[Illustration:
_5 6 4 3 2 1_
_C. Warren sculp._
_Antiquities in Ireland._]
THE
_Scientific
TOURIST_
THROUGH
IRELAND,
In which the Traveller is directed to the principal objects
_OF_
Antiquity, Art, Science & The Picturesque,
By
_An Irish Gentleman_,
Aided with the communications of Friends.
[Illustration:
_H. Warren sculp._ _Giants Causeway, County of Antrim._
]
LONDON,
PRINTED FOR JOHN BOOTH, DUKE-STREET, PORTLAND PLACE,
1818.
THE SCIENTIFIC
TOURIST
THROUGH
Ireland:
BY WHICH
THE TRAVELLER IS DIRECTED TO
THE PRINCIPAL OBJECTS
OF ANTIQUITY, ART, SCIENCE, AND
THE PICTURESQUE;
Arranged by Counties.
TO WHICH IS ADDED
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF THE ANTIQUITIES
OF IRELAND, &c.
BY AN IRISH GENTLEMAN,
AIDED BY
THE COMMUNICATIONS OF SEVERAL FRIENDS.
_Being a Sequel to "The Scientific Tourist through England,
Wales, and Scotland," by T. Walford, Esq._
London:
PRINTED FOR J. BOOTH, DUKE-STREET,
PORTLAND PLACE.
1818.
_This day is published in Two Volumes, Price_ 12_s._,
_Maps coloured_ 14_s._
(Uniformly printed with this Work)
THE SCIENTIFIC TOURIST
THROUGH
England, Wales, and Scotland:
BY T. WALFORD, ESQ. F.A.S. F.L.S.
CONTENTS.
_Page_
Introduction 1
Antiquities 8
Druidical Monuments 9
Cromlechs _ib._
Cairns 10
Ogham Inscriptions _ib._
Ancient Temples _ib._
Caves 11
Round Towers _ib._
Raths 14
Religious Antiquities 16
Churches, Cells, Hermitages,
and Crosses _ib._
Castles 18
Mineralogy 19
Moss Earth 20
Basaltes 21
Granite _ib._
Temperature 22
Travelling 23
Topographical Division
into Provinces, Baronies,
Parishes, and Acres 25
Ecclesiastical Division;
Dioceses, Parishes, and
Churches 27
Legal Division 28
Comparative Height of
Mountains 30
List of Round Towers, with
their Measurements 31
Glossary 34
Value of English and Irish
Currency 35
Description of Frontispiece
and Direction for
Plates 36
COUNTIES, viz.
Antrim.
Armagh.
Carlow.
Cavan.
Clare.
Cork.
Donnegal.
Down.
Dublin.
Eastmeath.
Fermanagh.
Galway.
Kerry.
Kildare.
Kilkenny.
King's County.
Leitrim.
Limerick.
Londonderry.
Longford.
Louth.
Mayo.
Meath; _see_ Eastmeath.
Monaghan.
Queen's County.
Roscommon.
Sligo.
Tipperary.
Tyrone.
Waterford.
Westmeath.
Wexford.
Wicklow.
Iters by various Persons.
Routes of Mail Coaches.
Index.
THIS HUMBLE ATTEMPT TO FACILITATE AND FAMILIARIZE
A JUST KNOWLEDGE OF THE VALUE AND BEAUTIES OF
THE KINGDOM OF IRELAND
HAVING BEEN MOST RESPECTFULLY PRESENTED,
IS NOW ON ITS PUBLICATION
WITH PERMISSION
INSCRIBED AND DEDICATED,
WITH
EVERY POSSIBLE SENSE OF THE OBLIGATION AND CONDESCENSION,
TO HIS IMPERIAL HIGHNESS
THE GRAND DUKE MICHAEL OF RUSSIA:
WHOSE VISIT TO THIS INTERESTING ISLAND
AND IMPORTANT ARM OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE
HAS CONFERRED AN HONOUR
WHICH CAN NEVER BE ERASED FROM THE RECOLLECTION OF
THE IRISH NATION.
August 31, 1818.
IRELAND.
INTRODUCTION.
This interesting country becoming every day more and more the subject
of inquiry and personal investigation, an HIBERNIAN TOURIST'S GUIDE
consequently forms a necessary adjunct to our original plan. In
prosecuting this design, our object is, by method and selection, to
enable even the casual six-weeks visitant to explore readily the most
important and curious specimens of nature and art, and that without
subjecting him to those travelling inconveniences which it has been too
much the fashion to complain of. Whilst travelling, at all times and
in all countries, the tourist must learn to suffer petty vexations,
privations, and delays; but a very amusing ramble may be executed in
Ireland, without more of these than the usual share. The MEANS OF
CONVEYANCE are now varied, extensive, rapid, and generally convenient;
not only from the capital in all directions, but also by means of
provincial coaches diverging from all the principal points; whilst good
roads and improving inns give facility and comfort to those who travel
with their own horses and carriages. In some places also, the INLAND
NAVIGATION affords a change of scenery and of general amusement to the
_independent_ traveller.
IRELAND, being only about 300 miles in length, and 200 in breadth,
containing 30,370 sq. m.[1], does not require a long period to traverse
its most important routes. Its CLIMATE is good, with a mean temperature
from 48 to 52; its face mostly level, but with extensive ranges of
mountainous tracts and rocky soil. It contains romantic LAKES, both
fresh and salt, viz. _Neagh_, _Erne_, _Killarney_, _Swilly_, _Foyle_,
_Corrib_, &c. &c.; also many majestic RIVERS, _Shannon_, _Liffy_,
_Boyne_, _Blackwater_, _Suir_, _Barrow_, _Lagan_, &c. Its MOUNTAINOUS
TRACTS are principally in Donnegal and Tyrone in the north, with part of
Antrim; also the Mourne Mountains in Down; the mountains of Wicklow;
in Kerry, and the s.w.; together with the extensive ranges to the
west of the Shannon. The BOGS are extensive, occupying many of the
mountains, indeed often undulating in hill and dale, particularly in
Donnegal; whilst both they and the dry heaths are covered with wild
myrtles, sedgy grass, rushes, _saggons_, or iris, orchis, wild rockets,
&c. Of its FORESTS few remain, being now sunk under the turf-bogs or
peat mosses; yet of minor BOTANY there is a great field for examination
in the Ericæ, numerous alpine plants, and wild flowers on the heaths,
bogs, and rocky fastnesses. Its MINERALOGY is very varied, from the
gold mines of Wicklow, down to the silver mines of the same county,
those of copper at Cronbane, with marble, coal, slate; whilst its
MINERAL SPRINGS, vitriolic, alkaline, saline, sulphureous, &c. offer
frequent opportunities of analysis to the man of science.
[1] Dr. Beaufort.
The importance of any plan which will tempt Englishmen of fortune,
especially the members of the legislative body, to visit Ireland,
cannot be more clearly expressed than in Mr. Wakefield's introduction
to his work on that country, where he observes, that a knowledge of
the natural situation, of the political institutions, and of the local
advantages even of a foreign nation, form an object of considerable
magnitude, and must to an inquiring and enlightened mind be a source of
no small gratification; but to become acquainted with these relations,
as they respect the great divisions of the empire of which we are
ourselves subjects, is of much greater importance.
It is impossible to tread the green sod of _Erin_, without a
considerable portion of antiquarian enthusiasm,--at least not to
traverse her wilds, without a portion of that spirit, even though we
may be tempted to deny that extreme antiquity of record drawn from the
earliest periods, and claimed by the _Old Irish_ in the indulgence of
their national vanity. But the true enthusiast requires not always
absolute historical proof to justify his feelings; and it is well
that he does not; for then many of his aërial pictures must fade from
existence; and the sober truth certainly is, as the elaborate Leland
has expressed himself, that it cannot be denied that no literary
monuments, to confirm tradition, have yet been discovered in Ireland
earlier than the introduction of Christianity into that country; and
that the evidence of any transactions previous to that period, rests
entirely on the credit of Christian writers, and their collections
from old poets, or their transcripts of records deemed to have been
made in times of paganism. It seems indeed, as he adds, unreasonable
to expect that any other domestic evidence of Irish antiquity should
subsist at this day; but from these the antiquary forms a regular
history of a long succession of kings and of romantic events from the
earlier ages of the world. Still do these details impart considerable
interest to the scenes where they are supposed to have been acted; and
from the poetical annals that furnish the catalogue of monarchs, we
have a lively picture of manners, most certainly of great antiquity,
however low we reduce the scale of chronology, and highly worthy of
attention, even though we smile at the tales connected with them,
with a most profuse intermixture of giants, necromancers, obscure
allegories, and extravagant fables. In those annals, we have an
animated picture of a brave people, driven from their native land in
search of new settlements, establishing themselves by their valour
in a fair and fertile island; the chieftains parcelling out lands
to their attendants, and the whole collection of adventurers, from
the moment of their peaceful establishment, devising means to give
stability to their acquisitions. As a bond of unity to the whole,
they elect a monarch; but preserve their own individual sovereignty
in their domains, forming a complete feudal system, and filling the
land with little courts where politeness and chivalry, attended by
poetry and romance, went hand in hand. Such is the sketch which
arises from Leland's masterly delineation; who adds, that in this
state of things a robust frame of body, a vehemence of passion, an
elevated imagination, were the characteristics of the people; whilst
noble instances of valour, generous effusions of benevolence, ardent
resentments, desperate and vindictive outrages, abound in their annals.
From hence too it is that scarcely a romantic dell or simple green
knoll exists without its traditionary tale; sometimes stained with
blood, but as often enlivened by love--for to verse and music they were
particularly addicted. Hence arose that peculiar turn of character by
which those who are possessed of any superior degree of knowledge, they
who operate on their fancies and passions by the liveliest strains of
poetry, have long been held in extraordinary veneration; and hence,
even at the present day, the ministers of their religion are accounted
more than human. The effects of those early events may indeed still be
traced by the modern tourist; and even the historian of cotemporary
transactions is obliged to coincide with the elegant Littleton when he
observes, that the songs of the bard had usually more power to incite
and inflame, than the music of the harp to soften or mitigate the
ferocity of the chief; so that even this recreation, which seems to
indicate something gentle and approaching to politeness in the temper
of the Irish, contributed to keep up that turbulent spirit, averse to
order and peace, which no prince or legislator that their country ever
produced, had sufficient skill to control. But still, from the remnants
of these ancient customs will the modern tourist derive considerable
advantages, and from none more than their proverbial hospitality, if he
himself has sense enough to keep it within bounds of propriety. Of this
hospitality much arises from the natural temper of the people; much
from the natural curiosity connected with the arrival of a stranger in
a district where intercourse is unfrequent; and some portion perhaps
derivable from ancient custom; for, as Leland observes, hospitality
was not only a principal virtue amongst these rude people, but was
even enjoined by law; and as neither lords nor tenants were bound to
each other, as the whole tribe might migrate to some more favourable
district, the ancient _Brehon_ laws expressly stipulate that no rath
shall break up suddenly, lest the traveller should be disappointed of
his expected reception. But neither the duties to be received by the
lord, nor the entertainment he was to expect from his inferiors, were
determined by his arbitrary will and pleasure. They were proportioned
to the benefits received from him--nay, even the lowest of the people
claimed reception and refreshment by an almost perfect right; and
so ineffectual is the flux of many centuries to efface the ancient
manners of a people, that at this day the wandering beggar enters the
house of a farmer or gentleman with as much ease and freedom as an
inmate. From this strict adherence to old customs, it arose that even
on the introduction of Christianity, many of the Pagan and Druidical
ceremonies of religion, interwoven with secular ordinances, were
preserved throughout the island. Indeed, as the author already quoted
very justly affirms, the first Christian missionaries seem to have
industriously avoided all unnecessary violence to the ancient manners
of their converts: favouring and protecting their poets; avoiding
all persecution towards the remains of the Druidical order; and even
whilst thundering the divine vengeance against the worshippers of the
sun, moon, stars, and wind, yet exercising indulgence towards many
remains of Pagan superstition. In consequence of this, the inquisitive
tourist will find many vestiges of those superstitions even in the most
enlightened parts of the kingdom, where their origin is unknown or
forgotten; and they are complied with in conformity to general custom,
or prompted by the association of early ideas and prejudices. Of these
the most conspicuous are the fires still lighted up at particular
times, remnants of the worship of Baal or Apollo; the collecting oaken
sprigs in May, a Druidical rite; and many others, which cannot fail to
interest the observer.
As the inquisitive traveller will doubtless make statistical
observations in his progress through the country, the following
quotation from Mr. Wakefield's multifarious and very intelligent work
may form the basis of a series of reasoning highly deserving the
attention of the politician. Speaking of the county of Louth, vol.
2. p. 616, he says--"This county has two large towns, one of which,
Drogheda, is of considerable extent, but its inhabitants are remarkably
poor. To those who have compared this place with Belfast, where the
population is nearly the same, the difference must be very striking;
and nothing can more clearly evince the superior condition of the
Protestants over that of the Catholics, there being as many Protestants
in Belfast as there are Catholics in Drogheda. The humbler classes of
the Protestants are ashamed to be seen dirty, or with bad clothes; but,
being so much outnumbered, they in consequence find very little society
amongst persons of their own faith, and have a stronger propensity
to emigrate."--This pictorial contrast of two towns is, in fact,
but a picture of the whole island. Let the tourist then examine the
Protestant and Catholic districts with impartiality--let him closely
examine from what it is that the Catholics require to be _emancipated_!
We do not anticipate--we are of no party; but the inquiry is of
consequence and deserves attention, especially at a moment when the
question of Emancipation is likely again to become a subject of
parliamentary and public discussion.
To do justice to that subject requires facts, and not mere abstract
reasoning. It cannot be the wish of any liberal Protestant to retain
the Roman Catholics under undue subjection; but liberality has its
bounds; and though a misplaced philanthropy may render us careless
respecting our own individual rights, yet it must be remembered that it
cannot justify us in yielding up the rights and the security of others.
As far as _Catholic Emancipation_, as it is called, is consistent with
_Protestant Security_, so far it is not only right but just and prudent
to concede; but before _Protestant Ascendancy_ is given up, let us be
certain, from an accurate investigation of facts, that _Protestant
Security_ will remain inviolate. Let us examine the history of past
times; and also examine mankind at the present day, with a strict
reference to it. This cannot be done in a closet or editorial apartment
in the metropolis; he who would investigate surely, and therefore
safely, must visit the spot where, and the people by whom, these claims
are made.
Again, we say, that it is not our wish to anticipate; but facts may be
recorded. If the tourist ascertains that the Roman Catholic districts
of Ireland are in greater penury than those where Protestantism
predominates, he will not attribute that in the first instance to
Protestant ascendancy, until he has examined the facts before his eyes.
He will see that industry is the great agent in the one case; the want
of it, the great and immediate agent in the other. Here then is a point
for him from whence to start in his moral investigations; and he will
at once observe, that in the Protestant districts six days in each
week are dedicated to labour, and the sabbath dedicated to the offices
of religion; whilst in other districts half the week is passed in the
idleness or dissipation of holidays, and the sabbath neglected. It is
true that in the breasts of the Irish Catholics he will find a strong
sense of religion, agreeable to their modes of faith and ceremony;
but he will also find that those modes of faith and ceremony are
subversive of the spirit of industry, whose stream to be generally
useful must not be dammed up at particular points, and suffered
to run waste at others. But let not the writer of these sheets be
misunderstood. Though fully impressed with the truth and justice of the
foregoing observations, it is far from his wish to throw any obstacles
in the way of the Catholic Faith. That Faith is free and unshackled,
as far as regards God and man; if political restrictions still exist,
they exist upon an impression that to do them away must be injurious
to Protestantism. To adduce the reasons for that impression would be
beyond our limits, and beyond our plan; but until that impression is
proved to be groundless, unlimited concession must be withheld. The
true and liberal philanthropist will also inquire whether, under the
peculiar circumstances of their religion, the great body of the Irish
Catholics would absolutely be benefited by an accordance with the
claims set up. Until that be ascertained, he will pause; and though
he may deprecate any thing like coercion, he will still be careful to
avoid any thing like encouragement, until he is convinced that its
results will at least be harmless.
To form an accurate judgement on these points demands an Irish tour.
The conviction on his own mind which the editor has here hazarded,
without any wish to prejudge the case in the minds of others, is not
formed on slight grounds. An early acquaintance with that island, and
subsequent rambles over most parts of it, joined to actual observation
in many parts of Europe, and indeed in the four quarters of the globe,
have convinced him that wherever Protestantism exists, with some
very few exceptions, there are to be found cleanliness, comfort, and
industry:--the reverse of the picture, though he would be supported in
it by the unanimous assent of many continental travellers, he will not
attempt to draw. Let him who doubts, and who chooses to make the Irish
tour, examine these hints, and compare them with actual observation.
It is true wisdom to learn from experience and observation--it is
true candour to acknowledge error when facts judiciously examined
and liberally contrasted lead to truth; and the editor's wish will
be fully answered, if these expressed opinions, whether right or
wrong, shall prompt the minds of his readers to that judicious and
liberal examination. In either case the result must be beneficial to
the empire; and the notice here taken of the very interesting subject,
it is hoped, will neither be considered illiberal or misplaced. But
it is now time to enter into details of the more prominent objects of
curiosity to the tourist; and it must be acknowledged, with respect to
our sister island, that, in taking a general view of its
ANTIQUITIES,
we have not the same facility of correct chronological specification,
as in our general introduction to this work; for the antiquarian
disputes, still unsettled, claim different dates for many of the most
interesting objects. We may however premise, that the order in which
the island has been peopled and colonized is generally agreed upon to
commence with the CELTES, SCYTHI, and FIRBOLGS; then the PHŒNICIANS
and MILESIANS in the south; the ROMANS, perhaps in a small degree; the
SCOTS in the north; the DANES and OSTMEN; the ENGLISH invaders in the
time of Henry II., followed by the SCOTTISH and ENGLISH colonists of
James I., and during the civil wars.
It has even been supposed that the diversities of natural character,
at the present day, in some measure illustrate the generally
received chronological and topographical arrangement. Ledwich in his
introduction to _Grose's Antiquities_, considers the CELTES as the
primeval possessors of the country;--all under the system of Druidism,
living a sylvan life, and worshipping the Deity in oaken groves,
wherefore few memorials of them are left. In the north are to be
traced, from the earliest ages, the SCOTI; in the south, the FIRBOLGS,
then the MILESIANS, and also the PHŒNICIANS about two centuries
before Christ; there also, according to Ptolemy, were the MENAPII and
BRIGANTES; and the RHOBOGDII, DARNI, &c. in the north, of a later date
than the first SCOTI, or INDO-SCYTHI, agreeable to Vallancey's theory.
From these and other local circumstances connected with Ireland, there
are few antiquities of very ancient date, with the exception of rude
memorials, because nothing but wood was used in building until the 11th
or 12th century; for until then, stone was only employed in funeral
monuments, or _Cairns_, in _Cromlechs_, and sometimes in the _Barrows_,
_Raths_, and _Danish forts_; also in the _Round Towers_, if their
antiquity is so great as some writers suppose. Of the antiquities of
modern date, the greatest number consist of _Castles_, _Churches_, and
_Monasteries_, principally to be found within the limits of the ancient
English Pale. This is evident from what Sir John Davis asserts--"Yet,
which is strange to be related, they did never build any houses of
brick or stone, some few poor religious houses excepted, before the
reign of Henry II."
Of the earlier English antiquities, those consist of CATHEDRALS,
CHURCHES, and CASTLES; some few Saxon, (at Kilcullen, Co. Kildare, and
Disert, Co. Clare,) some Norman, but principally of later date.
DRUIDICAL MONUMENTS
are very numerous, particularly in some parts of the north. Dr.
Drummond, in the scientific notes to his interesting poem on the
Giant's Causeway, says that "numerous monuments of the Druidical
superstition are still to be seen in the County of Antrim." The
appearance of those agrees with the description in Mallet's _Northern
Antiquities_; and also with the quotation from Wormius, copied by
Ledwich,--"The structure of our altars is various; but generally a
tumulus is formed, on whose summit three great stones are erected, and
on them a fourth broader and more flat is laid, so that it exactly
appears like a rude huge table resting on three feet." We may add, in
respect to these
CROMLECHS,
That both in Ireland and in Scandinavia, their erection is vulgarly
ascribed to giants; an unerring mark, says Ledwich, of their Gothic
origin. Sir R. C. Hoare says that the construction of stone temples
and cromlechs has generally been attributed to the Druids, but without
any certainty of proof. He also hazards the conjecture, and with
great plausibility, that a temple like Stonehenge once existed on
the Curragh of Kildare (See Tour in Ireland, p. 274.) Coeval with
_Cromlechs_--perhaps--but absolutely so in the opinion of Ledwich, are
the
CAIRNS,
Rude heaps of stones, composed partly also of earth, forming immense
conical heaps, and evidently sepulchral. These are very numerous, and
are generally erected on the summits of hills; but, though some of them
may be Druidical, the greater part are of later date.
Sir R. C. Hoare considers the Irish Cairn or Carnedd to be of the same
origin as the Barrow or Tumulus in various parts of England.
Under the period now treated of we may also enumerate the sculptured
stones bearing
OGHAM INSCRIPTIONS,
which Vallancey describes as ancient Irish, or Indo-Scythian remains.
These are found in many parts of the island; one of the most curious of
which is at Tory-hill, Co. Kilkenny, inscribed to the God _Belus_ or
BAAL. They are very numerous in Co. Kerry. These and the ancient _Irish
Letters_ have given rise to more controversy than any other subject
connected with Hibernian antiquities. In Miss Plumptre's _Tour_, p.
327 et seq., the curious reader will find much information, with good
references to further analysis. Of the remains of the _Phœnician_ era,
we may perhaps specify the
ANCIENT TEMPLES,
one of which, the SHIP TEMPLE near Dundalk, is attributed by Vallancey
to that people, or else to the sea rovers, _Victi_, or _Picts_, who
paid divine honours to the form of a ship; but Governor Pownal supposed
it to be the work of the NANI, a northern or Scandinavian nation.
That the Phœnicians or Carthaginians must have visited Ireland, is
supported by Miss Plumptre upon the ground that amongst the relics
of antiquity in possession of the Dublin Society are several heads
of axes which were dug up in the south, corresponding exactly with
some that have been found in the plain of Cannæ and in Egypt, and
which are considered as Carthaginian. This, she adds, seems strongly
to corroborate the idea that the Carthaginians, the most adventurous
navigators of ancient days, actually traded to Ireland.
Cotemporary with these are many of the
CAVES,
evidently artificial, which served as habitations to the rude
colonists. Many of these remain, in the north, on the sides of hills
almost inaccessible, and are vulgarly called "Picts Caves" at the
present day. Neat in chronological order to those are the
ROUND TOWERS,
Conical erections, tall and slender, so frequently found adjoining to,
or nearly in contact with, the ancient churches. Those antiquaries
who give them a very recent date, suppose them to be the work of
native builders, whilst the Castles and Churches are by English or
French architects: but Vallancey claims for them a very ancient date,
asserting that they were erected by the Phœnicians to contain the
sacred fire, and copied from the pyramidal stones so frequent with
that people and with the Druids. Ledwich, however, merely considers
them as common appendages to the wooden churches; some at a distance
of 8 feet, others 124; and one, at _St. Kevins_, actually joined to
it. This latter writer assumes that they are _Ostmanic_, or Danish
productions, "and from uninterrupted tradition, probably to have been
belfries from the beginning." Of these about sixty-six remain. Except
as to rotundity, every architect seems to have followed his own fancy
both in height and in internal arrangement: the one at Antrim is 80
feet high, tapers about 18 feet from the top in form of a sugar-loaf,
where it is about 36 feet in girth, and 52 near the base; some have
their door 24 feet from the ground, but in general not more than 10 or
12. The Tower at Drumiskin is supposed to have been the highest in the
island, upwards of 130 feet, and nearly equalled by those at Kildare
and Kilkenny. That at Kilmacduagh in Galway is 110 feet, with the door
24 feet from the ground.
Much controversy has existed respecting the origin of these round
edifices. The first writer who mentions them is _Giraldus Cambrensis_,
who certainly calls them "Ecclesiastical Towers;" and some writers go
so far as to assert, from the grammatical construction of the sentence
in which he describes them, that he saw the builders in the very act
of raising them, in 1185. This at least is certain, that they were so
early in existence; but Lynch, who wrote in 1662, asserts that they
were erected by the Danes, as early as 838; in which he is followed by
Peter Walsh, also by Molyneux in 1727, who ascribes them to the Ostmen
or Danes, but supposes them to be of later date than the Raths and
other earthen works, and erected solely as Bell Towers for calling the
people of large districts to join in religious ordinances. But there
are some circumstances which militate against that opinion, whilst
others seem to confirm it. At the Giant's Ring in the County of Down,
we have an instance of a Round Tower on a spot manifestly of Druidical
superstition, without any Church in its vicinity; as if the churches
were built near to the Towers, instead of these being built near to the
churches, the early preachers of Christianity choosing to erect their
new religious edifices on spots already consecrated in the eyes of the
people. It must be acknowledged, however, that when the Round Tower at
Downpatrick was pulled down in 1790, whilst repairing the cathedral,
its foundation being cleared away, another foundation was discovered
under it, and running directly across the site of the tower, which
appeared to be a continuation of the church wall, and which, at some
period prior to the building of that tower, seemed to have extended
considerably beyond it. Further, that these towers, sometimes at least,
had a connexion with Christianity, is evident from the fact of some of
them being built upon vaults belonging to the churches; and on more
than one, in the north of Ireland, may be traced the figure of the
cross. One instance of this may be seen on the keystone of the door
of the tower at Donoghmore. On the other hand, in regard to the tower
at Drumbo, it is evident that at some former time, very strong fires
have been burned within that building, and the inside surface, towards
the bottom, has the appearance of vitrification. Indeed it is a fact
recorded in the _Down Survey_, p. 290, that the ground floors of many
towers have been opened, where the ashes of burnt wood have been found,
supposed by some antiquaries to be the remains of the perpetual fire
once kept burning there in honour of the Sun. It is also recorded by
Pennant, in his _View of Hindostan_, that the Pagodas, in the Circars,
resembled the Round Towers, with tops pointed or truncated, and
ornamented with a round ball to represent the Sun as an emblem of the
deity of that temple. The idea of their being Christian penitentiaries
seems at first sight to be whimsical; yet it is said that there are
manuscripts in existence which prove it with respect to some of them.
One of these manuscripts records the building of a tower at Kinath, in
Cork County, in the year 1015; whilst the tower at Ardmore in Waterford
has evidently been used as a belfry.
An idea is started in the _Kilkenny Survey_, p. 632, that they are
connected with pilgrimages; a pilgrimage being called _Turrish_ in
Irish, as if in allusion to their Latin appellation of _Turris_.
Of other facts connected with them, it may be recorded that at Tulloher
in Kilkenny, where the tower is only 8 feet from the church, yet that
edifice is of limestone, whilst the tower itself is of siliceous
breccia.
That some of them are comparatively of recent erection is evident from
the fact that at Roscrea in Tipperary, the tower has a pointed or
Gothic arch, 38 feet from the ground. Now the 12th century is generally
allowed to be the era of the introduction of the Gothic architecture
into this country; and from this a curious question arises. It is
moreover a curious fact, not hitherto noticed by any writer upon this
subject, that the isolated tower, probably of Moorish origin, which
stands on the neutral ground at Gibraltar, bears a very striking
resemblance, in all points, to the Irish round towers in general.
This tower has been seen and examined by the editor, who was much
struck by the similarity at the time, and has since endeavoured to
procure all possible information upon the subject. It is well known
that Gibraltar was not inhabited by the Phœnicians, Carthaginians, nor
Romans, nor even by the Visigoths, but was first taken possession of
by the Saracens in 711; fourteen years after which the Moorish castle
was built, followed by other edifices, with the pointed Saracenic
arch, until the rock returned to the dominion of Spain in 1462. It
may be added here, that the Irish towers have a strong resemblance to
the Oriental minarets, especially in their supposed use as places
for calling the people to worship. Where there are so many and so
discordant opinions it is difficult to decide; but the tourist may
avail himself of these hints in his further researches.
Of the precise antiquity of the
RATHS,
or Danish Mounts, few doubts exist. These are circular mounts of earth,
from 40 to 150 feet in diameter at the base, and conically diminishing
towards the top. Common tradition gives them to the DANES; and no
doubt a great proportion of them are not older than the occupation of
the northern and eastern coasts by the Ostmen. But some must be of
the earliest Scandinavian date; particularly the _Giant's Ring_ near
Belfast, and the _Rough Fort_ near Templepatrick, which have Druidical
remains incorporated with them, and in their very centre. Besides,
though the term _Danish_ is universally applied to these works, yet
some of them are also undoubtedly _Norwegian_, particularly one near
Fore in Westmeath, called the "Fort of Turgesius," positively described
by _Giraldus_ as the work of a Norwegian chieftain, and raised for a
castle, using the word "Castella," and not _Castrum_.
Before quitting the subject of the _Raths_, it may be useful to notice
Ledwich's observations on that subject. Quoting Giraldus, The Irish,
says he, had no castles, their woods served them for camps, and their
marshes for ditches. It was Turgesius and his Ostmen who formed that
infinite number of earthen forts and castles made of lime and stone.
It is then to those northern invaders that Giraldus ascribes the high
round earthen forts with deep ditches and often triple entrenchments.
This is certainly in opposition to Mr. Harris, who argues for their
Celtic origin, reasoning principally on the name of _rath_ being of
Celtic derivation. It has also been supposed that they may have been
introduced by the Belgic colonists, as the name has some appearance of
Teutonic origin. These raths are generally upon elevated spots, and of
various dimensions, from 10 or 15 yards diameter, to an extent of 18 or
20 acres. Some of them have subterraneous chambers, with sally-ports;
some are round, others square; the former supposed by Spencer to be
Danish, the latter Saxon. They are sometimes called _Motes_, a Gothic
word signifying the place of meeting; and indeed it has been supposed
that many of them were intended rather for civil legislation, or
judicial purposes, than as works of military defence. These Raths,
together with the _Duns_, or inclosures upon insulated rocks, and
the _Daingeans_, or inclosures formed by deep ditches with ramparts
and pallisadoes, are supposed by Ledwich to have been the only forts
amongst the Irish antecedent to the invasion by the Norman barons in
the reign of Henry II. In many parts of the island, the Irish chiefs
had an inveterate dislike to fixed fortifications--one cogent reason
why scarcely any castles exist except of English erection; a fact well
illustrated by an anecdote of the famous De Courcy, who constructed
two castles in _Mac Mahon's_ country, a step which awed the latter
into complaisance; and he having sworn fidelity, De Courcy bestowed on
him the two castles with their appendant lands. But within a month Mac
Mahon demolished both; and, on being asked his reason for doing so,
replied that "he did not promise to hold stones but land; and that it
was contrary to his nature to live within cold walls whilst the woods
were so nigh."
It has often occurred to the writer of these sheets, from actual
observation of some hundreds of these _mounds_, that the term "Rath,"
as generally applied, is often erroneous. Wolff in his Dictionary
positively states the word "Raad" in the Danish language to signify
a council; of course, by a common figure of rhetoric, putting the
thing for the place, or the place for the thing, this term is properly
applied to the larger eminences, some of which are as extensive as old
Sarum, and therefore well adapted for assemblies of the people. But
Lloyd, in his Dictionary of the Irish-English Language, considers the
word even more figuratively, saying that it means a village, a prince's
seat, also an artificial mount, or barrow. Now the fact is, that many
of the smaller mounts, where placed singly, may be, and some of them by
opening have been proved to be, _Tumuli_, or sepulchral monuments; but
others, placed in lines of communication for miles together, for they
are never found in groups as upon Salisbury plain, were evidently for
exploratory purposes or chains of military posts, a most remarkable
instance of which may be seen on the road from Belfast towards
Templepatrick, where there is a line of them within sight of each other
for several miles, leading through the valley of communication from
Belfast Lough towards Lough Neagh, between the Cave Hill and Carnmoney
mountain, and connected with the very curious mount at the Rough Fort,
which looks down upon a bog called King's Moss at the foot of the
Carrantoll mountains, in the centre of which is a most extensive Rath,
about 10 yards high, and at least 60 in diameter, with a raised bank
round its summit faced with rough stones towards the area. Part of
one side having been broken into, it seemed as if the whole had been
raised upon rough stone-work, the materials for which must have been
brought from a considerable distance. These, both large and small, are
sometimes called moats; and some, of the largest size, are designated
by the appellation of Dun or Doon.
We now come to monuments of more recent date, of which the
RELIGIOUS ANTIQUITIES
deserve the first consideration; and of these some
CHURCHES may perhaps be as old as the 11th or 12th century, and not
earlier; for although many were built immediately after the conversion
by St. Patrick, about five centuries after CHRIST, yet all these were
simply of wood or wattled, and therefore long extinct. Along with
these we may class the
CELLS and HERMITAGES, rude and composed of upright stones with an
impost, where saints led an eremitic life, perhaps sometimes adapting
the older Druidical cromlechs to their more modern purposes, just in
the same manner as several of the
CROSSES are supposed by Ledwich to have been carved upon the ancient
upright pyramidal stones of pagan idolaters. These Crosses have
neither that light and taper form nor elegant Gothic workmanship which
distinguish our ancient specimens in England; but though simple in
design they are yet rich in sculpture. Sir R. C. Hoare thinks them
coeval with the Round Towers, about the 9th or 10th century.
This part of the subject must not be dismissed without some notice
of the stone-roofed Chapels of the ancient Irish, which Ledwich
considers as exhibiting, along with other remains, some ideas of the
Egyptian and Grecian styles of architecture; in which opinion he is
more than sanctioned both by O'Halloran and Archdall, who claim an
early knowledge of architecture for the aboriginal Irish. Mr. Ledwich,
however considers these as the first specimens of stone and mortar ever
seen in the island; as raised by the Ostmen, and intended solely for
the preservation of reliques. Several of these present themselves to
the tourist as objects of curiosity. One may be seen near the cathedral
of Killaloe, supposed to have been the depository of the reliques of
St. Flannan. The tourist in Ireland cannot fail to be struck with
the number of monastic remains, of which the churches or chapels are
mostly standing, though unroofed and in ruins. These he will always
find surrounded by crowded cemeteries; and Sir R. C. Hoare observes
that he was informed the great frequency of the fact proceeds from the
consolidation of parishes at a period when the Catholic predominated
over the Protestant religion. He adds, in direct opposition to modern
assertions, that the latter now begins to gain ground, as application
has been made for the restoration of many of those dilapidated
churches, and some have already been rebuilt. Of these ancient
specimens, some few are of Saxon architecture, particularly Kilsheel
church in Tipperary, having a Saxon doorway, once rich in sculpture,
but now defaced. In general the Church ruins consist of little more
than the shell of a small edifice with two gable ends and scarcely
any windows, always enveloped in ivy: in some places they appear at
distances of every 4 or 5 miles. But Sir R. C. Hoare remarks, that
although monastic architecture may be inferior to that of the sister
kingdoms, yet Ireland, in her stone-roofed Chapels, Round Towers, and
rich Crosses, may justly boast of singularities unknown and unpossessed
by either of them.
The _Church Monuments_ are by no means so numerous or so ancient as to
afford the antiquary, the genealogist, or the heraldic tourist, that
amusement and instruction so frequent in the ecclesiastical edifices
of England. Few antique monuments remain, and the authenticity of the
so much boasted one of Strongbow, in Christ-church in the metropolis,
is very doubtful. Sir R. C. Hoare has stated, p. 13, 14, in a note,
the evidence for and against it. There we have the authority of an
inscription of the restored monument, by Sir H. Sydney in 1570; to
which Sir Richard adds a positive assertion of his being buried there,
from Giraldus, but setting against it the "Hic jacet" of a tomb in
Gloucester cathedral, recorded by Leland. Sir Richard, himself, doubts
the fact of Strongbow having been buried in Dublin, as we do also, but
not precisely for the same reason. Sir Richard's doubt springs from
the circumstance of the knight on the Christ-church monument bearing a
shield argent, on a chief azure three cross crosslets fitchée; whilst
the family coat of the _De Clares_, Earls of Pembroke, were Or, 3
chevrons gules. But the fact is, that at the time in question there was
a great license in the assumption of coat armour, then just beginning
to be hereditary; and indeed there are frequent instances at that
period of individuals adopting new coats for particular purposes. The
present case is an instance of it; for the coat with the crosses was
actually assumed by Gilbert, father of Strongbow, on his return from
the Holy Land.
The remaining objects of antiquarian research are the
CASTLES,
which are of various dates. Some of these may be as old as the 11th
or 12th century, perhaps older, as it is said that the Scandinavian
chiefs introduced stone into their fortified places, and there are
several Norwegian _round Castles_ still extant. Ledwich divides them
into several eras; first, _old Danish forts_ surrounded with earthen
works, to which was afterwards added a keep of stone and lime, and
sometimes a circular wall; then piles of building encompassed by a
rampart, afterwards called a _Bawn_, and imitated by later colonists;
then houses with battlements and turrets, flankers, &c. Of all these
there is a great variety, as well as number; and the author quoted is
of opinion, that all the castles constructed by British settlers were
by British architects.
The most remarkable of these will be found described in the following
sheets.
If the MINERALOGIST does not find so great a variety of substances to
repay his research as he may do in most parts of the sister-island
of Great Britain, yet the geologist will discover many leading
features upon a large scale that deserve his attention. Hitherto
the little notice that has been taken on these two subjects, of the
soil of Ireland, both superficial and fossil, has been in regard to
agricultural purposes; but from casual discoveries hitherto made,
there seems reason to hope that an accurate mineralogical research
will be both interesting to science and beneficial in political and
domestic economics. So far as general examination has yet gone, and
in order to offer some leading hints to the scientific inquirer, it
may be observed, that sandy soils, such as are frequent in England,
are seldom seen except in maritime situations; but there are many
inland beds of a red substance, too soft to be called stone, yet too
compact to be called sand, though perfectly reducible to that state
by the action of the sun or artificial heat. This however generally,
if not always, lies below a thin stratum of soil more congenial to
vegetation. Of argillaceous earths, clay is not uncommon, but seldom
at the surface, and never so tenacious as in the eastern parts of
England. Pipe-clay is also met with; and an indifferent kind of
fuller's-earth. Calcareous matter is very frequent, as limestone; but
chalk is unknown. Silex is found in limestone quarries; but the flints
are generally in nodules. Loam is frequent, and now much attended to
as a manure or top dressing. Marble and granite, also specimens of
porphyry, exist in many districts; and the marble quarries in Kilkenny
and Carlow in particular, will not fail to arrest the attention of
the geologist, in consequence of the great deposition of sea-shells
and marine exuviæ contained in them. Freestone is also often met
with; presenting, when cut in particular directions, the semblance
of fir-deal in the position of its strata. There is a geological
observation made by the Rev. Mr. Townsend in his Survey of Cork,
which deserves the investigation of the geological tourist, and may
serve to lead him to valuable facts in the course of his research.
That intelligent writer remarks, that in many of the southern
districts, the limits of limestone tracts are generally marked by
the course of a river; and this he illustrates by the fact that the
Blackwater river, in its course from Fermoy to Mill-street, runs at
the south side of the limestone; whilst, for the far greater part
of the way between Castlemore and Cork, a distance of about eleven
miles, the course of the limestone is distinctly marked, first by the
river Bride, and after its junction with the Lee, by the latter river.
During this space, he states that the limestone invariably adheres to
one side of the channel, which it follows in all its windings, without
ever crossing it. At Kinmare the same circumstances may be observed;
and also in the county of Waterford, where, however, the Blackwater
runs to the north of its limestone tract. The bogs are also worthy
both of mineralogical and geological notice; not only on account of
the immense number of fossil oak and yew-trees which they contain; but
also from the fact that many of them which extend for miles in length,
consist, even to a depth of many feet, of a congeries of branches
and twigs of trees, which seem to have required even a succession of
forests for ages to have supplied them. Of these, perhaps, there can
be little doubt that a great portion are actually antediluvian.