ly the names of the bishops,
of which the meagre list is very incomplete and defective; in some
instances whole centuries are passed over, of which we have no published
record at all.

In the absence of other ecclesiastical monuments, the history of this
See, like many others, can be traced only in a fragmentary manner, as it
is found mixed up with the history of the several religious houses
scattered over it, or as it may be unravelled from the various legends
and traditions connected with them. These Religious foundations were
numerous in Ardagh, and some of them rank among the most ancient in the
island; thus, in the _Tripartite Life of Saint Patrick_, we find that
the two daughters of the Saint's old master, Milcho, after the death of
their father, took the veil in the convent of Augustin nuns, founded by
Saint Patrick at Cluain Bronach, near Granard in Teffia (Clonbroncy,
County Longford), which must, therefore, have been one of the most
ancient foundations for Religious women in Ireland. Time, and the hand
of the spoiler have dealt hardly with these old houses, and few traces
can be found of them to-day. The same may be said even of those more
modern ones, which, like the Dominican Convent of Saint Brigid,
Longford, or the Cistercian Abbey of Saint Mary, Granard, border more
nearly on the times of authentic and known history.

In the spoliations of Henry and Elizabeth, the convent lands were
granted away to laymen, and the edifices either razed to the ground, or
perverted to the uses of the new creed. The few that escaped
confiscation were soon deserted under the penal and relentless
persecution that followed, and the departing Religious carried with them
the records of most of our old foundations, which, if existing, are now
to be found only in the MSS. of the Munich, Barberini, Vatican, and
other continental libraries. Yet, from the earliest foundation of Saint
Mel, at Ardagh, or of Saint Columba, in Innismore, Lough Gowna, down to
the latest convent in the islands of Lough Ree, each has its story, its
legends and traditions, which we, perhaps, may live to tell. Of some
extensive ruins still remain, and about their ivied walls there clings
many an old legend and oft-told tradition, that yet may help to clear up
the obscure history of those times. In many instances, however, we must
confess, that few vestiges have escaped the ruthless hand of the
spoiler, and save a few crumbling ivy-covered walls, and the green