he resided in the capacity of poet to the chief of that district. The Four Masters have preserved the following anecdote of him, in which the great power of their favourite chieftain, O'Donnell, is conspicuously set forth.

"A.D, 1213, Fionn O'Brollaghan, steward to O'Donnell (Donnell Mor), went to Connacht to collect O'Donnell's rent. He first repaired to Carbury of Drumcliff, where with his attendants he visited the house of the poet Muireadhach O'Daly of Lios-an-Doill, and being a churle servant of a hero, he began to abuse the poet very much (although his lord had given him no instructions to do so). The poet becoming enraged at his conduct, seized a sharp axe, and dealt him a blow which killed him on the spot; and then to avoid O'Donnell, he fled into Clanrickard. When O'Donnell received intelligence of this, he collected all his forces, and pursued him to DoireUi-Dhomhnaill (Derrydonnell) in Clanrickard,—a place which was named from him, because he encamped there for a night; and he proceeded to burn and plunder the country, until at last the son of William submitted to him, having previously sent Muireadhach to seek for protection in Thomond. O'Donnell pursued him, and proceeded to plunder and ravage that country also, until Donough Cairbreach O'Brien sent Muireadhach away to the people of Limerick. O'Donnell followed him to the gate of Limerick, and pitching his camp at Moin-Ui-Dhomhnaill (which was named from him), laid siege to the town; and the inhabitants at O'Donnell's command expelled Muireadhach, who found no asylum any where, but was sent from hand to hand until he arrived in Dublin.

"O'Donnell then returned home, having first traversed and completed the visitation of all Connacht. He mustered his forces again without much delay in the same year, and marching to Dublin compelled the people of Dublin to expel Muireadhach, who fled into Alba (Scotland); and here he remained until he composed three poems in praise of O'Donnell, imploring peace and forgiveness. The third of these poems is the one beginning, 'Oh! Donnell, kind hand of peace, &c.' He obtained peace for his panegyrics, and O'Donnell afterwards received him into his friendship and gave him lands and possessions as was pleasing to him."

Thus far the Historians of Tirconnell. We have never seen any of the poems addressed by O'Daly to O'Donnell on this occasion; but we have a copy of a poem addressed by him when he fled into Clanrickard, to Richard De Burgo, the son

of William Fitz-Adelm, stating the cause of his flight, and imploring that great lord's protection. It begins "cread agarb aordig a A g-cén?" i. e. "what brings a guest to you from afar ?" In this poem (of which there is a good copy in a paper MS. in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy), Muireadhach calls himself O'Daly of Meath (O'Dala15 Mj8e), and states that he was wont to frequent the Courts of the English, and to drink wine from the hands of kings and knights, of bishops and abbots; that, not wishing to remain to be trampled under the feet of the Race of Conn, he fled to one, who, with his mail-clad warriors, was able to protect him against the fury of the King of Derry and Assaroe, who had threatened him with his vengeance, though indeed the cause of his enmity was but trifling, for that he (the fugitive) had only killed a plebeian of his people who had the audacity to affront him.

beag ar b-fala ris an b-fear,
baclac do best dom carnead;
Me do marbad an możad,

21 Dé! an adbar an-folad?

Trifling is our difference with the man,

A shepherd was affronting me;

And I killed that clown;

O God! is this a cause for enmity?

He calls upon the puissant Knight, Richard, the son of William, to respect the order of the poets, who are never treated with harshness by. chieftains, and to protect the weak against the strong. He next bestows some verses of panegyric upon him, describes the splendour of his house and its inmates, calls him the Chief of the English, the Lord of Leinster, the King of Connacht, the Proprietor of the Forts of Cruachain, of Tara, of Mac Coise's Wall of Stone, and of Mur-mic-an-Duinn then called Caislean-Ui-Chonaing, and suggests that he might hereafter invite the poets of the five provinces to his house. He then tells Richard the son of William, that whatever deeds of valour any one may have achieved, he cannot be truly renowned without protecting the venerable, or the feeble; and that he now has an opportunity of making himself illustrious by protecting O'Daly of Meath, a poet whose verses demand attention, and who throws himself on his generosity. He concludes by reminding him of his duties as king of the famous province of Connacht. See Annals of the Four Masters, Ed. J. O'D., A.D. 1213, pp. 179, 181, note e

In 1232, died Gilla-na-naeve O'Daly, a learned poet who had kept a house of hospitality for the poor and rich. Four Masters.

Under the year 1244, the Annals of the Four Masters record the death of " Donough Mor O'Daly,' the brother of this Muireadhach of Lissadill, a poet who never was and never will be surpassed; he was interred in the Abbey of Boyle." In the Annals of Clonmacnoise he is called chief of Ireland for poetry. According to tradition and some written pedigrees, he was the head of the O'Dalys of Finnyvara in the north of Burrin in the County of Clare, where they still point out the site of his house or college, and his honorary monument. A tree in the cemetery of the Abbey of Boyle is still pointed out as marking his grave. He is the ancestor of Lord Dunsandle, whose more immediate ancestor removed from Finnyvara to Hy-Many with Raghnailt Ny Brien the wife of Tadhg Ruadh O'Kelly of Callow, in the latter part of the fifteenth century. See Tribes and Customs of Hy-Many, p. 125.

In 1245, died Carroll [Buidhe, Yellow] Boy, son of Teige, son of Aenghus Fionnabhrach O'Daly. (Four Masters). A.D. 1268, died Aenghus O'Daly, a man eminent for poetry, and a keeper of a house of hospitality.

A.D. 1274, died Teige, son of Carroll [Buidhe] Boy O'Daly, chief poet of Hugh O'Conor, King of Connacht.

A.D. 1311, died Gilla-Iosa O'Daly, an Ollamh in poetry. A.D. 1323, we find one of the family in Ulster, for in that year Loghlin, the son of Owen O'Daly, was slain by the sons of Hugh [Buidhe] Boy O'Neill.

A.D. 1337, Lughaidh (Louis) O'Daly, Bishop of Clonmacnoise died after a well-spent life.

A.D. 1350, died Aenghus Roe O'Daly, the most learned. of the poets of Ireland.

A.D. 1367, Teige and Loughlin, two sons of Aenghus Roe O'Daly, died.

A.D. 1377, Hugh Mac Namara, chief of Clann-Choilen, was slain by the son of O'Daly's daughter.

A.D. 1378, Teige the son of Loughlin Mac Namara, was slain by the son of O'Daly's daughter.

1 O'Reilly says, that he was called the Ovid of Ireland, but we have not learned by whom, although such indeed he may be regarded; but it must be acknowledged that he has been since excelled by many of his countrymen. His poems are principally of a religious or moral character, and possess considerable merit, considering the age to which they belong, but not so much as to entitle him to the unqualified praise bestowed upon his powers by the Four Masters. O'Reilly's Descriptive Catalogue of Irish Writers, pp. 88-92, for a list of his poems.

See

A.D. 1887, died Goffrey Finn O'Daly, chief poet of Ireland.

A.D. 1394, Teige O'Haughian, a learned poet, was slain by the sons of Cuchonnacht O'Daly [in a squabble], about the Ollamh-ship of O'Neill.

A.D. 1404, Carroll O'Daly, Ollamh of Corcomroe, and Donnell, the son of Donough O'Daly, who was called Bolgan-Dana (the Budget of Poetry), died.

A.D. 1408, O'Haughian was slain by the O'Dalys, at Machaire Maenmhaighe [near Loughrea in the County of Galway].

A.D. 1415, Sir John Talbot, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, plundered the lands of several poets, which were considered inviolable by the Irish. He plundered O'Daly of Meath (Dermot), and Maurice O'Daly, and in the ensuing summer he plundered O'Daly of Corcomroe (Farrell, son of Teige, son of Aenghus Roe).

A.D. 1420, died Farrell O'Daly, Ollamh of Corcomroe, in poetry.

A.D. 1438, O'Daly of Breifny, chief poet to O'Reilly, died. A.D. 1448, Dermot, son of Owen, son of Mahon O'Daly, Ollamh of all Meath, a learned poet, died and was interred at Durrow-Columbkille, in the King's County.

A.D. 1459, Murtough O'Daly, a learned poet, died.

A.D. 1466, Murtough, son of Cuchonnacht O'Daly, died. A.D. 1474, O'Daly of Meath (Carbry), died.

A.D. 1490, O'Daly of Breifny (John, son of William, son of Hugh), a learned poet, died.

A.D. 1493, Conor, son of O'Daly of Breifny, died.

A.D. 1496, Owen Oge, son of Owen, son of Hugh O'Daly, died.

A.D. 1507, O'Daly Finn (Godfrey, son of Donough), and O'Daly of Carbery (Aenghus, son of Aenghus Caech), died.

A.D. 1514, O'Daly of Corcomroe (Teige, son of Donough, son of Teige, son of Carroll), a professor of poetry, who had kept a house of general hospitality, died at Finnyvara, and was buried in the Abbey of Corcomroe.

A.D. 1589, Donnell O'Daly, a gentleman who had the command of a party of soldiers in the Queen's service under Sir Richard Bingham, was taken and beheaded by the Burkes of the County of Mayo, who were then in rebellion. Annals of the Four Masters, p. 1881.

Of the various branches of this poetical family only one seems to have risen to rank and political importance in Ireland, namely, the descendants of Donough Mor O'Daly, who removed to Hy-Many in the latter part of the fifteenth century. Before the Revolution the head of this branch, Denis Daly of Carrownekelly, in the County of Galway, Esq., was second Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and a Privy Councillor in the reign of King James II. "He continued to fill this station at the Revolution," says Lodge, "with such impartiality and integrity (in those arduous times), as added lustre to his judicial character."

The representative of this gentleman at the latter end of the last century, was the Right Honorable Denis Daly, for many years member for the County of Galway, in the Irish Parliament, distinguished for his eloquence and ability; and characterised by Grattan as "one of the best and brightest characters Ireland ever produced." His eldest son James, after having also represented that County many years in Parliament, was, by the Title of Baron of Dunsandle and Clan Conal, County of Galway, raised to the Peerage of Ireland, June 6th, 1845.

From the Genealogical Table given at p. 4, it is clear that Cuchonnacht na Sgoile O'Daly, who died at Clonard, in 1139, was the first man of the O'Dalys who was celebrated for his learning. From his period forward poetry became a profession in the family, and the Corca-Adaim sent forth poetical professors to various parts of Ireland. About the middle of the twelfth century Raghnall O'Daly settled in Desmond, and became chief professor of poetry to Mac Carthy, king of Desmond. From him, no doubt, the O'Dalys of Muintir-Bhaire, in the south-west of the County of Cork, are descended; but their pedigree has not been preserved by the O'Clery's or Mac Firbises, and it is to be feared that it is irrecoverably lost. Dr. O'Brien, indeed, asserts in his Irish Dictionary (VOCE DALA), that the O'Dalys of Munster are descended from the third son of Aenghus, king of Cashel, who was baptized by St. Patrick;

1O'Reilly mentions twenty-eight poets of this family, and gives the first lines of upwards of one hundred poems written by them; and we have in our own collection almost as many more which escaped his notice; but they are chiefly religious, being the compositions of Donough Mor O'Daly, who died in 1244, and of Aenghus O'Daly surnamed" na Diadhachta" (the Pious or Divine), who flourished about the year 1570. See O'Reilly's Irish Writers, p. cxxxix.