cobite standard in that battle, the hopes of the western Irish
declined. The surviving sons of most of the old families sought service
abroad in the armies of France, Spain, and Austria. There are many love
songs of the time in Irish, which have been translated, such as--

AFTER AUGHRIM.

Do you remember long-ago,
Kathaleen!
When your lover whispered low--
"Shall I stay or shall I go,
Kathaleen?"
And you answered proudly, "Go,
And join King James and strike a blow
For the Green."

Mavrone! your hair is white as snow,
Kathaleen,
Your heart is sad and full of woe--
Do you repent you bade him go,
Kathaleen?
But still you answer proudly, "No,
Far better die with Sarsfield so,
Than live a slave without a blow
For the Green."

Many of the old houses remain. Far and away the most interesting is
Lynch's mansion at the corner of Abbey Gate-street. On the walls are the
arms of the Lynches and their crest, a lynx, which it is said was given
them for the watchfulness with which they guarded a besieged Austrian
town in the middle ages. Behind Saint Nicholas' Church, in
Market-street, is the Lynch stone, inscribed with a skull and
crossbones, and "Vanity of vanity, and all is but vanity," above which
is an inscription:--

"This memorial of the stern and unbending justice of the Chief
Magistrate of this city, James Lynch Fitzstephen, elected Mayor,
A.D. 1493, who condemned and executed his own guilty son, Walter,
on this spot, has been restored to its ancient site A.D. 1854, with
the approval of the Town Commissioners, by their Chairman, Very
Rev. Peter Daly, P.P., and Vicar of Saint Nicholas."

The stern and unbending justice relates to the Mayor's execution of his
own son. The story tells how a young Spaniard, who was the Mayor's
guest, crossed in love the Mayor's son. One night, heated with wine and
inflamed with jealousy, young Lynch drove a stiletto through the heart
of his rival. His father tried and condemned him for the crime. His
mother roused the sympathy of the townspeople to such an extent that
none could be found to act as executioner, but the old Mayor was
even-handed with them, and hanged the unfortunate culprit with his own
hands.

No visitor to Galway will fail to find out the Claddagh. It is the most
conservative community in Ireland, and with them neither old times are
changed nor old manners gone.