AND 
 
 HISTORY OF WEST 
 
 KERRY, 
 
 - BY JAMES J. LONG, 
 
 Editor of the “Tralee Chronicle.” 
 
 TRALEE 
 
 PRINTED AT THE i( CHRONICLE” OFFICE* 
 
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 \^.%5Xrr\ PREFACE. 
 
 The following pages were prepared for the 
 columns of the journal with which I am con¬ 
 nected, to commemorate the solemn religious 
 services in honor of the great St. Brandon, 
 Patron of Kerry. I yield to a generally and flat¬ 
 teringly expressed desire to present them to the 
 public in a collected form, as a permanent record 
 of that memorable event, and, also, as a slight 
 attempt to do justice to the glorious scenery, the 
 interesting antiquarian remains, the varied his¬ 
 toric associations, and the rare personal charac¬ 
 teristics of West Kerry, which I pride in, not the 
 less that they surround the place of my birth 
 and affections. If my labors tend in any way 
 to interest the general public in this romantic, 
 though neglected district, in the somewhat pri¬ 
 mitive but ever amiable people who dwell there, 
 and in the trials and triumphs of the Faith for 
 which the place and the people are so remark¬ 
 able, I shall feel more than satisfied. 
 
 Of the celebration itself, of him in whose 
 honor it took place, and of the good it did, and, 
 please G-od, will do, so much is said further on, 
 that I will content myself here with referring 
 the reader to the truly elequent sermons preached 
 on the occasion by the Very Rev. Father 
 Murphy, O.P., and the Lord Bishop of Kerry, 
 reported at the end of this little volume. 
 
 There are a few local notes which may be 
 alluded to in this place. The name of our Pa¬ 
 tron, it will be seen, is spelled differently. In 
 the Church Offices, and in published prints, gene¬ 
 rally, the Saint is called Brendan. In the old 
 English verse and prose Lives, the spelling is 
 Brandan. But the local name, and, therefore, 
 the one I have used, is Brandon. I have 
 adopted it from the many localities in Kerry 
 named after the Saint. I will mention some of 
 these—Brandon Hill, the holy mount itself; St. 
 Brandon’s Oratory, and St.. Brandon’s Well, on 
 the summit of Brandon Mountain; Brandon 
 head and Brandon bay, both in the immediate 
 vicinity ; Brandonwell, a townland, and Bran- 
 donwell, a holy well, near the church and abbey, 
 dedicated to the saint at Ardfert. The Irish 
 form of the name is Brandan, corresponding 
 with the old English form. The Saint’s house 
 at Keelmalchedar has been always called by 
 
 the people of the place.“ Fothrach Brandain” 
 
 From excavations recently made on the sum-' 
 mit of Mount St. Brandon, it is evident that the 
 cell-like Oratory, at the head of which stands 
 the rude stone Altar, with its wooden cross, is 
 of comparatively, modern date. (This wooden 
 Cross and the upper portion of the Altar were 
 erected by Father Brosnan in 1867). It is 
 also evident that there stood here formerly a 
 church of much larger dimensions, and impor¬ 
 tance; It would appear that when this was 
 demolished in the convulsions of troubled times, 
 the followersof the holy founder erected the smaller 
 and ruder oratory on the same spot. The exca¬ 
 vations have not yet been completed, but I un¬ 
 derstand it is intended to complete the work 
 immediately and thoroughly. I may state 
 here that there is a pretty little plateau, forming 
 a few acres of nice green soil, situated at the 
 brink of the sea on the western shoulder of Bran¬ 
 don bay.and lying beneath a precipitous elevation 
 of aboutjhousand feet. This plateau is called 
 “ Fuihir na manach ,” i.e., “ the good land of the 
 monks,” and here may be seen various monastic 
 remains, which are of a comparatively modern 
 erection. 
 
 Within three quarters of a mile of the summit 
 of Mount St. Brandon is a large mound of stones 
 called u Lachthan na n oilireach” i e.,“ the Pil¬ 
 grim’s cairn.” This forms a distinguishing 
 feature in the via sacra , or “ pathway of the 
 saints,’’ from Kilmalchedar to the Oratory. This 
 portion of the pathway is bounded by large 
 stones fixed firmly in the ground, to define it. 
 and direct the pilgrim in the event of fogs or 
 mists on the mountain. 
 
 But my limited space warns me not to dwell 
 further on a subject which I hope some one, 
 better fitted for the task, will soon investigate as 
 it deserves, I will now let Father Brosnan, to 
 whom the credit of the late glorious demonstra¬ 
 tion is mainly due, tell, in his own heart-speaking 
 language, the history of a movement in which 
 Bishop, priests, and people, have so worthily 
 distinguished themselves, and which I have chro¬ 
 nicled as a labor of love. 
 
 JAMES J, LONG. 
 
 July, 1868. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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LETTER FROM FATHER BROSNAN. 
 
 Tralee, July 5th, 1868. 
 
 My dear Mr. Long, —As you are about re-issuing, 
 in pamphlet form, your papers as published in the Chro¬ 
 nicle on the late Mount St. Brandon celebration, 1 have 
 pleasure in acceding to your wish—and a like wish has 
 been expressed to me by many others—that I would 
 give some account of the origin and history of the move¬ 
 ment up to the late celebration. Anything I have to 
 say on the subject must be of .comparative insignificance 
 after the treatment of it from your able and eloquent pen, 
 and the discourses delivered on the holy mountain, and 
 reported in the Chronicle ; nevertheless, in view of the 
 wide-spread and absorbing interest the movement has 
 evoked among the public, perhaps even these minor de¬ 
 tails may not be unacceptable to your readers. First, 
 then, as regards the origin of the movement, it is simply 
 as follows :—At the June conference of the Dingle 
 Deanery, 1866, some of the clergy agreed to make an 
 excursion to the mountain summit, but the day named 
 was unpropitious^ and they did not go. I was at the 
 time Curate of the Parish of Ferriter, in which union 
 the holy mount stands, and had a call of duty the same 
 day to Ballinknockane, a village at the foot of the mount. 
 Whilst conversing in Irish with some of the farmers of 
 the place, 1 remarked that if the day bad been fine several 
 priests would be on the mountain. ‘ What a pity,’ said 
 they at once, 4 that we wouldn’t know it, for we would 
 go there with them.’ * If there was Mass there,’ I asked, 
 
 4 would the people go ?’ * Oh,’ erred they, ‘ the world 
 
 would go there.’ ‘ Well,’ said I, 4 1, for one, would be 
 delighted to go and say Mass there.’ All appeared over¬ 
 joyed and, without waiting farther authority, gave out 
 positively that Mass was to be on the mountain. In a 
 few days the news had spread all over the barony to the 
 intense gratification of the people. Having heard this, 
 I considered it right to consult the Bishop of the diocese 
 on the matter—which I did the following week. Having 
 stated the circumstances to his Lordship, I asked him 
 what he thought of the subject. ‘ What do I think of 
 it,’ was his Lordship’s reply, 4 why, I am delighted with 
 it, and will go there myself also ;’ at the same time ex¬ 
 
 pressing a wish that his approaching visitation to the 
 district should be availed of for the purpose. This hav¬ 
 ing proved impracticable, I intimated to the people of the 
 parish residing near the mountain, that I would go up 
 and say Mass the first available fine day. This turned 
 out to be the 20th of August following—the Feast of 
 St Bernard—when, and for the first time, I had the 
 happiness, the very great happiness, of celebrating the 
 Divine Mysteries on the site and remains of the old 
 Altar of St Brandon’s Oratory. My second visit to, and 
 Mass on the hallowed spot took place on the holy pa¬ 
 tron’s own feast day, the 16th of the following May, 1867, 
 the third being that of last Sunday, the memorable 28th 
 of Juno of this present year, 1868. 
 
 The first of these pilgramages was joined in by some 
 six or seven hundred of the parishioners—our parish 
 priest and another clergyman accompanying us to the 
 base of the mountain. This was a week day ; and the 
 only definite notice the people had was our presence 
 along the rouce from the Presbytery at Ferriter. No 
 sooner were we observed, and that it became known we 
 were en route , than those employed out of doors flinging 
 aside the implements of their busy toil, sped onwards, 
 followed in all haste by the other members of their fa¬ 
 milies, male and female, who felt themselves equal to the 
 journey. It was a glorious day ; the air so still and 
 balmy on the mountain top, that the candles upon the 
 altar burned without a flicker, unshaded and uncovered. 
 When it became known through the neighbourhood that 
 Mass had been said on the mountain, numbers who had 
 purposed asssisting at it cried bitterly at not being pre¬ 
 sent. Finding that the movement thus initiated had 
 taken such deep hold upon the people’s hearts, it waa 
 resolved shortly after, in accordance with the pious 
 wishes of the faithful, that the next pilgrimage to tha 
 holy mount would take place on St Brandon’s own Feast 
 day, the 16th of May next following. For weeks before 
 that day the hearts and eyes of at least one half tha 
 people of the barony were fixed on the holy mount, but, 
 greatly to their discouragement, the weather continued 
 bad, and the mountains all round were covered with 
 continuous mists and clouds. On the 15th of May, 
 however, the weather looked more favorable, and on tha 
 following morning at dawn, there was not a speck of 
 cloud, or mist, or fog, on any of the mountains. About 
 three thousand of the faithful made the ascent of tha 
 holy mount that morning, many having gone there on 
 foot from tho remotest ends of the parishes of Dispole 
 and Vcntry, and some even fasting in order to receive 
 
 A 
 
4 
 
 the Blessed Eucharist on the hallowed mount. Mass was 
 not commenced until 12 o’clock, but about 10 o’clock: a 
 cold, sharp mist fell upon the mountain, and continued 
 until after Divine Service had concluded, when the peo- 
 ple^oon left for home. But before leaving the mountain, 
 it was resolved on, that the next and third pilgrimage 
 to the holy mount would be made the year following on 
 the 24th of June—the Feast of St John the Baptist— 
 a day of special veneration and devotion in the lo¬ 
 cality. In the meantime the writer of these lines 
 was transferred to his present mission in Tralee, 
 where, considering that his official connexion with the 
 historic locality had ceased, he thought he might he re¬ 
 leased from his engagement. The Bishop, when con¬ 
 sulted, thought otherwise, and required him to go on ; 
 his Lordship, at the same time, repeating his formerly 
 expressed resolve to go himself. The day at first ap¬ 
 pointed for this, tho third pilgrimage to the holy mount, 
 being the 24th June, St. John’s Day, the Patron Feast 
 of the Parish of Tralee, it was necessarily changed, and 
 the following Sunday, the 28th June, the Eve of Saints 
 Peter and Paul Feast, was substituted in its stead. Here I 
 feel it but due to the pious and magnanimous people of 
 Tralee to say that no sooner was this religious project 
 mooted amongst them, than with the full approval of 
 the Very Rev, the Parish Priest, Dean Mawe, the Catholic 
 community entered into its spirit with all their hearts 
 and souls, as had done their brethren in the West. The 
 zeal, exertions, and arrangements of the Committee of 
 Management, appointed at the public meeting in Tralee, 
 are already on record. Such, simply, have been the 
 origin and history up to the late celebration of these 
 pious pilgrimages. If this * plain unvarnished’ narrative 
 should, in the least, contribute to establish the tho¬ 
 roughly religious character this popular movement has, 
 in my humble judgment, borne from the outset in tho 
 public mind, (and, connected with it as has been my 
 lot from tho beginning, I frankly confess I never have 
 regarded, and never could regard, it in any other light.) 
 I should feel myself justified in obtruding myself on the 
 notice of the public. Springing from the depths of tbo 
 people’s faith and piety, and their olden attachment to 
 their clergy, associated in their inmost hearts with the 
 sacred traditions and imperishable monuments of their 
 race and religion, and approved of again and again, and 
 blessed by the presence of their chief pastor, the vene¬ 
 rable head of this diocese, the movement could not hut 
 triumph. 
 
 And in this triumph of the people’s faith, indomitable 
 and enthusiastic now as ever, is it not plainly seen that 
 the pious faithful children of the ever-faithful Church 
 of Ireland need but find even the weakest arm point to 
 Heaven to follow there ? In this triumph of the people’s 
 piety, deep and ardent now as ever, do we not plainly 
 sco their readiness and zeal to walk in the steep and 
 arduous ‘ pathway of the saints,’ and in the consecrated 
 
 footprints of their sires ? In this triumph of the 
 people’s love and gratitude to the sainted fathers and 
 benefactors of tbeir race and country, heartfelt and un¬ 
 dying now as ever, have we not seen countless myriads 
 leaving their loved homes at early dawn, traversing miles 
 and miles of road, and bog, and marsh, and mountain, 
 and ascending steep and rugged cliffs in thirst and 
 weariness, to kneel at the shrine, and pray at the oratory 
 of their holy patron and kinsman, the heroic and Apos¬ 
 tolic Brandon—he who oft used raise his consecrated 
 hands in prayer and in sacrifice from the summit of that 
 holy mount to bless their fathers and his native Kerry— 
 he who, starting in his frail skiff from the foot of the 
 same holy mount for the great country in the Far West 
 beyond those mighty waters, visited and blessed that 
 new and future home of his beloved Irish; 
 
 In this triumph of the people’s religion, must we not 
 look upon the solemn services and celebrations on the 
 summit of the highest mountain on which Mass was ever 
 said in Ireland, as a grand solemn commemorative 
 thanksgiving for the fidelity and loyalty of our fathers 
 in the faith, who, during those sad and trying ages of 
 our national church’s history, had nought else than the 
 mountain tops or the glens,'^depths, and no other cover¬ 
 ing than the canopy of heaven, for the mysteries of man’s 
 Redemption. In this triumph of the people’s faith, 
 piety, and religion, may we not look upon the glorious 
 demonstration of that last memorable 28tli of June on 
 immortal Brandon as the solemn vindication before the 
 world of the people’s loyalty, fidelity, and devotion to 
 the instincts and teachings of that faith which our Divine 
 Lord brought from heaven to earth, which St. Patrick 
 brought from Rome to Ireland, which St. Brandon 
 brought to and taught from this holy mount; which, 
 handed down from sire to son, neither fire, famine, per¬ 
 secution, nor the sword, nor foreign hate, nor foreign 
 gold, nor the hungry demon of soup and Souperism, 
 could ever extinguish; and which, praise be to God, the 
 people profess this day from that holy mountain-top, 
 pure, holy, saving and entire, unextinguished and unex- 
 tinguishable, as Brandon preached it! 
 
 Those, my dear sir, have, I think, been in the minds 
 of the people, the import and objects of these pious pil¬ 
 grimages—of these Mount St. Brandon celebrations. 
 
 To you, sir, the faithful and eloquent chronicler of 
 these events, a deep debt of gratitude is due for your 
 devotion and services on this, as on all other occasions, 
 to the people’s best and dearest interests. Wishing you 
 that appreciation and success, which your manly, ge¬ 
 nerous, and independent character so eminently deserve, 
 —I am, my dear Mr Long, veiy sincerely yours, 
 
 James J. Long, Esq., 
 
 Editor Tralee Chronicle • 
 
 T. Beosnan, C,C. 
 
PRELIMINARY VISIT TO SAINT BRANDON’S ORATORY, 
 
 ON THE 8th OF JUNE, 1868. 
 
 We bad lately the pleasure of authoritatively autumn* 
 cing that solemn religious services will take place in St 
 Brandon's Oratory on the summit of Brandon Mountain, 
 on the last Sunday in this month, weather permitting. 
 The announcement awoke all the enthusiasm of the 
 people of the county, which hails the illustrious Saint 
 as its Patron. The feeling which inspired so many of 
 the people of west Kerry some short time ago, and at a 
 very brief notice, to ascend from the Dingle side and 
 assist at the Mass celebrated again on the hallowed site 
 for the first time after the lapse of so many centuries of 
 persecution, now filled the hearts of the multitude in 
 Tralee, and in the other towns and districts—and the 
 pious spirit extended even to the adjoining counties.— 
 All love and cherish the memory of St Brandon—all 
 glory in his great works—all regard with veneration the 
 memorials of him which have survived the devastating 
 powers of thirteen centuries. But, for reasons which it is 
 needless hero to dwell on, comparatively few of those 
 now living at this side of the Monntain had ever visited 
 his sacred shrine, placed so remote from earth, so 
 near to Heaven. It needed, however, but the occasion, 
 which, under the auspices of the beloved Bishop of 
 Kerry—worthy successor of St Brandon—has been so 
 happily afforded, to secure better things. Time, vainly 
 warred against the immortal fame of him whom the 
 Apostle of Ireland bequeathed as a heavenly messenger 
 of grace and peace and bliss to the West, whose birth 
 and work in Kerry Patrick foretold, and whose instruc¬ 
 tion Bridget aided. But the casket, so to speak, of this 
 precious treasure—the immediate local traditions that 
 tended so much to enshrine the life and labours of tho 
 Saint in the breasts of the faithful, were, in many res¬ 
 pects, rudely sundered, in the days when the powers of 
 earth and hell sought to root out the church which 
 Brandon established in his native Kerry firmly as the 
 Rock of Peter, And so things went on, until a genera¬ 
 tion came who almost thought there were no means of 
 reaching tbo sacred shrine at which their forefathers 
 worshipped and were sanctified. It wae scarcely then to 
 
 be wondered at. that many living remote from the Moun¬ 
 tain, aDd who had never visited it, on bearing of the 
 approaching solemnities, questioned each other as to 
 whether they could now walk in the steps which Bran* 
 don and his companions hallowed on their journeys to 
 the Oratory on the summit of the Mountain that bears 
 his name. To set this difficulty at rest, it was necessary 
 ‘ to see and believe.’ And, accordingly, a smalt party 
 set out on Monday Juno 8th from Tralee to explore the 
 place, and report the result. 
 
 Leaving the Tralee and Dingle post road at Bunnow, 
 our party found themselves driving along the easy and 
 pleasant road which runs nearer to the shore in the di<< 
 rection of Connor Hill, After three hours easy driving 
 we left Castlegregory beside us and reached tho village 
 of Cloghane, snuggly nestled at the end of a pretty creek 
 off Brandon bay, and at tho foot of the chain of hills, 
 which, like attendant ministers, surround Mount Bran¬ 
 don. 
 
 For a considerable portion of the morning the rain had 
 couie down rather freely, and drifting mists on the Tra¬ 
 lee mountains, and an ugly looking fog which settled 
 around about 10 o’clock augured but poorly for our 
 chances of accomplishing the object of our journey.— 
 But our spirits were high, nevertheless, and we deter¬ 
 mined not to give up the undertaking if possible, and wo 
 were fortunate in persevering, for, after resting some 
 time at a road side house, the rain ceased, the clouds 
 parted from the bright blue June sky, and the bills be¬ 
 gan to unveil themselves most invitingly. By the time 
 we reached Cloghane, there was every prospect of a fair 
 and favourable day. 
 
 And now we prepare for the work of ascent. The vil¬ 
 lagers show themselves extremely cordial and obliging. 
 
 The simple, hearty, earnest, good humoured courtesy of 
 the Irish peasant is seen here in all its pristine virtue. 
 All are ready and anxious to aid us with word and deed 
 We are agreeably assured by old and young that they 
 have themselves been on the mountain top, that the 
 path is clear and well defined all through, and by no 
 means a difficulty to any oue who would nut tnind some 
 reasonable cxerliou- 
 
 B 
 
6 
 
 They tell us, as a testimony of this, that the present 
 Lady Ventry, accompanied by some lady friends, walked 
 the whole way to the mountain last year. And further, 
 toconfirm their confident assurances, a party of the viU 
 lagers volunteer to accompany us. 
 
 We soon ascertain that the ascent from Cloghane may 
 he divided into three parts. For two miles you can ride 
 up at leisure on the ponies of the district. It is needless 
 to add, then, thut k walking so far is quite an easy matter. 
 Having walked and ridden at intervals, we find ourselves 
 at the end of the first stage, some 2,000 feet above the 
 level of the sea, commanding a splendid and extensive 
 prospect. 
 
 And now we enter a defile which displays many of 
 the well known distinguishing characteristics of the Gap 
 of Dunloe and the Giant’s Causeway, mingled together. 
 In front the mountains tower aloft in stately grandeur, 
 Brandon enthroned like a monarch among giants, its 
 mighty head lightly wreathed in white floating clouds^ 
 its sides clothed in sombre hues, and at its feet a deep 
 and extensive glen gemmed with numerous pretty little 
 lakes, and traversed by many streams. 
 
 To proceed further seems to the astonished stranger a 
 task to be given up in despair. How shall he guide his 
 steps amid that awful mass of rocks, chasms, and decli« 
 vities ? The difficulty was clearly foreseen and amply 
 provided against in the distant past. Look closely. Here 
 we are confronted with a wonderful proof of the Faith 
 and fidelity of our ancestors in those brave days of old 
 — a faith that nerved them to many a mighty work 
 for the honour and glory of God—a fidelity that enabled 
 them in the teeth of every obstable to earry out their 
 pious designs to the fullest. They made a roadway 
 through this almosr impassable pass. Our guides 
 proudly point it out and all can trace it plainly and 
 joyfully along the whole way. Steps are hewu out of 
 the huge rocks j every difficult point of marsh, intersec¬ 
 ting stream, or perplexing declivity is bridged over 
 with solid stones, time-worn but still firmly set. The 
 work shows unmistakeable proofs of a remote antiquity 
 and a special design. That design is made moremani* 
 fest by patent facts that speak volumes. Up to this 
 point, the course of this rode roadway skirted around 
 the other side of the valley. It is traceable from near 
 the ruined church of Cloghane on to the Oratory—a dis¬ 
 tance thus counted, amounting altogether to some three 
 miles, It could serve none other than pious purposes—for 
 there is no sign of traffic or other earthly business here ; 
 and further and more extraordinary still, a similar rude 
 roadway is traceable at the other side of the mountain, 
 
 leading from far famed Keelmalchedar to the same 
 destination, a distance of nearly seven miles ! What a 
 * sermon in stones’ may we not read here, written, with 
 indelible power, mute but all eloquent! From the soul 
 of the buried Past it comes like a tenderly reproving yet 
 firmly assuring voice, telling us to be up and doing, with 
 courageous heart—‘ Excelsior’! 
 
 Following this plain path, we make our way through the 
 second stage of the ascent. We breast the brow of the 
 hill that overhangs the stupendous valley ; soon find our¬ 
 selves coursing through a maze of massive rocks, along 
 the sides of tiny lakes ; anon, up soft green slopes ; and 
 again through marshy ground. Still our footsteps are made 
 firm by the generous forethought of our olden friends, who 
 planned and executed this line t when county surveyors 
 and road sessions were as little known as modern taxes. 
 We are surprised to find how pleasantly we have reached 
 the end of the second stage. 
 
 The first stage, which, as we have said, may be tra« 
 versed on horseback, is two-tliiids of the whole ascent.— 
 The second ends at the foot of a sublime steep, and now 
 another quarter of a mile of steady work will bring us 
 to the summit. But here it is meet to pause awhile, and 
 ponder leisurely on the glorious scene, while resting. 
 
 Above us— 
 
 “ The proud top of the majestic hill 
 
 Shines in the azure air, serene and bright.” 
 
 The extreme point on which the Oratory is situated is 
 clearly visible now. We are told that visitors sometimes 
 are satisfied not to proceed further. For ourselves, we 
 have gone too far not to go on, and feast our eyes v\ ith- 
 out delay on that crowning Panorama of Nature’s glories 
 which rewards the toiler to the top, and which was the 
 day-dream of our school days lang syne in the West.— 
 But, even by remaining here, the visitor w ill find more 
 than enough to make him congratulate himself right 
 heartily on his trip. At his feet lies a noble valley, 
 stretchiug away to the bounds of Connor Hill. The 
 lakes and the rivulets sparkle in the sunlight where the 
 sun can penetrate, or add a deeper tint to the shade 
 where gloomy grandeur reigns undisturbed. 
 
 Pastoral life peeps out here and there, to remind us 
 that we are still in the material world. The mountain 
 cattle, and their, caretakers, disport themselves as as¬ 
 suredly ‘ at home’ at this awful elevation as the most 
 cherished pets of the lowland farms. The aged herd and 
 the juvenile shepherdess—several of whom came up to 
 cheer our party—leave us as occasion needs to ran up 
 or down dizzy steeps, after a straying sheep or a repub¬ 
 lican goat, aa cooly and securely as if they were pro* 
 
? 
 
 raenading Denny-streel. Blessings on them! May 
 they long enjoy the merry voice, the bright eye, the 
 steady head, the fleet foot, the healthy frame, and the 
 warm heart peculiar to each and all. The poetry of 
 nature is proudly, though unconsciously, mirrored in 
 those humble peasants. We could not help regretting 
 that while the Queen of those islands records how often 
 and how gladly her Royal family and herself shower 
 Royal favours on the scenes and people of ‘ Rude Calo- 
 donia,’ the noble Irish Highlands are doomed so much 
 to the fate of the flowers that— 
 
 ‘ Blush unseen. 
 
 Or waste their sweetness on the desert air,’ 
 
 —When will we And Majesty recording its experience of 
 tht Kerry Highlands, after the fashion noted by the 
 royal hand in Scotland ; ‘ We were always in the habit 
 of conversing with the Highlanders, with whom one 
 comes so much in contact in the Highlands. The Prince 
 highly appreciated the good breeding, simplicity, and in¬ 
 telligence, which make it so pleasant, and even instruc¬ 
 tive to talk to them.’ When will the good breeding, the 
 simplicity, and the intelligence of the Irish Highlanders 
 —so pleasant and instructive—be thus experienced, ap¬ 
 preciated, and profited by ? Such recognition and praise 
 is not more than they deserve, But, perhaps, it would 
 spoil them. They bask in the smiling majesty of a 
 mightier monarch, In the proud palace of Nature 
 and of Nature’s God, they are loved and blessed. Better 
 so! 
 
 From these thoughts our mind is called away to con* 
 template another portion of the scene. Far to the east, 
 as far as the eye can reach, opens a magnificent vision. 
 Sea and shore, islands and lakes, valleys and hills, make 
 up a pictare, animated and beautiful enough to make 
 the coldest heart beat warmly in presence of those won- 
 dcrous proofs of the dread Creator's power and bene* 
 ficence. 
 
 But we must on! We gain the brow of the steep— 
 
 ‘ Oh , God , how beautiful !’ Now can we feel what Words¬ 
 worth felt, when ho paid homage to the Most High on 
 mountain steeps and summits— 
 
 “ Oh, ’twas an unimaginable sight! 
 
 Clouds, mists, streams, watery rocks and emerald turf, 
 Clouds of all tincture, rocks and sapphire sky. 
 Commingled,confused, and mutually inflamed, 
 
 Molten together, and composing thus, 
 
 Each lost in each, that marvellous array 
 Of temple, palace, citadel, and huge 
 Fantastic pomp of structure without name, 
 
 In fleecy folds voluminous, enwrapped.’’ 
 
 —We pause—breathless, amazed, confused. The sight is too 
 
 great, too broad, too varied, too glorious, to be taken in 
 
 at a glance We are over three thousand feet above the 
 
 level of the sea, and in the awful depths below, and all 
 
 away to the west, lies the still more awful Atlantic— 
 
 “Glorious mirror, where the Almighty’s form 
 Glasses itself in tempests ; in all time, 
 
 Calm or convuls’d - in breeze, or gale, or storm 
 Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime 
 Dark-heaving, boundless, endless, and sublime— 
 
 The image of Eternity—the throne 
 Of the Invisible”— 
 
 — All hail! Our meditations are suspended, for wa are 
 pleasingly reminded by the faithful guides that the final 
 object of our journey is now within easy access. Up a 
 gentle slope, clad in rich verdure, the soft thick dewy grass 
 most grateful to tired feet, we run, the mountain, and sea 
 breezes blowing in a manner exquisitively refreshing. A 
 few minutes more, and we find ourselves within the Oratory. 
 It stands in a slightly indented or hollowed space on the 
 extreme summit of the mountain, and commands an unob¬ 
 structed view at all sides. The remains of the ruin are 
 plainly defined. For the most part they are moss-covered , 
 and in many places crumbling with age. Facing the east, 
 
 in true cannonical order rises the venerable stone-built altar 
 now crowned with a simple wooden cross. A little to the 
 west, St. Brandon’s Well offers to the visitor a perpetual 
 supply of the most delicious water—cool, clear and sparkling. 
 We pray at the altar, we drink from the well,and thus com¬ 
 posed and refreshed arise to look around. 
 
 The first burst of the prospect seen from the top of tha 
 precipitous ascent was startling in the extreme. The view 
 which now meets the eye at the other side is bewilderingly 
 beautiful. We are nearly a thousand feet above the point 
 from which we surveyed this scene from the stage below.— 
 We are now standing on an elevation of 3,125 feet. All 
 below and about is rolled out before us—a living map.— 
 Brandon Bay and Tralee Bay seem all but united. The 
 thin line of land that separates them varies the expanse 
 of water, while the bright sandy coasts of each, glowing 
 like burnished gold in the sun’s brilliant rays, set off to 
 greater advantage the broad green valleys and the dark 
 brown hills that adjoin. The Samphires and Magherees are 
 small but lovely. Farther on is Kerry Head, Farther still 
 the lordly Shannon crowned h}' Loop Head. Farther on 
 again, Arran Islands seem to realise the fairy idea! of Hy- 
 Brasail. The Connemara mountains rim the horizon in that 
 point. The Atlantic from Brandon Head out is seen for a 
 vast distance, until the sea and sky get confused. The eya 
 needs rest, after straining to take in this vast prospect.— 
 Vapours on a hill below—a hill that from here looks very 
 humble, and yet it is none other than lofty Slievemish— 
 give warning to make the most of our time, or the atmos¬ 
 phere about us may soon be clouded. Turning to the west 
 the bay of Smerwick presents itself, a thing of beauty.— 
 Sybil Head, and the pretty hills known as the ’ Three 
 
8 
 
 Sisters,* the magnificent Blasquet group of islands, and 
 Marhan Mountain, standing out like a Queen of the May 
 — all are seen, and challenge attention. On towards the 
 south the broad expanse of Dingle Bay, with the most inte« 
 resting points on tho coast to the sparkling Skelligs, and 
 with glimpses as far as Bantry, make np a prospect which 
 we could lovingly dwell on four hours. But instead of 
 hours we can command only minutes. Looking inland, the 
 Tralee, Killarney and some of the Cork mountains present 
 a rare illustration of mountain scenery. What a place for 
 Contemplation was this! How happily could the saintly 
 soul withdrawn from the world commune W'ith God herel 
 Can we any longer wonder why Brandon selected this spot 
 for his prayerful Retreat ? Can we not almost hear again 
 the outpourings of those heavenly feelings which proceeded 
 from his pure soul as he knelt in lowly reverence here on 
 the heights of the eternal hills, surrounded by the miraculous 
 works of the Creator’s hand. A poet of our land and day 
 —one of whom Ireland might well be proud—has caught 
 the holy inspiration of the Saint, and wedded to sweetest 
 music the words attributed to Kerry’s glorious Apostle, in 
 an hour of contemplation of which this scene is powerfully 
 suggestive. Thus does Denis Florence MacCarthy open his 
 delightful poem regarding our saint. Brandon addressing 
 his benevolent Foster-mother, Ita, says: — 
 
 •O 1 ', lta, mother of my heart and mind, 
 
 My nonrisher—my fosterer—my friend, 
 
 Who taught me first to God's great will resigned, 
 
 Before His shining altar steps to bend. 
 
 Who poured his word upon my soul like balm, 
 
 And on my eyes, what pious fancy paints— 
 
 And on my ear the sweetly swelling psalm, 
 
 And all the sacred knowledge of the saints. 
 
 Thou knowest, oh. ray mother 1 how to thee, 
 
 The blessed Ercus led me when a boy, 
 
 And how, within thine arms, and at thy knee, 
 
 I learned the love that death cannot destroy : 
 
 And how I parted lienee with bitter tears, 
 
 And felt when turning from thy friendly door 
 In the reality of ripening years, 
 
 My paradise of childhood was no more. 
 
 I wept—but not with sin such tear drops flow, 
 
 I sighed—for earthly things with Heaven entwine, 
 Tears make the harvest of the heart to grow, 
 
 And love though human, is almost divine, 
 
 The heart that loves not, knows not how to pray, 
 
 The eye can never smile that never weeps, 
 
 ’Tls through our sigh’s Hope’s smiling sunbeams play, 
 And through our tears the bow of Bromise peeps. 
 
 I grew to manhood by the western wave, 
 
 Among the mighty mountains on the shore, 
 
 My bed the rock, within some natural cave, 
 
 My food what’er the sea or season’s bore, 
 
 My occupation, morn’, noon, and night, 
 
 The only dream my hasty slumbers gave, 
 
 Was Time’s unheeding, unreturning flight, 
 
 And the great world that lies byoud the grave. 
 
 And thus, wher'er I went, all things to me. 
 
 Assumed the one deep colour of my mind, 
 
 Great Nature’s prayer rose from the murmuring sea. 
 
 And sinful man sighed in the wintry wind 
 The thick-veiled clouds, by shedding many a tear, 
 
 Like penitents, grew purified and bright. 
 
 And struggling through earth’s atmosphere, 
 rassed to the regions of eternal light. 
 
 I loved to watch the clouds now dark and dun, 
 
 In long procession and funeral line, 
 
 Pass with slow pace across the glorious sun, 
 
 Like hooded monk3 before a dazling shriue, 
 
 And now with gentler oeauty as they rolled, 
 
 Along the azure vault in gladsome May, 
 
 Gleaming pure white, and edged withbroidered gold, 
 
 Like snowy vestments on the Virgin's day. 
 
 And then, I saw the mighty sea expand, 
 
 Like Time’s unmeasured and unfathomed wave*, 
 
 One with its tidemarks on the ridgy sands, 
 
 The other with its line of weedy graves, 
 
 And, as beyond the outstretched wave of Time, 
 
 The eye of fate a brighter land may meet, 
 
 So did I dream of some more sunny clime, 
 
 Beyond the waste of waters at my feet. 
 
 With such culture, it is not strange that Brandon’s life 
 was rich in saintly works. But this is a part of the subject 
 which we must reserve for another day. We have now ac» 
 companied our present mission, and, right well pleased, and 
 more than satisfied, we return. After an easy and pleasant 
 descent, we reach Cloghane. Here occurred not the least 
 pleasing incident of this eventful day. The estimable Pro¬ 
 testant Rector of the parish, in the most kindly manner, sent 
 for and offered to the priest who accompanied us the hospita¬ 
 lities of the Rectory for the excursionists. Having been 
 otherwise amply provided for in this important particular, 
 the offer was gratefully declined ; but our good Soggarth 
 Aroon waited on the considerate clergyman and thanked 
 him as he deserved, This, we are glad to say. is not tho 
 Only proof of the interest which men, irrespective of creed 
 or party, have manifested in this subject. We have before 
 us at this moment a most interesting and valuableletter from 
 the late Archdeacon Rowan to D F McCarthy, regarding St 
 Brandon, whose life that gifted Kerryman was engaged 
 in writing. The death of Dr Rowan stopped the publi¬ 
 cation of that valuable work. This was not the only loss 
 the literature of Kerry sustained on that account. On 
 this subject, and on the life and works of Kerry’s 
 Patron, we shall have more to say on an early day. It 
 but remains now to tell that the object of onr prelimi¬ 
 nary mission having been so completely accomplished, 
 our party returned to Tralee, with high hopes for the 
 great day—next Sunday three weeks. We return, 
 prouder of our county than we were w'ben starting, 
 prouder of our faith, prouder of the days of old, and 
 prouder* too of the days to corao. 
 
ST. BRANDON’S EARLY LIFE, AND COTEMPORARIES, 
 
 FOUNDATIONS OF ARDFERT, INNISFALLEN AND AGIIADOE. 
 
 In the catalogue of the first Irish saints, it is recorded Ireland 
 appeared before St. Patrick in a prophetic vision, bathed in 
 liquid light; its plains, its mountains, its valleys, seemed 
 illumined with an environing and all-penetrating flame; then 
 its dazzling brightness paled, and only the bead-lands— 
 with their summits—seemed sparkling still; then the moun¬ 
 tains grew dark, and scattered gleams shone feebly in the 
 depths of the valleys. This, says an eminent writer on those 
 saints of Erin, is the image of Irish sanctity ; these are the 
 three epochs of her history, the three orders of her paradise. 
 The third is holy, the second more holy; the first had been 
 most holy. The first had the glory of the noontide sun ; 
 the second shone with the sweet pale light of the moon ; 
 the third shone like the stars. 
 
 We are about to review and commemorate a period when 
 the dazzling brightness of the holiest day was still felt; 
 while the sweet pale moon anil the golden stars were, as on a 
 lovely evening, glittering in the sacred horizon of Ireland’s 
 Faith. 
 
 During the mission of St. Patrick in Munster, after teach¬ 
 ing and baptising vast multitudes, who crossed the Shannon 
 from Clare, he blessed the rich and beautiful country of 
 Thomond, and foretold the birth of the celebrated Senan of 
 Inniscattery. Our Apostle then directed his course to the 
 district of Luachra, near the borders of Kerry, where he pro¬ 
 phesied that St. Brandon, of the race of Hua-Alta, a great 
 Patriarch of Monks, and the Star of the Western World, 
 would be born ; and that his birth would take place some 
 years after his own death.” The Annals of Innisfallen re¬ 
 cord that Patiick died on the 17th of March, A.D. 4C5.— 
 Twenty years afterwards—viz., in the year 484—the pro¬ 
 phesy was fulfilled: Brandon was bom in our county, not 
 far from Tralee. 
 
 Smith says, by monkish authors Kerry was called the 
 country of St. Brandon, who was the patron saint, and 
 to whom the principal cathedral church f Ardfert) was de« 
 dicated. From tins saint, adds the historian, a very high 
 and remarkable mountain in the western part of the country 
 
 was named Brandon Hilly there being the remains of a small 
 oratory on its summit that also bears his name, which is 
 likewise given to the adjoining bay. This is sufficiently 
 indicative of the locality of Brandon’s birth. 
 
 His father was Finloga, of the distinguished family of 
 Hua-AJta. When a mere infant, he was placed under the 
 care of St. Ita. 
 
 In the vast religious and monastic movement that then 
 made Ireland a blooming Thebias (writes the eminent 
 Douay professor, De Barneval,) in the neighbourhood 
 of the holy Anchorets lived Anchoretesses no less holy ; 
 the companies of virgins follosving their spiritual mother, 
 and seeking the place of their repose, passed beside troops 
 of disciples, journeying with their masters ; the convents 
 opened indifferently to the brethren and the sisters that 
 sought hospitality, and sometimes the saints who, on the 
 eve, had offered this hospitality took up, in the morning, 
 their staff for a journey, leaving their weaker sisters the 
 house which they had built, the implements they had 
 fashioned, the fields they had cleared. We accordingly 
 find, here and there, traces of the Christian relations, the 
 happy associations or influences, from which the holiest and 
 firmest men. the greatest and most respected women in 
 the Church,might gather, without danger and without scan¬ 
 dal, sweet and useful fruit. The pupils of these skilful 
 mistresses became Abbots or Bishops, and preserved a holy 
 and tender affection for those whom they call their nurses, 
 Thu3 Brandon was brought up by Ita. 
 
 Our Annalists style saint Ita the Bridget of Munster. She 
 was descended from a branch of the princely house of the 
 Desii, in the County of Waterford, At an early age, she 
 signified her intention of consecrating herself to God, but 
 her parents being of a worldly disposition, were at first 
 averse to her wishes, & refused to grant their assent. Their re« 
 Juctance, however, having been removed, Ita proceeded to 
 the church of St Declans from whom she received the while 
 veil and was enrolled in the list of consecrated virgins.— 
 Sometime after, she repaired to the territory of Ily-Conaill 
 
 0 
 
10 
 
 in the County of Limerick, and at the foot of the moutl* 
 tain, Luachra, in a retired spot called Cluain-Credhuil, 
 she fixed her residence, and was soon joined by numbers of 
 pious maidens who came from all parts of Ireland to.place 
 themselves under her direction. The austerity which this 
 holy Virgin had practiced was extraordinary, says her 
 biographer, she performed many miracles and was favoured 
 with the gift of prophecy. Dr Lanigan, while questioning 
 the statement, that Brandon was reared by Ita in his in¬ 
 fancy says, it is certain a great intimacy existed between 
 the two Saints, that lta was deeply attached to 
 Brandon, and seems to have been a relation of his. Col- 
 gan’s Acta Sanctorum is positive that our Patron was placed 
 under her care, and remained with her five years, when he 
 was led away by Bishop Ercus, in order to receive from 
 himself the more solid instruction necessary for his advan¬ 
 cing years. 
 
 Lanigan says this Ercns was, perhaps, the celebrated 
 Bishop of Slane, the friend of St Bridget, and, being of a 
 Munster family, might have been connected with that of 
 Brandon. Ware, Smith, and others) tell us that the pre« 
 late who took Brandon under his care was Bishop of 
 Ardfert. 
 
 Having spent with the Bishop as many years as were 
 necessary to complete his elementary course, our Patron 
 proceeded to make further progress in his theological studies 
 under St Jarlatb, of /Tuam, The great founder of the 
 now fourth Archeopiscopal See of Ireland was son of Loga, 
 or Lughus, of the noble house of Conmacnie. He formed 
 a monaster}’ and school at Cluanfois (near Tuam) which 
 was resorted to by several students, including St Colinan 
 founder of the See of Cloyne. By the advice of Brandon, 
 Jarlath removed to Tuam. It is not positively known 
 whether he was consecrated before or after settling there, 
 but it is certain that he was the first Bishop of Tuam, 
 where his memory has been ever since highly venerated, and 
 where the Cathedral is dedicated in his name. Worthy 
 predecessor of the present ‘ Lion of the Fold of Judah.’ 
 
 We next find Brandon at St Finian’s famous school at 
 Clonard’ in Meath, where we meet him in conjunction 
 with the most illustrious Saints of the age. The reputation 
 of the gifted teacher of Clonard was so great that crowds 
 of students and distinguished persons flocked to his school 
 and monastery. He is said to have had in the course of 
 his teaching three thousand scholars, including the two 
 Brandons, the two Kierans, Columbkille, &e., our Patron’s 
 cotemporaries. 
 
 The second Brandon was descended from Corb, Prince 
 of the Decies in Munster, and is called Brandon of Birr 
 because of the Abbey he founded iu Birr, in the present 
 
 barony of Fercall, Kings County. In the acts of St Finian, 
 of Clonard, he is characterised as a prophet, arid one of the 
 leading men in the schools of Ireland. This Brandon was a 
 great favourite with his namesake, the Patron of Kerry. 
 
 The elder Kieran ? called St Kieran of Clonmacnois, is 
 usually styled the son of the carpenter t as his father wa* 
 of that trade. He erected in 548 the Monastery of Cion* 
 maenoise on the western bank of the Shannon, on a site 
 granted him by Dermot, King of Ireland. Before that, he 
 spent several years in St Senan’s, Monastery of Inn is* 
 cattery, situate on a beautiful island of that name in the 
 mouth of the Shannon, where he was employed as providore 
 for the poor and the stranger. 
 
 We read in the Lives, that Kieran and Brandon after¬ 
 wards waited on St Senan at Inniscattery to make their 
 confessions to him. Another record says, they called upon 
 Senan to request that he would become their spiritual di¬ 
 rector and confessor, and that they fixed upon him because 
 he was older and superior in rank, lie being a Bishop and 
 they then only priests. Colgan says, it was usual with the 
 holy men of those days to choose a particular director of 
 conscience,’who, in Irish was called Aumchara, i.e. spiri¬ 
 tual friend or father. 
 
 In St Kieran’s Monastery of Clanmacnoise was ordained 
 St Comhgall, founder of the worhMamed Monastery and 
 Schools of Bangor (near Belfast), and whose birth St Pa¬ 
 trick prophesied, calling him Comhgall i.e, beautiful 
 pledge. The number of persons that flocked to place them* 
 selves under this holy Abbot was so great, that as one place 
 could not contain them it became necessary to establish 
 various monasteries and cells in which, taken together, it 
 was computed that there were 3,000 monks all observing 
 St Comhgall’s rule and superintended by him. Amongst 
 them is mentioned Cormac, King of South Leinster, and 
 St Columbanus, one of the greatest men of his age, and 
 whose wonderful labours in Ireland and on the Continent 
 in the cause of religion, have been gratefully extolled by 
 many writers. This Saint has left us a remarkable 
 proof of the faith of the ancient Irish church. Writing to 
 Pope Boniface IV, he says : ‘For we, Irish, are disciples 
 of St Peter, and St Paul, and of all the divinely inspired 
 canonical writers ; Among us neither Jew, heretic, nor 
 schismatic can be found, but the Catholic faith, entire and 
 unshaken, precisely as we have received it from you, who 
 are the successor of the Holy Apostles. For, as 1 have 
 already said, we are attached to the chair of St Peter 
 and although Rome is great and renowned, yet with us 
 it is great and distinguished only on account of that Aposs 
 tolic chair. Through the two apostles of Christ ye are 
 almost celestial, and Rome is the head of the churches of 
 
11 
 
 the world,’ Thirteen centuries have passed since those 
 lines were penned^ and on next Sunday fortnight, with 
 Heaven’s blessing, on the eve of the feast of St Peter and 
 St Paul—the multitudes of the Catholics of Kerry will go 
 in holy pilgrimage to the Oratory of their saintly Patron 
 to give glory to God and honour to His Saints, that the 
 religion of Faithful Ireland in the Nineteenth century is 
 the same as it was in the Sixth century. What soul- 
 stirring lessons may not be derived from this sublime fact! 
 We saw above, evidence of the sacred observance of the Sa¬ 
 crament of Penance in the early ages of the Irish Church 
 —now,*we find evidence that our forefathers in those days 
 believed as we do regarding the Supremacy of the See of 
 Romo and the source whence the ecclesiastical jurisdiction 
 of the Irish Church had been derived. We will soon find 
 other evidences. Truly has Ireland’s Faith been built upon 
 a Rock ! 
 
 To return. Another of Brandon’s companions at Clo- 
 nard was St Columbkille, i e the dove of the churches .— 
 lie was of a princely race, having been descended in a direct 
 line from Nial of the Nine Hostages, and born in the 
 Count}’ Donegal, afterwards so celebrated by the produc¬ 
 tion of the Annals of the Four Masters. B} r his intense 
 application to sacred literature, and his extraordinary ri¬ 
 gorous mode of life, Columbkille elicited the admiration of 
 Saints Finian and Brandon at Clonard. He established nu¬ 
 merous monasteries of the Columbian Order in the country, 
 and in 563 he proceeded with twelve companions to Hy, 
 established a monastery there, and then undertook the 
 conversion of the Northern Piets, and the inhabitants of 
 the western isles. Adopting, says Father Brennan, the 
 system which he had been taught at Clonard, he took care 
 to employ the two great ordinary mediums ordained by 
 Providence for the conversion of mankind—gratuitous 
 education, and a priesthood disengaged from the world, 
 and bound down by strict and solemn obligations. By 
 means of these, and with the aid of Heaven, did the Cross 
 and the Gospel at length prevail ; the long and dismal 
 reign of idolatry was brought to a close, and compelled to 
 give way to the Kingdom of Christ, and the saint was 
 ever afterwards revered as the patron and apostle of these 
 extensive regions. He established a monastery in the Is¬ 
 land of Himba or Hymba, aad was there visited by our 
 Saint Brandon, with Saints Comhgall, Cainnech, and 
 Cormac Hua Leathin. The date of this visit is fixed by 
 Lanigan in the year 5G3. Columbkille celebrated Mass 
 at their request, and while officiating in their presence. 
 Brandon saw'a very bright flame, like a burning pillar, as if 
 rising from his head, which continued from the time of the 
 consecration until the termination of the sacred mysteries. 
 
 In Adaman ’3 life of Columbkille, it is recorded that the 
 saint ‘ ordered all things to be prepared for the Eucharist, 
 when he had seen the soul of St Brandon received by the 
 angels,’ i e . he offered up a Mass of Thanksgiving, as will 
 be done by the venerated Bishop of Kerry on the 28th inst* 
 On another occasion, when the death of St Colunibanus, 
 Bisbop of Leinster occurred, he said ‘ I must this day 
 celebrate the Holy Mysteries of the Eucharist for the re¬ 
 verence of that soul which this night being carried beyond 
 the starry firmanent between the choirs of angels 
 ascended into paradise.’ We cannot forbear men¬ 
 tioning here another remarkable illustration of the old 
 Faith of Ireland. Cronan, a Munster Bishop, visited St 
 Columba* but, through humility, did all he «ould to prevent 
 it being known that he was a Bishop. Columba, hot 
 having yet discovered that he was one> desired him on a 
 Sunday to celebrate Mass. ‘ Christi corpus ex more con* 
 jicere •’ He did so, and when come to the part of it where 
 the consecrated host is broken, called on Columba to join 
 him as a priest in breaking the Lord’s bread, ‘ tit simul 
 quasi duo preshjteri Dominicmtm panem frangerent '— 
 Columba then coming up to the altar, and looking him in 
 the face, said ; ‘ Christ bless you, brother, do you alone 
 break it according (0 the episcopal rite ; for now we know 
 that you are a Bishop. Why have you hitherto endea¬ 
 voured to conceal yourself so as not to let us pay that 
 veneration due to you by us.’ (Adamnan L 1; c 44) 
 Lanigan observes that this anecdote is more than sufficient 
 to show the falsehood of the silly and unfounded hypo¬ 
 thesis of some Presbyterian writers, particularly Scotch, 
 who represent Columba aad his monks as members of their 
 sect, and not acknowledging any superiority by Divina 
 right of Bishop over Priests. This brings us back to ano¬ 
 ther point in the older, chain, of special interest to Kerry— 
 introducing us to another of Kerry’s glorious Patrons, 
 Shortly after the time we have been referring to, St 
 Finian, surnamed Lobhar, the Leper, flourished. He was 
 a monk of the Columbian Order, and some writers de¬ 
 scribe him as a disciple of Columbkille. He established 
 the Abbey of lnnisfallen. St Finian, writes Smith, flou¬ 
 rished towards the middle of the sixth century. He is the 
 Patron Saint of those parts (South Kerry), and to him the 
 Cathedral of Aghadoe is also dedicated. The remains of 
 the Abhev (of lnnisfallen) are very extensive, although the 
 walls in many places are levelled to the ground its situa¬ 
 tion was extremely romantic and retired. Upon the disolu* 
 tion of the monasteries (in the ‘ Reformation’) the posses¬ 
 sions of this abbey were granted for military services to 
 an adventurer named Captain Robert Colum. What 
 a sacrilege, after ten hundred years in the service of God ! 
 
12 
 
 The See of Aghacloe is generally supposed to have taken 
 rise from the monastery of lnnisfallen. St Finian died 
 some time between G75 and G93. In Father Brennan’s 
 Ecclesiastical History we read ; The Annals of lnnisfallen 
 inform us that this Abbey (lnnisfallen) was esteemed a 
 Paradise, and had been for many years a secure sanctuary 
 in which the wealth and most valuable effects of the whole 
 country were deposited. Among its learned men should 
 be mentioned the venerable Gilla Patrick O’Huihair; he 
 was a celebratrd poet, a philosopher, and the founder of 
 several religious houses. The Abbots of lnnisfallen conti¬ 
 nued in regular succession until the sixteenth century, 
 when the abbey was plundered, & its possessions granted by 
 Queen Elizabeth to a person named Robert Collam. From 
 a note by the Chief Remembrance it appears that the in* 
 quisition taken in the 37th of Elizabeth, presents us with 
 only a portion of the possessions of this abbey viz., 180 
 acres of arable land and the advowson of the churches of 
 Kilertee, Kenmare, and Kilcoman- Collam got the grant 
 of lnnisfallen at a rent of £72 3s a year! It was he also 
 appropriated Muckross Abbey. He married one of the 
 daughters of Crosbie, the ‘ Reformation’ Bishop of Ardfert, 
 and died childless, leaving no trace even of his name among 
 the families of the county he sacriligiously plundered.— 
 What contrasts! 
 
 We must return from this digression to speak of St 
 Brandon’s remaining immediate companion at Clonard—viz 
 St Kierau of Saigir. He was born in Cape Clear, became 
 a scholar of St Finian of Clonard, and in bis Li ves St Brans 
 don of Kerry is represented to have had intimate 
 dealings with him. Ivieran having retired to a lonesome spot 
 since called Saigir. in the territory of Hale, and province 
 of Munster, there led at first the life of a hermit, and after 
 some time erected a monastrv, around which a city grad u» 
 ally grew up. He also established a nunnery, and was 
 assiduously engaged in preaching the gospel in Ossory and 
 elsewhere, converting a great number of pagans.— 
 He became a bishop, and is regarded as the founder of the 
 See of Ossery. 
 
 By this St Kieran was educated St Carthagh, the elder, 
 who flourished about the year 51-0. lie was grandson of Aen- 
 gus, King of Cashel, and Lanigan conjectures that he must 
 have been committed to the care of Kieran, immediately 
 after the latter had left Finian‘s school of Clonard. about, 
 perhaps the year 532. He in course of time became a bi¬ 
 shop, and Lanigan quotes several authorities to show that 
 liis see, or the scene of his episcopal exertions, was in Kerry 
 near the river Mang. Colgan refers to him in connexion with 
 the chieftains of Kierraghe and the shore of Leamhna, 
 which can be no other than Lough Lean or the Lake of 
 Killarney, 
 
 This is of peculiar local interest, but what follows ia 
 even more so, We are about to be introduced to another 
 Kerry saint—one of the greatest ornaments of the sixth 
 century—St Carthaghe the second, or Mochuda, founder of 
 the see of Lismore, 
 
 St Carthage was born in Kerry, the descendant of Fer¬ 
 gus, once Prince of Ulster, who had been killed by O’Lella, 
 king of Connaught, and whose posterity were scattered 
 through various parts of Ireland. Though of no ble birth 
 we find him when a boy’ tending bis father’3 herds, near 
 the banks of the river Mang (Maine) when Providence 
 put him in the way of being introduced to the Holy Bishop 
 Carthagh, the elder. Lanigan gives us the history summa« 
 rised from the old records. It is related that, as Bishop 
 Carthagh and some of his clergy proceeding in that tract 
 were singing psalms, they were overheard by young Car* 
 thagh, who was so delighted by their psalmody that ne¬ 
 glecting the herds he followed them as far as the Monastery 
 of Thnaim, near Castlemaine, or Killarney, where they were 
 to remain during the night. He did not enter the monas¬ 
 tery, but, unknown to the bishop and the people of the 
 house, stopped without near the apartment allotted to the 
 bishop’s party, listening to them as they continued to sing, 
 until they lay down to sleep. It being now very late, 
 Moeltuili, the chieftain of the district, who was very fond 
 of Mochuda, and with whom he chiefly lived, became 
 uneasy about him, and sent persons to search for 
 him, who having found him near the monastery, brought 
 him the next day to Moeltuili’s residence. Being asked why 
 he had staid out during the night, he answered, “ My Lord 
 Chieftain, my reason for not coming to you was my being 
 charmed with the divine song which I heard the holy clergy 
 singing; and I wish I were along with them that I might 
 learn that song.” On hearing this, Moeltuili immediately 
 sent for the Bishop, and, when he came, he commended 
 the boy to his care, and to his being pleased to instruct him. 
 Tbe holy prelate, perceiving that Mochuda was gifted with 
 an excellent disposition, received him with joy, and, being 
 attached to him, kept him until he ordained him priest 
 —about the year 580. Being now a priest, our saint con* 
 strueted a cell, called Killtulach ; somewhere between the 
 mountain Mysis and the river Mang, He did not remain 
 there long, for he thence went to Bangor, to place himseif 
 under the direction of St. Comgball, and having staid there 
 for some time he returned to his native county, and exerted 
 himself zealously in taking care of a great part of Kerry. 
 By the advice of St, Coleman-elo, he erected at Kathen, in 
 West Meath, a monastery, which soon became very cele* 
 
 brated. lie drew up a rule for the direction of his monks, 
 who, as persons flocked to him from various parts, both of 
 Ireland and Great Britain, are said to have swelled to 
 
13 
 
 tbe number of eight hundred and sixty*seven, all of whom 
 provided for themselves, and the poor, by the labour of 
 their hands. While at Rathao, where he remained forty 
 years, he was consecrated Bishop. Some time after, 
 Moelochtride, Prince of Nandesi, made him a grant of 
 the tracts in which Lisraore is situated. In this place 
 he founded a religious establishment about the year 
 633, which, as he was already Bishop, became an Epis¬ 
 copal See, and in a short time acquired an extraordinary 
 celebrity, and gave rise to a considerable town as the 
 name L\swore, i.e. great habitation indicates. Its scbool, 
 or, as it ought be called, University, was for a long time 
 equal at least to any other in Ireland, and, besides the 
 Irish from all parts, wa3 resorted to by students and re¬ 
 ligious persons—not only from England and the rest of Bri- 
 tain, but likewise from various parts of the continent. St # 
 Cartagh, having completed his establishment, spent the last 
 eighteen months of his life in retirement in a lonesome part 
 of the valley at the east of the town. He died on the 14th 
 of May 637. Professor de Barneral, referring to the touch¬ 
 ing history of Mochuda, beautifully observes that those 
 ecclesiastical festivals of tbe Catholic Church, whose pomp 
 and whose simplicity even can have so strange ar. effect— 
 those processions that traversed Ireland chanting the 
 Psalter—acted on naturally religious souls, and drew with 
 them those whom grace had already prepared. May it 
 prove so again, on ( the Festival of Brandon as on that of 
 Carthagh, in the year 1868, for many in Kerry bringing 
 them to grace eternal, as is did thirteen hundred years ago 
 for young Mochuda. 
 
 Montalembert, in his great work, The Monks of the 
 West, has sketched the story of Mochuda with charming 
 eloquence. When the noble Count of France was so deeply 
 affected by the beautiful history, what should be tbe feel¬ 
 ings of the children of IverrjT who can claim this glorious 
 elected one of Heaven as a native of their county ; and 
 who can readily realise in their own minds, after often 
 visiting the actual scene of the ever-memorable occurrence, 
 beside the sweetlj-sflowing Maine, the original of the pic¬ 
 ture here presented with all the pathos of a poet’s power. 
 Remember, the events took place early in the Seventh cen¬ 
 tury :— 
 
 At that period, as ever since, the love and practise of 
 music was a national passion with the Irish- The Mis¬ 
 sionaries and the Monks, their successors, were also inspired 
 by this passion, and used it for the government and con¬ 
 solation of souls. A pleasant legend depicts to us its in¬ 
 fluence upon an Irish youth, Mochuda, the son of a great 
 lord of Kerry, kept, like David, his father’s flocks in the 
 vast prests which then covered a district now ahnQst alto¬ 
 
 gether without wood. He attracted by his piety and beauty 
 the regard of the Prince of the Province, who called 
 him often in the evening to converse with him, while his 
 wife, a daughter of the King of Munster, showed the same 
 friendship for the young shepherd, In the wood where his 
 cattle fed there passed one day a Bishop, with hi3 suite, 
 chanting Psalms in alternate strophes as they continued 
 their course. The young Mochuda was so rapt by the 
 psalmody that he abandoned his flook, and followed the 
 choir of Monks to the gates of the Monastery, where they 
 were to pass the night. He did not venture to enter with 
 them, but remained outside close to the place where they 
 lay, and where he could hear them continue their song till 
 the hour of repose, the Bishop chanting longest of all after 
 the rest were asleep. The shepherd thus passed the entire 
 night. The chief, who loved him, sought him everywhere, 
 and when at last the young man was brought before him, 
 asked 1 why he had not seen his favourite the previous 
 evening V ‘ My lord,’ said th6 shepherd, ‘ I did not come 
 because I was rapt by the divine song which I have heard 
 sung by the holy Priests—please Heaven, that I was with 
 them that 1 might learn to sing as they do.’ The chief 
 in vain admitted him to his table, offered him his 
 sword and buckler, all the tokens of a stirring and pro* 
 sperous life. ‘ I want none of your gifts,’ the shepherd 
 always replied, ‘ I want but one thing, to learn the chants 
 which I have heard sung by the saints of God.’ In the 
 end he prevailed, and was sent to the Bishop to be made 
 a monk, Such is the legend of St Mochuda, the founder of 
 the ‘ Vast Monastic City of Lismore.’ The modern tourist 
 generally vis'ts Lismore to look over the stately Castle 
 of the Cavendishes, but its most interesting veminisences 
 are connected with the earlier foundation, of which an 
 English poet has written— 
 
 ,; 1 see thee Lismore as I muse on the past 
 A beacon of light through the vista of ages. 
 
 Which found thee when Europe with night was o'ercast, 
 
 The chosen retreat of her students and ages.” 
 
 There is much of painful sadness, but more of just pride 
 in the thoughts with which an Irishman must now look back 
 on those memorials of the early ages of the Irish Church 
 — pride, in the creation and continuance of such glorious 
 monuments of all that is noble in man, sadness—not 
 unmixed with other feelings—in deploring their barba¬ 
 rous distruction by men, who, in later times, came to 
 ‘ civilize’ our rich and lovely land, as Judas saluted his 
 Master with a kiss. Clonard, Bangor, Lismore, havo 
 fallen, before the ruthless hands of Goths and Vandels; 
 We mourn over the fall of our Holy Places, but are 
 comforted and strengthened in recalling their immortal 
 Pounders— 
 
14 
 
 Thus we mourn, but their memory’s light 
 While it shines through our hearts will improve them : 
 
 For worth shall look fairer and truth more bright, 
 
 When we think how they lived but to love them. 
 
 We borrowed the above legend out of The Monks of 
 the West, from an article that appeared in the Chronicle 
 early last year; another passage appropriately illustrates 
 our sketch of the times of St Brandon :— 
 
 The Monks of the Abbey of St Comhgall were divided 
 into seven choirs, which alternately sang hymns to 
 God night and day. From Bangor went forth the great 
 St Columbanus, who carried the Gospel to the Burgun- 
 den’s and the Franks, and from Clonard the still greater 
 St Columba, or Columbkille, (i.e. the Dove of the 
 Churches) who completed the conversion of Scotland, 
 and whose disciples had, at least, some share in bringing 
 about that of England in later times. Columba was a 
 scion of the great house of O’Neill, and a native of Gar- 
 tan, in Donegal, where the spot in which he was born is 
 still shown and venerated. The peasantry believe that 
 whoever passes a night in the place will never suffer the 
 orrows of home sickness in exile—‘ Such, at least,’ ob- 
 erves Count Montalembert, ‘ is the belief of the poor 
 Irish emigrants who flock thither, when they are about 
 to abandon the confiscated and ravaged soil of their 
 country, to seek their living in America, moved at the 
 moment by a touching recollection of the great mission¬ 
 ary who gave up his native land for the love of God and 
 human souls.’ 
 
 We must not now follow up this train of thought.— 
 Our purpose lies amidst brighter and happier scenes.— 
 We have to trace the mission of St Brandon, Review¬ 
 ing the history, we have thus far feebly sketched ; 
 contemplating Brandon and his companions at the 
 school of Clonard,—beholding the whole island opening 
 into a terrestial paradise of Saints and of Scholars—the 
 whole people, collectively and individually, seeking 4 the 
 better part,’ and experiencing the entire effect of the 
 Divine promise : that all things else should be added to 
 those who sought first the Kingdom of God and His Jus¬ 
 tice, can we fail to concur in the pious opinion expressed 
 by Father Brennan, that it seemed as if the Almighty 
 had, at this time, taken Ireland under His special and 
 providential care. The morality of the faithful was 
 that in which the glory of the rising Church of Ireland 
 chiefly consisted. Many, even of our princes, sacrificing 
 their natural thirst for fame and laying down the shield 
 and the sceptre, retired within the silent walls of the 
 monastic cell, and consecrated the remainder of their 
 days to the service of their God. Other countries were 
 then distracted, either by wars or by heresy ancl schism. 
 
 The continent of Eurpe, was one general scene of con¬ 
 fusion. But in Ireland, peace religion, and happiness 
 prevailed—her monarchs were practical Christians--her 
 heirareby was established—her religious institutions were 
 rising up numerous and magnificent—her schools of 
 learning had their halls and gates thrown open for the 
 welcome reception of all who had a desire to come and 
 taste of the fountain of knowledge—while the board of 
 hospitality was spread out and plentifully furnished for 
 the traveller and the stranger, for the poor and the des¬ 
 titute. Hence it was that foreigners in great multitudes 
 fled for refuge and education to Ireland during the 
 Sixth and succeeding centuries ; and to this circumstance 
 must, most probably, be attributed that anxious desire 
 which our great saints had, of leaving their own country 
 and of going forth to preach the Gospel through the wilds 
 and deserts of distant lands (Ecclesiastical History of 
 Ireland). We will next find Brandon a very prominent 
 figure in this religious Exodus. We first trace his steps from 
 Clonard to the ever cherished place of his birth. We must 
 picture him as he prayed, and mused, and meditated, on 
 Brandon Head, and beside Brandon Bay— 
 
 -“ By the western wave, 
 
 Among the mighty mountains on the shore!” 
 
 until his soul, inspired by the power that gave thebeloved 
 Apostle of Jesus a vision of the Heavenly Jerusalem, 
 seemed to pass with prophetic power over the boundless 
 Ocean of the West, and, anticipating, yet inspiring, in the 
 Fifth century, in the spirit of exalted Faith and Love, the 
 material discoveries of the Fifteenth century, hailed the 
 New World—its first and most worthy visitor from the 
 Old. Brandon of Kerry, on the High Altar of Kerry’s 
 consecrated coast, like another and almost a better 
 Moses on Mount Abarim, contemplated the second Pro¬ 
 mised Land ! Thus speaks the Saint through the mouth of 
 the Poet, Denis Florence McCarthy :— 
 
 “ And as beyond the outstretched wave of Time, 
 
 The eye of Faith a brighter land may meet, 
 
 So did I dream of some more sunny clime 
 Beyond the waste of waters at my feet. 
 
 Some clime where man, unknowing and unknown. 
 
 For God’s refreshing Word still gasps and faints ; 
 
 Or, happier rather some Elysian zone, 
 
 Made for the habitation of His saints ; 
 
 Where Nature’s love the sweat of labor spares, 
 
 Nor turns to usury the wealth it lends, 
 
 Where the rich soil spontaneous harvests bears, 
 
 And the tall tree with milk-filled clusters bends. 
 
 The thought grew stronger with my growing days, 
 
 Even like to manhood’s strengthening mind and limb, 
 
 And often now amid the purple haze 
 That evening breathed upon the horizon rim— 
 
 Methought, as there I sought my wished-for home, 
 
 I could descry amid the waters geen, 
 
 Full many a diamond shrine and golden dome, 
 
 And.crystal palaces of dazzling sheen. 
 
15 
 
 And then I longed \y*tli impotent desire, 
 
 Even for the bow whereby the Python bled, 
 That I might send one dart of living fire 
 Into that land, before the vision fled, 
 
 And thus at length fix thy enchanted shore, 
 Hy-Brasail—Eden of the western wave ! 
 That thou again would’st fade away no more, 
 Burried and lost within thy azure grave. 
 
 But angels came and whispered as I dreamt, 
 
 ‘ This is no phantom of a frenzied brain— 
 
 God shows this land from time to time to tempt 
 Some daring mariner across the main : 
 
 By thee the mighty venture must be made, 
 
 By thee shall myriad souls to Christ be won! 
 Arise, depart, and trust to God for aid !’ 
 
 1 woke, and kneeling cried ‘ His will be done !’ ” 
 
 THE Y0YAGE OF ST. BRANDON TO “ THE PROMISED LAND.” 
 
 The 48th publication of the’ Percy Society, entitled ‘ St 
 Brandan : a Medieval Legend of the Sea,’ contains an 
 early English metrical version of the famous Voyage, as 
 well as a prose version, which is almost identical with 
 that which D F MacCartby copied from Caxton’s Goldeu 
 Legende, and published in the Dublin University Maga* 
 zine, vol. 39, p- 556. The Editor of the Percy Publica¬ 
 tion, Thomas Wright, Esq, M A F S A, Corresponding 
 Member of the Society of France, in a valuable preface 
 gives us some important particulars regarding the history 
 of this Legend of St Brandon, which he says was one of 
 the most remarkable and widely spread legends of the 
 middle ages. He styles our saint a Christian Ulysses, 
 and adds- that his story had much the same influence on 
 the western Catholics, as the Odyssey upon the Greeks. 
 
 We have nearly conclusive reasons for believing, he says, 
 that the Legend of St Brandon was known at an early 
 period to the Arabs. Some of the Arabian geographers 
 describe the ‘ Island of Sheep,’ and the 4 Island of Birds,’ 
 in words which must have been taken from our Christian 
 Legend. He goes on to tell what is of still greater interest, 
 
 ‘ The Legend of St Brandon, exercised an influence on 
 geographical science, down to a late period, and it entered as 
 an important element in the feelings of the Spanish sailors 
 when they went to the discovery of America.’ Dr LanU 
 gan says, in Brandon’s Acts the saint is said to have set 
 out in quest of the Land of Promise from the foot of the 
 mountain now called Brandon Hill, that is, he sup¬ 
 poses from Brandon Bay. Colgan observes that 
 the history of the expedition is spoken of in Irish docu¬ 
 ments of the eight century. Mr Wright thinks the 
 Latin prose narrative was written in the eleventh cen¬ 
 tury, and he informs us that metrical versions in Latin 
 and Anglo Norman appeared in England as early as the 
 reign of Henry I., and are preserved in manuscripts in 
 the British Museum the Latin one in MS Cotton. Vespas 
 D,XI„ and the Anglo-Norman version, dedicated to i 
 
 Henry’s Queen, Aaly, in MS. Cotton, Vespa«,DX., 
 
 The MSS. of the prose Latin text, (we quote Mr. 
 Wright's words), are very numerous; ‘ it has been edited 
 with early French versions in prose and verse, by M 
 Achille Jubinal, in an interesting volume, entitled La 
 Legende Latine de S Brandines, avec une traduction 
 inedite en prose et en pcesie Romaneses vo,, Paris, 1836. 
 to which I refer for further information on the subject, & 
 for an account of the numerous other versions in almost 
 every language of the west, several of which were printed 
 in the early ages of typography.’ Mr MacCartby says in the 
 Bibliotlieque Imperial at Paris, there are to be found no 
 less than eleven M S S, of the original latin legend, the dates 
 of which vary from the 11th to the 14tb century, In the 
 old French and Roman dialicts copies both in prose and 
 verse, are abundant in the various public libraries of France 
 while versions in the Irish, Dutch, German, Italian, Span¬ 
 ish and Portuguese language.?, are found scattered through 
 the public and private libraries of colleges and convents all 
 over the continent. The Spaniards and Portuguese, on 
 several occasions fitted out flotillas for the purpose of as¬ 
 certaining the exact locality of the islands mentioned as hav¬ 
 ing been discovered by St Brandon. 
 
 According to Colgan, St Brandon set out on his voyage 
 
 in 545, but Dr Lanigan considered it must have commenced 
 
 some years earlier, as it is natural to suppose Brandon was 
 
 at the time of. undertaking such a perilous work, in the 
 
 vigor of his age, and not 60 years old, as he was in the year 
 
 545. MacCartby describes first, Brandon’s Visit to Arran 
 
 ‘ Ara of the Saints’ to consult St Enda :— 
 
 *• Hearing how blessed Enda lived apart, 
 
 Amid the sacred caves of Ara-mhor, 
 
 And how beneath his eye, spread like a chart. 
 
 Lay all the isles of that remotest shore. 
 
 And how he had collected in his mind 
 All that was known to men, of the Old Sea, 
 
 I left the Hill of Miracles (1) behind, 
 
 And sailed from out the shallow sanded Leigh. 
 
 (1) Ardfert. 
 
 E 
 
16 
 
 Betwixt the Samphire Isles swam my light skiff, 
 
 And like an arrow flew through Fenor sound (2) 
 
 Swept by the pleasant strand (3) and the tall cliff, 
 Whereon the pale rose amethysts are found. (4) 
 Rounded Myfertas rocky point and crossed 
 The mouth of stream streaked, Erin’s mightiest tide, 
 Where troubled waves broke o’er the city lost. 
 
 Chafed by the marble turrets that they hide (5) 
 
 Brandon meets Holy Enda waiting for him on the 
 
 shore at Arran— 
 
 “ He led me to his home beside the wave. 
 
 Where, with his monks the pious father dwelled. 
 
 And to my listening ear he freely gave. 
 
 The sacred knowledge that his bosom held. 
 
 Our Saint having told the object of his mission, is re« 
 
 joiced to find the venerable Abbott enter heartily into 
 
 it— 
 
 “ When I proclaimed the project that I nursed, 
 
 How ’twas for this, that 1 his blessing sought, 
 
 An irrepressible cry of j oy outburst 
 From his pure lips, that blessed me for the though t. 
 
 He said that he, too, had in vision strayed, 
 
 Over the untracked ocean’s hollowing foam ; 
 
 Bad me have hope, that God would give me aid, 
 
 And bring me safe back to my native shore. 
 
 Brandon then returns home to his native Kerry— 
 
 “ There 1 made ail things ready day by day. 
 
 The wicker boat, with the ox-skin covered o’er, 
 
 Chose the ’good monks companions of my way, 
 
 And waited for the wind to leave the shore. 
 
 In due course all things were ready, and— 
 
 “ At length the day, so long expected, came, 
 
 When from the opening arms of that wild bay, 
 
 Beneath the hill that bears my humble name, 
 
 Over the waters we took our untracked way; 
 
 Sweetly the morn lay on tarn and rill, 
 
 Gladly the waves played in its golden light, 
 
 And the proud top of the majestic hill 
 Shone in the azure air—serene and bright.” 
 
 We cannot trespass further on Mr MacCarthy’s beautiful 
 and delightful work. Our readers should read the entire 
 poem for themselves, as it appears, with introduction and 
 notes, in the Poets’ last volume, published by Bogue, 
 Fleet-street, London.—The main incidents of the Voyage of 
 St. Brandon have been carefully abridged in the following 
 extract from the very pleasing “ Sketch Book of Irish Sce¬ 
 nery” written by the late Rev. Caesar Otway :— 
 
 “ Brandon hearing of the previous voyage of his cousin* 
 Barinthus, in the Western Ocean, and obtaining an ac¬ 
 
 2. Between Fenit Island and the mainland—3, Bally- 
 heigue—4, Very fine amethysts have been found among the cliff3 
 near Kerryhead—Smith describes their colors as being of various 
 degrees and shades of purple—some approach to a violet and others 
 a pale rose color—5, it is said that the mouth of the Shannon is the 
 site of a lost city, and that its towers and spires and turrets, act¬ 
 ing as breakers against the de-water, occasion the roughness of It 
 his part of the estuary—Hatils Ireland. 
 
 count from him of the happy isles he had landed on in the 
 far west, determined, under the strong desire of winning 
 Heathen souls to Christ, to undertake a voyage of disco¬ 
 very himself. And aware that all along the western 
 coast of Ireland, there were many traditions respecting the 
 existence of a western land, he proceeded to the islands of 
 Arran, and there remained for some time, holding com¬ 
 munication with the venerable St Enda, and obtaining 
 from him much information oh what his mind was bent’ 
 There can be little doubt that he proceeded northward 
 along the coast of Ma}’ , o l and made inquiry, among its 
 bays and islands, of the remnants of the Juatha Danaan 
 people, that once were so expert in naval affairs, and who 
 acquired from the Milesians, or Scots, that overcame 
 them, the character of being magicians, for their superior 
 knowledge. At Inniskea, then, and Innisgloria, Brendan 
 set up his cross, and in after times, in his honour, were 
 erected those curious remains that still exist. Having 
 prosecuted his inquiries with all dilligence, Brand an re¬ 
 turned to his native Kerry ; and from a bay sheltered by 
 the lofty mountain that is now known by his name, he set 
 sail for the Atlantic l«,nd ; and, directing his course towards 
 the south»west, in order to meet the summer solstice, or 
 what we would call the tropic, after a long and rough 
 voyage, his little bark being well provisioned, he came 
 to summer seas, where he was carried along, without the 
 aid of sail or oar, for many a long day. This, it is to be 
 presumed, was the great gulf stream, and which brought 
 his vessel to shore somewhere about the Virginian Capes 
 or where the American coast tends eastward, and forms 
 the New England States. Here landing, he and his com* 
 panions marched steadily into the interior, for fifteen days, 
 and then came to a large river, flowing from east to west; 
 this, evidently, was the river Ohio. And this the holy 
 adventurer was about to cross, when he was accosted by a 
 person of noble presence ;—who told him he had gone far 
 enough ; that further discoveries were reserved for other 
 men, who would, in due time, come and christianize all 
 that pleasant land. The above, when tested by common 
 sense, clearly shows that Brandon landed on a continent, 
 and went a good way into the interior ; met a great river, 
 running in a different direction from those he heretofore 
 crossed. It is said he remained seven years away, and 
 returned to set up a college of three thousand monks at 
 Clonfert.” 
 
17 
 
 LOCAL NO-TES. 
 
 Before the period of this voyage. Brandon had established 
 a monastery at Ardfert, where a portion of his church—-one 
 of the most beautiful ruins in Kerry (we are quoting Mr 
 MacCarthy’s note)—still remains to this day. Accordingjto 
 Sir James Ware (vol. 1, p. 518), Ardfert signifies ‘‘a won* 
 derful place on an eminence or, as some interpret it, “ the 
 hill of miracles.” Mr MacCartby (to whose kindness we are 
 indebted for several of the works containing the materials of 
 this Sketch) has favored us with some interesting MSS., 
 &c., regarding our saint; but. as Saint Brandon’s life is now 
 being written by one most competent to do it perfect justice 
 —need we name the accomplished authoress of “ the Illus-. 
 trated History of Ireland ”?—we will not presume to trespass 
 in a sphere where the gifted Nun of Kenmare Convent 
 reigns with the magic power of sterling genius. We cannot 
 however avoid quoting here a few lines from Mr McCarthy’s 
 letter to ourselves, as they convey the author’s expression of 
 cordial sympathy with the events of Sunday next, and also 
 pay a well deserved compliment to the memory of one who 
 laboured with distinguished ability, and with unflagging 
 zeal for the literature of Kerry- and especially, as will be 
 seen, for that part of it which concerns our Patron Saint:— 
 
 Dublin, 28th May, 1868. 
 
 My Dear Sir, —I had already heard of the interesting- 
 events that are to take place on Brandon Hill; and of your 
 intention of writing a paper on the whole subject of St. 
 Brandon’s Voyage, &c. Both circumstances, I need scarcely 
 assure you, gave me very great pleasure . . . Along 
 
 with the tract of the Percy Societj’, you will find an in¬ 
 teresting appeal by the late Archdeacon Rowan of Tralee, 
 on behalf of the ruined Cathedral of St Brandon, at 
 Ardfert. 1 enclose a letter sent to me about the same 
 time by the same amiable and accomplished gentleman, 
 in which you will find a good deal of interesting matter 
 on the whole subject. I have never been able to find out 
 what has become of the MS. of the Metrical Life of St 
 Brandon, on which Archdeacon Rowan was engaged, and 
 of which he sent me a specimen—or of the transcript of 
 the Life contained in the “ Codex Kilkiensis,” which he 
 says he made. I was out of Dublin when his li* 
 brary was sold. Perhaps, some local inouiries might 
 lead to the discovery of these interesting MSS. I myself 
 would be happy to edit them, should any publisher 
 undertake their publication. Wishing every success to 
 the commemoration of the famous Bishop and Patron of 
 Kerry, and feeling confident that you will do ample jus¬ 
 tice to it, I am, Dear Sir, faithfully yours, 
 
 D. F. MacCarthy. 
 
 James J. Long, Esq., Chronicle Office, Tralee, 
 
 The following is the interesting letter of Archdeacon 
 Rowan, here alluded to :— 
 
 Belmont, Oct. 2Stb, 1859. 
 
 Dear Sir— 1 am very much obliged by your polite r\ te, and not 
 the less so by the volume that accompanied it, that i had a copy 
 before, obtained among the other provisions for grappling with my 
 Brendanic undertaking. 
 
 Had I known what I now see by your address—that we were near 
 neighbours all last summer—I should probably have troubled you 
 with many questions suggested by your poem, I spent the sum¬ 
 mer (all I did not pass in Horan) at Marine Terrace Kingstown with 
 my family—and took the opportunity to make progress in my work 
 as also to copy the M,S. in Marsh’s Library, of the Prose life of St 
 Brandon which I hope to edit, and which now that I have com¬ 
 pleted the copying 1 may call a ponderous undertaking. 
 
 The M.S. (which I have reason to believe was that used by Usher 
 and also by Colgan) is much larger in matter than Jubinal’s, or any 
 in the British Museum I have yet seen. It would appear that the 
 continental lives of Brandon (more numerous than of any saint of 
 his age I|believe)all deal with his marvellous-voyage chiefly—passing 
 over his late and early life, most interesting to us Irishmen. Now 
 the Marsh’s M.S. is fuller on these points and contains as I calculate 
 nearly double the matter of Jubinal’s Latin life* 
 
 I perceive that you make mnch more in your poem of the saint’s 
 visit to “ Arran the blest” than the lives I have seen do :—I collect 
 from them that he made a mere preparatory visit to St Endeus to 
 consult him about his great voyage—a kind of trial trip, and indeed 
 this he might well have done. Standing on the great Arran 1 sland 
 last June I could trace quite distinctly the’Brandon Mountain range 
 of my own county opposite, and my son brought his little yacht 
 from Tralee Bay to Arran in about twenty four hours. I was wish¬ 
 ing last summer, to ask you whether your description of the coast¬ 
 ing, was drawn from your own poet treasury of imagination, or 
 from any life of St Brendan which contained a narratlvejof the kind, 
 for I have seen none such. 
 
 My book, if I follow Dr. Reeves, insidious promptings, seconded 
 by the promise of his valuable assistance in seeing me through press 
 will contain the Prose Latin I have mentioned, 'an Irish life copied 
 from the “ Book of Lismore,” and translated, if it proves worth the 
 trouble, and a metrical version, (with translation in kind) obtained 
 from Cotton M.S.S. which I consider extremely quaint and curious. 
 I have rather a rage for that most effective medieval rhymed Latin 
 of which monkish literature has so many specimens—Last year I 
 tried my “ ’prentice hand” on a piece of the kind and beg your 
 acceptance of a copy (sent with this) you may if you will put by 
 my introduction as an abatement of the \alue in your estimation, 
 hut I expect that you will feel gratified by my introducing you to 
 good old Franco, the monk, if you do not know him already. When 
 I say my “’prentice hand ” I mean at this kind of measure, fori 
 am now (pcene sexegenarius) “old of the craft” of rhyming, as 
 another little volume now out of print which I send will show 
 you. 
 
 My St. Brandon will be in the same metre as “ Franco’s life”— 
 Some of the passages are of extraordinary force and power. The 
 passage describing the punishment of Judas yields to nothing ..in 
 Dante’s metrical Hell. His description of the Paradise of Birds, 
 and of those fallen spirits who fell with Lucifer and yet not so low, 
 is very effectively given. You have made a very sweet thing of it. 
 You may be interested in the corresponding stanzas of my MSS.— 
 So I send them to you. 
 
 Strange to say my chief dfficulty is in the total lack of home 
 material. From abroad I find abundance, but neither in the tradi¬ 
 tions of old people, nor in any memorable localities can I get any 
 facts. His mountain, his well, and Bay, his Cathedral are known— 
 but tho’ I have applied to some of our best informed archaelogic 
 Roman Catholic clergy, they all agree that there are no local tradi¬ 
 tions of him preserved. Your note suggesting that Brandon sailed 
 from Ardfert for Arran, is not correct;—Ardfert is inland, and Bally- 
 heigue Bay untenable for anything that floats. I have discovered 
 a creek in “Brandon Bay” now called “ St. Brandon's Quay”, but 
 I can get no Irish name for it, and my legend speaks of it thus : — 
 
 “ Portus unde navigant—saltus est Brandani, 
 
 Quem sic sancti gratia— vocant Christian: 
 
 Portum gurges efficit—sinu non imimani 
 Deflucus de rupibus latcris montani, 
 
 
18 
 
 In addition to these, I have obtained a litany of St. Brandon al¬ 
 luded to by Ware and Smith but not as I can discover before pub¬ 
 lished. 1 conclude it is the same to which Jubinal alludes at page 
 five of his preface when he speaks of “ Brendani oratis” as in the 
 library of “St Gallen (Angleterre). I-know of no library of St. 
 Gallen in England—it is probably a misprint for St. Jacques—for 
 this MS. was in the Iloyal Library as given to the British Museum. 
 Dr. Reeves knew nothing of the tractate until 1 mentioned it to 
 him. 
 
 All this, with notes and an introduction in which 1 shall feel bound 
 “ liberare animam " in an analytic attempt to distinguish the true 
 
 from the fabulous in these notices of St'Brandon, will make, if not 
 a goodly, a “ bulky” volume, if (D.V.) my head and health enable 
 me to complete it. I must also go down to Clonfert to see after 
 Brendan’s remains. We made a fruitless attempt to interest the 
 public in restoring Ardfert (ruined in 1641). You may wish a 
 lithograph of the fine window from a sketch of my daughters—so I 
 send them to you—and beg of you to excuse this long and hasty 
 note written in the freemason freedom which rhymesters venture 
 to take with a recognised poet of his day.—Your Obedient Servant. 
 
 A. B. Rowan. 
 
 D. F. M'Carthy, Esq., 
 
 THE LATER LIFE OF ST. BRANDON. 
 
 After returning from the great Western Voyage, Bran¬ 
 don rested in Kerry, While residing here, near the ocean, 
 and to atone for the death of a person who had been 
 drowned in the sea, and to which our Patron feared he 
 had involuntarily contributed, he was advised by St Ita 
 to go to Brittany. Having paid a visit to the celebrated 
 Guildas, the Historian of early Britain, who was then 
 advanced in years, he went to another part of Brittany, 
 and established a church in a place called Heth, and a 
 monastery and schools at Ailech, where one of his disci¬ 
 ples was St Machut or Maclovius, who afterwards became 
 Bishop of Alectum, now St Malo. But Brandon could 
 not live long out of Ireland. The Irish saints of old, 
 while serving God in the full odour of sanctity, did not 
 fail to love their native land, too, wisely and well, In C-o- 
 lumba’s poems, we see what it cost that great servant of 
 God to obey his confessor, and leave Ireland for'ever:— 
 
 “ Oh, Arran my son, my heart is in the west with 
 thee ! To sleep on thy purest soil is as good as to be 
 buried in the land of St Peter and Paul. To live within 
 the sound'of thy hells is to live in joy. Oh, Arran my son 
 my heart is in the west with thee 1” 
 
 The following were written during Columba’s exile in 
 Iona : — 
 
 1 What joy to fly upon the white crested sea and watch 
 the waves break upon the Irish shore ! Ah, how my boat 
 would fly if its prow were turned to my Irish oak grove.— 
 
 .My foot is in my boat 
 
 but my sad heart for ever bleeds ! The.e is a grey eye 
 which-ever turns to Erin, but never in this life shall it see 
 Erin nor her sons nor her daughters. Young traveller, 
 carry my sorrows with thee—carry them toComgall of eter¬ 
 nal life. Carry my blessing across the sea, carry it to the 
 West. My heart is broken in my breast. If death comes 
 to me suddenly, it will be because of the great love I bear 
 the Gael!” 
 
 Soon after Brandon’s return to Ireland from Brittanny, 
 or according to the annals of Innisfallen, in the year 
 562, he founded, near the Shannon, in the county of Gal« 
 way, the celebrated mouastory, college, and see of Clon¬ 
 fert. .For this monastery and several others connected 
 
 with it, he drew up a particular rule which was so highly 
 esteemed that it has been supposed to have been dictated 
 by an angel. The number of monks over whom our 
 saint presided, partly at Clonfert and partly in other 
 houses of his institution in various parts of Ireland—in¬ 
 cluding Ardfert aud the ancient monastery in the 
 vicinity of Brandon-head, exceeded three thousand, all 
 of whom maintained themselves by the labour of their 
 hands, If we except the schools of Clonard and of 
 Bangor, says Father Brennan- this at Clonfert deserves 
 to be ranked in the first place among the sacred and 
 literary institutions of Ireland, Besides theological 
 truths, philosophy, the sciences, and the general literal 
 ture of the day were taught in the schools of Clonfert i 
 and the aid which it contributed in diffusing morality 
 at home, and in establishing the reputation of Ireland 
 in distant countries, has been acknowled and deservedly 
 eulogised by many of our ancient writers. Clonfert be¬ 
 came in a few years so extensive that a bishop was con¬ 
 sidered indispensably necessary for the purpose of or- 
 dainiug missionaries- The calendar of Cashel says 
 Brandon was raised^to the mitre, and Colgan says he 
 afterwards resigned the see to St, Moena, reserving to 
 himself the care of his monasteries. The Cathedral of 
 Clonfert was in those days noted for its seven altars.— 
 St. Brandon also established a nunnery at Enac.b*duin, 
 over which he placed his sister Briga. Enach-duin is 
 now called Annadowne, It is situated near Lough 
 Corrib in the county of Galway. In course of time It 
 became a bishop’s see, but is now united to Tuam. Henry 
 O’Gormacan was the last Abbot of Clonfert. in 1540, 
 when the abbey was plundered by Henry VIII., and its 
 possessions united to the Bishopric of Clonfert.— 
 St. Brandon retired from Clonfert some years prior to 
 his death to a place of less bustle and care, and died in 
 his sister’s monastery of Enach.-duin on the 16th of May, 
 577, in the 94th year of his age. His remains were in¬ 
 terred in Clunfcrt. Recording his death the ancient 
 
19 
 
 Biographer says, he being full of virtues, departed out 
 ol this life into life everlasting, and was vvorshipfully 
 buried in a fair abbey which he himselt founded, * where 
 our Lorde sheweth for this Holy Saynt many fayre 
 myracles,’ 
 
 May we not justly apply to this illustrious Apostle 
 and Patron of Kerry—the Promised One of our great 
 Patrick—the Patriarch of Monks and Star of the Wes¬ 
 tern World—the sweet homage of poetic love wbi^fi the 
 church chaunts in the office of St, Finian: ‘ On the lily 
 
 has bloomed the rose, whose leaves the spring lias red' 
 dened ; Erin is embalmed with it; men come from afar 
 to breathe its perfume. There the mystic bees suck in 
 
 honey, and bear it to their homes. 0 Falieia, thou bast 
 borne a wondrous flower ; whoever presses his lips to it, 
 heals both soul and body !’ This is the Saint whom mul* 
 titudes will worthily honor in his native Kerry next 
 Sunday, around the high-placed Oratory where he prayed 
 and meditated, and grew in grace and years, We can 
 not better close this introductory sketch than in the con¬ 
 cluding words of the ancient prose life of St. Brandon, 
 published by the Percy Society : ‘Wherefore, let us de¬ 
 voutly praye to this holy saynt that he praye for us 
 unto our Lord, that He have mercy on us, to whom be 
 gyven laude, honour, and empyre, world withouten 
 ende. Amen/ 
 
 THE CELEBRATION, 
 
 (SUNDAY, JUNE 28lH, EVE OF S.S. PETER AND PAUL). 
 
 Sunday last will be a day long remembered in 
 the annals of our county. The religious services 
 on the summit of Brandon Mountain, in honor of 
 the Patron Saint of Kerry, took place with the 
 greatest eclat , presided over by the Bishop of the 
 Diocese, assisted by several Priests, including 
 the Very Rev. Superiors of the Dominican and 
 Franciscan Orders in Kerry, and joined in by 
 some 20,000 people. Never before did such a 
 mighty congregation assemble in Kerry for such a 
 purpose, and under such circumstances. Never 
 were the faith and fidelity of our people more 
 gloriously demonstrated. They travelled many 
 a mile ; they endured much fatigue ; they 
 mastered a steep ascent over three thousand feet 
 high—-nay, hundreds went to the mountain the 
 previous evening, and slept there all night to se¬ 
 cure an early attendance at the sacred cere¬ 
 monies, to give glory to God, and honor to one 
 of His greatest servants in the locality conse¬ 
 crated by his prayers and presence. The most 
 remarkable order and decorum prevailed through¬ 
 out. Not the slightest incident occurred to mar 
 the happy harmony and the pious devotion of the 
 immense multitude. The day was gloriously 
 fine, and the magnificent prospect, at all sides, 
 as clear and beautiful as the most fastidious could 
 desire. We can not proceed farther without 
 making honorable mention of the pious and zeal¬ 
 ous Priest, to whose generous inspiration and in¬ 
 defatigable exertions we are all indebted for this 
 splendid Catholic demonstration. We allude 
 to the Rev T. Brosnan, senior Curate of Tralee. 
 With a humility worthy of his sacred office fie 
 
 preferred to work on unseen and unknown in 
 public, but the joyous grateful shouts of the 
 thousands who hailed him on the holy mountain, 
 with their hearts on their lips, told better than 
 any set form of words how highly and how justly 
 his services in the cause of religion are appre¬ 
 ciated. 
 
 In accordance with the original programme, 
 five o’clock a.m. was the hour fixed for starting 
 from Tralee. Punctually at that time, the people 
 began to set out. The Rev. Mr. Brosnan, 
 with whom were the Very Rev. Father 
 Murphy, Prior O.P., Tralee, the Very Rev. 
 Father Arsenius, Superior of the Franciscan 
 Order in Killarney, and Father Prendergast, 
 O.P., Tralee, led the way, followed by the mem¬ 
 bers of the Carmelite and Dominican Confrater¬ 
 nities ofTralee on long cars, each drawn by four 
 horses. Immediately alter followed a vast 
 number of cars containing some of the most re¬ 
 spectable inhabitants of the town and neighbours 
 hood. For over two hours afterwards various 
 modes of conveyance continued pouring out of 
 Tralee on to the West, and at every cross road 
 on the route the cortege was increased by multi¬ 
 tudes from different quarters. At the same time 
 a large number of boats well filled were seen 
 crossing the bay from the Spa, Kilfenura, and 
 various other places on the coast up to Clare- 
 all bound for the same destination. When the 
 head of the procession neared Cloghane at half¬ 
 past eight o’clock, the continuous line of cars, &c, 
 extended to over a mile of the road, and others 
 continued arriving at the village for hours after¬ 
 wards. But long before this the mountain wus 
 
 F 
 
20 
 
 occupied by numbers who lived in the neigh¬ 
 bourhood, or who travelled there during the 
 night. All ages and all classes were present; 
 the old vied with the young in activity—the 
 women showed examples of indomitable energy 
 worthy of the sterner sex. Merchants, shop¬ 
 keepers, tradesmen, and others from the town, 
 and even children, rivalled the rural population 
 in mastering the difficulties of the journey. At 
 all sides the greatest enthusiasm was displayed— 
 all was bustle, joy, and good-humour. The 
 relreshing showers which had fallen during the 
 previous evening laid the dust, cooled the air, 
 and rendered the trip in many ways more plea¬ 
 sant than it might otherwise have been. The 
 day was altogether a pet day—even for smiling 
 June. 
 
 The Bishop, having gone to Castlegregory the 
 previous day, arrived at an early hour at Cloghane, 
 accompanied by the Rev. Mr. Irwin, C.C., 
 Castlegregory, and awaited the coming of the 
 Tralee contingent. Father Irwin stopped at 
 Cloghane to celebrate Mass in the Parish Church, 
 at 12 o’clock, but, though this was announced for 
 the convenience of those who might be daunted 
 on seeing the mountain, comparatively few 
 availed themselves of the considerate accommo¬ 
 dation. 
 
 The ascent of the mountain from Cloghane 
 was commenced at 9 o’clock by the Bishop and 
 Clergy, and the great mass of the people. A 
 temporary altar was erected on Faha Mountain, 
 at the base of Brandon, and here the Very Rev. 
 Father Murphy celebrated Mass at 11 o’clock, 
 proceeding forward afterwards, with the most of 
 those who hailed here with him. 
 
 The Bishop and Father Brosnan reached the 
 brow of Brandon Mountain by half-past 11 
 o’clock, and were greeted by a long, loud, and 
 ringing cheer from the thousands from the other 
 or western side who already crowded the summit. 
 The cheer was taken up, and echoed right hear- 
 tilly by the masses who were still ascend¬ 
 ing from the East. From the West to the East, 
 through a space of several miles, that ringing 
 shout went forth, like an electric shock, linking 
 the gathering thousands in one common bond of 
 gladsome sympathy. At the same moment the 
 fog which had draped the mountain since morn¬ 
 ing passed away, as if the breath of God thus 
 signally sanctified the work to encourage and re¬ 
 
 ward those who had dared so much in such a 
 holy cause. No words could paint the staitling 
 effect which the scene now presented, as the 
 lofty summits of the surrounding hills—and espe¬ 
 cially that one high above all the rest, on 
 which every eye from below was earnestly fixed 
 —threw off the thin white drapery, and revealed 
 themselves in all their natural glory, backed by 
 a summer sky of spotless blue. Far above, the 
 multitudes already assembled on the summit 
 could be seen, while the procession of pilgrims 
 still extended in one unbroken chain from below. 
 The pretty banners of the Confraternities sparkled 
 in the sunlight, and the varied dresses of the 
 processionists—especially of the ladies—set off 
 to still greater advantage a scene animated and 
 picturesque in the extreme. Arrived above, the 
 glorious prospect which Brandon summit com¬ 
 mands burst on the astonished view with sub¬ 
 lime effect. From every mouth went forth 
 heart-felt words of prayer and praise to Him 
 whose wonderful works were thus lavishly re¬ 
 vealed. Those who brave the break-neck dan¬ 
 gers of Alpine journeys to gratify often a mere* 
 morbid curiosity, and who fill the world with 
 laudations of what they saw and felt on those 
 foreign dizzy steeps, [can little imagine what a 
 mighty thrill passed through this throng as they 
 gazed enraptured on the glorious volume of 
 nature’s choicest works, and remembered that 
 they came heie following in the consecrated foot¬ 
 steps of one of God’s most glorious saints, to join 
 his pure spirit with heart and soul in offering 
 fitting homage to the Author of all good. The 
 two multitudes—those from the East and those 
 from the West—joined together, and knelt 
 around St. Brandon’s Oratory, under the broad 
 canopy of Heaven. If we had reason to re¬ 
 joice at the magnificent and enthusiastic de¬ 
 monstration from this town, we had no less 
 reason to feel proud of the splendid exhibi¬ 
 tion from Dingle and the entire West. Teh 
 whole of the population, indeed, seemed to have 
 turned out en masse, with all the genuine spirit of their 
 warm generous nature, and the only draw»back to their 
 joy, they cried out as with one voice, was, that they had 
 not had the privileged honour of escorting the Bishop and 
 
 Priests from their side of the mountain ; but to satisfy 
 their feelings as far as they could, many of them went 
 down to Cloghane to join in his Lordship’s escort, thence 
 back again to the summit. 
 
21 
 
 THE SCENE, AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 A fortnight ago, on the occasion of the trial trip, we 
 described the main characteristics of the journey. Since 
 then the stalwart men of the district, on being assured 
 that the Bishop was determined to ascend, busied them* 
 selves in improving the path up the mountain, and the 
 fruits of their exertions in this, their labour of love, 
 were pleasingly evident on Sunday—‘The path is con* 
 siderably altered for the better. We already attempted to 
 convey some idea of the sublime scene presented from 
 the glorious elevation of Brandon Head. We must now 
 notice more particularly some of the most interesting 
 points in the prospect, and the associations that render 
 them doubly dear to all who love this land of ours,— 
 They call back the mind to periods that will be for ever 
 memorable in Ireland’s history. The late Mr Richard 
 Hitchcock has left us a list, made out from the'Ordinance 
 survey, and other sources, of the principal remains of 
 antiquity in the barony of Corkaguiny, which now lies 
 6pread out at our feet. Eleven stone Cahers; throe 
 cams; forty calluraghs, or obsolete burial grounds, 
 where unbaptized children only are interred ; ten castles ; 
 eighteen artificial caves; twenty-one churches in ruins, 
 and nine church sites; two hundred and eighteen 
 cloghauns, or bee-hive shaped stone houses ; sixteen 
 cromleacs. twelve large stone crosses ; three hundred 
 and seventy-six earthen forts, or raths : one hundred 
 and thirteen gallauns, or immense rude standing stones; 
 fifty-four monumental pillars, most of them bearing 
 Ogham inscriptions; fifteen oratories-,mine penitential 
 stations ; sixty.wells, many of them bearing the name 
 of some saint, and 29 miscellaneous remains. What a list l 
 How many more fine remains, he remarks, have been 
 lost duriog centuries of blind fanaticism, and internal 
 Warfare 1 Yet the list, as it stands, is such that he ven» 
 tores to say no other part of Ireland of the same size as 
 Corkaguiny can number so many and such a variety of 
 Ancient remains, and in such a fine state of preservation 
 as are to be found in this interesting barony. That this 
 district was anciently remarkable for cultivation, fertility 
 and piety is sufficiently proved by the numerous remains 
 of churches, monasteries, and other vestiges of advanced 
 Christian civilization that are still to be seen. Smith’s 
 history ennumerates no fewer than twenty parish churches 
 existing in Corkaguiny over a hundred years ago, and 
 concludes from this fact that the barony was formerly 
 better inhabited than at present, each parish having 
 
 had its respective church, most of which were very large 
 as appears by their ruins. He notices as another proof 
 that the ‘ number of inhabitants is prodigiously de« 
 creased,’ the fact that several of the mountains, though 
 of but poor and stony soil, are marked by old enclosures, 
 and other signs of former culture on their sides, even to 
 the very tops. An account of a visit of the Earl of 
 Cumberland to this district, printed in London a.d 1599, 
 records ‘ The ground is very fruitful, and plentiful of 
 grasse and graine, as may appear by the abundance of 
 kine and cattel there, insomuch that we had good 
 muttons (though somewhat less than ours in England) 
 for two shillings or five groates a piece, good pigges 
 and hennes for 3 pence a piece—good land was here to 
 be had for foure pence yearly the acre !* But the • Refor¬ 
 mation’ wars changed all this. Spencer saw and described 
 the ruin and desolation of those dreadful days. In a 
 short space of time he tells us this most populous and 
 plentiful country was suddenly left void of man and 
 beast, Hollinshed’s Chronicle affirms that as the result 
 of the cruel Desmond war, from one end of Munster to the 
 other, from Waterford to Smerwick, a distance of 130 
 miles, no man, woman, or child was to be met except 
 in the towns ; nor any beast but [the very wolves, the 
 foxes, and such like ravening beasts ! 
 
 Smerwick ! There it Iie9 at our feet, with the frown- 
 ing'frontlet of ForUdel-Ore clearly defined. In the reign 
 of Elizabeth, when that remarkable woman resolved to 
 make amends for her illegitimacy by the sin of apostacy, 
 and to maintain her hold on the English throne by mer¬ 
 cilessly exterminating the Catholic inhabitants of Ire¬ 
 land, Philip II. of Spain, who had been married to 
 Mary Queen of England, sought, in concert with Pope 
 Gregory XIII., to assist the persecuted Irish Catholics. 
 In July, 1579, an expedition of Spaniards and Italians 
 landed in Smerwick, under the command of James 
 Fitzmaurice, and took up a position in Fort-del- 
 Ore which they fortified. But the English navy sailed 
 around to attack them, and Lord Deputy Gray marched 
 forces from Dublin for the same purpose. After a 
 seige of 40 days, the Deputy showed a flag of truce, the 
 garrison capitulated, were disarmed, and inhumanly mas* 
 sacred in cold blood to the number of 600. Sir Walter 
 Raleigh was entrusted with the butchery, Poet Spencer 
 with the duty of recording and excusing it, and Edward 
 Denny with the task of bearing the commander’s des- 
 
22 
 
 patches from the bloody field to her Majesty. So well 
 wa9 the work of ‘ Reforming Civilisation’ carried out in 
 those days that little was left in Ireland for her Ma¬ 
 jesty to reign over but carcases and ashes 1 But what 
 mattered that or anything else when the Desmond 
 Estates (600,000 acres) were forfeited and presented to 
 the 4 heroes’ of the war at an average of two pence per 
 acre, “Ned Denny,” being rewarded with the hand 
 of the Queen’s favorite maid of honor, the Jtitle off Sir 
 Edward, and 6,000 acres of Kerry, What a contrast be¬ 
 tween the * demonstration of that bleak November day, 
 a.d. 1580, and the exhibition of Sunday last in the im¬ 
 mediate vicinity l 
 
 But we have meeter matter for our thoughts now 
 as we gaze from Brandon-hcad, than the horrors of 
 Sraorwick, Farther on towards the south smiles in rare 
 beauty the Bay of Diogle with the grand Skellig islands 
 iu the front, bearing marks of an older and better mis* 
 sion—and one more in keeping with the object of the 
 present meeting. On the great Skellig was once ft fa* 
 mous Druidical altar, but after Brandon spread the 
 faith in Kerry, on the remains of that Pagan structure 
 was founded by St Finian, in the seventh century, the 
 noble monastery of St Michael the Archangel. The re¬ 
 mains of the ancient abbey are still visible, though the 
 Innisfallen Annals announce the death of one of its 
 Priors, Flan Mac Collagh, under date, a.d., 885, Dr 
 Rowan says, this Abbey belonged to the Canons Regular 
 of St Augustine, was dedicated to St Michael, and 
 flourished before the English invasion. “ It now lies in 
 utter desolation—the seawiud whistles through the rents 
 of the crumbling walls —and the sea-sand is fast burying 
 by its encroachments buildings, which at one time 
 covered a considerable space,” There are six remarkable 
 llermit cells remaining, and of these ancient devotional 
 retreats,Dr Rowan remarks “ Nowhere could self-immola¬ 
 tion be more completely effected by those who deemed 
 it a suitable offering to God.” 
 
 This part of the coast is remarkable also for the fact 
 that the first landing of the Milesian expedition from 
 Spain was effected here centuries before the Christian 
 era, and from this quarter did that colony diffuse itself 
 thoughout Ireland. Further on, up Dingle Bay may be 
 seen a glimpse of Ventry Harbour, where the fabled 
 battle of seven days was fought out in the days of 
 Constantine the Great. We may now look at the 
 Blaskets or Ferriter’s Islands, Smith, describing the 
 
 second in magnitude, lnnis MacKeilane, a century ago, 
 said there stood in it then the ruins of an ancient chapel, 
 in which an old stone chalice and a baptismal font also 
 of stone still remained, likewise a small cell or hermitage 
 
 being an arch of stone, neatly put together without any 
 mortar or cement. There was one of the same kind at 
 Fane inVentry Parish, in a ruinous condition, and ano¬ 
 ther at Gallerns. * The Irish say these cells were erected 
 by the first missionaries who preached the Gospel in 
 these part9, they are the same within side as the most 
 ancient Roman arches, and were, like them, built with¬ 
 out mortar.’ 
 
 We will now look nearer home: Towards the west base of 
 Brandon mountain, in a sheltered recess, lie some of the 
 most interesting ruins in the whole district—ruins that 
 bring us back immediately to the times and mission of our 
 Saint. We find an ancient edifice called St, Brandon’s 
 House and traces of several other buildings where the colony 
 of his monks resided. In the vicinity is the ruined church 
 of Kilmalkedar, one of the many churches erected in this 
 neighbourhood by the Spaniards, who, in the olden 
 days, carried on a large trade with west Kerry. It is a 
 beautiful specimen of ancient architecture. Not far off 
 —at a place called Gallerus—is another of the curious 
 stone cells, entirly perfect, though a greater antiquity is 
 ascribed to it than to the Round Towers ! Petrie, in bis 
 work on the Round Towers of Ireland, thus speaks of 
 this devotional building : “ This oratory which is wholly 
 built of the green stone of the district, is externally 
 twenty-three feet long by ten broad, and sixteen feet 
 high on the outside to the apex of the pyramid. The 
 doorway, which is placed as is usual in all our ancient 
 churches in its wesUend wall, is five feet seven inches 
 high, two feet four inches wide at the base, and one foot 
 four inches at the top, and the walls are four feet in thick¬ 
 ness at the base. It is lighted by a single window in its 
 east side, and each of the gables were terminated by 
 small stone crosses, only the sockets of which now remain. 
 That these oiatories—though not as Dr Smith supposes 
 the first edifices of stone that were erected in Ireland— 
 were the first erected for Christian uses is, 1 think, ex¬ 
 tremely probable ; and 1 am strongly inclined to believe 
 that they may be even more ancient than the period as« 
 signed for the conversion of the Irish generally by their 
 great Apostle Patrick. I should state in proof of this 
 antiquity that adjacent to each of these oratories may be 
 6 een the remains of the circular stone houses which were 
 the habitations of the founders; and, what is of more 
 importance, that their graves are marked by upright 
 pillar-stones, sometimes bearing inscriptions in the 
 Ogham character, as found on monuments presumed to 
 bo Pagan, and in other instances, as at the oratory of 
 Gallerus, with an inscription in the Giasco-Romnn, or 
 Byzantine character of the fourth or fifth century.” 
 
Direct from Kilmalkedar to the summit of Brandon runs 
 a stone-built pathway, whose meaning is elequently told 
 in its local title : “The Pathway of the Saints.” 
 
 The polished remains of antiquity meet us here at every 
 turn. In excavating for stones for the temporary altars t 
 for celebrating the Holy Sacrifice on Sunday, the peas« 
 antry brought to view ancient Sculptured Stones—which 
 had evidently formed part of the old church of St Bran¬ 
 don ! Some of them are arched, and some elaborately 
 carved somewhat in the same style as the arched stones of 
 the front door of the old Church of Kilmalkedar, of which 
 a clever visitor,in 1845 has said: “The entrance is a 
 perfect rounded arch with rich carving of heads, flowers’ 
 and foliage, which is not very much injured by time or 
 climate.” The stones dug up on the summit of Brandon, 
 are a foreign kind of marble, several of them are pierced 
 through with dowel holes with appliances for gudgeons and 
 cramps, clearly for the purpose of securing greater firm¬ 
 ness and durability in the ancient building on this remarks 
 gble site. 
 
 Let us turn to the opposite point. At the other side 
 of Tralee bay. we light on Ardfert. In 1778, O’Halloran, 
 in his “ general History of Ireland, from the earliest ac¬ 
 counts to the close of the 12th century.” thus spoke of 
 this historic spot : “ St Brendan of the house of Ir, and 
 the Patron Saint of the O’Connors Kerry, erected at 
 Hi-Ferte, or the Territory of Miracles, commonly called 
 Ardfert, or Ardart, a see. His successors were sometimes 
 called Bishops of Kerry. The remains of Churches, Abbies, 
 and religious houses with inscriptions, remarkable tombs 
 &e., at this day, sufficiently proclaim its ancient magni¬ 
 ficence, An anchorite tower of 120 feet high, the finest 
 in Ireland, and standing near the Cathedral, fell down in 
 the year 1771 ; and, as in all human probability—it fell— 
 never to rise again ! I leave this memorial of it ; of this 
 noble city, ancient capital of Kerry, no other monuments’ 
 but the above remain, except its being the seat of the 
 Earls of Glandore, an ancient family of this county,”— 
 The ancient and sacred City is now threatened with final 
 anhiliation, and the glorious old Cathedral of St Brandon in 
 shameful ruin and neglect, is following fast to the sad 
 fate of the grand Round Tower in company with that other 
 splendid wreck of ancient glory—Ardfert Abbey. What me¬ 
 morials of the olden faith have we here! To each and to 
 all might we address the pathetic words of the Irish Bard— 
 
 ‘ Was a time when joy and gladness reigned within this ruined 
 pile,— 
 
 Was a time when bells were tinkling, clergy preaching peace 
 abroad, 
 
 Psalm3 a-8inging, music ringing praises to the Almighty God. 
 
 Empty aisle, deserted chancel, tower tottering to your full, 
 
 Many a storm since then has beaten on the grey head of your 
 wall! 
 
 Many a bitter storm and tempest has your rooftree turned away, 
 Since you first were formed a temple to the Lord of night and day. 
 
 Oh ! the hardship—oh! the hatred, tyrany and cruel war. 
 Persecution and oppression, that have left you as you are! 
 
 Another Irish poet addressing such another scene, breaks 
 forth into a strain of passionate devotion— 
 
 Wreck of a ruin! lovelier, holier, far, 
 
 Thy ghastly hues of death, 
 
 Than the cold forms of newer temples are— 
 
 Shrines of a priestless faith. 
 
 In lust and rapine, treachery and blood 
 Its iron domes were built; 
 
 Darkly they frown where God’s own altar stood, 
 
 In hatred and in guilt. 
 
 But to make thee, of loving hearts the love, 
 
 Was coined to living stone; 
 
 Truth, peace and piety together strove 
 To form thee for their own. 
 
 ’Tis not the work of m.nd or hand or eye, 
 
 Builders’ or sculptorV skill, 
 
 Thy site, thy beauty, or thy majesty— 
 
 Not these my bosom thrill. 
 
 ’Tis that a glorious monument thou art 
 Of the true faith of old, 
 
 When faith was one in all the nations heart, 
 
 Purer than purest gold. 
 
 Love of my love, and temple of my God ! 
 
 How would I now clasp thee 
 Close to my heart, and, even as thou wast trod 
 So with thee trodden be ! 
 
 Oh, for one hour a thousand years ago 
 Within thy precincts dim, 
 
 To hear the chant in deep and measured flow, 
 
 Of psalmody and hymn ! 
 
 To see of priests the long and white array 
 Around thy silver shrines— 
 
 The people kneeling prostrate far away, 
 
 In thick and chequered lines. 
 
 To hear in piety’s own Celtic tongue 
 The most heart-touching prayer, 
 
 That fervent suppliants e’er was heal'd among, 
 
 0, to be then and there ! 
 
 How strongly do those thoughts surge through tha 
 hearts of the mighty multitude who knelt around Bren¬ 
 dan’s ruined oratory under the open arch of heaven, on 
 Sunday, to worship where generations of saints had mi¬ 
 nistered! Well has M, de Barneval exclaimed, summing 
 up the eventful and eloquent history, which may be read 
 right readily from Brandon-head : Thus have centuries 
 perpetuated the alliance of the Saints and the People, of 
 Catholicity and Ireland, founded by St. Patrick, and ce¬ 
 mented by his disciples—Revolutions have failed to 
 shake it—persecution has not broken it; it has gained 
 strength in blood and tears; and, we may believe, after 
 thirteen centuries of trial, that the Roman faith will dis¬ 
 appear from Ireland only with the name of St, Patrick 
 and the last Irishman ! 
 
 Are proofs needed ? See those kneeling thousands ! 
 See Brendon’s consecrated successor, whero two centuries 
 ago it would have been death for him to appear. See 
 here the indomitable Soggarlk Aroon boldly organising 
 
the grand and sublime services of the old church on the 
 bare hill top, in the clear noon-day, in the face of heaven 
 and earth, where he should, some generations ago, hide 
 and hurry in caves and caverns, with the price of a wolf 
 on bis head. See here the Prior of New Muckross, with 
 sandalled feet, and the cowl and cord of St. Francis. See 
 the Prior of Holy Cross Ahbey garbed in the spotless 
 white robes of St. Dominick—the beloved Friars Prea¬ 
 chers—established by the banks of the Leigh by the 
 Princely Geraldyne, and joyfully reestablished in the 
 olden home, though two centuries ago the community 
 were banned and proscribed, and their holy leader con¬ 
 demned to a martyr’s crown beside lovely Lough Lene. 
 See, the Bishop, who gladdens and blesses these thousands 
 now, is of the same race and leniage as Prior Moriarty, 
 whose blood was sacrificed on Fair Hill, to destroy the 
 priests of the people and the people’s faith. Oh, fools ! 
 knew ye not that the blood of martyrs is the seed of 
 saints? 
 
 Having failed to crush God^s work with the arms of 
 the evil one, the enemy, in the agency of some poor bigots, 
 who remain to-day to the disgrace of modern enlighten* 
 ment, hoped to smother this mighty up»heaving of the 
 People’s Faith and Devotion by desecrating the holy hill 
 with Soapers’ tracts, hoarsely croaking of “ Super* 
 stition,” Hear the glorious addresses delivered to-day 
 on this holy mount ye wretched railers ; take advan* 
 tage of those lessons of lofty wisdom to remove the clouds 
 of ignorance and folly by which ye are oppressed, and 
 apply those words of light and love to direct and waria 
 your dark, cold, cruel hearts. 
 
 Away to the West we look. There is Valencia, the 
 terminus of the Atlantic telegraph. Through that pathless 
 ocean, extending for thousands of miles, works that 
 roj’srerious electric spark, which makes two worlds one. 
 
 Is there no meaning in this wonder being accomplished 
 so near the place where Brandon sailed out and discovered 
 that Promised Land ? A Land of bright Promise indeed has 
 America proved to Ireland in her hour of sorest need.— 
 Truly, has been fulfilled the prophecy of the angel to our 
 Patron thirteen hundred years ago, on bidding him return 
 from the New World to the Old, as we are told in the 
 pious record : — 
 
 “Father, return, thy mission now is o'er; 
 
 God who did call thee here, now bids thee go, 
 
 Return in peace unto thy native shore 
 And tell the mighty secrets thou dost know. 
 
 Seek thy own isle—Christ's newly bought domain, 
 
 Which nature with an emerald pencil paints; 
 
 Such as it is, long, long shall it remain, 
 
 The School of Truth, the College of the Saint9, 
 
 The student’s bower, the hermit’s calm retreat, 
 
 The stranger’s home, the hospitable hearth, 
 
 The shrine to which shall wander pilgrim feet. 
 
 From all the neighbouring nations of the earth. 
 
 Cut in the end upon that land shall fall 
 A bitter scourge, a lasting flood of tears, 
 
 When ruthless tyranny shall level all 
 The pious trophies of its earlier years ; 
 
 Then shall this land prove thy poor country's friond, 
 
 And shine, a second Eden, in the West, 
 
 Then shall this shore its friendly arms extend, 
 
 And clasp the outcast exile to its breast.” 
 
 So has it been, and so shall it continue. While Ireland 
 needs a friend, Brendan’s Land of Promise will not fail her. 
 
 We have noted several of the points of special interest 
 that challenge attention in this remarkable locality, hoping 
 that they will all, henceforward, become familar as House¬ 
 hold Words. We cannot leave the general subject without 
 supporting our views- by the opinion of an able and im¬ 
 partial judge : C W Hamilton, Esqr., in the first vol., of 
 the Geological Journal of Dublin, after speaking of the 
 variety and beauty of the wild flowers which adorn the sides 
 of the Kerry Coast Highlands, proceeds : “ If the lovers 
 
 of the picturesque beauties of nature knew but half the 
 glorious scenery that is to be found among them (the 
 mountains), this extreme point of western Europe, would be 
 more frequently visited and acknowledged, as equal to any 
 of the favourite haunts of tourists. If we walk along the 
 shores, we see mural precipices of eight hundred feet in 
 height, opposed as barriers to the vast Atlantic, whose 
 waters, in their calmest mood, break against the rocks 
 with a violence which conveys an idea of the power and 
 strength of the ocean, hardly appreciable by those w ho are 
 acquainted only with the channel seas. If we ascend the 
 mountains, we are charmed with the wildness of their 
 rocky defiles, the richness of their flowery vegetation ex¬ 
 ceeding anything. I have seen, and the depth at which 
 the lakes are embosomed in the midst of them. The pre¬ 
 cipices over Connor Lake, rise to about fifteen hundred 
 feet above its surface. From the summit of Brandon a 
 panorama is exhibited, of which I know no equal.” Let 
 us hope that the inspiring events of Sunday will herald a 
 brighter and happier era in every respect, for this rich and 
 beautiful country. We must now record 
 
 THE CEREMONIES OF THE DAY 
 
 And here it is but right to mention the names of the 
 Committee of Management, appointed at the public meeting 
 in Tralee on the 11th of last month. They were Messrs 
 Michael Butler, James Casey, William Coffey, Charles 
 Falvey, Patrick Flynn, William Flynn, Eugene Harrington, 
 John Gleeson, Patrick Hayes, Laurence Hickey, Doctor 
 Hurley, Robert Kelly, Maurice Mahony, John Moriarty, 
 Denis M'Craith, David O’Connor, MauriceiO’Connell, Pa¬ 
 trick O’Shea, William Lenihan, R Leonard, M L Lyons, 
 J J Long, P Tynan, Laurence Redmond, Simon Shea, and 
 John White. 
 
 The members of the Carmelite Confraternity, and of the 
 Confraternity of the Holy Rosary, attached to[the Parish 
 Church, and Holy Cross Church, Tralee, respectively, 
 
 and who put on their habits on the brow of the moun¬ 
 tain, numbered over one hundred. The choir consisted 
 of Rev Father Prendergast, 0 P, and Michael Butler, 
 Esq, tenors; Miss O’Brien, Miss Mahony, and Miss 
 Gleeson, 6uprano ;Messrs P Healy, and G and R Hoare, 
 bass. 
 
 The Dingle Christian Brothers, with their esteemed 
 superior, Rev Brother Rice, were very zealous and effi¬ 
 cient in forwarding the arrangements on the mountain. 
 
 Immediately after arriving on the brow of the mountain, 
 the choir led by Father Prendergast, of Holy Cross 
 Church, Tralee ; and the Confraternies clad in their habits 
 preceded by the cross-bearer, and bearing aloft beautiful 
 banners—-those of the Blessed Virgin! St Brandon, St lta, 
 
25 
 
 St Patrick a/id St Bridget, being most conspicuous—formed 
 a procession and singing a litany, proceeded to St Brandon’s 
 Oratory and formed around the Altar. At the western end 
 of the Oratory within its precincts but more in view of 
 the multitude, a temporary altar was erected. Here the 
 Bishop celebrated first Mass, assisted by Father Brosnan 
 and Father ArseDius. It was then deemed advisable to 
 remove somewhat lower down the mountain, so as to be 
 more within view of the masses there. Here another tem¬ 
 porary altar was erected at which Father Arsenius officiated, 
 Solemn Mass, coram episcopa , was next sung by Father 
 Brosnan. The highly efficient choir from Tralee, led by 
 Father Prendergast and Michael Butler, Esq., sang Mo« 
 zart’s Twelfth Mass in admirable style* 
 
 Never was a more sublime scene presented—than that 
 offered to the honor and glory of God, as the High Priest 
 Celebrant, raised the consecrared Host on high, while 
 many thousand worshippers—all animated by the same 
 holy feelings, from the venerable mitered prelate down to 
 the peasant child—bent to the earth in lowly adoration.— 
 When Mr Butler sung the grand Laudate , every one 
 present felt something of a foretaste of the exalted bliss of 
 the angelic choirs, for the eternal enjoyment of which 
 man was created, and to merit the possession of which this 
 pilgrimage to Brandon Summit, reminded all, should be 
 the only and solid aim and object of life’s journey. 
 
 THE SERMONS. 
 
 The several Masses having concluded, 
 
 The Very Rev. Father Eustace Murphy, O.P., Prior of 
 Holy Cross Abbey, Tralee, then addressed the multitude as 
 follows :—Grand and wondrous, dear brethren, is the scene 
 which at this moment presents itself, and, as we look round, 
 expands before our view. The heart of Catholic Kerry is 
 evidently pierced to-day to its inmost core ; and her people, 
 therefore, assemble in crowds under the guidance of their 
 venerated and saintly Bishop to proclaim aloud their Faith, 
 and to give evidence to the world that they are now what 
 their fathers were 14 hundred years ago—the followers of 
 Christ, and the humble and loving children of His holy 
 Church.—Blessed be God ! the present is a glorious spec¬ 
 tacle to witness after centuries of struggling and suffering for 
 His own most holy cause ! Thousands—nay, tens of thou¬ 
 sands of men. and women and children—all led by one im¬ 
 pulse of faith—congregate together on the summit of a 
 mountain, some thousands of feet above the level of the sea, 
 and which has been reached only after several hours of fa¬ 
 tigue and toil, to feast their souls with the conviction that 
 they are pleasing their own St. Brendon by manifesting re« 
 spect for his memory, and bringing down the dew of Heaven 
 on themselves and their families by honouring one of God’s 
 most sanctified and illustrious servants. Little did St. 
 Brendon think when as a boy he was lisping his prayers at 
 the base of this mighty hill that the day should come when 
 all Kerry would hasten to visit the spot hallowed by his 
 Saintly presence ; and still less did he ever suppose that the 
 elevated spot which he chose for the purposes of penance and 
 
 contemplation would be beset by myriads, coming as you 
 have all come to-day, to ask his prayers and implore his pro¬ 
 tection. But, oh ! such is sanctity, it has an embalming 
 efficacy ; and the true servant of God will ever live in the 
 affections of His people. Years roll on—time goes by—cen¬ 
 turies accumulate on centuries—revolutions come—thrones 
 are overturned—even the altar is borne away before the 
 
 turgid flood of infidel excesses—but God, who is wonder¬ 
 ful in his saints,” guards their memories from oblivion, and 
 in His own right time He causes them, as the Scripture 
 announces, “ to declare all His wonderful works, which the 
 Lord Almighty hath firmly settled to be established for His 
 glory.”—You were right, my brethren, in coming here to¬ 
 day in the might of your countless numbers, and the ma¬ 
 jesty of your imposing order There was no confusion—no 
 disturbance. Like the Israelites following Moses, or rather 
 like the Jews accompanying Jesus to the mountain-top, you 
 followed in peace and patience your annointed leader to this 
 lofty spot to-day ; and your conduct, so eminently Christian 
 in every respect, whilst it shews that the instincts of faith 
 alone dictated your action, gives at the same time the con¬ 
 tradiction to those who would gladly fix on this re¬ 
 ligious uprising of a people the seal of folly, or perhaps even 
 try to stamp it with the stigma of debasing superstition. 
 Oh, senseless men ! why do you not remember that the folly 
 of this world is the wisdom of God! Why do you not re* 
 nounce the souices of worldly thought and silly ideas, and 
 drink in your inspirations from the blessed fountains of 
 Divine wisdom ? Folly and superstition, indeed ! Does not 
 the Holy Ghost in the Book of Wisdom say of the saints— 
 “ They shall judge nations, and rule over people, and their 
 Lord shall reign for ever.” Does not the same Holy Spirit, 
 in reference also to His saints, exclaim—‘‘Let the people 
 show forth their wisdom, and the Church declare their 
 praise and with these declarations, coming from the Most 
 High, and, seeing the close connection which is thus esta¬ 
 blished between the servants of God in Heaven and His 
 faithful followers still on earth, oh ! is it to be wondered at 
 that you, my brethren, whose greatest glory is that you are 
 the disciples of Christ, and the faithful children of his 
 Church, should have seized the opportunity which so hap¬ 
 pily offered, and, regardless of all personal inconvenience, 
 have manifested by coming to this mountain to day—not a 
 cold, measured, formal devotion, but an unbounded, enthu* 
 siastic, all-engrossing love and veneration for no less a saint 
 than the patron of your own land—for that blessed Brenv 
 don, who drew his first breath on your native soil, who 
 sanctified your fathers by his blessed teaching, and hallowed 
 your country by bis tears of peuance and devotion! You 
 were right, I repeat, my brethren, in coming here to-day, 
 for not only hare you honoured the Saint of your country 
 
and your love by visiting in solemn procession the scene of 
 his watchings, and) no doubt) the battle-field of his triumphs 
 over the powers of darkness, but you have also evidenced 
 the intensity of your religious feeling, and the unalloyed 
 purity of your holy Faith, by absorbing into yourselves as 
 it were the sentiment which led him to choose this moun¬ 
 tain as his place of retreat, and to fix upon it as the one 
 cherished spot where he was to pour forth his heart, and 
 empty out his very soul into the bosom of his God. In 
 selecting this retired and elevated mountain pinnacle, and 
 erecting upon it his wide-famed Oratory St. Brandon was, 
 no doubt, not only following the impulse of the Holy Spirit, 
 but, also, illustrating a feeling which has ever seemed dear 
 to God) and has at all times found expression in the lives of 
 His chosen servants. Mountains have always seemed to 
 possess a peculiar charm for the Mighty Being who 
 formed the world out of chaos,'and the children of His love, 
 and rightful heirs of his celestial kingdom, have ever ap- 
 peared to participate in their great Creator’s predilection for 
 those lofty monuments) which proclaim so strikingly the 
 magnificence and power of their Divine Architect! Yes— 
 flesh and blood may not understand it—cold infidelity will 
 profess to sneer at it—persons of empty heads, and sickly 
 hearts, and that wretched tribe of self-conceited fools who 
 may be known by their loudly-professed devotion to the 
 principles of common sense—all these, no doubt, will in* 
 stinctively recoil from even trying to sec a reason for the 
 great movemeut of to-day, which to their eyes appears ab¬ 
 surd ; but the fact—the great truth—remains, that moun¬ 
 tains have been at all times the theatres of God’s mightiest 
 duiugs in regard to man, the chosen spots of retreat for His 
 greatest servants, the most famous points of resort for 
 Christian men who seized the pilgrim’s staff, and the places 
 most universally consecrated in the pious traditions of 
 nations and peoples to the exercises of penance and of 
 prayer! Was it not, for instance, on the mountain of 
 Horeb that God spoke to Moses, and gave to him His 
 commission to extricate from bondage the people of Israel! 
 Was it not from Mount Sinai that he thundered forth His 
 laws to His people, and gave that imperishable code, known 
 as the ten commandments) which remains to this day, and 
 will continue for ever the standing testimony of His infinite 
 wisdom ! Can we forget the fact, already referred to, that 
 the Saviour fed the multitude with a few loaves and fishes 
 on a mountain top ! That on a mountain He announced the 
 heavenly doctrines comprised in the Eight Beatitudes ! That 
 on a mountain He was transfigured—on a mountain He was 
 crucified—on a mountain He delivered His last and parting 
 discourse to His apostles—and, in fine, that from a moun¬ 
 tain He took His departure from this earth and ascended 
 into Heaven to dwell for ever with His Eternal Father! 
 Can we, 1 say, forget these striking facts, or fail to recognise 
 in them that the Almighty has linked the idea of lofty 
 eminences with the great and stupendous works, which, 
 front time to time, as man’s necessities demanded, and His 
 own infinite goodness prompted, He accomplished for the 
 benefit and happiness of the human race ! Moreover, dear 
 brethern, if we presume to pass from the Mighty Creator 
 Himself to consider the actions of His devoted and inspired 
 servants, we find that Abraham immediately on his election 
 to be the father of God’s people, built an altar to the Lord 
 on the mountain of Bethel—that Moses frequently ascended 
 a mountain to pray—that Elias, fleeing from the wicked 
 J e.-abel (that true type at all limes of the persecutors of God’s 
 
 ministers and people - ) had on a mountain a vision of the 
 Most High—and that the same great prophet, whilst on a 
 mountain, ordered the unwilling clouds to give forth rain, 
 aud bid the shut up sluices of Heaven to open wide, and 
 flood the thirsty earth with refreshing waters! Bethel, 
 Horeb, Carmel, Sinai, Thabor, Olivet, but, above all, 
 Calvary, these are sounds which always stir up an un¬ 
 earthly feeling in the true Christian’s breast. St Brendon 
 and our other great, or as 1 may more properly call them, 
 our wondrous Irish Saints, felt their force and yielded to 
 their influence—The hidden, secret) all-controlling power, 
 which these sacred words exercise over the souk blessed 
 with faith, is, no doubt, a clue to the sympathising feel 
 with which the people of God have always regarded devo¬ 
 tions with which mountains were associated; and this cir« 
 cumstance alone, will, I hope, together, of course, with your 
 most reasonable predilection for the saint of your own flesh 
 and blood) as I may term St Brendon, satisfactorily account, 
 without seeking causes in the silly or filthy depths of folly 
 or superstitution, for the tire and enthusiasim which were 
 awakened from centre to sea throughout this great Catho¬ 
 lic county, as the religious movement opened and pro¬ 
 gressed amongst you, which, thank God, has had to 
 day its imposing and happy accomplishment on the tower¬ 
 ing summit of this majestic, historic) and blessed mountain. 
 And now, my dear brethren, I must not detain you any 
 longer. Your beloved Bishop, who has brought down a 
 benediction on this movement by his blessing and by his 
 presence, and the good] Priest who initiated its rise, and 
 fostered its growth, and now witnesses its success, are, I 
 believe, to address you. Besides, the mists which are fast 
 gathering, and the shades cf evening which will soon des¬ 
 cend, remind us that we must think at once of returning 
 to out far distant homes. Indeed, when I start my glance 
 from this gigantic height, and look down into the wondrous 
 depths below ; when I think of the almost perdendicular 
 point which we have reached, and reflect that the same 
 paths, and projecting rocks, and sparkling rivulets are all 
 to be encountered, and considering the cause, thank God, 
 cheerfully encountered in our downward course; when I call 
 to mind ihese things, 1 feel,l ought not detain you longer, I 
 must then, dear brethren, conclude, but, before doing so, 
 I will express the fervent hope that as you came here for 
 God, and to honour His Saint, so will you, as you make 
 your journey from this mountain*top, think of that moun¬ 
 tain which is above all mountains, from which, being 
 your home, there is no descent, around which no mists 
 gather, and whose inconceivable beauties are bathed in 
 perpetual light. Think. Oh! think of that bright 
 Kingdom—Heaven—which, like this glorious mountain, 
 its befitting type, is reached, indeed, by a narrow pass, and 
 through a route which requires even daily sacrifices, but 
 which once reached is reached for ever, where there are no 
 tears,, but all is joy, and where you will meet your sainted 
 loved ones, and St. Brendon, ar.d the other glorious saints 
 of our ever faithful Irish race, and St. Joseph and the 
 Blessed Virgin, but before and above all, where you will 
 gaze with enraptured love, on the Adorable Trinity, 
 Father, Son. and Holy Ghost, to whom be honour, praise 
 and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 His Lordship the Most Rev, Dr Moriarty said—My 
 dear brethren, the worthy son of St Dominic, who has 
 just addressed you* has given an eloquent expression to 
 
r 
 
 27 
 
 the spirit of this religious ceremonial. When Father 
 Brosnan proposed to me some time ago to come and 
 visit Brendon Hill> 1 looked upon it as a pleasant ex¬ 
 cursion, and, at the same time, a pious pilgrimage. 1 
 have often come to the base of this glorious mountain 
 and looked with wistful eye towards its summit, but the 
 - visitation of the parish always occupied the hours I 
 could spend here, and the same duty hurried me away 
 to other places, One part, at least, of the spirit of S 
 Brendon has descended on me—his love of these moun¬ 
 tain solitudes, of these gigantic altars, which the hand 
 of God Himself has raised. I looked upon our visit as 
 a pious pilgrimage. To-morrow Rome and the Chris¬ 
 tian world celebrate the festival of the great Apostles 
 Peter and Paul, and why should not Kerry pay homage 
 to the Saint to whom her forefathers were indebted for 
 the light of the Gospel ? So, I said, “ We will adore 
 in the place where his feet have stood.” I had then no 
 idea that we should have so many companions of ou r 
 pilgrimage. 1 knew that the hardy mountaineers of the 
 place would ascend with us to the old orat'ory, and join 
 us here in prayer and sacrifice, but, to my astonishment 
 I soon heard that numbers intended to come from Dingle 
 and Tralee. Then I found that the movement had spread 
 round about, and that, without any effort to excite it, on 
 
 the contrary, that,notwithstanding efforts to restrain it on 
 the part of the prudent or the timid, it took a dimen¬ 
 sion which caused me to fear that some in their zeal 
 might exceed the limits of discretion. Some days ago 
 I crossed the Shannon to visit the hallowed sanctuaries 
 of Inniscattery, and those brave islanders who dwell 
 round the shrine of St Senanus told me they would 
 round the headlands, and meet me on Brendon. It 
 would seem as if Senanus rejoiced in Heaven at the 
 honor to be paid to his brother in the Apostleship, and 
 that his spiritual children, whose home is on the deep, 
 turned with devotion to the Sailor Saint of Kerry. And 
 now, what:may be the practical result of the pilgrimage 
 of to-day? It will be a solemn record of the devotion 
 of our people to their Patron Saint. The Saints of our 
 native land have been too much forgotten, too little 
 honored amongst us, They stamped the Christian name 
 indelibly on our island, they burned the Christian spirit 
 into the very heart’s core of our people, they gave to 
 Ireland a proud place in the church’s history, and, yet, 
 it must be admitted the story of their lives is little 
 known, and, with a few signal exceptions, their praises 
 are not often heard, and their festivals are often un¬ 
 heeded. This should not be. St Paul tells us to re¬ 
 member those holy men who spoke to us the word of 
 God, whose faith he bids us follow, remembering the end 
 of their conversation. In the spirit of this Apostolic 
 counsel the Church wishes us to pay special honour, 
 and to seek the special patronage of those Saints, through 
 whose ministry our fathers were brought into the fold 
 of Christ. In the days of trouble that have passed, the 
 Church of Ireland, like a wonderer in the desert, could 
 
 retain little more than was essential to her life. Her 
 ceremonial was curtailed, and that outward glory which 
 belongs to a season of peace and power departed from 
 her The clergy celebrated in their Divine office and 
 in the sacred litergy the name of St Brendon, but for 
 near a hundred years his festival has not been kept as a 
 holiday, and I well remember that when I first ordered 
 High Mass in our Cathedral, on the 16th of May, the 
 day sacred to his memory, many said they did not hear 
 his name before. This mountain bears witness against 
 them, and 1 expect that this gathering to-day will bring 
 back the memories of the days of old. We read in the 
 second book of the Machabees that in the days of Israel’s 
 captivity the Priests privately took the sacred fire from 
 the altar, and buried it in a deep pit in a valley. And 
 when many years had passed, Nehemias sent some of 
 the posterity of the Priests who hid it to seek for the 
 sacred fire. They found no fire, but thick water. He 
 commanded them to lay on the sacrifice, and he sprinkled 
 it with the water they had found, and immediately the 
 sun shone upon it, and a great fire was kindled. Bre¬ 
 thren, the sacred fire of our ancient altars seemed as if 
 hidden in the days of our captivity. It was buried in 
 the fastnesses of our mountains, hut the sun of liberty 
 shines upon it now. The days of our captivity are 
 passed, and again it is kindled into a mighty blaze.— 
 Brethren, everything around us now betokens an 
 awakening w T hich links the present with the far distant 
 past. Some thirteen hundred years ago Brendon was 
 born, as we are told, in the marsh country near Tralee. 
 
 It would seem that, like the great Anchorites who were 
 destined for an enduring Apostleship, like Benedict in 
 Subiaco, he sought the solitude of this mountain. We 
 may piously suppose that he inhabited that ruiDed ora¬ 
 tory in which we just now offered the Holy Sacrifice.— 
 
 It has been ever since an object of veneration to many a 
 pilgrim, and to-day a large multitude, leaving Tralee in 
 the early morning, have travelled these thirty miles, and 
 toiled up the steep and rugged ascent, and I saw as I 
 ascended with them that their hearts were full of gladness 
 for they were treading in the footprints of their Patron 
 Saint. If we look down to the western base of the moun¬ 
 tain, towards Smerwick, we find there that belt of ancient 
 cells and oratories which tells of the great monastic colony 
 who placed themselves under the guidance of St Brendon, 
 and the tradition of the people who dwell here, says that 
 such was their number that their procession reached from 
 the Monastery below to their oratory on the summit, 
 stretching along the path which is still called the path¬ 
 way of the saints. If the sea-fog cleared away I am told 
 that we might see from this spot the Island of Arran, 
 where the Saint went from hence to visit St Enda, and 
 looking to west we see now the same ocean on which St 
 BrendonMaunched his boat, and made that wonderful voyage 
 which has been celebrated in song throughout all Europe, 
 and which, most probably, led our saint to the continent 
 of America. The legend says, that an angel met him on 
 the banks of a river and bid him to return for the time was 
 not yet come. St Brendan, cn his return, went to evange- . . 
 lize the Guals, and this looks like a foretokening of the 
 missionary history of Ireland. In the centuries that im¬ 
 mediately followed the time of Brendon, Ireland sent 
 legions of missionaries into ancient Gaul and Germany.— 
 
 But the time foretold by the angel to Brendon 
 
 i 
 
28 
 
 now come, and so tbe missionary spirit of Ireland 
 takes wings and flies to the West, and from shore to 
 shore, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, thejsons of Ireland, 
 aye, and her daughters too, are carrying out the work of 
 that Apostleship which Brendon sought and sighed for, 
 but which, like the ancient Patriarchs, he could only salute 
 from afar. And now, my dear people, let me say that I look 
 upon this vast assemblage of many thousands on this 
 mountainstop as a grand profession of your faith. There 
 are not many countries in the world in which such a spon¬ 
 taneous movement would take place. It was not you who 
 followed me hither, it was I that followed you. Some will 
 ask what was the reason, what was the purpose of your 
 coming ? The less the apparent reason or purpose the 
 stronger the religious sentiment, the living force of faith 
 which moved so many. When X think of my own un¬ 
 worthiness to be the pastor of such a people, I fee! afraid 
 to bless you ; but I stand here as the Comorba of 
 Brendon. I derive from him, he from Patrick, Patrick, 
 from Celestine, Celestine from Peter, Peter from Christ 
 and it is only because of the office and authority Avhich 
 hat lofty lineage confers on me that 1 now raise my hands 
 to bless you. 
 
 His Lordship then pronounced the Episcopal Benedict 
 tion, with forty days’ indulgence. 
 
 Father Brosnan next addressed the people in Irish— 
 the old native tongue of St Brandon—and moved the 
 
 multitude with thrilling power. He treated at length on the 
 origin of the present movement, its history and objects. 
 
 We have seen many exhibitions of the faith and devo¬ 
 tion of our people but nothing before to equal this. To 
 look at the Bishop surrounded by the multitude on this 
 lofty eminence and blessing them individually as he 
 passed among them, with a beautiful smile lighting up 
 his countenance, recalling some of the most touch¬ 
 ing scenes in sacred writ, was enough of itself to 
 compensate for all the difficulties of the undertaking 
 over which Father Brosnan so bravely and deservedly 
 triumphed. The descent from the mountain was accom¬ 
 plished with safety and ease. The wishes of 'the com¬ 
 mittee were strictly observed ; not a single tent was 
 erected—nothing occurred to mar the happy effect of the 
 celebration. Some Souper’s tracts were indeed strewed 
 about, and, probably coming from the same silly source, 
 placards professng to emanate from ‘ the Irish Repub¬ 
 lic’ were picked up on the mountain summit; but these 
 things ouly demonstrated that an enemy was at work, 
 showing his teeth where he could not bite. We hope 
 the author of these tricks remained to pray where he 
 came to scoff, and that he took away at last good to 
 himself where he meant to infliot harm on others. On 
 arriving at Cloghane a bonfire was found blazing bril- 
 iantly, aud similar testimonials of general and special 
 rejoicing, with lond and hearty cheers, greeted the party 
 at various points on the return journey home. Tralee 
 was reached by most of the cars by ten o’clock, p m. 
 
 ADENDUM. 
 
 We need.scarcely call attention to the subjoined 
 able article from our talented cotemporary, the 
 Nation , on the Mount St. Brandon celebra¬ 
 tion, which has now passed from a local into a 
 National subject. The reproach, that for cen¬ 
 turies nothing had been done by the people of 
 St. Brandon’s native county to celebrate his 
 sacred memory, or recall the facts of his eventful 
 life, can, thank God, no longer be repeated.— 
 “ The happy thought” of Father Brosnan has 
 been as happily consummated, and the interesting 
 scene of the last Sunday of June, 1868, has, it 
 will be seen, already suggested other noble 
 thoughts, and other glorious works of grace and 
 religion, whose perfect realization will be among 
 the future triumphs of Catholic Ireland :— 
 
 St. Patrick, during his mission in Munster, foretold that 
 ‘ St Brandon of tbe race of Hua-Alta, a great patriarch of 
 monks, and the star of tbe W estern world, would be born ; 
 and that his birth would take place some years after his 
 own death.’ * Our Apostle died in 485. a.d., and twenty 
 years afterwards, in 484, his prophecy was fulfilled, and 
 the Patron Saint of Kerry was borp, not far from Tralee. 
 
 The period to which St Brandon’s birth has been re¬ 
 ferred was one fruitful in great glory for the Church in 
 Ireland, In every quarter of the land, churches and mos 
 nasteries might be seen rising ; then began to be built those 
 schools and colleges fahich, down to the Middle Ages, con* 
 tinned to attract to their halls the youths of Continental 
 nations. Both sexes participated in the glory of this re- 
 naissance and, we are told, in the neighbourhood ofholv 
 anchorets lived anchoretesses no less holy. Companies of 
 virgins followed their spiritual mothers as troops of disciples 
 journeyed with their masters. The Sisters became tha 
 possessors of tbe houses which the monks built; the con* 
 vents were open equally to the brethren and the sisters; and 
 in this way, arose those relations among the members of 
 both sexes which produced such happy fruit. The Sisters 
 became the nurses of the young ; and their pupils frequently 
 became Bishops and Abbots. A female descendant of the 
 princely house of tbe Desii. in the count}* of Waterford, 
 whom the the annalists style St lta, was enrolled at an- 
 early age in the list of consecrated virgins. She repaired 
 to tbe territory of Hy-Conaill, in the county of Limerick, in 
 which she fixed her residence, and was soon joined by great 
 numbers of pious maidens. There is little doubt that Brans 
 don was reared by St lta. and that he retained for his 
 forster mother during his life the most devoted filial affec 
 tion. After having spent five years with lta, Brandon was 
 led away by Bishap Ercus of Slane, a friend of St Bridget in 
 order to receive from that prelate an education suited to his 
 advancing years- He completed under him his elementary 
 course, and then proceeded to Tuam, to pursue the theolo* 
 gical studies under the great St Jarlath. We next find 
 him at Clonard in Meath, the seat of St Finian’s School.— 
 From this time forth Brandon’s life was dedicated to preach¬ 
 ing the word of God, He founded at Ardfert a monastery, 
 and he lived and laboured with a number of men, whose 
 names are amongst the brightest in the Calender of our 
 Saints, 
 
9 
 
 About the yew 545, or, as some say, earlier, St Brandon 
 set out on his wonderful transatlantic voyage of discovery. 
 He had previously heard of the voyage of his cousin, 
 Bainthus, ia the Western Ocean, and had obtained from 
 him an account of the discoveries he had made. Then, 
 under a strong desire of winning heathen souls to Christ, 
 he determined on making a voyage of discovery. All along 
 the western coast of Ireland, there were many traditions 
 respecting the existence of a western land, and accordingly 
 St Brandon went to the islands of Arran, making inquiries 
 as he went among the bays and islands, and in Arran lie 
 held communication with, and got valuable in formation 
 from, the venerable Abbot Enda. After making diligent 
 inqiries, St Brandon returned to Kerry; and from a bay 
 sheltered by the lofty mountain that bears his name, the 
 precursor of Columbus sailed for the far-off western land. 
 He went in a south .westerly direction, past the Pillars of 
 Hercules, beyond which the mariners of antiquity dared not 
 go ; and, after a long and rough voyage, he at length came 
 to summer seas, where he was carried along for many a 
 day without the aid of sail or oar. He landed somewhere 
 about the Virginian capes, or where the American coast 
 tends eastward, and forms the New England States. He 
 and his companions marched from this spot into the in¬ 
 terior for fifteen days, and came to a large river flowing 
 from the east to the west, supposed to be the river Ohio. 
 At this point he was accosted by a person of noble pre¬ 
 sence, who told him he had gone far enough, and that 
 it was reserved to other men and other times to open up 
 and Christianise all that pleasaut land, Brandon went 
 no farther; and after remaining seven years away he re- 
 
 29 
 
 turned to set up a college of three thousand nwfi*® 
 Clonfert. This college deserves to be ranked in the first 
 place among the sacred and literary institutions f"f Ire¬ 
 land. Theology, philsoophy, the sciences, and general 
 literature were taught withio its walls ; and the nuuiiers 
 that resorted to it for their education were so great that 
 in a few years it became necessary to appoint a bisftVJ 
 for the purpose of ordaining missionaries. St Brandon*" * 
 was himself the first bishop, but soon resigned the mitre 
 to St Moena. On the shore of Lough Corrib, in the 
 County of Galway, at a place then called Enach-duiin, 
 now Annadoun, Brandon established a nunnery over 
 which he placed his sister Briga, He retired from Clon¬ 
 fert shortly before his death, which took place in his 
 sister’s monastery, in the 94th year of his age, in the year 
 577. His remains were interred in Clonfert. 
 
 Such was the life of Saint Brandon. For nearly thir¬ 
 teen centuries nothing had been done by the people of his 
 native county to celebrate his memory, or recal the facts 
 of his life, until the happy thought of celebrating Mass 
 on the top of the mountain which bears his name, and of 
 thus bringing the people together, struck the mind of an 
 humble curate of the Diocese of Kerry— the Rev Timothy 
 Brosnan. On Sunday week the people of Kerry paid this 
 long-delayed tribute of respect. The interesting scene 
 has been fully described in our last number, It was one 
 which none who witnessed can ever forget: and it sug¬ 
 gested to many minds the question whether similar pil¬ 
 grimages to the holy places of our island might not he 
 organised and carried out with great advantage to the 
 best interests of our people. 
 
 i 
 
 PRINTED AT THE “ CHRONICLE” OFFICE, TRALEE.