Kank — The Dun of Drumsna. 3;jl 



bed strew the shore, and other softer material was dumped down on a low 

 bank near, which might be mistaken for part of a defensive work. On the 

 high ground facing the river a fine rampart about 34 feet from the shore 

 extends about 260 yards. Its original length cannot be estimated, the 

 extremities having been levelled. This detached ancillary earth-work testifies 

 to the care and foresight exercised by the Military Engineering Corps of 

 Oruachan in ancient times. Corry probably means a cauldron, and perhaps 

 refers to the wide expanse above the rapids, where the sudden bend in the 

 Shannon may have in high floods produced eddying currents. The point of 

 high ground at this place goes by the name of Tonreevagh, " the grey back." 

 In connexion with the study of the defensible conditions of the kingdom 

 of Connacht in ancient days, it may not be irrelevant to dwell a little on such 

 natural features of the country which must have rendered an incursion- 

 especially from the north-east, an arduous task. In the west the River Erne 

 was fordable at Ballyshaunon, from which the locality derived its name of 

 Ballyshanny Thence to Port-na-Snow, a swimming-place near Enniskillen, 

 is some 25 miles. Thence the river and upper Lough Erne form a barrier for 

 another 25 miles to the ford of Belturbet. Southwards the river together 

 with Lough Oughter presents another impassable waterway of about 10 miles. 

 I have already referred to Lough Allen and the Shannon, which with Lough 

 Boderg protects Roscommon on the north and on the east, as far as Lanes- 

 borough on the north, and Athlone on the south of Lough Ree. The latter, 

 we are told, was a dangerous crossing-place. 1 We have record of a hosting 

 from Oriel to the south of Roscommon about the close of the fifth century. 2 . 

 It is told that Maine Mor called an assembly of his tribe at Clogher, and 

 decided that, their territory being too confined, they would migrate and take 

 possession of some country occupied by Firbolgs in Connacht. Accordingly 

 they collected their " flocks and herds," their objective being the district 

 between Athlone and Athenry and southwards to the County Clare, a terri- 

 tory afterwards called " Hy Many," after the conquering chieftain. The 

 direct route to Athlone from Clogher would seem to have been south by 

 Clones, Cavan, and Granard, to either the ford at Lanesborough or Athlone. 

 But, perhaps, the passage of the Shannon at Athlone might have been 

 unsuitable for cattle and sheep. But if they went west, they must have 

 crossed the Erne near Enniskillen, and thence made their way over the head 

 waters of the Shannon near Dowra, and so past Lough Key and Lough Gara, 

 then south by Ballaghaderreen— a great circuit in either case. 



1 "Irish Names of flaccs" (Joyce), p. 325. 



2 MS. Life of St. Grellan. Sue " Tribes and Customs of Hy Many " (O'Donovan), 

 p. 10. 



R.I. A. PROC., VOL. XXXII., SECT. C. [53] 



