338 



Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



mills set up by their lords, who thus drew large revenues. In the 

 charter of Henry II to the Templars, we find grants of mills ; and 

 Henry III expressly forbade any mills to be erected in Waterford to 

 the detriment of the Knights. There is an interesting entry in refer- 

 ence to the mill of the manor of Coly. Soon after the seizure of the 

 Templars' lands, John de Kent, farmer of the manor of Coly, reported 

 that two stones of the manor mill were missing, and that consequently 

 tenants qui ad dictum molendinum sectam facere tenentur," as 

 well as others of those parts, went elsewhere to get their com 

 ground, to the loss of the manor. The King ordered the farmer of 

 Clontarf manor, who had two suitable stones which he did not want, 

 to forward them immediately to Coly.^ The value of these mills is 

 shown by the fact that the water-mill alone of Kilsaran manor, late 

 of the Templars, was the subject of a special grant to Master Philip 

 de Erdeley.2 



Another source of income lay in the churches which they pos- 

 sessed. The Templars took the tithes themselves, and put a chaplain 

 in to perform the services at a small salary, by which they made a 

 considerable profit. For instance, the church of Kilclogan was of the 

 yearly value of 20 marks, but the chaplain was only paid four marks 

 a year. 



The corn and produce grown on the estates were evidently more 

 than enough to feed the Knights and their retainers, for we find, in 

 1225, the King granting a licence for five years to the Master to 

 convey his wheat whither he would throughout all Ireland for 

 trading purposes.^ In 1213, the King also permitted the Templars 

 to export their own wool for sale. The Knights' purchases, too, were 

 sometimes on a large scale. In 1294, King Edward ordered the 

 Treasurer and Earons of the Exchequer in Dublin to cause the goods 

 of merchants and other subjects of the King of France found in Ire- 

 land to be seized and sold. The Templars bought these goods in great 

 quantities, as we learn from the Receipt Eoll of 1295, that Walter 

 le Bachelor paid into the Treasury £230 18s. 4d., for goods so bought 

 by him.^ 



An interesting point arises as to the nationality of the Templars 

 and their followers in this country. The Knights were originally 



1 Memoranda Roll, Excheq., 3 Ed. II, m. 51. 



2 Ibid., Excheq., 4-5 Ed. II, ra. 9. 



3 Cal. Irish Documents, 1171-1251, No. 1276. 

 * Ibid., 1293-1301, pp. 109, 110. 



