48 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



not of Goidelic descent, and the Dal Messi Corb were included because the 

 territory known by that name was so largely occupied by "the Stranger 

 Tribes of Leinster." Similarly in some versions of the developed legend of 

 the Invasions the appearance of the Fir Gaileon or Galians along with 

 the Fir Bolg and the Fir Domnann before the coming of the Milesians is 

 presumably due to the theory of the systematizer that all the non- 

 Milesian peoples must have been in Ireland before the coming of the 

 sons of Mil. 



From this somewhat lengthy topographical investigation it appears that 

 the part or division of Leinster known in early times as Dal Messi Corb was 

 of large extent — being in fact a member of what seems to have been a quadri- 

 partite subdivision of North Leinster, and that it probably included at least 

 the whole southern part of the present County Wicklow. Though I cannot 

 quote authority for its precise boundaries, I should say that probably the 

 North Wexford mountains and the river Slaney marked the limits on the 

 south and south-west. At any rate we do not seem to be precluded from 

 supposing that at one time it comprised Eathgall. We have also, as it were 

 incidentally, ascertained the important fact that two of the three Tuaths into 

 which the Galians came to be divided were seated within this region. 



We must now return to the story of Labraid Loingsech, and see how it 

 agrees with the association of this district with the Galians. There are two 

 versions of this story, which is known as the Orgain JDind Rig, or " Destruction 

 of Dinn-Eigh." Both versions have been edited and translated by Whitley 

 Stokes, the one from the Book of Leinster, with variant readings from other 

 MSS., 1 and the other from a Scholium on the Amra Choluimb Cille. 2 



The pertinent incidents, shortly put, are as follows : — Cobthach Coel, 

 ' the Meagre,' treacherously slew his brother, Loegaire Lore, King of Erin, and 

 poisoned Loegaire's son, Ailill, King of Leinster, and reigned in their stead. 

 Ailill had a son called Moen, because he was ' dumb.' At first he was spared, 

 presumably as being incapable of ruling ; but afterwards, on his suddenly 

 recovering his speech (from which event he was called Labraid, for it was 

 said Mocn labraid ' the dumb one speaks '), he was banished by Cobthach out 

 of Erin. Here a divergence occurs in the two versions of the tale. Accord- 

 ing to the Book of Leinster, &c, " he went to the king of the men of Morca, 

 i.e., the men of Morca that dwelt about Luachair Dedad in the west " (of 



1 Zeitschrift fur Celtische Philologie, Band iii, p. 1, from LL. 269 a, with variants 

 from Rawl. B., 502, fac. p. 130, and YBL., fac. pp. 112u-113a. These three copies 

 substantially agree. This account is paraphrased by O'Curry, MSS. Mat., pp. 252-257. 



- Revue Celtique, vol. xx, pp. 429-433, from YBL., col. 989, fac. p. 75 6(31), and 

 Egerton, 1782, to. 9b; cf. Keating's account, I.T.S., vol. ii, pp. 161-169. 



