472 



Academy, — his predecessor, Domhnall, the son of Flannagan 

 O'Dubhthaigh, is expressly called epipcop connachc ; and that 

 O'Hoisin was comharba of St. Jarlath, or Abbot of Tuam, as 

 early as 1134, is proved by an entry in the Annals of Innis- 

 fallen at that year, stating that he was sent by King Turlogh 

 O' Conor to effect a peace between Munster and Ulster ; and 

 indeed there is no reason to doubt that he became Abbot as 

 early as the year 1128, on the death of Muirges O'Nioc. 

 " The above inscription reads as follows : — 



"or Do u ossiN; DoNOabbaiO Las in DeRNaD. 



"'A PRAYER FOR OSSIN ; FOR THE ABBOT, BY WHOM IT WAS 

 MADE.' 



" A second inscription on the opposite side of the same 

 base preserves the name of the King, Turlogh O' Conor, as in 

 that on the slab already noticed, and reads as follows : — 



"OROochoiROelbuch uo choNchubuiR, Oon 



lcmlach las in DeRNaO in sa 



" ' A PRAYER FOR TURLOGH CONOR FOR THE ********* 

 JARLATH BY WHOM WAS MADE THIS *.**.' 



" That this cross was of contemporaneous age with the 

 church, and was intended as a memorial of its founders, or re- 

 builders, there can be no reason to doubt. Such was the cross 

 of the Scriptures at Clonmacnoise, which, as I have already 

 shown, was designed as a memorial of the erection of the great 

 church there ; and such also was the triple-shafted cross at 

 Cashel, just noticed in connexion withCormac's chapel, though 

 the inscriptions on it are now wholly obliterated. It seems 

 more probable, therefore, that this church was erected pre- 

 viously to 1150, when O'Hoisin became Bishop, and between 

 the year 1128, when he became Abbot, and 1150, when he 

 succeeded as Archbishop. But the precise year of its erection 

 must remain a matter of doubt, till some definite authority be 

 discovered to determine it. If, however, I might indulge in 

 conjecture, I should assign its erection to a period not very 

 long after his succession to the abbacy, and this not only from 



