St. Brigid's Fire at Kildare.

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demesne commands a splendid panoramic view, extending over thirteen counties.

Between

Straffan and Sallins

a sight is obtained in the distance of the Hill of Oughterard, on the summit of which are the ruins of a round tower and of an ancient church.

Newbridge.

This is the station for the Curragh of Kildare, now the chief military encampment in Ireland, and the head-quarters of the southeastern district. The Curragh is a plain, consisting of 5,000 acres of beautiful lawn-like land, covered with little furze bushes, which are kept in a perpetual state of delicate verdure by the constant nibbling of the many flocks of sheep which graze there; it was formerly surrounded by forests of oak, and has long been famous for its race-course. Passing Newbridge, at a distance of 2 miles, we reach

Kildare.

Kildare, a corruption of Chille-dara, or wood of oak, also called Killdara, from the cell of St. Brigid, first placed under a large oak.

This small town formerly of much more importance than at present has most interesting associations in connection with it, both from its antiquity, and the religious and other buildings adjoining, and was anciently known as the "City of Saints."

The bishopric is said to have been founded by St. Conlath about the middle of the fifth century; and it was here that the famous St. Brigid, A.D. 484, founded a convent in connexion with the cathedral, which remained from the time of the suppression of religious houses until a recent date a picturesque ruin.

'Tis said St. Brigid was the daughter of an Irish prince, but, imbued by her childish reminiscences with all the elements of the Pagan faith of her ancestors, she sought for, and obtained leave, to preserve the perpetual fire of her forefathers, to commemorate her vow of celibacy.

However this may be, there is no doubt but that this celebrated fire continued burning without a single intermission until the suppression of the conventual establishments by Henry the Eighth. And until a few years ago the remains of the fire house used to be pointed out to visitors. Adjoining the cathedral is a round tower 130 feet in height, and in good preservation. The entrance is fourteen feet from the ground; but the original conical cap has been displaced, and it is now surmounted by a meaningless Gothic parapet.

Monasterevan and Portarlington we meet next; the latter is noted for having been colonised by French refugees, and at the station is the junction with the Athlone branch of the railway.

Between Portarlington and Maryborough the bold and picturesque

is visible

Rock of Dunamase

solitary and perpendicular mass of limestone, accessible only on one side; its summit is crowned with the mouldering ruins of what was once a fortress of Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke.

Maryborough,

named after Queen Mary, in whose reign the ancient territory of Leix was first styled the "Queen's County," the line traverses a flat, open country, principally bog, backed by the heights of the Slieve Bloom Mountains, at the base of which is seen Ballyfin, the residence of Sir Charles Coote, Bart., and arrives at

from which a branch passes to

Ballybrophy,

Roscrea and Parsonstown.

Roscrea is a very ancient town, situated in a fertile and beautiful plain between the Slieve Bloom and Devil's Bit Mountains. An abbey was founded here by St. Cronin in the seventh century, of which a wonderfully enriched gable still remains. In the churchyard is shown part of a Celtic cross, called the "Shrine of St. Cronin," on which the crucifixion is quaintly sculptured. Near the abbey is a very fine round tower, in good preservation. The top of this structure was destroyed by lightning in 1135. A circular tower, part of a castle built by King John, is still here standing, as also a square castle built by the Ormond family in the time of Henry VIII. A Franciscan friary was founded here in 1490. A part of this still remains, and its steeple forms a belfry for the Roman Catholic chapel.

Parsonstown

is a thriving place, seated on a gentle eminence, on the highest point of which is a very handsome parish church. Opposite the latter is the grand entrance to the demesne of Lord Rosse, whose castle, approached by a broad avenue with fine trees at each side, may be seen towering grandly over the surrounding woods.

Near the castle is shown the celebrated telescope constructed by the late Lord Rosse, who ranked as one of the most distinguished astronomers of Europe. He died in 1867. In the square in the centre of the town stands a Doric pillar erected in honour of the Duke of Cumberland, the victorious general of Culloden.

Resuming the main line to Cork, the next station is

Templemore,

a small, unpretending town, which takes its name from an ancient station of Knights Templars established there. Adjoining, is the much-admired demesne of "The Priory," belonging to the Carden family. In the grounds are some very picturesque ruins, and at one of the entrances to the demesne, a fine old pointed gateway. In this town is a very spacious military barrack.

The Devil's Bit Mountain

is now visible from the train. It is so called from a gap which is near the summit. The following legend is connected with this mountain: "It seems his Satanic Majesty being out on a country excursion, and feeling a little in want of a lunch, took a mouthful out of this eminence; but finding it more rocky and full of grit than was palatable, he opened his mouth and let it fall on the plain, where it now remains as the Rock of Cashel"!

Thurles

is the next station. This town is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel, and possesses a very fine College. It is well provided with ruins of various kinds, which seem particularly to abound in this part of the country. There is an ancient castle near the bridge, built by James Butler, first Lord Palatine of Tipperary; and a smaller one at the western suburb, said to be part of a preceptory of the Knights Templars. Three miles from Thurles is

Holycross Abbey.

This venerable pile is the most beautiful and highly--finished remnant of monastic architecture of the period in the south of Ireland. It was

founded in 1182 by Donald O'Brien, king of Limerick, and is said to have been built to preserve a piece of the supposed "True Cross," which was presented in the year 1110 to Murtagh, monarch of all Ireland, by Pope Pascal II. The relic, set in gold and precious stones, was kept in the abbey until the Reformation, when it was rescued from destruction by the Ormonde family, and given over to the Roman Catholic hierarchy of the district.

The ruins of this abbey consist of the great church, abbot's house, cloister, chapter-house, dormitories, and smaller chapels. The church is cruciform; the nave measures fifty-eight feet by forty feet; nearly the whole of the western portion from the tower is of the twelfth century. The tower is supported on lofty pointed arches, opening into the choir and transepts; the roof groined in a style of superior workmanship, and pierced with five holes for the transit of bell-ropes. The nave is separated from the aisles by a series of four arches, and has a west window of large dimensions, and between it and the choir, the space under the tower, is beautifully groined. The small chapels are of much more elegant design and richer embellishment than the other parts of the structure. In the abbey is the tomb of Eleanor, fourth Countess of Desmond. The cemetery contains a number of curious medieval monuments.

About ten miles from Thurles is the station of

Goold's Cross and Cashel.

Cashel was formerly the residence of the kings of Munster: its chief attraction now is its proximity to, perhaps, the most interesting assemblage of architectural ruins to be found in the British isles. These are grouped upon the

"Rock of Cashel,"

and consist of structures of different characters and periods-first, a round tower; second, a small but beautifully stone-roofed church, of what is usually called the Norman style, built in the twelfth century by Cormac MacCarthy, king of Munster, and still familiarly known as Cormac's Chapel. Third, a cathedral, or larger church, in the pointed style of the thirteenth century, with nave, choir, and transepts, occupy

Cashel and its Antiquities.

327

ing the whole space between the former buildings; fourth, the ruins of a later structure, supposed to have been the common hall of the vicars choral, and inferior ecclesiastical offices. At a small distance from the church, on the south-west side, stands a curious cross of grit stone, supposed to be coeval with Cormac's Chapel.

At the western side of the cathedral is a massive square guard-towe of great heigth, resembling the ordinary fortified castles of the district

The interior of the

This edifice suffered severely from a storm in 1848. cathedral is crowded with monuments of great antiquity. The tomb of Cormac is near the north porch to the entrance of his chapel.

The officers of the Board of Works, in repairing these ruins, have done serviceable work, for all that was required came clearly within their comprehension.

At the base of the Rock are the ruins of Hoar Abbey and Castle, a monastery of Benedictine, and afterwards of Cistercian monks,