62 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



plundered by Brian in 973.^ It may be connected with Cuan, son 

 of Conall, chief of the same tribe in 642, who fell at Camchonaill. 

 Our records also tell how the same Erian, now High King, repaired or 

 made (in about 1002) the forts of Lough Gur ; Lough Ceann, near the 

 last ; and Lough Saiglend ; with Dun-eochair-maige, Cenn Abrat ; 

 Inis an Ghaill duibh; Duncrot, now Dungrot, in Aherloe; Duneliath, 

 probably Aine cliach ; ^ and the unknown Dun Aiched, in north- 

 eastern Limerick.^ The last was ravaged by the Connaught army in 

 1084 along with Brurigh and the Lough Gur forts : O'Donovan fancies 

 it to be Dunkip near Croom, but gives no reason for this decision, 

 though he may be possibly right. 



In the twelfth century, the only notable additions to our list are 

 the forts of Cromadh or Croom, burned in 1149, and Caslen ui chonaing, 

 or Castleconnell, where certain O'Briens suffered blinding in 1175 by 

 the graceless King Donaldmore, their relative. 



In 1171 the Norman invasion had reached Limerick, and the 

 building of castles had commenced ere the last two years of the 

 century ran to their close. 



Taea LrACHRA. — ^Ye cannot pass in entire silence over the 

 question whether a fort, much noted in legend, lay in the county of 

 Limerick. Temair, or Tara, Luachra was a chief residence of the 

 mythic chieftain Curoi mac Daire, who held Cliu-mail-mic-ugaine 

 and Luachra in south-western Limerick. It stood in eastern 

 Luachra, and is said to have been destroyed by the L'ltonian King 

 Conor mac Nessa, with Cuchullin, Celtchair, and others of the 

 lieroes of Eman. It has been identified, evidently from the name 

 alone,* with Ballahantowragh near Castle Island in Kerry. Now 

 the Pour Masters state positively that it was the place where Pelham 

 encamped on his way to Tralee in the spring of 1580. If so, Pelham's 

 letter all but settles the question, and narrows the place in which 

 Tara stood to one of two hills. He writes that, marching from 

 Glin southward, he came through " Sleulogher," and camped east of 

 "Duwau" (Duach, Kerry) " by the river Yiall (Feale), near a place of 



J Wars G. and G., p. 103. 



2 CHach must have spread over north-eastern Limerick and into Tipperary, as 

 shown by the names Uaithne CUach and Aine CHach, Aradha Cliach and Airthir 

 CHach. 



3 Wars G. and G., pp. 103, 141. 



* A very common fault of Irish topographers even in cases where material 

 for identification is more abundant. 



