AN GAOḊAL.
881
had heard in each to order, and committing it to
verse, which he first wrote on slates and tablets,
and afterwards in a White Book in verse. The
Fenechas, or law part only, of this book, is that
now found annexed to Cormac's treatise. These
laws, however, are not in verse now. And, wheth¬
er the laws at present known, in connection with
Cennfaeladh's name, are of his own composition, or
those he learned in the schools here mentioned is
not certain. The explanation of the word Aicill as
well as the circumstances just mentioned respect¬
ing Cennfaeladh, occurs in the following passage,
in continuation of that last quoted.
"Aicill (is derived) from Uch Oll (the Great
Lamentation), which Aicell, the daughter of Cair¬
bre (Cairbre Niafear, monarch of Erinn), made
there, lamenting Erc, the son of Cairbre, her broth¬
er, and here is a proof of it —
"The daughter of Cairbre, that died,
And of Feidelm, the ever blooming,
Of grief for Erc, beautiful her part,
Who was slain in revenge of Cuchulainn."
"Or, it was Aicell, the wise of Erc, son of Cair¬
bre, that died of grief for her husband there, when
he was killed by Conall Cearnach (in revenge of
Cuchulainn), and this is a proof of it —
"Connall Cearnach, that brought Erc's head
To the side of Temair, at the third hour,
Sad the deed that of it came,
The breaking of Acaill's noble heart,"
"If there was established law at the time of eric
(reparation) which was paid for this crime (against
Cormac, etc.) — provided it was on free wages Magh
Bregh (Bregia) was held — was the same as if free
wages had been given to half of them, and base
wages to the other half, so that one half of them
would be in free service, and the other half in base
servtce.
"If free ages were not on them at all, the erfc
which should be paid there was the same as if free
wages had been given to the half of them and base
wages to the other half, so that half of them would
be in free service, and the other half in base ser¬
vice.
"If there was no established law there, every
one’s right would be according to his strength.
"And they (Aengus's tribe) left the territory
and they went to the south. They are the Deise
(Decies or Deasys) of Port Laeghaire or Port
Lairge) Waterford) from that time down.
"Its (the book's) locus and time, as regards Cor¬
mac so far.
"In regard to Cennfaelad, however, the locus
of [his part of] it was Doire Lurain, and the time
of it was the time of (the Monarch) Aedh Mac Ain¬
merech, and its person [author] was Cennfaelad,
and the cause of compiling it, his brain of forget¬
fulness having been extracted from Cennfaelad's
head after having been cloven in the battle of
Magh Rath. (A. D. 634.)
"The three victories of that battle were, the de¬
feat of Congal Claen, in his falsehood, by Domh¬
nall, in his truthfulness, and Suibhne, the maniac,
to become a maniac, and it is not Suibhne's becom¬
ing a maniac that is (considered) a victory, but all
the stories and all the pooms which he left after
him in Erinn, and it was not a victory that his
brain of forgetfulness was extracted from Cennfael¬
ad's head, but what he left of noble book works
after him in Erinn. He had been carried to be
cured the house of (St.) Bricin, of Tuaim Drecain,
and there were three schools in the town, a school
of classics, and a school of Fenechas (laws), and a
school of Filidecht, (philosophy, poetry, etc.), and
everything that he used to hear of what the three
schools spoke every day he used to have of clear
memory (perfectly by rote) every night. And he
put a clear thread of poetry to them (put them into
verse), and he wrote them on stones and on tables,
and he put them into a vellum-book.
The whole of this volume, comprising the parts
ascribed to the King Cormac, and those said to be
Cennfaelad's form a very important section of our
ancient national institutes, known as the Brehon
Laws. But it does not, for the reason I before al¬
luded to, fall within my province to deal with
those laws farther on the present occasion.
Lecture III.
Delivered March 20, 1855.
Of the synchronisms of Flann of Monasterboice. —
Of the Chronological Poem of Gilla Caemhain —
Of Tighernach the Annalist. — Of the foundation
of Clonmacnois — The Annals, I. — The Annals of
Tighernach. — Of the foundation of Emania, and
of the Ultonian dynasty.
In shortly sketching for you some account of
our lost books of history, and in endeavoring to
suggest to you what must have been the general
state of learning at and before the introduction of
Christianity by our national Apostle, I have, in
fact opened the whole subject of these lectures, the
MS. materials existing in our ancient language for
a real history of Erinn. Let us now proceed at
once to the consideration of the more important
branches of those materials, and, first of the ex¬
tent and character of our national annals, and their
importance in the study of our history.
The principal Annals now remaining in the
Gaedhlic language, and of which we have any
knowledge, are known as — the Annals of Tigher¬
nach (pron. nearly Teernagh), the Annals of Sen¬
ait Mac Manus (a compilation now better known
as the Annals of Ulster, the Annals of Innis Mac
Nerinn in Loch Ce (erroneously called the Annals
of Kilonan), the Annals of Innisfallen, the Annals
now known as the Annals of Boole, the Annals
now known as the Annals of Connacht, the Annals
of Dun na n-Gall (Donegal), or those of the Four
Masters, and lastly, the Chronicum Scotorum.
Besides these we have also the Annals of Clon¬
macnois, a compilation of the same class, which
was translated into English in 1627, but of
which the original is unfortunately not now ac¬
cessible or known to exist.
With regard to anals in other languages relat¬
ing to Ireland, I need only allude to the Latin An¬
nals of Multifernan, of Grace, of Pembridge, Clyn
etc., published by the Irish Archӕological so¬
ciety.
At the head of our list I have placed the Annals
of Tighernech, a composition, as we shall present¬
ly see, of a very remarkable character, whether we
take into account the early period at which these
annals were written, namely, the close of the 11th
century, or the amount of historical research, the
judicious care, and the scholarlike determination,
which distinguish the compiler. These annals
have accordingly been considered by many to con-
