‘The Horn of Donn Cuailnge is the first part of the ceremony used to summon the Five Kings.’

Mac opens his Miscellanea.

‘I found the instructions to this ceremony years ago. They were scratched onto the back of a moss-covered gravestone lost in the ruins of Rhincrew Abbey.

‘The Abbey was founded by Raymond Le Gros as a Preceptory for the Knights Templar in 1183 by a certain Anglo-Norman called Raymond Le Gros.

Sent to Ireland by Strongbow, Le Gros famously routed an Irish army by driving a herd of cattle straight into it.’

Mac pauses.

‘The abbey derives its name from the Irish ‘Rinn-iru’ which translates as ‘The Point of Blood.’’

Mac smiles.

‘A suitable place, one might consider, for something so foul to be discovered.’