76 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



9th century ; second, that games, presided over by the Sovereign of 

 Ireland, were celebrated at it ; and last, but most important point of 

 all for its present identification, that the cemetery was situated on some 

 fair hills. 



The fair of Taillten, with its attendant games and sports, we are 

 informed by The Pour Masters, was established by the celebrated King, 

 Lugh Lamhf hada* (Lewy of the Long Hand), who, according to the 

 same authority, diedf b. c. 1829, i. e. thirty- seven centuries ago, in 

 honour of his foster-mother, Taillte. 



Although this fair, the greatest of all the annual gatherings of the 

 Irish people, was usually held with great pomp, commencing on the 

 first day of August, it was occasionally, from civil discords, or other 

 causes, interrupted or prevented,^: and at other times renewed, § by 

 different sovereigns. 



From the account of its last celebration, under Roderic O'Conor, 

 last Monarch of Ireland, who died at Cong, a. d. 1198, we make the 

 following extract : — 



donac Caillcen rmoppo t>o 06- " On this occasion the Fair of Taill- 



naiii la pfg 6neann ocup la let ten was celebrated by the King oflre- 

 Chumnoon cup pm ocuppolecpeec land and the people of Leath-Chuinn,|| 

 a n-gpaipne ocup a mapcpluag 6 and their horses and cavalry were spread 

 lTlullac QiOi 50 ltlullac Caicen. outonthe space extending from Mullach- 



AiditoMullach-Taiten (? Taillten)." 

 Four Masters, Vol. ii. a. d. 1168. 



The Hill of Lloyd, 422 feet above the sea level, situated west of 

 Kelts, and in a direct line towards Sliabh-na-Caillighe, is still known 

 by the Irish-speaking population as " Mullaeh Aidi," or Aide's Hill.^[ 

 As to Mullach Taillten, or the summit of the cemetery of Taillten, Dr. 

 O'Donovan, the editor and translator of the Annals of Ireland by the 

 Four Masters, points out, in a note upon this passage, that there is an 



* The Fonr Masters state : — " It was in the reign of this Lugh that the fair of 

 Taillten was established, in commemoration and remembrance of his foster mother, 

 Taillte, the daughter of Maghmor, King of Spain, and the wife of Eochaidh, son of 

 Ere, the last King of the Firbolgs." 

 {See Dr. O'Donovan's "Annals of Ireland," by The Fom- Masters, vol. i., p. 22.) 



f It ought to be observed that some persons doubt the great antiquity ascribed 

 to some of our early Irish celebrities ; but, we take the statements of the Annalists 

 for what they are worth, and will be glad, in the interests of truth, to see them 

 overturned, if such can be done, by better documentary evidence, whenever that 

 can be produced. 



X Four Masters, a.d. 806, 825, 925. 



§ Four Masters, a. d. 894, 915, 1006. 



H Pronounced Lea Queene (the northern half of Ireland). 



IF About half a mile west of Kells, and on the highest point of the hill, stands a 

 handsome roixnd stone pillar, commonly known as " The Pillar of Lloyd." It was 

 erectedin 1791, by the first Earl of Bective, in memory of his father, the Eight 

 Hon. Sir Thomas Taylor, Bart. It is upwards of 100 feet in height, with a pro- 

 jecting balcony on top, fenced in by an iron railing, and surmounted by a glass 

 dome. Inside a spiral stone staircase, containing 202 steps, each about six inches 

 in height, protected by an iron hand railing, leads to the top, from which there is a 

 charming view of the surrounding country. 



