THE BOOK OF ARMAGH. "This manuscript," writes the Antiquary Lhuyd, "is beyond doubt of very great antiquity, whether it may have been written in part by the hand of St. Patrick himself, or whether it be, as appears to be more pro-bable, the work of some later age." MacDermott, in his annotations to the Annals of the Four Masters, says "that the Book of Armagh, a MS. of the seventh century, on vellum, in Irish and Latin, contains a life of St. Patrick and his confession, or a sketch of his life written by himself; also a life of St. Martin of Tours, a copy of the Gospels, and other matters." "This manuscript," says Dr. Petrie, "was that celebrated Book of the Gospels called Canoin Parraic or Patrick's Canons, which was considered of such inestimable value, that its safe stewardship became an hereditary office of dignity in a family connected with the Church of Armagh, who derived their name MacMoyre, or son of the steward, from this cir-cumstance; and, as a remuneration for which, they held no less than eight townlands in the county, still known as the lands of Ballymacmoyre (more commonly Ballymoyer). So great, indeed, was the veneration in which this book, together with the crozier of Patrick, held by the Irish, that, as St. Bernard tells us in his life of St. Malachy, it was difficult to persuade the people to perceive or acknowledge any one as the rightful Archbishop of Armagh but the possessor of them." The veneration in which the Canoin Phatraig was held among the ancient Irish is further manifested in the following record of the expulsion of a chieftain from the territory for dishonouring it a few years after the coming of the English into Ireland, AD. 119- O'Rogan, Lord of Iveagh (County Down), died after a three nights' illness, after his expulsion for profaning Canoin Phatruig. Dean Reeves in his interesting Memoir, written in 1861, says that the "Book of Armagh so-called because it was the most precious literary possession of the Church of Armagh -is 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; and we know from the Ancient Irish Annals what was the period at which he lived." At the year 845, is recorded "the death of Ferdom-nach, 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……By degrees the book rose so much in favour, that in 937, we are told by the Four Masters "the Canon of St. Patrick was encased by Donough, son of Flann, King of Ireland." Possibly they may have reference to the remarkable leather satchel which accompanies it, and which bears the marks of great antiquity, so much so, that it is considered by a high authority to be of that early date. Its possessor in 1652 was Florence Mac Moyer. In 1679 (December) Dr. Oliver Plunket, Titular Archbishop of Armagh, was apprehended on a charge of high treason On 8th June he was arraigned at the King's bench before Chief Justice Sir F. Pemberton. The keeper was one of the witnesses, and the first man examined was this Florence MacMoyer. The Book of Armagh remained in the hands of a family commonly called Mac Maor, in English Mac Moyre, for many ages past, till Florentine Mac Moyre went over to England, in 1680, to give evidence against Oliver Plunket. Moyre being in want of money at the time of his departure, left the book in pawn as a security for five pounds sterling. He was never afterwards in a condition to redeem his precious manuscript. It had been pledged in 1680, and was in Mr. Brownlow's possession before 1707. From this gentleman's possession it descended in 1710, to his son William; from him in 1739, to his son William; from him in 1794, to his son William; from him in 1815, to his half brother and residuary legatee, Rev. Francis Brownlow; and from him in 1847, to his eldest son William, its last possessor in this family. On the 4th of November, 1853, it came into the possession of Dean Reeves, who purchased it from Mr. Brownlow for the sum of £300. It remained in the hands of its new possessor till 1858, when it was surrendered to the library of Trinity College, as the gift of his Grace the Lord Primate." "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 speci-mens 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 characterising the Irish Use. The life of St. Martin of Tours, by Sulpicius Severus." Accounts of the Book of Armagh are given by Ware, Ussher, O'Connor, &c., and copious extracts from it have been translated and published in that learned book, the "Irish Antiquarian Researches," by Sir W. Betham. After Hugh De Lacy -long remembered as the great castellator of Ireland- was deprived of the office of Vice-royalty in Ireland, he was succeeded by Philip of Worcester, who marched to Armagh about mid-lent 1185, when he gave up many of the best houses of the city to be plundered by his soldiers, not sparing even the possessions of the clergy, who were scandalised by his profane conduct in spending this holy season in feasting and riot. When he refused to listen to their complaints against his soldiers, by whom they had been plundered, they denounced against him the judgement of their patron saint, and a sudden fit of violent cholic, by which he was seized on his departure, convinced him that their denunciations had not been pronounced in vain. He was accompanied by a worthy companion, Hugh Tyrrel, who stripped the poor priests of Armagh by his extortions, carrying off a "brasse brewing panne" from a religious house in the city; but the monks were consoled when they learned that the house in which he lodged had taken fire and been burnt, with all his plunder. It is also to be recorded that Hugh Tyrrel himself, struck with remorse, ordered this wonderful "panne" to be restored to the clergy of Armagh. This brewing apparatus turns up again in the "State Papers," Ireland, in the year 1563, where an entry is made-" Flemyng's suit for the brewing utensils at Armagh." About this time died Martin O'Brolly, Professor of Theology in the School of Armagh. -1191. St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, consecrated. -1196. The Abbey of Peter and Paul, with its churches, and a great part of the Rath, were burnt; and in 1198 Roderick O'Connor, the last of the monarchs of Ireland of the Milesian race, died. He was a patron of learning and the fine arts. It is said that, in 1169, he augmented the income of the head master of the School of Armagh by an annual pension of ten oxen. The grant, however, stipulated that the school should be open to all students who should come to Armagh from any part of Ireland, Albania, Scotia. -1199. It is recorded that Sir John De Courcy burnt every Church, plundered and destroyed every house in the city; and again in 1206. Hugh De Lacy, the younger, who was appointed Lord Deputy in place of De Courcy, for ten days and nights plundered the town and Abbey, for which, as the Innisfallen Annals say, "he soon felt the vengeance of the Irish Saints." The Abbey of Peter and Paul was also plun-dered this year by Rory O'Donslevy, and some English of Meath, and left only one cow there. Eugene MacGilleveder, after five years of disputes amongst rival candidates, was declared Archbishop by the Pope. -1210. Ireland wholly subdued and English laws and customs introduced by King John. Thus by the Bull of Adrian IV. Ireland lost her ancient language, laws, and inde-pendence.