Rathcroghan, where Queen Mab lived and reigned, a very
celebrated place--She was contemporary with Cleopatra, and
was Queen of Connacht--Few legends about her in Ireland; an
historic personage there--Proofs of the comparatively high
civilization of Ireland in ancient times--Extraordinarily
long preservation of the legend of Queen Mab or Medb, in
England; her very long reign and great age; death in
Iniscloran; her fondness for cold water baths; the Four
Masters do not mention her--Description of the Fort of
Rathcroghan; the wooden palace that once stood on it;
unlike any of the historic forts of Ireland--Rathcroghan
desolate since the time of Queen Mab; its vast ancient
cemetery; Queen Mab buried there--Longevity of the ancient
Irish--Strong proofs that the Connacht queen was the
prototype of the Mab of Shakespeare, Drayton, Spenser, etc.;
her sister's name still preserved in an Irish place name--
Beauty of the country round Rathcroghan; its fertility--
Many mentions of Rathcroghan in ancient Gaelic writings.