Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, fyc. 42 f> 



ppomneige lap pn, 

 Ni len oia pa6 ; 

 lp la h-abbao co peib gpab, 

 TDeip caich lap na njpao. 

 In can benaip cluicine, 

 Ppomncije nach bfp, 

 Na bpacaip pop clumicep, 

 Ciajaic uli ppipp." 



" The Rule of the proinntech after that, 

 Not miserable to be mentioned ; 

 And with the abbot of good dignity, 

 The dish of all is according to their grade. 

 When the little bell is rung, 

 In the proinntech which is not small, 

 The brothers who hear it, 

 Let them come at it [i. e. at its sound]." 



The following references to refectories occur in the Annals of Ulster : 



"A. D. 911, or 912. ITlupeoach mac Copmaic, ppmcepp tDpotna Inapclamn, 7 pijoomnu 

 Conailli, .1. JJaipbic, mac TTIailmopba, bo opcam ppi baijib i ppomcij t)poma. 



" A. D. 911, or 9 12. Muredach, son of Cormac, chief [abbot] of Druim Inasclainn, and the 

 heir-apparent of Conailli, i. e. Gairbit, son of Maelmordha, were destroyed by fire in the refectory 

 of Druim" [Inasclainn]. 



" A. D. 971. Ceallach li-Ua Nuabac oo mapbao DO ^hallaib i n-bopup in 



" A. D. 971. Ceallach Ua Nuadhat was slain by the Danes in the doorway of the refectory." 



And, that such buildings must have been in use from the introduction of 

 Christianity into Ireland, would appear from the following reference to the Rule 

 of St. Patrick's refectory, given by Colgan, in his account of St. Patrick's writ- 

 ings, and which he ranks amongst the literary works of that saint. 



" Regulam aliam Eieguil Prointige Patric, id est, Regulam Refectorij Sancti Patricii, vulgb, nun- 

 cupatam : quse extat Londini inter Codices MS. Nobilissimi viri Dom. Fingini Carthaei, ut ex litteris 

 nostri Patris Brendani Connor, qui opus perlegit, accepi." Trias Thaum., p. 214. 



I may add that, from the preceding reference, we may, with every proba- 

 bility, consider as the proinnteach, or refectory, the building at Armagh, called, 

 in St. Evin's Life of St. Patrick, cedificium sive aula major, and which is de- 

 scribed as being thirty feet in length. See the passage given in full at p. 381. 



VOL. xx. 3 i 



