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| CHURCH AT SWORDS, CO. DUBLIN. -The renovated church pictured above, stands upon the site of the ancient ecclesiastical edifice, founded by St. Columba in 512, which received the dead body of King Brian Boru, while on its way from the bloody battle-field of Clontarf, to its place of final interment in the cathedral of Armagh. Tradition says that the bodies of Prince Murrough, Brian's son, and Prince Turlough, his grandson, who also died at Clontarf "in the arms of victory," were interred at Swords. After lying in state at this place for a stated period, the dead monarch's remains were taken in charge by the clergy of Duleek, who placed it in the Church of St. Kieran. Then the relics were conveyed by the ecclesiastics of Louth to their own monastery, where it was received by the Archbishop of Armagh and his suffragans, who conveyed it to their cathedral. "For twelve days and nights," says the chronicler, "it was watched by the clergy, during which time there was a continual scene of prayer and devotion." Swords also possesses one of the best preserved round towers in the island, 75 feet in height and with the conical cap almost as perfect in appearance as if constructed in our own times. Tradition also says that the town and castle, which still exist in a reconstructed state, were sacked and burned no less than four times by the Danish invaders. |
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