Insula Sanctorum et Doctorum Part 40

Ciaran. He is sometimes called Mac Mongach, either from the name of his father, or because he was born with much hair on his head--_mongach_, _i.e._, hairy.

Like Brendan and c.u.mmian of Clonfert, he was nurtured under the care of St. Ita, the Brigid of Munster, and received from that wise and gentle virgin those lessons of piety that afterwards produced such abundant fruit. The whole of his family, however, must have been trained in virtue at home, for we are told that no less than seven of his brothers were enrolled in the catalogue of the Irish saints. After leaving Ita's care he went to the famous seminary at Lough Eirce, near Cork, where so many of the holy men of the sixth century received their early training.[352] The name of Fachtna (_i.e._ _facundus_, the eloquent), is expressly mentioned in the _Life of St. Garvan_ (26th March) amongst those who crowded that domicile of all virtue and of all wisdom.

Leaving St. Barry's academy, Fachtna founded for himself the monastery of Molana, in the little island of Dririnis, near Youghal, at the mouth of the Blackwater. Shortly afterwards, however, he returned to his native territory, and founded on a promontory between two pleasant bays of the southern sea the celebrated establishment now called Ross Carberry, but anciently known as Ross-ailithir, from the number of pilgrim students who crowded its halls, not only from all parts of Ireland but from all parts of Europe. It was admirably situated as a retreat for the holy and the wise, on a gentle eminence rising from the sea, in the midst of green fields, looking down on the glancing waters of the rus.h.i.+ng tides, and smiling under the light of ever-genial skies. Here Fachtna "the good and wise," though still young in years, founded what is called in the _Life of St. Mochoemoc_, "_magnum studium scholarium_," a great college not only for the study of Sacred Scripture, but also for the cultivation of all the liberal arts.

Amongst other distinguished teachers who helped to make the School of Ross famous was St. Brendan, the Navigator, who later on founded the sees both of Ardfert and Clonfert. Usher tells us, quoting from an old doc.u.ment, that about the year A.D. 540, Brendan was engaged for some time in teaching the liberal arts at Ross-ailithir during the lifetime too of its holy founder. Fachtna and Brendan were intimate friends, for both were nurtured by the holy virgin Ita of Killeedy, and no doubt loved each other with the deep and abiding affection of foster brothers. It is only natural, therefore, that Brendan should go to visit St. Fachtna at Ross, and aid him with the influence of his name and character in starting and organising the new school.

It was at this period that an unforeseen misfortune happened to Fachtna, which to one engaged, as he was, would become a double misfortune. By some accident he became entirely blind, so that he could neither read nor see anything. In this affliction the saint had recourse to G.o.d, and was directed by an angel to apply to Nessa, the sister of St. Ita, and then about to become the mother of that child of promise, St. Mochoemoc, through whom he would obtain his eyesight. Fachtna did so, and miraculously recovered his eyesight.

It seems St. Fachtna must have acquired great fame as a preacher, and no doubt too as a teacher of eloquence, for the surname of "Facundus," which is sometimes used instead of his own name, was given to him. He was, it appears, clothed with the episcopal dignity, and thus became founder of the diocese of Ross, which, not however without mutations, has continued down to our own times, and still ranks amongst the independent Sees of Ireland. The saint died at the early age of forty-six, and was buried in his own Cathedral Church of Ross. The holy work, however, in which he was engaged, was continued by his successors, and for many centuries Ross continued to be a great school whose halls were crowded by students from every land. St. Cuimin of Connor, describes Fachtna as the "generous and steadfast, who loved to address a.s.sembled crowds, and never spoke aught that was base and displeasing to G.o.d," in allusion to his sanct.i.ty and eloquence.

His immediate successor was Conall, whose succession to Fachtna in the monastery and See of Ross was foretold by St. Ciaran of Saigher.[353]

Mention is also made of St. Finchad of Ross-ailithir, who seems to have been a fellow pupil[354] of the founder at the great School of Finnbarr at Cork. These two saints were probably tribesmen of St. Fachtna, for we are told that he was succeeded in his see by twenty-seven bishops of his own tribe, whose jurisdiction was conterminous with the chief of the clan over the territory of Corca Laighde.

"Seven and twenty bishops n.o.bly Occupied Ross of the fertile fields, From Fachtna the eloquent, the renowned, To the well-ordered Episcopate of Dongalach."

The names are unfortunately not given in our annals in this as well as in many other instances, where a succession of bishops with well-defined jurisdiction was undoubtedly preserved. O'Flaherty puts the same statement in hexameters--

"Dongalus a Fachtna ter nonus episcopus extat Lugadia de gente, dedit cui Rossia mitram."

Which another poet translates in this fas.h.i.+on:--

"Hail happy Ross, who could produce thrice nine All mitred sages of Lugadia's line, From Fachtna crowned with everlasting praise Down to the date of Dongal's pious days."

During the ninth century we find frequent mention of the "abbots" of Ross-ailithir in the _Four Masters_, and we are told that it was ravaged by the Danes in A.D. 840, along with the greater part of Munster. In the tenth and eleventh centuries we find reference is made, not to the "bishops" or "abbots," but to the "airchinnech" of Ross-ailithir; and it is quite possible that during this disturbed period laymen took possession of the abbacy with this t.i.tle, having ecclesiastics under them to perform the spiritual functions. Once only we find reference to a "bishop," in A.D. 1085, when the death of Neachtain Mac Neachtain, the distinguished Bishop of Ross-ailithir is recorded.

But whether it was bishop, abbot, or airchinnech, who held the spiritual sway of the monastery, and its adjacent territory, the school continued to flourish even during those centuries most unpropitious to the cultivation of learning. In A.D. 866, or according to the _Chronicon Scotorum_, in A.D. 868, we are told of the death of Feargus, scribe and anchorite of Ross-ailithir, showing that the work of copying ma.n.u.scripts was still continued in its schools. But we have still more striking evidence during the tenth century of the literary work done at Ross-ailithir, for a manual of Ancient Geography, written by one of these lectors in the Irish language, is happily still preserved in the _Book of Leinster_.

The author of this most interesting treatise, as we know from the same authority, was Mac Cosse, who was _Ferlegind_, that is a reader or lecturer of Ross-ailithir. A pa.s.sage in the _Annals of Innisfallen_ enables us to identify him, and his history furnishes a striking example of the vicissitudes of those disturbed times:--

"The son of Imar left Waterford and [there followed] the destruction of Ross of the Pilgrims by the foreigners, and the taking prisoner of the Ferlegind, _i.e._ Mac Cossa-de-brain, and his ransoming by Brian at Scattery Island."[355]

This entry enables us to fix the probable date of this geographical poem of Mac Cosse, which seems to have been the manual of Cla.s.sical Geography made use of in Ross-ailithir, and hence so full of interest for the student of the history of our ancient schools. The Imar, referred to in the above entry, was king of the Danes of Limerick, but in A.D. 968 the Danes of Limerick were completely defeated by Mahoun and his younger brother Brian Boru. Imar made his escape to Wales, but after a year or two returned again, first, it would seem, to Waterford; issuing thence he harried all the coasts and islands of the South, and finally returned to Limerick with a large fleet and army. But he deemed Scattery Island a more secure stronghold, and having fortified it he made that island his head-quarters, and no doubt kept his prisoners there also. Scattery itself was captured from the Danes by Brian, a little later on in A.D. 976, and there Imar was slain; so that it was the interval between A.D. 970-976 that Mac Cosse was kept a prisoner at Scattery Island, and ransomed by the generosity of Brian, who always loved learning and learned men.

This poem consists of one hundred and thirty-six lines, giving a general account of the geography of the ancient world, and was, no doubt, first got by rote by the students, and then more fully explained by the lecturer to his pupils. This tenth century is generally regarded as the darkest of the dark ages; yet, we have no doubt, whoever reads over this poem will be surprised at the extent and variety of the geographical knowledge communicated to the pupils of Ross-ailithir in that darkened age, when the Danish s.h.i.+ps, too, were roaming round the coasts of Ireland. It is not merely that the position of the various countries is stated with much accuracy, but we have, as we should now say, an account of their _fauna_ and _flora_--their natural productions, as well as their physical features. The writer, too, seems to be acquainted not merely with the princ.i.p.al Latin authors, but also with the writings of at least some of the Grecian authorities.

In the opening stanza he describes the five zones: "two frigid of bright aspect,"--alluding, no doubt, to their snowy wastes and wintry skies, lit up by the aurora borealis--and then two temperate around the fiery zone, which stretches about the middle of the world. There are three continents, Europe, Africa, and Asia; the latter founded by the Asian Queen, and much the larger, because she unduly trespa.s.sed on the territories of her neighbours. Adam's paradise is in the far East, beyond the Indus, surrounded by a wall of fire. India "great and proud," is bounded on the west by the Indus, on the north by the hills of Hindoo Coosh. That country is famous "for its magnets, and its diamonds, its pearls, its gold dust, and its carbuncles." There are to be found the fierce one-horned beast, and the mighty elephant--it is a land where "soft and balmy breezes blow,"

and two harvests ripen within the year. In like manner he describes the other countries of Asia; the _mare rubrum_ "swift and strong," and Egypt, by the banks of the Nile, the most fertile of all lands. He even tells us of the burning fires of the Alaunian land, alluding to the petroleum springs around the Caspian. He names all the provinces of Asia Minor--"little Asia," he calls it--and says most accurately, that it was bounded on the west by the Propontus and the aegean sea. In like manner he describes Africa, and derives its name from Apher, a son of Abraham and Keturah, showing that he was familiar with the Greek of the Antiquities of Josephus.[356] He then goes through the various countries of Europe, giving their names, and chief cities. The princ.i.p.al rivers, too, are named, and their courses fixed, as when he says that--

"Three streams issue from the Alps westward, and across Europe they appear The Rhine in the north-west, the Loire, and the River Rhone."

Finally, he comes to Ireland, which, in loving language, he proclaims to be

"A pleasant and joyous land, wealth-abounding; the land of the sons of Milesius; a land of branching stems; the most fertile land that is under the sun."

So ends this most interesting manual of geography written by an Irish scholar, in the Irish tongue, and taught to the students of Ross-ailithir, whilst the Danish pirates were roaming round our seas, and ruling with strong hand in Dublin, Waterford, and Limerick.

Of the subsequent fortune of Ross-ailithir we know little. In A.D. 1127 the fleet of Toirdhealbach O'Conor sailed to Ross-ailithir, and despoiled Desmond, as the _Chronicon Scotorum_ informs us--for it was not the Dane alone that our schools and churches had to fear--often, far too often, the spoiler was some rival chieftain, whose churches and monasteries were sure to be spoiled very soon in their turn. Then came the greatest of all the devastators--the Anglo-Normans, who laid waste Corca Laighde under FitzStephen, a few years after Bishop O'Cearbhail went to his rest in A.D.

1168. Since that period the school has disappeared, but the See of Ross still holds its ground, after having gone through some strange vicissitudes of union with and separation from the neighbouring dioceses of Cloyne and Cork.

IV.--THE SCHOOL OF INNISFALLEN--ST. FINAN.

The island of Innisfallen in the Lower Lake of Killarney has been long celebrated both in song and story for its wonderful scenic beauty. It is commonly regarded as the Queen of Irish Islands, and one enthusiastic admirer has declared that it is the most beautiful spot in Europe. The monks of old were great lovers of nature, and hence, as might be expected, we find that at a very early period a monastery was founded on the island of Innisfallen. It offered many advantages to saintly men, who wished to give themselves up entirely to a life of holiness and learning. It was not merely its own sweet beauty and the glory of the lake and mountains round about, that made it a desirable place of seclusion; it had more prosaic advantages to commend it. It was near enough for convenience to the promontory of Ross, yet far enough for security; for it was surrounded by deep water and was within sight of that n.o.ble keep whose friendly owners were always the protectors and benefactors of the monks of Innisfallen. It is true, indeed, the monks had been there long before the present picturesque ruin was built, but then there was always some dun or fort on Ross Island, as it is now called, for it is a spot not only of singular beauty but also admirably situated for defensive purposes.

All our authorities agree that the monastery of Innisfallen was founded by St. Finan; but to which St. Finan it owes its origin is another question.

There were many saints who bore that name, of whom two were particularly distinguished, St. Finan the Leper, and St. Finan Cam, or the Crooked. It is commonly said that St. Finan the Leper was the founder of Innisfallen.

After a careful examination of his Acts as given by the Bollandists on his feast day, which is believed to be the 16th of March, we can find no evidence to support this statement, which in itself also is sufficiently improbable. It is true, indeed, that St. Finan the Leper came of the old Desmond race, for his father, Conal was fourth in descent from Ollioll Olum, the common ancestor of all the great Munster families. But Finan belonged to that branch of the race of Cian, son of Ollioll Olum, which was settled in the portion of Bregia, called from him Keenaght, extending from Dromiskin to Dublin; and it is highly probable that Finan himself was a native, not of Ely O'Carroll, as Colgan says, but of Sord, now called Swords, where his family seems to have resided. He was called the Leper, because on one occasion when a poor woman brought to the saint her son, who was blind, deaf, and leprous from his birth, the saint prayed to G.o.d to cure the child and offered himself to bear its leprosy. His prayer was heard--the child was made whole, but the saint was stricken with the dread disease, which he endured for thirty years. St. Finan the Leper is said to have been a disciple of St. Columba, and to have been placed by that saint over his own foundation at Swords; but at what time it is difficult to determine. The saint is also said to have founded Ardfinnan on the Suir in Tipperary, which took its name from him. He is also mentioned in connection with Clonmore in the co. Carlow, founded by St. Maedhog,[357]

and according to the writer of his Life, he was buried there. His connection, however, with Innisfallen in Lough Lein is very doubtful, and unsupported by any satisfactory evidence that we have seen. It is much more likely that the Inisfaithlen referred to by his biographers was the island off the Coast of Dublin, now called by its Danish name of Ireland's Eye, but which in ancient times was known as Inisfaithlen--a fact of which Colgan does not seem to have been aware. The same name was also given to the island of Beg Erin, or Begery, in the Bay of Wexford.

On the other hand, St. Finan Cam was a Kerry man by race and birth, and moreover spent most of his life in the West of Kerry, which has many places connected with his name and memory. He was born in that wild promontory of Corkaguiny (Corca-Duibhne) which is swept bare by the wild Atlantic blasts. His father Mac Airde[358] is mentioned in the Life of St.

Brendan--for it seems to be the same person--as a man of considerable wealth, who made a present of thirty cows with their calves to that saint shortly after he was born. Indeed it seems highly probable from the narrative that the family of St. Brendan and St. Finan were connected by ties of consanguinity. We are told too in the Life of Finan in the _Salamanca MS._ that St. Brendan was the first tutor of the boy, and that the latter spent seven years in Brendan's corner--contra fornacem--whilst he was learning to read and study monastic discipline under the guidance of that great master. This was probably in the early part of the sixth century, whilst Brendan was still living in his native Kerry, before he went on his Atlantic voyages, or founded any of his monasteries in the province of Connaught.

It was by the direction of the same saint that young Finan, who was already far advanced in holiness, left his father's territory, and went to Slieve Bloom, the utmost boundary of his native Munster towards the north, and there, about A.D. 560, founded the monastery of Kinnity, near Birr, at the roots of Slieve Bloom, with which his name has been ever since a.s.sociated. It is a singular fact that so late as the year A.D. 907, we find that Colman, Abbot of Kinnity, _and King of Corca-Duibhne_, was slain in the fatal field of Ballaghmoon, where Cormac Mac Cullinan, and so many of his Munster n.o.bles lost their lives.

Finan, however, returned after a brief sojourn at Kinnity to his native territory; and thenceforward we find that almost all the events recorded in his life took place in Kerry.

There is one incident mentioned, which goes far to show that this St.

Finan Cam was the founder of the monastery on Innisfallen. For we are told that a boat was built on 'St. Finan's Island,'[359] and that a message was sent to Fedelmith, the King of Lough Lein, to carry away the boat. The king came with thirty men to bring the boat to the water, but they could not carry it. Then the angels of G.o.d, with Finan, carried the boat down to the Lake Lugdech. It is true this seems to refer to Finan's Island on Lough Currane, but the incident certainly shows that Finan had friendly relations with the King of Lough Lein, who in return would very naturally grant the holy man one of the islands on his own lake for a religious house.

On another occasion we find that when Finan's horse died, another steed came out of Lough Lein, and for three years drew the saint's waggon; and then at the bidding of Finan once more returned to his stable beneath the waves of Lough Lein. So the saint then probably had his own 'home' on the sh.o.r.e, or in an island of the lake. Once again, on a particular occasion, when Finan was living on a certain island, and his horses were on the mainland grazing, having, it seems, their feet tied, they swam to the saint's house, without loosening the bonds, and at his bidding swam back again to the sh.o.r.e. We find him also protecting his tribesmen of Corkaguiny against the attacks of Nechtan, King of the Hy-Fidhgente, who dwelt beyond Slieve Lougher, in the west of the County Limerick. This prince, refusing to listen to the prayers of Finan, was conquered in battle, and forced to fly from his kingdom. We are then told that he betook himself to Diarmaid, King of the Hy-Niall, which fixes the date of these events at some time between A.D. 544 and 565, the limits of the duration of King Diarmaid's reign. He returned, however, more than once to his monastery of Kinnity, where many monks lived under his rule and guidance. We find him also, towards the close of the sixth century, at an a.s.sembly of the Munster chiefs, probably at Cashel, in the time of Failbhe Flann. Failbhe succeeded his brother as King of Munster in A.D. 619; but he was, no doubt, for many years previously a prince of much influence and power. On this occasion Finan wrought some wondrous miracles before the king, and Failbhe did penance, and granted all the requests of Finan--one being to allow him 'to take a census of the population,'--it means rather to remit a tax that pressed on the people. We also find the saint nigh to Lough Lugdech, which seems to be the lake now called 'Lough Currane,' in the south-eastern extremity of Iveragh, near the Bay of Ballinskelligs. It seems to have been a favourite haunt of the saint; and the remains of his oratory are still to be seen on an island in the lake. On this occasion Finan wanted to get his horse shod; but the smith had broken his tongs, and could not hold the glowing iron. "Take it in your hands," said the saint. The smith did so, and held it without inconvenience, whilst he fas.h.i.+oned the shoe with his hammer! This is a fair specimen of some of the extravagant miracles attributed to Finan by the writer of his Life.

"Lough Lugdech, now," says O'Donovan, "called Lough Luigeach (Lee), or Currane Lough," is of oval form, about three miles long by two broad. It abounds with salmon and white trout, which, no doubt, often furnished a luxurious meal to the abstemious saint. On the south it is surrounded by a range of bold mountains, partly covered with woods in Smith's time,[360]

but now quite bare of timber. The remains of Finan's Church and cell were to be seen on the largest of three small islands in the lake,[361] when Smith wrote about 140 years ago; and he says that they keep his (Finan's) festival on the 16th of March. This is the day generally a.s.signed to Finan the Leper in our Martyrologies--the 7th of April being the festival of Finan Cam, according to the Martyrology of Tallaght--the change may have taken place from the confusion of names, for no one says that the Leper saint ever penetrated as far to the south-west as Lough Currane. The obliquity which gave Finan the surname of 'Cam,' was in his eyes, not in his body, adds the same eminent authority.

Derrynane also takes its name from our saint; it means the oak-grove of Finan--_Daire Fionain_--the letter 'f' being aspirated, and not sounded in the compound. The old abbey, however, situated on the sh.o.r.e, is of mediaeval origin, as its ruins tell. St. Finan's Bay, north of Bolus Head, also speaks of the saint. It is quite open and exposed to all the fury of the Atlantic billows.

St. Finan was in all probability the first founder of the oratory on the Greater Skelligs, which is directly opposite the bay to the south-west.

When the Danes swarmed round our coasts, the monastery was removed from the island to the mainland, and its dilapidated walls may still be seen in the only sheltered corner at the head of St. Finan's Bay. Several holy wells also bear the saint's name, and his memory is still vivid in various parts of Kerry. In our opinion this St. Finan Cam, not St. Finan the Leper, was the founder of the monastery of Innisfallen.

V.--THE ANNALS OF INNISFALLEN.

There are only two entries referring to Innisfallen in the _Four Masters_; one A.D. 1144, merely records the death of Flanagan of Innisfallen, a distinguished _anmchara_, or soul's friend--that is counsellor and confessor--or as we now say, spiritual director. The other entry, however, is an earlier and far more important one. It records the death in A.D.

1009 (_recte_ 1010) of Maelsuthain O'Cearbhail (Carroll) of the community or family of Innisfallen, "chief doctor of the western world in his time, and lord of the Eoghanacht of Lough Lein," who died 'after a good life.'

This Maelsuthain was a very celebrated man, and in all probability the original compiler from older authorities of the _Annals of Innisfallen_.

Hence he deserves special notice at our hands. The Eoghanacht of Lough Lein, of whom he was chief, was that branch of the great Eugenian race of Desmond, whose territory surrounded the beautiful Lakes of Killarney, and included the greater part of the Barony of Magunihy. O'Donoghue of Lough Lein, whose princ.i.p.al stronghold was on Ross Island, was the chief of this wide territory. He derived his descent from Cas, son of Corc, King of Munster, whose elder brother, Nadfraich, was the ancestor of the great MacCarthy family. In A.D. 1015 was slain Domhnall, who commanded the forces of Desmond at Clontarf, and he was father of Donchadh, from whom the family name has been derived. The O'Carrolls of Lough Lein were sub-chieftains under the O'Donoghues, and derived their descent from a younger brother of that Nadfraich above referred to as ancestor of the MacCarthy Mor.

Maelsuthain O'Carroll was in the beginning of the eleventh century head of this sub-tribe, and hence is called lord of Lough Lein. The School of Innisfallen was one of those which appear to have suffered least from the ravages of the Danes. This, no doubt, was mainly due to its remote insular situation amongst the mountains of Kerry. It is highly probable that Brian Boru, the hero of Clontarf, was educated at Innisfallen; at least we find that Maelsuthain, the head of the island school, was his intimate friend and counsellor during many years of his victorious career. When Brian marched in triumph to Armagh, he laid an offering of twenty ounces of gold on the High Altar of the cathedral; and our Maelsuthain O'Carroll, of Lough Lein, who accompanied him, made the following entry in the name of the king, in the _Book of Armagh_:--"St. Patrick, when going to heaven, ordained that all the fruit of his labour, as well of baptisms, as of causes and other alms, should be carried to the apostolic city, which in Irish is called Ardd-Macha. So I have found it in the libraries of the Scots. This I have written, that is, _Calvus Perennis_, 'the ever bald,'

(which is equivalent to the Irish Mael-suthain), in the sight of Brian, Emperor of the Scots, and what I have written he determined for all the kings of Maceria,"[362] that being the Latin equivalent of Cashel.

Maelsuthain is sometimes called the Anmchara[363] of Brian; but as it seems that he was a layman, the word must mean rather counsellor than ghostly adviser. That Maelsuthain was a renowned professor of the Innisfallen school is apparent not only from the eulogy of the Four Masters and the Ulster Annals, which call him 'chief sage of Ireland,' but also from the curious tale about Maelsuthain that has been translated by O'Curry. It is in substance as follows. Maelsuthain was so renowned a professor that three students came all the way from Connor, in the County Antrim, to his school at Innisfallen, in which they spent three years.

Then they resolved to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but their professor told them that it was now high time to pay him something for their education. They had no money, however, which is always a scarce commodity with students, but offered to spend three years in service with their teacher as a recompense for their education. "No," said he, "go to Palestine, and all I ask is that when you die, as you will in the Holy Land, you shall come to me, and let me know whether I also shall die in the peace of the Lord." They agreed to this, and went to Palestine, where they died in grace; but they asked permission from St. Michael to return to their old professor, and tell him his fate before going to heaven themselves. St. Michael granted this request, and bade them tell Maelsuthain that he had only three years and a-half to live, and then he was to be condemned to h.e.l.l for all eternity. So they came to Maelsuthain, in the shape of three white doves. He bade them welcome, and asked what was to be his future lot. They told him. "And why am I to be sent to h.e.l.l?" said he. They told him the reasons also, as St. Michael had directed them: first, because he interpolated the canons; secondly, because of unchast.i.ty; and, thirdly, because he had given up the Altus. "I shall not go to h.e.l.l all the same," replied the professor, "for G.o.d has promised that 'the impiety of the wicked shall not hurt him in whatsoever hour he shall turn himself away from it.' I will turn away from my sins; I will put no sense of my own in the canons; I will perform a hundred genuflections every day; I will recite the Altus seven times every night to make up for my past neglect; and I will keep a three days' fast every week." On the day of his death the three white doves returned, and told him that his penance was accepted by G.o.d, and that they saw his place in heaven, and would now accompany him into eternal glory. So he was anointed by the clergy around his bed; and his three pupils parted not with him until they all went to heaven together. "And," adds the tale, "it is this good man's writings (or ma.n.u.scripts--_screptra_), that are in Innisfallen in the church there still."

This reference seems to designate some well-known writings connected with Innisfallen, of which Maelsuthain was the author or compiler, and which can hardly be any other than the well known _Annals of Innisfallen_.

Eugene O'Curry tells us that it has been a constant tradition in the South of Ireland that the _Annals of Innisfallen_ were compiled by Maelsuthain, and he adds that he himself had no doubt the O'Carroll was either 'the original projector of the compilation,' or that he enlarged the previous meagre outlines kept in the monastery of Innisfallen into this more regular and extensive historical work.

The princ.i.p.al copy of these _Annals_ is at present preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. "It contains," says Dr. O'Conor, "fifty-seven leaves (of parchment), of which the first three are considerably damaged, and the fourth partly obliterated. Some leaves at the beginning are also missing." The missing leaves seem to have begun with a short account of the creation and the history of the early patriarchs extracted from the Book of Genesis. At the sixth begins the history of the Kingdom of the Greeks; then it treats of the general history of the great empires of the world down to the year A.D. 430 (at folio 9), where their real interest begins. Thenceforward there is a brief chronicle of Ireland in different hands, down to the year A.D. 1319. The first scribe has written down to the year A.D. 1130 (at folio 30). The writing of this portion is free and elegant; the initial letters are coloured and adorned; and everything seems to point to the fact that the original scribe of this ma.n.u.script wrote no further. But afterwards the work becomes more rude and careless; there is no attempt at ornamentation; in fact, the appearance of the ma.n.u.script is a faithful picture of the state of the country--daily going from bad to worse. It is fruitless now to speculate how this venerable monument of Irish learning came into the Bodleian Library of Oxford.