450 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 
and I think decidedly earlier than the reign of Queen Mary. The 
form of the letters employed is that which replaced the Lombardic 
characters, and the earlier English with its € and Q@—in fact that 
which came into use during the fifteenth century. And there is one 
letter of some importance—the M2 used in Ma-ur: this is an early 
and persistent form; it occurs for its last time on the coinage of 
Henry VIII. in his eighteenth year, a.p. 1527. But this coinage 
continued unchanged until his thirty-fourth year, a.p. 1543, when it 
was finally replaced by Roman letters. 
On a careful review of the questions in these different aspects, 
considering the character and art workmanship of the seal itself, 
the style of architectural ornamentation, the archaic yet delicate 
execution of the minute figures which decorate it, and also the form 
of lettering used in the inscription, all of which require to be studied 
before venturing on a decided opinion; I would feel disposed to 
refer the date of this seal to the reign of Henry VILI., or possibly at 
the latest to the earlier years of Henry VIII., as the approximate 
period which carries with it the greatest amount of probability. 
Could the Maurice O’Helaghan, that priest who obtained the grant 
of English liberty in 1551, have been its possessor? We know nothing 
of his antecedents or official position. It was in the middle of the 
brief reign of Edward VI. that he submitted to accept the position of 
an English freeman. At that time he may have become an old man, 
wearied with strife, and desirous of rest. Thirty years before he was 
possibly young, full of hope, and already held in honour by his Church. 
Maurice may have gone to Flanders about the time that Henry visited 
France for the Field of Cloth of Gold, with his nobles, and, when there, 
had this signet graven: if so, he lived to see great changes in both 
Church and State. My duty is to place on record a description of 
this remarkable seal, and trust that someone more fortunate will be 
able to discover the name and rank of its original possessor. It is 
valuable to us as a relic of medieval Irish history, and its execution 
evinces a true appreciation of art worthy of Ireland and its Celtic 
race. 
