Sailed from Galway

Four hundred and forty—four Friars embarked in ships from Galway, Dublin, Waterford and Cork. They were landed in the ports of France, Spain and Portugal and sought refuge in the colleges of their respective Orders abroad and in the convents belonging to other Provinces. Many did not obey the law but remained in hiding. O'Heyne gives a pathetic account of the breaking in by officials of the convent of the Dominican Nuns in Galway and the dispersal of the nuns among their friends. Two fathers managed to remain in Galway, viz., Father Gregory French and Father Nicholas Blake. Some were thrown into prison immediately for not obeying the law. Father Nicholas Blake has left some interesting verses in Latin, describing his desolation, of which we subjoin the following translation :-

"Lament of a Friar Left Alone by the Imprisonment of His Brethren."
"Along I live, alone my days I spend ;
The heavens receive my lone and fearsome sighs.
The lonely sparrow on the roof am I,
Like to the lonesome dove of mate deprived,
Sadly my plaint I make with heaving breast.
O Guardian Angel, look upon thy charge,
And, midst the heavenly chants, my sighs regard.
Take heart, my soul, and gaze upon the stars,
Whose placid light should bring new hopes to thee.
Here, if I bear, with adverse fortune, can I doubt
That heavenly joys will be my sure reward?
Let trouble bring new life to me ; these storms
Are but the prelude to the gates of bliss."