443 



it a gentle push, and the child wao sent back to his mother as he had come, 

 with this difference, that at his right side was found resting on the slab 

 a consecrated bell, which bell, after its employment in his maturer 

 years, he left in the parish ; and it was transmitted from erenach to 

 erenach till the times grew bad, and their lands were lost, and the poor 

 Magoverans their representatives died out, and the Yicar of Drung got 

 possession of it ; and that Yicar, as Lord Primate, allowed the Secretary 

 of the Academy to exhibit it in memoriam, and also supplied him with this 

 contribution towards a history of the vicissitudes of noble bells. 



This tradition closely resembles the legend in the Mart^^rology of 

 Donegal," only that it places the birth of St. Mogue at Templeport Lake, 

 instead of Brackley or Prospect Lake, which lies to the north-west in 

 the same parish : — 



''Jan. 31. — Maedhog, B. of Fearna. Aedh was his first name. He 

 was of the race of Colla TJais, monarch of Erin. Eithne was the name 

 of his mother, of the race of Amhalgaidh, son of Eiachra, son of Eochaidh 

 Muighmedhoin. Among his first miracles was the flagstone upon which 

 he was brought to be baptized, upon which people used to be ferried 

 out and in, just as in every other boat, to the island in the lake on 

 which he was born. Of his miracles, also, was that the spinster's dis- 

 taff, which was in the hand of Maedhog' s mother, Eithne, when she 

 was bringing him forth, which was a withered hard stick of hazel, grew 

 up with leaves and blossoms, and afterwards with goodly fmit; and 

 this hazel is still in existence-" as a green tree, without decay or wither- 

 ing, producing nuts every year in Inis-Ereachmaighe, &c. A. D. 624 

 was the date when he resigned his spirit to heaven."f 



The bell was of iron. Three fragments remain, two of which are 

 attached to the inside of the case, and the third is a flat piece, of irre- 

 gular form, which originally was part of the front or back. The case 

 is of copper, and was ornamented with silver plated bands, which were 

 attached along the margins. Qn the front were two small figures, also 

 plated with silver. One of these is wanting, but that which remains 

 represents a habited ecclesiastic, holding a book at his breast. The 

 case, which was probably a handsome object in its day, is very much 

 injured, and now chiefly interesting as a curiosity. Its dimensions 

 are:— Height, 6 inches ; breadth at top, 5 J inches; breadth at bottom, 

 7 inches ; depth at bottom, 5 J inches. 



^^0. 2. — The Clog -na-fullah. 



This bell, whose name signifies the ''bell of blood," in allusion to some 

 tradition or supposed powers of retribution, was believed to have been 

 one of the fifty consecrated bells which St. Patrick bestowed upon 

 the Connaught churches. It had been kept for some time in Eenagh, 

 and afterwards at MohiU, and the custodees were a family of the 

 O'Eorkes. 



It was employed for the administering of oaths, as also for the reco- 



* 19 April, 1630. 



t "Martyrology of Donegal," p. 33. 



