Conwell— On the Cemetery of Taillten. 79 



We have documentary authority for stating that the Irish, in pagan 

 times, had regal cemeteries in various parts of the island, appropriated 

 to the interment of the chiefs or princes of the different races who 

 ruled, either as sole monarchs or as provincial kings. This valuable 

 authority is preserved in a tract called Senchas na Relec,* or History 

 of the Cemeteries, being a fragment of the oldest and most cele- 

 brated Irish Manuscript we possess — viz., Leabhar na h-Uidhri,] which 

 is a collection of pieces in prose and verse, compiled and transcribed 

 tit Clonmacnois, about a. d. 1100, by Moelmuiri Mac Ceileachair,\ 

 grandson of Conn na m-bocht, a distinguished writer of that great 

 abode of learning. In quoting this tract Dr. Petrie§ remarks that — 

 "judging from its language, its age must be referred to a period 

 several centuries earlier than that in which its transcriber flourished. 

 It is also to be observed that tbis tract is glossed in its original, evi- 

 dently by Moelmuiri himself, and that such explanations of the tran- 

 scriber are. given within crotchets, both in the Irish text and the 

 translation of it." 



From this venerable old authority we cull the following extracts, 

 in which mention occurs of the cemetery of Taillten : — 



"Ropcap idc p o epf ppidm-peilce " These were the chief cemeteries of 



h-Bpent) pfa cpecim : .i. Cpuacu, Erin before the Faith (i. e. before 



in bpvjg, in Gailicm, Luacaip Qilbe, the introduction of Christianity), viz. — 



Oenac ailbe, Oenac Cull, Oenac Cruachu, Brugh, Taillten, Luachair 



Colmcm, Gemain Cnanb." — Leabhar Ailbe, Oenach Ailbe, Oenach Culi, 



na h-Uidhri, p. 51, col. 1. Oenach Colmain, Temhair Erann." — 



Leabhar na h-Uidhri p. 51, col. 1. 



* * * * ***** 



5. The confluence'" 1 of Curach, the head of the river, 

 The hill of Banba, where spears were wont to be, 

 The hounds of Cairpri were triumphant 



Over the borders of Tipra Mungarge. h 



6. Many the heroes of the pagans, 



The battles (battalions), the great fires, 

 That were engaged in felling Caill Ouain, 

 Delightful was the host of the Firbolgs. 



7. "When she had felled the beautiful wood, 



And having cleared its roots out of the ground, 

 Before the end of one year it was Breg Muigh, 

 It was a flowery plain adorned with shamrocks." 

 a The meeting of the two rivers. b Fountain or stream of Mungarg. 



"Whoever can, from the foregoing, or other sources, identify at the present time 

 the position, extent, and limits of this great wood, called Caill Cuain, in the centre 

 of which Taillte is here stated to have been buried, will contribute much to the 

 history and topography of the renowned Taillten. The site of the wood, which 

 probably covered the hills as well as the plains, was afterwards called Magh Taillten 

 (Taillte's plain), and Breg Magh (beautiful plain) : but, from all this, we see no 

 reason to alter our opinion that Taillte's Tomb may have been situated on the range 

 of hills which is on all sides surrounded by the most beautiful plains, and which 

 may very naturally have constituted the centre of the great wood of Cuan. 



* Pronounced Shanahus na relich. f Pronounced Leour na heera. 



% Pronounced Mailmurra Mac Eealaher. § " Round Towers," p. 97. 





