After the abandonment of Tara as a royal residence, in the sixth century, the High Kings held court at Tailltenn, now Telltown, and Tlachtga, now the Hill of Ward, in Meath, and at Ushnagh (Usna) in Westmeath. The Ulster monarchs had seats at Emain, near Armagh (Ar’-ma’) Greenan-Ely, on the hill of Ailech, in Donegal; and at Dun-Kiltair—still a striking ruin—near Downpatrick. The kings of Leinster had their palaces at Naas in Kildare, Dunlavin in Wicklow, Kells in Meath, and Dinnree, near Leighlin Bridge, in Catherlough (Carlow). The Munster rulers held high carnival, for ages, at Cashel of the Kings and Caher, in Tipperary; at Bruree and Treda-na-Rhee—still a most picturesque mound, showing the ancient Celtic method of fortification, in Limerick; and at Kinkora, situated on the right bank of the Shannon, in Clare. The O’Conors, kings of Connaught, had royal residences at Rathcroaghan (Crohan) and Ballintober—the latter founded by “Cathal Mor of the Wine Red Hand,” in the thirteenth century—in the present county of Roscommon; and at Athunree, or Athenry—Anglice, “the Ford of the Kings,” in Galway. Ballintober, according to tradition, was the finest royal residence in all Ireland, and the remains of Cathal Mor’s castle are still pointed out in the vicinity of the town. It was to it Clarence Mangan alluded in his “Vision of Connaught in the Thirteenth Century,” thus: “Then saw I thrones and circling fires, And a dome rose near me as by a spell, Whence flowed the tone of silver lyres And many voices in wreathèd swell. And their thrilling chime Fell on mine ears Like the heavenly hymn of an angel band— ‘It is now the time We are in the years Of Cathal Mor of the Wine Red Hand.’”