k

have been a large town. Ware, however, declares, that he was not able to discover the smallest trace of a city, so called, in all that tract of country; and though he thinks, with every appearance of truth, that Ptolemy might have misplaced this city a little, he does not mention where he supposed it might have been situated. Baxter, whose authority is most respectable, judges Galway to have been the place, and says that the name means, in Irish, Cuan na guactie or the port of the small Islands, alluding to the Isles of Arran, lying at the entrance of the bay, and the other small Islands lying nearer the town. He derives the name from Cuan, a port or harbour, na, a preposition of the genitive case, and uact or guact, a little Island, which, by transition into the Greek manner of pronunciation, would form Naguata, for Nagnata he takes to be an error of transcribers. Harris, the editor of Ware, agrees with Baxter, saying, that the situation of Galway, according to Ptolemy, is pretty near the truth of this notion. If, in corroboration of the foregoing reasonings, recurrence shall be had to the testimonies of Tacitus, and also of our native historians, already mentioned, relative to the commerce of Galway, at the very time that Ptolemy describes Nagnata as the most considerable place on the western coast of Ireland, very little doubt can remain as to their identity. If it should still be necessary to call in the aid of probability or conjecture on the point, the reader might be reminded how indispensible the advantages of natural situation are always held, towards rendering any place eminent or considerable; and, seeing that the bay of Galway possesses, in a high degree, all these advantages, it might be no small reason to conclude, that Nagnata, then the most celebrated place in this part of the kingdom, must have been situated some where on the bay: and, if he should go farther, and inquire for the particular spot, he might be assisted by considering the general practice of mankind, at all times, in building their habitations or cities at or near the banks of rivers; and then, combining the numerous advantages, which, in the particular instance of the position of Galway, attend the confluence of a considerable lake and the ocean, he will

Naguatæ, apud Ptolemæum populus est Iberniæ; omnes tamen Libri levi laborant vitio: Quippe pro eo quod deberet esse ex Analogia linguæ Nafvá (hodie legimus Nafa, et in nonnullis exemplaribus adhuc pejus Mafra; puto quod fieret vox Latina. Naguatarum sedem Quod quidem nomen correpte effertur pro cuan na guactie, quod portus est exiguarum insularum, quæ hodie ab Erion sive Eris indigenis vocantur Arran pro Iuerion. Est autem Cuan Ibernis Portus, sicuti et hodiernis Gallis Coin pro Angulo est, nostris Britannis Conge: uict etiam (sive altera quadam loquela uact vel Guoct.) Parvam fuisse insulam alias docuimus. Est igitur Na syllaba in voce Naguatæ pro Nota Genitivi veteri Brigantum

Connactiam fuisse mecum sentet Camdenus.

sermone.

Naguata, Ptolomæo Пés 'Exiones, dicitur, quod hercle vel hodie est, Galliva nostra, ita nominata scotobrigantibus de cultoribus Anglis: siquidem vetusta lingua. Gal pro quovis Peregrino est; unde et se ipsos Gallos vocitabant Brigantes Iberniæ. Etymon hujus loci in superiore voce quærendum est.-Baxt. Gloss. Brit. Lismacuan, in Clonferg, was presented to the abbey of At page 3, (note) it is mentioned that the town of Collis Victoria, or Knockmoy, near Tuam, founded by Cathal O'Conor, king of Connaught, about the year 1190. It would seem as if by the Irish Lismacuan, or the fort on the harbour, was meant Galway, the parsonage of which, for a long period before the establishment of the wardenship by the Pope, belonged to that monastery; if so, the circumstance would tend much to strengthen Baxter's ingenious conjecture.

find that its situation was the best adapted, and most probable place of any other in that quarter, for that of the city in question. Considering, therefore, all the foregoing testimonies and reasonings, and the conclusions drawn from them, our entire concurrence is given to the opinions of the learned and respectable writers above quoted, that the ancient town of Galway, though without any apparent nominal analogy, was the famous city mentioned under the name of Nagnata by Ptolemy.

Having thus far endeavoured to ascertain the existence of this ancient place, the next object should be, if possible, to discover its origin and illustrate its history; but these are totally involved in darkness; and the only room that remains even for conjecture, is that of its having been so often made a point of division, in the various partitions of Ireland, as mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, whence it may reasonably be concluded to have been of very remote antiquity.

It would be foreign from the intention with which this work was originally undertaken, here to consume too much time in describing the tribes and people, who, according to Ptolemy or the native writers of Ireland, formerly inhabited the countries about Galway. As to the town itself, to which our attention is principally directed, no mention appears made of it for centuries after the period in which it is found to have been so considerable; but there are extant several accounts of sanguinary contests, between the rival princes of Munster and Connaught, immediately in its neighbourhood; and also of changes of inhabitants, and new settlements in its vicinity: but a dead silence reigns as to the place itself, which can only be accounted for, from the destruction of the ancient records and annals of the kingdom already alluded to; and this want or omission is not at all singular in the history of our island, for it is now most.

m

The animosities which subsisted between Con and

Eogan were kept alive by their descendants. A bloody battle was fought, at Magh Mochruime, near Galway, between Mac Conn, son of Mac Neid, who succeeded to Leath Mogha, after the death of Eogan, assisted by Luig Laga, second son of Eogan, and Art, (son of Con cead Chathach,) then king of Tara, assisted by the sons of Olioll Olum, eldest son of Eogan, of whom seven were killed in that battle.-Ogyg

In the year 360, Luig meann, otherwise Lamh dearg, or the bloody handed, king of Leath mogha, after being harassed by the Conacians, who made frequent attempts to add the district, forming the present county of Clare, to their territory, defeated them in several sanguinary engagements, killed several of their chiefs, and, laying waste their territories with fire and sword, deprived them of Clare and Thomond, extending from the bay of Kilcolgan, near Galway, to Limerick, and from LochDearg to Leim Cuchullin, or Cuchullin's leap, now called Loophead, otherwise Cape leane, at the mouth of the Shannon. To this extensive tract of country it

seems he had a prior right, as it lay within the limits traced out from Galway to Dublin between Con and Eogan. He converted the whole into Fearon cliomh, or Sword land, for the maintenance of his knights, in order to secure his country against the Conacians. endeavour to recover this back, in the year 550, Guara, king of Connaught, was defeated with dreadful slaughter.

In an

About this period, some of the descendants of Luig Dealbhaodh, son of Cos, king of North Munster, settled in the territory of Delvin Feadha, in Tirdaloch, to the west of Galway. It was anciently divided into two districts called Gnomore and Gnobeag, which now compose the whole barony of Moycullin. The O'Conrys were anciently chiefs of Gnobeag, until they were partly dispossessed, and partly made tributaries by the O'Flahertys.-Collect.

About the year 432, St. Patrick founded a church on the banks of Loch Sealga, near Galway, which was afterwards distinguished by the name of Domhnachmore, or the great church.-Ogyg.

clearly ascertained, that many considerable places formerly had existence, of which very little more than their names have been transmitted to posterity. To notice a single instance, out of many; who can peruse the few and trifling accounts now remaining of the early history of Dublin, the ancient metropolis of the kingdom, without a conviction of the loss of the annals and chronicles, which recorded the events of those distant times?

n

At the commencement of the ninth century, the Danes began to pour in swarms from their northern hive upon Ireland; terror and devastation marked their progress in every quarter; neither the venerable remains of antiquity, the feelings of humanity, nor the divine spirit of the christian religion, could make any impression on those ferocious monsters, who, with fire and sword, burned and massacred all before them, without distinction. In the year 835, an army of these adventurers, under the command of their sanguinary leader Turgesius, over-run and ravaged the province of Connaught, committing, in their progress, the most dreadful carnage; and, in the general wreck and destruction which then took place, the ancient town of Galway was destroyed. That this insatiable enemy did not spare a place so well adapted for commerce, or afterwards settle there, according to the policy adopted at Waterford, Limerick, and other parts of the kingdom, appears extraordinary, unless that they might, perhaps, have considered its situation as too remote, for purposes of internal traffic or conquest.

Soon after the power of the Danes was completely ruined at the famous battle of Clontarf, the Irish applied themselves, with assiduity, to remedy the disorders occasioned by those invaders; and the people of Connaught, well knowing the great advantages to be derived from the place where the ancient town of Galway was situate, accordingly commenced improving, or rather reviving, the town, which was then reduced to the state of a miserable village, consisting of a few straggling huts, inhabited by fishermen and their families, some of whose names are given in a former page. In the year 1124, a strong castle was built, and the town was put into a state of defence and security. The erection of this castle, and the consequent increase and improvement of the town, were viewed with jealousy and suspicion by the people of Munster; between whom, and those of Connaught, there long subsisted a considerable degree of provincial competition and animosity: and, with destructive policy, it was determined to destroy the place, before it should become more formidable. In pursuance of this determination, Connor, the reigning king of Munster, in the year 1132, dispatched a body of troops, by sea, under the command of Cormac Mc. Carthy;

Keating and Ware.

* Annals of Inisfallen and Lynch's MSS.-In the same year were built, the castles of Dunlo, near Ballinasloe, and Cuil-maol, alias Cuildony, in the county of Sligo;

and Turlogh O'Conor, monarch of Ireland, (who succeeded in 1130,) soon after built three bridges in Connaught, viz. Athlone, Athcrochta over the Shannon, and Dunlo upon the river Suck.—Ann. Inisf.

who, landing, besieged and took the castle of Galway, then known by the name of Dune-bun na Gaillve, or the fortification at the mouth of Galway; and, having put the entire garrison to the sword, levelled and destroyed the castle and town, and soon after defeated and slew Connor O'Flaherty, Lord of Iar Connaught. P In the following year, the king of Munster himself marched at the head of an army into Connaught, laid waste the places called Ruadhbheitheach and Bealatha; slew Cathal O'Conor, the Righdamhna, or heir apparent to the throne of Connaught, and Giolla na naomh O'Floinn, a chieftain of great power: after which, he burned the fortresses of Dunmogh-dhairne and Dunmore, and all the other places

of strength in the country. Turlogh O'Brien, king of Munster, again, in the year 1149, invaded Connaught, and took and destroyed the town and castle of Galway. These ravages appear to have been soon afterwards repaired, for in 1154, the ships of "Galway Dune" and of Conmacnamara, were sent upon an expedition to the northern parts of the kingdom; and immediately after the following entry occurs in the annals of the town: 1161, strange ships were seen in the harbour of Galway Dune, and the following day the town took fire. The annals of Innisfallen mention another conflagration, in 1170, but are otherwise silent as to the town. It may, however, be concluded, that this disaster was speedily remedied; for although the combustible matter of which buildings were then almost universally composed, rendered them more liable to the dreadful catastrophe of fire than structures of a more modern date and form, they were, at the same time, much more easily put together or repaired, in consequence of the general slightness of their texture and materials. This

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Reogh, together with four of his sons, and that the said Hugh Oge, then O'Flahertie, grandfather to the said Rory, was taken by the murderers; and with them detained without meat or drink, until he died by famine, at Moycullen: that O'Flahertic used to eat meat among the inhabitants of the said places, and had money paid to him; and, that the septe of the Purcelles, now inhabitors of the said lands, confessed, that there was due to the septe of Gilleduff, 40 pence sterling, of annual rent, (but now of late Morogh-ne-Do, waxing stronge, took the rent,) and also that they had 3s. 4d. annnal rent, out of the Island Eddy, paid by the Purcelles.-Rot. Pat. 29. Eliz.

Murrough ne More made the following mortgages, amongst others, of seve ral lands, the fee simple of which are now held by the descendants of the mortgagees.-Id.

To Gilleduffe Mc. Mortagh, the cartron of Derrynclare, for four milch cows. To Nicholas Martin of Galway, merchant, Lettercamsy, for 201.

To the same, several town lands, parcells of Ballinahinch, for 1007.

To Nicholas Martin, Geoffry Lynch and Martin Browne, the lands of Lecarrow, Urrislonan, Ardage, &c. for 1000 years for 131.

To Nicholas Martin, Edward Browne
and Martin Browne, the lands of
Clegganbegg, &c. for 100/.

Renville, Lettergosse, Ballinakill,
Ardbear, Ardkill, and several others.

On 16th August, 1607, it was found by inquisition, taken at Galway, that Teige ne bolly O'Flaherty of Arde was chief of his name, and that he had the title of O'Flaherty, since the time of Sir Henry Sidney, lord deputy; that he was seized in fee of the castle of Arde, and 2 cartrons, called the two Ardes, and, under a division 8th May, 1623. To Johnock Lynch, &c. the lands of between him and others of his competitors, of one half of Ballyndorvin and Ballinahinch; that as chief of his name, or Tanist, he was seized in fee, of the castle and island of Ballynahinch, and the fishings of the river of Owenmore, until one Teig Mac Morroughe ne dubh, his two sons, and Murrough ne More O'Flaherty, dispossessed him of the same; that by the composition with queen Eliz. he was to hold the entire by knights service, as of the castle or manor of Ardkyn in the great island of Arren. It was also found, that he had mortgaged several lands, to Richard Martin, of Galway, merchant.

At the same time, a similar inquest was held, as to Murrough ne More, finding all his extensive property and chief rents in Conamara, and several Irish customs, viz. that for every cow, horse, &c. stolen within the barony seven-fold restitution should be made to O'Flaherty; that the natives should furnish him with a butt of wine at certain times, that they should not take wreck of the sea, without giving him notice, and whenever he should give any of his daughters in marriage, that they should bestow a heifer, out of every quarter of land, &c.-Ing.

F

3d June, 1624. To Edmund Ffrench, James Darcy, &c. 3 cartrons in Monynmore, &c. for 801.

He

Murrough ne More, who, until the latter period of his life never obeyed any other than the Brehon laws, was, perhaps, the last of the old Irish chieftains. died on 16th April, 1626, leaving Murrough ne Mart his son and heir. During the civil wars which followed this period, the different clans of the name, lost almost the entire of their properties; a comparatively small portion, however, still remains in the possession of Thomas Henry O'Flaherty, Esq. of Lemonfield, County Galway, the lineal descendant of one of the chiefs of this illustrious family.

"Dupmac Colum-ċelle do lorgasanbladan so, gona teamplajb, agas capplean Gajime, ágas Apopatan mar an cceadna.—Ann. Innisf.