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There are still living belonging to the same community::

Father Christopher Walsh, as I am informed, whom I have already mentioned.

Father Phelim MacCoghlan, who was prior of his own convent and of that of Aghaboe: he made very good studies in Spain and in Lombardy.

Father John Walsh studied in Spain and is now chaplain to a Spanish regiment in Belgium.

Father Bryan O'Madden studied in Spain and returned home in 1705.

In the same County of Galway, there was an abbey of ours in the barony of Ballynahinch, founded and erected by the chieftain O'Flaherty, the ancient lord of this barony till the time of Cromwell the usurper, by whom he was deprived of all his estates. In this abbey, called Tombeola, there were generally eight religious; but from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth it was not inhabited and the Protestants removed all the walls and the church itself to build a castle in the neighbourhood. From the time that Galway convent was erected into a priory, the provincials neglected to assign any religious or even a prior to this friary, but it was left as a district for Galway, fifteen leagues distant. That certainly tends to the great detriment of the Order and the Catholic people, very much in want of ministers of the Gospel. For the place is mountainous and boggy and is as an island in the extreme west of the kingdom, so that there is not a frequent recourse to it of religious, and moreover the whole barony is very populous and there is hardly one Protestant there. If liberty of religion should be established, Galway convent

præterea habet pro suo districtu baronias de Clare, Moycullen et Eaghnanivar. Itaque tres aut quatuor religiosi possent habitare in Tombeola pro salute illius populi quasi derelicti.

DE FRATRIBUS BURRISULENSIBUS.

In Comitatu Mayoensi est conventus insignis juxta mare super flumen, nominatus latine Burrisulensis fundatus a Domino O'Malley, dynasta quondam illius territorii, vocati Umbhall ui Maille hibernice, et illud est satis amplum. Hæc autem fundatio incepisse debet regnante serenissimo domino Carolo O'Conor, vulgariter Rubræ Manus: iste autem regnare cepit in 1188, et obiit in 1224, determinatum vero fundationis annum nescio. Hunc conventum situm in loco amoenissimo et commodissimo stabilivit ac dotavit multis bonis præfatus dominus, cujus successor hodie, proh dolor! non possidet unum juger terræ. Frivola equidem est assertio auctoris Gallici anonymi astruentis memoratum conventum fundatum esse a familia de Butler; nullus enim ex illa familia ab ingressu Anglorum in Hiberniam, anno 1172, stabilimentum aut possessionem obtinuit aut habuit in Connacia usque ad tempus Jacobi I., tribuentis D. Marchioni de Ormonde jus alicujus homagii super hæreditatem Domini O'Kelly. Carolus II., restauratus in 1660, etiam Duci nunc Ormoniæ plurima bona in Connacia exhibuit. Sic ergo præter registra Hibernica, notaria communia manumissa a senioribus ad juniores circum habitantes in dicto territorio commonstrant memoratam domum fundatam, erectam, ac dotatam esse a Domino O'Malley, nunc omnibus bonis destituto.

Floruerunt in ista domo viri graves et religiosi, quorum

would have abundant support from the beneficence of the citizens, and besides it has for its district the baronies of Clare, Moycullen and Eaghnanivar. So that three or four religious could live in Tombeola for the salvation of that almost abandoned people.

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THE FRIARS OF BURRISHoole.

In County Mayo there is a fine abbey” near the sea on a river, called Burgeis-Umaill, in English Burrishoole, founded by the O'Malley, formerly the chieftain of that territory called in Irish Umalt u1 Maille, which is fairly large. This foundation must have been made during the chieftainship of Cathal O'Conor, commonly called of the Red Hand; he began his rule in 1188 and died 1224; but I do not know the actual year of foundation. This abbey, situated in a most beautiful and commodious locality, was established and endowed with many possessions by that chieftain, whose successor at the present day, alas! does not own a single acre of land. That indeed is a frivolous assertion of the anonymous French author, who says that the abbey was founded by the family of the Butlers, for not one of that family, from the coming of the English into Ireland in 1172, obtained or had any establishment or possessions in Connaught till the time of James I., who gave the marquess of Ormonde some territorial rights over the hereditary estates of the O'Kelly. Charles II., restored in 1660, also gave the present Duke of Ormonde many possessions in Connaught. So that besides the Irish records, the common traditions, handed down among the people dwelling around in the said territory, show that the house was founded, erected and endowed by the O'Malley, now despoiled of all his possessions.

In this house grave and religious men flourished, of

ego nequeo deliniare catalogum, nisi solum existentium meo tempore;

Ex quibus fuerunt:—

R. P. Fr. Thaddeus O'Heyne quem ipse vidi cæcum præ nimia senectute. Erat vir valde placidus, inserviens a professione in eodem conventu, et nunquam expatriavit. Ministerium ejus erat summe necessarium sub Jacobo I., Carolo I., ac Cromwello tyranno, quorum tempore cataclysmus persecutionum inundavit hoc miserum regnum. Erat insignis catechista, et quamvis non esset armatus panoplia scientiarum, præditus tamen fuit omni honestate; unde lucratus est famam boni viri et exemplaris religiosi. Obiit plenus dierum et munitus devote sacramentis, anno 1682.

R. adm. ac eximius P. M. Fr. Guilelmus de Burgo studuit Salmanticæ cum plurima laude et docuit philosophiam et theologiam plausibiliter in collegio Sanctæ Crucis, Lovanii. Factus magister repatriavit, et ab appulsu incepit prædicare, sed timide in principio. At vir sapiens et bene sciens expertus est quod labor improbus omnia vincat; nam exercitio adhibito diligenti, evasit pauco tempore facundus prædicator in lingua Hibernica. Fuit valde suavis, et constitutionum nostrarum observator quantum misera patriæ conditio permittebat. Sæpius fuit prior sui conventus, Galviensis semel, et Stradiensis. Octennio continenter fuit provincialis, et longævus susceptis pie sacramentis, animam Deo reddidit, anno 1701.

R. P. Fr. Dominicus Mac Philpin studuit bene in Hispania, et redux in patriam se jugiter exercuit in prædicatione, unde factus est prædicator-generalis benemeritus. In quocunque loco etiam remotiori celebre

whom I cannot give a list except of those living in my own time,

Of whom were :

Father Teige O'Heyne, whom I myself saw blind from old age. He was a very placid man, serving from his profession in the same convent, and he never went abroad. He did very necessary service under James I., Charles I., and Cromwell the tyrant, at which periods a deluge of persecution inundated this miserable kingdom. He was a remarkable catechist, and although he was not armed with scientific weapons, he was full of goodness; so that he acquired the fame of a good man and an exemplary religious. He died full of days and devoutly fortified by the last sacraments, in 1682.

The good Father William Burke studied brilliantly at Salamanca, and taught philosophy and theology with success in the college of Holy Cross, Louvain. Being made master of theology, he returned home, and from his landing began to preach, though timidly in the beginning. But the wise and shrewd man found that persevering labour conquers everything; for by careful practice he became in a short time an eloquent preacher in the Irish language. He was very gracious and as observant of our rule as the wretched condition of our country permitted. He was often prior of his own convent, and once of those of Galway and of Strade; he was provincial continuously for eight years, and full of years he gave his soul to God, after receiving the last sacraments, in 1701.

Father Dominic Mac Philpin studied in Spain and on his return home exercised himself constantly in preaching, so that he became a worthy preacher-general. In whatever place, even the most remote, the provincial

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