character to those at New Grange, but, on the whole, more delicate and
refined. Assuming the progressive nature of Irish art, which I see no
reason for doubting, they would indicate a more modern age, and this,
from other circumstances, seems more than probable. Though spirals are
frequent, the Dowth ornaments assume more of free-traced vegetable
forms. It is not so easy to identify the figures in the annexed woodcut
(No. 70), as in the palm-branch in New Grange (woodcut No. 67), but
there can be little doubt that the intention was to simulate vegetable
nature. At other times forms are introduced which a fanciful antiquary
might suppose were intended for serpents, or writing, or, at all
events, as having some occult meaning. The annexed from a rubbing is
curious, as something very similar occurs on a stone at Coilsfield,
in Ayrshire, and may really be intended to suggest an idea, but of
what nature we are not yet in a position to guess. It is not so like
an alphabetical character as those at New Grange (woodcut No. 68),
and till that is shown to have a meaning, it is hardly worth while
speculating with regard to this one. We shall be in a better position
to judge of the value or importance of these ornaments, in an artistic
or chronometric point of view, when we have examined those at Lough
Crew and elsewhere; but even irrespectively of such considerations,
no one can examine the monuments on the banks of the Boyne without
being struck with the elegance as well as the endless variety of the
ornaments which cover their walls.
If, however, the material proofs are deficient, the written evidence is
clearer and more satisfactory than with regard to any group of tombs
in the three kingdoms. In the passage above quoted, it is said "that
they"--the kings of Ireland--"were interred at Brugh from the time
of Crimthann (A.D. 76) to the time of Leoghaire, the son of
Niall (A.D. 458), except three persons, namely, Art the son of
Conn, and Cormac the son of Art, and Niall of the nine hostages,"--the
father of Leoghaire. The reason given why Art and Cormac were not
buried here was that they had embraced Christianity. Art was buried at
a place called Treoit; Cormac on the right bank of the Boyne at a place
called Ros-na-righ, opposite Brugh; and Niall at Ochaim. But having
disposed of these three, we have still some twenty-seven kings to find
graves for, and only seventeen mounds can now be traced at Brugh; and,
besides these, we have to find the tombs of the Dagdha, and his three
sons, and Etan the poetess and her son Corpre, and Boinn, the wife of
Nechtan, "who took with her to the tomb her small hound Dabilla," and a
vast number of nobles of Tuatha de Danann and others. It is impossible
to find places for all these persons in the graves now visible, if
each was buried separately. It may be, however, that the great mounds
contained several sepulchres. The form and position of the chambers at
Dowth (woodcut No. 69) perhaps countenances such a supposition; but
many may have been buried under smaller cairns, long since removed to
make way for agricultural improvements, and many may yet be discovered
if the place be carefully and systematically explored, which does not
yet seem to have been done. Before, however, anything like certainty
could be arrived at as to the distribution of these graves, it would
be necessary that the great mounds should be thoroughly explored, and
this, from the nature of their material, will practically involve their
destruction, which would be very much to be regretted. Meanwhile, if
I may be allowed to offer a conjecture, I would say that New Grange
might be the "Cumot or Commensurate grave of Cairbre Lifeachair." He,
according to the Four Masters, reigned from 271 to 288--but probably
fifty or sixty years later--and seems to have been a king deserving of
a right royal sepulchre; and I feel great confidence that the unopened
tumulus near the river may be what tradition says it is--the grave of
the Great Dagdha, the hero of Moytura. With regard to the others, it
would not be safe to hazard any opinion in the present state of our
knowledge. For the present it is sufficient to feel sure that we have a
group of monuments all, or very nearly all of which were erected in the
first four centuries of the Christian era, and from this basis we may
reason with tolerable certainty regarding the other groups which we may
meet with in the course of this enquiry.
LOUGH CREW.
At a distance of twenty-five miles nearly due west from Brugh na
Boinn, and two miles south-east from Oldcastle, is a range of hills,
called on the Ordnance map Slieve na Calliagh--the hags' or witches'
hill. It is upwards of 200 feet above the level of the sea, and the
most conspicuous elevation in that part of the country. On the ridge
of this range, which is about two miles in extent, are situated from
twenty-five to thirty cairns, some of considerable size, being 120
to 180 feet in diameter; others are much smaller, and some so nearly
obliterated that their dimensions can hardly be now ascertained. Till
seven or eight years ago this cemetery was entirely unknown to Irish
antiquaries, and the positions of the cairns were hardly even indicated
in the Ordnance Survey; but in 1863 they attracted the attention of
Mr. Eugene Conwell, of Trim. In the years 1867-8 he was enabled, with
the assistance and co-operation of the late Mr. Naper, of Lough Crew,
the proprietor of the soil, to excavate and explore the whole of them.
A brief account of the results which he obtained was submitted to the
Royal Irish Academy in 1868, and afterwards printed by him for private
circulation in 1868; but the greater work, with plans and drawings, in
which he intends fully to illustrate the whole, is still in abeyance,
owing to want of encouragement. When completed it will be one of the
most valuable contributions to our archæological knowledge that we have
received of late years. Meanwhile the following meagre particulars are
derived from Mr Conwell's pamphlet and the information I picked up
during a personal visit which I made to the spot in his company in the
Autumn of last year. The illustrations are all from his drawings.
[Illustration: 72. Cairn T, at Lough Crew.--From a plan by E. Conwell.]
One of the most perfect of these tumuli is that distinguished by Mr.
Conwell as Cairn T (woodcut No. 72). It stands on the highest point of
the hill, and is consequently the most conspicuous. It is a truncated
cone, 116 feet in diameter at base, and with a sloping side, between 60
and 70 feet in length. Around its base are thirty-seven stones, laid on
edge, and varying from 6 to 12 feet in length. They are not detached,
as at New Grange, but form a retaining wall to the mound. On the north,
and set about 4 feet back from the circle, is a large stone, 10 feet
long by 6 high, and 2 feet thick, weighing consequently above 10 tons.
The upper part is fashioned as a rude seat, from which it derives its
name of the Hag's Chair (woodcut No. 73), and there can be little doubt
but that it was intended as a seat or throne; but whether by the king
who erected the sepulchre, or for what purpose, it is difficult now to
say.
[Illustration: 73. The Hag's Chair, Lough Crew.--From a drawing by E.
Conwell.]
On the eastern side of the mound the stones forming the periphery of
the cairn curve inwards for eight or nine yards on each side of the
spot where the entrance to the chamber commences. It is of the usual
cruciform plan, and 28 feet long from the entrance to the flat stone
closing the innermost cell; the dome, consequently, is not nearly
under the centre of the tumulus, as at New Grange, and lends something
like probability to the notion that the cell at Dowth (woodcut No.
69), was really the principal sepulchre. Twenty-eight of the stones
in the chamber were ornamented with devices of various sorts. Two of
them are represented on the accompanying woodcut (No. 74), which, with
the drawings on the Hag's Chair give a fair idea of their general
character. They are certainly ruder and less artistic than those on
the Boyne, and so far would indicate an earlier age. Nothing was found
in the chambers of this tomb but a quantity of charred human bones,
perfect human teeth, mixed with the bones of animals, apparently stags,
and one bronze pin, 2½ inches long, with a head ornamented and stem
slightly so, and still preserving a beautiful green polish.
[Illustration: 74. Two Stones in Cairn T, Lough Crew.--E. Conwell.]
Cairn L (woodcut No. 75), a little further west, is 135 feet in
diameter, and surrounded by forty-two stones, similar to those in
Cairn T. The same curve inwards of these stones marks the entrance
here, which is placed 18 feet from the outward line of the circle. The
chamber here is nearly of the same dimensions as that last described,
being 29 feet deep and 13 across its greatest width. In one of the side
chambers lies the largest of the mysterious flat basins that have yet
been discovered, 5 feet 9 inches long by 3 feet 1 inch broad, the whole
being tooled and picked with as much care and skill as if executed
by a modern mason. This one has a curious nick in its rim, but as it
does not go through, it could hardly be intended as a spout. Till some
unrifled tomb is found, or something analogous in other countries, it
is extremely difficult to say what the exact use of these great stone
saucers may have been. That the body or ashes were laid on them is more
than probable, and they may then have been covered over with a lid like
a dish-cover, such as are found on tombs in Southern Babylonia.[252]
Under this basin were found great quantities of charred human bones
and forty-eight human teeth, besides a perfectly rounded syenite
ball, still preserving its original polish, also some jet and other
ornaments. In other parts were found quantities of charred bones, some
rude pottery and bone implements, but no objects in metal. The woodcut
representing the cell, with large basin, gives a fair idea of the
general style of sculpture in this and the neighbouring cairns. The
parts cross-hatched seem to have been engraved with a sharp metal tool.
The ordinary forms, however, both here and on the Boyne are picked;
but whether they were executed with a hammer, or pick direct, or by a
chisel driven by a hammer, is by no means clear. My own impression is,
that it would be very difficult indeed to execute these patterns with a
hammer of any sort, and that a chisel must have been used, but whether
of flint, bronze, or iron, there is no evidence to show.
[Illustration: 75. Cell in Cairn L, at Lough Crew.--E. Conwell.]
Cairn H, though only between 5 and 6 feet in height and 54 feet in
diameter, seems to have been the only one on the hill not previously
rifled, and yielded a most astonishing collection of objects to its
explorer. The cell was of the usual cruciform plan, 24 feet from the
entrance to the rear, and 16 feet across the lateral chambers. In
the passage and crypts of this cairn Mr. Conwell collected some 300
fragments of human bones, which must have belonged to a considerable
number of separate individuals; 14 fragments of rude pottery, 10 pieces
of flint, 155 sea-shells in a perfect condition, besides pebbles and
small polished stones, in quantities.
The most remarkable part of the collection consisted of 4884 fragments,
more or less perfect, of bone implements. These are now in the
Dublin Museum, and look like the remains of a paper-knife-maker's
stock-in-trade. Most of them are of a knife shape, and almost all more
or less polished, but without further ornamentation; but 27 fragments
appear to have been stained, 11 perforated, 501 engraved with rows of
fine lines; 13 combs were engraved on both sides, and 91 engraved by
compass with circles and curves of a high order of art. On one, in
cross-hatch lines, is the representation of an antlered stag, the only
attempt to depict a living thing in the collection.
Besides these, there were found in this cairn seven beads of amber,
three small beads of glass of different colours, two fragments, and
a curious molten drop of glass, 1 inch long, trumpet-shaped at one
end, and tapering towards the other extremity; six perfect and eight
fragments of bronze rings, and seven specimens of iron implements, but
all, as might be expected, very much corroded by rust. One of these
presents all the appearance of being the leg of a compass, with which
the bone implements may have been engraved, and one was an iron punch,
5 inches long, with a chisel-shaped point, bearing evidence of the use
of the mallet at the opposite end.
Cairn D is the largest and most important monument of the group, being
180 feet in diameter, and though it is very much dilapidated, the
circle of fifty-four stones which originally surrounded it can still
be traced. On its eastern side the stones curve inwards for about
twelve paces, in the form universal in these cairns; but though the
explorers set to work industriously to follow out what they considered
a sure "find," they could not penetrate the mound. The stones fell
in upon them so fast, and the risk they ran was so great, that they
were forced to abandon the idea of tunnelling, and though a large body
of men worked assiduously for a fortnight trying to work down from
above, they failed to penetrate to the central or any other chambers.
It still, therefore, remains a mystery if there is a blind tope, like
many in India, or whether its secret still remains to reward some
more fortunate set of explorers. If it has no central chamber, the
curving inwards of its outer circle of stones is a curious instance of
adherence to a sacred form.
The other monuments on the hill do not present any features worth
enumerating in a general summary like the present, though they would
be most interesting in a monograph. Though differing greatly in size
and in richness of ornamentation, they all belong to one class,
and apparently to one age. For our present purpose one of the most
interesting peculiarities is that, like the group on the banks of
the Boyne, this is essentially a cemetery. There are no circles, no
alignments, no dolmens, no rude stone monuments, in fact. All are
carefully built, and all more or less ornamented; and there is a
gradation and progression throughout the whole series widely different
in this respect from the simplicity and rudeness of the English
monuments described in the last chapter.
* * * * *
It now only remains to try to ascertain who those were who were buried
in these tumuli, and when they were laid there to their rest. So far as
the evidence at present stands it hardly seems to me to admit of doubt
but that this is the cemetery of Talten, so celebrated in Irish legend
and poetry:--
"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 Conchobar,
Were ever buried at Talten,
Until the death of that triumphant man,
Through which they lost their glory."[253]
The distance of the spot from Telltown, the modern representative of
Talten, is twelve miles, which to some might appear an objection, but
it must be remembered that Brugh is ten miles from Tara, where all
the kings resided, who were buried there; and as Dathi and others of
them were buried at Rath Croghan, sixty-five miles off, distance seems
hardly to be an objection. Indeed, among a people who, as evidenced
by their monuments, paid so much attention to funeral rites and
ceremonious honours to their dead, as the Pagan Irish evidently did,
it must have mattered little whether the last resting-place of one of
their kings was a few miles nearer or further from his residence.
It must not, however, be forgotten, that the proper residence of the
Ultonians, who are said to have been buried at Talten, was Emania or
Armagh, forty-five miles distant as the crow flies. Why they should
choose to be buried in Meath, so near the rival capital of Tara, if
that famed city then existed, is a mystery which it is not easy to
solve; but that it was so, there seems no doubt, if the traditions
or Books of the Irish are at all to be depended upon. If their real
residence was so distant, it seems of trifling consequence whether it
was ten or twelve miles from the place we now know as Telltown. There
must have been some very strong reason for inducing the Ultonians to
bury so far from their homes; but as that reason has not been recorded,
it is idle to attempt to guess what form it took. What would appear
a most reasonable suggestion to a civilized Saxon in the nineteenth
century would in all probability be the direct antithesis of the motive
that would guide an uncivilized Celt in the first century before
Christ, and we may therefore as well give up the attempt. Some other
reason than that of mere proximity to the place of residence governed
the Irish in the choice of the situation of their cemeteries; what that
was we may hereafter be able to find out,--at present, so far as I
know, the materials do not exist for forming an opinion. If, however,
this is not Talten, no graves have been found nearer Telltown, which
would at all answer to the descriptions that remains to us of this
celebrated cemetery; and, till they are found, these Lough Crew mounds
seem certainly entitled to the distinction. I cannot see that the
matter is doubtful.
If this is so, there is little difficulty in determining who were
buried here. Besides the testimony of the poem just quoted, it is
stated in the Book of the 'Cemeteries'--"At Tailten the kings of Ulster
were used to bury vig^t. Ollamh Fodhla with his descendants down to
Conchobhar, who wished to 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." This conversion of Conchobhar is one of the most famous
legends in Irish ancient history. He was wounded in the head by a ball
that remained there, and was ordered by his physician to remain quiet
and avoid all excitement as his only chance of surviving. For seven
years he followed this advice; but when he saw the eclipse of the sun,
and felt the great convulsion that came over nature, the day that
Christ was crucified, he turned to his Druid and asked, "What is this?"
To which Bacrach, the Druid, replied: "It is true, indeed, Christ, the
Son of God, is this day crucified by the Jews." "At the recital of
this enormity, Conchobhar felt so indignant that he went nearly mad:
his excitement was so great that the ball burst from his head, and he
died on the very Friday on which the crucifixion took place."[254] All
this may be silly enough, as the electric telegraph was not then in
use, but it is worth quoting here, as it seems that it was to establish
this synchronism that the chronology of the period was falsified to
the extent of half a century at least. Conchobhar and Crimthann were
the two kings of the two great dynasties then reigning in Ireland
whom the annalists strive to synchronize with Christ, and though they
fail in that, they establish beyond much doubt that those kings were
contemporaries. If to this we add the fact so often repeated by the
authorities quoted above, that Conchobhar was the last of his race
buried at Talten, and that Crimthann was the first of his line buried
at Brugh, we obtain a tolerably clear idea of the history of these
cemeteries. Brugh, in fact, succeeded to Talten on the decline of the
Ultonian dynasty and the rise of Tuatha de Danann after the victories
at Moytura had established their supremacy and they had settled
themselves at Tara.
The character of the sculptures in the two groups of monuments fully
bears out this view. The carvings at Lough Crew are ruder and less
artistic than those at Brugh. They are more disconnected, and oftener
mere cup markings. The three stones represented in the preceding and
following woodcuts (Nos. 75 and 76), are selected from a great many
in the Conwell portfolios as fair average specimens of the style
of sculpture common at Lough Crew, and with the woodcut No. 73,
representing the Hag's Chair, and No. 75, the chamber in cairn L,
will convey a fair notion of the whole. In no one instance does it
seem possible to guess what these figures were meant to represent.
No animal or vegetable form can be recognized, even after allowing
the utmost latitude to the imagination; nor do the circles or waving
lines seem intended to convey any pictorial ideas. Beauty of form, as
a decoration, seems to have been all the old Celt aimed at, and he may
have been thought successful at the time, though it hardly conveys the
same impression to modern minds. The graceful scrolls and spirals and
the foliage of New Grange and Dowth do not occur there, nor anything
in the least approaching to them. Indeed, when Mr. Conwell's book is
published, in which they will all be drawn in more or less detail, I
believe it will be easy to arrange the whole into a progressive series
illustrative of the artistic history of Ireland for five centuries
before the advent of St. Patrick.
[Illustration: 76. Stone in Cairn T. Lough Crew.--E. Conwell.]
It would be an extremely dangerous line of argument to apply this law
of progressive development to all countries. In India, especially, it
is very frequently reversed. The rudest art is often much more modern
than the most refined, but in Ireland this apparently never was the
case. From the earliest scratchings on pillar stones, down to the
English conquest, her art seems to have been unfalteringly progressive;
and, beginning with these two cemeteries, which are probably the oldest
incunabula of her art, its history might be written without a gap, or
halt, till it bloomed in those exquisite manuscripts and crosses and
works of gold and metal which still excite such unqualified admiration.
* * * * *
[Illustration: 77. Stones in Sculptured Graves, Clover Hill. From a
sketch by the Author.]
There may be, and no doubt are, many other sculptured graves
in Ireland, but they have not yet been explored, or, at least,
published. One, however, deserves notice; not, certainly, on account
of its magnificence, but for several points of interest which its
peculiarities bring out. It is situated in a field near Clover Hill,
not far from Carrowmore, the battle-field of northern Moytura.[255]
It measures only 7 feet by 5, and is 4½ feet deep. Its cap-stone
was originally flush with the earth, and no cairn or circle of stones
marks it externally, nor is there any tradition of any such ever
having existed. The carvings on the stones forming the chamber are
shallow, and now very indistinct, from being overgrown with lichens
and moss, but their general character will be understood from the
annexed woodcut. Its character is something between the sculptures
of Talten and Brugh, which would agree very well with its date if we
suppose it connected with the battle-field. This, however, is very
doubtful, for there are few things that come out more prominently in
the investigation than the fact that all those monuments which are
directly or indirectly connected with battle-fields are literally rude
and untouched by the chisel, but that all, or nearly all those which
are in cemeteries, or have been erected leisurely by, or for, those who
occupy them, are more or less ornamented. It may, however, be that some
one connected with the battle wished to be buried near his companions
who fell there, and prepared this last resting-place for himself, but
we must know more before such speculations can be of much value.
One other point is of interest regarding this tomb. If the minor
sepulchres at Brugh were like the one flush with the surface, we cannot
guess how many may yet be there undiscovered, and equally difficult to
say how they are to be disinterred.
DOLMENS.
It is extremely difficult to write anything that will be at all
satisfactory regarding the few standing solitary dolmens of Ireland.
Not that their history could not be, perhaps, easily ascertained, but
simply because every one has hitherto been content to consider them as
prehistoric, and no one has consequently given himself the trouble to
investigate the matter. The first point would be to ascertain whether
any of them exist on any of the battle-fields mentioned in the Irish
annals. My impression is that they do not: but this question can only
be answered satisfactorily by some one more intimately acquainted with
the ancient political geography of Ireland than I can pretend to be.
No connexion has, however, yet been shown to exist between them and
any known battle-fields, and till this is done, we must be content to
consider them as the graves of chiefs or distinguished individuals
whose ashes are contained in the urns which are generally found under
them.
A still more important question hinges on their geographical
distribution. Nothing can be more unsafe than to found any important
deductions on what is known on this subject at present. If all those
which are described in books and in journals of learned societies
were marked on a map, the conclusion would be that the most of them
are found on the east coast of Ireland; a dozen or so in Waterford
and Wexford; as many in Dublin and Meath, and an equal number in
County Down. But this knowledge may merely mean that the east coast,
possessing roads and towns, has consequently been more frequented by
tourists and antiquaries than the remote or inaccessible west.
Among the records, however, of the Ordnance survey, and in the Du Noyer
drawings, there are probably sufficient materials for the purpose. Both
are deposited in the Library of the Royal Irish Academy at Dublin;
but any person who would attempt to use these materials for the
purpose of such an investigation, must be not only an enthusiast, but
have his whole time at his disposal. The disarray in which they now
exist renders them utterly useless to any ordinary student of Irish
antiquities.
The Irish themselves seem to have only one tradition regarding their
dolmens. They call them all "Beds of Diarmid and Graine," and that is
the name applied to them in the sheets of the Ordnance Survey. The
elopement of Diarmid with Graine, the daughter of Cormac Mac Art,
whose date, according to the Four Masters, was A.D. 286, is
one of the most celebrated of Irish legends.[256] The story is, that
being pursued all over Ireland by Finn, the disappointed suitor, they
erected these as places of shelter, or for hiding in. This is, of
course, absurd enough; but it shows that, in the opinion of the Irish
themselves, they belong to the period which elapsed between the birth
of Christ and the conversion of the people to Christianity. There is
no hint in any Irish book that any of them were erected before the
Christian era, nor anything that would lead us to suppose that any are
more modern than the time of St. Columba.
The most extensive group of free standing dolmens known to exist in
Ireland, is that in or near Glen Columbkille, at the extreme western
point of Donegal. No account of these has been published--so far as I
know--in any book or journal, and I am indebted for all I know about
them to my friend, Mr. Norman Moore, who paid a visit to the spot
this autumn to obtain the information I wanted, and it is from his
descriptions that the following is abstracted.[257]
The principal groups are situated in Glen Malin More, a small valley
running parallel to that of Columbkille, about two miles to the
southward of it. There are three groups on the north side of this
valley and two on the south, extending from about half a mile from
the sea-shore to about three miles inward. The finest group is that
next the sea on the south side, and consists of six dolmens, situated
nearly in a row, about 50 or 100 feet apart, and is accompanied by
some cairns, but so small as hardly to deserve the name of Tumuli. The
stones of the dolmens range from 6 to 12 feet in height, and their
cap-stones are still there, though some have been displaced.
The second group, a little way up the glen, consists of ten dolmens
arranged in two parallel rows, but they are neither so large nor so
perfect as those nearer to the sea.
Nearly opposite the first-named group on the shore, but on the north
side of the stream, are two dolmens so nearly contiguous to each
other that they may almost be considered as one structure. About half
a mile to the east of this is a fourth group, consisting of four
dolmens, accompanied by cairns, and two at least of the former are of
considerable magnificence. The group farthest up the glen consists of
five or six dolmens, but all except one in a ruinous state.
The number of dolmens in Glen Columbkille is not given by Mr. Moore;
but, from the context, there must be five or six, making up twenty
to thirty for the whole group. So far as can be judged from the
description, the group in Glen Columbkille seems to have better fitted
and more complete chambers; consequently, I should infer it to be more
modern than the others. It would, however, require careful personal
inspection to classify them; though I have no doubt it could be done,
and that, with a little care, these six groups could be arranged into a
consecutive series, whatever the initial or final date may turn out to
be.
The general construction and appearance of these tombs is that of
the so-called Calliagh Birra's house in Meath, described further on
(woodcut No. 80). From its situation and appearance, there seems little
reason for doubt that the Meath example belongs to the fifth or the
sixth century; and if this is so, as little for doubting that these
dolmens in Donegal are of about the same age, or, in other words, that
this mode of interment continued to be practised in certain parts of
Ireland, especially near the coasts, down to the entire conversion of
the inhabitants to Christianity.
There are no other traditions, so far as I know, attached to anything
in this glen, except those that relate to St. Columba, who, it is
understood, long resided here, attempting to convert the inhabitants
to Christianity. Whether he was successful or not is not clear. He
certainly left Ireland in disgust, and settled in the first island
whence the shores of his detested native land could not be seen. The
only other tradition that seems to bear on the subject relates to
St. Patrick, who, being unable to convert the "Demons" about Croagh
Patrick, in Mayo, drove them into the sea; but, instead of perishing,
as they ought to have done, when he threw his bell after them, they
reappeared, and settled on this promontory.[258] The meaning of this
fable seems to be, that some tribe--not Celtic, for the Celts accepted
Christianity whenever and wherever it was preached to them, but, it may
be of Iberian origin--refusing to accept the doctrine, was expelled
by force from their seats in Mayo, and sought refuge with kindred
tribes in this remote corner of the island, and here remained till
St. Columba took up his abode among them. If we might assume that
the Columbkille group belongs to a time immediately preceding their
conversion, and that the other five groups in Malin More extended back
to a date two, three, it may be four centuries before St. Columba's
time, and that they belonged to an Iberian or Celtiberian race, we
should have an hypothesis which at least would account for all their
peculiarities. Though in sight of Carrowmore, on the southern side of
Sligo Bay, it is certain that these monuments have no affinity with
them or with the works of any of the Northern circle-building nations.
Spanish or French they must be; and we can hardly hesitate between the
two. In Elizabeth's time, and as far back as history reaches, we have
Spaniards settled in Galway, and on the western coast of Ireland. Such
colonisation, if lasting, is not the work of any sudden impulse or of
a long past time; and the probability is that Iberians, before they
learned to talk Latin, were settled here from a very early age. It
is also probable from what we know of them and their monuments in the
Peninsula, that they would refuse for a longer period than the Celts to
be converted, and that they should use dolmens for their sepulchres in
preference either to tumuli or circles.
Be this as it may, there are at least two points which we may assume
negatively with regard to these dolmens. The first is, that they do not
mark battle-fields: they have none of the appearance of such monuments.
The second is, that as there is no capital or fertile country in their
neighbourhood, they are not a royal cemetery; they are not, indeed,
claimed, even in the remotest manner, by any of the royal races of
Ireland. They are, so far as we can see, the sepulchres of a foreign
colony settled on this spot. Whether this is probable or not must,
of course, depend on a comparison of these monuments with those in
the countries from which they are supposed to have come. But, in the
meanwhile, it may be assumed, as an hypothesis which at least accounts
for the phenomena as we find them in Ireland, even when judged of by
their own internal evidence alone.
* * * * *
One of the most interesting of the Irish dolmens is that known as the
Giant's Grave, near Drumbo, about four miles south from Belfast. The
interest attached to this monument does not, however, arise so much
from the grandeur of the structure itself, though it may be considered
a first-class example and very tolerably perfect, but from its standing
solitary in the centre of the largest circle in these islands,
Avebury only excepted. The circle is about 580 feet in diameter, and
consequently more than six acres in extent, and is formed, not as at
Avebury or Arbor Low, by a ditch dug inside, and the earth so gained
being used to form a rampart, but by the top of a hill being levelled
and the earth removed in so doing being thrown up so as to form a
circular amphitheatre. Although, consequently, the rampart is not so
high outside as at Avebury, the whole surface internally having been
lowered, the internal effect is very much grander.[259]
What, then, was the object of this great earthwork with one solitary
dolmen in the centre? Was it simply the converse of such a mound as
that at New Grange? Was it that, instead of heaping the earth over the
sepulchral chamber, they cleared it away and arranged it round it, so
as to give it dignity? Or was it that funereal games or ceremonies were
celebrated round the tomb, and that the amphitheatre was prepared to
give dignity to their performance? These are questions that can only
be answered when more of these circles are known and compared with one
another, and the whole subject submitted to a more careful examination
than has yet been the case. My impression is that it is the grave of
a chief, and of him only, and that it is among the most modern of its
class.
At about the same distance west from Belfast is another dolmen, which,
in itself, is a much finer example than this Grave of the Giant. Its
cap-stone is said to weigh 40 tons, and is supported by five upright
stones of considerable dimensions. It has, however, no circle or
accompaniments. The Celtic name of the district in which it stands was
'Baille clough togal,' _i.e._ the Town of the Stone of the Strangers,
which would seem to indicate that it was not very old, nor its origin
quite forgotten.
[Illustration: 78. Dolmen at Knockeen.]
At Knockeen, county Waterford, there is a remarkable dolmen (woodcut
No. 78), though it neither has any surroundings nor any tradition
attached to it.[260] It is interesting, however, as it looks as if
we were approaching the form out of which Stonehenge grew, which, I
have not a doubt, could be found in Ireland if looked for. It is also
interesting as showing in plan (woodcut No. 79), an arrangement which
is peculiar, I believe, to Irish dolmens. The cell is well formed, but
in front of it is a demicell, or ante-chamber, which looks as if it
might have been used for making offerings to the dead after the cell
was closed.
[Illustration: 79. Plan of Dolmen at Knockeen.]
[Illustration: 80. Calliagh Birra's House, north end of Parish of
Monasterboice.]
One other dolmen deserves being illustrated before going further, as it
belongs to a class of monuments common in Brittany, hitherto unknown in
Great Britain. It consists of a cell 12 feet 8 inches long internally,
with a width of 4 feet at the entrance, but diminishing to 3 feet at
its inner end. It is situated near Monasterboice, at the northern limit
of the parish, and not far, consequently, from New Grange, and close
to Greenmount. Locally it is known as the house or tomb of Calliagh
Vera, or Birra,[261] the hag whose chair is illustrated in woodcut No.
73, and whose name is indissolubly connected with the Lough Crew tombs.
According to the traditions collected by Dr. O'Donovan and Mr. Conwell,
she broke her neck before completing the last tumulus, and was buried,
close to where she died,[262] in the parish of Diarmor, where, however,
nothing remains to mark the spot.
From the mode in which it is constructed, it seems hardly doubtful that
the original intention was to cover it with a tumulus; but probably it
never was occupied. If I am correct in my surmise as to its age, its
builder may have been converted to Christianity before he had occasion
for it. But, be that as it may, its exposed position may serve to
explain how a king or chief who had erected such a structure for his
burying-place might very well have amused himself, if his life were
prolonged, in adorning both the interior and exterior with carvings.
I cannot believe that the internal ornaments were ever executed by
artificial light, and both, therefore, must have been completed before
the chamber was buried.
Last year, General Lefroy excavated a tumulus at Greenmount, Castle
Bellingham, about five miles north of Calliagh Birra's so-called
house.[263] In it he found a chamber, 21 feet long by about 4 feet wide
and 5 feet high, enclosed by two parallel walls built of small stones,
and closed at each end by similar masonry.
The roof was formed of slabs in two rows, the lower projecting as
brackets and the upper stretching across beyond the walls on each side.
In plan, therefore, it was identical with the Birra's house, though
longer and larger. But, from the mode in which it was constructed,
it was evidently more modern,--the most modern, in fact, of all the
chambered sepulchral tumuli yet discovered in Ireland.
[Illustration: 81. Plan and Section of Chamber in Greenmount Tumulus.
From a drawing by General Lefroy.]
Nothing was found in the chamber: it had been rifled before, but by
whom and at what period there was nothing to show. At 9 or 10 feet
below the summit, but still 6 or 7 feet above the floor of the chamber,
a bronze monument was found with a Runic inscription on it, which, with
the assistance of the Danish antiquaries, the General decides to belong
to the ninth century (852?). The one question is, is it coeval with the
building of the tomb or its destruction? The name Domnal, or Domhnall,
being Irish, and the position in which it was found seem to prove that
it belongs to the period of the raising of the mound, not to that of
its being rifled; and if so, this grave approaches the age to which
Maeshowe in the Orkneys may belong.
The circumstance, however, which interests us most at present is the
similarity of the Greenmount Chamber to the Lady Birra's tomb. Being
locally so close to one another, and so like in plan, they cannot be
very distant in date, though the more southern is, from its megalithic
character, undoubtedly the more ancient of the two. If we allow two or
three centuries it is a long stretch, though even that takes us far
away from any connexion with the monuments at Lough Crew, and barely
allows of it following very close on those at Brugh na Boinne.
The similarity of this tomb with those at Glen Columbkille has already
been pointed out, and no doubt others exist in Ireland, and will be
brought to light as soon as attention is directed to the subject. But
meanwhile they seem, so far as we can at present judge, to make up an
extensive group of pagan or semi-pagan monuments, extending from the
time of St. Patrick to that of St. Columba, and, as such, are among
the latest, and certainly among the most interesting, monuments of the
class in Ireland.
[Illustration: 82. Dolmen of the Four Maols, Ballina.]
Vague as all this may probably appear, there is one dolmen in Ireland
which seems to have a date. The great grandson of Dathi, whose red
pillar-stone at Rath Croghan, erected A.D. 428, we have
already pointed out, was named Ceallach. He was murdered by his four
foster-brothers through envy about the sovereignty. They were hanged
for their crime at a spot known as Ard-na-Riagh, near Ballina, and were
buried on a hill on the opposite side of the river, where a dolmen
still stands, and is pointed out as the grave of the four Maols, the
murderers. These particulars are related in the Dinnsenchus, in the
Book of Lecan, and in the Annals of the Hy Fiachrach, translated by Dr.
O'Donovan (p. 35), who, in a note, adds that "this evidence, coupled
with the description of the situation on the other side of the Moy,
opposite Ard-na-Riagh, leaves no doubt of its identity."
The dolmen in question has nothing very remarkable about it. The
cap-stone, which measures 9 feet by 7 feet, is hexagonal in form, and
is supported on three uprights, arranged similarly to those of Kit's
Cotty House. It is perfectly level, and stands about 4 feet above
the level of the soil. The cap-stone may have been fashioned into
its present form by art; but there is no sign of chiselling, and,
altogether there is nothing that would attract especial attention.[264]
The interest rests with its date. If it can be established that it
belongs to the beginning of the sixth century, which I see no more
reason for doubting than Dr. O'Donovan does, it is a point gained in
our investigation, in so far at least as dates are concerned.
It would be tedious to enumerate the other dolmens in Ireland which
have neither dates nor peculiarities to distinguish them from others
of this class, but there is one monument of a megalithic character in
Ireland which must be described before leaving the country, though it
certainly is not a dolmen, and its date and use are both mysterious at
present.
[Illustration: 83. Sketch-Plan of Monument in the Deer Park, Sligo.
Scale 40 feet to 1 inch.]
It stands in the deer park of the Hazlewood domain, about four miles
east of Sligo. It is entered from the south, and consists first
of an enclosure 54 feet by 24 feet. To the westward of this is a
smaller apartment, about 30 feet by 12 feet, divided into two by two
projecting stones. At the east end are two similar apartments side
by side, but smaller, the whole length of the structure measuring
about 115 feet.[265] The three entrances from the central to the side
apartments are trilithons of squared and partially dressed stones, and
would remind us of Stonehenge, were they not so small. They are only
3 feet under the lintel, and you must bow low indeed to pass under
them. Indeed, when speaking of these enclosures as apartments, it
must be borne in mind that one can enter anywhere by passing between
the stones, and stepping over the walls, which are composed of stones
hardly ever touching each other, the highest being only 3 or 4 feet
high. Many of them, though massive, have only half that height.
What, then, is this curious edifice? It can hardly be a tomb, it is
so unlike any other tomb which we know of. In plan it looks more like
a temple; indeed, it is not unlike the arrangement of some Christian
churches: but a church or temple with walls pervious, as these are, and
so low that the congregation outside can see all that passes inside,
is so anomalous an arrangement, that it does not seem admissible. At
present it is unique; if some similar example could be discovered,
perhaps we might guess its riddle.
It is situated on the highest plateau of the hill. A little lower
down is a very fine stone Cathair, or circular fort, with an L-shaped
underground apartment of some extent in its centre; and on a
neighbouring eminence are several round tumuli, which, looking like the
burying-places of the "Castellani," increase the improbability of the
upper building being a sepulchre.
* * * * *
Before leaving this branch of the subject, it may be as well to allude
to a point which, though not very distinct in itself, may have some
influence with those who are shocked at being told that the rude
stone monuments of Ireland are so modern as from the preceding pages
we should infer they were. It is that every allusion to Ireland, in
any classical author, and every inference from its own annals, lead
us to assume that Ireland, during the centuries that elapsed between
the Christian era and St. Patrick, was in a state of utter and
hopeless barbarism. The testimony of Diodorus[266] and Strabo[267]
that its inhabitants were cannibals is too distinct to be disputed,
and according to the last named authority, they added to this an
ugly habit of eating their fathers and mothers. These accusations
are repeated by St. Jerome[268] in the fourth century with more than
necessary emphasis. All represent the Irish as having all their women
in common, and as more barbarous than the inhabitants of Britain,[269]
indeed, than any other people of Europe. Nor can it be pleaded that
these authors wrote in ignorance of the state of the country, for
Ptolemy's description of the coasts and of the interior, of the cities
and tribes shows an intimate acquaintance with the island which could
only be derived from observation.[270] Their own annals do not, it
is true, repeat these scandals; but nothing we now have can be said
to have been reduced to writing in anything like the form in which
we now possess it before the time of St. Patrick; and even that has
passed through edition after edition at the hands of patriotic Irishmen
before it assumed the form in which we now find it. Even these tell of
nothing but fighting and assassination, and of crimes of every sort
and kind. Even the highest title of one of their greatest kings, Conn
"of a hundred battles," is sufficiently indicative of the life which
he led, and the state of the country he governed. As we have every
reason to believe that the progress of Ireland was steadily and equably
progressive, it is evident that if it was so, a very short time prior
to what we find in the early centuries of Christianity would take us
back to the present state of the natives of Australia, and we should
find a condition of society when any combined effort was impossible. So
evident is this, not only from history, but from every inference that
can be gathered from the state of Ireland in subsequent ages, that the
wonder really is how such a people could have erected such monuments
as those we find on the banks of the Boyne in the early centuries of
our epoch. The answer is, of course, that the idleness of savages
is capable of wonderful efforts. A nation of men who have no higher
ambition than to provide for their daily wants, and who are willing to
submit to any tyrant who will undertake to supply these in order to
gratify his own pride or ambition, may effect wonders. The pyramids
of Egypt and the temples of southern India are examples of what may
be done by similar means. But to effect such things, the people must
be sufficiently organised to combine, and sufficiently disciplined to
submit; and we have no reason to suppose that in Ireland they were
either before the Christian era, and it is even very difficult to
understand how they came to be so far advanced even in the time of St.
Patrick. That they were so their works attest; but if we had to trust
to indications derived from history alone, the inference certainly
would be that the monuments are considerably more modern than the dates
above assigned to them; while it seems barely possible they should be
carried back to any earlier period.
* * * * *
There may be other rude stone monuments in Ireland besides those
described or alluded to in the preceding pages, but they can scarcely
be very numerous or very important, or they could hardly have escaped
notice. They are not, consequently, likely to disturb any conclusion
that may be arrived at from the examination of those which are known.
From these, we may safely conclude that all, with perhaps the exception
of the Hazlewood monument, are certainly sepulchral; and all, unless
I am very much mistaken, were erected subsequently to the building of
Emania by Eochaidh Ollamb Fodlha in the third century B.C.
There may be cairns, and even dolmens, belonging to the earlier
Hiberni before the Scoti were driven from the Continent, by the Punic
or Roman wars, to seek refuge and repose in the green island of the
West, but they must be insignificant, and probably must remain for ever
unrecognizable.
From the date, however, of the founding of Emania we seem to have a
perfectly consecutive and intelligible series commencing with the
smaller and ruder cairns of Lough Crew, and rising at last to the
lordly sepulchres of Brugh na Boinne. Between these two stand the
monuments on the battle-fields of Moytura, and contemporary with the
last are the Raths on the far-famed hill of Tara. Beyond these we seem
to have the tomb of the four Moels, the so-called house of Calliagh
Birra, and the dolmens of Glencolumbkille, all apparently belonging
to the sixth century. The tumulus at Greenmount is later than any of
these, but hardly belongs to our Irish series.
From these we pass by easy gradations to the beehive cells and
oratories of the early Christians. No such stone dwellings probably
existed before the time of St. Patrick, or we should have found traces
of them at Tara, or Armagh, or Telltown; but as none such existed
in these royal seats of the Scots, we may fairly assume that for
domestic purposes wood and turf alone were used. But as soon as the
use of stone became prevalent for such purposes, as was the case with
the introduction of Christianity, we soon find the round towers, with
their accompanying churches, springing up in every corner of the land,
and Irish architecture progressing steadily in a groove of its own,
till its forms were modified, but not obliterated, by the changes
introduced by the English conquerors. The history of their style from
St. Patrick to the English conquerers has been so well written by
Petrie, that little now remains to be said about that division. But the
history of the preceding seven centuries still remains for some one
with the leisure requisite to explore the country, and with patience
and judgment sufficient to read aright the many enigmas which are
still involved in it, although the main outlines of the story seem
sufficiently clear and intelligible. If it were written out in detail
and fully illustrated, it would prove a most valuable commentary on
the dark period of the history of Ireland before the introduction of
Christianity, and when the concomitant introduction of alphabetic
writing first rendered her annals intelligible and trustworthy.
In one other respect the study of these early monuments of Ireland
seems to afford a subject of most engrossing interest. It is in Ireland
that we first begin to perceive the threefold division, which, if it
can be established, will lead to the most important ethnographical
determinations. It appears that in this island the stone circles of
the Scandinavians were introduced simultaneously with the dolmens of
the Iberians or Aquitanians, and we can trace the rude barrows of
the Celts growing up between them till they expanded into the great
mounds of the Boyne. That these three forms ever were at any one time
absolutely distinct is most unlikely, and equally so that they should
have long remained so in the same country, even if it could be shown
that at any one time they belonged to three separate races. Generally,
however, it seems hardly doubtful that they do point to ethnographic
peculiarities, which may become most important. Combined with their
history and a knowledge of their uses, these monuments promise to
rescue from oblivion one of the most curious chapters of Irish history,
which without them might remain for ever unwritten.
[Footnote 201: Stokes, 'Life of Petrie;' London, 1868, p. 99 _et
seq._]
[Footnote 202: In the following pages it is proposed to follow the
popular and pronounceable spelling of Irish proper names. One half
of the difficulty of following the Irish annals is the unfamiliar
and uncouth mode in which proper names are spelt, and which we
learn, from Eugene O'Curry's lectures, never represents the mode
in which they are pronounced. In a learned work intended for Irish
scholars, like the 'Annals of the Four Masters,' the scientific
mode of spelling is, of course, the only one that could be adopted,
but in such a work as this it would be only useless and prejudicial
pedantry.]
[Footnote 203: 'Lough Corrib, its Shores and Islands.' Dublin,
1867. Sir William possesses a residence on the battle-field, where
I was hospitably entertained for some days when I visited that
neighbourhood last year.]
[Footnote 204: These, and all the particulars of the battle of
South Moytura, are taken from the eighth chapter of Sir W. Wilde's
book, pp. 211-248, and need not, therefore, be specially referred
to.]
[Footnote 205: 'Annals of the Four Masters,' translated by J.
O'Donovan, i. p. 23.]
[Footnote 206: Eugene O'Curry's 'Materials for Ancient Irish
History,' p. 246.]
[Footnote 207: Stokes, 'Life of Petrie,' p. 253.]
[Footnote 208: _l. c._ p. 242.]
[Footnote 209: I regret very much that the state of my health,
and other circumstances, prevented my mapping and drawing these
remains, but I hope some competent person will undertake the task
before long. Carrowmore is more easily accessible than Carnac.
The inns at Sligo are better than those at Auray, the remains are
within three miles of the town, and the scenery near Sligo is far
more beautiful than that of the Morbihan; yet hundreds of our
countrymen rush annually to the French megaliths, and bring home
sketch-books full of views and measurements, but no one thinks of
the Irish monuments, and no views of them exist that are in any way
accessible to the public.]
[Footnote 210: It is unfortunately only an eye-sketch, hurriedly
taken, and thus not to be implicitly depended upon. The two stones
outside, that look like the rudiments of the avenue, I take to mark
only an external interment.]
[Footnote 211: These, and several other photographs of the field
and localities near it, were specially made for me by Mr. A.
Sleater, 26, Castle-street, Sligo, who executed my commission both
cheaply and intelligently.]
[Footnote 212: O'Curry's 'Materials for Ancient Irish History,'
Appendix xxv. p. 41.]
[Footnote 213: "Meaba Regina occisa est a Furba dio filio Concobari
7 Vespasiano," ii. p. 23.]
[Footnote 214: Stokes, 'Life of Petrie,' p. 256.]
[Footnote 215: Petrie's 'Round Towers,' p. 107.]
[Footnote 216: It will be found at more length in E. O'Curry's
'Materials for Ancient Irish History,' pp. 247-250.]
[Footnote 217: It was, according to the same authorities, "during
this interval that Lugh, the then reigning king, established
the fair at Tailtean, in commemoration of his foster-mother,
the daughter of Magh Mor, king of Spain," "This fair," adds Dr.
O'Donovan, "continued famous down to the time of Roderic O'Conor,
last monarch of Ireland; and the traditions of it are still so
vivid, that Telltown was till recently resorted to by the men of
Meath for hurling, wrestling, and manly sports." It would be a
wonderful instance of the stability of Irish institutions if a
fair, established in a miserable inland village eighteen centuries
before Christ, should flourish through the middle ages, and hardly
now be extinct! It may have been established about the Christian
era, but certainly not before, and thus becomes another piece of
evidence as to the date of the events we are describing.--'Annals
of the Four Masters,' p. 23.]
[Footnote 218: 'Mon. Hist. Brit.' xcviii.]
[Footnote 219: Madsen, 'Antiquités préhistoriques du Danemark.'
Copenhagen, 1869.]
[Footnote 220: Sjöborg Samlingar för Nordens Fornälskare,' i. p.
12.]
[Footnote 221: 'Materials for Ancient Irish History,' p. 250.]
[Footnote 222: 'Annals of the Four Masters,' translated by J.
O'Donovan, i. p. 21.]
[Footnote 223: O'Curry, 'Materials for Ancient Irish History,' p.
246.]
[Footnote 224: O'Connor, ii. p. 1. O'Curry, 'Materials for Ancient
Irish History,' p. 63.]
[Footnote 225: 'Tighernachi Ann.' O'Connor, p. 11-23.]
[Footnote 226: 'Annals of the Four Masters,' i. p. 99.]
[Footnote 227: 'Essay on the Ancient Architecture of Ireland,' by
G. Petrie, pp. 97-109.]
[Footnote 228: Could this be the great Rath close to the
Netterville domain? See Sir W. Wilde, 'The Boyne and the
Blackwater,' p. 211.]
[Footnote 229: Tighernach, O'Connor, ii. p. 23, "Carcobarus filius
Nessæ obiit hoc anno--33."]
[Footnote 230: In the 'Annals of the Four Masters' (i. p. 89)
there is a king called Eochaid Aireamb. "Ideo dictus," says Lynch,
translating Keating, "quod tumulos effodi primus in Hiberniâ
curavit." I have no doubt the etymology is correct, and the fact
also; but it would hardly do to base our argument upon it, though
it accords perfectly with the conclusion I have arrived at from
other circumstances. He lived, according to the 'Four Masters,'
118 B.C. According to the more correct Tighernach, 45
B.C.]
[Footnote 231: The real name of the Daghda was, according to the
'Four Masters,' Eochaidh Ollathair; and Eochaid, or Eochy, is
one of the most common names in Irish history, and constantly
recurring.]
[Footnote 232: Since the above was written I have been gratified
to find so eminent an authority as Dr. Henthorn Todd, late
President of the Royal Irish Academy, arriving, by a very different
road, at very nearly the same conclusion:--"The Firbolgs, or
Belgæ," he says, "invaded Ireland, not from France, but from
Britain--Dumnonii, or Devon." "The conquest of Ireland was not much
older than Cæsar's time, if it were not a good bit later, and was
the first influx of civilization rude, indeed, but much superior to
that of the Hiberni."--_Irish Nennius_, translated by J. H. Todd,
D.D., Appendix C.]
[Footnote 233: The principal one of these is the rath of Queen
Meave, at some distance off. She, according to Tighernach,
was slain by her stepson, in the seventh year of Vespasian,
A.D. 75.]
[Footnote 234: According to Tighernach, Cormac, the grandson of
Conn of a Hundred Battles, commonly called Cormac Mac Art, reigned
218-266 A.D.]
[Footnote 235: 'Hist. and Ant. of Tara Hill.'--'Trans. R. I. A.'
xviii. p. 212.]
[Footnote 236: _Ibid._ xviii. pp. 81, 137, 170, &c.]
[Footnote 237: 'Materials for Ancient Irish History,' Appendix ii.
p. 463 _et seq._]
[Footnote 238: _Ibid._ p. 29 _et seq._]
[Footnote 239: 'Hist, and Ant. of Tara.'--'Trans. R. I. S.' xviii.
p. 46.]
[Footnote 240: Petrie, 'Round Towers,' 100 _et seq._]
[Footnote 241: L. c. 105.]
[Footnote 242: The Irish use ditch, as the Romans used vallum, or
the Scotch dyke, to designate either a rampart or the hollow from
which it was taken.]
[Footnote 243: Quotation from 'Book of Geneal,' p. 251. Petrie,
'Round Towers,' p. 107.]
[Footnote 244: Sir W. Wilde, 'The Boyne and the Blackwater,' 1849,
p. 188.]
[Footnote 245: Rowland's 'Mona Antiqua,' p. 314.]
[Footnote 246: 'Philosophical Transactions,' Nos. 335-336.]
[Footnote 247: This is well illustrated in Sir W. Wilde's book, p.
192, by a woodcut by Wakeman.]
[Footnote 248: Wakeman, 'Handbook of Irish Antiquities,' p. 25.]
[Footnote 249: In extenuation of this disfigurement, it must be
explained that these Irish cairns are extremely difficult to
explore without destroying them. Being wholly composed of loose
stones, it is almost impossible to tunnel into them, and almost as
difficult to sink shafts through them. The only plan seems to be to
cut into them, and, when this is done, disfigurement is inevitable.]
[Footnote 250: 'Archæologia,' xxx. pl. xii. p. 137.]
[Footnote 251: Sir W. Wilde, 'The Boyne and the Blackwater,' p.
209.]
[Footnote 252: 'Journal Royal Archæological Society,' xv. p. 270.]
[Footnote 253: Petrie's 'Round Towers,' p. 105.]
[Footnote 254: O'Curry's 'Materials for Irish History,' p. 636 _et
seq._ So, too, even Tighernach adds, in the year 33:--"Concobares
filius Nessæ obiit hoc anno."--_Ann._ p. 18.]
[Footnote 255: 'Petrie's Life,' by Stokes, p. 256.]
[Footnote 256: Eugene O'Curry, 'Materials,' &c., 314, 597.]
[Footnote 257: This most valuable contribution, with his
permission, is printed _in extenso_ in Appendix A.]
[Footnote 258: "Croagh Patrick, a mountain in Mayo, is famous in
legendary records as the scene of St. Patrick's final conflicts
with the demons of Ireland. From its summit he drove them into the
ocean, and completed their discomfiture by flinging his bell among
their retreating ranks. Passing northward they emerged from the
deep, and took up their abode in the savage wilds of Seang Cean,
on the south-west of Donegal. Here they remained unmolested till
our Tirconellian saint (Columba) was directed by an angel to rid
the place of its foul inhabitants. After a violent struggle he
completely routed them. His name was thenceforth associated with
the tract, and the wild parish of Glen Columbkille preserves, in
its topography and traditions, a living commentary on the legend of
St. Columba," &c.--Reeves, _Vita St. Adam._, p. 206.]
[Footnote 259: I cannot help thinking that the great rath at Dowth
was formed by a similar process. It may not, therefore, after all,
be a residential rath, as suggested above, but we are not yet in a
position to speak positively on such matters.]
[Footnote 260: 'Journal Kilkenny Archæo. Soc.' v. N. S. p. 479.]
[Footnote 261: If, instead of this silly legend, we could connect
this tomb with Brendanus Biorro, the founder of the monastery of
Birra, now Parsonstown, it would be a step in the right direction.
His date would accord perfectly with the architectural inferences;
for, according to Tighernach, he died 573.[*] The difficulty is to
believe that a Christian "propheta," as he is called, could have
thought of so pagan a form of sepulchre. It is not easy, however
to eradicate long-established habits, and his countrymen may not,
within a century of St. Patrick's time, have invented and become
reconciled to a new mode of burial. The Danes certainly buried
in howes for centuries after their conversion, and the Irish may
have been equally conservative. It is, however, hardly worth
while arguing the question here, as we have nothing but a nominal
similarity to go upon, which is never much to be relied upon.
* Reeves, 'Vita Adamnani,' p. 210.]
[Footnote 262: Eugene Conwell's pamphlet descriptive of the Lough
Crew Tumuli, p. 2.]
[Footnote 263: The following particulars are taken from a paper by
General Lefroy, in the 'Archæological Journal,' No. 180, 1870, pp.
281 _et seq._]
[Footnote 264: My attention was first directed to this monument by
Mr. Samuel Ferguson, Keeper of the Records, Dublin. He considered
it then as the only cromlech in Ireland with an authenticated date;
but, as he has not published this, I must not be considered as
committing him to anything except beyond the desire of putting me
on the scent of an interesting investigation.]
[Footnote 265: There is a model of this curious structure in the
Royal Academy Museum, Dublin, but not a correct one; and the
woodcut in their catalogue, taken from the model, has still less
pretensions to accuracy.]
[Footnote 266: Diodorus, v. p. 32.]
[Footnote 267: 'Geo.' iv. p. 201.]
[Footnote 268: Ed. Valersii, i. p. 413; ii. p. 335.]
[Footnote 269: Tacitus, 'Agricola,' p. 24.]
[Footnote 270: Mercator, 'Geogra.' p. 31.]