County Louth Archaeological and History Society

A Dictionary of Irish Biography by John S. CroneReview by: T. O'H and J. T. DJournal of the County Louth Archaeological Society, Vol. 7, No. 1 (Dec., 1929), pp. 105-106Published by: County Louth Archaeological and History SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27728301 .

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REVIEWS IO5

If, as is very probable, this first edition has a quick sale the soundness of Mr. Lawlor's judg ment will be proven, and in a second and future editions he can test how far residents west of

the Bann will support a work dealing as fully with their country as the present volume does with Antrim and Down.

It is superfluous to point out to readers of this Journal that Mr. Lawlor is a writer who knows his subject thoroughly, so that even veteran students of archaeology can hardly read a

chapter he writes without learning something new. Here will be found an identification of the Slaney river where St. Patrick landed on his

missionary expedition to Ireland, now a small stream flowing into a corner of Strangford Lough. This discovery of the late J. W. Hanna of Downpatrick, though made nearly 80 years ago,

and quoted by M. F. Cusack, in her "

Life of St. Patrick "

(1869), is not generally known. The immense fort outside Downpatrick which has been regarded for a couple of generations

as the ancient Rath Cealtair is now shown to be nothing more than John de Courcey's encamp ment, while the site of the true Rath Cealtair is proven to have been on the hill where the cathedral now stands.

The origin of the donjon tower of the Norman castle, whether round as in Dundrum, or

square as in Carrickfergus and later castles, is traced as a development from the wooden tower or bretische of the Norman moat and bailey, and why the place for the archers?the chief de fenders of Norman strongholds?was transferred from the donjon tower to the outer surrounding

wall as in Trim is shown with remarkable and convincing clearness. Of slips of any kind the pages of this book are singularly free?the position of the site of

the battle of Culdremhne, being one. Another is the date of St. Moninne's death, which Mr. Lawlor gives as 7th July. The

Annals of Ulster give the 5th July, but the Annals of the Four Masters and all the martyrologies record it under the 6th July.

Altogether "

Ulster "

while absolutely indispensable to the young student will repay even the widely read for a perusal of its pages.

enju ? mtii^seA-p?.

A DICTIONARY OF IRISH BIOGRAPHY.

By John S. Crone, M.R.I.A.

(Dublin : The Talbot Press).

Who was who in Ireland for the past two thousand years ; that is to say from Cuchullain to Terence MacSwiney, from Queen Maebh to Countess Markievicz, from Oisin, son of Fionn, to Dr. Sigerson ? To tell us this concisely was the weighty task Dr. Crone undertook wrhen he planned this fine work. And according to plan, he has carried out the task with remarkable

thoroughness. The amount of patient research involved in the compilation of this handy volume of 270

pages may be inferred from the fact that it contains upwards of 3,000 biographical notices of notable Irish men and women in every sphere of activity throughout the ages?an array greater in proportion to population (he points out) than could be shown by any other country in the

world. No one familiar with the author's long record of unselfish service in the cause of Irish literature can doubt that the present task has been for him a labour of love.

If the book has a fault, it lies in over-conciseness. An average of ten biographies to the

page rather suggests the cold severity of the tombstone inscription. Dr. Crone was out to make his muster-roll the most complete and comprehensive of its kind ever published. In this he has succeeded, but at a heavy expense. For example, St. Brigid (he spells the name

' Bridget '),

our natioial patroiess aad the chief glory of Louth, is disposed of in nine lines?or half-lines, to be precise, as the page is double column. On this account the work loses value alike as a reference and from the general reader's point of view. In neither respects can it be said to have superseded Webb's

" Compendium of Irish Biography," or O'Donoghue's" Geographical

Distribution of Irish Ability." While fully appreciating the worth of this work, within the narrow limits the author fixed,

one cannot help regretting that it was not planned on other lines. Webb's "

Compendium," published in 1878, has drawbacks, it is true ; but what more solid foundation upon which to raise a biographical dictionary that would combine the best qualities of Webb and O'Donoghue

with the wonderful range of notabilities included in the present volume ? The late Father Matt Russell, S.J., had something of the kind in contemplation, and had actually begun (serially in the

" Irish Monthly ") to bring Webb's work up to date, but for some reason did not follow

up the project. Such a work is still a desideratum. T. O'H.

O

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I06 COUNTY LOUTH ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL

Probably students of any particular branch of history or literature or social life will find omissions of names which deserved reference, and will be surprised at some inclusions, but as

the range of knowledge and interest of each is limited, probably these latter were like the brave men who lived before Agamemnon.

Some remarkable omissions of names familiar in national as w^ell as Co. Louth history for such dissimilar careers are Firdiad, St. Buite, Myles the Slasher, Alexander Dawson and Michael

Collier. We must complain that Dr. Crone gives no credit to Louth for Vere Foster or Major Myles

O'Reilly, and notes of the latter that he ''joined the Papal Brigade" without telling that he was

Commander of the Irish Battalion and defender of Spoleto." Is it correct to say that Hugh O'Neill

" ravaged Louth

" ? J.T.D.

Some Louth Extracts from the above.

Bunbury, Selina, novelist and traveller. Born at Kilsaran, Co. Louth, 1802 ; died at Chelten

ham, 1882. Lived for a while at Beaulieu. Her first book appeared in 1821, and from that

year until 1869 her pen was never idle. She visited nearly every country in Europe. See Irish Book Lover for titles of her books.

Corry, John, miscellaneous writer. Born 1770, near Ravensdale, Co. Louth; self-educated. Published a volume of verse in Newry, 1797.

In addition to the five of the Louth Taaffes, of national and international fame, there are : Rev. Denis Taafie the historian, who is reputed a native of Drogheda, and

" John Taarfe," the name assumed by the pervert priest, Thomas O Mullen, who having

turned Protestant after 1688, went about discovering popish plots and informing against the Catholic gentry in Lancashire.

THE DOWN AND CONNOR DIOCESAN ARCHMOLOGICAL MAGAZINE, 1928. P. Quinn & Co., Church Street, Belfast, 2/

The first number of the Down and Connor Historical Society's Magazine introduces a newly formed Association for the study and publication of the history and archaeology of these important dioceses. Its members are a number of the priests of Down and Connor, with Rev. L. McKeown, C.C.,

Downpatrick, as Secretary, and it has carried out a considerable work of preservation in the

renovation of Struel Wells?those strange bathing houses at Downpatrick, of which Father

McKeown gives an informing account.

The other articles are varied in subject and instructive in treatment :?The Cistercian

Abbeys, by Rev. Professor Power, Cork ; The Foreigners of Down ; Place Names of Portaferry, and the Scandinavian Invasions. J.T.D.

THE DOWN AND CONNOR HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S JOURNAL. Vol. II., 1929.

This is the most ambitious, and, at the same time, the most scholarly of the Irish Archaeolo

gical Journals of the past year. The matter is varied, the greater part of it is of interest to a

large circle outside the confines of the north-eastern diocese, and the articles are not only readable, but are carefully written, and show that the writers have spared no pains to make the infor

mation as complete as possible. The Society is to be congratulated on the large number of

young and earnest workers on whose willing service it can rely, not only for the preparation of

the Journal, but also for lecturing, organising tours, carrying out research work, and making archaeological surveys. In archaeology, as in other branches, youthful enthusiasm is sure to

meet with success.

Among the articles worthy of mention are : "

The Irish Language in Belfast and Co. Down

(1601-1850)," by Seumas O Casaide ; "

The Belfast Volunteers and the Catholic Question,"

by Rev. Patrick Rogers ; a historical sketch of Rathlin Island by "

Ushet" ; an article by Rev. L.

McKeown on the Burial Place of St. Patrick, which should be of interest to everybody ; and a

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