352 



Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 



in the Book of Howth, wliicli would seem to show that it was the 

 absorbing topic of the time. It reads as follows : — " Also on the mor- 

 row of Saint Luce the Virgin, the three year of the reign of Edward, 

 there was six moons, which was marvelled much of. They were of 

 divers colours, whereby it was judged ("jugent" in MSS.) and 

 thought that the Order of the Templars should be suppressed and 

 done away for ever."^ In the Annals of the Chartulary of S. Mary's 

 Abbey the date is given as the sixth year of Edward 11-^ but as this 

 would have been after the suppression of the Order by the Pope, it is 

 probable that the third year of that reign was the time of this 

 singular occurrence. 



The inquisitors were apparently only sent over to arrange for 

 the inquiry, for, in the account of the investigation which took place 

 for the province of Dublin, which is preserved in the Bodleian 

 Library at Oxford, and is the only account for Ireland extant, their 

 names do not occur. ^ The inquiry was held in Saint Patrick's 

 Cathedral; and Mason is wroug in asserting that it took place in 

 Dublin Castle. It was commenced in the month of January, 1310, 

 though it is impossible to give the exact date, as the account we have 

 of the proceedings is imperfect. The earliest date mentioned is the 

 6th Eebruary ; but there is evidence in the document that the pro- 

 ceedings commenced some days before this. Henry Tanet, the late 

 Master, declared, in his examination before this tribunal, that he 

 would have spent three years in Ireland on the vigil of the Purifica- 

 tion next, which would be the 1st Eebruary. As he was Master in 

 1307, the inference is that he was giving his evidence on some day 

 prior to 1st Eebruary, 1310. The inquisitors consisted of brothers 

 Richard Balybyn, ex-minister of the Dominican Order in Ireland, 

 Philip de Slane, reader of the same Order, Hugh de St. Leger, of the 

 same Order, Eoger de Heton, guardian of the Eranciscan Order, 

 Dublin, and AYalter Prendergast, rector of the same. They were not 

 all present at each sitting, their numbers varying at different times. 

 Master John de Mareschal, Canon of Kildare, was also present as 

 commissary of the Bishop of Kildare, on one occasion ; also Masters 

 Philip de Hendelee, officer of the court of the archdeaconry, Matthew 

 de Wella, and Philip de AYylabi, rector of the church of Balisgressim 

 (Balgriffin), dio. Dublin. To each of the Templars examined a series 



1 Book of Howth, p. 129, f. 68. 



2 Chartulary S. Mary's Abbey, vol. ii., p. 341. 



3 Wilkins' " Concilia," vol. ii., p. 373. 



