-THIE- 
 
 
 AND 
 
 Longford and Meath Reporter. 
 
 Published every Friday evening. Price, stamped, 2^d ; 
 unstamped, 2d. 
 
 The National Organ of the District ; 
 
 Circulates extensively in the Midland Counties, 
 and is acknowledged to be 
 
 One of the best Advertising Mediums in the Provinces. 
 
 It contains full, accurate, and reliable Reports of all 
 Local Proceedings, trustworthy Market information, 
 Literary and Descriptive Articles, &c. 
 
 I The Examiner is the recognised Advertising Medium 
 
 j of ALL the Public Bodies through which it circulates. 
 
 ) 
 
 iPfinHng of mpy descfipHon 
 
 I At Cheapest Rates and in Best Style. 
 
 ■ Quotations for Printing and Advertising on 
 i application to 
 
 THE “WESTMEATH EHAMIHER” OFFICE, 
 
 MULLINGAR. 
 
Established over loo Years. 
 
 NOONEY & SON, 
 
 M:TT3L.aL.x3>a-c3--A.n. 
 
 ^“See our Immense Stock before purchasing. 
 
 OF EVERT DESCRIPTION. 
 
 Farm Boilers, Metals, Bar Iron, 'Corrugated Iron, 
 
 WALNUT, MAHOGANY, PINE, AND DEAL 
 
 ,/ IN GREAT VAEIEIr. ' 
 
 OHIlSr^, I>E3aL.I>I3 
 
 Room Papers, Paints, Oils, Colours 
 
 Handsome and Well-assorted Stock of 
 
 I<ledtfo & GiJood^: 
 
 Close and Open 
 
 Kitchen Ranges, Grates, & Mantelpieces, 
 
 —FUNERALS - SUPPLIED— 
 
 ON THE MOST MODERATE TERMS. 
 
 Polished Oak, Covered, and Plain COFFINS, always in Stock. 
 
 Nooney & Sow, 
 
 EAEL STREET AND CHURCH AVENUE 
 
 :m TJLijinsrcs-jA Ki. 
 
SINCE LAST PUBLICATION, TEA WAS REDUCED IN PRICE, 
 
 WILLIAM FARRELL, 
 
 Wine, Spirit, and Generai Prouision Dealer, 
 32 & 34 DOMINICK STREET, 
 MULLINGAR. 
 
 J. J. & SON’S OLD MALT WHISKEY. 
 
 GUINNESS’S XX STOUT — Guaranteed Unmixed. 
 BASSES ALES in Wood and Bottle. 
 
 TFA^ Farrell’s Standard Teas are Choice Blends of 
 I LHui the Purest Indian and Ceylon imported— 
 
 fir 2/10, 2/4, and 1/10 per lb. ^ 
 
 PRflVIQinNQ Smoked Bacon, Hams, &c. English 
 rnUflOlUlldi and Cheddar Cheese. Best Brands of 
 American Bacon. Finest Quality of Irish-manufactured 
 Flour, Bran, Pollard, Indian Meal, &c. 
 
 TMOli AS KgMMl , 
 
 GROCER ARB PROVISION DEALER, 
 
 AUSTIN 
 
 Flour, Meal, Bran, Pollard, of the Best Quality, always in stock. 
 1 SPEOIALITT— THE FINEST OUfiED HAM AND BACON. 
 
 TJRY T£3A.S. 
 
 PHOMAS KENNEDY, Grocer & Provision Dealer, 
 
 AUSTIN FRIARS, MULLINGAR. 
 
 Intirnt aafl ®oaetn ^hetchts 
 
 SOF 5 
 
 9 
 
 'HIED VOLUME OF THE ABOVE WORK WILL BE PUBLISHED IN MAY. 
 
 ONTENTS:— RATHCONRATH, MOYVORE, LOUGHNaVALLY 
 CASTLETOWN-G., FORE, &c. 
 
 °f Multyfamham, 
 
 i^ewin, Atmone, Killucan, Kinnegad, Rathowen, Castlepollard, &c. 
 
... 
 
 IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT. 
 
 LOCAL, TRADE & LOCAL INDUSTRY. 
 
 FRANCIS STAFFORD, 
 
 Coach Builder, 
 
 Cea, Spirit JHercftant 
 
 CAB AND CAR PROPRIETOR, 
 
 GREVILLE STREET, MOUNT STREET, 
 BLACKHALL STREET & CHURCH LANE^ 
 
 H aving been now for over 15 years in business, Francis Stafford begs 
 to thank his Customers and the Public for the very general and 
 liberal support at all times accorded to him. He hopes by unremitting 
 attention to the orders of his Customers to merit a continuance of that 
 support. 
 
 His COACH FACTORY, recently established, at very large outlay, has 
 always in Stock 
 
 CABS, CAES, CAEEIAGES, POLO TEAPS, DOG CAES, CAETS, YAlfS. 
 BEOUGHAMS, BEAKES, HEAESES, 
 
 And all other Vehicles to be found in First-class Establishments of this kind. 
 
 l^“A SPECIALITY. — Well finished Sociables, with Removable Driving 
 Seats. Vehicles turned out at the most Moderate Terms, consistent with 
 BEST WORKMANSHIP AND BEST MATERIALS. 
 
 Old Vehicles bought or taken in exchange. Cushions and Trimmings of 
 every description made in Best Style. Terms Moderate. 
 
 Special attention is devoted to the 
 
 xjKriDBi?.T.A.is:iisro bxjshstess, 
 
 which is carried out under stndt supervision. Coffins in Oak, Elm, Lead 
 etc., supplied on Reasonable Terms and at Shortest Notice. 
 
 Posting Cars, Cabs, Carriages, Brakes, etc., always on hire. Close or Open Hearse: 
 supplied with two, four, or six Black Horses. 
 
 FRANCIS STAFFORD, 
 
 Coach Builder, Undertaker, A General Merchant,. 
 
 Greville Street, Mount Street, Blackball Street, and Church Lane, 
 
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL AT 
 
 JI.B.— Please compare CHARLES DAY’S Note Paper and Toilet Soaps (both in 
 quality and prices) with any one else’s in the Trade, either in 
 Dublin or elsewhere. 
 
 g 
 
 !-i 
 
 r 
 
 H 
 
 Q 
 
 ;> 
 
 b 
 
 VJ 
 
 03 
 
 b 
 
 [> 
 
 N 
 
 l> 
 
X V <X!b^ JtrLiA^JLsiJLD 
 
 OTatcftmalter, 
 
 Sterling | 
 
 Silver 
 
 WATCHES 
 
 AT 
 
 25 /- 
 
 AND UPWARDS. S 
 
 I REPAIRS 
 
 I of every 
 
 I Description 
 
 ^ done on 
 I 
 
 I the 
 ^ Premises. 
 
 V000*0000t000Mjr00MrM0000f00fM0MggMg0tgtit//tgtf00fM0tjM000000MMM0rMrr0rr0000rtrrrr0MM0trrtrMrrrrr0 
 
 NEXT DOOR TO THE HIBERNIAN BANK, 
 
 Where he invites his numerous Customers and Friends to Inspect a LARGE 
 AND WELL-ASSORTED STOCK OF 
 
 ►Jf 60 IiD-i*^ND^^mYK^fJEWEIiIiEl^¥,*^ 
 WATCHES, CLOCKS, &c. 
 
 Engagement Rings - from 7/6 to £30 
 Schoolboys’ Nickel Zevless Watches - 15/- 
 
 JOHN DEVERELL, 
 
 WATCHMAKER AKD JEWELLER, 
 
 EARL STREET, MULLINGAR, A LONGFORD. 
 
—AT- 
 
 30 GREVILLE STREET. 
 
 R OWS’ D RUG s tores 
 
 At which the following are Sold and COMPARE favourably with the 
 QUALITY and PRICES of other Houses in the Trade. 
 
 DRUGS, &c. 
 
 Aloes, Barbadoes per oz. 2d 
 Do. do. (powder) „ 3d 
 
 Blue Stone - per lb. Is 5d 
 Coriander Seeds „ Is 4d 
 
 Cream Tartar - „ 2s Od 
 
 Epsom Salts - „ 2d 
 
 Flax Seeds - per quart 6d 
 
 Ginger - - per lb. lOd 
 
 Glauber Salts - „ l^d 
 
 Linseed Meal, M o. l,cwt. 11s 4d 
 Do. do. - „ 10s 6d 
 
 Oil, Castor - per pint 1 Id 
 Do., Drying - per quart 9d 
 Do. 3 Linseed - „ 9d 
 
 Do., Petroleum! 
 
 Royal Day Light]* 
 
 per gal. 8d 
 
 Oils, Petroleum, Tea Rose ,, 7d 
 
 Resin, Brown 
 Do., White 
 Saltpetre 
 Sugar of Lead 
 Sulphur 
 Treacle 
 
 per lb. 7d 
 „ 8d 
 „ 6d 
 „ 9d 
 „ 3id 
 
 PATENT MEDICINES 
 
 And Proprietary Articles. 
 
 Adams’ Furniture Polish 8d jar @ 7d 
 Allen’s Hair Restorer 6/-hot. @ 4s 6d 
 Bewley & Drapers’s Dichroic Ink @ 6d 
 Beecham’s Pills 1/1 J box @ la 
 Gondy’s Patent Fluid 1/ bot. @ iid 
 Cupiss’ Constitution Balls l/9pkt. is 7d 
 Ell iman’s Embrocation 2/- bot.@ Is 9d 
 Holloway’s Pills 1/li box Is Od 
 James’s Blister - 1/6 @ Is 5d 
 
 Lockyer’s Restorer 1/6 bot. @ Is 5d 
 Pears’ Scented Soap - 1/- @ 9d 
 
 Do. do. do. - 6d @ 3id 
 Properts’ Harness Composition !/• @lld 
 Do. Kid Reviver - - 6d 
 
 Do. Saddle Paste - l/-@iod 
 Wright’s Coal Tar Soap - 6d @ 5d 
 
 SPECIALITIES. 
 
 Savar’s Toilet Requisites 
 Do. Household Requisites 
 Margeuson’s Toilet Soaps 
 
 K/ o a- :e 3 K. s " s 
 
 THE DRUG STORES, 
 
 30 GREVILLE STREET, MULLINGAR. 
 
China! Glass! Delph! 
 
 I HAVE ALWAYS ON HAND A LARGE STOCK OF 
 
 O H I IXT 
 
 Tea Sets, Breakfast Sets, Dessert Sets, Flower Pots, Candlesticks, 
 
 Vases, &c. 
 
 GrlLMjA.&& , 
 
 Tumblers, Wine Grlasses, Decanters, Claret Jugs, Dishes, Carafes, 
 Jugs, Custard Cups. Celery Stands, Centres, Comports, (kc- 
 
 X> E3 X-. H - 
 
 Dinner Services. Tea Sets, Breakfast Sets, Toilet Sets, Teapots, 
 Hot Water Jugs, Wedgewood, and Majolica Ware, 
 OTJTLTiiK.'^r. KNITTING WOOLS. 
 
 Knives, Forks, Spoons, Razors, &c. Best Quality, at Lowest Prices. 
 
 Balls, Dinners, Wedding, Ouadrille, and. Picnic Parties supplied with China, Glass, 
 Delph, Cutlery, &c., c> M" 3E3C I H. E . 
 
 ^I^olcsalc ^ Retail C^tna, #lasa, Parbfoarc, brimming & ^arr^ousc, 
 
 3VEXTIL.XjXl>ffC3-jaLlX. 
 
 CHRISTOPHER CORCORAN, 
 Cea, OTut t ivit JMcrcltan t 
 
 Keeps no Goods in Stock save those of the BEST QUALITY. 
 
 THE CHOICEST BRANDS IN 
 
 IS= XI X S is: E! Y » , 
 
 I axr xi js , 
 
 <^ BXI.A. 3 Xr 33 TX 2 S», 
 
 »-»“ x* x: js 9 <fs c . 
 
 A Trial of this Establishment is sure to repay the trouble. 
 
 5^* Connoisseurs of really GOOD LIQUORS should give me a Trial. 
 Punctuality and Despatch in the execution of all Orders are the 
 characteristics of this Establishment. 
 
 CHRISTOPHER CORCORAN, 
 
 grocer, and j^pirit ^Elierchant, 
 
 . AUSTIXI' FHIAES, MULLINGAE. 
 
-«i'DRAPERY GOODSfr" 
 
 I AT 
 
 ''J0H]\I MREY’g^B^iiiiiNHCSRaY. 
 
 I A large and well-assorted Stock of Draoery Goods, suited for present 
 < season. EXCEPTIONAL VALUE. 
 
 AIDE OLOTKCIISrO- 
 
 Men’s Suits from 15/-, Coats from 6/-, Vests from i/n, Trousers from 3/4. 
 BOYS’ SUITS from 5/-. 
 
 . JOHN""FUMYr"BALLrN^ 
 
 ^sta, 1 oll sta-ea. 1840 . 
 
 Draper and Family Grocer^ 
 
 Jrolyision Jeakr, 
 
 J^EA, y/lNE, AND pPIRIT yVlERCHANT, 
 
 ffon, Dimfecr, and (Uoal 
 
 Cattle and Patent Medicines, Best Class. 
 
 Agent for artificial Manures, 
 
 And for tlie different S.S. Lines to North & South America, and Australia. 
 
 N. CUNNINGHAM, BALLYMORE. 
 
 Will be shortly published, 
 
 AND OTHEE EOLK-LOEE TALES OF WESTMEATH; 
 
 Including “ The Ghost’s Warning,” “ Valley of the Blao^k Pig,” &c. 
 WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES AND APPENDIX. 
 
 BY Pa trick b ardan. 
 
 To be had from the Author. 
 
 A.ca.a.r©ss-TI3:E IDOW2TS, 
 
 MTJIjLIIsr C3- AI2.. 
 
 PRICE ONE SHILLING. 
 
P. A, QUIGLEY 
 
 (Successor to JAMES M0 U(jHTT), 
 
 Wholesale and ^'amily ( 3 foeep, 
 
 WINE, SPIRIT, & ITALIAN WAREHOUSEMAN, 
 
 llartl^afe, Oil?, Cololif?, Cliipa, taftiiep^afe, ^la??, & l^lifpitlife. 
 
 Agent for aOTTLDIlTG’S MANURES. 
 
 Uv tfte (StlebraM piaflawatto ®iea 
 J. J. & SON’S OLD MALT WHISKEY. 
 GUINNESS’S X X STOUT, BUARANTEED PURE. 
 
 BASS’S PALE ALE, IN WOOD & BOTTLE. 
 TEAS AT 3/-, 2/10, 2/4, and 1/10 per lb. 
 
 Timber, Slates, Building Materials, Guns & Ammunition 
 
 ^ EOOM PAPEES, PAINTS, & COLOURS. 
 
 FSIIEIALS SH^f*]LIED- 
 
 Polished Oak. Covered, & Plain Coffins on the Shortest Notice & most Moderate Terms. 
 
 PATENT & CATTLE MEDICINES. 
 
 GARDEN and FARM SEEDS— BEST QUALITY. 
 
 i^“ Perfumery, Toilet Soaps, Hair, and Shoe Brushes. 
 Choice Cigars and Cigarettes, Best Imported. 
 
 — TKrlT TE^S,— 
 
 P. A. QUIGLEY, 
 
 WHOLESALE d FAMILY GROCER d GENERAL PROVISION DEALER, 
 
:(o)! 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 From Commercial Ireland. 
 
 “ n Y one of those happy chances which 
 occur sometimes to break the 
 monotony of our work-a-day life, I came 
 across the other day a painter from Bally- 
 more who can handle a pen as well as the 
 brush. His name is James Woods — plain 
 James Woods — for so decent an Irishman 
 has no necessity for the prefix of Mr. — 
 and he handed me a brochure^ entitled, 
 ‘ Ancient and Modern Sketches of the 
 County Westmeaih.’ This unpretentious 
 toiler having good taste from nature, 
 made the^ime himself to give his country- 
 men as interesting a little book as has 
 been for years my lot to read. It is sim- 
 ply crammed through every one of its 
 seventy-six pages with interesting topo- 
 graphical history and reminiscences, and 
 I cannot fancy any Westmeath man who 
 will be without spending a silver shilling 
 on it. As I purpose in subsequent issues 
 to give more than one quotation from it, 
 I can only here state that it abounds in 
 folk lore, and treats of subjects that most 
 of us have no time to discover for our- 
 
 selves. Mr. Woods — I called him Mr. 
 that time by mistake — what an appropri- 
 ate name for a painter and a lover of 
 nature — has the good fortune to live far 
 from the madding crowd, in a remote 
 region that favours reflection, and invites 
 the mind to wander down the corridor of 
 the past. And this working author has 
 done so to good purpose ; he has disin- 
 terred old literary jewels, cleared away 
 the cobwebs of neglect from neglected hut 
 historic tombs, and lit with his unpreten- 
 tious but searching lamp, hidden corners 
 in the lives of eminent ones long passed 
 away. I feel that I owe a debt of grati- 
 tude to James Woods for giving me so 
 great a treat as this book, for bringing me 
 back to the placid loughs, the still more 
 placid graveyards, the breezy plains, and 
 the ivied ruins of Westmeath, and all the 
 tender and beautiful reminiscences that 
 haunt it. And any of my readers wdio 
 purchase his book will feel as grateful as 
 I do.” 
 
 From United Ireland, 
 
 "IN unassuming but indefatigable 
 worker in the field of historic litera- 
 ture. Mr. J ames Woods presents us with 
 an extremely pleasant and gossipy volume 
 under the title, ‘Ancient and Modern 
 Sketches of the County Westmeath.’ 
 The locality is one rich in antiquarian 
 interest. Scholar, saint, and soldier alike 
 will find in its history a mine of archmo- 
 
 logical wealth. In Celtic legend as well 
 as medimval romance it abounds with 
 fascinating lore ; and Mr. Woods has in 
 the limits at his disposal opened up much 
 of the long-hidden treasures. The book,, 
 which is published by Messrs. Alley & Co., 
 of Ryder’s Row, Dublin, is presented to 
 the public at the moderate sum of one 
 shilling.” 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS^Continued. 
 
 :(o): 
 
 From the Irish Catholic. 
 
 E have been favoured with an early, 
 copy of ‘Ancient and Modern 
 Sketches of the County Westmeath,’ by 
 James Woods, and published by Messrs. 
 Alley & Co., Ryder’s Row. We cannot 
 help most heartily commending Mr. 
 Woods’ little work, which reflects much 
 credit on his industry and patriotism. He 
 has done much for the local history of 
 Westmeath, collected a large amount of 
 valuable information, and compiled a 
 
 volume which contains in nearly every 
 page some item to interest and amuse the 
 reader. It rather adds to than lessens 
 our appreciation of Mr. Woods’ sketches 
 to know that they have been done in the 
 scanty leisure hours of a working man, a 
 house painter. We trust that they will 
 have the large sale which their own 
 merit as well as the low price, only one 
 shilling, at which they are issued, should 
 secure them.” 
 
 From the Westmeath Examiner. 
 
 pleasant and entertaining little 
 work under notice is the product 
 of the labour and the love of Mr. Woods. 
 With a purpose as patriotic as it is praise- 
 worthy, Mr. Woods set himself to work 
 up the history, the traditions, and the 
 stories of the county which gave him 
 birth. In the midst of a toiling life he 
 has managed to make time to bring to 
 our minds those pleasing and fanciful 
 
 legends which we have heard in years 
 gone by, and he again peoples our raths 
 and mounds with the fanciful figures of 
 those ‘ good people ’ around whom such a 
 centre of interest is woven for the people 
 of this country, who are peculiarly de- 
 voted to the reminiscences and legends 
 of the past. Mr. Woods’ book is replete 
 with interest for every Westmeath man.” 
 
 From the Westmeath Independent. 
 
 “TN the volume that has now been 
 A published there are seventy-five 
 historical, traditional, and legendary 
 sketches, principally relating to Kil- 
 kenny West, Mucknagh, ‘Sweet Auburn,’ 
 Drumraney, Tang, Shrule, Ballymahon, 
 Ballymore, Ballynacargy, &c., &c., also 
 
 the historical associations connected with 
 the islands on Lough Ree. The work is 
 an example of wonderful skill in compila- 
 tion, and of the graphic descriptive 
 powers possessed by the author, who is 
 a working man.” 
 
^Hcient ani Ploktrii Slutcljcs 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUNTY WESTMEATH: 
 
 HISTOEICAL, TEADITIONAL, AND LEGENDAEY. 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES W.OODS. 
 
 For they keep a record of those, the true-hearted, 
 
 Who fell with the cause they had vowed to maintain ; 
 
 They show us bright shadows of glory departed, 
 
 Of love that grew cold, and the hope that was vain. 
 
 Frances Browne. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR. 
 
 DUBLIN: 
 
 PRINTED BY W. J. ALLEY & CO., 
 
 9 RYDER’S ROW, CAPEL STREET. 
 
 1890. 
 
W. J. ALLEY AND CO., 
 GENERAL PRINTERS, 
 
 ryder’s row, capel street, 
 
 DUBLIN. 
 
P E E F A 0 E . 
 
 MIHE favourable reception accorded to the first volume of 
 J Ancient and Modern Sketches of Westmeath^ and the flatter- 
 ing opinions of the press, far beyond my humble expectation, 
 and encouraged by my many kind friends with the promise of 
 their support and patronage, I have undertaken the publication 
 of the second volume. It is a hopeful sign of the times that our 
 people are beginning to take an interest in the neglected historic 
 records of our county, and evincing a laudable desire of be- 
 coming acquainted with the tales of its ancient glories and 
 picturesque scenery, second to none in Ireland. True, there 
 are many who in their pursuit of novelty are apathetic to the 
 pictorial beauties of their own country and its history, in pre- 
 ference of foreign climes. Those belong to the class rebuked by 
 the Eoman historian Pliny in his memorable censure. We 
 have been surfeited with pictures of other lands, limned as 
 vividly with the pen as with the pencil, and novel writers favour 
 us with glowing descriptions of continental lakes and mountains ; 
 but yet, nowhere can nature be contemplated in grander or 
 lovelier aspects than in fair Westmeath. Yes, our county is 
 rich in places hallowed by memorials of ancient nationality, to 
 which they may well delight to make reverent pilgrimage. The 
 ivied ruins of Eathconnell, Lynn, Kenny, Eoyal Usneach, and 
 magnificent old Fore, where St. Feckin prayed and taught, is 
 inseparably associated with the memory of a glorious past, and 
 is a prolific source of poetry and romance ; they are identified 
 with an era when the chivalry and social history of the Island 
 of Saints were preserved in the literature of her bards. Diver- 
 sified and magnificent as is the scenery of other parts of Ireland, 
 there is scarcely any county of similar extent better worthy the 
 attention of the artist, tourist, or antiquarian. I would con- 
 sider myself an ingrate of the deepest dye were I not to return 
 my sincere and grateful thanks to the following gentlemen who 
 supplied me with materials to compile this and subsequent 
 volumes, viz. : Mr. N. J. Downes, Solicitor ; Dr. Kerrigan, 
 County Coroner ; Major Kelly, Glencarra ; Mr. A. J. Banon, 
 J.P. ; and Mr. Eugene O’Beirne, Corealy, Eathowen. 
 
 Ballyniore, 
 
 JAMES WOODS. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Westmeath — Its Boundaries, Area, and Population — Ancient References 
 — Remarkable Events — Its Rivers, Lakes, and Monastic Ruins — 
 Parliamentary Representatives since 1 689 — Religious Establishments, 
 
 &c. - - - - - - - - - 1 
 
 Mullingar — Ancient References — Population — A Town of the Pale 
 — Battle of Ardonagh — Defeat of the English — Lord Thomas 
 Butler Killed — Plundered by the People of Managh — Besieged by 
 Hugh Roe O’Donnell — Plundered by Clanrickard — The Great 
 Plague — Plundered and Burned by the Maguires and O’Neills — 
 Plundered by the O’Rourkes — Grant of Church Property to Sir 
 Richard Tuite of Tuitestown — The Priory of St. Mary — Sir Henry 
 Piers’ Description of the Town in 1682 — Its Charters — Grant of the 
 Manor and Monasteries to Sir Arthi^r Forbes — The Granard Peerage 
 — The Town Garrisoned by the Troops of William III. — The In- 
 habitants Plundered by General Douglas — Rathconnell — Ancient 
 References — The Famous Pass— The Battle between Preston and 
 Grenville — Piers’ Account of it — Legend of the Betrayal of the Pass 
 — Pastors of Rathconnell — The Old Church of Taughmon — The 
 Adams Family — Knockdrin — The Levinge Family — The late Sir 
 Richard Levinge— His Politics — Memorable Election, 1852 — The 
 Greville Peerage — Lough Owel — Drowning of Turgesius — The 
 Legend of Lough Owel — The Legend quoted by Piers — Portloman — 
 
 St. Loman — Ruins of Roman’s Church — Sir John De Blacquiere — 
 
 His Elevation to the Peerage — One of the Union Plotters— Visit of 
 the Duke of Richmond to Portloman — Lynn — Ancient References — 
 Lough Ennel — Turgesius and Malachy, King of Meath — Piers’ 
 Account of Lough Ennel — Ledistown — The late Mr. J. C. Lyons — 
 Pedigree — Mr. K. and his Dog — A Novel Cure for Canine Sufferers 
 — An Ill-requited Son of Crispin — Gagging Extraordinary — How to 
 Serve a Writ — The Rochfort Family — Pedigree— Lord Belvidere — 
 Lady Belvidere — Sir Francis Hopkins — The Marlay Family — The 
 Boydes of Middleton - - - - - - 5 
 
 Moate— Grace O’Melachlin — Brehon Law Expounded — Public Buildings 
 — The Carmelite Community — Storey’s Description of the Rapparees 
 — Knockdominy — Shawn O’Deegan the Outlaw — Knockastia — Paddy 
 Kilfozey and the Fairies — Murty Coghlan and Condy Coghlan, the 
 Rapparees — The Gap of the Wood — Bishop Geoghegan and the 
 Robbers— Tinamuck — The Legend of the Round Tower — The 
 Trooper’s Mound — Ballinabarna — Rosemount — Kilcomreragh — 
 Amcient References — Tubber — A Priest-Hunter — Pastors of Tubber - 42 
 
 Kilbeggan — Ancient References — The Ford of Heads — Its Monasteries 
 — ’98— Sir Thbmas Cuffe— Representatives- Rahugh— Ancient Re- 
 ferences — Durrow— r-Ancient References — De Lacy — The late Dr. 
 Dillon Kelly, J.P., and the Seal of Durrow — Horseleap— Ancient 
 References — Conor MacNessa — Legend of Rory Oge Mageoghegan, 
 
 &c. - - - - - - - - - 65 
 
 - 85 
 
 Appendix - 
 
Jlncient and ^tlodcrn §hctci)e^ 
 
 OF THE 
 
 COUiNTY WESTMEATH. 
 
 MULLINGAR AND ITS ENVIRONS. 
 
 ESTMEATH is bounded on the east by the County of 
 Meatli ; on the west by Counties of Longford and 
 Roscommon ; and on the south by King’s County ; 
 and contains, according to the Ordnance Survey, 386,254 
 statute acres, of which 313,935 are cultivated land. South 
 from Athlone to the boundary point south-east of Clonmelion, 
 is 43^ statute miles ; breadth, from Finnea to Kinnegad, 26 
 miles ; and from the River Inny, near Ballinacargy, to the 
 boundary near Rahugh, 21 miles. The population in 1821 
 amounted to 128,819, and in 1831 to 136,872, and in 1881 to 
 
 71,798. 
 
 This county formed part of the kingdom of Meath, when the 
 island was divided into five provincial dynasties, and was then 
 known by the name of Eircamhoin, or the Western Division. 
 Its provincial assemblies were held at the Hill of Usneagh, sup- 
 posed by some to be the Laberus noticed by Ptolemy as one of 
 the inland cities of Ireland. In 1153, the northern part of the 
 county became the scene of contention between the two sons of 
 Dermod O’Brien, who terminated their strife by a bloody battle 
 fought near Fore, in which Turlough, having obtained the vic- 
 tory, became master of his brother’s person, and put out his 
 eyes ! 
 
 The principal Irish families during this period were those of 
 MacGeoghegan (chieftains of Moycashel), O’Mullrenan (or 
 Brennan), O’Coffey, O’Mullady, O’Malone, O’ Daly, O’Higgins, 
 MacGawly, MacGan, O’Shannagh (afterwards changed to Fox), 
 O’Finlan, and O’Cuishin. The annals of the religious houses 
 prove that Westmeath suffered much during the period in which 
 the island was exposed to the predatory incursions of the Danes, 
 the town and abbey of Fore alone having been burnt nine times 
 in the 10th and 11th centuries either by the Danes or by the 
 bordering Irish chieftains. 
 
 After the settlement of the English in Leinster, the county 
 formed part of the palatinate of Hugh de Lacey, who allotted it 
 in large tracts to his principal followers, the most remarkable 
 of whom were Petit, Tuite, Hussey, D’Alton, Delamere, Dillon, 
 Nugent, Hope, Ware, Ledwich, D’Ardis, Gaynor, and Constan- 
 tine. Subsequently, the families of D’Arcy, Jones, Tyrrell, 
 
2 
 
 Fitzgerald, and Piers, settled here at various periods previous to 
 the Eeformation. 
 
 It is related that Mortimer, Earl of March, who married 
 Phillippa, daughter aud heiress of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, 
 third son of Edward III., finding it necessary to conceal himself 
 during the troubles that followed the deposition of Eichard II., 
 chose this county as his place of refuge, where he remained a 
 long time in concealment. 
 
 In 1468, Delamere, Abbot of Tristernagh, was attainted by 
 Act of Parliament for uniting with the Irish enemies and Eng- 
 lish rebels in an insurrection in which the town of Delvin was 
 burned. By an Act of the 34th of Henry VIII., the ancient 
 palatinate of Meath was divided, the eastern portion retaining 
 its former name, and the western being distinguished by its 
 present appellation. Longford was a part of the latter division 
 until it was formed into a distinct county by Elizabeth. 
 
 Piers, in his “ History of Westmeath,” asserts that the rising 
 in 1641 was concocted in the Abbey of Multyfarnham, but he 
 supplies no proof — it is a mere conjecture. So great was the 
 change of property by confiscations after the war of the revolu- 
 tion, that not one of the names of the Catholic proprietors who 
 had formed the previous grand juries are to be found on the 
 modern lists. The principal families who obtained grants of 
 confiscated lands were those of Pakenham, Cooke, Winter, 
 Smyth, Reynell, Levinge, Wilson, Judge, Eochford, Handcock, 
 Gay, Handy, Ogle, Middleton, Swift, Burtle, and St. George. 
 Those of Smith, Chapman, Fetherston, O’Eeilly, Purdon, Blac- 
 quiere, Nagle, and North, obtained by purchase or inheritance. 
 
 The surface of the county, though nowhere rising into tracks 
 of considerable elevation, is much diversified by hill and dale, 
 highly picturesque in many parts, and deficient in none of the 
 essentials of rural beauty. Knock Eyne and Knock Boss, on 
 the shores of Lough Derravaragh, have on their sides much 
 stunted oak and brushwood, the remains of ancient forests. 
 The former of these hills is about 850 feet high. The lakes are 
 large, picturesque, and very numerous, mostly situated in the 
 northern and central parts, the southern being flat and over- 
 spread with bog. The largest and most southern of the lakes is 
 Lough Ennel, now called also Belvidere or Lynn Lake. It is 
 nearly two miles from Mullingar, and studded with eight islands, 
 the largest of which is Fort Island, which was garrisoned and 
 used as a magazine by the Irish in 1641, and was twice taken 
 by the Parliamentary forces, and ultimately held by them till 
 the Restoration. 
 
 Two streams, one called The Golden Arm,” and the other 
 
 The Silvern Arm,” formerly flowed from it — one from each of 
 its extremities, but both have been dammed up, and the low 
 grounds on the borders of the lake raised by embankments so as 
 
3 
 
 to increase tlie body of water contained in it, in order to render 
 it the feeder of the summit level of the Royal Canal. This 
 alteration has enlarged the surface of the Owel to an extent of 
 2,400 acres. The lake has four islands, in one of which are the 
 ruins of an ancient chapel of rude masonry, with a burial-ground 
 attached, which was formerly resorted to by pilgrims from dis- 
 tant parts. It is said that many Protestants concealed them- 
 selves here during the war of 1641. The other islands are 
 planted. 
 
 Further north is Lake Derravaragh, a sheet of winding water 
 of very irregular form, eleven miles long and three in breadth, 
 whose waters discharge themselves through the Lower Inny into 
 Lough Iron, which is the most western lake in the county, and 
 is likewise a long sheet of water, being about a mile long and 
 half a mile broad, and very shallow. Its banks are enriched 
 with some fine scenery towards Baronstown and Kilbixy. From 
 its northern extremity the Inny takes its course towards the 
 County Longford. Lough Lein, three miles to the east of 
 Derravaragh, is of an irregular oval form, two miles long and 
 one broad. Its waters are peculiarly clear, and remarkable for 
 having no visible outlet, nor any inlet except a small stream, 
 which flows only in rainy seasons. It is surrounded on every 
 side by high grounds, which on the north and south rise into 
 lofty hills from the margin of the lake, which are clothed to their 
 summits with rich verdure and flourishing plantations. There 
 are four fertile and well -planted islands in the lake. In the 
 west is Lough Seudy, a small but romantic expanse of water 
 near the old fortress of Ballymore. Two miles north-east of 
 Mullingar are the small lakes of Drin, Cullen, and Clonsheever. 
 Lough Drin supplies Lough Cullen, which, after flowing through 
 a bog, falls into Clonsheever, whence the Brosna receives its 
 supply, since the waters of Lough Owel have been appropriated 
 exclusively to the supply of the Royal Canal. 
 
 Among the other smaller lakes scattered throughout the 
 county the principal are Lough Maghan, and the two lakes 
 of Waterstown, near Athlone. The fine expansion of the River 
 Shannon, called Lough Ree, may be partially considered as 
 belonging to Westmeath, as it forms the principal part of the 
 western boundary between it and Roscommon. It is twenty 
 miles long in its greatest length from Lanesborough to the 
 neighbourhood of Athlone, and is adorned with several finely- 
 wooded islands. Those adjoining Westmeath are Inchmore, 
 containing 104 acres, once the site of a monastery built by St. 
 Senanus ; Hare Island, containing 57 acres, and having the 
 ruins of an old abbey erected by the Dillon family ; Innisturk, 
 containing 24 acres ; and Innisboffin, containing 27 acres. An 
 old abbey built on this island by a nephew of St. Patrick, was 
 plundered by the Danes in 1089. 
 
4 
 
 Lough Glin forms a small portion of the boundary towards 
 Lougford ; Loughs Sheelin and Rinale are on its north-western 
 limit towards Cavan. The White Lake, Lough Deel, and Lough 
 Bawn are small boundary lakes on the side of Meath. The 
 water on the last-named of these has the peculiarity of being 
 lower and more limpid in winter than in summer, and being 
 highest in June and lowest at Christmas. In summer its colour 
 is green, like sea water, but in winter it is as pellucid as crystal 
 and remarkably light. The Brosna and the Inny are the onty 
 rivers of any importance in the county. The former rises at 
 Bunbrosna, near Lough Owel. The Inny, issuing from Lough 
 Bheelin, at the northern extremity of the county, forms the 
 boundary between Westmeath and Cavan. The Royal Canal 
 enters the county from that of Meath, two miles north of Kinne- 
 gad, and passing near Killucan, Mullingar, Ballinea, and Ballina- 
 cargy, after crossing the Inny by an aqueduct, enters the county 
 of Longford, near Tenelick. The summit - level at Mullingar is 
 274 feet above high mark in Dublin Bay. Many vestiges of 
 very remote antiquity may be traced in the neighbourhood of 
 Ballintubber ; and others of a similar description are observable 
 in Moycashel. 
 
 Of the numerous monastic institutions scattered through the 
 county those of Clonfad, Kilcomeragh, Drumacree, Killucan, 
 Lackin, Lyon, and Rahue, still remain either wholly or in part 
 as places of worship, either of Catholics or Protestants. The 
 ruins of Farrenemanagh, Kilbeggan, Kilmocahill, and Multy- 
 farnham are still in existence. Those of Tristernagh and of the 
 houses of the Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians of 
 Mullingar are utterly destroyed. The Franciscans still flourish 
 in Athlone, on the eastern bank of the Shannon, and the same, 
 holy community are, like the old abbey family, rooted in Multy- 
 farnham, and the Carmelite Order still holds sway in Moate ; 
 and it is needless to say that the splendid church, school-house, 
 and ground attached are living monuments of the piety, zeal 
 labour, and industry of the good fathers whose recent efforts to 
 obtain (when abandoned by all others) comfortable houses for 
 the poor labourers of the district, shall be long remembered by 
 a grateful people. The monastery of Clonmacnoise, with the 
 surrounding territory, was formerly within the county of West- 
 meath, but was transferred to the King’s County in 1688, in 
 which it still continues to be included. The ruins of ancient 
 castles, several of which were erected by Hugh de Lacey, are 
 numerous. The remains of Kilbixy castle, his chief residence, 
 though now obliterated, were extensive in the year 1680. Those 
 of Horseleap, another of De Lacy’s castles, and the place where 
 tradition asserts he was killed by the hands of one of his own 
 dependents, are still visible. Sonna, Killare, and Rathwire were 
 also built by De Lacy. The second of these stands on the verge 
 
5 
 
 of a small but beautiful lake ; the third fell into the hands of 
 ihe MacGeoghegans, the mansion of which family was at Oastle- 
 town-Geoghegan, and some remains of it are still visible. Other 
 remarkable castles were Delvin, the seat of the Nugents ; Leney, 
 belonging to the Gaynors ; Empor, to the Daltons ; Killinny and 
 Ardnath, to the Dillons ; Bracca, near Horseleap, to the Handys; 
 and Clare Castle or Mullaghcloe, the headquarters of General de 
 Ginckle and Douglas when preparing for the seige of Ballymore. 
 Several castles of the MacGeoghegans were in the neighbour- 
 hood of Kilbeggan. 
 
 Mullingar. 
 
 Mullingar, the chief town of Westmeath, is situated on the 
 river Brosna, between Lough Owel and Lough Ennel, partly in 
 the barony of Fartullagh, but chiefly in that of Moyashell and 
 Magheradernan, and in 1881 had a population of 4,787. In 
 1861 the population was 5,359, which shows a decrease of 572. 
 In ancient times Kilbixy, near Baronstown, Ballinacargy, was 
 the principal town of the county, but not a vestige of it remains, 
 nor is there anything about it to denote that such a place ever 
 existed. Mullingar was one of the chief palatinate towns founded 
 by the Anglo-Irish invaders, and gave the title of baron to the 
 family of Petit, and it derives its name from a mill which stood 
 on the river Brosna. For many years the town continued one 
 of the great strongholds of the English Pale, an Anglo-Irish 
 citadel which menaced, and oftentimes laid waste the territories 
 of the neighbouring chieftains, and were as frequently plundered 
 and burned by the avenging foe. 
 
 In 1328 (I quote the “ Four Masters”) Lord Thomas Butler 
 led a powerful army into Westmeath with the design of sub- 
 duing that county. The day before the feast of St. Laurence 
 he was met by MacGeoghegan, at the head of his forces, near 
 Mullingar, at a place called Ardnorvich (supposed to be Ar- 
 donagh, about two miles west of the town, on the road leading 
 to Ballinacargy). They came to a bloody battle, which proved 
 fatal to Butler and his English followers and Irish renegades — 
 the Petits, Tuites, Nugents, Delameres, and Ledwiches — he 
 having lost his life in the fight, together with some of his prin- 
 cipal officers. Amongst those who fell were — John de Ledwich, 
 Eoger de Ledwich, Thomas de Ledwich, John Nangle, Moiler 
 Petit, Simon Petit, David Nangle, John Warringer, Jas. Tyrrell, 
 Nicholas White, William Frejme, Peter Kent, and John White, 
 with a hundred and forty others whose names are not known. 
 The Abbe MacGeoghegan adds — 
 
 It seems, from the honours which were paid to his remains, that Lord 
 Butler was much regretted by his partizans. His body was removed to 
 
6 
 
 Dublin to the convent of the Dominicans, where it remained till the Sunday 
 after the feast of the beheading of St. John, when it was carried with great 
 solemnity through the city, and back to the Dominicans, where it was 
 interred.” 
 
 The “ Four Masters/’ supply the following notices of Mullin- 
 gar 
 
 “ 1450 — G-reat depredations were committed by the sou of MacGeoghegan 
 on the English, during which he plundered and burned Rathwire, Killucan, 
 Ballinagall, and Kilbixy, all in Westmeath; and during the commotion he 
 took Carbry the son of Lisagh, the son of Eossa (OTarrell), prisoner, and 
 slew the two sons of Tobias, the son of Hobard, and Bryan, the son of 
 Lisagh, in the great town of Lough Seudy (Bally more), and, in short, spoiled 
 an immense deal during the war. The English of Meath and the Duke of 
 York, with the King’s standard, marched to Mullingar, and the son of 
 MacGeoghegan, with a great force of cavalry, marched on the same day to 
 Ballyglass (near Mullingar), to meet the English, who came to the resolution 
 of making peace with him, but they forgave him all they had committed on 
 them, on condition of obtaining peace. The humiliating terms extorted from 
 the English duke reads very much like a great defeat. 1464 — Mullingar 
 was plundered and burned by the people of Managh. 1475 — The inhabitants 
 of Mullingar purchased by presents peace of Red Hugh O’Donnell and the 
 chieftains of Lower Connaught, who had wasted the English Pale with fire 
 and sword. 1572 — Mullingar was plundered and burned by the Burkes of 
 Clanricarde, who were in arms against the Governm.ent. In that year the 
 Burkes revolted against the tyranny of Eitton, the English governor of 
 Connaught, and together with their allies, the Scotch, devastated the country 
 for miles. Mullingar being a town of the Pale, was burned and plundered 
 by them.” 
 
 “ Tranquillity was at length restored,” says Cox, “by a victory which 
 Captain Collins gained over the Scotch, with one company of infantry. The 
 O’Morrisses and O’Connors of Leinster made attempts to create a diversion 
 in their favour. They turned Athlone, and made some incursions on the 
 English province, where they committed terrible devastation.” 
 
 “ 1575 — A shocking plague devastated Mullingar and the surrounding 
 districts for miles.” The “Four Masters” add — “Great heat and extreme 
 drought happened in the summer of this year, so that there was not rain for 
 one hour either by day or by night from May till August. In consequence 
 of this drought loathsome diseases and afflicting maladies were generated in 
 an excessive degree amongst the English and Irish in Dublin and Mullingar. 
 Many a castle between those places were left waste, and without a guard ; 
 many a flock without a shepherd, and many bodies even of the nobility were 
 left unburied through the effects of this distemper.” 
 
 A distinguished member of the Franciscan Order, Father John 
 Glynn, thus describes the epidemic : — 
 
 “ This year, and chiefly in the months of September and October, great 
 numbers of bishops and priests, and in general the people of both sexes, 
 flocked together by troops on pilgrimages to holy places, inasmuch that many 
 souls might be seen together for many days. Some came on the score of 
 religion, but the greater part for fear of the plague, which raged at the time 
 with great violence. It first broke out near Dublin, at Howth, and Dalkey, 
 and it almost laid waste Dublin and Drogheda, inasmuch that in Dublin 
 alone from the beginning of August 14,0C0 persons perished. It then 
 extended to Meath, the western portion of it. The inhabitants of Mullingar 
 were almost entirely swept awaj' by this fearful plague. The distemper pre- 
 vailed in full force in Lent. On the 6th March eight Dominicans died. 
 Scarce a single person died in one house, but it commonly carried away the 
 whole family.” 
 
7 
 
 “ 1583— Queen Elizabeth granted a patent for holding two fairs of 
 three days each at Mullingar, the tolls of which were to be appropriated 
 to the fortification of the town against the Irish enemy. 1597 — An 
 army led by the Maguires wasted Mullingar, accompanied by the O’Neills, 
 at the instance of the O’Farrells, and they preyed the country round them, and 
 totally pillaged Mullingar itself, in which they did not leave any property of 
 gold, 'silver, brass, copper, iron, armour, or foreign wares, or any other thing 
 that could be carried away or driven. Upon their returning back they 
 set fire to the town, and afterwards returned safe to their homes. Mullingar 
 was then in possession of the English Pale, 1598— Mullingar was plundered 
 by the O’Rorkes. In 1227, the priory of St. Mary, anciently called ‘The 
 House of God of Mullingar,’ was founded by Ralph Petit, Bishop of Meath, 
 for Canons Regular of the Order of St. Augustine. As the Petits were 
 Barons of Mullingar and Dunboyne, the founder was enabled to endow the 
 priory liberally. Amongst the benefactors of this monastery was Walter, 
 Earf of Ulster, who granted to Lambert, the prior, the advoAvson of the 
 Church of Bredath. In 1300, Donagh O’Elaherty, Bishop of Killala, the 
 most eminent of the Irish for piety, died at Dunboyne on his way to Dublin, 
 and was interred with honour at Mullingar in the House of the Blessed 
 Virgin Mary. In 1397, Adam Petit granted to Hugh, prior of Mullingar, 
 40 acres of land in Killucan. In 1597, Petit, prior of the monastery of St. 
 Mary, died of the plague. The last prior of Mullingar was John Petit, and 
 on the 28th November, 1539, he and his community were summoned by the 
 Commissioners of Henry VI II- to surrender the priory and all its property, 
 and to sign their own expulsion. In order to reconcile a few dignatories of 
 the priory, a yearly pension of £20 was promised to the late prior, payable 
 out of the Church property in Slei’in and Grange, and out of rectories of 
 Dunboyne and Vastina, a pension of 40s. was promised to John Kelly, 
 26s. 8d. to Thomas Relyng, and 26s. 8d. to Thomas Ledwich, out of the 
 property of Dunboyne. 
 
 ‘‘ On'the 20th January, 1560, the following grant of Church property was 
 made by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Richard Tuite — ‘ Grant to Sir Richard 
 Tuyte, Knight, of the state, ambite, and precinct of the late monastery of 
 Molingar, in the County of Westmeath, a small castle and five gardens, 59^ 
 acres of arable land surrounding the said monastery ; and parcel of its 
 demesne, with a mill, six cottages, 300 acres of arable and pasture land in 
 Slevyne and Ballyclonen, Westmeath, to hold to the said Richard for life 
 without impeachment of wastes with remainder to William Tuyte, his son, 
 and heirs male ; the remainder to Richard, son of the said William, and his 
 heirs male, they to maintain two able horsemen of the English nation for the 
 defence of the premises, to be held by military service — that is to say, by the 
 fourth part of a knight’s fee.’ This monastery, during its existence, paid four 
 marks annually to the Bishop of Meath. The Sir Richard Tuite referred to 
 lived at Tuitestown. A Dominican Monastery w'as founded in Mullingar in 
 1237, some say by a member of the Nugent family ; others, by one of the 
 Petits. In course of time this house became conspicuous amongst the friaries 
 of the Order, and hence we find general chapters of the Dominicans 
 held here in 1278, 1292, 1308, and 1314. In 1439, Richard, Duke of York 
 and Earl of Ulster, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, granted to this house 
 30 acres of arable land in Kilbride, near Mullingar, for the term of 21 years. 
 On the 31st August, 8th of Queen Elizabeth, this friary, with the church, 
 cemetery, and appurtenances, also the rectories of Vastina and Churchtown, 
 were granted to Walter Hope at the annual rent of £10. Inquisition, 28th 
 July, 29th same reign, finds that three acres of meadow in Piercetown, in the 
 parish of Dunboyne, in the County Meath, situate in the west of said town, 
 near the river of Rathbeggan, of the annual value, besides reprises, of 
 3s. 4d., were parcel of the possessions of this friary. In the year 1564, the 
 Lords Justices and Council of Ireland granted possession and custodian to 
 Sir Thomas Goireof Friars Preachers of Mullingar, and of the parsonages of 
 Vastina and Churchtown in the County of Westmeath, until authority should 
 
8 
 
 arrive from her majesty, Queen Elizabeth, for granting a lease to him. In 
 ld22, it is said, the Friars of Multyfarnham, commenced the erection of a 
 Franciscan Convent in Mullingar, but it Avas never completed. The Capuchin 
 Order, recommended by Dr. Dease, Bishop of Meath, AA’as introduced into 
 Mullingar in 1633, but there is no record to illustrate their subsecpierit 
 history.” 
 
 In Burke’s Peerage we find that the first of the Granard family Avho 
 obtained grants of land in Westmeath w^as Sir Arthur Forbes, born in 162;J. 
 He was a person of great interest in the province of Ulster, and in the re 
 hellion Avas an officer of horse, and being zealously affected to the Royal cause, 
 Avas a commander in the northern parts of Scotland for King Charles II., 
 which, as Sir Philip Warwick Avrites sometime after the Worcester fight, 
 “ cost the English some pains and marches, because the commanders were 
 chosen men, such as Lord Glencairn, Sir Arthur Forbes, and another named 
 Middleton.” 
 
 “ After the defeat of the Royal army, he returned to Ireland, and aa^us per- 
 mitted by treaty to enjoy his estates. When the restoration Avas conceived, 
 he Avas sent to Brussels by Sir Charles Coote to assure the king that if he 
 Avould come into Ireland he Avould be declared for by that nation 
 
 “In 1660 he Avas made a captain of a troop of horse, and in 1661 Avas 
 member of Parliament for Mullingar. The castle, the two dissoh'td 
 monasteries, Avith the tOAvu of Mullingar and adjacent lands, were by Royal 
 Charter granted to him by Charles IJ. as a reward for his loyalty. But 
 Avhen the star of the ill-fated brother of the ‘ merry monarch ’ set in Ireland, 
 the first Earl of Granard turned his coat, and became a stout si’.pporter of 
 William of Orange. In 1671 he was appointed one of the Lords Justices of 
 this kingdom, and again in 1676, and in 1675 Avas created Baron Clonhugh and 
 Viscount Granard. 
 
 “In 1689 he Avas made colonel of the Royal Irish Regiment of Foot and 
 Lieutenant-General of the Army, and was advanced to the dignity of Granard. 
 In 1690 he was sworn of the Privy Council under William III. He took his 
 seat in Parliament in 1692, and AA'as appointed one of the committee assigned 
 to prepare an address from the House of Peers to their Majesties, thanking 
 them for the care they had taken in delivering Ireland from Popery* and 
 slavery. He died in 1696, haAung built the Church of Castle Forbes. 
 
 “ The second Earl of Granard Avas depriA’-ed of the colonelcy of the 18th 
 Royal Irish by William III., and imprisoned in the Tower of London. His 
 lordship served under Turrenne, and took part in the battle of Saspach, and 
 was present at the siege of Buda. He made a lease to the king in 1701 of 
 the ground on the Avest side of the tOAvn of Mullingar, Avhereon the barrack 
 was built. 
 
 “ Mullingar remained in possession of the Granard family till 1859, Avhen it 
 was purchased by Colonel Greville (afterAvards Lord GreA'ille, AA'ho Avas 
 elevated to the peerage 18th December. 1869), father of the present Lord 
 Greville. His lordship, it is said, paid £125,000 for it. The estate of 
 Clonhugh Avas purchased at the same time by same purchaser. 
 
 “ The charter granting Mullingar to Sir Arthur F'orbes, created it a manor, 
 with very extensive privileges ; and for better peopling the said manor, the 
 town Avas constituted the assize tOAvn of the county. The charter of Charles 
 II. created no corporation, nor were any officers elected. The lord of the 
 manor was empowered to appoint a clerk of the market, and the business of 
 the town Avas done by his seneschal. 
 
 “ The Charter conferred on tbe freeholders of the manor the right of re- 
 turning two members to the Irish Parliament, Avhicli they continued to do till 
 the Union, Avhen the franchise Avas abolished. The seneschal used to hold a 
 court every Thursday, and debts to the amount of 40s. Avere recoverable, and 
 a Court of Record Avith jurisdiction to the extent of £100, Avhich could be 
 sued for.’’ 
 
 The following is Sir Henry Piers’ description of Mullingar 
 in 1682 
 
9 
 
 •‘Mullingar, the chief town of the county, seated vrry near the centre 
 thereof, on the river issuing from Lough Owel, which we call the Golden 
 Hand (or Arm), and in the midst between the two great lakes — Lough 
 Ennel and Loitgli Owel. The name of the town Englished imports the short 
 mill. Indeed, in my time there had been an overshaft mill of the least 
 wheel that ever I saw, which with buckets and all was not eight feet in 
 diameter, but now it is converted into a breast-mill. There are also in this 
 town on the same water twm other mills. Here w'ere anciently two monas- 
 teries, one whereof was a priory of Canons Regular, founded by Ralph de 
 Petit, Bishop of Meath, the other a Convent of Friars Mendicant. One of 
 these stood in the east end of the town, the other in the western end of it, the 
 ruins of which are scarcely visible to-day. Here are held continually all 
 assizes and sessions, and four fairs yearly, and all public meetings of the 
 county. It IS also a great thoroughfare from Dublin to Connaught. All 
 houses here are ale-houses, yet some of the richer sort drive at other 
 trades also. They sell all sorts of ware to the gentry abroad in the country, 
 and some besides have large farms. Here is a new jail, built at the country’s 
 expense, for the old one is very weak. The old court-house being narrow, 
 and inconvenient in every respect, a new one is building, very large and 
 spacious, according to the rules of modern architecture. The church of this 
 town is also newly rebuilt. 
 
 “The town was formerly a corporation, and had in it a public magistrate 
 called a portrieve, and always sent two members to Parliament, but now the 
 whole town and commons being given in fee to the Right Plonorable the 
 Lord of Granard and his heirs, the ancient corporation is dissolved, and the 
 whole town and liberties, with other (his lordship’s) lands in the country, 
 are by his majesty created into a manor, wherein actions without limit may 
 be tried, and court leet, court baron, &c., are held according to law. This 
 manor, by a new and unprecedented grant from his majesty, hath liberty to 
 send two members to Parliament, but whether under the style of burgesses, 
 as formerly, time must show. The town giving the title of viscount to the 
 Earl of Oarbry in Wales. During the war of the Revolution the town was 
 fortified by General de Ginckle, and became the principal rendezvous of 
 William's forces. From Mullingar he led infantry and cavalry against the 
 Irish adherents of James II., who had encamped at Ballymore, and taken 
 possession of the old castle there, and it was also the headquarters of 
 William’s army preparator}’ to the siege of Athlone. The troops under 
 General Douglas, who afterwards besieged Athlone, committed fearful out- 
 rages on the farmers and peasants in and about Mullingar. His licentious 
 army plundered the people, and took with them whatever they could lay 
 hands on — neither the protection granted by William or Douglas being any 
 security against their resolute determination to possess themselves of the 
 goods of the Papists ; and the soldiers who thus degraded themselves were 
 North of Ireland men.” 
 
 Storey, the Chaplain of the Williamite army, in his impartial 
 History of the Kevolution, says : — 
 
 “ The soldiers went abroad, and took several things from the Irish who 
 had staid upon the king’s declaration, and frequent complaints came already 
 to the general, but plundering went on still, especially among the Northmen, 
 who seemed to be very dexterous at that work. We had got thus far till we 
 began to plunder, though the general gave strict orders to the contrary. 
 Several of the Irish came in for protection, though when they had got it they 
 were of little force to secure their goods or themselves. At Mullingar about 
 500 creights came in from the County Longford, with their wives, children, 
 and cattle, and everything they could bring away. Their business was to 
 procure the general’s protection, which was granted them, and they moved 
 homewards as the army marched forward, but were most of them plundered 
 afterwards.” 
 
10 
 
 “ The greater part of the English force,” says Macaulay, “was 
 collected before the close of May in the neighbourhood of Mul- 
 lingar, Ginckle being conamander-in-chief. The appearance of 
 the camp showed that the money voted by the English Parliament 
 had not been spared. The uniforms were new ; the ranks were 
 one blaze of scarlet ; and the train of artillery was such as had 
 never before been seen in Ireland.” 
 
 At the General Election of 1689 the following representatives 
 were returned for the county and borough of Westmeath — 
 For the county : The Hon. Colonel Henry Dillon, Mullingar ; 
 Garret Dillon, Prime Sergeant ; and Edmund Nugent, of Gart- 
 landstown. Athlone — Edmund Malone, of Ballynahowen ; 
 and Edmund Malone, Counsellor-at-Law. Kilbeggan — Bryan 
 Geoghegan, of Donore ; and Charles Geoghegan, Syonan. 
 Fore — John Nugent, Donore ; and Christopher Geoghegan, of 
 Dardistown. 
 
 Mullingar was a Parliamentary Borough, and returned two 
 members up to 1800, when it was disfranchised by the fatal Act 
 of Union. The following were its representatives during the 
 eighteenth century, viz. : — John Eochfort, from 1727 to 1760 ; 
 Sir Arthur Acheson, from 1727 to 1749 ; Lord George Forbes, 
 from 1749 to 1765 ; Admiral Forbes, 1760 to 1768 ; Sir Eichard 
 Steele (probably son of the dramatist), 1767 to 1776 ; Ealph 
 Fetherston, 1769 to 1776 ; John Scott (afterwards the notorious 
 Lord Clonmel), 1776 to 1784 ; Eichard Underwood, 1776 to 
 1779 ; Sir Skiffington Smyth, 1779 to 1784 ; Francis Hardy, 
 
 1784 to 1800 ; Major John Doyle, 1784 to 1799 ; Luke Fox, 
 1800. The following represented Westmeath during the same 
 period : — George Eochfort, 1727 to 1731 ; Eobert Eochfort, 1731 
 to 1738 ; Sir Anthony Malone, 1727 to 1760, and from 1769 to 
 1776 ; Arthur Eochfort, 1731 to 1761 ; Hon. George Eochfort 
 (known as Lord Belfield), 1761 to 1767; Hon. Eichard Eochfort, 
 1761 to 1769 ; Lord Belfield, 1769 to 1774 ; Hon. E. Eochfort 
 (who assumed the name of Mervyn), 1767 to 1769; Hon. Eobert 
 Eochfort, 1776, to 1798; Benjamin Chapman, 1776 to 17S4 ; 
 Eichard Malone (Lord Sunderlin), 1784 to 1785 ; Wm. Smyth, 
 
 1785 to 1800; William Handcock, 1791 to 1798; Gustavus 
 Eochfort, 1798 to 1800. County members since the Union : — 
 Wm. Smyth, 1801 to 1809 ; Gustavus H. Eochfort, 1801 to 
 1825 ; Hon. Hercules Eobert Pakenham, 1809 to 1826 ; Eobert 
 Smyth, 1825 to 1826 ; Gustavus Eochfort, 1826 to 1833 ; Hugh 
 Morgan Tuite, 1826 to 1830, and from 1841 to 1847 ; Sir 
 Montague Lowther Chapman, 1830 to 1841 ; Sir Eichard Nagle, 
 1833 to 1841 ; Benjamin Chapman, 1841 to 1847 ; W. H. 
 Magan, 1847 to 1859 ; Sir Percy Nugent, 1847 to 1852 ; Wm. 
 Pollard Urquhart, 1852 to 1857, and from 1859 to 1871 ; Sir 
 Eichard Levinge, 1857 to 1865 ; the present Lord Greville, from 
 1865 to 1874 ; P. J. Smyth, 1871 to 1880 ; Lord Eobert 
 
11 
 
 Montague, 1874 to 1880; H. J. Gill, 1880 to 1883; T. D. 
 Sullivan, 1880 to 1885 ; T. Harrington, 1883 to 1885 ; James 
 Tuite, 1885 ; Donal Sullivan, 1885. 
 
 Mullingar, as already stated, was purchased by the late (and 
 first) Lord Greville, about the year 1859. The family of Greville 
 came from England, and are of a very ancient lineage. Wm. 
 Greville, a citizen of London, “ the flower of wool-staplers,” was 
 living in 1398. He purchased the manor of Milcote, in War- 
 wickshire, which he entailed on his heirs male. He died in 
 1402, and was succeeded by his son. His grandson. Sir Thomas 
 Greville, of Milcote, assumed the name of Cocksey on inheriting 
 the estates of his grandmother’s family. 
 
 The Greville property according to the entail of William, 
 “ the flower of wool-staplers,” devolved upon John Greville, of 
 Drayton. A Sir Fulke Greville, a distinguished courtier, 
 flourished during the reigns of Elizabeth and of James I., at 
 whose coronation he was made Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
 and a member of the Privy Council. 
 
 In 1604 he obtained a grant of Warwick Castle, and in 1620 
 was created Baron Brooke of Beauchamp’s Court in Warwick- 
 shire. Sir Fulke died unmarried in 1628, and was succeeded by 
 his kinsman, Robert Greville, second Baron Brooke, who became 
 a distinguished general in the Parliamentary Army during the 
 Civil Wars. He was at the Battle of Edgehill in 1642, and was 
 killed in 1643, by a musket ball in Litch&ld. 
 
 Colonel Fulke Southwell Greville married, in 1840, the only 
 daughter of the Marquis of Westmeath. He represented the 
 County Longford from 1852 to 1869, and was elevated to the 
 peerage in the December of that year, and died in 1882. 
 
 The present Lord Greville was born in 1841. He married, 
 in December, 1863, Lady Beatrice Violet Graham, daughter of 
 the Duke of Montrose. His Lordship was elected member for 
 this county in 1865. Mr. Marlay issued an address to the 
 electors, in which he stated that he was a Conservative, but 
 without bigotry. He retired from the contest the day of nomi- 
 nation, and Mr. Pollard Urquhart and Mr. A. W. H. Greville 
 were returned unopposed. 
 
 At the dissolution of Parliament in 1868, consequent on the 
 defeat of the Conservatives on the Disestablishment of the 
 Protestant Church, the same representatives were returned 
 unopposed. 
 
 In January, 1869, on Mr. Gladstone’s forming a Government, 
 Mr. Greville accepted ofiice, which necessitated his re-election. 
 He presented himself before his constituents, and as Disestablish- 
 ment and Disendowment were the order of the day, his accept- 
 ance of office w’as approved of, and he was a third time returned 
 unopposed. At the General Election in 1874, his lordship was 
 bitterly opposed, in consequence of his having supported in 
 
12 
 
 1871, the Westmeath Coercion Act, an Act which was largely 
 drawn on by Mr. Gladstone in 1881 as a precedent and founda- 
 tion for further coercive enactments. Mr. Greville was opposed 
 by Lord Montague, a renegade in religion and politics, who was 
 returned by an overwhelming majority, and, like the late Sir 
 Eichard Levinge, he basely violated his promise. 
 
 Lynn. 
 
 Lynn lies about two miles south of Mullingar, and is bounded 
 by Lough Ennel and the river Brosna on the west, and contains 
 4,436 statute acres. An abbey was erected here in the early 
 period, called Lann-Leire, or the Church of Austerity. The 
 “ Four Masters” contains the following notices of this place : — 
 
 “ 741 — Comynge O’Mooney, Abbot of Lann-Leire, died. 781 — Moinagh 
 O’Mooney, Abbot of Lann-Leire, died. 843 — Gormghal, Bishop and 
 Ancliorite of Lann-Leire, died. 848 — Fearchair, Abbot of Lann-Leire, 
 died. 867 — Flann, Abbot of Lann-Leire and Oeconomus of Armagh, died. 
 893 — Cairbre, Abbot of Lann-Leire, died. 900 — Maelcianain, Bishop of 
 Lann-Leire, died. 919 — Cearnach, Abbot of Lann-Leire, died, of whom 
 it was said, ‘ the torch of the plain (good in battle) of Bregia, the fair and 
 lovely, stout his strength, brilliance of the sun, the sun upon his cheek, 
 Cearnach of Leire, mournful the loss of him.’ 921 — Cucongalta, priest of 
 Lann-Leire, the Tethra (e.e. the singer or orator), for voice, personal form, 
 and knowledge, died. 930 — Swyny, Abbot of Lann-Leire, died. 965 — 
 Flann, Abbot of Lann-Leire, died. 968 — The refectory of Lann-Leire was 
 burned by Donald MacMurchadh, and four hundred persons were destroyed 
 by wounding and burning there, both men and women. 1002 — Lann-Leire 
 was plundered, and the plunderers were overtaken and slaughtered by the 
 men of Breagha. 1017— Oenghus, Airchinneach of Lann-Leire, died. 
 1021 — Maenach, priest and Airchinneach of Lann-Leire, died. 1050 — Lann- 
 Leire was plundered and burned. 1148 — Lann-Leire was plundered.” 
 
 “ The ‘ Martyrology of Donegal ’ marks the festivals of St. Furadhran and 
 St. Baothan (brothers) of Lann-Leire, at the 18th June, 1446. Donald 
 O’Coffey, a good military leader, and a learned poet, and his two sous were 
 slain on Cro-Inis of Lough Ennel of the son of Nemeth, by the sons of Art 
 O’Melachlin, and the sons of Fiacha Mageoghegan.” 
 
 The family of Coffey, of which there are a good many in 
 Westmeath still, produced many eminent poets and theologians. 
 
 Lough Ennel, or Belvidere Lake, as it is often called, lies 
 about two miles to the south of Mullingar, and is a beautiful 
 sheet of water, about four and a-half miles in length, by one and 
 a-half in breadth. It is studded with eight islands, the largest 
 of which is called Fort Island, and was garrisoned and used as 
 a magazine by the Army of the Confederation in the war of 
 1641, and was twice taken by the Parliamentary forces, and 
 ultimately retained by them till the restoration. The names of 
 the others are Shan Oges, Goose, Cro-Inis, Cormorant, Cherry, 
 Chapel, and Green Island. The Brosna passes through it from 
 north to south. Cro-Inis was in ancient times selected by the 
 
13 
 
 kings of Eoyal Meath as one of their places of abode, and the Abbe 
 MacGeoghegan informs ns that the celebrated Malachy, “ who 
 wore the collar of gold,” had a castle here worthy of so great 
 a monarch. Here it was that the tyrant Turgesius was seized 
 by Malachy, and consigned to a watery grave for his cruelty and 
 oppression. There are some handsome mansions on the shores 
 of Lough Ennel, viz.: Lynnberry, La Mancha, Bloomfield, and 
 Belvidere. In this beautiful villa, where the last Earl of Belvi- 
 dere resided, are some extensive and well executed imitations of 
 castellated ruins. Adjoining the latter, and four miles from 
 Mullingar, is Eochfort, formerly the seat of Sir Francis Hopkins. 
 The house is a very fine structure, and the demesnes stretch 
 for a considerable distance along the shores of Lough Ennel. 
 Near Eochfort are Anneville, and Garrick. Three miles from 
 the town, on the north shore of the lake, is Ledistown and 
 Belmont. On the western shore of the lake, opposite to Eoch- 
 fort, the site of the beautifully situated demesne of Hysart can 
 still be traced by a few remaining trees. The house is a ruin, 
 and the demesne is divided into farms. This was for ages the 
 residence of the Nugent family, who were Catholics. 
 
 MacGeoghegan gives the following account of the drowning of 
 Turgesius in Lough Ennel, in 835 
 
 ‘‘ Malachy, King of Meath (the remembrance of the cruelty practised on 
 his people by the fierce invaders, rankling in his breast), promised to send 
 him his daughter to an island in Lough Vair, together with fifteen illus- 
 trious virgins. This gave delight to Turgesius, Avho came with as many of 
 his own nation, on the clay and place appointed. In the meantime Malacliy 
 had the country scoured for fifteen young men without beards, of known 
 honour and bravery, whom he caused to be dressed in women’s clothes, with 
 each a poniard concealed under Ids robe, and gave them the instructions 
 necessary to execute his project, which would put an end to the tyranny. 
 He also inspired them with sentiments of religion and patriotism, and com- 
 manded them to defend the honour of the princess at the peril of their lives, 
 and to have the doors open for him, in order that he might come to their 
 succour, with a body of troops which he should hold in readiness, at a short 
 distance; and lastly, to seize the tyrant and chain him, without depriving 
 him of life. Turgesius did not fail to repair the day appointed to receive the 
 Princess Melcha and her fifteen young ladies. He even invited fifteen of the 
 principal officers of his army to share in the festival. After spending the 
 day in feasting, each of the officers were shown the apartment intended for 
 him, and orders given to the guards and other domestics to retire. Turgesius 
 himself remained alone in his apartment, where he impatiently awaited the 
 arrival of the princess. The porter, who was the only one of the domestics 
 entrusted with the secret, soon entered with the princess, accompanied by the 
 little troupe of amazons, who came like a second Judith to deliver her people. 
 The tyrant, who was heated with wine, was about offering insult to the princess, 
 when the young men immediately threw off their robes, and drawing their 
 weapons, seized him, and with strong cords tied him to the pillars of the bed. 
 They then opened the gates of the castle to permit Malachy and his troops to 
 enter, who fell on the garrison, commencing with the officers, putting all to 
 the sword except Turgesius. When Malachy had given the place up to 
 plunder, in which they found immense booty, he repaired to the spot where 
 the tyrant was chained, and reproaching him with his tyranny, vice, and 
 
14 
 
 cruelty, and having loaded him with chains, had him carried in triumph before 
 him. ’ He allowed him to live a few days in order that he might be a witness 
 before his death of the sufferings of his countrymen, and then he caused him 
 to be thrown, as he was, into Lough Ennel, in Westmeath, where he 
 perished.” 
 
 Piers says of Lough Ennel : — 
 
 “ On the south side thereof jutteth out into the lake a very pleasant penin- 
 sula, being about three or four acres of ground joined to the mainland by a 
 very pretty neck of land of about forty yards in length, and about half that 
 in breadth. The Chersonese is clothed with all sorts of forest trees, which 
 fill the arva, except one green spot in the centre, a place very delightful and 
 satisfactory to the beholders, for even at a distance it affordeth a very 
 pleasant prospect to such as travel westward from Mullingar, or southward to 
 it. Into this water, as aforesaid, the golden hand of Lough Owel flows from 
 the east end of Mullingar, and is united at the west end under the name of 
 the Brosna. In this lake is an island belonging to the land of Dysart, which 
 was in some sort fortified by the Irish in the latter end of the late wars, and 
 held as a garrison by them, and made one of the chief repositories of their 
 wealth. Yet, notwithstanding, it was taken on composition by the English, 
 who held it, until by the treachery of one Ryling, of Mullingar, whom the 
 governor of it trusted with his cots for exportation of goods. He delivered 
 the cots unto some of the Irish captains, who by this means, on a dark night, 
 landed their men, and set on the governor unawares, and surprised him and 
 his garrison. No great slaughter was committed in the action, they were all 
 made prisoners, till the English, getting together a good force of cots, forced 
 them to surrender again.” 
 
 There is an old tradition, that during the dark penal days, 
 seven friars, belonging to one of the monasteries of Mulhngar, 
 owing to the severity of the laws, secreted themselves on Gro- 
 Inis, amid the ruins of Malachy’s Castle, and that they were 
 supplied with food and other necessaries by the faithful people 
 on shore. How long they remained there it is impossible to 
 say, but unfortunately for the poor fathers, their hiding place 
 was discovered by a prying scoundrel named M , a Govern- 
 
 ment informer and priest-hunter, wLo hunted down the clergy 
 in his day with remorseless ferocity. It is stated that they 
 were hanged on the island, and that the remains of the faithful 
 friars were removed to Lynn Churchyard, and buried in the one 
 
 grave. For years the name of M was execrated, and up 
 
 to this day the old people in the neighbourhood of Mullingar 
 tell us that one of the name is enough in the country, and too 
 much. 
 
 Ledistown, the seat of Mr. Lyons, lies about three miles west 
 of Mullingar. The late Mr. J. C. Lyons, in his “ History of the 
 Grand Juries of Westmeath,” gives the following account of his 
 family : — 
 
 “ There is every reason to be persuaded that the family of Lyons is of an 
 old Protestant (or as they were denominated. Huguenots) race, and that they 
 must have left France some time during the reign of Charles IX. or Henry 
 III., w'hen the country was the theatre of civil and religious war, in the early 
 part of our Elizabeth’s reign. We find in the reign of James I., 1622, that 
 William Lyons, who died in 1G33, purchased the estate of Clonarrovv, now 
 
15 
 
 <’alled Eiver Lyons, and the lands of Mullalough, or Cavemount, Killeen and 
 Killoneen, containing upwards of three thousand acres, in the King’s County, 
 from Patrick Lord Dunsany ; and we find in the reign of Charles II., which 
 was long before the Edict of Nantes, Charles Lyons, son of William, was in 
 possession of the paternal property there. The first of the family who settled 
 at Ledistown was John, which he purchased from Randal Adams in 1715, 
 who had obtained large grants of land in this county by certificate, 14th 
 September, 1666, forfeited by Richard Hope. He also purchased property 
 from William Henman, of the City of London, goldsmith, one of the adven- 
 turers who had advanced money to carry on the Irish war. The house of 
 Ledistown was originally an old castle, and in the year 1769, John Lyons 
 made an addition to it by building a new front. In 1813 the old castle was 
 thrown down, and considerable alterations were effected.” 
 
 The late Mr. J. C. Lyons was born in 1792, and succeeded 
 to the property on the death of his grandfather in 1808. He 
 was captain in the Westmeath Militia in 1815, and High Sheriff 
 in 1816. He was appointed a magistrate in 1819, and was 
 Chief Magistrate of Mullingar from 1817 to 1837, since which 
 period the of&ce has not been renewed. He was Chairman of 
 the Mullingar Board of Guardians for years. On the bench Mr. 
 Lyons was very witty, but pungent, and his sarcasm was more 
 admired than his wit. In justice to his memory, he gave de- 
 fendants a latitude to defend themselves, and permitted them 
 to make statements that would not be tolerated at the present 
 day. About thirty-two years ago the writer strolled into the 
 Courthouse, Mullingar, where the great man was presiding, 
 which at that time was a fashionable resort for idlers, and from 
 the large audience present it was evident that the bill of fare 
 provided for the lovers of nonsense was good. For obvious 
 reasons I decline to give the names of the litigants who figured 
 before the Minor, the name by which he was termed. 
 
 Mr. K AND HIS Dog. 
 
 A substantial old farmer, and a bachelor, Mr. K , who 
 
 residing about two miles from the town, was charged by a con- 
 stable with having a wicked dog, his property, wandering on the 
 public road, without log or muzzle, to the great annoyance and 
 terror of Her Majesty’s subjects, but particularly the police, 
 with whom he kept no truce — for them there was no close 
 
 season. Mr. K — ^ was a man of frugal habits, and an 
 
 economist of the first water. His canine follower was most 
 useful to his master in keeping off the premises all tramps, or 
 in fact any one that wanted anything from him. When the 
 case was called he mounted the table, and politely bowed to the 
 justices, by giving the forelock a violent pluck. He wore an 
 old riding coat, and, miser as he was, he did not grudge the 
 tailor plenty of frieze, and in justice to the last-named worthy, 
 whoever he was, his most bitter enemy, if he had any, could not 
 accuse him of cabbaging. His brogues were innocent of blacking 
 
16 
 
 for some weeks, and the luxuries of Fred Lewis’s toilet re- 
 quisites were unknown to him. On the charge being proved he 
 was asked if he had anything to say in mitigation of fine. His 
 defence was the essence of simplicity — “ Bure the poor craythur 
 was in dilikate state iv health altigether for some time past, and 
 that it would he cruelty to animals to subject it to the indignity 
 of log or muzzle. Troth, yer honor, he’s complainin’ a long 
 time, an’ he's an ould follower iv the family, an’ I thought id a 
 pity to hamper the poor fellow wid what he couldn’t carry.” 
 
 “What ails the dog?” asked his worship, with one of his 
 bland smiles. 
 
 “ Troth, yer honor,” replied K , “ he has a turrible 
 
 cowld, altogether, an’ a cough an’ smotherin’ (great laughter), 
 purtiklerly at night an’ mornin’. 
 
 “ Has it a spitting with the cough ?” (renewed laughter) in- 
 quired the witty magistrate. 
 
 “ No, plase yer honor, he hasn’t ; bhnd sarra bit he ates, savin’ 
 yer presence, rests on his stomach.” 
 
 Mr. Lyons^ — “ He is in a poor state.” 
 
 “ True for ye, sir, he is, an’ id’s I knows id well.” 
 
 Mr. Lyons — “Now, pay attention to me Mr. K , and I 
 
 will give you a prescription that will restore your dog to health, 
 and leave it able to carry a log.” 
 
 “ Arrah, my blessin’ an’ the blessin’ iv God fall down an top 
 iv you, throth iv there’s a stray one knocking about yer sure to 
 get id. Yer the tindher, kind-hearted gintleman ; bedad id ’ill 
 be a woe day for us here in Mullingar when we lose ye. Id’s 
 you that can give the purty, kind advice to poor ignorant people 
 lek mesel’, ye wouldn’t fly in a passion, like other gentlemin, 
 an’ tell us to go be 
 
 Mr. Lyons — “ Mr. K , please moderate your eloquence, 
 
 and your prayers, you will have ample time for that by-and- 
 by. Before you go home call into Mr. Murray’s and get a box 
 of Hr. Locock’^ Pulmonic Wafers. Will you think of that ?” 
 
 “ Bedad an’ I will, sir. Dr. Locock’s Pulverizin’ Weavers.” 
 (Great laughter.) 
 
 Mr. Lyons — “ Get also a bottle of best brandy, give the 
 dog a half-glass of it, with two of the wafers through it, night 
 and morning, and after a few days it will be able to carry a log.” 
 
 “ Arrah, long, life to yer honor, throth yer the heart iv the 
 rowl ; bedad I’m the boy that ’ill give him hould-belly-hould in 
 the brandy. That I may always have ye afore me the seldom 
 time I come, fais id ruz the cockles iv me poor ould heart to 
 hear you talk so friendly to the people ; och, what a pity it is 
 other mahjisthrates wouldn't act as you do. God bless ye every 
 day ye see a pavin’ stone, and every day ye don’t. A good 
 mornin’ to yer honor, I’m off now.” 
 
 . Mr. Lyons — “ Easy, now, Mr. K , we have had a good 
 
17 
 
 deal of bantering, but what about the dog having no log or 
 muzzle 
 
 Mr. K- Arrah, sure we^re not talkin’ about dogs or 
 
 logs now, id’s brandy and Dr. Woodcock pulverizin’ the weavers 
 we’re spakin’ about.” 
 
 Mr. Lyons — “You are endeavouring to humbug, sir, for the 
 last ten minutes ; for my part, I do not believe you would give 
 the rinsing of your churn to any poor person in the parish, nor 
 to the dog either if you could avoid it. You are fined 10s. and 
 costs for not having the dog under proper control, and you must 
 pay it before you leave the court. Eecollect I am not charging 
 you for the prescription.” 
 
 Mr. K “ You’re jokin an me now, sir, bhud sure yer 
 
 welcome to yer joke.” 
 
 Mr. Lyons — “ I am not joking now. I will not permit you to 
 leave court till you pay.” 
 
 Here the old man became so excited that he threw the money 
 to the clerk, exclaiming, “ My big b — k — may fall on top iv ye 
 Minor Lyons. Id will be a blissed day for th e people when the 
 d 1 takes you to himself, body and bones.” 
 
 Mr. Lyons (calm). — ‘ Now, for your disrespect and con- 
 tempt, you are fined 10s. additional, and every disrespectful 
 word you utter till you quit the court, I shall fine you 10s. 
 more.” 
 
 Mr. K “ Well, I suppose id wont be a contimpt iv coort 
 
 to curse ye outside” (laughter). It is needless to say the old 
 miser retired from court a sad, but wiser, man, and on reaching 
 the street he showered a string of maledictions on the magis- 
 trate, and piously consigned all the descendants of Shallow to a 
 region far warmer than our own variable climate. 
 
 On another occasion a shoemaker was charged with assault- 
 ing a woman, and threatening her. On the charge being proved, 
 the son of Crispin was asked if he had anything to say. 
 
 “ No, in throth, I haven’t,” replied the manipulator of leather, 
 I care so little about the charge that I wouldn’t attend on the 
 summons only jist to put your worship on your guard against 
 this woman ; she’s always ballaraggin yer honor.” 
 
 Mr. Lyons — “ What does she be saying about me, sir,” in- 
 quired his worship, with one of those benign smiles that litigants 
 dreaded more than his frown. 
 
 “ Why, sir,” replied the unwary shoemaker, “ she says you’re 
 one of the greatest ould rascals in the country, an’ that it’s a 
 shame an’ disgrace to have you on the bench of justice, an’ that 
 she’ll have ye hunted off it.” 
 
 “ Anything else?” asked the disconcerted justice, apparently 
 taking a deep interest in the artful tale. 
 
 “ Och, in throth I could tell ye more, bhud I’d be ashamed.” 
 
 “ Very good,” exclaimed the great man, “ I am very thankful 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 to you for the deep interest you take in guarding my reputation. 
 I will endeavour to guard myself from this woman, and I think 
 you will have good reason to do the same. I am forty years on 
 the bench, and it is nearly time to hunt me, but, my dear sir, 
 before the little authority I have is taken out of my hands, I 
 will venture to send you to jail for two months, thanking you 
 for your generous advocacy of me.” 
 
 On another occasion the wife of a cobbler charged another 
 woman, also the wife of a cobbler, with assaulting her, and using 
 violent language. His Honor, after gazing a few seconds at 
 them, requested to know their social position, and whether they 
 were widows, spinsters, or married. The lady complainant 
 stated that her husband was a shoemaker, and that her opponent 
 called her Peggy Prod, a title which no respectable woman could 
 suffer to be called. The defendant objected to Mrs. Prod calling 
 her husband a shoemaker ; he was only a cobbler, and the worst 
 that ever sat in the market-house. Her husband was only a 
 cobbler, pure and simple. She provoked her by calling her Molly 
 Stab. His Honor, after allowing the amazons to waste their 
 eloquence on each other, and trace pedigrees, decided that they 
 should return to the market-house, and that the husband of 
 each should stitch on with a tough wax-end a theehveen on their 
 mouths. This decision was approved of by the loungers in court. 
 It is needless to say that the sentence was not carried out. The 
 amiable pair adjusted the quarrel in the first public house they 
 met. 
 
 In 1856 Mullingar came under the provisions of the Towns 
 Improvement Act, and before a town magistrate was appointed, 
 all offenders against the Act were brought up at Petty Sessions, 
 before Mr. Lyons and his brother justices. It is needless to say 
 that the great man was opposed to all innovations, or anything 
 that tended to encroach on the privileges of the Upper Ten. 
 The result was, for a time the Act was nearly a dead letter in 
 the town. On one occasion the eccentric town sergeant, John 
 M., whose special duty was to look after a certain class of delin- 
 quents, applied to the bench to know how he would serve 
 summonses on offenders who braved the law, and set his man- 
 dates at defiance. The sergeant complained that whenever he 
 presented them with the dread missive of the law they ran away. 
 Mr. Lyons, after hearing the application, advised him to purchase 
 a bottle of the far-famed nostrum for restoring grey hair to its 
 original colour, and whenever he had a billet for his friends, he 
 should dress in soldier’s clothes. 
 
 The Kochfort Family. 
 
 The Rochfort family, who ruled Westmeath with a rod of iron 
 for nearly a century and a half, settled in Ireland about the year 
 
19 
 
 1243, in the reign of Henry III., and are supposed to have come 
 from France. John Hochfort was the first who settled at Kilbride, 
 County Meath. He was the eldest son of Sir J ohn Rochfort, of 
 Tristledelan, of 1384, and came to Kilbride in the year 1415. 
 Robert Rochfort, the notorious Earl of Belvidere, was born in 
 1708 ; in 1731 he represented this county in Parliament in place 
 of his father, and was, in 1737, created a peer, by the title of 
 Lord Belfield. In 1751 he was created Viscount Belfield, and in 
 1757 Earl of Belvidere. In 1736 he married secondly, Mary, 
 eldest daughter of Richard, third Viscount Molesworth. The 
 tyranny and cruelty practised on this lady by the monster 
 who plighted his word to honour and love her as a wife, would 
 fill a volume, and afibrd materials for a sensational novel. 
 
 The late Mr. J. C. Lyons, in his interesting work, “ The Grand 
 Juries of Westmeath,” furnishes the following particulars of the 
 imprisonment and persecution to which this hapless lady was 
 subjected : — “ The father of Miss Molesworth (Richard, third 
 Viscount Molesworth), was an officer of distinguished bravery. 
 He was aide-de-camp to the Duke of Marlborough at the battle 
 of Ramilies. It was at this period that his eldest daughter, 
 Mary, first attracted the regards of Robert Rochfort, a gentleman 
 of very ancient family in this country. He is described as a man 
 of considerable talent and abilities, elegant and expensive in his 
 tastes, and highly polished, courtier-like manners, but at the same 
 time haughty, and vindictive in temper ; selfish, unprincipled, 
 and dissipated in his conduct. He possessed high interest at the 
 English Court, a circumstance which doubtless recommended him 
 to Lord Molesworth, who, besides being captivated by his pre- 
 possessing exterior, had sufficient worldly policy to encourage the 
 addresses of one, for whom he naturally anticipated honours and 
 advancement. Mr. Rochford was, indeed, at this time, considered 
 one of the brightest ornaments of the court, and so highly es- 
 teemed was he by the reigning monarch, George II., that about 
 this period he was created Baron Belfield, and afterwards a 
 Viscount. Miss Molesworth was but sixteen, too young to ven- 
 ture on much opposition to a marriage which all around her were 
 endeavouring to promote. In a spirit of sorrowful foreboding, 
 she at length gave a reluctant consent, and this ill-fated union took 
 place August 1st, 1736. Just before its celebration, it is said 
 that she sat for her picture, and the idea being suggested of her 
 adopting some peculiar costume, she was induced to select that by 
 which, in the shape of the coiffure more especially, we recognise 
 the portraits of another captive, her namesake, the hapless Mary 
 of Scotland. From an early period after marriage the lady was 
 destined to find her sad forebodings realised in the coldness and 
 neglect of her husband. She was surrounded by flatterers, some 
 of whom, from selfish motives, had been originally opposed to his 
 entering the married state at all, and who were, therefore, on the 
 
20 
 
 watch to prejudice Lord Belvidere against his young wife. One 
 there was more especially, who, from the first had been her 
 deadliest foe, and to whom, it is said, the countess owed all her 
 misfortunes. This artful and unprincipled person had formerly 
 held powerful influence over the affections of the Earl, and now 
 dreaded, naturally, the influence of the youthful and virtuous wife. 
 The year after her marriage Lady Belvidere disappointed the 
 anxious hopes of her husband for an heir; by giving birth to a 
 daughter ; but as this event was succeeded in due course by that 
 of a son — a fine and promising child — we may suppose that, for 
 a time at least, it served to revive some feelings of affection 
 towards the mother. For the first few years after their marriage. 
 Lord and Lady Belvidere resided for the most part at Gaulstown, 
 a mansion belonging to the former in Westmeath, and here, in 
 course of time, two other sons were born to them. The residence 
 was a large, ancient, gloomy structure, of the days of Edward III. 
 It had belonged to the chief Baron Eochfort, and alluded to by 
 Dean Swift. The painful associations afterwards connected with 
 it induced the second, and last, Earl of Belvidere to dispose of the 
 mansion, which was purchased by the late Lord Kilmaine, and an 
 elegant and modern house has long since been raised on the site 
 of the old one. It may well be supposed that the retirement of 
 the country, and other routine of domestic life had few attractions 
 for Lord Belvidere, and the result was long and frequent absences 
 on his part, either spent amidst the brilliant circles of George III., 
 or else at the Irish Court ; for we are speaking of a time prior to 
 the Union, when Dublin held its annual Parliament, and was 
 the residence of the aristocracy of Ireland. Fortunately for the 
 Countess she prefered the quiet, unexciting scenes of domestic 
 life. Meanwhile, as time went on, the visits of the Earl to his 
 wife and family became less frequent, and when they did take 
 pla,ce, there was a settled gloom on his brow, a searching severity 
 of manner, which could not escape Lady Belvidere, and caused in 
 h?er mind the direst forebodings. Just eight years after this ill- 
 fated union had taken place, did the long-threatening storm buist 
 forth, and the lady was charged with infidelity to her husband ; 
 the partner of her alleged guilt being one, whose near ajfinity to 
 him might be supposed to have set at rest all suspicion. The 
 account from which we derive our information states, that she at 
 first expressed both surprise and indignation, but afterwards 
 proceeds to add, that to the astonishment of her friends. Lady 
 Belvidere, driven to desperation, was induced, though perfectly 
 innocent, to make an acknowledgement of guilt, with the view of 
 strengthening the grounds for a divorce, and thus ridding her of 
 a husband, whom it was now impossible not to hate. Of any real 
 infidelity she, at after periods, most repeatedly protested her in- 
 nocence, and she made a declaration to the same effect, by a solemn 
 oath, on her death-bed, upwards of thirty years after. The othar 
 
21 
 
 party named was his lordship’s brother, Arthur, who is represented 
 as highly exemplary in conduct, an affectionate father, and most 
 attached husband. Between him and his amiable partner any 
 feeling of jealousy was unknown. Happy in themselves, and in 
 their children, both entertained a sincere pity for the young and 
 I interesting, but neglected wife of Lord Belvidere, with whose 
 profligate character, and mode of life, they were better acquainted 
 - than was the world in general. Their country residence, Belfield, 
 closely adjoined Gaulstown, and united alike by ties of relationship 
 and regard, a constant intercourse was naturally kept up between 
 them and its fair mistress. The result of the charge made against 
 her was a trial. The principal witness against her was the artful 
 and unprincipled woman already alluded to ; and so well concocted 
 was the conspiracy, that damages to the amount of £20,000 were 
 awarded to the Earl ; upon which the ill-fated defendant, unable 
 to meet so large a demand, fled the country. The history of his 
 subsequent life is told in a few words. After residing in banish- 
 ment for many years, his Irish property neglected, and no allevia- 
 tion to his su&rings, he was unfortunately induced, after a 
 lengthened interval, to return to Ireland, trusting that the effects 
 of time had softened the stony heart of the Earl. But he was 
 mistaken, the seeds of jealousy had taken too deep root there to be 
 easily eradicated. Lord Belvidere caused him to be arrested, and he 
 lived and died in confinement, protesting to the last his entire in- 
 nocence of the foul charge laid against him. Lady Belvidere, far 
 from having the wish granted which would have divorced her 
 from the Earl, was reserved by him for a very different fate. 
 Her nominal residence had hitherto been at Gaulstown, an old and 
 inconvenient structure, which afforded little scope for the exercise 
 of that superior taste for which the proud nobleman was distin- 
 guished. Beyond its fine gardens, on which much cost and labour 
 had been bestowed, the place had no recommendation for him, 
 and he therefore, at this period, came to the determination of 
 abandoning it as a residence for ever. Lord Belvidere accord- 
 ingly removed his establishment, and took up his abode a few 
 miles distant, at a very beautiful mansion, which still goes by his 
 title, and is well known to all the lovers of the picturesque in that 
 neighbourhood. This mansion, the building of which was hardly 
 completed, immediately adjoins the noble house and demesne 
 called Bochfort. Between these two mansions there remains an 
 artificial ruin of an abbey, so true to reality, and so exquisitely 
 designed, as to excite the admiration of all who view it. The 
 tradition of this ruin having arisen out of a family feud is gene- 
 rally known, and that it was built by one brother to exclude from 
 his sight the residence of the other ; but few are aware that with 
 Bobert, Earl of Belvidere, originated this design, and that he 
 even went to enormous expense in getting over from Italy a cele- 
 brated Florentine architect of the day, named Barradotte, to 
 
22 
 
 superintend the erection of the ruin. This circumstance, and the 
 domestic difference between himself and a younger brother, which 
 gave rise to it, took place at a much later epoch than that of which 
 we are now treating, and when his lordship was in the decline of 
 his life ; but it is so characteristic, and goes so far to confirm the 
 singular and systematic manner in which his vindictive nature 
 showed itself, as to render the fact worthy of notice. In making 
 an arrangement for quitting his residence at Gaulstown, he had a 
 two-fold design in view. He was thereby enabled to occupy the 
 mansion more congenial to his taste, and at the same time to con- 
 vert the other into an asylum for Lady Belvidere, sufficiently near 
 at hand to enable him to keep a constant surveillance over her 
 proceedings. In this plan he was at no loss to find coadjutors, 
 for the landed property, and consequently the interest, of the Earl 
 was very great in the surrounding neighbourhood, where, it is 
 said, he reigned with arbitrary sway, his words and actions being, 
 in fact, considered as law. 
 
 Here, then, in a manner as unexpected to herself as it was 
 unprecedented in the annals of domestic tyranny, was the hapless 
 subject of our memoir confined, deprived of all social intercourse 
 with her friends, and denied that liberty permitted to the meanest 
 of her fellow -creatures. In all other respects there was every 
 attention paid to her wants and wishes. She had a reasonable 
 number of domestics at her control, and the use of a carriage, 
 though her drives were limited to the grounds, which were, how- 
 ever, extensive. At the time when the edict was first put in 
 force, which cut her off from society, the countess had not seen 
 her five-and-twentieth birthday, and now, as year after year passed 
 on, the bloom of life wearing away, and bringing no hope of 
 change, so far from producing submission to her hard fate, the 
 desire of emancipation became each day stronger. It was after 
 twelve years of captivity that the lady, by the means of her faith- 
 ful domestics, contrived and effected an escape. The particulars 
 we have no means of ascertaining, but it is known that the intel- 
 ligence was communicated to her husband, who, naturally con- 
 jecturing that the paternal roof was that which she would seek, 
 by a rapid journey succeeded in forestalling her intention. Some 
 hours before the arrival in Dublin of his lady. Lord Belvidere 
 reached the mansion of her father, who at that time occupied a 
 house on the south side of Merrion Square. Here he contrived 
 to work so powerfully upon the feelings of Lord Molesworth, that 
 the latter determined not to expose himself to the importunities 
 of his daughter. We may imagine then, what must have been 
 her feelings when told by the servant that he had strict orders not 
 to admit her. In an agony of disappointment at the cruel re- 
 pulse — which certainly no conduct on her part could justify — Lady 
 Belvidere was for a time speechless, and utterly unable to de- 
 termine what steps to take, or where to fly. Whether Lady 
 
23 
 
 Belvidere was ever permitted to see her relatives we know not. Her 
 course was tracked after she left Lord Molesworth’s house, and 
 we may suppose with what jealous rage the Earl beheld her asking 
 admittance to that of his supposed rival. Suffice it to say, the 
 lady was seized, and, we believe, in less than twenty-four hours 
 after bidding, as she thought, an eternal adieu, was once more 
 the tenant of the gloomy mansion. At length that release arrived 
 of which she had long ceased to hope for. 
 
 “In November, 1774, died Bobert, Earl of Belvidere, in the 
 sixty-sixth year of his age, regretted by few, and so deeply in- 
 volved in debt as to leave but a broken fortune to his heir. Thus 
 for thirty years was Lady Belvidere a close prisoner, in a country 
 where our rulers boast of the liberty of the subject, and denounce 
 the horrors of the Bastile. How these long and weary years were 
 passed we have no exact account to tell us. After the funeral 
 obsequies of the Earl, the young heir, accompanied by his brothers, 
 repaired to Gaulstown to set at liberty the lady whose cruel treat- 
 ment they had ever mourned, with deep but unavailing regret. 
 We may suppose what a change years had brought in the appear- 
 ance of her ladyship, it was simply appalling. Shortly after the 
 release of Lady Belvidere she visited Italy in the company of her 
 son, the second, and last, Earl of Belvidere, and during her sojourn 
 there she embraced the Catholic faith.” 
 
 The second Earl of Belvidere was born in 1738. He was 
 M.P. for this county, and obtained for himself and his father a 
 pension of £800 per annum ; he died in 1814, and having no 
 issue, the title became extinct. His widow married the following 
 year Abraham Boyde, K.C., father of the late G. A. Boyde, Middle- 
 ton Park. The Rochforts are cleared out of Westmeath, root 
 and branch. They were a wicked race, and to this day the name 
 is loathed and execrated in this county. According to the tradi- 
 tions of the people, all the cruelties that diabolical invention could 
 suggest were perpetrated on the wretched, unarmed people. The 
 blood actually freezes with horror at the mere recital of the crimes 
 committed by this family in the eighteenth and commencement of 
 the present century. The bench of justice, if such a thing as justice 
 existed, was polluted by them, and the judicial murders and trans- 
 portation of the wretched peasantry after the memorable election 
 of ’26 shall never be forgotten by Westmeath men. 
 
 In 1836 the house and demesne of Rochfort was purchased by 
 Sir Francis Hopkins. A portion of the property is in possession 
 of the Boyde family ; Bloomfield was sold by Mr. Boyde to 
 Colonel Caulfield, who lived in it for years. Mr. Marlay, it is 
 said, enjoys the settled property of the first Earl of Belvidere, as 
 that nobleman was his great-grandfather on the maternal side. 
 The first of the Marlay family we have any record of is John, of 
 Newcastle-on-Tyne, merchant, who died in 1561. A John Marlay 
 of that town was Mayor from 1637 to 1 662, and received the 
 
24 
 
 honor of knighthood at Berwick. He defended that town against 
 the rebel forces in 1699 (being governor of it), but was obliged to 
 surrender. The first of the family who came to Ireland was 
 Anthony, who resided at Creevagh, near Ballymahon. His 
 son Thomas was appointed Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer 
 in 1742, and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench in 1751. George, 
 the fourth son of Anthony, of Creevagh, was Protestant Bishoj) 
 of Dromore in 1745. A grand-daughter of the above-named 
 Anthony was married to James Grattan, Becorder of Dublin, and 
 M.P. for the city — father of the immortal Henry Grattan. Charles 
 Brinsley Marlay, the present owner of Belvidere— one of the 
 best landlords in Westmeath — presented himself as a candidate 
 for the representation of this county in 1865. In his address he 
 announced to the electors that he was a Conservative, but without 
 bigotry, and that he would not like to see his countrymen shackled 
 with obnoxious oaths (a question that was before the country at 
 the time, for the repeal of some objectionable words in the form 
 of the oath taken at that time by Catholic M.P.’s.) He was 
 favourably received by the people, and the bishop and priests left 
 it to the electors to decide between them the claims of the late 
 Mr. Pollard IJrquart and him, all they asked was to support 
 their candidate. Captain Greville. The contest promised to be 
 an exciting one between the two first-named gentlemen, but an 
 unexpected event brought matters to a close. The night before 
 the nomination some ofiensive placards were posted up by Mr. 
 Marlay ’s committee, with which it was believed he had nothing 
 to do, and the result was he retired from the contest. During 
 the election campaign he was treated with respect and courtesy 
 by all classes. 
 
 Kochfort house and demesne was purchased by Sir Francis 
 Hopkins in 1836. Sir Francis Hopkins, the first baronet, was 
 born in 1757, and was a solicitor. He settled at Athboy, and 
 was for many years agent to Lord Darnley. 
 
 He was an active magistrate,” say^s Mr. Lyons (of course a 
 willing tool of his employer), and distinguished himself when 
 in charge of a party of military, prior to the year 1798, by dis- 
 persing a body of rebels (probably some unfortunates driven to 
 desperation by outrageous laws administered by fellows of the 
 Hopkins type). For which and other services of a similar nature, 
 he had, in the year 1795, a baronetcy conferred on him.” 
 
 This worthy died in 1814, and was succeeded by his son, the 
 late Sir Francis, who figured in an unenviable tragedy in 1846, 
 which we decline to enter into. On his death the property re- 
 verted to his sister, Mrs. Tottenham, relict of Nicholas Loftus 
 Tottenham, Glenfarne Hall, County Leitrim. The Uniackes of 
 Lynberry, like the Rochforts, are cleared out of the county long 
 since. 
 
25 
 
 Lough Owel. 
 
 Lough Owel, rich in historic and fairy lore, lies two miles north- 
 west of Mullingar. This lake is about four miles long by two 
 broad. It is a deep, clear sheet of water fed by internal springs, 
 and forms the principal supply of the Koyal Canal. The banks 
 though not bold rise to a considerable elevation, and are remark- 
 ably beautiful. Though destitute of any striking natural features, 
 and unimproved by art (save where the M. G. W. Railway crosses 
 a portion of it), its deep pellucid waters, diversified with its tiny 
 islets and sweetly-varied though rather naked shores, entitles it 
 to rank amoDgst the most beautiful of our island lakes. From 
 various parts of the public road, and from the lovely pastoral 
 lands which lie around its shores, the lake is seen to great advan- 
 tage. The smooth and verdant lawns — the softly-swelling sheep- 
 depastured hills — the wooded banks — the island timbered, and 
 consecrated by all the mournful associations connected with ruined 
 churches, render the scenery magnificent. 
 
 Portloman, formerly the residence of Lord De Blacquiere, is 
 the only mansion of note on the western bank of Lough Owel. 
 Mount Murray is at the northern end, and the fine seat of Lord 
 Greville, Clonhugh, is situated on the eastern shore, and Leving- 
 ton on the south. Keating says of this lake — 
 
 “ Lough Uair (the ancient name of Lough Owel), in Meath, with eight 
 other noted Irish lakes, hurst forth over the land in the time of Tighernmas, 
 Ard-Kigh, from a.m. 2816 to 2866.” 
 
 M‘Gee has the following account of Lough Owel : — 
 
 “ Turgesius, the Danish or Norwegian tyrant, was drowned in Lough Owel, 
 by order of O’Melachlin, Lord of Westmeath.” 
 
 In the fourth year of the reign of Niall III. (a.d. 837) arrived 
 the great Norwegian fleet of 120 sail, whose commander first 
 attempted the conquest of Erin. Sixty of the ships entered the 
 Boyne, the other sixty the Lifi'ey. This formidable force, accord- 
 ing to all Irish accounts, was soon after united under one leader, 
 who is known in our annals as Turgesius, but of whom no trace 
 can be found of that name in the chronicles of the Northmen. 
 After gaining some battles over the natives, and plundering the 
 islands in Lough Bee, he fixed his residence at Clonmacnoise, and 
 from the high altar of the cathedral, founded three centuries 
 before by St. Kieran, his unbelieving queen, in the absence of the 
 tyrant, issued her despotic edicts. After seven years plundering 
 of the natives, Turgesius was captured by O’Melachlin, Lord of 
 Westmeath, by stratagem, and put to death by the novel process 
 of drowning. 
 
 According to the bardic tale, the tyrant of Lough Bee conceived 
 a passion for the fair daughter of Melaghlin, and demanded her of 
 her father, who, fearing to refuse, affected to grant the infamous 
 
20 
 
 request. He was seized by Malachy’s faithful dependents, loaded 
 with chains, and cast into the lake. Sir Henry Piers says of 
 Lough Owel : — 
 
 “ This lake is situated in the heart of our county, and almost in the very 
 height of it, between the baronies of Corkaree and Moyashell, distant a large 
 mile from Mullingar, and northward of it, a very large, loug and high-seated 
 water, and on every gale tempestuous. Here is abundance of all sorts of fish, 
 salmon excepted — the trouts hereof are the best and largest in Westmeath. 
 Of this water it is observable, that it sendeth forth continually two streams 
 or rivulets, receiving none into it, except a very small one at Portnashangan, 
 which at every drought is dry. One of these streams being the beginning of 
 the Brosna, running out at the south end, and is by the natives called the 
 Golden Hand, or Arm ; the other issueth out at the northern end of the 
 lake, and is called the Silver Hand, or Arm. This silver stream is of a very 
 short course, not full a mile in length, and yet it turneth five overshaft mills, 
 whereof the least hath a wheel twelve feet in diameter, and one might have 
 a wheel eighteen feet, besides which seats might be found with convenience 
 for more mills, if our country could find them employment. These mills are 
 perennial, never dry, not in the greatest drought I ever saw. This brook 
 empties itself into Lough Iron. Towards the southern end of the lake there 
 is an island, and in it a church said to have been of old a place of pilgrimage. 
 In our last long and unhappy war of ’41, towards the latter end thereof, 
 when the power of our English arms began to prevail in the country ! this 
 island was made a garrison, or a place of retreat and safety for the natives, 
 who hitherto, and to all such like places, flocked for securing their persons 
 and goods, until they could make their composition.” 
 
 Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary contains the following par- 
 ticulars of Lough Owel : — 
 
 “ The land around it rises gently from its margin, and is fertile and richly 
 planted. The only stream by which it is supplied is the Brosna. Two 
 streams, called the Golden Arm and Silver Arm, formerly flowed from it, 
 one from each of its extremities ; both have been dammed up, and the low 
 grounds on the borders of the lake raised by embankments, so as to increase 
 the body of water contained in it, in order to render it the feeder of the sum- 
 mit level of the Royal Canal. This alteration has enlarged the surface of 
 the Owel to an extent of 2,400 acres. The lake has four islands, on one of 
 which is the ruins of an ancient church of rude masonry, with a burial ground 
 much resorted to by pilgrims from distant parts. It afforded an asylum to 
 the Protestants in the neighbouring country at the commencement of the war 
 of 1641. The other islands are planted.” 
 
 There are many legends extant of Lough Owel, and the destruc- 
 tion of Old Mullingar by an old witch in olden times, which may 
 prove interesting to the lovers of folk lore. 
 
 Legend of Lough Owel. 
 
 “ Playful and fantastic was the being who once dwelt and had power over 
 the sweet valley through which the waters of Lough Owel now flow. The 
 times alluded to were those when the Tuatha-de-Danans possessed Ireland 
 — when magical power was very prevalent — and a fine town, elder still than 
 Blilmallock, and worthy of its ancient dwellers, covered the bottom of the 
 valley. The fisherman, as he in modem days pushes his boat from the 
 shore, and is disappointed in his venture by the heavens becoming sunlit ; 
 the winds still ; and the calm mirror of the lake assuring him he will cast 
 his line in vain — it is then when he looks down, for want of something else 
 to do, into the translucent deep, that he sees stacks of chimneys, ridge poles, 
 and gables of houses, and even a round tow'er — Ireland’s most ancient edifice 
 
27 
 
 — and he calls to mind the ditty that his nurse had sung about the drowning 
 of Old Mullingar. Well, what a purely mischievous person must she have 
 been that caused this subversion. Yet so it was that a female caused it. 
 It is very much to be doubted whether, in any case, power should be entrusted 
 in the hands of a woman. They are quite too capricious, and they do things 
 too much by the jerk of impulse. So it was in this instance. The Tuatha- 
 de-Danans, who preceded the Milesians in Ireland, were great magicians. 
 So writers assure us. there are remains of their feats in the land even yet, 
 that can only be accounted for in the way of supernatural power. Could 
 any one but a magician take a bite out of a mountain in the county of 
 Tipperary and drop the mouthful at Cashel, where it now stands as the 
 historic rock. In the same way with Lougrh Owe!. Some call her a fairy, 
 others a witch ; anyway she had more power than ladies of the present day, 
 and at one time she travels off to the county of Hoscommon, to visit a witch 
 of her acquaintance, who resided on the borders of a very pretty lake there ; 
 and every night in which witches may disport, she spent her time in fishing 
 for Gillaroo trout ; and when she was in bad humour, in turning a flat stone 
 washed by the waters of the lake, and as ever the ninth wave passed over 
 it, in cursing her enemies. No doubt she was very proud of her way of life ; 
 for, said she, ‘ I have here what few possess, that is, fowl that have gills, 
 and fish that have gizzards.’ Now hither the Westmeath woman bent her 
 way, and after certain days’ entertainment and converse, such as witches 
 alone can enjoy, she says, ‘ Cousin, I’ll be lonesome when I go back to 
 Leinster, without the sweet sounds of the wave-beating waters of the lough ; 
 will you lend it to me until Monday. I will j ust borrow it for the sake of 
 seeing how it will look in my own pretty valley.’ ‘With all the pleasure in 
 life,’ says the Connaught woman, mighty accommodating ; ‘ but how, deary, 
 will you take it with you or bring it back.’ ‘Oh, easy enough ; in my pocket- 
 handkerchief.’ Ladies carried no reticules in those days,— and so she did 
 cleverly enough, and full. Sure it must have been a rare sight to behold it 
 hurrying eastward ; high over the hills of Knockcroghery — aqueducting 
 itself over the broad Lough Ree — disdaining to delay on the plains of Kil- 
 kenny West — and then by a slip of one corner of the kerchief, coming down 
 and settling itself, as if it was born and lived there, in the valley of Owel. 
 No child was ever prouder when paddling in a puddle than the Westmeath 
 witch was of her borrowed water ; and like all wayward and unthrifty ladies 
 it’s little it troubled her that thousands of acres were drowned to provide 
 my lady with a looking-glass. But what was to be done when pay-Monday 
 came ; was the lake to be gathered up again in a shawl and sent back ? By 
 no manner of means. ‘ I have you, my pretty pond, and never again shall 
 your soft murmuring waves kiss a Connaught shore.’ But where’s your 
 honesty, lady Westmeath ? Oh, how ancient is equivocation ! How long 
 has the practice prevailed in the world of not paying just debts ! . Was it 
 from this old witch that so many persons found out that it was not their 
 interest to pay the principal, nor their principle to pay interest ? Of course 
 the Connaught witch in due time came hufBngly, and demanded her lough. 
 ‘ Did you not,’ says she, ‘ promise to return it to me on last Monday ?’ ‘Yes, 
 to be sure I did,’ says she, ‘ but, as the Irish have it, it was on the Monday 
 after eternity ; or, as the English say, it was a Monday come never on a 
 wheelbarrow,’ Bad treatment this to the Connaught woman. But it was 
 to no purpose. She stormed and wept ; and anger-breathing magician as 
 she was, she could not blow back the lake, nor could all her tears create it. 
 What is worse, she had to sit down contented in as ugly a hollow, where 
 once those sweet waters used to flow, as ever Christian laid eyes on, all 
 covered with limestone, and as ugly as a churchyard.” 
 
 The above legend is related by Piers in his “ History of West- 
 meath,” written in 1682, which proves its antiquity. We were 
 confidently told by an old woman that old Mullingar was drowned 
 
28 
 
 hy a malicious old witch because she was refused the loan of a 
 putheen (a small pot) by a respectable old matron who resided in 
 the ancient town. The following is the true story of the catas- 
 trophe. 
 
 Another Legend op Lough Owel. 
 
 Peace to thy ashes poor old Molly B ; thirty years ago you 
 
 were termed by the gentlemen anglers who frequented historic 
 Owel, “ the lady of the lake.” Molly lived on the southern bank 
 of the lough in a neat little cottage, for which she paid neither 
 rent nor taxes. She was the aged queen of the beautiful lake, and 
 no one presumed to dispute her title ; she knew all the gentry of the 
 three counties, and every eminent tourist and traveller who visited 
 Tullaghan (the name of her lake residence), and patronised her for 
 a boat, and whether they bled freely or not, she had a great 
 abhorrence of niggards and misers ; some of them, she would say, 
 “ ud skin a flea for the hide an’ fat.” She was an ardent admirer of 
 ancient lore, and had a decided predilection for everything old, even 
 whiskey. She flrmly believed and inculcated that Lough Owel 
 was the repository of all the fairy treasures of Ireland, and the 
 head-quarters of all the good people, as she reverentially termed 
 them, from the Shannon to the sea ; and that their wealth was 
 jealously guarded by a kelpie and enchanted horse, that could be 
 seen on moonlight nights, foaming and snorting along the banks, 
 from Clonhugh to Portnashangan, and back to Tullaghan, scaring 
 poachers and others from the precincts of the lake. In addition 
 to her other eccentricities, she believed that ancient Mullingar 
 occupied the place of the lough, but at what precise period she 
 would not undertake to say — she left that to the members of the 
 Antiquarian Society to decide. She knew the names of all who 
 were drowned in the lake from the time of Turgesius down to poor 
 Snajffler, and would piously pray for their repose, and end by 
 declaring that they could not escape what fate had in store for 
 them. “ Shure thim that’s born to be hung I’ll niver be dhrowned 
 — id’s all an allotment.” During one of my rambles with other 
 juveniles we visited Molly, and heard from her the following 
 Legend of Lough Owel, which at that time we were as sure of as 
 Molly herself. Having asked her if she heard of Csesar Otway’s 
 version of the legend, she shook her head and replied, I did in 
 troth, bhud sarra haporth he knows about id no more than my 
 coachman, an’ sarra one ever I had. Shure there’s a good many 
 people purtendin’ that they know all about id, an’ ud thrape ye 
 out iv your ould shirt iv ye’d let thim. Bhud I’ll tell ye the rale 
 thrue story about id.” 
 
 “ Ye must know that in the ould ainshint times things wint on much lek 
 the present day, the rich had lashins an’ lavins, an’ the poor had to shift for 
 thimselves the best way they could. 
 
29 
 
 ’Twas an illigant world to live in, 
 
 To lend, or to spend, or to give in ; 
 
 But to beg, or to borrow, or ask for one’s own, 
 
 ’Twas the very worst world that ever was known. 
 
 Well, Mullingar in those ould days was jist where the lake is now ; iv 
 coorse I can’t tell ye what time it was, bhud be all accounts id’s a long time 
 ago ; the Market House I often hard was over near the Church Island, an’ I 
 was tould for sartain that every mother’s sowl iv thim that wor livin’ there 
 at the time the town was there are alive an’ kickin’ still, an’ carryin’ on their 
 bizness jist lek ourselves, in the bottom of the lake— ^bekase a few years ago 
 whin Paddy Phelan iv Portnashangan, fell out iv his boat an’ sunk to the 
 bottom he saw the purtiest houses ever he laid his eyes on, an’ sarra lie poor 
 Paddy id tell, no more than the priest, God rest his sowl in glory — an’ 
 men an’ women walkin’ about, an’ childher playin’, an’ birds singin’, an’ sich 
 lek ; an’ Paddy often tould me he thought they wor makin’ a railway there. 
 He could not say how long he was at the bottom whin a chap kem over to 
 him an’ sed, get up out iv that an’ pay for yer bed, an, he gev him a shove, 
 an’ he niver stopped till he kem to the top iv the wather, an’ he was pulled 
 into the boat jist as if he was in a trance. Well, he didn’t live long afther 
 that, an’ a good many thought id’s what the good people took him away wid 
 thim to the bottom iv the lake, bekase he used to be talkin’ an’ tellin’ the 
 naybors iv all the grandher he seen there.” 
 
 At this stage of the narrative I observed that she was very- 
 long about coming to the drowning or submersion of Mullingar, 
 and how it came about, which extorted from her the remark, “to 
 hould me win’ to cool me porridge,” after which she proceeded 
 with the legend. 
 
 “Well, at the time iv the dhrowning iv Mullingar, there lived over near 
 Cullion, an ould witch, one Judy Cripp, bekase one iv her legs was shorter 
 than tother. She was a wicked, crass ould hag, an’ every one was afeerd iv 
 her, an’ hated her, an’ whinever she wint to the town, iv coorse ye know I 
 mane Mullingar, the gosoons used to be callin’ her names, an’ playin’ thricks 
 on her, an’ tellin’ her to take the thorn out iv her heel. She had a covetous 
 eye, an’ anything she’d see she should get it, an’ anything she’d borrow she’d 
 hould id, bekase there wor no sich things as Coorts iv Law at that time, nor 
 Justasses, nor Removables. Well, Judy wint to the town one day on bizness, 
 an’ she wint into Peggy Shevlin’s house to rest hersel, an’ shurc poor Peggy, 
 who was a dacent women, id jist as soon see ould Nick himsel goin’ into her 
 as Judy, an’ afther biddin’ her good-morrow, she wint to sit down, an’ what 
 d’ye think bhud she stood on Peggy’s cat, an’ me jule id gev a roar that ye’d 
 think all id’s relayshins wor afther dyin’, an’ faix id med a bunnoge out on 
 the door lek murdher, roaring. ‘Musha dirthy wather on ye,’ sez Judy, ‘I never 
 seen anyone bhud id take a joke bhud ye.’ ‘ Ramnayshin saze ye,’ sez Peggy, 
 ‘shure that’s no joke to walk on me cat ; iv yer not out iv me house while I’d 
 be sayin’ thrapstick. I’ll lave ye lookin’ for yer eye in the gutther, ye ould 
 trollop.’ ‘ Aisy weather is best, Peggy,’ sed J udy, ‘I only kem over to ye for the 
 loan iv yer putheen, jist to stew a few new praties.’ ‘Sarra putheen iv my share 
 ever ye’ll use, ye ould Connaught shooler, bekase yer neither lucky nor 
 sonsey to have any dalin’ wid ye.’ ‘Well now I’ll go,’ sed Judy, ‘bhud mind ye’ll 
 rue this day’s work, an’ the whole iv ye in Mullingar.’ ‘ Ye may do your best,’ 
 sed Peggy, ‘ we don’t care three rattles iv a tinker’s praskeen about ye.’ Judy 
 darted out wid fire in her eyes, an’ never cried crack till she was below in the 
 bottom iv Connaught, wid another ould sister iv hers who was a witch too, 
 an’ iv coorse she tould her how Peggy Shevlin wouldn’t obleege her wid the 
 loan iv her putheen ; an’ thin, sez she, ‘ I’ll dhrown every mother’s sowl iv thim 
 in,Mullingar.’ ‘ Bhud how will ye do that,’ sez the sister, ‘shure the people iv 
 Mullingar are in a tumble way altigether for the want iv wather, sarra dhrop 
 they have barrin’ the Brosna river, so you can’t do id wid that.’ ‘Well, I’ll tell 
 
30 
 
 ye,’ sez Judy, ‘how I’ll fix thiin — ye have plinty iy large lakes here, au’ if ye'd 
 jist-. give me the loan iv one iv thim for a week, I’ll bring it back to you, ’pon 
 honor, bekase I’ll have every mother’s sowl iv thim smothered long afore 
 that, an’ sarra putheen ever they’ll refuse me agin, never fear.’ That 
 night whin all wor asleep, she rowled up Lough Owel in her ould plad shawd, 
 an’ on she flew on a broomstick for Westmeath, an’ never halted till she flew 
 right over ould Mullingar, an’ she opened the shawl an’ plopped the lake 
 down on top iv the town, an’ sarra house nor home was to be seen the next 
 mornin’ bhud the big lough iv wather, an’ ould Judy sailin’ over id in a dish 
 singin’ lek a lark. Well long ago people out on the lake on bright days could 
 see the houses in the bottom iv id, streets an’ all, an’ the ould ainshint 
 inhabitants movin’ about their bizness jist lek ourselves ; an’ I often hard whin 
 the Railway was makin’ through it, a chap, wid a glass head on him, called a 
 diver, wint down to the bottom, an’ share enough there he seen ould 
 Mullingar, an’ the putheen that ruz the whole ruck, an’ bedad he managed 
 to stale id, an’ id’s now in the Dublin Mewzame. Well, whin the week was up 
 the Connaught witch expected her lake back again, bhud bedad she closed on 
 it. an’ she had no way to get it back as there wor no polis, jidges, nor juries, 
 these were blessed luxuries unknown to our pagan forefathers, so the lake 
 was never returned.” 
 
 Such was Molly’s version of the legend, which we were uncandid 
 enough to tell her we believed. 
 
 The Romance of Lough Owel. 
 
 The fairy queen, Deirdre, a visit was paying 
 In Connaught, to fairy king Donn ; 
 
 One morning she said, too long I’ve been staying 
 
 With you, my dear Donn, and on moonbeams been straying. 
 
 And pleasant, wild pranks on the people been playing. 
 
 And now away home I must run. 
 
 But ere I depart from the friend of my heart, 
 
 Some gift I would take, to keep for your sake. 
 
 And make me think on thee each morn when I wake. 
 
 Donn kissed the fair queen full often I ween. 
 
 And he cried, anything that belongs here to me, 
 
 I’m too happy dear Deirdre to give it to thee. 
 
 Take hills, or take dales, take mountains or vales. 
 
 Take children in plenty by ten or by twenty. 
 
 Take lake, or take river, how fishful soever. 
 
 If Deirdre but choose it, I shall not refuse it. 
 
 It might look rather shabby to take church or abbey, 
 
 But castles and towns you may have by the score ; 
 
 And though the old owners, awhile may be groaners, 
 
 I don’t care a button, although they be -sore ; 
 
 You may e’en take Croagh Patrick, away rump and stump. 
 If with it, o’er Shannon, you’re able to jump. 
 
 Then Deirdre replied, at once I decide, 
 
 I shall take this bright jewel, the cry'stal Lough Owel, 
 
 In my white pockethandkerchief, wrap it well up, 
 
 And place it at home in an emerald cup. 
 
 Right welcome you are, said the fairy chief, 
 
 To take my bright jewel, the crystal Lough Owel, 
 
 And carry it home in your handkerchief ; 
 
 But take care, my dear daughter, you don’t spill the water, 
 Or let the fine trout in your hurry jump out. 
 
 As you fly like a bird, over forest and heath, 
 
 To your own pleasant home, in the hills of Westmeath. 
 
31 
 
 She spread her white handkerchief out on the ground, 
 
 And on it Lough Owel, she placed like a jewel ; 
 
 Then tightly she fastened the corners all round. 
 
 From Connaught of fountains, she crossed the high mountains, 
 And flew like a bird over forest and heath, 
 
 With the lake in her hand to the hills of Westmeath. 
 
 And she searched all Westmeath for the loveliest place. 
 
 Where a smile ever beams upon Nature’s sweet face, 
 
 And there placed Lough Owel, to shine like a jewel. 
 
 With a margin of green she encircled the whole. 
 
 Till the lake seems to lie in an emerald bowl ; 
 
 But every one wonders what brought the lake there, 
 
 And to end all these wonders the truth I declare. 
 
 POETLOMAN. 
 
 PoRTLOMAN is situated on the western bank of Lough Owel, about 
 three miles north-west of Mullingar. In 1841, the parish con- 
 tained 417 inhabitants, and comprised 1,943 statute acres of good 
 land, principally under grass. Within its limits is Fruin 
 Hill, on the summit of which is a rath ; near its base on 
 the shore of the lake is the seat formerly occupied by Lord 
 De Blacquiere. The mansion is situated in a finely wooded 
 demesne. Besides the rath on Fruin Hill, there are several others 
 within the parish. A monastery was founded here, anciently 
 called Lough Uair, by St. Loman, whose festival was kept in this 
 ohurch on the 7 th February. In O’Clery s “ Irish Calendar ” it 
 is stated that Loman was of the race of Conall Gulban, sou of 
 Niall. In the appendix to the introduction of the “ Martyrology 
 of Donegal,” we have additional notices of this saint — 
 
 “The feast of St. Loman, Bishop, nephew to St. Patrick, by his sister, 
 is celebrated in his church, Portloman, diocese of Meath or Ardbracain, the 
 third of spring or February.” 
 
 His staff is extant, as also his chain, by which women labouring 
 in child-birth, when girt with it, are healed. He is said to have 
 been carried through the air in his boat as far as Ath-Fruin 
 in Meath, and to have built a si]^all house in an island in 
 Lough Huar, near Portloman, in which he lived for the most part 
 on Alexandric herbs, of which there is, there, great abundance. 
 We have another entry of this saint in the “ Martyrology of 
 Donegal ” — 
 
 “ Loman, Bishop, another disciple of St. Patrick, and he was of Ath-Fruin 
 also, and Darerca, his mother, was sister to St. Patrick.” 
 
 There is a second notice in the ** Martyrology ” of St. Loman 
 of Lough Huar (Owel), in Meath, near Multyfarnham. The 
 learned biographer of the Irish Saints, Father O’Hanlon, gives 
 the following particulars of St. Loman : — 
 
 “ His bachall (crozier) is in possession of Walter MacEdwards, in Port- 
 loman.” 
 
32 
 
 Temphall Lommain is on the brink of Lough Owel. The 
 parish has a holyday. There are two rivers flowing out and 
 no river flowing into the lake. In ancient times a town of 
 considerable importance arose here, but not a single vestige of it 
 remains, nor have we any record of the date of its destruction. 
 
 On referring to the “ History of Church Patronage in Ireland by 
 our English Eulers,” we find the following : — 
 
 “ After the Anglo-Norman invasion, the church of Portloman was given to 
 an English Abbey, and in 1846, Thomas, prior of St. Giles, Little Malvern, 
 in Worcestershire, and his convent, granted this church to St. Mary’s Abbey, 
 Dublin.” 
 
 Among the many beautiful lakes of Westmeath, some may be 
 found to rival Lough Owel in depth, extent, and variety of 
 adjacent scenery, yet, none to surpass it in historic and topo 
 graphical interest. Anciently it was called Lough Uair, and here 
 sometime in the sixth century did the Blessed Loman select 
 a charming site for the foundation of a religious establishment on 
 its western banks. Within its limits is Fruin Hill, on the 
 summit of which there is a remarkable rath. 
 
 Portloman house, formerly the residence of Lord De Blacquiere, 
 is now a parish in the barony of Corkaree. The mansion is 
 situated in a fine woody demesne. This, likewise, encloses 
 the ancient church and the ancient graveyard : both of them rise 
 on a gentle sloping green ridge, immediately over the waters of 
 Lough Owel. The ruins measure seventy-seven feet by twenty- 
 four feet. A stone, deeply embedded in the clay, was discovered 
 some years ago. It was shaped like a coffin-lid, and it had a cross 
 inscribed. Probably it maiked the resting-place of some ecclesi- 
 astic in former times. A tourist or pilgrim, visiting Portloman, 
 must linger long at a place endeared by so venerable an antiquity, 
 and by so many religious associations, especially from the old 
 consecrated walls, where the resting place of so many dead 
 contribute to sacred and solemn remembrances ; enchanting 
 scenery is presented on every side. A vast sheet of water spreads 
 far away to the south and east. 
 
 The ancient name of the church here seems to have derived its 
 name from the saint, who 'probably, was the founder. It was 
 called Temphall Lommain, or the church of Loman. It is likely 
 a monastery had been established by him in connection with it, 
 yet, not a period so far back as might be inferred from the 
 statement of those who would make our saint a son of Darerca, 
 sister to our Irish Apostle. In this case St. Loman should be 
 regarded as nephew to the latter, but St. Loman’s family and 
 pedigree are assigned to altogether a difierent stock. It was 
 greatly our wish to visit the ruins of St. Loman’s Church, 
 and, happily, the opportunity was presented. 
 
 After a pleasant row of two miles, in a dkect course, over the 
 still waters of the lough, the writer was landed on Church Island. 
 
33 
 
 Here, indeed, were found subjects for solemn consideration. A 
 very interesting old churcli stands, but in a ruinous state, on the 
 small islet ; it was built of fine limestone ; interiorally it measured 
 thirty feet in length by eighteen feet in width ; the wails were 
 three feet in thickness. An end eastern and circularly-headed 
 window was in the gable, as yet tolerably perfect ; a window can 
 be seen in the north side wall. The west gable has completely 
 disappeared. Elder trees grow within and around the ruins, 
 which are also covered with ivy. An old cemetery extended 
 without the church, and about fifty years before, the last corpse 
 had been conveyed to it by boats and attendants from the 
 mainland. Two distinctly-marked piles of building stones are to 
 be seen on the very margin of the lake, and formerly these 
 were more elevated over its surface than at present. They, 
 however, are the debris of old anchoritical houses now completely 
 dilapidated, bur apparently resembling, in former times, the 
 bee-hive shaped houses to be found in the west and south of 
 Ireland. It is said St. Loman built a small house in an island 
 of Lough Owel, near Portloman, and this seems most likely 
 to have been the identical place. Except at the landing-place and 
 on the higher earth, near the old church and its graveyard, 
 lake-flaggers and reedy-grass lift their tops amid the waters on the 
 islet’s margin. In the seventeenth century there was a holyday 
 to honour this saint at Portloman, near Multyfarnham. There 
 too, his bachall, or crozier, was held by Walter MacEdwards, of 
 Portloman. His chain too was preserved there towards the 
 middle of the seventeenth century. What has become of both 
 cannot be at present ascertained. 
 
 The De Blacquiere Family. 
 
 The De Blacquiere family, the former owners of Portloman, were 
 originally French, and are said to have descended from Anthony 
 Blacquiere, Lord De Blacquiere, in the province of Guienne. 
 John De Blacquiere, one of the Union Lords and plotters, who 
 contrived to have himself elevated to the Peerage in 1799, 
 was born in 1733. He entered the army and was Lieutenant- 
 Colonel of the 17th Light Dragoons. He was honoured with several 
 appointments, civil and military. He was Secretary to the 
 Embassy at the Court of France, in 1770, and soon after Minister 
 to that Court. In 1772 he was appointed Chief Secretary to the 
 Earl of Harcourt, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ; also to the Privy 
 Council. He was made a Doctor of the Canon and Civil Laws, and 
 His Majesty’s Alnager of Ireland. He served for many sessions 
 in Parliament. In 1774, he was invested with the most honourable 
 Order of the Bath, and in 1784, was created a Baronet. In 1799 
 he was raised to the Peerage by the title Baron De Blacquiere of 
 
 0 
 
34 
 
 Ardliill, in the county Derry. De Blacquiere had been Secretary 
 of State from the year 1772 to 1777, from which period, although 
 he ceased to hold any employment, he enjoyed the confidence of 
 the Government, and was employed as a useful tool in hatching, 
 and bringing to maturity, the Act of Union. Certain it is that 
 he stipulated with the unprincipled Irish Members, the amount of 
 reward and titles they were to receive for bartering away the 
 liberties of the Irish people. He purchased Portloman, being 
 part of the Belvidere property, and built the present house ; he 
 also laid out and completed the gardens, amongst the finest, 
 the most perfect and productive of the day. Although having 
 ceased to hold any Government situation, he by no means wished 
 to relinquish his intimacy with the castle, and continued to supply 
 His Excellency with choicest and most exquisite fruits from 
 his hot houses. In 1807 the Duke of Bichmond, the then Lord 
 Lieutenant of Ireland, and Viceregal party, visited Portloman, 
 and attended the usual annual pattern held on the first Sunday in 
 August. His Excellency, it is said, expressed himself well 
 pleased with the amusements and conduct of the people. 
 
 Mr. W. J. Fitzpatrick, in his interesting work, the “ Sham 
 Squire,” tells us that the first Lord De Blacquiere, for his services 
 to the Government, was appointed caretaker of Phoenix Park , and 
 was permitted to turn out any number of cattle he wished to feed 
 on it. By this means he amassed a large fortune, and when the 
 Union was mooted, he was the willing, active, and unprincipled 
 tool of the Government and Castlereagh. The nature of the 
 services rendered by this notorious political trickster, may be 
 gathered from the fact that his letters on public matters were 
 purchased by the castle authorities from his descendants, to 
 prevent exposure of the dark deeds of the actors in the terrible 
 drama of 1798 and 1800. 
 
 The following extract is from “Ireland Before the Union”: — 
 
 “ An impression that we were misinformed has been expressed in reference 
 to a statement made by us, that the papers of Lord De Blacquiere, who, 
 next to Lord Castlereagh, proved the most efficient agent in seducing votes 
 for the Union, were bought up by the Government from his descendants. 
 Having submitted the passage in question to the representatives of the late 
 Lord De Blacquiere, he assures us that our assertion, as regards the 
 purchase, is correct. The papers filled three volumes bound with silver 
 clasps. He required only £100 for each volume, and the papers having 
 been examined at the Home Office, his terms were accepted. Previous, 
 however, to receiving a cheque for the amount, he was required to sign 
 a document pledging himself not to publish any copy of the letters thus 
 bought. Lord De Blacquiere’s family still hold a quantity of papers of a 
 political character, which they have courteously consented to let us use if, on 
 inquiry, the document which was signed does not present any legal obstacle. 
 We are informed that the most interesting of the three volumes was 
 one containing diplomatic inquiries and correspondence of Sir John De 
 Blacquiere, when Secretary to the British Embassy to France, in 1771, and 
 had immediate reference to the movements of the pretender, Prince Charles 
 Edward.” 
 
35 
 
 The historical works which have been written on the Union, 
 record the great exertions of Sir J ohn De Blacquiere to promote it. 
 
 Barrington, in his ‘‘ Eecollections of His Own Times,” supplies 
 the following account of the Union Lord : — 
 
 “ Sir John De Blacquiere flew at higher game than the other Baronets, 
 though he occasionally fell into the trammels of Sir J ohn Hamilton. Sir 
 John De Blacquiere was a little deaf of one ear, for which circumstance he 
 gave a very singular account. His seat, when Secretary, was the outside one 
 on the Treasury Bench, next to a gangway, and he said that so many 
 members used to come perpetually to whisper to him, that the buzz of 
 importunity was so heavy and continuous, that before one claimant’s words 
 had got out of his ear, the demand of another forced its way in, till the 
 ear drum, being overcharged, absolutely burst, which he said turned out 
 conveniently enough, as he was then obliged to stuff the organ tight, and 
 tell every gentleman that his physician had directed him not to use that ear 
 at all, and the other as little as possible. He was in the habit of wearing 
 his Star of the Bath over rather shabby clothes, and his black visage gave 
 him the appearance of a Jew, and in one instance an honest rustic mistook 
 him for one.” 
 
 This remarkable man, who, as Lord Cornwallis records, governed 
 Ireland for years, died, August the 27th, 1812, and was succeeded 
 by his son John, who was born in 1776. He entered the Austrian 
 Service early in life, was in several actions and was twice wounded. 
 He lived a very retired life and dying unmarried in 1844:, was 
 succeeded by his brother, William, the third baron, who attained 
 the rank of General in the army, died by his own hand in 1851. 
 
 Mr. J. C. Lyons, in his “ Grand Juries of Westmeath,” says — 
 
 “ That on the occasion of the visit of the Duke of Richmond to Portloman 
 in 1807, the guests having finished the contents of his Lordship’s cellar, the 
 pattern day of Lough Owel, and being in vulgar parlance, on dry banks. His 
 Excellency declared’ that a supply should be got, without it he would be ill. (I 
 quote the passage, vol II. p. 69^. The Admiral (Pakenham) I suppose by way 
 of assisting his friend, the host, said, ‘ Oh, sooner than your Excellency should 
 incur a fit of illness, we’ll sell by auction some of the fellow’s furniture, and 
 send to Bunbrosna for whiskey. The devil pity him, he should not have asked 
 people here without the means of entertaining them.’ This proposal was 
 agreed to, and loudly cheered, but a difficulty still existed, ‘ where shall we 
 find bidders.’ It was suggested that if any of the persons they saw at the 
 pattern were still there, they would be rejoiced at the opportunity of getting 
 bargains. Very few moments sufficed to assemble a sufficient number of 
 bidders to constitute an auction. Some of the beds and other pieces of 
 furniture were brought out before the hall door, on a fine summer’s 
 night. The Admiral acted as auctioneer, under the superintendence of the 
 government, the Chief Secretary probably acted as clerk, the terms were 
 ready money down, for which a supply of ardent spirits was procured from 
 the village of Bun. The company retired to rest highly pleased (^with the 
 exception of the host) with the last night ever passed by a viceregal party at 
 the hospitable mansion of Portloman.” 
 
 Portnashangan lies about four miles north-west of Mullingar, 
 on the mail-coach road to Longford. Lough Owel washes the 
 Bouth-western parts of the parish, which comprise 2,340 statute 
 acres, mostly under grass, there being only a small quantity of 
 
36 
 
 bog. Here are also fine quarries of black stone, used also for 
 flags. On its eastern limits stand Ballinagall, the residence of 
 Captain Smythe. It is a modern mansion, erected at a cost of 
 £30,000, in one of the finest and most richly wooded demesnes in 
 the county. The Protestant Church is a handsome building, in 
 the Gothic style, surmounted with a spire, erected in 1824, at an 
 expense of £2,9C8, of which £1,892 was contributed by a former 
 proprietor, Mr. Gibbons, who also gave the site. There was a 
 monastery here on the north-eastern bank of Lough Owel. After 
 the Anglo-Norman invasion the churches of Portnashangan, 
 Portloman, and many others, belonged to St. Mary’s Abbey,. 
 Dublin, and James I. granted all to John Wakeman. The roof 
 of the old church measures forty feet by seventeen. 
 
 Mountmurray or Ballinsellot, situated on the northern shore of 
 Lough Owel, the residence of the Murray family, is a picturesque 
 spot. The Murrays, according to Sir Bernard Burke, and Mr. 
 J. C. Lyons, are an ancient race, and of Scotch origin. The first of 
 whom settled here was William Murray, of Milegene. He was 
 Lieutenant- Colonel in the Scotch army. He adopted the Royal 
 cause, and there appears to have been placed in him great con- 
 fidence, from the many matters of moment in which he was 
 frequently employed. In the seventeenth century the family was 
 connected by marriage with the Forbes family, Earls of Granard. 
 He appears to have obtained his different promotions in the Scotch 
 army, as follows : — He was captain in Lord George Gordon’s 
 regiment in 1646. In the same year he was captain of horse in 
 the regiment of Colonel Sir John Browne. In 1648 he received 
 his commission as major in Sir James Frazer’s Regiment of Foot, 
 and in 1650 he was made a prisoner of war by the Parliamentarians. 
 He settled in this county after the afiair of 1641, and purchased 
 the property of Ballinsellot, which he called Mount Murray, with 
 other lands, from Lord Aungier' (part of the forfeited estate of 
 Edmund Nugent), which had been granted in 1668 by certificate 
 to him. He also purchased Cappagh in 1670, which had been 
 forfeited by Matthew Led with, and to Thomas Newcomen by 
 certificate in 1666, from him. 
 
 In the old castle of Mount Murray there was a stone with the 
 arms of Murray and Forbes, with the motto Tout Brest,” and 
 the date thus, ‘‘ 16, W.M., A.F., 83, from which we may infer 
 they were at that date living at Mount Murray. On the 25th 
 July, 1689, Colonel Murray was murdered on his return from 
 seeing the Rev. Mr. Reilly at Stonehall. His son, Alexander, 
 was appointed in 1695 and 1697 a commissioner for raising sup- 
 plies in this county for William of Orange. This is a proof of the 
 attachment of the family to the cause of the Stuarts. 
 
37 
 
 Rathconnell. 
 
 Rathconnell (Rabha-Clionnail) lies about two miles east of 
 Mullingar, on the road to Delvin ; in 1841 the parish contained 
 2,946 inhabitants. A battle was fought here in 798 between the 
 Danes and natives. 
 
 In 1159 Murtogh O’Loghlin led an army here from the North, 
 deposed Dermot O’Melaghlin, and gave the Kingdom of Meath, 
 from the Shannon to the sea, to his brother Donagh- 
 
 Between two tracts of land of a moory nature, at this place, 
 was a celebrated Pass, noted in the Irish Annals for the defeat of 
 the Irish army, under General Preston, by the retreating forces 
 of Sir Richard Grenville, accompanied by the famished garrison of 
 Athlonein 1642. 
 
 The Pass had been fortified to intercept their retreat, and was 
 bravely defended ; but the English horse unexpectedly finding 
 themselves able to pass the moory ground contiguous, changed 
 the fortunes of the day, and the victory was complete. 
 
 Piers, in his “ History of Westmeath ” (1682), says of Rath- 
 connell : — 
 
 This place hath its name from an ancient leader of the Irish race, 
 O’Connell Carnagh, who here, in some age of the world, by I known not 
 whom, was defeated, the memory of Avliich action lives only in the name of 
 the place, for ‘ Roehonuell ’ interpreted imports O’Connell’s rout or defeat. 
 On this advantageous piece of ground, to oppose or dispute a passage, had no 
 less a person than Gen, Preston, with all the choice forces, not only of West- 
 meath, but all he could for the time get together, throughout all Leinster, 
 seated himself; and to make sure work, he caused a trench to be made, and a 
 redoubt or breastwork to be cgst up, quite across the forementioned neck of 
 ground where narrowest, from moor to moor, wherein he posted his son. 
 Colonel Inigo Diego Preston, since Lord of Tarah, who had lately arrived 
 from service in Flanders with 300 choice men. Within them, where the ground, 
 as I said, enlarges itself, was the army drawn up in very good order. Their 
 several battalions of foot appeared flanked with their horse. The castle also 
 above the walls was manned. 
 
 “ Their whole army, as I have heard some say, consisted of seven thousand 
 horse and foot. Others have not owned so much. However, the additional 
 multitude of spectators who covered the adjoining ground increased very 
 much the reputation of their numbers. They flocked hither this day in hopes 
 to see a certain old prophecy fulfilled in favour of themselves, which was that 
 a battle should be fought at Roehonnell between the Irish and English, and 
 -that the side or party that should conquer would win all Ireland. 
 
 “ In this manner did General Preston await the arrival of the English army. 
 The English, but a handful in comparison, had now passed Mullingar, with 
 their sick and tired men, when, behold ! their scouts bring in the hasty news 
 to Sir Richard Grenville, who commanded the field, of a great and formid- 
 able army drawn up at Roehonneil to oppose his passage. 
 
 “ Immediately Sir Richard draws up his forces (which were on their march) 
 into a posture of fighting, for which he prepares. Being without kenning of 
 his enemy, he finds his scouts had truly informed, that Colonel Diego Preston, 
 so advantageously posted, so well lined, must be attacked, must be beaten out 
 of the breastwork, after that the whole army engaged and beaten too ; or else 
 no passage, and if no passage all must perish by the sword. 
 
38 
 
 “ Sir Richard delays not — commands first one body of foot to advance to 
 the breastwork, and force their enemy from thence. They advance close up 
 and fire, but Preston appears resolute to keep his station. He receives our 
 fire, and returns his. These first failing in their attempt, another body is 
 commanded up to relieve and second them. They also make their impres- 
 sions, but to no purpose. Preston will not easily quit his post. Thus all the 
 foot take their turns, hut all in vain. 
 
 “ At length the weak Athlone Regiment who, on this day’s march, had the 
 rere, came up. They must on also and try their fortune, but here it was well 
 worthy the courage of Englishmen to see with what alacrity and cheerful- 
 ness these poor weak men address themselves to the fight. " Even the very 
 sick men who had hitherto been groaning in their uneasy wagons and carts, 
 now forsake their beds of sorrow, and forgetting that they had hitherto been 
 sick, spring out as cheerful as if they had not last night striven with the 
 pangs of sorrow and death. In short, they advance with as much courage as 
 the strongest men there, and what was ivanted in their strength is supplied 
 in their hopes of being soon either victors or ending their painful lives in a 
 less lingering and more glorious death. 
 
 “ The Lord President’s Regiment, with pike and shot, as close as hand and 
 foot could try, if not by force of arms, yet by the terror of their ghastly 
 countenances, to frighten Preston out of his so well- defended redoubt, but 
 in vain. 
 
 “ Don Diego, who had learned abroad what service was, was not more easily 
 frightened than forced to quit his station. He had by this time once or twice 
 been relieved by fresh men from their greater body, and appeared now as 
 resolute as at the first onset. However, no respite was given him, and the 
 repulsed parties still relieved one another by turns ; Sir Richard being resolved 
 either to force his way or here end his days. 
 
 “ During the engagement Sir Michael Earnly had been commanded to face 
 their horse on the bog side. He opposed their right wing of horse, com- 
 manded by Captain Bryen, and plied them with his small shot. This gentle- 
 man was that day their best officer. He had been a German soldier, and 
 came over in the English service ; had been cornet unto Sir Thomas Lucas, 
 but at this time was revolted, and took to the Irish side. He had till now 
 stood manfully all their shot, when at last receiving a shot in his thigh-bone, 
 he fell from his horse. His fail so discouraged his followers that they now 
 no longer stood their ground, but drew back under some cover from Sir 
 Michael’s shot. 
 
 “ This gentleman’s fall, and the retiring of his party that ensued, I look 
 on as the first step to the glorious victory that followed, for hereby was 
 opportunity offered to that worthy gentleman. Major Morice, major to the 
 Earl of Ormond, who commanded. He, seeing what was done, and the ground 
 being no longer encumbered by those horse, attempted to ride over one of 
 those guts or sloughs in the moor, deemed till now impassable for horse, but 
 he found it otherwise, and retiring back again he was advised by Sir Michael 
 Earnly to acquaint Sir Charles Coote,who that day commanded the horse 
 that w’ere in the field. He readily advanced, and passing Avith his horse 
 charged that wing that had already retired on the fall of their leader. They 
 stood not his charge, but fell back in disorder, at which the Avhole field take 
 the same course, and fly. Young Colonel Preston, that had hitherto so 
 gallantly defended his post, thinks noAV to quit it as hastily. In a moment 
 the Avhole ground is cleared of the enemy. Havdng broken all orders and 
 ranks, they fell on all hands, and the English pursue. Many officers took 
 to the castle, and yielded themselves prisoners of Avar. EleA'en foot colours 
 and one horse colour Avere taken. Colonel Preston, Avho had so gallantly 
 maintained his station, was taken in the pursuit, haA’ing receh’ed a Avound in 
 the head. 
 
 “ The new French arms and the fine collars of bandoleers Avere taken up 
 apace. The Irish soldiers threAv away their clogs, and sought safety in flight. 
 The slaughter of this day Avas not proportionate to the numbers engaged, nor 
 
39 
 
 eagerness of the contest. More, by odds, fell in the pursuit than in the 
 action. On the English part fell very few. Sir Abraham Shipman was 
 deeply injured in the breast in the first onset. The English continued the 
 chase, and had the spoil of the field. The Irish enemy were pursued as far 
 as Ballinalack, where they met their Longford allies coming to their aid, but 
 on hearing of the defeat of their friends, they returned home. The celebrated 
 Pass of Rathconnell was not above sixty yards in breadth of good channel 
 ground. 
 
 "‘The neck of ground that here divides between two large and spacious 
 moors, is not long before it opens and enlarges itself ; not much above one 
 hundred yards within it is a high rising ground, wherein is seated a castle and 
 some part of an old wall, having a small round turret on one end, all which, 
 one above another, command this narrow Pass, the moor on each hand. 
 
 “ This Pass hath in ail ages been deemed impassable for horsemen, being of a 
 low meadowish ground, interlarded in many parts with deep sloughs or guts, 
 where waters sometimes fall. Nevertheless they are traversable enough by light 
 footmen. These moors or low grounds are so widely extended that without 
 a mile or two miles’ travel backwards, and fetchiug a compass of much more 
 ground, there is no passage on either hand for horse or cart.” 
 
 We have endeavoured to discover the details of the above battle 
 from independent and unprejudiced sources, but failed. The 
 second volume of Gilbert’s “ History of the War of the Confedera- 
 tion ” quotes a despatch of a Captain Tucker, a follower of 
 Grenville’s, “ It is to be observed that the great hand of God, in 
 this battle, was visible, as not many of our soldiers fell, as the 
 balls of the enemy dropped down without injuring any of our 
 men. We gained eleven colours, and divers prisoners of note. 
 In this fight the hand of God was with us during the conflict, 
 for a violent storm of hail came on which beat in the faces of the 
 enemy, and on the backs of our menj young Preston was made 
 prisoner, and brought before Sir Eichard Grenville. He said that 
 he fought by authority, and refused to give any information. He 
 was committed to prison. This battle was fought 7th February, 
 1642.” 
 
 Selling the Pass. 
 
 The defeat of the Irish army, under Preston, by Grenville, on the 
 7th of February, 1642, was supposed to be the result of treachery 
 — that the Pass across the moor had been betrayed to the English 
 by a false bogtrotter who resided at Curraghmore, and who knew 
 the secret. I was told a legend of the transaction some years ago 
 by an old man who was versed in all the traditions of the locality, 
 and the good man was even prepared to swear to its accuracy. 
 
 “ In the days of the spalpeen, Crumwell, whin no man’s life or property 
 was safe, the ould coort av Roehonnell was a very strong place altogether. 
 Av coorse that was long afore the king-killer pulluted our soil — whin our 
 forefathers lived snug and comfortable, an’ ate an’ drank what kem aff the 
 land, as there wor no sich things in those times as landlords nor English 
 markets. We wor in blissed ignorance av those things. Well, the English 
 sodgers wor at the time I’m spakin’ av — Crumwell’s days — livin’ at Athlone, 
 plunderin' the neighbours, robbin’ chapels, hangin’ priests, an’ confiscatin’ the 
 
40 
 
 property av the Catholic gintry ; an’ the henroosts for miles wor ransacked 
 for dainties for Sir Richard Grenville, Coote, Earnly, and other Saxon thieves. 
 But, hedad, whin everything was at the last, an’ whin the people began to 
 despair, me bowld Sir James Dillon, one av the noble ould race av Drumraney, 
 kem on an’ put an ind to their murderin’ capers. Havin’ got together a lot 
 av stout chaps from Westmeath an’ Roscommon, he laid siege to the castle av 
 Athlone, an’ placed a party av his men at Ballykeeran, near the banks av 
 Lough Ree, an’ they did good sarvice, bekase sarra morsel av vittels sint be 
 the English from Mullingar or Dublin to the sodgers in the castle but they 
 took, an’ divided it with their frinds who were besiegin’ the castle ; an’ they 
 took care to hould the messengers, an’ av coorse this deludhered the English, 
 who thought they remained to fight the Irish papists, as they used to call us. 
 
 “ But to come to the point. The English sodgers, who can’t live without 
 vittels lek the poor Irish, whin their stomachs began to cry ‘ cupboard,’ bedad 
 they towld their ginerals that an empty sack couldn’t stand, an’ that if they 
 didn’t get vittels they’d skedaddle. It was a party thing to die for glory, but 
 to die av hunger while in sarch av the bubble reputation was another thing. 
 Hunger, we’re towld, makes hayroes ; but, bedad, I think it makes cowards, 
 too. 
 
 “Well, whin they found out that they could not stand the hunger any 
 longer, they med a parley with Sir James Dillon, and he let them off in 
 sarch av more favoured pastures, an’ whin the people of Mullingar hard av 
 the approach av the hungry army cornin’ from Athlone, bedad they packed 
 up every eatable article they had, even to the lumper praties, an’ hooked it 
 off to the islands of Lough Owel ; bekase they knew that a hungry English 
 sodger would ate the horn av a blacksmith’s anvil, if it wor but greased. 
 
 “ Well, whin they kem to Mullingar the sorra hap’orth was to be lifted 
 that they could ate, barrin’ a couple of ould asses that wor past their labour. 
 They kilt an’ skinned thim,au’ roasted an’ ate thim harty, and sarra hap’ orch 
 they had to wash down the tough beef but a drink out of the Brosna river. 
 But I must come to another part av me tale. You must know that the ould 
 bog in Curraghmore, in the days I’m talkin’ about, was double as big as it is 
 now. Some say that in ainshint times a piece av it walked off wid itself to 
 Clooneyhide, and forgot to come back. 
 
 “ But I must ax your pardon, bekase I’m a pratin’ ould chap, jist like a 
 self-acting machine or music box ; I can’t stop till me works are run down. 
 During the troublesome times Paddy Mickaran lived at Curraghmore, an’ 
 had a nice house in the bog. He knew ivery hole an’ corner so well in the 
 place that he was known be the nickname of ‘ The Rat in the Bog.’ He was 
 a great turf-cutter, an’ used to sell any amount av it in Mullingar, bekase 
 coal was then unknown to us. He was very fond av drink, I’m towld, so 
 much so that he’d sell Biddy an’ the childher for it, an’ lek some av our 
 counthrymen at the Union, he’d sell the counthry, an’ be very glad to have 
 it to sell. 
 
 “ On the 6th February, 1642, Paddy was at Mullingar with turf ; it was a 
 cowld day too, as a bitther north win’ was blowin’ that would cut the nose off 
 a piper, whin in marched the hungry army from Athlone on its way to Dub- 
 lin ; an’ whin they hard that Preston had the Pass closed aginst them, faix 
 it annoyed the English ginerals a bit. Paddy dodged about the sodgers till 
 he got a chance av spakin’ to the Head Gineral, au’ bedad he towld that in 
 wan av his turf-cuttiii’ expirimints he kem upon an ould road in the bog that 
 was med by the Danes ages before, that the peat grew over it, and that no 
 wan knew it but himself, and that it led round to the back of Roehonnel 
 Castle, an’ that if he wor well ped he’d show it to thim at wanst. 
 
 “ The bargin was med, an’ the gineral gev him all the money he had about 
 him, an’ said he'd give him double as much when he'd reach Dublin, an’ that 
 he’d make Crum well give him a large estate. 
 
 “ Whin he got the money he towld the Englishman that whin he’d go 
 home he’d walk over the part of the bog where the road lay, and that his 
 tracks would be a guide for the cavalry to follow to attack the Irish in the 
 
41 
 
 rere. After putting up close the reward ov his treachery in his breeches 
 pocket, he returned home to earn the blood-money, and out he started like a 
 dhoaul, and took across the bog in the direction of the castle. 
 
 “ He was not long crossin’ the moor, an’ he was jist plantin’ his vile foot 
 on the green, firm sward, when a musket-ball fired from the turret of the 
 castle penetrated the heart of the traithor. In his death agony he was seen 
 to pitch something away from him indignantly, which was picked up by wan 
 av the sodgers, an’ which turned out to he the reward of his trayson, the 
 goold he had got for basely sellin’ the Pass. The sodger who shot him was 
 on sintry, an’ takin’ him to be a spy, let bang. 
 
 “ The garrison made a gallant resistance, but overpowered he numbers, I’m 
 towld they wor slaughtered in cowld blood. You might sarch the whole 
 barony now, an’ sarra wan of the name of Mickaran is to be found. For 
 years afterwards, I’m towld, Paddy’s ghost used to be ramblin’ about the 
 roads, shakin’ a purse at every wan he’d meet ; but he was very useful to the 
 naybors in the bog, bekase sarra wan would venture afther night to stale a 
 creel of turf out av it, no matther how cowld the weather was.” 
 
 (To he continued in Vol. III.) 
 
42 
 
 MOATE AND ITS ENVIEONS. 
 
 ■ GATE, one of the principal towns of Westmeath, is 
 situated about sixteen miles west of Mullingar, and 
 contains the usual public buildings — viz., a neat Court- 
 house, a branch of the National Bank, a Protestant Church, meet- 
 ing houses for Methodists and Quakers, and two Catholic Churches 
 — the parish chapel, and convent chapel of the Carmelite com- 
 munity. The Carmelite convent was founded here about the 
 year 1779. After the dispersion of the order of Ardnacrana, 
 consequent on the success of Cromwell, some of the friars fled 
 to the continent, and others took refuge in the caves and woods 
 of the country. In course of time these heroic men passed 
 away, and were succeeded occasionally by other members of the 
 community who discharged parochial duties in other parts of the 
 diocese. About the year 1735, some of the order returned from 
 Spain and took up their abode in the neighbourhood of Moate, 
 where they were supported for many years by the generous 
 people of Westmeath. When the storm of persecution was about 
 to cease, a Mr. Potts succeeded in getting them the present site 
 about 1770, from one of the Clibborn family, and here the friars 
 built a chapel, which in ’98 was turned into a barrack for 
 soldiers, and portion of it made use of as a stable for horses. 
 During some time the convent of Moate held so conspicuous a 
 position amongst the Carmelite communities that it was the 
 novitiate of the order in Ireland. The present handsome church, 
 which is of Gothic architecture, is in every way worthy of the 
 pious and zealous fathers who erected it at a cost of nearly 
 £3,000. The Carmelite community of Moate identify them- 
 selves at all times with the people in their struggles for civil and 
 religious liberty, and their advice is often sought in matters 
 social and political. Moate of Grenoge — the Moate of young 
 Grania or Grace, as it is called, a moat or rath, behind the town 
 — is a pretty place well worthy the attention of tourists. Here 
 it was that Charles Lever located one of his last creations, 
 Daniel O’Donegan, the Fenian organiser, the original Stephens; 
 Mathew Carney (Lord Kilgobbin) and his college chum, Joe 
 Atley ; but strangers will search in vain for the classic locahty 
 described by the novelist — Mud Island. There is an old legend 
 in existence about a Milesian princess, a daughter of O’Melachlin, 
 King of Meath, who resided in Cro-Inis, one of the islands of 
 Lough Ennel or Lynn Lake, visiting Moate and taking on her- 
 self the office of Brehon ; and on the hill of Knockdominy it is 
 said that she adjudicated cases, and delivered the oral law to 
 the good law-abiding citizens of the Clara Road and the Gap of 
 
43 
 
 the Wood; but times are sadly changed. The innovators of the 
 nineteenth century, the Becketts and Stewarts, care little about 
 Brehon laws or the renowned 011am Eodhla. Moate of Grenoge 
 is surrounded with ruined castles and churches, moats, raths, 
 and memorials of the wars, the feuds, and the ferocities of 
 former times. The pretty, grassy, and well-cultivated hills 
 around the town, surrounded as they are by large bogs, have a 
 good military position, being the scene in the wars of Ireland of 
 many a skirmish and battle. Here, in the wars of ^he Eevolu- 
 tion, a severe battle was fought between the forces of Wiliam of 
 Orange, under General Be Ginckle, and of James II., under 
 Brigadier- General Clifford. The Irish, with great bravery, 
 attempted to defend the town, which was merely ditched and 
 palisaded, but were forced to evacuate it, and fall back on 
 Athlone, the horses retreating by the road, the infantry through 
 the bogs and fastnesses with which the country abound. Here 
 the rapparees, who in those days were so numerous (thanks to 
 the confiscating penal code that had despoiled them of their 
 property) and so effective, and who seemed to be actuated with 
 the same spirit, and to put in practice the same warfare as the 
 Spanish guerillas, to the no small astonishment of the English 
 army, had recourse to a manoeuvre with which they were familiar 
 — a large party that had skirmished with the British regiments, 
 and given them no small annoyance by their bush firing and 
 desultory attack, driven by the bayonet, fled to the red bog on 
 the left of the town, and there, as if by enchantment, hundreds 
 of men, in the open day, disappeared ; they were gone as ghosts, 
 and not a single runaway could be seen as a mark for bullet or 
 a butt for a bayonet or pike. 
 
 Storey, in his interesting account of these civil wars, thus 
 describes this occasion : — 
 
 “ The rapparees escaped to the bog and in a moment they all disappeared, 
 which may seem strange to those who have not seen ; but something of this 
 kind I have seen myself, and it is thus done : — When the rapparees have no 
 mind to show themselves upon the bogs, they commonly sink down between 
 two hillocks grown over with long grass, so that you might as well find a hare 
 as one of them ; and they conceal their arms thus — they take off the lock 
 and put it in their pockets, or hide it in some dry place ; they stop the muzzle 
 close with a cork and the touch-hole with a small quill, and then throw the 
 piece itself into a bog-hole. You see one hundred of them without arms, 
 who look like the poorest, humblest slaves in the world, and you may search 
 till you are wearj- before you find one of their guns ; but yet when they have 
 a mind to do mischief they are all ready at an hour’s warning, for every one 
 knows w'here to go and fetch his own arms.” 
 
 The poor rapparees were the protectors of the humble, the 
 outraged, and the oppressed in the dark penal days, when every- 
 thing appeared hopeless and cheerless. When the desolating 
 sword of Cromwell had swept through Ireland, when the land,, 
 drenched with blood and marked with misery and ruin, lay 
 
44 
 
 prostrate at the feet of the regicide, he calmly surveyed the 
 scene of death and desolation he had made, and said — “ Surely 
 the land is conquered now.” It is true that the Irish armies 
 had melted away before the overwhelming bayonets of the 
 enemy, their best hopes were shattered, and their best generals 
 were dead, but still the spirit of the people was unconquered, 
 thanks to the fidelity of the rapparees. 
 
 Knockdominy. 
 
 The old hill of Knockdominy lies at the north of the town. 
 In the early part of the present century our benevolent rulers 
 had a gallows erected on it for the execution of unfortunate 
 offenders who endeavoured to protect themselves from tithe- 
 proctors and other privileged scoundrels. During the sanguinary 
 years of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Knockdominy 
 and the adjacent bog afforded shelter to the victims of tyranny, 
 and many traditions are extant of those who found a safe covert 
 from the informer, priest-hunter, and brutal soldiery. The last 
 time I visited Moate I had the good fortune to meet with an old 
 gentleman, of course one of nature’s creation, a citizen of 
 Burgess’s Lane, a locality that enjoys many time-honoured 
 privileges, who appeared to be well versed in all matters relating 
 to the district. After showering maledictions on the pernicious 
 effects of machinery, on trade, and on all goods manufactured in 
 England and purchased by the Irish, the manipulator of leather, 
 for my new acquaintance turned out to be a shoemaker, pro- 
 ceeded to relate to me the story of 
 
 Shawn O’Deegan, the Rapparee of Knockdominy. 
 
 “Long afore tke Quakers established their quarters in Moate of 
 Grenoge, or their founder, George Fox, the ould mad shoemaker, who 
 went about the streets of Lunnon proclaiming that he was the long- 
 expected Messiah, followed by the corner-boys of the metropolis, Shawn 
 O’Ueegan lived snug an’ comfortable near the ould round tower of Tinny- 
 muck. At the outbreak of the war between King Shemus and his son-in- 
 law, Billy of Orange, Shawn took sarvice under the faithless Stuart. He 
 fought at the Boyne, Aughrim, Ballymoe, and Athlone. After the 
 surrender of Limerick, when the Wild Geese went over to France, Shawn 
 refused to lave the counthry, bekase he said he’d stop to avenge the wrongs 
 done to his kith an’ kin, purticulary himself, bekase he was robbed iv his 
 property by the Crumwellians. Findin’ that he had no chance of redress 
 from the rulers iv the counthry, he watched his enemies late an’ early, at 
 home an’ abroad, an’ he an’ a few others cut them down lek trawneens, 
 took their money, an’ divided it amongst the poor, who were robbed lek 
 thimselves. Shawn an’ his band had many hiding-places ; of course the 
 peasantry sheltered thim at all times, an’ supplied thim with food. Well, 
 their principal place of meeting was on top of Knockdominy. Of course 
 you must know that there was a cave in it at that time, but I never saw it ; 
 my grandfather was often in it an’ he a gossoon, afore it was smothered 
 up. The hiding-place was one of singular loneliness and desolation ; you 
 might pass the way a thousand times an’ not to know it ; it had evidently 
 
45 
 
 been used by tbe peasantry as a place of retreat in times of peril and strife. 
 No better place could be selected than the summit of the ould hill for 
 carrying on the war of reprisal by the rapparee chief. The common mode 
 of warfare practised by the little band was to carry off whole herds of 
 cattle from the enemy, and to detain them till ransomed by the owners. 
 The deep glens surrounding his retreat in the cliff screened his booty, taken 
 in his predatory incursions from the closest search. O’Deegan was endued 
 with great swiftness. In one of his incursions, being detached from his 
 band an’ alone, he fell in with a party of troopers and was pursued for 
 miles. Being hard pressed by the pursuers, he ran towards a yawning 
 chasm that overlooked the Brosna river, and with the swiftness of a 
 young chamois, flew over it, to the horror and amazement of those who 
 sought his life. 
 
 “ Shawn the Rapparee had a female companion to soften the gloom and 
 horror of his dark dwellin’ and to share his life of outlawry and peril. Her 
 name I often hard was Biddy Dunleavy, an’ the ould people used to say 
 that she was a shockin’ purty girl ; bhud the timptation iv a large reward 
 offered by Government spies induced her to betray him. She used to go in 
 and ortt to Moate now an’ again for provision, an’ she agreed wid an officer 
 to betray him an’ his hidin’ place. A few soldiers were to be stationed, 
 near the hidin’ place on the opposite side of the hill from which he used to 
 emerge, an’ on his leavin’ the cave the followin’ mornin’ he was to be shot 
 down lek a dog. For this piece of perfidy Biddy got a written acknow- 
 ledgment that she would get the reward when her paramour would be 
 removed. On her return to the cave she pretended the greatest friendship 
 for him ; bhud what do ye think, the bit iv a letter that she was after 
 gettin’ was stickin’ out iv her bosom, an’ Shawn, thinkin’ that it might be 
 a love epistle from a rival, snatched it, an’ there he read her treachery in 
 full. Enraged at her trayson, he gagged her an’ tied her hands an’ feet, 
 as he scorned to kill or ill-treat her, so he left her to her fate, an’ he started 
 off to the King’s County, followed by his devoted followers. For some time 
 after his flight he carried on his ould trade of war to the knife against the 
 foes of Ireland ; but being seized with a violent fever in a wild district of 
 Tipperary, he was betrayed by his nurse-tender. O’Deegan was as yet 
 unable to quit his bed when the hovel in which he was confined was sur- 
 rounded by armed men ; he was wrapped in his blanket, and laid upon a 
 cart, to which he was fastened down by strong ropes. The soldiers con- 
 cluded he was dying, and were less watchful of their prisoner. Upon 
 reaching Nenagh he cut the cords that bound him with a sword that he had 
 with him in bed in the hovel. A sudden rush from the cart and the flashing 
 of the bright steel filled the soldiers with astonishment, and in the moment 
 of their irresolution and dismay he effected his escape. 
 
 “ At length the hour approached that was to terminate the career of the 
 bold outlaw. A person in whom he confided, and whom he often befriended, 
 resolved to betray him, tempted by Government reward. The traitor made 
 known to his wife his perfidy, who endeavoured to dissuade him from his 
 fell purpose, but he was deaf to all entreaties, and, with the object of 
 carrying out his plan effectually, he invited the unsuspecting rapparee to 
 his house. On entering the dwelling of his false friend, the traitor pre- 
 tended that he had to go for some liquor to regale his guest, and under that 
 pretence he strutted off for the soldiers, who were secreted a short distance 
 from the house. O’Deegan, finding that he was betrayed, made a gallant 
 fight, but bravery was of no avail, the gallant fellow was shot down. 
 
 “ After the death of the outlaw his little band of devoted followers 
 wandered over the country till they got a chance to escape to France to 
 their brethren in arms, the Irish Brigade, who were winning laurels for the 
 ‘ Grand Monarque ’ on the battlefields on the Continent.” 
 
 Such was the story related to me by the brogue-builder of 
 Knockdominy. 
 
46 
 
 The Hill of Knocka.stia. 
 
 The hill of Knockastia, one of the most remarkable summits 
 in the district, is situated three miles north-east of Moate. It 
 attains a height of 660 feet, and affords those who ascend it a 
 good view of the surrounding country, with all its fertile hills, 
 valleys, marshes, and boggy flats. Within a short distance of 
 its base are the mansions Grouse Lodge, Coolatore, Rosemount, 
 and Ballintubber. In the good old days, before the praties got 
 black, or Scorpion Stanley got up national education, Knockastia 
 was inhabited by ghosts, fairies, and leprechauns, to the great 
 annoyance of the simple peasantry of the district during their 
 midnight cantrips. An old w^oman assured me that in the dead 
 of night, when the surrounding hamlets were buried in deep 
 repose, and when nothing else disturbed the solemn stillness of 
 midnight, the wild unearthly scream and laughter would burst 
 upon the ears of the slumberers and awake them to anything 
 but pleasant reflections. 
 
 Paddy Kilfozey and the Leprechaun. 
 
 The leprechauns who infested Knockastia in old times were artisans of 
 singular sagacity and penetration — broguemakers, tailors, weavers, and 
 carpenters. Old times must have been curious times, when a man could not 
 go outside his own cabin door after night-fall without meeting with fairies aud 
 linawnshees — when one of the Milesian families could not depart this life at 
 home or abroad, in battle or peaceful bed, but half the country was frightened 
 from its propriety by the dismal wailing of the banshee — when it was the 
 most dangerous thing in the world to insult an old woman, particularly if she 
 was a stranger, lest you might draw the spiteful vengeance of an old witch 
 upon your back; what caused your most fruitful milch cows to become 
 suddenly dry, and your young cattle to die of strange disease ; when 
 leprechauns were to be met with in every silent glen, and music heard in 
 every rath. These were old times ; but who would like to live in such times ; 
 yet in these old times the poor w'ere better off than they are now. Paddy 
 Kilfozey, the poor son of a lonely widow, lived at the southern base of the 
 hill, in a rude cabin secluded from the world. Paddy tended his solitary cow 
 and tilled his spot of land ; and at times he brought the produce of his farm 
 to Moate or Kilbeggan. Now, though Paddy was poor and crooked, with a 
 hump ou his back, yet he was a warm-hearted, good kind of a generous little 
 fellow ; and one day as he went to sell his turkeys to Moate, and they w’ere 
 very fine ones, he went up to the mansion of one of the real old gentry. 
 Mister F. At the period of our story the gentleman named w'as on his 
 last legs, plunged head and heels in debt by extravagance and dissipation, 
 horse-racing, cock-fighting, and duelling. In the language of the peasantry 
 ‘ sarra one ud trust their brogues to the cobbler wid him.’ Mr. F. and his 
 fair daughter Kathleen were at one of the casements as Paddy approached, 
 and his strange appearance, dressed in an old suit of east livery, in no way 
 contributed to render him a favourite with the fair sex. Paddy was 
 smitten with the beauty of Miss F., for gentle reader, 
 
 ‘ Love will enter in 
 Where it daurna well be seen.’ 
 
47 
 
 Mr. F. having examined the turkeys declared them excellent, but added that 
 he had no spare change in the house or he would keep them, to which Paddy 
 replied that money was of no consequence if his honor had a fancy for the 
 bipeds. Paddy returned with a light heart, or rather without one, he could 
 think of nothing but the lovely Kathleen and her long rich flowing tresses of 
 black raven hair, her large commanding dark eyes, and her graceful and 
 queenly form made a deep impression on the heart of the simple peasant. 
 The next evening as Paddy was straying by the lonely banks of the little 
 river that skirts Rosemount, wTapt up in the picture which his fancy had 
 wrought for him, he wandered into a little wooded dell that gently sloped 
 to the brink of the clear water, it was a silent and secluded spot, where the 
 hazel and whitethorn mingled, and the low sloethorn formed a charming 
 defence round their roots, He paused as he came to the brow of the sloping 
 dell. The summer sun was sinking away in the far west and casting his 
 departing beams into the bosom of the glen, tinging the tree and shrubs, and 
 the curling ripples on the clear river with a golden hue. He paused to admire 
 the scene, for though he often trod its wooded mazes before, yet he thought 
 it never looked so rich. Suddenly a slight tapping noise at a distance caught 
 his attention, and he turned his head towards the place the sound was coming 
 from, a close entangled clump of hazels, blackthorn, and briar, out of the 
 centre of which arose a tall wide-spreading ash tree, He stole round the 
 clump on tip-toe, and at the sunny side he beheld a little figure not as big as 
 a creepy stool, sitting on a seat hammering away at a little shoe that was 
 laid across his knees. He gazed for a moment at the unearthly being, who 
 appeared so busily engaged at his work as not to notice the mortal intrusion. 
 He was dressed in an old and long disused habit, with a curiously formed 
 covering on his head, and his little features were tawny, puckered, and spiteful 
 like those of a crabbed old man. Paddy often heard of the leprechaun, and 
 he knew the tiny creature before him was one of the tribe. 
 
 Summoning his faculties to the task, he approached the fairy shoemaker, 
 
 ‘ A fine evening for your work this, my little man,’ said Paddy, fixing his 
 eyes steadily on the leprechaun, and determined to hold him fast despite the 
 consequences. ‘ It is, indeed, Paddy Kilfozey,’ replied the little man, looking 
 somewhat startled, but with a spiteful and malicious grin. ‘Musha thin 
 you’re a fine little broguemaker,’ said Paddy. ‘ Shure I’m nothin’ to that man 
 behind you, you crooked, humpy-backed, ould thief ! ’ Paddy, having often 
 heard of the tricks and wiles resorted to by those beings to release themselves 
 from human power, and aware that this was said to induce him to look aside 
 that the little man might escape, replied, ‘ I’d rayther be lookin’ at yourself, 
 me ould boy,’ said Paddy. ‘ Who is the man crossin’ the river there ?’ said 
 the leprechaun, pointing at the water. ‘ You may go look and ax, you ould 
 schamer,’ replied Paddy, stooping down and catching hold of the little man by 
 the waistband of the breeches. ‘ Come, tell me this minute where there is 
 plinty of money, or as shure as I stand here I’ll let out yer tripes or put ye 
 on a gridiron to roast,’ and he drew a large clasp knife from his pocket, 
 which he opened with his teeth, still keeping his eyes unwinkingly on the 
 leprechaun. ‘Shure you wouldn’t murder the likes of me?’ said the 
 unearthly man. ‘ I don’t want to curse or swear, but if you don’t let me have 
 the goold widout any nonsense I’ll give you your guts for garters this 
 mortual minnet,’ said he, with a wicked, determined look. ‘ Och, thin don’t 
 look so black entirely, an’ I will tell you all about it ; but take the point of 
 that ugly knife away from me, an don’t squeeze me so hard out an out,’ and 
 Paddy relaxed his grasp and put away the knife. ‘ Do you know where the 
 big lull of Drumhurling is?’ said the little man. ‘I hard talk iv it,’ said 
 Paddy ; ‘shore its beyant the Crazy Corner.’ ‘Well thin, at the foot of a big 
 rock, where there is a lone bush, on the very top of the cliff, there is a crock 
 iv goold that would buy the whole of Westmeath. Now let me out.’ ‘ Ketch 
 me at it, me ould codger. It’s not me you’ll get to run from one end of the 
 county to the other on a fool’s arrand. It wont do ; you must get it for me 
 nearer home, or by the contints of Moll Kelly’s stone jug, I’ll let out 
 
48 
 
 yer puddins, so I will!’ said Paddy. ‘Oh, thin, don’t curse, you poor 
 unfortunate fellow; aisy weather is best. Do you know' w'here the Hill of 
 Mullaghcloe is ? Now, there is an ould dry w'ell there covered up, and there’s 
 a chist of goold there that ud buy all Leinster, an’ I’m shure you’d like to get 
 it,’ said the ould chap with a sneer. ‘ It’s of no use in you talkin’ to me that 
 way,’ said Paddy, ‘if you haven’t it in a brace of shakes I’ll knock the sowl- 
 case out of you !’ ‘ Och, it’s a purty way you’re talkin’, said the leprechaun, 
 
 looking about in alarm, ‘an’ there’s Jack Muldoon’s wicked bull running as 
 hard as he can to kill us.’ ‘ Where ? w'here ?’ yelled poor Paddy, w'ho was lame, 
 and a bad substitute for a race, looking around him in horror. At the same time 
 a wild unearthly laugh rang in his ears, and on looking about again his hand 
 was empt}', and the leprechaun vanished. ‘Och, me heavy hatred on him, 
 the mane dirthy sleeveen, to thrick me in such a way ; bhud it’s the puck you 
 are altogether, you weeny bligard, Niver mind, maybe its ketchin’ ye agin 
 I’d be afther !’ 
 
 Paddy returned home, and told his old mother of his adventure, and how 
 the little man tricked him. The old hag who was deeply versed in all the 
 old rules in such cases, shook her head. ‘ You’ll be either a man or a 
 merchant yet,’ said she 
 
 ‘ If ever you meet him again don’t be w'aitin’ to know w'here it is but make 
 him give id to you on the spot, and lay his back up again a stone and swear 
 that if he does not give it to you afore you count a score that you’ll cut his 
 wizen.’ The next day Paddy took a strole along the banks of the old river ; 
 the place was wild and uninhabited at the time. The stream was a favourite 
 haunt of his, and its silence and gloom accorded with the tumult within his 
 mind, and from morn to eve he used to be stretched listlessly on the green 
 turf in a tangled copse pouring over the running river and picturing to his 
 fancy crocks of gold and the fine chance he had lost. One evening w'hile 
 thus extended beneath the rays of the setting sun he heard again the quick 
 continued though light tapping, which led him to the haunt of the leprechaun 
 before, and bending his ear to listen, he silently gathered himself to his 
 limbs. ‘ This is him for sartain,’ exclaimed Paddy, ‘ bedad me fortune is 
 med now, faix I’ll hould a tight hoult iv him this time.’ He anxiously and 
 cautiously stole to the spot from which the sounds issued, and seated at the 
 foot of a dwarf elder, he beheld, busily engaged at his old employment, the 
 withered little man of the brake. Paddy fixed his eyes upon him, and 
 drawing his skein from his pocket opened the blade stealthily, and then 
 approached the old man with a rapid stride. The ill-fared tiny thing grinned 
 up in his face as he darkened the sunbeams w'ith his shadow. ‘ Is that you 
 Paddy Kilfozey, how did you get away from Jack Muldoon’s bull ?’ ‘ I have 
 you agin, you mane bligard ould sconce that humbugged me,’ said Paddy, 
 seizing him with a firm grasp, ‘and be me conshins I’ll hould you now.’ ‘ Look 
 at that fellow there laughing at your ould hump and makin’ game of your 
 lame leg.’ ‘ I’ll not say anything to you now, you ould scamp, bhud I’ll 
 squeeze you lek a lemon, iv you don’t tell me w'here the money is. You’ll 
 not desave me now you ould deluderer.’ ‘ Wisha, thin, it is very wicked thin’ 
 you are this evening, maybe you wouldn’t bate your match,’ said the 
 leprechaun, ‘ bhud there’s the purty Miss F. and her father coming alongside 
 the river y under.’ Paddy started — the old fellow' touched his heart-strings, 
 yet he paused and at once perceived the drift, and determined not to change 
 his look if death was at his back. ‘ Spake to me no more,’ said he to the 
 fairy, ‘ don’t spake to me one word more bhud bring me up plinty iv rale ould 
 yallow goold in a minute or I’ll let out your tripes, so have id ready afore I 
 count a score or id’s all up wid you.’ ‘ Stop, stop,’ cried the leprechaun, ‘ you’re 
 a lucky man Paddy Kilfozey, and you have w'on the day. I’ll give you all 
 you want, and more than you require,’ and he stamped w'ith his foot upon the 
 spot where he stood, which opened and disclosed a large earthen vessel filled 
 to overflowing with gold and silver. ‘ Bhud is this all rale goold ; I hope id 
 won’t turn to cockbo, and you’ll give it all to me,’ exclaimed poor Paddy be- 
 tween doubt and joy. ‘ Fool,’ said the leprechaun indignantly, ‘ isn’t my word 
 
49 
 
 pledged, and do you imagine that like the vile sons of earth that the children 
 of a brighter sphere will cheat and break promises when once that promise is 
 given. Let me go,’ and with a violent jerk he extricated himself from 
 Paddy, and as rapid as thought, changed from the wrinkled old man to that 
 of a young and fair formed, though still small and tiny being, and waving his 
 hand at Faddy he said, ‘ you will be happy, but mind you must put the hand- 
 some Miss F. out of your mind,’ and brealang a bramble from the dwarf alder 
 bush, he struck Paddy a smart blow across the face which deprived him of 
 sight for a few minutes, and when again he looked about him the leprechaun 
 had vanished. The little cavern was still open and beneath the treasure 
 shone up, dazzling the eyes of the bewildered Paddy. He stooped and 
 gathered up some of the gold and silver with which he filled his pockets, and 
 placing the cover on the earthen vessel covered it up with clay and moss and re- 
 turned to his mother. The old woman started when she beheld him. ‘ Musha 
 thin who are you,’ she asked in surprise and fright, ‘ your face is the face of 
 me own loved child. Your voice is the voice that used to gladden me ould 
 heart, bhud he had a hump and was lame, and you are straight and clean 
 limped.’ Paddy in the joy of his heart never observed that the hump he had 
 carried on his back for years — the result of a fall across a creepy stool when 
 a child — had disappeared. His first act after becoming possessed of the crock 
 of gold was to ask the hand of the lovely Kathleen F. in marriage, the request 
 was complied with as old Mr. F. saw no other way to get out of the pecuniary 
 dlfhculties that assailed him on all sides. A day was fixed for the nuptials 
 which were to be solemnized with all pomp and ceremony. The day 
 arrived that was to see the happy pair indissolubly united, but ‘ there is 
 many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip.’ The bridegroom arrived early at the 
 mansion of his intended father-in-law, his countenance radiant with smiles, 
 and his person decked out with rich and expensive jewellery. On the route 
 to the church, where the banns were to be celebrated the bridal party were 
 disturbed by an old man not more than two feet in height who thrust his 
 head into the carriage window. It was the wicked old leprechaun — ‘ Paddy 
 Kilfozey, you bruk your word, I told you to have nothing to do with the 
 girl, but you would not take my advice you dirthy, humpy ould sprishogue ; 
 she wouldn’t look at you when you wor poor and sported the hump, but 
 money alters people. I’m ashamed iv you Paddy, to say that you’d disgrace 
 the ould stock iv Kilfozeys be joining the Crumwellians and denying your 
 counthry and your religion.’ ‘ Be off with you,’ said Paddy, ‘ you sooty ould 
 cobbler, how dare you presume to insult me. I’ll rinse you in the gutther, you 
 hop-o’-my- thump.’ At Paddy’s outburst of rage the manikin laughed, and 
 with a well directed blow he hit Paddy a stroke of his tmy last on the back, 
 and wonderful to relate there he was as of old, the original Paddy Kilfozey, 
 hump-backed and lame. The occupants of the coach were horror stricken 
 at witnessing the rapid and extraordinary transformation — the story may be 
 briefly ended, Paddy was rudely hustled from the carriage by his aristocratic 
 acquaintance, and he had to trudge home to his little cabin shadowed by the 
 lofty Knockastia to reflect on the past. On inspecting his precious crock of 
 metal he discovered that it was cockbo. He often sought the leprechaun 
 afterwards to sooth his anger, but he never fell in with him again. 
 
 The Gap of the Wood. 
 
 The Gap of the Wood is situated a mile south-east of Moate, on 
 the road leading to Horseleap or Ardnurcher. There are many 
 traditions extant about this locality. Some assert that there 
 was an immense forest here in ancient times, and was destroyed 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 by the English invaders. My friend, the shoemaker, already 
 alluded to, and to whom I am indebted for much valuable in- 
 formation, related to me the legend of 
 
 Murty Coghlan, the Outlaw. 
 
 “ In the ould ainshint times when the people of the ‘ Gap ’ wor not as well 
 versed in law as they are now, the whole country about the Gap, I’m tould, 
 was a grate wood, full of wolves and other Avild animals. Well, when the 
 English thieves came over to rob us, they turned about and done what Julius 
 Sazer done to thimselves hundreds iv years afore that, they cut down every 
 sprig, barrin’ a few trees here and there. Well, at the time I’m spakin’ iv, the 
 Coghlans, I often hard, wor a very powerful family altogether, an’ owned a 
 grate dale of land in Westmeath and King’s County, partiklary about the 
 movin’ bog. They were fine rollickin’ fellows, had plinty iv manes an’ some 
 to give away, an’ sarra stranger ever left their house dry or hungry. Well, 
 ruin an’ misfortune kem on, the followers of Crumwell kem an’ pillaged the 
 Coghlans, they hung some of thim and transported others, till the family wor 
 near cleared out root and branch. At the time I’m spakin’ iv, one mimber 
 iv the family remained in the country — poor Murty. He was a fine strappin’ 
 boy, six feet two in his stockin’ feet. He had no employment ; the world 
 was all afore him ; he was too proud to work for those that plundered him- 
 self and his ancestors. To make a long story short, he wint over to France 
 after the Wild Geese and jined the Frinch army, and distinguished himself 
 at Fontenoy, where he helped to thrash his ould enemies under bloody 
 Cumberland of Culloden infamy. For ten years be lived in France and took 
 part in all the grate battles under ould Saxe till he riz to be a captain, an’ 
 med a good dale iv money. When Murty left Ireland he had no frind alive 
 barrin’ an ould aunt, and she was a widow, and she had an only son. Well, 
 this son, like his cousin, was a fine boy. Of course he had nothing to do, an’ 
 he also was too proud to work for inferiors. Well, at that time, the people 
 wor very fond of makin’ poteen whiskey, an’ fonder still iv drinkin’ it. 
 Smugglin’, too, was goin’ on at a grate rate, an’ many people wud high heads 
 wor consumed in it, an’ very few cared to rob the Guvirment in the revenues, 
 so the result was that gangs iv hardy, hard-drinkin’ chaps wor to be found 
 in many parts about the country, purtiklary near the sea coast an’ the banks 
 iv the Shannon. 
 
 “ Well, Con or Condy Coghlan, the lad I’m talkin’ about, jined one of the 
 little bands iv outlaws who used to be carryin’ on a trade with the French 
 in wine an’ brandy, an’ he was so active that they med a leader of him. 
 They wanted sich a leader — his grate popularity in that wild district 
 secured for him a safe retreat, for his men and his merchandise ; and his 
 resolution in danger an’ headlong bravery in action were most necessary to 
 men who had to evade the pursuit and frequently brave the attack of the 
 sojers an’ loyalists an’ excisemen, with their train of spies and informers. 
 Of course you often hard iv the Boor River, it runs west of Moate, into the 
 Shannon. Well, young Condy had a swift little boat that he used to carry 
 contraband goods from the Shannon that he used to get from the smugglers. 
 Well, on the east bank in ould times there was a cave that used to hould 
 the cargoes of the outlaws, but sarra sight of id is to be seen now bekase 
 the loyalists destroyed it. The mouth of the cave was overflowed -with 
 water, and led by a gentle ascent to a vault strewn with the finest sand, and 
 the interior received light and air from a fissure in the rock above, to which 
 art had given a funnel-like shape. This cave was the boat’s place of con- 
 cealment, and this cave the safe retreat of Condy and his friends, and 
 depository of their store, where they could set all the harpies of the law at 
 defiance. 
 
 “At length poor Condy reached the end of his wild career. One night 
 in the month of October he prepared to escort a quantity of French brandy 
 
51 
 
 to Tullamore ; two horses conveyed the liquor, and his party consisted of 
 twelve stout fellows, who often before performed a service of danger. But 
 a person in the confidence of one of the party, who got intimation of the 
 midnight excursion, was induced, by hope of reward, to betray the route of 
 the daring fellows to one Stephney, a notorious priest-hunter and loyalist, 
 who fastened on the plunder of his Catholic neighbours. The road lay 
 through a wild district, and upon arriving at a particular pass in which the 
 road winded round a precipitous descent, where the rough rocks rose above, 
 and a mountain torrent foamed and fretted its winding course below, the 
 moon suddenly showed her round orb, emerging faintly, illuminating the 
 waters of the Httle rivulet beneath, and revealing the persons of the outlaws 
 to view. There was a human form observed to rise above the tall rocks that 
 overhung the narrow way ; he bore in his hand a long gun ; his size 
 appeared over the usual stature of men as he drew up his figure to its full 
 length on the high cliff and bid the little band surrender in the king’s 
 name as traitors and papists. ‘ And who art thou,’ said Condy, ‘ that pre- 
 sumes to address us in such audacious terms ?’ ‘ I am,’ said he, ‘ a devoted 
 
 servant of King George the Second, and I wish to apprise you of your 
 present position ; you are trading and trafficking with the king’s enemies, 
 the French ; the road is lined with soldiers, your retreat is cut off, and you 
 rush forward to certain destruction.’ After a moment’s consultation with 
 his followers, Condy, in a clear manly voice, answered, ‘ We know the 
 tender mercies of your king and his rascally Irish allies, and none of my 
 party are cowards. We are all well armed, and the boldest of your soldiers 
 may rue our unerring aim. At the worst it is but to die, and better to die 
 like men than basely yield without a struggle.’ ‘ Your blood then be upon 
 your own heads, infatuated men,’ said Stephney, retiring beyond the cliff. 
 In proportion to the magnitude of their danger did the reckless bravery of 
 the daring otitlaws appear. They rushed forward with a wild and piercing 
 shout in front of the horses, which might otherwise have served to screen 
 them from the fire of the soldiery. The next brief moment brought them 
 in view of the soldiers, who poured an ill-directed fire upon them, for not a 
 man fell. Condy and his party fired in return, the soldiers recoiled— those 
 pursued the advantage till the guns of the opposing parties met muzzle to 
 miizzle. In that hour of strife the treacherous Stephney, who a moment 
 before evinced so laudable an anxiety to prevent the flow of human blood, 
 and who did not mingle in the fray, but lay crouched on the ledge of a 
 rock, presented his long gun at the intrepid Coghlan, and fired with sure 
 and murderous aim. The fatal ball pierced his side, and as he felt the 
 mortal stroke he sprang from the ground to a considerable height, then 
 descending in the struggle of death, he reeled to the earth, and as his head 
 met the flinty rock, the butt end of a musket in some ruffian hand scattered 
 the brains of the brave youth about. When his party saw their leader 
 fall they resigned all thoughts of maintaining the fray ; with one wild 
 effort they broke through the enemy, and, escaping under favour of the 
 night, left their leader and two others of their party dead, while the mili- 
 tary had six killed and as many more desperately wounded. 
 
 “ The remains of Condy were removed to his mother’s house, and as 
 the woe-struck woman poured her maternal despair over the body of 
 her unfortunate son, in the Irish keen, which is usual on these mournful 
 occasions, she prayed that the wild fox of the hill would lap up the heart’s 
 blood of the murderer of her son, and the raven of the valley flap its sable 
 wings over his lifeless carcass. 
 
 “ The dreadful imprecation reached the ears of the villain. Stephney, filled 
 with cruel revenge, assembled a party that surrounded the house of the 
 wretched woman, and set it on fire. As the flames rose through the roof, 
 one, more compassionate than the rest, suffered the almost suffocated 
 old woman to escape through a window. A cat was the only living thing 
 that remained inside, and as the devouring tiames cut off every place of 
 refuge, the screams of the poor animal, which strongly resembled the shrieks 
 
52 
 
 of human despair, were heartrending, and Stephney, mistaking them for the 
 death cries of his human victim, ferociously exclaimed, ‘ Now the old witch 
 will have time to curse in h — 11 !’ ” 
 
 At this stage of the story the manipulator of leather having 
 refreshed himself with the contents of a pewter measure, and 
 visited a waxey friend in Tay Lane, continued the narrative — 
 
 “ Well, me tindher frind, a year afther the burnin’ and cowardly murdher 
 of poor Condy, Murthy Coghlan. the Irish Brigademan, returned to Ireland, 
 and his first bizness was to visit the scenes of his childhood, an’ iv coorse he 
 w^as grieved at what happened, an’ he cursed by all the crasses in a Heelauder’s 
 petticoat that he’d lave docthor’s work on him. The usual mode of seeking 
 satisfaction by duel was denied him, as there was an ould penal statute aginst 
 sich things, and he being a Catholic of coorse, shut him out of all hope of 
 redress, so he med up his mind to slay him even at the risk of his life. Murty 
 watched for him night and day, an’ one frosty night the cruel Orangeman was 
 returning from Kilbeggan singing the favourite song of his party, • Croppy. 
 Lie Down,’ when Murty kem up to him and ordhered him to shut his mouth, 
 an’ if he iver lamed a prayer in his life to offer it up, as he would show him 
 no marcy. Cruel, cowardly, and shuperstitious Stephney looked on the 
 stalwart figure of the avenger of Condy Coghlan with awe, and drawing 
 a pistol from his pocket he discharged it at the head of his assailant, 
 but Murty had the presence of mind to stoop, and the messenger of death 
 passed harmlessly over him and lodged in an alder bush. In a moment 
 Stephney was in the death gripe of Murty. In vain did the wretch crave for 
 that which he denied to others — mercy ! The struggle was of short duration, 
 and in a few minutes the blood of his cousin, and the ruined homestead of his 
 aunt was avenged. The following morning the body of Stephney was discovered 
 lying in a dyke by the roadside and a half-starved looking dog lapping up 
 his Mood. Well, after the murder of Stephney the sogers and informers were 
 at work to find out who kilt him, and iv coorse poor Murty had to clear out. 
 So he started off, an’ took up his abode on the banks of the Shannon in a big 
 ruin of a house that answered well the retreat of one hunted by the Govern- 
 ment spies. In this lonely spot Murty and a chosen band of frinds carried 
 on a brisk bizness for a time tradin’ with frinch smugglers, an’ this 
 often afforded him a chance of making raids on the enemies of his country 
 and his race. An’, in justice to him, he never let an opportunity pass 
 to thrash and fleece them. » 
 
 “ One winter’s night the daring outlaw an’ some friends were sitting before 
 a snug fire countin’ their profits and losses, whin a knock kem to the door. 
 ‘Bedad,’ sed Murty, ‘ this looks quare, boys, to hear anyone knockin’ or visitin’ 
 us, barrin’ sogers or informers. Look to your arms, afeard iv a surprise or 
 of treachery, an’ in a loud voice axed who was there, and a voice answered — 
 — ‘a frind, a poor piper, that has lost his way, an’ wants shelter. On the 
 door being opened a middle-aged man entered, with his bagpipes. ‘ You are 
 j list the very fellow we want,’ sed Murty, ‘ a little music will be a novelty to 
 us. Sarra much music I hard since I left the Irish Brigade, barrin’ the cries 
 of our poor oppressed people. ‘Jack,’ said he to one of his followers, ‘give 
 him a drink of brandy, an get him his supper.’ ‘ Murty Coghlan,’ sed the 
 piper, ‘ I kem here a long journey out of my way to sarve you. I owe a 
 debt of gratitude to your family, for they sheltered and protected my father 
 whin hunted down by the minions of tyranny. I come to warn you of danger. 
 You are actually bought and sold, and at this very moment the bloodhounds 
 of the butcher Cumberland are seeking you out. Y on are betrayed by a 
 bosom frind, but a false one, the betrayer of your cousin Condy, and there 
 he is at your right hand — Shawn Sheehan ! 
 
 “The man referred to, on being accused of treason to his chief, fled 
 into another apartment, bolted the door, and in about a minute afterwards a 
 
53 
 
 pistol shot was heard — the scoundrel having committed suicide ! On the door 
 bein’ forced the wretched fellow was discovered weltering in blood. On being 
 ■sarched the proof of his perfidy was found — the price of his treachery 
 was wrapped up in a leather purse, and some letters that revealed his 
 cowardice and meanness. ‘ Come, boys,’ said the piper, ‘ there is no time to 
 be lost ; the soldiers are on your track, and this minute they may not be a 
 quarter of a mile away. They are led by a sure guide ; so clear out of this.’ 
 Scarcely had the piper concluded his warning when a violent knocking was 
 heard at the outer door, and the musician with great presence of mind 
 put Murty’s coat on him, an added— ‘They will mistake me for you, 
 an’ you may escape. As for me, I am tired of life, an care very little for 
 prolonging it.’ 
 
 “ The soldiers on receiving no answer from the occupants within, forced the 
 door ; some shots were exchanged, and the intrepid piper fell, a pistol ball 
 piercing his gallant heart. Overpowered by numbers, the outlaws fought 
 bravely, but they were eventually captured, and led to the banks of the 
 Shannon, where a British gunboat was anchored to receive them. They were 
 heavily manacled and thrown into a corner, but luckily for Murty he wasn’t 
 known, as the military thought they left him dead behind them in the 
 ruined house. The gunboat, with the rapparees, steered for Limerick, but 
 it had not proceeded far when it was overtaken by a French privateer and 
 captured. The outlaws were safely conveyed to France, and it is needless to 
 5ay, they never returned ; they found a home and a grave far from the 
 ^emerald isle.” 
 
 A Priest-Hunter. 
 
 •On the road leading from Moate to Horseleap there is a town- 
 land known as Newtown. In this locality there resided early 
 in the last century a notorious priest-hunter and informer 
 
 .named L . In 1703 the Whigs introduced into the Irish 
 
 House of Commons a bill to prevent the further growth of 
 Popery. This bill passed and obtained the royal assent on the 
 4th of March, 1704. To have this Act enforced with vigour a 
 corps of informers was organised and subsidised, and the Com- 
 mons resolved that the prosecuting and informing against priests 
 should be an honourable service. There are many traditions of 
 
 the scoundrel L extant in the district, and his name is spoken 
 
 of with detestation and horror by the peasantry. The priest- 
 hunter was a furious fanatic, and in his features might be traced 
 the malice of his mind. A fiend in human shape — lost to 
 every generous feeling, and as insensible to pity and suffering 
 as the lictor who lashed our Lord at the pillar. It was said 
 that he had a wife and children, and such was the savageness of 
 his nature that even on them he did not bestow ordinary 
 affection. 
 
 “ One holy Sabbath the Catholics had assembled, and were one by one pro- 
 ceeding to the lovely cave chapel, a retired spot where the holy sacrifice was 
 offered up in the dark penal days, when the spy, with a number of accom- 
 plices, concealed himself at some distance, and there waited until the last of 
 the worshippers had entered the cavern. He watched closely, but could not 
 
54 
 
 see -whether the priest was amongst them, for in those clays the rude dress of 
 the peasantry covered the person and concealed the character of him who 
 might have spent many a hapjjy year amidst high-minded and learned 
 associates in the academic halls of Borne and Salamanca. Nor long did the 
 priest-hunter wait, but, creeping from his lurking-place like a famished wolf 
 on the trail, proceeded at once to the mouth of the cave, and, with loud 
 shouts, commanded the bloody idolators to surrender the priest, but there 
 was no reply. Entering the cave as far as daylight permitted, no sound 
 came on his listening ear save the occasional fall of a water drop from the 
 ceiling ; still it was certain the -victims were inside, and as the loud demand 
 for their surrender were either not heard or not heeded, their persecutors 
 proceeded to employ a mode of expulsion not unusual or extraordinary in 
 those dreary days of our history. A large quantity of furze-faggots was 
 pressed into the mouth of the cavern. Between that combustible heap and 
 the outer entrance a wall of rubble stone was raised, the chinks and crevices 
 of which were filled up with other loose brushwood. Then through a small 
 aperture left for the purpose fire was introduced ; the crackling element 
 threw out large volumes of smoke, and fragments of the rock, split by fury 
 of the flame, fell down and blocked up all chance of escape for those within. 
 Eagerly did the priest-hunter listen, but no voice was heard from inside. 
 Could there be any possibility of escape. One of the party was ordered to 
 ascend the cliff and take a survey of the upper ground. He saw a volume 
 of smoke rising out of a field at a short distance, and on reaching the 
 spot found it to be an aperture in which he could trace the footmarks of 
 persons as of coming up out of the cave. Disappointment seized him, and 
 he hastened to inform the rest of the party of what he had seen. After a 
 little observation the conviction of a sad failure dashed their spirits for the 
 moment. The fire was allowed to burn itself out, and as they might now 
 enter the cave without opposition or fear of danger, lights were procured, 
 and in they moved to examine the retreat. After passing through several 
 windings without meeting anything remarkable, they entered a spacious 
 room, at one extremity of Avhich appeared some articles on a.projecting shelf 
 of the rock. Approaching they found it was a rude altar, with candlesticks 
 and chalice and missal, and the candles appeared as if recently extinguished. 
 The minutest search revealed nothing else except the traces of many foot- 
 steps about the altar. At the time the effects of the fire began to be felt 
 inside Mass had already been commenced, and the priest had arrived at that 
 most solemn part of the sacrifice when he could not depart or cease. The 
 congregation, feeling no such difficulty, fled, and saved themselves by the 
 passage above the cliff. In their anxiety for the priest they urged him to 
 fly with them, but he refused, and his escape was nothing short of a miracle.”^ 
 
 Amongst the many priests hunted down by this merciless 
 
 Xi was the Rev. James Dillon. In 1704 Father Dillon was 
 
 registered at Mullingar as Popish priest (in the language of the 
 penal statute) of Ardnorcher (Horseleap) and Kilbride. He was 
 ordained at Ballyleoge, Co. Galway, in 1683, by Dr. Keogh, 
 Bishop of Clonfert, lived at Moycashel the year of the registration, 
 w^as then forty-five years of age, and had for sureties, in accord- 
 ance with law, John Herald, of Kilbeggan, and Agbery Shell, of 
 Ballykilroe. According to the traditions of the people, this 
 Father Dillon was a priest who suffered much for the faith. 
 He lived in times when the priest was at the mercy of the 
 common informer, and when betraying his whereabouts and 
 leading to his arrest were deemed by an Irish Parliament 
 honourable service. The law guaranteed protection to the 
 
55 
 
 registered priests of 1704, but the law had no scruple in breaking 
 faith when it was found that all its machinations to entrap these 
 men into the oath of abjuration proved a signal failure. Of the 
 fathers and guardians of the Irish Church of that day very few 
 met with more unrelenting persecution than Father Dillon at 
 
 the hands of L and his hireling gang. There are many dark 
 
 stories handed down respecting the low devices of this vile tool 
 of the Government, which he adopted to find out the hiding 
 places of the Catholic clergy, and the lonely places where at 
 day break they ventured to perform the sacred ceremonies. On 
 one occasion he bribed a woman to induce her husband to feign 
 sickness, had himself concealed in the house in order to see the 
 priest administer the sacrament and thus have evidence against 
 him. The unfortunate man consented, took to his bed, sent for 
 the priest, but by a terrible retribution, when the priest arrived 
 the man was dead. On another occasion he arrested Father 
 Dillon as he was celebrating Mass, had him tied with ropes, and 
 in this plight marched him to the gaol of Mullingar. Father 
 Dillon took ill, and for some time his life was despaired of, and 
 to this circumstance he was chiefly indebted for his subsequent 
 liberation. 
 
 Kilcomkeragh. 
 
 The south-east portion of Moate belongs to the parish of Kil- 
 comreragh, commonly called Tubber or Kill. The abbey of 
 Kilcomreragh was situated in the barony of Moycashel. It was 
 founded by St. Colman, the son of St. Tinton, early in the 
 seventh century. This St. Colman was the grandson of Filoga, 
 prince of south Munster ; his mother was Golges, daughter of 
 Aedbfinn (Hugh the White), prince of Hybruinn. His brother 
 w^as the celebrated St. Fursa or Fursey, who preached the gospel 
 and founded churches and monasteries in England and France, 
 and whose name is conspicuous amongst our continental 
 missioners. The name Colman being a diminutive of Colum 
 or (Colin) a contraction of Columba, was very frequent amongst 
 the early Irish saints. In the “ Martyrology of Tallaght,’' the 
 name occurs over eighty times. The feast of St. Colman of 
 Kilcomreragh was celebrated here on the 28th of September. 
 His history and year of his death is unknown. 757, Ferfio, a 
 wise man, abbot of Kilcomreragh, died. The abbey seems not 
 to have survived the Danish invasion. The ruins of the old 
 church of Kilcomreragh measures in length 53ft. 4in. The 
 walls have been for the most part torn down ; and there is an 
 air of holiness and desolation about this deserted sanctuary. 
 Here sleep Dr. Geoghegan, late Coadjutor-Bishop of Meath, and 
 
56 
 
 Rev. Messrs. M‘Namee, and O’Leary. There is a monument to 
 the Geoghegans of Ballybrickoge, with the following inscription — 
 
 Within these walls are buried 
 The 
 
 Geoghegans of Ballybrickoge, 
 
 For whose souls yon are desired to pray. 
 
 May they rest in peace. 
 
 Amen. 
 
 There was a holy well here called Tobar Amhaill (Saint 
 Aved’s Well), which was frequented on Good Friday. There 
 was a church at a place called Kilcatherine ; there was another 
 in the last century at a place called Ballagh. The patron of 
 Kill is St. Thomas, whose festival is held on the 21st of December. 
 There is an immense ash tree on the townland of Kill-Murragh, 
 convenient to which Mass was celebrated in the last century. It 
 is still called the ash tree of the priests. 
 
 Kilmanaghan. 
 
 The old church was uprooted and a Protestant edifice, now 
 deserted, erected on the site. The patron saint of this church 
 is St. Manchan. 
 
 The Teoopek’s Mound. 
 
 Toueists travelling from Moate to Clara are shown a gentle 
 eminence known as the Trooper’s Mound, where it is said a 
 Williamite soldier is buried in unhallowed ground. A huge 
 rough stone marks the resting place of the dead warrior ; and 
 there are many traditions extant among the peasantry of the 
 district relative to the career of him who lies unheeded in a 
 lonely way-side grave. The untaught rustics of the surrounding 
 county have ever regarded the vicinity of the mound as haunted 
 ground, and many stories are in circulation about the freaks of 
 the defunct hero ; and his midnight wanderings, some times in 
 the shape of a headless horseman, and occasionally assuming 
 the form of a huge barrel rolling with terrible velocity along the 
 high road leading to Tubber. During my residence in the 
 neighbourhood, which was of a temporary character, I learned 
 from an old “ Sybil,” Kitty Cuffe, the following particulars of the 
 terrible trooper : — 
 
 “ You must know, me dacent man, that the tumble trooper that is buried 
 up there beloAv, although some people say he was a furriner, an’ came over 
 from furrin parts, bhud it was no sich thing, he was a West of Ireland man, 
 
57 
 
 an’ iv course, lek others, he denied his country an’ his creed, an’ signs an id, 
 sorra one is to say Lord have mercy on his sowl. Well, the sojer’s name was 
 Billy Gray, bekase I often heard me ould granny. Lord rest her sowl in 
 glory, singing a song about him, bhud iv coorse I forget it all barrin’ one 
 verse— 
 
 I wonder much why Billy Gray 
 
 Travelled so far to Moate Grenoge, 
 
 From that enlightened town — Lougheagh — 
 
 To learn to twang our Leinster brogue. 
 
 Well, Billy Gray was the son iv one iv the ould Crumwellian sojers that got 
 some land in Galway that belonged to the Catholics. At the time my story 
 begins he came to Moate to get laming, as the Quakers wor after establishing 
 their quarters in the town, an’ they opened out a great school altigether I’m 
 towld. Billy remained in Moate a few years, an’ bedad, whin the war bruck 
 out what d’ye think bhud he jined the furrin invaydhers to cut our throats. 
 He was at the battles of the Boyne, Athlone, and Aughrim. Well, whin the 
 war ended he grabbed a lot of land about Moate, the King’s County side, an’ 
 iv coorse he built a big house on it, an’ thin he got married, bhud he had no 
 childher to lave the fruits iv his robbery to. Afther featherin’ his nest he 
 parsacuted all his poor Catholic naybors, in ivery way he could. He hung 
 some, transported an’ shot others, till he left the counthry waste. I’m towld 
 that he used to dhrink very heavy, and that a quart iv sperrits wud be nothin’ 
 in his way ; bhud he was near the end iv his tether, bekase as long as the 
 pitcher is going to the well id’s bruck at last. Billy was a great stockmasther, 
 an’ had any amount of horned cattle an’ sheep, bhud one night he was 
 expeeted home from Athlone, where he was after selling fat cattle for the 
 sojers, an’ iv coorse he had plenty iv money about him. Well, me jule, the 
 lads iv course — I mane the rapparees — med a plan to meet him on his way 
 home and to make him shell out. The boys met at a little sheebeen-house 
 kep be one Jack Slattery. It was one iv those mid nights in the month of 
 December, win’ an’ rain that wudn’t let a hen from undher a bush, an’ the 
 rafters cracked under the weight iv the savage storm, but sorra bit iv cowld 
 reached the chaps, bekase they were well lined inside wid pliuty iv potheen an’ 
 finejuicey mutton, that the host had prepared for them from one of Gray’s fat 
 sheep. Warmed by the whiskey toddy, it was arranged to clane out Billy, 
 root an’ branch, out iv the counthry, hy way iv satisfaction for all the wrong 
 he had done. As midnight approached they left the cabin an’ lay in ambush 
 for their prey. They wor not long waitin’ whin they hard the coach rowlin’ 
 up, an’ one iv the party ordhered a halt, bhud the only answer given was the 
 discharge ov a pistol, which slightly grazed the captain ov the rapparees. 
 The shot roused the rage iv the little band, who attacked the coach wud 
 great fury. Gray fought bravely, bhud it was no use ; he was shot down, 
 an’ his sarvints showed a clane pair iv heels. As the coach was iv no use to 
 the rapparees, they med a bonetire iv id, an’ the horses wor sent to a place 
 iv safety. The party then proceeded to the dwellinghouse iv the ould Crom- 
 wellian an’ burned it to the ground. The next mornin’ some sojers who wor 
 on padrowl dug a a hole an’ threw him into it, body an’ bones. Well, from 
 that blissed hour till up to a few days ago, a headless horseman used to be 
 seen ridin’ lek mad along the roads, an’ sometimes he’d be lek an ould barrel 
 rowlin’ about till he was settled undher a bush there beyant, an’ signs on id 
 the same bush is beginnin’ to decay. Well, Gray’s friuds down in Loughrea 
 v,ror so much afeerd that they niver looked afther the troopers ill-gotten 
 wealth.” 
 
58 
 
 Tinamtjck, 
 
 Tinamuck, wbicli in Irish means the house of the pig, lies to 
 the south of Moate. The principal production of this enchant- 
 ing region is lime, and from the many kilns at work strangers 
 would fancy they were in the environs of Mount Etna. There 
 is an old round tower here in excellent preservation, defying as 
 it were nature and the elements. I was informed that it was 
 repaired about eighty years ago by an antiquarian proprietor of 
 the property, Mr. Holmes. On the occasion of my visit to 
 Tinamuck I had the good fortune to fall in with an old native 
 of the soil, Andy the lime burner. My new acquaintance was 
 seated on a big stone in front of his kiln, humming a verse of a 
 song in praise of a young lady whose acrobatic performance cast 
 to the shade the renowned Blondin — 
 
 “ All from the summit 
 Of a lofty turret 
 
 I saw a maiden step gently down.” 
 
 After examining the ancient structure I intimated to Andy the 
 opinions of Hr. Petrie, O’Honovan, and other eminent authorities, 
 as to the origin and use of Bound Towers, but he, good man, 
 shook his head, and added, “ sorra hap’orth they know about 
 id, no more than my coachman. Sure the first one ever built 
 is jist where you see id. Maybe ye never hard how id was hilt 
 at all,” I replied in the negative ; and my kind guide, after 
 expressing astonishment at my ignorance, proceeded to relate 
 
 The Legend op Tinamuck Round To>yER, 
 
 “ Whin the good St. Manchan was on earth, he lived about there, I’m towld ; 
 I suppose ye often hard iv him. I rephed in the affirmative. Well, he 
 was a grate saint altigedher ; I’m towld he used to parform mighty miracles 
 for the people ; hhud one thing he failed at, he couldn’t silence a woman’s 
 tongue, barrin’ he make her a dummy. I often hard that whin he used to 
 go out on dark nights to attend sick calls he had nothin’ to do bhud howld 
 up his five fingers, an’ there they wor shinnin’ bright, like so many blessed 
 candles lightin’ his way. The saint was a great preacher, and he used to 
 be ahvays advisin’ the good wives iv the place, or rather the bad ones, how 
 to live wid their nabors. ’Twas a funny world in his day ; lashins to ate an’ 
 drink, an’ nothin’ to pay — neither rint, tithes, nor taxes ; no bumbailiffs or 
 sheriffs, landlords or agents. 
 
 “ Bhud to come to me story, in the ould ainshint times I’m spakin ov, there 
 lived near where the ould round tower is now, one Malachy Kishoge ; 
 Malachy was a quiet sort ov man, bhud shure that was no thanks to him, 
 bekase he had to be quiet, as he was only nominal ruler ov his own house, 
 his better half, J udy, was invested, or rather she invested herself, with 
 absolute authority over her husband and her household. Malachy, besides 
 tillin’ a bit ov ground, risin’ a few praties for the childer, used to be trainin’ 
 dogs I’m towld, an’ brakin’ in horses. His plan for reducin’ wicked dogs was 
 very simple an’ chape, plinty ov exercise and hunger. He tamed the most 
 
59 
 
 wicked horses, even ould garrons, blind he could never subdue Judy — she 
 was always at war wid her bridle — poor Malachy. As a last resoorse Malachy 
 applied to the saint for advice an’ assistance how to act. Afther he hard his 
 story he shook his head, an’ sez he, ‘ You must trust to ould age, Malachy 
 avick, for comfort an’ consilayshin, bekase ould age makes people bothered, 
 an’ thin ye can’t hear what she siz to you.’ ‘ An’ ye tell me, father 
 jule, that I’ll have no pase till thin.’ ‘ I’m afraid not,’ said he, ‘ barrin’ 
 I work a miracle on her, an’ if she brings me heavy hand on her, pon me 
 sowkins she’ll mind id all the dear days ov her life ; go home Malachy an 
 tell Judy what I sed, an’ iv she doesn’t mind herself I’ll lave her where her 
 naybor’s dog wont bite her.’ The poor man returned home, joy beamin’ in 
 his face, his step was light, an’ carriage erect. He had obtained a powerful 
 ally to aid tim in any offensive movement against Judy. On reaching the 
 little hamlet where he lived he heard Mrs. Kishoge’s sweet voice reverberatin’^ 
 over the dreary waste of bog that lay in front of his cabin, like a fire-bell, 
 scoldin’ one ov her naybors. ‘ What’s the manin’ ov all this,’ axed Malachy, 
 
 ‘ is your tongue never to saze, night, noon, or mornin’. ‘Whist you dirthy 
 ould sprishogue, who gev you lave to talk, iv you don’t shut your mouth I’ll 
 stuff id wid the dishcloth,’ so with that she gave him a dab ova washstaff that 
 nearly knocked the sowl-case out ov him. ‘ Take that now,’ she sez, ‘ an’ buy 
 brogues for id.’ ‘ Ah, you wicked jade,’ bawled Malachy, ‘ this is the last 
 blow ever you’ll give me never fear, I’ll jist step over to Father Manchan an’ 
 tell him ov your doings, he’s the boy that’ll gag you, throth he’ll put a pitch 
 plaster on your mouth.’ ‘Go along you ould inforn*er,’ sez Judy, ‘shure 
 the bad dhrop is in you. I don’t care three rattles ov a tinker’s praskeen 
 about you or him.’ Malachy darted off as fast as his legs could bring him, 
 till he reached the house of the holy abbot, and told him what happened. 
 ‘You needn’t say a word more,’ sez the saint, ‘ so go home an’ I promise you 
 you’ll get ease and pase for a long time.’ Kishoge returned home with a 
 light heart, he was to be a free man again. The followin’ mornin’ whin he 
 got up Judy was nowhere to be seen, he sarched for her up and down, bhud 
 no one saw her. In the coorse ov the day a naybor ov Malachy’s rambled 
 into him, ‘ Arrah, Malachy,’ sez he, ‘ you’re a quare man to be sittin’ here an’ 
 all the counthry runnin’ to see the miracle was performed last night. Sorra 
 such a buildin’ iver you seen as ruz up out ov the ground last night.’ The 
 promise ov the saint and the absence of Judy struck Malachy, an’ he knew 
 the story of the buildin’ had somethin’ to do with it, so off they started, an’ 
 what do ye think bhud about half a mile from Malachy’s cabin there stood 
 the round tower jist as it stands now, idouth house or home near it, an’ who 
 do ye think was inside ifl, peepin’ out of a place ov a windy or doorway, 
 bhud Judy Kishoge, lookin’ out just like a cow out ov a pound, an’ sorra one 
 she had to spake to but the jackdaws an’ sparrows that wor flyin’ about the 
 buildin,’ and wonderin’ at id. ‘ The top ov the mornin to you,’ sez Malaehy, 
 
 ‘ bedad ye have a very high trastle to yotir door,’ — bekase the place ov the 
 door was thirty feet from the ground— ‘you’ll keep airly hours now, you 
 can’t be streelin’ about now, backbitin’ and abusin’ the naybors ; would you 
 have time to take a half one.’ ‘ Go along wid ye,’ sez Judy, ‘ you hatchet 
 faced lookin’ hangman, wait till I go home, throth you may be makin’ your- 
 self scarce.’ ‘ If you don’t come home soon,’ retorted Malachy, ‘ I suppose 
 you’ll write.’ 
 
 “Well, to cut short me story, the saint kep’ her there for a couple ov 
 months, on small allowance, till he had her tamed, an’ thin, ov coorse, he let 
 her back, an’ durin’ the remaindher ov her life, I am towld, she was a model 
 of propriety an’ decorum for all the good wives ov the parish. Well, I often 
 hard that Judy’s imprisonment had a grate effect on all the wicked women 
 in the district ; any ov them that was up for bein’ quarrelsome you had only 
 to threaten the round tower on thim. Well, whin the news spread over the 
 country about the Taming ov the Shrew of Tinamuck, round towers were 
 hilt in every part ov Ireland as female penitentaries, an’ they wor far better 
 than either Grangegorman or Tullamore. So, dipind on it, sir, that the story 
 
60 
 
 ov Dr. Pether, or whativer you call him, about round towers being built by 
 our Pagan ancesthers for their Pagan rites, or warnin’ towers, is all bosh. 
 The first of them was built for Judy Kishoge.” 
 
 Bishop Geoghegan and the Bobber. 
 
 Dr. Eugene Geoghegan, Coadjutor-Bishop of Meath, was born 
 in the neighbourhood of Tubber, and belonged to the old race of 
 Moycashel — the famous M‘Geoghegans — which once held un- 
 bounded sway over a large portion of the present Westmeath 
 and King’s County. Very little is known of his early history, 
 further than that he studied on the Continent, was a very 
 eminent man, became parish priest of Tubber, and lived in his 
 parish on a little farm of ten acres, on the townland ofBallybeg. 
 The days of Dr. Geoghegan’s episcopacy were however short, 
 and his death was accelerated by an accident, for which he was 
 not responsible, but which, naturally enough, gave him a shock 
 from which he never afterwards recovered. It seems that Dr. 
 Geoghegan, after a lengthened absence, performing visitation of 
 the diocese, had returned home to Ballybeg. At that time a 
 band of notorious robbers, headed by a man named Mick Allard, 
 a daring outlaw, and a native of Rathconrath, infested the 
 country, and plundered indiscriminately through Westmeath 
 and King’s County. The rendezvous of the gang was on the 
 northern bank of the little lake situated at the rere of Mount 
 Dalton. To a person interested in wild and picturesque scenery 
 I don’t know any part of Westmeath better adapted for des- 
 peradoes than this secluded spot. In a deep glen, sheltered on 
 every side by low hills, and flanked by a rushing rivulet, was 
 the outlaws’ home. The situation chosen by the band was un- 
 doubtedly convenient and romantic, and was a safe cover for 
 plunder and shelter. 
 
 It was a wild night in the month of December, 1774 ; the 
 flood-gates of heaven poured their torrents, the wind rushed 
 angrily through the still darkness, and the lightning glanced 
 along the air. A gang of desperate men had assembled in the 
 sheeling on the lonely bank of the little lake, whose waters were 
 lashed to fury by the pitiless elements without. Though the 
 frail rafters creaked beneath the weight of the savage wind, and 
 the lofty ash trees groaned in the elemental war, and the echoes 
 from the neighbouring cliffs bore to the ear the hollow roaring 
 of the foaming rivulet adjacent, the tempest had no terror for 
 the highwaymen — 
 
 “ The storm without might rave and rustle, 
 
 Tam did na mind the storm a whistle.” 
 
 After food and drink had been distributed among Allard’s 
 followers, it was arranged that Dr. Geoghegan’s house should 
 be robbed that night, as the storm was favourable for such a 
 
61 
 
 rash enterprise. Lots having been cast, it fell to Allard to 
 break into his lordship’s house, which was a small one, on the 
 borders of the Kmg’s County. The journey from Eathconrath 
 to Ballybeg was a long one, but the outlaws knew every pass in 
 the country. On sped the desperadoes, across Sugar Hill and 
 the marshy land lying north of Loughnavally and the bog of Came, 
 till lofty Knockastric was reached. They entered on a dark 
 mountain pass, enclosed on either side by precipices, which rose 
 to an awful height above them, in the dim, starless sky. The 
 terrific rage of the storm, added to the dead of night, the wild 
 hill, and its numerous legends of ghosts, had a strange effect on 
 the heart of Allard, who was cruel, cowardly, and superstitious ; 
 and more than once the robber quailed, but his comrades en- 
 couraged him on with deep draughts of poteen, made on the bog 
 of Killahee. Everything favoured the plan of the miscreants, 
 for the curate, on the return of the bishop, got leave of absence 
 to visit his friends, and no one slept in the house unless Dr. 
 Geoghegan and his aged housekeeper. On arriving at Ballybeg 
 the robbers blackened their faces, and it was arranged that 
 Allard should break in and open the door for the rest. A stone 
 flung through the window hit the post of the bed in which Dr. 
 Geoghegan was sleeping, awoke him, and when he rose to 
 ascertain the cause, he saw a robber with a hatchet in his hand, 
 attempting to force his way through the window. The bishop 
 asked him what brought him there ; the ruffian, who was sup- 
 ported on the shoulders of his companions, averted his face, 
 took more drink, and continued to force himself through the 
 window. The bishop remonstrated with him, threatened, but 
 all to no purpose. Now, in the room there was an old rusty 
 gun, which Dr. Geoghegan had in his hands that day while 
 walking through the little farm, and in which there was an old 
 charge that he had frequently attempted to fire off, but when 
 remonstrance failed with the robber, the bishop took the old gun 
 in his hands and presented it at the intruder. More drink was 
 given to the housebreaker, the bishop placed his finger on the 
 trigger and pulled it. The charge went off, the robber reeled, 
 his companions ran away, and Allard fell from the window to 
 the ground a corpse. Dr. Geoghegan never recovered this acci- 
 dent. He fretted and pined away at the thought of having been 
 instrumental in sending a soul so sudden before its Creator. 
 Dr. Geoghegan departed this life on the 26th of May, 1778, and 
 was buried with his friends in the old churchyard of Kilcomre- 
 ragh. A headstone has the following inscription : — 
 
 Here lyeth the body of the late 
 Kev. Dr. Owen Geoghegan, 
 
 Who departed this life > 
 
 26th May, 1778, aged 72 years ; 
 
 May the Lord have mercy on his soul, and on 
 The soul of his family, 
 
 Who are also interred here. 
 
62 
 
 On the news spreading over the country that the humble 
 mansion of Bishop Geoghegan had been attacked by the Rath- 
 conrath freebooters, the people were so indignant that they drove 
 them from their lurking place, and forced them to fly to another 
 part of the country. Some of the gang took up their abode at 
 Raheenwoe, between Churchtown and Loughnavallay, and for 
 years they were the terror of travellers, as it was the high road 
 to the west of Ireland, Old people assert that the barony con- 
 stables, who were the only peace officers at the time, were in 
 league with them, and shared a part of the booty. 
 
 Ballinabakna. 
 
 Ballinabarna, the town of the “ bearna,” or gap, is situated a 
 short distance south of the Chapel of Rosemount. There is an 
 old fort in the locality, and like similar mounds throughout the 
 country, if the stories of the peasantry who reside there are true, 
 is tenanted by fairies, and their midnight cantrips are often told 
 around the fireside, on the long winter evenings. 
 
 “ In the good old days, before the Crimean War, when whiskey 
 was at three pence a naggin, there was a wayside tavern in Bal- 
 linabarna, kept by an old woman, whom, for private reasons, I 
 shall call Molly. Molly was kind and hospitable to thirsty 
 travellers, and the general public, and, like the renowned 
 Madame Blaize, all tipplers were freely regaled, provided they 
 left a substantial pledge behind in lieu of the alcohol or ‘ cut- 
 throat,’ as she used to call it, from its strength and pungency. 
 Poor Molly had one failing, a weakness to pry into futurity, 
 and to know what fate had in store for herself and her neigh- 
 bours. The result of her prying inquisitiveness was that her 
 establishment was frequently visited by venerable dames, who 
 did a brisk trade tossing cups, revealing to their dupes their future 
 destiny in the Lottery of Life. A.s a general rule those who 
 drank freely, and bribed the old hags with silver, were to be 
 blessed with long life, wealth galore, peace and plenty, whilst 
 the niggard should travel in search of riches to furrin land, and 
 not get it, and to be afflicted with all the ills that flesh is heir 
 to. Whenever an old sybil of profound knowledge notified her 
 intention of visiting the tavern, the house was sure to be crowded 
 with lady customers, and Molly, in slang phrase, pushed a roaring 
 trade. At the period I am speaking of, there came to the little 
 hamlet a gentleman versed in the occult sciences — a walking 
 prophet — a regular soothsayer — who cast to the winds cup- 
 tossing and cup-tossers, in the person of a mute, or as they are 
 called, a dummy. The new arrival was graciously received by 
 Molly and her customers, and after a couple of days he had lots 
 
63 
 
 of clients, who placed implicit confidence in his artful predictions, 
 and amongst the rest the worthy vintress. After the usual 
 mysterious signs, he informed Molly in writing that there was 
 an iron chest of gold buried in the fort, that it was guarded by 
 a black cat, that a life would be lost in obtaining it, but that 
 through his (the dummy’s) intervention that calamity would not 
 occur, and that the sooner the men would commence excavating 
 the better. The extraordinary intelligence was circulated over 
 the parish of Kill, and numbers of men assembled to dig for the 
 hidden treasure. The work of delving went on, and Molly sup- 
 plied the toilers with the sinews of war — cut-throat. For five 
 days the noise of pickaxe, crowbar, and spade was unceasing. 
 Still no appearance of treasure-throve. On the sixth evening, 
 when wearied and exhausted, it is alleged, the men heard a 
 rumbhng noise beneath them, and on a sudden the ground 
 opened, and out popped, not a black cat, but a ferocious-looking 
 rat, of raven hue. Alarmed and terrified, the men sought safety 
 in flight, helter-skelter. The retreat from Bull’s Run was nothing 
 to it. The following morning the dummy appeared on the scene, 
 and after being informed, in writing, of what had happened, he 
 declared that the spell was broken, and that the gold had been 
 removed to another place through the agency of the black rat, 
 who was guarding it, but that he would find out where it had 
 been removed to. The same evening the dummy was closetted 
 with Molly in her reception room, and after casting the horos- 
 cope of her destiny, he made known to her that she was to be 
 the fortunate possessor of the iron chest and its precious con- 
 tents ; but she should keep the affair a secret— the chest had 
 been changed to another place by the wily fairies. It was under 
 a white-thorn bush, at the south side of the fort, and the hour 
 to dig for it was the witching one of midnight, when the good 
 people would be out on their rambles. That night Molly was 
 at the bush denoted, accompanied by her servant-maid, and 
 armed with a loy or spade, and a drop of cut-throat to nerve 
 her on, but melancholy to relate, instead of thrusting the spade 
 into the ground the unfortunate old woman struck the left 
 ankle a violent blow, and her screams resounded over the 
 wild expanse of country, to the great horror and dismay of 
 many of her neighbours, who heard her shrieks of agony. I am 
 told that she never recovered the injury, but after that she lost 
 all faith in fortune-tellers of every description. The large hole 
 excavated remains open to the present day, and no one could be 
 found since that time courageous enough to seek further for the 
 hidden treasure. I may state, the dummy cleared out of the 
 place at once.” 
 
64 
 
 The population of Moate in 1881 amounted to 1,462. The 
 population in 1841 was 1,785. During the war of the Eevolu- 
 tion a large body of the adherents of James II., which had been 
 pursued from Ballymore by the forces under De Ginckle, drew up 
 here in order to give battle to their pursuers ; but they were 
 driven into the town, whence, after they had vainly endeavoured 
 to entrench themselves, they fled to Athlone, with the loss of 
 about 300 men, several officers, their baggage, a great quantity 
 of arms, and 500 horses. On their arrival at Athlone their 
 defeat had caused such consternation in the garrison of that 
 place that the gates were closed against the fugitives from a 
 fear of admitting their pursuers also, and several fled for shelter 
 to the bogs, and many perished in the river. The manufacture 
 of cottons, linens, and tweeds, formerly carried on here to a 
 great extent, is a thing of the past. The parish of Moate or 
 Kilcleagh, comprises 9,237 statute acres, and the population of 
 the entire parish in 1841 numbered 6,160. 
 
 Castledaly lies two miles west of Moate. The Dalys, former 
 owners of this place, were an old Irish family, and held their 
 estates without patent until Charles the Second’s time, when 
 they obtained one as innocent Papists. They conformed to 
 Protestantism during the reign of Queen Anne. Castledaly is 
 in other hands at present. 
 
 Ballinahowen lies about three miles south-west of Moate, on 
 the road leading from Athlone to Parsonstown. It was for more 
 than nine centuries the residence of the Malone family, whose 
 ancient mansion, built on the site of an old castle, was formerly 
 an object of interest to tourists. The estate and old family 
 mansion was purchased by the late Sir John Ennis, and is at 
 the present in possession of Madame O’Donohoe. 
 
 The End. 
 
 mm 
 
65 
 
 KILBEGGAN AND ITS ENVIKONS. 
 
 . jILBEGGAN, one of the chief towns of Westmeath, is 
 situated on the Upper Brosna, and lies about twelve miles 
 south of Mullingar. The river here is small, bearing 
 only the surplus waters of Lough Ennel, but it is considerably in- 
 creased in volume by the supplies it receives from the boggy tract 
 it runs through before it reaches the Shannon. The town con- 
 tains the usual public buildings. To the north, as far as the 
 shores of I^ynn Lake, the country is generally flat, boggy, and in 
 many places injured by the overflowing of the Brosna. Prior to 
 the fatal Act of Union, Kilbeggan was a borough, and returned 
 two members to the Irish House of Commons. At the General 
 Election in 1789 the people of Kilbeggan returned as their repre- 
 sentatives the incorruptible and uncompromising John Philpot 
 Curran and Henry Elood. In 1800, Sir Francis Hopkins, one 
 of its members, received a bribe in money for vacating his seat 
 and letting in a unionist ; and Gustavus Lambert, the proprietor, 
 received £15,000 compensation for his perfidy. Kilbeggan was 
 in olden times the chief town of M‘Geoghegan's country, and there 
 were two religious establishments here — one an Abbey, founded 
 by St. Beccan, a cotemporary of St. Columbkille in the latter end 
 of the sixth century, or early in the seventh ; but the records 
 have been lost in the night of time, or have perished in the early 
 invasions which have swept over Ireland. 
 
 In the year 1200 another religious establishment, called “ The 
 Abbey of the Biver of God ” (why so called I have not ascer- 
 tained), was founded by the D’ Alton family, lords of Bathconrath, 
 under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin. It was supplied 
 with monks from the great Abbey of Mellifont, whose mitred 
 abbot could ride straight forward on lands belonging to his house 
 from the sea near Drogheda to the Shannon. In the reign of 
 Elizabeth a branch of the Dillon family had the property of the 
 suppressed abbey. In the following reign Oliver Lord Lambert 
 was seized of the monastery lands of the Blessed Virgin. 
 
 The “ Four Masters ” has the following : — 
 
 “About the year 1200 a Cistercian monastery was erected here called ‘ The 
 River of God,’ by the D’Alton family, under the patronage of the Blessed 
 Virgin, which was supplied with monks from the far-famed Abbey of Melli- 
 font. In 1213 Melaghlin M‘ Goughian, Prince of Delvin, died during his 
 pilgrimage to this abbey. 1218 — Roderick and Melaghlin, sons of M‘Coughlan, 
 died in this abbey. Same year, O’Nive, Abbot of Kilbeggan, died. (Annals 
 of Kilrohan.) 1236 — Hugh O’Malone, Bishop of Clonmacnoise, died here. 
 1298 — The Abbot, William O’Flynn, was made Bishop of Clonmacnoise, and 
 died 1202. (Annals of Loughkee — MacGeoghegan).” 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 The last Abbot of Kilbeggan was Maurice O’Shaughane, and 
 on the 30th of November, 31st King Henry VIIT., he and his 
 community were ejected from their cloister, and all the property 
 of the monastery and the church, the Catholic endowments of 
 past ages, the sacred trust for the widow and the orphan, for the 
 decency and splendour of public worship, were grasped by sacri- 
 ligious frauds, and were squandered on the brutal passions of an 
 impious king, or went to subsidise the agents of the Keformation. 
 King James I. granted the site and all the landed property of the 
 monastery to Sir Oliver Lambert, by whom, it is said, the walls 
 of the monastery were pulled down. The site of the once famous 
 monastery is now a green field. There were two churches here — 
 the Abbey Church and the Parochial Church. The one is repre- 
 sented by a green mound, called “ The Church of the Kelic,” 
 and the other by the present Protestant edifice. All ancient 
 traces of Catholicity have been swept away, so that not a vestige 
 remains unless the emblem of salvation on the modern tombstones. 
 
 Rathugh. 
 
 Rathugh, anciently called Rath-Aodha-Bree, the Rath or Fort 
 of Hugh, the son ot Bree, is situated in the barony of Moycashel, 
 about three miles east of Kilbeggan. A monastery was founded 
 here in the sixth century, inside a rath or fort, by St. Aodh, or 
 Hugh, who was born in this neighbourhood, and whose memory, 
 notwithstanding the lapse of time, is still held in extraordinary 
 reverence among the people. The “Four Masters” has the follow- 
 ing notices of this Abbey : — 
 
 “ 771 — Ferbaso, Abbot of Rathugh, died. 783 — Dubhdathuath, Bishop 
 and Abbot of Rathugh, died. 837 — In this year the ‘ Four Masters ’ record 
 a meeting of the Irish chieftains convened at Rathugh, by Malachy, monarch 
 of Ireland, for the purpose of establishing peace and concord among the 
 various tribes. Of the ecclesiastics who attended mention is especially made 
 of Fethgna, the Primate of Armagh, and Snairleach, Abbot of Clonard. 
 The monastery of Rathugh seems not to have survived the Danish invasion.” 
 
 The Appendix to the Introduction of the “Martyrology of 
 Donegal ” contains the following notice of this place : — 
 
 “Aodh MacBrie, MacCorbmaie, MacCremhthainn, MacFiachach, from 
 whom the Cinel Fiachach was born in Cillair (Killare) ; his miraculous staff, 
 made of brass, inlaid with silver, is in the possession of Peter MacEoghagain, 
 Rath-Aodh ; a parish church still remains there. It was he himself — viz., 
 Peter MacEoghagain — who found the staff ; and Cillair is still the church of 
 St. Aodh. St. Patrick foretold his descent from Fiachach, when he gave 
 him fifteen townlands around Cillair (Killare), after cursing the stones of 
 Uisnech, that they should not take hold together.” 
 
 The Abbe MacGeoghegan, in his History of Ireland, alludes 
 to the meeting of Irish princes at Rathugh — “ Malachi, seeing 
 
67 
 
 two barbarous nations contending about a country to which 
 neither had a right, thought it time to stop their progress, and 
 for this purpose he convened an assembly of the princes and 
 nobles at Rath-Aodh, now Rath-Hugh, in the territory of Kinel 
 Fiachach, in Westmeath, in which regulations were made relative 
 to the state of affairs ; the princes who had been at variance were 
 reconciled, and all appeared disposed to defend the common 
 cause.” 
 
 St. Aodh (or Hugh’s) Stone. 
 
 There is an old tradition in the locality that St. Hugh was 
 accustomed to pray at this stone, and when stations were formerly 
 held here, the people, after performing their devotions at the stone 
 next visited the Holy Well. The Rev. Dean Cogan, in his 
 “ Diocese of Meath,” describes St. Aodh’s (or Bishop Hugh’s) 
 Stone, and Holy Well, in the field adjoining the churchyard of 
 Rahue, and the places where the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was 
 offered in penal times, together with the outrages infiicted on the 
 religious feelings of the people in 1788, and a remarkable “ bulla,” 
 or medal, and stone, found in the Abbey ground of Kilbeggan, in 
 1857 : — “ I paid a visit to Bishop Hugh’s Stone, and had the 
 moss cleaned off that had thickly grown on it. The stone itself 
 is nearly square, and a deep line runs round within about two 
 inches of the edge. The surface is very irregular ; it does not 
 appear ever to have been polished. A cross in a circle is deeply 
 cut on the surface. The arms of the cross terminate in outer 
 lines ; in the centre of the cross there is a deep circular cavity, 
 about six or seven inches in diameter. There is a smaller cavity 
 at the intersection of one of the arms of the cross. This large 
 cavity, which is about an inch and a-half deep at the centre, may 
 have given rise to the legend which represents it as having been 
 formed by Bishop Hugh’s knees. In latter times people used to 
 go to the stone to be cured of headache.” 
 
 At a short distance from the site of the old monastery there is 
 a Holy Well, called Bishop Hugh’s Well. It is now closed up ; 
 it is on the old Abbey grounds. Stations were held there annually 
 on 2nd November, and that day was always observed as a holi« 
 day by the people till about thirty-five years ago. 
 
 There is still a tradition in the neighbourhood that a person 
 
 named Ranell, who rented the Abbey lands from the L s, 
 
 having caused the tokens to be collected after a station, and to be 
 thrown into the fire in his presence, was found dead in his chair 
 before they were consumed. This man’s tombstone, and that of 
 his only daughter, who died unmarried, are still in good preserva- 
 tion in the churchyard. I should have stated that I could not 
 discover the slightest trace of any inscription on Bishop Hugh’s 
 stone. 
 
6S 
 
 The memory of the L family is execrated by the people of 
 
 the parish, and according to all accounts, deservedly so. Several 
 priests are said to have been hanged by members of this house^ 
 and others are said to have been persecuted and imprisoned. One 
 of those priest-hunters was shot, and thus fell a victim to the 
 vengeance of the people ; another became mad ; a third broke his 
 neck ; and a fourth died a more inhuman death. In the parish 
 of Eahugh Mass used to be celebrated in the last century at 
 Knockbo and Kiltubber, near the chapel of Kahugh, and in the 
 parish of Kilbeggan ; and at Cruckanvara, within the townland of 
 Kilbeggan ; and at Commagh, on the north bank of the Brosna, 
 within a short distance of the town. 
 
 During the terrible period of ’98 a detachment of the Northum- 
 berland Fusiliers, under Captain Thatcher, arrived, and was 
 stationed in Kilbeggan in ’98. There was also a local corps of 
 yeomanry, under Captain Berry, stationed here at the same time. 
 The latter asked permission of Thatcher to set fire to the chapel 
 whilst the people were at Mass. They rode up to the chapel with 
 drawn swords for that purpose, but Thatcher would not consent 
 till the congregation left. The chapel was ultimately spared. 
 
 When Lord Cornwallis was passing through Kilbeggan the 
 chapel was taken possession of by his men, who burned the pews, 
 and at their departure a large plaster figure of the Redeemer was 
 found with a deep cut, as if by a sabre, across the throat. It 
 remained in that state till the old chapel was removed to make 
 room for the present one, about 1806. 
 
 There were several Orange scoundrels in Kilbeggan in 1798, 
 who availed themselves of the disturbed state of the country to 
 plunder and massacre their Catholic neighbours. One of them, 
 
 named J C , boasted that he had shot down in cold blood 
 
 “ nine bloody Papists ; ” and a fiendish woman, wife to T 
 
 G — , shot a poor labourer as he was on his way to Kilbeggan 
 
 for a midwife to attend his wife in her confinement ! 
 
 There are many traditions extant of the cruelties practised on 
 the people of this district during the dark Penal Days by the 
 privileged and licensed friends of the Government. 
 
 A medal, made of lead, and about the size of a crown-piece, 
 was discovered in the Abbey lands of Kilbeggan some years ago. 
 On one side, in raised letters, is the following inscription : — 
 
 Gregory XI., P.P. 
 
 Pope Gregory was created Pontiff 
 About 1370. 
 
 Sir Thomas Cuffe. 
 
 Previous to the introduction of railways Kilbeggan was a town 
 of considerable importance, and the direct route to Galway, 
 
69 
 
 Athlone, and Ballinasloe, from Dublin. Lady Cuffe’s inn was the 
 resort of the aristocracy during the latter part of the last century 
 and commencement of the present one ; and there are many 
 anecdotes about the tourists who visited this famous establishment. 
 During the Viceroyalty of Lord Townshend that nobleman visited 
 Kilbeggan, and short as his stay was, he immortalized the inn 
 and its proprietor. 
 
 “ Lord Townshend’s Viceroyalty,” writes the biographer of 
 Charlemont, “ forms a peculiar epoch in the history of this 
 country. A gallant soldier, the military associate of Wolf, frank, 
 convivial, abounding in wit and humour — sometimes, it is said, 
 more than was strictly consonant to the Viceregal dignity — capri- 
 cious, uncertain, he not unfrequently offended the higher orders.” 
 
 This statement is not to be wondered at, as Plowden states that 
 he was sent to Ireland “ to break up the mischievous system of 
 the Irish oligarchy.” And he adds, to be really powerful, Lord 
 Townshend felt that he should be first popular ; he spared no 
 pains or cost to earn the character of a right good fellow, and if 
 some disliked his politics, all liked him for his hospitality.” 
 
 Some assert that the Viceroy was a man of dissolute habits, 
 who, surrounded by companions as abandoned as himself kept the 
 metropolis in a blaze with their buffooneries and extravagances, 
 and their exploits were duly recorded by the satirical writers of 
 the day. Lord Townshend, accompanied by four kindred spirits, 
 during one of his excursions to the west, claimed the hospitality 
 of plain, honest John Cuffe, the Kilbeggan innkeeper, and had 
 his claim allowed. It was a godsend to the humble owner of the 
 modest wayside inn to have such distinguished visitors and lodgers 
 under his roof ; and it is almost needless to say that he treated 
 the semblance of royalty right royally, and the Viceroy, in the 
 exuberence of generosity, conferred the honour of knighthood on 
 the unassuming Tom in recognition of the kindness he and his 
 friends had received. Never did the Fountain of Honour play 
 off so rediculous a prank as when it showered its spray on the 
 head of an innkeeper. 
 
 In those days whiskey was better than it is now, and the con- 
 tents of Cuffe’s cellar was all that could be desired — so much so, 
 that it had pleased His Excellency’s palate, and the good man, 
 whilst in a half-drunken state, requested to see his kind host, who 
 had provided such good things for the noble party. Cuffe, on 
 making his appearance, was complimented by the great man, after 
 which he ordered him to kneel down, and taking a sword, he 
 ffourished it over the head of Cufl[e, exclaiming, “ Rise up, thou 
 mirror of innkeepers, and be henceforth Sir Thomas Cuffe !” The 
 astonishment of the innkeeper may be well supposd, as he returned 
 to his wife to inform her of the title conferred. 
 
 The Viceregal party, as usual, retired to rest well saturated with 
 whiskey punch, and utterly reckless and regardless of what had 
 
70 
 
 happened, and rose in the morning forgetful, till reminded of the 
 transaction, at which he was not a little annoyed. But, plucking 
 up courage, he said to his aide-de-camp, ‘‘ It certainly was carry- 
 ing the joke too far, but curse the fellow, sure he will not take 
 any advantage of it. Call him before me, and 1^11 persuade him 
 to hush up the matter.” Accordingly the man was introduced. 
 
 “ Mr. Cuffe,” says His Excellency, “ a circumstance occurred 
 last night which I am sure you understand in its proper light. It 
 was, it is true, carrying the joke too far. I hope, sir, you 'feel as 
 becomes you, and that you will say no more about it, nor let the 
 thing get wind.” 
 
 “Oh, indeed, my lord, the honour you have conferred on me, 
 though I am right sensible of its importance, is still what I, for 
 one, would have no objection to forego, under a proper considera- 
 tion ; but, please your lordship, what will my Lady Cuffe say ? ” 
 
 The innkeeper and his wife were Sir and Madame all their lives. 
 Some say that Lord Townshend gave them a large sum of money 
 to abandon the title. Lady Cuflfe sur\’ived the knight some yeara, 
 and many tourists visited Kilbeggan for the purpose of seeing the 
 recipient of Viceregal honors. 
 
 Burrow. 
 
 Durrow is a parish partly in the barony of Moycashel, West- 
 meath, but chiefly in that of Bally cowan, King’s County. Dur- 
 row was in ancient times called Dearmagh, which means the 
 Plain of Oaks. St. Columba erected a monastery here about the 
 year 550, and it continued afterwards during his whole life one 
 of his favourite places. 
 
 Adam nan has the following : — 
 
 “ A monastery, which in Scotia is called Dearmagh (the Latin equivalent, 
 Eobieti Campus, the Plain of the Oaks), was erected about the middle of the 
 sixth century.” 
 
 Bede also gives both the Irish name and the translation in the 
 following passage : — 
 
 “ Before he (Columba) passed over into Britain, he had built a noble 
 monastery in Ireland, which, from the great number of oaks, it is iu the 
 Scotian language called Dearmagh, the Field of the Oaks.” 
 
 It is hardly necessary to remark that the name had been in use 
 ages before St. Columba, who adopted it as he found it, and it 
 has been softened down since to its present name. 
 
 The site of the monastery was granted to St. Columba by Bre- 
 dan, Chieftain of Teffia. Before St. Columba departed from 
 Ireland he spent some months at Durrow, then governed by 
 St. Lasren, and during his retirement he drew up rules and 
 
71 
 
 instructions for the future guidance of this house. His memory 
 was cherished and commemorated here with special reverence, and 
 to this day the parish is under the patronage of St. Columba. 
 
 In the “ Annals of the Four Masters ” we have the following 
 notices : — 
 
 “ 585 — Breanuin, Lord of Teffia, died. It was he that had, some time 
 before, dedicated Dhearmagh to God and to Columbkille. 758 — Donell, 
 Monarch of Ireland, died. He was the first King of Ireland of the Clann 
 Colmain, and was buried at Durrow with honour and veneration. 786 — 
 Cinaedh, Abbot of Durrow, died. 806 — Blathmac, Abbot of Durrow, died. 
 827 — Aedhan, Scribe of Durrow, died. 832 — A great many of the family of 
 Clonmacnoise were slain by Phelim, King of Cashel ; and all their termon 
 was burned by him to the door of the church. In like manner did he treat 
 the family of Durrow. 835 — Searghus, Abbot of Durrow, died. 839 — 
 Crunnmhael, Primate of Durrow, died. 848 — Tuathal, Abbot of Baichrainn 
 (Lambay; and Durrow, died. 931— Seachnasch, priest of Durrow, died. 
 948 — Scuithine, Abbot of Durrow, died. 971 — Maelmoire, Abbot of Durrow, 
 was drowned in Eas Ruaidh. 1010 — Dubhtach, Airchineach of Durrow, died. 
 1022 — Flann Ua Tacain, Airchineach of Durrow — a distinguished wise man 
 — died. 1038 — Aihill O’Gair, Lector of Durrow, died. 1059— A victory was 
 gained by Connor O’Melaghlin, Prince of Tara, over the Danes and Leinster- 
 men, at Durrow of Columbkille. 1068 — Murrough O’Brien, grandson of 
 Brian Borhuma, and Royal Heir of Munster, was slain by the men of Teffia, 
 in revenge of their having been plundered and preyed upon, and his head was 
 taken to Clonmacnoise and his body to Durrow. 1077 — Murrogh O’Nuaat, a 
 learned Senior of Durrow, died. 1103 — Ua Cingeadh (now called King), 
 Lector of Durrow, died. 1129 — Gilda Connan O’Kelly, a noble priest of 
 Durrow, died. 1137 — More, daughter of King Murtagh O’Brien, and wife 
 of Murtagh O’Melaghlin, King of Meath, died in Durrow, after penance. 
 1149 — Eodhaidh O’Kelly, chief head of the men of Meath, the most distin- 
 guished bishop in all Ireland, died at an advanced age at Durrow. 1153 — 
 Murrough O’Melaghlin, King of Tara and Meath, and its dependant districts 
 of Aingilla, and (for a time) of the greater part of Leinster — flood of the 
 glory, magnificence, and nobility of Ireland— died at Durrow. 1154 — Durrow 
 was burned this year. 1155 — Durrow was twice burned in one month this 
 year. Same year O’Melaghlin, King of Meath and of the greater part of 
 Leinster, died in the thirtieth year of his age, from the effects of taking a 
 poisonous drink, at Durrow, in the flood of his prosperity and reign, on the 
 night of the festival of St. Bridget, after the victory of penance. 1173 — 
 Donnell O’Melaghlin, King of Meath, was slain by his stepbrother at Durrow. 
 1186 — Hugh de Lacy, the profaner and destroyer of many churches, lord of 
 the English of Meath, Breffny, and Oriel, he to whom the tribute of Con- 
 naught was paid, he who had conquered the greater part of Ireland for the 
 English, of whom the English castles in Meath from the Shannon to the sea 
 were full, after finishing the castle of Durrow, set out, accompanied by three 
 Englishmen, to view it. One of the men of Teffia, a youth named Gilla-gan- 
 Inatha O’Meyey approached him, and drawing out his axe, which he had 
 kept concealed, he, with one blow of it, severed his head from his body. This 
 was in revenge of Columbkille,” 
 
 It may not be out of place here, perhaps, to remark that in the 
 present century a somewhat similar disaster occurred at Durrow, 
 when its proprietor, the Earl of Norhury, was assassinated by an 
 unknown hand, after he had completed a castle on the site of that 
 erected by De Lacy, and, as some would think, after having 
 insulted Columbkille, by preventing the families of his tutelage 
 from burying their dead in the ancient cemetery of Durrow. 
 
72 
 
 “ Gilla-gan-Inatha fled, and, by his fleetness of foot, escaped from the 
 English and Irish to the wood of Kildare. He afterwards went to Sinnagh 
 (the Fox) and O’Breen, at whose instigation he had killed the Earl 1190 — 
 Dermot O’Rafferty, Abbot of Durrow, died. 1213 — The Castle of Burrow 
 was finished this year. 1448 — Dermot, the son of Owen, son of Mahon 
 O’Daly, Ollay of all Meath, a learned poet, died, and was interred in Durrow. 
 1461 — Farrell Oge Roe Mageoghegan, a captain of great repute and celebrity, 
 was killed and beheaded at Croughool, by the son of the Baron of Delvin, 
 and the grandson of Pierce Dalton of Rathconrath. They carried his head 
 to Tara, and from thence to Dublin, for exhibition. It was afterwards brought 
 back, and buried with the body at Durrow.” 
 
 A monastery for Regular Canons of St. Augustine was erected 
 here under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin and Columbkille, 
 but the date of its erection is uncertain. It must have taken 
 place after the Anglo-Norman invasion, as we find the original 
 Abbey then plundered and despoiled by De Lacy. 
 
 Hugh de Tachman, Bishop of Meath, witnessed a grant of an 
 annual rent of 40s. out of the lands of Mahaghtragh, by Walter, 
 
 son of Mured. In the thirteenth century M was Abbot of 
 
 St. Mary’s, Durrow, and St. Mary’s Abbey, Trim. His seal was 
 found near Mullingar in 1833. 
 
 Respecting the ancient monastic seal found at Lymberry, two 
 miles south of Mullingar, by some labourers, the “ Dublin Penny 
 Journal” of the 15th June, 1833, has the following: — “ The seal 
 is at present in possession of Mr. Richard Murray, Mullingar. 
 On the obverse side it represents the whole length figure of an 
 Abbot, full fac^’d, with a crozier and cap, and outside the figure 
 the following inscription, partly abbreviated in the old character : 
 
 * Sigillum M. Abbatis Sancte Marie de Trium.’ ‘ The Seal of M. 
 Abbot of St. Mary’s, Trim.’ On the reverse side is also the figure 
 of an Abbot, but in profile, with the following inscription, also 
 abbreviated : ‘ Sigillum M. Abbatis Sancte Marie de Durrow.’ 
 
 * The Seal of the Abbot of St. Mary’s, Durrow.’ 
 
 “ These seals evidently belonged to an individual who was at the 
 same time Abbot of the Augustinian communities of Trim and 
 Durrow, the churches of which were both dedicated to the Bh-ssed 
 Virgin. The holding of pluralities was not uncommon in our 
 monastic establishments even in very remote times. The name 
 of the Abbot M. is not preserved in our ecclesiastical records of 
 either of the monasteries over which he ruled, as hitherto pub- 
 lished, and thus these seals, like those giyen in former numbers of 
 this work, add facts to our local and monastic histoi'ies which 
 would be otherwise unknown. From the style of workmanship, 
 and from a letter used in the inscriptions, we assign these seals to 
 the close of the 13th century.” 
 
 On the 13th July, 1833, the following letter as to the date of 
 the seals was published in the work referred to, from the pen of 
 our gifted townsman, the late lamented Dr. Dillon Kelly, J.F. : — 
 
73 
 
 Ancient Monastic Seals. 
 
 “ To the Editor of the ‘ Dublin Penny Journal.’ 
 
 “ Sir, — I take the liberty of observing that your highly-talented correspon- 
 dent, ‘ P.’ must be, in my mind, mistaken, in his observations concerning the 
 monastic seal in the 5lst number of your journal, not only as regards the 
 saint to whom the abbeys of whom M. was Abbot were dedicated, but also 
 with respect to the date, he asserting that the abbeys were dedicated to the 
 Virgin, and assigning the seal to correspond with the style of workmanship 
 of the latter part of the thirteenth century, from both of which opinions I 
 beg to dissent. In the first place the Virgin Mary, even at the present day, 
 is ranked as superior to all saints, and her name at that remote period cer- 
 tainly never expressed with the adjunct of ‘ Blessed ’ — an example of which 
 may be seen on the tomb of Lord Portlester, in the 26th number of your 
 journal — not entirely half a century subsequent to the time I assign as its 
 origin. Secondly, the words ‘ Sancta Maria,’ or St. Mary, are so closely 
 impressed on the seal, that they could not, as your correspondent ‘ P.’ asserts, 
 be intended for the Virgin ; for, if so, the inscription should then be — 
 
 ‘ Sigillum M., Abbatis beaii Maria Virginis, Trium’ ‘The Seal of M., 
 
 Abbot of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s, Trim.’ Whereas, it is plainly ‘ Sigillum 
 M. Abbatis Sancta Maria de Trium ’ — The Seal of M., Abbot of St. 
 Mary’s, Trim,’ thus proving beyond the possibility of doubt the correct- 
 mess of my previous version, and at the same time affording ample testimony 
 as to the identity of the saint to whom the abbeys were dedicated. Now, sir, 
 with reference to the date, I, for my part, feel inclined to allow it a less 
 degree of antiquity than your correspondent, for in the first place, the work- 
 manship, though very rude, is superior to any specimen we have of the engrav- 
 ings of the thirteenth century. Secondly, the style of the letters and marks 
 of abbreviation also point to an era at least a century later than you corres- 
 pondent ascribes. On all coins previous to the reign of Edward III,, the 
 M’s and N’s are formed precisely similar to the capital letters of the present 
 day ; but during the reign of that monarch, in the outer circle on the reverse 
 side of his groats and half groats, in the words ‘ Adjutorem Meum et Deum.’ 
 Lastly, on all coins antecedent to the C’onquest the marks of abbreviation 
 are placed either under the word or before the last letter, but never after, 
 two examples of which I give in the abbreviation of the word, ‘ Monetarius.’ 
 On the reverse of a provincial coin the mark of abbreviation is thus placed — 
 
 M.O. 
 
 and on the reverse of a coin of Edward II. thus — 
 
 M.O. 
 
 The first example showing it under the first, and the second before the last 
 letter. 
 
 “ Subsequent to the Conquest, the first coins on which marks of abbrevia- 
 tion occur are the Irish pennies of Edward I. They are, on their obverse 
 sides, superior to the word, and are generally (but not always; thus placed— 
 
 DNS, 
 
 in the abbreviation of ‘ Dominus,’ another instance of which we also observe 
 on the groats of Richard II. over the word ‘ London,’ which style continued 
 to be used till the next reign. In the succeeding reign — that of Henry IV. 
 -—the marks of abbreviation are on his coins, in every instance, placed poste- 
 rior to the word, and precisely similar to the style made use of on the seal, 
 an example of which I give in the word ‘ Henrieus,’ thus abbreviated ‘ Henrie.’ 
 On the seal, on its obverse side, the mark of abbreviation intersects the last 
 letter of the word — the ‘ i ’ in ‘ Sigil ’ — and on the reverse side is placed im- 
 mediately after the word in the abbreviation of ‘ abbatis ’—thus clearly 
 
 
74 
 
 indicating the age, the letter ‘ M ’ in the first place not preserving its original 
 form in the word Trium on the obverse side ; and secondly, the marks of 
 abbreviation just then changing their position and taking that of the times 
 to which their transition took place. 
 
 “ Now, Mr. Editor, taking these facts into consideration, all of which com- 
 bine in confirming the truth of my assertion, I am sure you will agree with 
 me that the Abbot to whom the seal belonged must have flourished in the 
 beginning of the fifteenth century, and during the reign of Henry IV. 
 Hoping you will excuse this trespass on your patience. 
 
 “ Believe me to remain, sir, most respectfully yours. 
 
 “ Mullingar.” 
 
 “D. Kj:lly. 
 
 The Crozier of Durrow. 
 
 In reference to the Crozier of Durrow, O’Curry remarks : — 
 “Our collection of antiquities comprise several beautiful croziers, 
 many of which are of a very early period. Amongst these may 
 be particularly noticed a fragment of the Crozier of Durrow, 
 which is, perhaps, the oldest we have, and which, there is reason 
 to believe, belonged to Columbkille himself, the founder of the 
 Church of Durrow. ft was presented by him to Cormac, his 
 dear friend and successor.” — (O’Curry’s Lectures). 
 
 MacGeoghegan gives the following account of De Lacey, at 
 Durrow : — 
 
 “ Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, having persecuted the Irish for a con- 
 siderable time, and committed the most flagrant acts of injustice upon the 
 inhabitants of Meath, ended his days miserably at Durrow, a.d. 1186. The 
 tyrant’s head was cut off by a blow of an axe which he received from a young 
 Irish nobleman, in the disguise of a labourer, while he Avas superintending 
 the building of a strong castle in that place. The person who performed this 
 deed (whom some called Malachy Maclair, and others Symmachus O’Cahargo) 
 fled to a neighbouring wood. The English who belonged to De Lacy's retinue 
 were attacked also and put to the sword. If we cannot justify this action, Avhich 
 Avas barbarous in itself, circumstances must at least extenuate its atrocity. 
 The dead body of the English nobleman was deprived of burial by the people 
 for the cruelties he had committed, and kept concealed for some time. It, 
 hoAvever, was discovered in 1195, and interred with great pomp in the Abbey 
 of Bective, on the river Boyne, by MatheAv O’Heney, Archbishop of Cashel 
 and Apostolical-Legate, assisted by John Cumin, Archbishop of Dublin. The 
 head of De Lacey Avas brought to Dublin and buried with Rosa de Munesnene, 
 his first Avife, in the Abbey of Thomas Court.” 
 
 Lacey left two sons — Walter, the elder. Lord of Meath, and 
 Hugh, afterwards of Ulster. In the churchyard of Durrow there 
 is still a very handsome specimen of the ancient sculptural crosses, 
 once so numerous in Ireland. Convenient to the cemetery, in the 
 demesne, there is a quadrangular stone, with sides inclining, which 
 formed the pedestal of another cioss. There is a holy well here 
 dedicated to Columbkille, once venerated and frequented, but 
 now muddy and neglected. The graveyard of Durrow has been 
 for ages a favourite place of sepulture. There are two ancient 
 
75 
 
 Irish monumental stones in the churchyard — one to the memory 
 of Cathalan, and the other asks a prayer for Agidin. 
 
 Dr. Petrie is of opinion that there was a round tower in former 
 times at Durrow. However, if there was, all traces have been 
 uprooted and swept away, like those of the abbey and church. 
 The old crosses are the solitary sentinels reminding us of the 
 glorious past. Durrow no longer exists — not a stone of it 
 remains ; its glories live in the traditions of the people ; the 
 plunderer and exterminator have ploughed up and swept away 
 every vestige of abbey and church. Norbury completed what 
 Lacy commenced. Yet, in its ruins and loneliness, there is a 
 charm, and a holy spell around the hallowed site. The Martyr- 
 ology of Donegal commemorates the festival of St. Cormac of 
 Durrow on 21st June. 
 
 Horseleap. 
 
 Horseleap, or Ardnurcher, lies three miles north of Kilbeggan, 
 on the road leading to Moate. Here it was that Charles Lever 
 located some of his brilliant creations — Con Cregan the Elder, the 
 village lawyer and handy man at swearing, and who was prepared 
 to swear for hire, and not unfrequently swear away in private the 
 lives and liberties of his neighbours, and his son Con, the Irish 
 Gil Bias. 
 
 The “ Four Masters ” informs us that the Norman adventurer. 
 Sir Hugh de Lacy, he who had won all Ireland from the Shannon 
 to the sea, erected a castle here in 1192. 
 
 Csesar Otway, in his “ Tour to Connaught ” relates the following 
 tradition of Horseleap : — 
 
 “ Sir Hugh de Lacy, the great grantor of Meath, commenced the erection 
 of this stronghold, but it was not his fate to see it finished ; for while this- 
 great man, the favourite of his sovereign, and one of the most valiant of that 
 extraordinary race who came over with Strongbow, was inspecting his rising 
 fortress, and stooping down to give directions to a workman, an Irish labourer, 
 deeply imbued with a sense of his country’s wrongs, clove his head with a 
 single blow of his mattock.” 
 
 Tradition has it that, though the most active, valiant, and sage 
 of men, De Lacy was small in stature, and was called Le Petit, 
 and from hence the Le Petits of Westmeath derive their name 
 and origin. Small men have often been found, not only wise in 
 counsel, but brave leaders in the field — their energies seem to act 
 with more power, as more concentrated. Sir Hugh was an extra- 
 ordinary horseman, his leap over the drawbridge of his fortress is 
 yet recorded, and the spot yet shown, and the name of the place 
 and village will record as long as time lasts this feat of a Norman 
 knight. Alas, for the De Lacys ! Like the De Courcys and 
 Tyrrels of that day, they did not respect the religious feelings of 
 
76 
 
 the Irish people. The castle he was building he dared to found 
 on the site of an ancient abbey. The Irish were shocked at the 
 profanation. The act, therefore, of the assassin was applauded by 
 all, and the avenging peasant’s deed was looked on as meritorious, 
 as exciting the anger of the patron saint of the place against him 
 who was the usurper of his abbey, and the spoiler of his church. 
 Hugh, the founder of Ardnurcher, or Horseleap, left two sons. 
 Hugh, the eldest, one of the most politic of men, contrived to 
 supplant John de Courcy, the conqueror of Ulster, in the favour 
 of King John, and eventually succeeded in driving him out of the 
 , province and assuming the government. The story of the rival 
 Norman adventurers, De Courcy and De Lacy, their strange 
 vicissitudes of fortune — now favourites, now rebels — defeated to^ 
 day by De Courcy, and in a short space ot time supplanting him, 
 and driving him from Ulster; again falling under the displeasure of 
 their monarch, and obliged to fly for refuge to France, and there 
 forced to work as gardeners on the grounds of a Norman abbot ; and 
 again, when unable to conceal their noble bearing, they were de- 
 tected by the good-natured ecclesiastic, and by his intercession 
 reconciled to the king, and restored to their fiefs. We find the 
 weak and vacillating John writing a letter to Walter de Lacy 
 entreating him to forgive all animosities, and assuring him favour, 
 honour, and protection. 
 
 The Legend of Conor MacNessa, King of Ulster. 
 
 There it was that Conor MacNessa, King of Ulster, was 
 killed in the first century. As to the name Ardnurcher, the 
 “ Four Masters,” in recording the erection of the castle in 1192, 
 whose ruins are still there, call it Ath-an-Urchair ; and the 
 natives still call it in Irish Baile-atha-an-Urchair, pronounced 
 Blaanurcher. 
 
 Conal Cearnach, on a certain occasion, slew in single combat a 
 Leinster chieftain named Mesgechid (Mesgua), whose brains, 
 according to the barbarous custom then prevalent, he mixed up 
 with lime, and made of them a hard round ball, which he kept 
 both as a weapon and as a trophy. There was at this time a war 
 Taging between Ulster and Connaught, and Cead (Ketli) Mac 
 Magach, a Connaught chief, having by stratagem obtained posses- 
 sion of the ball, kept it always slung from his girdle, for it had 
 been prophesied that Magera would be avenged of the Ulsterman 
 after his death, and Cead hoped that this prophecy would be 
 fulfilled by means of the ball. Cead went at one time with his 
 band to plunder some of the Ulster territories, and returning with 
 a great spoil of cattle, he was pursued and overtaken by an army 
 of Ulstermen, under the command of Conor, and a battle was 
 
77 
 
 fouglit between them. The Connaught chief contrived to separate 
 the king from his party, and watching his opportunity he cast the 
 ball at him from his sling, and the ball struck the king on the 
 head, and lodged in his skull. His physician, Fingen, was brought, 
 and he declared that the king would die immediately if the ball 
 were removed, but that if it were left so, and provided that the 
 king kept himself free from all inquietude, he would live. And 
 his head was stitched up with a golden thread, and he lived in 
 this state for seven years, till the day of Our Lord’s Crucifixion, 
 when, observing the unusual darkness, he sent for Bacrach, his 
 Druid, and asked him what it meant. Bacrach told him that the 
 Son of God had been on that day crucified by the Jews. “ That 
 is a pity,” said Conor. “Were I in His presence I would slay 
 those who were around my King putting Him to death.” 
 
 With that he rushed to a grove that stood near, and began hew- 
 ing it with his sword, to show how he would deal with the Jews j 
 and from the excessive fury which seized him, the ball started 
 from his head, and some of his brains gushed out, and in that way 
 he died. 
 
 The place where Conor was wounded was called “Ardnurcher,” 
 the Ford of the East, to which Michael O’Clery, in “ O’Clery’s 
 Calendar,” identifies with Horseleap in Westmeath. 
 
 Rory Oge MacGeoghegan. 
 
 The yawning chasm over which it is said De Lacy plunged his 
 war-horse in escaping from the Irish, whom he had insulted by his 
 sacrilegious conduct, lies on the northern boundary of the railway, 
 a short distance from the station-house. The marks of the animal’s 
 hooves are visible still, and are shown by the peasantry of the 
 district to tourists as one of the wonders of the locality. It is 
 doubtful, however, if the Norman adventurer performed the feat 
 attributed to him, as there are other traditions extant of the famous 
 leap, pointing to a later period after the surrender of Limerick. 
 There is no epoch in Irish history more dismal than that which 
 followed the Wolated Treaty of Limerick, October 3rd, 1669. Up 
 to that time there was chivalry and soul in the country, after which 
 succeeded the long dark night of bondage and despair. Sarsfield 
 was gone ! The Irish soldiers — the bone and sinew of the country 
 — passed over to the continent ; and there were none left to defend 
 the altars of fatherland, or avenge the wrongs of the people, save 
 the bold rapparees. 
 
 During one of my rambles I visited Horseleap to have a look at 
 Con Cregan’s holding, which Lever assures us was on the boundary 
 of the two counties, and had the pleasure of hearing from Mickey 
 the Drover, a true-born native of the village, the story of Rory 
 Oge MacGeoghegan, the daring rapparee of Ardnurcher, who 
 avenged the wrongs of his kith and kin. 
 
78 
 
 Rory Oge MacGeogliegan was a member of the famous sept, 
 lords of Moycashel, and resided at Gageborough during the last 
 decade of the seventeenth century, on a small farm, all that was 
 left to the family by the confiscators. Rory, like thousands of 
 other Irish gentlemen who had been despoiled of their estates, was 
 a firm adherent of the faithless house of Stuart ; and when the 
 Dutch Stadtholder landed at Carrickfergus with the flag of rebel- 
 lion uplifted against his father-in-law, the brave MacGeoghegan 
 joined the regiment of Colonel Nugent, brother to the Earl of 
 Westmeath, and took part in all the battles, from the Boyne to 
 the capitulation of Limerick ; but he sternly refused to quit the 
 old land, or avail himself of the privileges guaranteed by the Treaty 
 — afterwards violated — till he would avenge the wrongs inflicted 
 on himself and his neighbours. On returning from Limerick he 
 found that his house, and in which he had been born, was in pos- 
 session of strangers, and that his aged mother had been turned out 
 to die on the roadside. 
 
 It was Christmas Eve, but for him, alas ! no yule-log burned in 
 the once happy home of his fathers ; no holly and ivy glistened ; 
 no twelfth-night cake was divided ; no carol was chanted in the 
 old house at home.” Every earthly hope for him had fled, even 
 that of sleeping in death with his ancestors, were for him now 
 blighted. With a heavy heart he turned towards Sionan, to the 
 house of his old nurse and his foster-brother, Molly Kinseila and 
 her son Jack. They, too, were deprived of their little means by 
 the Williamite soldiers, but they shared freely whatever they pos- 
 sessed with the wanderer ; and from them he learned that a short 
 time after he (Rory) joined the army to oppose the invaders, a 
 Cromwellian settler in the neighbourhood seized his little property 
 and held it by a deed granted to him by the Government of William 
 of Orange. Rory, on hearing how his aged mother had been treated, 
 and of her death in the house of an humble peasant, and he far 
 away, preyed on his mind so much that he registered an oath that 
 — come weal, come woe — he would not leave the land of his birth 
 till he would have made suitable reprisals, aye, in the lifeblood of 
 those who had wronged him ; and well was the vow kept. 
 
 For months Rory and his foster-brother were the terror of the 
 Palatines, and not unfrequently were the banks of the Gageboro’ 
 river and its waters dyed with the lifeblood of the despoilers. As 
 was customary with the rapparees of those days, they divided the 
 booty with the poor, who in their turn sheltered and supplied him- 
 self and his companion with food, and warned them of the approach 
 of danger. One evening in the month of August, 1692, the two 
 rapparees were returning from Clara laden with the spoils of the 
 enemy, when they discovered they were pursued by an armed band 
 mounted on swift horses. As Jack’s horse was a sorry nag, Rory 
 advised him to abandon it, and to conceal himself as best he could, 
 and if they escaped with life and limb, they were to meet at mid- 
 
79 
 
 nigbt near Donore. So giving spurs to Ms fiery steed, he plunged 
 over the yawning chasm and reached the opposite bank in safety, 
 and just as his merciless pursuers came up, the foremost of which 
 rushed into the terrible gulf and disappeared. 
 
 The remainder of the story is briefly told. On a foggy evening 
 in the November following the faithful foster-brothers were on 
 board of a French lugger to join the Wild Geese on the continent. 
 Her deck was crowded with men, who seemed, despite the thick 
 haze, all anxiously bent on catching a glimpse of the shore. One 
 would have thought they were returning emigrants, anxious once 
 more to reach their native land. Yet such was not the case. They 
 had all bidden that land a last farewell that evening. Night at 
 length fell, and Ireland faded for ever from their view. Rory or 
 his companions never returned to Ireland. They found a grave 
 in the land of the stranger. 
 
 Such was the substance of Mickey’s tale. 
 
 The parish of Horseleap contains 10,899 statute acres, of which 
 10,673 were applotted under the Tithe Act. There is a consider- 
 able tract of bog, but no mountain or waste land. The principal 
 seats are Bracca Castle, Gageborough, and Temple Macater. The 
 Catholic church, which is a spacious building, was erected in 1809. 
 The Protestant church, to which a spire was added in 1822, stands 
 on an eminence above the village. 
 
 Anciently there were several castles, now partly in ruins. That 
 of Donore, during the lifetime of Sir Richard Nagle, was kept in 
 repair. The Fort of Ardnurcher, or Ard-an-Orcbor — literally 
 translated, “ The Fort of Slaughter ” — was one of the frontier 
 forts of the English of the Pale. At Temple Macater are the 
 remains of a monastery said to have been founded by St. Kieran ; 
 and at Gageborough was a nunnery founded by Matilda de Lacy 
 in the thirteenth century. Many coins have been dug up at the 
 former place. A holy well, dedicated to St.. David, was formerly 
 much resorted to on the patron day, the 27th June, but the custom 
 is gradually falling into disuse. 
 
 The “ Four Masters ” records that a castle was erected here in 
 1192. The old church of Ardnurcher was levelled in the seven- 
 teenth century, and a Protestant place of worship erected on its 
 site. Tigh Bherighda, or Bridget’s House, a small chapel, stood 
 here on the townland of Ardnurcher, dedicated to St. Bridget, 
 which in latter years has been pulled down and uprooted. St. 
 Bridget’s Well is still here, and is occasionally frequented. A 
 church and convent were founded, it is said, at Kilbride, by St. 
 Bridget ; and it is believed that this was the first church erected 
 by her after her religious profession on the Hill of Usnach. There 
 are still some remains of an old monastery and chapel, and the 
 fragments of a church, in the cemetery contiguous. 
 
80 
 
 Syonan. 
 
 Syonan, or Sionan, lies on the northern bank of the Clara railway, 
 and was the ancient patrimony of a branch of the MacG-eoghegan 
 family. 
 
 The “ Four Masters” (a.d. 703) gives the following account of 
 this locality : — 
 
 “ St. Adamnan, Abbot of Iona, the biographer of St. Columba, preached 
 on a hill here to his relatives (the race of Fiacha, son of Niall), on the occa- 
 sion of his visit to Ireland. In commemoration of this event the place has 
 been called Snide Adamnan.” 
 
 The Abbe MacGeoghegan in his “ History of Ireland ” gives 
 the following account of some distinguished members of the Mac- 
 Geoghegans of Sionan : — 
 
 “ In the month of February, 1690, King James, having been informed that 
 a body of insurgents had assembled near Cavan, sent the Duke of Berwick 
 with troops to disperse them. The duke found them much superior to him 
 in numbers, being in fact three to one. A brisk battle was fought between 
 some English cavalry and the king’s infantry, the latter of whom retired with 
 loss. Colonel William Nugent had a leg broken, and died of his wounds a 
 few days after the conflict. He was brother to the Earl of Westmeath ; he 
 was an "intrepid soldier, but rash. Conly MacGeoghegan (who was a colonel) 
 and several others were killed. He was son of Charles MacGeoghegan of 
 Sionan, a branch of the MacGeoghegans of Kinel Fiacha, in the county of 
 Westmeath. Conly studied the military art in France, where he served for 
 some time, and passed as a good officer. The father and seven sons, of whom 
 Conly was the eldest, served under King James with distinction in his war 
 against the Prince of Orange. Of the seven brothers, five were killed in this 
 war. The other two followed the fortunes of their king into France, the 
 eldest of whom, named Anthony, was created a chevalier or knight. Charles, 
 the youngest, died whilst captain of Grenadiers in Berwick’s regiment. He 
 left three sons. There is still living one, Alexander, in the regiment of Lally. 
 He distinguished himself in the Indies, Sept. 30, 1759 ; at the battle of Vau- 
 davicht, where he commanded in the absence of Lally, and had the honour 
 of defeating the English army, much superior to his in numbers.” 
 
 Lismoyne, or Lismoyny, about midway between Kilbeggan and 
 Clara, near the river Brosna, and is remarkable as having been 
 the residence of Conal MacGeoghegan, translator of the “ Annals 
 of Clonmacnoise.” Conal descended from the Lords of Moy- 
 cashel, lived at Lismoyny, in the parish of Ardnurcher, or Horse- 
 leap, barony of Moycashel, Westmeath. He was a celebrated 
 Irish scholar. He translated and compiled from various ancient 
 records, the book known as the “ Annals of Clonmacnoise,” in the 
 year 1627, and dedicated to his friend and kinsman Torlogh 
 MacCoghlan, Lord of Delvin (present barony of Garrycastle). 
 The original “Annals of Clonmacnoise” came down only to 
 a.d. 1227, but in M acGeoghegan’s translation from other sources 
 
81 
 
 the entries were extended to a.d. 1408. O’Donovan speaks in 
 flattering terms of this work in his introductory remarks (p. 33, 
 “ Four Masters ”). The Rem Ree Ria, or Succession of the 
 Kings of Ireland,” a historic work compiled by Brother Michael 
 O’Clery, one of the Four Masters, was commenced in the house of 
 Conal MacGeoghegan, was carried on under the patronage of 
 Turlogh MacCoghJan, and was finished in the Franciscan Friary 
 of Athlone, on the 4th of November, 1630. 
 
 Donoke. 
 
 Donore lies between Streamstown and Horseleap, and in ancient 
 times was the patrimony of the great MacGeoghegan family. 
 Mitchell, in his “ History of Ireland,” gives the following account 
 of Mr. Kedagh Geoghegan, and the evil effects of the Penal Laws 
 during the last century : — “ Mr. Kedagh Geoghegan, of Donore, 
 in the County of Westmeath, who, though remaining faithful to 
 the creed of his forefathers, enjoyed the esteem and respect of the 
 Protestant resident gentry of the county. Notwithstanding that 
 his profession of the Roman Catholic religion precluded his per- 
 forming the functions of a grand juror, he attended the assizes of 
 Mullingar regularly, in common with other gentlemen of West- 
 meath, and dined with the grand jurors. On one of those oc- 
 casions, a Mr. Stepney, a man of considerable fortune in the 
 county, approached him, and remarked : — ‘ Geoghegan, that is a 
 capital team to your carriage. I have rarely seen four finer 
 horses, or better matched. Here, Geoghegan, are twenty pounds,’ 
 tendering him the money in gold. ‘ You understand me — they 
 are mine.’ And he moved towards the door, apparently with the 
 intention of taking possession of his purchase. 
 
 “ The horses, not yet detached from Mr. Geoghegan’s carriage, 
 were still in the yard of the inn close by. ‘ Hold, Stepney,’ said 
 Geoghegan, ‘ wait a moment. I shall not be more than that 
 time.’ 
 
 “ He then quitted the room abruptly, and was seen rushing in 
 great haste towards the inn at which he always put up. There 
 was something in the scene which had just occurred that 
 shocked the feelings of those who witnessed it, and something in 
 the manner of Geoghegan that produced a dead silence, and a 
 conviction that it was not to end there. Not a word was yet 
 spoken when the report of four pistol shots struck their ears, and 
 in a few seconds afterwards Geoghegan was perceived coming 
 from the direction of the inn, laden with firearms. 
 
 r 
 
82 
 
 “ He mounted to the room in which the party were assembled, 
 holding by their barrels a brace of pistols in each hand, and 
 walking directly up to Stepney, he said : — 
 
 “ ‘ Stepney, you cannot have the horses for which you bid just 
 now.’ 
 
 ‘‘ ‘ I can, and will have them ! ’ 
 
 ‘‘ ‘ You can’t — I have shot them ; and. Stepney, unless you be 
 as great a coward as you are a scoundrel, I will do my best to 
 shoot you ! Here — choose your weapon, and take your ground. 
 Gentlemen, open if you please, and see fair play.’ 
 
 “He then advanced upon Stepney, offering him the choice of 
 either pair of pistols. Stepney, however, declined the combat, 
 and quitted the room, leaving Geoghegan the object of the unani- 
 mous condolments of the rest of the party, and overwhelmed with 
 their expressions of sympathy and regret for the perversion of the 
 law, of which Mr. Stepney had just sought to make him the object. 
 In tendering £20 for horses that were worth twenty times that 
 sum. Stepney was only availing himself of one of the enactments 
 of the Penal Code, which forbade a Papist the possession of a 
 horse over the value of £5. Notwithstanding this incident, old 
 Kedagh Geoghegan continued to visit Mullingar during the assizes 
 for many years afterwards ; but to avoid a similar outrage, and 
 to keep in recollection the cruel nature of the Popery Laws, his 
 cattle thenceforward consisted of four oxen.” 
 
 Mitchel gives another instance of the mischievous effects of the 
 Penal Statutes of Anne, and the straits to which Catholics were 
 driven to protect their property. He says : — “ Seventy or eighty 
 j^ears ago, there resided in Soho Square, London, an Irish Poman 
 Catholic gentleman, known among liis friends as ‘ Geoghegan of 
 London.’ Pretending to be (or being really) alarmed, lest a rela- 
 tive — Mr. Geoghegan, of Jamestown, near Castletown- G. — should 
 conform to the Protestant religion, and possess himself of a con- 
 siderable property, situate in Westmeath, he resolved on a pro- 
 ceeding, to which the reader will attach any epithet it may seem 
 to warrant. He repaired to Dublin, reported himself to the 
 necessary authorities, and professed, in all its required legal forms, 
 the Protestant religion on Sunday, sold his estates on Monday, 
 nnd relapsed into Popery on Tuesday. Thus, when asked the 
 motive of his abjuration of Catholicism, Geoghegan replied, ‘I 
 would rather trust my soul to God for a day than my property 
 for a day to my friend ! ’ This somewhat impious speech was in 
 keeping with his conduct at Christ Church, when he made his 
 religious profession. The Sacramental wine being presented to him, 
 he drank off" the entire contents of the cup. The officiating clergy- 
 man rebuked his indecorum. ‘You need not grudge it to me,' 
 replied the neophyte ; ‘ it ’s the dearest glass of wine I ever 
 
83 
 
 drank.’ In the afternoon of the same day he entered the G^obe 
 Coffee Eooms, Essex Street, then frequented by the most respect- 
 able of the citizens of Dublin. The room Avas crowded. Putf-ing 
 his hand to his sword, and throwing a glance of defiance arour 1, 
 Geoghegan said — ‘ I have read my recantation to-day, and any man 
 who says I did right is a rascal.’ A Protestant, with whom he 
 was conversing the moment before he left home to read his 
 recantation, said to him, ^ For all your assumed Protestantism, 
 Geoghegan, you will die a Papist.’ Geoghegan replied, ‘ that is 
 the first thing of which I am capable.’ ” 
 
 In 772 a sanguinary battle vvas fought here between the Irish 
 and the foreign enemies at a ford on the river near the present 
 bridge, since called Aghnaccan, or the ^‘Ford of Heads,” from the 
 numbers of heads that floated down the river. 
 
 The population of the parish in 1841 was 4,039, of which 1,985 
 lived in the town. The parish contains 2,975 statute acres, as 
 applotted under the old Tithe Act. 
 
 The ancient corporation of Kilbeggan consisted of a portreoA^e 
 (Avho was a magistrate), twelve free burgesses, and an indefinite 
 number of freemen, with a recorder, town clerk, two sergeants, 
 and other officers. The freedom of the town was obtained by the 
 favour of the portreeve and burgesses. The borough returned two 
 member to the Irish Parliament till the Union, when it was dis- 
 franchised, and the sum of £15,000 was gh^en to the landlord, 
 Gustavus Lambert, who was one of its base representatwes, as 
 compensation for the job. A borough Court of Record, for the 
 recovery of debts not exceeding five marks, Avas held ; also a Court 
 of Petty Sessions every second Saturday, in which the portreeve 
 occasionally attended. During the disturbance of 1798 a little 
 band of patriots made a brave resistance against Colonel Blake 
 and the English forces, but after a gallant struggle were defeated. 
 
 The following Avere the Members of Parliament for Kilbeggan 
 during the last century: — Charles Lambert, Sen., from 1727 to 
 1752 ; Charles Lambert, Jun., 1727 to 1741 ; Gustavus Lambert, 
 1741 to 1775; Hamilton Lambert, 1752 to 1761; Thomas 
 Tipping, 1761 to 1769 ; Charles Lambert, 1769 to 1784 ; Sir 
 Richard Johnston, 1776 to 1781; John Phil pot Curran and 
 Henry Flood, 1784 to 1791 ; Thomas Burgh and William Sher- 
 lock, 1791 to 1798 ; Gustavus Lambert and Sir Francis Honkins, 
 1798 to 1800. 
 
84 
 
 The following pastors officiated in Kilbeggan during the same 
 period: — In 1690 Kev. John Daly was presented by James II. tx) 
 the Kectory of Kilbeggan. In 1704 Kev. Anthony Mitchel was 
 registered at Mullingar as “ Popish Priest of Kilbeggan.” He 
 was ordained at V alentia, in Spain, by J ohn Salizanes, Bishop of 
 Valentia, in 1688; lived at Donore the year of the Begistration, 
 and had for “sureties,” in accordance with the Penal Statute, 
 Hugh Flanagan, of Horseleap, and Denis Browne, of Hopestown. 
 Same year Bev. Anthony Coglan was registered as “ Popish 
 Priest of Castlelost and Bahugh.” Their immediate successors 
 were Fathers Devine and Magrath, the latter gentleman is sup- 
 posed to be buried in Bathconnell. Bev. M. Dunne was ap- 
 pointed Parish Priest in 1779, and died in 1815, and is buried in 
 the Church of the Belie. Tlie late illustrious Bishop of Meath, 
 Dr. Cantwell, was appointed Parish Priest of this parish in 1820. 
 .The Bev. M. Pierce succeeded, and died in 1863. Father W. 
 Hope was his immediate successor. 
 
 The End. 
 
85 
 
 APPENDIX TO VOL L 
 
 BALLINACARGY. 
 
 Tristernagh Abbey — -The Piers Family. 
 
 Sir Henry Piers, in his “ History of Westmeath ” (1682), gives 
 the following particulars of Tristernagh, where he resided at 
 that period : — “ Tristernagh, the word seems to denote thorns, 
 thistles, or briars. This monastery is built, as many ancient 
 collegiate churches have been, in the form of a cross, having in 
 the centre thereof a tower or steeple, raised on the four inner- 
 most corners of the cross, from each of which corners the wall 
 as it riseth slopeth off until the whole is brought into an 
 octagon, whence forward the tower riseth about thirty feet in 
 eight sides, in each of which is a window. The wall of the 
 church and steeple, though without a roof time out of mind, 
 remains to this day very firm and substantial. 
 
 “This abbey was founded by Sir Geoffrey Constantine, who 
 was one of our English conquerors, in or soon after the time of 
 Henry II., to whom for his service was given the territories of 
 Kilbixy and Rathmarthy. In his charter of donation to this 
 abbey he styles himself lord of the territory of Kilbixey. The 
 generous founder, among his other large donations to this 
 monastery, gives his lands in Connaught, without naming 
 any particular, whereas in all he had given before he is so 
 curious as not content with barely naming them, he de- 
 scribes their very boundaries. Advising with an ancient and 
 judicious friend what he could imagine might be the reason 
 hereof, he told me that this was usual w’ith great conquerors 
 and warriors of old, who, confiding in their own prowess and 
 good fortune, oftentimes designed land to such and such uses, 
 even before they had conquered them. Hence we may conclude 
 that Connaught was not yet conquered when this abbey was 
 founded, and whether our conquerors did or not after this time 
 make any impression on Connaught I cannot learn. 
 
 “ On the demesne belonging to this abbey the great O’Doherty, 
 with his followers and forces out of Connaught to the number 
 of 600 men, is said to have encamped on an hillock, where 
 grew a thorn bush, called by the natives, from his defeat, 
 O’Doherty’s bush, although since that on another occasion it 
 
86 
 
 hath another name. He having sat here for many days, was at 
 last set upon by one of the Queen’s captains, his name nor the 
 time I could never learn. After a brisk engagement on both 
 sides, some of O’Doherty’s chief meu falling, he gave ground and 
 retired, hoping to be received and protected by Nugent, then 
 tenant within the abbey walls. But Nugent, who, it is said, had 
 been kind to him before, seeing him fly and the Queen’s forces 
 at his heels, denied him entrance. Thus he and his men, 
 missing of this hope, made but very weak resistance, insomuch 
 that they were all miserably slain under the walls of the abbey, 
 few or none escaping. Whether any found quarter I cannot 
 find. The slain, to a great but uncertain number, were buried 
 on the spot, as daily experience shows us when occasion is 
 given of digging in our garden anything more than ordinary 
 deep.” This account, though lame, is the best I could ever hear 
 of the action. 
 
 West hereof, not a quarter of a mile, is situated a small 
 but well-built chapel, now in good repair, wherein hangeth 
 one small bell, which had the good fortune to escape 
 the fury and rapine of the late war. This church is called 
 Templecross. In this chapel, in our late Bishop of Meath’s 
 days, were ordained at one time eleven or more deacons, and at 
 another time six or seven. This place supplieth the defect of 
 our mother church of Kilbixy, now out of repair. Before we 
 leave this chapel yard it may not be amiss, perhaps, to entertain 
 our readers with a certain miracle that w’as herein wrought, and 
 of which venerable tradition gives us to this effect. 
 
 “We have from ancient times a certain religious relique even 
 yet amongst us, kept by a certain gentleman, a great zealot of 
 the Boman Church. With no small veneration they call it 
 ‘corpnu’ (see “Ancient and Modern Sketches,” vol. i. p. 66). 
 It hath been and is still much venerated by members of the 
 Boman persuasion who live hereabouts. At times it is offered 
 to them as a sacred oath, by which none dare swear falsely for 
 fear his mouth should run away up to his ears, or some other 
 great deformity or sudden death should betide them. Nor are 
 we without stories of judgments of this sort that have befallen 
 false swearers. I was told that in old times, when the monks 
 dwelt here, one of their young friars had occasion to carry the 
 relique across Lough Iron, carrying it under his arm in a cot ; 
 it chanced to fall into the lake, where, being overladen with 
 brass, silver, and crystal, it sunk. The young friar reported the 
 loss, whereupon the whole convent is dissolved into lamenta- 
 tions, sorrow, and mourning, and prayers were offered up for its 
 restoration by the people of the neighbouring parishes, when it 
 was miraculously restored to its owners and custodians.” 
 
 The earliest record we have of the Piers family is that WiUiam 
 was the first of the name to settle in Ireland. He came over 
 
87 
 
 during the reign of Elizabeth, in 1566, and obtained a high post 
 in the army. He obtained large grants of land from the virgin 
 queen, and the Abbey of Tristernagh. He -was Governor of 
 Carrickfergus and Seneschal of the county of Antrim. He is 
 stated by Hollingshead to have been the person who brought in 
 the head of Shane O’Neill, for which he received a thousand 
 marks. His son, Henry, settled at Tristernagh, and no way 
 deterred by penal statutes or the cruelties practised on his Irish 
 Catholic neighbours by the Eeformers, he embraced the tenets 
 of the persecuted faith. He married Jane, daughter of Dr. 
 Thomas Jones, Archbishop of Dublin, Lord Chancellor and 
 Lord Justice of Ireland, ancestor to Lord Eanelagh. He died 
 in 1623. Mr. James Mouglity, Ballinacargy, kindly placed at 
 our disj)Osal a copy of the inscription on Sir Henry Piers’ 
 tombstone, in Templecross graveyard, translated by the late 
 Kev. P. M. Grue, Superior of St. Mary’s College, Dundalk. The 
 reverend gentleroan was on a visit with Mr. and Mrs. Moughty, 
 who are sole owners of historic Tristernagh, the property having 
 been purchased by the late Mr. Michael Duggan, of Buenos 
 Ayres, and presented to his sister, Mrs. Moughty, as a gift. We 
 were told that many learned persons examined the old tomb, 
 which is partially obliterated and covered with moss, and 
 endeavoured to translate the inscription, which is in Latin, but 
 without success, till Father Grue deciphered it. The reverend, 
 pious, and learned gentleman died last year shortly after his 
 return from Borne, where he had been to witness the beatification 
 of one of the Marist Fathers, Blessed Peter. May he rest in 
 peace. 
 
 “ Beneath this stone lies (Sir) Henry Piers, of Tristernagh House, 
 renowned for his piety, and descended from a noble race, who, from a pious 
 impulse, had erected this monument for himself, after he renewed this sacred 
 edifice and made the adjoining grounds. Header, assist his soul by your 
 prayers. 1623.” 
 
 His grandson. Sir Henry Piers, born 1629, wrote the “ Choro- 
 graphical History of Westmeath ” in 1682, which was published 
 in 1770 by Colonel Charles Valiancy. Piers was a bigot, and 
 hated everything Irish and Catholic ; consequently portions of 
 his book is difig ured with the prejudices of the times in which 
 the writer lived. Sir John Bennett Piers, sixth baronet, suc- 
 ceeded to the title in 1798. Lord Cloncurry brought an action 
 against Sir John for criminal conversation with his wife, Eliza 
 Georgina, youngest daughter of Major-General George Morgan 
 (which marriage was dissolved by Act of Parliament in 1811), 
 on which occasion a verdict for £10,000 was given by the jury. 
 In consequence of this verdict he left the country for several 
 years. He died abroad in 1845, and was succeeded in the title 
 by his nephew. 
 
88 
 
 Archdall, writing towards the end of the last century, thus 
 describes the ruins of this once beautiful and celebrated 
 monastery: — ‘^This magnificent and venerable edifice, in the 
 form of a cross, and of considerable extent, was built of a 
 blackish stone, and the steeple was remarkable, being an octagon 
 erected on the top of a square tower, which, though mutilated, 
 was, in the year 1780, seventy- four feet high ; the columns were 
 also octagon, with plain capitals. This abbey was totally 
 destroyed in 1783 by Sir William Pigot Piers.” 
 
 KILBIXY. 
 
 The Malone Family. 
 
 Piers gives the following description of Kilbixy in his time : — 
 “ Kilbixy, the chief seat of our before- mentioned conqueror’s 
 residence, and head of his territory ; of old a town of great note, 
 as tradition telleth us, — twelve burgesses in their scarlet gowns, 
 a mayor or sovereign, with other officers suitable to so great a port. 
 Of this so great state so small are now the remains, that we may 
 say — ‘ History even doubts if it ever existed.’ 
 
 The only remaining footsteps that I have met with hereof, is a 
 large piece of an old square castle, called the Burgage Castle, and 
 forty acres of ground adjoining to it, also called the Burgage land, 
 corruptly for the Burgesses’ land — these believed to have been the 
 town house and the land belonging to the corporation. There is 
 also on the bank of our Iron lake, not far from hence, a place 
 which in the Irish dialect sounds the haven of the market, this 
 likely having been the landing place of such as from the eastern 
 banks had occasion to this market. Whether this town of old 
 sent burgesses to parliament or not I do not find ; but tradition 
 says, that our cross and market were, in what age I know not, 
 transferred hence to Mullingar, and perhaps with them our right 
 to send burgesses to parliament also. Other reminders of ancient 
 state I find none, unless you take for such the ruins, or rubbish 
 rather, of ancient houses and castles, besides which, and some late 
 built cabins, nothing is to be seen but excellent corn of all kinds. 
 
 “ The golden corn now grows where stood proud Troy.” 
 
 In this town stands the remains of an ancient and well-built 
 ehurch, the mother of many churches and chapels about it, which 
 had at the west end a very high tower or steeple. 
 
 Kilbixy Castle is said to have been built by De Lacy in 1192, 
 and was subsequently the seat of Geoffrey de Constantine, who 
 founded at Tristernagh a priory of Canons Regular, sometimes 
 called the priory of Kilbixy, and richly endowed. The last prior 
 was Edmund Nugent, Bishop of Kilmore, who held it with his 
 
89 
 
 bislio.][)ric ; and a pension of £26 12s. 4d. was granted to him on. 
 its surrender. The town arose under the protection of the castle, 
 and in the reign of Henry VI. was one of the borough towns of 
 Meath. The parish contains 5,660 statute acres, and is richly 
 embellished with plantations that extend to Lough Iron, which is 
 one of its boundaries. 
 
 The principal residence is Baronstown, which was built by Sir 
 ' Anthony Malone, and is now the residence of Mr. J. Malone, D.L., 
 formerly of Ballinahowen. The Protestant church is a handsome 
 l^iilding, erected at the expense of the late Lord Sunderlin. 
 Edmund Malone, the celebrated commentator on Shakespeare, is 
 ‘ interred here ; and the Malone family have a handsome mausoleum 
 near the church. The Malone family are said to derive their 
 descent from the O’Connors, kings of Connaught, and to have 
 borne the name originally. 
 
 Ballinahowen was the seat of the family for centuries. Edmund 
 Malone of Ballinahowen, who lived in the reign of Elizabeth, 
 married a daughter of Richard Daltons of Milltown ; and in 1689 
 we find an Edmund Malone of the same place was returned as one 
 of the parliamentary representatives of the borough of Athlone. 
 Sir Anthony Malone, better known as the Prime Sergeant, took 
 his degrees at Christ Church, Oxford. He was called to the Irish 
 Bar in 1726, and continued to practise for fifty years — the brightest 
 ornament of the profession. He represented this county till his 
 death, with the exception of seven years after the death of 
 George II., from 1760 to 1767. In 1740 he was appointed 
 Prime Sergeant- at-Law, but was dismissed in 1754 in consequence 
 of having taken an active part in the House of Commons in sup- 
 port of their rights to dispose, without the previous consent of 
 the Crown, of money already raised by Act of Parliament, and 
 unappropriated. In 1757, he was made Chancellor of the Ex- 
 chequer in Ireland. From this situation he was removed in 1760, 
 on which he resumed the barrister’s gown, but not the wig ; he 
 pleaded in court without that absurd and ridiculous depository of 
 legal wisdom. Sir Anthony was a great orator and wit, and a 
 sincere advocate of Catholic claims and national independence. 
 Sir Anthony had a chapel erected for his mother at Baronstown, 
 who was a sincere Catholic. She belonged to the ancient family 
 of Melady. M‘Gee says of Malone : — “ The leader of the patriot 
 army. Sir Anthony Malone, was compared at this period to a 
 great sea in a calm. He was considered even by the fastidious 
 Lord Shelbourne the equal in oratory of Chatham and Mansfield. 
 He died after eight days’ illness on the 8bh of May, 1776, and was 
 succeeded by his brother, Edmund, one of the Judges of the 
 Common Pleas. He represented for a time the borough of 
 Granard and Westmeath. Judge Malone passed the death sen- 
 tence on Father Nicholas Sheehy, in 1766, at Clonmel, on the 
 charge of accomplishing the murder of a man named Brydge, who 
 
was alive in America, and sent there by those who plotted 
 the life of the poor priest. It is said that the outrageous verdJ 
 and barbarous sentence, which was carried out with remorseless 
 ferocity by the local bigots of the county Tipperary, so incensed 
 Sir Anthony that he was estranged for years from his brother. 
 Edmund Malone, son of Judge Malone, is chiefly known as a 
 commentator on Shakespeare, and was called ‘ Shakesoeare 
 Malone.’ He was born in Dublin in 1741. He was sent 
 Trinity College, and after graduating there he entered the In 
 Temple in 1763, and was called to the Irish Bar in 17G7. I 
 first appearance in the Courts gave every promise of futul 
 success. An independent fortune, however (Shinglas estate), soon 
 devolved upon him, he retired from the Bar, devoted his life to 
 literary pursuits, and ultimately became the cumbrous commen- 
 tator on the works of the immortal Shakespeare. On retiring 
 from the legal profession he removed to London, where he soon 
 became acquainted with Johnson, Goldsmith, Edmund Burke, 
 Bishop Percy, and Sir Joshua Beynolds, the latter of whom made 
 him executor of his will. In 1778 Malone published two supple- 
 mentary volumes to Johnson and Stevenson’s edition of Shake- 
 speare, containing the poems and some doubtful plays. In 1790 
 he published a new edition of Shakespeare in ten volumes, which 
 was undoubtedly the best that had appeared up to that time. He 
 also rendered valuable aid in detecting the impudent Shakespearian 
 forgeries put forward by Mr. W. H. Ireland. In 1796 he wrote 
 an historical ‘ Account of the 
 
 Bise and Progress of the 
 
 English 
 
 Stage.’ The following year the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
 with a memoir of the distinguished painter, appeared, followed by 
 the prose works of Dryden. In 1803, the works of Gerard 
 Hamilton, with a sketch of his life, was published. Although 
 Malone resided for many years in England, he advised his friends 
 to vote against the Union ; and notwithstanding his studious and 
 retired habits, his advice and opinions were sought for and valued 
 by men of high rank and influence in the political world. This 
 distinguished man died after a short illness on the 25th May, 
 1812. He was interred near the family residence, Baronstown. 
 He desired that his valuable library should go to Trinity College, 
 Dublin; but his brother, Lord Sunderlin, presented it to the 
 Bodleian Library at Oxford, in the belief that it would be more 
 useful there. Richard Malone, known by the title Lord Sunderlin, 
 represented the borough of Granard in the Irish parliament from 
 1768 to 1776. He was returned for AVestmeath in 1782, and 
 died in 1817. Mr. Malone, the present owner of Baronstown, is 
 one of the Ballinahowen branch ; he was born in 1817, and suc- 
 ceeded to the property in 1866.” 
 
91 
 
 bishop 
 
 I SoNNA — T he Tuite Family. 
 
 SoNNA^ the seat of the Tuite family for upwards of six centuries, 
 is at ‘present unoccupied. The house is a light and elegant 
 building, in a well-planted demesne, situated on the hank of a 
 picturesque lake. Sir Eichard De Tuyte accompanied Eichard 
 pe CHre, the Earl of Pembroke, commonly called Strongbow, 
 Ireland in the year 1172, and died 1211, leaving two sons, 
 ^ ichard De Tuyte, surnamed the black, and Maurice. Sir 
 alchard, the elder son, founded the monastery of Granard about 
 the year 1210, at which time he held the manor of Kilalton and 
 Demar. Maurice, his brother, was lord of Jordanstown. Sir 
 Edmund Tuite, of Tuitestown, was born in 1587. He married 
 Alice, daughter of James Fitzgerald of Laccagh, and died in 
 1633, leaving issue by her, who remarried with Walter Nugent,, 
 of Portloman. He was father of the Lady Abbess of Bethelem, 
 neay Athlone, of the Order of St. Clair, which was burned and 
 plundered by the Cromwellian soldiery during the war of the 
 Confederation. Edmund, his son, born in 1612, a Catholic, 
 forfeited his estates for his loyalty to the old faith. He married 
 Mary, daughter of Sir Oliver Tuite of Sonna. (In the list of 
 confiscations, 1653, we find the names of Sir Oliver Tuite, 
 Empor, and Dame Mabel Tuite, Sonna). William, his son, 
 was killed at the battle of Aughrim, 1691. He was Brigadier- 
 General in the army of James II. Walter, of Tuitestown, who 
 with his brother, served in the same army, was attainted, 6th 
 William and Mary. On referring to Burke’s “ Landed Gentry ” 
 we find that a Sir Henry Tuite of Sonna married, in 1728, Mary 
 Eochfort, sister to the notorious Earl of Belvidere, by whom he 
 had one son, George, born in 1729. Sir George succeeded to 
 the title, and resided at Sonna. He was murdered on the 12th 
 February, 1783, while sitting in his study about ten o’clock at 
 night. He had a small favourite King Charles spaniel lying on 
 a chair beside him, whose brains were beaten out as well as its 
 master’s by some blunt instrument. There was not any robbery 
 committed, neither were the papers in the study disturbed. The 
 murderer was never discovered, and it was supposed the assas- 
 sination of the baronet was the result of domestic treason. A 
 hammer was found in the adjacent pond besmeared with blood,, 
 which is supposed to have been used by the assassin. Hugh 
 Tuite, born 1747, entered the army, was in the 14th Light 
 Dragoons, and attained the rank of Captain in the 39th regiment 
 of foot, in which he served twelve years at Gibraltar, three 
 years and seven months of which was during the blockade. He 
 there made a prisoner of Baron Von Helmstadt, and received 
 his sword. Mr. Lyons, in his “ Anecdotes of the Westmeath- 
 Gentry,” relates that Captain Tuite attended one of Lady 
 
92 
 
 Ormond’s parties shortly after his retirement fron 
 service, and there met Captain Arthur Wellesley, , 
 
 Duke of Wellington, who was aide-de-camp to Lord 
 land, the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The Ca^^^/ * 
 engaged at a card table with Lady Ormond as his partn 
 he observed some young gentlemen and officers highi 
 tained and smiling at each other. He soon saw frol 
 direction of their eyes that he was the object of their mirt| 
 turning sharply round to ascertain in what manner he hac 
 so fortunate as to contribute to the evening’s amusemei 
 found Captain Wellesley behind his chair diverting himself| 
 the company with his queue, the end of which he had at 
 moment most unfortunately a tight hold of. Captain 
 stood up, he was a tall and powerful man, and took the facets 
 aide-de-camp by the neck, and lifted him completely offj 
 ground, gave him an angry shake, and dropped him wiL 
 uttering a word. In a short time Captain Wellesley, ac( 
 panied by another officer, came up to Captain Tuite, the foj 
 much agitated, and apologised for the unwarrantable liberty 
 had taken with him. Captain Tuite drew himself up to his 
 height and replied, As the apology has been as public as th 
 offence, I forget it, sir,” and made his bow. nu 
 
 The late Hugh Morgan Tuite was born in 1795. He rrflK 
 sented this county from 1826 to 1830, and from 1842 to 1 
 He died in 1868. 
 
 During the war of the Devolution there resided at Lar^ / ii 
 ancient family, the Fitzgeralds, who held a small property fheiv 
 for ages. Oliver Fitzgerald espoused the cause of James Ilj 
 After the battle of the Boyne, at which he fought, his estate wasj 
 forfeited, and he was obliged to fly to France for shelter aud 
 home, and died there, leaving his son Oliver, seven years of age, I 
 after him. This Oliver embraced the Protestant religion, and] 
 married Miss Gay, of Gaybrook. 
 
 ful 
 
 Ballymore. 
 
 Sir Henry Piers says of Ballymore in 1682 : — “ Ballymore, a 
 market town, having two fairs in the year, seated on the west side 
 of Longh Seudy. Here was founded a strong garrison of the 
 English forces, towards the latter end of the war, 1641. This 
 garrison seated on the skirts of the lake, was divided by a graff 
 deep and wide, with ramparts of earth, and bulwarks. The ditch 
 was so low carried as to receive three or four teet of restagnant 
 water of the lake, over which was a drawbridge, the entry into 
 the fort. This was the chief fortress of this county. Here is now 
 a church, built on the old foundation, in repair, except only the 
 
93 
 
 I 
 
 L 1 * •, 5s the old dissolved monasteiy ot 
 
 Adjoining , friary and nunnery, but m 
 
 ^»^re was ^ Cktercian Order. The land heremto 
 
 Idings, both of t g^re withholden from that 
 
 to tlae Bishop of h better ville. West and 
 
 Kr by the adventurer or the L ^ <1 
 
 ■Tom hence, about a “alt m all excellent, arable, 
 
 K held, by the •'oad ‘eadn'g^t Maghere Tibbet, 
 
 B smooth as a die, called defeat of Theobald Vernon, 
 
 S the field of the Eighth’s time, against 
 
 .Ire fonght a battle m f JS ^enry to 
 
 party of the Irish, an Ballymore, adjmmng, 
 
 bald had his who the enemy was that he 
 
 ^hat force he commanded o been able to 
 
 ath sept. Piers relates th^t Yon eorrimander 
 
 ban who was attached to b gervice at Athlone, under 
 
 ae Catholic forces, deserte ^ ^ ^ed Protestant and married 
 Lord President of *Xu He was a very honest 
 
 daughter of the Bishop „^crood soldier (all traitors and 
 
 lestant and along continuU faithful _ and 
 
 ; aoats are ®°)’ a tWone The poor gentleman, during . 
 
 W to the English at in Ballymme 
 
 took it into his beaa to v . ._x i™ +.i-.pl 
 
 show of great love, they 
 
 ae him in drink, and detmn h f^f^^as, but, indeed, 
 
 lit unawares he stays amids^b JP tgUf^g him the 
 
 enemies, who now firs they send to acquaint 
 
 ) of the truce was out, and im ^ have 
 
 father, old Dakon, whether really desirous his 
 
 e with him. He, out of bravaao. 
 
 should suffer or not IS uncerta^,^^ answer to messenger 
 
 Bed the rascal. With this j^^re ado, 
 
 Kued, and they aentlem'an, merely for being a 
 
 , immediately trust up *1^® to his King.” (Piers had 
 
 Itestant and prea®y“S thoseWortunates butchered by the 
 words of sympathy f®' of the Dalton type. The 
 
 ital English and the reorean plundered by those mis- 
 
 f^ent of Bethelem 7 ® " feTs at homeless, and Piers 
 .onfQ and the nuns left nouseitjb . v ^nd declares 
 
 iata over tlie diabolical atrwVy ™idovc reroaios witb oa to tliia 
 
 “ ;u,"S“SK F... - • “* 
 
 id* perfidiousness,. 
 
94 
 
 Henry VIII., made the church of this monastery the 
 Church of the Diocese of Meath, which it continued i 
 short time. In the Parliamentary War of 1641, this wasi 
 cipal military station of the English in this part of the coi^ 
 garrison had possession of a strong fortress on the banks 
 Seudy, which was accessible only from the land by a dra^ 
 across a wide and deep moat. In the war of the Revel 
 when a part of the English army had fortified Mullin^^-i 
 place was strengthened by a party of the Irish forces from- 
 head-cjuarters at Athlone, with a view of acting against Mullii 
 
 The Siege of Ballymore. 
 
 John Cornelius O’Callaghan thus describes the Sie^e 
 Ballymore, by De Ginckle, and the heroic defence of this irnpo"!’ 
 military position by Colonel Burke “ De Ginckle directed 
 march against the fort of Ballymore, the frontier post of 
 Irish on this side of the Shannon, and came before the place a 
 12 o’clock on the 7th June. The fort lay to the right of the t 
 after which it was called, and at nearly equal distance 
 Mullingar and Athlone j it consisted of a little peninsula of 
 ten acres of land at the south-western extremity of a louQ^h 
 entrance to this peninsula was from the south by a sinc^l’e 
 along the isthmus, the traversable part of which was^^^r. 
 narrowed by an extensive bog sloping off from the south- we 
 a north-western direction ; the isthmus where there was an acces"« 
 to the peninsula from the continent, was crossed or guarded bv a 
 wall and ditches. The lake towards the north and north-east 
 widened so much as to render cannon useless from thence agciinst 
 the peninsula, from these points it was consequently unassailable 
 except by soldiers in boats; and the waters of the louc^h on the 
 south and the south-east, where the opposite shores of the peninsula 
 and mainland came near to one another in a curious direction from 
 south-east to south-west, winded in such a manner between the 
 two shores as to form a sort of natural but narrow fosse around 
 the peninsula. The Irish perceiving the facilities which a body 
 of their men would have in such a jxist, to harass the neierhbourini 
 English garrisons and territory, had, during the precedin<r winter^ 
 seized on and fortified it, and, on the approach of spring they 
 strengthened it from Athlone with a detachment of rec^ular 
 troops, under Lieutenant-Colonel Burke. The garrison, includincr 
 regulars and irregulars— the great majority of the former des- 
 cription of force amounted to 1,130 men, of whom, however some 
 of the irregulars were unarmed. This place was, in’ fact 
 much better suited for an outpost of annoyance in irregular war’ 
 as that for which it was originally occupied, than cafculated to 
 
95 
 
 .d anythin.^ like a regular eiege froirr such a powerful army as 
 Ginckle’s.'’ The fortifications were by no means capable of 
 for any length of time the heavy fire of the formidab e 
 i ,dn^tl•ain which the English possessed ; every part of the 
 ^ waf Sletely overlooked, or, in military ; ?°“h 
 
 d^d from an adjoining eminence; the cannon of the In h 
 n ponsisted of but ^two small pieces, mounted upon o d 
 rVbe"d, wtat was still worse, the stock of powder m 
 
 nlace was totally insufficient for a protracted defence, 
 place wab tut j ogvp the enemy’s advanced 
 
 rim Irish governor, however, --- . 
 
 •ieras Cm a reception as he could with his small shot and 
 
 j^^crronLCs^nC^^^ 
 
 ffield pieces to be brought down and played 
 
 .essary%o incur the t^uWe f/rlSkL it 
 
 rc=iC:r::^rPrev^ons.hn^^.^ 
 
 vas most solicitous to avoiu. * ^ 
 
 necessary to clear the adjoining country of aiy obstacle that 
 
 f Xd to the summC of De Ginckle’s detachment by a 
 Olley which killed some of the English, for which, on the 
 arrender of the little post, the poor fellow, on the ^ 
 
 bstinate defence of an untenable positron, was ‘’y ‘'t® 
 
 lutchman to be hanged for this brave discharge of his duty, 
 ^fter this the enemy occupied himself till about 11 <> clock at 
 dght in raising several formidable batteries mounting fourteen 
 
 'TxCf^nfrrning, the 8tli June, at sunrise, or about half 
 ifter 3 o’clock, all those batteries, consisting of four m > 
 
 mmLnced playing upon the fort. Towards 8 o clock or after 
 
 Zut four hoVs’ firing"^, De Ginckle, 
 
 I, lace from two prisoners taken on his march the day betore, 
 Opposed that he had now done enough to subdue the stubbornness 
 of ^Burke’s resistance, threatened that ofiicer with the fat 
 ijant if he would not give up tte fort, and surrende the 
 ai?-isonas prisoners of war -'tthin two hours adto^^ 
 
 h^hTwonirZlt the time to the women and children to leave 
 
 hat tie wouia giauii tuc nuxic uw , 
 
 ;hfplace,on the expiration of which no further oppoi-tunity of 
 iafetv would be afforded to the besieged. Burke, unmoved by 
 phis personal menace, but at the same time obliged on account of 
 
96 
 
 the bad state of his magazines, and in justice to so many liv 
 under him, to listen to some treaty, demanded the most honoura'i 
 terms, or those of marching out with bag and baggage, druij 
 beating, colours flying, &c. These being refused, “the ’ galM 
 governor would accept of no others, and the women and child 
 remained in the place. De Ginckle then ordered all his great g\ 
 and mortars to open upon the fort whose little works went rai^ 
 down before the storm of cannon balls and bombshells, j 
 Irish, amidst their falling fortification, did whatever they coi 
 with their small shot and two rudely mounted field pieces, to rei 
 to his heavy discharge of eighteen pieces of artillery, till, ai 
 enduring such a fire for about four hours, or till 12 o'clock, th 
 slender means of defence been rendered completely unequal t] 
 continuation of the contest by the fall of their engineer, Lieute;-:; \ 
 Colonel Burton, and by the defiency or total consumption of th 
 ammunition, they hung out a signal of surrender. 
 
 De Ginckle, who, as a generous enemy, should have hono 
 the bravery of their resistance, had on the contrary the unman 
 barbarity to disregard this signal, directing his batteries to contin L 
 their fire under such circumstances, or, in other words, directiA 
 his gunners to go on with a wanton destruction of brave men, 
 ofifering to surrender when destitute of the means of defence, an( 
 even to prolong such artillery practice at the risk, if not to th 
 certainty of killing and wounding a number of inoflfensive wome: 
 and children, whom he knew to be in the place. At last, at seve^ 
 in the evening, two breaches being eflfected, and a body of men in 
 four large boats to attack the peninsula in a quarter completelv 
 open, the Irish garrison hung out their black flag again. The 
 firing (on the only side that could fire) was ordered to cease ; the 
 governor and some officers, coming out, gave up the place at about 
 8 o’clock, and De Ginckle, who after such conduct on his part to the 
 Irish sergeant and garrison, is coolly styled by Storey, ‘a very 
 merciful man,’ was graciously pleased not to hang Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Burke for doing his duty, and was likewise so very com- 
 passionate as not to order tlie indiscriminate slaughter in cold 
 blood of all the inmates of the fort, who, after the loss of forty of 
 their number in the attack, and the departure of those who 
 accompanied the governor, amounted to 51 officers, 780 soldiers, 
 60 rapparees, and nearly 400 women and children. 
 
 The English reckon their loss at about eight men, an assertion, if 
 true, sufficiently proving how very badly the Irish garrison were 
 supplied with the military means for a serious resistance. There 
 were in the fort, besides the two cannons already mentioned, 430 
 sheep, 40 cows, 50 horses, and a quantity of oatmeal, but no 
 powder.^ This last apparently trifling but important fact 
 authenticated by Dalrymple from the MS. memoirs of Major- 
 General Mackay, who was present at the siege, is unfairly passed.' 
 over by Storey, as placing the resistance of the Irish garrison in a 
 
97 
 
 
 lici" ..d In' h..^. (M-y -P- “""y. “ ’‘■' '**'•■ "■ 
 
 4 ii., p. 201).” 
 
 ' The Legend of Ballymore Lake. 
 
 HE following prize poem, written by Mr. P. 7“f 
 
 Lnd permission of the gifted author . 
 
 When Saint Patrick came our land to bless J'® 
 
 But Lucifer he tried to thrape upon our holy Saint, 
 
 SSSS9SE::sii=;r' 
 
 : -Twas thus, according to the book, one evening ^f^yi . 
 
 Patrick took his pastoral crook, on Seudy s banks to stray , 
 fZn the^and atng tL strand, he wandered far, when lo ! 
 
 And couched in mystic characters a legend strange it bore, 
 
 Which Patrick ga4 in Gaehc verse that day in Ballymore. 
 
 ‘ Dear Saint divine, from Palestine,’ ’twas thus legend ram ^ 
 
 ‘ Far under ground my way I’ve iUuS W^^Jy 
 
 On Jordan’s subterranean stream no light 
 Until I caught the solar beam on Seudy s shore to day. 
 
 KSSraSsMifs”- 
 
 Let your motto be plebotomy from Eowth to Ballymoie. 
 
“ ‘ When home down beneath the load of man’s perversity, 
 
 I will assist you on your road if you depend on me ; i 
 
 If while you preach, you find your speech with Pagans won’t prevail, f 
 Just bare your wrists, spit on your fists, and use me as a flail.’ [ 
 
 Saint Patrick held the precept good, and wished to test its truth, I 
 
 Hence, it is no lie, he <&ew the blood of many a Pagan youth, ' ' 
 
 Who leagued with imps, and snakes, and shrimps, endeavoured to restore 
 By base designs, the heathen shrines destroyed in Ballymore, 
 
 Now glory to our noble Saint, and honour to the race. 
 
 That bowed their heads without complaint to his all-saving grace ; 
 And honour to his blackthorn stick, that brought conviction strong, 
 To heads that were by far too thick to know the right from wrong. 
 Our holy patron, ere he died, his sacred blackthorn took, 
 
 And planted it with care beside a gentle brawling brook ; 
 
 It rooted there, it spread elsewhere, till now from shore to shore. 
 
 Is seen the wand Saint Patrick’s hand first raised in Ballymore.’’ 
 
 i 
 
 End of Vol. II. 
 
 Dublin : Printed by W. J. Alley & Co., 9 Ryder’s Row. 
 
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