its summit first,
when all were started from the foot. Grainne Oge, the Gaelic Helen, of
course was heroine of the day, and Finn's taking her was the origin of
one of the most enthralling of the Celtic romances.

[Illustration: _Photo, Croker, Waterford._ Dunmore Harbour.]

Among the more interesting objects at Dunbrody are St. Catherine's
Church, an old time dependency of the Abbey, and the splendid remains
of the Cistercian Monastery, rising above the meadows by which the
Campile Stream flows. The monastic church in general style is Early
English, and is fairly preserved. It dates from the twelfth century, and
was founded by Henri de Montmorenzi, Marshal to Henry II.--the same who
was killed at the Curragh.

There is a severe simplicity about its lines which gives an impression
of great dignity. The crenelated Tower springs from the nave and
transept. The Abbots of Dunbrody sat as Lords in Parliament, and
exercised civil jurisdiction. Above Dunbrody, on the river opposite "The
Little Island," where was an ancient hermitage, in a straight line is
Ballinakill House, where James II. spent his last night in Ireland, on
the day before that celebrated in the ballad, which tells:--

"Righ Shemus he has gone to France,
And left his crown behind,
Ill luck be their's, both day and night,
Put running in his mind."

~Passage East~ (seven miles), now a fishing village, with spider-legged
spit light, was reduced by Cromwell in 1649. The old mole still stands.
At Ballyhack, across the ferry, a strong, square castle is well
preserved. "New Geneva," in the vicinity, was garrisoned with Hessians
during the Rebellion of '98. It is mentioned in the well-known Irish
song, "The Croppy Boy." The place received its name in 1786, when a
colony of Genoese exiles were established there. On the Waterford coast,
from the city to where the Blackwater kisses the sea, beside a range of
noble cliffs, there are many points of interest. The Tower of Hook,
standing one hundred feet high, on the promontory of the same name on
the Wexford side, is attributed amongst others to Reginald the Dane,
Ross MacRume, the founder of New Ross, and Florence de la Hague (1172).
Its circular walls are of great thickness and strength. When Strongbow
heard of this Tower of Hook, with Crook (Norse, Krok a nook) on the
western side, he is alleged to have said "He would take Waterford by
Hook or Crook," and thus originated a common saying which has come do