Macalister — Temair Breg: Remains and Traditions of Tar a. 279 



Moreover, it is not certain that even a successful excavation would 

 illuminate the problem of origines Temoriae. Datable objects might tell us at 

 what time a building containing them was occupied, but would not necessarily 

 tell us anything as to when and for what purpose it was first built. 



In the absence of any archaeological clue to the dating of the different 

 sites at Temair, we must fall back on the legends contained in Dind-shenchas 

 Erenn. When that book was compiled, these legends were by a thousaud 

 years fresher, and were by so much nearer to the events which they professed 

 to record, than we are ; and they belonged to a time when such legends were 

 the chief mental pabulum of the people of the country. Thus, foolish though 

 many of them admittedly are, they are all the more likely to contain some 

 germs of real historical truth, though these may be thickly overlaid with the 

 irresponsible imaginings of the generations of story-tellers through whose 

 mouths they had passed. And, fortunately for us, Dind-shenchas Erenn is 

 remarkably full in the information which it gives us about the legends of 

 Temair. 



The first step of the investigation must be to classify the various sites 

 according to the date assigned to them by the Dind-shenchas traditions. Taking 

 the reign of Cormac macAirt as an era, we can draw up this classification as 

 follows : — 



A. Later than Cormac macAirt — ' 



Raith Loeguiri meic Neill. 



Raith na Senad. 



Pupall, Cros, Suide, 7 Duma Adamnain. 



Cros Fergusa 



Carnn Maccraide Ua Neill. 



Carnn Maccraide Laigen (probably). 



B. Contemporary with Cormac macAirt — - 



Tech Mairisend. 



Lecht Mata Mor-glondaig. 



1 Except Cros Fergusa, which must be Christian, and Carnn Maccraide Ca Nerl], 

 which must be later than the establishment of the sept of Niall, the lato date assigned to 

 the sites named in this list is perhaps open to question. As has already been shown 

 (p. 242), the Mata story is inconsistent with a late date for Raith Loeguiri. Raith na 

 Senad is named here simply because there is no earlier mention of it under that name. 

 The sites connected with the name of Adamu;in may be much earlier, as has been shown 

 in the articles dealing with them in the previous section. 



2 Of the sites in this list, the first, second, fifth, sixth (?) and twelfth are most likely 

 of an origin earlier than Cormac ; see the articles dealing with them in the preceding 

 section. 



R.I. A. PROO., VOL. XXXIV, SECT. C. [89] 



