Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 28, 1917.djvu/477

 Collectanea. 443

a feud arose between the O'Mallcys and the MacMahons of Ballycroy. The latter surprised the former at a deerhunt in Achill and Grainne's husband fell in an ambuscade. The young widow vowed vengeance and bided her time. Hearmg from an Erris man that the MacMahons were under a curse for killing a young man on Achill, and, for penance, had to go to Caher Island, she manned her ships and lay hidden behmd the island till the penitents had landed. She then cut them off and made a fearful slaughter, bringing the survivors, including her husband's slayer, to Clare Island, where she hanged them. She then sailed on to Ballycroy, denuded of its defenders, and took and retained Doonah Castle, putting its garrison to the sword. This story in a shorter form is also told at Doonah and seems a more probable version of the Turkish ship story.

She loved the castle on Clare Island ^ and kept her ships in the harbour near it, and when she died she was buried in the abbey near it, where the well-cut (later) slab with the O'Maille arms and crest and the motto " Terra marique potens " marks the spot. 2 A human skull with golden earrings in it ! was long shown as hers ; it seems to be forgotten. Otway tells a wonder- ful tale of the abbey being cleared of bones by manure manu- facturers from Glasgow and of an eye tooth and one of the ■earrings being found next year in a turnip ; but Otway was quite capable of " brightening " his pleasant little books by new work as well as by varnishing old legends.-^

At Inishbofin (as we saw) Grainne was an ally of the formid- able pirates, Bosco and Guarhim, her " castle " was on the long prehistoric rock fort called Dun Grainne. But it shows no late foundations of any kind.*

^ Clare Island Survey, part 2, p. 37. See also Ol way's Tour in Connattght, p. 298, and R. Soc. Antt. Ir. vol. xxv. pp. 244-5. The views in the last two by Otway and Wakeman poor and inaccurate.

^ Clare Island Survey, part 2, plate i.

' Tour in Connau^ht, p. 301.

'from Grania Wael Ny Maley " was a castle and still traceable. This is ■evidently wrong, but O'Donovan did not visit the island, and took his informa- ition unchecked from a very careless informant.
 * Ord. Survey Letters, Mayo, vol, i, p. 484, however, says: "Crania's diin