book ix

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[2] "Military orders of knights were very early established in Ireland; long before the birth of Christ we find an hereditary order of Chivalry in Ulster, called _Curaidhe na Craiobhe ruadh_, or the Knights of the Red Branch, from their chief seat in Emania, adjoining to the palace of the Ulster kings, called _Teagh na Craiobhe ruadh_, or the Academy of the Red Branch; and contiguous to which was a large hospital, founded for the sick knights and soldiers, called _Bronbhearg_, or the House of the Sorrowful Soldier."--_O'Halloran's Introduction_, etc.,