462 



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 Oo TTlaelpechriaill u cellachaT oo apOpig ua [nechach 

 mumam] Oo pigm in cumcachpo. 



"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 Oo chopmacTnc meic co.pcha.151 Oo pig oana mumcm Oo- 

 pac b c . . . 



" A prayer for Cormac son of Mac Carthy, Righdamhna [or next 

 heir] of Munster, who gave " 



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 



