Westropp — Earthtvorks and Ring-walls in Counti/ LimericJc. 459 



Mogh Corb as residing at Claire, and Per Oorb as taking Bruree from King 

 Irereo ; but their legends do not appear in the local stories, and the " dates " 

 in the poem are most erroneous. The Book of Lismore tells us of the druid- 

 aided battle of King Cormae Mae Airt, at Knocklong.' The very strange 

 and archaic story of Duntrileague (as archaic and pagan as the tale of 

 Knockainey) is also in the Agallamh, and the allusions to Knocksouna and 

 the battle of Bealgadane are in the Annals, the legends of Dun gCroit in the 

 Agallamh. Kilfinnan is named in the " Book of Eights " and in the " Book 

 of Fermoy." 



Dun Claire (0. S. 49). 



The Dun of Claire, Dun gClaire, locally " Doonglaura," or " Glenbroglian 

 Mote," was one of the earliest residences of the Dalcassian princes, and the 

 largest, and in a sense most impressive, of the forts in Eastern Limerick. It is 

 connected with OilioU Olom, in the third, and Fercorb in the fourth, century, 

 from " A.D. 230 " down to " a.d. 364." It lies on the gentle green slope under 

 the great brown ridge of Sliabh riach' (or Sliabh Cain), sheltered from 

 the north-west by low rising grounds, sun-steeped from the dawn till late in 

 the afternoon, and with a beautiful view over Glenbroghaun and Ballylanders 

 to the rugged peaks and fluted slopes of the Galtees, the brown Deer Park 

 Hill of Duntrileague and the mouth of Aherloe Glen at Galbally fading off 

 into blue distance. Unlike most of the other forts, it has but little view 

 northward. The name Claire probably attached at first to the mountain 

 peak alone. We find in the early documents Mullach-, Sliab-, Lios-dun-, and 

 Dun-gClaire. Oilioll died " on the summit of Sliabh Claire," in the eighth 

 year of King Cormae, " a.d. 234." Unless the word " summit " is used very 

 vaguely, this implies an early beKef that the ring- wall above the " Benches " 

 was residential. The King and, possibly, his wife Sabia are said to have been 

 buried on top of the mountain. Caeilte, in the Agallamh, says, " Pleasant 

 assuredly is that Dun in the east which men call Dun Eochaidh ; more pleasant 

 still, when once the daylight comes, are Sabia's lying-place and Oilioll's." 

 " Where was Oilioll Olom, son of Mogh Nuadat, slainV Caeilte is asked. "On 

 the summit of Sliabh Claire," he answers ; " he died of apoplexy brought on 

 by grief "^ for the loss of his sons at Magh Mucramha. Fiacha Muillethan, 

 posthumous son of Eoghan (Oilioll's eldest son) by the daughter of the Druid 

 Dill, gave away, literally " for a song," the land from Dun Claire to Loch 

 Derg, over 30 miles to the north, to Cairbre Muse, ancestor of the Corca 



^ Given below in the article on that place. 



^Riach, or Riabhach, is hroivn rather than gray. O'Sullivan Beare (Hist. Irish 

 Catholics, ed. Lisbon 1621) renders the title "Reagh " hy fiiscus. 

 2 Agallamh, p. 130. 



K.I.A. PROC, VOL. XXXIII, SECT. C, [641 



