horse, on beholding the Host, over which a rich canopy was held by four bishops, and having reverently knelt, prayed for some time. The sight was now most imposing. The King, in his plain costume, bent to the ground in adoration, surrounded by his nobles and high officials in their richest attire, who unanimously followed his example. The canopy which was supported by the bishops, fully robed in their canonicals, was surrounded by numerous wax lights, while vast clouds of incense rose from several censers. Numerous priests of the secular order, and monks and friars chanted hymns; and the Primate of Ireland, wearing a tiara, as the representative of the Sovereign Pontiff, his Holiness Innocent XI., received his Majesty, and congratulated him on his safe arrival in the kingdom. The King was then conducted to the Chapel Royal, where a Te Deum was sung in thanksgiving for his preservation. During the entire of this eventful day all was joy and festivity within the walls of the capital of this unfortunate country, which was so soon to become the theatre of war and bloodshed!

CHAPTER VIII.

ENNIS.

AFTER taking leave of the Chief of Cineal Aodh, at Gortinsiguara, Dermot Oge proceeded without delay to Lissine, where he spent the night with his family. At an early hour next morning he departed for Carrigahoult Castle, accompanied by a mounted and armed retainer of O'Shaughnessy, who led by the bridle a saddled horse, which belonged to William. After a pleasant journey of a few hours they reached Ennis, the capital of the county of Clare, where they put up at the Harp and Crown Inn, to bait their horses and refresh themselves.

The ancient borough of Ennis is situated in the barony of Islands, on the western bank of the River Fergus, about three miles above the small but industrious town of Clare Castle, at which place the river is navigable. It is said by some writers that the name of this latter town, which was taken from the castle there, and afterwards given to the kingdom of Thomond, was derived from Sir Thomas de Clare, son of the Earl of Gloucester, to whom King Edward I., of England, granted the whole of Thomond, on condition that he made good his claim by the sword, and at the same time created him Earl of Clare. The castle was built and strongly fortified by Donough Cairbreach O'Brien, King of Thomond,

who founded in his time no less than eighty abbeys, churches, and chapels, and received its name from a strong bridge of planks which he erected at this place over the Fergus.

Ennis was anciently called Ennis-Cluainruadha, and is 136 English miles in a direct line from Dublin. It returns two members to Parliament, and is governed by a corporation, which consists of a provost and free burgesses (51). In one of the suburbs, called Clonroad, there flourished shortly after the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland a celebrated seminary, in which 350 learned monks resided. It was regularly attended by about 600 students, and owed its origin to the munificent liberality of the Kings of Thomond. The following is a synopsis of the history of Ennis, from the earliest period, of which reliable records exist relative to that borough.

In 1247, Conor na Siudaine O'Brien built a magnificent monastery here, for Friars of the Order of St. Francis, and it was considered one of the handsomest in Ireland of its time. Some authorities say that this religious house was founded in 1240, by Donough Cairbreach O'Brien, but as the date of its founding is undoubtedly 1247, and as he was succeeded at his death, in 1242, by Conor na Siudaine, who reigned until 1268, it is evident that the latter prince was its founder. In 1249 a great portion of the town, which was composed of wood, was entirely destroyed by fire. In 1305 the Franciscan Monastery was thoroughly repaired and considerably beautified by Torlough, King of Thomond. He was son of Teige Caeluisce O'Brien, who died in 1259. Torlough also presented the Friars of Ennis with several handsomely ornamented crosses of considerable value, richly embroidered vestments, cowls, altar furniture, and book-cases inlaid with brass mounting for the use of their extensive library. In 1306 Cumeadh More Mac Namara died, and was interred in the Franciscan Monastery of Ennis. This year also Torlough, King of Thomond, died, and was interred here beside his relative and faithful adherent, the said Cumeadh, who in his lifetime had aided so materially in placing him on the throne; and Brien O'Brien, at the head of a large army, composed of Irish and Anglo-Normans, plundered the town, and slew many of its inhabitants. In or about the year 1311, in which he was slain, Donough, King of Thomond, being in a religious mood, granted the revenues of his principality to the Friars of the monastery of Ennis, for the purpose of beautifying and enlarging their establishment; and in 1313 a Dermod, or Dermot O'Brien, who had previously become a friar of this monastery, died and was interred here. On the 5th of June, 1343, Murrough O'Brien, King of Thomond, died, and was interred in this monastery and in the same year Matthew,

or Mahon Mac Namara built at his own expense the refectory and sacristy, and afterwards took the habit of the Order. In 1350 Pope Clement VI., granted several indulgences to this monastery, and in 1364 Dermod O'Brien, the deposed King of Thomond, who died in exile on the vigil of the conversion of St. Paul at Ardrahan, in the territory of Hy-Fiachrach, in the kingdom of Connaught, was interred in the monastery of Ennis, as was also Matthew O'Brien, who died on the feast of St. Philip and St. James, in 1370. On the 22nd of August, 1375, Edward III., King of England, granted a license to the guardians and friars of this monastery, empowering them to enter the Pale for the purpose of purchasing provisions of every kind which they required for their establishment, as a great scarcity prevailed in Thomond. He also granted a license to Marian Currydany, a brother of this house, to depart for the city of Argentine, to study in the college there; and in this year also it appears that two Franciscan friars from Ennis were sent, at the expense of their convent, to Strasburg for the same laudable purpose. The monastery of Clonroad, at Ennis, was given in 1540 to the friars de observantia, at the request of Murrough, son of Torlough O'Brien, and the Chieftains of Thomond, with the consent of the superiors of the Order of St. Francis.

In 1569 Thomond, which had hitherto formed part of Munster, was united to Connaught by Sir Henry Sydney, and placed under the authority of Sir Edward Fitton, Kuight, the first Lord President of Connaught. In 1570 Sir Edward Fitton issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of South Connaught, informing them that he intended holding a court in the monastery of Ennis, and commanding them to enter an appearance. Accordingly, Teige (son of Murrough O'Brien, of Inchiquin), the first Sheriff of Thomond, or Clare, made every preparation to receive the Lord President at the Monastery of St. Francis, where Sir Edward arrived about the festival of St. Bridget. On the third day after his entry into Ennis he dispatched a strong body of disciplined cavalry to request the Earl of Thomond's attendance. Unfortunately, it so happened that on the same day Donal, the son of Conor O'Brien, and uncle of the Earl of Thomond, was coming to visit his kinsman, and he and the English force arrived at the same time at the gate of the Earl's Castle. Lord Thomond, who did not wish to submit to the English, unhesitatingly resolved to make a prisoner of Donal and of all his principal followers, and to put the remainder to the sword; but they, hearing of his lordship's unfriendly intention, fled back with all speed to Sir Edward Fitton, who was conducted on the following day from Thomond to the village of Gortinsiguara, in Cincal Aodh,

where he arrived that night. On his march to Gortinsiguara he travelled by the most sequestered ways, which were well known to Teige, the Sheriff of Thomond, and Donough of Lemenagh, the sons of Murrough O'Brien, of Inchiquin, surnamed the Tanist, who were his guides on the occasion. He was, however, pursued by the exasperated Earl of Thomond. This afterwards ended in the outlawry of his Lordship, who took refuge first in Kerry, but was subsequently compelled to fly to France, where he found shelter, and became eventually reconciled to the Queen, when he was restored to his former rank and position. In 1576, in a dispatch forwarded to the Lords of the Council, Sir Henry Sydney, the Lord Deputy of Ireland, informed their Lordships that he had "proved before theim," namely, the Lords and Chieftains of Thomond "(lately annexed to the presidenty of Connaught by the Name of the countye of Clare) the verie Roote and Origine of their Ruyne was the uncertaine Graunte and unstaple possession of their Landes, whereupon grew their Warres," and adds, "I brought them to agree to Surrender all their Landes and take it of her Highnes agayne, and yeelde, bothe Rent and Service.". In this quotation Sir Henry alludes to the fact of his having annexed Thomond to Connaught seven years previously; but now, owing to his negociations with the Irish Chieftains, he considered it more prudent, for political motives, to undo this settlement; and, accordingly, the county of Clare was separated from Connaught by him, and, being again joined to Munster, was placed under the governorship of Sir William Drury, the Lord President. In 1577 Sir William Drury, about the festival of St. John, at the head of a large army, and accompanied by the principal Chieftains and nobles of the "two provinces of Munster," entered the county of Clare, and held a great court at Ennis, which sat for eight days, but none of the Dalcassian tribes attended, as they refused to acknowledge his authority, and the Lord President, having left a numerous army behind him, which he hoped would bring them under subjection, returned to Limerick. By a rent roll of the Crown for this year it appears that the Crown was then in possession of the site of the monastery of Ennis, a mill on the river Fergus, and an eel and salmon weir, together with some houses and gardens. In 1579, Donal, uncle of the Earl of Thomond, and son of Conor, son of Torlough Don, son of Teige, son of Torlough, son of Brien Catha-an-Eanaigh or, "of the battle of Nenagh," O'Brien died in the sixty-fifth year of his age, and was interred, with great pomp, in the monastery of Ennis. The county of Clare was again detached from the province of Munster and united to that of Connaught, and placed under the governorship of Sir Nicholas Malby. On the last day of March, in

this year, he received a dispatch from Queen Elizabeth, informing him that the "Country of Thomond," otherwise called the "county of Clare," was united to his government-Connaught—as it had been in Sir Edward Fitton's time, and directing him to determine the number of baronies the said county was to be divided into from that forth; the yearly rents, services of men and labourers for the works of the Crown, which were to be reserved by an indenture to be executed between the President of Connaught, on behalf of the Queen, and the gentlemen of Thomond, otherwise Clare. Sir Nicholas was further directed to procure the consent of the Mayor of Limerick-Nicholas Stritch-to have that portion of the city situated beyond the Castle, to the north of the River Shannon, made the new capital, or "Shiretown" of this county, either permanently or until "some apte place in Thomond maie, at the country charages, be circuited with a wall, which we think not harde to be brought to passe in this peaceible tyme, wherein we are contented that the laborers to be resarved to us in the composicons be employed, and do refer to you the choice of the place which we conceave maie fytly be at Quyne, Killaloe, or Innis, yf Clare be not ours, but granted to the earle of Thomond, as we are enformed." Sir Nicholas Malby would most undoubtedly have chosen Clare Castle, situated as it was at the estuary of the Fergus, and in the centre of the county which bore its name, but as it was the residence and private property of the Earl of Thomond, as had been correctly notified to the Queen, he resolved to select the next most convenient place recommended in the Queen's letter as the capital; and, accordingly, Ennis was made by him the shiretown of the county of Clare, in preference to Quin or Killaloe. The laborious undertaking, known as the "Settlement of the county of Clare," which had been suspended since the recall of the Lord Deputy, Sir Henry Sydney, from the government of Ireland, was resumed by Sir John Perrott after the prorogation of the Parliament which assembled in Dublin, on the 26th of April, 1585. Accordingly, on the 15th of July, a commission was issued, directed to Sir Richard Bingham, Governor of Connaught, the Earls of Thomond and Clanricarde, Lord Athenry, Premier Baron of the kingdom, Sir Torlough O'Brien, of Ennistymon, Sir Richard Bourke, and others, containing a recital of the various evils attendant on the system of "cuttings" and "cessings," which then, unfortunately, prevailed throughout the province of Connaught and Thomond, owing to the Chieftains making such enactments under pretence of defending the people who resided in their respective territories. The commissioners were invested with authority to summon before them "all the nobility, spiritual and temporal, and all the Chief