120 Mr. Petrie on the History and Antiquities of Tar a Hill. 



record of his death given by Tighearnach, the following fragments of very 

 ancient poems are quoted, to the understanding of which it is necessary to premise 

 that, according to a curious Irish tale, a copy of which, on vellum, is preserved in 

 the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, (H. 2. 1(5, p. 316.) this monarch fell a 

 victim to the revenge of a concubine named Sheen, for whom he had, for some 

 time, abandoned his queen, but whom he afterwards consented to put away at the 

 command of his relative St. Caimeach of Tuilen. This concubine, according 

 to the tale, which is of a wild and imaginative character, having lost her 

 father, mother, sister and others of her family, who were of the old tribe of Tara, 

 by the hand of Muirchertach in the battle of Cirb, now Assy on the Boyne, threw 

 herself in his way and became his mistress for the express purpose of wreaking her 

 vengeance upon him with the greater facility. And the story states that she 

 burned the house of Cletty over the head of the monarch, who, when scorched 

 by the flames plunged into a puncheon of wine in which he was suffocated. 

 These verses appear to have been quoted by Tighearnach from a very ancient 

 copy of this tragical story. In the Leabhar Gabhala of the O'Clery's the 

 first quatrain of this extract is attributed to St. Cairneach, who is said to have 

 foretold that the king would come to this fatal end. It should also be stated 

 that the text of these Bardic verses, as printed by Dr. O'Conor, is so full 

 of errors as to render their meaning unintelligible, but the true reading is here 

 restored from the Leabhar Gabhala of the O'Clery's, the Book of Lecan, and 

 from the copies of Tighearnach, the Chronicon Scotorum, and Annals of the 

 Four Masters, in the Library of Trinity College : 



ST. CAIRNEACH'S PROPHECY. 



Jp om Oman ap in ben, I am fearful of the woman, 



Im a luiopi ilap pin,* Around whom many storms shall move, 



Qp an peap loipcpioep i een For the man who shall be burned in fire 



Pop caeb Cleicich baiopeap pin. On the side of Cletty wine shall drown. 



Sin m ben po mapb chu, Sin is the woman who kills thee, 



Q rriec 6pca, map id chiu ; O, son of Erca, as I see ; 



• Im a Luaiopi llap pin. This line is intentionally made oracular, so as to convey a double meaning, like the 

 responses of ancient oracles, and seems to have been put into the mouth of St. Cairneach by the vf riter of the tragical 

 death of Mac Earca. The verb luaiopi would also mean will report ; and pm, the last word in the line, which signifies 

 tempest or storm, might be taken for the name of Mac Earca's concubine. 



