466 
to his ancestors, who were servants of Columkille,” and that 
in the same parish certain lands belonged “ to the Vicar and to 
the keeper of the missagh or ornaments left by Columkill,” 
which keeper was undoubtedly the herenach of the bishop and 
coarb of the abbot, according to the ancient usage of the Irish 
Church. 
The Miosach was preserved amongst the descendants of 
the original herenachs until the middle of the last century: 
when it was purchased by Dr. William Barnard, Bishop of 
Derry, who died in 1768, or perhaps by his son Dr. Thomas 
Barnard, Dean of Derry, and afterwards Bishop of Killaloe 
and Kilfenora. The fact, however, most important, as tend- 
ing to prove our reliquary to be the Miosach, is, that it was 
purchased in the neighbourhood of Fahan, close to the parish 
of Clonmanny, where the inquisition of 1609 states it to have 
been preserved.* 
This curious box was offered for sale with the library of 
the late Bishop Barnard in Dublin ; but such was the apathy 
of the public at that time to these invaluable relics of antiquity, 
that it found no purchaser, and was bought in by the auctioneer, 
Mr. Vallance, from whom it passed to his successor, Mr. Jones. 
It was purchased from Mr. Jones by Sir William Betham, 
who presented it to the late Duke of Sussex, and it was after- 
wards sold in London, at an auction, to Mr. Rodd, an emi- 
nent London bookseller. 
Some time afterwards Mr. Rodd mentioned it to Dr. 
Todd, as a piece of antiquity supposed to be Irish “Dr. Todd, 
happening to be soon after in London, called to see it, and 
recognised it as the Miosach ; it was immediately purchased 
from Mr. Rodd by Lord Adare, now Lord Dunraven, and by 
him presented to the College of S. Columba in the year 1843. 
Dr. Petrie, in his account of this reliquary, quotes also 
* Vallancey, Collect. vol. iy. No. 13, p. 16. 
