ABBEYS FOUNDED BY ST. PATRICK AND HIS SUCCESSORS -CROSSES-THE ANCIENT SCHOOL, THE ROYAL SCHOOL, PUBLIC LIBRARY, "BOOK OF ARMACH."

SOON after the arrival of St. Patrick, he endeavoured to obtain the site of the present Cathedral, with a view to the building of an abbey and church. According to an entry in the Book of Armagh, he did not at once succeed in accomplishing this. Daire, owner and chief of the district, instead, gave him the low ground, which Dr. William Reeves, now Bishop of Down and Connor and Dromore, believes

83
to be that in Scotch street, belonging to the Bank of Ireland. There he built the abbey of Na-Fertae. The other abbeys built in Armagh included St. Peter and Paul 's, The Culdee, St. Columba, and that for Friars Minor. St. Peter and Paul stood to the north of the- Cathedral, in the vicinity of the Public library. It was for Canons regular of the order of St. Augustine, and had attached to it the famous school referred to in another part of this chapter. The Culdee Priory was in Castle Street. It was founded in the 7th Century. The Culdees were secular priests serving in the Cathedral choir, where their superior officiated as Precentor. Primate O 'Scanlain built the abbey for Friars Minor soon after his elevation to the primacy in 1261. It is the only one of which there are remains. The ruin is situated within the Primate 's demesne. Time has dealt severely with the walls, but the ravages are to a great extent hidden by ivy. Several of the broken arches are wrapped in mantles of ivy springing from leaders of tree-like proportions. One of the number, still flourishing, appears to be larger than the famous ivy in Mucross Abbey, Killarney, said to be over 200 years old. The ruin is about 150 feet long, 30 feet wide. and between 25 and 30 feet high. Ivy covers the interior and exterior. An archway in the centre of the main gable is a curiosity. Although it must have been long in the present state of delapidation, yet the visitor passes under with a sense of fear that it may fall and crush him. The picturesque effect of the immediate surroundings is heightened by several splendid Irish yews and stately forest trees. Out-offices, which stood close to the ruin, in the last century, were removed by Lord John George Beresford. About twelve years ago a portion of one of the walls fell. The interior of the abbey appears to have been used for burial purposes. A slab inscribed to the memory of Terence Nugent, bears date 1741. This is the oldest legible monument. The Christian character of the people of Armagh was attested by the presence of many crosses in the thoroughfares. The last one disappeared in 1813. It stood in Market Square. A portion is preserved in the Cathedral.
The school established by St. Patrick, which made Armagh famous all over Europe, was attached to the Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul, and its professors were of the Order of St. Augustine. The Abbey and its dormitories were rebuilt by Imar O 'Hedegan. Liberal endowments were given for the support of the school by the native kings. The last of these, Roderick O 'Connor, in 1169, decreed that the superior should receive ten cows every year. Students flocked to Armagh from every Christian country, until there were assembled at one time 7,000. Its graduates in theology were preferred to all others. The number of English

85
students was so large as to give name to the quarter in which they were lodged.
After the Plantation of Ulster, the reputation of Armagh as a seat of learning was maintained by means of a Royal School, established in 1627. [sic 1609] The intention was to have it at Mount Norris, then a fortified place, but subsequently an insignificant village. A, grant of 1,514 acres in that district, producing an income of £1,377, was made for its maintenance. Armagh was
considered to be a more appropriate site, and a 'transfer was secured. The first building erected was in Abbey Street, opposite the Provincial Bank. In 1772 the present college was completed through the instrumentality of Primate Robinson, restorer of Armagh. It occupies ' one of the hills of the city, and is capable of accommodating 120 students. At the beginning of this year, 1888, between 65 and 70 were enrolled. Primate Robinson contributed £3,000 toward the total cost of the structure (£5,000) in 1772, and Lord John George Beresford, primate, gave an equal amount to covet the outlay on an extension made in 1849. The buildings and grounds embrace about fifteen acres. The Royal School was founded for the education of Protestants, but after the death or resignation of the head master, Rev. Dr. M. M. Morgan, the Roman Catholics are to have half the revenue. This is in accordance with the Draft Scheme, published this year, objections to which are under consideration by the Commissioners.
Armagh seems to have had a library, or house for the preservation of manuscripts, at a very early period. It was, no doubt, the knowledge of this fact that influenced Primate Robinson to build, north of the Cathedral, the public library which continues to this day one of the chief attractions of the city. It was opened in 1771. He bequeathed to it his private collection of hooks and engravings, and a revenue of £339 a year. There are at present in it about 17,000 books. A large part deal with theological subjects. Departments are also devoted to classics, archeology, [sic] science, and general literature. An interesting feature is a collection of manuscript records of the archbishops since 1361. By an Act passed in the reign of George III., the Primate and Dean and Chapter are trustees. Busts of the late Lord John George Beresford, and Charles R. Elrington, biographer of Ussher, adorn the reading-room. There is also a small collection of antiquities, bequeathed by the late Primate, Marcus Gervais Beresford, D.D. The library is open to the public every day in summer from noon until four o clock, and in winter from noon until three o 'clock. New books are added from time to time. This year, 1888, about £150 was expended in the purchase of books, &c.

87
The Rev. Benjamin Wade, M.A., Precentor of the Cathedral, is Librarian, and Mr. Edward Rogers, author of a most interesting " Memoir of Armagh Cathedral" is Deputy Librarian. A portion of the library building is occupied as a residence by the Librarian.
The famous manuscript, known as The Book of Armagh, was presented to the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, in 1858, by Lord John George Beresford. It was purchased by Bishop Reeves, when Dean of Armagh, for £300, from Mr. William Brownlow, in 1853. It had been in the possession of a family named MacMoyre for a very long period. Florence MacMoyre, the last custodian, pledged it for £5 to pay the expenses of a trip to England in 1680 He went there to give evidence against Oliver Plunkett, Roman Catholic Primate, put to death for treason in 1681. MacMoyre did not release the book, and it was secured by the father of William Brownlow, some years afterward. Bishop Reeves says that the Book of Armagh "was so called because it was the most precious literary possession of the Church of Armagh. " He describes it as…
"A small thick quarto, measuring in height, 7¾ inches; in breadth, 5¾ and in thickness, 2¼ ; consisting of 221 vellum leaves, on each side of which the writing appears in double columns. The penmanship is of extreme elegance, and is admirable throughout for its distinctness and uniformity. There is no date entered in the book, but the scribe 's name, Ferdomnach, appears in several parts of it; we know from the Ancient Irish Annals what was the period at which he lived. At the year 845, is recorded 'the death of Ferdomnach, the wise and very admirable scribe of Ardmagh. ' Internal evidence proves that part of the volume, viz., that containing the Gospel of St. Matthew, was finished on the 21st September, about 807. * * * The Manuscript, it may be briefly stated, contains the following subjects :-The Acts of St. Patrick by Muirchu and Tirechan, being the earliest memoirs of the Apostle of Ireland which have been preserved, together with some important passages in Irish, which are among the oldest, and are the fullest specimens of the language now in existence. These are followed by the Confession of St. Patrick, purporting to be copied from his autograph. The whole is in writing anterior to the year 807. The entire New Testament in Latin, accompanied by the Prologues of St. Jerom and Pelagius, and here and there illustrated by Irish glosses. The version agrees in the main with the Vulgate, but presents occasional departures from it in cases which may be considered as characterizing the Irish Use. The life of St. Martin of Tours, by Sulpicius Severus."