In Sect. 9 of the Paper No. 100 in the Appendix No. I., headed "Provincial
Kings," which contains a Return of "The Kings of Ulster before the Advent of
St. Patrick to Ireland," the names of the Kings of that province are given,
down to Saraan, the last king of Ulster of the Irian race; and it is there
mentioned that the Three Collas, with the Heremonian power of Leinster and
Connaught, invaded Ulster, conquered the country, and there formed for
themselves and their posterity, the Kingdom of Orgiall (latinized Orgallia),
sometimes called Oriel, and Uriel.
The Three Collas were, as already mentioned, the sons of Eochy Dubhlen, who
was the son of Carbry Liffechar, the 117th Monarch of Ireland. To the
exclusion of this Eochy, his younger brother, who was named Fiacha Srabhteine,
attained to the Monarchy as the 120th Monarch. With the view to restore the
succession in their own line, the Three Collas waged war against Fiacha
Srabhteine, in his thirty-seventh year's reign, and slew him in the battle of
Dubhcomar, A.D. 322, when Colla Uais, ascended the throne, as the 121st
Monarch, who A.D. 326, was deposed by his successor in the Monarchy, namely,
Muredach Tireach, son of Fiacha Srabhteine. This Muredach then banished to
Scotland the Three Collas and their principal chiefs, to the number of three
hundred; but through the influence of the King of Alba, and the mediation of
the Druids, they were afterwards pardoned by the Irish Monarch, who cordially
invited them to return to Ireland, and received them into great favour.*
Ostensibly to avenge an insult offered to their great ancestor, Cormac-Mac-
Art, the 115th Monarch of Ireland, by Fergus Dubh-Dheadach, himself also of
the Heremonian line, and the predecessor of Cormac in the Monarchy, the Irish
Monarch moved the Three Collas to invade Ulster; and he promised them all the
assistance in his power. Accordingly the Collas collected a powerful army; and
joined by numerous auxiliaries, and seven catha (cath: Irish, a battalion of
three thousand soldiers; cath: Chald: a battalion) or legions of the
Firvolgian or Firbolg tribes of Connaught, marched into Ulster to wrest from
its kings the sovereignty of that kingdom. Saraan assembled his forces to
oppose them; and, both armies having met, they fought seven battles, in which
the Collas were victorious; but the youngest brother, Colla Meann, fell on the
side of the victors.- These engagements were called Cath-na-ttri-gColla, or
the Battles of the Three Collas.*
The Collas having overthrown the natives, slain their king, sacked burned,
and destroyed the regal city of Eamhain (or Emania*), thereby possessed
themselves of a great portion of Ireland; but soon after, the Monarch Niall of
the Nine Hostages conquered that part of Ulster known as the "Kingdom of
Aileach," of one part of which his son Eoghan or Owen, and of the other
portion, his son, Conall Gulban, were the first princes of the Hy-Niall sept.
From the Three Collas descended many noble families in Ulster, Connaught,
Meath, and Scotland; the families descended from them were known as the
"Clan Colla."
The following were among the principal families of the chiefs and tribes of
this race: The Agnews, Alexanders, Boylans, Cassidys, chiefs of Coole;
Connollys, chiefs in Fermanagh; Corry; Devin, lords of Fermanagh; Duffy, Hale,
Hanratty (anglicised "Enright"); Keenan, chiefs in Fermanagh; Kearn, Kieran;
Leahy, chiefs in Hy-Maine - a territory in Galway and Roscommon; MacAllister,
MacArdle; MacCabe, chiefs of Monaghan, and Cavan; MacCann, lords of
Clanbrassil; MacClean; MacDonald and MacDonnell, lords of the Hebrides;
MacDonnell, of Antrim; MacDonnell, of Clankelly, in Fermanagh; MacDougald,
MacDougall, and MacDowell; MacEvoy,* MacVeagh, and MacVeigh (the anglicised
forms of the ancient MacUais) who were distinguished chieftains in the
territory now known as the barony of "Moygoish,"in the county Westmeath;
MacGilfinan, lords of Pettigoe: MacGilmichael or Mitchell; MacGilmore; chiefs
in Down and Antrim; MacKenna, chiefs of Truagh in Monaghan; MacMahon, princes
of Monaghan, lords of Farney, and barons of Dartry, at Conagh, where they held
their chief seat (The MacMahons were sometimes styled Princes of Orgiall, and
several of them changed their names "to Matthews"); MacManus, chiefs in
Fermanagh; MacOscar and MacOsgar (anglicised MacCusker and Cosgrave), who,
according to O'Dugan, possessed a territory called Fearra Rois (signifying the
"Men of Ross"), which comprised the district of Magheross about the town of
Carrickmacross, in the county Monaghan, with the parish of Clonkeen,
adjoining, in the county Louth; MacTully, and MacGrath, chiefs in Fermanagh;
MacNeny (anglicised "Bird"), MacRory (anglicised "Rogers"), MacSheehy; Madden,
lords of Siol Anmcha or Silancha, which ancient territory comprised the
present barony of Longford, in the county Galway, and the parish of Lusmagh on
the other (Leinster) side of the river Shannon, near Banagher, in the King's
County; Magee, chiefs in Down and Antrim; Maguire, princes and lords of
Fermanagh, and barons of Enniskillen; Muldoon (anglicised "Meldon"), chiefs of
Lurg; Mullally and Lally, Naghtan and Norton, chiefs in Hy-Maine; Neillan;
O'Carroll, princes of Oriel or Louth; O'Flanagan, lords of Tura, in Fermanagh;
O'Hanlon, lords of Orior, in Armagh, and Royal standard bearers of Ulster;
O'Hart, princes of Tara, lords of Teffia, and chiefs in Sligo; O'Kelly,
princes and lords of Hy-Maine; O'Neny, Rogers, Saunderson, Sheehy, etc. The
MacQuillians, powerful chiefs in Antrim, are considered to have been of the
race of Clan Colla, and, like the MacAllisters, MacCleans, McDonalds, and
MacDonnells of Antrim, MacDowells, MacElligotts (anglicised "Elliotts"), etc.,
to have come from Scotland.
The Sheehys and MacSheehys were great commanders of gallowglasses* (or
heavy armed troops) in Ulster, and also in Leinster, and Munster.
The territory conquered by the Collas in Ulster obtained the name
"Orgiall," from the circumstance of their having, for themselves and their
posterity, stipulated with the Monarch, that if at any time any princes or
chiefs of the Clan Colla should be demanded as hostages, and if shackled,
their fetters should be chains of gold* (hence, from the Irish word "Or"
[ore], French "or," Lat."aur-um, "gold: Irish, "ghiai,"a hostage, came the
name "Orgiall."
After its conquest by the Collas, the Kingdom of Orgiall, or, as it was
still generally called, the Kingdom of Ulster, comprised the extensive
territory which includes the present counties of Louth, Monaghan, Fermanagh,
Armagh, Tyrone, Londonderry, Antrim, Down, Donegal, and parts of Antrim, Cavan
and Meath; but, by conquest, and sub-division amongst some of the Princes and
Chiefs of Clan Colla, the "Kingdom of Orgiall" ceased to exist; and the
"Kingdom of Ulster" was, in after ages, limited to Dalaraida or Ulidia--
a territory comprising the present county Down and part of Antrim. By Ware,
Ussher, Colgan, and other Latin writers, the Kingdom of Orgiall was called
Orgallia and Ergallia; and by the English Oriel,* and Uriel. The latter terms,
however, were afterwards, in general, confined by the English to the present
county Louth (latinized "Lovidia"), which was called "O'Carrol's Country;" and
which, after it was constituted a county, A.D. 1210, formed part of the
English Pale. Thus, Louth was comprised in the ancient Kingdom of Ulster,
which extended as far south as the Boyne at Drogheda,* and Slane.
The ancestor of the O'Carrolls of Oriel was Carroll, brother of Eochy, who
was father of St. Donart. This Eochy being an obstinate Pagan, opposed the
Apostle; who, on that account, prophesied that the sceptre would pass from him
to his brother Carroll, above mentioned. And the O'Carrol's continued Kings of
Oriel or Louth, down to the twelfth century when they were dispossessed by the
Anglo-Normans, under John de Courcy.* In co-operation with St. Malachy,
Archbishop of Armagh in the twelfth century, Donoch O'Carroll, Prince of
Oriel, the last celebrated chief of this family, founded, A.D. 1142, and
amply endowed the great Abbey of Mellifont, in the county Louth.
Uladh [Ula] was the ancient name of the entire province of Ulster, but
after its conquest by the Three Collas, that name (latinized "Ulidia")
was applied to that portion of the east of Ulster, bounded on the west by the
Lower Bann and Lough Neagh, and by Glionn (or Glen) Righe [ree], now the glen
or vale of the Newry river; through which an artificial boundary (from Newry
upwards) still in tolerable preservation, was formed, now called "The Danes'
Cast," but known in Irish by the name of Gleann Na Muice Duibhe, signifying
"The Valley of the Black Pigs." That eastern portion of Ulster, now known as
the county Down and part of the county Antrim, constituted the "Kingdom of
Ulster," in the twelfth century; and it is to that territory that the Irish
annalists who have written in Latin apply the name Ulidia, while they mean
"Ultonia," to denote all Ulster.
In the ancient Ecclesiastical divisions of Ireland, the territory of
"Orgiall" was comprised within the ancient diocese of Clogher. In early times
there were bishops' sees at Clones and Louth, which were afterwards annexed to
Clogher; and, in the early writers, the bishops of Clogher were frequently
styled bishops of Orgiall and of Ergallia. Thus, it would appear that, after
the introduction of Christianity into Ireland, Clogher, as being the chief
seat of government of the Kings of Clan Colla, was, for some time the
ecclesiastical metropolis of Ulster; and that, although the see of Armagh was
founded by St. Patrick, it was not until the Kings of Clan Colla were, by
conquest, deprived of Clogher, that Armagh, another of their seats of
government, became the premier see of Ulster. In the thirteenth century, the
county Louth was separated from Clogher, and added to the diocese of Armagh;
where, according to the "Tripartite Life of St. Patrick," the first site for a
church was granted to the Apostle of Ireland by a Pagan chieftain named Daire
or Darius, a prince of Orgiall, and a descendant of Colla-da-Chrioch, the
first King of Ulster, of the line of Clan Colla.
In St. Bernard's "Life of St. Malachy," Archbishop of Armagh in the
twelfth century, it is stated (see Colgan's Trias Thaum., pages 801-2) that
the Clan Colla or Orgialla would not allow any bishop among them except one of
their own family; that they had carried this through fifteen generations; and
that they had claimed the see of Armagh, and maintained possession of it for
two hundred years, claiming it as their indubitable birthright. And
O'Callaghan writes that the Primacy of Armagh, "the Rome of Ireland," as he
tells it, was a "vested interest in one family of the race between the tenth
and twelfth centuries, for nearly two hundred years.
While entertaining the greatest respect and veneration for any dictum
of St. Bernard, we may be permitted to offer a few observations on the
subject. "De mortuis nihil nisi bonum."
If the Clan Colla recognized no ecclesiastical authority outside their own
episcopacy, it is easy to understand that, possessing the civil power, they
ellected their bishops from their own family; for, what more natural than that
the dignitary who possesses supreme ecclesiastical authority in any country
will advance to the episcopate a member of his own family, in preference to a
stranger: the more so, if the temporalities of the sees over which he has
ecclesiastical jurisdiction were the rich endowments of his ancestors.
On the other hand, if the bishops of Clan Colla recognized ecclesiastical
authority outside their own episcopacy, then the allegations imply that,
without the sanction of that ecclesiastical authority, the bishops of that
race did, for fifteen generations, enter into, and keep, possession of their
sees. If this were so, we should indeed admit that the bishops of Clan Colla
were guilty of gross contumacy; for, without taking into account the "nearly
two hundred years" during which, it is alleged, the Clan Colla had claimed the
see of Armagh, and maintained possession of it, claiming it as their
indubitable birthright, the "fifteen generations" above mentioned embraced
all the generations from the advent of St. Patrick to Ireland, A.D. 432, down
to the eleventh century, or, from Crimthann Liath, who was King of Ulster at
the time of that advent, down to Maelruanaidh: these two personages of the
race of Clan Colla being, respectively (see pp. 670-672, Vol. I.), Nos. 89 and
104 on our family pedigree.
If, then, for six hundred years or fifteen consecutive generations the
bishops of Clan Colla were disobedient to superior ecclesiastical authority,
or, what is the same thing, contumacious, it is difficult to see how and by
whom any of them were ever canonized; for, we find that some of the bishops of
that once illustrious race lived and died in the odour of sanctity.
The Four Masters record thirty-nine saints as descended from the Three
Collas: namely, nineteen from Colla-da-Chrioch; sixteen from Colla Uais; and
four from Colla Meann. Of these saints some were virgins, some were bishops,
some were abbots; but at all times the abbots ranked as bishops in Ireland.
The following were the nineteen saints descended from Colla-da-Chrioch:1. St. Begg (1st August)
2. St. Brughach (1st Nov.)
3. St. Cureach, virgin
4. St. Daimhin (or Damin), abbot of Devenish Abbey (see page 189),
on Devenish Island, Lough Erne.
5. St. Defraoch, virgin.
6. St. Donart.
7. St. Duroch, virgin.
8. St. Enna of Aaron (21st Mar.)
9. St. Baodan (5th Feb.)
10. St. Fergus (29th March)
11. St. Fiachra (2nd May)
12. St. Flann Feabhla(20th April)
13. St. Lochin, virgin
14. St. Loman of Loughgill (4th Feb.)
15. St. Maeldoid (13th May)
16. St. Mochaomog.
17. St. Muredach (15th May) ]
18. St. Neassa, virgin
19. St. Tegan (9th Sept.)Perhaps, however, the allegations above mentioned referred to the
"erenachs" and "comorbans;" for, the erenachs, who were sometimes in holy
orders, were persons employed to farm the property, or collect the revenue of
ecclesiastics: thus, St. Malachy was his own erenach; while comorban was a
term applied to the successor of a bishop or abbot, and to him belonged the
cathedral church, the tithes, and temporalities. Originally, the comorban was
in holy orders; but, in after times lay usurpers, of course without orders,
were called comorbans: because they succeeded to the temporalities enjoyed by
the bishop or abbot.
"When," says Malone, "a chief or prince founded a religious house,
or procured the consecration of a bishop for a certain church, he richly
endowed the house or cathedral, and gave the lands free from tribute...
In process of time, influenced by avarice or irreligion, the descendants of
the pious and munificent founders seized on the donations of their ancestors.
Services of a spiritual kind were attached to these possessions. Sometimes the
comorban in the usurping family was consecrated; and thus was fit to fulfil
the conditions on which the pious donations were made. Very often the
comorban, being a layman, got a minister for a mere trifle to discharge the
spiritual functions necessarily annexed to the temporalities. Together with
the teraporalties he often kept the tithes . . . The comorbans claimed the
title of successors to the founders of churches, whether abbots or bishops.
They bore the same relation to the whole diocese, that the erenach did to
particular districts in that diocese." (MALONE'S Church History of Ireland)
Footnotes:
* Great Favour: In O'Donovan's Four Masters, under the year A.D. 327, it is stated--
"At the end of this year the Three Collas came to Ireland; and their lived not of
their forces, but thrice nine persons only":In the year A.D. 326 (see the Roll of the Monarchs of Ireland, page 56,
Vol. I.), the Monarch Colla Uais was deposed by Muredach Tireach, the 122nd
Monarch. There must be some mistake in assigning the year 327 (the very next
year after Colla Uais was deposed) as that in which the Three Collas returned
to Ireland from their exile in Scotland; for, unless in case of a plague, or
a battle, or some such exceptional cause, it is not reasonable to suppose
that, in one year, the Collas' forces dwindled away from, at least, "three
hundred of their principal chiefs" who were exiled with them, down to "thrice
nine persons only!" And, as Saraan was the last King of Ulster of the Irian
race, and that he reigned after the death of Caolbadius (his father), who was
the forty-seventh King of Ulster, and the 123rd Monarch of Ireland, and who,
A.D. 357, was slain by Eochaidh Muigh Meadhoin (Eochy Moyvane), the 124th
Monarch, there also appears a mistake in the year (332) usually assigned as
that in which the Collas invaded and conquered Ulster; for, as Caolbadius was
slain, A.D. 357, and that, after his death, Saraan, his son, was King of
Ulster, at the time of its conquest by the Collas, it is evidently a mistake
to assign the year A.D. 332 as the date of that conquest. Besides: this lapse
of more than thirty years, from A.D. 326, (when the Collas and their principal
chiefs were exiled by their cousin, the Monarch Muredach Tireach), to at
least A.D. 357, the year that the Monarch Caolbadius was
slain by Eochy Moyvane, would explain the passage in reference to the return
of the Collas from exile, as above quoted, viz.-- "and there lived not of their
forces, but thrice nine persons only."
The mistake may be thus accounted for: 1. In some of the Irish Annals
Fergus Fogha, No. 46, instead of Saraan, No. 48, on the list of Kings of
ster, in the Pre-Christian Era (see "Provincial Kings of Ireland," in the
Appendix No. I.), is mentioned as the last Irian King of Ulster; and 2. The
person who made the transcript in which A.D. 327 is given as the year in which
the Three Collas returned to Ireland, may (the digits are so nearly alike)
have taken that year for A.D. 357-- the year of the accession to the Monarchy
of Eochy Moyvane, son of Muredach Tireach. In either case, if the date
assigned in the Roll of the Monarchs of Ireland for the death of the 123rd
Monarch-- namely, A.D. 357, be correct, then the conquest of Ulster by the
three Collas could not have taken place before that year-- the year in which
Caolbadius, Saraan's father, was slain by his successor in the Monarchy.The Battles of the Three Collas: According to O'Donovan, one of those
battles was fought in Fearnmagh, now the barony of "Farney," in the county
Monaghan. Another of the battles was fought at a place called Fearnmagh (or
Fernmoy) in Dalaradia or Ulidia; and the place is now known as the parish
of Aghaderg, in the barony of Iveagh, in the county Down, on the borders of
Antrim and Armagh. This battle was called Cath-Cairn-Eocha-Lethdearg or Cath-
Cairn-Aghaladerg, signifying the battle commemorated by the cairn raised in
honour of Eocha, who was styled Leth dearg; and, in proof of the correctness
of the name, there was, until lately, there a great heap of stones (or cairn)
at Drummillar, near Loughbrickland, which pointed out the place where the
(cath or) battle was fought, in which Eocha Lethdearg fell; the name "Eocha-
Lethdearg" being, in course of time, contracted to Aghaladerg, and more lately
to Aghaderg; but this heap of stones, or cairn, is now levelled, and the spot
where it stood forms part of the Banbridge and Scarva Railway Line. As
"Eochy" was the first name of Colla Meann, who fell in that battle, it may
be inferred that he was the Eochy to whose memory Cairn-Eocha, here mentioned,
was raised; and the epithet "leathdearg" signifying half red, it may be also
inferred that, from the wounds he received in the battle before he was slain,
he was half covered with blood: hence, perhaps, the name "Eochy Lethdearg."
The old Annals state that, so great was the slaughter in that memorable
battle, the earth was covered with dead bodies, from Cairn Eocha to Glenrighe
[Glenree], now the vale of the Newry river-- a distance of about ten miles!
-- Book of Rights.* Emania: Immediately after their victory, the Collas proceeded to the palace
of Emania (in Irish, "Eamhain Macha"), the seat of royalty of the Irian kings,
which they burned to the ground: so that it never after became the habitation
of any of the Ultonian kings; but, though that famous palace afterwards lay in
a state of desertion, it is occasionally referred to in the Annals of Ireland
as the chief residence of the kings of Orgiall. Their chief residence,
however, was at Clogher, in the county Tyrone, which was once a great seat of
Druidism.
According to Colgan, in his Trias Thaumaturga, there were in his time (A.D.
1647) extensive remains of Emania; whose site is about two miles westward of
Armagh, near the river Callan, at a place called Navan Hill.
According to Joyce, the remains of Emania at present consist of a circular
wall or rampart of earth with a deep fosse, enclosing about eleven acres,
within which are two smaller circular forts. The great rath is still known by
the name of the Navan Fort, in which the original name is curiously preserved.
The proper Irish form is Eamhain, which is pronounced aven, "Emania" being
merely a latinized form. The Irish article an, contracted as usual to n,
placed before the word, makes it nEamhain, the pronounciation of which is
exactly represented by the word "Navan."
The Red Branch Knights of Ulster, so celebrated iu our early romances, and
whose renown has descended to the present day, flourished in the first
century, and attained their greatest glory in the reign of Connor MacNessa.
They (like the Fiana Eireann elsewhere mentioned in these pages) were a kind
of militia in the service of their king, and received their name from residing
in one of the houses of the palace of Emania, called Craobh Ruadh [Creeveroe]
or the Red Branch, where they were trained in valour and feats of arms. The
name of this ancient military college is still preserved in that of the
adjacent townland of Creeveroe: and thus has descended through another medium,
to our own time, the echo of those old heroic days.
--Irish Names of Places* MacEvoys: Several other noble tribes known as the "Ui-mic-Uais" [ee-
mic-oosh], signifying the descendants of the noble, were, like these families,
descended from the Monarch Colla Uais.
The youngest of the Three Collas, who was named Colla Meann, was father of
Mughdorn or Mourne, from whom was named the ancient district of Crioch-
Mughdorn or Cree-Mourne, i.e. the (crioch or) country of the people called
Mughdorna. The name of that ancient district is preserved in the word
"Cremorne," the name of a barony in the county Monaghan.
--Irish Names of Places.Galloglasses: The Irish "Galloglach" wore a defensive coat studded with iron
nails; a long sword was by his side; an iron head-piece secured his head; and
in his hand he grasped a broad keen-edged sword.Chains of Gold: According to O'Donovan, when the hostage took an oath, that
is, as the prose has it, swore by the hand of the king, that he would not
escape from his captivity, he was left without a fetter; but if he should
afterwards escape, he then lost his caste, and was regarded as a perjured man.
whenever hostages of the Clan Colla were fettered, golden chains were used for
the purpose: hence, they were called "Orgiallans" or "Orghialla," i.e. of the
golden hostages. It is stated that the King of the Clan Colla was entitled to
sit by the side of the Monarch of Ireland, but that all the rest were the
length of his hand and sword from him. --Book of RightsOriel: The O'Carrolls were princes of Oriel down to the Anglo-Norman
invasion; but many of them were Kings ot Ulidia or Ulster, in the early ages.
Some writers say they were of the Dal Fiatach family, who were of the race of
Heremon, descended from Fiatach Fionn, the 103rd Milesian Monarch of Ireland;
but (see No. 90, p. 189) these O'Carrolls were of the Clan Colla. Dugald
MacFirbis, in his pedigrees of the Irish families, says, that "the Dal-
Fiatachs, who were old kings of Ulster, and blended with the Clan-ua-Rory,
were hemmed into a narrow corner of the province, by the race of Conn of the
Hundred Battles, i.e. the Orghialla and Hy-Niall of the north; and that even
this narrow corner was not left to them (MacFirbis here alludes to the
obtrusion of the Clanaboy branch of the O'Neill family, who subdued almost the
entire of Ulidia), so that they had nearly been extinguished, except a few of
them who had left the original territory. "And MacFirbis says "this is the
case with the Gael of Ireland in this year of our Lord, 1666; but, "he adds,
"God is wide in a strait." It must be remembered, however, writes O'Donovan,
that the Dalfiatach tribes had sent forth numerous colonies or swarms, who
settled in various parts of Ireland, as the seven septs of Laeighis (or Leix),
in Leinster, etc. --Book of Rights* Drogheda: The chief town of the county Louth was in Irish called Droichead-
Atha, signifying the Bridge of the Ford. Droichead-Atha has been anglicised
"Drogheda," and latinized "Pontana" (pons: Lat., driochead: Irish, a bridge);
but the name, as originally anglicised, was "Tredagh," which is evidently a
corruption of the Irish word "Droichead."* John de Courcy: Of the Anglo-Norman leaders in Ireland, John de Courcy was
the most renowned. He was descended from the Dukes of Lorraine in France; and
his ancestor came to England with William the Conqueror. He was a man of great
strength, of gigantic stature, and indomitable courage. Holingshed says: De
Courcy was mighty of limb and strong of sinews, very tall and broad in
proportion, a most valiant soldier, the first in the field and the foremost in
the fight, a noble and right valiant warrior." Champion, in his Chronicle says
of him: "John de Courcy was a warrior of noble courage, and in pitch of body
like a giant." It is remarked that in private life he was modest and
religious.
Holinshed states that De Courcy rode on a white horse, and had three eagles
painted on his standards, to fulfil a prophecy made by Merlin-- "that a knight
riding on a white horse and bearing birds on his shield should be the first of
the English who, with force of arms, would enter and conquer Ulster." De
Courcy and his forces subjugated a great part of Orgiall, together with
Ulidia; and had his chief castle at Downpatrick. He was married to Africa,
daughter of Godred, King of the Isle of Man; and was created Earl of Ulster by
King Henry the Second. After various contests with his great rivals the De
Lacys, lords of Meath, he was at length overcome, taken prisoner, and banished
from Ireland: he died an exile in France, A.D. 1210. The DeCourcys, his
successors in Ireland, were created barons of Kinsale, and in consideration of
the fame of their ancestors, were allowed the peculiar privilege of wearing
their hats in the royal presence-- a right which the baron of Kinsale exercised
on the occasion of George the Fourth's visit to Ireland, A.D. 1821.--CONNELLAN.
