bring with them, at their own expense and charges during the time of their service in Ireland”—(_St. Pap._, iii. 52). Another information further states that as a Christmas present in December, 1538, Art Oge O’Toole had sent to Gerald “a saffron shirt trimmed with silk, and a mantle of English cloth fringed with silk, together with a sum of money”—(_Ibid._, pag. 139). And a few months later Cowley writes from Dublin to the English court, that “there never was seen in Ireland so great a host of Irishmen and Scots, both of the out isles and of the mainland of Scotland; whilst at the same time the pretended Earl of Desmond has all the strength of the west”—(_Ibid._, pag. 145). It is not necessary to pursue the subsequent events of this confederacy, as we have no express documents to attest the share taken in it by the Bishop of Derry. One further fact alone connected with our great prelate has been recorded by our annalists, and it, too, regards the closing scene of his eventful life, viz., that before his death he wished to become a member of the Franciscan order, and dying on the 8th of October, 1550, “he was buried in the monastery of Donegal in the habit of St. Francis”—(_Four Mast._, v. 1517). Eugene Magennis, the next bishop, governed the see from 1551 to 1568. It was during his episcopate that the venerable church and monastery of St. Colomba, together with the town of Derry, were reduced to a heap of ruins. The fact is thus narrated by Cox: “Colonel Saintlow succeeded Randolph in the command of the garrison, and lived as quietly as could be desired; for the rebels were so daunted by the former defeat that they did not dare to make any new attempt; but unluckily, on the 24th day of April (1566), the ammunition took fire, and blew up both the town and the fort of Derry, whereby twenty men were killed, and all the victuals and provisions were destroyed, and no possibility left of getting more, so that the soldiers were necessitated to embark for Dublin”—(_Hist._, part i. pag. 322). This disaster was regarded at the time as a divine chastisement for the profanation of St. Columba’s church and cell, the latter being used by the heretical soldiery as a repository of ammunition, whilst the former was defiled by their profane worship—(_O’Sulliv._, pag. 96).