In subsequent ages the family of O’Donoghoe split into three great branches; that of O’Donoghoe More, or the great, of which Ross Castle became the residence; O’Donoghoe of the Glens; and O’Donoghoe of Lough Lein. Of these three families the first and last are supposed to be extinct, and are at least reduced to poverty; but that of the Glens is still represented by O’Donoghoe of Killarney, who is consequently the reputed chief of this illustrious family. By a happy chance, very rare in Ireland, O’Donoghoe, who is as yet a minor, possesses a considerable portion of the estates of his ancestors of the Glens; but the properly of the O’Donoghoe More, or Ross, as well as that of the O’Donoghoe of Lough Lein, has been long in the possession of the noble house of Kenmare, of which their ancestor Sir Valentine Brown made a purchase from Donald M’Carty More, Earl of Clancarthy, as early as the year 1588, it having been forfeited by Rory O’Donoghoe More some time previously. These lands, as Dr Smith acquaints us, were subsequently confirmed to the grandson of the first purchaser, Valentine, son of Nicholas Brown, by letters patent of King James I. which passed the seal May 12, 1612, and included with others the entire country of Onaugh, alias Onaught O’Donoghoe More, in the county of Desmond, in which were contained the manor and lake of the Castle of Ross, with divers islands in Lough Lein, with all other his estate, containing 82 quarters of land, amounting to 6560 acres, besides the fishings belonging to the manor of Ross-I-Donoghoe, all which premises came to the family by immediate bargain and grant from the Earl of Clancarthy, by the indenture before mentioned. “But,” as Smith adds, “some question being made of the validity of this grant from the crown, the king, by privy seal, dated at Greenwich, 28th May 1618, directed Sir Oliver St John, lord-deputy, to accept a surrender thereof from him [Valentine], and to re-grant the same to him in fee by a new patent, for clearing all doubt, and the better settlement of his estate.”
But though the lands of O’Donoghoe More have passed away from his race, he still retains possession of the waters: and, though dead himself corporeally, he still lives, and governs spiritually in his ancient principality. If, reader, you doubt the truth of our statement, ask the people of the lakes, and they will at once remove your scepticism. They will tell you that he frequently appears to them on May-day, on a milk-white horse, gliding over the glassy lake to the sound of unearthly music, and attended by troops of spirits scattering spring flowers. They differ, indeed, a good deal in their accounts of the appearance of their ancient lord. Derrick, in his amusing Letters on Killarney, written in 1760, tells us that he was assured, when O’Donoghoe revisits his friends, which is every May morning before sunrise, he is “attended by an incredible number of followers, wrestling, hurling, and playing football upon the surface of the lake, which affords them as sure footing as the solid earth.” And Derrick’s friend, Mr Ockenden, whose letters descriptive of Killarney are printed in the same volume, describes O’Donoghoe’s horse not as a white but a black one. As this gentleman’s account of O’Donoghoe’s visits is the most minute, as well as the earliest, that we have seen, we are tempted to give it in full.
“There lived in the largest island (for there are several islands on the lake) many hundred years ago, a petty prince, named O’Donoghoe, who was lord of the whole lake, the surrounding shore, and a large district of neighbouring country. He manifested, during his stay upon earth, great munificence, great humanity, and great wisdom; for, by his profound knowledge in all the secret powers of nature, he wrought wonders as miraculous as any tradition has recorded of saints by the aid of angels, or of sorcerers by the assistance of demons; and among many other most astonishing performances he rendered his person immortal. After having continued a long time upon the surface of the globe without growing old, he one day, at Ross Castle (the place where he most usually resided), took leave of his friends, and rising from the floor, like some aërial existence, passed through the window, shot away horizontally to a considerable distance from the castle, and then descended. The water unfolding at his approach, gave him entrance down to the subaqueous regions, and then, to the inexpressible astonishment of all beholders, closed over his head, as they believed, for ever: but in this they were mistaken.
He returned again some years after, revisiting, not, like Hamlet’s ghost, ‘the glimpses of the moon making night hideous,’ but the radiance of the sun making day joyful, to those at least who saw him: since which time he has continued to make very frequent expeditions to these upper regions, sometimes three or four in a year; but sometimes three or four years pass without his once appearing, which the bordering inhabitants have always looked on as a mark of very bad times.
It was feared this would be the third year he would suffer to elapse without his once cheering their eyes with his presence: but at the latter end of last August he again appeared, to the inexpressible joy of all, and was seen by numbers in the middle of the day. I had the curiosity, before I left Killarney, to visit one of the witnesses to this very marvellous fact.
The account she gives is, that returning with a kinswoman to her house at the head of the lake, they both beheld a fine gentleman, mounted upon a black horse, ascend through the water with a numerous retinue on foot, who all moved together along the surface towards a small island, near which they again descended under water. This account is confirmed, in time, place, and circumstances, by many more spectators from the side of the lake, who are all ready to swear, and not improbably to suffer death, in support of their testimony.
His approach is sometimes preceded by music inconceivably harmonious; sometimes by thunder inexpressibly loud; but oftenest without any warning whatsoever. He always rises through the surface of the lake, and generally amuses himself upon it, but not constantly: for there is a farmer now alive, who declares, as I am told, that riding one evening near the lower end of the lake, he was overtaken by a gentleman who seemed under thirty years of age, very handsome in his person, very sumptuous in his apparel, and very affable in his conversation. After having travelled for some time together, the nobleman (for such he judged him to be by his appearance) observed, that as night was approaching, the town far off, and lodging not easy to be found, he should be welcome to take a bed that night at his house, which, he said, was not very distant.
The invitation was readily accepted; they approached the lake together, and both their horses moved upon the surface without sinking, to the infinite amazement of the farmer, who thence perceived the stranger to be no less than the great O’Donoghoe. They rode a considerable distance from shore, and then, descending into a delightful country under water, lay that night in a house much larger in size and much more richly furnished than even Lord Kenmare’s at Killarney.”
With respect, however, to the colour of O’Donoghoe’s horse, the prevailing belief seems now to be, that it is a white one, and this notion has been adopted by our national bard, Moore, in his beautiful song called “O’Donoghoe’s Mistress,” which, as he informs us, is founded on one among other stories connected with this legend of the lakes, and in which it is said that there was a young and beautiful girl, whose imagination was so impressed with the idea of this visionary chieftain, that she fancied herself in love with him, and at last, in a fit of insanity, on a May morning, threw herself into the lake. But we had better give the song itself:—
Of all the fair months, that round the sun