"The city of Ross was situated in the province of Cashel, in the middle of a vast plain which stretched along the sea-shore. It consisted of about two hundred houses, and was encompassed with a wall. The country around was fertile, yielding an abundance of corn and fruit. In the centre of the town was the cathedral church, dedicated under the invocation of Saint Fachnan, an Irish saint, confessor, whose feast is celebrated on the vigil of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The walls of the church were of cut stone, and it had two entrances--one lateral, the other in front, and in both you descended by three steps to the level of the church. Its floor was unpaved, and its roof was of wood, covered with slates. The interior of the church presented the form of a cross, and in size corresponded with the church of S. Maria del Popolo in Rome. Its central nave was separated by stone pillars from the aisles. Its choir was of wood, and at the head of the choir was placed the high altar. Its sacristy was well supplied with vestments and other sacred ornaments. It had a mitre and crucifixes; its chalices were of solid silver, some of them being gilt, and its crozier was also of silver. In the cemetery, outside the church, there was a belfry built in the form of a tower, in which there was one large bell. As for the dignitaries of the church, there was a Dean with a yearly income of 12 marks, an Archdeacon with 20 marks, and a Chancellor with 8 marks. There were also twelve Canons, each having a revenue of 4 marks, and four Vicars with a similar income. All these assist daily in choir, and celebrate low Mass. On the festival days a solemn Mass is sung. The Canons reside here and there through the diocese, which is twenty miles in extent. The Bishop's residence is about half-a-mile from the city, and is pleasantly situated on the sea-shore. The episcopal revenue consists of corn, tithes, and pasturage, and amounts annually to 60 marks. There are also twenty-four benefices in the Bishop's collation"--(Theiner, _Ib._, pag. 528-9). Before the close of 1517, Dr. O'Murrily was duly proclaimed in consistory Bishop of Ross. He governed the see, however, for little more than one year, and had for his successor a Spaniard named _Bonaventura_, of whom it is recorded that he founded a monastery in the small island of Dursey, which lies at the head of the peninsula between Bantry and Kenmare--(O'Sullivan. _Hist. Cath._, pag. 238). This monastery and its adjoining church of St. Michael shared the fate of most of the monuments of our ancient faith during the persecution of Elizabeth, and in 1602 was levelled to the ground.