The copy selected for publication was made by a Munster scribe named Quinlivan, about A. D. 1770, and is the best we remember having ever seen. But the publisher not being altogether satisfied with the correctness of its text, applied to the Council of the Royal Irish Academy, for permission to compare it with any copies which may be in their library; and that body, with the spirit which animates all true Irishmen and lovers of the literature of their country and race, immediately responded to his call, by placing all their MSS. before him for this purpose; and he feels bound to say that, in their collection he found three copies of the poem, in which he found several stanzas not in his own, nor in any other сору he ever met with. Professor Connellan also gave permission to use a very good copy of the poem which he made from one compared and corrected by the famous old schoolmaster and scribe,-Peter O'Connell of Kilrush, who flourished from about 1780 to 1824; the original of which, is now in the library of Lord George Augusta Hill, of Ballyane House, County of Donegalthus leaving on record for posterity, whatever its fate may be, the best copy of O'Daly's satires extant. It is necessary, however, to inform the reader that we have arranged the different quatrains of the whole satire under proper heads-the verses relating to Connacht are first in consecutive order; and next come those of Leinster, of the families of which province our author said but very little. Next comes the portion relating to Ulster, where he seems to have made several journeys; and last of all we have placed the portion relating to Munster-his native province-and where he lost his life by the hand of a Tipperary O'Meagher, to whom the knife and sword were equally familiar. 8, Newcomen Place, North Strand, Dublin, January, 1852. JOHN O'DONOVAN. Mu¡ntir Eolais an újr ċais, 1 Muintir-Fhidhnacha, i.e, the family of Fenagh, or Fidhnacha Muighe-Rein, in the County of Leitrim. These were the O'Rody's or O'Rodachans, who were Comharbas of St. Caillin in the Church of Fidhnach. They are of the same race as the Mac Rannalls. 2 Of relic's (na mionn). The O'Rodachains of Fidhnach, had several remarkable relics in their possession before Cromwell's time, such as bells, sacred standards, and the shrine of St. Caillin, who was the founder and patron of their Church. A very remarkable Bell called Clog-na-righ, i.e., the Bell of the Kings, which belonged to this family, is still preserved. See Annals of the Four Masters, Ed. J.O'D., A.D. 1244, note 17. An ancient vellum MS. which also belonged to this family, is still preserved near the Church of Fidhnach, and a very ancient copy in the British Museum, and a modern copy on parchment in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy. See the Miscellany of the Irish Archæological Society, vol. I. pp. 115, 117, 118, for some account of Tadhg O'Rodachain, or O'Rody, the head of this family in 1688, who had a large collection of Irish Antiquities and Manuscripts. The Coarb and Herenach families of Ireland looked upon them. selves as of the rank of gentlemen, and were often remarkable for hospitality. This Thady Roddy of Fidhnach, says of himself in his letter to Lhwyd, written in May 1700. "I Thady Roddy that writes this have written [the pedigrees of] all the familyes of the Milesian race from this present age to Adam, tho' none of the race of Antiquaryes, BUT A GENTLEMAN that has more ancient books of Ireland, and that learned, and understands them as well at least, as any now in Ireland, or any where, all which paines I take for my countryes sake, for my owne satisfaction, and to preserve so noble and singular a monument of honor and antiquity." Ibid, pp. 120, 121. AENGHUS O'DALAIGH, CECINIT. THE PORTION RELATING TO CONNACHT. The family of Fidhnach' of relics,' I would not eat but against my will; As it cannot be avoided. Muintir Eolais" of the barren soil, Who strip each holly tree." For more information on this subject, the reader is referred to Ussher's tract on Corbes, Erenachs, and Termon lands, published in the second number of Vallancey's Collectanea, Colgan's Trias Thaum. p. 630, 631, and Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. II. p. 37, and vol. iv. p. 30. 3 Shrove-tide bread, i.e., pancakes. 4 As it cannot be avoided, i.e., because I had nothing else to get. 5 Muintir-Eolais, i.e., the tribe of Eolas, son of Biobhsach, and twenty-fourth in descent from Conmhac, ancestor of the Conmhaicne of Magh-Rein. After the establishment of hereditary surnames, the chief family of this sept took the surname of Mag Raghnaill, now Magrannell and Reynolds. Their territory comprised the entire of all Magh-Rein, or the southern and level portion of the present County of Leitrim. The late Squire Reynolds, who was murdered at Sheemore, in the County of Leitrim, was the last head of this family. His daughter Mary Anne Reynolds, alias Mac Namara of Lough-scur House, is the only surviving person of his family. Her grandson on becoming of age will take the name of Peyton Reynolds. John Reynolds, Esq, M.P., is of their race, but his pedigree has not yet been traced. 6 Wild garlic, eneam, or cream; is still the living word for wild garlic, or gentian, in Ireland; and in the Highlands of Scotland. 7 Strip each holly tree. The bark of the holly, and also of the elder-tree, was given to children with voracious appetites, "to straiten their guts." This is told of step-mothers in various parts of Ireland. The 5arlac Coleanaċ was wont to tell his father that his guts were not yet narrowed enough from the bark, for the quan. tity of bread he could lick off the flag given him by his step-mother, who used place a thin flag in the centre of the cake which she baked for his breakfast. Ata an teaċ mar nać cubajd, An djabal fear marbċa mart, Is neaċ ajr ar ¿ujt an t-sean-ihallaċt,* A'1 ́s ifreann ar a ċumas. Ma's ar grád do Mhuire mõisr, 1 Cathal O'Conor, Charles O'Conor of Ballintober Castle, in the County of Roscommon. 2 Drink. Aŋlann is the latin obsonium, i.e., what the low Irish and the Lowland Scotch call kitchen, i.e., any victuals eaten with bread, &c. Armstrong, says in his Gaelic Dictionary, that Annlann expresses all the more substantial eatables, ab ovo usque ad mala. In Ireland it means kitchen stuff, or any kind of soup, broth, dip, or blind herring, that enables one to swallow bread or potatoes. See the Letter of Julius Vindex. A boy in the South of Ireland was heard to say, that he would not ask better annlaŋŋ with his potatoes than blind herring, that is, salt and water; and the same youth frequently swallowed lumpers and this luxurious soup, until he had to be tied with a rope to prevent him from bursting. 3 The plain of Connacht. This was, and is still, the name of a spacious and fertile plain extending from Roscommon to Elphin, and from Strokestown to Castlerea, in the County of Roscommon. But the bard evidently intends the term to denote all the rich plains of Connacht. Plunderer of Cruachain, i.e., O'Conor Don. Snouty of Leitrim, i.e., O'Rourke of Leitrim Castle, at this time a very stout rebel. This was Brian Oge, who died in 1604. His father, Brian na Murtha, was hanged and beheaded in London, A.D. 1591, and his head set up on a spike over London Bridge, as one of the "Lasa Majestatis cupita." In another copy. Is duine dona deaṁnajde, The house is not in meet condition, The devil a killer of beeves, Is this day in the Plain of Connacht, He is a person on whom the old curse has fallen,— Who would remain in Sil-Anmchadha, And Hell at his command. If it be for love of the great Mary, He is an evil demoniac wight, 6 Sil Anmchadha, i.c., the race of Anmchadh, or Animosus. This was the tribe-name of the O'Maddens, whose territory comprised the barony of Longford, in the County of Galway, and the parish of Lusma in the King's County. Sir Frederick Madden of the British Museum, and Dr. R. R. Madden, author of The Lives and Times of the United Irishmen, are of this race. See Tribes and Customs of Hymany, for the pedigree of the senior branches of this family. 7 Munians, i.e., the people of Hy-Many, or as some have called them, of high mania, and others "the sons of suck." These were the descendants of Maine Mor, the fourth in descent from Colla Da Chrich, son of Eochaidh Doimhlen, son of Cairbre Liffeachair, monarch of Ireland in the third century. After the establishment of surnames, the chief family of this sept took the surname of O'Ceallaigh (O'Kelly), from Ceallach, the fourteenth in descent from Maine Mor. See Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many, p. 97. Denis Henry Kelly, of Castlekelly, Esq., is the present chief of this family, and next to him in point of seniority is Count O'Kelly of Montauban, in the South of France. Conor O'Kelly of Ticooley, Esq., who is by descent a Count of the Holy Roman Empire, is the representative of the famous family of the O'Kellys, who were formerly seated at Gallagh, now Castle Blakeney, in the County of Galway. |