kyngf defence of the district, for the support of whom comisyoners at ther beyng in this land, emong the Earl and freeholders should be rated accord- dyu?rs other dyryecions and ordrs takyne by ing to the extent of their respective properties, theme, haue ordred that the Erll of Ormond in- And in case the freeholders would not consent differently shold caus eu?ry mane w'in his countre to contribute, Ormonde was empowered and en- to haue suffycent men of warre after the rate of joined to " cesse the men of warre, equally and his land as horsemen and kerne, and in cas the indifferently, withoute parcialitye but in case awners of the landf wooll not so do that then CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. •281 [42.] pn'c gjacet ©corgtus ^abattgc films (Gcorgt't ^abafcgc quon&am btlle Silfecnm'c burgenst's q l obt't't [ ] tote mtnsts [ ] &n. B mccccc[ ]. HlC . IACET FILIVS MaRGARETA [«c] . SaWADGE. Translation : — Here lieth George, the son of George Savadge, formerly burgess of the town of Kilkenny, who died the .... day of the month of [ ], A.D. 15[ ]• Here lieth son of Margaret Sawadge [ ]. A floor-slab, the centre ornamented with an interlaced segmental cross in relief, resembling that on Bishop Gafney's monument (No. 33, supra). The inscriptions run round the edge, and the dates are left imperfect, the tomb having been erected during the life of George Savadge. The first inscription is in Old English characters; the second, which was obviously added at a much later period, is in Roman letters. The Savages were a respectable mercantile family in Kilkenny, and held Connell's Book, municipal offices in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, Robert Castle. ' Savage having been sovereign of the town so early as 1444. the sayd Erll shold cesse men of warre equaly to be ressident vppon the saide landf for the de- fence therof, and yf the said Erll sawe needfull that aholding of other men of were shold be broght in to the countre abow the nubre that wer ressydent in the contre, that then he shold have the consent and agrement of the gentlmen and freholders of the contre thervnto, whych ordre and dyreccione the said Erll Immedyat after his dep'ting frome the said comission?s exhibited and shewed be for all the gentlmen and freholders of his said contre, and for as moche as the said ordre and dyreccion was Strang vnto the said gentlmen and freholders and also con- trarye to suche customes of retayneyng of people as they have vsid at all seasons for ther defence, they wold in no wyse condysendto thatdyreccyon but wold that the said Erll shold vsse ther defence 2 i frome tyme to tyme as have done at all other seassons in tymes past except only that the said Erll shold lev?ay no horsmen nore kerne in the contre but only bybylL Itme in wyttens whereof the said gentlmen and freholders have vnto this ther agrement sett ther seallys etc', and this ordre to be kep till the said Erll and the fre- holders of the contre agre to a betf ordre. Wryttin the ix day of August, Anny Rygny Regi \_sic~\ Henric' Octavi xviii . '• James Shortall. John Grace. Edmon Sieger [St. Leger]. Patrick Porssell. James Swythman. Eoland Barron. Fulc Den. Walter Walsh. Ed- mond Blanchfell." Endorsed: — " An Instrum' made by the free- holders of the Com of Kilke 7 to putt in men of warre for defence of the contry to the Earle of Ormod. Dated the xviii Henrici octavi." 2 282 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II- [43.] ?fy'c facet ^Hjomas Sbatonge quoto butgcnsts [iijicolaa ^djcc uxor et ? q obttt [ ] trie mcs 9 [ ]a° b 1 mccccc[ ] HARDVS CANTWELL. Translation: — Here lieth Thomas Sawage, formerly burgess [N]icolaa Slice, his wile, who died the . . . day of the month of A. D. 15 [Ili]chard Cantwell. This is a floor-slab, a portion of which has been broken off and lost. It was ornamented with an interlaced segmental cross, similar to No. 42. The first inscription, in Old English characters, ran round the edge ; the second inscription, in Roman letters, runs along by the shaft of the cross, beginning at the base, which is the injured portion of the tomb. 1/x.v. state Thomas Savage was presented by the Irishtown Jury, in 1537, as a "gray merchant" and forestaller. A Thomas Savage, who could scarcely be the same TheMostAn- person, was portreve of Irishtown in 1639. A Richard Cantwell was, in 1537, ™teCoT°poTaLn presented by the verdict of the Commons of the town of Kilkenny, as one of °mss siTe tw0 h un d re( l persons engaged in regrating corn, which they bought up in the Paper office, farmers' barns at harvest at 2s. per bushel, and sold at the end of the year at 10s. per bushel, to the grievous harm of the poor. This Richard Cantwell served at the same time on the Jury of Irishtown, who presented several other The Mou An- persons as acting most reprehensibly in forestalling and regrating. He was tlTc^orltion nominated auditor of the accounts of the Corporation of Irishtown in 1552 of Irishtown. i , r r - and 15d5. [44.] I^t'c • fjjncet • triomstus • klg • t mouna • uurjdan • &° ■ o 1 itt°c°ttccxl[ ]. Translation: — Here lieth Dennis Kelly [and his wife], Morina Whelan, A. D. 154[ ]. A floor-slab, ornamented with a segmental cross of the type of the tomb of William Holohan, the weaver, engraved at page 285, infra ; the shaft, however, near its centre expands into a small circle, in which is cut the sacred monogram, E.|^.Sb., in relief. The shaft is also surrounded by a profusion of interlacing bands. The inscription, which is imperfect in one place from an injury, and CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 283 in another from the date having been left partially uncut, is in Old English characters, and runs round the edge of the tomb. Dennis Kelly was one of the two bailiffs appointed by the Corporation of The Most An- Irishtown for the year 1575. the Corporation of Irishtown. [45.] $^tc ^Jacet tionat 9 23rtn et Jtflargmta scnlocfc. Translation: — Here lieth Donatus Brin and Margaret Scerlock [Sherlock]. A floor-slab, of which the upper portion has been broken away and lost. It was ornamented with a cross, but the shaft, with graduated base, only remains. On the right side are sculptured, in relief, two adzes, an auger, and carpenter's square, one side of which is graduated in inches. On the left side the inscrip- tion, in Old English characters, runs parallel with the shaft of the cross. No date was ever carved on the tomb. [46.] beUnaSb&ee uxor tttcti tfjome obttt [ ] litctt Ifttcarof obttt Translation : — And Belina Shee, wife of the said Thomas died ] of the said Richard died A fragment of a floor-slab, with a portion of the base of a cross. [47.] . ... fens III balttobrjr ac be cloig&corferile i com tste Translation: — .... lord ofBalintobyr and of Cloighcordeile in the coun[ty of Tipperary] .... this ■ A fragment of a floor-slab, with part of the base of a cross. The branch of the Cantwell family settled in the county of Tipperary was descended from Gilbert de Kentewell, who, as appears by the original charter preserved amongst Transactions the Ormonde Evidences, was a sub-infeudatory to Theobald Fitz Walter, first "aIcL soc.', vol. Butler of Ireland. The monument, when perfect, probably commemorated a p ' 38L son of William Cantwell, " dominus de Ballyntobyr et Cloghecordely," who, with his wife, Margaret Butler, was buried beneath a monument in Kilcooly Abbey, dated, A.D. 1528. 284 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. MSS., Slate I'a/ier Office. Harleian Mis- cellany, ed. 1810, vol. vi., p. 451. MSS., Town Clerk's Office. Tombs of the Seventeenth Century. — The monuments of this period are numerous, comprising twenty-three bearing dates, besides six undated ones. There are not any effigial tombs in this century — elaborate, but tasteless and clumsy, mural monuments taking their place. The use of the interlaced cross prevailed during the earlier years, but was gradually laid aside. [48.] |fy'c • 3Jnctt • ^ctrus ■ bolger • (nit • obttt • 8 • trie ■ &cptembris • 1 - 6 1- (JBt uxor • ct'us • Joanna • fonlslje ■ qua • obttt • 29 • Iji'e • ^januart't • 1608. Translation: — Here lieth Peter Bolger, who died on the 8th day of September, 1601, and his wife, Joanna Walshe, who died on the 29th day of January, 1608. A floor-slab ornamented by a cross of the pattee form, combined with the sacred monogram. On the base of the cross is the name of the sculptor in Roman capitals, as follows : — opifice me waltero keren. Beneath the I. H. S., at either side of the stem of the cross, is a shield. That at the dexter side bears an animal's head (resembling a rabbit) couped, in chief three trefoils, impaling Walshe. The shield on the sinister side is charged with the arms of Walshe, a chevron between three arrow-heads erect. All carved in relief, but now nearly obliterated. The inscription, in Old English characters, runs round the edge. Barnaby Bolger was denounced in the presentments of 1537 as a great fore- staller, and Bishop Bale enumerates him amongst those who gave opposition to his proceedings. Pierce Bolgier, evidently the person for whom this monu- ment was placed, was amongst the traders who were disfranchised by the Cor- poration of Kilkenny in 1597, for upholding the conflicting prerogatives claimed by the Corporation of Irishtown. [49.] f^t'e tacct Eoancs Jtlarob (Shtontia ©tuttatts Htlfecntee burgcnsts q l obttt 23°trieBecembrt's 1601 9Et Jttargareta 3&tarte uxor etus q* obttt 9° trie lanuartt 1609. Translation : — Here lieth John Marob, formerly a burgess of the city of Kilkenny, who died the 23rd day of December, 1601 ; and Margaret Riane, his wife, who died the 9th day of January, 1609. A floor-slab ornamented with the sacred monogram in relief, having a small chap, n.l INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 285 Maltese cross arising from the letter H. The inscription, in Old English cha- racters, runs round the edge of the tomb. In 1-593 John Marob, cottoner, served on a coroner's iurv, held in the Irish- xss, r«™ town, on the body of Edmund Loughnan, who fell into the river in a fit, and ^ mntt was drowned. He appears, also, to have been one of the bailiffs of Irishtown c^frait^or" in 1577. irukto**. [50.] HlC • JaCET • COEPVS • DlA>.\£ • "WoODLEFE 1 QU.E ■ OBIIT ■ 13 " DIE ■ IaB- vaei A D 1604- Trasslation : — Here lieth the body of Diana Woodlefe, who died the 13th day of January, A.D. 1604. This monument is a simple panel set in the wall of the ancient chapter-house, bearing an escutcheon charged with a chevron (with crescent for difference ) between three trefoils (or, perhaps, leaves of the woodsorrel, in allusion to the family name), impaling a chevron (with crescent for difference) between three pheons. Robert Woodliffe was appointed Sergeant-at-Arms in Ireland. 20th Sep- Liber M'tnervm. tember. 1629 ; and in 1652 John "Woodliffe was added to the Commission for holding a High Court of Justice at Kilkenny, for trying all murderers and despoiiers of English Protestants. [51.] |^u*3)ac£t Guli'dm"' fjollEtfjart to Cifattata: [sic] fetlfemnt'ac burets' q ofatit f - Ml ^jartuarti. 1609 "£t iBorona itlacfjfT tV tutor q s obtit [ ]. Translation : — Here lieth William Hollechan, burgess of the city of Kilkenny, who died the 1st day of January, 1609, and Morona Macher, his wife, who died [ ]. •W\t ~So. 53. A floor-slab, accurately figured in the accompanying engraving. At the left 280 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. side of the shaft of the cross are carved the fly-shuttle, temples, frame of a spring-loom, and spool of yarn (the last nearly obliterated), emblems of the trade of the deceased, who was a weaver. The Ilollechans, or Holohans, were a trading family settled in Kilkenny from a very early period. [52.] A plain mural tablet set in the wall of the ancient chapter-house. It is carved with a shield bearing three horses' heads couped and bridled for Ilorsfall, impaling a sal tire engrailed between four cross crosslets fitchee. This tablet, and the uninscribed altar- tomb beneath it, may have been erected to the Hibemia Sacra, memory of John Horsfall, Bishop of Ossory, who died on the 13th of February, 1609, and, according to Ware, was buried in his cathedral "sub piano marmore." For a memoir of Bishop Horsfall the reader is referred to the proposed " History of the See of Ossory." [53.] [|§t]c 3}acct Bufjartms 3Benne Jittper CBpus ©ssonens' <&[ut obut] 20 tit mensts jfclmarij glnno tint 1612. Translation : — Here lieth Richard Deane, late Bishop of Ossory, who died the 20th day of the month of February, A.D. 1612. This memorial of the bishop has been carved on the slab originally comme- morating John de Carlell, who died in 1394. The shield, as will be seen by , laret^ftsartugseaueiuptr 20 me mends Febnariiimo iffi i No. 54. the accompanying engraving, bears two chevronells within a bordure for Deane ; crest, a lion's head erased. A memoir of Bishop Deane shall be given in the proposed " History of the See of Ossory." CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 287 [54.] p)u ■ rcqutcsttt ■ ISI^abctfja • 23arIofo • gjonae ■ (IBbeelcr • ©ssortcnsi's ■ 22pts= copt ■ filt'a • 2$atj[ulp]ftt ■ 53arIofo • gtrchftftacoru ■ mt&cnsts ■ Cont'ux • qua: ■ cx ■ puerperto ©but ■ 3° Beccmbrts -1613. s&emember • tftrj • Creator • before • rj c • fofieel • be • broken • at ■ tije ■ (Etsterrt. Translation: — Here rests Elizabeth Barlow, daughter of Jonas Wheeler, Bishop of Ossory, wife of Ralph Barlow, archdeacon of Meath, who died in childbirth on the 3rd of December, 1613. A plain altar-tomb, the side slab of which originally belonging to an earlier monument, is carved with six niches enriched with figures. The table is molded at the edge. The inscription runs round the verge. The quotation from Ecclesiastes is in a circle in the centre. The lady for whom this monument was erected was, as is stated in the inscription, daughter to Dr. Jonas Wheeler — a native of Oxford, or, as some say, of Devonshire, an alumnus of Oxford, and chaplain to King James I. — who having first received an appointment to the deanery of Christ Church, Dublin, Harris's Ware, was promoted to the bishopric of Ossory on the 9th May, 1613, and filled the v P- 42U ' see for twenty-seven years. Her husband, Ralph, or Randolph Barlow, was a Doctor in Divinity of the University of Cambridge. In 1612 he was appointed a prebendary of Kildare, in 1613 Archdeacon of Meath, and the following year Cotton's Fasti. Dean of Leighlin. In 1615 he became Precentor of the Cathedral of St. Canice, Kilkenny, still retaining his deanery and archdeaconry. In 1618 he was appointed Dean of Christ Church, Dublin, and in 1629 was elevated to the arch- Harris's Ware, bishopric of Tuam, where he died, and was buried, in 1637—8, in his sixty-sixth voL L ' p ' ° lb ' year. The date on the monument and the quotation from Scripture are much worn, and were not legible to O'Phelan ; however, on close examination, they read as above given. Had the monument been erected before 1613, Dr. Barlow would not have been styled, in the inscription, Archdeacon of Meath ; whilst, if its date was subsequent to that year, he would have received the higher title of Dean of Leighlin, or of Christ Church, or of Archbishop Tuam. Mrs. Barlow's father, Bishop Wheeler, died at Dunmore, in the Queen's County, and was also id., P . 420. buried in the cathedral of St. Canice, in 1640. Of his tomb, however, there has been no trace within the past century. 2p ■_>SS INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. n. [55.] Sbmontrc brcnan. Robert Htmgjjan. 3£ti[foartf :Etru'grjan.] 1615. A fragment of a floor-slab, and, perhaps, like No. 53, a palimpsest, having apparently been an old coffin-shaped tomb, on which this later inscription was cut in Old English characters. The third name was legible when OThelan compiled his Catalogue of the inscriptions, and is given by him as Edward n,c most \„- Riiiighan. Edmond Brennan was " Cessor of the Priesten-money" of St. the Corporation Canice's parish in 1558, bailiff of Irishtown in 1555, and one of the con- o to tou-n. g^igg j n 156(3 Edward Rineghan was admitted free of that Corporation on the 18th June, 1609, "for the fine of xxi d stg. and i lb of wax." In the month of October following he was appointed bailiff ; and at the same time Robert Rineghan was nominated one of the appraisers of meat in the town. The name, in the form of Renehan, is still found in Kilkenny, of which county the Rev. Laurence F. O'Renehan, D.D., the present President of Maynooth College, is a native. [56.] In outturn probae ac moiJtsta? atono&um multms Jttargaretae &3aU uioris 3Joannts ilamop rj IjUlIp gencrost (Eonarijttensis obttt 2° Jtflau £t &°t 1623. Jpstus iilarttt funcbre l^exasttcijon Grata tico Dclctta toro iJtkcta mart'to Jttortbus £t btta fttc culta scpulta facet IIUus ^jngentum 3)ngenuum pt'etasq' fiiJEsq' Utonn fucte suo Uos Sbatts glmpla biro ©uantruam %wxz suo sua Corpora ®erra Hcposcat ®anta btx trigna est bospttc ^Terra ®amcn. a Translation : — In memory of the death of the right virtuous and modest woman, Margaret Wale, wife of John Namoy O'Kelly, of Connaught, gentleman. She died on the 2nd of May, A. D. 1623. A plain tablet, with an inscription in raised Old English characters, see pp. 158, Of the family of De Valle, Vayl, Wale, or Wall, enough has been already supra. * To save space, the authors have abstained which they are composed scarcely bears an Eng- from giving translations of this and subsequent lish dress — their sole merit consisting in an inge- poetical epitaphs: indeed, the involved style in nious play on words. CHAP. n.~ INSCRIBED MONXMEVTS. said. The husband of Margaret Wale, who has sought to commemorate, at the same time, his wife, and his own poetical powers, by the above inscription, was the Shane Xa Mot O" Kelly who derived his descent from Donnchadh, rir.r:! O'Kf Hy. :: Hy-Mi^y. s:. i w-is a: Criip. ~:~ Creig"-. in :ie barony of Moycarn, adjoining Ballinasloe, in the county of Roscommon. Dr. ODonovan, the learned editor of " The Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many," is unable to say whether this John O'Kelly "has now a living representative." Perhaps we should look for his descendants amongst the numerous families of that name in the county and city of Kilkenny. [57.] VmerabUi tiro GuUdmo Johuom, Deamo Eededa 9* Camici, am mudermo mo, Et patrimo, Thoma Wale, mmitm E>xlm>i ITtesawario; Xeewm i£bi„mitq poskrii. Mmmmm- & hoc pom* Robert** Wale. Tkaamrmim*, Octet. 14 Amu, Dom. 1634. Q-iz zip i zii-i~zT2, zziizzzz Cizi::~ zlzizzi-, z'.iz: T_~M-ii p--re:'i.:;i -iceciz:. Prsieniere lis:ea mos est: V:".u::ii T2.zizr.ri: izz izzrn Asprrsa:" Mjrt'-i n'zuz A - — . - : Czrzis M-~" ^- 5-=r~.i:. Hir; mxim ; _ri s-eiZrii QzirSr^m ribi saxa cavais. lmpenditur, hinc resolutos Quii t;'.~: M:cur.ei a Honor ultimus accipit artus, Res, que nisi cre ditur flfis, E: ruzerii in zizis zrz a:. M:rr_i- sei »■ Siz: zzz -in zzzznii iiiii. Iam sex lustra ribinde L>zi:ri r'iria sz.izz.izz. Pr^£;rf. mris. irtfrrr et: Omnem vulgata per orbem. Divina \:'nn izu. Z2z.ziz. G^_;.~m; I;^ii:- D^iizMi Z::.c;i-r crJzeirilii S' Cirir. K : "V- -- : ? , .--j W;r:rri; n-:.!;. Cariatriris e-r-:a:-j.i. ecu: K:lke-zis. 7- lie Mersi; 0::-::rl5. 1 " SI. Hie pietate pares clansa co ndunlu r in uma CzzTzsrizzi-. Linir Murere, sir:; "ire;. S:n> INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. possess a picture of Thomas Roth, R. C. Dean of St. Canice, probably a rela- Harris,. Wan, tive of the Bishop's, as the latter resided in the Deanery House after A. D. vol. i., p. 426. , .. i 1641. This picture is also a hall-length, and represents a younger man than the Bishop, with dark eyes and a moustache. He is robed in the sacerdotal dress, portions of which are richly embroidered. On one side of the figure is a shield, bearing quarterly 1st and 4th Roth, 2nd and 3rd gules, a pan- ther or lion rampant gardant, a mullet argent for difference; on the other side is the following inscription: — thomas both pkotonotarivs apos- TOLICVS TRIOR COMMEND. MONASTERII S ti IOANNIS EVANGELISTS EILEEN. ET DECANVS ECCLESL/E CATHEDRALIS S TI CANICI OSSOREN. DLECESIS. JE™ SUJE 64. anno 1645. Both paintings are by the same hand. For an engraving of the silver monstrance made for the cathedral in Bishop Roth's time, see p. 40, supra. A silver spur, and a plain silver-gilt reliquary cross, traditionally said to have belonged to David Roth, are also extant at Jenkinstown. [60.] Hie • Iacet • Gvlielmvs • Kelly • qvondam • civitatis • Kilkenije • BVRGENSIS • QVI • OBIIT • 27 • MENSIS • MAY • ANNO • Dm • 1644 • Et ■ VXOR • EIVS ■ CHARA • MARGARETA • PhELAN • QVJE • OBHT • 2 • DIE • OCTOBRIS ■ anno • Dm • 1635. mlseremini • mei ■ miseremini • mei • saltem • vos ■ am1ci • mei • iob • 19 • C. Translation : — Here lieth William Kelly, formerly burgess of the city of Kilkenny, who died on the 27th of the month of May, A. D. 1644, and his wife Margaret Phelan, who died on the 2nd day of October, A. D. 1635. Have pity upon me, &c. A low altar-tomb, apparently in its original position. Beneath the inscrip- tion in raised Roman capitals, is a plain segmental cross, with the sacred mono- gram and the three nails in the centre; at foot, a skull and cross bones; above in the wall is a tablet, with a shield bearing two lions rampant supporting a castle, triple-towered, two ropes depending from the battlements, a crescent for difference, for Kelly; impaling a cross engrailed between four martlets, for Phelan. The crest is, apparently, a weasel. Beneath is the motto, tvrris fortis Mini devs, the letters W. K., M. F., the date 1 642, and the distich : — SPIEITVS AMBORV3I OELI VERSATVR IN AVLA INFRA NVNC QVORVM CORPORA TERRA CAPIT. chap, ir.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 299 William Kelly was admitted free of the Irishtown of Kilkenny on the 30th .votAn- J * cient Book of November, 1605. paying a fine to the Corporation, for his freedom and bur- **« Corporation ' ' 1 ' ° 1 of Irishtown. gagery, of 2s. lid. and 1 lb. of wax. He was elected portreve of Irishtown ConnelV s Book. for the year 1611, and served the office of sheriff of Kilkenny in 1630. gj^* [61.] d. o. IL eloqvio clarvs virtvte fideq' iacobvs c2elvm mente habitan's hoc habet ossa solo. [dns] iacobvs clarvs protonot[arivs et eec]tor ecclesie d. ioannis, • . . . . [dl]cecesis 0[ss0riexsis] vir boxvs et benign[vs.] vere- cvndvs visv ■ moribvs modestvs ■ eloqvio decorvs ■ a pvero in virtvttbvs exercitatvs ■ deo devotvs ■ hominibvs amabilis • et omnd3vs bonorvm opervil exemflis preclarvs ■ obiit an° 1613 • 14 xov e mb ■ svb avroram ■ cv1i maximo piorvm homixvm lvctv. Translation: — To God most excellent, most mighty. &C. Master James Clere, pro- thonotary and rector of the church of St. John of the diocese of [Ossory], a good man, in aspect modest, in morals chaste, in speech decorous, from his youth exercised in virtues, devoted to God, beloved by man, a bright example of all good works, died in the year 1643, on the 14th of November, about day-break, to the very great sorrow of pious men. A floor-slab, the upper portion of which is ornamented by a sculptured representation of an altar, with a chalice and the Host, and at either side a candle lighting in a candlestick, all beneath an arch. Under this is the inscrip- tion in raised Eoman characters, and at foot the arms of the family of Clere — a fess between three spread eagles — surmounted by a hat labelled and tasselled; below in a scroll are the words Jacobus Clarus. The Cleres were a respectable family long settled in Kilkenny, where their descendants still remain in the grade of respectable tradesmen. The family burying-place was, and still is, St. Patrick's churchyard, where several old monuments of its members remain. The tomb under consideration was placed in the cathedral whilst that building was in possession of the Confederate Catholics. A James Clere was Dean of St. Canice's during almost the entire Ormonde mss. first half of the sixteenth century, who, besides his ecclesiastical office, dis- charged the duties of steward or agent to Pierce Earl of Ormonde, and his son, 300 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. ( lotton'a FatH. Earl James. In 1582 another of the name, David Cleere, filled the office of dean of this cathedral. [62.] D. O. M. Ad pietatis Et Mortalitatis Memoriam clarissimus Et Nobilissimus Dominus D. Edmvndvs Blanchuille Eques Auratus - D - De Blanchuills Towne, Kilmodemucke, &c., ac nobilissima D • Elizabeth a Butlera, Vxor pientissima, perillustri Domino Gibaldo Blanchuille, filio charissimo Primo-genito, viro Optimo, Immatura Morte prserepto, sibi, Liberis, posterisq' suis, Monumentum Hoc Erexerunt Mense Augusto 1647. Gibaldvs obijt 21°. February 1646. Edmundus [ ] Elizabetha [ ] Requiescant in Pace Amen. Epitaphium. Qui patri in terris succedere debuit hares, In tumulo huic hceres cogitur esse pater. Est oriens primus moriens postremus, et idem est Ortu posterior interitucf prior. Mors hcec mira facit, mutat quadrata rotundis, Mors /era, quce gnatum sic rapit ante patrem, Et gnatum virtute senem, jjuvenemq^ diebus, Gnatum Blanchuelim spem columenq' domus. Sed quoniam fera mors vitam sine labe caducam Abstulit, ceternum dat diadema deus. Tbanslation: — To God most excellent, most mighty. In memory of piety and morta- lity, the most renowned and most noble lord, lord Edmund Blanchville, Eques Auratus, lord of Blanchvillestown, Killmodemucke, &c, and the most noble lady Elizabeth Butler, [his] most pious consort, have erected this monument for their most dear first-born son, the very illustrious lord Gerald Blanchville, a most excellent man, snatched away by untimely death; [also] for themselves, their children, and posterity, in the month of August, 1647. Gerald died on the 21st of February, 1646. Edmund [ ] Elizabeth [ May they rest in peace. Amen. A Renaissance mural monument, like that of Bishop Roth. Above, at each side of the inscription, are two shields, the dexter one bearing, per pale indented, gules and ermine, for Blanchville ; the sinister charged with the Ormonde arms, as borne by Thomas, the tenth Earl, but within an engrailed bordure. Above is a shield impaling the two escutcheons just described, with the motto, — dextera doimini exaltavit me. The monument remains in its original position, against CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 301 the north wall of the ancient chapter-house, but the stairs to the south gallery of the choir hide a portion of it, including the crest of the upper escutcheon. The inscriptions are in small Roman letters, and incised. Traces of colour remain on the shields of arms. The Anglo-Norman family of Blanchville, or Blanchfield, were early settlers in the county of Kilkenny. In the year 1303 Nicholas de Blancheville was Rot. Mem., 31 seneschal of Kilkenny; and in 1312 Richard Blanchville appears in the public j°o, dorao. *' records as executor of the will of Nicholas, then lately deceased. In 1335 John ^ 39,^"." de Blaunchville was amongst the knights summoned to attend John Darcy, v0 ' the Justiciary, with arms and horses from Ireland, in his expedition to Scotland. In 1377 William Ilger, late Escheator of Ireland, died seised of the ward and Rot. Mem.. marriage of the heir of John Fitz Richard Blanchevyld, who possessed forty- 49. one acres of land at Trydenston, at a rent of 3s. 4rf. per annum. This property at Treadingstown, adjoining Bennettsbridge, his descendants continued to enjoy till they forfeited their estates at the end of the seventeenth century. In 1394 ia., is& 19 Ric. II. John Blanchvyll was one of the " custodes pacis" of the county of Kilkenny, m. u. and in 1398 King Richard issued a writ appointing John Blanchville to be m.l" Rlc sheriff of the county of Kilkenny. In 1405 the same John was again a fasTiy., 2a "custos pacis" for the district; and in 1409 Gilbert Blaunchvyll held a similar 5^imen.iV., commission, which was renewed to him in 1424. In 1447, 1449, and 1450, # f 8 °iv., David Blaunchevill, of Blaunchevillston, was sheriff of Kilkenny, and was m.^T^ 1 '' each year fined 40c?. because he did not pay his proffer of 20c?. In 1537 the ^s^an head of the Blanchville family was denounced by the Presentment of the Com- 1 mons of the county of Kilkenny as one of the imposers of the obnoxious exac- Paper °^ ce - tion of coyne and livery on his tenants. This, doubtless, was Edmund Blanch- ville, Esq., of Blanchvillstown, who in the beginning of the sixteenth century married Margaret, only daughter of John Fitz James Butler, younger brother Archdaii's of Pierce, Earl of Ormonde. Gerald Blanchville, who was member of Parlia- p°i9/ V ° L ment for the county of Kilkenny in 1585, and died in his castle of Blanch- inqZ^T^™' villestown on the 6th April, 1594, appears to have been the offspring of this KaklT'Tem™' first matrimonial connexion of the family with the house of Ormonde. Gerald Ellz '' No ' 3 ' married Elinor, third daughter of the first Viscount Mountgarrett, and widow of Thomas Tobin, Esq., of Compsey, and by her left a son, Edmund, aged nine u. years at his father's death, who, in 1631, was designated Sir Edmund Blanch- 2G, 28, and 29 Hen. VI. MSS. State 302 INSCUII'.KD MONUMENTS. [sKCT. II. Lib* T.,v.rn- field, Knight, in the records of the State, where he is set down as holding the BMud^DiMik manor of Blanchfieldston from the King in capite, by knight's service. This Aivh.uu s Sir Edmund, who erected the monument in the cathedral, espoused Elizabeth, IV seventh daughter of Walter, the eleventh Earl of Ormonde. Their eldest son, Gerald, or Garret, whom they mourn in the inscription as having been pre- maturely removed by death, was of sufficient age in 1641 to hold the rank of captain in the army of the Confederate Catholics, and he appears to have taken i/ss . i >. c an active part in the troubles of the period. In the deposition of Peter Pinchon, Lib. Trin. Coll. m , . . Dubl. of Glanmagowe, in the parish of Castlecomer, it is stated that the deponent " tooke a chamber in Kilkenny, thinking it to be a safe place ; but about the 18th December (1641), the gates of the saide cittie (which were formerly kept shut with watch and ward) was, either by command or neglect of Mr. Archer, the Mair, that day left open for the Rebbells to enter, and the saide cittye was rilled and robbed of all protestants' goods by Edward Butler, sonne of the Lord Mountgarrat, Garrat Blanchfield, sonne and heire to Sir Edmond Blanchfield, Phillip Purcell of in the same county, Esq., one Captain Bryan, with divers others. Which was done as this depont. thinketh by the allowance and approbation of the Lord Mountgarrat, he being then in Towne." Joseph Wheeler, of Staincarty, also, in his deposition, mentions " Captain Garrett Blanchfield" as amongst the leaders of the Confederate troops who attacked and slew Lieutenant Gilbert, the Rev. Thomas Bingham, and about sixty others of the English party, near Ballinakill, in the year 1642, and brought their heads to Kilkenny, to be exhibited on the market cross. For his connexion, or that Commonwealth °f ^is son i w ^ tne doings of the Confederate Catholics, Sir Edmund Blanch- DubUn^c^tf' v ^ e was decreed by Cromwell's High Court of Justice to have forfeited his v .i. >. p. 282. property in the county of Kilkenny, and his widow, Dame Elizabeth Blanch- ville, was ordered to " transplant" to Connaught ; but the estates were subse- quently restored to his son (who bore the same Christian name of Edmund) by Inqvis. Post Charles II., at the Restoration, except a portion denominated Church-Claragh, KLik./'ivmi,''' which had been granted away to an adventurer named Randal Ashinghurt. car. ii., o.6. rp^-g uncorrimon act f rova i favour may, perhaps, be traced to the relationship of Blanchville to the Duke of Ormonde. However, in the year 1665 we find Irish Exche- Edmund Blanchville, of Blanchvillestown, Esq., subjected to a curious State '" r h,cor ' k ' prosecution on the accusation of an informer — one Andrews, who had served CHAP, n.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 303 as a private soldier under Axtell the regicide — that he had used an opprobrious epithet towards King Charles II., reflecting on the moral character of that amiable monarch, and observing at the same time, " I car not for him nor for any that tooke his parte." The accusation would appear most likely to have been a false and concocted one, seeing that Blanchville himself had joined the King in France and shared the royal fortunes, after Cromwell's success in Ireland, and was at the Restoration repossessed of his property, whilst the claims of so many, who had deserved an equal measure of justice, were denied or neg- lected. Nevertheless, at the general assizes held for the county of Kilkenny on the 4th March, 1665, he was convicted of using "scandalous, opprobrious, and seditious words against the King," and was sentenced to pay a fine of £50. But, having petitioned his relative, the Duke of Ormonde, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, his Grace recommended the Commissioners of Eeducement to consider the case, and they accordingly mitigated the penalty to £10. Soon after, Blanchville gave ample proof of his loyalty to the house of Stuart, by devoting himself to the cause of King James against William of Orange, the result of which was his attainder, and the total confiscation and irretrievable loss of his patrimony. On the 8th May, 1703, his forfeited property was set up to auction Booh of Postings at Chichester House, Dublin, when "the castle, town, and lands of Blanch- "porfJtJd° ' ' villestown," consisting of 363 acres, were knocked down to Edward Worth, BoavAm Esq., of Rathfarnham, for £1290; and thirteen other denominations, including £ h 5?*» a,e ^ the property at Treadingstown and Bennettsbridge, and comprising 2530 acres, ik -th part, were purchased by the Incorporated Company for making hollow Sword-blades, for a sum of £6210 ; the jointure of Blanch ville's wife, Ursula, being, however, Book of Potting s allowed to her for her life, as secured on the lands of Blanchfield's Park and and Sak$ ' Bennettsbridge. A junior branch of the Blanchville family were proprietors of the castles and lands of Highrath and Rathgarvan, which were declared by the Commonwealth's High Court of Justice to be forfeited by Richard Blanch- field, and were confirmed by the Acts of Settlement and Explanation to the Inquxs. Com Cromwellian soldiery, who had been granted them in satisfaction of their arrears Car*ii* e Nu. e of pay. Rathgarvan came afterwards into the possession of the Clifden family, and now bears the denomination of Clifden. The present tenant in possession, Mr. Patrick Blanchfield, claims to be a descendant of the ancient owners in fee. 2 B 304 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. [63.] Pray • for • Ioiin • brenan • carpinter • who • dyetii • y e • 8 th • DAY • OF • 8[BER] • 1G4G • AND • IIIS ■ WIFE • ANNE • NY • GlANLOW • DE4.D THE ■ [ ]. A plain floor-slab. The inscription runs round the edge, in raised Roman capitals. The Mo,t An- John Brenan was admitted free of the Corporation of Irishtown on the 3rd ^corporation November, 1605, and paid as an admission fee the sum of Is. 9d., with 1 lb. of j mtoum. wax jj e wag town-sergeant of that Corporation, and one of the " sessors of the Priesten-money" in 1633. [64.] D. O. M. Sacrvm III 11 ™ ac Nob m . us Dnvs Rjchardvs Bvtler vice comes de Movntgaret. Baro. de Kells. &c. Ex Antiquissimis primarise in Hibernia Nobilitatis familiis oriundus, vtpote Petri Butler Ormoniae et Ossorie comitis, ac Margaretse fitz Gerald filia? Comitis de Kildar pronepos, vir Keligione in Deum, pietate in Patriam, fidelitate in Regem Pace belloq' conspicuus ; de Rege, Regno, Ecclesia. Dei, pro quibus Fortiter periculosis, et maxirne turbatis temporibus stetit, optime meritus ; fbelicis ac fcecundas Prolis Parens ; sibi, maioribus, ac Posteris hoc Monumentum pie posuit: memoriam sui nunquam morituram reliquit. Obiit ille [ Afio. 16[ ]. Defuncius [sic], ac Nobilissima! Vice Comitum de Mountgaret familice bene precare Viator. Translation: — Sacred to God, most excellent, most mighty. The most illustrious and most noble lord Ricliard Butler, Viscount Mountgarret, Baron of Kells, &c, sprung from the most ancient families of the chief nobility in Ireland, as being the great- grandson of Piers Butler, Earl of Ormonde and Ossory, and Margaret Fitzgerald, daughter of the Earl of Kildare. A man conspicuous, both in peace and war, for religion towards God, [and] a pious regard for his country ; deserving well of the King, the Realm, and the Church of God, for which he bravely stood in perilous and most troublous times ; the parent of a fortunate and prolific issue. For himself, his ancestors, and posterity he piously erected this monument. Of himself he left a memory never to perish. He died [ in the year 16[ ]. Traveller, of your goodness, pray for the defunct, and for the most noble family of the Viscounts Mountgarret. CHAP. II. ] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 305 A mural monument, in the Renaissance style, but, as will be presently proved, not all of one age. On the base are two shields : the dexter, bearing Mount- garret impaling a saltire between six trefoils slipped, two in fess, two in chief, and two in base, for Andrews ; the sinister shield also blazoning Mountgarret impaling an escutcheon bearing on abend three lions passant gardant, for Branth- waite. The inscription is in small Roman letters, and incised. The base of the monument, the panel on which the inscription is cut, and a small portion of the frieze, are ancient ; the remainder of this very incongruous structure is. comparatively speaking, modern, the monument having been "restored" for the then Lord Mountgarret, in 1763, by Mr. William Colles, of Kilkenny. We subjoin the proof, extracted from the letter-book of Mr. Colles, still preserved by his descendant, Mr. Alexander Colles. The letter, dated " Marble Mills, May 9th, 1763," and addressed " To the R l Hon ble Lord Mountgarrett at Bally- condre," is as follows: — " My Lord — Your Lordship's Monument In St.Canice Church being finished and Set up : I have sent you by my fforeman, Mic. Coffee, my Charge for It according to the Esti- mate given you and approved of by you : The Pediment and arms In y e Cove of it were estimated at £16 : : but as the arms were Left out £8:0:0 Is Deducted for them ; & the price of a Pedestall w"* was estimated as It was supposed to be Defi- cient but was ffound behind the Wainscot Is alsoe Deducted so that y r Lordship is only Charged for what was Done, amounting to £37 : : 6. There is a small Bill of scaffold- ing ccc w ch is always ffound by the Imployer w ch I hope y r Lordship will alsoe pay y e Bearer." Should the chancel be ever restored in accordance with the style of the remainder of the building, the removal of this monument would be absolutely necessary ; and the proof here afforded, that little of the ancient work remains, would render this proceeding the more desirable. Richard, third Viscount Mountgarret, was twenty -four years of age at his Arehdaiis father Edmund's death in 1602, and had special livery of his estates on the 22nd pp^l] it.' February, 1605. During his long and chequered life he bore a part in almost ° 3 ' ° 4 ' 6o ' every important transaction which took place in Ireland. Whilst yet in his twentieth year he joined O'Xeill, Earl of Tyrone, his father-in law, against a. d .1599. Queen Elizabeth ; but was reconciled to the Crown through the powerful in- terest of his cousin, Thomas, Earl of Ormonde. After the rebellion of 1641 he 2r2 300 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. authors was joined in a Commission with James Earl of Ormonde to govern the county of Kilkenny, a post which he afterwards filled alone ; but subsequently he gave a. d. iG42. the weight of his position and interest to the cause of the Confederate Catholics. He became General of their Forces, and afterwards President of the Supreme See Card's Council, — so that his history from this time is that of Ireland at the period. 's'm'n^\ oflw The violence of civil strife, combined with religious antipathies, led many into actions of bloodshed and cruelty ; but Lord Mountgarret was ever conspicuous for his moderation and for the strenuous efforts he made to alleviate the suffer- ings of the distressed Protestants". He died A. D. 1651, in the seventy-third year of his age ; but the date of his decease has not been inserted in the spaces left by him for that purpose when he erected his monument in the cathedral. He was thrice married, — first, to Margaret, daughter of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone ; secondly, to Thomasine (who died in 1625, having at Confirmation taken the name of Elizabeth), daughter of Sir William Andrews, of Newport Pagnel, Bucks ; and, thirdly, toMargaret, daughter of Kichard Branthwaite, Esq., Sergeant-at-Law, and widow of Sir Thomas Spencer, of Yarnton, Oxfordshire, who survived her husband until the year 1655. The arms impaled with his on the shields, already described, are thuse of his second and third wives. On the a There remains testimony for and against the Irish would still abuse and oppresse those English merciful character attributed to Lord Mount- which thay had not slaine nor banished, and garret. Anne, wife of Mervyn Mawdsley, sworn would commonly call them English doggs." ou the '2yth March, 1643, deposed: — "That one That Lord Mountgarret made no idle threat ] Cantwell, Provost Marshall att when he spoke of " pistolling" those who asked or nere Kilkenny for the rebells, and his com- to have the Protestants put to death, appears pany, hanged 7 Englishmen that they fownd in from the statement of Carte, that, — "seeing one the way from Balline whereof one was of the rank of a gentleman, Mr. Richard Cantwell a taylor named Kichard Phillips, and they hanged .... plundering in his presence, he was so pro- alsoe an Irishman because he was in company vokedthat he shot him dead with his pistol." — of those seven Englishmen. All which 8 persons Carte's Ormonde, vol. i., p. 267. James Benn, were hanged in the towne of Kilkenny on a sworn July 3, 1643, also testified that, — howse newly framed of timber. And one of the "This deponent hath beene credibly tould by rebells fell upon his knees to the Lord Mount- some of the Popish and rebellious Citizens there, garrott to have all the English hanged, whoe that the Komish titular Bishop of Cashell, Tur- answered he would pistoll him if he made any logh Oge O'Neile, brother to the Eebell Sir more such requestes, ffor that such English as Phelim O'Neile Knt. & the Popish citizens of were left would gladly enough goe awaye & leave Kilkenny aforesaid peticioned or moved ear- the countrie if they knewe howe: which this de- nestly to the rest of the Counsell of Kilkenny pon 1 thinketh they would, ffor that the rebellious that all the English Protestants there should be chap, n.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 307 monument, when in its original state, it is probable that the arms of his first wife were also sculptured, perhaps, in some more honourable position. [65.] HlC • IACET • GVLIELMVS • KyVANE • ROBERTI • FILIYS • QVONDAM CIVITATIS • KlLKENLE • VIR • DISCRETVS • QUI • SEBI • CHARISSDLE • VXORI SV^E • ELIZABETHS • BRAY • LTBERIS • AC • POSTEEIS • HOC • MONVMENTVM FIERI • FECIT • 1647 • OBHT • GyLTELHVS • [ J ■ DIE • MENSIS ■ [ • ANNO • Dih • [ ] • OBIIT • ETIAM • VXOR • EIVS • ELIZABETHA • [ DIE ■ MENSIS • [ ] • ANNO • [ ]. Translation: — Here lieth William Kyvane, the son of Robert, formerly of the city of Kilkenny, a discreet man, who for himself, his most dear wife, Elizabeth Bray, his children, and posterity, caused this monument to be erected in the year 1647. William died on the ] day of [ ], in the year [ ]. Elizabeth also died the [ ] day of the month of [ ] in the year [ ]. A floor-slab ornamented with a segmental cross, arising from a calvary, and exhibiting in the centre the sacred monogram, and at the base the skull putt to death, whereunto one Richard Lawlis, an Alderman there, in excuse of them answered and sayd, that the English were all robbed be- fore, and he saw noe cause that they should loose their lives. And at divers other tymes when- ever it was pressed that the English should be putt to Death, the Lord Mountgarrett, and his sonn Mr. Edmund Butler, and Mr. Philip Purcell, by ther strengths, meanes, and perswasions pre- vented it : they being (as this depo 1 beleeveth) commanded by God almighty soe to doe." On the contrary side we have the evidence of John Moore, Clerk, Prebend of Aghoure, who being sworn on the 22nd of February, 1641, averred — "that the lo: Mountgaret was in the citie of Kilkenny almost all the whyll of our robinge, and thoughe he was accompanied with about two hunderth armed men, and able enough according unto his place, of being governour of the countie, [to] have defended us against the strength of all the rebels, yet he did rather countenance them ; many of the rebels wer his servants and tenants, and did openly professe that whatsoever they did, they did it by his Lordship directione: whill as the rebels wer robing any Irish Papist in the citie, he was sure to rescue them, as he did doctor Gifforde, James Archdeacon, Patrick Morphey, and Robert Morphey, ther goods. But whill as all the protestants in the citie wer robed, some beaten and striped by the rebells, he did not no so much as once frowne upon them If this and the lyk his lo: practeeses be not sufficient to demonstrat his endes, and of what disposition he is, sur his Lordship is not much better disposed then he was in his yonger yeeres, when with the rebels he was the cheefe actour in the burning of the suburbs of the citie of Kilkenny in the last rebellion." — Original Depositions o/1641, MS., F. 2. C, Library Trin. Coll., Dubl. 308 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. and cross bones, like No. GO. The inscription runs round the edge and across the top in Roman capitals, and is carved in relief. m M,j„tAn- Robert Kyvan was admitted free of the Corporation of Irishtown on the ';.'''„,„ Uth October, 1581, paying an admission fee of 3s. id. There were at the ofirutomm. b rea ki n g ut of the Rebellion of 1641 no fewer than five clergymen of the Original Dtpo- diocese of Ossory named Kyvan, or Kevan, who are named in the depositions m^f. £c., U ' of that period, viz., Thomas, Patrick, Robert, James, and William, the three inn. on. Dubi. j atter Q £ w h om are stated, in those documents, to have on that occasion gone vol. U., pp. 8ii. over to the Church of Rome. A Rev. John Kyvan was prebendary of Aghoure in 1619, and of Mayne in 1637. [66.] D. O. M. R DVS D. Iacobvs Shee, Gvlielmi Senatoris, et in hac Kilkenniensi ClVITATE, BENE, PRVDENTER ET FiELICITER FvNCTI TER PRiETORIS OFFICIO, FlLIVS, DlVFNI CVLTVS, ET AnIMARVM ZeLO, ReLIQUISQ'e QuiE VERVM DEI Sacerdotem Decent, Virtvtibvs Conspicvvs, Prebendarivs de Tascoffin, vicarivs de Claragh, Ecclesue Cathedralis Sancti Canici Providvs Pro- cvrator, et vlcariorvm commvnis avlie indvstrivs provisor ; inter alia pietatis ofera, Monvmentv Hoc Sibi, Suoqve Germano Fratri R. D. Ioani Shee, Prebendario de Mayne, parochl^ Sancti Ioannis Evangelists Kil- kennl/e Vicario, Fieri Fecit. Obht D. Iacobvs Die 29 Mensis Apri' Ano Dni. 1648, obiit Etiam D. Ioannes Die [ ] mensis [ ] Ano D 16[ ]. Eternam illis requiem, Ecclesle Dei Pacem, et Tranqvillitatem Pre- care, Viator. Vna parens fausta fratres quos protulit aluo, Vna Sacerdotes Continet vrna Duos. Translation: — To God, most excellent, most mighty. The Reverend Master James Shee (son of William, an alderman of this city of Kilkenny, and who had with credit, pru- dence and success thrice discharged the office of Mayor), conspicuous on account of his zeal for the worship of God and for [the salvation of] souls, as well as on account of the other virtues which become a true priest of God, prebendary of Tascoffin, vicar of Claragh, the judicious procurator of the cathedral church of St. Canice a , and industrious ceconomist a Built up in the pier of the south-east gate of scription in raised Roman capitals: — r.d. iacobvs the churchyard is a stone with the following in- shee procveatoe templi 1647. * CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 309 of the vicars of the common hall 3 ; amongst other works of piety caused this monument to be erected for himself and his own brother, the Reverend Master John Shee, preben- dary of Mayne, vicar of the parish of St. John the Evangelist, Kilkenny. Master James died on the 29th day of the month of April, A.D. 1648. Master John likewise died on [ ] day of the month [ ] A.D. 16[ ]. Traveller, pray for eternal rest to them, and peace and tranquillity to the Church of God. A mural tablet in the Renaissance style, but of considerable elegance ; which remains in its original position, set in the wall of the north side aisle. Above the panel which bears the inscription is sculptured a shield with the achieve- ment of Shee, viz., with a crescent for difference, 1st, per bend indented, two fleurs de lis ; 2nd, three swords fesswise, the middlemost pointing towards the dexter side ; 3rd, three swords, two in saltire pointing downwards, and one in pale pointing upwards ; 4th, a chevron ermine between three pheons. Crest, a swan rising b : motto, vincit veeitas. Above all are the sacred monogram and the three nails of the Passion. In the wall the quarterings are repeated singly, the shields being placed two on each side of the monument, on lozenge-shaped slabs. The inscription is incised. On a stone in the floor of the north side aisle are the words, ostiym moxvmenti d. iacobi shee saceedotis. The O'Shees or O'Sheths — Hibernice, Ua Sejba — were a Milesian family, Four Masters. of whom the head seems to have been chief of Ui-Rathach in Iveragh, county val "" P ' 9 °° of Kerry. Sir J. Bernard Burke deduces the Kilkenny branch from " an Odanus Burke's Peerage O'Shee," but does not state the time at which that personage flourished; how- e^i"^^ 9 ^ ever, he says, his " descendant, Robert Shee, settled in Kilkenny, and, falling pp ' 908 ~ 9 " at the battle of Mealiffe, 6th August, 1500, was succeeded by his only son, Richard Shee, Esq.," whose son Robert was a justice of peace for the county of Kilkenny, and purchased property there. This last Robert was father of Sir a In the wall of a yard near the foot of St. Ca- nice's Steps is a stone with the following in- scription, in raised Boman capitals: — R . d ■ IACOBVS • SHEE • VICARIORVM • COJIMVNIS • AVL.E -PROVISOR • ANXO • DNI • 1647. b " Shee, of Com. Kilkenny, Bears 8 coats quar- terly. 1 st & 5 th per Bend indented or & az. 2 Flordelis's counterchanged. 2 d is gules 3 swords Fesswayes the middlemost pointing towards y e Dexter side all proper. 3 rd sab. 3 pheons arg'. 4 th gules 3 swords, 2 in salt' pointing down- wards, & one in pale pointed upwards, all pro- per. 6 th Arg 1 3 Bars gules over all a Bend sable. 7 th per Pale indented or & gules. The 8 th and last, Arg 1 a chev rn betw n 3 Pheons sable. By Eob 1 Cook Clarencieux K. at Arms. 7 :h Au- gust, 1582, 24 th Elizabeth."— Heraldic MS. penes auct. 310 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. a. Richard Shec, of Bonnestown, Uppcrcourt, and Sheestown, an eminent lawyer, professionally engaged in the service of the Ormonde family; and who, probably, received his knighthood through the influence of that house with the Lord Deputy of Ireland. The Ulster King at Arms cannot, however, be quite cor- rect as to the O'Shee pedigree, as there was a member of the family settled in Council's Hook, Kilkenny earlier than the Robert slain in 1500, Thomas Sheth having been one Kilk! Z, \ cutii of the portreves of the town in 1396, and having filled the same office again in 1422, on which latter occasion his name is spelled Shee in the municipal records. The father of the two ecclesiastics for whom the monument was erected in the cathedral died on the 18th April, 1584, and was interred, with his wife, Margaret Walsh, in the churchyard of St. Mary's parish, where their monument still remains. Both these clergymen appear to have taken an active part in Qveret concern- the proceedings of the Confederate Catholics of Kilkenny, the prebendary of ini of the pre- Mayne in particular, whose name is subscribed with those of Bishop Roth, and :"y°H;48, the other Roman Catholic divines then in the city, to the answers to the que- ries of the Supreme Council in 1648, whereby the former declared themselves in favour of the cessation of hostilities. Robert Shee, grandson and heir of Sir Memoirs of' Richard, and a relative of these two clergymen, was one of the prime movers of folio, 1757, ' the out-break, and it was in his house in Coal-market that the first meeting of the Confederate Council was held. The monument appears, by the date thereon, to have been erected whilst the cathedral was in the possession of the Roman Catholic party. [67.J D. O. M. PATRICIVS MVRPHIE CIVIS, SENATOR, & QVONDAM PRiETOR KlLKENIENSIS, VIR PRVDENS, PROBVS, PIVS, PAVPERVM & PVPILLORVM MERITO PARENS, MORTA- LITATIS DVM VIVERET MEMOS, SIBI, CHARISSIMiE VXORI SVJE, ANASTASLE PlIELAN, MATRONS LeCTISSIMJE, OPTBLE, NVMEROSiE NECNON ErVDIT/E PROLIS \ tri, Filio ac HjEredi Svo Richardo Mvrphie omnibvs mvltvm charo, vlce-coaiitis mvnere kelkeni.e svmma com lavde fvncto, ietatis Flore Pr^erepto, Eivs Vxori Elis^e Rothe, Llberis, ac posteris Monv- mentvm Hoc Posvit. Obijt Patricivs 3° Die Mensis martij, 1648. Anas- tasia 6 m0 Die Febrvarii 1646. Richardvs 8 aT0 die ivnii, 1643. Elisa ] die Mensis [ CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 311 Exaltans humiles Deu3 hie extolle sepultos Qui fuerant humiles semper amore tui Qui Requiem, uitam, solamen, Dona, salutem Pauperibus Dederant his miserere deus. amen. Epitaphium. Junxit amor viuos, wo mors jungit amanfrs Marmore, non moritur qui bene vixit, amor. Christi rents amor post mortem vivit, et addit JEterno! vita gaudia connubio. John Murphy the Son of the above mentioned Rich 5 died 16 Nov r , A. D. 1690. Mary Tobin the Wife of Iohn 17 Ianuary 169x. Barnaby Murphy the son of Iohn 28 January 1741. Mary Shee his wife died 3 November 1737. Thomas the son of Barnaby (who in compliance with his own wishes is interred outside this wall but in the family burial ground) departed this life 18 th Sep r 1776 in the 68 Year of his age. Also his wife Mary Meagher who died 30 day of Sep r 1 787 in the 58 Year of her age. Barnaby Murphy the eldest son of Tho s & Mary Murphy died in London the 4 th of June A. D. 1802 in the 61 Year of his age. His body lies deposited in a Tomb in the Church yard of S 1 Pancras. Traxslatios : — Master Patrick Murphy, citizen, alderman, and sometime mayor of Kilkenny, a man prudent, honest, and pious, truly the parent of the poor and of the orphan whilst he lived, remembering mortality, erected this monument for himself, for his most dear wife Anastasia Phelan, a most rare and excellent matron, the mother of a numerous and learned issue ; for his son and heir Richard Murphy, universally beloved, who most laudably discharged the office of sheriff, but was snatched away in the flower of his age ; for his wife Eliza Rothe ; r and] for his children and posteritv. Patrick died the 3rd day of the month of March, 1648; Anastasia, the 6th day of February, 1648; Richard, the 8th of June, 1643; Eliza, the [ ] day of the month of [ An elaborate Renaissance mural monument, occupying its original posi- tion against the wall of the north side aisle. It has been repaired, and several portions were supplied anew, when the slab containing the latest inscriptions was inserted, subsequently to the year 1802. The inscriptions are incised, and were recut when the monument was repaired, as appears by the alteration of the year of Richard Murphy's death from 1643 (the true date) to 1640. The pillars which support the frieze rise from an altar-shaped base, the top-stone of which is formed by the monument of Nicholas Motyng (No. 29). 2 s 312 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. which seems to have been incorporated with the monument when it was first erected. On the upper part of the structure is carved a shield bearing per pale; dexter side, quarterly, 1st and 4th, gules a lion rampant or, 2nd and 3rd argent a lion rampant gules, over all a fess sable charged with three garbes or — for Murphy ; sinister side, or a cross engrailed gules between four martlets sable — for Phelan. Crest, a lion rampant, his paw on a garb, all or ; Motto, fortis et iiosriTALis. The arms are repeated separately below, and all retain indications of colour. On the slab in the floor near the monument are the Words, — OSTIVM • MONVMENTI ■ PATRITY • MVRPHYE • ET • VXORIS • EIVS • ANASTATLE • PHELAN • ANO • DNI • 1647. The first record which we have of any member of this Leinster Milesian sept, in connexion with the municipality of Kilkenny, is the nomination of John Murphy to the office of coroner by the great Charter of James I. in 1609, followed, four years subsequently, by a royal license to William Murphy and Original Depo- his daughter, Rose, to open a tavern in that city. Patrick Murphy of the msTf^c 4 , 1 ' inscription was mayor of Kilkenny at the eventful period of 1642-3 ; but rnn. , oil., Dubi. ^^^g^ ^ Q "Depositions" of that time accuse his son-in-law, Edmond Roe Purcall, of plundering the Protestant inhabitants, and his son, Richard Murphy, who was sheriff in 1641, with complicity in . the rebellion, and with having boasted that it was he who opened the town-gates for the admission of the rebels, we are led by their tenor to suppose that he did not put himself forward as a prominent actor in those troubles. He is mentioned amongst a few of the Roman Catholic inhabitants whose goods were plundered by the rebels, but who had restitution made to them by order of Lord Mountgarret, whilst that grace was denied to similar sufferers professing the Reformed faith ; and he would also appear to have at that time received and entertained in his house a Protestant clergyman, John Keavan, one of the prebendaries of the cathedral. Robert and Edinond Murphy were on the list of citizens of Kilkenny attainted for their connexion with the cause of King James II., at the end of the same century. [68.] nic IACET CORPVS THOMjE hill hvivs Ecclesle DECANI ET s. s. THEOL. APVD CANTABRIGIENSES DOCTORIS OBIIT PRLMO DIE NOVEMBRIS MDCLXXIII. Translation: — Here lieth the body of Thomas Hill, dean of this Church, and doctor in Sacred Theology of Cambridge. He died on the 1st day of November, mdclxxiii. chap, ii ] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 313 A floor-slab ; the inscription, in raised Roman capitals, runs across the top. It appears by the records of the University that Thomas Hill became B. A. of Cambridge in 1655, A.M. in 1659, and D.D. in 1670. He was appointed a Cottons Fasti. prebendary of St. Patrick's cathedral, Dublin, in 1667, and receiving his patent ™ for the deanery of St. Canice, March 11. 1670-1, was admitted on the 18th of the same month. His will, bearing date at Kilkenny, March 3. 1672, is extant. It Prerogative is a holograph document, and, beginning in the usual form, it thus proceeds: — " In primis I [ordain] my soul unto the hands of God who gave it me, beseeching him to have mercy on it at the hour of death and in the day of judgment. My body I bequeath to the grave, to be buried in Kilkenny cathedral, without sermon, mourning, or any other ceremonv but y e prayers of y e Church (together with evening prayers) appointed for that office. Item, I make my well-beloved wife, Jane Hill, my sole executrix, and do freely give her all y' any where belongs to me, or as I am my father's executor, beseeching her to be kind unto my poore deare children, Thomas, James, Richard, and that which she travels with, and for their sake, and for her own, not to be too passionate for my death. Let her breed them up in the fear of God and they will prosper ; and God bless my chil- dren, my wife, and have mercy on my soul." He died the year after that in which he made this will, having, on the 22nd of imte Book of June previous, been made free of the city of Kilkenny. ofKiu™ny tum [69.] In P. M. Joh. Bvshop quoxd. Registbabii hvtvs Diceces. Avi svi £ Edwaedi Bushop Pelebexd. de Killameeby ix hac Eccle. Cathed. Pateis svi sibi syisqve Postebis hoc Posvtt Walteb Bvshop 12 Jvxii 1677. Translation" : — To the pious memory of his grandfather, John Bushop, sometime registrar of this diocese, and of his father, Edward Bushop, prebendary of Killamory, in this cathedral church, for himself and his descendants, Walter Bushop placed this [monu- ment] on the 12th of June, 1677. There is at present no trace to be seen of this monument, originally set in the floor of the Lady Chapel, it being completely hidden by the Bishop's Court. We give the inscription as we find it in O'Phelan's Manuscript Catalogue of the Tombs ; but cannot vouch for its accuracy. John and Edward Bushop were sufferers by the troubles of 1641, and made depositions as to their losses. John had taken land from Walter Walsh, of 2 s 2 314 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. Original Depo- Castlehoel, at Glandonell ; but on the breaking out of the rebellion fled from titions of 1641, . - , . ms P.2.C., the district, losing in "profits of his farme and tythes worth xxx' 1 ^ annum, until a peace be established." Edward Bushop was at the time incumbent of jd. the parish of Rathbeagh, and was forcibly expelled from his parsonage-house by the rebels, and plundered of his property, amounting, as he swore, to the value of £418, " being all y e relief he had for himself, his wiff, and of his owne, & his grandchildren." Walter Bushop is on the roll of freemen of the Corporation of Irishtown for the year 1661. [70.] Here lteth interred the body or mrs Frances fovlkes als white DAVGHTER TO GRYFFITH WHITE OF HENLLAN IN PEMBROCKE-SHIRE ESQVIRE WHO BEING TWICE MARRIED FIRST TO MAIOR FRANCIS BOLTON AFTERWARDS TO BARTHOLOMEW FOVLKS ESQVIRE DYED THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF NOVEMBER 1685 IN THE YEARE OF HER AGE 52. An elaborate Renaissance mural monument, supported on a base of altar shape. Above the inscription is an escutcheon charged with the following arms, viz., a fleur-de-lis, with crescent for difference, impaling three stags' heads caboshed. The crest is lost. There is a floor-slab in St. Mary's Chapel, at present covered by the Bishop's Court, with the words: — Here is the Opening of the Valte of M rs Frances Fovlkes 1687. RoH,i9Car.n. The persons commemorated in the inscription on this monument appear to back! No. 24. have been Cromwellian settlers in the district. Amongst the grants under the Acts of Settlement and Explanation is one confirming to "Bartholomew Fowke and Frances, his wife, relict of Major Francis Bolton," the possession of the castle of Dromard and various lands in the baronies of Ikerrin and Killnemanagh, county of Tipperary, reserving to Pierce, Viscount Ikerrin, such rights as might be adjudged to him in a portion of the property, after reprisals. Bartholomew Foulks was appointed Master Extraordinary in Chancery for the province of Munster by patent, dated 25th January, 1665. Amongst the Chapter records is the following entry, under date 19th May, 1687: — Chaplrr Book, " Ordered that the Executors of M rs Frances Foulkes, on payment of £10 fine, shall have a grant, at 20s. an. rent, of the ground in S l Mary's chappel, in the Cathedral, where the said M rs Foulkes' monument is now built." The monument was removed from St. Mary's chapel into the south transept CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 315 about thirty years ago, when the Bishop's Court was erecting in the former, and its position has since been twice changed, first to the north side aisle, and finally again to the south transept. [71.] Here lyeth the body of richard longe who departed this life the 18 of aprel anno domini 1690. This is a plain floor-slab, with inscription in Roman characters. The names of Lang and Long, which appear to be identical, frequently appear on the burgess rolls and lists of municipal officers of Kilkenny from an early period. Seocto die <^Tlatti^ *6c)§ CbeiaXxS du<# 77. Translation: — Here lieth Thomas Ottway, Bishop of Ossory, who died the 6th day of March, 1692-3, in the 77th year of his age. A plain floor-slab, covered with the inscription, which is cut in large italic characters, curiously flourished. For a memoir of Bishop Otway the reader is referred to the proposed " History of the See of Ossory." [73.] f^tc 3Jacet Btcfjarb 9 <£Iona qubti' burge's' btlk fctlfeentE 0/ otmt [ ] £t ISlena l£totf)e uxor tt 9 q otmt [ ]. Translation : — Here lieth Richard Clonan, formerly a burgess of the town of Kilkenny, who died [ ], and Elena Rothe, his wife, who died [ ]. No. 56. A floor-slab, here accurately engraved to the scale of half an inch to afoot. At either side of the cross are the emblems of the trade of the deceased, 31 f) INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. consisting of cutting and paring knives, awl, and slicker, together with the upper leather, and sole of an Irish brogue. There is an erroneous opinion prevalent that this is the monument of the murderer of Bishop Walshe ; but we possess indubitable proof that no such stain attaches to the memory of Richard Clonan, who, no doubt, was a respectable tradesman in his day. [74.] ffitxt • lies • 3)ofm ■ Sbprice • burojs • • oftftt [ ] • trie • [ ] • ana • tjt's • Mfe • ^Joane • IBUnclie • q £ • otmt • [ ] • trie • [ ]. This curious mixture of English and Latin is cut in Old English characters on a more ancient coffin-shaped monument, which had been ornamented with an Edwardian cross in relief; it is broken into two fragments, which are sepa- tu most ,\n- rated from each other. John Sprise (the name is always spelled with an s in c^>m-tuio^of the municipal records) was five times a collector of the " Priesten-money" of St. Canice's parish, between the years 1604 and 1615; and in the year 1623 he appears on the roll of burgesses of Irishtown. [75.] [ffi]UmunUus Sutler qu[t ofati't] Me mes' $u\n &° b l 0L° me et 9 . uxor q c obtt't x Translation : — Edmund Butler who [died] the ..... day of the month of July, A.D. M his wife, who died A fragment of a floor-slab inscribed in Old English characters. Edmond Butler was one of the collectors of the " Priesten-money" of the parish in the year 1633. [76.] f^tc 3}acet &ntom 9 o 33oue (St jfltlari[a] Gale. Translation: — Here lies Anthony O'Boue and Maria Gale. A plain floor-slab. The inscription is in Old English characters. [77.] Hebe lyeth William O • Dowly. A small, plain floor-slab. The inscription is cut in raised Roman characters. « William Dowly — the " 0" is not prefixed to his name in the Corporation records CHAP, n.j INSCRIBED MONUMENTS 317 — was one of the sessors of the " Priesten-money* of the parish in 1608, and several subsequent years. In 1630 he was elected one of the constables of Irishtown, and the record of his appointment specifies that his trade was that of a cottoner. Tombs of the Eighteenth Century. — There are only fifteen monuments of this period, of which five are mural tombs. — all tablets, except those of Archbishop Cox and Dean Pack, which are of more elaborate design : nine are plain floor-slabs : and one — that of the Taylor family — is a rude and taste- less altar tomb, such as maybe seen ordinarily crowding country churchyards. All the inscriptions belonging to this century are incised- [78.] HEEE . LTETH . THE . BODY . OF . CHARLES . SAXDFORD . OF . SANDFO* 09 - COURT . ESQ 3 . WHO . DEPARTED . THI S . LIFE . THE . 4TH . OF . DECEMBER . A . D . 1701 . A simple, unadorned floor-slab. The Sandfords were an ancient Shrop- shire family. Thomas de Sandford fought at Hastings on the side of the Con- queror, and his name is on the roll of Battle Abbey. In 1426 the Sandford estate at Lie, near Whitechurch, in the county of Salop, was gran:ed to Nicholas Sandford, of CaiverhalL who was the fourteenth in descent from the founder of the family in England. Captain John Sandford was settled in Ireland in the -fio<.p^5-ii, reign of James L, and in the year 1613 received a grant for ever of all moun- si- tain lands, bogs, and woods in Ulster, escheated to the crown, at a yearly rent of £10, in consideration of his absence during the distribution of the escheated lands in Ulster, in consequence of which no portion was assigned to him. he being then engaged in conducting the loose kern and swordsmen of that pro- vince to the service of the King of Sweden, and disburdening the country by that means of many turbulent and disaffected persons who would otherwise have troubled the peace. The gentleman interred in the Cathedral of St. Canice appears to have been the first of the family who was connected with the county of Kilkenny. The property of Sandford's-court was known for centuries by the name of Cantwell's-court. and was forfeited by Thomas Cant- well, Esq.. Proves t-Marshal under the Confederate Catholics. Under the Acts 318 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. 11. Boa is of Settlement and Explanation it was granted to Arthur, Lord Viscount d^'thMrt, Ranelagh, in 1666, from whom Sandford would appear to have purchased it, back, No. is. an( j c j ian g C j tj ie nam e. His successor in the property was Thomas Sandford, Burke'a Peerage Esq., of Sandford's-court, who married Alicia, second daughter of Harry, second edit /ms^' 1 Lord Blaney, and she, having outlived him, remarried with John Langrishe, Esq., of Knocktopher, the grandfather of Sir Hercules Langrishe, created a baronet in 1777. The Sandfords became extinct in Kilkenny towards the end of the century, when the property of Sandford's-court passed to the Warren family, but it was recently sold in the Incumbered Estates Court, and a portion of it has been purchased by John M'Namara Cantwell, Esq., solicitor, — thus replacing the name of the ancient owners amongst the proprietors of the county of Kilkenny. [79.] H. S. E. Standisius Ilartstonge Arm r Filius natu ///"*. Standisii Hartstonge Bar^. Et Scaccarii Regii Baroids in Agro Norfolciensi oriundus. Qui in hdc Civitate Recordatoris Et in Palatinatu Tipperariensi Custodis Iiotulorum muneribus Diu et prceclare functus, Obiit Pr: Cal: Junii anno MDCC1V. Charissimo Fratri P. Johanes Episcopus Ossoriensis Feliceni Ipse Resurrectionem sub hoc olim marmore expectaturus. Translation: — Here is buried Standish Hartstonge, Esq., third son of Sir Standish Hartstonge, Bart., a native of the county of Norfolk, who, having long and honourably discharged the office of Recorder of this city, and of Custos Rotulorum in the palatinate of Tipperary, died on the 31st of May, in the year MDCCIV. Erected to his dearest bro- ther by John, Bishop of Ossory, himself intending to await a happy resurrection under this marble. A plain floor-slab, the inscription cut in Italic characters. Standish Hartstonge the elder, Baron of the Exchequer, was previously Recorder of Limerick, and his wife having died on the 5th of July, 1663, he erected a monument to her memory in St. Mary's church in that city. Dineley, in his "Tour in Ireland," a manuscript in the possession of Sir T. E. Wilmington, Bart., which is in course of publication by the Kilkenny Archasological Society, gives a pen-and-ink sketch of the monument, which was a mural tablet, bearing a device representing a heart surmounted by a cloven tongue, in allusion to the CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 319 name. This lady, as appears by the inscription, was " Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Jermy, of Gunton, in the county of Norfolk, Esq r , by Alice his wife, y e daughter of Sir Anthony Irby, of Boston, K nt ." The inscription further stated her to be the mother of eleven children, of whom seven were livinsr in 1677. Of these, two became connected with Kilkenny — John, although born in Harris's Ware. England, first by partially receiving his education at the' celebrated grammar v °" p ' m ' school known as " The College," founded by the Duke of Ormonde ; and sub- sequently by having been, in 1693, promoted by King William III to the bishopric of Ossory, after serving for many years, and through four campaigns in Flanders, as chaplain to the Duke of Ormonde ; — Standish by being appointed in 1694 Recorder of the city, through the influence of his brother with the Corporation. It was alleged, in certain subsequent law proceedings, by that Corporation, that the Bishop had covenanted with them to induce the bur- Muniments in gesses of Irishtown to surrender their claim to privileges disputed by the Cor- office, ku- * poration of the city, as a consideration for this appointment, which engagement, kenny ' however, he never fulfilled. Be this averment as it may, it is certain the Bishop, instead of inducing the Irishtown Corporation to forego their claims, strenuously aided and encouraged them in sustaining them, whilst his brother Standish, as Recorder, was as actively engaged during the remainder of his life in prosecuting the opposing interests of the city of Kilkenny in the courts of law, and died without having brought the suit to an issue. Standish was elected member of Parliament for the City of Kilkenny in 1695 and 1703, and made Liber Munerum. his will on the 9th of January, 1704, in which he describes himself as " of the Prerogative city of Dublin," and directs that his body " shall be decently buried, but Dubhn ' without pomp, in the parish church of St. Audeans" there. He bequeathed all his real estate, called Talbot's Inch a , in the parish of St. Canice, Kilkenny, to his brother, the Bishop of Ossory ; and to his nephew, Standish Brownlow, all his " study of books," " provided he takes on him the profession of the law ;" but if he does not, he bequeathed them to his brother, the Bishop. To the poor of Kilkenny he left 40s. " Item whereas the Corporation of the Citty of Kil- kenny are indebted unto me in the sum of £20 sterling, I do hereby give, 1 Talbot's Inch appears to have been, in the Hartstonge by his brother, to whom we find it first instance, purchased in trust for Standish here ultimately bequeathed — Seep. 258, supra. 2 T 320 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. ij. devise, and bequeath the said sum for erecting and setting up a clock in the Tollsell of the said citty." And whereas his " nephew, Sir Standish Harts- tonge, did, in his grandfather's life, behave himselfe disobediently and unduti- fully towards him," and that he " had also carried himself disrespectively" to the testator, therefore he " thought fitt not to leave him anything." This Sir Standish appears to have borne himself more "respectively" towards his uncle the Bishop, as it was doubtless by the influence of that prelate that he was returned Member iBookof of Parliament for the borough of Irishtown, in 1713 and 1715. He had pre- the Corporation •11 t irishtown. viously been elected portreve of Irishtown in 1711, also on the Bishop's nomi- i'i nation, as was his son, Pryce Hartstonge, in 1713. The Register of Kilkenny College shows "Pryce, son of Sir Standish Hartstonge, Bart," to have been admitted to that institution at the age of fourteen years, in 1703, and " Martin Hartstonge, gent., aged 12 years, entered the second class, October 18, 1705." [80.] Here Lyeth the Body of M r Richard Duigin Who departed this life April 4'" 1708. A plain floor-slab, the inscription in italic characters. The name, often written Dwigine and Duigan, frequently occurs amongst the muniments of the borough of Irishtown in the sixteenth and seventeenth Most Ancient centuries. In 1576 Thomas Dwigine was town-sergeant of Irishtown. Between porrtfaof the years 1591 and 1595 Dionicious Dwiggin was, with other citizens of Kil- Roii of Account* kenny, nne( l 20s. for absenting himself from divine service in the parish church, of Fines coi- according to the Reformed ritual. In 1604 Sir Teig Duigan was on a list of lerted in Causes ° ° ° Kcciesiastica/, ti ^ e names f t ne popish priests, seminaries, and Jesuits in the diocese of Os- between 34 and r * * ' 7 38Eiizabetb. S ory" returned by the Bishop to the Lord Deputy of Ireland. On the 15th of o^c^Tndon. April, 1698, the Duke of Ormonde made a lease of lives renewable for ever of Rental issued the lands of Palmerstown, at a rent of £31 4s., with a fat beef and two fat from Incum- ' ' bered Estate wethers, as accates, or £2 sterling per annum in lieu thereof, at his Grace's Court, Dublin. ° A election, to " Richard Duigin of the city of Kilkenny, Gentleman" — the person for whom the monument was placed in the cathedral. This family anciently possessed property in the Queen's County. In the churchyard of Skeirke, near Borris-in-Ossory, is a stone, originally portion of a chimney-piece in the now demolished castle of Skeirke, with the following, apparently imperfect, CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 321 inscription, in raised Roman capitals: — 4. iesvs • maeia 4- iohn • • dvigin + ivlii • 12 *t> ellen . pvecell The name is still found in Kilkenny, — Sur- geon Duigan of the Royal Navy, who served in the Baltic, and afterwards in the Crimea with the Naval Brigade, during the late Russian war, being a native of that county. [81.] 0. S. Reverendvs Stephanvs Vavghan hvjvs Ecclesls Thesavraeivs in agro A[r]vonensi natvs, Oxonle edvcatvs, hanc vitam transitoriam KlLKENIiE FINIVIT 22° APRILIS MDCCXI. AC GlORIOSAM EXPECTANS ReSVRREC- TIONEM SVBTVS JACET TVMVLATVS. ALICIA VAVGHAN AL s LLOYD VXOR EJVS CHARISSIMA POSVIT. Translation : — To the Omnipotent Saviour. The Reverend Stephen Vaughan, trea- surer of this church, born in the county of Carnarvon, educated at Oxford, ended this tran- sitory life at Kilkenny on the 22nd of April, 1711, and lieth buried beneath, expecting a glorious resurrection. Alice Vaughan alias Lloyd, his most dear wife, placed this monument. This tomb, like that of the Bushops (No. 69, supra), is situated in the Lady Chapel, and entirely covered over by the wood-work of the present Bishop's Court. We can only give the inscription as we find it in O'Phelan's manuscript. The Rev. Stephen Vaughan, a native of Wales, received priest's orders Cotton's Fasti. in the year 1670, was admitted to the prebend of Blackrath, in the cathe- dral of St. Canice, on the 6th May, 1671, and installed two days subse- quently. On the 1st of March, 1675-6, he was admitted into the college of the vicars choral of the cathedral as Dean's Vicar; and, on the 29th of March, 1687, being collated to the prebend of Tascoffin, ceased to be prebendary of Blackrath. In 1689 he was one of those attainted by the Irish Parliament of King James II., on the plea of absence from the country ; but the success of William of Orange restored to him his benefice, and on the 27th of July, 1691, he was collated to the Treasurership of the cathedral. He married Alice, second daughter of Aichdaii's Robert Lloyd, Esq., of Placenewyd, Denbighshire, by Grissild, fourth daughter voi/^pTeT of Roland Bulkeley, Esq., who was resident at Porthamell, in Wales, in the year 2t2 322 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. 1G00. The will of the Rev. Stephen Vaughan bears date 3rd February, 1708-9, and probate issued 5th July, 1711. He bequeathed 20s. to the poor of each of the parishes of Skeirke, Ennisnagg, and St. Canice, to be disbursed by the Bishop of Ossory within six months from his decease. His property in Wales, consisting of a house and garden in Carnarvonshire, he left to his sister Catherine and her husband, together with the furniture there, " excepting for one large brass pott, which I order to be delivered to my executrix when called for." His house in Kilkenny, held from the Duke of Ormonde, he bequeathed in reversion to his niece, Dorothy Connell, after the death of his wife, to whom he left the rest of his property, excepting a few trifling money legacies, naming her his sole exe- cutrix, but to be advised and assisted by his brother-in-law, Richard Connell, and his cousin, Thomas Bulkeley. [82.] Here lyeth the body of cap t Robert barton late or the hon blk COLL° HENRY HARRISONS REGIM 1 WHO DEPARTED THIS LEFE THE FIFTH DAY OF NOVEM EB 1723 IN THE 63 d YEARE OF HIS AGE. A plain floor-slab, with inscription in Roman capitals. Robert Barton appears to have been a Cromwellian settler in Kilkenny. We Prerognt,,-, know nothing of his history except what the above inscription discloses, and a office, Dublin. g — j ar statement of his military rank made in his will, which document bears date 3rd November, 1723, two days before his death. It opens thus: — " In the name of God, Amen. I Robert Barton, of the Irishtown near the Citty of Kilkenny, Esq re , late Capt n in the Hon. Col. Henry Harrisons Regiament of Foot, being weak in body," &c. He directs his body to be buried " at the discretion of my executrix," naming to that office, and as his sole legatee, " my dearly beloved wife, Catherine Barton, alias Van Aulst." [83.] H. M. Subtus adjacet Quod Venerabilium Hujus Ecclesias Decani et Capituli Beneficio Reliquijs Sui Suorumq' inhumandis Conditiorium H. Nicolaus Cormicke Kilkenniensis, A.D. MDCCXXIII. Beatam illis Resurrectionem, Lector apprecare. Translation: — Beneath, close at hand, lies the depository, intended for the burial of the remains of himself and his family, which Nicholas Cormicke, of Kilkenny, hath been Jiepistrar's Office, Diocese of Ossory. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 323 allotted by the favour of the venerable the Dean and Chapter of this cathedral, A.D. 1723. Reader, pray for their happy resurrection. A mural tablet, with armorial insignia still retaining traces of colour. The field is divided per pale: — Dexter side, argent on a bend sable three escalops of the first, impaling gules a lion rampant argent. Sinister side: — Gules, three covered cups or. Crest: — A dexter arm, embowed, vambraced, the hand holding an axe. Motto: — labour omnia vincit. On a slab in the floor beneath is cut the words, The Opening of Mr. Nicholas Cormick's Vault. With respect to the Cormick vault the following entry appears on en the Chapter Book of St. Canice: — A ' " Whereas, the 11 th of August 1726 there was a grant to Mr. Nicholas Cormicke for him & his posterity for ever to be bury'd in his burying place in the Cathedrall without paying the accustomed fFees, in consideration of s d Cormicke's paying five pounds towards the repairs of the Cathedral; and whereas the s d five pounds have not been paid, & that s d Cormicke & his family refuse to pay the serv ts of the Cathedrall their fees, & and this body being advised that they cannott grant away the Right of their successors, we do hereby reserve, revoke, and anull afores d grant." The Cormicks, or Cormacks, were a respectable trading family settled in Kilkenny during the eighteenth and first half of the present century. Several members of the family appear on the Register of Kilkenny College as having received their education in that institution. [84.] Sub hoc marmore clauditur Ann^e Cox Quod Mortale fuit, Jacobi O'Brien, filii Comitis nuperi de Incheqdin, filise : Quae Michaeli Cox, Episcopo Ossoriensi, Anno 1745, Matrimonio juncta eodem anno, aetatis suse 23, Fatali Puerperio abrepta est, Prius enixa Filium. Quantae jacturas quantillum Solamen ! Ilia nempe Tam Corporis quam animi dotibus a Natura ditata, Dignaque iisdem disciplina, Liberaliter instituta, non minus sancte quam eleganter vitam exegit. Ingens sui desiderium Parentibus, cognatis, amicis ; Infandum Conjugi maerorem, Singulisque Singularum virtutum Exemplar opimum reliquit. Contemplare, Lector, Humana? Felicitatis caducam Sortem, Et adversus inopinos et miser- rimos casus (Nullibi prasclarius monendus) Animum ben munitum et erectum para. Juxta reliquias Uxoris suse dilectas Sub eodem marmore jacet Reverendissimus Michael Cox, Archiepiscopus Casseliensis, Ricardi Cox, Equitis Baronetti, Summi olim in hoc 32 1 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. Regno Canccllarii Filius. Qui diversa vita? officia, quoad Privatus, Liberali morum ele- gantia excoluit et ornavit: Quoad Episcopus, cuncta sacri sui ordinis munia Per xxxv annos, cum dignitate ct non sine laude obivit. Tandem obrepente senectute, Paulatim a publicis ncgotiis recessit; Et inter amocna sui ruris, et domesticas caritates, postrcmos vita; bene actac annos, Usque ad nonagesimum, Iucunde et leniter peregit, Felix ante obitum in amplectenda dulci et numerosa charissimi nati progenie. Natus Nov: n. mdclxxxix. De- natus Maij xxviii. mdcclxxix. Translation : — Beneath this marble is entombed all that was mortal of Anna Cox, daughter of James O'Brien, son of the late Earl of Inchequin; who, united in marriage to Michael Cox, Bishop of Ossory, in the year 1745, was, the same year, snatched away by death in childbirth, having first given birth to a son. How great the loss! how small the consolation ! She, truly, enriched by nature with gifts of mind and body, liberally edu- cated in a manner worthy of these endowments, lived a life of piety graced by elegance. Her death has left to her parents, relations, and friends a grievous void, to her husband unspeakable grief, and to all a perfect exemplar of each of the virtues. Behold, Reader, the instability of human happiness, and against unlooked-for misfortunes (of which you have nowhere a clearer warning) prepare a mind well fortified and erect. Under the same marble, and beside the remains of his beloved wife, lies the Most Re- verend Michael Cox, Archbishop of Cashel, son of Sir Richard Cox, Bart., sometime Lord Chancellor of this kingdom ; who, as a private person, fulfilled and adorned the various relations of life with polite elegance of demeanour, and, as a Bishop, for thirty-five years dis- charged all the duties of his sacred order with dignity, and not without praise. At length, as old age crept on, he gradually withdrew from public affairs, and amidst the pleasures of his 'country seat, and the endearments of home, passed, in happiness and repose, the last years, even to the ninetieth, of a well-spent life; blessed in having embraced, ere he died, the lovely and numerous offspring of his most dear son. Born November the 2nd, mdclxxxix. Deceased May the 28th, mdcclxxix. An elegant mural monument by P. Scheemakers; on the base of which the inscriptions are cut in separate columns. There is an escutcheon intended for the arms of the deceased prelate, but it has been left blank. On the plinth is a finely executed statue of Mrs. Cox, a whole-length, holding a book in one hand, and reclining her head on the other, which leans on an urn. Archbishop Cox, who, before his translation to the archiepiscopal see of Cashel, was Bishop of Ossory from 1742-3 to 1755, was the son of Sir Kichard Cox, the historian, and Lord Chancellor, of Ireland. His lady, here commemo- rated, was the second daughter of Captain James O'Brien, third son of William, CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 325 third Earl of Inchiquin, by his wife, Mary, daughter of the Very Rev. William Archdaii's Jephson, Dean ofKilmore. She died on the 19th January, 1745, leaving one p. 59.' son, Richard, born four days previously. In Archdaii's Lodge's Peerage she is stated to have been buried at St. Michan's (Dublin?), but the inscription on this tomb would seem to state explicitly that her remains are interred beneath it. For a memoir of Archbishop Cox we must refer the reader to the proposed " History of the See of Ossory ;" but it may not be out of place to mention here, that the second compartment of the monument, intended to be inscribed to the prelate after his death, having long remained vacant, a great sensation was created in Kilkenny by the following satirical epigram (which has been preserved by Shee), written on a sheet of paper, having been affixed to this unoccupied space: — " Vainest of mortals ! hadst thou sense or grace, Thou ne'er hadst left this ostentatious space, Nor given thy numerous foes such ample room To tell posterity, upon thy tomb, This well-known truth, by every tongue confest, That by this blank thy life is best express'd." It transpired in after years that this keen and bitter satire was written by the Rev. Marcus Monck, who died a few years since at a very advanced age, being then rector of Rathdowney, in the diocese of Ossory. [85.] Here lie Interred the Remains of the Rev d Doctor Robert Mossom, Of the Uni- versity of Trinity College Dublin, Formerly a Senior Fellow & Divinity Professor. After- wards for the space of Forty six years Of this Cathedral Resident Dean. A Pattern of true Piety, and a Friend to all Mankind. He Died A Faithful Servant of Christ ; On the 8 th Day of Feb ry O. S. 1746. Aged 80. Here also lie The Remains of his Son THOMAS MOSSOM Esq r , Of the City of Kil- kenny Alderman. He died Universally Acknowledged a steady Friend & good Man : On the 15 th day of Aug 1 1777, Aged 56 Years. This Monument is Erected by His Exe- cutrix According to his directions. These inscriptions are cut in separate columns on a mural tablet, erected on the south side of the west door of the cathedral. The family of Mossom, Massum, or Masham, was anciently seated in York- 320 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. ii. shire and Lincolnshire, the name being derived from Mnsham, a village near Richmond. About the time of Henry VI. a branch passed into Suffolk, and became seated at Badwell Ash. In 1621, the head of this line was dig- nified with a baronetcy, and, in 1711-12, raised to the peerage by the title of Baron Massham of Otes, county of Essex. The first of the name who came to Ireland was the Eight Rev. Robert Mossom, D. D., Bishop of Derry from 1656 to 1679 ; in which year he died, leaving by his wife, a Miss Eland, of Bedale, Yorkshire, a son, Robert Mossom, LL. D., Master in the Court of Chancery, who was father of the Very Rev. Dr. Mossom, Dean of Ossory. This Record* of Tnn. dignitary was born in Dublin about the year 1666, and entered the University full.. Dublin. . ... of that city on the 29th June, 1682, being then in his seventeenth year. In King'a state of 1689 his widowed mother, whose maiden name was Reresby, being absent from the Protestants _ _ ■ 1780), Ireland, was attainted by King James s Parliament. Robert Mossom took his Records of iHn. degree of A.M. in July, 1691, and was elected a Fellow of Trinity College 23rd coil Dublin. May, 1692. In 1694 he was chosen Junior Dean and Sub-Lecturer, in 1696 Senior Fellow and Senior Lecturer, and in 1697 Preacher and Registrar; in 1698 he Liber Munerum. proceeded to the degree of B. D.; in 1700 the degree of D.D.; and on the 25th British Museum of February, 1701—2, was promoted to the deanery of Ossory, vice John Pooley, WaiterSoott' w h en ne resigned his Senior Fellowship. He made a considerable figure in the ^oifi'fworks Lower House of Convocation, and corresponded with Dean Swift. On the (ed. 1824) 15th April, 1703, he married Rebecca, daughter of Alderman Robert Mason, vol. xix.. p.- 276. r ' ' of Meath-street, Dublin, and had issue two sons, Eland and Thomas. A sepa- rate monument, which we shall notice in its place, commemorates the elder. The younger, known in the family by the sobriquet of " Lobster Tom," was born about the year 1720, and resided at Grange Mac Combe, in the county of Kilkenny. He entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1737, and was called to the Irish Bar in 1758 ; was admitted to the freedom of the city of Kilkenny 28th April, 1747, and was subsequently elected an Alderman, and filled the office of Mayor, and died in 1777. The wills of Dean Mossom and his son Prerogative Thomas are on record. The former directed by that instrument, bearing date Office, Dublin. 1st March, 1745, that if he should die in Kilkenny his body should be pri- vately buried in a convenient place in the cathedral of St. Canice ; but if his decease should take place in Dublin, or anywhere remote from Kilkenny, he should be interred in the church of the parish in which he should die. His CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENT? 327 property having been already settled, he merely bequeathed some testimonials to his friends, amongst which was a " ring of one large table diamond, set round with sparks,"' together with half his books, to his eldest son. Eland, desiring him to burn H all such useless papers as he shall find in my study or elsewhere ;" the other half of his books, B especially the books on Divinity.'' to his son Thomas ; and he left £5 to be distributed to those on the poor-list of the cathedral of St. Canice. The will of Thomas Mossom is dated loth August. 1777, and he therebv Bemttrar; . Office. Diocese directs " that I may be interred near the bodies of my Father and Mother in the of Ossoiy. Cathedral of St. Canice Kilkennv. and do leave a sum of £20 to the (Economist of the Dean and Chapter for said purpose, to indemnify him for the same ; and I also leave the sum of £20 to my executor for a tombstone, to be placed over the body of my honoured Father, the Rev. Robt. Mossom, the words of which shall be annexed in a schedule to this will." The sole executrix of this will was his niece, Lady Wheeler Cuffe, who accordingly erected the monument under notice. By his wife, a Miss Ouseley. Thomas Mossom left an only daughter, Maria, who married, April 28th, 1781, Richard, only son of Captain S. Meekins, R.X., and was mother of the present Robert Meekins 2 , Esq., of Glasthuie House, county of Dublin. r 86.~ Here Lveth The Body of The Reuer 1 Henry Des Mynieres A. M. Prebendary of Killamory &c. Who Departed This Life The 2> lh Day of Nouember in The year of our Lord One Thousand Seuen Hundred and Fifty Three, Aged Sixty Eight Years. A floor-slab ornamented with an escutcheon of arms in relief, the inscription in small Roman characters. The shield bears a chevron, charged with three fleurs-de-lis, between two mullets in chief and a pine-apple in base. Crest: — A mermaid crined. holding a mirror in the right hand and a comb in the left. Motto: — XEC ELECTUS XEC DEJECTTS. Lewis Des-Myniers, a native of Amesfort, in the province of Utrecht, settled Archdaiis in Dublin, and was made a free denizen of Ireland on the 11th December, 1655. YoUt/p'TrT His son, Alderman John Des-Myniers, was Lord Mayor of the city of Dublin ' The authors are indebted to Thomas C. Mos- memoirs of the Dean and his son Thomas, which som Meekins, Esq., B. A, of the Inner Temple, were intended for insertion in this work, but Barrister-at-Law, eldest son of this gentleman, omitted, with regret, on the warning of thepub- for a pedigree of the Mossom family, and full lishers that space would not admit of it. 328 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. for the year 1666, and had a son, Samuel, who married Jane, third daughter of Henry Ponsonby, of Stackstown and Crotto, in the county of Kerry, brother of Sir John Ponsonby, ancestor of the Earls of Bessborough. Both those brothers came to Ireland in the army of Cromwell in 1649, and received grants of land in consideration of their services. One of the issue of the marriage between Archdaii'a Samuel Des-Myniers and Jane Ponsonby was the clergyman for whom the roi. iL,V wo?*' monument was placed in the cathedral of St. Canice. He was presented on the 26th March, 1737, to the prebend of Donadea, and the vicarages of Donadea and Balraken, in the diocese of Kildare, and on the 15th April, in Cotton's Fasti, the following year, was collated to the prebend of Killamory, in the diocese Archdaii's of Ossory. In 1746, on the 9th May, he was presented to the rectories of vol. ii., p. 271. ' Clonegam and Newtown-Lennon, in the county of Waterford ; but he still retained his prebendal stall in the cathedral of St. Canice, and continued to live Prerogative VCl the city of Kilkenny, where he made his will on the 10th February, 1752-3, o ee, Dublin. died, j^^^g subsequently. The preamble of the will states the reason for making it to be his sense of the uncertainty of life and his own " great dis- orders." Having in the usual form committed his soul to God, he proceeds: — "And my body I desire may be buried in the north aisle of the cathedral of St. Canice ; and I desire my hereafter-named executor to procure a large marble stone, to be placed over my grave, with my Arms, Crest, and Motto, with the following inscription." The inscription as on the tomb having been then fully set out in the document, it proceeds : — "And I desire I may be buried in a decent and private manner, and my grave, if possible, to be ten foot deep." He bequeathed to his niece, Jane Magrath, his large silver punch-bowl and ladle, two silver sauce-boats, a dozen of silver-hafted knives, and a great number of silver and other articles of household ware, including the furniture of the " big parlour," the bedchamber where he lay, and " the Blew Room." To the Eight Hon. Brabazon, Earl of Bessborough, he left " the Universal History, 20 vols. ; Chambers's Dictionary, 2 vols. ; Rapin's History, with the continuation; and my black-leather chair and stool also to the Right Hon. Lord Duncannon his sapphire ring, " set round with brillions," which he desires he may " ware for my sake ;" and to his " good friend Robert Langrishe Esq re , 8 guineas to buy him a ring ;" to the Right Hon. the Earl of Carrick a gold locket, with Sir Pierse Meade's hair enclosed in it ; to his nephew, John Magrath, his chariot, furni- CHAP. II."] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 329 ture, and three coach-horses, and all the books in his study not otherwise bequeathed ; but he desired that his written sermons, which were in his large escritoir, might be burned by his executors. [87.] Here Lyeth the Body of M r James Davis of Bonnits Rath In the County of the City of Kilkenny Esq r who Departed this life 9"" y e 10 th 1763, Aged 90 years. A floor- slab, with an ornamental border now nearly obliterated. The gentleman for whom this tomb was here placed was a member of a respectable family settled in Kilkenny in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and who still continue landed proprietors of the county. He appears to have lived to a very great age, notwithstanding that his later years were embittered by the serious misconduct of two of his sons, — wild, reckless, and dissipated young men, whose thoughtless and extravagant habits led them to the commission of a crime which brought them to a death of pain and igno- miny. They were concerned in a burglary and robbery committed at Inch House 3 , near Kilkenny, the residence of a Mr. Lovett, a Dublin gentleman, who had married a daughter of the then Sir Richard Wheeler Cuffe, of Lyrath ; and having been tried and convicted of this offence at the Spring Assizes of Kilkenny for the year 1756, they were hanged at Gallows-green with some of their accomplices, persons of the lowest class and most infamous character. This stain on their name has, however, been fully wiped away by the virtues of some of the subsequent members of the family, and the late Major Davis of Dumfries, proprietor of Bonnets-rath, will long be remembered for his liberal contributions to the charities of Kilkenny. [88.] Sacred to the Memory of Richard Pococke LLD: Who from the Archdeaconry of Dublin, Was promoted to this See mdcclvi, And TRANSLATED TO THAT OF MeATH MDCCLXV, WHERE HE DIED SEPTEMBER THE XV th EST THE SAME YEAR, He DISCHARGED EVERY DUTY OF THE PASTORAL AND Episcopal Office, With Prudence Vigilance and Fidelity ; Adorning his Station, With unshaken Integrity of Heart and Purity of conduct; 1 Tradition has to these crimes added that of a paper by one of the authors, "Transact, of murder, but without sufficient grounds See the Kilk. Archseol. Society," vol. iii., p. 319. 2 u 2 330 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [ SE ct. ii. Attentive to the Interest of Religion, He caused several Parochial Churches to be rebuilt, Within this Diocese ; He promoted and liberally contributed to the repair, and embellishment of this cathedral church, Then unhappily falling into Decay, A zealous Encourager of every USEFUL PUBLIC WORK, ESPECIALLY THE LlNEN MANUFACTURE, He BEQUEATHED a very considerable legacy, to the governors of the incorporated so- ciety, for promoting the united interests of industry and charity, Within this Borough of S t Canice. A white marble mural tablet. For a memoir of Bishop Pococke the reader is referred to the proposed " History of the See of Ossory." [89.] Hugo Dawson S. T. P. IIujus Basilica Precentor Dignissimds: VlR PlETATE DOCTRINA MoRIBUS InSIGNIS DlEM ObIIT PrIDIE NoN. MART. 1770 ^Etatis Sue 72°. Charissima Et Moestissima Conj cx Posuit. Translation: — Hugo Dawson, S.T.P., the most worthy Precentor of this cathedral, a man distinguished for piety, learning, and morals, died on the 6th of March, 1770, in the 72nd year of his age. His most fond and sorrowing wife placed [this tomb]. A plain floor-slab. The Rev. Hugh Dawson was presented by the Crown to the Treasurership Cotton's Fasti, of the Cathedral of St. Canice, by patent dated 29th November, 1731, and was instituted on the 9th December following. On the 21st May, 1754, the Crown also gave him the Precentorship, to which he was instituted on the Prerogative 1st June in that year. By his will, dated at the glebe-house of Bamford, office. Dublin. 22nd N ovem b er> 1765) he directed that his body should be buried " in the pri- vetest manner," and in such place as his executrix should appoint. Having left small legacies to a sister and nephew, he bequeathed the rest of his pro- perty to his wife, who had been a Miss Elizabeth Moore of the city of Kil- kenny, and whom he nominated his executrix. Amongst the property enu- merated are " a large silver Coffee Pot which the Rt. Hon. the late Lady Vis- countess Ashbrooke gave unto me, and the Pearl necklace, Diamond Earrings, and all other Rings which my said beloved wife brought unto me" a . " For extracts from this and other wills pre- authors are indebted to the kindness of John P. served in the Prerogative Office, Dublin, the Prendergast, Esq., Barrister-at-Law. CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 331 [90.] Here Lieth the Body of Nathaniel Taylor, Esq 1- , who dep d this Life May 10 th 1773, Aged 61 Y rs . As also the Body of Susanna his Wife, who dep d this life March 5 th 1775, Aged 53 Y rs . This Tomb has been erected by their Nephew Edward Taylor, as a small token of his love and gratitude. A table monument of the commonest kind. Judging by the token, Mr. Edward Taylor's love and gratitude towards his departed relations must have been " small," indeed, as a more unseemly monu- ment could not have been put up in such a place. [91.] Here Lieth interred the Body of Eland Mossom, Esq., Recorder of y e City of Kilkenny & Representative in Parliament for the Borough of S l Canice Irishtown. Who departed this Life on the 29 th day of April 1774 universally & deservedly Lamented Aged 65. This gentleman, the eldest son of Dean Mossom, whose monument has been already noticed, was born about the year 1709 ; called to the Bar in England, by the Middle Temple, 4th February, 1743, and to the Bar in Ireland, 22nd April, 1745 ; was chosen Recorder of the city of Kilkenny in 1750 ; and served in Parliament for the borousrh of Irishtown from 1759 till his death in 1774. He resided at Mount Eland, near Ballyragget ; married Hannah, daughter of John Birch, Esq., and relict of Charles Heydock, Esq., of Kilcreene, near Kilkenny, and had issue by her four children, of whom the eldest, Eland Mossom, M.P. for Kilkenny, served in the 4th Regiment of Dragoons, and was Colonel of the Kilkenny Rangers. The eldest daughter, Rebecca, married Sir Richard Wheeler Cuffe, of Lyrath, and was grandmother of the present Sir Charles Frederick Wheeler Cuffe, Bart., of Lyrath, Captain in the 66th Regiment. [92.] Here lie inter'd the Remains of Tho s Pack Esq r , eldest Son of the Rev d Dean of Ossory. He was the hope of his Friends ; And ornament of his Family. During two years continuance in the University, he acquir'd every honor attainable in so short a Period, and his Life, tho' limited, was mark'd with every virtue. He died on the 13 th day of December 1786, Aged 17 years. Also the Remains of Miss Anne Pack, Second Daughter of the Dean of Ossory. She resigned her Life on the 6 th Day of August 1795, in the 22 d Year of her Age. Her dispo- sition was mild and amiable, Her manners gentle and engaging: Her morning of Life was 332 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. soon overcast, And she fell an early, but not untimely Victim to the Grave. Catherine Anne, eldest daughter of the Very Rev d Thomas Pack, Dean of Ossory, departed this life, on the 20 th of April 1844, in the 72 nd Year of her Age. Her Remains are deposited in the Harrow Road Cemetery, Middlesex. " Noio, the end of the Commandment is Charity out of a pure heart, and a good Conscience and of Faith unfeigned." — 1 st TimV 1 st clip: 5 th verse. Here lie deposited the Remains of the Rev d Tho 9 Pack Dean of Ossory in whom was united every Virtue which could ornament the Christian or dignify the clerical Character Having faithfully discharged the Duties of his sacred Function for Fifty-two Years He closed his ministry and Life on the 26 th of May in the 76 th Year of his Age and of our Lord 1795. Within this Vault rest the Remains of Mrs. Catherine Pack, Relict of the Rev d Tho s Pack, Dean of Ossory. She resigned her Soul into her Creator's hands, on the 10 th of April 1801, in the 68 th Year of her Age. Her Life exhibited an uniform Scene of unaffected Piety, And unbounded Charity ; She was a faithful Wife, and affectionate Parent, And a firm Friend ; And in the discharge of every Christian Duty, She was equall'd by few, She was excell'd by none. A white marble mural monument. On the plinth is a small female figure reclining against an urn. On a slab in the floor near the tomb is cut the following inscription : — f$^T The Opening of the Vault of Tho s Pack, Esq r 1794. The Pack family was originally seated in Leicestershire. Simon, son of Christopher Pack, settled in London at the end of the sixteenth century, and became Lord Mayor of that city. The Irish branch of the family claims to be derived from a younger son of this gentleman, who, having been engaged in the Wars of the Commonwealth, came over and settled in the Queen's County, and his descendant, Thomas Pack, of Ballinakill, married a Miss Kiley, and had three sons, of whom the eldest was the Very Rev. Thomas Pack, Dean of Ossory ; the second was the Rev. Richard Pack, Principal of Kilkenny College ; and the third, Samuel Pack, Esq., of Dublin, emigrated to America. This is the family tradition. We find amongst the Grants to Adventurers, under the Act of Settlement, one to Sir Christopher Pack, Bart., Sir Thomas Adams, and others, of lands in the county of East-Meath ; and there is an entry on the "Issue Books" of the Commonwealth of an order, under date 13th April, 1660, for paying to Alderman Thomas Viner and Alderman Christopher Pack, CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 333 treasurers for the moneys collected for the poor Protestants of Piedmont, a sum of £200, in part of £7978 8s. 9d. Whether this Alderman Pack be the Sir Christopher of the grant, or whether the descent of the Packs of the county of Kilkenny is to be derived from him, we cannot take upon ourselves to deter- mine. But, be this as it may, the Rev. Thomas Pack, A. M., was presented to cotton's Fasti. the deanery of St. Canice on the 11th October, 1784, and instituted on the 24th of November following. He was father of Major-General Sir Denis Pack, whose monument we shall have to notice in its place. The Rev. Richard Pack, Treasurer of Ossory, who is descended from Dean Pack's brother, the principal of Kilkenny College, has in his possession a portrait, in oil, of Dean Pack, origi- nally kit-kat size, but now reduced and put into a smaller frame. It represents a handsome man in the prime of life, wearing a wig and bands, and is well painted. [93.] Sacred to the Memory of Iohn Baillie, Esq 1 ", of Dunean, Colonel of the Regiment of Loyal Inverness Fencibles. He Died in this City on his march to Oppose the Invading Enemy, On the 31* of January 1797. Aged 59. A mural tablet, which was carefully repaired and restored in the year 1846, by Miss Anne Baillie, of Dunean, in the county of Inverness, the daughter of the gentleman for whom it was erected. Colonel Baillie was descended from Sir William Baillie, of Lamington, Burke's Landed whose eldest son, Alexander, by Marian, daughter of Sir John Seton, of Seton, fought at the battle of Brechin, and for his services was rewarded, in 1452, with the baronies of Dunean and Torbreck, part of the Castle lands of In- verness. As appears by the inscription on the monument, Colonel Baillie died in Kilkenny whilst proceeding with his regiment to join the army in opposing the expected landing of the French at Bantry Bay. Tombs of the Nineteenth Century. — There are but eight monuments of this period, all of mural character, except the effigial tomb of John Marquis of Ormonde, lately erected, which is of altar shape. In this one instance also the letters of the inscription are in relief, all the others being incised. 334 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. ii. [94.] 1813 Hie situs Episcopus Ossoriensis Johannes Kearney, D. D. Omnigena virtu te cumulatus Religionis vera cultor fervidus, Simplex, sanctus, inconcussus, Caritates domcsticas cnixc navavit, Muniis Episcopates piissimc prafuit, Rerum divinarum, et huma- narum studio ditatus Mentem diligenter, et exquisite coluit. II ic jacct Johannes Kearney, D.D., nuper Episcopus Ossoriensis qui obiit 22 die mensis Afaii Anno Domini 1813. Beneath are deposited the remains of the Reverend John Kearney, Rector of Castle Inch, and Chancellor of this Cathedral, who died the 16 th November, 1838, Aged 68 years. Also of Elizabeth Kearney, his Widow, who died the 20 th Novemb r 1844, Aged 56 years. Here also lies the Body of John Jam 03 Kearney who departed this life the 28 th day of December, 1824, aged 5 years & 5 months. Translation : — 1813. Here is buried John Kearney, D.D., Bishop of Ossory, abounding with all the virtues; zealous in the practice of true religion ; guileless, holy, stedfast, he was remarkable for the cultivation of the domestic affections. The duties of the Episcopate he piously discharged, and in the study of things divine and human he trained his mind with diligence and refinement. Here lieth John Kearney, D.D., sometime Bishop of Ossory, who died the 22nd day of the month of May, A.D. 1813. A large tablet of black marble, connected with which is also a more modern floor-slab which has been lately raised and set in the wall. For a memoir of Bishop Kearney the reader is referred to the proposed Cotton's Fasti. "History of the See of Ossory." The Rev. John Kearney, appointed Chancellor of Ossory in 1809, was son to that prelate. The Rev. Thomas Henry Kearney, another of the Bishop's sons, was appointed Dean's Vicar in 1807, and Preben- dary of Blackrath, in the cathedral of St. Canice, in 1809. [95.] NEAR THIS PLACE ARE INTERRED THE MORTAL REMAINS OF MAJOR GENERAL SIR DEXIS PACK, KNIGHT COMMANDER OF THE MOST HON. MILITARY ORDER OF THE BATH, AND OF THE PORTUGUESE MILITARY ORDER OF THE TOWER AND SWORD, KNIGHT OF THE IMPERIAL RUSSIAN ORDER OF WLADIMER, AND OF THE IMPERIAL AUSTRIAN ORDER OF MARIA THERESA ; COLONEL OF THE 84 TB REG T OF FOOT, AND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF PLYMOUTH J WHO TERMINATED A LIFE DEVOTED TO THE SERVICE OF HIS KING AND COUNTRY ON THE 24 th DAY OF JULY 1823, AGED FORTY EIGHT YEARS. THE NAME OF THIS DISTINGUISHED OFFICER IS ASSOCIATED WITH ALMOST EVERY BRILLIANT ACHIEVE- MENT OF THE BRITISH ARMY DURING THE EVENTFUL PERIOD OF CONTINENTAL WARFARE BETWEEN THE YEAR 1791 IN WHICH HE ENTERED HIS MAJESTY'S SERVICE, AND THE YEAR 1823, IN WHICH HE ENDED CHAP. II. J INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 335 HIS HONORABLE CAREER. THROUGHOUT THE CAMPAIGXS IX FLAXDERS EN 1794, AXD 1795, HE SERVED EX THE 14 th REGEMEXT OF LIGHT DRAGOOXS; AT THE CAPTURE OF THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE EX 1806, AND IN THE ARDUOUS AXD ACTIVE CAMPAIGX 'WHICH IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWED IX SOUTH AMERICA, HE COM- MAXDED THE 71™ REGIMEXT OF HIGHLAXDERS IX A MAXXEE WHICH REFLECTED THE HIGHEST CREDIT OX HIS MILITARY SKULL AXD VALOUR. AT THE HEAD OF THE SAME CORPS IX 1808, HE ACQUIRED FRESH REPU- TATIOX LX THE BATTLES OF ROLFJA AXD VTMTERA ; AXD EX THE FOLLOWTXG YEAR IX THE BATTLE OF CORUXXA. IX 1809 HE ACCOMPAXIED THE EXPEDITIOX TO WALCHEREX, AXD SIGXALIZED HIMSELF BY HIS ZEAL AXD INTREPIDITY AT THE SIEGE OF FLUSHIXG. HE WAS SUBSEQUEXTLY EXGAGED AT THE HEAD EITHER OF A BRIGADE, OR OF A DIYISIOX OF THE ARMY EX EVERY GEXERAL ACTIOX AXD REMARKABLE SIEGE "WHTCH TOOK PLACE DURIXG THE SUCCESSFUL "WAR EX THE PEXLXSULA UXDER THE COXDUCT OF THE GREAT DUKE OF WELLEXGIOX. HE FIXALLY COMMAXDED A BRIGADE EX THE ACTIOX OF QUATRE BRAS AXD AGAIX IN THE EVER MEMORABLE AND DECISIVE BATTLE OF 'WATERLOO. FOR THESE EMPORTAXT SERVICES IX "WHICH HE WAS XEXE TIMES SEVERELY "WOUXDED, HE OBTAEXED AT THE RECOMMEXDATIOX OF HIS ILLUS- TRIOUS CHIEF FROM THE FOREIGX POIEXTATES EX AT.LTAXCE W ITH GREAT BRITAEX THE HOXOURABLE TITLES OF DISTTNCTIOX ABOVE MEXTEOXED, AXD FROM HIS OWX SOVEREIGX, BESIDES THE ORDER OF THE BATH AXD A MEDAL EX COMMEMORATIOX OF THE BATTLE OF WATEELOO, A GOLD CROSS WITH SEVEX CLASPS, OX WHICH ARE EXSCREBED THE FOLLOWTXG NAMES OF THE BAETLES AXD SEEGES "WHEREEX HE BORE A COXSPICUOUS PART VIZ. ROLEEA, CORUXXA, BUSACO, CUELAD BODERIGO, S A LAM A NCA, VETTORIA, PYREXEES, XIVELLE, XIVE, ORTHES, TOULOUSE. UPOX FEVE DEFFEREXT OCCASIOXS HE TTXT) ALSO THE HOXOUR TO RECEIVE THE THAXKS OF BOTH HOUSES OF FARLIAMEXT. OX THE 3 D FEBRUARY 1S13 FOR HIS COXDUCT AT SALAMANCA ; ON THE 10 th FEBRUARY 1813 FOR HIS COXDUCT AT CXTDAD RODERIGO ', OX THE 8 th XOVEMBEE 1S13 FOR HIS COXDUCT AT VETTORIA ; OX THE 24 th MARCH 1814 FOR HIS COXDUCT AT ORTHES J OX THE 23 d JUXE 1S15 FOR HES COXDUCT AT "WATERLOO. "WHILST THESE HIS MERITS AS AX OFFICER EXSURE FOE HIM A PLACE IX THE RECORDS OF HES GRATEFUL COUNTRY AMOXGST THOSE HEROES WHO HAVE BRAVELY FOUGHT HER BATTLES AXD ADVANCED HER MILITARY GLORY, HIS VIRTUES AS A MAX, WHICH WERE SECURELY FOUXDED UPOX CHRISTIAX PIETY, ARE ATTESTED BY THE ESTEEM OF HIS COMPAXIOXS EX ARMS AXD BY THE LOVE OF ALL "WHO WERE IX TEMATELY COXXECTED WETH HIM. THIS MOXUMEXT IS ERECTED BY HIS "WIDOW THE LADY ELIZABETH PACK, DAUGHTER OF GEORGE DE LA POER MARQUESS OF WATERFORD, AS A JUST TRIBUTE OF RESPECT TO THE MEMORY OF ONE OF HES MAJESEY'S MOST DESERVEXG SOLDIERS AXD SUBJECTS AXD IX TESTIMOXY OF TTRR OWX AFFECTIOX. A chaste and handsome monument of white marble, bearing, above the inscription, a sword sheathed, and a laurel wreath encircling the word, pack, surmounted by a bust, by Chantrey, of the deceased, decorated with five orders, in addition to the Waterloo medal and the Peninsular cross and clasps. Above is suspended (see p. 342, infra) a set of the colours of the 71st Regiment This gallant and distinguished officer was the second son of the Very Rev. Thomas Pack, Dean of Ossory (see No. 92). He entered the army, in his sixteenth year, as a cornet in the 14th Light Dragoons, his commission bearing date 30th 2 x 336 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. November, 1791. In January, 1792, he joined his regiment in Dublin, and served for some time in Ireland, which was then in a very disturbed state. An impression is generally prevalent, in his native county of Kilkenny, that, having been deprived of his commission for an act of insubordina- tion towards his superior officer, within the first year or two of his service, he enlisted in the army, and rose, by regular gradation, from the ranks to the high position which he ultimately attained. It is strange that a doubt should exist as to any circumstance in the career of an eminent personage who lived and died so recently, but yet we have experienced much difficulty in ascer- taining the real facts out of which this popular and widely prevailing error has arisen. We are informed by a gentleman still living in Kilkenny, that there is no doubt whatever of the fact of Cornet Pack having been cashiered by the sentence of a court-martial, held at the Court-house of Kilkenny about the year 1792, or 1793, on the charge of having struck Captain Sir George Dunbar, Bart., who was commanding his troop of the 14th Light Dragoons, then quartered in the village of Castlecomer. Our informant, who is very far advanced in years, Cannon's Histo- WaS himself present at the promulgation of that sentence. However, as we the n*i Reg*- find that the promotion of Cornet Denis Pack, of the 14th Light Dragoons, to land light In- Si lieutenancy in the same corps, was gazetted on the 12th March, 1795, it is {Spjt"' obvious that there was not time in the interim to go through all the grades from that of a private soldier upwards ; and in fact there can be little doubt that the high-spirited young man, on losing his commission, at once pro- ceeded to serve with the army as a volunteer 3 , and was thus quickly re- stored to his former rank. In 1794 he embarked at Cork, and landed with the forces under Lieutenant-General the Earl of Moira at Ostend, and soon after received the thanks of Major-General Richard Vyse for his success in 3 The address which the Corporation of Kil- from the Civic Council of his native town : — kenny resolved, on the 7th May, 181 1, to pre- "Sir, — Attached to you by every tie of sent to him in a gold box, and which we here Friendship and regard, we feel with an Enthu- transcribe from their Minute-book, would seem siasm exceeded only by your own, the early and to establish the fact of General Pack having illustrious career of glory you have trod, which joined the army on the Continent as a volunteer; no other than a bold and ardent Spirit, san- but under any circumstances it must be deemed guine in his Country's and his Sovereign's Cause, desirable that the document should be placed could have inspired. on record as a tribute to the distinguished officer " We follow you with mingled Emotions of CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. 337 bearing an important despatch to Nieuport, under circumstances of much danger — a duty for which he had volunteered. The squadron to which he was attached having been ordered, after the embarkation at Ostend, to retreat on Nieuport, the latter place was immediately so closely invested by the enemy as to render escape extremely hazardous and difficult. Cornet Pack was in a boat which also carried about one hundred French emigres — the last of those who escaped the horrors of that ill-fated garrison; but he did not gain the sea without a sharp action and severe loss. He joined the army of the Duke of York near Antwerp, was present at the action of Boxtel, and other less important collisions with the enemy, and in 1795 returned to England, receiving his promotion to a lieutenancy the same year. Having gone on foreign service again for a few months, in 1796 he returned and received his troop in the 5th Dragoon Guards on the 27th February. We next find him serving in Ireland during the disturbances preceding 1798, and the final outbreak of that year; and he received a complimentary notice in a despatch of General Lord Cornwallis, K. G., 21st June, 1798, in consequence of having, with a cavalry detachment placed under his charge, defeated a party of the insurgents between Rathangan and Prosperous. After the landing of the French at Killala, upon their surrender, Captain Pack commanded the escort which conveyed General Humbert a prisoner of war to Dublin. On the 25th August, 1798, he was advanced to the rank of Major in the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards, and on the 6th December, 1800, was promoted to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the 7 1st Regiment of Highland light infantry. In command of the first battalion of that corps he embarked at Cork in August, 1805, in the expedition to the Cape of Good Hope, under Sir David Baird, and was severely wounded in the landing at the Cape, notwithstanding which he continued in the field, and was engaged in the action at Bleu-Berg. In Pride and admiration, from your early and vo- present arduous Conflict, standing foremost on luntary Service on the Continent to the Shores the list of Fame, and on every occasion Courting of the East, and thence to the Southerly Regions Danger in Defence of the Liberty of Europe of the new world, from which, as well as from " Having already the Honor of your Name the recent Laurels acquired in Portugal, your Enrolled among the Freemen of our Corpora- Country Men would Borrow a reflected Credit tion, We have only now to assure you that it without robbing the object of their Pride. will never Cease to hold a distinguished place " It is with no ordinary Interest we Contem- in the hearts and admiration of the Citizens of plate the immediate Native of our Soil in the Kilkenny." 2x2 INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. [sect. II. 1806 he joined the expedition to South America under the command of Briga- dier General Beresford, where he was present in six actions with the enemy, and was wounded, and detained a prisoner after the restoration of Buenos Ayres to the Spaniards. This detention of Colonel Pack and his brother officers was a disgraceful violation of the terms of capitulation, which stipulated an imme- diate exchange of prisoners, and Colonel Liniers, the Spanish commanding officer, himself expressing abhorence of the breach of faith which his Govern- ment forced upon him. Pack, however, contrived to effect his escape, with Brigadier Beresford, while carrying as a prisoner into the interior; and, having joined the army under Sir Samuel Auchmuty at Monte Video, a board of naval and military officers, at Colonel Pack's request, was assembled to inves- tigate the circumstance, when the escape was unanimously approved of as most consistent with honour and propriety. He subsequently commanded in a couple of minor actions with the enemy in South America, in which he was most suc- cessful, in one of them capturing a Spanish standard ; and was in some en- gagements on the River Plate and at Buenos Ayres, being three times severely wounded. Returning to Europe in 1807, he proceeded, in 1808, with his regi- ment to join the expedition under Sir Arthur Wellesley to Portugal, and was present at the important engagements which ensued. We next find him serv- ing under Sir John Moore at the affair of Lugo, and at the battle of Corunna ; thence we trace him to Holland, commanding a corps of cavalry and light infantry under the Earl of Chatham, and engaged in the siege of Flushing, heading a detachment in storming an important outpost, in which he succeded signally, although opposed by a force five times more numerous than his own. His regiment returned to England in 1809, but their gallant Lieutenant-Colonel refused to remain at home inactive whilst a momentous struggle was about to commence in the Peninsula, and he therefore volunteered to serve with the Portuguese troops, accepting an infantry brigade, and took an active part in the subsequent campaigns under the then Viscount Wellington. It is unne- cessary to enter into a detail of his subsequent career, the inscription on his tomb naming the various actions in which he took part, and the honours which he received from his country in acknowledgment of his services 3 . On the 8th * The Dukeof Wellington's "Despatches," and for the details of General Pack's services; but Napier's "Peninsular War," may be referred to a very full memoir of General Pack, from which CHAP. II.] INSCRIBED MONUMENTS. of January, 1816, Major-General Sir Denis Pack -was appointed Colonel of the York Chasseurs, which corps was subsequently disembodied. On the 12th of August, 1819, he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Plymouth, and given the command of the troops in the western district of Great Britain ; and on the 9th September, 1822, he was gazetted to the Colonelcy of the 84th regiment. His last illness resulted from the rupture of a bloodvessel, finally terminating in dropsy, and he died at the house of Lord Beresford, Wimpole-street, London, on the 2 -1th of July, 1823. In the afternoon of Saturday, the 9th of August, the remains of the gallant deceased arrived at Kilkenny, for interment in the family vault. The funeral cortege, which was attended from Dublin by Lord Combermere and Major-General Sir Colquhoun GAnt, as representatives of the Government and Army, was met outside the city by the military of the garrison, the Mayor and members of the Corporation in their official robes, and an immense concourse of the inhabitants of the county and town, of all ranks and classes, and was conducted to the cathedral, the band of the 78th re4 James L, grants priory of Seir-Kieran, 12 ; grants Aghabo, 21. James II., in disguise at Puck's Castle, 258. Jerpoint, town of, 149; skirmish at, 242, 243. Joener's Folly, townland of, 247 re. John, St., priory of, Kilkenny, 29 re.; lady chapel of, 94 7i., 95 re. ; mode of burial in priory of, near Enniscorthy, 116 re. Johnson, William, tomb of, 289. family of, 290. Jones, Dr., bishop of Cloyne, 128. K. Karllel, or Karlele, see Carliel. Karroke, Thomas, tomb of, 179- Kavanagh, Arthur, 185 re. Sabina, 185. Kearney, John, bishop of Ossory, tomb of, 334. John, chancellor of Ossory, 334. Keavan, John, 39. Kells, round tower of, 124. Kelly, Dennis, tomb of, 282. William, tomb of, 298, 299. Kenede, Joane, tomb of, 316. Kenerock, see Kieran. Kentewall, see Cantwell. Kerin, Patrick, tomb of, 270. Kerren, Walter, mason, 138 re., 284. Keten, John, 156. Kieran, St., lives of, 2-5, 5 7i., 6, 7; park of, 4 re., 5 7i.; well of, 4 re., 31 re. ; bell of, 6; cemetery of, 7 ; not a monk, 1 5 n. ; chair of, 75. Kildare, Gerald, eighth earl of, discourse of va- riance between, and Ormond, 190 re.; deputy to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 191 ; letter of, 192 ; foray of, against O'Tooles, 209; award of Henry VIII. relating to, 221 re.- 225 n. ; charges of, against Ormonde, 228. Kilfane church, effigy in, 180. Kilkenny, the community of, 18; history of, 22, et seq. ; various forms of name, 22 n. ; earliest allusion to, 24; Irishtown of, Dr. Ledwich on, 24 re. ; meaning of name, 24 re.; burned by Diarmaid, 25 ; fortified by Earl Pembroke, 27, 28; town of, demolished, 28; castle of, 29; charter of, 29; erected into a see, 31, 32; cathedral at, 32; parliament at, 34; Rinuccini's entry into, 40, 41 ; female dress in county of, 137 re.; market cross of, 149 re.; Tholsel of, 220, 220 re.; Liberty of, 234 ; plundered by Earl of Kildare, 241 ; freeholders of, 280 re., 281 re. archasological society of, 78 re. Kilkylhyn, abbess of, 267. Kill Beacan, founder of, 7 re. Kill-Liadhaine, or Killyon, 5 re. Kilmacduagh, church of, erection of, 123, 123 re. Kipling, Joshua, 55. Kiteler, William, sheriff of Kilkenny, 143. Kyteler, Dame Alice, 34, 143 re., 160. Kyvane, William, tomb of, 307. family of, 308. L. Lafian, Master John, 189 n. Long, see Longe. Lanigan, Dr., 2, 7 «. ; on Bangor, 1G re. ; on etymology of name Kilkenny, 24 re. Lanyngton, 170 re. Launde, Walter de la, 170 re. Laurence, Thomas St., alias Howthe, 37 re. Lawless, Master Richard, 185, 190 re., 208, 208 re., 232, 232 re., 244, 247. family of, tombs of, 252, 255 ; notice of, 255-58. Leap, castle of the, 11, 210, 228 re. Leckey, Rev. James, his sonnets to the round tower of St. Canice, 125, 126. Ledrede, Richard de, 34; windows of, 74. INDEX. 355 Ledwich, Dr., controverted as to Irishtown of Kilkenny, 24 n. ; on etymology of Kilkenny, 24 n. Leger, Geffry St., second founder of St. Canice's cathedral, 33, 95 n. ; tomb of, 131 n. George St, 205. James St., of Ballyfennon, tomb of, 279. family of, 279, 280. Leighlin, community of, 18. Leinster MS., annals of, 18 n. ; seigniory of, granted by Henry II., 27- Lemyvenane, see Leap. Le Poer, family of, 176. Levinge, Ensign Charles Vere, tomb of, 341; notice of, 34 1 . Liadhne, mother of Kieran, 5 n. Limerick, expedition to, in 1535, 278 n. Loch-Dachaech, 17. Londres, Henry de, vicar of Knocktopher, 1 86. Longe, Richard, tomb of, 315. Loughmoe, church of, 263. Lovett, Mr., robbery of, 329. Lugaidh, father of Kieran, 2. Lyons, new castle of, 232 n. Lyra, Henry de Ponto de, tomb of, 142. Lyuns, tomb of, 145. family of, 145. M. Mac Art, Cormac, his burial, 121, 122. Mac Carthy, Donnell, indenture of, 206. Mac Durnan, gospels of, 19 n. M'Elheran, Dr., on ancient crania, 117, 118 n. Mac Gillapatrick, Dermot mac Shane, 220. Dermot, tanist of, 239, 239 rc.-241 n. Diarmaid, 18. Donnell, 30 n. embassy of the, to Henry VIII , 219- lord of Ossory, sons of, slain, 36. Macher, Morona, tomb of, 285. Mac James, see Butler. Mac Mahon, Charles, his work burned at Kil- kenny, 42, 42 n. Mac Murrough, Dermot, king of Leinster, 185, 186 n. Mac Odo, 150 n. Mac Shane, Sir Gerald, 224 n. Magh Raighne, king of, 23 n. I Maguire, scholiast, 6 n. Mainwaring, family of, 292. Malveisin, bishop, letter of, 32. Mapilton, Bishop Hugh, founder of St. Canice's cathedral, 33; tomb of, 131. Mareschall, William, Earl, 19 n., 20, 28 n., 31 n. Maresse, Edmond, deposition of, 210 n. Marob, John, tomb of, 284. Martin, William, 130. Mary, St., chapel of, 67. Masham, see Mossom. Massum, see Mossom. Mawdsley, Anne, deposition of, 306. Meagher, Mary, tomb of, 311. Medina Celi, duke de, 257 n. Mochoemog. or Pulcherius, 3 n. Moghlande, Master John, tomb of, 173, 174. family of, 174. Mohland, see Moghlande. Molghan, see Moghlande. Monck, Rev. Marcus, rector of Rathdowney, 325. Mony, James and John, 276. Moore, John, prebend of Aghoure, 307- Mortimer, Edmond de, earl of March and Ulster, 154. Mossom, Eland, tomb of, 331; notice of, 33' family of, 326, 327. Rev. Dr., tomb of, 325. Thomas, tomb of, 325. Motyng, Master Nicholas, tomb of, 266. family of, 267. Mountgarret, Lord, monument erected by, 92. See Butler. Moutheing, see Motyng. Moylan, see Moghlande. 356 INDEX. Munster (south) Antiquarian Society, letter from member of, 120 ft., 122 re. Murchad, grandson of Flann O'Maelsechlainn, killed, 124 re. Murchadh blinds O'More, 18 re. Murphy, Patrick, tomb of, 310. family of, 312. Myghcll, Master Thomas, tomb of, 249; notice of, 250. Mynieres, family of, 328. Rev. Henry des, tomb of, 327 ; will of, 328. N. Neales, see Nele. Neil, see Nele. Nele, Master John, tomb of, 180. family of, 182. Neyll, Thomas, deposition of, 209 n. Norfolk, duke of, 235 re. See Surrey. Nowlan, Joanna, tomb of, 270. O. Oakley demesne, entrenchment in, 12 re. O'Banan's Leap, 1 1 re. O'Boue, Anthony, tomb of, 316. O'Brien, Donough, 276, 277. O'Brollachan, Flaherty, cashel erected by, 8 re. O'Byrnes of Leinster, 18 re. O'Carrol burns monastery of Seir-Kieran, 11; burns Aghabo, 18, 19; kinsman of earl of Ormonde, 212. O'Coman, Master Edmund, vicar of Rosbercon, 188 re. O'Congeo's band of poets, 10 re. O'Connor, foray of, 235, 236. Odogh, castle of, 170 re. O'Donnchadha, sept of, 275. Donough, 275. O'Donovan, John, LL.D., transcript by, from Keating's history of Ireland, 8 «.; on the Crossans, 10 re. ; on name Kilkenny, 24 re. O'Dowly, William, tomb of, 316. O'Dullany, Felix, tithes granted by, 29; his cathedral, 29 re. O'Hedian, bishop, 56, 67. O' Kelly, Shane Na Moy, 289. Oldham, Thomas, on tiles, 77. O'Maly, Donat, prior of Callan, 190 re. O'More, Faelan, chief of Leix, 18 ; blinded, 18 re. Connell, 221. Rory Oge, 38. sept of, 177. O'Mulconry, John, son of Torna,copy of Keating's history of Ireland by, 9 re. O'Neill, Henry, 108 re. O'Phelan, John, 58, 130; errors of, 139, 173, 179 re., 251. Oran, church of, 5 re. O'Renehan, see Rinighan. Ormonde, eighth earl of, his tomb, 136. family of, 184 ; vault of, 64. James, second earl of, 153, 153 re., 154. James Wandesforde, marquis of, tomb of, 342; notice of, 342,343. John, late marquis of, tomb of, 345 ; me- moir of, 345-48. Margaret, countess of, letter of, to Henry VIII., 247; character of, 248. pedigree of house of, by Lawless, 184, 184 re. Piers Butler, earl of, tomb of, 182; deputy to Earl of Surrey, 219; letter of, to Lord James Butler, 227 ; indenture between, and earl of Ossory, 231 re., 232 re. tenth earl of, his tomb, 1 38. Thomas, earl of, his letter to Sir Piers Butler, 204, 205 ; death of, 207- See Butler ; see Ossory, earl of ; see Fitz- gerald. O'Shee, see Shee. O'Sheth, see Shee. INDEX. 357 Ossory, ancient, extent of, 4 n. arms of see of, 343 n. bishops of, 3, 30, 156. description of cathedral of, 65, et seq. diocese of, bounds of, 26 ; procurations of, 36 n. Piers Butler, earl of, indenture between, and Ormonde, 231 n., 232 n. ; patent of, 233, 234 ; charges against Kildare, 238; indenture be- tween, and Henry YilL, 241 ; grant to, 243 ; death and character, 244, 245: will of, 245. 246, 246 n. ; his desire to promote agricul- ture, 248. OliTer, bishop of, 1S8 n., 208. tract on diocese of, age of, 22. See Butler ; see Fitzgerald ; see Ormonde. Otunny, William, sculptor, 263. Otway, Thomas, his gifts to cathedral, 52 ; tomb of, 315. Otwnne, Boricus, 25 S. Outlaw, William, 34. Eoger, 34. William, 143, 143 n. Oweyn, Nicholas, 94 ru. 95 n, Oxford architectural society, specimens of grave- stones published by, 144 n. P. Pack, Anne, tomb of, 331, 332. Catherine Anne, tomb of, 332. Dean Thomas, tomb of, 332. Major-General Sir Denis, tomb of, 334, 335 ; memoir of, 335-340 ; address from Cor- poration of Kilkenny to, 336 n., 337 n. Mrs. Catherine, tomb of, 332. Thomas, tomb of, 331. family of, 332, 333. Paradise, anchorite's cell called, 244 n. Parry, John, bishop of Ossory, 46 : letter of, 4S : bequest of, 51. Ap, letter of, 277. bishop, 293 n. Patrick, St.. life of, 2 n., 3, 3 n., 6, 7- Pembrock, see Pembroke. Pembroke, David de, 159. family of, 274. Thomas, tomb of, 274. Stephen, 169- Perers, Sir Edward, 153. Phelan, An astasia, tomb of, 311, 312. James, bishop of Ossory, 297 n. Margaret, tomb of, 298. Pbilipstown, see Dangan. Pierce, earl, letter of, 277. Pille, Walter de la, 147. Pinchon, Peter, deposition of, 302. Pins, Ludovicus, ecclesiastical reformation of, quoted, 8 n, Pococke, bishop, 56—8 ; monument of, 92 n.. 329, 330; referred to, 130. Poer, Arnold le, seneschal of Liberty of Kil- kenny, 147. Ponto or Ponte, de, tomb of, 142. family of, 143. Pooley, dean, bis gifts to cathedral, 52—4. Poore, see Power. Porcellis, de, see PurcelL Power, family of, 179; tomb of, 178. Preston, Sir Bichard, earl of Desmond, 265 n. Puck's castle, James IL at, 257. Pulcherius, or Mochoemog, 3 n. Purcell, Edmond, tomb of, 250, 251. Elizabeth, 292, 293. Ellen, 321. James, tomb of, 262. Pierce, 203. Walter, 264. family of, 263-266. Purdue, family of, 50 n. Purser, see PurcelL Py^son, Margeria, tomb of, ITS. E. Eathbreasail, synod of, 26, 26 n. 358 INDEX. Beagh, Donnell, 185 n. Riane, Margaret, tomb of, 284. Ricards of Luca, 146. f Richard 4J., fashions in time of, 136. ' order of, to W. Carliel, 154. Rinighan, Robert, tomb of, 288. Rinuccini, papal nuncio, enters Kilkenny, 40. Robertson, William, architect, remarks by, 106. Rochford, Walter, 171. manor house of, 232. see Boleyne. Roestown, lands of, 265. Roger of Wexford, 131 n. Roirk, Donat, see Roth. Rome, bishop of, authority of, resisted in Ireland, 241, 241 n. Roothe, see Roth. Roth, Bishop David, tract by, 22 n.\ referred to, 40; interdict of, 41 ; description of cathe- dral by, 68; tomb of, 293; notice of, 294; works by, 294 ; portrait of, 296. Edward, a hostage to Cromwell, 294. ■ Elena, tomb of, 315. Eliza, tomb of, 311. family of, 294-98, 294 n. Isabella, tomb of, 178. Robert, 245 n. Rothe, see Roth. Rous, de, see Rufus. Rufus, Hugh, first Anglo-Norman prelate of Ossory, 21 ; charter of, 31 n. ; his see, 32. Russell, Thomas, his works, 1 84 n. ; MS. relation of, 230. Ruu, Rosia, 144 n. Ryan, Walter, sheriff of Kilkenny, 274. S. Saighir, cell at, 2, 3; cemetery at, 7; kings of Ossory buried at, 7; wasted by Danes, 8; cemetery at, walled-in by Donnchadh, son of Flann Sinna, 8 ; septum of, 8 n. Sadbh, daughter of Donnchadh, 8, 9 n. Sandford, Charles, tomb of, 317. family of, 317, 318. Sandford' s-court, 317, 318. Saunders, bishop, effigial brass of, 129 n. Savadge, family of, 281. George, tomb of, 281. 1 Johanna, tomb of, 178. Thomas, tomb of, 282. Scanlan, prince of Ossory, 17. Scerlock, see Sherlock. Schorthals, branches of the family of, 168 n. family of, 167. James, tomb of, 165; effigy of, 166; sword-belt of, 166; deposition of, 203. Johanna, tomb of, 262. John, deposition of, 208 n. Scorthalls, see Schorthals. Seir-Kieran, monastic communities of, 1, 2; account of, 2 et seq. ; forms of name, 2 n. ; monastery of, plundered and burned, 10, 11; inquisition relative to, 1 1 n. ; value of rectory of, 11; priory of, demised by Queen Eliza- beth, 12. Sepulchre's, St., manor of, 98. Shakspeare on erecting tombs in lifetime, 262. Shee, Belina, tomb of, 283. Dr., of Irish town, Kilkenny, 130. James and John, tomb of, 308; notice of, 308w., 309, 309 n., 310. Letitia, tomb of, 252. Mary, tomb of, 311. Sherlock, Margaret, tomb of, 283. Shillelogher, subsidy from cantred of, 165. Shortall, see Schorthals. Sileyrthir, see Shillelogher. Silken Thomas, 243. Sitrick, king of Dublin, 18 n. Skeffington, Sir Wm., lord deputy, 237- Skeirke, church of, 20 n., 321, 322. Slane, round tower of, 125 n. Snell, Thomas, 36. INDEX. 359 Sprice, John, tomb of, 316. Stafford, Ralph, earl of, 152. Stoughton, Mrs. Mary, tomb of, 291. family of, 292. Strafford, Hugh, earl of, 150. Strong, Thomas, bishop of Ossory, 285 n. Strongbow, his landing in Ireland, 27, 27 re; charter, granted by, 27 re. ; his heiress, 28 ; his death, 28, 28 re. Surrey, Thomas, earl of, lord deputy, 211; let- ters of, 212-215; recall of, 217. Sutton, William, 188 re. Sydney, Sir Henry, letter of, 37. T. Taafe, Captain, afterwards Sir William, obtains priory of Seir-Kieran, 12. Talbot, family of, 149, 149 re. John, 148. Richard, tomb of, 135, 162. Robert, builder of the walls of Kilkenny, 150. Robert, of Belgard, 226. Thomas, 163. See Cotterell. Talbot's castle, 163 re. inch, 256-8, 319 re. Tamelyn, lordship of, 152. Tatenale, John de, 35. Taylor, Nathaniel, tomb of, 331. Thomas, St., abbey of, Dublin, 263. Thomond, Murrough, earl of, 278. O'Connor Brien, king of, 277- Thonory, Bishop, 167 re., 295 re. Threecastles, see Odogh. Tobin, Egidia, tomb of, 279- family of, 148, 148 re. Robert, portreve of Irishtown, 268. Tomgraney, round tower of, 125 re. Troja, Theobald de, 167. Tubrid castle, 261, 261 re. Tullaghanbrogue, 279- Tullow recovered by Sir Piers Butler, 201 re. Ty we, Nicholas, deposition of, 208 re. U. Ui Fiachach, 5, 7. Ussher, a friend to bishop Roth, 295. Utlawe, see Outlawe. Vale, Master William, tomb of, 267 ; notice of, 268. Valle, or Vale, changes in orthography of, 159. See Vayl. Vaughan, Rev. Stephen, tomb of, 321 ; notice of, 321, 322. Vayl, Lord William, tomb of, 158. Vernville, Thomas, 156. Vignoles, Dean, his repairs of cathedral, 60, 61, 96 71., 109 W. Wale, Margaret, tomb of, 288. Robert, will of, 290. Thomas and Robert, tomb of, 289- See Vayle and Vale. Wall, Luke, 161 ; token of, 162. see Vayl. Walme, Leticia, tomb of, and of her husband, 266. Walsh, father Nicholas, bishop of Ossory, 271. Joanna, tomb of, 284. — of the Mountain, title of, 175. Irish form of name, 262. Walter, Beatrix, 263. Theobald, 149- Warbeck, Perkyn, 194, 195 n. Watson, William, bell-ringer, 51. 360 INDEX. Waterford, cathedral of, brasses in, 129 n. Watkinson, John, 39- Watters, Jolin, mayor of Kilkenny, 59- Walters' turret, 164 n. Wellesley, Sir William, 152. Wheeler, Dr. Jonas, bishop of Ossory, 287. Joseph, of Stancarty, 39. Whelan, Morina, tomb of, 282. White, James, servant to Sir PiersButler, 19G n. White, James, prebendary of Maynott, 205 n. See Foulkes. Williams, bishop Griffith, 39, 43, 44, 45. Wolsey, Cardinal, letters of, 215 216 217, 23G. Woodlufe, Diana, tomb of, 285. Worth, Edward, of Rathfarnham, 303. Wriotesley, Sir Thomas, 234 n. Wyndsore, William de, 153. CORRIGENDA. Page 284, line 30, for West Minister read East Munster. „ 249, line 8, for lllcnpgjienb gccinoio read TTIdrnjiab nm J^'T^ib (recte nidinsneg nigeii 5<-'ap6ic). „ 207, line 11, for Kilkvlhym read Kilkylhyn. „ 272, line 20, for achievement read quartering^. THE END. Date Due