500 



were printed in Rome in 1550, in eight volumes, folio. He 

 was known by the title of the Seraphic Doctor ; and that 

 his works should have been held in estimation at the abbey 

 of Bonamargy was natural, as we learn from Archdall, who 

 cites Sir James Ware as his authority, that it was built 

 for the Franciscan Friars of the third order, in the fifteenth 

 century. A manuscript list of the Irish Franciscan abbeys, 

 preserved in the British Museum (No, 4814, Plut. cxx. G. 

 p. 2), states that Bonamargy, in the Reuta, was founded in 

 1500 by Roory M'Quillin, Lord of the Rente. The situa- 

 tion of this abbey is indicated by its name, bun na lllaipse, 

 which, as Mr. O'Donovan informs us, signifies the foot, or 

 mouth, of the river Margy, now called usually the Carey 

 river, from its being situated in the barony of that name, 

 anciently Caichpishe, and latinized Cathrigia, by Colgan. 



The Rev. William Reeves, in his Ecclesiastical History 

 of Down, Connor, and Dromore (Appendix, p. 285), states 

 that " in Ardagh, a townland in the parish of Ramoan, and 

 barony of Carey, there is a spot called the Friary, whither, it 

 is reported that the brethren of Bonamargy retired upon the 

 dissolution of that house." He further informed Mr. Smith 

 that some stunted cherry trees there still mark the site of their 

 abode, and that the tradition of their residence is distinct in 

 that neighbourhood. By them it seems probable this manu- 

 script was preserved. 



It appears to be an amplification of the scriptural narra- 

 tive of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some curious le- 

 gends and traditions are interwoven, such as an account of the 

 origin and growth of the tree from which the cross was made, 

 the recovery of his sight by the soldier who pierced our Lord's 

 side, and some other passages. 



That there was no intention of imposing this narrative on 

 the readers or hearers of it as the genuine Scriptures of the 

 Gospel, is clear from the reference to the latter at page 5, 

 column 2, where it is said : 



I 



