4 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 
IJ.—Osservations upon A LETTER FROM THE LATE JOHN FORSTER, PRE- 
SENTED TO THE ACADEMY BY THE Lorp Bisnop oF Krtrator. By the 
Very Rey. Wi11am Reeves, D. D., Dean of Armagh. 
[Read May 26, 1879]. 
Tue titles of the Bishops of Clonmacnois and of Cloyne as occurring 
in old records are undistinguishable, inasmuch as each was designated 
Cluanensis Episcopus, from the first element in the compound names of 
their dioceses—Clonmacnois being CLuain maccu Nor, ‘meadow 
of the sons of Nos”; and Cloyne being Cluain uatna, ‘meadow 
of the cave’; so that in Latin documents there is no possibility, 
without circumstantial evidence, of determining which is intended. 
Two other dioceses in Ireland have Latin names which approach 
very nearly to this ambiguity—so nearly as occasionally to lead ex- 
ternal writers into some ugly historical blunders. Derry, originally 
Oaipe Colgoig, “quercetum Calgachi,” and Kildare, originally 
Cill oops, ‘Cella querceti,” gave to their Bishops respectively, in 
Latin, the titles of Derensis Episcopus and Darensis Episeopus—the 
words Derensis and Darensis being adjectives of the same noun, O0a17/1e, 
only that in the case of Ooipe Calgoig, the word osipe being in 
the nominative has its first syllable short, as represented by Derry or 
Darry ; while in the case of CilL 0o714, the same noun, being in the 
genitive, the first syllable had a broader pronunciation, thus giving 
rise to the distinction of Derensis and Darensis. English writers who 
discuss Irish history, especially such as undertake to deal with Irish 
names, in editing works which involve the consideration of topogra- 
phy, are in great danger of falling into a trap in this as in many like 
instances, and therefore require more information and caution than 
they are generally found to possess. 
I take as an example the manner in which the late John Forster, 
in his Life of Swift,' through an endeavour to find amidst a great 
mass of miscellaneous materials some new thing, shifts a simple 
transaction from the province of Leinster to that of Ulster, and lays 
himself open to well-merited censure. 
Tn an autobiographical sketch which Swift commenced, and which 
his friend Dr. John Lyon, under his inspection, enlarged, we find the 
following statement:—‘‘In the year 1694 he was admitted into 
Deacon’s orders and Priest’s orders, by Dr. William Moreton, Bishop 
of Kildare, who ordained him Priest at Christ Church, the 13th 
January that year.”* Swift had his Letters of Orders by him, and 
Dr. Lyon, who of all men was the most conversant with the annals of 
Christ Church, whereof Bishop Moreton was Dean, and was a most 
1 The Life of Swift. By John Forster. vol. i. Lond. 1875. 
2 Ibid., p. 15. 
