James M'Grath was confirmed in this office, under certain conditions and stipulations. It appears that this James M'Grath was friendly towards the pilgrimage, if we are to give credit to Richardson, who states that in 1727 there stood, on the south-eastern part of Station Island, "St. Patrick's Altar," with an old cross within a circle on it, inscribed-Jacobus M'Grath fieri fecit, 1632.* It is stated in the Auchinleek MSS. that this James M'Grath afterwards disposed of his right in these termon-lands to Dr. Spottiswood, Protestant Bishop of Clogher (who died in 1644). The extract from the Auchinleck MSS. runs thus" Nowe had the Bishopp" (Dr. Spottiswood) "gott eight or nyne Townelandes lying contigue to his new howse in Clogher, which he destinat to be a perpetuall Demeasnes for his succeeding Bishopps, and gott an Act of Estate past thereon. He recovered also other lands his predecessor, Bishopp .Montgomerie, was never in possession of; as, namelie, the Isle of Devenish, from the Lord Hastings; the greatest part of the Island of Inishmore, from Sir Ralph Goore, Baronet; the lands of Termongrathe, from James Magrath," &c.† These termon-lands thus became part of the see-lands of the Protestant bishops of Clogher; and probably at the union of this bishopric with Armagh by Act of Parliament (1834), they were purchased by Mr. Leslie, of Glasslough, County Monaghan (who was the lineal descendant of Dr. John Leslie, fifth Protestant Bishop of Clogher), their

Of this inscription I could find no trace at the island. †See Rev. W. H. Bradshaw's Enniskillen Long Ago.

present owner being Sir John Leslie, Bart., of CastleLeslie, Glasslough.

The pilgrimage of Lough Derg very much exercised the zeal of the Protestant bishops of Clogher. Dr. James Spottiswood wrote a treatise on it, intituled St. Patrick's Purgatory. His successor, Dr. Henry Jones, also took it to task in his Patrick's Purgatory (London, 1647). Richardson, in his Folly of Pilgrimages (Dublin, 1727), acknowledges in his preface to that work the helps he received from the "present and late bishops of Clogher. The draught of the whole island, and of all the superstitious things (sic) in it, was sent to me by Bishop Ashe, being made by an ingenious and worthy clergyman, the Rev. Joseph Story, pursuant to his lordship's direction." We also find that the Rev. Philip Skelton, Rector of Fintona (in his works, 6 vols., Dublin, 1770), dedicated his Account of Lough Derg to the then Protestant Bishop of Clogher (probably Dr. Robert Clayton, of Arian notoriety). We may here include the Description of St. Patrick's Purgatory, by the Rev. Mr. Hewson, Protestant Archdeacon of Armagh (Dublin, 1727).

Of all these and kindred notices written of, or rather against, this pilgrimage in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, we are bound in justice to observe that they are all animated by a similar spirit of hostility to this institution of Catholic piety; and they clearly show how the Protestant clergy, not content with seeing its churches and cloisters levelled with the dust, still continued to pour out the vials of their wrath upon its ruins, and sought to hold up to the ridicule of the iconoclasts of 1632 and

their sympathizers the devotion and piety of the persecuted faithful, who, albeit their many privations and sufferings, found consolation for their souls in the austere penances of this holy retreat.

From the destruction of the sanctuary of Lough Derg, in 1632, down to the second year of the reign of Queen Anne (1704), the pilgrimage continued each year increasing in the number of its pilgrims, and in its reputation for sanctity. In this year, however, an Act was passed prohibiting pilgrimages in general, but especially that of St. Patrick's Purgatory, in the following words :— "And whereas the superstitions of Popery are greatly increased and upheld by the pretended sanctity of places, especially of a place called St. Patrick's Purgatory, in the County of Donegal, and of wells, to which pilgrimages are made by vast numbers at certain seasons Be it further enacted, that all such meetings and assemblies shall be deemed and adjudged riots and unlawful assemblies, and punishable as such, in all or any persons meeting at such places as aforesaid. And all sheriffs, justices of the peace, and other magistrates, are hereby required to be diligent in putting the laws in force against all offenders in the above particulars in due execution." And further on in the same enactment it is decreed that a fine of ten shillings be inflicted on any offender, and, in default of payment, that he be publicly whipped. Also that persons who at such assemblies build booths or cabins for the sale of victuals or any other commodity, shall forfeit and pay the sum of twenty shillings, to be forthwith levied by distress. The docu

ment thus concludes :-" And all and every the said magistrates are hereby required to demolish all crosses, pictures, and inscriptions that are anywhere publicly set up, and are the occasions of Popish superstitions."

Regarding the numbers making the pilgrimage in the commencement of the eighteenth century, the Rev. Mr. Hewson, who wrote his account of St. Patrick's Purgatory, on the 1st of August, 1701, says :-"There were near 5,000 there last year, as the Prior told me, who registers their names; but not 2,000 had been this year, when I was there, and commonly more men than women." And he afterwards adds-" There were about 300 of these devotees (sixty of which were in the caves) when I was there." The better to put a stop to the pilgrimage, the mountain district leading to Lough Derg was "planted" by Protestant settlers. In this district, extending from Pettigo to Lough Derg, the posterity of these settlers remain to this day; and, though in former times they and their co-religionists in the neighbouring counties gave the utmost annoyance to the poor pilgrims, they are now kindly disposed towards the pilgrimage.

One of the oldest relics of the ancient sanctuary of Lough Derg is the Cross of St. Patrick. This undoubtedly stood on Saints' Island when the religious establishment was there; and, judging from its style and art, dates as far back as the twelfth century at least, though Mr. Wakeman seems to think it may be as old as the ninth century. The sketch of this cross (which we here present to our readers), drawn on the spot by Mr. Wakeman on the 4th of September, 1877, and engraved by Mrs.

Millard, includes also the fragment of St. Dabheoc's Cross, described at page 43 of this work. St. Patrick's Cross exhibits more art, and consequently must be of a later date than the fragment referred to; yet it cannot be questioned that it also is of great antiquity. The shaft of

St. Patrick's Cross, Station Island.

St. Patrick's Cross on Station Island is octagonal at the base and capital; between the base and capital it is circular, with a raised band of spiral tracery running round it. Its dimensions are-Height of shaft between capital and pedestal, 3ft. 7in. ; height of capital, 4in. ;