an island in the lake of Killarney, in the county of Kerry and province of Munster: in it are the ruins of a very ancient religious house, founded by St Finian, the patron saint of these parts, and to him the cathedral of Aghadoe is also dedicated.

The remains of this abbey are very extensive, its situation romantic and retired. Upon the dissolution of religious houses, the possessions of this abbey were granted to Captain Robert Collam. The island contains about 12 acres, is agreeably wooded, and has a number of fruit-trees. St Finian flourished about the middle of the 6th century; he was surnamed in Irish Lobhar, his father's name was Conail the son of Eochaidh; descended from Kian the son of Alild, king of Munster. There was formerly a chronicle kept in this abbey, which is frequently cited by Sir J. Ware and other antiquaries under the title of the Annals of Innisfallen. They contain a sketch of universal history, from the creation of the world to the year 430 or thereabouts, but from thence the annalist has amply enough proceeded the affairs of Ireland down to his own times. He lived to the year 1215. Sir J. Ware had a copy of them, whereof there is an imperfect transcript among the MSS. of the library of Trinity-college, Dublin. They were continued by another hand to the year 1320. Bishop Nicholson, in his Irish historical library, informs us, that the duke of Chandos had a complete copy of them down in 1320 in his possession. These annals tell us, that in the year 1180, the abbey, which had at that time all the gold and silver and richest goods of the whole country deposited in it, as the place of greatest security, was plundered by Mildwin son of Daniel O'Donoghoe, as was also the church of Ardfergus, and many persons were slain in the very cemetery by the MacCarts; but God, as it is said in this chronicle, punished this impiety by the untimely end of some of the authors of it.