481 



It is hardly necessary for me, nevertheless, to say that this conclusion 

 would be entirely erroneous. The deed, as well as the attestation, is 

 undoubtedly genuine. By a somewhat remarkable historical coinci- 

 dence, the Maynooth College of which the world has heard so much for 

 the past seventy-five years, occupies the site of an o]der but more short- 

 lived institution of the same name, the latter, however, being dedicated, 

 not to St. Patrick, but to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 



The College of the Blessed Yirgin Mary of Maynooth was established, 

 in pursuance of the disposition of Gerald, eighth Earl of Ivildare, who 

 assigned the manor of Eathbeggan and the lands of Kiltele and Carbres- 

 town, in Meath, for its endowment, by his son Gerald, the ninth Earl. 

 This nobleman, having in 1518 obtained the sanction of the Archbishop 

 of Dublin, built the College in immediate contiguity to the Castle of 

 Maynooth ; and appointed and endowed a master, five fellows, priests, 

 two clerks, and three boys, with the obligation of offering prayers for 

 the prosperity of the Kings of England and of the Earls of Kildare and 

 their family, while living, and for the eternal repose of their souls 

 after death. The nomination of the master, sub-master, and boys, was 

 reserved to the Earl, with the condition of the master's and sub-master's 

 receiving institution from the Archbishop. The roll of fellows was to 

 be filled up by election, in which the master should enjoy a double 

 vote. All these ordinances received the sanction of the Archbishop, 

 and were confirmed by Royal letters patent, dated October 12, 1518 ; 

 and it is worthy of note, in illustration of the Mac Bannall Deed, that 

 the collegiate body was, by virtue of these letters, constituted a cor- 

 poration, with the privilege of a common seal. 



I shall not trace further the details of the history of the College, 

 which the Earl subsequently endowed more amply, rebuilding at the 

 same time, to be used, as its chapel, the ancient Church of St. Mary, 

 which had been attached to the castle from the middle of the thirteenth 

 century, and which, having been more than once rebuilt since that 

 time, is at present the parish church of Maynooth. I shall only add 

 that, although the College shared the fate of other religious houses in 

 1538, and was formally surrendered to the Crown by the provost in 

 October and January, 1540-1,* yet it was in the full enjoyment of its 

 new privileges in 1530, the date of the agreement with which I am now 

 concerned. Unhappily, the College seal, originally affixed to the deed, 

 has disappeared, although the slip of parchment by which it was 

 attached still remains ; and I have sought in vain, in every other quarter 

 which seemed to afford any promise, for another impression of an original 

 which, for the modern College as well as for the representatives of the 

 noble founder of St. Mary's, would possess the very highest interest. 



Independently, however, of its relation to the College of St. Mary 

 of Maynooth, the deed — which, through the kind permission of the 

 noble owner, his Grace the Duke of Leinster, I am enabled to lay before 



* An account of the property of the College of St. Mary is given in Queen Eliza- 

 beth's Rent-Roil (1553), the whole being at that time the property of the Crown. See 

 Mason's " History of the Cathedral of St. Patrick," p. 62. 



