goods, chattels, &c. as aforefaid, and to hear and determine at their quarter fellions every default committed or done, contrary to this act, within the county, and to level the penalties.

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Any foldier making fale of his horse, harneis, or weapon, or any of them, contrary to the form of the statute made in the faid 2d and 3d year of the late king, i. e. the 2d and 3d of king Edward VI. fhall incur the penalty of the faid fta ut, and the fale fhall be void, the purchater knowing him to be a foldier.

"All presentments and profecu. tions to be within one year after the commiffion of the offence.

"Persons profecuted for deficiencies of armour may plead their inability to procure it, on account of the want of it within the realm, whi hlea, if true, fhall be a fufficient juftification; if den ed, if fue to be joined, and the trial of fuch iffue, only had by the certificate of the lord chancellor, lord treasurer, the lord prefident of the council, the lord eward of the king's and queen's most honourable household, the lord privy feal. the lord admiral, and the lord chamberlain of the faid household, or by three of them, under their hands and feals, &c. &c. this act or any ufage to the contrary notwithstanding. No perfons to be charged both for lands and goods. This act not to repeal the act of the

66

33d of Henry VIII. for having long bowes, and exerciting archery. Provided any horfes fhall die, or be killed, or armour be lost or expended in the defence of the realm, the owner fhall not be profecuted for the deficiency within one year after fuch lofs.

The want of a gantlet or gantlets fhall not be reckoned a deficiency for a corcelet.

he fervants of fuch perfons as are bound to find a haquebut, may exercise themselves in fhooting at fuch marks as are limited and ap pointed by the 3d of Henry VIII. fo that they do not ufe fuch haque but in any highway. This act not to extend to Wales, Lancafter, or Chefter, nor to oblige any one to have or to find a haquebut, but that they may, at their will and pleasure, have and keep, instead of every haquebut charged in this act, one long bowe, and one fheaf of arrowes, over and above fuch other armour and munition, as is by the laws of the realm appointed.

The lord chancellor, or lord ke per of the great feal may from time to time by virtue of the king's commiffion, appoint commiffioners in very city, borough, &c. &c. as well in England as Wales, confisting of juices with other perfons joined with them, as he shall think meet, to take a view of armour, and to affign what harness, &c. they fhall be bound to provide and keep."

"IN

K 3

Saint

Saints. In this ifland was a priory of canons regular, following the rule of St. Auguftine, which was dedicated to the faints Peter and Paul, and founded, as fome fay, by the great apoftle of Ireland, but others give the foundation to St. Dabeoc, who was alfo called Mobeoc and Beonan; he was brother to t. Canoc, who flourished about the year 492. St. Dabeoc is patron of this church, where three feftivals are held to his honour yearly, on the 1st of January, 24th of July, and 16th of December. St. Dabeoc is faid to have been buried in this abbey, which he made fubject to the great Abbey of Armagh; it had a fine chapel, with convenient houses for the monks, the remains of which may yet be feen. One of the St. Patricks was prior here about the year 850.

"Notwithstanding the reputed holiness of this celebrated monaftery, it was plundered and reduced to afhes by Bratachas O'Boyle and M'Mahon A. D. 1207. John was prior in 1353.

"St. Patrick's purgatory, as it is called, was first fixed in this ifland, but it being near to the fhore, and a bridge from the main land giving the people a free and eafy accefs into it, the cave was clofed up, and another was opened in a leffer island, about half a mile from the fhore. Some people have given the invention of this purgatory to the great St. Patrick, but others, with more probability, afcribe it to Patrick who was prior here about the year 850. This purgatory continued a long time in high repute both at home and abroad. We find, in our records, feveral fafe conducts granted by the kings of England to foreigners defirous to vilit it, and particularly in the year 1358, to Maletefta Un

2

garus, knt. another bearing the fame date, to Nicholas de Beccario, a nobleman of Ferraria; and in 1397, one to Raymond, viscount de Perilleux and knight of Rhodes, with a train of 20 men and o horfqs. But this purgatory must have fallen afterwards into difrepute, for we find, that by the authority of the pope, Alexander the VIth, (he having confidered the fame in the light of impofition) it was demolished on St Patrick's day, in the year 1497, by the father guardian of the Francifcans of Donegall, and fome other perfons of the deanery of Loughern, who were deputed for this purpose by the bishop. A canon of the priory of St. Dabeoc ufually refided on the ifland, for the fervice of the church and pilgrims.

"The extent of this ifland is fcarcely three quarters of an Irish acre; the cave of the purgatory is built of free stone, and covered with broad flags and green turf laid over them; in length, within the walls, it measures fixteen feet and an half, and in breadth, about two feet and an inch; when the door is fhut, no light can be difcovered fave what enters at a small window in the corner. In 1630 the government of Ireland thought fit to have it finally suppressed, and it was accordingly dug up, to the no fmall diftrefs and lofs of the Ro man Catholic clergy,"

cronisms of fuch writings, in the place of authentic documents and chronological certainty.

"On the prefent occafion we are fortunately relieved from thefe difficulties by the testimony of a venerable record, the Black Book of Christ Church, which informs us, that about the year of our Lord 1038, Sitric, the fon of Ableb, or, rather Aulit, the Danish prince of Dublin, gave to Donat, bishop of that fee, a place where the arches or vaults were founded, to erect a church to the honour of the Bleffed Trinity.

"Ware, Harris, and other antiquaries who have mentioned thefe ci cumftances, give us the extract without fubjoining any elucidation, which however it seems to call for. "From the practice of thofe ages we know, that it was ufual to build fmall oratories, and to arch that part in which the fhrine of the faint, or other facred depofit was placed. The ftone rooting prevented accidents from fire, and at the fame time preferved a reference to thofe cryptical monaftic cells, then held in general veneration. When a large edifice was conftructed, as was particularly the cafe at Cafhell, thofe ancient vaulted oratories were religiously preferved, and were looked upon as indubitable proofs of the antiquity and holiness of the church., From this explanation and inftance, a doubt cannot be entertained of these arches being the foundation of an ancient oratory, and which the donations of Sitric enlarged and furnished with convenient and neceffary offices; for fo the words "fufficienter ad ædificandam ecclefiam cum tota curia" are to be interpreted.

"The father and grandfather of Sitric died on their journey to Rome, the fashionable tour of thofe days, and Sitric feems to have

been actuated with the fame love of religion which fo eminently di ftinguifhed his family. Additional credit is derived to this record from the times of Sitric and Donat fynchronizing; fo that it may be affumed as certain, that the church was begun about the period now aligned.

"The grants of Sitric were not many, as his territory was circumfcribed, and lay moitly on the fea coaft; but he bestowed on them the lands of Bealdulech, or Baldoyle, Rechen and Portrahern, with their villains, cows, and corn; and Donat built an epifcopal palace contiguous to the church. The religious of this community were fecular canons, not tied to the obfervance of frict monaftic rules, or belonging to any of the ' cenobitical orders; yet they were a fort of monks lax in difcipline, and bound to fuch regulations as the bishop prefcribed. On the advancement of Laurence O'Toole to the fee of Dublin in A. D. 1163, he made them canons regular of the order of Arras, a branch of the Auguftinians.

We find in Ware's history of the bishops, that after the death of Maurice M'Donald, archbishop of Armagh, in the year 1134, Nigel MAid ufurped that fee, taking away with him, fays, St. Bernard in his life of Malachy, the ornaments of the church, fuch as the text of the gofpels which had belonged to St. Patrick, and a ftaff covered with gold and fet with precious ftones, called the staff of Jefus: in fuch reverence were thefe reliques held, that whoever poffeffed them was esteemed the rightful poffeffor of the fee. The hiftory of this celebrated flaff, as delivered by Joce line, is briefly this: St. Patrick, moved by divine instinct, or angelic K4 revelation,

revelation, visited one Juftus, an afcetic who inhabited an island in the Tyrrhene fea, a man of exemplary virtue and mott holy lite. After mutual falutations and difcourse, he prefented the Irish Apoftle with a staff which he avered he had received from the hands of Jefus Chrift himself. In this ifland were fome men in the bloom of youth, and others who appear ed aged and decrepit; St. Patrick converfing with them, found that thefe aged perfons were fons of thofe feemingly young; aftonifhed at this miraculous appearance, he was told," that from their infancy they had ferved God, that they were conftantly employed in works of charity, and their doors ever open to the traveller and diftreffed; that one night a ftranger, with a ftaff in his hand, came to them, whom they accommodated to the beft of their power; that in the morning he bleffed them, and faid, I am Jefus Christ whom you have always faithfully ferved, but laft night you received me in my proper perfon: he then gave his staff to their fpiritual father, with directions to deliver it to a ranger named Patrick, who would fhortly vifit them; on faying this he a fcended into heaven, and left us in that state of juvenility in which you behold us, and our fons, then young, are the old decrepit perfons you now fee." Joceline goes on to relate, that with this flaff our Apoftle collected every venomous creature in the island to the top of the mountain of Cruagh Phadruig, in the county of Mayo, and from thence precipitated them into the

ocean.

"Thefe tales were traditional among the Irish from the early ages and antecedent to the time of Joceline, who wrote A. D. 1185,

for we find them in Henry_the monk of Saltrey, who flourished about forty years before that period. Superftition thus finding an eafy affent from the credulity of mankind, wonderfully exalted the power of, and excited the veneration due to, fuch reliques, so that we need not wonder at the notice taken of them in the records of this church.

“ CLONMACNOISE.

"This monaftery, which belong, ed to the regular canons of St. Auguftin, was peculiarly and univerfally esteemed; it was uncommonly extentive, and amazingly enriched by various kings and princes; its landed property was fo great, and the number of cells and monafteries subjected to it fo numerous, that almost half of Ireland was faid to be within the bounds of Clonmacnoife: and what was a strong inducement and contributed much towards enriching this house, it was believed, that all perfons who were interred in the Holy Ground belonging to it, had infured to themfelves a fure and immediate afcent to Heaven; many princes (it is fuppofed for this reafon) chofe this for the place of their fepulture; it was the Jona of Ireland: yet notwithilanding the reputed fanctity of this monastery, and the high estimation in which it was held by all ranks of people, it appears from the foregoing hillory, that the abbey and town were frequently plundered, burnt, and deftroyed by defpoilers of every kind, from the unpolished Irish defperado to the empurpled king the abbey also fuffered by the handsof the barbarous Oftmen, and no. only by them, but, (with concern do we add) by the English then

fettled

fettled in the kingdom, whofe er rand hither, we would wish to think, was to conciliate the affec. tions of the people, to unite them in bonds of friendship, and to teach them to be like fellow-citizens and fubjects; instead of this, we are compelled to fay, they too often joined in the facrilegious outrages of other wicked men, and repeatedly disturbed and defpoiled the peaceful feminary of Clonmacnoife; fparing neither book, veftment, or any other appendage of the facred altar, which belonged to these truly inoffentive men.

"The fituation of Clonmacnoife is delightful. It stands about ten miles from Athlone, on the banks of the Shannon, and is raised above the river on ground compofed of many fmall elevations, on which are a few of the buildings which did belong to this ancient houfe feveral other ruins appertaining to it may also be feen in the little vallies between the hills. The whole is bounded to the east and north with very large bogs.

"Here are two round towers, elegantly built of hewn ftone; the larger, which is called O'Rourk's, and wants the roof, is fixty-two feet in height, and fifty-fix in circumference, and the walls are three feet eight inches in thickness, the other tower, called M'Carthy's, is feven feet in diameter within, and the walls are three in thickness, and fifty-fix in height, including the conical fhaped roof. The next confiderable building we find here is the cathedral, which was the ancient abbey, the doors of it are richly carved. There are feveral old monuments in this church, on which are infcriptions, faid to be partly in Hebrew and partly in Irish. At length this abbey, which was formerly endowed with very

large poffeffions, fuffered a gradual decline, and in the course of time was reduced and despoiled of all its property.

The cemetery contained about two Irish acres, on which ten other churches were afterwards built by the kings and petty princes of the circumjacent country, who, though at perpetual war whilt living, were content to reft peaceably befide each other. The feveral founders named these churches as follows: Temple Righ, or Melaghlin's Church, built by O'Melaghlin, king of Meath, and to this day it is the burial place of that family; Temple O'Connor built by O'Connor Dun; Temple Kelly; Temple Finian, or M'Carthy, built by M'Carthy-more of Munter; Temple Hurpan, or M'Laffy's Church; Temple Kieran; Temple Gauney; Temple Doulin, which is now the parish church; and Temple M'Dermot; this laft was much larger than any of the others, and before the west door ftands a large old crofs of one entire ftone, much defaced by time, on which was fome rude carving, and an infcription in antique and unknown characters; the north doors are very low, but guarded with fmall pillars of fine marble, curiously hewn. Another of these churches hath within it an arch of greenifh marble, flat wrought, and beautifully executed, the joints of which are fo clofe, that the whole appears to be of one entire ftone. Befides the crofs before mentioned there are three others in the churchyard.

"Here we also find Temple Eafpic, or the Bishop's Chapel ; and on the west of the cemetery lie fome ruins of the epifcopal palace, which may still be seen.

The 9th of September is annually