1884-1885.] 329 



to the energy of Hugh Boyd, Esq., who in 1736 received grants 

 of the minerals in the neighbourhood, and after whose death 

 the success seems to have declined. Passing over a consider- 

 able stream formed by the junction of the Carey and Glenshesk 

 Rivers, the ruins of the Abbey of Bunnamargie are seen a short 

 distance from the road, surrounded by its ancient graveyard. 

 The abbey was founded in 1509 by Charles Macdonnell, for 

 Franciscan friars of the third order, and is one of the latest 

 monastic edifices erected in Ireland. It is now roofless, and 

 little architectural details remain. Like the headlands along 

 the coast, the Antrim glens have witnessed many sanguinary 

 conflicts, and the plain of Bunnamargie was the scene of per- 

 haps one of the fiercest. It took place in 1569, and was 

 between the forces of Macquillin and those of Sorley Boy Mac- 

 donnell. This battle, by which the Macdonnells obtained 

 possession of the castles and estates of the Macquillins, is 

 described as having continued throughout the whole of Glen- 

 shesk, of which every yard was fiercely contested, and nearly 

 the entire surface strewn with the slain. Bunnamargie has 

 long been the burying-place of the Macdonnells, and the un- 

 sightly building to the south side of the ruined abbey is at 

 present used as a tomb. Some distance further on, a halt is 

 made to examine a rude cross near the roadside. Shortly after, 

 the main road is left, and a bye one, not so suitable for vehicles, 

 is taken, and eventually near a farmhouse the road ceases, the 

 way lying over the rocky moorland. Here a few of the party 

 diverge to visit Lough-na-Cranagh. As its name indicates, 

 this mountain tarn, due to glacial action, has one or more of 

 those artificial islands known as crannoges. The most con- 

 spicuous in the present low state of the water can be seen to be 

 an erection of stones. It is greatly to be regretted that there is 

 no means of access available by which these islands could be 

 reached and thoroughly examined in dry seasons. The shores 

 of this so-called lough are rich in mosses and aquatic plants, 

 and the rare quillwort, Isoetes palustris, was collected. Ben- 

 more — the Great Peak — perhaps better known as Fair Head, 



