Shortly after this there was a great feast in the castle. In the midst of the festivities the dogs in the courtyard began to give tongue, as if in pursuit of game, and in a minute a terrified rat had jumped on the banqueting table, and, pausing before Lord Howth, looked up piteously in his face for protection. He ordered the dogs to be called off, and from that hour the rat never left him. His wife and family did not approve of his faithful attendant, and his brother persuaded him to go to the Continent, and by thus crossing the sea rid himself of the animal. However, the morning after his arrival in France the rat was found sleeping on his bed. He then pushed on to Marseilles, but not long after his arrival the rat entered his room wet and draggled from its long journey. The animal approached the fire to dry itself, when the nobleman’s brother took up the poker in a rage and killed it with one blow. “You have murdered me,” cried the Earl, and, falling back, he died. The rat is sometimes said to have been white, and to reappear when evil is about to befall the house of St. Laurence. The present Lord Howth is the fourth earl. AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. D’Alton, “History of Co. Dublin.” Proceedings of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Brewer, “Beauties of Ireland.” Parliamentary Gazetteer. Calendar of State Papers. R. A., “The Abbey of Howth,” in _Dublin Penny Journal_. _KILBARRON CASTLE_ “Broad, blue, and deep the Bay of Donegal Spreads north and south, and far a-west before The beetling cliffs, sublime and shattered wall, Where the O’Cleary’s name is heard no more.” T. D. MCGEE. This castle is situated on the shores of Donegal Bay about three miles from the town of Ballyshannon, in the Barony of Kilbarron, County Donegal. The name Cill-Barrainn signifies “the Church of St. Barrfhionn.” The fortress was built on a high and nearly insulated cliff, and from its romantic and wild situation a tradition falsely sprang up that it had been the stronghold of freebooters. The promontory is nearly circular in form and rises a hundred feet above the sea, along the edge of which a wall was built, while on the landward side a thick wall, the whole width of the neck protected this direction from attack. To the north of the small open courtyard thus enclosed was the keep, and here are traces of a subterranean passage, now filled up, which was used for “distillery purposes” in the eighteenth century. The remains of two chambers at the cliff side seem older than the other buildings. The sea wall is pierced by an oblong passage with a small square mouth popularly known as “the murdering-hole.” The castle was probably erected in the thirteenth or fourteenth century by the O’Sgingins, who were ollaves or historians to the great O’Donnells. In 1391 the Four Masters tell us it was demolished by Donnell, the son of Murtough (O’Conor of Sligo).