convenient hold it afforded the enemy of
the wearer in battle. Face-guards were invented soon after.

[300] _Property_.--Maurice FitzGerald died at Wexford in 1179. He is the
common ancestor of the Earls of Desmond and Kildare, the Knights of
Glynn, of Kerry, and of all the Irish Geraldines.

[301] _Letter_.--"To Raymond, her most loving lord and husband, his own
Basilia wishes health as to herself. Know you, my dear lord, that the
great tooth in my jaw, which was wont to ache so much, is now fallen
out; wherefore, if you have any love or regard for me, or of yourself,
you will delay not to hasten hither with all speed."--Gilbert's
_Viceroys_, p. 40. It is said that this letter was read for Raymond by a
cleric of his train, so it is presumable that reading and writing were
not made a part of his education.

[302] _Terms_.--_Hib. Expug._ lib. i. cap. 27.

[303] _Buried_.--The early history of this church is involved in much
obscurity. It probably owes its origin to the Danes. Cambrensis gives
some interesting details about it, and mentions several miraculous
occurrences which caused it to be held in great veneration in his days.
He specially mentions the case of a young man in the train of Raymond
_le Gros_, who had robbed him of his greaves, and who had taken a false
oath before the cross of that church to clear himself. After a short
absence in England he was compelled to return and confess his guilt, "as
he felt the weight of the cross continually oppressing him." Strongbow's
effigy was broken in 1562, but it was repaired in 1570, by Sir Henry
Sidney. Until the middle of the last century, the Earl's tomb was a
regularly appointed place for the payment of bonds, rents, and bills of
exchange. A recumbent statue by his side is supposed to represent his
son, whom he is said to have cut in two with his sword, for cowardice in
flying from an engagement. A writer of the seventeenth century, however,
corrects this error, and says that "Strongbow did no more than run his
son through the belly, as appears by the monument and the
chronicle."--Gilbert's _Dublin_, vol. i. p. 113.

CHAPTER XVIII.

FitzAldelm appointed Viceroy--De Courcy in Ulster--Arrival of Cardinal
Vivian--Henry II. confers the Title of King of Ireland on his son
John--Irish Bishops at the Council of Lateran--Death of St. Laurence
O'Toole--Henry's Rapacity--John Comyn appointed Archbishop of
Dublin--John's Visit to Ireland--Insolence of his Courtiers-