XIV. 



THE TEMPLAES IN IRELAND. 



By HERBERT WOOD, B.A. Oxon. 



Bead April 8 and 22. Ordered for Publication April 24. Published 

 July 3, 1907. 



The history of the Crusaders, and more especially of the chivalry of 

 the Knights of the Temple, has for hundreds of years formed an 

 attractive study to the historian and romance- writer, while the recent 

 issue of several works on the latter subject has not only brought new 

 facts to light, but has proved that the matter is still one of absorbing 

 interest. When investigating the subject lately. I was struck with the 

 very meagre details which are to be found, in the bibliography of the 

 Templars, about the history of the Order in Ireland. There are a few 

 references in the Irish histories and annals, though even these often 

 depend for their authority on mere tradition. But such printed 

 information as is to be found on the subject is so chaotic, conflicting, 

 and unreliable, that I soon found it would be necessary to go back to 

 contemporary authorities if any clear account of the possessions of the 

 Order were to be obtained. That so little should be definitely known 

 on the subject is not to be wondered at when we remember that, soon 

 after the suppression of the Templars, the absence of orderly govern- 

 ment and the long-continued civil strife destroyed in a great degree 

 that historical continuity which we find in more favoured countries. 

 Then, too, the fact that most of the Templars' possessions were handed 

 over to the Hospitallers produced such confusion in people's minds 

 that lands seem to have been attributed to one or the other Order as 

 fancy prompted. It would almost appear as if a castle or ruin 

 which really belonged to the Hospitallers received an added dignity 

 by being attributed to the Templars. Tradition, too, though often 

 " lying tradition," has been a further important factor in the case. 

 But the ignorance of the difference between the two Orders, and the 

 difficulty of getting at authoritative records, have been quite sufficient 

 alone to produce the confusion. The same state of affairs is also to 

 be found in Scotland. England, however, has been more fortunate, 

 as the preservation of inquisitions and inventories of the Templars' 



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