Ecclesiastical Divisions of Ireland

Munster.

The See of Ardmore, in Waterford, was founded in the fifth century by the celebrated St. Declan, who was of the tribe of the Desians. Ardmore was united to the see of Lismore in the latter end of the twelfth century.

The See of Lismore, in Waterford, was founded in the beginning of the seventh century by St. Carthach. The see of Ardmore having been annexed to Lismore, as above stated, both were annexed to the see of Waterford, in the fourteenth century.

The See of Waterford was founded by the Danes of that city, in the latter end of the eleventh century; and Malchus, a Dane, was appointed its first bishop, A.D. 1096. The bishops of Waterford were styled by old writers bishops of Port Lairge, signifying the Port of the Thigh, from the river Suir and harbour resembling that part of the human body.

Roscrea, in Tipperary, was an ancient bishop’s see, founded by St. Cronan, in the latter end of the sixth century, and was in early times annexed to Killaloe.

The See of Emly, in early times the metropolitan see of Munster, was founded in the fifth century by the celebrated St. Ailbe, who was called the Patrick of Munster. Emly was once a considerable city, and was called Imleach Inbhair, signifying Emly of the Yew Trees: and sometimes Imleach Ailbe or Emly of St. Ailbe. The see of Emly was united to Cashel in the sixteenth century; and comprises parts of the counties of Tipperary and Limerick.

The See of Cashel was founded in the latter end of the ninth century, by the celebrated Cormac MacCullenan, archbishop of Cashel, and king of Munster. Its patron saint is Albert, a celebrated Irish saint of the seventh century, who became a missionary in Germany. The archbishops of Cashel were styled, by the old Irish writers, bishops of Leath Mogha or bishops of Munster. A.D. 1101, Murtogh O’Brien, king of Munster, convened at Cashel a synod of bishops, clergy, and nobility, in which he assigned over to the see and its bishops that hitherto royal seat of the kings of Munster; in A.D. 1127 Cormac Mac Carthy erected a church there, called from him, Teampull Chormaic or Cormac’s Chapel; and in A.D. 1169, Donal O’Brien, king of Thomond, erected a cathedral at Cashel, which be amply endowed. A.D. 1172, a great synod of bishops and clergy was convened at Cashel by King Henry the Second, in which Christian O’Conarchy, bishop of Lismore, presided as the Pope’s legate; and King Henry’s claim to the sovereignty of Ireland was (Four Masters) acknowledged in that assembly. The archiepiscopal see of Cashel has jurisdiction over the ecclesiastical province of Munster, under which the following are the suffragan sees:—Ardfert and Aghadoe (or Kerry), Cork, Cloyne, Ross, Waterford, Lismore, Emly, Limerick, Killaloe, and Kilfenora.

The See of Kilfenora comprises only the baronies of Burren and Corcomroe, in the county Clare; and is the smallest in Ireland. It was anciently called Fenabore, and sometimes Corcomroe; and was founded by St. Fachna.

The See of Killaloe, in Irish Cill-da-Lua or the Church of Lua, got its name from St. Lua or Molua, who founded a church there in the sixth century. Killaloe is Latinized “Laonia,” and it became a bishop’s see in the seventh century: the first bishop being St. Flannan, a disciple of St. Molua, A.D. 639; and son of Torlogh, king of Munster. The diocese of Killaloe comprehends the greater part of the county Clare, with a large portion of Tipperary, and parts of Limerick, King’s and Queen’s Counties, and Galway.

The See of Inis Cathay was founded in the fifth century by St. Patrick; and St. Senan, bishop and abbot of Inis Cathay, is mentioned as his successor. Inis Cathay, is an island near the mouth of the Shannon. This ancient see, which comprised some adjoining districts in the counties of Limerick and Clare, was annexed to the see of Limerick, in the twelfth century.

The See of Limerick was founded in the sixth century by St. Munchin, who became the first bishop. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, several of the bishops of Limerick were Danes: a colony of that people possessing the city at that period. The diocese of Limerick comprises the greater part of the county Limerick, with a portion of Clare.

The See of Cork was founded by St. Barr, called Fin-Barr, in the beginning of the seventh century. The diocese comprises, together with the city, a large portion of the county Cork.

The See of Cloyne was founded by St Colman, a disciple of St. Fin-Barr, of Cork. Cloyne is called in Irish Cluan Uama, which signifies the Retreat of the Cave; is Latinized “Cluanvania;” and comprises about a third of the county Cork.

The See of Ross was founded in the beginning of the sixth century by St. Fachnan; and was anciently called, in Irish, Ross Ailithri (signifying the Plain of Pilgrimage), and in modern times, Rosscarbery.

Aghadoe, an ancient bishop’s see, situated near the abbey of Innisfallen and Lakes of Killarney, was in very early times annexed to Ardfert.

The See of Ardfert was founded, according to some accounts, by St. Ert or Erc, in the latter end of the fifth century; and, according to others, by St. Brendan, in the sixth century, who is the patron saint of the diocese, which is sometimes mentioned as the See of “Ardfert Brendan.” The See of Ardfert was also sometimes styled the archbishopric of Iar-Mumhan or West Munster, and is also called the see of Kerry. The united diocese of Ardfert and Aghadoe is very large, comprehending the entire county Kerry, with a small portion of Cork.

Ulster

The See of Armagh, founded by St. Patrick in the fifth century, afterwards the seat of an archdiocese, and the metropolitan see of all Ireland. The diocese of Armagh, comprehends the greater part of that county, with parts of Louth, Meath, Tyrone, and Londonderry; and has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the sees of Meath, Ardagh, Kilmore, Clogher, Raphoe, Derry, Down and Connor, and Dromore.

The See of Clogher, which was founded by St. MacArtin, in the fifth century, comprised, in the ancient ecclesiastical divisions of Ireland, the principality of Orgiall; and the bishops of Clogher were frequently styled bishops of Orgiall and Ergallia: but, in the thirteenth century, the county Louth was separated from Clogher, and added to the diocese of Armagh. In early times, too, there were bishops’ sees at Clones and Louth, which were afterwards annexed to Clogher. St. Mochta or Mocteus, who was contemporary with St. Patrick, was the founder and the first bishop of the see of Louth. At present the diocese of Clogher comprises the whole of Monaghan, the greater part of Fermanagh, parts of Donegal and Tyrone, and a small portion of Louth.

The See of Down, in Latin “Dunum,” was founded by St. Cailan, in the fifth century. The bishops of Down were, by ancient writers, mentioned as bishops of Dundaleathghlas, an ancient name of Downpatrick; they were also styled bishops of Uladh or Ulidia.

The See of Connor is united to that of Down; which comprehends the greater part of the county Down, with a small portion of Antrim.

The See of Dromore, which was founded by St Colman in the sixth century, comprises a large part of the county Down, with small portions of Armagh and Antrim.

Ardsratha, on the river Derg, now the parish of “Ardstraw,” in Tyrone, was an ancient bishop’s see, founded by St. Eugene in the sixth century; it was also called Rathlurig or Rathlure, from St. Lurac, to whom the church was dedicated. The see of Ardsrath, was at an early period, transferred to Maghera, in the county Derry; and afterwards, in the twelfth century, annexed to Derry. The bishops of these sees were styled bishops of Kinel-Eoghain or Tir-Owen.

The See of Derry. A monastery was founded in the sixth century by St. Columbkille, at a place called Doire Calgach (signifying the Oak Wood of Calgach), which St. Adamnan, abbot of Iona, in the seventh century, in his life of St. Columbkille, translates “Roboretum Calgachi.” It was also called Doire Coluim Cille (or the Oakwood of St Columbkille), anglicised “Derry Columbkille;” and gave its name to the city and county of Derry. In the twelfth century, a regular bishop’s see was formed at Derry, to which was afterwards annexed the see of Ardsrath, above mentioned. The diocese of Derry comprehends the greater part of the county Londonderry, with nearly half of Tyrone, a large portion of Donegal, and a very small portion of Antrim.

The See of Raphoe was founded by St. Eunan, whom Lanigan considers to have been the same person as Adamnan, the celebrated abbot of Iona, in the seventh century, who was a native of Tyrconnell. The diocese of Raphoe comprehends the greater part of the county Donegal.

The See of Kilmore was founded by St. Felim or Felimy in the sixth century. The bishops of Kilmore were in early times styled Bishops of Brefney. The diocese comprises almost the entire of the county Cavan, with the greater part of Leitrim, a large portion of Fermanagh, and a email portion of Meath.

The See of Ardagh was founded by St. Mel in the fifth century, and its bishops were also styled bishops of Conmaicne, as the diocese included the territory in Leitrim called Conmaicne. The diocese of Ardagh, at present comprehends nearly the whole of the county Longford, a large portion of Leitrim, and parts of Westmeath, Roscommon, Sligo, and Cavan. In the Roman Catholic division, the ancient See of Clonmacnoise, in the King’s County, is united to Ardagh; but, in the Protestant Episcopalian Church, the see of Clonmacnoise has been united to the diocese of Meath.

The See of Clonmacnoise, in Irish Cluan Mac Nois, signifies, according to some accounts, the Retreat of the Sons of the Noble, either from the great numbers of the sons of the Irish nobility who resorted to its college for education, or, from many of the Irish princes having their burial places in this cemetery. An abbey was founded here in the sixth century by St Kiaran, the younger, on lands granted by the monarch Diarmot, King of Meath, in whose reign the royal palace of Tara, was, A.D. 663, abandoned; and it became one of the most celebrated seats of learning and religion in Ireland, in the early ages of Christianity. It was formed into a bishop’s see, and the cathedral was erected in the twelfth century by the O’Melaghlins, Kings of Meath, who conferred most extensive endowments of lands on the abbey and see. A city and college were also founded here, and the place maintained its literary and religious celebrity for many centuries; but, having been repeatedly devastated by the Danes, during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, and frequently ravaged by the English, in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries; and its cathedral and churches having been finally demolished by the soldiers of the English garrison of Athlone in the reign of Elizabeth, it has fallen into utter decay. But its ancient greatness is amply demonstrated by the magnificent and venerable ruins of the cathedral and seven churches, and of a castle, together with two beautiful round towers, some splendid stone crosses, and other antiquities which still remain. It contains one of the most ancient and extensive cemeteries in Ireland, and was the burial place of many of the Irish Christian kings and princes, as the O’Connors, kings of Connaught; the O’Melaghlins, kings of Meath; the O’Kellys, princes of Hy-Maine: the MacDermots, princes of Moylurg; and several other ancient and noble families. Clonmacnoise, called the “Iona of Ireland,” is beautifully situated in a lovely retreat on the banks of the Shannon; and, though now part of the King^rs County, the diocese originally formed part of the ancient kingdom of Meath, and was united to the see of Meath, in the sixteenth century.

The See of Meath. Ancient Meath contained the following bishops’ sees:—Clonard, Duleek, Ardbracan, Trim, Kells, Slane, Dunshaughlin, and Kilskyre, in East Meath; with Fore, and Uisneagh or Killere, in Westmeath. All those sees were consolidated in the twelfth century, and formed into the diocese of Meath. In A.D. 1568, the ancient see of Clonmacnoise, in Westmeath and King’s County, was annexed to the diocese of Meath. The ancient see of Lusk, which lay in the kingdom of Meath, was united to the diocese of Dublin. The diocese of Meath is one of the ten which constitute the ecclesiastical province of Armagh; and comprehends almost the whole of the counties of Meath and Westmeath, a large portion of the King’s County, with parts of Kildare, Longford and Cavan—being nearly co-extensive with the ancient kingdom of Meath.

Connaught

The See of Tuam was founded by St. Jarlath in the beginning of the sixth century; and has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the sees of Killala, Achonry, Elphin, Clonfert, Kilmacduagh, Kilfenora, and Galway. The ancient sees of Cong, Mayo, and Enachdune were, in time, annexed to Tuam, whose bishops were often styled bishops of Connaught; and, of which province, the archbishop of Tuam is the metropolitan. The diocese of Tuam comprises the greater part of the county Galway, and about one-third of Mayo, with a large portion of Roscommon.

The See of Cong was founded by St. Feichin, a native of Sligo, in the seventh century; and was united to the see of Tuam, in the twelfth century. Cong was also the residence of some of the kings of Connaught.

The See of Mayo. In the seventh century, St. Colman, an Irishman, who had been bishop of Lindisfarne, in Northumberland, founded the monastery of Mayo, chiefly for the use of English monks whom he had brought over with him from England. A college also was there founded, chiefly for the use of the English: hence called Magh-Eo-na-Saxon, or Mayo of the Saxons. It is said that Alfred, King of Northumberland, in the seventh century, and Alfred the Great, King of England, in the ninth century, both received their education in that college. Mayo likewise became a bishop’s see, and, in the sixteenth century, was annexed to the see of Tuam.

The See of Killala[1] or Cill Alaidhe was founded by St. Patrick, in the fifth century, and its bishops were sometimes called bishop of Tir-Amhalgaidh [Tyrawley], and also bishops of Tir-Fiachra, and of Hy-Fiachra, and sometimes of Hy-Fiachra Muaidhe, that is, of Hy-Fiachra of the (river) Moy: so called, to distinguish it from Hy-Fiachra Aidhne (or the diocese of Kilmacduagh) in the county Galway. The diocese of Killala comprehends a great part of the county Mayo, and a portion of Sligo.

The See of Achonry or Achadh Chonaire was founded in the sixth century by St. Finian, bishop of Clonard, in Meath; who placed over it his disciple St. Nathi, its first bishop. In early times, the bishops of Achonry were styled bishops of Luighne or Lieney, which was the ancient name of the territory. The diocese of Achonry comprehends a large portion of the county Sligo, with a considerable part of Mayo.

Drumcliffe in Sligo. In the sixth century, a monastery, which was long famous as a seat of learning and religion, was here founded by St. Columbkille. It became a bishop’s see, and its abbots were styled bishops. It was united to the see of Elphin in the sixteenth century.

The See of Roscommon. Here, in the sixth century, St. Coman founded an abbey, which was called from him Ros Comain or “Roscommon;” which afterwards became a bishop’s see, and, at an early period, was united to the see of Elphin.

The See of Ardcarne. Early in the sixth century an abbey was founded at Ardcarne, in the barony of Boyle, county Roscommon, by St Beoidh or Beoy; and it afterwards became a bishop’s see, which was also at an early period annexed to the see of Elphin.

The See of Elphin. A church was founded at Elphin, in Roscommon, by St. Patrick, who placed over it St Asicus, one of his disciples, and made it a bishop’s see. In ancient times the bishops of Elphin were styled bishops of East Connaught. The diocese of Elphin comprises the greater part of the county Roscommon, with considerable portions of the counties of Sligo and Galway.

The See of Clonfert. In the sixth century, a monastery was founded at Clonfert, in the present barony of Longford, county of Galway, by St. Brendan; and it afterwards became a bishop’s see. The diocese of Clonfert comprises a large part of the county Galway, with part of Roscommon, and a small portion of the King’s County.

The See of Kilmacduagh. A monastery was founded in the present barony of Kiltartan, county Galway, in the seventh century, by St. Colman, the son of Duach: hence it was called Cill Mac Duach, signifying the Church of the son of Duach, which became a bishop’s see, and gave its name to the diocese. The bishops of Kilmacduagh were in ancient times styled bishops of Hy-Fiachra Aidhne, which was the ancient name of the territory. The diocese of Kilmacduagh comprises a large portion of the county Galway.

The See of Enachdune. A monastery was founded at Enachdune, now the parish of Annaghdown, in the barony of Clare, county Galway, by St. Brendan, in the sixth century; it became a bishop’s see, and in the fourteenth century was united to the diocese of Tuam, A.D. 1324.

The See of Galway. The diocese of Galway, which comprises the city of Galway and some adjoining districts, anciently formed part of the diocese of Enachdune, but was afterwards presided over by an ecclesiastic who had episcopal authority, and was elected by the tribes under the title of “Warden.” The wardenship was instituted in the fifteenth century, A.D. 1484, by Pope Innocent the Eighth; and the wardens of Galway continued till the year 1831, the first year of the Pontificate of Gregory the Sixteenth, who abolished the wardenship and erected it into a bishop’s see.

Leinster.

The See of Sletty (or Sleibhtiu). Sletty was situated in Hy-Kinselagh, near the river Barrow, about a mile from the present town of Carlow, on the borders of the Queen’s County. Here a church, the ruins of which still remain, and which gives name to a parish in that county, was, in the fifth century, founded by St. Fiech, a celebrated disciple of St. Patrick. St. Fiech made Sletty a bishop’s see, which in the fifth and sixth centuries was the chief see of Leinster, but was afterwards annexed to Leighlin.

The See of Leighlin. In the beginning of the seventh century, St Gobhan founded a monastery at Leighlin, which St. Molaisse (called Laserian) shortly after made a bishop’s see. In A.D. 630, a great synod of bishops and clergy was held at Leighlin to regulate the time for the celebration of Easter; and it is stated that at one time this abbey contained fifteen hundred monks. The diocese of Leighlin, now annexed to the diocese of Kildare, comprises the whole of the county Carlow, a large part of the Queen’s County, with some portions of Kilkenny and Wicklow.

The See of Ferns, called in ancient times Fearna Maodhoig, or Ferns of Moeg, was founded by St. Moeg in the sixth century. The name Moeg, in Irish Maodhog, is Latinized “Maidocus” and “Aidanus;” of him Giraldus Cambrensis says:—“Sanctus Aidanus qui et Hibernice Maidocus dicitur.” In the beginning of the seventh century, Ferns was made the metropolitan see of Leinster; and so continued until the beginning of the ninth century, when Kildare was constituted the metropolitan see; and which continued till the twelfth century, when Dublin was constituted the archiepiscopal see of Leinster. Ferns became a great city, and was the chief residence of the kings of Leinster, but, from its repeated ravages by the Danes, it fell into decay. The diocese of Ferns comprises nearly the whole of the county Wexford, with small portions of Wicklow and the Queen’s County.

The See of Glendalough was founded by St. Kevin (in Irish St. Caoimgin), in the sixth century. The name in Irish is Glean-da-Loch, signifying the Valley of the two Lakes, the place being situated in a beautiful valley containing two lakes, and surrounded with magnificent mountains in the county Wicklow. The diocese of Glendalough in ancient times comprised the county Wicklow, and a great part of the county Dublin, and was, in the thirteenth century, A.D. 1214, annexed to the see of Dublin; but the archbishops of Dublin, being all English at the time, could not obtain peaceable possession of it till the fifteenth century. Glendalough once contained a large city, but being repeatedly ravaged by the Danes, during the ninth and tenth centuries, and by the English in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, it fell into complete decay. Its former greatness, however, is sufficiently demonstrated by the extensive ruins of a cathedral and seven churches, a round tower, and other interesting antiquities which still remain.

The See of Kildare. St Bridget, St. Patrick, and St. Columbkille, were the three great tutelar saints of Ireland. These are the three illustrious Irish saints to whom the learned John Colgan, an Irish Franciscan of the monastery of Louvain, in the Netherlands, in the seventeenth century, alludes in his great work styled “Trias Thaumaturga” or the Wonder-working Triad. St Bridget (who was the daughter of a prince named Dubhthach, of the same descent as the celebrated Conn of the Hundred Battles, monarch of Ireland in the second century) was born about A.D. 453, at a place called Fochart, in the Kingdom of Orgiall, now “Faughart” near Dundalk, in the county Louth; and founded in the fifth century the famous monastery at Kildare, called in Irish Cill-dara, which signifies the Church of the Oak, from a great oak tree near which it was erected. St Bridget, according to the Four Masters, died at her monastery of Kildare, A.D. 525, on the 1st of February. This monastery was the first religious foundation in Kildare; a great town or city grew up there, and an episcopal see there founded in the latter end of the fifth century, St. Conlaeth being its first bishop. This place also fell into decay, from the repeated devastations of the Danes, in the ninth and tenth centuries, and the much more destructive wars of later times; but the magnificent ruins of the ancient cathedral of Kildare, with a most beautiful round tower, and some fragments of splendid stone crosses which still remain, amply demonstrate its former greatness. At Kilcullen, in the same county, an abbey was founded by St. Iserninus, in the fifth century; and its abbots were styled bishops, down to the twelfth century, at which time it was annexed to the see of Kildare. The diocese of Kildare comprises the greater part of the county Kildare, with a great part of the King’s County, and a considerable portion of the Queen’s County.

The See of Ossory was first founded at Saiger, now the parish of “Seir-Kiaran,” near Birr or Parsonstown. in the King’s County; and was so called from Kiaran of Saiger, a celebrated saint who founded a church there in the beginning of the fifth century, and who was called St. Kiaran the Elder, to distinguish him from Kiaran of Clonmacnoise, who lived at a later period. The see of Saiger was afterwards transferred to Achadhboe or “Aghaboe” (sometimes called “Aghavoe”) in the barony of Upper Ossory in the Queen’s County, where a celebrated monastery was founded by St. Canice, in the sixth century. The See of Aghaboe continued to be the seat of the diocese of Ossory, to near the end of the twelfth century, when it was removed to Kilkenny, and called the See of Ossory; and the bishops of Ossory were in early times styled bishops of Saiger, and sometimes bishops of Aghavoe. The diocese of Ossory comprehends almost the whole of the county Kilkenny, with the barony of Upper Ossory in the Queen’s County, and the parish of Seir-Kiaran, in the King’s County: being nearly co-extensive with the ancient principality of Ossory. Clonenagh, m the Queen’s County, had a celebrated monastery founded in the fifth century by St. Fintan, and its abbots were also styled bishops: this ancient see was annexed to the see of Leighlin. Birr had also a celebrated abbey founded by St. Brendan, in the sixth century, and its abbots were styled bishops: it was annexed to the see of Killaloe.

The See of Dublin. Colgan mentions St. Livinus as the first bishop of Dublin, in the beginning of the seventh century. Gregory was the first who, A.D. 1152, got the title of Archbishop of Dublin; for, the see of Ferns was in the seventh and eighth centuries the chief see of Leinster, but during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, the see of Kildare was made the metropolitan see of that province: and hence the bishops of Ferns and of Kildare were in those times styled, by the Irish writers, bishops or archbishops of Leinster; but, in the twelfth century, as above mentioned, Dublin was constituted the metropolitan see of Leinster, and its bishops styled Archbishops of Dublin, and sometimes archbishops of Leinster. In the diocese of Dublin were the following ancient sees:—Cluan Dolcain, now “Clondalkin,” near Dublin, where, in the seventh century, St Cronan Mochua founded an abbey, whose abbots were styled bishops; Tamlaght or “Tallaght,” near Dublin, where, in the sixth century, a monastery was founded, and St. Maolruan is mentioned as its first bishop in the eighth century; Finglas, near Dublin, where a monastery was founded in the sixth century by St. Cainneach or Kenny, from whom “Kilkenny” derived its name, and the abbots of Finglas were, down to the eleventh century, styled bishops; Swords, near Dublin, in which St. Columbkille founded an abbey in the sixth century, whose abbots were styled bishops down to the twelfth century; and Lusk, in the county Dublin, where an abbey was founded in the fifth century by St. Maculind, and he and his successors down to the twelfth century were denominated abbots and bishops of Lusk. These small ancient sees were annexed to Dublin in the twelfth century; and, in A.D. 1214, under Henry de Loundres, then archbishop of Dublin, the ancient see of Glendalough was united to Dublin. But for the reasons above mentioned, under “The See of Glendalough,” the union of this ancient see with Dublin was not peaceably and fully established until the latter end of the fifteenth century: the Irish, up to that period, having their own recognized bishops of Glendalough. From the twelfth to the eighteenth century remarkable contests and controversies were carried on between the Archbishops of Armagh and of Dublin, respecting the primacy, each of those archbishops claiming precedence (see “A Church History of Ireland,” by the Rev. Sylvester Malone. Dublin: W. B. Kelly, 8 Grafton-street, 1863); but the claims of Armagh to the primacy were finally conceded, both in the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches—the archbishops of Dublin being styled “primates of Ireland,” and the archbishops of Armagh “primates of all Ireland.” Another remarkable circumstance connected with the diocese of Dublin is, that since the eleventh century it contains two cathedrals, namely, those of St. Patrick and Christ Church, of which it is said only another instance is to be found in any see, and that is at Sarragossa, in Spain.

The Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough comprises the greater part of the county Dublin, together with a great part of Wicklow, and parts of Wexford, Kildare, and Queen’s County; and the sees of Ossory, Ferns, Kildare, and Leighlin, in the ecclesiastical province of Leinster, are subject to the jurisdiction of the archiepiscopal see of Dublin.

Notes

[1] Killala: It would appear that the province of Connaught holds a distinguished rank with respect to ancient Irish literature: for the “Books” of Leacan and Ballymote, compiled by the MacFirbises and other historians in Sligo, are two of the greatest and most authentic works on Irish history and antiquities. These voluminous MSS., written on fine vellum, comprise the history of Ireland from the earliest ages to the fifteenth century; and are deposited in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. The MacFirbises were of the same stock as the O’Dowds, princes of Hy-Fiachra. Their original territory was Magh Broin in Tyrawley; they afterwards settled in Rosserk, between Ballina and Killala, and lastly at Leacan, in the parish of Kilglass, barony of Tireragh, county Sligo, on the right bank of the river Moy, where they had estates and a castle, the ruins of which still remain. The MacFirbises held the office of Ollamhs [ollavs] or historiographers and poets of Hy-Fiachra, and, at one time, of all Connaught. Duald (or Dudley) MacFirbis, who was the last of the hereditary antiquaries of Leacan, was killed in Doonflin, in the county Sligo, A.D. 1670, about the eightieth year of his age; and it is stated that he was buried in the old church of Kilglass, at Enniscrone.