Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, fyc. 157 



ilium videndum, & locum Basilicae in eo erigendee considerandum, & designandum. Cum loci con- 

 siderarent opportunitatem, & terminos, ceruam cum hinnulo procumbentem conspiciunt in loco, in 

 quo hodie est Sabhall, quam cum comitantes vellent occidere, sanctus id inliibuit, quod sibi postea 

 multa prsestaret obsequia." Part iii. c. Ixxi. Trias Thaum. p. 162. 



The situation of this church, as being to the left or north side of the 

 cathedral or great church, is pointed out in the Life of St. Patrick by Maccu- 

 thenius, in the Book of Armagh, fol. 7, col. 2. 



The church called Tempull na Ferta is not mentioned by the annalists 

 earlier than at the year 1179, when it is noticed in the Annals of the Four 

 Masters, as already quoted, and also in the Annals of Kilronan. But there is 

 a distinct evidence both in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, and in the Life 

 of that saint by Maccuthenius, an authority undoubtedly of the seventh cen- 

 tury, that this church was originally built by the Irish apostle even previously 

 to the erection of the great church, or cathedral, on the hill : the passage in 

 the Tripartite Life is as follows : 



" Perrexit igitur vir sanctus, prout in mandatis acceperat, ad fines Maclianos, vbi in loco, Rath- 

 daire dicto, reperit virum Principem & potentem, nomine Darium cognomento Deary, Finchadij 

 filium : Finchadio autem huic pater erat Eoganius, & auus Niellanus, a quo familia de Hi Niellain 

 nomen, & originem sumpsit. Petiit liumiliter vir Apostolicus a principe Dario locum, in quo Deo 

 domum in terra, sacramque excitaret sedem. Darioq; percontanti, in quo ipse earn loco mallet eri- 

 gere, respondit, quod in amceno & eminentiori loco, in qua hodie Ardrnacha Ciuitas jacet, Ista 

 autem vice noluit Darius perrnittere, vt in isto altiori loco sedificaret ; sed concessit ipsi alium lo- 

 cum liumiliorem : in quo vir beatus excitauit Ecclesiam De-Fearta vocatam, in qua multis ipse 

 postea habitauit diebus." Part iii. c. Ixviii. Trias Thaum. p. 162. 



Thus in the Life by Maccuthenius, in the Book of Armagh : 



" Dixitque diues ad sanctum quern locum petis : Peto inquit sanctus ut illam altitudinem terra; 

 quae nominatur Darsum Salicis dones mihi et construam ibi locum. At ille noluit sancto terrain 

 illam dare altam, sed dedit illi locum alium in inferiori terra ubi nunc est Fertce Marty rum juxta 

 Ardd mache, et habitauit ibi Sanctus Patricius cum suis." Fol. 6, b, b. 



Eespecting the origin of the church called by the annalists Damhliag na Tui, 

 or na Togha, I have found nothing in the ancient Lives of St. Patrick ; but that 

 this church also, if not a foundation of Patrick's time, was of a date not long sub- 

 sequent to it, may fairly be inferred from the early notice of its existence found 

 in the Annals of Ulster. It appears also that this was the original parish church 

 of Armagh; and hence its name Damhliag na Togha, as accurately written by 



