476 Proceedings of the Royal Irish. Academy. 



Circular flat silver matrix, | inches iu diameter. Device, a griffon. 

 (Plate LII, fig. 8.) Inscription — 



* mAVUiai • Y DonYtff. 



The letter after in -the last word is doubtful ; but if it is an N, the name 



would read ' Maurice O'Donnell.' This matrix is stated to have been found 



near Athlone. 



Circidar flat bronze matrix, | inches in diameter, with a looped handle 



at the back. Device, five keys; wards iu chief. (Plate LII, fig. 11.) 



Inscription — 



* S' lOJi'IS • DSC STOjS^aWffLLa. 



Small circular bronze matrix, | of an inch in diameter, with a cylindrical 



handle. Device, an eagle or bird of prey striking a duck. (Plate LII, fig. 12.) 



Inscription — 



* ALAS IE SV PEIS. 



This and the two following specimens probably belong to the fourteenth 

 century. 



Small circular bronze matrix, f of an inch in diameter, with a cylindrical 

 handle broken at the top. Device, a bird. (Plate LII, fig. 13.) Inscription — 



* PEIVE SV. 



The second letter looks like another P, but must, I think, be intended for E ; 

 and so the inscription would be Prive suis. 



Small circular bronze matrix, -f of an inch in diameter, with cylindrical 

 handle, ending in a loop. Device, a half-moon with a human face. (Plate LII, 

 fig. 14.) Inscription the same as the last example with a similar blundering 

 of the second letter. 



Small oval silver matrix, f inches in length, with a pierced handle. 

 Device, cut on a setting of glass, a swan. Inscription — 



* siGiLLVM secaRecTi. 



In conclusion I venture to hope that the puljlicatiou of these matrices 

 may lead to others finding their way into the collection, as, for instance, 

 the fifteenth-century matrix of Octavian, Archbishop of Armagh, which 

 was exhibited to the Eoyal Historical and Archaeological Association of 

 Ireland in 1872, and the splendid one of William, Bishop of Kildare, 

 which was described in the " Irish Penny Journal " in 1840, and stated then 

 to be in the possession of a gentleman in Dublin. 



