Under the heavy thraldom of foreigners — This affords an additional evidence that the territory of Ceara was in the possession of the English settlers in the time of the writer. It is quite obvious, from the ruins of the castles and other edifices still remaining, and from the notices preserved in the Irish annals, of others which have been destroyed or modernized, that the English had fortified themselves against the assaults of the native Irish in this beautiful territory at a very early period. These castles are, 1, Caislean na Caillighe, or the Hag's castle, situated in Lough Mask, opposite the mouth of the river Robe; it is a round building of vast circumference, and is mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters as early as the year 1195; 2, Caislean na Caillighe, on Hag Island, in Lough Carra, opposite Annies; 3, Caislean na Circe, in Lough Carra, on Castle Island; and, 4, Robeen Castle, already mentioned. The others now remaining are evidently of a later age. To these may be added the great castle of Ballyloughmask, which was rebuilt in the latter end of the reign of Elizabeth, and another very remarkable monument of English power in this territory at an early period, namely, the Abbey of Burriscarra, supposed to have been erected by the Burkes in the thirteenth century for Carmelites or White Friars, but the exact year of its foundation is not on record, or at least is not yet discovered. It was granted by Pope John XXIII. in the year 1412, to Eremites of the Augustinian order. Downing, who wrote a short account of the county of Mayo about the year 1685, for Sir William Petty's intended Atlas, thus describes this barony: — ‘The barony of Scarra’ [recte Carra] ‘or Burriscarra, lyeth next to Kilmayne, which standeth upon the brinke of a great lough, called Lough Carra, by the ancients Fionnlough Carra, which is said to have been one of the three loughs of Ireland that first sprung. On it is a small abbey, or rather nunnery, called Annagh or Any. It was founded and given by Thomas Burke, the chief of the Burkes of Mayo, to the abbot of Cong, upon condition that if any woman of his posterity would vow chastity, the abbot of Cong should maintain her during her life, as appears by the several inquisitions after the dissolution of Cong. The next place of note in this barony is the abbey of Burriscarra, of the order of St. Augustine, standing upon the side of the said lake or lough.’