ied out with the utmost
magnificence, and large benefactions bestowed on the religious. After
the death of her husband, who had built a castle close to the monastery,
and was buried within the sacred walls, the widowed princess retired to
a small dwelling near the church, where she passed the remainder of her
days in prayer and penance. Her son, Hugh Oge, followed the steps of his
good father. So judicious and upright was his rule, that it was said, in
his days, the people of Tir-Connell never closed their doors except to
keep out the wind. In 1510 he set out on a pilgrimage to Rome. Here he
spent two years, and was received everywhere as an independent prince,
and treated with the greatest distinction. But neither the honours
conferred on him, nor his knightly fame (for it is said he was never
vanquished in the field or the lists), could satisfy the desires of his
heart. After a brief enjoyment of his ancestral honours, he retired to
the monastery which his father had erected, and found, with the poor
children of St. Francis, that peace and contentment which the world
cannot give.

In the county Kerry there were at least two convents of the Order--one
at Ardfert, founded, probably, in the year 1389; the other, famous for
the beauty of its ruins, and proximity to the far-famed Lakes of
Killarney, demands a longer notice.

The Convent of Irrelagh, or, as it is now called, Muckross, was founded
early in the fifteenth century, by a prince of the famous family of
MacCarthy More, known afterwards as _Tadeige Manistireach_, or Teigue of
the Monastery.

According to the tradition of the county, and a MS. description of
Kerry, written about the year 1750, and now preserved in the Library of
the Royal Irish Academy, the site on which the monastery was to be built
was pointed out to MacCarthy More in a vision, which warned him not to
erect his monastery in any situation except at a place called
Carrig-an-Ceoil, i.e., the rock of the music. As no such place was known
to him, he despatched some of his faithful followers to ascertain in
what part of his principality it was situated. For some time they
inquired in vain; but as they returned home in despair, the most
exquisite music was heard to issue from a rock at Irrelagh. When the
chief was made aware of this, he at once concluded it was the spot
destined by Providence for his pious undertaking, which he immediately
commenced.

It was finished by his son, Donnell (1440). The