exercises, whilst the charms of female beauty were engaged in a no less important struggle. This annual gathering was no less remarkable for the trophies won on the field of valour than for the successes of the fair sex; and most of the marriages and alliances between the noble families were arranged at, and took their origin from, this general assemblage of the elite of the nation. The fair, as it was termed, lasted twenty-eight days: fourteen days before and fourteen days after the first of August, which was the great feast day.

As before remarked, it is impossible, after the lapse of so many centuries, to fix the precise dates at which the various Irish kings came to the throne; but with regard to this particular monarch, the date at which he reigned is more or less accurately determined by the record that he was the contemporary of the Emperor Hadrian, and ruled at the time the great Roman wall was built by that emperor in Britain. This would fix the date of his reign some time about the year A.D. 130.

Tuathal's political prosperity was soon blighted by 'domestic troubles, which were destined in their results to affect the future destinies of Ireland for many generations. He had several children, and, amongst others, two beautiful daughters, named Fithir and Dairiné. The hand of the latter was sought for and obtained by the King of Leinster. This prince subsequently became tired of his wife, and attracted by the charms of her sister, and there being no prohibition against marriage with the sister of a deceased wife, he shut his wife up in a dungeon, and pretended that she was dead. Having done this, and allowed a reasonable period to pass by, he became a successful suitor for the elder sister. After the celebration of the marriage, and the arrival of the new queen at her court in Leinster, the injured Dairiné contrived to escape from confinement, and quite unexpectedly made her appearance in the presence of her faithless husband and his new wife. The deceived sister, seeing her alive and well, for the first time knew how falsely both had been treated, and filled with shame and horror fell dead on the spot; and Dairiné, no less affected by the treachery of her husband, and the death of her sister, returned to her solitary chamber, and shortly after died of a broken heart.

Upon hearing this melancholy news regarding his two daughters, Tuathal became incensed, and determined to exact satisfaction for the injury done. to his family, and the insult given to himself. Accordingly, he marched an army into Leinster, defeated the king who in this shameful way was doubly his son-in-law, and compelled him to submit to terms, under which ever afterwards a certain tribute was to be paid by the Kings of Leinster to the monarch of Ireland. This tribute, called the "Boroimhe Laighean," or cow tribute, was

subsequently the cause of innumerable wars and calamities to the people of Leinster, and indeed to the whole of Ireland. It consisted in the payment every second year of a certain number of cows and hogs, and even of human slaves; and it continued to exist with various intermissions for nearly 500 years, until it was abolished in the seventh century, at the desire of one of the Irish saints. Subsequently it was occasionally enforced, and notably by the great Brian, King of Munster, who became monarch of Ireland, and who, from the fact of his restoring it, or enforcing it, received the designation of Brian Boroimhe, or Brian Boru.

Tuathal, having thus avenged the insult cast upon his family, returned to his own dominions, and the rest of his reign was chiefly devoted to the arts of peace. Amongst other improvements, he established courts of municipal jurisdiction for the better regulation of the concerns of tradesmen and artificers.1 After a long and prosperous reign of thirty years, he was killed in battle by Mal, King of Ulster, who thereupon seized the throne by right of conquest. Mal, having reigned five years, was, in his turn, defeated and slain by Felim, son of Tuathal, who then assumed the sovereignty.

FELIM, surnamed "THE LAWGIVER," about A.D. 164.

This prince reigned for about nine years, and during his sway the country enjoyed almost uninterrupted peace. He turned his attention mainly to improving the laws and the civil government of the land. He it was who first established the system of Eric,2 or the payment of a fine for any outrages committed in a district, instead of the previously existing law of retaliation, under which "an eye for an eye," and "a tooth for a tooth," was always exacted. This law of "Eric" continued to exist for centuries, and was in its nature very similar to the "weregeld" of the Saxons.

Felim, unlike most of his predecessors and successors, died quietly in his palace at Tara. His death left the crown of Ireland in dispute between various rivals, the most successful being Cather, King of Leinster, who succeeded in obtaining the sovereignty for a few years, until he was defeated and slain by Conn, son of Felim.

1 Moore's History of Ireland, Vol. I., p. 126.

According to O'Halloran and some other historians, the change which Felim effected was exactly the reverse, he having abolished the law of "Eric," and substituted that of the "lex talionis," or law of retaliation. As the law of "Eric" existed for centuries after Felim's death, and was embodied in the ancient Irish code, it is much more probable that this was what Felim inaugurated.

CONN CAED CATHA, or CONN OF THE HUNDRED BATTLES, about A.D. 177.

Conn succeeded to the throne of his ancestors four years after his father's death. As his surname indicates, his reign was remarkable for events of a very different character from those which signalized that of his father. He was almost constantly engaged in warlike pursuits, his chief competitor being Eoghan Mor, or Owen Mor, King of Munster. His first warlike expedition of importance was undertaken to establish more absolute authority over the kingdom of Leinster than preceding Irish monarchs had usually aspired to. On this occasion the King of Leinster was assisted by Eoghan Mor, who was also called Mogha-Nuadht; but Conn defeated them both, and Mogha-Nuadht was obliged to fly from Ireland, and, according to some accounts, he went to Spain, where he was well received, and married a Spanish princess. About seven years afterwards, he returned to Ireland, and having met with a favourable reception in Munster, he again took possession of that kingdom, and immediately began to make preparations for attacking his old enemy Conn. In this he was joined by the King of Leinster, and with a large army, stated to amount to 30,000 men, he proceeded to Tara to attack the monarch.

When Conn became aware of the danger which threatened him by this attack, finding himself unable at once to cope with such an overwhelming force, he retired to Cruachan, in Connaught, and there, with his ally the King of Connaught, awaited the arrival of his foes. The King of Munster speedily followed him, and an engagement appeared imminent, when negotiations were entered into, which resulted in an agreement to divide Ireland between the contending parties, by a line drawn across the country from Galway to Dublin. The northern portion, called Leath Cuin, or Conn's portion, was hereafter to be Conn's kingdom; and the southern division, called Leath Mogha, or Mogha's portion, was handed over to Eoghan. The southern half was to acknowledge the race of Heber as sovereigns, and the northern half, with the title of monarch, was reserved for the descendants of Heremon. This famous division of Ireland was known as the settlement of Leath Mogha and Leath Cuin, a settlement which subsequently led to many wars and disputes.

In the very beginning it secured only a temporary peace. Shortly after the arrangement had been ratified, disputes arose between Conn and Eoghan relative to the revenues derivable from the Ports of Dublin and Galway, and a fierce battle took place at Magh Leana, in the present King's County, in which Eoghan Mor was killed. Conn then made peace with his successor on the throne of Munster, having secured to himself the disputed

revenues.

C

Peace being restored in the southern division of the country, the restless spirit of the Irish monarch manifested itself in the north. Disputes arose between him and his subordinate king, the ruler of Ulster, and Conn led a large army into that kingdom. In this desultory war many battles were fought with various results. About two years after the battle of Magh Leana, Conn, according to some accounts, was killed in one of these conflicts. According to other accounts, he was murdered at Tara.

Conn was noted in ancient Irish history not only for his warlike deeds, but also for prophecies connected with his name. An account of these prophecies is given in a MS. in the British Museum, stated to have been transcribed in the year A.D. 1590; and they are referred to in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick. One of these so-called prophecies is written in prose, and has reference to the Kings of Tara. Conn commences with his own son Art, and runs on through the different kings to the reign of Leoghair, when he foretells the coming of St. Patrick. Another prophecy, connected with Conn's name, with a long history of what led up to it, is also in a MS. in the British Museum.

Conn is represented as watching the firmament, when a stone at his feet gave forth a shriek, and asking his Druids what this meant, they, after fifty-two days' consideration, told him that the number of shrieks which came from the stone signified the number of kings of his race who should succeed him. After this Conn became suddenly wrapped in darkness, and a knight and a princess appeared to him and foretold all that would happen to his posterity. The princess had a silver vat full of red ale, and a golden cup and a golden ladle before her. The knight, having introduced Conn to her, told him that he had come to tell him the lengths of his own reign and of that of every one of his descendants. Upon this the princess presented to Conn the bare rib of an ox, and the bare rib of a boar, and the golden cup. She then took up the ladle and filled the cup, and said, "Who shall this cup with the red ale be given to ?" And the knight answered, "To Conn of the hundred battles; fifty years shall he reign, when he shall be slain at Tuath Amrois." The princess said again, "Who shall this cup of red ale be given to ?" "Give it," said the knight, "to Art, the son of Conn, who shall reign thirty years, when he shall be slain at Magh Mucruimhe." The princess continued to ask the same question for a number of times, and in each case the knight answered, giving the name of each succeeding king, the length of his reign, and the time and manner of his death, up to the time of Leoghair, in whose reign St. Patrick came to Ireland. The knight then said, "Five years he shall have reigned, when a stranger shall come, that is Patrick, a bearer of great dignity, whom God

will honour, and who will light a great torch that will illuminate Erinn even to the sea."

The prophecy is then continued down to the year 718, when the copy which has been preserved breaks off. O'Curry says, "That this piece, whatever was its date, was a well-known tract and of authority for the succession. and reigns of the monarchs of Erinn in the middle of the eleventh century, is clear, as we find it quoted by Flann of Monasterboice (who died in 1056), in the sixteenth stanza of his poem on the succession of the Kings of Tara."

The real value of these so-called prophecies, it is scarcely necessary to add, consists not in foretelling the future succession of kings, but in preserving a very ancient record of the succession which had already taken place.

The practice of ascribing predictions of the coming of St. Patrick to persons who had lived some centuries before his time, "was not confined," says Q'Curry, "to the case of Conn." "We find in the ancient historic tract on the battle of Magh Mucruimhe (which was fought in the year of our Lord 195), a prophetic poem, ascribed to Art, the son of Conn, who was slain in this battle." This poem is preserved in the ancient MS., called the "Leabhar na h-Uidhrè," compiled before the year 1106. This poem is one of the most ancient now extant, and, according to the same writer, "was probably composed prior to the Danish and Saxon invasions."

ART, surnamed "THE SOLITARY," about A.D. 195.

On the death of Conn, the states proceeded to the election of a successor, and the choice of the majority fell on Conaire, another prince of the house of Heremon, who had married the daughter of the late king Conn. After a reign. of nine years, Conaire was killed in battle, and was succeeded by his brotherin-law Art, son of Conn. This Art had a long and prosperous reign of about thirty years, when his authority was disputed by another chieftain, named Mac Con, who claimed the Leath Mogha, or southern half of Ireland, which Art had taken to himself. Art refused to give this up, and a great battle took place at Magh Mucruimhe. This was the battle alluded to above, on the eve of which, it is stated that Art foretold his own death, and that his son, then unborn, would subsequently come to the throne, and arrive at great power and dignity. The prophecy, as described, arose out of a dream of Art's queen, which her husband is represented as interpreting.

'O'Curry's Lectures on MS. Materials for Irish History, Lecture XVIII., p. 389.