History of the Town and County of Wexford. By Philip
Herbert Here. Vol. IL (Elliot Stock. 20s. net.)—In this second volume Mr. Hore tells the story, or, rather, lets docu- ments tell the story, of the Irish Tintern. of the ancient domain of Rosegarland (corrupted from Roscarlan), and of Clonmine, a very interesting locality in the barony of Shelburne. We wish that Mr. lore had given us some more comment of his own. There is a preface of a few pages, but no introduction, a help which we are accustomed to expect in books of this kind. The story of Tintern occupies about three-fifths of the volume. This Abbey, named after, and made a dependency of, the house of the same name in Monmouthshire, was founded by William, Earl of Pembroke, in satisfaction of a vow which he had made when in danger of shipwreck (hence its common name of De Vote). The foundation, which dates from early in the thirteenth century, did not enjoy a very prosperous or quiet existence. We find the Abbey of Christ Church, Canterbury, making over various properties, both civil and ecclesiastical, in Ireland, for the consideration of an annual payment of 10 marks. Ten years afterwards it is agreed that this payment should be increased to 13 marks. But in 1318 Tintern Abbey is in arrears for twelve years, and has to pay up 2100. In 1328 the same thing has happened again, and the General Chapter of the Cistercian Order is invoked. In 1331 the Abbot of the English Tintern inter- cedes fcr his impoverished namesake :—" Unless he had received an aid from his friends, he would have come to you barefooted after the manner of his Order." Other money troubles occur. The Abbot of Tintern and another admit a debt of 42 marks for a marriage portion. This is in 1307, and the same year there is issued a distraint on his lands and goods for 216 108 , due on another marriage portion ; in 1308 the Abbot is sued for 25 marks. All these transactions rose out of one will. Further, as in this century, we hear of strained relations between the Abbey and its neighbours. In 1355 the Abbot of Dunlody imprisons a Tintern monk, and robs him of two horses (value 40s.) and 68. 8d. In 1356 the Abbot of Jerpoint expels and imprisons the unlucky head of Tintern, while yet a third spiritual person (Abbot of St. Mary's, Dublin) robs him of six heifers, four crannocks of coin and two of oats, rents to the amount of 24, and the common seal, by means of which he possesses himself of lands of the value of 2100. The said Abbot pleads that he is a spiritual person, and is acquitted. All this is strange, and we should have liked some explanation. One thing is patent, and certainly has a sinister significance. There is not a syllable in any one of these documents about religion or learning. They are a sterile succession of squalid disputes about money. The last entry in the history of Tintern is this : "Thomas Power, with the servants of John Power, at that time Abbot of Tintern, came, robbed, and burnt the town of Cullen,feloniously, to the damage of 2100." In 1538 the founda- tion was dissolved. Its possessions were valued at 259 18s. 4d., of which the larger part was furnished by the tithes of sundry parishes. The acreage of the estates was between two and three thousand (Irish), but we find repeatedly this qualification : "now waste owing to the Irish Rebels, and of no yearly value."
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