and refers to events in the nation's history extending over a space 

 of 4,500 years, from the year of the world 2242 up to a.d. 1616. 

 Donegal Abbey was burnt, in 1601, during a contest between two 

 members of the O'Donnell clan. Niall Gary O'Donnell joined the 

 English and took the Abbey, and it was attacked by Hugh Roe 

 O'Donnell. The monks were scattered, and the building so 

 damaged by fire that the monastery never recovered. The old Abbey 

 is now daily going to decay, and in the absence of that generous 

 appreciation of our national monuments, and the want of means by 

 which to resist the dilapidations of time, it is probable that at length 

 the lot of these venerable old ruins will be that of the pauper with 

 broken fortune and declining health, and they will literally be 

 handed over to the tender mercies of the guardians of the poor ! 

 Shades of O'Clery — a.las, for our vaunted intelligence, our national 

 pride, and our public spirit. 



Returning from the crumbling ruins of Donegal Abbey, we again 

 mounted our vehicles for a seventeen miles' drive to Killybegs, and 

 all along the route we had some extensive views of the coast of 

 Donegal to Sligo. From the high mound over the village of 

 Mount Charles the view was particularly beautiful, with a clear 

 atmosphere and setting sun ; the coast line was well marked from 

 Donegal to Ballyshannon and Bundoran, and from Lough Erne to 

 the mountains of Sligo. As the evening closed, the coast road — 

 reminding us very much of the road from Cushendun to Fair Head 

 — was rapidly passed over without even stopping to visit the Relig 

 at Bruckless, so well described by a member of the club, Mr. W. 

 H. Patterson, in a paper published in the transactions of the Royal 

 Historical and Archaeological Society of Ireland. Arriving at 

 Coane's Hotel, Killybegs, at about nine p.m., we found a number 

 of ladies and gentlemen awaiting us, including Rev. J. Stephens, 

 P.P. ; Mrs. Barrett, of Bruckless; Mr. and Mrs. M'Dermott, &c, 

 &c, all of whom were anxious to further the object of our visit. 

 Tea was quickly served up, and a most agreeable evening was 

 spent conversing upon the archaeological, geological, and botanical 

 peculiarities of the locality. 



Notwithstanding the early morning's rain, some of the party 



