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THE
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE
or
IRELAND,
ANTEHIOB TO THE ANGLO-NORMAN INVASION,
&C. &C.
THE
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE
or
IRELAND,
ANTERIOR TO THE ANGLO-NORMAN INVASION;
COMI'KISING AN ESSAY OX
THE ORIGIN AND USES
THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND,
WHICH OBTAINED
THE GOLD MEDAL AND PRIZE OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY.
BY
GEORGE PETRIE, R.H.A, V.P.R.I.A.
V
Dttton.
DUBLIN:
HODGES AND SMITH, GRAFTON-STREET.
MDCCCXLV.
DUBLIN :
PRINTED AT THE UN1VEBSITV PBESS,
BY M. H. GILL.
NA
631068
It. -
TO
THE VISCOUNT AD ARE, M. P., M. R. I. A.,
AND
WILLIAM STOKES, M.D., M.R.I.A.,
REGIUS PROFESSOR 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 enjoyment.
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
iv 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
the fields 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 20th, 1845.
PREFACE.
THE work, of which the first volume is now submitted to the
Public, was originally written for, and presented to the Royal Irish
Academy, as an Essay on the Origin and Uses of the Round 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 cotemporaneous 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 with
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 antiquities 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
v i PREFACE.
put to the wanton destruction of these remains, which is now, un-
happily, of daily occurrence, and which, if not by some means checked,
must lead ere long to their total annihilation. I had long felt that
such a work, comprising, as a whole, the several classes of early
Christian 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 Bound Towers into my
own 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,
hidden 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 would 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 which 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 circumstances should
vii
permit me to accomplish it. That volume will be altogether supple-
mentary to the present, and will contain descriptive and historical
notices of all the remains of ecclesiastical architecture 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 that man can undertake ; scarcely a page
of them can be written without a previous 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 which it is conducted, I trust I may lay claim to some
praise, the pursuit of truth 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 which deserve an exact inquiry are those, for such
there 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
the 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,
would we know of the true greatness of the Greeks or Egyptians if
we 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 Eound 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 undertaken 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 antiquities of my country, and to
remove the very thin veil which involved the origin of her Round
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
x PREFACE.
the character of works of art. Where no fine writing was attempted,
showy illustrations, got up with a view to popular effect, and leading
to an almost necessary sacrifice of truthfulness, would be very little
in harmony. For their accuracy, however, I can fearlessly pledge
myself. This has been the point attended to above all others, and of
which the absence of all affectation of freedom of handling, or forcible
effect, will give abundant evidence. They may be considered as quo-
tations from our ancient monuments, made with the same anxious
desire for rigid accuracy, as those supplied from literary and other
sources in the text ; and though slighter or more attractive sketches
might have sufficiently answered my purpose, they would not have
been sufficient to gratify my desire to preserve trustworthy memo-
rials of monuments now rapidly passing away.
It only remains for me now to express my grateful acknowledg-
ments to the kind friends, from whom I have received assistance in
the progress of this work in its amplified form.
To my able and valued friend, Captain Larcom, E. E., Super-
intendant of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, my best and warmest
thanks are, in the first place, due, not only for the most zealous and
prompt exertions at all times to procure me that local and other
necessary information, which his position enabled him to obtain, and
which, otherwise, it might have been difficult, if not impracticable, for
me to procure, but also for the most cheering encouragement during
the progress of my labours.
It is scarcely necessary for me to state, that my greatest obliga-
tions are, in the next place, due to Messrs. John O'Donovan and
Eugene Curry, my former coadjutors, for so many years, on the
Ordnance Survey, and since that connexion has been dissolved, my
warmest and most attached friends, assisting me by every means in
their power, and lending the weight of their invaluable authority to
the translations from Irish MSS. to be found throughout this work.
To the Librarians of Trinity College, since the period at which
PREFACE. xi
I commenced my antiquarian investigations, namely, Dr. Sadleir,
Dr. Wall, Dr. Elrington, and Dr. Todd, I am indebted for the freest
access, at all proper times, to the valuable collection of Irish and
other MSS. deposited in the Library of the University; but my
greatest obligations are due to my respected friends, Dr. Elrington
and Dr. Todd, on whose time I could make greater demands, on the
score of a greater personal intimacy ; and I have, moreover, to thank
Dr. Todd, for the valuable aid of his learning and antiquarian know-
ledge, whenever I deemed such aid necessary.
In like manner, I have to thank the gentlemen of the British Mu-
seum, many of whom I have the honour to number amongst my
friends ; and more especially, Sir Frederic Madden, K. C., the keeper
of the manuscripts in that great national depository, through whose
personal kindness I was relieved from the difficulties I should have
often experienced in using those manuscripts, in consequence of my
residence in Ireland.
With reference to the illustrations which appear in the work, I
have to acknowledge my deepest obligations to my dear friend and
brother Academician, Mr. Frederic W. Burton, R. H. A., who, to ob-
tain me several of these sketches, visited, without regard to loss of
time or personal inconvenience, at an inclement season of the year,
some of the wildest districts of Ireland. Such devotion of friendship
is not to be thanked in words. Nor should I forget my obligations to
the talented young artist, Mr. Gr. A. Hanlon, by whom nearly the
whole of the illustrations to this volume have been engraved, with
an anxious fidelity, such as I might expect from the son of one of
my oldest and dearest friends.
Lastly, as regards the publication of the work, I have to express
my warmest acknowledgments to its publishers, Messrs. Hodges and
Smith, who have been, through the greater portion of my life, amongst
my most attached friends, and without whose assistance on the pre-
sent occasion, I might have found it difficult, if not impossible, to
b2
xii PREFACE.
bring the work before the Public, in the 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 zeal and ability it owes
so much of its beauty, and to all whom, I may truly say, the work
seemed a labour of love.
GEORGE PETRIE.
21, GREAT CHARLES-STREET, DUBLIN,
March 8th, 1845.
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
INTRODUCTION, i
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 Phoenician or Eastern Origin of the Round
Towers, H
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
HI. General Characteristics of the ancient Irish ecclesiastical
Buildings, 160
SUBSECTION^ Churches, 161
2. Oratories, 343
3. Belfries, 353
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 Sardinia, 7<>
2. Ground-plan of ditto, ib.
3. Plan of the Level of the second Chamber of ditto, ib.
4. Section of ditto, ib.
5. 6. Sections of ditto, . . . ' 77
7. Nuraghe Nieddu, 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-houae, called Clochan na Carriage, on the great Island
of Aran, in the Bay of Galway, 130
11. St. Finan Cam's House, a round Stone-house on an Island in Lough
Lee, in the County of Kerry, 131
12. Round Stone-house on Ard Oilcan, 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.
16. Ogham Inscription on a Stone at Temple Geal, in the Barony of
Corcaguiny, in the County of Kerry, 136
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 round 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, 163
21. Doorway of Templepatrick, on Inchaguile, in Lough Corrib, in the
County of Galway ' .- . . 164
xv i LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
NO. PAGE.
22. Ancient Inscription on a Stone at Templepatrick, on Inchaguile, in
Lough Corrib, in the County of Galway, 165
23. Doorway of the Church of Ratass, near Tralee, in the County of Kerry, 169
24. Doorway of Our Lady's Church at Glendalough, in the County of
Wicklow, 170
25. Cross carved on the Soffet of the Lintel of the Doorway of Our Lady's
Church, at Glendalough, 171
26. Cross carved on the Lintel of the Church of Killiney, in the County
ofDublin, ib.
27. Doorway of the Reefert Church at Glendalough, 173
28. Doorway of St. Fechin's Church at Fore, in the County of Westmeath, 174
29. Doorway of the Cathedral of Kilmacduagh, in the County of Galway, 176
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. Doorway 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 Eachainech, or Aughenagh, in the County
of Sligo, 180
35. Doorway of the Church of Britway, in the County of Cork, . . . 181
36. Window in the east Wall of Trinity Church, at Glendalough, . . 182
37. Window in the east Wall of the Stone Oratory at Gallerus, in the
County of Kerry, ib.
38. Window in the east Wall of the ancient Church of Mungret, 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 in the east Wall of the Church of Kilcanannagh, 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 Termoncronan, in the
County of Clare, ib.
44. Window of the Oratory near the old Church of Kilmalkedar, in the
County of Kerry, 185
45. Window in the east Wall of the Church of Ratass, in the County of
Kerry, ib.
46. View of the Interior of Trinity Church, at Glendalough, showing
the Chancel Arch, 186
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
Monasterboice, in the County of Louth, 188
49. View of the ancient Church of Kilcanannagh, on the Middle Island
ofAran, 189
50. View of the Church of St. Mac Dara, on the Island of Crunch 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 Museum 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 County, 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, 1 b.
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 Aperture, and Specimen of the Masonry of the
Round Towor of Timahoe, ib.
75. Columns of the Chancel Arch of the Parish Church of Rahin, in the
King's Co 242
76. Capitals of opposite Side of the same, . .
77. Round ornamental Window in the Church of Rahin, 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 Rahin, 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
xv iii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
NO. PAGE -
84. Plan of the Mouldings of the Pilasters, or Mouldings at the Angles
of same, 250
85. Existing Remains of these Mouldings, with one of their Bases, . . ib.
86. Sculptured Ornaments in Tympanum of Doorway of the Priest's
House at Glendalough, 251
87. Interior of the east Window of the Cathedral Church at Glendalough, 253
88. 89. Sculptures on the Frieze of the interior Face of the east Window
of the same, 254
90. 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 257
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 which 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 Reefert Church at Glendalough, .... ib.
128. Ground-plan of Teampull Finghin at Clonmacnoise, 267
129. Capitals of the Chancel- Arch of same, 268
130. 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
137. View of the Chancel-Arch and Fragment of the Doorway of St. Cai-
min's Church in Innishcaltra, 282
138. 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 different 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
Cormac'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 which 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.
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-Columns 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 peculiar 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. Crozier 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 Maelfinnia, 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 Mailae 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 Durrow, 331
211. Outline of one Side of the Leather Case of the Book of Armagh, . 332
212. Outline of the lower Side, or Bottom, of the same Case, .... 333
213. Outline of one of the Sides of the leather Case of the Shrine 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 Brunless, 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 Round 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 Drumbo, 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
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xxi
N0 - PAGE.
231. Doorway of the Tower of Kilmacduagh, County of Galway, . . 404
232. Doorway of the Tower of Glendalough, County of Wicklow, . . ib.
233. Doorway of the Tower of Oughterard, County of Kildare, . . . 405
'234. Doorway of the Tower on Tory Island, off the Coast of Donegal, . 406
235. Exterior View of the Doorway of the Tower of Roscrea, .... 407
236. Doorway of the Tower of Monasterboice, 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, . . . 413
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 the 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
AN
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND,
&c. &c.
INTRODUCTION.
HE question of the Origin and Uses of
the Round 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-
sive investigation ; and any further 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 qualified for this undertaking, from the want of
the peculiar attainments which the subject required inasmuch as
they possessed but little accurate skill in the science (if it may be so
called) of architectural antiquities, but slight knowledge of our 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 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
that 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 that not unfrequently of a visionary kind, and growing
out of a mistaken and unphilosophical zeal in support of the claims
of our country to an early civilization ; 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 established, from the absence of that evidence which facts alone
could supply.
Such at least appears to have been the conclusion at which the
Royal Irish Academy arrived, when, in offering a valuable premium
for any essay that would decide this 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 delineated.
In the following inquiry, therefore, I have strictly adhered to the
condition thus prescribed by the Academy. The Towers have been
all subjected to a careful examination, and their peculiarities accu-
rately noticed ; while our ancient records, and every other probable
source of information, have been searched for such facts or notices
as might contribute to throw light upon their history. I have even
gone further : 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 known or
probable Pagan origin. The results, I trust, will be found satisfac-
tory, and will suffice to establish, 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
centuries.
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 xitensils, 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 required,
as beacons, and watch-towers.
These conclusions, which have been already advocated separately
by many distinguished antiquaries among whom are Molyneux,
Ledwich, Pinkerton, Sir Walter Scott, Montmorenci, Brewer, and
( )i\\ ay will be proved by the following evidences :
For the FIRST CONCLUSION, namely, that the Towers are of Christian
origin:
1. The Towers are never found unconnected with ancient
ecclesiastical foundations.
2. Their architectural 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 architecture univer-
sally acknowledged to be of Christian origin.
4. They possess, invariably, architectural features not found 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
already specified :
1. Their architectural construction, as will appear, eminently
favours this conclusion.
2. A variety of passages, extracted from our annals and other
authentic documents, will prove that they were constantly
applied to both these purposes.
For the THIRD CONCLUSION, namely, that they may have also been
occasionally used as beacons, and watch-towers:
1. There are some historical evidences which render such a
hypothesis 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 Round Towers to answer such purposes, 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
of a belfry will be further 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 custom, and probably expected, that I should take
a summary review of the various theories of received authority from
which I find myself compelled to dissent, and of the evidences and
arguments 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 unsatisfactory. I shall
endeavour, however, to be as concise as possible, noticing only those
evidences, or arguments, 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 :
FIRST, as respects their 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 Buddhist temples.
5. That they were anchorite towers, or stylite columns.
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 purposes 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 hypotheses which I have now to notice, the earliest
put forward is that which ascribes the erection of the Towers to the
Danes. This hypothesis appears to have originated in an observa-
tion of the celebrated John Lynch, the author of Cambrensis Ever-
sus, to the effect, that " the Danes, who entered Ireland, according to
Giraldus, in 838, are reported (dicuntur) 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 this place.
"Exiguas tamen illas orbiculares arctasq; turres Dani Hiberniam Giraldo authors
anno Dom. 838 primum ingressi, primi erexisse dicuntur; non vt pro campanili, sed
pro speculo haberentur, vnde prospectus ad longinqua late protenderetur. Postea
tameu vsus inualuit vt campanis in earum culmine appensis, Campanilium vices ge-
rerent : Tametsi non e media Ecclesiee fabrica extantes fornicibus innixa; in altum
tendant, vt modo fit, sed e csemeterij solo in idoneam altitudinem extollantur. Vel
norainis enim tetymon illas indicat illi vsui accomodatas fuisse ; Cloctheach enim
perinde est ac domus campanse, voce Cloc campanam, et teach domum significante."
Cambr. Eversus, p. 133.
This hearsay testimony loses much of whatever little weight it
might, at first sight, appear entitled to, when we consider the pri-
mary object which its author had in view, in the work in which it
occurs, namely, to dispute, or cavil at, every assertion in the work of
Giraldus, wherein it is stated that the Towers were built more patrice,
or in a mode peculiar to the country.
Lynch's timid surmise was followed by the bolder assertions of
Peter Walsh, who, in his Prospect of Ireland, published in 1684,
translates nearly word for word the observations of the former, only
so altering them that what Lynch mentions merely as a report he
assumes as a certainty. The following are his words :
ft INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" It is most certain, that those high, round, narrow Towers of stone, built cylinder-
wise, whereof Cambrensis 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 them in several places, to serve themselves as Watch-
Towers against the Natives. Though ere long, the Danes being expuls'd, the Chris-
tian Irish turn'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 Cloctlieachs, that is Bell-Fries, or Bell-Houses; Cloc or Clog, signifying a
Bell, and Teach a House in that Language." Prospect of Ireland, pp. 416, 417.
In the following century this hypothesis received the abler sup-
port of the celebrated Dr. Molyneux, the friend of Locke, whose
opinions, delivered with the modesty of a sincere inquirer after truth,
I shall present in his own words :
" It may not be improper to add to these 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 trafKck, 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 IPs 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 Henry IPs time, from a plain passage in Giraldus Cambrensis,
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 arctce sunt 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-building, 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, were first brought hither ;
the modi -1 nf those towers must have boon taken up some other way: and it M-OIM-;
probable the Danes, the earliest artificers in masonry, upon their first conversion to
Christianity, might fancy and affect to raise these fashioned steeples in this peculiar
form, standing at a distance from their churches, as bearing some resemblance to the
round tapering figure of their old monumental stones and obelisks, their pyramids, their
mounts and forts, of which they were so fond in time of paganism.
" And Sir James Ware cursorily speaking of one of these round steeples at Cork,
in his antiquities of Ireland, chap. 29. pag. 328, says, there prevailed a tradition in that
country, that ascribed the building of that tower he mentions, to the Ostmen, who were
inhabitants of Cork; and we might well presume, that had the old native Irish 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 hear of none of them." Natural Hitt. of Ireland by Boate and
Molyneux, pp. 210, 211.
Dr. Molyneux next proceeds to describe the situation, form, and
peculiarities of construction of the Towers (which description I shall
notice in another place), and then returns to his theory of their Danish
origin, which he endeavours to support by tracing the etymology of
their name in Ireland to a Teutonic or German-Saxon origin :
" Clogachd, the name by which they still are called among the native Irish, gives us a
further proof of their original, that they were founded first by Ostmen : for the Irish
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 bor-
rowed our modern word a clock.' 1 '' Ib. p. 211.
After this he offers some arguments to show that the Towers
were erected for belfries, which, as they agree with the hypothesis
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 wasting time to shew the weakness of the evidence adduced
by Dr. Molyneux to. support it. A few words, therefore, will suffice.
It will have been seen that this hypothesis 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 figures 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 monumental stones,
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 mounds, and earthen mili-
tary works, so numerous in this country, are of Irish and not Danish
origin ; and for the fact, that no remains similar to these are found in
Denmark, we are furnished with the testimony of a Danish antiquary,
the grandson of Olaus Wormius, as communicated to Dr. Molyneux
himself by his brother William, in a letter written to him from Hol-
land, in 1684. In this letter William thus writes :
" I am intimately acquainted here with a young gentleman that comes from Den-
mark, though 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." Molyneux's Correspondence, Dublin
University Magazine, vol. xviii. p. 483.
Thus it appears that Dr. Molyneux's reasoning, as to the Danish
origin of the sepulchral mounds 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 own most intelligent brother; and hence the
whole superstructure as to the origin of the Towers, which is raised
on this basis, must necessarily fall to the ground. Indeed, from the
Avhole 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 in a few of their own maritime towns in
Ireland, that almost invariably, during 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 century, they may have founded a round tower belfry in Cork,
or in any other town which they inhabited, yet the probability 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 church of St. Finbar, founded in the sixth century, and
perhaps coeval with it ; and no Bound Towers of this kind have
been discovered in connexion with any of the edifices which the
OF THE HOUND TOWEKS OK IHELAXI). 9
Dailies are said to have founded in Dublin, Wexford, Waterford,
Limerick, or elsewhere. Had the Towers been of Danish origin,
it is quite inconceivable but that some traces of such buildings would
have been discovered in the north of Europe, or in England, Nor-
maudy, Sicily, or other countries in which the Northmen had settle-
ments ; and that none such have ever been discovered seems certain,
as even Dr. Ledwich, the ablest supporter of the theory under consi-
deration, is obliged to allow. As to the Saxon etymology of the word
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 the
Germans or Saxons had churches or bells. We find it Latinized
into clocca, 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 clochachd" a form of the word, by the way,
never used in any Irish book or MS., " the Saxon clugga was most
probably derived from the cloc or dug of the Irish teachers of the
Saxons." Eccl. History, vol. iv. p. 406.
In latter times this hypothesis was zealously advocated by Dr.
Ledwich, a writer, who, although learned and ingenious, was less
honest, or more prejudiced, than those who had previously given it
their support. According to this writer, indeed, every tiling 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 his readers, quite unworthy of his
learning and ability. Thus, after quoting those passages from Lynch,
Walsh, and Molyneux, which are given in the 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 Ostmau 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 any of them adopt his notions w,as 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
nothing in his extensive reading to contradict what Cambrensis had delivered. "-
Antiquities, 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 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 this 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 were
erected more patrice, after the manner of the country ; and, secondly,
from that writer to John Lynch, who was endeavouring to controvert
every position of Cambrensis (and thus probably originated the con-
jecture relative to the Danes), not a single writer 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 ?" Most admirable
candour ! No one could have ever written 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 his remarks upon it in his own words :
" Ledwich 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
of 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 patrice. Besides, from his having looked upon
at least some of them as very ancient, it is evident, that he coiild 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 meaning in the above quoted words. Lynch says,
OF THE HOUND TOWERS OF IKKLAXD. 11
that the Round towers are reported to have been first erected by the Danes, whose
first arrival in Ireland was, according to Giraldus, in the year 838. The sense of this
plain passage is twisted by Ledwich, 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 Giruldus, 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-
-\f, 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." Ecc. ffitt. vol. iv.
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 with-
out further delay to the next section.
SECTION II.
THEORY OF THE PHOENICIAN, OB EASTEBN ORIGIN, OF THE BOUND
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 Vallancey, an antiquary who, in his
generous but mistaken zeal in support of the claims to ancient civi-
lization of the Irish, has done much to involve our ancient history
and antiquities in obscurity, and bring them into contempt with the
learned. In support of this conjecture, however, General Vallancey
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 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 Round Towers received their local names from being
temples of the sacred fire !
c2
12 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
As these supposed proofs rest altogether on the uses to which it
has been assumed that the Towers were applied, it will be most ex-
pedient, and prevent repetition, 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
Beaufort, Mr. D'Alton, Mr. O'Brien, Mr. Moore, and, recently, Mr.
Windele of Cork, in support of this hypothesis, 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
irom 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 impossible 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 earliest conjecture 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. Hib. in 1 781, 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 ROUND TOWEKS OF IHKI.AXD. 13
" I will here hazard a conjecture. I find blTl gadul to signify magnut ; I find nl-. .
that the oriental nations at length so named the tower of Babylon, &c., nV?TID nutyit-
dalttlh, turrcs ah aniplitudine dicta. Bochart. p. 42. Geog. Sacr. Gadi. e, gadulturri* ;
may not our Irish name cloyhad for the round towers built in Ireland, which appa-
rently were of PhuMiician workmanship, be derived from this word gad, and clog/i, stone.
It must be allowed I hat <//'</ is a bell, and hence these towers have been thought to
have been belfries ; but we have many places called dogh, L e. saxum.
" Again, the druids called every place of worship cloy/tad, alluding to the circles of
stones they usually set up in those places ; there is therefore no positive authority to
say that these doghads 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 the
preceding, would be but a waste of time, and I shall only observe,
that there is not a shadow of authority 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
ever so called, as I shall prove hereafter.
The theory thus dogmatically put forward by Vallancey having
been combated by Dr. Ledwich in his Essay on the Round Towers,
first published in the fifth number of the Collectanea, the former was
followed by some remarks on the Round Towers of Ireland in the
succeeding volume, 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 Irish 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 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 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 minarets
from the Greeks A. D. 784 Sabellic Ennead. 9-L 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 would make but little, if any, impres-
sion on the mind of an author like Vallancey ; he would acknowledge
that the Bulgarian tower, or any other, was a minaret, but what of
that ? " The minarets," he answers, " were originally fire towers !"-
14 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
See MS. comment on Ledwich's Dissertation on the Round Towers
of Ireland in Vallancey's corrected copy of the Collectanea de Reh.
Hib., preserved in the library of the Royal Irish Academy.
In the twelfth number of the Collectanea, General Vallancey
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 antiquities, says, the Pelasgi were Tyrhenians born, and
(speaking of the building of Athens) taught the Greeks the art of building houses of
lime and stone, and from them, walls and castles were called Turrit. [Tt>r]. Is it pos-
sible that Potter could be ignorant that the Hebrew and Chaldee ~)1tO Tur, 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 lime
and stone,' to build what? 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, Conuing and Faovar, were
African generals who drove the Nemedians out of Ireland. That they first settled at
Toirinis, which was called Tor Conuing, or tower of Conuing, from the tower he built
there : this is the first round tower mentioned in Irish history." p. xxxvi.
And again :
" 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. They conquered the country and taught the inhabitants to build round towers,
having 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 sufficient to remark, that if, as Val-
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 build with lime 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, which presents, at a distance,
the appearance of a number of towers, and hence in the authentic
OF THE ROUND TOWEBS OF IRELAND 15
Irish annals, and the lives of Coliunbkille, the patron saint of the place,
it is called Torach, or the towery island, and Latinized Torac/iin.
and Toracha insula. It is true, indeed, that there is a Round Tower
still remaining on Tory Island, but it would require a more than or-
dinary share of credulity to enable one to believe that this is the
Tor-Conuing of the Africans ; or that its age is anterior to that of
St. Colurab, to whom its erection is attributed by the common tradi-
tion of the islanders, and the inhabitants of the opposite coasts.
Farther on in the same Preface, the learned General informs us,
that the Round Towers were sorcerers' towers. Thus :
" That the oriental aub were sorcerers, the learned Millius has very clearly demon-
strated ; that the Irish abh were sorcerers also, is evident from the common verb ubh-
faidhim, to prophecy, where faidh a prophet, is compounded with abk. These were at
the head of the Irish sorcerers, and I shall hereafter shew that there was a presiding
aub at each tower, and that the first name for Christian, a bishop in the Irish lan-
guage, was aobk-ill-toir, or, an aub of many towers, or places of worship, for t6r not
only implies a tower but every thing belonging to a church.
" Hence toir-dealbach, 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 by Doctor
O'Conor and other learned men. The passage is as follows :
" Thus Lucian tells us, that they had in the porch of the temple at Hicrapolis which
' stood on the knob of a hill, Priapus's three hundred cubits high, into one of which a
man gets up twice a year, and dwells seven days together iu the top of the phallus, that
he may converse with the gods above, and pray for the prosperity of Syria ; which
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 Druids." p. clxv.
A few pages after this, General Vallancey presents us with what
he calls " Further illustrations on the Round Towers," in which we
find a new use to which they were applied : thus, in speaking of the
dancing festivals of the Canaanites and other ancient nations in ho-
nour of the Heavens, he writes :
" In Syriac, chugal, a circuit, to turn round. One of the services paid to this attri-
bute, by the 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 chugal, the word dog was formed, implying, any
orbicular form, as, the skull, a round tower" &c Vol. iii. p. 482.
General Vallancey, in a few pages after, furnishes us with a quo-
Hi INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
tation from an ancient Irish MS. the Glossary of Cormac, Arch-
bishop of Cashel, in the tenth century which would appear to set
the question of, at least, the Pagan antiquity of the towers at rest for
ever. It is as follows :
" Gull or gaill, i. e. carrtha cloche, a stone column, or pillar, that is, one of the
ancient round towers, (Cormac's Gloss. Vet.) is a ire is bearor gall, (says Cormac) disuidhi
fo bit/i ceata ro suighidseal in Eire, i. e. they were so called, gall, by the colonists who
settled first in Ireland." Ib. p. 485.
He next adduces the authority of Dr. O'Brien, the learned author
of the Irish Dictionary :
" Cuil-ceach, or Ci'd-kak corrupte claiceach, a round tower ; as Cuilceac Cluana-
iimlia, the tower or steeple of Cloyne. 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 cugal.
" CuiU-kak, is evidently the annunciator, instructor, or proclaimer of the festivals.
See ail, gul, 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 by the first people who came to this island, were the buildings from which the
approaching festivals were announced." Ib. pp. 486, 487.
General Vallancey next tells us :
" Another name for the round towers, is sibheit, sithbheit, and sithbhein. See O'Brien
and Shaw's Lexicons." Ib. p. 488.
He then compares this word with what he considers cognate
words in the Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac, and resumes :
" The Irish word, Sith-bheit, is literally, the Beth, or house ofSM ; 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, t$>, edes. Sith-bhein, in Irish, will imply the place of the bene-
diction, of pointing out, or proclamation, of the anniversary, or of the vigils, the even-
ing place of prayer, and, lastly, binn, is also a bell, used by the Romish 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 cat, a house, and theac, a house ; this is tautology with a witness!
The word may be compounded of cat, a house, and ceac, instruction, &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 day, xxiii. 18. nor shall the
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 17
fat of my (c/iag) annual sacrifice, remain till morning. The Hi-brew, rhaq, is the root
of the Irish, cai/aug, a name of lent. Cargus, I e. Cag-aos, the season of Chag. Vet
Glos."
" These towers were certainly belfries in after ages ; and, probably, were not only
obsen atnrics, but belfries too, at the time of their construction. It is worthy of obser-
vation, that all festivals are proclaimed in the eastern countries from the top of the
misffir, 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 I'm-
a bell-ringer, viz. tintinaculus, seems to be of Scythic origin ; and also, ftVrfinabuhun, a
bell. Tein, in Irish and Arabic, is noise, a ringing noise: tein-tein, is doubled in both
languages, to express the greater noise.: bualim, in Irish, is to strike, which was the
ancient mode of sounding the bell. Cul, as we have shewn, is an anniversary, a round
tower, a steeple; in Persic, Kuli: but keol, in Irish, is a musical note, music. I submit
these observations to the notice of the Irish antiquary, and flatter myself, they merit
his researches.
" Nor does it appear, that the modern name of these towers, viz. doghad, or cloig-
tfieac, 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 dog, the cranium or skull;
in which form, our first bells were made, and those to this day used in clockt are cast ;
but clog, the skull, owes its name to its orbicular form, as we have shown before.
" It is evident, that all our doyhads have not been belfreys: in many there are no
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 buildings 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 Duleek, or Dam-Hoy church, was the first thnt
was built with such materials ; and was so called, from leac, a stone. Near to the
church, is a Druidical monument, or hue of enormous size, to which probably it owes its
name." Ib. pp. 490, 491, 492.
The last passage in this volume bearing on the subject of the
Round Towers in any intelligible way, occurs two pages after, and is
as follows :
" The name duan, was, I believe, originally given to all these towers : it appears
to be a contraction of ciil-luan ; i. e. the return of the moon : duan, certainly signifies
a lawn ; duan, says O'Brien, is a name given to several of our bishops' sees, as Cluan
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, achadh, faithche,
faithemeid, maighneas, raodh, reidhlein; and, dogad, 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, i. 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
magnitude: he gives a plate of the ruin, by which we may see, it was then about 20
feet high, circular, and exactly resembling the state of many of our Irish towers. The
kiss-kola; 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 I am inclined to think the
name is a corruption of cais-cuile, or of ceach-cuile, i. e. the tower of proclamation of
anniversaries, &c. See Le Bran's Voyage de Levant. Kiss, in Arabic and Persic, is
holy, religious." Ib. pp. 494, 495.
I have now done with this third volume of General Vallancey's
Collectanea, having omitted nothing in my extracts from it which
could be deemed of the slightest importance in this inquiry. I shall
not, however, trespass on the reader's time or patience by -any formal
refutation of theories, supported by such evidences or arguments as
have been now laid before him : to do so gravely would, I feel,
equally involve me in ridicule with their author ; and to treat them
Avith 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 which he appeals to Irish authorities for facts
in support of his hypothesis, but which I shall prove to be wholly
fallacious. The first authority so adduced is that of the celebrated
Cormac Mac Cullenan, who, according to General Yallancey, 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, which has been collated
with all the vellum MS. copies of the work, preserved in our public
or private libraries:
^oll .1. coipce cloice, uc epc: nip cmcaij comaioce comeca pelo puioiti
coiccpice co companouio gall.
^jull, cerapoa pop omjaip .1. jail cloice ceoamap, uc ppeoiximup: ip cnpe ip
bepap jail oipuioiu, po Bir ip 5'll ceca po puioi^pec i n-Gpe. ^ al ^ ' ppainc :
^aill, oan. amm DO paepclanouiB ppanc .1. cpep pallia ; acup ipa canoope cop-
popip po h-aininnije6 ooib ; ^a\\ enim J5l iece l ac acme oicicup ; inoe ^uU-'ue
niapca. Sic Din jail ip amm ooela: inoe pep Wuvhun DIXIE : cocall cop n-jall,
janh in opam.
<>K TIM: uoi-xn TO\VEI:S OF IKKI.AND. 1<)
, oon, dintn DO cailec, omoi ip jullup, acup ip <i jaliu capicip po h-uinm-
D .1. u cacKupp a cmo.
Thus translated by Mr. O'Donovan:
" Gall, L e. a standing stone, ut est 'Neighbours taking care of cattle are not in
fault by marking a conterminous boundary with pillar stones.'
" Gall has four meanings, viz., in the first place a pillar-stone, ut pr<rdiximtis: tli-
reason that such stones are called gall*, is because it was the Gatti that first fixed them in
livland. Gall, i.e. Frank. Gall then is a name for the nobles of France, so called
(rum gallia, i. e. a candore corporis; for gall [recte y\\ in Greek is lac in Latin;
hence Gallice masta. Thus also gall is a name for a swan : inde Fer Mumhan dixit:
Cochall cos n-yall, gaimh in bhrain, L e. the swan's foot is webbed, the raven's fanged.
" Gall is also a name for a cock, from gallus, so called a galea cupitis, i. e. from the
crest of his head."
This word, gall, is explained rock in all the Irish dictionaries, and
its diminutive gallun (corruptly dalldn) 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 will now be able to
see the true value of the authority, which General Vallancey, by a
garbled quotation, so confidently put forward as a conclusive evidence
of the antiquity of the Round Towers, and I need make no further
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 round tower; as Cuilceac Cluana-
Umha, the tower or steeple of Cloyne. O'Brien. This word, adds he,
seems to be corrupted of Clog-theach, that is the bell-house."
This is another characteristic example of Vallancey's mode of
quoting authorities; he first makes O'Brien say, that Cuilceach be-
comes corruptly Claiceach, and then that the word seems to be cor-
rupted of Clog-theach. But O'Brien does not say that Cuilceach is
corruptly Claiceach, nor has he the word Culkak or Claiceach 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-
lowing are the passages which Vallancey has so misquoted and
garbled :
u 2
20 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" CUILCEACH, a steeple ; cuilceacli Cluana-umha, Cloyne steeple. This word is a
corruption of Clog-theach.
" CLOIO-THEACH, a steeple, a belfry ; corrttpte, Cuilgtheach."
Our author next tells us, that another name for the Round Towers
is Sibheit, Sithbheit, and Sithbhein, and for this he refers us 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 Sithbheit
are not to be found in either of the works referred to. The word
Sithbhe is, indeed, given in both Lexicons, but explained a city, not a
round tower. The word Sithbhein 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 applied to a green round hill crowned by a small se-
pulchral mound.
He next tells us that Caiceach, the last name he finds for the
Round Towers, is supposed by the Glossarists to be compounded of
cat, 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 ? 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 blunder, as will appear
from the passage which our author obviously refers to :
Cm .1. reac: unoe oicicup ceapo-ca .1. reac ceapoa; cpeap-ca .1. ceac cuirianj.
"Cai, i. e. a house : unde dicitur ceard-cka, i. a the house of the artificer; creas-cha, i. e.
a narrow house."
Lastly, he tells us that the name Cluan was, he believes, origi-
nally given to all these towers, and that it appears to be a contraction
of Cul-luan, i. e. the return of the Moon ! For this new meaning of
the word, it would, however, have puzzled him to find an authority,
though he evidently wishes us to believe that he had such, by quoting
O'Brien to shew that cluan is a name given to several of our 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 :
" CLDAIN, a plain between two woods, also any fine level fit for pasture ; Lat. planum,
Angl.-Saxon. laten, visibly of the same root with cluain 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
OF THE KOUND TOWERS OF IRELAXn. 21
this word Cltiain ; ex. Cluoin umha, now the town of Cloyne, a bishop's see in the
County of Cork ; Cluain-haidhneach and Cluain Mac Nois, in Leinster, &c."
Tlmt this is the true and only meaning of the word cluain, can be
proved by reference to the localities bearing the name in every part
of Ireland. In many places there are twenty-four cluains together, as
in O'Conor Faly's Country in the King's County, 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 aground 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 Phoenician
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
rambling in his reasonings and so obscure 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 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 Aphrinaghan ; the sacred festivals had the same
22 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
name : The Persians in India Lad a stated festival once a month. Hoc convivium seu
ha; Epulse plurali habet nomen Afrinaghan, i. e. Benedictalia seu benedicendi Epula?,
in the singular number it is Apherin; or Affrin. In the Chaldee we find fVlCK
Aphriun, Templum. In Irish Afritl/gnam is to bless (gnam or gnim is the verb agcre
vel facere). The Chappel, Mass-house, or House of prayer, is known at this day in
Ireland, by no other name than Ti-Afrion^ i. e., the house of benediction.
" There can be no doubt of the round towers in Ireland, having been Fire-towers ;
the Ti-aifrionn, the house of benediction. The Arabs call them Perkin, i. e. a fire
hearth, in Irish Breocan. 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 wind : 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 muttered
his words. When he had done, he probably ascended to the door or to the top, and
gave his Aphrin. The sacred fire was fed by the wood of a sacred tree ; in Persia the
name of that tree is Haum al Magjug, i. e. Hauin Mayorum : In Irish Om and Gmna
was Crann-naomha or sacred tree : we translate it an Oak.
" The Perso-Scythi of Ireland named these Towers, Tuir Bell, 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 Babek, a Persian King,
constructed a certain lofty building which he named Terbali, to the East of the City of
lharaghun 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 Adur, 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 Prsefectus ignis was named
Hyr-bad, in Irish Ur-Baidli. scil. Ignis Sacerdos; we now translate laid, 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. This order was also
named Mogh. Primus ordo antea vocabatur Mogh et postea Hyrbad. (Hyde). Mogh
Mugh or Magh was the name in Ireland, hence Ard-magh the Metropolitan See of
Ireland, and all those old family names beginning with the Epithet Mag, as Muq
Mathghamna, Mag uidir, Mag Cana, Mag Giolla Eiabha, Mag Kaghnuil, Mogh Luigh,
Mac Luchta, &c. &c. and this name was borrowed of the Chaldeans, another strong
circumstance from whence Zerdiist came, corresponding with our Irish traditions.
Olim in Chaldajorum Curia horum Rector supremus (Jerem. 29. 3. 13) dicebatur
2Q~2~) Rab mag i. e. Magorum Prafeetus." 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 HOUXI) TOWEIIS OF IliKI.AM) 23
that tlicM' \\ere. only Cathedrals ; that other buildings of wattles and straw, (or Corri-
doiv*) in oorer the congregation, may have been erected round them, and we shall find
nicist <>f the Irish Towers connected with our Cathedrals, as at Cloyne, Cashdl, Glan-
ilnlniiil/,, &C.-&G. Notandum est, quod omne Pyreum fuit Ecclesia Cathedrulis dotuta
ml alcndum EpUOOpton, et Sacerdotes necessaries (Hyde, 106), and like the Ghcbret of
India, tliey often prayed to Culinary fires, where a tower was not conveniently at
hand." Ib. pp. 206, 207.
I do not feel it necessary to make any comment on the preceding
passages, as Vallancey's new Irish names for the Round Towers, toge-
ther with the Irish authorities to which he refers, are, as all Irish
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 Round Towers, and from this I shall extract
whatever passages I can find directly bearing on the question. He
commences as follows:
" From my first knowledge of Irish history, and of the mythology of the pagan
1 rish, 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 fire worshippers ;
one, that lighted the fires on the tops of mountains and hills, and others in towers ; mi
innovation said to be brought about by Mty/t Ntuulhat, or the Magus of the new law,
otherwise called Airgiod-lamh, or golden hand, who was the Zcrdost 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 ; so Mogh Nitadhat had his hand cut off' in the struggle, but
one of the Tuatha-dadan colony, or Chaldean magi, supplied the loss with a silver or
golden hand.
" These towers were evidently named by the Chaldeans p"H5H aphriun, i. e. tem-
plum, a name that exists at this day in Irish for the house of prayer or benediction,
viz. 7V aifrion, a mass-house ; Ar. ._ i\ nfrian, P. aferin, praise, glory, benediction,
blessing. In Cantico Canticorum, <pejii> sibi fecit Salomon, i. e. fVISH ajihriun sibi
fecit Salomon. (Aldrete Antig. de Espana, p. 203.) By the ancient Hindoos they were
named Coill, whence the Gill and Ceall of the Irish, of which hereafter.
" The pagan Irish worshipped C'rom cruait, the same God Soratter 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 Magiiitcli,
which in Persian signifies, nailed by the ears, not cropt eared, as some have imagined,
but the Zoroastrians changed it to Megiitsck or Magiusch.
" ' The Brahmins kept a portion of the sacred fire constantly and fervently glowing
in caves, continually ascending in pure bright pyramidal flame, fed with the richest
gums ; this was prior to the Pyraeia, 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 round towers, which
24 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
were conical, and ended in a point at top, both in Hindoostan and in Ireland, as we
shall shew hereafter.
" The tower of Ireland, dedicated to Brigit, a saint, who took on her the heathen
name, is one of the highest in the kingdom Brigit inghean Daghda, bandea, agus ro
mor an afrihnam, 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 domicilia ignis, et fecit ea cum cupola excelsa, et ignem gladio
non fodiendum. (Buudari, an Arabian.)" VoL vL 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 Ingushi; they are Christians. They believe in one God, whom they call
Daile (in Irish Duile). Many of their villages have a stone tower, which now serves
them, in time of war, as a retreat to their women and children.'" Ib. 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 about 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 Horte
Bibhcoe of Mr. Butler, concerning the religion of the ancient Persians,
and another from the same work concerning the Edda: after which
he compares certain words in the Zend and Brahminical languages
with the Irish, to shew their similarity, and for others refers to the
Preface to the Prospectus of his Irish 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 Indo-Scythce ; that they were mixed with the Brahmins, who at that period built
round towers for the preservation of the holy fire, in imitation of which those in Ireland
and Scotland were built."/*, p. 133.
I have given the arguments and evidences of General Vallancey
thus fully, lest it might be thought that I did him injustice by their
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 will be but a waste of time to reply to argu-
ments resting on conjectural etymologies unsupported by authority
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 25
of any kind, and vague references to Irish history, without any inti-
mation in what author, manuscript, printed book, or library, they may
be found. But as I shall have many readers to whom such evidences
have been " strong as proofs of holy writ," and who 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 drawn, 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-worshippers, one that
lighted the fires on the tops of mountains 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-lamh, 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 fires were lighted by
the Druids on the tops of mountains and hills ; but there is not one
word to be found in that history respecting fires having 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 Magh Tuiredh, near Cong, in 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 king 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,
26 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
who lived many centuries before him, in order to give probability to
a fanciful etymology of this cognomen necessary 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
Magus of the New 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. 221, and Mac Curtin's Vindi-
cation of the History of Ireland, p. 102.
General Vallancey next tells us, that these Towers were evidently
named by the Chaldeans Aphriun, i. e. templum, and that the Tower
of St. Bridget, at Kildare, one of the highest in the kingdom, was
nailed her Aifrion Tower, or house of benediction ; and as authority
for this name he quotes the Glossary of Cormac Mac Cullenan. But
in this, as in an instance recently quoted, he has most shamelessly
garbled and falsified the text of that writer, as will appear from the
following accurate transcript of it from the oldest copies :
6pijir ban-pile, mj;en in tDajoae; ip i inpm 6pijic be n-eicpi, .1. ban-oea no
uopacip pilio, ap ba po riiop, ocup bu po an a ppirjnarh. loeo cum t)eatn uocunc
poecapum ; cump popopep epanc &piic be leijip, ocup fipijic be joibne, injenu
uitDajoae; oe quapum nommibuppenep hominep hibepnenpep oea&pijic uocaba-
cup. &pijic, Dm, .1. bpeo-pai jic.
" Brighit the poetess, the 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 meant poetarum; cujus sorores erant Brighit, the god-
dess of physic, and Brighit, the goddess of smiths, the daughters of the Dagda ; de
yuarum nomiidbus penes homines Hibernenses Dea Brighit vocal/atui: Brighit then
means an arrow of fire." H. 2. 16.
That the word pjnrjr.cun in the preceding passage, which General
Vallancey has manufactured into Afrilinani by joining the posses-
sive pronoun a, her, to the noun, to make it resemble the Chaldee
Aphriun, can only be understood as implying the diligent care, or
attention, with which the goddess was supposed 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 work, in
which the word occurs twice under the word lefec, thus :
13o bui colleicc; in c-eccep oc acallam mo ecpine, ocup oc cup pulae cup a
ppirjnarh.
" The poet was at the time conversing with the tyro-poet, and keeping an eye over his
ASSIDUITY."
OF THE KOUNI) TnWERS OF IHKLAXD.
Ro purmj icipam in r-e'cep mop menmam in ecpne, ocup lai^ee a p
" The port :ii'tmMinN<.l. T\rd the great mind of the tyro-poet, and the smallness
ofhis ASSIDUITY."
And under the modern spelling, pjnocnarh, this word is explained
care, diligence, in the Dictionaries of O'Brien, O'Reilly, and in what
is superior to either the MS. Dictionary of Peter O'Conm-ll, piv-
scrved in the British Museum. Under the modern spelling the word
is also used in the sense of " caring, presiding over, or superintend-
ing," by the Four Masters, as in the following passage.
A. D. 1 174. plann .1. plopenc Ua JJopmam, uipo-peap lecchmn CTpoa TDaclui
n 5 u P Gpenn uile, paoi epjnu, eolac, ipm eaccna oiaoa, a^upooinanoa, lap in -bur
bliaoam ap pitic i b-ppancaiB 0511 p I Suiaib ace pocclaim, a^up piche bliaoan
ele 05 ppiochnarii njup aj; pollariinacchao pcol Gpenn, ar bar co pomrheac ip
in Cearcaom pia ^-Cmpj Ktpp on f eactmojao blinoam a aoipi.
Thus translated by Colgan :
" 1174. B. Florentius Gormamts, Arc/timagister, sett siipremtts moderator Kliolcr
Ardmachance, acomnium totius Hiberniiv Doctor egregitis, in diuinis 8f humanit scientijs
peritissimus ; postquam annis viginti uno in Francia et Anglia operam studijs nauusset,
Sf aliig postea viginti annis scholas Hibernice tanqnam Prcpfectut rexisset, ipsa feria quarta
ante Dominicam Resurrectionis, pie inDomino obdormiitit." Tria* Thaum. p 310.
The reader has now materials laid before him from which to judge,
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 (in a priirjnarh means " very
great was her Afrion tower, or house of benediction."
General Vallancey next tells us that " the pagan Irish worshipped
Crom cruait, the same god Soraster adored, in fire, first on mourn
tains, then in caves, and lastly in towers : this fire-worship, says
Irish history, was introduced by a certain draoi, named Midhghe,
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 contraiy, 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-
tured, 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 by
E 2
28 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Colgan in Trias Thaum. p. 133. Neither does Irish history state
that fire-worship was introduced by a certain draoi, or Druid, named
Midhghe, though it must be confessed, that an inference to that effect
might be drawn from the romantic history of the 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 Midhe, lighted the first fire for them in the terri-
tory of Meath, which is said to have thence received its name from
him; and that all this colony were obliged to pay him and his suc-
cessors a tribute for the liberty of lighting their 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, b ; 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 country. 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 :
daccja, ona, TTluriia oo nich h-i, ocup ip lac maccpaij Rluman DO cotneoao
Claccja co n-a tenncaib, con nach oencaf ceine o'paooo a n-Gipino no co ceannaij-
rea uacha-pum h-i; ocup pcpepall oip jacha h-aen chuaiche a n-Gipmn uoib' ap
in cemio; Tniach cpuiehneachca ocup cope ap each ppim-ceallach a n-Gpinn oo
comapba TTlioe ap in cemuio pin, .1. O'Camoealb'am.
" TLACHTGHA ; Munster celebrated it (i. e. its fair) and it was the youths of Muns-
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 Round Towers, interspersed through his works, which,
as being 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 incumbent on me to notice,
namely, the supposed similarity which the Persian and Hindoo fire-
OF THE BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 29
temples, bear to the Irish Round Towers ; and, as this similarity has
been much dwelt upon by subsequent writers, and appears to have
had considerable weight with them, it will be well to put the reader
more fully in possession of the facts on which it rests. They are thus
stated by General Vallancey:
" Mr. Pennant, speaking of the Polygars of the Circars of India, says, ' All the
people of this part of India are Hindoos, and retain the old religion, with all its super-
stition. This makes the pagodas here much more numerous than in any other part
of the peninsula. Their farm too it different, being chiefly buildings of a cylindrical,
or round toieer shape, with their tops either pointed, or truncated at the summit, and
ornamented with something eccentrical, but frequently with a round ball stuck on a
spike ; this ball seems intended to represent the SUN, a'n emblem of the deity of the
place.' (View of Hindoostan, V. II. p. 123.)" vol. vi pp. 133, 134.
" Ilanway, 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 the Persians suffered these temples to remain unmolested, after the abolition of 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." Ib. p. 137.
" In the Histoire des descouvertes dans la Russe et la Perse, there is an account of
many round towers, said by the inhabitants to be the work of very remote times. At
Bulgari, not nine worsts distant from the Wolga, where our Aire-Coti first settled un-
der Casair, the most remarkable of the ancient buildings, says Pallas, is a round tower,
called Misger, which appears to be a corruption of e ~~'^" muzgi, signifying, to make
the holy fire burn 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." Ib. p. 145.
" Lord Valentia, in his late Travels in the East Indies, met with two round towers
near to each other, 1 mile N. W. of Bhaugulpour ; he was much pleased with the sight
of them, as they resembled those Towers in Ireland, which have puzzled the antiqua-
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 holy, 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, c., p. 41.
Of these extracts I may observe generally, that with the single
exception of that from Ilanway relative to the four towers of the
Guebres, none of them prove that the towers noticed may not have
been what is far more probable ancient Mahometan minarets, or,
30 INQUIRY INTO T1IE ORIGIN AND USES
belfries of the early Christians ; and, with regard to Hanway's in-
stance, on which so much stress has been laid, it may be remarked,
that even supposing these towers to have been erected for the purpose
stated a thing after all very doubtful yet no point of exact con-
formity between them and the Irish Towers has been established,
excepting that of rotundity ; while, on the other hand, the Persian
towers are proved 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 author begins his career by affirming our towers to be the same as the Per-
sian Pyrathe'ia, and that merely from Mr. Hamvay's saying there were round 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 [|<o>oy( worthy of mention, egregious], in the middle were altars, and on them
the Magi preserved much ashes and a perpetual fire.' The Greek words throw not the
smallest light on the figure of the Pyrathe'ia, much less can it be inferred they were of
lime and stone, or of the altitude of our towers. Even Hyde, from whom he takes the
shape of the modern Parsee tire-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 Persarum, quippe qui omnia sua sacra sub dio
peragebant. ideoque in sua religione et lingua non habebant templi nomen.' Hyde de
Relig. vet. Pers. p. 359-" Antiquities, p. 166.
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 our 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 English 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 Hibernicis. This gentleman's opinions are given
under the word CLOGHADH, in an Essay on the ancient Topography
OF THE ROUND TOWKUS OF IKKLANI). 31
of Ireland, published in the eleventh number of that work, and are as
1'ollows :
"Ci.ooHADH, orClofftia, the Hibcrno-celtic name of those slender round towers at
tliis day found in several parts of Ireland. The word is derived from the old Irish
Tlachgo from Ttac/tt, the 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 the same construction with the Pyrathea of the ancient Persians, and the Chammia
of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, some of which are still remaining 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,
particularly at Ballynasliebh in the County of Kilkenny, Navan near Armagh, &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 foundations being now visible. After the establishment of
Christianity in Ireland, among a number of Druic [Druidic] superstitions, the sacred or
eternal fires were preserved for several centuries, and the Tlachgo 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 Tlachgo or temples of Vesta. On the abolition of these fires, about
the twelfth century, and the introduction of bells, the Tlachgo were in general con-
verted into belfries, whence the modern name for a bell in Irish is clogh, from being
placed in the Tlachyo or vestal temples. As these round towers are neither found
in Britain or the European continent, they were most probably introduced into this
island by the Persian Mugi or Gaiirs, who in the time of Constantine the Great ran
over the world, carrying in their hands censors containing the holy fire; escorting 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 Pyratheias 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 Cloghmlh 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 used by the pagan priests ; they
were however continued as belfries to the close of the fourteenth century, for which
reason a belfry in the Irish language is termed Cloghatlh, from being originally tem-
ples of Tlucht. Ware Ant. Dufrene's Gloss, torn. 3. Jurieu's critical Hist, of the
Church, vol. 2." vol. iii. pp. 308310.
On the preceding statement it will be sufficient to observe, that
the story of the Gaurs, or Persian Magi, overrunning Europe in the-
32 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
reign of Constantino, is altogether a fabrication of the author's own,
and that the ecclesiastical historian, Jurieu, to whom he refers as his
authority, states nothing from which such an inference could be drawn.
The passages in Jurieu's Critical History of the Church, on which
this mendacious statement was founded, are given by Vallancey in
the fourth volume of his Collectanea [pp. 406, 407], who enjoyed a
triumph in exposing the dishonesty of his former literary associate.
Mr. Beauford's statements with respect to the derivation of the word
Cloghad from Tlachgo, of the original Round Towers having 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 pure
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 history, that bells were in use in Ireland 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 hypothesis
of the eastern origin of the Towers, of a writer who 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 Ireland. That such a
writer should have followed in a track so visionary as that of Val-
lancey, can only be accounted for by his slight acquaintance with 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 convinced me, that, as my worthy and learned friend General Val-
laucey 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 Magian 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 Eound
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 ROUKO TOWEKS OF IRELAND. 33
Tower was an observatory intended for celestial observations, as, I think, evidently ap-
]H 'iirs Iron) the lour windows being placed directly opposite to the four cardinal points.
The veneration in which the pagan Irish held the heavenly bodies and, above all, the
MIII, 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, iu fact, as required 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 churches 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." Eccl. 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 will, 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 well for the purpose, it does by no
means necessarily follow that the ancient Irish must have done so
likewise in towers of nine or ten feet in diameter, which would not
be at all adapted to such a purpose. Besides, I must repeat, there is
not even a shadow of proof that the Irish worshipped fire at all in
towers. " The lower part," he gravely states, " ivou/dhave 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 free from smoke, that might easily be contrived by the help of
the loop-holes which we find in them, or of the door" Now as the
F
34 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
fact is that no loop-holes, or other apertures, are ever found in the
lower part of the Towers, 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 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 evident, " that the highest part of
the tower was an observatory intended for celestial observations, from
the four 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 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, 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 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 worship 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
Round 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 faith ; 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 universally true that the Towers are
found near old churches; 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.
OF THE itot ND TOUT.!;* OF IKELANR 35
Finally, he argues that it was the policy of the Christians to build
their churches near the ancient fire-temples, and that the Round
Towers, having been built in towns, or villages of some note, re-
quired churches in Christian times. Why, then, I may ask, are not
churches found near the Pagan altars or cromleacs, which, Yallancey
states, were also dedicated to the sun? But, in truth, if the Doctor,
who was so well acquainted with the Acta Sanctorum Hibernhr.
had reflected a little before he allowed himself to be carried away
by his zeal in support of a favourite theory, he would have been
ashamed to make this assertion ; for he must have known, that 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 in the most desolate and unfrequented places that
could be found ; as the Avords " Cluain" and " Disert," prefixed so
generally to their names, sufficiently indicate, and the lives of their
founders incontestibly prove. It was, in fact, the monasteries that
usually gave birth to the towns, not the towns to the monasteries ;
and the destruction which fell upon the primitive establishments has,
in most instances, been followed by the decline of these, their con-
stant appendages.
As to the argument 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 very many
cloigteachs, or Round Towers, existed in Ireland, which 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 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."
The arguments in support of this hypothesis adduced by Miss
Beaufort, in her very elaborate and valuable " Essay upon the State
of Architecture and Antiquities previous to the landing of the Anglo-
Normans in Irc'land," are much less tangible than those I have just
examined, and rest almost entirely on the supposed Persian origin of
F 2
36 INQUIRY INTO THE OEIGIN AND USES
the Irish, and the consequent agreement in manners, customs, and
religion between the ancient ' Iran and Erin.' " This talented lady,
indeed, following in the track of Vallancey, has been indefatigable in
reading the travels of Eastern tourists, in search of evidence to sup-
port his views, but the new instances which she has gleaned from
their works, of towers in the East, always excepting the minarets,
have scarcely any agreement with those in the West, and, also ex-
cepting Hanway's eternally quoted instance of the " Rotundos of the
Ghebers," all the supposed temples of the Fire-worshippers present
forms which have not the slightest similitude to the Round Towers
of Ireland.
Miss Beaufort's etymological evidences shall be examined in their
proper places, in the course of this investigation, but a few general
assertions, which she has hazarded, seem to require particular exa-
mination here an examination which, however, I must say, from
feelings of respect for the talents and acquirements of that estimable
lady, I should gladly have avoided entering on, if the course of this
investigation did not demand it, and if silence on the arguments arid
authorities which she has adduced might not, perhaps, be taken as
evidence of inability to refute them, or, what I should still more
regret, of a want of proper respect for the value of her labours.
The assertions to which I have alluded are as follows :
1. " The object for which the towers were built is distinctly mentioned in the
ancient history called the Psalter of Cashel, and that oi' 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 thence. 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 Comerford, 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 of 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 TOWKUS OF IRELAND. 3?
who was made monarch of all Irvlund, A. D. 175, was a prince deeply learned in all
the knowledge of his times, and thut he built the tower of lioscnullis, which derives its
name from him, a proof of the antiquity of this tower at least (Parochial Surveys, III.
1>. 328.)" Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, voL xv. pp. 206, 207.
These bold assertions would seem sufficient to set the question
for ever at rest, and with uninquiring readers, must doubtless have
had great weight; but, I beg leave to ask, where are either the
Psalters of Cashel or Tara now to be found? Miss Beaufort answers,
" in the British Museum," and gives as her authority for the fact, the
Transactions of the Iberuo-Celtic Society. But that work, which
was compiled by my friend, the late Mr. O'Reilly, merely states, that
they are said to be in that national depository ; and, speaking of the
Psalter of Tara, he adds, "perhaps not truly" "Well, indeed, might
he make that admission, for there is not the least evidence to sup-
port such a hearsay, as he was himself obliged in conversation to
confess to me.
It may, however, be very properly said that, though no entire
copies of those celebrated works can now be found, authenticated
extracts may exist, which should be taken as evidence ; and that
Miss Beaufort's authorities may be of this description. Let us inquire,
then, how far they are worthy of attention.
1. For the first assertion, that the object for which the Towers were
built, namely, the preservation of the sacred fire is distinctly men-
tioned in the Psalters of Cashel and Tara, Miss Beaufort gives no
authority, and 1 might, therefore, let it pass without observation. But
it is worthy of remark, that in the curious and valuable ancient Irish
Glossary of Cormac Mac Cullenan, 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 writer could con-
nect the May-fires of the Druids with towers of any kind.
&ellcame .1 bil-rene .1. rene Bil .1. cene pomriiec .1. oa rene pommec DO jjnfrfp
na opaice co cinceclaib mopaib popaib, ocup DO bepoip na ceqia ecupa ap ceo-
manouib cecha bliaona.
" Belltaine, i. e. bil-tene, i. e. tene bil, 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 to 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 (H. 3. 18, p. 596), but, as will be seen,
it makes no more allusion to Towers than that already quoted :
38 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
6elcume, .1. 6el-oine : bel, our,, amm DO loal : if ann DO caipf ec.lbca oine cacha
cecpa pop peilb 6heil; unde 6eltine. Mo, 6elcme .). 6il-cme .1. cene c-poinmsac
.1. oa cenio DO jjniotp Dpuio co cincetlaib mopu, ocup oe lejoip na cecpa ecuppu
ap ceomanoaib cucha bliuona.
" Beltaine, i. 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 exhibited as in the possession of
Bel; unde Beltine. 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 this ancient custom, in
perhaps a modified form, still exist in the May-fires lighted in the
streets and suburbs 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. Martin gives the following account, is probably 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 Skye] did also make use of a Fire call'd Tin-Egin,
(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 Efforts 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 quickly
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 Western 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 Miss Beaufort uses. But if the lady had herself
referred to Comerford's little work, she would 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
OF TUB ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 3<)
country of Mcath, as it appears at this day ; he also erected a ttately palace in each
of these proportions, viz. in that of Munster, the palace of Tlachtya, where the fire of
Tlachtga was ordained to bo kindled, on the 31 of October, to summon the priests
and augurs to consume the sacrifices offered to their gods; and it was also ordained,
that no other fire should be kindled in the kingdom that night [P. of Tara, 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 year upon the first of May, to offer
sacrifices to the principal deity of the island, under the name of Beul, which was called
the Convocation of Visneach ; and on account of this meeting, the King of Connaught
had, from every lord of a niannor 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 with one another about their marriage. From
this custom the king of Ulster demanded an ounce of silver from every couple married
here. 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 edit. pp. 4 1 , 42.
Where, in the above extract, do we find even the slightest men-
tion of fire-towers, or a word from which an inference could possibly
be drawn that they ever had an existence in Ireland ? Palaces are
spoken of, not towers ; and there is not even a vestige of a tower, or
ancient stone building of any kind, now to be found 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 was 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 whole work being nothing more than
an abridgment of the English translation of Keating's Ireland, in
which, however, no such marginal reference occurs. An allusion,
indeed, is made in the latter work to this Psalter, but it is only to
state, in describing the Palace of Tara, that the pedigrees, &c., were
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, which Comerford has abridged, clearly
shows that the fires lighted at the convocation of Uisneach, on the
first of May, could not have been in towers, for he states that " upon
this occasion they were used to kindle two fires in every territory of
the kingdom in honour of the Pagan God" (Baal), and that " it was a
40 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
solemn ceremony, at this time, to drive a number of cattle between
these fires ; this was conceived to be an antidote and a preservation
against the Murrain, or any other pestilential distemper among cattle,
for the year following." Keating 's General History of Ireland, vol. i.
p. 326, Dublin edition, 1813.
'3. For Miss Beaufort's third assertion, that " the death of King
Lugaid was considered as a direct punishment from heaven for having
preserved the Baal-Theine in opposition to the preaching of St. Pa-
trick," we are referred to the " Psalter of Cashel, p. 68. Cited Pa-
rochial Surveys, III. p. 320." The Parochial Survey docs, it is true,
refer for its authority for this assertion to the Psalter of Cashel, but
it is only as quoted by Comerford, in page 68 of his history; and,
on referring to that page in the latter, we find no mention whatever
either of the Psalter or of the Baal-tlieine. The passage referred
to is as follows:
" This prince (Lughaidh) was killed by a thunderbolt, as a punishment from heaven,
for opposing the preaching of St. Patrick." Comerford, second edition, p. 68.
4. Lastly, Miss Beaufort asserts, that " it is recorded in Irish his-
tory that Rosa Failgee, the son of Cathair More, who was made mo-
narch of all Ireland, A.D. 175 , built the tower of Rosenallis,
which derives its name from 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. p. 328. It will be 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 derive its name from Rossa Failgea, eldest son
of Cathaoir More Charles the Great. The father being in his own hereditary right
King of Leinster, was elected supreme monarch on the decease of Fedlimus Legifer,
anno Christi 175. He attained to this high dignity by his many and great virtues, but
chiefly by his bold and successful opposition to the Danes [ !], who piratically infested
the coasts, though they had not yet attempted an invasion : he was distinguished by
his impartial justice and heroic valour, till he fell in the memorable battle of Tailten.
This monarch had many sons, polygamy being then tolerated, and Rossa his eldest and
favourite, was deeply skilled in the learning of these days. He is said to have built the
round tower mentioned in sec. IV."
Let us now turn to the section referred to, and we shall find the
following passage :
OF THE ROUND T()\VK!:.S oi- IIJKI.AM). 41
" Rosenallis has the ruins of an old church that was dedicated to the Virgin Mnry :
the inhabitants still observe the 1st of February, in commemoration of their patroness.
A round tower, connected with the ruins of Rosenallis, still remains." pp. 319, 3'JO.
It will be scon that all this is given on the writer's own authority,
without any reference to Irish records whatsoever; nor is there a
word in Irish history that would warrant assertions so absurdly falla-
cious. What, for instance, would be thought of that Irish history, if it
stated, that the coasts of Ireland were infested by the Danes in 175,
when the name of Dane is unknown to all authentic historians for
several centuries later. This writer tells us, that Rossa Failgea is
said to have built the Tower of Rosenallis, but he has not shown
that Irish histoiy says so, or given us any authority for such an as-
sertion but his own. Neither has he given us any authority for the
equally absurd statement, that Rosenallis derives its name from Rossa
Failgea ; nor is there any reason whatever to suppose that the name
was so derived. He is not even correct in his statement as to the
patroness of the old church with which the Tower was connected, and
which he tells us was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the inhabitants
still observing the first of February in commemoration of their pa-
troness. The writer should have knoAvn that none of the festival
days of the Virgin Mary falls on that day, which is so well known
to the Roman Catholics in Ireland as the festival day of St. Bridget,
that they have no other name to express this day than La peile
6|iijoe, i. e. the day of the festival of Bridget: and that it was to this
great patroness of Ireland the church of Rosenallis was dedicated,
and probably owed its origin, and not to the Virgin Mary, we have suffi-
cient evidence from the Avork of Colgan, the learned editor of her pub-
lished lives, who, in his lu'th chapter "De Ecclesiis & locis S. Brigidai
in Hibernia dicatis," inserts this very church in the following words :
" Templum S, Brigida; in vicode Rosfinnglas in Hyriegain," And this
leads us to the true etymology of the name of which Rosenallis is a
corruption, and not of Rossa Failgea, as this writer absurdly states,
l?op pmnglap signifies the wood or shrubbery of the bright stream.
It is true that Colgan also gives it, in the same list, under its Anglicized
name as if it were a different one, thus : " Ros-analluis Eccl : par : Diec.
Killdarien. in Decanatu de Kill-eich, vel rectius Kill-achuidh." But
this error, if it be one, of supposing that the places were not the
same, can easily be accounted for in a writer living out of the coun-
G
42 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
try, and depending for his information on the lists of the churches
and parishes dedicated to St. Bridget sent him by the Roman Catholic
prelates of the several dioceses. There can be no doubt, however,
that llos Finnglas and Rosenallis are the same name, from the inti-
mation given of Templum Brigidce being in 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
Miss 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 hypothesis in
the more recent essay by Mr. D' Alton the evidences relied 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 Survey; and that again, in regular progression down-
wards, cites an abridged history of no character, in which, 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 sup-
posed antiquity of the Towers, must not, however, 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. Ilib.
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 HorXI) TOWKIiS OK IliKI.AXD. -C5
of investigation. On the contrary, tlic instances quoted the 7V/--
('i/<ii//i>\ Tnr-Iiri'ogun. and the Towers of Ma^lilnirri-iKlli. or
Cniiiju/x Titrriinn, in .Mayo and Sligo, must, as our whole luMorv
shows, and as even Mr. D'Alton himself would be necessitated to
allow, have evidently been of a totally different description. The.-e
Towers have been sufficiently preserved to our own times to enable
us to ascertain their exact character, and that they were of the class
of Cyclopean forts so common in this country, as I have shown in my
( -say on Military Architecture in Ireland.
2. After the unqualified assertion, on the authority of Miss Bean-
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 emphatic mention of them by Giraldus Cambrensis, which
Dr. Ledwioh has so misquoted, does fully confirm this 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 rrl!</ious towers, which, according to the custom of the country, are nar-
row, lofty, and round, immersed under the waters; and they frequently s/ietc them to
strangers passing over them, and wondering at the causes of the phenomenon. It is
quite immaterial to the present purpose, whether OC not such an inundation did actually
happen. It was the opinion in Ireland at tluit time that it did ; it was matter of his-
tory in the country, for the annals of Tigcrnach, 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 l>ceu
overwhelmed in that visitation; that the fishermen of that lake actually distinguish
them under the water, (" sub undis conspieiunt,") and repeatedly shew them to strangers,
("extrancis 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 uses 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 patriw." 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
" ecclesiastic-SB 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 11. 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 ORIGIN 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 drawn 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 hitherto noticed to the Tower of Kildare,
which still exists, and which is characterized by features of Christian
architecture that will leave no doubt of its real era : but, while he
applies to this Tower the very identical epithet, turris ecclesias-
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
ground 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 universally received meaning in his time. The
words must be understood in their established meaning as eccle-
siastical Towers, that is, Towers connected with, or belonging to,
Christian churches, and in no other, because the word ecclesia, from
which ecclesiasticus is formed, was never applied by any Christian
writer but to a Christian congregation, or the building in which such
a congregation assembled. Neither is there greater weight in Mr.
D' Alton's remarks, that were they belfries, he (Cambrensis) would
naturally have termed them " campanilia," and that were they for any
other then known Christian purpose, he would have been sure to
name it. As already stated, it will be shown that these ecclesiastical
Towers were intended to serve for more than one purpose ; and
under such circumstances it would 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 purpose, he would have been sure to name it, the reply is
obvious, that if Cambrensis had been writing a distinct treatise on
the subject he would indeed have been sure to name the purpose, or
purposes, for which the Towers had been built, whatever they might
have been, but that it would have been altogether unreasonable to
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 45
expect a detailed explanation of those purposes in an allusion merely
incidental to the subject he had in hand. That Lough Neagh was
indued formed by an inundation, though not, in the way stated by
Cambrensis, on the authority of a legend still applied to almost every
lake in Ireland, and that this inundation actually took place in tin-
first century, there is no reason to doubt, because it is recorded by
the most ancient and trustworthy of our annalists, and the names of the
very tribes, who occupied the plain so covered, are also given in very
ancient documents. But it by no means follows, and indeed it is not
at all probable, that Cambrensis, 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 acquainted with
such authorities, he should also allow that the disgusting cause as-
signed by Cambrensis for this inundation was equally derived from
that source, though the whole existing body of Irish literature 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 the time of Cambrensis, as this writer states, I do
not by any means wish to deny : they preserve it to this very day ;
but with this important difference, that the architectural objects they
now imagine to be visible are chimneys of houses, tops of castles, and
spires of churches, 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. That " the Ulster Annals even mention the fall of no less than
fifty-seven of these Towers in consequence of a dreadful earthquake, in
A. D. 448." (O'Couor, ibid. vol. 4. p. 2). The passage referred to is
as follows :
" i<. rrml bill. Ingeiiti terremotu per loca varia imminente, plurime urbes au-
guste, muri, reccnti adliuc re-editicatione construct!, cum Ivii turribus corruerunt."
On this passage, however, which Mr. D' Alton so boldly pronounces
46 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
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 :
" Quaere utrum hsrc referenda sint ad turres Tliberniw, de quibue Giraldus inquit
' arctse suut, et alta?, necnon ct rotunda;, 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,
Isidorns, and Beda ? and with this example of Dr. CXConor's cautions-
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, would have
been sufficient to enlighten him ? For example, in the Chronological
Tables of the Abb 5 Lenglet Dufresrioy at the year 446, as well as in
the Universal History (vol. xvi.) at the year 447, he Avould 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 urls augusta, 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 shown, that if he had re-
ferred to that ancient authority he would have found, that the pas-
sage in the Ulster Annals was bxit a transcript, to the very letter,
of the original Avords in Marcellinus ? 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
Bibliatheca Veterum Patrum, Parisiis, 1654 (torn. xv. p. 716, col. i.
line 53), and again in the more correct edition edited by the cele-
brated Joseph Scaliger, and published in the Thesaurus Temporum,
Amstelodanni, 1658 (p.41, col. i. line 45) :
" Ingenti terras motu per Locaria imminente, plurimse vrbes, Augusta 1 muri re-
centi adhuc a-dificatione construct!, cum Ivij. turribus corruerunt."- Jl/arw/. Chron. in
Mag. Bibliotheca Vet. Pat.
" Ingenti terra; motu per loca varia imminente plurimi urbis Augusta? muri re-
centi adhuc resedifiVatione construct!, cum LVII. turribus corruerunt." Marcel. Citron.
in Themur. Temp.
OF THE ROUND TOWKliS OK IKF.I.AXI). 47
It may be observed (although scarcely necessary), that the text.
as given by Scaliger, is by far the more correct one ; and it may be
iiddcd, that the true reading of this passage is also quoted, as referring
to Constantinople, in Reading's edition of Evagrius's Church History,
lib. i. c. 17, notei. p. 272.
It is true indeed that the text of this passage, as published by Dr.
O'Conor from the MS. in the Bodleian Library, more nearly agrees
with that published in the Magnn Bihliotheca Vrf. Pat., 1054 ; but
it is a curious fact, that the text of the College MS. copy of the Annals
of Ulster, though originally the same as that in the Magna BibJiuthecu
Vet. Put., has been corrected in a more modern hand, by interlinea-
tion, to the very reading published by Joseph Scaliger in 1058, and this
apparently before either edition was published: It runs thus :
" Ano. Dni. cccc. xl. uiii.
" Ingenti terrae motu per locaria [corrected by interlineation to loca uaria~\ immi-
nente plurime [plurimi] urbis auguste muri receiiti adhuc rea-'dificatione conslructi cum
.l.uii. tnrribus corrueruut."
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. 1
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 weight,
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 diameter, and the respect paid to his
authority by subsequent writers even of the highest class, the only for-
midable supporter of this hypothesis that has hitherto appeared ; and,
as his works are in but few hands, and lest it might be thought 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 conjecturis indulgcrc liceret, antiquas Turres Hibernicas, quas nonnulli,
auiles i'abulas sectantes, Anachoreticas appullarunt, ad uinbrain ita capiendam, et 4 Anni
Hibcriiici Ruthus sic dufiniendas, et pra>terea ad Igncin Sacram servandum, rodificatas
fuisse existiniarcin. Earum antiquitatem Etlmicatn indicat Giraldus Sseculo xii, ubi
inquit extitissc eas antequam Lacus Neath crumperet in Ultonia. ' Piscatores Turres
istas, qua 1 more Patrise, arctce sunt, et altas, nee non et rotundtp, sub undis manifeste,
sereno tempore, congpiciunt.'' (Giraldi Topogr. Dist. 2, c. 9, p. 720.) Poterant certe
48 INQUIHY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Turres istas postcrioribus Sicculis, ad Anachorcticum usum accomodari, ut in nota ad
Annales IV Mag. ami. 898, et in Annalibus Inisfal. p. 148, itemque in Ultoniensibus ad
Annum 996 At in istis Annalibus appellantur Fiadh-Nemeadh, i. e. Indicia Ccelestia.
Sic in Annalibus Ultoniensibus ad ann. 995' Tene diait do gabail Airdmacha cona-
farcaibk Dertack, na Damliacc, na h Erdam, na Fidhnemead, ann cen loscadh.' i. e.
.Fulgur corripuit Ardmacham, ita ut non relinqueret Nosocomium, nee Ecclesiam Ca-
thedralem. (sive Basilicam) nee Domum Nobilem, nee Indieem Coelestem, quod non
combureret Eadem habet Tigernachus ad eundem annum, itemque Quatuor Magistri ;
excepto quod pro Erdam, non autem pro Fiadh-neamead, habent Cloicteacha, Campa-
nilia, his verbis 'Ann. 995.Ardmacfia do loscc do tene saighnein, ettir tighib, 7 Domhu-
lio.cc, j Cloicteacha, 7 a Fiadhneimhedh.' 1
" Ad haec IV Magistrorum verba respexit Colganus in Actis, p. 297, his verbis
' Anno 995 Ardmaeha cum Basilicis, Turribus, aliisque omnibus ajclificiis, incendio ex
fulinine generate, tota vastatur.' Hasc autem versio non literalis est, neque voces
explicat, neque conveniunt quae in Annalibus nostris alibi de Campanilibus dicuntur,
cum forma ant constructione Turrium antiquarum Hibernia3. Sic, exempli causa, in
Annalibus Ultoniensibus ad ann. 949, hac leguntur ' Cloicteach Slane do loscadh do
Gall Athadiath. Bacatt ind Erlamha, 7 doc badec do cloccaibh, Caenechair Ferleyhinn,
1 sochaidhe mor inbi do loscadh.'' i. e. Campanile Slanense combustum ab Alienigenis
Dublinii, (a Danis) Lituus Pastoralis (sive Baculum Patroni) petris pretiosis ornatus,
et Campana praecipua, et Canecar Projector Scholar, et multi ibi cum eo combusti.
" Eadem referentes ad eundem annum IV Magistri aiunt Cloicteach Slaine do los-
cadh can a Ian do mhionnaibh 7 degkdhaoinibh, im Ckoinechair Fearleighinn Slaine,
Bachatt an Erlamha 7 clocc ba deach do chloccaibh.'' i. e. Campanile Slanense combustum,
simul cum pluribus rebus pretiosis, et Religiosis viris, qui ibi erant, cum Chonecharo
Prselectore Slanense, Baculo Patroni, (i. e. S. Erci,) et Campana omnium quse ibi erant
optima.
" Jam vero haac qua3 de Campanilibus in Annalibus referuntur, minime conveniunt
vel cum forma vel cum materia Turrium Hibernensium de quibus agitur. Itaque non
pro Campanilibus sedificatas fuisse, sed eorum originem aliunde petendam esse mani-
i'estum est ... Non conveniunt cum forma, tarn arctse enim sunt, ut tot res pretiosas, et
tot homines capere non possent, et quoad materiam, e Saxis ingentibus sedificataa, nullibi
e ligno, fulgure quidem dejici, sed non comburi potuerunt." Rer. Hib. Scriptores, 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 umbra;, profectse a Styli alicujus
vertice 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 Soils centre, sed, in latitudine septentrionali,
cum Solis Margine Septentrionale. Attamen cum Ludi Taltinenses et Temorenses
spatio dierum 15, ante et post sequinoctia et solstitia ^Estiva celebrarentur, fieri vix
poterat quin, eo intervallo, Druidas, Solis et Stellarum cultores, Gnomonis ope jEqui-
noctia, et Solstitia definirent, ac vertentis anni Cardines 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 Saculo vii.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 49
Inclusoria Anaehoretica quod attinet, longe diversa erant a tiirribusistis. Inclusoriuui
in quo Marianus Scotus Fuldre inclusus est, Cella erat, muro externo circuravallata,
neque ullibi turrurum extitere unquam Inclusoria Anaehoretica Turribus Hibernicis
similia. Quatuor apertura: prope Apicem, quatuor orbis Cardines respiciunt, neque
ullatenus credibile est, hominem potuisse, non dico 20 annis, sed vel Una hyenie in ulla
ex istis turribus inclusum supervexisse. Vide Carmina Vetera Hibernica supra 'Afarta
Magh tuirreadh? ' Torinis Init an Tuir,' 1 et Calh Moighe-Tura, supra in Indice, item
Temoriam Turrium in Coemano, supra voce Temoria, et alia plum, qua; plane indicant,
Turres in antiquissimis Hibernorum Scriptis Traditionibus, tamquam ab inimemorabili
conditas, mumorari." Index, voL i. p. ccviL
The preceding extracts are in one respect at least of much im-
portance in this inquiry, they are the observations of a man who, in
comparison with the others, was preeminently skilled in the ancient
literature of Ireland, and whose whole 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
hypothesis, in the whole body of our Irish historical documents. Let
us now see to what regard these evidences are entitled.
Dr. O'Conor's conjectures relative to the astronomical uses of the
Towers might perhaps be sufficiently met by the fact already stated,
and of which repeated proofs shall be afforded in the third part of
this inquiry, namely, that the apertures at top do not invariably face
the cardinal points, and by the consideration that they are not always
foui' in number, as he supposed, but sometimes more, and sometimes
even less. However, for the sake of argument, I 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 Four 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 to in the
Irish Annals, " Fiadh-Nemeadh" or " Indicia Ccelestia." Thus :
"A. D. 898. Cosccrach frit araite Turaghan Angcoire Imi Cealtra decc."
Which Dr. O'Conor translates :
" A. D. 898. Coscrachus a quo dicitur Turris anachoretica Insulaj Celtrae obiit"
To this passage Dr. O'Conor appends the following note :
" Turaghan, a Tur turris, et aghan vel adkan accensio ignis, ut in Vocabulariis
Hibernicis, forsan a more Druidico ignes sacros in his turribus accendendi, et quibus
alios igues solemnes accendebant in quatuor anni temporibus, ut in veteri Glossario
H
50 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
apud Llhuydtim in Archajologia, voce Baal-tinne. list turres, postea a Giraklo Ecde-
xiasticce appellatse, a Christianis ad usum Anachoretarum acconuuodata; fuisse videutur,
ut in textu apparet. Vide Annal. Inisfal. p. 148."
Thus we are to infer from the passage in the text, that the Towers
were used for anchorites in Christian times, and from the etymology of
the word Turaghan, 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 probability of the
etymology, and yet deny the justness of the inferences, drawn from
them, for the anchorite Tower of Iniscealtra may not have been a
Round Tower ; and, notwithstanding Dr. O'Conor's reference in proof
of the contrary, there is no other passage in the Irish Annals in
which anchorite Towers are mentioned, or in which the word Tura-
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 by Dr. O'Conor. From the reply
with which he favoured me I extract the following observations :
" I have, as you requested, examined my manuscript 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 difference in the affair. The words of the MS. are these : ' Copccpac
fpip apcnce Cpua^an an^cmpe Inp Cealcpa....oecc.' The word Truaghan the
Doctor has, upon what authority I know not, but I believe without any, converted
into Turaghan, as you have it, and as it is in print, and this he has made an Anchorite
Toicer in his translation, and a Fire Tower 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 the MS. will hardly be disputed, and that 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 Truaghan, or a miserable creature."
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 51
From another accomplished Irish scholar, my friend Mr. O'Dono-
vau, I subsequently obtained the following remarks on the above
passage, from which it will appear that, even granting the text in Dr.
O'Conor's work to be untouched and accurate, still the translation
could not be so :
" Dr. O'Conor's translation of this passage in the Annals is very incorrect, viz.
" A. D. 898. Cosccractt fris a raite Turayhan Angcoire Insi Cealtra, (fecc."
" A. D. 898. Coscrachus a quo dicitur Turris anachoretica Insuhc Celtrw obiit."
" The original Irish cannot at all bear this translation. p| ip u puice cupu^un
cannot express a quo dicitur tuirii, because the preposition ppip being the ancient form
of the modern leip or pip does not signify from but with or to. If the Four Masters had
intruded to convey the idea expressed in Dr. O'Conor's translation, they would have
writeu 6 a paiceap, &c., not ppip a puice, &c.
" This shows that Doctor O'Conor is wrong in making Ctnjcoipe an adjective,
qualifying Turayhan, instead of making it a noun placed in grammatical apposition to
Coscruch. The following is the literal and indisputable translation of the passage as
printed by Dr. O'Conor :
" Coscrachus, cui dicebatur Turayhan. Anachoreta Insulae Celtne, obiit.
" Coscrach, who was called TURAGHAN, Anchorite of Iniskeltro, 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 paiceap Cup-dnjcoipe Inpi Cealcpa, o'ecc."
In fairness, however, to Dr. O'Conor, whom I am extremely un-
willing even to suspect of a wilful 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 unintentional mistake in deciphering the word : and, as the
volume in which 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 work, changed the text from
its abbreviated form, as was frequently his custom. It runs thus :
"A.D. 898. Coyvch [pa paice Cajan Qngcoijie mpi Cealj, o'ej."
Here it may be observed that the wordUajcm 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 (r) is under-
stood to come before or after it, so that c may be read either cjiu or
cup, though it is almost invariably the former, and it might therefore
u 2
52 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
be denied that cajdn is to be read cpuajdn. But it is very easy to
prove from the context that cajjorn cannot be read cuyia^cm ; for any
one at all acquainted with the idiomatic application of Irish prepo-
sitions will see that ppip a means cui to whom, not a quo, from whom,
as Dr. O'Conor renders it ; and when this is established it will be
seen that cajjdn 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 cpuajdn.
The adjective cpuctj signifies pitiful, and also lean, meagre; and from
it, by adding the termination cm, is formed the noun cmm^ctn, 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 unwillingness to believe
Dr. O'Conor capable of falsifying the text of our Annals, to support
any favourite hypothesis, 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 his theory of the Anchorite use of the Towers in Chris-
tian times, he refers to the authority of the Annals of Innisfallen,
p. 146, 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
the page referred to a dissertation of the Doctor's own, in which
the sacred fire of the Druids, but not the Round Towers, is men-
tioned ; and, in his second reference, 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 :
" 3lll. tJCCCC XC b. Tenediait do gabail Airdmacha con afarcaibh dertach, nadarnliacc,
na h Erdam, nafidhnemead ann cen loscadh."
Thus translated :
" Fulgur corripit Ardmacham, et non relinquit Nosocomium, nee Ecclesiam Ca-
thedralem, nee domum altam, nee turrim, in civitate, quod non incendio deleret."
And to this he appends the following note :
" Eadem habet Tighernach ad ann. 995 IV Magistri, pro Erdam, habent cloic
teacha (campanilia.) Ergo diversa erant Campanilia a turribus rotundis, de quibus,
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 53
vide not. ann. 949- Fiadhnemeadk Turris ; a Fiadh testimonium, vel Index, et nemeadh
coeloruin."
As the correctness of the etymology of the words given in the
above note constitutes the stronghold in which, in support of his
hypothesis, the Doctor has entrenched himself, 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. me Caipill co pepcub Pepnmmji 7 con Gipjiallcnb DO apjain
Qpomaca co pucpuc n.c. b " Gpomaca DO lopcao ec. cijib ajjup tDamliaj ajup
cloicceach, u^up pioneo (recte pionemeo) uili oiljen, na came piamh a n 6p. 7 na
cupja co la mbpaca oijail umluio."
"A. D. 996. Filius Carilli, cum Fernmagiensibus et Argialliis, vastat Ardmachani,
et auferunt bis mille boves. Ardraacha combusta penitus, domus, et Ecclesise lapidwt
et Campanilia, et Indicia Coelestia omnia eversa. Non evenit unquam in Hibernia,
neque eveniet usque ad diem Judicii, vindicta similis." Annul. Tighernachi.
II. " A.D. 995. Ardmacha do loscc do tene Saighnen ettir tighib, ague Domhuliacc,
agus Cloicteacha, agus a fidhneimhedh do huiJe dilyend"
" A. D. 995. Avdmacha combusta a fulmine, domus et Ecclesiaj lapidew, et campa-
nilia, et ejus turres coolestes omnes destructa:." Annul. Quat. Mag.
Now on the slightest examination of the above passages it must
appear evident that Dr. O'Conor's assertion, that the word cloicteacha
(belfries) has been substituted by the Four Masters for the word
erdam of the Annals of Ulster, but not for fiadh nemeadh, has not
the slightest probability for its support ; and if Dr. O'Conor had any
knowledge of the true meaning of the word erdam, which he guess-
ingly translates domum altam, he would not have hazarded such a
strange assertion. That the word erdam signifies a building attached
laterally to another building, as a sacristy, and not a belfry, as Dr.
O'Conor supposes, I shall incontrovertibly prove when I treat, in the
second part of this Inquiry, of the various ecclesiastical edifices an-
ciently in use in Ireland, and therefore I shall only observe here, that
Dr. O'Conor should have remembered that he was constrained him-
self to translate this very word by sacra domo, in the following
passage in the Annals of the Four Masters, which sufficiently proves
that the erdam, or erdornh, was not a belfry.
"A. D. 1006. Soisccel mor Cholaimchitte do dubhgoid is in oidhche as in erdomh
iatharach [recte iariharach\ an Doimldiacc moir Cenannsa, SfC.
" A. D. 1006. Evangelium Magnum Columba?-Cille a fure ablatum nocte ex sacra
domo inferiori Ecclesiw lapidese magna Cellensis, &c."
54 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The truth unquestionably is, that there was no substitution by the
annalists, as Dr. O'Conor supposes, of one synonymous word for ano-
ther, and that the difference of language used by them was only such
as might be expected among writers living in different ages and dif-
ferent localities. But in none of them is there any evidence to be
found that the word pioneirheb was applied to a tower; nor had any
Irish writer, 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 in the commencement of the seventeenth cen-
tury, and now preserved in the British Museum. Ayscough's Cata-
logue, No. 4795, Clarendon MSS. No. 49, fol. 2, b.
"995. Y e fyre dial taking Ardmach, and left neither sanctuary hawses or places, or
churches vnburnt."
It will be seen, then, that, whatever may be the word understood
by the translator in the sense of sanctuary, he did not at least un-
derstand any word of the original as signifying a celestial index or a
tower of any kind.
In the next authority which I have to adduce, namely the Chro-
nicon Scotorum, which was compiled from the old Annals of Clon-
macnoise, it will be seen, that, while the Annals of Ulster omit noticing
the burning of the belfry or belfries, this older authority, on the other
hand, omits the pibneirhe6 and epocim. The passage is as follows :
" A. D. 996- Gipjialla o' opjain Opomacha 50 pucpac pice ceo bo eipce.
Qpomachu DO lojcao raijib, cemplaib, ocup a cloigceacli."
And this passage is not inaccurately rendered by Connell Mageo-
ghcgan, who 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 Armach, and took from thence
2,000 cows. Armach was also burnt, both church, houses and steeple, that there
was not never such a poor spectacle seen in Ireland before."
Thus Colgan, 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. Ardmacha cum Basilicis, turribus, aliisque omnibus cedifaiis incendio
exflumine [fulraine] generato, tota vastatur, tyc." Trias Thaum. p. 297.
Dr. O'Conor, however, who defends his hypothesis with all sorts of
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 55
weapons, objects to Colgan's version of this passage, as being neither
literal, nor explanatory of the words, nor reconcileable with what is
written in the Annals about other belfries, as regards either the form
or construction of the ancient Round Towers (Proleg. ubi supra, p. 49);
but these assertions are not borne out. Colgan, who had no line-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 he considered
it necessary to his purpose, which was to record the destruction of
the sacred edifices of Armagh; and he leaves the word pi6neirh~6
untranslated, because, as I shall presently prove, it was not a building
of any kind. If then, bearing this in mind, we analyze his translation,
it will be as follows. For the words Qjiomacha no lopccar> DO rene
yaijjnen, he gives us very correctly, leaving the verb to close the
sense at the end, ArdmacJia incendin ex fulmine generato ; lie 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 eccip Oovhuliacc, by cum Basilicis; next cloicreacha, or
belfries, by turribus ; and lastly ci^ib, or houses, which he thought
of the least importance, by aliis omnibus cedificiis; then, passing over
the word pioneirhen, as unnecessary to his purpose, he translates Do
h-uile Diljjeno, by tota vastatur.
That the preceding analysis is the true one will appear incon- ottjh*
trovertible, when I have shown hereafter the true meaning of the word
pfbneimen, and that Dr. O'Conor himself knew he was attempting
an imposition on his readers by giving a different meaning to Colgan's
words, would almost appear certain, from our finding him elsewhere
actually falsifying the text of this very passage in Colgan, to support
his hypothesis. Thus, in a note on the original passage in the Annals
of the Four Masters, he writes :
"Notanda est distinctio inter Cloicteartta (campanilia) et Fidneimhedh (turn's,) vox
derivata a fiad (index seu testimonium,) et neimhedh (coelorum.) Colganus, ad hunc
textum referens, destructionem enarrat Efdesia>, Campanilitim, et Turrhim Ardniaeha?,
anno hoc, unde sequitur turres non campanilia fuisse, sed potius indicia cceleetia ad
Solstitia, ^Equinoctia, et Ccelorum motus indicandos!"
Most strange ! And Lanigan (vol. iv. p. 412), D' Alton (Essay on
Ancient Hist, of Ireland, fyc., p. 138), and Moore (Hist, of Ireland,
vol. i. p. 34, note), repeat the same passage, and draw the same infe-
rence, evidently without referring to the passage in Colgan, for if they
56 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
had done so, they would have instantly seen that, though Colgan no-
tices the destruction of the basilica?, turres, and other cecUficia of Ar-
magh in the year 995, he has not the word campanilia, 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 cloictheach of the Irish Annals
by the word turn's, for it is so rendered by him within three pages
of the passage, which Dr. O'Conor thus so shamefully corrupted,
viz. :
" A. D. 1121. Athach gaoitlie moire do ticktain in Decemb. na bliadhna so, co ro la a
bhendcobhar do cloictheach Ardamacha."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 1 121. Tempestas venti ingens evenit in mense Decembri anni hujus, quse
destruxit tectum Campanilis Ardmachani."
Thus by Colgan :
" A. D. 1121. Ingens venti tempestas hoc anno in mense Decembri sup-emum tectum
TUEKIS A rdmachanoe deiecit." Trias Thaum. p. 300.
But more than this the word turris is also used by him as a
translation of cloictheach, in his version of the passage in the Annals
of the Four Masters relative to the burning of the belfry of Slane ;
and this Dr. O'Conor must have known, as he has adduced it (ut
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. Cloicdiech Slame DO lopccao DO ^lia^aiB co n-a Ian DO linon-
naib', ajjup oe^oaoimb, im Chuomechaip, peap-leijinn felame, ajup bachull an
Gplama, ajup clocc ba oeach oo cloccaib."
" A. D. 948. Coeneachair, id est Probus, Prcelector sen Prcefectus Scholce Slanensis,
in ipsa TUKRI Slanensi fluminis \_Jlammis] per Danos enecatus interijt, cum multis alijs
pijs socijs Sanctorum Reliquijs, $ baculo ipsius Sancti Antistitis, 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-
mhedh, I felt assured that he had given it a meaning utterly erro-
OF THE HOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 57
neous, and that the true explanation would be sam-il frees, or frees
of the sanctuary; and, having expressed this opinion to Mr. O'Dono-
van, lie was induced to collect, from the most ancient MS. authorities
in the libraries of Trinity College and the Royal Irish Academy,
such a number of examples of its application as must leave no doubt
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 ample
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 the different Irish Annals, in which the
compound term Fidhneimhedh occurs, Dr. O'Conor explains it,
sometimes by the words index ccplorum, and sometimes by indicia
ccelestia, because, as he says, fiad signifies an index, or witness, and
neimhedh, of the heavens ; and at other times he explains it by tur-
res ceelestes, and again, simply, by turn's. Thus it will be seen, that
by .a singular process of induction, out of two words which, as he says,
literally mean witness and of the heavens, he makes a Round Tower
after the following formula :
1. Fidh, a witness.
2. , an index.
2, Jilsrn r{*-4 3. Fidh Neinihedh, an index of the heavens.
7L4*** *x 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 was, indeed, sometimes under-
stood as signifying of the heavens, as if formed from neamh, heaven
(the nimbus of the Latins), with the termination of the genitive
plural ; and, it was also used as an adjective signifying celestial, hea-
venly, or holy, and is understood in this sense by Colgan, who, in
translating the name of a place in Ulster, called Slig/te Neimheadh,
I
iw 6
53 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
renders it by via coelestis sive sancta. Trias Tliaum. p. 165. But
the word neimheadh is also used in ancient Irish MSS. in the sense of
sanctuary, and also of glebe lands, because, as it would appear, the
glebe lands had often, anciently, the privilege of sanctuary ; and hence
Colgan always translates the word, when used subs'tantively, by the
Latin sanctuarium, as in the following examples :
First, in translating a passage in the Annals of the Four Masters,
relating to the church of Knocknasengan at Louth, under the year
1148:
"A. D. 1148. Ueampull Cnuic na Sen^an DO popbao lap an Gppcop O'Caol-
laioe agup la Donnchao ua j-Cepouill, u^up a coippeccao la h-uu rflopjaip,
Comapba paccpaicc, ajup NfcTTIheDh, .1. culurii Gcclupou, DO opoucchao DO i
" A. D. 1148. Ecclesia Lugmagensis constmcta per Episcopum Hua Coellaidhe et
Donchadum Hua Keruaill (Orgiellice Principem) & consecrata per (Malacliiam) Hua
Morgair, Comorbanum (id est successorem) S. Patricij ; qui & SANCTUARIUM Lugmagiae
constituit." Ada SS. p. 737, col. i See also Trias Thaum. p. 305, col. ii.
Again, in translating a passage in the same Annals, under the year
1196, he renders "Uujigbalaibe ceall agu]- NGlTnheaOh," by
"Basilicarum et SANCTUAKIORUM fundator." Trias Thaum. 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:
" Nerher .1. nem-iar .1. anup oip DO eclaip."
" Nemheth, i. e. Nemh-iath, [heavenly or sacred ground] i. e. which belongs to the
Church."
Thus also in an ancient Glossary in a MS. in the Library of Trinity
College, Dublin, H. 2. 16, Col. 120:
" NemiD, in can ip ppi h-eclaip, .1. nem-iar .1. lar netne."
" Nemid, when belonging to the Church, i. e. heaven-land, i. e. land of heaven."
And thus again more distinctly in O'Clery's Vocabulary of ancient
Irish words :
" Neirheao .1. neam-iac .1. peapann eajlaipe, no calarii ip olirceac oo'n enr-
laip."
" Neimheadh, i. e. neamh-iath [heaven-land] i. e. church-land, or ground which is
lawful [due] to the church."
It will also be seen, from the preceding authorities, that in this sense
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 59
the word was supposed to have been differently formed from the
word Hi-iwIii-aiUi, used adjectively the latter part of the word being
understood to be a corruption of mr, land; and it is a singular fact
in tliis inquiry that Dr. O'Conor was himself obliged to understand
and translate it in this sense, as Colgan had done before him. Thus,
in translating the passage above given under the year 1148, he has
rendered the word nemhedh by terra sancta.
" Ecclesia Collis Sengan tecto cooperta ab Episeopo O'Caolladhio et a Doimcliado
O'Carroll, et consecrata ab O'Morgaro Vicario Patricii, et TERRA SANCTA, Le. TERRA
ECCLESIASTICA assignata ei iu Lugmadia." Rerum Hib. Script, vol. iii. p. 761.
Thus it may be considered as proved beyond question, that the
word neimhedh was not restricted to the sense of holy, or celestial,
in which Dr. O'Conor translated it in the compound term Fid/i-
neimhedh ; and that the true interpretation must depend on the cor-
rect understanding of the word fidh, and its fitness to be joined to it.
If, for instance, the word fidh could bear the translation of witness,
or index, which Dr. O'Conor has attached to it, the compound term
might, indeed, mean, as he has it, celestial witness, or index, though
even this would not necessarily imply either a Gnomon, or a Hound
Tower, for such phrase might with far greater propriety be used to
designate the crosses which, in obedience to an ancient canon of the
Church, were always erected to mark the limits of the neimhedh, or
sanctuary. But if it can be shown that the wordjidh will not bear
the translation given of it by Dr. O'Conor, while it can be explained
with certainty in a sense consistent with the application of the word
neimhedh, either substantively, in the sense of sanctuary, or, adjec-
tively, in the sense of holy, his explanation of this compound term
must be rejected altogether. To investigate the meaning of the word
fidh is therefore my next object.
Dr. O'Conor states that the word FIAD, or FIADH, signifies a witness,
or index ; and it is quite true that it does mean a witness, but not an
index, being of the same root as the Saxo-English word wit, as in the
phrase to wit, and the word witness, which has also an Irish cognate in
the word fiadhnaise. But the word in question is not written fiadh by
the Irish Annalists in any one instance, but fidh or Jiodh, which is a
totally different word, signifying wood, and cognate with that Saxo-
English word. To adduce authorities to prove that this is the mean-
i 2
60 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
ing of the word would be superfluous, as it is so explained in all the
ancient Irish Glossaries and modern Dictionaries, and always trans-
lated nernus or sylva, by Colgan ; but the following example of its
use will be striking and interesting, as containing an example also
of the word neimheadh, with which it has been combined in the
term Fidhneimhedh, under discussion.
" A. D. 1583. Nip 6fon ap an j-capcm pin na pop a riiumcip, NGJTTlhGGtDh
naoirii na pilio, flOOh na poicip, gleann, na baile, na babboun, no gup cojlao
an cip uile laip."
" A. D. 1583. From this Captain [Brabazon] and his people, neither the Neimheadh
of the saint nor of the poet, the wood nor the forest, the valley, the town, nor the bawn
afforded shelter, until the whole country was destroyed by him." Annal. Qieat. May.
It is obvious then that fidh signifies wood, and not witness, and
that the second word, neimheadh, if understood adjectively, must
simply mean holy, or sacred, and, if understood substantively, a sanc-
tuary, or glebe land, and thus the term would mean holy wood, or
wood of the sanctuary or glebe. And, as Dr. O'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 used and explained, he could not have even for a
moment dreamed of its signifying either Gnomon or Round Tower,
for it is used in the most authentic vellum Irish MSS. in the sense
of sacred grove, or wood of the sanctuary, and in no other in Chris-
tian times, though it may have been, and, I have little doubt was,
originally applied to designate the sacred groves of the Druids.
The most curious 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 first runs
thus :
" Gpe" caccc" pecma c achc d pmnemeao, e no Oegpit/."
- Succidantur omnes sylvse preeter sylvam sacrann seu sauctam sylvam.
Gpe is interpreted by the Glossographer as equivalent to the more modern word
lecpao, to cut.
b Cacu is the ancient form of jaca, each, every.
c feaoa is the plural of pio, or pioo, a wood. According to the modern ortho-
graphy the o would be aspirated in the singular and plural.
d Gchc, but, except, is so written and understood at this day.
c Pionemeao is interpreted by the Glossographer f ID cilli, i. e. WOOD of the church.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
In like manner the same laws, in specifying the fines for cutting
down the fourth or lowest class of trees, called lopa peaoa, contain
the following curious reference to Fulhncmedh.
" topa peaoa, patch, aiceano, opip, ppuech, eioeano, jilcach, ppm. Cupa u
n-oipe each ae. .1. cpi pcpipail inocib icip uichgm ocup oipe innctb pin, in can ip a
pio coimicheapa, ocup ni pil ni Via n-jablaib, &c. ITlao a pionemeo beioe imoppu
.1111. pcpipail inoceib ap oipe, ocup ou~ pcpipul ap aichjin, ocup a cpi'Jti ma n-^ubla,
ocup a pe'ipeao , n a cpaebaib." E. 3. 5. fol. 3, b, a.
" The Losafeada, [slirubs] am fern, furze, briar, heath, icy, broom, thorn. A cura
is the fine for each, that is, three screpah for both restitution and fine, when in a common
teooJ, and there is no fine for their branches, &c. If they be in a Fidhnemedh, then
shall four screpals be paid for fine, and two serepals for restitution, a third [of a screpal]
for 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 Fidlineiinedk, which, like that
just quoted, proves to a demonstration that it meant sacred wood,
not Round Tower.
" Decbip cpamo a pio comaiccepa, ocup can oecbip jrpaio ; oecbip jpaioa pio
neimeo, ocup cm oecbip cpumo. Smucc a pio nenneo no co m-bencup uile, ocup
enechlunn mo o bencup."
" There is a difference of tree in the common wood, and no difference of rank ; there
is a difference of rank in the Fidhneimedh, and no difference of tree. The restriction of
the law is on the Fidhneimedh until it be all cut down, and a fine for it when cut"
Though not essentially necessary to my purpose, 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 tlu's term
to a pagan sanctuary, or grove, in which there was an altar, or oracle,
as it will go far towards proving that the word is of pagan origin.
Surely, if Dr. O'Conor had seen this, ho could never have thought of translating pib-
neimeo Round Tower! According to the modern Irish orthography this would be
written rib neiriieao, which is the very form of the term adopted by the Four Masters
at the year 995. Vallancey, in translating this passage in the Brehon Laws (Collec-
tanea, Vol.111, p. 107), renders fid neimcad, HOLY WOODS.
f Oe^po 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-
brated Duald Mac Firbis, inserted in a MS. in Trinity College, H. 2. 15. p. 208. This
leaf is a fragment of Mac Firbis's first draft of his Glossary of the Brehon Laws, of
which several fragments are to be found scattered among the College MSS. The
phrase pioo oef 10 up oun is thus explained on this leaf: " pioo oepio ap oun .1.
coill oee up no aj un oun .1. pio nirheao," L e. Fiodh defid on the Dun, i. e. the sa-
cred vrood on or at the dun, i. e. a Fidh nimheadh.
oi
.c(x<-4
J X '^
2 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The first passage is from an abridged prose translation of Virgil's ac-
count of the destruction of Troy, preserved in the Book of Ballymote,
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 Ballymote, with a literal transla-
tion by Mr. O' Donovan, and under it the passage in Virgil, to which
it corresponds :
" TTlupo bai in cpeb' pin aioci co haiobmo, la bponac 01 in aioci pin. Ro elu
poloimoep, nvic phpiaim, lap n-a juin DO P>pp ip in up pin, oapo opt'p lapcupac na
pijj-ouine, ap cac aupoum ma paili, co h-aipm a paibi Ppiam h i plt)N6)T)Ut)
loib ; cijjup pipp jac conaip no cejio ma oiaio, conio ano puj paip in can po piaccco
tn-bai i piaonaipi a achap, .1. Ppiam ; ajup DO beip ppp puipmio paip ou'n learan
ftui lan-moip bai ma oetp, co puj uppumo epic, cup cuic mapb cen annv'in. i
piaonaipi a achap. Qcpacc annaioi conacaib a eppio coroutine ; ajupcia cheap-
baoap ni ceapbaio a opoc-ai^ne; ajup popopbaip aithipiuyjao Pipp o bpiacpuib,
a S u F irr eao I 10 P aiD PT : a cuilioe, appe, ip mop in jnimoopijnip, mo imoeupftab-
pa ajjup mo mac DO mapbab im piaonaipi, ajup hi piuonaipi alcoipi na n-oe h-i
plt)NemiD loib! ajup DC nime oia oijail popc."_Fol. 245, a, b.
" Happy as this family was one night, sorrowful to them was that night. Poloi-
nides, the son of Priam, after having been wounded by Pyrrhus in that slaughter, fled
through the western door of the royal palace, and from one apartment \aurdani\ to
another, until 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 !
May 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.
" jEdibus in mediis, nudoque sub a?theris axe,
Ingens ara fuit; juxtaque veterrima laurug
Incumbent arce, aiqite umbra cumplexa Penates,
Hie Hecuba,
Ecce autem elapsus Pyrrhi de cade Polites,
Unus natorum Priami, per tela, per hostes,
OF THE ROUXD TOWERS OF IRELAND. G3
Porticibus longis fugit, et vacua atria lustrat
Saucius. Ilium ardens infesto vulnere Pyrrhus
Insequitur, jam jamque manu tenet, et premit hasta.
Ut tandem ante oculos evasit et ora parentuin
Coucidit, ac multo vitam cum sanguine fmlit.
Hie Priamus, quanquam in media jam morte tenetur,
Non tamen abstinuit, nee voei ineque pepercit.
At tibi pro scelere, exclainat, pro talibus ausis,
Di, si qua est coelo pietas, quaj talia curet,
Persolvant grates dignas, et prgeniia reddant
Debita : qui nati corain me cernere letum
Fecisti, et patrios fuidasti funere vultus." j&neid. Lib. 11.512 539.
Thus again, the followihg passage, taken from an Irish translation
of some ancient account of the siege of Troy, in a vellum MS. pre-
served in the library of Trinity College, has the term FidJineimhedh
in the sense of sacred wood, or wood containing an oracle.
" Ip i pin aeip ajj-.ip uaip oo puachoaoup laochpaio Innpi timin 6 retail na
Cpo^ia moipi. Ro Bi plt)hNG17)l 6O!l oo-imcvchca ip in c-pleb ba coimneapa
ooib, ajup DO cuaoap mna Innpi ,emm mo o'lnppaio fpeajpa ap na oeuiB, 5up
ranjaoup baoBa bel-oeapjja a curhaip Ippinn o'ci m-buaiopeao-pun co nmje pin :
oip oobi Uenip ben-cumachcach, ujup Gm oupbabuch, piup ITlaipc, oea in chaca, 'i
05 pup6il uilcc ap na mnaib pin." H. 2, 17, p. 123.
" This is the time and hour that the heroes of the Island of Lemnos were re-
turning from the siege of great Troy. There was a FiJhnetnhedh 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 Venus the woman-powerful, and Eni [Bellona] the fu-
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 have
done : it will show that, even if Dr. O'Connor had been so little ac-
quainted with the Irish language as to be unable to understand its
meaning from the passages already quoted, he might yet have dis-
covered it through his knowledge of Latin. Thus, in an ancient Irish
MS. Glossary in the Library of Trinity College, to which the Doctor
had access, the word nemhedh, a poet, is explained in such a manner
by allusion to Fidhneimliedh, that it would have been impossible not
to see the proper meaning of the latter :
Herheo, .1. pilio, a nemope: up ip a plt)N6)Tiet)Q16 po jniclp pileoa a
n-5peppa. H. 2. 16. Col. 120.
" Nemed, i. e. a poet, from Nemus (a grove) : because it was in Fidnemeds (sacred
groves) poets were used to compose their works."
0-1 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
After such evidences as I have now adduced, the reader
I trust, have little doubt as to the true meaning of the Fidhneimhedh
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 often 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 Four Masters, at the year 1162, commemorate the burning
of the yew tree planted by St. Patrick at Newry, the memory of which
is still perpetuated in the name of that flourishing town. And the
remains of 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 cloict/ieachs, or belfries,
noticed in the Annals, were not the Bound 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 which, 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-
condly, of its material, which, being of stone, and in no part of wood,
could not be burned, though it might be broken down by lightning."
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 purpose solely.
2. When Dr. O'Conor asserts that the Round Towers could not
be burned becaiise they were in no part (millibi) of wood, he must
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IKKI.AM). 65
have been strange! v forgetful of the mode of their construction, in
which the floors, and, we may suppose, the doors also, were 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 burned. The destruction of their inflammable parts is the only
injury which we are to suppose the cloictheachs suffered on those
occasions ; and we have no more reason to conclude that they were
wholly of wood, than that the damliliags or stone churches were so,
which are so constantly mentioned in those Annals as having suffered fi A i
the same fate. Besides, can any thing more absurd be imagined than
that the ecclesiastics should fly for safety with their holy treasures
from a band of savage plunderers to a wooden belfry, while they
had a stone edifice of any kind to shelter in ? Such an improbability
would hardly obtain credit from any one but a person ready to
believe any thing for the sake of a favourite theoiy.
Dr. O'Conor, however, was so deeply intent on establishing his
hypothesis, that he lost no opportunity of pressing these puerile ar-
guments on his reader's attention. Thus, in a note to a passage in
the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 1097, which records the
burning of the cloictheach, or bell-house of Monaster-Boice in the
County of Louth, he repeats these arguments, to divert, as it would
appear, the reader from the obvious conclusion at which he should
otherwise arrive, namely, that the Round Towers were unquestion-
ably the cloictheachs or bell-houses of the Annalists.
" Ex his sequitur, valde diversa fuisse, non solum nomine, verum et re ipsa, Hi-
bernorum Campanilia a Turribus rotundis antiquissLmis, more patrio constructs, juxta
Giraldum, qui usque hodie per Hiberniam, e vivo saxo adificata, conspiciuntur. Cam.
panilia enim C'loiccteac/t, Turres autem rotundi Fiadh-ncimhe dicebantur, i. e. Indicia
ccelestia, uti supra ad ann. 994, et neque comburi poterant turres isti, neque pro
bibliothecis aut rebus pretiosis servandis apti erant, vel ad finem istum construct!
censendi sunt, repugnante forma, altitudine, arctitudine, et interna constructione."
Annales IV. Magistrorum, 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 the
books and other precious things are stated to have been burned, still
exists to demonstrate the absurdity of his conjectures. It is yet known
only by the name given it by the Annalist, namely, the " cloictheach ;"
K
66 INQUIRY 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 little library and other precious things in a wooden
edifice 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 cloictheachs or belfries
were 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 occurs but a few pages after that last referred to, stating that
the cloictheach, or belfry of Telach n ionmainde in Ossory sup-
posed to be the present Tullamaine, near Callan, in the county of
Kilkenny was split by lightning, and that a stone which flew from
that belfry killed a student in the church ? The passage, as printed
and translated by Dr. O'Conor himself, is as follows :
" A. D. 1121. Cloicteaeh Thflcha n ionmainde in Osraicch do dluige do chaoirteinn,
ftgus clock do sgeinm as an ccloictheach ishin, co ro mharbh. me leighinn isin till."
" A. D. 1121. Campanile Telcliiomnandense in Ossoria dijectum a fulmine, et
lapis divulsus e Campanile isto occidit juvcnem lectorem in Ecclesia."
More to the same effect might be still adduced, but I trust it will
be considered as unnecessary, and that I have now sufficiently 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 required the contest. But I
should be sorry to have it supposed that I would insinuate an unfa-
vourable opinion of his general accuracy, 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 applicable to
his own, namely, " that the Amor Patriae 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 hypothesis
under consideration, since this Inquiry was originally written and
presented to the Academy, namely our great national poet, Moore,
and the ingenious Mr. Windele, of Cork. In the arguments of the
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OK HiKI.ANP. 67
former, indeed, I find little but a repetition, embodied in more grace-
ful language and a more logical form, of the evidences which I have
already 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 place.
" How far those pillar-temples, or Round Towers, which form so remarkable a 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 Irith, we have no cer-
tain means of determining. That they were looked upon as very ancient, in the time
of Giraldus, 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
Tigcrnach 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 Chris-
tian hands." History of Ireland, vol. i. p. 26.
Mr. Moore then proceeds to examine the various theories, which
have been advocated in connexion with their Christian origin and
uses, to which he makes objections, which shall be examined in their
proper place, and then resumes as follows :
" As the worship of fire is known, unquestionably, to have formed a part of the 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 the Persians themselves ; though, at the same
time, 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 their shape, the door or entrance, elevated some feet above the
K 2
G8 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
ground, the four windows near the top, facing the cardinal points, and the small
rounded roof, these Indian temples are, to judge by the description of them, exactly
similar to the Bound 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 Bhaugulpore and the Round 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, appears 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 well 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 difficulty.
But, independantly of this hypothesis, the early and long-continued intercourse which
Ireland appears to have maintained, through the Phoenicians, with the East, would
sufficiently 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 Hermse. Through the
same channel which introduced these 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-
terity, those remarkable monuments to which only the corresponding remains of their
own original country can now afford any clue.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. f>9
" The connection of sun-worship witli tin; science of astronomy has already been
brie'flv adverted td ; und tin- tour windows, facing the four cardinal points, which are
found in tin- Irish as well as in the Eastern pillar-temples, were alike intended, no
duiilit, for the purposes of astronomical observation, for determining the equinoctial
and solstitial-times, and thereby regulating tlu: recurrence of religious festivals. The
Phoenicians themselves constructed their buildings on the same principle ; and, in
the temple of Tyre, where stood the two famous columns dedicated to the Wind and
to Fire, then- wen- 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 points 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 by some of the
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 flame.' 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 but
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
tlu-y 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 Coenobites 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 could be found either the ambition or
the skill to supply them witli 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 difficulty of these towers,
or account satisfactorily, at once, for the object of the buildings, 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 THE ORIGIN AND USES
themselves, from the strong evidence which is found in the writings of antiquity, that
there existed between Ireland and some parts of the East, an early and intimate 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." History of Ireland,
vol. i. p. 29 36.
As in the preceding arguments I find nothing requiring an answer,
which has not been already noticed, I shall gladly pass on to the ar-
guments more recently adduced by Mr.Windele in a tone of confidence,
which contrasts strikingly with the cautious spirit of inquiry exhibited
by Mr. Moore. The first article in support of this hypothesis, put for-
ward by Mr. "Windele, appears in a work entitled Historical and
Descriptive Notices of the City of Cork and its Vicinity, <fyc., Cork,
1840, and is as follows :
" The origin and use of these towers are still, as they have been for nearly two
centuries past, 'quest/ones vexatce? 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 Lingam, 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 Budlia. 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, Morresand 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 Phoenician
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 adttan, Feidh-neimhedh and Cilcagh are of them-
selves conclusive as to their Pagan origin, and announce, at once, a fane devoted to that
form of religion, compounded ofSabooism, 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,
differed from that of Gaul and Britain. Zoroaster was its grand reformer in Persia, and
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 71
the reformation scorns to have been accepted in Ireland. He it was, who caused Pyreia,
or Fire temples, to be erected. Hanway tells us, that four of them which he saw at
Sari, arc 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 tor carrying them up to so great a height. The objection equally lies
against those at Sari. Fire temples, also constituted part of the Brahminical worship.
They were called like ours, Coil from Chalana, to burn. Mr. Pennant, speaking of the
Indian Pollygars, says, that they retained their old religion, and that their Pagodas are
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 Baugulphore. 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 Babylonia, 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 Phenicio, strewed with very singular buildings, of
high antiquity, called Nuraggis, 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 hun-
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 our Round towers occurring in the early documents,
yet preserved. In our annals, the names of such places as Mtiighe Tuireth-na-bh Fo-
morach, the plain of the Fomorian tower ; Moy-tura, the plain of the Towers, in
Mayo ; Torinis, the island of the tower ; the tower of Temor, and many others are men-
tioned with reference to the most remote periods of our history. The Ulster Annals,
at the year 448, speak of a terrible earthquake 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
luiscailtre, 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 hospital, cathedral, palace,
and Fidhnemectd, or celestial index, i. e. Round tower.
" These two last names ought to be decisive of the controversy. Turaghan literally
signifies a Fire-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. Ryland, (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 Lotith,
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 Inclusorii were very different 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 Ardmore, where
that of St. Declan is called the Monachan, 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 Raths 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 Pelasgic. 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 Mexico; 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 Pestum, 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 of 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 beyond our proposed limits, and we must therefore give over." p. 179
184.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 73
Such then is the sum of " all the force of argument, authority, and
analog}'," which appeared to Mr. Windele to be with General Val-
lancey and his followers. " The advocates of the Christian origin,"
he says, " have, in vain, sought for a prototype, 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, where have
examples of such prototype been found in any of the countries re-
ferred to ? Not surely in Lord Valentia's Towers at Bhaugulpore, in
India, which are not proved to have been fire-temples, or of any very
remote antiquity ; nor in the four towers of the Guebres in India, so
vaguely described by Hanway, which could not have been like our
Round Towers ; nor in Major Keppel's pillar of sun-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 which
he finds this prototype are those " called Nuraggis, a name deemed
to be derived from Norax, the leader of the Iberian colony," and
which, in some places, " are called ' Domu [Domos] de Orcu,' or
house of death, in the belief of their being monuments of the dead"
a rather singular appellation for temples of the sacred fire. But
this Norax, according to the best ancient authorities, colonized Sar-
dinia about 1250 years before the Christian era; and, I should like
to be informed how these works of a Greek people could have pre-
served the form of the fire-temples of the Persian Magi, which were
first constructed by Zerdusht, or Zoroaster, about seven centuries
afterwards ? This is indeed " following 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 countrymen with the Iberian and Phoenician colonists
of Sardinia. The real question, however, is, Is there any similarity
between these Nuraghes of Sardinia and the Irish Bound Towers ?
Mr. Windele would have 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 stones,
whose sides fit each other, without being connected together by either
time or cement. The largest are from fifty to sixty feet high. The
L
74 INQUIRY INTO THE OEIGIN AND USES
interior is divided into three dark chambers, one above the other.
Under several of these structures, burying places and svibterranean
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, structures 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 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 r - L. C. F. Petit-Radel, Paris,
1826:
" DESCRIPTION GENERALE DBS NURAGHES.
" Les Nuraghes ou Noraghes de la Sardaigne, sont 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 base du 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 leur
sommet, la courbure 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 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 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 1'irre-
gularite que produisent des cassures faites, par le marteau, sur des pierres dures. Quel-
quefois les pierres en sont plus exactement parallelipipedes, sans cependant atteinclre
a la regularite parfaite, qui pourrait faire supposer 1'emploi simultane de la regie, du
niveau et de la scie, comme dans les ouvrages les plus soignes de 1'antiquite grecque
ou romaine. 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 ROUND TOWEHS OF IRELAND. 75
" Les Nuraghes sont le plus souvent batis en plainc, sur des tertres naturels
ou sur des collincs; qurlqm-fois ils sont entoures d'un terre-plain tres etendu, de
plus ou de moins de cent vingt metres de circuit, fortifie d'un mur de dix pieds de
haut, ct du meme style de construction que 1'edifice qu'il entoure ; on en connait plu-
sieurs qui sont flanques 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 ren-
ferme est quelquefois traverse dans toute sa longueur par une communication qui
conduit de 1'un a 1'autre cone, et qui repond a 1'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 domine le cone principal.
Quand le nombre des cones accessoires 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 bien anciens, de cette eurhythmie dont
Vitruve a parle. (Lib. i, cap. n.)
" Les murs de ces monumens se composent, pour la plupart, de deux paremens,
dont les blocs s'ajustent 1'un a 1'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 1'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
1'une au-dessus de 1'autre, et dont chaque voute se termine en ogive ovoide. II parait
que la chambre la plus basse ne sera devenue souterraine, que par 1'effet de 1'addition
des quatre cones angulaires et du terre-plain qui en recouvre 1'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 lexir
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 1'appareil 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 File, 1'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 soupiraux
de nos caves, ne s'elargit et ne s'eleve qu'a mesure qu'on avance, en s'y glissaut 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 him with 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
INQUIRY INTO THE OKIGIN AND USES
give a good idea of the usual construction of a Nuraghe, 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 with each other by a parapet wall, as in the Nuraghe of
Borghidu, which is here illustrated. This monument is situated
in the plain of Ozier, on a moderately elevated rock of very hard
" breche trachytique," of which the Nuraghe 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 smaller 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 :
The cuts which follow represent a plan on the level/g- of the second
chamber, and a section through de on the ground plan, exhibiting the
internal arrangement of the building, and the peculiar construction
of its window.
OF THE BOUND TO\VEKS OK IRELAND.
77
In the two next sections will be seen the means of ascent, from the
lower to the upper chamber, by a spiral gallery, constructed within
the thickness of the wall, and ascending in a gradually inclined plane
from one story to the other.
The first of these sections is taken on the line a b on the ground
plan ; the second, in part on the same line, but diverging in a semi-
circle through the point c to show the course 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 c and doorway a in
those structures generally. The elevation represents the Nuraghe
Nieddu, 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 upper
chambers does not rise, as in the former example, from the first
chamber, but commences 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.
78 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
That 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 well
as with the Cyclopean 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 origin of the Round Towers in my Essay on
the Ancient Military Architecture of Ireland, presented to the Royal
Irish Academy in 1836, and which was honoured 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 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 ; human bones having been found
interred within that at Ram Island in Antrim, and similar relics,
but having undergone the ancient pagan process of Cremation,
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 burned bones in the Tower of Timahoe. Mr. 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
buildings were occasionally, in part, applied to sepulchral purposes,
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, communicating a portion of the enthusiasm so excited to the
gentlemen of the South Munster Society of Antiquaries, inflamed that
zealous body with such ardour to substantiate his hypothesis, that
they set out on journeys of discovery to the principal Round Towers
remaining in their own province, to excavate the very foundations
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 79
of those Towers in search of the wished-for human remains. The
result will be best told in Mr. Windele's own words, as given in the
Cork Southern Reporter :
" RESEARCHES AMONGST THE ROUND TOWERS.
" The public attention has lately been directed, through the press, to the discovery
of a human Skeleton, within the basement of the Round Tower of Ardmore, in the
County 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, 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 evidences 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 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, 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 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 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. 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 the original literary
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 charac-
ter, hitherto brought to light, have been obtained from localities of decidedly a heathen
80 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN. AND USES
origin. Bealahamire (' the place of the field of adoration') near this city, possesses 2
Beallanrannig in Kerry, where 7, and Coolcoolaught in the same county where 6 re-
main, were both ancient pagan cemeteries ; 5 inscribed stones form the imposts of
an old Pelasgico-Irish cave at Dunloe ; 2 similar stones occupy a like situation in a
similar cave, in a Rath 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 Gheber 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 the 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
wrought 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 the base of the tower. Whether these
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 than a wheel-barrow full would suit the
gentleman who propounded doubts upon the subject ; but he forgot that the place
where they were found was a small hole not more than 1 8 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 the tower
of Cloyne, 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 firmly 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 who were in attendance on this interesting occasion, were the Rev. 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 THE IIOUXD TOWKliS OF IRELAND. 81
Ram Wand, Arclmore and Cloyne were, amongst other uses, appropriated to sepulchral
]iur|Mc--. ; whilst the society have, by their investigations in other directions, also es-
tnlili^lu'd the fact, that other >imil:ir buildings, such as Cashel and Kiiineh, in the west
of the County of Cork, were not similarly used."
That Mr. Windele thought that the question of the Origin and
Uses of the Round Towers was now settled to the satisfaction of all
inquirers, appears from a letter, subsequently addressed to the Editor
of the Cork Southern Reporter, and afterwards published in the sixth
number of the Archaeologist, in which he states, that he " had the
folly to imagine that the recent discoveries at Ardmore and Cloyne
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 QuiJam, whose object appears to have been to enjoy a
laugh at all the theorists on this subject, by gravely propounding u
new one more absurd than any previously advocated.
I shall examine Mr. Windele's discoveries separately in the order
in which they were made, first noticing, however, his statement given
on the authority of Sir William Bethain, 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 found in those two Towers, I would ask Could
they only have been interred there cotemporaneously 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
many Round 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 I shall
prove to be of Christian construction, were cremated, and contained
within a pagan urn; but what proof has he given us for this fact?
Mr. Windele himself appears to have some doubts about it, for in a
letter to me, dated Cork, 12th August, 1841, he asks: "Is it a fact
that an urn 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 by no means concur, as
M
82 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
the erection of a Round Tower in Christian times on the site of a
pagan sepulchre would not be a very unlikely circumstance.
Proceeding now with Mr. 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 in a more
ancient Christian cemetery, is, in my opinion, not only an ingenious
one, but the most rational that could possibly be offered. According
to Mr. Windele, however, there are two or three special considerations
peculiar to Ardmore, which favour the conclusion as to its pagan
origin. In the first place, he says, " the lands on which 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 ToAver 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
na g-caerach, and explained by Altitude ovium. 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 townlands called Ardochesty and Ardoguinagh, one of which
adjoins the glebe of Ardmore ; and Mr. Windele had no authority
for calling those townlands Ardo simply, or for his statement that the
Round Tower of Ardmore is situated on either of them. And thirdly,
even granting that Ardo was 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, from
ard, a height, and eo, of the yew. Mr. Windele's second argument is,
that the ancient Life of St. Declan, whilst it is particular 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 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
existence when the Life was written ; and though it may be fair to
draw an inference that the Life would not have been silent as to the
erection of this Tower the most remarkable of all the structures at
OF THE ROUND To\VERS OF IKKr.ANI). 83
Ardmore had it owed its origin to St. Declan, it seems somewhat
ludicrous to cxjxjct that it should record its erection, by any of St. De-
chm's successors, unless it were first proved that the Life was written
subsequently to the existence of those successors, and that the Life
of St. Declan included the Lives of his successors also.
Lastly, Mr. Windele says, " 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 the original literary character of Pagan Ireland, whose
descent has been traced back to Babylonia and Persepolis, the an-
cient of days." To this I answer, that the Druidical origin of the
Ogham writing still remains to be proved ; but, even granting that
it is Druidical, as he states, the finding of an inscription in this cha-
racter at Ardmore would 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 objection to make
on this point. I utterly deny that the lines on the stone at Ardmore
are a literary inscription of any kind, and I challenge Mr. Windele
to support his assertion by proof. So much then for the discoveries
at Ardmore !
These discoveries not being deemed absolutely conclusive, further
exploration in other similar structures was considered necessary ;
and accordingly the South Minister 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 favour the
conclusion that it was a sacred fire-temple, namely, a few particles of
charcoal in a small hole at the base of the Tower 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, who can affirm or rationally deny?" Now I, for one, will ra-
tionally, as I think, deny the probability of such a conclusion, and I
think I can assign very sufficient reasons for doing so. In the first
place, I repeat that we have no evidence whatever that sacred fires
were ever lighted in Towers 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 the
M 2
84 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
churches, were often burned by the plundering Danes. But, to come
to an evidence more in point in connexion with Cashel itself, is Mr.
Win dele ignorant that in the year 1495 the cathedral, with which the
Tower is in immediate contact, was burned by Gerald, the eighth
Earl of Kildare, for which act being accused before the king, his
excuse was that it was true, 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 ? But 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 the County of Cork, and
that the result, as communicated 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 ardour. 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 have been erected for that purpose. Ac-
cordingly, " they next pitched upon the Tower of Cloyne, and here
their operations were crowned with perfect success. Under a solid
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 list 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 ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 85
were prosecuted, and who were in attendance on this interesting oc-
casion, were the Reverend Messrs. Horgan, Rogers, Jones, Bolster,
and D. Murphy, Messrs. Hackett, Sainthill, Abell, Windele, Keleher,
and J. Jennings."
To this last statement I wish particularly to call the 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 were present on the occasion of the discovery.
Yet it is remarkable that there is a striking disagreement between
the account, which I have above quoted, and one subsequently pub-
lished in the same Cork newspaper. . This disagreement will suffi-
ciently appear from the following extracts from letters with which I
have been kindly favoured by Mr. Windele himself. In the first of
these letters, dated 25th September, 1841, Mr. Windele thus writes:
" I hasten to inform you of the result of an excavation which we caused to be made,
on the 23rd instant, in the lower part of the Round Tower of Cloyne.
" You are probably aware that that building is based upon a lime stone rock, which
Htands out several feet higher than the surrounding ground, and that between it and
the 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 2j 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 human bones, a sJt/iU,
and fragments of decayed timber. The space, within which the bones were found, is 6
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. Windele'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. Windele was
not present at the excavation at all. He thus writes :
" Last week I sent you a report, obtained at second hand, of so far as related t<> our
antiquarian researches at Cloyne. Since then I visited, with others of the ancient craft,
the Tower in question, and I now enclose you a semi-official 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
Iwen 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 turn into an oyster ! We
86
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
are told of an Indian Bramin who shut himself up in a Tower for 40 years, during
which lengthened period he industriously occupied himself in merely looking at the
wall and thinking of nothing. Who 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. W.
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 suqh hollow I could not give in my assent. The little
sketch 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, Horgan, Bolster, and Dominick Murphy ; Messrs. A. Abell,
R. Sainthill, J. Windele, F. Jennings, and W. Keleher. The document I send you, and
is as follows :
" ' Having 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 T1IK JJOUXU TOWEUS OF IRELAND.
), interspersed with decayed lnnics nt'iUHerent animals and stones. After luffing
cleared it out between three and four feet, we then met a bed of broken lime-Minn-,
one foot four inches in thickness, underneath which was a bed of fine black earth,
wherein we mrt witli three skeletons stretched in the usual way from west to east, one
iM-iiifj; under the two, part of which 1 have kept ; having three couple of collar bones,
and three front parts of the lower jaw bones the upper skeleton being the freshest.
l'nder these we met with a layer of coarse heavy stones, with the even or snnmtli
sides up, set in coarse gravel, under which were two tiers of light flags. After that
we came to the solid rock.
" ' W. CHAPMAN, Sexton.'
'"Cloyne, 24th Sept., 1841."'
Now I would seriously ask, is it possible that any rational inquirer
could give credence to statements so contradictory of each other, as
those which I have now submitted to the reader, or is it on such
statements that a question of this nature 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 pub-
lished in the Cork Southern Reporter, and kindly transmitted to me
by Mr. Windele, on the yth of April, 1842, that the human remains
found in this Tower, and originally represented only as " human
bones and a skull" having gradually assumed the forms of three hu-
man skeletons, are now increased to four, and it is difficult to con-
jecture how many they will make in the next accounts. These are
certainly very extraordinary bones ! It will be seen also, from the
same article, that the researches in the Round Tower of Cashel,
which had been given up as an unsuccessful affair, even proving
"'that at least all the Towers were not sepulchral," were, after all,
not so unfortunate as had been supposed. But I must let the South
Minister 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-
cuverv of human remains within the foundation of Ardmore Tower. From that time
tn the present, we venture to affirm, more attention has been paid, and more of prac-
tical, rational investigation, has been directed to the subject, 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 South Munster
Antiquarian Society has also been most active, owing to the untiring exertions of its
88 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
members, correspondences have been opened in France, England, Scotland, and in many
places in Ireland, all with most satisfactory results.
" Through the kindness of the Rev. Mr. M'Cosh, of Brechin, (Scotland) a corres-
pondence has been established with the well known learned historian of that city,
D. D. Black, Esq., whose work we have read with very great pleasure.
" 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 Cashel the Very Rev. Dr. Cotton, of Lismore, and Edward Odell, Esq., whose la-
bours we before mentioned. The Round 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
they lay, was an irregular serrated oval of about six feet and a half by four.
" The Roscrea Tower was opened three weeks since, at the request of our Society,
by Edward Wall, Esq. of that town, who discovered human remains all through, 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 instrumental. His noble
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."
With respect to the discoveries in the Bound Tower of Cloyne,
upon which so much has been said, and so much stress laid, I shall
only add, that it is my firm conviction, that none of the South Minister
Society of Antiquaries were present at the exhumation of the bones;
that the story of this exhumation, which has assumed so many forms,
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 89
rests on no bettor authority than that of the sexton, who was hired by
the antiquaries to make the examination, and whose story, in many
of its details, the antiquaries themselves did not believe to be true;
and lastly, that 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 the
discoveries of a similar nature more recently made in the Towers of
Roscrea, Maghera, Dnimbo, and, 1 believe, others, no detailed ac-
counts have reached me, with the exception of those in the Tower
of Drumbo : I believe, however, that it is only the discoveries in this
Tower that are considered of any importance, and of these I am
enabled to present the reader with an accurate account, kindly com-
municated to me by my ingenious friend, Mr. Edmund Getty, of Bel-
fast, in a letter dated Belfast, 10th of January, 1842..
" My friend Mr. Thomson has communicated to me your note, requesting the par-
ticulars of the opening of the Round 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 tilled 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 has
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 pro-
bably used by persons forming fires here for temporary purposes unconnected with
the original intention of the builders.
" ' After this depth (2 feet) the stuff 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, which, it would
seem, must have been as early as 1744, for about that tune Harris in 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 hi?
Survey, published in 1802, takes notice of this appearance in these words : At some
former time very strong fires have been burned within this building, and the inside surfqce
towards the bottom has the appearance of vitrification. This stuff so described was exca-
vated to the depth of more than one foot 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 good deal of charcoal and
N
90 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
quantities of bones of various descriptions, chiefly of the lower animals, some boar
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
slight 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 skull 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 ; 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 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 things, 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 ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 91
Iii the preceding account I see nothing to object to. But what is
the- conclusion to be fairly drawn from it ? not surely that it proves
the Tower to have been raised as a sepulchral monument in pagan
times, or even that the bones found within it were a deposit cotein-
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 antiquity of the Tower,
for, like the discovery of the imperfect skeleton at Ardrnore, it in-
dicates that the Tower was erected on a spot which had been pre-
viously used as a Christian cemetery, as the position of the remains
clearly shows. And this, too, would 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 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 far as possible.
So much then for this singular hypothesis. But it will be asked,
how do I account for the discovery of pagan urns in the Towers of
Timahoe in Ireland and of Abernethy in Scotland ? and, certainly, if
these discoveries were satisfactorily proved, they would, 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
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 human bones and an urn in the Tower of Aber-
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 Cork Southern Re-
porter, as resting on the very respectable authority of Mr. D. D. Black's
History of Brechin, and that not a word was said of any other autho-
rity for the facts. The words are, " 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 ;" and
it is added, " these two facts prove that Timahoe and Abernethy
Towers at least, were pagan structures, and leave a strong presump-
K 2
92 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
tion in favour of the same inference with regard to the others."
Having for a considerable time failed to procure a copy of Mr. Black's
work, I requested Mr. Windele to favour me with a transcript of the
passage in it, on which this statement rested, and he sent me, as a
copy of the extract required, a descriptive account of the Tower in
question, 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 work by its talented author, and I certainly do
find such a statement in it, not however, as Mr. Black's own, but as
one put forward by the Rev. Dr. Small, and which Mr. Black very
obviously regards as of very little value, as will appear from the fol-
lowing extract from his work :
" The Rev. Dr. Small of Edenshead, Abernethy, who has written a book on ' Ro-
man Antiquities,' states the tradition, regarding the tower of Abernethy, to be, that it
was erected as a burying place for ' the Kings of the Picts,' and to the doctor ' it is as
clear as a sunbeam, that the Pictish race of Kings lie ALL buried within it.' In con-
firmation of this hypothesis, the Reverend Doctor writes, that on the 10th 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 of 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 credulousand still worse, we doubt his antiquarian skill.
Shade of Huddleston, how wouldst thou shudder, if shades can shudder, to learn that
Dr. Small derives Pittendriech, your burial place of the Druids, from two common
Scotch words ascribing the origin of the term to the circumstance of the Romans
having ' got a more dreich piece of road pitten to them,' when forming their famous way
through North Britain I The doctor, in describing his researches in the tower, adds,
that the Sexton of Abernethy, afterwards, found ' seven other human skulls all lying
together, all of them full-grown male skulls,' buried in the tower, one of which, the
most entire, was carried away by Sir Walter Scott. Our friend, Thomas Simpson,
the successor of the sexton alluded to by the doctor, hints pretty broadly, that situated
so close to the kirk-yard as the tower is, there would be no great difficulty in finding
skulls in the latter, when it was once seen there was a demand for them. Thomas
applies to this case the famous axiom in political economy, that the demand regulates
the supply." History of Brechin, pp. 265, 266.
I may also observe, that in another passage in his work, Mr. Black
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 93
distinctly says, " Dr. Small's spec/t/ufion does not coincide with our
opinions ;" and also gives as his own opinion, that " the Round Tower
of Brcchin was erected somewhere about the year 1000," an opinion
which I shall hereafter show is not far from the truth. As to Dr.
Small's statement, and the speculation respecting it in which he in-
dulges, I may safely leave it to the consideration of my antiquarian
readers, who will be at no loss to determine the value of the alleged
discovery of "fragments of a light green urn with a row of carving
round the bottom of the neck," a monument of pagan antiquity not
previously found in the British isles ; and this is the fact that proves
to the South Munster Society of Antiquaries that the Abernethy
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. Black's work, also very kindly fa-
voured me with the copy of a letter from the historian of Brechin to
William Hackett, Esq., of Middle ton, 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 clearly exhibit the writer's
opinions on the hypothesis under consideration, but also contain a
very interesting account of the discoveries made on the occasion, I
shall present his letter to the reader, in full :
"SCOTLAND, Brechin, 13th April, 1842.
" DEAR SIR,
" The obstacles alluded to in my last 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 Southesque,
our principal Heritor, taking an active interest in our proceedings, and Patrick Chal-
mers, Esquire, of Auldbar, having volunteered in the most handsome manner to pay
all expenses, although unfortunately, 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 he held 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 possessed of all Mr. Chalmers' qualifications to fill his room.
" The round Tower of Brechin, you will recollect, has a doorway on the west side,
the sill of which is 6 feet 7 inches from the ground, and this 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, carefully removed the stones which blocked up
the doorway, leaving the arch free and uninjured, and displaying a handsome entrance
94 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
into the Tower. A set of wooden steps were then fitted, to give access by the door,
while precautions 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 time 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
have escaped observation. I directed James Jolly to keep a regular journal of his pro-
ceedings ; and each evening when he gave up work, he brought to the British Linen
Company Bank Office, and left with the accountant, Mr. Robert Lindsay, the articles
found each day ; and Mr. Lindsay again labelled and marked the articles so found.
David Black the carpenter is Mr. M'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 thing found in the
tower. James Jolly has now dug eight feet below the door sill, that is, he is about 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 vertebras, 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, buckies 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 have
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 TOWERS OF IRELAND. 95
earthen ware, and to have had little handles as thus ; ^ajum^.^ while round the
inner ledge there are small round indentations : about V\""" Tf * 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 ornamented
round the edge thus gc*=*=>^ the indentations being evidently made by alternately
pressing the thumb ^^^^o^ and fore-finger horizontal, and the thumb perpendicu-
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 Reformation,
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
thence to the bottom of the tower ; that the peats and the rest of the stuff had been
thrown at various times into the bottom of the tower as a general receptacle for all re-
fuse ; and that the fragments of URNS or jars, are just the remains of culinary articles
belonging to the different kirk officers.
" After this declaration can I expect to hear from you again, advising 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
s;ind and gravel, the subsoil on which the town of Montrose stands. The fact of
Ixxlies being buried below towers and steeples, then, will 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
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 masonry 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. BLACK."
On this excellent letter it is not necessary for me to make a single
remark. It will go far to account for the heterogeneous nature of the
remains discovered in the Irish Towers, and which may be further
96 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
accounted for by the fact that during the war in Ireland, at the close
of the sixteenth century, 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 " ventured 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 offer 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 travelling. 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,
Ave 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 literature of our country, which is still so
abundant in amount, and so rich in information on the usages of the
times to which 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 history of the country, would greatly ex-
ceed the space allotted to this section of my inquiry, but, as the
subject is of considerable interest, and has not been hitherto treated
of, I shall adduce a few notices from our manuscripts which will sa-
tisfactorily show what the sepulchral usages of the pagan Irish were,
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 07
and be sufficient to demonstrate that the hypothesis of the South
Minister Antiquaries is wholly visionary.
The first authority which I shall adduce will satisfactorily prove,
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 Leabhar na h- Uidhre.
a work compiled at Clonmacnoise, and transcribed by Moelmuiri,
the son of Ceileachar, the grandson of Conn na m-bocht, a distin-
guished writer of that great abode of learning the Scotorum nobile.
culmen, in the twelfth century, and of which the autograph original
on vellum, the property of Messrs. Hodges and Smith, is now before
me. The article, which I give entire, is called Senc/ias 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 flourished. 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 pi mop-bperac po jab op h-Gpmo, .1. Copmuc, mac Qipr, mic Cumo
Ceo-caraijj. 6a mair lapom bat mo 6pm pia lino, po-oeijj po pcatleo bper
pecrjue po Gpino acci-peom, con na laimr^a j-uin oum in h-Gpino ppi p lubili
bicci, .1. un. m-bliaona; ap bai cpenm in on t) oc Copmac, oo p6ip pecca; ap
po paio peotn na aioepao cloca na cpunnu, ace no aoenao in cf oop pom, 7 po
po compio ap cul na uli oi'ila, .1. in r-oe'n t)ia nepr-compio, po cpucaij na oiili,
ip DO no cpcicpeo. Conio e-peom in cpeppo cpeci in 6pmo pia ciacram pacpaic
.1. Concobop mac Neppa, ofa po innip Qlcup DO cepuo Cpipc ; ITIopanD, mac
Copppi Cino cairr, (.1. mac Plain) in oapna pep; Coptr.ac in cpep; 7 one ip 0015
co n-oeocacap opem aile pop a plicc imon cpenm pin.
" Ip ano, cpd, no gnucaijeo (.1. Copmac) a ooojnop h-i Cempaig, ap plicc cec
98 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
pig pemi, no co po milleo a pope a Gnjup 5 al - Dual pnec, mac Gcac pino puac
uipc. In Qcaill (.1. culach-i pil Sjpin Colaim Cille mom) irnoppo 7 i Cennnoup,
7 h-i C1J Clecij, no bio pom lapcain ; ap ni ba h-aoa pi co n-amm h-i Cempaig.
Came cpu bap oia mnaijiD^-peom h-i cij Clecij ip in bliaoam canaipe np coll
n poipc 11 , lap n-glenamuin cnama bpacan ma bpajic". Ro paio peom, (.1. Cop-
mac) imoppo, ppia mumcip, cen a aonacul ip in 6puj (.1. 0015 ba pelec loala-
oapca), oaijj ni h-inano Diu po aoaip peom 7 cec aen po aonacc ipp in &pui,
ace a aonacol i Rpop na pig 7 a aije paip. Puaip peom bup lap pm, 7 po
pepao comapli oc a aep gpaoa, 7 ippeo po cinpec a aonacol ip in &pui, air i
m-bacap pij Cempa pomi-peom. T?o cocbao lapom copp mo pig po cpi, oia bpeic
ipp in 6pu5, 7 h-i cpacc in 6oano po cpi i n-apoa, con na pecaip a cecc. Co cucpac
oia n-uio cop cfaccam oap bpeic plara recc oap cimna in pi5- pepaic a pepc
lupom i Rpop na pi^, amail apbepr pein.
" Ropcap IQC po rpa ppim-peilce h-6peno pia cpecim : .1. Cpuucu, in 6puj,
in Uallciu, 6uacaip QilBe, Oenac Qilbe, Oenac Cull, Oenac Colman, Cemaip
6pario e .
" Oenac Cpuacan cecup, ipp ano no aonaiccip clanna h-epemom, .1. pi^puo
Cempac, no co ranic Cpemrano, mac 6ugoec Riub n-oepg, (.1. ip pepioe cec pi
oib po aonacc ip in &PUJ), .1. Cobrac Coel Gpej, 7 tabpuio 6oinjpec, 7 6oco
peolec co n-a cpi maccaib (.1. na cpi pioemna, .1. 6pej' 7 Nap 7 Cocop.), 7 Goco
Qipem, 7 ^.ujaio Riab n-oepj, 7 pe mjena Gcac peolig (.1. ITleob, 7 Clochpu,
ITlupepc, 7 t)pebpiu, ITlujain 7 Gle.) 7 Qilill, mac ITlaca, co n-a pecc m-bparpib
(.1. Cec, Ctnlon, Doce, ec cecepi) 7 mo p'gpao uli co Cpemcuno (.1. ip lac po po
uonaicic h-i Cpuacam). Cio pocepa nuc ip in 6puij na h-uonuiccip na pij?
(.1. pil Cobcaig co Cpemcano). Mi h-annpa ; ap popcap lac ou coiceo po cecrpa
clano h-Gpemom .1. coiceo n-5 a l eo ' n > (' coiceo taijen) 7 coiceo Olnecmacc,
(.1. coiceo Connacc). Coiceo n-^alion cecup, po jabpac pil 6ubpuoa f-omgpij.
Clano Cobraij Coil 6pe-5, imoppo, ba h-e a plepc lama pioe coiceo Connacc;
Como aipi ippe (.1. coiceo Connacc) cucao oo TTleiob p6 cec coiceo. (Ip aipi
cucao opba oo ITleiob, ap ni boi oo pil Gacac nee ba cualainj a gabail, ace pipi,
ap nip b'm^nima 6ujaio in can pin) ; 7 oana in can no bio pigi n-Gpeno o claino
Cobcuij Coil 6pej, ba coiceo Connacc a puiolep ( i. a plepc lama) ; Conio aipi
pin no aonaiccip in oenuc na Cpuacna lac. Ipp in &puiJ5 imoppo no aonaiccip lac
6 ampip Cpimcamo (.1. Niaonaip) co ampip Coejaipe, mic Neill, cenmocuc cpiup,
.1. Qpc, mac Cuirm, 7 Copmac, mac Qipc, 7 Niall Hoi-jiullac.
a Innpaijio, in H. 3. 17. b lap choll a puipc, in H. 3. 17.
c lap leriumam cnama bpacain ma Bpa^aio, H. 3. 17.
d H. 3. 17 adds, no piaBpa po h opc.i. Cuacha oe tDanamn, aip ic pptu acbepru
piabpa, i. e. or it was the Siabliras that killed him, i. e. the Tuatha De Dananns, for
they were called Siabliras.
e In H. 3. 17, the names of these cemeteries are given as follows : Cpuucan, 7 6puj
mic Inoic, 7 Callci, 7 Qenach pean-Clocaip, 7 tuacaip Qilbe, 7 Qenach Qilbe,
7 Qenach Gavhna, 7 Qenach Chuile, 7 Qenach Cholmam, 7 Uerhaip Gpun, 7
VDapcpa ITluncipi pmncamn.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IK 1. 1. AM). 99
" T?o inmpemap epa in pac ap nuc ano po aoncicc Coptnac. 1p aipi, oanu,
nuc uno po uoriucc Ctpc, up po cpeic in la pia cubuipc cuca ITIuccpainu, 7 po
riiipnjjip in cpecim, (.1. co popbepuo in Cpipcuioecc pop Gpino) 7 apbepc co m-
buo uno no beic n pepc i n-Ouma n-Oepj-luacpu, aic h-i pail Cpeoic moiu.
OKI po oect pom ip in ouum DO pijni pin .1. Cam oo oenoa oen. (.1. ouan DO pijjni
Clpr, 7 Tr e u coippec, cum DO oenna oen 70.) In ran poucao a copp (.1. Cfipc)
paip (.1. co Oumu n-Oepj-luucpu) lapcum, DIU m-becfp pip h-6peno oca ppemj
app, ni pecpaicip, co po aonucc ip mo muo pain ; pooeij ap pop eclap Caralacou
uipcuin bull in po uonacc (.1. Cpeoic moiu), POOCIJ na pipinni, 7 nu cpecmi po m-bi
ap na puillpijeo, cpiu pip placu, 06.
" Niall, imoppo, ipp ano po aonacr in Ocum. Conio oe aca Ocam popp in
celuij, .1. oc caim .1. mo ocpao 7 mo ecaini DO ponpac pip h-Gpeno oc calm Neill
ano.
" Conaipe tnop ona h-i Tluij peci i m-6pe5aib (.1. oc pepca Conaipe) po
aonacc ; ace cenu ippe Conaipe Capppuije po h-aonacc anopioe, 7 ni h-e Conaipe
mop ; Co m-bao li-e, oha, in rpep pi po h-aonaicce h-i Cempaig h-e, .1. Conaipe,
7 6oejaipe 7 * * * *.
" h-i Callcin, itnoppo, po h-aonaiccip Ulaio, .1. OUom Porla co n-a clamo, co
came Concobap, .1. ap ip ano po cog pioe a cabaipc ecep Slea* 7 muip, 7 aigeo
paip, pooeij na cpeicmi po m-boi.
" Uapli Cuuri oe Danano ip m 6puj no aonaicnp; (.1. in Dnjoa 7 a rpi meic,
7 ^uj 7 Oe 7 OUum 7 Ojma 7 ecan, b 7 Copppe, mac Bcame,) 7 pop a plicc-pioe
DO coio Cpnnrano; ap ba oo Chuair Oea a ben, .1. Nap, 7 ip pi po aplatj paip
con bao h-e bao peilic uonuicci DO 7 Dia clamo in 6pU5 ; como h-e pac, cen a n-
uonaicci h-i Cpuacam.
" Cajm (.1. Caraip co n-a clamo, 7 na pig pempo) i n-Oenach Giloe ; Cluno
Oeoao, (.1. pil Conaipe 7 Gpnai) h-i Cemaip Gpano ; pip PPumnn, [.i. Oepjrene]
i n-Oeiiuc culi, 7 i n-Oenac Colman ; Connaccu h-t Cpuucam." Lealtltar na
h-Uidhre, fol. 41. b.
" HISTORY OF THE CEMETERIES HERE.
" A great king of great judgments assumed the sovereignty of Erin, L a Cormac,
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 durst
attempt to wound a man in Erin during the short jubilee of seven years ; for Cormac
had the faith of the 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. Conchobor Mac Nessa, to whom Altus had told con-
cerning the crucifixion of Christ teas the fret; Morann, the sonofCairbre 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.
Ccep Cecu 7 muip in II. 3. 17. b 6cun .1. bunpile in H. 3. 17.
O 2
100 INQUIKY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Where Cormac held his court was at Tara, in imitation of the kings who preceded
him, 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 Colairn Cille
is at this day), and at Cenannas, [Kells], and at the house of Cletech ; for it was not
lawful that a king with a personal blemish should reside at Tara. In the second year
after the injuring of his eye he came by his death at the house of Cletech, the bone of
a salmon having stuck in his throat. 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 Ros na righ, with
his 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
Ailbe, Oenach Culi, Oenach Colmain, Temhair Erann.
" Oenach Cruachan, in the first place, it was there the race of Heremou, i. e. the
kings of Tara, were used to bury until the time of Cremhthann, the son of Lughaidh
Riabh-n-derg, (who was the first king of them that was interred at Brugh) viz. Cobh-
thach Coelbregh, and Labhraidh Loingsech, and Eocho Fedhlech with his three sons
(i. e. the three Fidhemhna, i. e. Bres, Nar, and Lothor), and Eocho Airemh, Lughaidh
Riabh n-derg, the six daughters of Eocho Fedhlech, (i. e. Medhbh, and Clothru, Mu-
resc, and Drebriu, Mugain, and Ele,) and Ailill Mac Mada with his seven brothers,
(i. e. Get, Anlon, Doche, et ceteri) and all the kings down to Cremhthann, (these were
all buried at Cruachan). Why was it not at Brugh that the kings (of the race of
Cobhthach down to Crimhthann) were interred ? Not difficult ; because the two pro-
vinces, which the race of Heremou possessed, were the province of Gailian, (i. & 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 Medhbh is, because there was none of the race of Eochaidh fit to receive it
but herself, 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 Cobhthach Coelbregh,
the province of Connaught was his ruidles (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, the 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 not interred there.
The reason why Art was not interred there is, because he 'believed,' the day before
the battle of Muccramma was fought, and he predicted the Faith, (i. e. that Christianity
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 101
would prevail in Erin), and he said that his own grave would be at Dumha Dergluachra,
where Trenit [Trevet] is at this day, as he mentioned in a poem which he composed,
viz. Cain do denda den, (i.e. a poem which Art composed, the beginning of which
is Cain do denna den, &c.) When his (Art's) body was afterwards carried eastwards
to Dumha Dergluachra, if all the men of Erin were drawing it thence, they could not,
so that lie was interred in that place, because 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 called Ochain, L e.
(Mi Caine, L e. from the sighing and lamentation which the men of Erin made in la-
menting Niall.
" Conaire More was interred at Magh Feci in Bregia (L e. at Pert Conaire) ; how-
ever some say that it was Conaire Carpraige was interred there, and not Conaire Mor,
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. Ollamh Fodhla, with his
descendants down to Conchobhar, who wished that he should be carried to a place
between Slea and the sea, with his face to the east, on account of the Faith which he
had embraced.
" The nobles of the Tuatha De Danann were used to bury at Brugh, (L e. the
Dagda with his three sons ; also Lughaidh, and Oe, and Ollam, and Ogma, 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
Colmain ; and the Connacians at Cruachan."
The preceding document will, I think, be sufficient to satisfy all
rational inquirers of the visionary character of the hypothesis of the
Round Towers having been erected as places 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 us 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
earliest periods to the establishment of Christianity in the country ;
and in most of these localities the monuments still remain. But do
we in any of those places discover a Round Tower, or the vestige of
one ? Most assuredly not, nor any monument having a characteristic
102 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
in common with one. We find the stone earn and the green mound,
with 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.
And when we explore any of these monuments, we 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 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
well 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 Boyne, as given in the Dinnsenchus, contained in the Book of
Ballymote, fol. 190.
" t)o oinjnaib in &pojja inn po .1. Lorc% inline Popaino, tecc in tDajoa, TTIup
na TTIoppigna, 6ece in TTlacae, ip oia colpca paicep Inbep Colpea; 6apc Cpim-
chaino Nianaip, ip ann po aonacc; pepc Peoelmio Reccmaip, Capn ail Cuinn
Cec-caraijj, Cumoc Caipppi f,ipeacaip, pulace Piachach Spaipcine, &c."
" Of the monuments of Brugh here, viz. the Bed of the daughter of Forann, the
Monument 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 Crimthann
Nianar, in which he was interred ; the grave of Fedelmidh, the Lawgiver, the Carn-
ail [stone earn] of Conn of the Hundred Battles, the Cumot [commensurate grave]
of Cairbre Lifeachair, the Fulacht of Fiacha Sraiphtine."
The second passage enters more into detail, as follows :
" Qlteep. Imoae in t)ajjoa ceramup; tDa Cic na JTIoppijna, pope aipm i n-
jenaip Cepmuio TTlil-bel, mac in t)ajoa; pipe m-6oinne mna Neccam, ip i cue
le in coin m-big oiap bo ainm Dabilla, unoe Cnoc Dabilla oicieup ; t)uma Cpepc ;
pepcSpclaim bpireman in Dujoa, ppip i n-abap Pepc pacpic mom ; Cipp 7 Cuip-
pel, mna in&ajoa; .1. oa cnoc ; Pepca Qeoa tuipjnij, mic in tDajoai; Depc
m-6uailcc in-6ic; 6ecc Cellai, mic ITlailcoba ; Cecc jjabpa Cinaooa, mic Jpja-
luij; Capcap Ceic fTlacae ; ^ enn in Hlacae .1. pelci pin, uc alii Dicunc;
OF THE BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 103
i, tnic rPuipeba, aipm i pail a cenn ; ,ecc 6enn .1. lecc poppa ropchuip in
rPkicue ; un. xx. ic cop leip 7 nil. CHID; Ournd na cnarh ; Caipel Gengupa, mic
Opunomueil ; Roue pula tTlioip, &c."
"Alitur. The Bed of the Dagda, first; the Two Paps of the Morrigan, at the place
when- Oninicl Milbhel, son of the Dagda, was born ; the Grave of Boinn, the wife of
Nechtan ; it was she took with her the small hound called Dabilla, from which Cnoc
Dabilla is called ; the Mound of Tresc ; the grave of Esclam, the Dagda's Brehon,
which is called Fert-Palric at this day ; [tfte monuments of] Cirr and Cuirrell, wives
of the Dagda ; these are two hillocks ; the Grave of Aedh Luirgnech, son of the
Dagda ; the Cave of Buailcc Bee ; the Monument of Cellach, sou of Maelcobha ; the
Monument of the steed of Cinaedh, son of Irgalach ; the Prison of Liath-Macha ; the
(Urn of the Mata, i. e. the monster, as some assert ; the Pillar-stone of Buidi, the sou
of Muiredh, where his head is interred; the Stone of Benn, 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 Cruunmael ;
Rout sula Midir, &c."
As examples of the sepulchral monuments of this Tuatha De
Danann race most familiar to the majority of my readers, I may point
to the magnificent mounds situated on the Boyne at Drogheda, Dowth,
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 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 the Annals of Ulster at the year 862 :
" A. D. 862. Uum Qchaio Qloai 7 Cnoobai, 7 uam peipc 6oaoan op t)ubuo,
7 uam mnu un 5ban P pcpuiopec 3 al '"'-' quoo uricea non peppeccum epr .1. a
peer po placpac rpi pij^e peponn pluinn, mic Conamj .1. Gmlairii, 7 Itnap, 7
du.ple."
" A. D. 862. The cave of Achadh Aldai and of Cnodhba [Knowth J, and the cave
of the sepulchre of Boadan over Dubhad [Dowth], and the cave of the wife of Gobhau,
were searched by the Danes, quod antea non perfectum est, on one occasion that the
three kings Anilaff, Imar, and Auisle, were plundering the territory of Flaun, the son
of Conaing."
As an example of the monuments of a different race, and of later
date, I may refer to the cemetery called Relec na Riogh, at Rath-
croghan, the place of interment of many of the kings of the Scotic 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 our annalists, in the year 400.
104 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
In 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 burials of Dathi, the last pagan monarch, and the other
princes of this race interred at Rathcroghan, from which I extract
the following poem, ascribed to Dorban, a poet of West Connaught,
as it will very clearly show the character of the sepulchral monuments
in that great regal cemetery.
" Niam 7 t)pucc ip Daci,
cpi mjena Roppaci,
a pecc m-bpacip, mop a cejlac,
ma Ctilell oup pino frpe^tnac,
Qca pin 'p in Duma mop
pil ip in oenuc, cen bpon,
Cpt meic pig f-agen lepoa,
la rpi injenu oelboa.
Q apim no a innipin
nu pil pocib DO laecaib
nocon pil ic pileoaib,
7 ni pil ic jaecaib.
Coeca Duma, oemnijim,
pil in oenuc na Cpuacna,
aca po cac Duma Dib
coeca pep pip-jlan puncoa.
lac cp.i peilce lolaioe
pelec Chailcen, pe roga,
pelec Cpuacan pip-jlame,
ocup pelec in 6poga.
Cac cnoc pil 'p lnD oenuc pin
aca poi laic ip pijnu,
ip ecip ip cuocaipe,
7 mna jlanct jjpiboa.
Sloj Connacc ba compomac,
aipecc pip-alamo puacoa,
alamo in cac conjalac,
aonacc i Cacaip Cpuacna.
Ni pil ip in majin pern
cnoc in Oenuc na Cpuacna,
nac pepc pig no pij-placa,
no mn6, no ecep puacoa.
CTonaicce plo5 po mioi,
ap lap in 6poga cuacaig ;
no aonaiccip apo Ulaio
ip in Calcin co luacaip.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 105
Pip Ulcno, pia Concobop,
aonaicce h-i Culcm piam,
co bap KID pip popbapuij,
oia n-oecaio oib a mam."
" Niam and Drucht and Dathi,
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 Oenach, 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 Cruachna,
There are under each mound 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 Brugh.
Every hill which is at this Oenach [Cruachan]
Has under 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 Cathair Cruachna.
There is not at this place
A hill at Oenach na Cruachna,
Which is not the grave of a king or royal 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,
Through which they lost their glory."
P
106 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
This poem is followed by a prose commentary, apparently written
by Moelmuiri himself, and, though it is not wholly necessary to my
present 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 obtained :
" ITIari Ulao pia Concobop i Galeen po aonacca, .1. OUam poela 7 moppep-
piup leipp o>a maccaib, 7 oia h-uib, 7 co n-opeim aile DO macib Ulao. Uapli
Guace oe t)anano (cenmoea moppeppiup po aonacc onb h-i Culein) ip in 6pjJ5,
.1. 115, 7 Oe, mac Olloman, 7 Ojma, 7 Capppe, mac Gcaine, 7 6ean (banpili)
pern, 7 in Dajoa 7 a cpi meic (.1. CCeo 7 Oen^up 7 Cepmaie), 7 pocaioe mop ap-
cena DO Uuaie oe t)anano, 7 Pep m-&ols, 7 caic up cena. RIJJO COICID JJa^'a" '
n-Oenac dilbi ; Rijpao IDuman i n-Oenac Cull, i n-Oenac Colman, 7 peci.
Clann Deoao h-i Cemaip Gpano ; Ri^pao Connacc h-i Cpuacam, uc oirimup.
" Coeca cnoc in cec Oenuc oib pin : coeca cnoc, em, i n-Oenuc Cpuacuin,
7 .1. cnoc in Oenuc Calcen, 7.1. in Oenuc in 6poja.
" Ic lac po imoppo pilio Connacc, .1. tDopban, 7 plairciup, 7 Oenjup pill ; u
^noi in luccpm, (.1. in laprup Connacc tea .1. Oelmna Cipi oa loca) ; Copna 6cep,
7 Scanlan mac Gojjain, in pili, 7 t)acen 6cep, po mapb in bill ; ip oe aca 6ili
t)acen h-i Cip TTlani, ip ppip acbepap bill Scacen inoiu. Qcac cpa in luce pin ule
i n-Oenuc na Cpuacna ; 7 aca ano apo-pi in coicio, .1. Qilill, mac TTIaca TTlupepci,
7 a pecij, .1. TTIeob, injen 6cac Peolij. lap na bpeic a pepc meoba o'a muncip,
ap ba h-aipejou leo a h-aonacul h-i Cpuacum. Hi cic Dim u n-aipim uli. Ip
uno po aonacc t)aci, apo.pi h-6penn, 7 ip inci a cac in luce po cupini Copna
6cep. Ciappaiji a Dipt.
" piano epa 7 Gocaio Golac h-Uj Cepin ip lac po cinoilpac po a llebpaib
Gocaoa h-Ui planoacan i n-Qpo Hlaca, 7 a llebpaib IDanipcpec, 7 ap na lebpaib
cojaioib ap cena, .1. up in f/ibup 6uoi, cepco ap in Capcap i n-Qpo ITlaca, 7 ap in
6ibup ^ipp, boi im TTlanipcep ; 7 ip pioe puc in mac lejirio lepp i n-jaic oap muip,
7 ni FP' piam oilepp. Conio pencap na pelec inpin."
" The chiefs of Ulster before Conchobhor were buried at Talten, viz. Ollamh 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 Etan, and Etan [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 Oenaeh Ailbi ; the kings of Munster at Oenach Culi, in Oenach Colman
and Feci. The Clann Dedhadh at Temhair Erann. The kings of Connaught at Cruachan
ut diximus.
" 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 poet, whom the tree
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 107
killed ; whence is Bile Datlien in Tir Maine, at this day called Dili Scathen. All these
are buried at Ociiach lui Cruachna ; and there are also buried there the supreme king
of the province, i. e. Aik-11 Mac Mata of Muiresc, and his wife, i. e. Medhbh, the daughter
of Eochaidh Fi-dhkfli, her body having been removed by her people from Fert Medhbha,
lor they deemed it more honourable to have her interred at Cruachan. I am not able
to enumerate them all. It is here Dathi, monarch of Ireland, was buried, and it is here
lie those enumerated by Torna Eiges. Ciarraigi was his reward.
" It was Flann and Eochaidh Eolach O'Ceirin that collected this account from the
books of Eochaidh O'Flannagan at Armagh, and from the Books of the Monastery [Mo-
nasterboice], and from other select books, viz. from the Libur 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 monuments
within the cemetery at Rathcroghan, which is of a circular form,
measuring one hundred and sixteen paces in diameter, and sur-
rounded with a stone ditch greatly defaced, the cathair of the
poem, are small circular mounds, which when examined are found
to cover rude sepulchral chambers formed of stone, without cement
of any kind, and containing unburned bones. The monument 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, Duald Mac Firbis, in 1666:
" CUJUD copp Oaci 50 Cpuacham, gup h-aonaiceao e i Relij nu pioj i 5-
Cpuacam, i B-pail a pabuonp piogpaio pil epearhom DO upiriop, 6ic u B-puil jup
aniu anChaippreDheapj map liaj op a lije 'nu leacc lairii le Ruir Cpuucun, gup
ariopa, 1666." Lib. Geneal. 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 PILLAH STONE remains as a stone monument over his
grave near Rath-Cruachan, to this time, 1666."
The following notice of Cam 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 purpose 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 QiTiuljuio, .1. Ctmaljaio, mac Piachpa eijctio, m;c t)uchi, mic Piach-
puch. Ip leip po rochlao in capn, cum uenuij h-Ua n-Gmaljaio oo oenam 'nu
108 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
chimchell coca bliaoam, DO peichem along ocup a cabling ap ocup mo, ocup OKI
uonocol booein."
" Cam Amhalgaidh, i. e. of Amhalgaidh, son of Fiachra Elgaidh, son of Dathi, son
of Fiachra. It is by him that this earn was formed, for the purpose of holding a meet-
ing of the Hy- Amhalgaidh around it every year, and to view his ships and fleet going
and coming, and as a place of interment for himself."
If it were necessary to my purpose I might also adduce, from the
most ancient Irish 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 Leabhar 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 with the death of Fothadh Airg-
theach, who was for a short time monarch of Ireland, and was killed
by the warrior Cailte, the foster-son of F-inn Mac Cumhaill, in the
battle of Ollarba, fought, according to the Annals of the Four Mas-
ters, in the year 285. In this tract, Cailte is introduced as identify-
ing the grave of Fothadh Airgtheach, at Ollarba, in the following
words :
" 6amaip-ne lar-pu, a pmo, ol in c-ocluc. Qoaurr, ol fflonjan, ni mair pin.
6arnaip-m la pino, cpu, ol pe ; ou loomap 01 Qlbae." Immapnacmap ppi poruo
n-Gipjcec h-i puno accuc pop Ollopbi. picimimp pcanoal n-ano. pocapcpo epcop
paip, co pec epic, co lluio h-i calmain ppipp anull, 7 con pacaib a lapno h-i ra-
lam ; ippeo an oicelcap po po boi ip in gai pin. pugebcap in mael cloc oia po lapa
a pouo pi, b 7 pogebcap anaip lupnn ip in calam, 7 pogebrap uulao c poraio Qipjcig
ppip anaip bic. Oca compap cloci imbi ano h-i calam. Qcac a oi poll aipjjic,
7 a 01 bunne ooac, 7 a mumcopc apgic pop a compaip; 7 aca coipce oc a ulaio ; 7
aca ojom ip in cmo pil h-i calum DIM coipci. Ippeo pil ano,
eochaiD aiRchecii JNSO.
T3a tn-bi Cailce in imaepiuc ppi Pino. Gche (.1. oo gntchep) lap in oclaic a pice
patnlaiu 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.
a Qlmain in H. 3, 17, which is better.
b Gn poao pin, i. e. that shot, in H. 3, 17.
c Ulaio in H. 3, 17, which is the form of the word still in use.
OF THE ROUND TOVVEKS OF IKELAXD. 109
This is the very handle that was in that spear. The round stone from which I made
that shot will be found, aud east of it will be found the iron head of the spear buried
in the earth ; and the uluidh [earn] of Fothadh Airgthech will be found a short 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 pillar stone at his earn ; and an Ogumis [inscribed] on the end
of the pillar stone which is in the earth. And what is in it is,
EOCHAID AIRGTHECH HERE.
It was Cailte that was here along with Finn. All these things were searched for by
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 sepulture
in use in Ireland/and that the theory, advanced by my friends of the
South Munster Society of Antiquaries, is at variance as well with the
ancient Irish authorities as with the existing monuments of known
pagan antiquity.
The only remaining hypothesis of those referring the Round Towers
to a pagan use, namely, their having been PHALLI, or PRIAPEIA TEM-
PLA, is happily so absurd, and at the same time so utterly unsupported
by avithority or evidence worthy of refutation, that I gladly pass it by
without further notice, even though it has found a zealous supporter
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 OF THE CHRISTIAN ORIGIN AND USES OF THE ROUND TOWEKS.
1. That they were Anchorite Towers. 2. That they were peni-
tential prisons. 3. That they were belfries. 4. That they were keeps,
or monastic treasure-houses. 5. That they were watch-towers and
beacons.
1. ANCHORITE TOWERS. The hypothesis that the Towers were
erected for the use of anchorites, in imitation of the pillar of St. Si-
mon the Stylite, originated with Dean Richardson, of Belturbet, and
has been warmly advocated by Walter Harris, in his edition of Ware's
works, pp. 130 135, and in later times by the celebrated architec-
tural antiquaries, Dr. Milner and Mr. King.
1 10 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The arguments adduced in support of this 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 establish a uni-
formity, which, it will be easy to show, certainly never existed.
The first point of agreement, as Harris gravely states, consists in
both being of a round form. " Those of Asia were in form round,
so are ours." This I am forced to concede.
Secondly. " They [the Eastern Pillars] were of various Heights,
so likewise are ours." 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
height 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 were hollow, as ours are." This agreement
Harris endeavours to establish in opposition to the learned Bollandus,
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 Symeon, 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 Measure of which was scarce two
Cubits."
And again :
" Symeon, (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 living, 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 Antioch." (Hist.
Eccl. Lib. 14. Cap. 51.)
This translation, to my mind, carries on its very face sufficient
evidence as well of its own inaccuracy as of the falseness of the con-
clusions which Harris endeavours to draw from it : for, if the pillar
were hollow from its base, what necessity was there to build a domi-
cilmm 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 HOUXD TOWERS OF IRELAND. 1 1 1
evident that nothing more could be meant than such a pulpit or tub-
like cavity on its summit as would be necessary to prevent the en-
thusiast from falling. In this sense only has the passage been always
understood and translated, as far as I can find ; as an instance of
which take the old Cambridge version of Evagrius, by Valesius, 1G92.
" In these times, Symeon, a person of an holy and most celebrated memory, flou-
rished, and was eminent ; he was the first person that instituted the station upon a pillar,
the circumference of whose mansion was scarce two cubits," &c. " Moreover, Symeon
spent six and fifty years in this afflictive and austere mode of life. In the first monas-
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 the Mandra during ten years (of which
time) he performed his combat in a certain narrow place; (he dwelt) seven years in
the shorter pillars, and thirty years upon a pillar of forty cubits long."
Harris next quotes Raderus, the Tyrolese Jesuit, and Petrus Ga-
lesinius, an Italian priest, to support his hypothesis, neither of whom,
however, assists him in the matter, and even if they did, could not be
received as authorities of any weight. The former says (I quote Har-
ris's translation), that " The Hole or Cell or Domicile placed at the
Top of the Pillars, in which the Stylites stood, were 2 Cubits, or 3
Feet broad, and were not covered with a Roof, that they might
have the freer Liberty of contemplating the Heavens," &c. ; and that,
" When any Person went up to the Stylites, 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 the 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 Top, in Order
to supply the Stylite with Food and other Necessaries ; unless, like
Elijah, we allow him to be fed by Ravens, the Necessity of which
Miracle will be avoided, if we admit the Eastern Pillars to have been
hollow, and, like ours, fitted with Lofts and Stages, by Means of which,
and the Help of short Ladders, access might readily be had to 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-
112 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
wall 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 with 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-
hood a quality he rarely wanted in seeking to establish 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 Stylites 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 could not bear to be perpetually exposed without Shelter to
the Severities of this cold and moist Climate, whatever might have been done in the
milder Eastern Countries."
Very rational indeed ! What, then, were the uses of the four,
five, or six unglazed apertures at top ? Would not the situation
of an unfortunate anchorite thus exposed to the winds of heaven, let
them blow from whatever point they might, be even worse than that
of a person exposed to the open air ?
He next says :
" Another Difference is, that the Eastern Columns were only 3 Feet in Diameter at
the Extremity, as appears from Evagrius, Nicephorus and others : Whereas 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 Tower, being 6 Feet in the Diameter at the Extremity,
afforded Room to the Solitary to stretch himself at Length in it, which he could 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 Syrneon;
as we often read to have been practised in other religious Orders, which has from Time
to Time caused such infinite Reformations among them ?"
The difference of diameter, here acknowledged, appears to me to
OF TIIK KOl'XI) TOWKKS or IKKI.AM). 113
be quite sufficient to prove the fallacy of Harris's speculation, for as
to the ivlaxation of discipline, &c., which he supposes might have
mused this difference, it is mere idle conjecture, and unworthy of
notice.
Harris further on says :
" The Habitations of these Anachorites are called by some of our Writers Inclu-
soria in Latin, and Arcti Inclusorii Ergastiila, the Prisons of a narrow Inclosure. Par-
ticularly in the Life of Dunchad 0-Braoin, who was Abbot of Clonmacnois, and having
obtained a very popular Reputation for Learning and Piety, to avoid the air of vain
Glory, he betook himself to an Anachoretical Life, and shut himself up in Arcti In-
clusorii Ergastulo, in the Prison of a narrow Inclosure, and employed himself wholly in
the Contemplation of God and Eternity, where he died in 987."
He adds :
" I will not take upon me to affirm, that it was in one of these Towers at Clonmac-
nois, (where there are more than one of the Kind) that he shut himself up ; but the
Expression used upon the Occasion may be very well adapted to them."
In this statement Harris has not dealt fairly with his readers. In
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 the an-
chorites Arcti Inclusorii Ergastula, than that single one in the Life
of Dunchad O'Braoin ; and, secondly, he leads the reader to infer that
it might 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,
Dunchad had led this sort of life when in a private station, from
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 among 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
114 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
there, on the 16th of January, A. D. 987. See CoIgan'sActa Sancto-
rum, pp. 105, 106. Thus we find that if Harris had taken upon him
to affirm that it was in one of the Towers of Clonmacnoise that Dun-
chad had shut himself up a fact which nevertheless he wishes his
readers to infer he would have asserted that which he knew was
not the truth. If the Round 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 manner Dr. Milner conjectured
and have bid defiance to all friendly intruders. As to his habitation
at Armagh, it is called in his Life a cell (cello} a term which it
would be surely an overstretch of 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 Clock- Ancoire, in that Language, i. e. the Stone of the Anchorite, and not Cloghad,
or a Steeple, asMolyneux fancies; and a Tradition prevails at Drumlahan in the County
of 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 known by no other
names than cloictheach 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 absurd 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 Drumlahan, 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, would 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 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
OF THE ROUND TOWKHS or IKIOI.AND. 1 J5
the Annals of the Four Masters, with which Harris must certainly
liave been acquainted, though he did not find it convenient, or deem
it prudent, to bring it forward.
" A. D. 1484. 6pmn Ua Faipceullai, Saccapc oo cionpccam cloc angcoipe
oo oenam 05 cempoll mop Opomu leacaui, o'ecc."
" A. D. 1484. Brian O'Farrelly, a priest who commenced to build a clock angcoire
at the great church of Druim-leathan, died."
A really " skilful critic in Irish" Mr. O'Donovan to whom I
submitted the preceding extract, has favoured me with the following
observations on it :
" It is remarkable that in the ancient written Irish language the term cloc anj-
coipe, i. e. lapis anac/ioretce, 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, of the stone habitation; for there can be no doubt that 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 cloigtheach, or Round Tower. Cloc-anrcoipe,
when it signifies, as in 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 theatowe, or stone domicile of the recluse."
What description of cell the clock 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 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 purpose. 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 the building was
partly remaining in his grandfather's time, and situated near the
Q 2
1 16 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
church : and of such a cell, which still exists, Harris himself gives
us the following description :
" One of these Anachorites, at present, remains in Ireland, viz. at Foure, 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 himself 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."
He afterwards states that the servants of this anchorite, who used
to beg provisions for his support about the country, used to call him
" the Holy man in the Stone" 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 fact
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 Towers, as drawn from this fabricated tradition.
I have now gone through the entire of Harris's arguments, 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 adopted 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 prooi's
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 purpose
they were calculated for." But I indulge the pleasing hope, that the
reader who will accompany me through the succeeding parts of this
Inquiry will be of a contraiy opinion.
2. PENITENTIAL PRISONS. This theory was first promulgated by
Dr. Smith, the industrious author of some of our County Histories,
on the authority, as he states, of Irish MSS., which, however, were
nameless, and have never yet seen the light. These evidences are
thus stated :
OF THE HOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 117
" I was formerly of opinion that they [die Round Towers] were built for the resi-
dence of Anchorites, and this conjecture was founded from such kind of pillars, having
been erected iii tlie eastern countries for the reception of Monks, who lived on the top
of them, as is mentioned by Km //////.< in the life of St. Symeon the Stylite, so called
from his living in a pillar 40 years, as Petrus Galesinius reports. And it seemed
probable, that our Irish Asteticks had the models of these buildings originally from
Asia, which they early visited, as appears from several lives of the Irieh saints; but
the use to which our ancient Irish MSS. put these towers, was to imprison penitents.
Some of our writers have named them Indiisoria, and Arcti Indusorii Ergastula, The
prisons of a narrow indositre. Particularly in the life of Dunchad 0-Braoin, Abbot of
Clonmacnois, into which prison it is said he betook himself, where he died in 987. The
Irish name for a penance is Turns, L 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, Aglish, Ashbeg, &c. from
Templum, Ecdesia, Episcopus, &c. The MSS. 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 MSS. particularly relate." Antient and Present State of the County and City
of Cork, vol. ii. pp. 408, 409.
In the preceding passage, which contains the whole of what Dr.
Smith has written in 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 source. Moreover, the Irish never adopted the Latin word turris
into their own language ; and it would 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 MSS. from which he drew his erroneous, if not fabricated, ac-
count of the use of the Round Towers. The word used for penance
in Irish is oicpfje (aithrighe), 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 from the
Annals of the Four Masters :
' " A. D. 946. 5P IT1 F'- a1 ^ mjen plaino, mic niaileaclainn, Riojan Neill ^l""-
ouio, o'ecc, lap n-airpicce oiocpa in a cuipmceccaib 7 ooatlcib."
" A. D. 946. Gormflaith, daughter of Flann, son of Maileachlainn, Queen of Niall
Glundubh, died, after haoing performed severe penance for her transgressions and sine."
118 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
signifies in Irish " a journey, expedition, pilgrimage," and
is not derived from the Latin turris, but, as it appears, from a more
primitive Irish word cup, a journey, a tour, a search, (Heb. in, to
search, explore.) Vide O'Reilly's Irish Dictionary. And thus cup-
apctc signifies a traveller and a pilgrim, because the latter, when
he took the penitential staff, was obliged to perform a certain round
or journey as the practice continues to this day but not a tour
from the top to the bottom of a tower ! The word cujiap, 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 word ailirjie, or oilicne, being that which is
always used. " To this day," says Dr. O'Conor, " the word used for
a pilgrimage by the common Irish is A? lit fire. So the Annals of the
Four Masters say, that ' Arthgal, son of Cathal, King of Connaught,
took the penitential staff, and travelled to Hiona dia ailithre, 1 i. e. on
his pilgrimage. (IV. Masters, 777.) This word Ailithre is composed
of Ail, 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 Ailithre, which was used 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. 89, 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. dmlaini, mac Sicpiuca, apo-pij ap ^hallaib dcha Cliach, DO
oul co h-1 a n-aiCliRlghe 7 a n-dltlChRl."
" A. D. 980. Amlaff, son of Sitriuc, chief king of the Danes of Dublin, went to
lona, on penance (airpije) and pilgrimage (cnlirpi)."
The true nature of the penance performed on Irish pilgrimages
is known to every person acquainted with our 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 11<)
nitential stations at Lough Derg (p. 134), "their Turns (that is
I'i I tfr image') is ended."
In the preceding observations I am happy to find myself sup-
ported by the approval of Mr. O'Donovan, to whom, as a most com-
petent Irish scholar, I submitted them, and who has favoured nu:
with the following remarks, which I consider as too valuable not to
lay before the reader :
" I have read your observations upon Dr. Smith's Penitential Totcer theory, and
consider them correct and judicious. With respect to his Irish MS. authorities, I
cannot believe that he had any such, and, from having read his published 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 has
he not told us something about their date, or whether they were of vellum, parchment,
or paper, or who were their authors or scribes ? Why has he not given us the original
of some passage from one of these MSS., with a literal translation ? To such questions
I would venture, without fear of contradiction, to reply, because he had no such MSS.
I doubt not, however, but that he might have seen or been told of some passage in
some modern Irish MS., in which the word turas, pilgrimage, or penitential station,
occurs, and which he misunderstood as referring to Round Towers, a striking in-
stance of which kind of antiquarian juggling we have seen in Vallancey's quoting
Cormac's Glossary as authority for the pagan antiquity of the Tower of Kildare. 1
make no doubt that the MS. referred to by Dr. Smith is a description, in Irish, of 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," 1 as resembling in sound the Latin Turris,
is a corroboration of his hypothesis of the use of tlte Round Toicers, has no weight witli
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. Cupup
signifies a journey, as 50 n-eipijio DO rupup lear, ' may you hace guccesg on your jour-
ney;' 1 cpua mo rupup 50 toe oeapj, 'pity my journey or pilgrimage to Lough Dery.'
Cupap is sometimes figuratively used in the spoken Irish language to signify a cer-
tain penitential station, which the Roman Catholics still perform, or lately performed,
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 another
at the ancient churches, or from one station of the Holy Cross to another in the mo-
dern chapels, and repeating certain prayers before each station. Hence uj cuBaipc
cupaip means 'performing a station or a pilgrimage /' but the word is understood by
the most illiterate peasant as alluding to the journeying on the knees; and the same
person, who would know that 03 cabmpc cupaip means performing a station or pil-
grimage, would understand cupap paoa to mean a long JOURNEY ; cpiocnufyjeap mo
cupup, '/ have finished my JOURNEY;' 50 n-eipljib DO cupup leac, ' may you succeed
1 20 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
on your journey.' 1 From these examples it appears quite obvious that the Irish word
cupap has nothing to do with tower or turris, but that it is of the same signification
and derivation with the English 'tour,' which I trust no person will derive from the
Latin turris, a tower.
" I am of opinion that the term cupctp is not long in use 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 MSS. to signify ajourney, a travel, a tour;
and if the word naorii were added, then it would mean a pilgrimage, 'a holy journey,'
(naorii-rupap). But in all our ancient annals the word used to signify 'pilgrimage'
is ailirpi. Cupap 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, sorrowful,) being always used to denote penance, whether mental or cor-
poreal."
To these judicious remarks it is hardly necessary to add another
word. I am quite persuaded that if Dr. Smith had had any distinct
authority for his vague reference, either manuscript or printed, he
would not have failed to have triumphantly produced it. Why did
lie 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
have named them Inclusoria and Arcti Inclusorii Ergastula, the
Prisons of a narrow enclosure particularly in the Life of Dunchad
O'Braoin, &c." But these are not Irish words, and I have already
shown, in the preceding section, that the authorities here referred to
make no allusion whatever to towers, but on the contrary distinctly
and invariably call those Inclusoria cellce 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 tnnp-
rectch or oecqi-reac a name which is supposed by some to be poeti-
cally compounded of the words oeaji, a tear, and reach, a house.
It is thus explained by O'Reilly in his Irish Dictionary :
" tDeap-reac, dear-theach, an apartment in a monastery calculated for prayers and
penitence."
Thus in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the year 905, the
burning 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 Maionense combustum."
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND 121
But correctly by Colgan, who knew the meaning of the passage far
better than Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 905. Domus poenitentium in Mogco incendio vastata." Ada SS. p. 606.
And again :
" A. D. 1075. Cluain loraird do losce, eon a dertigh."
Also erroneously translated by O'Conor, as follows :
" A. D. 1075. Cluanirardia corabusta cum suo Nosocomio."
But correctly by Colgan :
"A. D. 1075. Cluain-erardia cum sua Psenitentium wde, combusta." Ib. p. 407.
A hundred other instances to the same effect might be adduced,
but these will, I trust, suffice ; nor should I have deemed the proofs
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 which have been drawn up
by so many able and intelligent antiquaries, I am inclined to favour the opinion 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. WATCH-
TOWERS AND BEACONS. As these theories are only erroneous in
their exclusive application, and are sound when 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 have hitherto
failed of a more general adoption, it has been the result not less of a
want of facts to support them, than of the difficulties in argument
which their advocates had to encounter, in ascribing to a single and
exclusive use a class of buildings, all of which exhibited peculiarities
of structure, which were manifestly not necessary to that one purpose.
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 endeavoured to remove
the too prevalent existing prejudices of my countrymen in favour of
theories respecting the origin and uses of the Round Towers, which
I deem erroneous, by a dispassionate examination of the evidences
which have been adduced to support them ; and to the calm inquirer
after truth, who may have accompanied me through that rather te-
dious preliminary investigation, I trust I have submitted such evi-
dences as will 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 believe in
hypotheses I allude particularly to those referring 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 sound antiquarian investigation, even in the wealthier
sister islands, is but of recent growth, and that, from various causes
unnecessary 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 IRELAND. 123
did not begin to build with stone and mortar until the twelfth cen-
tury? The words in which this learned writer despatches this sub-
ject, as translated by his laborious editor, Harris, are as follows :
" Malachy 0-Morgair, Archbishop of 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 this Account, ' Malachy thought 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 Scott [i. e. Irishmen] not
Gauls. What 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 ?' 8fc. 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, which would imply, in the
opinion of that writer, 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 unguided 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." Political
Anatomy of Ireland, (second edition), chap. v. p. 25.
The next writer who investigated our antiquities, and treated of
the origin of the Round Towers in particular, 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.
R 2
124 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
And lastly, the more laboured efforts of Dr. Ledwich, in our own
time, in support of the same theory, have only served to increase the
darkness in which our ecclesiastical antiquities were previously in-
volved.
While the Irish were thus instructed in error by their own 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 architectural
remains of the Irish colony of Scots, who settled in Scotland in the
beginning of the sixth century, as an example of which I quote the
following passage, from Pinker ton's Enquiry into the History of Scot-
land, vol. ii. p. 141 :
" Ancient monuments of the British Scots there are none, save cairns of stones,
used as sepulchres, and as memorials. These were adapted to Celtic indolence : while
the Gothic industry 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
Hebudes ; so that no ruins can be found 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 prove 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 their
preservation ; and secondly, on the other hand, as preparing the pub-
lic mind for the reception of those wild theories respecting the pagan
origin of the Round 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. 125
remains, still so abundant in Ireland, and thus excite a desire for their
conservation, is a task which, however humble, I may well feel a
pride that it should have fallen to my lot to accomplish. To do
this, however, it is necessary that I should not confine this Inquiry to
the question of the origin and uses of the Round Towers alone, but
also, as accessary and indeed essential to that Inquiry, go into an
investigation of our ecclesiastical architecture generally, of which the
Round Towers constitute only a subordinate feature.
It is true that these remains will be found to be of a very simple
and unartificial character, and to exhibit nothing of that architectural
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 shrine
Of any worship 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 simplicity,
exhibit a characteristic absence of meretricious grandeur, typical 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 such venerable
remains of their past history.
SECTION II.
ANTIQUITY OF IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL REMAINS.
IT imist 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 to be
of great weight, and extremely difficult to controvert ; for it would
appear, from ancient authorities of the highest character, that the
custom of building both houses and churches with oak timber and
wattles was a peculiar characteristic of the Scotic race, who were
the ruling people in Ireland from the introduction of Christianity
till the Anglo-Norman Invasion in the twelfth century. Thus we
have the authority of Venerable Bede that Finian, who had been a
1 26 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
monk of the monastery of lona, on becoming bishop of Lindisfarne,
" built a church fit for his 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, quam tamen more Scottorum, non
de lapide, sed de robore secto totam composuit atque harundine texit." J3eda, 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 century, we find it stated, that " when Patrick went up to
the place which is called Foirrgea of the sons of Awley, to divide it
among the sons of Awley, he built there a quadrangular church of
moist earth, because wood was not near at hand."
" Et ecce Patricias perrexit ad agrum qui dicitur Foirrgea filiorum Amolngid ad
dividendum inter filios Amolngid, et fecit ibi Kclesiam terrenam de humo quadratam
quia non prope erat silva." Fol. 14, b. 2.
And lastly, in the Life of the virgin 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, tarn Scotis quam Britonibus niorem fuisse
insolituin, ex Beda quoq; didicimus. Indeq; in S. Monennce monasterio Ecclesiam
constructam fuisse notat Conchubranus tabulis de dolatis, juxta morem Scoticarum gen-
tium : eo quod macerias Scoti non solent facere, nee facias habere." Primordia, p. 737.
I have given these passages in full and I believe they are all
that have been found to sustain the opinions alluded to in order
that the reader may have the whole of the evidences unfavourable
to the antiquity of our ecclesiastical remains fairly placed before
him ; and I confess it does not surprise 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 naturally lead to; or
even that the learned and judicious Dr. Lanigan, who was anxious to
uphold the antiquity of those monuments, should have expressed his
adoption of a similar conclusion in the following words :
" Prior 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 BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 127
the country was to erect their buildings of wood, a fashion, which in great part con-
tinues to this day in several parts of Europe. As consequently their churches also
were usually built of wood, it cannot be expected that there should be any remains
of such churches at present." Ecd. Hist. vol. iv. pp. 391, 392.
Before, however, we deem such authorities invincible, let it be
remembered that on similar evidences the antiquaries of England, till
a recent period, came to the conclusion that the churches of the Bri-
tons, and even of the Saxons, were mostly built with timber ; for, as
is stated by Grose in the preface to his Antiquities of England on the
subject of architecture (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 I 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 wish to deny that the houses built by the
Scotic race in Ireland were usually of wood, or that very many of the
churches 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 Ireland anterior to the Anglo-Norman Conquest. 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 their 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 their religious structures. As cha-
racteristic examples of these ancient religious 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 Inishmurry, in the bay of Sligo, erected in the sixth
century ; to that of St. Brendan, on Inishglory, off the coast of Erris,
] 28 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
in the county of Mayo, erected in the beginning of the same century ;
and to that of St. Fechin, on Ard-Oilean, or High Island, off the coast
of Connamara, in the county of Galway, erected in the seventh cen-
tury. In all these establishments the churches alone, which 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 circiilar
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-
passed by a broad wall composed of stones of great size, without
cement of any kind.
Such also, or very nearly, appears to have been the monastic es-
tablishment constructed on the island of Fame, in Northumberland,
in the year 684, by St. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisftirne, who 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, four 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
natural 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 wholly of rough stones
and earth, which had been dug up from the middle of the enclosure;
and of these stones, which had been carried from another place, some
were so large that four men could scarcely lift 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 enclosure, 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 original :
"... condidit Ciuitatem suo aptam imperio, & domos in hac seque ciuitati congruas
erexit. Est autem redificium situ pene rotundum, a muro vsque ad murum mensura
quatuor ferine siue quinq'; perticarum distentum, murus ipse deforis altior longitudine
stantis hominis. Nam intrinsecus viuam cedendo rupem multo ilium fecit altiorem,
OF THE BOUND TOWERS >K IKKI.AM). 129
quatenus ad cohibendam oculorum siue cogitationem lasciuiam, ad erigendam in su-
prema dcsidcria totam mentis intentionem, pins incola nil de sna mansione prater
cucluni jxi>>< t intucri : cpu-m videlicet ninrum non de secto lapide vel latere &ca;mento,
sed impolitis prorsus lapidibus & cespite, quern de medio loci t'odicndo tnlerat, coinpo-
suit. E qnibus quidam tuntte crant grauditatis, vt vix a quatuor viris viderentur
potuissc leuari : quos tamen ipse angelico adiutus auxilio illuo attulisse aliunde', &
inuro imposuisse repertus est. Duas in mansione habebnt domos, oratorium scilicet &
aliud ad communes vsus aptum habitaculnm : quorum parietes quidem de uaturali
terra multuni intus forisque circumfodiendo siue cedendo confecit, culmina vero de
lignis informibus & foeno superposuit. Porro ad portam insulaj maior erat domus, in
(}ua visitantes eum fratres suscipi & quiescere possent ; nee longe ab ea fons eorundem
vsibus accominodus." Vita S. CuMerti, apud Colgan, Acta SS. p. 667.
That these buildings were, as I have already stated, erected in the
mode practised by the Firbolg and Tuatha De Danann tribes in Ire-
land, must be at once obvious to any one, who has seen any of the
pagan circular stone forts and bee-hive-shaped houses still so fre-
quently to be met with, along the remote coasts, and on the islands,
of the western and south-western parts of Ireland, into which little
change of manners and customs had penetrated, that would have de-
stroyed the reverence paid by the people to their ancient monuments
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 rotund 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
hundreds still remaining, though generally more or less dilapidated.
This house, known to the peasantry by the name of Clochan na car-
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 feet
high, and its walls are about four feet thick. Its doorway is but three
130
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
feet high, and two feet six inches wide on the outside, but narrows
to two feet on the inside. The roof is formed, as in all buildings of
this class, by the gradual approximation of stones laid horizontally,
till it is closed at the top by a single stone ; and two apertures 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 nourished 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 Derry-
nane Abbey, in Irish Ooijie phionain, which derives its name from
that saint. This structure, though nearly circular on the outside, is
quadrangular on the inside, and measures 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 four 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 ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
131
in height, and one foot eight indies in breadth; and the internal one
is five feet t\vo inches in length, and two feet nine inches in breadth.
The next example is of somewhat later date, being one of the houses
erected by the celebrated St. Fechin, who flourished in the seventh
century, at his little monastic establishment on Ard-Oilean, or High
Island, off the coast of Connamara, in the county of Galway. This
building, like the preceding one, is square in the interior, and measures
s 2
132 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
nine feet by seven feet six inches in height ; the doorway is two feet
four inches wide, and three feet six inches high. The material of this
structure is mica slate, and, though its external appearance is very
rude, its interior is constructed with admirable art.
The introduction of this quadrangular form, by the first propa-
gators 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. Evin, a writer of the
sixth century, and thus translated by Colgan :
" Constantinus autem in suis vaticinijs loquens de eo eodem aduentu cecinit. Adu-
eniet cum circulo tonsus in capite ; cuius cedes erunt ad instar cediurn Romanarum:
effidet quod celloe futures sint in pretio $ cestimatione : cedes eius erant [erunt] angmtce
Sf angulatce Sf fana multa : pedum pastorale dominabitur. Quando hcec portenta Sf pro-
digia euenient, nostra dogmata Sf idola euertentur : fides Sf pietas magnificabuntur. Qu
onmia veridice prsedicta esse probauit euentus, licet per ora mendacijs assueta, prolata,
cogente omnis veritatis fonte & authore ; qui saepe patrem medacij cogit ad testi-
monium veritati prsebendu." Trias Tliaum. p. 123.
It is remarkable, however, that the early Irish Christians do not
appear to have adopted all at once the quadrangular form and upright
walls, here alluded to as characteristic of the houses of the Romans,
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, where the remains of stone fortresses and circular
stone houses are most numerously spread through the valleys and on
the mountains, we meet with several ancient oratories, exhibiting only
an imperfect development of the Roman mode of construction, being
built of uncemented stones admirably fitted to each other, and their
lateral walls converging from the base to their apex in curved lines ;
indeed their end walls, though in a much lesser degree, converge
also. Another feature in these edifices worthy of notice, as exhibit-
ing a characteristic which they have in common with the pagan
monuments, is, that none of them evince an acquaintance with the
principle of the arch, and that, except in one instance, that of Gallerus,
their doorways are extremely low, as in the pagan forts and houses.
As an example of these most interesting structures, which, 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
OK TIIK KorXI) T()\VKIiS ()K IliKI.A ND.
133
Gallerus, the most beautifully constructed and perfectly preserved of
those ancient structures now remaining; and views of similar oratories
will be found in the succeeding part of this work.
This oratory, 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 pyramid. The doorway, 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 terminated 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 the first erected
for Christian uses, is, I think, extremely probable ; and I am strongly
inclined to believe that they may be even more ancient than the
period assigned for the conversion of the Irish generally by their
great apostle Patrick. I should state, in proof 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 more importance, that their graves are marked by
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
Grasco-Roman or Byzantine character of the fourth or fifth century,
of which the annexed is an accurate copy.
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 :
"Cie cotum mec . . . met."
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 church-yard of Kilmalkedar, 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 published 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 observations
thereon, which are as follows :
" There are very evidently two kinds of characters on this stone. One the Ogfiam,
on each side of a line ; the other a running character, which appears to be a mixture of
Phoenician, Pelasgian, and Egyptian." p. 184.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 1 35
He then presents us with four examples of Egyptian and Perse-
politan characters, to show their similarity to the characters on the
Kilmalkedar stone, and concludes with a comment on the circum-
stance of a flowered cross being sculptured on another side of it, as
follows :
" The cross was, and is still, a usual ornament with the Asiatic nations. The vest-
ment of the priest of Horus is full of {. 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, which has been broken off, will, I
am satisfied, be at once apparent to every intelligent scholar; and
also that the three large letters DNI, which occur in the middle of the
inscription, and which Vallancey supposed to be an Ogham, 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 was an abecedarium, 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 rudiments of the Latin
language ; for that it was the practice of the first teachers of Chris-
tianity in Ireland to furnish their disciples with the abecedarium, 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. 1. And I may add as a further con-
jecture, that this pillar-stone may have been originally 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 monuments
to the honour of the true God. In this work it is stated that St. Pa-
trick, coming to the plain of Magh 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, such
as is seen on the pillar-stone at Kilmalkedar, and on every other an-
cient Christian monument in Ireland. The passage, as translated from
the original Irish by Colgan, is as follows :
130
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Rebus Ecclesiae ibi dispositis Patricius se contulit ad locum qui & Mag-selga le-
gitur appellari, vbi sex Brian! Principis offendit filios, Bognam, cognomento Rubrum,
Uerthractum, Echenum, Crimthannuin, Coelcharnum, & Eoohadium. Ibi in loco amoeno,
vbi circumfusa regio late conspicitur, vir Dei cum aliquot comitantibus Episcopis mo-
rarn contraxit inter tres colossos siue edita saxa ; quse gentilitas ibi in memoriam ali-
quorum facinorum, vel gentilitiorum rituum posuit. In his autem lapidibus, lapidis
angularis, qui fecit vtraque vnum, Cliristi Domini tria nomina tribus linguis expressa
curauit incidi ; in vno lesus, in altero Soter, in tertio Saluator nomen impressum le-
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 un-
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, without cement, at the very earliest period
after the introduction of Christianity into the country, and, if it had
OF THE HOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 137
been necessary, I might have adduced a vastly greater body of evi-
dence to substantiate the fact, I may, I think, fairly ask : Is it
probable that they would remain much longer ignorant of the use of
lime cement in their religious edifices, a knowledge of which must
necessarily have been imparted to them by the crowds of foreign
ecclesiastics, Egyptian, Roman, Italian, French, British, and Saxon,
who flocked to Ireland as a place of refuge in the fifth and sixth
centuries ? Of such immigration there cannot possibly exist a doubt ;
for, not to speak of the great number 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 sufficient 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 buried in Ireland. 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 H. 2,
18; and in the LeabharBreac, 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 by
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 furnishes
evidence.
" In ea namque naui deferebantur 50 Monachi patria Romani, quos SfC. c. 20. Hie
benigne Lector legis argumentum aliquod magnse istius opinionis, quam de sanctitate &
doctrina huius sacra; insulse olim conceperunt Romani, & alia; Europae nationes, Habe-
batur enim in aureis illis seminata? fidei primordiis, & aliquot sequentibus seculis, non
solum vt officina conuersionis gentium, sed etiam ad ascetica: vita; foueda exercitia,
vt Tebais altera, communisque ad sapiential, sacrarum-scripturarum vacandum studiis
Occidentis ludus litterarius : vt vix sciam an glorias plus promeruerit, ex eo quod Doc-
tores & Apostolos genuerit, & emiserit prope infinites, quam ex eo quod ex continuo
Italorum, Gallorum, Germanorum, Britonuni, Pictorum, Saxonum seu Anglorum, alia-
rumque nationum arctioris vita;, & doctrina: desiderio aduolantium accursu, incolatu
& sepultura mcrito appellari queat, communis Europae bonarum litterarum officina,
communeque ascetaru sacrarium. Plurima & admiranda de his repcriuntur in nostris
hystoriis, maxime in vitis SS. Patricij, Kierani, Declani, Albei, Endei, Maidoci, Se-
nani, Brendani &c. testimonia. Ego ex solo libro littaniarum Sancti ^Engussij ad-
duco sufficientia ; in quo author istius libri inter innumeros alios domesticos sanctou,
inuocat etiain sequentes sanctorum aduenarum in Hiberoia sepultorum turnias,
T
138 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Sttnclos Romanes, qui iacent in Achadh Galma in Ybh-Echia, inuoco in auxilium
meum per lesum Christum c.
" SS. Romanes de Lettir erca, inuoco in auxilium meum Sfc.
" SS. Romanos, qui cum Cursecha Jtlia Brochani iacent in Achadh-Datrach, m-
unco SfC.
" SS. Romanos de Cluain-chuinne, inuoco SfC.
" SS. Peregrinos de Cluain-mhoir, inuoco SfC.
" SS. Romanos, qui cum S. Aido iacent in Cluain Dartadha, inuoco fyc.
" SS. duodecim donchennacius, qui cum vtroque Sinchello iacent in Kill-achuidh,
inuoco SfC.
" SS. Conchennacios, qui cum S. Manchano iacent in Lethmor, inuoco 8}c.
" SS. septe Munachos Aegyptins, qui iacft in Disert Vlidh, inuoco Sjc.
" SS. Peregrinos, qui cum S. Mochua filio Luscan iacent in Domnach Resen, in-
uoco. SfC.
" SS. Peregrinos de Belach forchedail, inuoco SfC.
" SS. Peregrinos de Cuil-ochtair, inuoco Sfc.
" i5W. septem peregrinos de Imleach-mor, inuoco $c.
" SS. duodecim Peregrinos, socios S. Sinchelli, inuoco fyc.
" SS. Peregrinos Romanos, qui in centum quinquaginta cymbis, sine scaphis ad-
uecti, comitati sunt SS. Eliam, Natalem, Nemanum, Sf Corcnutanum, inuoco SfC.
" SS. cenlu quinquaginta Peregrinos Romanos $ Italos qui comitati sunt S. Ab-
banum in Hiberniam, inuoco fyc.
" SS. Gallos de Saliduic, inuoco, 8fC.
" SS. Gallos de Mag-salach, inuoco, SfC.
" SS. Saxones (.1. Anglos) de Rigair, inuoco SfC.
" SS. Sajt-ones de Cluain-mhuicedha, inuoco fyc.
" SS. Peregrinos de Inis-Puinc, inuoco SfC.
" SS. duodecim Peregrinos de Lethglais-moir, inuoco SfC.
" SS. cetu quinquaginta Peregrinos in Gair mic-Magla, inuoco SfC.
" SS. quinquaginta Munachos de Britannia, socios filij Mainani in Glenloire, in-
uoco SfC.
" SS. quinque peregrinos de Suidhe Coeil, inuoco SfC.
" SS. 150 discipulos S. Manchani Magistri, inuoco SfC.
" SS. 510, qui ex parlibus transmarinis veneruntcum S. Boethio Episcopo, decemq;
Virgines eos comitantes, inuoco SfC.
" SS. duodecim socios S. Riochi transmarinos, inuoco Sfc.
" Hasc & multa alia alibi dicenda, quas de exteris Monachis & sactis in nostris hys-
toriis & Menologiis legutur & breuitatis causa omitto, non solum omnem dubitationem
tollunt de numero quinquaginta Monachorum, quos in praesenti vita in Hiberniam
abstractions vitae, vel doctrinse causa, legimus venisse : sed & abunde indicant, & con-
ceptam a priscis de sanctitate & doctrina liuius insula: opinionem, & appellationem illani,
qua passim Insula sanctorum fy insula sacra, dicebatur, non falso aut leui niti funda-
mento. An autem ex praesentibus Romanis turmis sint aliqui, qui in superioribus litta-
niis sancti Eomani vocentur vel inuocentur, ego non affirmaucrim. 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 THE HOUND TOWERS OF IHICI.AM).
139
not without monumental inscriptions testifying to the same fact, of
which I annex, as an example, one which marks the grave of seven
Romans interred near the church of St. Brecari on the Great Island of
Arun, and which reads as follows :
un
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 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 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 6T?ecaNi,
which, when written in full, would obviously be
CAPITI BRECANI.
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, who 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 four feet two inches diagonally, but was broken in opening the
T 2
140
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
tomb, as is indicated in the engraving by the dotted lines, which
mark the portion now detached, and perhaps lost, though remaining
in fragments 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 surface, on the occasion of its being first
opened to receive the body of a distinguished and popular Roman
Catholic ecclesiastic of the county 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 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 :
orcoic QR 6RecaN Ncntichera.
A PRAYER FOR BRECAN THE PILGRIM.
OF TUB ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 141
That the Saxons at a very early period, through the instruction
of foreign missionaries, acquired the art of building with stone and
linn- 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 established that it is unnecessary for me to quote
any of the evidences from which it can be proved. But it may be
worthy of remark, that the first church built of lime and stone in the
Roman style, " insolito Britonibus more," as Bede 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 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 Hibernos nostros ejusdcm Niniani Vita: in qua, ob importunam tiim
a matre turn a consanguincis frequentatam visitationem, deserta Candida Casa, ut sibi
& suee quieti cum discipulis vacaret, Hibernian! petijsse atque ibi impetrato a Kege
loco apto & amoeno uTliiami -tLonrr dicto, coenobium magnum constituisse, ibidemq;
post multos 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 sufficient in this place.
1. In the ancient poem written by Flann of the Monastery, early
in the eleventh century, 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 churches, in Ireland.
The poem of Flann, in which this curious evidence occurs, is
142 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
preserved in the Book of Lecan, fol. 44, b, b ; and the passage is as
follows :
" Q epi paip, ua mmch a cono,
Cueman, Cpuichnec, 6uchpaio lono ;
luo oo p 1511 1 oumliuj ap cup
Q n-Gpino; apo a n-imchup."
" His three masons, good was their intelligence,
Caeman, Cruithnech, Luchraid strong ;
They made damliags first
In Erin ; eminent their history."
It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the word oamliag, so ge^
nerally applied by the Irish annalists and ecclesiastical writers to their
larger churches, will bear no other translation than stone house : 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. 6 ( J. Thus in the
former : " Ocnmlmcc .1. rejoiny cloc," " Damliag, i. e. an edifice of
stones ;" and in the latter, " Ooimliaj, .1. 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 church 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 Church
of Stone in this Place ; and that from thence it took the name of Dam-
leagh : for that before this Time the Churches of Ireland were built
of Wattles and Boards." See also Colgan, Trias Thaum. p. 217,
col. 2.
That this church was one of the first buildings of stone and lime
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 aeclesiis quas fundavit in Campo Breg, primum in Culmine ; ii, sclesise Cerne,
in 'qua sepultus est Hercus qui portavit mortalitatem magnam ; iii. in cacuminibus
Aisse ; iiii. in Blaitiniu ; v. in Collumbos, in qua ordinavit Eugenium Sanctum episco-
pum ; vi. aeclesia filio Laithphi ; vii. im Bridam in qua fuit sanctus dulcis frater Car-
thaci ; viii. super Argetbor in qua Kannauus episcopus quern ordinavit Patricius in
primo Pasca." Fol. 10.
OF THE BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 1 13
It is very probable, however, that in this enumeration Tirechan
inuv have had no idea of arranging the churches in the order of time.
as regarded their erection ; and if so, the assertion in the Office of
St. Ciunan, that the church of Daimhliag, or Duleek, was the first
stone church 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. Cianan, or, as his name
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 he must have been an especial favourite,
as Patrick bestowed upon him a copy of the Gospels, a gift of ines-
timable value at that time. The passage in the Annals of Tighernach
is as follows :
" A. D. 490. K. v. Quiet S. Clanani Daimhliaj. Ip DO cug pacpcnc a Soircella."
" A. D. 490. K. v. The rest of St Cianan of Duleek. It is to him Patrick gave his
Gospels.'"
2. That the art of building churches of stone and lime cement,
introduced into Ireland at this early period, was generally adopted
throughout the island, at least in the larger churches connected with
the abbacies and bishoprics, would appear certain from the fact, that
the term damhliag became the Scotic or Gaelic name by which the
Irish writers designated a cathedral or abbey church, though they
also used the terms ternpull, eclais, regies, and in one or two instances
baslic, words obviously adopted from the Latin language : and hence,
their ecclesiastical writers, when writing in that language, always ren-
der the damhliag of the Irish either by the word ecclesia or basilica,
though, on noticing the same buildings when writing in the Irish lan-
guage, they apply the terms damhliag, eclais, &ndtempull, indifferently.
This is a fact which I shall clearly prove, and which should necessarily
be borne in mind, because, as by far the greater number of notices
It may interest the reader to be informed, that it appears from a topographical
account of the County of Meath written in 16823, 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 OTUGIN 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 tern plum, 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 oratorium ; and hence it is not uncommon, when
the oratory was not of wood, to designate it by the term oratoriitm
lapideum, as in the often quoted passage in Bernard's Life of St. Ma-
lachy, relative to the stone oratory at Bangor, and of .which I may also
quote as an example the following notice in the Annals of Ulster, at
the year 788 :
" A. D. 788. Contencio in Ardmacae in qua jugulatur vir in hostio [ostio] OKATORII
LAPIDEI."
To prove this interchange, first in the terms damJtliag and tern-
pull, among the Irish writers themselves, before the English invasion,
I insert the following passage relating to the damhliag of Mayo,
usually called Tempull Gerailt by the Irish, from an ancient Irish
MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 2, 17, p. 399 :
" Ro eobaippio Sacpain TTIaiji eo oechmao a cachpach DO t)ia 7 DO TTlicel, 7
DO ponpao oamliacc inei DO oeopaouib t)e co bpcich. Ocup po gubpuc fflumcip
niailpinneoin a papach, 7 DO pochaip in oamliacc pin popp in mumcip gup mapB
oaeimb', innilib. lap pin co came an penoip, .1. Cuchapach, jop acnuijjio an rem-
put pain, a pijji Ruaiopi 7 a mic, .1. CoipoelBai, 7 po h-air-oilpieo o pin amac
DO oeopaoaib co bpar; 7 cucao cop mo eapcoip 1 t)unan, 7 mnmcipi Cilli Oalua,
7 in c-penopa, .1. Cacapac, 7 Coipoelbuig, pij Connachc, 7 ano epcoip 1 CnaiU,
7 ano epcoip 1 TDubchai^, ma bicoilpi co bpath. Ocnp jepe ci caipip pein po 50-
cup a ouchaio pein a calmain aip, 7 pob oopaio an pueoul DO."
" The Saxons of Mayo granted the ty thes of their city to God and St. Michael, and
they made a damhliag in it (i. e. in their city) for the pilgrims of God for ever. And
the family of Mailfinneoin proceeded to destroy it, and that damhliag fell on the people
and killed men and cattle. After this came the senior i. e. Cathasach, and he renewed
[re-builtj that tempul [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
XD'Dubhthaigh, was given for its possession for ever. And whoever comes beyond
[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 church of Mayo has
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 145
been hitherto involved, I may observe that the edifice to which it refers
must not be confounded with the great abbey church of Mayo,
which was erected for the Saxons by St. Colman, about the middle
of the seventh century, but to that called Tempull Gerailt, i. e.
Church of Gerald, and Cill na n-Ailither, i. e. Church of the Pilgrims,
which must have been originally erected by the Saxon Saint Gerald
at the same place, some time in the beginning of the eighth century,
as St. Gerald's death is recorded in the Annals of Tighernach at the
year 732, and of Ulster at the year 731.
The date of the re-edification of this church, by the senior Catha-
sach, may be determined from the fact stated in the document, that it
occurred during" the reign of Ruaidhri, king of Connaught, and his
son Toirdhelbhach, or Turlogh, by which must be understood the
period between the loss of Ruaidhri's eyes, in 1097, and that of his
death, which occurred 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 1136.
As examples of the substitution by the Irish writers of the Latin
words templum, ecclesia, basilica, for the Irish datnli/iug, and of the
Irish words till, eclais, tempull, regies, 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, occurs in the Annals of Ulster at the year 839, in which it
will be seen that the great church was called a damhliag, or stone
church.
"A. D. 839- Concern Oipomaca co n-a oepci^ib, 7 a oaimliacc."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 839. Combustio Ardmachte cum Nosocoiniis [correctly Oratoriis], et Ec-
olesiis lapideis suis."
This event is recorded in nearly the same words in the Annals
of the Four Masters, and is freely translated by Colgan :
" A. D. 839. topccao Ctpomaacha co n-a oepraijib, 7 co n-a oairhliacc lap
na 5 a llaib pempuice."
" A. D. 839. Ardmacha cum sud Basilica, aliisq; sacrit cedibut, incenditur per Nui't-
mannoe." Trias Thaum. p. 295.
U
146 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 ?
the 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 Four Masters :
" A. D. 830. C6ona opjain Gpoamacha. Qpomacha DO op^am po rpi i n-uom
mi la 5 u l-laib, 7 n1 P h-oipgeb la h-eaccap-cenela piarii 50 pin."
Thus translated by Colgan :
" A. D. 830. Ardmacha spatio vnius memisfuit tertio occupata fy expilata per Nort-
rnannos seu Danos. Et nunquam ante fuit per exterog occupata Trias T/iaum. p. 295.
In the next entry relative to these churches in the Irish annals,
the damhliag, or great stone church, 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. Gpomucha DO opccain la 5l unla P n i 7 ^ a <5allaib Gcha cliach,
co pucpac oeicneaBap 7 peace JJ-ce'o i m-bpoio leo, lap n-oipcaoileb apuill oo'n
ecclaip, 7 lap m-bpipeb an oeapraije, comb DO ip pubpab :
Cpuaj, a naerh paopaicc, nap anachc c' epnai je,
Qn ^aiU co n-a o-cuagaib 05 buulab DO oeprai^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 Jerthac/t, [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. Ardmacha occupata fy expilata per Gluniarnum, $ Nortmannos Dub-
linienses; qui ipsa summa Basilica ex parte diruta, Sf diuersis sacris rpdificijs solo cequatis,
decent supra septingentos abduxerunt captiuos." Trias Thaitm. p. 296.
In the next notice of the sacred edifices of Armagh, which occurs
in the same Annals, the principal church is designated by the word
cill. It occurs at the year 907, and is as follows :
" A. D. 907. Sapuccao Gpoamacha la Cepnachan mac TDuiljen, .1. cimbio
DO bpeic ap in cill, 7 a baboo h-i 6och Cuip ppi h-Qpomacha aniap."
OF THE HOUND TOWERS OF IHELAN1). 147
Thus translated by Colgan, who renders cill by ecclesia and Imxilica:
" A. D. 907. JiiisiHrii Ai-iliiinrliiiiiii Siici-ilryam vim jiassa per Kernachuintm filiinn
Duliifiii ; quii/tii'ttilniit fiifillHinii i'u i'1'fiiii'ij caitsa effttgientem, ex Ecclesia sacrilege ausu
i:rirn.f!t. $ in lacu cle Loch kirr, vrbi versus Occidentem adiacenti, ftiffbeauit." Trias
Tlnunn. p. 296.
The Annals of the Four Masters next record the burning of Ar-
magh at the year 914, without any reference to its buildings ; but the
Annals of Ulster record the same event in detail at the year 915. I
quote the original of the latter notice, as printed by Dr. O'Conor, and
I also give his translation of it, though incorrect in many respects :
" A. D. 915. Ardmacha do loecadh di ait i. q. nt Kl. Mail, i a leith deiscertaeh cosintoi
7 cosintghaboll 7 cosincucin 7 cusiitdlius ab. haile."
" A. D. 915. Ardinacha combusta partim, quinto Kalendarum Mail, i. e. dimidiuni
ejus australe, cum stramine, et granario, et tecto, et domicilio niuuito Abbatise totius."
It might be supposed from the preceding translation that this
record could have no reference to the burning of the churches of
Armagh, and that it could not be used in any way to prove that they
were of stone; but I shall presently show (p. 152) that the contrary
is the fact, and that the words of the annalist which Dr. O'Conor
understood to mean sframen, i. e. straw, granariinn, a barn, and tec-
tnm, a roof, were actually not only churches, but even stone churches.
The original passage is thus given in the vellum copy of the Annals
of Ulster, preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin :
"A. D. 915. Qpomnca DO lopcao DO cene otair i quinco Kalenoapum fTlai, .1.
a leich oeipcepruch, cop in Coi, 7 cop in c-Suball, 7 cup in Chucm, 7 cop mo f.iup
QbbaiD h-uile."
The correct translation of the passage is undoubtedly this :
" A. D. 915. Armagh was burned by lightning on the fifth of the Kalends of May,
i e. its southern half, together with the [church of~\ Toi, and with [the church of]
Sabhall, and with the Cucin [or kitchen], and with the entire of the Lis Abbaidh, [or the
fortified enclosure of the abbots]."
In the next entry the churches of Armagh are noticed under the
name of ceall. It occurs in the Annals of Ulster under the year 920,
and is as follows, as in the College MS. copy :
" A. D. 920. Inopeo Gipomacha h-i 1111. lu. Nouembptp 6 jUcuB Gcha cliach,
.1. o ^Jorbpic Oa Imaip, cum puo eiepcicu, .1. ip in c-Parupn pia peil nflapcuin ;
7 na raiji aepnai^ci DO anacal laipco n-a luce DO ceilib oe, 7 01 lobpuib, 7 in cell
olcena, nipi paucip in ea ceccip exaupcip pep incupiam."
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 Alienigenas Dublinienses,
i. e. per Goffredum nepotem Imari, cum suo exercitu, 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 995, and records the
conflagration of the churches and other buildings of Armagh by light-
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 Domhliacc mhor, or great stone-
church, in the following passage, to which I add Colgan's translation :
" A. D. 1010. niuipeoach, mac Cpiocham, coriiapba Colaitn cille, 7 Goam-
nain, paoi, 7 eppcop, 7 mac oicche, peplei^mc Gpoumacha, 7 aobap coriiapba
Pucpaicc, o'ecc iapp an cerparhao bliaoam peaccmooac a aoipe, a u. Kl. lanuapi,
uioche Sachaipn oo ponnpao, 7 po h-aoriaiceo co n-onoip, 7 50 n-aiprhicm ip in
Oomliacc mop i n-Gpomacha, ap belaib' na h-ulcopa."
"A. D. 1010. Sanctus Muredacim filius Crichani, Comorbanus Sancti Columbce, 8;
Sancti Adamnani, Doctor eximius, Episcopus, Virgo, seu vir castissimus, Lector Theologim
Ardmachanus, $ futurus Comorbanus S. Patricij, (id est Archiepiscopus Ardmachanus)
anno cetatis septuagesimo quarto, quinto Calendas lanuarij, ipsa nocte sabbatina, quieuit
in Domino: Sf Ardmachce in maiori Ecclesia ante summum altare, cum magno honore Sf
solemnitate sepultus est." Trias Thaum. pp. 297, 298.
The record which next follows is of greater value than any
hitherto cited, as the annalists present us with the names of the dif-
ferent churches which were burned, and call them all damhliags, or
stone churches. It occurs 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 founded 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. Gpomaca DO lopcao a c. Kl. ITlai, co n-a oepti^ib uile cenmoca
in reach pcpeprpa nama, 7 po loipc illcige ip na cpenaib, 7 in tJamliag mop, 7
in cloicccech co n-a clogaib, 7 Oamliag na Coja, 7 Damliaj in c-Sabuill, 7 in
cachuip ppoicepca, 7 imao oip 7 upjaic, 7 pec apcena."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 1020. Ardmacha combusta tertio Kal. Maii, cum Nosocomiis suis omnibus,
non excepta domo Scripturarum sanctarum, et combustae sunt pluriinae domus in ter-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 149
nariis regionibus Civitatis, et Cathedralis Ecclesia niagna lapidea, et campanile cum
suis Campanis, et lapidea Ecclesia Electionum, et Ecclesia lapidea Saballi, (i. e. horrei,
sive granarii S. Patricii,) et Cathedra Doctrinalis Prffidicatorum (L e. suggestum) et
copia ingens auri et argenti, et res pretiosae similiter."
It should be observed, that in the preceding translation, Dr.
O'Conor correctly renders the words Oamling na Uoja, by lapidea
Ecclesia Electionum; and yet in his translation, already cited, of
the entry in the Annals of Ulster relating to the same churches, at
the year 915, he renders the word toe, which is the name of this
church, given without the preceding word Oarnlmj, by stramen:
and again in the record of the burning of this same church, 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.I 020. Gpomacha uile DO leip DO lopcao, .1. in Oaimlia^ Hlop co n-a
cuiji oo luatoe, 7 in cloiccec co n-a cloccaiB, 7 in Sabull, 7 in Com, 7 cupbao na
n-abbao, 7 in c-pen-cuchaip Ppocmpra, i o-ceipc Kl. lum, 1 6luan 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. Ardmacha tota penitus combusta, i. e. Ecclesia Saxea magna, cum
suo tegmento plumbeo, et Campanili, et Campanis, et Ecclesia Sabhalensis, L e. Granarii,
et Toamensis, i. e. Cimitserii, et EssedaAbbatis, et vetusta Cathedra doctrinalis, tertio
Kalendarum Junii, et die Lunae 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 own in deci-
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 writer 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 thus cor-
rectly translated, but without anglicizing the words Sabhall and Toa,
in the old manuscript translation of the Annals of Ulster, preserved
in the British Museum, (MS. add. 4795, fol. 47.)
" A. D. 1020. " All Ardmach burnt wholly, viz. y" Damliag with its howses
[housing] or cover of lead, y STEEPLE WITH Y BELLS, y e Saval and Toay, & chariott
of y e abbotts, with y e old chaire of precepts, in y' 3 KaL of June, Monday before Whit-
sonday."
] 50 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The same record is given by the Four Masters as follows :
" A. D. 1020. Qpomacha DO Vopccao ^up an Rair uile, jan cepapccam aom
cicche innce cenmocha an ceach pcpeaptpa nama, 7 po loipccchi lol-caighe ip nu
cpeanaib', 7 po loipcceo in t)oirhliacc TTlop, 7 in cloiccheach co n-a cloccaib, 7
TDariiliacc na Coe, 7 t)amliacc an c-Sabaill, 7 an c-pen-cachaoip ppoicepea, 7
cappac na n-Gbbab, 7 a liubuip i o-cai^ib na mac leijjinn, co n-iomac oip 7 aip-
pjicc, 7 jach peoic apchena."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 1020. Ardmacha combusta quoad Arccm totam, absque ulla domo ibi sal-
vata prater Domum Scripturarum, et combustae sunt plurinwe domus in vicis, et com-
busta est Ecclesia lapidea magna, et campanile cum suis campanis, et Ecclesia lapidea
Toensis, et Ecclesia lapidea Sabhallise, et antiqua Cathedra doctrinalis, et currus ab-
batialis, et libri ejus in domibus Praelectorum, 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 tota incendio vastata vsq; ad arcem maiorem, in qua nvlla
domus fuit combusta prceter Biblivthecam so/am: sed plurimoe cedes sunt flammis absumpta?
in tribus alijs partibus ciuitatis, $ inter alia ipsum summum templum, Basilica Toensis,
Basilica Sabhallensis, Basilica veins concionatoria ; libri omnes studiosorum in suis domi-
ciliis, Sf ingens copia auri $ argenti cum alijs plurimis bonis." Trias Thaum. 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, arid made by a native Irishman living in Ireland.
I shall next present the reader with the translation made of this
passage in the year 162? 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. Qpomacha DO lopcab jjup an pair jenmora an cec pcpebcpa, 7
loipcceo an Damliaj ITlop, 7 an claijceac co n-a cloccaib, 7 t)amlia5 na Coja,
7 t>amlia5an c-Sub'aill 7 an carhaip ppoicepca, 7 imao oip 7 aipgio, 7 peo ap.
ceana."
Thus translated by Mageoghegan :
" A. D. 1013, [correctly 1021]. Ardmach, 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 ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 151
the Great Church, the STEEPLE, the Church of the Sabhall, the pulpit t ..i- rhuir of
preaching, with much gold, silver and books, were burnt by the Danes."
In the next entry, relating to Armagh, in the Annals of the Four
Masters, the churches are noticed under the name of tempuill:
" A. D. 1074. Qpomacha DO lopccao oia ITIaipc lap m-6ealcame, co n-a uilib
cetnploib, 7 cloccaib, eirrip pair 7 cpiam."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 1074. Ardmacha combusta die Martis post Baalis ignem, (i. e. post Ka-
lendas Maias,) cum omnibus suis Ecclesiis et Campanilibus, tarn Arx quam ternaria;
divisioues Civitatis."
And thus by Colgan :
" A. D. 1074. Ardmacha tota cum omnibus Ecclesiis $ campanis, cum arce Sf reliqua
vrbisjMrte incendio vastata, die Martis post festum SS. Philippi Sf lacM." Trias Thaum.
p. 2<J8.
At the year 1085 mention is made in the Annals of Ulster and of
the Four Masters of the church of St. Bridget, at Armagh, usually
called Cill Bhrighide and Tempull Bhrighde, which, according to
Colgan, was erected in Patrick's time, under the name of Regies
Bhrighde; and at the years 1092 and 1093 the churches of Armagli
are again mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters, under the
name of tempuill.
At the year 1101 the great church of Armagh is called damhliat;
in the Annals of Ulster, and doimliag in those of the Four Masters.
" A. D. 1101. Donnchao h-Ua Gochaoa, pi Ulao, oo puaplucno a cuibpich
la tDomnull mac tochlamn la pij n-Qilij cap cenn a vnic 7 a coihalcai, .1. i
n-Damliuc Qpoamaclia, cpe impioe comapba pacpaic, 7 pamca pficpaic apcenu,
&c." Annal. Ulton.
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
"A. D. 1101. Donnchad O'Eochada Rex Ultonia; liberatus e catenis a Donaldo
filio Lochlinii Rege Alichite, propter filium ejus, et colactaneum ejus, (obsides) i. e. in
Ecclesia Cathedral! lapidea Ardmachana, per intercessionem Vicarii Patricii, et congre-
gationis cleri Patricii similiter."
" A.D. 1101. tJonnchab Ua h-Gochaoa, pi Ulao, DD puapluccao a cuiBpeacli-
aiB la t)omnall mac TTlic tochlamn, la pi n-Qili j, cap cenc a meic, 7 a comalcu,
i n-t)oimliacc Qpoamucha, cpe impioe comapba pacpaic, 7 a parhca apcena,
lap 5-comluccha ooib po Bacall lojxi, 7 po miono na h-eccailpi an n. Kl. lanuapi."
Ann. Quat. Mag.
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 1 101. Donnchadus O'Eochada Rex Ultonise liberatus e catenis per Donal-
dum filium filii Lochlanni Regem Alichise, propter suum filium, et suum collactaneum,
1 ;">2 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
in Ecclesia lapidea Ardmachana, per intercessionem Vicarii Patricii et ejus Congrega-
tionis similiter, postquam convenirent sub obligatione jurisjurandi Baculi Jesu et reli-
quiaruin Ecclesiae, xi Kal. Januarii."
And thus by Colgan :
" A. D. 1101. De consilio Sf intercessions Archiepiscopi fy Cleri Ardmachani Dom-
naldus Hua Lochluinn Rex Aleachensis e vinculis liberatum dimisit Donatum Hita Heo-
c/iadka, Regem Vlidice in Basilica Ardmachana, acceptis filio 8f aliis ab eo obsidibus: Sf
iureiurando per Baculum, aliasque sacri loci Reliquias prcestito fcedus ibi inierunt XI.
Calendar lanuarij." Trias Thaum. p. 299-
In the next notice, which occurs at the year 1112, of the burning
of the churches of Armagh, they are called tempuill in the Annals
of the Four Masters and in other Annals, as thus :
" A. D. 1112. Raich Gpoamacha co n-a cemploiB DO lopccao, in x. Kl. Qppil,
7 oa ppeich DO Cpiun ITIapan, 7 an rpeap ppech DO Cpiun riiop." Ann. Qtiat. Mag.
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 1 1 1 2. Arx Ardmachana cum SCA ECCLESIA combusta x Kal. April, et
duo vici ternariae regionis civitatis, dictre Masan, et tertius vicus ternariae (dictae)
Magnce."
And thus, more correctly, by Colgan :
" A. D. 1112. Arx Ardmachana CUM TEMPLIS, duce platece in Trian-Massain, Sf ter-
t/'ani Trianmor incendio deuastantur." Trias Thaum. 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. 112,5. Ip mnci ruapjbao a buinoe oioen pop in t)amliac ITIop Gipo-
macha, tap n-a lan-ecop DO plmnciuch la Celluch, comapba pacpaic, ip in cpi-
chaomao bliaoam ap ceo 6 na pabai plinnciuch paip co comlan." Ann. Ultmien.
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 contectum totum."
" A. D. 1125. h-i quinc lo. 6naip pop Qomoe ; ip more cuapccbao a oumne
Dioin pop in t)airhliacc IDop Qpoatnacha, lap n-a lam-eagap DO plmoib la Ceol-
lach, comapba pacpaic, ip in cpichacriiao bliaoam ap ceo o n-a paiBe plinn comlan
paip co pin." Ann. Quat. Mao.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 153
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor :
"A. D. 1125. Quinto Id. Januarii operimentum factum et tcctum integrum fac-
tuin supra Ecclesiam Cathedralem lapideam magnam Ardmachanam, postea totum
tegulis coopertum a Celso Vicario Patricii, in trigesimo anno supra centesimum ex quo
non fuit tegulis opertum totum usque ad id,"
And thus by Colgan :
" A. D. 1 125. Qitinto It/i<g lanuarij tegulis integre contecta $ restaurata est Ecclesia
Cathedralis Ardmacliana per Sanctum Cehum Archiepiscopum ; postquamper annos cen~
tn in trujinta non nisi ex parte fuisset contecta." Trias Thaum. p. 300.
The last notice of the ancient churches of Armagh in the Annals
of the Four Masters occurs at the year 1179, which I here give with
Colgan's translation :
" A. D. 1179. Gpomaca DO lopccao errip remplaiB 7 peclepaib, ace Reclep
ftpiccoe 7 Uempull net 6-peapca nnma."
" A. D. 1178 [1179]- Armacha cum Ecclesijs & Sanctuarijs incendio exusta, pra-
ter sanctuarium Sancti [Sancta?] Brigidae 4" templum na ferta (id est, miraculorum)
apjyellatum." Trias Thaum. p. 310.
From the preceding notices the following conclusions may, I think,
be considered as now established. First, that the Irish, when writing
in their own language, applied to their stone churches not only the
term damhliag, which expresses the material of which they were
formed, but also the terms till, tempull, regies, and eclats, words ob-
viously derived from the Latin ; and that when noticing these churches
in the Latin language they designate them by the terms ecclesia,
templum, and basilica: and hence, that no inference can be fairly
drawn, that the churches designated by any other appellation than
damhliag 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 their material by the use of the term damhliag,
or stone church, only, as I have shown, commence their notices of
these structures when they were subjected to the devastations of the
Northmen in the ninth century.
Secondly, that it is quite certain that the churches at Armagh
were stone buildings in the ninth century. This is sufficiently shown
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
154 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
notice in Colgan's annals of Armagli at the year 1145, relative to the
erection of a lime-kiln of enormous size by Gelasius, archbishop of
Armagh, for the purpose of repairing the churches, as authority for
which he quotes the Life of Gelasius (cap. xiv. in Ada Sanctorum,
p. 775), and the Annals of the Four Masters :
" A. D. 1 145. Priorum \_Piorum~\ lalorum indefessus exantlator Gelasius cogitans de
Ardmachana Basilica, aliisq; sacris cedibus adhcerentibus reparandis, extruxit pro calce
Sf ccemento in hunc finem excoquendo, ingentis molis fornacem, cuius latitudo ab omni
parte erat sexaginta pedes protensa." Trias Thaum. 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 the
Four Masters does not state the purpose for which the lime-kiln was
erected : but it is not likely that so very accurate 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 would be a perfectly legitimate
one, for if it had been erected not to repair, but to build the
churches, the annalists, as was their habit, would not have failed to
state an object so honourable 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 Church 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. t)avhliuc pejlepa poll 7 peoaip, DO ponao la h-lmap h-Uu
n-Qeoacun, DO coipecpao DO Ceallucli, comupba pacpaic, in rij. Kal. Nouem-
bpip."
Thus translated by Dr. O'Conor, who misunderstood the meaning of
the word peglep, which signifies an abbey church:
"A. D. 1126. Ecclesia lapidea Cathedralis Coemeterii Pauli et Petri, quam sedi-
ficavit Imar O'Aedhacan, consecrata a Celso Vicario Patricii, xii Kalend. Novemb."
Thus in the Annals of the Four Masters :
" A. D. 1126. t)aimliacc pejlepa poil 7 peoaip i n-Qpomachu, DO ponnao la
OF TIIK i.'ufxi) TOUKKS OF IRELAND. 155
h-lmap Ua n-Geoacam DO coippecccio la Ceallach, coriiapbu pacpaicc, an rt(.
Kal. DO Nouetnbep."
Tims translated by Dr. O'Conor :
" A. D. 1126. Ecclesia lapidea Coemeterii Pauli et Petri in Ardmacho, quae <cdi-
ficata est per Imarum O'Edacan, consecrata per Celsum Vicarimn Patricii, xii Kal.
Novembris."
And thus by Colgan :
" A. D. 1 126. Basilica SS. Petri $ Pauli Ardmachce extructa per B. Itnanun Hun
Hoedhagain, consecrata est per S. Celsum Archiepixopum Ardmachanum 12. Caknd. No-
Hemb." Trias Tliaum. p. 300.
Thus again in the record of the death of Malachy O'Morgair, the
predecessor of Gelasius, in the Annals of the Four Masters, at the
year 1148, it is particularly stated, not only that he founded and con-
secrated churches, churchyards, and monasteries, but also that he re-
paired many churches that had been for a long period in a state of
ruin and desolation.
" A. D. 1 148. malachiap, .' TTlaolmaeDocc Uci ITIopj-aip, aipo-eppcop cachaoipe
Paopmcc, aipo-cenn lapchaip Goppa, lejaice comapba pecaip, aom ceanc po
piapuijper5 a D 'l 7 5 OI ^> al P D -r ao1 ' n-eaccna 7 a j-cpaoaio, locpan polupca no
poillp i jeo cuacha 7 eccalpa rpia popceacal 7 caoin-jnioma, aojaipe raipip na
h-6ccailpi co coicceno, lap n-oiponeo DO eppcoip 7 facaipc, 7 aop gacha jpaio
apchena, tap j-coippeaccao ceampoll 7 peljeao n-iomao, lap n-oenarii jacha
lubpa ecclapcacoa pecnon Gpeann, lap o-ctoonacal peoo 7 bfo DO cpenaib 7
cpuajaib, lap B-porujao ceall 7 mnmipqieach ; ap ap leipiom po h-arnuaoaijre
i n-6pmn lap n-a b-pailliu jao o cdm riiuip, ^ach ecclup po lcchi i paill 7 i
n-eiplip, lap B-pajKail jach piajla 7 jach poib^pa i n-Gacclaip Gpeann apchena,
ip in oapa pechr a leccaioechca, lap beic ceicpe bliaona oecc ma phpiorii6io, 7
lapp an cerpamao bliaoam caeccac a aoipi, po paio a ppipar DO cum niriie an
oapa la DO Nouernbep, 7 apann celeabpaicc an6acclaip lirh 7 pollamam Naoirii
mhalachwp ap an cpep la, ap n-a claocluo lup na ppuicib o la pheile na mapB,
up an la na oiaio, ap comb upaioe a epoach 7 a onoip ; 7 po h-aonacc i mamipcip
8. 6epnaipo h-i Claipualip h-i b-ppancoiB, 50 n-onoip 7 co n-aipmirrm."
Thus 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. Malachias, i. e. Maolmaedogus O'Morgur, Arcbiepiscopus Cathedra
Patricii, suprcraus Pastor Occidentalis Europae, Legatus Vicarii Petri, Unicus cui pa-
rebant Hiberni et Alienigense, supremus sapiens doctrina et devotione, Lucerna Lucis
illuminans Saicularia et Ecclesiastica propter pietatem et clam gesta, Pastor solicitus
Ecclesije generaliter, postquam ordinasset Episcopos et Sacerdotes, et cujusvis ordinis
Clericos similiter, postquam consecrasset Ecclesias et Coemeteria plurima, postquam
perfecisset ornnia munera Ecclesiastica ubique in Hibernia, post oblatas res pretiosas
et cibaria potentibus et pauperibus, post tecta imposita Ecclesiis et Monasteriis, nam
x 2
156 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
per ipsum renovataj sunt in Hibernia, post ejus reditum e locis transmarinis, omnes
Ecclesia: qua; derelictse erant in ruinam et in desolationem, postquam statuisset omnes
regulas et omnes leges morum in Ecclesia Hibernica similiter, secunda fungens Lega-
tione, postquam fuisset quatuordecim annis in Primatu, post quinquagesimum quartum
annum aetatis suas, reddidit spiritum coelo, 2da die Novembris, et eo die celebrat Ec-
clesia ejus fclicem migrationem, et Solemnitas S. Malachia? tertio die celebratur, nam
transfertur a Eeligiosis a die festo omnium Defunctorum ad diem sequentem, ut possit
celebrari more solemn! et honorifico, et sepultus est in Monasterio S. Bernard! Clare-
valla} in Francia, cum honore et reverentia."
And thus more correctly by Colgan, as marked in small capitals :
"A. D. 1148. 8. Malachias Hua Morgair, Archiepiscopus olim Ardmac/ianus, Occi-
dentalis Europce Legatus Apostolicus, cuius arbitrio fy monitis Hiberni <$ Nortmanni
ucquiescebant, vir nutti sapientia f religione secundus, lucerna lucens, Sf Clemm popu-
lumq; sacris operibus Sf concionibus ittuminans ; Pastor fidelis Ecclesice Dei; post Epis-
ropos, Prcesbyteros, aliosq; diuersorum graduum Sf ordinum Clericos, wdinatos ; post
Ecclesias multas, Sanctuaria, Sf Monasteria consecrata ; post mtdtos labores Sf diuersa
munia Ecclesiastica per vniuersam Hiberniam pie exercita ; post multas eleemosynas, fy
pias elargitiones in vsus pauperum $ egenorum impemas ; post diuersas Ecclesias $ Mo-
nasteria partim erecta, partim rettcmrata (in more enim habuit Ecclesias, DIU ANTE NE-
GLECTAS & DIRUTAS denub reparare Sf recedificarei)post multas Canonicas constilutiones
Ecclesiasticce disciplince reformationem, fy Cleri mores in melius commutandos, concer-
nentes, pie sancitas, anno decimo quarto sui Primatus, cetatis quinquagesimo quarto secunda
iam vice Legati Apostolici munere functus, spiritum coelo reddidit die secunda Nouembris
in Monasterio Clareuallensi in Francia; ibidem cum magna solemnitate, fy honore sepultus.
Quia tamen commemoratio omnium Jidel turn defunctorum eo die celebratur ; festum eius
quo commodius 8f solemnius celebrari posset translatum est in diem sequentem." Trias
Thaum. p. 305.
Having now, as I trust, satisfied the 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 Damhliag Mor. The erection
of a cathedral church at Armagh is recorded by all the Irish annalists,
as well as by 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. Evin in the sixth century :
" Istis namque diebus sanctissimus Antistes metatus est locum, & jecit funda-
menta Ecclesise Ardmaclianse juxta formam, & modum ab Angelo prajscriptum. Dum
OF THE IIOUXD TOWERS OF IKKI.AM) 157
autein fierct lisec fundatio, & metatio forrase, & quantitatis Ecclesia: tcditicanda:, collect*
synodus Antistituin, Abbatum, aliorumque vniuersi rcgni Pralatorum : & facta pro-
cessione ad ractas designandas processcrunt, Patricio cum baculo lesu in tnanu totunt
Clerum, ct Angclo Dei, tanquilm ductore & directore Patricium prsecedenti. Statuit
autem Patricias juxta Angeli pnescriptum quod mums Ecclesiae in longitudine conti-
neret centum quadraginta pcdes (forte passus) ; fedificium, siue aula maior trigiuta ;
culina septem & decem ; Argyrotheca, seu vasarium, vbi supellex reponebatur, sep-
tem pedes. Et h;e sacrae aedes omnes iuxta has mensuras sunt postea erecta-."-
Part iii. c. Ixxviii. Trias Thaum. p. 164.
It maybe objected that the work in which the preceding authority
is found is not of the age ascribed to it by Colgan ; but this objection
is of little consequence to my present argument, as, even alloAving
the passages it contains, which could not be of this antiquity, and
which Colgan considers interpolations, to be, as Dr. Lanigan thinks,
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, the very
words are retained.
Seeing then that a great cathedral church was built by 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, after
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 Damhliag an t-Sabhaill, 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 Oirt/tir, id est Orientals appellatur, proceribus,
simul prodeunt ad agrum ilium videndum, & locum Basilicas in eo erigendae conside-
randum, & designandum. Cum loci considerarent opportunitatem, & tenninos, ceruam
cum hinnulo procumbentem conspiciunt in loco, in quo hodie est Sabhatt, quam cum
comitantes vellent occidere, sanctus id inhibuit, quod sibi postea multa praestaret ob-
sequia." Part iil c. Ixxi. Trias Thaum. p. 1G2.
158 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The situation of this church, 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
annali sts earlier than at the year 1179, when it is noticed in the Annals
of the Four Masters, as already quoted, and also in the Annals of
Kilronan. But there 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 :
" Perrexit igitur vir sanctus, prout in mandatis acceperat, ad fines Machanos, vbi
in loco, Rathdaire dicto, reperit virum Principem & potentem, nomine Darium cog-
nomento Dearg, Finchadij filium : Finchadio autem huic pater erat Eoganius, & auut
Niettanus, a quo familia de Hi Niellain nomen, & originem sumpsit. Petiit humiliter
vir Apostolicus a principe Dario locum, in quo Deo domum in terra, sacramque exci-
taret ajdem. Darioq; percontanti, in quo ipse earn loco mallet erigere, respondit, quod
in amoeno & eminentiori loco, in qua hodie Ardmacha Ciuitas jacet. Ista autem vice
noluit Darius permittere, vt in isto altiori loco eedificaret ; sed concessit ipsi alium
locum humiliorem : in quo vir beatus excitauit Ecclesiam De-Fearta vocatam, in qua
multis ipse postea habitauit diebus." Part iii. c. Ixviii. Trias Thaum. p. 162.
Thus in the Life by Maccuthenius, in the Book of Armagh :
" Dixitque diues ad sanctum quern locum petis : Peto inquit sanctus ut illam alti-
tudinem terras qua? nominatur Dorsum Solids dones mihi et construam ibi locum. At
ille noluit sancto terram illam dare altam, sed dedit illi locum alium in inferior! terra
ubi nunc est Fertce Martyrum juxta Ardd mache, et habitauit ibi Sanctus Patricius
cum suis." Fol. 6, b, b.
Respecting the origin of the church called by the annalists Damh*
Hag na Toi, or na Togha, I have found nothing in the ancient Lives
of St. Patrick ; but that this church also, if not a foundation 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 Damhliag na Togha, as accurately
written by Tighernach, which clearly means the stone-church 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 of the Old Parish Church where the
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 159
Rector of Armagh is always inducted, for want of which Church Divine
service is now performed in the Nave of the Cathedral." And in like
manner Dr. Stuart, the historian of Armagh, states, that at the frag-
ment of this church, " since the destruction of the building, the rectors
of Armagh have (generally speaking) been inducted, on their respec-
tive promotions." Dr. Stuart indeed supposes that this church was
called Basilica Vetus Concionatoria, a mistake growing out of Col-
gan's error in giving this as the translation of yencacctoip na pjio-
cepca, which, as already proved from the best authorities, meant,
merely, the old preaching-chair or pidpit.
Of the other edifices, stated in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick to
have been erected in that saint's time, I shall for the present only re-
mark, that the Cucin, Coquina, or Kitchen, is referred to in the An-
nals of Ulster as existing in the year 995.
I 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 century, but that there
is every reason to believe that these stone churches were the very
buildings erected by St. Patrick and his immediate successors : and
that the abbey and cathedral churches throughout Ireland were ge-
nerally, if not, as I firmly believe, always, of stone also, I shall prove
by abundant historical and other evidences, drawn from the monu-
ments themselves, in the succeeding sections of this Inquiry. In con-
cluding this section I shall therefore only adduce, in support of these
facts, one additional authority, which, though occurring in a mere
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 applied to stones not adapted to
the purposes of building. It occurs 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 quadarn vice vir sanctus Temoria profectus est ad montem Vsneach auimo
Ecclesiam ibi extruendi : sed ei opposuerunt se duo filij Nielli fratresque Laogarij
Regis, Fiachus & Enda : quos vir Dei primo benigne allocutus promittebat si permit-
terent Ecclesiam in Dei honorem in eo aniomo loco excitari, ejusdem Ecclesiae modera-
tores & rectores ex ipsorum progenie fore desumendos. Sed cum illi non soliim eius
predication!, & beneuote proposition! non acquiescerent ; sed etiam per manus at-
tractuin eum violenter expelli curarent ; tune vir Dei in tantte injurise justam vltionrm
] GO INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
coepit juculum maledictionis in ipsos, eorumque posteros inijcere. Et cum os in.hunc
fiiiem aperiens, diceret ; maledictio; tune S. Secundinus ejus discipulus inchoatam sen-
tcntiam ox ore eius eripiens, & complens, subj unxit ; Super lapides mantis Vsneack.
Placuit viro Dei discipuli pia miseratio, & intercessio & sententiam ab eo prolatam ra-
tam habuit. Mira res ! ab isto in hunc vsq; diem lapides isti quasi illius maledictionis
succumbentes plagae, nulli structure aptaj reperiuntur, alteriue humano deseruiunt
vsui. Vnde abinde in prouerbium abiit, vt siquando lapis, aliaiie materia destinato non
deseruiat vsui, ex mentis Vsneach lapidibus esse vulgo dicatur." Part ii. c. xvii. Trias
Thaum. p. 131.
SECTION III.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ANCIENT IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL
BUILDINGS.
HAVING shown, as I trust satisfactorily, in the preceding section,
that the 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 x>n the kind indul-
gence of the reader, if I should fail to treat the subject, in all its
bearings, with that certainty of proof which it would be so desirable
to attain. The structures of which I am about to treat, as noticed
in our historical documents, may be classed in the following order :
1. Churches.
2. Oratories.
3. Belfries.
4. Houses.
5. Erdamhs.
6. Kitchens.
7. Cashels.
I shall treat of each of these classes of buildings in a separate
section.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 161
SUBSECTION I.
CHURCHES.
WHATEVER difficulty I may have had to encounter in proving from
historical evidences that the most ancient Irish churches were usually,
if not always, of stone and lime cement, I shall, I think, have none in
establishing this fact from the characteristic features of the 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 hitherto
noticed, in any of the Christian edifices now remaining in any other
country of Europe, and which to the intelligent architectural anti-
quary will carry a conviction as to their 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 Armagh,
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 larger churches, appears not only from their existing remains, but
also from the accounts preserved in the ancient Lives of St. Patrick,
in which that length is given as the measurement of the Domhnach
Mor, or Great Church of Patrick, near Tailteann, now Teltown, in
Meath, as in the following passage in the Annotations of Tirechan
in the Book of Armagh :
" Deinde autem uenit ad Conallum filium Neill, ad domum illius qui fundauit iu
loco in quo est hodie aeclessia Patricii magna, et suscepit eum cum gaudio magno, et
babtitzauit ilium, et firmauit solium ejus inseternum, et dixit illi, semen fratrum tuo-
runi tuo sciuini servit in aeternuui. Et tu missericordiam debes facere heredibus rneis
post me in saeculum, et filii tui et filiorum tuorum filiis meis credulis legitimum sem-
piternum, pensabatque wclesiam Deo Patricii, pedibus ejus Ix pedum, et dixit Patricius,
si diminuatur aeclesia ista non erit longum regnuin tibi et firinum." Fol. 10, a, b.
In the Tripartite Life also of St. Patrick, ascribed to St. Evin, the
measurement of this church is given exactly in the same words, which
shows that these ancient Lives of the saint have been derived from a
common original :
" Patricius relinquens filium perditionis Carbreum declinauit ad Conallum eius
fratrem. Domus Conalli erat tune in loco in quo Ecclesia de Domnach Patruic extructa
Y
162 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
est. Conallus vero veritatis prKConem vt Angelum lucis, cum ea qua decuit reuerentia
& honore, Isetus excepit: eiusque doctrinse aures & animum accomodans, per eum in
inysterijs fidei instructus, salutari lauacro regeneratus, & families Christ! aggregatus
est. Vir Dei suam ei impertiit benedictionem dicens ; seraini tuo semen fratrum tuo-
rum inseruiet : iureque ha?reditario obtentum in posteros tuos a patre in filiuni hoc
sanctum transibit patrimonium, vt meos successores venerentur, honoraria clientela
respiciant, ac tueantur patrocinio. In loco isto, vbi erat aula sua, Conallus jecit Deo
& S. Patricio Ecclesiae extruendae fundamentum, quod pedibus eius LX. pedum erat:
ipse vero aulam suam ad alium vicinum locum transtulit. Eique tune dixit Patricius ;
quicumque ex tua poster! tate ausu temerario ausus fuerit aliquid contra hanc Ecclesiam
attentare, eius regimen neque fffilix, neque diuturnum erit." Part ii. c. v. Trias
Thaum. pp.129, 130.
These churches, in their general form, preserve very nearly that
of the Roman basilica, and they are even called by this name in the
oldest writers ; but they never present the conched semicircular absis
at the east end, which is so usual a feature in the Roman 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 semicircular form.
These churches have rarely more than a single entrance, which is
placed in the centre of the west end ; and they are very imperfectly
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 has 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 frequently triangular-headed, but
more usually arched semicircularly, while the doorway, 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 incline, like the doorways in the oldest remains of Cyclopean
buildings, to which they bear a singularly striking resemblance. The
doorways seldom present any architectural decorations beyond 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 churches are always perpendicular, and generally formed of
very large polygonal stones carefully adjusted to each' other, both on
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
103
the inner and outer faces, while their interior is filled up with rubble
and grouting. In the smaller churches the roofs were frequently
formed of stone, but in the larger ones were always of wood, covered
with si i ingles, 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 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 the
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 before him the
characteristic details of these primitive churches, I shall here annex
examples of their several features, beginning with their doorways. Of
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,
built without cement, and of which the doorway of the oratory at
Gallerus, already described, p. 133, affords the finest example :
This form 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
164
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
end of the small church called Tcmplepatrick, situated on the island
of Inis an Ghoill Chraib/ithigh, or, as O'Flaherty correctly trans-
lates it, " the island of 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 churches, 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 nine 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 architecture, and of similar form 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 was 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 ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND
1C5
only one on the island, that this devout foreigner was at least a co-
temporary of the Irish apostle, and not improbably even his nephew.
This inscription, which is accurately copied in the annexed wood-cut,
is found on an upright pillar of 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 preserva-
tion, may be read as follows :
LIE LUGNAEDON MACC LMENUEH,
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 this cha-
racter of equally certain antiquity to be
found in Ireland ; and it is but rational
to assume that the ancient church 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 purpose to inquire who this
Lugnaedon was, I may in the first place
observe, that it is stated in the Tripartite
Life of St. Patrick, Part II. c. 50, that
when the Irish apostle was at Oran, in Magh Aoi, in this very neigh-
bourhood, he was solicited by his Gallic disciples and followers to
assign 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 directed are not named.
Of these Gauls or Franks, who were fifteen in number, with one
sister, the names of only three are given, namely, Bernicius, Hiber-
160 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
nicius, and Ernicins ; and certainly, of these, the name Hibernicius,
as applied to a Gaul, might well create a doubt of the truth of the
whole statement : but this doubt is removed by the Annotations of
Tirechan in the Book of Armagh, in which these three names are
written Inaepius, Bermcius, 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-
gan remarks, that he has found no notice of them elsewhere, 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 Gauls 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 nephew. It should be fur-
ther observed, that the locality, in which 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 Monastery,
St. Lugna, or Lugnath, is set down as the luamaire, or pilot, of St.
Patrick, as in the following lines of the poem :
" frpJ>6n pcpibmoe a pcoile,
Cpuimchep Cujna a luamuipe."
" Brogan the scribe of his school,
Cruimther Lugna his pilot."
I have next to remark 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 TOWERS OF IRELAND 167
these seven sons of the Lombard were St. Patrick's nephews, as in
the following passage in the Leabhar Breac, fol. 9, a.
" Cpuimchep tujnai (.1. oalca paqiaiy 7 mac a pechap) in pechcmao mac
in Guipo, oc pepraib Cipe peic, pop Loch ITIepcrha."
" Cruimther Lugnai (i. e. the foster-son of Patrick and son of his sister) tea* the
seventh son of the Bard, and located at Ferta of Tir Feic, on Lough Mask."
And all the ancient martyrologies and genealogies of the Irish saints
name these seven sons of the Lombard in the following order :
1. Sechnall, or Secundinus, a bishop; 2. Nechtan, a bishop; 3. Da-
bonna, a saint ; 4. Mogornan, a saint ; 5. Darioc, a saint ; 6. Auxilius,
a bishop ; 7- Lugnat, a saint.
In like manner the ancient Martyrologies state that the mother of
these sons of the Lombard was Liemania, the daughter of Calphur-
nius, and sister of St. Patrick. Thus St. Aengus, in his Calendar,
as translated by Colgan, in noting the festival of St. Nechtan at the
second of May, writes :
" Liemania filia Calphurni, soror S. Patricii, fuit mater S. Nectani de Kill-vnche ;
qui & dicitur Mac-lemhna, id est, films Liemaniu? ; estque qui jacet in Finnauair-abha,
ad ripam Boandi." Trias T/iaum. p. 227, col. 1.
The Calendar of Cashel and that of Marian Gorman record the festival
of Nechtan in nearly the same words ; and also, in recording the fes-
tival of St. Sechnall, or Secundinus, at the 27th of November, call
him the son of Liemania, the sister of St. Patrick, as thus translated
by Colgan :
" S. Secundinus films Liemania; sororis S. Patricij, & Restitutus pater eius. Co-
litur in Domnach-Sechnaill : estque de Longobardis, & Finus nomen eius ibi. Ala-
rianus Gormanus ad eundem diem; Sechnaldus Magnus filius Huabaird, de Domnach-
Sechnaild in Australi regione Bregiorum, est de Longobardis oriundus ; fc Secundinus
nomen eius (nernpe Latinum) eiusque mater fuit Liemania soror S. Patricij eratque
Primas Ardmachanus. Martyrologium Dungallense eodem die. S. Sechnaldus, id est
Secundinus Primas Ardmachanus, filius Liemaniae Sororis S. Patricij : & in Dom-
nach-Sechnaild in regione Bregarum est eius Ecclesia : & ipse de Longobardis oriundus
est." Trias Thaum. p. 226, col. 2.
To the preceding authorities I may add that of the Annals of
Connaught at the year 466, as quoted by Ussher, Primordia, p. 825,
that the wife of Restitutus, the Lombard, is called the sister of 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 Liemain,
in the passage which records the death of her son Sechnall.
1 68 INQUIRY 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 believed as a fact that the seven
ecclesiastics, enumerated in the preceding authorities, 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 church of Templepatrick, on Inchaguile, or the Island
of the Gaul, will be considered by the learned and unprejudiced as
a very singular and interesting evidence of the truth of those aiitho-
rities. It is true that our ancient manuscripts also speak of other
individuals called sisters of St. Patrick, who appear to have been re-
ligious persons in Ireland, 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 Colgan, in consequence, believed to be
only an Irish cognomen of Liemania, signifying constant love ; and
hence Tillemont, and even Lanigan, unable to unravel the truth from
materials apparently so discordant, have given up the whole accounts
of the recorded relations of St. Patrick in Ireland as of no authority,
though Lanigan acknowledges that there is no doubt that such per-
sons existed in St. Patrick's time. But ancient authorities should 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, Lugnat for example, occupy no distinguished place in
Irish ecclesiastical history or the traditions of the country, and it is
nowhere stated that either Kestitutus 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 show, the most usual mode of construction also in
the sixth and seventh centuries, and perhaps even later; but the
doorways were not always plain in those ages, for in many instances
OF THE Rorxi) TOWERS OF IRKLAMl
they present a flat projecting architrave, as in the doorways of the
oldest Greek and Ktruscan buildings, as well as in those of the
earliest Roman churches, of which the annexed engraving of the
doorway of the ancient church at Ratass, near Tralee, in Kerry, will
present a very characteristic example :
This doorway, which, like the whole of the church, is built in a style
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 lintel, and
in width three feet one inch at the base, and two feet eight inches at
the top. The stones which, as will 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
length, and two feet in height, and extends through the whole thick-
ness of the wall. As further 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 moun-
tains; although there were fine quarries of limestone to be had on the
spot." Ant/t'/if und Present State of the County of Kerry, p. 167.
z
170
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Respecting the founder's name, or the date of the erection of this
church, I regret to be obliged to state that I have discovered no his-
torical notice, and I can only offer a conjecture, grounded on the
etymology of its name, which appears to have been anciently written
T?dr muije oeij'Cijic, i. e. the rath or fort of the southern plain, to
distinguish it from T?du minje cuaipcijic, the rath of the northern
plain, now 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 whose
history nothing more is preserved than his name and festival day,
the 6th 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 coternporaneous age with 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 church erected in the lower part of the valley or city of Glenda-
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OK IKKI.AMi
171
lough by St. Kevin, and that in which he was afterwards interred, so
that its erection may be fairly referred to the middle of the sixth
century. This doorway is six feet in height, two feet six inches in
\vidth at the top, and three feet at the 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,
which is five feet six inches long, and one foot three inches high, is
curved 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 of the
cotemporaneous church 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 appear from a pas-
sage which I shall presently adduce from the Life of St. Kevin, pub-
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, pre-
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 of thieves and
a nest of robbers.
z 2
1 72 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Pretered ilia sancta ecclesia, quce est in Montanis, licet in magna reverentid habere-
tur ab antiquis propter Sanctum Keywinum, qui ibi duxit vitam eremeticam; mine tamen
ita deserta est et desolata per quadraginta fere annos, quod de ecclesia facta est spelunca
latronum, fovea furum ; ita quod Omicidia committuntur in ilia Voile, quam in alio
loco Hibernian propter desertum et 'vastam solitudinem." Harris's Ware, Bishops, p. 376.
From this ancient Life of St. Kevin we gather that in the earlier
years of the saint's ecclesiastical life, having dwelt in solitude for
four years in various places in the upper part of the valley, between
the mountain and the lake, his monks erected for him a beautiful
church, 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 vallis partem, quasi per unum
niilliarium a monasterio ; & constituit mansiunculsun ibi in loco angusto, inter mon-
tem & stagnum sibi, ubi erant densa; arbores & clari rivuli : & praecepit Monachis suis,
nt nullum oiborum sibi genus darent ; & nemo ad eum vcniret, nisi pro maxima causa.
Et ita solus, in superiore vallis plaga, inter montem & stagnum, in diversis locis, per
quatuor annos Eremita fuit, in jejuniis & vigiliis continuis, sine igne & sine tecto ; &
habetur incertum, utrum radicibus herbarum, an fructibus lignorum, sive crelesti
pastu, suam sustentavit vitain : quia ipse nemini indicavit hanc quajstionem : sed sui
Monachi claram cellam, in eremo ubi S. Coemgenus habitabat, inter superius stagnum
& montem, in Australi parte, construxerunt ; ubi modo est clarum monasterium, in
quo semper viri religiosissimi habitant ; & illud vocatur Scotice Disert-Caughin ; quod
sonat Latine, Eremus Coemgeni ; Et ibi plures habitaverunt ; & fera; montium & sil-
varum, feritate posita, mites comitabantur S. Coemgenum, & aquam de manibus ejus
domestice bibebant. Et post praedictum 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, Si ad Christum mi-
grare ; adhuc jam illic inter Fratres satis stricte vixit." Vita S. Coemgeni, Die tertia
lunii, c. iii. Ada 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
resurrection should take place, and where a great city gradually rose
up in his honour.
" Et in ipso loco clara & religiosa civitas in honore Sancti Coemgeni crevit, quse
nomine proedictae vallis, in qua ipsa est, id est Glearn-daelach [Glean daloch, in the
Kilkenny MS.] vocatur : ipsaque civitas est in oriente Laginensium, in regione qure
dicitur Fortuatha," Ib. cap, iv. p. 318.
OF THE BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 173
That the first church erected by St. Kevin, within the precincts
of the city in the lower part of the valley, was that now popularly
called the Lady's Church, in which his tomb remained within the last
century, will scarcely admit of doubt : nor is this conclusion at all
weakened by the "fact, that it no longer bears his name, but 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 there is not a word
in the ancient Lives of St. Kevin, which would indicate that any of
the churches of Glendalough were so dedicated at the period when
they were written.
In selecting my next characteristic example of the primitive Irish
doorways, I can hardly, therefore, take one more likely to interest
the reader than that of St. Kevin's earlier church, near the upper
lake, and now called the Reefert Church, which is the " claram 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 church
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 feet
174
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND 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 century, as the saint died of the
memorable plague, which raged in Ireland in the year 664.
This magnificent doorway, which 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
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
OF THK ROUND ToNVKlis ul IRELAND. 1 75
thickness of the wall, which is three feet. This doorway, like that
of the Lady's Church at Glendalough, has a plain architrave over it,
which is, however, not continued along its sides ; and, above this,
there is a projecting tablet, in the centre of which is sculptured in
relief a plain cross within a circle. This cross is thus alluded to in
the ancient Life of St. Fechin, translated from the Irish, and pub-
lished by Colgan in his Acta Sanctorum, at the 22nd January, cap.
23, p. 135.
" I )n MI S. Fechinus rediret Fouariam, ibique consisteret, venit ad eum ante FORES
ECCLESI*, VBI CRUX PosiTA EST, quidam i talo vsque ad verticem 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 Chorographical
Description of the County of Westmeath, 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. Feehin'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 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 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 immediately apply their force unto it." Col-
lectanea de Rebus Hibemicis, vol. i. pp. 65, 66.
The next specimen of doorway in this style which I shall present
to the reader is one nearly cotemporaneous with the last, namely, the
170
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
doorway of the cathedral church of Kilmacduagh, erected for St. Col-
man Mac Duach by his kinsman Guaire Aidhne, king of Connaught,
about the year 610.
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
lintel stone, which extends the entire thickness of the wall, is five
feet eight inches long, one foot nine inches high, and three feet wide.
This doorway was closed up with rubble masonry, as represented in
the sketch, in the fourteenth or fifteenth century, when the church
was rebuilt and considerably enlarged, and a new doorway, in the
pointed style, placed, as was usual in that age, in the south wall.
Of the foundation of the original church or cathedral of Kil-
macduagh, which, for the time, was one of considerable size, the fol-
lowing notice is given by Colgan from the additions of the Scholiast
to the Festilogy of Aengus :
" Statuittuncpiissimus Rex viro Dei Ecdesiam inibi extruere ; quare mane sequentis
diei misit ad eum sexaginta vaccas effcetas cum seruis 8f ancittis adfabricce opus perficien-
dum. Postridie igitur eius diei Ecdesia Cathedralis de Kitt-mhicduach coepta est cedificari;
eui exinde proceru, regionis Aidhne, Sf stirpis Guarince sepultura citsecrata eat." Acta
Sanctorum, p. 245, col. 1.
Of this description of doorway I shall only here insert another ex-
ample from a church which was erected by the same St. Colman
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND 177
Mac Duach, within the great cyclopean fort, or cashel, at Kilmurvy,
on the Great Island of Aran, and which is still in good preservation.
This doorway is five feet six inches 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, which 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
is found in a church adjacent.
Such then is the form of door-
way found almost universally in the primitive churches of Ireland, a
form not found in any of the doorways of the Saxon churches, which
were usually erected " more Romano" or after the Roman 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 which would seem to be of cotcmporaneous
age, constructed in what may be called the Roman manner, namely,
with a semicircular arch springing from square imposts, and exactly
resembling the ancient Saxon doorways, excepting in this one par-
ticular, that the sides are usually more or less inclined : and, indeed,
it would be strange, if, where the semicircular arch was generally
used in the construction of the windows, and also in the triumphal
arches between the naves and the chancels, it should 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 church
on the island of Ireland's Eye, anciently called Inis mac Nessain,
or, the Island of the Sons of Nessan, off Howth, in the county of Dub-
lin. This doorway, which was unfortunately destroyed some years
since, that the stones might be used in the erection of a Roman Ca-
tholic chapel at Howth, was, as usual, placed in the west front of the
church, and was six feet six inches in height, two feet eight inches
2 A
178
INQUIRY INTO TILE ORIGIN AND USES
in width below the impost, and three feet at the base ; and the wall
was two feet eight inches in thickness. As a description of this cu-
rious church, 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 century, 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, well 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 locality, 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 Clooncagh, in the
barony of Conillo and county of Limerick, erected by the celebrated
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
179
St. Maidoc, patron of the See of Ferns, about the close of the sixth
century.
The doorway of the very ancient church of Killaspugbrone, or
the church of Bishop Bronus, near Knocknarea, in the county of
Sligo, furnishes another example of a
semicircular arch, but without the im-
posts, and the jambs not, as usual, in-
clined. Contrary to the usual custom
also, this doorway is placed not in the
west, but in the south wall, a deviation
from custom, rendered necessary from
the situation of the church on the sea-
shore, and its consequent exposure to
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 well 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 Caiscl-Irra, situated in the district of Cuil-Irra, a
peninsula situated to the south-west of the town of Sligo.
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 Burren and county of Clare,
and which is obviously of cotemporancous age with a second and
larger church 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 Ochtmama 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, in 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 asclesiam ibi, i. e. Tamnach et
Ehenach, et Cell Angle, et Cell Senchuee." Fol. 15, a, a.
From the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, Part II. c. 102, we learn
that St. Patrick left his disciple Bishop Manius at Each-ainech, 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 church. As in the preceding
instance, the jambs of this doorway are
not inclined, and the arches, of which
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 arches
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, also of a quadrangular form, but in which the weight
on the lintel is taken off by a semicircular arch, placed immediately
above it, and having the space within the curve filled up with ma-
sonry. A doorway of this description is found in the cathedral
church 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 church of Inishmaan, in Lough Mask, county of Mayo, origi-
nally built in the fifth century 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 parish
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
181
church of Britway, in the barony of Barrymore, and county of Cork,
one of the most interesting remains in the county :
in this doorway, which is composed of sandstone, it will be 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
curious 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 this church 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 triangular-headed doorways, such as are found in 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 Killadreena, near Newtown-Mountkennedy, in
the county of Wicklow, and in that of Oranmore, near Galway ; but
neither of these churches appears to me to be anterior to the twelfth
century, and the latter is probably not so old.
I have next to speak of the windows. In these features, which
are always of a single light, the same simple forms are found, which
182
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
characterize 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 occurrence in
the windows ; while, on the other hand, the pointed head formed by
the meeting of two right lines, which is so rare, if not unknown, in the
most ancient doorways, is of very
frequent occurrence. I may ob-
serve also, that the horizontal-
headed window and the triangular-
headed one, are usually found 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 churches examples may also be found of
windows in which the arch is formed externally, as in the doorways, of
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
several stones, particularly when the window, being of more than the
usual contracted breadth, required it, as in the annexed example
from the very ancient church of Mun-
gret, in the county of Limerick, said to
have been founded by St. Nessan in St.
Patrick's time : similar examples occur
in the south side of the great church,
or cathedral, 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
the 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 which 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 the
equally ancient church of Kiltiernan, in the barony of Dunkellin, and
county of Galway :
gfe
~! \ '-'- -. "
-fc_ / - - : * ^ -- "'
r >
^ ^:>,._:*
t
T
In none of these windows, 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 documents, although it would appear certain from
Irish historical tales of an age anterior to the Anglo-Norman invasion,
preserved in Leabhar na h- Uidhre, that the Irish were not ignorant
of the application of glass to such purposes. They seem, however, to
have been unacquainted with 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, parchment was used, and, as we may conjec-
ture, other transparent substances, such as horn, which, no doubt,
would admit sufficient light for the 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 light required ; and such
we find to be the construction of
the ancient windows invariably,
as in the examples which I have
now to adduce. Of these, the first
represents a triangular-headed
window in the east wall of the
church of Kilcananagh, 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 window, quadrangular on
the inside, in the east end of St. Cronan's church, at Termoncronan,
in the parish of Carron, barony of Burren, and county 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 IRELAND.
IS.",
bourhood of Dingle, in the county of Kerry, as in the east and only
window in the oratory at (Jallcrus, of which an external view has
been ahvady given.
Of ancient windows exhibiting a dou-
ble, or external and internal, splay, as found
in many of the Saxon churches and towers
in England, I do not recollect having met
with more than a single example, and in
this the splay is only in the jambs. This
window is found in the stone oratory, built
without cement, situated near the old church
of Kilmalkedar, about a mile to the east of
Gallerus, and which is unquestionably one
of the earliest ecclesiastical structures in
Ireland. I may observe, however, that windows of this character
are by no means uncommon in Ireland, in churches of less ancient date.
In these primitive structures the
windows, like the doorways, are
most generally without an archi-
trave or ornament of any kind;
but when the doorways present an
architrave, or a bead moulding at
their angles, the windows are ge-
nerally decorated with a similar
ornament, as in the annexed ex-
ample, which represents the east
window of the very ancient and
interesting church of Ratass, near
Tralee, in the county of Kerry, of
the doorway of which I have already given a drawing at p. If)!)-
This window, hich 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 ten inches, and
at the top eight inches : the external measurement is above eight feet
in height, and four 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 churches of undoubted antiquity, are
2 B
186
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
also of an equally unornamented 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 an 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 style 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, which 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 IRELAND.
187
wood, and covered with reeds, straw, or oak shingles ; and hence the
notices, in the Annals, of the frequent burnings of the same church,
by which we are to understand not the destruction of the walls, for
they could not be destroyed by fire, but of the roofs, doors, and other
combustible materials, in the interior. There are also instances of the
chancel being roofed with stone, while the nave was roofed with
lighter materials.
Of the style of masonry of those buildings I have already spoken
generally, and characteristic examples of it have been given in the
preceding illustrations. I should add, however, that the stones are
most usually laid in horizontal courses, with more or less irregularity,
but with 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
J
smaller than those in the nave. Of the masonry called " opus reti-
culatum," I have met with no example in Ireland, nor have I seen
any examples of herringbone masonry, except in one church that
of Killadreenan, in the county of Wicklow : but, as this church was
obviously re-edified in the twelfth century, it would be hazardous
to pronounce 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
earlier 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 Mellifont, in the county of
Louth, erected in 1165; and in these in-
stances the bricks only occur 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 Anglo-
Saxon churches, is also very generally found
in the ancient churches of Ireland. This
masonry, which consists of alternate long
and short blocks of ashlar, or hewn 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 churches of undoubted antiquity, as in the
annexed example from the older of the two churches of Monaster-
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 Aran, in the Bay of Galway. This little church, which
would be in perfect preservation if its stone roof remained, mea-
y
;
-
OF THE HOUND TOWKKS OF JUKI, A M i.
-189
sures on the inside but sixteen feet six inches in length, and twelve
feet six inches in breadth; and its walls, which are three feet in thick-
ness, are built in a style quite Cyclopean, 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, that " tradition goes that St. Kenanach was a king of Leins-
ter's son ;" and elsewhere, in the same work, that he was the patron
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
26th of March.
The ancient churches are not, however, always so wholly un-
adorned : in many instances they present flat rectangular 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
190 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
annexed engraving of St. Mac Dara's church, on the island of
Cruach Mhic Dara, off the coast of Connaraara :
This little 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 built, 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 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 writer and his times :
" Over against Mason head 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 whose chappell 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 Duleasg for a friend's sake in
captivity, whereby they believe he will soon get succour by [through] the inter-
OF THE BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 191
cession of the saint Duleatg, or Salt-leaf, is a weed growing on sea-rocks, and pre-
served by drying it on stones in fair weather, and soon after when occasion serves, for
eating. There is scarce any sea-shore [whereon] it grows not. The boats that pass
Ki'twren Mason head and this island, have a custom to bow down their sails three times
in reverence to the Saint. A certain captain of the garrison of Galway, anno 1672,
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 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 opposite 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 16 of July."
I have now described the various features which characterize the
hitherto little noticed and unappreciated primitive churches 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 their symmetrical simplicity, their dimly-lighted
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 were celebrated
the divine mysteries 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 highest 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 predisposed to
feel its influences, and appreciate its refinement. In short, these
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 congruity 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 but little to be envied, which
192 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
could look with apathy on the remains of national structures so ve-
nerable for their antiquity, and so interesting as being raised in
honour 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 rcsxilt of po-
verty and ignorance of the arts in their founders, appears to me ex-
tremely probable. Poor those honoured individuals unquestionably
were, but that poverty generally, if not in all instances, appears to
have been voluntary, as became men walking in the footsteps of the
Redeemer, 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 where 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 those 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, which
usually characterizes our early churches, was less the result of the
poverty or ignorance of their founders than of choice, originating in
the spirit of their faith, or a veneration for some model given to them
by their first teachers ; for, that the earliest Christian churches on
the continent before the time of Constantine were, like these, small
and unadorned, there is no reason to doubt ; and the oldest churches
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 when," says this writer,
" Theodosius, after proclaiming Christianity the ruling, the sole legi-
timate religion of the empire, not only pulled down 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, however ill-assorted, for each of his larger new churches
OF THE ROUND TOWERS 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 churches,
should consist. This appears from the passages, which I have already
quoted, first, from the Tripartite Life of this saint, in which 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. 161, in which
he prescribes sixty feet as the length of the church of Donaghpatrick,
near Tailteann, in Heath, which the prince Conall, the brother of the
monarch Laoghaire, was 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 churches, given in those ancient Lives
of the saint, we find it constantly stated that he prescribed the di-
mensions of which they were to consist, as well as consecrated their
foundations, as an example or two will show. Thus, respecting the
church of Seincheall, in the present county of Roscommon, it is
stated :
" S. Patricius designauit locu & mesuram Ecclesia; extruendte, qua: vulgo Seincheall
.i. vetus cella, appellatur." Vita Tripart. S. Patricii, part ii. c. Iviii. Trias Thaum.
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 Ecclesia de Domnach-
Fiec, donee ante se ad ccelum sexaginta sanctos ex discipulis pramiserit. Postea autem
venit ad eum Angelus Domini dicens quod non ibi esset locus resurrectionis eius, sed
trans flumen ad occidentem : mandatque quod ibi in loco Cuil-mnige dicto, monaste-
rium erigat, singulis officinis locum propriii, & congruum assignans. Monuit enim vt
refectorium extruat, vbi aprum ; & Ecclesiam vbi ceruam repererit. Respondit An-
gelo vir sanctus, & obedientise specimen, se non audere Ecclesiam extruedam inchoare,
nisi prius eius pater & Magister Patricius eius locum, & mensuram metaretur &
cosecraret. Patricius ergo monitus, & rogatus venit ad ilium locum ; qui Slepte vulgo
.i. monies appellatur, & iuxta Angeli pnescriptum ibi basilicas & monastery jecit & con-
secrauit fuadamenta." Vita Tripart. S. Patricii, part iii. c. xxiii. Trias Thaum. p. 155.
2 C
194 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Indeed that the Irish, who have been ever remarkable for a tenacious
adherence to their ancient customs, should preserve with religious
veneration that form and size of the primitive church, introduced by
the first teachers of Christianity, is only what might be naturally ex-
pected, and what we find to have been the fact. We see the result
of this feeling exhibited very remarkably in the conservation, down
to a late period, 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 striking evidence
in the fact to Avhich 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. Malachy, 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 church there, not, as is usually sup-
posed, different in material from the churches with which the Irish
were already 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 words :
" . . . . visum est Malachise debere construi in Benckor, oratorium lapideum, instar
illorum qui [quce] in alijs regionibus extructa conspexerat. Et cum coepisset iacere fun-
damenta, indigense quidam mirati sunt, quod in terra ilia necdum eiusmodi iedificia
inueniretur. Verum ille nequam : sicut erat prassumptuosus & insolens, non modo
miratus esl, sed & indignatus. Ex qua indignatione concepit dolore, & peperit in-
iquitatem. Et factum susurro in populis, nunc secreto detrahere, nunc blasphemare
palam, notare leuitatem, nouitate horrere, sumptus exaggerare. Istiusmodi venenatus
sermonibus sollicitans & inducens multos ad prohibendum. Sequimini me, inquit,
& quod non nisi per nos fieri debet contra nos fieri non sinamus. Itaque cum pluribus,
quibus suadere valuit, descendit ad locum, repertum conuenit hominem Dei, primus
ipse dux verbi, qui erat principium mali. O bone vir, quid tibi visum est nostris
OP THE ROUND TOWERS OF IHICI.AXI).
hanc inducere rcgionibus nouitate ? Scoti sumus, no Galli. Quocnam leuitas hroc ?
quid opus crat opere tarn superfluo, tarn superbo ? vnde tibi pauperi & inopi sumptus
ad perficienduin ? quis perfectuin videbit ? Quid istud prajsumptionis, inchoare quod
non qucas, non dico perficeru, sod nee videre perfectuin ? quanquam amentia magis
est qua prudi'iitis conari quod modum excedit, vincit vires, superat f'acultates ; Gesso,
ci --.a, dr>iiu: a vesania hac : alioqui nos no sinimus, non sustinemus. Hoc dixit pro-
dens quid vellct, non quid posset considerans. Nam de quibus pruesumebat, & secum
adduxerat, viso viro mutati sunt, & iam non ibant cum eo. Ad qucm vir sanctus tota
libertate vtens : Miser, inquit, opus quod inchoatum vides, & inuides sine dubio perfi-
cietur, perfectum videbunt multi. Tu vero quia non vis, non videbis, & quod non vis,
morieris : attedito tibi ne in peccato tuo moriaris. Ita est, ille mortuus est, & opus
completum est, sed ille non vidit, qui vt prajfati sumus, anno eodem mortuus est."
Vita Malachite, cap. ix. Florilegium Insidae Sanctorum, p. 371. [recte 373.]
Though this church is called an oratory by St. Bernard, an ap-
pellation not to be wondered at, as applied by one accustomed to the
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 church of Bangor, extant in the last century, which, there
is every reason to believe, was erected in St. Malachy's time, suffi-
ciently indicated. Indeed, with the exception of the great church of
the primatial see of Armagh, which, if Colgan's translation of the
Irish Tripartite Life of St. Patrick can be relied on (which, however, in
this instance I doubt), was originally built of the length of one hun-
dred and forty feet, the cathedral and abbey churches of Ireland,
anterior to the twelfth century, appear to have rarely or never ex-
ceeded the length of sixty feet. This was the measurement prescribed
by St. Patrick for the church ofDomhnach mor, now Donaghpatrick,
near Tailteann, in Meath, and which, there is every reason to be-
lieve, was also the measurement 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 church 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. This
fact appears from the following inscription on a brass plate, which,
previously to the Reformation, was affixed to a pillar in the more mo-
2 c 2
196 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
dern church at Glastonbury, and published by Sir Henry Spelman in
his Concilia (vol. i. p. 9).
glnno post passionem Uomtni xxxf . Huotimm sancti ex quibtts ^Joseph ab
arimathta pn'mus erat, hue uenerunt, qui ecclestam huius regni primam in
hoc loco constrttxerttnt. qui christi [quant christus] in honorem sue tnatris
Sr locum pro eorum septtltura prescncialt'ter fcctiicauit. sancto fcaufo meneuen-
cium archieptscopo hoc testantt. <tti tiominus ecclesiam illam befcicare fcis-
poncnti in sompnis apparuit Sr eum a proposito mtocauit. necnon in sipum
quoin ipsc fcominus ecclesiam ipsatn prius cum cimiterio fcrtricarat : manttm
cpiscopi &igtto perforauit. & sic pcrforata multts uiftenttbus in crasttno appa-
ruit. postea ucro fljem episcopus, tiomino reuelante ac sanctorum numero in
eatiem crescente : quenfcam cancellum in ortentali parte fjuic eccksie afiiecit Sc
in honore beate uirgtnis consecrauit. Ctuius altare incstimabili saphiro in per=
petuam ftutus ret memoriam insipiuit. (JBt ne locus aut quantttas prorsus
[priorts] ecclesie per tales aupientacioncs obliuioni tratocrctur: crigitur ftcc
columpna in linea per fiuos oricntales angulos eiusiem eccksie uersus meri-
diem protracta 8c preiiictum cancellum ab ea absctnticnte. @t erat cius Iongi=
tutio ab ilia linea uersus occfocntem. Ix. petium. latituJio uero eius. xxbi. pefium,
liistancia centri istius columpne a puncto metiio inter pretitctos angulos. .xlbtij.
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 church 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 church, 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 Ireland ; and, moreover, that this church,
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 197
which appears from the whole current of the ecclesiastical history of
the British Islands, to have been the first erected hi Britain, should
have been at a place recognized as an Irish ecclesiastical establish-
ment, and in which, according not only to the Saxon and English
authorities, but to many Irish ones also, one of the first teachers of
Christianity in Ireland, a Saint Patrick, lies 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 conjectural conclusions from a comparison
of characteristic architectural ornaments, found in them, with those
found in churches in England and elsewhere, the ages of which have
been determined ; and even such conclusions must be drawn with
timidity, till the question is finally settled, whether the ornaments,
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 features of the churches erected in England by the
Anglo-Normans ; and, indeed, if we put faith in some of our ancient
documents, and I cannot conceive why we should not, it would
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 shows that,
in the time of that ancient writer, it was not only decorated in its
interior, but had at least one ornamented entrance doorway. The
original is as follows :
" Nee de miraculo in reparatione Ecclesise tacendum est, in qua gloriosa amborum
hoc est Episcopi Conlaeth & huius Virginia Sanctse Brigid corpora a dextris, & a si-
nistris altaris decorati in monumentis posita ornatis, vario cultu auri & argenti, & gem-
198 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
marum, & pretiosi lapidis atqtie coronis aureis & argenteis desuper pendentibus, requi-
escunt. Ecclcsia namque crescente numero fidelium, & vtroque sexu, solo spatiosa
& in alttim ininaci proceritate porrecta, ac decorata pictis tabulis, tria intrinsecus
habeas oratoria ampla, & divisa parietibus tabulatis, sub vno culmine maioris domus,
in qua vnus paries decoratus, & imaginibus depictus, ac linteaminibus tectus, per lati-
tudinem in oriental! Ecclesiaj parte, a pariete ad alterum parietem Ecclesice se tetendit ;
qui in suis extremitatibus duo habet ostia ; & per vnum ostiu in dextra parte positum
intrant in Sanctuarium ad altare summus Pontifex cum sua regular! schola, & his
qui sacris sunt deputati ministeriis sacra & Dominica immolare sacrificia : & per alte-
rum ostium in sinistra parte parietis supradicti & transversi positum Abbatissa cum
suis puellis & viduis fidelibus tantum intrant vt convivio corporis& sanguinis fruantur
lesu Christi. Alius vero paries pavimentum domus in duas ffiquales divides partes a
parte Oriental! vsque ad transversum in latitudine parietem extensus est. Et h;ve
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 ordine, & gradibus, &
sexu, & locis diuersis, interiectis inter se parietibus, diverso ordine, & vno anirao 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
concludere portam instauratam & nouam non potuit. Quarta enim portae pars aperta
sine coclusione & patefacta apparebat. Et si addita & iuncta ad altitudinem ostij
quarta pars fuisset, tune totam concludere portam posset altam & instauratam. Et
cum artifices alterum maius nouum 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, prudenti 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 suirms provideat. Et sic orans
iuxta monumentum S. Brigidse totam nocte transegit. Et mane surgens oratione proe-
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 ilia ab
eo sit conclusa, nee in ea vllus locus patefactus videatur, nisi cum ostium retruditur
vt Ecclcsia intretur. Et hoc virtutis Dominica?, oculis omnium videntium, miraculum,
illam ianuam & valuam manifesto patet." Florilegium, p. 199 ; and Trias Thaum.
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, with
crowns of gold and silver depending from above. For the number of the faithful of both
OF THE ROUND TOWKHs OK IRELAND. 199
sexes increasing, the church, occupying a spacious area, and elevated to a menacing
height, and adorned with painted pictures, having within three oratories large and sepa-
rated by partitions of plunks under one roof of the greater house, 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 [partition] lias 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 offering sacred
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, 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 different order and ranks, and sex,
and situation, separated by partitions, in different order, and [but] 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 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 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 doubt that the work of
200 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AXD USES
Cogitosus was, as Colgan, Vossius, Dr. O'Conor, and others, even the
judicious Ware, supposed, of the sixth century, but shall even prove
that its real age is the early part 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 his 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 Canisius, smell strongly of later ages. The architecture
of the church is the work of fancy, and could not exist earlier than
the twelfth century, for the Irish, as I have already 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 structure, 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 wholly 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 circumstance of the church 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 Singham's Origines, &c. Book viii.
c. 5, sect. 6. 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. 201
portions, winch were entered by the lateral doorways already men-
tioned ; and it led again to the piercing of the wall, or partition,
which separated the nave from the chancel, with a doorway on each
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 church, 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, there is as little to excite a
suspicion of the truth of the general description, as in the others I
have already commented upon, inasmuch as the very arrangement of
the church into a double nave necessarily required a double 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 churches
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
antiquity, 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 splendour.
But, according to Dr. Ledwich, what evinces the work of Cogi-
tosus to be supposititious is his description of the monuments of St.
Bridget and Conlaeth on the right and left of the altar at Kildare :
" They were not only highly finished with 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,
2 D
202 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
however, Dr. Ledwich had been better acquainted with the antiquities
of Ireland, which he undertook to illustrate, he would not have seen
in any of these particulars features inconsistent with the truth 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 Irish
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 century, as quoted by Colgan, it is stated that he fabricated not
only bells, croziers, crosses, &c., but also shrines ; 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 Hibernise Sanctis, campanas, cymbala,
baculos, cruces, scrinia, capsas, pixides, calices, discos, altariola, chrismalia, librorum-
que coopertoria ; quasdam horum nuda, queedam vero alia auro, atque argento, gem-
misque pretiosis circumtecta, pro amore Dei, & Sanctorum honore, sine vllo terreno
pretio, ingeniose, ac mirabiliter coposuit." Ada 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-
lumbkille, 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 county 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 :
" Praestantia illius artificis fecit locum diuersis prouerbiis Hibernis familiaribus.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAXI). 203
Quando enim volunt qucmpiara tanquam bonum aurificem seu wrarium artificem lau-
dare, dicunt ; Nee ipse Conla, ett eo jinrxtmitiiir artifer. Item quando volunt ostendere
illiquid ess* 1 irrcparabilc, vel inemendabile ; Nee hoc emendaret atrariu* Artifex Conla.''
TritiK Tin, inn. p. 451, col. 2, n. 82.
It would, indeed, appear from the number of references to shrines
in the authentic Irish Annals, that previously to the irruptions of
the Northmen in the eighth and ninth centuries, there were few, if
any, of the distinguished churches in Ireland, which had not costly
shrines, containing the relics 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 burned by
plunderers, and its shrines opened and stripped ; and again, at the
year 793, that Inispatrick was burned by foreigners, who carried away
the shrine of St. Dachonna; and again, at the year 804, that Ulidia
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 Bcnchor 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 Masters,
for example, at the year 796, it is stated that the relics of St. Ronan,
son of Berach, were put into an ark or shrine, which was ornamented
with gold and silver. And, to come more immediately to the point,
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- Pogitio Reliquiarum Conlaio h-i Scptn otp 7 aipjic."
" 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 we 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 that the religious com-
munity of Kildare, who paid this reverence to the relics of their 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 great
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 year 835, in which the
Annals 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 opjjam DO ^eniciB o Inbip t)eaae, 7 po lopcaoap
leir na cille."
" A. D. 835. Kildare was plundered by the Gentiles of Inbhir 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 Kildare and its suburbs were an inviolable asylum, in
which there could not be the least apprehension of any hostile attack:
" . . . . Maxima hsec Ciuitas & Metropolitana est ; in cuius suburbanis, qua; 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 flourished, I shall only observe, in connexion with this part of
his description, that in the shrine of St. Aidan, first bishop of Ferns,
now 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
which were suspended over the shrines, or of the painted figures 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 accuracy 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 un-
used, by the Irish. Regna, called a-Tf^avco^ara 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 :
" apud Byzantinos a Patriarcha in oede Sophiana, m hfctrtti, *.< ft^t^ \ r ^.
X,x,i tiTTFtrtici, tepri, coroiiabantur Imperatores aliqua ex iis corollis, qu supra sacram
meusam pendebant, qua; peracta soleunitate in suum remittebatur locum, ut pluribus
narrat Constantinus Porphyrogenitus cujus ritus originem Constantino Magno
adscribit." Constantinopolis Christiana, 1. iii. 43.
St. Paulinus describes a crown suspended over the tomb of Martin
of Tours, and the same usage is also noticed by St. Gregory of Tours
(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 Columbanus, and in the
Annals of the Benedictines, by Mabillon (1. i. p. 293). The linen cloths
or veils (linteamenta), 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 fourth century. See
Ciampini, 1. ii. pi. 26 ; see also Anastatius in Bibliotheca Patrum,
torn. xii. Durandus writes :
" Velum, in ecclesia triplex suspenditur, primum quod sacra operit alterum quod
sacrarium a clero dividit tertium quod clerum a populo secernit." Durandus, lib. i.
Ration, c. 3, n. 35.
The Rev. Mr. Gunn, a writer of much learning, while commenting
on the preceding passage of Durandus, writes thus :
206 INQUIRY INTO THE OEIGIN AND USES
" During the office of the ambo, the veil ' quod sacra operit' and which was
suspended across the sanctuary, ' quod clerum a populo secernit,' was closed. This
mass being over, the catechumeni retired, and the missa fidelium or the service of
the altar succeeded. ' The sacrifice is brought forth ; and when Christ the Lamb of
God is offered, when 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 Ephcs. 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, under the word caincell, a chancel:
" Caincell, a cancella, .1. cliac: cpann-cmnjel, .1. cpann-cliar mpm, . i. cliar,
ip in cpann ictp Inechaib 7 cleipciB po copiiiailep pom bo! pial cempuill c-Sola-
man ; up ip cliar a amm, con pocpoib clap; unoe oicicup cpocamjel, .1. cpo-
cliar."
" Caincell, a cancella, \. 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; unde dicitur crochaingel, 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 Cambrensis, gives
of the celebrated manuscript of the Four Evangelists, preserved at
Kildare, and ascribed to St. Bridget'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 seen the nearly cotemporaneous manuscript
of the Gospels, called the Book of Kells, now, fortunately, preserved
in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, a manuscript which, for
beauty and splendour, is not surpassed 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 Kyldarisc miracula, nil mihi miraculosius occurrit : quam liber
ille mirandus, tempore virginis (vt aiunt) Angelo dictante conscriptus. Continet hie
liber quatuor Euangclistarum iuxta Hierouymum concordantiam : vbi quot paging-
OF THE ROUND TOWEKS OF IRELAND. 20?
fere sunt, tot figurse diversaj variisque coloribus distinctissimo:. Hie maicstatis vul-
tum vitluas diuiuitus inipressum : bine, mysticas Euangclistarum formas : nunc scnas,
nunc quaternas, nuuc binas alas habentes. hinc aquilam, inde vitulum, hiuc hominis
I'urirm, inde leonis, aliasque figuras pene infinitas : quas si superficialiter & vsuali
more minus acute conspexeris, litura potius videbitur quam ligatura. Nee vllam at-
ii'mlrus prorsus subtilitatem : vbi nihil tamen praeter subtilitatem. Sin autem ad
perspicacius intuendum oculorum acicm inuitaueris : & longepenitius ad artis archana
transpenetraueris : tain delicatas & subtiles, tain actas & arctas, tarn nodosas & vincu-
latim colligatas, tamque recentibus adhuc coloribus illustratas notare poteris intricatu-
ras : vt vere hsec omnia Angelica potius quam humana diligentia iam asseueraueris esse
composita. Hoec equidem quanto frequentius & diligentius intueor : semper quasi
nouis obstupeo, semperque magis ac magis admirauda conspicio."* Topog.Hib. Dist. 2,
c. 38, p. 730. Francofurti. foL 1603.
I have now examined, at greater length perhaps than many would
deem necessary, this remarkable description of the church of Kildare.
But I felt it a duty to sustain to the utmost of my ability, 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 probable. 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, with every appearance of truth, to be of cotempo-
* Dr. O'Conor, quoting this passage, adds : " nee Appelles [Apelles] ipsc similia
efficere posset, et manu potius non mortali efformatae ac deplete videntur." But this
passage is not to be found in the edition to which he refers See Her. Hibern. Scrip-
tores, torn. i. Ep. p. 177.
208 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
raneous, or at all events, not later date. It is, of course, by no means
my object in this place to enter on the question of the antiquity or
use of this tower ; it will be sufficient for my present purpose to
show, that there is every reason to believe that its erection was not
posterior to that of the church described by Cogitosus, to which it
belonged in the time of Giraldus, 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 orna-
mented 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 appears 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 Kyldarice quasi domestico 8f mansueto.
" A tempore Brigida; falco quidam egregius locum istum frequentabat, qui EC-
CLESIASTICS T0RRIS summitati insidere consueuerat. Vnde & a populo auis Brigida:
vocabatur, & in veneratione quadam a cunctis habebatur. Hie ad nutum ciuium seu
militum castrensium tanquam mansueta & ad hoc domestica, anates & alias aues, tarn
campestres, quam fluuiales circa plariiciern Kyldario; cum intuentium non modica de-
lectatione persequi solebat : & ad terram ab aere innata velocitate coercere. (Quis
enim locus miseris auiculis relinquebatur, cum homines terram & aquas, auis iui-
mica, grauisque tyrannus aerem obsidebat ?) Mirum de hoc alite : quod circa tern-
plum quod frequentabat, parem non admittebat : sed amoris tempore procul inde
secedens, & apud montana de Glindelachan ex consuetudine parem inueniens, naturae
indulgebat. Quo complete, iterum ad Ecclesiam solus reuertebatur ? Viris Ecclesias-
ticis & tune pracipue cum intra ecclesiarum sinus & septa diuinis deputantur officiis,
signum prseferens honestatis. In ipso discessu primo Domini Comitis loannis ab Hi-
bernia, auem (qua; per tot durauerat sa?cula, & delectabiliter Brigida; locum illus-
trauerat) demum prsedse, quam ceperat, minus caute insidentem, & humanos accessus
parum euitantem, baculo, quern gestabat, rusticus quidam petiit. Ex quo patet, casum
in secundis fore metuendurn, & vita; diuturnas delectabili & dilectae, parum esse confi-
dendum." Topog.Hib.Vist.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, Cambrensis could have meant
none other than the present Round Tower of Kildare, for it is the
very phrase which he elsewhere employs to designate the Round
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
OF THE BOUND TOWEBS OF IRELAND.
legend of the towers in Lough Neagh would prove them to be of the
first century, still it is sufficient to show, that the tower of Kildare
was considered to be of great antiquity in the twelfth 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 assumption 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 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 pannelling on the
soffit of its inner arch ; and it will, I think, be at once seen, that in
its general character, as well as in the style of its ornaments, not-
withstanding the chevron or ziz-zag moulding on one of the cornices,
it presents features not to be found in any decidedly ascertained
Anglo-Norman remains.
2 E
210 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
I am aware, however, that with 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
strongly inclined to believe, that the prevalent opinion relative to the
period at which this and other ornaments came into use in England,
though 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 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 Rev. 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 unfortunately 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 TIIK UolXI) TOWERS OF IRELAND. 211
These coins would appear to be of very impure 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 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 Cavorum Origine et Progressu"
namely, that this class of money is not earlier than the close of the
twelfth century, or that of Mr. Lindsay of Cork, in his " View of the
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, that its age must have been considerable
in the twelfth century, I confess it appears to me, that, while the
conclusions of the writers 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 prudent to acknowledge, in a note, that " some are sup-
posed to be of the tenth century."
Pinkerton might well make such an acknowledgment, for there are
not wanting learned writers, who place the origin of this description
of Coin in the seventh century, and one, M. 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
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 urn 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 870 by Lothaire le Jeune,
the son of Louis 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 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 lived 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 Denmark, 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. Schoepflin, que les monnoies bracteates
sent originairement Suedoises, & que 1'epoque en doit etre fixee a la fin du VIII e .
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."
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 money in Ireland,
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 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
manufacture, 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 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 civilization
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-
214 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
verted to Christianity, as well as with 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 literature and the fine arts, and that
their very celebrity in the former caused their country to be visited,
for the purpose 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
degrees 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 century. 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 Four Masters, the payment of fines by weight is distinctly re-
corded :
" A. D. 102Q. Orhlaoib', mac Sicpiocca, ci^eapna Jall, DO epjabcul DO TTlac-
aiinam Ua Riajain, ci^eapna 6peaj;, 7 DO ben oa c6o 0^5 bo pviapcclaio app, 7
peace pichic each m-6peicneac, 7 rpi pichec uinjje o'op, 7 cloioearii Caplup, 7
airnpe 5 aiea l' eiccip tai^niS 7 tec Cmno, 7 cpi picic umje o'aipjec jil ma
unja jjeimleac, 7 ceicpe picic bo pocail 7 impioe, 7 ceicpe h-aiccipe o'O'Riajam
p em ppi rich, 7 Ian loj bpa jacc an cpep aiccipe."
" A. D. 1029. Amlaff, son of Sitric, lord of the Danes, was captured by Mahon
O'Riagain, 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 thus valued by weight, and used as a
circulating medium, were, as I have already said, sometimes in the
form of ingots, but perhaps more frequently manufactured into rings
for the neck, called muntorcs, and for the arms and legs, called
failghe ; and hence the epithet of " exactors of rings," so frequently
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 215
applied by their poets to the northern warriors, who infested Ireland
in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries.
This custom is very interestingly illustrated in the following pas-
sage explaining the name High, which was anciently applied to the
river Boyne in an ancient manuscript of the Brehon Laws, preserved
in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin :
" l?ij mna Nuaoac, .). ronaipc, .1. cumoach DO pailgifc oip no bio ima lairh OKI
o-cionacal DO pilebaib." II. 3, 18, p. 545.
" The Righ 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 poet, and king of
Leinster in the first century ; and she is said to have given her name,
Boann, to the river Boyne.
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'Loughlin, among other things, presented
the abbot of Derry with a gold ring, which weighed five ungas or
ounces ; and at the following year, when the same abbot received
from Cu-Uladh O'Flynn, 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 exchange ; 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, the Irish 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 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
these doubts induced me to search 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 countries,
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 weight and value ; and I was the more sanguine that such
evidences might be found, from a recollection of the interesting letter
written 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 sicli 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 eharitati tuaa aliquid de oleo, quod vix modo in Britannia invenitur ; tit
dispensares per loca necessaria Episcoporum, ad utilitatem hominum vel honorem Dei.
Misi quoq; quinquaginta siclos fratribus de eleemosyna Caroli Regis : (obsecro ut pro
eo oretis :) & de mea eleemosyna quinquaginta siclos : & ad Australes fratres Baldliuni-
nega, triginta siclos de eleemosyna Regis, et triginta de eleemosyna mea, & viginti siclos
de eleemosyna patris familia? Areidce, & viginti de eleemosyna mea, & per singulos
Anachoritas tres siclos de puro argento : ut illi omnes orent pro me, & pro Domino
Rege Carolo, ut Deus ilium conservet ad tutelam sanotaB sua? Ecclesise, & ad laudem
& gloriam sui nominis." Syttoge, 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 written, and that the money designated as sicli must have
been a description of coin then current not only in France but also
in Ireland. 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 obviously 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 TOWERS OF IRELAND. 217
the Hebrew shekel, whereas it is certain that no coin of this kind was
current in Europe during the middle ages. The real meaning of the
word siclus, as understood by the Irish, and the 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 H. 3, 18,
p. 426, col. b, and in which the fine upon the owner of a cow that
has killed a bondsman, or bondswoman, is thus stated :
" Hide mu j no curhal po oip in aj opjaip ano, ap pennech bep aj. Cpicha
n-aipjiD mo. Sicolup quapi pcpipulup, o p6 leic-pm^inoe jabap mo o eopach
in comaip, 7 na pe leic-pmjmoe ip rpi lan-pinjinne in pcpepaill."
" If it be a bondman or bondwoman that has been killed by the cow, the cow is
forfeited (till reparation be made by the owner). Thirty sigah of silver is the fine.
Sicolus quasi scrip/tins, from six half pinginns being its value from the beginning of
enumeration, and these six half pinginns 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, 17, p. 645, somewhat differently, thus :
" Siculup quapi pepelicop, 6 p6 lec-penomjib jabap in o ropach in comap;
no pe lec-penomje ip cpi lan-penomj, na cpi Inn penoing ip pcpepall."
" Siculus quasi seselicos, from six half penning* being its value from the beginning
of enumeration [the lowest denomination] ; the six half penning* make three full pen-
nings, and the three full pennings make one screpall."
From the above passages then it clearly appears that the word
sigal was a term synonymous witli 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 penny, which was the largest denomination
of money then current in France and England, and which, I think,
was also current in Ireland, though under a different 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 penning or penny,
was 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. 181, b, b, in which the following curious table of weights is
given :
2 F
218 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Tp & peo in mean cojbup in cinoe pin DO ^pun cpuirneacca a pa pup a cfp
cpi meccon ; ceicpi c. [correctly, no! c.] 7 Ix! mill ; uaip ui. jpamni x. 7 cuij ceo 7
Ix. comrpom uingi ; uaip ceacpa jjpainoi xx. ec cpuicneacoa comcporn in pjpea-
baill aipgio. Ceacpa h-aoaim xx. ec i n-gpume, 7 comrpom un xx. ec umge in cmoe
pin, 7 ni h-o'n gabaino 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 silver.
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 screpall
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
sigal, 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,
the 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 & pin pcpepall ^aeoal Din, .1. oipinj."
" Puincne, i. e. the screpall of the notched beam, i. e. the screpall of the Gaels, i. e.
oifing."
Thus also in O'Clery's Vocabulary of Ancient Irish Words, under
the word puincne:
"Puincne, .1. pjpeaball .1. cpi pmjinne."
" Puincne, i. e. a screbatt, i. e. three pence."
And hence the word screaball 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, 1 8, 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 Librae.
f dp cpi meccon, land of three roots, i. e. the richest soil, which, according to the
Irish notion at the present day, is always known by the presence of three weeds, re-
markable for their large roots, namely, the thistle, the ragwort, and the wild carrot.
OF THE BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 21 ( J
Dictionaries as "a three-penny piece," and the word oiffing, by
O'Reilly, as " a tribute of three-pence."
Seeing then, that the screpall contained three pinginns, and
urighed 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, H. 4, 22, foL 66, in which the following
curious passage occurs :
" tDmnpu, .1. romup. thnnpa clapaije, .1. romup bip con luce claioep in claip,
01 umgi ip6 p'l lnn , ' boinjm mem in uma. Oinnpu cepoa DO oepj uma; pe
umji ann, 7 pcpepall a log. pin^mn ip piu in umji pinn iima ; 7 leir-pmjinn ip
piu an umji oepj uma ; 7 corhloj in oepj uma 7 m poan, 7 occ n-jjpanni cpuirne-
acca corhcpom na pfnjmni aipjio ; 7 ceicpe oinnpa DO luaioi ap omnpa pmn uma,
ap ip DO luaioe DO niche|i in rach."
" Dinnra, i. e. a weight [measure, or share]. The dinnra of the delver, that is, the
share which those who dig the pit do get, that is, those who dig the copper ore, con-
tains two ounces. The dinnra 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 half a. pinginn 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 dinnra 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 daily purposes of traffic, two small pieces of silver, namely, the
screpall or sigal, 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 weight,
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
bracteate money of any other nation. Were such names indeed found
in Irish 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 pinginns in the Book of Rights, nor in the most ancient Lives
of St. Patrick, in which, however, 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 Tirechan will suffi-
ciently show :
" Oippo^gel Cummen ocup 6pechan Ochcep n-Cfchio co n-a peilb, icep pio
ocup maj ocup lenu, co n-a lliup ocup a llubjopr. Ojoilep om ou Chuminin lech
in ooppi po, in ooim, in oumiu, con picccroap a peuic ppie, .1. .111. unjai apjaic, ocup
cpann apjic, ocup muince, .111. n-un^ae co n-opocli oip pen-mepib penaipocib, log
leich ungae 01 muccib, ocup 105 leieh unjae DI chuipib." Book of Armagh, Fol. 17,
b. 1.
" Cummin and Brethan purchased Ochter n-Achid with its appurtenances, both
wood and plain and meadow, with its fort and its garden. Half of this wood, and
house, and dun, was mortmain to Cummin, for which they paid [from ] 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
sisals 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 pinginns, 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.
" P'P'P 6 ! ' PT' al P e > ' cpano leran-ceno bip oc catnap oen pmjinne corhaip, .1.
comcpomm .1111. n-gpame pip-cpuirnechca. pip, Din, ainm in cpaino, no in cariiam ;
pip, Din, ainm DO pinjino; oen pinjino, oin, aipe in chpaino pin."
" Pisire, i. e. pis-aire, i. e. a broad-headed beam, which is for weighing owpinginn
of weight, i. e. the weight of seven grains of pure wheat. Pis, then, is the name of
the beam, or the trunk, and pis is, also, a name for ihepingmn; because one pinginn
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 which the writer enters
into a calculation of the value, in Irish money, of the thirty pieces
which Judas was paid for his treachery :
" Upom, qia, ooBupca na cennai jecca, in can repea a cerpuime oo'n ceehpa-
mao unja. In m. n-aipgennce cucpac luoaibe pop Bpac Cpfpc DO luoap anpecc-
nach, .1. occ penjmoe co leir, lap nuiriup coicchmo, ip eo pil in cec aipjenc oib,
lap na pcpibeno la ppuirib na n-ebpaioe." Fol. 73, a, b.
" Great, indeed, the foulness of the purchase, when the fourth ounce wanted a
quarter. The thirty argentei [denarii] which the Jews gave the unfortunate Judas
for betraying Christ : L e. eight pinginns and a half, after the general enumeration,
is what is in each argenteus 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 argen-
teus, or denarius, then current in Jerusalem, it will be seen, that the
unga, or ounce, contained four hundred 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
aipget), i. e. silver, the only one used to designate money of any
description at the present day, like the French argent, from the cir-
cumstance of the ancient minted pieces being of silver only, does
frequently occur, as in the metaphorical notice in the Annals of
Tighernach, at the year 718, of a ppopp apjjcno, which Mageoghegan
translates, " a shower of money ," yet as the word in its literal 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. tan mo Innpaioij parpaij o'apjac il o Ceniul Coyam DO pa-
cpaij;."
" A. D. 946. The full of the Innfaidhech Patraig of white silver [or white money]
was given by the Cinel Eoghain, to St. Patrick." [L e. to Joseph, his successor.]
As the relic here called Innfaidhech, but more correctly Finnfai-
222 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
dhech by the Four Masters, in their record of this donation, and
which, according to the ancient poem by Flann of the Monastery,
and the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, was made by Mac Cecht, one
of the saint's smiths or artificers in iron, 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 screpatt and pinginn, 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 this year in Ireland,
insomuch 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 we have not the original Irish of this pas-
sage, to ascertain the Irish word which 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. plcncBepcach na He'll! DO romeacc 6 T?6im. Gp ppi pmeap
Plaicbepraij po 5'^ci an connpao ofrhop i n-Qpomacha, ariiail ap pollup ip in
pano:
" Seipeoach DO jpan copca,
No epian o'uipmB ouB-copcpa,
Ho DO oepcnaib oapach ouinn,
Ho DO cnoaiB palac pionn-cuill,
po gaiBre jan cacha cinn
] n-Gpomacha 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 theskeayh (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 hazle hedge,
Was got without stiff bargaining
At Armagh for one pinginn."
This Flaithbhertach O'Neill, whose father, Muirchertach, king of
Aileach or Ulster, was slain by Amlaff 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 pinginn 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 with these weights, we have every reason to conclude that
they are the denominations of money so often referred to in the
ancient Irish authorities. These conclusions might 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 :
" ptnjinn, quapi panunjj, .1. papp in uncio; uel bennmj, .1. a n-injnaip a
beann aca, .). cpuinn."
" Pinginn, quasi pan-ung, 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 familiar 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 century ; and to
224 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
settle this question, the antiquity of the pieces remaining to us must
be tested by a comparison of the types on them with those on the
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 believe to be , wholly erroneous, that the Pagan
Danes were vastly more advanced in civilization than the Irish, a let-
tered 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,
where arts and industry were alone known. Their frequent invasions of England, and
neighbourhood 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
British ; 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 therefore instead of them, put only strokes, 1 1 II II." Essay on
Medak, vol. ii. pp. 153, 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., 989, 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, 956 ; so that we would have greater
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 225
reason to suppose that the type on those coins of the latter, which
resembles that on the coins of Donald, was derived from it, than
that the coins of Donald were struck in imitation 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, we find it only on the coins
of Ethelred II., 979, 1015, which for their peculiarity, are known
among numismatists as coins of the Irish type, and it is remarkable
that many of them were 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 oflre-
/u/itt, that the Danes were christianized in Ireland in the time of
Sitric I., 893 ; and in the second edition he ventures to assert, that
they were 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 was
minted in Dublin, and which exhibits the legend, " IfarttsReDyJlin."
But, as there were more Ivars than one, he should have given some
reason for ascribing this coin to Ivar I., who, according to all the
Irish annals, was a pagan, rather than to Ivar II., who was a Christian :
besides, no such words as Re Dyflin appear in the legend on the coin
to which he refers, and even if they did they would not prove it a
coin of the first Ivar, as Ivar II. was also king of Dublin. Indeed it
is now generally acknowledged to be a coin of Ivar or Ifars II. 993 ;
for, as Mr. Lindsay well observes, " the coins formerly 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."
View of the Coinage of Ireland, p. 12.
With much greater appearance of probability Dr. O'Conor, who
repudiates the assertion of Dr. Ledwich, finds on a coin, published in
Gibson's edition of Camden, an inscription, which, he thinks, proves
it to be a coin of Aedh Finnliath, monarch of Ireland from the year
863 to 879, and the last Irish monarch who bore the name " AED,"
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 year 93b', re-
cording a memorable battle fought between Athelstan, king of the
Saxons, and Amlaff, king of the Danes, are well worth transcribing,
and are as follows :
" Amlafo nonnulli nummum argentum [argenteum] tribuunt, editum a Gibsono,
2 G
226 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Came/en Op. v. 1, Tab. iii, No. 34, p. 195 At, nummus iste nullam exhibet notam
Chroriicam, prater nomen A mlafi Regis Dutiinii, et insignem crucis ; et cum alii fue-
runt Amlafi posteriores, cavendum est ne huic tribuatur, quod scque tribui potcst suc-
cessor!. Falluntur certe qui Sitricum I Christiana; Religioni nomen dedisse contendunt,
ex alio nummo, crucern exhibentc, cum Sitrici nomine insculptam ; quasi vero alii
non fuerint Sitrici posteriores, quibus potiori jure tribui possit, quam primo, qui
Ecclesiis Hibernise fuit hostis ini'ensissimus ! Ledwichius, in Opere cui titulus ' An-
tiquities, &c. Dublin 1790,' Annales nostros, quos nee videre licuit, nee, si vidisset, ex
linguae antiques ignorantia, intelligere posset, ex isto tamen nummo, non dubitat
castigare ! ' This coin of Sithric I, is the earliest inscribed coin that has hitherto
occurred. It is valuable/or 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 Danos,
regnante Sithrico I, Ethnicos fuisse affirmant ? Oportebat primo omnes extantes ex-
plicasse. Extant nonnulli editi a Gibsono, et hactenus inexplicati, quorum unum de
certo affirmo, esse saltern Aedi Eegis Hibernise, qui floruit ab anno 863 ad 879. Is enim
ultimus fuit istius nominis, et nummi characteres sunt AED RII MIDIN. i. e. AED
REX MIDENSIUM Monendi sunt Scriptores nostri, ne, absque gravissima causa,
ab his Annalibus discedant ; recentiores sunt qui tempera, 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, paiici merentur." Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores, torn. iv. pp. 262, 263.
I may here remark, however, that Dr. O'Conor is in error in as-
cribing this coin, the legend on which plainly reads RII MIDIN, i. e.
KING 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
Meath; and if he had struck this coin when monarch of Ireland,
it would have borne a different legend. This coin, which certainly
bears an Irish type, may, with far greater probability, be ascribed to
Aedh, the son of Maelruanaidh, who was the thirty-second king of
Meath of the southern Hy-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 ruder 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 Irish 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 ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
227
me it seems at least as fair to ascribe such pieces to the Irish as
to the Danes, and I think that the probability is greater that their
antiquity is anterior to that of the well-minted money with legible
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 denii'i-x,
of the middle ages, it appears to me that the real 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, 945. It is true that the
name penning, or pinginn, applied to 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 country 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.
That 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
between their types and those found on the Danish coins, he comes
to the conclusion, from a resemblance Avhich, he thinks, he dis-
covers between their types 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 these types, with those of the English coins, to which I have
drawn the 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
2 G 2
228
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
with John, or perhaps Henry III., and to assign as the probable period of their min-
tage, 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 prinees, 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 of Ireland, p. 24.
As examples of bracteate coins, in which Mr. Lindsay finds this
imitation of the types on the coins of Stephen, Harold, and Henry I.,
I annex engravings of three bracteates, formerly in the collection of
the 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 prototypes, as would
authorize the conclusion at which Mr. Lindsay arrives. That amid
a great variety of types, consisting of crosses, and having smaller
ornaments within their angles, a few should bear some resemblance
to types found on the reverses of coins of the Anglo-Norman kings,
is not to be wondered at ; it would be strange, indeed, if some such
coincidence did not occasionally occur : but it is too much to infer
from a remote similarity, which may be purely accidental, that all
those Irish bracteates, which present no such similarity of type, must
be of cotemporaneous date with those in which Mr. Lindsay thinks he
discovers it ; and he is obliged himself to acknowledge
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 type, which may
be regarded as peculiarly Irish ; and that Mr. Lindsay could find no
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 229
resemblance between tliis coin and any of those of the Anglo-Norman
kings, we have sufficient evidence in the fact that he publishes it
without a comment. In like manner, if we compare the bracteate
pieces, found in the Tower of Kildare, with the coins of the Saxon
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, Offa 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 Ethelred II. But, as I have already
shown that the type on some of the coins of Ethelred is itself most
probably derived from Ireland, no conclusion, I think, can be fairly
grounded on this circumstance. There is scarcely a variety of cross,
which is not to be found as a typical ornament in our most ancient
manuscripts, even in those of the sixth century, as well as on our
ancient sepulchral monuments anterior to the tenth; and among
these a double cross is of the most common occurrence ; it is, there-
fore, but natural to expect that the Irish would 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 Irish 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 what
230 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
seem to be their earliest coins, struck in Ireland, do not appear to
have 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 with, or of a later age
than the better minted coins of the Danes.
I think it probable, however, that the pinginns, or bracteates, are
of greater antiquity in Ireland than the screpalls, as they appear to
have been in Germany, Sweden, and Denmark : and am also of
opinion that those rude pieces without legends, whether screpalls or
pinginns, were very probably for the most part, if not wholly, eccle-
siastical, their types having usually a religious character, and being
most commonly found in the localities of ancient ecclesiastical esta-
blishments : as for instance, that curious hoard of coins found at
Glendalough in 1639, of which 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,
we cannot admire at finding much of their money there." These as-
sertions of Doctor Ledwich are really amusing. It was truly a sin-
gular species of devotion which these pious warriors exhibited at
Glendalough, built, according to Doctor Ledwich, by themselves,
in the ninth century, that they plundered and devastated it in the
years 830, 833, 886, 977, 982, 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 Kilcullen in 1305,
of which mention is made in an Exchequer record of 33 Edw. I.
See Harris's Ware, vol. ii. p. 206. According to M. Schoepflin, the
ecclesiastical bracteates were the roost common in Germany, where
they were known 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 panningi, derive du mot Tudesque
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 231
pfenning" Histoire de VAt-udi'mie Rnyale des Inscriptions et
Belli'*- Li'ttres, torn, xxiii. p. 218.
If these arguments have any weight, it will not perhaps be an
improbable conjecture, that the bracteate pinginns, or pennings,
found at Kiklare, were ecclesiastical coins minted there. And, in
connexion with this conjecture, 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 apcain DO ^allaib, peo mipepabile [mipabilt]
piecace mipepcup epc cpia Niall li-U n-Gpuilb, peoemprip omnibupclepicip pene
ppo nomine Domini, .1. Ian in 00151 roo'P Sancc &PIJCI, 7 Ian in oepraigi ip 4 DO
puajell Niall oub oia apjac pep in."
Thus translated by Dr. O' Conor :
" A. D. 963. Kildaria spoliata ab Alienigenis, sed miserabili pietate [inirabili] mi-
sertus est Niall, filius Erulbii, redeinptis omnibus Clericis pene, pro nomine Domini,
i. e. quotquot capere potuit domus magna S. Brigidse, 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 anjac pepin, which he renders, pretio 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 DO apccain DO ^"allaio, 7 bpoio mop DO ppuirib 7 DO
cle'ipcib DO jabuilooib ann, 7 Niall Ua h-Gpuilb oia b-puapclao. Can an coije
moip Saner &pijoe, 7 Ian an oeprtjje ap eao DO puaicill Niall otob oia apjao
" A. D. 962. Nortmanni Kildariam fcede depopulati, seniorum & Ecclesiasticorum
plurimos captivos tenuerunt : ex quibus tot personas proprijs pecuniis redemit Nellus
Oherluibh, quot in magna S. Brigidse domo, & Ecclesia simul consistere poterant."-
Triat Thaum., 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 Cloumacnoise that money was coined there in the year 1 1 70. This
232 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
was in the reign of Roderic O'Conor ; but we learn from the Leabhar
Gabhala of the O'Clerys, an authority of great value, that money
was 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, though the records of such mintages have not been
preserved, or at least not yet discovered.
On the whole, then, I have, I 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
that the discovery of bracteate pinginns in the Round Tower of Kil-
dare, which there is every reason to believe were placed there,
either accidentally or by design, cotemporaneously 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 architecture
which it exhibits, namely, the close of the eighth, or beginning of
the ninth century, when the description of the church of Kildare
was written by Cogitosus. Indeed, were I disposed to venture on
assigning this doorway 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 architecture which would
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, which 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, exhibiting an ogived or contrasted
arch, occurs in the Syriac MS. of the Gospels, transcribed in the year
586, and preserved in the Mediceo-Laurentiau Library at Florence.
Of the chevron moulding, which ornaments the architrave of the se-
cond of the two recessed arches, abundant examples 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 Visit to the Seven Churches 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 BOUND TOWERS OP IRELAND. 233
the Library of Trinity College, Dublin ; and I need hardly remark,
that it also appears as a frequent decoration on the mouldings which
cap the Corinthian modillions in the palace of Dioclesian at Spalatro,
erected between the years 290 and 300. In like manner, of the
lozenge pannelling, enriched with rosettes, which decorates the soffit
of the innermost recessed arch, examples are found on the fragments
of Roman 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 century. See Memoires de
la Societe des Antiquaries de r Quest, tome premier, p. 57-
To the preceding remarks I should 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 round 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
fourth, 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 width ; 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 fourth, or innermost arch, is five feet eight inches in height,
two feet one inch 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, will, I think, receive additional support from the agreement
of many of its ornaments Avith those seen in the better preserved, if
2 H
234
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
not more beautiful, doorway of the Round Tower of Timahoe, in 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 features as clearly as possible, both by drawings
and verbal descriptions.
This doorway, like that of Kildare, is formed of a hard siliceous
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 TUB ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
235
arrangement of its several compartments will be best understood from
the annexed ground plan, to which I add a vertical section, to show
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 with 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-
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,
which may be described as a pellet and bead
moulding, as shown in the annexed sketch. The
measurement 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 H 2
!
236
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
in a very elegant style of design, and are fortunately in a high state of
preservation. These jambs, 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 differing in some of the details, the
whiskers of the heads being curled, and the interlacing 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 in
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.
arch. Its width is two feet six inches at the capitals, and two feet
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
west 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 compound
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 curls over the forehead, while
the space at the back of the head and under the
cheek is filled with a flowery interlaced ornament,
which springs from an angular moulding at each
side of the semi-circular shaft, as shown above.
The head, forming the capital at the east side,
exhibits the hair divided over the forehead, a plain moustache, and
238
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
the hair arranged in straight plaits under the chin, from ear to ear,
as shown in the 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 plinth an ornament, in de-
pressed relief, of the figure represented in
the annexed drawing, and over it a human
head rudely carved in low relief, having the
moustache and beard arranged in stiff and
straight plaits. The base of the correspond-
ing shaft at the east side is less ornamented,
and exhibits a sort of bulbous figure 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-chevron moulding.
The sub-arch, or recessed division of this
archway, is sculptured in a style altogether
different from that of the outer archway,
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 the angles are
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 BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
239
should be afraid to venture 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
Round 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 early 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 which 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 century.
Of the bulbous, or tun-shaped bases, an example may be seen on a
representation of a temple, figured 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-
tectural 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 churches and Round
Towers in Ireland, and with those of the churches in England now
considered as Saxon.
In the opinions which I have thus hazarded, so opposite to the
240 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
generally, if not universally adopted conclusions of eminent historical
antiquaries, as to the civilization of the Irish previously to the Danish
irruptions, and still more, of architectural antiquaries, as to the anti-
quity of ornamental 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, which is solely to inquire after truth in a spirit of candour,
such an anticipation presents to me no terrors; and I feel confident that
those who are best qualified to judge of the difficulties of my under-
taking will not censure the expression of opinions, however novel,
which are offered for consideration in such a spirit, and which, even
if erroneous, being based on evidences which I submit to be tested
by the learned, must 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,
Lombardic, 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-
ligence, and circumstances of different nations, I think it only
natural to expect that 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 structures 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 churches, 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 BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 24 1
great Norman churches, 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 churches will not be acknowledged as
indicating an antiquity far less removed from the classical model.
The theory advanced by Dr. Ledwich, which had great influence in
its day, that our 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 own 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
was so sacred as to afford a refuge from their sacrilegious fury. 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 the country. I do not deny,
however, that 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 the immediate protection
of those vigorous and warlike 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
earlier times.
But if we are without absolutely conclusive historical evidences to
2 i
242
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
prove the age of such churches, exhibiting 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 probability from a comparison of their
details with those of the ancient ornamented church at Eathain, or
Rahin, 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-
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 by a plain architrave on the external
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
243
one. The capitals, on which the greatest richness of ornament is found,
are those on the third, or innermost of these piers at each side ; and,
like Jhose 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 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 of a 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 Kathain, which Archdall and Lanigan erro-
neously place at Rathyne, in the barony of Fertullagh, and county 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 have flocked to him from various
parts, both of Ireland and Great Britain, and which finally increased
to the number of 867, all of whom provided for themselves and the
poor by the labour of their hands. But, notwithstanding the sanctity
of his character, the envy and jealousy of the monks or clergy of
a neighbouring establishment effected the expulsion of himself and
his monks from Rathain in the year 630, by the prince of the country,
Blathmac, the son of the monarch Aedh 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 ROUND TOWERS OP IRELAND. 245
who flourished nearly two centuries later, and whose name has been
also venerated as that of the patron of the place, an honour never
paid to any but founders of churches. From the expressive silence
of our annals, it would appear, 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 century. Colgan, in-
deed, labours, on the doubtful 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 Rathain 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 accurate
Annals of Tighernach, in 763. And that this Ua Suanaigh was the
founder of a new establishment at Rathain appears sufficiently 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. Oiapmaicc U.i Cealluij, coriiapba Ui Shuannij, o'6cc."
" A. D. 1113. Diarmaid Ua Ceallaigh, successor of Ua Suanaigh, died."
"A. D. 1136. SaepBperac Ua Ceallaij, coriiapba Ui Suanaijj, o'ecc."
"A. D. 1136. Saerbhrethach Ua Ceallaigh, successor of Ua Suanaigh, died."
"A. D. 1139- ITIuipcepcacli Ua ITIaoilriiuaio, cijeapna peap jj-Ceall, DO lopc-
cao D' pepoib Ceall, .1. DO Uib 6uaimrii, i rempull Rairne."
" A. D. 1 139. Muirchertach O'Molloy, lord of Feara Ceall, was burned by the Feara
Ceall themselves, namely, the O'Luainimhs, in the church of Kathain."
"A. D. 1141. Oomnall, mac Ruaiopi Ui mhaoilmuaib, cijeapna peapj-Ceall,
DO mapBao la mumcip tuaimtii i Rpacam h-1 Suanaij."
" A.D. 1141. Domhnall, son of Ruaidhri O'Molloy, lord of Feara Ceall, was slain
by the Muintir Luainimh in Eathain Ui Suanaigh."
"A. D. 1153. Cainicc oan CUDJ Ua 6piam co n-a ploccaib co Rairin Ui
Shuanaij h-i poipirm Chonnacc, &c."
"A. D. 1153. Tadhg O'Brien marched with his forces to Raithin Ui Shuanaigh
to relieve Connacht, SEC."
" A. D. 1 166. 55'^ a na naorii Ua Ceallaij, coriiapba Ui Shuanaij h-i Racham,
o'ecc."
246 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" A. D. 1 166. Giolla na naomh O'Ceallaigh, successor of Ua Suanaigh at Kathain,
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 churches there, was called Ua Suanaigh's Cross, as
appears from a very curious notice in iheLeabharSreac, fol. 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 churches 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 church, as its style of ornament seems to me to indicate, was
erected about the middle of the eighth century.
In addition to the church which I have now noticed, there are
also at Eahin 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 feature ; 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 architectural character of this door-
way will be sufficiently understood from the preceding engraving, from
which it will also be seen that its jambs have the inclination 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 differ in their details, those
on the south side being plain mouldings, while
those on the north present 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, with
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
248
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. These 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 Eoman Catholic clergy of the
district ; 2. the chancel of the Cathedral ; 3. the chancel of the small
abbey church, now popularly called the Monastery.
Of the first of these buildings there now unfortunately exist but
very slight vestiges ; but I am enabled to illustrate, 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, Signer Bigari, Monsieur Be-
ranger, and Mr. 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 found in the most ancient churches of this country, the
stones being generally of small size, and the masonry around the door
and window ashlar work.
The principal ornamented feature which distinguished this build-
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.
249
trave, rested on narrow columns with capitals equally enriched with
sculpture, and the recess, which it enclosed, was perforated in the
centre by a narrow, unornamented window, having obviously a semi-
circular head, but which was not in existence when the drawing
was made. The sides of this window 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. This 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 measured
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.
Dr. Ledwich, who has treated of the architectural ornaments
at Glendalough, has not offered any explanation of the artist's inten-
tion in these sculptures, if he had any beyond a merely ornamental
one, nor can I attempt to explain them : but I may remark that in
the latter the similarity of design which it presents to some of the
capitals of the doorway of the Hound Tower of Timahoe can hardly
2 K
250
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
fail to strike the reader, and lead to the conclusion that they are, if
not of the same age, at least of periods not very far removed from
each other. The execution of this sculpture is, indeed, better, and
the relief bolder than in those of Timahoe, but the idea is the same
in both, namely, a tracery formed by the intertwining of the long hair
of 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 their bases.
The only other ornamented feature in this chapel was its doorway,
which was placed in the south wall. This doorway, which was in a
OF THE ROUND TO WEBS 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 much
injured to be measured accurately. Though quite plain in its jambs,
it was surmounted by a triangular pediment, in the tympanum 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 of Notre Dame du Port at Clermont-
Ferrand, and which is supposed to be of the eleventh century. See
Les Arts au Mot/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 peculiar 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 Pilgrim 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.
2 K 2
252 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The conclusions drawn from these assertions have been ably an-
swered by Dr. Lanigan in his Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. pp. 398,
399, and the 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
any doubt, that the figure 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 ctipcijie, or porter and bell-ringer, holding in
his hand, not a purse 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 Church, 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 Mac Carthy, King of Munster 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 quadrangular-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 preserved in Ireland
as having belonged to the celebrated saints of the primitive Irish
Church ; and there is every reason to believe that this quadrangular
form gave place to the circular one now 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 century.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
253
Thus again in the diagonally-knotched 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 obliterated, 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.
Franqoise, torn. 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 sculpture
affords in favour of the early antiquity of this little church, 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, during 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 page, and a sculp-
tured 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-
254
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
tures on its interior face will be more distinctly seen in the annexed
engravings of its details ; of which 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 with 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.
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 devices, thus describes the sculptures 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 Lock no, peiste} " or the serpent loch, and being
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 TIIK HOINI) TOWERS OF IRELAND.
255
How far Dr. Lcdwich may be right or wrong in the preceding
explanations of these sculptures, I must 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, and its 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
256 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
are not bonded into those of the nave, 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 principal 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. Saviour. 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 wall, 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 four 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 two 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 curious structure
is its chancel archway, of which only the piers with their semi-
columns 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.
m
This archway is a compound one, consisting of three receding
piers with semi-columns, the arrangement of which will be sufficiently
understood 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.
"2 L
258
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The devices on the capitals on the south side are shown in the
annexed 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 glibb, 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 sculpture : " A ravenous quadruped,"-
he should have used the plural, " a wolf, devours a human head :
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
259
the head is a living one ; the hair, whiskers, and beard give it a
savage appearance. The 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 woman put another into his
mouth, and so on with many more, all of them he devoured, and then
she began the song 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.
'~"^W
"-'^r""'.
.
The ornament which constitutes the principal feature on these
capitals does not occur on any others in Ireland ; but it is, as I shall
hei'eafter 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.
2 L 2
260
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Those which follow represent the two faces of that of pier C, on
the outer column, and are equally remarkable in their character.
The base of the column on pier A is sufficiently 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 which 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
sculpture 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 figures are Runic ? 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.
261
Irish monuments, and 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
]>UT, 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 following illustrations, of which
the three first are copied from geometrical sketches by Monsieur Be-
ranger, and obviously belonged to one compartment of the arch :
F
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.
Some of the most curious and beautifully executed sculptures are,
however, those supposed to have formed the architrave of the win-
262 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
dow, or rather perhaps of an arched recess on the external face of the
east wall, similar to that on the Priest's House already described.
These sculptures are thus described by Archdall, from the notes
written by the artists for Colonel Conyngham :
" On the removal of some heaps of rubbish from under the ruins of this arch, a few
stones beautifully carved were found, many of them belonging to the arches, 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 with a bead running
on each side ; the centre of the lozenge is decorated on one side in bas-relief, with a knot
delicately carved ; on the other 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 different 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." Monasticon
Hibernicum, p. 771.
Most of the stones above referred to still exist, and are here
represented from recent sketches.
Dr. Ledwich, who finds illustrations of the Danish mythology 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 Eegner 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.
203
" The three daughters of Lodbrog worked a reafan on the standard of Hingar and
Hubba, with many magical incantations, which was to be invincible. This ensign,
common among the Northerns, was supposed to give omens of victory or defeat : if it
gayly fluttered in the wind, it presaged success, but if it hung down motionless, it
portended misfortunes. It is plain from many Abraxas iu 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 sculpture
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 with the pagan Danes and other nations ; it is still considered so in
the. popular superstitions of the Irish, and PIOC, 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
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." 16. p. 208.
Iii 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
264
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Kunic knots, but which appear to me as nothing more than orna-
mental crosses, of which innumerable examples may be found in our
most ancient manuscripts, and on sepulchral 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 sculptured
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-
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, which represents another sculptured
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 the building, or whether | V ^-^ V ^"^ y f
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
what Dr. Ledwich calls Runic knots. This cross is of mica slate, the
stone of the district, and is situated in the cemetery of the Refert, or
2 M
266
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 the 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 similitude 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 Ireland." " 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
()K TIIK HOUND TUWKUS OK IHELAND.
267
of styles, something might be allowed for the caprice of the carver,
but the design and execution being uniform, the whole must be
consigned [assigned] to a particular 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 Europe, 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 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
curious is the church called Teampull Finghin, or Fineen's Church,
at Clonmacnoise. Of this interesting building 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 sufficient certainty to determine 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 ruined 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
268
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
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 ; while the inner, or recessed arch,
presents, both on its face 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
bulbous character, noticed in some of the preceding examples, and
are stilted in a curious fashion, so as to form a
triple base, as shown in the annexed illustrations.
The measurements 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 four
inches.
I have already 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 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, 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. 262
friend Sir James Ware, who had it translated into English by the cele-
brated Irish antiquary.Duald Mac Firbis; and the original autograph
of this translator is preserved among Ware's manuscripts, in the
British Museum, 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 Mac
Carthy More (Fineen) for the place of sepulture of the Mac Carthys :
" Thus hath Mac Carthy .i. Great, Finyn M c Carthy, paid for his sepulture, viz.
for the proportion of nyne 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 discend, and Macarty More, 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 e said church, and y e 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 th all kind of tithe in those sixe plowlands ; and allso y e baptising ; and
the said Gerald payed out of his owne part of Athfara four fatt beeves and 48 daies in
Killcluayn, whereof there are 4 daies in Bregoig, and 48 daies in Kill Dacire, and 48
daies in Killcyugh, and 48 daies in Kill Drochuyll, and sixe daies in Crumaigh, and
the baptising, together w th the tithes of that towne of Crumaigh ; and Gerald gave
this in mortmain to y e church called Teampull 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 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 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 church could not be
of earlier date than the thirteenth century, as, in the first place, the
epithet More, or Great, which was applied to the chief of the senior
270 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
branch of the Mac Carthys, to distinguish him from the chief of
another branch, who was 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 Finghin, 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
(which I shall have occasion to notice hereafter), or on the evidence
which the architecture of this church affords of a far earlier antiquity,
we have the authority of Tighernach, the most ancient and accurate
of our annalists, who nourished 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 vicinity of the church was called Tiprait
Fingen, as will appear from the following passage :
"A. D. 758. ^op" 10 "' comapba fflochra tujbai, .1. mac Copbaio, comapba
pacpaij: ip pe po bm bliaoam pop uipci cippaic Pingen a Cluam mac Noip,
ocup ao bach a n-ailicpi i Cluam."
"A. D. 758. Gorman, comharba of Mochta of Lugbadh [Louth], i. e. the son of
Torbach, comharba of Patrick : it is he that was a year on the water of Tiprait
Fingen [St. Fineen's Well] at Clomnacnoise, 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
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. 5^ m P T '" F5 rnu P> D0 na FP's F eD na r amal ^ T ln cnrnpl 1
pi, DU a o-copcaip oaip mop Re^lepa pinjin h-i j-Cluam 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 ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 271
That this church became the cemetery of the Mac Carthy family
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, 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 Eegles 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 apparently 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 of this Tower is placed within the chancel, and OH
a level with its floor. I should remark also, that this chancel was
lighted by a single round-headed window, 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 century,
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. Oaimliaj Cluana mac noip DO 66narii la Plann, mac Plaoil-
pechlamn, 7 la Colman Conaillech."
" A. D. 909. The Cathedral of Clonmacnoise was built by Flann, sou of Maoil-
sechlainn, and by Colman Conaillech."
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 whose death, at the year 926, in the Chronicon
Scotorum, and 924 in the Annals of the Four Masters, we have an
additional evidence that this church was erected by him :
" A. D. 926. Colman, mac Qililla, ppmcepp Cluana mac Notp, 7 Cluana
Ipaipo, o'eg. Ip leip DO pineo oaimliag Cluana mac Noip. Do Conaillib TTIuip-
cemnee."
" A. D. 926. Colman, son of Ailill, chief [abbot] of Clonmacnoise and Clonard,
died. It was by him the cathedral of Clonmacnoise was erected. He was of the Conaille
Muirthemne." Chron. Scot.
" A. D. 924. Colman, mac Qilella, abbab Cluana lopaipo 7 Cluana mac
Noip, eppcop 7 ooccop ejnaio, o'6j. Qp leip DO ponnuo t)aimliucc Cluana
mac Hoip. t)o Conaillib TTluipreinne 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.
He was of the tribe of Conaille Muirthemne." Ann. Quat. Mag.
We have also what may be considered a further evidence of the
period of the erection of this church in the splendid stone cross at
Clonmacnoise, which 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' Cone hob hair, or Turlogh O'Conor, monarch of Ireland in
the early part of the twelfth century, and the archbishop, Aedh
O'Hoisin, by whom the cathedral church of Tuam was rebuilt ; and,
in like manner, by a similar cross at Cashel, which is obviously co-
temporaneous with a beautiful church 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 purpose for which
it was erected, will at once be removed by the fact, that the names
of the abbot Colman 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 TOWERS OF IRELAND. 273
with this class of inscriptions, which is still numerous in Ireland, to
determine what the entire inscriptions originally were. The first of
them occurs 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 Go F^aiNt) mac maicsechtaiNO."
"A PRAYER FOR FLANN, SON OF MAELSECHLAINN."
The second inscription is found on a similar tablet, on the east
side of the cross, which nearly faces the western door of the church,
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 :
OR01C t)0 COOnCIN DORROlNOl IN CROSSd QR IN Rl
" 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 during 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 monument
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 great church 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 Screaptra, 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. h-6ille 7 h-Ui pocepcai DO apjam Cluunu mac Noip, co pucpar
bpuic moip 6 Cpoip na Scpeprpa, 7 cop mapbno Dip ann, .1. mac leijino, 7 oclac
eili : co poipip t)ia 7 Ciapan t)elb'na i n-a n-otaij, cop laippec a n-ap ann, im
pijoarhna h-Lla Pocapca, ap ip eipioe po tnupb in mac leijmo. t)o pocc cpa a
m-bpuir cpuch n-eipji DO lo ap na mapac co Cluain rpe pepraib Ciapain."
2 N
274 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" A. D. 1060. The Elians and the Hy-Focertai plundered Clonmacnoise, and carried
away many captives from Cros na Screaptra, and slew two persons there, i. e. a student,
and another youth : but God and Ciaran incited the Delvins in pursuit of them, and
they 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 should confess, however, that, if we are to trust Dr. Ledwich,
this cross, of two sides of which he gives a very inaccurate repre-
sentation, and couples with them two sides of another cross at Clon-
macnoise, as if they were 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 truth, 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
Cluanm, 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 highest 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 HOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 27 5
mark, that Dr. Ledwich is as much in error with respect to the age
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
fifteenth, 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-
macnoise 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 Mac Dermott, chief of Moyhurg, who, as the Registry of
Clonmacnoise states, " hath repaired or built the great church, upon
his own costs, and this was for the cemetery of the Clanmaolruany."
This Tomultach Mac Dermott, according to the Irish annals, died in
the year 1336.
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 in Harris'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 church at Clonmacnoise
we have a specimen, which, though but of little interest, as exhibiting
2 N 2
276
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
ornament, is worthy of notice here, as a work of the close of the tenth
century, when the power of the Danes in Meath was broken for a time
at the decisive battle of Tara, in 974, by the valour of the monarch
Maolseachlainn. This doorway occurs in the sepulchral chapel of the
O'Conors of Connaught, which, from the Registry of Clonmacnoise,
appears to have been erected by Cathal, the son of Conor, king of
Connaught, who died in the year 1010. The passage is as follows :
" Thus have the O'Connors their 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
daies to every cell, viz. Tobar Ilbe 48 daies, Tamhnach 48 daies, Killmuicky 48 daies,
Kill m. Teig 48 daies, Tuillsge 48 daies, Kill O'Gealba 48 dayes ; and the O'Connor
who bestowed these lands was called Cathal O'Connor."
Templeconor is now used as the parish church, but all its features,
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
measures 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 churches, I may next notice those of Killaloe
and Inishcaltra, in Munster, as buildings said to have been erected,
or re-erected, in the tenth century, by the monarch Brian Borumha,
as thus stated by Keating :
" Gp 6 6pian pop cuj plomnre po peac ap peapaib Gipionn, op a n-aicionncap
jac pil cpeab pa leic oiob. Qp leip map an j-ce'aona oa coj^bao cempull Cille
tDalua, ajup reampull Innpe Ceallcpac, ajup DO h-acnuaioioo cloicceac Chuatna
5pme." Heating's History of Ireland, Reign of Brian Borumha.
" 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 the church of Gill
Dalun, 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 Curtin,
who also states these facts, most probably derived his information,
has not fallen into my hands ; but I may 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 existing churches at Killaloe and Inishcaltra
becomes therefore of the highest importance in this Inquiry, 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 century ; 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 semicircular 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
Third 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 the place has probably a foundation in
truth, which considers it as the entrance to the tomb of Muircheartach
O'Brien, king of Ireland, who died on the 8th of March, 1120, and
who, as Ware tells us, " was a great benefactor 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 church on the site of the present one.
The question then naturally suggests itself, is the other church 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.
OF THE ROUND 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, without 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
church, erected within his own hereditary principality by so powerful
a monarch as Brian, would 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 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 walls 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 churches and Round
Towers of Ireland ; as Avill appear from the annexed illustrations,
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
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
triangular, or straight-sided arch. The chancel arch, which is wholly
without ornament, has inclined jambs and chamfered imposts, and
measures in height eight feet six inches from the floor to the 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 I should add, that there is no reason to believe it to be
of later date than the other parts of the building ; and undoubtedly
as its ornaments are very different in character from those found on
buildings which I would 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 should 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 Molua's disciple, St. Flannan, who was son
of Toirdhealbhach, king of Thomond, and who, according to Ware,
was consecrated first bishop of this see at Rome by Pope John IV.,
about the year 639- That a man habituated to the sight of the
Roman churches 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,
Theodorick, endowed the church oi Killaloe with many Estates ; and
dying full of Years, was magnificently interred in this Church by his
Son Flannan?
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 church 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 Killaloe, 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 church of
2 o
282
INQUIRY INTO THE 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
features in the nave, that the latter, 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, the general
features of which will be seen in the annexed illustration.
Of the chancel itself only portions of the side walls remain, and
these walls, 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, with 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 window at Rahin, already described.
The piers of these arches were rectangular, but rounded at their
angles, so as to form slender semi-cylindrical shafts, with angular
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
283
mouldings on each side, and having, in capitals, well-shaped human
faces carved in low relief.
The interior face of the doorway was only ornamented with a
single semicolumn at each side, the capital of which 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 western 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 architecture, 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 o 2
284
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
different style of masonry from the 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, which 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 unique in form in
Irish architecture.
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 architecture existed here previously even to
the Norman conquest of England. This latter conclusion will, I think,
be greatly strengthened, if not satisfactorily established, 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 have 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
nirreement it may be proper to adduce one or two examples of such
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
century, but rebuilt towards the close of the eleventh, or commence-
ment of the twelfth, as a perfectly legible inscription on its doorway
286 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. In the lower band :
" OR t>o Neim igiM CUIRC acus t>o mach^amaiN u chiarc-
meic tas IN beRNao T cempuLsa"
i. e. " A PRAYER FOR NIAM DAUGHTER OF CORC, AND FOR MATH-
GHAMAIN O'CHIARMEIC, BY WHOM WAS MADE THIS CHURCH."
2. In the upper band :
"OR t)O 5i,e mochotmoc u cecucdi t>o RI^HI"
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, when 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. Cacli Raclia Goaip eccip f-ai^nilj ajup piopa ITIuman, co po
paeimio pia ITIuipcheapcach Ua m-6piam ajup pe K-peapaiB ITIuriian pop taijnio,
5 u r FP mac t>oriinaill, mic ITIaoil na m-bo, ajup ap t)iapmaio Ua m-6piam,
a 5 u F a P na, mac Oiapmaoa, co po lao ap mop ann pin pop taijniB, im mac
niupchuoa Uf Ooiiinaill, im cijeapna h-Ua n-"Opona, ajjup im Conull Ua Ciap-
maic, agup im ua NeiU ITlaije oa con, ec peliqui."
" A. D. 1 087- The battle of Rath Edair [was fought] between the Lagenians and
the men of Minister, in which the victory was gained by Muircheartach O'Brien and
the men of Monster 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 the Lagenians, together with the son of Mur-
chadh O'Domhnaill, lord of Hy-Drone, and Conall O'Ciarmaic, 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, thougli usually metamorphosed into the
English name Kirby by those speaking English. The name of the
female in this inscription is probably that of the wife of Mathghamhain,
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 Knockmoy, in which 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
Book of Lecan, fol. 105, b, and fol. 115, 6, one seated in the territory
of Fothart Airbreach, in Leinster, and the other in Muscraighe 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 were of distinguished celebrity in their day is suffi-
ciently proved from records of their deaths, which have found place
in the authentic Irish annals".
a 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-
loffia Hibeniica, 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'g Britannia, 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 neibnisan cuirce . acos dor
eacleag amarc mearg use acos elar shi deorsoich en argis.'
" In modern Irish
288
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
The erection of this church 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 doorway, as well as its ornaments, has a more
decided resemblance to those of the Norman churches 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 sculpture, 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 architecture, of this period at least, the grotesque lions' heads,
which are sculptured on the soffit of the external arch, immediately
over the imposts.
The next example, which I have to adduce, 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 of Cashel,
called Cormac's Chapel, one of the most curious and perfect churches
" ' Aoda M'Eoen agus coighe flatli teampall talamh as dlightheach deaglais coirce
agus dorais ea cloch amairc sleas usa agus e fcarann do shin devirseach en archios.'
" That is
" ' The Priest, M'Roen, 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 tribute.'
" There being no date, the time of this gift cannot be determined. Freshford (in
Irish Achadhur, or Waterfield) was an ancient monastery of regular canons in the 7th
century, and at present is called the Prebend of Aghour." Vol. i. p. 35 1 .
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
289
in the Norman style in the British empire. The erection of this
church is popularly but erroneously ascribed to the celebrated king-
bishop Corrnac Mac Cullenan, 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
acquaintance with Anglo-Norman architecture should have led them
to a different 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 styles, 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 Cullenan, who flourished in the tenth century, but to
a later Cormac, in the twelfth, namely, Cormac Mac Carthy, who 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 church is thus recorded :
" A. D. 1127- Sluaj mop le Coipoealbach Ua Concubmp 50 piacr Copcaij,
7 e pern ap rip, 7 coblac ap muip tiomcul 50 Copcaij, 50 n-oeapnaio pem 7
Oonncha mac Capcaij 50 n-a mumcip Copmac, mac ITIuipeaoaij, TTlijj Capraij,
o'airptojab, 50 mo h-eigion oo ool a n-oilicpe 50 iop mop, 7 bacall DO jabcul
ann ; 7 tDonnca, mac TTluipeaoaij, meij Capraij, DO piojao n-a piajnaipe.
****** ) a CJheampul a iop mop, 7 ceampul a j-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 Muireadhach, 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. Coipiopjao ceampuill Copamaic mac Caprai^ a j-Caipiol leip
an Gpoeppoj 7 h-eppojaib" na murhan, 7 le maciB 6peann, loip laoc 7 cleipeac."
"A. D. 1134. The consecration of the church of Cormac Mac Carthy at Cashel
by the archbishop and bishops of M,unster, 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 muipeaoaij;, mac Caprai j, mac Saopbpeirij, mac
tDonncha, mac Ceallacain Caipil, Rij Deapmuman, 7 lomcopnarhach TTluman
uile, 7 an oume ba cpaibcije, 7 ba calama, 7 ba peapp pa biuio, 7 pa eaoach, lap
g-cumoach ceampuill Copamaic a j-Caipiol, 7 DO ceampull a Ciop mop, DO
mapbao le t>iapmaio Sujach h-Ua Concubaip Ciappuioe, aip paoparii Coip-
oealbaij li-Ui 6piain, a cliamam, 7 u caipoiop Cpiopc, 7 a alcpom a B-peall."
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 291
" A. D. 1 138. Cormac, son of Muireadhach, son of Carthach, son of Saorbhrethach,
son of Donough, son of Ceallachan Cashel, king of Desmond, and a man who had con-
tinual contention for the sovereignty of the entire province of Munster, and the most
pious, most brave, and most liberal of victuals, and clothing, after having built [the
church called] Teampull Chormaic, in Cashel, and two churches in Listnore, 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, which are preserved in the
Library of Trinity College, Dublin :
" A. D. 1134. Coippecao cempoill Copmaic."
Thus again in the Chronicon Scotorum:
"A. D. 1134. Coippecao cempoill Copmaic i j-Caipiol la mairiB imoa."
" A. D. 1 134. The consecration ofCormac's church at Cashel by many dignitaries.'*
Thus again in the continuation of the Annals of Tighernach :
" A. D. 1134. Coippejab ceampuill Copmac a j-Caipiol maicluB 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 Copbtnac, mac TTlic Capcaij, pi Caipl,
DO coippeccao la peanao clepeach n-fepeno i n-aom 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 the Library of the Royal Irish Academy, the word curhoac is
rendered doubtfully " built, or restored ;" and I should also add, that
the verb curhoaijim is explained in O'Brien's Dictionary as signify-
ing " 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
curhoac is beyond question employed to denote the erection as well
as the founding of a building, and sometimes the building itself; as
in the following example in Cormac's Glossary, at the word Qicoe :
"Gicoe, .1. ecooe J$P ece aeoipicium Cacme, .1. cumoac."
" Aicde, i. e. ecdoe [recte txdofif] Grsece, cedificium Latine, i. e. cumoach."
And, in like manner, the verb curhocnjim is used to translate the
Latin condo, with which it is very probably cognate, as in the follow-
ing example from the Book of Ballymote, in which condita est is
translated po cumoaijectb :
" Roma condita est, .1. po curiioaijeao in Roirii." 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 altar,
or perhaps a throne, and which forms externally a third division to
the church.
Another peculiarity in 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 church 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 offsets
and joists, the holes for which were left in the ashlar work.
In the ornamental details of the building a similar peculiarity will
294
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
be found to distinguish them 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
neighbouring 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 columns, 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 moulding 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 richly ornamented, both on their
shafts, capitals, and arches, and they present, moreover, very curious
grotesque sculptures 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 sculpture, and
the general character of the doorway, will be seen from the illustra-
tion on the next page, and outlines of ks 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 chancel 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, which 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
pressure of the wall.
The chancel is ornamented, in its side walls, with 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 with ribs, springing from the
angles, and is ornamented with four human heads at their point of
intersection. Grotesque human heads are also placed immediately
beneath the vault on the east and west walls ; and the whole of the
vaulted roof, as well as the sides of the chancel, appear to have been
richly painted in fresco, in which the prevailing colours used were
red, yellow, brown, and white. In the small side recesses curtains
were represented, and arches were depicted on the ceiling. These
frescoes are obviously cotemporaneous with 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 To \VKKS OK IUELANI). 297
six inches lower than that of the apartment over the nave ; and the
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 was 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 tuffa, 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 under 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 other. I shall
2 Q
298
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
begin with a selection of the 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.
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 country 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.
in Ireland, and which is the more curious inasmuch as no example
of its architectural use occurs in this country. Similar instances of
its use, as an ornament on capitals, occur in England, as in Appleton
church, Berks, circa 1190.
The capitals which follow are those of the single columns in the
same doorway, and are but little varied in their designs.
r
/
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 larger 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 INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
observe, that the shafts of two of the columns of this doorway are
^-^^^
07
semi-octagonal. The six capitals which follow are those of the
semicolumns which decorate the south side of the nave, and which
support the ribs of the ceiling ; these are arranged in the same order
as in the building, proceeding from east to west. The six which
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IKK I, AM).
301
next follow are those of the north side, proceeding from west to
east ; and it will be observed that the fourth of these capitals was
1
never finished. The next three illustrations represent the capitals of
the outermost double semicolumns of the chancel arch, and which are
] CIZZZ3
of a different style of design from any of the preceding : and the two
following illustrations represent the capitals of the double semi-
302 INQUIRY 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 Norm an types, as
are also those of the chancel, of which the two illustrations at the
top of the next page will serve as examples.
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
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Similar grotesque ornaments terminate some of the mouldings of the
larger doorway, bvit on its external face.
Of the two following illustrations, the first represents one of the
. ' i vi". 1 " M,i;i. M HjIljuL") I'llii.
!'''.- ' '' r ni"piniiin ii^
i l i f nrrr i
decorated arches of the blank arcade which ornaments the sides of
the nave ; and the second, one of the arches of the open arcade which
ornaments the apsis, or recess, at the end of the chancel.
The two following illustrations will serve as examples of the most
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 TOWERS OF IRELAND.
chancel ; and the second, one of the oblong apertures of the south
tower, splaying externally, and curved at the sill.
I should not conclude this description of Cormac's Chapel with-
out noticing a curious quadrangular recess, which is placed in the
north wall, 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 century since, after the abandonment of that noble edifice to ruin
in Archbishop Price's time, and where, divested of its covering stone,
it still remains, and is now popularly called " the Font."
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 sculp-
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
2 R
306
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 with 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 the truth of these
traditions, or at least so far as they relate to the tomb having been
that of the founder of the church, 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 Museum of Cluny,
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAXH 307
is ascribed by the learned author of " Les Arts au Moyen Age"
to the commencement of the twelfth century. The 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 works, 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 monument 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 the only
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 sufficient 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, but also the penitential staff of
a pilgrim. But there is another historical evidence of much higher
authority, because a cotemporapeous 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 Harleian MSS. in the British Museum, n, 1802.
At the end of the Gospel according to St. Matthew :
" Op DO Dlaelbpijre qui pcpibpic hunc libpum. If mop in jnim Copmac
niuc Capchaij DO mapbao o Caipoelbuch h-uu 6piam." Fol. 60.
2 R 2
308 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Pray for Maelbrighte <?' scripsit hunc librum. Great the deed, Cormac Mac Car-
thaig to be killed by Tairdelbhach O'Brien."
At the end of the Gospel according to St. Luke :
" Off DO TTIaelbpijre qui pcpibpic hunc libpum rjcuiii anno aecacip puae. In
oapa bliaoam lapp in joechaig moip pin."
" Pray for Maelbrighte qui scripsit hunc librum, xxviii. anno cetatis suce. This
was the second year after the great storm." Fol. 127, b.
At the end of the Gospel according to St. John :
" Off DO ITlaelbpijre h-Ua TTlaeluanaijj, qui pcpibpic hunc libpum, .1. in
n-Opo maclia, ocup ip in ampip t)onnchacha h-Ua Cepbaill apopij Qipjiall po
pcpibao,.i.m bliaoam oan pepioe oeac popKal. Gnaip, .1. ip in bliaoampo mapbao
Copmac ITlac Capoaij, pijepcopTTIuman 7 h-Gpenn ap chenu in n-a ampip. Oreac
po h-aucem pijpa h-6penn ip in n-ampip pein, .1. IDuipcepcac, mac Neill Ui
toclamo, Qiliuch ; Cu Ulao, mac Conchobuip, pij Ulao ; ITlupcach Ua TTIael-
pechlamo, pij; TDioe ; tDiapmaic TTlac mupchaoa, pij 6a^en ; Conchobop Ua
6piam, pij Tlluman ; Caipoelbach Ua Conchobaip, pij Connaclic; 5'^ a Hlac
C.iac, mac mic Ruaiopi (.1. mac mo ip oana DO Ib 6ipim), h-i comapbap pacpaic.
6ennach ap cech oen lejpap ppip in libup pa ; jebeo paicip ap anmain in pcpi-
baeoa, uaip ip mop hacetep ecip copp 7 cpaccao ic." Fol. 156, b.
" Pray for Maelbrighte h-Ua Maeluanaig, qui scripsit hunc librum, 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 MacCarthaig, royal bishop of Munster and of all Ireland also in his time, hath
been killed. These are the kings of Erin at this tune, i. e. Muirchertach, son of Niall
O'Lochlainn, of Ailiuch ; Cu Ulad, son of Conchobhar, king of Ulad ; Murcath Ua
Maelshechlainn, king of Meath ; Diarmait Mac Murchada, king of Leinster ; Con-
chobhor Ua Briain, king of Munster ; Tairdelbhach Ua Conchobhair, king of Con-
riaught; Gilla Mac Liac, the grandson of Euaidhri (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 [without 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, under the word CURMAC or CORMAC, and also
by Dr. O'Conor in his Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores, Prolegomena,
p. cxliii, who also gives a fac simile of the original ; and both 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 styling Cormac Royal Bishop ofMunster than
because he had repaired the cathedral church of Cashel and two
churches at Lismore, and was otherwise reputed a man of a pious
and holy life, which is the character St. Bernard gives of him in his
book De Vita S. Malachice, 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 Donogh."
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 acknow-
ledge or recognize, and of which he thus speaks :
" Verum mos pessimus inoleuerat quorundam diabolica ambitione potentum sedem
sanctam obtentum iri hsereditaria successione. Nee enim patiebantur Episcopari, nisi
qui essent de tribu et familia sua. Nee parum processerat execranda successio, de-
cursis iam hac malitia quasi generationibus quindecim. Et eo vsque firmauerat sibi
ius prauum, imo omni morte puniendam iuiuriam generatio mala et adultera, vt etsi
interdum defecissent clerici de sanguine illo, sed Episcopi nunquam." Vita Malachice,
cap. viL
The arguments 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 difficult question :
" Dr. O'Conor (Rer. Hib. Scriptor. 2 Proleg. 141) calls Cormac M'Carthy not only
king but bishop of Munster. He quotes Maelbrigte, (of whom see Not. 94 to Chap.
xxi.) who styles him rig escop Muman. But if escop mean bishop, as Dr. O'Conor
thinks, it cannot 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 ea-sboff or easbug. O'Brien, however, has, besides easbog, also eascop.
Yet, admitting that riy 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, escop 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, which 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, fyc., B. 2, p. 103,
Dublin ed.) his murder ; and Lynch (Cambr. ever. cap. 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 older Irish forms of
the modern word eapboj, 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. Lanigan conjectures, the word
escop had any allusion to Cormac's having taken a staff at Lisrnore, 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, which 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 Kilronan, which were compiled in
Connaught in the fifteenth century :
" A. D. 1138. Copmac, mac mej Cappchaij, aipopij tDepmumari 7 epp pi
n-Gp. m-a p^imep ap cpabaio 7 ap rionacul peo 7 mame DO cleipcibo 7 cellaib, 7
cip lapmapc nejlapoajjoa a leopuio, 7 a naibmiti, DO t)hia, 7 DO ruieim a mea-
Buil la diuomumain : 7 bennachc le na anmum."
"A. D. 1138. Cormac, grandson of Carthach, chief king of Desmond and 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 the Four Masters :
"A. D. 1138. Copbmccc, mac muipeaoaij, mic Capchaij, ci^eapna t)eapimi-
man 7 eppojj pijh Gpenn i na peivheap ap cioonacal peo 7 maome DO cleipciB 7
ceallaio, peap leapaijre cuach 7 ecclap, DO tiiapBao i na rij pern i o-pioll lu
CoipoealBach, mac Diapmaoa Ui-6piain, 7 la oa mac Ui Choncliobaip Ciap-
paije."
" A. D. 1 1 38. 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 will be perceived that in both these entries, if we 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 eppoj and pig to form a compound term, and
connected with 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 already given :
" A. D. 1 138. Cormacus filius Muredachi filii Carthii, Princeps Desmonise, et Epis-
copus Eex. Hibernise durante rcgimine 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 Re-
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
312 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Munster ; 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
Cormac Mac Cullenan, and his successor, Flahertach Mac Inmui-
nen ; that we have evidence in the old Annals of Innisfallen, or
Munster, 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, Teige, 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-
tion 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 which 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 dressed 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 were 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. The 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 four dragons, 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
encircling the upper portion of
the staff, 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
314 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Independently of any other consideration, this crozier is of the
highest interest as a specimen of the jewellery art in Ireland before
the arrival of the English ; and, like the cotemporaneous archiepis-
copal crozier of Tuam, it may, perhaps, as a work of art, challenge a
comparison with any Christian monument of the same class and age
now remaining in Europe.
Having now proved, as I trust satisfactorily, that the architectural
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 undetermined 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 church 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 " about the year 1152,
by the Archbishop Edan O'Hoisin, by the aid and assistance of
Turlogh O'Conor, king of Ireland."
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 which is inscribed an Irish
epitaph, giving him the title of Comarban or Successor of Jarlath."
These inscriptions are as follows :
OR DO chomcm&a iamaiche t>o aet> u OSSIN 6as IN t>e-
NQD IN CliROSSQ."
" A PRAYER FOR THE COMHARBA OF IARLATH, 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
0V THE ROUND TOWERS OF IKELANU. 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 :
"OR DON R15 t>0 COlROet&UCh U ChONChO&dlR OR OON-
chaeR* Do ^ittu CR u ch* Do ."
" A PRAYER FOR THE KING, FOR TOIRDELBUCH U CHONCHUBAIR.
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'Hoisin'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 larlath, which might equally imply that he
was archbishop or abbot of Tuam, yet in the following inscription,
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 Gpipcop Connachc;
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 Innisfallen 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 OO U OSS1N : t>ONt>a&6CIlt> : LdS IN OeWNQt)."
"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
316
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
"OR t)O ChOlROet&UCh UO CONChU&UlR. DON *********
ICfRtaCh 6QS IN OeRNQO INSae ******.
" A PRAYER FOR TURLOGH O CONOR FOR THE *********
IARLATH 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 church 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 church 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
V//I Pt) o ch o T ft ue Lhuch-u0!OOHchubum:>oH o.
'''' "^
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 by
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 different 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 five 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 feature of this chancel is its triumphal arch,
now erroneously supposed to have been a doorway, which is, per-
haps, 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 width at its
base, and nineteen feet five inches in height ; and the inner, fifteen
feet eight inches in width, 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-circular 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.
I
T
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 Turlogh's successor, Muirchertach Mac
Loughlin, and that of Turlogh's son, Roderic O'Conor, the last of the
Irish princes who claimed the sovereignty of Ireland, many churches
were erected in the Romanesque style, of which 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 different and better kind, being usually of grey limestone
or marble. Such, for example, was the beautiful abbey of Cong, of
which, as a characteristic architectural example, I annex an out-
line of the capitals and arch mouldings of one of the doorways. I
have, 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.
320 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
In tins 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 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 struggle 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 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 little explored district
within the Mullet, in the barony of Erris and Co. Mayo. The church
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
321
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, un-
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
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 four 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
322 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
neath these extend the entire thickness of the wall, and on one of
them we find a sort of tablet, enriched with simple interlaced tracery
shown in the prefixed view of the doorway, as seen from the interior
of the church.
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
thirty 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 century,
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 legitimate 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 which 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.
exhibit, and on which I have grounded my opinions, may have been
continued, by imitation, to a later period 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
OQUOUOOOOOOOCCOGOi
on our ecclesiastical buildings. Of these, one of the most general
and remarkable is that curious triangular figure, known among me-
dallists by the name oftriquetra, and which 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,
2x2
324 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
as will sufficiently 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 Fugitive," 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
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-
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,
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 which 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, which 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 antiquity in Ireland is therefore un-
questionable, and the period 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 Maelfinnia, the son of Spellan, and grandson of Maenach, of
Clonmacnoise, and whose death is recorded in the Chronicon Scoto-
rum, 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>o
" 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, which,
with slight variations, is not uncommon 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. 6lacmac, ppmcepp Cluana mac Noif% ' mac Caijiceoaich oo
Gpegmamib, o'ec."
" A. D. 896. Blathmac, chief" [Abbot] " of Clonmacnoise, i. e. the son of Tairce-
dach, of Breghmaine" [Brawney] " died."
:
6>l>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 lines, 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 TIIE BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
327
four, or even a greater number. This ornament is usually found
within a circle, which 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 the Annals 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 Ruaione, comapba Ciapatn, mic an c-paoip
[o'ecc]. Oo Chopca moccha a cenel."
" A. D. 1002. Flannchadh Ua Ruaidhne, comharba of Ciaran, son of the Artifex
[died]. He was of the race of Corca Mogha."
The inscription reads :
" OR01C DO
" A PRAYER FOR FLANNCHADH.''
As an example of the more complicated figure 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 mac ITIaele humai ancopica, ec pcpiba opcimur
Cluana mac Noip oopmiuic."
328
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" A. D. 890, or 891- Suibne MacMaele humai, anchorita et scriba optimus Cluana
mac Nois, dormivit."
The inscription reads :
" OROIC oo svi6iNe mac mcntae hvmai."
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 peritissimus," have
not been preserved to us, or at least are not found 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 6th 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 OO COR6K1V ChRVmm."
"A PRAYER FOR CORBRIU CROMM."
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
329
The other is thus inscribed :
" OK DO Chat>5dN."
" 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 Clonmacnoise, and as it exhibits a good specimen of Irish monu-
mental carving, of an earlier date than those preceding, and at the
same time furnishes 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 THE ORIGIN AND USES
OROIC Do coNaiNS mac
" oreoic DO t)U6cew mac
" A PRAYER FOR CONAING, SON OF CON GAL."
" A PRAYER FOR DUBCEN, SON OF TADGGAN."
I have not been able to find in the Irish Annals an entry of the
death 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 which 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 life, 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 Masters.
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 Do t)UNChdt> u caccaiM t>o muiNcm cajcma t>o
A PRAYER FOR DUNCHAD O TACCAIN, OF THE FAMILY OF CLUAIN,
WHO MADE IT."
This Dunchad flourished previously to the middle of the eleventh
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 331
century, as appears from the other cotemporaneous inscriptions on
the case ; and, it may be presumed, was a great grandson of Tadhgan,
as the O prefixed to the name at this period must not be understood
as meaning grandson, but descendant, as the wseof family names was
then generally established in Ireland. Yet it is probable that this
family ordinarily had their burial-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
Teffia, 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
332
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Examples of the use of the pear-shaped ornament in architecture
have been already given in the 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.
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 THE BOUND TOWKHS OK IRELAND. 333
As a specimen of the triplicate, pear-shaped 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 their 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 uninteresting 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 Moyre, 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 NigeUus videns sibi imminere fugam, tulit secum insignia quasdam aedis
illius, textum, scilicet Euangeliorum, qui fuit beati Patritij, baculumque auro tectum
gemmis pretiosissimis adornatum : quein Dominant baculum lesu, eo quod ipse Do-
minus (vt fert opinio) cum suis manibus tenuerit atque formauerit. Et ha3C sunima;
dignitatis et venerationis ingente ilia. Ncmpc notissima sunt celeberrimaq ; in populis,
atque in ea reuereutia apud omnes, vt qui ilia habere visus fuerit ipsum habeat
Episcopum populus stultus et insipiens." Vita Malachice, cap. v.
The subsequent history of this book is comprised in the following
334 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
account of it, written by the celebrated antiquary, Humphry Lhwyd,
and published in the Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores, vol. i.
" Codex hie, ultra omne dubium, perquam antiquus est, sive maim ipsius S.
Patricii partim conscriptus, (uti habetur ad calcem folii 24ti,) sive sit, quod mihi
verisimilius videtur, alicujus posterioris sevi opus. Et forsan est ille ipse Textus Evan-
ffeliorum, quern divus Bernardus, in Vita Malachice, inter insignia J&dis Ardmachanse
numerat, et Textum ipsius 8. Patricii fuisse narrat. Ab Usserio et Warseo Liber
Ardmachanus, ab indigenis vero Liber Canonum S. Patricii nuncupatur, a Canonibus
concordantium inter se Evangelistarum, folio 26to incEeptis, sic (ut opinor) nominatus.
Liber hie ab Hibernigenis magno olim habebatur in pretio, adeo ut familia ilia,
vulgo vocata Mac Maor, Anglice Mac Moyre, nomen suum a custodiendo hoc libro
mutuatum habeat ; Maor enim Hibernice Gustos est, et Maor na Ccanon, sive Custos
Canonum, tota ilia familia communiter appellata fuit; et octo villulas in agro
terras de Balli Moyre dictas, a sede Ardmachana olim tenuit, ob salvam hujus libri
custodiam ; in quorum rnanibus, multis jam retro sajculis liber hie extitit, usque dum
Florentinus Me Moyre in Angliam se contulit, sub anno salutis humans 1680, ut
testimonium perhiberet, quod verear non verum, versus Oliverum Plunket Theologise
Doctorem, et regni hujus, secundum Komanos, Archiprassulem, qui Londini immerito
(ut creditur) furca plexus est. Deficientibus autem in Moyro nurnmis, in decessu suo,
Codicem hunc pro quinque libris sterl. ut pignus deposuit. Hinc ad manus Arthur!
Brownlowe gratissime pervenit, qui, non sine magno labore, disjuncta tune folia debito
suo ordine struxit, numeros in summo libri posuit folia designantes, aliosque in mar-
gine addidit capita distinguentes, eademque folia sic disposita priseo suo velamine (ut
jam videre liceat) compingi curavit, et in pristina sua theca conservari fecit, una cum
bulla quadam Romani Pontificis cum eodem inventa. Continet in se quondam frag-
menta Vita; S. Patricii a diversis authoribus, iisque plerumqiie anonymis, conscripta.
Continet etiam Confessionem S. Patricii, vel (ut magis proprie dicam) Epistolam suam
ad Hibernos, tune nuperrime ad fidem converses. Continet etiam Epistolam quam
scripsit Divus Hieronymus ad Damasum Papam, per modum Prooemii ad Versionem.
Continet etiain Canones decem, in quibus ostenduntur Concordantia? inter se Evange-
listarum, ac etiam breves causas, sive interpretationes uniusctij usque seorsim Evange-
listse, necnon Novum Testamentum, juxta versionem (ut opinor) Divi Hieronymi, in
quo reperitur Epistola ilia ad Laodiccnses cujus fit mentio ad Colossenses. In Epistola
prima Johannis deest versus ille, Tret sunt in coelo, &c. Continet etiam Hebrasorum
nominum qua? in singulis Evaugeliis reperiuntur explicationes, una cum variis variorum
argumentis ad singula Evangelia, et ad unamquamque fere Epistolam seorsim referen-
tibus. Continet denique Vitam S. Martini Episcopi Turonensis, (avunculi, ut fertur,
S. Patricii,) a Sulpitio Severe conscriptam Nota quod in Evangelic sec. Matthamm,
desiderantur quatuor (ut ego existimo) folia, scilicet a versu tricesimo tertio capitis
decimiquarti, usque ad vers. 5, capitis xxi Nota etiam quod Epistolse Apostolorum
non sunt eodem ordine dispositse, 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,
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
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 our 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. 937. Canom pacrpuic oo curiioach la Oonnchao mac plamo, pi
6peno."
" A. D. 937. The Canoin-Patraic was covered by Dounchadh, sonofFlaim, 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 earlier and more beautiful work of this kind, I
am tempted to present an outline of one of the sides of the leather
336 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
case of the shrine of St. Maidoc, or Aidan, the first bishop of Ferns,
the age of which, in the opinion of some of the most skilful antiquaries
of Great Britain, can hardly be later than the eighth century.
It will be observed that the whole of the ornament on this side is
produced by the interlacing of a number of flat bands, having a line
running down their centre, as well as five small circles, ornamented
with a bead ; and I should remark, that, unlike the case of the Book
of Armagh, the ornaments are produced, not by a stamp, but by a
carving in very low relief, or, as the French term it, grave en creux.
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 the 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 which 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 through 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 cnpcpe, 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 polccipe, 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, H. 3, 18, PO-
laijie, .1. ainm Do ceig liubaip, "polaire, i. e. a name for a book
satchel."
The original application of the word, however, to the leather cases
in which the sacred books and reliquaries were carried, is proved by
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 337
our most ancient authorities. Thus, in the legend of St. Patrick's
contention with the Magi at Tara, as given in the Tripartite Life of
the saint, it is related how his favourite disciple, the boy Benen,
escaped the machinations of Patrick's enemies, to whom he appeared
as a fawn bearing a pack or budget on his back. And it is afterwards
distinctly stated that the object in reality thus carried by Benen was
Patrick's book of the Scriptures, or in fact the Book of Armagh
itself, for such this book was believed to be, at the time when this
legend was written.
" Obtutibus enim ipsorum solum apparuerunt octo cerui cum vno hinnulo, in cujus
dorso videbatur aliqua sarcina jacere. Sic ergo mirificus vir socijque cum beato puero
Benigno sacrum Bibliorum codicem in humeris gestante, per medics hostes salui &
incolumes Temoriam vsque peruenerunt, saluifico orationis viri Dei prsesidio, velut
sacra segide, muniti." Pars I. cap. LX., Trias Thaum., p. 126.
It may be objected that, in the preceding passage, there is no
distinct reference to the polaire, 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 Leabhar Breac, the
case, or bag, carried by Benen on this occasion, is called the polaire
of St. Patrick; and, indeed, I have no doubt 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 :
" Gnloej i n-a n-oiaio, 7 it\ pino pop a ftualaino, .1. 6men pin, 7 polipe
phncpaic pop a riiuin." Fol. 14, a, a.
" One fawn [appeared] behind them, and a white bird on his shoulder, i. e. this
was Benen, and Patrick's polire on his back."
Thus also, in another version of this legend, preserved in the
Library of Trinity College, Dublin, H. 3, 18, p. 523, the same word
is used, and glossed by a commentator :
" lapnooe i n-a n-oeajai^, 7 guile pop a jualamo, .1. pacpaic 7 a ocrap 7
6enen m-a n-oeajais, 7 u polaipe [.i. amm oo ceig liubaip] pop a mum."
" A fawn after them, and a bag on his shoulder, L e. Patrick and his eight [com-
panions'], and Benen behind them, and his polaire [i. e. a name for a book satchel] on
his back."
It would appear, moreover, from the following passage in the
Annotations of Tirechan, in the Book of Armagh, that the polaire,
as well as the minister, was an article in some degree necessary to
the episcopal character, as it is enumerated among the ecclesiastical
2 x
338 INQUIRY 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 5pao n-eppcoip poip, Conroe eppcop mpm cicup uoipcneo la .015-
niu, 7 oubbepc pacpicc Cumcach ou place, aoon clocc 7 menpnp 7 bachall 7
poolipe; ec pacab moppepep laip oia tnuinap."
" 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 Oumtach
[a box] to Fiacc, viz. [i. e. containing] a bell, and a menstir, 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 meimycip by nnnna cnpciji, travelling relics, but omitting,
probably through an error of the transcriber, the word bacctll; thus:
" t)o bepr can pacpaic cumrac oa piacc, .1. cloc, meinipcip, .1. mmna aipcip,
polaipe 7 popaccaib mop-peipep oia mumnrip leip."
" Patrick then gave Fiacc a cumtach, 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 this
passage in the Tripartite Life, in which these articles are enume-
rated, namely, in rendering the word mimpcip as if it were an
adjective in connexion with cloc, and, still worse, rendering the
word poolaipe as the Epistles of St. Paul.
" Ecclesiam ffidificauit primo S. Fiechus in loco, qui ex eius nomine Domnach-Fiec,
.i. Ecclesia Fieci postea appellata est : eique reliquit sacram supellectilem, cymbalum
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 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
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 339
of the Irish word bearnan, which was unquestionably 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-
politicEe sedideerat adhuc et defuerat ab initio pallii usus." Vita
Malachicp, cap. 10.
Sir William Betham, indeed, tells us that the word pallium, by
which 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, 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 beY oopum cpopra, 7 polaipe, 7 riaja lebep 7 aiome eclapcacoa DO
oenum, uc nixie :
" Senaip .ccc. cpoppa buuoach,
Noioppao .ccc. cippaic DO ba oian,
.C. polaipe an, anachach.
6a .c. bachall, La .c. ciaj."
" For it was a habit with him to make crosses and pdaires, and book satchels, and
ecclesiastical implements, ut dixit [/we/a] :
" He blessed three hundred miraculous crosses,
He blessed three hundred wells which were constant,
One hundred pdaires 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
340 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" ALIUD miraculum sostimo non tacendum, quod aliquando factum est per contra-
rium elementum. Multorum namque transcursis annorum circulis post beati ad
Dominum transitum viri, quidam juvenis de equo lapsus in flumine mersus, et mor-
tuus, viginti sub aqua diebus permansit, qui sicuti sub ascella, cadens, libros in pellicio
reconditos sacculo habebat, ita etiam post supra memoratum dierum numerum est
repertus, sacculum cum libris inter brachium et latus continens. Cujus etiam ad
aridam reportato cadavere, et aperto sacculo, folium Sancti COLUMBJE Sanctis scriptum
digitulis, inter aliorum folia librorum non tantum corrupta, sed et putrefacta, inven-
tum est siccum, et nullo modo corruptum, ac si in scrinio esset reconditum."
PINKEETON'S Vitce Antiques Sanctorum, pp. 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
polaire by the Irish, as well as to show the difference between such
cases and the iiagha, or ordinary book satchels. I shall, therefore,
dismiss the subject with the following characteristically Irish 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 inj ury offered
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 oa came Semplan, pacapc Cipi oa jlap co dp Cporun oo 6icc an
pinnae pi coipcib, ip ano boiOiapmaio oc jlanao upopocicu roiji 7 a pluapac'n-a
lairh, luio lapom a cu po na cleipcib, co po lecpuo in pacapc. l?o buail in
pacapc in coin lappin. Ro buail imoppo t)iapmaio in pacapc oi'n epluapaic, copo
bpip menipcip Column, po bui pop a tnum. Oolluio lapom accam, comapba
Coluim, DO acpa in 5mma pin co plair h-Ua n-t)pona, .1. co Ruioen. mac Camnen ;
co capcpac h-Ui t)pona un. cumala oOiapmaio DO mumcip Coluim, 700 taccam,
7 DO pac 6accam na un. cumala pin DO aipctnnech 6emopomma, .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. Lachtain, the comarb of Colum,
afterwards went to complain of this deed to the chief of Ui Drona, i. e. Ruiden, the
son of Lainnen ; and the Ui Drona gave [adjudged] seven cttmals* from Diarmaid to
the people of Colum, and to Lachtain, and Lachtain gave these seven cumala to the
airchinneach of Lemdruim [Lorum, County Carlow] i. e. Uamnach."
* The word cumol is explained in the commentaries on the Brehon Laws as three
cows, or an equivalent of that value.
OP THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 341
Thus also, in the following record in the Annals of the Four
Masters, we have an example of the expulsion of a chieftain from his
lordship for dishonouring the Canoin Phatraic, or Book of Armagh :
" A. D. 1 179. Ua Wuaoacun, ciccheapna Ua n-6achDach, DO 6cc DO galop cpi
M-OIDCI lap n-a lonnapbao, cpe papu jab Canoine pacpaicc DO, jap poirhe."
" A. D. 1179- O'Rogan, Lord of Iveagh, died of three nights' sickness, after his
expulsion, for having violated the Canoin-Patraic."
To the preceding observations I 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 :
" Dlinipceap, .1. mionna aipoip oJop ap aipoeap ip in cuair le cabaipc roionn ap
cac."
" Ministear, i. e, travelling relics which are carried about in a district to administer
oaths to all."
I may further remark that, from the use to which the mionna, or
enshrined relics, 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 use 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 future peace and mutual fidelity ; and hence Mageoghe-
gan, and the other old translators of the Irish annals, render the
word minna of their originals by the English word oathes, as, " the
coarb of St. Kieran with his oathes" " the coarb of St. Columb 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 Church is still continued amongst the peasantry 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 which is in the form of a brass shoe or slipper, gilt
and richly ornamented. This shoe was popularly known as St.
342 INQUIRY 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 Ireland.
The inscription to which I have alluded is as follows, and clearly in-
dicates the use to which the reliquary was applied :
" HOC-EST * JUEAMENTVM NATVEALE *."
From the following inscriptions, also on this reliquary, we find that it
was preserved in Loughrea, in the County of Galway, where there is
still remaining, at a short distance from the Carmelite Friary, a small
church dedicated to St. Bridget, in which, no doubt, this relic was
preserved. These inscriptions are :
"COCh RGlCh ANNO * DOMINI * 1410."
" S. * BKIGIDA VIRGO * KILDAEIENSIS HIBEENLE * PATEONA."
And over a head in relievo there is the following inscription :
" S * IhON * 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 suifi
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 BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 343
the 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
Mageoghegan's translation of the Annals of Clonmacnoise at the year
928, and in the Annals of the Four 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 architectural 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 architecture 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 daimh/iag, as will appear from the following notices from
the Annals of Ulster :
" A. D. 824. topcac Dlaiji bile, co n-a oepcigib, 6
" A. D. 824. The burning of Magh bile, with its derthechs, by the Gentiles [Danes]."
" A. D. 839. .opcao Gipoo TTlachae, co n-a oepehijib 7 a ooimliag."
" A. D. 839. The burning of Armagh, with its derthechs and daimhliag."
344 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
But, though 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 daimhliags, 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 inaccurate
translations of the term, whenever it came in their way. This will
abundantly appear from the following examples :
In Peter O' Council's MS. Irish Dictionary it is explained thus :
" Ouijiceac, a house of austerity, rigour, and penance." In the Dic-
tionaries of O'Brien and O'Reilly the word is thus explained : " Oecqi-
ceac, 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, " Ouipfeac, .1. ceampall," " Duirtheach, i. e.
a church." Dr. O'Conor, in his translation of the Irish Annals,
usually renders it by Nosocomium, as I have already shown in p. 121,
and sometimes by Hospitium pauperum, Hospitium peregrinorum,
and Nosocomium peregrinorum. And he thus explains the term in
a note in the Annals of Ulster, at the year 823 :
" Glossaria Hibernica confundunt Deartach et Doimliag, quas voces plane separant
Annales Ultonienses ad ann. 839- ' Dertighibh 7 Doindiag.' Deartach proprie Nosoco-
mium, seu Hospitium ad usum peregrin antium, Doindiag Ecclesiam principalem, seu
Cathedralem significat."
As I have already shown, Colgan, who translates it pcenitentium
cede [asdes], and domus pasnitentium, 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 ecclesia, and sometimes, plurally, sacris
cedificiis. 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 Achaidh cum oratorio novo ardescit." Annal. Ult.
Thus given in Irish by the Four Masters, under the year 800,
these annalists being usually in error a few years in their dates about
this period :
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 345
" A. D. 800. Ceall achaio DO lopccao, co n-a oepchmj; 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 celettii percussit virum in oratorio Nodan."
Thus given in Irish in the Annals of the Four Masters :
" A. D. 804. Cene DO comiuo DO mm, lap po mapBuo ouome i n-oepchoij
Qeoam."
" 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 ett." Ann. Ult
Thus in Irish in the Annals of the Four Masters :
" A. D. 812. Oepcech 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 peculiar characteristics which distinguished
the duirtheach 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 unfortunately 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 :
" t)uprhech, .1. oaiprech, .1. cech oapach ; no oeipchech, .1. rech i celjcep
oe'pa ; no ouaipcech .1. rech a celjrep ouaip, pocail .1. ouap, pocal."
" Durthech, i. e. dair-thech, i. e. a house of oak ; or deir-theck, L e. a house in
which tears are shed ; or duair-thech, i. e. a house 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 daimhliag, 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, would
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.
2 Y
346 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Nor is it to be wondered at, that in the erection of structures for
the use of religious persons, possessed of little 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 proved from a number of
MS. authorities, from which I shall here select a few examples.
In an ancient tract of Brehon Laws, preserved in the Library
of Trinity College, Dublin, 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 curious 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 were
the daimhliag and duirtheach.
" mat) CHxamh suao saeira, sai^m co pici sec IN a t>irai,
.1. mao ollarii oc a m-bia paioecc na paippi, .1. mopaijeep peo 7 pici i n-a emec-
lamn. 60 ap picio lao-pioe oo'n ollam paeip. OCUS CURCU^Ctt) 1TIIS t)O,
.1. mi a Ian paepam bio 7 ponamoa, uaip cio cian o olijpeo in c-ollarh paip ni
buo mo ma pin DO a oualjup a pechamlachup, no paippi ilapoa no bee 051 ap
neiclub eiamlaib, aoeicig lap in ujoap ni bub mo DO na cuopoma pip in ollarh
pile, no pip in ollam m-bepla, no pip in pep lejino. Conio e ni DO pomoi in
c-ujoap oa ppim-oan DO bee aici i pora, .1. cloch paippi 7 cpann paippi, 7 in oapa
oan ip uaiple oib DO bee aici i pora, .1. oamliag 7 oupeech. tDu ba oeg oppo
pin, .1. pe ba a ceccup oe, 7 a pechamlace DO pejao ap na oariaib aile o pin
amach, 7 cuopumup a pepeo DO bean allog caca oana Dib, .1. a pepeo pein. Se
ba ap ibpopacc, 7 pe ba ap coicchijip 7 pd ba ap muilleopacc; bean cpi ba
epnb pin pip na oa ba oej; puil aici i pora, conio ;cu. ba pin. Ceepi ba ap lon-
jaib, 7 mi. bapcaib, 7 1111. ba ap cupca ; bean oa ba epcib pin pip na .;cu. ba
pomaino, conio .;cuii. ba. Cerpi ba ap cpano lepcpa, j. lana, 7 opolmaca, 7 oabca
oapach, 7 mm-lepcaip oilcena, 7 oa ba ap puamaipecr; bo epcib pin pip na .;cun.
buaib pomamo conio ;EUIM. t)a ba ap rochpa, 7 oa ba ap caiplib, 7 DO ba ap
clocanaib ; bo epcib pin pip in pcuin. m-buaib pomamo, conio ^ipe. m-ba. t)a ba
ap pinoaijecc, 7 oa ba ap cpopa, 7 oa ba ap caippri ; bo epcib pin pip na ;ri;t.
m-buaib pomaino, conio^. bo. t)a ba ap chigtb plac, 7 oa ba ap pciaraib, 7
oa ba ap opoccib ; bo epcib pin pip in pichec bo pomaino, conio bo ap pichec
oo'n ollarii paip amail pin, cona m-ber 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
OP THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 347
HIM, that is, a month ia 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 DanMiag,
and the Durthech. 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 ibroracht (making yew vessels ?), and six
cows for coicthiyes (kitchen-building), and six cows for mill-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 drolmacks (tubs) and vats of oak, and smaller vessels in like manner, and
two cows for ruamairec/tt (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 clochans (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 light upon the state of society in
Ireland anterior to the twelfth century, but two manuscript copies
have been found, and of these one is probably a transcript from the
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 assume, was a much more important labour 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 course,
remain as of no authority in reference to the Round Towers ; and I
2 T 2
348 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
have only alluded to it with a view to directing 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. Mullin'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 sasculi 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 turn its mouth up, and it
should be so filled. This condition was at once complied with.
" t)o beip ^oban tpar ecpe a lam 7 a moinj paip, co po ivnpoo in oaipcheach,
7 ni oeachaio clap ap a inao oe, 7 n! po cumpcaio oluru claip oib peach a cile."
" 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 nourished towards
the close of the fifth century.
" tDepbppaich, maraip Cijepnaij Cluana Goip. Ip ppia apbepc Coechoamaip
tDpoma Oubain in po, tap perniuo in cpomo DO oluiji eci oc oenum a oeppcije:
" ' a Oepbppaich,
Q macaip Chijepnaij noeim,
Coer DO chobaip, nap ba mall,
Oluig in cpano hi pail in c-paeip.'
OP THE BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 349
" Derbfraich, the mother of Tighernach of Cluain Eois. She is called Coechdamair
of Druim Dubhain here, for having refused to split the timber at the erection of her
Duirtheach :
" ' Derbhfraich,
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. Uencup majnup in pepia ITIapcini, con oappcap pio-cip mop ip naib
cailliB, 7 con puc na oaupcaiji ap a lurpaijib, 7 na rmjji 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 firmiterque contextum, opus Scoticum pulchrum satis. Et exinde seruitur
Deo in eo sicut in diebus antiquis, siinili 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 they
were coloured with lime, or whitewash, appears certain from a pas-
sage in the LeabharBreac, 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.
" lp eao DO popne injel m can pejup in pacapc paip, cupa immoepjchap imme
ap pele 7 naipe, menip jenmnaio caicnemach a cpioe 7 a menma, amcnl uan
cuinoe, no amail chailc pop benochobap oaupcluje, no amailoach je^pi ppi 5pm,
cennch n-epnail pecao, DO Lie no mop, DO cuppipium 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 bendchobar of a duirtkeacfi,
or like the colour of the swan before the sun ; without any kind of sin, small or great,
remaining in his heart."
But though it may thus be considered as certain that the duir-
theachs, or oratories, were usually of wood, and that their name was
originally significant of their material, in contradistinction from 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 curious 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 duirtheachs 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, mirse virtutis virginem, ab aliis
segragauit, et in cella siue lapideo inclusorio in monte vulgo Kenngobha vocato, Ard-
macha? versus orientem vicino, inclusit : curamque tradidit S. Benigno, vt singulis
diebus advesperum de coenula ei curaret prouideri." Trias Tkaum., 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 IRELAND. 351
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
duirtheach. Such model, however, would be, in course of time, if
not forgotten, at least occasionally deviated from, when the means,
or other circumstances of the builders, made it necessary to do so.
Thus, amongst the existing stone buildings 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 the 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 of duirtheachs, daimhliags, and cloig-
theachs. But as I shall give the whole of this curious 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 sequen., 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 Teampull Beag Mhic
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
measures externally eighteen feet in length, and thirteen feet and a
half in breadth ; Teampull na Sourney, 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 that at Kil-
352 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
malkedar, which is sixteen feet four 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 usually 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 church, or duirtheach,
was 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 lives of the Irish saints who flourished
in Lombardy, Switzerland, 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 almas Dei genetricis, semperque Virginis
Marise, ex lignis construxit ad magnitudinem sanctissimi 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, under the corrupted form of Aireagal,
and anglicised Errigal, as in Aireagal Dac/iiarog, 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 circumscribed 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 OK IRELAND. 353
contained within a duirtheach of the ordinary proportions, and which
would seem to require, not only a room of greater size, but that upper
haraber which is found in some of the buildings which appear to
belong to this class. Moreover, we are not without evidences to
show that some of the duirtheachs 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 duirtheach 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, Rumann, 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 : "Human Mac Colmain Poeta optimus quievit."
It refers to the building of the duirtheach mor, or great oratory of
Rathain Ua Suanaigh, now Rahen, in the King'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 pi C-ae^aipe, DO ClannaiB Neill, pij-pilio
Gipeno, ip 6 DO pijrte an ouan pa, 7 laio luapcacli amm na h-aipce ap a n-epnao.
Ip 6 aobap imoppu a oenma DO, .1. oia ailicpi cainicc pd co Racan, i n-aimpip
jopca moipe. Ra bo meipci la luce an barle a cuioechc oo'n baili, con ann a
oubpacap ppip in paep, po bin ic oenum in oupcaiji moip, oiulcao DO oenum
ppip in pep n-ouna ; conio ann ac bepc in paep ppi pep oia mumcip, epij a
n-ajaio Rumuino, 7 abain ppip na cicceo oo'n bailiu, no co n-oepnao p6 pano
i m-bia aipim na pil DO clapaib puno, DO chum in oupcaiji ; conio ann oo poin-
piom in pano pa :
" ' Ct mu coimom ! cio DO oe'n-pa,
ppip in aobup mup pa ?
Cum bup aicoi popceim oluru,
Na ;c.ceo clap pa ?'
" Ipeo pin po bui DO clapaib ano, .1. mile clap, 7 nt po pe'cao Diulcao ppip
ap pin, 6 pa paillpij t)ia DO, cpia n-a 6icpi, in lin clap po bui oc un paep.
" t)o pome mop ouain DO Jjallaibh Ocha cliach ap pin a cecdip, 7 a oubpacap
na 7>aiU, co nu cibpicfp luach a otiame DO ; conio ann DO pom-piom in pano
ipopaic, co n-ebaipc:
" ' ni'eppa maoail ooneocli DO jena,
7 ap pein bepac-pa emech DO pjena.'
2 z
354 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" Co cuccao a bpech pein DO ap pin ; conio pi bpech pucpum, .1. pinjino cech
opoch 5 a '^) 7 Da pfn^inn cech oe-^aill, co na ppich acu ^all noc cue oa pmjino
DO, ap nip piu pe ^Jall oib opocli ^ull DO puo ppip pein icip, co n-ebpucap ppip
na JJaill mo paipge DO molao, co pincatp in Dan bunu bui aicje. Conio ann
po tnol-pom in paipje, 7 pe 1 ap meipce, co n-ebuip.
" ' Cfnpchme mop ap muij tip.'
" Co cue-pom imoppu in ecail pin leip co Cell belaij, ap TTluij Conpcancin,
ap ba DO cellaib Ua Suanaio in cell pin, 7 Dlajj Conpcancin uile. Cac mag oan,
7 cec pepann oa peijeo Conpcancin ba pe DDucucu. Conio DO Conpcancin
ammnijcep in maj. Ip ariilaio bui cell belaijjan can pin, 7 UN pjiaicce DO ^ullaib
ann, 7 ap a meic DO pac Rumunn cpian a ecala 01, 7 cpian DO pcoil, 7 cpian leip
pdm co Raichen ; conio ann ip mapb, conio aonuchc a n-enleabaio pe li-Ua
Suanaij, ap meo a anoipe la t)ia 7 la oume." Laud. 610, fol. 10, a, col. 1, 2.
" Rumann, son of Colman, i. e. the son of the King of Laegaire, of the race of
Niall, royal poet of Ireland, was he that composed this poem, and Laidh Luascach is
the name of the measure in which he composed it. He came on his pilgrimage to
Eathan 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-
t/ieach, 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, until
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 pinginns 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 Rumann 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 that it
should be considered as authentic history 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 with 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 Rumann was interred
in the same grave 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 Rumann's
poem, in praise of the sea, was written, as stated, for the Galls of
Dublin, 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 antiquity, 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 Irish 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 llth of March. In the Festilogy of ^Engus
this Constantine is set down as Rex 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 Cashel, as translated by
2 z 2
356 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Colgan, has, " S. Constantinus ex Britannia ortus Abbas de Cut
Rathain Mochuddce in regions de Delblina Ethra in Media" The
Martyrology of Tallaght, " Constantini Britonis, vel filij Fergussii
de Cruthenis." Marian Gorman. " Constantinus Brito :" and the
Scholiast of Marian adds : " Constantinus filius Fergussij de Cru-
thenis oriendus ; vel iuxta alias, Brito ; Abbas de Rathenia S. Mo-
chudce" So also the Martyrology of Donegal has the same words ;
and Cathal Maguire 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. Mochuddce Rathenice, et ante Rex Albania : vel est Con-
stantinus filius Fergussij de Cruthenis oriendus" See Colgan's Acta
Sanctorum, pp. 574, 575.
It would be foreign to my purpose to inquire more minutely into
the history 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, who was driven from Rahen
in the year 630, at least if he be, as Dr. O' Con or supposes, the Con-
stantine 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 : " Pmnitentem,
abdicato regno, secessisse in Hiberniam, ibique, tonso capite, Christi
militice 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 considerable number of the pennies
of Egbert, 801-837, circumstances which 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 TOWERS OF IRELAND 357
and Molaigi's House on Devenish Island, in Fermanagh buildings
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 doubt. The great difference between some of these build-
ings and those which are unquestionably duirtheachs 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 that St. Kevin's House at Glendalough,
unlike that of St. Columb at Kells, had all the features which cha-
racterize a church for public worship, 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,
turret-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 ruins of 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, who 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 churches in Ireland, have yet, from the
peculiarity of their form, and the wild theories which have been
promulgated 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 through the preceding sections in this 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 few of these remains, or of accurate
detailed drawings of them, would be alone sufficient 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 difficult 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 my 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 architectural
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.
360
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 will be proper, in the first
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 BOUND 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 finished 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 they 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-offs 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
apertures, but most usually four, which sometimes face the cardinal
points, and sometimes not. The lowest story, or rather its place, is
sometimes composed of solid masonry, and when 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 would 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 careful
masonry called spawled rubble, in which small stones, shaped by the
hammer, in default of suitable 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 uninterrupted 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
3 A
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 semicircular-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 are 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 were 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 would 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 woxild be no necessity for
making their doorways so small, or placing them at so great a dis-
tance from the ground j 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
campanilia, or detached belfries, called in the Irish annals, and other
ancient authorities, by the term cloijreac.
2. It is equally certain that, in all parts of Ireland where the Irish
language is yet retained, these Towers are designated by the same
terra, except in a few districts, where they are called by the synony-
mous term clogoip, or by the term cuilgreac, which, as I have
already shown, is only a corrupted form of cloigceac, by a transpo-
sition of letters very usual in modern Irish words.
3. It is also certain that no other building, either round 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 church on Inis
Clothrann, or Clorin, an island in Lough Ree, 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 which 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. 64.
I may, moreover, add here, and particularly 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
3 A 2
364 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
his 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.
" HKC a quodam vetere Hibernense scripta fuere, qui Turres Ecclesiasticos
Hibernorum, eorumque intentum, ac usum noverat, atque ab Anachoretis, Orientalium
more viventibus, et campanas, aliasque res Sacras, Libros et Thesauros custodientibus,
habitabantur ; utpote a petra construeti ab imo ad summum, quia Ecclesiae, aliaque
sedificia Hibernica, cum e ligno constructa essent, faoillime et frequentissime combure-
bantur. Ante Campanilium usum invectum, construct! fuere turres isti, referente
Gratiano Lucio, pag. 133. Postea tamen usus inolevit, ut campanis in eorum culmine
appensis, carnpanilium vices gererent."
But, if there be any who may still doubt that the Irish cloictheachs
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 duirtheach, daimhliag, and cloictheach, and hence
it should be premised that, as well from the want 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 oupcac .u. cpoijio n-oec, no ip lua map, .1. cuic cpaijio .p. in a par,
1 .pc. epaijio in a leeee, ip pamaipc ap cac cpaijeo cappna oe, no ap cac epaijeo
co lee ap pur ; cona cuije ame pin: 7 mapa epuioe plmneo, ip bo ap cac cpoijjeo
rappna oe, no ap cac cpoijeo gu lee ap pue. fDapa mo e ma .u. cpoijio .p. pa-
maipc ap oa epian cpoijio cappna oe, no ap epoi^eo ap ue: co na euj^i ame pin.
mapa cuije plmneo, bo ap oa cpian rpoijjio cappna oe, no ap cpoijjeo ap uc.
"toj na n-ouprac oo pep olijio pin; ocup a cpian oo elaoain, 7 cpian ooaobup,
7 a cpian oo aobup, 7 a cpian oo biuo, 7 oo ppiccnam, 7 oo jobnib ; 7 po'n
comae pe pecap a lep jabeino aichpejrap pin ooib, 7 lee in cpm oo jjoibmb
onaenup, .1. pepeo ; in .ui. aili a pomo ap oo icep biao 7 ppicjnam, aili .p. ceccap
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 365
6e ; 7 oa paib peann na pecap a lep jobano, ippoino ap DO annpioe icep biao
7 Fpichjnam. ITlapa jnnnpaio 05 a pecap u lep cip 7 ac na pecap jobano, rpian
o'elaounn, 7 cpian DO cip, 7 cpian o'aobup, 7 DO biuo, 7 DO ppirjnutn; a ler poe
o'aobup anaenup, .ui. ; in .ui. aili DO biuo 7 DO ppieh^natn, .t.aili .?. DO ceccap oe.
In oamliaj5 : mapa cuje plmneo puil aip, comlog e 7 in oupcac ip cucpumu
pip. ITIapu cuije aine pil aip, in r-amm painne jubup in cloc in a cpann, jupub
e in c-amm painne pm DO lan-loj bep F a 'P ! 7 ln e-amm painne jabup in cpann
in a cloic jupub e in c-amm painne pin oo ler-loj bep f-aip, 7 ip e pamn pachup
ap nu anmannaib painne pin in pomri ceic 05 un oupchac.
" In cloiccech : a ichcup pioe oo comup, a comup pioe pe h-iccup in oaiTnliaj pe
n-a cucpumuoe, 7 in imapcpaio a ca ap a pac, 7 ap a leceo in oaiTnliaj o pin imach
o chocoriiup in cloccige imac, ipu piajail poe pe aipoe in cloccije; 7 oa paib
imapcpaio aip, .1. ap aipoe in cloccije pip in oaimliag, ip comop log pip, in cue-
puma loijioecca pm DO cabaipc ap in cloccech."
" If it be a duirtheach 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
tlinn* [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 it when the roof is of rushes : if the
roof be of shingles, a cow for [every] two- thirds of a foot of it in breadth, or for [every]
foot in length.
" That is the price of the duirtheachs 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 for a work in
which the smith is not required, to divide it [the third] into two parts between diet
and attendance. If it be a work for which land is required [i. e. the site of which
must be purchased], and for which a smith is not required, 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 them.
" The daimhliag: 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 full price that shall be for it ;
and the proportion which wood [work] bears to stone [work] is the proportion of half
price that shall be for it ; and these proportions will be distributed according to the
rule applied to the duirtheach.
" The doiclheach: 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 daimhliag over it [i. e.] over the measurement of the doictheach,
* 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 cloictheach ; and if there should be an excess, i. e.
in the height of the cloictheach compared with the daimhliag, which is of equal price
with it, a proportionate excess of price is to be paid for the cloict/ieacfi."
Difficult of explanation as the preceding passage is, we may at
least safely infer from it that the cloictheach, 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 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 circumference, not its diameter ; and, in like
manner, the measurement of the base of the daimhliag must be its
perimeter, or the external measurement of its four 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 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
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. 367
eighty 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
further 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 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-
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 from King's
Munimenta Antigua, 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 outline of this castle to its probable original height, it
,368
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN 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 Round Tower of Clondalkin, and of the Tower of Rosscar-
bery, copied from an ancient seal of the diocese, as published 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 Silures, or Dam-
nonii, during 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 our Irish Round Towers shall be inquired
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 treasuries
and places of refuge ; and that, though their inside, or timber work,
might be " burnt and refitted over and over again," they could, in
no other way, be injured by fire.
1 l
2. This secondary purpose may be still further 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 this country has
given birth to, the late Mr. William 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 ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
369
construction, but also with the hope of satisfying him that my opinions,
as to their uses, had not been erroneous, as my lamented friend had
previously believed, I was favoured with the valuable opinion result-
ing from such examination, " that the means resorted to for the pur-
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 occurs in a letter addressed to me
from Roscrea, in 1832. On his return to Walcott, his residence, near
Bray, shortly after, my friend favoured me with a letter, containing a
sketch, from the interior, of the doorway of the Tower of Roscrea, as
it now exists, and another, with a section, of the same doorway re-
stored, for the purpose of exhibiting the manner in which this door-
way had been provided with double doors. Of these
interesting sketches it affords me great pleasure 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
exhibits a projecting stone socket to receive the
upper iron of the door.
b. Pivot hole.
c. Projecting stones, to receive iron bolts.
3 B
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.
f. Eabbet, 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 business 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 should
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,
" Tour'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 unwilling 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 thought to be afforded by the upper windows, as the door alone could be
pregnable, and a stone falling seventy feet would be no soothing application to a Dane's
back."
Amongst the letters of my friend I find another, which 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 Round 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 Rattoo, 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, &c.
3 B 2
372 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
" You shall hear from me again from Carlow, if I can obtain the information you
require there.
" Your's ever,
" WILLIAM MORRISON."
I have annexed a copy of his sketch of the section of this door-
way, 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 our ancient literature 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 of cloictheach,
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
cloictheach thus applied :
"Do Bi lapla na tauoame a n-impepecc an impep po, 7 DO puachai^ in c-
impep he ap a bee oipeac cponuipeac, 7 DO cuip in r-impep mopan ecla ann ap a
peaBup; innup jup reir in c-iapla 7 a ben a njlenncaiB pupat j 7 a coillciB oiampu,
7 DO ponpac cloicceac 6oiB pern a n-a coioeloaip ap ecla il-piapc in papai^. Oo
chuaio in c-impep oimam po DO Denarii piaoaija papai^pein, 7 caplachum cloicci^
an laplu po h-e ip in n-oijri, 7 DO b' eicm DO comnui^i DO oenum ann in oijri pi.
Do Bi ben in lapla coppac, 7, 516 DO bi, DO pmoi umla 7 ppicolurii an impepi 7 a
mumnrepi in oijci pin." Fol. 119, b, 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] merciful, and the emperor
was much afraid of him for his goodness ; so that the earl and his wife fled into
desert valleys 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 upon the emperor
and his people [on] that night."
In the following example from an ancient tract in the Leabhar
Breac, we find the word cloictheach applied synonymously with coji,
to a tower.
" 6a mop, cpa, oiumup 7 aoclop 7 bocapach in pij cholai pin, uaip ip e oop
jjm in biumup na oepnao pemi piam, .1. cop aipjic oen-jit DO oenam DO pein ; 7 ba
oepmaip mec 7 lechac 7 aipoe in cuip pin, 7 ba h-aipoe h-e inbac cije in baile o
em imach, i n-a cloicrech gel-apo. Ro puioijeo lapum gemma j^loinioe 7 leaju
lojmapa ano : 7 DO pi^ne in pi puibiujao opoa DO buoein immullach in cuip pin.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 373
lap pn cpa DO P'jne h-imajm 7 oeilb n-ulmno n-mjuricuij chappaic cerheppiaca
na Jjpene ano." Fol. 108, a, a.
" Great, indeed, was the pride, vanity, and pomp of this sensual king [Castroe,
king of the Medes and Persians], for it is he who performed an act of pride, [such us]
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 doictheach. 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, wonderful
representation of the four-wheeled chariot of the sun there."
And lastly, that these double purposes, for which 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 Mac Firbis, and which is
now preserved in the British Museum. 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
claicthough" 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
Four 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 annals, as signally support-
ing the hypothesis under consideration. The passage I allude to is
as follows :
" A. D. 949. Cloiceeach Slaine DO lopcao DO 5 a W a '& Ctca cliach : bacall
im> eplariia 7 cloc ba Dec DO clocaiB ; Caenechaip pepleijinn, 7 rochuioe 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 [Gentiles] of Dublin ; and
burnt y e Saints Crostaff and a ston" [correctly bell'] " most p'tious of stones" [correctly
bells'] ; " Cinaoh and a great number about Mm burnt, being the Lector."
This event is thus recorded in the Chronicon Scotorum, 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. Cloijceac Slaine oo lopjao DO jencib co n-a lun DO ooinib ann,
.1. im Conecap peplejmn Slaine."
" A. D. 950. The doigtheach of Slane was burnt by the Pagans, with its full of
people in it, i. e. with Conecar, the reader of Slane."
Thus rendered by Mageoghegan in Ms translation of the original
Annals of Clonmacnoise, 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
Four Masters, into which it was evidently transcribed from the ori-
ginal Annals of Clonmacnoise.
" A. D. 948. Cloicchec Slaine DO lopccao DO ^Jhallaib, co n-a Ian bo riiionnaib'
ajup bejoaoimb, im Chaomechaip peap leijinn Slaine, agup bacall an eplarha,
ajup clocc ba beach DO cloccaib."
" A. D. 948. The cloictheach of Slane was burnt by the Danes, with its full 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. TTlupcab ua plains h-Ui TTIaelpeclilaino bo mapbaolu h-Ctmlaim,
mac TTlaelan, pi 5 al ^ en S> ' cloicceach Cenanbpa a mebuil, 7 a mapbab pen po
ceooip cpe pipe Coluitn Cille, la TTlaelpechlainb, mac Concobaip."
" A. D. 1076. Murchad, grandson of Flann O'Maelsechlainn, was treacherously
killed by Amlaff, son of Maelan, king of Gaileng, in the doictheach 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. mupchao, mac plainD, h-Ui ITIaelpechlainD, pi Cempach ppi pe
cpi n-oibce, Do mapbao i cloiccich Cheanannpa DO mac TTlaelan, pi^ailenj."
Thus rendered in the old translation of these Annals in the British
Museum :
" A. D. 1076. Murch. m c . Floin O Melachlin, king of Tarach, being 3 nights in
the steeple of Kells, was killed by Maolan's sonne, king of Gaileng."
The same event is also entered by the Four Masters evidently
from the Book of Clonmacnoise :
" A. D. 1076. niupchao mac ploinn, Ui TTlaoileachlamn, DO mapbao, i jj-ceno
ceopa n-omce co n-a laib lap n-gabail poplariiaip Cerhpac, i j-cloicceach Cenannpa,
cpe peill, la cijepna 5 ai ^ en 5> ' ta h-Qmlaoib, mac mic TTTaolain ; asup a mapbao
OF THE ROUND TO WEES OF IRELAND. 375
pioe pern po che'Doip, cpia pepcaiB De ajjup Colaim Cille, la ITIaolpeachlainn,
mac ConcoBmp."
Thus rendered by Mageoghegan, in his translation of the original
Annals of Clonmacnoise :
" A. D. 1076. Murrogh Mac Flyn O'Melaughlyn, that reigned king of Meath but
three days and three nights, was killed by Amley Mac Moylan, prince of Gaileng, in
the borders of Leinster. He was killed in the steeple of Kells ; and afterwards the
said Amley was killed immediately by Melaughlyn Mac Connor O'Melaughlyn, by
the miracles of St. Columb, who is Patron of the place."
The notice which I have next to adduce relates to the burning of
the Round Tower of Monasterboice, in the County of Louth. It is
thus given in the Chronicon Scotorum :
"A. D. 1097- Cloijcech niuinipcpech DO lopcao jup an pcpipcpa ann."
" A. D. 1097. The doictheach of Mainistir was burnt, with the manuscripts there."
It is thus better given in the Annals of Ulster :
" A. D. 1097. Cloiccech Rlainipcpech co n-a leGpaiB, 7 caipceouiB imoaib DO
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 of Manistrech, with the books and much goods, thereat
to be kept, burnt."
The event is thus similarly entered in the Annals of the Four
Masters :
" A. D. 1097. Cloiccheach nflainiprneach, ' .1. ITIainipcpeach 6uice,'co leaBpaiB
ajup co o-caipceoaib lombaiB, DO lopccao."
" A. D. 1097- The doictheach of the Monastery, ' L e. of Monasterboice,' with
many books and treasures, was burnt."
The passage I have next to adduce relates to the burning of the
doictheach of Trim, a Tower which does not now remain. It is found
in the Dublin copy of the Annals of Innisfallen :
" A. D. 1127. Sluaj mop le Concubap mac peapjjaill h-Ui 6octumn, ocup 16
ruaip^eapc 6ipionn Do'n TTlhioe ; jup loipj piao Q Cpum [Qc Upuim, in margin],
iDip cloicrech ocup ceampull, 50 n-a Ian DO baomiB innca."
Thus rendered in the translation of these annals, preserved in the
Library of the Royal Irish Academy, which was made by Theophilus
O'Flannagan :
" A. D. 1127. A great hosting by Connor MacFarrell O'Loghlinn, together with
376 INQUIRY INTO 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 the venerable Charles O'Conor, in his translation of
these annals, now preserved in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy :
" A. D. 1127- Conor, son of Feargal O'Lochluin, marched 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 Truim, in which was a great number of people."
And thus 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 Four Masters, the following passage
occurs, relative to the existing Round Tower of Ferta, in the county
of Kilkenny :
" A. D. 1156. eochuio Ua Cumn, an c-apo-rhaijifcep, so 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 Round Tower of Telach Ard, near Trim, which
fell about the year 1764. It occurs in the Annals of the Four Masters :
"A. D. 1171. Cloiccheach Celcha Qipo DO lopccab la Cijeapndn Ua Ruaipc,
co n-a lun DO oaoinib arm."
" A. D. 1171. The doictheach of Telach Ard was burnt by Tighearnan O'Ruairc,
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 Round Towers as places of safety and
defence, and satisfy the most sceptical inquirer, that such was one of
the primary objects for which they were erected. Nor should it be
forgotten that, even without an acquaintance with such historical
evidences, the very nature of their construction alone has led several
distinguished inquirers to regard such purpose 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 TOWERS OF IRELAND. 377
Impregnable every way, and proof against fire, it could never be taken by assault.
Although the abbey and its dependencies blazed around, the Tower disregarded the
fury 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 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 crush him to atoms." pp. 65, 66.
Thus also the 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 anliquariorvm. They could not have been beacons,
for 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
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 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 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 skilful in
architecture." pp. 147, 148.
And lastly, the able and learned John Pinkerton recognizes the
3 c
378 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
principle of defence as an original object in the construction of these
Towers, though he considered their use as belfries as the primary
one. Speaking of the Round Towers in Scotland, he thus writes 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 Abernethy and Brechin,
&c."
" That these round towers were belfries is sufficiently 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 in 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 belief 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 grounds on which I
rest the arguments for my third conclusion, 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 should acknowledge that a most
careful examination of our ancient Irish manuscripts has led to no
discovery that would give it certainty. Yet, the probability 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 they would be used as watch-towers, and perhaps
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 country generally covered with wood,
we will find it difficult 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
this fitness seems, in a great degree, to have led the learned Doctor
OP THE BOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 379
Lingard to the opinion that our Irish Round Towers were chiefly, if
not exclusively, intended for this purpose. In a passage in his Anti-
quities of the Anglo-Saxon Church, for calling my attention to
which I acknowledge myself indebted to my respected friend, Dr.
Hibbcrt Ware, of York, he makes the following remarks on the
uses of the Anglo-Saxon and Irish detached Towers :
" The church at Ramsey was ornamented with two towers, one at the western
entrance, and another in the centre of the transept, supported by four arches Hist.
Kames., 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 Round 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.
' Turris erat rostrata tholis quia maxima qusedam
Illius ante sacri pulcherrima 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 illuminated 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.]
Lingard 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 directing my atten-
tion to the following curious reference in Mabillon's Iter Germani-
cum a work of which, unfortunately, 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 Luxeuil, in Bur-
gundy, and which seems to give some support to the conclusion I
have thus hypothetically advocated ;
" Luxmium.
"Cernitur propeMajorem Ecclesiae Portam Pharus, quam Lucernam vocant, eujus
omnino consimilem vidi aliquando apud Carnutas. Ei usui fuisse videtur, in gratiam
eorum, qui noctu ecclesiam frequentabantur."
I have now to enter on a question of perhaps greater 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 centuries.
The great difficulty which I have to contend with, arises chiefly
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 doictheach, or Round Tower, is that at the
year 950, relative to the burning of the doictheach, or Round Tower
of 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 Tomgraney, 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 o-piacpac Oione, comopba Ciapam
7 Comam 7 comopba Cuama 5P ene i 7 a r a '5 e &o ponab cetnpul mop Cuama
5pene, 7 a claijceac. Sapienp 7 penepc ec epipcopiip quieuir in Chpipco."
Thus translated by Colgan, who seems to have found it in his
copy of the Annals of the Four Masters, though that part of it re-
lating to the erection of the church 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 longajuus, qui extruxit Ecclesiam 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
centuries, sufficiently prove that they were common in the country
at an earlier period; and, moreover, their early antiquity may be
lairly inferred from the frequent allusions to them which occur inci-
dentally in our oldest manuscripts. Thus, in the ancient Life of
Christ, preserved in the Le.abhar Breac, which is unquestionably
older than the eleventh century, the following allusion to the height
of the Towers occurs in relation to the star which guided the eastern
kings to Bethlehem :
"Came lapum uiui na .;cii. mip ppi .;cii. la; 7 cm ba h-aipoi ma cloicrech h-f
pemaino." Fol. 60, a, a.
" It [the star] came afterwards a journey of the twelve months in twelve days ;
and it was higher than a cloicthech before us."
Thus also, in a tract of much higher antiquity, entitled Imraimh
Curaich Matiduin, the Wandering of the Curach of Maelduin, the
illegitimate son of an Irish chief, in the seventh century, the fol-
lowing passage occurs, from which it can be fairly inferred, that a
belfry, separate from the church, existed at Kildare before his time.
Copies of this tract are preserved in the Library of Trinity College,
Dublin, and in the British Museum :
"Do Gojanacc Nmaip DO ITIaeloum ap m-bunaoup. Qilell Qcep Qja a
acaip ; cp6npep epoe 7 oajlaec 7 cijepna a ceneoil pen. TTIaccaillec, 7 ban-
aipcmnec CiUe cailleac a macaip. Ip amlaio om popcaemnacaip acornpepc pom.
peccup oo luio pi Sojanacca pop cpeic 07 mpuo ilcenoaoac 7 Qilell Ocaip Qja
ma comaicecc, 7 gubpao ounab a pleib' arm. 6ui cell cuillec a compocup ip an
maij-in pin, .1. Cell oapa a n-oiu. TTIeoon aioci lapam 6 po an cac DO imcecc ir
ounao, luio Qilell oo'n cill, 7 ip e rpach pon ranic an ban-aipcinoeac DO bein
cluij na cille DO luprheipje, oopcuip DO Qilell, 7 gabaip Qilell a lairii laip, 7 DO
oaqiapcaip, 7 DO jm coibliji ppia; 7 apbepr an caillec pptp: ' ni pejoa,' ol pi,
' ap compuc, ap ip ampip compepra oam.'" 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 spoil 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
Kildare at this day. At midnight, when all remained quiet within the camp, Ailell
went to the church, and this was the time when the Ban-airchinnech came [out] to
ring the bell of the church for midnight prayer. She met Ailell, and Ailell 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 INQUIRY INTO THE OBIGIN AND USES
The next passage which 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 were
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 unquestionable
antiquity, namely, a poem addressed to Aedh Oirdnighe, monarch of
Ireland from 799 to 819, by the celebrated poet Fothadh, usually
called Fothadh na Canoine, or of the Canon, and who obtained
from that monarch the exemption of the clergy from military service.
Copies of this poem are preserved in the Library of the Royal Irish
Academy, and in the valuable manuscript in the Library of Trinity
College, called the Book of Leinster ; and it would appear to have
been addressed to Aedh Oirdnighe on the occasion of his inaugura-
tion. The passage, as found in the Book of Leinster, is as follows :
" Cipe DO jne in ri^aic
6m mop a mela buir,
TTlaD oia pajba a Din
1 cij pi no cluic." H. 2, 18, foL 106, b, b.
" He who commits a theft,
It will be grievous to thee,
If he obtains his protection
In the house of a king or of a bell."
Thus again, in a tract of the Brehon Laws, called Seanchus beag,
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, occurs :
" Qipcpeoip, .1. uap aicpeoip, .1. uapal arpeoip, in can ip cloc cloiccije; no,
aipcpeoip, .1. ipil aicpeoip, 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 doictheach;
or, aistreoir, i. e. isil aithreoir, (L 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 under the word aipcjieoip, 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.
" Gipcpeoip, i. e. aipcpeac a cpeoip, i. e. beim cluic, no eacpopacc ; no, uaip-
cpeoip in can ap cloc clo^ci^e ; no ipcpeoip, i. e. ippeall aicpeoip, in can ip lam-
cloc."
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. '!*'!
" Aiatreoir, i. e. changeable his work, i. e. to ring the bell, or use the keys ; or,
uaittreoir (high his work) when the bell is that of a doictheach; or istreoir, i.e. low his
work, when it is a hand-bell."
Thus also, in another version of this commentary, in a vellum
MS. in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin :
" Cfipcpeoip, .1. aipcpeach a cpeoip aj beim chluij 7 05 oployao cempaill ;
no, uaipcpeoip, .1. uaip bip a cpeoip, in can ip cloj 'clojcio ; no, ipcpeoip, .). ipel
a rpeoip, in can ip lamchloj." II. 3, 18, fol. 94.
" Aistreoir, i. e. changeable his work in ringing the bell and opening the church ;
or, uaistreoir, i. e. high his work, when it is the bell of a doictheach ; or, istreoir, i. e.
low his work, when it is a hand-bell."
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 MS. in the Library of Tri-
nity College, Dublin, the following allusion to the belfry occurs :
" Gicheo aepa ecolpa cpopcab, 7 apao lapam nao njeba a paicep nric a
cpeoo, 7 nao cec DO pacappaic, 7 DO aubaipc; mao aep jpaio, no aep cpeiome
im eoij a cluicc, no im coip a alcoipe, 7 apao napo oipppichep puippi, 7 nao
m-bencep cloc DO cpacaib."
" 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 ostiarius was to ring the bell in the cloidheach, or Round
Tower ; and, if it can be shown that the office of aistire existed in
the Irish Church under St. Patrick, in the fifth century, a not impro-
bable inference may be drawn that bell-towers were then in 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 in 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, in the Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, which is supposed to have
been originally written, partly in Irish and partly in Latin, by his
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 " Sanctus Senellus
de Killdareis, Campanarius ;" and from the prose tract treating of
those persons, preserved in the Books of Lecan and Ballymote, we
find this Sinell called " his aistiri."
"Smell Cilli Ctipip, a aipcipi." L. Ballymot. fol. 119, L. Lecan. fol. 44.
" Sinell of Cill Airis, his aistiri."
And that the word aistire as above given, was understood by the
Irish in the sense of bell-ringer, appears from the poem of Flann of
Monasterboice, which enumerates the household of St. Patrick, and
which was written in the tenth century, and evidently drawn by the
writer from the most ancient authorities then extant :
" Smell, a peap bem in cluic." Lib. Ballymot., et Lecan. ibid.
" Sinell, 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
which 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,
unfortunately, we have only Colgan's translation ; and hence, though
there is a passage in this account which might very well apply to
one of the primary purposes of the Round Towers, but little 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 Ardmachanas juxta formam, & modum ab Angelo prajscriptum. Dum
autem fieret ha?c fundatio, & metatio forma;, & quantitatis Ecclesise redificandse, col-
lecta synodus Antistitum, Abbatum, aliorumque vniuersi regni Prselatorum : & facta
processione ad metas designandas processerunt, Patricio cum baculo lesu in manu
totum Clerum, & Angelo Dei, tanquam ductore & directore Patricium prascedenti.
Statuit autem Patricius juxta Angeli prsescriptum quod murus Ecclesia? in longitudine
oontineret centum quadraginta pedes (forte passus) ; sedificium, siue aula maior tri-
ginta; culina septem & decem ; Argyrotheca, seu vasarium, vbi supellex reponebatur,
septem pedes. Et hse sacra? sedes omnes iuxta has mensuras sunt postea erect."
Trias Tkaum., p. 164.
But, whatever uncertainty there may be as to the existence of
these buildings in St. Patrick's time, there can, I think, be little, if
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 385
any doubt, that they were not uncommon in the sixth and seventh
centuries. Of this fact we have a striking evidence in the archi-
tectural character of many of the existing Towers, in which a per-
fect agreement of style is found with the original churches, when
such exist. As a remarkable instance of this, I may point to the
church and tower at Kilmacduagh, the tower and churches of Glen-
dalough, and many others, which it is unnecessary here to name.
Nor can I think the popular tradition of the country is of li ttle 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 flourished early in the seventh century ; for it is remark-
able that such a tradition never exists in connexion with any Towers
but those in which the architecture is in perfect harmony with the
churches of that period, as in the Towers of Kilmacduach, Killala,
and Antrim. And it is further remarkable, that the age assigned to
the first buildings at Kilmacduach, about the year 620, is exactly
that in which this celebrated Irish architect flourished. 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 already alluded to the historical evidences which
prove that the Goban Saer was no imaginary creation, however
legendary the memorials remaining of him may be considered ; and I
may here add, that it would appear from a very ancient authority,
namely, the Dinnsenchus, 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 known in the country ; and further, that the Goban himself
was probably born at Turvy, on the northern coast of the County of
Dublin, 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
origin, 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
Uuipbi ca n-ap po h-ainrnnijeo ? Nm. Cuipbi Upajmap, acaip "fio-
bain c-Saeip, ip 6 pooup peilb ip in popbbai. Ip 6 pin pocepoao upcup oia biail a
Culaij an b'lail ppia 01510 in cuile, cona f po anao in paipje, 7 ni chijeao caipip.
Hi peap a genealach pamopmo, ace mump aen ou na cepbaoacaiB ac pullaoap a
Cempaij piap in pab n-iloanach a pil i n-t)iampaib 6pej. Unoe Cpaij Cuipbe
oicirup.
" Cpaij Cuipbi cupcbaio a amm,
t)o peip ujoaip pim apnaiotn ;
Cuipbi Cpajmap, op cac cpaij,
Qcaip jpaomap jup ^obain.
" Q euaij DO celjao lap pcup,
Qn jilla mepjeach mop oub,
O Chulaij in biail m-buioi
ppip in m-benann mop cuile.
" Cian noo cuipeao a ruaij oe,
Qn muip n5 ruile caipppi;
Cio Cuipbi reap na ruaich rpen,
Ni pep ca cuan a cinel ;
"JTIinab oo'n r-pil oejoaip oub,
6uio a Chempaij la laec 6u j,
Hi pepp a can, ppi oail 06,
pep na cleap o Chpaij Chupbi."
" Traigh Tuirbi, 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 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.
a In the copy preserved in the Book of Lecan, fol. 260, b, b, piap an pab n-iloa-
nach, reads la 6uj tampaoa, i. e. with Lugh of the Long Hand. He was a Tuatha
De Danann monarch, A. M. 2764, according to OTlaherty'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. 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 known 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 substratum of truth beneath the covering of fable with
which 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 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, grounded 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 knowledge of the arts, we learn that, in the tra-
ditions of the Irish, the Tuatha De Dananns were no less distin-
guished from their conquerors in their personal than in their mental
characteristics. The probability, 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 should add, also, that we have, at least, one historical authority
which, 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. Adamnan, 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 alicuifratri, lapso de monasterii culmine rotundi,
in Roboreti Campo opportune tarn cito eubvenerat*.'"
" ALIO in tempore vir sanctus dum in tuguriolo suo scribens sederet, subitd ejus
immutatur facies, et hanc puro de pectore promit vocem, dicens : ' Auxiliare, auxiliare.'
* Cumin, c. 10.
3 D 2
388 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
Duo vero Fratres ad januam stantes; videlicet COLGIUS filius CELLACHI, et LUGNEUS
MOCUBLAI, causam talis subitse interrogant vocis ; quibus vir venerabilis hoc respon-
sum dedit, inquiens : ' Angelo Domini, qui nunc inter vos stabat, jussi, ut alicui ex
Fratribus de summo culmine magnse domus lapso tarn cito subveniret, qua? his in
diebus Roboreti Campo fabricatur.' Hocque sanctus consequenter intulit famen, in-
quiens. ' Valde admirabilis et pene indicibilis est angelici volatus pernicitas, fulgureas,
ut aestimo, celeritati parilis. Nam ille ccelicola, qui hinc a nobis nunc illo viro labi
incipiente avolavit, quasi in ictu oculi priusquam terram tangeret subveniens, eum
sublevavit ; nee ullam fracturam, aut Isesuram ille qui cecidit sentire potuit. Quam
stupenda hsec inquam velocissima et opportuna subventio, qua: dicto citius tantis maris
et terrse interjacentibus spatiis tarn celerrime effici potuit !'" Vitce Antiquce Sancto-
rum, &c., p. 169.
I should state, that the important heading prefixed to this chapter
is not found in 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 Windberg ; nor in that of Messingham,
in 1624, which is but a reprint of the former ; nor in that of the
Bollandists ; but it is found in the better edition of Colgan, which
is taken from an ancient vellum manuscript, preserved at Augia ( Aux),
in Germany, and which agrees with the manuscript in the British
Museum, except that the phrase " de monasterii culmine rotundi" is
printed " de 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 rotunda" or monasterii
culmine 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 certainly 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 quadrangular 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
v 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 miraculous interposition of an angel would have
become necessary ? Surely not to prevent him from a fall of twelve
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 ROUND 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 falling. In
short the miracle, to be a miracle 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
necessarily productive of certain death, such a building, in fact, as
a Round Tower, which was the only one of the kind the Irish had,
either in 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 heading and the text, is simply " de cid-
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 religious 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 book of the Life of Columba by Adamnan :
" In tempore alio, hoc est, post multos a supra memorato bello annorum transcur-
sus, cum esset vir Sanctus in Hyona insula, subito ad suum dicit ministratorem,
Cloccain pulsa : cujus sonitu Fratres incitati, ad Ecclesiam ipso Sancto Prsesule prse-
eunte ocyus currunt, ad quos ibidem flexis genibus infit. ' Nunc intente pro hoc
populo, et AIDANO rege Dominum orernus, hac enirn hora ineunt bellum.' " Vitce
<s Sanctorum, fyc., 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 would have rendered the re-
erection or restoration of such structures necessary, especially at the
close of the latter century ; and, as I shall show in the Third Part of
this Inquiry, many of the Towers afford sufficient evidence, in the
various styles of masonry, and difference of material, which 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 cloictheach, or Round Tower of Tomgraney,
390 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
which, as I have shown, was erected in 964, was repaired by the
monarch 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 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 :
" &ci Imp DO cumoai5ioD ceullo 7 ecalpa, 7 DO ponca oaimliac, acup cloic-
riji, 7 oupciji, innci."
" By him were founded cells and churches, and were made daimliacs, and cloic-
theachs, and duirtheachs, in it" [Ireland].
And again :
" lp e &pian cue .uti. mamipcpeaca eicip aiome 7 eallac 7 peaponn amac ;
7 Da cloicceac cpicac ; 7 ip laip po oainjneao an c-opo popoa ; 7 ip pi a linn
cucao plomnce ap cup, 7 ouchaoa DO na plomnce, 7 DO pinne cpicaipecc caca
cuaice, 7 jaca cpica ceo ; 7 ip pi a linn po h-oipneao jpaoa placa, 7 pilm, 7
eclaipi. Ip e 6pian umoppa nac capo epa pop ealaoam o oioce a gemeariilai j co
h-oioce a baip."
" It is Brian that gave out seven monasteries, both furniture and cattle and land ;
and thirty-two cloictheachs ; 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 tune 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, 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 chronology 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, Religion, 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 all ways from them all. At his first
entrie into the Kingdome, the whole Realme was overrunn 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 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 redressc, yea some of the best sort were compelled to servitude and bounden
slavery, both Human La we 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 Scares, all
the phissick in the world cou'd not help it else where, in a small tune 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 their 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 number of structures of this kind
that was in Ireland in the tenth century :
" 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 further persuaded that some of the Towers were erected as
late as the twelfth century, 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 fourteenth century, ascribes the erection
of this Tower to Fergal O'Rourke, king of Connaught, about the
middle of the tenth century, yet, as I have already 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 Sir James Ware,
by the celebrated Duald Mac Firbis, is as follows :
" And the same O'Euairk of his devotion towards y e 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 e 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 l 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 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 heirs to Cluain ; and thus
was the sepulture of the O'Ruairks bought."
It might be inferred, however, from the following entry in the
Chronicon Scotorum, that this Tower was of much later date than
that ascribed to it in the Registry :
"A. D. 1124. Qn cloicreach mop Cluana JTlac Noip o'opbuo la JJ'olla Cpipc
h-Ua ITIaoileoin, 7 la CoipoealBac h-Ua Concupaip."
"A. D. 1124, The great cloictheach of Clonmacnoise was finished by Giolla Christ
O'Malone, and by Turlogh O'Conor."
Thus also in a similar entry in the Annals of the Four Masters at
the same year :
" A. D. 1 124. popbao cloicccije Cluana TTlac Hoip la h-Ua TDaoileoin co-
riiapba Chiapam."
" 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 covering or roofing of the Tower, thus :
" A. D. 1 124. Operimentum Campanilis Cluanse 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 popbao, which
they employ, properly signifies to finish, or complete. However, it
seems in the highest degree unlikely that an ecclesiastical establish-
ment of such high importance for many centuries 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 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
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 daimliag mor, or cathedral, standing opposite it, in the
usual position, was erected by the monarch Flann O'Melaghlin and
ON THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 393
the abbot Colman ; and I think it most probable that the fact rela-
tive to its erection by Fergal O'Rourke, as stated in the Registry,
was only a tradition founded on the circumstance of the O'Rourkes
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 circumstance 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 limestone, 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 was made, was reduced considerably
in its original height, as proportioned to its circumference. It can
scarcely be doubted, however, that this restoration is of still later
date than that recorded by the annalists 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 lightning, in the year 1135.
"A. D. 1135. Ceme paijne'm DO Be^m a climb DO cloicreach Cluana mac
Noip, ajup DO rollao cloiceeac Ruip Cp6."
" A. D. 1135. Lightning struck its roof off the doictheach of Clonmacnoise, and
pierced the doictheach 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 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, when
Clonmacnoise was 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 opccam Cluana mac Noip la 5 a '-l' al ^ CIca luam,
7 na cluicc mopa DO Bpeic tip an j-cloiccceac. Nt po paccaBao pop clocc beaj
na mop, lovhaij, naalcoip, na leaBap, na jemao, piu jlome h-i B-pumneoicc 6
Balla na h-eccailpi amac nac puccao eipce. 6a cpuaj cpa an jjniom pin, inopao
carpac Ciapain, an naom eplaiih."
" A. D. 1552. Clonmacnoise was plundered and devastated by the Galls (English)
of Athlone, and the large bells were carried from the doictheach. 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
394 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
glass in a window, from the wall of the church out, which was not carried off.
Lamentable was this deed, the plundering 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 century, in the fol-
lowing curious and important entry in an ancient Antiphonarium,
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 this entry is obviously that of O'Carroll, prince of Oriel,
whose death it was intended to record, and that the authenticity of the
facts enumerated is unquestionable.
" Kal. Ian. .u. p. 1. ;c. Qnno t)omim m.c.lxpc. Opaib ap t)honnchao h-Ua
CepbaiU, ap aipb-pij; Qipjiall, lap a n-bepnao leabup Cnuic na n-Qppcal a
/ujma6, 7 ppim-lebuip uipt> bliabnaibe, 7 ppim-leabuip aipppmn. Ip e Don an
an-pi cebna po cumbai^ an mumipcip uile icip cloic 7 cpann, 7 cue epic 7 pepanb
ppia, bo pair a anma u n-anoip p6il 7 pecuip. Ip leip bon pc h-arnui^eb an
eajlup a rip Oip^iall, 7 bo ponub epjjoboibe piajjulla, 7 cucab an eujlup pop
comup epcoip. Ip 'n a aimpp po jabuo becrhao, 7 po paemab popao, 7 po
cumbaijrea ecalpa, 7 bo ponca ceampaill 7 cloicri^i, 7 po h-arnurn^cea mai-
nipcpe manac 7 cananac 7 caillec n-bub, 7 bo ponair neiriieba. Ip lac po co pe
5pepa bo ponaic ppia pair, 7 pe pi^e i cip Oip^iall, .1. mamipcep na manac pop
bpu 6omne ibep cloic 7 cpann aibrhe, 7 libpa 7 epic 7 pepanb i pil .c. manac 7
rpi .c. conuenp 7 mamipcep cananac C"epmamb peicin 7 Hlainipcep cailler, 7
ceampoll mop Cepmamn pheicm, 7 ceampoll tepca Peicm 7 ceampoll # * ."
" Kalend. Januar. v.feria, lun. x. Anno Domini m. c. Ixx. A prayer for Donnchadh
O'Carrol, supreme king of Airgiall, by whom were made the book of Cnoc na 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 cloictheachs
were made, and monasteries of monks, and canons, and nuns were re-edified, and
nemheds 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 ofTermannFeichin, and the monas-
tery of nuns, and the great church of Termann Fheicin, and the church of Lepadh
Feichin, and the church of * * * ."
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND, 395
In conclusion, I have only to add, that it would appear probable,
from the following record in the Annals of the Four Masters, that
at least one Round Tower was erected so late as the year 1238, at
Annadown, in the County of Galway :
" A. D. 1238. Cloicceac Ganai^ oum DO o6nam."
" A. D. 1238. The Cloictheach of Eanach duin was erected."
As there is no belfry now remaining at Annadown, it may be t
uncertain whether this cloictheach 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 structure, and that its locality was one still peculiarly Irish,
while, on the other hand, the square belfry never appears as a distinct
structure, it will be scarcely doubted that this was a tower of the
original Irish kind, and if so, probably one of the last of its class
erected in the kingdom.
But whether this cloictheach of Annadown was of the regular
Round 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 century,
as that of Trummery, in the County of Antrim, and the Tower which
was attached to Trinity Church at Glendalough, and those at Dungiven
and Tamlaghtfmlagan, in the County of Londonderry, of all which
descriptions will be given in the Third Part of this Inquiry. 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 churches,
of which there are two or three examples remaining, are also of com-
paratively recent date, and indicate the transition to the more modern
and general usage with respect to belfries ; and this inference would
be sustained by a passage of great antiquity in the Life of St. Moling,
preserved in the Rook of Leinster, a compilation of the twelfth cen-
tury. This passage occurs in a prophecy attributed to the saint, who,
it is stated, had had a vision, in which it was revealed to him that
he himself was the person predestined to bring about the abolition
3 E 2
396 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
of an oppressive tax called the Borumha Laigliean, which the people
of Leinster had for centuries paid to the royal family of Tara, but
which had been remitted for a time by the reigning monarch, Fin-
nachta Fleadhach. 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,
what impossibilities and strange occurrences should take place be-
fore this revelation would be nullified :
" Copbap caippje ap baipje oonna,
Copbap conna ap jl-app linne,
Copbap clocrije op cella,
Nipap ella aiplmje."
" Until rocks grow upon brown oaks,
Until boisterous waves be on green pools,
Until cloictheachs be [placed] over churches,
This vision shall not prove delusive."
But, though this ancient passage clearly indicates the general and
prevailing custom of the country, in the seventh century, 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. Moling'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 improbability 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 specimens of Round Tower
belfries, placed upon the churches in Ireland, indicate a very early
antiquity ; and though, possibly, they may not be in every instance
coeval with the churches on which they are placed, they can hardly
be of a date long subsequent to them. At all events, examples of
belfries upon the churches must have been familiar 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 church of St. Columbanus, at Bobbio, when the abbot
Agilulfus, who flourished between the years 883 and 905, re-erected
that church, as appears from the following passage in the Miranda S.
Columbani Abbatis, cap. 1.
" Ipsam denique eandem Ecclesiam venerabilis Abbas Agilulfus exlapidibus struxit,
OF TIIE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
397
turrimque super earn acdificauit, et campanas in ea fecit pendere, sicut mine cerni-
tur." Fleming, Collectanea Sacra, p. 245. Florilegium, p. 240.
This is a question, however, which will be more particularly con-
sidered in connexion with the remaining examples of such church
towers in the Third 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 architectural details, always comparing such de-
tails with those of the churches whose dates are determined, or may
be fairly presumed ; and such an examination will constitute a pro-
minent feature in the Third Part of this Inquiry. But, as the publi-
cation of that Part must be some time distant, it may be desirable
that I should adduce here a few characteristic examples of the various
styles exhibited in 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
internal construction. On this latter point, however, the two illus-
398 INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
trations above will suffice. 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 County 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 circumference,
and, with the exception of the chiselled stones round its doorway,
it is altogether constructed of common rubble masonry, of the calp
limestone of the district. The apertures are all quadrangular, the
jambs of the doorway inclining, as in those of the oldest churches.
The church of Cluain Dolcain, according to Colgan, Acta Sanc-
torum, page 677 (correctly 573), owes its origin to St. Mochua, who
was its first 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. There are, indeed, in its immediate vicinity, some
ruins of a church, which has obviously been of some architectural
importance ; but it appears certain, from drawings made in 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, which, 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 line opposite its doorway,
as shown in the ground-plan on next page. The Tower is formed of
roughly-squared, hammered sandstone, the entrance doorway alone
being chiselled. It measures forty-seven feet nine inches in circum-
ference at its base, and ninety-two feet in height, the wall 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 with 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 inches in width below the arch,
and two feet one inch 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 quadrangular internally. The
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, their exact situations cannot
be determined, with the exception of one in the fifth story, lately
exposed by a storm, and which 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
uncommon feature in the interior of the Towers, such corbel
stones, in one example that of the Tower of Ardmore, in
the County of Waterford being sculptured with animal and
human heads, and other ornaments. My late ingenious friend,
Mr. William Morrison, suggested to me that these corbels
might possible be for the purpose of fixing ladders to join the
stories, as shown in the annexed outline ; but a more probable
conjecture, to my mind, is, that they were intended as supports for
shelves, on which to place the precious things deposited in the Towers.
400
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
But little is known of the history of the ecclesiastical establish-
ment to which this Tower belonged, beyond the fact that it was, at
an ancient period, the seat of a bishopric, the boundaries 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 known by the name Giolcach, by
which is understood a bell-house, and which is obviously a local cor-
ruption of doigtheach, or cloictheach. 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 in 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 neighbourhood of the Tower there are ruins of two churches,
North
fast
SciM
r "*"~""'"~ J '"~ J ' > ""' g ^'""
West
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 HOUND TOWERS OF IRELAND. 401
remarks on the construction of the Towers, that the division into
stories is sometimes marked externally by set-offs ; and in one in-
stance, the Tower of Ardmore, by bands or belts. With a single
exception, however, they present no ornament externally, except in
their doorways and upper apertures. I allude to the Round Tower
of Devenish, which has a richly-sculptured band or cornice, placed
immediately beneath its conical roof, the whole of which is repre-
sented in the preceding illustration.
I must defer, however, an inquiry into the age of these sculptures,
as leading to a digression that would be somewhat irrelevant here,
and which I therefore reserve for the Third Part of this Work.
Having premised thus much, relative to the general form and
construction of the Towers, I have next to notice their details ; and
of these the doorways are the most important, as enabling 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 which present simple qua-
drangular and semicircular-arched doorways, with sloping jambs, and
3 F
402
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
little or no ornament, perfectly similar to the doorways of the earliest
churches. As an example of the quadrangular doorway, with in-
clined jambs, and large lintel, I have given, on the preceding page,
an illustration of the doorway of the Round Tower of Drumbo, in the
County 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 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 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 quadrangle, measuring
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. Mochumma was abbot here about the beginning of the seventh
century.
I 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
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
in:;
second doorway. Such second apertures, when the original doorway
is quadrangular, are always of the same form, as shown in the 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 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. Colutnbkille, 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 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 lintel,
somewhat similar to that on the lintel of the doorway of St. Fechin's
church at Fore, of which I have given an illustration at p. 174 ; and
such sculptures appear to me to furnish a strong evidence that both
churches and towers were regarded as sanctuaries.
It is remarkable that though the foundation 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 annalists, in
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 is little doubt, erected early in the
seventh century.
The doorway of the Tower of Kilmacduagh, which is placed at an
elevation of twenty-six feet from the ground, is constructed of large
blocks of limestone of the district, and measures six feet ten inches
in height, and two feet ten inches in width at the sill ; and the wall
is four feet four inches in thickness.
OF THE ROUND TOWERS OF IRELAND.
405
I have already stated, at p. 176, that the great church of Kilmac-
duagh was erected about the year 610, for St. Colman Mac Duach,
by his kinsman, Guaire Aidhne, king of Connaught ; and the perfect
similarity of the masonry of the Tower to that of the original portions
of the great church, leaves no doubt of their being cotemporaneous
structures. 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 known 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; and it is not unlikely that both are the work
of the same eminent builder, with whose era the erection of the great
church of Glendalough would very well synchronise. It is placed at
an elevation of about ten feet from the present level of the ground,
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 circumstance it resembles the
406
INQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND USES
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