Journal, 1922
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THE BREIFNY ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY~S JOURNAL, 1922. Ne quid falsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri non audeat. (ktnoone have the presumption to express falsehood, or the poltroonery to suppress truth.) Cicero. " Dallan, bring with yqr my blessing fifty times over to the dwellers. in Breifne, noble and lowly. -From St. Mogue's Will (see p. 344). VOL I. No. 111. CAVAN : THE ANCLO-CELT,LTD., PRINTINGWORKS. PATRONS : MOST REV. PATRICKFINEGAN, D.D., Bishop of Kilmore, Bishop's House, Cavan. RIGHT REV. W. R. MOORE,D.D., Bishop of Kilmore, See House, Cavan. OFFICERS FOR 1922. Chairman : REV. E. D. CROWE,M.A., The Rectory, Cavan. Vice-chairman : REV.M. COMEY,D.D., C.C., The Presbytery, Cavan. Ron. Treasurer : Ulster Bank, Cavan. Hon. Secretary and Registrar : William M. Reid, M.B.E., Church Street, Cavan. Committee : . REV. J. B. MBEHAN. E. 'I'. O'HANLON. REV.R. J. WALKER,B.A. H. O'REIUY, B.E. A. E. R. MCCABE. F. P. SMITH, M.D., DL,. R. V. WALKER,B.A. CQNTENTS. ... Report of Meetlngs ......... Klllykeen and Clogh Oughter ...... By Willia~nReid. XB.~ Early Prlntlng In Leltrim ...... By E. R . XcC . Dis,x.~.~.h. Exhiblts at Fifth Meeting ...... The Green Lake Alt ......... By John Smith. c.B. Early Prlntlng in Cavan ...... By E . R . McC . Dis. ar.a.1.a. The Book o! the Macgaurans ...... By Rev . J . B . McGovcru . Exhlblts at Slxth Meeting ...... The Parlsh of Lurgan ......... By Philip O'Connell, xr.sc., B.R.S.A.I. The " Henry Ireland Pamphlet " Printed in Cavan. 1709 or 1790 3 Cavan Coins and Tokens............ Epltaphs In Dervor Churchyard ...... A 14th Century Rent Strike ......... Old Irlsh Land Measures ......... Notable Cavan and Leitrim Individuals ... The Irlsh Llbrary Presented 50 the Society ... Llterary Notes ............... Obltuary Notlce ............... Statement of Accounts. 1922 ......... Errata in Nos .I . & I1. I . Index-Peculiar Words and Phrases ... I1. Index-Place Names Explained . ... REPORT OF MEETINGS. ANNUAI, MEET1NG, 19.22. The Second Annual Meeting of the Society took place in the Town Hall, Cavan, on 9th March, 1922. The Chairman, Rev. J. B, Meehan, presided, and the others present were :- Rev. E. D. Crowe, M.A., Cavan (Vice-chairman) ; Rev. Dr. Comey, Cavan ; Rev. P. V. Rudden, President St. Patrick's College ; Rev. R. J. Walker, B.A., Ballinagh ; Mrs. T. I<. Blackley, Drumbar House ; Lieut-Col. Story, D.L., Eingfield ; Dr. T. P. Smith. D.L., Kevitt Castle ; Messrs. R. A McCay, W. H. Halpin, Aidan McCabe, W. Reid, P. J. Smith, and B. Whelan, Cavan ; Messrs. P. J. Brady, C.B., Ballyhaise ; Th. O'Reilly, Loughduff ; Peter Martin, Carrigan ; FI. O'Reilly, do. ; and R. V. Walker, B.A., Clones. Letters of apology were received from Rev. W. P. Lowe, MA., Bailieborough, Mr. E. 'I*. O'Hanlon, Editor A~iglo-Celt,and Mr. Ph. O'Connell, M.Sc., Clonmel. Mr. Wm. Reid acted as Secretary. Regrets were expressed at the death since the last General Meeting of two of the original members of the Society, Miss Martha Lough nnd The Right Hon. Thomas Lough, P.C., H.M.L., the former of whom passed away at Dronl Mullac, Killeshandra, towards the end of 1921, and the latter in London, on 11th Jan- uary, 192.2. On the motion of Mr. P. J. Brady, C.E., seconded by Nr. Walker, B.A., a resoltltion was passed expressing regret and tendering sympathy with the relatives of the deceased. A brief obituary notice of Miss i\4. Lough appeared in the 1921 Journal, and one of her brother, The Rt. Hon. Thornas Lough, is given in this. The business of the Annual Meeting, as laid down in the Rules, was gone through. The Chairman read the Committee's Report on the work dur- ing the twelve months just passed. It showed satisfactory progress, and in it tribute was paid to the untiring labour of the Hon. Secretary, Mr. T. A. Cole. M.A.. National School Insnectnr A communication from Mr. Cole was read resigning the secretary- ship, owing to transference to the Belfast district. The resignation was regretfully accepted, and the following resolution, proposed by Rev. J. B. Meehan, and seconded by Lieut.-Col. Story, was unanimously adopted :- "The Breifny Antiquarian Society desires to express its recognition of the great loss it sustains in the unavoidable retirement of the Hon. Secretary, Mr. J. A. Cole, M.A. " The Members also wish to put on record their gratefulness for all he has done for the Society from the very beginning. He it was that took up energetically a suggestion that had been several times mooted before, and urged the formation of such a local Society for Kilmore. He bestowed immense trouble in bringing it into being and giving it a fair start. " Since its establishment, two years ago, he has laboured earnestly and most efficiently for its progress. Any future measure of success to which it may happen to attain will be largely due to his thoughtful and unobtrusive guidance both in laying down its course, and in conducting it through the first and, we believe, the most difficult years of its work. " Personally he was highly esteemed by every individual Member. We are extremely sorry for his departure from amongst us, and we wish him every blessing in his new sphere of duties." The accounts of the Society were laid before the Meeting. As audited they will be found at page 229 of the Journal. Mr. J. P. Gannon was unanimously renamed auditor for 1922. The presiding Chairman retired in accordance with Rule 15c. Rev. E. D. Crowe, &LA.,was, by an unanimous vote, appointed . to the office. Rev. Dr. Comey was elected Vice-chairman, Mr. W. Reid, Secretary, and on the motion of Mr. Halpin, seconded by Mr. McCabe, the old Committee were re-elected with the addition of Dr. Smith and Mr. Walker to fill vacancies. The resulting list of the officers for 1922 is given on page 233. There was a discussion on the advisability of printing a larger number of Journals and reducing the price, the price at present being about exactly what it costs the Society. Some suggestions were also made as to the Annual Excursion. The following new Members were elected :- LIFE MEMBERS: Right Rev. Monsignor Richard Brady, Loretto Heights Academy, Colorado ; Rev. Francis J. Brady, Calhan, Colorado ; Very Rev. James J. Flood, Chicago, Illinois ; and Right Rev. Francis Gilfillan, D.D., St. Louis, Wo. E. R. McC. Dix, M.R.I.A., Dublin ; Rev. P. J. Manly, Rathowen-Edward, Westtneath ; Dr. Raymund Magauran, Cavan ; Rev. J. B. McGovern, Manchester ; P. T. McGovern, St. Louis, Mo., and Miss B. E. Smith. Castletara. FIFTH GENERAL MEETING. On the conclusion of the business of the Annual Meeting a General Meeting was held. The Rev. E. D. Crowe, Chairman, presided, and the same persons were present. Two papers were read and discussed. They will be found in the succeedingpages. A nuniber of exhibits were shown. Their description is printed after the papers. SIXTH GENERAL MEETING. The Meeting was held in the usual place on the 26th October, 1922. Rev. Dr. Comey, C.C., Vice-chairman, presided. The same members as on the last occasion were present, together with Mrs. Smith and Miss Smith, Kevitt Castle ; Mr. W. J. O'Callaghan, Cavan, and a few visitors. Letters of apology were read from Rev. E. D. Crowe, M.A., Chairman of the Society, Very Rev. M. J. Flynn, Liverpool, and Mr. E. T. O'Hanlon, Cavan. The following were elected to the Society :---Mrs. T. Lough, Drom Mullac, Killeshandra (Honorary), and Very Rev. H. P. Smith, Evanston, Illinois, Life Members ; Very Rev. I?. O'Reilly, P.P., V.F., Derrylin ; Messrs. Phdraic Colum, Dublin, and Peter Cobney, Manorhandton, Members. The Rev. Chairman mentioned the presentation to the Society for the use of the members of a valuable Irish Library and col- lection of antiquarian objects by Mrs. Laugh, Killeshandra, wife of the late Rt. Hon. Thomas Lough. These, the Committee, on behalf of the Society, had gratefully accepted. A list of the books will be found in the last pages of this nuniber of the Journal. With a view to their housing and the commeilcement of a Museum, he also referred to his interview, as one of a deputation from the Committee, with the Technical Instruction Committee for Co. Cavan as to the use of a room in the Technical School. The application was favourably received, and referred to the local Sub-committee for arrangement. The papers read will be found in later pages, and a description of the exhibits follows them. On each of the papers there was an animated discussion. KILLYKEEN AND CLOGH OUGHTER. [Read 9th March, 1922.1 KILLYKEENis within half-a-dozen miles of the town of Cavan. Not many places in the county can vie with it either in scenic beauty or in richness of historic associations. Killykeen--Coil1 chaoin, the " Beautiful Wood "--lies in the valley of the River Erne, and forms portion of the second of the four steps the river takes in its descent to the sea. After flowing into Lough Oughter (the upper lake), above Trinity Island, the river forms a series of expansions before again contracting, on the north side of Innishmore Island, into a river in the true sense. This wonderful labyrinth of winding lakes, separated by mounds and banks of clay, is probably due to the irregular distribution of boulder clay and gravel accumulated by the great ice stream which moved northwards along the valley of the Erne from the central snowfield. Another theory is that the lakes are mainly due to the solubility of limestone in presence of water containing carbonic acid gas.