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THE
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE
IRELAND,
AN
NTERIOR TO THE ANGLO-NORMAN INVASION,
&C. &C.
?
THE
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE
lEELAND,
ANTERIOR TO THE ANGLO-NORMAN INVASION;
COMPRISING AN ESSAY ON
THE ORIGIN AND USES
THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND,
WHICH OBTAINED
THE GOLD MEDAL AND PRIZE OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY.
GEORGE PETRIE, R.H.A, V. P. R.I. A.
^cconJj ©Iiition.
DUBLIN: HODGES AND SMITH, GRAFTON- S TREET.
MDCCCXLV.
• t • ■ CIIU
^Ol«l'
Aiditnt
stack Iftnnex
NA
TO
THE VISCOUNT AD ARI M.P., M.R.I.A.,
WILLIAM STOKES, M.l, M.R.LA.,
REG[US PROFESSOR OF PHY'SIC IN THE UNIERSITY OF DUBLIN.
My Lord, and Sir,
You will remember thatin one of the beautiful works of the great painter, Nicolo Pousin, he has depicted a group of shepherds at an ancient tombpne of whom deciphers for the rest the simple inscription engryed upon it :
" ET EGO IN ARCADt"
And it was a natural and grateful desir of the Arcadian shep- herd to be remembered in connexion 'ith the beloved region in which he had found tranquillity anCenjoyment.
Li like manner, I would wish to beremembered hereafter, less for what I have attempted to do, tan as one who, in the pure and warm hearts of the best ari most intellectual of Ins local cotemporaries, had found, ad enjoyed, a resting- place, — far superior to that of the Gres.
As two of the dearest of those liends, equally known, beloved, and honoured by all, as by rq, — permit me, then, to inscribe your names on this humble Anument ; so that, it it
^^fcs
f
DUBLIN :
PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PHESS^
BY M. H. GILL.
Annex
TO
THE VISCOUNT A D A R E, M. P., M. R. I. A.,
AND
AYILLIAM STOKES, M.D., M.R.I.A.,
REGIUS PKOFESSOK OF PHYSIC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN.
My Lord, and Sir,
You will remember that in one of the beautiful works of the great painter, Nicolo Poussin, he has depicted a group of shepherds at an ancient tomb, one of whom deciphers for the rest the simple inscription engraved upon it :
" ET EGO IN ARCADIA."
And it was a natural and grateful desire of the Arcadian shep- herd to be remembered in connexion with the beloved region in which he had found tranquillity and enjoj'ment.
In like manner, I would wish to be remembered hereafter, less for what I have attempted to do, than as one who, in the pure and warm hearts of the best and most intellectual of his local cotemporaries, had found, and enjoyed, a resting- place, — far superior to that of the Greek.
As two of the dearest of those friends, equally known, beloved, and honoured by all, as by me, — permit me, then, to inscribe your names on this humble monument; so that, if it
Hfeijn**,
'«^c«1
iy . DEDICATION.
should happily survive the wreck of time, it may be known as that of one who, though but a feeble and unskilled labourer in ihf (ields of Art and Literature, was not deemed unworthy of the warmest regards of such as you, and who was not un- grateful for his happiness.
Believe me, my Lord, and Sir, With sentiments of the deepest Respect and Gratitude, Your affectionate and faithful Servant,
GEORGE PETRIE.
21, Great Charles-street, Dublin, February '20lh, 1845.
I I
PREFACE.
J- HE work, of wliicli the first volume is now submitted to the PubHc, was originally written for, and presented to the Royal Irish Academy, as an Essay oa the Origin and Uses of the Eound Towers of Ireland ; and that Essay was so fortunate as to obtain a gold medal and prize of fifty pounds from the Academy in 1833. It may, however, be proper to state that, in its present form, the work con- tains not only the original Essay on the Round Towers, very much enlarged, but also distinct Essays on our ancient stone churches and other ecclesiastical buildings, of cot emporaneous age with the Round Towers, now first submitted to the Academy, and for the approval of which that distinguished body is in no way committed. For this amplification of my original Essay into a work of great national scope, I am alone answerable ; and whatever may be the faults found Avitli its execution, I trust the Academy and the Public generally will give me credit, at least, for the motives which influenced me in thus extending the field of my inquiries, and believe that I was actuated solely to undertake this additional labour by an ardent desire to rescue the antiqviities of my native country from unmerited oblivion, and give them their just place among those of the old Christian nations of Europe. Let me add too, that I was further influenced in ex- tending this work by the hope that by making the age and historical interest of these memorials of our early Christianity more generally known to, and appreciated by my countrymen, some stop might be
I'KKFACE.
VI
put to tlio wa.Uon destruction of these remains, which is now, un- happily, of daily occmTcnce, and which, if not by some means checked must lead ore long to their total annihilation. I had long felt that such a work, comprising, as a whole, the several classes of early Chri<<tian architectural remains, was not only essential to the final settlement of the question of the origin of the Towers themselves, but was also a desideratum in the general history of Christian civilization in Europe ; and circumstances, unnecessary to be stated here, having thrown the publication of my Essay on the Round Towers into my owi hands, I immediately determined to avail myself of the oppor- tunity to make that Essay the basis on which to erect it. I soon found, however, when it was too late to think of diminishing it, that the labour was much greater than I had ever contemplated. On such an intricate subject a popular Essay, feebly supported by facts, and references to authorities difficult of access, and, for the most part, liiddi^n in languages unknown to the multitude, would have made little impression on the learned, and have been of no permanent value to the country: hence it became imperatively necessary to submit to the reader all those passages, derived from manuscripts or scarce books, from which my conclusions were drawn ; and, conse- quently, the work which I had originally expected woidd have been comprised in a single volume, will, of necessity, extend to two. The volume now presented to the Public will, however, be found com- plete in itself, as a critical and historical dissertation, not only on the Round Towers, but on the Christian architecture of Ireland generally, previous to the Anglo-Norman Invasion. It contains all the opinions Avhich I have formed on this subject, and all the general proofs which I deemed necessary to substantiate them. I have, there- fore, considered it proper to meet the wishes of the Academy and of my friends by giving it immediate publication, instead of waiting to see the second volume through the Press, which must necessarily require a considerable time, even if life and cu-cumstances shoidd
PREFACE. vii
permit me to accomplish it. That vokime will be altogether supple- mentary to the present, and will contain descriptive and historical notices of all the remains of ecclesiastical architectvire in Ireland, with illustrations similar to those in the present volume, wherever they present features of interest or variety; and it will be closed with a statement of my opinions on the origin of the various styles found in those remains, the ages and purposes of which are now in- vestigated; for it will be seen that until such materials are laid in full before the Public, no conclusions on this point could with safety be hazarded.
The circumstances now alluded to will, I trust, account, to some extent, for the length of time which has elapsed between the reading of the original Essay to the Academy, and the publication of the pre- sent volume. For this delay I have exposed myself to the censure of many, but I can truly aver that it was to none a cause of so much regret as to myself The laborious character of the work will, how- ever, be my best apology, — a work requiring a most intimate ac- quaintance with the existing monuments, not merely of a county or district, but of the whole kingdom, with its contiguous islands, often most difficult of access ; — and again, demanding the most diligent examination of the whole body of our ancient manuscript authorities, as far as they were accessible in the public libraries, as well of England as of Ireland ; — and lastly, requiring the labours of the draftsman no less than those of the literary antiquary. It should be remembered, moreover, that works of research of this character are amongst the most tedious tliat man can undertake ; scarcely a page of them can be Avritten without a previoiis investigation of the most laborious character ; and the antiquary who is restrained from rush- ing prematurely into print by a conscientious desire to make himself previously acquainted with every thing conducive to the discovery of truth, is, as I conceive, more deserving of praise than censure, and will be so judged by posterity.
viii PREFACE.
For the object which this work is intended to effect, as well as the spirit in wliicli it is conducted, I trust I may lay claim to some praise, the pursuit of trutli being never lost sight of. Dr. Johnson, with his characteristic wisdom, observes, in one of his letters to the celebrated Charles O'Conor : " Dr. Leland begins his History too late : the ages wliich deserve an exact inquiry are those, for such tliere were, when Ireland was the school of the west, the quiet habi- tation of sanctity and literature. If you would give a history, though imperfect, of the Irish nation, from its conversion to Christianity to tlie invasion from England, you would amplify knowledge with new views and new objects. Set about it, therefore, if you can ; do what you can easily do without anxious exactness. Lay the foundation, and leave the superstructure to posterity."
It is scarcely necessary for me to say that I am not vain enough to suppose that I have supplied the desideratum in our history which Dr. Johnson has thus ably pointed out. Yet, as the antiquary is the necessary pioneer to the historian, clearing the path before him, and often opening out vistas of the distant country, without which he would have to explore his way through the wilderness of time in doubt and difficulty, if not in darkness, — so, I may, as I trust, without pre- sumption, venture to hope that my humble labours will not be with- out some value as contributing to that object. What, I may ask, Avould we know of the true greatness of the Greeks or Egyptians if Ave were unacquainted with their ancient monuments ? What do we know of the Etruscans but what we have derived from this source ? and, may I not add, would not an erroneous conclusion, such as so many have laboured to establish, as to the indefinite antiquity and uses of the Irish Round Towers, while it was suffered to pass with- out correction, necessarily pervert, and give a colouring of falsehood to the whole stream of Irish history, and lead to the reception, in the public mind, of the most visionary notions of the ancient civili- zation and importance of the country ?
PREFACE. ix
That many faults will be found in the execution of this ■work, I am fully sensible. I have little concerned myself with the graces of style, beyond the necessary attention to clearness ; and my object being to illustrate as much as possible the progress of art in the country, I was never deterred from becoming discursive by the dread of being deemed wanting in order and consecutiveness. In short, for its various imperfections, and for my own incompetency to do bet- ter, I can truly aver that I would not have imdertaken it, however necessary, at this eleventh hour of the existence of our antiquities, if I had seen any probability that a more able hand was disposed to accomplish it. That I have been able to throw some considerable light on the hitherto neglected antiqi;ities of my country, and to remove the verv thin veil which involved the orifjin of her Kound Towers in mystery, will, I fondly hope, be the opinion of the learned. I have not, however, any very sanguine expectations that either the evidences or arguments which I have adduced, or those which I have still to submit to my readers, will have any very immediate effect on the great majority of the middle classes of the Irish people (for the lower or agricultural classes have no ideas upon the subject but the true ones) in changing their opinions as to their indefinite anti- quity and Pagan uses. Among these such opinions have assumed the form of a sentiment almost religious, and my dry facts have too little poetry in them to reach the judgment through the medium of the imagination. Neither do I anticipate that I shall be able to con- vince all those who have written recently in support of those erro- neous, but popular theories, though I expect to satisfy the more intelligent and candid of my antagonists of their errors, as for ex- ample, my friends the members of the South Munster Society of Antiquaries, most of whom, I have reason to suspect, are more than half gained over already.
I have but one word to add now respecting the illustrations to this work. It will be seen that they make but slight pretensions to
b
xu
PREFACE.
bring tlie work before tlie Public, in tlie garb of elegance which it lias assumed. Nor can I conscientiously avoid expressing my con- viction, that in employing their capital on a work of this character, they were less impelled by the ordinary feelings which influence publishers on such occasions, than by sentiments of regard for its author, and a desire to raise the character of their country. And I have also to return my best thanks to Mr. Gill, of the University Printing Press, the printer of the work, and, indeed, to all the intel- ligent persons of his Establishment, to whose Zealand ability it owes so much of its beauty, and to all whom, 1 may truly say, the work seemed a labour of love.
GEORGE PETEIE.
21, Great Charles-street, Dublin, March 8th, 1845-
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Introduction, 1
PART I.
ERRONEOUS THEORIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ORIGIN AND USES OF THE ROUND
TOWERS CONSIDERED.
Section I. — Theory of the Danish Origin of the Towers, 5
II. — Theory of the Phcenician or Eastern Origin of the Round
Towers, 11
III. — Theories of the Pagan Uses of the Round Towers, . . . . 12
IV. — Theories of the Christian Origin and Uses of the Round Towers, 109
PART II.
TRUE ORIGIN AND USES OF THE ROUND TOWERS.
Section I. — Introduction, 122
II. — Antiquity of Irish ecclesiastical Remains, 125
III. — General Characteristics of the ancient Irish ecclesiastical
Buildings, 160
Subsection 1. Churches, 161
2. Oratories, 343
3. Belfries, .358
4. Houses, 421
5. Erdamhs, 437
6. Kitchens, 444
7. Cashels, 445
8. "Well Coverings, Tombs, and Mills, 452
Index, 456
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
NO. PAGE.
1. Nuraghe of'Borghidu, in Sardiniu, 7(5
2. Ground-plan of ditto, il).
8. Plan of the Level of the second Chamber of ditto, ib.
4. Section of ditto, ib.
5, 6. Sections of ditto, 77
7. Nuraghe Nieddii, near Ploaghe, in Sardinia, ib.
8. Ground-plan of ditto, ib.
9. Section of the Base of the Round Tower of Cloyne, 86
10. Round Stone-house, called Clochan na Carriage, on the great Island
of Aran, in the Bay of Galway, 1,30
11. St. Finan Cam's House, a round Stonc-housc on an Island in Lough
Lee, in the County of Kerry, 181
12. Round Stone-house on Ard Oilean, off the Coast of Connamara, . ib.
13. Stone Oratory at Gallerus, in the Barony of Corcaguiny, in the County
of Kerry, 133
14. Monumental Inscription, in the Byzantine Character, on a Stone at
Gallerus, in the County of Kerry, 134
15. Ancient Alphabet, in the Byzantine Character, on a Stone at Kil-
malkedar, in the Barony of Corcaguiny, in the County of Kerry, ib. 10. Ogham Inscription on a Stone at Temple Gcal, in the Barony of
Corcagiuny, in the Coimty of Kerry, 13(i
17. Ancient Inscription to Seven Romans on a Stone at Templebrecan,
on the great Island at Aran, .139
18. Ancient Inscription found in the Tomb of St. Brecan, at Temple-
brecan, on the great Island of Aran 140
19. Ancient Inscription on a black roimd Calp Stone found in the Tomb
of St. Brecan, at Templebrecan, on the great Island of Aran, . ib.
20. Doorway, in the Cyclopean Style, in the Oratory at Gallerus, in the
County of Kerry, 1(58
21. Doorway of Templepatrick, on Inchaguile, in Lough Corrib, in the
County of Galway, 1(54
XVI NO.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
•II. Ancient Inscription on a Stone at Tcmplcpatrick, on Incliaguile, in
Lough Corrib, in the County of Gahvay, IHo
23. Doorway ol'tlie Church of Ratass, near Tralce, in the County of Kerry, 1 ()9
24. Doorway of Our Lady's Church at Glendalough, in the County of
Wicklow, 170
25. Cros.s carved on the Soifet of the Lintel of the Doorway of Our Lady's
Church, at Glendalough, 171
2(). Cro.«s carved on tlie Lintel of the Church of Killiney, in the County
ofDublin, ib.
27. Doorway of the Reefert Church at Glendalough, 17;i
28. Doorway of St. Fechin's Church at Fore, in the County of Wcstmeath, 1 74
29. Doorway of the Cathedral of Kibnacduagh, in the County of Gal way, 17(i
30. Doorway of Templemacduach, on the great Island of Aran, . . . 177
31. Doorway of the Church of Ireland's Eye, near Howth, in the County
ofDublin, 178
32. Doorwav of the Church of Sheepstown, near Knocktopher, in the
County of Kilkenny, ib.
33. Doorway of the Church of Killaspugbrone, in the County of Sligo, 179
34. Doorway of the Church of Eachaiuech, or Aughenagh, iu the County
of Sligo 180
35. Doorway of the Church of Britway, in the County of Cork, . . . 181 3(). Window in the east Wall of Trinit}' Church, at Glendalough, . . 182
37. Window in the east Wall of the Stone Oratory at Gallerus, iu the
County of Kerry, ib.
38. Window in the east Wall of the ancient Church of Mvmgret, in the
County of Limerick, 183
39. Window in the south Wall of the Chancel of Trinity Church, at
Glendalough, ib.
40. Window in the south Wall of the Church of Kiltiernan, in the
County of Galway, ib.
41. Window iu the east Wall of the Church of Kilcanaimagh, on the
Middle Island of Aran, 184
42. Window in the east Wall of St. Mac Dara's Church, on the Island
of Cruach Mac Dara, off the western Coast of the County of Galway, ib.
43. Window in the east Wall of the Church of Termoucrouan, in the
County of Clare, ib.
44. Window of the Oratory near the old Church of Ivilmalkedar, iu the
County of Kerry, 185
45. Window in the east Wall of the Church of Ratass, in the County of
Ken-y, ib.
46. View of the Interior of Trinity Church, at Glendalough, showing
the Chancel Arch, 18G
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xvii
NO. PAGE.
47. Specimen of the Masonry of the inner Face of the west End of the
Cathedral at Glendalough, 187
48. Specimen of " long and short" Masonry in the older Church at
Monastcrboice, in the Coimty of Louth, 188
49. View of the ancient Church of Kilcanannagh, on the Middle Island
of Aran, 18!l
50. View of the Church of St. Mac Dara, on the Island of Cruach Mac
Dara, off the Coast of the County of Galway, 190
51. 52. Doorway of the Round Tower of Kildare ; Section showing the
Ornaments on its Jambs and Soffit, 209
53 to 55. Bracteate Coins, found imbedded in the Base of the Round
Tower of Kildare, 210
56 to 59. Bracteate Coins in the IMuseum of the Royal Irish Academy, 228
60 to 62. Coins of Saxon Kings, 229
63. Doorway of the Round Tower of Timahoe, in the Queen's County, 234
64, 65. Horizontal and vertical Sections of the Doorway of the Round
Tower of Timahoe, in the Queen's Coimty, 235
66. Specimen of Pellet and Bead Moulding on the Soffit of the Arch
of the Doorway of the Round Tower of Timahoe, ib.
67, 68. Capitals of the Doorway of the Round Tower of Timahoe, . . 236
69. View of the outer Division of the inner Archway of the Doorway of
the Round Tower of Timahoe, 237
70. Capital at east Side of outer Division of the inner Archway of
same, ib.
71. Base of Shaft on west Side of same, 238
72. Bases of the semicircular Shafts at the Angles of the Archway of the
same Doorway, with intermediate Space, ib.
73. Capital found in St. Ottmar's Chapel at Nurnberg, 239
74. Angular-headed Apertiu-e, and Specimen of the Masonry of the
Round Towar of Timahoe, ib.
75. Columns of the Chancel Arch of the Parish Church of Rabin, in the
King's Co 242
76. Capitals of opposite Side of the same, 243
77. Round ornamental Window in the Church of Rabin, 244
78. Ornamental Doorway of the smaller Church of Rahin, 246
79. Specimen of Bases of the Semi-column on the north Side of the
Doorway of the smaller Church at Raliin, 247
80. View of arched Recess on the east Front of the Priest's House at
Glendalough, 248
81. 82. Sculptures on the Two Faces of the Capitals of the arched
Recess of the Priest's House at Glendalough, 249
83. Ornaments on the Face of the Architrave and Cornice of same, . . 250
C
xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE. NO. 1 A 1
Hi Plan of tlie Mouldings of the Pilasters, or Mouldings at the Angles
P 250
ol same,
85. Existing Remains of these Mouldings, with one of their Bases, . . ib. 8t;. Sculptured Ornaments in Tympanum of Doorway of the Priest's
House at Glendalough, ^^1
,S7. Interior of the east Window of the Cathedi-al Church at Glendalough, 253 88, 89. Sculptures on the Frieze of the interior Face of the east Window
of the same, ^^^
!I0. Moulding on the Archivolt of the same Window, ib.
91. Section of the Pilasters of the same Window, ib.
92. Doorway in the west Wall of the Cathedral Church of Glendalough, 255
93. Pilasters of the Chancel- Arch of the Monastery Church at Glenda-
lough, 2^^
94 to 98. Devices on the Capitals of the south Side of the same, . . . 258
99, 100. Capitals of the outer Pier of the same, 259
101, 102. Ornaments on the Bases of the Columns of the same, ... ib.
103, 104. Ditto, ditto, 260
105. Specimen of Bases of the Piers of the north Side of the same, . . ib.
106. Ornaments on the Base of the same, ib.
107 to 112. Sculptures on Stones winch formed the Arch-Mouldings of
the same, 261
113. Sculpture on one of the Stones which formed the Arch-Moulding
of the same, 262
114, 115. Sculptures on Stones which formed the Arch-Mouldings of the
same, 263
116 to 120. Ditto, ditto, 264
121. Sculpture on one of the Stones which formed the Arch-Mouldings
of the same, 265
122. Ground-plan of one of the Piers of the same Chancel- Arch, ... ib. 123 to 125. Other sculptured Stones found near the Monastery Church
at Glendalough, ib.
126. Ground- plan of one Side of the Church Archway of the Monastery
Church at Glendalough, 266
127. Sepulchral Cross at the Rcefert Church at Glendalough, .... ib.
128. Ground-plan of Teampull Finghin at Clonmacnoise, 267
129. Capitals of the Chancel- Arch of same 268
1.30. Shaft, Capital, and Base of Chancel- Arch of the same, .... ib.
131. Capitals of the Doorway of the great Church at Clonmacnoise, . . 275
132. Doorway of the Church of Temple Conor at Clonmacnoise, . . . 276
133. View of the west Gable (containing Doorway and Window) of the
Stone-roofed Church at Killaloe, 278
134. 135. Windows in the same Church, 279
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xix
NO. PAGE.
136. Doorway of the same, 280
L37. View of tlie Chancel-Ai'ch and Fragment of the Doorway of St. Cai-
min's Church in Innishcaltra, 282
lo8. Capitals of the Piers of the Chancel- Arch of the same ; front View, 283
139. Ditto, ditto, side View, ib.
140 to 142. Windows of diflPerent Forms in the same Church, . . . 284 143. Ornamented Doorway of the Church of Achadh ur, or Freshford, in
the County of Kilkenny, 285
144,145. Capitals of Piers of the same, 288
146. External View of Cormac's Chapel at Cashel, 289
147. Ground-plan of Cormac's Chapel, 292
148. Arcade of the southern Tower of Cormac's Chapel, 293
149. View of the Interior of Cormac's Chapel, 294
150. South Doorway of Cormac's Chapel, . . 295
151. Sculptured Ornament on the Tympanum of the great northern
Doorway of Cormac's Chapel, 296
152 to 156. Capitals of the Shafts of the great northern Doorway of
Coi-mac's Chapel, 298
157 to 161. Capitals of the single Columns of the great northern Door- way of Cormac's Chapel, 299
162, 163. Capitals of the smaller north Doorway, 300
164 to 167. Capitals of the Semi-Columns wliich decorate the south Side
of the Nave, ib.
168, 169. Ditto, ditto, 301
170 to 173. Capitals of the north Side of the Nave, ib.
174, 175. Ditto, ditto, 302
176 to 178. Capitals of the outermost double Semi-Columns of the Chan- cel-Arch, ib.
179, 180. Capitals of the double Semi-Coliunns placed on the Faces of
the Piers of the innermost Divisions of the Chancel-Arch, ... ib.
181,182. Capitals of the Chancel, 303
183. Bases of the single Shafts of the Nave ib.
184. Bases of the double Shafts on the Piers of the Chancel- Arch, . . ib.
185. 186. Sculptured Label or Dripstone, Terminations on the interior
Face of the smaller northern Doorway, ib.
187. One of the decorated Arches of the blank Arcade which ornaments
the sides of the Nave, 304
188. One of the Arches of the open Arcade which ornaments the Apsis,
or Recess, at the End of the Chancel, ib.
189. 190. Examples of the most pecuhar of the Windows of Cormac's
Chapel, ib.
191. " The Font" in Cormac's Chapel, 305
XX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
NO. PAGE.
192. Stone Cross in the Cemetery adjacent to Cormac's Chapel, . . . 306
193. Crozicr of Cormac Mac Carthy, 313
194. Inscription on the Base of the great Stone Cross, now lying in the
Market-place, at Tuam, 315
195. Base of the great Stone Cross in the Market-place of Tuam, . . 316
196. Portion of Chancel-Arch of the ancient Church of Tuam, . . 317
197. 198. Capitals of the Jambs of the Chancel-Arch of Tuam Church, . 318
199. Capitals and Arch-Mouldings of one of the Doorways of the Abbey
of Cong, 319
200. Doorway of the Church of St. Dairbhile, in Erris, 321
201. 202. Two of the Bosses of the Crozier of St. Damhnad Ochene, . 323 203, 204. Obverse and Reverse of unpublished Bracteate Penny, . . . 324
205. Inscribed Tomb of Maeliinnia, at Clonmacnoise, 325
206. Inscribed Tomb of Blaimac, at Clonmacnoise, 326
207. Inscribed Tomb of Flannchad, at Clonmacnoise, 327
208. Inscribed Tomb of Suibine mac Mailas hvmai, at Clonmacnoise, . 328
209. Inscribed Tomb of Conaing mac Conghail, and Dubcen mac
Thadggan, at Clonmacnoise, 329
210. Inscribed monumental Stone of Aigidiu, at Divrrow, 331
211. Outline of one Side of the Leather Case of the Book of Armagh, . 332
212. OutUne of the lower Side, or Bottom, of the same Case, .... 333
213. OutUne of one of the Sides of the leather Case of the Slirine of St.
Maidoc, of Ferns, 335
214. Inscribed Tombstone of Sechnasach, at Clonmacnoise, .... 342
215. Round Tower of Devenish Island in Lough Erne, 360
216. Castle of Brunless, in Brecknockshire, 367
217. Castle of Bnmless, and Round Towers of Clondalkin and Rosscar-
bery, 368
218. Interior of Doorway of Tower of Roscrea, 369
219. Ditto, ditto, restored, ib.
220. Section of ditto, restored, ib.
221. Jamb of Doorway of Round Tower of Dysert, County of Limerick, 371
222. Section of the Round Tower of Clondalkin, 397
223. Section of the Roimd Tower of Rattoo, County of Kerry, ... ib.
224. Ground-plan of the Round Tower and Portion of the Church of
Rattoo, County of Kerry, 399
225. Section showing Corbels of same Tower, ib.
226. Cornice under the Roof of Devenish Round Tower, 400
227. Doorway of the Round Tower of Drmnbo, County of Down, . . 401
228. Lower Doorways of the Round Tower of Swords, 402
229. Upper Ditto, ditto, ib.
230. Doorway of the Round Tower of Antrim, 403
wmumw
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xxi
.■AGE.
23L Doorway of the Tower of Kilmacduagh, County of Galway, . . 404
232. Doorway of the Tower of Glendaloiigli, County of Wieklow, . ib.
233. Doorway of the Tower of Oughterard, County of Kildure, . . . 400
234. Doorway of the Tower on Tory Island, off the Coast of Donegal, . 4()t!
235. Exterior View of the Doorway of the Tower of Roscrea, .... 4U7
236. Doorway of the Tower of Monasterbolce, County of Louth, . . . 408
237. Doorway of the Round Tower of Donaghmore, County of Meath, . 410
238. Doorway of the greater Tower of Clonmacnoise, 411
239. View of the greater Tower of Clonmacnoise, 412
240. One of the upper Apertures in the Round Tower of Cashel, with
Specimen of Masonry of the same, 4i;-5
241. Specimen of Masonry from the Base of the Round Tower of Cashel, 414 242 to 244. Apertures in the Round Tower of Kells, ib.
245. Angular-headed Aperture in the uppermost Story of the Tower of
Cashel, 415
246. Semicircular Aperture in the Tower of Dysert, ib.
247. Aperture placed directly over the Doorway of the Round Tower of
Roscrea, ib.
248. Specimen of Aperture in the small Tower attached to Teampull
Finghin, at Clonmacnoise, 416
249. View of die Round Tower and Church of Teampull Finghin, at
Clonmacnoise, ib.
250. View of St. Columb's House at Kells, 430
251. View of St. Kevin's House at Glendalough, 432
252. Doorway of St. Kevin's House at Glendalough, 434
253. Gateway of the Cashel at Glendalough, 450
254. Ground-plan of Gateway at Glendalough, 451
255. Tomb of St. Muireadhach O'Heney at Bannagher, County of Lon-
donderry, 453
256. Tomb at Bovevagh, County of Londonderry, 454
-3
AN
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND,
&c. &c.
sive investigation
NTEODUCTION.
HE question of the Origin and Uses of the Eound Towers of Ireland has so fre- quently occupied the attention of distin- guished modern antiquaries, without any- decisive result, that it is now generally considered as beyond the reach of conclu- and any fiu'ther attempt to remove the mystery connected with it may, perhaps, be looked upon as hopeless and presumptuous. If, however, it be considered that most of those in- quirers, however distinguished for general ability or learning, have been but imperfectly quahfied for this undertaking, from the want of the peculiar attainments which the subject required — inasmucli as they possessed but little accurate skill in the science (if it may be so called) of architectural antiquities, but slight knowledge of oiu' ancient annals and ecclesiastical records, and, above all, no extensive acquaint- ance with the architectural peculiarities observable in the Towers, and other ancient Irish buildings-
-it -will not appear extraordinary
2 LVQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
that they should have failed in arriving at satisfactoryconclusions, Avhile, at the same time, the truth might be within the each of dis- covery by a better dii-ected course of inquiry and mre dihgent research.
Hitherto, indeed, we have had httle on the subjet but specu- lation, and that not imfrequently of a visionary kind, nd gi-owin^ out of a mistaken and unphilosophical zeal in support f the claims of our coimtry to an early civilization ; and even the tuth — which most certainly has been partially seen by the more sobc-minded in- vestigators— having been advocated only hypothetically, las failed to be estabhshed, fi-om the absence of that evidence whicl facts alone could supply.
Such at least appears to have been the conclusion t which the Royal Irish Academy arrived, when, in offering a valuale premiimi foi' any essay that woidd decide this long-disputed qustion, they prescribed, as one of the conditions, that the monuments u be treated of should be carefidly examined, and their characteristi details de- scribed and delineated.
In the following iuqimy. therefore, I have strictly aci^ered to the condition thus prescribed by the Academy. The Towcs have been all subjected to a careful examination, and their pecidirities accu- rately noticed ; while oiu: ancient records, and every otbr probable source of information, have been searched for such fac? or notices as might contribute to thx'ow hght upon theii- histoiy. i have even gone further: I have examined, for the pui-pose of comnrison with the Towers, not only all the vestiges of early Christian rchitectm-e remaining in Ireland, but also those of monuments c known or probable Pagan origin. The results. I trust, will be fond satisfac- tory, and wUl suffice to estabhsh, beyond all reasonabL doubt, the foUowng conclusions :
I. That the Towers are of Christian and ecclesiasical origin, and were erected at vai'ious periods between the fifth an thirteenth centuries.
II. That they were designed to answer, at least, a i\-ofold use, namely, to serve as belfries, and as keeps, or places of trength, in which tlie sacred utensils, books, relics, and other valables were deposited, and into which the ecclesiastics, to whom the belonged, could retire for seciiritv in cases of sudden predatory attck.
OF THE ROUXD TOWERS OF IRELAXP 3
III Til. 'liov vrere probably also usetl, when occasion rcquiivd. as beacons, -id watch-towers.
These raclusions. which have been aln-aily aclvtHutc-il sfiinntteli/ by many o'.ingiii^hed antiquaries — annwig whom are M(»lyni-ux. Ledwicli, hikerton. Sir Walter Scutt. Montinorcnci, Brewer, and Ot^vay—wi be proveil by tlie following evidences :
For thi* IRST coxcLUSiox, namely, tliat the Towers are of Christian
origin :
1. le Towers are nerer found uncoiuurtcd with anricnt
cclesiastical foundations.
2. Tieir architectural styles exhibit no features or peculiarities
lot equally found in (he original churches with which 'hey are locally connected, when such renuiin.
3. ci sevend of them Christian niddems are obser\"abk-. hikI others display in the detail.-* a ."tyle of architecture univtr- sally acknowledged to be of Chri.>»tian origin.
4. 'hey jx)ssess, invariably, architectural ft-atures not found in any buildings in Ireland ascertained to be of Pagan lirnef<
For le SECOXU coxcLfsuix, nanu-ly. that they wen- intended to serve tlulouble purpose of belfries, ami kei-ps. or cu^llen. for tin- uwt ahvady >ecilied :
1 Their architectund c<m8tniction. as will api>eHr. eminently
favours this conclusion. 2A variety of passages, extnicted from our anmdii and oilit-i authentic documents, will jjiovi' that they were constantly applied to both the:«e purposi'.^. For he third conclusion, namely, that they may have alw> lieen occasioally used as beacons, and watch-towers:
] There are some histt)rical evidences which render ku«Ii h hypothesis extri-mely probable. Tlie necessity which must have exi.tted in early ('hrif>tittrt times for such beacons, and watch-t/iwers, and the \lt•rU■^\ fitness of the Round Towers t4> answer such purjK»M*<», will strongly support this conclusion. Tl'se conclusions — or, at least, such of them lis preKiinn- ih** Towci to have had a Christian origin, and to have ««Tved the piir|>o«M' ofabiiy — will be further corrol)orated l)y the uniform and romur rent 'Rlition of the country, and, above all, by authentic evidencxfii,
n 2
2 IXQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
tluit they should have failed in arriving at satisfactory conclusions, while, at the same time, the truth might be within the reach of dis- covery by a better directed course of inquiry and more diligent research.
Hitherto, indeed, we have had little on the subject but specu- lation, and tliat not unlVequently of a visionary kind, and growing out of a mistaken and un philosophical zeal in support of the claims of our country to an early civiUzation ; and even the truth — which most certainly has been partially seen by the more sober-minded in- vestigators— having been advocated only hypothetically, has failed to be estabhshed, from the absence of that evidence which facts alone coidd supply.
Such at least appears to have been the conclusion at which the Royal Irish Academy arrived, Avhen, in oflering a valuable premium for any essay that would decide tliis long-disputed question, they prescribed, as one of the conditions, that the monuments to be treated of should be carefully examined, and their characteristic details de- scribed and dehneated.
In the foUoAving inqmry, therefore, I have strictly adliered to the condition thus prescribed by the Academy. The Towers have been all subjected to a carefid examination, and their pecidiarities accu- rately noticed ; while our ancient records, and every other probable soui'ce of information, have been searched for such facts or notices as might contribute to throw light upon theu- history. I have even gone fiu'ther : I have examined, for the purpose of comparison with the Towers, not only all the vestiges of early Christian architecture remaining in Ireland, but also those of monuments of knoA\Ti or probable Pagan origin. The results, I trust, Avill be foimd satisfac- tory, and will suffice to estabhsh, beyond all reasonable doubt, the following conclusions :
I. That the Towers are of Christian and ecclesiastical origin, and were erected at various periods between the fifth and thirteenth centiu"ies.
II. That they were designed to answer, at least, a twofold use, namely, to serve as belfries, and as keeps, or places of strength, in which the sacred utensils, books, relics, and other valuables were deposited, and into which the ecclesiastics, to whom they belonged, could retire for security in cases of sudden predatory attack.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 3
III. That they were probably also used, when occasion rctiiiirt'd, as beacons, and watch-towers.
These conclusions, which have been already adVocatod seixinttt'/i/ by many distinguished antiquaries — among wliom are Molyneux. Ledwich, Pinkerton, Sii- Walter Scott, Montmorenci, Brewer, and Otway — \^'ill be proved by the follo-\ving evidences :
For the first conclusion, namely, that the Towers are of Christian origin :
1. The Towers are tiever found imconnccted with ancie'iit
ecclesiastical foundations.
2. Theu- architectiu-al styles exhibit no features or peculiarities
not equally found in the original churches with which they are locally connected, when such remain.
3. On several of them Christian emblems are observable, and
others display in the details a style of architectiu-e uni\'fr- sally acknowledged to be of Christian origin.
4. They possess, invariably, arcliitectural features not foiuid in
any buildings in Ireland ascertained to be of Pagan times. For the second conclusion, namely, that they were intended to serve the double purpose of belfries, and keeps, or castles, for the uses akeady specified :
1. Their architectural construction, as will appear, eminently
favoiu-s this conclusion.
2. A variety of passages, extracted from oiu" annals and othei-
authentic documents, will prove that they were constantly apphed to both these piu'poses. For the third conclusion, namely, that they may have also been occasionally used as beacons, and watch-towers:
1. There are some liistorical evidences which render such a
hj-pothesis extremely probable.
2. The necessity which must have existed in early Christian
times for such beacons, and watch-towers, and the perfect fitness of the Eound Towers to answer such pm-poses, will strongly support this conclusion. These conclusions — or, at least, such of them as presume the Towers to have had a Christian origin, and to have served the purpose ofabelfiy — will be fiu-ther corroborated by the uniform and concur- rent tradition of the country, and, above all, by authentic evidences,
B 2
4 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
which shall be adduced, relative to the erection of several of the Towers, with the names and eras of their founders.
Previously, however, to entering on this investigation, it will be conformable with custon), and probably expected, that I should take a sunnnary review of the various theories of received authority from which I find myself compelled to dissent, and of the evidences and ar'nunents by which it has been attempted to support them. If each of these theories had not its class of adherents I would gladly avoid trespassing on the reader's time by such a formal examination ; for the theory which I have proposed must destroy the value of all those from which it substantially differs, or be itself imsatisfactory. I shall endeavour, however, to be as concise as possible, noticing only those evidences, or argimients, that seem worthy of serious consideration, from the respectability of their advocates and the importance which has been attached to them.
These theories, which have had reference both to the origin and uses of the Towers, have been as follows :
FiEST, as respects theu' origin :
1. That they were erected by the Danes.
2. That they were of Phoenician origin. Secondly, as respects their uses :
1. That they were fire-temples.
2. That they were used as places from which to proclaim the
Druidical festivals.
3. That they were gnomons, or astronomical observatories.
4. That they were phallic emblems, or Buddliist temples.
5. That they were anchorite towers, or styhte coUunns.
6. That they were penitential prisons.
7. That they were belfries.
8. That they were keeps, or monastic castles.
9. That they were beacons and watch-towers.
It will be observed, that I dissent from the last three theories, only as far as regards the appropriation of the Towers exclusively to any one of the piu'poses thus assigned to them.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
PART I.
ERRONEOUS THEORIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ORIGIN AND USES OF THE ROUND TOWERS CONSIDERED.
SECTION I. THEORY OF THE DANISH ORIGIN OF THE TOWERS.
Of the various hjq^iotlieses which I have now to notice, the earliest put forward is that which ascribes the erection of the Towers to the Danes. This hj'pothesis appears to have originated in an observa- tion of the celebrated John Lynch, the author of Cambrensis JBver- sus, to the effect, that " the Danes, who entered Ireland, according to Giraldus, in 838, are reported {diciintur) to be the first builders of these towers." But, as it will be necessary to refer to this passage hereafter, I shall transcribe the whole of it in tliis place.
"Exiguas tamen illas orbiculares arctasq; turres Dani Hiberniam Giraldo authore anno Dom. 838 primum ingressi, primi erexisse dieuntur; non vt pro campanili, sed pro speculo baberentur, vnde prospectus ad longinqua late protenderetur. Postea tamen vsus inualuit vt campanis in earum culniine appensis, Campanilium vices ge- rerent : Tametsi non e media Ecclesise fabrica extantes fornicibus innLxa; in altiun tendant, vt modo fit, sed e csemeterij solo in idoneam altitudinem extoUautur. Vel nominis enim setymon illas indicat illi vsni accomodatas fuisse ; Cloctheach enim
perinde est ac domns campante, voce Cloc campanam, et teach domum significante."
Camhr. Eversits, p. 133.
This hearsay testimony loses much of whatever httle weight it might, at first sight, appear entitled to, when Ave consider the pri- mary object which its author had in view, in the work in which it occiu's, namely, to dispute, or ca\dl at, every assertion in the work of Giraldus, wherein it is stated that the Towers were built more patriae, or in a mode pecuhar to the country.
Lynch's timid surmise was followed by the bolder assertions of Peter Walsh, who, in his Prospect of Ireland, pubhshed in 1C84, translates nearly word for word the observations of tlie former, only so altering them that what L}aich mentions merely as a report he assimies as a certainty. The following are his words :
'«!tri> ANf t>q>
1>r "^i
^he *r
r..
frKtrt'
•**.
:-r:f ^S^
•7.
- >ir »**».«?►-
-T««
/;<««? Jtnumm ; trmL. "^rtweiiK
Z^-r
I
m tiiE ttffCKii rmrtstiA ^r mu.x-nu
rattttA ^•■
'jm*. ■wr-
bt Lis j««t»f{«liitie»«//rai!I«n</^ rj)t«|>, 2K>, M«. .32*. ««^«.
lfi}<*)/ft,«,i« ' . : ., > ■ ; , , .,„..
.».;•. hf^aa 'A ... . „ .. ,, .; , .....
Th MfApteux next procecvl^ to deactYbe the «is«ii«ftiiw»i. ifmf». m4 ]- , .aritie* «f ccpostmctkwi f/ the Tfm-er* (wlikh d*-'-' ivi' '• in ai»>lhefr place ), and then returns to hb th^ ■ ri'.:/. which he endenvfmn Ui str'- — ''"' tnicn^ ., •} ■ .1 name in Iieland to a Tetitou. mmiHSfKX/wi
" ObyMoiriC, die MMMe bjr wlndi tla«7 aoD «»» t»3l«d umnwgiiue: «>iaw>t/jniat..gir<n»»»»;>i ftotlMT prw^ (dAtax mi^puti, tka tltsj w«9«r ttmtiieA £»» iir ^IMmw; iw t^/rM<A
V lOf it j%«d£«s ttOHt Iils«trw« be4(srTr«d 6wM fe««»^^ ^
- taade nfipHir bjr iMMjr oMtaMOKi; nsfir, tlae /jnwi vavJ JMta plaiuiiy (str^ '-m AtmuiUlvry^ tci CTajyi, a Cmohmmw .^ '"i&e» » Wfl, <nsiMi wimuat' w« Iu»«« alntk' lix^C'
rwcd (wr aKidters wo; . , _ . . I,
After thw he cuftts sotne argmnentd to ihwr that nf.v- T att^v* were erected for belfrie?. whicJi, as tbev agree wish the •«*
- ' ^ h I trust I shall prove, need not be inserted her*'.
TT ' ". ■ ' ' 7 ' Tf:iw«ra;. i* (OQufr
be thought wasting :d>ewtheweakn-
bv Dr. Mr^jneax to support it A few word& therfclJice. wil mSSatx:.
It win have been seen that this hjpocheas ret"' the penlMt-
bi! • the Dane* miirht "fancy and afecf ~ "i*^
"iir i«.-iiiiug twue reaemblance to the roand t;"-
old moonmental stones ami obelisks, d»eir j
and forts, of which they were so food in time of ^ . . . is
mav be asked, where in Ireland are soch Ctenish :. icoiiuer*.
(i INQl-IKY IXTl) THE ORIGIN AND USES
" It is most certain, that those high, round, narrow Towers of stone, built cylinder- ivise, wht'reof Camhrensis speaks, were never known or built in Ireland (as indeed no more were any Castles, Houses, or even Churches of stone, at least in the North of Ireland) before the year of Christ 838, when the Heathen Danes possessing a great part of that Countrey, built tliem in several places, to serve themselves as Watch- Towers against the Natives. Though ere long, the Danes being expuls'd, the Chris- tian Irish turu'd them to another and much better (because a holy) use, that is to Steeple-Houses or Bell-Fries, to hang Bells in for calling the People to Church. From which latter use made of them, it is, that ever since to this present, they are call'd in Irish Cloctlimchs, that is Bell-Fries, or Bell-Houses; C'loc or (log, signifying a Bell, and Tmrh a House in that Language." — Prospect of Ireland, pp. 416, 417.
Ill tlie l'( >llo\viiig centiuy this hypothesis received the abler sup- port of tlie celebrated Dr. Moljaieux, the friend of Locke, whose opinions, dehvered with the modesty of a sincere inquirer after ti'uth, I shall present in his own words :
" It may not be improper to add to tliese remarks upon Danish mounts and forts, some observations on the slender high round towers here in Ireland, tho' they are less antient ; since they are so peculiar to the country, and seem remains of the same people the Ostmen or the Danes. These we find common likewise every where, spread over all the country, erected near the oldest churches founded before the conquest ; but I could never learn that any building of this sort is to be met with throughout all England, or in Scotland.
" That the native Irish had but little intercourse with their neighbours, and much less commerce with these at greater distance, before the Danes came hither and settled among them, is pretty certain : and that the Danes were the first introducers of coin, as well as trade, and founders of the chief towns and cities of this kingdom, inclosing them with walls for safer dwelling, is generally agreed on all hands; and it seems no way less probable, that the same nation too must have introduced at first from coun- tries where they traffick, the art of masonry, or building with lime and stone.
" For that there were lime and stone buildings here, before the conquest by the English, in Henry II''s reign, is certain ; notwithstanding some, and those reputed knowing men in the affairs of Ireland, have hastily asserted the contrary. For it ap- pears, beyond all controversy, that those high round steeples we are speaking of, were erected long before Henrg II^s time, from a plain passage in Giraldus Cumbrensis, that was in Ireland in that prince's reign, and came over with his son king John, whom he served as secretary in his expedition hither: he speaks of them in his ac- count of this island, as standing then, and I am apt to think, few of these kind of towers, have been built since that time.
" That author mentioning these steeples gives us this short description of them, Turres ecclesiasticas, quce more patrice arcia> siinl et altce, nee non. et rotundce. Church- towers built slender, high and round, and takes notice of their model, as being fashioned after a singular manner, and proper to the country.
" And since we find this kind of church-buUding, tho' frequent here, resembling nothing of this sort in Great Britain ; from whence the Christian faith, the fashion of
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 7
our churches, and all their rites and customs, 'tis plain, wore first brought hither ; the model of these towers must have been taken up some other way: and it seems probable tlie Daties, the earliest artificers in masonry, upon their first conversiim to Christianity, might fancy and alFect to raise these fashioned steeples in this pecviliiir form, standing at a distance from their churches, as bearing some resemblance to tln' round tapering figure of their old monumental stones and obelisks, their pyramids, tlicir mounts and forts, of which they were so fond in time of paganism.
" And Sir Jnmes Ware cursorily speaking of one of these round steeples at CWX-, in his antiquities of />r/«H</, chap. 29. pag. 328, says, there prevailed a tradition in that country, that ascribed the building of that tower he mentions, to the Ostmeii, who were inhalntants of Cod- ; and we might well presume, that had the old native IrM been authors of this kind of architecture, they surely would have raised such towers as these in several parts of Scotland also, where they have been planted and settled many ages past; but there we liear of none of theni."_i\''((/«/-rt/ Hkt. of Ireland by Boats and Molyneux, pp. 210, 211.
Dr. Molyueiix next proceeds to describe the sitiuitioii, I'orin, and pecvdiarities of construction of the Towers (which description I sliall notice in another place), and tlien returns to his theory of theii- Danisli origin, which he endeavours to support by tracing the etymology of their name in Ireland to a Teutonic or German-Saxon origin :
" Clotjacf/cl, the name by which they still are called among tlie native In's/t, gives us a further proof of their original, that they were founded first by Ostmen : for the IrM word Clogachd is taken from a foreign tongue, and being a term of art, imports the thing it signifies must likewise be derived from foreigners, as, were it necessary, might be made appear by many instances ; now, the Irish word does plainly owe its etymology to Clugga, a German Saxon word, that signifies a bell, from whence we have also lior- rowed our modern word a clock." — lb. p. 211.
After this he offers some aro'uments to show tliat the Towers were erected for belfries, which, as they agree mth the hj-pothesis which I trust I shall prove, need not be inserted here.
The hypothesis of the Danish origin of the Round Towers, is one which has obtained so little attention latterly, that it may, perhaps, be thought wastine; time to shew the weakness of the evidence adduced by Dr. ]SIol}-neux to support it. A few words, therefore, will suffice. It will have been seen that this hj'pothesis rests chiefly on the proba- bility that the Danes might " fancy and affect" to raise such steeples, "as bearing some resemblance to the round tapering figm-es of their old monumental stones and obelisks, their pyramids, their mounts and forts, of which they were so fond in time of paganism!" But, it may be asked, where in Ireland are such Danish monmneutal stones,
ISQfCISX I3JTV:'
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;flt*^
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T v.— _ ~T a 'I Hi- -^TTm^-rts^ ac'nsaL Eat 'at seascBK THE ;-
; Jte 2^ Ts
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rnnTifH; sneiii si ss^^HssBora. ae ire sre ^^ . •- —ti^ lawii^ <&«» iOL Tie- T - - :' Cciri ^»^ ^e Mnf^j^iig^ Atbwi^. r/' SsL PssilwE. 1 . _ is. lie ^_"~
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Dsaies are said 4o ihifre fiiuiiied in DtiigjB&. W^xT'ird. Wtaeri • T.^Tm^f-ib. or ^Daewiiere Had liie Tcsreas leeii of IIuumL (r._
iurre 3iee& iffiBBcwsanBd ii
^ jTcififc. (ir m Ejisfk.
ii mfflifly, Scah". or caihflr eamnri^ in -widcii xhe XcdiimiaL ia
zaeEK ; snd ihsa ncme such lunnt ewer Leen djaear^jped naentt oerauL as eren Rr. lisd^ aliksi SEpp-irieT of xht litecnj nndfir .cans}-
oDserpes, -the -w <yz <-hi£ Tira§ iised trr iiit Ioosil Germsn? cir Sax ^s lar \vZ&.. W-e fiud ii L
nno 'cioooa. and ii "iTiji- fr.fF- and lygn--
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never used in am" Ixkii l».>ji: .or MS_ " iii£ SjiX^an cf'u^£-a "wats mcis: probaiih" deriped xrcim the <ifoc or ^i^y of tbr IriaL leaciisa of tbt Sai'JQ=..~ — £cgL Mitr " rr. jj 4Ci^.
J- "-"Tsr limes t'' - _^^':'tib£Si= 'vnt~ z^u- - '-"—.-.- -~ "-— ^- L - . a Mjiier. "wiicu >"hiViaDgVi lesmsd ; : _____ __ .
iianea_ or mtme jHsgaidiied. than tk-i^e "wic' iad previanah" rrpBm ai their snjiparL AccarcSng k» tka~ » n«er. jndeed. ■eperr T7mnp Tnrr- ca.tmg thr leas: Ttrer^ - IrfTisrid. prr^rc--
amral of thr F;T>g'>s .. r__ .-. ^.- ■,_ ;_ tue jDanei. — C- 1
beiiig & lactr 'x' uiicrdZized sEvage^. Bur ii ir-~ Ite saeL sn^jsantiate sncii oji^Fnans. Jh:. Ijedrwiih ■«"»= iiefssifflsed Ei les-on: tt& xsjaan an the erechi "tt .ai ia~ T^idais. yiiiit m^wanlbv of ins : ' ''d atxTiTy. Ttra^- sf«fr gucirTig -' - _ : Z - ,->■. T „.-_ _xd Mcihrseiix. -«rVich sTr ^^ei. _ _. ^^_.. ^ ^..^. .. ht
■ — • u at nmr ne samarfieit. Ttmr sm- qpnmni be twert mmioT. "fOit Joe ^po&si: ie
cnsr Scimid Tn»f^ fnr tW-gptuv^ nf 3vit^TO«r!^ -rtwT -k -frmr, rjmrmrTCTwk. ir mn»m<»iT»- is
:^:_:r ^•::_ ii prannnncmr T'twrr ~r ^rtc^s " --~ ar ^—
<^L : -_~ TtfTTtTTr.s "nar <& yer itr-.;. _iai -iot ^ u^r-itu^
taih- sondiir xser and TaearOed -mHn.cn^ of ao. JlH :n)sae gTTTTirw«i 3: idJI 'te amc. f;iIJT Camtcenais. I fr^nt -jaiffr m : nnt ■wnnifi art" nf-fnfnr aorni: it -nririmK -tok i ■> issTrur IT' -snbsnctat Iwekt or amnt atabsnsu it ■aiar s'o.-hl J Tbf axe^fs: i thk- irve ant nirscs. libBr xher wtmiE ms. «""* Jjsk is ^aie utimil M. j5s4. '^""'"'"'^ i^i aif TcsT it ^■csrsTT c^anmsnns mairr nf ins Twwtrimis. It s^'^i. rr Xgrnrr. jt iit Camartast I'cssns. siasssc. ot £ -fn-rna' ■^xmiiiiiannr zc iik ^ _ ; auJt * Jms:.
C
8 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
obelisks, or pyramids to be found ? and where are the Danish mounds and forts ? It appears certain from our authentic historical records, that the obeliscal pillar-stones, sepulchral moimds, and earthen mili- tary works, so niunerous in this coimtry, are of Irish and not Danish orijrin ; and for the fact, that no remains similar to these are found in Denmark, we are furnislied witli the testimony of a Danish antiquary, the grandson of Olaus Wormius, as commvmicated to Dr. Molyneux himself by his brother William, in a letter "WTitten to him from Hol- land, in 1684. In this letter Wilham thus Avrites :
" I am intimately acquainted here with a young gentleman that comes from Den- mark, thovigh he is a Norwegian by birth ; his name is John Scheldrop ; he is very inquisitive after antiquities, especially of his own country and of Ireland. I have often discoursed with him concerning both, and especially of our great Danes' mounts ; I have told him your thoughts of them, and the reasons you ground them on, taken out of Olaus Wormius, who was his grandfather, but he will by no means allow of them ; assuring me that those mounts erected over soldiers killed in battle, of which he has seen several, are not (even the largest of them) above ten foot high. He says he never saw any such as ours in all Denmark ; wherefore I question they be rightly
called, or whether they be the works of the Danes." — Mult/Helix's Correspondetice, Dublin
University Magazine, vol. xviii. p. 483.
Thus it appears that Dr. Molyneux's reasoning, as to the Danish origin of the sepulchral momids and forts, had failed to make an im- pression, not merely on the minds of the learned in Denmark, but even on that of his o^\ai most intelhgent brother; and hence the whole superstructiu-e as to the origin of the Towers, which is raised on this basis, must necessarily fall to the groimd. Indeed, from the whole tenor of the Irish annals, it may be seen that the Danes, a rude and plundering people, were so far from being the builders of ecclesiastical edifices, except m a few of their own maritime towns in Ireland, that almost invariably, diu-ing their settlement in the coun- try, they were the remorseless destroyers of them ; and though it might be conceded, that on their conversion to Christianity, in the tenth centiuy, they may have founded a round tower belfry in Cork, or in any other town which they inhabited, yet the probabihty is quite against such a supposition, as we are altogether without proof of their having done so. The Tower of Cork was connected with the ancient chiu'ch of St. Finbar, founded in the sixth century, and perhaps coeval with it ; and no Eound Towers of this kind have been discovered in connexion \a\h any of the edifices Avliich the
OF THE KOUXD TOWERS OF lUELAXD.
9
Danes arc said to have foiuuled in Dulilin. \\'(.'.\i;,nl, Waterl'i.rd Linieriek. or elsewhere. Had tlie Towers been of Danish ori^nni it is quite inconceivable but that some traces of such l)nildin(rs would have been discovered in the north of Europe, or in En>dand. Nor- mandy, Sicily, or other coimtries in which the Northmen liad settle- ments ; and that none such have ever been discovered seems certain, as even Dr. Ledwich, the ablest supporter of the iheorv under consi- deration, is obhged to allow. As to the Saxon etjonolog)^ of the ^vord clog, it is one that will not prove anything; for, as Dr. Lanigan well observes, " the word clog was used by the Irish long before tlu' Germans or Saxons had churches or bells. We find it Latinized into cloccn, and it was used by Columbkille, and generally by the ancient Irish writers as signifying a bell ; so that instead of giving Saxon etymology to r/oc/iac/id," a form of the word, by the Ava}-, never used in any Iiish book or IMS., " the Saxon cliigga was most probably derived from the cloc or dug of the Irish teachers of the Saxons." — Ecci History, vol. iv. p. 406.
In latter times this lijqDothesis was zealously advocated by Dr. Ledwich, a ■svriter, who, although learned and ingenious, was less honest, or more prejudiced, than those who had previously given it their support. According to tliis writer, indeed, every thing indi- cating the least pretension to civilization in Ireland, previous to the arrival of the English, should be ascribed to the Danes, — the Irish being a race of uncivilized savages. But it will be seen, that to substantiate such opinions, Dr. Ledwich was necessitated to resort to an imposition on the credulity of Ids readers, quite miworthy of his learning and abiUty. Thus, after quoting those passages from Lynch, "Walsh, and Molyneux, Avhich are given in tlie preceding pages, he proceeds :
" Let it now be remarked, that the opinion of every author, who has spoken of our Round Towers for the space of 542 years, that is, from Cambrensis to Molyneux. is uniform in pronouncing them Ostman or Danish works. No silly conjectures or ab- surd refinements had as yet been introduced into the study of Antiquities ; writers only sought after and recorded matters of fact. All these authors, it will be said, follow Cambrensis, I grant they do ; but would .my of them adopt his notions was it possible to substitute better or more authentic in their room ? The answer is posi- tive and direct, that they would not, and here is the proof. In 1584, Stanihurst led the way in severely criticizing many of his positions. In 1662, John Lynch, in his Cambrensis Eversus, entered on a formal examination of his Topography ; not a page,
C
10
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
scarcely a paragraph escaping his morose and carping pen, and yet Lynch was a good scholar and antiquary. In his time Irish MSS. were more numerous and collected than since, consequently the means of information more ample, and yet he discovered nothinsr in his extensive reading to contradict what Cambrensis had delivered." — Aii/iguities, pp. 158-159. {Second edition.)
Nothing, but its artfulness, can exceed the audacious mendacity of the foregoing passage. " Let it now be remarked," he says, " that the opinion of every author, who has spoken of oui' Round Towers for the space of 542 years, that is, from Cambrensis to Molpieux, is uniform in i^ronouucing them Ostman or Danish works." Would not the reader imagine from this that there had been a long hst of writers summed up in favoiu* of the h)'^iothesis, of which Cambrensis and Molyneux were but the first and last ? Such, surely, A^^oidd be his impression ; but let us see whether the facts are of a nature to justify it. In the first place, Cambrensis himself has not written a syllable indicating lais belief that the Round Towers were of Danish origin ; on the contrary, he expresses his conviction that they were erected jnore pafrice, after the manner of the cotmtiy ; and, secondly, from that writer to John Ljiich, who was endeavouring to controvert every position of Cambrensis (and thus probably originated the con- jectm'e relative to the Danes), not a single -m-iter has said one word upon the subject. To this he adds, with great apparent simplicity : " All these authors, it will be said, follow Cambrensis, I grant they do ; ( ! ) but Avould any of them adopt his notions was it possible to substitute better or more authentic m their room ?" Most admu-able candoiu- ! No one coidd have ever "WTitten this but a person desu'ous of supporting an erroneous hj-pothesis by false assertions. Tliis at- tempted imposition of Led-wich has been so well exposed by the generally acute Dr. Lanigan, that I shall make no apolog)' for pre- senting to the reader his remarks upon it in his own words :
" Led^vich has shamefully imposed on his readers by representing Giraldus Cam- brensis as having asserted, that the Round towers were built by tlie Danes. Now Gii-aldus says no such thing, nor in the little that he has said relatively to their mode <.<{ construction, which is all comprised in the few words quoted above, does he make any mention of Danes or Ostmen. On the contrary he plainly hints, that the archi- tecture of them was purely Irish, more patrioe. Besides, from his having looked upon at least some of them as very ancient, it is evident, that he could not have imagined, that they were erected by the Danes, whereas he supposed that they existed in Ireland before the arrival of that nation. Ledwich squeezed his misrepresentation of Giraldus out cf another of Lyucli''s meaning in the above quoted words. Lynch says.
I
may oi
OF THE Korxn TOWERS OF IRELAND.
11
■ ''I'm
■■■■'tliai
, -^liJ, is WoiiIJ : list of ••irensis
' ' isiure to '■ m& ii ■■ ':' Danish
■i md\:
that the E.nind towers are reported to have been first erected by the Danes who.,- hrst arrival in Ireland was, according to Giraldu., in the year 838. The sense of this plain passage is twisted by Ledwieh, as if Lynch had stated that Giraldus said that the Danes not only first came to Ireland in 838, but that they were likewise the first builders of the Round towers. Lynch could not have even thought of attributing such an assertion to Giraldus, whereas his object was to refute the supposition of Giraldus, that there were such towers in Ireland at times much earlier than those of the Danes! Lynch was arguing against what Giraldus has about Round towers being seen in Lough Neagh, and strove to refute him by showing, that there were not any such towers in Ireland at the very ancient period alluded to by Giraldus, whereas, he says, they are reported to owe their origin to the Danes, who, according to Giraldus him- self, did not come to Ireland until A. D. 838."
" The reader will now be able to form an opinion of Ledwich's logic and critical rules, and to judge of his fidelity in referring to authorities."— £"(■<•. Hist vol i>- pp. 405, 406.
To these remarks it would be useless to add any thing further ; and, taking it for granted that the reader is now satisfied that tlie hypothesis of the Danish origin of the Towers is one which has not been proved, or even made to appear probable, I will proceed with- out fiu-ther delay to the next section.
SECTION IL
THEORY OF THE PHCEXICIAN, OR EASTERN ORIGIN, OF THE ROUND
TOWERS.
The romantic notion of ascribing the origin of the Roxmd Towers of Ireland to the Phoenicians, Persians, or Indo-Scythians, originated in the fanciful brain of General Yallancey, an antiquary who, in his generous but mistaken zeal in support of the claims to ancient civi- hzation of the Irish, has done much to involve our ancient history and antiquities in obscmity, and bring them into contempt with the learned. In support of this conjectiu'e, however. General "N'allancey has adduced scarcely a shadow of authority, but in place of it has amused his readers partly with descriptions of the fire-towers of the Persians — which only prove that these were not hke the Round Towers of Ireland — and partly with a collection of etymological dis- tortions of the most obvious meanings of Irish words, intended to prove that the Eovind Towers received their local names from being temples of the sacred fire !
c2
10 IXQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
scarcely a paragraph escaping his morose and carping pen, and yet Lynch was a good schohir and nntiquary. In his time Irish MSS. were more numerous and collected than since, consequently the means of information more ample, and yet he discovered nothing in his extensive reading to contradict what Cambrensis had delivered." — Antiquities, pp. 158-159. {Second edition.)
Notliing, but its artfulness, can exceed the audacious mendacity of the fi)regoing passage. " Let it now be reniarked," he says, " that tlie opinion of every author, who has spoken of our Round Towers for the space of 542 years, that is, from Cambrensis to Molyneux, is uniform in pronouncing them Ostman or Danish works." Would not the reader imagine from tliis that there had been a long list of writers summed up in favour of the hypothesis, of which Cambrensis and Molyneux were but the first and last ? Such, surely, would be his impression ; but let us see whether the facts are of a nature to justify it. In the first place, Cambrensis himself has not written a syllable indicating his belief that the Round Towers were of Danish origin ; on the contrary, he expresses his conviction that they Avere erected more patrice, after the manner of the covuitry ; and, secondly, from that writer to John Lynch, who was endeavouring to controvert every position of Cambrensis (and thus probably originated the con- joctiu'e relative to the Danes), not a single -wTiter has said one word upon the subject. To this he adds, with great apparent simplicity : " All these authors, it will be said, follow Cambrensis, I grant they do; (!) but would any of them adopt his notions was it possible to substitute better or more authentic in their room ?" INIost admirable caudom' ! No one could have ever Avritten this but a person desirous of supporting an erroneous hypothesis by false assertions. This at- tempted imposition of Ledwich has been so well exposed by the generally acute Dr. Lanigan, that I shall make no apology for pre- senting to the reader liis remarks upon it in his owm words :
" Led^vich has shamefully imposed on his readers by representing Giraldus Cam- brensis as having asserted, that the Round towers were built by the Danes. Now Giraldus says no such thing, nor in the little that he has said relatively to their mode iif construction, which is all comprised in the few words quoted above, does he make any mention of Danes or Ostmen. On the contrary he plainly hints, that the archi- tecture of them was purely Irish, more patria:. Besides, from his having looked upon at least some of them as very ancient, it is evident, that he could not have imagined, that they were erected by the Danes, whereas he supposed that they existed in Ireland before the arrival of that nation. Ledwich squeezed his misrepresentation of Giraldus out of another of Lynch's moaning in the above quoted words. Lynch says,
OF THE HorXD TOWERS OF IRELAND.
11
that tlK. Kouud towers are reported to lu.ve been f.rst ereeted by the Danes, wlu.e hrst arrnal m Ireland was, according to Giraldus, in the year 838. The sense of this plain passage is twisted by Ledwieli, as if Lynch had stated that Giraldus said that the Danes not only first came to Ireland in 838, but that they were likewise the first builders of the Eound towers. Lynch could not have even thought of attributing such an assertion to Giraldus, whereas his object was to refute the supposition of Giraldus, that there were such towers in Ireland at times much earlier than those of the Danes'. Lynch was arguing against what Giraldus has aljout Round towers being seen hi Lough Neagh, and strove to refute him by showing, that there were not any such towers in Ireland at the very ancient period alluded to by tiiraldns, whereas, he says, they are reported to owe their origin to the Danes, who, according to Giraldus h self, did not come to Ireland until A. D. 838."
" The reader will now be able to form an opinion of Ledwich's logic and crit.. rules, and to judge of his fidelity in referring to authorities."— £ct. Hist vol i pp. 405, 406.
To these remarks it would be useless to add any thing further ; and, taking it for granted that the reader is now satisfied that the hypothesis of the Danish origin of the Towers is one which has not been proved, or even made to appear probable, I will proceed witli- out further delay to the next section.
nni-
Klll
SECTION IL
THEORY OF THE PHOENICIAN, OR EASTERN ORIGIN, OF THE ROUND
TOWERS.
The romantic notion of ascribing the origin of the Round Towers of Ireland to the Phoenicians, Persians, or Indo-Scythians, originated in the fanciful brain of General Yallancey, an antiquary who, in his generous but mistaken zeal in support of the claims to ancient ci\"i- lization of the Irish, has done much to involve our ancient history and antiquities in obscm-ity, and bring them into contempt with the learned. In support of this conjectiu-e, however. General Yallancey has adduced scarcely a shadow of authority, but in place of it has amused his readers partly with descriptions of the fire-towers of the Persians — which only prove that these were not like the Rotmd Towers of Ireland — and partly with a collection of etymological dis- tortions of the most obvious meanings of Irish words, intended Id prove that the Eound Towers received their local names from being temples of the sacred fire !
c2
%
T -
12
IXQCIBT IXTO THE OBIGD.' AXD USES
'.V:
As these supposed proofls rest altogether on the xiees to which it lias been ai^sumed that the Towers were appUed, it will be raort ex- pedient, and prevent repetition, to present them to the reader in the ' A-ing Section, in which I hare to ti-eat of that subject ; and as the ..... ingenious arguments of Doctor? Lanigan and f/Conor, Miss Beaufort. Mr. D" Alton, Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Moore, and, recently, Mr. Windele of Cork, in support of this hj-pothesis, are of nearly a similar kind, thej shall be considered in the same place.
SECTION IIL THEOBDES OF THE PAGAN USES OF THE BOUND TOWEBS.
1 . That they were Fire-temples. — 2. That they were used as places from which to proclaim the Druidical festivals. — 3. That they were Gnomons, or astronomical obsenatories. — 4. That they were Phallic emblems, or Buddhist temples.
The theories of the Pagan uses of the Round Towers above enu- merated, have l>een so blended together by their most distinguished advocates, that I have found it impossible to treat any one of them se{jarately from the others, without involving myself in repetitions, which would be tedious to the reader, and unessential to my purp<^se. I shall therefore, take the arguments adduced to sustain them, in the order as to time in which they appeared, commencing with those of General Vallancey, their great originator.
The earliest conjecture as to the Phoenician or Indo-Scythian origin of the Round Towers, and their uses as fire-temples, appears in ^'allancey's Essay on the Antiquity of the Irish Language, first pub- lished in 1772. and after-wards repiinted in the eighth numl^r of the Collectanea de Reh. Hih. in 1781, and is to the following efiect :
" The Irish druids caa£«d all fires to be extinguished throughout the kingdom on the ere rX >Iay day, and trvcrj'houff: was o>>liged to light his fire from the areh-druid's holy fire, kindled on some eWated place, for which they [Miid a tribute to the druid. This exactly corresponds with Dr. Hyde's description of the Parsi or GuebrL descen- dants of the ancient Persians, who have, says he, an annual fire in the temple, from whence they kindle all the fires in their houses, which are previously extinguished, which makes a part of the revenues of their pri-.-sts ; and this was undoubtedly the use of the round towers, so frequently to be met with in Ireland, and which were cer- tainly of Phqeoician construction.
itiaitkKt W for iIk
foUuv. Sllfi '
as u ■ , , fomlotlie
Uii L.
OF THE ROUXD TOWEKS OF lUELAXD.
13
-.1- :tir.]lr.
'• I will here hazard a conjecture. I find ^112 ffa<M to signify mm^nns ; I fi.ul alsr. that the oriental nations at length so named the tower ot'Bul.ylon, &c., mbua «/nv«- dalutJi, turres ab amplitudine dict«. Bochart. p. 42. Geog. Sacr. Gadi. e. yarf«/tiirris ; may not our Irisli name c!off/im/ for tlie round towers built in Ireland, which appa- rently were of Ph.Enician workmanship, be derived from this word </a</, and r/(y/u stone. It must be allowed that c/«y is a bell, and hence these towers have been thought t.i have been belfries ; but we have many places called c/op/i, i. e. saxum.
"Again, the druids called every place of worship do^/uu/. alluding to the circles of stones they usually set up in those places ; there is therefore no positive authority to say that these cioi//iM/s or towers were used as belfries only, or that they took their name from that use." — pp. 285, 286.
To reply to assertions resting on such puerile conjectures as tlie preceding, Avould he but u waste of time, and I shall oulv nh.siTve. that there is not a sliadow of authority to be found in the Irish his- toiy for the statement, that tlie Druids called ereri/ place, or any place of worship, cloghad, or that the Round Towers oflixlaud \v<-n' ever so called, as I shall prove hereafter.
Tlie tlieory thus dogmatically put forward by Vallancev ha\intr lieen combated by Dr. Ledwich in his Essay on the Kound Towers, lirst pubhshed in the fifth nvunber of the Collectanea, the former was followed by some remarks on the Round Towers of Ireland in the succeeding volmne, number 10, for the pui'pose of supporting it. But, as this paper only shows that a tower somewhat similar in size and form to the L'ish towers exists in Bulgaria, and asserts from a conjec- tiu'al etpnolog}^ of its name, INIisgir or JNIidsgir, that it was a lire- temple, I do not feel it necessary to insert it here.
On this paper, Dr. Ledwich makes the following remarks :
" I had almost forgot our author's Bulgarian round tower, which was a Turkish minaret. He should have known that the Turks or JIagiars colonized Bulgaria in
889 Gibbon's Kom. Hist. v. 6. p. .34, note 2. that then they were tolerably civilized.
Forster's Northern Voyages, p. 39, note. That Arabic inscriptions in Turkish mosques are common. Tollii Epist. Itiner. p. 150. And that those on tlie Bulgarian tower are
not old Forster, supra. The Turks received the idea of belfries or their minarets
from the Greeks A.D. 784 Sabellic Ennead. 9.1. 1. Here are materials for a dis- sertation to convict our Author of the grossest ignorance, or unpardonable inatten- tion."— Antiquities, -p. 166, note. (Second Edition.)
But reasoning of this kind woidd make but little, if any, impres- sion on the mind of an author hke Vallancey ; he Avould acknowledge that the Bulgarian tower, or anj- other, was a minaret, but wliat of that ? •' The minarets," he answers, '' were originally fire towers !" —
12 IXQUIHY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
As these supposed proofs i-ost altogether on the uses to which it lias been assmned that the Towers were applied, it will be most ex- ])edient, and prevent rei)etition, to present them to the reader in the following Section, in which I have to treat of that subject ; and as the more ingenious arguments of Doctors Lanigan and O'Conor, Miss Beaiifort, Mr. D' Alton, Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Moore, and, recently, Mr. AVhulele of Cork, iu support of this hjq^othesis, are of nearly a similar kind, they shall be considered in the same place.
SECTION III. THEORIES OF THE PAGAN USES OF THE ROUND TOWERS.
1 . That they were Fire-temples.— 2. That they were used as places from which to proclaim the Druidical festivals. — 3. That they were Gnomons, or astronomical observatories. — 4. That they were Phallic emblems, or Buddhist temples.
The theories of the Pagan uses of the Round Towers above enu- merated, have been so blended together by their most distinguished advocates, that I have found it impossilDle to treat any one of them separately from the others, without involving myself in repetitions, which would be tedious to the reader, and unessential to my purpose. I shall, therefore, take the arguments adduced to sustain them, in the order as to time in which they appeared, commencing -with those of General Vallancey, their great originator.
The earhest conjectm'e as to the Phoenician or Indo-Scythian origin of the Round Towers, and their uses as fire-temples, appears in Vallancey's Essay on the Antiquity of the Irish Language, first pub- lished in 1772, and afterwards reprinted in the eighth number of the Collectanea de Reb. Hih. in 1781, and is to the following effect :
" The Irish druids caused all fires to be extinguished throughout the kingdom on the eve of May day, and every house was obliged to light his fire from the arch-druid's holy fire, kindled on some elevated place, for which they paid a tribute to the druid. This exactly corresponds with Dr. Hyde's description of the Parsi or Guebri, descen- dants of the ancient Persians, who have, says he, an annual fire in the temple, from whence they kindle all the fires in their houses, which are previously extinguished, which makes a part of the revenues of their priests ; and this was undoubtedly the use of the round towers, so frequently to be met with in Ireland, and which were cer- tainly of Phoenician construction.
OF THE KOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. | ;i
" I will here hazard a conjecture. 1 find bn2 gudul to signify maynns ; I thul also that the oriental nations at length so named the tower of Babylon, &c., mbl23 /««,/„- dalut/i, turres ab aniplitudine dict«. Boehart. p. 42. Geog. Sacr. 6Wi. e. y«,/,// tnrris ; may not our Irish name cloghad ior the round towers built in Ireland, which ai.i.a- rently were of Ph«nician workmanship, be derived from this word yad, and cloyli, stone. It must be allowed that chiy is a bell, and hence these towers have been thought tu have been belfries ; but we have many places called clogh, i. e. saxiun.
"Again, the druids called every place of worship cl<x,l,(„l, alluding to the circles of stones they usually set up in those places ; there is therefore no positive authority to say that these doghcuts or towers were used as belfries only, or that they took their name from that use." — pp. 285, 286.
To reply to assertions resting on such puerile conjectiu-es as tlie preceding, would be but a waste of time, and I shall only obsui've, that there is not a shadow of authorit}' to be found in the Irish his- tory for the statement, that the Druids called every place, or any place of worship, cloghad, or that the Round Towers of Ireland were eve]' so called, as I shall prove hereafter.
The theory thus dogmatically put forward by \'allancev haviny been combated by Dr. Ledwich in his Essay on the Romid Towers, tirst pubhshed in the fifth number of the Collectanea, the former -was followed by some remarks on the Round Towers of Ireland in the succeeding volmne, number 10, for the purpose of supporting it. But, as this paper only shows that a tower somewhat similar in size and form to the Lish towers exists in Bulgaria, and asserts from a conjec- tural etymology of its name, Misgir or Midsgir, that it -was a fire- temple, I do not feel it necessary to insert it here.
On this paper, Dr. Ledwich makes the follo-\ving remarks :
" I had almost forgot our author's Bulgarian round tower, which was a Turkish minaret. He should have known that the Turks or Magiars colonized Bulgaria in
889 Gibbon's Rom. Hist. v. 6. p. 34, note 2. that then they were tolerably civilized.
Forster's Northern Voyages, p. 39, note. That Arabic inscriptions in Turkish mosques are common. Tollii Epist. Itiner. p. 150. And that those on the Bulgarian tower are not old. — Forster, supra. The Turks received the idea of belfries or their Tninarets from the Greeks A. D. 784 Sabellic Ennead. 9.1. 1. Here are materials for a dis- sertation to convict our Author of the grossest ignorance, or unpardonable inatten- tion."— Antiquities, p. 166, note. {Second Edition.)
But reasoning of this kind woidd make but httle, if any, impres- sion on the mind of an author like Yallancey ; he would ackno^vledge that the Bidgariau tower, or auy other, Avas a minaret, but what of that? " The minarets," he answers, "were originally fire towers !" —
14 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Sec MS. comment on Ledwich's Dissertation on the Round Towers of Ireland in Vallancey's corrected copy of the Collectanea de Reb. Hib., preserved in the library of the Royal Irish Academy.
In the twelfth number of the Collectanea, General ^'allancey returns to the Round Towers again, and finds them employed for various purposes not previously thought of Thus, in the preface to this number, he tells us they were first erected in Ireland by the African sea-champions :
" Potter in his Grecian anti.piities, says, the Pelasgi were Tyrhenians born, and (speaking of the building of Athens) taught the Greeks the art of building hoiises of lime and stone, and from them, walls and castles were called Ti^^rii. [Ti^^^i?]- ^^ it pos- sible that Potter could be ignorant that the Hebrew and Chaldee -m Tin; was a cir- cular building, a tower, from the origin of languages? Observe the ancient history of the Irish in this particular, ' African sea-champions landed in Ireland, conquered the country, introduced their language, and taught the inhabitants to build with Ume and stone,' to build \\'\mtl— Round towers undoubtedly, for no other buildings were erected in Ireland of lime and stone, for many centuries afterwards."— p. iv.
Again :
" The ancient Irish Seanchas say, that Gan, Geanan, Conning and Faovar, were African generals who drove the Nemedians out of Ireland. That they first settled at Toirinis, whlcli was called Tor Conning, or tower of Coyndng, from the tower he built there : this is the first round tower mentioned in Irish history." — p. xxxvi.
And asrain :
o " With Nemed came many Tuatha Dadanan, and in his reign the Africans arrived : these Africans were the Phoeni another tribe of the Pelasgi : it is not surprizing then, that our Irish historians observe, that these Africans spoke the same language as the Irish. Tliey conqiiered the country and taught the inhabitants to build round towers, ha^-ing first landed at the island of Tor or Tor-inis called also Tor-Conuing from the name of the Carthaginian general (Conuing) and here is the first account we have of our round towers." — pp. Ixix. Ixx.
On these passages it -will be sviiBcient to remark, that if, as Yal- lancey asserts, the ancient Irish historians state, that the Irish were taught by the Fomorians, or African sea-champions — who came here a few centuries after the deluge — to bixild with Ume and stone, it would only show that such authorities were of little value. But the fact is, that they make no such statement : and as to the story of Tor-Conuing, or Tory Island, it appears to be a legend originating in the natural formation of the island, w^hich presents, at a distance, the appearance of a number of towers, and hence in the authentic
OF THE ROUND TOWKKS OF IKELANM), 15
Irisli aimals, and the lives orColuuibkiUe, the patron saiul cil'ilie phicc, it is called Torac/i, ov the towery island, and Latinized Turac/tiu. and Tonu-lid insula. It is true, indeed, that there is a Kound Tower still remaining on Tory Island, but it would reqiiii-e a more than or- dinary share of credidity to enable one to believe that this is the Tor-Conning of the Africans; or that its age is anterior to that of St. Columb, to whom its erection is attributed by the connuou ti-adi- tion of the islanders, and the inhabitants of the ojiposite coasts.
Farther on in the same Preface, the learned General informs us, that the Roimd Towers were sorcerers' towers. Thus :
" That the oriental aub were sorcerers, the learned Millius has very clearly ilemon- strated ; that the Irish abh were sorcerers also, is evident from the common verb ubk- faidhim, to prophecy, where /aid/: a prophet, is compounded Avith ab/i. Tliese were at the head of the Irish sorcerers, and I shall hereafter shew that there was a ])residiiig- aub at each tower, and that the first name for Christian, a bishop in the Irish lan- guage, was aobk-ill-toir, or, an a/tb of many towers, or places of wor?liip, fur h'li- nut only implies a tower but every thing belonging to a church.
" Hence toir-dealback, a proper name, now written turlogh ; it originally signified a tower-sorcerer ; see dealbha or tealbha, sorcery." — p. cxxxiv.
Still farther on, he informs us that the Towers were made for celestial observations, a notion subsequently adopted even b}' Doctor O'Conor and other learned men. The passage is as folloAvs :
" Thus Lucian tells us, that they had in the porch of the temple at Ilierapolis wliiili ' stood on the knob uf a hill, Priapus's three hundred cubits high, into one of which a man gets up twice a year, and dwells seven days together in the top of the phallus, tliat he may converse with the gods above, and pray for the prosperity of Syria ; wliich prayers, says he, are the better heard by the gods for being near at hand.' — This was the opinion of Lucian, but the fact is, these pillars, or round towers, were made for ce- lestial observations, as those still standing in Ireland, were by our Driuds." p. clxv.
A few pages after this. General Vallancey presents us with what he calls " Fm'ther illustrations on the Round Towers," in which -we find a new use to which they were applied : thus, in speaking ol" the dancing festivals of the Canaanites and other ancient nations in ho- noiu" of the Heavens, he "vrates :
" In Syriac, chvgal, a circuit, to turn round. One of the serrices paid to this attri- bute, by tlie heathens, was, to dance, or move in circles ; and, in this manner, our Irish Druids observed the revolution of the year, festivals, &c., by dancing round our round towers; and from the Syriac cinigal, the word clog was formed, implying, any orbicular form, as, the skull, a round tower," &c — Vol. iii. p. 482.
General Vallancey, in a few pages after, fui-nishes us with a quo-
)f',
imfiim ffTo THE (oiKjiJf aw vnyp.
■II fjtmi an aTjcierrt LJali MS — ^the Gl'««trf f/f' Crmna/-, Arf-)j-
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tJ**! 'ju"»tj'7fj '/. ' the Pagan aTrti'juity M' tJjf trtrer? at rert iVi-
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bin aUm. "titt- iuC. pwis ±& samit Tr is; iirjuauittraitmi. »■ ^ >v
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niiiiii a: tin ToiL lareiiiir i»ftsu. _ . . ..- . . .,_. awr v->- s
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of mjT rtUMjr luiiidinas taari i« His;- ■ ..?.
afirtdnnflpi^sjasetl iiii~ irra ai imi;.. _ > > _ , , , .^^
smmliLe xo think, •tbwr ^wivalB 3»wr TmnitHwiB JmUflnsj :fltt- j9ntKsl«s. m^ix laiaw iUraUib uiautriBk: liu"t"wtnTt^3»(sitm>,h Till.. utvsI*. ■>"<«■ • i~
was bnih witii surii Bim.tmu.b-; »ir. > - , ,. suaui -^... . „u
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Thp last passiurr in thfe -vriJinnr ^KraKj mi ^^ 5ttfHii\Ttt r^iiii- as fdlo-w^ :
to !«■ a poTitnir.tioTi (if r(/W»/«»/ .• .j. 0. iht'Ti'T.iOTi (irTiic iiwvii —
a Ib'wti; r/i/nn, SBj-s O'Tirum, Ts a iiiHiit .Cfhini ij> soTtmil (il ^ i .«
Umha, Tu>V! dctyac::, fHitnti JBnMnMwh. rUuioi ^Mw- Sljiis, ito lijsbWHi^ Sua, — ^Tf^^-3»wq vrirh TOKiiT plwjs in fliis Iciiurfiinn, jittmwi Ohmn.. ~itua »iW' Ttlr-Huhwl mi Jillbn, ^Ajawt^ qucntly, t.h(j^ (lid iidl (Jiawc tlmh- iituiux fr/un ti jiUiiii /ti' li*wil wiirnw.,
** A plain, in Irish, is ragawsswl hT Tiiaiih»iJT«», juiuyli, lutrjf, Mi.iJwai, wiluuBi, :ftiliiJ»)UM*, fu.iT}i('.in('.ifl, maiirhnpiis. Tiuwlh, TdirnilaiJi:; uTul, nttUffui. Will lio Jii/cw- !«• (1. a
Tl/iriulpn.. r.h«.Ti hnnut ivt^vn -Aflam. lj<' .Tti'tiii d<sifl'llw*. * 7.(iWia, Uii H'^tl^ti** '^
Turks ■name kimt-knlm, i. «. Tibf TffW^o- HfTiw- V-crJ?h»»-"f— in ■* Aw jajJfW Jcftatt, Jw -»'■ -n they call il <»«*-/!/«/«)», i. o. tlir ciuttic kTtIw' viwliis. JUi' saf», ulst/t, 7.lw' IJiwmi ut ilu patriarch Ja^jtli, iu>4»t BtaJiliiluiiii, Imi ji wjts so yuijuiui., hv (vibld .JiiWii 3t(' -tth* <ii -rt»
3D
If, IXQUIKY IXTd THE ORIGIN AXD USES
tation from an ancient Iii^li IMS. — the Glossary of Cormac, Arch- liisliop of Cashel, in the tenth century — which wcmlcl appear to set tlh' question of, at least, the Pagan antiquity of tlie towers at rest for ever. It is as follows :
•■ G'lU or qaill, i. c. carrtha cloche, a stone column, or pillar, that is. one of the aiK-ient round towers, (Cormac's Gloss. Vet.) is aire is hearor ffoll. (says Cormac) disuidiu fo hith ceata ro suighidseat in Eire, i. c. they were so called, mil, by the colonists who settled first in Ireland." — Th. p. 485.
He next adduces the authority of Dr. O'Brien, the learned author of the Irisli Dictionary :
" Cuil-ceac/i, or Ciil-kak corrupts claieeac/i, a round tower ; as Cuilceac Cliuina- vmha, the tower or steeple of Clojne. O'Brien. This word, adds he, seems to be corrupted of clog-theach, that is, the bell-house. I have had occasion before, to shew, that Dr. O'Brien, had very little knowledge of the roots of his mother tongue, for clog is a contraction of oigol.
" Cuill-kak, is e\ddently the annunciator, instructor, or proclaimer of the festi-\ als. See cul, gid, and kak, in the preceding list of Oriental and Irish words. Hence, it is rather more than conjecture, that our Irish round towers, which Cormac tells us, were built Ijy the first people who came to this island, were the buildings from which the approaching festivals were announced." — Ih. pp. 486, 487.
General Yallancey next tells us :
'• Another name for the round towers, is sibkeii, siMheit, and sithbhein. See O'Brien and Shaw's Lexicons." — lb. p. 488.
He then compares this word with what lie considers cognate words in the Hebrew, Arabic, and S}Tiac, and resumes:
'■ The Irish word, Sith-hkeit, is literally, the Beth, or house otSith ; which may imply, the house of peace, of pointing out the seasons, or, the house of adoration. Sith, par- ticularly, expresses every place established by the Druids in Ireland for devotion. Sith-drum, was the ancient name of Cashel, or Caisiol, that is, the Sith upon a hill : the tower of Caisil is thus situated; Caisiol, implies also, a house built of lime and stone. Sith, is pronounced See, the t being aspirated : I think it bids fair to be the root of the Latin, sedes, and the English, see; i. e. the diocese of a bishop. Ainsworth, derives the word from the Greek, i}®-, edes. Sith-bheiiu in Irish, will imply the place of the bene- diction, of pointing out, or proclamation, of the anni\-ersary, or of the vigils, the even- ing place of prayer, and, lastly, binn, is also a beU, used by the Eomish church in excommunication. Gur beanadh binnean Chiarain, air. Chron. Scot, ad an. 1043.
'• Caiceach, the last name I find for the round tower, is supposed by the Glossarists, to be compounded of cai, a house, and theac, a house ; this is tautology with a witness I The word may be compounded of cai, a house, and eeac, instrttction, &c. but I rather think it should be written, caig-theac, or caig-each, i. e. the house of solemnity, or of the feasts or festivals, an chag, in Hebrew, as we have already shewn, is a circle, festival, anniversary. Exod. x. 9. we have a {chag') festival da}-, xxiii. 18. nor shall the
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF 1REI.AXD. {'J
fat of my (cktff) annual sacrifice, remain till morning. The Hebrew, c/iag, is the root of the Irish, cayaus, a name of lent. Cari/us, i. e. Ca/f-aos, the season of C'/mv—Vet Glos."
" These towers were certainly belfries in after ages ; and, probablv, were n..t .mlv observatories, but belfries too, at the time of their construction. It is worthy of ol)sei'- vation, that all festivals are proclaimed in the eastern countries from the top of the misgir, or diz-ghale, or round towers of the mosque: Bells might also have been used by our Druids : the hand bell is of a very ancient construction ; and the Latin name for a bell-ringer, viz. tintinacuhis, seems to be of Scythic origin; and also, thilinahuUim a bell. Tein, in Irish and Arabic, is noise, a ringing noise : tein-tein, is doubled in botli languages, to express the greater noise: bticdim, in Irish, is to strike, which was the ancient mode of sounding the bell. Ciil, as we have shewn, is an anniversary, a round tower, a steeple; in Persic, Kule: but keol, in Irish, is a musical note, music. I submit these observations to the notice of the Irish antiquary, and Hatter myself, they merit his researches.
" Nor does it appear, that the modern name of these towers, viz. cloqhnd, or cloig- theac, supposed to signify a bell-house, are any inducement to think they are modern buildings. Clog is certainly a bell in Irish, so named, from clog, the cranium or skull; in which form, our first bells were made, and those to this day used in clucks are cast ; but clog, the skull, owes its name to its orbicular form, as we have shown before.
" It is evident, that all our cloghads have not been belfreys: in many there are nn marks of the wall having been broken within for hanging a bell ; nor are they always annexed to churches. There are many in the fields, where no traces of the foundations of any other buUdings can be discovered round them. Had the primitive Christians of Ireland possessed the art of building these towers with lime and mortar, it is rea- sonable to think, they would have preferred building the churches of the same durable materials ; but we are positively told, that Duleck, or Dam-Uag church, was the first that was built with such materials ; and was so called, from hoc, a stone. Near to the church, is a Druidical monument, or leac of enormous size, to which probably it owes its name."— /A. pp. 490, 491, 492.
The last passage in tliis volume bearing on the subject of the Eound Towers in any intelligible way, occiu's two pages after, and is as follows :
" The name cluan, was, I believe, originally given to all these towers : it appears to be a contraction of cul-luan; i. e. the return of the moon: cluan, certainly signifies a la^v^l; cluan, says O'Brien, is a name given to several of our bishops' sees, as C'luati
Umha, now Cloyne ; Cluan Haidhneach, Cluan Mac Nois, in Leinster, &c We meet
with many places in this kingdom, named Cluan, that are situated on hills, conse- quently, they did not derive their names from a plain or level country.
" A plain, in Irish, is expressed by machaire, magh, leirg, cathan, aohadh, faithche, faithemeid, maighneas, raodh, reidhlcin; and, clogad, can no more be derived from Tlachdga, than homo from Adam. Le Brun describes a tower, in Turkey, which the Turks name kiss-kolce, i. e. the tower of the virgins : — in a few pages after, he says, they call it kses-calisi, L e. the castle of the virgins. He saw, also, the tower of the patriarch Jacob, near Bethlehem, but it was so ruinous, he could form no idea of its
D
18 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
iiiagiiitudo: ho gives a plate of tlic ruin, by which \vc may see, it was then aljout 20 t'oet high, circular, and exactly resembling the state of many of our Irish towers. The kiss-kolcp or Virgin's tower, of the Turks, carries the air of Oriental romance in the name: cais-caili, in Irish, is, indeed, the virgin's tower, but lam inclined to think the name is a corruption of cuis-cuile, or o( ceach-ciiile, i. e. the tower of proclamation of anniversaries, &c. See Le Brun's Voyage de Levant. Kiss., in Arabic and Persic, is holy, religious."—/*, pp. 494, 495.
I have nmv done witli this third vohime of General Yallancey's Collectanea, having omitted nothing in my extracts from it which could be deemed of the slightest importance in this inquiry. 1 shall not, however, trespass on the reader's time or patience by any formal refutation of theories, supported by such evidences or arguments as liave been now laid liefore hini : to do so gravely would, I feel, equally involve me in ridicnle with their author ; and to treat them -with levity would be foreign to my tastes and the spirit of this in- vestigation. Besides, if there be any that could be convinced by such reasonings, they would not be likely to have their faith shaken by any commentary that I could make upon them. There is, how- ever, one portion of his remarks, which it may not be improper to notice, namely, that in Avhich he appeals to Irish aiithorities for facts in support of his hypothesis, but which I shall prove to be AvhoUy fallacious. The first authority so adduced is that of the celebrated Cormac Mac CuUenan, who, according to General A'allancey, states, in his ancient Glossary, that the word gul or gaill was the name of the ancient Round Towers, and, that they were so called by the co- lonists who settled first in Ireland. I regret to be obliged to state that there is no passage in Cormac's Glossary to that effect, and that the passage from which he gives a garbled quotation, will not bear his interpretation. I here present it to the reader at full length, from my own copy of Cormac's Glossary, wdiich has been collated with all the vellum MS. copies of the work, preserved in our public or private libraries:
^all .1. coipce cloice, iic e|"C: nip cinraij comaibce comecci pelb puiDUi coiccpice CO companouiB gall.
^all, cerapoa pop oinj^aip .i. jciU cloice ceoamap, uc ppeommup: ip aipe ip bepap gull DipuiDiu, po Bir ip ^tnll ceca po puiDi jpec i n-Cpe. ^aill .i. Ppainc : ^aiU, can amm do pciepclanouiB ppanc .i. cpep jallia ; acup ipa canoope cop- popip po h-ainmni^eD DOiB; ^all enim ^pece lac tacme oicicup; moe ^^dliue incipca. Sic Dill jfill ip ciinm do ela : inoe Pep Pluman Ditic : cocall cop n-jciU, ^aiiii in bpuin.
OF THE KOUXI) TOWERS OF IKELAXD. ]()
gall, DOn, ciiiim do called, Dino. ip ■^Muy, iicup ,p ci juh.! ccpinr po h-uinin- iiij'^cD .1. a carBtipp a cino.
Thus translated by IMr. O'Douovan :
" Gal/, i. e. a standing s/<»u\ ut est ' Nt-ighlmuis tiiking caix" of cattle are not in fault by marking a conterminous boundai-y -witli pillar stones.'
" Gall has four meanings, viz., in the first place a pillar-stone, vt prceiliximiis: the reason that such stones are caOedya/Zs, is because it was the Galli that first fi.xed them in Ireland. Gall, i. e. Frank. Gall then is a name for the nobles of France, so called h-om. gallia, i. e. a canclore corporis; for gall [rectc ya'A«] in Greek is lac in Latin ; hence Gallice iiiasta. Thus also gall is a name for a swan : hide Fer Mumhan dixit: Cuchall cos n-gall, yaimh in bhrain, i. e. the swan's foot is webbed, the raven's funded.
" Gall is also a name for a cock, from gallas, so called a galea capitis, i. e. from the crest of his head."
This ATord, gall, is explained rock in all the Irish dictionaries, and its diminutive ^-aZ/tt /I (corruptly dallun) is still used all over Munster to denote those pillar-stones, which are so numerous in that province. The word coirthe, by which it is explained in Cormac's Glossary, is still well understood, and always applied to a large standing stone, as to that on Cnoc a choirthe, or, the hill of the pillar-stone, near James- town, in the county of Roscommon. The reader Avill now be able to see the true value of the authority, which General Vallance}', bv a garbled quotation, so confidently put forward as a conclusive evidence of the antiquity of the Eound Towers, and I need make no fm'ther comment upon it.
General Vallancey next quotes the authority of Dr. O'Brien for the meaning of the word Cuil-ceach, or Cul-kak, — " Cuil-ceach, or Cul-kak, corrupte clai-ceach, a roimd tower; as CuUceac Cluaiid- Umha, the tower or steeple of Cloyne. O'Brien. This word, adds he. seems to be corrupted of Clog-theacli, that is the bell-house."
This is another characteristic example of Yallancey's mode of quoting authorities; he first makes O'Brien say, that Cuilceaclt be- comes corruptly Cluiceach, and then that the word seems to be cor- rupted of Clog-theacli. But O'Brien does not say that Cuilceach is corruptly CUuceach, nor has he the Avord Culkak or Cluiceach in his book; neither does he say that Cuilceach seems to be a cor- ruption of Clog-theach, but states positively that it is so. The fol- loAving are the passages which Vallancey has so misquoted and
garbled
D 2
20
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" CuiLCEACH, a steeple ; cuilceach Cluana-umlia, Cloyne steeple — This word is a corruption of Clog-thcach.
" Cl.oiG-THEACH, a steeple, a belfry; currujitc, Cuilgtheacli."
Our author next tells us, tliat another name for the Round Towers is Sibheit, Sithb/ieif, and Sithbliein, and for this he refers us to (_)"Brien's and Shaw's Lexicons ; but this quotation is equally false witli those I have already exposed, for the words Sib/ieit and SitJtbheit are not to be found in either of the works referred to. The word Sithbhe is, indeed, given in both Lexicons, but explained a cit}^, not a round tower. The word Sithbliein is also given in both, but ex- plained a fort, a turret ; and the real meaning of the word, as still understood in many parts of Ireland, is, a fairy hill, or hill of the fairies, and is apphed to a green round hill crowned by a small se- pulchral mound.
He next tells us that Caiceac/i, the last name he finds for the Round Towers, is supposed by the Glossarists to be compounded of cai, a house, and teach, a house, an explanation, which, he playfully adds, is tautology Avith a witness. But where did he find authority for the word Cuiceach ? I answer nowhere ; and the tautology he speaks of was either a creation or a blunder of his own. It is evident to me that the Glossarist to whom he refers is no other than his fa- vom'ite Cormac; but the latter makes no such bhmder, as will appear from the passage Avhich our author obviously refers to :
Cai .1. ceac: unoe oicicup ceapo-ca .1. ceac ceapoa; cpenp-ca .1. reac cumanj. "Cai, i.e. a house : iinde dic'ttur ceard-cha, i. e. the house of the artificer; creas-cha, i. e. a narrow house."
Lastly, he tells us that the name Chian was, he believes, origi- nally given to all these towers, and that it appears to be a contraction of Cul-luan, i. e. the retiu'n of the Moon! For this new meaning of the word, it would, hoAvever, have puzzled him to find an authority, though he evidently Avishes us to believe that he had such, by quoting O'Brien to shew that cluan is a name given to several of oiu' bishops' sees. But O'Brien kncAv the meaning of the word too well to have had any such notion in his mind, and correctly explains it as folloAvs :
" Cluain, a plain between two woods, also any fine level fit for pasture ; Lat. planum,
Angl.-Saxon. lawn, visibly of the same root with diialn Vid. Lhuyd's Compar. Etym.
pag. 10. col. 1., for an initial letter being expressed in one Celtic dialect, and omitted in another. Note that several towns and bishops' sees in Ireland derive their names from
Country iii ■"
found B^ ouoBeadebr*
ofValliDK lieaii':-' ■ tkere luu.-; ■ couiBy. ffl- together, t ialoeBfitt oflKkui. riiioMiy. t- !".•'-■ fc:.
retua< 10 ■ several dsi quitv. In'
a* •,'.';.. toieis,bQi lonoerloTt- Tersii'.r- ■ • rottii";-- ■ ■ du;! '-■; L
ItisiL mtiii^iiihg fottoimr tkHslitih ittlenm theses, tk: cutiveciA-r
I
-foniiij
-fi(i Towers Jf^^'^'siisto [qmllj false
Amhkit
Tiic word
'''tity.nota
'"'i. bill ex-
h''t^ as still
'irMlofilie
•MlliC-
■ k tie
, JiiieJ (if
■■ ■'"? plajfiillj
iyl iiutkritj
'.'appear
:.iiCtiofl
flDlMDillgof
1 ID aulloritj,
rjfitiiig •liiMs'
1
OF THE ROUXD TOWEHS OF lUEI.AND.
21
tliis word C/iiain; ex. Clunin uinlm, now tlio town of Cloyno, n bishop's <!oc in the County of Cork ; Cluain-haidhnfach and Cluaiu Mac Xois, in Luinstcr, &c."
That this is tlie true and only meaning ol' tlie word diKtin, can be proved by reference to tlie localities bearing the name in every part of Ireland. In many places there are twenty-four c/i/ains together, as in O'Conor Faly's Country in the King's Comity, and in O'Conor Roe's Country in the County of Roscommon ; and the cluuin is invariably found to be a fertile piece of land surrounded by a bog or moor, or on one side by a bog, and on the other by water. On this conjecture of Vallancey it may also be remarked, that, if every place in Ireland bearing the name Cliiain had received that name from a round tower, there must have been several thousands of Round Towers in the country, and in many places they must have been so congregated together, as to have required the wand of a magician to call them into existence, since they would be too numerous for the population of Ireland, at any period, to erect them. But the assumption is so visionary, that it is puerile to treat it seriously.
In the succeeding volume of the Collectanea, containing a Vin- dication of the ancient history of Ireland, General Vallancey again returns to the subject of the Round Towers, and presents us with several names for them, and new evidences in support of their anti- quity. In this volume, however, he abandons many of his former theories — theories which he had put forward as incontestible — both as to their origin and uses. They are now not African or Phcenician towers, but towers of the Persian or Chaldean Magi. They are no longer towers for celestial observations, or, for proclaiming the anni- versaries, or, sorcerers' towers, or, towers for the Druids to dance round, — they are now only fire-towers of the restored religion of Zer- dust or Zoroaster !
It is a difficult and rather unpleasant task to follow a writer so rambhng in his reasonings and so obsciu-e in his style, but, as his followers are still the most numerous class of my readers, I must get through the labour as well as I can, consoled by the conviction, that little more is necessary to prove the visionary nature of his hj'po- theses, than to present the arguments on which they rest, in conse- cutive order.
" In the Sadder of Zerdusht as given us by Dr. Hyde, we find the fire-temple or Tower, or House of Prayer, named Aphrina<jha)i ; the sacred festivals had the same
20 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" CuiLCEACH, a stocplo ; cuilccach Cluaiui-uuiha, Cloyne steeple. — This word is a corruption of Clog-theach.
" Cloio-theach, a steqiUs a l)elfry; comipte, Cuilgtheach."
Our autlior next tells us, that another name for the Round Towers is Sibheit, Siflthlieif, and Sit/ihlicin, and for this he refers ns to O'Brien's and Shaw's Lexicons ; but this quotation is equally false with those I have already exposed, for the words Sibheit and Sithbhe.it are not to be found in citlier of the works referred to. The word Sifhhhe is, indeed, given in both Lexicons, but explained a city, not a round tower. The word Sitlibhein is also given in both, but ex- plained a fort, a turret ; and the real meaning of the word, as still understood in many parts of Ireland, is, a fairy hill, or hill of the fairies, and is apphed to a green round hill crowned by a small se- pidchral mound.
He next tells us that CaiceacJi, the last name he finds for the Round Towers, is supposed by the Glossarists to be compounded of rai, a house, and teach, a house, an explanation, which, he playfully adds, is tautology with a witness. But where did he find authority for the word Caiceach f I answer nowhere ; and the tautology he speaks of was either a creation or a blunder of his own. It is evident to me that the Glossarist to whom he refers is no other than his fa- vourite Cormac ; but the latter makes no such blimder, as will appear from the passage which our author obviously refers to :
Cai .1. ceac: unoe Dicicup ceapo-ca .1. ceuc ceapoa; cpeap-ca .1. ceac cumcinj. " Cai, i. e. a liouse : unde dicitur ceard-cha, i. e. the house of the artificer ; creas-clia, i. e. a narrow house."
Lastly, he tells us that the name Clnan was, he believes, origi- nally given to all these towers, and that it appears to be a contraction of Cul-luan, i. e. the retiu-n of the Moon! For this new meaning of the word, it would, however, have puzzled him to find an authority, though he evidently Avdshes us to believe that he had such, by quoting O'Brien to sliew that chian is a name given to several of om- bishops' sees. But O'Brien knew the meaning of the word too well to have had any such notion in his mind, and correctly explains it as follows :
" Cluain, a plain between two woods, also any fine level fit for pasture ; Lat. planum,
Angl.-Saxon. laicn, visibly of the same root with cluain Vid. Lhn/d's Compar. Eti/m.
pag. 10. col. 1., for an initial letter being expressed in one Celtic dialect, and omitted in another. Note that several towns and bishops' sees in Ireland derive their names from
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 21
this word C/iiain ; ex. Clunin fitnlia, now the town of Cloyno, a liishop's '^co in tlie Countj' of Cork ; Cluain-haidhncach and Cluain Mac Nois, in Lcinster, &c."
Tliat this is tlie true and only meaning of tlie word chmiii, can be proved by reference to tlie localities bearing the name in every part of Ireland. In many places there are twenty-fonr rluains together, as in O'Conor Faly's Conntry in the King's Coimty, and in O'Conor Roe's Country in the County of Roscommon ; and the cluain is invariably found to be a fertile piece of land surrounded by a bog or moor, or on one side by a bog, and on the other by water. On this conjecture of Vallancey it may also be remarked, that, if every place in Ireland bearing the name Cluain had received that name from a round tower, there must have been several thousands of Round Towers in the country, and in many places they must have been so congregated together, as to have required the wand of a magician to call tliem into existence, since they would be too numerous for the population of Ireland, at any period, to erect them. But the assumption is so visionary, that it is puerile to treat it sei-iously.
In the succeeding vohmie of the Collectanea, containing a Vin- dication of the ancient history of Ireland, General Vallancey again returns to the subject of the Round Towers, and presents us with several names for them, and new evidences in support of their anti- quity. In this volume, howevei", he abandons many of his fonner theories — theories which he had put forward as incontestible — both as to their origin and uses. They are now not African or Phcenician towers, but towers of the Persian or Chaldean Magi. They are no longer towers for celestial observations, or, for proclaiming the anni- versaries, or, sorcerers' towers, or, towers for the Druids to dance round, — they are now only fire-towers of the restored religion of Zcr- dust or Zoroaster !
It is a difficult and rather unpleasant task to follow a writer so rambling in his reasonings and so obscm-e in his style, but, as his followers are still the most numerous class of my readers, I must get through the labom- as well as I can, consoled by the conviction, that little more is necessary to prove the visionary nature of his hypo- theses, than to present the arguments on which they rest, in conse- cutive order.
" In the Sadder of Zerdusht as given us by Dr. Hyde, we find the fire-temple or Tower, or House of Prayer, named Aphrinayhan; the sacred festivals had the same
•22 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
name : The Persians in India luul a stated festival once a month. Hoc convivium seu \uv E[m\x j>hn-((li habet nonien AiVinaglian, i.e. Benedictalia seu benedicendi Epiiljc, in the singular number it is AjJ<enn; or AftVin. In the Chaldce we find IVnrW Aphriuu, Templuni. In Irish Afrithgnam is to bless {gnam or gnim is the verb agere vel faeere)- 'i"l»' Chnppel, Mass-house, or House of prayer, is kno^^^l at this day in Ireland, by no other name than Tl-Afrion, i. e., the house of benediction.
•' There can be no .loubt of the round towers in Ireland, having been Fire- towers ; the ri-nifrloHit, the house of benediction. The Arabs call them Perkin, i. e. a fire hearth, in Irish Bieocan. The construction of them was well adapted to the purpose : the door being always from 12 to 15 feet from the base, the sacred fire at the bottom could not be molested by the wnid : it was covered by a Cupola at top, and four small windows in the sides near the top, let out the smoke. The diameter of them is no more than sufficient for the Cai-Culane, or Draoi to perform his sacred office : his Zend or prayers were not to be heard by the congregation, as in the service, his mouth was covered lest he should breath on the holy fire, so that he mumbled or nuittered his words. Wien he had done, he probably ascended to the door or to the top, and gave his A}ihrin. The sacred fire was fed by the wood of a sacred tree; in Persia the name of that tree is Haum al Magjus, i. e. Haum Magorum : In Irish Om and Gninu was Crann-naomha or sacred tree : we translate it an Oak.
" The Pcrso-Scythi of Ireland named these Towers, Tuir Be'd, or the Towers of Baal or Belus, a name sacred to the Sun ; whence Bel-ain, a year, i. e. the Circle of Bel. In Pharh. Gj. a Persian author, we are told that Ardeshir Bahek, a Persian King, constructed a certain lofty building which he named Terbali, to the East of the City of Iharaghun in Persia, — alia etiam veterum Templorum Persicorum nomina in sequen- tibus memorantur, et eorum omnium nomina hodie recuperare et recensere, est plane impossibile, — Hyde, 1 08.
" The sacred fire was named Hyr, in Irish Ur, it was also named Adin; whence the Adair of Ireland, names of places where some sacred building is always to be found ; our modern churches are commonly annexed to these old fire-towers ; a strong argument that they were originally sacred buildings. The Prafectus ignis was named Hyr-bad, in Irish Ur-Baidh. scil. Ignis Sacen/os; we now translate baid, a prophet. The Urbad continued night and day in the fire tower, and all other Priests were sub- ject to him ; we have the same accounts in the Irish MSS. Tliis order was also named Miigh. Primus ordo antea vocabatur Mogh et postea Hi/rbad. (Hyde). Mogh i\Iugh or Miigh was the name in Ireland, hence Ard-magh the Sletropolitau See of Ireland, and all those old family names beginning with the Epithet Mag, as Mag !Mathi;hanma, MiW uidir, Maff Cana, Mag Giolla Eiabha, Maji Rasrhnuil, IMcWh Luijch, Mac Luchta, &c. &c. and this name was borrowed of the Chaldeans, another strong circumstance from whence Zerdust came, corresponding with our Irish traditions. Olini in Chaldreorum Curia horum Rector supremus (Jerem. 29. 3. 13) dicebatur 23-3-1 Rah vmg i. e. Magorum Praifectus." — Vol. iv. pp. 202-3-4-5.
And again:
" It may be said that the few fire towers existing in Ireland, plainly evince that this fire-worship was not an established religion, and that they must have been applied to some other use : to this objection, I answer, that many have been pulled down, and
OF THE ROUND TOWKKS (IF IFvIXAXl). 23
that tliosc were only Cathedrals ; that other buildings of wattles and straw, (cr Corri- dores) to cover the congregation, may have lieen erected round them, and wr shall lind most of the Irish Towers connected with our Cathedrals, as at Cluiine, Cin'licU, Olu„- (/(doui/k, &c. &c. Notandum est, quod omne Pyreuni t'liit Ecclesia Cathcdralis dotatii ad alendum Epi^copum, et Sacerdotes necessarios (Ilyde, l()(i). and likr ihr (ilicbres r.l' India, they often prayed to Culinary fires, where a tower was not eonviiiii-ntly at hand."— /i. pp. '20G, 207.
I do not feel it necessary to make any connnent on llie ijreceding passages, as Vallancey's new Irish names for the Round Towers, toge- ther with tlie Irish authorities to which he refers, are, as all Iii.-h scholars must be aware, mere creations of his own fancy. I proceed, therefore, to his sixth volume, in which we are presented with a se- cond Essay on the Irish Rovmd Towers, and from this I shall extract whatever passages I can find directly bearing on the ([ucstiiiu. He commences as follows:
" From my first knowledge of Irish history, and of the mythology of the pagan Irish, I did conceive, that these towers were erected to contain the sacred fire, and I have had no reason to alter my opinion. From that history it appeared evident, that, as in ancient Persia, so, in ancient Ireland, there were two sects of tire worshipper.s ; one, that lighted the fires on the tops of mountains and hills, and others in towers ; an innovation said to be brought about liy Mnyh NtiadJiut, or the Magus of the new lau; otherwise called Airgiod-lamh, or golden hand, who was the Zerdost or gold hand of the Persians, who is said to have lost his life by a Touranian Scythian, in a tumidt raised by this innovation ; so Mogh Nuadliat had his hand cut oft' in the struggle, but one of the Tuailia-dadan colony, or Chaldtean magi, supplied the loss with a silver (jr golden hand.
" These towers were evidently named by the Chaldeans ]V~1SS aplirixn, i. e. tcm- plum, a name that exists at this day in Irisli for the house of prayer or benediction, viz. Ti aifrion, a mass-house ; Ar. .j_i _il ufi-ian, P. aferitt, praise, glory, benediction, blessing. In Cantico Canticorum, (po^siav sibi fecit Salomon, i. e. ]V~2S iipliriun sil)i fecit Salomon. (Aldrete Antig. de Espana, p. 203.) By the ancient Hindoos they were named Coill, whence the Cill and Ceall of the Irish, of which hereafter.
" The jiagan Irish worshipped Crom cruait, the same God Soraster adored, in fire, first on mountains, then in caves, and lastly in towers: this fire worship, says Irish history, was introduced by a certain draoi, named Midhghe, a corruption of Magiiisr/i, which in Persian signifies, nailed by the ears, not cropt eared, as some have imagined, but the Zoroastrians changed it to Megiiisch or Mtigiiisch.
" 'The Brahmins kept a portion of the sacred fire constantly and fervently glowing in caves, continually ascending in pure bright pi/ramidal flame, fed with the richest gums ; this was prior to the Pyra;ia, or fire temples, which were always round, and owed their origin, according to the Magi, to the zeal of Zoroaster.' (Maurice. Ind. Ant., V. II. p. 279.)
" This pyramidal flame seems to have given the idea of the njund towers, wliieh
24 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
AVI.TC conical, and cndrd in a point at top, both in Ilindoostan and in Ireland, as we shall shew hereafter.
" The tower of Ireland, dc^dicated to Bi-i(iiU a saint, who took on her the heatlien name, is one of the highest in the kingdom— i?;vy/; inghean Dnyhda, bamlea, agus ro mor an a/riknam, i. e^ Brigit, daughter of Daghda or Apollo (the Daghda-rath of the Brahmins) a goddess, and very great was her Aifrion tower, or house of benediction.
(Cormac.)
" Zerdhusht extruxit doniicilia ignis, et fecit ea cum aipola exeelsa, et ignem gladio non fodiendum. (Buudari, an Arabian.)"— VoL vi. pp. 121—123.
" ' The Persians, says Prideaux, first made the holy fires on the tops of hills, but Zoroastres, finding that these sacred fires in the open air, were often extinguished by rain, tempests and storms, directed that fire towers should be built, that the sacred fires might the better be preserved.'
" We find these towers still exist in Caucasus, the first settlement of our Ara- coti, particularly in the tribe of Dalguis, now called Ingushi. Those mountains were explored by Guldenstaedt by order of Catharine ; in Vol. I. he says, ' They call themselves Inqnshi ; they are Christians. They believe in one God, whom they call Daile (in Irish Duile). Many of their vollages have a stone tower, which now serves them, in time of war, as a retreat to their women and children.'" — lb. p. 124.
The preceding passages are followed by an extract from Dr. Baum- garten, concerning the religion of the Scythians, in which, however, there is nothing ahortt fire, but that they worshipped an invisible deity, and admitted of no images, but, like the Magi, made use only of symbols. This again is followed by an extract from the Horaj Bibhcas of Mr. Butler, concerning the religion of the ancient Persians, and another from the same work concerning the Echla : after which he compares certain words in the Zend and Brahminical languages with the Ii-ish, to shew their similarity, and for others refers to the Preface to the Prospectus of his Iiish Dictionary, and then says :
" From all which I conclude, with certainty, that the Old Irish, or Aire-Coti, the primitive inhabitants of Britain and the western isles, were the Ar-Coti of Caucasus, and the Ara-Cotii of Dionysius, from the borders of the Indus, whence they were called IndoScgthce ; that they were mixed with the Brahmins, who at that period built round toicers for the preservation of the holy fire, in imitation of which those in Ireland and Scotland were built." — lb. p. 133.
I have given the arguments and cA-idences of General Yallancey thus fully, lest it might be thouglit that I did him injustice by thek abridgment: and I am satisfied, that with the learned and unpreju- diced reader it will be deemed unnecessary to offer a word of com- ment on them — that it Avill be but a waste of time to reply to argu- ments resting on conjectural etjinologies unsupported by authority
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 25
of any kind, and vague references to Irish liistory, williont any inti- mation in what antlinr, niamiseiipt, printed book, or library, they may be found. But as I shall have many readers to whom sucli evidences have been " strong as proofs of holy writ," and wlio will not be thus easily satisfied, it is imperative on me, however painful, to present them with such demonstrative proofs of their insufficiency to sustain the conclusions di-awn, as even they must receive as incontrovertible. In the first paragraph above quoted. General Vallancey tells us, that it appears evident from Irish history that, as in ancient Persia, so in ancient Ireland, there were two sects of fire-worshi])pers, one that lighted the fires on the tops of movmtains and hills, and the other in towers. This last form of worship, he continues, was an innovation, said to have been brought about by Mogh Nuadhat, or the Magus of the New Law, otherwise called Airgiod-/a}>i/i, or Golden-hand, who, as he states, was no less a personage than the Zerdost or Gold- hand of the Persians, who is said to have lost his life by a Touranian Scythian, in a tumult raised by this innovation. On these assertions I have first to remark, that Irish history furnishes us with no such facts as are here stated. It is true, that it states that fii'es were lighted by the Druids on the tops of moiuitains and hills ; but there is not one word to be found in that history respecting fires ha\'ing been lighted in towers, nor about the innovation, said to have been brought about by Mogh Nuadhat, nor about any innovation introduced by any Magus whatsoever. Secondly, it does not appear from Irish history that there was any prince, or Magus, called Mogh Nuadhat, to whom the cognomen of Airgiod-lamh was applied, nor would such a cognomen mean Golden-hand, but Silver-hand. We are told, indeed, in Irish history, of a leader of the Tuatha De Danann colony, who was called Nuada Airgiod-lamh, or Nuada of the Silver-hand, from a hand of silver with which he supplied the place of a hand lost in the battle of Magli Tuiredh, near Cong, m the present county of Mayo, fought against the Fir-Bolgs, according to OTlaherty's corrected Irish chro- nology, in the year 2737; and we also find in that history mention of a provincial Idng of the Milesian colony, named Eoghan, who bore the cognomen of Mogh Nuadhat, and who was slain by the celebrated monarch Conn of the Hundred Battles, in the battle of Magh Lena, in the year of Christ 192. Thus it will be seen, that General Val- lancey makes the cognomen of one prince be the name of another,
E
0() INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
who lived iiuuiy ceiiturics before him, in order to give probability to ;i lancil'ul etyinology of this cognomen necessaiy to his purpose, but which, after all, it will by no means bear ; for we have the authority of Irish history itself, that the cognomen Mogh Nuadhat did not mean Mtii>iis of the Neir Law, but strong labourer. See an ancient Irish tract on the etymology of the names of celebrated Irish personages, preserved in the Book of Lecan, fol. 22 1 , and ISIac Cmtin's Vindi- cation of the History of Ireland, p. 102.
General Vallancey next tells us, that these Towers were evidently named by the Chaldeans Apltriun, i. e. templum, and that the Tower of St. Bridget, at Kildare, — one of the highest in the kingdom, — was called her Aifrion Tower, or house of benediction ; and as authority for this name he quotes the Glossary of Cormac Mac CuUenan. But in this, as m an instance recently quoted, he has most shamelessly garbled and falsified the text of that writer, as wiU appear from the following acciu'ate transcript of it from the oldest copies :
6pi^ic bnii-pile, injen in tDugoae ; ip i iiipiii Spijic be n-eicpi, .1. baii-oea no uopacip piliD, ap ba po riiop, ocup bu po an a ppicjnarii. loeo cam tDeam uocanc poecapum ; cuiup popopep epunc 6pi^ir be leijip, ocup Gpijic be joibne, injenu intDnjDoe; oe quapum nominibup penep hotninep hibepnenpep oea 6pi jic uocaba- cup. 6pi5ir, Din, .1. bpeo-pai^ic.
" Brigliit the poetess, tlie daughter of the Dagda ; she was the goddess of poetry, i. e. the goddess whom the poets worshipped, for very great and very noble was her pre- siding CARE. Ideo earn Deam vacant poetarum; cujus sorores eraiit Brighit, the god- dess of jjhysic, and Brighit, the goddess of smiths, the daughters of the Dagda ; de quarum nominibus penes homines Hibernenses Dea Brighit rocahatur. Brigliit then means an arrow of fire." — H. 2. 16.
That the word ppirjnain in the preceding passage, — which General Vallancey has manufactiued into Afrihnam by joining the posses- sive pronoun a, her, to the noiui, to make it resemble the Chaldee Apliriun, — can only be vuiderstood as implj'ing the diligent care, or attention, Avith which the goddess was siqiposed to "watch over the inspiration of the poets, can be proved by numerous examples from ancient Irish MSS., and among these from Cormac's own woik, in which the word occiu's twice under the word lerec, thus :
Ro bui coUeicc in c-eccep oc acullairi ino ecpine, ocup oc cup pulae x:<.i];\ ci FpirjnuTh.
" The poet was at the time conversing with the tyro-poet, and keeping an eye over his
ASSIDUITY."
OF THE I50UXD TOWERS OF IRELAXn. 27
Ro pdrciij Kipnm m r-ecep mop mennHiin m ecpme, ocup lai^ec « ppir^nuiiici. '• The poot afterwanlsol.scrvod the groat mind of tlu- tyro-poot, and tlu- smnllness
of his ASSIDUITY."
And under the modem spelling, p]iiocnom, this word is exi)laine(l ntrc, dilii^enre, in the Dictionaries of O'Brien, O'Reilly, and— in wliat is suiDerior to either— the MS. Dictionary of Peter O'C'onnell, pr,- served in the British Museum. Under the modern spelling the word is also used in the sense of "caring, presiding over, or supeiintend- iug," by the Four Masters, as in the following passage.
A. D. 1174. piann .1. piopenr Uu ^opmuin, uipo-peap lecchinn Qpoci niuclu. ojiip epenn ude, pao. epjnu, eolac, ip in eaccna oiaoa, asupDomanoa, lup nibeir bliaoain ap picic 1 b-PpancaiB cijiip t StuaiB ace pocckiim, a^iip piche bliuocin ele aj ppiochnam ajup 05 pollarhnacchao pool Bpenn, cic bar co poiiitiieuc ip in Ceaccaoin pia j-Cuipj uipp an peaccmojao bliaoain a uoipi.
Thus translated by Colgau :
" 1174. B. Flnrenluis Gormanns, Arcf/imaifiste); .ten, snp-emiis mof/crator srliohp ArdmacJiancP, ac omnium totiiis Hiberni(v Doctor egregiiis, in ditiinis Sf hiiinanis scientijs peritissinms ; postquam annis viginti una in Francid et Anglid operam studijs nauasset, Sj- oliis posteii riyinti annis sc//olas Hilierni<v tunqiiam Prcpfcctiis rexisset, ipsci ferid qnarld ante Dominicam Resurrectionis, pie inDomino oMormiuit." — Trias Thauin. p 310.
The reader has now materials laid before him from which to jud'ie, whether Vallancey was justified in stating that the above passage in Cormac's Glossary refers to the Round Tower of Kildare, or to the Christian St. Bridget, and that ba po an a pptf^nctrh means " very great was her Afrion tower, or hou.se of benediction."
General Vallancey next tells us that " the pagan Irish worshipped Cro)ii criiait, the same god Soraster adored, in iire, first on moun- tains, then in caves, and lastly in towers : this fire-worshi]), says Irish history, was introduced by a certain draoi, named Mid/ig/tc, a corruption of Magiusch, which in Persian signifies, nailed by the ears," &c.
On this I have to remark, that, as I have already stated, Irish history says nothing about the worship of fire in towers, nor that Crom Cruait {recte Crom Cruach) was worshipped in fire in any manner, but on the contrary, that he was worshipped under the form of a large idol ornamented with gold and silver, and surrounded by twelve lesser ones of brass, typical emblems, as it might be conjec- tiu-ed, of the sun and the twelve signs of the zodiac. See the legend given in full in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, as published b}-
E 2
28 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Colgan in Trias Tliauni. p. 133. Neither does Irish history state tliat firc-ujorship was introduced by a certain druoi, or Druid, named Midhghe, though it must be confessed, that an inference to that effect might be drawn from the romantic history of tlie first colonies of Ireland, in which it is stated, that on the landing of the Nemedians, — the second colony after the deluge, — who came hither from Greece, a certain Druid, named Mid/ie, hghted the first fire for them in the terri- tory of Meath, which is said to have thence received its name from liim; and that all this colony were obhged to pay him and his suc- cessors a tribute for the hberty of lighting theii' fires annually from this original fire. This story is preserved in the Book of Leinster, a vellum MS. of the twelfth century, in the Library of Trinity Col- lege, Dublin, H. 2. 18, fol. 157, a, h ; and, whatever may have been the origin of the custom, it appears, from a statement in another ancient MS. in the same library, to have been perpetuated even long after the introduction of Christianity into the covmtry. As the passage to which I refer has not been hitherto noticed, and will throw a curious light on the nature of this custom and the history of the times, I shall present it to the reader in this place :
Claccja, ona, ITluiiia do nich h-i, ocup ip lac maccpaij rPuman do comeDciD Claccja CO n-a cenncaib, con nach oencai ceine D'paooD a n-6ipinD no co ceannaij- rea uacha-puiTi h-i; ocup j-ciiepall oip jacha h-aen chuaidie a n-6ipinn Doib ap in ceinio; miach cpuichneciclicct ocup cope ap each ppini-ceallach a n-Gpinn do comapba ITIiDe ap in ceinuio pin, .1. O'CainoealBain.
" Tlachtgha; Munster celebrated it (i. e. its fair) and it was the youths of JEuns- ter that kept Tlachtgha with its fires, so that no fire was lighted in Erin until it was purchased from them ; and a screpall of gold was paid them out of every territory in Erin for the fire ; a sack of wheat and a hog from every chief hearth in Erin to the Comharba of Midhe (Meath), i. e. O'Caindealbhain (O'Quinlan), for this fire." — Class H. 3. 17, p. 732.
In addition to the passages which I have already quoted from General Vallancey, there are many others connected with his hypo- thesis on the Eound Towei's, interspersed through his woi'ks, which, as bemg wholly of a visionary etymological character in reference to the local names of Towers, I do not feel it necessary to notice in this place, as I shall present them to the reader, in connexion with the Towers to which they refer, in the third part of this work. There is still, however, one point which it is incmnbent on me to notice, namely, the supposed similarity which the Persian and Hindoo fire-
OF THE ROUXD TOWERS OF lUELAND. 2;)
temples, bear to the Irish Roiuul Towers ; and, as this siniilaritv lias been much dwelt upon by subsequent ^vTiters, and ajipears to have had considerable weight with them, it will be well to put the reader more fully in possession of the fiicts on which it rests. They are thus stated by General Vallancey:
" Mv. Pennant, speaking of tlie Polygars of the Circars of India, says, 'All i1h> people of this part of India are Hindoos, and retain the old religion, with all its sniier- stitiou. This makes the pagodas here much more numerous than in any other part of the peninsula. Their form too is different, being chiefly l)uildings of a eyliiidiii'al, or round toicer shape, with their tops eitlier pointed, or truncated at the summit, and ornamented witli something eccentrical, but frequently with a round ball stuck on a spike ; this ball seems intended to represent the Sun, an emblem of tlie deity of the place.' — (View of Hindoostan, V. II. \>. 123.)" — vol. vi. pp. 133, 134.
" Hanway, in his travels into Persia, says, there are yet four temples of the Guebres, or worshippers of fire, who formerly inhabited all this waste. It seemed inconsistent, that tlie Persians suffered these temples to remain unmolested, after the abolition nf a religion, which they now esteem grossly idolatrous ; but they are made of most durable materials. These edifices are round, and above thirty feet diameter, raised in height to a point near one hundred and twenty feet." — Ih. p. 137.
" In the Hisfoire des descoueertes dans la H/isse et la Perse, there is an accoiiiit of many round towers, said by the inhabitants to be the work of very remote times. At Bulgari, not nine wersts distant from the Wolga, where our Aire-Coti first settled un- der Casair, the most remarkable of the ancient bviildings, says Pallas, is around tower, called Misger, which appears to be a corruption of J~^'> - muzgi, signifying, to make the holy fire bvirn bright (Richardson).
" In the midst of the ruins of Kasimof, on the Oha which falls into the Wolga, is a round and elevated tower, a sort of temple of stone and bricks, called in their lan- guage Misquir (Guthrie).
" In the country of the Kisti and Ingushti, very ancient nations of Caucasus, most of the villages have a round tower." — Ih. p. 145.
" Lord Valentia, in his late Travels in the East Indies, met with two round towers near to each other, 1 mileN. W. of Bhaugulpour ; he was much pleased with tlie sight of them, as they resembled those Towers in Ireland, which have puzzled the anticjua- ries of Ireland — ' but they are a little more ornamented — the door about the same height from the ground. It is singular, says he, that there is no tradition concerning them. The Rajah of Jyenegar considers them as holi/, and has erected a small building to shelter the great number of his subjects, who annually come to worship here. I have given an engraving of them, adds his lordship, as I think them curious.'" — Account of the Stone Amphitheatre, t^r., p. 41.
Of these extracts I may observe generally, that with the single exception of that from Hanway relative to the four towers of the Guebres, none of them prove that the towers noticed may not liave been — what is far mox-e probable — ancient Mahometan minarets, or,
30 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
belfries of the early Christians ; «in(l, witli reg:ml to Ilanway's in- stance, on which so much stress lias been laid, it may be remarked, that even supposiu<r these towers to have been erected for the purpose stated — a thing after all very doubtful — yet no point of exact con- formitv between them and the Irish Towers has been established, excepting that of rolmidity; while, on the other liand, the Persian towers are pro\ed to differ essentially from the Irish, in being nearly three times their average diameter. This want of established agree- ment was so strongly felt by Dr. Lanigan, that notwithstanding his zeal in supporting Vallancey's hypothesis, he is obliged to confess a wish that Hanway had been more particular in his description. On this subject Dr. Ledwich has made the following judicious remarks :
" Our imtlior begins his career by atfirminn; our towers to be the same as the Per- sian Pyi'atlie'ia, and that merely from Mr. Planway's saying there were roimd towers in the country of the Gaurs. Now if the Gaurs came hither, their monuments would have been similar to those described by Strabo, which 'were inclosures of great com- pass [x^my.oyot worthy of mention, egregious], in the middle were altars, and on them the ISIagi preserved much ashes and a perpetual fire.' The Greek words throw not the smallest light on the figure of the Pyratheia, much less can it be inferred they were of lime and stone, or of the altitude of ottr towers. Even Hyde, from whom he takes the shape of the modern Parsee fire-temples, would have informed him, that the ancient Persians had no temples, nor even a name for them in their language. What the Parsees now use were taken from Christian or Mahometan archetypes."
" ' Nulla erant templa veterum Porsarum, cptippe qui omnia sua sacra sub dio peragebant, ideoque in sua religione et lingua non habebant temjsli nomen.' Hyde de Kelig. vet. Pers. p. 359-"- — Antiquities, p. 16(5.
To these remarks I shall only add, that I am far from wishing to deny that a remarkable conformity is to be found between many of the Round Towers noticed by travellers, whether Christian, or Ma- hometan, and ovu' Irish Towers ; but on the contrary, hope to make that conformity more evident, and to be able to show, in the con- cluding section of this inquiry, that they are all equally derived from the same source, namely, the early Christians.
In connexion with this hypothesis of the Persian origin of the Round Towers, and their use as fire-temples, I have next to notice the opinions of Mr. Beauford, another EngUsh antiquary, who was cotem- porary with Vallancey, and one of the learned Triumvirate of Irish antiquaries, who were permitted to publish their works in the Col- lectanea de Rebus Ht hern ids. This gentleman's opinions are given under the word Cloghadh, in an Essay on the ancient Topography
OF THE ROINI) TOWKKS OK lUKLAXI). 31
of Ireland, published in the eleventh miiul)er of lliat work, and are as I'ollows :
"Cloghadh, or CliHjho, the Ilibcrno-ccltic name of those slender round towers ut this day found in several parts of Ireland. Tlic word is derived from the old Irish Tlachgo from Thicht, tlie earth or universe. The Druidic temples of Vesta in which were kept the sacred or eternal fire, were called Tlachgo or temples of Cybele, being of tlie same construction with the Pyrathea of the ancient Persians, and the Vfiammia of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, some of which are still reinainino; in Persia and Bulgaria. The Hibernian Druids erected these temples in their sanctuaries, as is evident from the ruins of several still remaining in different parts of the kingdom, jjarticularly at Ballynasliebh in the County of Kilkenny, Navan near Armngli, &c. They were constructed of rock stone without cement, and were of the same diameter with those towers now remaining, but to what altitude they were carried is not cer- tain; little more than the fc>uudations being now visible. After the establishment of Christianity in Ireland, among a ninnber of Druie [Druidie] superstitions, the sacred or eternal fires were preserved for several centuries, and the Tlnchtjn by the christian clergy removed from the sanctuaries of paganism to those of the true faith, and be- came appurtenances to churches and monasteries, though still retaining their ancient denomination of Tluchyo or temples of Vesta. On the abolition of these fires, about the twelfth century, and the intrt)duction of bells, the TIaclign were in general eon- verted into belfries, whence the modern name for a bell in Irish is cloyfi, from being ]jlaced in the Thichgo or vestal temples. As these round towers are neither fo>nKl in Britain or the European continent, they were most probably introduced into this island by the Persian Magi or Gaiirs, who in the time of Constantine the Great ran over the world, carrying in their hands censors containing the holy fire; ascerting their God should destroy all other Gods, which in some measure they effected by lighting fires under them, thereby burning those of wood and melting those of metal. In this period the christian religion had made considerable progress in the southern and wes- tern parts of Europe, but in Ireland druidic superstition remaining in its original purity, whose tenets not being widely different from those of the Gaiirs, these pagan philosophers found a ready assent to their doctrines; whence PjTatheias or vestal towers became universal throughout the island, in the place of the ancient Tlachgo, which we have shewn under that word were mounts of stone containing the remains of their ancient heroes, and on which fires were occasionally lighted from the sacred vaults at the times of sacrifice. The Cloghailh now remaining in Ireland were all erected by the christian clergy, and are none of them older probably than the beginning of the seventh century, nor none of a later date than the close of the eleventh, though evi- dently derived from structures of a similar nature vised by the pagan priests; they were however continued as Ix'lfries to the close of the fourteenth century, for which reason a belfry in the Irish language is termed Clnglmflh, from being originally tem- ples of Tlucht. AVare Ant. Dufrene's Gloss, tom. :J. Jurieu's critical Hist, of the Church, vol. 2."— vol. iii. pp. 308—310.
(^n the preceding statement it will be sufficient to ob^^ervc, that the story of the Gaurs, or Persian Magi, overrunning Europe in tlie
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32 IMJLIIiV IN In Till-: OKIGIX AND USES
roi'ni of Constantine, is altogetlicr a lulivieation of the author's own, and that the ecclesiastical historian, Jurieu. to whom he refers as liis authority, states nothing from which such an inference could be drawn. The passages m Jurieu's Critical History of the ChiU'ch, on wliich this mendacious statement was founded, are given by Vallancey in the fourth volume of his Collectanea [pp. 406, 407], "who enjoyed a Iriuiiipli in exposing the dishonesty of his former literary associate. Mr. Beauford's statements Avitli respect to the derivation of the word Cloghad from Tlachgo, of the original Round Towers ha^•ing been constructed of rock stone without cement, and of the ruins of several of those still remaining being of the same diameter with the Round Towers now remaining, are given without any authority, and are piu'e fallacies. And the statement as to the conversion of these Towers into belfries, on the introduction of bells about the twelfth century, is equally fallacious, as it is certain from the whole body of our eccle- siastical histor}', that bells Avere in use in Ii-eland from the period of the first introduction of Christianity into the country, as I shall show in its proper place.
I have next to notice the arguments in support of this hj-j^^othesis of the eastern origin of the Towers, of a writer Avho was greatly supe- rior in solid learning, honesty, and general acuteness, to any of those, whose reasonings I have hitherto combated, namely Dr. Lanigan, the able author of the Ecclesiastical History of L'eland. That such a writer should have followed in a track so visionary as that of Val- lancey, can only be accounted for by his shght acquaintance Avith the subject of architectural antiquities. His reasonings are as follows:
" The great similarity of these towers in the interior of Hindostan to our Irish Round towers has con-sanced me, that, as my worthy and learned friend General Val- lancey had long endeavoured to establish in various tracts of his, that this mode of architecture was introduced into Ireland in the times of paganism by a people, who came to this country from some far distant part of the East. The patterns, from which the construction of our towers was imitated, were most probably the fire-temples of the Persians and others, who followed the IMagian religion as reformed by Zerdusht, or, as he is usually called, Zoroastres. Those temples were usually round, and some of them were raised to a great height. That fire was in pagan times an object of worship, or, at least, great veneration in Ireland, and particularly the sun, which was considered the greatest of all fires, is an indubitable fact. Now the lower part of an Irish Round tower might have answered very well for a temple, that is, a place in which was an altar, on which the sacred fire was preserved, while the middle floors could have served as habitations for the persons employed in watching it. The highest part of the
OF THE ROUND TOWKUS OF lUICLAXl). 33
Tower was an observatory iuteiuleJ for c-destial observnlii.iis. as, I think, cvid.'iHly ap- pears from the four windows being placed diix-ctly opposite to the four cardinal points. The veneration in which the pagan Irish held the heavenly bodies and, above all, the sun, must have led them to apply to astronomical pursuits, which were requisite also for determining the length of their years, the solstitial and equinoctial times, and the precise periods of their annual festivals. I find it stated, that the doors of most of these towers face the West. If this be correct, it will add an argument to show, that they contained fire-temples ; for the Magians always advanced from the West side to worship the fire. According to this hypothesis the Round towers existed in Ireland before churches were built. I see no reason to deny, that they did ; and the particular style of their construction shows, that they are very ancient. But then, it is said, how does it happen, that they are usually found near old churches? In the first place this is not universally true. Secondly it is to be observed, that these towers used to be built in towns or villages of some note, such, in fact, as re(iuired churches in Christian times. Thus, wherever there was a Round tower, a church was afterwards erected • but not vice versa, whereas there were thousands of churches in Ireland without any such towers in the vicinity of them. Thirdly, there was a prudential motive for the teachers of Christian faith to build cliurclies near the sites of the Round towers, that they might thereby attract their new converts to worship the true God in the very places, where they had been in the practice of worshipping the sun and fire. It may be, that some of these towers were built after the establishment of Christianity in Ireland for penitential purposes, as already alluded to, although I have some doubts about it ; but I think it can scarcely be doubted, that the original models, according to which they were constructed, belong to the times of paganism, and that the singular style of architecture, which we observe in them, was brought from the East, between which and this country it is certain that there was an intercourse at a very ancient period of time."— ^cc/. Hist. vol. iv. pp. 406—408.
In this laboured and ingenious effort to establish a theory on in- sufficient data, there appears a consciousness of the weakness of the proofs on ■which it rests. A very few words Avill, I think, shew that they amount to nothing.
In the first place, granting even that the Persians at a particular period may have worshipped fire in rotundos of above 30 feet diameter, which might have answered very Avell for the purpose, it does by no means necessarilj' follow that the ancient Irish must have done so Ukewise in towers of nine or ten feet in diameter, which would not be at all adapted to such a piu'pose. Besides, I must repeat, there js not even a shadow of proof that the Irish worshipped fire at all in towers, " The lower part," he gravely states, " u-onld\vA\G answered very well for a fire-temple," and, as he adds in a note, " to guard against the objection that might be made of how those covered temples were kept fL-ee from smoke, that might easily be contrived by the help of the loop-holes which we find in them, or oi the door" Now as tlie
F
34
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
I'act is that no loop-lioles, or otlier apertures, are ever fouiid in tlic lower part of the Towers, except the doorways, the latter must have been the only expedient ; and it is one, I confess, so truly Irisli, that I am forced to acknowledge the strength of the argument which it furnishes, and am only surprised that the Doctor did not think of strengthening it by an allusion to the known perpetuation of the cus- tom among the fire-worshippers still remaining in Ireland.
Secondly, as to its appearing e-vident, " that the highest part of the tower was an observatory intended for celestial observations, from the fom- windows being placed directly opposite to the four cardinal points," it is to be observed, that the four windows do not always face the cardinal points, nor do the windows alwaj^s consist of the nmnber four. In some instances, as shall be hereafter shewn, they are fewer than that in number, and in many instances more. Besides, to make celestial observations from windows a foot or two wide in a wall three or four feet thick, would be manifestly impossible.
Equally incorrect is the assertion, that the doorway in most of the Towers faces the west : on the contrary it most generally faces the east, but it is also sometimes found facing the north-east and south- east, its situation, in fact, depending altogether, as I sliall hereafter shcAv, on the position of the Tower with reference to the church Tvith which it was originally connected. The fact, therefore, that the Ma- gians always advanced from the west side to worship the fire, does not fm-nish an argument to prove, that the Irish Towers were fire- temples.
Dr. Lanigan next says, that he sees no reason to deny that the Eound Towers existed before Christianity, and that their style proves them very ancient. To this I reply, that I see every reason to deny that they did so, for not the slightest evidence has ever been adduced to prove, that the Irish were acquainted with the art of building with lime cement before they received the Christian fiiith ; and the archi- tecture or masonry of the towers and that of the ancient churches erected before the twelfth century, of which some hundreds still exist, is the same in every respect, as I shall hereafter shew.
After this, he says, it is not xmiversally true that the Towers are found near old chiu-ches; but in this he also errs, as shall be shewn in the proper place : they are, without a single exception, found near old churches, or where churches are known to have existed.
qiiiredciiiKl
r!i'aH':- '
H'llO T' ■
tiere :.. stances, e» could be fc peialy to
Imtrr ■ m.. - aBJ: inB; ■ stani A- feku, nonce. \v erect ami;.
cfewl-..,ij; tobefci
for!...;
thetiisei ofAKbiittijin
OF THE Rorxn towers of Ireland.
35
Finally, lie argues that it was the policy of the Christiiins to build their churches near the ancient fii-e-temp!es, and that the Round Towers, having been built in toions, or villages ol' some note, re- quu'ed churches in Christian times. Wliy, then, 1 may ask, arc not churches fovmd near the Pagan altars or cromleaes, wliicli, ^'a^ancey states, were also dedicated to the sun? Bui, in irutli, if tlie Doctor, who was so well acquainted with the Acta Scuufdnnu Uilicrnicc. had reriected a httle before he allowed himself to be carried away by his zeal in support of a favourite tlieory, he would have been ashamed to make this assertion ; for he must have known, tliat so for from the churches adjacent to Roiuul Towers having been l)uih in places in which, previously to the introduction of Christianity, there had been " towns or \'illages of note," they were, in most in- stances, erected in tlie most desolate and unfrequented places that coidd be found ; as the words " Cluain" and " Disert," prefixed so generally to theu- names, sufficiently indicate, and the lives of their founders incontestibly prove. It was, in fact, the monasteries that usually gave birth to the toAvns, not the toAvns to the monasteries; and the destruction Avhich fell upon the primitive establislnnents has, in most instances, been followed by the decHue of these, their con- stant appendages.
As to the arinuiient that there were thousands of churches in Ireland, Anthout Roimd Towers in their vicinity, it hardly deserves notice. It was not every religious establishment that coidd afford to erect a round tower belfry, or that might require one ; and I will hereafter shew, from the annals and other authorities, that very man}' cloigteachs, or Round Towers, existed in Ireland, Avhich are no longer to be found.
Let the reader now judge how far Dr. Lanigan had solid ground for his final conclusion, viz. " that it can scarcely be doul)ted that the original models, according to which they were constructed, belong to the times of Paganism, and that the singidar style of architectm-e which Ave observe in them was brought from the East."
The arguments in support of this h}q:)othesis adduced by Miss Beairfort, in her very elaborate and valuable " Essay upon the State of Architecture and Antiquities previous to the landing of the Anglo- Normans in Iivland," are much less tangible than those I have just examined, and rest almost entirely on the supposed Persian origin of
F 2
34 INQUIUY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
fkct is tliat no loop-holes, or otlier apertures, are ever found in tlie lower part of the Towers, except the doorways, the latter must have been the only expetlieut ; and it is one, I confess, so truly Irish, that I am forced to acknoAvledge the strength of the argument which it furnishes, and am only surprised tliat the Doctor did not think of stren<Tthening it by an allusion to the known perpetuation of the cus- tom among the fire-worshippers still remaining in Ireland.
Secondly, as to its appearing evident, " that the highest part of the tower was an observatory intended for celestial observations, from the foiu- windo\vs being placed directly opposite to the four cardinal points," it is to be observed, that the fom- windows do not always face the cardinal points, nor do the windows always consist of the number four. In some instances, as shall be hereafter shewn, they are fewer than that in number, and in many instances more. Besides, to make celestial observations from windows a foot or two wide in a wall three or four feet thick, woidd be manifestly impossible.
Equally incorrect is the assertion, that the doorwaj' in most of the Towers faces the west : on the contrary it most generally fiices the east, but it is also sometimes found facing the north-east and south- east, its situation, in fact, depending altogether, as I shall hereafter shew, on the position of the Tower with reference to the church with which it was originally connected. The fact, therefore, that the Ma- gians always advanced from the west side to Avorship the fire, does not furnish an argument to prove, that the Irish Towers were fire- temples.
Dr. Lanigan next says, that he sees no reason to deny that the Eound Towers existed before Christianity, and that their style proves them very ancient. To this I reply, that I see every reason to deny that they did so, for not the slightest evidence has ever been adduced to prove, that the Irish were acquainted with the art of biulding with lime cement before they received the Christian faith ; and the archi- tecture or masonry of the towers and that of the ancient chiu-ches erected before the twelfth century, of which some hundreds still exist, is the same in every respect, as I shall hereafter shew.
After this, he says, it is not universally true that the ToAvers are found near old churches; but in this he also errs, as shall be shewn in the proper place : they are, Avithout a single exception, found near old churclies, or Avhere churches are known to have existed.
OF THE ROVXI) TOWKUS OF IIJKI.AM). 35
Finally, he argues that it ^vas the policy of the Christians to l)ni](l tlieir churches near the ancient fire-temp'.es, and that the Round Towers, having been built in towns, or villages of some un{v, re- quired churches in Christian times. Why, then, I may ask, are ncil chuixhes found near the Pagan altars or cromleacs, which, A'allancey states, were also dedicated to the sun? liut, iu truth, if the Doctor, who was so well acquainted with the Ada Sanrfoi-mn //ihcrnio', had rellected a little before he allowed himself to be carried awa\' by his zeal iu support of a favourite theory, he would lia\x' l)een ashamed to make this assertion-; for he must Iiave known, tliat so far from the churches adjacent to Round Towers having been built in places in which, previously to the introduction of Christianity, there had been " towns or villages of note," they were, in most in- stances, erected iu the most desolate and unfrequented places that coidd be found; as the words " Cluaiu" and "Disert," prefixed so generally to their names, sirfficiently indicate, and the hves of their founders iucontestibly prove. It was, hi fact, the monasteries that usually gave birth to the towns, not tlie towns to the monasteries ; and the destruction Avhieh fell u]ion the primitive establishments has, in most instances, been followed by the dechne of these, their con- stant appendages.
As to the argiunent that there were thousands of churches in Ireland, without Round Towers in their vicinity, it hardly deserves notice. It was not every religious establishment that could afford to erect a round tower belfry, or that might require one ; and I will hereafter shew, from the annals and other authorities, that vervmanv cloigteachs, or Round Towers, existed in Ireland, Avhieh are no longer to be found.
Let the reader now judge how far Dr. Lanigan had solid gi'ound for his final conclusion, viz. " that it can scarcely be doubted tluit the original models, according to Avhich they Avere constructed, belong to the times of Paganism, and that the singular style of architecture A\hich Ave observe in them was brouglit from tlie East."
The arguments in support of this h}q3othesis adduced by Miss Beaufort, in her A'ery elaborate and A'aluable " Essay upon the State of Architecture and Antiquities previous to the landing of the Anglo- Normans in Ii-eland," are much less taiigible than those I have just examined, and rest sdmost entirely on the supposed Persian origin of
F 2
31
INQUIir INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
fact is tliat no loop-liols, or other apertures, are ever found in tlie lower part of the Towej, except the doorways, the latter must have been the only expedient and it is one, I confess, so truly Irish, that . I am forced to acknowidge the strength of the argument which it furnishes, and am onlysiu-prised that the Doctor did not think of strengthening it by an dusion to the known perpetuation of the cus- tom among the fire-woraippers still remaining in Ireland.
Secondly, as to its ppearing evident, " that the highest part of the tower was an observtory intended for celestial observations, from the foiu- windows beingplaced directly opposite to the fom^ cardinal points," it is to be oljseved, that the fom' windows do not always face the cardinal points,nor do the windows always consist of the number four. In someinstances, as shall be hereafter shewm, they are fewer than that in nmber, and in many instances more. Besides, to make celestial oliservtions from windows a foot or two wide in a wall three or four feet tick, would be manifestly impossible.
Equally incorrect is ie assertion, that the doorway in most of the Towers faces the west : on the contrary it most generally faces the east, but it is also somelmes found facing the north-east and south- east, its situation, in fac, depending altogether, as I shall hereafter shew, on the position of he Tower with reference to the church with which it was originally onnected. The fact, therefore, that the Ma- gians always advanced lom the west side to worship the fire, does not furnish an argumemto prove, that the Irish Towers were fire- temples. ,
Dr. Lanigan next sas, that he sees no reason to deny that the Round Towers existed bfore Christianity, and that their style proves them very ancient. To his I reply, that I see every reason to deny that they did so, for not le slightest evidence has ever been adduced to prove, that the Irish -wye acquainted with the art of building with lime cement before theyeceived the Christian faith; and the archi- tecture or masonry of tb towers and that of the ancient chm-ches erected before the twelftlcentury, of which some hundi-eds still exist, is the same in every respet, as I shall hereafter shew.
After this, he says, ids not universally true that the Towers are found near old chm-c]ies;but in this he also errs, as shall be shewn in the proper place : d^^^^HH||^^ exception, found near old churclies, or wl^^^^^^^^^^^^khave existed.
■ -itliat ■■ai it -Hi of
■■'«i)f
■ bi
-anlul
'«-^ of tile •jlieiniJify n.
iciDa
■: itlie •V lai-es tte Jiid jioutli- .' lieneafter
'!itlie3/a- fire, does v.'j.\' fire-
' 'ik
' ■'.%
j'iiiuced
.,;i.nnth
. liie gichi-
: ; diiircbes
,-■:;;: cxk,
T-vuTsare lit shemi
their ch-or— - To-irers. bar, , quired ctiaix-. clmrclies i.«c; states, irenir i^ ■vrho ■w^ ~ "■' had relit-, by his ze»i ashamed B» far from ib-r d in places there "tm^ >-a^ stances, cr- ' - - could be : -^ - general:; founders usually g*Ke and thedes iu most
ftiii
a
tw\H> hc<*
-,» thll<
■■cc-
V
\\\\v \\\w ; M\\\ \ will
stant apj
As to lie Ireland, -vnthoBEt Boad Tow«*s. ... . notice. It was no« eveiy rvligi^-His t- erect a round lower belfiy. or that nujrhl hereafter shew, from the annals and »>thor n\it cloigteachs, or Round Towers, oxi.>'titl ii> ln"ln^ to be found.
Let the reader now judiro h«>\v lui Di l.tifnii liml Milid untuml for liis final conclusion, viz. " lluil il ciiii HciirJ) lir iImmIiIiiI iluti ilii< original models, according to wliidi lli«'y wnAoiintnirii'il, In lun^i in the times of Paganism, ami llml tin* hi»if/iiH ^lyln nl' iiii lillnt'iiiiii which we observe in them wum br'Mi(/lil ihtuMn- I'liifl "
The arguments in t-uj»j)<>rt of llii;- liv!)<)li i-j.- uddiKi'd )>)■ MIm* Beaufort, in her verj' elaV^raUi and J J>w<y gpxi iju^ h(«f«
of ArchiteclittfcAiid Anti<|uiti<i« pr<fVAou»> i// <l iMiwJjjJi/i/riln' Aini}>i
•yWA liiiii divi.' I I
36 IXQUIKY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
the Iiis^li, and the consequent agreemeut in manners, customs, and reUgion between the ancient ' Iran and Erin.' " This talented hidy, indeed, following in the track of Vallancey, has been indefatigable in reading the travels of Eastern tourists, in search of evidence to sup- ])ort his views, but the new instances which she has gleaned from their works, of towers in the East, always excepting the minarets, liave scarcely any agreement with those in the West, and, also ex- cepting Hanway's eternally quoted instance of the " Eotundos of the Ghebers," all the supposed temples of the Fire-worshippers present forms which have not the slightest similitude to the Eoiuid ToAvers of Ireland.
Miss Beaufort's etymological evidences shall be examined in their proper places, in the coiu-se of tliis investigation, but a few general assertions, which she has hazarded, seem to reqiure particular exa- mination here — an examination which, however, I must say, from feeUngs of respect for the talents and acquirements of that estimable lad)', I should gladly have avoided entering on, if the course of this investigation did not demand it, and if silence on the arguments and authorities which she has adduced might not, perhaps, be taken as evidence of inabihty to refute them, or, what I should still more regret, of a want of pi'oper respect for the value of her laboiu-s.
The assertions to which I have alluded are as follows :
1. " Tlie object for which the towers were built is distinctly mentioned in the ancient history called the Psalter of Cashel, and that ol' Tara to be for the preservation of the sacred fires of Baal, ' the Baal-Theine.'
2. " It is stated in the Psalter of Tara, that in the year A. D. 79, there was a so- lemn convocation at Tara, where it was ordained that the sacred fire should be exhi- bited from the tower of Thlachtga in Munster, and from all other fire repositories, on the thirty-first of October; and that if by any accident the holy flame had been extin- guished, it should be relighted from thenc& It was also enacted that a tower for fire should be built in each of the other provinces of Connaught, Leinster, Meath, and Ulster; and a tax called Scraball equal to about three-pence per head, was laid upon
all adults to provide a fund for that purpose. (Psalter of Tara, by Coinerford, p. 41
Cited Parochial Surveys, III. p. 319 A genuine copy of this Psalter is said to be now
in the British Museum — Trans. Iberno Celtic Society, p. xxii.)
3. " Fire worship having been persevered in by the King Lugaid, the son of Lao- gaire, his death by lightning was considered as a direct punishment from heaven for having preserved the Baal-Thiene in opposition to the preaching r.f St. Patrick. (Psalter of Cashel, p. 68. Cited Parochial Surveys, III. p. 320. The original Psalter of Cashel is now in the British Museum. Ibid. p. LX.)
4. " It is recorded in Irish history that Rosa Failgee, the son of Cathair More,
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 37
who was made monarch of all Inlaiul, A. D. \-r,, was a prince deeply learned in all the knowledge ofhis times, and that he built the tower ol' Koseiiallis, which derives its name from him, a proof of the antiquity of this tower at least. (Parochial Surveys, III. p. 328.)" — Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. xv. pp. 20(5, 207.
These bold assertions would seein suffieient to set tlie <iviesti(iii for ever at rest, and with uninqniring readers, nuist doubtless have had great weight; but, I beg leave to ask, where are either the Psalters of Casliel or Tara now to be found? Miss Beaufort answers, " in tlie British Museum," and gives as her authority for the foct, the Transactions of the Iberno-Celtic Society. But tlial work, wliicli was compiled by my friend, the late Mr. O'Reilly, merely states, tliat they are said to be in that national depository ; and, speakiu"- i)f the Psalter of Tara, he adds, ''perhaps not trti/i/." Well, indeed, mi^ht lie make that admission, for there is not the least evidence to sup- port such a hearsay, as he was himself obliged in conversation U) confess to me.
It may, however, be veiy properly said that, though no entire copies of those celebrated works can now be Ibund, authenticated extracts may exist, which should be taken as evidence ; and that Miss Beaufort's authorities may be of tliis description. Let us inquire, then, how far they are worthy of attention.
1. J"or the first assertion, that the object for which theToAvers were built, — namely, the preservation of the sacred fire — is distinctly men- tioned in tlte Psalters of Cashel and Tara, Miss Beaufort gives no authority, and I might, therefore, let it pass without observation. But it is worthy of remark, that in the cvu-ious and valuable ancient Irish Glossary of Cormac Mac CuUenan, the supposed compiler of the Psalter of Cashel, the word Bell-tinne is explained in such a man- ner as to preclude the possibility of supposing that wi-iter could con- nect the May-fires of the Dniids vdth towers of any kind.
6ellcaine .i bil-cene .i. rene bil .i. cene pomihec .i. oa rerie poinmec do ^nictp na opaice co cmcectaiB mopaib po|iaib, ocup do bepoip na cecpa ecupa ap ce6- manouib cecha bliaona.
" BeUtaine, i. e. bil-tene, i. e. tene hil, i. e. the goodly fire, i. e. two goodly fires, which the Druids were used to make, with great incantations on them, and they used Xo bring the cattle between them, against the diseases of each year."
A somewhat different explanation of the Baal-tinne is given in another MS. in Trinity College (II. 3. 18, p. 5yG), but, as will be seen, it makes no more allusion to Towers than that akeady quoted:
38 IXQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USKS
6elcaine, .1. 6el-D!ne : bel, oud, uinni do locil : 1]- ami do rni|^i-e(ilbra Dine cacha cerpa pop peilb 61ieil; mule 6elcme. No, 6elcine .1. 6il-riiie .1. cene c-foinmeac .1. DCi ceniD DO gnioip DpuiD co cincetlaiB mopa, ocup oe lejjoip na cerpa ecuppu cip ceomancaib cuclia bliaona.
^^Be/taine, L e. Bel-dine: Bel was the name of an idol: it was on it [i. e. the fes- tival] that a couple of the young of every cattle were exliibited as in the possession of Be/; umle Beltiue. Or, Beltine, i. e. Bil-tine, i. e. the goodly fire, i. e. two goodly fires, which the Druids were used to make with great incantations, and they were used to drive the cattle between them against the diseases of each year."
It may be remarked, that remnants of tliis ancient custom, in perhaps a modified form, still exist in the May-fires lighted in the streets and subm-bs of Dublin, and also in the fires lighted on St. John's Eve in all other parts of Ireland. The Tinne Eigen of the Highlands, of which Dr. JMartin gives the following account, is probabl)' a rem- nant of it also, but there is no instance of such fires being lighted in towers or houses of any description :
" The Inhabitants here [Isle of SkyeJ did also make use of a Fire call'd Tin-Etjin, (i. e.) a forced Fire, or Fire of necessity, which they used as an Antidote against the Plague or Murrain in Cattle; and it was performed thus : All the Fires in the Parish were extinguish'd, and eighty one marry'd Men, being thought the necessary number for effecting this Design, took two great Planks of Wood, and nine of 'em were employ'd by turns, who by their repeated EiForts rubb'd one of the Planks against the other untill the Heat thereof produced Fire ; and from this forc'd Fire each Family is sup- plied with new Fire, which is no sooner kindled, than a Pot full of water is quicklj' set on it, and afterwards sprinkled upon the People infected with the Plague, or upon cattle that have the Murrain. And this they all say they find successful by Expe- rience."— Description of the ^Vestern Islands of Scotland — (second edition), p. 113.
2. As authority for Miss Beaufort's second assertion, relative to the Tower of Thlachtga, &c., we are referred to the " Psalter of Tara, by Comerford, p. 41, cited in the Parochial Survey, Vol. III. p. 320."; and certainly in the latter work we do find a passage in nearly the same words which INliss Beaufort uses. But if the lady had herself referred to Comerford's httle work, she woidd have discovered, that the author of the article in the Parochial Survey had in reality no authority for his assertions, and had attempted a gross imposition on the credulity of his readers. The passage in Comerford is as follows :
" A. D. 79. This prince [Tuathal Teachtmar], as soon as he was in quiet pos- session of the throne, convened the general assembly of Tarah, where several wise re- gulations were made for the better governing the state. It was by the authority of this assembly, that Tuathal separated a tract of land from each province, and made the
I
OF THE nOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 3()
country of Meatli, as it iipp^'urs at this day ; lie also erected or stately jxiluce in each of these proportions, riz. in that of Minister, t/ie palace of Tlachtga, where the fire of Tlachtga was ordained to be kindled, on the 31 of October, to summon the priests and angurs to consume the sacrifices offeved to their gods; and it was also ordained, that no other fire should be kindled in the kingdom that night [P.o/"7«ra, in margin], so that the fire to be used in the country, was to derive from this fire, for which privi- lege the people were to pay a scraball, which amounts to three-pence, every year, as an acknowledgment to the king of munster. The second palace was in that of Connaught, where the inhabitants were assembled once a j'ear upon the first of May, to offer sacrifices to the principal deity of the island, under the name ofBeul, which was called the Convocation of Visneach; and on account of this meeting, the King of Connaught had, from every lord of a mannor or chieftain of lands, ahorse and arms. The third was at Tailtean, in the portion of Ulster, where the inhabitants of the kingdom brought their children, when of age, and treated >vith one another about their marriage. Frum this custom the king of Ulster demanded an ounce of silver from every couple married liere. The fourth was the palace of Teamhair or Tarah, which originally belong'd to the province of Leinster, and where the states of the kingdom met in a parliamentary way." — History of Ireland, pp. 49, 50 Second etlit. pp. 41, 42.
Where, in the above exti'aet, do we find even tlte shghtest men- tion of fire- towers, or a word from which an inference conld possibly be dra■s\^l that they ever had an existence in Ireland ? Palaces are spoken of, not toAvers ; and there is not even a vestige of a tower, or ancient stone biulding of any kind, now to be foimd at any of the four places mentioned ; and it will further appear, by a reference to my essay on the History and Antiquities of Tara, that no tower of this kind Avas known to the most ancient authorities to have ever existed there. Even as to the marginal reference to the Psalter of Tara, it is of no account whatever, for the writer, Comerford, was quite igno- rant of Irish authorities, his Avhole Avork being nothing more than an abridgment of the English translation of Keating's L'eland, in Avhich, hoAvever, no such marginal reference occiu-s. An allusion, indeed, is made in the latter Avork to this Psalter, but it is only to state, in describing the Palace of Tara, that the pedigi'ees, &c., Avere there transcribed into the royal records. See this question examined at length in my essay on the History and Antiquities of Tara.
But it should also be observed, that Keating, in this very account of the four palaces of Tuathal, Avhich Comerford has abridged, clearly shoAvs that the fires lighted at the convocation of Uisneach, on the first of May, could not have been in foirers, for he states that " upon this occasion they Avere used to kindle tAvo fires in every territory ot the kingdom in honom- of the Pagan God" (Baal), and that " it Avas a
40 IXQUIUY INTO TIIK ORIGIN AND USES
solemn ceremony, al tlii.s time, to drive a niimher of cattle bet^veen these fires; this was conceived to be an antidote and a luvseivation against tlie Murrain, or any otlier pestilential distemper among cattle, for the year following." — Kenfings General Historjj (iflrrltttid, vol. i. p. 326, Dublin edition, 1813.
3. For Miss Ileairfort's third asscrlitm, that "the death oC King Lugaid was considered as a direct pvmishmcnt (Vom heaven ibr having preserved the Baal-Theine in opposition to the preaching of St. Pa- trick," we are rtsferred to the " Psalter of Cashel, p. (i8. — Cited Pa- rochial Surveys, III. p. 320." The Parochial Survey does, it is true, refer for its authority for this assertion to the Psalter of Cashel, but it is only as quoted by Comeiford, in page 68 of his history; and, on referring to that page in the latter, we find no nieiitiiiu whatevei' either of the Psalter or of the Biutl-tln'iiie. The j)assage refeired to is as follows:
"TI)isprince(Lugliiu(Ili) waskillud by a tliuiulci-bdlt, as a punisbniciit iVmii beavi-n, for opposing the preacliing of St. Patrick." — Comerford, second edition, p. f38.
4. Lastly, Miss Beaufort asserts, that " it is recorded in Irish his- tory that Rosa Failgee, the son of Cathair More, who was made nu)-
nareh of all Ireland, A. I). 1 7-'5 , built the tower of Kosenallis,
which derives its name Irom him, a proof of the antiquity of this tower at least:" and, as authority for this statement, she refers us to the Parochial Surveys, vol. iii. ]). 328. It will Ije seen, however, on refe- rence to the authority quoted, not only that it states nothing of the kind, but also that, even if it had, the authority of a writer so utterly unacquainted with Irish history and chronology should be held as of no value whatsoever. The passage is as follows :
" The village of Rosenallis, is said to derivu its name from Rossa Failgea, eldest son of Cutliaoii- Mure — Charles the Great. The father being in bi,s own hereditary right King of Leinster, was eleeti'd .supreme monarch on the decease of Fedlimus Legifer, anno Christi 175. lie nlliiiiH'd to this high dignity by his many and great virtues, but chiefly by his bold and successful opposition to the Danes [1], who piratically infested the coasts, though they had not yet attein[ited an invasion: he was distinguished by his iiii]iartial justice and heroic valour, till he fill in the memorable battle of 'I'ailten. This monarch had many sons, polygamy beinrr then tolerated, and Rossa his eldest and favourite, was deejjly skilled in the learning of these days. He is said to have built the round t(jwer mentioned in sec. IV."
Let US now tiu'u to the secti(m referred to, and we shall find the following passage:
OF I'lIK l.'dl'XI) I'dWKKS (IF IliKI.AM). 41
" I{i>scii!i1lis Iiiis llic ruins ofnii i.M .liiir.li ihal wus (l,7liciilril I., ilw Virgin Mnry:
III.' iiiliiiliiliials slill iibscrvu tlu! Isl. dl' l''cOiiii!iry, in imim monition of ilicir iiulniiii'ss.
A round lower, connrrlcd willi llic i-nins of luiscimllis, nIIII i-i'niiiiii>." iii.. .'{1'.), '.i'M.
1 1 will lie seen I Ii;il ii 1 1 I his is Lrivcii mi llic w rilcr's iiwii iiiiili(Mit\-, without any I'd'crciu'c In Irish i-cconls whiitsncvcr ; ikH' is their :i word ill frisli liistory lluil would wariiiiil iisscrlioiis so iihsiinlly llillii- cioiis. Wiiiil, lor iustauoc, would be thouiihl oi'lhal Irish liislor\-. il'it. sliih'il, lhal the coasts oi' liThiiid wci'r inrcslcil li\- the Danes in 17-'», ^\■h(■ll llir iiaiiic III l)aiic is iiiikiidun In all an! hciilic historians lor several ce'iiturii's later. Tiiis writi'r tells us, that Kossa Failu'eu is sdld to Iiave built the Tower ol" Roseiiallis, but he lias not shown that Irish history says so, or '^\vv.n us any authoi'ity i'or such an as- serlimi Iml his own, Neilhcr has he ^ixcu us any aullioril\- I'nr llie ecjually alisiiid slalcniciil, lhal IJoseiiallis dcriv-es its name rnuii Kossa Faili^ca; nor is there any reason whatever to suj)|iose lhal the naiiie was so derived. He is not even correct in his stateinenl as to ihe ])atroncss of the oldcliurcli with which I he Tower was connected, and which he tells us was dedicaled lo the Virgin Mary, the inhaliilanls still observing the first ol" February in coninieinoralion ofiheir pa- troness. The writer sliould liave known that none of the festival days of the Virgin Mary falls on that day, which is so well known to the IJonian Calhiilics in Ireland as the festival day of St. Bridget, that they ha\(' no other name to cx])ress tliis day than {,(i ptile 6|ii'7;ne, i.e. the day of thi' festival of IJriilget: and that it was in this great patroness of Ireland the eliureli of litjsenallis was dedicated, and ])rol)al)ly owed its origin, and not to tlie Virgin Mary, Ave have sulli- cieiit, evidence from the work ol'Colgan, the learned editor of her [ ml i- lislied lives, who, in his Kith chapter — "Do Eeclesiis & loeis S. Brigida^ in I liliernia dieatis," — inserts this vi'iy eliureli in the following words : " 'J\'iJij)///iii S. lh-iiii(lrc in vicode lloslinnglas in I lyriegain." And this leads us to the true etymology of" the name of which Koseuallis is a corniplion, and not ol" liossa Failgea, as this writer alisunlly states. Roy puinj^Ut)' signifies the wood or shrulibei)' of the bright stream. It is true that Colgaii also gives it, in the same list, under its Anglicized name as if" it were a dillerent one, thus : " Uos-analluis Keel : par: Diec. Killdarien. in Deeanatu de Kill-eich, vcl roctius Kill-aeluiidh." But this ei'for, il'it be one, of supposing that the places were not the same, can easily be accounted for in a writer living oiil of the coiin-
u
42 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
fry, and depending for his intormatiou on the hsts of the churches and parishes dedicated to St. Bridget sent him by the Roman Cathohc prelates of the several dioceses. There can be no doubt, however, that Ros Finnglas and Rosenallis are the same name, from the inti- mation given of Teiiip/um Brigidxe being m the village of Ros Finn- glas in Hyriegain, as there was at the time no other village in that ancient territory.
I have dwelt at greater length on these erroneous statements in JVIiss Beaufort's valuable Essay than I, and perhaps the reader, could have wished ; it will, however, render unnecessary any lengthened examination of the proofs, advanced in support of this h}']3othesis in the more recent essay by ]\Ir. D' Alton — the evidences reUed on being often the same in both. Besides, Miss Beaufort's authority has added weight to those evidences, and even increased the difficulty of sifting them. Thus, when Mr. D' Alton states that " the Psalter of Cashel expressly declares that they (the Towers) were used for the preser- vation of the sacred fire" (p. 139), he judiciously refers us to Miss Beaufort's Essay ; and that lady refers us to the inferior authority of a Parochial Siu'vey; and that again, in regular progression down- wards, cites an abridged history of no character, in Avhich, after all, no such statement is to be found ! And thus, if any reader should, in the face of such bold assertion, still feel disposed to be sceptical, he would — if unaccustomed to the mode in which, unfortunately, antiquarian questions are so often investigated — find himself entangled in a net, out of which he might have neither opportunity nor inclina- tion to extricate himself
One or two assertions of Mr. D' Alton's own, relative to the suj^- posed antiquity of the Towers, must not, hoAvever, be allowed to pass without observation. These assertions are :
1. That " the Irish Annals can alone support the investigation, and in the most ancient of these the Round Towers are recorded." — Essay, p. 136.
For this statement Mr. D' Alton refers to Dr. O'Conor's Rer. Hib. Script, vol. i. Proleg. p. 2. p. ccvii., but the passage referred to does not bear out Mr. D' Alton in his assertion. It only shows, from Irish authorities, and those not the ancient Annals, that Towers existed in Ireland at a very remote time, but offers no evidence as to their shape, or that they were of the description of those now the subject
OF THE ROUXD Tt)WEltS OK IliEI.ANn. 43
of investigation. On the contrary, the instances quoted — tlie Tin- Conaing, Tor-Brenfran, and the Towers i)f Md^lititirrrddh, or Campus Turrium, in Mayo and Sligo, must, as our whole history shows, and as even Mr. D' Alton himself would be necessitated to allow, have evidently been of a totally different description. These Towers have been suiBciently preserved to om- own times to enable us to ascertain tlieir exact character, and that they were of the class of Cyclopean forts so common in this country, as I have shown in my essay on Military Architecture in Ireland.
2. After the unqualified assertion, on the authority of Miss Beau- fort, that the Psalter of Cashel expressly declares that they (the Towers) were used for the preservation of the sacred fire, Mr. D' Al- ton adds :
" And the brief but empliatic mention of them by Giraldus Cambrensis, which Dr. Ledwich has so misquoted, does fully confirm tins opinion. It occurs where he speaks of the consequences of the alleged inundation of Lough Neagh. ' It is no im- probable evidence of this event, that the fishermen of that sheet of water at times plainly behold the religious tmcers, which, according to the custom of the country, are nar- row, lofty, and round, immersed under the waters ; and they frequently shew them to strangers passing over them, and wondering at the causes of the phenomenon. It is quite immaterial to the present purpose, whether or not such an inundation did actually liappen. It was the ojjinion in Ireland at that time that it did ; it was matter of his- tory in the country, for the annals of Tigernach, which relate it, were then extant upwards of a century; and these annals, with which Giraldus must have been well acquainted, fix its date to A. D. 62, a time when he knew Christianity had not dawned in Ireland; yet he, believing the report, expressly says that these towers, denomi- nating them " religious," were of such antiquity, that some of them might have been overwhelmed in that visitation; that the fishermen of that lake actually distinguish them under the water, ("sub undis conspiciunt,") and repeatedly shew them to strangers, (" extraneis frequenter ostendunt,") that they were towers for ecclesiastical uses, ne- cessarily meaning for the uses of a religion general at that retrospective date, as sun- worship was, though he vises a term which in its more ordinary application is confined to Christianity, (" ecclesiasticas turres,") while he adds that they were built agreeably with the custom of Ireland, " more patriae." Were they belfries he would naturally have termed them " campanilia," were they for any other then known Christian pur- pose, he would have been sure to name it ; but he saw, as every one must see, that these " ecclesiasticje turres," were for the uses of a religion peculiar to Ireland, and that part of Scotland colonized from Ireland.'" — Essay on the Ancient History, Sfc. of Ireland: Transact. R. LA. vol. xvi. pp. 139 — 141.
Now, whatever may be the value of this allusion of Giraldus to the Towers, it will be obvious to every dispassionate inquirer that Mr. D' Alton has assigned to it a degree of importance, to which it is by
G 2
44 INQUIRY INTO THE UKIGIX AND USES
no means legitimately entitled. The remark of Cambrensis was ob- viously a mere incidental one, made without any view to the question of the age or uses of the Towers ; and the only safe conclusion that could be di-awn from it would be, that the Towers were considered as ancient in his time. And, what places this beyond controversy is, that the same writer makes a similar incidental allusion — from what- ever cause it may be, not liitherto noticed — to the Tower of Kildare, wliicli still exists, and which is characterized by featm-es of Christian architectui'e that will leave no doi.d)t of its real ei'a : but, while lie applies to this Tower the very identical epithet, — turris ecdesias- tica, — given by him to the imaginary towers of Lough Neagh, he says not one word that would imply his supposing it of pagan times ; whereas, his words, on the contrary, clearly show that it was then one of a group of Christian edifices. Mr. D' Alton, therefore, had no gi'ound for translating the word " ecclesiasticas" by " religious," or for supposing that so skilful a Latinist as Giraldus could have used the word in a sense alike unwarranted by its etymology, its pagan acceptation, and its imiversally received meaning iu his time. The words must be understood in their estabhshed meaning as eccle- siastical Toicei's, that is. Towers connected with, or belonging to, Christian churches, and in no" other, because the word ecclesia, from which ecclesiasficus is formed, was never apphed by any Christian \vriter but to a Christian congregation, or the building in which such a congregation assembled. Neither is there greater weight in Mr. D' Alton's reinarks, that were they belfries, he (Cambrensis) woidd natm'ally have termed them " campanilia," and that were they for any other tJien known Christian piu-pose, he would have been svu-e to name it. As already stated, it Avill be shown that these ecclesiastical Towers were intended to serve for more than one pm'pose ; and under such circiunstances it woidd have been impossible for Cam- brensis to have characterized them more properly than by the general phrase which he has in both instances employed. And, as to Mr. D' Alton's bold assertion, — that if they were for any other then known Christian pm'pose, he would have been sui'e to name it, — the reply is obvious, that if Cambrensis had been writing a distinct treatise on the subject he woidd indeed have been sin-e to name the piu'pose, or purposes, for which the Towers had been built, whatever they might have been, but tliat it would have been altogether unreasonable to
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 45
expect a detailed explanation of those imrposes in an allusion nieroly incidental to tlie subject he had in hand. Tliat Luugh Neagh was indeed fornu-d by an inundation, though not, in the way stated by Canibrensis, on the authority of a legend still applied to almost every lake in Ireland, and that this inundation actually took place in the fii'st centmy, there is no reason to doubt, because it is recorded Ijy the most ancient and trustworthy of our aimalists, and the names ol'the very tribes, who occupied the })laiu so covered, are also given in very ancient documents. But it by no means follows, and indeed it is not at all probable, that Canibrensis, when he made his statement, was acquainted with such authorities, for, if he had been aware of the true circumstances and period of that inundation, he would surely have adduced them in support of the truth of his statements, rather than rest their credibility on a popular supposition, which could not be true ; and, if Mr. D' Alton will have it that he was accpuiinted with such authorities, he should also allow that the disgustiug cause as- signed by Cambrensis for this inundation was equally derived from that soiu'ce, though the whole existing body of Irish Uteratm'e might be searched in vain for a single evidence to show that the Irish were acquainted with the existence of, much less addicted to, such crimes as those ascribed to them by that political traducer.
That the legend of the Towers seen in Lough Neagh, was current among the Irish in tlie time of Cambrensis, as this writer states, I d(j not by any means wish to deny : they preserve it to this very day ; but with this important difference, tliat the architectiu'al objects they now imagine to be visible are chimneys of houses, tops of castles, and spires of chm'ches, — the lofty objects that are now most familiar to them — as the round belfries of earlier date were in the time of Cam- brensis ; and we would have just as much reason to attach importance to the delusive imaginings of the peasantry at the present time as to those of their predecessors in ages so remote.
3. Tliat " the Ulster Annals even mention the fall of no less than fifty-seven of these Towers in consequence of a di'eadful earthquake, in A.D. 448." (O'Conor, ibid. vol. 4. p. 2). The passage referred to is as follows :
" ^n. rrfCXl biti. Ingenti tenvmotu per loca varia inimiiientc, plurime url)es aii- guste, muri, receuti adliuc re-edilicatione construct!, cum Ivii turribus corruerunt."
On this passage, however, which Mr. D' Alton so boldly pronounin^s
46 IXQUIKY INTO THE ORIGIN ANT) USKS
to relate to the Round Towers of Ireland, Dr. O'Conor, with all his zeal to support the same hypothesis of their pagan origin, only ven- tures in a note to propound the following conjecture :
" Qua;re utrum h»c n'feri'nda siiit ad turres Ilibernise, de quibus Giraldus iii<iuit ' arctae sunt, et alta;, necuon et rotuiidte, more patrio.' "
But, I may ask, do not the Annals of Ulster often record foreign events, and quote as their authorities the chronicles of Marcellinus, Isidorus, and Beda ? and with this example of Dr. O'Conor's cautious- ness before him, should it not have occurred to Mr. D' Alton, before he hazarded so confident a conclusion, that these Towers might not have been Irish, and particularly as a reference to the commonest popular works on general chronology, or universal history, Avould have been sufficient to enlighten him ? For example, in the Chronological Tables of the Abbe Lenglet Dufresnoy at the year 446, as well as in the Universal History (vol. xvi.) at the year 447, he would have found the very same statement as that given in the Annals of Ulster, with this difference only, that these authorities designate the locality of the event as Constantinople, while the Irish annalist uses the phrase urbs augnsta, being the title always applied by the ancient continental chroniclers to that capital of the eastern empire, and the appellation by which Constantinople is always designated in the Chronicle of Marcellinus. And what will be thought of the value of Mr. D' Alton's assertion, when it shall be sho-\vii, that if he had re- ferred to that ancient authority he would have found, that the pas- sage in the Ulster Annals was but a transcript, to the very letter, of the original words in ]\Iarcellinus ? That the reader may see the truth of this at a glance, I here present him with the passage, first, as it appears in the edition of Marcellinus, published in the Magna Bihliotheca Veterum Patrum, Parisiis, 1654 (tom. xv. p. 716, col. i. line 53), and again in the more coiTect edition edited by the cele- brated Joseph Scaliger, and published in the Thesaurus Temporum, Amsteloda'mi,l658 (p.41, col. i. line 45) :
" Ingenti terrae motu per Locaria inimincnte, plurima; vrbes, Augusts niiiri re- cent! adhuc ffidificatione constructi, cum hij. turribus corruerunt." — Marcel. Chron. in Mag. Bihliotheca Vet. Pat.
" Ingenti terra; motu per loca varia imminente plurimi iirbis Augustse muri re-
centiadhuc reasdificatione constructi, cum lvu. turribus corruerunt." Marcel. Chron.
in Tkesaur. Temp.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 47
It may be observed (although scarcely necessary), that tlie text, as given by Scaliger, is by far tlie more correct one ; and it may bo added, that tlie true reading ofthis passage is also quoted, as referring to Constantinople, in Reading's edition of Evagrius's Church History, lib. i. c. 17, note i. p. 272.
It is true indeed that the text of this passage, as jjublished by Dv. O'Conor from the MS. in the Bodleian Library, more neai-ly agrees with that published in the Magna Bibliotheca Vet. Pat., 1G54 ; but it is a cimous fact, that the text of the College MS. copy of the Annals of Ulster, though originally the same as that in the Magna B/fi/iafheca Vet. Pat., has been corrected in a more modern hand, l)y interlinea- tion, to the very reading published by Joseph Scaliger in 1 658, and this ajjjjarently before either edition was published. It runs tlius :
" Ano. Dni. cccc°. xl°. iiiii°. " Ingenti terrce motu per locaria [corrected by interlineation to loca no.ria'] innni- nente plurinie [^phirimi'] urbis auguste muri receuti adhuc rea^dificatione conslriicti cum .l.uii. turribus curruerunt."
Will it be again asserted that this passage refers to the Round Towers of Ireland ?
So much, then, for the confident assertions of Mr. D' Alton. I have now to present the reader with the observations in support of this theory of the pagan origin of the Towers, adduced by a writer whose opinions on every matter connected with the ancient history and literary antiquities of Ireland are justly considered of great weiglit, and certainly deserve the most respectful attention ; I need scarcely add, that I speak of the late Rev. Dr. Charles O'Conor. He is indeed, in my opinion, from his literary character, and the respect paid to his authority by subsequent wi'iters even of the highest class, the only for- midable strpporter of this hypothesis that has hitherto appeared ; and, as his works are in but few hands, and lest it might be tliuughl that I gave his arguments but a partial examination, I shall give the whole of what he has written on this subject in his own words :
" Quod si conjectviris indulgere liceret, antiquas Turres Hibernicas, quas nonnulli, aniles i'abulas sectantes, Anaclioreticas appellarunt, ad umbrani ita capiendam, et 4 Anni Hiberuici Rathas sic definiendas, et pra'terea ad Ignem Sacrani servanihira, ajdificatas fuisse existimarem. Earuni anti(iuitatem Ethnicam indicat Giraldus Sa;culo xii, ulii inquit extitisse eas antequam Laciis Neach crumperet in Ultonia. ' Piscatores Turr&s istas, quK more Patria', arctrp sunt, et alta\ nee non et rotiindm, sub tmdis manlfeste, sereno tempore, cunspiciuid.'' (Giraldi Topogr. Dist. 2, c. 9, p. 720.) Poterant ccrte
43 INQUIKY INTO THE OKIGIN AND USES
Turres ista; postorioribus Steculis, ad Anachorctifum iisum accomotlari, ut in nota ad Aunales IV Mag. ann. 898, et in Annalibus Inisfal. p. 148, itemque in Ultoniensibus ad
Annum [¥J6 At in istis Annalibus appellantur Fiu(lh-Nemea(Ui, i. e. Indicia Cwlestla.
Sic in Annalibus Ultoniensibus ad ann. 995 — ' Tene diuit do gabuil Airdmarim rnna- farcaihh Derlach, na Damllacc, no h Erdam, na Fidlinemead, ann cen loscuilli.' — i. c. Fuljrnr oorripuit Ardmaoham. ita ut non relinquuret Nosoconiium, nee Ecclesiam Ca- thedralem, (sive Basilieani) nee Dominn Nobilem, nee Indieem Cadestem, quod non
eonibureret Eadem liabet Tigernaehus ad eundeni annum, itemque QuatuorMagistri;
excepto quod pro Erdam, non autem pro Fiudli-ncameud, liabent Clok-teacha, Campa- uilia, his verliis — -'Ann. 995.Ard>nac/iii do loscc do tene saiff/iiiein, ettir tiylid), 7 Domku- /iacc, 7 Cloicteaclia, 7 a Fiadhneimkedh.''
" Ad hffic IV Magistrorum verba respexit Colganus in Actis, p. 297, his verbis — ' Anno 993 Ardmacha cum Basilicis, Tiirrihus, aliisque omnibus a;dificiis, incendio ex I'ulmine generate, tota vastatur.' Haac autem versio non literalis est, neque voces explicat, neque conveniunt quse in Annalibus nostris alibi de Campanilibus dicuntur, cum forma aut constructione Turrium antiquarum Hiberniae. Sic, exempli causa, in Annaliljus Ultoniensibus ad ann. 949, hfec leguntur — ' Cloicteach Slane do loscadh do Gall Athacliath. Bacall ind Erlamha, 7 doc badec do cloccaibh, Caeneckair Ferkghimi^ 7 sockaidhe mor inbi do loscadh.'' i. e. Campanile Slanense combustum ab Alienigenis Dublinii, (a Danis) Lituus Pastoralis (sive Baculum Patroni) petris pretiosis ornatus, et Campana pra;cipua, et Canccar Pra;lector Schola?, et multi ibi cum eo combusti.
" Eadem referentes ad eundem annum IV Magistri aiunt — Cloicteach Slabte do los- cadh can a hin do mhionnaibh 7 deijhilhaoin'ddu im Ckoinechair Fearleighinn Slaine, Bachall an Erlamha 7 clocc ba deuch do chloccadjh.^ i. e. Canqianile Slanense combustum, simul cum pluribus rebus pretiosis, et Religiosis viris, qui ibi erant, cum Chonechuro Proelectore Slanense, Baculo Patroni, (i. c. S. Erci,) et Campana omnium qua; ibi erant optima.
"Jam vero ha^c qua; de Campanilibns in Annalibus referuntui', minime conveniunt vel cum forma vel cum materia Turrium Hibernensium de quibus agitur. Itaque non pro Campanilibus a;dificatas fuisse, sed eorum originem aliunde petendam esse mani- festum est... Non conveniunt cum forma, tara arcta; enim sunt, ut tot res pretiosas, et tot homines capere'non possent, et quoad materiani, e Saxis ingentilnis Eedificatse, niillibi e ligno, fulgure quidem dejici, sed non comburi potuerunt." — Mer. Hib. iScrijJtores, vol. i. Proleg. part i. p. xxxii.
" Turres veteres Hibernicas, conditas fuisse ad 4 anni Rathas Gnomonice indican-
das, conjiciens scripsi. i. 32 Fateor quidem Apicem umbne, profectte a Styli alicujus
vertioe acuto, deprehendi non posse accurate in linea Meridiana, cum propter Penum- bram, turn quia. Sole ad certam altitudinem evecto, acuti verticis umbra cum umbra trunci confunditur, neque respondet cum Solis centro, sed, in latitiidine septentrionali, cum Solis Margine Septentrionale. Attamen cum Ludi Taltinenses et Temorenses spatio dierurn 15, ante et post a;quinoctia et solstitia ^-Estiva celebrarentur, fieri vix poterat quin, eo intervallo, Druidas, Solis et Stellarum cultores, Gnomonis ope .^Equi- noctia, et Solstitia definirent, ac vertentis anniCardines quatuor, intercalatione quadam juxta Solis altitudinem facta, Populari Decreto proclamarent. Procul dubio Turres in antiquissimis Hibernorum Carminibus memorantur, ut in Carmine Martha Magh Tur- readh, et in Prcelii Lenensis Historia Metrica scripta a Senchano Eigceas Sajculo vii.
OF THE ROUND TOWEllS OF IRELAND. 49
Inclusoria Anachoreticaquod attinet, luuge diversa t'l-aiit a tiirrilius istis. Iiicliisorium in quo Marianus Scotus Fulda: inclusus est, Cella erat, muro externo circiiinvullutu, ueque iillibi tLTiarum extitere iinquaiu Inclusoria Anaclioretica Tunibus HilicrniciN siniilia. Quatuor aporturre propo Apioeni, quatuor orbis Cardines ruspiciunt, nequt' ullatenus credibile ost, honiinfui potuissu, non dico 20 annis, sed vel una lii/eme in ullu ex istis turribus inclusuni supurvexisse. Vide Carmina Vt-tt-ra Ilibernii-a supra 'Afuiia M(i(//i t/iirread/i,'' — ' Tar/nis Liis an Tiilr,'' et Val/i Mu/'t/Z/c-T/ini. supra in Indict', item Temorium Tiirriinn in Cocniano, suj)ra voce Tcinoria, et alia phira, qua; plane indicant, Turres inaulicpiissiinis Hibernoriim Scriptis Ti'aditiouibus, tanupuini ab iiiiiiieniornbili couditas, niemorari." — Index, vol. i. p. ccvii.
The preceding extracts are in one respect at least of nuich im- portance in tliis inquiry, — they are the observations ol' a man wlio, in comparison with the others, was preeminently skilled in the ancieiii literatiu-e of Ireland, and whose Avliole life, it may be said, was devoted to its study ; and they may therefore be considered as furnishing the entire of whatever evidences he could discover, in support of this h}^othesis, in the whole body of our Irish historical dociuncnts. Let us now see to what regard these evidences are entitled.
Dr. O'Conor's conjectiu'es relative to the astronomical uses of tlie Towers might perhaps be sulliciently met by the fact already stated, and of which repeated proofs shall be afforded in the tliird part of this inquiry, namely, that the apertures at top do not invariabl}- face the cardinal points, and by the consideration that they are not always fom- in number, as he supposed, but sometimes more, and sometimes even less. However, for the sake of argument, 1 shall waive this fact for the present, and proceed to examine separately the several pas- sages in our Annals to which he has referred. The first is found in the Annals of the Foirr Masters at the year 898 ; and here it will be observed, that if we allow Dr. O'Conor's translation of this pas- sage to be correct, it will furnish a contradiction to his own state- ment, that the Towers are called, in all the passages referred t(j in the Irish Annals, "■ FiadJi-NemeaJh^' or " Indicia Coelestia." Thus : "A. D. 898. Cosccrachfris araite Turaghan Aiigcoirc Iiisi Ceullra — decc.'''
"Which Dr. O' Conor translates :
" A. D. 898. Coscrachus a quo dicitur Turris anachoretica Insulce Celtra; — obiit."
To this passage Dr. O'Conor appends the following note :
" Turaghan, a Tur turris, et aghan vel adhan accensio ignis, ut in Vocabulariis Hibernicis, forsan a more Druidico ignes sacros in his turribus accendendi, et quibus alios ignes solemnes accendebant in quatuor anui teuiporibus, ut in vetcri Glossano
H
19,
INQUIRY IN'D THE ORIGIN AND USES
'I'urres istse posterioribus Saiculis, a Anaclioretioum iisum acconiodnri, lit in nota art Aunales IV Mag. ann. 898, et in Ainlibus Inisfal. p. 148, itemqiie in Ultoniensibus ad
Annum 990 At in istis Annalibuappcllantur Fiadh-Nemeadk, i. e. Indicia Coelestla.
.Sic ill Annalibus Ultoniensibus ad an. 995 — ' Tene diait do gabail Airdmaclia cona- farcaibh Dertach, na Damliacc, na lErdam, na Fidhnemead, ann cen loscadli.' — i. e. Fulgur corripiiit Ardniacliam, ita unon rclinqueret Nosoconiium, nee Ecclesiam Ca- tlicdralem, (sive Basilicaui) nee Doiuni Nobilem, nee Indicem Coelestein, quod non eonibureret. — Eadem liabet Tigernajus ad eundem annum, itemque QuatuorMagistri ; exccpto quod pro Erdam, non autej pro Fiadh-neamead^ habent Cluicteacha, Campa- nilia, liis verbis — 'Ann. QQS.ArdnuJia, do loscc do tene saighnein, ettir tighib, 7 Domhu- liacc, 7 Cloicteacha, 7 a Fiadhneimhen.''
" Ad liKc IV Magistrorum verb respexit Colganus in Aetis, p. 297, tis verbis — ' Anno 995 Ardmacha cum Basilici^urribus, aliisque omnibus sedificiis, incendio ex fulniine generate, tota vastatur.' Ifec avitem versio non literalis est, neque voces explicat, neqne conveniunt qus in Jinalibus nostris alibi de Campanilibus dicuntur, cum forma aut constructione Turriii antiquarum Hibernis. Sic, exempli causa, in Annalilms Ultoniensibus ad ann. 94. hfec leguntur — ' Cloicteach Slane do loscadh do (ridl Athacliuth. Bacall ind Erlamli, 7 doc badec do cloccaibk, Caenechair Ferleglihni^ 7 sochaidhe mor itibi do loscadli.'' i. Campanile Slauense combustum ab Alienigenis Dulilinii, (a Danis) Lituus Pastoral! (sive Baculum Patroni) petris pretiosis ornatus, et Campana prajcipua, et Canecar Ptlector Scbola?, et mi//ti ibi cum eo combusti.
" Eadem referentes ad eundem anum IV INIagistri aiunt^ — Cloicteach Slaine do los- cadli can a Ian do mh'mnnaibh 7 ddidhaoinibh^ ini Choiiiechair Fearleighinn Slaine, Bachidl an ErlamJia 7 clocc ha deach » cliloccaihl/.' i. e. Canijianile Slanense combustum, siniul cum phiribus rebus pretiosis, t Religiosis viris, qui ibi erant, cum Choucchuro Prajleotore Slanense, Baculo Patroni'i. e. S. Erci,) et Campana omnium quce ibi erant optima.
" Jam vero hffic quce de Campanibiis in Annalibus referuntur, minime conveniunt vel cum forma vel cum materia Turwm Hibernensium de quibus agitur. Itaque non pro Cauqjanilibus iedificatas fuisse, id eorum originem aliunde petendam esse mani- festum est... Non conveniunt cum fqna, tam arctiE enim sunt, ut tot res pretiosas, et tot homines capere'non possent, et quad materiam, e Saxis ingentibus Eedificatae, nullibi e ligno, fulgure quidem dejici, sed nonomburi potuerunt." — Rer. Hib. Scriptores, vol. i. Proleg. part i. p. xxxii.
" Turres veteres Hibernicas, comtas fuisse ad 4 auni Ratkas Gnomonice indican- das, conjiciens scripsi. i. 32 — Fateoquidem Apicem umbrse, profectae a Styli alicujus vertice acuto, deprehendi non posse :curate in linea Meridiana, cum propter Penum- bram, turn quia. Sole ad certam altiidinem evecto, acuti verticis umbra cum umbra trunci confunditur, neque respondetiim Solis centre, sed, in latitudine septentrionali, cvim Solis Margine Septentrionale. Attamen cum Ludi Taltinenses et Temorenses spatio dienim 15, ante et post fpquioctia et solstitia ..'Estiva celebrarentur, fieri vix poterat quin, eo intervallo, Druid;e,>olis et Stellarum cul tores, Gnomonis ope ..^<}qui- noctia, et .Solstitia definirent, ac vertttis anni Cardines quatuor, intercalatione cpiadam juxta Solis altitudinem facta, Populd Decreto proclamareut. Procul dubio Turns in autiquissimis Plibernorum Carminibl memorantur, ut in Carmine Martha Magh Tur- readk, et in Prcelii Lenensis Histori Metrica scripta a Seiichano Eigceas Sajculo \i\.
^-S"**"
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it^iiovAic
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■4 id '.Waigtiis
■■;iii, ■''«f(i
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ofeiEqiii-
OF THE ROUND TOWER )F IRELAND,
49
erant a turribus istis. Ini'lusoi-ium erat, inuro externo circuiuvallata, Anachoretica Turribus llibmiicis
Inclusoria Anachoretica quod attinet, longe diver in quo Marianus Scotus Fuldfe inclusus est, Ci neque ullibi terrarum extitere unquam Incluso similia. Quatuor aperturae props Apicem, qua )r orbis Cardines respiciunt, nequu ullatenus credibile est, hominem potuisse, non di 20 annis, sed vel una lii/eme in ulla ex istis turribus inclusuni supervexisse. Vide Cimina Vetera llibernica supra ' Muria Magh ttnrreadh,'' — ' Torinis Inis an Tuir,'' et Cm Moighe-Tura, supra in Indici', item Temoriam Turrium in Coeniano, supra voce Tern %, et aliaplura, qua- jjlaiic indicant, Turres in antiquissimis Hibernoruni Scriptis Tra ioniljus, tamquam ab imiucuiurabili couditas, meniorari." — Index, vol. i. p. ccvii.
The preceding extracts are in one "espect at least of much im- portance in this inquiry, — they are the jservations of a man wlio, in comparison with the otliers, was preen lently sldlled in the ancient hteratm-e of Ireland, and whose whole 1: , it may be said, was devoted to its study ; and they may therefore b considered as furnishing the entire of wdiatever evidences he coulc iiscover, in support of this hj'pothesis, in the whole body of our Ir i historical documents. Let us now see to what regard these evidei 3s are entitled.
Dr. O'Conor's conjectures relative t Lhe astronomical uses of the Towers might perhaps be snfficiently i t by the fact already stated, and of which repeated proofs sliall be ifforded in the third part of this inquiry, namely, that the apertiu'es it top do not invariably face the cardinal points, and by the consider ion that they are not always four in number, as he supposed, but so: ;times more, and sometimes even less. However, for tlie sake of ar^ inent, I shall waive this fact for the present, and proceed to examr separately the several pas- sages in our Annals to which he has sferred. The first is found in the Annals of the Four Masters at t year 898 ; and liere it Avill be observed, that if we allow Dr. O'C^ or's translation of this pas- sage to be correct, it will furnish a cotradiction to las own state-
" Turaghari, a Tur turris, et aghan vel adh accensio ignis, ut in Vocabulariis Hibernicis, forsan a more Druidico ignes sacros Lis turriiius accendeudi, et cpiibiis alios ignes solemnes accendebant in ciuatuor anatemporibus, ut in veteri Glossario
e passages referred to in the Thus :
ment, that the Towers are called, in all
Irish Annals, '' Fiadh-Nemeadh" or "Idicia Coelestia.'
"A. D. 898. Cosccrack fris araite Turaghan .. ycoire Insi Cealtra.
Which Dr. O' Conor translates :
" A. D. 898. Coscrachus a quo dicitur Turrii naclioretica Insula; Celtra; — obiit."
To this passage Dr. O'Conor appen
decc.'''
the foUowincr note ;
quatuor anAemporibus,
50 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
apud Lllmyduiu in Arcbwologia, voce Baal-tinne. Ila; turres, postea a Giraldo JEccle- xiasticce appellatas, a Christianis ad usum Anachoretarum accommodate fuisse videntur, \\t in toxtu apparet. Vide Annal. Inisi'al. p. 148."
Thus Ave are \o infer from the passage in the text, that the Towers were used for anchorites in Christian times, and from tlie etymology of tlie word TuragJian, as given in the note, that they were originally designed to contain the Druidical sacred fire. I might acknowledge the accuracy of this translation of the text, and the probabihty of tlie etymology, and yet deny the justness of the inferences, drawn from them, for the anchoiite Tower of Iniscealtra may not have been a Round Tower ; and, notwithstanding Dr. O'Conor's reference in jaroof (if the contrar}^ there is no other passage in the Irish Annals in which anchorite Towers are mentitmed, or in wdiich the word Turn- ghan occurs. But I have a far weightier objection to urge. From the first moment that I read the passage, I doubted the accuracy either of the text, or of the translation, and, being anxious to have these doubts resolved, I addressed a note to the late Mr. O'Reilly, the distinguished Irish lexicographer, requesting his examination of the text in his MS. copy of the Annals of the Four Masters, and his opinion of the translation given Ijy Dr. O'Conor. From the reply with which he favoured me I extract the following observations :
" I have, as you requested, examined my manuscrijit copy of the Annals of the Four Masters, and I find that you had, as I have myself, good reason to doubt the cor- rectness of Doctor O'Conor in his publication of the Irish Annals. The words of the text in the MS. agree with the printed text in every thing but one ; but that one makes a material diiFerence in the affair. Tlie words of the MS. are these : ' Cojxcpac
fpip apdice Cpua^an an^coipe Inpi Cealcpa oecc' The word Truaghan the
Doctor has, upon what authi irity I know not, but I believe without any, converted into Turaglian, as you have it, and as it is in print, and this he has made an Anchorite Toirer in his translation, and a Fire Toicer in his note.
" I do not know what design the learned Doctor may have had in falsifying the Annals ; but that he has done so, in this instance, is incontrovertible, and that he may have done so in others there is strong reason to suspect. The translation of the text of the MS. is literally thus :
" Cosgrach of whom is said (called) the Miserable, Recluse (or Anchorite) of Inis Cealtra, died."
" That this is the true translation of tlio MS. will hardl_y he disputed, and tliat my MS. agrees with the College copy I am positive, and that it is agreeable to the original I am convinced. There would be no sense in calling a man an Anchorite Tower, but a man totally given up to fasting, mortification, and retirement from the company of man, as Cosgrach was, might very fairly be called a Trmujhan, or a miserable creature.''''
OF THE ROUXn TOWERS OF IRELAND. 51
From another accomplislicd Irish scliolnr, my IViLMid Mr. O'Dono- vau, I subsequently ohtaiiu'd tlie following renuirks on the abovi' passage, from Avhich it will appear that, even granting the text in Dr. O'Conor's work to be unlouehed and aecurute, still the translation could not be so :
" Dr. 0'Conur\s translation of this passage in tlic Annals is very incorrect, viz.
" A. D. 898. Cosca-achfris a raite Turcti/han Aticjcoirc Insi t'ca/lni, d'ecc."
" A. D. 898. Coscriiclius « (//lo dicitur Turris anachoretica Insula; Celtra: obiit."
" The original Irish cannot at all bear this translation. Pi'ip u puice cupn,^(m cannot express a quo dicitur turris, because the preposition ppip being the ancient Ibrni of the modern leip or pip does not signify yjww but icitli or to. If the Four Musters had intended to convey the idea expressed m Dr. O'Conor's translation, they would have writen 6 a paiceap, &c., not ppip a pence, &c.
" This shows that Doctor O'Conor is wrong in making Qnjjcoipe an adjective, qualifying Turaghan, instead of making it a noun placed in granuiuitical aj)position to Coscrac/i. The following is the literal and indisjnitable translation of the passage as printed by Dr. O'Conor :
" Coscrachus, cui dicebatur Tiirag/ian, Anaehoreta InsuliB Celtrtc, obiit.
" Coscrach, who was called Turaghan, Anchorite of luiskeltra, died.
" But why he was so called cannot be traced from the text as thus printed, without reference to the original MS. Dr. O'Conor translates the passage as if the original Irish stood thus :
" Copccpac 6 a pcncecip Cup-Qiijjcoipe Inpi Cealqui, o'ecc."
In fairness, however, to Dr. O'Conor, Avhom I am extremely un- willing even to suspect of a Avilful falsification of the text of the Annals, I am happy to add that, on referring to the copy of the An- nals of the Four Masters, in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, I find the disputed passage so contracted that he may have possibly made an iniintentional mistake in deciphering the word : and, as the volume in Avhich it occurs was transcribed from the original work now at Stowe, I have little doubt that the contraction is the same in both, the Doctor having, in the printed Avork, changed the text from its abbreviated form, as was frequently his custom. It nuis thus :
"A.D. 898. Copcch i-p a paire Uajan anscoqie inj^i CeaL", ryej."
r
Here it may be observed that the wordUajan appears at first sight doubtful ; for, according to the rule for deciphering Irish contractions, when a vowel is placed over a consonant the letter p (/•) is imder- stood to come be/ore or after it, so that c may be read either rpu or rup, though it is almost invariably the former, and it might therefore
u 2
52 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
be denied that cajctn is to be read r]iunjdn. But it is very easy to prove from the context that caijrm cannot be read rii|ia;^an ; for any one at all acquainted with tlie idiomatic application of Irish prepo- sitions will see that pjup o means ciii to whom, not a quo, from whom, as Dr. O'Conor renders it ; and when this is established it will be seen that cajdn was a cognomen of Cosgrach, and not the name of a Tower or any other building. This is a fact so obvious to an Irish scholar that it may appear puerile to dwell upon it ; and I shall only add, that in a copy of these Annals in Trinity College, made by Mau- rice Gorman, and also in that made for Dr. Fergus, by the celebrated Hugh Mac Curtin, this word is correctly lengthened into c]iua jdn. The adjective rpua^ signifies pitiful, and also lean, meagre; and from it, by adding the termination on, is formed the noun rjina jdn, signi- fying a meagre, lean, emaciated, macerated ascetic, who by mortifi- cation had reduced himself to a living skeleton.
But, though I have acknowledged my unAvillingness to believe Dr. O'Conor capable of falsifjdng the text of our Annals, to support any favomite hj'pothesis, yet I must confess that he has laid himself quite open to the suspicion of having done so, not only in the instance already noticed, but still more in the references which follow. Thus, in support of liis theory of the Anchorite use of the Towers in Chris- tian times, he refers to the authority of the Annals of Innisfallen, p. 14(3, and to the Annals of Ulster at the year 996 ; yet in neither place is there a word to support that hypothesis. We have indeed in tlie page referred to a dissertation of the Doctor's own, in whicli the sacred fire of the Druids, but not the Round Towers, is men- tioned ; and, in his second refei'ence, — the Annals of Ulster, at the year 995 [996], — there is no allusion to Anchorite Towers, or to Towers of any description, unless we adopt Dr. O'Conor's dictum on the fanciful etymology of a word. The passage is as follows :
" 3ln. tirrCf ir b. Tenedialt do gabail A irdmacha con afarcaihh deiiach, na damliacc, na h Efdam, na fdhnemead ann cen loscadh."
Thus translated :
" Fulgur corripit Ardmacham, et non relinquit Nosocomium, nee Ecclesiam Ca- tliedralem, nee domum altam, nee turrim, in civitate, quod non incendio deleret."
And to this he appends the following note :
" Eadem habet Tighernaek ad ann. 995 — IV Magistri, pro Erdam, habent chic teacha (campanilia.) — Ergo diversa erant Campanilia a turribus rotundis, de quibus.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. .");{
vide not. aim. 94y. Fiadhnemeadh Turris ; a Fiadh testimonium, vcl Index, et nemeadh
coeloruni."
As the correctness of the etymology of tho words givoii in the above note constitutes the strongliold in which, in support of liis h}-jiothesis, the Doctor has entrenched himseU', it will be necessary to trespass on the reader's time, at more than my usual length, in exa- mining his proofs and arguments. I shall first give the original pas- sages from the Annals to which he refers :
I. "A. D. 996. rric CaipiU CO pepaib Pepnmiiiji 7 con CTip^ialldib 00 np7;«ii> Qpomcica CO piicpuc ix c. b " Qpomucti do lopcuo ec. rijib n;^>ip Dumliur njrup cloicceoch, njiip pioneo {rectc pionemeo) uili oiljcn, iiu ccimc pitinih u n Gp. 7 im capja CO la mbpaca oijuil uniluio."
" A. D. 996. Filius Curilli, cum Fernmagiensibus et Argialliis, vastat Ardmachani, et auferunt bis mille boves. Ardmacha combusta penitus, domus, et Ecclesia' lapidese et Campanilia, et Indicia CiElestia omnia eversa. Non evenit unquam in Ilibcrjii;!, neque eveniet usque ad diem Judicii, vindicta similis." — Annal. Tighernacln.
II. " A.D. 995. Ardmacha do loscc do tene Saigknen ettir tighib, ague Dom/ndiacr, agus Cloicfeaclia, agns a fidhneimheilh do luiile dilgeud.''''
" A. D. 995. Ardmaclia combusta a lulmine, domus et Ecclesia; lapidea', et campa- nilia, et ejus turres coclestes omues destructa." — Annal. Quat. Mag.
Now on the slightest examination of the above passages it must appear evident that Dr. O'Conor's assertion, that the word c/oicteac/nr (belfries) has been substituted by the Fom* Masters for the word erdam of the Annals of Ulster, but not for fiad/ineniead/i, has not the slightest probabihty for its support ; and if Dr. (J'Conor had any knowledge of the true meaning of the word erdain, which he guess- ingly translates dominn aUnm, he would not have hazarded such a strange assertion. That the word erdam signifies a building attaclied laterally to another building, as a sacristy, and not a belfry, as Dr. O'Conor supposes, I shall incontrovertibly prove when I tn-at, in tlie second part of this Inquiry, of the vaiious ecclesiastical edifices an- ciently in use in Ireland, and therefore I shall only observe here, thiit Dr. O'Conor should have remembered that he Avas constrained him- self to translate this very word by sacra doino, in the following passage in the Annals of the Four Masters, which sufficiently proves that the erdam, or erdomh, w^as not a belfry.
"A.D. 1006. Soisccel mor Cholaimclulle do duhhgoid is in oidhchc as in erdomh iatharach [recte iariharach] an Doimhliacc moir Cenannsa, (^t.
" A. D. 1006. Evangelium ]Magnum Colurabos-Cille a fure ablatum nocte e.\ sarra domo iuferiori Ecclesite lapidete magna Cellensis, &c."
54 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The triitli unquestionably is, that there was no substitution l)y the annalists, as Dr. O'Conor supiwses, of one synonymous word for ano- ther, and tliat the diCFerence of language used by them was only such as miglit be expected among wiiters living in dilFerent ages and -dif- ferent localities. But in none of them is there any evidence to be found that the word pinnorheb was apphed to a tower; nor had any Irish ^vTiter, before Dr. O'Conor, ever understood the term in that sense. In proof of this I shall first adduce the translation of the pas- sage, relative to this event, in the Annals of Ulster, from the copy of those annals made hi the commencement of the seventeenth cen- tiuy, and now preserved in the British Museum. Ayseough's Cata- logue, No. 4795, Clarendon MSS. No. 49, fol. 2, b.
"995. Y'' fyre dial taking Ardmach, and left neither sanctuary Imcses or places, or churches cnhiirnt.''''
It will be seen, then, that, whatever may be the word tmderstood by the translator in the sense of sanctuary, he did not at least rui- derstand any word of the original as signifying a celestial index or a tower of any kind.
In the next aulhority whicli I have to adduce, namely the Chro- nicon Scotorum, which was compiled from the old Annals of Clon- niacnoise, it will be seen, that, Avhile the Annals of Ulster omit noticing the biu'uing of the belfry or belfries, this older authority, on the other hand, omits the pibneirheh and epoam. The passage is as follows :
"A. D. 99fi- Qipjicitla d' op^ain Qponiuclia ^o pucpcic pice ceo bo eipce. CfpDmacha DO lo| cao caijib, cemplaib, ocup a cloijceacli."
And this passage is not inaccurately rendered by Connell Mageo- ghegan, avIio understood the Irish language perfectly, in his trans- lation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, made in' 1627, thus :
" A. D. 989, [_recte 996.] They of Uriel preyed Armacli, and took from tlience 2,000 cows. Armacli was also burnt, both church, houses and steeple, that there was not never such a poor spectacle seen in Ireland before."
Thus Colgau, also, translates the passage of the Annals of the Four Masters, which were compiled chiefly for his use, and which it would be folly to suppose he did not thoroughly understand :
" A. D. 995. Ardtnacha cum Basdicis, turribus, aliisque omnibus cedifciis incendio exflumine [fulmine] generato, iota t-astatur, <^'c." — Trias Thaum. p. 297.
Dr. O'Conor, however, who defends his hj^iothesis with all sorts of
OF THE KOUXD TOWERS OF IRELAND. SS
weapons, objects to Colgan's version of this passaf^e, as being neither literal, nor explanatory of the words, nor reconeileable with what is wi-itten in the Annals abont other belfries, as regards either the form or construction of tlie ancient Round Towers (Proleg. ubi supra, p. 49); but tliese assertions are not borne out. Colgan, wlio had no fnie-spun theory to uphold, gave what he knew to be the general meaning of the passage in the Annals of the Four Masters, as far as lie considered it necessary to his purpose, whii'h was to record tlie destruction of the sacred edifices of Armagh; and he leaves tlie word Pibneirheb untranslated, because, as I shall presently prove, it was not a building of any kind. If then, bearing this in mind, Ave analy/.e his translation, it will be as follows. For the words QpOmacha oo lopccao Do reiie pai^nen, he gives us very correctly, leaving the verb to close tlie sense at the end, Archnacha incendio ex fidmhie generuto ; he then inverts the order of the words of the annalists, to bring the buildings into their proper place, according to their relative importance, and translates erci]i Domulmcc, by cion Busiliris ; next cloicreacha, or belfries, by tiirrihus ; and lastly ci^ib, or liouses, which he thought of the least importance, by aliis omnibus (edijiciis; then, passing over the word pi'oneirhen, as unnecessary to his piu'posc, he translates no h-ude DiljenO, by tota vastatur.
That the preceding analysis is the true one will a]i]v\u' incon- trovertible, when I have shoAvn hereafter the true meaning of the word Pfbnenfieo, and that Dr. O'Conor himself knew he was attempting an imposition on his readers by gi^^ng a different meaniiig to C^olgan's words, would almost appear certain, from our finding him elsewhere actually falsifjdng the text of this very passage in Colgan, to suppoit his h}q3othesis. Thus, in a note on the original passage in the Amials of the Four IMasters, he Avrites :
"Notanda est distinctio inter Clo/ctear/,a (campanilia) Qt Fidyieimhedh (tnrros.) vox derivata a.fiad (index sen testimonium,) ot neimliedh (coelornm.) — Colganus, ad hunc textum referens, destructionem enarrat EcdesicR, Campanilium, et Turrium Ardmachte, anno hoc, unde sequitur turres non camjianilia fuisse, scd potius indicia cakslia ad Solstitia, ^{[uinoctia, et Cadorum motus indicandos !"
Most strange ! And Lanigan (vol. iv. p. 412), D" Alton (E.ssm/ mi Ancient Hist, of Ireland, ^c, p. 138), and Moore {Hist, of Ireland, vol. i. p. 34, note), repeat the same passage, and draw the same infe- rence, evidently Avithout referring to the passage in Colgan, for if tliey
56 INQUIRY INTO THE OraGIN AND USES
Imd done so, they ■would have instantly seen that, though Colgan no- tices the destruction of the hasUivcP, turres, and other ceiUficia of Ai-- inagh in the year 995, he has not tlie word cumpanilia, and therefore makes no distinction between it and turres! And it is scarcely pos- sible to imagine that Dr. O'Conor could have been ignorant that Colgan constantly translates the word clon-f/i each of the Irish Annals l)v the word f urn's, for it is so rendered by him within three pages 111' thi' passage, whicli Dr. O'Conor thus so shamefully corrupted,
viz. :
" A. D. 1121. Athach ijaoithe moire do tic/iiain in Decemb. na bliadlina so, co ro la a bhendcohhii )■ do cloictheach Ardumuclm.''''
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor:
" A. D. 1121. Tempestas venti ingens evenit in niense Decembri anui liujus, quae destriixit tectum Campanilis ArdmachanL"
Thus by Colgan :
" A. D. 1121. Ingens venti tempestashoc anno in mense Decembri supremum tectum TVKnia A rdinachance deiecit." — Trias Tliaiim. p. 300.
Bvit more than this — the word turris is also used by him as a translation oi c/nirf/ienr/i, in his version of the passage in the Annals of the Four JNIasters relative to the burning of the belfry of Slane ; and this J)v. O'Conor nuist have known, as he has adduced it (i/t supra, p. 49) as a proof that the cloictheacha, or belfries, of the Irish Annals could not be the Round Towers. Thus :
"A. D. 948. Ctoiccliech Slaine do lopccao no ^liatlaib co n-a tan do riiion- naiB, ajuy De^oaoiniB, im Chuoinechaip, peap-teijinn felaine, cijup bachull an ©plarha, ajiip clocc ba oeach do clocccib."
"A. D. 948. Coeneachair, id est Probus, Pra:k>ctor seu Prcpfecti/s ScMceSlaneiisis, in ipsaTVRRi Slanensi fluminis \_flammis'] per Danos e?iecatifs interijt, cmn mullis nlijs pijs socijs Sanrtorvm Reliquijs, Sf bacido ipsius Sancti Antisiitis, nempe Sancti Erci pa- troni loci.'''' — Trias Thaum. p. 219.
Having now, I trust, fully examined Dr. O'Conor's authorities, and proved their insufficiency, I proceed to an investigation of his etymological evidences, which, I have no doubt, I shall show to be equally visionary ; and in this investigation I gladly avail myself of the assistance and authority of one, infinitely more deeply versed in the ancient language and literature of Ireland than I can pretend to be — I allude to my friend, Mr. O'Donovan. From the first mo- ment that I read Dr. O'Conor's explanation of the word Fidhnei- mhedli, I felt assured that he had given it a meaning utterly erro-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. ;-,7
iicous, and tliat the true explanation would he mrrcd frt'i'x, or trees of the sanrfuan/; and, having expressed this opinion to Mr. ( )'Doiio- van, he was induced to collect, from the most ancient MS. authorities in the libraries of Trinity College and the Koval Irish Academy. such a nimiber of examples of its application as must leave no dmil)! of its true meaning. I have now to lay these examples before the reader, and I trust they will prove, beyond the possibility of doubt, not only that my original impression was a correct one, but that Dr. O'Conor exhibited, in this instance, a carelessness of investigation, which would never have been expected in one who had such am])le access to the sources from which the truth could be elicited, and possessed the critical skill that should have enabled him to make use of them.
In the passage, as given in tlie different Irish Annals, in whicli the compound term FidhneimhedJi occurs. Dr. O'Conor explains it, sometimes by the %yords index coploruia, and sometimes by indicid crplestia, because, as lie says, fiad signifies an index, or witness, and iH'iiii/ied/i, of the heavens ; and at other times he explains it by tur- res coelestes, and again, simply, by turris. Thus it will be seen, that b}^ a singular process of induction, out of two Avords which, as he says, literally mean witness and oj'tlie heavens, he makes a Eound Tower after the following formula :
1. Fidh, a witness.
2. , an index.
3. FidhJVeimhedh, an index of the heavens. 4. , a celestial index.
5. , an astronomical gnomon.
6. , a celestial tower.
7. , a Round Tower !
It is to be observed, however, that in this process there is only one part of the compound that can be substantiated by authority, namely, the word neimhedh, which Avas, indeed, sometimes under- stood as signifying o/'///e heavens, as if formed from neamli, heaven (the nimbus of the Latins), Avith the termination of the genitive plural ; and, it was also used as an adjective signifying celestial, liea- venly, or holy, and is understood in this sense by Colgan, who, in translating the name of a place in Ulster, called Slighe NeiniJieadh,
I
uauimnoMiiiminMiniipiiM iimiiwipn
5=i
ryiiUrRY DfTO THE ORIGEN' ANT) USES
renders it by via cculestis sice sancta. — Trias Thaum. p. 165. But
the word neimheadh is also used in ancient Irisli MSS. in the sense of
^^anctuary, and also of glebe lands, because, as it W(iuld appear, the
glebe landa had often, anciently, tbe privilege of sanctuary ; and hence
Colgan always translates the word, when used substantively, by the
Latin sanrfuurium, as in the following examples :
First, in translating a passage in the Annals of the Four JSIasters,
relating to the church of Knocknasengan at Louth, under the year
1148;
"A. D. 1 148. Ceampall Cnuic na Senjdn do popbao lif an Gpfcop 0"Caol- laios ojjur la Donnchao tia j-CepBaiU, ujup a coippeccao la h-uu rDopjaip, Coimapbci pacrpaicc, ajup Nfcrnh60h, .i. culaih 6cclupou, do opoucchaD do i
" A. D. 1 1 JR. Kcdfrsia Ltiinnagfinsis constnicta per Episcopum Hua Coellaidhe et OoTichadurn ilua Keniaill (Oryiellkje Principem) & consecrata per {Malachiam) Hua MoTgair, Comorbanum (id exi successorem) S. Patricij ; qui & sanctitarium Lugmagise constituit." — ActaHH. p. 7-'57, «'!• i See also Trius Thaum. p. 305, col. ii.
Again, in translating a passage in the same Annals, under the year Il!)f), he renders "Uij|i5balaiDe ceall agup NGlIllheaOh," by "I'fisilicarum (\\. sanctuakiouum fundator." — Trias Thaum. p. 405 [m;/fe505], col. '2.
That Colgan is correct in this translation can be proved by the high(!Ht iiiilliorilit's extant. The word is thus explained in Cormac's (ilosMary:
" Heiiu'r .1. m-iii-Kir .1. (iiivip oip do ecUti]"."
" Nniiliiftli, i. 0. Nemh-iulh, \\\vu.w\\\y or sacred ground] i. e. which belongs to the ( liiinli."
'I'hiis iil^;i> In :in niicicnl (Uossary in a MS. in the Library of Trinity Cnllcj'v, Diililin, II. 1 1(), (\)1. 120:
" I l(-mic>, In run ip | pi b-t v luip, .1. lu'in-iur .1. lar neme."
" Nmiiiil. winii l>rlnii(^iiig 1(1 tlu' Cliui'i'li, i.e. lu'iiveu-huul, i. o. land ofheaven."
Ami iliii . ifiiiu Miorc distinctly in O'Clery'sVocabulary of ancient 1 1 1 .li wurd'^ :
" Heiti)P((6 .1. npuiii mr .1. piupann eiij;Uii]"e. no ruluiii ip olii;reac Do'n eiir-
*' S'vimhifiulk i. 0. imtmM-intft [lionwu-iaud] i. i\ oimivh-laud. or ground which is lnwl\il |iltU'J to Uu> oJuuvli."
1 1 v\ ill 11I.-.0 Uc ^<.\'n. iViMu ilio pivooding authoritios, that in tills sense
1^
i
irir v*iit ■ft.>fv> '",M( i'fs; ,ss ■^j^j|j^;535^
|
Ik |
H^ . die wir£ 'T.t&i' ~ |
|
^*of |
W^ ^resBPfi 'm->'iiui*JMf' |
|
-.tie |
UL iBwfcrSC.-v.-x.' '." |
|
--riice |
H ™ ^""^ |
|
.■the |
A W*S iro-ss:i . . |
|
m iz^> |
|
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reEikri'- :.]«; -v.vc^ |
^el
.,.•1.
TIlTI? ^ TTtf^ W «VJ1"
jl.
in '^
reel: -_-i _ - " ■ _ ■
OT iiK&rjr. v: ■ . : 1 r . , . ';ir Sue sSsocSx^fl 3a? iSL tihe <f ; iiikfe*- -- ■ - as. tof !irt«K: at. ,f ■
evem "^ -
To- - _
Chuicia. iirec^ sihirii? «£:■ sanciiBBiirr. fiam ek hi 'Ci the trir \ridi ctr'-i j.
tirelr. im itfri^ aanse : : ^ niu^t; ";e ,
fidhis-.
Dr v-^..^ . - ----.-- r;.~-..c. -..-.,-:;,
or indej"; arai.", lo.
index, beimtar h€ site iJiEme lensfi as tftie SasjOf-EnussSsfc woasi radr.. :»? irr i&t pkrafe fo *r^. aasBl ti&je w^Dcd rfifibss^ wjiiodh Is^ . t
the ■w-<wdj6i»il««iM«'. Biiii£^ie"K«i«€ . --aiLttsiKrc w— ^"^
totallj direrenrtt "woBd, agmifpij^ wc&^i. auodiccc—- - -— jitS!-?^
English wctd. To ttS^ssat ainddhMmtiies to pi!\0'T%; '^s^s. ftfriV^ as c^ tiDsur-
I 2
r)3 IXQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
ronders it by via ccp/esfis sine snncf.a. — Trias Thanm. p. 165. But tlie word nciinlieadk is also used in ancieut Iiisli ]\1SS. in the sense of sanctuary, and also of glebe lauds, because, as it would appear, the glebe lands had Dl'tcn, anciently, the privilege of sanctuary ; and hence Colgan always translates the word, when used substantively, by the Latin sani-fnuriiniu as in the following examples :
First, in translating a passage in the Annals of the Foitr JSIasters, relating to the church of Knocknasengan at Louth, under the year 1148:
"A. D. 1148. Ceampall Cnuic na Senjan do popbao I'lp an Gppcop O'Caol- laibe ujiip la DonnchuD ua j-CenBmU, ujup u coippeccaD lu h-ua ITlopsaip, Comapbu paccpuicc, ajup NfcmhfcOJi, .1. cularii Gcclupou, do opoucchao 60 1 r^ujmaD."
"A.D.I 148. Eoclcsia LTigmagensis constructa per Episcopiini Una Coellaidlie et Donchaduiu Hua Keruaill (OryiclUce Principeiit) & coiisecrata per (Mulucldum) Ilua Morgair, Comorbanum {id est sticcessorem) S. Patricij ; qui & sanctuarium Lugmagise coustituit." — Acta SS. p. 737, col. i See also Trias TIatiim. p. 305, col. ii.
Again, in translating a passage in the same Annals, under the year 1196, he renders "Uuiighdlaioe ceall cfju]' NtllllhGQOh," by "Basilicarum et sanctuariorum fundator." — Trias ThauDi. p. 405 [recte 505], col. 2.
That Colgan is correct in this translation can be proved by the highest authorities extant. The word is thus explained in Cormac's Glossary:
" NeiTier .1. nerh-iar .1. aniip o'p do eclaip."
'•'■ Nemketh, i.e. Nemh-ialli, [heavenly or sacred ground] i. e. wliicli belongs to tlie Church."
Thus also in an ancient Glossary in a MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, II. 2. l(i. Col. 120:
" NeiniD, in can ip ppi li-eclciip, .1. nem-iar .1. lac neme."
" Nemid, when belonging to the Church, i. c. heaven-land, i. e. land of heaven."
And thus again more distinctly in O'Clery's Vocabulary of ancient Irish words :
" Neiiiieao .1. neairi-iar .1. peapnnn eajlaipe, no calnrii ip oli^reac oo'n eciT- laip."
" Neimheadh, i. e. neamh-iath [heaven-land] i. e. church-land, or ground wliich is lawful [due] to the church."
It will also be seen, from the preceding authorities, that in this sense
OF THE ROU^'D TOWERS OF lUKLAXl). 5;)
the Avonl was supposed to luive been diirercnlly fdniied from the ■word neiiiilie<(dli, used adjectivel}- — the laikT ]]art ul' tlie \\n\\\ lieiiijx understood to be a corruption of \nt, Imnl ; and il is a singular fact in this inquiry th.at Dr. O'Conor was himself obliged to luidei'stand and translate it in this sense, as Colgan had done before liim. Tims, in translating the passage above given luider the year 11 IS, he luis rendered the word nonlu'dh by terra saiirtn.
" Ecclesia Collis Sciigan tecto cooperta alj Episcojid (rc'aulluilliio eta DuniKliiidd O'Carroll, et consecrata ab O'Morgaro Vicario Patricii, ct tekra tSANCTA, i.e. tkuha EccLESiASTiCA assigiiata ei in Lugmadia." — Rcnnii Hih. Scrijit. vcjI. iii. p. 7(;i.
Thus it may be considered as proved beyond question, that the word tieimliedli was not restricted to the sense of holy, or celestial, in which Dr. O'Conor translated it in the compound term Fidli- neiinhedli ; and that the true interpretation must depend on the cdr- rect understanding of the Avord _/?(///, and its fitness to be joined lo it. If, for instance, the word fid Ii could bear the translation of »•//// r^s■.v, or i)idr.i\ wdiich Dr. O'Conor has attached to it, the compound term niiglit, indeed, mean, as he has it, adestial witness, or index, though even this would not necessarily imply eitlier a Gnomon, or a Round Tower, for such phrase might with far greater ^iropriety be used to designate the crosses which, in obedience to an ancient canon of the Church, Avere always erected to mark the limits of the neiiiihed/i, or sanctuary. But if it can be shown that the word Jidh will not bear the translation given of it by Dr. O'Conor, while it can be explaiueil Avith certainty in a sense consistent Avith the application of the Avord neimhedh, either substantively, in the sense of sanctuary, or, adjec- tively, in the sense of holy, his explanation of this compound term nnist be rejected altogether. To investigate the meaning of the word Jidlt is therefore my next object.
Dr. O'Conor states that the Avord fiad, or fiadh, signifies a iritness, or index ; and it is quite true that it does mean a iritness, but not an index, being of the same root as the Saxo-English Avord icif, as in the phrase to wit, and the word witness, which has also an Irisli cognate in the Avord fiadhnaise. But the Avord in question is not Avritten /?rtf/// by the Irish Annalists in anyone instance, hwtfidli or fodli, Avhich is a totally different Avord, signifying tcood, and cognate Avith that Saxo- English Avord. To adduce authoiities to prove that this is the mean-
I 2
Go INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
ing of tlie word would be superfluous, as it is so explained in all the ancient Irish Glossaries and modern Dictionaries, and always trans- lati'd //('lints or s///ra, by Colgan ; but tlie following examjale of its use will be striking and interesting, as containing an example also of the word ne'///iheadh, with which it has been combined in the term Fid/ineh/ihec/h, mider discussion.
" A. D. 1583. Nip Dion ap an 3-cnpcin pin na pop a rhuincip, HBlTTlhSQt)!! nuoiii) nu piliD, plOOIl nu poirip, gleaiin, na baile, nu buolibuii, no jup cojlao an cip uile laip."
" A. D. 1583. From tliis Captain [Brabazon] and Lis people, neither iha Nelmheculh of the saint nor of the poet, the wood nor the forest, the valley, the town, nor the bawn aflforded shelter, until the whole country was destroyed by him." — Annal. Quat. Mag.
It is obvious then that /idh signifies wood, and not icitness, and that the second word, neiiiilieadh, if understood adjectively, must simply mean holy, or sacred, and, if vmderstood substantively, a su//c- tnurji, or glebe laud, and thus the term Avould mean Jioli/ wood, or wood of the sanctuary or glebe. And, as Dr. U'Conor's translation must thus be regarded as demonstratively incorrect, I might be sa- tisfied to let the question rest here. But I can go further, even to prove that if Dr. O'Conor had studied the MSS., in which the term Fidhneimhedh is nsed and explained, he could not have even for a moment dreamed of its signifying either Gnomon or Roimd Tower, for it is used in the most authentic vellum Irish MSS. in the sense 0^ sacred grove, or wood of the sa/ict/tari/, and in no other in Chris- tian times, though it may have been, and, I have Uttle doubt was, originally apphed to designate the sacred groves of the Druids.
The most dubious passages in which this term is found occur in the Brehon laws, in a tract treating of the classification of trees, and the fines levied for committing trespass upon them. The fii'st rmis thus :
" Gpe" caca'' peaon*^ ache" piOnemeao,^ no Oejpio'^."
Succidaiitur omnes syU-se praier syivam sacram sen saiictam sylvain.
Gpe is interpreted by the Glossographer as equivalent to the more modern word tecpao, to cut.
^ Cacu is the ancient form of jaca, each, every.
•^ Peaoa is the plural of pro, or proo, a wood. According to the modern ortho- graphy the o would be aspirated in the singular and plural.
" Qclic, but, except, is so written and understood at this day.
' Proiiemeao is interpreted by the Glossographer f id cilli, i. e. wood of the church.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. (i 1
In like mannei- the same laws, in specifying the fines for euttiii" down the tbiutli or lowest class of trees, called lopa peaoci, contain the following curious reference to Fidlineuiedh.
" toj^a peaoa, paich, aiceano, opip, ppciech, eioeano, jilcach, ppm. Cupu <.i n-Dipe each ae. .1. cpi pcpipail inocib icip aichgin ocup oipe irincib pm, in can ip u pio coimichenpa, ocup ni pil ni 'no n-jablaib, &c. ITlaD u pionemeo beioe imoppa .nil. pcpipuil inoceib ap oipe, ocup oa pcpipal ap uirlijin, ocup a cpun ina n-^tibla, ocup a peij'eao ma cpaebaib." — E. 3.5. fol. 3, b, a.
" Tlie Losafeada, [shrubs] OMnfeni, furze, briar, heath, h\i/, liroom, thorn. A citra is the fine for each, that is, thrci^screpah for both restitution and tine, wlien in « cominou icood, and there is no fine for their branches, &c. It' they be in a Fidhneinedh, tlien shall four screpals be paid tor fine, and two screpcds for restitution, a third [of a scre]ial] tor their limbs, and a sixth for their branches."
Again, in a note in the margin of the same law tract (fol. 3, a, b. ) the following reference is made to Fklhueii)iedh, which, like that just quoted, proves to a demonstration that it meant sacretl wood, not Round Tower.
" t)ecbip cpaino a pi6 comaircepa, ocup can oerbip Jjpaio ; oerbip jpaiba pio neiriieD, ocup cm oecbip cpuino. Smucc u pio neimeo no co m-beiicup uile, ocup enechlann mo o benccip."
" There is a difterence of tree in the common wood, and no difference of rank; there is a difterence of rank in the Fid/i/iei/nedh, and no difference of tree. The restriction of the law is on the Fidkneimedh until it be all cut down, and a fine for it when cut."
Thougli not essentially necessary to my pm'pose, but as a matter which cannot fail of being interesting to the general reader, I am induced to add here a few examples of the application of tliis term to a pagan sanctuary, or grove, in which there Avas an altar, or oracle, as it will go far towards proving that the word is of pagan origin.
Surely, if Dr. 0"Conor had seen this, he could never have thought of translating pi6- neimeb Round Tower! According to the modern Irish orthographj- this would be written f 16 neiriieao, which is the very form of the term adopted by the Four JIasteis at the year 995. Vallancey, in translating this passage in the Brehon Laws {Collec- tanea, VoL III. p. 107), renders /(/ neimcad, holy woods.
f tDespiD the Glossographer interprets by , 10 oepio, which would be very obscure, were it not found explained on a loose sheet of paper in the handwriting of the cele- lirated Duald Mac Firbis, inserted in a MS. in Trinity College, H. 2. 15. p. 208. This leaf is a fragment of Mao Firbis's first draft of his Glossary of the Brehon Laws, of which several fragments are to be found scattered among the College MSS. Tlie phrase Pioo oefio ap oun is thus explained on this leaf: " P106 oepio a]i ouii .1. colli Dee ap no n^ an oun .1. pio nimeao," i. e. Fiodh defid on the Dun, i. e. the sa- cred wood on or at the dun, i. e. a Fldh nimhcadh.
r»2 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Tlu' (irst passage is from an abridged prose translation of Virgil's ac- count of tlio destruction of Troy, preserved in the Book of Ballj-mote, and relates to the death of Polites and his father Priam by the spear of Pyrrhus, at the altar of Jupiter, over which hung a very ancient laurel, embracing the household gods in its shade. I here give the passage as it stands in the Book of Ballyinote, with a literal transla- tion by Mr. O'Donovan, and under it the passage in Virgil, to which it corresj)onds :
" tTlapo bai in cpeB pin nioci co hciibbino, I a bponac Di m aioc'i pin. Ro ela Poloinioep, m ic pii;iiciiin, lup n-a ;^uin do Pipp ip m up pm, oapo op")' lapnipac na pi^-DUine, up cue uupoum inu p'nli, co li-ciipni a paibi Ppium li i piDNSiDUD loib ; uj'ip pipi^ Ti'^^ conaip no cejio inu oiaio, con id ano pug puip in can po piacrco tn bai ' piuonuipi a urhap, .1, JJpiuni ; ujup do beip P'pp puipmio paip Du'n leurcin ;i;<n lan-inoi|i bui ma oeip, co pug upiutino rpic, cup ruic mupb cen unm"in. 1 fiuonuipi a urliup. Qcpacr unnriioi conacaib u eppiD cnca uime ; uj;iipcia cbeap- Buoap ni ceapbuio a Dpoc-uij^ne; ujup popopbuip uichipm^uD Pipp o bpiucpuib, iijjnpippeao po paio pip: a ruilioe, appe, ip mop m jnini do pignip, mo iiviDtapgcib- pa uj-'p mo mac do mupbtio nn piaonuipi, ug'ip hi piionaipi alcoipi no n-oe h-i I-IOnGHIIO loib! ugup oe nime Dia Diguil pope." — Fol. 245, a, b.
" Happy as this fainilv was one night, sonxnvl'iil to them was that night. Poloi- iiides, the son of Priam, after having been wounded b}' Pyrrhus in that slaughter, fled througli the western door of the royal palace, and from one apartment [aiirdami to another, mitil he came to the place where Priam was in the Fidnemud of Jupiter ; and Pyrrhus followed him in every way through which he passed, and overtook him just as he came into the presence of his father, i.e. Priam; and Pyrrhus gave him a thrust of the large broad spear which was in his right hand, and pierced him with its head, so that he fell dead without a soul, in the presence of his father. The old man rose and put on his battle-dress ; and though it had become rusty, his warlike mind had not ; and he commenced abusing Pyrrhus in words, and in this wise spake he to him: ' Wretch,' said he, ' how monstrous is the deed thou hast committed, to enrage me by killing my son before me, and before the altar of the gods in the Fidnemid of Jupiter 1 yiay the gods of heaven revenge it upon thee !' "
The following description of the death of Polites and Priam, as given by Virgil, will convey an exact idea of what object the Irish translator intended to designate by the term Fidnemud, or Fidnemid.
" ^dibus in mediis, nudoque sub astheris axe, Ingens ara fuit; juxtaque veterrima laurus Incvmhens ara', afqiie wndn-u comjilexa Penates, Hie Hecuba,
Ecce autcm elapsns Pyrrhi de caxle Polites, Unus natorum Priami, per tela, per hostes,
or THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. (,:]
Porticibus longis fugit, et vacua atria lustrat
Saucius. Ilium ardeiis inl'usto vulucre Pyrrlius
Insequitur, jam jamque manu tenet, et preuiit hasta.
Ut tandem ante oeulos evasit et ora pareiitum
Concidit, ac multo vitam cum sanguine fiidit.
Hie Priamus, quanquam in media jam morte tenctur,
Non tauien abstinuit, nee voci ira;que pepercit.
At tibi pro scelere, exclamat, pro talibus ausis,
Di, si qua est ccelo pietas, qua; talia curet,
Persolvaut grates dignas, et prajmia reddant
Debita : qui nati coram me cernere letum
Fecisti, et patrios i'axlasti funere vultus." — ^Tlneid. Lib. 11.512 o'i^).
Tlius again, the following passage, taken from an Irish translatitm of some ancient account of the siege of Troy, in a velhnn MS. pre- served in the library of Trinity College, has the term Fiillineinilieilli in the sense of sacred wood, or -w^iod containing an oracle.
" ]p \ pm aeip af^^\•^ uaip do puachoaoup laochptiib liinpi ^.imiii 6 ro^nil na Cpo^ia moipi. Ro Bi plC)hHGmiiGt)ll DO-imcechca ip ni c-pleb bu coi.iineiipu Doib, ajiip DO cuuDtip mnci Innpi ?_,emin ino o'liippaio ppeajpa cip net oeiciB. (ijvip ranjaoup baoBa bel-oeapjja (i ccicbaip Ippmn d'u ni-buiUDpeaD-pun co ruiije pm : oip oobi Uenip ben-cumaclicuch, ujup 6ni oupbLibuch, piup )Tiai|ic, oeu ni charii, uj pupuil uilcc a\\ na nmuib pni." — II. 2, 17, p. 123.
" This is the time and hovir tliat the heroes of tlie Island of Lennios were re- turning from the siege of great Troy. There was a Fidhnemhedh of difficult passage in the mountain next to them, and the women of the Island of Lemnos went into it to ask a response from the gods, and red-mouthed ravens came thither from the city of Infernus to disturb them ; for Veuus the woman-powerful, and Eni [Bellona] tlie i'u- rious, the sister of Mars, goddess of war, were inflicting evils upon those women."
One other example of the application of this term, and I liave done : it ^vill show that, even if Dr. O'Connor had been so little ac- quainted with the Irisli language as to be vuiable to understand its meaning from the passages aheady quoted, he might yet have dis- covered it through his knowledge of Latin. Thus, in an ancient Ti-isli MS. Glossary in the Library of Trinity College, to wliicli tlie Doctoi' had access, the "word nemliedh, a poet, is explained in such a manner by allusion to FidJineimJiedh, that it would have been impossible not to see the proper meaning of tlie latter :
■NeriieD, .1. piliD, a nemope: cip ip a plDN6mGt)Q16 po jnicip pileoti ti ii-5peppa. II. 2. IG. Col. 120.
" Nemed, i. e. a poot, from Nemus (a grove) : because it was in Fidnemeds (sacn.'d groves) 23oets were used to compose their works."
(it INQUIRY INTO TilK OKIGIN AND USES
After siu'li evidences as 1 have now adduced, tlie reader will, I I trust, have little doubt as to the true meaning of the Fidlineimhedh of the Irish Annals. I may however add, that those Annals and the Lives of our ancient saints show, that trees were a usual ornament in the immediate vicinity of the ancient Irish churches, and, having been ol'ten planted by the hands of the very founders of those build- ings, were preserved with the most religious veneration, and their accidental destruction deplored as a great calamity. Thus the An- nals of the Foiu" Masters, at the year 1102, commemorate the burning of the yew tree planted by St. Patrick at Newry, the memory of which is still per]:)etuated in the name of that flourishing town. And the remains t)f the yew tree supposed to have been planted by St. Kevin, at Glendalough, have been preserved even to our own time.
Having now, as I trust, satisfactorily disposed of Dr. O'Conor's proofs, as derived from etymological conjecture, I proceed to combat his arguments — a task of much less difficulty.
We are called on to conclude that the cloictJieac/is, or belfries, noticed in the Annals, were not the Eound Towers, because those Annals also show that the belfry of Slane, containing the holy trea- sure of the monastery and several of its ecclesiastics, was burned — a circumstance wdiich, according to the Doctor, could not possibly refer to a Round Tower, first, on account of " its form, which, being- round, could not hold so many persons and precious things ; and, se- condlv, of its material, which, being of stone, and hi no ])aji of wood, could not be burned, though it might be broken down by hghtning." The fallacy of these arguments can be very easily exposed.
1. So far from the rotund form of the Towers being inconsistent with the capacity to contain a number of persons and things, the very contrary is evident. There are few, if any, of the Towers, which would not have held from fifty to eighty persons, at the moderate average of ten to each floor ; and it is remarkable that their peculiar fitness as places of safety for the clergy and their holy Utensils, &c., on occasions of sudden invasion, has been so apparent to many most distinguished antiquaries, that, without any other evidence than that which their construction afforded, they supposed them to have been erected for that pm-pose solely.
2. When Dr. O'Conor asserts that the Eound Towers could not be biu'ued because they were in no part {7nillibi) of wood, he must
\
OF THE HOUND TOWEKS OF IKKLAXI). fif)
have been strangely forgetful of the mode of tlieir construction, in which the floors, and, we may suppose, the doors also, wore in every instance of that material; and though their combustible portion might not be easily ignited by lightning from above, they could evidently be fired by a hostile hand from below, as in the case of the belfry of Slane, and many other belfries, recorded in our Annals to have been biu'ued. The destruction of their inflannnable jiarts is the only injury which we are to suppose the cloirtJieacJis sullered on those occasions; and we have no more reason to conclude that tliey were wholly of wood, than that the danihliags or stone cluirclies were so. which are so constantly mentioned in those Aiuuils as having sullered the same fate. Besides, can any thing more absurd be imagined than that the ecclesiastics should fly for safety with tlieir holy treasures from a band of savage plunderers to a ivooden belfry, while the}' had a stone edifice of any kind to shelter in ? Such an improbability Avould hardly obtain credit from any one but a perscm ready to believe any thing for the sake of a favourite theory.
Dr. O'Conor, however, was so deeply intent on establisliing his hypothesis, that he lost no ojoportunity of pressing these puerile ar- guments on his reader's attention. Thus, in a note to a passage in the Annals of the Foiu- Masters, at the year 1097, which records the biirniug of the cloictheach, or bell-house of Monaster-Boice in the County of Louth, he repeats tliese argmnents, to divert, as it would appear, the reader from the ob\dous conclusion at wliicli he should otherAvise arrive, namely, that the Rovmd Towers were unquestion- ably the cloictkeachs or bell-houses of the Annahsts.
" Ex liis sequitur, valde diversa fuisse, non solum nomine, verum et re ijisa, Ili- bernorum Canipanilia a Turribus rotundis antiquissimis, more patrio constructis, juxta Gii'aldum, qui iisque liodie per Hiberniam, e vivo saxo a'diticata, eonspiciuntur. Cnrii- jianilia enim Cloiccteadi, Turres autem rotundi Fiadh-neiinlie diccbantur, i. e. Indicia coelestia, uti supra ad ann. 99-1, et neque comburi poterant turres isti, neque pro bibliotliecis aut rebus pretiosis servandis apti erant, vcl ad finem istum construct i censendi sunt, repugnante forma, altitudiue, arctitudine, et interna constructione." — Annales IV. Magistrorimi, p. 670,
These indefatigable efforts of Dr. O'Conor's zeal may well excite a smile. The Round Tower Belfry of Monaster-Boice, in which tlie books and other precious things are stated to have been burned, still exists to demonstrate the absiu'dity of his conjectures. It is yet known only by the name given it by the Annahst, namely, the " chief lirncli ;"
tt.
Q6 INQUIKY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
and, with such a strong and lofty tower attached to their monastery, it is quite ridiculous to suppose the monks of St. Boetius would have deposited their httle library and other precious things in a wooden ediiice for safety.
But I have yet to show, that notwithstanding all Dr. O'Conor's ingenuity in defence of a weak position, he must, or at least should have been himself aware, from the very same Annals from which the preceding passages are quoted, that the cloicflieachs or belfries Avere unquestionably not of wood but of stone. What could he have said to a passage in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 1 121, which occm's but a few pages after that last referred to, stating that the cloicfheach, or belfry of Telach n ionmainde in Ossory — sup- posed to be the present Tullamaine, near Callan, in the county of Kilkenny — was spht by lightning, and that a stone which flew from that belfry killed a student in the chmx-h ? The passage, as printed and translated by Dr. O'Conor himself, is as follows :
" A. D. 1121. Cloicteach Thelcha n ionmainde in Osraicch do dhiige do chaoirteinn, agus clock do sgeinm as an ccloictheach iskin, co ro mliarhli. mc leighinn isin cill."
"A. D. 1121. Campanile Telcliioiimandense iu Ossoria dijectvim a fulmine, et lapis divulsus e Campanile isto occidit juveneni lectorem in Ecclesia."
More to the same effect might be still adduced, but I trust it will he considered as unnecessary, and that I have now suiSciently re- futed the authorities, etymologies, and arguments, adduced by Dr. O'Conor in support of these theories. I have reluctantly entered the lists with that celebrated man, and I have combated his assertions, only because the sacred cause of truth reqim-ed the contest. But I should be sorry to have it supposed that I would insmuate an unfa- voiu'able opinion of his general accm'acy, or attach a harsher cha- racter to his valuable labours than that, which the historian Warner tells us the Doctor's grandfather acknowledged to be appUcable to his own, namely, " that the Amor Patria3 might have inclined him to extend the matter (of the Antiquities of Ireland) somewhat beyond the rigour, to which he should have confined himself"
To the preceding notices I have now to add the arguments of two gentlemen, who have lent their talents to sustain the hj-j^iothesis under consideration, since this Inquiiy was originally written and presented to the Academy, namely our great national poet, INIoore, and the ingenious Mr. Windele, of Cork. In the argiunents of the
OF THE EorXD TOWEKS OF inEEAXD. ()7
former, indeed, I find little but a repetition, embodied in more gi-ace- fill language and a more logical form, of the evidences which I have ali-eady examined ; yet, as it will be satisfactory to the reader to have every thing bearing on the question brought together for his con- sideration, I shall insert them in this jilace.
" How far those pillar-temples, or Round Towers, whieh form so rcruarkaWe n part of Ireland's antiquities, and whose history is lost in the night of time, may have had any connection with the Pyrolatry, or Fire-worship, of the early Iribh, we have no cer- tain means of determining. That they were looked upon as very ancient, in the time ofGiraldus, appears from the tale told by him of the fishermen of Lough Neagh point- ing [out] to strangers, as they sailed over that lake, the tall, narrow, ecclesiastical round towers under the water, supposed to have been sunk there from the time of the inun- dation by which the lake was formed. This great event, — the truth or falsehood of which makes no difference in the facts of the period assigned to it, — is by the annalist Tigernach referred to the year of Christ 62 ; thus removing the date of these struc- tures to far too remote a period to admit of their being considered as the work of Chrb- tian hands." — Histon/ of Ireland, vol. i. p. 26.
Mr. Moore then proceeds to examine the various theories, whicli have been advocated in connexion with their Christian origin and uses, to which he makes objections, Avhich shall be examined in their proper place, and then resumes as follows :
" As the worship of fire is known, uncjuestionably, to have formed a part of tlie an- cient religion of the country, the notion that these towers were originally fire-temples, appears the most probable of any that have yet been suggested. To this it is objected, that inclosed structures are wholly at variance with that great principle of the Celtic religion, which considers it derogatory to divine natures to confine their worship within the limits of walls and roofs ; — the refined principle upon which the Magi incited Xerxes to burn the temples of the Greeks. It appears certain, however, that, at a later period, the use of fire-temples was adopted by tlie Persians themselves ; though, at the same tune, they did not the less continue to offer their sacrifices upon the hills and in the open air, employing the Pyreia introduced by Zoroaster, as mere repositories of the sa- cred fire. A simple altar, with a brazier burning upon it, was all that the temple contained, and at this they kindled the fire for their worship on the high places. To this day, as modern writers concerning the Parsees inform us, the part of the temple called the Place of Fire, is accessible only to the priests ; and on the supposition that our towers were, in like manner, temples in which the sacred flame was kept safe from pollution, the singular circumstance of the entrance to them being rendered so difficult by its great height from the ground is at once satisfactorily explained.
" But there is yet a far more striking corroboration of this view of the origin of the Round Towers. While in no part of Continental Europe has any building of a similar construction been discovered, there have been found, near Bhaugulpore, in Hindostan, two towers, which bear an exact resemblance to those of Ireland. In all the peculiarities of tlieir shape, — the door or entrance, elevated some feet above the
K 2
68 INQLIUY INTO THE OIUGIN AND USES
ground,— the four windows near tlie top, facing the cardinal points, and the small rounded roof,— these Indian temjiles are, to judge by the description of them, exactly similar to the Round Towers ; and, like them also, are thought to have belonged to a form of worship now extinct and even forgotten. One of the objections brought against the notion of the Irish towers having been fire-temples, namely, that it was not necessary for such a purpose to raise them to so great a height, is abundantly an- swered by the description given of some of the Pyrea, or fire-temples of the Guebres. Of these, some, we are told, were raised to so high a point as near 120 feet, the height of the tallest of the Irish Towers ; and an intelligent traveller, in describing the re- mains of one seen by him near Bagdad, says, ' the annexed sketch will show the resem- blance this pillar bears to those ancient columns so common in Ireland.'
" On the strength of the remarkable resemblance alleged to exist between the pillar- temples near Bhaiigulpore and the liound Towers of Ireland, a late ingenious his- torian does not hesitate to derive the origin of the Irish people from that region ; and that an infusion, at least, of population from that quarter might, at some remote pe- riod, have taken place, ajipears by no means an extravagant supposition. The opinion, that Iran and the western parts of Asia were originally the centre from whence popu- lation diffused itself to all the regions of the world, seems to be confirmed by the tra- ditional histories of most nations, as w-ell as by the results both of philological and antiquarian enquiries. To the tribes dispersed after the Trojan war, it has been the pride equally both of Celtic and of Teutonic nations to trace back their origin. The Saxon Chronicle derives the earliest inhabitants of Britain from Armenia ; and the great legislator of the Scandinavians, Odin, is said to have came, with his followers, from the neighbourhood of the Euxine sea. By those who hold that the Celts and Per- sians were originally the same people, the features of affinity so strongly observable between the Pagan Irish and the Persians will be accounted for without any difiicvdty. But, independantly of this hypothesis, the early and long-continued intercourse which Ireland appears to have maintained, through the Phoenicians, with the East, would sufiiciently explain the varieties of worship which were imported to her shores, and which became either incorporated with her original creed, or formed new and distinct rallying points of belief. In this manner the adoration of shaped idols was introduced ; displacing, in many parts — as we have seen, in the instance of the idol Crom-Cruach — that earliest form of superstition which confined its worship to rude erect stones. To the same later ritual belonged also those images of which some fragments have been found in Ireland, described as of black wood, covered and plated with thin gold, and the chased work on them in lines radiated from a centre, as is usual in the images of the sun. There was also another of these later objects of adoration, called Kerman Kelstach, the favourite idol of the Ultonians, which had for its pedestal, as some say, the golden stone of Clogher, and in which, to judge by the description of it, there were about the same rudiments of shape as in the first Grecian Hermje. Through the same channel which introduced those and similar innovations, it is by no means improbable that, at a still later period, the pillar- temples of the Eastern fire-worship might have become known ; and that even from the shores of the Caspian a colony of Guebres might have found their way to Ireland, and there left, as enigmas to pos- tei-ity, those remarkable monuments to which only the corresponding remains of their own original country can now afford any clue.
OF THE ROUND TOWEHS OF IKF.LAXD. (][)
X.H-11
" The connection of sun- worsliip with the soifncc of astronomy hns alrnidy briefiy adverted to ; and the four windows, facing the four cardinal iKiints, which arc found in the Irish as well as in the Eastern pillar-teni])lcs, were alike iiit<iidcd, no doubt, for the purposes of astronomical observation, — for determining the ciiuinoctinl and solstitial times, and thereby regulating the recurrence of religious festivals. The Phoenicians themselves constructed their buildings on the same principU- ; and, in the temple of Tyre, where stood the two famous columns dedicated to the Wind and to Fire, there were also pedestals, we are told, whose four sides, facing the cardinal points, bore sculptured upon them the four figures of the zodiac, by which the position of those poults in the heavens is marked. With a similar view to astronomical uses and purposes, the Irish Round Towers were no doubt constructed ; and a strong evidence of their having been used as observatories is, that we find them called l)y some of tlie Irish annalists Celestial Indexes. Thus in an account, given in the Annals of the Four Masters, of a great thunder-storm at Armagh, it is said that ' the city was seized by lightning to so dreadful an extent as to leave not a single hospital, nor cathedral church, nor palace, nor Celestial Index, that it did not strike with its llame.' Before this and other such casualties diminished it, the number of these towers must have been considerable. From the language of Giraldus, it appears that they were com- mon in his time through the country; and in thus testifying their zeal for the general object of adoration, by multiplying the temples dedicated to its honour, they b\it followed the example as well of the Greek as of the Persian fire-worshippers.
" There remain yet one or two other hypotheses, respecting the origin and pur- poses of these structures, to which it may be expected that I should briefly advert. By some the uses to which they were destined have been thought similar to that of the turrets in the neighbourhood of Turkish mosques, and from their summits, it is sup- posed, proclamation was made of new moons and approaching religious festivities. A kind of trumpet, which has been dug up in the neighbourhood of some of these towers, having a large mouth-hole in the side, is conjectured to have been used to assist the voice in these announcements to the people. Another notion respecting them is, that they were symbols of that ancient Eastern worship, of which the God Mahadeva, or Siva, was the object ; while, on the other hand, an ingenious writer, in one of the most learnedly argued, but least tenable, of all the hypotheses on the subject, contends that they were erected, in the sixth and seventh centuries, by the primitive Cu>nol)ites and Bishops, with the aid of the newly converted Kings and Toparchs, and were intended as strong-holds, in time of war and danger, for the sacred utensils, relics and books, be- longing to those churches in whose immediate neighbourhood they stood. To be able to invest even with plausibility so inconsistent a notion as that, in times when the churches themselves were framed rudely of wood, there coiild be found either the ambition oi- tlie skill to supply them with adjuncts of such elaborate workmanship, is, in itself, no ordinary feat of ingenuity. But the truth is, that neither then nor, I would add, at any other assignable period, within the whole range of Irish history, is such a state of things known authentically to have existed as can solve the difiiculty of these towers, or account satisfactorily, at once, for the object of the bviildings, and the advanced civi- lisation of the architects who erected them. They must, therefore, be referred to times beyond the reach of historical record. That they were destined originally to religious purposes can hardly admit of question ; nor can those who have satisfied
70 INQUIRY INTO THK ORIGIN AND USES
themsolvcs, from the strong evidence which is found in the writings of autiqviity, that tliere existed between Ireland and some jiarts of the East, an early and intunate inter- course, harbour much doubt as to the real birth-place of the now unknown worship of which these towers remain the solitary and enduring monuments." — Histori/ of Ireland, vol. i. p. 29— 3G.
As in the preceding arguments I find nothing requiring an ansAver, Avhich lias not been ah-eady noticed, I shall gladly pass on- to the ar- guments more recently adduced by Mr.Windele in a tone of confidence, Avliich contrasts strikingly with the cautious spiiit of inquiiy exhibited by Mr. Moore. The first article in support of this hypothesis, put for- \\ard by Mr. Windele, appears in a work entitled Historical and Descriptive Notices of the City of Cork and its Vicinitj/, Sj-c, Cork, 184C», and is as follows :
" The origin and use of these towers are still, as they have been for nearly two centuries past, 'questiones vexatte.^ and are likely so to continue, dividing the leisure of archaiologists, with such useful objects of enquiry, as Hannibal's vinegar. Homer or Ossian's birth place, or the Mysteries of the Babylonian bricks ; — absurdities innu- merable have been brought forth in the discussion. One writer has found their original in the square, solid pillar of Simon the Stylite, where from, by way of close copy, a round, hollow tower was formed. O'Brien, one of the latest authorities, has discovered the Hindoo Liiigam, in their form ; and, their use he says, ' was that of a cupboard,' to hold those figures, sacred to that very decent deity the Indo-Irish Budha. Grave writers, too, have not been wanting who ascribed their construction to the ' Danes,' to serve as watch towers ; and a recent essayist, has, by way of climax, declared his belief, that they were erected in order to serve, — as indices to the cathedral churches. But amidst all these follies, the ground of debate has been gradually narrowed, and the parties belligerent, at present, may be classed into two, one contending for their Pagan, and the other for a Christian origin.
" Vallancey was the first who held the former opinion. He was ably sustained by Dr. Lanigan, and followed by O'Brien, Dalton, Beaufort, and Moore. The other side, reckons amongst its adherents, the names of Ledwich, Milner, Hoare, Morres and Petrie. To us, it seems, that all the force of argument, authority, and analogy, is with the former. The advocates of the Christian origin, have, in vain, sought for a prototype, in Christian lands ; whilst their opponents have found it in India, Persia, and Ba- bylonia; and, perhaps, we may add amongst the remains of the ancient Phoinician colonists of Sardinia; thus indicating to the antiquary, that connexion or affinity of the early inhabitants of Ireland, with the ' Golden Orient,' which their antiquaries are fain to claim.
" Their Irish names, Tur-aghan or adhan, Feidk-neimhedh and Cilcagk are of them- selves conclusive as to their Pagan origin, and announce, at once, a fane devoted to that form of religion, compounded ofSaboeism, or star- worship, and Budhism, of which the sun, represented by fire, was the principal deity in all the kindred mythologies of India, Persia, Phenicia, Phrygia, Samothrace, and Ireland. This idolatry in many respects, dLffered from that of Gaul and Britain. Zoroaster was its grand reformer in Persia, and
OF THE ROUXn TOWERS OF IRELAND. 71
the reformation seems to have been accepted in Ireland. He it was, who cansed Pj-rein, or Fire temples, to be erected. Hauway tells us, that four of them which he saw at Sari, are of the most durable materials, round, about [above] 30 feet in diameter, and raised in height to a point of about 120 feet. It is objected to our Pyreia, that there was no necessity i'ov carrying them up to so great a height. The objection equally lies against those at Sari. Fire temples, also constituted part of the Brahminieal worship. They were called like ours, Co/l from Chahnia, to burn. Mr. Pennant, speaking of the Indian Pollygars, says, that they retained their old religion, and that their Pagodas arc very numerous, ' Their form, too,' he says, 'are different, being chiefly buildings of a cylindrical or round tower shape, with their tops, either pointed or truncated.' Lord Valencia describes two round towers, which he saw in India, near liaugnli)hiire. He says, ' they much resemble those buildings in Ireland ;' the door is elevated ; they pos- sess a stone roof and four large windows near the summit. From India, we pass more to the westward, and in Baliylonia, the ancient cradle alike of the religion of India, Persia, and of Druidism, we find remains of the pillar tower. Major Keppel, in his ' Personal narrative,' has given us a sketch of a portion of a pillar, as he calls it, which he observed between Coot and Bagdad, near the Tigris. It was composed of sun-burnt bricks, twenty feet two inches high, and 63 feet in circumference. It was evidently detached from other ancient buildings near it. He concludes by stating, that ' the annexed sketch will shew the resemblance this pillar bears to those ancient columns, so common in Ireland.'
" Following in the track of the old Phenician navigators, we find Sardinia, an is- land once colonized from Iberia and Phenicia, strewed with very singular buildings, of high antiquity, called Nuracfgis, a name deemed to be derived from Norax, the leader of the Iberian colony. These are conical towers, constructed of large cubic stones, whose sides fit each other, without being connected together by either lime or cement. The largest are from fifty to sixty feet high. The interior is divided into three dark chambers, one above the other. Under several of these structures, burying places and subterranean passages have been discovered, leading to other Noraghs. Several lum- dreds of these monuments, between large and small, are scattered about Sardinia. ' There are,' says the writer in the Foreign Quarterly Review, ' we believe, structures of a similar description in some parts of Ireland.' In some places, the Nuraggis are called, ' Domu de Orcu,'' or house of death, in the belief of their monuments of the dead. This would not be very inconsistent with the character of the Irish towers ; human bones having been found interred within that at Kam-Island in Antrim, and similar relics,- — but having undergone the ancient pagan process of Cremation, — were recently discovered in the tower of Timahoe.
" From our still imperfect acquaintance with the literary remains of ancient Ireland, we are not aware of many notices of oiu- Round towers occurring in the early documents, yet preserved. In our annals, the names of such places as Muighe Tuiretli-na-bh Fo- morach, — the plain of the Fomorian tower ; Mo//-tiira, the plain of the Towers, in Mayo ; Torinis, the island of the tower ; the tower of I'emor, and many others are men- tioned with reference to the most remote periods of our history. The Ulster Antials, at the year 448, speak of a terrible eartliquake felt in various parts, in that year, by which, seventy-five towers were destroyed or injured. The ' annals of the Four Masters' mention, at the year 898, the Turaghan Angcoire, or Fire-tower of the Anchorite, at
72 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Iiiiscaihre, in the Shannon ; and the same annals, as well as those of Ulster, note at the year 995, the destruction, by lightning, of Armagh, its hosjiital, cathedral, jiiilate, and FidlDicmead, or cek'stial index, i. e. Round tower.
" These two last names ought to be decisive of the controversy. Turaghan literally signifies a Kire-tower; the addition Angcoire refers to an appropriation for anchoretical uses, long posterior to the erection of the edifice. This accords with the general prac- tice of the early Christian clergy, who placed their churches on the site of the Druid fanes. Kyland, (Hist. Waterford,) mentions a Cromlech, or altar, which stands in the church-yard, near the sugar loaf hill, in the Barony of Gualtier. It is stated in the old life of Mocteus, (a work of the seventh century,) that when that saint came to Louth, he found the place in possession of the Magi, whereupon he lighted a fire, which they seeing, endeavoured to extinguish, least their own Idolatrous fire should fail, but Mocteus, proving the victor, founded his monastery there.
" That Anchorites may have shut themselves up in some of the then deserted and unoccupied towers, is not now to be questioned. The tower at Inniscailtre was so seized on and used ; but it is very ridiculous to suppose that this body adopted a style of building here, unlike any thing in use among them in any other country. In fact the Anchorite Indusorii were very difierent from those towers ; that in which Ma- rianus Scotus was confined at Fulda, was a cell with an external wall. The Anchorite habitations are invariably called cells by the old writers, not towers. Such cells are still extant near several of the most ancient of our churches, as at Ardniore, where that of St. Declan is called the Moiiacluui, or dormitory; and at Ardfert and Scattery, where there are several similar structures. And yet at each of these places, there still remains, or there has been, a Round tower.
" The architectural features of the Round tower are objects of the highest impor- tance in the enquiry ; the forms of the windows and doors, in general, are of high antiquity, — forms out of use at the time that their alleged Christian founders could have commenced their erection. The style belongs to that period, when the subter- ranean chambers of the Baths were of every day construction, — and their style is Pe- lasgic. The windows and doors of the towers are in general of that form ; broad at base, narrow at top, i. e. sloping or battering inward; and, then, the lintel arch so prevalent in them, so — entirely Pelasgio. As for the presence of the semicircular arch, we no longer deem that of the comparatively late date, until recently supposed of it. The arch was known at an early period in China. It has been found in the ancient baths and palaces of MeJrieo; — in Egypt,^ — in the great pyramid, and in other tombs of a date reaching as high as 1540 years B. C. ; — in Etruscan works, — as the gates of Pesiiim, Volterra, the Cloaca maxima, &c. The Chevron and Bead ornaments, which occur on one or two of the door- ways of our towers, have been found on some very antique cinerary urns, dug up out of old pagan cairns, and tumuli, as well as on gold ornaments found in Bogs, &c. and as to the solitary crucifixion, carved on the door of Donoghmore tower, it has been shewn to be quite modern. Added to all these proofs, let the general form oi' the tower, so Asiatic, and so Un-european, be duly borne in mind, and difficulties must present themselves to our opponents of no ordinary dimensions or character indeed. To pursue this subject farther would carry
us far lieyond our proposed limits, and we nuist therefore give over." p. 179
184.
OF THE UOUXD TOWEKS OF IRDLAXr). 7;^
Such then is the sum of " all the force of argument, authority, and analogy," Avhich appeared to Mr. AVindele to be with General ^'al- lancey and his followers. " The advocates of the Christian ori<rin" he says, "have, in \ain, sought for a jjrototype, in Christian lands; whilst their opponents have found it in India, Persia, and Babylonia; and, perhaps, we may add amongst the remains of the ancient Phe- nician colonists of Sardinia." But, I must still ask, Avhere have examples of such prototype been found in any of the countries re- ferred to? Not surely in Loid Valentia's Towers at Bhaugulpore, in India, which are not proved to have been fue-temi)les, or of any very remote antiquity; nor in the four towers of theGuebres in India, so vaguely described by HauAvay, wliich could not have been like our Round ToAvers ; nor in Major Ke])pers pillar of svm-burnt bricks, twenty-two feet six inches high, and sixty-three feet in circumference. And, as to the prototype which Mr.Windele, " following in the track of the old Phenician navigators," finds in Sardinia, I believe he is en- titled to the whole merit of the discovery. The buildings in wdiich he linds this prototype are those " called Ntfragiji.s, a name deemed to be derived from Norax, the leader of the Iberian colony," and which, in some places, " are called ' Dowu [^Domos] de Orcn,' or house of death, in the belief of their being monuments of the dead" — a rather singular appellation for temples of the sacred lire. But this Norax, according to the best ancient authorities, colonized Sar- dinia about 1250 years before the Christian era; and, I shoidd like to be informed how these Avorks of a Greek people could have pre- served the form of the fne-temples of the Persian Magi, which were first constructed by Zerdusht, or Zoroaster, about seven centuries afterwards ? This is indeed " followim? in the track of the old Pheni- cian navigators" in a very singular and somewhat retrograde man- ner; but I suppose Mr.Windele will only find in it an evidence of the identity of our countrjmen with the Iberian and Phoenician colonists of Sardinia. The real question, however, is, — Is there any similarity between these Nuraffhes of Sardinia and the Irish Round Towers ? Mr. Windele would ha\e us believe there is, and describes the Nu- raghes in such a manner as would impress us with this belief " These are," he says, " conical towers, constructed of large cubic stopes, whose sides fat each other, without being connected together by either lime or cement. The largest are from fifty to sixty feet high. The
L
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INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AXD USES
interior is divided into three dark cliambers, one above the other. Under several of these structiu-es, bur}'ing places and subterranean passages have been discovered, leading to other Noraghs." And, lastly, to crown all, he quotes a writer in the Foreign Quarterly Re- view, who states that there are, he believes, structm-es of a similar description in some parts of Ireland ; from which Mr. Windele ob- viously wishes us to suppose, that that writer meant the Round Towers. But, in tlie first place, I answer, that the ^vl■iter in the Foreign Quarterly Re\'iew could not have meant any thing of the kind, or he would have expressed himself in clearer terms ; and, in the second place, that if Mr. Windele had described those Nuraghes more fully, his readers would have- discovered that they had scarcely a feature in common Avith the Irish Roimd Towers. That no doubt, liowever, may remain on this point, I shall present the reader -with the general description of these singular structures, as given in the best work which lias been waitten on the subject, the Notice sur les Nuraghes de la Sardaigne, &c., by M'- L. C. F. Petit-Radel, Paris, 1826:
" Description Generale des Nuraghes.
" Les Nuraghes ou Noraglies de la Sardaigne, sout des monumens de plus ou de moins de cinquante pieds de hauteur, dans leur etat d'integrite, sur un diametre d'environ quatre-vingt-dix pieds, mesures de dehors en dehors a la basedu terre- plain, sur lequel les plus considerables sont fondes. Le sommet de ceux qui ne sont point ruines, se termine en cone surbaisse, et dans ceux que le temps a tronques a leiir sommet, la coiirbure exterieure de la batisse existante, doit faire supposer qu'ils etaient jadis couronnes de la meme maniere et dans les memes proportions que ceux qui se trouvent encore dans \va etat parfait de conservation ; ce qui n'est pas tres commun.
" Les materiaux employes poiir leur construction sont tires des roches voisines, et se composent de pierres calcaires dures et grenues ; de porphyre trachytique et de roches volcaniques cellulaires ; on en rencontre quelques-uns en granit. Chaque bloc a communement un metre cube, particulierement dans les assises les moins elevees ; les architraves plates, qui surmontent les portes et les lucarnes de ces edifices, sont d'une dimension double, c'est-a-dire deux metres de long, et meme davantage, sur la hauteur d'un metre. La ligne que decrit la peripherie de chaque bloc, a toute I'irre- gularite que produisent des cassures faites, par le marteau, sur des pierres dures. Quel- quefois les pierres en sont plus esactement parallelipipedes, sans cependant atteindre ii la regularite parfaite, qui pourrait faire supposer I'emploi simuJtane de la regie, du niveau et de la scie, comme dans les ouvrages les plus soignes de I'antiquite grecque ou romaine. Enfin, les parois, tant exterieures qu'interieures de ces edifices, sont ap- pareUlees sans ciment ; on y a trouve des marteaux en bronze.
elbiti trijuaai i« : -
OF THE ROUXD TOWERS OF IHELAXn.
75
" Les Nuraghes sont le plus souvent batis en plaine, sur des tertres natuivls ou sur des colliues ; quelquefois ils sont entoures d'un tcrrc-plain tres etondu. de plus ou de moins de cent vingt metres de circuit, fortifie d'un niur de dix pieds de haut, et du meme style de construction que I'edifice qu'il entoure ; on en connait plu- sieurs qui sont flauques de cones plus petits, et d'une forme absolument semblable a celle du cone principal qui occupe toujours le centre. Ces cones accessoires sont re- unis autour du cone central, au nombre de 3, de 4, 5, 6 et 7, et le plan de leur dis- position respective est presque toujours symetrique. Le mur commun qui les rcn- ferme est quelquefois traverse dans toute sa longueur par une communication qui conduit de I'un a I'autre cone, et qui n'jiuud a I'usage de nos casemates, etroits, bas et bien batis. Enfin, ce mur commun est surmonte d'un parapet d'environ trois pieds de haut, qui defend la plate-forme au milieu de laquelle doniine le cone principal. Quand le nombre des cones accessoires est impair, le mur de cloture, et d'epaulement a-la-fois, obcit aux sinuosites que necessite le dessein qu'ou a eu de les disposer sj'me- triquement, et fournit des exemples saus duute Ijien anciens, de cette eurhythmie dont Vitruve a parle. (Lib. i, cap. ii.)
" Les murs de ces monumens so composent, pour la plupart, dc deux paremcns, dont les blocs s'ajustent I'un a I'autre par approchement, sans aucun parpaing, c'est- a-dire, sans aucune pierre qui traverse le mur de pai't en part, sans aucun blocage in- termediaire, et, comme je I'ai dejii dit en parlant des parois exterieures, sans aucun ciment. L'epaisseur totale de ces deux paremens est, de bas en haut, traversee en spirale par une rampe, dirigee tantot en pente douce, tantot taillee en degres de pierre, et pratiquee pour servir de communication entre les etagesde trois chambres disposees I'une au-dessus de I'autre, et dont chaque voute se termine en ogive ovoi'de. II parait que la chambre la plus basse ne sera devenue souterraine, que par I'eifet de I'addition des quatre cones angulaires et du terre-plain qui en recouvre I'exterieur. Ceux-ci n'ont que deux chambres, dont les voutes sont egalement coniques. On y voit aussi des pentes disposees interieurement en spirales, et toutes ces spirales decrivent, dans leur coupe, une abside, dont la ligne courbe se combine, a son sommet, avec une ligne pres- que verticale, ce qui a du causer quelque difficulte dans I'appareU d'une batisse executee sans ciment et sans autre outil que le marteau.
" Tous les Nuraghes ont leurs entrees terminees par des architraves plates. M. de la Marmora observe que, dans la region de Macomer et de Saint-Lussurgiu, les entrees sont assez hautes pour qu'on puisse s'y introduire debout ; mais que dans tout le reste de I'lle, I'entree, de ceux meme qui sont les plus considerables, est si basse, qu'on ne peut s'y introduire qu'a plat- ventre, et que leur ouverture, comme celles des soujjiraux de nos caves, ne s'elargit et ne s'eleve qu'a mesure qu'on avance, en s'y glissant dans I'attitude la plus i^enible." — pp. 31 — 34.
To render the preceding description more intelligible to the ge- neral reader, it may not be uninteresting to present him Avilli illus- trations, from the same work, of two of the most characteristic ex- amples of these singular monuments; and I do so the more willingly, inasmuch as that they have not, at least to my knowledge, been hitherto made known to the British public. The two wood-cuts annexed will
L 2
74: INQUIUY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
interior is divided into tliree dark cliambers, one above the other. Under several of these structures, burjang pUices and subterranean passages have been discovered, leading to other Noraghs." And, lastly, to crown all, he quotes a writer in the Foreign Quarterly Ee- view, who states tliat there are, he believes, structures of a similar description in some parts of Ireland ; from which Mr. Windele ob- viously wishes us to suppose, that that waiter meant the Round Towers. But, in the first place, I answer, that the writer in the Foreign Quarterly Review could not have meant any thing of the kind, or he would have expressed himself in clearer terms ; and, in the second place, that if Mr. Windele had described those Nuraghes more fully, his readers would have discovered that they had scarcely a feature in common with the Irish Round Towers. That no doubt, however, may remain on this point, I shall present the reader with the general description of these singular structures, as given in the best work which has been written on the subject, the Notice sur les Nuraghes de la Sardaigne, &c., by M"- L. C. F. Petit-Radel, Paris, 182G:
" Description Generale des Nuraghes.
" Les Nuraghes ou Noraglaes de la Sardaigne, sont des moniimens de plus oil de inoins de cinquante pieds de hauteur, dans leur etat d'integrite, sur un diametre d'environ quatre-vingt-dix pieds, mesures de dehors en dehors a la basedu terre- plain, sur lequel les plus considerables sont fondes. Le sommet de eeux qui ne sont point ruines, se termine en cone surbaisse, et dans ceux que le temps a tronques a leur sommet, la courbure exterieure de la batisse existante, doit faire supposer qu'ils etaient jadis couronnes de la memo nianiere et dans les memes proportions que ceux qui se trouvent encore dans un etat parfait de conservation ; ce qui n'est pas tres commun.
" Les materiaux employes pour leur construction sont tires des roches voisines, et se composent de pierres caloaires dures et grenues ; de porphyre trachytique et de roches volcaniques cellulaires ; on en rencontre quelques-uns en granit. Chaque bloc a communement un metre cube, particulierement dans les assises les moins elevees ; les architraves plates, qui surmontent les portes et les lucarnes de ces edifices, sont d'une dimension double, c'est-a-dire deux metres de long, et meme davantage, sur la hautexir d'un metre. La ligne que decrit la peripheric de chaque bloc, a toute I'irre- gularite que produisent des cassures faites, par le marteau, sur des pierres dures. Quel- (]uelbis les pierres en sont plus exactement parallelipipedes, sans cependant atteindre a la regularite parfaite, qui pourrait faire supposer I'emploi simultane de la regie, du niveau et de la scie, comme dans les ouvrages les plus soignes de I'antiquite grecque ou roniaine. Enfin, les parois, tant exterieures qu'interieures de ces edifices, sont ap- pareillees sans ciment ; on y a trouve des marteaux en bronze.
OF THE ROVXD TOWEUS OF IliELAXD. J.')
" Les Nuraghes sont le plus souveut batis en plainc, sur des tertrcs natunls ou sur des coUines ; quelquefois ils sont entourcs d'un terre-plain tres eti-ii(hi, de plus ou de moins de cent vingt metres de circuit, fortifie d'un niur de dLx pii-ds di- haut, et du meme style do construction que I'cdifice qu'il cntoure ; on en connait plu- sieurs qui sont flauques de cones plus petits, et d'une forme absolumcnt scmblable a celle du cone principal qui occupe toujours le centre. Ces cones acccssoires sont re- unis autour du cone central, au noinbre de 3, de 4, 5, 6 et 7, et le plan de leur dis- position respective est presquc toujours synietrique. Le mur commun qui les ren- ferme est quelquefois traverse dans toute sa longueur par une communication qui conduit de Pun a I'autre cone, et qui repond a I'nsage de nos casemates, etroits, bas et bien batis. Enfin, ce niur commun est surnionte d'un parapet d'environ trois pieds de haut, qui defend la plate-fonne au milieu de laquelle doraine le cone principal. Quand le nombre des cones acccssoires est impair, le mur de cloture, et d'epaulement a-la-fois, obeit aux sinuosites que necessite le dessein qu'on a eu de les disposer syme- triquement, et fournit des exemples sans doute l)ieu anciens, de cetlu uurhytlmiie dont Vitruve a parle. (Lib. i, cap. ii.)
" Les murs de ces monumens se composent, pour la phipart. de deux paremens, dont les blocs s'ajustent I'un a I'autre par approchement, sans aucun parpaing, c'est- a-dire, sans aucune pierre qui traverse le mur de part en part, sans aucun blocage in- termediaire, et, comme je I'ai deja dit en parlant des parois exterieures, sans aucun ciment. L'epaisseur totale de ces deux paremens est, de bas en haut, traversee en spirale par une rampe, dirigee tantot en pente douce, tantot taillee en degres de pierre, et pratiquee pour servir de communication entre les etages de trois chambres disposees I'une au-dessus de I'autre, et dont chaque voute se termine en ogive ovoi'de. II parait que la chambre la plus basse ne sera devenue souterraine, que par I'effet de I'addition des quatre cones angulaires et du terre-plain qui en recouvre I'exterieur. Ceux-ci n'ont que deux chambres, dont les voutes sont egalement coniques. On y voit aussi des pentes disposees interieurement en spirales, et toutes ces spirales decrivent, dans leur coupe, une abside, dont la ligne courbe se combine, a son sommet, avec une ligne pres- que verticale, ce qui a du causer quelque difEculte dans Tappareil d'une batisse executee sans ciment et sans autre outil que le marteau.
" Tous les Nuraghes ont leurs entrees terminees par des architraves plates. M. de la Marmora observe que, dans la region de Macomer et de Saint-Lussurgiu, les entrees sont assez hautes pour qu'on puisse s'y introduire debout; mais que dans tout le reste de Pile, I'entree, de ceux meme qui sont les plus considerables, est si basse, qu'on ne peut s'y introduire qu'a plat-veutre, et que leur ouverture, comme celles des soupii'aux de nos caves, ne s'elargit et ne s'eleve qu'a mesure qu'on avance, en s'y glissant dans Pattitude la plus penible." — pp. 31 — 34.
To render the preceding description more intelligible to the ge- neral reader, it may not be uninteresting to present liiin with illus- trations, from the same Avork, of two of the most characteristic ex- amples of these singular monuments; and I do so the more wilhngly, inasmuch as that they have not, at least to my knowledge, been hitherto made known to the British public. The two wood-cuts annexed will
L 2
76
INQUIKY INTO TIIK OKIGIN AND USES
give a good idea of the iisuul construction of a Nimighe, consisting of a central cone containing three chambers, one over another, and standing on a square base having small cones at each of its angles, connected ^vith oacli other l)y a parapet wall, — as in the Nuraghe of Borghidu, wliich is liere illustrated. This monument is situated in the plain of Ozier, on a moderately elevated rock of very hard " breclte truchyti(jiie" of which the Nm-aghe is formed. The pre- sent height of the central cone is about forty-five feet, but in its original perfect state it would have been about twenty-one feet higher, or in all sixty-five feet ; and its greatest diameter is about forty feet. The square base or plinth, at the angles of which the smallei' cones are placed, is about fifty-seven feet in diameter.
The first of these cuts gives a general elevation of the structure restored ; and the second its ground plan :
\
2)
The cuts which follow represent a plan on the level fg of the second chamber, and a section through d e on the ground plan, exhibiting the
internal arrangement of the building, and the peculiar construction of its window.
OF TUK ROUND 'n)\VKKS OK IKKLANI).
I I
In the two next sections will be seen the means of ascent, IVoni the h)wer to the npper chamber, by a spiral gallcrv. constructi-d within the thickness of the wall, and ascending in a gradually inclined ])linu- from one story to the other.
The first of these sections is taken on the line n /> on the gronnd plan; the second, in part on the same line, but diverging in a semi- circle through the point r to show the coiu'se of the gallery :
The cuts which follow will afford an example of a Nuraghe of the simplest form, — that is, without a plinth and external cones, — and exhibit the usual construction of the window r and doorway a in those structures generally. The elevation represents the Nuraghe Nieddii, near Ploaghe, which is constructed of volcanic rocks of the neighbourhood; and the ground plan shows its internal arrangement:
It will be observed, as a peculiarity in this specimen, that the gal- lery which affords a communication between the lower and u])])er chambers does not rise, as in the former example, from the first chamber, but connnences immediately -within the external doorway a by an ascent to the left. This Nuraghe is about twenty-eight feet in diameter, and, in its present state, about twenty-five feet in height.
rs
IXOriKY IXTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
'J1iat in the style of masonry observable in these ancient sepul- chres, for such they undoubtedly are, there is a striking agreement to be found with that of many ancient monuments in Ireland, as Avell as with the Cvclopean remains of Greece and Italy, I am far from denying. On the contrary, I can claim the merit of having been the first to direct the attention of the learned to this interesting circum- stance— a fact which I consider as of far greater value and impor- tance, to the history of the British Islands, than even the settlement of the question of the oiigin of the Round Towers — in my Essay on the Ancient IMilitary Architecture of Ireland, presented to the Royal Irish Academy in 183(), and which was honoured with the gold me- dal of that distinguished body. But, as I shall hereafter show, there are radicallv distinctive characteristics in all these remains, which are not found in our Round Towers. To Mr. Windele, however, the resemblance of the Round Towers to the Nuraghes of Sardinia appears so striking that he jiunps at once to the conclusion that the former were not only fire-temples of the Guebres, but also in part sepulchres or monuments of the dead, as the latter are known to have been. " This," he states, " would not be very inconsistent with the character of the Irish towers ; hiunan bones having been foimd interred within that at Ram Island in Antrim, and similar relics, — but having undergone the ancient pagan process oi Oremafion, — were recently discovered in the tower of Timahoe." But, I would ask, where are the evidences of either of these facts? and I must add that I utterly disbelieve the statement, respecting the recent discovery of the bm^ned bones in the Tower of Timahoe. ]\Ir. Windele, how- ever, was fortified in his conclusion, not only by the Sardinian Nu- raghes, but also by an opinion advanced by O'Brien, the author of " The Round Towers of Ireland," that amongst their other uses these bviildings were occasionally, in part, apphed to sepulchral pirrposes, like some of the Guebre Towers in Persia, and the Ceylonese Dagobs, and also by the fact, that " Sir William Betham at once declared that he fidly adopted that opinion." Thus doubly armed, Mr. Win- dele, commvmicating a portion of the enthusiasm so excited to the gentlemen of the South Munster Society of Antiquaries, inflamed that zealous body Avith such ardour to substantiate his h}iiothesis, that they set out on journeys of discovery to the principal Round Towers remaining in then- own province, to excavate the very foundations
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
79
!
of those Towers in searcli of the wi.-;hed-for human remains. Tliu result will be best told iu JNlr. Windelu's own words, as given in tin- Cork Southern Reporter :
" Researches amongst the Round Towers.
" The public attcntioTi lias lately been directed, through the press, to the discDverv of a human Skeleton, within the basement of the Round Tower of Ardniore, in the County of 'Waterford. Since then the lower portion of a second Skeleton, consistinjr of the femoral and tibial bones, were found at a little distance from the former. And, iu the nave of the ruined church adjoining, Mr. Windele discovered a fragment of an Ogham inscription, containing nine letters ; this had, probably, been removed at some distant time from the cemetery. These discoveries opened up a new subject of specula- tion to the antiquaries. An opinion advanced by O'Brien, the author of " the Roiuid Towers of Ireland," that, amongst their other uses, these buildings were occasionally, in part, appropriated to sepulchral purposes, like some of the Gheber Towers of Persia, and the Ceylonese Dagobs was now regarded of greater value than it was supposed it was originally entitled to. Sir William Betham at once declared that he fully adopted that opinion ; he was fortified in it by the facts previously known, that in the Towers of Ram Island and Timahoe e\idences of ancient interment had been found. Others again, unwilling to abandon previously cherished hypotheses, suggested that Ardmore Tower may have been erected in a more ancient christian cemeterj-, belonging to Declan's Monastery ; and the absence of the head and feet of one Skeleton, and of the whole trunk of the second, they alleged proved, that in digging for a foundation for the Tower, the builders merely cut a circidar trench, amongst the graves, leaving undisturbed the narrow space within its periphery, and consequently, such portion of human remains as lay interred therein. This was certainly an ingenious solution, but then why all this hermetical sealing of that portion of the Tower above these remains, first laying down a concrete floor, then four successive layers of solid mason work, and finally above these a second floor of concrete. Even rejecting this, as of no ac- count, it is contended that it is not a necessary consequence that the Tower must have
been christian, altho' it had been erected within a more ancient cemetery Jlen died
and were buried before Christianity, and there were Pagan as well as Christian burial grounds. But in this case, laying aside all the strong and stubborn arguments in fa- vour of the pillar tower having been a Heathen Temple, dedicated to the Sun, or fire, there are two or three special considerations peculiar to Ardmore. In the first plivce, the lands on which it is situate are called ArJo, the height of the fire, — secondly, the ancient life of St. Declan, whilst it is particular in its mention of the churches and monastic buildings, is totally silent as to the Ciiilcagh or Tower, which it would not have been, did this, the most remarkable of all the structures at Ardmore, owe its origin to that saint or any of his successors. Then again, the finding of the Ogham fragment. In a question of this kind this may be considered as of importance. The Ogham writing has been generally considered as Druidical, as tlie original liternry character of pagan Ireland, whose descent has been traced back to Babylonia and Persepolis — the ancient of days. In Ireland the majority of inscriptions in this diarac- ter, hitherto brought to light, have been obtained from localities of decidedly a heathen
78 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
That in the style of nmsoniy observable in these ancient sepul- chres, for such they undoubtedly are, there is a striking agreement to he found witli that of many ancient monuments in Ireland, as well as with the Cyclopean remains of Greece and Italy, I am far from denying. On the contrary, I can claim the merit of haA-ing been the first to dii-ect the attention of the learned to this interesting circimi- stance — a fact which I consider as of far greater value and impor- tance, to the history of the British Islands, than even the settlement of the question of the origin of the Round Towers — in my Essay on the Ancient ]\Iilitary Architecture of L-eland, presented to the Royal Irish Academy in 1836, and which was honoiu'ed with the gold me- dal of that distinguished body. But, as I shall hereafter show, there are radically distinctive characteristics in all these remains, which are not found in our Round Towers. To Mr. Windele, however, the resemblance of the Round Towers to the Nuraghes of Sardinia appears so striking that he jumps at once to the conclusion that the former Avere not only fire-temples of the Guebres, but also in jiart sepulchres or monuments of the dead, as the latter are known to have been. " This," he states, " would not be very inconsistent with the character of the Lish towers ; human bones having been found interred Avithin that at Ram Island in Antrim, and similar relics, — but having luidergone the ancient pagan process of Cremation, — Avere recently discovered in the tower of Timahoe." But, I would ask, Avhere are the evidences of either of these facts? and I must add that I utterly disbeHcA-e the statement, respecting the recent discovery of the burned bones in the Tower of Timahoe. JNIr. Windele, hoAv- ever, Avas fortified in his conclusion, not only by the Sardinian Nu- raghes, but also by an opinion advanced by O'Brien, the author of " The Round Towers of Ireland," that amongst their other uses these buildings were occasionally, in part, apphed to sepulchral piu-poses, like some of the Guebre Towers in Persia, and the Ceylonese Dagobs, and also by the fact, that " Sir William Betham at once declared that he fully adopted that opinion." Thus doubly armed, Mr. Win- dele, commimicating a portion of the enthusiasm so excited to the gentlemen of the South Munster Society of Antiquaries, inflamed that zealous body Avith such ardour to substantiate his h}^othesis, that they set out on journeys of discovery to the principal Roimd Towers remaining in their own province, to excavate the very foundations
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 71J
of those Towers in search of the wished-fi)r human remains. The result will be best told in Mr. "NMndele's own woixls, as given in llie Cork Southern Reporter :
" Researches amongst the Round Towers.
" The public attention has lately been directed, tliroiigh the press, to the discovery of a human Skeleton, within the basement of the Round Tower of Ardniore, in the Coimty of Waterford. Since then the lower portion of a second Skeleton, consisting of the femoral and tibial bones, were found at a little distance from the former. And, in the nave of the ruined church adjoining, Mr. Windele discovered a fragment of an Ogham inscription, containing nine letters ; this had, probably, been removed at some distant time from the cemetery. These discoveries opened up a new subject of specula- tion to the antiquaries. An opinion advanced by O'Brien, the author of " the Round Towers of Ireland," that, amongst their other uses, those buildings were occasionally, in part, appropriated to sepulchral purposes, like some of the Gheber Towers of Persia, and the Ceylonese Dagobs was now regarded of greater value than it was supposed it was originally entitled to. Sir William Betham at once declared that he fully adopted that opinion ; he was fortified in it by the facts previously known, that in the Towers of Ram Island and Tuuahoe evidences of ancient interment had been found. Others again, unwilling to abandon previously cherished hypotheses, suggested that Ardniore Tower may have been erected in a more ancient christian cemetery, belonging to Declan's Monastery ; and the absence of the head and feet of one Skeleton, and of the whole trunk of the second, they alleged proved, that in digging for a foundation for the Tower, the builders merely cut a circular trench, amongst the graves, leavintr undisturbed the narrow space within its periphery, and consequently, such portion of human remains as lay interred therein. This was certainly an ingenious solution, hut then why all this hermetical sealing of that portion of the Tower above these remains, first laying down a concrete floor, then four successive layers of solid mason work, and finally above these a second floor of concrete. Even rejecting this, as of no ac- count, it is contended that it is not a necessary consequence that the Tower must have
been christian, altho' it had been erected within a more ancient cemetery Men died
and were buried before Christianity, and there were Pagan as well as Christian burial grounds. But in this case, laying aside all the strong and stubborn arguments in fa- vour of the pillar tower having been a Heathen Temple, dedicated to the Sun, or fire, there are two or three special considerations peculiar to Ardmore. In the first place, the lands on which it is situate are called Ardo, the height of the_/?re, — secondly, the ancient life of St. Declan, whilst it is particular in its mention of the churches and monastic buildings, is totally silent as to the Cuilcagk or Tower, which it would not have been, did this, the most remarkable of all the structures at Ardmore, owe its origin to that saint or any of his successors. Then again, the finding of the Ogiiam fragment. In a question of this kind this may be considered as of importance. Tlie Ogham writing has been generally considered as Druidical, as tin- original liteiary character of pagan Ireland, whose descent has been traced back to Babylonia and Persepolis — the ancient of days. In Ireland the majority of inscriptions in this ehai-iie- ter, hitherto brought to light, have been obtained from localities of decidedlj- a heathen
78 INQUIRY ITO THE ORIGIN AND USES
That in the style of msonry observable in these ancient sepul- chres, for such they uudobtedly are, there is a striking agreement to be found with that of mny ancient monuments in Ii-elaud, as well as with the Cj'clopean reiains of Greece and Italy, I am far from dentins. On the contran I can claim the merit of ha\dng been the first to direct the attentiorof the learned to this interesting circum- stance— a fact which I cosider as of far greater value and impor- tance, to the history of th British Islands, than even the settlement of the question of the origi of the Round Towers — in my Essay on the Ancient Mihtary Arcltecture of Ireland, presented to the Eoyal Irish Academy in 1836, ad which was honoirred with the gold me- dal of that distinguished bdy. But, as I shall hereafter show, there are radicallv distinctive caracteristics in all these remains, which are not found in our Roud Towers. To ^Mr. Windele, however, the resemblance of the Rund Towers to the Nuraghes of Sardinia appears so striking that htjumps at once to the conclusion that the former were not only firdemples of the Giiebres, biit also in part sepulchres or monumentsof the dead, as the latter are known to have been. " This," he sttes, " would not be very mconsistent ■\\'ith the character of the Irish owers ; human bones having been found interred witliin that at Rm Island in Antrim, and similar relics, — but having imdergone th ancient pagan process of Cremation, — were recently discovered n the tower of Timahoe." But, I woiild ask, Avhere are the evidencs of either of these facts? and I must add that I utterly disbelieve th' statement, respecting the recent discovery of the biu'ned bones in tlu Tower of Timahoe. IMr. Windele, how- ever, was fortified in his onclusion, not only by the Sardinian Nu- raghes, but also by an opiion advanced by O'Brien, the author of " The Rouud Towers of Ijland," that amongst their other uses these buildings were occasional}, in part, apphed to sepulchral purposes, like some of the Guebre l)wers in Persia, and the Ceylonese Dagobs, and also by the fact, tha " Sir William Betham at once declared that he fully adopted tha opinion." Thus doubly armed, ]\Ir. Win- dele, communicating a pf tion of the enthusiasm so excited to the gentlemen of the South IVlnster Society of Antiquaries, inflamed that zealous body with such rdour to substantiate his hj^o thesis, that they set out on journeys c discovery to the principal Romid Towers remaining in their own povince, to excavate the \ery foundations
i>^
^ tea-; ai^ ■ t\m.h)Kitmwm
aiii
ml • aipor-
••tliete
•ever,
•ai tie
il>j io part
i.'i^im to
•I'M in'tl
'»';/»/),— '' But. I would
!:;ri-taiid ■ '^erj
iiOW-
- ;:N'tt-
jutior of
• :*.< lliese
-Daffobs, ikflared Mr. Win-
.1 1. 1 tlie
■' ,..'v, that
: T'iffers
■ .'..■iitions
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF JELAND
of those Towers in search of the wished- r human remains. Hie result will be best told in Mr. Windele's drn words, as given in the Cork Southern Reporter :
79
I
" Researches amongst the Eoto Towers.
" Tte public attention has lately been directed, th ugli the press, to the discovery of a human Skeleton, within the basement of the R nd Tower of Ardmore, in the County of "Waterford. Since then the lower portion < i second Skeleton, consisting of the femoral and tibial bones, were found at a little dis ice from the former. And, in the nave of the ruined church adjoining, Mr. Wind i discovered a fragment of an Ogham inscription, containing nine letters ; this had, -obably, been removed at some distant time from the cemetery. These discoveries oj ;ed up a new subject of specula- tion to the antiquaries. An opinion advanced by O'l en, the author of " the Round Towers of Ireland," that, amongst their other uses, 1 se buildings were occasionally, in part, appropriated to sepulchral purposes, like som f the Gheber Towers of Persia, and the Ceylonese Dagobs was now regarded of greai value than it was supposed it was originally entitled to. Sir William Betham at on declared that he fully adopted that opinion ; he was fortified in it by the facts prev isly known, tliat in the Towers of Ram Island and Tiniahoe evidences of ancient int iient had been found. Others again, unwilling to abandon previously cherished hyj heses, suggested that Ardmore Tower may have been erected in a more ancient ( 'istian cemetery, belonginn- to Declan's Monastery ; and the absence of the head an< set of one Skeleton, and of the whole trunk of the second, they alleged proved, tha i digging for a foundation for the Tower, the builders merely cut a circular trei , amongst the graves, leaviuT undisturbed the narrow space within its periphery, s consequently, such portion of human remains as lay interred therein. This was cer nly an ingenious solution, but then why all this hermetical sealing of that portion c he Tower above these remains, first laying down a concrete floor, then four succe re layers of solid mason work, and finally above these a second floor of concrete. ] in rejecting this, as of no ac- count, it is contended that it is not a necessary conse ;nce that the Tower must have
been christian, altho' it had been erected within a vo ; ancient cemetery Men died
and were buried before Christianity, and there were gan as well as Christian burial grounds. But in this case, laying aside all the stron md stubborn arguments in fa- vour of the pillar tower having been a Heathen Tern ', dedicated to the Sun, or fire, there are two or three special considerations peculiai i Ardmore. In the first place, the lands on which it is situate are called Ardo, the ight of the_^re, — secondly, the ancient life of St. Declan, whUst it is particular in ij mention of the churches and
monastic buildings, is totally silent as to tlic Cuilcai' have been, did this, the most remarkable of all origin to that saint or any of his successors fragment. In a question of this kind this Ogham writing has besa^^^S'Uy COJ character of \rA's' Persepolis — ' ' ter, hith'"
iaoie oi ail
3cessor^^|fB
this^^^Pr
'"v Tdwer, which it would not
'ures at Ardmore, owe its
the finding of the Ogham
■d as of importance. Tlie
L-al, as the original literary
^k 'i;iik to Babylonia and
" j^^-ij)tiuns in this clianic-
'of decidedly a heulheii
t'u
Irish
dal cr
are r
arc II
the 1
appeM
former a
sepulcl
have bc'v
the chara
interred -
but havhig i
were recen i
ask, where v
that I utterl}
of the bui'iied
ever, was forliJi'
raghes, hut a,l~
"The Round T>
buildmgs were oi
like some of tin-
and also by the
that he fully adopi
dele, communicatiii_;
gentlemen of the Soutli
zealous body with sm
they set out on journe\
remaining in their own
OF THE ROUND TOWERS
:i Island, Ardmore and C'loyne were, amongst o^r |)oses ; whilst the society have, by their inves ^tied th-e fact, that other similar buildings, sT : Covinty of Cork, were not similarly used."
2h
iscc sr
hat Mr. Windele tliought that tli< of the Round Towers was now se ■rs, appears from a letter, siibseqii 'ork Southern Reporter, and afte of the Archaeologist, in Avhic 'iiayine that the recent discov e had a sedative effect on i Towers." But he was, I thii is. I, for one, must declar ' lofs on which he rests his uidaiii, wliose object appei !ie theorists on this subje( jibsurd than any previou inine Mr. Windele's dii were made, first noticing, ' of Sir William Bethanfth; I ■ Towers of Eam Islan at such vague statemfit: \er in an inquiry of ■ found in those two 1 interred there cotenl)r ■ make the fact wor t this was necessar into which it has I ) in the cemeter r Wilham Bethai ■ Tower of Tima|)e construction, — t what proof 1 ■ars to have 1-ith August, 'rnf bones if true, yv^ow] •r, in which
M
F IRELAND.
81
uses, appropriated to sepulchral .tions in other directions, also es- as Cashel and Kinneh, in the west
uestion of the Origin and ed to the satisfaction of all tly addressed to the Editor ards published in the sixth e states, that he " had the es at Ardmore and Cloyne th ,00 long vexed question of
a little too sangiune in his hat I am no more satisfied inclusions than his Munster
to have been to enjoy a by gravely propounding a
advocated.
.ies separately in the order Dwever, his statement given
at similar discoveries had and Timahoe ; on which I
s should be considered as
kind. For, granting that )wers, I would ask — Could
nieously Avith the erection thing it sliould be satis-
the case. I knoAv myself
en usual for a long time to
the custom is continued
has, indeed, stated, tliat the
— a Tower which I shall
•e cremated, and contained
he given us for this fact ?
doubts about it, for in a
341, he asks: "Is it a fact
in Timahoe ?" And
settle the age of tliese build-
an by no means concui", as
anyi
7 Qd
s( e
ws found
80 IXQriUY INTO THE OrJGIN' AND USES
nrigin. Bealalianiirc (' the ])laco of the fiuUl of luloration') near this c'ity, possesses 2 — Beallaurannig in Keny, where 7, and Coolcoolaught in the same eoimty where 6 re- luaiii, were botli ancient pagan cemeteries ; 5 inscribed stones form tin' imposts of an okl Pehisgieo-lrish cave at Diniloe ; 2 simihir stones occupy a like situation in a similar cave, in a llatli west of Bandon ; all this is strong evidence of the Pagan cha- racter of these inscriptions, and the finding one at Ardmore is per se a demonstration that the place had been in possession of the Pagans, and therefore the probability of a Glu'bcr Tower and Cemetery. At all events, discovery of the skeletons not being deemed absolutely conclusive, further exploration in other similar structures was considered necessary. Permission from the Dean and Chapter having been obtained, it was resolved to examine the Tower at Cashel. Accordingly -on .the 3rd and 4th of the present month, Messrs. Horgan, Odell, Hacket, Abell, Willes, Keleher and Win- dele undertook the execution of that task ; they were joined at Cashel by the Very Rev. Dean Cotton, to whose excellent taste in repairs and excavations all lovers of the pic- turesque and admirers of the remarkable remains of antiquity which crown tlie rock, stand so much indebted. The door of this Tower is 12 feet above the external plinth which forms the base of the building. The interior of the structure was found filled with loose earth intermixed with human bones to a depth of 2 feet ; under this ac- cumulation was found a mass of solid stone work, forming the original floor of the tower, five feet nine inches below the door. Through this the workmen employed wroun-ht for two days, until late in the evening of the 4th they reached the founda- tion, ascertaining that the masonry extended to the very floor of the rock on which the tower was based. This satisfied the explorers that at least all the towers were not sepulchral.
" Small fragments of charcoal were found at tlie liase of the tower. Whether tliese could have ever formed any portion of a sacred fire, once burning within the tower, who can affirm or rationally deny ? The idea of such a possible use has however been thrown out, and again met by a scepticism founded on the fewness of the particles discovered. Nothing, it would seem, less tlian a wheel-l>arrow full woidd sxiit the gentleman who propounded doubts upon the suliject ; but he forgot that the place where they were found was a small hole not more than 18 inches diameter, and of a like depth, merely opened to ascertain the distance of the rock from the surface.
" Not content, however, with this examination, they next pitched upon tlie tower of Cloyue, and here their operations were crowned with perfect success. On Thursday last, under the superintendence of Mr. William Hackett, the workmen, after pene- trating through about two feet of rubbish, reached a solid floor, about a foot in thick- ness, formed of small stones, laid in gravel, so firndy bedded as to yield only to re- peated efforts with the crow-bar and pick-axe. Under this they found, within a space of six feet diameter, a stratum of earth-mould, in which were discovered three skele- tons, laid west and east, two of them lying side by side of each other, and the third under these. The gentlemen under whose directions these researches were prosecuted, and wdio were in attendance on this interesting occasion, were the Kev. Messrs. Hor- gan, Rogers, Jones, Bolster and D. Murphy, Messrs. Hackett, Sainthill, Abell, Win- dele, Keleher and J. Jennings.
" This discovery sets at rest the question, raised but not deemed satisfactorily disposed of, at Ardmore ; and it stands now ascertained, that the towers of Timahoe,
OF TUE UOpCD TOWERS OF IRELAND. A]
Ram Island, Anlniorc and C'loyne were, amongst otlier \ises, a[>]irn|iriatcd to seimKliial purposes ; whilst the society have, by their investigations in olhcr di reel ions, also e^- tublished thf tact, that other similar buildings, siieh as L'aslu-1 and Iviiineh, in tiie w«->l
of the County of Cork, were )H)t similarly used."
That Mr. Wiudele thought that the question of tlie Origin siiul Uses of the Round Towers was now settled to the satisfaetioii of all inquirers, appears from a letter, subsequently addressed to the Editor of the Cork Southern Reporter, and afterwards published in the sixth number t)f the Archaeologist, in Avhich he states, that lie "had tlie t'ollv to imagine that the recent discoveries at Ardmore and Cluyne would have had a sedative effect on the too long vexed question of the Round Towers." But he was, I think, a little too sanguine in his expectations. I, for one, must declare that I am no more satisfied with the proofs on which he rests his conclusions than his Munster opponent Qiihhun, whose object appears to have been to enjoy a laugh at all the theorists on this subject, by gravely propomiding a new one more absurd than any previously advocated.
I shall examine Mr. "Windele's discoveries separately in the ordrr in "w^hich they were made, first noticing, however, his statement given on the authority of Sir William Betham, that similar discoveries had been made in the Towers of Ram Island and Timahoe ; on which I must observe, that such vague statements should be considered as of no value whatever in an inquiry of this kind. For, granting that human bones were f nuid in those two Towers, I woidd ask — Could they only have been interred there cotemporaneousl}- with the erection of the Towers. To make the fact worth anything it should be satis- factorily proved that this was necessarily the case. I know myself manyRotuid Towers, into which it has been usual for a long time to throw the bones dug up in the cemetery, and the custom is continued at the present day. Sir William Betham has, indeed, stated, that the bones found within the Tower of Timahoe, — a Tower which 1 shall prove to be of Christian construction, — were cremated, and contained Avithin a pagan urn ; but what proof has he gi\-en us I'or this fact ? Mr. Windele himself appears to have some doubts about it, for in a letter to me, dated Cork, I'ith August, 1841, he asks: "Is it a fact that an itrn containing burnt bones was found in Timahoe ?' And he adds this remark, " this, if true, would settle the age of these build- ings"— a conclusion, however, in which I can l)y no means conciu-, a>
M ■
82
IXQUIEY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
the erection of a Round Tower in Cliristian times on the site of a pagan sepulchre would not be a very unlikely circumstance.
Proceeding now with ISIr. "Windele's recent and better authenti- cated discoveries, I shall, in the first place, remark, with respect to the Tower of Ardmore, that what he calls the ingenious solution which was offered respecting the erection of that Tower ui a more ancient Christian cemetery, is, in my opinion, not only an ingenious one, but tlie most rational that could possibly be offered. According to IMr. Wuidele,hoAvever, there are two or three special considerations l)eculiar to Ai'dmore, wliich favoiu' the conclusion as to its pagan origin. In tlie first place, he says, " the lands on wliich it is situated are called Ardo, the height of the fire." Now on this statement I have to observe, first, that this is not the fact, for the Tower is situated on the glebe of Ardmore, or the gi'eat height, and, as appears from the Latin Life of St. Declan, the place was more anciently called Ard na g-caerach, and explained by Altitvdo orhnn. Secondly, there are no lands in the parish of Ardmore called Ardo, as Mr. Windele states, though there is a gentleman's house so called, but there are two townilands called Ardochesty and Ardoguinagh, one of which adjoins the glebe of Ardmore ; and Mr. Windele had no authority ibr calling those toAvnlands Ardo simply, or for his statement that the Eound Tower of Ai'dmore is situated on either of them. And thii'dly, even gi-anting that Ardo Avas the name of the lands on which the Tower stands, it could not possibly signify the height of the fire, or legitimately admit of any interpretation but height of the yew, fi-om ard, a height, and eo, of the yew. Mr. Windele's second argmnent is, that the ancient Life of St. Declan, whilst it is particular in its men- tion of the chiu'ches and monastic buildings, is totally silent as to the cuilcagh or tower, which it would not have been did this, the most remarkable of all the structures at Ardmore, owe its origin to that saint or any of his successors. This appears to me a most illogi- cal conclusion. If, as ]Mr. Windele asserts, the ancient Life of St. Declan, whilst it is particular in its mention of the churches and monastic buildings, is totally silent as to the cuilcagh or tower, the legitimate conclusion, I think, would be, that the Tower was not in
O 7 7 1
existence when the Life was Avritten ; and though it may be fair to draAv an inference that the Life would not liaA^e been silent as to the erection of this Tower — the most remarkable of all the structures at
^^m
'4^.
I i'
OF THE EOrXD TOWERS OF IKELANP.
83
one
« f hich ihf
Ardiuoro— had it owed its origin to St, Doclan. it soenis somowhai ludia-ous to expect tJiat it should record its erection, l.y any of St.. IX- clun's successors, unless it were first ]>roved that the Life was written siibseqnently to tJie existence of tJiose successors, and lliat llie Life o{ St. Declan included the Lives of liis successors also.
Lastly, Mr. AVindele says, " then apun the finding of the Ogham fragment. In a question of this kind this may be considered as of importance. The Ogham writing Inis been generally ci>nsidered a.- Druidical, as tlic orighial hierary t'haracter of Pagjin In'laiid, whose descent has been traced back to Babylonia and PersepoHs, tljc an- cient of days." To tliis I answer, tJiat tlie Druidical origm of tlie ( )ghani writing still remains to be proved ; but, even granting that it is Druitlical, as he states, the fintUng of an inscription in this cha- racter at -Aj-dmore would prove uotiing, as it is jierfectly certiiiu that the chivracter was used by Christian ecclesiastics both in manuscripts, and inscriptions on stone. But I have a stronger objection to make on tliis point. I utterly deny tJiat the lines on the stone at Ai\hnc>re ai-e a litenuj inscri])tion of any kind, and I chidlenge Iklr. "Windele to s\i]-)port his assertion by proof So much then for tJje discoveries at Ardmore !
These discoveries not being deemed absolutely couclusive, further exploration in other similar structures was considered necessary; and acconlingly the South ]SIimster Anticpiaries pn^-eed to examine the Tower of Cashel, and the result wa* such as "satisfied the ex- ]>lorers that, at least., aff the Towers were naf sejiulchral." But 1 had nearly forgotten that, though tl^ey ascertained tlnit the Tower of Cashi'l was not a sepidchre, tJiey discovered evidences to fiivour the conclusion that it was a sacred fire-temjtle, namely, a few jwrtieles of cliarci-uil in a small hole at the base o{ the Tower on the outside. And Mt. AVindele ti'imnphautly asks, " whetlier tliese could have ever foi'med any portion of a sacivd fire once biuniing M-ithin tin- tiiwer, who can aJfii-m or rationally deny?" Now 1, for one, will ra- tionally, as 1 think, deny the probability of such a conclusion, and 1 think I can assign very suilicieut i\^asous for doing so. In the first place, I repeat tliat we ha\ c no evidence whatever that sacred fires were ever hghted in Toircrs in this country ; but we have an abun- dance of evidence, which I shall herciifter adduce, to jirove tlial the Towers, that is, the wooden fioors, &c. of them, as weU as Uie
M 2
82 IXQUIUY INTO THE UlUGIN AND USES
the erection of a Round Tower in Christian times on tlie site of ti pagan sepulchre would not be a ver}- unlikely cii-eumstance.
Proceeding now with ^h\ Windele's recent and better authenti- cated discoveries, I shall, in the lirst place, remark, with respect to the Tower of Ardmore, that what he calls the ingenious solution which was offered respecting the erection of that Tower in a more ancient Chi-istian cemetery, is, in my opinion, not only an ingenious (me, but the most rational that could possibly be offered. According to Mr. Windele, however, there are two or three special considerations jjecuhar to Ardmore, which favom- the conclusion as to its pagan origin. In the first place, he says, " the lands on wliich it is situated are called Ardo, the height of the fi^re." Noav on this statement I have to observe, first, that this is not the fact, for the Tower is situated on the glebe of Ardmore, or the great height, and, as appears from the Latin Life of St. Declan, the place was more anciently called Ard )ia g-caerach, and explained by Altitudo ovium. Secondlv, there are no lands in the parish of Ardmore called Ardo, as Mr. Windele states, though there is a gentleman's house so called, but there are two townlands called Ardochesty and Ardoguinagh, one of which adjoins the glebe of Ardmore; and Mr. Windele had no authority ibr calling those townlands Ardo simply, or for his statement that the Romid Tower of Ai-dniore is situated on either of them. And thirdly, even granting that Ai'do was the name of the lands on which the Tower stands, it coidd not possibly signify the height of the fire, or legitimately admit of any interpretation but height of the yew, from ard, a height, and eo, of the ycAV. Mr. Windele's second argimient is, that the ancient Life of St. Declan, whilst it is particidar in its men- tion of the churches and monastic buildings, is totally silent as to the cuilcagh or tower, which it would not have been did this, the most remarkable of all the structures at Ardmore, owe its origin to that saint or any of his sxiccessors. This appears to me a most illogi- cal conclusion. If, as Mr. Windele asserts, the ancient Life of St. Declan, whilst it is particiilar in its mention of the churches and monastic buildings, is totally silent as to the ntilcagh or tower, the legitimate conclusion, I think, would be, that the Tower was not in existence when the Life was written ; and though it may be fair to tbaw an inference that the Life would not have been silent as to the erection of this ToAver — the most remarkable of all the structures at
OF THE ROUXD TOWERS OF IRELAND. S;?
Ardmore — had it owed its origin to St. Doclan, it sconis soiiu'wIku ludicrous to expect that it sliould record its erection, by any ol'St. l)u- clan's successors, unless it were first proved that the Life was written subsequently to the existence of those successors, and that the Lilc of St. Declan included the Lives of his successors also.
Lastly, Mr. Wiudele says, " then again the finding of the Ogham fragment. In a question of this kind this may be considered as of importance. The Ogham Avritiug lias been generally considered as Druidical, as the original hterary character of Pagan Ireland, Avliose descent has been traced back to Babylonia and Persepolis, — the an- cient of days." To this I answer, that the Druitlical origin of the ( )gham writing still remains to be proved ; but, even granting that it is Druidical, as he states, the finding of an inscrijjtion in this cha- racter at Ardmore woidd prove nothing, as it is perfectly certain that the character was used by Christian ecclesiastics both in manuscripts, and inscriptions on stone. But I have a stronger olyection to make on this point. I utterly deny that the lines on the stone at Aixlmore are a literary inscription of any Ivind, and I challenge Mr. "Windele to support his assertion by jiroof. So much then for the discoveries at Ai'dmore !
These discoveries not being deemed absolutely conclusive, further exploration in other similar structiu'es was considered necessary; and accordingly the South Munster Antiquaries proceed to examine the Tower of Cashel, and the result Avas such as " satisfied the ex- plorers that, at least, all the Towers were not sepulchral." But I had nearly forgotten that, though they ascertained that the Tower of Cashel was not a sepulchre, they discovered evidences to favoia- the conclusion that it was a sacred fire-temple, namely, a few particles of charcoal in a small hole at the base of the To-\\er on the outside. And Mr. Windele triumphantly asks, " whether these could have ever formed any portion of a sacred fire once burning within the tower, Avho can affirm or rationally deny?" Now I, for one, will ra- tionally, as I think, deny the probabiUty of such a conclusion, and I think I can assign very sufficient reasons for doing so. In the fu'st place, I repeat that we have no evidence whatever that sacred fires were ever hghted in Toirers in this country ; but we have an abun- dance of evidence, which I shall hereafter adduce, to prove that the Towers, that is, the wooden floors, &c. of them, as well as tlie
M 2
84 IXQUIRY IXTO THE UlUGIN AND USES
churches, were often burned by the phmdcring Danes. But,— to come to an evidence more in point in connexion with Cushel itself, — is Mr. Windele ignorant that in the year 1495 tlie cathedral, with which the Tower is in immediate contact, was burned by Gerald, the eighth Earl of Kildare, for which act being accused before tlie king, his excuse was that it was trae, but that he had supposed the archbishop was in it ! Now, I ask, would not this conflagration sufficiently ac- count for an abundance of charcoal being found beside its walls, not to speak of a few particles ? I5ut these charcoal remains may be even of later date; for I have been informed that the boys of Cashel in recent times, but previously to the enclosure of the cemetery by Dean Cotton, were in the habit of lighting fires within the Tower to smother the young owls and other birds, which made the interior of it their home.
I may here observe, that some time after the examination of this Tower at Cashel, the South Munster Society of Antiquaries also examined the Round Tower of Kinneh, in tlie County of Cork, and that the result, as comnumicated to me by Mr. Windele, in a letter, dated 25th September, 1841, was as follows :
"We some time since examined the Round Tower of Kinneh. It is based on the rock, and on the inside the tower is open down to its base, — the solid rock forming its floor. Thus Cashel and Kinneh prove that all were not sepulchral."
The want of success of the South Munster Antiquaries in these examinations, though it may have damped, was not sufficient to de- stroy their enthusiastic ardovrr. Though it was now certain that all the Towers were not sepulchres, it was yet possible that one or more than one of them might ha^-e been erected for that purpose. Ac- cordingly, " they next pitched upon the Tower of Cloyne, and here tlieir operations were crowned with perfect success. Under a sohd floor about a foot in thickness, formed of small stones laid in gravel, so firmly bedded as to yield only to repeated efforts of the crow-bar and pick-axe," they actually found, " within a space of six feet diame- ter, a stratum of earth-mould, in which were discovered three skele- tons, laid west and east, two of them lying side by side of each other, and the third under these." To leave no doubt of the truth of the preceding statement, Mr. Windele gives us a hst of the eleven gen- tlemen who were in attendance on the occasion of this interesting discovery. " The gentlemen under whose directions these researches
OF THE KOUND TOWKliS oK IHEI.ANn. 85
wei-e prosecuU'd, and wlio wore in attendance on this intei-estinLr oc- casion, were the Reverend Messrs. Ilorgan, Rogers, Jones, Bt)lster, and D. Murphy, Messrs. ITackett, Sainthill, Abell, Windele, Kelulier, and J. Jennings."
To this last statement I wish particularly to call tlie attention of the reader, as, if correct, it would follow as a matter of course, that there would be no disagreement, as to the nature of the facts stated, among the persons who werepn^sent on the occasion of the discovery. Yet it is remarkable that there is a strikitii; disa<;r(!ement betweiMi the account, which I have above quoted, and one subsequcjitlv luil)- lished in the same Cork newspaper. This disagreement will sulH- ciently appear from the following extracts from letters with which I have been kindly favoured Ijy Mr. Windele himself In the fnst of these letters, dated 25th September, 1841, Mr. Windele thus writes:
" I hasten to inform you oftlie result of an excavation wliidi we caused to be niaile, on the 23rd instant, in the lower part of the Round Tower of Cloyne.
" You ai-e prol lably aware that that building is based upon a lime stone rock, wliirli stands out several feet higher than the surrounding- ground, and that between it and thy cemetery, in which stands the Cathedral, runs the high road, which here forms one of the principal streets of the ancient town of Cloyne. The workmen commenced by clearing out about 2^ feet of rubbish, under which they found a floor of small stones, a large powder pavement, which could not be penetrated by spade or shovel, but yielded to the pick-axe ; beneath this, in loose mould, were found Iniinun bones, u xkiill, and fragments of decayed timber. The space, within which the bones were found, is (i feet, and the mason-work is, as it were hollowed to receive the bodies.
" This discovery you will probably deem to be confirmatory of that already made at Ardmore."
From Mr. Wiudele's second letter, dated 29th September. 1841. it will, however, appear, that the preceding account was any thing but a correct one ; and, it would also appear, that Mr. AVindele was not present at the excavation at all. He thus Avrites :
" Last week I sent you a report, obtained at second band, of so far as related tn our antiquarian researches at Cloi/ne. Since then I visited, with others of the ancient I'rat't. the Tower in question, and I now enclose you a semi-oHicial statement of what occurred ; and in so doing, it is right that I should inform you that the statement, with regard to fragments of timber being found, was incorrect, no such remains having been disco- vered. It is a curious circumstance that many small oyster shells have been taken out from amongst the clay and rubble which covered the skeletons ; could these once have been men ? Lord Kaimes has somewhere said, that 'men by inaction degenerate into
oysters,' and Sir , in more recent times, when speaking of his Jim Crow
propensities, declared he did not know if he should not yet iMrn into an oyster ! A\"e
86
INHiUIRV INTO THE OIUGIN AND USES
tire tuld of an Indian Bramin who shut himself up in a Tower for 40 years, during wdiich lengthened period he industriously occupied himself in merely looking at the
wall and tliinkin" of nothing. AVho knows but, in these unexpected shells, we may
have found some old Indo-Irish Bramins, whose contemplative inaction might have been productive of an ostracism. To the Budhists this, I submit, is -worth some con- sideration.
" Since writing the foregoing I received your letter of the 27th instant, and now beg to answer your queries. The feet of the skeletons were under or in a line below the door of the Tower, which faces the S. E. ; consequently the bodies lay from N. ^^^ to N. E. (not West and East as in Report).
" The hollowing of the mason-work to receive the bodies you are to reject. That was a fancy of my informant, who laboured hard on my visit, to persuade me of its correctness, but as I could see no stich hollow I could not give in my assent. The little slvctch and measurements at foot will best explain."
The semi-official statement, above alluded to, is as follows : " Round Towers — Cloyne.
" A correspondent of the Southern Reporter thus writes — The announcement made in your last paper, so far as regards the proceedings of the South Munster Antiquarian Society at Cloyne, mentions merely the operations of the first day, Wednesday. Those of the succeeding day were of a far more decisive and interesting character. The result of the whole is stated in the proces verbal drawn up on the conclusion of their re- searches, with the approbation of the several gentlemen present, viz. : — The Rev. Messrs. Rogers, Lawless, Morgan, Bolster, and Dominick Murphy ; Messrs. A. Abell, R. SainthUl, J. Wiudele, F. Jennings, and W. Keleher. The document I send you, and is as follows : —
" ' Flaving proceeded to excavate the tower according to order, we entered a bed of earth and of decayed rotten timber (probably the fallen nests of jackdaws and other
OF Tllli KOUNl) TOWEUS OF IHELAND. s7
birds), interspersed witli decayed bones ofdifFerent animals and stones. Alur hawiig
cleared it out between tliree and lour feet, we then met a bed ol' broken limestone,
one foot four inches in thickness, underneath which was a bed of fine black earth,
wherein we met with three skeletons stretched in the usual way from west to east, one
being under the two, part of which I have kept ; having three couple of collar bones,
and three front parts of the lower jaw bones — the upper skeleton being the freshest.
Under these we met with a layer of coarse heavy stones, with the even or smooth
sides up, set in coarse gravel, under which were two tiers of light Hags. After that
we came to the solid rock.
'"W. Cii.vr.MA.N, tjexton.' '"Cloyne, 24th Sept., 1841.'"
Now I would seriously ask, is it possible that any rational iiKiuircr could give credence to statements so contradictory ol"eacli other, as those which I have now submitted to the reader, or is it on such statements that a question of this natiu'e is to be decided ? But I have not done with the discoveries in the Cloyne Tower yet. It will be seen from the annexed notice on this subject, recently ])ub- lished in the Cork Southern Reporter, and kindly transmitted to me by Mr. Windele, on the 9th of April, 1842, that the human remains found in this Tower, and originally represented only as " human bones and a skul/,'" having gradually assumed the forms of three hu- man skeletons, are now increased to foui', — and it is difficult to cdn- jecture how many they will make in the next accounts. These are certainly very extraordinary bones ! It Avill be seen also, from the same article, that the researches in the Round Tower of Cashel. which had been given up as an imsuccessful affair, even proving " that at least a!/ the Towers were not sepulchral," were, after all, not so unfortunate as had been supposed. But I must let the South JNIunster Society of Antiquaries now speak for themselves :
" Round Towers.
" Towards the close of the last summer we announced to our readers that a disco- very had been made, of importance, in the elucidation of the mystery in which the origin of these structures was involved. We then gave details connected with the dis- covery of human remains within the foundation of Ardmore Tower. From that time to the present, we venture to affirm, more attention has been paid, and more of prac- tical, rational investigation, has been directed to the suljject, than it ever previously received.
" We have had the pleasure of laying before our readers various interesting com- munications from our literary friends, which, by the talent, ingenuity, and erudition, they display, prove that the subject is in the very best hands. The Sovuh Munsfer Antiquarian Society has also been most active, owing to the untiring exertions of its
88 IXQIIRV INTO TIIIC ORIGIN AXD USES
membors, corrospniirleiiccs liavf been o[)ened in France, England, Scotland, and in niany placos in Ireland, all with most satisfactory results.
•• Tlinuifili the kindness of tlie licv. ilr. M-Cosh, of Brechin, (Scotland) a corres- jiondence has been established with the well known learned historian of that citj', D. D. Black, Esq., whose work we have read with very great ph'asiire.
" We shall now, leaving the discussion to those who are so well able to conduct it, proceed to state the discoveries made subsequently to that at Ardmore.
" In the month of September, several of our fellow-citizens met by appointment at Caslul the Very Rev. Dr. Cotton, of Lismore, and Edward Odell, Esq., whose la- bours we before mentioned. The Eound Tower there, was examined. Although human remains were found within that structure, yet, because they were near the surface mixed with earth and decayed timber, it was supposed they had been thrown in casually from the adjacent cathedral or burial ground. But it is now to be noted that there was evidence of a previous delving ; and the discoveries since made shew, at least, a probability, that the human bones there found, had been disturbed from their original resting place, within the foundation walls. It must, however, be admitted, that the Cashel researches, cannot be adduced as a positive instance of the sepulchral character of these towers. Not so with Cloyne ; there, at a depth from the doorway of about thirteen feet, being very nearly the same as at Ardmore, were found the bones of four human skeletons lying in the direction from West to East. The space within which tliey lav, was an irregular serrated oval of about six feet and a half by four.
" The Eoscrca Tower was opened three weeks since, at the request of our Society, by Edward Wall, Esq. of that town, who discovered human remains all tlirough, from the doorway downwards, in a depth of over ten feet. To the very interesting particu- lars given by !Mr. Wall, we purport adverting hereafter, as his researches are not yet concluded.
" The correspondence with Sir William Betham has shewn the success of the disco- veries to which that learned and zealous antiquary has been instriunental. His noljle friend, the Marquis of Downshire, caused to be opened the Round Tower of Drumbo. The tower of Maghera has also been opened; in both of which were found human remains. Similar results had previously attended the opening of the tower on Ram Island. The two most remarkable instances remain to be mentioned. We have the authority of Sir William Betham, that in the tower of Timahoe, there were not only human bones, but that a sepulchral Urn was found ; and by Mr. Black's history we learn that in Abernethy tower (Scotland) human skulls and bones were found in great numbers, and there was also discovered an urn. These two facts prove that Timahoe and Abernethy towers, at least, were pagan structures, and leave a strong presumption in favour of the same inference with regard to the others. As we are aware that many further researches are about to be made, we hope ere long to present our readers with the results."
\Yith respect to the disco^-eries in tlie Round ToAver of Cloyne, upon wliicli so much has been said, and so much stress krid, I shall only add, that it is my finn conviction, that none of the South Munster Society of Antiquaries were present at the exhumation of the bones; that the story of this exliiunation, which has assumed so many forms,
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. S'J
rests on no butter authority than that of the sexton, who was liirotl by the antiquaries to make tlie examination, and wliose story, in many of its details, the antiquaries themselves did not believe to be true ; and lastly, tliat the utmost that can be concluded from it is, that fragments of human bones were found in the rubbish, intermingled with those of other animals, oyster shells, and other remains. Of tin- discoveries of a similar nature more recently made in the Towers of Eoscrea, Maghera, Drumbo, and, 1 bcheve, others, no det^iiled ac- counts have reached me, with the exception of tliose in ilu' Tower of Drumbo : I believe, however, that it is only the discoveries in tiiis Tower that are considered of any importance, and of these I am enabled to present the reader with an acciu^ate account, kindlv com- municated tome by my ingenious friend, Mr. Edunuul (icttv, oj" 15el- fast, in a letter dated Belfast, lOtli of January, 1842.
" My friend Mr. Tliomson has commuuicated to me your note, requesting the par- ticidars of the opening of the Eound Tower of Drumbo, and I only delayed until a rough notice I had drawn up was read over by the Rev. Mr. Maunsell, by whose di- rections the enquiry was conducted. The tower, you will recollect, has lost part of its original height, and been filled up perhaps a few feet in the interior by stones thrown or fallen in, &c. 'The door described by Harris as 6 feet from the ground is now perhaps five feet.
" ' For the first two feet the debris thrown out very much resembled the soil of the adjacent grave yard, having mixed thro' it a quantity of human bones, not in any regular form, tho' perhaps more in one spot than another,' and which I feel satisfied hivs been thrown in from the burying ground ; ' some pieces of charcoal were found, and several of the stones thrown out bore evident marks of fire,' having been most j)r(i- bably used by persons forming fires here for temporary purposes unconnected with the original intention of the builders.
" 'After this depth (2 feet) the stufi' removed assumed more the appearance of mortar rubbish, and seemed in great measure (partly) composed of the ruins of the top of the tower which had fallen in at the period of its dilapidation, whic:h, it wnuld seem, must have been as early as 1744, for about that time Harris iu his County of Down describes the tower as being much as at present. Among the rubbish were large stones, a considerable number of them having marks of fire ; this is also observable in the interior of the building, where there is a slight superficial vitrification, but only above the surface of the ground, which has been lately excavated. Dubourdieu, in his Survey, published in 1802, takes notice of this appearance in these words : At some former time very strong fires have been burned icit/iin this building, and the inside aurfucc towards the bottom has the appearance of vitrification. This stuff so described was exca- vated to the depth of more than onefoot on the first day, and on the next morning the remainder of it was cast out, when the appearance changed to that of a rich black mould, apparently decomposed vegetable matter, with a gnod deal of charcoal and
90
INQUIRY INTO THE OKIGIX AND USES
,Huinthios of bones of various descriptions, chiefly of the lower animals,— some Loar tusks and jaws, a few short horns of oxen and other remains of those animals. AVhen this substance 'was thrown out to the depth of about three feet, having now reached a depth of about seven feet altogether below the surface, we commenced upon, a totally different soU made its appearance like the natural soil of the neighbourhood, yellowish or light brown ; it appeared to be covered aU over as well as we could trace, with a sligln coating of mortar, perhaps about one inch in thickness. Almost close under- neath this, and nearly opposite the doorway, was discovered the skull of a human skeleton. This skeleton was afterwards explored with as much caution as possible, when it was found in a very decomposed state, wanting the right arm and hand, and the two legs from the knee down. It lay by compass N. N. W. by W. the head towards the west. ° The skuU was tolerably preserved, having almost a perfect set of teeth in the lower jaw ; all the vertebra; remained undisturbed. In the earth was found the cap (patella) of one knee. No vestige of a coffin, dress or hair was observable. The skeleton was removed in order to continue the excavation, which was down to the depth of nearly two feet from the layer of mortar, when coming to the solid ground that appeared never to have been moved, and reaching the foundation of the tower without making any further discovery, the examination was considered to have been completed. The following measurements of the body were taken : from tlie crown of the head to the knee 4 feet, 3 inches ; from the hip-joint to the knee 1 foot 10 inches ; length of the back bone 2 feet ^ inch. The interior chamber of the tower is 9 feet. The body, as it was found, appeared to be so placed that, had it been entire, it would have occupied the centre of the ground, the head being about a foot, or rather more, from the western side of the tower.'
" The above notes were taken from an amended copy of a narrative of the exami- nation drawn up by me, and submitted for correction to the Rev. Horatio Maunsell, who, assisted by JMr. Durham of Belvidere, directed the operations. It was returned to me copied in part and amended in Mr. MaunseU's hand-writing. I am thus par- ticular, as Mr. Thomson and I did not go out to Drumbo till the third day, when the skeleton was discovered. I may add that we were informed, the plaster floor de- scribed was less perfect at the east side than to the west. It may either have been disturbed by former enquirers, or more probably affected by the weather, to which from being directly under the door, it was moi-e exposed than other parts. This may ac- count for the want of the legs from the knee-joint. Mr. Thomson, on our return to Mr. Callwell's, the proprietor of the estate, (the tower is in the freehold of the incum- bent Mr. ISIaunsell,) observed traces of hair on his shoes, which he considered had been mixed with the clay he trod on in the tower. The quantity of stones thrown out of the tower had composed a very small portion indeed of the material of the upjjer part of the tower, which most probably fell without, not within. The bones of animals found I consider to have been carried in by persons who made a temporary abode there ; and the marks of the fire may have been caused, if not by the flame from their rude hearth, by a luirning from accident of an interior floor and stairs, if such things, as I think probable, had existed.
" I delayed writing until I had received a reply from Mr. Maunsell, as I wished to o-ive you a perfect narrative of our proceedings. The part copied by him is marked by inverted commas."
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OF THE ItOUXD TOWERS OF IRELAND.
91
111 the precH'diiig iiccoinit I sec notliinp- to object to. Rut wliat is the conclusion to be fairly ckawn from it ? not surely thai it |)roves the Tower to have been raised as a sepulcliral nioiiunieiit in pa"an times, or even that the bones found within it were a deposit cotein- poraneous Avith its erection. To mc it appears that the only rtitional conclusion to be drawn from the discovery of these bones would be unfavourable even to the very early Christian antiquily <>f the Tower, for,^ike the discovery of the imperfect skeleton at Anlmore, — it in- dicates that the Tower was erected on a spot wliich litid been pre- viously used as a Christian cemetery, as the position of the remains clearly shows. And this, too, Avovdd account for the imperfection of the skeleton ; for, though it is obvious that in digging the foundation of the circular wall of the Tower it would have been necessary to pe- netrate to the virgin clay, and thus run the chance of removing a por- tion of a skeleton, or skeletons, yet, from the respect always paid t(} the remains of the dead among Christians, and even pagans, it would have been an object to leave the area enclosed within the circle un- distiu'bed as far as possible.
So much then for this singular hypothesis. But it will be asked, liow do I account for the discovery of pagan lU'ns in the Towers of Timahoe in Ireland and of Abernethy in Scotland ? and, certainly, if these discoveries were satisfactorily proved, they woidd, as Mr. Win- dele writes to me, stand much in the way of my theory. But they are not satisfactorily proved. "With respect to the discovery of the urn in the Tower of Timahoe, I have already expressed my utter disbehef of the statement, and have also shown that Mr. Windele himself is not without doubts of its truth ; and, Avith respect to the alleged discovery of human bones and an urn in the ToAver of Aber- nethy, I shall ventm-e also to express my disbelief of it, and Avill state my reasons for doing so. It Avill be recollected, that this statement, as already given in full, Avas put forAvard in the Cork Southern Re- porter, as resting on the very respectable authority of Mr. D. D. Black's History of Brechin, and that not a Avord Avas said of any other autho- rity for the facts. The Avords are, " by INIr. Black's history Ave learn, that in Abernethy Tower (Scotland) human skulls and bones Avere found in great munbers, and there Avas also discovered an urn ;'" and it is added, " these two facts prove that Timahoe and Abernethy ToAvers at least, Avere pagan structm'es, and leave a strong presum])-
N 2
go INCiUlUY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
boar
iiuantities of bones of various descriptions, chiefly of the lower animals,— some tusks and jaws, a few short horns of oxen and other remains of those animals. When this substance was thrown out to the depth of about three feet, having now reached a depth of about seven feet altogether below the surface, we commenced upon, a totally different soil made its appearance like the natural soil of the neighbourhood, yellowish or light brown ; it appeared to be covered all over as well as we could trace, with a sliglu coating of mortar, perhaps about one inch in thickness. Almost close under- neath this, and nearly opposite the doorway, was discovered the skull of a human skeleton. This skeleton was afterwards explored with as much caution as possible, when it was found in a very decomposed state, wanting the right arm and hand, and the two legs from the knee down. It lay by compass N. N. W. by W. the head towards the west. ° The skuU was tolerably preserved, having almost a perfect set of teeth in the lower jaw ; all the vertebra; remained undisturbed. In the earth was found the cap {patella) of one knee. No vestige of a coffin, dress or hair was observable. The skeleton was removed in order to continue the excavation, which was down to the depth of nearly two feet from the layer of mortar, when coming to the solid ground that appeared never to have been moved, and reaching the foundation of the tower without making any further discovery, the examination was considered to have been completed. The following measurements of the body were taken : from the crown of the head to the knee 4 feet, 3 inches; from the hip-joint to the knee 1 foot 10 inches ; lem^th of the back bone 2 feet -| inch. The interior chamber of the tower is 9 feet. The body, as it was found, appeared to be so placed that, had it been entire, it would have occupied the centre of the ground, the head being about a foot, or rather more, from the western side of the tower.'
" The above notes were taken from an amended copy of a narrative of the exami- nation drawn up by me, and submitted for correction to the Eev. Horatio Maunsell, who, assisted by Mr. Durham of Belvidere, directed the operations. It was returned to me copied in part and amended in Mr. Maunsell's hand-writing. I am thus par- ticular, as Mr. Thomson and I did not go out to Drumbo till the third day, when the skeleton was discovered. I may add that we were informed, the plaster floor de- scribed was less perfect at the east side than to the west. It may either have been disturbed by former enquirers, or more probably affected by the weather, to which from being directly under the door, it was more exposed than other parts. This may ac- count for the want of the legs from the knee-joint. Mr. Thomson, on our return to Mr. Callwell's, the proprietor of the estate, (the tower is in the freehold of the incum- bent Mr. Maunsell,) observed traces of hair on his shoes, which he considered had been mixed with the clay he trod on in the tower. The quantity of stones thrown out of the tower had composed a very small portion indeed of the material of the upper part of the tower, which most probably fell without, not within. The bones of animals found I consider to have been carried in by persons who made a temporary abode there ; and the marks of the fire may have been caused, if not by the flame from their rude hearth, by a burning from accident of an interior floor and stairs, if such thuigs, as I think probable, had existed.
" I delayed writing until I had received a reply from Mr. Maunsell, as I wished to give you a perfect narrative of our proceedings. The part copied by him is marked by inverted commas."
OF THE ROUXl) TOWEKS OF IKELAXD. ()1
111 the preet'diiig account I sec iiotliing to ol)joct to. But what is tlie conclusion to be fairly drawn from it ? not surely that it proves the Tower to have been raised as a sepulchral nioninnent in pa>nin times, or even that the bones found within it wciv a deposit cotem- poraneous with its erection. To me it appears that the only rational conclusion to be drawn from the discovery of these bones would be unfavourable even to the very early Christian anticpiity of the Tower, for.^like the discovery of the imperfect skeleton at ArduKM-e, — it in- dicates that the Tower was erected on a spot whicli had been pre- viously used as a Christian cemetery, as the position ol'thc remains clearly shows. And this, too, woiUd account for the im])erl'ection of the skeleton; for, though it is obvious that in digging the foundation of the circular wall of the Tower it would have been necessary to pe- netrate to the virgin clay, and thus run the chance of removing a por- tion of a skeleton, or skeletons, yet, from the respect always paid to the remains of the dead among Christians, and even pagans, it would have been an object to leave the area enclosed within the circle un- disturbed as tar as possible.
So much then for this singular h}-potliesis. But it will be asked, how do I account for the discovery of pagan lU'ns in the Towers of Timahoe in Ireland and of Abcrncthy in Scotland ? and, certainly, if these discoveries Avere satisfactorily proved, they would, as j\Ir. ^\'in- dele wi'ites to me, stand much in the way of my theory. But they are not satisfactorily proved. With respect to the discovery of the urn in the Tower of Timahoe, I have already expressed my utter disbelief of the statement, and have also shown that Mr. Windele himself is not without doubts of its truth ; and, with respect to the alleged discovery of hiuxian bones and an urn in the Tower of Abei-- nethy, I shall venture also to express my disbelief of it, and will state my reasons for doing so. It will be recollected, that this statement, as already given in full, was put forward in the Cf)rk Southern Re- porter, as resting on the very respectable authority of Mr. D. D. Black's History of Brecliin, and that not a word was said of any other autho- rity for the facts. The words are, " by Mr. Black's liistory we learn, that in Abernethy Tow-er (Scotland) human skulls and bones wei-e found in great numbers, and there was also discovered an urn ;" and it is added, " these two facts prove that Timahoe and Abernethy Towers at least, Avere pagan structiu'es, and leave a strong prcsumj)-
N 2
92 iNQUiifY INTO I'lii': ()Ui(;iN and uses
lion in favour of the same iiifeieiice witli regard Lo the others." 1 laving for a considerable time failed to procure a copy of Mr. Black's work, I requested Mr. Wimlclc to favoni' me with a transcript of the passage in it, on whit'h this statement rested, and he sent me, as a copy of the extract required, a descriptive account of the Tower in (piestion, but nothing authorizing the statement put forward in refe- rence to the pagan urn. I have, however, been since favoured with a copy of Mr. Black's Avoik by its talented anllior, and 1 certainly do find sui'h a statement in it, not however, as Mr. Black's own, but as one put ibrward by the liev. Dr. Small, and whic'h Mr. Black very obviously regards as of very little value, as will appear fr(.»in the fol- lowing extract from his work :
"The Rev. Dr. Siiuill of Edcnsheail, Alicructliy, wlio lias writtrn u liook (.m ' IJo- mau Antiquities,' states the tradition, regarding the tower of Abernethy, to be, that it was erected as a burying place for ' tlu' Kings of the Picts,' and to the doctor ' it is as clear as a sunbeam, that the Pictish race of Kings lie all huricd within it.' In con- iirniation of this hypothesis, the Reverend Uoctor writes, that ou the lOth May, 1821, the interior of the tower was dug into, when, at about four feet from the surface, the Sexton found, in presence of the gentlemen assembled, ' plenty of human bones, and the fragments of a light green urn, with a row of carving round the bottom of the neck,' and that, digging still farther, they 'came to three broad flags, which either served as the bottom of the first coffin or the cover of another, and by removing one which seemed the largest, found that there were plenty of bones below; and thus, after gain- ing our end in ascertaining the original design of building it, as a cemetery for the Royal Family, we desisted,' says the doctor. We introduced ourselves to Dr. Small, from whom we purchased a copy oi his work. We are quite satisfied he is a gentleman on whose veracity implicit reliance may be placed; but we rather fear he jumps at conclu- sions, and is not a little credulous — and still worse, wc duubt his antiiiuarian skill. Shade of lluddleston, how woiddst thou shudder, if shades can shudder, to learn that Dr. Small derives Pittendriech, your l)urial jiliice of the Druids, from two connnun Scotch words — ascribing the origin of the term to the circumstance of the Romans having ' got a nuu'i' ilreich piece of road Jiitteii to them,' when fornnng their famous way through North Britain ! The doctor, in describing his researches in the lower, add.s, that the Se.xtoii uf Abernethy, aflerwards, lound ' seven ollur human skulls all lying togethei', all of them full-grown male skulls,' buried in the tower, one ol' which, the most entire, was carried away l)y Sir Walter Scott. Our friend, Thomas Simpson, the successor of the sexton alluded toby the linelur, hints pretty broadly, that situated so close to the kirk-yard as the tower is, there would be no great diflieulty in finding skulls in the latter, when it was once seen there was a demand for them. Thomas applies to this case the liunous axiom in political economv, that the demand regulates the supply." — History (f Brechin, p|). 2(),), 'M)(').
1 may also observe, that in anotlu'r ])assage in his work, Mr. Black
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. \y.\
II our
distinctly says, " Dr. SimiU's apeculatiun tlocs not coincidu with opinions ;" and also gives as his own opinion, that " tlie Kound Towt-r
of Brechin was erected somewhere about the year 1000," an opinion
whi(;]i I sluill lioreafter show is not far from tlie truth. As to I)i. Small's statement, and the speculation respectinir it in which \\v in- dulges, I may safely leave it to the consideration (jf my antifiuarian readers, who will be at no loss to determine the value of the alleged discovery of "y/•ag•w^e//^s• oj'n light green urn with a row of carving round the bottom of the neck," — a monument of pagan anti(|uity not previously found in the British isles ; and this is the fact that pnnes to the South Munster Society of Antiquaries that the Abernetliy Tower, at least, was a pagan structure !
I have also to state that Mr. Windele, at the time when he sent me the extracts from Mr. Bhu^k's work, also very kindly fa- voured me with the copy of a letter from the historian of Brechin to William Ilackett, Esq., of Middleton, a member of the South Munster Society of Antiquaries, detailing the results of excavations recently made under Mr. Black's direction within the Round Tower of Bre- chin ; and, as these details not only very cleai'ly exhibit the winter's opinions on the hypothesis under con.sideration, but also contain a very interesting account of the discoveries made on the occasion, I shall present his letter to the reader, in i'uU :
"ScoTL.iND, nrechin, VMIi Aju-/7, 1842.
" Dear Sir,
" The obstacles alluded to in my lust letter having all been removed, Mr. M'Cosh and I proceeded on this day week, Wednesday, 6th April, to excavate the interior of the round Tower of Brechin. Sir James Carnegie, Baronet, of Southesqiie, our jirincipal Heritor, taking an active interest in our proceedings, and Patrick Chal- mers, Esquire, of Auldliar, having volunteered in the most handsome manner to jiny all expenses, although unl'ortunately, from his bad state of health, he is unable to witness our proceedings, and has, in consequence of continued indisposition, been obliged to resign the; seat hi' hc'ld in Parliament for this district of Burghs, a circum- stance which has thrown this quarter into a fever of Politics, for it will be no easy matter to find a man p<jssessed of all Mr. Clialmers' <[ualilications to fill liis room.
" The round Tower of Brechin, you will recollect, ha.s a doorway on the west side, the sill of which is G feet 7 inches from the groun<l, and tliis doorway being filled up with stonework, our first proceeding was to open it.
" I went down on Wednesday morning at six o'clock (I wish to be minute) — ac- companied by David Black, carpenter in Brechin, and James Jolly, mason in Brechin ; and these tradesmen in my presence, carefidly removed the stones wliich blocked up the doorway, leaving the arch free and uniiijured, and displaying a handsome entrance
94 INQUIKY INTd THE ORIGIN ANB USES
into the Tower. A set of wooden steps were tlien fitted, to give access by the door, while preci^ntions were adopted for shutting up the Tower, when the workmen were not there, so as to prevent any person introducing modern antiques for our annoyance. After removing some old wood, and other timber recently placed there by the church officers, James Jolly was left alone, as the circle of the tower did not give scope for more workmen. He then proceeded to dig amongst the loose earth, and has been so employed till to-day, being from tune to time visited by Mr. M'Cosh and me. Each shovelful, as dug up, was carefully sifted, and thrown into a heap. The sifted earth when accumulated into a small heap, was then thrown out at the door of the tower, and down to [the] wooden steps alluded to. After this the earth was put, by a spadeful at a time, into a barrow, and wheeled to a corner of the churchyard. Here, again, the earth was thrown by a shovel into a cart, and then driven away. By this repeated handling, I think it next to impossible that any thing of the least consequence could liave escaped observation. I directed James Jolly to keep a regular journal of his pro- ceedings ; and each evening when he gai/e up work, he brought to the British Linen Company Bank Office, and left with the accountant, Mr. Eobert Lindsay, the articles found each day ; and Mr. Lindsay again lalielled and marked the articles so found. David Black the carpenter is Mr. jM'Cosh's tradesman, a master workman and an indi- vidual of undoubted character ; — James Jolly is a journeyman mason, a very intelligent man, and a person upon whose integrity ample reliance can be placed ; and Mr. Lind- say, with whom I have been acquainted through life, and who has now been with me for thirteen years continuously, is a man of the strictest probity. I am fully satisfied, therefore, that we have got a careful and correct account of every tiling found in the tower. James Jolly has now dug eight feet below the door sill, that is, he is aliout one foot five inches below the external ground line and hewn basement or plinth of the tower, and has come to where the hewn work ceases, and rude undressed stones form the building. At this depth we stop until we hear from you. We have not reached the native rock on which the tower is built ; but we have now reached the clay or till and sand work, which appears to have been disturbed, as [if] it were what had been dug out for the foundation and thrown into the centre of the tower. Until this depth we have dug through a fine mould composed of decayed wood and other vegetable matter, mixed up with a little animal matter.
" We found a quantity of peats, and a good deal of dross of peats, or refuse of moss, and we also found great varieties of bones, principally sheep bones, especially jaw bones of sheep, some bones of oxen, and a few human bones, these last being vertebra;, pieces of skulls, toes and bits of jaw-bones. These bones were found at all depths, but we found no bones of any size. We have likewise got a quantity of slates, a hewn stone for the top of a lancet-shaped arch, part of the sill of a window with the base of a mul- lion traced on it, some basement stones, and others of baser workmanship ; oyster shells, buckles or sea-shells, nails, buttons, bits of copper and verdigris, two small lumps of bell metal, several little bits of stained glass, and part of an elf arrow ha^•e also been found at different depths ; and yesterday we found the remains of a key and some charred wood. But what will most please your pagan friends is the fact, that since we began we have each day found various pieces of urns or jars. None of the pieces although put together form a complete urn ; but I think amongst the pieces I can trace out three or four distinct vessels. One appears to have been of glazed
OF THE ROUXD TOWEUS OF llilCLAXD. C).",
earthen ware, and to have had little handles as thus; ^^ ^j,-._ while round the
mner ledge there are small round indentations : about \" / a third of this
vessel remains, as marked by the dotted lines ; the other """ — two vessels are
of clay, regularly baked, apparently, but not glazed, and one is slightly orniunented round the edge thus ^,o^r^=^ the nidentations being evidently made by alternately pressing the thumb ^==i=c:^ and fore-finger horizontal, and the thumb perpeudieu- lar, in the wet clay.
" Now, how came all these things there ? I am afraid you will set me down, not for a pagan, but for a veritable Heathen when I say, that my opinion is, the slates, glass, wood, and iron had been tossed in at what in Scotland is called the Relbrmation, when our Scotch Apostle, John Knox, drove your Roman Catholic Apostles from what he termed their rookeries ; — that the bones and great part of the animal and vegetable matter had been carried to the top of the tower by the rooks and jackdaws (kaies of Scotland) for building their nests and feeding their young, and had tumbled from theuce to the bottom of the tower ; — that the peats and the rest of the stuff had been thro^vn at various times into the bottom of the tower as a general receptacle for all re- fuse ; — and that the fragments of crns or jars, are just the remains of ctdinary articles belonging to the different kirk officers.
" After this declaration can I expect to hear from you again, ad^dsing me what further we ought to do in regard to our round towers, which, in my eyes, remain as great a mystery as ever ?
" The steeple of the church of Montrose was rebuilt some eight years ago, on the site of a steeple which had existed beyond the memory of man. It was thought necessary to dig the foundation of the new tower deeper than the old had been founded, and in the course of this excavation, various skeletons were found buried amongst sand and gravel, the subsoil on which the town of Montrose stands. The fact of bodies being buried below towers and steeples, then, wUl scarce prove the erection to be either Christian or pagan.
" The tracings which you sent of Cloyne Tower represent very closely the style of building of the Round Tower of Brechin, especially where two or more horizontal stones are connected by a smaller perpendicular one thus
IE
i
and also where one is laid with a little toe or thin part of it projecting as it were beyond itself over another stone, as above. In Brechin too, as at Cloyne, we find it impossible to drive a nail into the joints of the doorway, while into some parts of the general masonrv I have thrust my cane with ease for several inches. Sir William Gell, you remark, gives drawings of a similar mode of building in the vicinity of Rome. But is not this just a mode common to all nations in their rude state, who put up as large stones as they can find or move with ease and bring them together by means of smaller pieces ? " D. D. Bl.\ck."
On this excellent letter it is not necessar}' for mc to make a single remark. It wiU go far to accoimt for tlie heterogeneous nature of the remains discovered in the Irish Towers, and Avhicli may be fm-ther
96 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
accounted for by the fact that during the war in Ireland, at the close of the sixteenth centmy, these Towers became the receptacles of thieves and wood-kerne. For this fact we have the authority of an Irish sermon written at the time, in which the author laments, among other evils, that " the temples were defiled, the cemeteries dug up, the chapels profaned, the monasteries broken, the cloisters without protection, the cells inhabited by harlots, the belfries (clogdip) inha- bited by wood-kerne" !
I might, I think, now have done -with the discoveries of Mr. Win- dele and the South Munster Society of Antiquaries ; but, as these gentlemen, or their organ, have " ventm-ed to affirm that from the commencement of their researches to the present time more attention has been paid, and more practical, rational investigation, has been directed to the subject" (of the origin and uses of the Round Towers) " than it ever previously received," — I must beg leave to express my dissent from such conclusion, and to ofier a few remarks in support of my opinion. That these gentlemen, whose antiquarian zeal I greatly admire and applaud, have discovered a new species of antiquarian in- vestigation, wholly unknown to the antiquaries of past ages, — a sort of railroad process, requiring but little laborious travelling on the old high roads of learning and research, I am free to acknowledge, but I am by no means satisfied that, in inquiries of such a nature, this is the safest mode of travelhng. On the contrary, I am of opinion that, after all, the old mode is the best, — that if — to abandon figure and come to the point — we wished to ascertain whether our pagan ancestors erected the Round Towers as sepulchral monuments or not, we should determine the question, not by the short process of dig- ging in the bases of the Towers, but by the more laborious exami- nation of the ancient literatiu'e of oiu' country, which is still so abundant in amount, and so rich in information on the usages of the times to Avhich those gentlemen desire to refer these monuments. To adduce all the authorities which our ancient manuscripts could fur- nish respecting the ancient pagan modes of sepulture in Ireland, from the earliest period of the historj- of the country, would greatly ex- ceed the space allotted to this section of my inqmry, — but, as the subject is of considerable iutei'est, and has not been hitherto treated of, I shall adduce a few notices from our manuscripts which will sa- ■ ^isfactc rvily show what the sepulchral usages of the pagan Irish were.
OF THE ROrXD TOWERS OF IRELAND. 07
and be sufficient to denionstr.ite tluU tlie hypiiUiesis dI' the Stmlli Minister Antiquaries is wholly visionary.
The first authority Avhich I shall adduce will satisfactorily prow, that the Irish in pagan times had regal cemeteries in various parts of the island, appropriated to the interment of the princes of the diffe- rent races, who ruled as sole monarchs, or provincial kings or toparchs ; and that such cemeteries were well known to the people in Christian times, though no longer appropriated to their original purpose, except in one or two instances, where the localities were consecrated to the service of Christianity. This valuable authority is preserved in one of the most celebrated Irish manuscripts — the Leuh/iar na k-Uidlire — a work compiled at Clonmacnoise, and transcribed by Moelmuiri, the son of Ceileachar, the grandson of Conn na m-bocht, a disiiu- guished writer of that great abode of learning — the Scofortim riohile cuhnen, — in the twelfth century, and of which the autograph original on vellum, the property of Messrs. Hodges and Smith, is now belbre me. The article, which I give entire, is called Senchus na Relec, or History of the Cemeteries ; and I may add, that, judging from its lan- guage, its age must be referred to a period several centuries earlier than that in which its transcriber flomnshed. There is a second copy of the same tract preserved in an ancient vellum manuscript in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, Class H. 3, 17, beginning at page 745, but the older copy is that given here. I should also observe that this tract is glossed in the original, evidently by Moelmuiri him- self, and that such explanations of the transcriber are given within crotchets, both in the Irish text and in the translation of it.
" Sencap na pelec in po.
" TTlop pt mop-bperac po jab op h-BpinD, .1. Copmuc, mac Qipc, mtc Cuino Ceo-ccirai^. 6a muic lapom bni ino 6pui pici lino, po-oeij po I'Ctiileo bper peccjue po 6pino acci-peom, con na lunnrea jiiin oiini m h-fcpmo ppi pe u'lbili bicci, .1. uii. ni-bliuona ; ap bai cpermi in oen De oc Copmuc, do peip pecca; ap po pciiD peom na aioepao cloca nu cpunnii, ace no aoenao in ri Dop pom, 7 po po compiD ap cut nu uli oula, .1. in c-oen Dia nepc-compio, po cpucuij nu oi'ili, ip DO no cpeicpeo. ConiD e-peom in cpep po cpeci in Gpino piu ciuccain pacpaic .1. Concobop muc Neppa, oia po innip Qlcup do cepuo Cpipc ; rDopuno, mac Copppi Cino caicc, (.1. mac ITlain) in oupnu pep; Copn.uc in cpep; 7 une ip ooi;^ CO n-ueocucap opem uile pop a plicc imon cpeciiii |'in.
" Ip ano, cpu, no jnuraijeo (.1. Copmuc) u Doojnop h-i Cempuij, up plicr cec
0
98 INQUIRY INTO TIIK ORIGIN AND USES
pij [lemi, 110 CO po milleo a pope a Gnjuj' ^ui-buaipnec, mac Gcac Pino puac uipc. In CIcuiU (.1. ruluch-i pil Sjpin Coluim CiUe moiu) imoppo 7 1 Cenanoap, 7 h-1 C15 Clecij, no bio pom lapcatn ; up nl bd h-aoa pi co n-anim h-i Cempciij. Cunic cpa blip Dici imiai5iD''-peom h-i C15 Clecij ip 111 bliaoain ranuipe ap coll u poipc'', lup n-jjlenumciiM cnama bpacan' ina bpagic". Ro paio peom, (.1. Cop- muc) imoppo, ppia muincip, cen a aonacul ip in 6pu5 (.1. oaij ba pelec loala- oapca), DU15 ni h-inano Diu p6 aoaip peom 7 cec aen po aonocc ipp in 6pui5, ace a aonocol 1 Rpop na pij 7 a aije paip. Puaip peom bcip lap pin, 7 po pepuD comapli oc a aep jpaoa, 7 ippeo po cinpec n aonacol ip in 6pui5, aic 1 m-bucup pig Cempa pomi-peom. Ro cocbao lapom copp mo pij po rpi, oia bpeir ipp in 6pu5, 7 h-i cpacc in ftoano po rpi 1 n-apou, con nci pecaip a cede. Co cucpac Dia n-uio cop ciaccuin cap bpeir plara cecc oap cimna in pij. pepaic a pepc Kipom I Rpop na pi^, amail apbepc pern.
" Ropcap lac po rpa ppim-peilce li-Gpeno pia cpecim : .1. Cpuucu, in Gpug, in Uallciu, 6uucuip Qilbe, Oenuc Qilbe, Oenuc Cull, Odnuc Colman, Cemaip Gpano^.
" Oenac Cpuacan cecup, ipp ano no aonaicnp clannu h-Gpemoin, .1. pijpao Cempac, no co cdnic Cpemcano, mac tugoec Riab n-oepg, (.1. ip pepioe cec pi Dib po aonacc ip in Gpuj), .i- Cobrac Coel 6pej5, 7 Cabpuio f-oinjpec, 7 Goco peolec CO n-a cpi maccuib (.1. na cpi Pioemno, .i. 6pe)' 7 Ndp 7 t-ocop.), 7 Coco Qipem, 7 f.uguio Riub n-oepj, 7 pe injena Gcuc Peolij (.1. ITleob, 7 Clocbpu, TTIupepc, 7 t)pebpui, mug-ain 7 Gle.) 7 QiliU, mac ITlaca, co n-a pecc m-bpacpib (.1. Cec, Qnlon, Ooce, ec cecepi) 7 ino p'gpuo uli co Cpemrano (.1. ip lac po po uonaicic h-i Cpuacain). Cio pocepa nac ip m 6pui5 na h-aonaiccip na pig? (.1. pil Cobraij CO Cpemcano). Ni h-annpa ; ap popcap lac oa coiceo po cecc)xi clano h-6pemoin .1. coiceo n-^aleoin, (.1. coiceo Caigen) 7 coiceo Olnecmacc, (.1. coiceo Connacc). Coiceo n-^ulion cecup, po jabpac pil 6abpaoa ^oinjpij. Clano Cobcaij Coil Gpeg, imoppo, bu h-e a plepc lama pioe coiceo Connacc; ConiD aipi ippe (.1. coiceo Connacc) cucao oo Hleiob pe cec coiceo. (Ip aipi cucao opba oo ITleiDb, ap ni boi 00 pil Gacac nee ba cualainj a gabail, ace pipi, ap nip b'in;^nima Cujaio m can pin); 7 oana in can no bio piji n-Gpeno o claino Cobcaij Coil SpfeJ, ba coiceo Connacc a puiolep ( 1. a plepc lama); Conio aipi pin no aonaiccip in oenuc na Cpuacna lac. Ipp in 6puig imoppo no aonaiccip lac 6 ampip Cpimcamo (.1. Miaonaip) co ampip toejaipe, mic Neill, cenmocuc cpiap, .1. Qpc, mac Cumo, 7 Copmac, mac Qipc, 7 Niall Noi-jiallac.
° Innpcnjio, in H. 3. 17. ^ lap choll a puipc, in H. 3. 17.
"^ lap lenumuin cnama bpacam ma bpajgaio, H. 3. 17-
'' II. 3. 17 adds, no piabpa po h opc.i. Cuacha oe t)anainn, ciiji ic ppiu acbepca piabpa, i. e. or it was the Siabhras tliat killed him, i. a the Tuatha De Dananns, for they were called Siabhras.
<= In H. 3. 17, the names of these cemeteries are given as follows : Cjiuucan, 7 6pug mic Inotc, 7 Callci, 7 Qenach pean-Clocaip, 7 6uacaip Qilbe, 7 Qenaeh Qilbe, 7 Qenach Gairma, 7 Qenach Chuile, 7 Qenach Cholmam, 7 Ueiiiaip Gpan, 7 ITIapcpa niuncipi pinncainn.
OF THE KOUXn TOWERS OF IRELAND. ()()
" Mo innipemcip rpa in par (ip iiac imo |io cionncc Copnuic. 1p uipi, ouiu'i, iKic uiiD po HDiuicc CIpr, ap po cpeir in la pia cabmpc cuca muccpunm, 7 po rciipn^ip in cpecim, (.1. co pophepao in Cpipraioecc pop GpuiD) 7 apbtpr co m- buo ano no beic n pepc 1 n-Duma n-Depj-Uiacpa, aic b-i pail Upeoic inoii;. X)\a po Decc pom ip in ouuin oo pi;!;ni pin .1. Cam do oenou oen. {.1. ouim 00 pixni Qpc, 7 ippe a coippec, cam do oenna oen 7c.) In can poiicao a copp (.1. CJipc) paip (.1. CO Duma n-Depj-luucpa) lapcam, oiu m-bectp pip ll-Bpeno oca ppein^ app, 111 perpaicip, co po aonucc ip mo muo pain ; pooeij^ ap pop eclup Curalacoa lupcain bull in po uonacc (.1. Cpeoic inoiu), pooeij ria pipinni, 7 tui cpeciiii po m-bi ap na puiUpijeo, cpiu pip placa, do.
" Niall, imoppo, i)'p uno po aonacc in Ocain. Conio oe aca Ocaii, popp in relaij, .1. oc cami .1. ino ocpoo 7 ino ecalni do ponpac pip h-6pcnD oc caini Nt-iU ano.
" Conaipe mop ona h-i ITlaij pect 1 m-6pe5aib (.1. oc Pepca Conaipe) po aonucc; ace cena ippe Conaipe Capppaigt ]io h-aonacx anopioe, 7 ni h-e Conaipe mop; Co m-bao fi-e, ona, in cpep pi po h-uonaicce h-i Cempuij h-e, .1. Conuipe, 7 Coejaipe 7 * * * *.
" h-i Callcin, imoppo, po h-aonaiccip Ulaio, .1. OUom pocUi co n-a cknno, co came Concobap, .1. ap ip ono po C05 pioe a cubaipc ecep Slto" 7 miiip, 7 aijeo paip, pooeij na cpeicmi po m-boi.
" Lkipli Cuaci oe tDanano ip m Spuj no aonaiccip ; (.1. in tDajoa 7 a rpi meic, 7 tuj 7 Oe 7 OUiim 7 Ogma 7 Gcan," 7 Copppe, mac Gcame,) 7 pop a plicc-pioe DO coiD CpmncunD; ap ba uo Chuaic t)ea a ben, .1. Nap, 7 ip pi po aplaij paip con bao h-e bao peilic uonaicci do 7 Dia claino in 6pu5; coriio he par, cen a n- aonaicri h-i Cpuacam.
" 6agin (.1. Cacaip co n-a cLainD, 7 na pig pempo) 1 n-Oenach QilBe ; Clano tDeoao, (.i.pil Conaipe 7 6pnai) h-i Ceniai]i ©puno ; pip ITIumnn, [.1. tJep^rene] 1 n-Oenac cull, 7 1 n-Oenac Colman ; Connaccu h-i Cpuacain." — Lealliar na h-Uidhre, fol. 41. b.
" History of the Cemeteries here.
" A great king of great judgments assumed the sovereignty of Erin, i. e. Corniac, son of Art, son of Conn of the Hundred Battles. Erin was prosperous in his time, because just judgments were distributed throughout it by him ; so that no one durj-t attempt to wound a man in Erin during the short jubilee of seven years ; for Cormac had the iaitli of tlie one true God, according to the law ; for he said that he would not adore stones, or trees, but that he would adore him who had made them, and who had power over all the elements, i. e. the one powerful God who created the elements ; in him he would believe. And he was the third person who had believed, in Erin, be- fore the arrival of St. Patrick. Conehobor Mac Nessa, to whom Altus had told con- cerning the crucifixion oiChr'ntwasthefrst; Morann, the son of Cairbre Cinncait, (who was surnamed Mac Main) was the second person ; and Cormac was the third ; and it is probable that others followed on their track in this belief.
ecep 6eca 7 muip in II. 3. 17. ' Gccm .1. banpile in II. ;i. n
o 2
100 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Where Cormac held his court was at Tara, in imitation of the kings who preceded liim, until his eye was destroyed by Engus Gaibhuaiphnech, the son of Eochaidh Finn Fuath-airt ; but afterwards he resided at Acaill, (the hill on which Serin Colaim Cille is at this day), and at Cenannas, [Kells], and at the house of Cletech ; for it was not lawful that a kin"- with a personal blemish should reside at Tara. In the second year aft<>r the injuring of his eye he came by his death at the house of Cletech, the bone of a sahnon having stuck in his tliroat. And he (Cormac) told his people not to bury him at Brugh, (because it was a cemetery of Idolaters,) for he did not worship the same God as any of those interred at Brugh ; but to bury him at Eos na righ, with liis face to the east. He afterwards died, and his servants of trust held a council, and came to the resolution of burying him at Brugh, the place where the kings of Tara, his predecessors, were buried. The body of the king was afterwards thrice raised to be carried to Brugh, but the Boyne swelled up thrice, so as that they could not come ; so that they observed that it was ' violating the judgment of a prince' to break through this Testament of the king, and they afterwards dug his grave at Ros na righ, as he himself had ordered.
" These were the chief cemeteries of Erin before the Faith, [i. e. before the in- troduction of Christianity,] viz. Cruachu, Brugh, Tailltiu, Luachair Ailbe, Oenach Ailbc, Oenach Culi, Oenach Colmain, Temhair Erann.
" Oenach Cruachan, in the first place, it was there the race of Ileremon, i. e. the kings of Tara, were used to bury until the time of Cremhthann, the son of Lughaidh Riabh-n-dcrg, (who was the first king of them that was interred at Brugh) viz. Cobh- thach Coelbregh, and Labhraidh Loingsech, and Eocho Fedhleeh with his three sons (i. e. the three Fidhemhna, i. e. Bres, Nar, and Lothor), aud Eocho Airemh, Lughaidh Riabh n-derg, the six daughters of Eocho Fedhleeh, (i. e. Medhbh, and Clothru, Mu- resc, and Drebriu, Mugain, and Ele,) and Ailill Mac Mada with his seven brothers, (i. e. Cet, Anion, Doohe, et ceteri) aud all the kings doicii to Cremhthann, (these were all buried at Cruachan). Why was it not at Brugh that the kings (of the race of Coljhthach down to Crimhthann) were interred ? Not dLfiieult ; because the two pro- vinces, which the race of Heremon possessed, were the province of Gailian, (i. e. the province ofLeinster), and the province of Olnecmacht, (i.e. the province of Connaught). In the first place the province of Gailian was occupied by the race of Labhraidh Loingsech, and the province of Connaught was the peculiar inheritance of the race of Cobhthach Coelbregh ; wherefore it (i. e. the province of Connaught) was given to Medhbh before every other province. (The reason that the government of this land was given to ^ledhbh is, because there was none of the race of Eochaidh fit to receive it but hei'self for Lughaidh was not fit for action at the time). And whenever, therefore, the monarchy of Erin was enjoyed by any of the descendants of Coblitliach Coelbregli, the province of Connaught was his riddles (i. e. his native principality). And for this reason they were interred at Oenach na Cruachna. But they were interred at Brugh from the time of Crimhthann (Niadh-nar), to the time of Loeghaire, tlie son of Niall, except three persons, namely, Art, the son of Conn, and Cormac, the son of Art, and Niall of the Nine Hostages.
" We have already mentioned the cause for which Cormac was uot interred thei'e. The reason why Art was not interred there is, because he 'believed,' the day before the battle of Muccramma was fought, and ho predicted the Faith, (i. e. that Christianitj'
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 1 1 » I
would prevail in Erin), and he said that liis own grave would be at Dumlui Dcrgluaohi-a, where Treoit [Trevet] is at this day, as he mentioned in a poem which ho composed, viz. Cain do demta den, (i. e. a poem which Art composed, the beginning of whicli is Cain do denna den, &c.) When his (Art's) body was afterwards carried eastwnrdu to Dumha Uergluachra, if all the men of Erin were drawing it thence, they could not, so that he was interred in that place, becavise there was a Catholic church to be after- wards at the place where he was interred (i. e. Treoit hodie) because the truth and the Faith had been revealed to him through his regal righteousness.
" Where Niall was interred was at Ochain, whence the hill was euUi-d ( teliaiii, i. e. (Ml Caine, i. e. from the sighing and lamentation which the men of Erin made in la- menting Niall.
" Conaire More was interred at JIagh Feci in Bregia (i. c. at Fert Cunairf) ; how- ever some say that it was Conaire Carpraige was interred there, and not Conaire Moi', and that Conaire Mor was the third king who was interred at Tara, viz. Conaire, Loeghaire, and * • » *.
"At Tailltin the kings of Ulster were used to bury, viz. Ollandi Fmlhla, with lii-; descendants down to Conchobhar, who wished that he should be carried to a place between Slea and the sea, with his tiice to the east, on account of the Faith which he had embraced.
" The nobles of tlie Tuatha De Danann were used to bury at Brugh, (i. e. the Dagda with his three sons ; also Lughaidh, and Oe, and Ollam, and Ognia, and Etan, the Poetess, and Corpre, the son of Etan,) and Cremhthann followed them because his wife Nar was of the Tuatha Dea, and it was she solicited him that he should adopt Brugh as a burial-place for himself and his descendants, and this was the cause that they did not bury at Cruachan.
" The Lagenians (i. e. Cathair with his race and the kings who were before them) were buried at Oenach Ailbhe. The Clann Dedad (i. e. the race of Conaire and Erna) at Temhair Erann ; the men of Munster (i. e. the Dergthene) at Oenach Culi, and Oenach Colmaiii ; and the Connacians at Cruachan."
The preceding document will, I think, be sufficient to sutisly all rational inquirers of the visionary character of the hypothesis of the K(iund Towers having been erected as i)laces of sepulture!, at least in pagan times; for, though it does not throw any light on the character of the monuments in use preceding Christianity, it refers \is distinctly to their principal localities, in many of which we may still examine the monuments themselves.
Our ancient MSS., in like manner, acquaint us with the loca- lities of the principal battle-fields in Ireland, and with the particular monuments of the most distinguished kings and warriors, from the earhest periods to the establishment of Christianity in the country; and in most of these localities the monuments still remain. Uiit do we in any of those places discover a Round Tower, or the vestige of one? Most assuredly not, nor any nionument having a cliai'actcristic
102
IN'QVIin- INTO •i'llK C)HIGIN AXD VSES
in common witli one. Wc find llic stone earn and the green mound, Avith their sepulchral chambers within tliem, and their monumental character indicated bj the upright stones, sometimes single — like the stele of the Greeks — and sometimes forming a circle, or concentric circles. We find the giants' graves, or beds, as they are called by the Irish — the cromlechs and Druids' altars of speculative antiquaries. And wlien we explore any of these monuments, we find, according to their age, either the rude unglazed sepulchral iirn of baked clay, and occasionally of stone, containing bones more or less calcined, or un- burned skeletons, or occasionally both, in the same sepulchre. We also find very frequently weapons of stone or metal ; and, in monu- ments of importance indicating the distinguished rank of the persons interred, ornaments of silver and gold. And that such and no other were the varieties of sepulchral monuments in use in Ireland in pagan times, a volume of historical evidences from our ancient MSS. might be adduced to prove : a few examples will, however, be sufficient for my present purpose. Thus, as an example of the class of monuments in use in Ireland during the sway of the Tuatha De Danann race, as Avell as subsequently, I take the two following passages, relative to the monuments at the royal cemetery of Brugh na Boinne, on the banks of the BojTie, as given in the Dinnsenchus, contained in the Book of Ballj-mote, fol. 190.
"Do Dingnaib in Spoja inn po .1. tonj injine Popaino, f-ecc in tDagoa, TTliip 11a rrioppi^na, 6ecc in ITlacae, ip oia colpra paicep Inbep Colpcu; 6apc Cpim- chaino Nianciip, ip ann po aonacr ; F^P^ Peoelmio 'Reccinalp, Capn ail Cuinn Cec-caraij, Cumoc Cai]ippi f.ipeacaip, Pulacr Piacliacli Spaipcine, &c."
" Of the monuments of Brugh here, viz. the Bed of the daughter of Forann, tlie jMonument of the Dagda, the Mound of the Morrigan, the Monument of [the monster'] Mata ; it is from its colpa or thigh Inbher Colptha is called ; the Bare of Crimthanii Nianar, in which he was interred ; the grave of Fedelmidh, the Lawgiver, the Carn- ail [stone earn] of Conn of the Hundred Battles, the Cumut [commensurate grave] of Cairbre Lifeachair, the Fulacht of Fiacha Sraiphtine."
The second passage enters more into detail, as follows :
" Cllicep. Imoae in tDcijoa cernmup; tDa Cic na ITIoppi^na, pope aipm 1 n- ^enaip Cepmuio niil-bel, mac in Dugou ; Pipe m-6oinne nina Necrum, ip 1 cue le in com m-bijoiap bo amm Dabilla, unoe Cnoc tJabiUa oicicup ; Duma Cpepc ; pepcGpclaim bpifeman in Dajoa, ppip 1 n-abap pepc Pacpic mom ; Cipp 7 Cuip- pel, mna in Dajoa ; .1. oa cnoc; pepcu Qeoa Cuipjnig, mic m Dajoai; Oepc m-6uailcc m-6ic; Cede CtUai^, mic ITIailcoba ; 6ecc jabpa Cinaooa, mic Ipja- laij; Capcap Ceic TTlacae ; 5^*^"" '" Tlaccie .1. pelci pin, uc alii oicunc; 6105
Juioi. *^ IDaroe; "«■ •
C|iunoiii»i'' ■
OK THE R(HN'l) TOWERS OF IRELAND.
lit:?
' ■■>-iil;i|
iji^tiiiei,
■"illli'tn
'!'iy.:inil
■-.ye, h
'I ffiCllll-
■ l».'r<iiii;
.iri-liiifiajsiii ■ -MsS. minlit •ufrient for i nj.iniuDeiits Biui nice, as imiretotlif D ilie Imh lie W of
6uiDi, mic muipeoci, (iipm i pail u cenn ; tecc 6enn .1. lecc popp u copcluiip in mucae ; uii. xt. ic cop lei)- 7 1111. citio; tDumu nu cimrii ; Caipel aenriipii, mic Cpiinomaeil; T?ouc pula tTlioip, ito."
•■ Alitor. The lird of llu' DagJa, first; the Two Pups of the Morrigan, at the ]>lui.v whi'iv Corinud Milliliel, son i>f the Dagila, was liorn ; the Grave of Uoinn, tlie wife of N'eehtan; it was she took with her the siiuiU liouiid ealleii Dahilhi, from which t'lioc DabiUa is called ; the Mound of Tresc ; the grave of Esclam, the Dagda's lirehon, which is called Fert-Palric at this day ; \the monuments o/'] Cirr and Cuirrell, wives of the Dagda ; these are two hillocks ; the Grave of Aedh Luirgiiech, son of tlie Dagda ; the Cave of Buailcc Bee ; the Monument of Cellaeh, son of Mnelcoblin ; the Monxinieut of the steed of Cinaedh, son of Irgalach ; the Prison of Liath-Maelia ; tlie Glen of the Mata, i. e. the monster, as some assert ; the Pillar-stone of Buidi. the son of Miiircdh, where his head is interred; the Stone of Benu, i.e. the inominient on which the monster Mata was killed ; it had one hundred and forty legs and lour heads; the Mound of the bones ; the Caisel (stone enclosure) of Aengns, son of Crunnmael ; Ii<mt .tula Midir, &e."
As cxamplos of the septilcliral iiioimiiu'iits of this Tiiatlia l)c Daiiaim race most familiar to the majority of my readers, 1 may point to tlie magiuficeiit mounds situated on the Boyne at Drogheda, Dowth, Knowth, and New Grange, which last has lain open to the ins]u'ctioii of the curious during tlie last huudii'd and lifty years. And in con- nection witli these monuments I may observe, that the occasional absence of articles of value within them, when opened in modern times, by no means proves that such had not been deposited there originally, as the plundering of these very sepulchres by the Danes is recorded in tlie Annals of Ulster at the year 862 :
" A. D. 862. Uum QchaiD Qloai 7 Cnoobcn, 7 uum peipr 6o(ioiin op tiubdo, 7 uam mnu un ^oban po [cpiiiopec ^lull, quoo imceii iioti pe|ipecciini tpc .1. ti pecc po plucpcic rpi pijje peponii pimnn, niic Cormmj .1. Qml'iim, 7 Inuip, 7 ample."
" A. D. 8G2. The cave of Achadh .Mdai and of Cnodhba [Knowth J, and the cave of the sepulchre of Boadan over Diibhad [ Dowth], and the cave of the wife of (iobhaii, were senrclicd by tlie Danes, <]iii)d ii/itcii lion perfcctnm t'nt, on one occasion that the three kings AnilatF, Iniai', and Aui.sje, witc [ilundering the territory of Flann, tlie son of Conaing."
As an example of the monuments of a dillcrcnt race, and of later date, I may refer to the cemetery called Relec nti Riogli, ;it IJaih- croghan, the ])lace of interment of many of the kings of the S<'otic or Milesian race, and at which was interred the last pagan monarch of this race, — the celebrated Dathi, — who was killed by lightning, ac- cording to oui- annalists, in the year 406.
102 INQUIUY INTO 'IJIE OKIGIN AND VSES
in cuiumou with one. ^Xc find tliL' stone earn and tlie green mound, Avith their sepulchral chambers within them, and their monumental character indicated by the upright stones, sometimes single — like the stele of the Greeks— and sometimes forming a circle, or concentric circles. We find the giants' graves, or beds, as they are called by the Irish — the cromlechs and Druids' altars of speculative antiquaries. Aud when we explore any of these monuments, Ave find, according to their age, either the rude unglazed sepulchral urn of baked clay, and occasionally of stone, containing bones more or less calcined, or un- burned skeletons, or occasionally both, in the same sepulchre. We also find very frequently Aveapons of stone or metal ; and, in monu- ments of importance indicating the distinguished rank of the persons interred, ornaments of silver and gold. And that such and no other were the A'arieties of sepulchral monuments in use in Ireland in pagan times, a volume of historical evidences from our ancient MSS. might be adduced to prove : a feAv examples Avill, hoAvever, be sufficient for my present purpose. Thus, as an example of the class of monuments in use in Ireland during the sAvay of the Tuatha De Danann race, as Avell as subsequently, I take the tAVO following passages, relative to the monuments at the royal cemetery of Brugh na Boinne, on the banks of the BojTie, as given in the Dinnsenchus, contained in the Book of Ballnnote, fol. 190.
" t)o Dinjnaib in 6po5a inn po .1. Conj inline popamo, 6ecr in tJajoa, ITIup Tin rrioppigna, 6ecc in TTlacae, ip oia colpca pciicep Inbep Cotpcu; 6apc Cpim- clicnnD Mianaip, ip ann po aonacc ; pepc peDelmio 'Reccmaip, Ccipn ail Cuinn Cec-caraij, Cumor Caipppi Tipencaip, pulacc Picicliacli Spoipcine, &c."
" Of tlie monuments of Brugh here, viz. the Bed of the daughter of Forann, the Monument of the Dagda, the Mound of tlie Morrigan, the Monument of [the moiister'\ Mata ; it is from its colpa or thigh Inbher Colptha is called ; the Bare of Crimthann Nianar, in which he was interred ; the grave of Fedelmidh, the Lawgiver, the Cam- ail [stone earn] of Conn of the Hundred Battles, the Cumut [commensurate grave] of Cairbre Lifeachair, the Fulacht of Fiacha Sraiphtine."
The second passage enters more into detail, as foUoAvs :
" Qlirep. Imoae in tJajoa ceramup; t)a Cic na moppijna, pope ciipm 1 n- ^enaip CepmuiD niil-Bel, mac in Dtigou ; pipe m-6oinne nina Necrain, ip 1 cue le in coin m-bijoiap bo ainm tJabiUu, unoe Cnoc Dabilla oicicup ; tJumaCpepc; pepcSpclaim bpiceman m tJujoa, ppip 1 n-abap pepc pcicpic inoiu ; Cipp 7 Cuip- pel, mna in tJajoa ; .1. oa cnoc; pepcu Qeoa f-uipjnij, mic in Oajoui; t)epc m-6uailcc m-6ic; 6ecc Cellaij, mic ITluilcoba ; <LecT jabpn Cinaooci, mic IpS*^' luij; Capcap 6eic ITIucae ; ^'■^n" '" ITIqcae .1. pelci pin, uc alii oicunc; tiaj
OF THE IKKXI) TOWERS OK IRELAND. | ( i;i
6uiDi, mic niiiipeod, (iipm i pail a cenn ; f,ecc 6enn .1. lecc popp n copcluiip 111 niocae ; uii. «. ic cop leip 7 1111. cino ; t)iini(i na ciunii ; Caipel Qenrupii, niic Cpunomaeil; Roue pula niioip, &c."
" Aliter. The Bed of tlie Dagda, first; tlir Two Pups of iIk' Morrigan, at tlif placi' where Cermud IMilbhel, son of the Dagda, was born ; tlie Grave of Boinu, the wife of Nechtan; it was she took with her the small hound called Dabilla, from which Ciuk; Dabilla is called ; the Mound of Tresc ; the grave of Esclam, the Dagda's Brchou, which is called Fert-Palric at this day ; [the monuments of] Cirr and Cuirrell, wives of the Dagda ; these are two hillocks ; the Grave of Aedli Luirguecli, son of the Dagda ; the Cave of Buailcc Bee ; the Monument of Cellach, son of Maelcoblia ; the Monument of the steed of Cinaedh, son of Irgalach ; the Prison of Liatli-Macha ; tin' Glen of the ilata, i. e. the monster, as some assert ; the Pillar-stone of Buidi, tlie son of Muiredh, where his head is interred ; the Stone of Bcnn, i. e, the monument on which the monster Mata was killed ; it had one hundred and forty legs and four heads ; the Mound of the bones ; the Caisel (stone enclosure) of Aengus, son of C'runnmarl ; Rout sula Midir, &c."
As examples of the sepulchnil momnneiits of tliLs Tiiatlia l)r Danann race most familiar to the majority of myreaders, I may ])oit)t to the magnificent mounds situated on the Bojme at Drogheda, Dowtli, Knowth, and New Grange, which last has lain open to the inspection of the curious during the last hundred and fifty years. And in con- nection with tliese monuments I may observe, that the occasional absence of articles of value within them, when opened in modn-n times, by no means proves that such had not been deposited there originally, as the plundering of these very sepulchres by tlic Danes is recorded in the Annals of Ulster at tlie year 8(i2 :
" A. D. 862. U'lm Qchuio Qloai 7 Cnobbai, 7 uam peipr 6otioan op Dubuo, 7 uam mna an ^oban po pcpuiapec ^uill, quoD uricea non peppeccum t:l'C .1. a peer po placpac rpi pij^e peponn piumn, mic Conainj .1. Qnilnirii, 7 lirnip, 7
Quiple."
" A. D. 862. The cave of Aehadh Aldai and of Cnodhba [Knowth], and the cave of the sepulchre of Boadan over Dubhad [Dowth], and the cave of the wife of Gobhan, were searched by the Danes, (/uod antea non perfectinn est, on one occasion tliat the three kings AmlafF, Imar, and Auisle, were plundering tlu' ti'rritory of Fhiiui, the son of Conaing."
As an example of the monuments of a different race, and of hiter date, I may refer to the cemetery called Relec na Kiogh, at Kath- croghan, the place of interment of many of the kings of the Scotic or Milesian race, and at which was interred the last pagan mcjnarcli of this race, — the celebrated Dathi, — who was killed l)y liglitning. ac- cording to oiu" annalists, in the year 400.
10 J IXQUIRY INTO TlIK OKIGIN AXD USES
111 the ancient MS. from which the preceding tract on the pagan cemeteries of Ireland has been taken, there is also a tract on the deaths and Inirials of Datlii, the last pagan monai'ch, and the other princes of this race interred at Rathcroghan, from which I extract the following poem, ascribed to Dorban, a poet of West Connanght. as it will very clearly show the character of the sejjulchral monuments in that great regal cemetery.
" Nicim 7 t)pucc If Oaci, cpi ingena Roppaci, a pecc m-bpurip, — mop a celiac, — ma Qilell otip pino 6pe5mac, Qca pin 'p in Duma mop pil ip in oenuc, cen bpon, Cpi meic pig tajen lepoa, ta cpi ingenu oelboa. Q apim no a innipin nu pil porib do laecaib nocon pit ic plteoaib, 7 ni pit ic gaecaib. Coeca Duma, oemnigim, pit in oenuc na Cpuacna, acu p6 cac Duma nib coeca pep pip-glan puacoo. lac cpi peitce lolaioe petec Cliailcen, pe coja, petec Cpuacan pip-glaine, ocup peLec in 6po5a. Cac cnoc pit 'pino oenuc pm aca poi laic ip pijna, ip ecip ip cUDcaipe, 7 mnu glana gpiboa. SI05 Connacc ba compomac, aipecc pip-alaino puacoa, alaino in car conjalac, annacc 1 Caraip Cpuacna. Ni pit ip in majm pein
cnoc in Oenuc na Cpuacna, nac pepc pig no pij-placa, no mna, no ecep puacoa. CTonaicre plog po TTIidi, ap tap in 6po5a cuacaij ; no aonaiccip apo UlaiD ip m Ualcin co tuacaip.
OF THE UDIXI) TOWERS OF IliEI.AM). 105
pip UUiiD, pin Concobop, aonaicre h-i Culcin puun. CO bap ino pip popbcipdijj, Dici n-oecaiD oib ci mum."
" Niani and Dnicht niul Datlu,
Three; daughters of Rossachi,
His seven brothers, — great his household, —
With Ailell of fair Bregia, These are buried in the great mound
Which is at the Oeuach, without doubt.
Three sons of the King of extensive Leinster,
With his three beauteous daughters. To reckon or to tell
The number of heroes under them [the mounds]
Is not in the power of poets,
And it is not in the power of sages.
Fifty mounds, I certify.
Are at Oenach na Cruaclma,
There are under each niovuid of them
Fifty truly-fine warlike men.
The three cemeteries of Idolaters are The cemetery of Tailten, the select, The cemetery of the ever-fair Cruachan, And the cemetery of Briigh.
Every hill which is at this Oenach [Cruaclian]
Has vmder it heroes and queens.
And poets and distributers,
And fair fierce women. The host of Connaught that was energetic,
A truly fine warlike host,
Beautiful the valiant tribe,
Buried in Catliair Cruacluia.
There is not at this place
A hill at Oenach na Cruaclma,
Which is not the grave of a king or ro} ul prince.
Or of a woman, or warlike poet. The host of great Meath are buried.
In the middle of the lordly Brugh ;
The great Ultonians used to bury
At Talten with pomp. The true Ultonians, before Conchobhor,
Were ever buried at Talten,
Until the death of that triumphant man,
Thri.iugh which they lust their glory." P
l()(i IXQUIKY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Tills poem is followed by a prose commentary, apparently written by Moelmuiri himself, and, though it is not wholly necessary to my pi'esent subject, I cannot resist the temptation to extract it in this place, as throwing light upon the sources from which the information on this subject was obtahied :
" marl LllciD pia Concobo]i i Ualren po nonacca, .1. Ollatn porta 7 moppey^- piup leipp Dia maccaib, 7 oia h-uib, 7 co n-opeiin aile do marib Ulao. LUipli Cuure oe Danano (cenniora moppeppiup po aonacc Diib h-i Culcin) ip in Gpuj, .1. ^^115, 7 Oe, mac Olloman, 7 Ojma, 7 Capppe, mac ©came, 7 ©can (banpili) pein, 7 in Dajoa 7 a cpi meic (.1. Qeo 7 Oenjup 7 Cepmaic), 7 pocaioe mop up- cena do Cuair oe Oanano, 7 pep m-Golj, 7 caic a\\ cena. T^ijo coiciD (5ulian 1 n-Oenac Qilbi ; Ripjpao TTIuman 1 n-Oenac Ciili, 1 n-Oenac Colman, 7 peci. Clann tJeDoo h-i Cemaip Gpano ; RijjpaD Connacc h-i Cpuacain, uc oitimup.
" Coeca cnoc in cec Oenuc oib pin : coeca cnoc, em, 1 n-Oenuc Cpuacain, 7 .1. cnoc in Oenuc Calren, 7. 1, in Oenuc in fipoja.
" Ic lar po imoppo pilio Connacc, .1. t)opban, 7 piairciup, 7 Oenjup pili ; a ^noi in luccpin, (.1. in lapcup Connacc ica .i.Oelmna Cipi oa loca) ; Copna Gcep, 7 Scanlan mac ©o^ain, in pili, 7 tDacen 6cep, po mapb in bill ; ip oe aca 61I1 t)aren Ii-i dp niani, ip ppip acbepap bill Scaren inoiu. Qcac cpa in luce pin ule I n-Oenuc na Cpucicna ; 7 aca ano apo-pi in coicid, .1. QiliU, mac ITlaca Plupepci, 7 a pecij, .1. ITleDb, injen ©cac peolij, lap na bpeic u pepc nieoba d'u muncip, up ba h-aipejou leo a h-aonacul li-i Cpuacain. Ni ric Dim a n-aipim uli. Ip (ino po aonacc t)aci, apo pi h-©penn, 7 ip inci a cac in luce po cupim Copna ©cep. Ciappaiji a oipi.
" piano cpa 7 Gocaio ©olac h-Lla Cepin ip lac po cinoilpac po a Uebpuib ©ocaoa h-Lli planoacan 1 n-Qpo ITlaca, 7 a llebpaib ITIanipcpec, 7 ap na lebpaib cojcuoib ap cena, .1. ap in t.ibup 6uoi, cepco ap in Capcap 1 n-Qpo Pllaca, 7 ap in f-ibup (5ipp, boi im nianipcep ; 7 ip pioe puc in mac lejino lepp 1 n-jaic oap muip, 7 111 ppic piam Dilepp. ConiD pencap na pelec inpin."
" The chiefs of Ulster before Coiichol)hor were burled at Talten, viz. OUamli Fodhla and seven of his sons, and grandsons, with others of the chiefs of Ulster. The nobles of the Tuatha De Danann (with the exception of seven of them who were Interred at Talten) were buried at Brugh, i. e. Lugh, and Oe, son of Ollamh, and Ogma, and Car- pre, son of Etau, and Etaii [the poetess] herself, and the Dagda and his three sons, (i. e. Aedh, and Oengus, and Cermait,) and a great many others besides of the Tuatha De Dananns, and Firbolgs, and others. The kings of the province of Galian [Leinster] were buried at Oenach Alibi ; the kings of Munster at Ueuach Cull, in Oenach Colman and Feci. The Clann Dedhadh at Teuihair Erann. The kings of Coiinaught at Cruachan ■lit ciiximus.
" There are fifty hills [mounds] at each Oenach of these : fifty hills at Oenach Cruachan, fifty hills at Oenach Talten, and fifty at Oenach in Broga.
" These were the poets of Connaught, viz. Dorban, and Flaithcius, and Aengus the poet these were of Gno, (in the west of Connaught, i. e. of Delmna Tiri da Locha) ; Torna Eiges, Scanlan Mac Eoghain, the poet, and Daithen, the jioet, whom the tree
OF THE ROIXI) TOWERS OF IKKI.AMl. 107
killed ; wlienciiis Bik' Datlu'U in 'I'ir Maiuo, at this ilav i-alk-.l Bili Scatlien. All tlii-se are buried at Oenach na Cruachna ; and there are also buried there the supreme king of the pro\ancc, i. e. Ailell Mac ]\Inta of Muiresc, and his wife, i. e. Medhbh, the dauirhter of Eochaidh Fedhlecli, her body having been removed liy her people from Fert Mcdlibhu, for they deemed it more honourable to have her interred at Cruaehaii. I am not able to enumerate them all. It is here Dathi, monarch of Ireland, was buried, and it is hen' lie those enumerated by Torna Eiges. Ciarraigi was his reward.
" It was Flann and Eochaidh Eolaeh O'Ceiriu that collected this account from the books of Eochaidh O'Flannagau at Armagh, and from the Books of the Monastery [Mo- iiasterboice], and from other select books, viz. from the Lihur Budi, which disappeared from the Carcar at Armagh, and from the Libur Gerr, which was at the Monastery ; and this was the book which the student took with him by stealth across the sea, and was never found since. So far the History of the Cemeteries."
In accordance with this description we find that the nioiminents within the cemetery at Eathcroghan, wliieh is of a circular ioriii. measuring one hundred and sixteen paces in diameter, and f^ur- rounded with a stone ditch greatly defaced, — the catluiir oi' the poem, — are small circular movmds, which when examined arc foiuid to cover rude sepulchral chambers formed of stone, without cement of any kind, and containing unburned bones. The niouununit of Dathi, which is a small circular mound, with a pillar-stone of red sand-stone, is situated outside the enclosure, at a short distance to the east, and may be at once identified from the following notice of it, given by the celebrated antiquary, Diiald Mac Firbis, in l(j()():
" CugciD copp tDari 50 Cpuacbain, jiip Ii-uonuicecib e i TJelij ou pioj 1 j;- Cpuucum, 1 K-pad ct pubcioap piogpaio pit Gpeuriioin do upriiop, (iic 11 b-pud jiip oniu unCbaippre t)hecip5 map bug op a lije 'na leacc lanii le Riiir Cpuucun, gup ariopci, ItJCiG." — Lib. Geiieul. p. 251.
" The body of Dathi was brought to Cruachan, and it was interred at Relig na riogh at Cruachan, where the most of the kings of the race of Heremon were buried, and where to this day the Red Pillar Stone remains as a stone monument over his grave near Rath-Cruachan, to this time, 16GG."
The following notice of Carn Amhalgaidh, preserved in the Book of Lecan, fol. 247, a, will give a distinct idea of the kind of monu- ments, which the pagan Irish chieftains erected for the pur])ose of receiving their bodies after death, and will also tend to show that an annual meeting of the people, called in Irish Oenach, was usually held at those regal cemeteries :
"Capn aiiitdjuiD, .1. amaljaiD, mac Piachpu 6151:10, mic Dtichi, mic Piach- pach. 1]' leip po cochUiD in capn, cum aenaij h-Ua n-amaljaio do oenam 'mi
V 2
lUS INQUIHY INTO THE OKIGIN AND USES
rliitncheU cadci bliuDimi, oo peidiem a lonj ocup u cablui^ up ocup mo, ocup dki iionocol booeiii."
" Ciu-n x\inhalgaidh, i. e. of Amhalgaidli, son of Fiachra Elgaidh, son of Dathi, son of Fiaclira. It is by him that this earn was formed, for the purpose of holding a nieet- imr of thi; Hy-Amhalgaidh around it every year, and to view his ships and tieet going and coming, and as a place of interment for himself."
11' it wc)-e necessary to my purpose I might also adduce, from tlie most ancient Iiish MSS., several minute descriptions of the modes of interment practised by the pagan Irish ; one, however, which cannot fail to interest the reader, may suffice. It is found in that most va- luable MS., the Leabliar na h- Uidhre, so often quoted already, and occurs in a very ancient story, written to show that Finn Mac Cum- haill was also sometimes known by the name of Mongan, and which details the circumstances connected Avith the death of Fotliadh Airg- theach, who was for a short time monarch of Ireland, and was killed by the warrior Cailte, the foster-son of Finn Mac Cumhaill, in tlie battle of Ollarba, fought, according to the Annals of the Foui' Mas- ters, in the year 285. In this tract, Cailte is introduced as identify- ing the grave of Fotliadh Airgtheach, at Ollarba, in tlie following words :
" 6amaip-ne lar-pu, a Pino, ol ui c-ocluc. Qoaucc, ol nionjan, ni muir pni. 6amaip-ni la Pmo, cpu, ol pe ; du loomap oi Qlbae." Immapnacmap ppi PoruD n-aip5cec h-i puno accuc pop Ollopbi. Picimmip pccinoal n-ano. Pocapcpo epcop paip, CO pec epic, co lluio h-i calmctin ppipp anuU, 7 con pticaib a lapno h-i rti- lam ; ippeb an oicelcap po po boi ip in jai pin. pujebccip in mael cloc oia po lapa u pouD pi,'' 7 pojebcap anuip lapnn ip ni calani, 7 pojebrap uulao"^ pocaio Qipgcij ppi|' cinaip bic. Qca compap cloci imbi ano h-i calam. Qcnc a oi poll aipjic, 7 a 01 bunne ooac, 7 a inuincopc apjic pop a compai)i; 7 act'i coipce oc a ulaio ; 7 cica 050m ip in ciiiD pil h-i calam dim coipci. Ippeo pil ano,
eochait) aiR^chech inso.
TJa m-bi Cailce in imaepiuc ppi pmo. 6che (.1. do jnicbep) lap in oclaic a picc pamUiio ule, 7 popepca."
" We were with thee, O Finn, said the youth. Hush ! said Mongan, that is not good [fair]. " We were with Finn, once, said he ; we went from Alba, \_recte Almain]. We fought against Fothadh Airgthech here with thee at Ollarba. We fought a battle here ; I made a shot at him, and I drove my spear through him, so that the spear en- tered the earth at the other side of him, and its iron head was left buried in the earth.
" aimain in H. 3, 17, which is better.
'' Qn poao pin, i. e. that shot, in H. .3, 17.
' Lllaib in H. 3, 17, which is the form of the word still in use.
Ol- THE ROUND TOWEKS OF IKKLANl). ]^)^J
This is tlio VL'i-y h:iiulk- that was in that spear. The ruuinl slom; iVoiii whii-li 1 iimdt.- that shot will be found, and east oi' it will be found the iron head of the spear biirii-d ill the earth ; aud the uluid/i [earn] of Fothadii Airgthech will be found a shun dis- tance to the east of it. There is a chest of stone about him in the earth. There are his two rings of silver, and his two bunne doat [bracelets?], and his torque of silver on his chest; and there is a jjillar stone at his earn; aud an Oguniis [iiiserilied] cm the end of the pillar stone which is in the earth. And what is in it is,
EOCHAll) AIRGTHECH HEKE.
It was Cailte that was here along with Finn. All these things were searched for l.y the youth who had arrived, and they were found."
I think I have now adduced sufficient evidence to satisfy the reader respecting the real character of the pagan modes of sej)uhuie in use in Ireland, and that the theory, advanced by my i'riends of the South Munster Society of Antiquaries, is at variance as well with tin- ancient Irish authorities as with the existing momimciits of kudwn pagan antiquity.
The only remaining hypothesis of those referiiiig the Kouiid'l'owers to a pagan use, namely, their having been Phalli, or I'kiai'KIA 'J'k.m- I'LA, is happil}' so absurd, and at the same time so utterh- uiisiipj)orted by autlicn-ity or evidence worthy of refutation, tliat I gladly pass it by without fiulher notice, even though it has found a zealous sup}K)rter in the person of Sir William Betham, since these pages were origi- nally -written and read to the Academy, and who was consequently not unacquainted with their contents.
SECTION IV. THEORIES or THE CHRISTIAN ORIGIN AND USES OF TflK IMl'.VD TOWEKS.
1. That they were Anchorite Towers. — 2. That they were peni- tential prisons. — 3. That they were belfries. — 4. Tliat they were keeps, or monastic treasure-houses. — 5. That they were walch-towcis aiul beacons.
1. Anchorite Towers. — The hypothesis tluit the Towers wei-e erected for the use of anchorites, in imitation of tlic jjillar of St. Si- mon the Stylite, originated with Dean Richai-dson. of Belturbet, and has been warmly advocated by Walter Hairis. in liis edition of Ware's works, pp. 130 — 135, and in later times by the lelebrated architec- tuial antiquaries. Dr. Milner and "My. King.
1 10 INQUIRY INTO TIIK ORIGIN AND USES
The arguments adduced in support of tliis hypothesis rest almost entirely on the supposed agreement, in form, size, and internal con- struction, between the Irish Towers and the pillars of the Eastern Anchorites, to prove which Harris is at great pains to estabhsh a uni- formity, which, it will be easy to show, certainly never existed.
The first point of agTeement, as Harris gravely states, consists in lioth beinET of a round form. " Those of Asia w^ere in form round, so are om's." This I am forced to concede.
Secondly. " They [the Eastern Pillars] were of various Heights, so likewise are oiu-s." This, too, I must allow. But the Eastern Pillars varied in height from six cubits, or nine feet, to thirty-six or forty cubits, in one of great celebrity, while the Irish Towers varied in lieight from sixty to one hundred and thirty feet. The only point of agreement therefore is in each class being of various heights ; and on the same data Harris might with equal justice have asserted a common origin for any two classes of objects, however differing in other respects.
Thirdly. " That they Avere holloir, as ours are." This agreement Harris endeavours to establish in opposition to the learned BoUandus, who expressly states that the Stylite columns were solid. For this purpose he first translates a passage of Evagrius (Hist. Eccl. lib. i. chap. 3) as follows :
" At the same time, (i. e. in the 4th Century) flourished Si/meon, a man of cele- brated Memory and high Fame. He first instituted the Station in a Pillar, and built a little dwelling Place (Domicilium) on it, the JMeasure of which was scarce two Cubits."
And again :
" Simeon, (proceeds Evagrius), wore out 56 Years in these extreme Severities ; for he spent 9 in a Monastery, wherein he had first learned the Eudiments of Divine Pre- cepts of li\-ing, and in this Hovell 47 ; of which last Number he spent 10 in a very narrow Place (which others say was a dry Well) 7 in smaller Pillars, and at length 30 in a Pillar of 40 Cubits high, which stood 300 Furlongs at most from A/itiocli." — {Hist. JS'cc/. Lib. 14. Cap. 51.)
This translation, to mj- mind, carries on its very face sufficient evidence as well of its own inaccuracy as of the falseness of the con- clusions which Harris eudeavom-s to draw from it : for, if the pillar were hollow from its base, what necessity was there to build a domi- cilium of scarce two cubits on its top ? — and, if even the Stylite were stated to have instituted the station in and not on the pillar, is it not
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IKELAXI). 1 | 1
evident tliiit iu)thiiig inoro could be niennt tliiin such a pulpit or tuli- like cavity on its suniinit as would be necessary to prevent tiu' en- thusiast from falling. In tliis sense only has the passage been alwavs understood and translated, as far as I can find ; us an instance of which take the old Cambridge versionof Evagrius, by X'alesius, l(i<)-j.
" In these times, Synieon, a person of an holy and most culebnited memory, nou- rished, and was eminent; he was the first person that instituted the station i/jion a pilinr, tlie circumference of whose mansion was scarce two cubits," &c. " Moreover, Symcou six'nt six and fifty years in this afflictive and austere mode of life. In the first nionivs- tery wherein he had been imbued with the precepts of a divine life (he spent) nine years, and seven and forty in that place called t/te Maudra during ten years (of whidi time) he performed his combat in a certain narrow place; (he dwelt) seven years In the shorter pillars, and thii'ty years upon a pillar of forty cubits lonj,'."
Harris next quotes Raderus, the Tyrolese Jesuit, and Petrus (ra- lesinius, an Italian priest, to support his hypothesis, neither of wlinm. however, assists him in the matter, and even if they did, could iK)t l)e received as authorities of any weight. The former says (I quote ILir- ris's translation), that " The Hole or Cell or Domicile placed at the Top of the Pillars, in which the Sfi/lifes stood, were 2 Cubits, or 3 Feet broad, and were nut cohered ivitli a Roof, that they might have the freer Liberty of contemplating the Heavens," &c. ; and that, " When any Person went up to the Sfijlites, or they came down to others, it was by the Means of Ladders." Galesinius, indeed, says that the Stylite " was shut up in a hollow Pillar for forty years ;" but might not this be very properly said of a person enclosed in such a cell or hole as that already described ? and yet Harris has tlie weak- ness to consider this authority as conclusive, and forgetting his own quotation from Raderus, adds : " But let it be considered, whether a Ladder could from the Outside be safely reared to the Height of (JO Feet against a round Spire of such small Dimensions at Toj). in Order to supply the Sfj/lite with Food and other Necessaries ; luiless, hke Eli jail, we allow him to be fed by Ravens, the Necessity of which IVIiracle will be avoided, if we admit the Eastern Pillars to have been hollow, and, like ours, fitted with Lofts and Stages, by ]\Ieans of wliicli. and the Help of short Ladders, access might readily be had lo the Top."
This is inexpressibly puerile. If the pillars were so narrow that a ladder could not be applied with safety from the outside, their extreme diameter at top being but three feet, what sort of a chimney-
^?«u
112
IXgriRY INTO TUE ORIC.IX AXO ISES
like cavity to place " Lotb ami Stages'" in must that have been witliin it ? Certainly one not moix' tluui a toot ui iliameter, if we allow the wall to have had any thickness, and which, consequently, coidd only be ascended by a climbing-boy, and a very small one too, whom we must necessjvrily sup{x^e to have been attached to the saint's esta- blisliment lor tlie pmpose ! It is difficidt indeed to treat such rea- soniit"^ with projier gravity. Thexe is no distinction more ancient than that between tower and pillar ; insomuch that even Dr. IMUner. with all his zeal in support of Harris's hypothesis, had not the hardi- litxxi — a quality he rai-ely wanted in seeking to establish a point — to adopt such imbecile reasonings.
HjuTis, after thus settling, to his own satisfaction, the points of agreement between tlte pillars of the Eastern Sf^lifes and those of tlie "West, next proceeds to point out the circimistances in which they dil'er, and to explain the probable causes of this non-conformity. The first is, that the Eastern Pdlars were not rooted, while the Irish were inrariaMy so, a disagreement which he considered necessary from the difierence of region.
"■ For hjiimaii Satmre eoxild mot b^ar to te perpetnaBj expcsed iritliont Shelter to the Severities ol" tlus coM aiwl moiist Climate, wliatever miglit have Ijieeia daoe in the inxMer Eastern Co3<iLmtr£es."
Teiy ratiomial imdeed ! What, then, were the uses of the four, fire, or six uijoiglazed apertures at top ? Would not the situation of an unfortuiiate aaehiorite thus exposed to the winds of heaven, let
them blow ixom whatever point they might, be even worse than that of a person exposed to the open air '?
He next says :
"■ Ametber DiSeiieiice k, tlait tlie Eastera Coliinaiiis were obIt 3 Feet m. Dameter at the Extremity, as appears tarom Me^^ut, Xkifkoriiti amid others : Whereas those among as appear to^ be 8 Feet in the Diameter at the Base, and swue nuaie^ aiid tlie Drrn'miectioa to the Estrenn.1ijr daes net seem to the Et* (for I was meTer cut the Top of any ot" them); to 'hn aboTe a &nrth part, which alSo corresponds with the Kules of Architecttire ; so that the /n«S Tower, being 6 Feet m. the- DJaaaeter at theEstr^Biity, afforded Room to the Solitary to streteh himself at LajgA ia it^, TirM«& he lemM me* do in the Eastern PiSwr. But may not this Difference be accounted Sent ftewa the Itpfa-CTrftitim of Discipline from whan it was ia the first InstitmtioQ of the Ss^i^ Ot^tr by S^memi as we often read to ha^re been practised in other religioas Orders, whidlthasfiani Time to Tinie caused such infinite EeformatiBna among than T''
The difference of diameter, here ac^owledged, vpfexss, to me to
caii*i it" - -
DOtict
lDtiii:iaia
Jlk
'/j I'
i;
>&I
jw.iDlomiitT.
-.radii
jftfaDoDieterit
iiiii tie
-j»t»
OF THE BOrXD TOWEKS OF IKELAXDl
113
l)e quite sxifficient to prove the talkcy of Harris's specuktioa, for u to the relaxation of discipline, kc-, which he suppoi^ei might hare caused this difference, it is mere idle conjecture, and unworthv of
notice.
Harris further on says :
"■ The Habitations of these Anachorites are called bj sobo^ of owr ^Triters lmd»- toria in Latia, and Anrti Indamrii Erya^titlii. the PrimMi t^m iMmm Imdmmrt. P*r-
ticularly La the Lite of Dunchad O-Bnioia. who was Abb<3t of fJan wnniiij. and hariBs obtained a very popular Keputation tor Learning and Pietv. to xvmi the air of vaia Glorv. he betook himself to an Anachoretical Lite, and shat himself up im Amti /«- damrii Hiyastuli}, in the Prison of a narro&t iHdmncn. and emploved himself whoflr in. the Contemplatioa of God and Eternity, where he dkd in 96T."
He adds :
" I will not take upon me to athrm, tiiat it was ir. ' ' ~ •. xz ftui:ma<'
nois, (where there are more than one of the Kind) - . up ; bat di^
Expression osed upon the Occasion maj be very well adapted to than."
In this statement Harris has not dealt fkirlj with his readers. In the first place it would have been impossible for him. as I beliere. to have pointed out any other authority for calEng the cells of the an- chorites Arcfi Inclusorii Ergu.ifula, than that single one in the Life of Dunchad O'Braoia ; and, secondly, he leads the reader to infer that it might have been in one of the Towers of ClonmaciHMse that the abbot secluded himself, and there died. This he must have known to be contrary to fact. According to his life, as given by Co^an, Dunchad had led this sort of life when in a private station, fitan which being dragged, on the death of the Abbot TuathaL he was forced to take on him the labours of the abbacy. StilL however, longing for a retired state, he repaired in the year 974 to Armagh, hoping that he should be allowed, to do so in a place in which he was unknown, and far remote from that in which his sanctity had procured him so much admiration. In this expectation he was disappointed. His reputation had probably travelled before him, and the respect which it procured for him was soon so general throughout that city that he determined on withdrawing from it. As soon, however, as this intention was discovered, the principal inhabitants deputed some venerable persons to request him to stay a year longer amcHog them. The request was complied with ; and when, at the close of the year. he was again bent on departing, a similar entreaty was made to him with the same success, and so on annually, until at length he died
Q
1 12 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
like cavity to place " Lofts and Stages" in must that have been within it ? Certainly one not more than a foot in diameter, if we allow the \vall to have had any thickness, and which, consequently, could only be ascended by a climbing-boy, and a very small one too, whom we must necessarily suppose to have been attached to the saint's esta- blishment for the purpose ! It is difficult indeed to treat such rea- sonings witli proper gravity. There is no distinction more ancient than that between tower and pillar ; insomuch that even Dr. Milner, with all his zeal in support of Harris's hypothesis, had not the hardi- ]iood — a quality he rarely wanted in seeking to estabhsh a point — to adopt such imbecile reasonings.
Harris, after thus settling, to his own satisfaction, the points of agreement between the pillars of the Eastern ShjUtes and those of the West, next proceeds to point out the circumstances in which they differ, and to explain the probable causes of this non-conformity. The first is, that the Eastern Pillars were not roofed, while the Irish were invariably so, a disagreement which he considered necessary from the difference of region.
" For human Nature covild not bear to be perpetually exposed witliout Shelter to the Severities of this cold and moist Climate, whatever might have beeu done in the milder Eastern Countries."
Very rational indeed ! "\^^^at, then, were the uses of the four, five, or six ungiazed apertiu'es at top ? Would not the situation of an unfortunate ancliorite thus exposed to the winds of heaven, let them blow from whatever point they might, be even worse than that of a pei'son exposed to the open aii' ?
He next says :
" Another DiiFerence is, that the Eastern Columns were only 3 Feet in Diameter at the Extremity, as appears from Eragrius, Niceplwn(s and others : AVhereas those among us appear to be 8 Feet in the Diameter at the Base, and some more, and the Diminution to the Extremity does not seem to the Eye (for I was never on the Top of any of them) to be above a fourth part, which also corresponds with the Rules of Architecture ; so that the Irish Tnwer, being 6 Feet in the Diameter at the Extremity, afforded Room to the Solitary to stretch himself at Length in it, which he covdd not do in the Eastern Pillar. But may not this Difference be accounted for from the Relaxation of Discipline from what it was in the first Institution of the Stylite Order by Symeon; as we often read to have been practised in other religious Orders, which has from Time to Time caused such infinite Reformations among them ?"
Tlie difference of diameter, here acknowledged, appears to me to
OF THE ROLXI) TUWEK.S OF lliF.I.AM). 113
be quite sufficient to prove the fallacy of Harris's speculation, for as to the relaxation of discipline, &c., -which he supposes ini<rht have caused this difference, it is mere idle conjectiu-e, and unworlh}' of notice.
Harris further on says :
" The Habitations of these Anachorites are called by some of our Writers Iiiclii- soria in Latin, and Arcti Indusorii Erijaslulu, the Prisons of a narrow Jnclosure. Par- tiinUuly in the Life oi Diincliad 0-Braoin, wjio was Abbot of Clonmacnois, and having obtained a very popular Keputation for Learning and Piety, to avoid the air of vain Glury, he betook himself to an Anachoretical Lite, and shut liiniself up in Arcti In- dusorii Ergastulo, in the Prison of a narrow ftidusiire, and employed hunself wiiully in the Contemplation of God and Eternity, where he died in 987."
He adds :
" I will not take upon me to athrm, that it w^as in one of these Towers at Clonnioe- nois, (where there are more than one of the Kind) that he shut himself uj) ; but tlie Expression used upon the Oceasion may be very well adapted to them."
In this statement Harris has not dealt fairly with his readers, la the first place it would have been impossible for him, as I believe, to have pointed out any other authority for calling the cells of tlic an- chorites Arcti Inclusorii Ergastula, than that single one in the Life (if Dunchad O'Braoin; and, secondly, he leads the reader to infer that it mi<iht have been in one of the Towers of Clonmacnoise that the abbot secluded himself, and there died. This he must have known to be contrary to fact. According to his Life, as given by Colgan, Dmichad had led this sort of life when in a private station, from which being di-agged, on the death of the Abbot Tuathal, he was forced to take on him the labours of the abbacy. Still, however, longing for a retired state, he repaired in the year 974 to Armagh, hoping that he shoiild be allowed to do so in a place in Avhich he was unknown, and far remote from that in which his sanctity had procured him so much admiration. In this expectation he was tUsappointed. His reputation had probably travelled before him, and the respect which it procured for him was soon so general througliout that city that he determined on withdrawing from it. As soon, however, as this intention Avas discovered, the principal inhabitants dei)uted some venerable persons to request hun to stay a year longer among them. The request was comphed with ; and when, at the close of the year, he was again bent on departing, a similar entreaty was made to him ■with the same success, and so on annually, until at length he died
Q
114
INQUIKV INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
there, on the l(3tli of January, A. D. 98/.— See ColgansActa Sancto- rum, pp. 105, 106. Tims we find that if Harris had taken upon him to affirm thai it was in one of the Towers of Clonmacnoise that Dun- chad liad shut liiinself up — a fact which nevertheless he wishes his readers to infer — he would have asserted that which he knew Avas not the truth. If the Komid Towers had been appropriated to the use of anchorites, those of Clonmacnoise would have suited Dunchad's purpose as well as any other, and he had no occasion to go elsewhere for retirement : he might have locked the door of his keep or prison — after drawing up the ladder, in the maimer Dr. Milner conjectured — and liave bid deliauce to all friendly intruders. As to his habitation at Armagh, it is called in his Life a cell (cella) — a term which it would be sm-ely an overstretch t if the imagination to apply to a tower. Finally, Harris says :
" I am informed by a skilful Critick in Irish, that this slender Round Tower is called Cloch-Ancoire, in that Language, i. e. the Stone of the Anchorite, and not Cloghad, or a Steeple, as Molyneux fancies; and a Tradition prevails at Drumlahan in the County oi Cavan, where one of them stands in the Church Yard, that an Anchorite lived on the Top of it."
The critic, however, who communicated this piece of information, if in earnest, gave but a bad instance of his skill in the Irish tongue. It is unquestionable that the Towers are still knoAvn by no other names than cloictheach and clogas — words signifying bell-house or l)elfry — in every part of Ireland in which the Irish language still re- mains ; and there is not a shadow of proof that they were ever known l)y the name oi riocli-ancoire, or stone of the anchorite, — an appella- tion, which it would have been absm-d to apply to a tower. As to the tradition, it scarcely deserves comment. If there were a tradition of a recluse having lived in the tower of Driunlalian, it must have referred to a period not very remote ; and the circumstance of a re- ligious enthusiast having taken up his residence there, — as the hermit (jf Killarney did in the abbey of Mucruss, — woiUd no more make the one than the other an anchorite stone, or tower. But I have the au- thority of the Rev. Mr. Beresford, the present Eector of Drumlahan, that the only tradition relative to the Tower preserved there is, that it was a cloictheach, or belfry.
The true origin, however, of this story of the cloch-ancoire and of the tradition will, I think, be found in the following passage from
4
.\ :■-
{tyiKiltjTili'L
SlStpUtofTL
iiif': " F..V
purposiii tainkiiot ■ Dorjbuilc Webea: ibdreii-
itCUOOtik
PWlrtfciai.
■'•' 'i-liei b
-riere
";i''.'iiiieil- ■ iiatitaiion '■'-^ w&li it " ''"'■ikim.
'■ livoi on
,-'(> anil
i
OF THE KorXD TOWKUS OF IlUCLAXn.
115
tlie Annals of tlie Four Masters, witli ^vlli,■ll Harris must certainly have been acquainted, though lie did not lind it convenient, or deem it prudent, to bring it forward.
^'A. D. 1484. 6puinUa Faipceullcnx, Snccnpr do rionpccam doc unjcoipe DO Denarii 05 cempoll mop t)poniu learuin, o'ecc."
" A. D. 1484. Brian O'Farrclly, a prii^st who commenced to build a doc/, anycoire at tlie great church of Driiiiu-lcatliaii, died."
A really "skilful critic in Irish" — Mr. O'Donovan— to w] , I
submitted the preceding extract, has favoured nie ^\illl the follo\vin«- observations on it :
" It is remarkable that iu the ancient written Irish language the term cloc anr- coipe, i. e. lapis anachoretce, is always applied to an anchorite's cell, while in the living language and in modern printed litanies the same apparent form of the term is inva- riably applied to the anchorite himself. I never heard any name for a hermit or an- chorite in the spoken Irish language but cloc-anjcoipe; it literally means, the recluse of the stone, or, o/the stone habitation; for there can be no doubt tliat the word cloc, which literally signifies a stone, was often used by the Irish to denote a stone build- ing, as I could show by many examples from the Irish Annals ; and so far will etymology alone induce us to believe that the Irish anchorite secluded himself in a stone domicile; but this was certainly not a cluigthcach, or Round Tower. Cloc-anrcoipe when it signifies, as iu the spoken language, an anchorite, is a compound word, the first part of which is in the nature of an adjective, like church in the compound church- door in English. But it is not a compound word as used in the above passage by the Four Masters, for anjcoipe is in the genitive case, governed by cloc, and therefore means the stone, or stone domicile of the recluse.''''
What description of cell the clocli angcoire of Drunilahan was, or whether it was of any particular form, is scarcely necessary to our purpose to inquire. It is enough for us to know that it was cer- tainly not the existing Tower, which is of a very remote antiquity, nor a building of the Round Tower form or character, as there could have been no necessity to erect such a structure there, if that which already existed had been considered applicable to the piu-pose. But it cannot be qvxestioned that the habitation of the anchorite at Drum- lahan, or as it is now called, Drimilane, was, like other hermits' cells, a small, low, stone cell ; for it was so described to Mr. O'Donovan in 1836, by the late Mr. Kennedy of that place, — who was the descen- dant, by the mother's side, of the OTarrellys, the hereditary Here- nachs of the church, — and who also told him that the building was partly remaining in his grandfather's time, and situated near the
Q 2
114 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
there, ou tlio I6tli of Januaiy, A. D. 987-— See Colgan' s Acta Sancto-
/■//III, pp. 105, \0G. Thus we find that if Harris had taken upon him to allirni that it was in one of the Towers of Clonmaciioise that Dun- chad had shut himself up — a fact which nevertheless he wishes his readers to infer — he would have asserted that which he kncAv was not the truth. If the Round Towers had been appropriated to the use of anchorites, those of Clonmacnoise would have suited Dunchad's pui'pose as well as any other, and he had no occasion to go elsewhere for retirement : he might have locked the door of his keep or prison — after drawing up the ladder, in the maimer Dr. Milner conjectured — and have hid defiance to all friendly intiniders. As to his habitation at Armagh, it is called in his Life a cell (cella) — a term which it woidd be sm'ely an overstretch of the imagination to apply to a fairer. Finally, Harris says :
" I am informed by a skilful Critick in Iris/i, that this slender Round Tower is ealled Cloch-Aneoire, in that Language, i. e. the Stone of the Anchorite, and not Cloghad, or a Steeple, asMoli/neux lancies; and a Tradition prevails at Drumlalmn in the County of Caean, where one of them stands in the Church Yard, that an Anchorite lived on the Top of it."
The critic, however, Avho communicated this piece of infonnation, if in earnest, gave but a bad instance of his skill in the Irish tongue. It is unquestionable that the Towers are still knoAvn by no other names than cluictheach and clogas — words signifying bell-house or belfry — in every part of Ireland in which the Irish language still re- mains ; and there is not a shadow of proof that they -were ever known by the name of cloch-ancoire, or stone of the anchorite, — an appella- tion, which it would have been absmxl to apply to a tower. As to the tradition, it scarcely deserves comment. If there were a tradition of a recluse having hved in the tower of Drmnlahan, it must have referred to a period not very remote ; and the circumstance of a re- ligious enthusiast having taken up his residence there, — as the hermit of Killarney did in the abbey of Mucruss, — wovUd no more make the one than the other an anchorite stone, or tower. But I have the au- thority of the Rev. Mr. Beresford, the present Rector of Drumlahan, that the only tradition relative to the Tower preserved there is, that it was a cluictheach, or belfry.
The true origin, however, of this story of the cloch-ancoire and of the tradition will, I think, be found m the following passage from
OF THE RuLXI) TOWERS OF IRELAND. ] | .-,
the Annals of the Four Masters, witli whirl. Harris must ccrtainlv have been acquainted, though he did not find it convenient, or deen. it prudent, to bring it forward.
"A.D. 1484. 6p,an Lla pa.pceuUa.s, Succapr do e-onpcccnn doc unrco.ne DO oenam C15 rempoll mop Dpomu learain, o'ecc."
" A. D. 1484. Brian O'Farrolly, a priest wl.o commenced to build a cloch anqcoire at the great church of Druim-leatlian, died."
A really "skilful critic in Irish"— Mr. O'Donovan— to whom I submitted the preceding extract, has fa\oured me with the following observations on it :
" It is remarkable that in the ancient written Irish language tlie term doc cnr- coipe, i. e. lapis anachoretce, is alwaj-s applied to an anchorite's cell, while in tlie living language and in modern printed litanies the same apparent form of the term is inva- riably applied to the anchorite himself I never heard any name for a hermit or an- chorite in the spoken Irish language but doc-anjcoipe ; it literally means, the rechm of the stone, or, of the stone habitation; for there can be no doubt that the word doc, which literally signifies a stone, was often used by the Irish to denote a stone build- ing, as I could show by many examples from the Irish Annals ; and so far will etymology alone induce us to believe that the Irish anchorite secluded himself in a stone domicile; but this was certainly not a chiytheach, or Round Tower. Cloc-anxcoipe, when it signifies, as in the spoken language, an anchorite, is a compound word, tlie first part of which is in the nature of an adjective, like church in the compound church- door in English. But it is not a compound word as used in the above passage by the Four Masters, for anjcoipe is in the genitive case, governed by doc, and therefore means thti stone, or stone domicile of the recluse."
What description of cell the clor/t angcoire of Drumlahan was, or whether it was of any particular form, is scarcely necessary to our purpose to inquire. It is enough for us to know that it was cer- tainly not the existing Tower, which is of a very remote antiquitv, nor a building of the Kound Tower form or character, as there could have been no necessity to erect such a structure there, if that which already existed had been considered applicable to the ])in-pose. But it cannot be questioned that the habitation of the anchorite at Drum- lahan, or as it is now called, Drumlane, was, like other hermits' cells, a small, low, stone cell ; for it was so described to Mr. O'Donovan in 1836, by the late Mr. Kennedy of that place, — who was the descen- dant, by the mother's side, of the O'Farrellys, the hereditary Here- nachs of the church, — and who also told him that tiie building was partly remaining in his grandfather's time, and situated near the
Q 2
rliilli'li
tNQtIinY INTO Till-, OIIIOI.V AND USES
wliicli Still exists, Harris himself aes
mil i<\' siicli II. ('I'll, ii!^ Ill-' rMllnwing dppcription :
" Otle tif lliPfP Aiinplv'fitef, at [iri'scnt, remains in Ireland, viz. at Foure, j the t'ltUltl V of nV.«^j1/i».»M V Imt InstMiil 111" Inking liis Station in on« of these Towe, he illlutbll!' a sUUlll luW Cell, ?oimirow. tlml ii l.iH Man ean scarce stretch himself at knh m llie Mooh tte makes a vow at iiis iMiliancc never to quit his Cell, and thenly UwH'ftlltW tu' hikes in to wiilK on ii 'IVnas Imilt over it, if he may be said to walk-.^ho vmm\. iu» illivcl l.ine ?tivlvli out hi!< Logs iVmr Times."
tie tllVei'wmitlf st«108 ihnt tho servants of this anchorite, who ted bs h!'^ l^isnnsiotis lv>r hi!« support about tho countrv, used to calliim "Mt* iWrt(«^ WrfW tw ^/»f» Sfont\" — !> tonit. which in the spoken an- gVVl^'^ x^f t!\ii? Irish »t tho titno. w«s oxpix'^sod by c/ocfi-angcoire,iw\ \\\\\k\ Mujy f\H\nvl by Harris in tho Irish Annals, as apphedtahe x^^l ai Drw»\U«haUs gavo origin to his ti-adition in connection wit it. A^x,\ W it? «nVM^<H>us »ppUo«tion to tho Round Tower there. The act ^^fel^v^ IxN m \\\<^ Ann«K thorvtoro, not only contradicts the aser- Usnis. but ostablishos s»1s!*^ tho fkl]*cy of the theory otihe an> -. '' ■■" - ~ ' ' '"' " "'■"'- t'llwkaited trac: >ii.
, .,, , - > areuinenis. ...ii-
in^ t}hew ""^ . - . noi ccttisiuex them tc> iive
4<''>»0l^\xl. bnt tot tho i^jflijcnco which thoy ajipeir to have hiiirto hs< :r been adopted eTen by mny
':icinsia«L "he
V ii necessary tc> tranicribe i.
t:hc In
'iifa:un£r hope, tht the K -succeeding parts alas
1>^ Sn
^ ho ^4 ^ -
namp^ess. «n<l tja-w t»ov»t yet -spoti the lurti; thits^ts'"'
, over, ^eae Thcso evidemct -are
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
117
"I was formerly of opinion that tliey [the Round Towers] were built for the resi- lence of Anchorites, and this conjecture was founded from such kind of pillars, having iuen erected in the eastern countries for the reception of Mouks, who lived on the top r them, as is mentioned by Ecagrius in the life of St. Symeoii the Styllte, so called rom his living in a pillar 40 years, as Petrm Galesiiiius reports. And it seonied robable, that our Irish Ascetlcks had the models of these buildings originally iVoiii \sia, which they early visited, as appears from several lives of the Irish saints ; but he use to which our ancient Irish MSS. put these towers, was to imprison penitents, -iome of our writers have named them I/idusoria, and Arcti Inclusorii Ergastidn, The •risons of a narrow indosure. Particularly in the life of Dunchail 0-Braoiit, Abbot of 'lonmacnois, into which prison it is said he betook himself, where he died in 987. The rrish name for a penance is Turris, i. e. the Latin name for a tower, derived from pe- litents being imprisoned in them. And 'tis no less certain that all the Irish eccle- siastical words are directly taken from the Latin, as Temple, Aglish, Ashbeg, &c. from Templum, Ecdesia, Episcopiis, &c. The MSS. add, that these penitents were placed Lin the top of the tower, and having made a probation of a particular number of days according to their crimes, they were admitted to descend to the next floor, and so on, till they came to the door which always faced the entrance of the church, where they stood and received the absolution of the Clergy, and blessings of the people, as some of our Irish MSS. particularly relate.". — AiUient and Present State of the County and City of Cork, vol. ii. pp. 408, 409.
In the preceding passage, Avhicli contains tlie whole of what Dr. Smith has written iu support of this theory, there is but one assertion that has any foundation in truth, namely, that all the Irish ecclesiasti- cal words are directly taken from the Latin ; and even this is only partially true, for there are some Irish ecclesiastical words not so derived; nor is the Irish word tur, or, as it is more usually written, tor, though cognate with the Latin, derived from it, but from a com- mon soiu'ce. Moreover, the Irish never adopted the Latin word f urn's- into their own language ; and it Avould have been as difficult for Dr. Smith to produce an authority for the application of this word either to a tower, or penance, in the Irish language, as to have produced the Irish JMSS. from which he di-ew his erroneous, if not fabricated, ac- count of the use of the Eound Towers. The word used for penance in Irish is aiqu'je {althrighe), a Scytho-Celtic word, signifying lite- rally compunction, sorrow, &c., and figm-atively penance. This is the word used by the annahsts, as in the following passage from the Annals of the Four Masters :
"A. D. 946. ^opmplaic, injen piauio, mic TTlaileaclamn, Riojan NeiU S^""" DuiB, o'ecc, lap n-airpicce oiocpa in a caipmceccaiB 7 ooailcib."
" A. D. 946. Gormflaith, daughter of Flann, son of Maileachlainn, Queen of Niall Glundubh, died, after having performed severe penance for her transgressions and sins."
110 INQUIRY INTO THE OKIGIX AND USES
chinvli : and of sucli a cell, which still exists, Harris himself gives us tlie following description :
" One of these Anachorites, at present, remains in Ireland, viz. at Fovre, in the County of West-Meath ; but instead of taking his Station in one of these Towers, he inhabits a small low Cell, so narrow, that a tall Man can scarce stretch huuself at length on the Floor. He makes a vow at his Entrance never to quit his Cell, and the only Recreation he takes is to walk on a Terras built over it, if he may be said to walk, who cannot in a direct Line stretch out his Legs four Times."
lie afterwards states that the servants of this anchorite, who used to bcf provisions for his support about the country, used to call him " t/ie Holt/ man in the Stnne^' — a term, which in the spoken lan- guage of the Irish at the time, was expressed by cloch-angcoire, and which, being found by Harris in the Irish Annals, as applied to the cell at Drumlahan, gave origin to his tradition in connection with it, and to its erroneous application to the Round Tower there. The feet referred to in the Annals, therefore, not only contradicts the asser- tions of Harris, but establishes also the fallacy of the theory of the anchorite use of the ToAvers, as drawn from this fabricated tradition.
I have now o-one throuo-h the entire of Harris's arQ-unients, treat- ing them with an attention which I should not consider them to have deserved, but for the influence which they appear to have hitherto had on the question — his theory having been adoj^ted even by many from whom we might have expected a more rational conclusion. The reader will now be able to appreciate their value, and I shall not commit a longer trespass on his patience by adducing further proofs of their futility. Neither do I think it necessary to transcribe the ob- servations of Mr. King, or of Dr. Milner, in support of this conjecture, as they consist chiefly of objections to the other theories, and offer no- thing new, or requiring an answer, in support of their own. Dr. Mil- ner indeed says, that " it is impossible to show what other pirrpose they were calcidated for." But I indulge the pleasing hope, that the reader who will accompany me through the succeeding parts of tliis Inquiry will be of a contrary opinion.
2. Penitential Prisons. — This tlieoiy was first promulgated by Dr. Smith, the industrious author of some of om- County Histories, on the authority, as he states, of Irish MSS., which, hoAvever, were nameless, and have never yet seen the light. These evidences are thus stated :
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 1 1 7
" I was tormorly of opinion that thoy [tliu Kound Towors] wito Ijnilt lor tli.' n-M- dence of Auchorites, and this conjecture was founded from such kind of pilkrs, having been erected in the eastern countries for the receiition of Monks, who lived on )lu' top of them, as is mentioned by Ecayrius in tlie life of St. S/fmeon the Sfi//ite, so ealleii from Ills living in a pillar 40 years, as Petnis Gakshiiits reports. And it seemed probable, that our Irish Asceticks had the models of thi'se buildings originally Iroin Asia, which they early visited, as appears from several lives of the Irish saints ; but the use to which our ancient Irish MSS. put these towers, was to imprison penitents. Some of our writers have named them luc/iisoria, and Arcti Incbisorii En/astiifa, The prisons of a narroio inclosure. Particularly in the life of Dnndiad 0-liraui,i, Abbot of Clonmaemis, into which prison it is said he betook himself, where lie died in 987. The Irish name for a penance is Titrris, i. e. the Latin name for a tower, derived from pe- nitents being imprisoned in them. And 'tis no less certain that all the Irish eccle- siastical words are directly taken from the Latin, as Temple, A (/fish, Ashheq, &c. from Temphnn, Efclesia, Episcopus, &c. The JISS. add, that these penitents were placed on the top of the tower, and having made a probation of a particular number of days according to their crimes, they were admitted to descend to the next floor, and so on, till they came to the door which always faced the entrance of the church, where they stood and received the absolution of the Clergy, and blessings of the people, as some of our Irish JISS. particularly relate." — Antient and Present State of the County and f'ili/ if Cork, vol. ii. pp. 408, 409.
In tlie preceding passage, winch contains the whole of what Df. Smith has written in support of this theor}-, there is but one assertitm that has any foundation in truth, namely, that all the Lish ecclesiasti- cal words are directly taken from the Latin ; and even this is only partially true, for there are some Irish ecclesiastical words not so derived; nor is the Irish word ttir, or, as it is more usually written, ior, though cognate with the Latin, derived from it, but from a com- mon source. Moreover, the Irish never adopted the Latin word fitrris into their own language ; and it would have been as difficult for Dv. Smith to produce an authority for the application of this word either to a tower, or penance, in the Irish language, as to have ])ro(luceil the Irish MSS. from which he drew his erroneous, if not fabricated, ac- count of the use of the Round Towers. The Avord used for penance in Irish is aicpfje {aitlirighe), a Scytho-Celtic word, signifying lite- rally compunction, sorrow, &c., and figuratively penance. This is the word used by the annalists, as in the following passage fnnii the Annals of the Four Masters :
" A. D. 946. ^opmplair, injen piaiiio, mic mudeudlainn, Piojun NeiU ^hiii- DUib, D'ecc, lap n-airpicce oiocpu ni a cuipniceccuiB 7 ooailcib."
" A. D. 946. Gormflaith, daughter of Flann, son of Maileachlainn, Queen of Niail Glundubh, died, after having performed severe penanceforher transgressions and sins."
lis INQUIRY INTO TllK OIUGIX AND USES
riijiap signifies in Irisli " a journey, expedition, pilgrimage," and is not derived from \\\c Latin fiirris, but, as it appears, from a more primitive Irish word zu]\, a journey, a four, a searcli, (Ileb.in, to search, explore.) — Vide O'Reilly's Irisli Dictionary. And thus ciip- opac signifies a traveller and a pilgrim, because the latter, -when he took the penitential staff, was obliged to perform a certain roimd oi' journey — as the practice continues to this day — but not a foi/r from the top to the bottom of a tower ! The word cupap, however, which is only employed figuratively to denote a pilgrimage, is not used in this sense in the Irish Annals, or any other ancient authorities that I have seen, the Avord ailifpe, or oiliqie, being that which is always used. " To this day," says Dr. O'Conor, " the word used for a pilgrimage by the common Irish is Ailitlire. So the Annals of the Four Masters say, that ' Arthgal, son of Cathal, King of Connaught, took the penitential staif, and travelled to Iliona din ai/it/ire,' i.e. on his pilgrimage. (IV. Masters, 777.) This word Ailithre is composed oiAil, a great upright rock or stone, and itriallam [correctly triallaim'] to go round ; and there is no name in the Irish language for the pil- grimages of Christians to Hiona, or to Jerusalem, or to Rome, but that identical word Ailitlire, which was iised by the Pagan Irish for a pilgrimage to the sacred stone of the Came, or of the Tobar, the emblematical God of the Druids." — (See Dr. O'Conor's interesting remarks on the well-worship of the ancient Irish, in the third Num- ber of Columbanus's Letters, pp. 8!), 90.)
The following extract from Tighernach's Annals, compiled before the year 1088, will furnish an example of the use of the two words employed in Irish for penance and pilgrimage :
" A. D. 980. Ctmlaini, mac Sicpuica, apo-pij cip ^lialUiib Qcha Cliarh, oo Dul CO h-1 a n-aiCllRl^he 7 a n-ai6irhRl."
" A. D. 980. AmlaiF, son of Sitriuc, chief king of tlie Danes of Dublin, went to lona, on penance (airpije) and pilgrimage (ailirpi)."
The true nature of the penance performed on Irish pilgrimages is known to every person acquainted with oiu' ancient customs, and may be found fully detailed in " Richardson's Folly of Pilgrimages in Ireland" (Dublin, 1727). It consists, now as anciently, in per- forming a certain turas, or journey, round a number of stations at a holy place, repeating at each station a certain number of prayers, &c., " and so," as Richardson concludes in his curious account of the pe-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. | |i)
iiitential stations at Lough Derg (p. 134), " tlicir 'J\/nus (tliai i< Pilgrimage) is ondod."
In the preceding observations I am liajjpy to lind invsi'U' -up- ported bj^ the approval of Mr. O'Donovan. to wlioni. as a most e«)ni- petent Irish scholar, I sidmiitted them, and who lias lavmn-ed inc with tlie following remarks, which I consider as too valual)le not u< lay before the readt'r :
" I have read your observations upon Dr. Smith's Penitential Totcer llieun/. and consider them correet and judicious. With respect to his Irish M.S. authorities, I cannot believe tliat he had any such, and, froni having read his publislied works and MS. collections, I have strong reasons to believe that he could not have understood it even if he had ; but, depending upon the interpretation of others, who often imposed upon him, and perhaps upon themselves, he made a vague reference to MSS., according to his usual mode, in order to add weight to his hypothesis. If Dr. Smith had MSS. in his possession, relating to the origin and use of the Round Towers of Ireland, why lias he not told us something about their date, or whether they were of velhim, parchment, or paper, or who were their authors or scribes ? Why lias he not giwn us the ori,L'iiial of some passage from one of these iSISS., with a literal translation ? To such cpiestions I would venture, without fear of contradiction, to rejily, because he had no such MSS. I doubt not, however, but that he might have seen or ln'cn told ofsoiiu' ]iassage in some modern Irish i\IS., in which the word tiiras, pilgrimage, or penitential station, occurs, and which he misunderstood as referring to Round Towers, — a striking iii- stance of which kind of antiquarian juggling we have seen in A'allaneey's ([noting Cormac's Glossary as autliority for the pagan antiquity of the Tower of Kildare. I make no doubt that the MS. referred to by Dr. Smith is a description, in Irisli, ol' the Turas or Station of Lough Derg, many copies of which were, in his time, extant throughout the country.
" His asserting that the Irish ' Turas,'' as resembling in sound tlie Latin Tunis. is a corroboration oi //is //j/jwt/iesis of the use of tlie Round Toirers, has no weight with me. The Irish word cupap is certainly not derived from the Latin, but is, as well as the English word tour, to be referred to some original language of mankind. Cupap signifies a journey, as 50 n-eipi5iD do cupap leac, '■ may you luit-e success on your jour- ney;'' cpuaj mo rupap 50 6oc oeapj, ^pity my journey or pilyrimage to Lough Dery.^ Ciipap is sometimes figuratively used in the spoken Irish language to signify a cer- tain penitential station, which the Roman Catholics still perform, or lately iierl'ormed, in many parts of Ireland, at holy wells near ancient churches and in the modern cha- pels: it is performed by moving on the knees from one penitential station to anotlur at the ancient churches, or from one station of the Holy Cross to another in tlie mo- dern chapels, and repeating certain prayers before each station. Hence uj cciliaipc ropnip means '■ performing a station or a jiilyrimaye ;'' but the word is understood by the most illiterate peasant as alluding to ihe journeying on the knees; and the same person, who would know that 05 rabctipc cupaip means performing a station or pil- grimage, would understand cupcip paoa to mean a long journey ; cpiocnul^ecip mo cuptip, '/ hace finished my journey;' 50 n-eipi;^i6 do cupup leor, ' may you succeed
120 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Oil your jonrneij^ From these exanijiles it appears quite obvious tliat the Irisli wonl cupap has nothing to do witli tmcer or ti/rr/s, Vuit tliat it is of the same signification and derivation with the English 'lu/n;'' wliieh I trust no person will derive from the Latin tiirr/n, a toicer.
" I am of opinion that the tcrni rupap is not long intise in the sense of station or pil- grimage, for I never met any ancient MS. authority for such a figurative signification of the word. It is always used in Irish books and JNISS. to signify ajuiirnej/, a travel, a tour; and if the word naoiri were added, then it would mean a pilgrimage, ' a holy journey,' (naoiTi-rupap). But in all our ancient annals the word used to signify '■ pilffrimage'' is ailirpi. Uupap does not mean '■penance^ as asserted by Dr. Smith, and never had any such signification, the word airpi je (which is a noun formed from the adjective airpeac, sorrovful,) being always used to denote penance, whether mental or cor- poreal."
To these judicious remarks it is liardly necessary to add anotlier word. I am quite persuaded that if Dr. Smith had had any distinct authority for his vague reference, either manuscript or printed, lie ■would not have failed to have tritunphantly produced it. Why did he not tell us what the Towers were called in those ancient Irish MSS., which state that they were used to imprison penitents? He answers this question by anticipation, thus : " Some of our writers liave named them Inclusori/i and Arcfi Inclusorii Ergastula, the Prisons of a narrow enclosure — particidarly in the Life of Dunchad O'Braoin, &c." But these are not IrisJi words, and I have already shown, in the preceding section, that the authorities here referred to make no allusion Avhatever to towers, but on the contrary distinctly and invariably call those Inclusoria ceJIce or cells.
The name, however, by which the ' Penitentiaries' were called in Irish may be seen in almost every page of our Annals : it is t)ui)i- reach or Dea]i-reac — a name which is supposed by some to be j^oeti- cally compounded of the Avords oeaji, a tear, and reach, a house. It is thus explained by O'Reilly in his Irish Dictionary :
" tDeap-recic, dear-theach, an apartment in a monastery calculated for prayers and penitence."
Thus in the Annals of the Four INIasters, at the year 905, the biu'ning of the Deartheach of Mayo is recorded :
" A. D. 905. Dertech Maige Eo do loscc.'"
Erroneously translated by Dr. O'Conor : " A. D. 905. Nosocomium Maiouense combustum."
or THE ROUND TOWERS OF lliEI.ANn. ] O |
But correctly by Colgan, who knew the meaning of the passage far better than Dr. O'Conor :
"A. D. 905. Domus poeniteutivim in Mogco inecndio vastala." Ada SS. p. fiOG.
And again : " A. D. 1075. Cluain loraini do loscc. con a (/eii/ffh."
Also erroneously translated by O'Conor, as Ibllows :
" A. D. 1075. Cluanirardia combusta cum suo Nosocomio."
But correctly by Colgan :
"A. D. 1075. Cluain-erardia cum sua Paeuitentium axle, combusta." I/j. p. 40".
A hundred other instances to the same elTect might be adduced, but these will, I trust, suffice ; nor shoidd I have deemed the prooi's advanced by Dr. Smith deserving of so much notice, if they had not imposed on the acute mind of such an able antiquary as Sir Richard Colt Hoare, who expresses his approbation of this theory in the fol- lowing words :
" On comparing and considering the various accounts wbicb have been drawn up Ijy so many able and intelligent antiquaries, I am inclined to favour the (ijiinion of Dr. Smith, which is strongly grounded upon the tradition of an ancient Irish manuscript." — Journal of a Tour in Ireland, p. 284,
3. Belfries. 4. Keeps, or Monastic Treasure-Houses. 5. Watcii- TowERS AND Beacons. — As these theories are only erroneous in their exclusive application, and are sound Avlien applied conjointly — as will, I trust, be proved in the second part of this Inquiry — it is not necessary to take any further notice of them in this place. I shall content myself, therefore, with observing, that if they liave hitherto failed of a more general adoption, it has been the result not less of a want oi facts to support them, than of the difficulties in argunu'iu which their advocates had to encoimter, in ascribing to a single and exclusive use a class of buildings, all of which exhibited peculiarities of structm-e, which were manifestly not necessary to that one purpose.
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122 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
PART II.
TRUE ORIGIN AND USES OF THE ROUND TOWERS.
SECTION I. INTRODUCTION.
In the preceding part of this Inquiry I have endeavom-ed to remove tlie too prevalent existing prejudices of my countrymen in favour of theories respecting the origin and uses of the Romid Towers, which I deem erroneous, by a dispassionate examination of the evidences which have been adduced to support them ; and to the cahii inquirer after truth, Avho may have accompanied me through that rather te- dious preUminary investigation, I trust I have submitted such evi- dences as wiU prepare his mind for an unbiassed examination of the proofs I have now to tender, in support of the conclusions which I hope to establish.
That my countrymen should be so generally inclined to beheve in hypotheses — I allude particularly to those referrmg the Towers to a pagan origin — on such evidences, will probably excite surprise in the minds of the learned of other countries, among whom a more philoso- phical spirit has been directed to subjects of historical and antiquarian inquiry ; but such surprise must be materially diminished, when it is recollected that soimd antiquarian investigation, even in the Avealthier sister islands, is but of recent growth, and that, from various causes imnecessary to point out, it has naturally followed but slowly in Ire- land. I may add too, as a fact of great importance, that the little that has been hitherto written by men of acknowledged judgment and learning, on the subject of Irish architectural remains, has been far more calculated to mislead than guide the mind on this subject. What, I may ask, could be expected but the wildest speculation, when Sir James Ware, the first and most judicious of all the writers who have treated of Irish antiquities, and whose work still ranks as our text-book for information on such subjects, tells us, with all the weight of authority due to his learning and love of truth, that the Irish
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IREEAXH. ] -JM
(lid not begin to build with stone and mortar inilil the twelfth cen- tury? The words in which this learned writer despatclics this sub- ject, as translated by his laborious editor, Harris, are as follows :
'' Malachi/ 0-Morgair, Arclibishop oX Armagh, [who died in 1148] was the first Irishman, or at least one of the first, who began to build with Stone and Mortar, of which his contemporary Sir [St.] Bernard gives tliis Account, ' Mularhi/ tlioight it incumbent on him to build a Chappel of Stone at Bangor, like those he had seen in other Countries : and when he began to lay the Foundation of it, some of the Natives were astonished at the Novelty; because such Buildings were never seen before in that Country.' And a few Words after he introduces an ill-natured Fellow, and puts this Speech in his Mouth. ' What has come over you, good Man, that you should under- take to introduce such a Novelty into our Country ? We are Scots [i. e. Irishmen'] not Gauls. "WTiat Levity is this? What Need is there of such a proud and unnecessary Work? How will you, who are but a poor Man, find Means to finish it ? And who will live to see it brought to Perfection ?' SjX. We find also an Account given by the same Bernard, that this Malachy had some Years before built a Chappel in the same Place, ' made indeed of planed Timber, but well jointed and compactly put together, and for a Scottish [i. e. an Irish] Work, elegant enough." — Antiquities of Ireland, pp. 181, 182.
It is true that Harris elsewhere, in his edition of Sir James Ware's works, timidly combats this conclusion of the great antiquary on the authority of the passage in Cambrensis, wliich would imply, in the opinion of that "wi-iter, that the Towers were of great antiquity in his time : but, by connecting this conclusion with a theory of his own which he could not substantiate, he only involved the subject in greater mystery than before, and predisposed the imguided mind to wander in a region of more unbounded speculation.
Nearly cotemporaneous with Sir James Ware, and following in his track. Sir William Petty goes even farther, thus :
" There is at this Day no Monument or real Argument, that when the Irish were first invaded, they had any Stone-Housing at all, any Money, any Foreign Trade, nor any Learning but the Legend of the Saints, Psalters, Missals, Rituals, &c. ; viz. nor Geometry, Astronomy, Anatomy, Architecture, Engineery, Painting, Carving, nor any kind of Manufacture, nor the least use of Navigation ; or the Art Military." — Puli/iral Anatomi/ of Ireland, (second edition), chap. v. p. 25.
The next writer who investigated om- antiquities, and treated ol the origin of the Eoinid Towers in partictdar, was the celebrated Dr. Thomas Molyneux ; but his feeble efforts to remove the mystery of the existence of such remains among a people supposed to have been so uncivilized as the Irish, by ascribing them to their oppressors, the pagan Danes, added nothing to the knowledge already extant on the subject.
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1 24 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
And lastly, tlic more laboured efforts of Dr. Ledwicli, in our own time, in support of the same theory, have only served to inerease the darkness in which our ecclesiastical antiquities were previously in- volved.
While the Irish were thus instructed in error by tlieir o-wn most distinguished antiquaries, the uncertainty in which the origin of our ecclesiastical architectural remains was involved was still further in- creased by the opinions expressed on this subject by the most dis- tinguished antiquaries of England and Scotland, who universally adopted Ware's opinion that the Irish -were unacquainted with the art of building with lime and stone previously to the twelfth century. They even go so far as to apply the same dogma to the architectin-al remains of the Lnsh colony of Scots, who settled in Scotland in the beginning of the sixth centiury, — as an exanqile of which I quote the following passage, from Pinkerton's Enquiry into the History of Scot- land, vol. ii. p. 141 :
"Ancient monuments of tlic British Scots tliere are none, save cairns of stones, used as sepulchres, and as memorials. These were adapted to Celtic indolence : while the Gothic irulnsf ry raised vast stones, instead of piling small ones : nor are any cairns found in Gothic countries, so far as I can learn, except such as are very large. The Celtic churches, houses, &c. were all of wattles, as are the barns at this day in the Helmdes ; so that no ruins can be ibund of them. The early cathedral of Hyona must have been of this sort ; and it was burnt by the Danes in the ninth century. The present ruin is not older than the thirteenth. In the twelfth century Saint Bernard represents a stone church as quite a novelty even in Ireland."
Opinions such as these, which I shall ];)rove to be wholly erro- neous, proceeding from authorities of weight, have had an effect in Ireland doubly mischievous, and greatly to be deplored ; first, as stripping our architectural remains of their true antiquity, and thus destroying that charm of association which would have led to theii' preservation ; and secondly, on the other hand, as preparing the ])td)- lic mind for the reception of those wild theories respecting the pagan origin of the Eound Towers, which, originating with General Val- lancey, have been so generally adopted by his followers in the same school.
Under these circumstances, to disabuse the minds of my coun- trymen of prejudices, which are calculated to lessen them in the esti- mation of the learned and judicious, — while, at the same time, I satisfy them of the extreme antiquity of the ecclesiastical architectural
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 1 -J.')
remains, Still so abuiulant in Ireland, and thus excite a desire for tlirir conservation, — is a task wliich, however humble, I may well [\:v\ a pride that it slioidd have fallen to mv lot to accomplish. To do this, however, itis necessary that I slmnld not cournR' this Inqiiirv to the question of the origin and uses of the Kound Towers alone, but also, as accessary and indeed essential to that Incjuiry, go into im investigation of oui' ecclesiastical architecture generally, of which the Koimd Towers constitute only a subordinate feature.
It is true that these remains will be found to be of a very siiii|)lL' and unartificial charactei', and to exhibit notliing of that arcliitcctmal splendour so gratifying to the taste, which characterizes the Christian edifices of Europe erected in the later days of ecclesiastical power ; but if, as the great sceptical poet, Byron, so truly says,
" Even the faintest relicts of a shriue Of any worsliip wake some thoughts divine,"
these simple memorials of a Christian antiquity, rarely to be found outside our own insula sacra, and which, in their grave sim])licity. exhibit a characteristic absence of meretricious grandeur, tyjjical of the primitive ages of the Christian Church, can scarcely fail to excite a deep and reverential interest in the minds of Christians generally, and still more of those who may justly take a pride in siicli venerable remains of their past history.
SECTION II. ANTIQUITY OF IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL KE^L\I^•S.
It must be admitted that the opinion expressed by Sir James Ware, as founded on the authority of St. Bernard's Life of St. Malachy, that the Irish first began to build with stone and mortar in the twelfth century, would, on a casual examination of the question, seem tu be of great weight, and extremely diflictdt to controvert ; R)r it would appear, from ancient authorities of the highest character, that tin- I'ustom of building both houses and chiu'chcs with oak timber and wattles was a peculiar characteristic of the Scotic race, who wen' tlie ruhng people in Ireland from the introduction of Christianity till the Anglo-Norman Invasion in the twelfth century. Tims we have the authority of Venerable Bede that Finian, who had been a
1 2() INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
iHoiik of the monastery of loiia, on becoming bishop of Lindisfarne, " built a chuicli lit fVu' liis episcopal see, not of stone, but altogether of sawn wood covered with reeds, after the Scotic [that is, the Irish] manner."
"... fecit Ecclesiam Episcopal! sedi congruam, qiiam tamen more Scottorum, non de lapide, sed de robore secto totam composuit atque Larundine texit." — Beda, Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. c. 25.
In like manner, in Tirechan's Annotations on the Life of St. Pa- trick, preserved in the Book of Armagh, a MS. supposed to be of the seventh centmy, we find it stated,- that " when Patiick went up to the place which is called Foin-gea of the sons of Awley, to divide it among the sons of Awley, he built there a quadrangular cluu-ch of moist earth, because wood was not near at hand."
" Et ecce Patricias pen-exit ad agriim qui dicitur Foirrgea filiorum Amolngid ad dividend urn inter filios Amolngid, et fecit ibi ajclesiam terrenam de liumo quadratam quia non prope erat silva." — Fol. 14, b. 2.
And lastly, in the Life of the A-irgin St. Monenna, compiled by Conchubran in the twelfth century, as quoted by Ussher, it is simi- larly stated that she founded a monastery which was made of smooth timber, according to the fashion of the Scotic nations, who were not accustomed to erect stone walls, or get them erected.
" E lapide enim sacras sedes efficere, tam Scotis quiim Britonibus morem fuisse insolitum, ex Beda quoq; didicimus. Indeq; in S. Monentice monasterio Ecclesiam constructam fuisse notat Conchubranus tabulis de dolatis, juxta morem Scoticarum (/en- tium: eo quod macerias Seoti non sdent facere, nee facias habere." — Primordia, p. 737-
I have given these passages in full — and I believe they are all that have been foimd to sustain the opinions alluded to — in order that the reader may have the whole of the evidences unfavourable to the antiquity of om- ecclesiastical remains fairly placed before him ; and I confess it does not siu'prise me that, considering how little attention has hitherto been paid to our existing architectural monuments, the learned in the sister countries should have adopted the conclusion which such evidences should natiu-ally lead to; or even that the learned and judicious Dr. Lanigan, Avho Avas anxious to uphold the antiquity of those monuments, should have expressed his adoption of a similar conclusion in the following words :
" Pi'ior to those of the twelfth century we find very few monuments of ecclesiastical architecture in Ireland. This is not to be wondered at, because the general fashion of
OF THE ROUXD TOWERS OF IRELAND. 1 'i?
the country was to erect their buildings of wood, a fashion, which in great part cdu- tinues to this day in several parts of Europe. As consequently their chunhes aWo were usually built of wood, it cannot be expected that there should be any reniuins of such churches at present." — Eccl. Hist. vol. iv. pp. .'j;j I , .'Jici.
Before, however, we deem sucli authorities invincible, k't it ln^ remembered that on smiilar evidences the iuitiquarics of EngUind, till a recent period, came to the conclusion that the churches ol" the Bri- tons, and even of the Saxons, were mostly built with timber ; I'or, as is stated by Grose in the preface to his Antiquities of England on the subject of architectui'e (p. 03) : " An opinion has long prevailed, chiefly countenanced by Mr. Somner, that the Saxon churches were mostly built with timber; and that the few they had of stone, consisted only of upright walls, without pillars or arches ; the construction of which, it is pretended, they were entirely ignorant of" Yet this opinion is now universally acknowledged to be erroneous, and 1 trust I shall clearly prove, that the generally adopted conclusion as to the recent date of our ecclesiastical stone buildings is erroneous also.
It is by no means my Avish to deny that the houses built by the Scotic race in Ireland were usually of wood, or that very many of the chiu'ches erected by that people, immediately after their conversion to Christianity, were not of the same perishable material. I have already proved these facts in my Essay on the Ancient Military Ar- chitecture of Ii'eland anterior to the Anglo-Norman Concpiest. But I have also shown, in that Essay, that the earlier colonists in the country, the Firbolg and Tuatha De Danann tribes, which our his- torians bring hither from Greece at a very remote period, were ac- customed to build, not only then- fortresses but even their dome-roofed houses and sepulchres, of stone without cement, and in the style now usually called Cyclopean and Pelasgic. I have also shown that this custom, as applied to their forts and houses, was continued in those parts of Ireland in which those ancient settlers remained, even after the introduction of Christianity, and, as I shall presently show, was adopted by the Christians in theii' religious structures. As clia- racteristic examples of these ancient reUgious structures, still remain- ing in sufficient preservation to show us perfectly what they had been in their original state, I may point to the monastic establishment of St. Molaise, on Inishmiu-ry, in the bay of Sligo, erected in the sixth century ; to that of St. Brendan, on Inishglory, off the coast of Erris,
1 28 INQUIRY INTO TlIK ORIGIN AND USES
ill tlie county of JNIayo, erected in the beginning of the same century ; and to that of St. Feclun, on Ard-Oilean, or High Island, oiFthe coast of Coniiainara. in the county of Gahvay, erected in the seventh cen- tur}'. In all these establishments the churches alone, Avhicli are of the simplest construction, are built with lime cement. The houses, or cells, erected for the use of the abbot and monks, are of a cii'cular or oval form, having dome roofs, constructed, like those of the ancient Greek and Irish sepulchres, without a knowledge of the principle of the arch, and -without the use of cement ; and the whole are encom- j)assed by a broad wall composed of stones of great size, without cement of au}^ kind.
Such also, or very nearly, appears to have been the monastic es- tabhshment constructed on the island of Fame, in Northumberland, in the year 684, by St. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfarne, Avho is usually reputed to have been an Irishman, and, at all events, received his education from Irish ecclesiastics. This monastery, as described by Venerable Bede in the seventeenth chapter "of his Life of that distin- guished saint, was almost of a round form, foiu' or five perches in diameter from wall to wall. This wall was on the outside of the height of a man, but was on the inside made higher by sinking the natui'al rock, to prevent the thoughts from rambling by restraining the sight to the view of the heavens only. It was not formed of cut stone, or brick cemented with mortar, but Avholly of rough stones and earth, which had been dug up from the middle of the enclosiu'e ; and of these stones, which had been carried from another place, some were so large that foiu- men coidd scarcely Uft one of them. Within the enclosure were two houses, of which one was an oratory, or small chapel, and the other for the common uses of a habitation ; and of these the walls were in great part formed by digging away the earth inside and outside, and the roofs were made of unhewn timber thatched with hay. Outside the enclositre, and at the entrance to the island, was a larger house for the accommodation of religious visiters, and not far from it a fountain of water. For the satisfaction of the reader I annex the passage in the oi'iginal :
"... condidit Ciuitatem suo aptam imperio, & domos in hac aque ciuitati congruas erexit. Est autem ffidificium situ pene rotundum, a muro vsque ad murum mensura quatuor ferme siue quinq'; perticarum distentum, murus ipse deforis altior longitudine stantis hominis. Nam intrinsecus viuam cedendo rupem multo ilium fecit altiorem,
or TIIK UorXI) TOWKliS OK lliKI.ANl). !•>!)
qiiateims ad cohibendnm oculorum siue cogitationein lusciuiani, ad erigcndam in su- prcnia desideria totam mentis intentioncm, pius incola nil de sua inniisiom' iiru'tn ccelum posset intueri : qucm \adulicot muruiii nou do soeto lapido vol latoi-c & ca'inriit.i, sed impolitis prorsus lapidibus & cespitc, qucm de modio luci tudii-ndo tulurat, eoiiipn- suit. E quibus quidam tautM erant graiiditatis, vt vix a quatuor viris vidiTonfiir potuisse leuari : quos tamen ipse angclico adiutus aiixilio illuc attulisso aliunde. & mnro imposuisse rcpertus est. Duas in mansione liiilifl)at domos, oratoriuin scillfct & alind ad communes vsus aptum habitaculum : quorum parietes quidcm de naturali terra multum intus forisque circumfodiendo siue cedeudo confecit, culniina vero de lignis infonnihus & ioeno superposuit. I'orro ad portani insula-, maior erat domus, in qua visitautcs cum fratrcs suscipi & i)uicsecre possent ; neclonge ab ea fous eorundeni vsihus acconmiodus." — Vita S. Ciitlihorti, apiid Colgan^ Acta SS. p. 667.
That these buildings were, as 1 have already stated, erected in tin- mode practised by the Firbolg and Tuatha De Danann tribes in Iiv- land, must be at once obvious to any one, who has seen any ol' the pagan circular stone forts and bee-hive-shaped houses still so fre- quently to be met with, along the remote coasts, and on tlie islands, of the western and south-western parts of Ireland, — into which little change of manners and cnstoms had penetrated, that Avonld liave de- stroyed the reverence paid by the people to their ancient monnments — the only differences observable between these buildings and those introduced in the primitive Christian times being the presence of lime cement, the use of which was wholly unknown to the Irish in pagan times, — and the adoption of a quadrangular form in the construction of the churches, and, occasionally, in the interior of the externally round houses of the ecclesiastics, the forts and houses of the Firbolg and Tuatha De Danann colonies being invariably of a rotnnd form, both internally and externally.
It may interest the reader to present him with two or three cha- racteristic specimens of these singular structures, of different styles and eras, and which have been hitherto unnoticed. The annexed view will give a good idea of the general appearance of the round and oval houses erected in pagan times, and of which there are some hiuidreds still remaining, though generally more or less dilapidated. This house, known to the peasantry by the name of CIovIkui na rar- raige, or the stone house of the rock, is, — or was when I sketched it about twenty years since, — situated on the north side of the great island of Aran, in the bay of Galway, and is, in its interior measure- ment, nineteen feet long, seven feet six inches broad, and eight lect high, and its walls are about foiu- feet thick. Its doorway is but three
s
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INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
I'oel hiuii, and Iwo led six inches wide on the outside, but narrows to two feet on the inside. Tlie roof is formed, as in all buildings of tills class, by the gradual appi'oximation of stones laid horizontally, till it is closed at the top by a single stone ; and two apertiu-es in its centre served the double purpose of a window and a chimney.
The next example presents a view of a house of one of the early saints of Ireland, and exhibits the characteristics of the Cyclopean style more than the preceding one, the stones being mostly of enor- mous size. It is the house of St. Finan Cam, who flourished in the sixth century, and is situated on Church Island in Lough Lee or Curraun Lough, on the boundary of the baronies of Iveragh and Dun- kerrin, in the county of Kerry, and four miles to the north of DeiTy- nane Abbey, in Irish Ooi]ie phi'ondin, which derives its name from that saint. This structiu-e, though nearly circular ou the outside, is quadi'angular on the inside, and measiu'es sixteen feet six inches in length, from north to south, and fifteen feet one inch from east to west, and the wall is seven feet thick at the base, and at present but nine feet nine inches in height ; the doorway is on the north side, and measures on the outside fom' feet three inches in height, and in width two feet nine inches at top, and three feet at bottom. There are three stones forming the covering of this doorway, of which the external one is five feet eight inches in length, one foot four inches
OF THE KOUXD TOWEKS OF IKELAXD.
131
in height, and one foot eight inches in breadth ; and the internal one is five feet two inches in length, and two feet nine inches in hreadtli.
The next example is of somewhat later date, being one of the Imnses ei-ected by the celebrated St. Fechin, who floiu'ished in the se\entli
century, at his little monastic establishment on Ard-Oilean, or High Island, off the coast of Connamara, in the county of Galway. This building, hke the preceding one, is square in the interior, and measiu-i-s
s 2 .
1 :V2 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
nine feet by seven feet six inches in height ; the doorway is two feet f(jur inches wide, and three feet six inches high. The material of this structure is mica slate, and, though its external appearance is very rudt'. its interior is constructed with admirable art.
The introduction of this quadi'angular form, by the first propa- cfators of Christianity in Ireland, is clearly pointed out in an ancient Irish stanza, predicting this and other Christian innovations, which is quoted as the composition of a certain magus of the name of Con, in the ancient Life of St. Patrick, ascribed to St. Eviu, a A\Titer of the sixth century, and thus translated by Colgan :
'• Constantiuus autem in suis vaticinijs loquens de eo eodem advientu cecinit. Ac/u- eniet cum circido tonsus in cajjite ; cuius ancles erunt ad instar cedium Bomanarum : efficiet tjund cellce futurm sint in pretio Sf cestimatione : cedes eius erant \erunt\ angustce S( amiuhiUn Sf fana multa : pedum pastorale dominahitui: Quando hcec parte >ita S; pro- diqia euenient, nostra dogmata Sf idola euertentur : fides Sf pietas magnificahuntur. Quse omnia veridice prasdicta esse probauit euentus, licet per ora mendacijs assueta, prolata, cogente omnis veritatis fonte & autliore ; qui sa>pe patrem medaeij cogit ad testi- monium veritati pra;bendu." — Trius Thautn. p. 123.
It is remarkable, however, that the early Iiish Christians do not appear to have adopted all at once the quadrangular form and upright Avails, here alluded to as characteristic of the houses of the Eomans, and observable in the churches still existing, the erection of which is ascribed to St. Patrick and his successors. In the remote barony of Kerry called Corcaguiny, and particularly in the neighbourhood of Smerwick Harbour, whei'e tlie remains of stone fortresses and circular stone houses are most numerously spread through the valleys and on tlie moiuitains, we meet Avitli several ancient oratories, exhibiting only an imperfect development of the Eoman mode of construction, being 1)uilt of uucemented stones admirably fitted to each other, and their lateral walls converging from the base to their apex in curved lines ; — indeed their end walls, thoua:h in a nmch lesser desjree, converge also. Another featiu'e in these edifices worthy of notice, as exhibit- ing a characteristic which tliey have in common with the pagan monuments, is, tliat none of them evince an acquaintance witli tlie principle of the arch, and that, except in one instance, that of Gallerus, their doorways are extremely Ioav, as in the pagan forts and houses.
As an example of these most interesting structiu'es, Avhich, the historian of Kerry truly says, " may possibly challenge even the Round Towers as to point of antiquity," I annex a view of the oratory at
<>V rilK Rdl^XD TOWERS OK IHKI.AXI).
1 Mi
(iallerut;, tlu' uiosl bcuutifully constructod aiul jiorfoctly pri-sorvi'd of tliose ancient structures now remaining; and views ofsiinilar oratories
will l)c I'ound ill tlie succecdinLi: part of this work.
This orator}', which is wholly built of the green stone of the district, is externally twenty-three feet long by ten broad, and is sixteen feet high on the outside to the apex of the ppamid. The dooi-way. which is placed, as is usual in all our ancient churches, in its west-end wall, is five feet seven inches high, two feet four inches wide at the base, and one foot nine inches at the top ; and the walls are four feet in thickness at the base. It is lighted by a single window in its east side, and each of the gables was terniinated by small stone crosses, only the sockets of which now remain.
That these oratories, — though not, as Dr. Smith supposes, the first edifices of stone that were erected in Ireland, — were tlie first erected for Christian uses, is, I think, extremely probable , and I am strongly iiiclinod to believe that they may be even more ancient than llu' period assigned for the conversion of the L'ish generally l)y their great apostle Patrick. I should state, in pi\)of of this antiquity, that adjacent to each of these oratories may be seen the remains of the circular stone houses, which were the habitations of their founders; and, what is of iiioiv imiiortaiicc. that their graves are marked bv
134
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Upright pillar-Stones, sometimes bearing inscriptions in the Ogham cha- racter, as found on monuments presumed to be pagan, and in other instances, as at the oratory of Gallerus, with an inscription in the Gra2co-Roman or B}zantine character of the fourth or fifth century, of ■\vlnch the annexed is an accurate copy.
Ifgii^
This inscription is not perfectly legible in all its letters, but is suffi- ciently so to preserve the name of the ecclesiastic, and reads as follows :
"6ie co6Lim mec . . . niec."
That is,
" THE STONE OF COLUM SON OF . . . MEL."
It is greatly to be regretted that any part of this inscription should be imperfect, but we have a well-preserved and most interesting ex- ample of the whole alphabet of this character on a pillar-stone now used as a grave-stone in the chiuxh-yard of Ivilmalkedar, about a mile distant from the former, and where there are the remains of a similar oratory. Of this inscription I also annex a copy :
I should observe that a drawing of this inscription, made by the late Mr. Pelham, and which, he tells us, may be depended upon as a correct copy, has been already pubhshed by General Vallancey in the sixth volume of his Collectanea, Part I.; and I may add, as a charac- teristic example of that gentleman's antiquarianism, his obser\ations thereon, which are as follows :
" There are very evidently two kinds of characters on this stone. One the Ogham, on each side of a line ; the other a running character, which appears to be a mixture of Ph'Enician, Pelasgian, and Egyptian." — p. 184.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 1 Art
He then presents ns witli foui* examples of Egyptian and IVrse- politan characters, to show their similarity to the characters on the Kilmalkedar stone, and concludes with a comment on the circum- stance ol" a llowcred cross being sculptured on another side of it, as follows :
" The cross was, and is still, a usual ornament witli the Asiatic nations. The vest- ment of the priest of Horus is full of 4-. See Caylus, Vol. VI. PI. 7."— pp. 184, 185.
That the inscription is, however, truly what I have stated it to be, a mere alphabet wanting the A, whicli has been broken off, will, I am satisfied, be at once apparent to every intelligent scholar ; antl also that the three large letters jJni, which occur in the middle of the inscription, and which Vallancey supposed to 1)e an Og]i<n)i. is no- thing more than a usual abbreviation of Domini. As to the object of this inscription I can of course offer only a conjecture, namely, that it Avas an ahecedarium, cut by one of the early Christian settlers in this place, — either a foreigner, or a native who had received a foreign education, — for instructing his followers in the rutliments of the Latin language ; for that it was the practice of the fii'st teachers of Chris- tianity in Ireland to furnish their disciples with the ahecedarium, or Roman alphabet, appears quite clear from Nennius, and the most ancient Lives of St. Patrick, as may be seen by reference to Harris's Ware, Irish Writers, Book II. c. \. And I may add as a fiu'ther con- jecture, that this pillar-stone may have been oi'iginally a pagan monu- ment, consecrated to the service of Christianity by inscribing on it in the first instance the name of the Lord, before it received its second inscription, as it appears from Evin's Life of St. Patrick that it was not unusual for the Irish apostle thus to dedicate pagan monmnents to the honom^ of the true God. In this work it is stated that St. Pa- trick, coming to the plain of INIagh Selga, near Elphin, found three pillar-stones, which had been raised there by the pagans, either as memorials of events, or for the celebration of pagan rites, on one of which he inscribed the name Jesus, on another Soter, and on the third Salvator. And, though it is not expressly stated, we may conclude that he also marked each of those pillars with a cross, sucli as is seen on the pillar-stone at Kihnalkcdai', and on every other an- cient Christian monument in Ireland. The passage, as translated from the original Irish by Colgan, is as follows :
13()
IXQIIKY INTO IIIE ORIGIN AND USES
•• Rebus EcclesicE ibi dispositis Patricius se coiitulir ad locum qui & Mag-selga le- gitur appellari, vbi sex Briani Principis oficndit filios, Bognam, cognomento Rubruin, Dertliractum, Echcnum, Criiiitliannum, Coelchamum, & Eochadium. Ibi in loco amrenu, vbi circunifusa rcgio late couspicitur, vir Dei cum aliquot coniitantibus Episcopis mo- ram coutraxit iuter tres colossos siue edita saxa ; quae gentilitas ibi in mcmoriam ali- quoriim facinorum, vel gentilitiorum rituum posuit. In his autem lapidibiis, lapidis angularis, qui fecit vtraque vnvim, Christi Domini tria nomina tribus Unguis expressa curauit iiicidi ; in vno lesug^ in altero Soter, in tertio Saluaior nomen impressiim \v- gitur."— Trias Thaum. p. 136.
As an example of the monumental pillar-stones, inscribed in the Ogham character, which are found in connection with some of the uu- cemented stone oratories in Kerry, to which I have alluded, I annex a cut of the pillar-stone which marks the grave of St. Monachan, and which is situated at the south-west end of his oratory, called Temple Geal, about three miles to the north-west of Dingle :
Having now, as I trust, sufficiently shown that the Irish erected churches and cells of stone, Avithout cement, at the very earhest period after the introduction of Christianity into the country,— and, if it had
or THE ROU\D TOWERS OF IliKI.AND. ] 37
boeu nccessarv, I iiiiglit liave adduced a vastly ,<rroatLT body ul' evi- dence to sidistantiate the fact,— I may, I think, fairly ask :— Is it probable tliut they would remain much longer ignorant of the use of lime ceme»t in their religious edifices, a knowledge of which must necessarily have been imjjarted to them by the crowds of foreifrn ecclesiastics, Egyptian, Roman, Italian, French, British, and Saxon, who flocked to Ireland as a place of refuge in the liftli and sixth centimes ? Of such immigration there cannot possibly exist a doubt ; for, not to speak of the great niunber of foreigners who were dis- ciples of St. Patrick, and of whom the names are preserved in the most ancient Lives of that saint, nor of the evidences of the same nature so abundantly supplied in the Lives of many other saints of the primitive Irish Church, it will be sulficient to refer to that most curious ancient document, written in the year 799, the Litany of St. Aengus the Culdee, in which are invoked such a vast number of foreign saints bmied in L-eland. Copies of this ancient Litany are found in the Book of Leinster, a MS. undoubtedly of the twelfth cen- tury, preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, — class II. 2, 18 ; and in the LeabliarBreuc, preserved in the library of the Royal Irish Academy : and the passages in it, relative to the foreign eccle- siastics, have been extracted, translated into Latin, and published bv Ward in his Life of St. Rumold, p. 206, and by Colgan in his Acta Sanctorum, p. 539 [535], which latter extract I here insert, with the observations of Colgan upon the interesting facts of which it furuii^hes e^ddence.
" In ea namqiie nuiii Jeferehantiir 50 Monoclii patria Rnmani, iji/ns c^r. c. 20. Ili<- benigne Lector legis argumentfim aliqiiod magniE istius opinionis, qwim de sanctitate & doctrina liuius sacrte insute olim couceporunt Romani, & alia; Europe nationes, Ilabe- batur enim in auruis illis seminatre fidui prluiordiis, & aliquot scqiiL-iitibus sa;culis, non solum Yt officina conuersionis gentium, sed etiam ad asceticse vitas fbueda excrcitia, vt Tebais altera, communisque ad sapientia;, sacrarum-scripturarum vacandum studiis Occidentis ludus litterarius : vt vix sciam an gloria; plus promeruerit, ex eo quod Doc- tores & Apostolos genuerit, & emiserit prope infinites, quam ex eo quod ex continue Italorum, Gallorum, Germanorum, Britonuin, Pictorvim, Saxonum seu Anglorum, alia- rumque nationum arctioris vita;, & doctrinse desiderio aduolantiuni accursu, incolatu & sepultura merito appellari queat, communis Europie bonaruni litterarum officina, communeque ascetaru sacrarium. Plurima & admiranda de his rejicriuntur in nostris hystoriis, maxime in vitis SS. Patricij, Kierani, Declani, Albei, Endei, Maidoci, Se- nani, Brendani &c. testimonia. Ego ex solo libro littaniarum Sancti vEngussij nd- duco sutiiciuntia ; in quo author istius libri inter innumeros alios domesticos saiictos, inuocat etiam sequentes sanctorum aduenarum in Ilibernia sepultorum turnias.
T
138
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" SiiHclos liuinanns, qui iareiit in Achadh Galma in Ybh-Echia, inuuco in auxilium miniin jiitr Ie.iitin Cln-istum ^c.
" SS. Ruinnniis de Letlir erca, intioco in auxilium meum SfC.
•^ SS. R'jnauws, qui cum Cursetha fUa Bivchani iacent in Achadh-Daiiuch, in- uoco SfC.
'■ SS. Rmnanos de Clnniri-chuinne, inuoco &;c.
" SS. Perrgrinos de Cluain-mhoir, intmco SfC.
" SS. Riimanns, qui cum S. Aido iacent in Chtain Dartadha, inuoco Sfc.
" SS. duudeciin CuncJtennacius, qui cum vtruque SinclieUu iacent in Kitl-arliuidh, inuuco S\C.
" SS. Conchrnnncios, qui cum S. Mancltano iacent in Lethmoi; inunco S)C.
" SS. septe Monachos Aegifjjtios, qui iacet in Disert I'lidh, inuuco Sjc.
" SS. Peregrines, qui cum S. Muchua Jilio Luscan iacent in Dumnach Resen, in- uoco. SfC.
" SS. Peregrinos de Brlach furchedail., inuoco S^c.
" SS. Peregrinos de Ctiil-ochtair, inuoco S^c.
" »S'^. sejjlem peregrinos de Imleach-mor, inuoco SfC.
" SS. duodecim Peregrinos, socios S. Sinchelli, inuoco 8}C.
" SS. Pel egrinos Ronianos, qui in centum quinquaginta cijnihis, sine scajjhis ad- uecti, comitati sunt SS. Eliani, Natalem, Nemanum, c^- Corcnutanum, inuoco (^-c.
" SS. cenlu quinquaginta Peregrinos Ronianos ^- Ilalos qui comitati sunt S. Ab- Itanum in Hiberniam, inuoco S)-c.
" SS. Gallos de Saliduic, inuoco, i^'C.
" SS. Gallos de Mag-sniach, inuoco, SfC.
" SS. Sa.vones (.1. Anglos) de Rigair, inuoco <^-c.
" SS. Sa.vones de Cluain-mhuicedha, inuoco SfC.
" SS. Peregrinos de Jnis-Puinc, inuoco dye.
" SS. duodecim Peregrinos de Lethglais-moir, inuoco S^-c.
" SS. cetu quinquaginta Peregrinos in Gair mic-Magla, inuoco SfC.
" SS. quinquaginta Mimachos de Britannia, socios Jilij Mainani in Glenloire, in- uoco S)-c.
" <S'<S'. quinqjie peregrinos de Suidhe Coeil, inuoco Syc.
" SS. 150 di.scipulos S. Manchani Magistri, inuoco SfC.
" SS. 510, (jui ex partibus transnumnis veneruntcum S. Boethio Episcopo, decemq; Virgines eos comitantes, inuoco SfC.
" (SiS. duodecim socios S. Riochi transmarinos, inuoco SfC.
" Ha?c & multa alia alibi dicenda, qua; de exteris Monachis & sactis in nostris hys- toriis & IMenologiis legutur & brcuitatis causa omitto, non solum omncm dubitationeni toUunt de numero quinquaginta Monacborum, quos in prsesenti vita in Hiberniam abstractioris vitae, vel doctrinte causa, legimus venisse : sed & abunde indicant, & con- ccptam a priscis de sanctitate & doctrina liuius insula; opinionem, & appellationeni illani, qua passim Insula sanctorum S,- insula sacra, dicebatur, non falso aut leui niti funda- mento. An autem ex praesentibus Ronianis turmis sint aliqui, qui in superioribus litta- nlis sancti Komani vocentur vel inuocentur, ego non affirmauerim. Vide de Sanctis Barreo 25. Aug. Finneno 23. Febr. Brendano 16. Maij, & Kierano 9 Sept."
In addition to the preceding evidence, I may add also tliat we are
Aran, an" ■
Tliattlii: aniiqiiiij' iiifaie>.
m lii'--' < tkir Iff ■ eai'ved o:. crojj !<.t ; ■ Brefsc L nasteiT.ir seen m i Tkiir iswi!!'...
nn. Tt
Itr.
FIk!
.\.l'..
(Bostrisliy!- dobitatioDem
!!il»'mifflii ■ t. i Ml-
OF Tin; KOUNI) 'nnVEKS OK IHKI.AXn.
139
not witliout iiionuimMital inscriptions tostifying to tlie same fac-t. of which I annex, as an example, one wliich marks the grave of seven Komans interred near tlie chin-ch of St, Hrccan on the Great Island of Aran, and which reads as follows :
i^^^?'teP!r*^->
SWA
m
That this inscription is of very great antiquity the form of the letters sufficiently indicates, and we can very nearly deter- mine their exact age by a comparison of their forms, as well as the style of cross carved on the stone, with the letter's and cross sculptured on the grave-stone of St. Brecan himself, the founder of that mo- nastery, of which an accurate copy will be seen on the next page.
The inscription to which I allude, is, as will be seen, put into a Latin form, like the preceding one, and was, probably, cut by one of the very seven Romans whose grave in Aran was so marked : it reads as follows :
cl 6RecaNi,
which, when written in full, would obviously be
CAPITI BEECANI.
It must interest not only the antiquary, but in an especial degree the numerous progeny of the Dalcassian tribe, to find so curious a monument as this existing of the first and most distinguished eccle- siastic of that race; for it appears certain from our historical do- cuments that this St. Brecan, W'ho was the founder of Ardbraccan. now the seat of the bishops of Meath, was the grandson of Carthen Finn, the first Christian prince of Thomond, and the son of Eochaidh Balldearg, also prince of Thomond, who was baptized by St. Patrick at Saingel, now Singland, near Limerick. The year of St. Brecan's death I have not been able to ascertain, but it must have been in the early part of the sixth century. This head-stone, as it may properly be called, of St. Brecan was originally of an irregular square form, about foiu: feet two inches diagonally, but was broken in opening the
T 2
138 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Suiiclds Rumanos, f/ui iacent in Achadh Gtdma in Ybh-Echia, inuuco in au.vilium rneum per lesum Christian Sfc.
" SS. Jiomnnos de Lellir eira, innocn in auxilium rneum S^c.
" SS. Ji'jmunos, qui cum Cursechu fiia Biucliani iacent in Achadh- Dalrach, in- unco SfC.
'• SS. Romnnns de Cluain-chuinne, inuoco 8fC.
" SS. Peregrinos de Cluuin-mhoir, inuoco S;c.
" SS. Rumanos, qui cum S. Aido iacent in Cluain Dartadha, inuoco SfC.
"■ SS. duudecini Conchennacius, qui cum vtroque Sinchello iacent in lutl-achuii'h, inuoco tS'C-
" SS. Cimchennaeios, qui cum S. Manchano iacent in Lethmor, inuoco S/c.
" »S^»S'. septe Monachos Aegi/ptiiis, qui iacet in Disert Viidh, inuoco S)C.
" SS. Peregrinos, qui cum S. 3Iuchua Jiiio Luscan iacent in Dumnach Resen, in- uoco, Sjc.
" 5^5'. Peregrinos de BAacli forchedail, inuoco &jC.
" SS Peregrinos de Cail-uchlair, inuoco Sfc.
" (S^^ septem peregrinos de Indeach-mnr, inuoco SfC.
" SS. duodecini Peregrinos, socios S. SincheUi, inuoco SfC.
" SS. Peiegrinos Romanos, qui in centum quinquaginta cymhis, sine scaphis ad- uecti, comilali sunt SS. Eiiam, Natalem, Nemanum, Sf Curcnutanuni, inuoco S,'C.
" SS. cenlu quinquaginta Peregrinos Romanos Sf Ilalus qui comitali sunt S. Ab- Imnum in Hiberniam, inuoco S,-c.
" SS. Gallos de Saliduic, inuoco, ^-c.
" SS. Gallos de Mag-salach, inuoco, SfC.
" SS. Saxones (.1. Anglos) de Rigair, inuoco Sj-c.
" SS. Sa.vones de Cluain-mhuicedha, inuoco ^-c,
" »S'<S'. Peregrinos de Jnis-Puinc, inuoco ^-c.
" SS. duodecim Peregrinos de Lethglais-moir, inuoco SfC.
" SS. cetu quinquaginta Peregrinos in Gair jnic-Magla, inuoco ^-c.
" SS. quinquaginta Monachus de Britannia, socios Jilij Mainani in Glenloire, in- uoco SfC,
" SS. qui nque peregrinos de Suidhe Coeil, inuoco SfC.
" jS^. 150 diacipulos S. Manchani 31agistri, inuoco cfj-c
" SS. 510, qui ex partibus transmarinisveneruntcum S. Boethio Episcopo, decetnq; Virgines eos cornitantes, inuoco Sj'C.
" SS. duodecim socios S. Rinchi transmarinos, inuoco c^-e.
" Hsec & multa alia alibi dicenda, quie de exteris Monacbis & sactis in nostris hys- toriis & Mcnologiis legiitur & breuitatis causa omitto, non solum omuem dubitationem toUunt de numero quinquaginta Monachorum, quos in prEesenti vita in Hiberniam abstractions vitae, vel dootrina; causa, legimus venisse : scd & abunde indicant, & oon- ceptam a priscis de sanctitate & doctrina liuius insula; opinionem, & appeUationem illani, qua passim Insula sanctorum 4' insida sacra, dicebatur, non false aut leui niti funda- mento. An autem ex prajsentibus Eonianis turmis sint aliqui, qui in superioribus litta- niis sancti Eomani vooeutur vel inuocentur, ego non affirmauerim. Vide de Sanctis Barreo 25. Aug. Finneno 23. Febr. Brendano 16. Maij, & Kierano 9 Sept."
In addition to the preceding evidence, I may add also that we are
OF TIIK liOUXI) TOWERS OF IKKLAXD.
1:^9
not ^vitllout monumental inscriptions tostifving to tlio same fact, of wincli I annex, as an example, one which marks tlie grave of seven Romans interred near tlie church of St. Brocan on the Great Islaii.l nf Aran, and wjiich reads as follows :
un i^omani.
That this inscription is of very great antiquity the form of the letters sufiicientlv indit'ates, and we can very nearl}- deter- mine their exact age by a comparison of their forms, as well as the style of cross carved on the stone, with the letters and cross sculptured on the grave-stone of St. Brecan himself, the founder of that mo- nastery, of which an accurate copy will be seen on the next page.
The mscription to which I allude, is, as will be seen, put into a Latin form, like the preceding one, and was, probably, cut by one of the very seven Romans whose grave in Aran was so marked : it reads as follows :
cl 6RecaHi,
which, when written in full, would obviously be
CAPITI BRECANI.
It must interest not only the antiquary, but in an especial degree the niunerous progeny of the Dalcassian tribe, to find so ciu'ious a monument as this existing of the first and most distinguished eccle- siastic of that race ; for it appears certain from our historical do- cuments that this St. Brecan, who was the founder of Ardbraccan, now the seat of the bishops of JNIeath, was the grandson ol" Cartlien Finn, the first Christian prince of Thomond, and the son of Eochaidli Balldearg, also prince of Thomond, who was baptized by St. Patrick at Saingel, now Singland, near Limerick. The year of St. Brecan's death I have not been able to ascertain, but it must have been in the early part of the sixth century. This head-stone, as it may properly be called, of St. Bi'ecan was originally of an irregular square form, about foiu: feet two inches diagonally, but was broken in opening the
T 2
mm
140
INQUIRY INTO TIIE ORIGIN AND USES
tomb, as is indicated in tlie engraving by the dotted lines, wliicli mark the portion now detached, and perhaps lost, though remaining
in fragments when I sketched it.
.^m
This monumental stone was discovered about forty years ago within a circidar enclosure kno^vn as St. Brecan's tomb, at a depth of about six feet from the surface, on the occasion of its being first opened to receive the body of a distinguished and popidar Roman Catholic ecclesiastic of the county of Galway, who made a dying i-e- quest to be buried in this grave. Under the stone within the sepulchre there was also found on this occasion a small water-worn stone, of black calp or lime-stone, now in my possession. It is of a round form, but nearly flat on the under side, and is three inches in diameter, and one inch and a half in thickness. On the upper side is carved a plain cross, thus -\~, and around this, in a circle, the following simple in- scription :
This inscription, when written in full, would be as follows : OROIC QR 6RecaN Nai6ICheR. A PKAYER FOR BRECAN THE PILGRIM.
Tliatilie
offiwign"" lime Off' ' cliiiKte -. factnoif»'
forthvofieii
Scnikni :- apodt Mi 'Jx m
btSDilll
mon;:":
liitiottN ii. Cliiiin-C
He X„;
tL tlr..'
"illlll
OF TUE ROUXD TOWERS OF IRELAND.
1 II
iTS ago
... .'. adepth
iils being fot
Biieadyiiigre- (^tkeepulcliK
.'.r.i;m ;tiinf, of
•.:3(liMel«r,aii(l .irrixlaplain
:-de ill-
-^1
ef
That the Saxons at a very early period, through the instruction of foreign missionaries, acquired the art of building Avith stone ai.<l lime cement, and ako that in the erection of their most distintruislicd churches they even employed foreign arcliitects and workmen, is u lact now so fully estabhshed that it is unnecessary for me to quote any of the evidences from whicli it can be proved. P.ut it may be worthy of remark, that the first church built of lime and stone in the Koman style,—" insolito Britonibus more," as Bede expresses it,— in Scotland, that of Candida Casa, now Withcrn, erected by Ninian, the apostle of the Picts, about the year 412, being „ii tlie shore of Gallo way, immediately opposite Ireland, and within sight of it, must liave been an object familiar to at least the northern Irish ; and, what is more to the point, it appears from an ancient Irish Life of St. Ninian, as quoted by Ussher, Primordia, pp. 1058, 1059, that this saint after- wards deserted Candida Casa, at the request of his mother and re- lations, and passed over to Ireland, where, at a beautiful place called Cluain-Coner, granted him by the king, he built a large monastery, in which he died many years afterwards :
"Extat & apud Hiberuos nostros ejusdem Niniani Vita: in qua, ol) iinportiinanituiii a matre turn a consanguineis frequentatam visitationem, deserta Candida Casa, ut sihi & suae quieti aim discipulis vacaret, Iliberiiiam petijsse atqiie ibi impetrato n Ki'ire Idco apto & amueuo <!lUjagn=(iEoiltr dicto, oiuiiobiuni magnum constituisse, ibideniq; post multos in Ilibernia transactos annos obijsse, traditui-."
Independently of the preceding considerations, — which, however, must be deemed of great weight in this inqiury, — a vai'iety of histo- rical evidences can be adduced, from the Lives of the Irish Saints and other ancient documents, to prove that the Irish were in the habit of building their chiu'ches of lime and stone, though it is most probaljle that, in their monastic houses and oratories, they generally continued the Scotic mode of building with wood, in most parts of Ireland, till the twelfth or thirteenth century. A few examples from those autlio- rities will be sufficient in this place.
1 . In the ancient poem written by Flann of the Monastery, early in the eleventh centuiy, enumerating the various persons who consti- tuted the household of St. Patrick, the names of his three stone-masons are given, with the remark, that they were the first builders of damhliags, or stone chiu'ches, in Ii'elaud.
The poem of Flann, in which this curious evidence occurs, is
140
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
tomb, as is indicated in the engl'a^dug by the dotted lines, which mark the portion now detached, and perhaps lost, though remaining
in iVacfments when I sketched it.
This monumental stone was discovered about forty years ago within a circular enclosure known as St. Brecan's tomb, at a depth of about six feet from the sm-face, on the occasion of its being first opened to receive the body of a distinguished and popular Eoman Cathohc ecclesiastic of the coimty of Galway, who made a dying re- quest to be buried in this grave. Under the stone within the sepulchre there was also found on this occasion a small water-worn stone, of black calp or lime-stone, now in my possession. It is of a roimd form, but nearly flat on the under side, and is three inches in diameter, and one inch and a half in thickness. On the upper side is carved a plain cross, thus -|-) and around this, in a circle, the following simple in- scription :
This inscription, when written in full, would be as follows : 0T301C QR 6RecaN NaitlChGR. A PRAYER FOR BRECAN THE PILGRIM.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 1 1 1
Tliat the Saxons at a very early period, tlirougli the instruction of foreign missionaries, acquired the art of buikling with stone and Hrae cement, and also that in the erection of their most distinguished churches they even employed foreign architects and workmen, is a fact now so fully estabUshed that it is uimecessary for me to (juote any of the evidences from which it can be proved. But it may Ix; worthy of remark, that the first cliurch built of lime and stone in the Koman style,— "insolito Britonibus more," asBede expresses it,— in Scotland, that of Candida Casa, now Withern, erected by Ninian, the apostle of the Picts, about the year 412, being on the shore of Gallo- way, immediately opposite Ireland, and within sight of it, must have been an object familiar to at least the northern Irish ; and, what is more to the point, it appears from an ancient Irish Life of St. Ninian, as quoted by Ussher, Primordia, pp. 1058, 1059, that this saint aftei-- Avards deserted Candida Casa, at the request of his mother and re- lations, and passed over to Ii'eland, where, at a beautiful place called Cluain-Coner, granted him by the king, he built a large monastery, in which he died many years afterwards :
" Extat & apud Hiberuos nostros ejusdem Niniani Vita : in qua, ob importunain tinii a matre turn a consanguineis frequcntatam -(-isitatiouem, deserta Camiida Casa, ut sibi & suae qiiieti cum discipulis vacaret, Hiberuiam petijsse atque ibi inipetrato a liege loco apto & amoeno (iTluaniullEonci* dicto, ccenobium magnum constituisse, ibidemq;
post nmltos in Ilibernia transactos annos obijsse, traditur."
Independently of the preceding considerations, — which, however, must be deemed of great weight in this inquiry, — a variety of histo- rical evidences can be adduced, from the Lives of the Irish Saints and other ancient documents, to prove that the Irish were in the habit of building their churches of lime and stone, though it is most probable that, in their monastic houses and oratories, they generally continued the Scotic mode of building with wood, in most parts of Ireland, till the twelfth or thirteenth century. A few examples from those autho- rities will be siifEcient in this place.
1 . In the ancient poem written by Flann of the Monastery, early in the eleventh century, enmnerating the various persons who consti- tuted the household of St. Patrick, the names of his three stone-masons are given, with the remark, that they were the first builders of damhliags, or stone chui'ches, in Ireland.
The poem of Flann, in which this curious evidence occurs, is
142 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
preserved iu the Book of Lecan, i'ol. 44, b, b; and the passage is as
follows :
" Q rpi T'oip, ua maich o cono,
Cuetncin, Cpuichnec, Cuchpaio lono ;
luD oo pij'ii Dumlicij ap cup
CI n-6pino; apo a n-imchup." " His three masons, good wjis tlieir intelligence,
Caeman, Cruithnech, Lvicliraid strong ;
They made damliaffs first
In Erin ; eminent their history."
It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the word oamlicig, so ge- nerally applied by the Irish annalists and ecclesiastical A\aiters to their larger chiu'ches, will bear no other translation than s^o??e Jioiise: it is so explained in two ancient Glossaries in the library of Trinity Col- lege, Dublin, Class H, 2, 16, p. 101, and H. 3, 18, p. 69- Thus in the former : " Oaimbacc .i. regoiii)^ doc," — " Damliag, i. e. an edifice of stones;" and in the latter, " Ooitriliog, .i. cegaip clac," — " Doimliag, i. e. an edifice of stones."
And it is also thus explained in the Office of St. Cianan, or Kienan, the founder of the chm-ch of Daimhliag, now Duleek, in Meath, which is extant in MS. in the public library at Cambridge, as quoted by Ware, Harris's edition, p. 137, viz. : " That St. Kenan built a Chm-ch , of Stone in this Place ; and that from thence it took the name oiDam- leagh : for that before this Time the Churches of Ireland were bidlt of Wattles and Boards." — See also Colgcui, Trias Thaum. p. 217, col. 2.
That this church was one of the first biuldings of stone and hme cement erected in Ireland is, I think, highly probable, if not certain, though it may be doubted that it was the very first; for in the oldest of the authorities extant relative to the life of St. Patrick, — the An- notations of Tirechan, preserved in the Book of Armagh, — it would appear to have been the eighth church erected by St. Patrick in the plain of Bregia, in which he first preached the gospel and built churches. The passage in Tirechan is as follows :
" De seclcsiis quas fundavit in Campo Breg, priinum in Culmine ; ii, Kclesiae Cerne, in qua sepultus est Hercus qui portavit mortalitatom magnam ; iii. iu cacuminibus Aisse ; iiii. in Blaitiniu ; v. in Collumbos, in qua ordinavit Eugeniiim Sanctum episco- pum ; vi. aeclesia filio Laithphi ; viL im Bridam in qua fuit sanctus dulcis frater Car- thaci ; viii. super Argetbor in qua Kanuanus episcopus quern ordinavit Patricius in primo Pasca.". — Fol. 10.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 1 13
It is very probable, however, that in this onumcratinn Tirechan may have had no idea of" arranging the cluirches in tlie order oi' time, as regarded their erection; and if so, the assertion in the Olfice of St. Cianan, tliat tlie church of Daimliliag, or Duleek, was tlie lirst stone chiu-ch erected in Ireland, may be quite true. The question is, however, of no importance either way in this argument; it is enough that the fact is ascertained of a stone church having been erected by St. Patrick, or in his time, in the district of his first labours. From the Annotations of Tirechan we also learn that St. Cianaii, or, as his naiiu' is latinized, Kanannanus, or Kenannanus, was consecrated bishop by St. Patrick ; and we have the unexceptionable authority of the anna- list Tighernach, that he died in the year 490, three years before the apostle himself, with whom lie must have been an especial fovourite, as Patrick bestowed upon him a copy of the Gospels, a gift of ines- timable value at that time. Tlie passage in the Annals of Tighernach is as follows :
" A. D. 490. K. Y. Qiiies S. Cianani t)ainnlilia3. Ip do cuj pacpaic a Soi)xelUi." " A. D. 490. K. V. Tlie rest of St. Cianan of Duleek. It is to him Patrick gave liis Gospels.""
2. That the art of building churches of stone and lime cenuMit, introduced into Ireland at this early period, was generally adojjted throughout the island, — at least in the larger chiirches connected witli the abbacies and bishoprics, — would appear certain from the fact, tliat the term damhUag became the Scotic or Gaelic name by which the Irish writers designated a cathedral or abbey church, though they also used the terms tempi/!/, ec/ais, regies, and in one or two instances baslic,—\Yor(ls ol jviously adopted from the Latin language : and hence, their ecclesiastical writers, when writing in that language, always ren- der the dainJdiag of the Irish either by the word ecdesin or ltd si lira, though, on noticing the same buildings when Avriting in the Irish lan- guage,they apply the terms damhliag, eclais, andtenipu//, indifferently. This is a fact which I shall clearly prove, and which should necessarily 1)6 borne in mind, because, — as by far the greater niunber of jiotices
^ It may interest the reader to be informed, that it appears from a topographical account of the County of Meath written in 1682 — 3, that the copy of the Gospels here alluded to, was then preserved in the neighbourhood of Duleek, and that it is probably one of those venerable monuments of the Scriptures at present in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin.
1 44 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
of ancient Irish churches are contained in the Lives of the Saints. which are usually written in Latin, — it might otherwise be supposed that the words tempfum, ecclesia, and basilica, used by those writers, may have been applied to wooden churches, which appears never to have been the case, those writers usually designating such build- ings by the term oratnrii/m ; and hence it is not uncommon, wlien the oratory was not of wood, to designate it by the term oratorium Inpideion, as in the often quoted passage in Bernard's Life of St. INIa- lachy, relative to the stone oratoiy at Bangor, and of which I may also quote as an example the following notice in the Annals of Ulster, at tlie year 788 :
" A. D. 788. Contencio iu Ardmacae in qua jugulatur vir in hostio [ostio] oratorii
I.APIDEI."
To prove this interchange, first in the terms damhliag and tei)i- ])itlL among the Lish writers themselves, before the English invasion, I insert the following passage relating to the damJdiag of Mayo, usually called Tempi//! Gerailt by the Irish, from an ancient Irish MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 2, 17, p. 399 :
" Ro eobciippiD Sacycim lllmji eo oeclimcro a cadipach do t)ia 7 do JTIicel, 7 00 ponpao oamliacc inci do oeopaouib tJe co bpctch. Ocup po jubpuc Dluincip rriailpinneoin a papach, 7 do pochaip in oamliacc pin popp in muincip gup mapb oaeinib, inniLib. lap pin co came an penoip, .1. Cuchapach, jop acniiijjiD an cem- pul pain, a piji 12uaiDpi 7 a mic, .1. Coipoelbai,^, 7 po h-aic-Dilpi^eo o pin amac DO oeopaoaib CO bpac; 7 cucao cop inoeapcoip 1 t)unan, 7 mnincipi CiUi Daliia, 7 in c-)^enopa, .1. Carapac. 7 Coipoelbuig, pi^ Connachc, 7 ano epcoip 1 Cnaill, 7 ano epcoip 1 Dubrhaij. ina bicoilpi co bpach. Ociip Jepe ci raipip pein po 5a- cup a DiichaiD pem a calmam aip, 7 pob oopuio an ixieoul do."
" The Saxons of Mayo granted the tythes of thi'ir city to God and St. Michael, and tliey made a damhliag in it (i. e. in their city) for the pilgrims of God for ever. And the family of MaOfinneoin proceeded to destroy it, and that damldini/ fell on the people and kUled men and cattle. After this came the senior i. e. Cathasach, and he renewed [ re-built J that teTWjBi^^ [church], in the reign of Ruaidhri and his son, i. e. Toirdelbhach, and it was re-confirmed from that out for pilgrims for ever ; and the guarantee of the bishop O'Dunan, and of the family of Killaloe, and of the senior, i. e. Cathasach, and of Toirdelbhach, king of Connaught, and of the bishop O'Cnaill, and of the bishop O'Dubhthaigh, was given for its possession for ever. And whoever comes bevond [i. e. violates] this he shall be deprived of his own country on earth, and this life shall be miserable to him."
As the preceding passage, hitherto unnoticed, removes to a great degree the obscurity in which the history of the chiuvh of Mayo has
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IREI.AXn. 145
been hitlierto involved, I may observe that the edifice to wliich it refers
must not be confounded with the great abbey churcli of iMayo,
■which was erected for the Saxons by St. Ct)hnan, about the middle of the seventh century, — but to that called Tempi/// Gerui/l, i. e. Church of Gerald, and Gill na n-Ai/if/ier, i. e. Church of the Pilgi-inis, which must have been originally erected by the Saxon Saint Gerald at the same place, some time in the beginning of the eighth cenlury, as St. Gerald's death is recorded in the Annals of Tighernacli at the year 732, and of Ulster at the year 731.
The date of the re-edification of this cliuicli, by the senior Catha- sach, may be determined from the fact stated in the docimient, tliat it occurred during the reign of Euaidhri, king of Connaught, and his son Toirdhelbhach, or Turlogh, by which must be understood the period between the loss of RuaidJiri's eyes, in 1097, and that of his death, which occiu-red in the year 1118. This is also corroborated by the dates of the deaths of the other persons who witnessed the grant ; for Bishop O'Dunan died in 1 1 18, Bishop O'Cnaill in 1 1 17 or 1118, and Bishop O'Dubhthaigh in 113G.
As examples of the substitution by tlie Irish writers oi' tlie Latin words templum, ecclesia, basilica, for the Irisli d(niiliHa!J\ and of the Irish Avords cill, eclais, fem/n/l/, rei>les, for the same term, it will be sufficient to refer to the notices of the ecclesiastical edifices at Ar- magh, the erection of which is, in most instances, ascribed to St. Pa- trick himself. Of these buildings the first Irish notice, that I have found, occm-s in the Annals of Ulster at the year 839, iu Avhich it Avill be seen that the great church was called a i/a)yiJiliag, or stone chiu'ch.
"A. D. 839. ^opcao QiiiDmacn co n-a oepcijjib, 7 a Daimliacc."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 839- Combustio ArdmacluT cum Nosocomiis [correctli/ Oratoriis], ct Ec- olesiis lapideis suis."
This event is recorded in nearly the same words in the Annals of the Foiu' Masters, and is freely translated by Colgan :
" A. D. 839. CopccoD Qpomaacliu co n-a Depcaij5il>, 7 co n-a DaiiiilKicc lap na ^altuib pempuire."
" A. D. 839. Ardmacha cum sua Busilicii, aliisq; sacris cedibus, inccnditur j/er Nort-
niannos." — Trias Tbaum. p. 295.
U
14(3 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Should it be asked, — If the great church at Armagh were a stone building, why is there no earlier mention of it in those Annals ? — tlie answer is, that the Irish annals seldom, if ever, make any men- tion of buildings except in recording their burning or destruction, and that this was the first time the ecclesiastical edifices of Armagh were burned by the incendiary hands of the Northmen, though they had plundered and occupied the place for the first time nine years before, as is thus stated in the Annals of the Foiu- Masters :
" A. D. 830. Ceonci opjain CTiioamacha. Qpomaclia do opjjain po rpi i n-uoin liii la ^ul-luib, 7 ni jio li-oipjeo lu li-eacccip-denela piarii 50 pin."
Thus translated by Colgan :
" A. D. 830. Ardmacka spatio vnius mensisfuit tertio occupata Sj- expilata per Nort- mannos sen Danos. Et )iiin.quam ante fuit per exteros occupata Trias Tliaum. p. 295.
In the next entry relative to these churches in the Irish annals, the damhliag, or great stone chui'ch, is noticed, under the name of ecclais. The notice occurs in the Annals of the Four Masters at the year 890, and is as follows :
" A. D. 890. Qpomacha do opccain ki ^lunicipn, 7 la ^allaib Qrlia cliacli, CO pucpac oeicneabap 7 peace J-ceo 1 m-bpoio leo, lap n-Dipcaoileo upuill do'ii ecclaip, 7 lap m-bpipeo an oeapraije, conio do ip pubpao :
Cpuaj, a naevh paopaicc, nap anachc c' epnaije, Qn ^aill CO n-a o-cuajaib aj bualao do oepcai^e."
The following is the literal translation :
" A. D. 890. Armagh was plundered by Gluniarn, and by the Danes of Dublin, and they carried off seven hundred and ten persons into captivity with them, after having pulled down a part of the church, and after having broken the Jerthach, [or ora- tory], on which was said :
" Pity, O saint Patrick, that thy prayers did not save,
When the Danes with their axes were striking thy derthach."
The substance of this passage is given by Colgan as follows :
"A. D. 890. Ardmacka occupata 4' expilata per Ghiniarmim, Sf Nortmannos Dub- Unienses; qui ipsa summa Basilica ex parte diruta, S)~ diuersis sacris (pdificijs solo cequatis, decern supra septingentos abduxerunt captiuos.'''' — Trias Thauni. p. 296.
In the next notice of the sacred edifices of Aniiagh, wliich occurs in the same Annals, the principal chui'ch is designated by the word cill. It occurs at the year 907, and is as follows :
" A. D. 907. Sapuccao Qpoamocha la Cepnachan mac Duilgen, .1. cimbio 00 bpeir ap in ciU, 7 a buoao li-i Loc\\ Cuip ppi b-Qpomacba aniup."
OF THE BOUND TOWKUS OF lUEl.ANlJ. 1 I7
Til us translated by Colgan, wlio renders cill by evclesiu and fxisi/iru:
" A. D. 907. Basilica Ardinacliuna Sacrilegam vim pama per Keniticlniiium filiiim D/ifyeni ; qiiiquendam captiimm eo refuglj causa effnyieiitem, ex Ecclesia sacrili-go uumi
extra.rit, Sf in lacu de Loch kin; crhi versus Occideiilem adiacenli, snj^ucauit." Triim
Thaum. p. 296.
The Annals of the Fom- Masters next record tlie ijurnin<r of Ar- niagh at the year 914, without any reference to its buildings; but the Annals of Ulster record the same evt'nl in detail at llic 3'ear 91"). I quote the original of the latter notice, as printed by Dr. O'Conor, and 1 also give his translation of it, though incorrect in many respects :
" A. D. 915. Ardmacha do loscadh di ait i. q. nt Kl. JIaii. i a leitli di'iscerlac/i cosiuloi
7 cosi ntskaholl 7 cosinciicin 7 otsitidlins ub. hiide."
" A. D. 915. Ardmacha combusta partim, quinto Kalcndaruin Mali, i. c. dimidiiim ejus australe, cum sti-amiiie, et granario, ut tucto, ut domicilio imiiiito Abhatiw tfitius."'
It might be supposed from the preceding translation that thi.'~ record could have no reference to the burning of the churches of Armagh, and that it could not be used in any way to provi' that they were of stone; but I shall presently show (p. 152) that the contrary is the fact, and that the words of the annaUst which Dr. O'Conor imderstood to mean sframen, i. e. straw, graiiariitin, a barn, and tec- tum,n roof, were actually not only churches, but even stone cluirches. The original passage is thus given in the vellum copy of the Amials of Ulster, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin :
"A. D. 915. Qpomacci do Vopcao do cene oiaic 1 quiMco Kalenoapum ITlcn, .1. CI Veidi Deipcepcc(cli, cop in Coi, 7 cop in c-Subull, 7 cup in Chucin, 7 cop ino ^ lup QbbaiD h-ude."
The correct translation of the passage is undoubtedly this :
" A. D. 915. Armagli was burned by lightning on the fifth of the Kali^nds of May, i. e. its southern half, together with the [church nf^ Toi, and with [the church o/"] Sabhall, and with the Cucin [or kitchen], and with the entire of the Lis Alihai<lh. [(.r the fortified enclosure of the abbots]."
In the next entry the churches of Armagh are noticed under the name of ceall. It occiu's in the Annals of Ulster under the year 920, and is as follows, as in the College MS. copy :
" A. D. 920. Inopeo aipomacha h-i im. lo. Noiiembpip 6 ^altaib Qrha cliarh. .1. o ^orbpir Oa Inicnp, cum puo exepcico, .1. ip in c-Parupn pia Peil mupccim ; 7 na caiji aepncii^ci do anaccd Ictipco n-ci luce do cedib oe, 7 oi lobpuib, 7 in cell olcena, nipi paucip in ea ceccip eiaupcip pe]i incopium."
Thus correctly translated by Dr. O'Conor ;
u 2
148 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" A. D. 920. Ardmacha vastata iv. Id. Novembris per Alieiiigenas Dublinienses, i. e. per Goifredum nepotem Imari, cum suo exercitii, i. e. die Sabbati ante festivitatem S. Martini, et protexit domos orationis, cum suis Colideis, et Leprosis, et Ecclesiam similiter, nisi paucis in ea tectis exustis per incuriam."
In the next entry, which occurs at the year 9!)-'i, and records the conflagration of the churches and other buildings of Armagh byhght- ning, the churches are called damhliags, or stone buildings, by all the annalists. — See the whole of the original authorities, and old transla- tions of them, given in the preceding part of this work, pp. .52 to 54.
At the year 1010 the great church of Armagh is mentioned by the Four Masters under the name of Donihliacc mlior, or great stone- church, in the following passage, to which I add Colgan's translation :
" A. D. 1010. muipeoach, mac Cpiochain, coiiiapba Colaim ciUe, 7 Qoam- num, paoi, 7 eppcop, 7 mac oicche, pe)ilei^inc Qpoamacha, 7 aDbaji comapba Dacpaicc, o'ecc icipp an cecparhao bliaoain peaccmooac a aoipe, a u. Kl. lanuapi, uiDche Sachaipn uo ponnpao, 7 po h-aoTiaiceo co n-onoip, 7 50 n-aipriiicin ip in Oomliacc rhop 1 n-Qpomacha, ap belaiB na h-ulcojia."
"A. D. 1010. Sanctus MureJacius filius Cricfiani, Cotnorbanus Sancti Cuhnnke, Sf Sancti Adamnani, Doctor eximius, Episcopus, Virgo, seu cir casiissitnus. Lector Theologim Ardmnchanug, Sf fidiirus Cotnorbanus S. Patricij, (id est Archiepiscopus Ardniaclianus) antio wtatis sept/iagesimo quarto, quinto Calendas lantiarij, ipsa node sabbatina, quieuit in Domino: Sf Ardmachce in maiori Ecdesia ante summum altare, cum magna honore Sf solemnitate sepidtus est." — Trias Thaum. pp. 297, 298.
The record which next follows is of greater value than any hitherto cited, as the annahsts present us with the names of the dif- ferent churches which were biu-ned, and call tliem all damhliags, or stone churches. It occiu's in all the Annals at the year 1020 ; and, as it is of great importance to this Inquiry, inasmuch as it refers to stone churches, — which, as I shall hereafter show, were foitnded in St. Pa- trick's time, — I shall give the various readings found in the different Annals, and also the translations hitherto made of them. The most ancient authority in which it occurs is the Annals of Tighernach, in which it runs as follows :
" A. D. 1020. Qpomaca do lopcao a c. Kl. ITlai, co n.a oepcijib uile cenmora m ceach pcpepcpa noma, 7 po loipc illcije ip na cpenaib, 7 in Damliaj mop, 7 m cloicccech co n-a clojaib, 7 Damliaj na Coja, 7 Damliag m c-Sabudl, 7 in cachuip ppoicepca, 7 imao oip 7 apjaic, 7 pec apcena."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Couor :
" A. D. 1020. Ardmaolia combusta tertio Kal. Maii, cum Nosocomiis suis omnibus, non e.xcepta dome Scripturarum.sanctarum, et combustae sunt plurimse domus in ter-
OF THE KOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 1 |;)
nariis rcgionibus Civitatis, et CuthcJralis Ecek'sia magna Iniiiilon, i-t onmimnik- I'tini suis Campanis, et lapiJea Ecck'sia Elcotiouuin, ot Ecclossia lapidua Saballi, (i. f. liurrci, sive granarii S. Patricii,) et Cathedra Doctrinalis Pra'dicatoruin (i. e. suggvstuiii) t-t copia ingens auri et argenti, et res prctiosa; similiter."
It should be observed, that in the precodinp; translatitin, Dr. O'Conor correctly renders the words Danilinj na ^^oja, by /ajjidi-a Ecclesia Electiomim; and yet in his ininslation, already cited, of the entry in the Annals of Ulster relating to the .same churches, at the 3^ear 915, he renders the word toe, — which is tlie name of this church, given without the preceding word Damliag, — hysframeri: and again in the record of the burning of this same churoli, now to be cited from the Annals of Ulster, it will appear that he gives a different and equally erroneous translation of the same word, thus :
" A.D. 1020. Qpomaclia uile do leip do lopcao, .i. in tDaimlicn; ITlop co n-(i cinji DO Uiaibe, 7 incloicrec co n-a cloccciiB, 7 in SaBuU, 7 in Uoai, 7 ciipbcio na n-abbao, 7 in c-pen-cuchaip Ppocmpca, 1 D-ceipc Kl. luin, 1 ^Auan pe Cinjcei- ST-"
This passage, the text of which is here given from the copy in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, is thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 1020. Ardmaclia tota penitus combusta, i. e. Ecclesia Saxea magna, cum sue tegmento plumbeo, et Campanili, et Campanis, et Ecclesia SaMmlensis, i. e. Granarii, et Toamensis, i. e. Cimitoerii, et Esseda Abbatis, et vetusta Cathedra doctrinalis, tvnio Kalendarum Junii, et die Luna; ante Pentecosten."
Here Dr. O'Conor has added an m to Toa, which is not to be found in the Dublin copy nor in any of the other annals, and it is scarcely necessary to remark here that it must be an error of his o-wn in dec^i- phering the MS. With respect to his present conjectural translation of the word, it is worth nothing, as he renders it otherwise elsewhere, and indeed correctly in the Annals of Tighernach ; and it is strange that so laborious a \\Titer did not take the trouble of comparing the different Annals, before he gave such contradictory translations of the passages recording the same events. This passage is tluis cor- rectly translated, but without anglicizing the words Suhlidll and Tod, in the old manuscript translation of the Annals of Ulster, prcscr\ ed in the British Museum, (MS. add. 4795, fol. 47.)
" A. D. 1020. " All Ardmach burnt wholly, viz. y« Damliag with its bowses [housing] or cover of lead, y>^ steeple with y" bells, y Saval and Toay, & chariott ofy'' abbotts, with y° old chaire of precepts, in y" 3 Kal. of June, Monday before Whit-
sonday."
\y-^
148
INQUIRE INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" A. D. 920. Ardmacha -(stata iv. Id. Novembris per Alleuigeuas Dublinienses, i. e. per Goffredum nepotem Iiiri, cum suo exercitii, i. e. die Sabbati ante festivitatem S. Martini, et protexit domos rationis, cum suis Colideis, et Leprosis, et Ecclesiam similiter, nisi paucis in ea tectiexustis per incuriam."
In the next entry, wiich occurs at the year 99''J, anci records the conflagration of the chiirhes and other buildings of Armagh by light- ning, the chiu-ches are died damhliags, or stone buildings, by all the annalists. — See the who; of the original authorities, and old transla- tions of them, given in te preceding part of this work, pp. 52 to 54.
At the year 1010 th great church of Armagh is mentioned by the Foiu- Masters under he name of Domhliacc mhor, or great stone- church, in the following)assage, to which I add Colgan's translation :
" A. D. 1010. muipeoac, mac Cpiochain, coiiiapba Colaim cille, 7 Qoam- ncnn, paoi, 7 eppcop, 7 ma oicche, peiilei^inc Qpoamocha, 7 aoBap comapba pucpaicc, o'ecc lapp an cerpmap bliaoam peaccmooac a aoipe, a u. Kl. lanuupi, aiDche Sachaipn uo ponnpac7 po h-aDnaiceo co n-onoip, 7 50 n-aipriiicin ip in tJomliacc mop 1 n-Qpomacfa, ap belaiB na h-ulcopa."
"A. D. 1010. Sanctus Mredacius fiUus Crickani, Comorbanus Sanctl Columbce, ^ Sancti Adamnani, Doctor exinus, Episcopus, Virgo, sen vir casiissimus, Lector Theoloc/ire Ardmachanus, ^-Jiit/trus Convbanvs S. Patriclj, (id est Arcliiepiscopus Ardmaclianus) anno cetatis septuagesiino qua)\ quinto Calendas lanuarij, ipsa node sabbudna, qideuit in Domino: Sf Ardmachce in saiori Ecdesia ante summuni altare, cum magno lionore 8; solemnitate sepultus est." — Tri< Thaum. pp. 297, 298.
The record which next follows is of greater value than any hitherto cited, as the anahsts present us with the names of the dif- ferent churches which ■^re burned, and call them all damhliags, or stone churches. It occtB in all the Annals at the year 1020; and, as it is of great importancito this Inquiry, inasmuch as it refers to stone churches, — which, as I hall hereafter show, were foimded in St. Pa- trick's time, — I shall gie the variousreadijM^Jjand in the different Annals, and also the truslg|]igH|i|^^^^^^^^^Bj|£Qa. The ancient authority in which it runs asi
"A.D. 1020.
in reach pcpepcpa^ m cloicccech co n-j cachaip ppoicepB
Thus translate
" A. D. 1020., non excepta doQ
> I IWI, I II Mil oeprii •y na rpenaib, 7 i-
OF THE HOUND 'lOWKKH OK llf,ANI>,
• "'"oiensfs,
' rwords the ■"-•'^ by light-
: all the I'-'idtransla-
''i to 54. ■Bed by
■ ititote-
« t'lk ; Qioiii.
■ aw^ (»iii(i|ilic
^illamiopi, im If in
' <'«Ap, J[
■ V AniiDickiiis) ff-!!iui. ijiiimt
l(i|iiili'n, '
l|ll|lilll'M, N I
tiil'illii (I
nariis regionibus Civitatis, et CutlK.'ilrulit K>;';l"'!ii» iiitt(j suis Campanis, et lapidea Ecclusia Eluclioiiuiri, i;f, lv!cl«il sive granarii S. Patricii,) et Cathedra DoctririuliM Pr(i!(J| copia iugeiis auri et argeiiti, et res pretiosa; MimiliUir."
It should be observed, that iti I lie pn O'Conor correctly renders the words OamI) Ecclesia Electionum; and yet in liis trans iion. \\h the entry in tlie Annals of Ulster relating 1 \\w si^iv tlie year 915, he renders the word toe, — w ?.h is tb church, given without the preceding word nmb^^^ and acrain in the record of the bm-ninc; of tl sm be cited from the Annals of Ulster, it will >po;. different and equally erroneous translation 0^10 <■ ■
" A.D. 1020. Qpomaclia uile do leip do lopca6,». >'" i^" cLiiji DO luaioe, 7 in cloiccec co n-a cloccaib, 7 in Sinl " n-abbao, 7 in c-pen-cucha!p Ppociupra, 1 o-ceipc KH'
This passage, the text of which is here givi Library of Trinity College, Dublin, is thus tr
"A.D. 1020. Ardmacha tota penitus combu-' sue tegmento plumbeo, et Campanili, etCampani et Toamensis, i. e. Cimitoerii, et EssedaAbb;'r' Kalendarum Junii, et die Lunas ante Pent.
Here Dr. O'Conor has added m in the Dublin coj^y nor in necessary to remark hoiv phering the MS of the word, it ' and indeed
It so 1
ler'
V Il- ia-
I II a ''III.
V
and (if
isually
dill" to
of Regies
if Armagh
under the
lied damhliuc I'oui' Masters.
ipUiCfiD a cuilipich
7 u corhalccii, .1. 1
u [Jacpciic apcenu,
Hiatus e cateiiis a Doiialdu
lu'uni ejus, (obsides) i. e, in
a Vitarii Patricii, et congre-
puapluccuo a cuiBpeutli-
cenr a rheic, 7 a comnlca,
rpaic, 7 a pumra iipcena,
sccailpi an 11. Kl. lunuapi."
Ultonii boratus e catenis per Douul- 'tcr suujliuui, et siiuni collactuiieuiu.
1 ■)( » INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The same record is given ])y tlie Foiu- Masters as follows :
" A. D. 1020. Qiiomacha do loj^ccao ■^vy an Raic uile, j;an cepapccain uoin ncclie innce cenniorhu an ceacli pcpetiprpu ntimci, 7 po loipccclii lol-rciijlie ip Tict cpeanuib, 7 po loipcceo in Ooimlicicc Plop, 7 in cloiccliectch co n-a cloccaib, 7 tDariiliacc na Coe, 7 Dumliucc an c-SaBaiU, 7 an c-pen-cacliaoip ppoicepca, 7 cappac nci n-Qbhao, 7 u liubuip i D-caijib ua mac leijinn, co n-ioniuc oip 7 aip- ^icc, 7 jacli peoic upchena."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 1020. Ardmaclia combusta quoad Arcem totam, absque ulla domo ibi sal- vata prteter Domum Scripturarum, et combustae sunt plurimaj domus in vicis, et com- busta est Ecclesia lapidea magna, et campanile cum suis campanis, et Ecclesia lapidea Toensis, et Ecclesia lapidea Sabliallia?, et antiqua Cathedra doctrinalis, et currus ab- batialis, et libri ejus in domibxis Prajlectorum, cum ingenti copia auri et argenti, et omnibus rebus pretiosis similiter."
An abstract from this passage is given by Colgan in his Annals of Armagh, but he has unfortunately omitted some important objects, and mistaken the meaning of a phrase, which has led others into great error. The passage is as follows :
" A. D. 1020. Ardmacha Ma incendro vostata rsq; ad arcem maiorem, in qua nvlla donms fu it combusta prceter Bibliotkecam solam : sed pltirimce cedes sunt fammis ahsumptce in trihus alijs partibus ciuitatis, <^' inter alia ipsum snmmum templttm. Basilica Toensis, Basilica SuhliaUensis, Basilica vetus concionatoria ; libri onnies stiidiosoram in siiisdomi- ciliis, 4" ingens copia auri i^j- anjenti cum alijs plurimis bonis." — Trias Tkauni. p. 298.
That this translation of Colgan's is in part incorrect, as well as defective, will be obvious to every Irish scholar, as well as to the English reader, who will take the trouble of comparing it with the other translations, one of which, already given, is older than Colgan's time, and made by a native Irishman living in Ireland.
I shall next present the reader with the translation made of this passage in the year 1627 by Connell Mageoghegan, from the Book or Annals of Clonmacnoise, and the original Irish of it given in the Chronicon Scotorum, which was abstracted from the same work :
" A. D. 1021. Qpomacbo do lopcao jjup an pair jenmora an cec pcpebrpa, 7 loipcceo an DamliO'^ ITlop, 7 an claijceac co n-a cloccaib, 7 Gamliaj na Cojct, 7 Oamliaj an c-SubaiU 7 an carhaip ppoicepca, 7 imao oip 7 aipjio, 7 peo ap- ceana."
Thus translated by Mageoghegan :
" A. D. 1013, [correctly 1021]. Ardmacli, the third of the Kallends of June, was burnt from the one end to the other, save only the Library ; all the houses were burnt,
OF THE ROUXD TOAVEUS OF lUELAXD. 151
the Great Cliurch, tlie Stketle, tlic Church of the Sabhatl, the inil|>iu or elioir uf preaching, with much gokl, silver and books, were burnt by tlie Danes."
In the next entry, relating to Arniagli, in the Annals of the Four INIasters, the churches are noticed under the name oi' fcin/u/i//:
" A. D. 107-1. Qpomacha do lopccao oia niuipr lup m-&ealcaine, co ii-u viihb reinploib, 7 cloccuiB, eiccip p<iic 7 cpiain."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Couor :
" A. D. 107-1. Ardmaeha combusta die Slartis post Baalis ignem, (i. c. post Ka- lendas Maias,) cum omnibus suis Ecclcsiis et Cunipaiiilibus, tain Ar.x ipiani ternaria; di\-isiones Civitatis."
And thus by Colgan :
" A. D. 107-1. Ardmaeha lota ami onniibus Ecclesiis S)- camjiaiiis, cum aire Jy reliqiia vrbis parte iiieemlio eastata, die Martis jwst festum, SS. PhiUppi <5' lacol/i." — Trias Thaum. p. 298.
At the year 1085 mention is made in tlie Annals of Uls^ter and of the Four INIasters of the church of St. Bridget, at Armagh, usually called Cill Bhrighide and Tempull Bliriglule, — whicli, according to Colgan, was erected in Patrick's time, — under the name of Reg/es Bhrighde ; and at the years 1092 and 1093 the churches of Armngli are again mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters, under the name of tempuiU.
At the year 1101 the great church of Armagh is called (lamldinr in the Annals of Ulster, and doimliag in those of the Foui' Masters.
"A. D. 1101. tDonnchao h-Ua Gochaoa, pi Lllao, do puciplucno u cuibpich la tJomnull mac Cochlamn la pij n-Qilij oap cenn a mic 7 a corhalcui, .1. 1 n-t)amliuc Qpoamaclia, cpe impioe comapba pacpaic, 7 paihca pncpaic npcena, &c." — Annul. Ulion.
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
"A. D. 1101. Donnchad O'Eochada Rex Ultoniw liberatus e eatenis a Donaldo filio Lochlinii Rege Alichise, propter filium ejus, et colactaneum ejus, (obsides) i. e. in Ecclesia Cathedrali lapidea Ardniachana, per intercessionem Vicarii Patricii, ct congre- gationis cleri Patricii similiter."
" A.D. 1101. tJonnchoD Ua h-eochaoa, pi Ulao, d3 puc'r^^ccaD a cuibpeucli- aib lc( t)omnall mac Tllic Cochlainn, la pi n-Qili^. rap cenc a meic. 7 a comnlca, 1 n-t)oiTTiliacc apDamucba, cpe impibe comapba pucpaic, 7 a pamra iipceiia, lap 5-comluccha DOiB po KucuU Io|'a, 7 po miono na h-eccail]'i an xi. Kl. laiuuipi.' — Ann. Quat. Mag.
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 1 101. Donnchadus O'Eochada Rex Ultoniic liberatus c eatenis per Donul- dum filium filii Lochlanni Eegem Alichiaj, propter suum filium, et suuni cullactaiRiim,
l.J2 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
ill Ecclesia lapidea Ardmacliana, per intercessionem Vicarii Patricii et ejus Congroga- tionis similiter, postqiiam convenirent sub obligatione jurisjurandi Baculi Jesu et reli- quiarum Ecclesiae, xi Kul. Jauuarii."
And thus by Colgan :
" A. D. 1101. Dc cons/lio i^- intercessione Arch'episcopi ^- Cleri Ardmachani Dom- ncddus Hiia Lochluinn Rex Aleacheusis e vinculis liheratum dirnisit Donatiim Hiia Hco- chadha, Regem Vlidice in Basilica Ardmachana, acceptis Jilio Sf aliis ab eo obsidibus: Sf inreiurando per Bncidiim, aliasque sacri loci Reliquias prcestito foedus ibi inierunt XI. Valendas lanuarij." — Trias Tlumm. p. 299-
In the next notice, which occurs at the year 1112, of the burning of the chm'ches of Armagh, they are called tempuill in the Annals of the Four Masters and in other Annals, as thus :
" A. D. 1112. Raicli Qpoamacha co n-a cemploib do lofccao, in r. Kl. Qppil, 7 Da ppeich do Cpiun Plapan, 7 an cpeap ppech 00 Cpiun liiop." — Ann. Qtiat. Mmj.
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
"A. D. 1112. Ars Ardmachana cum sua Ecclesia comhusta x Kal. April, et duo vici ternariai regiouis civitatis, dicta; Masan, et tertius vicus ternariae (dictac) Mugna'."
And thus, more correctly, by Colgan :
" A. D. 1112. Ar.v Ardinacknia cum templis, duceplatece in Trian-Massain, c^' ter- tiani Trianmor incendio deuastanturP — Trias Thanm. p. 300.
The next record in the Irish Annals relating to Armagh is one of great importance, as it not only calls the great church a stone struc- ture, but also shows that it was partly without a roof for one hundred and thirty years preceding, — that is, since the great conflagration of the churches by lightning in 995, — so that it must have been a church of considerable magnitude. The passage occurs in the Annals of Ulster, and of the Four Masters, at the year 1125, as follows :
" A. D. 1125. Ip innn cucipjbab a buinoe Dioen pop in t)amliac ITIop Qipo- maclia, lap n-u tan-ecop do plinnciuch la Celluch, comapba parpaic, ip in cpi- chaomaD blinoain ap ceo 6 nu paljai plinncuicb pa'p co comlan." — Ann. Ultmiien,
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 1 125. . . operimentum factum, et optimum tectum, et istud tectum integre, supra Ecclesiam Cathedralem lapideam magnam Ardmachanam, postea totum tegulis coopertum a Celso Vicario Patricii, in trigesimo anno supra centesimum a quo non fuit tegulis contGctum totum."
" A. D. 1125. h-i quinc Id. Gnaip pop CtoniDe ; ip more cuapccboo a buinne DiDin pop in t)aiTviliacc Dlop Qpoamacha, lap n-a lain-eagap do plinoib la Ceal- lach, comapba paqiaic, ip in cpicliacrhoD bliaoainap ceo o n-opaiBe plinncortildn paip CO pin." — Ann. Qiiat. Mag.
OF THE ROUND TOWKRS or lina.AMV 153
Tliu< transliitcd by Dr. O'Conor :
'■A. D. 1123. Quiiito Id. Januai-ii operiiiiciitum factum ct tectum iiifcgnuii (»•■- tiiin supra Ecck'siam Catliedralcui lapiilcaiu magnani Ardmafhanam, postcii totuiu tLgulis coopertuui a Celso Vicario Patricii, in trigosimo auuo supra ccntcsimuin ux iiu,,
mm fuit tcgulis opertiim totum usque ad iil."
And thus by Colgan :
" A. D. 1 123. Qnlii/o 1//IS laimarij Uynlls h>l<yi-i coiitirta S^- rcMuurata cat L'rcl.wi f'athedraUs Ardmachana per Sanction Celsum A rcliiepiscopiim ; jmMquamper annos reii- tiim triffiiita non nisi ex parte fitisset contecta." — Trias Tliuiim. p. 3()().
The hist notice of the ancient churches of Arinagli in the Annals of the Four Masters occurs at the year 1179, which I licre 'nvc witli Colgan's translation :
" A. D. 1179. Ctpomaca do lopccno ercip cempUiiK 7 petlepaili, (ur PeLUp 6piccDe 7 UempuU i\a B-Peapca nama."
" A. D. 1178 [1179]. Armaclia cum Ecclesijs & Sanctuarijs inccndio exusta, pra- tin- sanctiiarram Sancti [Sancta;] Brigidae 4' templum na ferta (id est, miraculorum) iippcllatHm." — Trias Thaum. p. 310.
From the preceding notices the following conclusions may, I tliink, be considered as now established. First, that the Irish, when writiu"- in their own language, applied to their stone churches not only tlie term damliliag, which expresses the material of whicli tlicy were formed, but also the terms cill, tempull, regies, and ec/ais, words ob- viously derived from the Latin; and that when noticing these churclies in the Latin language they designate them by the terms ecc/csin, templum, and basilica: and hence, that no inference can be fairly drawn, that the churches designated by any other appellation tlian damliliag were not stone buildings. This, I must repeat, is an im- portant conclusion to bear in mind, because, as I have already stated, almost the entire of our ancient ecclesiastical history, being written in Latin, affords us but incidental evidences as to the materials used in the construction of the churches ; and the Irish annalists who fur- nish evidence as to theii' material by the use of the term damliliag, or stone chiu'ch, only, as I have shown, commence tlieir notices of these structm^es when they were subjected to the devastations of the Northmen in the muth century.
Secondly, that it is quite certain that the chm-ches at Armagh were stone buildings in the ninth century. This is sufficiently sliowii not only from the notices of these churches as stone edifices already given as early as the year 838, but also from the following important
X
j^^Kfm
154
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
notice in Colgan's annals of Armagh at tlie year 1145. relative to tlie erection of a linie-ldln of enormous size by Gelasius, archbishop of Armagh, for the purpose of repairing the chiu'ches, as authority for ■which he quotes the Life of Gelasius (cap. xiv. in Acta Sanctorum, p. 775), and the Annals of the Fom- Masters :
"A. D. 1145. Prionim \_Piorinif\lahoritm indefossus exaitlliitor Gelasius cugituns dc A rdmacliaiia Basd/'at, aliisq; sacris cedihiis adli<vrentihus repurundis, extruxit pro calve Sf ccemento in hiinc finem excoquendo, ingentis molis fornacem, cuius lutitudo ab ouuti parte erat sexaginta pedes protensa.''^ — Trias Tltauni. p. 305.
It may indeed be objected that the authorities to which Colgan refers are insufficient, inasmuch as the Life of St. Gelasius, in which this passage is found, appears to have been compiled by Colgan him- self from various authorities, and the record in the Annals of tlie Foiu' Masters does not state the purpose for which the lime-kiln Avas erected : but it is not likely that so very acciu'ate a compiler as Col- gan would insert such a passage without sufficient authority ; and, even if the purpose assigned for the erection of this lime-kiln were only an inference of Colgan's own, it woidd be a perfectly legitimate one, — for if it had been erected not to repair, but to build the chiu'ches, the annalists, as was their habit, would not have failed to state an object so honom-able to the fame of a distinguished eccle- siastic, as will appear from several examples connected with Armagh itself. Thus at the year 1126 the Annals of Ulster and of the Foiu- Masters record the erection of a damhliag, or stone church, called Regies Foil agus Pedair, or the Abbey Chm-ch of SS. Paul and Peter — a church, the original erection of which is erroneously as;- cribed by "Ware and all the subsequent writers to St. Patrick, — and its consecration by the archbishop Celsus. It is thus given in the Annals of Ulster :
" A. D. 1126. tDaiTiliuc pejlepa poil 7 peoaip, do ponaD la li-Jmap h-Llu ii-Qeoacati, do coipecpao do CeuUucli, comupba pacpaic, in lij. Kal. Nouem-
bpip.-'
Thus translated b}' Dr. O'Conor, who misunderstood the meaning of the word iiejlep. Avliich signifies an abbey church:
"A. D. 1120. Ecclesia lapidea Catliedralis Ccemeterii Pavdi et Petri, quam sedi- ficavit Irnar O'Aedliacan, consecrata a Celso Vicario Patricii, xii Kalend. Noveiiib."
Thus in the Annals of the Four Masters :
" A. D. 1126. tDuniiliacc pejlepa poil 7 peoaip 1 n-Qpomuclia, do ponnuD lu
I
rear IH"
raiii an: .-
tie:'
Piir.
if ffe-
OF THE Kinxn TDWKliS OK lUKI.AXI).
l.V>
■■'■llupdl '■-'m fur
nty; and,
•■jlnwere
- . legitimate
■y, III yd the
< kre liu'fed III
; t'ccit'-
n »iiii Ararli
.,™ .1. ralWl
i »«*!, hi ami
.« tn^Mnuly *■
\ Pjinck.-4»1
...'niiitlie
MOl'
quiniM
,1 pOllWK II
li-lmnp Lla ivCtebacniii do coippeccao lo CecilUKh, corhiipbn Pdrpaitc, cm nj. Kul. DO Nouembep."
Tlius translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 112(). Ecclosia lapidea Cocmeterii Tauli ct Petri in ArJimu-lia, .pi.-c a>.li- liiata est per Iiiianun O'Etlaean, enjisecratji per Celsum Vicariuni I'utricii, xii Kul. Xovembris."
And thus by Colgan :
'• A. D. 1 126. Basilica SS. Petri Sf Pnidi AiilmnclKP extriirta per B. Imnrinii Il„„ Hncdhagain, consecrata est per S. Celsum Archiepimipum ArdmucJiunum 12. Cuh-iid. Ni>- ui-whr—TriasThaum. p. 300.
Thus again in the record of the death of ]Malacliy 0':\Iorgair, the predecessor of Gelasius, in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 1148, it is particularly stated, not only that he foinided and con- secrated churches, churchyards, and monasteries, but also tluit he re- paired many churches that had been for a long period in a state ol" ruin and desolation.
'■ A. D. 1 148. ITlalachiap, .i. maolmae6occ Uu niop^atp, aipo-eppcop cuchcioipe Paopaicc, aipD-cetm laprliaip ©oppci, lejaire comapba peraip, iioin cetinc po piapuijpec ^ooDil 7 5°'^^^' aipD-fxioi 1 ii-eacciia 7 a 5-cpubaiD, locpan polupca i.o poiUpigeo cjaclia 7 eccalpa cpici popceaccil 7 caoiii-jnioriia, ao^aipe raipipi nn li-Gccailpi CO coicceno, lup n-oipDiieo do eppcoip 7 pacaipc, 7 aop jacha ^pcno apchena, lap g-coippeaccao ceompoU 7 peljetio n-iomao, lap n-Denurii jacliu Uibpa ecclapcacoa pecnon Gpeunn, lap D-cio6nacal peoD 7 bio do rpenaib 7 cpuajaib, lap b-porujciD ceall 7 mmnipcpeach; ap ap leipiom po h-arnuaoaijre 1 n-6pinn lap n-a b-paiUiujaD o c6in liiuip, ^nch ecclup po lecchi i paiU 7 1 n-eiplip, lap b-pajbail jach picijla 7 jach poibepa 1 n-eaccUiip Spectrin apctiena, ip in oapa pechc a leccaioechca, lap beir ceirpe bliaona oecc inu piipiomuiD, 7 lapp an cerpaifiao bliaoain caeccac a aoipi, po paiD a ppipac do cum niriie an Dopa la DO Nouembep, 7 ap ann celeabpaicc an 6accluip lirli 7 poUumum Maonii rPbalachiiip ap an cpep la, ap n-a claocluo lap na ppuirib o la pheile na mapb, ap an la na DiaiD, ap coinb upaioe a epoacli 7 a onoip ; 7 po h-nonucr 1 mainipnp ■S. 6epnaipD h-i Claipualip h-i b-ppancoib, 50 n-onoip 7 co n-aipmiccin."
Tliiis translated by Dr. O'Conor, who has mistaken the meaning of the most important part of the passage, as marked in Italics :
" A. D. 1148. Malacliias, L c. Maolmaedogus O'Morgar, Archiepiscopus Cathedra; Patrieii, snpremus Pastor Occidentalis Europse, Lcgatus Vicarii Petri, Unicus cwi pa- reV>ant Hiberni et AiienigenjB, supremus sapiens doctriiia et duvotionc, Lucerna Lucis illmuinans Sa'cularia et Ecclesiastica propter pietatem et clara gesta, Pastor solicitus Ecclesia; generaliter, postquam oi'dinasset Episcopos et Sacerdotes, et cujusvis ordinis Clericos simOiter, postquam consecrasset Eeclesias et Cocnieteria plurinia, ]X)st(iunni perfecisset omnia munera Ecclesiastica ubique in Hiliernia, post oblatas res pretiosas et cibaria pntentibns ct paiiperibiis, pnst tocta imposita Ecclesiis ct Monastcriis, nam
154 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
notice ill Colgan's annals of Armagh at the year 1145, relative to the erection of a linie-kiln of enormous size by Gelasius, archbishop of Armagh, for the purpose of repairing the churches, as authority for ^vhich he quotes the Life of Gelasius (cap. xiv. in Acf(t Sanctorinn, ]). 775), and the Annals of the Foiu' Masters :
" A. D. 1 145. Priuriiin \_Pionitii~\ lahunan hulffcssus exnntliitor Ge/iisi/is cuyitans de A nlmachana Basilica, aliisq; sacris cedibus aditcereittibus reparandis, extruxit jrro calce 4' ccemento in hutic finem excoquendo, ingentis moUs fornacem, cuius latitudo ab omni jHirte erat sexaginta pedes protensa." — Trias Tliniim. p. 305.
It mav indeed be objected that the authorities to which Colgan refers are insufficient, inasmuch as the Life of St. Gelasius, in which this passage is found, appears to have been compiled by Colgan him- self from various authorities, and the record in the Annals of tiie Foiu- Masters does not state the purpose for which the lime-kiln was erected : but it is not likely that so very accui'ate a compiler as Col- gan would insert such a passage without sufficient authority ; and, even if the purpose assigned for the erection of this lime-kiln were o\\\y an inference of Colgan's own, it woidd be a perfectly legitimate one, — for if it had been erected not to repair, but to build the chiu'ches, the annalists, as was theii- habit, wovdd not have failed to state an object so honoiu'able to the fame of a distinguished eccle- siastic, as will appear from several examples connected with Armagh itself Thus at the year 1126 the Annals of Ulster and of the Four Masters record the erection of a damhliag, or stone church, called Regies Foil agus Pedair, or the Abbey Chui'ch of SS. Paid and Peter — a church, the original erection of which is erroneously as- cribed by Ware and all the subsequent writers to St. Patrick,— and its consecration by the archbishop Celsus. It is thus given in the Annals of Ulster :
" A. D. 1126. t)aiTiliuc pejley^a poil 7 peociip, do ponao la li-Imap li-Uu ti-Qeoacuii, do coipecpoo do Ceallucli, coniupbu pacpaic, in xij. Kal. Nouem- bpip."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor, who misunderstood the meaning of the word pejlep. which signifies an abbey chiu-ch:
"A. D. 112(3. Ecclesia lapidea Cathedralis Ctemeterii Paiili et Petri, qiiam aedi- ficavit Imar O'Aedhacan, consecrata a Celso Vicario Patricii, xii Kalend. Novenib."
Thus in the Annals of the Four Masters :
" A. D. 1126. tDuimliacc pejlepa poil 7 pecaip 1 ii-Qpcmticlvj, 00 ponnub la
OK TIIK liorxn TnWEKS OK IKKI.AXD. 1 .') 5
li-lm<ip Ua n-CIeoncriin do coippeccno Ici Cealluch, comupbii pcirpuicc, nn iij. Kill. DO Houembep."
'I'll US translated by Dr. O'Coiior :
" A. D. 112(). Ecclosia lapidea Coemeterii Pauli .■! Petri iii Ardmacliu, ([ua; avii- fioata est per Iiiianijii O'Edacan, cnnseerala jici- Celsum Vicariuiii Putricii, xii Kiil.
Novembris."
And thus bv Coltian :
" A. D. 1 126. Basilica SS. Petri S; Pauli Ardmaclm cxtriicta jier B. Imnrxnn II m, Hneilhaijain, consecrate est per S. Celsiim Arcliiepiseopum ArdmacJmnuni 12. Calend. No- ueiiili.'^ — Trias T/aanii. p. 300.
Thus again in the record of the death of ^Malacliy ( )"Morgair, tlie predecessor of Gelasius, in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 1148, it is particiUarly stated, not only that he I'.nnided and con- secrated churches, churchyards, and monasteries, but also tliat he re- paired man}' churches that had been for a long period in a state of ruin and desolation,
" A. D. 1 148. TTlatachiap, .i. maolmcieDocc Ua IDopjaip, aipo-eppcop cacluioipe paopaicc, aipo-cerin laprhaip 6oppa, tejaice comapba peraip, aoin cennr no pinpuijpec ^c'OD'l 7 5°"''^' ci'P°-i^cio' ' n-eaccna 7 a 5-cpabaiD, tocpan polupra no poillpijeo cuarlia 7 eccatpa cpia popceacal 7 caoiii-jniorha, ao;^aipe rciipipi na Ii-6ccailpi CO coicceno, lup n-oiponeo do eppcoip 7 pcicaipc, 7 aop jacha jpaio apchena, lap j-coippeaccao ceampoU 7 peljeao n-iomao, lup n-oenarii gachu luBpa ecclapcacoa pecnon Gpeann, lap D-noonacal peoo 7 bio do rpenaib 7 rpuajaib, lap b-porujao cecrll 7 mninipcpeach ; cip ap leipiorii po Ii-acnuaoaijre 1 n-6pinn lap n-a b-pailliujao o cein muip, jacti ecclup po lecchi 1 pcnll 7 i n-eiptip, lap B-pajbail jach piajta 7 jach poibepo 1 n-6acclnip Gpeann cipcliena, ip in oapa pechc a leccaioechca, lap beir ceirpe bliabna oecc ina phpioriiuio, 7 lapp an cerpaiiiao bliaoain cueccac a aoipi, po prnD a ppipac do cum nirhe an Dopa la DO Nouembep, 7 ap ann celeabpaicc an ©acclaip lirh 7 pollamain Nuoim mhalachinp ap an cpep la, ap n-a claocluD lup nci ppuirib o la pbeile na mapb. ap an la na oiaio, ap comb upaioe a epoach 7 a onoip ; 7 po h-aonacc 1 mainipcip ■S. 6epnaipD b-i CUiipualip b-i b-PpancoiB, 50 n-onoip 7 co n-(iipmicrin."
Tlius translated by Dr. O'Conor, who has mistaken the meaning of the most important part of the passage, as marked in Italics :
" A. D. 1148. !Malacliias, I e. Maolniaedogus O'JIorgar, Aicliiepiscopus Cathedra; Patricii, supreniiis Pastor Occidentalis Eiiropae, Legatus Vicarii Petri, Unicus cui pa- rebant Hiberni et AJienigenaj, supremus sapiens doctrina et devotione, Lucerna Lucis illuminans Sascularia et Ecclesiastica propter pietatem et clara gesta, Pastor solicitus Ecclesise generaliter, postquam ordinasset Episcopos et Sacerdotcs, et cujusvis ordiiiis Clericos sinoiliter, postquam consecrasset Ecclcsias et Coemeteria plurinia, jiostqHani perfecisset omnia munera Ecclesiastica ubique in Hibernia, post oblatas res pretiosns et cibaria potentibus et paaiperibus, post tecta imposita Ecclesiis et ^[onasteriis, nam
X 2
156 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
per ipsuiu rcnovata; sunt in Hibernia, poM ej/is reditum e lucis InuisiiKirinis, omnes Ecclesi» qua; derelictae erant in ruinam et in desolationetn, postquam statuisset omnes regulas et omnes leges morum in Ecclesia Hibernica similiter, secunda fungens Lega- tionc, postquam fuisset quatuordecim annis in Primatu, post quiuquagesiunim quartum annum atatis sua;, reddidit spiritum coelo, 2da die Novembris, et eo die celebrat Ec- clesia ejus felicem migrationem, et Solemnitas S. Malacliia; tertio die celebratur, nam transfertur a Religiosis a die festo omnium Defunctorum ad diem sequentem, ut possit eelebrari more solemni et honorifico, et scpultus est in Monasterio S. Bernard! Clare- valliB in Francia, ciim lionore et reverentia."
And thus more correctly by Colgan, as marked in small capitals :
" A. D. 1 148. S. Malachias Hua Morgair, Archiepiscopus oUm Ardmdchanus, Occi- dentalis Europce Legatus Apostolicus, cuim arbitrio Sj- monitis Hiherni S^ Nortmanni arquiescebant, vir nulli saplentia Sf religlone sec/nidiis, luceriia li/cens, 4' Clentm popn- liimq; sacris operibiis S^- coiicionlbus illuminatis ; Pastor fidelis Ecdesirt' Dei ; pust Ej/i.i- eopos, PrcBsbi/teros, aliosq; diuersorum graduum Sf ordhiiim Clericos, ordinaios ; post jRcrlesias midtas, Sanctuaria, <^- Monasteria consecrata ; jjust midtos labores Sf diuersa )niinia Ecdesiastka per vniuersaui Hibeniiam pie exercita; post multas ekemosi//ifis, ^ jiias elargitiones in vsus paiiperum Sf egenorum impensas ; post diuersas Ecclesias Sf Mo- nasteria partim erecta, partim restaurata {in more enim kabuit Ecclesias, diu ante ne- GLECTAS & niViVi xs demio reparare Sf refedificare;) post multas C'anonicas constitutiones Ecclesiasfico' disciplince reformationem, Sf Cleri mores i)i melius committandos, concer- nentes, pie saucitas, anno decimo quarto sui Primatus, cetatis quinquagesitjio quarto secunda iam vice Legati Apostolici munere functus, spiritum coelo reddidit die secunda Nouembris in Monasterio Cliireualknsi in Francia; ibidem cum magna solemnitate, ^- honore sepultus. Quia tamen commcmoratio omnium Jidelium defunctorum eo die celebratur ; festum eius quo commodius Sf solemitius eelebrari posset translatum est in diem sequentem." — Trias Thaum. p. 305.
Having now, as I trust, satisfied tlie reader that the churches at Armagh were built of stone and lime cement as early as the middle of the ninth century, I proceed to my next and final conclusion.
Thirdly, that there is every reason to believe that the stone churches already shown to have existed in the ninth century, were the very churches erected in St. Patrick's time, or shortly after. This, I think, will sufficiently appear from the following evidences, — and first, with respect to the Cathedral, or DamhUag Mor. The erection of a cathedral church at Armagh is recorded by all the Irish annalists, as well as b}- the most ancient authors of the Lives of St. Patrick, at the year 444, or 445, and its measurement in length is thus given in the Tripartite Life of the saint, said to have been originally written by St. Eviu in the sixth century :
" Istis namque diebus sanctissimus Antistes metatus est locum, & jecit I'unda- menta Ecclesioe ArdniaclianK juxta forniam, & niodum ab Angelo prKscriptum. Dum
OF THE UUUNU TOWKKS Ul" llfKI.ANl). 1 o7
auteiii fitfret luvc fumlatio, S: metiitio furmn;, & <iimiititatis KocUsiit a'llilicaiKlii', colUilu synodus Antistitmu, Abbatuin, alioniinque vniuersi rogni Pra'latoruiu : S: fuclii pro- cessione ad metas dcsignandas processcnint, Patricio cum baculo Icsii in inanu totuiii Cloruui, et Angelo Dei, tanqiiam ductorc & diroctore Patricium pra'ivdLiili. Stutiiil autiiiu Patricias juxta Augcli pra'scriptum (juod murus Ecclusiu; iii lougitudiue cuiiti- lu'rct ccutuiu quadraginta pedes (forte passtts) ; jedificium, siuc aula uiaiur trigiiito ; cidiua septem & decern ; Argyrotheca, sen vasariuin, vbi supullex reponebatur, sfp- tem pedes. Et hx sacrae aedes omiies iuxta lias niensuras sunt postea erecta"." — Part iii. c. Ixxvlli. Trias Thaum. p. 1G4.
It maybe objected that the work in wliicli the preceding autliurity is found is not of tlie age ascribed to it by Colgan ; but tliis objection is of little consequence to my present argument, — as, even alloAving the passages it contains, -which coidd not be of this antiquity, and which Colgan considers interpolations, to be, as Dr. Lanigan tliink'^. a portion of the original text, — we have still the acknowledgment of this sceptical critic himself, that the work cannot, by any possibility, be later than the tenth century, and that it is in very great part de- rived from much older memoirs, and often with such a scrupulous fidelity, that, instead of giving the mere substance of them, tlie veiy words are retained.
Seeing then that a great cathedral church was built bv St. Patrick at this early period, we have every reason to believe that it must have been of stone, inasmuch as it is spoken of as such by the Irish anna- lists at the year 838, and that there is no intimation in the whole body of our historical authorities that it was ever rebuilt, though it was undoubtedly often repaired, and had transepts added to it in the twelfth century. And I may remark, as an interesting fact, that, alter all the calamities to which this venerable edifice has been subjected, it still retains, in its present splendid re-edification, nearly the same longitudinal measurement as in the time of its original foundation.
That the stone-church, called DamhUa<>; an t-Sdhliaill, was also erected in St. Patrick's time, appears from the Tripartite Life of that saint, as in the following passage :
" Sanctus Patricius igitur cum suis Sanctis comitibus ab vna parte, & Darius cum vxore, &, regionis suae quae vulgo Oirthir, id est Orientalis appellatur, proceribus, simul prodeunt ad agrum ilium videudum, & locum Basilicae in eo erigendje couside- randiim, & designandum. Cum loci considerarent opportunitatem, & terminos, ceruaui eum hinnulo procumbeutem conspiciunt in loco, in quo hodie est Sali/iul/, quam cum comitantes vellent occidere, sanctus id inliibuit, quod sibi postea multa proestaret ob- sequia." — Part iii. c. Ixxi. Trias Thaum. p. 162.
158 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Tlio situation of this churcli, as being to the left or north side of the cathedral or great church, is pointed out in the Life of St. Pa- trick by Maccuthenius, in the Book of Armagh, fol. 7, col. 2.
The church called Tempull na Ferta is not mentioned by the annalists earlier than at the year 1 1 79, when it is noticed in the Annals of the Four Masters, as already quoted, and also in the Annals of Kilronan. But thei'c is a distinct evidence both in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, and in the Life of that saint by Maccuthenius, — an authority undoubtedly of the seventh century, — that this church was originally built by the Irish apostle even previously to the erection of the great church, or cathedral, on the hill : the passage in the Tripartite Life is as follows :
" Pen-exit igitur vir sanctus, prtmt in mnndatis acceperat, ad fines Machanos, vbi in loco, Ruihdaire dicto, reperit virum Principem & putentem, nomine Darium cog- nomento Deatji, Fincliadij filium : Finchadio aiitem huic pater erat Eoqnnius, k emus Niellanus, a quo familia de Hi Niellain nomen, & origineni sumpsit. Petiit luimiliter vir Apostolicus a principe Dario locum, in qiio Deo domum in terra, sacramque exci- taret rodem. Darioq; percontanti, in quo ipse cam loco mallet erigere, respondit, quod in amano & eminentiori loco, in qua hodie Ardmaclia Ciuitas jacet. Ista autem vice uoluit Darius permittere, vt in isto altiori loco a?dificaret ; sed concessit ipsi alium locum huiriiliorem : in quo vir beatus excitauit Ecclesiam De-Fearta vocatam, in qua multis ipse po.stea liabitauit diebus." — Part iii. c. Ixviii. Trias TJiaum. p. 1G2.
Thus in the Life by Maccuthenius, in the Book of Armagh :
'■ Dixitque diues ad sanctum quem locum petis : Peto iuquit sanctus ut illam alti- tudinem terra; quas nominatur Z)ora^^w Salicis dones milii et construam ibi locum. At illi^ noluit sancto terram illam dare altam, sed dedit illi locum alium in inferiori terra ubi nunc est Fertre Martyrum juxta Ardd mache, et liabitauit ibi Sanctus Patricius cum suis." — Fol. 6, b, b.
Respecting the origin of the chm-ch called by the annalists Damli- liag na To?, or ?ia Tog/ia, I have found nothing in the ancient Lives of St. Patrick ; but that this church also, if not a foimdation of Pa- trick's time, was of a date not long subsequent to it, may fairly be inferred from the early notice of its existence found in the Annals of Ulster. It appears also that this was the original parish church of Armagh ; and hence its name DamliUag na Togha, as accurately ^vritten by Tighernach, which clearly means the stone-chiu-ch of the election. Of this church some remains existed down to the restora- tion of the present cathedral, which are marked in Harris's plate of the latter as " Part of the ruin rif the Old Parish Church where the
OK THE nOUXD ToWKRS OK lUKI.AM). 1 ."j<J
Rector of Armagh is always iucluctod. It >i- want of which Church Divine service is now performed in the Nave of the Cathccha!" And in like manner Dr. Stuart, the historian of Armagli, slates, tliat al the liag- ment of this chiu'ch, " since the destruction of tlie building, the rectors 1 if Armagh have (generally speaking) been inducted, on their respec- tive promotions." Dr. Stuart indeed supposes that this church was called Basilica Vetus Conciotiaforia, a mistake growing out of C'ol- gan's error in giving this as the translation of )'encaraoi]i tui |j|io- cepca, which, as already proved from the best authorities, meant, merely, the old pi'eaching-chair or pulpit.
Of the other edifices, stated in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick to liave been erected in that saint's time, I shall for the present only re- mark, that the Cuciii, Coquina, or Kitchen, is referred to in the An- nals of Ulster as existing in the year 99-5.
[ trust I have now adduced sufficient historical evidence to satisfy the reader, not only that the churches of Armagh were stone build- ings as far back as the early part of the ninth centuiy, but that there is every reason to believe that these stone chvu'ches were the veiy buildings erected by St. Patrick and his inunediate successors : and that the abbey and cathedral churches throughout Ii'eland were ge- nerally,— if not, as I firmly believe, always, — of stone also, I shall prove by abimdaut historical and other evidences, di'a^vir from the me)iui- ments themselves, in the succeeding sections of this Inquiry. In con- cluding this section I shall thex'efore only adduce, in su[)port oi" these fects, one additional authority, which, though occiu-ring in a mei-e legend, very satisfactorily proves that the Irish generally were so accustomed to the existence of churches and other buildings of stone, anterior to the tenth century, that they had a remarkable ancient proverb amongst them, which they apphed to stones not adapted to the purposes of building. It occiu's in the Tripartite Life of St. Pa- trick, which, as I have already stated, no writer, however sceptical, has ever ventured to assign to a later period than the tenth century.
" Alia quadam vice vir sanctus Temoria profectus est ad montem Vsneach aniiiiii Ecclesiani ibi extruendi : sed ei opposuerunt se duo filij Nielli fratresquc Laognrij Regis, Fiaclius & Enda : quos vir Dei primo benigue allocutus promittebat si periiiit- tereut Ecclesiam in Dei honorem in eo amoeno loco e.xcitari, ejusdem Ecclesiae luodera- tores & rectores ex ipsorum progenie fore desumendos. Sed cum illi non solum eius ]ira.'dicationi, & beneuola> propositioni non acquiesoerent ; sed etiam per manus nt- tractum cum viulenter expelli curareut ; tunc vir Dei in tanta; injuria- justum vltioutiii
](]() INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
cirpit jaculuni malojictionis in ipsos, eorumqiie posteros inijcere. Et cum os in liunc fiiiwn aperiens, diceret ; mahdictio; tunc S. Secundiuus ejus discipulus inclioatam sen- ti'utiani ex ore eius eripiens, & complens, subjunxit ; Super lapides montis Vsneach. Placuit ^■il•o Dei discipuli pia miseratio, & iutercessio & sententiam ab eo prolatam ra- tara habuit. Mira res ! ab isto in liunc vsq; diem lapides isti quasi illius maledictionis succumbcutes plaga?, nulli structure apta; reperiuntur, alteriTie liumano deseruiunt vsui. Vndc abinde in prouerbium abiit, vt siquando lapis, aliaue materia destiuato non deseruiat vsui, ex montis Vsneach lapidibus esse vulgo dicatur." — Part ii. c. xvii. Trias T/ianm. p. 131.
SECTION III.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ANCIENT IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL
BUILDINGS.
Having shown, as I trust satisfactorily, in the preceding section, tliat tlie Irish were not unacquainted ■with the art of building with stone and lime cement, and that they applied this art to the erection of at least their churches immediately after their conversion to Chris- tianity, I have now to treat of the varieties of ecclesiastical structures in use amongst them, their size, their general forms and details, and the materials of which they were constructed. As this is a subject not hitherto treated of by any of our writers, and is, moreover, one of extreme difficulty, from the slender historical materials that can be brought to illustrate it, I must throw myself on the kind indul- gence of the reader, if I should fail to treat the subject, in all its liearings, with that certainty of proof which it would be so desirable to attain. The structiti'es of which I am about to treat, as noticed in oui' historical dociunents, may be classed in the following order :
1. Chiu'ches.
2. Oratories.
3. Belfries.
4. Houses.
5. Erdamhs.
6. Eatchens.
7. Cashels.
I shall treat of each of these classes of buildings in a separate sub- section.
OF THE ROUXD TOWEKS OF IKELAXl). \(]l
SUBSECTION I. CHURCHES.
Whatever difficulty I may have had to oncoiintLT iu proviu" from liistorical evidences tliat the most ancient Irish cluirches were usuallv if not always, of stone and lime cement, I shall, I think, have none in establishing this fact from the characteristic features of tlie existing remains of the churches themselves,— features which, as far as I know, have an antiquity of character rarely to be seen, or, at least, not hitlierto noticed, in any of the Christian edifices now remaining in any other country of Europe, and which to the intelligent architectiu-al anti- quary will carry a conviction as to then- remote age, superior to any written historical evidences relative to them now to be found.
The ancient Irish churches are almost invariably of small size, their greatest length rarely exceeding eighty feet, and being usually not more than sixty. One example only is known of a church of greater length, namely, the great church or cathedral of Armagli, which, according to the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, as already quoted, p. 156, was originally erected of the length of one hundred and forty feet. That sixty feet was, however, the usual length, even of the lai-ger churches, appears not only from their existing remains, but also from the accounts preserved in the ancient Lives of St. Patrick, in which that lenoth is given as the measurement of the DomluKicli Mor, or Great Church of Patrick, near Tailteann, now Teltown, iu Meath, as in the following passage in the AnntJtations of Tirechaii in tlie Book of Armaa-h :
o " Deinde autem uenit ad Conallum filium Neill, ad domiim illius i[ni fimdauit in loco in quo est liodie aeclessia Patricii magna, et suscepit eum cum gaudio magno, et babtitzauit ilium, et firmauit solium ejus inajternum, et dixit illi, semen fratrum tuo- rum tuo semini survit in aeternum. Et tu missericordiam debes facere hercdibus meis post me in saeculum, et filii tui et filiorum tuorum filiis meis credulis legitimum sem- piternum, pensabatque seclesiam Deo Patricii, pedibus ejus Ix pedum, et dixit Patricius, si diminuatur aeolesia ista non erit longum regnum tibi etfirmum." — Fol. 10, a, b.
In the Tripartite Life also of St. Patrick, ascribed to St. Evin, the measiu-ement of this church is given exactly in the same words, wliich shoAvs that these ancient Lives of the saint have been derived from a common original :
o
" Patricius rclinquens filium perditionis Carbreum declinauit ad Conallum eiu.« fratrem. Domus Conalli erat tunc in loco in quo Ecclesia de Domuach Patruic extructa
y
\6-2
DfQOKT INTO THE OWGIX AXD USES
ea. Comlla? Twr« wriBite ncaaoeiasa tu Aa^^tam Inefa. cam «> qna deeiriJ nBi»gnes«Sii & Iiii>Q>?F«. Lccc.- .-irrrhiieg- aumes & juuiuuJB aggiiwiBodaas, jKO' ifma in
Bi»T5t«rijs Siei i^r.. -. .^■- .~.-..»^. -leskk* legafflaiainns, & aaiiSBe Qurfeiii aggregstoi «ss. TLr I>« fBUB «i iBspianmii beciKiiBciisiiiaiaD dSeeos ; seoaiiffli tiK» sssiaan fealruDB taar- imm EibfecTiteti : immiaie 1isbki£kis%)> loixeasmra im ptDssiaria: tnaos a jane in iSlinaa lko>: sujtrtum. iraasibis |niiirin»i>BiMiii!ii, tE aaeue swnerasiaKS iwaereniEoar, hanMaria cfiomeiii ciespiiMii;. at CTii>eanirar puiawBBBfflft. t» loeo isSs^ iM araB. am]!* sua, CaBEallhaii j/esit Iteo
r-^j • _ nmm TKEiMtBai BacniDJSt teaDsttBiliit Eii^ii» taEut tiisoii RsSmeiiK ;
iCSciiiairf. &I3S negiffiaett meqiaw i&gKiT, niiqn«e tliulluifSilim eiit'"' — Ptat ie. <t. t. Tint*.* JTuBuim. pip^ 129, ISBL
The^ churches, in theiir geueirail foarm, preseme veij neaii^ that i£ lihe Romajai bai^llica, amd thej laie evein caDed bj this name in th<ir oldest trriteis ; t - eT©r present the conched semicinnilar abei^
at the east estd, '» ll^<. u li- so losniiai a featioie in the Soman churches, and the smaller chwrches ace cmfy simple oUong qnadzangles. In addildcm to this qoadcan^e, the laiger chnKches present a secoHod oMemg of sm^er dimen^oais, extending to the east., and ccmstitaling
the chancel <Odr sancttmaij, in whieh the altar iiras plboed. andtrhieh is connected irith the nave bj a tmimi^ial arch <cS. semioicnllar fonao. These churches hare larelhr more than a sii^e entrance, irhich is placed in the centre of the west end ; and thejr are Teij imperfect! j lighted bjr smaQ windows splaying' inwards, which '&ii3< not appear to haTe been exer glazed. The chancel is alwaTs better lifted than the nave, and msually has two and siDSnetimes three windows, of which ome is always placed in the centtre of the east waH and another in the south wall; the windows in the nave are also usuaDhr phced in the somtih wall, and. exceptang in the larger diurch^i, raieljr exceed two in number. The window? aie £re«|[uentlty trianguIar-Ji^ded, bat more usual%- arched semicircmiarijr, while the dooswaj, osed r- - ■ -i;- trary, is ahnoet universally covered by a horiMmtal linteL t . ■ - . _• of a single stcme- In affl cas^ the sides ef the docrwajs and win- dows incline^ like the doorways in the oldest remains df Cyclopean buildings, to which they bear a smgulai%- striking resemblance. The doorways seldo«n present amy architecttuiral decoratiosas beycmd a mere iat architrave, or band, but are most usually plain; and th-: windows stiE mose raitetyexhifeit osnaamentts of an J kind The walls of these churches are always perpaudicular, and st: " frmed of veij large poiygiMial sfcoanies carefeily adjusted to eacx^ -.'^r,. both o©
I
^^
OF THE ROirSD TOWERS OF IRELAND.
I
^^Dl 1 stttil
rr impertecti;
ri.1^.-
ae tx)n-
.istkg
• - ind vrin-
. .I? "2
tjL-
1(13
the inner and outer foces, while their interior is filled up with rubble and grouting. In tlie smaller churches the roofs were iVequently formed of stone, but in the larger ones Avere always of wood, covered Avith shingles, straw, reeds, and, perhaps sometimes, with lead.
To the above general description I may add, that no churches appear to have been anciently erected in Ireland, either of tlie cir- cidar, the octagonal, or the cross form, as in Italy and Greece, — though it woidd appear that churches of the last fonn were erected in England at a very early period, — and the only exception to the simple forms, akeady described, is the occasional presence of a small apartment on one side of the chancel, to serve the piu-pose of a sacristy.
That the reader may have more clearly brought before liim the characteristic details of these primitive chuix'hes, I shall here annex examples of their several featiu'es, beginning with their doorwaj-s. Of these the most usual, and, as it would appear, the most ancient form is the quadrangvdar one, as found in the stone-roofed oratories in Kerry, biult without cement, and of Avhich the doorway of the oratory at Gallei'us, already described, p. 133, affords the finest example :
This fonn we also find perpetuated in the churches said to have been founded by St. Patrick and his immediate successors, as will be seen in the annexed engraving, which represents the remains of the west
Y 2
1()2 IXQllKY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
est. Coiiallus vuro veritatis priccoiiein vt Angelum lucis, cum ea qua dccuit reuerentia & houore, Itctus excepit: eiusque doctrinse aures & animum accomodans, per eum in mysterijs fidei iiistructus, salutari lauacro rogeneratus, & iamilia; Christi aggregatus est. Vir Dei suaiii ei iinpertiit bonedictioiiem dicens ; semini tuo semen fratrum tuo- rum inseruiet : iureque liiei-editario obteutum in posteros tuos a patre in filium hoc sanctum trausibit patrimouium, vt mcos successores venerentur, honoraria clientela respiciant, ac lueantui- patrocinio. In loco isto, vbi crat aula sua, Conallus jecit Deo & S. Patricio Ecclesiae extruendae fundamentum, qnod pedibus eius LJT. pedum erat: ipse vero aulam suam ad alium vicinum locum transtulit. Eique tunc dixit Patricius ; quicuinque ex tiia posteritate ausu temerario ausus fuerit aliquid contra hanc Ecclesiam attentare, eius regimen neque ftelix, neque diuturnum erit." — Part ii. c. v. Trias TiMtim. pp. 129, 130.
These churches, in their general form, preserve very nearly that of the Roman basiUca, and they are even called by this name in the oldest writers ; but they never present the couched semicircular absis at the east end, which is so usual a featiu'e in the Eoman churches, and the smaller churches are only simple oblong quadrangles. In addition to this quadrangle, the larger churches present a second oblong of smaller dimensions, extending to the east, and constituting the chancel or sanctuary, in which the altar was placed, and which is connected with the nave by a triumphal arch of semicu'cular form. These churches have rarely more than a single entrance, which is placed in the centre of the west end ; and they are very impeifectly lighted by small windows splaying inwards, which do not appear to have been ever glazed. The chancel is always better lighted than the nave, and usually lias two and sometimes three windows, of which one is always placed in the centre of the east wall, and another in the south wall ; the windows in the nave are also usually placed in the south wall, and, excepting in the larger churches, rarely exceed two in number. The windows are frequ.ently triangular-headed, but more usually arched semieircularly, while the doorAvay, on the con- trary, is almost universally covered by a horizontal lintel, consisting of a single stone. In all cases the sides of the doorways and win- dows inchne, like the doorways in the oldest remains of C}-clopean buildings, to which they bear a singularly striking resemblance. The doorways seldom present any architectm-al decorations bej-ond a mere flat architrave, or band, but are most usually plain ; and the windows still more rarely exhibit ornaments of any kind. The walls of these cluu'ches are always perpendicular, and generally formed of very large polygonal stones carefully adjusted to each other, botli on
OF THE ROUXn TOWF.liS (IF IIJFI.ANn.
I(i3
the inner and outer faces, while their interior is filled up with ruhbk- and grouting. In the smaller churches the roofs were frecjuently formed of stone, but in the larger ones were always of wood, covered with shingles, straw, reeds, and, perhaps sometimes, with lead.
To the above general description 1 lua}- add, llial no churclu's appear to have been ancientlj'^ erected in Ireland, either of the cir- cular, the octagonal, or the cross form, as in Italy and Greece, — though it would appear that churches of the last form were erected in England at a very early period, — and the only exception to tlie simple forms, already described, is the occasional presence of a small apartment on one side of the chancel, to serve the purpose of a sacristy.
That the reader may have more clearly brought bi'lbre him the characteristic details of these primitive churches, I shall here annex examples of their several featm-es, beginning with their duorways. ( )f these the most usual, and, as it would appear, the most ancient form is the quadrangular one, as found in the stone-roofed oratories in Kerry, bmlt without cement, and of which the doorway of the oratory at Gallerus, already described, p. 133, affords the finest example :
This form Ave also find perpetuated in the churches said to have been founded by St. Patrick and his immediate successors, as will be seen in the annexed engraving, which represents the remains ol llie west
Y 2
1(J4
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
end of tlie small church called Teinpleputrick, situated on the inland oUni.san Glioill Chraihlifhigh,— or, as O'Flaherty correctly trans- lates it, "the island oi' the devout foreigner," — now Inchaguile, in Lough Corrib in the county of Galway, nearly midway between Oughterard and Cong. This little church, though exhibiting the usual form of the larger chiu'ches, — having a nave, triumphal arch, and chancel, — is in its greatest external length only thirty-five feet six inches. The interior of the nave is seventeen feet eight inches in length, and thirteen feet six inches in breadth ; and the chancel is a square of i;ine feet. The doorway, which is six feet high, has in- clined sides, and is two feet wide at bottom, and one foot nine inches at top :
That this church is of the age of St. Patrick, as is believed in the traditions of the country, and as its name would indicate, can, I think, scarcely admit of doubt ; for, though there is another church on the island of beautiful architectiu'e, and of similar fonii and nearly equal dimensions, and undoubtedly of an age considerably anterior to the arrival of the English, it appears, nevertheless, a modern struc- ture as compared with this. It is, however, greatly to be regretted that of the foundation of this, as indeed of many other churches believed to have been erected by St. Patrick, we have no historical account remaining ; nor does either history or tradition preserve the name of the devout foreigner for whom it Avas erected, and to whose memory the second church on the island was dedicated ; but I trust that I shall be able to show from an ancient sepulchral inscription, — the
OF THE ROrxn TOWERS OF IKELANM).
Ki.j
only one on the inland,— that lliis devout Ibivigiior was at least a co- temporary of the Irish apostle, and not improbably even his nephew This inscription, Avhi.'h is accurately copied in the annexed wood-eut!
is found on auiipriglil pilhinif dark lime- stone, about four feet high, situated, when I sketched it, at a little distance in front of Templepatrick. The letters, which are very deeply cut, and in perfect ])resei-va- tion, may be read as follows:
LIE LUGNAEDON MACC LMEXL'EII. or, in English,
THE STONE OF LUGNAEDON SON OF LIMENUEH.
That this inscription is of the earliest Christian antiquity will be at once ob- vious to the antiquarian scholar : there is probably no other inscription in tliis cha- racter of equally certain anticjuity to l)e found in Ireland ; and it is but rational to assume that the ancient clnu'ch called Templepatrick is of coeval, or even greater age, unless it be contended that the church was rebuilt, — an assumption altogether unreasonable, as no more ancient style of Christian edifice than it exhibits can pos- sibly be found. As it is therefore neces- sary to my pm'pose to inqnire who this Lugnaedon was, I may in the fii'st place observe, that it is stated in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, Pail II. c. 50, that when the Irish apostle was at Oran, in Magh Aoi, in this very neigh- bourhood, he was solicited bv his Gallic disciples and followers to iissign them situations, in which they might lead lives of retirement and contemplation, — a request which was complied with ; but, ex- cepting the church of Baislec, which was given to one of them, the localities to which these individuals were dii'ected are not named. Of these Gaids or Franks, who were fifteen in number, with one sister, the names of only three are given, namely, lieniicins, IIil)er-
l(3f, INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
meiu:<, and Eniicius; nud cerlalidy, of these, the name Hibernicius, as applied to a Gaul, might ^vell create a doubt of the truth of the Avlu.le statement: but tliis doubt is removed by the Annotations of Tireclian in the Book of Armagh, in which these three names are written Inaepins, Bernicius, and Hernicius, so that Colgan's form of the name must be either an error of his own, or of the transcriber of the manuscript which he used. Respecting these Gauls, or Franks, Col- cran remarks, that he has found no notice of them elscAvhere, unless they be, as would seem most probable, the holy Gauls, or Franks, in- voked in the Litany of Aengus as of Saliduic, Magh Salach, and Achadh Ginain,— and it is extremely probable that the Gauls distri- buted by St. Patrick in the western regions of Connaught are here invoked. Seeing then that Gaids were left in this district at so early a period, we have next to inquire whether there was among them one named Lugnat, or Lugnadan, for the names are the same, the termi- nation an, as Colgan shows, being a diminutive usually added to proper names, and particularly to those of ecclesiastics. It is remark- able then, that throughout the whole of our ecclesiastical histories only one saint of this name is found mentioned ; and that this saint is stated, not only to have been a cotemporary of St. Patrick, but, by several ancient authorities, to have been also his nephcAv. It should be fur- ther observed, that the locality, in Avhich the church of St. Lugnat was placed, is Lough Mask, in the immediate neighbourhood of the island of Inchaguile, and that on the shore of this lake the most ancient church of the district still remains. In an ancient list of the household or followers of St. Patrick, preserved in the Book of Lecan, fol. 43, a, and in the Book of Ballymote, fol. 117, b, as also in Evin's Life of St. Patrick, and in a poem of Flann of the JMonastery, St. Lugna, or Lugnath, is set down as the luamaire, or pilot, of St. Patrick, as in the foUoAving lines of the poem :
" bpojan pcpibnibe a |^coile,
C|niimclie[i Cujncr a luamaipe."
" Brogan the scribe of his school, Cruimther Lugna his pilot."
I have next to remstrk that the most ancient authorities, which make mention of Lugnat, concur in stating that he was one of the seven sons of the Bard, or Lombard, — as in Duald Mac Firbis's Compilation of Ancient Genealogies, — and that most of those authorities state that
OF THE ROUND TOWEKS OF IltELAXn. Ki"
these seven sons of the Lombard were St. Patrick's nephews, as in the following passage in the Lcabhar Breac, fol. •), n.
" Cpuimchep fTujnai (.1. oulca pucpm^ 7 tncic a perh(ip) m pcclicmuo irnic in 6uipD, oc pepcaib Cipe peic, pop toch niepccha."
'* Cruimther Lugnai (i. e. the foster-son of Piitrick and son of liis sLster) tcu» llie seventli son of the Bard, and located at Ferta of Tir Fuic, on Lovigh Mask."
And all the ancient martyrologies and genealogies of the Irish saints name these seven sons of the Lombard in the f)ll()wiiig ordi'r : 1. Sechnall, or Secnndinus, a bislmp ; 2. Neclitan, a bislio]); 8. Da- l)onna, a saint ; 4. Mogornan, a saint ; 5. Darioc, a saint ; G. An.xilius. a bishop ; 7- Lngnat, a saint.
In like manner the ancient Martyrologies state that the inotliLM-ul' these sons of the Lombard was Liemania, llie daughter of C'alpluu- nius, and sister of St. Patrick. Thus St. Aengus, in his Calendar, as translated by Colgan, in noting the festival of St. Xechtan at the second of j\Iay, writes :
"Liemania filia Calphurni, soror S. Patricii, fuit mater S. Nectani dc Kill-viichi' ; c[ui & dicitur Mac-lemhna, id est, filius Liemaniie ; estque qui jacet in Finnauair-iil ilia, ad ripam Boandi." — Trias Thaum. p. 227, col. 1.
The Calendar of Cashel and that of Marian Gorman record tlK- Iesti\al of Nechtan in nearly the same words ; and also, in recording the fes- tival of St. Sechnall, or Secnndinus, at the 27th of November, call him the son of Liemania, the sister of St. Patrick, as thus translated by Colgan :
" S. Secnndinus filius Liemaniaj sororis S. Patricij, & Kestitutus pater eius. Co- litur in Domnach-Sechuaill : estque de Longobardis, & Finus nomen eius ibi. Ma- riaiius Gormanus ad eundemdiem; Sechnaldus Magnus filius Iluabaird, de Domnach- Scchnaild in Australi regione Bregiorum, est de Longobardis oriundus ; & Secnndinus nomen eius {nempe Latinum) eiusque mater fuit Liemania soror S. Patricij eratque Primas Ardmachanus. M arty rologi urn DtnHjaUeme eodem die. S. Sechnaldus, id est Secundinus Primas Ardmachanus, filius Liemaniae Sororis S. Patricij : & in Doni- nach-Sechnaild in regione Bregarum est eius Ecclesia : & ipse de Longobardis oriundus esV— Trias Thaum. p. 226, col. 2.
To the preceding anthorities I may add that of the Annals of Connaught at the year 466, as quoted by Ussher, Pmnortlia, p. 825, that the wife of Kestitutus, the Lombard, is called the sister ot St. Patrick, and named Culmana. But this form of the name, as Colgan observes, is evidently an error for Lieman, and, he might have added, an error easily committed, by joining the final c in mace to L.ema.n. in the passage which records the death of her son Sechnall.
1()8 INQIIKY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
These evidences will. I trust, be considered sufficient. — without adducing, as I might, many others of the same kind, — to show that the Irish, from the most remote times beheved as a fact that the seven ecclesiastics, enumerated in the preceding autliorities, were the sons of a Lombard father and of Liemania, the sister of St. Patrick ; and I cannot help thinking that the very ancient inscription, which I have copied at the chiu'ch of Templepatrick, on Inchaguile, or the Island of the Gaul, will be considered by the learned and laiprejudiced as a very singular and interesting evidence of the truth of those autho- rities. It is true that oiu' ancient manuscripts also speak of other individuals called sisters of St. Patrick, who appear to have been re- ligious persons in Ii'eland, as well as of their sons, who are called his nephews, — and moreover that some of those individuals, called his nephews, are spoken of not as the sons of Liemania, but of Lupita, and also of Darerca, a name which Colgau, in consequence, beheved to be only an Irish cognomen of Liemania, signifying constant love ; and hence Tillemont, and even l^anigan, unable to unravel the truth from materials apparently so cUscordant, have given up the whole accounts of the recorded relations of St. Patrick in Ireland as of no authority, though Lanigan acknowdedges that there is no doubt that such per- sons existed in St. Patrick's time. But ancient authorities shoidd not be thus discarded with flippant scepticism, and, however suspicious may be the authorities for the relationship of the other individuals named as sisters and nephews of St. Patrick, — through the errors of ancient transcribers, in writing, for example, the name Lupita, who was always called virgo, an obvious mistake for Liemania, — there seems to be no just reason to question the authorities as far as Lie- mania and her sons are concerned : and I may add, that a fabrication in this instance would have been without an object, as some of these ecclesiastics, Luguat for example, occupy no distinguished place in Irish ecclesiastical history or the traditions of the country, and it is nowhere stated tliat either Eestitutus or Liemania was ever in Ireland.
In the doorway of the church of Templepatrick, which I consider as a specimen of the earliest style of structure of its kind in Ireland, it has been seen that no ornament whatever is used, and this was, as I shall hereafter shoAV, the most usual mode of construction also in the sixth and seventh centuries, and ])erhaps even later; but the doorways were not always plain in those ages, for in many instances
OF TIIIC lidlM) TOWERS OF IRELANR
10!)
they preticnt a flat iMcjcrtiii- aivliiiravL',— us in ih,' doorways of the oldest Greek and Ktniscaii buildiii.o-s, as Avrll as in tliose (.f tin- earliest Roman chnrches.— of which ihc annexed .MiiiTavin',' of ihc doorway of the ancient cluuch at Katass, near TiaKv. in K.rry, will present a very eliai'acteristie example :
"^-fff^^^^^^^^^^^i^^s - ,5Wi.^5^- ^- ■
This doorway, which, like the Avhole of the chnrch, is bnill in a stvle of masonry perfectly Cyclopean, except in the use of lime cement, is
five feet six inches in height from the present level of the ground,
which seems considerably raised, and would be evidently not less than six feet in height from the threshold or base to the linti-l. — and in width three feet one inch at the base, and two feet eight inches at the top. The stones which, as Avill be seen, are all of great size, in most instances extend through the entire thickness of the jambs, which is three feet one inch ; and the lintel-stone is seven feet six inches in leno:th, and two feet in height, and extends throucrh the whole iliiek- ness of the wall. As fiu'ther illustrations of this very ancient church will be found in the succeeding pages of this work, it is only neces- sary here to observe, that it is wholly built of old red sandstone, " brought," as Dr. Smith remarks, " at a great distance, from the im mn- tains; although there were fine rpiarries of limestone to be had on tiie spot." — Antii'nf (unl Prcsriit State aftlie Cniiutii of Kcvni. p. I(i7.
'I,
170
ISQL'IRV nfTi^ TTIE t)B[Gl^^ AND USES
Reapectinc the founder's name, or the date of the eTectio-n of this church, I regret to be obUged to state that I have discovered no hi- firical notice, and I can only offer a conjecture. groande<l on the .^tjmolorrv of ita name,— which appears to have been anciently wntten Rrir mui'se oeipcipc. i. e. the rath or/orf of the muthern plain, to distinguish it from Par mni^e caaircTpr, the rath of the northern plain no^ff shortened to Rattoo, the seat of an ancient bishopric about ten miles distant to the north.— that it was probably of cotempora- neous origin with the latter, which was erected by Bishop Lughach. one of the earliest propagators of Christianity in Kerry, but of whos« history nothing more is preserved than his aame and festival day. the 6th of Ortober, as set down in the Martyrology of Aengras, and in all the later calendars.
The next example which I have to present to the reader is ob^ vioudly of cotemporaneous age with the doorway of Ratasa, and ha^ even a more striJdnet resemblance to ancient Greek architectnre.
^k^.l
\J
It is the doorway of the church at Glendalough, fjopularly called Oi . I^dv'a Church, and which, according to the tradition of the old na- tives of the place, as communicated to me many years since, was the first church erected in the lower part of the valley or city of Glenda-
■ /' 'iiii. ;.
Jc
OF THE ROUXD TOWERS OK lUKI.ANO
171
lough by St. Kevin, and tliat in which he wa> aliLiwaRL«; inKTiLcl, so that its erection may l)e fairly referred to the middle uf the sixth centiuy. This doorway is six feet in height, two feet six inches in width at the top, and three feet at tlie bottom ; and the stones of which it is formed, which, including the lintel, are only seven in num- ber, are all of the thickness of the wall, which is three feet. These stones are all of granite, and admirably well chiselled; and the lintel, Avhich is five feet six inches lone, and one foot tliree inches hish. is carved with a double moulding in the arcliitrave, and is also orna- mented on its soffit with a cross, saltier-wise, of which I annex a representation, — with a second example of this primitive custom of placing the cross on the sof- fit of the lintel, which oc- ciu-s in the doorway of the coteniporaneous chiu-ch of Killiney iu the county of Dublin, but dif- feriua from the other iu being carved in relief, and of the usual form. It may interest some of my readers to be informed, that Sir "Walter Scott, on his A-isit, in 1825, to ".the inestimably singular scene of Irish antiquities," as he designates the seven chm'ches at Glendalough ( Quarterlif Review, vol. xli. p. 148), sat for a considerable time be- fore this ancient doorway, and expressed his admiration of, and won- der at, its ancient character, in terms which, to the friends who accompanied him, and Avho were less enthusiastic antiquaries, seemed unaccountable.
That the tradition of the place, respecting the antiquity of the Lady's Church, is not an erroneous one, would appear from a pas- sage which I shall presently adduce from the Life of St. Kevin, pub- Hshed by the Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum at the 3rd of June, and which was evidently compiled by one intimately acquainted with the localities of Glendalough, and, in the opinion of the editors, pre- viously to the twelfth century, when this city, — as stated in the letter of the archbishop of Tuam and his sutFragans, written about the year 1214, — had been so waste and desolate for nearly forty years pre- viously, that instead of a church it had become a den of thieves and a nest of robbers.
z 2
I7<i
INQllIiV INTO TliK OIIIGIX AM) USES
Respecting the linuukT's iiaine, di' tlio dak' of the erection of this cluirch, I regret to l)e obliged to state that I have discovered no liis- torical notice, and 1 can only oder a conjecture, grounded on tlie etymology ol' its name, — which appears to have been anciently written Rfir miiiTje Deii'Cipc, i. e. tlie nifJi or fort of the sonthern })lai)i, to (listingnish it from Par miii^e nmipciiir, the rath of the northern plain, now shditeiied to Rattoo, the seat of an ancient bishopric about ten miles distant to the north, — tliat it was probably of cotempora- neous origin with the latter, which was erected by Bishop Lughach, one of the earliest propagators of Christianity in Kerry, but of whose history nothing luore is preserved than his name and festival day, the (ith of October, as set down in the Martyrology of Aengus, and in all the later calendars.
The next example which I have to present to the reader is ob- viously of cotemporaneous age witli the doorway of Ratass, and has even a more striking resemblance to ancient Greek architecture.
It is the doorway of the church at Glendalough, popularly called Our Lady's Church, and which, according to the tradition of the old na- tives of the place, as communicated to me many years since, was the first chui-ch erected in the lower part of the valley or city of Glenda-
OF THE ROUND TOWEKS OK lUKI.ANI).
171
lough by St. Kevin, and lluit in which hi' \va> al'U'rwiinls intcrrrd, so tliat its erection may lie lairly i-elened lo the middle of the sixth century. Thi.-; doorway is six i'eet in hi'ight, two feet six inclies in widtli at the top, and three feet at the bottom ; and the stones of ■wliich it is formed, which, including the lintel, are only seven in nmn- ber, are all of the thickness of the wall, wliich is three feet. These stones are all of granite, and admirably well chiselled; and the lintel, which is five feet six inches lontr, and cnw lout tlircc inches lii'di is carved with a double moulding in the architrave, and is also orna- mented on its soffit with a cross, saltier-wise, of which I annex a representation, — with a second example of this primitive custom of placing the cross on the sof- fit of the lintel, which oc- curs in the doorway ol'lhe cotemporaneous chiu-ch of Killiney in the county of Dublin, but dif- fering from the other in being carved in relief, and of the usual form. It may interest some of my readers to be informed, that Sir Walter Scott, on his visit, in 1825, to ".the inestimably singular scene of Irish antiquities," as he designates the seven churches at Glendalough ( Quarterly Review, vol. xli. p. 148), sat for a considerable time be- fore this ancient doorway, and expressed his admiration of, and won- der at, its ancient character, in terms which, to the friends who accompanied him, and who were less enthusiastic antiquaries, seemed unaccountable.
That the tradition of the place, respecting the antiquity of the Lady's Church, is not an erroneous one, would a]-)poar from a pas- sage which I shall presently adduce from the Life of St. Kevin, jjub- lished by the Bollandists in the Acta Sanctorum at the 3rd of June, and which was evidently compiled by one intimately acquainted with the localities of Glendalough, and, in the opinion of the editors, ])re- viously to the twelfth century, when this city, — as stated in the letter of the archbishop of Tuam and his suffragans, written about the year 1214, — had been so waste and desolate for nearly forty years pre- viously, that instead of a church it had become a den iil' thieves and a nest of robbers.
z 2
\--2 INQUIRY INTO THE OKIGIX AND USES
" Pretered iUa sancta ecdesia, quae esl in Moiitanis, licet in magna reverentid habere- tiir ab antiquisprnjiterSaiirtum Koywinuin, qui ibi duxit vitam eremeticam ; nunc tamen ita (leserta est et ck'solatii \wv qiiiiilr(ii)ini(i fore annus, quod de ecclesid facta est spehinca latromim, fovea fm-um ; ita quud 0/iiicidia committuntur in ilia Valle, quam in alio torn YixhtiYwis: propter desertiim et rastam solifmlinem.^' — Harris's Ware, Bishops, p. 376.
From this ancient Life of St. Kevin we gather that in the earlier vears of tlie saint's ecclesiastical life, having dwelt in solitude for four years iii various places in the upper part of the valley, between the mountain and the lake, his monks erected for him a beautiful clun-ch, called Disert-Cavghin, on the south side of the upper lake, and between it and the mountain, and drawing him from his retire- ment, prevailed on him to live with them at that church, which, as the writer states, continued to be a celebrated monastic church even to his own time ; and he adds, that here St. Kevin wished to remain and die :
"... & exivit ipse ab eis solus ad superiorem ipsius vallls partem, quasi per uniTUi luilliariuni a monasterio ; & constitviit mansiunoulam ibi in loco angusto, inter mon- tem & stagnum sibi, ulii erant densffi arbores & clari rivuli : & pracepit Monacliis suis, ut nullum c'iborum sibi genus darent ; & nemo ad eiim veniret, nisi pro maxima causa. Et ita solus, in superiore vallis plaga, inter montem & stagnum, in diversis locis, per cpiatuor anuos Eremita fuit, in jejuniis & vigiliis continuis, sine igne & sine tecto ; & habctur incertum, utrum radicibus herbarum, an fructibus lignoriim, sive cslesti l)astu, suam sustentavit vitam : quia ipse neniini indicavit banc qua'stionem : sed sui Monachi claram cellam, in eremo ubi S. Coemgenus habitabat, inter superius stagnum & moutem, in Australi parte, construxerunt ;. ubi mode est clarum monasterium, in ([uo semper viri religiosissimi habitant ; & illud vocatur Scotice Disert-Caugliin ; quod sonat Latine, Eremus Coemgeni ; Et ibi pkires habitaverunt ; & ferss montium & sil- varum, feritatc posita, mites comitabantur S. Coemgenum, & aquam de manibus ejus domestice bibebant. Et post priedictum tempus, multi Sancti convenientes, duxerunt S. Coemgenum de desertis locis invitum ; & fecerunt eum habitare cum suis Monachis in pra'dicta cella ; ibique S. Coemgenus semper voluit habitare, & ad Christum mi- grare ; adhuc jam illic inter Fratres satis striate vixit." — Vita S. Coemgeni, Die tertia lunii, c. iii. Acta Sanctorum, torn. i. p. 315.
After remaining here, however, for a few years, he was induced by an angel, — the usual agents introduced in those legendary Lives of saints on such occasions, — to remove his monastery to the east of the smaller lake, near the confluence of the two rivers, where his own resvu-rection should take place, and where a great city gradually rose up in his honour.
" Et in ipso loco clara & religiosa civitas in houore Sancti Coemgeni crevit, qvise nomine pra;dict8e vallis, in qua ipsa est, id est Gleam-daelach \^Glean dalocli, in the Kilkenny MS.] vocatur : ipsaque civitas est in oriente Laginensium, in regione qua- dicitur Furtuatha." — lb. cap. iv. p. 318.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
173
That the' lirst cliurrli erected by St. Kevin, witliiii tlic jtivrinrts. of the city in the lower part of the valley, was that now i)opularly called the Lady's Chm-ch, in which his tomb remained witliin the hiiit centiuy, will scarcely admit of doubt : nor is this conclusion at all weakened by the fact, that it no longer bears his name, Init that of the Blessed Virgin ; for, as I shall hereafter show, none of the ancient Irish churches were dedicated to the Virgin, or to any of the foreign saints, previously to the twelfth century, — and tlicre is imt a wuid in the ancient Lives of St. Kevin, which would indicate that any ol the churches of Glendalougli were so dedicated at the ])eriod when they were written.
In selecting my next characteristic example of the primitive Irisli doorways, I can hardly, tlierefore, take one more likely to interest the reader than that of St. Kevin's earlier church, near the \\\)]>vv lake, and now called the Reefert Church, which is the " clurain eel- lam' of the quotation above given from the Latin Life of St. Kevin, and which, it will be remembered, continued to be a monastic cliuivji to the time of the writer :
This doorway, which is formed of chiselled blocks of granite, is six feet in height, two feet six inches in width at the top, and two fi-et
ITJ
IXQl'IUY INTO Tilt 'iKIOIN AXD USES
nine inches at the bottom ; and most of the stones of which it is formed extend through the entire thickness of the wall, which is three feet. The lintel is three feet nine inches in length, and one foot three inches in height, and extends the entire thickness of the wall. Some chiselling on°the left side of this doorway seems to indicate the in- tention of adding an architrave, like that seen in the Lady's Church, but which was never completed.
The next example, which I have to submit to the reader, is of somewhat later date, being the doorway of the church of St. Fechin, at Fore, in the county of Westmeath, erected, as we may conclude, within the first half of the seventh centur)-, as the saint died of the memorable plague, which raged in Ireland in the year (164.
This magnificent doorway, Avhich the late eminent antiquarian tra- veller, Mr. Edward Dodwell, declared to me, was as perfectly Cyclo- pean in its character, as any specimen he had seen in Greece, is constiTicted altoirether of six stones, including the lintel, which is about six feet in length, and two in height, the stones being all of the
23.p.I3'''
-If
EcCIXili ■
Tli ■- to- r. iiia-^ ■
tL-; ■
D" Fedi;
Si k'si
lit • loc». « > :
Iklkl '
■ \m
iriit:--
i^ Some 'tetlieiii. '■ Cturcli,
■k if of ^i-Fecliin,
; '■■oncliKle, iitdoftle
intiquaiian tni-
KD in Greece, is
■ 1. vhicli is -all of tie
OF I'llK 1!(11:N1) IOWKKS OK IRELAND. | 7.")
thickness (.rtlie wall, which is ilnve feet. This doorway, liki- tlmt of the Lady's C'hurch at (ileiulalough, lias a plain architrave over it. which is, however, not continued along its sidi-s; and, above tliis. there is a projecting tablet, in the centre of which is sculptural in V(>]icr a plain cross within a circle. This cross is thus alluded tn in the ancient Life of St. Fechin. tninshitcil IVum ihc L-ish. and pul)- lishcd by Colgan in his Jcfa Smnionnii. ■,\\ ihc 22iiil -lanuai'v, cap. 23, p. 135.
" Dum S. Ffchinus roilirct Fnvuiriain, iliinuc consisteret, vciiit ad i-iiiii unto fohks EcCLESI^, VBt CRUX POSITA EST, c|ui(laiii ,'i talo vs(iuo ail vorticoin lepra percussus."
Though this doorway, like hundreds of the same kind in Ireland, has attracted no attention in modern times, the singularity of its massive structure was a matter of surprise to an intelligent writer of the seventeenth century. Sir Henry Piers, who in his Choi'ographical Description of the County of Westraeath, written in 1682, thus de- scribes it, and preserves the tradition relative to its ei-ection by St. Fechin :
"One of the.se churches before mentioned is called St. Fechin's, one of our Irish saints. The chief entrance into this church is at the west-end, by a door about three feet broad, and six feet high. This wall is hard upiju, if not altogether, three feet thick ; the lintel that traverseth the head of the door is of one entire stone of the full thickness, or near it, of the wall, and to the best of my remembrance, about six foot long, or perhaps more, and in height about two foot or more ; having taken notice of it, as the largest entire stone, I had at any time observed, especially so high in any building, and discoursing of it with an antient dweller in the town, I observed to him, that of old time they wanted not their engines, even in this country, for their structures ; the gentleman, smiling as at my mistake, told me that the saint himself alone without either engine or any help placed the stone there, and thereon lie pro- ceeds in this formal story of the manner and occasion of it; he said the workmen having hewen and fitted the stone iu its dimensions, and made a shift with much ado to tumble it to the foot of the wall, they assayed with their joint forces to raise it, but after much toil and loss of time, they could not get it done, at last they resolved to go and refresh themselves and after breakfast to make another attempt at it ; the saint also, for as the story goes he was then living and present, advised them so to do, and tells them he would tarry 'till their return ; when they returned, behold they find the stone placed exactly as to this day it remains over the door ; this was done, as the tradition goes, by the saint alone ; a work for my part, I believe impossible to be done by the strength of so many hands only as can immediately apply their force unto it." — Co/- lectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, vol. i. pp. 65, fi').
The next specimen of doorway in this style which J shall present to the reader is one nearly cotemporaneous with the last, namely, the
P
171
INqllKV INl'd TIIK OKICIX AND USES
„„„. iuchrs at the bottom; and most of the stones of which it is loniu-d extend through the entire thickness of the wall, whicli is three feet. The lintel is three feet nine inches in length, and one foot three inclies in height, and extends the entire thickness of the wall. Some cliiselling on the left side of tliis doorway seems to indicate the in- tention of adding an architrave, like that seen in the Lady's Church, but which was never completed.
The next example, which I liave to submit to tlie reader, is of somewhat later date, being the doorway of the clnu'ch of St. Fechin, at Fore, in the county of Westmeath, erected, as we may conclude, within the first half of tlie seventh century, as the saint died of the memorable plague, which raged in Ireland in the year 664.
This magnificent doorway, wliich tlie late eminent antiquarian tra- veller, Mr. Edward Dodwell, declared to me, was as perfectly Cyclo- jiean in its character, as any specimen he had seen in Greece, is constructed altogether of six stones, including the lintel, which is about six feet in length, and two in height, the stones being all of the
H
I
fliicli L'. l"' there 15 s; relet' a {
feu,
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scrite 11 Fed:::
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intiquarian tra- lerfeclly Cyclo- n in Greece, is
' All is illoftlie
OF THE KOllND ToWKliS OK llil'.I.AM).
17.-)
11. and |iul)- aiiiia)-v, cap.
tliickncss of tlie wall, wliirli is thfce feet. This doorwav, liki- tlml of the Lady's ChiU'cli at (Tleiulalough, has a plain arcliitravo ovi-r it. which is, however, not continued along its sides; and, above tliis. there is a projecting tablet, in the centre of which is scul])tinv(l in relief a plain cross within a circle. This cross is thus alluded to m the ancient Life of St. Fechin, translated iVoiu the Iri lished by Colgan in liis Arfa Sii/irfon/m. al the -I^nd 23, p. 13.x
" Dum S. Fucliiiuis vedirct I>"(»iariam. il)i(|uo consisteret, vi'iiit ad mm aiilo kouks EccLESi.E, VBi CRUX POsiTA EST, quidaiu a tulo vsquc iid verticom lepra percussus."
Though this doorway, like hundreds of the same kind in Ireland, has attracted no attention in modern times, tlie singidarity of its massive structure was a matter of surprise to an intelligent WTiter of the seventeenth century. Sir Henry Piers, who in his Chorographical Description of the County of Westraeath, written in 1682, thus de- scribes it, and preserves the tradition relative to its erection by St. Fechin :
"One of these churches before mentioned is called St. Fcchin's, one of our Irish saints. The chief entrance into this chiu-ch is at tlie west-end, by a door about three feet broad, and six feet high. This wall is hard upon, if not altogether, three feet thick ; the lintel that traverseth the head of the door is of one entire stone of the full thickness, or near it, of the ■wall, and to the best of my remembrance, about six foot long, or perhaps more, and in heiglit about two foot or more ; having taken notice of it, as the largest entire stone, I had at any time observed, especially so higli in any building, and discoursing of it with an antient dweller in the town, I observed to him, that of old time they wanted not their engines, even in this countr\'. for their structures ; the gentleman, smiling as at my mistake, told me that the saint liimself alone without either engine or any help placed the stone there, and thereon he pro- ceeds in this formal story of the manner and occasion of it ; he said the workmen liaving hewen and fitted the stone Lu its dimensions, and made a shift with much ado to tumble it to the foot of the wall, they assayed with their joint forces to raise it, but after much toil and loss of time, they could not get it done, at last they resolved to go and refresh themselves and after breakfast to make another attempt at it ; the saint also, for as the story goes he was then living and present, advised them so to do, and tells them he would tarry 'till their return ; wlien they returned, behold they find the stone placed exactly as to this day it remains over the door ; this was done, as the tradition goes, by the saint alone ; a work for my part, I believe impossible to be done liy the strength of so many hands only as can inunediately apply their force unto it.'' — Col- lectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, vol. i. pp. 65, (56.
The next specimen of doorway in this style which I sjiall j)rescnt to the reader is one nearly cotemporaneous with tlic ]a<i, namely, the
174
INUIIKV INTO TIIK ORIGIN AND USES
innv luclu'^ sit the bottom; and most of the stones of ^\•hiL•h it is formed extend through the entire tliickness of the wall, which is three feet. The lintel is three feet nine inches in length, and one foot three inches in height, and extends the entire thickness of the wall. Some chiselling on the left side of this d.xirway seems to indicate the in- tention of adding an architrave, like that seen in the Lady's Churcli, but wliicli was never completed.
The next example, which I have to submit to the reader, is of somewhat later date, being the doorway of the church of St. Fechin, at Fore, in the county of Westmeath, erected, as we may conclude, within the first half of the seventh century, as the saint died of the memorable plague, which raged in Ireland in the year (i64.
This magniiiceut doorway, which the late eminent antiquarian tra- veller, Mr. Edward Dodwell, declared to me, was as perfectly Cyclo- jiean in its character, as any specimen he had seen in Greece, is constructed altogether of six stones, including the lintel, which is about six feet in length, and two in height, the stones beimr all of the
OF TIIK lidUNl) TOWKHS OK IKKI.AM). 1 7 ->
thickness of the wall wliich is throe foot. This doorway, like ilmt of the Lady's Church at Oleiidalough, lias a phiin architrave over it. which is, however, not continued along its sides; and, above tliis. there is a projecting tablet, in the centre of which is sciilpiiuvd ni relief a plain cross within a circle. This cross is thus alluded to in the ancient Life of St. Fechin, translated from the Iri.sh, and ])iil)- lished by Colgan in his Acta Sanctorum, at the 22nd January, ciiji. 23, p. 135.
" Dum S. Fechinus rediret Fouariam, iliiijuo consisteret, venit ad cum ante forks EccLESi.E, VBi CRUX POSITA EST, quidaiu a talo vsque ad vci'ticom lepra percussus."
Though this doorway, like hundreds of the same kind in Ireland, has attracted no attention in modern times, the singularity of its massive structure was a matter of surprise to an intelligent ^vl•iter of the seventeenth century. Sir Henry Piers, who in his Chorographical Description of the County of Westmeath, written in 1G82, thus de- scribes it, and preserves the tradition relative to its erection bv St. Fechin :
"One of these churches before mentioned is called St. Fechin's, one of our Irish saints. The chief entrance into this church is at the west-end, by a door about three feet broad, and six feet high. This wall is hard upon, if not altogether, three feet thick ; the lintel that traverseth the head of the door is of one entire stone of the full thickness, or near it, of the wall, and to the best of my remembrance, about six foot long, or perhaps more, and in height about two foot or more ; having taken notice of it, as the largest entire stone, I had at any time observed, especially so higli in any building, and discoursing of it with an antient dweller in the town, I observed to him, that of old time they wanted not their engines, even in this country, for their structures ; the gentleman, smiling as at my mistake, told me that the saint himself alone without either engine or any help placed the stone there, and thereon he pro- ceeds in this formal story of the manner and occasion of it; he said the workmen having hewen and fitted the stone in its dimensions, and made a shift with much ado to tumble it to the foot of the wall, they assayed with their joint forces to raise it, but after much toil and loss of time, they could not get it done, at last they resolved to go and refresh themselves and after breakfast to make another attempt at it ; the saint also, for as the story goes he was then living and present, advised them so to do, and tells them he would tarry "till their return ; when they returned, behold they find the stone placed exactly as to this day it remains over the door ; this was done, as the tradition goes, by the saint alone ; a work for my part, I believe impossible to be done by the strength of so many hands only as can innnediately apply their force unto it." — CiJ- lectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, vol. i. pp. 65, G^i.
The next specimen of doorway in this style which I shall present to the reader is one nearly cotemporaneous witli the last, namely, the
I7(i
INQUIRY INTO THK ORIGIN AND USES
doorway of tlio catlieelral church ol' Kihuacduagh, erected for St, Col- nian INFac Duacli by his kinsman Guaire Aidhne, king of Connaught, about the year (ilO.
This doorway is six feet six inches in height, and in width two feet six inches at the top, and three feet two inches at the bottom. The hntel stone, Avhich extends the entire thickness of the Avail, is five feet eight inches long, one foot nine inches high, and three feet wide. This doorway was closed up Avith rubble masonry, as represented in the sketch, in the fourteenth or fifteenth century, when the church Avas rebuilt and considerably enlai'ged, and a ncAV doorway, in the pointed style, placed, as was usual in that age, in the south Avail.
Of the foundation of the original church or cathedral of Kil- macduagh, which, for the time, Avas one of considerable size, the fol- loAving notice is given by Colgan from the additions of the Scholiast to the Festilogy of Aengus :
'■'■ Statuit tunc piissimiis Rex viro Dei Ecclesiavi inihi extntere ; qitare mane sequentis flici misit ad eum sexaginta vaccas effcetas cumseruis^' aneillis adfabricce opus perficien- dum. Postridie igitiir eiiis diei Ecclesia Cailiedralis de Kill-mhicduach crepta est cedificari; mi exindc proceru regiouis Aidhne, <^' stirpis Guarince sepultura cusecrata est." — Acta Sanctorum, p. 245, col. 1.
Of tills description of doorway I shall only here insert another ex- ample from a church Avhich Avas erected by the same St. Colman
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
■'.5 I«'V
Mac Duach, within the great cyclopcaii lort, or eashel, at Kihmirvy, on the Great Ishmd of Aran, and wliich is still in good preservation. This doorway is five feet six iiirhes in height, two feet in width at
the top, and two feet three inches at the bottom. The lintel is of granite, and measures five feet six inches in length, one foot six inches in height, and extends the entire thickness of the wall, whicli is two feet six inches. The other stones are limestone, and are also of great size, as are the stones of the build- ing generally. A similar doorway ""~^-:v:£;^J£^p^=^'-'"-'" is found in a church adjacent.
Such then is the form of docjr-
way found almost universally in tlic primitive chm'ches of Ireland, a
form not found in any of the doorways of the Saxon churches, which were usually erected " more Ro)iiano," or after the Koman manner. But, though the form of which I have given so many examples is that most characteristic of the primitive Irish churches, we are not with- out examples of doorways Avhich Avould seem to be of cotemporaneous age, constructed in what may be called the Roman manner, nameh', with a semicircular arch springing from square imposts, and exactly resembling the andient Saxon doorways, excepting in this one par- ticular, that the sides are usually more or less inclined : and, indeed, it woidd be strange, if, where the semicircidar arch was generally used in tlie construction of the windows, and also in the triumphal arches between the naves and the chancels, it shoidd not be oc- casionally employed in the construction of the doorways also. As an example of such doorway in a church, which, there is every rea- son to believe, cannot be later than the seventh century, I here annex an outline of the doorway of the ancient stone-roofed cluu'ch on the island of Ireland's Eye, anciently called In is ukic Nessain, or, the Island of the Sons of Nessan, off ITowth, in the county of Dub- lin. This doorway, — which Avas unfortunately destroyed some yeai-s since, that the stones might be used in the erection of a Eoman Ca- tholic chapel atHowth, — was, as usual, placed in the west front of the chm-ch, and was six feet six inches in height, two feet eight inches
■2 A
ITS
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
ill width below the impost, tiiid three feet at the base ; and the wall
was two feet eight inches iu thickness. As a description of this cu-
...„ rious chnrch, with its Round Tower
_^ ■ , - belfry, will be given in the third part
of this work, together with an inquiry into its true history, which has hitherto been very erroneously investigated, I need only state here, that its erection may, with every appearance of cer- tainty, be referred to the middle of the seventh centmy, when the three sons of Nessan, — Dichuill, Munissa, and Neslug, — flourished, and gave name to the island. Very similar to this doorway, — but of better architecture, and
presenting a torus or bead moulding along its external edges, — is the
doorway of the ancient church
in the townland called Sheeps-
town, in the parish and barony
of Knocktopher, and county of
Kilkenny, of which I annex a
drawing. This doorway,— which,
as usual, is placed in the centre
of the west wall, — is composed
of sandstone, Avell chiselled, and
measures seven feet in height,
or five feet six inches to the top
of the impost, and one foot six
inches thence to the vertex of "
the arch ; in width it is three feet immediately below the imposts, and
three feet three inches at the bottom; and the jambs are three feet in
thickness. As the ancient name of the church is wholly forgotten in
the locaUty, as well as the name of its patron or founder, it is out of
my power to trace its ancient history.
As another example of similar form I may instance the doorway
of the ancient church of Cluain Claidheach, now Clooncadi, in the
barony of Conillo and county of Limerick, erected by the celebrated
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. I J[)
St. Maidoc, patron of the Sec of Ferns, about tlio close of the sixth centiuy.
The doorway of tlie very ancient chiu'cii of Kilhispugbrone, or the church of Bishop Bronus, near Knockuai'ca, in the county of
Sligo, furnishes another example of a
semicircular arch, but without the im- . ^ -V( '"T^'-
posts, and the jambs not, as usual, in- ^'yv^^^^^%v>^i\*"==~
clined. Contrary to the usual custom ''/^ '^■M
also, this doorway is placed not in the \ ,J
west, but in the south wall, — a deviation ~>^^^K'B
from custom, rendered necessary from •'..-'"■
the situation of the church on the sea- '"-t WLm • ^ '^
shore, and its consequent exposure to ~-^^*^^^^^£i.»-~
the prevailing westerly winds. This ' ■ '"----^ '
doorway is six feet high, and three feet six inches wide, and its jambs
have a reveal of six inches in width, on each side.
The church of Killaspugbrone, which is of small dimensions, and, with the exception of the doorway, of rude construction, appears to be of great antiquity, and may be Avell supposed to be the original structure erected for Bishop Bronus by St. Patrick, in the fifth cen- tury. The Saint Bronus, for whom this church was erected, — as appears from the Annotations of Tirechan in the Book of Armagh, fol. 15, and also from the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, Part II. c. 117, — was bishop of Caisel-Irra, situated in the district of Cuil-Irra, a peninsula situated to the south-west of the town of Shgo.
A doorway very similar to this of Killaspugbrone, but placed in the west wall, occurs in a very ancient church at Oughtmama, near the abbey of Corcumroe in the barony of Biu-ren and county of Clare, ' and which is obviously of cotemporaneous age with a si'cond and larger chiu-ch at the same place, in which the doorway has the usual horizontal lintel. The memory of St. Colman is venerated here as the founder of these churches, but I have discovered nothing relative to his history as connected with them. The antiquity of their foun- dation is, however, sufficiently indicated by the Litany of Aengus, in which the seven holy bishops of Oc /if ma ma in Corcumruadh are invoked.
The old church of Aghannagh, near the shore of Lough Arrow, in the barony of Tir Oililla, or, as it is now corruptly anglicised, Tirer-
2 A 2
180
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
rill, ill the county of Sligo, affords a richer specimen of the arched doorway, but I shall not venture to pronounce so confidently on its antiquity, as I have on the previously adduced examples. That it is of very early date, however, there can be no doubt, and its original foundation by St. Patrick is thus recorded in the Annotations of Tirechan, in the Book of Armagh :
" Et exiit trans montem filiorum Ailello, et fundavit seclesiam ibi, i. e. Tamuacli et
Ehenach, et Cell Angle, et Cell Sencliuae." — Fol. 15, a, a.
From the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, Part II. c. 102, we learn
that St. Patrick left his disciple Bishop Mauius at Each-ainec/i, in
the territory of Tir-Oililla ; and the memory of this saint, as I have
ascertained on the spot, — where a holy well called Tobar Maine bears
his name, — is still venerated at this chiu-ch. As in the preceding
instance, the jambs of this doorway are
not inclined, and the arches, of wliich
there are two, one recessed within the
other, do not rest on imposts. The
outer arch is four feet ten inches in
width, and seven feet nine inches in
height ; and the breadth of the jambs
is eight inches : the inner arch is three
feet four inches in width, and seven
feet in height ; and the entire thickness
of the wall, at the doorway, is three feet nine inches. Both the ai'ches
are ornamented with a plain torus moulding, which is carried down
the angles of the jambs.
There is another class of doorway found in some of the earliest
of our churches, alsoofaquadrangidar form, but in which the weight on the hntel is taken off by a semicircular arch, placed immediately above it, and having the space wtliin the curve filled up with ma- sonry. A doorway of this description is found in the cathedi-al chm'ch at Glendalough, and also in the curious structure in the same interesting locality, called St. Kevin's House, both which shall be no- ticed hereafter. It is also found as a side entrance in the beautiful abbey chm'ch of Inishmaan, in Lough Mask, county of IMayo, origi- nally built in the fifth centmy by St. Cormac, and remodelled and enlarged in the twelfth. The finest specimen, however, of this class of doorway, now remaining, is probably that of the ancient parisli
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
IMI
ehurch ofBiitway, m tlie barony of Banymoro, and county ..f Cork, one of the most iuterosting remains in the county :
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lu this doorway, which is composed of sandstone, it will bo seen that the flat architrave, which occurs in so many of the quadrangular door- ways, is carried along the sweep of the arch, till it terminates in a ciuious figure in the key-stone. This doorway is six feet in height to the lintel, and in width two feet seven inches at the top, and two feet ten inches at the bottom ; and the jambs are two feet seven inches in thickness. Of the origin of tliis chiu'ch I have discovered no historical mention, but its style throughout would indicate that it is of the time of St. Bridget, to whom it is dedicated.
Of triangtilar-headed doorways, such as are fomid iu some of the Saxon churches in England, I have discovered no examples in the Irish churches, except in two instances, namely, in the south door- way of the church of Killadi-eena, near Newto-\vn-^Iountkennedy, in the county of Wicklow, and in that of Oranmore, near Galway ; but neither of these chiu'ches appears to me to be anterior to the twelftli century, and the latter is probably not so old.
I have next to speak of the -windows. In these features, wliich are always of a single light, the same simple fomis are found, which
182
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
cliaracterize the doorways, namely, the inclined sides, and the hori- zontal and semicircular heads; the horizontal head, however, so common in the doorways, is but of comparatively rare occiurence in the windows; while, on the other hand, the pointed head formed by the meeting of two risrht lines, which is so rare, if not lmkno^vn, in the
most ancient doorways, is of very ^ ^ _^
frequent occiu'rence. I may ob- serve also, that the horizontal- headed -window and the triangular- headed one, are usually fovmd in the south wall of the chancel, and very rarely in the east wall, which usually contains a semicircular- headed window, the arch of which is often cut out of a single stone, as in the annexed example in the church of the Trinity, at Glen- dalough. In many instances the head is also formed of two stones, as in the following example in the east window of the oratory at Gallerus, built without cement :
In some of the most ancient chiu-ches examples may also be found of windows in which the arch is formed externally, as in the doorways, of
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAXD.
183
several stones, particularly when the window, being of more than the usual contracted breadth, required it, — as in the annexed example I'rom the very ancient church of Mun- ^
gi'et, in the county of Limerick, said to have been founded by St. Nessan in St. Patrick's time : similar examples occiu- in the soutli side of the great chun li, or cathedi-al, at Glendalough.
In the triangular-headed windows the pyramidal head is almost univer- sally formed, both externally and inter- nally, of two stones, laid in such a man- ner as to form two sides of an equilateral triangle : these stones, like tlie lintels of the doorways, most usually extend through the entire thickness of the wall. The usual external construction of these win- dows will be seen in the annexed wood-cuts, the first of whicli repre- sents the window in the south wall of the chancel of Trinity Church at Glendalough ; and the second, the window in the south wall of tlie equally ancient chiu'ch of Kiltiernan, in tlie barony of Dunkellin, and county of Galway :
In none of these \vindows, of whatsoever form they may be, does there appear to be any provision for the reception of sashes or glass ; and I may observe that no notice of the use of glass in the windows of the ancient churches is to be found in any of the old Lives of saints, or other Irish historical docmneuts, although it would appear certain from Ii'ish historical tales of an asje anterior to the Anglo-Norman invasion, preserved in Leab/iar na h-Uidlire, that the Irish were not ignorant of the application of glass to such purposes. They seem, however, to have been unacquainted \vith the art of manufacturing it for windows and it would appear from traditions preserved in many places, that as
184
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
a substitute for glass, parcliment was used, and, as we may conjec- ture, other transparent substances, such as horn, which, no doubt, would admit sufficient light for tlie performance of religious cere- monies in which candles were necessary. Hence, while it was re- quisite to have the windows externally of small size, it was equally necessary that their jambs should
be splayed internally, to admit as much as possible of the quan- tity of Ught reqiured ; and such we find to be the construction of the ancient ■^^dndows invariablj', as in the examples Avhich I have now to adduce. Of these, the first represents a triangidar-headed window in the east wall of the chiu'ch of Ivilcananagh, on the Middle Island of Aran ; the se- cond, a semicircular-headed window in the east end of St. Mac Dara's church, on the island called Cruach Mic Dara, off" the coast of Conna- mara; and the third, a semicircular-headed Avindow, quadi-angular on the inside, in the east end of St. Cronan's chiu'ch, at Termoncronan, in the parish of Carron, barony of Burren, and comity of Clare.
The same mode of construction is observable in the windows of the ancient oratories, which are built without cement, in the neigh-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRKLAXl).
185
l.cnuhood oi'Diiigk., in the county of Kvny, as in tlic oast and only window in tlie orutoiy at Gallerus, of wliicli an c-xtornal view
boon already given.
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Of ancient windows exhibiting a dou- ble, or external and internal, .splay, as Ibund in many of the Saxon ehurehes and towers in England, I do not recollect having met with more than a single exanipK', and in this the splay is oidy in the jambs. This Avindowisfoimd in the stone oratory, built without cement, situated near the old ehuj-eh of Kilmalkedar, about a mile to tlie east of Gallerus, and which is unipie.-tionably one
'" of the earliest ecclesiastical structures in
Ireland. I may observe, however, that Avindows of this character are by no means uncommon in Ireland, in cliurclies of less ancient date.
In these primitive structm-es the windows, like the doorways, are most generally without an archi- trave or ornament of any kind ; but wlien the doorways present an architrave, or a bead moulding at their angles, tlie windows are ge- nerally decorated with a similar ornament, as in the annexed ex- ample, which represents the east wdndow of the very ancient and interesting church of Ratass, near Tralee, in the county of Kerry, of the doorway of Avhich I have already given a drawing at p. KiS). This windoAv, Inch is much injured, is of greater size than is usual in Irish churches of the earliest age, the height, externally, being three feet six inches, and the breadth at the base ton inches, and at the top eight inches : the external measurement is above eight feet in height, and fom' feet three inches in breadth.
I have next to speak of the triumphal or chancel arches, which, in the larger churches, stand in the division between the nave and the chancel. These, in the primitive chiu'ches of undoubted antiquity, are
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OF THE ROrXD TOWEES OF IRELAXD.
1S7
wood, and covered \\-itli reeds, sti-aw. or oak shingles ; and hence the notices, in the Annals, of the frequent burnings of the same church, bv which we are to understand not the destruction of the walls, for thev could not be desti'oyed by fire, but of the ixx)fs, dooi"s, and other combustible materials, in the interior. There ai-e also instances of the chancel being roofed with stone, while the nave was roofed with lighter materials.
Of the style of masomy of those buildings I have akeady spoken genemlly, and characteristic esampfes of it have been given in the preceding illustrations. I should add, however, tliat the stones are most usually laid in horizontal courses, with more or less ii-regularit}-, but with then- joints not always vertical ; and that, except in the doorwavs and lower courses, the stones rai-ely extend as bonds through the thickness of the wall, but are placed perpendicularly on then- ederes both in the inner and outer faces of the walls. — the space between them being filled Avith rubble, or small stones, and thui grouting, while little or no mortar was used in the joints externally, which ai-e admii-ably fitted to each other. It should be stated, also, that the stones used in three or four of the lower courses, from the
foundation upwMxls, are often of considerably greater size than those above them, as in the preceduig example, exhibiting a portion of the masourv of the inner tace of the west end of the calhetfral chrnvh of Glendaiough. twelve feet six inches in breadth : and I should also observe, that the stones forming the chancel, or choii\ are usually
•2 B 2
18G
INQUIUY INTO TIIK OUIGIN AND USES
also of an equally uiionuuueiited construction, but the arches are usually formed with great skill, and of blocks of stone nearly all of equal size. These arches are invariably semicircular, and generally spring from jambs which have au inclination corresponding with those of the doorways and windows, and which usually are without imposts. As a characteristic example of such chancel arches, it will be sufficient to give a view of the interior of Trinity Church at Glendalough :
This arch is nine feet wide, and ten feet six inches from the present level of the floor, which seems considerably raised, to the key-stone of the arch, and the jambs are six feet high to the spring of the arch.
I have next to speak of the materials, mode, and st}de of con- struction, of the roofs of the primitive Irish churches.
In the smaller churches of oblong form, without chancels, the roofs appear to have been generally constructed of stone, their sides forming at the ridge a very acute angle ; and this mode of construc- tion was continued, in the construction of churches, down to the period of the introduction of the pointed or Gothic style into Ireland, as in the beautiful church called Cormac's Chapel, at Cashel, which was finished in the year 1134, and St. Doulagh's Church, near Dub- lin, \\hich is obviously of even later date. In the larger churches, however, the roof appears to have been constructed generally of
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAMX
\^7
■\votxl, and covered with reeds, stnuv, or oak sliingles; ; and lienc-e tlie notices, in the Annals, of the frequent burnings of tlie same churcli, by which we are to understand not the destruction of tlie walls, for they covdd not be destroyed by fire, but of the roofs, doors, and other combustible materials, in the interior. There are also instances ol" tlie chancel being roofed with stone, wliile the nave was roofed with lio'hter materials.
Of the style of masonry of those l)uildings I have already spoken generally, and characteristic examples of it have been given in tlic preceding illustrations. I should add, however, that the stones are most usually laid in horizontal coiu'ses, with more or less irregularit\-, but Avith their joints not always vertical ; and that, except in the doorways and lower courses, the stones rarely extend as bonds through the thickness of the wall, but are placed perpendicularly on their edges both in the inner and outer faces of the walls, — the space between them being filled with rubble, or small stones, and thin grouting, while little or no mortar was used in the joints externally, which are admirably fitted to each other. It should be stated, also, that the stones used in three or four of the lower courses, from the
foundation upwards, are often of considerably greater size than those above them, as in the preceding example, exhibiting a portion of the masonry of the inner face of the west end of the cathedral church of Glendalough, twelve feet six inches in breadth : and I should also observe, that the stones forming the chancel, or choir, are usually
2 B 2
188
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
smiiller tlian those in tlic nave. Of the masonry called " opus reti- culafum," I have met witli no example in Ireland, nor have I seen any examples of lierringbone masonry, except in one church — that of Killadreenan, in the county of Wicklow : but, as this church was obviously re-edified in the twelfth centiuy, it would be hazardous to pronotmce on the earlier antiquity of any portion of it. Of her- ringbone ashlar there is indeed a good example, which I shall produce hereafter, in the roof of the Round Tower belfry of the church of Tempull Finghin at Clonmacnoise ; but this is obviously not of an earher date than the tenth century, and possibly later. Of brickwork I have met with no examples, except in the ruins of the chapel and baptistery of IMellifont, in the county of Louth, erected in 1165; and in these in- stances the bricks only occiu" intermixed with stone in rubble masonry. I have only to add, that the style of masonry, now known among architectural antiquaries by the ap- pellation of " long and short," and which Mr. Rickman was the first to discover to be a characteristic feature of the Ancjlo- Saxon churches, is also very generally found in tlie ancient churches of Ireland. This masonry, which consists of alternate long and short blocks of ashlar, or hewii stone, bonding into the wall, is generally used, in England, in forming a sort of quoins at the angles of churches ; but in Irish ecclesiasti- cal buildings it is rarely found except in the sides of the doorways and windows, though a few well-marked examples of it occur as quoins in the external angles of chiu'ches of luidoubted antiquity, as in the annexed example from the older of the two churches of Mouaster- boice, in the county of Louth, which, there is every reason to believe, is the original church of the place.
As an example of the general appearance of these primitive struc- tures, when of inferior size, I annex an engraving of the very ancient church called Tempull Ceannanach, on Inis Meadhoin, or the Middle Island, of Ai-an, in the Bay of Galway. This httle chiuxh,— which would be in perfect preservation if its stone roof remained, — mea-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF lUKLANl).
18»J
siu-es OH the inside but sLxteen feet six inches in length, and twelve feet six inclies in breadth ; and its walls, which aiv three feet in thick- ness, are built in a style quite Cj^clopean, the stones being through- out of great size, and one of them not less than eighteen feet in length, — which is the entire external breadth of the church, — and three feet in thickness.
The history of this ancient church is not preserved, and the only notice that I have found of the saint, whose name it bears, is given by O'Flaherty in his MS. Account of the territory of West Connaught, namely, thtit " tradition goes that St. Kenanach was a king of Leins- ter's son ;" and elsewhere, in the same work, that he was the pati-on saint of the parish church of Ballynakill, in the barony of Ballyna-
hinch, or Connamara, where his memory was celebrated on the
of March. It is therefore not improbable that he is the same as the St. Ceanannan whose festival is marked in the Irish calendars at the 2Cth of March.
The ancient churches are not, however, always so Avholly un- adorned : in many instances they present flat rectangidar projections, or pilasters, of plain masonry at all their angles ; and these projec- tions are, in some instances, carried up from the perpendicular angles along the faces of the gables to the very apex, as appears in the
1!»(»
IKQCIRY INTO THE OIUGIX AND VSES
f St. Unv Dara's church, on the island of
MiUKXi'd engraving o
Cruach Mhic Dara. olF tlie coast of Connaniara :
This httle church is, in its internal measurement, but fifteen feet in length, and eleven feet in breadth ; and its walls, which are two feet eight inches in thickness, are l^uilt, like those of the church of St. Ceannanach already described, of stones of great size, and its roof of the same material. The circular stone house of this saint, built in the same style but without cement, still remains, but greatly dilapi- dated : it is an oval of twenty-four feet by eighteen, and the Avails are seven feet in thickness.
Of the history of St. Mac Dara, whose festival is noted in the Irish Calendar at the 28th of September, but little or nothing is preserved, though his memory is venerated as the principal saint of the western coast, and his bronze cross, which was preserved in his church, still exists, and is supposed to possess miraculous powers. Of this little church and its founder, O'Flaherty, in his MS. Account of the ter- ritory of AYest Connaught, gives the following notice, which I am tempted to transcribe, as characteristic of the writer and his times :
" Over against Mason head in the same country lies Crnach Mic Dara, a small island and harbour for ships. This island is an inviolable sanctuary, dedicated to Mac Dara, a miraculous saint whose chappell is within it, where his statue of wood for many ages stood, till Malachias Quseleiis, archbishop of Tuam, caused it to be buried under gi-ound for special weighty reasons. On the shore of this island is the Captive's Stone, where women on [at] low water used to gather Duleasg for a friend's sake in captivity, whereby they believe he will soon get succour by [through] the inter-
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OF THE ROUXn TOWERS OF IKll.AM).
IIU
cession of the saint. Z>(^/e(r«(7, or Salt-leaf, is a weed growing on sea-rocks, and i.ro- served by drying it on stones in fair weather, and soon after when oceasioii serves, for eating. There is scarce any sea-shore [whereon] it grows not. The boats that pass between Mason head and this island, have a custom to bow down their sails threu times in reverence to the Saint. A certain captain of the garrison of Gahvay, a/uw Ifii'i, passing this way and neglecting that custom, was so tossed with sea and storm, that he vowed he would never pass there again, without paying his obeisance to the saint. But he never returned home till he was cast away by Ship-wreck soon after. Few years after, one Gill, a fisherman of Gahvay, who would not strike sail in conteuii)t of llie saint, went not a mile beyond that road, when sitting on the Pup of the boat, (lie mast by contrary blast of wind broke and struck him on the Pate, dead, the day being fair weather both before and after.
" This saint's proper name was Sinacli, and Patronimically called Mac Dara, from his flither Dara. The Parish church of Moyrus by the sea-shore just opposite to the island in the continent of Irrosaiuhagh is dedicated to his name, where is kept his altar stone by the name of Leac Sinach. His festival day is kept as patron of Moyrus i.arish the IG of July."
I have now described the various leatures wliich cliaracterize tlie hitherto little noticed and unappreciated primitive churches of Ire- land. That, as I have already stated, they have little in tlicin to inte- rest the mind, or attract regard as works of art, it would be cliildish to deny; yet, in their symmetrical simplicity, — their dunly -lighted nave, entered by its central west doorway and terminated on tlie other side by its chancel arch, affording to the devout worsliipper an unimj^eded view of that brighter sanctuary, in which were celebrated the divine mysteries which afforded him consolation in this life and hope in the next, — in the total absence of every thing wliich could distract his attention, — there is an expression of fitness lo tlicir pur- pose, too often wanting in modern temples of the higliest preten- sions ; as the artless strains sung to the Creator, which, we may believe, were daily hymned in these unadorned temples, were calcu- lated, from their very simplicity and artlessness, to awaken feelings of deep devotion, which the gorgeous artificial music of the modern cathedral but too rarely excites, even in minds most pi-cdisposed to feel its influences, and appreciate its refinement. In short, these ancient temples are ju.st such humble, unadorned structin-es, as we might expect them to have been ; but, even if thoy wei-e found to ex- hibit less of that expression of congriuty and fitness, and more of that humbleness so characteristic of a religion not made for the rich, but for the poor and lowly, that mind is Init HttU' t<> be envied, wliich
j,,() INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
ania-xod cngniving c.f St. Mac Dara's cluircL, ou the island of Cruach Mhic Dara, off the coast of Connauun-a :
•<!?:
This Uttle church is, in its internal measurement, but fifteen feet in leno'th, and eleven feet in breadth ; and its walls, which are two feet eight inches in thickness, are built, like those of the chiu-ch of St. Ceannanach already described, of stones of great size, and its roof of the same material. The circular stone house of this saint, built in the same style but without cement, still remains, but greatly dilapi- dated : it is an oval of twenty-four feet by eighteen, and the walls are seven feet in thickness.
Of the history of St. Mac Dara, whose festival is noted in the Irish Calendar at the 28th of September, but little or nothing is preserved, though his memory is venerated as the principal saint of the western coast, and his bronze cross, which was preserved in his church, still exists, and is supposed to possess miraculous powers. Of this little church and its founder, O'Flaherty, in his MS. Account of the ter- ritory of West Connaught, gives the following notice, which I am tempted to transcribe, as characteristic of the wiiter and his times :
" Over against Mason liead in the same country lies Cruach Mic Dara, a small island and harbour for ships. This island is an inviolable sanctuary, dedicated to Mac Dara, a miraculous saint vrhose chappeU is within it, where his statue of wood for many ages stood, till Malachias Quseleus, archbishop of Tuam, caused it to be buried under ground for special weighty reasons. On the shore of this island is the Captive's Stone, where women on [at] low water used to gather Duhasg for a friend's sake in captivity, whereby they believe he will soon get succour by [through] the inter-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF lUliLAXl). lOl
cession of the saint. Duleasg, or Salt-leaf, is a weed growing on sea-rocks, anil pre- served by drying it on stones in fair weather, and soon after when occasion 8er\'es, for eating. There is scarce any sea-shore [whereon] it grows nui. The boats that imss between Mason head and this ishind, have a custom to bow down their sails tliree times in reverence to the Saint. A certain captain of the garrison of Galway, aiiiiu 1(372, passing this way and neglecting that ciistom, was so tossed with sea and storm, that he vowed he would never pass there again, without paying his obeisance to the saint. But he never returned home till he was cast away by Ship-wreck soon after. Few years after, one Gill, a fisherman of Galway, who would not strike sail in contempt of the saint, went not a mile beyond that road, when sitting on the Pup of the boat, the mast by contrary blast of wind broke and struck him on the Pate, dead, the day being fair weather both before and after.
" This saint's proper name was Sinach, and Patronimically called Mac Dara, from his father Dara. The Parish church of Moyrus by the sea-shore just o])posite to the island in the continent of Irrosainhagh is dedicated to his name, where is kept his altar stone by the name of Leac Sinach. His festival day is kept as patron of Moyrus parish the IG of July."
I have now described the various features -whicli (.■liaracterize tlie hitherto little noticed and unappreciated primitive churclies of Ire- land. That, as I have already stated, they have little in them to inte- rest the mind, or attract regard as works of art, it would be childish to deny ; yet, in theii' symmetrical simphcity, — their dindj^-liglited nave, entered by its central west doorway and terminated on the other side by its chancel arch, affording to the devout worshipper an unimpeded view of that brighter sanctuary, in which wei'e celebrated the di\ine mvsteries which afforded him consolation in this life and hope in the next, — in the total absence of every thing which could distract his attention, — there is an expression of fitness to their pur- pose, too often wanting in modern temples of the liigliest preten- sions ; as the artless strains sung to the Creator, which, we may believe, Avere daily hymned in these unadorned temples, were calcu- lated, from their very simplicity and ai'tlessness, to awaken feelings of deep devotion, which the gorgeous artificial nuisic of the modern cathedral but too rarely excites, even in minds most predisposed to feel its influences, and appreciate its refinement. In short, tliese ancient temples are just such humble, unadorned structures, as we might expect them to have been ; but, even if they were found to ex- hibit less of that expression of congriuty and fitness, and moi-e oi that humbleness so characteristic of a religion not made for the rich, but for the poor and lowly, that mind is but little to be envied, which
1()2 INQUIRY INTO TIIK ORIGIN AND USES
could look with uiiatliy Dii the remains of national stnictvires so ve- nerable I'ur tlu'ir iiiifi(iuity, and so interesting as being raised in honom- of the Creator in the simplest, if not the purest, ages of Chris- tianity.
That the unadorned simplicity and contracted dimensions of the earliest Irish churches were not, at least, altogether the result of po- verty and ignorance of the arts in their founders, appears to me ex- tremel}' probable. Poor those honoured individuals imquestionably were, but that poverty generally, if not in all instances, appears to have been voluntary, as became men walking in the footsteps of the Eedeemer, and who obtained their simple food by the labour of their hands : but that they were ignorant of the arts, or insensible to their influence, could scarcely have been possible in men, very^ many of whom, — Romans, Gauls, and Britons, — were educated Avhere those arts, though they had become debased, were still cultivated ; and we have not only abundant historical evidence to show, that many of the ecclesiastics in tliose early times obtained celebrity, as artificers and makers of the sacred implements necessary for the church, and as illuminators of books, but we have also still remaining the most indis- putable evidences of their skill in those arts, in ancient croziers, bells, shrines, &c., and in manuscripts not inferior in splendour to any ex- tant in Europe. It is, indeed, by no means improbable, that the severe simplicity, as well as the uniformity of plan and size, AA-hich usually characterizes our early chm'ches, Avas less the result of the poA'erty or ignorance of their founders than of choice, originating in the spirit of their faith, or a A'eneration for some model given to them by their first teachers; for, that the earliest Christian churches on the continent before the time of Constantine Avere, like these, small and imadorned, there is no reason to doubt ; and the oldest chiu'ches still remaining in Greece are, as I shall hereafter show, exactly similar to those I have described in Ireland. And even the churches erected in the time of Constantine, as Mr. Hope shows, must have been small, and of little architectural pretension. " And Avhen," says this Aviiter, " Theodosius, after proclaiming Christianity the ruling, the sole legi- timate religion of the empire, not only pulled doAATi the churches of Constantine, already become ruinous, but the heathen temples, too small to be converted to sacred uses, in order to employ the materials of many such, howe\-er ill-assorted, for each of his larger neAv churches
OF THE ROUXD TO^VERS OF IRELAND. 193
singly, he still retained in them the shape and the name of the basi- lica."— Hist. Essay on Architecture, vol. i. p. 90.
Be this, however, as it may, it seems certain from our most ancient historical documents, that St. Patrick not only introduced a form of church into Ireland which, from veneration to his memory, became a model generally followed for ages after, but that he even prescribed the very dimensions of which the basilicce, or more important cluu-ches, should consist. This appears from the passages, wliich I liave already quoted, — first, from the Tripartite Life of this saint, in whidi it is stated, that in the plan and measurements of the sacred edifices, which he founded at Armagh, he was guided by an angel, — and, se- condly, from a passage in the same Life, and likewise from one in the Annotations of Tirechan, which I have also cited at p. IGl, in which he prescribes sixty feet as the length of the church of Donaghpatrick, near Tailteanu, in Meath, which the prince Conall, the brother of the monarch Laoghaire, Avas to erect for him, and pronounces a male- diction on his race if they should ever diminish it. Thus also, in the notices of the foundations of chiu-ches, given in those ancient Lives of the saint, Ave find it constantly stated that he prescribed the di- mensions of Avhich they Avere to consist, as Avell as consecrated their foundations, as an example or tAvo Avill shoAv. Thus, respecting the church of Seincheall, in the present county of Rosconunon, it is stated :
" S. Patricius designanit locu & mpsuram Ecclesife extruendiB, qua? vuIlto Seincheall .1. vetus cella, appellatur." — Vita Tripart. S- Patricii, part ii. c. Iviii. Trias Tliaum. p. 137.
And again in the account of the foundation of St. Fiech's church at Sletty, near Carlow :
" Mansit autem sanctissimus Episcopus & Abbas Fiecus in ilia Ecclcsia de Dnmnach- Fiec, donee ante se ad coelum sexaginta sanctos ex discipulis pra;miserit. Postea autcni venit ad eum Angelus Domini dicens quod non ibi esset locus resurrectionis eius, sed trans flumen ad occidentem : mandatque quod ibi in loco Cidl-nutige dicto, monaste- rium erigat, singulis officinis locum propriu, & congruum assignans. Jlonuit cnim vt refectorium extruat, vbi aprum ; & Ecclesiam vbi ceruam repererit. Kespondit An- gelo vir sanctus, & obedientiae specimen, se non audere Ecclesiam extruedam inchoare, nisi prius eius pater & Magister Patricius eius locum, & mensuram nietaretur & cosecraret. Patricius ergo monitus, & rogatus venit ad ilium locum ; ([ui Slepte vulgo .i. montes appellatur, & iuxta Angeli pra'scriptum ibi basilica; & monasterij jecit & con- secrauit fundamenta." — Vita Tripart. S. Patricii, part iii. c. xxiii. Trias Tliautii. p. 155.
2 c
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194 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Indeed that llie Irisli, who have been ever remarkable for a tenacious adlierence to their ancient customs, should preserve with religious veneration that form and size of the primitive church, introduced by the first teachers of Christianit)', is only what might be naturally ex- iiected, and what Ave find to have been the fact. We see the result of this feeling exhibited very remarkably in the conservation, down to a late jjeriod, of the humblest and rudest oratories of the first ecclesiastics in all those localities where Irish manners and customs remained, and where such edifices, too small for the services of reli- gion, would not have been deemed worthy of conservation but from such feeling. And of this tenacity of ancient customs, as well as of the repugnance of the Irish to innovation, we have a stiiking evidence in the fact to Avliich I have already alluded, and shall have occasion again to notice, that previously to the twelfth century, or, as I might say, to the time of St. INIalachy, the Irish never appear to have named churches after any but their own saints, who were, in most instances, the original founders. But of this aversion to innovation, we have a still stronger evidence in the reply which, according to St. Bernard, the Irishman at Bangor made to that great innovator St. Malachy, when he was about to erect a chiuxh there, not, as is usually sup- posed, difierent in material from the chiu'ches with which the Irish were abeady acquainted, but, as we may well believe, in an ornate fashion, such as he had seen on the continent, and with the style of which the Irish had not been familiarized. I have already alluded to this passage, and given its purport in a translated form, as cited by Harris at p. 123, but it so strongly illustrates the point, which I am now arguing, that I cannot resist the temptation of presenting it to the reader in St. Bernard's own Avords :
" . . . . visum est Malacliise debcre construi in Benchor, oratorium lapideum, instar illorum qui [tjuce^ in alijs regionibus extructa conspexerat. Et cum coepissct iacere fun- damenta, indigena: quidam mirati sunt, quod in terra ilia necdum eiusmodi aidificia inueniretur. Varum ille nequam : sicut erat prssumptuosus & insolens, non modo miratus est, scd & indignatus. Ex qua indignatione concepit dolore, & peperit in- iquitatem. Et factum susurro in populis, nunc secreto detraliere, nunc blaspbemare palam, notare leuitatem, nouitate liorrere, sumptus exaggerare. Istiusmodi venenatus sermonibus soUicitans & iuducens multos ad probibendiun. Sequimini me, inquit, & quod non nisi per nos fieri debet contra nos fieri non sinamus. Itaque cum pluribus, quibus suadere valuit, descendit ad locum, repcrtum conuenit liominem Dei, primus ipse dux verbi, qui erat principium mali. O bone vir, quid tibi visum est nostris
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IKELAXO. ly5
banc iuducere regiouibus lumitati? ? Scoti suinus, no Galli. Quirnain Icuitas hicc ? quid opus crat opere tam supcrlluo, tarn superbo ? vndc tibi pauperi & inopi suniptiis ad perficicnduiu ? quis pcrfectum videbit ? Quid istud pra;siunptionis, inchoarc quod non queas, non dico perficere, sed nee vidcre perfcctuni ? <|uaM<iuam unieiitis mugis est qua prudentis conari cjuod modum excodit, vincit vires, superat facultatcs ; Cesso, cessa, dcsiue a vesauia hac : alioqui nos no sinimus, non sustiuenius. Hoc dixit pro- dens quid vellet, non quid posset considerans. Nam de quibus praesuinebat, & secuiu adduxerat, viso -s-iro mutati sunt, & iam non ibant cum co. Ad qucm vir sanctus tola libertate vtens : Miser, inquit, opus quod inchoatum vides, & inuides sine dubio perli- cietur, pertectum vidcbunt nnill i. Tu vero quia non vis, non videbis, & quod non vis, niorieris : attedito tibi ne in pcccato tuo moriaris. Ita est, ille niortuus est, & opus comisletum est, sed ille non vidit, qui vt prsclati sumus, anno eodcm niortuus est." — Vita Malachice, cap. ix. Florilegium Insulm Sanctorum, p. ,'571. [^recU' 373.]
Tliough this chui'cli is called an oratory by St. Bernard, — an \\\> pellation not to be wondered at, as applied by one accustomed totlie ample and magnificent abbey churches then common on the conti- nent,— that it was nevertheless a church of much greater size, as well as greater architectural splendour, than those generally erected in Ireland up to this period, can scarcely admit of doubt, as the remains of the abbey chiu-ch of Bangor, extant in the last century, which, there is every reason to believe, Avas erected in St. Malachy's time, sufll- ciently indicated. Indeed, with the exception of the great cliurcli of the primatial see of Armagh, which, — if Colgan's translation of tlie Irish Tripartite Life of St. Patrick can be relied on (whicli, however, in this instance I doubt), — was originally built of the length of one hun- dred and forty feet, the cathedral and abbey cliurches of Ireland, anterior to the twelfth centmy, appear to have rarely or never ex- ceeded the length of sixty feet. This was the measurement prescribed by St. Patrick for the church oiDomlinach mor, now Donaghpatrick, near Tailteann, in Meath, and which, there is every reason to be- lieve, was also the measm-ement of the other distinguished churches erected by him throughout Ireland, and imitated, as a model, by his successors. Such also, there is reason to believe, was the usual size of the earliest churches erected by the Britons and Saxons, for it is a curious fact that the first Christian chiu'ch erected in Britain, and which was traditionally ascribed to the apostolic age, was exactly of the size generally adopted in Ireland after its conversion to Chris- tianity, namely, sixty feet in length, and twenty-six in breadth. Tliis fact appears from the following inscription on a brass plate, whicli, previously to the Reformation, was aflixcd to a pillar in the more mo-
2 c 2
1 06 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
dern church at Glastonbury, and published by Sir Henry Spelman in liis Concilia (vol. i. p. 9).
Slnno post pnssioncm iomtnt xxx\\ tiuolfccim snncti tx qutbus 3JosrpIj ab arimatljia primus crat, i)uc urncrunt* (jul rcclcsiam f)uius rcgnt pn'mnni in l)oc loco constvuxcrunt. qui djristi [quam cl)ristus] in f)onorcm sue matris \' locum pro corum scpultura picscnciah'tcr ticbicnuit. sanclo tauitr mcncucn= cium arcijicpiscopo Ijoc tcstantc. ®ui iiominus ccclcsiam illam bciicarc liis- poncnti in sompnis apparuit ^'^ cum a proposito rcuocauit. nccnon in signum quolr ipse ifominus ccclcsiam ipsam prius cum cimitcrio ticliicavat: manum cpiscopi aigito pcrforauit. $r sic perforata multis uiljentitius in crasttno appa- ruit. postca ucro itiem episcopus, tomino reuelantc ac sanctorum numero in caticm crcscente : qucntiam canccllum in orientali parte ijuic ecdesie a&iecit ^ in f)onore beatc uirginis consecrauit. GTuius altare inestimabih' sapljiro in per= petuam !)utus rei memoriam insigniuit. ®t ne locus aut quantitas prorsus [prioris] ecdesie per tales augmentacioncs obliuioni trabcrctur: erigitur ftcc columpna in linea per ijuos orientales angulos eiusiJem ecdesie uersus meri- iiiem protracta ic pretiictum canccllum ab ea abscintientc. <Qt erat eius longi- tuijo ab ilia linea uersus occtljentem. l.v. pc&um. latituiio uero eius. x.xbi. pcium, iJistancia centri istius columpne a puncto meijio inter preliictos angulos. .vlbii|. pebum.
It is scarcely necessary to state, that it is no part of my purpose to express an opinion respecting the degree of credibility, due to the account thus given of the origin of the chiu'ch of Glastonbury. I may, however, remark, that the legend is at least of great antiquity ; and that, in less sceptical times than the present, it was undoubtingly received, is sufficiently shown by Ussher in the second chapter of his Primordia. I do not, however, see any reason to doubt the tradition, as far as regards the size of the chiuxh, its material, or its early an- tiquity ; nor will it perhaps be deemed wholly idle to suppose, that the general adoption of this size originated either in reverence of this model, or of some similar one, derived from the primitive Christians before Christianity was adopted by the emperors, and made the state religion in Greece and Eome. Be this, however, as it may, it is an interesting fact, that the earliest Christian church in Britain, the erection of which was ascribed, in the legendary traditions of the middle ages, to the very time of the apostles, should agree so exactly with those first erected in Ii'eland; and, moreover, that this chiu'ch,
OF THE ROUXD TOWERS OF IRELAND. 1(j7
wliicli appears from the whole cm-rcut of the ecclesiastical liistor}- of the British Islands, to have been the fii-st erected in Britain, should have been at a place recognized as an Irish ecclesiastical establish- ment, and in which, according not only to the Saxon and En'dish authorities, but to many Irish ones also, one of the first teachers of Christianity in Ireland, — a Saint Patrick, — hes interred, and where his memory was honoured as the patron of the place.
Having now treated, as fully as seemed necessary, of the various characteristics of the early churches, whose styles indicate, with cer- tainty, the antiquity ascribed to them by history and tradition, I have next to treat of those of less certain date, and in which ornament has been employed. This is, however, a portion of my subject, which I confess myself unable to illustrate as satisfactorily as I could wish, because the historical evidences are too generally wanting, which would give certainty to the investigation. In the absence of such evidences, I can only draw conjectm-al conclusions from a comparison of characteristic architectural ornaments, found in tliein, with those found in churches in England and elsewhere, the ages of which have been determined ; and even such conclusions unist be drawn with timidity, till the question is finally settled, Avhether the oi'nameuts, generally supposed to be characteristics of Anglo-Norman architec- ture, had not been used in England and other countries in times anterior to the Norman conquest. One point, at least, of great impor- tance I trust I can determine with certainty, namely, that the Irish, anterior to the eleventh century, not only built decorated churches, but also used some of the ornaments, now generally supposed to be characteristic featui-es of the chiu-ches erected in England by tlie Anglo-Normans ; and, indeed, if we put faith in some of our ancient documents, — and I cannot conceive why we should not, — it woidd appear that, occasionally at least, they erected ornamented churches at a much earlier period. Thus in the Life of St. Bridget, by Cogi- tosus, the following description of the church of Kildare shoAvs that, in the time of that ancient writer, it was not only decorated in its interior, but had at least one ornamented entrance doorway. Tlie original is as follows :
" Nee de miraculo in rcparatione Ecclesise tacendum est, in qua gloriosa amborum hoc est Episcopi Conlaeth & huius Virginis Sanctic Brigida? corpora a dextris, & h si- nistris altaris decorati in monumentis posita ornatis, vario cultu auri & argenti, & gem-
19S
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
maruin, & pretiosi lapidis atque coronis axireis & argentois desuper pendentibus, requi- I'scuut, Ecclosia namque crescente nuniero fidelium, & vtroqiie sexu, solo spatiosa & in altum ininaci proceritate porrecta, ac decorata pictis tabulis, tria intrinsccus Iiabens oratoria nmpla, & divisa parietibus tabulatis, sub vno culmine maioris domus, in qua vuus paries decoratus, & imaginibus depictus, ac linteainiaibus tectus, per lati- tudineni in orientali Ecclesise parte, a pariete ad alterura parietem Ecclesias se tetendit; qui in suis extremitatibus duo liabet ostia ; & pervnum ostiu in dextra parte positum intrant in Sanctuarium ad altare summus Pontifex cum sua regular! scliola, & his qui sacris sunt deputati ministeriis sacra & Dominica immolare sacrilicia : & per alte- rum ostium in sinistra parte parietis supradicti & transversi positum Abbatissa cum suis puellis & viduis fidelibus tantum iutrant vt convi\do corporis & sanguinis fruantur lesu Cliristi. Alius vero paries pavimentiim domus in duas roquales divides partes a parte Orientali vsque ad transversum in latitudine parietem extensus est. Et base tenet Ecclesia in se multas fenestras & vnam in latere dextro ornatam portam, per quam sacerdotes & populus fidelis masculini generis sexus intrat Ecclesiam ; & alteram portam in sinistro latere, per quam virginum & fidelium foeminarum congregatio in- trare solet. Et sic in vna Basilica maxima populus grandis in ordiue, & gradibus, & sexu, & locis diuersis, interiectis inter se parietibus, diverse ordine, & vno animo Do- minum omnipotentem oraut. Et cum ostium antiquum portse sinistralis, per quod solebat S. Brigida Ecclesiam intrare, ab artificibus in suis esset cardinibus situm, totam concludcre portam instauratam & nouam non potuit. Quarta enim portee pars aperta sine c5clusione & patefacta apparebat. Et si addita & iuncta ad altitudinem ostij quarta pars fuisset, tunc totam concludere portam posset altam & instauratam. Et cum artifices alteram mains nouiim facere ostium deliberarent, quod totam conclu- deret portam ; aut tabulam facere iunctam in vetus ostium, vt postea sufficere posset ; prsedictus doctor, & omnium praeuius artifex Hibernensium, prtideuti locutus est consilio : In liac superuentura nocte orare Dominum iiixta S. Brigidam fideliter de- bemus, vt ipsa nobis de mane quid in opere hoc acturi sumus provideat. Et sic orans iuxta monumcntum S. Brigida; totam nocte transegit. Et mane surgens oratione prae- missa ostium antiquu trudens ac ponens in suo cartline, ianuam conclusit totam, nee aliquid defuit de ipsius plenitudine, nee vlla in eius magnitudine supertlua pars re- perta est. Et sic S. Brigida illud ostium extendit in altitudinem, vt tota porta ilia ab eo sit conclusa, nee in ea vllus locus patefactus vidcatur, nisi cum ostium retruditur vt Ecclesia intretur. Et hoc virtutis Dominicoe, oculis omnium videntium, miraculum, illam iamiam & valuam manifeste patet." — Florilegium, p. 199; and Trias Thaum. pp. 523, 524.
As portions of the above description liave been variously under- stood by learned writers, I consider it necessary, before I oiler any observation upon it, to give a translation of it as literal as possible :
" Nor is the miracle, that occurred in repairing the church, to be passed over in si- lence, in which repose the bodies of both, that is. Bishop Conlaeth and this holy virgin St. Bridget, on the right and left of the decorated altar, deposited in monuments adorned with various embellishments of gold and silver and gems and precious stones, with crowns of gold and silver depending from above. For the niunber of the faithful of both
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sexes increasing, the church, occupying a spacious area, and elevated to a ni.-naciii - height, and adorned with painted pictures, having within three oratories large and sejia- rated by partitions of planks under one nwf of the greater house, wherein one parti- tion— decorated and painted with figures, and covered with linen hangings ext*.'iid..il
along the breadth in the eastern part of the church, from the one to the other party wall
of the church, Avhich ^parti/ion'} has at its extremities two doors, and through the one
door, placed in the right side, the chief prelate enters the sanctuary accompanied by liis regular school, and those who are deputed to the sacred ministry of offering sacre<l and dominical sacrifices : through the other door, placed in the left part of the parti- tion above-mentioned, and lying transversely, none enter but the abbess with her virgins and widows among the faithful, when going to participate in the banquet of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. But another partition dividing the pavement of the house into two equal parts, extends from the eastern [recte western^ side to the trans- verse partition lying across the breadth. Moreover this church has in it many windows, and one adorned doorway on the right side, through which the priests and the faithful of the male sex enter the church, and another doorway on the left side, throu'^h which the congregation of virgins and women among the faithful are used to enter. And thus in one very great temple a multitude of people, in different order and ranks, and sex, and situation, separated by partitions, in ditferent order, and [put'] with one mind worship the Omnipotent Lord. And when the ancient door of the left passage, through which St. Bridget used to enter the church, was placed on its own hinges by the work- men, it could not fill up the passage when altered and new ; for the fourth part of the passage appeared open and exposed without any thing to fill it up. And if a fourth more were added and joined to the height of the gate, then it could fill up the entire height of the passage now lofty and altered. And when the workmen were deliberating about making another new and larger door to fill up the passage, or to prepare a board to be added to the old door, so as to render it sufficiently large, the before-mentioned principal and leading artisan of all those in Ireland spake a prudent counsel : ' We ought this night to implore the Lord faithfully beside St. Bridget, that she maj' pro- vide for us against morning what measures we ought to pursue in this business.' And praying thus he passed the whole night beside the monument of St. Bridget. And rising early and prayers being said, on pushing and settling the ancient door on its hinge he filled the whole aperture ; nor was there any thing wanting to fill it, nor any superfluous portion in its height. And thus St. Bridget extended that door in height, so that the whole passage was filled up, nor does any part appear open, except when the door is pushed back in entering the church. And this miracle of the divine ex- cellence is quite plain to the eyes of all beholders who look upon the passage and door."
It is but fail- to acknowledge that not only the antiquity of this Life of St. Bridget has been doubted by some learned men, but even its authenticity denied by others, in consequence cliicfly, if not alto- gether, of the very details given in the preceding description of the church of Kildare, and which in the opinion of the learned Basnage, the editor of Canisius, " smelt of a later age." But, though I not only freely acknowledge that there is great reason to doubt that the work of
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198
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
maiuin, & prctiosi lapidis atque coronis aureis & argenteis desuper pendentibus, requi- fscunt. Ecclcsia namque crescente numero fidelium, & vtroque sexu, solo spatiosa & iu altum iiiiuaci proceritatc porrccta, ac decorata pictis tabulis, tria intrinsecus liabens oratoria ampla, & divisa parietibus tabulatis, sub vno culmine maioris domus, in qua -VTius paries decoratus, & imaginibus depiotus, ac linteamiuibus tectus, per lati- tudinein in oricntali Ecclcsiffi parte, a pariete ad alterum parietem Ecclesise se tetendit; qui in suis extrcmitatibus duo habet ostia ; & per vnum ostiu in dextra parte positum intrant in Sanctuariura ad altare summus Pontifex cum sua regular! schola, & his qui sacris sunt deputati ministeriis sacra & Dominica immolare sacriiicia : & per alte- rum ostium in sinistra parte parietis supradicti & transversi positum Abbatissa crun suispuellis & viduis fidelibus tantum intrant vt convi-vdo corporis & sanguinis fruantur lesu Christi. Alius vero paries pavimentum domus in duas asquales divides partes a, parte Orientali vsque ad transversum in latitudine parietem extensus est. Et hgec tenet Ecclesia in se multas fenestras & vnam in latere dextro ornatam portani, per quam sacerdotes & populus fidelis masculini generis sexus intrat Ecclesiam ; & alteram portam in sinistro latere, per quam virginum & fidelium foeminarum congregatio in- trare solet. Et sic in vna Basilica maxima populus grandis in ordine, & gradibus, & sexu, & loois diuersis, interiectis inter se parietibus, diverse ordine, & vno animo Do- minum omnipotentem orant. Et cum ostium antiquum portse sinistralis, per quod solebat S. Brigida Ecclesiam intrare, ab artificibus in suis esset cardinibus situm, totam concludcre portam instauratam & nouam non potuit. Quarta enim portae pars aperta sine coclusione & patefaota apparebat. Et si addita & iuncta ad altitudinem ostij quarta pars fuisset, tunc totam coneludere portam posset altam & instauratam. Et cum artifices alterum mains nouum facere ostium deliberarent, quod totam conclu- deret portam ; aut tabulam facere iunctam in vetus ostium, vt postea sufficere posset ; prsedictus doctor, & omnium prseuius artifex Hibernensium, prudeuti locutus est consilio : In hac superuentura nocte orare Dominum iuxta S. Brigidam fideliter de- bemus, vt ipsa nobis de mane quid in opere hoc acturi sumus provideat. Et sic orans iuxta monumentum S. Brigidse totam nocte transegit. Et mane surgcns oratione prge- missa ostium antiquu trudens ac ponens in suo cardine, ianuam conclusit totam, nee aliquid defuit de ipsius plenitudine, nee vlla in eius magnitudine superflua pars re- perta est. Et sic S. Brigida illud ostium extendit in altitudinem, vt tota porta iUa ab eo sit conclusa, nee in ea vllus locus patefactus videatur, nisi cum ostium retruditur vt Ecclesia intretur. Et hoc virtutis Dominicse, oculis omnium videntium, miraculnm, illam ianuam & valuam manifesto patet." — Florilegium, p. 199 ; and Trias Tliaum. pp. 523, 524.
As portions of the above description have been variously under- stood by learned writers, I consider it necessary, before I offer any observation upon it, to give a translation of it as literal as possible :
" Nor is the miracle, that occurred in repairing the church, to be passed over in si- lence, in which repose the bodies of both, that is, Bishop Conlaeth and this holy virgin St. Bridget, on the right and left of the decorated altar, deposited in monuments adorned with various embellishments of gold and silver and gems and precious stones, ivith crowns of gold and silver depending from above. For the number of the faithful of botli
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sexes iucreasing, the cliurch, occupying a spacious area, and olevatcd to u menacing height, and adorned with painted pictures, having within throe oratories largo and sepa- rated by partitions of planks under one roof of the greater house, wherein one parti- tion—decorated and painted with figures, and covered with linen hangings— oxtondod along the breadth in the eastern part of the church, from the one to the other party wall
of the church, which [partil/nii'] has at its extremities two doors, and through the one
door, placed in the right side, the chief prelate enters the sanctuary accompanied by his regular school, and those who are deputed to the sacred ministry of oiTiTiug sacred and dominical sacrifices : through the other door, placed in the loft part of the parti- tion above-mentioned, and lying transversely, none enter but the abbess with lior virgins and widows among the faithful, when going to participate in the banquet of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. But another partition dividing the pavement of the house into two equal parts, extends from the eastern [recto weslent'} side to the trons- verse partition lying across the breadth. Moreover this church has in it many windows, and one adorned doorway on the right side, through which the priests and the faithful of the male sex enter the church, and another doorway on the loft side, throu<'h which the congregation of virgins and women among the faithful are used to enter. And thus in one very great temple a multitude of people, in different order and ranks, and sox, and situation, separated by partitions, in different order, and [i«?] with one mind worship the Omnipotent Lord. And when the ancient door of the left passage, throu^li which St. Bridget used to enter the church, was placed on its own hinges by the work- men, it could not fill up the passage when altered and new ; for the fourth part of the passage appeared open and exposed without any thing to fill it up. And if a fourth more were added and joined to the height of the gate, then it could fill up the entire height of the passage now lofty and altered. And when the workmen were deliberating about making another new and larger door to fill up the passage, or to prepare a board to be added to the old door, so as to render it sufficiently large, the before-mentioned principal and leading artisan of all those in Ireland spake a prudent counsel : ' We ought this night to implore the Lord faithfully beside St. Bridget, that she may pro- vide for us against morning what measures we ought to pursue in this business.' And praying thus he passed the whole night beside the monument of St. Bridget. And rising early and prayers being said, on pushing and settling the ancient door on its hinge he filled the whole aperture ; nor was there any thing wanting to fill it, nor any superfluous portion in its height. And thus St. Bridget extended that door in height, so that the whole passage was filled up, nor does any part aiipear open, except when the door is pushed back in entering the church. And this miracle of the divine ex- cellence is quite plain to the eyes of all beholders who look upon the passage and door."
It is but fair to acknowledge that not only the antiquity of this Life of St. Bridget has been doubted by some learned men, but even its authenticity denied by others, in consequence chiefly, if not alto- gether, of the very details given in the preceding description of the church of Kildare, and which in the opinion of the learned Basnage, the editor of Canisius, " smelt of a later age." But, though I not only freely acknowledge that there is great reason to d()ul)t tliat the work of
I ■ :! l\
198 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
iiirtruin, & pretiosl Inpidis atque coronis aurcis & argentcis desuper pendentibus, requi- fscunt. Ecclosia namque crescente numero fidelium, & vtroque sexu, solo spatiosa & in ahum niinaci proceritate porrocta, ac dccorata pictis tabulis, tria intrinsecus habens oratoiia ampla, & divisa parietibus tabulatis, sub vno culniine maioris domus, in qua vuus paries decoratus, & imaginibus dcpictus, ac lintcamiiiibus tectus, per lati- tudinem in orientali Ecclesia; parte, a parietc ad alterum parietem Ecolesia; se tetendit ; qui in suis extremitatibus duo habet ostia ; & pervnum ostiu in dextra parte positum intrant in Sanctuariura ad altare sunimns Pontifcx cum sua regulari scliola, & his qui sacris sunt deputati ministeriis sacra & Dominica immolare sacrificia : & per alte- rum ostium in sinistra parte parietis supradicti & transversi positum Abbatissa cum suis puollis & viduis fidclibus tantum intrant vt convivio corporis & sanguinis fruantur lesu Christi. Alius vcro paries pavimentum doinus in duas a?quales divides partes a parte Orientali vsque ad transversum in latitudine parietem extensus est. Et haec tenet Ecclesia in se multas fenestras & \niam in latere dextro ornatara portam, per quam saccrdotes & populus fidelis masculini generis sexus intrat Ecclesiam ; & alteram portam in sinistro latere, per quam virginum & fidelium foeminarum congregatio in- trare solet. Et sic in vna Basilica maxima populus grandis in ordine, & gradibus, & sexu, & locis diuersis, interiectis inter se parietibus, diverso ordine, & vno animo Do- minum omnipotentcm orant. Et cum ostium antiquum porta; sinistralis, per (juod solebat S. Brigida Ecclesiam intrare, ab artificibus in suis esset cardinibus situm, totam concludore portam instauratam & nouam non potuit. Quarta enim portoe pars aperta sine c5clusione & patefacta apparebat. Et si addita & iuncta ad altitudineni ostij quarta pars fuisset, tunc totam concludere portam posset altam & instauratam. Et cum artifices alterum mains nounm facere ostium deliberarent, quod totam conclu- deret portam ; ant tabulam facere iunctam in vetus ostium, vt postea sufficere posset ; prajdictus doctor, & omnium prasuius artifex Hibernensium, prudcuti locutus est consilio : In hac superuentura nocte orare Dominum iuxta S. Brigidam fideliter de- bemus, vt ipsa nobis de mane quid in opere hoc acturi sumus provideat. Et sic orans iuxta monumcntum S. Brigidaj totam nocte transegit. Et mane surgens oratione prae- missa ostium antiquu trudeus ac ponens in suo cardine, ianuam conclusit totam, nee aliquid defuit de ipsius plenitudine, nee vlla in eius magnitudine supcrflua pars re- perta est. Et sic S. Brigida illud ostium extendit in altitudineni, vt tota porta iUa ab eo sit conclnsa, nee in ea vllus locus patefactus vidcatur, nisi cum ostium retruditur vt Ecclesia intretur. Et hoc virtutis Dominica?, oculis omnium videntium, miraculum, Ulam ianuam & valuam mauifeste patet." — Florilegium, p. 199 ; and Trias Tliaum. pp. 523, 524.
As portions of the above description have been variously under- stood by learned writers, I consider it necessary, before I offer any observation npon it, to give a translation of it as literal as possible :
" Nor is the miracle, that occurred in repairing the church, to be passed over in si- lence, in which repose the bodies of both, that is, Bishop Conlaeth and this holy virgin St. Bridget, on the right and left of the decorated altar, deposited in monuments adorned with various embellishments of gold and silver and gems and precious stones, with crowns of gold and sUver depending from above. For the nimiber of the faithful of both
OF THE KOUXD TOWERS OF IRELAND. \[)\)
sexes increasing, the cluirch, occupying a spacious aroa, and fk-vatL-d to a nK-nacing height, and adorned witli painted pictures, having within three oratories large and sepa- rated by partitions of planks under one roof of the greater lioiisf, wherein one parti- tion— decorated and painted with figures, and covered with linen hangings extended
along the breadth in the eastern part of the church, from the one to the other party wall
of the church, which [^partUion^ has at its extremities two doors, and through the one
door, placed in the right side, the chief prelate enters the sanctuary accompanied by liio regular school, and those who are deputed to the sacred ministry of ofFering sacred and dominical sacrifices : through the other door, placed in the left part of the parti- tion above-mentioned, and lying transversely, none cnt<T but the abbess witii her virgins and widows among the faithful, when going to participate in the banquet of tlie body and blood of Jesus Christ. But another partition dividing the iiavement of tlie house into two equal parts, extends from the eastern [recto western'] side to the trans- verse partition lying across the breadth. Moreover this church has in it many windows, and one adorned doorway on the right side, through which the priests and the faithful of the male sex enter the church, aud another doorway on the left side, through which the congregation of virgins and women among the faithful are used to enter. And thus in one very great temple a multitude of people, in diiferent order and ranks, and sex, and situation, separated by partitions, in dili'erent orJi'r, and [/"'/] willi one mind worship the Omnipotent Lord. And when the ancient door of the left passage, through which St. Bridget used to enter the church, was placed on its own hinges by the work- men, it could not fill up the passage when altered and new ; for the fourth part of the passage appeared open and exposed without any thing to fill it up. And if a fourth more were added and jomed to the height of the gate, then it could fill up the entire height of the passage now lofty and altered. And when the workmen were deliberating about making another new and larger door to fill up the passage, or to prepare a board to be added to the old door, so as to render it sufficiently large, the before-mentioned principal and leading artisan of all those in Ireland spake a prudent counsel : ' We ought this night to implore the Lord faithfully beside St. Bridget, that she may pro- vide for us against morning what measures we ought to pursue in this business.' And praying thus he passed the whole night beside the monument of St. Bridget. And rising early and prayers being said, on pushing and settling the ancient door on its hinge he filled the whole aperture ; nor was there any thing wanting to fill it, nor any superfluous portion in its height. And thus St. Bridget extended that door in height, so that the whole passage was filled up, nor does any part appear open, except when the door is pushed back in entering the church. And this miracle of the divine ex- cellence is quite plain to the eyes of all beholders who look upon the passage and door."
It is bat fair to acknowledge that not only tlie antiquity of tliis Life of St. Bridget has been doubted by some learned men, but even its authenticity denied by others, in consequence chiefly, if not alto- gether, of the very details given in the jireceding description of the church of Kildare, and which in the opinion of the learned Basnage, the editor of Canisius, " smelt of a later age." But, though I not only freely acknowledge that there is great reason to doubt that the work of
200 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Cogitosus was, as Colgan, Vossius, Dr. O'Conor, and others, — even tlie judicious Ware, — supposed, of the sixth century, but shall even prove that its real age is the early jiart of the ninth, I by no means concur in the sweeping scepticism of Dr. Ledwich as to the truth of the de- scription of the church, which he regards as altogether fanciful, and posterior to the twelfth century ; nor can I acknowledge that the rea- sons assigned by him for this opinion have any force whatever. Dr. Ledwich writes, that "what evinces this work of Cogitosus to be sup- posititious, is liis Description of the Monuments of St. Bridget and Conloeth on the right and left of the altar at Kildare. They were not only highly finished with gold and silver ornaments, with gems and precious stones, suspended gold and silver crowns, but the wall of the chancel was painted with portraits. These latter, says Basnage, the editor of Cauisius, smell strongly of later ages. The architecture of the chiu-ch is the work of fancy, and could not exist earlier than the twelfth century, for the Irish, as I have akeady shown, had no stone edifice in the sixth." — Antiquities of Ireland, second edition, pp. 352, 353.
These objections however, which betray a great want of anti- quarian research, are, as I shall show, of very little weight; and Dr. Lanigan, who considered the work of Cogitosus as anterior, at least, to the ninth century, had no need, in arguing in support of its antiquity, to have supposed that the church of Kildare was alto- gether a wooden structiu-e, — a supposition which the text will by no means authorize, and which the evidences I have already adduced, relative to the antiquity of stone churches in Ireland, will show to be an assumption Avholly improbable. It will also be seen from the same evidences, that the plan and general form of this church, which consisted of a nave and chancel, was exactly that commonly adopted in the abbey and cathedral churches in Ireland, and that the de- viation from the usual custom in having two lateral doorways, instead of a single western one, is pointed out as a peculiarity necessary from the circmnstance of the chm'ch having been designed for the use of two religious communities of different sexes, who had distinct and separate places assigned them, according to the almost universal practice of ancient times. See Bingham's Origines, &c. Book viii. c. 5, sect. G. — The necessity for this separation of the sexes also led to the division of the nave, by a wooden partition, into two equal
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 0(|I
portions, wliicli avltc entered by the lateral doorways already men- tioned; and it led again to the piercing of tlie wall, or partition, wliicli separated the nave from the chancel, with a doorway on eacli side of the chancel arch, in order to admit the entrance, into the chancel, of the bishop with his chapter on the right or south side, and of the abbess with her nuns on the left or north side. Another peculiar feature, noticed in the description of this churcli, is its having a number of windows, whereas, as I have already shown, the Irish churches were remarkable for the fewness of such apertures ; but, in the notice of such a peculiarity, thoi-e is as little to e.xeite a suspicion of the truth of the general description, as in the others I have already commented upon, inasmuch as the verv arrangement of the church into a double nave necessarily recpiired a (l()ul)le number of windows to light it.
If indeed, as Dr. O'Conor well remarks, he had described these windows as having been glazed, it might have afforded a historical argument against the supposition that he lived in the sixth or seventh century, inasmuch as glass was not usual in the windows of cluux-hes in England till the close of the latter ; but even that would be no evidence to prove that he did not flourish previously to the twelfth, as the use of glass might have been introduced into Ireland long before that age through the intercourse of the Irish with Italy and Gaul, or the constant influx of English and other illustrious foreigners, who visited Ireland for education. But, as Cogitosus makes no men- tion of glass in the windows of the church of Kildare, it is to me an evidence not only of the truth of his description, but also of its antiquit}^, though as I have already stated, and as I shall presently prove, that antiquity is not so great as many have imagined. It is evident, at all events, that if he had been, as Dr. Ledwich asserts, fabricating a fanciful description of this church, while glazed win- dows were still of rare occurrence, he would not have neglected so important a feature of splendoiu'.
But, according to Dr. Ledwich, what evinces the work of Cogi- tosus to be supposititious is his description of the monuments of St. Bridyet and Conlaeth on the right and left of the altar at Kildare : " They were not oidy highly linished willi gold and silver orna- ments, with gems and precious stones, suspended gold and silver •crowns, but the wall of the chancel was painted with portraits." If,
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202 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
lunvever, Dr. Ledwicli had been better acquainted with the antiquities of Ireland, which he undertook to ilhistrate, he would not have seen in any of these particulars featiu'es inconsistent with the tmth of his- tory. The custom of adorning the shrines of saints, in the manner described by Cogitosus, is of higher antiquity than the time of St. Bridget, and was derived from the primitive Christians, who thus decorated the tombs of the martyrs. See Buonarotti, Osservazioni sopra alcuni Frammenti di Vetro, pp. 133,134. — And that the Iiish ecclesiastics, from the first introduction of Christianity into the coun- try, not only possessed the art of manufacturing all the sacred utensils belonging to the altar, in an equal degree of excellence with the co- temporaneous ecclesiastics abroad, can be proved by an abundance of historical evidence. The three artificers of St. Patrick, named Asicus, Biteus, and Tassach, who fabricated such utensils with ad- mirable art, are noticed by Flann of the Monastery, and in the most ancient Lives of St. Patrick ; and it is not improbable that specimens of their works may still remain. Thus also in an ancient Life of the celebrated artificer St. Dageus, who flourished in the early part of the sixth centiuy, as quoted by Colgan, it is stated that he fabricated not only bells, croziers, crosses, &c., but also sArme*; and that, though some of those implements were without ornament, others were co- vered with gold, silver, and precious stones, in an ingenious and admirable manner. This interesting passage is as follows :
" Idem enim Episcopus, Abbatibus, alijsque HiberniK Sanctis, campanas, CJ^nbala, baculos, cnioes, scrinia, capsas, pixides, calices, discos, altariola, chrismalia, libi-orum- que coopertoria ; qusedam liorum nuda, quEedam vero alia auro, atque argento, gem- misque pretiosis circumtecta, pro amore Dei, & Sanctorum honore, sine vllo terreno pretio, ingeniose, ac mirabiliter coposuit." — Acta Sanctorum, pp. 374 and 733.
In like manner, the memory of Conla, a celebrated artificer in brass of the fifth or sixth century, is preserved in the Life of St. Co- Ivimbkille, by O'Donnell, as the manufacturer of a shrine remarkable for its beauty, which was preserved at Dun Cruthen in Ardmagilligan, near the eastern shore of Lough Foyle, in the present comity of Lon- donderry, about the commencement of the sixteenth century ; and Colgan tells us, that so great was the fame of this artificer, that it had given origin to several popular sayings. His words are as follows :
" Prsstantia illius artificis fecit locum diuersis prouerbiis Hibernis familiaribus.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 203
Quando enini volunt quempiam tanquam bonuin auriliccin scu wrariuiu artificom lau- dare, dicunt ; Nee ipse Conla, est eo prcestantior artifex. Item quando volunt ostenck-re alicjuid esse irreparabile, vel inemendabile ; Nee hoc emendaret ofiarius Artifex Conla.'^ —Trias Thaum. p. 451, col. 2, n. 82.
It would, indeed, appear from tlie number t)i' references to shrines in the authentic Irish Annals, that previously to the irruptions of the Northmen in the eighth and ninth centiu-ies, there were few, if any, of the distinguished churches in Ireland, which liad not costly shrines, containhig the rehcs of their founders and other celebrated saints. Thus the Annals of Ulster, at the year 794, and of the Four Masters, at the year 790, record that Rachrainn was Iniriu'tl l)y plunderers, and its shrines opened and stripped ; and again, at the year 793, that Inispatrick was burned by foreigners, Avho carried away the shrine of St. Dachonna ; and again, at the year 804, that L'lidia was devastated by the king, Aodh Oirdnighe, " against Duncan," in revenge for the violation of the shrine of St. Patrick. Thus also the Annals of Inisfallen record that in the year 810 Benchor was de- vastated, and the shrine of St. Comgall broken, by the Gentiles [Danes] ; and that in the year 830 the shrine of St. Patrick was broken, and carried away by the Danes.
Many other passages to the same effect might be adduced, if it were necessary. The same annalists also record about this period the making of several shrines : in the Annals of the Four JNIasters, for example, at the year 79fi, it is stated that the relics of St. Ronan, son of Berach, were put into an ark or shrine, whicli was ornamented with gold and silver. And, to come more innnediately to the jDoint, the Annals of Ulster, at the year 799, mention the placing of the relics of St. Conlaeth, bishop of Kildare, in a shrine of gold and sil- ver, as described by Cogitosus :
"A. D. 799. Positio Reliqiiiarion Conlaio h-i Scpln oip 7 aipjir." " A. D. 799. The placing of the relics of Conladh in a shrine of gold and silver." — See also Ware's Bishops, at Kildare.
Thus Ave have the most indisputable historical evidence not only of the existence of one of the two shrines noticed by Cogitosus as preserved at Kildare in his own time, but also of the costliness of its materials ; and it will surely not be doubted tliat the religious com- munity of Kildare, Avho paid this reverence to tlie relics of tlieu- first bishop, would have had a similar, if not a still more splendid shrine,
2 D 2
204 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
to preserve the relics of the great founder and patroness of their establishment.
The preceding record enables us also to determine -with groat exactness the period at which Cogitosus wrote, which, it will be seen, could not have been earlier than the ninth century, as so many learned persons have thought ; while, on the other hand, it is equally certain that it must have been before the j^ear 835, in which the Ainials of Ulster, and others of equal authority, record that Kildare was plundered by the Gentiles [Danes], — on which occasion, if we believe O'Halloran — and it is at least a fair inference — the shrines of St. Brigid and St. Conlaeth were carried away. Thus :
" A. D. 835. Cealooapa do opjjain do ^ennciB o Inbip t)eaae, 7 po lopcaoap leic na cille."
" A. D. 835. Kildare was plundered by the Gentiles of Inbliir Deaa?, and they burned half the church."
Indeed, as Dr. Lanigan well observes, Cogitosus could not have written in the manner he has, even after the year 831, when Kildare was plundered by Cellach, son of Bran, as recorded in the Annals of Ulster and of the Four Masters, inasmuch as he (Cogitosus) states that the city of Ivil dare and its subui'bs were an inviolable asylum, in which there could not be the least apprehension of any hostile attack :
" . . . . Maxima hasc Ciiiitas & Metropolitana est; in cuius suburbanis, quas Sancta certo limite designauit Brigida; nullus carnalis adversarius, nee concursus timetur hostium." — Trias Thaum. p. 524, col. i.
Having now, as I trust, satisfactorily proved the fact that shrines, such as Cogitosus describes, were really in existence at Kildare in the early part of the ninth century, when it is certain that writer must have flomished, I shall only observe, in connexion wdth this part of his description, that in the shrine of St. Aidan, first bishop of Ferns, noAv in my possession, — and which some of the most skilful antiquaries in Great Britain have assigned to a period not later than the ninth century, but which is probably of a much earlier date, — we have still remaining sufficient monumental evidence that the description of the shrines at Kildare, furnished by Cogitosus, was in no degree imaginary or exaggerated.
The other particulars to which Dr. Ledwich objects, as being altogether fanciful, are as little open to just criticism : we have, in- deed, no corroborative evidence of the facts stated as to the crowns,
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 205
wliicli were suspended over the shrines, or oi" ihe pahilcd liirures on the partition wall, which divided the nave from the chancel, or of the linen hangings which screened the sanctuary; nor should we have had even these descriptive notices, so valuable as illustrating the state of the arts in Ireland at this remote time, but that Cogi- tosus had found it necessary, in order to give a colouring of truth to a legendary miracle, to connect with it a circumstantial description of the church, the acciu-acy of which could be tested by every one. We know, however, from foreign authorities, that all such embellish- ments were in use on the continent long before the ninth century, and there is no reason to assume that they were unknown to, or im- used, by the Irish, lieg/ui, — called arecpavafxara by the Greeks, — were commonly suspended in various parts of the early churches, as will be found noticed in Ciampini's work, De Coronis, &c., 1. i. c. 14, and 1. ii. p. 90. A singular fact is recorded by Du Cange re- specting this description of crown :
" . . . . apiid Byzantinos a Patriarclia in a?de Sopliiana, en infionxiii x.cti ^EyaAn irvy- ^»ti htT-TTonxii lopTD, coronabantur Imperatores aliqua ex iis corollis, quae supra sacram meusam pendebant, quce peracta solennitate in suum remittebatur locum, ut pluribus narrat Constantinus Porpliyrogenitus .... cujus ritus originem Constantino Magno adscribit." — Constantinopolis Christiana, 1. iii. 43.
St. Paulinus describes a crown suspended over the tomb of IMartin of Torrrs, and the same usage is also noticed by St. Gregory of Toiu-s (1. i. c. 2). We can be at no loss, therefore, to account for the intro- duction of the custom into Ireland, as the pilgrimages of the Irish to that tomb are noticed by Jonas, a disciple of Coliunbanus, and in the Annals of the Benedictines, by Mabillon (1. i. p. 293). The linen cloths or veils {Untenmenta), which screened the sanctuary, &c., form ano- ther feature in this description, which to me rather indicates its au- thenticity than the contrary, such veils having been suspended in all the ancient churches, and this as early as the foiu"th centvu-y. — See Ciampini, 1. ii. pi. 26; see also Anastatius in Bibliotheca Pair urn, tom. xii. Duxandus writes :
" Velum, in ecclesia triplex suspenditur, jyrimum quod sacra operit — altenim quod sacrarium a clero dividit — tertium quod clerum a populo secernit." — Duraudus, lib. i. Ration, c. 3, n. 35.
The Rev. Mr. Gunn, a writer of much learning, while commentino- on the preceding passage of Durandus, writes thus :
•200
I5QCIBT INTO TOE OBIGIS AND USES
" Daring the- office of the ambo, the Teil — ' unrA aatn'a operit'— anf] which wa» j„ . . the sanctuary, ' qnod clemm a jwpulo secemit,' wa» closed. 'Jliia „, , the catechnmcni retired, and the n)i.<t<<a fidelium or the nervicc of the alter succeeded. ' The sacrifice is brought forth ; and when Christ the Lamb of God is offered, when yon hear this si^al given, let U9 all jmn in common prayer ; when you see the Tcila withdrawn, thfni think yon aee Heaven opf^ed, and angels de$icen'ling frf>m above.' (Chrj-w^tom, Honiil. 3. in Ei<h(«. Bingham, b. 8, c. 6, »ec. 8,)" Inquiry into tfie Origin artd Influence of Gothic Arcldleclure, p. 141.
Indeed, there is no more reason to doubt that such veils were usual in all the ancient Irish churches of distinction, which Cfjnsisted of nave and chancel, than that chancelled partitions were used, of the existence of which we have the following evidence in Cormac's Glos- sary, under the word camcell, a chancel :
"Caincell, a cancella, .i. cliac: cpann-ctiinjjel, .i. cpann-cliac inpn, .i. cliur, If in cpann icip loechaib 7 cl6ipcib \-o cophailep pom boi pial cempuill c-8ol6- man ; <ip if cliac a amm, con pocpoib clap ; unoe oicinip cpocamgel, .1. cpo- cliar,"
" CaineeU, a cancella, Lea latticed partition (a chancel) : erann-chdngel, L e. a viofAKn. partition, i. e. a latticed fjartition, the division between the laity and clergy after the similitude of the veil of Solf/mon's t*,-mple ; for it, with its jjartition of boards, is narrie<l diulk; unde dieilur cruchainyel, i. e. a latticed division."
As to the paintings, or painted figures, — which Dr. Ledwich in- correctly calls portraits, — if that learned writer had called to mind the description which his favourite author, Giraldus Cambrcnsis, gives of the celebrated manuscript of the Four Evangelists, preserved at Kildare, and ascribed to >St. IJridget's time, he would have seen no- thing remarkable in the circumstance of the wall of the chancel having been adorned with painted representations of the human figure. And though this famous manuscript is not now to be found, the praise bestowed on its caligraphy and illuminations will not appear extra- vagant to those, who have soen the nearly cotemporaneous manu.9crip»t of the Gospels, called the \',>,',V. of Kells, now, fortunately, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, — a manuscript which, for beauty and nplendour, is not surjiassed by any of its age known to exist: indeed, in looking at this exquisite piece of penmanship, it is difficult to avoid thinking that it is the very manuscript, so elabo- rately described by Giraldus in the following words ;
" Inter vniuersa Kyldaria miracula, nil mihi miracnlosius occurrit : quam liber illc mirandus, tempore virgini» (vt aiiint.) Ang(^lo dictante conscriptus. Continet hie lilj(ir riuatuor Euangdiiitarum iuxta llicronymum concordantiara ; vbi quot pagina-
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OF THE ROrXD TOWERS OF IRELAXll.
207
lore sunt, tot figune divors;\^ variisqiie coloribus distinctissinia". Hie nitiiostatis \-\il- tum viJoas diviinitus impressum : hino mystioas Euaugolistaruin lormas : nunc somis. nunc quatcrnaSs nunc biuas alas habentos. hinc aqiiilaui, inde vitulum, hinc huuiinis lacioui, inde loonis. aliasquo figuras jxnio infinitas : quas si suporfioialitor & vsuali luoro minxis acute oonspoxoris, litui-a potius vidobitur quam ligatura, Noc vUain at- tojidous prorsus subtilitateiu : vbi nihil tanieu prwter subtilitatciu. Sin autein ad porspicacius intuondum cx'ulorum aciom inuitauoris : & longe penitius ad artis archaua transj>cnctrauoris : tum dolicatas &• subfiles, tani actas & arctas, tarn nixlosas & vincu- latim coUig-atas. tamque rocoutibus adhuo coloribus illusti-atas uotare potcris intrioatu- nis : vt vore luvc omnia Angelica potius quam bumaua diligentia iaiu asseue.raueris esse eomposita. Ha>c equidcin quanto frequontius & diligentius intueor : semper quasi uouis obstupeo, semperque magis ac magis admirauda couspicio."* — Topog.Hib. Dist,2, c 3S, p. 730. Fniucolurti. fol. 160;J.
I have now exsiminod, at gi-eator length perhaps than numy would deem ueoessaiy, this remai'kable description of the chiu-oh ot' Ivildare. But I felt it a duty to sustain to the utmost of my abiUty, consistently \di\\ a regard for truth, the authenticity of a dociunent, so valuable, as showing the state of tlie ai'ts in Ireland previously to the Danish de\'astatious : and, moreover, it was essentially necessary' to my pur- pose to do so, before I made any attempt to ascertain the ages of tlxose architectiu-al remains in Ireland, in which ornament has been employed.
It will be remeinbored that in this description Cogitosus tells \is, that at least one doorway of the ch\uvh was ornamented ; Avhether the other ^\^^s so or not cannot be clearly ascertained fi-om die context, but tlie affii'mative is highly probable. It does not indeed necessarily follow that these doorways were thus ornamented as early as St. Bridget's time ; on die conti-ary, the probable inference would be, that the embellishments were added at the dme of the enlargement ^)f the doorway : but this euhu'gement must have taken place before the ninth centurj-, Avhich is sufficient for my purpose. It is greatly to be regretted that we have not this ancient doorway to refer to, as an example of the style of decoration then in use ; but this regret may possibly be diminished by die consideration, that we have in the adjacent Eound Tower an example of an ornamented doorway, which may be supposed, with eveiy appeaiunce of ti-utJi, to be oi cotempo-
* Pr. O'Conor. quoting this passage, adds : " nee AppcUes [Apelles] ipse similia efficere posset, et manu potius non mortali oft'ormata' ac depict.-e vidoiifur." But this l^assage is not to be found iu the edition to which he refers. — See i?<'r. HiU'ni. Stfi/>- torea, tom. i. Ep. p. 177.
206 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" During the office of tlie ambo, the veil — ' quod sacra operit' — and ^vhich was suspended across the sanctuary, ' quod clerura a populo secernit,' was closed. This mass being over, the catechumeni retired, and the missa fidelium or the service of tlie altar succeeded. ' The sacrifice is brought forth ; and when Christ the Lamb of God is offered, wlien you hear this signal given, let us all join in common prayer ; when you see the veils withdrawn, then think you see Heaven opened, and angels descending from above.' (Chrysostom. Homil. 3. in Ephes. Bingham, b. 8, c. 6, sec. 8.)" Inquiry into the Origin and Influence of Gothic Architecture, p. 141.
Indeed, there is no more reason to doubt that such veils were usual in all the ancient Irish churches of distinction, which consisted of nave and chancel, than that chancelled partitions were used, of the existence of which we have the following evidence in Cormac's Glos- sary, luider the word caincell, a chancel:
" Cctiiicell, CI ccinceUa, .i. clicic: cpann-cainjel, .i. cpann-cliar inpin, .i. cliar, IP in cpann icip laechaiB 7 cleipciB po copiiiailep pom boi pial cempuiU c-Sold- man ; up ip cliac a ainm, con pocpoib clap; unoe oicicup cpocainjel, .i. cpo- cliac."
" Caincell, a cancella, i. e. a latticed partition (a chancel) : crann-chaingel, i. e. a wooden partition, i. e. a latticed partition, the division between the laity and clergy after the similitude of the veil of Solomon's temple ; for it, with its partition of boards, is named clialh ; uncle dicitur crochaingel, i. e. a latticed division."
As to the paintings, or painted figures, — which Dr. Ledwich in- (;orrectly calls portraits, — if that learned writer had called to mind the description which his favourite author, Giraldus Cambrensis, gives of the celebrated manuscript of the Four Evangelists, preserved at Kildare, and ascribed to St. Bridget's time, he woidd have seen no- thing remarkable in the circumstance of the wall of the chancel having been adorned with painted representations of the human figiu-e. And though this famous manuscript is not now to be found, the praise bestowed on its caligraphy and illuminations will not appear extra- vagant to those, who have seen the nearly cotemporaneous manuscript of the Gospels, called the Book of Kells, now, fortunately, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, DubUn, — a manuscript which, for beauty and splendom-, is not surpassed by any of its age known to exist : indeed, in looking at this exquisite piece of penmanship, it is diflicult to avoid thinking that it is the very manuscript, so elabo- rately described by Giraldus in the following words :
" Inter vniuersa Kyldarise miracula, nil mihi miraculosius occurrit : quam liber ille mirandus, tempore virginis (vt aiunt) Angelo dictante conscriptus. Continet hie liber quatuor Euangelistarum iuxta Hieronymum concordantiam : vbi quot pagina'
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 20?
fere sunt, tot figur» diverste variisque coloribus distinctissinia'. Ilic uiaiestalis viil- tum videas diuinitus impressum : liinc mysticas Euangelistarum formas : nunc senas, nunc quatcrnas, nunc binas alas liabentes. liinc aquilani, inde vituluni, liinc liDniinis facieui, inde leonis, aliasque figuras pene infinitas : qnas si suporficialitoi- & vsiiali more minus acute conspexeris, litura potius videbitur (piam lijratura. Jscc vllani at- tendens prorsus subtilitatem : vbi nihU tanien prater subtilitatcni. .Sin autcin ad perspicacius intuendum oculorum acieni inuitaueris : & longe penitius ad artis arcluuui transpenetraueris : tarn delicatas & subtiles, tam actas & arctas, tarn nodosas & vincu- latim colligatas, tamque recentibus adhuc coloribus illustratas notare poteris intricatu- ras : vt vere Lgec omnia Angelica potius quam humana diligentia iam asseucraucris esse composita. Hajc equidem quanto frequentius & diligcntius intueor : semper quasi nouis obstupeo, semperque magis ac magis admiranda conspicio."* — Tojjoff. H/b. Dist.2, c. 38, p. 730. Francofurti. fol. 1G03.
I have now examined, at greater length perhaps than many would deem necessary, this remarkable description of 'the church of luldare. But I felt it a duty to sustain to the utmost of my abiUty, consistently with a regard for truth, the authenticity of a document, so valuable, as showing the state of the arts in Ireland previously to the Danish devastations : and, moreover, it was essentially necessary to my pur- pose to do so, before I made any attempt to ascertain the ages of those architectural remains in Ireland, in which ornament has been employed.
It will be remembered that in this description Cogitosus tells us, that at least one doorway of the church was ornamented ; whether the other was so or not cannot be clearly ascertained from the context, but the affirmative is highly i^robable. It does not indeed necessarily follow that these doorways were thus ornamented as early as St. Bridget's time ; on the contrary, the probable inference would be, that the embellishments were added at the time of the enlargement of the doorway : but this enlargement must have taken place before the ninth century, which is sufficient for my purpose. It is greatly to be regretted that we have not this ancient doorway to refer to, as an example of the style of decoration then in use ; but this regret may possibly be diminished by the consideration, that we have in the adjacent Round Tower an example of an ornamented doorway, which may be supposed, vsdth every appearance of truth, to be of cotcmpo-
* Dr. O'Conor, quoting this passage, adds : " nee Appelles [Apelles] ipse similia efficere posset, et manu potius non mortali efFormatge ac depictte videntur." But this passage is not to be found in the edition to which he refers. — See Ber. Hihern. Scrip- tores, torn. i. Ep. p. 177.
203
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
raneoup, or at all events, not later date. It is, of course, by no means my object in this place to enter on the (juestion of the antiquity or use of this tower; it Avill be sufficient for iny present puqjose to show, that tliere is every reason to believe that its erection was not posterior to that nf the chuich described by Cogitosus, to which it belonged in the time of diraldus, and that its ornamented doorway, if an insertion of later date than the original construction of the Tower, — which there is no reason to believe, — could not with any fairness be referred to a later period than the erection of the oma- nicnted doorway of the church. That this tower was, in the twelfth century, considered as of great antiquity, even so great as the time of St. Bridget, most plainly appe'ars from a story, told by Giraldus, of a hawk, which was thought to have frequented its summit from the days of the patroness. The story is as follows :
" De Falcone KyldaricB quasi domestico S^ mansueto.
" A tempore Brigidfe falco quidam egregius locum istum frequentabat, qui ec- clesiastics: TtTRRis summitati insidere consueuerat. Vnde & a populo auis Brigidse vooabatur, & in veneratione quadam a cunctis liabebatur. Hie ad nutum eiuium seii inilituin castrensium tanquara mansueta & ad hoc domestica, anates & alias aues, tarn campestres, quam fluuiales circa planiciem Kyldarise cum intuentium non modica de- lectatione persequi solebat : & ad terram ab aere innata velocitate coercere. (Quis i;iiim locus miseris auiculis reliiiquebatur, cum homines terram & aquas, auis ini- iiiica, grauisque tyrannus aerem obsidebat ?) Mirum de hoc alite : quod circa tem- pi um quod frequentabat, parem non admittebat : sed amoris tempore procul inde secedens, & apud montana de Glindelachan ex consuetudine parem inueniens, nature indulgebat. Quo completo, iterura ad Ecclesiam solus reuertebatur ? Viris Ecclesias- ticis & tunc prsecipue cum intra ecclesiarum sinus & septa diuiuis deputantur offioiis, signum prajferens honestatis. In ipso discessu primo Domini Comitis loannis ab Ili- licriiia, aiiera (qua? per tot durauerat sa?cula, & delectabiliter Brigida; locum illus- trauerat) dcmum pra^da", quam ceperat, minus caute insidentem, & humanos aocessus ])arum euitantem, baculo, quem gestabat, rusticus quidam petiit. Ex quo patet, casum in secundis fore metueiiduin, & vitae diuturnai delectabili & dilecta;, parum esse confi- ikuwlnmr—Topofi.Hlh. Dist. 2, cap. 37, pp. 729, 730. Francofurti, fol. 1603.
It is scarcely necessary to remark, that, from the phrase " ecclesi- asticce turris" in the preceding story, Cambren.sis could have meant none other than the jjresent Round Tower of Kildare, for it is the very phrase which he elsewhere employs to designate the Roinid Towers in the legend, so often quoted, respecting the submersion of the city in Lough Neagh: and though this legend is no more sufficient to prove the tower to be of St. Bridget's time, than the
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OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
209
legend of the towers in Lougli Neagh Avould prove them to be of the first century, still it is sufficient to show, that the tower of Ivildare was considered to be of great antiquity iu the twelftli century, and thus fix an early period for the style of ornament we find on its doorway, — a period not to be questioned except on the gratuitous assumption of a newer doorway having been inserted at a later period; but the fallacy of such an assiunption is easily detected by an exami- nation of the tower itself, which will leave no doubt on the mind that the doorway, as well as the other apertiu-es, which are in a corresponding style, though entirely devoid of ornament, are equally original and integral features of the structure.
For the satisfaction of the reader I annex a drawing of this very interesting doorway, together with an outline of the ornaments on the capitals of its inner columns, and the diagonal pannelUug on the
soffit of its inner arch ; and it Avill. 1 think, be at once seen, that iu its general character, as Avell as iu the style of its ornaments, not- withstanding the chevi-on or ziz-zag moulding on one of the cornices, it presents featiu-es not to be found in any decidedly ascertained Anglo-Norman remains.
2 E
208 iNQriin- into tiik oraoiN and uses
rancmis, or at all events, not later date. It is, of course, by no means my object in this place to enter on the (juestion of the antiquity or use of this tower; it will be sufficient for my present purpose to show, that tliere is every reason to believe that its erection was not posterior to that of the church described by Cogitosus, to which it belono'ed hi tlie time of Giraklus, and that its ornamented doorway, if an insertion of later date than the original construction of the
Tower, which there is no reason to believe, — could not with any
faii-ncss be referred to a later period than the erection of the orna- mented doorway of the church. That this tower was, in the twelfth centur\', considered as of great antiquity, even so great as the time of St. Bridget, most plainly appe?ars from a story, told by Giraklus, of a hawk, Avhich was thought to have frequented its summit from the days of the patroness. The story is as follows :
" De Falcone Kyldarice quasi domestico ^- mansueto.
" A tempore BrigidsB falco quidam egregius locum istum frequentabat, qui ec- clesiastics TURRis summitati insidere consueuerat. Vnde & a populo auis Brigidtc vocabatur, & in veneratione quadam a cunctis habebatur. Hie ad nutum ciuium sen militum castrensium tanquam mansueta & ad hoc domestica, anates & alias aues, tarn campestres, quam fluuiales circa planiciem Kyldarise cum intuentium non modica de- lectatione persequi solebat : & ad terram ab aere innata velocitate coercere. (Quis euim locus miseris auiculis relinquebatur, cum homines terram & aquas, auis ini- mica, grauisque tyrannus aerem obsidebat ?) Mirum de hoc alite : quod circa tem- plum quod frequentabat, parem non admittebat : sed amoris tempore procul inde secedens, & apud montana de Glindelachan ex consuetudine parem inueniens, naturfe indulgebat. Quo completo, iterura ad Ecclesiam solus reuertebatur ? Viris Ecclesias- ticis & tunc pra^cipue cum intra ecclesiarum sinus & septa diuinis deputantur officiis, signuni praiferens honestatis. In ipso discessu primo Domini Comitis loaunis ab Hi- licrnia, aucm (qua per tot durauerat sa>cula, & delectabiliter Brigidaj locum illus- traucrat) demiun pranlaj, quam ceperat, minus caute insidentem, & humanos accessus parum euitantem, baculo, quern gestabat, rusticus quidam petiit. Ex quo patet, casvim in secundis fore metuendum, & vitse diuturnse delectabili & dilectte, parum esse confi- dendum."_7V</)0(/./r/6.Dist.2, cap. 37, pp.729, 730. Francofurti, fol. 1603.
It is scarcely necessary to remark, that, from the phrase " ecclesi- (isticee turn's" in the preceding story, Cambrensis could have meant none other than the present Round Tower of Ivildare, for it is the very phrase which he elsewhere employs to designate the Romid Towers in the legend, so often quoted, respecting the submersion of the city in Lough Ncagh: and though this legend is no more sufficient to prove the tower to be of St. Bridget's time, than the
OF THE UOUNIJ TOWERS OF IRELAND.
20!)
legend of the towers in Lougli Neagli w^ould prove tlieni to be vi' the first century, still it is suflieient to show, thut the tower of Kildare was considered to be of great antiquity in the twelfth centur}% and thus fix an early period for the style of ornament we fuul on its doorway, — a period not to be questioned except on the gratuitous assumption of a newer doorway having been inserted at a later period ; but the fallacy of such an assumption is easily detected by an exami- nation of the tower itself, wliich ■will leave no doubt on llie mind that the doorway, as well as the other apertures, which are in a corresponding style, though entirely devoid of ornament, are equally original and integral features of the structure.
For the satisfaction of the reader I annex a drawing of this very interesting doorway, together with an outline of the ornaments on the capitals of its inner columns, and the diagonal pannelhng on the
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soffit of its inner arch ; and it will, I think, be at once seen, that in its general character, as Avell as in the style of its ornaments, not- withstanding the chevron or ziz-zag moulding on one of the cornices, it presents feat\u-es not to be found in any decidedly ascertained
Anglo-Norman remains.
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210
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
m
I am aware, however, that with most architectiiral antiquaries the presence of the zig-zag moulding will be considered a decisive evi- dence of its being the work of the Anglo-Norman era ; but I am strongly inclined to believe, that the prevalent opinion relative to the })eriod at which this and other ornaments came into use in England, thoutfh such opinion cannot be said to have been adopted hastily, is nevertheless an erroneous one ; and I think I shall be able to show, that we must come to the conclusion, that the use of such ornaments was, at all events, of earlier age in Ireland, or be forced to throw his- torical evidences wholly aside as of no consideration. It may, indeed, be assumed that the existing Tower of Kildare is not that to which Cambrensis alludes, but an erection of even later date than his time. But though such an assiunption is, I think, still less probable than that which I have already combated, yet I am forced to acknowledge, that a discovery made in this Tower while this sheet is going through the Press, — and which must sooner or later determine the question either way, — may with many appear to give it probability. On a re- cent examination of its interior area in search of sepulchral interment, undertaken by my friend the Rev. Mr. Browne of Kildare, instead of liuman bones, as expected, five or six ancient coins w^ere found ; and, from their position, — under flags which appeared to form the original floor of the Tower, — there is every reason to believe that they must have been deposited there at the original erection of the Tower. The true age of these coins therefore becomes a question of the highest importance in this Inquiry ; but, contrary to what might be expected, it is unfortunately one, not easily determined, like all others connected with the origin of these buildings.
These coins are of that rai'e and curious class known to numis- matists by the name of Bracteati, — by wdaich is understood, thin laminar pieces, usually of silver, struck only on one side, — and are
without legends of any kind, as will be seen in the annexed wood-cuts, representing the three which are least defaced.
OF THE HOUXD TOWERS OF IHELAND.
211
These coins would appear to be of very impiu^e silver, as they are thickly coated with a deep green rust, formed of the oxide of copper, and are so much corroded that it is almost impossible to touch without breaking them. Through great care, however, three of them have been sufficiently preserved to enable me to present with accu- racy their devices, which, it will be seen, are crosses of a simple cha- racter placed Avithin a circle, around which are radiating lines instead of letters : the weight of each, when perfect, was about seven grains.
If then we should adopt the opinion respecting tlie origin of bracteate coins, expressed l)y the learned Sperlingius in liis work, " De Nummorum Brnctentorum et Caoorum Origine et Progressu," namely, that this class of money is not earlier than the close of the twelfth centmy, — or that of Mr. Lindsay of Cork, in his" View offhe. Coinage of Ireland" who thinks that none of the bracteate coins found in Ireland are anterior to the time of "William the Conqueror, — it would follow, either that the present Round Tower of Kildare cannot be that of which Cambrensis speaks, but an erection subse- quent to his time, or, that the floor, under which those coins were found, is not the original one, — a conclusion which I apprehend most persons will be disposed to reject, and which, though the fact is not wholly impossible, it is far from my intention to uphold. Maintain- ing, as I do, the opinion that this Tower could not have been erected after the time of Cambrensis, and consequently, from his allusion to such a Tower at Kildare, tliat its age must have been considerable in the twelfth century, I confess it aj)pears to me, that, while the conclusions of the Aviiters to whom I have alluded, respecting the antiquity of the bracteate coins, is open to doubt, the discovery of pieces of that description under the floor of this Tower should rather be taken as an evidence in favoui' of their earlier antiquity, than that the erection of the Tower should be referred to so late a period as they assign to them. Nor do I think that this inference is at all weakened by what has been written either by Sperlingivis or Mr. Lindsay : for the bracteate coins of the northern nations, which the former shows to be of the twelfth and succeeding centuries, and which present legends from which their dates have been ascertained, are very different from those discovered in the Tower of Kildare. And though Pinkerton seems to have adopted the opinion of Sper- lingius, as to the age and origin of these coins, he has, on reflection,
2 E 2
•) 1 0 INQUIRY IXTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
I am aware, liowevor, tliat willi most architectural antiquaries the presence of the zig-zag moulding will be considered a decisive evi- dence of its being the work of the Anglo-Norman era ; but I am strondy incUned to believe, that tlie prevalent opinion relative to the j^eriod at which this and other ornaments came into use in England, thoufh such opinion cannot be said to have been adopted hastily, is nevertheless an erroneous one ; and I think I shall be able to show, that we must come to the conclusion, that the use of such ornaments was, at all events, of earlier age in Ireland, or be forced to throw his- torical evidences wholly aside as of no consideration. It may, indeed, be assumed that the existing Tower of Ivildare is not that to which Cambrensis alludes, but an erection of even later date than his time. But though such an assumption is, I think, still less probable than that which I have already combated, yet I am forced to acknowledge, that a discovery made in this Tower while this sheet is going through the Press, — and which must sooner or later determine the question either way, — may with many appear to give it probability. On a re- cent examination of its interior area in search of sepulchral interment, undertaken by my friend the Eev. Mr. Browne of Kildare, instead of human bones, as expected, five or six ancient coins were found ; and, from their position, — under flags which appeared to form the original floor of the Tower, — there is every reason to believe that they must have been deposited there at the original erection of the Tower. The true age of these coins therefore becomes a question of the highest importance in this Inquiry ; but, contrary to what might be expected, it is unfortimately one, not easily determined, like all others connected with the origin of these buildings.
These coins are of that rare and curious class known to numis- matists by the name of Bracteati, — by which is understood, thin laminar pieces, usually of silver, struck only on one side, — and are
without legends of any kind, as will be seen in the annexed wood-cuts, representing the three which are least defaced.
OF THE ROUND TO\yERS OF IRELAND. 211
These coins would appear to be oi" very iiupiu'e silver, as they are thickly coated with a deep green rust, formed of the oxide ol' copper, and are so much corroded that it is almost impossible to touch witliout brealdng them. Through great care, however, three of them have been sufficiently preserved to enable me to present with accu- racy their devices, which, it will be seen, are crosses of a simple cha- racter placed within a circle, around which are radiating lines instead of letters : the weight of each, when perfect, was about seven grains.
If then we should adopt the opinion respecting the origin of bracteate coins, expressed by the learned Sperlingius in his work, " De Nummorum Bracteatorum et Canorum Ori^i/ie etProgressu" namely, that this class of money is not earlier than the close of the twelfth century, — or that of ]\Ir. Lindsay of Cork, in his " T'^iew of flic. Coinage of Ireland" who thinks that none of the bracteate coins found in Ireland are anterior to the time of AYilliam the Conqueror, — it would follow, either that the present Roiuid Tower of Kildare cannot be that of which Cambrensis speaks, but an erection subse- quent to his time, or, that the floor, under which those coins Avere found, is not the original one, — a conclusion which I apprehend most persons will be disposed to reject, and which, though the fact is not wholly impossible, it is far from my intention to uphold. Maintain- ing, as I do, the opinion that this Tower could not have been erected after the time of Cambrensis, and consequently, from his allusion to such a Tower at Kildare, that its age must have been considerable in the twelfth century, I confess it appears to me, that, while the conclusions of the Avi'iters to whom I have alluded, respecting the antiquity of the bracteate coins, is open to doubt, the discovery of pieces of that description under the floor of this Tower should rather be taken as an evidence in favour of their earlier antiquity, than that the erection of the Tower should be referred to so late a period as they assign to them. Nor do I think that this inference is at all weakened by what has been written either by Sperlingius or Mr. Lindsay : for the bracteate coins of the northern nations, which the former shows to be of the twelfth and succeeding centuries, and which present legends from which their dates have been ascertained, are very different from those discovered in the Tower of Kildare. And though Pinkerton seems to have adopted the opinion of Sper- lingius, as to the age and origin of these coins, he has, on reflection,
2 E 2
•212
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
deemed it prudeut to acknowledge, in a note, that " some are sup- posed to be of the tenth century."
Pinkcrton miaht well make such an acknoAvledgment, for tliere are not wanting learned writers, who place the origin of this description of coin in the seventh centmy, and one, INI. Tillemann Frize, — Miintz- Spiegel, 1. iii., — who assigns them an antiquity anterior even to the Christian era. Others, however, as Olearius, Ludwig, and Doederlin, have come to the conclusion that this kind of money originated in German)% after the discovery of the silver mines in that country in the tenth century ; and this opinion derives some support from the fact, that bracteates of the Emperor Conrad II., who died in 1024, and of Werner, bishop of Strasburgh, who died in 1029, have been found in a small earthen vu-n in the abbey of Gengenbach in 173G. These, I believe, are the earliest German bracteates known ; but it is the opinion of M. Schoepflin, that, though no earlier bracteates of the bishops of Strasburgh have been discovered, the right of coining money, Avhich had been granted to them in 870 by Lothaire le Jeune, the son of Louis le Debonnaire, had been exercised by them uninter- ruptedly from that period. ]\I. Schoepflin is, however, of opinion, that the bracteate money had an earlier origin, and a different birth- place from what has been assigned to them by the German writers ; and as bracteates have been found, coined by the first two propagators of Christianity in Denmark and Sweden, — namely, Harold, king of Denmark, who lived in the tenth century, and Biorno, king of Sweden, who Uved at the close of the eighth and commencement of the nmth, — he considers that the origin of this description of money should be assigned to Sweden, and that it thence passed into Denmark, and lastly into Germany ; and he attributes the hghtness and thinness of this description of money to the scarcity of silver in the north at the period of its origin. In these conclusions of M. Schoepflin, the French Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres appear to con- cur, as will be seen in the following extract from their report on his paper, given in the twenty-third volume of the History of the Academy, pp. 215-6 :
" II resulte de cet expose, fait d'apres M. Sclioepflin, que les monnoies bracteates sont originairement Suedoises, & que I'epoque en doit etre fixee a la fin du VHP. siecle ; & qu'ainsi on se trompoit a la fois sur le lieu & sur le temps de leur origine, placee par les uns trop haut, & trop bas par les autres."
tkusM mine, if P*"' Ik ':f fliicliiia:'*"-
the subject. V" Eoiinn'^- to doubt Danes, ii^' tiT, may. ■ foidieli In:' ■■
laa"...-..- obriodjcbii we must ti. fiistk: minted ¥■ later d»te; Iriili c-oii- lorejDQ' sessbj li- fe-- fi-r: - .
--'/'/(It. ■''■•-11 to tie ■ ■DiX'der^
^^inatedin
. i""- 'wji tile ■''''luiUiid '''^fenfoimd
'•■''•Jt it is tie
.'■ 'Km,
\aiijttf-
;iiiiiuii,
■. i iiUlll- i Titep :
^-■H.irll,
I
,,<. aDil idiMnnesof
' attlie ■,", ilie
■ - roil-
ni.-trtrv of the
.jiiiiiiaVlII'.
»?
jekaronguie,
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
213
As the antiquity of this species of money on the continent seems thus clearly traced to the eighth century, it now remains to deter- mine, if possible, its antiquity in Ireland.
The opinion relative to the origin of minted numey in Ii-rland, which has been hitherto, as I may say, universally adopted by nu- mismatists, is, that it originated with the Danes in the tenth, or possibly in the ninth century ; and in this opinion, I confess, that I myself conciUTed, till my attention was more particularly di-awn to the subject, by the discovery of the pieces of bracteate money in the Round Tower of Kildare. I now, however, see considerable reason to doubt the correctness of this opinion, and to believe that the Danes, far from being the introducers of minted money into this coun- try, may, with greater probability, have themselves derived the art from the Irish, and not from the Anglo-Saxons, as generally supposed. In the first place, it should be borne in mind that the type usually found on the Danish coins is a peculiar one, and that, though it is also found on some of the coins of the Saxon king, Ethelred II., A. D. 979, many of which appear to have been minted in Ireland, it does not occur on earlier coins of the Saxon princes, and hence these coins of Ethelred are usvially designated as of the Irish type. On the other hand, coins of this tjqse, both bi-lateral and mii-lateral, of the rudest manufacture, and without letters, are foimd abundantly in Ireland, and obviously claim a higher antiquity. With respect to these rude coins,
we must therefore come to either of the two following conclusions :
first, that they were imitations by the Ii'ish princes of the better minted money of the Danes, and consequently of coteniporaneous or later date ; or, secondly, that the type of the well-minted Danish and Irish coins of the tenth century was derived from this ruder and more ancient original. This latter conclusion appears to me to pos- sess by far the greater probability, because we cannot adopt the former without supposing the Irish, at the time of the first Danish irruptions, not only to have been inferior to their invaders in their knowledge of the arts of civilized life, but also to have been unable to keep up with them in the progress which they subsequently made, — a conclusion, which, though hitherto generally adopted, is utterly opposed to every thing that history tells us respecting the civihzation of the two nations. It should also be borne in mind, that, from the intercourse carried on by the Irish with the Saxons, whom they con-
212 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
deemed it prudent to acknowledge, in a note, that " some are sup- posed to be of tlie tenth century."
rinkerton might well make such an acknowledgment, for there are not wanting learned wTiters, Avho place the origin of this description of coin in the seventh century, and one, M. Tillcmann Frize, — Milntz- Spiegel, 1. iii., — who assigns them an antiqiuty anterior even to the Christian era. Others, however, as Olearius, Ludwig, and Doederlin, have come to the conclusion that this kind of money originated in Germany, after the discovery of the silver mines in that country in the tenth century ; and this opinion derives some support from the fact, that bracteates of the Emperor Conrad II., who died in 1024, and of Werner, bishop of Strasburgh, who died in 1029, have been found in a small earthen run in the abbey of Gengenbach in 1736. These, I believe, are the earliest German bracteates known ; but it is the opinion of M. Schoepflin, that, though no earlier bracteates of the bishops of Strasburgh have been discovered, the right of coining money, which had been granted to them in 870byLothaire le Jeune, the son of Loms le Debonnaire, had been exercised by them uninter- ruptedly from that period. M. Schoepflin is, however, of opinion, that the bracteate money had an earlier origin, and a different birth- place from what has been assigned to them by the German writers ; and as bracteates have been found, coined by the first tAvo propagators of Christianity in Denmark and Sweden, — namely, Harold, king of Denmark, who lived in the tenth century, and Biorno, Idng of SAveden, who hved at the close of the eighth and commencement of the ninth, — he considers that the origin of this description of money should be assigned to Sweden, and that it thence passed into Denmai'k, and lastly into Germany ; and he attributes the Lightness and thinness of this description of money to the scarcity of silver in the north at the period of its origin. In these conclusions of M. Schoepflin, the French Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres appear to con- cur, as will be seen in the following extract from their report on his paper, given in the twenty-third volume of the History of the Academy, pp. 215-6 :
" II resulte de cet expose, fait d'apres M. Sclioepflin, que les monnoies bracteates sont originairement Suedoises, & que I'epoque en doit etre fixee a la fin du VIII'. siecle ; & qu'ainsi on se trompoit a la fois sur le lieu & sur le temps de leur origine, placee par les uns trop baut, & trop bas par les autres."
i
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 213
As the antiquity of this species of" inouey on the continent seems thus clearly traced to the eighth centiuy, it now remains to deter- mine, if possible, its antiquity in Ii'cland.
The opinion relative to the origin of minted money in Ireland, whicli has been hitherto, as I may say, universally adopted by nu- mismatists, is, that it originated with the Danes in the tenth, or possibly in the nintli century ; and in this opinion, I confess, that I myself concurred, till my attention was more particularly drawn to the subject, by the discovery of the pieces of bracteate money in the Round Tower of Kildare. I now, however, see considerable reason to doubt the correctness of this opinion, and to believe that the Danes, far from being the introducers of minted money into this coun- try, may, with greater probability, have themselves derived the art from the Irish, and not from the Anglo-Saxons, as generally supposed. In the first place, it should be borne in mind that the type usually found on the Danish coins is a peculiar one, and that, though it is also found on some of the coins of the Saxon king, Ethelred II., A. D. 979, many of which appear to have been minted in Ireland, it does not occur on earlier coins of the Saxon princes, and hence these coins of Ethelred are usually designated as of the Irish type. On the other hand, coins of this type, both bi-lateral and uni-lateral, of the rudest manufactiu-e, and without letters, are found abundantly in Ireland, and obviously claim a higher antiquity. With respect to these rude coins,
we must therefore come to either of the two following conclusions :
first, that they were imitations by the Irish princes of the better minted money of the Danes, and consequently of cotemporaneous or later date ; or, secondly, that the type of the well-minted Danish and Irish coins of the tenth centiuy was derived from this ruder and more ancient original. This latter conclusion appears to me to pos- sess by far the greater probability, because ^ve cannot adopt the former without supposing the Irish, at the time of the first Danish irruptions, not only to have been inferior to their invaders in their knowledge of the arts of civilized life, but also to have been unable to keep up with them in the progress which they subsequently made, — a conclusion, which, though hitherto generally adopted, is utterly opposed to every thing that history tells us I'especting the civilization of the two nations. It should also be borne in mind, that, from the intercourse carried on by the Irish Avith the Saxons, whom they con-
214 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
verted to Christianity, as well as witli the French, Belgians, and Ger- mans, they must have been intimate with the various arts as practised amongst these nations ; and that, as we know that they were at least equally acquainted with htcrature and the fine arts, and that their very celebrity in the former caused their country to be visited, for the piu-pose of instruction, by many of the most distinguished in those nations for rank and love of learning, it would be strange in- deed if they should have been ignorant of the use of minted money, then common amongst those nations, or that, knowing, they should have neglected to adopt it.
I am aware that it may be objected that the Irish at this period used for money rings of gold and silver.and ingots of various forms and decrees of weight; and I am far from denying that this description of money, which was, no doubt, derived from a very remote period, was continued in Ireland even to the close of the twelfth centvuy. This, indeed, is a fact established by all our ancient authorities, and par- ticularly by our authentic Annals and Brehon Laws, as an example ■will sufficiently prove. Thus in the following record, in the Annals of the Foiu: INIasters, the payment of fines by weight is distinctly re- corded :
" A. D. 1029. amlcioib, mac Sicpiocca, cijeapna ^cill, do epjabdil do TTIcir- janiain Liu Riajain, ci^eapna 6pea^, 7 do ben du ceo oe^ bo piiapcclaio cipp, 7 peace pichic each ni-6peirneac, 7 rpi pichec uin5e o'op, 7 cloiDeum Caplup, 7 aiccipe ^aieal eiccip f-aijnib 7 Cec Cuino, 7 cpi picic uinje o'aipjec 51I iria unja geiinleac, 7 ceirpe picir bo pocail 7 impioe, 7 ceirpe h-aiccipe o'O'Riajam pein ppi fich, 7 Ian loj bpajacc an cpep aiccipe."
" A. D. 1029. Amlaff, son of Sitric, lord of tbe Danes, was captured by Malion O'Rian-ain, lord of Bregia, who exacted twelve hundred cows as his ransom, together with seven score British horses, and three score ounces of gold, and the sword of Car- lus, and the Irish hostages both of the Lagenians and Leth Cuinn, and sixty ounces of -white silver (or money) as his fetter-ounce, and eighty cows for word and suppli- cation, and four hostages to O'Riagain himself as a security for peace, and the full value of the life of the third hostage."
It also appears from innumerable passages in our ancient autho- rities that the precious metals tluis valued by weight, and used as a circulating medivim, were, as I have already said, sometimes in the form of ingots, but perhaps more frequently mauufactiu'ed into rings for the neck, called munforcs, and for the arms and legs, called fuilfrhe; and hence the epithet of " exactors of rings," so frequently
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 215
applied by their poets to tlie northern Wiirriors, wlio infested Ireland in the ninth, tenth, and eleventli centimes.
This custom is very interestingly illustrated in the following pas- . sage — explaining the name R/gh, wluch was anciently applied to the river Boyne — in an ancient manusci'ipt of the Brehon Laws, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin :
" Rij mna Nuuoac, .1. fonaipc, .1. cumoach do pcul^ilj oip no bio imu luirii dki D-cionacal do p'teoaib." — H. 3, 18, p. 545.
" The Riffh of the wife of Nuada, i. e. great, i. e. she was used to have her hand (or arm) covered with rings of gold for bestowing them on poets."
This woman was the wife of Nuada Neacht, a i^oet, and king of Leinster in the first ccntiu-y ; and she is said to have given her name, Boann, to the river Bo}aie.
So also, from various passages found in the Irish annals, we find that these rings were of fixed weights ; as at the year 1150, when the monarch Muirchertach O'LoughUn, among other things, presented the abbot of Derry ^\ath a gold ring, which weighed five iingas or ounces; and at the following year, when the same abbot received from Cu-Uladh O'Fljmn, chief of Sil-Cathasaigh, a gold ring weigh- ing two ounces ; and gold and silver rings, as well as tores and ingots of the precious metals of fixed weights, are found in abundance in the country at the present day.
But, while the precious metals were used as a circulating medium in large unminted pieces, or rings, of this description, it is obvious that a smaller and more convenient species of money must have been indispensably necessary for the ordinary purposes of excliange ; and it would be strange indeed, if, while every other country in Europe, immediately after its conversion to Christianity, adopted the use of a small denomination of minted money, tlie Irisli alone should have neglected a usage so necessary to a people, who had made any ad- vances in civilization, till taught it by a people confessedly less civi- lized than themselves. It is this consideration, which induced me to doubt the generally received opinion that money was first coined by the Danes in Ireland, and to believe it more probable that the type of the Danish coins was not derived from cotemporaneous Saxon money, but more directly from an earlier Irish original ; and, if I mis- take not, the evidences which I have now to adduce, and which
]
216
INQUmy INTO THE ORIGIN ANT) USES
Llu-HC doubts induced me to search for, Avill go far towards estolish- m^ HiK^li (1 coiicluKion.
Ill ili<- (iir-t |)la«i', it occurred to me that if the Irish Id had iiiiiil( d iMoiicy hiiiiilar to that in use in the neighV)ouring C(ntries. fviilcnt;<'H III" hiuli a fact would necessarily be found in thcincient liiWH iif the country, and that those laws would also furnish -idence n^ to its weight and value; and I was the more sanguine >at such i'videne.enniighl be I'oiukI, from a recollection of the interesug letter wrillt-n al)oul the yiar 7'J" by Aleuin to the celebrated t. Colcu. MiaMhr oflhe Hciiool of ("loiimacnoise, in which he tells h i that lu liad hcnl fifty «/V// of silver to his brethren of the alms fCharle- nnigne, and fifty sir/i as his own alms; thirty xirti of the ni^'s alms to liie NouthtTii brellireii of lialdliuninega, and thirty «?>// Iusoavti' twenty m'r/i of the alms oflhe father of the family of ..eida, and Iwi'iity of his own ; and to every hermit three sic/i of pur silver, tliat lliey iniglil all pray for him and for king C'liarlemagi, that God would presene liim for the defence of his chuivh and le glor^' of his name. The original of this passage, — as published / Ussherin his Si/llitf-r, pp .'il, ."i'i, and C'olgan, .Irtii Si>., pp. 37! 380,— is as follows :
• ■ \(. . .i..,rii«li lur iill<|iii<l ■'• ■■'■^' 'punl vix iiimlik in Britan • invenitur; m itii|" I liM-a iii^vMiiria K.i u. •«! utilitatcin hominun I'l honoremDei
■ . ' -' l;.
.; - . .\ -u Au?:i J. :-ii. .,„■
' Iriirinta ilf I'lcunoerna i J. ft vwind sicks
■ • I ■ ■ - f •
' mI liitflani MHcUc nur ElvicftadL
1 ■' ■ > ,,„. (|)i^ ] wniien "Uliii ■.
I >i ' y III 1>< Kind. itlVoio- ^1 ~iroug presum i'
iiioi not only known but in us<> in Ireland t '
it WHM written, hiuI thnt the money designated a xiWi inu>t hn Uh'M n des^-ription of coin then current not only FYance Ui: in Irxdautl It i« true that Colgan, and after hi; dall, Mate tltat a jtir/»/ji or thrkrt in silver was : «mmv i" "■ ' •'' " "^ ■■* 'he \Tilue of -i\'- •" '» ahatl pi y an em^r.
that by the tcnn *icltn was meant a piece of tl *«»* ••►-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
217
t3 Hebrew shekel, whereas it is certain that no coin of this kind was c rreut in Europe during the middle ages. The real meaning of the T rd siclus, as understood by the Irish, and the value of the coin V ich it designated at this period, are, however, distinctly pointed o in a tract of the Brehon LaAvs, relating to fines and amercements, pi served in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, class H. 3, 18, p. 26, col. b, and in which the fine upon the owner of a cow that ha killed a bondsman, or bondswoman, is thus stated :
ITlao mu j no curiial po oiji in u^ opjuip ano, ap penned) bep aj. Cpicha pi^ul n-c jiD ino. Sicolup quapi pcpipulup, o pd leir-pinjinoe jobap ino o copacli m t naip, 7 na pe leic-pinjmoe ip cpi lan-pinjinne in pcpepaiU."
If it be a bondman or bondwoman tliat has been killed by the cow, the cow is forf ed (till reparation be made by the owner). Thirty si[(/a/s of silver is the fine. Sico ! quasi scripulus, from six half phiginns being its value from the beginning of enu) ration, and these six half p/nffin/is make the three full pinginns of the sc?-epal/."
he value of the same coin is given in another MS. in the same Lib ry, H. 3, 1 7, P- 645, somewhat differently, thus :
" iculup qiKtpi pepelicop, 6 pe lec-penoinj^ib jabap in o co| ach in comtip; no pe ic-penomje ip cpi Inn-penomj, no cpi l<in penoinj ip pcpepall."
" '•mIus quasi seselicos, from six halt pennings being its value from the beginning of em eration [the lowest denomination]; the six haW pen ni tigs make three i'nllpen- iiinffs, id the three full pennings make one screpalL"
I >m the above passages then it clearly appears that the word
iigal -as a term synonymous with screpall, and innumerable evi-
lencc might be adduced from the Irish laws, and other equally
luciei authorities, to prove that the word screpall was the de,siQ-
latioi^ )f the denarius or penny, which was the largest denomination
'f mo y then current in France and England, and which, I think,
^as ai ) current in Ireland, though luider a different name. It is a
'ell-kj 'wn fact that the largest silver coin ciuTent in Em-ope in the
liddle ges, — and which in France was called denier, from the Latin
?nari ■, and known to numismatists by the name penning ov penni/,
-was ually of the weight of from twenty to twenty-four grains :
id tha such also was the weight of the Irish screpall, or sigal, will
early )pear from the following passage in a tract of the Brehon
xws, ^ itled Fodhla Feibe, preserved in the Book of Ballymote,
I. 1311 ■^ b, in which the folio wins; curious table of weitihts is
/en
2 F
21G INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
these doubts iiuluocd nie to searcli for, will go far towards establish- ing such a conclusion.
In the first place, it occurred to me that if the Irish had had minted money similar to that in use in the neighbouring covmtries, evidences of such a fact would necessarily be found in the ancient laws of the country, and that those laws would also furnish evidence as to its weiglit and value ; and I Avas the more sanguine that such evidences might be found, from a recollection of the interesting letter A\Titten about the year 790 by Alcuin to the celebrated St. Colcu, master of the school of Clonmacnoise, in which he tells him that he had sent fifty sicli of silver to his brethren of the alms of Charle- magne, and fifty sicU as his own alms ; thirty sicli of the king's alms to the southern brethren of Baldhuninega, and thirty sicli of his own; twenty sicli of the alms of the father of the family of Areida, and twenty of his own ; and to every hermit three sicli of pure silver, that they might all pray for him and for king Charlemagne, that God would preserve him for the defence of his church and the glory of his name. The original of this passage, — as published by Ussher in his Sylloge, pp. 51, 52, and Colgan, Acta SS., pp. 379, 380, — is as follows :
" Misi cliaritati tuK aliquid dc oleo, quod vix modo in Britannia invenitur ; iit dispensares per loca necessaria Episcoporum, ad utilitatem lionunum vel honorem Dei. Misi quoq; quinquaginta siclos fratribus de eleeuiosyua Caroli Kegis : (obsecro ut pro eo oretis :) & de mea eleemosyna quinquaginta siclos: & ad Australes fratres Baldliuni- vega, triginta siclos de eleemosyna Regis, et triginta de eleemosyna mea, & viginti siclos de eleemosyna patris famUia! Areidce, & viginti de eleemosyna mea, & per singulos Anaclioritas tres siclos de puro argento : ut illi omnes orent jiro me, & pro Domino Rege Carolo, ut Deus ilium conservet ad tutelam sanctae sua; EcclesiEe, & ad laudem & gloriam sui nominis." — Sylloge, p. 52.
I confess that to me this passage, written before the Danes had coined money in Ireland, affords a strong presumption that minted money was not only known but in use in Ireland at the time when it was wTitten, and that the money designated as sicli must have been a description of coin then current not only in France but also in L-eland. It is true that Colgan, and after him Harris and Arch- dall, state that a siclus or shekel in silver was a coin about half an ounce in weight, and of the value of sixteen pence ; but this, as I shall prove, was obAiously an error, arising out of the supposition that by the term siclus was meant a piece of the size and value of
OF THE ROUND TO WEKS OF IRELAND. 217
tlie Hebrew shekel, wliereas it is certain tliat no coin of this kind was I'urrent in Europe duiing the middle ages. The real meaning of the word siclus, as understood by tlie Irish, and tlic value of the coin which it designated at this period, are, however, distinctly pointed out in a tract of the Brehon Laws, relating to fines and amercements, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, class II. 3, 18, p. 426, col. h, and in wliich the fine upon the owner of a cow that has killed a bondsman, or bondswoman, is thus stated :
" tTluo muj no curiial po oip in af, opjaip ano, ap penned) bep aj. Cpiclia pi^ul n-aipjiD ino. Sicolup quapi pcpiputup, o p6 teir-pinjinoe jabap ino o coixich in comaip, 7 na pe leic-pinjinoe ip cpi lun-pinjinne in pcpepaill."
" If it be a bondman or bondwoman tliat has been killed by the cow, tlie cow is forfeited (till reparation be made by the owner). Thirty sigah of silver is the line. Sicolus quasi scr/ju/li/s, from six half ph/ffinns being its value from the beginning of enumeration, and these six half phiginns make the three full pinginns of the screpall.''''
The value of the same coin is given in another MS. in the same Library, H. 3, 1 7, P- t)4ii, somewhat differently, thus :
" SicuUi)^ qiKipi pepelicop, 6 pe lec-penoin^ib gubap in o co) ach in romdp; no pe tec-penoinje ip cpi lan-penoinj, no. cpi Inn penoing ip pcpepall."
" Sicidus quasi seselicos, from six ha\i pennings being its value from the beginning of enumeration [the lowest denomination] ; the six ha\i pennings make three full pen- nings, and the three full pennings make one screpall."
From the above passages then it clearly appears that the word aigal was a term synonymous -with screpall, and innumerable evi- dences might be adduced from the Irish laws, and other equally ancient authorities, to prove that the word screpall was the desig- nation of the denarius or pe nil//, which, was the largest denomination of money then cirrrent in France and England, and which, I tliink, was also current in Ireland, though under a diiferent name. It is a well-known fact that the largest silver coin current in Europe in the middle ages, — and which in France was called denier, from the Latin denarius, and known to numismatists by the name penni7ig or petin//, — Avas usually of the weight of from twenty to twenty-four grains : and that such also was the weight of the Irish screpall, or sigal, will clearly appear from the following passage in a tract of the Brehon Laws, entitled Fodhla Feibe, preserved in the Book of Ballymote, fol. ISl, h, b, in which the following curious table of weights is
given
2 F
218 INQUIRY INTO THE OltlGIN AND USES
" Ip e reo in meao rosbup in nnoe pn do spun cpuirneacra a ,iu pt'ip a dp cp. meccon; cei^pi c. [correctly, nol c] 7 li! m.li ; uaip ui. spamni i. 7 cuij ceo 7 h. comrpom mnji ; uc.p cearpa jpainoi k. ec cpuirneccoa comrpom in pjpea- buill uipjiD. Cearpa h-aoaim rt. ec 1 n-^puine, 7 comrpom uii 11. ec uinje in cinoe pin, 7 ni h-o'n ^abaino aoamna."
" This is the quantity* which that bar raises [i. e. weighs or balances] of grains of wheat which grew in a soil of three rootsf ; sixty thousand and four hundred [cor- rectly nine hundred] ; for five hundred and seventy-six grains is the weight of an ounce ; for twenty-four grains of wheat is the weight of the screaball of sUver. Twenty-four atoms in a grain, and seven score ounces in that bar, and its material is not from the smith."
It is scarcely worthy of observation that, by some error of the transcribers of this tract in copying the numerals, this table is not consistent with itself, but in that portion of it relating to the screpa// of silver there can be no error, and its accuracy in this particular can be proved : and from the weight thus assigned to the screpall, or sig-al, as it was otherwise called, it would appear that the Irish ap- plied these terms to denote the denier of the middle ages ; and, indeed, tlie terms themselves seem clearly to be of foreign, and most probably ecclesiastical, introduction into the Irish language. It appears, how- ever, that the Irish had also two vernacular terms which they applied to a piece or denomination of the same weight, namely the words puincne and oifing, or oiffing, as thus stated in Cormac's Glossary under the word puincne :
" puincne, .1. pcpepall meoi inBice, ip e pin )'cpepall ^aeoal oin, .1. oipin^."
" Puincne, i. e. the screpall of the notched beam, i. e. the screpall of the Gaels, i. e. oyf«y."
Thus also in O'Clery's Vocabulary of Ancient Irish "Words, under the word puincne :
"Puincne, .1, p^peaball .1. rpi pin^inne." " Puincne, i. e. a screball, i. e. three pence."
And hence the word screaba/l is explained in Shaw's and O'Reilly's
* This passage is also given in an ancient vellum manuscript in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 3, 18, but somewhat less correctly. Both, however, agree in making the weight of the screpall of silver to be twenty-four grains of wheat. The weight of the whole bar, according to the table, should be 69120, which is equal to 10 Roman Lihrcp.
■f dp cpi meccon, land of three roots, i. e. the richest soU, which, according to the Irisli notion at the present day, is always knowai by the presence of three weeds, re- markable for their large roots, namely, the thistle, the ragwort, and the wild carrot.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 2 1 [)
Dictionaries as "a three-penny piece," and llie word o/'JiNg, by O'Reilly, as " a tribute of three-pence."
Seeing then, that the screpall contained three pinginns, and weighed twenty-four grains, it would follow that the pinginn should weigh eight grains ; and such is the weight assigned to it in an ancient tract of the Brehon Laws, on vellum, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, II. 4, 22, fol. ()(i, in which tlie following ciu'ious passage occurs :
" Dinnpu, .\. corinip. t)innpa clcipoi^e, .i. comu)' bip con luce claioep in claip, Di uinji ip6 pil inn, .i. boinjio mem in I'lmn. "Oiniipa cepou do oepr utna; pe uinji aim, 7 pcpepall a I05. j^mjinn ip pii'i m uingi pmn I'lmct ; 7 leic-pinginn ip piu an uinji oepj iiiiia ; 7 coriilo^ in oepj uma 7 in poaii, 7 occ n-jjpcmni cpuirne- acca coiiirpom nu pinjmni aipjio ; 7 ceicpe Dinnpa do Iuuidi ap oinnpu pinn uma, ap ip DO luaioe do niche|i in racli."
" Dinnra, i. e. a weight [measure, or share]. Ih^dinnra of the delver, that is, the share which tliose wlio dig the pit do get, that is, those wlio dig the copper ore, con- tains two ounces. The diintra of the cerd [artificer] is of red copper [or bronze] ; contains six ounces, and is worth a screpall. A pinginn is the value of an ounce of fair copper [or bronze] ; and \\a!^i a. prnginn is the value of an ounce of red copper [or bronze] ; and the red copper is of the same value as the sdan [tin] ; and eight grains of wheat is the weight of the pinginn of silver ; and four dinnras of lead are of the same value as one diiinra of fair copper, for it is of the lead the tath [solder ?] is made."
From the preceding evidences it at least appears certain that while the Irish had in use amongst them, from a very remote period, a mode of estimating the value of animals, and other property, by ingots or rings of gold and silver of fixed weights, they had also, for the claily purposes of traffic, two small pieces of silver, namely, the screpall or si gal, weighing twenty-four grains, and the pinginn, weighing eight grains, which, there is every reason to believe, were coins ; for, as the names, by which they were known, are obviously of foreign introduction into the Irish language, and were undoubtedly denominations of coined money in foreign countries, we have every right to conclude that they were similarly applied to coined money in Ireland. But if we find pieces corresponding with these in Aveight, and indicating by their types an early antiquity, the fact seems placed beyond dispute. Such pieces we do find in our rude bi-lateral coins, and in our bracteates, which are struck only on one side, and may be considered as peculiarly Irish, being of a type wholly unlike the
2 F 2
•220
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
:i
bractoato mney of any other nation. Were such names indeed found in Ii-ish auliorities previously to their application to coins in other countries, i might justly be concluded that they were mere deno- minations c weights of metals; but no such terms occur in the authentic dcuments of earlier date. There is no mention of screpalh or pinai/in.m the Book of Rights, nor in the most ancient Lives of St. Patrid, in which, however, we find most distinct reference to tlie valuatioj of property by gold and silver in weight, as the follow- ing remarkale passage from the Annotations of Tirechan will suiB- ciently show:
"DippojjjeCummen ocup 6perlian Ochcep n-QcliiD co n-a peilb, icep pio ocup maj ocu)t,enu, co n-a lliup ocup a llubgopr. Ogoilep Din ou Chumminleth in Doppi po, in oim, in ouiimi, con iiiccaoap a peuic ppie, .1. .111. unjai apjaic, ocup cpann C1P51C, oup muince, .111. ii-unjae co n-opocli oip pen-mepib penaipocib, I05 leirh unjae oi luccib, ocup I05 leich ungae di chuipib." — Book of Armagh, Fol. 17, K 1.
" Cummin id Brethan purchased Ochter n-Achid with its appttrtenances, both wood aud plaicand meadow, with its fort and its garden. Half of this wood, and house, and dun,7as mortmain to Cummin, for which they paid [yi-o??*] their treasure, viz. three ounceof silver, and a bar of silver, and a collar, three ounces of the base gold of the old disheof their seniors, [i. e. ancestors], the equivalent of half an ounce in hogs, and the eqivalent of half an ounce in sheep."
It is to b' observed, indeed, that the pieces corresponding with sitrals or screalls found in Ireland, even when in good preservation, but seldom wgh more than twenty-one or twenty-two grains ; and in like manor that those corresponding with the pinginns, which are all bractetes, seldom weigh more than seven ; and that such was tlie usual wcTht of the latter, in the ninth century, would appear from the follcving passage in Cormac's Glossary, rmder the word;)?- s,re, the anciat Irish name for the ouncel, or steel-yard.
" Pir'n-^, •'• k-«'pe, .1. cpano leean-ceno blp oc coriiap oen pinrinne coriiaip, .1. comrponim .„n.-5pa,ne pip-cpuirnechra p.p, cm, amm ,n cpamo, no m camain; '"''^'' "'""' °r"^5'no; oen pinjino, om, aipe ,n chpaino pn."
I. o ,.•«-«/,-, i. e. a broad-headed beam, which is for weighing onepinghin
^. tl weight of seven grains of pure wheat. Pis, then, is the name of
lierunk and/.,,, ,s, also, a name for Xh^ pinginn ; because on^pinginn
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furnished by the preceding passage is further cor-
.tr,v.l nrV 7"? ?"'°''' ''''*^^'' ^^ ^'^ ^iicient sermon on .tzayal 0 Christ by Judas, preserved in the LeaMar Breac, in
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OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
the Library of the Royal Irisla Academy, in which tl into a calculation oi' the value, in Irish money, of t which Judas was paid for his treachery :
221
writer enters thirty pieces
ounce wanted a ifortunate Judas
" Cpom, qia, ooBapca na cennaijeccci, in can cepca a cerf die oo'n cerhtui-
TTicro unja. In xn. n-uipjennce cuc|^ac liiDuioe pop ISpac Cpfpt ) luoap anpecc-
niich, .1. occ pen^uioe co leir, lap niiniiip coircliiiio, ip eo pil it ec aiprenc oib, lap na pcpibeno la ppuirib na n-Gbpaioe." — Fol. 73, a, b.
" Great, indeed, the foulness of the purcliase, when tlie four quarter. The thirty argcntei [tlenarii] which the Jews gave the for betraying Christ : i. e. eight piiicjinns and a lialf, after the g« ral enumeration, is what is in each argenteus of tliem, according to the writings o: le learned among the Hebrews."
According to the previous calculation, if we allo-« ixty grains to each of the araentei, which is the usual weitfht of the Ionian itraen- tens, or denarius, then ciu-reut in Jerusalem, it will liseen, that the unga, or oimce, contained four himdi-ed and eighty ains, and the pitigmn, or penny, seven grains and one-seventeentl
Should it be objected, that if the Irish had had i ated pieces oi' these denominations, previously to the Danish irruptils, allusions to them would be made in the authentic annals of the couliy, the answer is, — that the annals relating to those early times 8 i so brief and meagre, that they preserve to us little beyond the i tes of battles,
amh the word
and of the deaths of distinguished men ; and that t aijijeD, i. e. silver, — the only one used to designatepioney of any description at the present day, like the French argeii fi'om the cii-- cumstance of the ancient minted pieces being of siftr only, — does frequently occiu-, — as in the metaphorical notice imhe Annals of Tighernach, at the year 718, of a FrTr '^'1^5''"'^' whiaMagcoghegan translates, " a shower of money ," — yet as the word | its literal sig- nification denotes silver simply, no certain inferenctan be drawn from it either way. Yet, in some instances, it is Acult to doubt that this word was applied to minted money, as in tllfollowing pas- sage in the Annals of Ulster, at the year <J46 : f
" A. D. 946. Can ino InnpaiDij pacpai5 o'apgac 51I o Cerm Cojain 00 pa- rpaij." I
" A. D. 946. The full of the Innfaidhech Patraig of white 8iIvm"or white money] teas given by the Cinel Eoghain, to St. Patrick." [i. e. to Joseph,« successor.]
As the relic here caMed Innjaidhech, but more cc scily Fi/ni /'a i-
•220 INQriRY INTO THE OHIGIN AND USES
bractoato money of any other nation. Were such names indeed found in Irisli authorities previously to their application to coins in other countries, it might justly be concluded that they were mere deno- minations of weights of metals; but no such terms occur in the authentic documents of earlier date. There is no mention of screpalls or ])in<iiiuis in the Book of Rights, nor in the most ancient Lives of St. Patrick, in which, liowcvcr, we find most distinct reference to the valuation of property by gold and silver in weight, as the follow- ing remarkable passage from the Annotations of Tirechau will suffi- ciently show :
" Dippojjel Cummen ocup 6ped)an Ochrep n-QcliiD co n-a peilb, icep pio ocup tnaj ocup lenu, co n-u lliup ocup a llubgopc. Ogoilep oin ou Chummin lech in ooppi po, in uoim, in ouinni, con piccaoap a peuic ppie, .1. .111. unjai apjaic, ocup cpann apjic, ocup muince, .111. n-unjae co n-opocli oip pen-mepib penaipocib, I05 Irirli unjtie oi muccib, ocup I05 leich ungcie Di chuipib." — Book of Armagh, FoL 17, h, 1.
" Cuinniin and Brethan purchased Ocliter n-Achid witli its appurtenances, both ■wood and plain and meadow, with its fort and its garden. Half of this wood, and liouse, and dun, was mortmain to Cummin, for which they paid \_fro'ni~\ their treasure, viz. three ounces of silver, and a bar of silver, and a collar, three ounces of the base gold of the old dishes of their seniors, [i. e. ancestors], the equivalent of half an ounce in hogs, and the equivalent of half an ounce in sheep."
It is to be observed, indeed, that the pieces corresponding with sigals or screpalls found in Ireland, even when in good preservation, but seldom weigh more than twenty-one or twenty-two grains ; and in like manner that those corresponding with the jringinns, which are all bracteates, seldom weigh more than seven; and that such was the usual weight of the latter, in the ninth century, would appear from the following passage in Cormac's Glossary, under the word pi- sire, the ancient Irish name for the ouncel, or steel-yard.
" PiI''Pe, •!• Pip-aipe, .1. cpano leran-ceno bip oc comap oen pinjmne rorhaip, .1. comrpomm .on. n-^paine pip-cpuirnechrci. pip, om, cnnm in cpamo, no in cama'in ; pip, Din, 0111m 00 pinjino; oen pmjino, om, aipe in chpauio pm."
" Pisire, i. e. pis-aire, i. e. a broad-headed beam, which is for weighing onepinginn of weight, i. e. the weight of seven grains of pure wheat. Pis, then, is the name of the beam or the trunk, and;./* is, also, a name for thepingimi; because one pingh.n IS what that beam weighs."
The evidence furnished by the preceding passage is further cor- roborated by the following curious notice, in an ancient sermon on the betrayal of Christ by Judas, preserved in the Leabhar Breac, in
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 221
the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, in wliicli the writer enters into a calcuhxtion of tlie value, in Irish money, of the thirty pieces which Judas was paid for his treachery :
" Cpom, qin, ooBqica na cennaijecca, in cun r:e\'za a cerpuime oo'ii cechpci- tncro unjo. In xxx. n-cnjijennce cucpac luociioe pop Bpac Cpipc do Juonp cinpecc- ncich, .1. occ penjinoe co leir, lap nuni\ip coiccliino, ip eb pil in cec aipxenc oib, lap na pcpibeno la ppuirib na n-Gbpaioe." — Fol. 73, a, b.
" Gi'eat, indeed, the foulness of tlie purchase, when the fourth ounce wanted a quarter. The thirty argoitei [j-lenarii'\ which the Jews gave the unfortunate Judas for betraying Christ : i. e. eight pinginns and a half, after the general enumeration, is what is in each aiyenteus of them, according to the writings of the learned among the Hebrews."
According to the previous calculation, if we allow sixty grains to each of the argentei, which is the usual weight of the Roman arge/i- teus, or denarius, then cm-rent in Jerusalem, it will be seen, that the unga, or oimce, contained fom- himdi-ed and eighty grains, and the pinginn, or penny, seven grains and one-seventeenth.
Should it be objected, that if the Irish had had minted pieces of these denominations, previously to the Danish irruptions, allusions to them would be made in the authentic annals of the country, the answer is, — that the annals relating to those early times are so brief and meagre, that they preserve to us little beyond the dates of battles, and of the deaths of distinguished men ; and that though the word ai]i5eo, i. e. silver, — the only one used to designate money of any description at the present day, Uke the French argent, from the cir- cumstance of the ancient minted pieces being of silver only, — does frequently occui', — as in the metaphorical notice in the Annals of Tighernach, at the year 718, of a ppoj-p ajigaio, which Mageoghegan translates, " a shower of money ," — yet as the word in its hteral sig- nification denotes silver simply, no certain inference can be drawn from it either way. Yet, in some instances, it is difficult to doubt that this word was applied to minted money, as in the following pas- sage in the Annals of Ulster, at the year 946 :
" A. D. 946. Can ino InnpaiDij pacpaij o'apgac 51I o Ceniul Cojain do pu- rpaij."
" A. D. 946. The full of the Innfaidkech Patraig of white silver [or white money] was given by the Cinel Eoghain, to St. Patrick." [i. e. to Joseph, his successor.]
As the relic here c-dWed Innfaidhech, but more correctly Fin )i/ui-
■>■>•) INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
dhevli by the Four Masters, in tliuir record of this donation, — and whicli, according to the ancient poem by Flann of the Monastery, and the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, was made by Mac Cecht, one of iliL' saint's smiths or artificers in ii-on, — ^was a bell, as I have shown in my Essay on ancient Irish Bells, it is not easy to imagine it to have been filled with any other kind of tribute collected among the numerous tribe of the Cinel Eoghain, than pieces of silver, each of small value, then in circulation. When, however, at a later period, our annals become more detailed, we find in them passages which show the use both of the screpall and pingmn, as the following ex- amples will sufficiently prove. Thus, in Mageoghegan's translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, at the year 1009, we have the following entry :
A. D. 1009. " There was great scarcity of Corne and Victualls tliis year in Ireland, insomvicli that a hoop [i. e. a quarter of a peck] was sold for no less than five groates, which came (as my author sayeth), to a. penny for every barren." [i.e. cake.]
It is to be regretted that Ave have not the original Irish of this pas- sage, to ascertain the Irish word whicli Mageoghegan has translated groate ; but it can scarcely be doubted that it must have been one of the Irish terms for the screpall, or larger silver coin in use amongst them, as that denominated groat did not come into use in Ireland till the reign of Edward III.
Thus also, in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 1031, distinct mention is made of the pinginn, as being then in general circulation at Armagh, and there is every reason to believe it Irish and not Danish money :
"A. D. 1031. plairbepcach na Neill do roioectcc 6 Roim. Qp ppi pemeap plaicBepcaij po juiBcI on connpao olmop i n-Qpomcichti, arhail ay poUup ip in pane:
" Seipeoach do 5pan copca, No cpian o'uipnib Dub-copcpa, No DO oepcnaib oapach ouinn, Ho DO cnoaib palac pionn-cuiU, po jciibre gan cacha cinn 1 n-Qpomacha ap aon pmjinn.''
"A. D. 1031. Flaithbhertach O'Neill returned from Rome. It was during the reign of Flaithbhertach that the very great bargain was used to be got at Armagh, as is evident in the verse :
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 223
" A shesheaijh (measure) of oaten grain, Or a third of [of a measure] black-red sloes, Or of the acorns of the brown oak, Or of the nuts of the fair hazlc hedge, Was got without stiff bargaining At Armagh for one pinginn.''''
This Flaitlibhertach O'Neill, whose father, Muirchcrtach, king oi' Aileach or Ulster, was slain by Ainlalf the Dane, in 975, succeeded his brother Aodh, in the year 1005, and died in 1036, after having made a pilgrimage to Rome.
The preceding passages seem to me quite sufficient to prove that the words pinguin and screpall, among the Irish, were applied to coins, and that the weight of the former was usually seven grains, and of the latter about twenty-one grains ; and as we find in Ireland two classes of ancient coins which, when in good preservation, cor- respond Avith these weights, we have every reason to conclude that they are the denominations of money so often referred to in the ancient Lish authorities. These conclusions mirfit be strengthened by many additional evidences from those authorities ; but fearing to prolong this digression to a tedious extent, I shall only add one more, relative to the pinginn, or seven-grained piece, which is more imme- diately the subject of this disquisition. It is found in a very ancient Glossary, on vellum, in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, as an explanation of the word pinginn, and also in several copies of Cor- mac's Glossary, written in the ninth century :
" P'^^S'""' ^l^T' po'iunj, .1. papp in uncio ; uel benninj, .i. a n-injnaif a beann aca, .i. cpuinn."
^'■Pinginn, c\VLa.A pan-Jing, i. e. part of an ounce ; or, benn-ing, i. e. it wants benns (points), i. e. [it is] round.''''
If it be considered that the application of the word penning to a coin amongst the Saxons must have been famihar to Cormac, it will be obvious that he could hardly have explained the meaning of the word in this manner if he did not intend to intimate that it was applied to a coin minted by the Irish also ; nor would he have given such derivations for it, if he supposed it had its origin amongst the Danes in Ireland.
But though the custom of minting money may, on the preceding evidences, be conceded to the Irish, it may still be argued that this custom was derived from the Danes in the ninth centiuy ; and to
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amoun V. - - - jU* ^V'iiK** ^4 uW IrS^ HV3xe>> — *wl ii iss »v«in*Ji^iv»W*'' that lusay ©f nfluem w«n? muSmitKNS iw l^mWivu IXvuw iLA'^^hvidi h«?^ «v deed, be«ni madh faui^ii^, m cfipc^Wm Hi^ AYsw wiXii \}<t'i> w^'O^^ hi^y of our annisJ-"^ tHi^^ :fts><f5nv to iW Sjirsil t-^^aiMi i^" }m ,iw#»'^^*/«W*w t^ftv^ land, thai i3*e l^wui'* >vi*-jv vlinrii*5ia)>Ma<i>i^ 5in lnvHaJiiJ iw lilu" l^^ni"* i.^ Sitric L ^K3; antt<3 m ^^ s»iWmhh? «.\liiliiM4 lu^ vwUimx^ 1x> «Sj!itM-(, \\\9,\ thev wene Clhiii^isuB* <eveitt in »l»e time o»f Ivjur L, J^TO, «««l this «>n ^u> other evideiiioe ttlaam tBaat W Jinat^s a <-r(XS« la^ iv c*'«in, Avhioh ho !*rtys \v«s minted in DiiIbliiQ, aand wliicli oxhihits tho loi^Mul, " Ifhrns lit^ ihifhn " But, as tteine were moire Iy5W^ iJiau one, ho sho\dd hjtvo jvivou s.m\»<^ reason for asciilmiiig lliis coin to Ivar I,, who, «ooonling li» ull \\\o Ii'ish iinnals, was a pagan, railior llian to Ivnr II.. \vhi> avhs i\ Chiisiinn : besides, no such words as /»Vi>f/(/»»» appoiir in iho U^iivutl on \]\o com to which he refers, and even if ihev did tlioy wonhl noi \\\\\\o ii ;i coin of the first Ivjir, as Ivar II. was also king ot" Dublin, liulocil u is now senerallv aoknowlcilsred to be a coin of Ivar ov Ifiirs II. \)\)',) ; for, as Mr. Lindsay well observes. " the eoins formerly a^siguiii i.i Ifars I., bear such a strong resemblance to those of Sihirii 1 11 . :i- ii render it nearly certain that thev ought to be nssiguid lo ir;ii> 1 1 Jieiroffhe Coinage of Ireland, p. 12.
With much greater appearance of probability Dr. O'C'imor, wlui repudiates the assertion of Dr. Led'nnch. finds on n roin, luiMi^lird in Gibson's edition of Camden, an inscription, wliidi. he thinks, proves it to be a coin of Aedh Finnliath, monarch of Ireland iVoni the yeur 863 to 879, and the last Irish monarch who bore the name "Ai:i),'' which appears on the coin in question. His words, — which are given in a note on an entry in the Annals of Ulster at the jear 93(j, re- cording a memorable battle fought between Athelstan, king oj' the Saxons, and Amlaff. king of the Danes, — are well worth transcribing, and are as follows :
" Amlafo iioiinuUi nuuimum argcntum [argenteum] tribiiunt, t'dituni a Gibsoiw,
2 G ^
■)-2 [ INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
settle this question, the auliquity of the pieces remaining to us must be tested by a comparison of the types on them with those on tlie coins of other countries, whose ages have been determined.
The opinions of those numismatists, who conclude that the Danes were the introducers of coin into Ireland, is founded upon the sup- position, which I belie\e to be wholly erroneous, that the Pagan Danes were vastly more advanced in civilization than the Irish, a let- h'vvd and Christian people, whom they came to plunder, and, if pos- sible, to conquer. Hear Mr. Pinkerton on this point :
" The Danes, a wise and industrious, as well as victorious people, being much more advanced in society [than the Irish] when they settled in Ireland, were the founders of Dublin, Limeric, and other cities ; the seats of little Danish kingdoms, whore arts and industry were alone known. Their frequent invasions of England, and neio-hbourhood to that opulent kingdom, made them acquainted with coinage. And it is clear, from the form and fabric, that the old rude pennies, found in Ireland, are struck by the Danes there. These pieces have no resemblance of the old Gaulic or liritisli ; or even of the skeattas, or English pennies ; but are mere rude copies of those of the eighth or ninth centuries, executed by artists who could neither form nor read letters, and ther;;fore instead of them, put only strokes, I II II I." — Essay o>i Medals, vol. ii. pp. 133, 154.
This assumed superiority of the Danes is wholly gratuitous, as no remains of that people have been discovered in Ireland, that would in any degree authorize it. It cannot be said that Irish artists in the eighth or ninth century could not form or read letters, for I have myself collected several hundred well-sculptured Irish inscriptions of those very centuries, while, on the other hand, not a single Danish inscription has been ever discovered in Ireland. And if the rude imitations of the Saxon money, to which Pinkerton alludes, were made in Ireland in the eighth or ninth century, they must have been made by the Irish, as they always present Christian devices ; and we have the authority of the Irish annals, acquiesced in by Ware, that the Irish Danes were first converted to Christianity about the year 948, and that the first of them recorded as Christians lived in the time of Godfrid, son of Sitric, who succeeded Blacar II. as king of Dublin in that year. And certain it is that the earliest ascertained Danish money, minted in Ireland, is that of the brother of Godfrid, Sitric III., 98!), while according to Mr. Pinkerton himself, we have well struck pieces of an Irish king Donald, who, that writer states, is probably Donald O'Neill, g.56 ; so that we would have greater
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 225
reason to suppose that tlic type on those coins of the Litter, winch resenibks that on the coins of DonakI, Avas derived from it, tlian that the coins of DonakI were struck in iniitatitMi of those of Sitric. Nor can it be fairly supposed that the usual type on the coins of Sitric was derived from a Saxon prototype ; for, if we look for such among the money of the Saxon princes, ^ve find it only on the coins of Ethelred II., 979, 1015,— which for their peculiarity, are known among niunismatists as coins of the Irish type, — and it is remarkable that many of them Avere minted in Dublin. Doctor Ledwich has, in- deed, been rash enough, in opposition to Ware and the whole body of our annals, to assert, in the first edition of his Antiquities nflre- l(tn(l, that the Danes Avere christianized in Ireland in the time of Sitric I., 893 ; and in the second edition he ventures to assert, that they Avere Christians even in the time of Ivar I., 870, and this on no other evidence than that he finds a cross on a coin, which he says Avas minted in Dublin, and Avhich exhibits the legend, '' I/'arusIieD_i/Jli/i." But, as there Avere more Ivars than one, he should have given some reason for ascribing this coin to Ivar I., Avho, according to all tlie Irish annals, was a pagan, rather than to Ivar II., Avho was a Christian : besides, no such words as Re Di/flin appear in the legend on the coin to Avhich he refers, and even if they did they Avould not prove it a coin of the first Ivar, as Ivar II. Avas also king of Dublin. Indeed it is noAV generally acknowledged to be a coin of Ivar or Ifars II. 993 ; for, as Mr. Lindsay Avell observes, " the coins formei'ly assigned to Ifars I., bear such a strong resemblance to those of Sihtric III., as to render it nearly certain that they ought to be assigned to Ifars II." — Vieir of the Coinage of Ireland, p. 12.
With much greater appearance of probability Dr. O'Conor, avIio repudiates the assertion of Dr. Ledwich, finds on a coin, published in Gibson's edition of Camden, an inscription, A\diich, he thinks, proA'es it to be a coin of Aedli Finnliath, monarch of Iieland from the A'ear 863 to 879, and the last Irish monarch who bore the name " Aed," Avhich appears on the coin in question. His words, — Avhieh are given in a note on an entry in the Annals of Ulster at the }'ear 93(i, re- cordino- a memorable battle foutiht between Athelstan, kincr of the Saxons, and Amlatf, king of the Danes, — are well worth transcribing, and are as folloAvs :
"Amlafo nonnnlll nuiniiuuu argi'iitum [nrgcntcum] trilpimnt, editura a GUjscmo,
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Caimlen Op. v. 1, Tab. iii. No. 34, p. li)5. — At, iminmus iste nullam exhibet notam Clironicam, pricter nonifii Aiiilafi Regis Dublinii, et insignem crucis ; et cum alii I'ue- ruiit Aiulafi po.<terioit's, cavcndum est iie luiic tribuatur, quod ajque tribui potest suc- cessori. Fulluulur certe qui Sitricuin I Cliristiana' Eelifrioni noinen dcdisse contendunt, ex alio nuinmo, crucem exhibente, cum Sitrici nomiue insculptam ; quasi vero alii non fuerint Sitrici posteriores, quibus potiori jure tribui possit, quam prime, qui Ecclosiis Hilieriiia- fuit hostis iul'ensissiinus ! — Ledicichiiis, in Opere cui titulus '■An- tiquities, &c. Dublin 1 790,' Annales nostros, quos nee videre licuit, nee, si vidisset, ex lingua; antiqua; ignorantia, intelligere posset, ex isto tamen nummo, non dubitat eastigare I ' This coin of Sithric I, is the earliest inscribed coin that has hitherto occurred. It is valuableybr correcting our Annalists. The cross on it evinces that the Danes were now Christians.' p. 126. At, etsi concedamus esse Sithrici I, quod in- certum est, ergone sequitur esse antiquissimum, et errasse Annales nostros, qui Dauos, regnante Sitltrico I, Ethnicos fuisse affirmant ? — Oportebat primo omnes extantes ex- plicasse. Extant nonnulli editi a Gibsono, et hactenus inexplicati, quorum unum de certo affirmo, esse saltem Aedi Regis Hibernia;, qui floruit ab anno 863 ad 879. Is enim ultinms fuit istius nominis, et nummi characteres sunt aed — rii — midin. i. e. AED REX MIDEXSIUM — Monendi sunt Scriptores nostri, ne, absque gravissima causa, ab his Annalibus discedant ; recentiores sunt qui tempora, et nomina Eegum miser- rime confundunt. Asserere non vereor, neminem adhuc, ea qua decet doctrina, et diligentia, de re nostra numismatica scripsisse. Plurimi sibi nomen Antiquarii arro- gare student, pauci merentur." — Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores, torn. iv. pj). 262, 263.
I mav here remark, however, that Dr. O'Conor is in error iu as- cribing tliis coin, the legend on which plainly reads rii midin, i. e. Kixc; OF MEATH, to the monarch Aedh Finnliath, for that prince, who was the head of the northern Hy-Niall, and had been king of Aileach, or Ulster, before he became monarch, was never king of Mcath ; and if he had struck this coin when monarch of Ireland, it woidd have borne a different legend. This coin, which certainly bears an Irish tj^e, may, with far greater probability, be ascribed to Aedh, the son of Maelruanaidh, who was the thirty-second king of Meath of the southern lly-Niall race, and was slain by his relative Domhnall, son of Donnchadh, about the year 922, after a reign of one year.
But, without attaching much weight to these facts, I would ask, is it fair to ascribe all those nider and more antique-looking coins, which are often without inscriptions, and when inscribed hitherto un- intelligible, to the Danish rather than to the Irish princes, — or, to sup- pose them, if struck by Iiish princes, — as is sometimes conceded, — to be but bungling imitations of the better minted coins of their invaders, struck at so late a period as the eleventh and twelfth centuries ? To
OF THE KOUXl) TOWERS OF IRELAND. 227
me it seems at least as fair to ascribe sucli pieces to the Irish as to the Danes, and I think tliat the probabiUty is greater that their antiquity is anterior to that of tlie well-minted money with U'gible legends than posterior to it. But, whatever uncertainty there may be as to the true originators and exact date of those heavier coins, which agree in weight with the Saxon and other pennies, or deniers, of the middle ages, it appears to me that tlie resl pennies of Ireland, — the bracteate pieces of seven grains, — have, at present, every claim to an Irish origin, or at least to an origin not immediately derived from either the Danes or Saxons. They do not seem to have been immediately derived from the Saxons, because that people appear to have had no such money, — at least, none such has been as yet found; nor could they have been derived from the Danes, if the generally received opinion be true, that they derived their knowledge of money from the Saxons ; and it may be remarked, that the earliest bracteate coins struck in Denmark are those of Harold, 9-15. It is true that the name penning, or pinginn, njiYAiedto these pieces by the Irish, seems to be of Teutonic origin, and it might have been derived from the Saxons by the Irish, though applied to a piece differing, not indeed in size, but in weight and thickness, from the Saxon penning. And till continental bracteates be found of earlier date than those whose ages are now determined, this would seem the most probable conclu- sion, as the derivation of the name from the Irish language, given by Cormac in the ninth century, clearly shows that the word must have been long in use in the countrv at the time, and could not have been adopted into the language from a recent introduction of this descrip- tion of money by the Danes.
Tliat these coins are indeed of Irish mintage is the opinion of Mr. Lindsay; but, while he allows the merit of striking the bracteate pieces to the Irish princes, from the absence of any resemblance betvv'eeu their types and those found on the Danish coins, he comes to the conclusion, — from a resemblance which, he thinks, he dis- covers between their tjqies and those of the English pennies sub- sequent to the reign of William I., — that their dates should be assigned to the early part of the thirteenth century. His words are :
" A comparison of tlaese types, witli tliose of the English coins, to which I have drawn tlie attention of the reader, will lead us to conclude, that they have been in general copied from English coins, commencing with William I. or II., and ending
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IXQUIHY INTO THE OKIGIX AXD USES
with Jiilin, oi- perlmps lluiiry III., iukI to assign as the probable period of tlieir luiii- tngf, the early part of the thirteenth century ; and as the Danes had then no power over, or intercourse with Ireland, it is not likely they were struck by that people, and still less by the English, who had then a very different coinage of their own, and never appear to have struck Bracteate coins in their own country ; and we may there- fore, conclude, that they are genuine and unquestionable specimens of the coins of the native Irish princes, and although a very poor description of coin, highly interesting, as forming a distinct and hitherto unknown class, in the annals of the coinage of Ire- land."— View of the Coinage n)' Ireland, p. 24.
As examples of bracteate coins, in which Mr. Lindsay fmds this imitation of the ty^QS on the coins of Stephen, Harold, and Henry I., I annex engravings of three bracteates, formerly in the collection of tlie Dean of St. Patrick's, and now in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, the two former of which have been given by Mr. Lindsay in Plate IV. of his work :
I confess, however, that I can see no such resemblance between these, or any other Irish bracteates, and Anglo-Norman prototj'pes, as would authorize the conclusion at which ]\Ir. Lindsay arrives. That amid a great variety of tjq^es, consisting of crosses, and ha\dng smaller ornaments within their angles, a few should bear some resemblance to tyi^es fomid on the reverses of coins of the Anglo-Norman kings, is not to be wondered at ; it Avould be strange, indeed, if some such coincidence did not occasionally occur : but it is too much to infer from a remote similarit}', which may be piu-ely accidental, that all those Irish bracteates, which present no such sunilarity of type, must be of cotemporaneous date Avith those in which Mr. Lindsay thinks he discovers it ; and he is obho-ed himself to acknowledo;e that he has found nothing like the type on one of those bracteates, except on coins of Offa, 757, and Coenwulf, 794. In the bracteate piece represented in the annexed engraving, the original of which also is in the Dawson Collection, we have an unequivocal example of that Xj^q, Avliich may be regarded as pecuharly Irish ; and that Uv. Lindsay could find no
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 229
resemblance between this coin and any oftliose of the Angio-Norman kings, we have sufficient evidence in the fact that he pnblishes it without a comment. In lilvc manner, if we compare the bracteate pieces, found in the Tower of Kildarc, witli tlie coins of the Sa.xon and Anglo-Norman kings, we shall find that they bear the greatest resemblance, in two instances, at least, to coins of Eadwald and the Mercian kings, Ofla and Coenwulf, as in the annexed examples :
and this appears to me to point to the true date of those pieces. I am aware, indeed, that an objection may be made to the antiquity I thus assign to them, from the double cross which appears upon one of them, inasmuch as the double cross is not found on the Anglo-Saxon coins of the heptarchic Kings, nor indeed on those of the sole mo- narchs earlier than the time of Etheked II. But, as I have already shown that the type on some of the coins of Ethelred is itself most probably derived from Ii'eland, no conclusion, I think, can be fairly grounded on this circu.mstance. There is scarcely a variety of cross, which is not to be found as a typical ornament in oiu" most ancient manuscripts, even in those of the sixth century, as well as on oiu- ancient sepulchral monuments anterior to the tenth; and among these a double cross is of the most common occiu-rence ; it is, there- fore, but natural to expect that the Irish Avould use on their coins the same variety of crosses as they employed on their sepulchral and other ornamented monuments.
In fine, it appears to me that the conclusion so generally adopted, that the Ii'ish owed the use of minted money to the Danes, is wholly gratuitous, and rests on no firmer basis than do those opinions, which assign the erection of our ancient churches, stone crosses, and other monuments, to that people, — opinions, which I shall prove to be utterly erroneous. It is quite certain that the Danes minted money in Ireland; not indeed, as is supposed, in the ninth century, but in the tenth and eleventh ; however, as they do not appear to have pre- viously coined money in their own country, and as the types on Avhat
230 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
seem to be their earliest coins, struck in Ireland, do not appear to liave been borrowed from the earlier or cotemporaneous Anglo-Saxon coins, but from the still ruder money without inscriptions, found abundantly in Ireland, it seems to me a more natural and philosophical induction, — and more in accordance with the historical evidences which I have adduced, — that such rude pieces are generally of Irish mintage, and anterior to the Danish irruptions, than that they are Danish, or Irish imitations, cotemporaneous Avith, or of a later age than the better minted coins of the Danes.
I think it probable, however, that the pi)i<}//uis, or bracteates, are of greater antiquity in Ii-eland than the screpaUs, as they appear to have been in Germany, Sweden, and Denmark : and am also of opinion that those rude pieces without legends, whether screpaUs or /linaifms, were very probably for the most part, if not whollv, eccle- siastical,— their tA'pes having usually a religious character, and being most commonly found in the localities of ancient ecclesiastical esta- blishments : as for instance, that ciuious hoard of coins found at Glendalough in 1639, of Avhich Sir James Ware published a few ex- amples, and concerning which Ledwich remarks, that " the mintage is extremely rude, and bespeaks the infancy of the art, and the unskil- fulness of the workman." But, according to this learned writer these coins must have been Danish, — and why ? Because, " As it [Glen- dalough] was built by the Danes, and much resorted to for devotion, Ave cannot admire at finding much of their money there." These as- sertions of Doctor LedAvich are really amusing. It Avas truly a sin- gular species of devotion Avhich these pious Avarriors exhibited at Glendalough, — bidlt, according to Doctor LedAvich, by themselves, in the ninth century, — that they plundered and devastated it in the years 830, 833, 886, 977, 98-2, 984, 985, 1016 ! I should also notice, as another remarkable instance of the discovery of coins at a cele- brated religious establishment, the " minores denarii, quasi oboli," — most probably the bracteate pennies, found near Kilcidlen in 1305,
of Avhich mention is made in au Exchequer record of 33 EdAv. I.
See Harris's Ware, vol. ii. p. 206. According to M. SchoepHiu, the ecclesiastical bracteates Avere the most common in Germany, Avhere they were knoAvn by the same name as in Ireland : " Ce sont les monnoies de cette espece qu'on trouve designees dans les chartes d'Allemagne, sous le nom de panniugi, derive du mot Tudcsque
OF THE nOUXD TOWEKS Or IRELAND. 231
pfenning^ — Histoire do V Acndeniic Rojjdle ties Inscriptions ef Belles-Lettres, torn, xxiii. p. 218.
If these arguments liave any weight, it will nt)t perha[)s be an improbable conjecture, — that the bracteate pinginns, or pennings, found at Kildare, were ecclesiastical coins minted there. And, in connexion with this conjectux'e, it may be worthy of remark, that in the Irish Annals at the year 962, where it is stated that a vast num- ber of the seniors and ecclesiastics of Kildare had been made cap- tives by the Danes, it is added that they were redeemed by Niall O'lleruilbh, — who was probably the Erenach of the place, though of Danish descent, as his name would seem to indicate, — with his own money. The passage is thus given in the Annals of Ulster :
"A. D. 963. Ceall oapa do apcam do ^allaiB, peo mipepabile rniipubili] piecace mipeprup tyr. cpia Niall li-Ll n-6puill3, peoeniprip omnibup clepicip pene ppo nomine tDomini, .1. Ian in DU151 moip Sancc ftpijci, 7 Ian in oepraiji ip e do puagell Niall Diib oia apjac pepin."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A.D. 963. Kildaria spoliata ab Alienigenis, sed miserabili pietate [mirabili] mi- sertus est Niall, iilius Erulbii, redemptis omnibus Clericis pene, pro nomine Domini, i. e. quotquot capere potuit domiis magna S. BrigidK, et Nosocomium, quos emit Niall ab eis, pretio argenti, eodem tempore."
The preceding translation by Dr. O'Conor is not, however, strictly correct, for the words ajijar pepm, which he renders, j^re^jo argenti, eodem tempore, should be expressed by propriis pecuniis, and it is so rendered by Colgan in his translation of the record of this trans- action, given in the Annals of the Four Masters at the year 962, as follows :
" A. D. 962. Ceall oapa oo apccain do ^hallaiB, 7 b]ioio liiop do ppuicib 7 do cleipciB DO jabuil DOiB ann, 7 Miall Ua h-Gpuilb oia B-piiapclao. 6an an roij^e moip Suncc 6pi5De, 7 Idn an oepcije ap eao do puaiciU Niall dioB oia apgao boDem."
" A. D. 962. Nortmanni Kildariam foede depopulati, senionim & Ecclesiasticorum plurimos captivos tenuerunt : ex quibus tot personas pro/trijs pecuniis redemit Nellus Olierluibh, quot in magna S. Brigidai domo, & Ecclesia simul eonsistere poterant." — Trias Tliaum., p. 630.
But whether the money here referred to was minted at Kildare or not, it is certain that ecclesiastical money was in use in Ireland at a later period, as it is stated in Mageoghegan's translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise that money was coined there in the year 1 1 70. This
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INQUIRY INTO THE OKIGIX AXD USES
was in the reign of Roderic O'Conor ; but we learn from tlie L Mar Gahhala of the O'Clerys, an authority of great vakie, that loney was also minted there in the reign of his father Tiu-logh ; ad it is bv no means improbable that money was coined there at auuch earlier period, though the records of such mintages have n< been jareserved. or at least not yet discovered.
On the whole, then, I have, I trust, adduced sufficient evionces to ^ow the great probability, if not absolute certainty, that jined Haoanej "sras in use in Ireland pre\-iously to the Danish iiTuptios, and tlnat the discovery of bracteate pinohiiix in the Round Tower f Kij. dlare, — ^which there is every reason to believe were placeddiere, either accidentally or by design, cotemporaneously with its iisinal ereciioo, — affords no presumption at variance with the antiquitwhich laaan disposed to assign to that edifice, or to the style of archi'cture "wMcli it exhibits, namelv, the close of the eighth, or besrininT of nine mnth centm-y, when the description of the church of ildare "wa? wntten by Cogitosus. Indeed, were I disposed to venire on assagning this doorway to an earlier period, nay, even to theige of St. B&ddget, to which the legend in Cambrensis woidd seem i refer it. thep? is, I think, nothing in its style of architecture whichvoiild iuTaiidaie such a supposition, as there is no feature in its decoitions of ^hich earlier examples may not be foimd in the comipte. iiichi- twtare of Greece and Rome. Of the triaugiUar. or rather gived lab?I ox canopy, which appears above the architrave or semiacular ''; " - -^ external iace, an example is found over : semi-
*'^- - - doorway of a temple on a coin of the Emperor I. inius,
A. D, 301 ; and another example, exhibiting an ogived or con-asted aitk oecmrs in the Syriac MS. of the Gospefs. transcribed in te year oSd and preserved in the Mediceo-Laiuvntian Library at Firence. Ot • v]v.n moulding, which ornaments the architrave ot he se-
cv otwo ivcossod aivhes. abimdant examples are fond, as
onmnents on aivh movddings. in the Svriac MS alreadv refevd to; and a ivmarkablo example of the use of this ornament on a mt an- cient aivh at Cluuxlak. iu Syria, is noticed by the Rev. Mr. inmdel n> his ] .,../ /,> tfw Snrn Churches of'Asia, p. 103 : it is also amed as an a,yh v«-,uuuent in the oxquisitelv extvuted illumination m the iHXxk ot KoUs,-»> mamiscript copy of the Gostvls, undoubted! of the s».xth coutury, whid,, as 1 have ahvadv noticed, is now prescved in
raMtairt
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233
the Ibrary of Trinity College, Dublin ; and I need hai'dly remark, tliat : also appears as a frequent decoration on the mouldings which cap :e Corinthian modillions in the palace of Dioclesian at Spalatro, erect d between the years 290 and 300. In like manner, of the lozer^e pannelling, enriched with rosettes, which decorates the sofHt of th innermost recessed arch, examples are found on the fragments of Eaian architecture discovered in the subterranean galleries of Poitiis, — which fragments the most eminent antiquaries of France consier to be of the close of the third century. — See Memoires de la Soiete des Antiquaries de V Quest, tome premier, p. 57-
1 the preceding remarks I should add, that this interesting door-ay is built of a hard, siliceous sandstone, of light colour, and that ':e ornaments are carved in very low relief Its general form may e described as consisting originally of four concentric arches, one icessed beyond the other, and resting on roimd pilastres, or semi-ohmms, with flat imposts or capitals. The ornaments on the exteral arch have been long destroyed, and their place was supplied with .ide masonry at the commencement of the last century. The ornarents on the recessed arches are also much injured, and the fourtl or innermost arch, is the only one now remaining in tolerable preseration. The external arch is seven feet two inches in height, and tree feet eight inches in width ; the second arch is six feet ten iuche in height, and three feet two inches in width ; the third arch is six jet seven inches in height, and two feet ten inches in widtli ; and tL' fourth, or innermost arch, is five feet eight inches in height, two fet one inch in width, and one foot three inches in depth. The entirelepth of tlie doorway, or thickness of the wall, is four feet ; and tl' height of its floor from the ground is fifteen feet. The floor of thi doorway is raised by a step of eight inches in height at the inneriost arch, and it is jjrobable that the other divisions may have been used above each other by similar steps, as I shall presently show u example of such an arrangement in a doorway of similar const! ction.
Tl; opinions which I have thus ventured to express as to the age of he doorway of the Eound Tower of Kildare, and consequently as to te antiquity, in Ireland, of the style of architectiu-e which it exhib ■, Avill, I think, receive additional support from the agreement of ma of its ornaments with those seen in the better preserved, if
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•232 INQIIHV IN'TO THE ORIGIN AND USES
wa.s in the ivign of Rodoric O'Conor ; but we Icaiu from tlie Lenhhar (inhlmlit of tl^e O'Clervs, an autliority of great value, that money Avas also minted there'in the reign of his father Turlogh ; and it is by no means improbable that money was coined there at a much earlier period, tliougli the records of such mintages have not been preserved, or at least not yet discovered.
On tlu' wln.le, then, I have, T trust, adduced sufficient evidences to show the great probability, if not absolute certainty, that coined money was in use in Ireland previously to the Danish irruptions, and tliat the discovery of bracteate pinginiu in the Round Tower of Kil-
(lare, which there is every reason to believe were placed there,
either accidentally or by design, cotemporaneonsly with its original erection, — affords no presumption at variance with the antiquity which I am disposed to assign to that edifice, or to the style of architectnre which it exhibits, namely, the close of the eighth, or beginning of t!ie ninth century, when the description of the churcli of Kildare was written by Cogitosus. Indeed, were I disposed to venture on assifTninfr this doorwav to an earlier period, nay, even to the age of St. Bridget, to which the legend in Cambrensis would seem to refer it, there is, I think, nothing in its style of architectui'e which Avoidd invalidate such a supposition, as there is no feature in its decorations of which earlier examples may not be found in the corrupted archi- tecture of Greece and Rome. Of the triangular, or rather ogived label, or canopy, whicli appears above the architrave or semicircular moulding on its external face, an example is found over a semi- circular-headed doorway of a temple on a coin of the Emperor Licinius, A. D. 301 ; and another example, exliibiting an ogived or contrasted arch, occurs in the SyriacMS. of the Gospels, transcribed in the )X'ar 586, and preserved in the Mediceo-Laiirentian Library at Florence. ( )f the chevron moulding, which ornaments the architrave of the se- cond of the two recessed arches, abundant exainples are found, as ornaments on arch mouldings, in the Syriac MS. already referred to; and a remarkable example of the use of this ornament on a very an- cient arch at Chardak, in Syria, is noticed by the Rev. Mr. Arundel in his r/.svV to f/ie Set^en ClnirrJies of Asia, p. 103 : it is also figured as an arch ornament in the exquisitely executed illuminations in the Book of Kells, — a manuscript copy of the Gospels, undoubtedly of the sixth century, which, as I have already noticed, is now preserved in
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 233
tlie Library of Trinity College, Dublin ; and I need Jiardly remark, that it also appears as a frequent decoration on the mouldings Avhicli cap the Corinthian modillions in the palace of Dioclesian at Spalatro, erected between the years 290 and 300. In like manner, of the lozenge panuelling, enriched wdth rosettes, which decorates the soffit of the innermost recessed arch, examples are found on the fragments of Eoman architecture discovered in the subterranean galleries of Poitiers, — which fragments the most eminent antiquaries of France consider to be of the close of the third centiu-y. — See Meinoires de la Societe des Antiquaries de V Quest , tome premier, p. 57-
To the preceding remarks I shoidd add, that this interesting doorway is built of a hard, siliceous sandstone, of light colour, and that 'the ornaments are carved in very low relief Its general form may be described as consisting originally of four concentric arches, one recessed beyond the other, and resting on romid pilastres, or semi-columns, with flat imposts or capitals. The ornaments on the external arch have been long destroyed, and their place was supplied with rude masonry at the commencement of the last century. The ornaments on the recessed arches are also much injured, and the foui'th, or innermost arch, is the only one now remaining in tolerable preservation. The external arch is seven feet two inches in height, and three feet eight inches in Avidth ; the second arch is six feet ten inches in height, and three feet two inches in width ; the third arch is six feet seven inches in height, and two feet ten inches in width ; and the foirrth, or innermost arch, is five feet eight inches in height, two feet one incli in width, and one foot three inches in depth. The entire depth of the doorway, or thickness of the wall, is four feet ; and the height of its floor from the ground is fifteen feet. The floor of this doorway is raised by a step of eight inches in height at the innermost arch, and it is probable that the other divisions may have been raised above each other by similar steps, as I shall presently show an example of such an arrangement in a doorway of similar construction.
The opinions which I have thus ventured to express as to the age of the doorway of the Round Tower of Kildare, and consequently as to the antiquity, in Ireland, of the style of architecture ■which it exhibits, Avill, I think, receive additional support from the agreement of many of its ornaments with those seen in the better preserved, if
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234
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
not moiv bcautifvil, doorway of the Round Tower of Timalioe, m the Queen's County,— a doorway which seems to be of cotemporaneous erection, and which, like that of Kildare, exhibits many peculiarities, that I do not recollect to have found in buildings of the Norman times, either in England or Ireland. The general appearance of this doorway will be seen in the annexed sketch :
As this doorway, which is the finest of its kind remaining in Ire- land, is of the highest interest, not only on account of the richness, and, as I conceive, antiquity of its decorations, but also from its high state of preservation, it will be desirable that I should endeavour to illustrate its several featui'es as clearly as possible, both by drawings and verbal descriptions.
This doorway, like that of Kildare, is formed of a hard siliceoiis sandstone, and may be described as consisting of two divisions, sepa- rated from each other by a deep reveal, and presenting each a double compound recessed arch, resting on plain shafts with flat capitals. As in the doorway of the Tower of Kildare, the carving is all in very low relief, and its height from the ground is the same with that of the doorway of that Tower, namely, fifteen feet. The general
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
235
>;|.
arrangement of its several compartments will be best understood fi'om tlie annexed ground plan, to which I add a vertical section, to sliow ^ . _^- the manner in which the
floor rises towards the inte- rior by a succession of three steps.
On its external face the outer arch rests on a sill pro- jecting from the face of the wall, and is ornamented on each side Avith two semico- lumns and other mouldings. The capitals of the shafts are decorated with human heads; and the bases, which are in better preservation than the capitals, present, at their al- ternate eastern angles, a si- milar human head, and, at their alternate western an-
[»;^^5t^«a
tiSipS?®*^'
gles,
a figure not unlike an hour-glass. The architrave, on its external face, is more simply de- corated, but on its soffit it presents an ornament, p--^.^.^,.,^.^,™.^. — , which may be described as a pellet and bead moulding, as shoA\m in the annexed sketch. The measvirement of the shafts of this external arch, including the bases and capitals, is five feet eight inches. The breadth, at the spring of the arch, is three feet nine inches, and at the base, four feet; and the entire height of the arch is seven feet six inches. The jambs of this outer division splay by an obtuse angle to the second or recessed arch, which is ornamented somewhat similarly to the first, except that the soffit of the arch is more highly enriched, presenting a diagonal pannel- ing, which forms a chevron moulding at its corners. The jambs of this second arch, which are one foot three inches in width, are rounded into semi-columns at their angles ; and, though their bases present no decorations, their imposts, or capitals, — if such they may be called, which are more of the nature of friezes, — are ornamented
2 u 2
■_>3()
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
in a very elogiint style ol" design, and are fortunately in a high state of preservation. These junibs, including the bases and capitals, are five feet in height, and one foot three inches in depth. The width of the arch at top is two feet six inches, and at bottom two feet nine inches ; and the entire height from the floor to the vertex of the arch is six feet three inches. The floor of this recessed arch, or sub-arch, is raised by a step nine inches in height above the external one.
Of the capitals, or impost mould- ings, that at the west side presents at each angle a human head, with thick moustache, lank whiskers, and curl- ing, flowing beard. The hair of each head is divided in the middle of the forehead; and, passing over the ear, forms, by a mutual interlacing in the intervening space, a kind of cross of complicated and graceful tracery. The capitals on the east side pre- sent a design, similar, but diifering in some of the details, — the whiskers of the heads beins; curled, and the interlacino- of the hair forming a cross, less complicated but equally graceful.
The reveal, which divides the outer compound archway from the inner one, is on each side six inches m depth, and seven inches and a quarter in breadth, and is without ornament of any kind ; but the inner compound archway is equally ornamented with the outer one. Like the outer arch- way, this compartment consists of two parts, or concentric arches, the floors of which, like those of the outer arch- way, rise over each other by steps nine inches in height. The front arch of this division is four feet three inches in height, from its floor to the spring of the arch, seven inches in depth, and five feet six inches in height, from the floor to the vertex of the
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
■2:M
arch. Its width is two feet six inches at tlie capitals, and two I'eet nine inches at the bases. The inner arch, or sub-arch, measures one foot six inches in width at its capitals, and one foot nine inches at its bases, and four feet four inches, in height, from the floor to the vertex of the arch. The jambs are three feet seven inches in height, and one foot three inches in breadth. At the base of the jamb on the Avest side there is a fourth step, nine inches in height and five in breadth, and running parallel with the wall ; but its use it would now be difficult to conjecture.
The outer division of this inner archway, as in the first compoinid archway already described, presents a semi-column at each of its angles, with a human head as a ca- pital. The head at the west side exhibits the hair arranged in massive ciuis over the forehead, while the space at the back of the head and imder the cheek is filled with a flowery interlaced ornament, (Z which springs from an angidar moulding at each f ,..m side of the semi-circular shaft, as shown above. [;; :;M The head, forming the capital at the east side, exhibits the hair divided over the forehead, a plain moustache, aiid
r
iW hair arrariff';'! m tiiffWn in th'.- a:
>iiK,
(/rciwi'l rt'li'jrf, ofj thf; nnuhXi-A <\t'a\ ]u:Hf\ ru(](:\y cjirvi ifU)mW:)i': an'] straight plaita, i rig shaft at tho 'J ttfirl <;xhiMt« a J'.'jI o» a high plifilli g«;n(;rnl view ofllj Thf! fin'-hitr!!.' mciil, on it
(l(M',Onil' 'I W,;:^
Tlir Milj
IM'cllVVII)'!
(liirci'ciii
lii'ili;'^
II.H
llh ,
*v
■9'
l^L'f*, ami ol a, sim-
pIkiIIs at Ijotli
UTJi '1 from the
iiH, as shoAvii in
Jg. 'I'lli- 1/;ISCS of
at the iini^loH are ice that iilrciidy de- shaft of llu! outer ; intermediate spaces ith crosses, forined mte depression iind SonuexfideiiLn'iiA'iirii'. 10 round iMouldiii,!4, jarved into lozenge
Btance, adduce any JO doniw ay, — for I
Iitlit(
-^.'-
OF TUK KiHNn TOWKKS OK ■CLAM).
i>:V)
liil to vonturo ou at^oribinij i >o original lomulor and \\\u indood in tlio tiflh oontuv 10 sixth, — yot it will, I thin foatiuvs ditloring fivni tlv Kildaiv, whioh aiv not o ibasod lu^nan aivhitootniv • ha/.anlous in tho oxtr arlior, at loast, than any maining in England.
Ot' capitals doc wo havooxan»plos!' in tho Svriao MS, t'onvd lo. 'Thov oxau\plos of \\on\n\ (lornian ohurohos,
^■■"W
root ion to tho tnno ol' saint ol' Timahoo, who s Vivhdall on\)noo\isly Iv soon that it pivsonts in tho doorw;»y of tho lonsly dorivod. liko tho thoLinvor Kmpiiv. and to dony n»ay ho ol\a [iMiuan o\an>plos ol" tho
Itod with human hoads »ld as tho sixth oontvuy, J>o(u>s|iols ali\>ady \v- usod in tho oarliosl lnuo ai"ohiIo>'l>nr n\ iho wliioli a hoaulilul ox-
willi I liosc (if llic cliurJos ill \<]
:inii now
iK'll
have
lliiis hu/,iii'(K'(1
ill npniisilc
<> llio
238
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
m.
the hair arranged in straight plaits under the chin, from ear to ear, as showi in tlie annexed wood cut.
The bases of the shafts present an equal dissimilarity in design as the capitals. That on the west side ex- hibits above the plintli an ornament, in de- pressed reliei; of tlie figure represented in the annexed drawing, and over it a liuman head rudely carved in low relief, ha\dng the moustache and beard arranged in stiff and straight plaits. The base of the correspond- in" shaft at the east side is less ornamented, and exhibits a sort of bulbous figiu'e resting on a high plinth, as sufficiently shown in the general view of this doorway, given in p. 234. The architrave of this arch is without orna- ment on its face, but its archivolt is richly decorated with a triple-chevi-on moulding. The sub-arch, or recessed division of this archway, is sculptiu'ed in a style altogether different from that of the outer archway, ^^ ifi^
being not in relief, as are all the other carv- ings of this interesting remain, but in depressed lines, and of a sim- pler design. The jambs are rounded into semicircular shafts at both their angles. The ornaments on the capitals are carried from the
true capital to its abacus, as shown in the preceding engraving. The bases of the semicircular shafts at tlie angles are H bulbous figures, like that already de- scribed on the eastern shaft of the outer archway; and the intermediate spaces are ornamented with crosses, formed by a check in alternate depression and relief, as shown in the annexed engraving. The architrave of this archway presents a simple round moulding, with angular fillets on each side, and the soffit is carved into lozenge pannels.
Though I cannot in this, as in the preceding instance, adduce any historical evidence in support of the antiquity of the doorway, — for I
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
■239
should be afraid to veuture on ascribing its erection to the time of St. Mochua, the original founder and patron saint of Timahoe, who flourished, not indeed in the fifth century, as Archdall erroneously states, but in the sixth, — yet it will, I think, be seen that it presents no architectural features differing from those in the doorway of the Eound Tower of Kildare, which are not obviously derived, like the latter, from the debased Roman architecture of the Lower Empire, and which it would be hazardous in the extreme to deny may be of a very eaiiy age, — earlier, at least, than any Norman examples of the kind, noticed as remaining in England.
Of capitals decorated with human heads we have examples as old as the sixth century, in the Syriac MS. of the Gospels already re- ferred to. They are used in the earliest examples of Romanesque architecture in the German churches, of Avhich a beautiful ex- ample, remarkable for its similarity in de- sign to some of those at Timahoe, is found in St. Ottmar's Chapel at Niirnberg, assigned to the tenth centmy. Of the bulbous, or tun-shaped bases, an example may be seen on a representation of a temple, figiu-ed on a coin of the tyrant Maxentius ; and their similarity in style of design to the rude baluster columns of the oldest Saxon churches in England, as those of Bricksworth and Earlsbarton in Northamptonshire, can scarcely fail to strike the archi- tectiu-al antiquary. The strongest evidence in favour of the antiquity of this doorway may, however, be drawn from the construc- tion and general style of the Tower, as in the fine-jointed character of the ashlar work in the doorway and windows; and still more in the straight-sided arches of all the windows, which, with the exception of a small qua- drangular one, perfectly agree in style with those of the most ancient chiu'ches and Round Towers in Ii-eland, and with those of the churches in En "land now considered as Saxon.
In the opinions which I have thus hazarded, — so opposite to the
240 INQUIKY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
jroncrally, if nol uuivcrsiUy adopted conclusions of eminent historical antiquaries, as to the civilization of the Irish previously to the Danish irruptions, and still more, of arcliitectiu-al antiquaries, as to the anti- quity of cirnamental architecture in the British Islands,— I am sensi- tively aware that I am running the greatest danger of being deemed rash "and visionary. But confiding, as I do, in the honesty of my pur- pose, wliich is solely to inciuire after truth in a spirit of candour, such' an anticipation presents to me no terrors; and I feel confident that tliose who are best qualified to judge of the difficulties of my under- taking will not censure the expression of opinions, however novel, which are ofl'ered for consideration in such a spirit, and which, even if erroneous, being based on evidences which I submit to be tested by the U'anied, nuist equally tend to the discovery of truth, as if they had been themselves incontrovertible.
Impressed, as I am, with the conviction that the style of archi- tecture variously denominated by antiquaries Romanesque, Tudesque, Lorabardic, Saxon, Norman, and Anglo-Norman, belongs to no par- ticular country, but, derived from the corrupted architecture of Greece and Rome, was introduced wherever Christianity had pene- trated, assuming various modifications according to the taste, intel-
lio-ence, and circumstances of different nations, — I think it only natural to expect tliat the earliest examples of this style should be found in a country supereminently distinguished, as Ireland was, for its learning, and as having been the cradle of Christianity to the north-western nations of Europe, in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries. Neither should it, I think, be a matter of wonder that more abundant examples of this style, though on a small scale, — such as might be expected in a kingdom composed of many petty, and nearly independent lordships, — should remain in Ireland, than in those more prosperous and wealthy countries, in which such hum- ble structirres would necessarily give place to edifices of greater size and grandeur.
The supposition that the style of architecture exhibited in some of the Irish Round Towers, — as shown in the preceding instances, — and in many of the chm'ches, of which I shall presently adduce examples, was derived from the Anglo-Normans, is one in the highest degree improbable : in the general form, size, and arrangement of these Irish churches there is to be found as little agreement with the
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 241
great Norman chiu'clies, as there is in our Round Towers with their square ones. An equal and a more important dissimilarity will be found in their ornamental details ; and I must greatly deceive myself if those exhibited in the Irish chiu-ches will not be acknowledged as indicating an antiqiuty far less removed from the classical model. The theory advanced by Dr. Ledwich, — which had great inlhience in its day, — that oiu" most ancient ornamented architectural remains should be ascribed to the Danes, appears to me still more objection- able, and scarcely worthy of notice. It is utterly opposed to the history of both nations. There is not a single authenticated monu- ment of the Danes in Ireland, or in their OAvn country, which would support such a conclusion ; and any knowledge of the Christian arts, which the Danes possessed, must have been derived from the people from whom they received the doctrines of Christianity. Neither could I easily believe that the architectural remains, of which I shall pre- sently adduce examples, any more than the two I have just noticed, were erected during the sway of that people in Ireland. Their domination in this country was a reign of terror, and, as the oldest of our annalists says, " second only to the tyranny of hell." No place Avas so sacred as to afford a refuge from their sacrilegious fmy. They carried fire and devastation into the Christian communities, seated in the most secluded valleys, and on the most remote islands ; and it could hardly have been during such a period of calamity that the ecclesiastics would have employed themselves in the erection of buildings of a more costly character, and requiring more time to com- plete them, than those already existing in tlie country. I do not deny, however, tliat some buildings, and these too of an ornamented cha- racter, may have been erected by the Irish, during those intervals of repose which followed the defeats of the Danes by Malachy I. in the ninth century, and by Brian and Malachy II. in the tenth ; and par- ticularly in such districts as were under tlie immediate protection of those vigorous and Avarlike monarchs. Of the erection of build- ings in such places our annalists record a few instances ; but the remains of these edifices, whenever they are to be found, are, as I shall hereafter show, different in character from those of whose erec- tion we have no direct evidence, and which I am disposed to refer to earher times.
But if we are without absolutely conclusive historical evidences to
2 I
242
IKQUIHY INTO TUE ORIGIN AND USES
prove the age of such churches, exliibiting ornamented architecture, as are presumed to be anterior to the Danish devastations, there is, at least, no want of such historical evidences as will strongly support such' a conclusion; and the early antiquity which I have ventured to assign to the ornamented doorways of the Towers of Kildare and Timahoe, will derive much probabihty from a comparison of their details with those of the ancient ornamented chuixh at Rathain, or Kahin, near Tullamore, in the King's County,— details, which would
appear to be of the same age, ' , and which, from historical evi- dence, there is every reason to believe to be of the eighth cen- tury.
Of this building, which is still used as a parish church, the chancel only appears to be ancient, and even this has suf- fered the loss of its original east window. The chancel arch, however, still remains, as also a circular window richly orna- mented, which lighted a cham- Ijer placed between the chancel and the roof. The chancel is stone-roofed, as we may well believe the entire church to have been originally. It is in the ornaments of the chancel archway, however, that the si- milarity in design and execu- tion to those in the Tower of Timahoe is chiefly found. This archway, as will be seen from the annexed drawing, consists of three rectangular piers at " ~^^ each side, rounded at their an-
gles into semi-columns, whicli support three semi-circular arches entirely unornamented, except by a plain architrave on the external
oat f'-'
t
ȣ-
r
femdto, c
llieffioSi:^. Astkc-
ttifiOBSTtt
tktitiKaf.
ami St,-
»DtoT,tR
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
243
aw, or
one. The capitals, on Avliicli the greatest richness of ornament is found, are those on the third, or irmermost of these piers at each side ; and,
hke those at Timahoe, these or- naments, thougli similar in design, are dissimilar in detail, and their bases differ in like manner. The resemblance of these ornaments to those at Timahoe will, I think, be at once obvious. The height of the piers in this archway, from the floor to the spring of the arches, is six feet five inches ; and to the vertex of the innermost arch, ten feet two inches.
Though not essentially neces- sary to my purpose in this com- parison, I trust I shall be excused for introducing in this place a more detailed notice of the remarkable round window already re- ferred to, and which seems to me to be not only the most curious of its kind remaining in the British Isles, but also, I have little doubt, the most ancient.
As the details of this window will be sufficiently seen in the illus- tration given on next page, it is only necessary to remark, that the orna- ments are in very low relief, or, as I might say, inciso, or in hollow ; and that it measures about seven feet six inches in the external diameter of the circle, and is placed at the height of about twenty-two feet from the ground. I should add, that the masonry throughout this interesting building is ofa very superior character, — the stones, which are polygonal, being fitted to each other with the greatest neatness and art, — and that the material is the celebrated limestone of the district.
I have now to inquire into the probable age of this structure. The monastery of Eathain, — which Archdall and Lanigan erro- neously place at Eathyne, in the barony of Fertullagh, and county of Westmeath, — was originally founded, about the close of the sixth centiu-y, by the celebrated St. Carthach, or Mochuda, afterwards the first bishop of Lismore. In this monastery, which became one of the most celebrated in Ireland, Carthach ruled, for a period of forty years,
2 I 2
.242 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
prove the age of sucli cluu-ches, exliibiting ornamented architecture, as are presumed to be anterior to the Danish devastations, there is, at least, no want of such historical evidences as will strongly support such' a conclusion; and the early antiquity which I have ventured to assign to the ornamented doorways of the Towers of Kildare and Timahoe, will derive much j)robabmty from a comparison of their details Avith those of the ancient ornamented church at Rathain, or Kalnn. near Tullaniore, in the King's County,— details, which would
appear to be of the same age.
jiiA
vm
and Avhich, from historical evi- dence, there is every reason to beheve to be of the eighth cen- tury.
Of this building, which is still used as a parish church, the chancel only appears to be ancient, and even this has suf- fered the loss of its original east window. The chancel arch, however, still remains, as also a circular window richly orna- mented, which lighted a cham- ber placed between the chancel and the roof The chancel is stone-roofed, as we may well believe the entire church to have been originally. It is in the ornaments of the chancel archway, however, that the si- milarity in design and execu- tion to those in the Tower of Timahoe is chiefly found. This archway, as will be seen from the annexed drawing, consists
of three rectangular piers at
'^^"■^^''-'"~~^" each side, rounded at their an-
gles into semi-columns, which support three semi-circular arches entirely unornamented, except l^y a plain architrave on the external
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
243
one. The capitals, on Avliicli the greatest riclmess of ornament is found, are those on the third, or innermost of these piers at each side ; and,
hke those at Timahoe, these or- naments, though similar in design, are dissimilar in detail, and their bases differ in like manner. The resemblance of these ornaments to those at Timahoe will, I think, be at once obvious. The height of the piers in this archway, from the floor to the spring of the arches, is six feet five inches ; and to the vertex of the innermost arch, ten feet two mches.
Though not essentially neces- sary to my purpose in this com- parison, I trust I shall be excused for introducing in this place a more detailed notice of the remarkable round window already re- ferred to, and which seems to me to be not only the most curious of its kind remaining in the British Isles, but also, I have little doubt, the most ancient.
As the details of this window will be sufficiently seen in the illus- tration given on next page, it is only necessary to remark, that the orna- ments are in very low relief, or, as I might say, inciso, or in hoUoAv ; and that it measures about seven feet six inches in the external diameter of the circle, and is placed at the height of about twenty-two feet from the ground. I should add, that the masonry throughout this interesting building is ofa very superior character, — the stones, which are polygonal, being fitted to each other with the greatest neatness and art, — and that the material is the celebrated limestone of the district.
I have now to inquire into the probable age of this structure. The monastery of Rathain, — which Archdall and Lanigan erro- neously place at Ratli}me, in the barony of FertuUagh, and coimty of Westmeath, — was originally founded, about the close of the sixth century, by the celebrated St. Carthach, or Mochuda, afterwards the first bishop of Lismore. In this monastery, which became one of the most celebrated in Ireland, Carthach ruled, for a period of forty years,
2 I 2
244
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
a community of monks, said to liave flocked to him from various parts, both of Irehmd and Great Britain, and which finally increased to the number of 867, all of whom provided for themselves and the ])oor by the labour of their hands. But, notwithstanding the sanctity of his character, the envy and jealousy of the monks or clergy of a neighbom-ing establishment effected the expulsion of himself and his monks from Ratliain in the year 630, by the jirince of the country, Blathmac, the son of the monarch Aedli Slaine ; and, after having wandered for some time from place to place, he ultimately formed a second religious establishment, not less celebrated in our histories, at Lismore, which from his time became the seat of a bishop. St. Carthach died on the 14th of May, in the year 637, and was buried at Lismore.
It is not, however, to this distinguished man that I am disposed to attribute the erection of the present church at Rathain, but to one
OF THE ROUXI) TOWERS OF IRELAND. 245
wlio flourished nearly two centuries later, and whose name has been also venerated as that of the patron of the jilace, — an honour never paid to any but founders of churches. From the expressive silence of our annals, it would appeal-, that, after the expulsion of St. Car- thach and his monks, there was no religious community settled at Rathain till towards the middle of the eighth centiuy. Colgan, in- deed, labours, on the douljtfid and contradictory authority of some of the Irish Calendars, to fix here, as St. Carthach's successor, a St. Constantine, who, according to some, had been originally a king of the Britons, and to others, a king of the Picts. But the evidences adduced in support of this statement are wholly insufficient to esta- blish its truth ; and the first abbot of Eathain after St. Carthach, who appears in our authentic annals, is St. Fidhairle Ua Suanaigh, whose name appears in the Irish Calendars at the 1st of October, and who, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, died on the 1st of Oc- tober, in the year 758, but more correctly, according to the accvirate Annals of Tighernach, in 763. And that this Ua Suanaigh was the founder of a new establishment at Rathain appears sufliciently plain from the fact, that, in the Irish Annals, the later abbots of Rathain are not called successors of St. Carthach, but of Ua Suanaigh, as in the following instances, from the Annals of Clonmacnoise and the Four Masters :
"A. D. 1113. t)ia|imaicr Ua Cealluij, coiiiapBu Ui Shuanaij, o'ecc."
" A. D. 1113. Diarmaid Ua Ceallaigli, successor of Ua Suanaigh, died."
" A. D. 1136. SaepKpecac Ua Ceallaij, corhapba Ui Suanaij, o'ecc."
"A. D. 1136. Saerbhretliacli Ua Ceallaigli, successor of Ua Suanaigh, died."
" A. D. 1139- mmpcepcach Uu tTlaoilihuaio, cijeapiiu F^ap j-Ceall, do lopc-
cao d' pepoiK Ceall, .1. do Uib 6uainirii, 1 cempull T2airne."
"A. D. 1139. Muirchertach O'Molloy, lordofFeara Ceall, was burned by the Feara
Ceall themselves, namely, the O'Luainimhs, iu the church of Rathain."
"A. D. 1141. Domnall, mac Ruaiopi Ui mhaoilrhuaiD, cijeapna peap 5-Ceall,
DO riiapBao la muincip 6uainim 1 l?pacain h-1 Suanaij."
" A. D. 1141. Domhnall, son of Euaidhri O'Molloy, lord of Feara Ceall, was slain
by the IMuintir Luaininih in Rathain Ui Suanaigh."
"A. D. 1153. Uainicc oaii ^uog Ua 6piain co n-a ploccaib co l?airin Ui Shuoiiai j I1-1 poipirin Chonnucc, &c."
"A. D. 1153. Tadhg O'Brien marclied with his forces to Raithin Ui Shuanaigh to relieve Counacht, &c."
" A. D. 1 166. 5'°^^*^ ''"^' nuoiii Ua Ceallaij, coitiapba Ui Shuanaij li-i IJacham, o'ecc."
246 INQUIRY INTO TUE ORIGIN AND USES
" A. D. 1 IGG. Giolla na naomh O'Coallaigli, successor of Ua Suanaigh at Rathain, died."
I may also mention, as a fact corroborative of this conclusion, that an ancient stone cross at Rathain, which was probably erected as well to mark the bounds of the sanctuary, as for a memorial of the re- erection of the cluu'ches there, was called Ua Suanaigh's Cross, as appears from a very curious notice in the Leab/mr Breac, iol. 35, p. b, relative to the punishment by death and forfeiture of lands of some families of the Cineal Fiacha, for violating the guarantee of Ua Sua- naigh, and offering insult to his cross.
If then to these evidences we add the fact, that the Irish autho- rities are silent as to the re-erection of chvirches at Rathain at a later time, or as to any devastations by the Danes that would create a ne- cessity for such re-erection, the inference is, I think, only natural, that this chiu-ch, as its style of ornament seems to me to indicate, was erected about the middle of the eighth centiury.
In addition to the chm^ch which I have now noticed, there are also at Rahin the ruins of two smaller churches, which attest its for-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
247
mer importance ; and it is not improbable that there anciently existed here a group of seven small churches, such as are usually found at other celebrated religious establishments in Ireland. Of these churches, one is greatly dilapidated, and retains no ornamented featiu'e ; but the other, which is nearly entire, is worthy of an ampler notice in this place, on account of its very perfect and beautiful doorway, the or- naments of which, though possibly not of equal age with those of the principal church, already described, indicate at least a very con- siderable antiquity. The general architectiu'al character of this door- way Avill be sufficiently understood from the preceding engraving, from which it will also be seen that its jambs have the incUnation inwards, so characteristic of the earlier Irish architecture.
In height, this doorway measures, externally, five feet four inches from the bases to the tops of the imposts, and six feet seven inches to the vertex of the arch ; and in width, two feet six inches between the capitals, and two feet nine inches between the bases. In form, the church is a simple oblong, measuring externally thirty-nine feet by twenty-three ; and its massive polygonal masonry is of the earliest Christian style. It was lighted by two windows, one, as usual, in the centre of the east wall, and the other at the upper end of the south wall : the former is quite ruined, and the latter is a restoration of the fifteenth century. It is built throughout of the limestone of the district, and the ornaments on its doorway are remarkable for their sharpness and beauty of execution. As is usual in the archi- tecture of this class, the ornaments on the bases of the semi-columns diifer in their details, those on the south side being plain mouldings, while ' those on the north j^resent the figure of a ser-
pent, as shown in the accompanying engraving.
To the same age as the remains at Rahin, we may, I think, witli every appearance of probability, assign the interesting fragments, — for we unfortunately possess no more, — which remain in the seques- tered valley of Glendalough. I have already, to some extent, laid before the reader the characteristic features of the more ancient and unornamented churches in this interesting locality : those which I have now to notice are obviously of a later age, but yet, as I conceive, anterior at least to the repetition, by the Danes, towards the
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INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
close of the tenth century, of those devastations, which had been committed in the ninth, namely, the interval between the years 886 and 977. Tliese fragments belong to three churches, namely, 1. the small chapel or oratory, popularly called the Priest's House, or Priest's Church, from the circumstance of its having been used for a consi- derable period as a cemetery for the Roman Catholic clergy of the district ; 2. the chancel of the Cathedral ; 3. the chancel of the small abbey church, now poixUarly called the Monastery.
Of the first of these buildings there now unfortunately exist but very slight vestiges ; but I am enabled to illusti-ate, to some extent, the ornamented portions of its architecture, as existing in 1779, by means of drawings, made for the late Colonel Burton Conyngham in that year, by three competent artists, Signor Bigari, Monsieur Be- ranger, and ]\Ir. Stephens. The form of this small chapel was that of a simple oblong, measuring externally nineteen feet six inches in length, and twelve feet three inches in breadth. It was built with considerable art, and in a style of masonry quite different from that usually foiuid in the most ancient churches of this country, — the stones being aenerallv of small size, and the masonry around the door and Avindow ashlar work.
The principal ornamented feature wliich distinguished this biuld-
ing, and to which I have seen nothing similar in any other Irish ecclesiastical remain, was an arched recess, placed on its east front, as represented in the prefixed copy of Beranger's drawing.
The arch, which, it will be seen, presented a well-decorated archi-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
24!)
trave, rested on narrow cohunns with capitals equally enriched witli sculpture, and the recess, which it enclosed, was perforated in the centre by a narrow, imornamented window, having obviously a semi- cii'cular head, but which was not in existence when the drawing was made. The sides of this Avindow were not, as is usual, inclined, nor does it appear from the drawing that its jambs had the usual internal splay ; but the sides of the arch were splayed outwards, as well as the arch itself Tliis arch measured, at its outer angles, seven feet four inches in breadth, and six feet eleven inches in height to its vertex. The semi-columns, or pilasters, were three feet three inches in height, including the capitals, which measiu'ed eight inches and a half, and the bases, which measured five inches. The architrave was nine inches in breadth, including the cornice, which was two inches.
The several features of this architectural front will appear from the annexed engravings, all of which have been copied from Mon- sieur Beranger's drawings, with the exception of the last, which has been recently sketched from the fragments still remaining.
The two first represent the sculptures on the two faces or sides of the capitals, which, it will be seen, are of unequal lengths, as well as dissimilar design.
y^Qdag^^^
Dr. Ledwich, who has treated of the architectural ornaments at Glendalough, has not offered any explanation of the artist's inten- tion in these sculptvires, — if he had any beyond a merely ornamental one, — nor can I attempt to explain them : but I may i-emark that in the latter the similarity of design Avhich it presents to some of the capitals of the doorway of the Kound Tower of Timahoe can hardly
2 K
.iH
"i V
248
INQUIR INTO THE ORIGIN A\D USES
close of the tenth cerury, of those devastatious, which had been committed in the ninthnamely, the interval between the years 886 and 977. These fragnmts belong to three churches, namely, 1. the small chapel or oratoi7,)opularly called the Priest's House, or Priest's Church, from the circmstance of its having been used for a consi- derable period as a ceieteiy for the Roman Catholic clergy of the district ; 2. the chanceLf the Cathedral ; 3. the chancel of the small abbey church, now poplarly called the Monastery.
Of the first of thesdjuildings there now unfortunately exist but very slight vestiges ; bi I am enabled to illustrate, to some extent, the ornamented portioB of its architecture, as existing in 1779, by means of dra^vings, mae for the late Colonel Biu'tou Conyngham in that year, by three coipetent artists, Signor Bigari, Monsieur Be- ranger, and Mr. Stephes. The form of this small chapel was that of a simple oblong, mi-suring externally nineteen feet six inches in length, and twelve feet three inches in breadth. It was built with considerable art, afl in a style of masonry quite different from that usually found in thimost ancient churches of this country, — the stones being generally ^small size, and the masonry around the door and Avindow ashlar wori
Tlie principal ornaiinted feature which distinguished this build-
m". and to which I h* seen nothing similar in any other Irish ecclesiastical remain, vm an arched recess, placed on its east front, as represented in the jlfixed copy of iJeranger's dr^
The arch, which, it till be seen, presented a j^^^^^J. ~^chi-
JtSJ
5,JJi
■tmil^
mtn^i
or THE ROUND TOWERS OFRELAND. 249
trave, rested on narrow columns with cap tls equally enriched with sculpture, and the recess, which it enclos I, was perforated in the centre by a narrow, unornamented windoi having obviously a semi- circular head, but which was not in exi 3nce when the di'awing was made. The sides of this window wen lot, as is usual, inclined, nor does it appear from the drawing thi its jambs had the usual internal splay ; but the sides of the arch we splayed outwards, as well as the arch itself. This arch meas "ed, at its outer angles, seven feet four inches in breadth, and i t feet eleven inches in height to its vertex. The semi-columns,or pilasters, were three feet three inches in height, including the ftpitals, Avhich measm-ed eight inches and a half, and the bases, wh h measured five inches. The architrave was nine inches in breadt including the cornice, which was two inches.
The several features of this architectu . front will appear from the annexed engravings, all of which hav been copied from Mon- siem' Beranger's dra^N'ings, with the excep m of the last, which has been recently sketched from the fragments till remaining.
The two first represent the sculptures n the two faces or sides of the capitals, which, it will be seen, are c unequal leugths, as well as dissimilar desiiim.
Dr. Ledwich, who has treated of thearchitectural ornaino;ift? at Glendalough, has not offered any explaniion of the artist's iiif'""' tion in these sculptures, — if he had any be^d a merely oni;)'"' "|' one, — nor can I attempt to explain them : Ut I may remark ' the latter the similarity of design which i«resenf-s to •*<"'"''__ capita^^^^^^^^mL.of the Eound To\
rw/i'"'
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•250
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
fail to strike the reader, and lead to tlie conclusion that they are, if not of the same age, at least of periods not very fiir removed from each other. The execution of this sculpture is, indeed, better, and the relief bolder tlmu in tliose of Timahoe, but the idea is the same in both, namely, a tracery formed by the intertwining of the long hair ol" the head, which forms the proper capital of the column.
Of the engravings which follow, the first represents the orna- ments on the face of the architrave and cornice, and I should observe that the archivolt had an ornament corresponding with that of the architrave ; the second is a plan of the mouldings of the pilasters, or
4 Inches.
mouldings at the angles ; and the third shows in detail the existing remains of these mouldings, with one of theu- bases.
The only other ornamented feature in this chapel was its doorway, which was placed in the south wall. This doorway, which Avas in a
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
251
ruined condition even when sketched by Colonel Conyngham's artists, ■was a simple oblong, one foot eight inches and a half in -width, and about six feet in height, as we may conclude, for it was too mueli injured to be measured accui'ately. Though quite plain in its jambs, it was surmounted by a triangular pediment, in the tympaiumi of which, formed of a single stone, was the sculptured bas-relief repre- sented in the annexed wood-cut, taken from a drawing recently made on the spot :
The stone is now broken, as marked in the drawing, but the two pieces are preserved in a neighbouring house. This is the only example of a pedimented lintel, which I have met with in Ireland, nor do I know of any other of the middle age architecture either in England or France, except one in the latter country, namely, over the Byzantine portal of the church oi Notre Dame du Port at Clermont- Ferrand, and which is supposed to be of the eleventh centiuy. — See Les Arts an Moi/en Age.
I cannot pretend to explain the subject represented in this curious piece of sculpture, nor, indeed, is it essential to my purpose to do so; but, as Dr. Ledwich has seized upon it to support those pecuhar pre- judices, the exhibition of which so greatly disfigures his work, I feel it a duty, at least, to expose the errors, whether proceeding from ignorance or dishonesty, into which he has fallen, in his description of it. Dr. Ledwich says :
" Among the remnants of crosses and sculptures is a loose stone, shewing in relievo three figures. The one in the middle is a Bishop or Priest sitting in a chair, and holding a Penitential in his hand. On the right a Pdgrim leans on his staff, and on the left, a young man holds a purse of money to commute it for penance." — Anti- quities of Ireland, p. 177, second edition.
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;^^
250
INQUIRY INTO IE ORIGIN AND USES
fail to Strike the reader, and lea to tlie conclusion that they are, if not of the same age, at least ofieriods not veiy far removed from each other. The execution of lis sculpture is, indeed, better, and the relief bolder than in those ' Timahoe, but the idea is the same in both, namely, a tracery forme by the intertwining of the long hair of the head, which forms the piper capital of the column.
Of the engravings which fdow, the first represents the orna- ments on the face of the architrre and cornice, and I should observe that the archivolt had an ornaient corresponding with that of the architrave ; the second is a plarof the moiddings of the pilasters, or
4 Inches.
mouldings at the angles ; and le tliii'd shows in detail the existing remains of these mouldings, wit one of their bases.
:fs^
m
:fl«3
The only other ornamented Jature in this chapel wa' ' which was placed in the south \all. This do^-
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Of THE sotr?
niinedcottdidoiiev-n v i was a simple oblc:.: about six feet IE injured to be zoeasurr- >- - - it -vras sunaonntfc': whicL ibrniedor sented in the ann on the spot :
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I
•I SET fEii£Z.
piec - "T*- ^
example c-i «
nor do r
Engknl - -^ --^-^.-i-
Byzant—
Ferrand. aad vftir^ ^ -
I cannot piefteEjc V.' tx: piece of sccl^ttTiie. u-^t. isiir^- but, as Dr. Ledvida las SBsed judices, tbe esIiilBQOin cc' it a duty, at least lo expc' ignorance or di=lic»re^~-. ;:: of it. Dr. Ledwkb sajr :
" Among the remni.--- -" — relievo three figtures. 1 and holding a Pe on the ] quitH
* A'T»
▼ iKi.
10^
/
ir
252 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The cnnclusions drawn from these assertions have been ably an- swered by Dr. I.auiguu in liis Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. pp. 398, 399, and tlio preceding drawing will show that the assertions of Dr. Ledwich are utterly erroneous. Whether the principal or central figure be, as he says, a bishop or a priest, I cannot venture to deter- mine, but I think it most probably represents a bishop, — and this, St. Kevin, the patron of the place. There can, however, be little, if anydnuhi, that thefigm-e on the right, which Ledwich calls a pilgrim leaning on his staff, is also a bishop, or an abbot, holding his crozier, or pastoral staff, and that the figure on the left, which he describes as a young man holding a purse of money, is also an ecclesiastic, but of lower grade, — the aipcijie, or porter and bell-ringer, holding in his hand, not a i)urse of money, but a quadrangular bell, such as we see represented on many stone crosses in Ireland of the ninth and tenth centuries : and these figures appear to me to be of great value and interest as evidences of the early antiquity of the little building to which this sculpture belonged, for both the bell and the staff ex- hibit forms, which were unquestionably not in use in the twelfth century. The crozier is of the form of the simple shepherd's crook, as found in all the existing croziers of the primitive saints of the Irish Clnu'ch, of which there are four specimens in my own collec- tion ; and that this form was no longer retained in the twelfth cen- tury is sufficiently proved by the crozier — also in my collection — of Cormac ISIac Carthy, King of IMunster and Archbishop of Cashel, who founded the stone-roofed chapel at Cashel in the year 1129, which crozier exhibits the usual enriched circular head, characteristic of those of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
In like manner, the quadi'angular-shaped bell, which appears in the hand of the other figure, exhibits that peculiar form which charac- terizes all the consecrated bells, which have been presei'ved in Ireland as having belonged to the celebrated saints of the primitive Irish Church ; and there is every reason to beheve that this quadrangular form gave place to the circular one nov/ in use, previously to the twelfth century. Indeed, we see a remarkable example of the transi- tion to the latter form in a bell, formerly in the collection of the Dean of St. Patrick's, and now in the Museum of the Academy, which, as an inscription in the Irish character carved upon it clearly shows, is undoubtedly of the close of the ninth centiu-y.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
253
Thus again in tlie diagonally-knotclied band or fillet, — which en- circles the head of the central figure, and which seems to be the base of a low mitre, of which the upper portion is obUterated, — we find an ornament very similar to that on a mitre represented on a sculptured figure of St. Leger, in bas-relief, given by Montfaucon, in his Mon. Framboise, tom. i. p. 347, and which that learned antiquary considers to be a work of the close of the seventh century.
If then to the evidences, which this interesting piece of scvilpture aflbrds in favour of the early antiquity of this little cluu-ch, be added the Romanesque character of the ornaments, and the great impro- bability that a structure of this ornamental character would have been erected during that calamitous period when Glendalough was exposed to the frequent devastations of the Northmen, it will appear highly probable that it was erected either previously to the Danish irruptions, or, at least, diu-ing that period of repose already referred to, which intervened between the years 886 and 977.
I have next to notice the curious fragments of ornamented archi- tecture, which were formerly to be seen in the chancel of the ca- thedral, but of which there is now scarcely a vestige remain- ing. As in the preceding in- stance, however, through the drawings made for Colonel Bur- ton Conyngham, now in my pos- session, aided by sketches made by myself a few years since, I am enabled to preserve a tole- rable memorial of these inte- resting features. These features are confined solely to the in- terior of the east window of the chancel, — of which a geo- metrical drawing is given in a preceding i^age, — and a sculp- tm^ed fascia, or frieze, connected with it on either side.
Of the ornaments on the exterior face of this window, I have un- fortunately no memorial, as they were wholly effaced previously to the visit of Colonel Conyngham's artists in 1779- The several fea-
1
254
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
tures on its interior face Avill be more distinctly seen in the annexed engravings of its details ; of wliicli the two first represent the sculp- tures on the frieze, as drawn by Monsieur Beranger ; and I need scarcely add, that they appear obviously to be of cotemporaneous age witli those of the Priest's House, already given :
Of the illustrations which follow, the first represents the chevron moulding on the archivolt, and the second is a section of the pilasters.
/
^ /
3V0*
The height of this window, on its inner face, from the sill to the vertex of the arch, was fourteen feet, and its width six feet three inches ; and externally it was about seven feet in height, and one foot in width. The pilasters, including their bases, were ten feet in height; and the capitals, or frieze, eight inches.
Dr. Ledwich, who is ingenious in his explanations of Irish alle- gorical de\'ices, thus describes the sculptiu-es on this frieze :
" The Eastern window is a round arch ornamented with a chevron moulding. The sculptures of the impost mouldings are legendary. On one part a dog is devouring a serpent. Tradition tells us, that a great serpent inhabited the lake, and it is at this day called Lochnapiast," [correctly XocA Ma j»e;s?e] "or the serpent loch, and beinn- destructive of men and cattle was killed by St. Kevin. In another part the saint ap- pears embracing his favourite "Willow, and among the foliage may be discovered the medicinal apple." — Antiquities of Ireland, second edition, p. 176.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
255
How far Dr. Ledwicli may be right or wrong in tlie preceding explanations of these sculptures, I miist leave the reader to deter- mine, as I am myself unable to offer any elucidation of them.
That these features, and indeed the whole of the chancel, are of later age than the nave, or body of the church, will be at once obvious on an examination of the building. The greater antiquity of the nave, which, indeed, there is every reason to believe, if not of St. Kevin's time, is of an age very closely following it, is sufficiently indicated by the Cyclopean character of its masonry, — of which I have given an example at page 187, — audits massive doorway, placed in the centre of the west front, which is similar to some of the most ancient church doorways in Ireland, except that the weight upon the lintel is taken off by a semicircular arch, as shown in the annexed wood-cut :
Moreover, in the chancel there is no massive masonry in any part of the walls, and the stones, of which they are composed, seem all to have been boulders or surface stones ; and those forming the quoins in the east angles are of granite, not mica slate, — the stone of the dis- trict,^as in the angles of the nave. Besides, the walls of the chancel
25(5 INQUIRY IXTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
are not bonded into those of the nuvc, as they unquestionably would have been had both been built at the same time. In addition to these facts, I need only observe the extreme improbability, that the same architects, who introduced decorated architecture in and around the princii)al window, would leave the great entrance doorway with- out any ornament whatever.
The last, and perhaps most interesting of the ornamented archi- tectural remains at Glendalough, which I have to notice, are those found in the chancel of the Church of the Monastery, situated about a mile to the east of the old city, and which is called by Archdall and other modern writers, but without sufficient authority, the Priory of St. Savioiu-. This small chancel, which was originally stone-roofed, had lain for ages concealed from observation, in consequence of the falling-in of the roof, until, about the year 1770, the rubbish was cleared out by Samuel Hayes, Esq., of Avondale, in the county of Wicklow. Its interior measurement is fifteen feet six inches in length, and eleven feet five inches in breadth, and the walls are three feet in thickness. At its east end it has a stone bench or seat, one foot eight inches in breadth, and extending the length of the Avail, like that in the little chapel called the Priest's House, already described ; and at a distance of two feet from that seat stood an isolated stone altar, — since destroyed, — five feet in length, two feet eleven inches in breadth, and about foiu feet in height. In its south wall are three niches, one foot six inches in depth, one of which appears to have been for a piscina, and the two others were probably ambrys, or lockers. Of these niches the first is one foot six inches in breadth, the second two feet eight inches, and the third tAvo feet four inches. At the upper end of the north wall there is a similar niche, but of smaller size, being only one foot four inches in breadth, and one foot two inches in depth. This chancel was lighted by a single window, placed in its east end ; but this was destroyed previously to the year 1770.
The nave connected with this chancel, and which appears to have been without ornament, was about forty-two feet in length, and about twenty-six feet in breadth, and seems to have been entered by a doorway placed at the eastern extremity of the south wall, near the chancel arch. On its north side there appears to have been a range of apartments for the use of the officiating clergy of the place, but their divisional walls cannot now be traced.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
257
The most interesting feature, however, of this ciuious structure is its chancel archway, of which only the piers ■with their semi- coliunns on each side remain ; but a great number of the sculptured stones, which formed its compound arch, are still to be seen scattered about the cemetery. It is to be lamented, however, that many others of them have been carried away within the last few years ; and as such barbarous devastation of these ruins is too likely to be con- tinued,— since there is, unfortunately, no care taken to prevent it, — I feel it an imperative duty to preserve, so far as is in my power, every memorial of fragments so interesting to the history of art in this country.
f^?^'!
This archway is a compound one, consisting of three receding piers with semi- columns, the arrangement of wliich will be sufficiently imderstood from the prefixed illustration, recently drawn, and the ground-plan, which is given at the close of this description. Its breadth, at its innermost arch, is ten feet, and its height to the vertex was eleven feet : the height of the semi-columns is six feet one inch and a half, of which the capitals measure nine inches and a half, the shafts four feet, the bases eight inches, and the plinths eight inches.
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258
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The devices on the capitals on the south side are shown in the liuuexed details, of which the three first represent the faces of the
capital of the innermost recessed arch, marked A on the ground -plan; and the cut which follows, which is copied from a drawing of Be- ranger's, presents the whole of this design in a continuous line.
It is a portion of this sculpture that Dr. Ledwich describes as exhibiting '• the head of a young man and a wolf; the long hair of the former elegantly entwined with the tail of the latter." And he gravely adds, " There was a singular propriety in joining the tail of this animal with the young man's ghbb, to indicate the fondness of the one for the pursuit of the other."
The capital to the column on pier B has been recently carried away, but its design is shown in the following illustration from a drawing of Beranger's, exhibiting in a continuous line the design on the two sides :
Dr. Ledwich displays even more than his usual ingenuity in ex- plaining the subject of this sculptm'e : " A ravenous quadruped," — he should have used the plural, — " a wolf, devom-s a human head :
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
259
the head is a living one ; the hail", whiskers, aud beard give it a savage appearance. Tlie animal is easily discovered by the following story : — One of the sailors of King Harold dreamed, that a woman of gigantic size appeared to him, riding on a wolf, who had in his mouth the head of a man, the blood of which flowed from his jaws. When he had swallowed the head, the Avomau put another into his mouth, and so on with many more, all of them he devoured, and then she began the sons; of death."
The capitals of the outer pier, marked C in the ground-plan, are represented in the annexed illustrations, showing their two sides or faces.
■;Ti|||[W53)W
The ornament which constitutes the principal feature on these capitals does not occur on any others in Ireland ; but it is, as I shall hereafter show, very common on Irish tombstones of the ninth and tenth centuries, and in manuscripts of a still earlier age. The columns on the opposite side of the arch are without capitals or ornament.
The illustrations which follow show the various ornaments on the
bases of the columns. Those prefixed exhibit the two faces of that of pier B : they are no less peculiar than the capitals.
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INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Tlu.^c which iV.lluw represent the two faces of that of pier C, on ,ho outer oohnnn. and are equally remarkable in their character.
I
The base of the column on pier A is svifficiently shown in the general view. The bases of the piers on the north side of this arch- way present an equal variety of device with those on the south, as will be seen in the following illus- trations, of wliich the first repre- sents the base of the innermost pier, or that opposite pier A in the plan. Dr. Ledwich gives a re- presentation of a portion of the scidpture on this base, as a spe- cimen of what he calls " Runic knots, composed of the segments of circles, their arcs and chords intersecting each other." And he adds that, " There is scarcely a carved stone, cross, or other remnant of antiquity, during the time
of the Danish power, but exhibits a knot of some kind." But, what proof is there that such knots or figm-es are Eunic ? A single Runic inscription has never yet been found in Ireland; and the interlaced traceries, which he calls Runic, are found in all classes of ancient
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
2G1
Irish nionuinents, und are equally common in Irish manuscripts, which are acknowledged to be of earlier antiquity than the period of Danish rule in Ireland. The last illustration, given on the preceding page, shows the design on the two faces of the base of the central })ier, or that facing pier B : the base of the third column is defaced. Of the arch-mouldings only a few stones remain, but these are sufficient to prove that they were ornamented with a profusion of sculpture, as will be seen from the folloAving illustrations, of which the three first are copied from geometrical sketches by Monsieur Be- ranger, and obviously belonged to one compartment of the arch :
at
The three which follow, are from sketches of other arch-stones, re- cently made, but which do not correspond in size or character of ornament with each other.
r-r^Tim
Some (jf the most curious and beautifully executed sculptiu-es are, however, those supposed to have formed the architrave of the win-
2(i2
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
dow, or ratlier perliaps of au arched recess ou the external face of the east wall, similar to tliat on the Priest's House already described. These scidptures are thus described by Archdall, from the notes written by the artists for Colonel Conyngham :
" On the removal of some heaps of rubbish from vinder the ruins of this arch, a few stones beautifully carved were found, many of them belonging to the arclies, and some to the architrave of the window ; the architrave is twelve inches broad, and a pannel is sunk, ornamented lozenge-wise, and an ovolo forms the lozenge vrith a bead riinning on each side ; the centre of the lozenge is decorated on one side in bas-relief, with a knot delicately carved ; on tlie otlier with a flower in the centre, and mouldings corresponding to the shape of the lozenge. The half-lozenge, at the bottom of the pilaster in one, is filled with a bas-relief of a human head, with a bird on each side pecking at the eye [mouth], and the other by a dragon twisting its head round and the tail turned up between its legs into the mouth. Here is another stone, apparently the capital of a column ; two sides of it are visible, both are ornamented with a patera, but each side in a diiferent manner ; one consists of a flower of sixteen large leaves, and fifteen [sixteen] small ones, relieved the eighth of an inch, and the other of six leaves branch- ing from the centre, with another leaf extending between their points." — Monagticoa Hibernicum, p. 771.
Most of the stones above referred to still exist, and are here represented from recent sketches.
\'X^'--y ^ 5»--^;
Dr. Ledwich, who finds illustrations of the Danish mytholocry in most of these sculptures, makes the following observations on this one, of which he gives a very inaccurate representation :
" Two ravens picking a skull. This bird was peculiarly sacred to Odin ; he is called the king of ravens. In the epicedium of Kegner Lodbrog is recorded an en- gagement of the Danes and Irish at Vedrafiord, or Waterford. " In heaps promiscuous was piled the enemy : Glad was the kindred of the falcon. From The clam'rous shout they boded an Approaching feast. Marstein, Erin's king whelm'd By the irony sleet, allay'd the hunger of the Eagle and the wolf, the slain at Vedra's ford became The raven's booty.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
263
" The three daiigliters of Lodbrog worked a real'au on the standard of Ilingar and Hubba, with many magical incantations, which was to be invincible. This ensign, common among the Nortlierns, was supposed to give omens of victory or defeat : if it gajdy fluttered in the wind, it presaged success, but if it hung down motionless, it portended misfortunes. It is plain from many Abraxas in Chifflet, and many passages adduced in Cuper's Harpocrates, that the raven was an Egyptian hieroglyphic, and had a predictive virtue." — Antiquities of Ireland, pp. 208, 209-
Whether the birds in this sculpture represent ravens or not, I shall not take upon me to decide. They are certainly not so like those birds as Dr. Ledwich has represented them ; but, even sup- posing them to be ravens, it by no means follows that the sculptiu'e is Danish, or illustrative of Danish mythology. It is extremely pro- bable that the raven was as much a bird of omen with the pagan Irish as Avith the pagan Danes and other nations ; it is still considered so in the popvilar superstitions of the Irish, and Piac, the Irish name of the bird, was a usual name for men in Ireland both in Pagan and Christian times. But it would nevertheless be an absurdity to sup- pose that the ravens, represented in this sculpture, have any con- nexion with pagan superstitions.
In the next illustration, which is that described by Archdall as " a dragon twisting its head round, and the tail turned up between its
■^_jjU->2™'^
legs into the mouth," Dr. Ledwich recognizes another Danish symbol, which he thus describes :
" A wolf in a rage, with his tail in his mouth. The ferocity of this animal, and his delight in human blood, are the chief themes of Scaldic poetry. Odin, the ruler of the gods, as he is stiled in the Edda, is constantly attended by two, named Geri and Freki, whom he feeds with meat from his own table." — lb. p. 208.
In the next illustration, which represents another of these stones as now broken at one side, Dr. Ledwich could find nothing emblematic of the mythology of the Edda, and therefore has omitted it altogether. Not so, however, in the case of the two following, Avhich he describes as
•2()4
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Runic knots, but avIucIi appear to me as nothing mere than orna- mental crosses, of wliich innumerable examples may be found m our most ancient manuscripts, and on sepulcliral monuments.
The manner in which these stones lay upon each other will ap- pear from the annexed diagram, as drawn by Monsieur Beranger ; and it should be remarked, that the angle of the two sculptui'ed faces of these stones is much greater than a right angle, as in those of the arch on the Priest's House already noticed.
The two illustrations which follow represent the two sides of the stone, described, erroneously as I think, by Archdall, as being appa-
jp 0009000 ->? Do:;.^ J-ig^jaa - ^t^Na^5
5pb<?Qooi3aoopooooaoo6'oooo6c-ooooiJoooooco5'
rently the capital of a column. I should rather suppose it to be a portion of an architrave ; and the following cut seems to me to repre- sent another stone of the same architrave. It shows the two faces of
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
265
the stone, and is copied, on a reduced scale, from a drawing by Beranger, together with its section, which accompanies it.
It is not easy to determine the situations in the building of the two stones represented in the illustrations which follow. The first would appear to be an arch-stone, and the second a portion of the architrave of the east window. They are engraved from sketches recently made.
The small cut annexed, Avhich represents another sculptiu'ed stone at the monastery, not now to be found, is copied from Dr. Ledwich's Antiquities of Ireland ; and as the author gives no account of it, I am unable to de- termine its situation in tlie building, or whether j V ^'^ V ""^ 1^ I it was the ornament of a frieze or capital. I think it, however, most likely to be the latter ; and its singularly classical character makes it too interesting to be omitted in these notices.
To the preceding illustrations I have only to add the ground-plan of one side of the chancel archway, already referred to, and coupled with it a sketch of one of the sepulchral crosses of Glendalough, which I give as a cotemporaneous specimen of the use in such monuments of Avhat Dr. Ledwich calls Runic knots. This cross is of mica slate, the stone of the district, and is situated in the cemetery of the Eefert, or
2 M
-Xi
■2(5G
INQUIKY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
l)uruil-place of the kings, near the upper lake, where many stones sculptured in a similar stylo may be found.
;*
It should be stated that the sculptured stones in this church, as well as those in the little church called the Priest's House, though generally supposed to be of sandstone, are in reality of clay slate, while those on the east window of the cathedral church are all of an oolitic sandstone, more resembling Caen than Portland stone ; and that no stone of this latter description is found in the province of Leinster, or perhaps in Ireland. And, respecting the merits of these sculptiu-es generally, it may be observed, that however barbaric they may be considered as to their style of design, their execution, at least, exhibits no small degree of art.
That these sculptures have but little resemblance to the decora- tions usually found in Anglo-Norman architectm-e in England, will, I think, be at once obvious to the architectural antiquary ; and I shall presently show that they have as little simihtude in taste of design to the ornaments usual in Irish churches of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Dr. Ledwich, who perceived this want of similitude in the Glendalough ornaments to those of Saxon or Norman architecture in England, states it as his opinion that their origin " is certainly Danish;" and that the " specimen is unique in Ii'eland." " Here," he remarks, " are no traces of Saxon feuillage, no Christian symbols, or allusions to sacred or legendary story : the sculptures are expressive of a savage and uncultivated state of society. Had there been a mixture
ofsiv.^^
opinion, Si 1 jeoendiin''- evident j. 1 such a com Itisceitaiii, no stone JT thatwesiv obviously ! debased r Anion^" ofwiichs have m: ■ at L — mains, nat sontl-eastji: the nave t orii''! ' niaiii iU .
da: onibir,;:: oftlii- ■
cot;. .
OF THE 1!0UXD TOWERS OF IIJELAJCl).
2G7
of styles, something might be allowed for the caprice of the carver, but the desifTu and execution beinsj uniform, the whole must be consigned [assigned] to a particidar people and era." This strange opinion, as I have shown, he endeavours to sustain by references to legends in the mythology and history of the northern nations. But his evidences, I have no doubt, will be deemed insufficient to sustain such a conclusion, and his arguments wholly unworthy of notice. It is certainly not among the northern nations of Eiu'ope, who had no stone architecture previously to their conversion to Christianity, that we are to look for the prototype of a style of decoration, which obviously had its origin, however movdded by local caprice, in the debased architecture of Greece and Eome.
Among the many other ornamented churches in Ireland, the styles of which appear to indicate a very early antiquity, and of which we have historical notices to support such antiquity, one of the most curious is the church called Teampull Finghin, or Fineen's Church, at Clonmacnoise. Of this interesting biiilding a portion only re- mains, namely, the chancel, and a Round Tower attached to it at its south-east junction with the nave ; but the foundations of the walls of the nave may still be traced with suiScient certainty to determine its original form and extent, as shown in the annexed ground-plan, made for Colonel Conyngham by Monsieur Beranger in 1 7 79, when this building was less riuned than it is at present.
The only ornamented portion of this church remaining is its chancel archway. Its doorway, Avhich, there can be little doubt, was ornamented iu a similar style, has long since disappeared ; and even of this archway, which appears to have consisted originally of three concentric arches, the innermost was destroyed, and its place is
2 M 2
•2(36
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
burial-place of the kings, near the upper lake, where many stones sculptured in a similar style may be found.
^'^^^%
%
It should be stated that the sculptured stones in this church, as well as those in the little church called the Priest's House, though generally supposed to be of sandstone, are in reality of clay slate, while those on the east window of the cathedral church are all of an oolitic sandstone, more resembling Caen than Portland stone ; and that no stone of this latter description is found in tlie province of Leinster, or perhaps in Ireland. And, respecting the merits of these sculptures generally, it may be observed, that however barbaric they may be considered as to their style of design, their execution, at least, exhibits no small degree of art.
That these sculptures have but little resemblance to the decora- tions usually found in Anglo-Norman architecture in England, will, I think, be at once obvious to the architectural antiquary ; and I shall presently show that they have as little simiUtude in taste of design to the ornaments usual in Irish churches of the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Dr. Ledwich, who perceived this want of simihtude in the Glendalough ornaments to those of Saxon or Norman architecture in England, states it as his opinion that their origin " is certainly Danish;" and that the " specimen is unique in Ii'eland." " Here," he remarks, " are no traces of Saxon feuillage, no Christian sjanbols, or allusions to sacred or legendary story: the sculptures are expressive of a savage and uncidtivated state of society. Had there been a mixture
<)V TIIK IIOUXD TOWKHS OF IHKI.ANl).
2G7
of styles, something might be allowed I'or the caprice of the carver, but the design and execution being uniform, the whole must be consigned [assigned] to a particidar people and era." This strange opinion, as I have sho'wn, he endeavours to sustain by references to legends in the mythology and history of the northern nations. But his evidences, I have no doubt, will be deemed insufficient to sustain such a conclusion, and his arguments wholly unworthy of notice. It is certainly not among the northern nations of Europe, who had no stone architecture previously to their conversion to Christianity, that we are to look for the prototj^oe of a style of decoration, which obviously had its origin, however moulded by local caprice, in the debased architecture of Greece and Rome.
Among the many other ornamented churches in Ireland, the styles of which appear to indicate a very early antiquity, and of which we have historical notices to support such antiquity, one of the most ciurious is the church called TeampuU Finghin, or Fineen's Church, at Clonmacnoise. Of this interesting building a portion only i^e- mains, namely, the chancel, and a Round Tower attached to it at its south-east jtmction with the nave ; but the foundations of the walls of the nave may still be traced with sufficient certainty to detennine its original form and extent, as shown in the annexed ground-plan, made for Colonel Conyngham by Monsieur Beranger in 1779, when this building was less riuned than it is at present.
The only ornamented portion of this church remaining is its chancel archway. Its doorway, which, there can be little doubt, was ornamented in a similar style, has long since disappeared ; and even of this archway, which appears to have consisted originally of three concentric arches, the innermost was destroyed, and its place is
2 M 2
•2(i8
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
S^^
\ I
supplied by a plain arch of black marble. The outer arch is only ornamented with plain fillet and band mouldings, but its columns present as capitals human heads in a quite Egyptian style of design ; Avhile the inner, or recessed arch, presents, both on its lace and archivolt, the usual chevron, or ziz-zag ornament, executed in low relief, and on the capitals of its columns a figure somewhat resembling the Irish crown. It may be remarked also that the bases of the columns in this sub-arch have the bvdbous character, noticed in some of the preceding examples, and are stilted in a curious fashion, so as to form a triple base, as sho%vn in the annexed illustrations. The measiu'ements of this archway are, in breadth, at the base of the outer arch, nine feet two inches ; at the base of the second, seven feet two inches; and at the base of the third, six feet: in height, at the outer arch, ten feet to its vertex; at the second arch, nine feet; and at the third, eight feet four inches. The height of the columns, including the capitals and bases, is five feet foiu- inches.
I have akeady stated that there exist historical evidences, which go far to support the antiquity I am disposed to assign to this curious structure ; but I must, at the same ime, confess, that there is also evidence seemingly authentic, which, if cre- dible, wovdd place the date of its erection as late as the close of the twelfth century. This evidence is found in a document, which purports to be a Registry of Clonmacnoise, and which, as it states, was transcribed by direction of Bishop Muircheartach O'Muiridhe, from the original entries, which were in the Life of St. Kieran, " fearing least it might be obscured or lost." The original MS. of this Registry, as Archbishop Ussher, in his Report on the Diocese of Meath, addressed to King James's Commissioners, states, w^as in exis- tence in his time, " but had lately been conveyed away by the practice of a lewd fellow, who hath thereupon fled the country." Transcripts of it were, however, in the possession of the archbishop, and of his
i
'' clllil, , ■
ereciio3 ;.
r
i!
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
2G2
'■.• CO
if
■ vertex; i It tie tliird,
■!i.i\' is
friend Sir James Ware, who had it translated into Englisli by the cele- brated Irish antiquary, Duald Mac lurbis; and the original autograph of this translator is preserved among Ware's manuscripts, in the British Museum, No. LI. of the Clarendon Collection, 4790. In this document, — which contains an account of the various lands granted to the See of Cluain by the several provincial kings and principal chief- tains, as a piu'chase for the right of themselves and their descendants to be interred in a portion of the cemetery appropriated to their use, — the following notice is given of the payment made by Mac Carthy More (Fineen) for the place of sepulture of the Mac Carthys :
" Thus liatb Mac Cartliy .i. Great, Finyn M'^Cartliy, paid for his sepulture, viz. for the proportion of nyue cells, or chapels, 48 dales for every chapell :— the chapells were these, — Killkyran in Desmond, Killcluain, and Killcorpain, and Killatleibhe, and the other five kills, or cells, cannott be reade ; and there was so a discord between Gerald na Corn, from whom the Geraldins disccnd, and IMacarty More, that the said Gerald tookc choice place of JIacarty in Tempoll Finyn in Cluain, and hath given for the same, in Dun Domnall in Conallagha, sixe dayes there and six dayes given in mortmaine by Kydelagh to the church of Dun Domnall in Kidelagh, his owne towne, so as there are 1 2 dales in Dun Domnall east and west, and the head of a mill and the greate Hand in mortmaine to y' said church, and y^ parte of the waterweares be- longing to the greate Hand is the black weare, and in the parish of Dun Domnall, are but sixe quarters, or sixe plowlands, and the whole doth belong to y'^ church, together w"" all kind of tithe in those sixe plowlands ; and allso y"^ baptising ; and the said Gerald payed out of his owne part of Athfara four fatt beeves and 48 dales in KOlcluayn, whereof there are 4 dales in Bregoig, and 48 dales in Kill Dacire, and 48 dales in Killcyugb, and 48 dales in Kill Drochuyll, and sixe dales in Crumaigh, and the baptising, together w"' the tithes of that towne of Crumaigh ; and Gerald gave this in mortmain to y^ church called TeampuU Finyn in Cluain.''
From the preceding document it might veiy naturally be con- cluded, that the church called Temple Fineen owed its name and erection to a Fineen Mac Carthy More ; and such seems to have been the inference drawn by the learned Sir James Ware, who, in a ground plan of the cemetery of Clonmacnoise, calls this church Temple Finian, or Mac Carthy's Church : and hence the general sup- position that it owed its origin to a chief of that family, as stated in the published pedigree of the Coimt Mac Carthy, compiled by Mon- sieur Laine, genealogist to Charles X. of France. If then such an inference were correct, it would follow that this chiu:ch could not be of earlier date than the thirteenth century, as, in the first place, tlie epithet More, or Great, — which was applied to the chief of the senior
2()8
INQUIRY INTO TUE ORIGIN AND USES
supplied by a plain arch of black marble. The outer arch is only ornamented with plain fdlet and band mouldings, but its columns present as capitals human heads in a quite Egyptian style of design ; while the inner, or recessed arch, presents, both on its face and archivolt, the usual chevi-on, or ziz-zag ornament, executed in low reUef, ' I and on the capitals of its columns a figure somewhat resembling the Irish crown. It may be remarked also ■ that the bases of the columns in this sub-arch have the bulbous character, noticed in some of the preceding examples, and are stilted in a curious fashion, so as to form a trijale base, as shown in the annexed illustrations. The measiu'ements of this archway are, in breadth, at the base of the outer arch, nine feet two inches ; at the base of the second, seven feet two inches; and at the base of the third, six feet: in height, at the outer arch, ten feet to its vertex; at the second arch, nine feet; and at the third, eight feet four inches. The height of the columns, including the capitals and bases, is five feet foiu' inches.
I have akeady stated that there exist historical evidences, which go far to support the antiquity I am disposed to assign to this curious structure; but I must, at the same ime, confess, that there is also evidence seemingly authentic, which, if cre- dible, would place the date of its erection as late as the close of the twelfth centiuy. This evidence is foimd in a document, which purports to be a Eegistry of Clonmacnoise, and w^hich, as it states, was transcribed by direction of Bishop Muircheartach O'Muiridhe, from the original entries, which were in the Life of St. Elieran, " feai'ing least it might be obscured or lost." The original MS. of this Registry, as Archbishop Ussher, in his Report on the Diocese of Mcath, addressed to King James's Commissioners, states, was in exis- tence in his time, " but had lately been conveyed away by the practice of a lewd fellow, who hath thereupon fled the country." Transcripts of it were, however, in the possession of the archbishop, and of his
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 2G2
friend Sir James Ware, who had it transhxted into English by tlie cele- brated Irish antiquary, Duald Mac Fii-bis; and the original autograph of this translator is preserved among Ware's manuscripts, in the British Museiun, No. LI. of the Clarendon Collection, 4796. In this document, — which contains an account of the various lands granted to the See of Cluain by the several provincial kings and principal chief- tains, as a purchase for the right of themselves and their descendants to be interred in a portion of the cemetery appropriated to their use, — the following notice is given of the payment made by INIac Carthy More (Fineen) for the place of sepulture of the Mac Carthys :
" Tlius liatli Mac Carthy .i. Great, Fiuyn M'^Cartliy, paid for liis sepulture, viz. for the proportioa of nyue cells, or chapels, 48 dales for every chapell : — the chapells were these, — Kiltkyrari in Desmond, Killcluain, and Killcorpain, and Killatleibhe, and the other five kills, or cells, cannott be reade ; and there was so a discord between Gerald na Corn, from whom the Geraldins discend, and IMacarty ]\Iore, that the said Gerald tooke choice place of Macarty in Tempoll Finyn in Cluain, and hath given for the same, in Dun Domnall in Conallagha, sixe dayes there and six dayes given in mortmaine by Kydelagh to the church of Dun Domnall in Kidelagh, his owne towne, so as there are 12 dales in Dun Domnall east and west, and the head of a mill and the greate Hand in mortmaine to y" said church, and y^ parte of the waterweares lie- longing to the greate Hand is the black weare, and in the parish of Dun Domnall, are but sixe quarters, or sixe plowlands, and the whole doth belong to y^ church, together w"' all kind of tithe in those sixe plowlands ; and allso y"^ baptising ; and the said Gerald payed out of his owne part of Athfara four fatt beeves and 48 dales in Killcluayn, whereof there are 4 dales in Bregoig, and 48 dales in Kill Dacire, and 48 dales in Killcyugh, and 48 dales in Kill Drochuyll, and sixe dales in Crumaigh, and the baptising, together w"" the tithes of that towne of Crumaigh ; and Gerald gave this in mortmain to y'' church called TeanipuU Finyn in Cluain.''
From the preceding document it might very naturally be con- cluded, that the church called Temple Fineen owed its name and erection to a Fineen Mac Carthy More ; and such seems to have been the inference drawn by the learned Sir James Ware, who, in a ground plan of the cemetery of Cloumacnoise, calls this church Temple Finian, or Mac Carthy's Church : and hence the general sup- position that it owed its origin to a chief of that family, as stated in the published pedigree of the Count Mac Carthy, compiled by Mon- sieur Laine, genealogist to Charles X. of France. If then such an inference were correct, it would follow that this chiu'ch could not be of earher date than the thirteenth century, as, in the first place, the epithet More, or Great, — which was applied to the chief of the senior
t^
•270
INQUIUY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
branch of the Mac Carthys, to distinguish him from the chief of anotlicr brancli, wlio was cnllecl ]\Iac Carthy Eeagh, — was not so ap- phed until after the time of Cormac Finn, king of Desmond, who died in tlie year 1215 ; and, in the second place, no chieftain of the name of Fin^hin, or Fineen, is found as a Mac Carthy More before that period. Such an inference would, however, be wholly opposed to historical truth, and the tradition of the place, which assigns its erection to St. Finian of Clonard, the instructor of St. Kieran ; for, without dwelling here on the suspicious character of this document (whichlsliall have occasion to notice hereafter), or on the evidence which the architecture of this chm-ch affords of a far earlier antiquity, we have the authority of Tighernach, — the most ancient and accurate of our annalists, who flourished before the name Mac Carthy was applied to a family, — that the Finghin, after whom this clunx-h was called, was a saint of the primitive Irish church, after whom a holy well in the immediate vicinity of the church was called Tiprait Fingen, as will appear from the following passage :
"A. D. 758. 15"P"ion, comapba ITIoclica f-ujbai, .1. mac Copbaio, comcipbct Parpaij: ip pe po bai bliaDciin pop uipci cippaic pinjen a Cluciin mac Noip, ocup ao bach a n-ailicpi 1 Cliioin."
" A. D. 758. Gorman, comharba of Moclita of Ltigbadh [Louth], i. e. the son of Torbach, comharba of Patrick : it is he that was a year on tlie water of Tiprait Fingen [St. Fineen's Well] at Clonmacnoise, and died on his pilgrimage at Cluain."
The well, alluded to in the preceding passage, still bears the name given to it by the annalist, and is held in the greatest vene- ration ; and the grave of St. Finghin himself, situated beside the church, is still used as one of the principal penitential stations of this distinguished sanctuary. But still further : — in the Chronicon Scoto)-um, — which is only a copy of the Annals of Tighernach, omit- ting such entries as do not relate to the Scoti, or Irish people, — we have an entry at so early a date as the year 1015, which proves that a church, dedicated to St. Finghin, then existed at Clonmacnoise, and would lead to the conclusion that it was not then of recent con- struction. The j^assage is as follows :
" A. D. 1015. ^'^oc mop ip in pojmup, do na ppir peo net paiiiail ip in aimpip pi, Du a D-copcaip oaip mop Rejjlepa finjin b-i 5-Cluam mac Noip."
" A. D. 1013. A great wind [storm occurred'] in the autumn of this year, the like or similitude of which had not been fovmd [observed] at this time, by which was prostrated the great oak of Regies Finghin at Clonmacnoise."
tie fff- 0.
ercD
inteneA I swIukI aditk tial rete' Tfliicli ia; restoiatio; tliere app remaitt! ^: tk year lul^ tiquiiy.
M an km tim, ril entrancv l a level wi: ligWby, veryampk omameKr
AmoE. Clonmaa: notonlT.- as can tx akaser.
fecHam,-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
271
That tliis church became the cemetery of the jSIac Cartliy nimily in the twelfth or thirteenth century, I see no reason to doubt; I even think it not improbable that the name Finghin, which does not previously appear in their history, — but which after that period became so common amongst them, — may have been originally adopted from a feeling of veneration for the saint, in whose church they were interred. But that they have any claim to the erection ofthis curious structure I think I have sufficiently disproved ; and I have only to add, that, as the Annals of Clonmacnoise, — Avliich are so circumstan- tial relative to the erection of the buildings there, and to the injiuies which happened to them, — are wholly silent as to any erection or restoration of the church, called Temple Fineen, or Regies Finghin, there appears to me no reason to doubt that the existing ruin is the remains of that church, which the annalist refers to as in existence in the year 1015, and wdiich was then apparently of a respectable an- tiqiiity.
The Roimd Tower, wdiich is attached to this cluu'cli, and forms an integral, and undoubtedly, a cotemporaneous part of the struc- ture, will be described hereafter ; but I should state here that the entrance doorway ofthis Tower is placed within the chancel, and on a level vnth its floor. I should remark also, that this chancel was lighted by a single round-headed Avindow, placed in its east wall, of very simple construction, and small size ; and that there is a curiously ornamented piscina in the south wall, still in perfect preservation.
Among the many other chiu'ches, of which there are ruins at Clonmacnoise, the great church may, with propriety, be here noticed, not only as a building erected in the beginning of the tenth centiuy, as can be proved from the most satisfactoiy historical evidence, but also, as exhibiting vestiges, sufficient to show that it had been originally ornamented. The erection of this church is thus recorded in the Chronicon Scotorum, and a similar entry is to be found in the An- nals of the Four INIasters, at the same year.
" A. D. 909- Daniiliaj Cluana inac noi)-' do Denarii la plann, mac Plaoil- pechtamn, 7 la Colman Conaillech."
" A. D. 909. The Cathedral of Clonmacnoise was built by Flann, son of Maoil- sechlainn, and by Colmau Conaillech."
The persons here recorded were Flann, monarch of Ireland, who died in the year 916, and Colman, abbot of Clonmacnoise and Clonard,
270 IN'QriRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
branch of the Mac Carthys, to distinguish him from the chief of anotlicr branch, wlio Avas called Mac Carthy Eeagh, — was not so ap- plied until after the time of Cormac Finn, king of Desmond, who died in the year 1215 ; and, in the second place, no chieftain of the name of Fin"hin, or Fineen, is foimd as a Mac Carthy More before that period. Such an inference would, however, be wholly opposed to historical truth, and the tradition of the place, which assigns its erection to St. Finian of Clonard, the instructor of St. Kieran ; for, \vithout dwelling here on the suspicious character of this document (which I shall have occasion to notice hereafter), or on the evidence which the architecture of this church aflbrds of a far earlier antiquity, we have the authority of Tighernach, — the most ancient and accurate of our annalists, who flourished before the name Mac Carthy was applied to a family, — that the Finghin, after whom this church was called, was a saint of the primitive Irish church, after whom a holy well in the immediate ^■icinity of the church was called Tiprait Fingen, as will appear from the following passage :
"A. D. 758. ^opman, comapba ITIoclica f^ujbai, .1. mac C"opbaiD, comapba pncpciij: ip pe po bai bliaoain pop uipci cippaic pinjen u Cluain mac Noip, ocup (.ID bach a n-ailicpi 1 Cluam."
" A. D. 758. Gorman, combarba of Mocbta of Lugbadh [Loutli], i. e. the sou of Torbacb, combarba of Patrick : it is he tbat was a year on the -water of Tiprait Fingen [St. Fineen's Well] at Clonmacnoise, and died on bis pilgrimage at Cluain."
The well, alluded to in the preceding passage, still bears the name given to it by the annahst, and is held in the greatest vene- ration ; and the grave of St. Finghin himself, situated beside the church, is still used as one of the principal penitential stations of this distinguished sanctuary. But still further: — in the C/iron icon Scotorum, — which is only a copy of the Annals of Tighernach, omit- ting such entries as do not relate to the Scoti, or Irish people, — we have an entry at so early a date as the year 1015, which proves that a church, dedicated to St. Finghin, then existed at Clonmacnoise, and would lead to the conclusion that it was not then of recent con- struction. The passage is as follows :
" A.D. 1015. ^aor mop ip in pojmup, do na ppic peo nci pariiail ip in aimpip pi, DU a D-copcaip oaip mop Pe^lepa Pmjm b-i 3-Cluain mac Noip."
" A. D. 1015. A great wind [storm occurred'] in the autumn of this year, the like or similitude of which had not been found [observed] at this time, by -which -was prostrated the great oak of Regies Finghin at Clonmacnoise."
OF THE UOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 271
That this churcli became the cemetery of the Mac Carthy family ill the twelfth or thirteenth century, I see no reason to doubt ; I even thiiilc it not improbable that the name Finghin, which does not previously appear in their histoiy, — but which after that period became so common amongst them, — may have been originally adopted from a feeling of veneration for the saint, in whose church they were interred. But that they have any claim to the erection ofthis curious structure I think I have sufficiently disproved ; and I have only to add, that, as the Annals of Clonmacnoise, — which are so circumstan- tial relative to the erection of the buildings there, and to the injuries which happened to them, — are wholly silent as to any erection or restoration of the church, called Temple Fineen, or Regies Finghin, there appears to me no reason to doubt that the existing ruin is the remains of that church, which the annalist refers to as in existence in the year 1015, and which was then appai-cntly of a respectable an- tiquity.
The Round Tower, which is attached to this church, and forms an integral, and undoubtedly, a cotemporaneous part of the struc- ture, will be described hereafter ; but I should state here that the entrance doorway ofthis Tower is placed within the chancel, and on a level -mth its floor. I should remark also, that this chancel was lighted by a single round-headed windoAv, placed in its east wall, of very simple construction, and small size ; and that there is a curiously ornamented piscina in the south wall, still in perfect preservation.
Among the many other churches, of which there are ruins at Clonmacnoise, the great church may, with propriety, be here noticed, not only as a building erected in the beginning of the tenth centmy, as can be proved from the most satisfactory historical evidence, but also, as exhibiting vestiges, sufficient to show that it had been originally ornamented. The erection of this church is thus recorded in the Chronicon Scotorum, and a similar entry is to be found in the An- nals of the Four Masters, at the same year.
" A. D. 909. iDaniiliaj Cluana mac noi)^ do oenarii la pianii, mac niaoil- ]^ec)ilainn, 7 la Colman ConaiUech."
" A. D. 909. The Cathedral of Clonmacnoise was built by Flann, son of Maoil- sechlainn, and by Colman ConaiUech."
The persons here recorded were Flann, monarch of Ireland, who died in the year 916, and Colman, abbot of Clonmacnoise and Clonard,
272 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
in the record of whoso death, at the year 92G, in the Chronicon Saifontm, and 924 in tlie Annals of the Fom- Masters, we have an additional evidence that this chiu'ch was erected by him :
" A. D. D'iG. Colman, nine Clililhi, ppincepp Cluann mcic Noip, 7 Cluana Ipaipo, o'ej. Ip leip do pineo oaiiiilinj Cluciiia nuic Noip. Do ConuiUib Pluip- cemned."
" A. D. 926. Colman, son of Ailill, chief [abbot] of Clonmacnoise and Clonard, died. It was by liiin tlie catlicdral of Clonmacnoise was erected. He was of the Couaille Muirthennie." — Chron. Scot.
" A. D. 924. Colman, mac QilelLa, abbao Cluaiici lopoipo 7 CUiana mac Noip, eppcop 7 Doccop ejnaiD, o'ej. Qp leip 00 ponnub Daimliucc Cluana mac Noip. t)o ConuilliB niuiprem»\e a cenel."
" A. D. 924. Colman, son of Ailell, abbot of Clonard and Clonmacnoise, a bishop and sapient doctor, died. It was by him the Cathedral of Clonmacnoise was built. lie was of the tribe of Conaille Muirthemne." — 4ww. ^uat. Mag.
We have also Avhat may be considered a further evidence of the period of the erection of this church in the splendid stone cross at Clonmacnoise, Avhicli is unquestionably coeval with it, and which affords in itself an evidence, that the Irish at this period were not ignorant of the art of sculpture, and therefore not incompetent to apply it to architectural purposes. That such crosses were erected as memorials of the founders of distinguished churches in Ireland is proved by one at Tuam, inscribed with the names of Toirdhel- bhach O'Conchohhair, or Turlogh O'Conor, monarch of Ireland in the early part of the twelfth century, and the archbishop, Aedh O'Hoisin, by whom the cathecbal church of Tuam was rebuilt ; and, in Uke manner, by a similar cross at Cashel, which is obviously co- temporaneous with a beautiful chiu-ch there, called Cormac's Chapel, which was erected about the same period as the cathedral at Tuam. The style of these crosses is, — as I shall hereafter show, when I come to speak of the churches of Cashel and Tuam, — of a more complex cha- racter than that of the cross at Clonmacnoise, which is of that simple form, which may be now considered to be as peculiarly Irish as the Round Towers themselves. Any doubt, however, which might be entertained respecting the age of this cross, or the pm'pose for which it was erected, will at once be removed by the fact, that the names of the abbot Cohnan and of the monarch Flann appear engraved in compartments upon it ; and though these inscriptions are now greatly effaced, enough remains to enable a judicious Irish scholar, familiar
OF THE ROUND TOWKKS OF IRELAND. 273
witli this class of inscriptions, Aviiich is still nnmcrous in Ireland, to determine Avhat the entire inscriptions originally were. The first of them occiu's on a tablet on the west front of the cross in the lowest compartment of the shaft, and should unquestionably be read as follows :
"ORoic t)0 F^ctiMt) mac maicsechcamD."
"A PRAYER FOR FLANN, SON OF MAELSECHLAINN."
The second inscription is foiuid on a similar tablet, on the east side of the cross, which nearly faces the western door of the chnrcli, and, like the former, occupies the lowest compartment of the shaft: this inscription, which is less injured than the preceding, very plainly reads as follows :
" 0R01C DO COr.maN tJORROlNDl IN CUOSSQ QR IN Rl F^^CtlNt)." " A PRAYER FOR COLMAN WHO MADE THIS CROSS ON THE KING
FLANN."
Should it be objected that this cross was erected by the abbot Colman as a sepulchral monument to the monarch Flann, and not in commemoration of the erection of the church, — I would reply, that it is highly probable that it was intended for both purposes, as the abbot Colman survived the monarch eight years ; and a cross of this kind, which would have taken the sculptor a considerable time to finish, might very well have been commenced diiring the life-time of the monarch, and have, moreover, been intended to serve as much as a memorial of the erection of the church as a sepulchral monimient of its royal founder. But, however this may be, the sculptures on the west side of the cross evidently relate to the history of the original foundation of Clonmacnoise by St. Kieran, and are very clearly in- tended to be a memorial of the erection of its srreat chiu'ch to his honour, while the sculptures on the other sides represent the prin- cipal events in the life of our Saviour, as recorded in the Scripture; and hence the cross was subsequently known by the appellation of the Cros na Screapfra, i. e. the Cross of the Scriptures, under which name it is thus noticed in the Annals of Tighernach at the year 1060 :
" A. D. 1060. li-6ille 7 h-Ui pocepcai do apjain Clunna mac Noip, co pucpac bpuic moip 6 Cpoip na Scpepcpa, 7 cop Tnapbtto Dip ann, .1. mac leijmD, 7 oclac eili : CO poipip t)ia 7 Ciapan t)elBna 1 n-a ii-Diaij, cop laippec a n-up ann, im pijoarhna li-Ua Pocapca, ap ip ei]'iDe po mupb in mac leijuio. t)o pocc cpa a m-bpuic epoch n-eipji do lo ap na rriapac co Cluain cpe pepruib Ciapam."
2 N
274 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" A. I). lOfiO. Tlie Elians and the lly-Foccrtai plundered Clonmacnoise, and carried away many captives from Cros na Screaptra, and slew two persons there, i. e. a student, and another youtli : but God and Ciaran incited the Delvins in pursuit of them, and tbcy slaughtered them, together with the heir apparent of Hy-Focarta, for it was he that had killed the student. Their captives also returned to them at rising time on the day following to Cluain through the miracles of Ciaran."
I sliould confess, however, that, if we are to trust Dr. Ledwich, this cross, — of two sides of whicli he gives a very inaccurate repre- sentation, and couples with them two sides of another cross at Clon- macnoise, as if they Avere the remaining sides, — is no older than the close of the thirteenth century, at which time, he says, the cathedral church was re-edified by Odo, or Hugh, the dean of the place. His remarks on this subject would be unworthy of notice, if the cha- racter which he obtained by his show of research, and plausible assumption of love for trutli, did not cause his audacious misrepre- sentations to be received with respect by the learned, and render it a duty to expose them. His description of this cross is as follows :
" The other ornamented cross is at Clonmacnois. The stone is fifteen feet high, and stands near the western door of Teampull Mac Diarmuid. Over the Northern door of this church are three figures : the middle St. Patrick, in pontificalibus, the other two St. Francis and St. Dominic, in the habits of their Orders. Below these are portraits of the same three saints and Odo, and on the fillet is this inscription : ' Dons Odo Decanus Cluanni, fieri fecit.' Master Odo, Dean of Clonmacnois, caused this to be made. This inscription refers to Dean Odo's re-edifying the church, and must have been about the year 1280, when the Dominicans and Franciscans were settled here and held in the liighest esteem, as new Orders of extraordinary holiness.. The figures on this Cross are commemorative of St. Kiaran and this laudable act of the Dean. Its eastern side, like the others, is divided into compartments. Its centre, or head and arms, exhibit St. Kiaran at full length, being the patron of Clonmacnois. In one hand he holds an hammer, and in the other a mallet, expressing his descent, his father being a carpenter. Near him are three men and a dog dancing, and in the arms are eight men more, and above the Saint is a portrait of Dean Odo. The men are the artificers employed by Odo, who show their joy for the honour done their patron. On the shaft are two men, one stripping the other of his old garments, alluding to the new repairs. Under these are two soldiers, with their swords, ready to defend the church and religion. Next are Adam and Eve and the tree of life, and beneath an imperfect Irish inscription. On the pedestal are equestrian and chariot sports. On the North side is a pauper carrying a child, indicating the Christian virtue. Charity. Below these a shepherd plays on his pipe, and under him is an ecclesiastic sitting in a chair, holding a teacher's ferula, on the top of which is an owl, the symbol of Wisdom, and its end rests on a beast, denoting Ignorance. The other sides are finely adorned with lozenge net-work, nebule mouldings, roses and flowers." — Antiquities of Ireland, pp. 75, 76.
On this extraordinary description it is scarcely necessary to re-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
275
mark, that Dr. Lcdwicli is as uuicli in error with respect to the a^e of the north doorway of the cathedral and its inscription, as he is with respect to that of the cross itself The doorway is not, as he states, a work of the thirteenth century, but unquestionably of the fifteentli, as the style of its architecture, and the character of the let- ters in the inscription, will at once prove to any person acquainted ■with the antiquities of this period. The cathedral church of Clon- niacuoise was, indeed, re-edified in the thirteenth, or, more probably, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, but not by Dean Odo, the builder of the north doorway, — which is in a different style, — but by Tomultach IMac Dermott, chief of Moyhurg, who, as the Registry of Clonmacnoise states, " hath repaired or built the great church, upon his oAvn costs, and this was for the cemetery of the Clanmaolruany." This Tomultach Mac Dermott, according to the Irish annals, died in the year 133G.
But, though the church was thus re-edified, we still find in the sand-stone capitals of its great western doorway remains of a more ancient church, as their style and material, which are different from those of every other ornamented portion of the building, sufficiently show ; and that such capitals belonged to the doorway of the original church, I can See no solid reason to doubt. The general form of this doorway, as re-edified in the pointed style of the fourteenth century, may be seen in a plate of it given inHarris's edition of Ware's Bishops ; the character of its capitals will appear in the annexed illustration, copied from a sketch made by myself, previously to its recent de- struction.
In the still perfect doorway of another chiu-ch at Clonmacnoise we have a specimen, which, though but of little interest, as exhibiting
2 N 2
•2H\
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
oniamem, is worthy of notice hero, as a Avork of tlie close of the tenth centviry, -wiion tlie power of the Danes in ]\Ieath was broken for a time at the decisive battle of Tara, in 974, by the valour of the monarch Maolseachlainn. This doorway occui's in the sepulchral chapel of the O'Conors of Connaught, which, from the Registry of Clonmacuoise, apjiears to have been erected by Catlial, the son of Conor, king of Connaught, who died in the year 1010. The passage is as follows :
" Thus have the O'Connors theii' part of that cemeterie, and they gave this for their sepulture place, i. e. a place for sixe little cells belonging to Cluain and fortie eight dales to every cell, viz. Tobar Ilbe 48 dales, Tamhnach 48 dales, Killmuicky 48 dales. Kill ni'=. Teig 48 dales, Tuillsge 48 dales. Kill O'Gealba 48 dayes ; and the O'Connor who bestowed these lands was called Cathal O'Connor."
Templeconor is now used as the parisli church, but all its featiu^es, except this doorway, have been destroyed. It appears, however, from
the reports of the old inhabitants of the place, that its windows were in the same style as the doorway, and without ornament. This church measm-es externally forty-five feet in length, by twenty-seven in breadth, and the walls are four feet in thickness.
Taking our ancient authorities as a guide in this Inquiry into
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 277
the age of ornamented cliurches, I may next notice tliose of Killaloe and Inislicaltra, in Minister, as buildings said t(i liavc been erected, or re-erected, in tlie tenth century, by the monarch Brian Bonunha, as thus stated by Keating :
" Q]^ e 6pinn ^oy ruj |^loinnce po peac ap peapaib ©ipionn, ay a n-nirionnccip j^cic pil cpeab pci leir dioK. Qp leip map an j-ceaona do co^bao cempuU CiUe t)alua, ajup reaiTipiiU Innpe Ceallcpac, ajupoo h-acnuaiDioocloicceac Cliuuma 5p^i>ie." — Keatitifl^s History of Ireland, — Reign of Brian BorumJia.
" It is Brian also that gave distinct surnames to the men of Ireland, by which every separate tribe of them is known. It is by him likewise tlie church of Cill Dalua, and the church of Inis-Cealltrach were erected, and the steeple of Tuaim Greine was renewed."
Should it be objected, that a more ancient authority than that of Keating ought to be adduced in proof of these erections, I must con- fess that I am unable to find one, as the Life and Actions of Brian, by Mac Liag, his secretary, — from which Keating, as well as Mac Cuxtin, Avho also states these facts, most probably derived his information, — has not fallen into my hands ; but I )nay remark, that I consider the authority of Keating, on matters of this kind, as quite sufficient, for it is well known to all Irish scholars that his work is only a faithful com- pilation, as he states, from the original manuscripts of the country : an examination of the existins; churches at Ivillaloe and Inislicaltra becomes therefore of the highest importance in this Inquuy, and I shall accordingly treat of each separately.
At Killaloe, then, we have two ancient buildings, namely, the ca- thedral and a small stone-roofed church, situated immediately to the north of it, of which the wood-cut on the next page represents the west front. That the cathedral church is not of Brian's time is, however, sufficiently obvious from its architectural details, which clearly belong to the close of the twelfth centiuy ; and its re-erection is attributed, with every appearance of truth, to Donnell More O'Brien, king of Limerick, who died in the year 1 194. Yet, that a more ancient church, and one of considerable splendour, had previously existed on its site, is evident, from a semicii'cular archway in the south wall of the nave, now built up, and which is remarkable for the richness of its embel- lishments in the Romanesque or Norman style. It is true that this archway, — of which a drawing and description will be found in the Thii'd Part of this Inquiry, — does not appear to be as old as the time of
278
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Brian; and the tradition of llie place has probably a foundation in initli, w hicli considers it as the entrance to the tomb of Muireheartach O'lirien, king of Ireland, who died on the Stli of March, 1120, and who, as AVarc tells us, " was a great beneflictor to the church of Killaloe, and pursuant to his commands, while living, was buried there :" but this very supposition implies the existence of an earlier cathedral chiuxh on the site of the present one.
,?-%3
\swKllr ■ ■ "f 1 — ' — ! — "■"k \i y Jiiii 1., _-
"'^•w/i
The question then naturally suggests itself, is the other church the remains of that erected by Brian two centuries previously ? Tliat this church is as ancient as Brian's time cannot indeed be doubted, and it would furnish an unquestionable proof, — if proof Avcre wanted, — of the use of ornamented architecture in Ireland in the tenth century.
OF TIIE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
27!)
But I confess tliat I feel very strongly inclined to believe that its erection should be assigned to a much earlier age ; for, in the first place, — without attaching much weight to the tradition of the place, which ascribes the erection of the present cathedral church tt) Brian Boruniha, and of this stone-roofed chiu'ch to St.lNIolua, or his successor, St. Flannan, — it is scarcely possible to sup]iose that the cathedral church, erected within his own hereditary principality by so powerful a numarch as Brian, would liave been of dimensions so much smaller than those of most of the cathedral churches of the earliest antiquity, or so remarkable for the simplicity of its architectural features. The nave of this church, which is all that at present remains, is inter- nally but twenty-nine feet four inches in length, by eighteen feet in breadth, and the chancel was only twelve feet in breadth,— as appears by small portions of its Avails still remaining, — and could not have been of much greater length. In fact this little church, in all its fea- tures, with the exception of its ornamented door-way, is perfectly identical in style with many of the earliest chiu'ches and Round Towers of Ireland ; as will appear from the annexed illustrations.
■^SM^^^c-^^'^O
representing the windows which lighted the apartment placed above the nave, within the sloping sides of the roof, and of which that in tlie west gable has a semicircular head, and that in the east, the
278
IXQLIKY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Brian ; and the tradition of the place has probably a foundation in truth, which considers it as the entrance to the tomb of Muircheartach O'Brien, kin" of Ireland, who died on the 8th of March, 1120, and wlio, as AVare tells us, " was a great benefactor to the church ol Killaloe, and pursuant to his commands, while living, was buried there :" but this very supposition implies the existence of an earlier cathedral church on the site of the present one.
<^.-^
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cv:.5:l^^,^,(^/%
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The question then naturally suggests itself, is the other chiu'ch the remains of that erected by Brian two centuries previously ? That this church is as ancient as Brian's time cannot indeed be doubted, and it would furnish an unquestionable proof, — if proof were wanted, — of the use of ornamented architecture in Ireland in the tenth century.
ew- -
StFtaan-' chuicKtw
K
or so rem: Mveofit naljte: bi«adtli, a:
by ;mll : been ofm: tuie- "■ idenL.. - i Towers of
the nil.
OF THE ROUXD TOWERS OF IRELAND.
279
But I confess that I feel very strongly inclined to believe that its erection should be assigned to a much earlier age ; for, in the first place, — Avithout attaching much weight to the tradition of the place, which ascribes the erection of the present cathedral church to Brian Borumha, and of this stone-roofed church to St.Molua, or his successor, St. Flannan, — it is scarcely possible to suppose that the cathedral churcli, erected within his own hereditary principality by so powerful a monarch as Brian, woidd have been of dimensions so much smaller than those of most of the cathedral churches of the earliest antiquity, or so remarkable for the simplicity of its architectural featiu'es. The nave of this church, which is all that at present remains, is inter- nally but twenty-nine feet four inches in length, by eighteen feet in breadth, and the chancel was only twelve feet in breadth,— as appears by small portions of its walls still remaining, — and covdd not have been of much greater length. In fact this little chui'ch, in all its fea- tures, with the exception of its ornamented door-way, is perfectly identical in style with many of the earliest churches and Round Towers of Ireland ; as will appear from the annexed illustrations,
4<=^/4*(> ^^
representing the windows which lighted the apartment placed above the nave, within the sloping sides of the roof, and of which that in the west gable has a semicircular head, and that in the east, the
280
INQUIKY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
triiincjular, or straiglit-sidcd arch. Tlic cliancel arch, which is wholly without ornament, lias incUned jambs and chamfered imposts, and measures in height eiglit feet six inches from the floor to tlie vertex of the arch, and in breadth about four feet six inches, immediately below the imposts.
I have already remarked that the doorway of this church is orna- mented, and 1 sliould add, that there is no reason to believe it to be of later date than the other parts of the building ; and undoubtedly
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3^~^.:»«^N\
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as its ornaments are very different in character from those found on buildings which I wovdd assign to the tenth and eleventh centuries, it would militate very much against such conclusions if this church could be proved to be of Brian Borumha's time. But, as I have
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 281
already remarked, I see no just reason to assign it to so late a period, nor is there "any thing in its ornamental details, which may not, as I conceive, be with greater propriety assigned to a far earlier age. It will be seen from the prefixed sketch that the capital of the pillar, on the north side, presents a rude imitation of the Ionic scroll, while that on the south side presents two figures of animals resembling lambs ; and, that the architrave exhibits none of the ornaments con- sidered as characteristic of Norman architecture.
I shoidd certainly not ascribe the erection of this church to St. Molua, the first patron of the place ; the original church of this saint I take to be that of which there are considerable remains, situated on an island in the Shannon, immediately opposite the cathedral : but the conjecture will not, I trust, be deemed rash, that this church may owe its erection to JNIolua's disciple, St. Flannan, who was son of Toii'dhealbhach, king of Thomond, and who, according to Ware, was consecrated first bishop of this see at Rome by Pope John TV., about the year 639- That a man habituated to the sight of the Roman chiu-ches of this period should have a disposition to imitate, to some extent, their ornamented features, is only what might be expected ; and that he was supplied with the means to do so appears from the fact stated by Ware, that " while he sat here, his Father, T/ieodorick, endowed the church of KiHaloe with many Estates; and dying full of Years, was magnificently interred in this Church by his Son F/annan."
But, however this may be, the reasons which I have assigned for doubting that the stone-roofed church at Killaloe owes its origin to the illustrious Brian, will, I think, be greatly strengthened by an examination of the church of Inishcaltra, which this monarch is also said to have built, — or rather rebuilt, as a church had existed there from the seventh century. As this chia-ch may fairly be considered in part, if not wholly, of Brian's time, some agreement should be found between the style of its architectural features and those of the church of Ivillaloe, if they were really cotemporaneous structures, — but it will be seen that no such agreement exists. In point of size indeed there is but little difference, — the length of the nave of the church of Inish- caltra, internally, being but thirty feet, and the breadth twenty-one feet, and the chancel being a square of about fifteen feet. These measurements, however, appear to be those of the original churcli (if
2 o
282
INCiLIKY INTO TIIE ORIGIN AND USES
St. Caimin, which was erected in the seventh century, as it appears to me obvious from the character of the masonry, and of some of the featm-es in the nave, tliat the kxtter, though unquestionably re- modelled, was never wholly destroyed.
As is usual in Irish churches, the ornamented portions of this are chiefly found in its western doorway and chancel arch, tlie general features of Avhich will be seen in the annexed illustration.
/I'Cvli.'.!^*' »
Of the chancel itself only portions of the side walls remain, and those Avails, which are of ashlar masonry, are of a totally different character from those of the nave, and are probably cotemporaneous with the ornamented features of the latter, — or, at least, Avitli some of them, as indeed some doubts may be entertained that these features are themselves of cotemporaneous age. The entrance doorway, of which a portion only now remains, consisted externally of three concentric and receding semicircular arches, ornamented on their faces with the chevron moulding, — not, however, carved in relief, but in hollow lines, as in the round Avindow at Rahin, already described. The piers of these arches were rectangular, but rounded at their angles, so as to form slender semi-cylindrical shafts, Avith angular
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
283
mouldings on each side, and havintr, in capitals, well-sliapod liiunaii faces carved in low relicl'.
The interiox- face of the doorway was only ornamented wiih a single semicolumn at each side, the capital of whirl i was a simple scroll. This doorway was two feet seven inches in width at the spring of the innermost arch, and two feet nine inches at the base , and in height, to the spring of the arch, five feet two inches, and to its vertex, six feet six inches.
The chancel arch, which is less distinguished for ornament than the doorway, is also triple-faced, or formed of three concentric and recessed arches on its Avestern face, and is double-faced on its eastern or inner side ; but the arches consist simply of square-edged rib- work, and the ornamental sculpture is confined to the piers, which are rounded into semi-columns, and adorned with capitals, as repre- sented in the annexed illustrations, which show a front and side view of the piers.
This archway is ten feet three inches in width between the jambs ; and in height, — from the present level of the floor, which is considerably raised, — five feet six inches to the top of the capitals, and eleven feet to the vertex of the arch.
Whatever doubt may exist as to whether the doorway and chancel arch of this church be of cotemporaneous architectui-e, there is, at least, no reason to suppose that either of them is later than Brian's time, when the church is stated to have been rebuilt, or restored. But it appears to be equally certain that Brian's restoration was con- fined to the chancel, — which, as I have already stated, is in a totally
2 () 2
»Vl«r OTO THE OBIGK a,VD rSES
bJI Iwi^Tl^ on>*mented portions of this are 'cen m the winexed lUustration.
iti'
t^^
t- •
• » ^ 4
■ >f the side walls remain, and •shiar OMSonn-, are of a totally different Ml U»e u ire probably coteniporaneous
o< lui- i.iUcT. — (ir. at least, inth some of Btj bf entertained that these features <4caipanneoas age. The entrance doorway, of <ohr DOV remains, consisted externally of three semicircular arches, ornamented on their ■KwUimr. — not, however, carved in relief, but ike nxmd wir' ■"• •■' Rahin, already described. were n _ ir. but rounded at their aleader semi-cylindrical shafts, with angular
IIOI
turn
•■avci
•]«
oftkinne
1' ran six
if kie; siiir
ssicilin lie mi:-
ll
Ifj
I
Tto..
Tim,-, .-.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF I1J.AKD.
283
i
*
mouldings on each side, and having, in capit^, well-shaped luunaii faces carved in low relief.
The interior face of the doorway was oiy ornamented with a single semicolumn at each side, the capital ' whicli was a simple scroll. Tliis doorway was two feet seven i; hcs in width at the spring of the innermost arch, and two feet n e inches at the base , and in height, to the spring of the arch, five let two inches, and to its vertex, six feet six inches. i
The chancel arch, which is less distinguisid for ornament than the doorway, is also triple-faced, or formed olhree concentric and recessed arches on its western &ce, and is doufe-faced on its eastern or inner side ; but the arches consist simplyof square-edged rib- work, and the ornamental sculpture is confiud to the piers, which are rounded into semi-columns, and adorned ■^h capitals, as repre- sented in the annexed illustrations, which sbw a front and side view of the piers.
» »
This archway is ten feet three inches i jambs ; and in height, — from the present leve' considerably raised, — five feet six inches to and eleven feet to the vertex of the arch.
Whatever doubt may exist as to whether t arch of this church be of cotemporaneous an least, no reason to suppose that either of the time, when the church is statert '■-^ have But it appears to be equally c fined to the chancel, — yf.
width between the
f the floor, which is
top of the capitals,
oorway and chancel
ecture, there is, at
is later than Brian's
, or restored.
yas con-
otally
284
INQUIRY INTO THE OKIGIN AND USES
difTerent style of masonry from tlic nave, — and to one or both the ornamental features already described. The masonry of the nave, throughout, seems clearly to belong to the original church of St. Caimin, though, perhaps, the windows, or at least one of them, may have been inserted in Brian's time. Of these windows, which are in the south wall, one has a semicircular head, and is ornamented with an architrave, very similar in style to that of the doorways of many of the Round Towers, as shown in the annexed illustration. The
other, Avhich appears original, has a horizontal head and inclined sides, as shown above. There is also a small triangular window,
formed of three stones, and placed in the middle of the west gable, towards its summit, which, as far as I know, is imique in form in Irish architectixre.
I have now, as I trust, adduced sufficient evidence not only to prove the existence in Ireland of orna- mental architecture, of an age anterior to the Anglo-Norman invasion of the country, but to lead, with every appearance of probability, to the conclusion that such architectiu-e existed here previously even to theNorman conquest of England. This latter conclusion will, I think, be greatly strengthened, if not satisfactorily estabUshed, when it is shown that those Irish churches exhibiting ornamental architecture.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
•285
which we know from historical evidences to liiive been erected in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, are not only very different in their style of decoration from those presumed to be of earlier date, but have a remarkable agreement in their details with those of the known Norman structures in England and France. To prove such agreement it may be proper to adduce one or two examples of sucli churches in this place, and many others will be found in the Third Part of this Inquiry.
Such an example, then, is found in the entrance porch, or door- way, of the church of Freshford, or Achadh ur, in the county of Kilkenny, a church originally erected by St. Lachtin in the seventh eentmy, but rebuilt towards the close of the eleventh, or commence- ment of the twelfth, as a perfectly legible inscription on its doorway
AiSf4K.<m
•286
i^TQCiBT nrro the oiiiGT5r aito cses
clearly proves. This inscription ia contained in two bands, encircling the external face of the inner arch, — the lettera,^ as is usual in aJl ancient inscriptions, being indented^ — and ia aa foHowa :
1 . In the lower band :
" OR t>o Neim i^iH cuirc actis do marTi^ccmaTN u cmcto- meic tas th oeRNcro T uempucsa"
L e. "A PRATER FOR NIAil DAUGHTER OF CORC, A^TD FOR XATH- GHAMAIX O'CHIARilEIC, BY WHOiL WAS MADE THIS CHCRCH."'
2. In the upper band :
"OR oo 5Jd,te mochotmoc u cecucor do tji^kt"
i. e. " A PRATER FOR GILLE MOCHO]LMQC QrCESTEITCAEf WHO' 30lDE TLT
It is to be regretted that neither our ATimaJs mor genealogiGsiI boots preserve the names of any of thie persons ireeoidedl rm this inseriptiorL so that it is impossible to detemaime esaettjr tte- period it wMeh. tbsy flourished ; but it is obvious, from th.e surnames appEed to the three iudi%-iduals concerned, that thev could not have lived eaxEer than tihe eleventh centiirv, -when the use of hereditarv surnames wajs aeneraltv established in Iretiiid. And that the Mathghamhain,. or Mahon, 0"Ciarmaic, "whose name is here inscribed^ was a ehieftaim o£ tifce district, might be naturaUv inferred from the inscripcioo. itselE even if no other historical evidence existed.; but this iofereuGe is rendered. certain by a passage in the Book of Lecao, foL '^ k ia which, we tiud a Leiuster family, of this name, meiii!ti*Lmedl as oae oiT'tihe ax tribes descended from Fergus LuascaiPi, who' was the soim of Cathaoir Mor. nioiuiivli of Ireland in the secvmd ceniturr. and the ancestor of atmsjst all the distiugiushed chieftain tiamiltes of Leiuster. It appisarSv more- over, fivm tlie tallowing j^)i*ssage iu tlae Annals of the Foux Msuscersv at the year 10i:*7, Aat a Cofflial OTiarmaic wiis thjent in cMef dTstJoift' distiuetioH in the Lein^ter armv.
iijuj^ pap m/OK tXiriwiaiitL «mw nVse*! «« »-&ov wtsw loqpi DitTirmikiw Uk* mp^n3*ir.. tW MKtt vjf Mtwiistof «!v\5fi- lillw La^ttitaaiSs **! w'xvc- tdJw sv* - i...'* sett cfiftitflL aa
OF THE ROrXP TOWERS OF IRELAXD.
2?7
u»-K» [kins *^' LeinsJw}. and vtw-t Diumud O'Brieo. «ad ]&>da. son ai DnnnidL sad
v-h»ah vvn \Mvi erf Hv-Dkw^ astd t\\!»ll OX'iirtaik, aiad tVXVili <sf Masi
vis v-hoa, s - ■"
1 uvay also remark, tlial the name O'Ciamiaic i? stili nvunerou?
ia the Cv»umy o!' Kilkennv, though usuallr metaanoiphoiseHl into the
.:sh «aine Kirby by those ^ name of the
.,,:,> in lhi>: in?.—-"'- ■-• -~ '■ ,■. ..u ■•■ -^-j' •■"■■",
or ^lahon. *? h '- ~ ~ y in In. ^.-J
i? tv> s^Moe e^teut, fear married vromen to retain their paiemal Qame& An instance of this usage is ali>o IouimI in an iuscriptioo osa the vomb of Mael. \ 'y, in the abbey of KiKvkisjoy, in -
<■■• .;.s\\..i :>. --., v., fiiden 3:;\" "*" \ "~ _ -T
.. . V i-v-ar, iVthi . ..„-., -orhkh :- :-. _,^.-r.-- ^ i.
There wei^e twv* chiefiaia fiimihes m lireland. as apfiaars frvaa the Rvik of Lectan, 1&4, 105, *, as>il fei 115, Ik — oi»e seated in the temtcar
^ ' .- od>er in M-ascraiirhe Chtmv,
would Iv idlt-^ J^> o.
Of jhe third i^me, which is taiu ntve^ssATv' to r«^inark, thai as it xc^s C- . - -' "'^svo bel----,-^ ' ^ •"' . ■ ■?•- ' --
.... OSX^Sv . . ,_
nvs«y of thfssa wea*- of .. - _ ..-:^»od oelebdly ia their t^y is suffi- . . ;\v ]pcv>xvd fivaa Tocvsrds of their deaahs. Ttrhich have fouird jil»f>e
— ^- . • ■ - -- r-at It -. . „__^ Lj3t
am liish •oaae, it is ■caaibiF ." the larHTect. it riax
uX
- h '«i>c«U >« ^mavxilT -wviirl^ «^a)^ s$ « ;^utr*r)Ka%3ac -KsaasiTik' «f i^ dhscrikaassm
uiiiMk ^T Xt. 3)<«jitl»^^ «t>r va xiK' HTutnuki (va>xni'M>T>'fi^ ->.'< xbsa -wrc^ muc
,«.-0«in£ «Kut!v 3is>o«^ "ass- *,■>»* .
•28G INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
clearly proves. This inscription is contained in two bands, encircling the external face of the inner arch,— the letters, as is usual in all ancient inscriptions, being indented, — and is as follows :
1. Ill I lie lower band :
" OR DO Neim igiN cuirc acus X)0 marhj^amaiN u chiai?- meic 6as in oeRNao T cempucsa"
i. e. " A PRAYER FOR NIAM DAUGHTER OF CORC, AND FOR MATH- GIIAMAIN O'CIIIARMEIC, BY AVHOM WAS MADE THIS CHURCH."
2. In the upper band :
"OR t)0 sitte mochocmoc u cecucai t)o ri^ni"
i.e. "A PRAYER FOR GILLE MOCHOLMOC O'CENCUCAIN WHO MADE IT."
It is to be regretted that neither our annals nor genealogical books preserve the names of any of the persons recorded in this inscription, so that it is impossible to determine exactly the period at which they flourished ; but it is obvious, from the surnames applied to the three individuals concerned, that they could not have lived earlier than the eleventh century, Avhen the use of hereditary surnames was generally established in Ireland. And that the Mathghamhain, or Mahon, O'Ciarmaic, whose name is here inscribed, was a chieftain of the district, might be naturally inferred from the inscription itself, even if no other historical evidence existed ; but this inference is rendered certain by a passage in the Book of Lecan, fol. 96, b, in which we find a Leinster family, of this name, mentioned as one of the six tribes descended from Fergus Luascan, who was the son of Cathaoir Mor, monarch of Ireland in the second century, and the ancestor of almost all the distinguished chieftain families of Leinster. It appears, more- over, from the following passage in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 1087, that a Conall O'Ciarmaic was then a chief of some distinction in the Leinster army.
" A. D. 1087. Cach Raclia Goaip eccip ^aijniB ctjup piopa rDuvnan, co po paeimiD pia muipcheapcach Ua TT)-6piain a^up pe B-peapaib niuriian pop Ca\p^\h, ujup pop mac tDoiiinaiU, mic TTlaoil na m-bo, ajup ap DiapmcuD Ua iii-6piain, ajup ap Gnoa, mac tJiapmaon, co po lao ap mop ann pin pop ^^aijnib, im mac niupcliaba Ui Doiiinaill, im rijeapno li-Ua n-'Dpona, ajiip im ConuU Ua Ciap- maic, a^up im ua NeiU ITlaije oa con, ec petiqui."
" A. D. 1087- The battle of Rath Edair [was fought] between tlie Lagenians and the men of Munster, in which the victory was gained by Jluircheartach O'Brien and the men of Munster over the Lagenians, and over the son of Domhnall, son of Maol na
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 287
m-bo [king of Leinster], and over Diarmaid O'Brien, and Enda, son of Diarmaid, and a great slaughter was therein made of tlie Lagenians, togetlier with the son of Mnr- chadh O'Domhnaill, lord of Hy-Drone, and Conall O'Ciarniaic, and O'Neill of Magh da chon, and others."
I may also remark, that the name O'Ciarmaic is still numerous in the county of Kilkenny, though usually metamorphosed into the English name Kirby by those speaking English. The name of tlie female in this inscription is probably that of the wife of JMathghanihaiu, or Mahon, as it was the custom anciently in Ireland, and indeed still is to some extent, for married women to retain their paternal names. An instance of this usage is also found in an inscription on the tomb of Maeleachlainn O'Kelly, in the abbey of Knocknioy, in wliieh in- scription his wife is called by her maiden name Finola, the daughter of O'Conor. Of the name O'Cuirc, which is now anglicised Quirk, there were two chieftain families in Ireland, as appears from the Bookof Lecan, fol. 105, b, and fol. 115, b, — one seated in the territory of Fothart Airbreach, in Leinster, and the other in Muscrai2:he Chuirc, now the barony of Clanwilliam, in the county of Tipperary ; but it would be idle to conjecture to which of these families this Lady Niam belonged.
Of .the third name, which is undoubtedly an Irish one, it is only necessary to remark, that as it was clearly that of the architect, it may not have belonged to the district, as professional men of that descrip- tion exercised their art wherever they found employment ; and that many of them Avere of distinguished celebrity in their day is suffi- ciently proved from records of their deaths, which have found place in the authentic Irish annals^
" It would be scarcely worth while, as a characteristic example of the charlatanism of some of the Irish antiquaries of the last century, to notice here a copy with a translation of the preceding inscription, which was originally published in the Antho- loqia Hihernka, by Mr. Beauford, one of the original contributors to that work, and also to Vallancey's Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, if his interpretation of it had not found its way into Gough's edition of Camderi's Brilannm, and other topographical works of character. The article to which I refer is as follows : —
" No. 2 is an inscription over the door of the old church of Freshford, in the county of Kilkenny. It is in old Irish, engraven on several stones, as shewn in the drawing, and runs thus :
" 'Aodos M'Roen ocas cuce cneabdocum doiamrac ncibnisan cuirce. acos dor eacleag amarc mearg use acos elar sni deorsoich en argis.'
" In modern Irish —
288
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The erection of this chui'ch may then, with every appearance of certainty, be referred to a period not much earlier than the close of the eleventh, or beginning of the twelfth century ; and that the gene- ral character of this doonvay, as well as its ornaments, has a nioi-e di'cided resemblance to those of the Norman chiu-ches in England, than any of those previously noticed in this work, will, I think, be at once obvious from the prefixed outline. This resemblance is found
not only in the greater richness of its decorations, and the boldness of its sculptvire, which is in high relief, but also in the forms of its capitals and bases. And I should also notice, as a characteristic of Irish architectm-e, of this period at least, the grotesque lions' heads, which are sculptm-ed on the soffit of the external arch, immediately over the imposts.
The next example, which I have to addvice, is a church of pro- bably somewhat later date than that of Freshford, and whose age is definitely fixed by the most satisfactory historical evidence. It is the beautiful and well-known stone-roofed church on the Rock ofCashel, called Cormac's Chapel, one of the most curious and perfect churches
" ' Aoda M'Roen agus coiglie flath teampall talamh as dlightlieacli deaglais coirce agns dorais ea clocli amairc sleas iisa agus e fearann do shin devirseacli en archios.'
" That is—
" ' The Priest, M'Eoen, and chief, gave to this church the glebe of arable land ; and, over the door placed this stone, as a true token ; and, with this favour, the land, slaves, and tribiite.'
" There being no date, the time of this gift cannot be determined. Freshford (in Insh. Ac/i(uUim; or Waterfield) was an ancient monastery of regular canons in the "tli century, and at present is called the Prebend of Aghour." — Vol. i. p. 351.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
289
ill the Norman style in the British empire. The erection (^f this cluirch is popularly but erroneously ascribed to the celebrated king- bishop Cormac ]Mac CuUenan, who was killed in the battle of Bealach Mughna, in the year 908 ; and it is remarkable that this tradition has been received as true by several antiquaries, whose acquaiiilance with Anglo-Norman architecture should have led them to a diil'erent conclusion. Dr. Ledwich, indeed, who sees nothing Danish in the architecture of this church, supposes it to have been
erected in the tenth or beginning of the eleventh century, by some of Cormac's successors in Cashel ; but he adds, that it was " prior to the introduction of the Norman and Gothic stjdes, for in every respect it is purely Saxon." Dr. Milner, from whose reputation as a writer on architectural antiquities, we might expect a sounder opi- nion, declares that " the present cathedral bears intrinsic marks of the age assigned to its erection, namely, the twelfth; as does Cor- mac's church, now called Cormac's hall, of the tenth." — Milner s Letters, p. 131. And lastly, Mr. Brewer, somewhat more cau- tiously indeed, expresses a similar opinion of the age of this building:
2 p
290 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" This edifice is said to have been erected in the tenth century ; and from its architectural character few will be inclined to call in ques- tion its pretension to so high a date of antiquity." — Beauties of Ire- land, vol. i., Introduction, p. cxiii.
A reference, however, to the authentic Irish Annals would have shown those gentlemen that such opinions were wholly erroneous, and that this church did not owe its erection to the celebrated Cormac Mac Cidlenan, who flourished in the tenth century, but to a later Cormac, in the twelfth, namely, Cormac Mac Carthy, avIio was also king of Munster, and of the same tribe with the former. In the Munster Annals, or, as they are generally called, the Annals of Innis- fallen, the foundation of this cluuxh is thus recorded :
" A. D. 1127. Sluaj mop le Coipoealbach Ua ConcuBnip 50 piacc Copcaij, 7 d F^in ap cip, 7 coblac ap muip cioincul 50 Copcaij, 50 n-oeapnaiD fim 7 Donncha mac Caproij 50 n-a rhuincip Copmac, mac muipeaoaij, ITI15 Capraij, D'airpiojao, 50 mo h-eijion do doI a n-oilicpe 50 6iop mop, 7 bacall do jabail ann ; 7 Donnca, mac muipeaoaij, riieij Caprai^, do piojuo n-a piajnaipe. • »»*»» Xy(^ Cheumpul a 6iop mop, 7 ceampul a 5-Caipiol, le Copmac."
"A. D. 1127. A great army was led by Turlough O'Conor to Cork, he himself going by land, and a fleet by sea round to Cork, and he and Donough Mac Carthy with his people caused Cormac, son of Miiireadhach, son of Carthach, to be dethroned, so that he was obliged to go on a pilgrimage to Lismore, and take a staff there ; and Donogh, son of Muireadhach, son of Carthach, was inaugurated in his presence. ****** Two churches [were erected] at Lismore, and a church at Cashel, by Cormac."
Thus also, in the same annals, we have the following record of the consecration of this church seven years afterwards :
"A. D. 1134. Coipmp^ao ceampuiU Copamnic mac Capraij a 5-CaEpiol leip an Qpoeppoj 7 h-eppojaib na muman, 7 le macib Gpeann, loip laoc 7 cleipeac."
"A. D. 1134. The consecration of the church of Cormac Mac Carthy at Cashel by the archbishop and bishops of Munster, and the magnates of Ireland, both lay and ecclesiastical."
And again, in the same annals, the erection of this church is thus distinctly stated in the following record of Cormac's death, at the year 1138 :
" A. D. 1 138. Copmac, mac TTIuipeaDai^, mac Capcai j, mac Saopbpeiri^, mac Oonnclia, mac Ceallacam Caipil, T?ij (Deapmurhan, 7 lomcopnamach ITluman uiLe, 7 an ouine ba cpaibcije, 7 ba calama, 7 ba peapp pa biuio, 7 pa eaoach, lap g-cumoacb ceampuill Copamaic a 5-Caipiol, 7 do ceampuU a ^lop mop, do mapboD le tJiapmaio Sumach h-Ua Concubaip Ciappuioe, aip paoparii Coip- oealbaij li-Ui 6piairi, a cliamain, 7 u cai]iDiop Cpiopc, 7 a alcpom a b-peall."
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 291
" A. D. 1 138. Cormac, son of Miiireadhach, son of Carthach, son of Saorbhretliacli, son of Donougli, son of Ceallaclian Casliel, king of Desmond, and a man who had con- tinual contention for tlie sovereignty of the entire province of Munster, and tlie most pious, most brave, and most liberal of victuals, and clothing, after having built [the church called] TeampuU Chormaic, in Cashel, and two churches in Lismore, was treacherously murdered by Dermot Sugach O'Conor Kerry, at the instigation of Turlough O'Brien, who was his own son-in-law, gossip, and foster-child."
The consecration of this church is also recorded in all the other Irish Annals, except those which are defective about this period : — thus, for example, in Mageoghegan's translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, at the year 1135 :
" A. D. 1 135. There was a great assembly of Leath Moye in Cashell at the conse- cration of the church of Cormac Mac Carthie King of Cashell."
Thus also in the Annals of Kilronan, Avhich are preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin :
"A. D. 1134. Coippecao cempoiU Copmaic."
Thus acjain in the Chronicon Scotoriiin:
"A. D. 1134. Coippecao cempoill Copmaic i j-Caipiol la mairiB imoa." "A. D. 1134. The consecration ofCormac's church at Cashel by many dignitaries."
Thus again in the continuation of the Annals of Tighernach :
"A.D.I 134. Coippejao ceampuiU Copmac a g-Caipiol tnaidiib imoa, loip laech 7 cleipeach."
" A. D. 1 134. The consecration of the church of Cormac at Cashel by many chiefs, both lay and ecclesiastical."
And, lastly, thus in the Annals of the Four Masters :
" A. D. 1134. Ceampull do ponao la Copbmac, mac Plic Caprui^, pi Caij^il, DO coippeccoD la peatiao clepecich n-Gpeno i n-aoin lonao."
" A. D. 1134. The church which was built by Cormac, the grandson of Carthach, King of Cashel, was consecrated by a synod of the clergy of Ireland [assembled] in one place."
The preceding authorities will, I think, leave no doubt as to the true age of this structure, and therefore an examination of its charac- teristic features will not only enable us to obtain an intimate know- ledge of the style of architecture prevalent in Ireland in the early part of the twelfth century, but also to mark the differences between that style and those found in buildings, which, there is every reason to believe, should be assigned to earlier periods.
It may indeed be objected, that the word cumoac, which is used by the annalists to express the erection or foundation of this church, does not literally bear that signification, but rather a restoration or
2 p 2
292
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
covering of the building, as the word is employed in that sense to denote the covering or casing of a book ; and, in fairness, I should confess that, in the translation of the Annals of Inisfallen, preserved in tlie Library of the Royal Irish Academy, the word curhoac is rendered doubtfully " built, or restored ;" and I should also add, that the verb cumoaijnn is explained in O'Brien's Dictionary as signify- ino- " to keep or preserve, to maintain or support, also to build, rather to roof and cover a building." But this latter part of the explanation is an inference of Dr. O'Brien's, and it is not warranted by any au- thority found in Irish manuscripts. In these documents the word cumDac is beyond question employed to denote the erection as well as the foimding of a building, and sometimes the bviilding itself; as in the following example in Cormac's Glossary, at the word Qicoe :
"Qicoe, .1. ecDoe "^pece aeDipiciuin 6acine, .1. cumoac."
" Aicde, i.e. ecdoe Irecte ix'^oui'] Gro3ce, cedificium Latine, i. e. cumoach."
And, in like manner, the verb curhoaijim is used to translate the Latin condo, with which it is very probably cognate, as in the foUow- ino- example from the Book of Ballymote, in which condita est is translated po cumoaijeaD :
''■Roma condita est, .1. po curiiDaijeaD in 1301171." — Fol. 3, b, a.
In its general plan, as above shown, Cormac's chapel exhibits many points of resemblance with the earlier stone-roofed churches of the Irish, as in its simple division into nave and chancel, and in the crofts or apartments placed over them ; but, in most other re- spects, it is totally unlike them, and indeed, taken as a whole, it may be considered as unique in Ireland. For example, there is no
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
293
east window in the chancel, which has at its eastern end an arched quadrangular recess, or apsis, apparently designed to receive an altai-, or perhaps a throne, and which forms externally a third division to the church.
Another peculiarity iu this structure is the absence of an original entrance doorway on the west side, — for the present one is obviously of later date, — and its having both a northern and southern entrance : but the most remarkable of these peculiarities is its having a square tower at each side of the termination of the nave, at its junction with the chancel, and thus giving the chiu'ch a cruciform plan. These towers are of unequal heights, that on the south side, which wants its roof, being about fifty-five feet in height, while the other, in- cluding its pyramidal roof, is but fifty feet. The southern tower is ornamented with eight projecting belts, or bands, — the lowest being but three feet from the ground, — and a projecting parapet, which is apparently of later erection. The northern tower is similarly or- namented with bands, but ex- hibits only six of them. The southern tower contains with- in it a spiral staircase of stone, leading to the crofts already spoken of, where it terminates ; and the upper portion of this tower was occupied by small apartments over each other, the uppermost of which was lighted by four small qua- drangular apertures, as if this apartment had been intended as a look-out station. There is also a small aperture be- tween each of the belts, ex- cept the sixth and seventh, to light the staircase. The northern tower has neither staircase nor upper apertures ; but it was divided into a series of apartments, the floors of which rested on ofisets and joists, the holes for which were left in the ashlar work.
In the ornamental details of the building a similar peculiarity will
Bi
''^\
292
INQUIR" INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
coverinrr of tlie buildirf, as the word is employed in that sense to denote the covering oicasing of a book ; and, in fairness, I should confess that, in the traslation of tlie Annals of Inisfallen, preserved in the Library of theRoyal Irish Academy, the word curhoac is rendered doubtfully " hilt, or restored ;" and I should also add, that the verb ciimoaijim isexplained in O'Brien's Dictionary as signify- in<T " to keep or presere, to maintain or support, also to budd, rather to roof and cover a buiiing." But this latter part of the explanation is an inference of Dr.O'Brien's, and it is not warranted by any au- thority found in Irislmanuscripts. In these documents the word curhoac is beyond quetion employed to denote the erection as well as the founding of a bilding, and sometimes the building itself; as in the following exain|e in Cormac's Glossary, at the word Qicoe :
"Qicoe, .1. ecDoe ^pec aeDipicium Carme, .1. cumoac."
" Aicde, i. e. ecdoe [«'rf.ExSoK«'] Grtece, cedificinm Latine, i. e. ciimoach."
And, in like manner, the verb curhoai^im is used to translate the Latin condo, with whih it is very probably cognate, as in the follow- ing example from tli Book of BaUymote, in which condita est is translated ]io cumooipab :
" Roma conditast, .1. po curiiDaijeao in Roim." — Fol. 3, b, a.
J
In its general jin. as above sho\v many points of reseiblance with t^- of the Irish, as in ii simple divi - the crofts or apartmnts placed ■ s^aajamtg^^^^^^ijirQ them
id
)
-&-
OF THE ROUXD TOWERS OF
ELAND.
eastern
end
cast window in tlie chaucol, which has at quadian^ular recess, or apsis, apparently d. jnedto rece'^ or perhaps a thi-ono, and whicli forms extf ally a third .. the chiu-ch.
Another peonliavitv in this structure is e absence entrance doorway on the west side,— for tl sresentor. of later date,— and its having both a northe ^i sout)^ but the most remarkable of these pecuhaii ts is it- tower at each side of the termination of e na^ ^ with the chancel, and thus giving the churc . cruc;: - towers are of unequal heights, that on the^ uth > its roof, being about fifty-five feet in hei t, wi: eluding its pyramidal roof, is but fifty feet The - ornamented with eight projecting belts, or n*-— but three feet from the ground,— and a ]*h"— is apparently of later erection. The nordi. ■
nan
Lli
soi:
lesi
northern tower has neitbe: divided into a series of ap^- and joists, the holes for v In the ornamental de-
rand entrance, is
decorations. It is
"*" ]5olumns and a double
^^"^ ch mouldings, and has
il arch. The basso re-
iits a helmeted centaur,
^' appears to tear some
1 of this sculptiu-e, and
e seen from the illustra-
it apitals will be found on
:.r,_. ;i two others in the nave,
;,1.1\ 1 -^ ornamented than those
outh side,s only ornamented in its
h, which iiof much greater size, has
and its iijermost arch moulding is
rnament.
r
294
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
be found to distinguish tliem from those in churches of earlier date. Externally the walls are decorated with blank arcades of semicircular arches, arranged in two stories,— resembling very much the churches sculptured on the marble fonts in Winchester cathedral, and in the neiylibouring one of East Meon, as figured by Dr. Milner and others,
and the lower of these arcades is carried round the southern tower.
Internally the side walls are decorated with similar arcades, except that, in the nave, the arches do not spring from cokunns, but from square pilasters. These pilasters have impost mouldings resting on billets, and are ornamented with the lozenge, hatched, checked, star, and other mouldings, characteristic of the Norman style ; and the arches exhibit the zig-zag movilding both on their faces and soffits. Above these arcades the north and south walls of the nave are ornamented with a series of stunted semicolumns, resting on a pro- jecting string-course chamfered underneath ; and from the capitals of these spring square ribs, which support and decorate the semi- circular roof
The entrance doorways are also riclily ornamented, both on their shafts, capitals, and arches, and they present, moreover, very curious grotesque sculptvires on their lintels. The ornaments on the south
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
295
doorway, which exhibits on its lintel a figure of a grotesque animal, will be sufficiently understood from the annexed illustration, which represents the doorway, as at present, built up.
The north doorway, which was obviously the grand entrance, is of greater size, and is considerably richer in its decorations. It is ornamented on each side with five separate columns and a double column, supporting concentric and receding arch mouldings, and has a richly decorated pediment over its external arch. The basso re- lievo on the lintel of this doorway represents a helmeted centaur, shooting with an arrow at a lion, which appears to tear some smaller animal beneath its feet. The design of this sculptm^e, and the general character of the doorway, will be seen from the illustra- tion on the next page, and ovitliues of its capitals will be found on pages 298-300.
In addition to these doorways, there are two others in the nave, leading to the towers, but considerably less ornamented than those already noticed. That on the south side is only ornamented in its architrave ; but that on the north, which is of much greater size, has two semicolumns on each side, and its innermost arch moulding is enriched with the chevron ornament.
296
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The clifincel arch is composed of four recessed divisions, and two of its shafts are twined, or fluted, spirally. The arch mouldings are also richly sculptured, one exhibiting the usual chevron, and another a series of human heads, Avhich extend also along the faces of the piers. At present this arch exhibits, to some extent, the horse-shoe form; but this is only an accident, resulting from "the pressiu'e of the Avail.
The chancel is ornamented, in its side walls, Avitli an arcade like those of the nave, but of a richer character, the arches being sup- ported by columns ; and the apsis, or quadrangular recess for the altar, is similarly ornamented, its arcade, however, being open, and its columns enriched with fluted, spiral, and chevron mouldings. The ceiling of the chancel is groined Avith ribs, springing from the angles, and is ornamented Avith four human heads at their point of intersection. Grotesque human heads are also placed immediately beneath the vaiilt on the east and Avest Avails ; and the Avhole of the vaulted roof, as well as the sides of the chancel, appear to have been richly painted in fresco, in which the prevailing coloiu^s used were red, yelloAv, broAvn, and Avliite. In the small side recesses curtains Avere represented, and arches were depicted on the ceiling. These frescoes are obviously cotemporaneous Avith the building.
The apartments placed above the nave and chancel are on diffe- rent levels, the floor of the apartment over the chancel being six feet
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 207
six inclies lower tliau that of the apartment over tlie nave ; and tlie communication between these apartments is by a plain semi-circular headed doorway, within which is a flight of six stone steps. The smaller apartment, or that over the chancel, is lighted by two small windows, round externally, but square, and splaying considerably internally : these are placed in the east wall, and are about ten inches in the diameter of the circle. The larger apartment, or that placed over the nave, is also lighted by two windows on the east side ; these windows are oblong and semi-circular headed on the outside, but square, and splayed considerably on the inside, and are each inclosed in a low and semi-circular headed niche. This apartment is also lighted on its south side by two square windows, which are of modern construction, but may possibly occupy the place of more ancient aper- tures. At the west end, in a wide recess, there is an original fire- place, with a flue passing through the thickness of the wall ; and on each side are small flues, extending round the side walls, close to the present level of the floor, and which were evidently intended to heat the apartment.
In both these apartments the side walls converge from their bases, so as to form a sharp-pointed arch ; and, in the larger apartment, a series of corbels project from the side walls, at the height of about six feet from the level of the floor, apparently for the purpose of supporting a wooden floor, and thus forming a second apartment, which Avas lighted by a square window placed at the summit of the east gable. The formation of the roof of this apartment is worthy of notice, inasmuch as it exhibits a considerable knowledge of the art of construction. It consists of two distinct layers of stone, of which the external one is formed of sandstone ashlar, and the internal one of squared blocks of calc tufia, — a construction admirably calculated to lessen the superincumbent weight, and obtain a greater security against moisture, without decreasing the stability of the building.
I have described the general features of this curious building with a minuteness which, I fear, may be deemed tedious, but which its importance seemed to me to deserve ; and luider this impression, I shall now present the reader with detailed illustrations of its most characteristic sculptures, including those on its capitals, which, as will be seen, present a singular variety in their designs, and are never in any two instances exactly similar to each otlier. I shall
2 Q
29i^
CTQcmT nrro the osigd* atd uses
begiii with a aelection of the captals of the shafts of the great nor- tbero do«Mrwav, whkh, as I have alreadr obeerved, is the richest ar ' ral featore in the building- The richest of these capatals
aiv_ :.^. . -s-hkh decorate a domtfe colmann oo each side.
In the curious capital next represented we have an interesting example of the intersecting semicircular arches, which, by forming acute arches, gave, in England, according to the ingenious thecay sc zealously advocated by the late Dr.Milner, the first suggestion of the pointed style of architecture, and which was afterwards so generally adopted in Europe, and refined into a beautifiil and harmonious system. This theory is, however, I believe, now very generally re- jected, even by English antiquaries, who have thus given a proof that they do not love the glory of their country better than truth ; and I
h-
.J
I
Y
|Ji«'
have only alluded to it here in consequence of the cotemjjoraneous example which this capital afibrds of an acquaintance with this form
■«t not-
■apiialj
an mtmm led. Iiv forming iiidii? lIieoH' 50
r>b so generaBy ttA hmwim "eralljie-
■ii ; acil 1
niporanfoijs ■■;itE<fom
OF THE ROUND TOWKKS OF IRKI.ANI).
2!)!»
in Ireland, and wliich is the more curious inasmuch as no example of its architectural use occurs in this country. Similar instances ni' its use, as an ornament on capitals, occur in England, as in Ai)plct<)n church, Berks, circa 1190.
The capitals which follow are those of the single colunnis in tlie same doorway, and are but little varied in their designs.
The next two are more remarkable, particularly the second, which in its subdivision into small shafts, has an ajiproximation to tlie clus- tered column of the pointed style.
The capitals of the smaller north doorway, or tliat leading into the northern tower, are ornamented, like those of the larger doorway, chieily with varieties of the Norman truncated and inverted semicones, with escalloppcd edges ; V)ut they present one exception worthy of notice, namely, an imitation of the Ionic volute : and I should also
2 Q 2
HR
II I
i>9S
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
begin ^vith a selection of tlie capitals of the shafts of the great nor- thern doorway, which, as I have already observed, is the richest architectural feature in the building. The richest of these capitals are those which decorate a double column on each side.
-^
1 .t:-^:v-;
In the curious capital next represented we have an interesting example of the intersecting semicircular arches, which, by forming acute arches, gave, in England, according to the ingenious theory so zealously advocated by the late Dr.Milner, the first suggestion of the pointed style of architecture, and which was afterwards so generally adopted in Europe, and refined into a beautiful and harmonious system. This theory is, however, I believe, now very generally re- jected, even by English antiquaries, who have thus given a proof that they do not love the glory of their countrj' better than truth ; and I
have only alluded to it here in consequence of the cotemporaneous example which this capital affords of an acquaintance with this form
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
299
in Ireland, and which is the more curious inasnuich as no example of its architectural use occurs in this country. Similar instances oi" its use, as an ornament on capitals, occiu' in England, as in Applcton church, Berks, circa 1190.
Tlie capitals which follow are those of the single columns in the same doorway, and are but little varied in their designs.
L
M
The next two are more remarkable, particularly the second, which in its subdivision into small shafts, has an approximation to the clus- tered column of the pointed style.
The capitals of the smaller north doorway, or that leading into the northern tower, are ornamented, like those of the larg^er doorway, chiefly with varieties of the Norman truncated and inverted semicones, with escallopped edges ; but they present one exception worthy of notice, namely, an imitation of the Ionic volute : and I should also
2 Q 2
300 INQUIRY IXTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
observe, that the shafts of two of the cokimns of this doorway are
/
semi-octagonal. The six capitals which follow are those of the
seraicolumns wliich decorate the south side of the nave, and which
■^fir;
support the ribs of the ceihng ; these are arranged in the same order as in the building, proceeding from east to west. The six which
OF THE ROUND TOAVERS OF IRELAND.
301
next follow are those of the north side, proceeding I'rom Avest to east ; and it will be observed that the fourth of these ca])itals was
never finished. The next three illustrations represent the capitals of
the outermost double semicolumns of the chancel arch, and which are
of a different style of design from any of the preceding : and the two followhig illustrations represent the capitals of the double semi-
▲XDCSB
-'A^aiaa^ ,-, c
^ iW pien of tke iBnennoet divisions of
>^*^Mi »tz oi tht wton ofdinuj Xonnan types, as
^r*^^*
of vkicb tl)« two illustrations at the •5 examples.
entensi
The two il'-jwiions foUowng these are given as characteristic
/
t#
Pfi
/'
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF
examples of the bases of the shafts, the first re;
iRE*rD. 303
isenting the bases of
the single shafts of the nave, and the second, thee of the double shafts on the piers of the chancel arch.
In describing the smaller doorway, at the Erth side of the nave, entering the north tower, I should have notice the sculptm-ed label,
or dripstone, '^"''ristic of the
W
as, on it^'^^^jpr facias peculiarly charac- yle; an' 1e I n^ annex illustrations.
;502 IXQUIRV INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
columns placed on the faces of the piers of the innermost divisions of
this arch. These capitals are of the more ordinary Norman types, as
If
l-.,,y.
v-V
, /'^yll
m
are also those of the chancel, of which the two illustrations at the top of the next page will serve as examples.
o.oooj p,c
f,;r .■• 't
|
ll,. 11 |
^ |
■ |
v1 |
||
|
'm |
^^ES |
S—SEB-S— |
|||
|
1 |
^M |
fe=rB^ |
'_ |
^^W |
|
|
r |
-^^" |
■^ |
'J ..Mi |
||
|
ii,. |
The two illustrations following these are given as characteristic
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 303
examples of the bases of the shafts, the first representing the bases of
the single shafts of the nave, and the second, those of the double shafts on the piers of the chancel arch.
In describing the smaller doorway, at the north side of the nave, entering the north tower, I should have noticed the sculptured label.
or dripstone, terminations, on its interior face, as peculiarly charac- teristic of the Norman style ; and of these I now annex illustrations.
304
INQUIHV INTO THE OKIOIN AND USES
Similar grotesque ornaments terminate some of tlie mouldings of the larger doorway, but on its external face.
Of the two following illustrations, the first represents one of the
decorated ai'ches of the blank arcade which ornaments the sides of tlie nave ; and the second, one of the arches of the open arcade which f)rnaments the apsis, or recess, at the end of the chancel.
Tlie two following illusti'ations will serve as examples of the most
|
p |
t5 |
peculiar of the windows of this building, the first representing one of the small round windows at the east end of the croft over the
OF THE ROUND TOWEKS UE IKELANl).
305
chancel; and the second, one of the obk)ng apertures oftlie soutli tower, splaying externally, and curved at the sill.
I should not conclude this description ofCormac's Chapel with- out noticing a curious quadrangular recess, which is placed in the north Avail, between the doorway and the tower. This recess is at present occupied by a tomb, and was obviously intended originally for such a purpose ; and according to the popular tradition, it was the place of the tomb of the founder, Cormac Mac Carthy. The present tomb, however, is obviously not the original one, which, as I was informed by the late Mr. Austin Cooper, had been removed into a small chapel in the north transept of the Cathedral, more than a ceutmy since, after the abandonment of that noble edilice to ruin in Archbishop Price's time, and where, divested of its covering stone, it still remains, and is now popularly called " the Font."
S-iv~-i — -
iSejIiipii??^;
<rfm
T'i)iu[^? ..-D {
It is said that the covering stone of this tomb was ornamented with a cross, and exhibited an inscription in Irish, containing the name of Cormac, king and bishop of Munster, and that this sc\ilp- ture and inscription were ground off its surface by a tradesman of the town, who appropriated the stone as a monument for himself and family ; and I may remark, that the probability of these traditions being true, is greatly increased by the character of the interlaced or- naments, which are sculptured on the front of the tomb, and which
•J. R
;!()(;
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
are obviously of the twelfth century, and similar in style to those on the base of the stone cross now remaining in the cemetery adjacent to the Chapel, and vnth which it is obviously cotemporaneous. I should further add, that the length and breadth of this tomb is such as to fit it exactly to the recess from which it is said to have been removed. But, strong as these circumstances appear, there is yet a
fact to be stated, which may throw some doubt on tlie truth of these traditions, or at least so far as they relate to the tomb having been that of the founder of the cluu'ch, namely, that, on the opening of the tomb, there was discovered a crozier of exceedingly beautiful work- manship, and which, from its form and style of ornament, there is every reason to believe must be of cotemporaneous age with the Chapel. It is certain, at all events, that its age cannot be many years later ; and I may remark, that a perfectly similar head of a crozier, which is preserved among the antiquities in the INIuseum of Cluny,
OF THE HOUND TOWJiUS 01'' IRELAND. 307
is ascribed by the learned author of " Les Arts ait Moi/en Age" to the commencement of the twelfth century. Tlie Cashel crozier, after having been in the possession of the Cooper family, of Cashel, for a considerable period, passed into my possession at the sale of the museum of the late Dr. Tuke, it having been purchased by him at the sale of the library of the celebrated Joseph Cooper Walker, author of the Memoirs of the Irish Bards, and other Avorks, and to whom it had been given by Mr. Austin Cooper. The question then naturally arises, was Cormac Mac Carthy, the founder of this Chapel, a bishop as well as a king, or, are we to reject the tradition, and adopt the alternate conclusion that the moniunent must have been the tomb of some cotemporaneous bishop ?
As this is a question which has been already made a subject of interesting controversy, it is greatly to be regretted that tlie onl}' evidence that could perhaps have settled it, — namely, the inscription upon the tomb, — should be irrecoverably lost ; for, under existing circumstances, much may be said on either side without leading to any satisfactory conclusion. It will be recollected that in one of the passages already cited, — that from the Annals of Innisfallen, at the year 1127, — it is stated, that on his expulsion from the throne of Cashel in 1127, Cormac was obliged to take refuge in Lismore, where he was forced to receive a bachall, or crozier : but though there is nothing improbable in the circumstance that a deposed prince, of his high character for piety, should have received the episcopal rank to reconcile him to his fallen condition, the statement in the Annals is not sirfRcient to establish that such was the fact, as the word bachall is used in the Irish authorities not only to denote the crozier of a bishop, abbot, or abbess, bvit also the penitential staff of a pilgrim. But there is another historical evidence of much higher authority, because a cotemporaneous one, which would go far indeed to establish the fact that Cormac had received an episcopal crozier, and enjoyed the dignity of a bishop, when he was restored to his throne. This evidence is found in the last of the following entries in a manuscript copy of the Gospels, written in Ireland, and now pre- served amongst the HarleianMSS. in the British Museum, — n, 1802.
At the end of the Gospel according to St. Matthew :
" Op DO nicielbpijce qui pcpibpic hunc libpum. If mop in jnim Coptnac niac Capclictij oo mupbao o Uaipoelbacb li-ua 6piain." — Ful. 60.
2 R 2
.■)08 INQUIRY IXTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Pray lor Maolhriglite y/// sci-ijjsil liunc Ubrum, Great the deed, Cormac Mac Car- tliaig to be killed by Tairdelbliach O'Brien."
At the end of the Gospel according to St. Luke :
" Op DO mcielb|n^ce qui |xpibpic hunc libpum ri^uni" unno aecacip puae. ]ii ocipa blicioain lapp m ^oerhui;^ moip pin."
■• Pray Ibr Maelbrighte (jui scripsit hunc librnm, xx°Bui.° anno wtatis suw. This was the second year after the great storm." — Fol. 127, b.
At the end of tlie Gospel according to St. John :
" 0(7 DO ITlaelbpigre b-Lla niaeliianaij, qui pcpibpir bunc libpuni, .1. in n-QpD mncba, ocup ip in ampip Oonnchacha h-Lla CepbciiU apoplj QipjiaVl po pcpibaD,.i.in bliaoain can pepioe oeac popKal. 6naip, .1. ip in bliaoainpo niapbao Copmac mac Capoaij;, pijepcopniuman 7 b-6penn up chenu in n-a ampip. Qcecic po h-aucem pi5pa b-Gpenn ip in n-ampip peiii, .1. nimpcepcac, mac NeiU Lli f,oclainD, Qiliuch ; Cu Ulao, mac Concbobuip, pij Uluo; Plupcach Lla tllael- pecblaino, pij ITliDe ; t)iapmaic ITlac rDupchaoa, pig tagen ; Concbobop Llii 6piain, pi^niuman; Caipoelbacb Lla Concbobaiji, pi^ Connaclir; ^lUa ITlac tiac, mac mic Ruaiopi (.1. mac ino ip oana do lb 6ipim), b-i comapbap pacpaic. 6ennach ap cecli oen legpap ppip in libup pa ; — gebeo paicip ap anmain in pcpi- baeoa, — uaip ip mop bacecep ecip copp 7 cpoccao ic." — Fol. 156, b.
" Pray for Maelbrighte h-Ua Maeluanaig, qui scripsit hunc Ubrum, i. e. at Armagh, and in the time of Donnchat O'Cerbhaill, chief king of Airgiall, it was written, i. e. the year on which the sixteenth was on the Calends of January, i. e. the year in which Cormac Mac Carthaig, royal bishop of Munster and of all Ireland also in his time, hath been killed. These are the kings of Erin at this time, i. e. Muirchertach, son of Niall O'Lochlainn, of Ailivich ; Cu Ulad, son of Conehobhar, king of Ulad ; Murcath Ua Maelshechlainn, king of Meatli ; Diarmait Mac Murchada, king of Leinster ; Con- chobhor Ua Briain, king of Munster ; Tairdelbhach Ua Conchobhair, king of Con- naught; Gilla Mao Liac, the grandson of Ruaidhri (i. e. the son of the poet of the Hy-Briuin), in the successorship of Patrick. A blessing on every one who shall let this book pass \_witkout censure], — let him repeat a pater for the soul of the scribe, — for it stands much in need of indulgence both in its text and commentaries."
This interesting passage has been already published by Dr. O'Brien in his Irish Dictionary, vmder the word Curmac or Cormac, and also by Dr. 0' Conor inhis RerumHibernicarum Sc?-iptores,Prolegomeim, p. cxliii, who also gives a fac simile of the original ; and botli these writers show, from collateral authorities, that the entry was written in the year 1138. That Cormac was really a royal bishop, as he is here called. Dr. O'Conor seems to have entertained no doubt; but, in fairness, I should acknowledge that his predecessor, Dr. O'Brien, who correctly translates pi-epcop TTluman, royal bishop of Munster, gives it as his opinion that the writer, Maelbrighde, " had no
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 309
other foundation for stj'ling Cormac Roijttl Bislinp o/Mu^ister tluui because he had repaired the cathedral cluircli of Casliel and two chiu'clies at Lismore, and was otlierwise reputed a man of a pious and holy life, which is the character St. Bernard gives of iiini in iiis book De Vita S. Malachioe, according to Malachy's reports to him concerning Cormac, to whom he was doctor and director during his retreat at Lismore, after his dethronement by the faction of his bro- ther Donos^h."
But this reasoning of Dr. O'Brien, though it has received the cor- roborative support of the usually judicious and critical Dr. Lanigan, is far from being satisfactory, as there is no example to be found in Irish authorities for such a loose application of words, so simple and significant ; and as to the silence of St. Bernard with respect to the episcopal rank of Cormac, it can scarcely be considered of sufficient weight to upset the direct authority of a native and cotemporaneous ecclesiastical writer, because it is obvious that if Cormac were a bishop at all, he could have been only so in the then Irish and irre- gular way, which St. Bernard would have been the last to ackno-\v- ledge or recognize, and of Avhich he thus speaks :
•' Verum mos pessimus inoleuerat quorundam diabolica ambitione potentum sedem sanctam obtentum iri ha?reditaria successione. Nee enim patiebantur Episcopari, nisi qui essent de tribu et familia sua. Nee parum proeesserat exeeranda successio, de- cursis iam hac malitia quasi geuerationibus quindecim. Et eo vsque firmauerat sibi ius prauum, imo omni morte puniendam iniuriam generatio mala et adultera, vt etsi interdum defecissent elerici de sanguine Ulo, sed Episcopi nunquam." — Vita Maluclike, cap. vii.
The argiunents of Dr. Lanigan add but little weight to those of Dr. O'Brien, and are, in some instances, unworthy of his learning. The following are his remarks on this difiicult question :
" Dr. O'Conor (Ber. Hih. Scriptor. 2 Proleg. 141) ealls Cormac M'Cartliy not only king but bishop of Munster. He quotes Maelbrigte, (of wbom see Not. 94 to Chap. XXI.) who styles him rig escop Mitman. But if cscop mean bishop, as Dr. O'Conor thinks, it eannot in this passage be taken in a strict literal sense. Escop is not in several Irish dictionaries, ex g. those of Lhuyd and O'Reilly, who have no other word for bishop than enshng or easf/iig. O'Brien, however, has, besides eashog, also eascop. Yet, admitting that rig escop signifies king bishop, either Maelbrigte was mistaken, or, what is more probable, he gave Cormac the title of bishop in an honorary manner on account of his piety and attention to ecclesiastical matters, similar to that, in which Constantine the Great was styled bishop. Or, perhaps, escoj} indicates an allusion to his having taken a pilgrim's staff at Lismore (see Not. 57 to Chap, xxvi.)
310 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" That Corinac Mac-Carthy was not a real bishop is evident from the Annals of Innisfallen, wliich often make mention of him, as a king, a warrior, &c. Had he been also a bishop, it is impossible but that we would find him so called somewhere in said Annals. Or would not St. Bernard, who speaks so highly of him, have told us that he was not only a king but a bishop ? Keating relates {History, ^c, B. 2, p. 103, Dublin ed.) his murder; and Lynch {Cumhr.eter. cop. 21) treats of him rather mi- nutely ; but neither of them has a word about his having been a bishop." — Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, vol. iv. p. 108.
In reference to these remarks I may observe, that Dr. Lanigan's doubts as to the meaning of the word epcop are quite puerile, for there cannot be a question that it is one of the okler Irisla forms of the modern word eapbog, which in ancient inscriptions, and manu- scripts, is generally written eppcop, and which, is but a corruption of the Latin episcopus. And if, as Dr. Lanigau conjectures, the word escop had any allusion to Cormac's having taken a staff at Lismore, it must have been to an episcopal staff, and not that of a pilgrim, unless he could show that the word escop was applied to a pilgrim. Nei- ther can the silence of St. Bernard, as I have already remarked, be considered sufficient to settle the question, for though Dr. Lanigan deems such silence sufficient to overturn the assertions of Colgan, Ware, and Harris, in the case of the second usurpation of the arch- bishopric of Armagh by Nigel, in opposition to St. Malachy, — indeed St. Bernard goes even farther, and states that Nigel was obliged to remain quiet during the remainder of his life, — yet the fact of that second usurpation is most clearly proved by the Irish annals.
Neither, again, can any great weight be laid on the fact that the Annals of Innisfallen and the other annals are silent as to king Cormac having been a bishop, because it should be recollected that the old Annals of Innisfallen, Avhich should justly be regarded as a valuable authority, are defective at the period in which he flourished, and the Dublin Annals are only a compilation made subsequently to the year 1459. It is, indeed, a singular fact, that in our most ancient annals, that portion of them which would have preserved to us the events of Cormac's time, by a strange fate, are defective ; and the oldest authority which I have found, namely, the continuator of Tighernach, throws no light upon the subject. And it is no less re- markable that, in the annals of later age, the death of Cormac is stated in such a way as to leave it optional with the reader whether he should consider him a bishop in reality, or only in a figurative
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 311
sense. Thus in the Annals of Kih'onan, wliich were compiled in Counaught in the fifteenth century :
" A. D. 1138. Copmac, mac liiej Cappchaij;, aipopi^ t)epmvinian 7 epf) pi^ n-Gp. in-ci peiniep cip cpabuio 7 up fionacul peo 7 moine do cleipcibo 7 cellaib, 7 lip lapmcipc ne^lapoaj^Da u lelifiiiiB, 7 a niiiDniiB, do t)Iiiu, 7 do ruicim ti mea- Buil Ui Cutioimimain : 7 bennciciic le na cimnuin."'
"A. D. 1138. Cormac, grandson of Cartliacli, chief king of Desmond nnd bishop king of Ireland in his time for piety and the bestowal of jewels and wealth to the clergy and the churches, and for ecclesiastical wealth to God, in books and implements, fell treacherously by Thomond: and a blessing on his soul."
Thus, also, in the Annals of tlie Four Masters :
"A. D. 1138. Copbmac, mnc muipeaoaij, mic Capchaij, cijeapna t)eopmu- man 7 eppoj pijb Gpenn 1 nu peniieap ap cioonacal peo 7 maome do cleipciB 7 ceallailj, peap leapai^re cuach 7 ecclap, do riiapbuo 1 net ri^ pein 1 K-pioll la Coipoealbacli, mac tJiapmcioa Ui-6piain, 7 Ici do liicic Lli Ciioncliobaip Cicip- paije."
" A. D. 1 138. Cormac, son of Muireadhach, son of Carthach, lord of Desmond and bishop king of Ireland in his time for his bestowal of jewels and wealth to the clergy and to the churches, the improver of territories and churches, was treacherously slain in his own house by Toirdhealbhach, the son of Diarmaid O'Brien, and by the two sons of O'Conor Kerry."
Here it ^\dll be perceived that in both these entries, if Ave put a comma after the word eppog, we must clearly understand that Cormac was truly a bishop ; while, on the other hand, if we choose to suppose the words eppos and pig to form a compound term, and connected Avith the remaining clauses of the sentence, we may con- sider him as only honoured with the title of bishop for his piety and liberality to the Church, as Drs. O'Brien and Lanigan have sup- posed,— and not as a bishop-king virtually, as Dr. O'Conor under- stands the words of the entry in the Annals of the Four Masters, but which in fairness I must state he does not translate correctly, as will appear from a comparison of his version with the strictly literal one akeady given :
" A. D. 1138. Cormacus filius Bluredachi filii Carthii, Princeps Desmonise, et Epis- copus Eex Hibernife durante regimine suo, Donator munerum pretiosorum et divi- tiarum Clero et Ecclesiis, optimus Consiliarius Clero et populo, occisus est dolose in domo propria, a Tordelbacho filio Diarmitii O'Brian, et a duobus filiis O'Conori Ee- gionis Kerry."
On the whole, however, the evidences appear to me to favour the conclusion that Cormac was really a bishop, as well as king, of
310
DfgrRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" That Cormac Mac-trthy was not a real bishop is evident from the Annals of Innisfallen, which often nke mention of him, as a king, a warrior, &c. Had he been also a bishop, it is impossle but that we would find him so called somewhere in said Annals. Or would not t Bernard, who speaks so highly of him, have told us that he was not only a kingbut a bishop ? Keating relates {History , Sfc, B. 2, p. 103, Dublin ed.) his murder ; nd Lynch {Camhr. ever. cap. 21) treats of him rather mi- nutely ; but neither of the has a word about his having been a bishop." — Ecclesiastical Histori/ of Ireland, vol. ivp. 108.
In reference to tese remarks I may observe, that Dr. Lanio'an's doubts as to the mcniug of the word epcop are quite puerile, for there cannot be a aestion that it is one of the older Irish forms of the modem word ef bog, which in ancient inscriptions, and manu- scripts, is genei'ally Tittcn eppcop, and which, is but a corruption of the Latin episcopus. And if, as Dr. Lanigan conjectures, the word escop had any allusia to Cormac's having taken a staff at Lismore.it must have been to a episcopal staff, and not that of a pilgrim, unless he could show that he word escop was applied to a i)ilgrim. Nei- ther can the silenceof St. Bernard, as I have ahx'ady remarked, be considered sufficientto settle the question, for though Dr. Lanigan deems such silence ufficient to overturn the assertions of Colgan, Ware, and Harris, i the case of the second usurpation of the arch- bishopric of Armaglby Nigel, in opposition to St. iMalachy, — indeed St. Bernard goes cvn farther, and states that Nigel was obliaed to remain quiet duriiigthe remainder of his life, — ^yet the fact of that second usurpation isnost clearly proved by the Irish annals.
Neither, again, ca any gi-eat weight be laid on the fact that the Annals of Innisfalla and the other annals are silent as to king Cormac having beeia bishop, because it should be recollected that the old Annals of Inisfallen, which should justly be regarded as a valuable authority, as defective at the period in which he flomished, and the Dubhn Annls are only a compilation made subsequently to the year 1459. It iandeed, a singular fact, that in our most ancient annals, that portion »f them which would have preserved to us the events of Cormac's ime, by a strange fate, are defective ; and the oldest authority wbh I have found, namely, the contiiuiator of Tighernach, throws ) light upon the subject. And it is no less re- markable that, in th annals of later age, the death of Cormac is stated iu such a waj^s to leave it optional with the reader whether he should consider im a bishop in reality, or only in a figurative
-iDl*
OIL-
Cil-cii--
is K OfSBV
He:v ■: i commit Comae Ti- to fu?:*- ■ mir ' adeiliiiiiiL- libenitj to tti l-c'
but ilid _ _
'm^
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF II -AND
311
rels and wealth to the clergy books and implements, fell
sense. Thus in the Annals of Kih'onan, ■« ch were compiled in Connaught in the fifteenth centiuy :
"A. D. 1138. Copmac, mac liiej Cappchaij, ai iij t)epmumaii 7 epp pi^ n-6p. in-a peimep ap cpabaio 7 ap cionacul peo 7 mc ap lapmapc nejlapoajDa a leBiiuiB, 7 a noiDinilj, DC )hia, 7 do ruicim a mea- buil la Cuaomuinuin : 7 bennacbc le na antnuin."
"A. D. 1138. Cormac, grandson of Carthacli, cHe: ing of Desmond and bishop king of Ireland in his time for piety and the bestowal of and the churches, and for ecclesiastical -wealth to God, treacherously by Thomond : and a blessing on his soul.'
Thus, also, in the Annals of the Four Mi ;ers
"A. D. 1138. Copbmac, mnc muipeaoaij^, mic ^ fichuij, cijeapna tJeapriiu- man 7 eppoj pijb Gpenn 1 na peniieap ap rioonaca ceallaiB, peap leapai^re cuadi 7 ecclap, do liiapbu 1 na ri^ pein 1 B-pioll lu Coipoealbach, mac Diapmctoa Lli-6piain, 7 la oa xic Lli Choncliobaip Ciap- paije."
" A. D. 1 138. Cormac, son of Muireadhach, son of Crthach, lord of Desmond and bishop king of Ireland in his time for his bestowal of jetls and wealth to the clergy and to the churches, the improver of territories and ditches, was treacherously slain in his own house by Toirdhealbhach, the son of Diarrdd O'Brien, and by the two sons of O'Conor Kerry."
Here it will be perceived that in both l^se entries, if we put a comma after the word ej^pog, we must ;learly understand that Cormac Avas truly a bishop ; while, on the oher hand, if we choose to suppose the words eppog and pig to forma compound term, and connected with the remaining clauses of thejentence, we may con- sider him as only honoured with the title of dshop for his piety and liberality to the Church, as Drs. O'Brien nd Lanigan have sup- posed,— and not as a bishop-king virtually^s Dr. O'Conor imder- stands the words of the entry in the Ann$ of the Four Masters, but which in fairness I must state he does nt translate correctly, as will appear from a comparison of his versiorwith the strictly literal one already given :
" A. D. 1 1 38. Cormacus filius Muredachi filii Carthi Princeps Desmoniae, et Epis- copus Eex Hibernias durante rcgimine suo, Donator ninerum pretiosorum et divi- tiarum Clero et Ecclesiis, optimus Consiliarius Clero eAopulo, occisus est dolose in domo propria, a Tordelbacho filio Diarmitii O'Brian, em duobus filiis O'Conori Re- gionis Kerry."
On the whole, however, the evidences ppear to me to favour the conclusion that Cormac was really a bi op, as well as king, of
;;i2 INHillUY INTO THE OUIGIN AND USES
Minister; and particularly when we take into consideration the facts,
that it was a usual circumstance amongst the Munster princes to
step from the church to the throne, as in the case of the celebrated C()rmac Mac Cullenan, and his successor, Flahertach Mac Inmui-
nen ; that we have evidence in the old Annals of Innisfallen, or
IMunster, that both Cormac's father and grandfather had been comh- arbas, or successors, of St. Ailbhe in Emly, and that the former was also king of the Eoganachts, or Desmond ; — that Cormac was but a second son, and succeeded to the throne on the fatal illness of his elder brother, Tcige, in 1106, and was therefore likely to have been previously provided for in the Church, as his predecessors had been ;
and lastly, that the church built at Cashel by Cormac — Saint
Cormac, as Lynch styles him — was always called Temple Cormac, — thus retaining the name of its individual founder, which no church in Ireland, within my knowledge at least, ever did, when such founder was not an ecclesiastic, — and hence, as I conceive, the popular tradi- ticm which has so long ascribed its erection to the royal bishop Cormac Mac Cullenan, to disprove which I have been led into this somewhat tedious digression.
As many of my readers may desire to see a representation of the crozier, which has principally led to the preceding investigation, I annex an outline of its head or crook, the only part which, from the durability of its material, now remains, the staff having been of wood This head is formed of copper, and measures twelve inches in length, and five in the diameter of the crook, or circular head. The crook, or upper portion of the crozier, represents a serpent, terminated by a double faced head. Its surface is covered with a sunk lozenge carving, filled with a vitreous enamel of a blue colour, and the intervening elevations of Avhich are gilt, — a design obviously intended to represent the scales of the reptile. Within the curve is a human figure, standing, with one leg placed on the neck of the serpent, and the other on the back of a double-faced wingless dragon, which he has pierced in the back with a spear, which the dragon bites. This human figure is di'essed in a simple tunic, tied round the waist ; and the feet are covered with buskins, which extend above the ankles. This figure had wings fastened to the shoulders and to a central bar, which connects the figure with the circle ; but these wings have been detached and lost. Both the figures vv-ere gilt, and
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
313
their eyes, as well as those of the serpent, are formed of small gems ; and the sides of the dragon are ornamented with a line of turquoises, placed at equal intervals from each other. Tlie bowl, or middle portion, which is hollow, is en- circled by a central belt, or- namented with nine turquoises and nine sapphires, placed al- ternately and at equal distances from each other, the inter- vening spaces being filled with sculptured beads. Above and below this belt there are figures of fom- di'agous, gilt, and with eyes formed of gems. The tail of each of these animals is brought round the head of the other, so as to form a very symmetrical ornament; and the surrounding ground is filled with a blue enamel. Imme- diately above the bowl, and encirchng the upper portion of the staif, is an ornament re- sembling the Irish crown, con- sisting of eight radii, orna- mented above the fillet with the same number of gems. The lower portion of the head, or cylindrical socket, is orna- mented with a very graceful pattern, composed of leaves, or flowers, in three vertical ranges. The ground in these ornaments is also of a blue enamel, but the stems are gilt, and the flowers are filled with an enamel of white and red, now a good deal decayed. These ranges are separated from each other by three figures of a fish, the well-known mystical symbol of the early Christians ; and these figures are each ornamented with a range of seven gems, — turquoises and sapphires alternately, — placed at equal distances along the back.
2 s
?,\-2 ^^
Muuster-, and parucun
^-tliat it was a tisualc step from the chuv. he
Cormac Mac Cn i,en;— that web Munster, that bd arbas, or success' also king of the ^ a second son, and su.«
elder brother, T> previously provided .J __-and lastly, that h Cormac, as Ly"''1' ' thus retaining in Ireland, with was not an ec*:: tion which h:i Cormac ISIac C somewhat tedi As many > the crozier, wlu- I annex an <>: the durability wood This'u in length, aiv The crook, f terminated Vr sunklozeng' andtheintev
intended to i a human hg'
erpent, ai
vhi(
♦
I
lU-
I
1
:rs of island.
315
." T..
•per of:
■.•.iiwaa
1 y iu part oliterated : as far, how-
cd with certinty it reads as follows :
UCh U Ch<NCli06aiR 0"R t)ON- li U Ch*** t)0 ****."
il TOIEDELUCII U CIIONCHUBAIR. FOE GILLUCIIKIST U CH* * * *
r * * * ))
liat the date ssigned to the erection \\ are, is the ti 3 one, and there is, I ve that it was rected many years ear- to O'lloisin's living received the pall V en to his succesaon to the archbishopric ir. of the inscriptins above given, he is ath, — which migt equally imply that he Tuam, — yet in th following inscription,
f
:n&abbaib;l*: leRfr , ,
stone cross, now lyii^ in the market-place,
bbot ; and it is not inany degree likely that
il have been applied to dm after his elevation
for in one of the inscritions on the cross, or
-hops of Tuam, or Connught, — now, through
ssor Mac Cullagh, presered in the Museum of
idemy, — his predecessor,Domhnall, the son of
haigh, is expressly callec Gpipcop Connachc;
vas Comharba of St. lariat, or abbot of Tuam, as
roved by an entry in the Anals of Innisfallen at
at he was sent by King Turlugh 0' Conor to effect
.vlunster and Ulster; and inded there is no reason
became abbot as early as the yar 1128, on the death
iiscription reads as follows : |
1 OSSIN: t)ONDa66ait) : 6a IN Dei^NQD."
,; O OSSIN; FOR THE ABBOT, BY VHOM IT WAS MADE."
Iiscription on the opposite side f the same base, pre-
iie of the king, Turlogh O'Conor^s in that on the slab
:d, and reads as follows :
2 s 2
314 INQUIRY INTO TUE ORIGIN AND USES
Independently of any other consideration, this crozier is of the liighost interest as a speriinon of the jewellery art in Ireland before the arrival of the English ; and, like the coteinporaneous archiepis- copal crozier of Tuam, it may, perhaps, as a work of art, challenge a comparison Avith any Christian moniunent of the same class and age now remaining in Europe.
Having now i)roved, as I trust satisfactorily, that the architectiu-al features found in Cormac's Chapel are not only strongly marked with the known characteristics of Norman architecture, and that these characteristics are very different from those which distinguish build- ings of vmdetermined age, but which I would assign to an earlier period, it might be considered unnecessary to pursue this comparison further, and particularly as several characteristic examples of this Norman style of architecture of the twelfth century, equally well marked, will be found in the Third Part of this Inquiry. I cannot, however, resist the temptation to notice in this place the remaining fragments of a chui'ch of somewhat later age, in which the same well- marked peculiarities are found, and which was originally, as would appear, of far greater splendour ; I allude to the cathedral church of Tuam, which Ware states to have been rebuilt " aboiit the year 1152, by the Archbishop Edan O'Hoisin, by the aid and assistance of Turlogh O'Conor, king of Ii-elund."
I have not, indeed, been able to discover what authority Ware had for this statement ; but that the cathedral was rebuilt by those distinguished persons may be considered certain from the following cotemporaneous inscriptions, on a slab of sandstone, found near the communion table of the present choir, and which seems to have been mistaken by Harris for a monument to the archbishop; for, in his notice of O'Hoisin he states: "He died in 1161, and was buried in his own cathedral, under a monument, on Avhich is inscribed an Irish epitaph, giving him the title of Comarban or Successor olJarlath" These inscriptions are as follows :
"OR t)o chomaR6a iaRf,aiche t)0 aet) u ossih cas in xye\i-
NQD IN ChROSSa."
" A PRAYER FOR THE COMHARBA OF lARLATII, FOR AED O OSSIN,
BY WHOM THIS CROSS WAS MADE."
This inscription runs in two parallel vertical lines along the length of the stone. A second, on the other side, runs horizontally, in a series
OF THE HOLMJ TOWERS OF IKELAMJ. 315
of short lines, and is unfortunately in part obliterated : as far, how- ever, as the letters can be deciphered with certainty it reads as follows :
"CTr t)ON RI5 t)0 C01RDe<',6UCh U ChONCh06ail? Ol? t)ON- ChaeR* 00 •^]UA] CR LI Ch**** DO ****."
" A PRAYER FOR THE KING, FOR TOIRDELBUCII U CIIONCIIUBAIR. A PRAYER FOR THE ARTIST, FOR GILLU CHRIST U CH* * * *
FOR * * * *."
It may be doubted, however, that the date assigned to the erection of the church of Tuam, by Ware, is the true one, and there is, I think, greater reason to believe that it was erected many years ear- lier,— or, at least, previously to O'lloisin's having received the pall as an archbishop in 1152, or even to his succession to the archbishopric in 1150. For though, in one of the inscriptions above given, he is called the Comharba of larlatli, — Avhich might equally imply that he was archbishop or abbot of Tuani, — yet m the following inscription.
souo^m:bont)abbaic):i.^" loeRiJ'' : ,, ,
on the base of the great stone cross, now lying in the market-place, he is distinctly called abbot ; and it is not in any degree likely that this inferior title would have been applied to him after his elevation to the archbishopric ; for in one of the inscriptions on the cross, or crozier, of the archbishops of Tuam, or Connaught, — now, through the liberality of Professor Mac Cullagh, preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, — his predecessor, Domhnall, the son of Flannagan O'Dubhthaigh, is expressly called Gpij^op Connachr; and that O'Hoisin was Comharba of St. larlath, or abbot of Tuam, as early as 1134, is proved by an entry in the Annals of InuLsfallen at that year, stating that he was sent by King Turlough O'Conor to effect a peace between Munster and Ulster ; and indeed there is no reason to doubt that he became abbot as early as the year 1128, on the death of Muirges O'Nioc.
The above inscription reads as follows : « OR DO U OSSIN : DONDa66aiD : tQS IN DeRNQD.'- "A PRAYER FOR O OSSIN; FOR THE ABBOT, BY WHOM IT WAS MADE."
A second inscription on the opposite side of the same base, pre- serves the name of the king, Turlogh O'Conor, as in that on the slab already noticed, and reads as follows :
2 s 2
31G
INQUIRY INTd THE ORIGIN AND USES
"OR DO riiOn?De^.6llCh UO CONChU6Un?. DON *********
^a\^caz-h ^.as in DeRNQD iNsae ******."
" A PRAYER FOR TURLOGH O CONOR FOR THE «*»*♦»*** lARLATH BY WHOM WAS MADE THIS ***** *."
That this cross was of cotemporaneous age with the church, and was intended as a memorial of its founders, or rebuilders, there can be no reason to doubt. Such was the Cross of the Scriptures at Clonmacnoise, which, as I have already shown, was designed as a memorial of the erection of the great chiu'ch there ; and such also was the triple-shafted cross at Cashel, just noticed in connexion with Cormac's Chapel, though the inscriptions on it are now wholly obli- terated. It seems more probable, therefore, that this cluu'ch was erected previously to 1150, when O'Hoisin became bishop, and be- tween the year 1128, when he became abbot, and 1150, when he succeeded as archbishop. But the precise year of its erection must remain a matter of doubt, till some definite authority be discovered to determine it. If, however, I might indulge in conjecture, I should assign its erection to a period not very long after his succession to the abbacy, and this not only from the perfect similarity of the inter- laced tracery which decorates the base of this cross, — of one side of which I annex a sketch, — to that on the archiepiscopal crozier of
Tuam, which, according to the Annals of Innisfallen, was made in the year 1123, but also to the traceries on the base of the cross at Cashel made in 1134, and still more with those on the tomb of
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
317
Cormac, sculptured, as we may assume, in 1138. And I may add, that in the general form of this cross there is an equal similarity with that at Cashel, the arms in both instances being supported l)y external and detached shafts, — a peculiarity of form not found in any crosses of earlier date in Ireland. The cross of Tuam, however, is of far greater magnificence and interest, and may justly rank as the finest monument of its class and age remaining in Ireland ; and yet, to the disgrace of the inhabitants of that ancient city, its shaft, head, and base, though all remaining, are allowed to be in difl'erent loca- lities, detached from each other. It is formed of sandstone, and measures, in the pedestal, five feet three inches in breadth, and three feet eight inches in height ; and in the shaft and head, ten feet in length, or, including the base, thirteen feet eight inches.
Of the ancient church of Tuam the chancel only remains ; but, fortunately, this is sufficient to make us acquainted with its general style of architecture, and to shew that it was not only a larger, but a more splendid structure than Cormac's church at Cashel, and not unworthy of the powerful monarch to whom it chiefly owed its erec- tion. This chancel is a square of twenty-six feet in external mea- surement, and the walls are four feet in thickness. Its east end is perforated by three circular-headed windows, each five feet in height
318
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
and eighteen inches in width externally, but splaying on the inside to the width of live feet. These windows are ornamented with the zig-zag and other mouldings, both externally and internally, and they are connected with each other by label, or stringcourse mouldings, of which the external one is enriched with patera. In the south wall there is a window similarly ornamented, but of smaller size.
But the great featui'e of this chancel is its triumphal arch, — now eri'oneously supposed to have been a doorway, — which is, per- Jiaps, the most magnificent specimen of its kind remaining in Ireland. It is composed externally of six semicircular, concentric, and recessed arches, of which the outer is twenty feet six inches in Avidth at its base, and nineteen feet five inches in height ; and the inner, fifteen feet eight inches in Avidth, and sixteen in height. The shafts of the columns, — which, with the exception of the outermost at each side, are semicircular, — are unornamented ; but their capitals, which are rectangular, on a semi-circidar torus, are very richly sculptured, chiefly with a variety of interlaced traceries, similar to those on the base of the stone cross ; and in two instances, — those of the jambs, — with grotesque human heads.
r
The imposts are, at one side, very richly sculptured with a scroll and other ornaments ; and, at the other side, present a kind of in- verted ogive ; and these imposts are carried along the face of the wall as tablets. The bases are unornamented, and consist of a torus and double plinth. The arch mouldings consist of the nebule, diamond frette, and varieties of the chevron, the execution of which is re-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
319
markable for its beauty. I have only to add, that all the ornamental parts of this chancel are executed in red sandstone.
During the short reign of Tmiogh's successor, INluircherlach Mac Loughlin, and that of Turlogh's son, Roderic O'Conor, the last of the Irish princes who claimed the sovereignty of Ireland, numy churches were erected in the Romanesque style, of v?hich notices will be given in the Third Part of this Inquiry ; and in several of these we find a more refined taste of design and beauty of execution than in those of earlier date. The material, also, selected for the ornamental parts, is of a difix^rent and better kind, being usually of gi'ey limestone or marble. Such, for example, was the beautiful abbey of Cong, of which, as a characteristic architectiu-al example, I annex an out- line of the capitals and arch mouldings of one of the doorways. I
\''#
Vi;
liave, indeed, found no authority to enable me to fix with precision the date of the re-erection of this noble monastery, or ascertain the name of its rebuilder ; but the characteristics of its style are such as will leave no doubt of its being a work of the close of the twelfth century, while its magnificence indicates with no less certainty the pious bounty of the unhappy Roderic, who, in his later years, found refuge and, as we may hope, tranquillity within its cloistered walls.
.", 1 H
INQUIUUNTO TUE ORIGIN AND USES
and eigliteen inches in wdth externally, but splaying on the inside to the width of five feet. These windows are ornamented with the zifT-zac and other mouldiors, both externally and internally, and they are connected with eacl other by label, or stringcourse mouldings, of which the external ne is enriched with pateras. In the south wall there is a window anilarly ornamented, but of smaller size.
But tlie great featue of this chancel is its triumphal arch, — now erroneously suppoad to have been a doorway, — which is, per- liaps, the most magnificat specimen of its kind remaining in Ireland. It is composed external of six semicircular, concentric, and recessed arches, of which the omr is twenty feet six inches in Avidth at its base, and nineteen feet Ire inches in height ; and the inner, fifteen feet eitrht inches in widb, and sixteen in height. The shafts of the columns, — which, with te exception of the outermost at each side, are semicircular, — are uornamented ; but their capitals, w^hich are rectangular, on a sembircular torus, are very richly sculptm-ed, chiefly with a variety ofnterlaced traceries, similar to those on the base of the stone cross ; uid in two instances, — those of the jambs, — with grotesque hiuuan feads.
paiefl
RKew*--
fTuSlJO*'
HtL
'side. ied ii [luented, :i
ungs consi
in
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OF THK ROUXn TOWERS
isis-»"
Kr-nrtfSX:^
markable for its beauty. I have onlr parts of this chancel arc exccutoi^. - '^
During the short reign of Tu;. _ Loughhu, and that of Turlosjh's son. T. Irish princes who claimed the soverc:^ were erected in the Romanesque s: given in the Third Part of this Ir- ' find a more refined taste of desii;. those of earlier date. The material «£■ ^^^^'^ parts, is of a diSerent and better kind.»ij «=s or marble. Such, for example, ^v -s^
which, as a characteristic arcln: line of the capitals and arch mo; — _
.•i21
length,
I all, un-
on the
placed
ormed in a
'f gneiss, or
-s ; and the
iiacter, the
,#'■ r
igm
m-'
lid i
lie Lii es in ■t
1 on ea vvorn
ndow and doorway, which
This doorway measures,
eight, two feet in Avidth at
foiuliches at the base ; and the
face with a rude architrave
e stones immediatelv be-
320
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
i
In this beautiful abbey, as well as in other monastic edifices of the same age, we find indications of that new and more harmonious style of ecclesiastical architecture denominated Gothic, which became fully developed in France and the British Islands early in the thu-- teenth century; and amongst the finest specimens of this latter style erected in Ireland, many owed their origin to the Irish princes. But the strucrcrle for dominion which thenceforth ensued between the Irish and the Anglo-Norman chieftains, and which was for so many ages continued in Ireland, was fatal to the progress of the arts ; and, with very few exceptions, the architecture, sculpture, and, — as exhibited in our illuminated manuscripts, — painting, not merely ceased to keep pace in improvement with these arts in England and other Christian countries, but, as their monuments prove, gradually declined almost to utter extinction.
But I have extended this section to a tedious length, and though the evidences which I would wish to adduce are still far from being exhausted, I must endeavour to bring it to a close. I trust, however, that enough has been adduced to prove the two following conclu- sions : first, that churches of stone and lime cement, in a rude style of architecture, were erected commonly in Ireland from a period coeval with the introduction of Christianity ; and secondly, that or- namented churches in the Romanesque, or, as it is usually called in England, the Norman style, were not uncommon anterior to the English invasion. I have also, with what success the reader must de- termine, endeavoured to sustain the conviction which has forced itself on my own mind, that much of this ornamental architecture remain- ing in Ireland, is of an age anterior to the Norman Conquest of Eng- land, and probably, in some instances, even to the Danish irruptions in Ireland. I am aware, indeed, that in this latter opinion I run every risk of being considered rash or visionary, and therefore I trust I shall be excused if, in my desire to sustain it, I avail myself in this place of another and more decided example of such early orna- mental architectiu'e, sketched for me by my friend Mr. Burton, since the preceding sheets have been printed off"; as, though this example is but a rude one, its antiquity will hardly, as I conceive, be doubted. This example is found in the doorway of the church of St. Dairbhile, which is situated in the wild and hitherto httle explored district within the Mullet, in the barony of Erris and Co. Mayo. The chui'ch
masiw r.
at pre*:; tiespiiii; lintel B^
■^tffe
H
Ml
..•ruplioDS
-11 1 run
, refore I
jviil myself in
och e»rly onia-
n; Diirbliile,
., r^ district
'•I'cliiircli
OF THE KOUXI) TOWKUS OF IKELANI).
321
is, in fonn, a simple oblong, measuring internally forty feet in length, and sixteen in breadth, and is lighted at its east end by a small, un- adorned, semicii-cular-headed window, splaying considerably on the inside ; and its doorway, which is also semicircular-headed, is placed in the west wall In both instances, however, the arch is formed in a single stone. The walls, which are constructed wholly of gneiss, or stratified granite, are two feet seven inches in thickness ; and the massive masonry, which is polygonal, is of the oldest character, tlie
-,it-
J^-
stones being unchiselled, except in the window and doorway, which constitute the chief features of the building. This doorway measures, at present, but four feet ten inches in height, two feet in width at the spring of the arch, and two feet foiu' inches at the base ; and the lintel, or arch-stone, is ornamented on each face with a rude architrave in low relief, now greatly time-worn. The stones immediately be-
2 T
320 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
In this beautiful abbey, as well as in other monastic edifices of the same af^e, we find indications of that new and more harmonious st}4e of ecclesiastical architecture denominated Gothic, which became fully developed in France and the British Islands early in the thir- teenth century ; and amongst the finest specimens of this latter style erected in Ireland, many owed their origin to the Irish princes. But the struo-ffle for dominion which thenceforth ensued between the Irish and the Anglo-Norman chieftains, and which was for so many ages continued in Ireland, was fatal to the progress of the arts ; and, with very few exceptions, the architecture, sculptiu:e, and, — as exhibited in our illuminated manuscripts, — painting, not merely ceased to keep pace in improvement with these arts in England and other Christian countries, but, as their monuments prove, gradually declined almost to utter extinction.
But I have extended this section to a tedious length, and though the evidences which I would Avish to adduce are still far from being exhausted, I must endeavour to bring it to a close. I trust, however, that enough has been adduced to prove the two following conclu- sions : first, that churches of stone and lime cement, in a rude style of architecture, were erected commonly in Ireland from a period coeval with the introduction of Christianity ; and secondly, that or- namented churches in the Romanesque, or, as it is usually called in England, the Norman style, were not uncommon anterior to the English invasion. I have also, wth Avhat success the reader must de- termine, endeavoured to sustain the conviction which has forced itself on my own mind, that much of this ornamental architecture remain- ing in Ireland, is of an age anterior to the Norman Conquest of Eng- land, and probably, in some instances, even to the Danish irruptions in Ireland. I am aware, indeed, that in this latter opinion I run every risk of being considered rash or visionary, and therefore I trust I shall be excused if, in my desire to sustain it, I avail myself in this place of another and more decided example of such early orna- mental architecture, sketched for me by my friend Mr. Burton, since the preceding sheets have been printed off; as, though this example is but a rude one, its antiquity will hardly, as I conceive, be doubted. This example is found in the doorway of the church of St. Dairbhile, which is situated in the wild and hitherto httle explored district within the Mullet, in the barony of Erris and Co. Mayo. The chui'ch
OF THE KOUXD TOWERS OF IKELAM).
:i->l
is, in form, a simple oblong, measuring internally forty feet in length, and sixteen in breadth, and is lighted at its east end by a small, mi- adorned, semicircular-headed window, splaying considerably on the inside ; and its doorway, which is also semicircular-headed, is placed in the west wall In both instances, however, the arch is formed in a single stone. The walls, which are constructed wholly of gneiss, or stratified granite, are two feet seven inches in thickness ; and the massive masonry, which is polygonal, is of the oldest character, the
;;'';^:n'!!?';;';*Wrailll^'f^'
i/^^w^
^My -S) «>*■
-f^-;
stones being luichiselled, except in the window and doorway, Avhicli constitute the chief features of the building. This doorway measures, at present, but four feet ten inches in height, two feet in width at the spring of the arch, and two feet foiu- inches at the base ; and the lintel, or arch-stone, is ornamented on each face with a rude architrave in low relief, now greatly time-worn. The stones immediately b^'-
•2 T
322 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
neatli these extend the entii-c thickness of the wall, and on one of them we find a sort of tablet, enriched with simple interlaced tracery slioAvai in the prefixed view of the doorway, as seen from the interior of the cliurrh.
That this church is that erected by St. Dairbhile, whose name it bears, and whose tomb is situated within its cemetery, I cannot entertain the slightest doubt ; and, therefore, if I am not in error, it must be regarded as a church of the sixth century, within which St. Dairbhile unquestionably flourished. This fact appears from her pedigree, as preserved in the Book of the Genealogies of the Irish Saints, from which we learn that she was the fourth in descent from the monarch Dathi, who was killed, according to the Chronicon Scotorum, in the year 427, so that, allowing the usual number of tliirty years to a generation, she must have lived about the middle of the sixth century. If, indeed, we could give credit to a statement in the Life of St. Farannan, as published by Colgan in his Acta Sanctorum, at 25th of February, it would appear that she was living at the close of this century, as her name is included in the list of illustrious religious persons who assembled at Ballysadare to meet St. Columbkille, immediately after the great Council of Druim Ceat, in 590; but as some of the persons there enumerated were dead, and others not born, at the time, the statement must be regarded as of no authority, except as referring her existence to the sixth century, in which Dr. Lanigan properly places her : St. Dairbhile was of the second class of Irish saints, and her festivals are set down in the Irish Calendars, at the 3rd of August and 26th of October.
If, then, in a church erected in the middle of the sixth centm-y, — as I assume this of St. Dairbhile to be,— situated too in a remote corner of the island, where we should least expect to meet with any traces of ancient civilization, or knowledge of arts, we find an example, however rude, of the use of architectural ornament requiring the sculptor's aid, is it not a legitunate inference that it could hardly have been a solitary example, and that ornaments of a higher cha- racter must have existed in churches in more civilized parts of the country, and be perpetuated, at least to some extent, from age to age ?
That I may be in error as to the exact ages to Avhich I have assigned some of the examples adduced, is, lam satisfied, not wholly impossible, as the style of a peculiar class of ornaments which they
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND,
323
exhibit, and on wliich I have grounded my opinions, may have been continued, by imitation, to a Later ])eriod than that to which they originally belonged ; and, to some extent, such a continuation is, I have no doubt, the fact. But I have felt it difficult, if not impos- sible, to resist the impression that buildings which exhibit a class of ornaments, that differ in a remarkable degree from those usually seen on the Norman buildings in England, but which have a perfect similarity to those found in our illuminated manuscripts, jewelled reliquaries, sculptured stone crosses, inscribed tombstones, and, in- deed, in every ecclesiastical monument of antiquity preserved to us, of ages prior to the period of the Norman Conquest of England, must, in some instances, be cotemporaneous with those monuments. Of this similarity of ornament a thousand evidences might be adduced from the various classes of remains to which I have alluded, but I shall content myself with a notice of a few of the more striking examples of the characteristic ornaments found on those monuments, as well as
pooooocooocoooo^
A^4,r'
o
on oiu' ecclesiastical buildings. Of these, one of the most general and remarkable is that curious triangvdar figure, known among me- dallists by the name oftrirji/efra, and wMch is formed by the ingenious interlacing of a single cord or line. In the creation of varieties, almost endless, of this figure, the Irish ceards, or artificers, as well as the scribes, found an ample field for the exercise of their fancy in design,
2 T 2
324
ISQUIRT IXTO THE ORIOrS' XSD USES
as >vill sufficiently appear from the first of the prefixed illustrations, which represent two of the bosses of an ancient crozier in my own
cabinet. the cmzier of the virgin and martvr, Damhnad Ochene, or
" The Fuiriiive/" whose memory was venerated by the people of the extensive region of Oriel, as being their chief patroness. This saint is supposed by Colgan and Dr. Lanigan to be the same person as the martvr St. Dympna. who is venerated as patroness at Ghent in Bra- bant, and of whom a Legend, or Life, has been published by Mes- singham and the Bollandists, who suppose she flourished about the close of the sixth century. If, however, she were the same person as the Irish Damhnad, she must have lived at an earlier period, as her genealogy shows. But with this question I have no present concern, and I have only to remark that the form, size, and ornaments of her crozier, in its present state, indicate an age not later than the tenth century. The triquetra appears on coins of the Dano-Irish kings, Beernald and Anlaff. who flourished in the tenth century : and on a hitherto unpublished Irish bracteate penny, — which is probably eccle- siastical.— ^in the collection of my friend. Dr. Aqmlla Smith. It is
X-
also a usual ornament upon the Irish stone crosses of that age ; and, from its fi^equent appearance on all our ecclesiastical antiquities an- terior to this period, would appear to have been used as a mvstical tvpe of the Trinity. This figure is foimd on the doorway of the smaller church at Kahen, and is also figured on one of the stones of the chancel arch of the monastery at Glendalough, already given in p. 264, and which Dr. Ledwich considered as a Bunic knot. That it is not, however, an ornament derived from the Danes, but one in use in Ireland long anterior to the irruptions of that people, is fully proved bv its frequent occurrence in the oldest of our manuscript copies of the Gospels, even in those of the sixth and seventh centu- ries : and its mystical signification seems to be proved by the feet of its being represented as an ornament on the breasts of three of the four figures of the Evangelists, which illustrate the copy of the Gos- pels written by the scribe Dimma for St. Cronan of Eoscrea, about
-jfil?
«
Hw;iw:'n:'
• .linnarmT.zfmi
OF TUE ROUND TOWERS OF IKELAM).
325
'■i-tratiojs,
;a mv own
'Hene^ or
jplt of the
Tliis saint
^rvjiiastlie
'--■V<- in Bra-
■i^lkiles-
'■•■i'wttle
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I
<
tlie close of the sixth century, and uow preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Its antiquity in Ireland is therefore un- c|uestionable, and tlie jjeriod in which it was most used as an ornament on sepulchral monuments, appears from the inscribed tombstones at Clonmacnoise to have been during the ninth and tenth centuries, after which I have seen no example of it on such monuments. The latest is that on the tombstone of Maelfinnia, who was probably the abbot JNIaelfinnia, the son of Spellan, and grandson of Macnach, of Clonmacnoise, and whose death is recorded in the Chronicon Scofu- nnii, at the year 91)2, and in the Annals of Ulster and of the Four Masters at the year 991. Of this tombstone I here annex an outline :
The inscription reads :
•'ORoic t)o maetpiNNia."
"A PRAYER FOR MAELFINNIA." Another characteristic ornament of more palpable meaning which also occurs in some of our oldest chui'ches, is that form of cross some- times produced by the interlacing of two ovals, and at other times more complicated, being formed by the intersecting of four semi- I'llipses and Uncs parallel to their major axes, of which an example occurring in the monastery church of Glendalough has been already
\f
324 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
as will sufliciently appear from the first of the prefixed illustrations, which represent two of the bosses of an ancient crozier in my own
cabinet, the crozier of the virgin and martyr, Damhnad Ochene, or
" The Fufitive," whose memory was venerated by the people of the extensive region of Oriel, as being their chief patroness. This saint is suiiposed by Colgan and Dr. Lanigan to be the same person as the martyr St. Dympna, who is venerated as patroness at Ghent in Bra- bant, and of whom a Legend, or Life, has been published by Mes- sin^ham and tiie Bollandists, who suppose she flourished about the close of the sixth century. U, however, she were the same person as the Irish Damhnad, she must have lived at an earlier period, as her cenealogy shows. But with this question I have no present concern, and I have only to remark that the form, size, and ornaments of her crozier, in its present state, indicate an age not later than the tenth century. The triquetra appears on coins of the Dano-Irish kings, Regnald and Anlaff, who flourished in the tenth century ; and on a hitherto unpublished Irish bracteate penny, — which is probably eccle- siastical,— in the collection of my friend. Dr. Aquilla Smith. It is
also a usual ornament upon the Irish stone crosses of that age ; and, from its frequent appearance on all our ecclesiastical antiquities an- terior to this period, would appear to have been used as a mystical type of the Trinity. This figure is found on the doorway of the smaller church at Rahen, and is also figured on one of the stones of the chancel arch of the monastery at Glendalough, already given in p. 264, and Avhich Dr. Ledwich considered as a Runic knot. That it is not, however, an ornament derived from the Danes, but one in use in Ireland long anterior to the irruptions of that people, is fully proved by its frequent occurrence in the oldest of our manuscript copies of the Gospels, even in those of the sixth and seventh centu- ries ; and its mystical signification seems to be proved by the fact of its being represented as an ornament on the breasts of three of the four figures of the Evangelists, Avhich illustrate the copy of the Gos- pels written by the scribe Dimma for St. Cronan of Roscrea, about
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
325
the close of the sixth century, and now preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. Its anticiuity in Ireland is therefore un- questionable, and the period in which it was most used as an ornament on sepulchral monmnents, appears from tlu' inscribed tombstones at Clonmacnoise to have been during the ninth and tenth centuries, after which I have seen no example of it on such monuments. The latest is that on the tombstone of Maelfinnia, who was probably the abbot ilaelfinnia, the son of Spellan, and grandson of Maenach, of Clonmacnoise, and whose death is recorded in the Chronicon Scotu- rutn, at the year 992, and in the Annals of Ulster and of the Four Masters at the year 991. Of this tombstone I here annex an outline :
The inscription reads :
•' OROic t)0 maecFiHNia."
"A PRAYER FOR MAELFINNIA." Another characteristic ornament of more palpable meaning which also occurs in some of our oldest churches, is that form of cross some- times produced by the interlacing of two ovals, and at other times more complicated, being formed by the intersecting of four semi- ellipses and lines parallel to their major axes, of which an example occurring in the monastery church of Glendalough has been already
326
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
given at p. 264. Of the more simple of these ornaments there is an example on one of the upper apertures of the Round Tower of Roscrea; and though I do not recollect many examples of these crosses on the inscribed tombstones, they are commonly introduced as ornaments on the monumental stone crosses of the tenth century, — as in the example of one of those crosses at Glendalough, given at
p. 266, and they are also common in the illuminated ecclesiastical
manuscripts of still earlier date.
But there is another form of cross which is found on some of the sculptured stones of the monastery church at Glendalough, wliich, with slight variations, is not vmcommou on the Irish inscribed tomb- stones of the ninth and tenth centuries, and of which I here adduce as an example that of Blaimac, abbot of Clonmacnoise, whose death is thus recorded in the Chronicon Scotorum at the year 896 :
"A. D. 896. 6lacinac, ppmcepr Cluana mac Noip, .i. mac rainceoaich oo 6pe5mainib, o'ec."
" A. D. 896. Blathmac, chief" [Abbot] " of Clonmacnoise, i. e. the son of Tairce- dach, of Breghmaine" [Brawney] " died."
6%.airhac"'"
Another and more common ornament on our inscribed tombstones anterior to the twelfth century, and which is equally common in our most ancient ecclesiastical manuscripts of the earliest date, is that boss-shaped figure formed of radiating eccentric Hues, merging into one another as they approach the margin, and leaving between them pear-shaped spaces, generally three in number, but sometimes two or
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 327
four, or even a greater number. Tliis ornament is usually found within a circle, wliich forms the centre of a cross carved on such monumental stones, and, like the triquetra, may possibly be symbolic of the Trinity. As an example of this ornament, in its most usual and simple design, I annex an outline of the tombstone of Flann- chadh, who was probably the abbot of Clonmacnoise of that name, whose death is recorded in the Chronicon Scotorum, at the year 1003, and in tlie Amials of Ulster and of the Four Masters, at the year 1002. The entry of his death in the latter annals is as follows :
" A. D. 1002. planochao Ua 'Ruaibne, coiriopba Ciupain, mic an c-prioip [o'ecc]. t)o Chopca Dlocclia a cenel."
" A. D. 1002. Flannchadh Ua Ruaidhne, comliarba of Ciaran, son of the Artifex
[died]. He was of the race of Corca Mogha."
^Vl
1 ^,\ '■
4
"nos)
s^^
The inscription reads :
"01301C t)0 p6aNNChat)h."
"A PKAYER FOR FLANNCHADH."
As an example of the more complicated figiu-e of this design, I annex an illustration of the tombstone of the celebrated Suibhne Mac Maelhumai, one of the three Irishmen who visited Alfred the Great in the year 891, and whose death is recorded in the Saxon Chronicle and by Florence of Worcester, at the year 892, by Ca- radoc of Llancarvon at the year 889; and, in the Irish Annals, by the Four Masters at the year 887, in the Chronicon Scotorum and the Annals of Innisfallen at 890, and in the Annals of Ulster at the year 890 or 891, the entry in which I here give, as presenting the name nearly letter for letter the same as inscribed on the stone :
"A. D. 890, al. 891. Suibne ITIac ITIaele humai ancopica, ec pcpibu opcimup Cluanu mac Noip Dopiniuic."
328
INQUIKY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
•■ A. D. 8L)0 or 891. Suibue MacMaele humai, anchorita et scriba optimus Cliiana Iliac Nois, dormivit."
The inscription rends :
" OROic DO svi6iNe iTiac mai6ae ?ivmai."
" A PRAYER FOR SUIBINE, THE SON OF MAILAE HUMAI."
It is to be regretted that the works of this celebrated person, whom Florence of Worcester calls " Doctor Scotorum perifisshnus," have not been preserved to us, or at least are not fonnd in Ireland, and, as Ware tells us, that even the titles of them are lost.
Such complicated combinations of this figure are not common on the inscribed tombstones, for amongst all those at Clonmacnoise, which I have drawn at various times, I have only met with two other examples, and of these one was of cotemporaneous date with that of Suibhne, and, as we may believe, the work of the same sculptor. I allude to the tomb of the celebrated abbot and bishop, St. Coirpre Crom, who, according to the Irish annalists, died on the 6 th of March, 899. Like most monuments of this time, it is simply inscribed with the bishop's name, and the usual request for a prayer, thus :
"OR t)0 COR6RIV ChRVmm."
"A PRAYER FOR CORBRIU CROMM."
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
329
The other is thus inscribed :
" 67? DO rhatt^QN."
" A PRAYER FOR TADGAN."
This tomb was probably that of Tadhgan, chief of Teffia at the close of the ninth century, from whose eldest son, Catharnach, are descended the ancient family of O'Catharnaigh, of Kilcoursey, now Fox, and from whose second son, Duibhcen, the family of O'Duiginan derived their name and origin. The tomb of this Duibhcen is also at Cloumacuoise, and as it exhibits a good specimen of Irish monu- mental carving, of an earlier date than those preceding, and at the
same time fiurnishes a remarkable evidence of the truth of the Irish genealogies, I have been induced to insert a copy of it in this place. It will be seen that the inscriptions on this stone commemorate two persons, and should be read as follows :
2 u
330 INQUIRY INTO TUE ORIGIN AITO USES
" OROIC t)0 CONQINS maC CON^haif,."
" oRoic t)0 t)U6ceN mac chaD^saN."
" A PRAYER FOR CONAING, SON OF CONGAL." " A PRAYER FOR DUBCEN, SON OF TADGGAN."
I have not been able to find in the Irish Annals an entry of the (loath of Dubcen, the son of Tadgan, whose name occurs in the second of these inscriptions, nor of his father, Tadgan ; but the pe- riods at wliich they flourished may be determined with tolerable accuracy from the records of the deaths of Agda, the son of Dubcen, prince of Teffia, who, it is stated in the Annals of the Four Masters, died in the chair of St. Kieran, after having spent a good hfe, in the year 979, or, according to Tighernach, in the year 980 ; and of his grandson, Gilla Enain, the son of Agda, who was slain in the year 977. The other inscription, which is less perfectly preserved, is obviously older, and cotemporaneous with the carvings ; and, as it is in the highest degree improbable that Dubcen would have been in- terred in a grave appropriated to any but a predecessor of the same family, we should naturally expect to find the name in the upper inscription in the Irish annals at an earlier period, and among the princes of Teffia. Accordingly, on a reference to these annals, we find the death of Conaing, son of Congal, king of Teffia, recorded at the year 822 in the Annals of Ulster, and at 821 in the Annals of the Four ISIasters.
That many of the chiefs of Teffia should have been interred at Clonmacnoise is only what might naturally be presumed, from the celebrity of that place as a cemetery of the chiefs of the southern Hy-Niall race ; and among other evidences of the connexion of this family with Clonmacnoise, we find in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 996, a record of the death of Dubthach, another son of Dubcen, and grandson of Tadhgan, who was priest of Clonmac- noise ; and from the following inscription upon the cumdach, or case of the MS. Irish ritual, preserved in the library at Stowe, we find that the artifex who made that case was another of the family, and a monk of Clonmacnoise :
" t OR t)o DUNChat) u caccaiN t)0 mumciR ccuaNa Do
Rl^Nl." " t A PRAYER FOR DUNCHAD O TACCAIN, OF THE FAMILY OF CLUAJN,
WHO MADE IT."
This Dunchad flourished previously to the middle of the eleventh
OF TUE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
331
centmy, as appears from the other cotemporaneous inscriptions on the case ; and, it may be presumed, was a great grandson of Tudligaii, — as the 0 prefixed to the name at this period must not be luiderstood as meaning grandson, but descendant, as the use of family names was then generally established in Ireland. Yet it is probable that this family ordinarily had their biu-ial-place at the great rival monastery of Durrow, which was anciently within their own territory, and originally endowed, as Tighernach tells, for St. Columb, by their ancestor, Aed, the son of Brendan, who died in the year 589. More- over, we find from the Annals of the Four Masters and of Clon- macnoise, that one of this race, Flann O'Tadhgain, was Erenach of Durrow, where he died in 1022, — a clear proof of the continued influence of the family in this monastery : and it is worthy of obser- vation, that of the two monumental inscriptions yet remaining above ground at Durrow, both apparently belong to chiefs of this family. Of these, one bears the name of Cathalan, who was probably the son of Catharnach, from whom the name O'Catharnaigh, the true family name of the Foxes, was derived. The second may be ascribed with greater certainty to a chief of this family, named Aigidiu, as no other person of this name is referred to in the Irish annals. The period at which he flourished is ascertained from an entry in the Annals of Ulster at the year 955, and in the Annals of the Four Masters at 954, which records the death of Aedh, the son of Aicide, king of TeflSa, who was killed by the Danes of Dublin and Leinster. Of this monumental stone I annex an illustration, as a further example of the style of ornaments in use in Ireland in the ninth and tenth cen-
turies, and which may interest the reader, from its historical con- nexion with those already given of other members of the same family.
2 u 2
•6d'4
Xitiiftmt tN'tU TUK UlUIir AJSV CSKS
li^xaiinilci* oi' the U!*e ui! tkt? ^)e«v<littpBd orrmmtjat in architecture huns bcctt lUv^ttUy j^ivt^tt. itL the d'vn^jtiott ot" the monastery church tvt UlcaUulou^h. i>. iSH, iOfrl tiw Uuy r dlurch *t Sahen. p. 2.42. The
oA'<uuucul!* iK>w- UcscwK-' •"•'■ •'•■■ uiterlaced -" - —
Lvi.iwil. i> t .->itv'ii\c. . ^vTth. chart
\ - very age- pre?Tor_:i-
tv> tiw fcl' >-;.-=aw cipai vanenes leji-
C
^
Moyitari
OF THE ROUND 'OWERS OF IRELAND.
333
*n
As a specimen of the triucate, pear-shaped ornament ah-eady described, I annex the foUowii outline of the lower side, or bottom, of the same case :
I should remark, that the < naments on this case are all in a kind of basso relievo, produced by tamping the leather, — a fact which may account for the irregularies which appear in their forms, and which would be produced by te unequal contraction of the leather in drying, after it had been in moist or soft state when stamped.
The history of the very reiarkable and interesting manuscript, of which this leather bag, or sfchel, was the external case, is, I am aware, sufficiently known to iiny of my readers, and particularly those of the Academy, for wbm I especially write ; but for others, it may not be unnecessary or ninteresting to state, that this manu- script was that celebrated bole of the Gospels called the Canoin Patraic, or Patrick's Canons, ^vhich was considered of such ines- timable value, that its safe stewrdship became an hereditary office of dignity in a family connected 'ith the church of Armagh, Avho de- rived their name, Mac Moyi'e. >r son of the Stewart, from this cir- cumstance, and as a remuner;ion for which they held no less than eight townlands in the county, till known as the lands of Bally Mac Moyre, or Mac Moyre's Town. So great, indeed, was the veneration in which this book, together "th the crozier of Patrick, was held by the Irish, that, as St. Berna I tells us, in his Life of St. Malachy, it was difficult to persuade the eople to receive or acknowledge any one as the rightful Archbishop .f Armagh but the possessor of them.
" Porro NiyeHus videns sibi iminure fugam, tulit secum insignia qutedam ffidis illius, textum, scilicet Euangeliorum, m fuitbeati Patritij, baculumque auro tectum gemmis pretiosissimis adoniatum : qii a nominant baculum lesu, eo quod ipse Do- minus (vt fert opinio) eum suis mani ls tenuerit atque formauerit. Et ha3c summs dignitatis et venerationis in gente Ula. Tempe notissiiua sunt celeberrimaq ; in populis, atque in ea reuerentia apud omnes, t qui ilia habere visus fuerit ipsum habeat Episcopum populus stultus et insipien ' — Vita Malachice, cap. v.
The subsequent history of i is book is comprised in the following
332
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Examples of the use of the pear-shaped ornament in architecture have been ah-eady given in tlie description of the monastery church at Glendalough, p. 258, and the larger church at Rahen, p. 242. The ornaments now described, — together with the interlaced tracery, typical, as I conceive, of the cross, and which, with characteristic varieties, is found in ecclesiastical antiquities of every age previously to the thirteenth century, — are some of the principal varieties pecu- liarly in use in Ireland anterior to the eleventh century ; and a cha- racteristic example of their combination will be seen in the following outline of one side of the leather case made to hold, with its silver cover, the celebrated Book of Armagh, so well known to the readers of Irish ecclesiastical history.
,0 -;
s—7 ^S-
ri
pj
r~s
K,
?0/ ^
In the preceding illustration we are presented with the ornament called the triquetra, the interlaced cross of two ovals, the cross formed between four segments of circles within a circle, as well as several varieties of the interlaced tracery forming crosses.
OF TUE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 333
As a specimen of the triplicate, pear-sliaped ornament already described, I annex the following outline of the lower side, or bottom, of the same case :
I should remark, that the ornaments on this case are all in a kind of basso relievo, produced by stamping the leather, — a fact which may account for the irregularities which appear in tlieir forms, and which would be produced by the unequal contraction of the leather in drying, after it had been in a moist or soft state when stamped.
The history of the very remarkable and interesting manuscript, of which this leather bag, or satchel, was the external case, is, I am aware, sufficiently known to many of my readers, and particularly those of the Academy, for whom I especially write ; but for others, it may not be unnecessary or iminteresting to state, that this manu- script was that celebrated book of the Gospels called the Canoin Patraic, or Patrick's Canons, which was considered of such ines- timable value, that its safe stewardship became an hereditary office of dignity in a family connected with the church of Armagh, who de- rived their name, Mac Moyi'e, or son of the Stewart, from this cir- cumstance, and as a remuneration for which they held no less than eight townlands in the county, still known as the lands of Bally Mac Moyre, or Mac Moyre's Town. So great, indeed, was the veneration in which this book, together with the crozier of Patrick, was held by the Irish, that, as St. Bernard tells us, in his Life of St. Malachy, it was difficult to persuade the people to receive or acknowledge any one as the rightful Archbishop of Armagh but the possessor of them.
" Porro Niijellns videns sibi imminere fugam, tiilit secum insignia qiiredam fedis illius, textum, scUicet Euangeliorum, qui fuitbeati Patritij, baculumque auro tectum gemmis pretiosissimis adornatum : quern nomiuant baculum lesu, eo quod ipse Do- minus (vt fert opinio) eum suis manibus tenuerit atque formauerit. Et hsec summse dignitatis et venerationis in gente ilia. Nempe notissima sunt celeberrimaq ; in populis, atque in ea reuerentia apud omnes, vt qui ilia habere visus fuerit ipsum babeat Episcopum populus stultus et insipiens." — Vita Malachice, cap. v.
The subsequent history of this book is comprised in the following
older timii'*' .S.D.9J;. ^
eitno.'
IimustKi
otheriDdeHoM gem. HuflaA
c
boxijiiitt: - fid & I
■ ■ ,a
OF THE BOND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
U5
or transcribed, by St. PatricJ himself, the statement is as little entitled to credit as, we may well be eve, that other one of the crozier having been originally that of oiu' Ijrd. There is no part of the manuscript older than the close of the seventh centvuy, or perliaps than the eighth ; and the leather casi made for its protection, is of still later date, its exact age being fixd by the following entry in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the jar 937, of which period its ornaments are, in my opinion, decidedh characteristic.
" A. D. 937. Canoin paccpai do curhoacli la Oonnchao mac plaino, |ii Gpeno."
" A. D. 937. The Canoin-Patra was covered by Dounchadh, souofFlann, King of Ireland."
It must not be supposed however, that this leather case is itself the cumdach noticed by the analists, and which, no doubt, like oiu' other ancient cases for books, \'as formed of silver, and enriched with gems. This leather case was iily the covering of that more precious box in which the manuscript v^as enshrined, but obviously cotempo- raneous with it, and made a^ nuch for its preservation as to render it easy of carriage.
a|
As a specimen of earlier am more beautiful work of this kind, 1 am tempted to present an outlie of one of the sides of the leather
-^^«^^
334 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
account of it, Avrittcn by tlic celebrated antiquary, Ilumpliry Lhwytl, and published in i\\Q lierumHibernicai-U)a ^Scriptures, vol. i.
" Codex hie, ultra onme diibium, perquam antiquus est, sive manu ipsius S. Patricii partim conscriptus, (uti liabetur ad calcem folii 24ti,) sive sit, quod mihi verisiinilius videtur, alicujus postcrioris ffivi opus. Et forsan est illc ipse Textus Evan- ffelionim, quern divus Bcrnardus, in Vita Malacliiro, inter insignia iEdis Ardmacluana; numerat, et Textum ipsius S. Patricii fuisse narrat. Ab Usserio et Warseo Liber Ardmaclianus, ab iudigonis vero Liber Canonum S. Patricii nuncupatur, a Canonibus coiicordantium inter se Evangelistaruni, folio 2Gto incgsptis, sic (ut opinor) nominatus. Liber hie ab Hibernigenis magno olim habebatur in pretio, adeo ut farailia ilia, vulgo voeata Mac Maor, Auglice Mac Moyre, nomen suum a custodiendo hoc libro mutuatuin habeat ; Maor enim Ilibcrnice Custos est, et Maor na Ccanon, sive C'ustos
Canonum., tota ilia familia communiter appellata fuit ; et octo villulas in agro
terras de Balli Moyre dictas, a sede Ardmachana olim tenuit, ob salvani hiijvis libri custodian! ; in quorum manibus, multis jam retro sseoulis liber hie extitit, usque dum Florentinus Mc Moyre in Angliam so contulit, sub anno salutis humana; 1680, ut testimonium perhiberet, quod verear non verum, versus Oliverum Plunket Theologise Doctorem, et regni hujus, secundum Romanes, Archiprsesulem, qui Londini immerito (ut creditur) furea plexus est. Deficientibus autem in Moyro nummis, in decessu suo, Codicem huno pro quinque libris sterl. ut pignus deposuit. Hinc ad manus Arthuri Brownlowe gratissime pervenit, qui, non sine magno labore, disjuncta tunc folia debito suo ordine struxit, numeros in summo libri posuit folia designantes, aliosque in mar- gine addidit capita distinguentes, eademque folia sic disposita prisco suo velamine (ut jam videre liceat) compingi curavit, et in pristina sua theca conservari fecit, una cum bulla quadam Eomani Pontificis cum eodem inventa. Continet in se quajdam frag- menta Vitas S. Patricii a diversis authoribus, iisque plerumque anonymis, conscripta. Continet etiam Confessionem S. Patricii, vel (ut magis proprie dicam) Epistolam suam ad Ilibernos, tunc nuperrime ad fidem conversos. Continet etiam Epistolam quam scripsit Divus Hieronymus ad Damasum Papam, per modum Prooemii ad Versionem. Continet etiam Canones decem, in quibus ostenduntur Concordanti« inter se Evange- listarum, ac etiam breves caiisas, sive interpretationes uniuscujusque seorsim Evange- lists!, necnon Novum Testamentum, juxta versionem (ut opinoi-) Divi Hieronymi, in quo reperitur Epistolailla ad Laodicenses ciajus fit mentio ad Colossenses. InEpistola prima Johannis deest versus ille, Tres sunt in ccdo, &c. Continet etiam Hebra;orum nominum quaj in singulis Evangeliis reperiuntur explicationes, una cum variis variorum argumentis ad singula Evangelia, et ad unamquamque fere Epistolam seorsim referen- tibus. Continet donique Vitam S. Martini Episcopi Turonensis, (avunctili, ut fertur,
S. Patricii,) a Sulpitio Severo conscriptam Nota quod in Evangelio sec. Matthwum,
desiderantur quatuor (ut ego existimo) folia, scilicet a versu tricesimo tertio capitis decimiquarti, usque ad vers. 5, capitis xxi — Nota etiam quod Epistola; Apostolorum non sunt eodem ordine disposita;, quo vulgo apud nos hodierno die reperiuntur." — Epist. Nunc. pp. Ivii. Iviii.
But though we have the high authority of St. Bernard for the belief, at the time, that the Gospels in this work were those possessed,
I
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
335
or transcribed, by St. Patrick himself, the statement is as little entitled to credit as, we may well believe, that other one of the crozier having been originally that of oiu' Lord. There is no part of the manuscript older than the close of the seventh century, or perhaps than the eighth ; and the leather case, made for its protection, is of still later date, its exact age being fixed by the following entry in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 937, of which period its ornaments are, in my opinion, decidedly characteristic.
" A. D. 1)37. Canom pncrptnc do cumoach la Doiincliuo mac plciino, pi epeno."
" A. D. 937. The Canoin-Patraic was covered by Domichadh, son of Flaun, King of Ireland."
It must not be supposed, however, that this leather case is itself the cumdach noticed by the annalists, and which, no doubt, like our other ancient cases for books, was formed of silver, and enriched with gems. This leather case was only the covering of that more precious box in which the manuscript was enshrined, but obviously cotempo- raneous with it, and made as much for its preservation as to render it easy of carriage.
As a specimen of earher and more beautiful work of this kind, I am tempted to present an outline of one of the sides of the leather
rouiRT nrro the OEiors' axd uses
of die shriJ of St IMaidoc, or Aidan, the first bishop of Ferns, dieage (^-wMcfaB the opinion of some of the most skilful antiquaries <rf Great BiitaiiiAn hardly be later than the eighth century.
It -will be obaved that the whole of the ornament on this side is produced by thAterlacing of a nvunber of flat bands, having a line running down tlir centre, as well as five small circles, ornamented with a bead ; an J should remark, that, unlike the case of the Book of Armagh, the maments are produced, not by a stamp, but by a carving in verj^ l«v relief, or, as the French term it, grave en creux. The two leaier cases from which the preceding illustrations have been copiet are, as far as I know, the only specimens of the kind remaining i Ireland, or, as I should suppose, in the British Islands ; yet it cnnot be doubted that such leather cases were anciently as comion in Ireland as the sacred books, shrines, and other reliquaries.which they were designed to preserve, such cases being necessary, n consequence of the usage of the Irish, to carry the honoiu-ed meiorials of their primitive saints from place to place on necessary or iiportant occasions : and hence these rehque covers are provided wit", broad leather straps fastened to them at each end, by which they cold be suspended round the neck.
And these coers, as we may suppose, shared, in some degree, the veneration pal by the people to the sacred treasiu-es which they contained, 'he reliquaries thus sent through the districts of the patron saints, lost usually for the collection of dues or offerings to the church, wee generally known by the name of Minister, a term signifying ". travelling relique," being compounded of the words mionn, ar4we,anaaipc|ie, ofjourneii,~2.^iii^ explained in an old glossary inthe Library of Trinity College, Dubhn, H. 1, 15, p. 975, though it wuld, Avith equal probability, appear to be derived from the Latin mimterium, as being employed for the service of the Church. But the jather cases made to carry such reliquaries, were known by the tert polaipe, which was applied, at least in later times, to a satchel ir books, as it is thus explained in an old MS. Irish glossary prearved in Trinity College, Dubhru H. 3, 18, Do- laipe, .1. ciinm oo ci^ liubaip, "polaire, i. e.^j^J^for a book satchel."
The original apjication of t^^^^^^^^Hrieather cases in which the sacrediooks and^^^^^^^^^^^H^ \a^t^Jl v,y
sacra tji*"""'
It may'' fctinctM-' was amr- cwieA «*««'* liisli vers •
isdiiiiiv n: I tenskei (C'l
Tl\ii!iln.3
Libmyiifl-
isiMilDC.
" IQjVlttt W I
'""1 '1 r ii uaa\ biskk."
asTellHtbei tlieepi80(i]idi
►r%
^\
'-r?..
^ta
J^fTft »:
■ 3fij
■ -^ ■■■ 'I'tg.
'' '-< (".Tpljineiij aflj,li '* (/friis'
<i *f /ea^f in lata an old MS. l^IS, po- book
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IREL.KD. 337
{
our most ancient authorities. Thus, in the Igend of St. Patrick's contention with the Magi at Tara, as given in lie Tripartite Life of tlie saint, it is I'elated liow his favourite disGjle, tlie boy Benen, escaped the machinations of Patrick's enemies, ^ whom he appeared as a fawn bearing a pack or budget on his bac]| And it is afterwards distinctly stated that the object in reahty thus arried by Benen was Patrick's book of tlie Scriptures, — or in fact le Book of Armagh itself, for such this book was believed to be, s the time Avhen this lecrend was written.
ulun
" Obtutibus enim ipsorum solum apparuerunt octo cerulum vno liinnulo, in ciijus dorso videbatur aliqua sarcina jacere. Sic ergo niirificus viBocijque cum beato puero Benigno sacrum Bibliorum codicem in bumeris gestante,jer medios bostes salui & incolumes Temoriam vsque peruenerunt, saluifico orationaviri Dei prsEsidio, velut sacra a;gide, muniti." — Pars I. cap. LX., Trias Thaiim., p. 16.
It may be objected that, in the preceding lissage, there is no distinct reference to the polaire, or case in whil the sacred volume was carried; but it is obvious that the book luld not have been carried, as stated, on Benen's back, except in aase ; and in an old Irish version of this legend, preserved in \he\eahhar Breac, the case, or bag, carried by Benen on this occasion, s called the polaire of St. Patrick; and, indeed, I have no doubt thi this was the word used in the original Irish of the Tripartite Lil which Colgan has translated sarcina. The passage to which I allpe is as follows :
" Gnloej 1 n-a n-DiaiD, 7 ^n pino pop ct ^ualaino, 1. 6inen pin, 7 polipe phacpcnc pop a rhuin." — Fol. 14, a, a.
" One fawn [appeared] bebiud tliem, and a wbite bird 1 his shoulder, i. e. this was Benen, and Patrick's polire on his back."
Thus also, in another version of this leged, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 3, 18, p. '23, the same word is used, and glossed by a commentator :
" lapnooe 1 n-a n-oeajai^, 7 jaile pop a jualaino, . pacpaic 7 a occcip 7 6enen in-a n-oeagaij, 7 u polaipe [.1. aiiim do ceig liubaij pop a inuin."
" A fawn after them, and a bag on his shoulder, i. e. Paick and his eight [com- panions^, and Benen behind them, and his polaire [i. e. a nag for a book satchelT on his back." I
It would appear, moreover, from the folloTOg passage in the Annotations of Tirechan, in the Book of Armai, that the polaire, as well as the minister, was an article in some fegree necessary to the episcopal character, as it is enumerated amcfc the ecclesiastical
2 X
L
\
m
^tHi
III III I I It. ,1.1
'• Ml iImi I,..
' MmI Mill I
'• I
He
r-,' B
'•W^JJIK*
0 /any ticiaad
• tezree, •♦ !• Ak- *i. •. wM
''tw aoH s&nuoiL jin iiiesncs of ''" Uw ooltcsiaa fl^iiiBSdFa^fficiiiss icnrnm hjr the ink <f£'Maia&ir, a oenp fiiiniyiimfrff (if i& ' "f jouriunf. — w ir ia espkifflediB ' oikge. Dublin; Rl. 1-5, jijujtj, appear ti3>}x Smfsd '■'"ved fordie aorme of the rj sadi refiqnazies, were ' ■ "•• I')' iIm. i«.rtii |iMnp«, Willi )i WM .ppDcd, »t lost in later
' ' "' "•• '"•' '•" '•"•<■. M it i» lliua explained in an old 3IS.
"> |'».-...rv./ Ill Triniry Collt'^re, Dublin, 113, 18, po- ''•'|<». I. (iMiiii IN. rn;^ MiUiip. ",,„t„in; i e. a name for a book
•Hit III I
I •'•'<'n^,Mii«|ii|i|.|i, Miiti «.r tluMvoixl, Jiowever, to the leather cases ' •'irinl I ii ,11,(1 rrlii|uurii'» wtTc carried, is proved bj
ill* 8 '
Iteicl'ittfi
fc-.
(*-
istiDCtieftn>
(tlffldliStf-
Siiffiifitr;
QuUirnk
Ajti
It 1^4 r
■■^'^'^ C?
OK TIIH ROUND TOWBS OF IRELAND.
887
ii- most ancient autlioritios. Thu. in the legend of St, Patrick's
intention Avith tlio Magi at Tara, a given in tlie Tripartite Lite of
e saint, it is related liow his favorite disciple, the boy lienen,
caped thi' machinations of Patrick'cnemics, to whom he appeared
a fawn iH'ariiig a pack or budget q his back. And it is afterwards
stinctiy stated tliat (lie object in reiity lluis eai'ried by Henen was
atrick's book of the Scriptures, — o in lact tlie Bo(.)k of Armagh
self, for such this book was believe to be, at the time when this
^gend was written.
" Obtutihiisi'uiin ipscinun solum apparucriu octo ceruiciimvno hinnulo, in ciijus orso viJebatur nlicpia sarciiia jai'cro. Sic ergo lirificus vir socijquc cum beato pucro ienigno sacrum liiblior>uii codiccm in humcir gcstanto, per mcdios hostes salui & iicolumes Temoriain vsquc perueneruut, salui:o orationis viri Dei pnvsidio, vohit acra wgidc, muuiti." — Pars I. cap. LX., Trins 'hanm., p. 126.
It may be objected that, in the piceding passage, there is no listinct reference to the jmlaire, or cai in wliicli tlie sacred volume was carried; but it is obvious that th book could not have been carried, as stated, on Benen's back, e> 'jil in a case; and in an old Irish version of this legend, prescrvei in the Leabliar Breac, the case, or bag, carried by Benen on this ccasion, is called the po/aire of St. Patrick; and, indeed, I have no oubt that this was the word used in the original Irish of the Triprtile Lil'e, which Clolgaii has translated sarcinn. The passage to wl li 1 ulliide is as follows:
" Griloej 1 n-n n-oiaio, 7 in pmo pop n iKilaino, .1. 6uien pin, 7 polipe phdcpciic pop a liuiin." — Fol. 14, a, a.
" One fawn [appeared] beliind them, and a \iilc bird on liis shoulder, i.e. this was Benen, and Patrick's polire on his back."
Tluis also, in another version of t's legend, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, II. . IS, p. r)28, the same word is used, and glossed by a commentator :
" lupnooe I n-a n-oea^ai^, 7 jaile f°P a jnlaino, .1. pucpaic 7 ci occup 7 6eTien in-u n-oeuguij, 7 u potaipe [.i.amm do ci; luibiiip] pop a inuin."
" A i'awii after them, and a bag on his shoukk i. e. Patrick and his eight [coin- pnrtiong], and Benen behind them, and his polaire L e. a name for a book satchel] on his back."
It would appear, moreover, from th following passage in the Annotations of Tirechan, in the Book o Armagh, that the polnirc, as well as the mmister, was an article ii some degree necessary to the episcopal character, as it is enumerald among the ecclesiastical
2 X
83fi INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
case of the sliriuc of St. Maidoc, or Aidan, the first bishop of Ferns, the age of which, in the opinion oi' some of the most skiU'ul antiquaries of Great Britain, can hardly be later than the eighth century.
It will be observed that the whole of the ornuincnt on this side is ])roduced by the interlacing of a number of ilat bands, having a line runninc down their centre, as well as five small circles, ornamented witla a bead; and I should remark, that, unlike tlie case of the Book of Armagh, the ornaments are produced, not ])y a stamp, but by a carving in very low relief, or, as the French term it, graiu'; en crc.ux.
The two leather cases from which the preceding illustrations have been copied, are, as far as I know, the only specimens of the kind remaining in Ireland, or, as I should suppose, in tli(; British Islands ; yet it cannot be doubted that such leather cases were anciently as common in Ireland as the sacred books, shrines, and other reliquaries, which they were designed to preserve, such cases being necessary, in consequence of the usage of the Irish, to carry the honoured memorials of their primitive saints from place to place on necessary or important occasions : and hence these relique covers are provided with broad leather straps fastened to them at each end, by Avhich they could be suspended round the neck.
And these covers, as we may suppose, shared, in some degree, the veneration paid by the people to the sacred treasures which they contained. The reliquaries thus sent tlirough the districts of the patron saints, most usually for the collection of dues or offerings to the church, were generally known by the name of Minister, a term signifying " a travelling relique," being compounded of the words mionn, a relique, and aiprpe, of journey, — as it is explained in an old glossary in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 1, 15, p. 975, though it would, with equal probability, appear to be derived from the Latin ministerium, as being employed for the service of the Church. But the leather cases made to carry such reliquaries, were known by the term polaijie, which was applied, at least in later times, to a satchel for books, as it is thus explained in an old MS. Irish glossary preserved in Trinity College, Dublin, 11. 3, 18, po- laipe, A. ainm do reig liubaip, " poluire, i. e. a name for a book satchel."
The original application of the word, however, to the leather cases in which the sacred Vjooks and reliquaries were carried, is proved by
OK THE IiOI!NI) 'I'OWKKS OK lUKI.ANI). 8H7
niir most ancient autlioriticf*. 'J'Iiuh, in tlic; Ic^fcnd ol'Sl. I'uli'ick'w contention -witli the Mii<fi at Tarn,, as ^nvi-n in the 'l"ri|)aititi' Life of the saint, it is related how his I'avonrite disciph', tlie hoy Ijcncn, escaped the machinations of Patrick's enemies, to whom he iipp('aic<l as a fawn bearing a [)a<;k or l)iidget on his l)ac,k. And it i.s ai'tcrwanlH distinctly stated that the object in reality thns caii'ied \)y lienen was Patrick's book of the Scriptnres, — or in fact the Hook of Annagii itself, for such this book was believed to be, at the time wlien thin legend was written.
" Obtutibus <!nim ipsonjin solum apparuorurit ooto coriii 'iiiiii vim )]ii]riiilr<, in ciijiis dorso videljatur aliqua sarcina jacf^re. Sic ergo tiiirificUH vir Hociji|ii<: i;uiii \>i-il\d (iiii:io Benigno sacrum Bibliorum codiccm in JiuiiKfriH gr'Ktantf, |)(;r mcdioH huhtcH haiui & incolumes Temoriam vsque perucnerurit, saluifico orationiM viri Dei priuHidio, vi-liil, sacra a;gide, munitL" — Pars I. cap. LX., Trian Thaum., \). 1 2fj.
It may be objected that, in the preceding passage;, there is no distinct reference to the polairn, or case in which the sacred volume was carried; but it is obvious that the book could not have been carried, as stated, on Benen's back, except in a case; and in an old Irish version of this legend, preserved in the Leahhar Ihe.ar, the case, or bag, carried by lienen on this occasion, is called the polairi' of St. Patrick; and, indeed, 1 have no douljt that this was the word used in the original Irish of the Tripartite Life, which Colgan has translated sarcina. The passage to which I allude is as follows:
«' Grrloej 1 n-u n-Diaio, 7 ^n fino fop <t ftuxWuto, .1. 6inen fin, 7 potipc; phfirpaic pop a mum." — Fol. 14, a, a.
" One fawn [app<aired] b'Jiind tli';m, and a wtiitc bird 'jh hih h}ioiild<;r, i. 1-. tliii was Benen, and Patri/;k'« pdire on hi* back,"
Thus also, in another version of this legend, pre«erved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, II. 3, 18, p. .023, the same word is ased, and glossed Vjy a commentator :
" lapnooe i n-a n-oea^aij, 7 g'Jiile pop a j^aUiino, .1. fJucp/iic 7 u oceap 7 6enen in-a n-oeaj^uig, 7 u polaipe [.1. ainm do reijj liubaip] pop a rnuin,"
" A fawn after thc-m, and a ba^ on big ishouUc'r, L it. l''<itr'u:k and biu eiijht [c//rn- pani//ni\, and 'Beaeu behind them, and hie jxiUiire [L e. a inauk. for a i><y./k fcatehc-l] on his back."
It would apyjear, moreover, from the following fiassage in the Annotations of Tirechan, in the l^x>k of Arxoagh, that the polaire, as well as the minijster, was an article in some degree ne<x-ssary to the episcopal character, as it is enumerated among the eccletiia^tical
2 X
338
INQUIRY INTO TUE ORIGIN AND USES
v^j
presents given to Fiac, Bishop of Sletty, when Patrick conferred the episcopal dignity upon him. The passage is as follows :
" Dubbepc SpoD n-eppcoip yo\\\, Conioe eppcop inpin cicup uoipcneo la taij- niu, 7 Dubbepr pacpicc Cuinrach du piacc, croon clocc 7 menpcip 7 bachall 7 poolipe; er pacab moppepep laip oia muincip."
" He [Patrick] conferred the degree of bishop upon him [Fiacc], so that he was the first bishop that was ordained among the Lagenians, and Patrick gave a Cumtach [a box] to Fiacc, viz. [i. e. containing] a bell, and a 7nenstir, and a crozier, and a poolire; and he left seven of his people with him."
This same passage occurs in the MS. H. 3, 18, p. 526, glossing the word meinipnii by Uiinna aipciji, travelling relics, but omitting, probably through an error of the transcriber, the word bacall ; thus :
" Do bepc Dan pacpaic cumcac oa Piacc, .1. cloc, meinipcip, .1. mmna aij-cip, polaipe 7 popaccaib mop-peipep oia mumncip leip."
" Patrick then gave Fiacc a cumtach, i. e. a bell, a meinhtir, L e. travelling relics, a polaire, and left seven of his people with him."
And here I may remark, that the learned Colgan has committed an egregious oversight in liis translation of the original Iiish of this passage in the Tripartite Life, in which these articles ai'e enume- rated, namely, in rendering the word minipci]i as if it were an adjective in connexion with cloc, and, still worse, rendering the word poolai]ie as the Epistles of St. Paul.
" Ecclesiam adificaiiit primo S. Fiechus in loco, qui ex eius nomine Domnach-Fiec, .i. Ecclesia Fieci postea appeUata est : eique reliquit sacram supellectUem, cymbalum nempe ministeriale, Epistolas Paulinas, et baculum pastoralem." — Pars 3, cap. XXII. Trias Tkaum., pp. 152, 153.
And I shotdd remark that these words, menstir and poolire, in the original passage in the Annotations of Tirechan, have received an equally blimdering, though different, interpretation in the Anti- quarian Researches of Sir W. Bethani, in which the first is rendered '■ a mitre" and the second " a cloak (pallium)." I am not, of coiu'se, so unreasonable as to expect that the author of the Etruria Celtica should have any acquaintance with historical facts of this late period; these do not lie in the way of his researches : but my late ingenious friend, Mr. Edward O'Reilly, who translated this passage for him, should have known that no allusion to the use of the mitre at this period, or for some ages after, is found in any of our ancient autho- rities,— for Archdall's statement as to the mitre of St. Ailbhe, which, he says, was burned in 1123, is founded on an erroneous translation
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OF THE HOrXD TOWERS OF IBELANT).
339
31 bA of tii f.W are eniime- ■ J ii were an
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of the Irish word bear nan, which was unquestionably apphed to a gapped, or broken, bell ; — and he shoiild also have known that, as St Bernard tells, and as the whole stream of our ancient ecclesiastical history proves, the use of the pallium was unknown in Ireland till the middle of the twelfth centur}-. St Bernard's words are : " Metro- poUticae sedideerat adhuc et defuerat ah initio pallii usus." — Vita Malacltiop, cap. 10.
Sir William Betham, indeed, tells us that the word pal/iutn, by which the word poo/ire in the original is rendered, '• is applied to the veil, as taken by a female, and means nothing more here than a cloak, not a pall, as now understood." But where is the authority to show that a cloak, which was not a pall, should be necessary to a bishop, as well as a crozier and bell? — or does he wish us to suppose that the cloak was intended as a veil for Fiach's wife ?
The prevalence of the use of these leather cases amongst the ecclesiastics in Ireland anciently, may be inferred from the following passage in the ancient life of St Columbkille, preserved in the Leabhar Breac, in the Library of the Academy, fol. 16, b, b.
" Oip ba bep Doyum cpoffxi, 7 polaipe, 7 rioja lebep 7 aiome eclofracoa do oenum, uc oiric :
" Senaip .ccc. cpofya buooach, Noioppcro .ccc cippmc do ba oion, .C. polaipe cm, anachach. Ca .c. bachall, la .c. cioj."
" For it was a habit -vdth him to make crosses and palairet, and book satchels, and ecclesiastical implements, ut dixit \j>oeta'\ :
" He blessed three hundred miraculous crosses. He blessed three hundred wells which were constant. One hundred />o/<i»Ve« noble, one-coloured, With one hundred croziers, with one hundred satchels."
It wUl be seen from the preceding passage, moreover, that in addition to the polaire, or leather case for containing reliquaries or sacred books, the ancient Irish ecclesiastics used bags or satchels, known bv the name tiasr, for the ordinarv carriage of books : and it would appear, from several passages in the most ancient lives of the Irish saints, that such satchels were also of leather, — as in the following legend, which constitutes the eighth chapter of the second book of the Life of St. Columba, by Adamnan :
2x2
338 INQUUIY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
presents given to Fiac, Bishop of Sletty, when Patrick conferred the episcopal dignity upon him. The passage is as follows :
" Dubbepc SpciD n-epfcoip F°'Pj Conine eppcop inpin cicup uoipcneo la 6015- iiui, 7 Dubbepc pticpicc Cutncach du Piucc, aooii clocc 7 menpcip 7 bachall 7 poolipe; ec pucab moppepep laip oia muincip."
" He [Patrick] conferred the degree of bishop upon him [Fiacc], so that he was the first bishop that was ordained among the Lagenians, and Patrick gave a Camtack [a box] to Fiacc, viz. [i. e. containing] a bell, and a menstir, and a crozier, and a poolirc; and he left seven of his people with him."
This same passage occurs in the MS. H. 3, 18, p. 526, glossing the word iTieimpri|i by niinna aipcip, travelling relics, but omitting, probably through an error of the transcriber, the word bacall ; thus :
" t)o bepc oan pacpaic cumcac oa Piacc, .1. doc, meniipcip, .i. mmna aipcip, polaipe 7 popaccaib mop-peipep oia mumnrip leip."
" Patrick then gave Fiacc a cnmtach, i. e. a bell, a meinistir, i. e. travelling relics, a polaire, and left seven of his people with him."
And here I may remark, that the learned Colgan has committed an egregious oversight in his translation of the original Irish of tliis passage in the Tripartite Life, in which these articles are enume- rated, namely, in rendering the word muuy^ciji as if it were an adjective in connexion with cloc, and, still worse, rendering the word poolai]ie as the Epistles of St. Paul.
" Ecclesiam fedificauit primo S. Fiechiis in loco, qui ex eius nomine Donmach-Fiec, .1. Ecclesia Fieci postea appellata est : eiqvie reliquit sacram snpellectilem, cymbaluni nempe ministeriale, Epistolas Paulinas, et baculum pastoralem." — Pars 3, cap. XXII. Trias Thaum., pp. 152, 153.
And I should remark that these words, menstir and poolire, in the original passage in the Annotations of Tirechan, have received an equally blundering, though different, interpretation in the Anti- quarian Researches of Sir W. Betham, in which the first is rendered " a mitre," and the second " a cloak (pallium)." I am not, of course, so unreasonable as to expect that the author of the Etriiria Celtica should have any acquaintance with historical facts of this late period; these do not lie in the way of his researches : but my late ingenious friend, Mr. Edward O'Reilly, who translated this passage for him, should have known that no allusion to the use of the mitre at this period, or for some ages after, is found in any of our ancient autho- rities,— for Archdall's statement as to the mitre of St. Ailbhe, which, he says, was burned in 1123, is founded on an erroneous translation
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 339
of the Irish word bearnan, whicli was unqiiestiouably applied to a gapped, or broken, bell ; — and he should also have known that, as St. Bernard tells, and as the whole stream of our ancient ecclesiastical history proves, the use of the pallium was unknown in Ireland till the middle of the twelfth century. St. Bernard's words are : " Metro- politicte sedideerat adhuc et defuerat ah initio pallii usus." — Vita 3Ia lac /lice, cap. 10.
Sir William Betham, indeed, tells us that the word pallium, by wliich the word poolire in the original is rendered, " is applied to the veil, as taken by a female, and means nothing more here than a cloak, not a pall, as now understood." But where is the authority to show that a cloak, Avhich was not a pall, should be necessary to a bishop, as well as a crozier and bell? — or does he wish us to suppose that the cloak was intended as a veil for Fiach's wife ?
The prevalence of the use of these leather cases amongst the ecclesiastics in Ireland anciently, may be inferred from the following passage in the ancient life of St. Columbkille, preserved in the Leabhar Breac, in the Library of the Academy, fol. 16, b, b.
" Oip ba bep ooputn cpofpa, 7 polaipe, 7 ciaja lebep 7 aiome eclapcacoa do oenum, uc Diiic :
" Senaip .ccc. cpofpa bucioach, NoioppuD .ccc. cippnic DO ba Dian, .C. poluipe a!i, anachach. La .c. bachall, la .c. ciaj."
" For it was a habit with him to make crosses and polaires, and book satchels, and ecclesiastical implements, vt dixit [ywete] :
" He blessed three hundred miraculous crosses, He blessed three hundred wells which were constant. One hundred polaires noble, one-coloured. With one hundred croziers, with one hundred satchels."
It will be seen from the preceding passage, moreover, that in addition to the polaire, or leather case for containing reliquaries or sacred books, the ancient Irish ecclesiastics used bags or satchels, known by the name tiag, for the ordinary carriage of books ; and it would appear, from several passages in the most ancient lives of the Irish saints, that such satchels were also of leather, — as in the following legend, which constitutes the eighth chapter of the second book of the Life of St. Columba, by Adamnan :
2x2
.UO INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Aliud luLi'aculum a;stimo uon tacendum, quod aliquando factum est per contra- rium elementum. Multorum namque transcursis annorum circxilis post beati ad Dominum transitum viri, quidani juvenis de cquo lapsus in tluniine mcrsus, et inor- tuus, viginti sub aqua diebus permansit, qui sicuti sub ascella, cadens, libros in pellicio reconditos saccule habebat, ita etiam post supra memoratum dierum numerum est repertus, sacculum cum libris inter brachium et latvis eontinens. Cujus etiam ad aridam reportato cadavere, et aperto sacculo, folium Sancti Columb.e Sanctis scriptum digitulis, inter aliorum folia librorum non tantuni corrupta, sed et putrefaota, inven- tum est siccum, et nullo modo corruptum, ac si in scrinio esset reconditum." — Pinkerton's ViUe Antiquce Sanctorum, ■p'p. Ill, 112.
A similar example occurs in the same Life, in the next chapter, and many others might be adduced from other Lives ; but the evi- dences already given appear to me sufficient to illustrate the antiquity of those curious leather cases for sacred books and reliquaries, called jjolaire by the Irish, as well as to show the difierence between such cases and the tiagha, or ordinary book satchels. I shall, therefore, dismiss the subject with the following characteristically Lrish story, which will, at least, serve to show the reverence which was paid to the travelling reliquaries, the manner in which they were carried, and the penalties which were inflicted for any dishonour or injury oflered them. The passage occurs in the Leabhar Breac, fol. 10, b, a, and in the Book ofLeinster, fol. 239, a, from which, as an older authority, it is here given.
" pecc DO canic Semplan, pacapc Cipi oa jlap co dp Cporim do 6icc an pinnae pi coipcib, ip ano boiOiapmaio oc jlanao upopocira roigi 7 a pluapac'n-a laiiTi, luiD lapom a cu po na cleipcib, co po lecpao in pacapr. T?o buail in I'ucupc in coin icippin. Ro buail imoppo GiapmaiD in pucapc oi'n cpluapaic, copo bpip menipcip Coluim, po bui pop a mum, tDolluiD lapom f,accain, comapbo Coluim, DO acpa in j;iiinia pm co plair h-Ua n-Dponci, .1. co Ruioen, macCainnen; CO capcpac h-Ui t)poiia uii. cumala oOiapmaio do mumcip Coluim, 7 do Cacrain, 7 DO pac 6accain na uii. cumala pin do aipcinnech Cemopomma, .1. do Uamnach."
" On one time that Semplan, priest of Tir da glas, came on business to Tir Cronin to Lice na sinnach, Diarmaid was clearing away the front-bridge of his house, having his shovel in his hand, and set a dog at the clergymen, so that the priest was torn. The priest then struck the dog. Diarmaid struck the priest with the shovel, and broke the menistir of Colum, which was on his back. Lachtaiu, the comarb of Colum, afterwards went to complain of this deed to the chief of Ui Drona, i. e. Euiden, the son of Lainnen ; and the Ui Drona gave [adjudged] seven cunials'^ from Diarmaid to the people of Colum, and to Lachtain, and Lachtain gave these seven cunials to the airchinneach of Lemdruim [Lorum, County Carlow] i. e. Uamnach."
" The word cumal is explained in the commentaries on the Brehon Laws as three cows, or an equivalent of that value.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 341
Thus also, in the following record in the Annals of the Fovu- ]Masters, wc have an example of the expulsion of a chieftain from his lordship for dishonouring the Cunoin Phutrdic, or Book of Armagh :
O
"A. D. 1179- Ua Ruaoucan, ciccheapna Ua n-eaclioach, do ^cc do jcilop cpi ii-oiDci lap n-a lonnapbao, cpe pnpujao Canoine paqiaicc do, 5ap poime."
" A. D. 1179- O'Rogan, Lord of Iveagh, died of three nights' sickness, after his expulsion, for having violated the Canohi-Patraic.'"
To the preceding observations 1 have to add, that while this sheet was going through the Press, I have discovered the following curious passage in the fragment of Duald Mac Firbis's Glossary of the Brehon Laws, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dub- lin, which, more distinctly than any of the passages already given, explains the use to which the minister was applied :
" niinipceap, .i. mionna aipoip Biop ap aipoeap ip in cuair le caBaipc mionn up cac."
" Ministear, i. e. travelling relics which are carried about in a district to administer oaths to all."
I may fiu'ther remark that, from the v;se to which the mionna, or enshrined rehcs, were thus applied, the same word came to denote both a relic and an oath, and originated the verb mionnaim,, I swear. The Irish Annals notice the iise of the principal relics of Ireland, which were often transferred from their original localities, on solemn occasions, to distant places, in order that rival chieftains might be sworn upon them, to futiu-e peace and mutual fidelity ; and hence Mageoghe- gan, and the other old translators of the Irish annals, render the word miuna of their originals by the Enghsh word oat/ies, as, " the coarb of St. ICieran mth Ids oafhes," " the coarb of St. Cokmib with his oathes ;" by which they meant, the abbot of Clonmacnoise with his relics, &c. And, as must be well known to most of my readers, this ancient custom of swearing on the relics of the saints of the ancient Irish Chiu'ch is still continued amongst the peasantiy in many parts of Ireland, by whom it is often supposed that thieves would exonerate themselves from the guilt of which they were suspected, by a false oath on the holy Gospels, but would not dare to do so by an oath on one of these ancient reliquaries. And hence, also, we find the following curious inscription on an ancient reliquary in my own Cabinet, and Avliich is in the form of a brass shoe or slipper, gilt and richly ornamented. This shoe was popidarly known as St.
842 INQUIBY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Bridget's slipper, and, no doubt, originally encased a real shoe, which was supposed to have belonged to the great patroness of Ii-eland. The inscription to which I have alluded is as follows, and clearly in- dicates the use to which the reliquary was applied :
" HOC-EST * JURAMENTVM NATVEALE *." From the following inscriptions, also on this reliquary, we find that it was preserved in Loughrea, in the Coimty of Galway, where there is still remaining, at a short distance from the Carmelite Friary, a small chiu-ch dedicated to St. Bridget, in which, no doubt, this relic was preserved. These inscriptions are :
"COCh ReiCh ANNO * DOMINI * 1410." " S. * BRIGIDA VIRGO * KILDARIENSIS HIBERNI^ * PATRONA."
And over a head in relievo there is the following inscription :
"S * IbON * BAPTIST."
Of other ornaments found on our ancient churches, numerous
examples are also to be met with on the inscribed tombstones at
Clonmacnoise, but of which I shall content myself with a single
example from one now in my possession, and which may be interest- ing as an instance of the simple customs of the times, the stone having been originally a quern, or hand-mill stone. This stone exhibits four of these ornaments, namely, the zig-zag, rope, bead, and Etruscan fret ; and though it is not easy to fix its exact date, it will be sufS. ciently evident, from the absence of a surname in the inscription that it is at least anterior to the eleventh century. The inscription is simply the name Sechnasach, which is not an uncommon one in
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 343
tlie Irish annals and pedigrees, and signifies one who shuns, or avoids ; but the person whose name is here inscribed is probably the Sechnasach, " Priest of Durrow," whose death is recorded in Maseotrhetran's translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise at the year 928, and in the Annals of the Foiu- Masters at the year 931.
I have now brought this Dissertation on the Irish churches to a conclusion. It has, indeed, extended to a length far beyond what I had originally intended, but not, I trust, greater than the subject de- manded ; for the ignorance of our antiquaries on this most important class of our architectiu'al antiquities has been not only disgraceful in itself, but the fruitful source of all those fantastic and erroneous theories which have been advanced relative to the origin, uses, and age of the Round Tower Belfries, and other classes of ecclesiastical architectural remains, of which I have yet to treat.
That I may possibly err, in some instances, in the opinions offered as to the age of some of the examples of decorated architecture which I have adduced, I have already freely acknowledged ; but the subject is now, at least, submitted to the learned on new grounds, and whatever may be their ultimate decision upon a matter so inte- resting, as illustrating the history of ecclesiastical ai'chitecture in Europe, my object must necessarily be attained — that of leading others to the discovery of truth — however I may myself have failed occasionally to see it.
SUBSECTION II. ORATORIES.
The class of antiquities of which I have next to treat, namely, the duirtheachs, or dertheachs, has been, to modern Irish writers, as much involved in mystery as even the Round Towers ; and yet it is perfectly certain that, prior to the twelfth century, the buildings, thus designated, were a class of churches, or religious edifices, essen- tially differing from those noticed in our Annals under the appel- lation of daimlding, as will appear from the following notices from the Annals of Ulster :
" A. D. 824. ^.ofcac ITIaiji bile, co n-a oepcijib, 6 ^e"'^''^-"
" A. D. 824. Tlie burning of Magh bile, with its dertkec/is, by the Gentiles [Danes]."
" A. D. 8.39. f-opcao Qipoo niachae, co n-a oepdiijib 7 a ooimliaj."
" A. D. 839. The burning of Armagh, with its dertheclis and daimhliag."
"imt
i
BOW II
III iiM- J^'^^^^<^lOIl, and wliicli maybe interest-
Kv< .vf i)i.' Minpio ctistoins of the times, the stone
m. or haml-niill stone. This stone exhibits
•>• «v(#M««l«K JMHUolv. tho ziff-ziuT. ronaJiead, and Etruscan
I will be suffi. inscription,
inscriitfioi'i
3K
1
'!-■<. UJ
or THE KOrXT) TOWERS OF IB I^ND
rish annals and pedigree*, and signifie one who shims, or
scribed is probably eath is recorded in
5; but the person whose name is here Sechnasach, " Priest of Durrow " whose
x>ghe£ran"s tnmslatiou of the Annals of Clc nacnoise at the year
and in the Annals of the Four Masters at le year 931.
i have now brought this Dissertation on tl Irish churches to a
elusion. It has, indeed, extended to a lenj i far beyond what I
oricnnaUy intended, but not, I trust, great* than the subject de-
ided ; for the ignorance of our antiquaries ( this most important
>s of our architectural antiquities has been dt only disgraceful in
;lf, but the fruitful source of all those falistic and erroneous
,'ories which have been advanced relative tclhe origin, uses, and
e of the Round Tower Belfries, and other < Bses of ecclesiastical
^hitectural remains, of which I have yet to ti it.
That I mav possibly err. in some instances, i the opinions offered
< to the age of some of the examples of c iorated architecture
hich I have adduced, I have already freely a( lowledged ; but the
ubject is now, at least, submitted to the lear d on new groimds,
ind whatever may be their ultimate decision i on a matter so intc-
'•esting, as illustrating the history of ecclesia ical architecture in
Europe, my object must necessarily be attai id — that of leading
others to the discovery of truth — however I ir r myself have failed
I iccasionally to see it.
SUBSECTION II. ORATORIES.
The class of antiquities of which I have i it to treat, namely. the duirtheachs, or dertheachs, has been, to >dem Irish wriiert. as much involved in mystery as even the Roui Towers : anc is perfectly certain that, prior to the twelfth c tury, the buiiu.:^-. thus designated, were a class of churches, or re ious edifices. c-£ea>- tially differing from those noticed in our Ai
lation of dnimhliag, as will api the Annals of Ulster :
" A. D. 824. Cofcac mai^i bi| " A. D. 824. The burning of Ma " A.?). 8.39. <LopcaD QipoD " A. D. 839. The burning of .
Js xmder the am»p^ rom the fa iTving notice
sepcijib, 6 ! nrib."
its derthech j the Gentiiee Tlimt "* "
[ n-a oepchij 7 a Doimlia^r"
;li it; dert/ied nd daunhliag."
344 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
But, tliouo-h the notices of the duirtheachs, as a distinct class of buildings, are as numerous in our Annals and other ancient autho- rities as those of the daimliliags, or stone churches, modern writers have failed to form a definite idea of the class of buildings which the term denoted, and consequently have given very inaccm'ate translations of the term, whenever it came in their way. This will abundantly appear from the following examples :
In Peter O'Connell's MS. Irish Dictionary it is explained thus : "Duipreac, a house of austerity, rigour, and penance." In the Dic- tionaries of O'Brien and O'Reilly the word is thus explained : " Oeap- reac, a certain apartment in a monastery calculated for prayers and other penitential acts." In the older Glossary of O'Clery, we find the name explained, " Diiipreac, .1. ceampall," — " Duirtheach, i. e. a church." Dr. O' Conor, in his translation of the Irish Annals, usually renders it hy Nosocomium, as I have already shown in p. 121, and sometimes by Hospifiinn pauperiim, Hospitium peregrinorum, and Nosoco)nium peregritiorum. And he thus explains the term in a note in the Annals of Ulster, at the year 823 :
" Glossaria Hibernica coui'undunt Deartach et Doimliag, quas voces plane separant Annales Ultonienses ad ann. 839- ' Dertighihh 7 Doimliag.^ Deartach proprie Nosoco- mium, seu Hospitium ad usum peregrinantium, Doimliag Ecclesiam principalem, seu Cathedralem significat."
As I have already shown, Colgan, who translates it posnitentium cede [tedes], and domus pcptiifentiiim, is nearer to the truth, as it does not appear that there was any other word in use amongst the Irish to designate a chapel for penitential prayer. But, as I shall presently show, this explanation is too limited ; and, indeed, it would appear that Colgan had no accurate notion of the meaning of the word, as he sometimes translates it ecrlesia, and sometimes, plurally, sacris cedijiciis. — See his Annals of Kildare at the year 835, and his Annals of Armagh at the year 890. But, that the word was understood by the Irish themselves to signify an oratory, or consecrated chapel for private prayer, will fully appear from the following passages in the Irish Annals :
" A. D. 804. Cell Ackaidh cum oratorio novo ardescity — Annal. Ult.
Thus given in Irish by the Four Masters, under the year 800, these annahsts being usually in error a few years in their dates about this period :
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 345
" A. D. 800. CeciU achaio do lorcccio, co n-a oepclinij nui." " A. D. 800. Ceall achaidh was burned, with its new derthach."
Again, in the Annals of Ulster at the year 808 :
" A. D. 808. Ignis celestis percussit rirum in oratorio N^o(/an."
Thus given in Irish in the Annals of the Four Masters :
" A. D. 804. Cene do coiniub oo iiirii, la)' po mapbuo ocioine i n-oepclioij Qeoain."
" A. D. 804. Fire came from heaven, by which people were killed in the derthach of Aedan."
And again :
" A. D. 815. Oratorium Fobair combustum est." — Ann. Ult.
Thus in Irish in the Annals of the Four Masters :
" A. D. 812. tDepcech Pobaip do lopcao." " A. D. 812. The derthech of Fore was burned."
This fact being, as I conceive, satisfactorily proved, it remains now to inquire what were the peciUiar characteristics which distinguished the duirtJieach from other ecclesiastical structures, whether in mate- rial, size, or use, or all these circumstances combined. First, then, of their material. On this point we might expect to find a satisfactory elucidation in the derivation given of the word by the old glossogra- phers ; but imfortunately it appears that its etymology was as doubtful to them as I have shown it to be to modern lexicographers. In the oldest authority of the former class, that of the vellum MSS., H. 2, 16, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, we are offered our choice of the following conjectural explanations :
"tJupchecb, .1. oaiprech, .1. rech oapach ; rio oeipchech, .1. cech 1 celjcep D^pa ; no ouaipcech .1. cech a celjcep ouaip, pocail .1. Duap, pocal."
"■Durthech, i. e. dair-thech, i. e. a house of oak ; or deir-thech, i. e. a house in which tears are shed ; or duccir-tliech, L e. a hovise in which words are poured out ; i. e. duar, a word."
It is scarcely necessary to observe, that of these three etymolo- gical conjectures, the first is the most likely to be the true one; for, as we know that the word daimhiiag, which literally signifies a house of stone, became the Irish name for the larger churches, which were usually of this material, it is in the highest degree probable that in the same manner the name duirtheach, literally a house of oak, woidd be applied by the Irish to designate the smaller chapels, or oratories of oak, if any were built of such material, which there is every reason to believe were originally, for the most part, of oak wood.
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346 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Nor is it to be wondered at, that in the erection of structures for the use of rehgious persons, possessed of Httle or no wealth, a material always at hand, and of little cost, should be used where stone and lime cement might be remote, and consequently be obtained with cost and difficulty. And that such class of structures was frequently, if not generally, of this material, can be pi'oved from a number of MS. authorities, from which 1 shall here select a few examples.
In an ancient tract of Brehon Laws, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, DubUn, H. 2, 16, and also in the Book of Bally- mote, and which, amongst other subjects, treats of the different stipends given to poets, and the various artificers for their labours, the following cuiious entry is found, relative to the payment of the ollamh saer, or chief builder, who was required to be equally skilled in the art of building in stone and in wood, and of which the highest examples of his combined arts of stone-masonry and carpentry Avere the daiinkUag and duirtheach.
" mao o6f,amh suao saem, saigit) co pici sec ih a t)iRi,
.1. mao oUaih oc a m-bici paioecc na paippi, .1. inopaijcep peo 7 pici 1 n-a einec- lamn. 60 ap picio lao-pioe oo'n ollam ]xieip. OCUS CLIRCU^CID ITllS t)0, .1. mi a Ian paepam bio 7 ponamoa, uaip cio cian o oligpeo in c-oUarii pcnp ni buD mo ma pin do a oualgup a pechamlacliup, no paippi ilapoa no ber aji ap neicliib e;i:amlaib, aoeicij lap in ujoap ni buo mo do na cuopoma pip in ollarh pile, no pip in oUam m-bepla, no pip in pep lejino. ConiD e ni do poinoi in c-ugoap oa ppim-oan do ber aici 1 pora, .1. cloch paippi 7 cpann paippi, 7 in oapa oan ip uaiple Dib do ber aici i pora, .1. Damliaj 7 Dupcecli. t)a ba oej oppo pin, .1. pe ba a ceccup oe, 7 a pecbamlacc do pegao ap na oanaib aile o pin amach, 7 cuopumup a pepeo do bean alloj caca oana oib, .1. a pepeo pein. Se ba ap ibpopacr, 7 pe ba ap coiccbijip 7 pe ba ap muiUeopacc; bean cpi ba epcib pin pip nu Da ba oej puil aici 1 pora, coniD ,i:u. ba pin. Cerpi ba ap lon- ^uib, 7 nil. bapcaib, 7 iiii. ba ax\ cupca ; bean do ba epcib pin pip na .;cu. ba pomaino, coniD .;i:un. ba. Cerpi ba ap cpano lepcpa, .1. lana, 7 opolmaca, 7 oabca oapach, 7 min-lepcaip oilcena, 7 oa ba ap puamaipecc; bo epnb pin pip nn .;cuii. buaib pomainD conio ;cuiii. t)a ba ap roclipa, 7 du ba ap caiplib, 7 oa ba ap clocanaib ; bo epcib pm pip in p;uiii. m-buaib pomaino, conio ;ci;c. m-ba. t)a ba ap pinoaisecc, 7 oa ba ap cpopa, 7 oa ba ap caippri ; bo epcib pin pip na ;ci;c. m-buaib pomaino, coniD ,i;,r. bo. t)a ba ap chigib plac, 7 oa ba ap pciacaib, 7 oa ba ap opoccib ; bo e)>cib pin pip in pichec bo pomaino, conio bo ap pichec
oo'n ollam paip amail pin, cona m-bec pin uile aici o'elaonaib." Col. 930.
" IF HE BE AN OLLAVE PROFESSOR OF TRADES, WHO IS EN- TITLED TO TWENTY COWS AS HIS PAY, i. e. if he be an ollave who possesses the mastership of trades, it is ordained that twenty-one cows be his pay. These are twenty-one cows for the Ollave of trades. AND A MONTH'S REFECTION TO
OF THE EOU>rD TOWERS OF IRELAND. 347
HIM, that is, a month is his full allowance of food and attendance, for although of old the Ollave tradesman was entitled to more than this, in reward for the versatility of his ingenuity, or for his perfect knowledge of dissimilar arts, still the author [of this law] refused to allow him more than the ollave in poetry, or the ollave in language, or the teacher. Wherefore what the author did was, to allow him two principal branches of the art as from the beginning, i. e. stone-building and wood-building, the most distinguished of these branches to remain as formerly, i. e. the Damhliag, and the Durthecli. Twelve cows to him for these, i. e. six cows for each, and to examine his original pay for the other departments, and to take a sixth part of the established pay for each of these departments [when not exercised by one and the same person] as his pay. Six cows for ibrorackt (making yew vessels ?), and six cows for coicl/i/(/es (kitchen-building), and six cows for mdl- building ; take three cows from these, which added to the twelve cows which he has fundamentally, and it makes fifteen cows. Four cows for ship-building, and four cows for barque-building, and four cows for curach-building ; take two cows from these, which added to the fifteen above, will make seventeen cows. Four cows for the making of wooden vessels, i. e. ians and drolmachs (tubs) and vats of oak, and smaller vessels in like manner, and two cows for ruamairecJit (plough-making ?) ; a cow from these, added to seventeen cows above, will make eighteen cows. Two cows for causeways, and two cows for cashels, and two cows for dochans (stepping stones) ; a cow from these, added to the eighteen above, will make nineteen cows. Two cows for carving, and two cows for crosses, and two cows for chariots ; a cow from these to the nineteen above, makes twenty cows. Two cows for houses of rods, and two cows for shields, and two cows for bridges ; a cow from these added to the twenty above, makes twenty-one cows for the Ollave builder, provided he has all his arts in proficiency."
It is greatly to be regretted that of the preceding curious passage, which throws so much interesting Ught upon the state of society in Ireland anterior to the twelfth century, Init two manuscript copies have been found, and of these one is probably a transcript from tlie other, for it seems in the highest degree probable that by the occa- sional omission or change of a letter the sense of the original com- mentary has been vitiated. Thus where it is stated that six cows was the payment for kitchen-building, which is the same as that for building a daimhliag, or duirtheach, it would appear much more likely that the word originally used was cloicthiges, or belfry-building, which, we may assiune, was a much more important labom" than the other, and which, if the word be truly coicthiges, is omitted alto- gether, though, as I shall show in the succeeding section from another commentary on the Brehon Laws, ranked, amongst the Irish, as one of the most distinguished works of the saer or builder. But till some older or better copy of the passage be found, it must, of coiu'se, remain as of no authority in reference to the Round Towers ; and I
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348 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
have only alluded to it with a view to du-ccting attention to the MS. copies of the Brehon Laws not immediately within my reach. The next authority to which I shall refer, — for it is too long for
insertion is an account of the building of a duirtheach of wood
for St. Moling of Tigh Moling, now St. ISIuUin's, in the County of Carlow, the artificer being the celebrated St. Gobban, whose repu- tation as a builder, under the appellation of Gobban Saer, is still so vividly preserved in the traditions of most parts of Ireland, and of whom, in the ancient life of St. Abban, as published by Colgan, it is prophetically said, that his fame as a builder, in wood as well as stone, will exist in Ireland to the end of time.
"Quidam famosissimus in omni arte lignorum et lapidum erat in Hibernia nomine Gobbanus, cuius artis fama vsque in finem sceculi erit in ea." — Acta SS. p. 619.
This account is preserved in an ancient Irish Life of St. Moling, written on vellum, now in the possession of Mr. Hardiman; and though, like most of the stories in the Lives of the Irish Saints, it is strongly marked by the legendary character of such works, still it may be received as sufficiently authentic as to the material of the building there erected, and which is distinctly stated to have been wood. Thus, according to the legend, when the artificer demanded the payment agreed on with Moling for his labour, namely, the full of the duirtheach of rye, the saint bid him tiu'u its mouth up, and it should be so filled. This condition was at once complied with.
" Do beip ^oban rpac erpe a lam 7 a moin^ F^^'P) co po impoo in oaipdieach, 7 ntoeachaiD clctp ap a inao oe, 7 ni po cumpcaio oluru claip oib peach a ceile."
" Goban laid hold of it by both post and ridge, so that he turned the duirtheach upside down, and not a plank of it started from its place, nor did a joint of any of the boards move from the other."
Again, from the following note in the Felire Aenguis, at the 4th of April, we learn that the duirtheach of St. Derbhfraich of Druim Dubhain, near Clogher, in Tyrone, the mother of St. Tighernach of Clones, was a wooden structure. Derbhfraich floiu'ished towards the close of the fifth century.
" t)epbppaich, maraip Cisepnaij Cluana 6oip. Ip ppia apbepc Coechoamaip DpomaDubdin in po, lap pemiuD in cpoino do dIuiji eci oc oenum a oepprije: " ' Q Depbppaich,
Q macaip Chijepnaig noeim, Coer 00 chobaip, nap ba mall, tDluij in cpano hi pail in c-paeip.'
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 349
" Derbfraich, the mother of Tigliernach of Cluain Eois. She is called Coeclidamair of Druim Dubliain here, for having refused to split the timber at the erection of her Duirtheack :
" ' O Derbhfraicli,
O mother of holy Tighernach,
Go to help, be not slow,
Split the tree along with the carpenter.' "
But the strongest evidences in favour of this conclusion, that the duirtheachs were usually of wood, are those supplied by the Irish Annals, which so frequently record the burning of this class of buildings by the Northmen, while the daimhliags escaped the flames. Of this fact I have already given several instances ; and I shall only now add the following remarkable record, from the Annals of Ulster, which clearly shows that the duirtheachs at this period must have been generally of wood :
" A.D. 891. Llencup magnu)^ in pepia rTlapcini, con oappcap pio-t'ip mop ip naib cailbB, 7 con puc na oaupcaiji ap a lucpaijib, 7 na caiji olcena."
"A.D. 891. A great wind occurred on the festival of St. Martin, which pros- trated a great quantity of trees in the woods, and carried the duirtheachs from their places, and the [other] houses likewise."
And lastly, that the custom of building oratories of wood was
continued in Ireland even to the twelfth century, appears from St.
Bernard's Life of Malachy, in which the following notice of the
building of an oratory at Bangor by the latter is found :
" Porro oratorium intra paucos dies consummatum est de lignis quidem leuigatis, sed apte firmiterqiie contextum, opus Scoticum pulchrum satis. Et exinde seruitur Deo in eo sicut in diebus antiquis, simili quidem deuotione, etsi non pari numero." — Cap. V.
The modicum of praise which St. Bernard bestows on this ora- tory is of some interest, and we may well believe that such wooden temples were not wholly without ornament or beauty. That tliey were coloured with lime, or whitewash, appears certain from a pas- sage in the Leabliar Breac, relating to the mystical significations of the colours used in the vestments of a priest, and in which the white, which was typical of purity, is compared to the colour of the calx or lime on the gable of a duirtheach.
" Ip eao DO popne ni gel in can pejiip in pcicapc pciip, cupu immDepjcbap imme ap pale 7 naipe, menip jenmnaio caicnemach a cpioe 7 a menma, amail uan cumoe, no amail chailc pop benochobup ouupduje, no amailDacli jeipi ppijpein, cennch n-epnail pecao, do Lie no mop, do aippipium in a cpioe." — Fol. 54, now 44.
350 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" "What the white is intended for, when the priest looks upon it, is, that he should blush at it with sensitiveness and shame, if he should not be chaste and pure in heart and mind, like the froth of the wave, or like the cailc on the bendchohar of a duirtheach, or like the colour of the swan before the sun ; without any kind of sin, small or great, remaining in his heart."
But tliough it may tlius be considered as certain that the duw- theachs, or oratories, were usually of wood, and that their name was ori "finally significant of their material, in contradistinction fi'om those larger churches built of stone, it by no means follows that they were always erected of this material, or even that the word would not be applied to stone oratories, after its etymology had been popularly forgotten. And that oratories were indeed erected of the latter ma- terial, at a very ancient period, not only in districts where wood was scarce and stone abundant, — as in the rocky islands of Aran, where so many ancient structures of this kind still remain, — but also in dis- tricts where wood was abundant, appears certain from various pas- sages in our Annals. Of these, I have already referred (p. 144) to that cimous one in the Annals of Ulster, at the year 788, in which the stone oratory at Armagh is spoken of, and from which we may safely infer that the other duirtheaclis there were not, at that period, of this material. And a similar inference may, indeed, be drawn from all the notices which we have of other oratories built of stone, for if such buildings were usually of this material, it would have been unnecessary to distinguish them in this manner.
A still earlier example of a stone oratory, in the neighbourhood of Armagh, — one even coeval with St. Patrick himself, and of which some ruins yet remain, — is preserved to us in St. Evin's, or the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, as translated by Colgan. The passage is as follows :
" Vnam autem ex his Crumtherim appellatam, mirs virtutis virginem, ab aliis segragauit, et in cella siue lapideo inclusorio in monte vulgo Kenngobha vocato, Ard- machffi versus orientem vicino, inclusit : curamque tradidit S. Benigno, vt singulis diebus ad vesperum de cccnula ei curaret prouideri." — Trias Tliainn., p. 163.
I might adduce additional examples, but these are sufficient for my purpose ; and I shall only add, that such notices of stone oratories clearly indicate that it was not the usual custom to erect such struc- tures of this material, for if it were, there would be no necessity to distinguish such as were so, in this manner.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELA>rD. 361
2. Size. — That the duirtheachs were distinguished from the daimhliags as much by their inferiority of size, as difference of mate- rial, is quite obvious ; and it is highly probable that, as the stone churches and other sacred edifices originally built by St. Patrick, be- came the models for subsequent structures of those classes, there may have been a similar model originally to regulate the size of the duirthench. Such model, however, would be, in course of time, if not forgotten, at least occasionally deviated from, when the means, , or other cii'cumstances of the builders, made it necessary to do so. Thus, amongst the existing stone biuldings of this class, as amongst many of the ancient parish and abbey churches, we find a great want of uniformity as to size ; but their average may be stated to be about fifteen feet in length, and ten in breadth, interior measurement ; and that this was about the usual size, we have an ancient evidence in a fragment of tlie Brehon Laws preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 3, 17, p. 658, relating to the payment of artificers employed in the construction o? duirtlieachs, daimliUags, and cloig- theachs. But as I shall give the whole of this cm'ious document in the following subsection, I need only refer to it here. Such is very nearly the internal measurement of the duirtheach at Glendalough, now popularly called the Priest's House, of which I have already given sufficient illustrations, p. 248, et seqiien., and also of several other stone oratories already noticed, as that of St. Mac Dara, on the island of Cruach Mic Dara, off the western coast of Galway, noticed in p. 190, and that of St. Cenannach, on the middle island of Aran, in the Bay of Galway, noticed at p. 189. And I may add, that the stone oratories on the great island of Aran are all either exactly of these dimensions, or very nearly so ; as the TeampuU Beag Mliic Duach, or the smaller church of St. Mac Duach, which is situated near the greater church of the same saint, called his Teampull Mor, and which is obviously of the same age ; St. Gobnet's oratory, which measm'es externally eighteen feet in length, and thirteen feet and a lialf in breadth ; Teampull na Som'ney, which is nineteen feet six inches in length, and fifteen feet six inches in breadth ; and the ora- tory of St. Benen, or Benignus, which is, externally, but fifteen feet in length, and eleven feet in breadth.
Such also is usually the size of the remarkable stone oratories in Kerry, built without cement, with the exception of tliat at Kil-
352 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
malkedar, wliicli is sixteen foet fom- inches in length, and eight feet seven inches in breadth. The most beautiful of these oratories, that at Gallerus,. described, with illustrations, at p. 133, is, however, exactly the prescribed measurement, and not ten feet in breadth externally, as there inadvertently stated.
In the general plan of this class of buildings there was an equal uniformity. They had a single doorway, always placed in the centre of the west wall, and were lighted by a single window placed in the centre of the east wall, and a stone altar usually, perhaps always, placed beneath this window. That such oratories, as well as the larger churches, were visually consecrated by a bishop, appears cer- tain from a very ancient vellum MS. in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, giving the form in which a chiu-ch, or duirtheach, Avas to be consecrated, and which, judging from the language, ap- pears to be of very considerable antiquity; and many examples of such dedications occur in the hves of the Irish saints who flourished in Lombardy, Smtzerland, and other parts of the Continent, in the seventh and eighth centuries, as published by Messingham, Colgan, Surius, and the Bollandists. From these lives we may also infer that the oratories erected abroad by these Irish ecclesiastics were similar in size and material to those in their native country, — as in the following example, from the Life of Columbanus, describing the oratory erected by him at Bobbio :
" Vbi etiam Ecclesiam in honorem almse Dei genetricis, semperque Virginis Maria;, ex lignis construxit ad magnitudinem sanctissiini corporis sui." — Miracula S. Columbani Abbatis. Florilegium, p. 240.
I should also remark, that, in those lives, such oratories are often designated by the term oraculum, a word which was also sometimes applied to oratories in Ireland, imder the corrupted form oi Aireagal, and anglicised Errigal, — as in Aireagal Dachiarog, now Errigal Keeroge, in the County of Tyrone, and Aireagal Adhamhnain, now Errigal, in Derry.
But, as I have already said, the duirtheachs were not always of these very circumsciibed proportions, for it appears from several entries in the Irish Annals that they were, at least occasionally, of much greater size. Thus, in the Annals of Ulster, at the year 849, there is a record of the burning of two hundred and sixty persons in the duirtheach of Trevet, a number which certainly could not be
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 353
contained vrithin a duirtheach of tlie ordinary proportions, and which would seem to require, not only a room of greater size, but that upper chamber Avhicli is found in some of the buildings which appear to belono: to this class. Moreover, we are not without evidences to show that some of the duirtlieacJts ranked as of more importance than others in their immediate vicinity, as the epithet mor, or great, applied to them, clearly proves ; and, as the same epithet, when applied to a stone church, was unquestionably intended to denote its greater size, as compared with the contiguous churches, so we must also conclude that it was applied to the duirtlieach with a similar object. The fol- lowing example of such evidences will, however, suffice. It is found in an account of the circumstances which occasioned the writing of a poem for the Galls, or foreigners of Dublin, by the celebrated Irish poet, Ruraann, who has been called, by the Irish writers, the Virgil of Ireland, and whose death is thus entered in the Annals of Tigher- nach at the year 747 : '' Ruman Mac Colmain Poeta optimus quievit!' It I'efers to the building of the duirtlieach mor, or great oratory of Rathain Ua Suanaigh, now Rahen, in the lung's County ; and the original, which is preserved in an ancient vellum MS. in the Bod- leian Library at Oxford, is said to have been copied from the Book of Rathain Ua Suanaigh :
" Rumuno, mac Colmain, .1. mac pij Caejaipe, do ClannaiB Neill, pij-pibo ©ipeno, ip e do pijne an Duan pa, 7 laio luapcacli ainm na h-aipce ap a n-epnao. Ip e aobap imoppu a oenma do, .1. oia ailicpi camicc pe co Racan, i n-aimpip jopca moipe. 13a bo meipci la luce an bade a cuioechc oo'n baili, con ann a Dubpacap ppip in paep, po bin ic oenum m oupcaigi moip, oiulcao do oenum ppip in pep n-odna ; coniD ann az bepc in paep ppi pep oia muincip, epij a n-ajaiD TJumuino, 7 abaip ppip na cicceo oo'n bailiu, no co n-oepnao pe pano I ni-bia aipim na pil do clapaib puno, do chum m oupcaiji ; conio ann do pom- piom m pano pa:
" ' Q mu coimDiu ! cio do oen-pa, ppip in aobup mup fa ? Cum bup aicDi popceim oluru, Na ;c.ceD clap pa ?'
" Ipeo pin po bui do clapaib ano, .1. mile cldp, 7 nl po pecao oiulcao ppip ap pin, 6 pa paillpij t)ia do, cpia n-a eicpi, in lin cldp po bui oc un paep.
" t)o pome mop du nn do ^allaibh Qcha cliacli ap pin a cecdip, 7 a oubpacap na 7>aiU, co nd cibpicip luach a Diiaine do ; conio aim do pom-|'iom m pano ipopaic, CO n-ebaipc:
" ' nVeppa maoail ooneoch do gena, 7 ap pein bepac-pa emech do pjena.'
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354 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Co cuccao a bpech pein do ap pin ; coniD pi bpech pucpum, .1. pinjino cech Dpoch^tiiU, 7 DO plnjinn cech oe-^ciiU, co nc'i ppich cicii ^^^lU ncic cue du pmjmo DO, up nip piu pe ^ciU Dib opocli "^i-dl do ptio ppip pein icip, co n-ebpuc(ip ppip na ^aill ino paipje do TnoloD, co pincaip in Dan bunu bui aicje. Conio ann po niol-pom in paipge, 7 pe ap tneipce, co n-ebuip.
" 'Qnpcliine mop ap vnuij f.ip.'
" Co cue-pom imoppu in ecail pin leip co Cell beluij, ap IDuij Conpcancin, ap ba DO cellaib Lla Suanaio in cell pin, 7 Mlaj Conpcancin uile. Cac max oan, 7 cec pepann Da peijeo Conpcancin ba pe ITIucucu. Conio oo Conpcancin uinmnijcep m maj. Ip amlaiD bui cell belai;^ an can pin, 7 uii ppaicce do ^aHoib ann, 7 ap a meic do pac l^umunn cpian a ecala oi, 7 cpian do pcoil, 7 cpian leip pdin CO Raichen ; conio ann ip mapb, conio aonuchc a n-enleabaio pe li-Ua Suanaiy, ap meo a anoipe la t)ia 7 la ouine.'" — Laud. 610, fol. 10, a, col. 1, 2.
" Riimann, son of Colruan, i. e. the son of the King of Laegaire, of the race of Niall, royal poet of Ireland, was he that composed tliis poem, and Laidh Liiascach is the name of the measiire in which he composed it. He came on his pilgrimage to Rathan in a time of great dearth. It was displeasing to the people of the town that he should come thither, and they said to the architect, who was making the great duir- theack, to refuse admittance to the man of poetry. Upon which the builder said to one of his people, ' Go meet Rumann, and tell him that he shall not enter the town, untU he makes a quatrain, in which there shall be an enumeration of what boards there are here for the building of the duirtheach. And then it was that he composed this quatrain : " ' O my Lord ! what shall I do About these great materials ? When shall be seen in a jointed edifice These ten hundred boards ?' "This was the number of boards there, i. e. one thousand boards; and then he could not be refused [admittance], since God had revealed to him, through the poetic inspiration, the number of boards which the builder had.
" He composed a great poem for the Galls of Ath cliach (Dublin) immediately after, but the Galls said that they would not pay him the price of his poem ; upon which he composed the celebrated distich, in which he said :
" ' If any one wish to refuse me, let him, And on him I will take revenge of daggers.'
" Upon which his own award was given him. And the award he demanded was a pinginn from every bad Gall, and two jiingiims from every good Gall, so that there was not found among them a Gall who did not give him two pinginns, because none of them deemed it worth while to be styled a bad Gall [for the price demanded]. And the Galls then told him to praise the sea, that they might know whether his was original poetry. Whereupon he praised the sea, while he was in a state of inebriety, and com- posed [the poem beginning]
" ' A great tempest on the plain of Lear,' [i. e. the sea].
" He then carried this wealth with him to Cell Belaigh, in Magh Constantine, for this was one of the churches of Ua Suanaigh, and the whole of Magh Constantine
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 355
belonged to him. For every plain and land which Constantine had cleared belonged to St. Mochuda ; so that the plain was named after Constantine. At this time Cell Belaigh had seven streets of Galls in it ; and Kumann gave the third of his wealth to it, from its size, and a third to schools, and he kept a third with himself at Rathain, where he died, and was buried in the same bed [i. e. tomb] with Ua Suanaigh, for his great honour with God and man."
It is not necessary to the value of the preceding extract tliat it should be considered as authentic liistory in every respect, for its authority, as to the materials and more than ordinary size of the duirtheach atRahen, can hardly be doubted, though some of the facts stated, in connexion witli its erection, may be legendary, and opposed to chronological history ; and that they are so, would seem, indeed, to be the fact. Thus, it can hardly be true that Runiann was interred in the same gi-ave with O'Suanaigh, as the latter, according to the accurate Annals of Tighernach, did not die till 763, unless we sup- pose a tomb to have been made for O'Suanaigh more than sixteen years previously. And again, it is difficult to believe that Eumann's poem, in praise of the sea, was written, as stated, for the Galls of Dubhn, if by Galls we are to understand the Scandinavian invaders, as we find no allusion to their devastations or settlements in Ireland, in the Irish Annals, previously to the year 794. Yet the poem ascribed to Rumann is unquestionably of very great antiqiuty, and may be the composition of that poet, though not written on the occa- sion stated. And, as the Irish applied the word Galls to all foreigners, those alluded to may not have been the Danes, but the Saxons, who, as we learn from Venerable Bede, infested Ireland long previously. At all events, the story told in connexion with this poem, which seems obviously to be the tradition preserved at Rahen, with respect to the poet Rumann's connexion with that place, is, on many accounts, of high interest, as furnishing an evidence, hitherto unknown, of the fact stated in some of the oldest Lish calendars, but which I, in com- mon with Dr. Lanigan, had heretofore doubted, namely, that a Briton, named Constantine, was abbot at Rahen, and whose memory was there venerated on the 11th of March. In the Festilogy of ^ngus this Constantine is set down as Re.x Rathenice, which, as Colgan understands, did not mean that he was king of the place, but that having abdicated his kingdom, he became a monk there, or, as other calendars state, abbot. So the Calendar of Casliel, as translated by
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Colgan, has, " S. Constantinus ex Britannia ortus Abbas de Cut Ratlidiii Mochuilda' in regione de Delbhna Efhra in Media" The Mart}Tology of TaUaght, " Constantini Britunis, vel filij Fergussii de Cnithenisr Marian Gorman. '■^Constantinus Brito :" and the Scholiast of Marian adds : " Constantinus /ilius Fergussij de Cru- f/ienis oriendus ; vel ivxta alios, Brito; Abbas de Rathenia S. Mo- chud(s" So also the Martyrology of Donegal has the same words; and Cathal Magiiire has the following notice of him : "Constantinus Rex Britonum regnum abdicauit : et peregrinationis causa, venit Ratheniam tempore S. Mochuddce. Fuit enim Comorbanus (suc- cessor) S. Mochuddcs Rathenice, et ante Rex Albanioe: vel est Con- stantinus filius Fergussij de Cruthenis oriundus." — See Colgan's Acta Sanctorum, pp. 574, 575.
It would be foreign to my purpose to inquire more minutely into the histoiy of this distinguished person, who, whatever may have been his country, there can be little doubt, ^was really located at Rahen or its vicinity, though not, as stated, at so late a period as to have been the successor of St. Mochuda, Avho Avas driven from Eahen in the year 630, — at least if he be, as Dr. O'Conor supposes, the Con- stantino noticed in the Annals of Ulster at the year 587, and in those of Tighernach at the year 588, in these words, — " Conversio Con- stantini ad Dominum" and to whom Hector Boethius seems to allude in his History of Scotland, L. 9, where he says : " Poenitentem, abdicato regno, secessisse in Hiberniam, ibique, tonso capite, Christi militifs se prcestitisse."
The passage is moreover curious for its reference to the seven streets inhabited by the Galls, in the town of Cell Belaigh, as well as for the allusion to the pinginns, or pennies, at this early period ; and I may mention, as a curious fact, that in my own time there has been found, in the immediate vicinity of Rahen, not only an exten- sive hoard of pennies of the Saxon chief monarchs of the ninth cen- tury, but also, subsequently, a consideral)le number of the pennies of Egbert, 801-837, — circumstances Avhich would seem to indicate that Saxons were established in this locality at an early period.
To return, however, from this digression. It is from a consi- deration of the greater size of some of the Duirtheachs than of others that I am inclined to refer to this class not only such curious build- ings as Declan's Dormitory at Ardmore, in the County of Waterford,
OF THE ROUND Tt)WEKS OF IRELAND, 357
and Molaisi's House on Devenisli Island, in Fermanacjli — buildiney of very contracted dimensions — but also those similar buildings, though of larger size, at Kells and Glendalough, — the first called St. Columb's House, and the second St. Kevin's, — which have habi- table apartments between the stone roof and the coved ceiling of the oratory. That all these buildings are of a remote antiquity their architecture sufficiently shows ; and that they may have been erected by the celebrated personages whose names they bear, I see no good reason to douljt. The great difference between some of these build- ings and those which are unquestionably duirtlieaclis is, that they combined within them, under the same roof, the double object of an oratory and a dwelling, — a difference not very essential, and which might have owed its origin to local circumstances. And the greater size of St. Columb's House at Kells, and St. Kevin's at Glendalough, might be attributable to the rank of the illustrious ecclesiastics for whom they were erected.
Should it be objected tliat St. Kevin's House at Glendalough, unlike that of St. Columb at Kells, had all the features which cha- racterize a church for public Avorship, as nave, chancel, sacristy, and belfry, the answer is, that it certainly had not all these features originally ; the chancel, with its connecting arch, and sacristy, are obviously subsequent additions, as an examination of the structure clearly shows ; and it is extremely probable that the small, round, tiuret-belfry, placed upon the west gable of the nave, was also added at the same time. Illustrations of these curious structures will be given in a subsection following, headed Houses.
3. Use. — It can scarcely be questioned that this class of buildings were originally erected for the private devotions of their founders exclusively ; and if there were any doubts of this, they would be removed by the fact that, in the immediate vicinity of such oratories, we usually find not only the cells, or the ruinsof them, which served as habitations for the founders, but also the tombs in which they were interred. And it is worthy of observation that in the great island of Aran, in the Bay of Galway, — called Ara na Naomh, as O'Flaherty says, from the multitude of saints interred there, — such oratories and tombs usually belong to the most distinguished of the saints of Ireland, Avho passed into it to spend the evening of their life in prayer and penance, and to be interred there : and hence, I
358 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
think, such structures came, in subsequent times, to be used by devotees as penitentiaries, and to be generally regarded as such ex- clusively. Nor is it easy to conceive localities better fitted, in a reli- gious age, to excite feelings of contrition for past sins, and of expectations of forgiveness, than these, which had been rendered sacred by the sanctity of those to whom they had owed their origin. Most certain, at all events, it is, that they came to be regarded as sanctuaries the most inviolable, to which, as our annals show, the people were accustomed to fly in the hope of safety, — a hope, how- ever, which was not always realized.
SUBSECTION III. BELFRIES.
The class of buildings of which I have now to treat, and which gave origin to this lengthened Inquiry, though only holding the places of accessories to the principal chiu'ches in Ireland, have yet, from the peculiarity of their form, and the wild theories which have been promxdgated respecting their age and uses, been regarded as objects of greater interest and importance than even the ancient churches themselves, or, indeed, than any other class of ancient monuments remaining. The inconclusiveness of the arguments and evidences which have been adduced to sustain the various theories assigning them a pagan origin, have been amply discussed in the first Part of this Inquiry, and to those who have accompanied me through that investigation, as well as tlirough the preceding sections in tliis Part, I can hardly imagine that it will appear necessary to occupy much space now with evidences to prove either their Christian origin, or the uses to which, by Christians, they were applied. I, at least, am persuaded that to any one having a tolerable acquaintance with me- dieval architecture, a sight of a feAv of these remains, or of accurate detailed di'awings of them, would be alone sufiicient to convince him, not only of their Christian date, but of the primary purposes for which they were constructed. But, as I have to write not only for such persons, but for those also who are less instructed in such know- ledge, and, as a consequence, are, for the most part, imbued with prejudices difiicult to be removed, it is necessary that I should pre- sent them with such more direct evidences, on these points, as must necessarily lead their minds to a conviction of the truth.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 359
Previously, however, to iny entering on those evidences, I feel it necessary to impress on the memories of those who may still cling with tenacity to the theory of the pagan origin of these structures, a summary of the facts which, in refutation of that theory, I conceive I have already established.
1. That not even the shadow of an historical authority has been adduced to show that the Irish were acquainted with the art of con- structing an arch, or with the use of lime cement, anterior to the introduction of Christianity into the country ; and further, that though we have innumerable remains of buildings, of ages antecedent to that period, in no one of them has an arch, or lime cement, been found.
2. That in no one building in Ireland assigned to pagan times, either by historical evidence or popular tradition, have been found either the form or features usual in the Round Towers, or charac- teristics that would indicate the possession of sufficient architectviral skill in their builders to construct such edifices.
3. That, previously to General Vallancey, — a writer remarkable for the daring rashness of his theories, for his looseness in the use of authorities, and for his want of acquaintance with medieval anti- quities,— no writer had ever attributed to the Round Towers any other than a Christian, or, at least, a medieval origin.
4. And lastly, that the evidences and arguments tendered in sup- port of this theory by Vallancey and his followers, — excepting those of the late Mr. O'Brien and Sir William Betham, which I have not thought deserving of notice, — have been proved to be of no weight or importance.
In addition to these facts, the four which follow will be proved in the descriptive notices of the ancient churches and towers which will constitute the Third Part of this Inquiry.
1. That the towers are never found unconnected with ancient ecclesiastical foundations.
2. That their architectural styles exhibit no features or pecu- liarities not equally found in the original churches with which they are locally connected, when such remain.
3. That on several of them Christian emblems are observable ; and that others display, in their details, a style of architecture univer- sally acknowledged to belong to Christian times.
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INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
4. That they possess, invariably, architectural features not found in any buildings in Ireland ascertained to be of pagan times.
For the present, however, I must assume these additional facts as proved, and will proceed to establish the conclusions as to their uses originally stated ; namely, I. that they were intended to serve as belfries ; and, II. as keeps, or places of strength, in which the sacred utensils, books, relics, and other valuables, were deposited, and into which the ecclesiastics to whom they belonged could retire for security, in cases of sudden predatory attack.
These uses will, I think, appear obvious to a great extent, from their peculiarities of construction, which it Avill be proper, in the first
"A
'^
place, to describe. These Towers, then, — as will be seen from the annexed characteristic illustration, representing the perfect Tower on Devenish Island in Lough Erne, — are rotund, cylindrical struc- tures, usually tapering upwards, and varying in height from fifty to
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 361
perhaps one hundred and fifty feet; and in external circumference, at the base, from forty to sixty feet, or somewhat more. They have usually a circular, projecting base, consisting of one, two, or three steps, or plinths, and are finislied at the top with a conical roof of stone, which, frequently, as there is every reason to believe, terminated with a cross formed of a single stone. The wall, towards the base, is never less than three feet in thickness, but is usually more, and occasionally five feet, being always in accordance with the general proportions of the building. In the interior the}^ are divided into stories, varying in number from four to eight, as the height of the Tower permitted, and usually about twelve feet in height. These stories are marked either by projecting belts of stone, set-oiFs or ledges, or holes in the wall to receive joists, on which rested the floors, which were almost always of wood. In the uppermost of these stories the wall is perforated by two, four, five, six, or eight apertvu'es, but most usually fovir, which sometimes face the cardinal points, and sometimes not. The lowest story, or rather its place, is sometimes composed of solid masonry, and Avhen not so, it has never any aperture to light it. In the second story the wall is usually per- forated by the entrance doorway, which is generally from eight to thirty feet from the ground, and only large enough to admit a single person at a time. The intermediate stories are each lighted by a single aperture, placed variously, and usually of very small size, though in several instances, that directly over the doorway is of a size little less than that of the doorway, and woidd appear to be intended as a second entrance.
In their masonic construction they present a considerable va- riety : but the generality of them are built in that kind of carefid masonry called spawled rubble, in which small stones, shaped by the hammer, in default of smtable stones at hand, are placed in every interstice of the larger stones, so that very little mortar appears to be intermixed in the body of the wall ; and thus the outside of spawled masonry, especially, presents an almost tuiinterrupted surface of stone, supplementary splinters being carefully inserted in the joints of the undried wall. Such, also, is the style of masonry of the most ancient churches ; but it should be added that, in the interior of the walls of both, grouting is abundantly used. In some instances, however, the Towers present a surface of ashlar masonry, — but rarely laid in
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362 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
courses perfectly regular, — both externally and internally, though more usually on the exterior only ; and, in a few instances, the lower portion of the Towers exhibit less of regularity than the upper parts.
In their architectural features an equal diversity of style is obser- vable ; and of these the doorway is the most remarkable. When the Tower is of rubble masonry, the doorways seldom present any deco- rations, and are either quadrangular, and covered with a lintel, of a single stone of great size, or semicircvdar-headed, either by the con- struction of a regular arch, or the cutting of a single stone. There are, however, two instances of very richly decorated doorways in Towers of this description, namely, those of Kildare and Timahoe. In the more regularly constructed Towers the doorways are always arched semicircularly, and are usually ornamented with architraves, or bands, on their external faces. The upper apertures but very rarely present any decorations, and ai-e most usually of a quadran- gular form. They are, however, sometimes semicircular-headed, and still oftener present the triangular or straight-sided arch. I should further add, that in the construction of these apertures very frequent examples occur of that kind of masonry, consisting of long and short stones alternately, now generally considered by antiquaries as a characteristic of Saxon architecture in England.
The preceding description will, I trust, be sufficient to satisfy the reader that the Round Towers Avere not ill-adapted to the double purpose of belfries and castles, for which I have to prove they were chiefly designed ; and keeping this double purpose in view, it will, I think, satisfactorily account for those peculiarities in their struc- ture, which wovdd be unnecessary if they had been constructed for either purpose alone. For example, if they had been erected to serve the purpose of belfries only, there would be no necessity for making their doorways so small, or placing them at so great a dis- tance from the ground ; while, on the other hand, if they had been intended solely for ecclesiastical castles, they need not have been of such slender proportions and great altitude. I shall now proceed to a consideration of the evidences which have forced this conviction upon my own mind. And first, with respect to their original use as belfries.
1. It is most certain that the Irish ecclesiastics had, from a very early period, in connexion with their cathedral and abbey churches.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 363
campan)lia,ov detached belfries, called in the Irish annals, and other ancient authorities, by the term cloijferfc.
2. It is equally certain that, in all parts ol' Ireland where the Irish language is yet retained, these Towers are designated by the same term, except in a few districts, where they are called by the synonj-- nious term clogn]-, or by the term cuilsreac, — Avhich, as I have already shown, is only a corrupted form of cloigreac, by a transpo- sition of letters very usual in modern Irish words.
3. It is also certain that no other building, either rovmd or square, suited to the purpose of a belfry, has ever been found in connexion with any church of an age anterior to the twelfth century, with the single exception of the square belfry attached to a cluu-cli on Inis Clothrann, or Clorin, — an island in Lough Eee, — and which seems to be of earlier date.
4. And lastly. It is further certain that this use is assigned to them by the uniform tradition of the whole people of Ireland ; and that they are appropriated to this use, in many parts of the country, even to this day.
To facts so demonstrative of this primary purpose of the Towers, it is not easy to imagine an objection of sufficient weight to invalidate them, nor have any been advanced. It has, indeed, been urged by several, that their internal diameter at top is too small " for a bell of moderate size to oscillate in ;" and by Dr. O'Conor, and others after him, that the ancient Irish belfries must have been of wood, because the annalists state that, like the churches, they were frequently burned by the Northmen. Of these objections, however, the first is refuted by the fact that bells of larger size than any Avhich the ancient Irish ever possessed, are hung in many of the Towers at the present day ; and the nullity of the second objection has been already fully de- monstrated at p. G4.
I may, moreover, add here, — and particidarly as the passage to which I am about to refer, had escaped my memory when I was noticing Dr. O'Conor's arguments in the First Part of this Inquiry, — that Dr. O'Conor, as far as this point is concerned, has refuted his own arguments, and, indeed, acknowledged the appropriation of the Towers, at a very early period, to the uses which I assign to them, as their original ones. This will fully appear by a comparison of the opinions stated in the following passage, which appears as a note in
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364 INQUIKY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
liis Annals of Tighernach, p. 89, -with the opinions already quoted from his Prolegomena, p. 49 ; the former published in 1826, and the latter in 1814, and which will show that within this period Dr. O'Conor's opinions must have undergone a very material change.
" IIsBC a quodam vetere Hibernense scripta fuere, qui Turres Ecclesiasticos Hiberuorum, eorumque intentum, acusum noverat, atqueab Anachoretis, Orieutalium more viventibus, et campanas, aliasque res Sacras, Libros et Thesauros custodientibus, liabitabantur ; iitpote a petra oonstructi ab imo ad summum, quia Ecclesiae, aliaque a^dificia Hibernica, cum e ligno constructa essent, facillime et frequentissime combure- bantur. Ante Campanilium usum invectum, constructi fuere turres isti, refercnte Gratiauo Lucio, pag. 133. Postea tameu usus iuolevit, ut campanis in eorum culmine appensis, campanilium vices gererent."
But, if there be any who may still doubt that the Irish cloictlieaclis were stone structures, and distinct buildings from the churches, they must be convinced of the fact by the following very curious pas- sage, which occurs in a vellum manuscript in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 3, 17, p. 653. This passage is, unfortunately, but a fragment of a Commentary on a Brehon Law, relative to the payment of artificers for the erection of the three chief buildings, which are usually found grouped together in ecclesiastical establish- ments, namely, the duirflieacli, daimhUag, and cloictheach, and hence it should be premised that, as well from the Avant of the original law, which it was intended to elucidate, as from the technical character of the rules laid down, it is by no means easy to arrive at a clear understanding of its entire meaning. But this is a matter of little consequence to the present inquiry, as the passage will clearly show, what is essential to my purpose, that the belfry was a distinct building, constructed of stone ; and that there was a law regulating not only the price of its construction, but determining its height, as proportioned to the daimhliag, or stone church :
" mapa Duprac .u. qioijiD n-oec, no ip lu^a map, .i. cuic cpaijio .,r. in a par, 7 .;c. cpaijiD in a tecec, ip pamaipc np cac cpciijeo cnppna oe, no cip cac cpciij^eo CO lee ap puc ; cona ruije aine pin; 7 mapa rpume plinneo, ip bo ap cac cpoijeo ccippna oe, no ap cac rpoijeo gu ler ap puc. TTlapa mo e ma .u. cpoijiD .;t. ya- mnipc ap oa cpian cpoijiD rappna oe, no ap cpoijeo ap uc: co na cujji ame pm. ITlapa ruije plmneo, bo a\\ do cpian cpoijio cappna oe, no ap cpoijeo ap uc.
"to^ na n-Dupcac do pep dIijid pm; ocup a cpian do elaoam, 7 cpian ooaobup, 7 a cpian do aobup, 7 a cpian do biuo, 7 do ppircnam, 7 do jobnib ; 7 po'n comae pe pecap a lep gabeino aichpejrap pm ooib, 7 lee m cpin do ^oibnib cinaenup, .i. pepeo ; in .ui. aili a poino ap do icep biao 7 ppirjnam, aili ^t. ceccap
OF TUE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 365
oe ; 7 oa paib peann na fiecap a lep ^obano, ippoino ap oo onn|MDe irep bicio 7 ppichjnam. Illupa ^iiiiiipniD aj a pecup u Icp cip 7 ac na pecap jobciiio, cpiaii o'elaocmn, 7 cpiun do cip, 7 cpmii o'aobiip, 7 do biUD, 7 do ppirjnutn; a ler pioe o'aobup ciimeiuip, .iii. ; in .111. cnli do biuo 7 do ppirhjjnnm, .1. aili .y. do ceccup oe.
" In DUnilii-i;^ : nia]'a cuje plinneo puil cup, coniloj e 7 in oupcac ip cucpumti pip. Illupii riiijji; ciine pil aip, in c-uinni puiniie jubiip in cloc in ci cpunn, jjiipub e in c-ainni pcimne pm do lan-lo^ bep puip ; 7 in c-ainm painne jobiip in cpnnn m a cloic ^^iipiib e m c-oinm puinne pin do ler-lo^^ bep paip, 7 ip e pomn pucliup up na annitinncub pciiiine )'in m poinii ceic ojj uri oupchnc.
" In cloiccech: 11 iclirup pioe do coimip, a comup pioe pe h-iccup in Daimliaj pe n-u ciicpumuDc, 7 m iniupcpaio ti ca up a yaz, 7 ap a lereo in DUiniluij o pin imach o chocorhup in cloccije imac, ipa piujuil ] loe pe aipoe in clocnje; 7 oa paib imapcpaiD aip, .1. ap uipoe in cloccije pip in oaimliajj, ip comop loj pip, in cuc- puniu loijioecca pin do rabaipc ap in cloccech."
" It" it be a duirtkeach of fifteen feet, or less than that, that is, fifteen feet in its length, and ten feet in its breadth, a heifer for every foot of it in breadth, or for every foot and a half in length ; this is when the roof is of rushes : but if the roof be of slinn'^ [shingles], it is a cow for every foot of it in breadth, or for every foot and a half in length. If it be more than fifteen feet, a heifer for [every] two-thirds of a foot of it in breadth, or for [every] foot in length ; this is when the roof is of rushes : if the roofbc of shingles, a cow for [every] two-thirds of afoot of it in breadth, or for [every] foot in length.
" That is the price of the duirtlieacks according to law ; and a third of it for trade [i. e. for the builder], and a third for materials, and a third for diet, and for atten- dance, and for smiths ; and it is according to the right of the smiths when they are required, that [third] is apportioned between them ; and half the third to the smiths alone, that is, a sixth ; the other sixth to be divided into two parts between diet and attendance, one-twelfth to each of them ; and if it be an apportionment /or a work in which the smith is not required, to divide it [tlic third] into two parts between diet and attendance. If it be a work for wdiich land is required [i. e. the site of which must be purchased], and for which a smith is not recjuircd, a third for trade, and a third for land, and a third for materials, and for food, and for attendance ; the half of that [last third] for materials alone, [that is] a sixth ; the other sixth for diet and for attendance, that is a twelfth for each of thein.
" The daimkliag: if its covering be of shingles, it is of equal price with the duir- theach, which is proportioned to it. If its covering be of rushes, the proportion which stone [work] bears to wood [work] is the proportion of fidl price that shall be for it ; and the proportion wliich wood [work] beai's to stone [work] is the proportion of half price that shall be for it ; and these proportions will be distributed according to the ride applied to the duirtheack.
" The doictheach : its base to be measured ; that [again] to be measured with the base of the daimhliag for [determining] its proportions ; and the excess of the length and breadth of the daimkliag over it [i. e.] over the measurement of the cloictlieacli,
Slinn is now used to denote slates, but the word is rendered shingles by Ma- geoghegan. The use of slates for roofing seems to be of no great antiquity in Ireland.
366
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
that is the rule for the height of the doictheach ; and if there should be an excess, i. e. in the height of the doictheach compared with the daimhUag, which is of equal price with it, a proportionate excess of price is to be paid for the doictheach."
DifTicult of explanation as the preceding passage is, we may at least safely infer from it that the doictheach, or belfry, was a distinct building, constructed of similar materials with the daimh/iag, and having its height and the expense of its erection determined by a certain rule bearing on its usual proportion to that of its accompany- ing church. When this proportion was observed, the expense of buildins each was the same ; and when the height of the Tower exceeded that specified, its expense was increased accordingly.
It is not, of course, necessary to my purpose, to attempt an ex- planation of tlie rule for determining the height of the belfry; yet, as a matter of interest to the reader, I am tempted to hazard a conjec- ture as to the mode in which it should be understood. It appears, then, to me, that by the measurement of the base of the Tower, must be meant its external circimiference, not its diameter ; and, in like manner, the measm-ement of the base of the (luimhlhio- must be its perimeter, or the external measurement of its foui* sides. If, then, we understand these terms in this manner, and apply the ride as di- rected, the result wdl very well agree with the measurements of the existing ancient chiu'ches and towers. For example, the cathedral church at Glendalough, as it appears to have been originally con- structed,— ^for the present chancel seems an addition of later time, — was fifty-five feet in length and thirty-seven feet in breadth, giving a perimeter of 184 feet. If from this we subtract the circumference of the Tower, at the base, or foundation, which is fifty-two feet, we shall have a remainder of 132 feet, as the prescribed height for the latter. And such, we may well believe, was about the original height of this structiu-e ; for, to its present height of 110 feet, should be added from fifteen to eighteen feet for its conical roof now wanting, and perhaps a few feet at its base, which are concealed by the accumulation of earth around it. In cases of churches having a chancel as well as nave, the rule, thus imderstood, seems equally apphcable ; for example, the church of Iniscaltra gives a perimeter of 162 feet, fi'om which de- ducting forty-six feet, the circumference of the Tower, we have 116 feet as the prescribed height of the latter ; which cannot be far from the actual original height of the Tower ; for, to its present height of
Air
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'-1 we may at
'■^- a distinct ""''''i"f, and ■'■■■^•(Ibya ''-''iccoffipanj. ^ii« expense o( tie Tower -roinijly,
'"tiaptanex- ■•W&}-;yet,as ^ a conjee- "'■ It appears, ■:( Toiver, must ■': and, in lite 'cniiisiteits I", llieD,ffe tie rule as di- iKinentsottlie ilie catkdial orijinalj con- )f liter time,- ^■aJtli, giving a
lilifigkoflliis i be added from i.andperliapsa
t example, tlie from ifhicli de- er, we have 118
Motbefailw" ■ 'wijlit of
OF THE ROUND TOWKRS OF IRELAND.
367
eighty feet must be added ten or twelve feet for the upper story, wliich is now wanting, fifteen feet for its conical roof, and a few i'cet lor a portion concealed at its base.
Additional evidences on this primary purpose of the Round Towers would, I think, be superlluous; and I shall therefore proceed, without fuither delay, to a consideration of the evidences which have led me to conclude that these buildings were designed to combine with their primary object of belfries the secondary, though not less original one, of ecclesiastical keeps. Previously, however, to entering on these evidences, I should premise that they are by no means of so direct a character as those adduced in support of my first conclusion. But though only inferential, they will, I trust, be found scarcely less weighty. 1. That the Hound Towers were designed, in part, for ecclesias- tical castles, as well as belfries, must, as I think, necessarily be in- ferred from some of the peculiarities fovmd almost universally in their construction, and particularly in their small doorways placed at so great a height from the ground. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that this obvious mode of seeming safety is a common one in ancient castles ; but I should observe, that the most ancient military towers subsequent to Roman times, found in the British Isles, and which are built with stone and lime cement, ai'e invariably of this round and lofty character, having their doorways small, and considerably elevated from the ground, and their lloors composed of wood. Such were the cas- tles of Launceston, in Cornwall; of Brunless, in Brecknockshire; of
Dolbaddern, in Carnarvonshire, &c. And even the Saxon, or Noi'man, castle of Conisboroush, in York- shire, preserves, in some degree, the same peculiarities.
As an instance of this remarkable agreement of the British castles with the Irish Round Towers, I annex an outline of the castle of Brunless, in its present state, taken fj-om King's Munimenfa Antiqua, vol. iii. p. 32, a work in which much curious in- formation will be found relative to the ancient British castles. If we restore the outUne of this castle to its probable original height, it
866 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
that is tlie r\ilc tor tin.' lu'ight of tlie cloictheach ; and if there should be an excess, i. e. in the heiglit of the cloictheach compared witli the daimhliag, which is of equal price with it, a proportionate excess of price is to be paid for the cloictheach.''''
Difficult of explanation as the preceding passage is, we may at least safely infer from it that the c/oicf/ieacli, or belfry, was a distinct building, constructed of similar materials with the daimhliag, and having its height and the expense of its erection determined by a certain rule bearing on its usual proportion to that of its accompany- ing church. When this proportion was observed, the expense of building each was the same ; and when the height of the Tower exceeded that specified, its expense was increased accordingly.
It is not, of course, necessary to my purpose, to attempt an ex- planation of the rule for determining the height of the belfry ; yet, as a matter of intei'est to the reader, I am tempted to hazard a conjec- ture as to the mode in which it should be understood. It appears, then, to me, that by the measurement of the base of the Tower, must be meant its external circimiference, not its diameter ; and, in like manner, the measurement of the base of the daitn/iliag must be its perimeter, or the external measiu-ement of its foiu- sides. If, then, we understand these terms in this manner, and apply the rule as di- rected, the result will very well agree with the measurements of the existing ancient churches and towers. For example, the cathedral church at Glendalough, as it appears to have been oiiginally con- structed,— for the present chancel seems an addition of later time, — was fifty-five feet in length and thirty-seven feet in breadth, giving a perimeter of 184 feet. If from this we subtract the circumference of the Tower, at the base, or foundation, which is fifty-two feet, we shall have a remainder of 132 feet, as the prescribed height for the latter. And such, we may well believe, was about the original height of this structure ; for, to its present height of 110 feet, should be added from fifteen to eighteen feet for its conical roof, now wanting, and perhaps a few feet at its base, which are concealed by the accumulation of earth around it. In cases of churches having a chancel as well as nave, the rule, thus understood, seems equally applicable ; for example, the church of Iniscaltra gives a perimeter of 162 feet, from which de- ducting forty-six feet, the circumference of the Tower, we have 116 feet as the prescribed height of the latter ; which cannot be far from the actual original height of the Tower ; for, to its present height of
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
3G7
(.'ighty feet must be added ten or twelve feet for the upper story, which is now wanting, fifteen feet for its conical roof, and a few feet for a portion concealed at its base.
Additional evidences on this primary purpose of the Round Towers would, I think, be superfluous ; and I shall therefore proceed, without fiu'ther delay, to a consideration of the evidences which have led me to conclude that these buildings were designed to combine with tlieir primary object of belfries the secondary, though not less original one, of ecclesiastical keeps. Previously, however, to entering on these evidences, I should premise that they are by no means of so du'ect a character as those adduced in support of my first conclusion. But though only inferential, they will, I trust, be found scarcely less weighty. 1. That the Round Towers were designed, in part, for ecclesias- tical castles, as well as belfries, must, as I think, necessarily be in- ferred from some of the peculiarities found almost universally in their construction, and particularly in their small doorways placed at so great a height from the ground. It is scarcely necessary to remark, that this obvious mode of securing safety is a common one in ancient castles ; but I should observe, that the most ancient military towers subsequent to Roman times, found in the British Isles, and which are built with stone and lime cement, are invariably of this round and lofty character, having their doorways small, and considerably elevated from the ground, and their floors composed of wood. Such were the cas- tles of Launceston, in Cornwall; of Brunless, in Brecknockshire; of
Dolbaddern, in Carnarvonshire, &c. And even the Saxon, or Norman, castle of Conisborough, in York- shke, preserves, in some degi-ee, the same peculiarities.
As an instance of this remarkable agreement of the British castles with the Irish Round Towers, I annex an outline of the castle of Brunless, in its present state, taken from King's Munimenfa Antiqjia, vol. iii. p. 32, a work in which much curious in- formation will be found relative to the ancient British castles. U we restore the outUnc of this castle to its probable original lieight, it
.;.Ti=£SSfe^?i4^fc-.=-
368
INQUIRY INTO THE OEIGIN AND USES
will be found to be almost identical, in most of its features, with several of our Irish Towers, as shown in the annexed outlines of the existing Hoimd Tower of Clondalkin, and of the Tower ofRosscar- bery, copied from an ancient seal of the diocese, as piiblishcd in Harris's Ware.
Mr. King is of opinion that this tower, or castle, as well as others of the same description, was erected by the Silvu"es, or Dam- nonii, diu'ing the occupation of the island by the Romans; and that its form was derived from the Phoenician or Carthaginian traders : but as the origin of the form of om^ Irish Roimd Towers shall be hiquked into at some length in the concluding section of the Third Part of this work, I will not occupy the reader's time with any remarks on it in this place. I deem it important, however, to state that Mr. King had no doubt that these British castles were designed for treasiu'ies and places of refuge ; and that, though their inside, or timber work, might be " bm'nt and refitted over and over again," they could, in no other way, be injured by fire.
2. This secondary piu-pose may be still fiu-ther inferred from the fact, that many of the remaining doorways of the Towers exhibit abundant evidences of their having been provided with double doors; and I may remark that this was in itself sufficient to satisfy the mind of the most accomplished and scientific architect tliis comitry has given birth to, the late Mr. Wilham Morrison, that this was one of the purposes for which the Towers were designed. Having directed his attention to an examination of some of the Towers, — with a view not only that I might have the advantage of his judgment as to their
OF THE KOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
369
construction, but also with the hope of satisfying him that my opinion^;, as to theu- uses, had not been erroneous, as my himcnted friend hsid previously believed, — I was favoiu'ed with the valuable opinion result- ing from such examination, — " that the means resorted to for the pui-- pose of preventing forcible entry, namely, by means of double doors, fully establish their design for places of safety and defence." The opinion which I have now quoted occiu's in a letter addi'essed to me from Roscrea, in 1832. On his retvu-n to Walcott, his residence, near Bray, shortly after, my friend favoiu-ed me with a letter, containing a sketch, from the interior, of the doorway of the Tower of Roscrea, as
-U-'
it now exists, and another, with a section, of the same doorway re- stored, for the piu'pose of exhibiting the manner in which this door- way had been provided with double doors. Of these interestuig sketches it affords me great pleasiu-e to lay copies before my readers, as well as the explana- tions which accompanied them.
In the first the letter a exhibits a semicircular groove, being the remains of a stone socket-hole, since chiselled off, but leaving the section of the original circular hole. -^ — , In the second, — a restored view, — the same letter
'.__ exliibits a projecting stone socket to receive the upper ii'on of the door. Pivot hole.
Projecting stones, to receive iron bolts.
3 B
c.
370 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
d. Aperture in a stone at either side of the doorway, to receive a moveable door, placed in time of siege.
e. Bolt hole.
/'. Rabbet, or stop, to receive the door, and prevent it from being pulled out.
The letter which accompanied these sketches is in itself so curious and characteristic of the inquiring mind of its author, that I feel re- luctant in abridging it, and shall therefore present it to the reader in its original integrity.
" My dear Petrie,
" I am really ashamed at not having ere now sent you the sketches ; but, in truth, I have been so tormented at once with busuiess and ill health, that it was out of my power to do so ; you now have them in a sort of way, which your know- ledge of the subject and ingenuity will, I trust, enable you to unravel. I have made you two views of the doorway, as it is ; and a restoration, showing what I conceive to have been its original state. The value of this specimen, as it strikes me, is the proof it affords, first, that the Towers have been, at a certain and very remote period, employed as places of defence, or safety, which is fully established by the means here resorted to, to prevent forcible entry ; and secondly, and most important, that at a subsequent period those defences have been designedly removed, owing either to the increased security of the country, or the increased veneration shown to its religion : it •may be that its members were desirous of thus evincing their confidence and security ; or it might be, that a successful spoliator thus deprived the possessors of the means of future defence against renewed attack. But be that as it may, it affords, I she mid think, a satisfactory refutation of the argument founded on the occasional absence of such defences : having, from whatever cause, been here carefully removed, it is fair to infer that like motives have induced a similar removal elsewhere, thus accounting for [their] occasional absence.
" Believe me, dear Petrie,
" Your's very faithfully,
" William Morrison. " Walcott, Thursday, 19 \July\ 1832.
" p. S. At Rattoo, as I remember, the bolt-holes for fastening the exterior, and
removeable door exist, whilst there does not remain any apparent means of hanging, or securing, the interior door ; further, I believe, the inner jambs are not chiselled to receive a door ; it must, however, be presumed, that where the exterior door, placed necessarily in an innermost position, was deemed indispensable, that the interior one, which could occasion no inconvenience, and have effectually answered any purpose of a door, would not be omitted ; if you conceive it hung within the interior face of the wall from projecting sockets of stones, subsequently removed, the difficulty is got over. It may be urged that the Towers are unprovided with offensive means of defence ; but to employ such means might have been held inconsistent with the religious cha- racter of their possessors, — or such a garrison might have been unwUling to excite increased irritation in its assailants ; or, which is most likely, a sufficient means of
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
371
offence was thouglit to be afforded by the upper windows, as tlie door alone could bo
pregnable, and a stone ftilling seventy feet would be no soothing application to n Dane's back."
Amongst the letters of my friend I find anotlier, wliicli I consider worthy of publication, not only as affording another example of the custom of double doors in the Towers, but also as giving his valuable opinion on the fact that the Tower and its accompanying church are cotemporaneous structures. The buildings described in this letter are, the church and Kound Tower of Dysart, in the County of Limerick.
" Newcastle, Wednesday, 29 \_May, 1832]. " My dear Petrie,
" I hope you will consider the promptness with which I have attended to your commission, as some proof of the satisfaction it affords me to contribute, in any manner within my power, to your wishes. On reaching Limerick yesterday I immediately set out for Dysart, as my first object, whence it is distant twelve miles, of which I found it necessary to walk the last four across the country. The accom- panying sketches will, I believe, afford you all the information which you can require. The construction of the Tower at Dysart is quite similar to that at Eattoo, only differ- ing in the quality of the material, which is somewhat more massive ; it bears a strong resemblance to the Etruscan masonry of Italy, a mode of building likewise adopted in some of the early Greek churches, of which you have a good representation in one of the plates of the 'Unedited Antiquities of Attica.' The adjacent church is, manifestly, coeval with the Tower, the mode of building and the forms perfectly corresponding. The coverings of its opes are gone, but from what remains there can be no doubt of their having been finished as those of the Tower, the entrance being semi-circularly arched, and the windows either arched or covered with horizontal lintels of long stone. " You observe that the Tower is divided into stories, as at Rattoo, but with this difference, that here there is a window to each story, and that the intermediate corbelle stones are omitted. " The door of entrance bears you out in your opinion, and establishes the fact of the Tower having been employed occa- sionally as a place of defence. There are, you observe, bolt-holes for double doors (a, a, a, with corresponding ones opposite), the one exterior of the other, but there is not any apparent means for the hanging of the door itself ; the form of the ope, however, would supply this seeming deficiency ; narrowing to the exterior a timber frame might have been inserted, and wedged to the inside, to which the door might have been hung, with leather hinges. The narrowing of the ope would itself prevent the frame being drawn out ; and the bolts and wedges insured its not being driven in.
" There is no appearance of more than the one church in the immediate vicinity ; about half a mile off there is another, but it is of a much later period, — pointed opes, splayed reveals, iSrc.
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OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
373
Kip j'li) rpa DO pigne h-muijin 7 Oeilb n-tiluiiiD n-mjuncuig cliupparc ceclieppiucu r\a 5pene ano." — Fol. 108, a, a.
" Great, iudced, -was the pride, vanity, and pomp of tills sensual king [Castroc, king of the Medcs and Persians], for it is he who jn'rlornied an aet of pride, [siieli as] was never accomplished before, i. e. he erected for himself a tower of bright silver ; and great was the size, and breadth, and height of that tower, which was higher than all the other houses of the town, being a bright lofty doictlieach. Brilliant gems and precious stones were afterwards placed in it : and the king made for himself a golden throne on the top of that tower. After that he made an image, and beautiful, wouderi'ul representation of the four-wheeled chariot of the sun there."
Aiid lastly, tliat these double purposes, for -wliich I contend that the Towers were erected, Avere recognized by the Irish to a very late period, may be inferred from a passage in the ancient Registry of Clonraacuoise, as translated from the original Irish for Sir James Ware, by the celebrated antiquary, Duald Mac Firbis, and which is now preserved in the British Musevmi. In this Registry the great Round Tower of Clonmacnoise, popularly called O'Rourke's Tower, which, according to this authority, was erected by Tergal O'Rourke, is called " a small steep castle or steeple^ commonly called in Irish claicthoughr The entire of the passage will be found, in connexion with the description of this Tower, in the Third Part of this work.
4. It may be clearly inferred, from several records in the Irish annals, that the Towers w^ere used for the purpose of safety and de- fence. One of the most important of these records, as given by the Fom- Masters, has been already quoted in the examination of Dr. O'Conor's theories, in the First Part of this work; but I feel it ne- cessary to repeat it here from the various aimals, as signally support- ing the hjqwthesis under consideration. The passage I allude to is as follows :
" A. D. 9-19. Cloicceuch Slame bo lopcab do ^allcnb Qra cliacb : bacall mo eplariia 7 doc ba oec do clocaib ; Caenechaip pepleijinn, 7 pochuibe iinbe, DO lopcuD." — Annals of Ulster.
Thus rendered in the old translation of these annals in the British Museum :
" A. D. 949. The steple of Slane burnt by y» Gent [Gentiles] of Dublin ; and burnt y' Saints Crostaff anda ston" [correctly Se//] "most pHious of stones" [correctly bells'] ; " Cinaoh and a great number about him burnt, being the Lector."
This event is thus recorded in the Clironicon Scotorum., which is a condensed copy of the Book of Clonmacnoise, corrected, in its chronology, from the Annals of Tighernach :
372 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" You shall hear from nio again frnni Carlow, if I can obtain tlie information you
require there.
" Your's ever,
" William Morrison."
I have annexed a copy of Ms sketch of the section of this door- Avay, as a necessary illustration of the description in the preceding letter ; and sketches of the details of the Tower will be found in the Third Part of this work.
To this portion of my evidences I do not feel it necessary to add another word.
3. An examination of oiu' ancient literatui-e leads strongly to the conclusion that the Irish people so generally recognized this use of the Round Towers as a primary one, that they but very rarely applied to a tower, erected for defence, any other term but that oicloicfheac/i, or belfry. Thus, for example, in an Irish translation of an old Life of Charlemagne, preserved in the Book of Lismore, we find the term cloictlieach thus applied :
" X)o Bi lapla na Cauoaine u n-impepecc an impep po, 7 do puachai^ in r- impep lie ap a ber oipeaii qiocuipeac, 7 do cuip m c-impep mopan ecla ann ap a peabup; inntip jup reic in c-iapla 7 a ben a njlenncaib pupaij 7 acoiUcib oiampa, 7 DO ponjxic cloicceac ooib pern a n-a coioeloaip ap ecla il-piapc in papai^. Oo chuaiD in c-impep Dimam po do oenaiii piaoaija papai^ pern, 7 copla chum cloicri^ an lapla po h-e ip in n-ol^ri, 7 do b' eicin do comnuiji do oenum ann in oijci pi. (Do bi ben in lapla coppac, 7, ^16 do bi, do pinoi umla 7 ppirolurii an impepi 7 a muinncepi in 015CI pin." — Fol. 119, h, a.
" The Earl of Laudaine \_Lauden ? ] lived in the empire of this emperor, and the emperor hated him on account of his being upright [and] mercifid, and the emperor was much afraid of him for his goodness ; so that the earl and his wife fled into desert vaUeys and into solitary woods, and made for themselves a cloictheach, in which they slept, through fear of the many monsters of the forest. This vain emperor set out to hunt in his own forest, and happened [to arrive] at the cloictheach of this earl in the night ; and he was obliged to tarry there for the night. The wife of the earl was pregnant, and, although she was, she did homage to and attended ujjon the emperor and his people [on] that night."
In the following example from an ancient tract in the Leabhar Breac,yfe find the word cloictheach apphed synonymously with co|i, to a tower.
"6a mop, cpa, Diumup 7 aoclop 7 bocapach in pij cholaij pin, uaip ip e Dop
^ni in Diumup na Depnao pemi piam, .1. cop aipjic oen-jil do oenam do pein ; 7 ba
oepmaip mec 7 lechac 7 aipoe in cuip pin, 7 ba h-aipoe h-e inoac cije in baile o
ein imach, 1 n-a cloicrech jel-apo. Mo puiDijeD lapum jemma jloinioe 7 leaju
lojmapa ano : 7 do pijne in pi puiDiujao opoa do buoein immuUach in cuip pm.
OF THE KOUXn TOWKliS OF IliELAND. 373
lup ym rpa do pi^ne h-imajin 7 oeilb ii-nUiiiiD n-injtincaij clitippaic cecheppiucn nn jpene aiiD." — Fol. 108, a, a.
" Great, indeed, was the pride, vanity, and pdnip of this sensnal king [Castroc, king of the Sledcs and Persians], for it is lie who performed an act of pride, [such as] was never accomplished before, i. e. he erected for liimselfa tower of bright silver ; and great was the size, and breadth, and height of that tower, whieli was higher than all the other houses of the town, being a bright lofty cloictheacli. Brilliant gems and precious stones were afterwards jJaced in it : and the king made for himself a golden throne on the top of that tower. After that he made an image, and beautiful, wonderliil representation of the four-wheeled chariot of the sun there."
And lastly, tliat these double purposes, for wliich I contend that the Towers were erected, were recognized by the Irish to a very late period, may be inferred from a passage in the ancient Registry of Clonmacnoise, as translated from the original Irish for Sir James Ware, by the celebrated antiquary, Duald ]\Iac Firl^s, and which is now preserved in the British IMuseum. In this Registry the great Round Tower of Clonmacnoise, popularly called O'Rourke's Tower, which, according to this authority, was erected by Fergal O'Rourke, is called " a small steep castle or steeple, commonly called in Irish claicthoiKjhr The entire of the passage will be found, in connexion with the description of this Tower, in the Third Part of this work.
4. It may be clearly inferred, from several records in the Irish annals, that the Towers were used for the purpose of safety and de- fence. One of the most important of these records, as given by the Foiu' Masters, has been already quoted in the examination of Dr. O'Couor's theories, in the First Part of this work ; but I feel it ne- cessary to repeat it here from the various annals, as signally support- ing the h}q)othesis under consideration. The passage I allude to is as follows :
" A. D. 949. Cloicceach Slaine bo lopcao oo ^alkuB Qra clinch : bucciU ino eplarria 7 cloc ha Dec do clocaib ; Caenechaip pepleijmn, 7 jochuibe imbe, Do lopcao." — Annals of Ulster.
Thus rendered in the old translation of these annals in the British Museum :
" A. D. 949. The steple of Slane burnt by y'' Gent [GentUes] of Dublin ; and burnt y« Saints Crostaff and a ston" [correctly Sefi] "most p''tious of stones" [correctly bells'] ; " Cinaoh and a great number about him burnt, being the Lector."
This event is thus recorded in the Chronicon Scotoriim, which is a condensed copy of the Book of Clonmacnoise, corrected, in its chronology, from the Annals of Tighernach :
374 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
"A. D. 950. Cloi^reac Sluine do lofjao do jeTicib co n-a lun oo ooiniB ann, ,1. im Conecap peplejinii Slciine."
" A. D. 950. The cloigtheach of Slane was burnt by tlie Pagans, with its full of people in it, i. e. with Conecar, the reader of Slane."
Thus rcudercd by ]\Iageogliegan in liis translation of tlie original
Aunals of Clonmacuoise, under the year 945 :
" A. D. 945. The steeple of Slane was burnt by the Danes, which was full of worthy men, and relicks of saints, with Kennyagher, Lector of Slane."
The same passage is thus given more fully in the Annals of the Foiu" Masters, into which it was evidently transcribed from the ori- "inal Annals of Clonmacuoise.
o
"A. D. 948. CloicchecSldine do lopccao do ^halluib, co n-n lun do Tiiionncnb ajup Dejoaomib, im Chaoinechaip peap lei^inn Slaine, ajup bacall an eplariia, a^up clocc ha oeach do cloccaiB."
" A. D. 948. The cloictheach of Slane was burnt by the Danes, with its fuU of reliques and good people, with Caoinechair, Reader of Slane, and the crozier of the patron saint, and a bell, the best of bells."
The preceding passages relate to a Tower which no longer exists. Those which follow relate to Towers still remaining. The first relates to the Tower of Kells, and is given as follows in the Annals of Tighernach :
" A. D. 1076. niupcoD uci piainD h-L1i maelpechlaino do mupbaoUi h-Qmlaim, mac niaelan, |ii ^ailenj, i cloicceach CenanDpa a mebuil, 7 a mupboD pen po ceDoip cpe pipe Coluim CiUe, la maelpecblainD, mac Concobaip."
"A. D. 1076. Murchad, grandson of Flann O'Maelsechlainn, was treacherously killed by AmlafT, son of Maelan, king of GaUeng, in the cloictheach of Kells, who was himself slain immediately after, through the miracle of Columbkille, by Maelsechlainn, the son of Conchobhar."
The same event is thus recorded in the Annals of Ulster :
" A. D. 1076. rriupchaD, mac plainD, h-Ui maelpecblainD, pi HeThpach ppi pe cpi n-oiDce, DO mapBaD 1 cloiccich Cheanannpa do mac niaelan, pi ^ailenj."
Thus rendered in the old translation of these Annals in the British Museiun :
" A. D. 1076. Murch. m^ Floin O Melachlin, king of Tarach, being 3 nights in the steeple of KeUs, was kQled by Maolan's Sonne, king of Galleng."
The same event is also entered by the Four Masters evidently from the Book of Clonmacuoise :
"A. D. 1076. mupcbao mac pioinn, Ui ITlaoileacMninn, do TTiapBao, i r-ceno ceopa n-oiDce co n-a laiB lap n-jabail poplarhaip Uerhpac, 1 g-cloicreach Cenannpa, cpe peill, la cisejina ^^ilenj, .1. la h-QrhlaoiB, mac mic tTlaolain ; ajup a mapBao
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 375
pioe pein po chfooiii, cpia pepcuiB De n;^up Colciim CiUe, Ui ITldolpencliluinn, niuc Concobuip."
Thus rendered by Mageogliegan, in his translation of the original Annals of Clonniacnoise :
" A. D. 107G. Murrogh Mac Fljn O'Melaughlyn, tliat reigned king of Meath but three days and tliree niglits, was killed by Auiley Mac Moylan, prince of Gaileng, in tke borders of Leinster. He was killed in the steeple of Kells ; and afterwards the said Amley was killed immediately by Melaughlyn Mac Connor O'MclaughljTi, by the miracles of St. Coliuub, who is Patron of the place."
The notice which I have next to adduce relates to the burning uf the Hound Tower of Monasterboice, in the Comity of Louth. It is thus given in the Chronicon Scotorum:
"A. D. 1097- Cloijrech ITlcimipcpech oo lopcao jup an pcpipcpa ann."
" A. D. 1097. The c/oicMrac/i' of Mainistir was burnt, with the manuscripts there."
It is thus better given in the Annals of Ulster :
" A. D. 1097. Cloiccech mumipcpech co n-a leBpailJ, 7 raipceouib imbaiB 00 lopcao."
Thus correctly translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 1097. Campanile Monasterii (Butensis), cum suis libris et rebus pretiosis pluribus, combustum."
And thus in the old translation in the British Museum :
" A. D. 1097- The steeple ofManistrech, with the books and much goods, thereat to be kept, burnt."
The event is thus similarly entered in the Annals of the Fom- Masters :
" A. D. 1097. Cloicdieach maimpcpeach, ' .1. maimpqieach 6uice,' co leaBpaiB ajup CO D-caipceocnB lomoaiB, do lopccao."
" A. D. 1097- The chictheach of the Monastery, ' i. e. of Monasterboice,' with many books and treasures, was burnt."
The passage I have next to adduce relates to the biu"ning of the doictheach of Trim, a Tower which does not now remain. It is found in the Dublm copy of the Annals of lunisfallen :
" A. D. 1127. Slua^ mop le ConcuBap mac PeapjaiU h-Ui <Locluinn, ocup 16 cuaipjeapc Gipionn bo'n TTlhiDe ; jup loipg piao Q Upum [Qc Cpuim, in margin], iDtp cloiccech ocup ceampuU, j;o n-a Ian 00 oaomiB umcu."
Thus rendered in the translation of these annals, preserved in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, which was made by Theophilus OTlannagan :
" A. D. 1127. A great hosting by Connor MacFarrell O'Loghlinn, together with
^
176
INQtriBT IXTO THE OBIGEf AXD USES
the northern people of Ireland, to Meath ; thej btimt the steeple and church of rim, and both full of people."
And thus bj the venerable Charles O'Conor, in his translatk of these annals, now preserved in the Libraiy of the Pboval Irish Acadeiy :
" A, D. 11 27. Conor, son of FesrgsJ CrLochltiin. marched at the head of a -eat Army of the forc« of the North of Ireland, into Meath : liey burnt the steeple nd church of Ath Truim, in ■which ■was a great ntimba' of people."'
And thtis in an old translation of certain Munster Annals.as quoted h\ Archdall in his Monasticon:
'• A- D. 1127. Conor, tlie son of Fearasl O'Lixilnin. and the northern for,;, burnt the Steeple and Church of the Abbey cd Tiim, both of -which were filled uh unfortiaiate people, who had fled thither i\s safety.''
Again, in the Annal-; of the Four Masters, the following passa; occurs, relative to the existing Round Tower of Ferta, in the coub' of Kilkeiuiv :
" A. D. 1156. GochaiD Ua Cumn, an r-opiy-iiKngipciep, do Iotxcqd i j-cloi chech na pepco."'
" A. D. 1156. Eoohaidh O'Cuinn, the Chief Master, -wms burnt in the ckictheac of Fertii."
The last notice, in reference to this subject, which I have to ad duce, relates to ihe Eoiuid Tower of Telach Ard, near Trim, which fell about the vearl764. It occiursin the Annals of the Four Masters :
'■ A. D. 1171- Cloicrheoch Celcha Qipo do lorcctro la Cijeotpnon UaRuaipc, CO n-a U'ln do D*.ioiniB cnin."
•• A. D. 1171. The OiwrtArticit of Telach Ard \ras burnt by Tiffheaman O'Euairc, with its full of people in it."
The viu'ious evidences which I have now adduced mu*t. I think, funtish a sufficient answer to the onlj objection which has been tugod agjiinst tlte use of the Koimd Towers as places of safety and dotouco, and salisly the most sceptical inquirer, that such was one of tlie piimary objects for which they were erected. Nor should it be forgotten that, even Avithout an acquaintance with svich historical evidoni'es, the very natiux- of their eonstiiicrion alone has led several distinguished inquiivrs to regiud such pm-pose as the primary and only one. Thus, Colonel Montnioivncv, iu his Historical and Critical Inqtiiry into the Origin and primitive Use of the Irish PUlai'-tower, remarks :
" Tlu' VilliU'-tower, as a defensive hold, taking into account the period that pro- dutHsd it, may fairly p>ss tlvr wie of the completest inventions that can ■well be imagined.
oiileQairwi;
"Itistecir
lilllKK
jwinl-
h:]
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
377
*l
Impregnable every way, and proof against fire, it could never be taken by ass^anlt. Although the abbey and its dependencies blazed around, the Tower disregarded the t'ury of the flames ; — its extreme height, — its isolated position, and diminutive doorway, elevated so many feet above the ground, placed it beyond the reach of the besieger. The signal once made, announcing the approach of a foe, by those who kept watch on the top, the alarm spread instantaneously, not only among the inmates of the cloister, but the inhabitants were rouseil to arms in the coiujtry many miles round. Should the barbarian, in the interval, before sxiccour arrived, succeed in ransacking the con- vent, and afterwards attempt to force his entrance into the Tower, a stone, droppeil iVom on high, woidd crush him to atoms." — pp. Go, 66.
Thus also the judicious Sir "Walter Scott, in liis Review of Kitson's Annals of the Caledonians, Picts and Scots, in tlio forty-first volume of the Quarterly Review, 1829 :
" It is here impossible to avoid remarking, that at Abernethy and at Brechin there are still in existence two of the roimd towers, of which so many occur in Ireland. Abernethy is said, by uniform tradition, to have been the capital of the Picts, and Brechin in the same district (now the county of Angus) was certainly a place of early importance. In Ireland there exist nearly thirty of these very peculiar buildings, which have been the very cntces aiitiquariorum. They could not have been beacons, tor they are often (at Abernethy in particular) placed in low and obscure situations, though there are sites adjacent well calculated for watch-towers. They could not be hermitages, unless we suppose that some caste of anchorites had improved on the idea cif Simon Stylites, and taken up their abode in the hollow of such a pillar as that of which the Syrian holy man was contented to occupy the top. They could hardly be belfries, for though always placed close or near to a church, there is no aperture at the top for suffering the sound of the bells to be heard. Minarets they might have been accounted, if we had authority for believing that the ancient Christians were sum- moned to prayers like the Mahometans by the voice of criers. It is, however, all but impossible to doubt that they were ecclesiastical buildings ; and the most distinct idea we are able to form of them is, from the circumstance that the inestimably singidar scene of Irish antiquities, called the Seven Churches in the County ofWicklow, includes one of those round towers, detached in the usual manner, and another erected on the liable end of the ruinous chapel of St. Kevin, as if some architect of genius had discoveretl the means of uniting the steeple and the church. These towers might, possibly, have been contrived for the temporary retreat of the priest, and the means of protecting the ' holy things' from desecration on the occasion of alarm, which in those uncertain times suddenly happened, and as suddenly passed away. These edifices at Brechin and Abernethy, however, were certainly constructed after the introduction of Christianity, and were, in all probability, built in imitation of the same roimd towers in Ireland, under the direction of the Irish monks who brought Christianity into Scotland. We may notice, however, that the masonry of these towers is excellent, and may be held, in some sort, to bear mtness to the popular tradition, that the Picts were skill'id in architecture." — pp. 147, H8.
And lastly, the able and learned Jului Pinkertou recognizes the
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876 INQUIRY IN^TO THE ORIGIN AND USES
the northern people of Ireland, to Meath ; they burnt the steeple and church of Trim, and both full of people."
And thus by tlie venerable Charles O'Conor, in his ti'anslation of these annals, now preserved in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy :
" A. D. 1 127. Conor, son of Feargal O'Lochluin, inarched at the head of a great Army of the forces of the North of Ireland, into Meath ; they burnt the steeple and church of Ath TruLm, in which was a great number of j)eople."
And tlius in an old translation of certain Munster Annals, as quoted by Archdall in his Monasticon :
" A. D. 1127. Conor, the son of Feargal O'Lochluin, and the northern forces, burnt the Steeple and Church of the Abbey of Trim, both of which were filled with unfortunate people, who had fled thither for safety."
Again, in the Annals of the Fom- Masters, the following passage occurs, relative to the existing Eoiuid Tower of Ferta, in the county of Kilkenny :
" A. D. 1156. 6ochaiD Lla Cuinn, an r-apD-riiaijipcep, do lorccao i j-cloic- chech na pepca."
" A. D. 1156. Eochaidh O'Cuinn, the Chief Master, was burnt in the doictheach
of Ferta."
The last notice, in reference to this subject, which I have to ad- duce, relates to the Roimd Tower of Telach Ard, near Trim, which fell about the year 1764. It occiu-s in the Annals of the Four Masters :
" A. D. 1171. Cloiccheach Celcha Qips oo lopccao la Cijeopnan Ua Ruaipc, CO n-a lun do oaoinib ann."
" A. D. 1171. The Cloictheach of Telach Ard was burnt by Tighearnan O'Euairc, with its full of people in it."
The various evidences which I have now adduced must, I think, furnish a sufficient answer to the only objection which has been urged against the use of the Eomid Towers as places of safety and defence, and satisfy the most sceptical inquirer, that such was one of the primary objects for which they Avere erected. Nor shoidd it be forgotten that, even without an acquaintance vdth such historical evidences, the very natm-e of their construction alone has led several distinguished inquirers to regard such piu-pose as the primary and only one. Thus, Colonel Montmorency, in his Historical and Critical Inquiry into the Origin and primitive Use of the Irish Pillar-tower, remarks :
" The Pillar-tower, as a defensive hold, taking into account the period that pro- duced it, may fairly pass for one of the completest inventions that can well be imagined.
OF THE ROUND TOAVERS OF IRELAND. 377
Impregnable every way, and proof against fire, it could never be taken by as^simlt. Altbongb the abbey and its dependencies blazed around, tlie Tower disregarded the fury of the flames ; — its extreme height, — its isolated jiosition, and dinunutive doorway, elevated so many feet above the ground, placed it beyond the reach of the besieger. The signal once made, announcing the approach of a foe, by those who kept watch on the top, the alarm spread instantaneously, not only among the inmates of the cloister, but the inhabitants were roused to arms in the country many miles round. Should the barbarian, in the interval, before succour arrived, succeed in ransacking the con- vent, and afterwards attempt to force his entrance into the Tower, a stone, dropped from on high, would crusli him to atoms." — pp. (55, 6().
Thus also tlie judicious Sir Walter Scott, in his Review of Ritson's Annals of the Caledonians, Picts and Scots, in the forty-first volume of the Quarterly Review, 1829 ;
" It is here impossible to avoid remarking, that at Abernethy and at Brechin there are still in existence two of the round towers, of which so many occur in Ireland. Abernethy is said, by uniform tradition, to have been the capital of the Picts, and Brechin in the same district (now the county of Angus) was certainly a place of early importance. In Ireland there exist nearly thirty of these very peculiar buildings, which have been the very cruces anliquariorum. They could not have been beacons, for they are often (at Abernethy in particidar) placed in low and obscure situations, though there are sites adjacent well calculated for watch-towers. They could not be hermitages, unless we suppose that some caste of anchorites had improved on the idea of Simon Stylites, and taken up their abode in the hollow of such a pillar as that of which the Syrian holy man was contented to occupy the toji. They could hardly be belfries, for though always placed close or near to a chiirch, there is no aperture at the top for suffering the sound of the beUs to be heard. Minarets they might have been accounted, if we had authority for believing that the ancient Christians were siun- moned to prayers like the Mahometans by the voice of criers. It is, however, all but impossible to doubt that they were ecclesiastical buildings ; and the most distinct idea we are able to form of them is, from the circumstance that the inestimably singular scene of Irish antiquities, called the Seven Churches in the County ofWicklow, includes one of those round towers, detached in the usual manner, and another erected on the gable end of the ruinous chapel of St. Kevin, as if some architect of genius had discovered the means of uniting the steeple and the church. These towers might, possibly, have been contrived for the temporary retreat of the priest, and the means of protecting the ' holy things' from desecration on the occasion of alarm, which in those uncertain times suddenly happened, and as suddenly passed away. These edifices at Brechin and Abernethy, however, were certainly constructed after the introduction of Christianity-, and were, in all probability, built in imitation of the same round towers in Ireland, under the direction of the Irish monks who brought Christianity into Scotland. We may notice, however, that the masonry of these towers is excellent, and may be held, in some sort, to bear witness to the popular tradition, that the Picts were skilfid in architecture." — pp. 147, 148.
And lastly, the able and learned John Pinkerton recognizes the
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378 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
principle of defence as an original object in the constmction of tliese Towers, tlioiio-li lie considered their use as belfries as the primary one. Speaking of the Round Towers in Scotland, he thus ^vl■ites in the advertisement prefixed to the new edition of his Enquiry into the History of Scotland, published in 1814:
" There was probably a round tower at Dunkeld, as at Abernetliy and Brechin,
.■tc."
" That these round towers were belfries is suiEciently evident, from the simple cir- cumstance of their having windows, or openings at the usual height, necessary to emit the sound of a bell. Separate belfries are not uncommon iu many countries, and even in some parts of England at this day ; and must have been necessary for security, when the rude churches were of wood. When the cathedral of Brechin was built, the round tower was preserved as a memorable relic, like the chapel of St. Regulus, close by the cathedral of St. Andrews." — pp. ix. and x.
In the confident behef that I have now satisfactorily established the two primary and essential objects for which the Round Towers were erected, I proceed to a consideration of the groimds on which I rest the arguments for my third conchtsion, namely, that they may, very probably, have also been occasionally used as beacons, and watch- towers.
It -will be observed that I put this conclusion forward only as a probability, and it is but fair that I shoidd acknowledge that a most careful examination of oiu- ancient Irish manuscripts has led to no chscovery that Avould give it certainty. Yet, the probabiUty of their having been occasionally used for such a purpose seems to me by no means a weak one, for, in the first place, the very fact of their having been used as places of defence and safety, coupled with their great height and aptitude for such a purpose, almost necessarily leads to the conclusion that tliey would be iised as watch-towers, and ^^erhaps signal towers, at least in times of trouble.
In like manner, if we consider the usages of the monastic esta- blishments, to which these Towers belonged, the hospitality and protection which they afforded to travellers and strangers, in times when roads were few, and the cotmtry generally covered with w^ood, we will find it difiicult to resist the conviction that the Towers would be used at night as beacons to attract and guide the benighted tra- veller or pious pilgrim to the house of hospitality or prayer. Their general fitness for such a purpose must be at once obvious ; and tliis fitness seems, in a great degree, to have led the learned Doctor
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 37!)
Lingard to the opinion tliat o\u' Irish Round Towers were chiefly, if not exclusively, intended for this pm-pose. In a passage in his Anti- quities of the Aiaglo-Saxon Chiu'ch, — for calling my attention to Avhich I aclaiowledge myself indebted to my respected friend, Dj-. Hibbert "Ware, of York, — he makes the following I'emarks on the uses of the Anglo-Saxon and Irish detached Towers :
" The clmrcli at Eamscy was ornamented witli tvfo towers, one at the western entrance, and another in the centre of the transept, supported by four arches. — Hist. Eames., c. 20. The tower of the new church at Winchester was at the eastern extre- mity.— Wolst., p. 630. But I conceive that originally the towers were distinct from the churches, like the celebrated Bound Towers that are still remaining in Ireland. Thus a tower had been erected before the western entrance of the old church at Win- chester, as we learn from Wolstan.
" ' Tuxris erat rostrata tholis quia maxuua qua'dam Illius ante sacri pulclicrrima limina templi,' &c.
Act. SS. Ben. vol. ij. p. 70.
" If I may be allowed a conjecture on a subject which has exercised the ingenuity of many writers, I conceive such towers to have been originally built at a short dis- tance from the church, that the walls might not be endangered by their weight, and that they were not considered merely as an ornament, but used as beacons to direct the traveller towards the church or monastery. Lights were kept burning in them during the night. At least such was the fact with respect to the new tower at Win- chester, which, we learn from Wolstan, consisted of five stories, in each of which were four windows looking towards the four cardinal points, that were illimiinated every night. — Wols., p. 631." See p. 479, second edition : Newcastle, 1810.
In this opinion of the learned English historian, my friend Dr. Hibbert Ware entirely concurs, as communicated to me in the follow- ing memorandum in the year 1836 :
" Mr. Petrie mentioned to me that he had not seen the comments of Mr. [Dr.] Linsrard on the Anglo-Saxon churches and the towers incidental to them. I have copied his remarks on this subject, which many years ago appeared to me the only rational theory on the subject which I had read. But I am now taught to consider the Round Towers as being devoted to other uses besides affording beacon lights during the evening to direct the traveller to the church or monastery. Yet, at the same time, I am not disposed to renounce the opinion that this might have been one, and not the most subordinate, of the miscellaneous uses to which the building of these structures was rendered subservient."
I have only to add, that I am indebted to another friend, — the late Mr. Matthew O'Conor, of Mount Druid, — for tlirecting my atten- tion to the folio-wing cmious reference in Mabillon's Iter Germani- cum — a work of which, mifortimately, there is no copy in any of the
3 c 2
380 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
public libraries in Dublin — to a pharus, or beacon-tower, at the Irish Monastery of St. Columbanus, at Luxovium, now Luxeud., in Bur- giuidy, and which seems to give some support to the conclusion I have thus hypothetically advocated :
" Luxovium. "Cemitur prope Majorem Ecclesise Portam Pbarus, quam Luccrnam vocant, cujus oninino consimilem vidi aliquando apud Carnutas. Ei usui fuisse videtur, in gratiam eoruin, qui noctu ecck'siam IVequentabantur."
I have now to enter on a question of perhaps gi'eater difficulty than any of those already examined, namely, as to the probable eras of the erection of the Towers, and which I have assumed to have been at various periods between the fifth and thirteenth centui'ies.
The great difficulty which I have to contend with, arises cliiefly from the general absence of distinct notices of buildings in the ancient lives of the Irish saints, and the extreme meagreness of the Irish annals anterior to the tenth century. Thus, in the latter, the first notice which occurs of a cloictheacli, or Round Tower, is that at the year 950, relative to the burnmg of the cloidheach, or Eound Tower <jf Slane, as already given at p. 373 ; and the earliest authentic record of the erection of a Round Tower is no earlier than the year 965. This record is found in the Chronicon Scotorum, and relates to the Tower of Tomgi'aney, in the County of Clare, — a Tower which does not now exist, but of which, according to the tradition of the old natives of the place, some remains existed about forty years since. The passage is as follows :
"A. D. 965. Copmac h-Ua Cillin,oo uib B-Piacpac Qione, comopba Ciapain 7 Comain 7 comopba Cuama ^pene ; 7 ap aije do ponao cempul mop Cuama ^pene, 7 a claijceac. Sapienp 7 pene;t ec epipcopop quieuic in Chpipco."
Thus translated by Colgan, who seems to have found it in his copy of the Annals of the Foiu- Masters, though that part of it re- lating to the erection of the chru'ch and tower is not given in the Stowe copy of those annals, as published by Dr. O'Conor, or in the MS. copies of them preserved in Dublin :
" A. D. 964. Cormacus Hua-Killene, Comorbanus SS. Kierani, Coemani [Comani], et Cronani, Episcopus, sapiens, vir valde longa;uus, qui extruxit Ecclesiain de Vuaim- grene" [Tuaim-grene]" cum sua turri, decessit." — Acta SS., p. 360, b.
But, though the Irish annalists preserve to us no earlier notices of the Round Towers than these now adduced, the many references
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 381
which occur to those buildings, as existing in the tenth and eleventh centvuies, sufficiently prove that they were common in the covuitry at an earher pei'it)d ; and, moreover, tlieir early antiquity may be fairly inferred from the frequent allusions to them which occur inci- dentally in oiu- oldest manuscripts. Thus, in the ancient Life of Chi'ist, — preserved in the Leahlmr Breac, — which is imquestionably older than the eleventh century, the folio-wing allusion to the height of the Towers occurs in relation to the star which guided the eastern kings to Bethlehem :
"Came lapum uibi na .,vii. mip f-pi ;l-ii. lu ; 7 om ba h-aipoi inci cloicrecti ti-i pemairiD." — Fol. 60, «, a.
" It [the star] came afterwards a journey of the twelve months in twelve days ; and it was higher than a doicthech before us."
Thus also, in a tract of much liigher antiquity, entitled Imraimh Curaich Maildinn,^i\\e Wandering of the Curach of Maelduin, the illegitimate son of an Irish chief, in the seventh centuiy, — the fol- lowhig passage occiu-s, from which it can be fairly mferred, that a bellry, separate from the chui'ch, existed at Ealdare before Ms time. Copies of this tract are preserved m the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, and in the British Museum :
" tJo ©ojunacc Hinaip Do maelouin cip m-bunaoup. Qilell Qcep Q^ci a araip ; cp6npep epiDe 7 oaglaec 7 cijepna a ceneoil pen. IDaccaiUec, 7 ban- aipcinnec Cille caiUeac a macaip. 1p amlaio Din popcaemnacaip acompepr pom. peccup DO luiD pi ©ojanacca pop cpeic n7 inpuo ilcenoaoac 7 Qilell Ocaip Qja ina comaicecc, 7 jubixio Dunao a pleib ano. 6ui cell cuiUec a compocup ip an maigin pin, .1. Cell oopa a n-Diu. meoon aibci lapam 6 po an cac do imcecc ip Dunao, luiD Qilell oo'n cill, 7 ip e cpadi pen came an ban-aipcinoeac do bein cluij no cille do lupriieipj^e, oopcuip do Qilell, 7 jubaip Qilell a luirii laip, 7 do oacpapcuip, 7 do 5111 coibligi ppia; 7 apbepc an caillec ppip : ' ni pcjoa,' ol pi, ' ap eonipuc, ap ip ampip compepca oain.'" — H. 2, 16, col. 370.
" Maelduin was of the Eoganacht Ninais as to his origin. His father was Ailell Acher Agha, a mighty man and goodly hero, and lord of his own tribe. A young nun, and [who was] the Ban-airchinneach of a church of nuns, was his mother. In this manner, then, was he begotten. On one occasion, the king of Eoghanacht set out to prey and spoU many territories, and Ailell Acher Agha in his company, and they encamped in a certain mountain. There was a church of nuns near that place, i. e. KUdare at this day. At midnight, when aU remained quiet within the camp, Ailell went to the church, and this was the time when the Ban-airchiunech came [out] to ring the beU of the church for midnight prayer. She met Ailell, and AileU took her to him, and laid her down, and cohabited with her ; and the nun said to him : ' not fortunate,' said she, 'our meeting, for this is my time for conception.'"
382 INQUIEY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Tlie next passage wliich I have to adduce is of still more impor- tance than the preceding, and should properly have been inserted amongst the evidences adduced to prove that the Towers Avere erected as places of safety, inasmuch as that it shows that they were regarded in the light of sanctuaries, which should on no account be violated. This passage is found in an authority of vmquestionable antiquity, namely, a poem addi^essed to Aedh Oirdnighe, monarch of Ireland from 799 to 819, by the celebrated poet Fothadli, usually called Fothadh na Canoine, or of the Canon, and who obtained from that monarch the exemption of the clergy from mihtary service. Copies of tMs poem are preserved in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, and m the valuable manuscript in the Libraiy of Trinity College, called the Book of Leinster ; and it would appear to have been addi-essed to Aedli Oirdnighe on the occasion of his inaugura- tion. The passage, as found in the Book of Leinster, is as follows :
" Cipe DO jne in tijaic
6iD mop a mela ouic,
ITlaD Dia pajba a bin
1 C15 pij no cluic."_H. 2, 18, fol. 106, h, b. " He wLo commits a tbeft,
It will be grievous to thee,
If lie obtains his protection
In the house of a king or of a bell."
Thus again, m a tract of the Brehon Laws, called Seanchus heag, preserved in the Book of Lecan, on the duties and rewards of the seven ecclesiastical degrees, the following account of the duties of the aistreoir, or aistire, occiu's :
" Qifcpeoip, .1. uap aicpeoip, .1. uapal arpeoip, in can ip doc cloiccije; no, aipcpeoip, .1. ipil airpeoip, in can ip lam-cloc," &c Fol. 168, p. b, col. 2, line 32.
^'■Aistreoir, i.e. uas aitreoir, i. e. noble his work, when it is the bell of a cloictkeach; or, aistreoir, i. e. isil aitkreoir, (i. e. humble or low his work) when it is a hand-bell."
A different reading of this commentary is quoted in O'Reilly's Irish Dictionary imder the word aipcpeoip, which he explains, "an officer whose duty it was to ring the bell in the steeple of the church. The lowest of the seven degrees of ecclesiastical officers." And as it more clearly defines the duties of this officer, and identifies the name with Ostiarius, I avail myself of it here.
" Qipcpeoip, i. e. aipcpeac a rpeoip, i.e. beim cluic, no eacpopacc ; no, uaip- cpeoip m can ap doc cloijrije ; no ipcpeoip, i. e. ippeall aicpeoip, in can ip lam- cloc."
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 383
'■^ Aistreoir, i. e. changeable his work, i. c to ring the bell, or use the keys ; or, uaistreoir (high his work) when the bell is that of a cloictheack ; or istreoir, i.e. low his work, wheu it is a hauJ-buli."
Thus also, in anotlier version of tliis commentary, in a vellum ]\IS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin :
" Qipcpeoip, .1. aipqieach a rpeoip aj beim cliluij 7 aj oploj;ao cettipciiU ; no, uaipcpeoip, .1. uaip bip u cpeoip, in run ip cloj clojrib ; no, ipcpeoip, .1. ipel a rpeoip, in can ip lamchlojj." — II. 3, 18, lol. 9-1.
" Aistreoir, i. e. changeable liis work in ringing the boll and opening the church ; or, uaistreoir, i. e. high his work, whcu it is the bell of a cloictheack j or, istreoir, i. e, low his work, when it is a hand-beU."
In like manner, in another tract of the Brehon Laws, entitled, Aithgedh Eicis, — the Punishments of the Eicis, or Professional Classes, — preserved in an ancient vellum ]\IS. in the Library of Tri- nity College, Dubhn, the followhig allusion to the belfry occurs :
" QicheD aepa ecolpa cpopcao, 7 apao lapam nao njeba a paicep nuc a cpeoo, 7 nao cec do pacappaic, 7 do aubaipc; mao aep jpaio, no aep cpeiome im C015 a cluicc, no im coip a alcoipe, 7 apoD ncipo oipppichep puippi, 7 nao m-bencep doc do cparaib."
" The punishment of the people of a church is fasting, and afterwards a restraint that they say not their pater nor their credo, and that they go not to communion, nor to the offering ; if they be the aes graidh [ecclesiastics], or the aes creidmhe [re- ligious] about the house of their bell, or at the foot of their altar, and the restraint is, that they [the former] offer not on it, and that they [the latter] ring not a bell for [canonical] hours."
From the preceding notices it appears certain that one of the principal duties of the aistire — a name obviously formed from the Latin ostiavius — was to ring the bell in the cloicfheachj or Round Tower ; and, if it can be shoAvii that the office of aistire existed in the L'ish Chiu'ch under St. Patrick, in the fifth century, a not impro- bable inference may be di'awn that bell-towers were then hi exis- tence, as otherwise this duty could not have been performed. Now it is perfectly certain not only that bells, of a size much too large for altar bells, were abundantly distributed by St. Patrick in Ireland, as appears from his oldest Lives, — those preserved hi the Book of Armagh, — but also, that the office of aistire existed in his time, as even the name of the very person who held this office is preserved. Thus, m the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, which is supposed to have been originally written, partly in Irish and partly in Latin, by liis disciple St. Evin, in the sixth century, and which has been translated
384 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
by Colgan, we find in the list of the various persons who composed the household of St. Patrick, at Armagh, the name " Sanctiis Senellus de Killdareis, Campauarius ;" and from the prose tract treating of those persons, preserved in the Books of Lecan and Ballymote, we find this Siuell called " his aistiri."
"Smell Cilli QipT, a aipcipi." — L. Balli/mot. fol. 119, L. Lecan. fol. 44.
" Sinell of Cill Airis, liis aistiri."
And that the word aistire as above given, was vmderstood by the Irish in the sense of bell-ruiger, appears from the poem of Flann of Monasterboice, wliich enimierates the household of St. Patrick, and which was written in the tenth centur}^, and evidently di-awn by the writer from the most ancient authorities then extant :
" Smell, a peap bem m cluic." — Lib. Ballymot, et Lecan. ibid. " Siuell, the man of the ringing of the bell."
It may, indeed, be objected, that if bell-towers had been erected in St. Patrick's time, it is scarcely possible but that some notice of such structures would be found in the ancient Lives of that saint. But it should be remembered that the only passage in those Lives Avhich gives any notice, in detail, of the group of buildings which constituted a religious establishment in his time, is one found in the Tripartite Life relating to the establishment at Armagh, and of this, unfortimately, we have only Colgan's translation ; and hence, though there is a passage in this accoimt which might very Avell apply to one of the primary piu-poses of the Round Towers, but Uttle weight can be attached to it, till the original be found. The passage is as follows :
"Istis namque diebus sanctissimus Antistes metatus est locum, & jecit funda- menta Ecclesise Ardmachanae juxta formam, & modum ab Angelo prtescriptum. Dum aiitem fieret h£ec fundatio, & metatio formse, & quantitatis Ecclesise sedificandae, col- lecta synodus Antistitum, Abbatum, aliorumque vniuersi regni Prselatorum : & facta processione ad metas designandas processerunt, Patricio cum baciilo lesu in manu totum Clerum, & Angelo Dei, tanquam ductore & directore Patricium pracedenti. Statuit autem Patricius juxta Angeli prasscriptum quod murus Ecclesiaj in longitudine contineret centum qua'draginta pedes (forte passus) ; sedificium, sine aula maior tri- ginta; culina septem & decem ; Argyrotheca, sen vasarium, vbi supellex reponebatur, septeni pedes. Et hce sacrse Eedes omnes iuxta has mensuras sunt postea erectse." — Trias Thaiim., p. 164.
But, whatever uncertainty there may be as to the existence of these buildings m St. Patrick's time, there can, I thmk, be httle, if
\
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OP IRELAND. 385
any doubt, that tliey were not uncommon in the sixth and seventh centuries. Of this fact we have a striking exadence in the archi- tectural character of many of the existing Towers, in which a per- fect agreement of style is found with the original chiu'ches, when such exist. As a remarkable instance of this, I may point to the church and tower at Kilmacduagh, the tower and chiu'ches of Glen- dalough, and many others, which it is imnecessary here to name. Nor can I think the popular tradition of the country is of little value, which ascribes the erection of several of the existing Towers to the celebrated architect, Goban, or, as he is popularly called, Goban Saer, who flomished early in the seventh centiu-y ; for it is remark- able that such a tradition never exists in connexion with any Towers but those in which the architectm'e is in perfect harmony with the chiu'ches of that period, as in the Towers of Kilmacduach, Killala, and Antrim. And it is fui'ther remarkable, that the age assigned to the fii'st buildings at liilmacduach, about the year 620, is exactly that in which this celebrated Irish architect floimshed. — See page 348. It is equally remarkable that though the reputation of this architect is preserved in all parts of the island, in which the Irish language is still spoken, yet the erection of the oldest buildings in certain districts in the south and west of Ireland is never ascribed to him, the tradition of these districts being that he never visited or was employed on buildings south-west of Galway, or south-west of Tipperary. I have akeady alluded to the historical evidences wliicli prove that the Goban Saer was no imaginary creation, however legendary the memorials remaimng of him may be considered ; and I may here add, that it would appear from a very ancient authority, namely, the Drunsenchus, preserved in the Books of Lecan and Bally- mote, that he was the son of a skilful artisan in wood, if not in stone also ; and that this artisan was, if not a foreigner, at least very pro- bably of foreign extraction, and thus enabled to introduce arts not generally kno-wn m the coimtry ; and further, that the Goban himself was probably born at Tur\y, on the northern coast of the County of Dublui, which, it is stated, took its name from his father, as being his property, and which, as he was not a person of known Milesian origm, it is but fair to infer he received as a reward for his skill in mechanical art. This passage, the text of which is corrected from the two copies, is as follows :
3 D
386
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
ft
" Cpaij5 Cuipbi ca n-ap po h-ammnijeo ? Nm. Cuipbi Cpajmap, acaip ^o- bain c-Saeip, ip 6 pooup peilb ip in popbbai. Ip 6 pin pocepoao upcup Dia biail a Culaij an biail ppia aijio in cuile, cona I po anao in paipje, 7 ni rhijeao caipip. Hi peap a jenealach painopiuo, ace mump aen du na cepbaoacaib ac pullaoap a Cempaij piap in pab n-iloanacli^ pil 1 n-t)iampaib 6pe 5. Unoe Cpaij Cuipbe Dicicup.
" Cpaij Cuipbi cupcbaiD a amm,
X)o peip ujoaip pim apnaiom ;
rTuipbi Cpajmap, op cac cpaij,
Qcaip jpaomap jup ^obain.
" Q cuGij DO celjao lap pcup,
Qn jiUa mepjeach mop oub, O Chulaij in biail m-buioi ppip in m-benann mop cuile.
" Cian noD cuipeao a cuaij oe, Qn muip ni cuile caipppi; CiD Cuipbi reap na cuaich cpen. Hi pep ca cuan a cinel ;
"rriinab Do'n c-pil oejoaip oub, Cuia a Chempaij la laec tuj, Ni pepp a can, ppi oail 06, Pe]i na cleap o Chpaij Chupbi."
" Traigh Tuii'bi, whence was it named? Not difficult. Tuirbi Traghmar, the father of Goban Saer, was he who had possession in that land. He was used to throw casts of his hatchet from Tulach in bhiail [i. e. the hill of the hatchet], in the direction of the flood, so that the sea stopped, and did not come beyond it. His exact pedigree is not known, unless he was one of those missing people who went oiF with the polytechnic Sab, who is in the Diamars [Diamor, in Meath], of Bregia. Uncle Traigh Tuirbe dicitur.
" Traigh Tuirbi, whence the name,
According to authors I resolve;
Tuirbi of the strand, [which is] superior to every strand,
The aiFectionate keen father of Goban.
" His hatchet was used to be cast after ceasmg [from work] ; By this rusty large black youth, From the yellow hill of the hatchet Which the mighty flood touches.
•^ In the copy preserved in the Book of Lecan, fol. 260, b, b, piap an pab n-iloa- nach, reads la tuj Campaoa, i. e. with Lugh of the Long Hand. He was a Tuatha De Danann monarch, A. M. 2764, according to O'Flaherty's chronology ; but the story of his going away from Tarah, with a number of his people, has not yet been disco- vered.
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OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
387
" The distance he used to send his hatchet from him, The sea flowed not over it ;
Though Tuirbi was southwards in his district mighty, It is not known of what stock his race ;
" Unless he was of the goodly dark race,
Who went from Tara with the heroic Lugh,
Not kno^v^l the race, by God's decree,
Of the man of the feats from Traigh Tuirbi."
It is not, of course, intended to offer the preceding extract as strictly historical : in such ancient documents we must be content to look for the substratimi of truth beneath the covering of fable with wliich it is usually encumbered, and not reject the one on account of the improbability of the other ; and, viewed in this way, the pas- sage may be regarded as iu many respects of iuterest and value, for it shows that the artist spoken of was not one of the Scotic, or domi- nant race in Ireland, who are always referred to as hght-hau-ed ; and further, from the supposition, groimded on the blackness of his hair and his skill in arts, that he might have been of the race of the people that went with Lughaidh Lamhfhada from Tara, — that is of the Tuatha De Danann race, who are always referred to as superior to the Scoti in the knoAvledge of the arts, — we learn that, in the tra- ditions of the Irish, the Tuatha De Dananns were no less distin- guished from theii' conquerors m their personal than in their mental characteristics. The probabihty, however, is, that Turvy was a foreigner, or descendant of one, who brought a knowledge of art into the country not then known, or at least prevalent.
I shoidd add, also, that we have, at least, one historical authority wliich, to my mind, satisfactorily proves the erection of a Eoimd Tower in the sixth centiuy, namely, ni the Life of St. Columba, written about the year 680, by St. Adamnau, and which is foimd in the fifteenth chapter of the third book of this life. The chapter, with its original heading, as pubhshed by Pinkerton in his Lives of the Scottish Saints, from a MS. of the twelfth century, preserved in the British Museum, is as follows :
" Cap. XV. De Angela Domini, qui alimi fratri, lapso de monasterii cidmine rotundi, in Roboreti Campo opportune tarn cito subvenerat'^."
" Alio in tempore vir sanctus dum in tuguriolo suo scribens sederet, subito ejus immutatur facies, et hanc puro de pectore promit vocem, dicens : ' Auxiliare, auxiliare.'
* Cumin, c. 10. 3 D 2
386 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Cpaij5 Ciiipbi ca n-ap po h-ainmnigeo ? Nin. Cuipbi Cpajmap, acaip ^O" bain c-Saeip, ip i pooup peilb ip in popbbcii. Ip 6 pin pocepoao upcup dici biail a Cultnj an biail ppiu aijio in cuile, conu i po anao in paipje, 7 ni chigeao caipip. Ni peap a xenealach painopiuo, ace mump aen du na cepbaoacaib ac puUaoap a Cempaij piap in pub n-iloanacli' pil 1 n-t)iampaib Gpej. Unoe Cpaij Uuipbe Dicicup.
" Cpaij Cuipbi cupcbaiD a ainm,
t)o peip ujoaip pirti apnaiom ;
Cuipbi Cpajmap, op cac cpaij,
Qcaip gpODmap jup ^obain.
" Q cuaij DO celjao lap pcup,
Qn jiUa mepjeach mop oub, O Chulaij in biail m-buioi ppip in m-benann mop cuile.
" Cian noD cuipeao a cuaij oe, Qn muip ni cuile caipppi; Cm Cuipbi reap na cuaicli cpen, Ni pep ca cuan a cinel ;
"TTIinab oo'n c-pil oejoaip oub, tuiD a Chempaij la laec Cuj, Hi pepp a can, ppi oail 06, Pep na cleap o Cbpaij Chupbi."
" Traigli Tuii'bi, wlience was it named? Not difficult. Tuirbi Traghmar, the father of Goban Saer, was he who had possession in that land. He was used to throw casts of his hatchet from Tulach in bhiail [i. e. the hill of the hatchet], in the direction of the flood, so that the sea stopped, and did not come beyond it. His exact pedigree is not known, unless he was one of those missing people who went off with the polytechnic Sab, who is in the Diamars [Diamor, in Meath], of Bregia. Unde Traigh Tuirbe dicitur.
" Traigh Tuirbi, whence the name,
According to authors I resolve ;
Tuirbi of the strand, [which is] superior to every strand.
The affectionate keen father of Goban.
" His hatchet was used to be cast after ceasing [from work] ; By this rusty large black youth. From the yellow hill of the hatchet Which the mighty flood touches.
°- In the copy preserved in the Book of Lecan, fol. 260, b, b, piap an pab n-iloa- nach, reads la ^uj Campaoa, i. e. with Lugh of the Long Hand. He was a Tuatha De Danann monarch, A. M. 2764, according to O'FIaherty's chronology ; but the story of his going away from Tarah, with a number of his people, has not yet been disco- vered.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. dJil
" The distance he used to send liis liatcbet from him, The sea flowed not over it ;
Though Tuirbi was southwards in liis district mighty, It is not known of what stock his race ;
" Unless he was of the goodly dark race.
Who went from Tara with the heroic Lugh,
Not knoivn the race, by God's decree.
Of the man of the feats from Traigh Tuirbi."
It is not, of coiu'se, intended to offer the preceding extract as strictly historical : in such ancient doctiments we must be content to look for the substratum of truth beneath the covering of fable wath which it is usually encumbered, and not reject the one on accoimt of the improbability of the other ; and, viewed in this way, the pas- sage may be regarded as in many respects of interest and value, for it shows that the artist spoken of was not one of the Scotic, or domi- nant race in Ireland, who are always referred to as light-haired ; and further, from the supposition, groimded on the blackness of his hair and his skill in arts, that he might have been of the race of the people that went with Lughaidh Lamhf hada from Tara, — that is of the Tuatha De Danann race, who are always referred to as superior to the Scoti in the knowledge of the arts, — Ave learn that, in the tra- ditions of the Irish, the Tuatha De Dananns were no less distin- guished from theii- conquerors in their personal than in their mental characteristics. The probability, however, is, that Tiu-vy was a foreigner, or descendant of one, who brought a knowledge of art into the country not then knowTi, or at least prevalent.
I should add, also, that we have, at least, one historical authority w^hich, to my mind, satisfactorily proves the erection of a Round Tower in the sixth century, namely, in the Life of St. Columba, written about the year 680, by St. Adamuan, and which is found in the fifteenth chapter of the third book of this life. The chapter, with its original heading, as published by Pinkerton in his Lives of the Scottish Saints, from a MS. of the twelfth century, preserved in the British Museum, is as follows :
" Cap. XV. De Angela Domini, qui alicui fratri, lapso de monasterii culmine rotundi, in Eoboreti Campo opportune tarn cito subvenerat^."
" Alio in tempore vir sanctus divm in tuguriolo suo scribens sederet, subito ejus immutatuj facies, et hanc puro de pectore promit vocem, dicens : ' Auxiliare, ausiliare.'
* Cumin, c. 10. 3 D 2
388 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Duo vero Fratres ad januam stantcs; videlicet Colgius filius Cellachi, et Lugneus MocUBLAi, causani talis subitai interrogant vocis; quibus vir venerabilis hoc respon- sum dedit, inqvdeus : ' Angelo Domini, qui nunc inter vos stabat, jussi, ut alicui ex Fratribus de summo culmine magna domus lapse tarn cito subveniret, qute his in diebus Roboreti Campo fabrlcatur.' Hocque sanctus conscqucnter intulit famen, in- quiens. ' Valde adniirabilis ct pene indicibUis est angelici volatus pernicitas, fulgurea;, ut sestimo, celeritati parilis. Nam ille coelicola, qui hinc a nobis nunc illo viro labi incipiente avolavit, quasi in ictu ocuU priusquam terram tangeret subveniens, eum sublevavit ; nee ullam fracturam, aut la;suram iUe qui cecidit sentire potuit. Quam stupenda hsec inquam velocissima et opportuna subventio, qua; dicto citius tantis maris et terra; interjaceutibus spatiis tam celerrime eiEci potiiit I'" — Vitce Antiqnce Sancto- rum, &c., p. 1()9.
I should state, that the important heading prefixed to this chapter is not found m some of the editions of the work previously published, — as in the first, published by Canisius in 1604, from a vellum MS. preserved in the monastery of Wmdberg ; nor in that of Messingham, in 1624, wliich is but a reprint of the former ; nor in that of the BoUandists ; — but it is foimd in the better edition of Colgan, which is taken from an ancient vellum manuscript, preserved at Augia ( Aux), in Germany, and which agi'ees with the manuscript in the British Museum, except that the phrase " de monasterii culmine rotundi,'" is printed "<7e monasterii culmine rotunda." This difference is, how- ever, of little importance, as the real question is, what the author could have meant by either " monasterii culmine rotundo" or monasterii cidmine rotundi. Not, certainly, that the monastery itself had a rotund roof, because we know that the monasteries of those days were a collection of small and detached cells, each devoted to a single monk ; and certamly not that the church had one, as it appears from the notice in the text of the chapter that the culmen was that of the magna domus ; and besides, from the quadrangidar forms of all the Irish churches of this period, they could not have admitted of a dome roof But more than all, supposing it were from the roof of the church that the monk was falling, or from any other building, such as we know to have existed in connexion with the monasteries of this period, the Tower excepted, where would have been the danger, to escape which, the mii'aculous interposition of an angel would have become necessary ? Siu'ely not to prevent him from a fall of tAvelve feet or so, which is the usual height of the side walls of the abbey- churches of this period ; nor from the roofs of either the abbot's house
OF THE BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 389
or monks' cells, which, though usually round, were seldom, if ever, of a greater height than twelve feet, and from which, having rarely upright walls, there could have been no serious danger in I'alHng. In sliort the miracle, to be a mu-acle at all, requires the supposition that the round roof on which the brother was at work must have been that of a building of great altitude, and from which a fall would be necessaiily productive of certain death, — such a building, in fact, as a Romid Tower, which was the only one of the kind the Irish had, either m those days, or for many ages afterwards.
I should remark that the same legend forms the tenth chapter of the Life of Columba by the abbot Cumian, which was written about the year 657 ; but it is of little value to the question, as the important phrase, both in the original headhig and the text, is simply " de cul- mine domus." But I may add, that several passages, both in this Life and in that by Adamnan, allude in such a manner to the use of bells, for summoning the brotherhood to rehgious worship, as would lead directly to the inference that belfries must have existed in St. Columba's time. Take, for example, the following passage from the eighth chapter of the first l)ook of the Life of Columba by Adamnan :
" In tempore alio, hoc est, post multos a supra memorato bello annorum transcur- sus, cum asset vir Sanctus in Hyona insula, subito ad suum dicit ministratorem, Cloccam pulsa : cujus sonitu Fratres incitati, ad Ecclesiam ipso Sancto Prsesule prae- eunte ocyus currunt, ad quos ibidem flexis genibus iniit. ' Nixnc intente pro hoc populo, et AiDANO rege Dominum oremus, hac enim liora iueunt belltun.' " — Vitce AntiqtuB Sanctorum, S^c, edit. Pinkertone, p. 65.
But, though I am thus disposed to assign this early antiquity to some of the existing Towers, I have no doubt that the great majority of them were erected in later times, and more particularly, as their ornamented architecture indicates, in the ninth and tenth centuries. The destructive ravages of the Danes woidd have rendered the re- erection or restoration of such structures necessary, especially at the close of the latter ceutiuy ; and, as I shall show iii the Thhd Part of this Inquiry, many of the Towers afford sufficient evidence, in the various styles of masonry, and difference of material, wliich they exhi- bit, that they have been in part rebuilt in times long subsequent to that of their original foundation. Nor are we wholly without autho- rities— historical authorities — for such restorations. Thus Keating informs us, that the doictheach, or Round Tower of Tomgraney,
390
IMQUmT INTO THE ORIGDf AKD USES
which, as I have shown, was erected in 964, was repaiied by the monarch Brian Bonimha ; and from an ancient fragment, supposed to be a part of Mac Liag's Life of that king, preserved among the manuscripts in the Libi-ary of Trinity College, Dublin, it would ap- pear that this powerful monarch erected, or, at least, restored for the clergy, no less than thirty-two of these structures :
" 6a laip DO cuTnoaigioD cealla 7 ecalpi, 7 do ponca oaimliac, acup cloic- riji, 7 Dupcigi, innci."
'• Bj him -were founded cells and cliurches, and were made daimliaee, and cfoi'c- theacJis, and duirtheachs, in it" [Ireland].
And again:
" Ip e 6picm cue .uii. mainipcpeaca eicip aiome 7 eallac 7 peaponn amac ; 7 Da cloicceac rpioac ; 7 tp loip po oainjneaD an c-opo popoa ; 7 'p P' a linn cucaD plomnre ap cup, 7 ouchaoa do no ploinnce, 7 do pinne cpicaipecc caca cuaice, 7 jaca cpica ceo ; 7 ip pi a Imn po h-oipneoD ypoba plora, 7 pilio, 7 eclaipi. Ip e 6pian umoppa nac capo epo pop ealaoam o oiDce a jemeaiiilaiT co h-oiDce a Baip."
" It is Brian that gave otit seven monasteries, both fiimiture and cattle and land ; and thirty-two doictheachs ; and it is by him the marriage ceremony was confirmed ; and it is during his time surnames were first given, and territories [were allotted] to the surnames, and the boundaries of every lordship and cantred were fixed ; and it is in his time the degrees of chief, and poet, and ecclesiastic, were appointed. It is Brian also that never refused science from the night of his birth to the night of his death."
The state of the country preceding the usurpation of Brian, and the necessity for such reforms and improvements by that monarch as are alluded to in the preceding notice, are very well illustrated by the following passage in Mageoghegan's translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, imder the year 996, which is the date of Brian's ac- cession, according to the chronology of that work, but which shoidd be the year 1002, according to the more correct chronology of Tigh- emach:
" A. D. 996. Bryan Borowe took the kingdome and government thereof out of the hands of King Moyleseaghlyn, in such manner as I do not intend to relate in this place ; he was very well worthy of the Government, and reigned twelve years the most famous Ving of his time [or] that ever was before or after him, of the Irish nation, for Man- hood, Fortune, Manners, Laws, Liberality, Eeligion, and other many good parts, he never had his peere among them all, though some Chroniclers of the Kingdom made comparisons between him and Contedcagh, Conaire More, and King Neale of the Nine hostages ; yett he in r^ard of the state of the Kingdome when he came to the government thereof was judged to bear the beU allways from them aU. At his first entrie into the Kingdome, the whole Eealme was ovemmn and overspread every
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OF THE BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
391
where by the Danes : the Churches, Abbeys, and other religious places, were by thcui quite rased and debased, or otherwise turned to vile, base, servile, and abominable uses. Most of all, yea almost all the Noblemen, Gentlemen, and those that were of any accoumpt, were turned out of their Lands and Livings without any hope of recovery or future redresse, yea some of the best sort were compelled to servitude and bounden slavery, both Human Lawe and Gods fear were sett aside. In sume it was strange how men of any fashion cou'd use other men as the Danes did use the Irisli-men at that time. But King Bryan Borowe was a meet salve to cure sucH festered Scares, all the pliissick in the world cou'd not help it else where, in a small time he banished the Danes, made up the Churches and Religious houses, restored the nobility to their Antient patrimony and possessions, and in fine brought all to a notable reformation."
In addition to the devastations of the Northmen, the original Towers must, from the nature of then- structure, have often suffered, or been destroyed from natural causes, as hghtning and tempests ; and of such casualties we have a remarkable record in the Annals of Clonmacnoise, as translated by Mageoghegan, and which is particu- larly valuable, as indicating the number of structures of this kind that was in Ireland in the tenth centiuy :
" A. D. 981. There was such boisterous winds this year that it fell down many turrets, and amongst the rest it fell down violently the steeple of Louth and other steeples."
I am fm'ther persuaded that some of the Towers were erected as late as the twelfth centiuy, as their architectural characteristics suffi- ciently prove : and it is not improbable that the great Round Tower of Clonmacnoise, which is so remarkable for the beauty of its ma- sonry, may be of this late period ; for though the Registry of Clon- macnoise, a document of the foiu^teenth century, ascribes the erection of this Tower to Fergal O'Rom-ke, king of Connaught, about the middle of the tenth century, yet, as I have akeady shown, in treating of the church at the same place, called Teampull Finghin, Part II., pp. 267, 268, that document is of a character too apocryphal to en- title it to much weight, when opposed to the authentic annals of the country. The passage in the Registry, relative to the erection of this Tower, as translated from the original Irish for Sii' James Ware, by the celebrated Duald Mac Frrbis, is as follows :
"And the same O'Euairk of his devotion towards y* church undertook to repair those chvirchos, and keep them in reparation during his life upon his own chardges, and to make a Causey, or Togher from y^ place called Cruan na Feadh to lubhar Conaire, and from Jubhar to the Loch ; and the said Fergal did perform it, together with all other promises y' he made to Cluain, and the repayring of that number of
f!
390 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
wliich, as I have sllO■^\^l, was erected in 964, was repaii'ed by the monarcli Brian Borumha ; and from an ancient fragment, supposed to be a part of Mac Liag's Life of that king, preserved among the manuscripts in the Library of Trmity College, Dubhu, it would ap- pear that this powerful monarch erected, or, at least, restored for the clergy, no less than thirty-two of these structures :
<' 6a laip DO cumoaisioD ceulla 7 ecalfa, 7 do ponca oaimliac, acuf cloic- C151, 7 Dupri5i, innci."
" By him were fovuided cells and churclies, and were made daimliacs, and chic- theachs, and duirtkeachs, in it" [Ireland].
And again :
" Ip e 6pian cue .uii. mainipcpeaca eicip aiome 7 eallac 7 peaponn amac ; 7 Da cloicceac cpicac; 7 ip laip po oainjneaD cm c-opo popoa ; 7 ip pi a linn cucao ploinnce ap cup, 7 ouchaoa do na ploinnce, 7 do pinne cpicaipecc caca cuaice, 7 ^aca cpica ceo ; 7 ip pi a linn po h-oipneao jpaoa placa, 7 piliD, 7 eclaipi. Ip e 6pian umoppa nac capo epa pop ealaoain o oioce a geineariilaij co h-oiDce a Baip."
" It is Brian that gave out seven monasteries, botli furniture and cattle and land ; and thirti/-tico cloktheaclis ; and it is by liim the marriage ceremony was confirmed ; and it is during liis time surnames were first given, and territories [were allotted] to the surnames, and the boundaries of every lordship and cantred were fixed ; and it is in his time the degrees of chief, and poet, and ecclesiastic, were appointed. It is Brian also that never refused science from the night of his birth to the night of his death."
The state of the country preceding the usurpation of Brian, and the necessity for such reforms and improvements by that monarch as are alluded to in the preceding notice, are very well illustrated by the folloA\dng passage in Mageoghegan's translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise, under the year 996, which is the date of Brian's ac- cession, according to the chronology of that work, but which should be the year 1002, according to the more correct clu'onology of Tigh- ernach :
" A. D. 996. Bryan Borowe took the kingdome and government thereof out of the hands of King Moyleseaghlyn, in such manner as I do not intend to relate in this place ; he was very well worthy of the Government, and reigned twelve years the most famous king of his time [or] that ever was before or after him, of the Irish nation, for Man- hood, Fortune, Manners, Laws, Liberality, Keligion, and other many good parts, he never had his peere among them all, though some Chroniclers of the Kingdom made comparisons between him and Conkedcagh, Conaire More, and King Neale of the Nine hostages ; yett he in regard of the state of the Kingdome when he came to the government thereof was judged to bear the bell allways from them all. At his first entrie into the Kingdome, the whole Kealme was overriinn and overspread every
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 391
where by the Danes : the Churches, Abbeys, and other religious places, were by them quite rased and debased, or otlierwise turned to vile, base, servile, and abominable uses. Most of all, yea almost all the Noblemen, Gentlemen, and those that were of any accoumpt, were turned out of their Lands and Livings without any hope of recovery or future rcdresse, yea some of the best sort were compelled to ser'S'itude and bounden slavery, both Human Lawe and Gods fear were sett aside. In sume it was strange how men of any fashion cou'd use other men as the Danes did use the Irish-men at that time. But King Bryan Borowe was a meet salve to cure such festered Soares, all the phissick in the world cou'd not help it else where, in a small time he banished the Danes, made up the Churches and Eeligious houses, restored the nobihty to their Antient patrimony and possessions, and in fine brought all to a notable reformation."
In addition to the devastations of the Northmen, the original Towers mnst, from the natm^e of theii' structure, have often suffered, or been destroyed from natural causes, as lightning and tempests ; and of such casualties we have a remarkable record in the Annals of Clonmacnoise, as translated by Mageoghegan, and which is particu- larly valuable, as indicating the ninnber of structiu'es of tliis kind that was in Ireland in the tenth century :
" A. D. 981. There was such boisterous winds this year that it fell iovm many turrets, and amongst the rest it fell down violently the steeple of Louth and other steeples."
I am further persuaded that some of the Towers were erected as late as the twelfth century, as then- architectural characteristics suffi- ciently prove : and it is not improbable that the great Eound Tower of Clomnacnoise, which is so remarkable for the beauty of its ma- sonry, may be of this late period ; for though the Registry of Clon- macnoise, a docimient of the foiu-teenth century, ascribes the erection of this Tower to Fergal O'Roiu-ke, king of Counaught, about the middle of the tenth century, yet, as I have abeady shown, in treating of the church at the same place, called TeampiiU Finghin, Part II., pp. 267, 268, that docimient is of a character too apocryphal to en- title it to much weight, when opposed to the authentic annals of the country. The passage in the Registry, relative to the erection of this Tower, as translated from the original Irish for Sir James Ware, by the celebrated Duald Mac Firbis, is as follows :
" And the same O'Euairk of his devotion towards y" church undertook to repair those churches, and keep them in reparation during his life upon his own chardges, and to make a Causey, or Togher from y'^ place called Cruan na Feadh to lubhar Conaire, and from Jubhar to the Loch ; and the said Fergal did perform it, together with all other promises y' he made to Cluain, and the repayring of that number of
392
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Chapels or Cells, and the making of tliat Causey, or Togber, and hath for a monumi-nt built a small steep castle or steeple, commonly called in Irish Claicthough, in Cluain, as a memorial of his own part of that Cemetarie : and the said Fergal hath made all those Cells before specified in mortmain for him and his heii's to Cluain ; and thus was tlie sepulture of the O'Euairks bought."
It might be inferred, however, from the foUowmg entry in the Chronicon Scoforum, that this Tower was of much later date than that ascribed to it in the Registry :
"A.D. 1124. Qn cloicreach mop Cluana IDac Noip o'opbuo la 5'°''''" Cpipc h-Lla ITlaoileoin, 7 la CoipoealBac h-Lla Concupaip."
"A. D. 1124. The great cloictheach of Clonmacnoise was finished by Giolla Christ O'Malone, and by Tui-logh O'Conor."
Thus also in a similar entry in the Annals of the Four Masters at the same year :
" A. D. 1124. Popbao cloicccije Cluana TTlac Noip la h-Ua TTIaoileoin co- niapba Chiapain."
" A. D. 1 124. The finishing if the cloictheach of Clonmacnoise by O'Malone, suc- cessor .;f St. Ciaran."
Dr. O'Conor, indeed, translates the preceding entry as if it only recorded the coveriiig or roofing of the Tower, thus :
" A. D. 1 124. Operimentum Campanilis Cluanss Mac Nois factum per O'Maloneum, Vicarium Ciarani."
But though it is possible that the annalists intended to record the making or restoration of the roof only, the verb po|ibaD, which they employ, properly signifies to finish, or com2ylete. However, it seems m the highest degree imlikely that an ecclesiastical establish- ment of such high importance for many centmies earlier, and the seat of a bishopric at least from the ninth century, should have been without an abbey or cathedral belfry till so late a period : and tliis improbability will appear stronger when we call to mind that one of the inferior churches of the place liad its own little cloictheach, as I have already shown, of a much earlier date, and that one of its abbots was the erector of the cloictheach of Tomgraney nearly two centuries previously: and it is therefore not likely that this abbot would have left Clonmacnoise without such a usual and necessary appendage, if it had been previously wanting. I am, therefore, of opinion that the great cloictheach of this place was erected at least as early as the year 908, when the claimliag mor, or cathedi'al, standing opposite it, in the usual position, was erected by the monarch Flann O'Melaghlin and
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393
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the abbot Colman ; and I tliiiik it most probable that the fact rela- tive to its erection by Fergal O'Roiu'kc, as stated in the Registry, was only a tradition founded on the ch'cumstance of the O'Roiu'kes having theii- place of sepultiu'e near it ; and, consequently, that the entry in the annals only relates to a subsequent restoration of it, ren- dered necessary by some accidental circvunstance not recorded.
That tliis Tower was, indeed, repau'cd at a period long subse- quent to its erection, there is abundant evidence in the masonry of the building itself, the upper portion being of coarse jointed masonry of limestone, wliile the greater part of the tower below it is of close jointed ashlar sandstone ; and besides, it is qvute obvious that the Tower, when such restoration was made, was reduced considerably in its original height, as proportioned to its circmuference. It can scarcely be doubted, however, that this restoration is of still later date than that recorded by the annahsts at the year 1124, as we find the following entry in the Ckronicon Scotonini, and the Annals of the Four INIasters, relative to the destruction of the top of the Tower by hghtniug, in the year 1135.
" A. D. 1135. Ceine i^rti^nein &o Beim a cliinD do cloicceacli Cluana mac Noip, aju]^ 00 roUao cloicceac Ruip Cpe."
" A. D. 1135. Lightning struck its roo( off the cloictfteach of C\onmacno\se, and pierced the doicthcack of Eoscrea."
But, be this as it may, we have a decisive evidence in the Annals of the Four JNIasters to prove that this Tower of Clonmacnoise, if not the smaller one also, was appropriated to the use of a belfry, and known by the same name as originally, so late as the year 1552, Avhen Clonmacnoise was plundered by the English garrison of Athlone, — an event of which the traditi(m of the place still preserves, with all its details, as lively an impression, as if it had been only of recent occurrence. It is thus pathetically recorded:
" A. D. 1552. Innpao 7 opccain Cluana mac Noip la ^allaib Qra luain, 7 na cluicc mopa do Bpeic ap an g-cloiccceac. Ni po paccabao pop clocc beaj na mop, lomaij, naalcoip, na leabap, na jemao, piu jloine h-i b-pumneoicc 6 balla na h-eccailpi amac nac puccao eipce. 6a cpuag cpa an jniom pm, inDpao carpac Ciapain, an naom eplaim."
" A. D. 1552. Clonmacnoise was plundered and devastated by the Galls (English) of Athlone, and the large bells were carried from the cloicthearh. There was not left, moreover, a bell, small or large, an image, or an altar, or a book, or a gem, or even
3 E
392 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Chapels or Cells, and the making of that Causey, or Togher, and hath for a monument built a small steep castle or steeple, commonly called in Irish Claicthough, in Cluain, as a memorial of his own part of that Cemetarie : and the said Fergal hath made all those Cells before specified in mortmain for him and his heii's to Cluain ; and thus was the sepulture of the O'Ruairks bought."
It might be inferred, hoAvever, from tlie following entry in the Chronicon Scotorwn, that this Tower was of much later date than that ascribed to it in the Registry :
"A.D. 1124. Qn cloicceach mop Cluana TTlac Noip o'opbuD la ^lolla Cpipc h-Ua TTIaoileoin, 7 la Coipoealbac h-Ua Concupaip."
"A. D. 1 124. The great cloktheach of Clonmacnoise was finished by Giolla Christ O'Malone, and by Turlogh 0' Conor."
Thus also in a similar entrj^ in the Annals of the Four Masters at the same year :
" A. D. 1124. Popbao cloicccije Cluana TTlac Noip la h-Ua maoileom co- TTiapba Chiapam."
" A. D. 1 124. The finishing if the cloktheach of Clonmacnoise by O'Malone, suc- cessor ,; f St. Ciaran."
Dr. O'Conor, mdeed, translates the preceding entry as if it only recorded the covering or roofing of the Tower, thus :
" A. D. 1 124. OperimentTim Campanilis CluansB Mac Nois factum per O'Maloneum, Vicarium Ciarani."
But though it is possible that the annalists intended to record the making or restoration of the roof only, the verb pojibao, which they employ, properly signifies to finish, or complete. However, it seems in the highest degree mihkely that an ecclesiastical estabhsh- ment of such high importance for many centuries earlier, and the seat of a bishopric at least from the ninth century, should have been A\dthout an abbey or cathedral belfry till so late a period : and this improbability will appear stronger when we call to mind that one of the inferior churches of the place had its own little cloictheach, as I liave abeady sho^vn, of a much earlier date, and that one of its abbots was the erector of the cloictheach of Tomgraney nearly two centuries previously: and it is therefore not likely that this abbot would have left Clonmacnoise without such a usual and necessary appendage, if it had been previously wanting. I am, therefore, of opinion that the great cloictheach of this place was erected at least as early as the year 908, when the daimliag mor, or cathedral, standing opposite it, in the usual position, was erected by the monarch Flann O'Melaghlin and
ON THE ROUND TOWERS OP IRELAND. 393
the abbot Colmau ; and I tliink it most pi'obable that the fact rela- tive to its erection by Fei-gal O'Roiu-ke, as stated in tlie Registry, was only a tradition founded on the circumstance of the O'Roiu'kes having their place of sepulture near it ; and, consequently, that the entry in the annals only relates to a subsequent restoration of it, ren- dered necessary by some accidental circimistance not recorded.
That this Tower was, indeed, repaired at a period long subse- quent to its erection, there is abundant evidence in the masonry of the building itself, the upper portion being of coarse jointed masonry of hmestone, while the greater part of the tower below it is of close jointed ashlar sandstone ; and besides, it is quite obvious that the Tower, when such restoration Avas made, was reduced considerably in its original height, as proportioned to its circumference. It can scarcely be doubted, however, that tliis restoration is of still later date than that recorded by the annahsts at the year 1124, as we find the following entry in the Chronicon Scotorum, and the Annals of the Four Masters, relative to the destruction of the top of the Tower by hghtmng, in the year 1135.
" A. D. 1135. Ceine fai^nein oo Beim a chino do cloicreacli Cluana mac Noip, agu)^ DO roUab cloicceac l?uip Cp4."
" A. D. 1135. Lightning struck its roof off the cfo/cMt'ac/i of Clonmacnoise, and pierced the cloictheach of Roscrea."
But, be this as it may, we have a decisive evidence in the Annals of the Four Masters to prove that this Tower of Clomnacnoise, if not the smaller one also, was appropriated to the use of a belfry, and knoA\Ti by the same name as originally, so late as the year 1552, Avhen Clonmacnoise Avas plundered by the English garrison of Athlone, — an event of which the tradition of the place still preserves, with all its details, as lively an impression, as if it had been only of recent occurrence. It is thus pathetically recorded:
"A. D. 1552. Innpao 7 opccain Cluana mac Noip la ^allaib Qra luam, 7 na cluicc mopa do bpeic ap an j-cloiccceac. Ni po paccabao pop clocc beaj na mop, loiiiai^, naalcoip, na leabap, na jemao, piu glome li-i b-puinneoicc 6 bulla na h-eccailpi amac nac puccuo eipce. 6u cpuaj cpa an jniorh pm, inDpnb carpac Ciapam, an naom eplaim."
" A. D. 1552. Clonmacnoise was plundered and devastated by the Galls (Englisli) of Athlone, and the large bells were carried from the cloictheach. There was not left, moreover, a bell, small or large, an image, or an altar, or a book, or a gem, or even
3 E
S94 INQUIRY INTO THE OKIGIN AND USES
"'lass in a window, from the wall of the church out, which was not carried off. Lamentable was this deed, the j)luudering of the city of Ciaran, the holy patron."
But, whatever may be the period of the erection of the great Tower of Clonmacnoise, I have found a decisive evidence of the erection of many Towers, as late as the middle of the twelfth centmy, in the fol- lowing cui'ious and important entry in an ancient Antiphonarivuii, formerly belonging to the cathedral church of Armagh, but preserved inUssher's collection of manuscripts (Class B, Tab. I. No. 1), in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. I should add that the age of the original of tliis entry is obviously that of O'CarroU, prince of Oriel, whose death it was intended to record, and tliat the authenticity of the facts enumerated is unquestionable.
" Kal. Ian. .u. p. I. -c. Qnno t)omini m.c.lrr. Opnm ap t)hoiinclKi6 h-Lla CepbaiU, ap aipo-pi^ Cfipjiall, Uip a n-oepnao leabup Cnuic na n-appcal a f,ujmaD, 7 ppim-lebuip uipo bliuotiaiDe, 7 ppim-leabuip aipppmn. Ip e oon an an-pi cebna po cumoin^ an mamipcip uile icip cloic 7 cpann. 7 cue epic 7 pepanO ppia, DO pair a aiima a n-anoip p6il 7 pecuip. Ip leip Oon po h-arnuijeD an eajlup a cip Oipj^iaU, 7 Do ponao ep^oboioe pia^uUa, 7 cucao an eajlup pop comup epcoip. Ip 'n a aimpip po jabao Decmao, 7 po paemao popab, 7 po cumDai^rea ecalpa, 7 Do ponca ceampaiU 7 cloicri;^i, 7 po h-arnuni^cea mai- nipcpe manac 7 cananac 7 caiUec n-DuK, 7 Do ponair neirheDa. Ip lac po co pe 5pepa DO ponaic ppia pair, 7 pe pi^e 1 cip Qip^iall, .1. mainipcep na manac pop bpu 6o)nne loep cloic 7 cpann aiDiiie, 7 libpa 7 epic 7 pepano i pil .c. manac 7 cpi .c. conuenp 7 mainipcep canancic CepmainD Peicin 7 rilainipcep caiUer, 7 ceampoU mop Cepmainn pheicin, 7 ceampoU Lepra Peicin 7 ceampoU * * * ."
"Kalend. Januar. v.feria, luii. x. Anno Domini m. c. Ixx. A prayer for Donnchadh O'Carrol, supreme king oi Airgiall, by whom were made the book of Cnoc n<i n-Apstal at Louth, and the chief books of the order of the year, and the chief books of the mass. It was this great king who founded the entire monastery both [as to] stone and wood, and gave territory and land to it, for the prosperity of his soul, in honor of [SS.] Paul and Peter. By him the church throughout the land of Oirghiall was re- formed, and a regular bishoprick was made, and the church was placed under the jurisdiction of the bishop. In his time tithes were received, and the marriage [ceremony] was assented to, and churches were founded, and temples and doictheacks were made, and monasteries of monks, and canons, and nuns were re-edified, and nemkeds were made. These are especially the works which he performed, for the pros- perity [of his soul] and reign, in the land of Airghiall, namely, the monastery of monks on the bank of the Boyne [both as to] stone and wooden furniture, and books, and territory and land, in which [monastery] there are one hundred monks, and three hundred conventuals, and the monastery of canons oiTermannFeickin, and the monas- tery of nuns, and the great church of Termann Fheicin, and the church of Lepadh Feic/iin, and the church of * * * ."
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 395
In conchision, I have only to add, that it woidd appear prol)al)le, from the following record in the Annals of the Four Masters, that at least one Eound Tower was erected so late as the year 123S, at Annadown, in the County of Galway :
" A. D. 1238. Cloicceac Ganai^ ouin do Denarii."
" A. D. 1238. The Cloictkeach of Eanach duin was erected."
As there is no belfry now remaining at Annadown, it may be uncertain Avhether this cloicfheach was of the usual ancient round form, or of the quadrangular shape, and connected with the church, as generally adopted in Ireland at the period of the Anglo-Norman in- vasion ; but if it be remembered that this Tower is mentioned as a distinct structiu-e, and that its locality was one still peculiarly Irish, while, on the other hand, the square belfry never appears as a distinct structvu'e, it will be scarcely doubted that this Avas a tower of the original Irish kind, and if so, probably one of the last of its class erected in the kingdom.
But Avhether this cloictkeach of AnnadoAvn was of the reijular Komid Tower form or not, it cannot be doubted that some of the Towers existing, or recently so, and particularly those attached to the churches, were of a date but little anterior to the thirteenth centm-y, as that of Trummery, in the County of Antrim, and the ToAver which was attached to Trinity Chiu'ch atGlendalough, and those at Dmigiven and Tamlaghtfinlagan, in the County of Londonderry, of all which descriptions will be given in the Third Part of this Inquiiy. Such deviations from the ancient custom of keeping the belfries detached from the churches are in themselves sufficient evidences that they belong to a later period, and their architectural peculiarities in all these instances satisfactorily prove the fact. In like manner, it might be inferred that the round turret belfries placed upon the chm-ches, of which there are tAvo or three examples remaining, are also of com- paratively recent date, and indicate the transition to the more modern and general usage Avith respect to belfries ; and this inference Avould be sustained by a passage of great antiquity in the Life of St. Moling, preserved in the Book of Leinster, a compilation of the twelfth ceu- tmy. Tliis passage occurs in a prophecy attributed to the saint, Avho, it is stated, had had a vision, in Avhich it Avas revealed to him that he himself Avas the person predestined to bring about the abolition
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wLj' ■' ill*' T^ifniiTip monarck in-
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OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
397
irrLmquc super earn sedificaiiit, et campanas in ea fecit pendere, sicut nunc cerni- ir." — Fleming, Collectanea Sacra, p. 245. — Florilegium, p. 240.
This is a question, however, which ^viU be more particularly con- :<lered in connexion with the remainmg examples of such churcli jwers in the Third Part of this Inquiry.
From the preceding evidences it will be perceived, that in deter- lining the respective ages of the several Round Towers in Ireland, Ae must be almost entirely guided, as in the case of the early Qiu-ches, by their architectvu'al details, — always comparing such de- tils ^\^th those of the churches whose dates are determined, or may fc fauiy presumed ; and such an examination will constitute a pro- rinent featiu-e in the Third Part of this Inquiry. But, as the publi- c tion of that Part must be some time distant, it may be desirable t lit I should adduce here a few characteristic examples of the various
.t:><K^.V!IJS;iS^-^,!'.iS'S^?^:%^5%^^
st^es exhibited in the Towers, and from which a tolerably accurate opiion may be formed as to the respective ages of their erection ; an' that I should also more fully illustrate, by a few sections, their mt inal construction. On this latter point, however, the two illus-
396 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
of an oppressive tax called tlie Borumha Laighean, Avliich the people of Leinster had for centimes paid to the royal i'amily of Tara, but whicli had been remitted for a tune by the reigning monarch, Fin- nachta Fleadliach. But the king coming afterwards into Leinster, with a numerous army, to enforce its payment, was met by St. Moling, who told him of his vision, and predicted, in the following verses, ^x'hat impossibihties and strange occiu"rences shoidd take place be- ibre this revelation Avoidd be nulhfied :
" Copbap caippje ap Daipje Donna, Copbap conna ap jlapf linne, Copbap cloccije op cella, Mipap ella aiplinje."
" Until rocks grow uiion brown oaks, Until boisterous waves be on green pools, Until doictheachs be [placed] over churches, This vision shall not prove delusive."
But, though this ancient passage clearly indicates the general and prevailmg custom of the country, in the seventh centmy, as to the separateness of the belfries from the churches, it does not necessarily follow that no example of their junction had existed in St. Mohng's time, as it should, perhaps, be rather inferred that a knowledge of the existence of some such example, considered as a singularity, had suggested the improbaljility of such a general innovation ; or, that the verses were fabricated at a period, when the tribute referred to was reimposed, and when the innovation had been, to some extent, adopted.
But, however this may be, some of the specunens of Eomid Tower belfries, placed upon the churches in Ireland, indicate a very early antiquity ; and though, possibly, they may not be m every instance coeval with the chiu-ches on which they are placed, they can hardly be of a date long subsequent to them. At all events, examples of belfries upon the chm'ches must have been famihar to the Irish in the ninth century, as we find that, at least, one such, and most pro- bably a round one, — as the Lombard steeples usually were, — was erected on the chiu'ch of St. Columbanus, at Bobbio, when the abbot Agilulfus, who flourished between the years 883 and 905, re-erected that clnu-ch, as appears from the following passage m\he Miracula S. Columhani Ahhatls, cap. 1.
" Ipsam deniqiie eandem Ecclesiam yeaQXsitiWs Ah\)as Agilulfus exlapidibus struxit,
OF THE ROUND TOWEKS OF IRELAND.
397
tiUTimquo super earn sedificiiuit, et campanas in ea fecit pcndere, siciit nunc ccrni- tur." — Fleming, CoUectaiiea Sacra, p. 245. — Florilegium, p. 240.
This is a question, however, "which will be more particularly con- sidered in connexion Avith the reniainuig examples of siicli churcli towers in the Thu'd Part of this Inquiry.
From the preceding evidences it will be perceived, that in deter- mining the respective ages of the several Round Towers in Ireland, we must be almost entirely guided, as in the case of the early churches, by their architectiu-al details, — always comparing such de- tails Avith those of the churches whose dates are determined, or may be fairly presumed ; and such an examination Avill constitute a pro- minent feature in the Third Part of this Inqiury. But, as the publi- cation of that Part must be some tune distant, it may be desirable that I should adduce here a few characteristic examples of the various
styles exhibited iu the Towers, and from which a tolerably accurate opinion may be formed as to the respective ages of their erection ; and that I should also more fully illustrate, by a few sections, their mternal construction. On this latter point, however, the two illus-
398 INQUIRY INTO THE OEIGIN AND USES
trations above will svtffice. The first exhibits the internal construc- tion and measurements of the Round Tower of Clondalkin, near Dublin ; and the second, the internal construction of the Tower of Rattoo, in the Comity of Kerry, — both Towers of high antiquity.
It will be perceived that the Tower of Clondalkin has a singular projecting base, which is nearly thirteen feet in height, and com- posed, in great part, of solid masonry. I have already shown, how- ever, at page 368, from an ancient seal, that the Tower of Roscarbery, in the County of Cork, which does not now remain, had a similar base, and that, in this respect, both these Towers resembled the ancient round castle of Brunless, in Brecknockshire. Above the base the Tower of Clondalkin measures forty-five feet in circimiference, and, with the exception of the chiselled stones round its doorway, it is altogether constructed of common rubble masonry, of tlie calp limestone of the district. The apertirres are all quadrangular, the jambs of the doorway mcHning, as in those of the oldest churches
The church of Cluain Dolcain, according to Colgan, — Acta Sanc- torum, page 677 (correctly 573), — owes its origm to St. Mochua, who was its fii'st abbot, and flourished early in the seventh century. It subsequently rose to the rank of a bishop's see, and became a place of great celebrity. Of its original ecclesiastical edifices the Tower alone remains. Tliere are, indeed, in its immediate vicinity, some ruins of a church, which has obviously been of some architectural importance ; but it appears certain, from di-awings made m 1780, when it was more perfect than it is at present, that it was a struc- ture of the thirteenth century. A large cross of granite, without ornament, a usual accompaniment of our earliest ecclesiastical esta- blishments, is still to be seen in the churchyard.
The Tower of Rattoo, Avhich, like that of Clondalkin, is still per- fect, is remarkable for being placed on a terrace or platform con- nected with a causeway, which extends in a hne opposite its doorway, as showii in the ground-plan on next page. The Tower is formed of roughly-squared, hammered sandstone, the entrance doorway alone iDeing chiselled. It measiu-es forty-seven feet nine inches ui cu'cum- ference at its base, and ninety- two feet in height, the Avail being three feet ten inches in thickness at the doorway. The doorway is semi- circular-headed, the arch being formed of three stones, and it is ornamented \Aath a flat band, nine inches in breadth. It is five feet
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
399
four inches in height, one foot eight inclics in width beluw the aivli, and two feet one incli at the sill. The Tower is divided into six stories, that at the top containing, as usual, four large apertures facing the cardinal points. These apertures have sloping jambs, and are, externally, angular-headed, but are quadi'angular internally. The
1.*
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intermediate stories between the uppermost and the second, or door- way story, are each lighted by a single aperture ; but, in consequence of the Tower being enveloped in ivy, tlieii" exact situations cannot be detenniued, "wdth the exception of one m the fifth story, lately exposed by a storm, and Avhich is angular-headed, and faces the east. The lowest story is filled up to the level of the doorway. It will be perceived from the section above given, that between the floors of each of the stories, rough corbel stones project from the wall about the middle of its height ; and this is not an imcommon feature in the interior of the Towers, such coi'bel stones, in one example — that of the Tower of Ardmore, in the County of Waterford — being sculptiu'ed with animal and human heads, and other ornaments. My late ingenious friend, Mr. A^"illiam jNIorrison, suggested to me that these corbels might possible be for the purpose of fixing ladders to join the stories, as shoAvn in the annexed outline ; but a more probable conjectm-e, to my mind, is, that they were intended as supports for shelves, on which to place the precious things deposited in the Towers.
P)^
-at -j: ^»as. ar
,if//'i//fii
! hmij</*>.rt ,
>h'-,r'
.' name was RtiA
.^ nonfaem. pfaan .
-n It inxa 5.irA Miiighe
vvhi' - -ocal cor-
ruption <■}'( cj/tnfthm^.k. or rjrnffbp/i. According to the local tradition of rtir; [>l8/'v va« a a, placed in the upp^ a»rjr of the
TowT, and vvliir.h had — andtlii^bellisno-w
r'/>r)fAH\c'\ in thf, 'A4]{i/'.i-u' i.i ■]>'.! a. nii' v nch it wns tiirowii for !4«f»'f,y diirinj? t.hfi " troubles/' i (^annot. IioNveva:. be now found, fhouji^h, »>< it, w H<ad, it iisftd fomerly direct attentioa to its localitv. by (>f/'fimtr\(i\\y fmiittinjr meiancbly tonea.
Tn flic nftijifhlxnjrhood of the Tiwer there are ruins of two churches.
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nitk
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licillifi ol uliii li, li(>\v('vor, is of a antiquity at all approaching that of ilii I'owtt^Md^do not (Icninndany particular notice in this place, dticctl, in conrxioii with the preceding general
OF THE EOUND TO'ERS OF IRELAND.
401
remarks on the construction of tl> Towers, tliat the division into stories is somethnes marked extcnally by set-offs ; and hi one in- stance, the Tower of Ardmore, b^ bands or belts. With a single exception, however, they present o ornament externally, except in their doorways and upper apertur-^. I allude to the Eomid Tower of Devenish, which has a richly-^dptm-ed band or cornice, placed immediately beneath its conical lof, the whole of which is repre- sented in the preceding illustratioi
I must defer, however, an inqiry into the age of these sculptures, as leading to a digression that wuld be somewhat irrelevant here, and which I therefore reserve for Ce Third Part of this Work.
Having premised thus much, dative to the general form and constraction of the Towers, I hav- next to notice their details ; and of these the doorways are the mo: important, as enabhng us to de- termine, by their architectural fetures, the respective ages of the Towers to which they belong.
The oldest Towers are obvioidy those constructed of spawled
M*»Z
-ik
masonry and large hammered ston^:, and which present simple qua- drangular and semicircular-arched oorways, vdth sloping jambs, and
3f
i
400
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
But little is known of the history of the ecclesiastical estabhsh- ment to which this Tower belonged, beyond the fact that it was, at an ancient period, the seat of a bishopric, the boimdaries of which were defined at the Synod of Rath Breasail in or about the year 1118 ; and that, according to the tradition of the country, there were anciently seven churches at the place. Its ancient name was Rath Muighe tuaiscirt, i. e. the rath, or earthen fort of the northern plain ; the word tuaiscirt being added to distinguish it from Rath Muighe deiscirt, now Eattas. — See p. 169.
This Tower is now popularly kno^\^l by the name Giolcach, by which is understood a bell-house, and which is obviously a local cor- ruption of c/o^^^Amc//, or doictheach. According to the local tradition of the place, there was a silver bell placed in the upper story of the Tower, and which had a remarkably sweet tone, — and this bell is now concealed hi the adjacent River Brick, into which it was thrown for safety during the " troubles." It cannot, however, be now found, though, as it is said, it used formerly direct attention to its locality, by occasionally emitting melancholy tones.
In the neio-hbourliood of the Tower there are ruins of two chiu'ches,
North
East
Scidh
KcU
neither of which, however, is of an antiquity at all approaching that
of the Tower, and do not demand any particular notice in this place.
I should have noticed, in connexion with the preceding general
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
401
remarks on the construction of the Towers, that the division into stories is sometunes marked externally by set-ofFs ; and in one in- stance, the Tower of Ai'dmore, by bands or belts. With a single exception, however, they present no ornament externally, except in then" doorways and upper apertiu'es. I allude to the Romid Tower of Devenish, which has a richly-sculptured band or cornice, placed immediately beneath its conical roof, the whole of Avhicli is repre- sented in the precedhig illustration.
I must defer, however, an inquuy into the age of these scidptures, as leading to a digression that would be somewliat irrelevant here, and which I therefore reserve for the Tliird Part of tliis Work.
Havmg premised thus much, relative to the general form and constraction of tlie Towers, I liave next to notice their details ; and of these the doorways are the most important, as enabhng us to de- termine, by their architectural features, the respective ages of the Towers to which they belong.
The oldest Towers are obviously those constructed of spawled
masonry and large hammered stones, and Avhich present simple qua- di-angular and semickcular-arched doorways, with slopmg jambs, and
3 F
402
INQUIRY INTO THE OHIGIN AND USES
little or no onuuneiit, perfectly similar to the doorways of the earliest churches. As an example of the quacbangular doorway, with in- clined jambs, and large lintel, I have given, on the preceding page, an illustration of the doorway of the Roimd Tower of Drumbo, in the Coimty of Down.
This doorway, which, as well as the other parts of the Tower, is constructed of spawled rubble masonry of the limestone of the coun- try, measures five feet eight inches in height, two feet six inches in breadth below the lintel, and two feet ten inches at the sill stone, which is now destroyed, and the wall is four feet in thickness. It is at present only about foiu" feet above the level of the ground, which has been much raised by interments about it, so that there is no doubt that its elevation was originally at least eight or ten feet The foundations of the original church, which are situated twenty-four feet to the south-east of the Tower, only remain, but they are enough to enable us to determine that it was a simple quadi'angle, measimug forty-five feet in length, and twenty in breadth. The erection of this church is ascribed to St. Patrick in the oldest Lives of that saint, and a St. Mochiunma was abbot here abou.t the beginning of the seventh century.
^^^S^
1 have already stated that many of the Towers have in their se- cond story an aperture placed directly over the entrance doorway, but little inferior to it in size, and which might be considered as a
UiTiTJ •
te:'
inv.
Tfc
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
403
3 'it
-:I1«I11
■mil - sveith I
second doorway. Such second apertures, when the original doorway is quadranguUir, are always of the same form, — as sho^v^l in the an- nexed illustrations of the lower and upper doorways of tliL' Kouud Tower of Swords. The lower doorway is at present but three feet above the level of the ground, and measures six feet in height, two feet in width at the top, and two feet two inches at the bottom. The second aperture, which is twenty feet from the ground, is four feet in height, and two feet in width. The church of Swords owes its origin to the great St. Columbkille, and was originally erected previously to the year 563.
As a similar example of the (quadrangular doorway, but of better masonry, I subjoin an illustration of the doorway of the Round Tower
of Antrim. This doorway, which is placed at an elevation of about twelve feet from the ground, is constructed of large blocks of coarse- grained basalt found in the neighbourhood, many of the stones ex- tending the entire thickness of the wall, which is tliree feet three inches. It is but four feet four inches in height, one foot ten inches in width at the top, and two feet at the bottom.
This doorway is remarkable in having a pierced cross within
3 F 2
402
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
little or no oniameut, perfectly similar to the doorways of the earliest churches. As an example of the quadrangular doorway, with in- clined jambs, and large Untel, I have given, on the preceding page, an illustration of the doorway of the Round Tower of Drumbo, in the Comity of Down.
This doorway, wliich, as well as the other parts of the Tower, is constructed of spawled rubble masomy of the hmestone of the coun- try, measiu'es five feet eight inches in height, two feet six inches in breadth beloAV the hntel, and two feet ten inches at the sill stone, which is now destroyed, and the wall is four feet in tliickness. It is at present only about four feet above the level of the ground, which has been much raised by interments about it, so that there is no doubt that its elevation was origmally at least eight or ten feet The foundations of the original chiu'ch, wliich are situated twenty-four feet to the south-east of the Tower, only remain, but they are enough to enable us to determine that it was a simple quadrangle, measiuing forty-five feet in length, and twenty in breadth. The erection of this church is ascribed to St. Patrick in the oldest Lives of that samt, and a St. Mochumma was abbot here about the beginning of the seventh centiu-y.
^fflfc'j^^S^-
1 have already stated that many of the Towers have in tlieir se- cond story an aj^erture placed directly over the entrance doorway, but little inferior to it in size, and which might be considered as a
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
403
second doorway. Such second apertures, when the original doorway is quadrangular, are always of the same form, — as shown in tlie an- nexed illustrations of the lower and upper doorways of the Round Tower of Swords. The lower doorway is at present but three feet above the level of the ground, and measures six feet in height, two feet in width at the top, and two feet two inches at the bottom. The second apertvire, which is twenty feet from the ground, is four feet in height, and two feet in width. The church of Swords owes its origin to the great St. Colunibkille, and was originally erected previously to the year 563.
As a similar example of the quadrangular doorway, but of bettei' masonr}', I subjoin an illustration of the doorway of the Roiuid Tower
of Antrim. This doorway, which is placed at an elevation of about twelve feet from the gi'ound, is constructed of large blocks of coarse- grained basalt fomid in the neighbourhood, many of the stones ex- tending the entire thickness of the wall, which is three feet three inches. It is but four feet four inches in height, one foot ten inches in width at the top, and two feet at the bottom.
This doorway is remarkable in having a pierced cross within
3 F 2
404
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
a circle, sculptured in relievo on the stone immediately over the hntel, somewhat similar to that on the hntel of the doonvay of St. Fechin's chiu'ch at Fore, of Avhich I have given an illustration at p. 1 74 ; and such sculptiu'cs appear to me to fiu'nish a strong evidence that both chiu'ches and towers were regarded as sanctuaries.
It is remarkable that though the formdation of the church of Antrim is ascribed — perhaps erroneously, — to St. Mochaoi, a cotem- porary of St. Patrick's, who died, according to the Irish annahsts, m the year 496, the popular tradition of the country ascribes the erection of the Tower to the celebrated builder called Goban Saer, who flou- rished in the seventh century.
As examples of early semicircular-headed doorways, without or- nament, and in which the arch is formed by cuttings in the horizontal
stones, I annex engravings of the doorways of the Towers of Kil- macduagh, in the County of Galway, and of Glendalough, in the County ofWicklow, both, as there ishttle doubt, erected early in the seventh century.
The doorway of the Tower of Kilmacduagh, which is placed at an elevation of twenty-six feet fi'om the gi-ound, is constructed of large blocks of limestone of the district, and measm-es six feet ten inches in height, and two feet ten inches in width at the sill ; and the wall is foiu: feet four inches in tliickness.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
405
I have akeady stated, at p. 176, that the gi'eat chiirch of Kilniac- duagh was erected about the yeai' 610, for St. Colman ]\Iac Duach, by liis kinsman, Gnaire Aidhne, king of Connaught ; and the perfect similarity of the masonry of the Tower to that of the origmal portions of the great church, leaves no doubt of their being cotemporaueous structiu-es. In the popular traditions of the country the erection of both is assigned to the Goban Saer, and these traditions are not falsi- fied by being at variance "with the kno^ra period at which he nourished.
The doorway of the Tower of Glendalough, it will be perceived.
has a perfect similarity of form and style of construction to that of the Tower of Kilmacduagh; audit is not unhkely that both are the work of the same eminent builder, with whose era the erection of the great chiu'ch of Glendalough would very well synchronise. It is placed at an elevation of about ten feet from the present level of the gi'ound, which, however, is now considerably raised by old interments. It is constructed of blocks of granite, chiselled, though the wall of the Tower generally is formed of rubble masonry of the mica slate of the adjacent mountains, — and in this cu'cumstance it resembles the
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doorways of several of the churches in the valley. It measures five feet seven inches and a half in height, one foot ten inches in width below the arch stone, and two feet at the sill. The thickness of the wall is four feet.
In many of the most ancient semicircular-headed doorways we find the head constructed on the regular principle of the arch, as in the illustration of the doorway of the Tower of Oughterard, in the County of Kildare, given on the last page, in which the arch is formed of tlu'ee stones; or, as m the doorway of the Tower on Tory Island, off the north coast of the County of Donegal, in which the arch is formed of a uimiber of small stones, as shewn in the next illus- tration.
The Tower of Oughterard was connected wdth a church of nuns, founded in the sixth or seventh centiuy by a Saint Bridget, a diffe- rent person fi'om the more celebrated saint of that name, of Kildare : and the Tower on Toiy Island was connected with a monastery foimded there in the sixth century by St. Columbkille.
I should have remarked that the quadrangular doorways of the Towers never exhibit ornaments of any kind; but those which are arched are often adorned, — and of these, the most ancient appear
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to be those wliicli are ornamented witli a plain flat baud or architrave, as in the annexed ilkistration of the doorway of the Tower of Roscre^, the internal construction of which I have already noticed.
And in the doorways of those Towers of better masonic con- struction, and, as there is every reason to believe, of later date, these bands are often oniamented with one, two, or three torus mouldings : such, for example, is the doorway of the Tower of Monasterboice, in the County of Louth, represented in the illustration on the next page, and which is further remarkable as exhibiting the idea of the cross by a connexion of the mouldings at the top and at each side.
That the Tower, in which this doorway is foimd, is of a different age from that of either of the churches at Monasterboice, would be at once apparent to any skilful observer, being obviously much more recent than the one, and more ancient than the other. In the oldest of these churches the doorway presents the usual horizontal head, and the whole masomy of the church is in a ruder style, and com-
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posed of tlie limestone of tlie country. It may not, therefore, be considered an improbable conjectiu-e, if Ave assign tlie erection of tliis Tower to tliat period in Trliicli the richly sculptiu'ed stone crosses were raised, winch now impart such interest to tliis locahty, and which can hardly be of a date anterior to the ninth century. Of this fact
the representation of our Saviour crucified, wliich is found on both the crosses, might be deemed a suificient evidence, for I do not know of any examples of such representation of a date anterior to that period ; but we have fortunately, in an inscription carved on one of these crosses, a sufficiently decisive evidence as to their age, and wliich will leave Httle, if any, doubt, that the cross was erected in the ninth or tenth centmy. The inscription is as follows : " on t)o muiRet)ach cas i NbeRNat) in chRossa."
" A PRAYER FOR MUIREDACH BY WHOM WAS MADE THIS CROSS."
U then we find that there was an abbot of tliis name, Muiredach, at Monasterboice, the natural inference will be, that he was the
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 40 !>
erector of this erost* ; but iiuriirUuiatcly ^\•e learn, Iroiu ihe Irisii Annals, that there were two of the name, one who died in the year 844, and the other in the year 924, so that it must be a matter of some uncertainty, to which of these the erection of the cross shoidd be ascribed. This is a difficulty, however, which, to my mind, is gi'eatly decreased by the nature of the entries respecting those per- sons, in the Annals, and from which it clearly appears that the latter of these Miuredachs was a man of much greater distinction, and pi'o- bably wealth, than the former, and therefore more likely to have; been the erector of the crosses at Monasterboice, and, as I conceive, their cotemporaneous Tower. Thus, in the Annals of Ulster, the death of the first Muiredach is entered simply as follows :
" A. D. 844. mupe&acli, mac plainn, ubbap monij'cpech 6uici mopruup cyz." " A. D. 844. Muireducli, son of Flann, abbot of Monastier Buiti, died."
While the death of the second is thus entered :
" A. D. 9'-i3, I'e/ 924. lllupebach mac tDomiiaill, canupe ab Qipb muclia, 7 apo maep Oa Neilt m oepceipr, 7 comapba 6uici, mic 6p6iiui^, cenn aDcomcipc pep m-bpej n-uile, ocaib, cleipchib, qiiinca bie Kal Decembpip uira oeceppic."
"A. D. 923, or 924. Muiredach, son of Domlinall, tanist-abbot of Armagh, and chief Stewart of the southern Hy Niall, and successor of Buiti, the son of Bronach, head of the council of all the men of Bregia, laity and clergy, departed this life on the fifth day of the Calends of December."
The death of this Muiredach is similarly entered in the Annals of the Four INIasters, except that they call him " the Stewart of the people of Patrick (Armagh), from Sliabh Fuaid to Leinster."
Moreover, the close resemblance between the subjects of the sculptiu'es on this cross, and the style of their execution, to those of the great cross at Clonmacnoise, which I have shown to be of the early part of the tenth century, strongly corroborates the inference, as to its date, Avliich I have dr-aAvn from the preceding historical notices.
It is to this period, also, that I would ascribe the erection of the neighboiu'ing Round Tower of Donaghmore, in the County of Meath, the doorway of which is so remarkable in having a figure of our Saviour crucified sculptui'ed in relievo on its key-stone, and the stone immediately over it. This doorway, wdiich is placed at an elevation of twelve feet from the base of the Tower, measures five feet tw(j inches in height, and its inclined jambs are two feet three inches
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asunder at tlie sill, and two feet at the spring of the arch. It Avill be perceived tliat tliere is a human head carved on each side of the door, — tlie one partly on the band, and the other outside it.
' 'H'y *
Some of the autagonists of the Chi'istiau origin of the Bound Towers have asserted that this doorway " plamly appears, to an ob- servmg eye, to be an after work;" but there is not the shghtest grounds for such an assertion; and, as Sir Richard Colt Hoare, a profoimdly skilful antiquary, observes, this doorway furnishes " a decided proof that these buildings" [the Round Towers] "were not (as some writers have conjectured) built by the Pagans." To me, indeed, it establishes more, namely, that many of the Towers were erected not earher than tlie tenth centiuy. A similarly ornamented door- way, presenting a representation of the crucifixion, but Avdth richer sculptiu'es, is foimd in the Round Tower of Brecliin, in Scotland, which, as I shall show in the Third Part of this Work, there is every reason to beheve was erected about the year 1020, and by Irish ecclesiastics. The erection of the original church of Donaghraore, anciently called Domhnach mor Muighe Echnach, i. e. the great cluu'ch
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
411
of the plain of Echnach, is ascribed to St. Patrick, who pLiced liere his disciple Cassanus, whose relics were preserved in this church, and held in the highest veneration for ages after his death. — See Trias Thaum., pp. 130, 131. Of tliis original chiu'ch, however, there are now no remains, and its site is occupied by a chiu'ch, in the pointed style of architecture of the thirteenth or fourteenth century.
As a specimen of a doorway, which exhibits a more regular ma- somy than any of the preceding, and wliich there is every reason to believe to be of somewhat later age, I annex an illustration of the doorway of the greater Tower of Clonmacnoise ; and as I ha\e treated so much of this Tower in several parts of this work, I also add a view of the Tower itself, wliich is finely situated on the brow of a bank on the south-east side of the Shannon, and amid scenery of a solemn and desolate character, which add greatly to its poetical interest.
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This Tower is constructed of a line sandstone, and its masomy is laid in regular coiu'ses, except about twenty feet of the upper por- tion, which is of coarse masonry of undi'essed limestone, and which, —
like tlie upper part of the Round Tower of Tullaherin, in the County of Kilkenny, and some others, — is evidently the work of a later pe- riod than the lower part. It rests, as usual, on a projecting cu'cidar l)liiith, and measui'es fifty-six feet in circvmiference at its base. Its present height is but sixty-two feet, in addition to which, we must allow about seventeen feet for the conical roof, which is now want- ing : but, there is no reason to doubt that it was originally one of the highest of its kind in Ii-elaud, for, as I have already remarked, it was, obviousl}', not restored to its original altitude, when the pre- sent upper portion was re-erected. The wall is three feet nine inches in thickness. The interior exhibits rests for foiu" stories, including that on a level ■with the doorway, and beneath Avhich there was a fifth story, not liglited. The second and tluixl stories ai'e each lighted by a
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
413
single quadrangular aperture ; and the upper story, as in the Tower of Tullaherin, contains eight openings of the same form. The door- way is five feet three inches in height, two feet three inches in width, immediately under the imposts, and two feet six inches, at the sill. The key-stone, and those forming the imposts, extend the entire thickness of the wall, as does the sill-stone also, which is five feet in length.
I have now to notice the peculiarities of the upper apertm'es oi" the Towers. The apertiu'cs in the uppermost story are almost inva- riably of larger size than those in the lower stories, including even the doorways. The apertm-es in the nitermediate stories, between the uppermost and the doorway, are usually of very small size. In many of the Towers, however, an apertiu'e placed in one of those in- termediate stories directly over the doorway, is, as I have already remarked, little, or not at all inferior in size to the doorway. In the
external forms of these apertiu'cs there are but three varieties, namely, the quadrangular, the semicircular-headed, and the angular- headed ; and the jambs, in all cases, incline : but, in then- internal construction, they present several varieties, which I shall presently notice. As an example of a ho:-izontal-headed aperture, I have given above an illustration of one of those in the Round ToAver of Cashel,
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which will be further interesting, as exhibiting the cimous Etruscan character of the masonry of this, and so many of the other towers and chm-ches, and which will be still better sho-wn in the annexed speci- men, from its base.
Of these three forms of aperture, we often find examples in the same Tower, as in the three annexed examples, from the Tower of Kells :
-hliit^jnit
In many of the apertures, however, which exhibit semicircular and angular heads, these forms are only external, and theii' internal construction preserves the quadi-angular form, by a lintel, more or less recessed, which rests upon the jambs, — as shown in the two next illustrations, — the first representing one of the angular-headed aper-
ON THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
415
tiu"es ill tlie uppermost story of the Tower of Cashel, which is fiu'ther remarkable in having its angular head formed of a single stone ; and the second, a semicircular-headed aperture in the Tower of Dysert.
Moreover, many of the angular-headed apertures have recessed semicircular arches, instead of the more usual horizontal lintels, such
arches being sometimes formed of a single stone, and at other times of several stones, on the regular principle of the arch, — as in the prefixed
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example, showing the large aperture placed directly over the door- way of the Round Tower of Eoscrea : and, I should further remark, that these large apertiu'es, or second doorways, are almost always of this angidur-headed form. In one mstance alone are the apertiu-es
recessed, namely, those of the small Tower attached to the chiu'ch called Teampull Finghin, at Clonmacnoise, — a building obviously of much later date than the generality of the Round Towers, and which presents an equally singvdar peculiarity in the construction of its roof, as compared with those of the other Towers, namely, its ma- sonry being of that description called herring-bone, or, i-ather, herring- bone ashlar, and the only instance of such construction which these buildings now exhibit. Having treated of this chiu'ch so much in detail, and given its ground plan at p. 267, I am induced here to annex an illustration exhibiting its present state.
^** S-— - -
This Tower, as well as the chm-ch Avith which it is connected, is wholly built of ashlar masonry, of a fine sandstone, laid in hori-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 417
zontal courses, and is of unusually small size ; its height, including the conical roof, being but fifty-six feet, its cii'cimiference thirty-nine feet, and the thickness of its wall, three feet. Its interior exhibits rests for five floors, each story, as usual, being lighted by a small apertui'e, except the uppermost, which, it is remarkable, has but two openings, one facing the north, and the other, the south. These openings are also remarkable for then- small size ; and, in form, some are rectanguhu', and others semicii'cular-headed.
Since the preceding sheets were written, the search for interments in the Towers has been prosecuted with great zeal, not only in tlie southern but in the northern counties of Ireland ; biit the results have not been such as to require any further observation in tliis place, though I shall notice them, hereafter, in connexion with my descriptions of those Towers, where I shall prove that, whatever may have been the ages of the bones stated to have been Ibund be- neath them, the ToAvers, at least, had no pretensions to an early antiquity. And yet, these discoveries have been deemed so conclu- sive, as settling the antiquity and uses of the Towers, that the northern and southern antiquaries have each set up their respective claims to the honour due to first discoverers, and entered into a controversy wliich may yet rival, if not throw into the shade, the celebrated con- tention of the Irish bards of the seventeenth century, for the rival glory of Leth Cuinn and Leth Mogha, or the northern and southern halves of Ireland. With this conti'oversy, however, I have nothing to do, — though, as a native of the intennechate province of Leinster, I think I might claim from both the honoiu- of, at least, originating these investigations for my own locality', as I believe it cannot be questioned that Sir William Bethani's statement as to the discovery of a pagan lU'n, filled with bimied bones, in the Tower of Timahoe, gave the first Imit to these laborious investigators, both in the south and noith. And on tliis statement of Sir William Betliam I am advised to make a few comments, though, in truth, it appears to me scarcely worthy of such notice. This discovery, long since put for- ward by Sir- William Betham, in various ways, has been finally thus stated, in the second volmneofhis Etruria-Celtica :
" The reliqiies of Buddliist saints, even a tooth, or collar bone, were held in such great sanctity and veneration, as to induce the pious zeal of kings to erect towers over them. In this respect our Irish towers also are singixlarly identical.
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" Some years since, Mr. MkKlKion, who lives iu tlu" iK'iglil'o\iiin.HHl nf Tiuialioi', ill tlio Queen's County, tolil nie tluit a peasant having IVeijuently ilreanieil that treasure was liid in the round tower of that plaee, indueed two others to join him, and went at night, anil liaving removed the earth, came to a ihig-stone, whieh they raised, and discovered an urn witli bones therein. Mr. Middleton nssureil me lie liad often con- versed with those men, and had no doubt, whatever, of tlie trulli and accuracy of the statement. 1 mentioned this fact to Mr. (Jeori^e I'etrie, but hu repudiated the idea, as utterly unworthy of belief.
" Some years afterwards I became acipiainled with Mr. Moore, of Cremorgi'n, near Timahoe, and 1 retiucsted him to inmiire into the facts. Siiortly after 1 received froni that gentleman a letter, of which the following is a copy, fully bearing out Jlr. Mid- lilcton's statement : —
" 'My dear Sir, — When 1 was last in town, you expressed a wish that I should nnike some inquiries respecting tJie Hound Tower of Timahoe, in the Queen's County ; 1 have accordingly done so, and find that about fifty years ago, some jwrsons were tempted to dig within the Tower in search of money, when, having gone as di-ep as three feet, the}' found a flag, and over it a very large rib, which they supposed to b« that of a horse, on finding whieh, the search was discontiuui.il till many years after, wlien some persons again connncnced digging in the Tower, when having gone down about thi-ce or four feet farther thau the former jiersons they found a flag (stone), and under it an earthen vessel filleil with biines, having the appcanmce of being burnetl. This circunistanee causwi no surjirise in the persons searching, as in almost every sand-hill in the neighbourhood (of which there are a great number), similar earthen vessels, tilled with bones, have been found, at from four to eight feet down. I received this account from eye-witnesses, on whom I could deiK'nd.
" ' Believe me to be, your's very truly,
" ' Pierce Moobe.'
" This letter, in my mind, demolishes the notion of these buildings being K-ltVies, or even Christian buildings. Cremation, so far as history informs us, never obtained as a mode of sepulture among Christians, therefore, urns and burned K>nes bt'ing found buriixl within the Tower of Timahoe, demonstrates an earlier jH-rii-Kil for the erection of the Round Towers." — £trnria-Celtica, vol ii. pp.200, 201.
Oil this Statement, then, I have in the first phice to remark, that 1 acknowledge that it is quite true, tliat when Sir William Betiiara first aeiiuainteil me with this alleged fact, I did "repmliate the idea, as utterly unworthy of belief;" and now that it is, as Sir William Betliam supposes, proved by Mr. MtK>re's letter, I must say, without imputing anything like intentional misrepresentation to that gentle- man, tluit I totally reject the tale of his intormants. If a psigan urn were found in this Tower, how comes it that, after all the recent ex- plorations of so many other Towers, no second urn has been found? And, if the discovery of cremated bones be necessary to prove the pagan origin of the Towers, how comes it that none of the bones found
OF THE ROCSD TOWERS OF IRELAXD
il'J
.11 [ill.. _
tlLv
1- *lii'ii
■ mf«vi>l
in the other Towers were burned? — for, as to the urn said to have Ixjen found in the Round Tower of Brechin, I tliink I may say, — to use a favourite phrase of Sir William's own, — I have demolished that. And even if an urn were found within this Tower of Timahoe, would it necessarily follow that all the Towers were built as j>agan sepul- chres? And might not the wall of the tower have Ijeen built around one of those low sand hills, which, Mr. Mo<jre says, arc so numerous in its vicinity, and of wliich each has similar sepulchral deposits ? Is a question of this nature to l)e thus disposed of by a hearsay story, of more than fifty years' standing, in opposition, as Sir William Betham himself acknowledges, to the evidence of the authentic annals of the country- ? Has this story even one circiunstance connected with it, that would entitle it to credit? Does it condescend even to give the name of the finder of the urn, or U^ offer evidence of any kind that it was a pagan sepulchral vase, and not a specimen of that characteristic, but more modem rflazed pottery, found in the Tower of Brecliin ? The truth is, that it would be diificult, as I know from experience, to find a peasant, or even farmer in Ireland, who would know what the word urn means, or who, if they saw such a thing, would apply any other term to it than crock. And, I should add, that there is scarcely a ruined tower, castle, or abbey in Ireland, of which a similar atory is not related. It is one of the popular legends of the country; the crock of goold seen V)y night being always • onverted by the " gorxl people," or "gentry," into a crock ofhonen, — burned or unbumed the legend sayeth not, — in the light of day.
But — to Ix; more serious, if possible — Sir WilUam Betham has Ix'cn unhappy in his selection of this Tower of Timahoe, as the monument, in which the alleged discovery was made which was to set, what he calls, " the long agitated qufjBstio vexata" at rest for ever, for, unfortunately, it so happens, that this ver}- Tower is, as I have already shown, one of those which* is proved, by all its architectural features, to be a building nf>t earlier than the ninth or tenth centurj-; and though Sir William Betham has not hitherto been able to per- ceive this fact, I need have very little apprehension that it will now l)e acknowledged by the true anti^iuarj' everj'where. In truth, the Christian architecture of this Tower is so incontrovertibly marked, that even the discovery of a pagan um in it, if such were established, would no more prove it to be a pagan Tower, than the finding a
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" Some years since, Mr. Middleton, \vlio lives in the neiglibourliood of Timahoe, in the Queen's County, told me that a peasant having frequently dreamed that treasure was hid in the round tower of that place, induced two otliers to join him, and went at nio-ht, and having removed the earth, came to a flag-stone, which they raised, and discovered an urn with bones therein. Mr. Middleton assured me he had often con- versed with those men, and had no doubt, whatever, of the truth and accuracy of the statement. I mentioned this fact to Mr. George Petrie, but he repudiated the idea, as utterly unworthy of belief.
" Some years afterwards I became acquainted with Mr. Moore, of Cremorgen, near Timahoe, and I requested him to inquire into the facts. Shortly after I received from that gentleman a letter, of which the following is a copy, fully bearing out Mr. Mid- dleton's statement : —
" ' My dear Sir, — When I was last in town, you expressed a wish that I should make some inquiries respecting the Eound Tower of Timahoe, in the Queen's County ; I have accordingly done so, and find that about fifty years ago, some persons were tempted to dig within the Tower in search of money, when, having gone as deep as three feet, they found a flag, and over it a very large rib, which they supposed to be that of a horse, on finding which, the search was discontinued till many years after, when some persons again commenced digging in the Tower, when having gone down about three or four feet farther than the former persons they found a flag (stone), and under it an earthen vessel filled with bones, having the appearance of being burned. This circumstance caused no svirprise in the persons searching, as in almost every sand-hill in the neighbourhood (of which there are a great number), similar earthen vessels, filled with bones, have been found, at from four to eight feet down. I received this account from eye-witnesses, on vrhom I could depend.
" ' Believe me to be, your's very truly,
" ' Pierce Moore.'
" This letter, in my mind, demolishes the notion of these buildings being belfries, or even Christian buildings. Cremation, so far as history informs us, never obtained as a mode of sepulture among Christians, therefore, urns and burned bones being found buried within the Tower of Timahoe, demonstrates an earlier period for the erection of the Eound Towers." — Etruria-Celtica, vol. ii. pp.200, 201.
On this statement, then, I have in the first place to remark, that I acknowledge that it is quite tnie, that when Sir Wilham Betham first acquainted me with this alleged fiict, I did "repudiate the idea, as utterly unAvorthy of belief;" and now that it is, as Sir William Betham supposes, proved by Mr. INIoore's letter, I must say, without imputing anything like intentional misrepresentation to that gentle- man, that I totally reject the tale of his informants. If a pagan vu-n were found in this Tower, how comes it that, after all the recent ex- plorations of so many other Towers, no second urn has been found ? And, if the discovery of cremated bones be necessary to prove the pagan origin of the Towers, how comes it that none of the bones found
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 419
ill the Other Towers were bitrned? — for, as to the urn said to have been found in the Round Tower of Brechin, I tliink I may say, — tcj use a favourite phrase of Sir William's own, — I have demolished that. And even if an urn were foiuid within this Tower of Timahoe, would it necessarily follow that all the Towers Avere built as pagan sepul- chres? And might not the Avail of the tower have been built around one of those low sand liills, Avhich, Mr. Moore says, are so numerous in its vicinity, and of which each has similar sepidchral deposits ? Is a question of tliis nature to be thus tlisposed of by a hearsay storj^ of more than fifty years' standing, in opposition, as Sir William Betham himself acknowledges, to the evidence of the authentic annals of the country ? Has this story even one circumstance connected with it, that would entitle it to credit? Does it condescend even to give the name of the finder of the urn, or to offer evidence of any kind that it Avas a pagan sepidchral vase, and not a specimen of that characteristic, but more modern glazed pottery, found in the ToAver of Brechin ? The truth is, that it Avould be difficult, as I knoAv from experience, to find a peasant, or even farmer in Ireland, Avho Avould knoAV Avhat the Avord urn means, or who, if they saAv such a thing, Avould apply any other term to it than crock. And, I should add, that there is scarcely a ruined tower, castle, or abbey in Ireland, of Avhich a similar story is not related. It is one of the popular legends of the country; the crock of gookl seen by night being always couA'erted by the "good people," or "gentry," into a, crock of bones, — burned or unburned the legend sayeth not, — in the light of day.
But — to be more serious, if possible — Sir William Betham has been unhappy in his selection of this ToAver of Timahoe, as the monmiient, in Avhich the alleged discovery was made Avhich Avas to set, Avhat he calls, " the long agitated qucestio ve.mta" at rest for ever, for, unfortunately, it so happens, that this very Tower is, as I haA^e already shown, one of those wliich- is proved, by all its architectural features, to be a building not earlier than the nmth or tenth century; and though Sir William Betham has not hitherto been able to per- ceive this fact, I need have very little apprehension that it Avill noAv be acknoAvledged by the true antiquary everyAvhere. In truth, the Christian architectvu-e of this Tower is so incontrovertibly marked, that even the fliscovery of a pagan urn in it, if such were established, Avoidd no more prove it to be a pagan ToAver, than the finding a
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rSQXTEET ESTTO BE OBIGES A5D USES
DTiTse of ancient Koman mon'^r'jn a man's pocket, would prove that man to be an ancient Eoman. r " the Wandering Jew."
There is one other statemei in this work of Sir William Betliam, which it is necessary I should ntice. It will be recollected by those who have read the First Part c this Inquiry, that the advocates of the several erroneous theories aranced, have each found, or siipposed they found, a name for the Twers in the Irish language, which proved the truth of their hvpdiesis. But it remained for Sir Wil- liam Betham to discover, that lOt onlv aU these theorists were in error, but, also, that the wholdx)dy of Irish writers, annalists, law commentators, hagiologists, and>oets, were alike ignorant of the form and meaning of the name applid to these Towers in their own laii- suase, and which, according to S- WUliam Betham, signified nothing else than monuments jor the did. But I must allow Sir TVilham Betham to speak for himself :
" I ihalL towever, remark upon a ruor error which has hid grtat currency among Iri=h antiquaries, who hare asserted thiither were called closceac, tteefief. bel/riei. Bells are of CMnparatively recent introduion into Ireland, and doeks^ from which the word has evidently been derived, still nre modem. This blunder has arisen from ignorance of the language. I have a maorandTim in an Irish MS., that they were called by the people leaccaio, that is, nuumentt of the dead, the sound of which has been mistaken by those who but imperftlv knew the language; many writers have been misled by this. An error once proirlgated by an anliqtiary of reputation, takes such hold on public opinion, that it sooiDecomes an established dogma, to question which, even although palpably erroneou.- is sure to provoke almost persecution."— Etruria-Cdtica, vol. u. p. 210.
As I should be sorry that Sir William Betham should include me in the hst of his persecutors, — fo I have had, unfortunately, myself, some exjDerience of the unamiabl courses to which persecutors, on account of difference in speculativ opinions, can sometimes resort, — I shall allow this reference to a mmorandum bv an unknown hand, in a nameless manuscript which as not yet seen the light, to pass without comment ; but, in the hoe that it may induce him to bring it forward, and permit us to judg of its age and real value. I shall conclude by submitting to his serins attention tlie follo\ving extract from the work of a historian and ritical antiquary of deserved cele- brity ; and which, I am obliged to eknowledgo, expresses an opinion, but too weU founded, as to tlie wat of literary honesty exhibited by some ■svriters on Irish subjects :
■Ti- ikisii"-'--"
ligii,diU.
11^ to t>
Killisda;..
iiii
lis
Ml,,
tent
jlaik
«»b4
OF THE ROUND TO'ERS OF IRELAND.
421
-- <i
"Vague references to MSS. of vague atiqnity form the main chicane of Irish au- thors ; who are so dull, as not to discern lat this is never allowed in such (jucstious, hut that if a MS. be quoted, its age, placerhere kept, page, and column, are always accurately marked by the antiquaries of alother countries, and the words themselves always produced, with a literal translatio." — Pinkertoii's Enquiry into the History of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 20.
SUBSECION IV. HOSES.
Amongst the minor pdifices viich were required in the ancient rehgious estabUshments of tlie L-iii, tlie houses or cells of the abbot and brotherhood require a short otice. To those Avhose eyes have been familiar with the great moasteries of the Continent and the British islands, erected in the t/elfth century, and which usually exhibit, in one great structure, tli various accommodations necessary iov a wealthy religious communityit always excites feelings of surprise when they find nothing of the kid at any of the places celebrated in Irish ecclesiastical history, as ne abodes of large numbers of reli- gious persons ; and it has necesuily led to much scepticism as to the authenticity of those authorit^s relied on for the facts. At Glen- dalough, for example, where, froi its secluded situation and deser- tion, such buildings, or vestiges o them, might naturally be expected to remain, if they had ever existd, there is not even a trace of such buildings to be found within te ancient city. The fact, indeed, seems to be, that prior to the clo_- of the twelfth centtiry, there were no great architectural structures lesigned to give accommodation to the brotherhood, as found in thse erected subsequently to that pe- riod. It is clear, however, that ii the earliest monastic establishments in Ireland, the abbot, clergy, and lonks, had each their separate cells, which served them as habitation and that such other houses, as the house for the accommodation of trangers, the kitchen, &c., were all separate edifices, siuTounded by cashel, or circular wall, and form- ing a kind of monastery, or eccliiastical town, like those of the early Christians in the East, and knoTO among the Egyjitians by the name of Laura. Such monastic estalishments are noticed by our own Adamnan, in his celebrated wor. " De Situ TerrcB Sanctce" as in the
following passage :
" De hnte Thahor. ct * * * * j,j Quius amoena summit: ampla planities, sylva prsegrandi circum- cincta, habetur. Cuius in medio camp Monachorum inest grande Monasterium, et plurima; eorundem cellulaj. * * *
420 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
purse of ancient Roman money in a man's pocket, would prove that man to be an ancient Roman, or " the Wandering Jew."
There is one other statement in this work of Sir William Betliam, which it is necessary I should notice. It will be recollected by those who have read the Fu'st Part of this Inquuy, that the advocates of the several erroneous theories advanced, have each found, or supposed they found, a name for the Towers in the Irish language, which proved the truth of thek hypothesis. But it remained for Su- Wil- liam Betham to discover, that not only all these theorists were in error, but, also, that the wliole body of Irish writers, annahsts, law commentators, hagiologists, and poets, were alike ignorant of the form and meaning of the name applied to these Towers in then- own lan- guage, and which, according to Sir William Betham, signified nothing else than monuments for the dead. But I must allow Sii" William Betham to speak for liimself :
" I shall, however, remark upou a vulgar error wliicli has had great currency among Irish antiquaries, who have asserted that they were called clojceac, steeples, belfries. Bells are of comparatively recent introduction into Ireland, and clocks, from which the word has evidently been derived, still more modern. This blunder has arisen from ignorance of the language. I have a memorandujn in an Irish MS., that they were called by the people leaccaib, that is, monuments of the dead, the sound of which has been mistaken by those who but imjjerfectly knew the language ; many writers have been misled by this. An error once promulgated by an antiquary of reputation, takes such hold on public opinion, that it soon becomes an established dogma, to qviestion which, even although palpably erroneous, is sure to provoke almost persecution." — Etruria-Celtica, vol. ii. p. 210.
As I should be sorry that Sir William Betham should include me in the hst of his persecutors, — for I have had, unfortunately, myself, some experience of the unamiable coiu-ses to which persecutors, on account of difference in speculative opinions, can sometimes resort, — I shall allow this reference to a memorandvmi by an unknown hand, in a nameless manuscript which has not yet seen the light, to pass without comment; but, in the hope that it may induce him to brino- it forward, and permit us to judge of its age and real value, I shall conclude by submitting to his serious attention the following extract from the woi-k of a historian and critical antiquary of deserved cele- brity ; and which, I am obliged to acknowledge, expresses an opinion, but too well founded, as to the want of literary honesty exhibited by some Avriters on Irish subjects :
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 421
" Vague references to MSS. of vague antiquity form the main chicane of Irish au- thors ; who are so dull, as not to discern that this is never allowed in such questions, but that if a MS. be quoted, its age, place where kept, page, and column, are always accurately marked by the antiquaries of all other countries, and the words themselves always produced, with a literal translation."— /'//(^■er^fwj's Enquiry into the Histori/ of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 20.
SUBSECTION IV.
HOUSES.
Amongst the minor edifices which were required in the ancient rehgious establishments of the L'ish, the houses or cells of the abbot and brotherhood require a short notice. To those whose eyes have been familiar with the great monasteries of the Continent and the British islands, erected in the twelfth century, and which usually exhibit, in one great structure, the various accommodations necessary for a wealthy religious community, it always excites feelings of surprise when they find nothing of the kind at any of the places celebrated in Irish ecclesiastical history, as the abodes of large numbers of reli- gious persons ; and it has necessarily led to much scepticism as to the authenticity of those authorities relied on for the facts. At Glen- dalough, for example, where, from its secluded situation and deser- tion, such buildings, or vestiges of them, might naturally be expected to remain, if they had ever existed, there is not even a trace of such buildings to be found within the ancient city. The fact, indeed, seems to be, that prior to the close of the twelfth century, there were no great architectural structures designed to give accommodation to the brotherhood, as found in those erected subsequently to that pe- riod. It is clear, however, that in the earliest monastic establishments in Ireland, the abbot, clergy, and monks, had each their separate cells, which served them as habitations, and that such other houses, as the house for the accommodation of strangers, the kitchen, &c., Avere all separate edifices, stuTounded by a cashel, or circular wall, and form- ing a kind of monastery, or ecclesiastical town, like those of the early Christians in the East, and known among the Egj'ptians by the name oi Laura. Such monastic establishments are noticed by our own Adamnan, in his celebrated work, " De Situ Terras Sanctce," as in the
following passage :
" De Monte Thahor. " * * * * in cuius amoena summitate ampla planities, sylva prsegrandi circum- cincta, habetur. Cuius in medio campo Monachorum inest grande Monasterium, et plurimae eorundem cellula;. * * *
t1
422
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" In eadem quoq ; superior! platea, non parui aedificij tern89 fiidatae sunt Ecclesise liili***
celebres; * * * Itaq; supra memorati monasterij, et trium Ecclesrum asdificia, cum cellulis Monacliorum, lapideo omnia circumueniuntur muro." — ib. 2, cap. xxiv. pp. 85, 87.
Thus also in Venerable Bede's abstract of Adaman's work, a similar establishment is noticed, which is not founcin the printed edition of the original : _ .
" In superiori mentis Sion planicie, Monachorum cellula; frequenia Ecclesiam mag- nam circumdant illic (vt perliibent) ab Apostolis fundatum, eo aod ibi Spiritlun Sanctum acceperit, ibiq; sancta Maria obierit." — Cap. iv.
The origin and antiquity of this kind of monastic stablishment, which appears to have been so general in Ireland, is -ell explained by Bingham, the learned autlior of the Origines EcdcMsticce, in Ms Vllth Book, Chap, ii., which treats " 0/the several SoriofMonh and their Ways of living in the Church^
" Sect. 2. — The first, called Anchorets, 'A»«;(ia>5>iT«i."
" The first sort were commonly known by the name of anchori.-, from their re- tiring from society, and living in private cells in the wilderness. Su; were Paul, and Anthony, and Hilarion, the first founders of the monastic life in Egyt and Palestine, L". .
from whom other monks took their model. Some of these lived in cav(. — 1» o-TDAa/oij, — JK'-i.^;
as Chrysostom" says the monks of Mount Casius, near Antioch, did ; ai others in Httle . .
tents or cells. 'OfxiVxoi, Evagrius'' calls them; and Chrysostom, Sitai, tabernacles. When many of these were placed together in the same wilderness i some distance from one another, they were all called by one common name, Laura which as Eva- grins'^ informs us, differed from a Coenobium or community in this, tit a Laura was many cells divided from each other, where every monk pro\'ided foiMimself ; but a Cosnobium was but one habitation, where the monks lived in soc^, and had all things in common. Epiphanius says"*, Laura or Lubra was the nam of a street or district, where a church stood at Alexandria ; and it is probable, that om thence the '^'•^^ ■_
name was taken to signify a multitude of cells in the wilderness, uued, as it were, p'-'U ..
in a certain district, yet so divided as to make up many sepaKc habitations ; whereas a Coenobium was more like a single house for many monks to well in."
Such collections of anachor-etical cells are often distictly noticed in the hves of the Irish saints, — as in the following i.ssage from tlie Life of St. Carthach, or Mochuda, of Lismore, pubthed in the Acta Sanctorum by the Bollandists, Maii, Tom. 3 :
" Cunctis ergo Deum in Sanctis laudantibus, ad locum eis concessm, scilicet Lis- morum nomine, pervenerunt, ac cellulas contemplatioui a'ptas sibi conruxerunt"— pp. 377, 378.
" "Chrysos. Horn. 17, ad Pop. Antioch. p. 215." ' " Evagr. ibid."
" " Evagr. lib. c. 21." " " Epiph. Ha;!09, n. 1."
in-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
423
* Ifc'J;
»•«>
And, tat such too was the kind of arrangement in the monastic estabhshmats founded by the Irisli ecclesiastics on the Continent, appears froi several passages in the lives of these distinguished per- sons,— asiithe following notice of tlie monastery founded by St. Gall atBrignntini, or Brigents, given in the life of that saint by WallilVid Strabo, as ubhshed by Messingham :
" Illis igin- illuc ire cupientibus, parauit Presbyter nauiculam ct imposuit re- iiiiges. Veu-abilia aute Abbas cu comitibus Gallo et quodam Diacono naue con- scendens, in'N :ato nomine Domini ad locum desideratum via recta peruenit. Egressi de naiiicula, )ratorium in lionorem SanctcC Avirelio; constructum adicrunt, quod ])ostmodum . Columbanus in prisciun renouauit lionore. Post oratione cum per gyrum ociil' cuncta illustrassent, placuit qualitas illis et situs locorum. Deinde oratione pra^issa, circa oratoriuni mansiuneulas sibi fecerunt." — Lib. i. cap. vi. p. 259-
And sell an humble establishment, as we also find from the same worl was the original monastery of St. Gall, which afterwards became sf>;elebrated for its wealth and splendour.
" Tempo; subsequenti capit virtutum cultor cximius Oratorium construere, man- siunculis p( a:yriim dispositis ad commanendum Fratribus, quorum iam duodccim Monastioi sa:titate propositi roboratos, doctrina et exemplis ad ajternorum desideria concitauit."-/i!i., cap. xxv. p. 270.
That ach structures, in the northern and eastern "parts of Ire- land, wert usually of perishable materials, such as wood or clay, we may well ifer from the fact, that few vestiges of them remain to us. But, in th western and southern portions of the island, in which the custom of luilding with stone seems to have prevailed far more gene- rally, we ave still remaining abundant examples, not only of such detached lonastic habitations, but of all the other buildings neces- sary in tlise early establishments. From these remains it appears, that the eclesiastical houses for the various ranks, and for every pm-- pose requ'ed, were usually of a round or oval form ; and, that tlicy diifered i nothing from the ordinary buildings in use among the inhabitant generally : nor do I think that there was any other dif- fei'ence, .an that of material, between these and the houses usual in the othr parts of Ireland ; and, indeed, we have evidence, in a few examples till remaining, that ecclesiastical houses were occasionally erected c stone in those parts also, as in the cell of St. Kevin, now dilapidate, situated at a Uttle distance from the Rifert church at GlendaluMh, and which is so accurately pointed out in the life of tliat saini published by the BoUandists, as being erected by himself,
422 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Iq cadem quoq ; superiori platca, non parvii ajdifioij ternse fundatfe sunt Ecclesise celebres; * * * Itaq; supra mcmorati monastery, et trium Ecclesiarum »dificia, cum cellulis Monachorum, lapideo omnia circumueniuntur muro." — Lib. 2, cap. xxiv. pp. 85, 87.
Thus also in Venerable Bede's abstract of Adamnan's work, a
similar establishment is noticed, which is not found in the printed
edition of the original :
" In superiori montis Sion planicie, Monacborum cellulEe frequentes Ecclesiam mag- nain circumdant illic (vt perhibent) ab Apostolis fundatum, eo quod ibi Spiritum Sanctum acceperit, ibiq ; sancta Maria obierit." — Cap. iv.
The origin and antiquity of this kind of monastic establishment, which appears to have been so general in Ireland, is well explained by Bingham, the learned author of the Origines Ecclesiasticce, in his Vllth Book, Chap, ii., which treats ''Of the several Sorts of Monies and their Ways of living in the Church!'
"Sect. 2. — The first, called Anchorets, 'Araxa^tiTxi."
" The first sort were commonly known by the name of anchorets, from their re- tiring from society, and living in private cells in the wilderness. Such were Paul, and Anthony, and HUarion, the first founders of the monastic life in Egypt and Palestine, from whom other monks took their model. Some of these lived in caves, — h o-ir»A«/oi?, — as Chrysostom'' says the monks of Mount Casius, near Antioch, did ; and others in little tents or cells. 'Oixis-xoi, Evagrius** calls them; and Chrysostom, 2xi)»ai, tabernacles. When many of these were placed together in the same wilderness at some distance from one another, they were all called by one common name, Laura ; which as Eva- grius*^ informs us, difiered from a Coenobium or community in this, that a Laura was many cells divided from each other, where every monk provided for himself ; but a Coenobium was but one habitation, where the monks lived in society, and had all things in common. Epiphanius says'^, Laura or Lubra was the name of a street or district, where a church stood at Alexandria ; and it is probable, that from thence the name was taken to signify a multitude of cells in the wilderness, united, as it were, in a certain district, yet so divided as to make up many separate habitations ; whereas a Cosnobium was more like a single house for many monks to dwell in."
Such collections of anachor-etical cells are often distinctly noticed
in the lives of the Irish saints, — as in the following passage from
the Life of St. Carthach, or Mochuda, of Lismore, pubhshed in the
Acta Sanctorum by the Bollandists, Mali, Tom. 3 :
" Cunotis ergo Deum in Sanctis laudantibus, ad locum eis concessum, scUicetLis-
morum nomine, pervenerunt, ac cellulas contemplationi a'ptas sibi construxerunt."
pp. 377, 378.
' " Chrysos. Hom. 17, ad Pop. Antioch. p. 215." ^ " Evagr. lib. i. c. 21." ' "Evagr. ibid." i "Epiph. Hter. 69, n. 1."
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 423
And, that such too was the kind of an'angement in the monastic estabUshments founded by the Irish ecclesiastics on the Continent, appears from several passages in the lives of these distinguished per- sons,— as in the following notice of the monastery founded by St. Gall at Brigantium, or Brigents, given in the life of that saint by Wallifrid Strabo, as published by Messingham :
" lUis igitur illuc ire cupientibus, paraviit Presbyter nauiculam et imposuit re- miges. A^'enerabilia aute Abbas cu comitibus Gallo ct quodam Diacono naue con- scendens, invocato nomine Domini ad locum desideratum via recta peruenit. Egressi de nauicula, Oratorium in honorem Sanctse Aurelia; constructum adierunt, quod postmodum B. Columbanus in priscum renouanit bonore. Post oratione cum per gyrum oculis cuncta Ulustrassent, placuit qualitas illis et situs locorum. Deinde oratione prajmissa, circa oratorium mansiunculas sibi fecerunt." — Lib. i. cap. vi. p. 259.
And such an humble establishment, as we also find from the same work, was the original monastery of St. Gall, which afterwards became so celebrated for its wealth and splendour.
" Tempore subsequeuti coepit virtutum cultor eximius Oratorium construere, man- siunculis per gyrum dispositis ad commanendum Fratribtis, quorum iam duodecim Monastici sanctitate propositi roboratos, doctrina et exemplis ad reternoruni desideria concitauit." — lb., cap. xxv. p. 270.
That such structures, in the northern and eastern parts of Ire- land, were usually of perishable materials, such as wood or clay, we may well infer from the fact, that few vestiges of them remain to us. But, in the western and southern portions of the island, in which the custom of building with stone seems to have prevailed far more gene- rally, Ave have still remaining abundant examples, not only of such detached monastic habitations, but of all the other buildings neces- sary in these early establishments. From these remains it appears, that the ecclesiastical houses for the various ranks, and for every piir- pose required, were visually of a round or oval form ; and, that they differed in nothing from the ordinary buildings in use among the inhabitants generally : nor do I think that there was any other dif- ference, than that of material, between these and the houses usual in the other parts of Ireland ; and, indeed, we have evidence, in a few examples still remaining, that ecclesiastical houses were occasionally erected of stone in those parts also, as in the cell of St. Kevin, now dilapidated, situated at a little distance from the Eifert church at Glendalough, and which is so accurately pointed out in the life of that saint, published by the BoUandists, as being erected by himself.
424 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" constituit mansiunculam ibi in loco angusto, inter montem et stag- num sibi, ubi erant denste arbores et clari rivuli." — See the Avhole passage quoted at p. 172. And such, we may well believe, was the tugurinm or hut of St. Columba, at lona, which is mentioned in the ancient lives of that saint, by Cumian and Adamnan. Of such stone buildings I have already given sufficient specimens to serve as illus- trations, in Section II. of this Inquiry, pp. 130, 131.
These houses, with the exception of the houses of the abbots, and those for the accommodation of strangers, are usually so small as to be only fit to accommodate a single person ; and from the absence of any building sufficiently large for a refectory, it may be inferred, that these establishments were usually of that anachoretical kind, described by Bingham, in which, — in accordance with the seventeenth chapter of the Synod, called of St. Patrick, — the monks, without earthly pro- perty, led a solitary life, under the authority of a bishop or abbot. In one instance only have I discovered, in such monastic establish- ments, the ruins of a building which would have been large enough to serve the piu-pose of a refectory. It is situated near the monastic chui'ches of St. Colmau Mac Duach, at Kilmurvey, in the great island of Aran, and is an oval structure, without cement, of fifty by thirty- seven feet, external measurement, with a wall of six feet in thickness.
Of such anachoretical, or, heremitical establishments, one of the most interesting and best preserved in Ireland, or perhaps in Europe, is that of St. Fechin, on Ardoilen, or High Island, an uninhabited and almost inaccessible island off the coast of Connamara, on the north- west of the county of Galway. Of tliis curious monastic establish- ment I transcribe the following account from my notes, made in the year 1820, when I visited the island, in the summer of that year, Avith my respected friend, Mr. Henry Blake of Einvile.
" Ardoilen, or High Island, is situated about six miles from the coast of Omey, and contains about eighty acres. From its height, and the overhanging character of its cliffs, it is only accessible in the calmest weather, and even then, the landing, which can be only made by springing on a shelving portion of the cliff from the boat, is not wholly free from danger: but, the adventurer Avill be well rewarded for such risk ; for, in addition to the singular antiquities Avliich the island contains, it affords views of the Connamara and Mayo scenery, of insiu'passable beauty. The chmxh here is among the rudest of
OF THE ROUND TOAVERS OF IRELAND. 425
the ancient edifices whicli the fervour of the Christian religion raised on its introduction into Ireland. Its internal measurement, in length and breadth, is but twelve feet by ten, and in height ten feet. The doorway is two feet -wide, and four feet six inches high, and its hori- zontal lintel is insci'ibed with a cross, like that on the lintel of the doorway of St. Fechin's great church at Fore, and those of other doorways of the same period. The east window, which is the only one in the building, is semicircular-headed, and is but one foot high, ahd six inclies wide. The altar still remains, and is covered -with offerings, such as nails, buttons, and shells, but chiefly fishing hooks, the most characteristic tributes of the calling of the votaries. On the east side of the chapel is an ancient stone sepulchi'C, like a pagan kistvaen, composed of large mica slates, with a cover of limestone. The stones at the ends are rudely sculptured with ornamental crosses and a hu- man figure, and the covering slab was also carved, and probably was inscribed with the name of the Saint for whom the tomb was designed, but its surface is now much effaced ; and as this sepulchre appears to have been made at the same time as the chapel, it seems probable that it is the tomb of the original founder of this religious establishment. The chapel is surrounded by a wall, allowing a passage of four feet between them ; and from this, a covered passage, about fifteen feet long, by three feet wide, leads to a cell, which was probably the abbot's habitation. This cell, which is nearly circular and dome- roofed, is internally seven feet by six, and eight high. It is built, like those in Aran, without cement, and with much rude art. On the east side there is a larger cell, externally round, but internally a square of nine feet, and seven feet six inches in height. Covdd this have been a refectory ? The doorways in these cells are two feet four inches in width, and but three feet six inches in height. On the other side of the chapel are a number of smaller cells, which were only large enough to contain each a single person. They are but six feet long, thi'ee feet Avide, and four feet high, and most of them are now covered with rubbish. These formed a Laura, like the habitations of the Egyptian ascetics. There is also a covered gallery, or passage, twenty-four feet long, four feet wide, and four feet six inches high, and its entrance doorway is but two feet three inches square. The use of this it is difficult to conjecture. Coidd it have been a storehouse for provisions ?
3 I
426
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" The moiiasteiy is surrounded by an unceniented stone wall, nearly circular, enclosing an area of one hundred and eight feet in dia- meter. The entrance into this enclosure is at the south-east side, and from it leads a stone passage, twenty-one feet in length, and three in width. At each side of this entrance, and outside the great circular wall, were circular buildings, probably intended for the use of pil- grims ; but though what remains of them is of stone, they do not appear to have been roofed with that material. Within the enclosure are several rude stone crosses, probably sepulchral, and flags sculptured mth rude crosses, but without letters. There is also a granite globe, measuring about twenty inches in diameter.
" In the surroimding ground, there are several rude stone altars, or penitential stations, on which are small stone crosses ; and on the south side of the enclosiire there is a small lake, apparently artificial, from which an artificial outlet is formed, which turned a small mill : and, along the west side of this lake, there is an artificial stone path or causeway, two hundred and twenty yards in length, which leads to another stone cell or house, of an oval form, at the south side of the valley in which the monastery is situated. This house is eighteen feet long, and nine wide, and there is a small walled enclosure joined to it, which was probably a garden. There is also adjoining to it, a stone altar sm'mounted by a cross, and a small lake, which, like that already noticed, seems to have been formed by art."
That the monastery on High Island was an Eremitical establish- ment, can be proved from historical evidences ; and that it was so considered by the learned O'Flaherty, will appear from the following notice of the island, extracted from his account of the Territory of West Connaught, written in 1684, and preserved in MS. in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.
" In the Western Ocean beyond Imay, three smaller islands appear, viz. Cruagh-
ar-ne-may, called by Sir James Ware, Insula Ciaiicitlorum, for its store of rabbits
("Ware Antiq., cap. 28, p. 287). It is a bane to dogs, which die on the spot or soon after coming out. The next is Olen na mbrahar, or the Friar's Island. The furthest off is is Ard olen, the high island (Colgan, 20 Jan. p. 135, cap. 22), anciently called Innishiarthar, i. e. the West Island. It is unaccessable, except on calm settled weather, and so steep that it is hard, after landing in it, to climb to the top, where there is a well called Brian Boromy (King of Ireland) his well, and a standing water, on the brook whereof was a mill. There is extant a chappell and a large round wall, and also that kind of stone building called cloghan, wherein yearly an Ejrie of Hawkes is found.
v^f':
jtkibtiii'iitin jte: ■hiihtS.*
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OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
427
rJiititwasiol
■ -•'lefollowiii'l
,, Territory (J j
"sijtlielbiwj
■.J. villi /iU store of rakfc-
jlostWw'''-
Here St. Fecbin I'ounded an abbey, as he did at Imay. It is also celebrated for the eremetical letiremeut of St. Gormgall, a very spiritual person and of renowned sanc- tity, who died the 5th of August, 1017, and was there interred, together with diverse other holy hermits, that lived with him. Ten of them are named by Father Colganus out of an ancient poem in his Praise extant (Colg. 21, Marcii. cap. 7, at Vit. St. Endei, page 715, ad finem)."
In a note on the passage here referred to by O'Flaherty, relative to the foundation of this monastery by St. Fecliin, Colgan writes as follows :
"/;i olid Insula, qua', oliiu Iiiis-iaii/iidr, koJie Ard-oilen, c. 22, haic Insula est etiaui in Oceano, distatque paucis leucis versus Occidentem ab Immagia, eamque post S. Fechinum sua anachoresi, et arctissima vita plurimura nobilitauit S. Gormgalius, vir celebrataj sanctitatis, qui obijt an. 1017. die 5. Augusti, quo die iuxta Marianum eius seruatur natalis; de cuius encomijs et reliquijs extat pajnes me B. Corrani, qui eodem tempore floruit, elegans et pijssimvim poeraa. Vide Quatuor Magistros in Annalibus ad annum 1017. quo dicunt Beatum Gormgalium Archisinedrum, siue principalem Patrem spiritualem totius Hibcrniii} obijsse." — Acta SS., p. 141, u. 13.
And again, in his account of the churches on the Aran islands, — where, by a strange mistake, he confounds this island of Ardoilen with luis Airthir, the smallest of the islands of Aran, — he preserves to us the names of several of the hermits who resided here with St. Gorm- gall, about the close of the tenth century.
" Ibidem etiam coliiur S. Gormgalius die 5. Augusti : De quo Quatuor Magistri in Annalibus ad annum 1017. scrihUt, S. Gormgalius de Ard-oilen, prtBoipuus Hibernorum Synedrus, siue Spiritualis Pater obiit: Memorat etiam Beutus Cororanus eiusdem sceculi author in sua Panegyrico de S. Gormgalio ibi quiescant Sancti, Mcelsutkunius, Celecha- rius, Dubt/iacus, Dunadach, Cellachus, Tressac/ius, Vltamis, Maelmartinus, Coromacclms, Conmaclius, et alij plures.'''' — Acta SS., p. 715.
The preceding facts leave little doubt, I think, that this monas- tery on High Island was for monks of the hermit class ; and it seems very probable that most of the monasteries in sunilar insular situations, of which the ruins still remain, in Ireland, were of the same desci'ip- tion. But it is obvious that there were at the same time in Ireland almost innumerable ccenobitic establishments, in which vast numbers of monks lived in connnimities, and had every thing in common, — as at Bangor, where, it is stated, there were no less than three thousand monks ; and Rahin, where St. Carthagh luul eight hundred and sixty- seven monks, who supported themselves by the labour of theii' own hands. Yet it seems certain that such communities, unbke those in the East, of whom Epiphanius speaks, did not dwell in any single
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426 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" The monastery is surrounded by an unceniented stone wall, nearly circular, enclosing an area of one hundred and eight feet in dia- meter. The entrance into this enclosure is at the south-east side, and from it leads a stone passage, twenty-one feet in length, and three in width. At each side of this entrance, and outside the great circular wall, were circular buildings, probably intended for the use of pil- grims ; but though what remains of them is of stone, they do not appear to have been roofed with that material. Within the enclosure are several rude stone crosses, probably sepulchral, and flags sculptured with rude crosses, but without letters. There is also a granite globe, measiu'ing about twenty inches in diameter.
" In the surrounding ground, there are several rude stone altars, or penitential stations, on which are small stone crosses; and on the south side of the enclosiu'e there is a small lake, apparently artificial, from which an artificial outlet is formed, which turned a small mill : and, along the west side of this lake, there is an artificial stone path or causeway, two hundred and twenty yards in length, which leads to another stone cell or house, of an oval form, at the south side of the valley in which the monastery is situated. This house is eighteen feet long, and nine wide, and there is a small Availed enclosure joined to it, which was probably a garden. There is also adjoining to it, a stone altar surmounted by a cross, and a small lake, which, like that already noticed, seems to have been formed by art."
That the monastery on High Island Avas an Eremitical establish- ment, can be pi'oved from historical evidences ; and that it Avas so considered by the learned O' Flaherty, Avill appear from the following notice of the island, extracted from his account of the Territory of West Connaught, written in 1684, and preserved in MS. in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.
" In the Western Ocean beyond Imay, three smaller islands appear, viz. Cruagh-
ar-ne-may, called by Sir James Ware, Insula Cunkulorum, for its store of rabbits
(Ware Antiq., cap. 28, p. 287). It is a bane to dogs, which die on the spot or soon after coming out. The next is Olen na mbrahar, or the Friar's Island. The furthest off is is Ard olen, the high island (Colgan, 20 Jan. p. 135, cap. 22), anciently called Innishiarthar, i. e. the West Island. It is unaccessable, except on calm settled weather, and so steep that it is hard, after landing in it, to climb to the top, where there is a well called Brian Boromy (King of Ireland) his well, and a standing water, on the brook whereof was a mill. There is extant a chappell and a large round wall, and also that kind of stone building called cloghan, wherein yearly an Eyrie of Hawkes is found.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELA^^D. 427
Here St. Fecliin founded au abbey, as he did at Imay. It is also celebrated fur the eremetical retirement of St. Gormgall, a very spiritual person and of I'enowned sanc- tity, who died the 5th of August, 1017, and was there interred, together with diverse other holy hermits, that lived with him. Ten of them are named by Father Colganus out of an ancient poem in liis Praise extant (Colg. 21, Marcii. cap. 7, at Vit, St. Endci, page 715, ad fiiiem)."
In a note on the passage here referred to b}- O'Flalicrty, rehitive to the foundation of this monastery by St. Fecliin, Colgan writes as follows :
"In olid Insula, qiice olim Inis-iarthuir, hodie Ard-oilen, c. 22, hasc Insula est etiam in Oceano, distatque paucis leucis versus Oocidentem ab Immagia, eamque post S. Fechinum sua anachoresi, et arctissima vita plurimura nobilitauit S. Gormgalius, vir celebratK sanctitatis, qui obijt an. 1017. die 5. Augusti, quo die iuxta Marianum eius seruatur natalis; de cuius eucomijs et reliquijs extat pa;nes me B. Coi'rani, qui eodem tempore floruit, elegans et pijssimum poema. Vide Quatuor Magistros in Annalibus ad annum 1017. quo dicunt Beatum Gormgalium Archisinedrum, siue principalem Patrem spiritualem totius Hiberuia; obijsse." — Ada SS., p. 141, n. 13.
And again, in his account of the churches on tlie Aran islands, — where, by a strange mistake, he confounds this island of Ardoilen with Inis Airthir, the smallest of the islands of Aran, — he preserves to us the names of several of the hermits who resided here with St. Gorm- gall, about the close of the tenth century.
" Ibidem etiam colitur S. Gormgcdins die 5. ^itifusti : De quo Quatuor Magistri in Annalibus ad annum 1017. scribUt, S. Gormgalius de Ard-oilen, praicipuus Ilibernorum Synedrus, siue Spiritualis Pater obiit: Memorat etiam Beatus Cororanus eiusdem sceculi author in suo Panegyrico de S. Gormgalio ibi quiescant Sancti, Mo'Isutkunius, Celecha- rius, Dubthacus, Dunadach, CeUachus, Tressachus, Vltanus, Maelmartinus, Coromacchus, Conmachus, et alij plures." — Acta SS., p. 715.
The preceding facts leave little doubt, I think, that this monas- tery on High Island was for monks of the hermit class ; and it seems very probable that most of the monasteries in suuilar insular situations, of which the ruins still remain, in Ireland, were of the same descrip- tion. But it is obvious that there were at the same time in Ireland almost innumerable coeuobitic estabhshments, in which vast numbers of monks lived in commimities, and had every thing in common, — as at Bangor, where, it is stated, there were no less than three thousand monks ; and Rahiu, where St. Carthagh had eight hundred and sixty- seven monks, who supported themselves by the labour of then- own hands. Yet it seems certain that such communities, unhke those in the East, of whom Epiphanius speaks, thd not dwell in any single
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428 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
bmlcling, but in a multitudt^ of separate cells, arranged in streets in the vicinity of the church ; and hence tradition points out to this day the situation of such streets, adjacent to the abbey chiu'clies, and called such in many parts of Ireland. Such communities would, however, require at least one large building, to answer the purpose of a common refectory ; and that they had such is proved by innu- merable references in the Irish annals, and in the oldest of the Irish ecclesiastical authorities. It will be seen that the name of such a building was Prointiteach, or dining-house, as in the following example from an ancient poem in the Leahhar Breac, fol. 131, a. b., called the Rule of Mochuda, of Raithin :
"Riajail pjiomncije lap pin,
Ni len Dia fiab ;
Ip la h-abba6 co peib 5puD,
tTleip caicli lap iia njpuo.
In can benaip cluiclne,
Ppoinncije nach Dip,
Ma bpucuip pop cluinicep,
Ciajaic uli FP'IT'" " The Eiile of the proiiintech after that,
Not miserable to be mentioned ;
And with the abbot of good dignity.
The dish of all is according to their grade.
Wlien the little bell is rung,
In the proinntech which is not small,
The brothers who hear it.
Let them come at it [i. e. at its sound]."
The following references to refectories occiu' in the Annals of Ulster :
"A. D. 911, or 912. niupebach mac Copmaic, ppmcepp Dpoma Inapckiinn, 7 pijoomna ConaiUi, .1. ^aipbir, mac llluilmopba, bo opcain ppi Oaijio 1 ppoinnj Opoma.
"A. D. 911, or 912. Muredach, son of Cormac, chief [abbot] of Druim Inasclainn, and the heir-apparent of Conailli, i. e. Gairbit, son of Maelmordha, were destroyed by fire in the refectory of Druim" [Inasclainn].
" A. D. 971. Ceallach h-Ua Nuabac Do mapbub Do ^haUaib 1 n-Dopiip in ppoinnci^i."
"A. D. 971. Ceallach Ua Nuadhat was slain by the Danes in the doorway of the refectory."
And, that such, buildings must have been in use from the intro- duction of Christianity into Ireland, would appear from the foUo^Wng reference to the Rule of St. Patrick's refectory, given by Colgan, in
ON THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 429
his account of St. Patrick's writincjs, and which hi' laiilcs amonjrst the literary works of that saint.
" Rcflidam aliam Riegwil Prointige Patric, id est, Re(i>ihm Refectorij Sancti Patricii, vuh]n,nuncHj>ata7n: quaj extat Londiiii inter Codices MS. Nobilissimi viri Dom. Fiugini Cartliaii, lit ex litteris nostri Patris Brendani Connor, qui opus pcrlegit, accepi." — 2'rias Thaum., p. 214.
I may add that, from the preceding reference, we may, with every probability, consider as the proinnteach, or refectory, the building at Ai'magh, called, in St. Evin's Life of St. Patrick, aidificium sive aula major, and which is described as being thirty feet in length. — See the passage given in full at p. 384.
Such buildings, however, though probably differing in form from the cells, — which, as I have already stated, seem to have been of a round figiu-e, while these were probably quadi'angular, — were, like the smaller houses, generally, if not always, erected of perishable materials, and would, consequently, leave no vestiges to present times. And hence the occurrence of so many notices, in the Annals, of the burnings, not of any single structures called monasteries, but of the various and distinct houses which constituted such establishments in those times. As an example of such notices, I may refer to the ac- count of the burning of Armagh, already given at page 151 ; and, as an additional example, I take the following record, from the Annals of the Four Masters, of the bm-ning of Kells, at the year 1156 :
"A. D. 1156. CenanDup oo lopccuo, cijiB cemplaib, o cpoip Dopaip upooini CO Siopoicc."
"A. D. 1 156. Kells was burned, both houses and churches, from the cross at the door of the urdom to Siofog."
In these great coenobitical monasteries, it is probable, also, that the houses of the abbots were of a quadrangular form, and more than the ordinary size. The Irish annals furnish us with several references to such buildings, as in the following example from the Annals of the Four Masters:
"A. D. 1116. Copcctc mop niuriian, Inileac luBaip, oepreach Plhaoiliopa h-J 6hpolcliuin, Qcab bo Cctinoi^, Cluuin lopuipo, cecicli n-(d)bci6 mop Qpbo madia CO K-picic ce^ uimme, 7 blob mop do 6iop mop mochuDa do lopccao 1 D-copac Copjaip na blioDna po."
"A. D. 1116. The great Cork in Munster, Imleach lubliair [Emly], the oratory of Maoliosa O'Brolchain, Achadli bo Cainnigh [Aghaboe], Cluain loraird [Clonard], tke great house of the abbots at Armagh, with twenty houses about it, and a large por- tion of Lismore of Mochuda, were burned in the beginning of the Lent of this year."
430
INQUIRY INTO THE OBIGIN AND USES
In like manner the great house of St. Bridget, or house of the abbess, at Kildare, is referred to in the same annals, at the year 962, and in those of Ulster at 963, as already quoted at page 231.
It is most probable, however, that such buildings, like the smaller cells of the monks and nuns, were usually, in most parts of Ireland, constructed of wood, as no remains of them have been preserved, un- less such stone buildings as that called St. Columb's House at Kells, and that called St. Kevin's House at Glendalough, both of which combined the purpose of an oratory with that of a habitation, may be considered as examples of such structures. That these buildings, which are so similar, in most respects, to each other, are of a very early antiquity, can scarcely admit of doubt, — indeed I see no reason to question their being of the times of the celebrated ecclesiastics whose names they bear ; and, as they may be said to form a distinct class among our ecclesiastical structures, a notice of them will not, I think, be out of place here, even though the fact as to their having
been abbots' houses, may not, in the absence of historical evidence, be satisfactorily pi'oved. I shall first notice St. Columb's House at Kells, of which I prefix an illustration.
OF THE ROUND TOWEKS OF IRELAND 431
This remarkable building is situated immediately outside the boundary wall of the cemetery, on the north side, and is, in its ground-plan, of a simple oblong form, measuring, externall}^, twenty- three feet nine inches in length, and twenty-one feet in breadth, and the walls are three feet ten inches in thickness. It is roofed with stone, and measures in height, from its base to the vertex of the gable, thirty-eight feet; and, as the height of the roof and width of the side walls are nearly equal, the gables form very nearly equilateral tri- angles. The lower part of the building is arched seraicircnlarly with stone, and has, at tlie east end, a small semicircular-headed window, about fifteen feet from the ground ; and, at the south side, there is a second window, with a triangular or straight-lined head, about the same height from the ground, and measuring one foot nine inches in height. These Avindows splay considerably on the in- side. The present entrance doorway of this building, which is placed in the south wall, is obviously not original, or ancient ; and the original doorway, which is now built up, was placed in the west end, and at a height of eight feet from the ground. The apartment placed between the arched floor and the slanting roof is six feet in height, and appears to have been originally divided into three apartments, of unequal size, of which the largest is lighted by a small aperture, at the east end. In this chamber there is a flat stone, six feet long, and one foot thick, now called St. Columb's penitential bed.
The building at Glendalough, called St. Kevin's House, might appear, on a hasty inspection, to have very little in common with the building at Kells ; for, having had a chancel and sacristy attached to it, together with a small round tmTet belfry springing from its west gable, it would be at once considered as altogether designed for a church. But, on a more careful examination of the building we plainly discover that all these featm'es, though of very great age, are but adjuncts of later date to the original body of the building. The recent Avanton destruction of the chancel has enabled us to perceive that the latter, as well as the sacristy connected with it, had formed no part of the original building, which, like St. Columbkille's house at Kells, consisted only of a nave, or large apartment, arched, below, and a small croft immediately under the roof
By a reference to the annexed view of this building, as it exists at present, looking nearly due west, it will be at once seen that both
432
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
the chancel and tlie sacristy were subsequent structures, the masonry of the walls not being, in any place, bonded into that of the larger and ori'i'inal building, in which, it will also be observed, that a deep semicii'cular groove was chiselled to receive the roofs of the two sub- sequent structures, and tlius prevent the admission of water at those junctions. It will be observed, also, that the chancel arch is equally of subsequent formation ; for its semicircular head is not formed on the principle of the arch, but by the cutting away of the horizontally laid stones of the original wall, in which operation a portion of the original semicircular-headed window placed in this Avail was de- stroyed, and the remaining portion of the aperture built up with solid masonry. I may further observe, that, even before the destruc- tion of the chancel, the earlier antiquity of the larger building was so
evident, that it was noticed by the artists sent by Colonel Burton Conyngham in 1779 to make drawings of the antiquities at Glenda- lougli, in whose notes, as published by Archdall, we find this remark :
" The walls of the double building are separated from those of the larger, and, though undoubtedly very ancient, yet the inferiority of the materials and ■workman- ship, e'^ddently show that this work was posterior to the former, and erected by much less skillful builders."
That the small round turret belfry on the west gable, is an addi-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 433
tion cotemporaneous with those already noticed, is, if not certain, at least in the highest degree probable ; for its masonry, like the former, is of an inferior character to the building on which it rests ; nor would such a belfry have been necessary, till the building liad been converted to a place for public worsliip in the manner already described.
When divested of these subsequent additions, we find that St. Kevin's House differs but little in size, and still less in plan, from that called St Columb's House, at Kells. Like the former, it is a simple oblong building, having a high pyramidal stone roof, witli an arched apartment below, and a small croft between it and the roof In exter- nal measurement, it is twenty-nine feet eleven inches in length, and twenty-two feet three inches in breadth, and the walls are three feet seven inches in thickness. In height it is, at present, thirty-one feet to the ridge of the roof, the side walls being eleven feet, and the roof twenty feet in height ; but it must have been originally at least two feet more, so that, as in St. Columb's House at Kells, the gables form, if not exactly, at least very nearly, equilateral triangles. The side walls are finished by a projecting string course, or cornice, which is carried round the faces of the end walls. Internally the loAver or vaulted chamber is twenty feet in height, and the upper croft seven feet six inches. The lower part was entered by a doorway placed in the centre of the west side, and lighted by three small apertures, of which two are plain, and placed in the east end, one over the other, and the third in the south wall, about eight feet from the south-east angle. Of the former, the upper is an oblong loop, and the lower had a semicircidar head, formed of a single stone. The south aper- ture, or window, was also semicircularly-arched, but was altogether of a different character, for, according to the notes of Colonel Conyng- hani's artists, " it was ornamented with an architrave elegantly wrought, but being of freestone, it was conveyed away by the neigh- bouring inhabitants, and brayed to powder for domestic use." I may observe, however, that I consider this window to have been a subse- quent insertion, and, most probably, cotemporaneous with the other remains of ornamental architecture in the vicinity. The upper croft is lighted by two small oblong loops placed, one at the east, and tlie other at the west end. The doorway is of a quadrangular form, and is so similar in construction to that of the great church, as to leave
3 K
434
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
'no doubt of their being cotemporaneous works, if not actually bviilt by the same workman. It is two feet eight inches wide at top, three feet two inches at bottom, and in height, six feet eight inches. The stones of which it is composed are mostly of large size, and most of them extend the entire thickness of the wall. The lintel, which, like the rest, is of mica slate, is five feet eight inches in length, and eleven and a-half inches in height. It is ornamented with a rude cornice, foiu- feet ten inches in length, six inches in breadth, and projecting five inches from the face of the stone. And, as in the doorway of the cathedral, the weight is taken off the lintel, by a semicircular arch, and the pediment is filled by a single stone, as shown in the annexed outline.
Having now described the original features of this building, it may be desirable to notice in detail, those subsequently added ; and first, of the small round belfry placed on the west gable. This is
OF TUE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 435
nine feet in heifi;lit, from the ridtje of the roof to its conical roof, which is six feet in height, so that the entire height, from the level of the ground, is forty-six feet. Its interior diameter is four feet six inches. It has four quadrangular apertures, each about foiu" feet six inches in height, which face the cardinal points, and another aper- ture of smaller size on the east side. The entrance to this tower is from the croft, or upper apartment, already described.
The chancel was internally eleven feet three inches in length, and nine feet three inches in breadth, and was lighted by two semicircular- headed windows, one placed in the east, and the other in the south wall, the heads of which were formed in a single stone. They were two feet three inches in height, and eight inches wide in external measurement, but splayed considerably on the interior. The chancel arch is eisrht feet ten inches in heitrht to its vertex, and five feet three inches in width. The sacristy measures, internally, ten feet by seven feet nine inches, and is lighted by a round-headed window placed in the east wall, and similar in every respect to those in the chancel. The doorway, which is quadrangular, is five feet in height, and, in width, two feet at the top, and two feet three inches at tlae bot- tom. These buildings were, both, stone roofed and of equal height, namely, nine feet to the set-offs of the roofs, and twenty feet to the ridges ; and they were ornamented with a string-course or cornice, similar to, and in imitation of, that on the original building.
I have described this curious building thus minutely, not only to preserve a record of its original character, but also on account of its very great antiquity, which, as remarked by Colonel Conyngham's artists, is proved no less by its own style and features, than by the very ancient character of those found in the additions subsequently made to it ; and indeed it is highly probable that these additions were made not very long after the erection of the original building. That this l3uilding, in its original state, was at once the habitation and ora- tory of the eminent ecclesiastic to whom the religious establishment of Glendalough OAved its origin, I see no reason to doubt ; and it is highly probable that it received, shortly after his death, those ad- ditions which were necessary to make it a church, fit for the worship of those who would be led thither from reverence to his name ; and in this opinion I am strengthened by a very valuable record in tlie Annals of the Four Masters, which proves, that this building was
3 K 2
436 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
known by the appellation of Cro Caoimhgh'm, or St. Kevin's House, in the middle of the twelfth century. The passage is as follows :
" A. D. 1163. 5^^Q"" ""^ locha 00 lopccao, itn Cpo Ciupdm, im Cpo Caoirhjin, ojup pejlep an od SinchelL"
" A. D. 1163. Glendalough was burned, with Cro Ciarain, Cro Caoimhghin, and the church of the two Sinchells."
These names are, indeed, no longer remembered, the Irish lan- guage having ceased to be spoken in the district for the last century; and even the buildings, with the exception of St. Kevin's House, can now scarcely be traced. But, very fortunately, I am enabled to de- termine their position, from a ground-plan of the various buildings at Glendalough, made for Colonel Conyngham, by the artists above alluded to. In this plan we find marked, in the immediate vicinity of the buildino- called St. Kevin's House, the ruins of three other build- ings, or churches, the first to the north of it, at the distance of two perches and ten links ; the second to the south of it, about the same distance, and the third, which is called St. Kieran's church, — the others not being named, — to the south-east of it, at the distance of about eight perches, and about six perches from the southern church, and measuring about twenty-seven feet in length. It appears to me, therefore, as scarcely admitting of a doubt, that tlii'ee of these build- ings must be those referred to by the annalists, not only on account of their proximity, but because two of them retained, in a translated form, the names given by the annalists ; and we should search in vain for the ruins of any other buildings at Glendalough, with which to identify them. Moreover, supposing the fire to have been, as there is every reason to believe, an accidental one, it will be at once seen, that from the situation of the two last buildings to Kevin's House, they would be exposed to the danger of ignition in their com- bustible portions, if the Avind had blown from the north-west. And hence I am disposed to conclude, that the un-named church, marked as to the south of St. Kevin's House, is tliat called by the annalists " the Regies of the two Sinchells." I may further add, that we may infer, with every appearance of probability, that all these buildings were of cotemporaneous age, and that, if not erected by the persons whose names they bore, those called after Kieran, and the two Sin- chells, were erected by St. Kevin in their honour, as though they were all cotemporaneous, and Kevin was the dearest friend of St.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 437
Kieran of Clonmacnoise ; he survived both him and the Sinchells, more than sixty years, having hved, according to Tighernach, to the extraordinary age of one hundred and twenty years. St. Kieran and the two Smcliells died of the plague, which raged in 549, and Kevin hved till 618.
I think, therefore, we have every reason to believe, that the build- ings called St. Columb's House, at Kells, and St. Kevin's House at Glendalough, — buildings originally so closely resembling each other in every respect, — were erected by the persons whose names they bear, and that they both served the double purpose of a habitation and an oratory. I am further of opinion, that the building at Killaloe, called St. Flannan's House, which I have already minutely described and illustrated, and which, in its original state, was so perfectly similai- to these buildings, was one of the same class, though of somewhat later age. And lastly, as another example of this class of bidldings, I may point to that called St Molaise's House, at Devenish, a biulding which, though unfortunately no longer remaining, we have evidence to show to have been exactly similar to these structures in every thing but the superiority of its masonry. Of this building I shall treat more fully in connexion with its cotemporaneous Round Tower ; but respecting its antiquity and use, I gladly avail myself of the con- current opinion of a very distinguished antiquary, the late Sir Richard Colt Hoare, namely, that " this was certainly the original chapel, and perhaps the habitation of the saint who first sought retirement in this island." Nor can I conclude this section in more appropriate words than those of the same writer, in relation to this class of our buil diners, our Round Towers, and sciUptured crosses. That, "although mo- nastick architecture may fall short, both in design and good exe- cution, and be obliged to yield the palm of superiority to the sister kingdoms, yet Ireland, in her stone-roofed Chapels, Round Towers, and rich Crosses, may justly boast of singularities unknown and un- possessed by either of them."
SUBSECTION V. ERDAMHS.
In the First Part of this Inquiry, p. 53, it became necessary to con- trovert the opinion of Dr. O'Conor, that the word erdam had been used by the Irish annalists synonymousl}- with doictheach, to denote
438 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
a belfry ; and I thea stated that I would prove incontrovertibly that the word erdam signifies a building attached laterally to another l)iiilding, as a sacristy, and not a belfry, as Dr. O'Conor supposed. ( )n this point we have the decisive authority of the celebrated Cor- mac Mac Cullenan, who thus explains the word in his Glossary :
" QupDom, .1. upbotn .1. aupce^oaij^, no ppia cejoaip aneccaip." " Aurdom, i. e. urdoiii, i. e. side-house, or against a house externally."
I should further state that the word is variously written aurdom, urdom, erdom, irdom, and urdom, and is obviously compounded of the words eap, end, limit, and Dam, or Dom, a house. A similar an- cient compound of the prefix ir with teach, a house, is explained by O'Clery by the modern compound cuilteach, i. e. back-house. But, though we have thus distinct evidences of the literal meaning of the term, and though it occurs very frequently in the Irish Annals, and other ancient authorities, as applied to a building, or portion of a building, it is unfortunately very difficult to form any accurate idea of the kind of building it designated. Thus, in the earliest notice in the Annals, in which the word occurs :
"A. D. 825. tofcuD ITlui^e bile, co n-a epoaimib, o jeincib." — Citron. Scot. " A. D. 825. The burning of Magh-Bile, with its erdams, by the Gentiles" [Danes].
From this passage we learn, at least, that there was more than one erdam at Magh Bile ; but, we are left in the dark as to whether they were attached to the church or not.
The next notice in which the word occurs, relates to the erdam of St. Kieran, at Clonmacnoise, and is equally unsatisfactory.
" A. D. 1070. Qn clochan 6 Cpoip Gppcoip ©rchen co h-lpoom Ciapnin, Do benatid h-i j-Cluain mac Noip la maoilciupain TTlac Cuinn na m-bochc, ajup an clochan 6 Cpotp Choriijaill co h-ului6 na o-qni 5-cpop, ajup uaib piap 50 bel na ppaioe." — Ann. Quat. Mag.
"A. D. 1070. The causeway from the Cross of Bishop Etchen to the Irdom of St. Ciaran, at Clonmacnoise, was made by Maolciarain Mac Cuinn na m-bocht, and also the catiseway from the cross of St. Comgall to the earn of the three crosses, and thence westwards, to the mouth of the street."
From this passage it might be supposed that the erdam at Clon- macnoise was a distinct building ; and such a supposition would be strengthened by another notice of this erdam in the Chronicon Scoto- rum at a later period.
"A.D. 1113. epoam Ciapam do cumoac ecip plinn ocup benncobap."
" A. D. 1113. The Erdam of Ciaran was covered both shingles and benncobar."
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 439
The same impression would also be made by the passage already quoted, at p. 52, from the Annals of Ulster, relative to the burning of Armagh, at the year 995, and which, for the convenience of the reader, it may be desirable to repeat here :
" Qn. Dccccxcv. Cene biair oo jaBuil Qipbmcicha, co nd pupcaib oepcech, nu Dtimliacc, na li-eponm, iia pibnemeat) ann cen lopcaD."
" A. D. DCCCCXCV. Lightning caught Arimigh, so that it did not leave a.duirteacli, or daimhUag, or erdam, or fd/inemead there witliout burning."
But such a conjecture is not only proved to be groundless, by the fact, that no distinct building to which the name could be applied, now remains in Ii-eland, — for Dr. O'Conor's supposition, that it was applied to a Round Tower, has been proved groundless, — but also from the decisive passages relative to the stealing of the celebrated Book of Kells, out of the western erdam of the creat church of Kells, already quoted at page 53, and which is here repeated :
" A. D. 1006. Sotpccel mop Cholairn ChiUe do buBjom ip in oi6ce ap in epoom laprhapach a n-Doiriiliacc moip Cenunnpa, ppim minD lapcaip Doiiiain, ap aoi un chumcat^ saenoa, ajup a pajBail nin pichec abai^ pop oib mipciib, icip njaicc 6e a oip, cijup poc caipip."
"A. D. 1006. The great book of the Gospels of St. Columbkille was stolen in tlie night out of the western erdam in the great church of Kells, the chief relic of the western world, on account of the singular cover, and was found, after twenty nights and two months, its gold having been stolen off it, and a sod over it."
The same entry is given in the Annals of Ulster, as published by Dr. O'Conor ; and it is worthy of remark, that though he has previously insisted that the word cnkim was synonymous with doic- theach, and has subsequently translated it by the word turris, in this, his last work, he renders it by the word sacellum. His translation and copy of the original are as follows :
" Jlww. M. vi. Soiscela mor Col. c. do dubgaitk isind aidci as ind airdom iartaracli in DaimUacc moir Cenannsa, prim mind iartair domain arai in comdaiijh doendui. In Soiscela sin do foghbail did ficlietan dar dih niisaib iarngaii de aoir i fottairis.''''
" Evangelium magnum S. Columbffi furtive direptum, tempore nocturno, ex in- feriori Sacello Ecclesiaj magna; Cathedralis Kellensis. Prscipuvim erat istud pretiosa- rum reliquiarum Occidentalis mundi, propter eximium operimentum. Codex iste inventus est postea sub cespitibus, post duos menses, exutus auro, et coelatione."
But, though it is thus certain that the erdam was an inferior build- ing attached to a large church, and that there were, at least occasion- ally, more than one such inferior structure attached in this way to the
440 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
larger building, it is by no means easy to determine the nature or purpose of such buildings.
I have, however, discovered in an ancient Irisli authority, an example of the use of the word, which will materially assist in this inquiry, and, as I hope, ultimately determine the question. It is a passage in which the word erdam is used to express the Latin word porticus, and occurs in a translation of Venerable Bede's abstract of Adamnan's work, De Situ Terras Sanctoe, &c., which is preserved in the celebrated MS. called the Leabliar Breac. The original passage in Bede is as follows :
"In platea, qua; Martyrium & Golgotha continuat, exedra est, in qua calix Domini scriniolo reconditus, per operculi foramen, tangi solet, & osculari. Qui argenteus cali.x duas hinc et inde liabens ansulas, sextarii Gallici mensuram capit : in quo est & ilia spongia Domini potus ministra : Lancea mUitis inserta habetur in cruce lignea, IN PORTicu Maetyrii, cujus liastile in duas intercisum partes, a tota veneratur civi- tate." — Cap. II.
In tlie Leabliar Breac the following translation is given, of which I add a literal translation, for the use of the English reader :
" Ip iiici-pme [.1. m eclaip TTluipe] aca coilecli in ChoimoeD lap n-a cumcac, 7 cleccaic ooine a raoall 7 a poccao cpia roll pil 1 papcli no comlao ; 7 coilech cipjaic h-e, 7 Di Dpolam tsn cec lee app, 7 cuquima ppia peppa h-e ; 7 ip in colech pin no canaD Ipu h-mpaipc 7 oipppenD. Ip in Uilc ceDna beep aca m machoual ap a cucao in oeoch bo'n Choimoio, .1. pinaicec, 7 oomblap lap na cumnpc. Ocup ip ann pop aca j;oi in mileb Diap jonoo cpioe in Choimoeo, lap n-a inO]^ni(;i ip in cpoich cpainb pil a n-ipoum no h-eclaipi. Ip amlam oin aza cpano in 501 pm ap n-a poino ap do, 7 ip mop anoip 7 caoup na pano pin oc in cacpuij pin uli." — Fol. 79, t>; now fol. 69, b.
" It is in this [i. e. in the church called Golgothana], is the chalice of the Lord being covered, and people are accustomed to touch and kiss it through a hole which is in the door ; it is a silver chalice, with two handles, one on each side, and it is of the size of a sextarius. It is in this chalice that Jesus made sacrifice and ofiering. In the same place, also, is the sponge, out of which the drink was given to the Lord, that is, vinegar and gall mixed. It is there, also, is the lance of the soldier, — by which the heart of the Lord was wounded, — inserted in the wooden cross, which is in the erdam of the church. The shaft of this lance is divided into two parts, and these tlimgs are in high honour and veneration with the whole city."
Having thus ascertained that the Avord erdam was used b}' the Irish in the same sense with the Latin word porticus, as understood in the middle ages, it follows that if we can define the sort of porch, or other building, to which the latter was applied in the descriptions of churches, we shall have a tolerably correct idea of the sort of
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 441
structure to which the former was applied by the Irish. Now, as the word porticus is of very frequent occurrence in the notices of ancient Saxon churches, given by Venerable Bede and later Saxon writers, and as it is in the highest degree probable, that the ancient Irish and Saxon churches were often very similar to each other, it might naturally be expected that the inquiry would be attended with little difficulty ; but this, imfortunately, is far from being the case, for the Avord is so variously applied that it is extremely diffi- cult, if not impossible, to understand what particular part of the church it was intended to designate. And hence we find writers of the highest ability utterly opposed to each other as to its appli- cation. For example, the Rev. J. Bentham, — in the admirable Re- marks on the Saxon Churches, prefixed to his History of the Cathedral Church of Ely, — finding that the word was applied to some apart- ment, or division, Avithin the chiu-ch, yet distinct from the church itself, has come to the conclusion, that it designated the side aisles of the chiu'ch, or that, sometimes, it may be a particular division of it, consisting of one arch Avith its recess. But, until it be more fully established than it has hitherto been, that the Anglo-Saxon churches were decorated with side aisles, this conclusion can only be taken as an ingenious conjecture. At all events it could not be understood as applied in this manner to Irish churches, as there is not, I think, the slightest evidence to be found in favour of the sup- position, that any of them had . ever been so constructed. On the other hand, Mr. Wilkin, — in his able Description of Melbourne church, Derbyshire, published in the Xlllth Volume of the Archajologia, — while he concurs Avith Mr. Bentham that the porticoes were within the church, repudiates the supposition that they were the side aisles, or any portions of them ; and expresses his opinion that the Saxon churches, in Bede's time, probably had neither pillars nor side aisles. But, finding that in the church at Melboiu'ne, — a church which he believes to be of the seventh century, — a portion of it at the west end Avas divided off from the nave, and subdivided into three parts, he concludes, that these dJAdsions were genuine specimens of the porticoes described by Bede and the other Saxon writers, and that they should be denominated as the north, south, and middle porti- coes. But, few, I belie\^e, Avill noAV be found to concur with Mr Wilkin in his opinion as to the antiqmty of this church, Avhich has
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442 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
both pillars and side aisles, and wliicli is so totally unlike in plan to the clnu'ch of Dunwich, which in a former Essay (Archasologia, vol. xii.), he had described as a genuine Saxon bidlding, having neither pillars nor side aisles, and which is divided into three apart- ments, which he calls the ante-temple, the temple, and the sanctuary. Mr. Wilkin, indeed, himself perceived this want of agreement in his two opinions, and tried to get over it by the statement that it is pro- hable that the ante-temple, which in this instance (Dunwich) is the greatest portion of the church, is the part which Bede names the por- ticus. But on opinions so contradictory no reliance can be placed, and till the Saxon antiquity of the church of Melbourne be fully established, Mr. Wilkin's conclusion as to the nature and situation of the porticoes, must be considered merely as an ingenious conjecture ; nor Avould it, if established, throw any light on the nature or situation of the Irish erdanis ; as there are not the slightest grounds for be- lieving that any of the ancient Irish churches had such a division at their west end as the church of Melbourne presents. Neither will the conjecture of Mr. Collier, who, in his Chui'ch History, under- stands the word porticus as applied to the porch, which, in Gothic, and even occasionally in Norman churches, is found in front of the entrance doorways, for nothing of this kind occurs in connexion with any of the Irish churches, nor, I believe, in any of the English churches, ascribed, with any appearance of probability, to the Saxon times. Thus we find that the meaning of the word p)07'ticus, as used by Bede and other Saxon writers, remains still to be determined, and so, perhaps, must the Irish word erdam, till more distinct evidences be discovered. We have indeed ascertained that the Irish word erdam and the Latin woi-d porticus were similarly applied, and hence that the former was a porch of some description. And this fact seems to be corroborated by the following passage in the Vision of Adamnan, an Irish work ascribed to that distinguished person, and preserved in the Leabhar Breac; for though the writer only describes imaginary things, yet the words employed in the description of ob- jects must have been previously apphcable to objects that had a real existence. The writer, after describing the situations of the different classes of the righteous in heaven, relatively to the position of tlie Lord, thus writes :
" Qca oin platch a&a pop jnuip ooiB, iia&ib faip-Depp ; 7 y\a\ jlonioe
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 443
eciippu, 7 e|ioaD opocii ppip utiepp, ocup rpirpiDe imunnicecpum oelbci ociip po|x;uD muincipe nime." — Fol. 127, A-
" There is an illustrious Lord before their face oiF from them to the south-east; a glass veil between them, and a golden erdam to the south of him, and through it they see the countenances and shade of the people of heaven."
This passage is, no doubt, obscure enough, but the writer seems obviously to have had in his mind some such separation between the Deity, with the heavenly choir and the souls of men, as existed be- tween the laity and clergy in the larger churches, where the latter were separated from the former by the veils wliich hung from the arch of the sanctuary, and that the heavenly choir were seen throiigh a porch on the south side.
In a subsequent passage the writer, after having stated that an angel conducted Adamnan's soul from heaven to hell, and returned with him, thus proceeds ;
'■ RucoD lap pin in animm la bpapao pula pep an epoam n-6pba, ocup cpep an pial nsloiniDe, co cip na noem." — Fol. 128, a.
" The soul was borne in the twinkling of an eye through the golden erdam, and the glass veil, to the country of the saints."
In this description the idea of an arched or open porch is also distinctly indicated ; and, if we chose to understand it in the sense of an entrance porch, as found in the Norman and later chiu-ches in England, such a supposition would receive support from a passage which occurs in a very ancient satirical extravaganza preserved in the same MS., and which was written to ridicule the luxury and inhospitahty of a certain abbot of Cork, named Manchine, who flou- rished in the eighth century.
" 6a h-ampa cpa in bipepc i m-basup ann. * » * Comla gepeft pp<pp, 7 S'^PP- ceno mapoci puppi. Qcomcuipechep puap oom cip mo echap, op ITIac Conj^linni, CO Dopup epoaim, im oopup in ounoio oia n-echcaip." — Leabliur Brcac: — Fol. loy, i., now foh 100, *.
" Admirable was the hermitage that was there. * * * It had a gate of suet to it, with the short head of a niaroc upon it. I wont up out of my boat, says Mac Conglinni, to the door of the erdam, at the door of the dtm on the outside."
But though this passage so distinctly shows an acquaintance with the use of an entrance porch, we have, as already observed, no exist- ing example of such in any ancient Irish church ; nor were it other- wise, would it prove that the word erdam was applied exclusively
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444 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
to a porch of this kind ; because, without dwelUng upon the fact that the church of Kells must have had more than one erdam, we can hardly beheve that the Book of Kells, the most valuable treasure of that monastery, would have been kept in any porch open externally. In our present state of knowledge on the subject, therefore, the safest conjecture to be hazarded would seem to be that the word erdam, like the word porticus, in the middle ages, was variously applied to any extraneous or side-building, of any kind, attached to a greater ; and, that the erdams noticed in the Irish annals were most probably sacristies, or other lateral apartments, entered from the interior of the church. Of such structures there are several examples remaining, as at Glendalough, Inis Cathy, the church on the island at Killaloe ; and in the cathedi-al of I^illaloe there is a remarkable instance of a porch of this kind, entered from the interior of the chiu-ch, through a mag- nificently sculptiu'ed archway, within which, according to the tra- dition of the country, Turlough O'Brien, King of Thomond, was interred, — a circumstance quite in unison with the use of such porti- coes, as noticed by Bede.
SUBSECTION VI. KITCHENS.
It appears from the oldest authorities, that from the introduction of Christianity in Ireland, one of the group of buildings, constituting a monastic establishment, was that called ciiicin, or coiccenn, and sometimes cuili, all which denote a kitchen, with wliicli word the two former, at least, are cognate, and seem to be of the same Indo- Geruianic origin, while the latter is obviously cognate -ft-ith it, if not derived from the Latin cidina.
In the list of buildings enumerated in St. Evin's Life of St. Pa- trick, as having been erected by the saint at Armagh, '■'■ juxtaformara et modum ab angelo prcescrijJtum" the culina, or kitchen, is stated to have been of the length of seventeen feet; and in notices which occur in the Irish annals of the buildmgs which existed subsequently at Armagh, the kitchen is alluded to as a separate building, as in the passage already quoted at p. 147, from the Annals of Ulster, at the year 915. And that this was the usual measm-einent of such build- ings, may be concluded from the account of the buildings previously erected by St. Patrick at the Ferta, near Armagh, as thus stated in
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 445
a fragment of the old Irish Tripartite Life of the saint, preserved in the Library of Trinity College; Dublin, H. 3, 18, p. 527 :
" If amlaio ono Dojioimpi pacpaic in Pepra, .i. pecc ^;:.ic cpaiseo ip iii lip, 7 pecc rpaijeb ;ci:.ic ip in C15 moip, 7 pecc cpuijjeo ^. Ip in cuili, 7 pecc cpuijeo ip inD apejal, 7 ha pamlam pin po pocaijeo pom no conjbala do jpep."
" It was thus Patrick measured the Ferta, viz., seven score feet in the Lis, and seven and twenty feet in the great house, and seventeen feet in the kitchen, and seven feet in the aregal ; and thus he was always accustomed to build the congbhals" [eccle- siastical establishments].
We have notices of the kitchen of St. Colnmba, at lona, in some of the Lives of that saint ; of the kitchen of St. Bridget, at Kildare, in the Life of that saint, preserved in the Leabhar Breac ; and of the kitchens of many other saints, at their various establishments. But, as I have met with no remains of any building of this class, of an age an- terior to the close of the twelfth centiuy, I do not deem it necessary to dwell further upon this subject, which I have thus lightly touched, as elucidating some passages in the oldest authorities, relative to our ancient architecture, not previously explained, and in the hope that it may possibly guide future investigators to the discovery of remains of the buildings themselves.
SUBSECTION VII. CASHELS.
I HAVE lastly to notice the circumvallations, or circular enclo- sm-es, which usually encompassed the group of buildings constituting the very early ecclesiastical establishments in Ireland. These cir- cumvallations, which were but imitations of the sorts of fortress in use among the pagan Irish, were sometimes of stone, and sometimes simply of earth ; at other times of stone intermixed with earth, and occasionally of earth faced with stone ; and they vv^ere all more or less circular in their plan. When of earth only, they were deno- minated by the terms Ratli^ or Lis, words synonymous with each other ; and when of stone, or of earth faced with stone, they were denominated Cathair, or, more usually, Caiseal, words also synony- mous ; and all these terms had been applied by the pagan Ii'ish to their fortresses of earth and stone ; and I may add, that the term dun was applied indiiferently to both.
Of such circumvallations, but few specimens have remained to us ;
446 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
and these are chiefly of stone, and situated in remote and thinly- inhabited places, where ancient manners, customs, and feelings, have been lono-est preserved. Moreover, the ecclesiastical Ratlis and Lises^ from the value of their materials for agricultural purposes, presented a greater temptation to their destruction, and have rarely escaped ; but the ancient Irish authorities have preserved notices of many such, as having existed in localities where not a vestige of them is now to be found. Such, for example, was the Rath Ardmacha, or Rath of Armagh, which enclosed the original ecclesiastical buildings erected there, and of which so fi'eqvient mention is made in the Irish annals, as already quoted, and more distinctly in the folio-wing passages in the Aiuials of the Foiu" JNIasters :
" A. D. 1091. Ctn leic laprapacb do Raich Qpoatnacha oo lopccoo." " A. D. 1091. The western half of the Rath of Armagh was burned." " A. D. 1092. Raidi Qpoa maclia, co n-a cemploib, bo lopccao an cerparhao Kal. 00 Sepc, 7 fppr 00 cpiun mop, 7 pper do cpiun Saxon."
" A. D. 1 092. The Rath of Armagh, with its churches, was burned on the fourth of the Calends of September, and a street of Trian mor, and a street of Trian Saxon."
See also the same annals, at the year 1112.
Such, also, was the great Rath or Lis, called Lismor, or the great fort, erected around the chm^ch and cells by St. Carthagh, or Mochuda, at Lismore, in the now County of Waterford, as thus stated in the second life of that saint, published in the Acta Sanctorum of the Bol- landists, 14 May :
" Deinde gloriosvis Pontifex cum suis per qiiemdam campulum, Scotico nomine INIaghsgiats, Latino autem Scuti-campus, ad locum sibi prsedestinatum a Domino, oblatum autem a supradicto Duce Nandesi, exivit, & castrametati sunt in eo. Postea loco benedicens sanctus Pontifex cum ceteris Sanctis, cii-culum civitatis assignarunt : & venit ad eos qtisedam virgo, quEe cellulam habebat in eo agro, nomine CorneUi : & in- terrogavit eos dicens : Quid vultis hie agere servi Dei ? Eespondit ei S. Mochuda : In Dei voluntate paramus atrium modicum sepire circa sarcinas nostras. Et ait sancta Virgo : Non parvnm sed magnum erit. Sanctus Pater Mochuda ait : Verum erit, quod dicis Christi ancilla. Nam ex hoc nomine locus semper vocabitur Liassmor Scotice, Latine autem Atrium-magnum." — p. 388, col. a.
In like manner we find, from the fragment of the ancient Tripar- tite Life of St. Patrick, already alluded to, that the earher group of chvirches, foimded by St. Patrick, at the Ferta, near Armagh, was similarly encompassed with a Lis, or earthen enclosiu'e, measuring one htmdred and forty feet in diameter ; and as this is stated to be the
OP THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 447
measurement adopted by Patrick in all such works, we may veiy fairly infer it was that of the Rath of Armagh, and not the length of the wall of the church, as Colgan supposed, in his translation of the passage of the Tripartite life, describing the buildings at Armagh.
I have already noticed, at page 128, the interestmg example of the custom of the Irish clergy, in erecting such circular walls, pre- served to us by Venerable Bede, in his description of the ecclesiastical establishment founded by St. Cuthbert, in the island of Fame, in Northiunberland ; and from this accomit it may be inferred, that the object of erectmg such enclosures, of which the wall externally was not more than the height of a man, was less for defence, than, by shutting ovit the view of external objects, to prevent the thoughts from I'ambling and confine them to rehgious meditations. And such, in- deed, would appear to have been the piu'pose, in many instances, where the wall was of no greater height, as in the Cashel at St. Fechin's establishment, on High Island, already described; and in the fine example of such a circumvallation, partly of stone, and paitly of earth, till recently preserved to us at Rathmichael, in the County of Dublin, but of which, unfortunately, only a few stones of the gate- way now remain. But that these enclosures were not always erected Avithout any view to defence, however the ecclesiastics might have trusted to the religious feelings of the people for protection, is proved from the gi-eater height and strength of some of the circimivallations remaining ; and, indeed, in very many instances, the religious houses were built within the pagan fortresses given up to the clergy by the Irish princes, on their conversion to Christianity, or shortly after- wards. Thus, we learn from the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, that one of the very earliest churches erected by that saint in Meath, — the church of Donaghpatrick, at Tailtenn, — was built where the house of Conall, the king's brother, was situated, and Avliich was given up to liim foi- the purpose : I have already given the passages relating to it at pp. 161, 162. So, in an extract from the Life of St Benen, or Be- nignus, published by Colgan in his Trias Thauin., p. 204, it is stated that the church of Cill Benen was erected within the arx, or fortress called Dun Lughaidh, from a lord of the coimtry, who, with his father and four brothers, having been -baptized by the Saints, Pati-ick and Benen, gave uj) their dun, or fortress, for the purpose.— See the
448 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
passage quoted in the notice of tlie cliurcli and Round Tower of Kilbannan, in Part III.
A similarly striking example of the resignation of a pagan fort for the use of a Christian community, occurs in the Life of St. Cailhn, in the Book of Fenagh, — of which there is a copy on parchment in the Collection of Irish MSS. in the Library of the Royal Irish Aca- demy, made from a copy of the original still preserved at Fenagh, and which was transcribed for the abbot O'Rody, in the year 1517, from the original book now preserved in the British Museum.
It is there stated, in an ancient poem attributed to Flann, the son of Flann, concerning the history of Fenagh, that the chief of the coun- try of Breifny, Aodh Finn, the son of Feargna, on his conversion to Christianity by St. Cailhn, gave up to him his Cathair, or stone fortress, in order that he might erect his monastic buildings within it ; and of this Cathair, which was one of great extent, there are vestiges still remaining.
It further appears, from the same poem, that this Cathair had been of a very great antiquity, as well as importance, as its erection is attiibuted to Conaing Begeglach, or the Fearless, the sixty-fifth monarch of Ireland in the Irish regal list, and who flourished, ac- cording to the corrected chronology of O'Flaherty, nearly four hun- dred years before the Christian era. This fact is stated in the fol- lowing stanzas :
" t)un Tn-6aili pijbailea caij, pope cup cjoip F^ura pail, Can ha pi cpoDa cpecac Conainj beo&a Sejejlac. Conainj, mac Conaill calma, Ip cpen po cecc m-6anba, Co n-oepna Capiul caeih cloch Qp TTlaj R^in ic f,oc Saloch. ***** t)un m-6aili ainm oo'n chacpaij, Ocup ni gepp in acliuij, O p6 in Conaing mecc njopa Co peapjna, mac Peapjopa."
" Dim Baile, royal town for all, A fort to which tlie chiefs of Fail were wont to come. When the vigorous "Conaing Begeglach Was brave and plundering king.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 440
Conaing, son of Conall the brave, "Wiio miglitily consolidated Banba, And built a beautiful Vasiiil of stone On Magh Eein, at Locli Saloeh.
Dun Baili was the name of the cathair. And not for a short time, From the time of Conaing of great valour To Feargna, son of Fergus."
Again, in mentioning tlie resignation of this fort and the sur- rounding district to St. Caillin by Aodh Finn, the son of Feargna, the following curious reference is made to the door of the cathair, which was closed by a huge stone :
"Cij Qeo cup in ccnpri amach 1 ppini Dopup na carpacli, Co cuj ann pin peapcino cpa t)o ChaiUin, b'a anmchcipa."
" Aedh come out to the rock In the chief door of the cathair. So that he gave land To Caillin, his spiritual friend."
Indeed, in many instances, we find the group of religious build- ings within fortresses of the greatest celebrity in Irish history, as in the great fortress of Muirhlieach Mil, in the great island of Aran, erected by a prince of the Firbolgs, about the commencement of the Christian era, the interior of which is occupied by the two churches, and the numerous round houses of the monks of St. Mac Duach. When I visited Aran, in the year 1821, nearly half of this fortress remained, and the wall was in some parts twenty feet in height, and thirteen feet thick at its summit.
In the ancient poem just quoted, the three terms, dun, caiseal, and cathair are used synonymously in the description of a fort erected in pagan times : and the nature of such stone enclosiu'es is well illus- trated in the Irish translation of Venerable Bede's abstract of Adam- nan's account of the sacred places in the Holy Land, in which the three circular and concentric walls which surrounded the church of the Resurrection is translated " three cashels" :
" edaip cpuino epioe co rpi caplib immpe." " This is a round church \vith three casheh around it." 3 M
450 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
But, as I have already remarked, the cashels erected by the eccle- siastics themselves were often of such a height as would necessarily imply that they were intended, as much at least for defence, as for any other object; and a passage in the Irish annals, relative to the erection of a cashel at Deny, in the twelfth century, very distinctly alludes to this object. This cashel was erected by the abbot Flaith- bheartach O'Brolchain, as a protection to the churches of Derry, which, having been greatly injured, he was about to enlarge and re- pair, as stated in the following passage in the Annals of the Four Masters :
" A. D. 1 162. epfcapcab na o-cijeo 6 rempull t)oipe do oenarh la coihapba Coluim Cille, piairbepcach Lki 6polcliain, 7 la ITluipcepcac Lla tochlainn, la pij ©penn, 7 po rojKaic occmo^ac ceaj, no m ay uille, ap in maijm 1 pabaccap, 7 Caipeul an uplaip do benarh la comapba Coluim CiUe Beop, 7 do bepc mal- lacc popp an ci no ricpoD caipip."
" A. D. 1162. The separation of the houses from the church of Derry was made by the Comharba of Columbkille, Flaithbhertach O'Brolchain, and by Muirchertach O'Lochlainn, king of Ireland ; and they removed eighty houses, or more, from tlie place they were ; and caiseal an iirlair was erected by the comharba of ColumbkiUe, and he pronounced a curse on the person who should come over it."
One of the finest ecclesiastical cashels now remaining, and in which strength was obviously intended, is that surrovuiding the eccle- siastical establishment of St. Molaise, on Inishmurry, an island in the bay of Sligo. It is of an irregular round form, and nearly 200 feet in its greatest internal diameter. The wall varies in thickness, from five to seven and eight feet, and in height from twelve to sixteen. It is built of calp limestone, undressed, and without cement ; and, where not shaken by the storms of the Atlantic, exhibits a consider- able degree of rude art. Its gateway is quadrangular, and measures six feet two inches in height, four feet in breadth, and seven feet six inches in its jambs ; and such is the usual size and form of gateways found in such buildings, as well as in the more ancient cashels of i pagan times. There are instances, however, of gateways of a larger size, as that of the cashel at Rathmichael, which is eight feet wide, and! which was most probably arched. But the most remarkable gateway] belonging to such structures now remaining, is that at Glendalough, — a monument unique in its kind, and which, from want of care, unfor- tunately, will soon cease to exist. The general character of this gateway, and its great resemblance to the Newport gate, at Lincoln,!
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
451
built by the Romans, Avill appear from the annexed sketcli ; and its measurements at the base will be seen in the ground-plan following :
'^^'^^^''^Ji^
This gateway is in form very nearly a square, being sixteen feet internally between the side-walls, and sixteen feet six inches, be- tween the perforated, or arched walls. It is built of undressed blocks of mica slate, ex- cept in the arches and pilasters, which are of granite blocks of larger size, and chiselled. The external arch is formed of twenty-six stones, of which the lower are two feet six inches in height ; the upper stones ave- ..?^B rage one foot three inches on the face, and two feet six inches on the soffit. The inner arch is formed of twenty-seven stones, which measure two feet seven inches in the jambs and soffit. These arches are of equal height, namely, ten feet to the soffit of the key-stone, and five feet to the chord. This gateway supported a tow^er, the floor of which was of wood, as appears by the corbel stones remaining in the side walls. Of this tower there are now but slight remains ; but from a print in Fisher's Views,
3 M 2
452 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Dublin, 1795, we find that it had a narrow oblong aperture in the external wall, directly over, and about two feet from, the key-stone.
Of the casliel, or wall itself, which enclosed the monastic esta- blishment, there are but slight vestiges remaining, but these are sufBcieut to show that it was built without cement, and of a very irregular figiu-e, in consequence of the inequality of the surface along which it passed, and the gi'eat extent of the area which it enclosed.
From a ground-plan preserved among Sir James Ware's MSS. in the British Museum, we find that the wall which surrounded the chirrches and cemetery at Clonmacnoise was equally irregular in its figiu-eas that at Glendalough ; and from a similar cause, — the inequa- lity of the surface over which it passed ; but as cement was used in its construction, there is little doubt that it was of much later age than that of Glendalough. It had three gateways, one of which, at least, — that at the west, leading to the nunnery, — was arched ; but of this gateway there are now no remains.
It seems certain, also, that the great monastery at Kells Avas similarly enclosed, and had more than one entrance gateway, as the one called Dorus Urdoim, or the gate of the Urdom ; or, as Colgan translates it. Porta, Dorus Urdhoim appellata, is referred to in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 1157.
SUBSECTION VIII. WELL COVERINGS, TOMBS, AND MILLS.
In addition to the several classes of buildings treated of in the preceding subsections, and to which references occur in the Irish authorities, it appears that the Irish ecclesiastics also employed stone architecture, at least occasionally, in the erection of Mills, the Tombs ( )f the founders of Chivrches, and as coverings to their sacred Wells, though but few historical references to such structures have been hitherto found. There appears, however, to have been no uniformity of plan in such structures, as their remains sufficiently evince. Thus, in some instances, the wells were simply enclosed with a circular wall of large masonry, as at St. Mac Duach's well at Kill Mac Duach, St. Mochua's wells at Balla, in the County of Mayo, &c..; and it is worthy of remark that we are told in the life of this latter Saint, as published by Colgan, at the 3Uth March, that the place, which had
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. i'),)
previously been known by the name of Ros Darbreach, or, as it is latinized, Nemics Darhrecum, received its new name, Balla, from tlie walls or enclosiu'es with which the saint enclosed the fountains — " non procul esse fontem, nvmcpiam ibi antea visum cinctum balla, id est lorica. Vnde oppidum, nouum nomen Balla, & etiani Mochua cognomen Ballensis accepit." This St. Mochua, according to the Irish Annalists, died in 637. It is also worthy of remark that we find from the same Life of the Saint, that lie was eminent himself as an architect, and was the builder, not only of his own churcli, — and, as we may well conclude, its decidedly cotemporaneous Round Tower, — but also of the celebrated mill of St. Fecliin at Fore. And yet this name Balla has been such an ignis fatuus to modern Irish antiquaries, that tliey have almost unanimously adopted General Vallancey's etymology of the word, — " Ballagh, i. e. Beilagh, the Fire of Fires," — and considered it as a proof demonstrative of the pagan origin of the Towers, though they had the authority of tlie Author of the Mayo Survey, himself a disciple of their school, that "in the walls of the small plain church (of Ballagh), the stones and workmanship are the same as those of the Tower."
In some instances, however, when the well was of small size, it was covered by a small stone-roofed buikbng, exactly resembling a stone-roofed oratory, as in a well at Tobar na Druadh, near Sheeps- town, in the County of Kilkenny ; St. Brigid's well at the Faughard, in the County of Louth, still remaining ; and the well called the Lady's Well near Dundalk, of which an engraving is given in Wright's Louthiana, but which has since been rebuilt.
In like manner, the tombs of the early saints present a variety of forms ; as in those on Aran, which are often rude sarcophagi, some- what similar to pagan cromleacs or kistvaens, while, at other times, they are small cairns, enclosed by a circular or quadrangular wall. But, though the usual practice appears to have been to mark the grave of Christians simply by unsquared flag stones, marked with a cross, it appears certain, that, in many instances, the sepulclires of very distinguished persons were honoured with tombs of a more architectural character, and which, like the coverings of the wells already alluded to, had a striking resemblance, in every thing but size, to the small stone oratories. Of sucli structiu'es, however, I have discovered but few remains, and none in a perfect state, but
454
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
those which are situated in the County of Londonderry, — namely, the tomb of St. Cadan, — the Catanus of Patrick's Lives, — beside the church of Tamlaght Ard ; the tomb of St. Muireadach O'Heney, near the church of Banagher, of which he is the reputed foimder ; and the tomb of the founder of the chiurch of Bovevagh, whose name is now forgotten.
Of two of these curious monuments I liave thought it desirable to append illustrations ; and of these the first is an east view of the tomb of St. Muireadach O'Heney, exhibiting the sculptured relievo of this saint, with which it is ornamented. This tomb is wholly faced with ashlar masonry of sandstone, and measiu'es ten feet in length, four feet nine inches in breadth, eight feet in height to the gable ridge, and four feet to the eaves.
Respecting the age of this tomb I can only speak conjectiu-ally, as I have not been able to discover any historical reference to the ecclesiastic to whom it was raised. But, as his church, — which was a building of considerable architectural beauty, — seems obviously a structure of the latter part of the eleventh century, or the commence- ment of the twelfth, we may fairly assign this monument to that period.
The next illustration presents a west end view of the tomb of
ON THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
455
the reputed founder of the church of Bovevagh, which, like that of St. Muireadacli, is faced with ashlar masonry of sand-stone, but appears to be of earlier date. It measures nine feet in Icngtli, and
seven feet six inches in lieiglit.
The tomb of St. Cadan is also built of ashlar masonry, and is obviously of much higher antiquity, but it is so covered up with earth by the adjacent interments that no sketch of it could be obtained.
Remains of similar tombs are found in other parts of Ireland, some of which would appear to have been' of greater size and impor- tance, but they are usually in a state of great dilapidation; — such, for instance, was the tomb of St. Colman INIac Duach, at Kill mac Duach, which was constructed of very large blocks of squared limestone, and measured ten feet in length and five in breadth.
I have only to add that, few as these remaining examples of the ancient tomb architecture of the Irish are, they are valuable, as pre- serving to us the probable type of the tomb of St. Coliuuba, and the more celebrated monuments of the kings, at lona, which Sacheverel, Martin, and Pennant notice, as described by the Dean of the Isles as " built in form of little chapels ;" — and, perhaps, also, the tomb of St. Patrick, formerly preserved at Glastonbury " of the Iri.sh," which is noticed, by Camden and Sammes, as being of a pyramidal form.
fs^.
ii-iS^ I
'» 7 1
•4PSM
454
JQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
those which are -lituated in the County of Londonderry,— namely, the tomb of St. Gdan, — the Catanus of Patrick's Lives, — beside the church of Tamlaht Ard ; the tomb of St. Muireadach O'Heney, near the church c Banagher, of which he is the reputed foimder ; and the tomb of te founder of the chiu-ch of Bovevagh, whose name is now forgotten.
Of two of thes curious monuments I have thought it desirable to append illustraons ; and of these the first is an east view of the tomb of St. luireadach O'Heney, exliibitiug the sculptured relievo of this sait, with which it is ornamented. This tomb is wholly faced witl ashlar masonry of sandstone, and measiues ten feet in length, fou feet nine inches in breadth, eight feet in height to the gable ridgeand four feet to the eaves.
Respecting th( age of this tomb I can only speak conjectm-ally, as I have not beei able to discover any historical reference to the ecclesiastic to whoa it was raised. But, as his church, — which was a building of contderable architectural beauty, — seems obviously a structure of the later part of the eleventh century, or the commence- ment of the twelih, we may faiiiy assign this monument to that period.
The next illutration presents a west end view of the tomb of
X I
appears h > KM feet .'i>.
s;'!i;v:';(iii}i«K!n
i'WW'|'|i[;!i)'i:
tni
.h>
kitanlbvbti
.BOS!!'
ON THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRmND.
455
the reputed founder of the cliurch of Bovevad which, Hke tluit ol
St. Muireadach, is faced with ashlar mason
appears to bo of earlier date. It measures nin eat in length, and seven feet six inches hi height.
of sand-stone, but
parts of Ireland,
The tomb of St. Cadan is also built of as! r masonry, and is obviously of much higher antiquity, but it is s covered up with earth by the adjacent interments that no ske h of it could be obtained.
Remains of similar tombs are found in oth some of which would appear to have been' of gre er size and impor- tance, but they are usually in a state of great dila ilation; — such, for instance, was the tomb of St. Colman Mac Duach, t Kill mac Duach, which was constructed of very large blocks of juared limestone, and measured ton feet in length and five in brea i.
I have only to add that, few as these remain g examples of the ancient tomb architecture of the Irish are, they i ; valuable, as pre- serving to us the probable type of the tomb of Sf Dolumba, and the more celebrated monuments of the kings, at lona irhicl^l»heverel, Martin, and Pennant noti(;e, as described by the Mfl^^^^Bles as " built in form of little chapels ;" — and, perhapsJi^^^^^Hb of St. Patrick, formerly preserved at Glastonbur^flPl^^^^vhicli is noticed, by Camden and S^iiHii^lBri^^^B ^B^form.
^
4.5() INQI'IRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES OF THE ROUND TOWERS, ETC
Of till' ancient mills erected by ecclesiastics, in connexion with their monasteries, we have several notices in oiu* historical authorities, some of which I liave referred to in my Essay on the Antiquities of Tara. But, though there are several mills in Ireland of very eai'ly antiquity, I have not hitlierto met with any in connexion with the churches that appear of coeval date, and consequently deserving of further notice in this place. '
I have now brought this Second Part of my Inquiry to an end. That occasional errors of opinion — where opinion has been ventured on — may be found in it, I am prepared to expect ; but I indulge in the hope that such errors will be deemed of little importance, or at least insufficient to invalidate, to any extent, the conclusions I have arrived at as to the antiquity and uses of tlie various classes of eccle- siastical edifices of which I have treated; and, if I do not much deceive myself, such conclusions will be strongly supported 1)}' the descriptive and historical notices of the ancient religious edifices remaining in the several counties of Ireland, to which the next Part of this Inquiry will be devoted.
INDEX.
A.
Abbanhs, S., religious foreigners with,
138. Abecedarium, or Eoman alphabet, 135. AbernethyTower(Scotland), human skulls
and bones stated to have been found in.
■ observations thereon, 91, 92. . Round Tower at. Sir Walter
Scott's observations on, 377. Absis, couched semicircular, not found in
ancient Irish churches, 162. Academy, Eoyal Irish, copy of the Annals
of the Four Masters in the library of,
notice of, 51.
museum of the, 228, 252, 315.
Acaill (the hUl on which Serin Colaim
Cille is at this day), residence of King
Cormac at, 98, 100. Achadh Aldai, the cave of, 103. Achadh bo Cainnigh. — See Aghaboe. Achadh-Dalrach, Cursecha filia Brochani
de, 138. Achadh Galma in Ybh-Echia, 138. Achadh Ginain, Gauls or Franks of, 166.
Achadh ur See Freshford.
Acta Sanctorum. — See Colgan and BoUan-
dists. Adamnan, his life of St. Columba quoted
or referred to, 340, 387, 388, 389, 424. his work " De Situ Terras Sanc-
tae," Bede's Abstract of. — See Bede. Vision of, quoted, 442, 443.
Aedan, derthach of, 345.
Aedh, king of Aileach, 223.
Aedh, the son of Aicide, chief of Teffia,
death of, 331. Aedli, the son of Brendan, cliief of Teffia,
Durrow endowed by, 331. Aedh, the son of Maelruanaidh, coin as- cribed to, 226. Aedh Finn, son of Feargna, chief of Breif-
ny, gives up Fenagh to St. Caillin, 448,
449. Aedh Finnliath, monarch of Ireland, coins
attributed to, 225, 226. Aedh Luirgnech, son of the Dagda, grave
of. — See Ferta Aedha Luirgnig. Aedh, son of the Dagda, buried at Brugh,
106. Aedh Oirdnighe, monarch of Ireland, poem
addressed to, quoted, 382.
Ulidia devastated by, 203.
Aenach, annual meetings so called, where
held, 107, 108. Aenach Ailbhe, a pagan cemetery, 98,
99, 100, 101, 106. Aenach Colmain, a pagan cemetery of the
men of Munster, 98, 99, 100, 101, 106. Aenach Cruachan, or Aenach na Cruach-
na, a pagan cemetery, account of, in
Leabhar nah-Uidhre, 98, 100, 104, 105,
106 See Rathcroghan.
Aenach Culi, one of the burial places of
the men of Munster (i. e. the Derg-
thene), 98, 99, 100, 101, 106. Aenach Eamhna, a pagan cemetery, 98. N
458
INDEX.
Aenach Feci, a pagan cemetery, 106. Aenach sean-Clochair, a pagan cemetery,
98. Aougus, a poet of Connaught, 106. Aengus the Culdee, litany of, 137 ; quoted,
or referred to, 138, 166, 179. Aengus, Felire or FestUogy of. — See Fe-
lire. Aengus Gaibhuaiphnecli, 98, 100. Aengus, son of Crunnmael, the Caisel or
stone enclosure of. — See Caisel Aengusa
mic Crundmaeil. Aengus, son of the Dagda, buried at Brugh
na Boinne, 106. African Sea-champions, i. e. the Fomo-
rians. Round Towers asserted by Val-
lancey to have been first erected in Ire- land by, 14. Agda, the son of Dubcen, prince of Teffia,
death of, 330. Aghaboe burned, 429. Aghannagh, County of Sligo, old church
of, 179, 180.
church of Ehenaoh, founded by
St. Patrick, 180. Bishop Manius, left by St. Pa-
trick at Each-ainech, in the territory of
Tir-OiliUa, 180. Agilulf, Abbot of Bobbio, 396. Aidan, king, 389.
Aidan, St See Maidoc.
Aigidiu, moniunental inscription bearing
this name at Durrow, 331. probably a prince of Teffia in the
tenth century, ib. Aidhne, or Ui Fiachracb Aidhne, burial- place of the chiefs of, 176. Aldus, St., lies interred at CluainDartadha,
138. AObhe, St., comharbas, or successors of,
in Emly, 312. Aileach, King of, 151, 152, 223, 226,
308. Ailell Mac Mada, 98, 100. interred at Aenach na Cruacli-
na, 106, 107.
Ailell of Bregia, interred at Rathcroghan,
104, 105. AOithre, or Oilithre, meaning of word, 1 18,
derivation of, by Dr. O'Conor, ib. Aireagal, origin of the word, 352. Aireagal Adhamhnain, modern name of,
352. Airegal Daohiarog, modern name of, 352. Airged, application of the word to denote
both silver and money, 221. AirghiaU — See OirghiaU. Aisse, cacuminibus, in Bregia, church buil t
in, by St. Patrick, 142. Aistire, or Aistreoir, an ecclesiastical offi- cer, duties of, 382-384 ; the name iden- tified with Ostiarius, 382, 383. Aithgedh Eicis, the punishments of the Eicis, or professional 'classes, a tract of Brehon Laws, quoted, 383. Alcuin, letter of, to St. Colcu, master of theschoolof Clonmacnoise, 216; quoted, ib. Alfred the Great, 327. Allmain, i. e. the residence of Finn Mac
Cumhaill, 108. Alphabet, Roman, or Abecedarium, 135. Altar, decorated, at Kildare, 197, 198. Altar Stone of St. Sinach, i. e. Mac Dara,
191. Altus, informs Conchobar Mac Nessa of the crucifixion of Christ, — Leabhar na h-Uidhre, 97, 99- Amhalgaidh, son of Fiachra Egaidh, son
of Dathi, earn of, 107, 108 Sons of,
126. AmlafF the Dane, 223. Amlaff [a Danish king], 103. Amlaff, king of the Danes of Dublin, 225,
226. Amlaff, son of Sitriuc, A. D. 980 ; 1 18. Amlaff, son of Sitric, captured A. D. 1 029 ;
214. Amlaff, son of Maelan, king of Gaileng,
374, 375 ; death of, ib. An, a diminutive usually added to proper names, 166.
INDEX.
459
Anastatlus, in Bibliothcca Patruni, re- ferred to, 205.
Ancliorite luclusorii, 72.
Anchorite Towers, Eound Towers believed by Dr. O'Conor to have been used as such, 48, 49, 50, 52 ; the same believed by Mr. Windele, 71, 72.
. theory that the Eound Towers
were anchorite towers, examined and refuted, 109-116.
Anchorites, opinion that the Round Towers were built for the residence of ancho- rites, originally entertained by Dr. Smith, 117.
Ancient History, &c. of Ireland, Essay on, by Mr. D'Alton, quoted, 43.
Anglo-Norman architecture referred to, 209, 210.
Anglo-Norman coins, 228, 229.
Anglo-Saxon churches, a characteristic feature of, 188.
Anion, brother of AiHUMac Mada, 98, 100.
Annadown, or Eanachduin, county of Gal- way, Cloicteach of, erected, 395.
Annals, Irish, seldom if ever, make any mention of buildings, except in record- ing their burning or destruction, 146.
Annals of Clonmacnoise, translation of, by Connell Mageoghegan, quoted or re- ferred to, 54, 150, 151, 222, 231, 245, 271, 291, 341, 343, 365, 373, 374, 375, 390, 391.
Annals of Connaught, referred to, 167.
Annals of the Four Masters, quoted or re- ferred to, 27, 49, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 66, 115, 118, 121, 146, 147, 148, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 203, 204, 214, 222, 231, 245, 271, 272, 286, 291, 311, 325, 327, 330, 331, 335, .341, 345, 375, 376. 392, 393, 409, 427, 429, 435, 436, 439, 446, 450.
Annals of Innisfallen, quoted or referred to, 203, 290, 291.
Annals of Innisfallen, translation of, in Lib. R. I. A., referred to, 292.
Annals of Innisfallen, Dublin copy, quoted
3
or referred to, 310, 312,315, 316, 327, 375.
Annals (Old) of Innisfallen, or Annals of Munster, referred to, 310, 312.
Annals of KOronan, referred to, 158.
quoted, 291, 311.
Annals of Munster. — See Annals (old) of Innisfallen.
Annals, Munster, old translation of, re- ferred to, 376.
Annals of Tighernach, quoted or referred to, 118, 143, 148, 221, 245, 270, 273, 274, 330, 331, 353, 356, 374, 390, 437.
Annals of Tighernach, continuation of, quoted, 291. — See Tighernach.
Annals of Ulster, quoted or referred to, 45, 46, 47, 48, 52, 53,54, 103, 144, 145, 147, 149, 152, 154, 159, 203, '204, 221, 225, 325, 327, 330, 331, 343, 344, 345, 349, 352, 356, 373, 374, 375, 409, 430, 439, 440.
old MS., translation of, pre- served in the British Museum, quoted, 54, 149, 373, 374, 375.
Anthologia Hibernica, quoted, 287.
Antiphonarium of Armagh, entry in, quoted, 394.
Antrim, church, foundation of, 404.
erection of Round Tower of, as- cribed to the Goban Saer, 385, 404
Doorway of, described, 403, 404.
Appleton Church, Berks, ornaments in, similar to those at Cashel, 299.
Aran, Islands of, stone oratories in, 350.
Aran, the great island of, in the bay of Galway, description of ancient pagan house on, 129, 130.
monumental inscriptions on, 139,
140.
churches of St. Mac Duach on,
176, 177, 351 ; doorway of the greater church, 177.
Aran, the great island of, dimensions of stone oratories on, 35 1 .
fortress of Muirbheach Mil on.
449.
N 2
460
INDEX.
Aran, the great island of, monastic build- ings of St. Colnian Mac Duach, at Kil- murvey, on, 424.
middlq island of, church of Kilcana-
nagh on, 188, 189; window of, 184.
stone oratory of St. Ceanannach
on, 35 1 . — See Ceanannach. Arch, art of constructing, unknown to the
Irish anterior to the introduction of
Christianity, 359. principle of the, not found in ancient
houses of abbots and monks, 128; nor
in the ancient oratories in Corcaguiny,
132. the lintel arch declared to be Pelasgic
byWindele, 72. semicircular, known at an early pe-
riod in China; fovmd in the ancient baths and palaces of Mexico, &c., Win- dele, 72.
. used in the doorways of ancient
Irish churches, 177, et seq. peculiar, used in windows in
ancient Irish churches, 182-184. — chancel archway, ornamented, atGlen-
dalough, treated of, 257-261, 265, 266.
chancel, ornamented, 242, 243.
triumphal, connected the nave with
the chancel, or sanctuary, of the ancient Irish churches, 162.
Arches, triumphal or chancel, in the larger churches, standing in the division be- tween the nave and the chancel, descrip- tion of, 185, 186.
Archdall, erroneous statements of, 216, 239, 243, 338, 339.
. hisMonasticon Hibernicimi quoted
or referred to, 256, 262, 432.
Architecture — Author's Essay on the An- cient Military Architecture of Ireland, referred to, 78, 127.
Architecture or masonry of the Round Towers and that of the ancient churches erected before the twelfth century, the same, 34.
Architecture, Komanesque, 232, 240.
Architecture, ancient Irish, previously to the Danish irruptions, 320.
of wells, tombs, and mills, 452-
456.
Architrave, flat, or band, sometimes deco- rates doorways of ancient Irish church- es, 162.
flat projecting, presented in
many instances by the doorways of an- cient [i. e., primitive] Irish churches, 169-171 ; instance of intention of adding an architrave, which was never com- pleted, 173, 174.
. windows of ancient Irish churches
generally decorated with, when similar
ornament is found in the doorways,
185. Archway, chancel, ornamented, 267, 268. Ardfert, anchorite habitations stated by
Windele to exist at, 72. Ardmagilligan, 202. Ardmore, anciently called Ard na g-cae-
rach, i. e., Altitudo ovium, in the Latin
life of St. Declan, 82. Tower of, 80, 8 1 — Corbel stones
of, 399; bands or belts of, 401. examination of Mr. Windele's
opinions concerning, 82, 83.
- cell of S t. Declan at, called Mona-
chan, Windele, 72.
■ Declan's dormitory at, 356.
Ard na g-caerach, ancient name of Ard- more, 82.
Ard-Oilean, or High Island, off the coast of Connamara, character of monastic establishment on, 1 28.
description of one of the ancient
houses at, 131, 132 See High Island.
Areida, the family of, 216.
Argenteus, or denarius, Roman, 221.
Argetbor, in Bregia, church of, 142.
Argyrotheca, at Armagh, 157, 384.
Armagh, in old Irish sometimes written Ardd mache, as in the Book of Armagh, 158.
latinised Ardmacha Ciuitas, 158.
INDEX.
U>1
Armagh, antiphonarium of the cathedral
of, entry in, quoted, 394-
tanist Abbot of, 409.
aipo peap leccliin of, 27; Ar-
chimagister, ib. Archbishop of, popiilar notion
concerning, noticed by St. Bernard,
333.
Basilica of, 154.
Book of. — See Tirechan, and
Book of Armagh. the Books of Eochaidh O'Flan-
nagan at, 106, 107. Book of Maelbrighte written at,
308; entries in, quoted, 307, 308. burned by lightning A. D. 915,
995; 48, 52, 147.
burned, 54, 343, 439, 446.
carcar or prison at, 106, 107.
roof of the cloictheach of, 56.
damliac or basilica of, 148, 149,
150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 156, 157, 161, 447.
erected by St. Patrick, 157.
Kitchen of, 444, 445.
Refectory of, 429.
Great house of the Abbots burned
at, 429. ecclesiastical edifices of, burned,
145, 146, 147-153. that the churches at, were stone
buildings in the ninth century, quite certain, 153-156. buildings constitutintf the reli-
gious establishment at, in St. Patrick's time, with measurements of the same, noticed in detail, 384.
Argyrotheca of, 384.
erection of the ecclesiastical edi-
fices at, in most instances, ascribed to St. Patrick himself, 145.
St. Evin's account of the laying
of the foundation of the Cathedral of, by St. Patrick, 156, 157; length of, as prescribed by St. Patrick, by direction of an angel, 157.
Armagh, that there is every reason to be- lieve that the stone churches existing at, in the ninth century, were the very churches erected in St. Patrick's time, or shortly after, shown, 156-159-
the pinginn in circulation at, in
1031; 222, 223.
plundered by Mac Cairill, A. D.
996 ; 53.
by the inhabitants of Oriel,
A.D. 996; 54.
by the Northmen, 146.
by the Danes of Dublin, 146,
147.
sacrilegious plundering or viola- tion of, 146, 147.
Eath of, burned, 150, 151 , 152,
446 See Rath.
stone oratory at, 144.
stone oratory in the neighbour-
hood of, coeval with St. Patrick, 350. Treana, i. e. Trians, Thirds, or
ternal divisions of, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 446. usurpation of archbishopric of.
310. Armenia, 68. Art, the son of Conn ; place of his burial,
98, 100. Art, skill of the ancient Irish ecclesiastics
in the art of manufacturing all the sa- cred utensils belonging to the altar,
shrines, &c., 202-205. Art of sculpture, knowledge of, in Ireland,
272. Artghal, son of Cathal, king of Connaught,
118. Artificers, ancient Irish, 202. Artificers of St. Patrick, skill of, 202. Arts, skill of the early ecclesiastics in
Ireland in, 192. Arts of civilized life, knowledge of, among
the Irish at the time of the first Danish
irruptions, 213. • decline of, in Ireland, after tlie
Anglo-Norman conquest, 320.
462
INDEX.
Arts (Lcs), au Moyen Age, referred to, 251, 307.
Asicus, one of St. Patrick's artificers, 202.
Athclstan, king of the Saxons, 225.
Athfara [name of a place], 26y.
Auisle [a Danish king], 103.
Auxilius, one of the seven sons of the Lom- bard, and nephew of St. Patrick, 167.
B.
Baal.— <S'ee Bel.
Baal-theine. — See Bel-theine.
Babylonia, remains of the tower of, Win- dele, 71.
Bachall, application of the word in Irish authorities, 307-
Baculum Jesu, i. e. the crozier of St. Pa- trick, 157, 333.
Bagdad, fire temple near, said to resemble the Eound Towers, 68.
pillar observed by Major Keppel,
between Coot and Bagdad, Windele, 71.
Baislecc, church of, given by St. Patrick to one of his disciples, 165.
Baklhuninega, 216.
Balla, County of Mayo, Church and Tow- er, erected by St. Mochua at, 453.
etymology of its name, ib.
Bally Mac Moyre, in the Co. of Armagh, origin of the name, 333, 334.
Ballynakill, barony of Ballynahinch, Coun- ty of Galway, patron saint of parish church, 189.
Bally naslicbh, in the County of Kil- kenny, Druidic temple stated to be at, 31.
Ballysadare, religious persons who assem- bled at, to meet St. CohmibkLUe, re- ferred to, 322.
Banagher, County of Londonderry, church of, 454.
Tomb at, ib.
Bandon, cave in a rath west of, 80.
Bangor, or Benchor, oratory at, built by St. Malachy, 349.
Bangor, St. Bernard's account of St. Mala- chy's laying the foundation of a chapel of stone at, as given by Ware (Harris's ed.) 123.
. St. Bernard's remarks on a chapel
made of timber, built at Bangor by St. Malachy, as given by Ware (Har- ris's ed.) 123.
St. Bernard's account of the lay-
ing of the foundation of a church at, by St. Malachy, 194, 195.
remains of abbey church of, ex-
tant in the last century, age of, 195. devastated, 203 ; shrine of St.
Comgall at, ib.
Bare Crimthaind Nianair, the Bare of Crimthan Nianar, a sepulchral monu- ment at Brugh naBoinne, 102.
Bard, seven sons of the, 167 iSeeEesti-
tutus cmd Lombard.
Bards, contention of the, alluded to, 417.
Barque-building, payment for, 346, 347.
Basilica, origin of the name (Hope quoted), 192, 193.
. application of, with Irish writers,
143, 144, 145, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 157.
Roman, resemblance of ancient
Irish churches to, 162.
Baslic, origin and application of the word, 143.
Basnage, the editor of Canisius, quoted, 1 99.
Battle-fields in Ireland, localities of, stated in ancient MSS., 101. -
Baumgarten, Dr., 24.
Beacons, theory of the use of the Eound Towers exclusively as watch-towers and beacons rejected, 121 ; in conjunction with other uses advocated, ib. ; argu- ments in favour of the theory of the probable use of the Eound Towers as beacons and watch-towers, 378-380.
Bead-moulding, windows of ancient Irish churches generally decorated with, where similar ornament is found in the doorways, 185.
INDEX.
463
Bead ornament, Windele, 72. Bealacli forcliedail [eccl. vel mon.], 1 38. Bealacli Blugliua, battle of, 289. Bealahamire, near Cork, 80. Beallanrannig, in the County of Kerry,
80. Bearnan, explanation of the term, 339. Beauford, Mr., his opinions as to the ori- gin and use of the Eound Towers, 30,
31 ; refutation of, 31, 32. his reading and translation of
the inscription of Freshford, 287, n.,
288, 11. Beaufort, Miss, her arguments in support
of the hypothesis of the Eound Towers
having been used as fire-temples, stated
and refuted, 35-42. Bede, Venerable, referred to, 355, 441,
442, 444.
— — — ■ quoted, 141.
■ — his abstract of Adamnan's
Work "De Situ Terra; Sancta;," quoted,
422, 440, 449.
his Chronicle referred to, 46.
his Hist. Eccl. quoted, 126.
his Life of St. Cuthbert quoted, or
referred to, 128, 129, 447-
Beds, giants' See Graves.
Bel, or Baal, an idol, fires of, 38; Beul,
the deity, 39- Belfries, opinion of the author of Cam-
brensis Eversus, as to the use of the
Eound Towers as such, 5.
of the early Christians, 30.
theory of the use of the Eound
Towers exclusively as, rejected, 121; and in conjunction with other uses, ad- vocated, 121, et seq.
classified with other ecclesiastical
buildings, 160. treated of as a class of Irish ec-
clesiastical buildings, 358, et seq See
Eound Towers. Campanilia, or detached belfries,
used in Ireland from a very early pe- riod, .362, 363.
Belfries, existence of, in Ireland in St. Columba's time, 389.
Eound Towers still used as such
in many places, 363.
Eound Towers acknowledged by
Vallancey to have been used as, 1 7.
fallacious statement of Beauford as
to the conversion of the Eound Towers into, about the twelfth century, 32. round turret, placed on churches,
395-397.
Belfry, theory, 64-66.
ancient Irish, called Cloidheach,
proved to be a distinct budding, 364- 366.
Belfry, square, ancient example of, in Ire- land, 363.
Belfry-building, 347.
Belgians, intercourse of the ancient Irish with, 213, 214.
Bell of the Eound Tower of Eattoo, in the County of Kerry, tradition con- nected with, 400.
of the Cloidheach of Slane mentioned,
48, 56.
Bells, ancient, 152, 192, 338, 339.
use of, in ancient Ireland, 32, 389-
" y'^ Steeple with y^ Bells,"
149.
fabricated by St. Dageus, 202.
Author's Essay on ancient Irish, re- ferred to, 222.
ancient consecrated, treated of, 252.
of a size much too large for altar
bells, distributed by St. Patrick in Ire- land, 383. carried from a cloictheach, 393.
Bel-theine, 40.
Bel-theine, supposed to be the sacred fires of Baal, 36.
Beltaine, explanation of, from an
ancient MS., 37, 38.
Belltaine, explained by Cormac
M'Cullenan, 38.
Benchor See Bangor.
Benen, St., or Benignus, disciple of St.
464
INDEX.
Patrick, liis escape from the macliina-
tions of the Blagi, at Tara, 337- Benen, St., the virgin Crumther is in- trusted to liis care, 350.
oratory of, dimensions of, 35 1 .
church of Cill Benen, erected
by, 447. Benn, the stone of. — See Lecc Benn. Bentham, Rev. J., his Kemarks on the
Saxon Churches referred to, 441. Beranger, Monsieur, drawings made by,
referred to, 248, et alibi. Beresford's, Rev. Mr., authority respecting
the Tower of Drumlalian, 114. Bernard's, St., Life of St. Malachy, quoted
or referred to, 123, 194, 195, 309, 310,
333, 339, 349. Bernicius, disciple of St. Patrick, 165,
166. Betham, Sir William, a supporter of the
Buddhist theory, 109- an advocate for the belief that
the Round Towers were occasionally in
part applied to sepulchral purposes, 78,
79. . his statement of bones having
been found within the Towers of Ram Island and Timahoe, examined, 81. observations of, concerning the
human bones stated to have been found in the Round Tower of Timahoe, exa- mined, 417-420. — Notice of another statement of.
as to the Round Towers, 420. Antiquarian Researches referred
to, 338.
418.
Etruria-Celtica quoted, 417,
— . remarks on the word pallium,
338, 339.
Bhaugulpore, in Hindostan, two Towers found near, stated to bear an exact re- semblance to those of Ireland, 29, 67, 68.
Towers at, not proved to have
been fire-temples, or of any remote an- tiquity, 73.
Bigari, Signor, drawings made by, referred to, 248.
Bile Dathen, in Tir Maine, origin of name, 106, 107 ; more modern name of, 106, 107.
Bili Scathen, in Tir Maine, ancient name of, 106, 107.
Bingliam's Origines Ecclesiasticse referred to, 200.
Monasteries in the East de- scribed by, 422.
Biorno, king of Sweden, 212.
Bishops, irregular succession of, in Ire- land, noticed by St. Bernard, 309.
Biteus, one of St. Patrick's artificers, 202.
Blacar II., king of Dublhi, 224.
Black, Mr., his History of Brechin, quoted, 92, 93.
account of excavations recently
made, under his direction, within the Round Tower of Brechin, 93-95.
Blaimac, abbot of Clonmacnoise, inscribed tombstone of, 326.
Blaitiniu, in Bregia, church of, 142.
Blathmac, the son of Aedh Slaine, 244.
Boadan, cave of the sepulchre of 103.
Boann, from whom the River Boyne, who, 215.
Bobbio, church of St. Columbanus at, belfry upon, 396, 397.
Boethius Episcopus, SS. 510, qui ex par- tibus transmarinis venerunt cum S. Boethio Episcopo, 138.
Boinn, the wife of Nechtan, the grave of. — See Fert na Boinne.
Bollandists, Acta Sanctorum of, quoted, or referred to, 110, 171, 172, 422, 423, 424, 446.
Bones, human, stated to have been found in the Towers of Drumbo, Maghera, Timahoe, and Abernethy (Scotland), 88.
account of those stated to have
been found in the Tower of Drumbo, communicated by Mr. Edward Getty, of Belfast, 89, 90 ; observations on the above statements, 88-92.
INDEX.
465
Bones, stated to have been found interred within the Tower at Ram-Island in An- trim, and also in that of Timahoe, 7 1 ; observations on the statement, 78, 81.
observations on the statement of
human, having been found in the Tower of Abernethy, 91, 92, 93.
great varieties of, and a few hu-
man, stated to have been found within the Eound Tower of Brechin, in Scot- land, 93-96. more or less calcined, found in the
monumental remains in Ireland, 102. — unburned, found within the mounds
at Rathcroghan, 107. Book of Armagh, quoted or referred to,
126, 142, 158, 161, 166, 179, 180, 193,
220, 337, 338, 383.
history of, 333-335.
ancient Irish name of, 333, 34 1 ;
hereditary stewardship of, 333, 334;
contents of, 334 ; real age of the MS., 335. leather case of, treated of, 332-
335.
legend connected with, 337.
reverence paid to, 340, 341.
Book of Ballymote, quoted or referred to,
62, 102, 103, 166, 217, 218, 292, 346,
384, 385, 386, 387. Book of Fenagh referred to and quoted,
448, 449; where preserved, 448. Book of Kells, now in Libr. T. C. D., beauty
and splendour of, 206.
notice of ornament used in, 232.
stolen, 53, 439.
Book of Lecan, quoted or referred to, 26,
107, 142, 166, 286, 287, 380, 384, 385,
386. Book of Leinster, quoted or referred to,
28, 137, 340, 395, 396. Book of Lismore, quoted, 372. Book of Eathain Ua Suanaigh, 353. Borumha Laighean, a tax, abolition of,
395, 396. Bovevagh, County of Londonderry, tomb
at the church of, 454, 455.
Boyne, [6oanD,] river, 98, 100, 167, 215.
sepulchral mounds on the, 103.
monastery on the bank of the, 394.
Brabazon, captain. Four Masters, A. D.
1583; 60. Bracteate coins, antiquity of, on the
Continent and in Ireland, 210-232. ■ ■ found within the Round Tower
of Kildare, description of, 210; age of,
examined, 210-232. the earliest struck in Denmark.
227. orpinginns, probably of greater
antiquity in Ireland than the screpalls,
230.
ecclesiastical, 230, 23 1 .
Irish, of a peculiar type, 219.
— pieces of seven grains, the real
pennies of Ireland, 227; have every claim to an Irish origin, ib. ■ formerly in the Collection of
the Dean of St. Patrick's, 228. Irish bracteate penny, in the
Collection of Dr. Aquilla Smith, 324. — application of the term, 210.
Braminical language, 24.
Brass, artificer in, 202.
Brecan, St., church of, on the great Island of Aran, 139-
grave-stone of, on the great Is- land of Aran, with Latin inscription, 139, 140.
another small stone in same
place inscribed with his name, 140.
founder of Ardbraccan, County
ofMeath, 139; whence descended, ib. Brechin in Scotland, Round Tower at, 377. Mr. Black's account of excavations
recently made under his direction within
the Round Tower of, 93-95. Round Tower of, resemblance be-
tween the style of building of, and that of Cloyne Tower— Mr. Black, 95.
Brechin, Round Tower of, age of, 410.
representation of the crucifixion
over the doorway of, 410.
3 0
466
INDEX.
Bregia [6pe7;a], 99, 101.
Bregia, lord of, 214.
Bregia, plain of, churches erected by St.
Patrick in, 142. AileU Bregmach, i. e. of Bregia,
104, 105. Bregoig, 269- [Name of a place.] Brehon Laws, quoted or referred to, 60,
61, 214, 215, 217, 218, 219, 346, 347,
382, 383. commentaries on, referred to,
340. fragment of, in Lib. T. C. D.,
referred to, 351, 364, 365.
glossary of the, quoted, 341.
fragment of a commentary on,
MS. T. C. D., quoted, 364, 365. Breifny, chief of, 448. Brendan, St., monastic establishment of,
on Inishglory, character of, 127, 128.
Bres See Fidhnemhna.
Brethan, Ochter n-Achid purchased by,
220. Brewer's, Mr., opinion of the age of Cor-
niac's Chapel, 289, 290. Brian Borumha, Mac Liag's life of — See
Mac Liag. character and actions of, 390,
391. churches erected or re-erected
by, 241, 277, 281, 283, 284. daimliacs, cloictheachs, and duir-
theachs, built by, 390.
his well on High Island, 426.
Eound Tower of Tomgraney
repaired by, 389, 390. Brick, river, Co. Kerry, 400. Bricks worth, in Northamptonshire, church
of, 239. Brick- work, examples of, in ancient Irish
ecclesiastical buildings, 188. Bridam, in Bregia, church of, 142. Bridget, St., church dedicated to, 342. . • church dedicated to, at Kose-
tions on, 342 ; where formerly preserv- ed, ib.
Bridget, St., Life of, by Cogitosus, quoted, 197, 198 — See Cogitosus.
Life of, in the Leabhar Breac,
445.
shrine of, at Kildare, 197, 198,
199, 201, 204.
Tower of, at Kildare, Vallancey's
observations concerning, 26.
Kitchen of, at Kildare, 445.
suburbs of Kildare marked out
by, 204.
church of, at Armagh, 150
See Eegles Brighde. covered weU of, at Faughard,
nallis, 41.
slipper of, 341, 342; inscrip-
453. Bridget, St., of Oughterard, Co. Kildare,
different from the great St. Bridget,
church founded by, 406. Brigantium, or Brigents, monastery at,
founded by St. Gall, 423. Brighit, meaning of the name, 27. Brighit, the poetess, the daughter of the
Dagda, 27. Britain, earliest inhabitants of, 68. Britannia, SS. quinquaginta Monachos de,
138. British ecclesiastics in Ireland, 137, 138. Britons, ancient churches of, 127.
(i. e. religious) in Ireland, 192.
(probable) size of the earliest
churches erected by, 195. Britway, Co. Cork, ancient parish church
of, doorway of, described, 180, 181 ;
apparent age of church, 181 , to whom
dedicated, ib. Brogan, scribe to St. Patrick, 166. Bronus, Bishop, church of. — See KiUas-
pugbrone. Browne, Eev. Mr., of Kildare, ancient
coins found by, within the Eound
Tower of KUdare, 210. Brugh, an ancient pagan cemetery of the
kings of Tara, 98, 99, 100, 101, 104,
105, 106.
INDEX.
467
Brugh, the burial place of the nobles of the Tuatha De Danann, 99, 101.
the first king interred at, 99, 100.
Brugh mic Inoic, the pagan cemetery Brugh so called in an ancient MS., 98, note '.
Brugh na Boinne, on the bank of the Boyne, monuments at the royal ceme- tery of, described from the Book of Ballymote, 102, 103.
Brugh, Aenach in Broga, mounds at, 106.
Brunless, in Brecknockshire, castle of, 367 ; comparison of, vnth the Round Towers oflrcland, 367, 368 ; Mr. King's opinion as to the erectors and origin of, 367, 368.
ancient round castle of, com- pared with the Round Towers of Ireland, 398.
Buailcc Bee, the cave of, a monument. — See Derc m-Buailce m-Bic.
Buddhism, Windele, 70.
Buddhist saints, reliques of, (Betham quoted), 417.
temples, theory that the Round
Towers were Phallic emblems, or Bud- dhist temples, adverted to, 109.
Buidi, the son of Muiredh, the pillar- stone of, where his head is interred. — See Liag Buidi, mic Muiredha.
Builder, chief. — See OUamh Saer.
Bulbous, or tun-shaped bases, treated of, 239.
Bulgari, Round Tower at, called Misger, noticed by Vallancey from Pallas, 29.
Bulgarian Tower, somewhat similar in size and form to the Irish Towers, asserted by Vallancey from a conjectural ety- mology of its name, Misgir or Midsgir, to have been a fire- temple, 13; refuted by Dr. Ledwich, 13.
Buonarotti, Osservazioni sopra alcuni Frammenti di Vetro, referred to, 202.
Burning or Cremation, human bones disco- vered in the Tower of Timahoe, stated
3 0
by Windele to have undergone the pa- gan process of cremation, 71 ; author's disbelief of the statement, 78 ; further examination of, 81.
Butler, Mr., Ilora; Biblica; of, 24.
Byzantine character, 134. — See Gra;co- Roman.
Cadan, St., Tomb of, at Tamlaghtard, 454. Caeman, one of St. Patrick's masons, 142. Caiceach, Vallanoey's explanation of name,
16. Caillin, St., monastery of Fenagh, in the
County of Leitrim, erected by, 448,
449. Cailte, the foster-son of Finn Mac Cuni-
haill, 108, 109. Caimin, St., original church of, on Inish-
caltra, 281, 282, 284. Cainchell, meaning of the word, 206. Caiseal an urlair, at Derry, 450. Caisel Aengusa, mic Crundmaeil, at Brugh
na Boinne, 103. Caisel-Irra, situated in the district of Cuil-
Irra, County of Sligo, bishop of, 179. Calendar ofCashel, extract from, as trans- lated by Colgan, quoted, 167, 356- Calendars, Irish, referred to, 245. Calphurnius, the father of St. Patrick,
167. Cambrensis, Giraldus, referred to, or
quoted, 5, 6, 10, 11, 43, 44, 47, 206,
207, 208. notice of the ecclesiastical towers
by, misinterpretation of, by Mr. D' Al- ton, 43-45. Cambrensis Eversus. — See Lynch. Camden, Gibson's edition of, referred to,
225, 226. Candida Casa, nowWithern, in Scotland,
church of, 141. Canisius, 388. Canoin Phatraic, the ancient Irish name
of the Book of Armagh, 33.3, 341.— &c
Book of Armagh.
2
468
INDEX.
Caoinechair, Lector of Slane, burned in tlie Round Tower, 48, 56, 373, 374.
Captive's Stone, on Inis Mliic Dara, 190.
Caradoc of Llancarven, referred to, 327.
Carbreus filius Neill, 161.
Carcar Leith Machae, tlie Prison of Liath Macha, a monument at Brugh na Boinne, so called, 102, 103.
Carcar at Armagh, 106, 107.
Carlus, the sword of, 214.
Cam, the stone earn, monumental charac- ter of, 102.
the ulaidh or earn of Fothadh Airg-
theach, 108, 109.
Carn ail Cuinn Cet-cathaigh, the stone earn of Conn of the Hundred Battles, a sepulchral monument at Brugh na Boinne, 102.
Carn Amhalgaidh, a sepulchral monument, U7ide 7iom., 107, 108.
Carn of the Three Crosses at Clonmac- noiso, 438.
Carthach, St., or Moehuda, Eathain found- ed by, 243 ; expelled from Eathain, founds Lismore, &c., 244, 422, 446 ; number of monks under, at Eathain, 427.
Carthen Finn, prince of Thomond, 139-
Cases (ancient leather) or covers of sacred books, shrines, &c., treated of, 332, 333, 335-340 ; ancient Irish names of, 336- 340.
Cases, ancient silver, for books See Cum-
dachs.
Cashel, archbishop of, 252.
cathedral of, 305.
burned in 1495; 84.
Cormac's Cliapel at See Cor-
mac's, &c
king of, 291.
Tower of, examination of, by the
South Munster Society of Antiquaries [Author's examination of the result], 80, 81,83,84,87,88.
character of the masonry of, 414.
apertures in Tower of, 413, 415.
Cashel, stone cross at, 272, 306.
or Caisel, a circular stone wall,
or enclosure, surrounding the ancient Irish monasteries, 421.
around the monastery of High
Island, 426,447.
Cashels, classified with other ecclesiastical buildings, 1 60.
treated of, as a class of Irish eccle- siastical buildings, 445-452.
were but imitations of the pagan
fortresses, 445.
materials of, 445.
various Irish names of, 445, 447,
448, 449.
those of earth have rarely escaped
destruction, 446. examples of, now remaining, 447,
448, 449, 450.
measurement adopted by St. Pa-
trick in all such works, 446, 447. object of erecting such enclo-
sures, 447, 450. in very many instances the reli-
gious houses were buUt within the pagan fortresses given up to the clergy by the Irish princes, 447, 448. circular and concentric walls round
the Church of the Eesurrection at Je- rusalem, 449.
Cassanus, disciple of St. Patrick, placed at Donaghmore, 411; relics of, ib.
Cathair, or circular enclosure of stone around the cemetery at Eathcroghan, 107.
Cathair Cruachna, the royal cemetery at
Eathcroghan, so called, 104, 105 See
Eathcroghan and Cruachan.
Cathair [Mor] buried at Oenach Ailbhe, 99, 101.
Cathairs See Cashels.
Cathal, the son of Conor, king of Con- naught, 276 ; year of his death, 276.
Cathal Maguire. — See Maguire.
Cathalan, moniuuental inscription, bear- ing his name, at Durrow, 331.
INDEX.
46i»
Catharnach, son of Tadgan, the progenitor
of the family of Fox, 32<», 331. Cathasach, the senior, daimhliag of Mayo
rebuilt by, 144, 145.
Cathedral See Daimhliag.
Ceall See CiU.
Ceall or cill, of the Irish, derived by Val-
lancey from the Hindoo coiU, or tem- ple, 23. Ceallaoh ua Nuadhat, slain by the Danes
in 971; 428. Ceananuach, or Kenanach, St., a quo Tem-
pull Ceannanach, notices of, 189; stone
oratory of, on the middle island of Aran,
dimensions of, 331. Ceanannan, St., festival of, 189.
Ceanannus See Kells.
Celestial Indexes, 69.
Cell, penitential habitation of Donogh
O'Braoin at Armagh, called a cell {cello),
114. Cell Achaidli, with its new derthach,
burned, 344, 345. Cell Angle, ancient church of, founded by
St. Patrick, 180. Cell Belaigh, in Magh Constantine, one of
the churches of St. Ua Suanaigh, 354. seven streets in, inhabited by
the Galls or foreigners, 354, 355. Cell Senchuffi, ancient church of, founded
by St. Patrick, 180. Cells of stone, without cement, erected by
the early Irish ecclesiastics, treated of,
127-136. ancient monastic, 388, 389. — See
Monasteries. See Houses.
Cellach, son of Bran, Kildare plundered
by, 204.
comharba of Patrick, 152, 154.
son of Maelcobha, monument of.
— See Lecht Cellaigh mic Mailcobha. Celsus, Archbishop of Armagh, 155. Celtic nations, 68. Celtic religion, 67. Cemeteries, regal, existed in various parts
of Ireland in pagan times, and were well known to the people in Christian times, though no longer appropriated to their original purpose, 97 ; Leabhar na h- Uidhre quoted, with translation, as au- thority for statement, 97-101 ; Royal Cemetery of Brugh na Boinne, monu- ments of, 102, 103 ; cemetery called Eelec ua Eiogh, at Rathcroghan, monu- ments of, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107. list of the chief, in Ireland, be-
fore the introduction of Christianity, from Leabhar na h-Uidhre, 98, 100. the three cemeteries of idolaters
in Ireland, 104, 105. Tower of Drumbo, erected on a
spot previously used as a Christian ce- metery, 91. Cermait, or Cermuid Mil-bhel, son of tlie
Dagda, buried at Brugh, 103, 106. Cernachan mac Duilgen, Armagh violated
by, A. D. 907; 146, 147. Cerue, in the plain of Bregia, church of,
142. Get, brother of Ailill Mac Mada, 98, 100. Ceylonese Dagobs — See Dagobs. Chaldean Magi, Round Towers attributed
to, by Vallancey, 21, 22. Chancel or sanctuary, description of, in
ancient Irish churches, 162. Charlemagne, Rex Carolus, 216. Chevron, or zig-zag, moulding, 72, 209 ;
age of, examined, 210. Christianity, pagan regal cemeteries in
one or two instances consecrated to the
service of, 97. Chronicon Scotorum (compiled from the
old Annals of Clonmacnoise), quoted or
referred to, 54, 150, 270,271, 272, 291,
322, 325, 327, 374, 380, 392, 39.3, 438.
■ account of the wox'k, 373.
Church, quadrangular, of moist earth, 126. of smooth timber, built by S. Mo-
nenna, 126. of Kildare, erroneously supposed
to have been a wooden structure, 200.
:*J^:
468
INDEX.
Caoinechair, Lector of Slane, burned in the Round Tower, 48, 56, 373, 374.
Captive's Stone, on Inis Mliic Dara, 190.
Caradoc of Llancarven, referred to, 327.
Carbreus filius Neill, 161.
Carcar Leith Maohae, the Prison of Liath Maclia, a monument at Brugh na Boinne, so called, 102, 103.
Carcar at Armagh, 106, 107.
Carlus, the sword of, 214.
Cam, the stone cam, monumental charac- ter of, 102.
the ulaidh or earn of Fothadh Airg-
theach, 108, 109.
Carn aU Cuinn Cet-cathaigh, the stone earn of Conn of the Hundred Battles, a sepulchral monument at Brugh na Boinne, 102.
Carn Amhalgaidli, a sepulchral monument, unde nom., 107, 108.
Carn of the Three Crosses at Clonmac- noise, 438.
Carthach, St., or Mochuda, Rathain found- ed by, 243 ; expelled from Rathain, founds Lismore, &c., 244, 422, 446 ; number of monks under, at Rathain, 427.
Carthen Finn, prince of Thomond, 139.
Cases (ancient leather) or covers of sacred books, shrines, &c., treated of, 332, 333, 335-340 ; ancient Irish names of, 336- 340.
Cases, ancient silver, for books iS'eeCum-
dachs.
Cashel, archbishop of, 252.
cathedral of, 305.
■ burned in 1495; 84.
Cormac's Chapel a,t.—See Cor-
mac's, &c.
king of, 291.
Tower of, examination of, by the
South Munster Society of Antiquaries [Author's examination of the result], 80, 81,83,84,87,88.
character of the masonry of, 414.
apertures in Tower of, 413, 415.
Cashel, stone cross at, 272, 306.
or Caisel, a circular stone wall,
or enclosure, surrounding the ancient Irish monasteries, 421.
around the monastery of High
Island, 426, 447.
Cashels, classified with other ecclesiastical buildings, 160.
treated of, as a class of Irish eccle- siastical buildings, 445-452.
were but imitations of the pagan
fortresses, 445.
materials of, 445.
various Irish names of, 445, 447,
448, 449. those of earth have rarely escaped
destruction, 446. examples of, now remaining, 447,
448, 449, 450.
measurement adopted by St. Pa- trick in all such works, 446, 447.
object of erecting such enclo-
sures, 447, 450. • in very many instances the reli-
gious houses were built within the pagan fortresses given up to the clergy by the Irish princes, 447, 448. circular and concentric walls round
the Church of the Resurrection at Je- rusalem, 449.
Cassanus, disciple of St. Patrick, placed at Donaghmore, 411; relics of, ib.
Cathair, or circular enclosure of stone around the cemetery at Rathcroghan, 107.
Cathair Cruachna, the royal cemetery at
Rathcroghan, so called, 104, 105 See
Rathcroghan aiid Cruachan.
Cathair [Mor] buried at Oenach Ailbhe, 99, 101.
Cathairs See Cashels.
Cathal, the son of Conor, king of Con- naught, 276 ; year of his death, 276.
Cathal Maguire See Maguire.
Cathalan, monumental inscription, bear- ing his name, at Durrow, 331.
i.
I. tlieejrlTliii_
INDEX. 469
i\mi
i:_XMj,«i,
■ tie leli- ^« up to He drag
■P.w-tpkedJt
:.iK .-V [if stone If"
m ot WD-
tleii-
Catharnach, son of Tadgan, tlie progenitor
of the family of Fox, 329, 331. Catliasacb, the senior, daimhliag of Mayo
rebuilt by, 144, 145.
Cathedral See Daimhliag.
Ceall See Cill.
Ceall or cill, of the Irish, derived by Val-
lancey from the Hindoo colli, or tem- ple, 23. Ceallach ua Nuadhat, slain by the Danes
in 971; 428. Ceanannach, orKenanach, St., aqiio Teni-
pull Ceannanach, notices of, 189; stone
oratory of, on the middle island of Aran,
dimensions of, 351. Ceanannan, St., festival of, 189.
Ceanannus See Kells.
Celestial Indexes, 69-
Cell, penitential habitation of Donogh
O'Braoin at Armagh, called a cell (cella),
114. Cell Achaidh, with its new derthach,
burned, 344, 345. Cell Angle, ancient church of, founded by
St. Patrick, 180. Cell Belaigh, in Magh Constantine, one of
the churches of St. Ua Suanaigh, 354. seven streets in, inhabited by
the Galls or foreigners, 354, 355. Cell Senchute, ancient church of, founded
by St. Patrick, 180. Cells of stone, without cement, erected by
the early Irish ecclesiastics, treated of,
127-13(3. • ancient monastic, 388, 389- — See
Monasteries. See Houses. •
Cellach, son of Bran, Kildare plundered
by, 204.
comharba of Patrick, 152, 154.
son of Maelcobha, monument of.
— See Lecht Cellaigh mic Mailcobha. Celsus, Archbishop of Armagh, 155. Celtic nations, 68. Celtic religion, 67. Cemeteries, regal, existed in various parts
of Ireland in pagan times, and were well known to the people in Christian times, though no longer appropriated to their original purpose, 97 ; Lcabhar na h- Uidhre quoted, with translation, as au- thority for statement, 97-101 ; Royal Cemetery of Brugh na Boinne, monu- ments of, 102, 103 ; cemetery called Eelec na Riogh, at Rathcroghan, monu- ments of, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107. list of the chief, in Ireland, be-
fore the introduction of Christianity, from Leabhar na h-Uidhre, 98, 1 00. the three cemeteries of idolaters
in Ireland, 104, 105. Tower of Drumbo, erected on a
spot previously used as a Christian ce- metery, 91- Cermait, or Cermuid Mil-bhel, son of the
Dagda, buried at Brugh, 103, 106. Cernachan mac Duilgen, Armagh violated
by, A. D. 907; 146, 147. Cerne, in the plain of Bregia, church of,
142. Cet, brother of Ailill Mac Mada, 98, 100.
Ceylonese Dagobs See Dagobs.
Chaldean Magi, Round Towers attributed
to, by Vallancey, 21, 22. Chancel or sanctuary, description of, in
ancient Irish churches, 162. Charlemagne, Rex Carolus, 216. Chevron, or zig-zag, moulding, 72, 209 ;
age of, examined, 210. Christianity, pagan regal cemeteries in
one or two instances consecrated to the
service of, 97. Chronicon Scotorum (compiled from the
old Annals of Clonmacnoise), quoted or
referred to, 54, 150, 270, 271, 272, 291,
322, 325, 327, 374, 380, 392, 393, 438.
account of the work, 373.
Church, quadrangular, of moist earth, 126. of smooth timber, built by S. Mo-
nenna, 126. of Kildare, erroneously supposed
to have been a wooden structure, 200.
470
INDEX.
Church of the two Sinchells at Glcnda- lough, 436. — See Glendalough.
Churches, ancient Irish, built of stone and lime cement, 137, etseq.; charac- teristic features of the existing remains of, 161, et seq.
features, &c., of primitive
churches examined, 161-197.
great antiquity of the character
of, 161.
161.
almost invariably of small size,
in their general form preserve
very nearly that of the Roman Basilica, 162.
— ■ walls of, always perpendicular,
and generally formed of very large po- lygonal stones, 162. none of the ancient Irish, seem
to have been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, or any of the foreign saints, previously to the twelfth century, 173. style of masonry in the pri-
mitive Irish, 187-190. example of general appearance
of the primitive Irish, when of inferior size, 188, 189.
previously to the 1 2th century,
the Irish never appear to have named churches after any but their own saints, who were in most instances the original founders, 194. observations on the unadorned
simplicity and contracted dimensions of the earliest Irish, 191-196. model of primitive, introduced
by St. Patrick into Ireland, 193.
dimensions of the more impor-
tant, prescribed by St. Patrick, 1 93. size of the first Christian, erect-
ed in Britain, 195, 196. classified with other ecclesiasti-
cal buildings, 160 ; — Irish, compared with Saxon churches, 441. earliest Christian, on the Conti-
nent, character of, 192.
Churches, oldest, still remaining in Greece,
character of, 192. the early cathedral and abbey,
always built of stone, 143-159 ; length
of, 195. said to have been placed by the
early Christian clergy on the site of
the Druid fanes, 72. stone, the first builders of, in
Ireland, 142. '
use of stone in the building
of, known to the ancient Irish. — See Stone, and Dainihliag.
that those at Armagh were
stone buildings, with lime cement, in the ninth century, quite certain, 153- 156.
- — that there is every reason to
believe that the stone churches, existing at Armagh in the ninth century, were the very churches erected in St. Pa- trick's time, or shortly after, shown, 156-159.
conclusion that much of the
ornamental ecclesiastical architecture remaining in Ireland, is of an age an- terior to the Norman Conquest of Eng- land, and, probably, in some instances, even to the Danish irruptions in Ire- land, 320.
abbey and cathedral, through-
out Ireland, generally, if not always, of stone, 159. Etruscan character of the ma-
sonry found in many of the, adverted to, 414. — . in which ornament has been
used, — features of, treated of, 197, ei
seq.
of wattles, 124.
of oak timber and wattles, 125.
at Lindisfarne built of sawn
wood, covered with reeds, 1 26.
of wood, 127.
. built of wattles and boards,
142.
INDEX.
471
Churches erected, consecrated, and re- paired by Malacby O'Morgair, 155, 156. ■ use of, as sanctuaries, examined.
4(14.
Saxon, observations on, 441,
442.
Church Island in Lough Lee or Curraun Lough, house of St. Finan Cam on, described, 130, 131.
Churchyards, many, consecrated by Ma- lacby O'Morgair, 155, 156.
Ciampini's work, De Coronis, referred to, 205.
Cianan, St., or Kienan, of Duleek, MS. office of, 142, 143; quoted, 142.
consecrated by St. Patrick, 142,
143.-
-See Kienan. - death of, 143.
Ciarraigi, given as a reward to Torna
Eiges, 106, 107. Cich (Da) na Morrigna, the two paps of
the Morrigtia, monuments at Brugh na
Boinne, 102, 103. Cilcagh, 70. Cill or Ceall, application of the word, 1 45-
147, 151,153. Cill Bhrighde at Armagh, 151. Cill na n-Ailither, i. e.. Church of the Pil- grims, a name for the daimhliag of
Mayo, 145. Cinaedh, son of Irgalach, the monument
of the steed of. — See Lecht gabra Cinao-
da mic Irgalaig. Cinel Eogain, 221. Cinel Fiacha, 246. Circles of stones stated by Vallancey to
have been set up by the Druids in
their places of worship, 13. formed by upright monumental
stones, 102. Circular form, not used in ancient Irish
churches, 163. Clairvaux in France, monastery of, 155,
156. Cirr, wife of the Dagda, monument of, at
Brugh na Boinne, 102, 103.
Clanmaolruany, cemetery of the, at Clon- macnoise, 275.
Clann Dedhadh (i. e. the race of Conaire and Erna), buried at Temhair Erann, 99, 101, 106.
ClanwiUiam, barony, Co. Tipperary, an- cient name of, 287.
Clergy, exemption of, from military ser- vice, 382.
Cletech, house of, residence of King Cor- mac at, 98, 100 ; his death at, ib.
Clochachd, Saxon etymology of, refuted, 9.
CIoch-Ancoire, explained the stone of the ane//o/-/V(? by Harris, 114; Round Towers never known by such a name, ib.
true meaning of, 115.
at Drumlahan, building of,
commenced, 115.
Clochan na Carraige, or the stone house of the rock, on the great island of Ar- ran, in the bay of Galway, an ancient pagan house, description of, 129, 130.
Cloctheach, meaning of, explained by the author of Cambrensis Eversus, 5.
Cloctheachs, meaning of, explained by Peter Walsh, author of the Prospect of Ireland, 6.
Clog, a bell, Saxon etymology of, refuted, 9.
Clogachd, Dr. Molyneux's explanation of origin of name, 7.
Cloghad, Vallancey's assertion that the Druids so called every place of worship, 13; denied, ib.
Vallancey's explanation of, 17-
Cloghadli, or Clogha, Mr. Beauford's ex- planation of, 30, 31.
Clogas, Eound Towers still known in Irish by no other names than cloictheach and clogas, 114.
Clogher, golden stone of, 68.
Cloictheach, of Armagh, 54.
Cloictheach, translated campanile, by Dr. O'Conor, 52.
. constantly translated turris, by
Colgan, 54, 55.
472
INDEX.
Cloictheacli, in cloictech co n-a cloccaibh, at Armagb, 148-150; translated, in an old Englisli MS., " Y^ Steeple with y' bells," 149 ; and " the Steeple," by Macgeoghegan, 151.
signifying bell- house, or belfry.
Round Towers still known by no other name in Irish, 1 1 4.
. . — corrupted at Eattoo into Giol-
cach, 400.
. Vallancey's explanation of, 17-
Clonmacnoise, capitals of the grea west- ern doorway of cathedral chu;h of, described and illustrated, 275.
north doorway of the caiedral
of, its age, 275 ; by whom built,b.
cathedral of, inscriptic over
Cloiothoachs of Armagh burned, 48, 53. . or belfries, unquestionably not
of wood, but of stone, 66. Clonard, in Irish Cluain loraird, burned,
429. abbot of, 271, 272 ; dertech of,
121. Cloncagh, County of Limerick. — See Cluain
Claidheach. Clondalkin, near Dublin, Round Tower
of, compared with Brunless Castle, in
Brecknockshire, 368. , section of Round Tower of, with
internal measurements, 397 ; project- ing base of, 398. origin and subsequent rank of
the church of Cluain Dolcain ; present ruins of church at, 398 ; large cross of granite at, ib.
Clones. — See Cluain Eois.
Clonmacnoise, abbots of, 113, 271, 272, 325, 326, 327,341.
anchorite and scribe of, 327,
328.
abbot and bishop of, 328.
daimhliag mor, great church or
cathedral of (called Teanipull Mao Diar- mada, i. e. Mac Dermott's Church), treated of, 271-275; erection of, 271, 272, 392 ; age of church examined, 271-275 ; re-edified by Tomultach Mac Dermott, chief of Moylurg, 275.
cathedral of, Dr. Ledwich's de-
scription of figures over the northern door of, &c., 274.
the north doorway of, 274, 275.
causeways at, 438.
cemetery of, ground pn of.
published by Ware, referred to, 69- . purchase of right i inter-
ment in, 269, 392.
became the cemery of
the southern Hy-Niall race, 33<
stone cross at, treated u 272-
275; inscriptions on, 272, 273 sub- sequently known by the appelhion of the " Cros na Screaptra," 273 ; lean- ing and origin of the name, ib.
great cross at, compart with
those at Monasterboice, 409- another stone cross at, r 'rred
to, 274.
Cross of Bishop Etcheu :, re- ferred to, 438.
erdam of St. Kieran at, i.
account of various lands pnted
to the See of, 269. Leabhar na h-Uidhre, co.piled
at, 97.
master of the school of, 1 6.
— monk of, 330.
plundered, 273, 274, 393
priest of, 330.
Registry of, account of I.'' ori- ginal MS., and transcripts of, 26.^269; translated into English by Dua) Mac Eirbis, 269; contents of, 269; '. 'ted, 269, 275, 276, 373, 391, 392.
Tempull Finghin at, s'lc of
masonry of Round Tower belt? of, 188.— ^ee Teampull Finghin.
Temple Conor at. — See 'I iiple
Conor.
inscribed tombstones at 325,
326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 342.
-.Tii: i
ifE.::^ '
SI, J;
lliloii,;....
wrf.4li
fe:
100.
Clnviie. '': '■'
111.
Ciwii. 1 r,-j~ liuckts. J^
*«oC30lJi.
1 ClmiB-C!...;.. •-
..i
KUUDSUlM^bCl,
INDEX.
473
' ""'frmkiiilt
I
•,T,~ i'li; Bat
Kugpirai irill
m
.•itiieferied
Et(h(lHt,K-
_•, sioi oi. SIS'
aJSLMi
Clonmacnoise, Towers of, Harris's opinion concerning, examined and refuted, 113, 114.
great Eoiind Tower of, called
O'Eourke's Tower, 373.
probable age of, 391-393 ; erec-
tion of, ascribed to Fergal O'Rourke, 391, 393 ; style of masonry of, 393 ; de- tailed description of, 412, 413; door- way of, 412. smaller tower of, 393 See
Teampull Finghin. wall surroundine the cliurches
and cemetery of, 452. lioly well at, 270.
Olothru, daughter of Eoclia Fedlilech, 98,
100. Oloyne, i7; Vallancey's explanation of
the Irish name of, ib. Round Tower at, examined by the
South Munster Society of Antiquaries,
80, 8 1 ; observations on same, 84-89. resemblance between the style
of building of, and that of the Round Tower of Brechin, noticed by Mr. Black, 95. Uluain, a general prefix to names of churches, 35.
Cluain See Clonmacnoise.
"luain, explained by Dr. O'Brien, 20; evidence in favour of O'Brien's expla- nation of, 20, 21. oluaiu Claidlieach, now Cloneagh, Barony of Clonillo, County of Limerick, doorway of ancient church of, 178, 179; patron of, ib.
luain-Chuinne, 1 38. .'luain-Coner, largo monastery at, built
by St. Ninian, 141. Uuain Dartadha, St. Aldus de, 138. luain Dolcain. — See Clondalkin. luain Eois, St. Tigernach of, 348, 349. luain loraird, dertech of, burned, 121. — See Clonard.
luain-mhor [eccl. vel mou.], 138. 'luain-mhuicedha, SS. Saxones de, 138.
Cluan, Vallancey's application of the word to the Round Towers, 17.
Cluan Haidhneach, Vallancey's explana- tion of the first part of the name, 17-
Cluan Mac Nois, Vallancey's explanation of the first part of the name, 17.
Cluan Umha, now Cloyne, Vallancey's explanation of, 17.
Cnoc a choirthe, or the hill of the pillar- stone, near Jamestown, in the County of Roscommon, 19.
Cnoc Dabilla, origin of name, 102, 103.
Cnoc na n- Apstal, at Louth, Book of, by whom made, 394.
Cnoc na Sengan, at Louth, church of, built in 1148; 58.
Cnodhba [Knowth], the cave of, 103.
Cobhthach Coelbregh, 98, 100.
Coechdamair, an appellation of St. Derbh- fraich, 348, 349.
Coenobitic establishments of Ireland, no- ticed, 427 ; of the East, 422.
Ccenobium, contrasted with Laura, 422.
Cocnwulf, coins of, 228, 229.
Cogitosus, his Life of St. Bridget, quoted,
197, 198, 199, 204.
age of his work examined, 199.
his description of church of
Kildare referred to, 232 ; quoted, 1 97,
198, 199.
Coil, Round Towers asserted to have been so called by Windele, 71 ; his deriva- tion of the word, ib.
Coins, Saxon, 223, 224, 225, 227, 229, 230.
earliest, in Ireland, type of, whence
derived, 230.
ruder, probably anterior to well-
minted money, 227. rude pieces without legends, whe-
ther screpalls or pingiuns, probably
ecclesiastical, 230. Coins, ruder, without inscriptions, more
probably Irish than Danish, 230.
cross on See Crosses.
found at G lendalough in 1 639 ; 230.
3 p
472
INDEX.
Cloictheach, in cloictech co n-a cloccaibh, at Armagh, 148-150; translated, in an old English MS., " Y^ Steeple with y* bells," 149; and "the Steeple," by Macgeogbegan, 151.
signifying bell- house, or belfry,
Round Towers still known by no other name in Irish, 114.
corrupted at Eattoo into Giol-
cach, 400.
Vallancey's explanation of, 17.
Cloictheachs of Armagh burned, 48, 53. or belfries, unquestionably not
of wood, but of stone, 66. Clonard, in Irish Cluain loraird, burned,
429. abbot of, 271, 272 ; dertech of,
121. Cloncagh, County of Limerick. — See Cluain
Claidheach. Clondalkin, near Dublin, Eound Tower
of, compared with Brunless Castle, in
Brecknockshire, 368. . section of Round Tower of, with
internal measurements, 397 ; project- ing base of, 398.
origin and subsequent rank of
Clonmacnolse, capitals of the great west- ern doorway of cathedral church of, described and illustrated, 275.
north doorway of the cathedral
of, its age, 275 ; by whom built, ib.
cathedral of, inscription over
the church of Cluain Dolcain ; present ruins of church at, 398 ; large cross of granite at, ib.
Clones. — See Cluain Eois.
Clonmacnoise, abbots of, 113, 271, 272, 325, 326, 327,341.
anchorite and scribe of, 327,
328.
• abbot and bishop of, 328.
daimhliag mor, great church or
cathedral of (called Teampull Mac Diar- mada, i. e. Mac Dermott's Church), treated of, 271-275; erection of, 271, 272, 392 ; age of church examined, 271-275 ; re-edified by Tomultach Mac Dermott, chief of JNIoylurg, 275.
cathedral of. Dr. Ledwich's de-
scription of figures over the northern door of, &c., 274.
the north doorway of, 274, 275.
causeways at, 438.
cemetery of, ground plan of,
published by Ware, referred to, 269. purchase of right of inter-
ment in, 269, 392. • became the cemetery of
the southern Hy-Niall race, 330. stone cross at, treated of, 272-
275; inscriptions on, 272, 273; sub- sequently known by the appellation of the " Cros na Screaptra," 273 ; mean- ing and origin of the name, ib.
• great cross at, compared with
those at Monasterboice, 409. another stone cross at, referred
to, 274.
Cross of Bishop Etchen at, re- ferred to, 438.
erdam of St. Kieran at, ib.
account of various lands granted
to the See of, 269. Leabliar na h-Uidhre, compiled
at, 97.
master of the school of, 216.
monk of, 330.
plundered, 273, 274, 393.
priest of, 330.
Registry of, account of the ori- ginal MS., and transcripts of, 268, 269 ; translated into English by Duald Mac Firbis, 269; contents of, 269; quoted, 269, 275, 276, 373, 391, 392.
TempuU Finghin at, style of
masonry of Round Tower belfry of, 188. — See Teampull Finghin.
- Temple Conor at See Temple
Conor.
inscribed tombstones at, 325,
326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 342.
INDEX.
473
Clonmacnoise, Towers of, Harris's opiuiun concerning, examined and refuted, 1 13, 114.
great Round Tower of, called
O'Rourke's Tower, 373.
probable age of, 391-393 ; erec-
tion of, ascribed to Fergal O'Rourke, 391, 393; style of masonry of, 393; de- tailed description of, 412, 413; door- way of, 412. smaller tower of, 393 See
Teampull Finghin. wall surrounding the ehui-clies
and cemetery of, 452. lioly well at, 270.
Clothru, daughter of Eocha Fedlilech, 98,
100. Cloyne, 17; Vallancey's explanation of
the Irish name of, ib. . Round Tower at, examined by the
South Munster Society of Antiquaries,
80, 8 1 ; observations on same, 84—89. resemblance between the style
of building of, and that of the Round Tower of Brechin, noticed by Mr. Black, 95.
Cluain, a general prefix to names of churches, 35.
Cluain See Clonmacnoise.
Cluain, explained by Dr. O'Brien, 20; evidence in favour of O'Brien's expla- nation of, 20, 21.
Cluain Claidlieach, now Cloncagh, Barony of Clonillo, County of Limerick, doorway of ancient church of, 178, 179; patron of, ib.
Cluain-Chuinne, 138.
Cluain-Coner, large monastery at, built by St. Ninian, 141.
Cluain Dartadha, St. Aldus de, 138.
Cluain Dolcain. — See Clondalkiu.
Cluain Eois, St. Tigernach of, 348, M<j.
Cluain loraird, dertech of, burned, 121. — See Clouard.
Cluain-mhor [eccl. vel mon.], 138.
Cluain-mhuicedha, SS. Saxones de, 138.
Cluan, Vallancey's application of the word to the Round Towers, 17.
Cluan llaidhneach, Vallancey's explana- tion of the first j)art of the name, 1 7.
Cluan Mac Nois, Vallancey's explanation of the first part of the name, 17.
Cluan Umha, now Cloyne, Vallancey's explanation of, 17.
Cnoc a choirthe, or the hill of the pillar- stone, near Jamestown, in the County of Roscommon, 1 9.
Cnoc DabiUa, origin of name, 102, 103.
Cnoc na n-Apstal, at Louth, Book of, by whom made, 394.
Cnoc na Sengan, at Louth, church of, built in 1148; 58.
Cnodhba [Knowth], the cave of, 103.
Cobhthach Coelbregh, 98, 100.
Coechdamair, an appellation of St. Derbh- fraich, 348, 349-
Coenobitic establishments of Ireland, no- ticed, 427 ; of the East, 422.
Coenobium, contrasted with Laura, 422.
Coenwulf, coins of, 228, 229.
Cogitosus, hisLife of St. Bridget, quoted,
197, 198,199,204.
age of his work examined, 199.
his description of church of
Kildare referred to, 232 ; quoted, 197,
198, 199.
Coil, Round Towers asserted to have been so called by Windele, 71 ; his deriva- tion of the word, ib.
Coins, Saxon, 223, 224, 225, 227, 229, 230.
earliest, in Ireland, type of, whence
derived, 230.
ruder, probably anterior to well-
minted money, 227.
rude pieces without legends, whe- ther screpalls or pinginns, probably ecclesiastical, 230.
Coins, ruder, without inscriptions, more probably Irish than Danish, 230.
cross on. — See Crosses.
found at Glendaloughin 1639; 230.
3 p
474
INDEX.
Coins, bracteate, found in the Tower of Kildare, compared with the coins of the Saxon and Anglo-Norman kings, 229-
ancient, found within the Round
Tower of Kildare, description of, 210; age of, examined, 210-232.
bracteate, antiquity of, on the
continent and in Ireland, 210-232.
Danish, type of, 213.
of Dano-Irish kings, 324.
of Mercian kings, 229.
Coirpre Crom, St., abbot and bishop of Clonmacnoise, death of, 328 ; inscribed tomb of, 328.
Coirthe, meaning of, 19.
Colcu, master of the school of Clonmac- noise, letter of Alcuin to, 216; quoted, ib.
Colgan,his Acta SS., quoted by Dr. O'Con- or, 48.
his Acta SS. quoted or referred
to, 113, 114, 128, 129, 137, 138, 176, 322, 348, 398, 427, 452, 453.
his Tr. Thaum. quoted, 27, 41, 54,
56, 1.32, 136,411, 429, 452.
Colgan's translations of passages in An- nals, 121, 145-148, 150-156, 231, 380.
translations from ancient Calen- dars and Martyrologies, 167.
translation from St. Aengus's Ca-
lendar, quoted, 167.
remai'ks and observations by, 166,
167, 200, 310, 324, 447.
erroneous statement of, 216.
mistranslation by, 338.
translation of the word " duir-
theach" by, 344. statement of, examined, 245.
Colgan's remark on Rex Rathenice, 355.
Colgius filius Cellaclii, 388.
Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, Sir H.
Piers's, topographical account of West-
meath quoted from, 175.
Collectanea Sacra See Fleming.
Collier, his Church History referred to,
442.
Collumbos [Druim bo], in Bregia, church of, 142.
Colman, St., founder of the churches of Oughtmama, County of Clare, 1 79.
Colman, sometimes called Colman Conail- leach, abbot of Clonmacnoise and Clon- ard; cathedral of Clonmacnoise erected by, 271 , 272, 392, 393 ; death of, 272 ; fa- ther and tribe of, ib. ; stone cross at Clon- macnoise erected by, as a moniiment to the monarch Flann, 273 ; his name en- graved on said cross, 272, 273.
Colman Mac Duach, St., cathedral church of Kilmacduagh erected for, 176 ; churches erected by, on the Great Is- land of Aran, 177, 351; tomb of, 455. — See Mac Duach.
Colum Mac . . . mel, inscription, bearing name of, 134.
Colum, St., comarb of, 340.
■ meinstir of, 340.
Columb, St., erection of the Round Tower of Tory Island attributed to, 15.
Columb, St., the coarb of, 341.
Columb, St., Durrow endowed for, 331.
Columb's House at Kells, 357 See Kells.
Columba, St., manuscript said to have been written by, 340 ; his kitchen at lona, notice of, 445.
his tomb at lona, 455.
. Life of, by Adamnan, quoted,
387, 388, 389.
Life of, by the abbot Cumian,
referred to, 389.— &« Columbkille. Columbanus, St., Irish Monastery of, at
Luxovium, now Luxeuil, in Burgundy,
pharus at, 380. Columbaniis, Life of, published by Mes-
singham, quoted, .352. oratory erected by, at Bobbio,
described, 352.
church of, at Bobbio, 396.
notice of, in connexion with
Brigantium, 423. Columbanus' Letters, by Dr. O'Conor, quoted, 1 1 8.
INDEX.
475
Colunilikille, St., Life of, by O'Donndl,
quoted, 202, 203.
church founded by, 40.'3.
church under the patronage of,
375. monastery on Tory Island
founded by, 406.
ecclesiastical imialements, &c.
made by, 339- religious persons who assem-
bled at Ballysadare to meet, referred
to, 322. . Soisccel mor of, 53. — See Book
of Kells See Columb and Columba.
Coman, St., comarb of, 380. Comerford's History of Ireland, quoted,
38, 39. Comgall, St., shrine of, at Benchor, broken
by the Danes, 203.
— — Cross of, at Clonmacnoise, 438.
Con, the name of a Magus, 132. Conaille Muirthemne (the ancient name
of a tribe and territory in the south
of Ulster), 272, 428. Conaing, son of Congal, inscribed tomb- stone of, at Clonmacnoise, 329, 330;
death of, 330. Conaing Beg-£glacli, the sixty-fifth mo- narch of Ireland, erection of a cathair,
or stone fort, at Fenagh, attributed to,
448, 449. Conaire Carpraige, asserted by some to
be buried at Magh Feci in Bregia, i. e.
atFert Conaire, 99, 101. Conaire Mor, monarch of Ireland, place
of his interment, 99, 101. burial place of the race of. — See
Clann Dedad. Conall, the brother of the monarch Lao-
ghaire, 193, 447. Conallagha, 269. Conallus filius Neill, 161. Conallus [i.e. son ofNiaU], 161, 162. Conchennacii, SS. duodecim, qui cum
vtroque Sinchello iacent in Kill-achuidh,
1.38.
3
Conchennacii, SS. qui cum S. Manchano iacent in Lethmor, 138.
Conchobhar Mac Nessa, the place of his burial, 99, 101.
informed by Altus of the cruci- fixion of Christ, according to Lcabhar na h-Uidhre, 97, 99-
Conchubran compiler of the Life of St. Monenna, 126.
Cong, abbey of, 319, 320. ,
doorway of, 319.
Conisborough, in Yorkshire, castle of,
367.
Conla, a celebrated artificer in brass, 203.
Conlaeth, Bishop, shrine of, at Kildare, 197, 198, 200, 201.
relics of, enshrined, 203.
Conn na m-bocht, 97.
Conn, of the Hundred Battles, 25.
the stone earn of, a sepulchral
monument See Cam ail Cuinn Cet-
cathaigh.
Connacians, Cruachan, the burial-place of, 99, 101.
Connaught, province of, by whom occu- pied, 98, 100.
the host of, buried in Cathair
Cruachna, 105, 106.
poets of, enumerated, 106.
supreme king of, buried at
Oenach na Cruachna, 106, 107. Connor, Father Brendan, letter of, re- ferred to by Colgau, 429. Conrad II., the emperor, 212. Constantine, St., stated to have succeeded
St. Carthach at Eathain, 245. Constantine, a Briton, abbot of Kahen,
.354-356. Constantine, festival day of, 355. Constantinople, towers of, fell in cimse-
quence of an earthquake, A. D. 448 ;
46, 47. Conyngham, Colonel Burton, drawings
made for, referred to, 248, et alibi. Coolcoolaught, in Kerry, 80. Coot See Bagdad.
p 2
476
INDEX.
Corcach mor Mumhan. — See Cork. I
Corcaguiny, ancient oratories in. — See
Kerry. Corcnutanus, S., SS. Peregrini Romani
qui comitati sunt SS. Eliam
et Corcnutanum, 138.
Corcumruadh, Ochtmama in, 179- Cork, " Ancient and present State of the
County and City of Cork," by Dr. Smith, 4 quoted, 117. " Historical and Descriptive Notices
of the City of Cork," quoted, 70-72.
Manchine, abbot of, 443.
round steeple at, erroneously attri-
buted to the Ostmen, 7, 8. an army led to, by Turlough O'Conor,
290.
burned, 429.
Cormac, St., church of Inishmaan in
Lough Mask, built by, 180; when, ib. Cormac's chapel at Cashel, age of, 186,
272; description of roof of, 186; treated
of, 288-314 ; Irish name of, 290, 291,
312; erection of, 289-292 ; examination
of its characteristic features, 292-305. Cormac's Glossary quoted, or referred to,
16, 18, 19, 26, 37, 58, 206, 218, 220,
223, 227, 292, 438. Cormac Finn, king of Desmond, death of,
270. Cormac h-Ua Killene, a bishop, church
and Round Tower of Tomgraney built
by, 380; death of, ib. Cormac Mac Carthy, king of Munster,
&c., his crozier treated of, 252, 306, 307,
314; described, 312, 313. the question " was he a bishop ?"
discussed, 307-312. Cormac Mac Carthy, chapel at Cashel
shown to have been erected by, 290-
292. dethroned, 290 ; goes on a pil- grimage to Lismore, ib. ; erects two
churches there, 290, 291.
pedigree of 290, 291.
death of, 290, 291, 308, 311.
Cormac Mac Carthy, tomb of, at Cashel, treated of, 305-312.
Cormac Mac Cullenan, the supposed com- piler of the Psalter of Cashel, 37 ; — his Irish Glossary quoted. — See Cormac's Glossary.
church at Cashel erroneously
attributed to, 289, 312.
king of Desmond, 312.
death of, 289.
Cormac, son of Art, monarch of Ireland, account of his belief, death, and burial, from Leabhar na h-Uidlire — his eye destroyed by Engus Gaibhuaiphnech, 97, 98, 99, 100.
place of his burial, 98, 100.
Cornelli, St., Virgin, her prophecy con- cerning the future importance of Lis- more, 446.
Corpre, the son of Etan, of the race of the Tuatha De Danann, interred at Brugh na Boinne, in Meath, 99, 101, 106.
Corranus, or Cororanus, poem of, referred to by Colgan, 427.
Coscrach, anchorite of Inis Cealtra, called the truaghan or meagre person, 50.
Cows, exacted for ransom, 214.
Cremation. — See Burning. •
Cremhthann [Niadh-nar], the son of Lu- ghaidh Riabh-n-derg, the first king in- terred at Brugh, 98-100.
Crimthann Nianar, the bare of, in which he was interred — See Bare Crimthaind Nianair.
Cro Ciarain See Glendalough.
Crom-Cruach, the idol, 68.
— ■ — - worship of, 27.
Cromleacs, 35.
Cromlech, situated in a churchyard, near the Sugar-loaf Hill, in the barony of Gualtier,and County of Waterford, 72.
Cromlechs, 102; Christian tombs, bear- ing a resemblance to, 453.
Cronan, St., his church at Termoncronan, County of Clare, window of, 1 84.
comarb of, 380.
INDEX.
477
Cros na Screaptra, the name of a stone
cross at Clonmacnoise, 273 See Clon-
maonoise. .
Cross, stone, at Cashcl, .'iOf!. — See Cashel.
at Tuam See Tiuim.
anciently at Rathain, 246.
sculptured on lintel of doorway of
Fore church, 174, 175; of church on High Island, 423 ; of Antrim Tower, 405.
form of, not used in the plan of
ancient Irish churches, 163. sepulchral, at Glendalough, de-
scribed, 265, 266. Crosses, stone, 272, 273, 274, 275, 326, 398.
purpose of erection of, 272, 273.
— on High Island, 426.
erected to mark the limits of the
neimhedh or sanctuary, 59-
made by St. Columbkille, 339-
made by St. Dageus, 202.
erroneously attributed to the
Danes, 229.
examples of, placed on the soffit
of the lintel in doorways of churches, 171.
varieties of, foiind as typical orna-
ments in ancient MSS., as well as on ancient Irish sepulchral monuments, 229. ornamental, innumerable exam-
ples of, found in the most ancient Irish manuscripts, and on sepulchral monu- ments, 264. forms of, used as ornaments, 325,
326.
on coins. 225, 226, 228.
Crowns of gold and silver over monu- ments or shrines of saints, 198.
suspended over shrines at Kildare,
205.
commonly suspended in various
parts of the early churches, 204, 205.
Crozier, of St. Ere, 48.
given by St. Patrick to Fiac, first
bishop of Sletty, 338.
Crozier, archiepiscopal, of Tuam, 314. — See Tuam.
preserved in the Museum of
Chuiy, .306.
■ supposed to be that of Cornuic
Mac Carthy. — See Cormac Mac Carthy.
of St. Damhnad Ochene, the pa-
troness, of Oirghiall, 32.3, 324. Croziers, ancient, 192. ancient Irish, 252, 322, 323, 333,
335.
, made by St. Columbkille, 339.
made by St. Dageus, 202.
Cruachan, a pagan cemetery, 98, 100.
the burial place of the Connaciuns,
99, 101. the kings of Connaught buried at.
106.
called Cathair Cruachna, 104. 105.
Oenach of, 104, 105 See Aenacli.
the cemetery of the ever- fair Crua- chan, 105. — &e Rathcroghan.
Cruach Mic Dara, island called, off the coast of Connamara ; St. Mao Dara's church on, window in, 184.
description of masonry, &c., of
church of, 190 ; curious notice of the island, church, &c., 190, 191 ; descrip- tion of the circular stone house of St. Mac Dara on, 190.
stone oratory of St. Mac Dara
on, 351. — See Mac Dara.
Cruagh-ar-ne-may, an island in the West- ern Ocean, called by Sir James Ware Insula Cuniciilorum, 426.
Crucifix, no example of the representation of our Saviour crucified on stone crosses, anterior to the ninth century, known to Author, 408.
figure of our Saviour crucified,
sculptured in relievo over the doorway of the Round Tower of Donaghmore, County of Meath, 409, 410.
Cruithnech, one of St. Patrick's inasons, 142.
Crumaigh, the town of, 269.
478
INDEX.
Crumtlieris, virgo, placed by St. Patrick
in a stone oratory near Armagh, 350. Cucin, or kitchen, at Armagh, 147- Cuil-ceach, Vallancey's explanation of, 16. Cuil-ceach, or Cul-kak, Dr. O'Brien mis- quoted by Vallancey for meaning of, 19. Cuil-Irra, a peninsula situated to the
south-west of the town of Sligo, 179- Cuil-muige, where, 193. Cuil-ochtair [eccl. vel mon.], 138. Cuirel, wife of the Dagda, monument of,
at Brugh na Boinne, 102, 103. Cul-kak. — See Cuil-ceach. Culmana, an error for Liemania, the name
of the sister of St. Patrick, 167- Culmine, in the plain of Bregia, church of, 142.
Cul Eathain Mochudda; See Eathain.
Cumal, explanation of the word, 340. Cumhdach, meaning of the word, as shown from ancient authorities, 291, 292.
, or case of the MS. Irish ritual
at Stowe, inscription on, 330. Cumhdachs, or ancient metallic cases for
books, 335, 338. Cumian, the abbot, Life of St. Columba
by, referred to, 389, 424. Cummin, Ochter n-Achid purchased by,
220. Cumot Cairpri Lifoachair, the commensu- rate grave of Cairbre Lifeachair, a mo- nument at Brugh na Boinne, 102. Curach-building, payment for, 346, 347- Curraun Lough, or Lough Lee, 130. Cursecha filia Brochani [quae iacet], in
Acadli-Dalrach, 138. Cuthbert, St., Life of, quoted, 128, 129. monastic establishment con- structed on the Island of Fame by, character of, 128, 447. Cuthbert, St., reputed country of, 128. Cu Ulad, son of Conchobar, king of Ulad,
308. Cyclopean forts, 43.
Cyclopean style of building, 127, 169, 189.
Cyclopean buildings, resemblance of win- dows and doorways of ancient Irish churches to those of, 159-
style, remarkable example of,
in the doorway of the church of Fore, 174.
D.
Dabilla, a small hound, which gave name to Cnoc Dabilla, 102, 103.
Dabonna, ope of the seven sons of the Lom- bard, and nephew of St. Patrick, 167.
Dachonna, St., shrine of, 203.
Dagda, the, with his three sons, buried at Brugh na Boinne, 99, 101, 106.
the bed of the. — See Imdae in
Dagda.
the grave of his Brehon, Esclam,
102, 103 ^e Fert Esclaim.
monument of the — See Lecht in
Dagda. the, wives of, 102, 103.
Dageus, St., Life of, as given by Colgan, quoted, 202 ; celebrated as an artificer, ib. Dagobs, Ceylonese, applied to sepulchral
purposes, 78, 79- Daimhliag, application of the word by Irish writers, treated of, 141-153.
became the Scotic or Gaelic
name for a cathedral or abbey church, 143; always rendered by the Irish ec- clesiastical writers in Latin by the word ecclesia or basilica, though, on noticing the same buildings when writing in the Irish language, they apply the terms daifnhliag, eclats, and tempidl, indiffe- rently, 143-153. Daimhliag translated Basilica
by Colgan, 54, 55.
Daimhliag, or stone church, payment for the erection of, 365.
and duirtheach (the), the high- est examples of the combined arts of the Ollamh Saer ; payment for building of, 346, 347.
INDEX.
479
Daimhliag, distinct from derthech, or duir-
theacli, 343. tlie Irish name of Duleek, in
Meatb ; church of stone built in, 142 ;
origin of name, ib. — See Duleek. or cathedral church of Ar-
magh, burned A. D. 996; 53.
Daimhliag in t-Sabuill, at Armagh, 148,
149, 150. sometimes called " in Sa-
ball," 149, 150. translated the Church of
the Sabhall, by Mageoghegan, 151. appears to have been erect-
ed in St. Patrick's time, 157.
Daimhliag na Toga, at Armagh, 148, 150; correctly translated Ecclesia Electionum, 149.
sometimes called Daimh- liag na Toe, and sometimes simply in Toai, and anglicised y^ Toay, by the old translator of the Annals of Ulster, 149.
probable period of erection
of, 158; meaning of name, 158; appears to have been the original parish church of Armagh, 158 ; some remains of, ex- isted down to the restoration of the pre- sent cathedral, 158.
Dauuhliags, or stone churches, first build- ers of, in Ireland, 141, 142.
Dairbhile. — Sec Deirbhile.
Daithen, the poet, his death, 106.
Dalcassian tribe, first ecclesiastic of, 139.
D' Alton, Mr., examination and refutation of the argimients adduced by, in support of the fire- temple hypothesis, 42-47.
misinterpretation of Cambrensis
by, 43-46.
Damhnad Ochene, St., supposed to be the same as St. Dympna, 324 ; crozier of,' 323, 324.
Damnonii, or Silures, British castles attri- buted to, 368.
Dancing festivals, theory of the use of the Round Towers in, 15.
Danes, Galls, or Northmanni.
Armagh burned by, 145, 146.
plundered by, 146, 147, 148.
ecclesiastical edifices burned by,
151.
Benchor, or Bangor, devastated
by; shrine of St. Comgall broken by; Shrine of St. Patrick broken and car- ried away by; Kildare plundered by, 203.
belfry (cloictech) of Slane burned
by, 48, 56, 373, 374.
Kildare plundered by, &c., 231.
Magh bile burned by, 343, 438.
several sepulchral caves seardied
by, 103.
theory of the Danish origin of the
Eound Towers examined and refuted, 5-11. Round Towers of Ireland erro-
neously attributed to, by Dr. Molyneux, 6,7.
. Round Towers attributed to, by
Dr. Ledwich, 9 ; refutation of this opi- nion, 10, 11. Irish, conversion of, to Christianity,
in Ireland, 224. ancient ornamented architectural
remains in Ireland, erroneously attri- buted to, 241.
submitted to the jurisdiction of
Malachy O'Morgair, 155, 156.
power of, broken for a time, 276.
works erroneously attribvited to,
229.
erroneous supposition of the civi
lization of, 224.
■ stated by Dr. Molyneux to have
been the first introducers of coin and trade, and the founders of the chief towns and cities of the kingdom, &c., 6. money minted by, in Ireland, at
what period, 229. Danes, use of minted money in Ireland supposed to have originated with, 213 ; this opinion examined, 213-233.
480
INDEX.
Danish irruptions, coined money in use in Ireland previously to, 232.
civilization of the Irish pre- viously to, 240.
Danish coins See Coins.
Danish mythology, 262, 263.
Darerca, sister of St. Patrick, 168.
Colgan's explanation of the name,
168.
Darioc, one of the seven sons of the Lom- bard, and nephew of St. Patrick, 167.
Darius, king of Oirthir [Orior], 157.
Darius Dearg, Finchadij lilius, 158, a quo ortus, 158.
Dathi, monarch of Ireland, killed by light- ning, 103.
place of the burial of, at Rath-
croghan, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 322.
sepulchral monument of, described.
107.
David, St., Archbishop of Menevia, 196.
Dawson, Dean of St. Patrick's, coins for- merly in the Collection of, 228, 252.
Dearthach. — See Duirtheach.
Deeies, chief of, called Dux Nandesi, 446.
Declan, St., Latin Life of, referred to, 82, 83.
his dormitory at Ardmore, Co.
Waterford, 356.
Deirbhile, St., church of, within the Mul- let, in Erris, treated of, 320-322 ; door- way of, 321.
tomb of, 322.
festivals of, 322.
Delbhna (the Delvins), pursue and slaugh- ter the plunderers of Clonmacnoise, 273, 274.
Delbhna Ethra in Media, regio de, 356.
Delbhna, or Delmna, Tiri da Locha, 106.
Denarii, miuores, quasi oboli, 230.
Derbhfraich, St., of Druim Dubhain, Co. Tyrone, duirtheach of, 348, 349.
Derc m-Buailcc m-Bic, — the cave of Buailcc Bee, — a monument at Brugh naBoinne, 102, 103.
Dergthene, the burial-place of, 99, 101.
Derivla, St., church of — See Deirbhile. Derry, abbot of, presents to, 215.
Caiseal an urlair at, erected, 450.
Derrynane Abbey, Irish name of, and
origin of same, 130. Derthachof Aedan, 345. Desmond, kings of, 270, 290, 291, 311,
312. Devenish Island, in Lough Erne, in the
County of Fermanagh, Molaisi's house
on, 357, 434.
Round Tower on, 360.
richly-sculp- tured band or cornice of, 400, 401. Diamars of Bregia, 386. Diarmaid of Tir Cronin, curious story
related of, 340. Dichuill, one of the three sons of Nessan,
178. Dimma, St., copy of thcGospels written by,
324. Dinnra, a weight, varieties of, described,
219. Dinnsenchus, quoted, 102, 103, 386, 387. Disert, a general prefix to names of
churches, 35. Disert Cavghin, church so called, erected
for St. Kevin by his monks at Glenda-
lough, 172.
explanation of the name, ib.
Disert Vlidh [eccl. vel mon.], 138. Doche, brother of Ailell Mac Mada, 98,
100. Dodwell, Mr. Edward, his observation on
the doorway of the church of Fore,
Co. Westmeath, 1 74. Doederlin, referred to, 212. Dolbaddern, in Carnarvonshire, castle of,
367. Domhnaeh-Fiec, church of, 195, 338. Domhnach mor Muighe Echnach See
Donaghmore. Domhnach-Sechnaill, S. Secundinus de,
167. Domhnach mor, near Tailteann, in Meath,
now Donaghpatrick, length of the
INDEX.
481
church of, as prescribed by St. Patrick, 161, 193, 195 , ecclesia Patricii magna, 161 ; built within the fortified enclo- sure of the house of Conall, brother of king Laoghaire, 447-
Domhnach Resen [eccl. vel mon.], 138.
Domhnall, son of Donnchadh, about the year 922, 226.
Domhnall, son of Maol na m-bo, king of Leinster, 286, 287.
" Domu de Orcu," a name for the Nu- raggis of Sardinia, 73.
Donaghmore, Co. Meath, anciently called Domhnach mor Muighe Echnach, mean- ing of the name, 410, 411.
original church of, ascribed to
St. Patrick, 410, 411.
Round Tower of, age of, 409 ;
doorway of, described, 409, 410. crucifixion carved on the door-
way of, Windele's remarks on, 72. Donaghpatrick, near Tailteann. — See
Domhnach mor. Donald, an Irish king, coins of, 224, 225. Donald O'Neill, A. D. 956, coins of, 224. Donegal, Martyrology of. — See Martyro-
logy. Donnchadh, son of Flann, King of Ire- land, 335. Donnell More O'Brien, erection of the
church of KiUaloe attributed to, 277. Doors, in ancient church of Kildare, 198,
199, 200, 201, 207. Doorway, situation of, in primitive Irish
churches, 1 62 ; description of, 1 62, 1 80. — ornamented, of the Round Tower
of Kildare. — See Kildare. in the church of Kildare
in the time of Cogitosus, 197, 198, 199. Doorways, examples of, in primitive Irish
churches, 163-181. of the oldest Greek and Etruscan
buildings, 169. of the earliest Roman churches.
169.
of Cashels, 450, 451.
Doorways, examples of semicircularly- arched, 177-180.
examples of quadrangular, having
the weight on the lintel taken off by a semicircular arch, 180, 181, 255.
angular or triangular-headed, 182.
ornamented, treated of, 207-239,
246, 247, 276. of Round Towers, treated of, 401-
413.
second doorways of, 402,
403, 413, 416.
Dorban, a poet of Connaught, 1 06.
Dorban, a poet of West Connaught, poem ascribed to, quoted, 104, 105.
Dormitory, Declan's. — See Declan.
Dorus Urdoim, gateway at KeUs so called, 452.
Dowth See Dubhad.
Debriu, daughter of Eocho Fedhlech, 98, 100.
Drogheda, sepulchral mound at, 103.
Drucht, interred at Rathcroghan, 104, 105.
Druidical festivals, — theory of the use of the Round Towers as places from which to proclabn the druidical festivals, 16, 17.
Druidism, Babylonia the cradle of, 71-
Druids, Dr. O'Conor's opinion as to their method of defining the equinoxes and solstices, 48.
fires stated by Irish history to have
been lighted by, on the tops of moun- tains and hills, not in towers, 25.
used to drive the cattle between
the fires called Belltaine, as an antidote
against disease, 37, 38. Druids' altars of speculative antiquaries,
102. Druim Ceat, council of, 322. Druim Dubhain, near Clogher, County of
Tyrone, S. Derbhfraich of, 348. Druim Inasclainn, now Drumiskin, abbot
of, 428. refectory of, 428.
3 Q
4S2
INDEX.
Druim Saileacli, Dorsum Salicis, 158.
Dranibo, in the County of Down, Round Tower of, human bones stated to have been found in, 88 ; observations on, 89, 90, 91.
Drumbo, doorway of Round Tower of, described and illustrated, 401, 402.
erection of the original church
of, 402 ; abbot of, ib.
Drumlahan, in the County of Cavan, cloch angcoire of, 114, 115.
Round Tower of, Harris's as- sertion concerning the purpose of, exa- mined and refuted, 1 14-116.
Dubhad [Dowth], sepulchral caveat, 103.
Dublin, Danes of, 48, 146, 147, 224, 225, 226.
Dubourdieu's Survey of Antrim, quoted, 89.
Dubthach, son of Dubcen, priest of Clon- macnoise, death of, 330.
Du Cange, his Constantinopolis Christiana quoted, 205.
Dufresnoy, Abbe Lenglet, chronological tables of, referred to, 46.
Duibhcen, son of Tadgan, progenitor of the family of O'Duigenan, 329.
inscribed tombstone of, at Clon-
macnoise, 329, 330.
. period at which he flourished.
3.30.
Duirtheach, or deartheach, explanation of the name, 120, 121, .344.
Duirtheachs, notices of the burnings of, in the Irish Annals, 120, 121, 345.
payment for the erection of, 346,
347, 364, 365 — See Oratories.
Dulcis, Sanctus, frater Carthaci, 142.
Duleek, or Dam-liag, church of, accord- ing to Vallancey, the first built with lime and mortar, 17. — See Daimhliag.
Dumha na cnam, — the Mound of the Bones, — at Brugh na Boinne, 103.
Dumha Dergluachra, where Treoit (Tre- vet) is at this day, burial place of Art, the son of Conn, 99, 101.
Dumha Tresc, the Mound of Tresc, a mo- nument at Brugh na Boinne, 102, 103.
Dun of Ochter n-Achid, 220.
Duns, ecclesiastical See Cashels.
Dun Baile, the original name of Fenagh, in the County of Leitrim, 448.
Duncan, 203.
Dunchad O'Braoin, abbot of Clonmacnoise, stated to have shut himself up in Arcti Inclusorii Ergastulo, 113, 117.
■ Life of, referred to, 113, 11 4,
117.
Dunchad O'Taccan, monk of Clonmac- noise, cumhdach made by, 330.
Dun Cruthen in Ardmagilligan, near the eastern shore of Lough Foyle, shrine at, 202.
Dun Domhnaill, church of, 269.
parish of, 269-
in Conallagha, 269-
Dungiven, in the County of London- derry, Round Tower of, age of, 395.
Dunloe, inscribed stones in cave at, 80.
Dun Lughaidh, a fortress given up to SS. Patrick and Benen, 447.
Dunwich, church of, 442.
Durandus, quoted, 205.
Durrow, Roboreti Campus, account of the fall of a monk from the top of the Round Tower of, 387-389.
— monastery of, by whom endowed,
331 ; erenaoh of, ib.
-monumental inscription at, 331.
Dysart, County of Limerick, Round Tower
of, described, 371, 415.
— church of, described, 37 1 .
DjTnpna, St., called Damhnat by the Irish,
324 ; Life of, referred to, ib. ; crozier
of, 323.
E.
Eachainech, in the territory of Tir Oililla, Bishop Manius left at, by St. Patrick, 180. — See Aghannagh.
Eadwald, coins of, 229.
INDEX.
483
Eanach duin. — See Annadown.
Earlsbarton, in Northamptonshire, church of, 239.
Earth, moist, church built of, 126.
Easbog. — See Epscop.
East, the, conformity between many of the Round Towers in, noticed by tra- vellers, and the Irish Round Towers, acknowledged, 30.
Eastern anchorites, pillars of, supposed agreement- between, and the Irish Tow- ers, examined, 109-113.
East Meon, near .Winchester, marble font in cathedral of, 294.
Eclais, origin and application of the word, 143, 145, 153.
Ecclesia, application of, by Irish writers, 143, 144, 145, 149, 151, 152, 156.
Ecclesia iilii Laithphi, in Bregia, 142.
Ecclesiastica Tui-ris, Round Tower of Kil- dare so called by Cambrensis, 208.
Ecclesiasticae turres, translated " reli- gious" Towers, by Mr. D' Alton, 4.3, 44.
Ecclesiastical Buildings, ancient. Irish, ge- neral characteristics of the, 160, etseq.
Ecclesiastical Remains, Irish, antiquity of, 125, et seq.
Edda, 24.
Egbert, chief monarch, pennies of, found near Rahen, 356.
Egyptian ecclesiastics in Ireland, 137.
monasteries, 422, 425.
SS. septe Monachos Aegyptios,
qui iacet in Disert Vlidh, 138.
Ehenach, ancient church of, founded by St. Patrick, 180. — See Aghannagh.
Ele, daughter of EochoFedhlech, 98, 100.
Elians, the, plundered Clonmacnoise, 273, 274.
Elias S., SS. Peregrines Romanos ([ui co- mitati sunt SS. Eliam, Natalem, &c., 138.
Emly, called in Irish- Imleach lubhair, comharbas, or successors of St. Ailbhe at, 312.
burned, 429.
3 Q
Enda, filius Nielli, 159-
English, i. e. Saxon, ecclesiastics in Ire- land, 137, 138.
English, influx of, into Ireland, in ancient times, 201.
English, i. e. Anglo-Norman, pennies, old, 227, 228.
Eochaidh Airgthech. — See Fothaidh Airg- tlieach.
Eochaidh Balldearg, prince of Thomond, 139.
Eochaidh Eolach O'Ceiriu, an ancient wri- ter, 106, 107.
Eocho Airemh, 98, 100.
Eocho Fedlech, 98, 100.
Eogan mor, who bore the cognomen of Mogh Nuadhat, death of, 25.
Eoganacht Ninais, 381.
Eoganachts, king of, 312.
Epiphanius, referred to, 417, 422.
Epscop, origin and meaning of th« word, 310.
Erdam, or aurdam, applied in the Book of Ballymote to the porticoes of the Royal Palace of Priam at Troy, 62.
Erdam, translated domum ahum by Dr. O'Conor, and believed by him to be synonymous with cloic-teach (cainpa- nile), 48, 52, 53; true explanation of, 53, 54.
of Kells, 429.
of St. Kieran, at Clonmacnoise,
438.
Erdamh, classified with other ecclesiastical buildings, 160.
treated of, as a class of Irish ec- clesiastical buildings, 437-444.
meaning of this word, as ex-
plained by Cormac in his Glossary, 438.
various spellings of the word, ib.
derivation of, ib.
similar ancient compounds ex-
plained by O'Clery, ib.
difficulty of forming an accurate
idea of the kind of building designated by the term erdamh, 438, 439, 440, 442.
484
INDEX.
Erdamh, notices of the word in the Annals,
438, 439. no distinct building to which the
name could be applied now remains in
Ireland, 439. erroneously supposed by Dr.
O'Conor to be a belfry, 52, 53, 54, 437-439. the word used to express the Latin
•viovi porticiis, 440, 442.
conjecture as to the application of
the term, 444.
■ most probably a sacristy, or other
lateral porch, entered from the interior of the church, ib. examples of, ib.
Ergastulum, Arcti Inclusorii Ergastulum,
Dunchad O'Braoin, Abbot of Clonmac-
noise, stated to have shut himself up in,
113, 117. ■ supposed by Harris
and Smith to be applied to the Round
Towers, 113, 117; refutation of this
opinion, 114, 117. Erna, burial place of the race of, 99, 101.
— See Clann Dedad. Ernicius, disciple of St. Patrick, 166 ;
Hernicius, ib. Esclam, the Dagda's Brehon, grave of —
See Pert Esclaim. Etan, the poetess, of the raceof theTuatha
de Danann, 99, 101, 106. Etchen, Bishop, cross of, at Clonmacnoise,
438. Ethelred II., the Saxon king, coins of,
213, 225, 229.
Etruria-Celtica See Betham.
Etruscan buildings, form of doorway in,
169. works, the principle of the arch
stated to be found in, 72. Eugenius Sanctus episcopus, 142. Evagrius's Church History, 47, 110, 111. Evin's, St., Life of St. Patrick, quoted or
referredto,132, 136, 156, 157,158,159,
160, 161, 162, 166,350 &e Tripartite.
F.
Failghe, rings so called, 214, 215. Farannan, St., Life of, published by Col-
gan, referred to, 322. Fame, island of, in Northumberland, cha- racter of monastic establishment on,
128,447. Faughard, covered well of St. Bridget at,
453. Feargna, son of Fergus, chief of Breifne,
448, 449. Fera Ceall, lords of, 245. Fechin, St., Fore erected by, 174, 175.
death of, 174.
historical and legendary notices
of, 175 ; his mill at Fore, 453. — See
Fore. monastic establishment of, on .
Ard-Oilean, or High Island, character of, 128, 426, 427.
one of the houses erected by.
at his monastic establishment, on Ard- Oilean, or High Island, described, 131, 132. Life of, as given by Colgan,
quoted, 175. Fedelmidh Eechtmar, the lawgiver, the
grave of — See Fert Fedelmid Recht-
mair. Feilire, or Festilogy of Aengus, quoted
or referred to, 167, 170, 348, 349,
355. additions of the Scholiast to,
quoted, 176. Fenagh, in the County of Leitrim, origi- nal name of, 448, 449 ; Book of, quoted,
448, 449. monastery of, built within a ca-
thair, or circular stone fort, 448. Fergus, Dr., copy of the Annals of the
Four Masters made for, noticed, 52. Fer Mumhan, quoted by Cormac in his
Glossary, 18, 19. Fernmuighi, 53. Ferns, St., Aidan, first bishop of, 204.
INDEX.
485
Ferta, near Armagh, church of, 444, 445, 446.
Ferta, Co. Kilkenny, Round Tower of, 376.
Ferta Aedha Luirgnig, the grave of Aedh Luirgnech, at Brugh na Boinne, 102, 103.
Ferta Tire Feic, for Loch Mesctha, — Ferta of Tir Feic, on Lough Mask, — Lugnai de, 167.
Fertm-Boiune mna Nechtain, — the grave of Boinn, the wife of Nechtan, — a mo- nument at Brugh na Boinne, 102, 103.
Fert Conaire, i. e., Magh Feci in Bregia, burial place of Conaire Mor, 99, 101 ; other kings asserted by some to have been interred there, ib.
Fert Esclaim, — the grave of Esclam, — at Brugh na Boinne, 102, 103.
Fert FedeUnid Eechtmair, — the grave of Fedelmidh, the Lawgiver, — a monu- ment at Brugh na Boinne, 102.
Fert Medhbha, the body of Medhbh first interred at, 106, 107.
Fert Patric, a monument at Brugh na Boinne, ancient name of, 102, 103.
Fiac, bishop of Sletty, ecclesiastical pre- sents given to, when consecrated bishop by St. Patrick, 338 ; first church of, ib. — See Fiech.
Fiach, a man's name, meaning of, 263.
Fiach Sraiphtiue, Fulacht of, a sepulchral monument at Brugh na Boinne, 102.
Fiachus, filius Nielli, 159.
Fidhairle Ua Suanaigh, St., 245, 246.— See Ua Suanaigh.
Fidh-nemheadh, interpreted indicia cas- lestia by Dr. O'Conor, and applied by him to the Round Towers, 48. Fidh-nemheadh, interpreted turns by Dr. O'Conor, — his etymology of the term, 53.
no evidence that it was applied
to a Tower, 54.
not a building of any kind, 55.
true explanation of, 57 ; ex-
plained index coelorum, indicia cwlestia,
turres ccelestes, and tun-is, by Dr.U'Conor, 57. — See Neimhed and Fiodh. Fidh-nemheadh, true meaning ol", as shown
from ancient authorities, 60-63. Fidh-nemheadh of Jupiter at Troy, 62.
incorrectly written Fiadh-
neimhe, and translated indicia cmlestia, by Dr. O'Conor, and applied by him to the Round Towers, 65. Fidh n-Endnia, the three, i. e., Bres, Nar,
and Lothor, 98, 100. Fiech, St., of Sletty, historical and legen- dary notice of, 1 93. — See Fiac. Finan Cam, St., house of, on Church Is- land in Lough Lee, described, 130, 131. Fineen. — See Finghin. Finghin, St., from whom Teampull Fin- ghin, at Clonmacnoise, was named, 270 ; holy well bearing his name, ib. ; grave of, ib. Finghin, or Fineen, antiquity of the use of the name, among the Mac Carthys, 270, 271. Fiuian, bishop of Lindisfarne, builds at Lindisfarne a church of sawn wood, covered with reeds, 125, 126. Finian, St., of Clonard, 270. Finnachta Fleadhach, monarch of Ireland, the Borumha Laighean remitted by, 396. Finnauair-abha, ad ripam Boandi, Lie- mania de, 167. Finnfaidhech, or Innfaidhech Patraig, a bell, by whom made, 222; the full of the, of silver, 221. Finn Mac Cumhaill, another name of,
108. Finola, the daughter of O'Conor, 287. Fiodh, or Fidh, meaning of, in the com- pound Fidh-neimhed, as explained in ancient glossaries, &c., 59, 60. Firbolg, and Tuatha De Danann tribes, original country of, 127; character of the buildings of, 127, 129. Firbolgs, great numbers of, buried at Brugh, 106.
486
INDEX.
Firbolgs,.chief of the, 449.
Fire, called the Tinne Elgin in the High- lands See Tinne Elgin.
of Tlachtga, noticed by Comerford, 39.
— ^ sacred, stated by Mr. D' Alton to have been preserved in the Round Towers,
. 42 ; this statement refuted, 42, 43.
— sacred, supposed by Dr. O'Conor to
have been preserved in the Round
Towers, 47. two columns dedicated to the wind
and fire at the temple of Tyre, 69. — - lighted by the Magi at Louth, as
stated by Windele, from the Life of . Mocteus, 72. Fires, stated in Irish history to have been
lighted by the Druids on the tops of
mountains and hills, not in towers, 25.
annual, lighted in Ireland, 28.
of Baal, supposed to be the Baal-
Theine, 36. May-fires of modern times, perhaps
a modified form of the ancient Bell- taine, 38. called Bell-tinne, custom of driving
cattle between, as an antidote against disease, 44.
Fire-temples, theories of the use of the Round Towers as, examined and re- futed, 12, 13, 21-52, 66-73.
Persian and Hindoo, supposed
similarity between, and the Irish Round Towers, 28, 29, 67, 68.
of the Persians, 32.
or Pyreia, 71.
Fire-worship, 67, 68.
Fire-worshippers, Greek and Persian, 69-
Flahertach Mac Inmuinen, the successor of
Cormac Mac Cullenan, 312. Flahertach O'Neill, historic notices of, 222,
223. Flaithcius, a poet of Connaught, 106. Flann, i. e. Flann of Bute, 106, 107. Flann of the Monastery, poem written by,
141; quoted from the Book of Lecan,
142,166,384.
Flann of the Monastery, poem written by,
referred to, 202, 222. Flann, the son of Conaing, territory of,
plundered by the Danes, 103. Flann, the son of Flann, poi_'m attributed
to, in the Book of Fenagli, referred to
and quoted, 448, 449. Flann, son of Maoilsechlainn, monarch of
Ireland, cathedral of Clonniacnoise built
by, 271 ; ' death of, ib. ; name of, en- graved on stone cross at Clonmacnoise,
272, 273. Flannan, St., the successor of St. Molua,
church ascribed to, 279, 281. Flannan's, St., house at Killaloe. — See
Killaloe. Flannchadh, inscribed tombstone of, at
Clonmacnoise, 327- Flannchadh Ua Ruaidhne, comharba of
Ciaran, i. e. Abbot of Clonmacnoise,
death^ of, 327. Fleming, his Collectanea Sacra, quoted,
396, 397. Florence of Worcester, referred to, 327,
328. Florilegium Insulse Sanctorum — See Mes-
singham. Fodhla Feibe, a tract of Brehon Laws, so
entitled, quoted, 218. Foirrgea, filiorum Amolngid, i. e. of the
sons of Awley, 126. Fomorians. — See African. " Font," the, at Cashel See Cormac Mac
Carthy, tomb of Forann, the bed of the daughter oi'. — See
Long ingine Foraind. Forbadh, meaning of the Irish word, 392. Fore, Co.Westmeath, church of St. Fechin
at, 174 ; doorway of, described, 174,
175.
derthech of, burned, 345.
St. Fechin's church at, cross over
the doorway of, noticed, 404.
mill of, erected by St. Mochua, 453.
Foreign ecclesiastics in Ireland, 137, et seq.
INDEX.
487
Foreign saints, none of the ancient Irish churches dedicated to, previously to the 12th century, 173.
Fortuatha, regio de, 172.
Forts of the Firbolg and Tuatha De Da- nann tribes, character of, 127, 129.
Forts, and mounts of Ireland, called Danish by Dr. Molyneux, 6.
Forts, circular stone, noticed, 129.
Fothadh Airgtheach, monarch of Ireland, death of, and grave at Ollarba, 108, 109 ; ogham inscription on pillar-stone at his
, grave, 109-
Fothadh na Canoine, or of the canon, poem composed hj, and addressed to Aedh Oirdnighe, where preserved, 382; quoted, ib.
Fothart Airbreach, in Leinster, 287.
Fox See O'Catharnaigh.
Franks, disciples and foUovi'ers of St. Pa- trick, 16.5, 166.
Franks, or Gauls, invoked in the Litany of Aengus, 138. 166.
French ecclesiastics in Ireland, 137, 138.
intercourse of the ancient Irish
with, 214.
Freshford, or Achadh ur, Co. Kilkenny, church of, original erection of, 285 ; age of the present building examined, 285-288; ornamental doorway of, treat- ed of, ib. ; inscription on doorway of, 286.
Friars' Island, the, 426 ; ancient Irish name of, ib.
Frithghnam, meaning of the word, 26, 27.
Fulacht Fiachach Sraiptine, a sepulchral monument at Brugh na Boinne, 102.
Fulda, Inclusorium of Marianus Seotus at, 49, 72.
G.
Gailian, province of, i. e. the province of Leinster, by vrhom occupied, 98, 100.
kings of, buried at Oenach Ailbi,
J 06.
Gaileng, king or prince of, 374, 375.
Gair mic-Magla, saints of, invoked, 138.
Gall, explained from Cormac's Glossary, 18, 19.-
Gall, St., notice of monastery founded by, at Brigantiuni, or Brigents, 423 ; origi- nal monasti-ry founded by, at St. Gall, ib.
Gallerus, in Corcaguiny barony, Covmty of Kerry, ancient oratory at, described, 1 32, 1 33 ; pillar-stone at the oratory of, with inscription, 134, 135.
oratory at, doorway of, 163.
■ east window of, 182, 185.
dimensions of, 351, 352.
Gallic disciples and followers of St. Pa- trick, 165, 166.
Galls, or foreigners, of Dublin, account of a poem composed for, by the poet Ru- mann, 353, 354, 355.
Gal way, garrison of, 191.
Gateways, ancient Irish, 450, 451.
Gaul, intercourse of the ancient Irish with, 201.
Gauls, or Franks, invoked in the Litany of Aengus, 138, 166.
in Ireland, 192.
Gaiirs, or Persian magi, 31.
Gelasius, St., 154 ; Life of referred to, 154.
Genealogies of the Irish saints, Book of, referred to, 322.
Gerald, the Saxon saint, of -Mayo, 145.
Gerald na Corn, " from whom the Geral- dines descend," 269 ; historical notice of, ib.
Geraldines, from whom descended, 269.
German ecclesiastics, or pilgrims, in Ire- land, 137.
Germans, intercourse of the ancient Irish with, 214.
Getty, Mr. Edmund, of Belfast, his ac- count of the discovery of human bones in the Bound Tower of Drumbo, 89, 90.
Gibson's edition of Camden referred to, 225, 226.
488
INDEX.
Gilla Enain, the son of Agda, prince of Teffia, death of, 330.
Gilla Mac Liac, successor of St. Patrick, 308.
Giolcach, a corruption of Cloictheach, 400.
Giraldus Cambrensis See Cambrensis.
Glass, does not appear to have been used in the windows of the ancient Irish churches, 183.
Glass, not usual in the windows of churches in England till the close of the seventh century, 201 ; might have been intro- duced into Ireland long before that age, ib. ; glazed windows of rare occurrence in the time of Cogitosus, ib.
Glastonbury, account of the origin of the church of, from an inscription on brass at same place, 196 ; dimensions of church from same, ib. ; a St. Patrick interred at, ib.
tomb of St. Patrick at, 455.
Glendalough, in the County of Wicklow, origin of the great religious city of, 172.
burned, with Cro Ciarain, Cro
Caoimghin, and the church of the two Sinchells, 436.
— ■ cashel or great wall enclosing
the city of, 452 ; gateway of, described, 450, 451.
great church, or cathedral of.
by whom probably erected, 405 ; style of masonry of nave, 187 ; measurements of, 366 ; doorway of nave of, 1 80, 255 ; chancel of, fragments of ornamental architecture in, examined, 253-256 ; features of the east window of, described, 253, 254 ; age of these features and of the whole of the chancel inquired into, 255, 256 ; style of masonry, &c., of chancel, ib. ; material of east window, 266. great Round Tower of, by whom
probably erected, 405; style of masonry of, ib. ; measurements of, 366 ; doorway of, described, 404, 405, 406.
Glendalough, agreement in arcliitecture of the Tower and churches of, 385.
resemblance of doorways of se- veral of the churches in the valley of, with that of the great Round Tower, 405, 406.
church of the monastery at.
ornamented architectural remains of chancel of, examined, 256-266 ; situa- tion of, 256 ; chancel archway of, treated of, 257-261,265, 266; ornament on one of the stones of the chancel arch of, 324 ; altar of, now totally destroyed, 256 ; ornaments occurring in the mo- nastery church of, 325, 326 ; nave of, described, with measurements, 256. doorway of Our Lady's Church
at, described, 170, 171; shown to have been the first church erected in the lower part of the valley or city of Glen- dalough, 170, 171, 172, 173; great anti- quity of church proved, ib. ; ancient name of church, 172. clara cella erected at, 172; being
the church now called the Reefert Church, 173. Reefert Church at, doorway of.
described, 173, 174.
cemetery of. — See Reefert.
St. Kevin's cell at, 423.
St. Kevin's house at, in Irish,
Cro Caoimhghin, 357, 430, 436.
age of 430 ; burned, 436.
described, 431-435.
nave of, described, 433, 434.
doorway of, 180 ; described
and illustrated, 433, 434.
small round turret belfry of.
357 ; described, 432, 434, 435. chancel and sacristy of, subse-
quently added, described, 431, 435.
originally built by St. Kevin,
435, 436. probable age of the additions.
435.
Trinity Church at, view of the
I
INDEX.
489
interior of, showing chancel arch, 186;
windows in, 182, 183. Glendalough, Trinity Church at. Round
Tower attached to, age of, 395. — '■ fragments of churches in the
valley of, treated of, 247-2(37. probable age of ruins at, 247,
248.
the small chapel or oratory at,
popularly called the Priests' Hovise, or Priests' Church, fragments of ornament- ed architecture of, examined, 248-253, 266.
origin of name of, 248 ;
age of church, 252, 253. a duirtheach or oratory.
popularly so called, dimensions of, 351. ruins of the church of the two
Sinchells at, 436. ruins of St. Kieran's church at.
lately existing, 436. no traces of the houses or cells
of the monks at, 421.
sacristy at, 444.
monumental stone cross at, or-
nament on, 326.
sepulchral cross at, described.
265, 266.
coins found at, according to
Ware, in 1639; 230. plundered and devastated by
the Danes, 230. moutana de Glindelachan, 208.
Glenloire, filius Mainani de, 138.
Glenn in Matae, — the Glen of the Mata, — at Brugh na Boinne, 102, 103.
Glossary of Cormao Mac Cullenan. — See Cormac's Glossary.
Glossary, ancient Irish, on vellum, quoted, 223.
Mac Firbis's, quoted, 341.
in a MS. in the Library of Trinity
College Dublin, H. 2, 16, quoted, 58, 63-
Glossaries, ancient, in the Library of Tri- nity College, Dublin, quoted, 142, 336_
Gluniarn, Armagh plundered by, 146.
Gno, territory of, in the west of Con-
nauglit, 106. Gnomon, 12, 57. — See Observatories. Gnomons, astronomical (S(;eO'Conor,Dr.,
and Round Towers. Goban, St., or Goban Saer, the artificer,
duirtheach built by, 348. Goban Saer, church ascribed to, 405. a celebrated architect, erection
of Round Towers ascribed to, 385. districts in which he is said ne-
ver to have been employed, 385 ; pro- bable place of the birth of, 385 ; father of, 386. erection of Round Tower of An-
trim ascribed to, 404. erection of Round Tower of Kil-
macduagh ascribed to, 405.
Gobhan, the cave of the wife of, 103.
Gobnet, St., her oratory on Aran, dimen- sions of, 351.
Godfrid, son of Sitric, King of Dublin, 224.
Gofi'redus nepos Iniari, Armagh plundered by, 147, 148.
Gorman, comharba of Mochta of Louth, deatli of, 270.
Gorman Marian. — See Marian.
Gorman, Maurice, his copy of the Annals of the Four Masters, noticed, 52.
Gormflaith, daughter of Flann, Queen of Niall Glundubh, death of, 117.
Gormgall, St., eremetical life of, on High Island, 427.
Gospels, given by St. Patrick to St. Cianan [Kienan], 143; copy of, preserved in the neighbourhood of Duleek, in 1682- 3, probably one of those venerable mo- numents of the Scriptures at present in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, ib.
manuscript copy of, in the British
Museum, written in Ireland, date of, 308 ; entries in, quoted, 307, 308.
oldest manuscript copies of, orna-
ment used in, 324,
3 R
490
INDEX.
Gothic architecture, examples of, referred to, 320.
Graeuo- Roman, or Byzantine character, in- scription in, 134.
Grseco-Roman, alphabet inscribed on a pillar-stone at Kilmalkedar, 134, 135.
Gratiauus Lucius. — <SVe Lynch.
Graves, the hills, or mounds, at Oenach na Cruachna [Eathcroghan], stated to have been, 104, 105.
or giants' beds, 102.
Greece, character of the oldest churches in, 192.
corrupted architecture of, 232.
— fire worshippers of, 69.
Greek buildings, oldest doorways of, 169, 170.
Groat, use of, in Ireland, 222.
Grose, preface to his Antiquities of Eng- land, quoted, 127.
Grouting, interior of walls of ancient Irish churches, filled up with, and rubble, 163.
Guaire Aidlme, king of Connaught, cathe- dral church of Kilmacduagh, erected by, for St. Colman, 176, 405.
Guebre Towers in Persia, stated to have been occasionally in part applied to se- pulchral purposes, 78, 79 ; Gheber tower and cemetery, 80.
Guebres, temples of, 12, 29, 68.
Gunn, Eev. M., his Essay on Gothic Ar- chitecture quoted, 206.
H.
Hanway, his Travels into Persia referred to, 29, 30.
fire temples s*n by, 7 1 .
Harold, King of Denmark, 212.
coins of, 227, 228.
King) sailor of, 259.
Harris, Walter, a warm advocate for the theory that the Towers were erected for the use of anchorites, 109.
examination and refutation of
his arginiients in support of the theory that the Round Towers were erected for the use of anchorites, 110-116.
Harris, Walter, his Plate of Armagh Ca- thedral referred to and quoted, 158, 159.
erroneous statement of, 216.
his edition of Ware's works, re- ferred to, 230.
his edition of Ware's Bishops.
— See Ware. his additions to Ware, quoted.
314.
Hawk, of Kildare See KUdare.
Hay, ancient oratory and monastic habi- tation thatched with, 128, 129. Hayes, Samuel, Esq., of Avondale, in the
County of Wicklow, 256. Heads, human, capitals decorated with
sculptures of, 239- Hector Boethius, his History of Scotland
quoted, 356. Henry I., coins of, 228. Hercus, buried in the church of Cerne,
in the plain of Bregia, 142. Heremon, provinces possessed by the race
of, 98, 100. burial place of the kings of the
race of, 98, 100. Hermffi, Grecian, 68.
Hernicius, 166 See Ernicius.
Herringbone masonry, examples of, 188,
416. Hibernicius, disciple of St. Patrick, 165,
166. High Island, ruins of ancient monastic es- tablishment on, 128, 131, 132, 424,427,
447.— -See Ard-Oilean.
Hindostan See Bhaugulpore.
Hingar, a Danish chief, standard of, 263.
Hiona See lona.
History of the Academy of Inscriptions
and Belles Lettres, quoted, 212. Hoare, Sir Richard Colt, his approbation
of Doctor Smith's theory, in his own
words, 121.
INDEX.
491
Hoare, observations of, 410, 437.
Hope, Mr., his Historical Essay on Archi- tecture quoted, 192, 193.
Horse Biblicai of Mr. Butler, referred to, 24.
Horn, probably used in the windows of ancient Irish churches, 1 84.
Horses, exacted for ransom, 214.
House, ancient Pagan, on the great island of Aran, in the Bay of Galway, de- scribed, 129, 130.
House of St. Cuthbert, on the island of Fame, 128, 129.
of the Scriptures, or Manuscripts, at
Armagh, 148, 150 See Teach Screap-
tra.
. — — circular stone, of St. Mac Dara, on
Inis Mhic Dara, described, 190. Houses of the Firbolg and Tuatha De
Danann tribes, character of, 127, 130. ancient Irish Christian, 130, 131,
132, 423, 424, 429, 430, 437.
monastic, use of wood in, 141.
or cells, of the abbot and monks
in the ancient monastic establishments, how constructed, 128. ecclesiastical, classified with other
ecclesiastical buildings, 160. ^ treated of as a class of Irish eccle-
siastical buildings, 421-437.
of wood, 127.
built with oak timber and wattles.
125.
Hubba, a Danish chief, standard of, 263.
Hy For names beginning with this pre- fix see Ui.
Hy, or Hyona See lona.
Hyde, Dr., his description of the fire tem- ples of the Parsi or Guebri, 1 2.
de Relig. vet. Pers. quoted, 30.
larlath, successor of, 314, 315, 316. Ibroracht, meaning of, uncertain, 346, 347.
3 K
Idols, adoration of, 68.
Ifars See Ivar.
Hand, the great, 269.
Illuminators of books, celebrity of tlie early ecclesiastics in Ireland as, 192.
Imar, a Danish king, 103.
Imay island, 426 ; latinised Immagia, 427.
Imdae in Dagda, — the bed of the Dagda, — a monument at Brugh ua Boinne, 102, 103.
Imleach-mor [eccles. vel mon.], 138.
Immagia. — See Imay.
Implements necessary for the church, ce- lebrity of the early ecclesiastics in Ire- land as makers of, 192.
Imposts, square, arches of doorways spring- ing from, 177, 178.
Imraimh Curaich Mailduin, — the Wan- dering of tlie Curach of Maelduin, — an ancient Irish tract, where preserved, 38 1 ; quoted, ib.
Inbher Colptha, origin of name, 1 02.
lubhear Deaa;, Gentiles of, 204.
Inchaguile, 164, 166, 168. — See Temple- patrick.
Inclined sides of arched doorways in an- cient Irish churches noticed, 177.
a characteristic of the win- dows of ancient Irish churches, 182.
jambs of triumphal or chancel
arches, generally have an inclination, corresponding with those of the door- ways and windows, 1 86.
Inclusoria, a name erroneously said to be ajjpliedto the Round Towers, 113, 117; this statement refuted, 113, 114.
Dunchad O'Braoin, said to have
betaken himself into a hermitage so termed, 117.
Inclusorii, anchorites, 72.
India, 70, 71.
Indian temples, stated to be similar to the Eound Towers, 68.
Indo-Scy thiaus, origin of the Round Tow- ers attributed to, 11. — See Phxenician.
2
492
LXDEX.
Ingots of gold and silrer osed for moo^ by the ancimt Irish. 214, 215-
Inis an Ghoill Chrabhthaigh, now Incha- gnile, explanation of name, 1&4, IftS. — &* T«nplepatrick.
Inis an Ghoill Chrabhthaigh, churches on, 163. 164.
Inis Cealtra. Coscrach, anchorite crfl 50. 51.
Inis Clothrann. or Inis Clorin, an island in Lough Ree, square bdfty on. 363.
Inishcaltia. ancient Irish name oC 27T>
church erected on, bj Brian
Bonuuha. 277.
church ai, treated erf; 2S1-2S4 ;
m«asur>auents of. 281, 366.
age of naw of, 2*2, 284 ;
windotrs c^nwve of, described. 2;^ ; age of chancel of, 2S2. 2S3 : doortrav c£. de- scribed. 2S2, 2S3 : chancel arch o£ de- ^xibed.2S3.
Tower oi, noticed by Mr. Win-
Inscription on a brass plate, at Glaston- bury, 195, 196. sepulchral, on the island <^Inis
an Ghoill Chrabhthaigh. now Incha-
guile, 164, 165. Inscriptions. Irish. 134. 135. 13»j. 139.
140, 272. 273- 274, 275, 2Sd 314.315.
325. 326. 327. 32S, 329, 330, 331. 342.
40S. of the eighth and ninth oenta-
ries, referred to. 224.
no Dani^ in Ireland, ib.
Latin, and Irish and Latin,
dele. 71. Tl.
measurement of the Bound
Tower of, 366.
Inis Cathaigh. saoisty of diurdi oC 444.
luishglory. off the coast of Erris, charac- ter of mooastic staUishment od, 1S7, 12&
TiiiJimnrrr. in the Bay erf' Sligo. charactior (rf' monastic estaMishment on, 127, 450.
Intshmaan. in Lough Ma^ in theConntj of Stbyo. abbey drardi o£ by whom built, l^; ageoi^ib.; side eatrance, doorway in. ISO.
Inis mac Nessain. theancient nameof Ire- Und^ Eye. 177.
expbnatioa and origin of name
o£ 177. 17&
Inis Meadhoin. or the ICddk I^and of Arsn; TempnU Oauannadi on, ISS, 1^ — iS«« ToiqNiIl Ownaniwrh
loi^atrit^ burned by ferogDOS. 303,
i^iriiteat, ih.
Lu^Pniac S& Paulinos de. 13S.
InniEaidhedt P^tn%. 221. — Siv Finn&i- dfaedL
34-2.
Insula Cunicukuum, 426.
Interments in the Bound Towers, obeei'- vatioos aa the recent seardi for, 417— 4-2a
Icoa. pQgrimages toi, llS.
Hrona. insula, 389-
cathedral at. 12-L
kitchen of St. Cohunba at, noticed,
445.
Tugurium, 0* hut ctf St. C<dumba
at. 424; his tomb at. 455.
Iran, and the western parts of Asa. con- adered by s«ime as the centre of popu- lation of die worid, 6&
Ireland's Eye. ancient name oC, 177, I7S.
doorway of the chordi (rf^ de- scribed. 177. 17S-
apparent age (^church oL US.
Sound Towa- o£ 17S.
Iri^ ancient, sn^posed Posan «H^in ot, 35, 3&
teaoacity of anaent ci^laats. and re- pugnance to innonratioa of the, 194.
Irish eedesastkal estaUi^unent in Bri- tain. I9& 197.
Iri^ art of mafcitig minted mcn^ pio- bdbtyderircd fiom, bj dieDiuMS,SI3. — Sitf foflowu^ pages.
pet^tle. intercourse canied oo bv
with the Sa^^oais;. Frendi, Belgians, ana Genmans, 213, 214. knowkdse of dte arts of cvriliiicd
hi afazrt
— li.
HI-"-
Ja::,
INDEX.
4!)3
• rkt.
'•«Gkr.
I
iBrib,4i;
i
■MS pip-
tiH,i;i
."-•i li ie I
aSii
life among the, at tlic time of the first Danish irruptions, 213, 214.
Irisli, acquaintance of the ancient, with literature, 214.
erroneous opinion concerning supe- riority of Danes to, 224.
civilization of, previously to the Da-
nish irruptions, 240. ecclesiastical words, derived from
the Latin, 1 1 7. Irrosainhagh, in West Connaught, 191. Isidorus, chronicle of, 46. Italian ecclesiastics in Ireland, 1.37, 1.38. Italy, intercourse of the ancient Irish with,
201. Ivar, I., 225.
II., ib.
Iveagh, Lord of, 341.
Jamestown, County of Roscommon, jjilkr-
stone near, 19. Jesus, the name, inscribed by St. Patrick
on a pillar-stone, 135, 136. John, prince, 208. Jonas, a disciple of Columbanus, referred
to, 205. Joseph, successor of St. Patrick, 22 1 . Jurieu's Critical History of the Church,
31, 32,
K.
Keating's History of Ireland, quoted or referred to, 40, 277, 310, 389-
Keeps, or monastic treasure liouses, theory of the exclusive use of the Round Towers as, rejected, 121 ; theory of their use as, and belfries, advocated, ib. et neq.
Kells [Cenannas], residence of King Cor- mac at, 98, 100.
erdomh iartharach of the great
Doimhiiac of, 53, 439.
steeple of, 374, 375.
apertures in Round Tower of, 414.
KoUs, St. Colunib, patron of, 375.
St. Columb's house at, .357.
St. Columb's house at, described,
430, 431, 433, 437. .St. Columb's house at, burned, 429.
— See Columb's.
Kenannach, St See Ceanannach.
Kenannanus, St. — See Kicnan und Cianan. Kennedy, Mr., of Drumlahan, his tradi- tional description of the cloch angcoire
of that place, 115, 116. Kenngobha, a mountain near Armagli,
stone oratory on, 350. Keppel, Major, pillar observed by, near
the Tigris, 7 1 . Kerman Kelstaeh, the favourite idol of
the Ultonians, 68. Kerry, Bishop Lughach one of the earliest
propagators of Christianity in, 1 70.
ancient oratories in, 163.
described, 132, 133; antiquity
of, 133-136 ; windows of, desiribed,
184, 185.
dimensions of, .351, .352.
■ other ancient remains in, noticed.
132, 1.3.3. Kevin, St., chapel of, and Round Tower
of same, 377. figure probably representing,
251, 252. his house at Glendalough, 357 ;
small round turret-belfry of, ib — See
Glendalough. Life of, published by the Bol-
landists, observations on, 171; quoted, 172.
Our Lady's Church at Glenda-
lough, erected by, 171-173. induced by an angel to remove
his monastery to the east of the smaller lake at Glenrlalough, 172.
yew tree planted by, at Glenda-
lough, 64.
died in the year 618; 437.
Kienan, St., church of stone built by, at Duleek, 142.
492
INDEX.
Ingots of gold and silver used for money
by the ancient Irish, 214, 215. Inis an GhoiU Chrabhthaigh, now Incha-
guile, explanation of name, 164, 168. —
See Templepatrick. Inis an Ghoill Chrabhthaigh, churches on,
163, 164. Inis Cealtra, Coscrach, anchorite of, 50, 5 1 . Inis Clothrann, or Inis Clorin, an island
in Lough Eee, square belfry on, 363. Inishcaltra, ancient Irish name of, 277. church erected on, by Brian
Borumha, 277. church of, treated of, 281-284 ;
measurements of, 281, 366. . . . age of nave of, 282, 284 ;
windows of nave of, described, 284; age of chancel of, 282, 283; doorway of, de- scribed, 282, 283 ; chancel arch of, de- scribed, 283. Tower ot, noticed by Mr. Win-
dele, 71, 72. measurement of the Eound
Tower of, 366.
Inis Cathaigh, sacristy of church of, 444.
Inishglory, off the coast of Erris, charac- ter of monastic establishment on, 127, 128.
Inishmurry, in the Bay of Sligo, character of monastic establishment on, 127, 450.
Inishmaan, in Lough Mask, in the County of Mayo, abbey church of, by whom built, 180; ageof, ib. ; side entrance, doorway in, 180.
Inis mac Nessain, the ancient name of Ire- land's Eye, 177.
explanation and origin of name
of, 177, 178.
Inis Meadhoin, or the Middle Island of Aran; Tempull Ceanannach on, 188, 189. — See Tempull Ceanannach.
Inispatrick, burned by foreigners, 203.
shrine at, ib.
Inis-Puinc, SS. Peregrinos de, 138.
Innfaidhech Patraig, 221 See Finnfai-
dhech.
Inscription on a brass plate, at Glaston- bury, 195, 196.
sepulchral, on the island of Inis
an Ghoill Chrabhthaigh, now Incha- guile, 164, 165.
Inscriptions, Irish, 134, 135, 136, 139, 140, 272, 273, 274, 275, 286, 314, 315, 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 342, 408.
of the eighth and ninth centu- ries, referred to, 224.
no Danish, in Ireland, ib.
Latin, and Irish and Latin,
342.
Insida Cuniculorum, 426.
Interments in the Round Towers, obser- vations on the recent search for, 417- 420.
lona, pilgrimages to, 118.
Hyona, insula, 389.
cathedral of, 124.
kitchen of St. Columba at, noticed,
445.
Tugurium, or hut of St. Columba
at, 424 ; his tomb at, 455.
Iran, and the western parts of Asia, con- sidered by some as the centre of popu- lation of the world, 68.
Ireland's Eye, ancient name of, 177, 178.
doorway of the church of, de- scribed, 177, 178.
apparent age of church of, 178.
Eound Tower of, 178.
Irish, ancient, supposed Persian origin of, 35, 36.
tenacity of ancient customs, and re- pugnance to innovation of the, 1 94.
Irish ecclesiastical establishment in Bri- tain, 196, 197.
Irish, art of makiftg minted money pro- bably derived from, by the Danes, 213. — See following pages.
people, intercourse carried on by,
with the Saxons, French, Belgians, and Germans, 213, 214.
knowledge of the arts of civilized
INDEX.
493
life among the, at. tbc time of the first Danish irruptions, 213, 214.
Irish, acquaintance of the ancient, with literature, 214.
— — erroneous opinion concerning supe- riority of Danes to, 224.
— — • civilization of, previously to the Da-
nish irruptions, 240. ecclesiastical words, derived from
the Latin, 1 17. Irrosainhagh, in West Connaught, 191. Isidorus, chronicle of, 46. Italian ecclesiastics in Ireland, 137, 138. Italy, intercourse of the ancient Irish with,
201. Ivar, I., 225.
II., ib.
Iveagh, Lord of, 341.
Jamestown, County of Roscommon, pillar- stone near, 19-
Jesus, the name, inscribed by St. Patrick on a pUlar-stone, 135, 136.
John, prince, 208.
Jonas, a disciple of Columbanus, referred to, 205.
Joseph, successor of St. Patrick, 221.
Jurieu's Critical History of the Church, 31, 32,
K.
Keating's History of Ireland, quoted or referred to, 40, 277, 310, 389.
Keeps, or monastic treasure houses, theory of the exclusive use of the Round Towers as, rejected, 121 ; theory of their use as, and belfries, advocated, ib. et seq.
Kells [Cenannas], residence of King Cor- mac at, 98, 100.
erdomh iartharach of the great
Doimhliac of, 53, 439.
steeple of, 374, 375.
apertures in Round Tower of, 414.
Kells, St. Colunib, patron of, 375-
St. Columb's house at, 357.
St. Columb's house at, described,
430, 431, 433, 437. St. Columb's house at, bunud, 429.
— See, Columb's.
Kenannach, St See Ceanannach.
Kenannanus, St. — See Kienan and Cianan. Kennedy, Mr., of Drundahan, his tradi- tional description of the cloch angcoire
of that place, 115, 116. Kenngobha, a mountain near Armagh,
stone oratory on, 350. Keppel, Major, pUlar observed by, near
tlie Tigris, 71. Kerman Kclstach, the favourite idol of
the Ultonians, 68. Kerry, Bishop Lughach one of the earliest
propagators of Christianity in, 1 70.
ancient oratories in, 163.
described, 132, 133; antiquity
of, 133-136 ; windows of, described,
184, 185. dimensions of, 351, 352.
. other ancient remains in, noticed,
132, 133. Kevin, St., chapel of, and Round Tower
of same, 377. figure probably representing,
251, 252. his house at Glendalough, 357 ;
small round turret-belfry of, ib — See Glendalough. Life of, published by the Bol-
landists, observations on, 171 ; quoted, 172.
Our Lady's Church at Glenda-
lough, erected by, 171-173.
■ induced by an angel to remove
his monastery to the east of the smaller lake at Glendalough, 172.
yew tree planted by, at Glenda-
lough, 64. died in the year 618; 437-
Kienan, St., church of stone built by, at Duleck, 142.
494
INDEX.
Kienan, St., Kannaniis episcopus, quem
ordinavit Patricius, 142, 143. — SeeCia,-
nan. Kieran, St., of Clonmacnoise, comharb of,
341, 380.
__ erdam of, at Clonmacnoise, 438.
chiirch of, at Glendalongli
See Glendalough.
instructor of, 270.
miraculous interposition of, 273,
274.
— orisinal foundation of Clon-
macnoise by, referred to, 273. sculptures on stone cross at
Clonmacnoise relating to, 273, 274. death of, 437.
tosus, with English translation, 197- 199; ornamented doorway in church, in the time of Cogitosus, 197-199, 207 ; observations on Cogitosus's description, 199-208. bracteate pinginns, or pennings,
conjectured to have been ecclesiastical
coins, minted there, 231.
curragh or plain of, 208.
kitchen of St. Bridget at, notice
of, 445. manuscript of the Four Evange-
lists preserved at ; Cambrensis' de- scription of, 206, 207.
plundered by the Danes, 23 1 .
seniors and ecclesiastics of, made
Kildare, great house of St. Bridget at, 231.
. derthach of, 231.
Tower of, characterized by fea- tures of Christian architecture, that will leave no doubt of its real era, 44.
Eound Tower of, apertures of, in a
KUbannon, near Tuam, church of, erected
within the fort called Dun Lughaidh,
448. Kilcananagh, on the Middle Island of
Aran, window of the church of, 184. KilcuUen, bracteate pennies found near,
230. Kildare, existence at, of a belfry separate
from the church in or before the seventh
century, indicated, 381. ancient city and suburbs of, an
inviolable asylum, 204. church of, description of, by Cogi-
captivesby the Danes, 231 ; redeemed, ib.
corresponding style with the doorway, 209.
- Cambrensis's story of the hawk
which frequented it, 208 ; ancient coins found in the interior area of, described, 210, 211 ; age of these coins examined,
210-232 See Coins.
ornamented doorway of the, age
of, examined, 207-233; description of
doorway of, 209, 232, 233. Kilkenny MS., quoted, 172. Kill-achuidh, church of, the two Sinchells
of, 138. Killadreena, County of Wicklow, doorway
of church of, 181, 188. Killala, the erection of the Round Tower
of, ascribed to the Goban Saer, 385. Killaloe, the family of, 144. cathedral of, treated of, 277, 278;
erection of, 277 ; age of, 277, 278, 444. ancient Irish name of, 277 ;
churches at, treated of, 277-278 ; church erected at, by Brian Borumha, 277.
church on the island near, 444.
. small stone-roofed church at, treat-
ed of, 277-281 ; age of, 278-281 ; ar- chitectural features of, treated of, 279- 281. St. Flannan's house at, 437.
Killaspugbrone, Co. Sligo, doorway of the very ancient church of, described, 179; meaning of name, ib. ; probable age of church of, ib. ; church of, by whom and for whom originally founded, ib.
Killatleibhe, chapel of, 269.
Killcluain, chapel of, ib.
KiUcluayn, ib.
Killcorpain, chapel of, ib.
Killcyugh, ib.
J
INDEX.
495
KiU Dacire, 269-
Killdareis, S. Sinellus de, 384 ; SincU of
Cill Airis, ib. Kill DrochuyU, 269. Killiney, church of, Co. Dublin, age of,
171. Killkyran in Desmond, chapel of, 269.
Kill-mhic Duach See Kihnacduach.
Kill-unche, S. Nectanus de, 167. Kilmacduach, age assigned to the first
buildings at, 385. cathedral church of, erection of,
for St. Colman Mac Duach, by Guaire
Aidhne, king of Connaught, 176, 405. popular tradition as to the erec-
tion of, 405.
doorway of, described, 175, 176.
'■ agreement of architecture of
the church and Tower at, 385. erection of the Tower of, ascribed
to the Goban Saer, 385, 405. doorway of the Tower of, de-
scribed, 404.
the burial place of the chiefs
of Aidhne, 176.
Kilmalkedar, Co. Kerry, inscription on pillar-stone at, 134, 135.
stone oratory at, dimensions of,
352.
window of the stone oratory
near the old church of, 185.
Kilmurvey See Aran.
Kiltiernan, Co. Galway, ancient church of, window of, 183.
King, Mr., an advocate for the theory that the Round Towers were erected for the use of anchorites, 109, 116.
opinion of, concerning the erectors
and origin of the ancient British castles, 367, 368.
King's Munimenia Antiqua referred to, 367.
Kinneh, Co. Cork, Round Tower of, exa- mined by the South Munster Antiqua- ries, 81, 84.
Kitchen-building, payment for, 346, 347.
Kitchens, ecclesiastical, classified with
other ecclesiastical buildings, 160. culiua [Ecclesiie Ardmachana'J,
measurement of, as marked out by St.
Patrick, 157 ; existed in 995 ; 159. Kitchens, treated of as a class of Irish
ecclesiastical buildings, 444, 445. Knockmoy, abbey of, 287. Knocknarea, Co. Sligo, 179. Knocktopher parish, doorway of ancient
church in. — See Sheepstown. Knowth, sepulchral mound at, 103. — See
Cnodhbha.
L.
Labraidh Loingsech, 98, 100; race of, ib.
Lachtan, comarb of Columb, 340.
Lachtin, St., church erefcted by, 285.
Lady's, Our, church at Glendalough.— See Glendalough.
Laeghaire, the monarch, asserted by some to have been interred at Magh Feci in Bregia, — i. e. at Fert Conaire, 99, 101.
Lagenians, buried at Oenach Ailbhe, 99, 101. — See Leinster.
Laidh Luascach, the name of a poetical measure, 353, 354.
Laine, Monsieur, pedigree of Count Mac Carthy compiled by, referred to, '269.
Lanigan, Dr., his refutation of Saxon ety- mology of clog and clochachd, 9.
^— his refutation of Dr. Ledwich's
assertions concerning the Round Towers given in his own words, 10, 11.
his arguments in support of the
hypothesis of the eastern origin of the Round Towers stated and refuted, 32- 35. his opinions concerning the
antiquity of Irish churches, &c., 126, 127. his opinion concerning the age
of St. Evin's Life of St. Patrick, 157. his opinion concerning the re-
latives of St. Patrick, 168.
496
INDEX.
Laiiigan, Dr., bis opinion concerning the age of Cogitosus's Life of St. Bridget, 200, 204 ; liis opinion concerning the material of the church of Kildare, 200.
error of, 243.
arguments of, concerning the
episcopacy of CormacMac Carthy, stated and refuted, 309, 310.
■ his Ecclesiastical History of Ire-
land quoted or referred to, 12G, 127, 252, 322, 324.
Launceston, in Cornwall, castle of, 367.
Laura, monastic establishment so called, origin of name, 421, 422, 425.
Leabhar Breac, quoted or referred to, 137, 167, 221, 246, 337, 339, 340, 349, 372, 373, 381, 428, 440, 442, 443, 445.
Leabhar Gabhala of the O'Clerys, referred to, 232.
Leabhar na-h-Uidhre, quoted, with trans- lations, 97-101, 104-107.
Leac Sinach, the altar stone of St. Sinach, 191.
Lead, great stone church of Armagh co- vered with, 149.
roofs of ancient Irish churches per- haps sometimes covered with, 163.
Leath Moye, or Leath Mogha, 291.
LeccBenn, — the stone of Benn, — at Brugh na Boinne, 103.
Lecht Cellaigh, mic Mailcobha, — the mo- nument of Cellach, son of Maelcobha, — at Brugh na Boinne, 102, 103.
Lecht gabra Cinaoda, mic Irgalaig, — the monument of the steed of Cinaedh, son of Irgalach, — at Brugh na Boinne, 102, 103.
Lecht in Dagda, — the monument of the Dagda, — a monument at Brugh na Boinne, 102.
Lecht in Matae, — the monument of the monster Mata, — a monument at Brugh na Boinne, 1 02.
Ledwich, Dr.,his assertion concerning the age of Cogitosus's Life of St. Bridget examined and refuted, 200-207.
Ledwich, Dr., his opinion concerning the origin of the Round Towers, stated in bis own words, 9, 10, 11.
his observations on coins, 230'
his refutation of Vallancey's
theory concerning the Bulgarian Round Tower, 13.
— his remarks relative to the Per-
sian Towers mentioned by Hanway, 30. erroneous opinions of, 241, 260,
324.
his Antiquities, quoted or re- ferred to, 225, 226, 251, 254, 258, 259, 260, 262, 263, 265, 266, 267, 274, 289.
Legate, Apostolic, 155, 156.
Leinster, the kings of the province of, bu- ried at Oenach Ailbi, 106.
Lemdruim, now Lorum, County of Carlow, 340.
Lepadh Feichin, church of, 394.
Lethglais-moir, 138.
Lethmor, S. Manchanus de, 138.
Lettir erca [ecclesia vel mon. de], 138.
Lhwyd, Humphrey, his Remarks on the Book of Armagh, quoted, 334.
Liag Buidi mic Muiredha, — the pillar- stone of Buidi, the son of Muiredh, — at Brugh na Boinne, 102, 103.
Liath-Macha, the prison of, a monument. — See Carcar Leith Machae.
Libra, Roman, 218.
Library, 148-150. — See Teach Screptra.
Libur Budi, an ancient Irish MS., 106, 107.
Libur Gerr, an ancient MS. of the Mo- nastery, i. e. Monasterboice, account of, 106, 107.
Lice na sinnach, 340.
Liemania, the sister of St. Patrick, 167, 168.
sons of 167, 168 ; place of se- pulture of, 167.
Lime cement, use of, wholly unknown to the Irish previously to the introduction of Christianity, 34, 129, 359.
INDEX.
4!)7
Lime-kiln, erected at Armagh, in 1145; 154.
Limerick, the Danes the founders of, 224.
Lindisfarne, church built at, by Bishop Finian, of sawn wood, covered with reeds, 126.
Lindsay, Mr., his View of the Coinage of Ireland, quoted or referred to, 211, 225, 227, 228, 229.
opinion of, 227, 228.
Lingard, Dr., opinion of, concerning the uses of the Round Towers, 379-
— his Antiquities of the Anglo- Saxon Church, quoted, 379-
Lintel, horizontal See Doorways, qua- drangular.
Lis, the ecclesiastical. — See Cashels.
Lis Abbaidh, or the fortified enclosure of
tlie abbots, at Armagh, 147 See
Rath.
Lismore, founded by St. Carthach, or Mo- chuda, its first bishop, 244.
derivation of the name. 446.
cells erected at, b)' St. Carthach
and his monks, 422.
Cormac Mac Cartliy goes on a
pilgrimage to, 290. two churches erected at.
Cormac Mac Carthy, 290, 291. Litany of Aengus, the Culdee See Aeu-
gus, &c. Literature, acquaintance with, among the
ancient Irish, 214. Lives of St. Patrick, ancient, referred to,
202. Loch Cuir, to the west of Armagh, 146,
147. Loch na peiste, at Glendalough, 254. Loch Saloch, at Fenagh, in the County of
Leitrim, 448, 449- Lodbrog, Reguer, Epicedium of, quoted,
262.
the three daughters of, 263.
Lombard, seven sons of the Bard, or Lom- bard, 166, 167, 168. Lombards, de Longobardis, 167.
" Long and Short," masonry, description
and example of, 188. Long ingine Foraind, — the bed of the
daughter of Forann, — a monument at
Brugh na Hoiiine, 102. Lorum, Co. Carlow, ancient name of. .'MO. Lothor. — See Fidhnemhna. Lough Arrow, 17i).
Lough Corrib, County of Galway, 164. Lough Derg, description in Irish of the
Turasor station of, noticed, 1 19. Lough Foyle, 202. Lough Lee, or Curraun Lough, 130. Lough Mask, 180; the locality in which
the church of St. Lugnat was placed,
166, 167. Lough Neagh, alleged inundation of, 43,
44, 45, 47, 67. legendof the Towers in, alluded
to, 209. Loughrea, County of Galway, church de- dicated to St. Bridget at, 342. Louth, comharba of St. Mochta of, 270.
fire lighted by the Magi at, 72.
nemhedh, i. e. sanctuary or church
land at, 58.
■ steeple of, blown down, 391.
Luachair Ailbe, a pagan cemetery, 98,
100. Luchraid, one of St. Patrick's masons,
142. Ludwig, referred to, 212. Lugaid, king, the son of Laogaire, death
of, as given by Miss Beaufort, 36, 40. Lugbadh [Louth] comharba of St. Mochta
of, 270. Lugh, a noble of the Tuatha de Da-
nanns, buried at Brugh, 106. Lughach, bishop, founder of Rattoo, Co.
Kerry, 170; festival day of, ib. Lughaidh Lamhfliada, of the race of the
Tuath DeDananns, 99, 101, 386, 387. Lughaidh, chief of Conmaicne Cinel Dubh-
ain, gives up his fort to St. Patrick,
447. Lughaidh Riabh n-derg, 98, 100.
S
498
INDEX.
Lughmliagli or Luglibliadb. — See Louth.
Lugna, Lugnai, Lugnatli, or Lugnadan, nephew of St. Patrick, history, &c., of, 166-168.
Lugnaedon Mace Lmenueh, iuscription bearing the name of, 165.
Lugneus Mocublai, 388.
Lupita, sister of St. Patrick, 168; obser- vations on lier name, ib.
Luxeiiil — See Luxovium.
Luxovium, now Luxeuil, in Burgundy, pliarus, or tower at, 380.
Lynch, John, under the fictitious title of Gratianus Lucius, author of Cambrensis Eversus, his opinion as to the origin and uses of the Round Towers, 5.
. — ■ — ■ his opinion concerning the erec- tion of the Round Towers, misrepre- sented by Dr. Ledwich, 10, 11.
his Cambrensis Eversiis referred
to, 310, 312. erroneous statement of, respect-
ing the age of the Round Towers, 364.
M.
Mabillon, his Annals of the Benedictines, referred to, 205.
his Iter Germanicum quoted,
380.
Mac Cairill plunders Armagh in 996 ; 53.
Mac Carthy, Cormac. — See Cormac.
— - — • The Count, pedigree of, com- piled by Monsieur Laine, referred to, 269.
Donough, helps to dethrone
Cormac Mac Carthy, and is inaugurated in his place, 290. — Finginus, his manuscripts re-
ferred to by Colgan, 429- Mac Carthy More, time and cause of the
application of the epithet More to, 269,
271. Mac Carthy, Fineen, historical notice of,
269. payment made by, for the place
of sepulture of the JNIac Carthy s, at
Clonmacnoise, 269, 271. Mac Carthy Reagh, a branch of the Mac
Carthys, 270. Mac Cecht, one of St. Patrick's artificers,
222. Mac Conglinni, 443. Mac Curtin's Vindication of the History of
L'eland, referred to, 26. Macouthenius, Life of St. Patrick by,
quoted, 158. Mac Dara, St., church founded by, on the
Island of Cruach Mhic Dara, or Inis
Mhic Dara, off the coast of Connamara,
description of masonry, &c., of, 189,
190. description of the circular stone
house, or oratory of, 190; dimensions
of, 351. festivals of, 190, 191; statue of
wood of, 1 90 ; proper name of the saint, 191 ; altar stone of, ib.
Mac Dermott, Tomultach, chief of Moy- lurg, cathedral of Clonmacnoise re- edified by, 275 ; death of, ib.
cemetery of. — See Clanmaol-
ruany.
Mac Duach, Colman, St., church of Kil- macduagh founded for, 176, 405.
tomb of, 455.
■ monastic buildings of, at Kil-
murvey,. in the great island of Aran, adverted to, 424 See Aran.
■ churches of, on the Great Is-
land of Aran iSfeeTeampull BeagMhic
Duach, and Teampull Mor Mhic Duach.
Mac Firbis, Duald, his Book of Genea- logies, quoted or referred to, 107, 166.
his Glossary of the Brehon Laws,
quoted, 61, 341.
Registry of Clonmacnoise, trans-
lated by, 269, 373 ; autograph of trans- lation, where preserved, 269 See Clon- macnoise. Mac-Lemhna, id est, filius Liemanife, a name of S. Nechtan, 167-
INDEX.
499
Mac Liag's Life of Brian Boriimlia, MS., supposed to be a fragment of, quoted,390.
Mac Loclilainn, Domlinall, king of Ai- leacb, 151, 152.
Mac Main See Morann.
Mac ]\Ioyre, origin of the family name of, 33.3, 334.
Florentinus, 334.
Mac Blurcliadha, Diarmait, king of Leins- ter, 308.
Maelbrighte h-Ua Maeluanaig, MS. writ- ten by, preserved in the British Museum, 307, 308; date of, .308; entries in, quoted, ib.
Maelciarain Mac Cuinn na m-bocht, cause- ways made by, at Clonmacnoise, 438.
Maelfinnia, the son of Spellan, inscribed tombstone of, at Clonmacnoise, 325.
Maelmuiri, the son of Ceileachar, trans- criber of Leabhar na h-Uidhre, 97 ; original MS. glossed by, ib.
prose commentary apparently
written by, quoted, 106.
Maelseachlainn, king of Ireland, 390.
Danes defeated by, 276.
Maelseachlainn, the son of Conchobhar O'Melaghlin, 374, 375.
IMageoghegan, Connell, his translation from the Book or Annals of Clonmac- noise, quoted or referred to, 54, 150, 151, 222,231, 271, 291, 341, 343, 365, 374, 375, 390, 391.— &e Annals of Clonmacnoise.
Magh Aoi, 165.
Magh bile burned, 343, 438.
Blagh Constantin, at Rathain, belonged to St. Ua Suanaigh, 354, 355 ; whence named, 354, 355.
Magh da chon, O'Neill of, 286, 287.
Magh Eo, dertech of, burned, 120, 121.— See Mayo.
Maghera, Round Tower of, 88, 89.
Magh Feci, in Bregia, or Fert Conaire, burial place of Conaire Mor at, 99, 101 ; — other kings asserted by some to have been interred there, ib.
3
Magh Lena, battle of, 25; — noticed liy Dr. O'Conor, 48.
Magh Rein, the name of the ])luinin which the church of Fenagh, in the County of Lei trim, is situated, 448, 449.
Magh Salach, Gauls or Franks of, 138, 166.
Magh Sciath, 446.
Magh Selga, near Elphin, pillar-stones at, 1.35, 136.
Magh Tuiredh, near Cong, battle of, 25.
Maghtuirreadh, or Campus Turrium, sup- posed Round Towers of, 43.
Magi, Persian, or Gaiirs, 31.
Magna Bibliotheca Veterum Patruni, 46.
Maguire, Cathal, quoted, 356.
Mahadeva or Siva (the God), 69.
Maidoc, or Aidan, St., first bishop of Ferns, shrine of, 204.
— leather case of the shrine
of, 335, 336; age of, 336.
church erected by, 178, 179-
Mainani, Filius, SS. quinquaginta Monachi de Britannia, socii filij Mainani in Glen- loire, 138.
Malachy I., churches erected in the reign of, 241.
Malachy IL, churches erected in the reign of, ib.
Malachy O'Morgair, Archbishop of Ar- magh, record of the death of, 155, 156.
church of Knocknasengan, at
Louth, built by, 58.
erroneously stated to have been
the first Irishman, or at least one of the first, who began to build with stone and mortar, 123.
St. Bernard's account of his lay- ing the foundation of a chapel of stone at Bangor, as given by Ware (Harris's ed.), 123; St. Bernard's remarks on a chapel in the same place, built of timber by him, as given by Ware (Harris's ed.), ib.
St. Bernard's account, in the
original Latin, of his laying the foun-
s 2
500
INDEX.
elation of an oratory at Baugor, 194, 195.
Malachy O'Morgair, Life of, by St. Ber- nard, quoted, 349.
— . Archbishop of Armagh, usur- pation of the archbishop in opposition to, 310.
Manchan, St., of Lethmor, 1 38.
Manchino, abbot of Cork, 443.
Manius, Bishop, disciple of St. Patrick, church of, 180; where placed by St. Patrick, ib. ; holy 'well bearing his name, ib.
Manuscript, Syriac, of the Gospels, 232, 239.
Manuscripts, ancient Irish, ornaments common in, 229, 259, 260, 261.
ornamental crosses found in.
264.
splendour of, 192. illuminated ecclesiastical, orna-
ments used in, 324, 326.
Marcellinus, chronicle of, 46 ; quoted, ib.
Marian Gorman, Calendar of, quoted, as translated by Colgan, 167, 356.
. — Scholiast of, quoted, 356.
Marianas Scotus, inclusorium at Fulda, penitential prison of, 49, 72.
IMarriages, ancient Irish, 39-
" Marstein, Erin's King," 262.
Martin, Dr., his description of the Western Islands of Scotland quoted, 38.
Jlarlra Muntiri Finntainn, a pagan ceme- tery, 98.
Martyrology of Donegal quoted, or re- ferred to, 167, 356.
Martyrology of Marian Gorman. — /S'ee Ma- rian Gorman.
Martyrology of Tallaght quoted, 356.
Mason- head in West Connaught, 190, 191.
Masonry of the Kound Towers identical with that of the ancient churches erect- ed before the twelfth century, 34.
style of, in primitive Irish
churches, 187, 188, 189, 190.
Masons, names of St. Patrick's three stone- masons, 142.
Mata, a monster, the Glen of the, 102, 103 See Glenn in Matae.
Mayo, daimhliag of, built by the Saxons, 144, 145.
fell, 144.
rebuilt, 144, 145.
dertheeh of, burned, 120, 121.
church of, must not be confoiuidcd
with the great abbey church of Mayo,
erected about the middle of the seventh
century, 145. Meath, — "Aed-Rii-Midin," — on coin, 226. County of, topographical account
of, written in 1682-3, referred to, 143. the people of, buried at Brugh na
Boinne, in pagan times, 104, 105. kine of, 308.
Medhbh, daughter of Eocho Eedhlech, 98,
100.
buried at Rathcroghan, 106, 107.
province of Connaught given to,
98, 100. Melbourne, in Derbyshire, church of, 441. Mellifont, in the County of Louth, chapel
and baptistery of, style of masonry of,
188; brick used in, ibid. Menevia, St. David, archbishop of, 196. Messingham's Florilegiiun quoted, 352.
396, 397. Midhe the Druid, 28. Midir. — See Rout sula Midir.
Midsgir See Misgir.
Milesian Race. — See Scotio Race. Military architecture in Ireland, Author's
Essay on, referred to, 43. Mill-building, payment for, 346, 347. Mills of stone, erected by the ancient Irish
ecclesiastics, 452. Milner, Dr., 294, 298; an advocate for
the theory, that the Round Towers were
erected for the use of anchorites, 1 07,
109, 111. his assertion concerning the use
of the Round Towers, 1 16.
INDEX.
501
Milner, Dr., his opinion concerning the age of the cathedral of Cashel, and Cor- mac's chapel, 289-
his letters quoted, 289.
Minarets, Mahometan, 29.
Minister, or travelling relic, 336, 337, 338, .340 ; meaning and derivation of the word, 336, 338 ; reverence paid to, 340 ; use of, 341, 342; meaning of, mistaken by Colgan, 338.
Mionna, or enshrined relics, treated of, 34 1 ; rendered oathes by the old trans- lators of the Irish annals, ib.
Misgir, or Midsgir, a Tower in Bulgaria, somewhat similar, in size and form, to the Irish Towers ; asserted by Vallan- cey, from a conjectural etymology of its name, to be a fire temple, 13; opinion refuted by Dr. Ledwieh, ib.
Misgir, Round Tower at Bulgaria, so call- ed, 29.
Misquir, Eound Tower, so called, in the midst of the ruins of Kasimof 29.
Mitre, use of the, in Ireland, discussed, 338.
Mochaoi, of Aendruim, 404.
Mochua, St., founder of Timahoe, 239.
time when he flourished, ib.
Mochua, S., filius Luscan, 138.
Moi-hua, St., an architect, erector of the church and Round Tower of Balla, in the county of Mayo, 453.
erector of the mill of St. Fei-
chin, at Fore, 453.
death of, 453.
Mochuda, S., driven from Rathaln in the
year 630; 356. of Rathain, lands belonging to,
354, 355. of Ratliain, successor of, 356 —
See Carthach. Rule of quoted, 428.
Mochumma, St., Abbot of Drumbo, 402. Mogh-Nuadhat, meaning of name, 26. Mogornan, one of the seven sons of the Lombard, and nephew of St. Patrick, 167.
Molaisi's house on Devenish island, in Fermanagh, 357. — See Devenish.
monastic establishment of, on
Inishmurry, character of, 127 See
Inishmurry. Moling, St., Irish Life of, quoted, 348.
Life of, in the Book of Leinster,
395 ; quoted, 396.
prophecy of, concerning the abo-
lition of the tax called Borumha Lai- ghean, 395, 396. duirtheach of wood built for, 348.
Molua, St., church at Killaloe ascribed to, 279; original church of, 281.
Molyneux, Dr., his opinions concerning the origin and uses of the Eound Tow- ers, stated in his own words, 6, 7 ; re- futed, 7-9.
Monachan, cell of St. Declan, at Ardmore, so called, 72.
St., of Temple Geal, in the
County of Kerry, pillar-stone, with ogham inscription, marking the grave of, 136.
Monasterboice, in the Coinity of Louth, in Irish Mainister Buiti, abbots of, 408,
409. the Books of, called of the Mo- nastery, 106, 107.
churches at, ages of, 407 ; style
of masonry, &c., of the oldest of them, 188, 407, 408. cloictheach, or Round Tower
of, 65 ; still known by the name of the
" cloict/ieac/i,^^ ib. ; burning of, 375 ; age of 407-409 ; doorway of, 407, 408. ■ the Libur Gerr, which was at,
106, 107.
Flann of. — See Flann.
richly sculptured stone crosses
at; ages of, 408; inscription carved on
one of them, 408. Monasteries, ancient Irish, consisted of
small cells, 388. origin usually given by, to
towns, not by towns to monasteries, 35.
502
INDEX.
Monasteries, founded by Malachy O'Mor- gair, 155, 156.
founded by the ancient Irish ec- clesiastics on the Continent, 424.
of the early Christians in the
East, 421, 422.
Monasticon Hibernicum — See Archdall.
Monastic establishments, ancient, in Ire- land, character of, 127-133, 427.
Monenna, St., Virgin, Life of quoted, 126 ; monastery founded by, made of smooth timber, ib.
Money coined in Ireland in the year 1 170 ; 231 ; and at an earlier period, 232.
. coined, in use in Ireland, pre- viously to the Danish irruptions, 232. earliest Danish money minted in
Ireland, 224.
ecclesiastical, use of, in Ireland, 231.
minted, inquiry into the use of.
among the ancient Irish, 211-232. use of minted money in Ireland sup-
posed to have originated with the Danes, 213; opinion examined, 213-232. when minted by the Danes in Ire-
land, 229.
found, of an Irish King Donald,
stated to be probably Donald O'Keill, A. D. 956; 224. rings and ingots of gold and silver
used for, among the ancient Irish, 214, 215.
shower of, 221.
valuation of property by gold and
silver in weight, 219, 220. Mongan, another name of Finn Mac Cum-
haill, 108. Mens filiorum AileUo, 180. Montfaucon, Monumens de la Monarchic
Fran^oise referred to, 253. Montmorency, Colonel, opinions of, quoted
from his Historical and Critical Inquiry
into the Origin and primitive Use of the
Irish Pillar- Tower, 376, 377. Monuments, ancient Irisli, ornament found
on, 260, 261.
Monuments, sepulchral, in use in Ireland during the sway of the Tuatlia De Da- nann race, 102, 103.
pag^D) of Irish kings and war- riors, localities of, stated in ancient MSS., 100, 102; most of them now remain, ib.
of the pagan kings of the Scotic,
or Milesian race, character of, 103- 109. Christian, crosses on, 229, 264.
Moore, Mr. Pierce, of Cremorgan, Queen's County, letter of, to Sir WiUiam Be- tham, respecting the finding of burned bones in the Tower of Timahoe, 418.
Moore, Mr. Thomas, his observations in support of the fire worship theory, and examination of the various other theo- ries, given in his own words, 67-70; Round Towers stated by him to have been used as astronomical obsei-vatories, 69.
Morann, the son of Cairbre Cinncait, who was surnamed Mac Main, 97, 99.
Morrigan, the Mound of the See Mur
na Morrigna.
the Two Paps of the See Cich
(Da) na Morrigna.
Morrison, Mr. William, architect, opinions of, 368-371.
Mound, the green, monumental character of, 102.
Mounds, sepulchral, shown to be Irish, not Danish, 8.
at Eelec na Eiogh, near Eathcro-
ghan, 103-107.
description of, 107.
number of, at Oenach Cruachan,
Oenach Tailtenn, and Oenach in Brogha, 105, 106.
Mounts and forts of Ireland, called Da- nish, by Dr. Molyneux, 6.
Moylurg, chief of, 275.
Moyrus, parish church of, in West Con- naught, to whom dedicated, 191.
Muccramnia, battle of, 99, 100.
I
I
INDEX.
503
Mugain, daughter of Eocho Fedlilech, 98, 100.
Muintir Luainimh, 245.
Muirbheach Mil, fortress of, on the great island of Aran See Aran.
Muircheartach, King of Aileach, slain A. D. 975 ; 223.
Muircheartach, son of NiaU, King of Ai- leach, 308.
Muircheartach Mac Loughlin, monarch, 319.
Muircheartach O'Brien, King of Ireland, tomb of, 278.
— year of his death, ib.
Muircheartach O'Loughlin, monarch of Ireland, presents made by, to the Abbot of Derry, 215.
Cashel at Derrj- erected by,
450.
JIuiroadhach O'Heney, tomb of, at Bana- gher, in the County of Londonderry, 454.
Muireadhach, son of Domlinall, Abbot of Monasterboice, 409.
Muiredhach, inscription at Monasterboice, bearing the name of, 408.
Muii'edliach, son of Flann, Abbot of Mo- nasterboice, 409.
Muiresc, Ailell Mac Mata of, 106, 107.
Mungret, in the County of Limerick, very ancient church of, window in, described, 183.
Munissa, one of the three sons of Nessan, 178.
Munster, the burial place of the men of, i. e. the Dergthene, 99, 101.
Kings of, pagan, where interred,
lOG.
Muntorcs, rings so called, 214.
Miintz-Spiegel, of M. Tillemann Frize, re- ferred to, 212.
Mui'chadh, grandson of Flann O'Maelsech- lainn, king of Tara, killed in the Eound Tower of KeUs, 374.
Muresc, daughter of Eocho Fedhlech, bu- ried at Brugh na Bourne, 98, 100.
Mur na Morrigna, — the mound of tlie
Morrigna, — a monument at Brugh na
Boinne, 102. Muscraighe Chuirc, territory of, now the
barony of Clanwilliam, in the County
of Tij)perary, 287. Music, ancient and modern church music
contrasted, 191.
N.
Nar — See Fidhnemhna.
Nar, the wife of Cremhtham Niadli-nar, 99, 101.
Natalis S., — SS. Peregrini Romani qui comitati sunt SS. Eliam, Natalem, &c., 138.
Navan, near Armagh, Druidic temple stated to be at, 31.
Nechtan, one of the seven sons of the Lom- bard, and nephew of St. Patrick, 1(J7-
Nectanus, S. de Kill-unche, 167.
Neimhcdh, meaning of the word, as shown from ancient authorities, 57, 58, 59, 60, 63.
Nemanus, S., — SS. Peregrini Romani qui comitati sunt SS. Eliam, Natalem, Ne- man um, et Corcnutanum, 138.
Nemedians, 14, 28.
Nennius, referred to, 135.
Nessan, the three sons of, names of, and period when they flourished, 178.
Nessan, St., said to have been the founder of Mungret, Co. Limerick, 183.
Neslug, one of the three sons of Nessan, 178.
New Grange, sepulchral mound at, 103.
Niam, interred at Rathcroghan, 104, 105.
Niam, daughter of Core, inscription bear- ing her name, 286.
Niall of the Nine Hostages, place of his burial, 99, 101.
Niall O'Heruilbh, 231.— to O'Heruilbh.
Nigel, usurpation of the archbishopric of Armagh by, 310.
Nigellus, Archbishop of Armagh, 333.
504
INDEX.
Ninian, St., life of, as quoted by Usslier, quoted, 141.
the apostle of tlie Plots, 141.
Noraghes See Nuragbes.
Norax, the leader of the Iberian colony, in Sardinia, 73.
Nuada Airgiod-lamh, or Nuada of the Sil- ver Hand, 25.
Nuadat, or Nuada Neacht, who, 215 ; wife of, ib.
Nuraggis, of Sardinia, derivation of name, 73; description of, ib.
Nuraghe, of Borghidu, in Sardinia, de- scription of, 76, 77 ; illustrations of, 76, 77.
Nuraghe, the Nieddu, near Ploaghe, de- scription of, 77.
Nuraghes, of Sardinia, description of, by Mr. L. C. F. Petit-Radel, 74, 75 ; Au- thor's observations on, and opinions concerning the Noraghes of Sardinia, 78.
O.
O'Aedhacaiu, Imar, church built by, 154, 155.
Oak, churches, &c., built with. — See Wood.
Oboli, 230.
O'Brien, Dr., quoted, 'for meaning of cuil- ceach, 19; misquoted for same by Val- lancey, 19, 20.
O'Brien, the author of " The Round Tow- ers of Ireland," 78, 79.
Diarmaid, 286, 287.
Enda, the son of Diarmaid, 286,
287.
Muircheartach, 286.
Tadhg, 245.
Toirdhelbhach, CormacMac Car-
thy killed by, 307,308, 311. Turlousjh, 290, 291, 444.
Dr., his Irish Dictionary misquoted
by Vallancey, 16. his Dictionary referred to, 27,
292, 308, 309, 344.
O'Brolchain, Flahertach, abbot of Dcrry,
450. Maoliosa, oratory of, burned,
429. Observations, celestial, Lanigan's opinion
as to the use of the upper portion of
the Round Towers for, 32, 33 ; refuta- tion of this opinion, 34. Observatories, astronomical, theory of the
use of the Round Towers as gnomons,
or astronomical observatories, 15, 32,
48, 49, 52-65, 69, 72. O'Caollaidhe, bishop, church of Knock-
nasengan, at Louth, built by, 58, 59- 0"Carrol, Donnchadh, king of Airgiall,
enumeration of various acts performed
by, 394 ; cloictheachs and neimheds
made by, ib. church of Knocknasengan at
Louth, built by, 58, 59- O'Catharnaigh, of Kilcoursey, now Fox,
from whom descended, 329- O'Ceallaigh, Giolla na naomh, abbot of
Rathain, 245, 246. O'Cencucain, Gille Mocholmoc, inscription
bearing his name, 286. O'Cerbhaill, Donnchath, chief king of
Airgiall, 308. Ochain, burial-place of Niall of the Nine
Hostages, 99, 101; derivation of name,
ib. Ochter n-Achid, piirchase of, 220. Ochtmaraa, 179- — See Ouglitmama. O'Cliiarmeic, Mathghamain, inscription
bearing his name, 286.
a Leinster chief, 286, 287-
family name of, anglicised into
Kirby, 287- O'Clery, Glossary of, quoted, 58, 344, 438. O'Cnaill, the bishop, 144 ; year of his
death, 145. O'Connell, Peter, referred to, 27, 344. O'Conor, Dr. Charles, Vallancey's theory
that the Towers were made for celestial
observations, adopted by him, and other
learned men, 15.
INDEX.
505
O'Conor, his Reriim Hihernicariim Scrip- tores, referred to, or quoted, 42, 49, 50, 225, 226, 308, 334, 363, 364.
his observations on the uses of
the Round Towers, originally, as astro- nomical gnomons and fire-temples, and subsequently as anchorite retreats, given in his own words, 47, 48, 49 ; examina- tion of the authorities quoted by him in suj)port of hishj'pothesis, and Author's refutation of inferences, 49-56 ; exa- mination and refutation uf his etymo- logical evidences, 56-64 ; examination and refutation of his arguments in sup- port of his theory, 64-66.
Columbanus' Letters by, quoted.
118.
Translations from the Irish An- nals by, 49, 51, 52, 53, 56, 120, 121, 145, 147-153, 154, 155, 156, 231, 375, 392, 439.
opinion of, as to the age of
Cogitosus's Life of St. Bridget, 200.
Note by, to Annals, quoted.
344.
Translation of duirtheach by,
344.
his conjecture concerning the
fifty-seven Towers which fell, in conse- quence of a dreadful earthquake, in A.D. 448; 46.
O'Conor, Charles, of Belanagare, 376.
Eoderic, monarch, 232, 319.
Turlough, monarch of Ireland, 232,
314, 315. . monarch of Ireland, stone cross
inscribed with his name, 272. dethrones Cormac Mac Carthy,
290. cloictheach finished by, 392
See Toirdhelbhach. O'Conor Kerry, Dermot Sugach, 290, 291. sons of, Cormac Mac Carthy
slain by, 311. O'Conors of Connaught, sepulchral chapel
of. — See Temple Conor.
Octagonal form, not used in ancient Irish churches, 163.
O'Cuinn, Eochaidh, Chief Master of Fcrta, in the County of Kilkenny, 376.
O'Cuirc, anglicised Quirk, two families of, 287.
Odin, the great legislator of the Scan- dinavians, 68.
Danish deity, the raven stated to
be sacred to, 262.
Odo, Dean, the builder of the north door- way of the cathedral of Clonmacnoise, 275.
inscription at Clonmacnoise
bearing the name of, 274.
O'DonuelPs Life of St. Columkille, quoted,
202, 203. O'Donovan, Mr., his observations on Dr.
O'Conor's mistaking Truaghan for Tu-
raghan, 5 1 .
assistance afforded by, to
Author, 56, 57, 58.
- his translation of a passage.
quoted from the Book of Ballymote, 62. his observations on the mean-
ings of cloch angcoire, 115. . his traditional description of
the cloch angcoire of Druralahan, from Mr. Kennedy, 115. his observations on the mean-
ing of the Irish word turas, on Irish
pilgrimages, &c., 119, 120. O'Dvibhthaigh, the Bishop, 144; year of
his death, 145. Domhnall, Archbishop of
Tuam, 315. O'Duigenan, family of, fronj whom de- scended, 329. O'Dunan, the Bishop, 144; year of his
death, 145. Oe, of the raceof theTuatha De Danauii,
99, 101. son of Ollamh, a noble of the Deda-
uite colony, buried at Brugh, 106. O'Eoehadha, Donnchadh, king of Ulidia,
151, 152.
3 T
506
INDEX.
0'Fani.ll}-, Brian, a priest who com- menced to build a cloch angcoire at the great church of Drunilaluiii, 1 15.
O'Farrellys, the hereditary Ilcrenachs of Druinlahan, 115.
Offii, coins of, 228, 229.
O'Flahcrty, his MS. account ol' tlie ter- ritory of West Counaught, a manuscript in the Library of Trinity CoUegc, Dub- lin, quoted, 189, 190, 191.
his Ogygia referred to, 25.
clironology of, in Ogygia, 386,
448.
O'Flanuagan, Eochaidh, tlie Books of, at Armagh, 106, 107.
Theopliilus, tnmslution by,
375.
O'Flynn, Cu-Uladli, cliiof of Sil-Catlia- saigh, 215.
Ogham inscriptions, 79.
Ogham inscription, fragment of, stated to be discovered by Mr. Windclc in the nave of the ruined church of Ardmore, in the County of Waterford, 79, 80; connncnts. on this statement, 79-
character, inscriptions in, found on
pillar-stones, 134, 136.
Ogma, of tlie raceof Tuatha De Uanannn, 99, 101.
a noble of the Tuathu Dc Dananns,
buried at Brugh, IOC).
O' Gorman, Flann, or Florence, 27.
Ogum, on the end of the pillar-stone, at the grave of Fothadh Airgtheach, in- terpreted, 108, 109.
0"Halloran, referred to, 204.
O'Heruilbh, Niall, captives redeemed by [A.U. 963], 231.
O'Hoisin, Aedh or Edan, Archbishop of Tuam, cathedral church of Tuam re- built by, 272; his name inscribed on stone cross at Tuam, 272, 314-317.
Oiling, or oiffing, synonymous with scre- pall, 218.
Oil en na mbrahar, or the Friar's Island, 426.
Oilitlire. — ,SV(> Ailithre.
Oirgialla, jjlundered Armagh in 996 ; 53, 54.
king of, 394.
acts performed and regulations
made in, by Donnchadh O'CarroU, 394.
Oirthei', now Orior, 157.
O'Kelly, Maeleachlainn, tomb of, 287.
Olearius, referred to, 212.
OUam, of the race of the Tuatha De Da- nanns, 99, 101.
OUanili Fodhla, with his descendants, bu- ried at Tuillten, 99, 101, 106.
Ollamh Saer, or chief builder, requisite qualilications of, 346, 347.
Ollarlm, battle of, 108.
Ollave builder. — See Ollamh Saer.
O'Lochlainn, Rluirchertach See Muir-
chertach (_)'Lochlaiun.
O'Loghlin, Conor, son of Feargal, 375, 376.
O'Malone, Giolla Christ, cloictheach, or Round Tower, finished by, 392.
O'Melaghlln, Flann, cathedral of Clon- niacuuise erected by, 392.
ilurcath See Ua Maelsech-
lainn.
O'MoUuy, Dondmall, son of Ruaidhri, lord of Feara Ceall, 245.
jMuii'chei'tach, lord of Feara Ceall,
245.
O'Muiridhe, Bishop Muircheartach, 268.
O'Neill, Flahertach See Flahertach.
O'Neill, of Magh da chon, 286, 287.
O'Nioc, Muirges, Abbot of Tuam, 315.
Opus reticulatum, masonry so called, 188.
O'Quinlan [O'Caindealbhain] the Com- harba of iliddle Meath, 28.
Oraculura, a word applied to oratories in Ireland, how corrupted in Irish, 352.
Oran, in Magh Aoi, transactions of JSt. Patrick at, 165.
Oranmore, in the County ofGalway, door- way of church of, 181.
Oratories, ancient, in the barony of Corka-
f
-titi^KinnMvt
Hill b V£- !i
* U t(oi]Ijtif«.
-Wl"»Vy.riij-
_j (:.»■'■
.:l'.:'-
INDEX.
o07
guiuy, in the County of Kerry, de- scribed, 132, 133.
Oratories, antiquity of, 132-13G.
built on the continent by Irish
saints, 423.
use of wood in, 141.
classified with other ecclesiasti-
cal buildings, KJO. ■■ — ancient, in the neighbourhood
of Dingle, in the County of Kerry, windows of, described, 185. of the first ecclesiastics, conser-
vation of, 194. three, within the ancient church
of Kildare, 198, 199. ancient Irish, treated of, 343-
358; Irish name of, 343; explanations of Irish name, 344; peculiar characte- ristics of, examined, 345 et seq. ; material of, 345-350 ; not wholly without orna- ment or beauty, 349 ; of stone, 350. ancient Irish, general plan of.
.352 ; consecration of, ib. erected by Irish ecclesiastics
abroad, 352. ancient Irish, size of, treated of,
351-.357; average dimensions of, .351;
use of, 357, .358 ; regarded as inviolable
sanctuaries, 358 — See Duirtheach. Oratoriura, application of the word, 144. Oratory, stone, at Bangor, 144. of St. Cuthbert on the island of
Fame, 128, 129- • account of the building of a duir-
theach of wood, 348. — See Duirtheach. Oratory, or derthcach of Maoliosa O'Brol-
chain, burned, 429. O'Reilly's Irish Dictionary quoted, 27,
118, 120,218,219,344, 382. O'Eeilly, INIr., his observations on Dr.
O'Conor's mistaking of Truaghan for
Turaghan, 50. his observations on a supposed
copy of the Psalter of Tara, 37- mistranslation of Irish words by.
338.
O'Riagain, Mahon, lord of Brcgiu, A. D. 1029, AnilafT, son of Sitric, captured by, 214.
Ornaments of silver and gold found in sepulchral monuments, 102.
some of the ornaments now ge- nerally supposed to be characteristic features of Anglo-Nonnan churches, used by the Irish anterior to the eleventh century, 197.
characteristic, found on Irisli
monuments, in ecclesiastical buildings, on ancient leather cases of books, &c., treated of, 323, 332, 333, 335, 336, 342.
O'Kogan, Lord of Iveagh, 34 1 .
O'Rourke, Fergal, King of Connaught, the erection of Round Tower ol' Clon- macnoise, ascribed to, 391, 393.
O'Rourke's Tower. — See Clonmacnoise.
O'Rourkes, place of sepulture of, 393.
O'Ruairc, Tighearnan, 376.
Ossory, 66.
Ostiarius See Aistire.
Ostmen See Danes.
O'Tadhgain, Flann, Erenach of Durrow, 331.
Oughterard, in the County of Kildare, Round Tower of, doorway of, 405, 406.
ancient cliurch of, foundation of,
406.
Oughtmama, near the abbey of Corcum- roe, in the barony of Burrcn, and County of Clare, doorway of the very ancient church at, described, 179-
age and founder of church,
179.
notice of a second cliurch at
same place, and its doorway, 1 79- seven holy bishops of, ib.
Ouncel, or steel-yard, ancient Irish name for, 220.
P.
Pagan, the three cemeteries of idolaters, in Ireland, enumerated, 104, 105. T 2
506
INDEX.
O'Farrelly, Brian, a priest who com- menced to build a cloch angcoire at the great church of Drumlahan, 115.
O'Farrellys, the hereditary Herenachs of Drumlahan, 115.
Ofi'a, coins of, 228, 229.
O'Flaherty, his MS. account of the ter- ritory of West Connaught, a manuscript in the Library of Trinity College, Dub- lin, quoted, 189, 190, 191.
his Ogygia referred to, 25.
chronology of, in Ogygia, 386,
448.
O'Flanuagan, Eochaidh, the Books of, at Armagh, 106, 107.
Theophilus, translation by,
375.
O'Flynn, Cu-Uladi, chief of Sil-Catha- saigh, 215.
Ogham inscriptions, 79-
Ogham inscription, fragment of, stated to be discovered by Mr. Windele in the nave of the ruined church of Ardmore, in the County of "Waterford, 79, 80; comments on this statement, 79-
character, inscriptions in, found on
pillar-stones, 134, 136.
Ogma, of the race of Tuatha De Danannn, 99, 101.
a noble of the Tiiatha De Dananns,
buried at Brugh, 106.
O' Gorman, Flann, or Florence, 27.
Ogum, on the end of the pillar-stone, at the grave of Fothadh Airgtheach, in- terpreted, 108, 109.
O'Halloran, referred to, 204.
O'Heruilbh, Niall, captives redeemed by [A.D.963], 231.
O'Hoisin, Aedh or Edan, Archbishop of Tuam, cathedral church of Tuam re- built by, 272; his name inscribed on stone cross at Tuam, 272, 314-317.
Oifing, or oiffing, synonymous with scre- paU, 218.
Oilen na mbrahar, or the Friar's Island, 426.
Oilithre. — See Ailithre.
Oirgialla, plundered Armagh in 996; 53, 54.
king of, 394.
acts performed and regulations
made in, by Donnchadh O'Carroll, 394.
Oirther, now Orior, 157.
O'Kelly, Maeleachlainn, tomb of, 287.
Olearius, referred to, 212.
011am, of the race of the Tuatha De Da- nanns, 99, 101.
Ollamh Fodlila, with his descendants, bu- ried at Taillten, 99, 101, 106.
Ollamh Saer, or chief builder, requisite qualifications of, 346, 347.
Ollarba, battle of, 108.
Ollave builder. — See Ollamh Saer.
O'Lochlainn, IMuirchertach See Muir-
chertach O'Lochlainn.
O'Loghlin, Conor, son of Feargal, 375, 376.
O'Malone, Giolla Christ, cloictheach, or Round Tower, finished by, 392.
O'Melaghlin, Flann, cathedral of Clon- macnoise erected by, 392.
Murcath See Ua Maelsech-
lainn.
O'Molloy, Domhnall, son of Ruaidhri, lord of Feara Ceall, 245.
Muirchertach, lord of Feara Ceall,
245.
O'Muiridhe, Bishop Muircheartach, 268.
O'Neill, Flahertach See Flahertach.
O'Neill, of Magh da chon, 286, 287.
O'Nioc, Muirges, Abbot of Tuam, 315.
Opus reticulatum, masonry so called, 188.
O'Quinlan [O'Caindealbhain] the Com- harba of Middle Meath, 28.
Oraculum, a word applied to oratories in Ireland, how corrupted in Irish, 352.
Oran, in Magh Aoi, transactions of St. Patrick at, 165.
Oranmore, in the County of Galwa}', door- way of church of, 181.
Oratories, ancient, in the barony of Corka-
I
INDEX.
507
guiny, in the County of Kerry, de- scribed, 132, 133.
Oratories, antiquity of, 132-136.
built on the continent by Irish
saints, 423.
use of wood in, 141.
classified with other ecclesiasti-
cal buildings, 160. '■ — ancient, in the neighbourhood
of Dingle, in tlie County of Kerry, windows of, described, 185. of the first ecclesiastics, conser-
vation of, 194.
three, within the ancient church
of Kildare, 198, 199. ancient Irish, treated of, 343-
358; Irish name of, 343; explanations of Irish name, 344 ; peculiar characte- ristics of, examined, 345 et seq. ; material of, 345-350; not wholly without orna- ment or beauty, 349; of stone, 350. ancient Irish, general plan of,
352; consecration of, ib. erected by Irish ecelesiastics
abroad, 352. — — ancient Irish, size of, treated of.
351-357; average dimensions of, 351;
use of, 357, 358; regarded as inviolable
sanctuaries, 358 See Duirtheach.
Oratorium, application of the word, 144.
Oratory, stone, at Bangor, 144.
of St. Cuthbert on the island of
Fame, 128, 129- account of the building of a duir-
theach of wood, 348. — See Duirtheach. Oratory, or dertheach of Maoliosa O'Brol-
chain, burned, 429. O'Reilly's Irish Dictionaiy quoted, 27,
118, 120,218,219, 344, 382. O'Reilly, Jlr., his observations on Dr.
O'Conor's mistaking of Truaghan for
Turaghan, 50. ■ his observations on a supposed
copy of the Psalter of Tara, 37- mistranslation of Irish words by,
338.
O'Ringain, Mahon, lord of Bregia, A. 1). 1029, Anilair, son of Sitrie, captured by, 214.
Ornaments of silver and gdlil found in sej)ulclinil nioimments, 102.
some of the ornaments now ge- nerally supposed to be characteristic features of Anglo-Norman churches, used by the Irish anterior to the eleventh century, 197.
characteristic, found on Irish
3 T
monuments, in ecclesiastical buildings, on ancient leather cases of books, &c., treated of, 323, 332, 333, 335, 336, 342.
O'Rogan, Lord of Iveagh, 341.
O'Rourke, Fergal, King of Connaught, the erection of Round Tower of Clon- macnoise, ascribed to, 391, 393.
O'Roui'ke's Tower. — See Clonmacnoise.
O'Rourkes, place of sepulture of, 393.
O'Ruairo, Tighearnan, 376.
Ossory, 66.
Ostiarius See Aistire.
Ostmeu See Danes.
O'Tadhgain, Flann, Erenach of Durrow, 331.
Oughterard, in the County of Kildare, Round Tower of, doorway of, 405, 406.
ancient church of, foundation of,
406.
Oughtmama, near the abbey of Corcum- roe, in the barony of Burren, and County of Clare, doorway of the very ancient church at, described, 179-
age and founder of church,
179.
notice of a second church at
same place, and its doorway, 179.
seven holy bishops of, ib.
Ouncel, or steel-yard, ancient Irish name for, 220.
Pagan, the three cemeteries of idolaters, in Ireland, enumerated, 104, 105.
2
508
INDEX.
Pagodas, of tlie Polygars of the Circars of India, described by Vallaucey as of a cylindrical or " Round Tower shape," 29.
Indian form of, from Pennant,
71.
Painted, partition in ancient church paint- ed with figures, 198, 199-
Painted figures on partition wall at Kildare, 205.
Painting, or painted figures at Kildare, 206.
Pallium, use of the, in Ireland, 349.
Panningi, origin of the name, 230, 231.
Parchment, used as a substitute for glass in the windows of ancient Irish churches, 183, 184.
Parsees, 67.
Parsi, or Guebri, fire temple of, 12.
Partition wall, in church at Kildare, 205.
Partitions of wood in the ancient church of Kildare, 198, 199.
Patrick, St. — A St. Patrick interred at Glastonbury, 197; tomb of, 455.
Patrick, apostle of Ireland, artificers of, 202.
prince of Thomond baptized by,
139.
baptizes Conall, son of Niall,
161.
church of Donaghpatrick found- ed by, 161, 162.
church built by, 1 26.
churches erected by, in Bregia,
142.
church, erection of which is
ascribed to, 402, 410, 411.
Fiac, of Sletty, consecrated by,
338.
his contention with the Magi at
Tara, 337.
curses the stones of Mons Uis-
neach, 160. campanarius, or aistiri of, 383,
384.
Patrick, St., comharbas, or successors of, 148, 152, 153, 154, 155, 221.
foundation of cathedral at Ar- magh, laid by, 156, 157.
church at Armagh, erection oi'
bell-ringer of, 384.
which is erroneously ascribed to, 154. church called Damhliag an t-Sa-
bhaill, appears to have been erected by, 157.
church of Tempull na bh-Ferta
erected by, 158.
churches probably erected in
the time of, or shortly after, 156-159. churches said to have been
founded by, and his immediate succes- sors, characteristics of, 163.
form of church introduced by.
into Ireland, became a model generally followed for ages after, 193. dimensions of churches pre-
scribed by, 193.
crozier of, 333, 335.
Gallic disciples and followers of.
165, 166.
many foreigners, disciples of.
137.
Life of, ascribed to St. Evin
quoted, 132, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160. Life of, by Maccuthenius, re-
ferred to, 158.
luamaire, or pilot of, 166.
scribe of his school, 166.
his three stone-masons, 141,
142.
136.
429.
his nephews, 166, 167, 168.
■ pillar-stone inscribed by, 135,
■ Eule of the Refectory of, 428,
. shrine of, 203. his sisters, 167, 168.
■ stone oratory coeval with, 350.
■ synod of, referred to, 424. writings of, adverted to, 429- Yew- tree planted by, at Newry,
64.
INDEX.
509
Paul, Abbey church of SS. Paul and Pe- ter, at Armagh, 154, 155 xSee Regies.
Paulinus, St., referred to, 205.
Payment, the, given to poets, the various artificers, &c., from ancient MSS., 346, 347.
of artificers for the erection of
the three chief ecclesiastical buildings, 364, 365.
Pelasgi, stated by Potter, in his Grecian antiquities, to have been Tyrhenians born, and taught the Greeks the art of building houses of lime and stone, &c., 14.
Pelasgic, style of the Round Towers and of the subterranean chambers of the Raths, stated to be, 72.
style of building, 127.
Pelham, the late Mr., 134.
Penance, Irish word for, 117, 118.
Penitential prisons, singular system of probation and penance, stated by Dr. Smyth to have been observed by the penitents, 116, 117.
theory that the Round Towers
were used as such, examined and refuted, 116-121.
Penitentiaries, Irish name of, 120, 121.
Pennant, Mr., 71.
Pennies, or deniers of the middle ages, Saxon and others, 227.
old English, 227.
the real pennies of Ireland, 227.
Penning, or pin'ginn, seems of Teutonic origin, 227 See Pinginn.
Saxon and Irish, difference be- tween, 227.
or penny of the middle ages. —
See Penny.
Penny, the Irish word screpall, the desig- nation of the denarius, denier, penning, or penny, current in Europe in the middle ages, 217.
or penning, a coin among the Sax- ons, 223.
origin of the name panningi, 230,23 1 .
Persia, Guebre Towers in, 78, 79.
Persian fire-worshippers, 69.
Magi or Gaiirs, 31.
Round Towers attributed to,
by Vallancey, 21, 22.
Persians, origin of the Round Towers at- tributed to, 11, 67.
Peter, abbey church of SS. Paul and Pe- ter at Armagh, 154. — See Regies Poil agus Pedair.
Petit-Radel, Mr. L. C. F., his Notice sur les Nuraghes de la Sardaigne, &c., quoted, 74, 75.
Petrus Galesinius, quoted by Harris, ill.
Petty, Sir William, erroneous statement of, respecting the state of art, trade, learning, &c., in Ireland, before the Eng- lish invasion, 123.
Phalli, or Priapeia Templa, theory of the Round Towers having been, adverted to, 109.
Phceni, a tribe of the Pelasgi, according to Vallancey, 14.
Phoinician, or Indo- Scythian origin of the Round Towers, theory of, examined and refuted, 12, 13, 14.
navigators, 71.
theory of the Phoenician or
Eastern origin of the Round Towers stated, 11.
Phoenicians, 68, 69-
and Carthaginians, 31.
Picts, kings of the, stated to have been buried within the Tower of Abernethy, 92.
Pictures, in the ancient church of Kildare,
198, 199. Piers, Sir Henry, his description of the
doorway of the church of Fore, in his
Chorographical Description of the Co.
Westmeath, 175. Pilasters, flat rectangular projections or
pilasters at the angles of ancient Irish
churches, 189, 190. Pilgrimages in Ireland, account of, 1 1 8,
119, 120.
510
INDEX.
Pillar-stone at the grave of Fothadh Alrg-
theacli, 108, 109. red, over the grave of Dathi, at
Eathcroghan, 107. Pillar-stones, upright, graves of the
founders of ancient oratories marked by,
133, 134 ; inscriptions on, 134-136 ;
example of Ogham inscription on, 136.
obeliscal, shewn to be Irish,
not Danish, 8.
Pillar-temples, 67, 68.
Pinginn, explanation of the word, 223 ; seems of Teutonic origin, 227-
or penning, a coin in use among
the ancient Irish, treated of, weight and value shown, &c., 217, 219-223.
Pinginns, or bracteates, probably of great- er antiquity in Ireland than the scre- paUs, 230.
or pennies, in Ireland, early
allusion to, 354, 356.
Pinkerton, John, his Essay on Medals, quoted or referred to, 212, 224, 225.
his account of the ancient mo- numents of the British Scots, from his Inquiry into the History of Scotland, 124.
his Inquiry into the History of
Scotland qiioted, 378. observations of, concerning refe-
rence to ancient MSS., 421.
opinions of, 378.
his Vitce Antiquce Sanctorum
quoted, 340, 387, 388, 389.
Piscina, curiously ornamented, in Team- pull Finghin, 271.
Pisire, explanation and derivation of, 220.
Plunket, Oliverus, regni hujus [Hiber- nise] Archiprajsul (furca plexus est), 334.
Poets of Connaught enumerated, 106.
Pointed head formed by the meeting of two right lines, of very frequent occurrence in the windows of ancient Irish churches, 182; examples of, 183, 184.
Polaire, meaning of the word investigated.
336-339; mistranslated by Colgan, 338. — See Cases (ancient leather).
Polly gars, Indian, Windele, 71.
Porch, not found in Irish churches, 442, 443.
Porticus, conjecture as to the application of the word in the middle ages, 440- 445.
Priapeia Templa, theory of the Round Towers having been, adverted to, 109-
Priest's House, at Glendalough — (SeeGlen- dalough.
Prison, i. e., anchorite See Ergastulum.
Proinnteachs See Refectories.
Prospect of Ireland. — See Walsh.
Psalter of Cashel, erroneously referred to by Miss Beaufort, as authority for her hypothesis, 36 ; opinion as to the exist- ence at present of this record, 37; sup- posed compiler of, ib.
Psalter of Tara, erroneously referred to by Miss Beaufort, as authority for her hy- pothesis, 36 ; opinion as to the existence at present of this record, 37.
Puincne, synonymous with screpall, 218.
Pyrathe'ia, Persian, 30 ; Pyrathea of the ancient Persians, 31; Pyratheias, or vestal towers, ib.
Pyreia introduced by Zoroaster, 67.
or fire-temples of the Guebres, 68,
71 See Fire-temples.
PjTolatry, or fire-worship, 67.
Q.
Quadrangular form of building, introduc- tion of, into Ireland, 129, 132.
— form used in ancient Irish
churches, 162, 163 ; the most usual, and, as it would appear, the most an- cient form of doorway in Irish churches, 163; qviadrangular doorways treated of, 163-177.
doorway, the most usual mode
of construction in the sixth and seventh centuries, 168.
INDEX.
511
Quadrangular doorways having a semi- circular arch placed immediately above the lintel, 180, 181.
Rachraniun, burned by plunderers, and its shrines opened and stripped, 203.
Raderus, the Tyrolese Jesuit, quoted by Harris, 111.
Rahen, Rahin, or Rathain, near Tullaraore, in the King's County, ornament on the doorway of the smaller church at, 324.
Saxon pennies found neai', 35G. —
See Rathain.
Ram Island, in the County of Antrim, hu- man bones stated to have been found interred within the Tower at, 71; ob- servations on, 78, 81.
Ramsey, church and Towers of, 379.
Rath-Ardamacha, 446, 447.
Rathain, or Rahin, near Tullamore, in the King's County, ancient ornamented church at, 242 ; age of, by whom found- ed, historic notices of, &c., 242, 244- 246 ; architectural details of, viz., chan- cel arch, 242, 243; remarkable round window in, 243, 244; style of masonry, &c., of building of, 243.
the monastery of, by whom origi- nally founded, 243 ; a new establish- ment founded at, in the eighth century, 245.
called also Rathain Ui Suanaigh,
245.
"Abbas de Cul Rathain Mochuddte
in regiouede DelbhnaEthra in Media," 356.
abbot of, referred to, 355, 356.
" Rex Ratheniffi," 355 ; explana-
tion of the phrase, ib.
list of abbots of, 245.
ancient stone cross at, 246.
number of monks there under St.
246; architectural detads, &c., of one of the smaller churches at, 246, 247; or- namented doorway of, 246, 247, 324.
Rathain Ua Suanaigh, extract from Book of, 353, 354, 355.
building of the duirtheach inor,
or great oratory of, 353-355.
Rath BreasaU, synod of, 400.
Rathcroghan, character of the sepidchral monuments of, and names of persons interred there, 103-107 See Cruachan.
Rathdaire, in finibus Jlaclumis, 158.
Rath Edair, battle of, 286.
Rathmichael, church, in the Coimty of Dublin, cashel, or circular stone wall of, 447.
gateway of same, 450.
Rath muighe deiscLrt, the ancient name of Ratass, County of Kerry, 1 70 ; ex- planation of, ib See Rattas.
Rath muighe tuaiscirt, the ancient name of Rattoo, County of Kerry, 1 70 ; ex- planation of, ib See Rattoo.
Raths, subterranean chambers of, 72. •
Raths, ecclesiastical See Cashels.
Rattass, near Tralee, in Kerry, doorway of ancient church of, described, 169; observations on date of erection of church, ancient name of, &c., 170; window of, described, 185.
Rattoo, in the County of Kerry, the seat of an ancient bishopric, ancient name of, 170; founder of, ib.
Round Tower of, doorway of, de- scribed, 370.
internal construction of the Round
Tower of, 397, 398.
Round Tower of, detailed descrip-
tion, history, &c., of, 398-400 ; popular name of the Tower, 400 ; tradition con- nected witli the bell of, ib. ancient Irish name of, explained.
400.
Carthach, 244, 427. j ruins of two smaller churches at,
Raven, the, stated to be sacred to Odin, 262 ; a " reafen" stated to have been worked on a Danish standard, 26.3 ; tlie
512
INDEX.
raven still considered a bird of omen in the popular superstitions of the Irish, 263.
Recess, arched, placed on the east front of ancient church, 248, 249-
Reeds, church covered with, 1 26.
roofs of ancient Irish churches co- vered with, 163, 186, 187.
Reefert, or Refert, church at Glendalough, 173, 174.
cemetery or burial-place of the
kings at, 265, 266.
Refectories, or Proinnteachs, ancient Irish monastic, treated of, 428-429.
Refectory, 424.
Registry of Clonmacnoise. — See Clonmac- noise.
Regies, origin and application of the word, 143, 145, 151, 153, 154.
Regies Bhrighde, at Armagh, 151, 153.
Regies Finghin See TeampuU Finghin.
Regies Foil agus Pedair, or the abbey church of SS. Paul and Peter, at Ar- magh, 154, 155.
Relec na Riogh, at Rathcroghan, charac- ter of the sepulchral monuments of, and names of persons interred at, 103-107.
Releos, or church-yards, many consecrated by Malachy O'Morgair, 155, 156.
Relics of saints, 203.
Relics, travelling See Minister.
" Researches amongst the Round Towers," 79. — See South Munster Society of An- tiquaries.
Restitutus, the Lombard, wife of, 167.
no where stated that he was
ever in Ireland, 168. — See Lombard.
Richardson, Dean of Belturbet, originator of theory that the Towers were erected for the use of anchorites, 109.
his Folly of Pilgrimages in Ire- land referred to and quoted, 118. Rickman, Mr., his opinions, 188.
Rieguil Proinntige Patric, — the Rule of St. Patrick's Refectory, — referred to, 429.
Rigair, SS. Saxones, i. e. Anglos de, 138. Righ, or Righ mna Nuadat, — the Righ of
the wife of Nuada, — an ancient name of
the River Boyne, 215. Rings of gold and silver used for money
by the ancient Irish, 214, 215. Riochus, S., socios S. Riochi transmarinos,
138.
Roboreti Campus See Durrow.
Roman architecture, debased, 232, 239. churches, earliest, doorways of,
168.
192.
ecclesiastics in Ireland, 137, 138,
manner, " more Romano," door- ways of churches erected after the, 177- 179; explanation of term, 177.
Romanesque architecture, 239.
Romans, houses of the, characteristics of, 132.
monumental stone of, inscribed
" un TJomani," on the Great Island of Aran, 139.
Rouan, St., sonofBerach, relics and shrine of, 203.
Roofs, stone, of churches, 242, 256.
Roofs, — materials, mode, and style of con- struction, of the roofs of the primitive Irish churches, 186, 187; churches with roofs of stone, 186, 188, 190; churches with roofs of wood, covered with reeds, straw, and oak shingles, 186, 187.
Rosa Failge, the son of Cathair More, spoken of by Miss Beaufort, 36.
Author's refutation of assertion
that lie built the Tower of Rosenallis, 40,41.
Ros-analluis, Eccl., 41.
Roscrea Tower, examined at the request of the South Munster Antiquaries, 88.
scvilptures on one of the upper
apertures of, 326.
doorway of, described, 369, 370,
407.
Round Tower or cloictheach of,
struck by lightning, 393.
J
INDEX.
513
Koscrea Tower, large aperture over door- way of, 413, 410.
Ros-darbreacli, the aneient name of Balla. 453.
liosenallis. Tow er of, noticed by Miss Beau- fort, 37.
refutation of assertion that it
was built by Rosa Failgec, the son of Cathair Jlore, in the second century, 40, 41.
ehurch of, dedicated to St.
Bridget, 41, 42.
Rosfinnglass, in Hyriegain, meaning of name, 41.
Ros na Righ, burial of Cormac at, 98, 100.
Rossachi, three daughters and seven bro- thers of, interred at Rathcroghan, 104, 105.
Rosscarbery, Round Tower of, compared with Brunless Castle, in Brecknockshire, 367, 368, 398.
Round Towers, difficulties in the way of former investigators of their origin and uses stated, 1, 2.
. — ■ — — condition prescribed by the
Royal Irish Academy, in the investi- gation of the origin and uses of, 2.
the Author's course of inves-
tigation of origin and uses of, beyond the original contemplation of the Aca- demy, stated, 2 ; conclusions respecting them arrived at by the Author, 2, 3 ; these conclusions shown to have been already advocated separately by many distinguished antiquaries, 3 ; nature of evidences of Author's eonclusions,stated, 3, 4.
summarv of theories refuted,4.
theory of the Danish origin
of, examined and refuted, 5-11. opinion of the Author of Cam-
brensis Eversus, respecting the origin of, 5. assertion of Peter Walsh, au-
thor of the " Prospect of Ireland," as to the origin and uses of, 5, G.
Round Towers, Cambrensis's description of the ecclesiastical towers of Ireland, as given by Dr. Molyncu.x, C.
Dr. Slolyneux's opinions con- cerning the origin and uses of, stated in his own words, 6, 7.
refutation of Dr. Molyneux's
theory, 7-9.
no traces of such discovered
in the north of Europe, or in England, Normandy, Sicily, or other countries iu which the Northmen had settle- ments, 9.
Dr. Ledwich's opinion concern- ing the origin of, stated in his own words, 9, 10.
refuted, 10, 11.
— theory of the Phoenician, or
Eastern origin of, stated, 1 1 ; originated with General Vallancey, 11.
■ theories of the pagan uses of
the Round Towers examined and re- futed, viz.,
1. That they were fire-temples, 12, 13, 21-52, 66-73.
2. That they were used as places from which to proclaim the Druidical festivals, 16, 17.
3. That they were Gnomons, or as- tronomical observatories, 15, 33, 47, 48, 52-64, 65, 69, 72.
4. That they were Phallic emblems, or Buddhist temples, adverted to, 109.
General Vallancey's opinions as
to the origin and uses of, examined and refuted, 11-30.
- stated by Vallancey to hav(
been fire- temples, 12, 13; to have been first erected in Ireland by the African sea-champions, 13, 14; to have been sorcerers' towers, 15 ; to have been used in dancing festivals, 15. ■ acknowledged by Vallancey
to have been used as belfries " in after ages," 17. — — ■ their supposed similarity to
3 u
514
INDEX.
the Persian and Hindoo fire-temples,
28, 29.
Round Towers, notice of, by Vallancey,
in India, Bulgari, &c., 29. Author's opinion of the same,
29, 30.
conformity between many in
the East, and those of Ireland, acknow- ledged, 30.
Mr. Beauford's opinion as to
the Persian origin of, and their use as fire- temples, 30, 31 ; refuted, 31, 32. fallacious statement of Beau-
ford, as to the subsequent conversion of, into belfries, 31, 32. Dr. Lanigan's arguments in sup-
port of the hypothesis of the Eastern origin of, stated and refuted, 32, 33, 34, 35.
architecture or masonry of, and
that of the ancient churches erected be- fore the twelfth century, the same, 34. found, without a single excep-
tion, near old churches, or where
churches are known to have existed, 34.
in most instances erected in the
most desolate and unfrequented places that could be found, 33. Miss Beaufort's arguments in
support of the hypothesis of their having been used as fire-temples, stated and refuted, 35-41. examination and refutation of
the arguments advanced by Mr. D' Al- ton in support of the fii-e-temple hypo- thesis of, 41-47. fifty-seven Towers which fell at
Constantinople in consequence of a dreadful earthquake, in A. D. 448, sup- posed by Mr. D'Alton to have been Irish, 45 ; this opinion refuted, 45, 46 ; Dr. O'Conor's conjecture concerning the same, 45. Dr. O'Conor's observations on
the uses of, originally, as astronomical gnomons, and fire-temples, and subse-
quently as anchorite retreats, stated in his own words, 47-49.
Examination of the authorities quoted by him in support of his hjqjothesis, and refutation of his inferences, 49-56.
Examination and refutation of his etymological evidences, 56-64.
Examination and refutation of his arguments in support of his theory, 64-66.
His observations as to the use of the Eound Towers as Anchorite Towers in subsequent times, 48, 50, 52. Eound Towers, Mr. Moore's observations in support of the theory of the use of, as fire- temp>les, and examination of the various other theories, given in his own words, 67-70.
Stated by him to have been used as astronomical observatories, 69-
Mr. Windele's arguments in
support of the hypothesis, that they were used as fire-temples, and occasion- ally, in part, as places of pagan sepul- ture, stated and refuted, 70-109. believed by Mr. Windele to have
been subsequently used as anchorite re- treats, 72.
further refutation of the theory
of the use of, as places of sepulture, 417-420. theory of their having been
PHALLI, or PRIAPEIA TEMPLA, adverted to, 109. erroneous theories of the Chris-
tian origin and uses of, examined and refuted, 109, 121. — See Harris, and Smith. true origin and uses of 122, et
still known in Irish by no other
names than "cloictheach" and "clogas," 114.
treated of as belfries, and a
class of Irish ecclesiastical buildings, 358, 367.
INDEX.
515
Eoimd Towers, summary f of the facts already established in refutation of the theory of the pagan origin of, 'Ar>[>.
the form or features usual in,
found in no one pagan building in he- land, 360.
referred by all writers, pre-
Round Towers, double doors of, 3G8-37I. their Irish name " cloictheach,"
ajiplicd by Irish writers to a tower of
defence, 372. the term " castle" applied to.
viously to Yallancey, to a Christian, or at least, a medieval origin, 359.
facts relative to, to be proved
in the Tliird Part of the Inquiry, but for the present assiuned as proved, 359, 3G0. the conclusions, I., that they
were intended to serve as belfries, and II., as keeps, or places of strength, es- tablished, 360-378.
the peculiarities of construction
of, described, 360-362. general style of the doorways
and apertures of, 362. not ill-adapted to the double
purpose of belfries and castles, 362. evidences in support of Au-
thor's theory of their use as belfries, 362, 363. always designated in Irish by
the people, cloictheach or clogas or cuilgtheach, 363 ; explanation of these terms, ib.
traditional use of, 363.
still used as belfries in many
places, 363.
— ■ objections to the theory of the
use of, as belfries, stated and answered, 64-66, 363. use of, as belfries, acknowledged
by Dr. O'Conor, 363, 364.
payment for the erection of, 364,
365, 366. rule for determining the height
of, 365, 366.
evidences of the use of, as ec-
clesiastical keeps, 367-378. compared with the ancient mi-
litary towers or castles of England and Wales, 367, 368.
3
by Duald Mac Firbis, 373. evidences from the Irish annals
of the use of, for the ^^nrpose of safety and defence, 373-376. opinions of modern distin-
guished writers on the use of, as places of safety and defence, 376-378. arguments in favour of the
theory of the probable use of, as beacons and watch-towers, 378-380. probable eras of the erection of.
examined, 380-421.
first notice of, in the Irish an-
nals, 380. earliest authentic record of the
erection of, 380. used as sanctuaries, 381, 382,
404. probably in existence in the
time of St. Patrick, 383, 384. account of the fall of a monk
from a building identified with one of,
387-389.
attached to churches, 395.
belfries, placed on the churches.
395, 396.
— characteristic examples of the
various styles of, 397-417. division of, into stories, some-
times marked externally by set-offs, 401 ; and in one instance by bands or belts, ib. ; cornice beneath the roof of Devenish Round Tower, 400, 401. doorways of, treated of, 401-
of, 34.
413.
usual position of the doorways
second doorways of, 402, 403,
413, 416. upper apertures of, treated oi.
413-416.
i:2
516
INDEX.
Round Towers, the windows of the, do not always face the cardinal points, 34.
Etruscan character of the ma- sonry found in many of the, 414.
observations on the recent search
for interments in the, 417-419. Comments on the statements of
Sir William Betham, as to the discovery of human bones in that of Timahoe, and as to the uses of the Round Towers, 417-421.
Rout sula Midir, at Brugh na Boinne, 103.
Ruaidhri, King of Connaught, 144; year of his death, 145.
Rubble, interior of walls of ancient Irish churches, filled up with, and grouting, 163.
Ruiden, the son of Lainnen, chief of Ui Drona, 340.
Rule of St. jNIochuda, of Rathain, an an- cient Irish poem, quoted, 428.
Rule of St. Patrick's Refectory, referred to by Colgan, 428, 429.
Rumann, the poet, called the Virgil of Ire- land, account of a poem composed by, ,3.53, 354, 355 ; goes on a pilgrimage to Rahen, 353, 354 ; death of, 353, 354, 355; burial of, 354, 355; tradi- tion preserved at Rahen concerning, ,355.
Ryland, his History of Waterford, noticed by "Windele, 72.
S.
Sabceism, or star-worship, 70.
Sabhall, church of. — See Daimhliag an
t-Sabhaill. Sab ildanach, 386.
Sacristy, in ancient Irish churches, 163. Saingel, now Singland, near Limerick,
139. St. Bridget, church of, at Armagh, 151.
— See Regies Brighde. St. Doulagh's church, near Dublin, roof
of, 186.
St. Gall, original monastery of, 423.
St. Manchanus [qui iacet] in Lethmor, 138.
St. MuUin's See Tigh Moling.
Saliduic, SS. Gallos de, 138.
Gauls or Franks of, 166.
Salvator, a name inscribed by St. Patrick on pillar-stone, 135, 136.
Sanctuary. — See Chancel.
Sandstone, red, churches built with, 169.
Sardinia, " an island once colonized from Iberia and Phoenicia," 71.
Nuraghes of — See Nuraghes.
Sari, fire temjales at, 71.
Sashes, no provision for the reception of, in the windows of ancient Irish churches, 183.
Saviour, St., Priory of, church of the mo- nastery at Glendalough, so called by Archdall, &c., 256 See Glendalough.
Saxon Chronicle referred to, 327.
Saxon churches in England, baluster co- lumns of, 239- — See Churches.
Saxon doorways, doorways of Irish church- es resembling, 177-179.
Saxon ecclesiastics in Ireland, 137, 138.
Saxon pennies found near Rahen, 356.
Saxons, indications that they were estab- lished in the neighbourhood of Rahen, at an early period, 356.
ancient churches of, 1 27, 1 95.
intercourse of the ancient Irish
with, 213.
Ireland infested by, at a very early
period, 355. of Mayo, 144.
Scaliger, Joseph, 47.
Scandinavians, Odin the legislator of, 68. Scanlan Mac Eoghan, a poet, 106. Scattery island, anchoritehabitations stated
by AVindele to exist on, 72. Scha?pflin, M., Histoire de 1' Academic, &c.,
quoted, 212, 230, 231. Scotic race, ancient, peculiar characteristic
of, in building houses and churches,
125, 126; houses and churches of wood
erected by, 127.
INDEX.
517
Scotio race, ancient, character of the se- pulchral monuments of tlie pagan kings of, 103-109.
characteristics of, as distin- guished from the Tuatlia Dc Dananns, 387.
Scots, British, Pinkerton's account of the ancient monuments of, 12-1.
Scott, Sir Walter, his observations on the seven churches at Glendalough, 171 ; his admiration of the doorway of Our Lady's Church at, iVi.
ojjinions of, quoted from his
Re\dew of Ritson's Annals, 377.
Screpall, sigal or siclus, a coin in use among the ancient Irish, treated of, weight and value shown, &c., 216-220, 222, 223; sigal, a term synonymous with screpall, 217, 218.
Serin Colaim Cille, 98, 100.
Sculpture, art of, known to the Irish in the tenth century, 272.
Scytliians, 24.
Seanchus beag, a ti'act of Brehon laws, quoted, 382, 383.
Seanchus na Relec, or history of the ceme- teries, in the Leabhar na h-Uidhre, quoted, with translations, 97-101, 104, 105, 106, 107.
Sechnall, or Seciuidinus, one of the seven sons of the Lombard, and nephew of St. Patrick, 167.
Sechuasach, inscribed tombstone of, at Clonmacnoise, 342.
Sechnasach, priest of Durrow, 343.
Secundinus, S., S. Patricii discipulus, ma- ledicit lapidibus montis Usneach, 160.
. one of the seven sons of the
Lombard, and nephew of St. Patrick, 167.
; original name, family, and
church of, 167- SeincheaU, i. e. vetus cella, in the County
of Roscommon, dimensions of, prescribed
by St. Patrick, 193. Semplan, priest of Tir da glas, 340.
SeneUus, S. de Killdareis, 384.
Sepulclires of the Firbolg and Tuatha De Danann tribes, 127.
ancient Greek and Irish, 128.
Sepulture, examination and refutation of the arguments adduced by Mr. Windcle in support of the hypotliesis tliat the Round Towers were used as tire tem- ples, and occasionally, in part, as places of pagan sepulture, 71-109.
theory of tlie use of the Round
Towers as places of, refuted, 417-421.
pagan modes of, in Ireland, as
shown from ancient MSS., 97-109-
Se-xes, separated in ancient churches, 198, 199, 200.
Shaw's Gaelic Dictionary, quoted, 219-
Sheepstown, in the parish and barony of Knock topher, and County of Kilkenny, doorway of the ancient churcli in, de- scribed, 178.
Shekel, supposed by Colgan, Harris, and Archdall to be the same as the Irish coin siclus or sigal, 216.
Shingles, oak, roofs of ancient churches and oratories covered with, 163, 187, 364, 365.
Ship-building, payment for, 346, 347.
Shrines, ancient, skill of the Irish in making, 192.
of bishop Conlaeth and St. Bridget
at KUdare, described, 197, 198; re- marks on, 200, 201, 202; monument of St. Bridget, 200.
of saints, treated of, 201-204.
Siabhras, a name for the Tuatha De Da- nanns, 98.
Siclus, or Sigal See Sigal and Screpall.
Sigal, or siclus, a term synonymous with screpall, 217, 218 — See Screpall.
Sil-Cathasaigh, chief of, 215.
Silures See Damnonii.
Simon, St., thestylite, 109, 1 10, 1 11, 1 12, 117.
Sinach, the proper name of St. Mac Dara, 1 9 1 . — See Mac Dara.
518
INDEX.
.SiiiclieUs, the two, death of, 437.
church of, at Glendalough
See Gk'udalough. Sinchelhis, SS. duodecim Peregrini, socii
S. Sinchelli, 138. Sinchellus, vterque Sinchelhis [qui iacet]
in Kill-achuidh, 138.
Singland See Saingel.
Siofog, tlie name of a locality at Kells,
429. Sion, Mount, religious establishment on,
422. Sith-druim, the ancient name of Cashel,
16. Sitric I., 225, 226. Sitric III., 225 ; coins of, ib. Siva, or Mahadeva, 69. Skeattas, 224. Skeleton, human, and bones, said to have
been discovered within the base of the
Eound Tower of Ardmore, in tlie Co.
Waterford, 79. liuman, stated to have been dis- covered within the base of the Round
Tower of Cloyne, 80 ; observations on
this statement, 84-89. Skeletons, unburned, found in the pagan
monumental remains in Ireland, 102. Skye, Isle of, 38. Slane, cloicteach or Round Tower of,
burned by the Danes, 48, 56, 373, 374. Slea, Conchobhar Mac Nessa, buried at a
place between, and the sea, 99, 101.
Slepte, meaning of, 193 See Sletty.
Sletty, County of Carlow, account of the
foundation of the church of, 193. Sletty, Fiac, bishop of, 338. Sliabh Fuaid, 409- Slinntiuch, translated tef/idce by Colgan,
152, 153 ; Daimhliac of Armagh, covered
with, ib. Smerwick Harbour, ancient oratories in
the neighbourhood of, described, 132,
133; their antiquity, 133-136; other
ancient remains near, noticed, 132, 133. Smith, Dr., author of some of the Irish
County Histories, theory of the use of the Eound Towers as penitential prisons, first promulgated by, 116; examination and refutation of his evidences in sup- port of his theory, 117-121.
Smith, Dr., his Ancient and present State of the County of Kerry, quoted, 169.
Somner, Mr., his opinion on the material of the Saxon churches, 127.
Sorcerers' Towers, Eound Towers stated by Vallancey to have been, 15.
Soter, the name inscribed by St. Patrick on a pillar-stone, 135, 136.
South Munster Society of Antiquaries, proceedings of, headed "Round Towers," quoted, 87, 88.
report of proceedings of, en- titled " Researches amongst the Round Towers," as drawn up by Mr. Windele, quoted, 79-81 ; examination of their proceedings and theory, 81-109.
Spelraan, Sir Henry, his Concilia, quoted, 196.
Sperlingius, " De Nummorum Bracteato- rum et Cavorum Origine et Progressu," referred to, 211.
Star-worship, or Saboeism, 70.
Stations. — .See Pilgrimages.
Steel-yard See Ouncel.
Steeple, of Armagh, 54.
" y' steeple with y^ bells," at Ar- magh, 149; "the steeple," at Armagh, 151.
Stele, of the Greeks, upright monumental stones in Ireland compared to, 102.
Stephen, coins of, 228.
Stephens, Mr., drawings made by, referred to, 248.
Stone, custom of building with, seems to have prevailed more in the west and south, than in the east and north of Ireland, 423.
St. Bernard's account of St. Ma-
lachy's laying the foundation of a chapel of stone at Bangor, as given by Ware (Harris's ed.), 123.
I
INDEX.
519
Stone and lime cement, statement of Sir James Ware, that the Irish did not be- gin to build with, until the twelt'th ecutury, 123; Ware's niiiiiinn univer- sally adopted liy English and Scotcli antiquaries, 124 ; the same opinion adopted by Ur. Lanigan, 126, 127 ; re- futation of this opinion, 127, et seq.
art of building with, known to
the Saxons at a very early period, 141.
first church built of, with lime ce-
ment, in Scotland, 141.
Stone buildings, statement of I'oter Walsh, author of the Prospect of Ireland, as to the absence of, in Ireland, in ancient times, 6; when introduced, according to Dr. Molyneux, 6.
Stone buildings, ecclesiastical, in Ireland, conclusion as to the recent date of, erroneous, 127-
Stone churches, the first builders of, in Ireland, 142. — Sec Uainddiag.
Stone-housing, statcMuent of Sir William Petty, that " when the Irish were first invaded, they had not any stone-housing, any foreign trade," &c., 123.
Stone roofs in ancient churches, 186, 188, 190.
Stones, upright, indicating the monu- mental character of tlie earns and mounds, 102.
Strabo, WallaiVid, Life of St. Gall by, quoted, 423.
Straw, roofs of ancient Irish churches covered with, 163, 187.
Streets, ancient monastic, situation of, pointed out by tradition in many parts of Ireland, 428.
Streets at Ai'magh, noticed, 152.
Stuart, Dr., his History of Armagh (juoted, 159.
Stylite columns See Anchorite Towers.
Suibhne Mac Maelehumai, 327, 328 ; in- scribed tombstone of, at Clonmacnoise, ib.
Suidhe Coeil, [eccl. vel mon.], 138.
Sun-worship, connexion of, with the sci- ence of astronomy, 69-
Swords, lower and upper doorways of the Round Tower of, descrilxil, 402, 403.
origin of the church of, 403.
Sylloge. — See Ussher.
T.
Tadgan, or Tadhgan, inscribed tomb- stone of, at Cloiunacnoise, 329.
chief of Teffia, at the close of the
ninth century, 329 ; progenitor of the Foxes, ib. ; period at which he flou- rished, 330.
Tailtenn, or Taillteann, pagan cemetery of, 98, 99, 100, 101, 104, 105, 106.
annual marriage custom of, 39.
battle of, 40.
sports of, 48.
number of mounds at, 106.
Tallaght, Martyrology of — See Martyro-
Tamlaghtard, tomb of St. Catanus at, 454.
Tanilaghtfinlagan, County of London- derry, Round Tower ot', age of, 395.
Tamnach, ancient church of, founded by St. Patrick, 180.
Tara, battle of in 974 ; 276.
court held by Cormac at, 97, 100.
History and Antiquities of, by the
Author, referred to, to disprove the existence of a Tower at Tara, .39.
kings of, used to bury anciriitly at
Oenach Cruaehan, 98, 100. departure of Lughaidli Laiuhfliaiia
from, 386, 387.
kings interred at, 9!*, 101.
or Teamhair, palace of, noticed liy
Comerford, 39-
St. Patrick at, 337.
unlawful that a king with a per-
sonal blemish should reside at, 98, 100. Tassach, one of St. Patrick's artificers,
202. Teach screptra, at Armagh, 148, 150;
520
INDEX.
noise, prostrated, 270. remains of, treated of, 267-
271 ; chancel archway of, described, 267, 268; measurements of archway of, 268; age of church of, 268-271. Round Tower attached to, 188,
domus Scripturarum sanctarum, a mis- translation of tlio name, by O'Conor, 149; translated Bibliotheca, by Colgan, 150; translated the Libmri/ by Mageo- ghegan, ib.
Teamhair, or Tarah, palace of, noticed by Comerford, 39-
TeampullBeagMhioDuach, on the greater Island of Aran, dimensions and age of, 351.
Teampull Chormaic, 290, 291, 312 — See Cormac's Chapel.
Teampull Finghin, or Fineeu's church, at Clonmacnoise, historical notice of,
269.
the cemetery of the Mac Carthy
family, 269, 271. the great oak of, at Clonmac-
267, 271, 393 ; detailed description of, 416,417.
Teampull Mac Diarmuid at Clonmacnoise, 274.
Teampull Mor Mhic Duach, cluirch erect- ed by St. Colman Mac Duach, on the Great Island of Aran, 176, 177 ; door- way of. 176, 177-
Teampull naSourney, dimensions of, 351.
Teffia, chief of, 329; chiefs of, 330, 331.
Teige, the brother of Cormac Mac Carthy, 312.
Telach Ard, near Trim, Round Tower of, burned, 376.
Telach n-ionmainne in Ossory, supposed to be the present TuUamaine, near Cal- lan, in the County of Kilkenny, cloic- theach or belfry of, split by lightning in 1121, according to the Four Masters, (56.
Temhair Erann, a pagan cemetery, 98, 100, 106, 107.
Temhair Erann, tlie burial place of the Clann Dedad, 99, 101.
Temple Conor at Clonmacnoise, treated of, 275, 276; age of, and by whom erected, 276 ; doorway of, 275, 276 ; present state of church, 276.
Temple Fineen at Clonmacnoise, orisin' of the name, 269, 270 — See Teampull Finghin.
Temple Geal, County of Kerry, Ogham in- scription on pillar-stone at ancient ora- tory of, 136.
Templepatrick, small church called, on the island of Inis an Ghoill Chraibh- thigh, now Inchaguile, in Lough Cor- rib, Co. Gal way, 164; doorway of, ib. ; age of church, 164-168 ; sepulchral inscription at, 164, 165, 168.
Temples, none used by the ancient Per- sians, 30.
Templum, application of, by Irish wri- ters, 144, 145, 152, 153.
Tempull, origin and application of word, 143-145, 151-153, 158.
Tempull Bhrighde at Armagh, 151.
Tempull Ceanannach, on Inis Meadhoin, or the Middle Island of Aran, in the Bay of Galway, style of masonry, &c., of, 188, 189 ; notice of the saint whose name it bears, 189.
Tempull Finghin, at Clonmacnoise, style of masonry of Round Tower belfry of, 188.
Tempull Gerailt, daimhliag of Mayo, usual- ly so called, 144, 145.
Tempull na bh-Fearta, at Armagh, 153 ; Latin translation of latter part of name, ib.
. erected by St. Patrick, 158;
called Ecclesia De Ferta, and Ferta^ Martyrum juxta Arddmache, in Book of Armagh, ib.
Termann Feichin, now Termonfeckin, in the County of Louth, monastery of, 394 ; great church of, ib.
Termoncronan, in the parish of Carron,
INDEX.
52.1
barony of Burren, and County of Clart', St. Cronan's church at, window of, 184.
Teutonic nations, 68.
Thabor, Mount, description of ancient monastery on, 421, 422.
Tliesaurus Teniporum, 46.
Thomond, princes of, 139-
[lord of], 311.
Tiaghs or satchels for books, treated of, 339, 340.
Tiffhernach, Annals oi.—See Annals.
continuator of, referred to, 310.
Tighernach, St., ofClones, mother of, 348, 349.
Tigh Moling, now St. Mullin's, County of Carlow, St. Moling of, 348.
Tillemann Frize, M., his Miintz-Spiegel referred to, 2 1 2.
Tillemont, his opinion concerning the re- lations of St. Patrick, 168.
Timahoe, in the Queen's County, original founder and patron saint of, 239.
Bound Tower of, 235, 239 ; door- way of, exhibits peculiarities not found in bviildings of the Norman times, 234 ; description of doorway of, 234-238 ; com- parison of, with details of the ancient ornamented church of Eathain, or Ea- hin, 242, 243.
human bones stated to have
been discovered in, 71 ; Author's ob- servations on this statement, 78, 82 ; human bones and a sepulchral urn stated, on the authority of Sir William Betham, to have been found in, 88 ; ob- servations on, 91, 92 ; statement as to the discovery of a pagan urn, filled with human bones in, commented on, 417- 420.
Tinne Eigln of the Highlands, probably a remnant of the ancient Belltaine, account of, given by Dr. Martin, 38 ; Dr. Mar- tin's explanation of the term, 38.
Tiprait Finghin, a holy well at Clonmac- noise, origin of the name, 270.
Tir Cronin, 340.
Tirechan, Annotations of, in tlie Book of Armagh, quoted or referred to, 12(), 142, 161, 166, 179, ISO, 193,220, 338. — See Book of Armagh.
Tirerrill, Barony, County of Sligo, ancient name of, 1 80.
TirOililla, now anglicised Tirerrill,Couiity of Sligo, 180.
Tlachtgha, fair of, celebrated with fires, 28, 39.
Tobar Maine, at Aghannagh, County t)f Sligo, whence called, 180 See Munius.
Tobar na druadh. County of Kilkenny. 453.
Toi, church of, at Armagh, 147.
Toirdhelbhach, King of Counauglit, 144,' 145.
Toirdhelbhach, or Turlough O'Conor, monarch of Ireland. — See O'Conor.
Toirinis, " which was called Tor Conn- ing," Vallancey's explanation of, 14 ; author's opinion as to the origin of the name, ib.
Tomb, ancient, at the church of Boveva, in the County of Londonderry, 454, 455.
Tombs of the ancient Irish ecclesi- astics, architecture of, 453, 454, 455.
on the Islands of Aran, like
pagan monuments, 453.
Tombstones, ancient Irish, ornaments com- mon on, 259, 325-331, 342.
Tomgraney, County of Clare, Eound Tower of, repaired, 277, 389, 390.
erection of the great church
and Eound Tower of, 380.
Tor See Tur.
Torach, a name for Tory Island, 15.
Toracha Insula, a Latinising of Torach, ib.
Tor-Breoghain, 43.
Tor-Conuiug, a name for Toirinis, 43 ; Vallancey's explanation of, 14 ; Author's opinion as to the origin of the name, ib.
Torna Eiges, the poet, 106.
Ciarraigi, given as a reward to.
106, 107.
3 X
522
INDEX.
Torus, or bead moulding, used in door- ways of ancient Irish churches, 178, 180.
Tory Island, off the north coast of the County of Donegal, derivation of name of, 14.
monastery of, foundation of,
406.
Round Tower of, 15 ; door- way of, 406.
Tower of the patriarch Jacob, near Beth- lehem, 17.
Tower of St. Bridget, at Kildare, Val- lancey's observations concerning the name of, 26.
Towers, Anglo-Saxon, detached, 379.
■ character of the ancient military,
in the British isles, 367-
Towns, birth usually given to, by monas- teries, not to monasteries by towns, 35.
Traigh Tuirbi, now Turvy, County of Dublin, origin of the name, 385, 386.
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy quoted, 36, 37.
of the Iberno-Celtic Society, 37.
Treana, i. e. Trians, or Thirds, of Armagh, 148, 150, 151 ; Dr. O'Conor's transla- tion of, 148, 149.
Treasure-houses, monastic See Keeps.
Trees, a usual ornament in the immediate vicinity of the ancient Irish churches, 64.
Tresc, the mound of. — See Dumha Tresc.
Trevet, Treoit, anciently Dumha Derglua- chra, the burial-place of king Art, the son of Conn, 99, 101.
duirtheach of, two hundred and
sixty persons burned in, 352.
Triangular-headed windows, examples of, 183, 184.
Trian masan, at Armagh, burned, 152.
Trian mor, at Armagh, burned, 152, 446.
Triau Saxon, at Armagh, burned, 446,
Trim, Irish name of, 375, 376.
church of, burned, 375, 376.
cloichtheach of, burned, 375, 376.
Trinity, church of the, at Glendalough,
window in, described, 183 ; chancel arch of, 186. — See Glendalough.
Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, quoted or referred to, 27, 165, 179, 193, 222, 337, 350, 383, 384, 429, 445 See Evin's.
Triquetra, an ancient ornament, siipposed to be a mystical tyjje of the Trinity, treated of, with examples, 323-325.
Truaghan, Dr. O'Conor's mistake of, for Turaghan, and his explanation of the latter, 49, 50 ; Mr. O'Reilly's observa- tions on the same, 50 ; Mr. O'Dono- van's observations on the same, 5 1 ; Dr. O'Conor's mistake in deciphering of, accounted for by Author, 5 1 ; explana- tion of the word, 52.
Trummery, County of Antrim, Round Tower of, age of, 395.
Trumpet, a kind of, dug up in the neigh- bourhood of some of the Towers, 69-
Tuaim Greine, cloictheach or Round Tower of, renewed, 277. — See Tomgraney.
Tuam, archbishop of, letter of, and his suffragans, written about the year 1214, 171; quoted, 172.
archiepiscopal crozier of, 314, 315,
316.
cathedral of, rebuilt, 272 ; treated
of, 314-319; age of, considered, 314- 317 ; characteristic features of the chan- cel of, described, 317-319; great stone cross at, 315, 316, 317; inscriptions on the base of, 315, 316, Irish inscriptions formerly in the choir of the present church of Tuam, 314, 315.
stone cross at, age of, purpose of
erection of, &c., 272. Tuathal, abbot of Clonmacnoise, 113. Tuatha De Dananns, 14. Tuatha De Dananns, the nobles of the,
buried at Brugh, 99, 101, 106; seven
of, interred at Tailtenn, 106. » otherwise called Siabhras, said
by some to have killed KingCormac, 98. sepulchral monuments of, 102,
103.
INDEX.
523
Tuatha De Danann, original country of, 127; character of buildings of, 127, 129.
race, characteristics of, 387.
Tuirbi Traghmar, the father of the Goban Saer, legend concerning, 386, 387 ; pro- bable race of, 386, 387.
Tulach in bhiaU, near Turvy, County of Dublin, 386.
Tullaherin, County of Kilkenny, Eound Tower of, compared with the great Tower of Clonmacnoise, 412, 413 ; up- per apertures of, 413.
Tullamaine, County of Kilkenny. — See Telach-n-ionmainne.
Tur, or tor, a tower, not derived from the Latin, but from a common source, 117.
Turaghan, 70.
Turaghan Angcoire, erroneously explained " Fire-tower of the Anchorite," 71.
Turas, explanation of the word, 118, 119, 120.
Turkish mosques, turrets in the neigh- bourhood of, 69.
Turlough, King of Connaught. — See Toir- dhelbhach.
Turris, the Latin word, never applied by the Irish to a tour, or penance, in the Irish language, nor ever adopted by the Irish into their own language, 117-
Turvey, in the County of Dublin. — See Traigh Tuirbi.
Tyre, temple of, two columns at, dedicated to the wind and to fire, 69-
u.
Ua Briain, Conchobhar, King of Munster, 308.
Ua Ceallaigh Diarmaid, abbot of Eathain, 245.
Saerbhrethach, abbot of Ea- thain, 245.
Ua Conchobhair, Toirdhelbbach, King of Connaught, 308.— fe O'Conor.
3
Ua Maelsechlainn, Murcath, King of Mcath, 308.
Uamnach, airchinneach of Lciudruim, 340.
Ua Ruaidhne, Flannchadh. — See Flann- chadh.
Ua Suanaigh, St. Fidhairle, abbot of Ea- thain, historical notices of, &c., 245 ; successors of, 245, 246; new establish- ment at Kathain founded by, 245.
Ua Suanaigh's Cross at Eathain, 246.
Ui Amhalgaidh, annual meeting of, 107, 108.
Ui Briuin, poet of, 308.
Ui Drona, lord of, 286, 287, 340.
Ui Eachdach. — See Iveagh.
Ui Fiachrach Aidhne, 380. — See Aidhne.
Ui Focertaidh, plundered Clonmacnoise, 273, 274.
Ui Neill, northern, 226 ; southern, do. ib.
Ui Neill race, southern, cemetery of, 330.
Ui Neill, southern, chief steward of, 409-
Ui NiaUain, familia de, a quo, 158.
Ui Eiagain, 41, 42.
Uisneach, palace of, noticed by Comerford, 39.
convocation of, fires lighted at,
ib.
Mons, 159; stones of, cursed by
SS. Patrick and Secundinus, 160.
Uladh, king of, 308.
Ulidia, devastated, 203.
king of, 151, 152.
Ulster, the chiefs of, buried at TaHtenn, 99, 101, 105, 106.
Unga, or ounce, 221.
Universal History referred to, 46.
Urn, pagan, found within tlie Tower of Timahoe, stated by Sir William Betham to have contained cremated bones, 81 ; comments on this statement, 417, 420.
with Iniman bones stated to have
been found in the Tower of Aber- nethy, 88 ; comments on this statement, 91, 92.
Urns, cinerary, dug out of old pagan cairns and tumuli, 72.
X 2
524
IM)EX.
>>a
Urns, or jars, pieces of, and sundry other articles, stated by Mr. Black to have been found within the Tower of Brechin, 94.95.
sepulchral, 102.
Ussher, archbishop, his Primordia qnoted or referred to, 126, 196.
his Report on the Diocese of
Meath. quoted, 268.
■ MS. of the Eegistry of Clomnac-
nobe in the possession o^ 268. his SjUoge quoted, 216.
Utensils, belonging to the altar, skill of the ancient Irish ecclesiastics in the art of manufacturing, 202.
V.
Valentia, Lord, Eound Towers discovered
by, in India, 29 — See Bhangulpore. Vallancey, General, the originator of the
theory of the pagan uses of the Eound
Towers, 12. his Essay on the Antiquity of
the Irish Language quoted, 12, 13- his conjecture as to the Phoeni-
cian or Indo-Scythian origin of the Eound Towers, and their uses as fire- temples, and for various other purposes, stated and refuted, 12-30. his fanciful derivations of Irish
words and names, 13-27, 453- his translation of fid neimead.
I
61.
his Collectanea quoted, 134, 135.
the first writer who attributed
to the Eound Towers any other than a
Christian, or at least, a medieval origin,
359. Vedrafiord, or Vedra's Ford, a name of
Waterford, 262. Veils, linen, which screened the sanctuary
of Kildare, 198, 199, 205 ; such veils
suspended in all the ancient churches,
205, 206. Virgin, Blessed, none of the ancient Irish
churches dedicated to, previously to the twelfth centtiry, 173. Vossius, opinion of, 200.
W.
WaU, broad, of stones, surrounded the ancient monastic establishments, 128. — See CasheL
Walsh, Peter, author of the Prospect of Ireland, his assertion as to the origin and uses of the Eound Towers, 5, 6; his assertion as to the non-existence of stone buildings in Ireland before A. D. 838 ; 6.
Ward, his Life of St. Eomuald, referred to, 137.
Ware, Sir James, his statement that the Irish did not begin to build with stone and mortar until the twelfth century, 122, 123; refutation of this statement, 127. et seq.
Book of Armagh, so named by, 334.
assertion of, 310; opinions of, 200,
224, 269; quoted in English, 278, 281 ; referred to, 328.
his Antiquities of Ireland referred
to, or quoted, 7, 314, 426. Irish MS. translated into Enslish
for, 269. his Bishops referred to, 203.
Harris's edition of his Bishops quoted
or referred to, 272, 275-
Ware, Dr. Hibbert, of York, opinion of. communicated to Author. 379-
Warner, the historian, 66.
Watch-Towers and Beacons, theory of the use of the Eound Towers exclusively as, rejected, 121; in conjunction with other uses, advocated, 121 See Bea- cons.
Waterford, called Yedrafiord, or Vedra's Ford, by the Danes, 262.
engagement of the Danes and
Irish at, 262.
Wattles, churches built of, 124, 142.
iCt
l.Nl>*\X
Aii
_y if
Wattlett, eh\uvh«s buiU vwith, iwU i.>ttk
tiiubtr, 135. houses built with, aud o«k tim-
bfr, 133. Wt-ajKms, fouud iu thts tuouuweutal n--
maius iu hvlauil, 103. Well, holy, <-»lU\l l\>l>av Maiue, at Ajjhau-
nai;h. County ol' Slij;o, ISO. Wells, bh'sswl by St. Cohiwbkille. SJi). Well-woi-ship, l>r. O'Couor's rt'uiark* <>»t
quottsl, 1 1 8. Wenu-r, bishop of Sti-asburjjh, 313. Wilkin, Mv., his desoriptioa of MelUmiut-
Chuivh, iu l>erb)'shiiv, vftVriYnl to, -l H. William the (.'ouii\iw\>v, 3H, 337- W inchester, uwrhlo font iu cuthtHlral of,
394. new tower at, ustnl as a iK-aeou,
37y.
old ehuvcli and tower i>t', 37j).
Wiudele, Mr., of l\>rk, his avgunu>ut» in support of the hypothk>sis, that the Kound Towers weiv used as thtvteni- ples, and iHTUsionally, in part, as plaavi of pagan sepvilture, witl> Author'* ro' futation tlurn.f, 70-1 OK.
fi"agineut of Dghaui inscription,
stated to have been disoovtirtxl by, in tho nave of the r\iincd ohuroh of Ardiuoie, County of Waterford, 7!).
\\'indows, of ancient Irisli ()hur«ht^»l, num- ber and de.soription of, 1()3. —- — ■ — ohai-aeteristio forms of, wilh examples, 181-1^3.
— . — — — ■ many in tin; uneient cliureli of
Kildaro, IIJH, 1!)1», 301,
renuukable eiroidar one, richly
ornamented, in the uneient ohureli of Uuthaln, King's County, 'Jl-i'.i, 3-1-1 ; in ('urniuo'M ('lm|iel, at CiimIu-I, 3(1-1.
Willieni. — Sfe Ciuidldu ('una.
Wood, the cuntoiii of liuilding l)oth liouMUM and churclii '^ with uuk tlmlpii imd wut-
tlevs, a jxscuUw ehw<»vt«*i»|i*> vK tk«>
i!»».vtie rtH'v, 134, WiKH.1, ehmvh »♦ lindisUkfuts, built by
Hi»lu>p bHuiau, v>i\s«\vu w^n>vl, kwv»'*!<l
with veevls, " luoiv Swlwrum," li*i, J3tv - St. Ueruw^l's rtsmtu-ks om a ehaj*!
umilt> of liittlKiV, built at IVau^or, by
St. Malaohy. asi gvwu by \Va«v (UarH»i'»
kA-X 133. ■^^—m. liv. Laikigau's assertiiat, that th«
aneieut lri»l» ehvta^hw* ww* usuwUy
built Cvf, 137,
ohap*>ls, or kvratM'iw ixf ^mk, MA ;
oratv>riej<, or duirlheaeha of, 'Mi '■Mi)- — — - ohutvlu's built of, 134. 13(1, 137,
—J^ Wattlw, ^— — ho\>s\\s built of, 137.
etuU'ohwi built of \vultle». mid
boanls, 1-19.
ehnivh of Kildaie eiione^'mly ««p-- J>«iwl to have hwii built of, 300,
moiit pi-olxablti that, in their tuo^
nastio houses and oratoiitw, tho lri»h oontiniUHl tho Se^itio niodo of building with wood, Iu ino»t i-artu ul' Ireland, till tho twelfth or thirteenth century, 111. — roofs of, in ttueU'ut ohutvhea, iHtJ.
187.
Works, earthen militniy, nhown lo Iw Irisli, not l)aniiih, 8,
Y,
Yew-tree pkntwl by Ht. I'atrlek at Newry, burned, 6-1; planted by Ht, Kevin at (iltMiduloui-di, hi,
z.
Zend, language, 3-1,
ZerduKl or >(eidu>lit, ^omaaler, 31, ',Vi,
Zig'iiag moulding, — Sua (--'liuvton,
/iilnuntrr. '.it, 33, (!7, 70,
THE END.
524
INDEX.
Urns, or jars, pieces of, and sundry other articles, stated by Mr. Black to have been found witliin the Tower of Brechin, 94, 95.
sepulchral, 102.
Ussher, archbishop, his Primordia quoted or referred to, 126, 196.
his Eeport on the Diocese of
Meath, quoted, 268.
MS. of the Registry of Clonmac-
noise in the possession of, 268. his Sylloge quoted, 216.
Utensils, belonging to the altar, skill of the ancient Irish ecclesiastics in the art of manufacturing, 202.
V.
Valentia, Lord, Eound Towers discovered
by, in India, 29. — See Bhaugulpore. Vallancey, General, the originator of the
theory of the pagan uses of the Round
Towers, 12. • his Essay on the Antiquity of
the Irish Language quoted, 12, 13. his conjecture as to the Phoeni-
cian or Indo-Scythian origin of the Round Towers, and their uses as fire- temples, and for various other purposes, stated and refuted, 12-30. his fanciful derivations of Irish
words and names, 13-27, 453. his translation of fid neimead.
61.
his Collectanea quoted, 134, 135.
the first writer who attributed
to the Round Towers any other than a
Christian, or at least, a medieval origin,
359. Vedrafiord, or Vedra's Ford, a name of
Waterford, 262. Veils, linen, which screened the sanctriary
of Kildare, 198, 199, 205 ; such veils
suspended in all the ancient churches,
205, 206. Virgin, Blessed, none of the ancient Irish
churches dedicated to, previously to the twelfth century, 173. Vossius, opinion of, 200.
W.
Wall, broad, of stones, surrounded the ancient monastic establishments, 128. — See Cashel.
Walsh, Peter, author of the Prospect of Ireland, his assertion as to the origin and uses of the Round Towers, 5, 6; his assertion as to the non-existence of stone buildings in Ireland before A. D. 838 ; 6.
Ward, his Life of St. Eomuald, referred to, 137.
Ware, Sir James, his statement that the Irish did not begin to build with stone and mortar until the twelfth century, 122, 123; refutation of this statement, 127. et seq.
Book of Armagh, so named by, 334.
assertion of, 310; opinions of, 200,
224, 269; quoted in English, 278, 281 ; referred to, 328.
his Antiquities of Ireland referred
to, or quoted, 7, 314, 426.
Irish MS. translated into Ensrlish
for, 269.
his Bishops referred to, 203.
Harris's edition of his Bishops quoted
or referred to, 272, 275.
Ware, Dr. Hibbert, of York, opinion of, communicated to Author, 379-
Warner, the historian, 66.
Watch-To wers and Beacons, theory of the use of the Round Towers exclusively as, rejected, 121; in conjunction with other uses, advocated, 121 See Bea- cons.
Waterford, called Vedrafiord, or Vedra's Ford, by the Danes, 262.
engagement of the Danes and
Irish at, 262.
Wattles, churches built of, 124, 142.
^
INDEX.
525
Wattles, churches built with, and oak timber, 125.
houses built with, and oak tim- ber, 125.
Weapons, found in the monumental re- mains in Ireland, 102.
WeU, holy, called Tobar Maine, at Agluvn- nagh, County of Sligo, 180.
Wells, blessed by St. Columbkille, 339.
Well-worship, Dr. O'Conor's remarks on, quoted, 118.
Werner, bishop of Strasburgh, 212.
Wilkin, Mr., his description of Melbourne Church, in Derbyshire, referred to, 441.
William the Conqueror, 211, 227-
Winchester, marble font in cathedral of, 294.
new tower at, used as a beacon,
379.
■ old church and tower of, 379.
AVindele, Mr., of Cork, his arguments in support of the hypothesis, that the Eound Towers were used as fire-tem- ples, and occasionally, in part, as places of pagan sepulture, with Author's re- futation thereof, 70-109.
fragment of Ogham inscription,
stated to have been discovered by, in the nave of the ruined church of Ardmore, County of Waterford, 79.
Windows, of ancient Irish churches, num- ber and description of, 1G2.
characteristic forms of, with
examples, 181-185.
many in the ancient church of
Kildare, 198, 199, 201. remarkable circular one, richly
ornamented, in the ancient cluirch of Rathain, King's County, 243, 244 ; in Cormac's Chapel, at Casliel, 304.
Withern. — See Candida Casa.
Wood, the custom of building both houses and churches with oak timber and wat-
tles, a peculiar characteristic of the
Scotic race, 125. Wood, church at Lindisfarno, built by
Bishop Finian, of sawn wood, covered
with reeds, "more Scotorum," 125, 126. ■ St. Bernard's remarks on a cliapel
made of timber, built at Bangor, by
St. Malachy, as given by Ware (Harris's
ed.), 123. Dr. Lanigan's assertion, that the
ancient Irish churches were usually built of, 127.
chapels, or oratories of oak, 345 ;
oratories, or duirtheachs of, 345-350. churches built of, 125, 12^, 127.
—See Wattles.
houses built of, 127.
churches built of wattles and
boards, 142. church of Kildare erroneously sup-
posed to have been built of, 200. most probable that, in their mo-
nastic houses and oratories, the Irish continued the Scotic mode of building with wood, in most parts of Ireland, till the twelfth or thirteenth century, 141. roofs of, in ancient churches, 186,
187.
Works, earthen military, shown to be Irish, not Danish, 8.
Yew-tree planted by St. Patrick at Newry, burned, 64; planted by St. Kevin at Glendalough, 64.
Zend, language, 24.
Zerdust or Zcrdusht, Zoroaster, 21, 32.
Zig-zag moulding See Chevron.
Zoroaster, 21, 32, 67, 70.
THE END.
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