"Two feet of twigs and débris of birds; 4 feet fallen stone and rubbish; 3 feet decomposed twigs and small bones; 3 feet brown earth, ashes, and small bones; 9 feet 10 inches ashes and oyster-shells, in which pieces of copper were found; 6 feet 2 inches small stones.

ELEVATION

PLAN

O'HEYNE'S MONASTERY, KILMACDUAGH.

PLAN AND INTERIOR ELEVATION OF EAST WINDOW.

"Beneath this human bones and skeletons, in situ, lying east and west. The illustration gives accurately the position of the latter. This is exactly a similar state of things as found beneath the round tower of St. Canice, at Kilkenny-an incontestable proof that in the seventh century (the supposed date of the erection) a burying-ground existed

where the tower now stands, and, from the position of the skeletons, of the Christian era.

"The masonry of the tower, which is of stones carefully fitted to each other, is evidently of the same date as that of the west end of the cathedral, or Tempuil Mor,' at which the repairs chiefly comprise the arrangement of the numerous sepulchral slabs scattered about the interior; the securing of dangerous portions of the walls; and the general protection' of the structure from future decay. This building, with the exception of the western end, has nothing of an earlier date than the fifteenth century.

"To the north of Tempuil Mor is the Church of Tempuil Eoin Baiste, or St. John's Church.' Of this little remains; but it is of the oldest masonry, and is interesting as being of the same type as the tower. All that is possible has been done to sustain its tottering walls."

have been rebuilt

The report also mentions that the Seanclogh, or 'Abbot's House,' was repaired and made safe from future ruin. It dates from the fourteenth century, and is entirely of a domestic character. The upper portion appears to have been raised on the basis of a more ancient structure, as shown by the offsets on the head of the first storey. In the monastery, or O'Heyne's Church,' the chancel-piers appear to in a careless manner, omitting the base course on one side, and leaving the northern group of columns 10 inches higher than the southern. Some of the capitals of the columns here are similar in design to those at Clonmacnoise and Corcomroe, and the mouldings are of the same type, "and the general character of the detail evinces either an ignorance of the peculiarities of the style in which the building was designed, or the imitation of an earlier style at a later date." This probably occurred during the re-edification of the structure, which took place in Bishop Hugh de Burgo's time, at the middle of the seventeenth century, when the masons' craft in ecclesiastical architecture had already become a lost

แ

art.

The chancel-piers of O'Heyne's Church have well-carved capitals : see the illustrations on pp. 226 and 233. The details of the east window are peculiar; a plan and interior elevation of this window are given on p. 235. The larger members of the jamb-mouldings are terminated by carved capitals.

KNOCKMOY ABBEY, COUNTY GALWAY.

BY J. A. GLYNN, B.A.

[Submitted AUGUST 9, 1904.]

THE HE ABBEY OF KNOCKMOY was founded in 1189 by Cathal Crovedearg O'Conor, King of Connacht, half brother of Roderick O'Conor, last king of Ireland. The story of its foundation is that it was erected to commemorate a great victory gained by Cathal over the Normans, under Sir Amoricus St. Laurence, at Knockmoy. O'Donovan ("Annals," 1218, p. 194) states that no such battle was fought, and that the whole story is a myth, arising from a misunderstanding of the meaning of the name Knockmoy. Most historians say that the name is Cnoc mBuaidh, or the Hill of Slaughter.' This reading of the name would point to the fact that a battle was fought there; and hence probably the story of the battle arose. O'Donovan, however, states that the correct name is Cnoc Muaidhe, or 'the Hill of Muaidh,' i.e. the 'Hill of the Good Woman,' and that it bore this name centuries before the date of Cathal O'Conor. If we are to believe the ancient annals, Knockmoy was a famous place many centuries before Christ. It is stated that Irial, son of Heremon, the first Milesian king of Ireland, founded a royal fort at Knockmoy, and lived there ten years; and the "Ogygia" says that Gillehad, another king of Ireland, was slain on the plains of Muaidh.

Knockmoy was founded from the Abbey of Boyle, and was endowed with large grants of lands, including the lordship of Clanfergil, granted by Cornelius of Muinter Moraghan, with the consent of Cathal O'Conor. The lordship of Clanfergil comprised the site of the present towns of Galway, Roscam, and Oranbeg-in all, twenty-four villages. The deed was witnessed by Catholicus, Archbishop of Tuam; H., Bishop of Annaghdown; L., Bishop of Elphin; and others. The abbey held these lands until 1484, when the Wardenship of Galway was established, and these lands transferred to the Warden. A curious relic of this ancient connexion between Knockmoy and Galway exists, or did exist, until quite recently. On St. Bernard's Day, the fishermen of the Claddagh journey to the hill of Knockroe, which looks down on the ruins of Knockmoy, to perform the station around the holy well on the summit. To the east of the abbey is a well called after the founder Tubber Cathal; to the north another called Tubber-na-Fion, supposed to have the same effect as wine; and a third called Frinchais, believed to have powerful medicinal properties.

The abbey was not long without its troubles. In 1200 its royal founder, Cathal, was expelled from his kingdom, and whilst its protector