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tive in restoring Grj'fFyd, a Welsh prince, to his kingdom;* and in 

 1079 supphed him with additional aids to quiet his possession.* In 

 1081 the great Isle of Arran was plundered by the Danes. 



In 1086 the above mentioned Turlogh died,-f in consequence of 

 which the island became divided into two rival principalities, one 

 under his son Murtough in the south, and the other under Donald 

 O'Loughlin of Alichia,;}; a circumstance which was the source of 

 much bloodshed and devastation. The former, according to Wil- 

 liam of Malmesbury,§ was long in strict amity with, if not lie- 

 gance to Henry the First. The Annals of Leighlin and other domes- 



* Caradoc LhancaiTan. f Four Masters, Annal. Ulton., &c. 



X Aileach (i. e. the eagle's nest,) or Alichia, a very ancient rath situated about three miles 

 north of Derry, was the parent settlement from which the various tribes of the O'Loughlins 

 have issued. Previous to the tenth century, a chieftain of this line passed into Connaughtand 

 became the founder of that family so often mentioned in the Irish Annals, as the O'Loughlins 

 of East Corcumroe or Burren, and whose descendants are still established in that rocky district. 

 The pedigree and achievements of this name are veiy fully illustrated in the Book of the 

 O'Kellys, as extracted from the Registry of Saul Abbey. In 1019 the death of a prince of the 

 house of Alichia, is commemorated with deep regret by the Irish Annals, which extol him 

 not'less for his mental than his personal attractions, nor more for the nobility of his birth than 

 the pre-eminence of his genius. The more martial exploits of his brother Conor O'Loughlin, 

 and particularly the expedition which he led through the Curlew Mountains into Connaught, 

 are also the theme of no less eulogy. In 1135, O'Loughlin, king of Burren, was slain by 

 Cormac Mac-Carthy. In 1148 the supreme power of Mortough O'Loughlin of Alichia, was 

 recognised by the principal chieftains and nobles of the north, in the same manner as his pre- 

 decessor Donald had been, although he was not equally successful in asserting it. The fall of 

 this chieftain at last in the battle of Letterluin, extinguished the hopes and pretensions of his 

 family ; and although on the death of Roderic O'Conor, a claimant started up of the Alichia 

 line, he was immediately deposed, and the contested tide finally conceded to the O'Conors. 

 The O'Loughlins, however, maintained their local sovereignty of Alichia and Tyrone for a 

 considerable time afterwards, and the successful incursions of Donald O'Loughlin, king of 

 Tyrone, on the districts of Ulster occupied by the English, were obstinately continued until he 

 lost his life in the cause, and was honourably interred at Armagh. 



§ See post, Period iv. section 6. 



