The History of the Town and County of the Town of Galway Chap. II. From the Earliest Accounts to the Invasion of Henry II. From the Earliest Accounts to the Invasion of Henry II. Early History and Antiquities of Ireland disputed - Intemperate feelings of 'Writers on the subject - Come but little within the scope this work - The ancient town of Galway made a chief point qf division in the various partitions of Ireland - In that Heber and Herermon - By Eogan More and Con-céad-Chathach in the second century - War between these princes, for an equal dividend of the revenues Dublin and Galway - The latter then a place of note - Destruction of Irish records - Accounts of Ireland by Tacitus and Ptolemy - Those of the latter doubted - Opinions of Camden, Ware, Baster and others - That Galway was the Nagnata of Ptolemy - Its origin uncertain - Destruction of the Town by the Danes - Rebuilt by the Conacians - Ravaged by the Momonians - Burned, and again recived in 1170. Early History and Antiquities of Ireland disputed THE early history and antiquities of Ireland have been subjects of doubt and controversy, for a longer time, and perhaps in a greater degree, than generally occurs of any other country; and, though it stands admitted, that, like those of most other nations, the origin and primitive state of this Island are considerably involved in darkness and fable, yet, it seems also agreed, that few countries have a higher claim to antiquity, [g] or have advanced better proofs in support of that distinction, than this, the most westerly and secluded kingdom of Europe. However, on this latter point, as on many others connected with the subject, much has been said and written on both sides; writers stand in hostile array against each other, and throughout a discussion, wherein the spirit of calm investigation after truth should alone predominate, those angry disputants have generally indulged in the most acrimonious feelings, and not infrequently in the most puerile reflections. Those who decried, as well as they who supported, the claim to antiquity, were, though from different causes, in this respect equally reprehensible. The former, in general unacquainted with the language, and consequently with the written memorials of the country, could not patiently brook the imputations of ignorance and misconception, which were most liberally bestowed on them by their antagonists; and therefore, after frequently supplying the place of knowledge by supposition, and of argument by angry declamation, they seldom failed to complete their labours by recriminating charges of national prejudice, and gross misrepresentation, against their more confident opposers. Such being the state of this literary warfare, it is evident that much must have been left undetermined, and that a good deal still remains to be achieved, and many cool dispassionate efforts made, before criticism can have that "secure anchorage" so much to be wished for; and until this desirable event shall take place, those points which have been so long supported on one side, and so strenuously contested on the other, can never be brought to a positive or satisfactory conclusion. The nature of these pages precludes the possibility of more than glancing at the question, and that merely in a local point of view, and even then, only so far as it bears upon the early existence and former celebrity of the place which is the subject of this work. Feeling that the principal duty of a topographer is to state facts, the little that could be bleaned relating to a period so distant, dark, and doubtful, shall be faithfully exhibited, and whatever may be the application made, or conclusion drawn from those statements, it is by no means intended to supersede, or interfere with, the judgment or opinion of the reader. That the western coast of Ireland was peopled as early as any other part of the Island, appears from all the annuals which purport to record the events of those distant times; and, that the particular district, now comprehending the town of Galway and its vicinity, was one of the first positions which was chosen for the purpose of habitation, by the original settlers, is incontestibly proved from the same sources of information. By them it also appears that Galway, or the place on or near which it is situate, was frequently made a chief point of division in the most ancient and celebrated partitions of Ireland; and for this supposed reason, that, as it lay almost due west of Dublin, a line drawn from one place to the other, would nearly divide the kingdom into two equal parts. The first division of Ireland is attributed to Partholanus, a Scythian, who is stated to have effected a settlement here, some centuries after the flood, and to have divided the kingdom into four equal parts, which he distributed amongst his four sons. Of these, Fearon, the third son, received the territory extending from a place in Munster, afterwards called the Island of Barymore?, to Athcliath na mearuidhe, now Clarinbridge?, near Galway; and the district from thence to Oileachneid in the north, was assigned to the fourth son Feargna. The second, or Firbolgian partition of Ireland, is stated to have taken place A.M. 2500, when it was divided into five provinces, of which Connaught?, (so called, according to Keating, from Con and Oict, the posterity of Con, a druid of the Tuatha de danans, who afterwards inhabited that part of the country,) fell to the share of Geanann, one of their five principal commanders; and extended from Lumneach, afterwards Limerick including the place where Galway is situate, to Drobhaois, the present bay of Donegal. But passing over the disputed portions of our history, the more authentic accounts relate, that Heber and Heremon, the sons of Milesius, divided the kingdom into two parts; one of which was called Leath thuadh, or the northern, and the other, Leath dheas, or the southern half. This division was effected by a line or boundary, drawn from Galway to Dublin, through Eisgirriada, or the long mountains, which were fixed upon as the limits of both kingdoms. It is further related, that, in the reign of Eochaidh Feidhlioch, monarch of Ireland, Connaught, then the largest province in the kingdom, underwent a division into three equal parts, which that prince bestowed upon three favourite petty dynasts, Fiochach, Eochaidh-Allat and Tinne; the second of whom received the territory from Galway to Drobhaois, and the third of the district from Galway to Lumneach: that he then erected the ancient palace of Guachan, or Rathcruachan, (situate near the present village of Ballintubber, between the town of Boyle? and Elphin, in the county of Roscommon,) which from that time became the capital of Connaught, and, until long after the arrival of the English, for the space of near 1300 years, was the residence of its kings. [h] Some ruins of this once venerated place still remain, a rath, and a famous burying-place of the kings of Connaught, called by the natives Reilig-na-liogh. The last, and most famous partition of Ireland, was that which took place about the year 166, between Con, called in Irish Con cead Chathach, or of the hundred battles, then monarch of the entire Island, and Eogan king of Munster. This division was nearly the same as that originally made by the sons of Milesius, but now more precisely determined by a line or boundary drawn across the kingdom, from Dublin to Galway, through Cluan-Ard, Cuan-mac-Nois and Eisgir-riada. All to the north of this boundary was called Leath-cuin, or Con's half, and all to the south Leathmogha, or Eogan's half; which names they not only long afterwards retained, but in many places are known by to this day. The partition being thus completed, the two princes quietly enjoyed their respective territories until the year 181, when Eogan, visiting Dublin, found a greater number of ships on the north side of the river than on the south, which consequently caused Con's mercantile revenues here considerably to exceed his own. Upon this discovery, Eogan complained of an infringement of their treaty, and, probably wishing to have a pretext for war, he contended that an equal distribution of the revenues in the ports of Dublin and Galway [i] was implied in the division of the kingdom; and he not only insisted upon receiving it in future, but that Con should refund the surplus which he had received from the time of the treaty: this requisition was indignantly rejected, and a war ensued, which, after many vicissitudes, ended in the destruction of Eogan. Should these relations of our domestic writers, and particularly that which alludes to the trade of Dublin and Galway, excite any doubt in the mind of the reader, it should be remembered that Tacitus, one of the most respectable authorities of all antiquity, in his Life of Agricola, relates, in corroboration of these accounts, that Ireland, at the very time, held constant communication and traffic with the most formidable parts of the Roman empire, and consequently with Spain, to which Galway lies particularly convenient. Considering, therefore, that these facts are nowhere respectably controverted, but stand on as firm a foundation of historical authority as, under all the circumstances, can reasonably be expected at the present day, it is manifest that Galway must have been, in those early times, a place of considerable note; and, if the reader reverts to what has been said in the preceding chapter, concerning the probable derivation of the name of the town, from the circumstance of its commerce, he will find, that the authenticity of these historical accounts not only receives great additional support, but that the conclusion which is here drawn from them may, with every dergee of certainty, be pronounced accurate. It must, however, be particularly lamented, that much of the primitive state of this Island, and many of the transactions which occurred in it, previously to the introduction of christianity, are wrapped up in a veil of almost impenetrable obscurity, and that the most laborious researches frequently terminate in little more than ingenious conjectures. The causes to which these defects may be attributed are various, but the principal seems to be, the destruction of our ancient records; in the first place, by the pious zeal of Saint Patrick, and the other christian missionaries, in their anxiety to destroy every vestige of heathen superstition, and, in the next, by the barbarous policy of the Danes, and their immediate invadinc successors the Anglo-Normans, by whom those venerable lights of antiquity were forever extinguished. Another, and no inconsiderable, cause of the defects complained of, is that the most valuable of the remnants which escaped these devastations, and afterwards survived the wreck of time, are locked up from the inspection of the curious, in a language which few scholars of the present day understand; a circumstance which has caused more misrepresentation and confusion on the subject of Irish antiquities, than any other whatsoever. These sources of information have, however, been carefully explored for the present work; but so little of a local nature could be obtained that it now becomes necessary to have recourse to foreign accounts, however imperfect, to elucidate this early page of our history. Accounts of Ireland by Tacitus and Ptolemy Ptolemy, the Greek geographer, who flourished in the second century has handed down, through the medium of his own language, the names of several rivers, cities and tribes, then situate on the western coast of lreland. The accounts which he has given, though considered correct and highly curious and valuable, are still liable to many objections; and may, even without going so far as to coincide with the author of the Oxgygia, in his remarks on their authenticity, be pronounced in many particulars erroneous, and such as cannot be entirely depended upon, without cautious and careful examination. To the veracity of the geography nothing is imputable; he related what he heard from those who had visited the country; for it appears that this Island, though unfortunately never under the dominion of the Romans, yet carried on an extensive trade with the empire. Tacitus, in the tract before referred to, asserts that its ports and harbours were better known than those of Britain, from a greater commerce and resort of merchants; and from those visitors it was, that Ptolemy drew the accounts which he had of the coasts of Ireland; for he does not seem to have mentioned, or even known anything of the interior of the country, except a few places which lay immediately contiguous to the coasts. But our native historians having passed over, in silence, the several places mentioned by Ptolemy, the truth of his relation came at length to be doubted, and the existence of the cities and people, described by him, was called in question: this caused many writers, amongst whom Camden, Ware, Baxter and Harris are the chief, to exert much ingenuity to reconcile his accounts respecting the country in general, and to settle the situation of the several places which he has mentioned; yet, after all their learned conjectures, the situations of many of these places still remain undetermined. The geographer having described the northern coast of Ireland, proceeds to the western, where he mentions a people called the Auterii, and a city as then existing, to which he gives the term "illustrious," and calls by the name of Nagnata, an illustrious city. That this was the ancient town of Galway, according to the judgment and decision of some of the learned writers just mentioned, there can be no doubt, although others, at the same time, hold a contrary opinion, and think that the Auterii were the people then inhabiting the district of Galway, which, according to them, was their principal city. In order, however, to afford the reader an opportunity of forming his own judgment between these conflicting opinions, it may not be unimportant or uninteresting to lay before him what has been said, by those different writers, on the subject. Auteriis Ware, whose opinion on Irish antiquities (though he was unacquainted with the lrish language, claims every deference, says, that the Auterii resided in the countries comprehending the present counties of Galway and Roscommon. Mr. Beauford, a writer much more fanciful than correct supposes them the inhabitants of the coasts of Galway and Mayo; and, as the name, according to him, signifies an habitation of the western water, he thinks there is the greatest probability that their city was situate some where on the bay of Galway, to which the natives, during their commerce with the Gallic, Iberian and Roman merchants, resorted for the benefit of trafic; if it were not, adds he, the ancient town of Galway itself. He again changed his mind, by placing these people in that extensive district, now comprehending the county of Mayo, and says, they were evidently the ancient inhabitants of the Irish Ibh-Errus, the present barony of Errus? in that country. By this he seems to have abandoned his former conjectures, leaving the opinion of Ware uncontroverted; who, with a great deal of probability, thinks that the town of Athenry?, commonly called in lrish Ath-an-righ, or Aitanri, was the city or capital of the Auterii: and, independently of any coincidence of name, which, however, is very remarkable, the situation and antiquity of Athenry very much favour the opinion. From hence, therefore, it may be safely concluded, that the city of the Auterii, mentioned by Ptolemy, was not the ancient town of Galway. It now remains to ascertain the situation of Nagnata, then the principal city of the western coast of Ireland; and, although satisfactory proofs and convincing arguments shall be produced, which will fully demonstrate it to have been the original town of Galway, still, from the order and distances, as laid down by Ptolemy, it might, with every appearance of probability, be concluded, that Nagnata was situated more to the north, and somewhere in the direction of the present town or county of Sligo. But, as the writings of this author abound with errors and mistakes, many arising from incorrectness of information, and, perhaps, many more from carelessness of transcribers, no dependance, ought to be, or indeed is, placed on them by the learned; and particularly as to the situations of many of the places which he has mentioned. A writer, referred to in the last paragraph, who endeavoured a good deal, but often upon erroneous principles, to reconcile those differences, [j] places Nagnata in the present barony of Carbery? and county of Sligo?; and, to support this allocation, he alleges that the name is derived from Nagaetaegh, or the habitation on the sea; but he seems to have forgotten that this would equally well apply to any other situation on the coast, as to that which was selected by him for the purpose of establishing his hypothesis. He then adds, that it was called by the old lrish, Slioght gae, or the race on the sea, but for this he does not give, nor, in truth, could he give, any authority; and he finally supposes, that it might be Cnoc na teagh, or Druimcliffe?, in the county of Sligo, which, though at present only a desolated village, is said, in former ages, to have been a large town. Ware, however, declares, that he was not able to discover the smallest trace of a city, so called, in all that tract of country; and though he thinks, with every appearance of truth, that Ptolemy might have misplaced this city a little, he does not mention where he supposed it might have been situated. Eaxter, whose authority is most respectable, judges Galway to have been the place,[k] and says that the name means, in Irish, Cuan na guactie, or the port of the small Islands, alluding to the Isles of Arran. Iying at the entrance of the bay, and the other small Islands Iying nearer the town. He derives the name from Cuan,[l] a port or harbour, na, a preposition of the genitive case, and uact or guact, a little Island which. By transition into the Greek manner of pronunciation, would form Naguata, for Nagnata he takes to be an error of transcribers. Harris, the editor of Ware, agrees with Baxter, saying, that the situation of Galway, according to Ptolemy, is pretty near the truth of this notion. If, in corroboration of the foregoing reasonings, recurrence shall be had to the testimonies of lacitus, and also of our native historians, already mentioned, relative to the commerce of Galway, at the very time that Ptolemy describes Nagnata as the most considerable place on the western coast of Ireland, very little doubt can remain as to their identity. If it should still be necessary to call in the aid of probability or conjecture on the point, the reader might be reminded how indispensable the advantages of natural situation are always held, towards rendering any place eminent or considerable; and, seeing that the bay of Galway possesses, in a high degree, all these advantages, it might be no small reason to conclude, that Nagnata, then the most celebrated place in this part of the kingdom, must have been situated somewhere on the bay: and, if he should go farther, and inquire for the particular spot, he might be assisted by considering the general practice of mankind, at all times, in building their habitations or cities at or near the banks of rivers; and then, combining the numerous advantages, which, in the particular instance of the position of Galway, attend the contence of a considerable lake and the ocean, he will find that its situation was the best adapted, and most probable place of any other in that quarter, for that of the city in question. Considering therefore, all the foregoing testimonies and reasonings, and the conclusions drawn from them, our entire concurrence is given to the opinions of the learned and respectable writers above quoted, that the ancient town of Galway, though without any apparent nominal analogy, was the famous city mentioned under the name of Nagnata by Ptolemy. Having thus far endeavoured to ascertain the existence of this ancient place, the next object should be, if possible, to discover its origin and illustrate its history; but these are tolally involved in darkness; and the only room that remains even for conjecture, is that of its having been so often made a point of division, in the various partitions of Ireland, as mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, whence it may reasonably be concluded to have been of very remote antiquity. It would be foreign from the intention with which this work was originally undertaken, here to consume too much time in describing the tribes and people, who, according to Ptolemy or the native writers of Ireland, formerly inhabitedd the countries about Galway. As to the town itself, to which our attention is principally directed, no mention appears made of it for centuries after the period in which it is found to have been so considerable; but there are extant several accounts of sanguinary contests, between the rival princes of Munster and Connaught,[m] immediateiy in its neighbourhood; and also of changes of inhabitants, and new settlements in its vicinity: but a dead silence reigns as to the place itself, which can only be accounted for, from the destruction of the ancient records and annals of the kingdom already alluded to; and this want or omission is not at all singular in the history of our island, for it is now most clearly ascertained, that many considerable places formerly had existence, of which very little more than their names have been transmitted to posterity. To notice a single instance, out of many; who can peruse the few and trifling accounts now remaining of the early history of Dublin, the ancient metropolis of the kingdom, without a conviction of the loss of the annals and chronicles, which recorded the events of those distant times? Destruction of the Town by the Danes (9th century) At the commencement of the ninth century, the Danes began to pour in swarms from their northern hive upon Ireland; terror and devastation marked their progress in every quarter; neither the venerable remains of antiquity, the feelings of humanity, nor the divine spirit of the christian religion, could make an impression on those ferocious monsters, who, with fire and cword, burned and massacred all before them, without distinction. In the year 835, an army of these adventurers, under the command of their sanguinary leader Turgesius, over-run and ravaged the province of Connaught [n], committing, in their progress, the most dreadful carnage, and, in the general wreck and destruction which then took place, the ancient town of Galway was destroyed. That this insatiable enemy did not spare a place so well adapted for commerce, or afterwards settle there, according to the policy adopted at Waterford, Limerick, and other parts of the kingdom, appears extraordinary, unless that they might, perhaps, have considered its situation as too remote, for purposes of internal traffic or conquest. Rebuilt by the Conacians (12th century) Soon after the power of the Danes was completely ruined at the famous battle of Clontarf, the Irish applied themselves, with assiduity, to remedy the disorders occasioned by those invaders; and the people of Connaught, well knowing the great advantages to be derived from the place where the ancient town of Galway was situate, accordingly commenced improving, or rather reviving, the town, which was then reduced to the state of a miserable village, consisting of a few straggling huts, inhabited by fishermen and their families, some of whose names are given in a former page. In the year 1124, a strong castle was built, and the town was put into a state of defence and security.o The erection of this castle, and the consequent increase and improvement of the town, were viewed with jealousy and suspicion by the people of Munster; between whom, and those of Connaught, there long subsisted a considerable degree of provincial competition and animosity: and, with destructive policy, it was determined to destroy the place, before it should become more formidable. In pursuance of this determination, Connor, the reigning king of Munster, in the year 1132, dispatched a body of troops, by sea, under the command of Cormac Mc. carthy; who, landing, besieged and took the castle of Galway, then known by the name of Dune-bun na Gailloe, or the fortification at the mouth of Galway; and, having put the entire garrison to the sword, levelled and destroyed the castle and town, and soon after defeated and slew Connor O'Flaherty, Lord of lar Connaught.[p] In the following year the king of Munster himself marched at the head of an army into Connaught, laid waste the places called Ruadhbheitheach? and Bealatha?; slew Cathal O'Conor, the Righdamhna, or heir apparent to the throne of Connaught, and Giolla na naomh O'Floinn, a chieftain of great power: after which, he burned the fortresses of Dunmogh-dhairne and Dunmore, and all the other places of strength in the country. Turlough O'Brien, king of Munster, again, in the year 1149, invaded Connaught, and took and destroyed the town and castle of Galway. These ravages appear to have been soon afterwards repaired, for in 1154, the ships of "Galway Dune" and of Conmacnanmara, were sent upon an expedition to the northern parts of the kingdom; and immediately after the following entry occurs in the annals of the town: 1161, strange ships were seen in the harbour of Galway Dune, and the following day the town took fire. The annals of Innishfallen mention another conflagration, in 1170, q but are otherwise silent as to the town. It may, however, be concluded, that this disaster was speedily remedied; for although the combustible matter of which buildings were then almost universally composed, rendered them more liable to the dreadful catastrophe of fire than structures of a more modern date and form, they were, at the same time, much more easily put together or repaired, in consequence of the general slightness of their texture and materials. This circumstance accounts for the many melancholy narratives of destructive fires, with which our ancient chronicles, and even the annals of this town abound; and it is to be regretted, that when the authors of these works, considered such visitations, like wars and battles, as too memorable to be silently passed over; they, at the same time, omitted many things which to them appeared of less importance, but which would now be more generally useful, and interesting. Amongst these may be particularly classed descriptions of the actual state and improvement of the country, which seldom found their way into these monastic compilations; and which cause so great a scarcity of topographical knowledge, relative to the middle ages in Ireland. But another and much more important era than any which has hitherto occurred, occasioned by the Anglo-Norman invasion of this Island, now opens to our view. With that memorable and important event originated several new sources of information both of a local and general nature. The transactions of the country, but particularly such portions of it as fell immediately under the dominion of the invaders, were recorded; and the greater part of the accumulated muniments thus produced, was preserved by means of established repositories, and carefully handed down to the present day. Peculiar facilities of investigation have enabled the author of this work to glean from those national archives, several facts illustrative of the history of this ancient town; they will be found fully detailed in the ensuing pages, and which, will, it is hoped, in some degree compensate for the deficiency of more early information. [../../../includes/logo.htm]