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when St. Brigid founded her establishment on its borders, or for cen- 

 turies anterior thereto. It was not a marsh in 70.5, when the Irish 

 monarch Conghal, after devastating Leinster, apostrophized the Cur- 

 ragh as the " plain of the beautiful sward," in stanzas preserved by 

 the Four Masters ; nor was it a marsh in the seventh century, when it 

 was the scene of a great battle ; nor in the twelfth century, when 

 Giraldus Cambrensis praised its fertility. In fact, the geological fea- 

 tures of the surrounding country are opposed to the supposition that 

 the Curragh was a marsh within the last 4000 years. 



Cormac's second derivation of the name of Curragh, " a curribus," 

 which he explains by "fich carp ait," or "chariot contests," suggests 

 the inference that chariot racing preceded simple horse racing in this 

 country — an inference which is highly probable. The very ancient 

 MS. known as Leahhar-na-h Uidre, now in the Academy's collection, 

 contains a remarkably valuable historical tale called " Toghail Bruidhne 

 Da-Derga" or the " demolition of the mansion of Da-Derga," a Lein- 

 ster chieftain who dwelt in the valley through which the Eiver Dodder 

 flows, about three miles above Tallaght. The late Professor 0' Curry, 

 in describing this tract, observes that " its composition must be referred 

 to a period of very remote antiquity, the style of the construction and 

 language being more ancient even than the Tain-bo- Cuailgne (which is 

 generally regarded as the oldest Irish tale) ; and of a character," he 

 adds, " totally beyond the power of ordinary Irish scholars to reduce 

 to anything like a correct translation." I venture to entertain the belief 

 that the Bruidhen Da-Derga is, perhaps, the oldest Irish text now re- 

 maining. The phraseology betrays no indication of the existence of 

 Christianity in Ireland at the time of its composition. It professes to 

 give an account of the destruction, by a band of pirates, of Da-Derga' s 

 Bruidhen, or mansion (the name of which is supposed to be still pre- 

 served in that of the village called " Boher-na-breena," or " the road 

 of the mansion"), and the murder of the Irish monarch, Conary Mor, 

 whose death Roderick 0' Flaherty refers to the year A. D. 60. I allude 

 to this old tale, because it represents Conary as having on one occasion 

 gone with four chariots to his " cluiche" or games, to the Curragh, 

 "iLifiu" (i.e. in the plain of LifFey), as the expression is.* The 

 " cluiche" comprised all kinds of games, sports, and exercises, anciently 

 performed at the Aenach, i. e. fair, or assembly— whether convened on 

 the occasion of a national festival, the accession of a king, or for the 

 purpose of holding the Aenach gublia, " fair of sorrow," or funeral 

 rites, of some deceased chieftain; but in either case the inevitable 

 " races," or " graifne," formed a conspicuous element in the celebration. 



At the period to which I refer, namely, the middle of the first cen- 

 tury, and during at least 200 years subsequently, chariot races would 

 seem to have been the system of racing in vogue. Nay, from the exist- 



* Life was the old name of the plain of Kildare ; and the river flowing through it, 

 anciently called Ruirtech, thus obtained the name of " Amhain Liffe," or "River of the 

 Liffe." " 



