1176-7 Cennanus (Kells). F. L. U. Athdruim (Trim). Dundalethglas (Down). Record of earlier fort held by King Early fort (V. T.). The Norman fort had a chastel, dongan, and stockade. Early mote, not at castle. Early mote. U.F.L.D.G. Early fort in many records. Norman Early fort, not in Mound, evidently sepulchral. Early mote, not at town. Early fort in many records, ante Early fort, Dermach, ante, 1029 (D.). Dr. Joyce identifies the mote as one at town. Early mote. Early mote. Mote, not at castle. G. Built by de Clahull. Mote. L. Built by Hugh de Lacy. Early fort of Grafan, ante 900 (R.). Four castles burned. U. L. Early rath of Dundabhenn. Mote. Mote. Mote. Early mote. Sandal mount. 1 The references are-C., " Calendar of Documents, Ireland"; Clon., "Annals of Clonmacnoise"; C. T., "Continuation of Tighernach"; D., "Dindsenchas" (ed. W. Stokes); F., "Annals of the Four Masters"; G., "Giraldus Cambrensis" I., "Annals of Innisfallen"; L., "Annals of Loch Cé"; R., "Book of Rights (ed. O'Donovan); T., " Tighernach (ed. W. Stokes); U., "Annals of Ulster"; V. T., "Vita Tripartita" (ed. W. Stokes). 2 And a reputed prehistoric fort (see A. F. M., A. M. 3991). 3" Social History of Ireland," vol. i., p. 89. 4 The reputed fort of Congall Claen, King of Uladh, 637 (see Ulster Journal of Archeology, original Ser., vol. ii., p. 56, n.; and "Dindsenchas," section 121). I have given the recorded Norman castles for a period of forty years, to compare with similar Tables of early Norman castles in England. The result is, that out of some sixty castles, over forty have no trace or record of a mote at the site; ten have motes where important pre-Norman forts are recorded to have stood; six have motes, there being no early record known to me of a fort at the place; one has a mound almost certainly non-residential and non-defensive. The corroboration which this Table gives to the views of those opposed to the "Norman theory" of the Irish motes is not a little striking. 1 For authorities, see footnote (1), p. 344. CLONEGA CLONEGAL: ITS VALLEY AND ITS BATTLE. BY CANON FFRENCH, M.R.I.A., VICE-PRESIDENT, 1897. LONEGAL is not only the name of a valley and a parish, but it is also the name of a considerable village, that once was a fair- and market-town, boasting its distillery, brewery, tan-yards, and a notable market for the sale of woollen stuffs. This village is built near the head of the valley, and almost under the shadow of Mount Leinster, which lifts up its giant head through the blue haze in the background. Its broad street of comfortable slated houses and neat shops, adorned with a double row of forest trees that cast their shadows over its pathways, extends down the side of the hill until it meets the River Derry, which is spanned by an ancient bridge; and then it runs for a short distance up the hill on the opposite side of the river. At the head of the village, the towers of the Protestant and Roman Catholic places of worship are visible through their surrounding trees; and at a short distance the old, grey ivy covered castle of the Esmonds (now the residence of H. Robertson, Esq., M.P.)-a most picturesque old castle with immensely thick walls built of small stones. It has a well in the vaults to provide against a siege, and a strong iron gate between the double doors of the entrance still remaining, all reminding us of the time when massive walls and battlemented-towers and strong arms within them were needed for the protection of those of whom it has been said : Some hundreds of years ago there were two other buildings, which must have added greatly to the beauty of the scene. Not far from the village at one side were the ruins of the Augustinian Abbey, and at the opposite side of the village there then existed the Castle of Clonogan. Of the Augustinian Abbey of Doune, or Abbey Down, but few vestiges are now to be met with. It is said to have been founded by the Danes, who perhaps at one time extended their dominion inland from the coast as far as Clonegal; and possibly it may be from them that the valley derives its name of "The Meadow of the Gaul, or Stranger." In the earlier editions of Ware, this ecclesiastical foundation was called Dun Abbey, or the Abbey by the Dun; and the outline of the dun, or fort, under whose protecting shadow the abbey was erected, is still plainly visible. The few remaining cut stones have been placed for preservation on the Rector's lawn. One of them seems part of the groining of an arch, and another was evidently the centre stone, from which sprung the two Romanesque opes of the east window of the abbey. The other ecclesiastical remains in the valley are but few. Two or three cut stones are the only vestiges of the oratory of Ard Briton (the height of the Briton), on the townland of Orchard, where at one time some ancient ecclesiastic from Wales devoted himself to prayer. The Church of Clonegal is modern, but the site is most interesting. It was appropriated to sacred purposes so long ago as the time of St. Patrick, and the original church was built on a dun, or mound, which formed the base of a small fortress, and was surrounded by a deep moat enclosed by a rath, evidently the gift of some ancient chieftain, who had devoted his residence to God. The churchyard contains the stone socket of an ancient Irish stone cross; and in 1902, at a depth of about ten feet below the present surface, an ancient quern or hand corn-mill (now in the vestry of the church) was found on digging a grave-possibly the very quern used by St. Fiacc, the first Rector of the parish, who was set apart by St. Patrick to be one of the first bishops of the Irish Church. The pre-historic and pre-Christian remains in the valley are not numerous. On the side of Newry Hill there is a pillar-stone, under which probably the native Irish judge at one time sat to hear cases, as a little beneath it there are the remains of an ancient Irish residence still called Rath-na-Doran; and we know that the Dorans were the Brehons, the hereditary judges of Leinster. In the townland of Moylisha there is a grave known as "Labba na Shee," the bed or grave of the fairies, where doubtless were laid to rest one or more of that weird race who pass like a shadow across the pages of Irish history-the Tuatha-de-Danaan, who retreated before the more muscular Milesians into the depths of the forest, or into earth-houses, and who are handed down to us as fairies living in the green hills. I once tried to excavate this grave, and at considerable expense employed two men to undertake the work. They worked away under my supervision until the shades of night compelled them to desist. I returned the next morning to find the place all filled in again. In the night two of the neighbours, who knew their fears, howled at the back of the house where they were sleeping, until they frightened them to such a degree that they were seen rushing from their house in their night garments with shovels in their hands, with which they quickly undid all that I had got them to do the day before. In the grounds of Huntington Castle there is an interesting bullan, or rock-bason, with which we must conclude our list of pre-historic remains. Now let us return to Clonogan Castle. Clonogan Castle, of which nothing now remains but the site, was |