Emania a Latinised form of Emain Macha--The second most historic spot on Irish soil--Its history--Its present desolation--Its great extent--Denationalisation of the peasantry in its vicinity; their almost total ignorance of its history--Emania and the "Children of Uisneach"; extreme beauty of that legend--The tomb of Deirdre--Many gold ornaments found near Emania--Long preservation of a place name--Queen Macha--The city of Armagh; its antiquity; founded by St Patrick; ruined and plundered by the Danes; was for some years the abode of a Danish King; its picturesqueness. QUEEN MAB'S PALACE 71 Rathcroghan, where Queen Mab lived and reigned, a very celebrated place--She was contemporary with Cleopatra, and was Queen of Connacht--Few legends about her in Ireland; an historic personage there--Proofs of the comparatively high civilization of Ireland in ancient times--Extraordinarily long preservation of the legend of Queen Mab or Medb, in England; her very long reign and great age; death in Iniscloran; her fondness for cold water baths; the Four Masters do not mention her--Description of the Fort of Rathcroghan; the wooden palace that once stood on it; unlike any of the historic forts of Ireland--Rathcroghan desolate since the time of Queen Mab; its vast ancient cemetery; Queen Mab buried there--Longevity of the ancient Irish--Strong proofs that the Connacht queen was the prototype of the Mab of Shakespeare, Drayton, Spenser, etc.; her sister's name still preserved in an Irish place name-- Beauty of the country round Rathcroghan; its fertility-- Many mentions of Rathcroghan in ancient Gaelic writings. THE HILL OF UISNEACH 84 One of the most historic of Irish hills; its peculiar shape--Magnificence and beauty of the view from it-- Knockcosgrey--Decay of rural population--Uisneach peculiarly adapted for a stronghold--Aill na Mireann, or rock of the divisions; now called the "Cat Stone"; its very peculiar shape; was supposed to mark the geographical centre of the island--Great Synod held in Uisneach in A.D. 1111--Moat of Ballylochloe; its extreme beauty; supposed origin of its name. CLONMACNOIS 97