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land of Killin, about four miles, where stands a church by the sea-side, which antiquity named Inismacaw church, the feast day whereof is on the 15th of March. Westward of Great Man's Haven,

that he lived a long time ago, and seized and plundered all the vessels that passed that way. They still shew a large hollow rock which they call his churn, Cuinneog an fir móir; and three other rocks called brannrao an fir móir, which supported the cauldron wherein he boiled the whales which he caught with a fishing

rod!

"His angle-rod made of a sturdy oak,

His line a cable which in storms ne'er broke; His hook he baited with a dragon's tail, And sat upon a rock, and bobb'd for whale." That some 66 'great man," at some distant period, did dwell at or about Great Man's Bay, and give name to it, may be admitted without incurring the charge of credulity but when he lived, and his name, and whether he was one of the mighty Fomorians, or powerful Tuatha de Dananns, or other early colonists of Ireland, will probably, like other historical questions of similar importance, remain secrets for ever.

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island of the sons of Adam. When or by whom it was built, or why “antiquity named" it so, we are ignorant. It lies in ruins on the west side of Casla bay, near the shore. Garmna.-Is an island lying between Great Man's Bay and Cassin Bay, mentioned immediately after. Lawroill, Leamcóill, i. e. Elmwood, anglicised Loughil, forms the southern part of the island of Garomna. The ruins of Olither church, in the south-west of this island, are marked on Larkin's map. Letter Melan.-Zeitip Maellain. The island of Lettermullen lies to the west of Garomna; and the castle stands on the north side of the island. It is mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters, at A. D. 1584, as the residence of Morogh Mac Hugh. Keanngualaim.-Ceann Gualaim, a small island immediately west of Lettermullen. From our author's expression it would appear, that in his time they were united; but in Mackensie's chart and Larkin's map, they appear as separate islands. Ceann Gualaim, sometimes called Gulin head, and not unfrequently Golden head, by such of the natives as speak English. See Nimmo's Piloting Directions, p. 174, for an account of the tides along this coast. Cassin haven.— Cuan Cairin, now generally called Casheen Bay. It lies to the north of Golam Head.

Haven, are the lands of Garmna, Lawroill, and Lettermelan Castle. In Garmnia is Olither church, or the Pilgrime's church. Keanngualaim, or the cape of Golamhead in Lettermellan, stretcheth itself between Cassin haven and the sea, the farthest end of Moycullin barony, this side, and is eight leagues from Galway. Eastward of this point, the Iles of Aran lye three leagues distant from the continent of this barony, whereof Lettermellan is the nearest to them.

The three Iles of Aran half barony, extending in length from west to east, have the barony of Moycullin on the north, Moyclea in Corcamro barony, and county of Clare, on the east, and the Cape of Kerryhead, far off in sights stretched out in the sea, on the south.

e Isles of Aran.-Some notices of these remarkable islands, in addition to those given above by our author, will be found in the Appendix hereto, if space shall permit.

f Moyclea. In Irish Mag Glea, or, as it is sometimes called, Tuaż Glea. This is a tract of land in the west of the barony of Corcomroe (Copcumpuaio), and the nearest part of the county of Clare to Inis Oirtir, the southern isle of Aran. Here are situate Doolen, the seat of a branch of the Macnamara family; and Aran-view, "commanding, as its name implies, a fine view of the Aran isles." In the sixteenth century, Moyclea was rendered remarkable by the following ocA. D. 1565, Mahon O'Brien of Arkin (Cincin), in the great island of Aran, was treacherously slain by his own friends and followers. The citizens of Galway immediately went forth in pursuit of the murderers; who thereupon betook themselves to their boats and landed in the

currence.

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They west of Thomond. There they were met by Donall, the son of Conor O'Brien, who took most of them prisoners. He then brought them bound in fetters to Magh Glea; and there, in sight of the place where they perpetrated the crime, he hanged some and burned others, “as their atrocious wickedness deserved," say the Four Masters, who relate the circumstance. These feuds among the O'Briens led to their total expulsion from the islands of Aran, in a few years after, by the O'Flaherties of Iar-Connaught.

Far off in sight. The islands of Aran command some of the noblest sea-prospects in the world. The vast Atlantic stretching illimitably towards the south and west; the extensive coasts of Kerry, Clare, Galway, Mayo, &c., with their numerous islands, headlands, and lofty mountains "far off in sight," must be seen, in order to form any idea of the sublimity and beauty of the view.

They are fenced on the south side with very high clifts", some three score, some four score and five score fathoms deep, against the Western Ocean's approach.

The soile is almost paved over with stones', soe as, in some places, nothing is to be seen but large stones with wide openings between them, where cattle break their legs. Scarce any other stones there but limestones, and marble fit for tomb-stones, chymney mantle trees, and high crosses. Among these stones is very sweet pasture, so that beefe, veal, mutton are better and earlyer in season here, then elsewhere; and of late there is plenty of cheese, and tillage mucking, and corn is the same with the sea side tract. In some places the plow goes. On the shore grows samphire' in plenty, ring-root or sea-holy,

h High clifts. The height of the cliff at Dun Angus in Aran, which Dun is one of the most remarkable remains of pagan antiquity in the west of Europe, is upwards of 300 feet. The cliffs of Aran are elsewhere well described by our author: "Claustrorum reliquiæ videntur esse Arannæ tres insulæ, quæ obrutu non faciles in medio profundo eminent, et editissimas præruptas Crepidines decumanis fluctibus objiciunt."-Ogyg. p. 164.

i Paved over with stones.-Large tracts of bare flags, in Irish leaca loma, as smooth as polished marble, may be seen in many parts of these islands. A visitor, surprised at the appearance, remarked, that it was a mistake not to have called them the Marble Islands, for that they were all a mass of lime-stone and marble. Yet among those rocks and stones there is, as our author observes, "very sweet pasture" for

cattle. These leaca loma, or bare flags,
have been frequently noticed. In an old
poem entitled "Columbkille's Farewell to
Aran," which, though attributed to that
saint, may safely be dated some centuries
after his time, an angel is described as
showering down benefits from heaven on
the bare flags of Aran:

"Gaca diardaín, ón! gaća diardaín,
Cig Sapial, mon an main,
Go szaílinn raz Dé do nim

For leccao loma an lá sin.”

See this "Farewell to Aran," published in the Transactions of the Gaelic Society, Dublin, 8vo. 1808, p. 180, with a translation by Theophilus O'Flanagan, A. B.

i Samphire. This plant, Crithmum maritimum, is found growing on rocks by the shore, where it is washed by the salt water. It is sent for sale from Aran to Dublin,

sea-holy, and sea-cabbage.

Here are Cornish choughs, with red legs and bills. Here are ayries of hawkes, and birds which never fly but over the sea; and, therefore, are used to be eaten on fastingdays': to catch which, people goe down, with ropes tyed about them, into the caves of cliffts by night, and with a candle light kill abundance of them. Here are severall wells and pooles, yet in extraordinary dry weather, people must turn their cattell out of the islands, and the corn failes. They have noe fuell but cow-dung" dryed with

where it is said to be used for pickling and preserves. Ring-root or sea-holy.— Eryngium maritimum, in Irish, Cuilleann τραία, grows near the shore, and is used by the inhabitants of Aran, as a medicine. See its medicinal virtues described in K'Eogh's Botanologia Universalis Hibernica, p. 43. Sea cabbage.-Crambe maritima.

Ayries of hawkes. For a curious notice of these once favourite birds, see Carve's Lyra, p. 47. They were formerly trained in Iar-Connaught for field sport, and were held in high esteem. Morogh na Maor O'Flaherty, of Bunowen, in Conamara, by his will, dated 13th April, A. D. 1626, directed that his third son, Bryan O'Flahertie, should have the Cleggan, an extensive tract in the barony of Balinahinch, “excepting onelie the Aiery of hawkes upon. Barnanoran," "reserved for his eldest son, Morogh na Mart.-Orig. Will.

1 Fasting days.-Strange as this reason may seem, for eating sea birds on fasting days, it is nevertheless very ancient. Socrates, in his Ecclesiastical History, men

tions it in the fifth century. Speaking of the various modes of keeping Lent then prevalent, he says:oi μèr vàę, wárty μὲν γὰρ, ἐμψύχων ἀπέχονται· οἱ δὲ, τῶν ἐμψύχων ἰχθὺς μόνους μεταλαμβάνουσι· τινὲς δὲ σὺν τοῖς ἰχθύσι, καὶ τῶν πτηνῶν ἀπογεύονται, ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ αὐτὰ τὸν Μωϋσέα γεγενῆσθαι λεγοντες· κ. τ. λ. "Some abstain altogether from animals: others of animals eat fish only. Some, along with fish, eat also birds: saying that, according to Moses, birds, like fish, were created out of the waters." Hist. Eccl. lib. v. c. 22. In Martin's Description of the Western Islands of Scotland (p. 65), mention is made of a similar reason for eating seals' flesh in Lent.

Kill abundance.-In carrying on this "dreadful trade," the adventurous "Cragsmen" of Aran encounter dangers, which to any other class of men would be incredible. Mr. Pennant, in his " Voyage to the Hebrides," gives a curious representation of this perilous practice. See also Martin's Islands of Scotland, p. 293; and his Voyage to St. Kilda, p. 105.

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with the sun, unless they bring turf in from the western continent. They have Cloghans, a kind of building of stones layd one upon another, which are brought to a roof without any manner of mortar to cement them, some of which cabins will hold forty men on their floor; so antient that no body knows how long agoe any of them was made. Scarcity of wood and store of fit stones, without peradventure found out the first invention. There is a waste island on the southwest side, called Oilen-da-branoge, where they goe to slaughter seals yearly; and where there is abundance of samphire.

From the Isles of Aran and the west continent, often appears visible that inchanted island called O'Brasil", and in Irish Beg-ara,

or

stacks (cpuaca) of this savoury substitute for turf may be seen in Aran, particularly in the middle island; but latterly they have learned to convert it into manure, and get turf from the "Continent." The privations which these poor and honest islanders sometimes undergo, part of which are above alluded to by our author, are very severe; and yet you will not find any of them willing to exchange the "bare flags" of Aran, for the comparative comforts of the inland country; even of the "great town," or baile mór of Clifden in Conamara; or yet of the greater town, the capital of the province, Cażair mór na Gaillme. It is believed, that the greatest human punishment that could be inflicted on an Aranite, would be to sentence him never to return home. See Martin's curious account of the St. Kilda man's visit to Glasgow.- Western Islands, p. 296; which requires little more than the

substitution of Galway for Glasgow, and Aran for St. Kilda, to answer as a description of an Aran man's first visit of wonder to Galway.

The primitive buildings called "Cloghans," mentioned above by our author, will be found noticed, with the islands of Aran, in the Appendix.

• Oilen-da-branoge.-In Irish called Oilean da branóg, and Brannock, or Brannoge Island, in English. It lies off the townland of Onagh, at the western extremity of the great island of Aran. See Larkin's map of the county of Galway.

P O'Brasil. This fabulous island has been so fully noticed in recent publications, that it is only necessary here to refer to some of them, viz.: the Tour of M. Boullaye le Gouz in Ireland, A.D. 1644, edited by T. Crofton Croker, Lond. 1837, p. 68; and Irish Minstrelsy, Lond. 1831, vol. i. p. 369. "O'Brazil" has been cele

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