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longitudinally down the arm: of these but one is perfect; 
the other three are illegible at the end, but enough still re- 
mains to enable us to fix with certainty the date of this singu- 
lar specimen of ancient Irish art, and to ascertain the part of 
Ireland in which it was made. They have been deciphered 
by Mr. Curry, so far as any traces of the letters still remain, 
and are as follow :— 
First Inscription. 
OR vo Maelpechnaill u cellachai 00 apopig ua [nechach 
mumain] 00 Psn1 m cumcachfo. 
“A prayer for Maelseachnaill O’Callaghan, chief-king of Ua 
[Echach Mumhain], who made this reliquary.” 
The words enclosed in brackets are not very distinct in the 
inscription, and are in some degree conjectural, supplied from 
our knowledge of the fact that this personage was lord of that 
district, and confirmed by observing that the space left doubt- 
ful by the obliteration of the words in the original exactly 
agrees with what would be required for the words supplied. 
Mealseachnaill O’Callaghain died, according to the Four 
Masters, in 1121. 
Second Inscription. 
OR vo chopmac mé mere capchaig! vo Mg DGna muman do- 
‘¢ A prayer for Cormac son of Mac Carthy, Righdamhna [or next 
heir] of Munster, who gave..... es 
This was the Cormac who was king-bishop of Ireland, as 
he is called by the Four Masters, and who built the celebrated 
Cormac’s chapel on the Rock of Cashel. The Four Masters 
mention him, at the year 1137, as having made a predatory 
excursion against Kennedy O’Brien, and the foreigners or 
Danes of Limerick; and in the following year they record his 
treacherous murder by Toirdhealbach (or Turlogh), son of 
Diarmaid O’Brien, and the two sons of O’Connor Kerry. They 
