Wakeman's handbook of Irish antiquities

by W. F. Wakeman

OGAM STONES.

The passage we have quoted from the Book of Ballymote (p. 142) is one of many from Irish MSS. which refer to Ogam Stones. In the account in the Leabhar na h-Uidhre of the death and burial of Fothadh Airgthech, who was killed in the Battle of Ollarba, near Larne, in 285 A.D., we are told of his burial in a stone sepulchre with ‘his two Fails (bracelets), his Bunne-do-At (twisted hoop), and his Muintorc (neck-torque) of silver; and there is a rock standing at his tomb; and there is an Ogam inscription on the end which is in the ground of the rock, and what is written on it is: Eochaidh (or Fothadh) Airgthech is here.’[73] In the Táin Bó Chuailgne (the Cattle raid of Cooley), the earliest copy of which is to be found in the Book of Leinster, we read that when Fergus mac Roigh brought back the body of Fergus Etercomal, who was slain by Cuchulainn, they celebrated his funeral games, planted a stone over his grave, and inscribed his name in Ogam. In an early poem in the Book of Leinster we have, in an account of the Battle of Gabhra, which was fought in 283 A.D., the following lines referring to the death of Cairbre Lifeachair:​—​

‘An Ogam in a lia, a lia over a leacht,

In a place whither men went to battle,

The son of the king of Erin fell there,

Slain on his white steed by a sharp spear....

‘That Ogam which is upon the stone,

Around which the heavy hosts have fallen

If the battle-fighting Finn had lived,

Long would that Ogam be remembered.’

Many passages exist, too, referring to the use of Ogam writing on pieces of wood to convey messages by hand. Opinion has been divided as to how far the passages we have quoted bear testimony to the antiquity of Ogam stones for sepulchral purposes. This at least is plain: the belief in this use of the stones existed when the MSS. were written, and the stones themselves furnish strong presumptive evidence that the testimony of the records is based on something more than mere vague tradition. Many of the stones no doubt stand in their original position; but the meagre nature of the inscriptions renders it difficult, if not impossible, to identify them with any degree of certainty with those who figure in ancient Irish records.

Ogam Stone (Co. Kerry) in Trinity College, Dublin.

The earliest notice of Ogam writing is in the Book of Leinster, which gives the scale of letters. The Book of Ballymote is of especial interest, as it contains a tract on the Ogam writing of the Gaedhil, with the ‘key now ordinarily used in the translations of inscriptions, as well as a variety of ciphers founded on the original characters.’[74] It was not until 1784 that the attention of antiquaries was directly drawn to the existence of Ogam stones by the discovery of the Mount Callan monument in Co. Clare with an inscription in Ogam character. A vigorous controversy raged over this ‘find’; but it had one important result, the interest of archæologists was aroused, and in subsequent years General Vallancey and others gave considerable attention to the subject of Ogams; many stones were discovered and their nature and character investigated, not, however, without many wild theories being advanced, supported by unsound arguments and distorted learning. In 1846 the late Bishop Graves for the first time brought scientific methods to bear on the elucidation of Ogam inscriptions, and clearly demonstrated by independent investigation the certainty of the scale in the Book of Ballymote. The general principle upon which he based his analysis was: ‘That in any given language, or group of cognate languages, there is a preference for particular sounds and particular sequence of sounds.’ After various trials he established satisfactory results, and placed the whole scheme of inquiry in papers read before the Royal Irish Academy, in the years 1848–9. ‘The Ogam alphabet,’ says Dr. Graves, ‘consists of lines, or groups of lines, variously arranged with reference to a single stem-line, or to an edge of the substance on which they are traced. The spectator, looking at an upright Ogam monument, will, in general, observe groups of incised strokes of four different kinds: (1) groups of lines to the right; (2) others to the left of the edge; (3) other longer strokes crossing it obliquely; (4) and small notches upon the edge itself.... Ogam inscriptions, in general, begin from the bottom, and read upwards, from left to right. Almost all those which have been deciphered present merely a proper name with its patronymic, both in the genitive case. The monuments appear, for the most part, to have been sepulchral in the first instance. But there is reason to suppose that they were used to indicate the proprietorship of land, either standing as boundary stones, or buried in crypts, as evidences to be referred to in case of disputes arising.’

It will be seen from the accompanying score that the letters are arranged in four groups of five letters each. Those of the first or B group are to the right of the edge, represented here by the horizontal line; the second or H group to the left; the third or M group cut the edge obliquely; and the fourth or vowel group are small notches on the edge itself. Ogam inscriptions are written continuously, but the difficulty of a right division into words was simplified when it was found that the same group of incisions, which is rendered by Maqi, Maqui, or other form, the old genitive of Maquas, a son, invariably occurred in these scores. A general idea of the readings may be gathered from the annexed figure, which gives​—​Feqreq Moqoi Glunlegget,(the Stone of) Fiachra, Son of Glunlegget; the scores on this stone are inverted. The first name is usually in the genitive case, and the word ‘stone’ or ‘monument’ is supposed to be understood.

Ogam Stone, Monataggart, Co. Cork.

The number of Ogams discovered (including fragments and lost stones) is now about 270, and these are chiefly confined to the south of Ireland; but it is significant, as Dr. Rhys points out, that the most recent discoveries are in Ulster and Mayo. The county of Kerry furnishes nearly one-half the entire number, the barony of Corkaguiny being the richest in these remains of antiquity. There are nine in the burial-ground at Ballintaggart, near Dingle, and collections have been made at Burnham House (Lord Ventry), and at Parknasilla. The finest yet formed, numbering thirty, is in the National Museum, Dublin. The stones vary in form: most are tall and tapering, of a somewhat pyramidal shape; many are flags; some are amorphous monoliths; and others are rounded, especially those on the shores of the Dingle peninsula, which were probably worn by the action of the Atlantic waves. Ogam stones appear always to have been set up in the rough state, as those found present no appearance of having been cut into shape. Standing above the ground, they vary in height from 3 to about 19 feet. The scores commence at some distance from the foot of the stone, so that it is evident that the blocks, whether now prostrate or not, were originally intended to stand upright.

Ogam stones to the number of 54 exist in Great Britain, the cipher being identical with that of the Irish inscriptions. Of these South Wales has 25, Scotland 16, south-west of England 5, and the Isle of Man 6. Most of the Welsh and south-west stones have Roman lettering of a rude type which points to the early Christian period, when there was close intercourse between the Irish and Welsh Churches. One of the Welsh stones is of considerable importance, as it furnished an efficient test to the truth of the key to the cipher in the Book of Ballymote, and as demonstrated independently by Dr. Graves. This stone is at St. Dogmael’s, near Cardigan; it contains an Ogam inscription, and another in Roman letters. A copy of the former was sent to Dr. Graves, whose reading was practically identical with the Roman lettering which he had not seen. On a close examination of the stone, traces of the vowel a, which had been cut by a crack and absent in the copy of the cipher, were discovered, and the truth of his reading thus wholly verified.

Besides marking burial and other sites, Ogam stones are found in all kinds of situations: in souterrains, in some fourteen of which Ogam stones have been discovered; in drains and other field uses; and in the walls of churches and other buildings. In the underground chamber of Dunloe there are seven Ogam stones; in Drumloghan, Co. Waterford, ten; and on the stones forming the roof of a drain at Ballyknock, Co. Cork, there are fifteen inscriptions. When their original use had long been forgotten, they were evidently taken from their sites and converted into such building or farm purposes as the occasion required.

The Ogam character was sometimes used in other material than that of stone. There is MS. evidence, as we have mentioned, of its having been applied to wood, which was doubtless the material first used for the purpose; and examples occur in bone, amber, gold, silver, and lead. Of these are the Conyngham gold manilla, the authenticity of the characters of which was, however, doubted by Dr. Graves; a silver brooch found in 1806 at Ballyspellan (Co. Kilkenny), and which is considered to date from the end of the eleventh or beginning of the twelfth century. The specimen in lead was discovered by Mr. Wakeman in 1844; the little vessel upon which the scores appeared was then in use as an ink-bottle. It is interesting not only from the legend being in relief, which goes to establish its genuineness, but also from the circumstance of its discovery in Kilmallock, the name of which place it gives. The characters are in two lines, and, if read from the bottom upwards, give the words: ‘Nig-Lasmeich,’ and ‘Cill Mocholmog.’ The object on which they occur is a narrow, quadrangular vessel, one inch and three-eighths in height, with sides converging upwards, and with a low, small, circular neck. The Ogam character, in one form or another, was sometimes used as a charm, as in the case of the amber bead belonging to a family of the O’Connors, near Ennis, Co. Clare; or, as shown by Bishop Graves, for purposes of divination.

Archæologists are not yet agreed on all matters relating to Ogams. The varied opinions as to the readings of most inscriptions, the somewhat uninteresting and meagre details of all, the doubt hitherto as to whether they are cryptic or not, the great difficulty of identifying them through the medium of Irish written records, limit the interest and check inquiry in this particular field of archæological research. But Dr. Stokes and Dr. Rhys have established their non-cryptic character, and shown their exceptional value from a philological point of view. Doubt, too, has long been thrown on their antiquity. Brash and others claim for them a pre-Christian origin; but recent authorities, such as Dr. Rhys, do not consider them earlier than the introduction of Christianity into the British Isles. It has been well urged by Bishop Graves that the division of the alphabet into vowels and consonants ‘furnishes internal evidence of its having been contrived by persons possessing some grammatical knowledge, and acquainted with alphabets of the ordinary kind.’ Other questions arise, such as the presence of the Christian emblem on many stones, the number standing in church burial-grounds, and their presence in caves, from which various deductions have been drawn. It has been urged by the claimants for the pagan origin of Ogams, that it was the custom of the early missionaries to convert things identified with heathen uses to Christian purposes, and to mark such objects as these stones with the sacred symbol of the Cross. A consideration of these questions would lead us too far afield, and not necessarily lead to a final judgment on any of the points at issue. It is sufficient, however, to say that the internal evidence of the alphabet, and the affinity of the Irish unilingual Ogams to the bilingual stones of Wales, are in themselves highly presumptive of their dating within, and not without, the period marking the establishment of Christianity in Ireland.

CHAPTER VI.
RATHS AND STONE FORTS.

RATHS AND DUNS​—​SUBTERRANEAN CHAMBERS​—​SOUTERRAIN IN GURTEEN RATH​—​TARA​—​EMANIA​—​RATH OF DOWNPATRICK​—​HILL OF WARD​—​NAAS RATH​—​CASHELS​—​CLOCHAUNS OR BEE-HIVE HUTS​—​STAIGUE FORT​—​CAHERCONREE​—​CLARE FORTS​—​DUN AENGUS​—​THE DINGLE FORTS AND CLOCHAUNS​—​DUNAMOE​—​INISMURRAY​—​GRIANAN OF AILEACH​—​GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.

The wooden huts or wicker and clay dwellings of the primitive inhabitants of Ireland were quick to decay; but the raths, lisses, duns, and cashels, the remains of their camps and fortresses, exist all over the country, dotting many a plain or valley, and crowning many a hill. Whatever distinction originally existed between the terms rath and Lios or Lis, they are now commonly applied to fortified dwelling-places. Though they were generally used to signify the earthen rampart round the enclosure on which the dwellings were built, ‘both are,’ says Dr. Joyce, ‘not unfrequently applied to the great high entrenched mounds which are commonly designated by the word Dun.’[75]

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Raths and Duns.​—​Notwithstanding the destructive agencies of time, and especially the reclamation and enclosure of land, the number of raths still remaining is very great. The Ordnance Survey showed 10,000 in Munster, Limerick having 2191,[76] and the number for the whole of Ireland may be taken from 28,000 to 30,000. Dr. Joyce states that the term Rath enters into the name of 700 townlands, and Lis into 1400 townlands and villages. That so many of these structures remain, is due largely to the fact that the peasantry have a superstitious reverence for these ‘forts’ as the home of the ‘good people’ or fairies. They are also popularly attributed to the Danes; but their very number and distribution, and the fact that the Danes never established themselves beyond the east and south-east coast of Ireland, are sufficient, without mentioning other considerations, to show that the Danes had nothing to do with their erection. Fort-building covered a long period of time; and at whatever remote date it commenced, there is evidence to show that the forts were built and restored for many centuries after the introduction of Christianity into Ireland.

The general plan is circular and the construction simple. A deep ditch or trench was dug and the earth thrown up, forming a steep enclosing dyke or rampart, which was probably rendered further secure by a stake fence. They vary in size from a few yards to a hundred in diameter, and often consist merely of the circular entrenchment, the area of which is slightly raised above the level of the adjoining land. These are common in the central parts of Ireland, such as the motes of Granard, Slane, and Clones. But in the case of many of the more important they were enclosed by two, three, or more breastworks; and within the inner rampart stood a steep mound, flat at the top, on which was erected the house of the king or chief, overlooking the camp. On the verge of steep cliffs, or rocky headlands jutting into the sea, and on the summit of inland hills, these defences were generally erected. Sites were chosen whose natural features afforded a ready means of rendering the positions secure. The term Dun is usually applied to this class of fortification, and it enters into the composition of many place-names, Dr. Joyce stating that it is used as a prefix to 600 townlands. Alignments of forts are an important feature in Ireland, and will be found especially on the sea-coast from Waterford, westwards, and round to the north of Mayo, and also in many inland districts. Perhaps the largest earthwork in Ireland is the Dun at Dorsey, County Armagh. It is about one mile long and 600 yards wide, and consists of a great embankment with a fosse on each side and outer ramparts. Portions still remain sufficient to show the magnitude of this great earthwork when originally constructed.[77]

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Souterrains.​—​Within the inner rampart, but not in the raised mound as far as we have examined, underground passages and chambers varying in plan have been discovered. These earth-houses, to which the term Souterrain is now usually applied, are generally similar in structure to the sepulchral chambers already described, the passages being lined and covered with stones, and the chambers of a bee-hive shape, formed by overlapping courses. Where the earth was sufficiently compact the excavation was sometimes made practically without the aid of stone, which was used only in forming the entrance. It is evident from the intricate nature of these underground structures, and the readiness with which they could be defended from attack, that they were designed as places of safety. They were probably used both as places of temporary retreat and as storehouses, the want of ventilation, save that derived from the narrow external entrance, rendering them unfit for continued habitation. Tacitus says the Germans dug underground dwellings: ‘These they use as winter retreats and granaries, for they preserve a moderate temperature; and upon an invasion, when the open country is plundered, these recesses remain inviolated, either because the enemy is ignorant of them, or because he will not trouble himself with the search.’

An examination of the kitchen-middens of some of these raths produced the ordinary ‘finds’ of primitive dwellings, stone, flint, and bone weapons and implements, the bones of animals used for food, fragments of pottery, bronze and iron objects. The Whitechurch rath, examined by Mr. R. J. Ussher, yielded a variety of these, including many iron objects, which showed that its occupation probably covered a long period of time. The rath had been deeply excavated to form the chambers and an extensive system of connecting galleries.[78] Souterrains are found apart from raths in isolated places in many parts of Ireland. They are very similar to those found in Scotland, where they are known as ‘eirde houses,’ ‘weems,’ or ‘Picts’ houses,’ and also to those found in Cornwall, which seems to point to a common origin for all. ‘The only slight difference between the Irish and the Scotch,’ says Dr. Munro, ‘is in the extent of curvature of the main gallery, which appears to be less pronounced in the Irish souterrains.’ He also points out that they differ in being so often found in connection with raths, as among the Scotch examples ‘only one instance is known inside a fort​—​viz., that in the ancient fort known as Macbeth’s Castle on Dunsinane Hill.’[79] Underground dwellings have been used by primitive races everywhere​—​in Asia, Africa, and America, as many travellers testify.

Gurteen Rath is situated about four miles from Mullingar. Within it is an interesting souterrain, of which the accompanying figure is a plan. The entrance is on the east side, and the passage is 17 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet high. At the end a step of 10 inches, and at the same time an additional rise in the height, give an elevation to the roof of about 6 feet; to the right is another passage leading to a circular chamber 7 feet high. The main passage takes a curve to the west, and at 12 feet a short passage leads to another circular, but smaller, chamber. Continuing, and making a full distance of 46 feet, the main passage ends in a third, and largest, circular chamber, 7½ feet high and 10½ in diameter. The chambers are of the ordinary bee-hive pattern.[80]

Plan of Souterrain, Gurteen Rath, near Mullingar.

The date of the Irish souterrains is as difficult to determine as that of the raths themselves. From their similarity to the sepulchral chambers it has been thought by some that they were constructed by the same race of people and about the same time. But there are essential points of difference between them: souterrains are generally much more complicated in plan, and were evidently designed to be defended; they are underground, whereas the sepulchral chambers are under raised mounds; the latter are megalithic, while, as a rule, the former are microlithic, although in the case of the Doon souterrain, stones 9 and 10 feet in length were used.[81] The presence of Ogam stones in some, as has already been mentioned, would point to a period for their construction subsequent to the use of these stones as monuments. Whatever the date of the construction of these places of security may have been, there can be very little doubt of the necessity for their use at least in early mediæval times. When we take into account the lawlessness, and the insecurity and indifference to human life during the Norse period of invasion, which, as the Annalists fully testify, were only too common under the rule of irresponsible petty kings and chiefs, we can readily understand the necessity of refuges such as the forts and underground chambers afforded, by which the construction of some may perhaps be accounted for.

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Royal Residences.​—​Among the royal residences mentioned in early Irish records, the Hill of Tara, in County Meath, is the most celebrated. From the earliest period of which we have even traditional history, down to the middle of the sixth century, it appears to have been a chief seat of the Irish kings. Here, every third year, was held the great national convention called the ‘Feis of Teamhair.’ Shortly after the death of Dermot, the son of Fergus, in the year 563, the place was deserted, in consequence, according to the Annals of Clonmacnoise, of a curse pronounced by St. Ruadan, or Roadanus, of Lorrha, against that king and his palace. After thirteen centuries of decay and neglect, the chief monuments for which the hill was at any time remarkable are still to be traced. They consist, for the most part, of circular or oval enclosures and mounds, within, or upon which, the principal dwellings of the ancient royal seat were situated. The accompanying Plan of Tara is adapted from the Ordnance Survey map, upon which the names were laid down by Petrie and O’Donovan, after a careful study of some ancient Irish records. In these were found most minute descriptions, with occasional plans of the various monuments as they existed previous to the twelfth century.

Walker & Boutall sc.

Plan of Tara.

The Forradh, Tara.

The rath called Rath na Riogh, or Cathair Crofinn, appears originally to have been the most important work upon the hill, and, according to tradition, the oldest. It is of an oval form, and measures in length from north to south 853 feet. The ditch is 4 feet deep; the rampart, greatly reduced, is but 6 feet high, and appears in part to have been constructed of stone. Within its enclosure are the ruins of the Forradh, or ‘Place of meeting.’ The mound of the Forradh is of considerable height, flat on the top, and encircled by two lines of earth having a ditch between them; its greatest diameter is 296 feet, and across the inner circle 88 feet. Set in its centre, as already stated, is a very remarkable pillar-stone, supposed to be the Lia Fail, or Stone of Destiny (see [p. 8]).

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Teach Cormaic, lying to the south-east of the Forradh, to which it is joined by a common parapet, may be described as a double enclosure, the rings of which upon the western side become connected. Its diameter is about 140 feet. To the north of these and within the enclosure is a small mound called Dumha na nGiall, the ‘Mound of the hostages,’ a characteristic example of its class.

Without the enclosure to the north is Rath na Seanadh, the ‘Rath of the Synods,’ which derives its name from the synods held here by St. Patrick and his successors, but it is of much older date. Among the trees to the north-west of the hill are two forts, Rath Grainne and Fothach Rath Grainne, respectively. Rath Grainne is recorded to have belonged to, and to have been named after, Grainne, a daughter of King Cormac Mac Art, and wife of Fin Mac Coul, whose well-known story we have already referred to. To the east of these is Rath Caelchon.

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The ruins of Teach Miodhchuarta, the Banqueting Hall of Tara, occupying a position a little to the north-east of Rath Riogh, consist of two parallel lines of earth, running in a direction nearly north and south, and divided at intervals by openings which indicate the position of the ancient doorways. The entrances appear to have been twelve in number, six on each side; but as the end walls, which are now nearly level with the ground, may have been pierced in a similar way, it is uncertain whether this celebrated hall had twelve or fourteen entrances. It measures 759 feet long by 90 feet externally, and 45 feet internally. It was probably divided into three sections, and was evidently intended for the accommodation of a large number at the same time. From the MSS. that have come down to us, we have reason to suppose that the songs of the old Irish bards, descriptive of the royal feasts of Teamhair, are not the fictions that many people are ready to consider them. If, upon viewing the remains of this ancient seat of royalty, disappointment is felt, and even the tales of its former magnificence questioned, it should be remembered that, since the latest period during which the kings and chiefs of Erin assembled here, thirteen centuries have elapsed, and our surprise will not be that so few indications of ancient grandeur are to be found, but that any vestige remains to point out its site. It is a matter greatly to be regretted that, such as they are, the remains have been much interfered with in the last couple of years by the excavations of a small set of irresponsible enthusiasts, searching for the ‘Ark of the Covenant’!

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Emania.​—​We can but briefly refer to a few of the many other motes celebrated in past times. A residence of the Ulster kings was Emania, better known as Navan Fort, two miles west of Armagh. It is enclosed by a rampart, elliptical in shape, which covers an area of about twelve acres. The east side of the great entrenchment is much cut away, but the west side is fairly preserved. One of the inner mounds is comparatively perfect; it measures about 220 feet in diameter, and rises to a height of 138 feet from the lower base of the fort. Founded, according to the usual authority, by Queen Macha in 300 B.C., it remained for over 600 years the seat of royalty. Here, too, the Red Branch Knights, whose deeds are celebrated in Irish romance, were established under King Conor Mac Nessa in the first century.

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Rath of Downpatrick.

Rath of Downpatrick.​—​This was known in past times as ‘Rath Celtchair,’ after a hero of the Red Branch Knights, who dwelt here. It is one of the finest motes in Ireland, and consists of a mound 60 feet high, 2100 feet in circumference, surrounded by triple ramparts, one of which is 30 feet wide.

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Hill of Ward.​—​The Hill of Ward, near Athboy, was the site of the Palace of Tlachtga, where the great festival of Samhain, the end of summer (Nov. 1st), was celebrated. Here the sacred fire was lighted, and sports and games held for three days before the eve of the festival and for three days after. At Teltainn, now Teltown, was another great palace where, from a remote period, a great fair was held on August 1st, instituted, it is said, by Lewy, in honour of his foster-mother, Taillte, daughter of the King of Spain. Games of all kinds were celebrated, and chance marriages made, some of which practices came down to modern times.

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Naas Rath.​—​The great rath at Naas was the ancient seat of the kings of Leinster, the place of assembly of the chiefs of the province, and continued so until the tenth century. The Hill of Allen, about eight miles to the west, was another seat of the Leinster kings. Here, we are told, dwelt Fin Mac Coul and his companions in the reign of Cormac Mac Art; but the remains of the old mound were nearly destroyed when erecting the modern monument on the summit of the hill. About the same distance south-west of Naas was Dun Aillinne, a third of the royal seats of Leinster. This crowned the Hill of Knockaulin, and the earthen rampart of the fort still surrounds its summit. Many of the motes were used also as places of burial, and we find recorded instances of such within the mound. Remains of burials have frequently been discovered; and these have a special significance to which we have referred in the previous chapter.

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Caher or Cashel.​—​Where stone was abundant, as in Kerry, Clare, the Arran Islands, Mayo, Sligo, and other districts, the defences consisted of walls of dry masonry called Cathairs (Cahers), or Caiseals (Cashels). Many of these are found on projecting headlands, or on steep precipitous cliffs, the line of defence crossing and enclosing a portion of land that had a natural protection seawards. Cashels existed too in exposed situations on hill-tops and bleak uplands. The walls usually show that two faces were built many feet apart with a batter, and the interior filled up with a mass of rough rubble which, in settling, often brought destruction on the walls. Others, however, were constructed of two or more walls lying close together and apparently forming one mass, reaching a thickness of 16 to 18 feet. The inner wall was formed into flights of steps leading to a platform lower than the outside wall, and on which a stand could be taken for defence. The gateways are of particular interest and of varied features; the more general kind have inclined sides, a heavy lintel, and a regular course of masonry through the wall. Passages and chambers exist within some of these cashels, intended, no doubt, like the souterrains, as places of retreat in time of danger. These stone forts were sometimes defended by outer works, as in the case of Dunbeg (Kerry) and Moghane (Clare), or by a chevaux-de-frise of sharp stones set in the ground, as at Dun Ængus and Dubh Caher in Aranmore, Ballykinvarga in Clare, and Dunamoe in Mayo.

Many of the cashels contain small stone-roofed buildings called Clochauns, or bee-hive huts. These are circular or oval in plan, and the walls converge upwards by the gradual approximation of the horizontal layers of stones until the top is reached and closed by a single slab, as in the case of the chambers in the tumuli. Examples of these singular structures are to be found in Kerry, Aranmore, Inismurray, and elsewhere. They are of especial interest, not only as dating from pre-Christian times, but because they were adopted by the early missionaries, with such modifications as necessity required, as models of the monastic cells and oratories. The circular bee-hive hut was necessarily of very moderate dimensions; but the difficulty of space was sometimes overcome by connecting two or three together by short passages, as in the clochauns in the neighbourhood of Dingle. The bee-hive cells in this district are among the most remarkable now remaining; some of them contain souterrains with a trap-like entrance from the floor.

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Staigue Fort, Co. Kerry.

Staigue Fort, the most perfect example of the caher or cashel now existing in Ireland, is about fourteen miles from Waterville, on the road to Kenmare. The plan is nearly circular; it measures 114 feet exterior diameter, and the enclosed space is 88 feet from east to west. It is built of schistose slate, and the spaces between the blocks are filled with spawls of the same rock. The wall varies in height from 10 to 18 feet; it is 13½ feet thick at the base, and about 7 feet at the top, and this is due to the batter or incline of the inner and outer faces. The doorway is 6 feet 2 inches high, 5 feet 2 inches wide at the bottom, and 4 feet 3 inches at the top. In the wall, and with small entrances opening to the court, are two chambers, one measuring 10 feet by 4 feet and 6 feet high; the other 8 feet by 4 feet. The main face of the wall presents a series of ten sets of stairs, leading to narrow platforms, the highest reaching nearly to the top of the rampart. The steps are not uniform; some rise from the base, and some from a few feet above the ground. The plan and execution exhibit great skill in this primitive style of architecture.

One of the most elevated forts in the British Isles is that on Caherconree, the most westerly height of the Slieve Mish mountains. It stands on the shoulder of the mountain, about 10 miles south-west of Tralee, in a commanding situation, at an elevation of 2050 feet, and with a magnificent outlook. The cashel is about 350 feet long, and forms the base of a triangular spur of the mountain, the sides of which descend in steep cliffs for about 200 feet. The rampart is terraced, but is now in a ruinous condition; its present thickness is 16 feet 9 inches at entrance, and its greatest height 10½ feet. It was defended by a fosse and vallum of earth and stone, the top of which ran at about 40 feet from the rampart.[82]

Clare is very rich in stone forts, the remains of about 400 of which are known. Most of these are in the Burren district; they are akin to the great duns of the Aran Islands, and were evidently built by the same race of people. One of the most remarkable of the Clare forts, and one of the largest fortifications of any class in Ireland, is Moghane, which crowns a low hill in the demesne of Dromoland, a few miles south of Ennis. It is much defaced, and has been greatly neglected in the past. It consists of three stone ramparts; the innermost and the second are nearly circular, and their greatest diameters are 380 and 650 feet respectively. The outer is oval, and was adapted to the contours of the hill; it measures 1500 feet north and south, and about 1100 feet east and west. The united length of the walls is about 7850 feet, enclosing an area of 27 acres. According to Mr. T. J. Westropp, who has made a special study of these forts, and to whom archæologists are indebted for his valuable survey,[83] the estimated contents of the Moghane walls amount to about 1,177,000 cubic feet of stone. The inner cashel had two entrances, east and west; the second three, the south-west entrance being defended by a small circular fort; the outer wall had three entrances on the north and one on the south, and it was defended without by a small fort, while another within defended the wall on the west. There are no traces of terraces or steps in the inner face, though this may be due to defacement, yet the probability is, as Mr. Westropp says, that they did not exist here. He is also of opinion that this great fort was hardly built before the coming of the Dalcassians about 370 A.D.

On the south coast of Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands, is Dun Ængus, described by Petrie as ‘the most magnificent barbaric monument now extant in Europe.’ It is built on the very edge of sheer cliffs 250 to 300 feet in height, forming the south and east sides; it is of a horse-shoe shape, and some archæologists think that it was originally oval, and that it acquired its present form from the falling of portions of the cliffs. It consists of three enclosures, and remains of a fourth. The wall which surrounds the innermost is 18 feet high and 12 feet 9 inches thick; it is in three sections​—​the inner 7 feet high, with ranges of steps similar to those in Staigue fort. This enclosure measures 150 feet from north to south, and 140 feet from east to west. The doorway is 4 feet 8 inches high, and 3 feet 5 inches wide, very slightly inclining; and the lintel is 5 feet 10 inches long. In the north-west side is a passage leading into the body of the wall. The second rampart, which is not concentric, encloses a space about 400 feet by 300 feet. Outside the second wall is a chevaux-de-frise, 30 feet wide, formed by sharp stones placed on end, seemingly to hinder the approach of an enemy. Surrounding all is a rampart, nearly destroyed, enclosing a space of 11 acres. Of the same class are Dubh Caher, Dun Onaght, and Dun Eochla, and on Inishmaan Dun Conor.

* * * * *

The Dingle Forts.​—​For variety and profusion of prehistoric and early Christian remains, that district of Corkaguiny lying west of a line from Dingle to the north-east entrance of Smerwick Harbour, has no equal in the British Isles. Scattered over its surface is an extraordinary number of cashels, clochauns, pillar-stones, early churches, crosses, and other remains. The fine fortification of Ballyheabought, two miles north of Dingle, consists of a stone-faced earthen rampart 12 to 14 feet thick, enclosing an area of about 100 feet in diameter, with a continuous narrow platform about 3 feet above the present level of the court. It is surrounded by a fosse 25 feet in width, the greatest depth being 20 feet. Beyond this is another breastwork, 10 feet thick, faced on the exterior with stones, with a second but smaller fosse without. The entrance was from the west; and the remains show that a massive stone doorway once existed in the ramparts. In the inner area are the remains of several clochauns; the principal one is 18 feet internal diameter; a portion is cut off into a separate chamber; and a low passage connects this with a small semicircular compartment to the south. Without the group to the north is a row of upright flagstones forming a passage to a round oblong clochaun to the west. A wall to the south connects the circular group with the rampart, thus shutting off what was probably the women’s portion of the fort.

The primitive remains, numbering from seventy to eighty, lying between Ventry and Mount Eagle, which rises over the Blasket Sound to the north of Slea Head, were, for the first time, fully described after a proper survey by Du Noyer in 1858. Of these the Fahan group of forts and stone huts is the most remarkable, and shows that a considerable population must have inhabited this wild and remote spot at a very early date. At Coumenoole are ten clochauns. Glen Fahan has six forts containing eighteen clochauns, a triple clochaun, and twenty-three others detached. The triple clochaun is known as Caher Fada an Doruis, the ‘Long fort of the door.’ It has been cleared out in recent years. The east and central chambers are connected by a passage 8 feet long; they are circular, and measure 13 feet and 18 feet in diameter internally. The west cell is semicircular; it is connected with the central by a passage 6 feet long, and measures 10 feet by 14 feet. The main cell is entered from the south-east by a sloping passage; and a winding flight of steps, now imperfect, ran round the roof to the top. In Fahan are four forts containing ten clochauns, a group of seven clochauns, and twelve others detached. These by no means exhaust the remains of the settlement, which has been called, by way of archæological pre-eminence ‘The ancient City of Fahan.’

The fort of Dunbeg, about two miles east of Slea Head, was formed by erecting a massive stone rampart 15 to 25 feet in thickness across an angular headland. It curved slightly to the east and touched the cliff at both sides; it was no doubt originally of greater length, as the sea has, in recent times, noticeably gained upon the coast. Near the middle the wall is cut by a passage, the entrance of which is 3½ feet high, 3 feet wide at the bottom, and 2 at the top. The passage widens to about 8 feet, and becomes corbelled. The original entrance was 7 feet wide; but it was thus reduced, and a barricade about 4 feet thick added, leaving a space between it and the original wall to the right and left of the entrance for defence with a heavy timber log. The recess to the right was longer than that to the left, to receive the log when not in use. A hole in the top of the wall opened into the recess, in order to wedge the block when in position. About half way through the wall were similar recesses for a like purpose. Two guardrooms in the walls opened into the court within. These had interesting features in the shape of ‘squints’ formed in the stonework communicating with the passage. A clochaun stood inside the fort close to the cliff on the south-east. The plan of the chamber, three sides forming that of a regular figure, and the fourth curved, is said to be unique. When repaired in recent years, a subterranean passage was discovered from the entrance outwards. A series of three earthen mounds with intervening fosses formed an outward defence. A passage ran through stone gateways in each vallum, the remains of two of which exist.[84]

About half a mile to the west of Dunbeg is Cahernamactirech, the ‘Fort of the wolves.’[85] The walls vary from 11 to 18 feet in thickness, enclosing an area of about 100 feet in diameter. Three sections of the wall, occupying the greater portion of it, were pierced by narrow passages, and a number of clochauns occupied the area within. This was a most interesting fortification, and had some unusual features; but it has fallen into great dilapidation.

Du Noyer was of opinion that the Fahan settlement dated from the Firbolg occupation. O’Curry combated this in supporting the theory that it was of primitive Christian origin and a monastic establishment.[86] Mr. Stewart Macalister is of opinion that ‘the clochan period of the settlement probably extends from a little before the introduction of Christianity into Corkaguiney, down to a comparatively recent date in the Middle Ages.’[87]

Dunamoe Fort, Co. Mayo.

At Dunamoe Point, on the north-west coast of the Mullet peninsula, are the remains of a fine cashel, which crosses the neck of the headland. The wall is 210 feet long, 8 feet thick, and 18 feet high in places; but it is in a state of dilapidation. Without is a fosse and a slight abatis. Within the wall are the remains of three clochauns, and a ruined circular fort, about 100 feet in diameter.

The ‘School House’ (Bee-hive hut), Inismurray.

Section of an ordinary underground beehive-shaped hut.

The Island of Inismurray, lying about 4½ miles off the coast of Sligo, contains within its narrow limits an extraordinary collection of antiquarian remains. These are enclosed in an area measuring 175 by 135 feet, formed by a cashel of rude stones, which varied in height from 7½ to 13 feet, and from 7 to 15 feet in thickness. In 1880 the Board of Public Works undertook the restoration of these remains. The features of the cashel were much interfered with; it was made of nearly uniform height, parts being pulled down to build up others which had fallen; the traces of the interior steps were converted into niches to hold cross-inscribed stones, and the southern entrance was entirely rebuilt. There were four entrances to the cashel, with probably a fifth on the south-west face. Two of these in the north-west side are of special interest. The approach from without is through a low doorway about 2½ feet high and 2 feet wide at lintel, but slightly more at bottom. Passing through 3 feet of a passage, a dome-shaped chamber is entered 6 feet in diameter and 7 feet high. Across the middle the floor rises with a perpendicular face of earth 2½ feet high, the original elevation being probably greater. From the chamber the passage inwards is the same as the outer. These are similar in plan to the passages and chambers of many souterrains, and were probably constructed for defensive purposes. The interior of the wall showed that it was stepped similar to Staigue Fort. The area of the court was divided into four unequal sections by stone barriers. There are several chambers in the walls; but for what purpose they were originally intended it is now difficult to determine. In the area are three clochauns. One is 13 feet in diameter, and from floor to top of vaulted roof 14 feet. There is a projecting ledge on one side, intended for rest or sleeping. The doorway is massive, and measures 3 feet 8 inches high, with sides inclining from 2 feet 2 inches to 1 foot 9 inches. The shape is oval, and the walls commence to slope a short distance from the ground, and approximate by overlapping in the usual way. It is known as the ‘School House’; and as it evidently belongs to the primitive class of structure, it forms an interesting link of pagan days with the first missionary residents on the island. Here, as on the Island of Aran and elsewhere, as Petrie points out, the early Christians utilised the pagan forts in founding their religious establishments. The walls they raised around others differ materially from the primitive cashel in strength, height, and the characteristic features we have described.[88]

* * * * *

The Grianan of Aileach, the ancient seat of the O’Neills, kings of Ulster, is a fort on the summit of a hill 803 feet high, about 5½ miles from Derry, overlooking the east shore of Lough Swilly. It consists of three extensive circular ramparts, greatly dilapidated, formed of earth mixed with stones, the outer enclosing an area of 5½ acres. Within the inner breastwork is a cashel, a circular wall about 17½ feet high, enclosing an area of 77 feet in diameter. It has an average thickness at the base of 13 feet, and is not quite perpendicular, but has a curved terrace-shaped slope, like Staigue Fort in Kerry. On each side of the entrance gateway are passages within the thickness of the wall, extending in length to one-half of its entire circuit. These do not communicate with the gateway, but have entrances from the area at their northern and southern extremities. The passages are 5 feet high, and over 2 feet wide, with sloping sides, the roof being formed of stones laid horizontally. The entrance gateway is 4 feet 3 inches wide at the base; the sides are inclined, and the original height was probably 6 feet. On each side is a reveal intended to receive the doors which barred the passage. This great residence was destroyed by Murkertagh O’Brien, king of Munster, in 1101. The Cashel was restored by Dr. Bernard, of Derry, during the years 1874–8.

Out of the mass of myths and legends concerning primitive times in Ireland, it is invariably difficult, if not impossible, to disentangle the slight threads of fact from the web of romantic fables of bards and chroniclers. These have their value, however, when supported or tested by the evidence gleaned in the actual field of archæological investigation. Isolated geographically as Ireland was, she was yet the shore upon which the successive waves of influence sweeping over Europe spent themselves. She was, as a rule, not only late in being brought under the sphere of new influences, but some had especial opportunity of development, and many retained their hold and flourished long after they had ceased to exist elsewhere. The extent of the forts of Ireland, and the length of time they remained in occupation, is an example of this.[89]

Most writers in the past have attributed the stone forts of the west of Ireland to the Firbolgs of the first century of our era, basing their conclusions on a bardic legend recited a thousand years after their invasion. But the forts are too numerous, and many of too vast proportions, for the stricken remnants of a race to have raised in their defence when driven to their last extremity on the wild shores of the Atlantic. The far-fetched theory, too, like many other such, that they were erected by sea-rovers to hold their spoils, is equally untenable for the same and other very apparent reasons. The absence of water-supplies within the forts, which has puzzled some, is paralleled in the British and other European forts, and was no doubt a precautionary measure to prevent the pollution of springs and wells. It is an indication, also, that the forts were not intended to stand a prolonged siege, a practice in warfare of a later time, but were raised as a protection against raiding and sudden assault. Their height above the sea was to give greater security, and their commanding sites, with due precaution in watching, prevented the dwellers being taken unawares. When life and property were unsafe, the desire for security, as well as social habit, gave rise to these works. The dwellers fortified their camps for themselves and their cattle, moving about freely in times of peace, and withdrawing to these strongholds in times of danger. They were as much a necessity in early days as the walls and bastions defending the towns in the Middle Ages. Their extraordinary number, out of all proportion compared to Scotland with its 1300, testify to the fact that the land was not a peaceful land long before the coming of the Dane. It is difficult in the present state of our knowledge even to approximate the date of their first introduction, as it is difficult, if not impossible, to assign a definite date to any archæological period in Ireland. The Irish forts are among the finest of a type of primitive defences extending across the continent of Europe from the Atlantic to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean shores of Greece. The construction of the walls in sections, and the passages and chambers, link the western forts through similar, though more perfect, features with the cyclopean walls of Tiryns, Mycenæ, and the Punic cities of North Africa. The cashels, the mounds, and the hill forts with their encircling ramparts have their counterpart in the middle latitudes of Europe, in the lands once dominated by the Celt, and which cover a period from the Bronze Age, at least, to the days of the Roman occupation. In Ireland their use ranges from prehistoric times down to the Middle Ages; and some were occupied for ordinary dwelling purposes down to modern times.

CHAPTER VII.
THE STONE AGE.

FLINT ARROW-HEADS​—​STONE CELTS​—​AXE-HAMMERS.

Primitive man everywhere seems to have used stone, wood, and bone in the manufacture of weapons before he advanced to a knowledge of the use of metal. The terms ‘Stone,’ ‘Bronze,’ and ‘Iron,’ adopted first by Scandinavian archæologists, are now generally used to signify the successive ‘Ages’ of human development from prehistoric into historic times. The vast quantity of stone and bronze objects found in Ireland are conclusive that at certain remote periods they were in general use. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that stone only was at one time used, and that bronze, on account of its superiority, in time superseded the older material. Though each prevailed, and was characteristic of its own period, yet no hard-and-fast line can be drawn between them, and the overlapping occurs everywhere. We have evidence in lake-dwelling remains to show that, after iron was introduced, stone, bronze, and iron implements were used simultaneously. Stone weapons were in use down to the Middle Ages, and stone hammers were used in remote places down to modern times.

The antiquity of man in Ireland has long been a subject of general archæological interest and discussion. He is considered by some authorities to have been contemporary with the cervus giganteus, whose remains have been discovered in such large numbers in the country. These have been found in the crannogs of Cloonfinlough, Loughrea, and in the caves of Ballynamintra. Professor Leith Adams and Messrs. Kinahan and Ussher, in the exploration of the latter, found the bones in connexion with ‘battered and chipped’ hammer-stones, which they had little doubt was the work of man to extract the marrow.[90] They were found mixed with the remains of Neolithic fauna, red-deer, horse, ox, grizzly bear, wolf, badger, fox, dog, etc.

The evidence of the existence of Palæolithic man lies deep in the drifts or raised banks of ancient rivers, or far below the present floors of caves. If he ever existed in Ireland, he has left no conclusive evidence of his presence, so far as our knowledge goes. The relics of Neolithic man lie near the surface, and evidence of his existence has been found throughout the length and breadth of the land. When he started in Ireland, he is supposed to have had a considerable knowledge in the use of stone weapons and skill in their manufacture. In fashioning flint implements, in the selection of the hardest and best kinds of stone, in shaping and polishing these for various uses, he showed an intelligence and skill of no mean order. Finished flint articles have been found in the north of Ireland in thousands; and the refuse of their manufacture exists in large quantities. Few countries equal Ireland in the number of stone implements which have been discovered of every kind, or can show greater excellence in their style and finish.

* * * * *

Flint Arrow-heads.​—​Flint as the hardest stone and the readiest to chip was much sought for; and as Antrim furnished this in nodules in the Chalk formation, it was there worked in great quantities. Knives, scrapers, arrow- and spear-heads, chisels and axe-heads were fashioned in many places, especially on the coast where the flint accumulates along the undercliffs, or on the raised beaches of Larne, Kilroot, and Whitepark Bay. In these places hundreds of flakes may be gathered in a short time​—​the waste material from the workshops of the makers of flint implements that once existed on these sites. At Portstewart and Castlerock, on the coast of Donegal, at Dundrum, Co. Down, and along the Bann valley, great quantities of worked flints have been found, indicating a wide area for the manufacture of weapons.

Fig. 1.

Spear- or Javelin-head​—​full size.

Fig. 2.

Spear-head​—​Scale, two-thirds.

An examination of flint flakes will show certain general characteristics which, when found existing in a large number of instances, are conclusive that they are the result of manipulation and not of natural agency. Hammer-stones and cores are also found in numbers on these sites. The latter are the lumps from which the flakes were struck; and the hammer-stones, generally pebbles of any hard stone, such as quartzite, basalt, or granite, show signs of use in their chipped ends. Scrapers, so much used in the curing and dressing of skins, and such like purposes, are also found in great numbers and variety. The women of the Eskimo and other Arctic tribes, at the present day, use flint scrapers in dressing the skins of animals and birds. These rude instruments have been found in quantities in the hut-sites on the coasts of Down, Antrim, and Donegal, and other places that marked the wanderings of Neolithic man.

Arrow-heads have been found in such quantities, and of such variety, that we can here only give a general outline of their classification. It has been estimated that about ten thousand exist in collections at the present time, not including those which have been sent out of the country, which probably amount to as many more. In size arrow-heads measure from about 1 inch to 4; these latter, indeed, and those up to about 7 or 8 inches long, must have been used as javelin or spear-points; but, as there is no hard-and-fast dividing line between them, all may be included in a general description. Some have been found under one inch in length, but these are not common. The spear-head (fig. 2) in the National Museum is 6½ inches long and nearly 2 inches broad at the widest part. It was rubbed smooth after chipping, and is, perhaps, the most perfect of the class yet found. Owing to their great variety of form, it is difficult to make a classification of arrow-heads simple enough to cover all. For general purposes, however, a three-fold division will suffice: leaf-shaped, triangular, and stemmed. An examination, however, of any good collection will show that further sub-division is needed under each head, if a thorough classification and arrangement are required. The Leaf-shaped arrows are very varied in shape and size; and to this class belong some of the largest, many of them showing the most perfect manipulation and delicacy of touch in regard to the chipping. As the name indicates, these are in general shaped like a leaf; but this class also includes a large variety of those of a modified leaf-form. They were the easiest to make, and were probably the earliest in point of time.

Leaf-shaped Arrow-heads.

Triangular Arrow-heads​—​first type.

Triangular Arrow-heads​—​second type.

Various types of Stemmed Arrow-heads.

Triangular arrow-heads are very numerous, and much more so in Ireland than in England. Most of the objects of this class have an inward curve in the base, or are notched, leaving barbs or wings between which the split-shaft was placed. The Stemmed arrow-heads were probably a development from the leaf or triangular types, and their advantage over them is obvious. The head was kept in its place and prevented from splitting the shaft, while the barbs rendered the weapons more effective in war or in the chase. These vary with long or short stems: some are without barbs; others have barbs and stems of equal length; while varieties may be noticed in the edges being straight, curved either concave or convex, some having a combined or slightly S-shaped curve.

Mounted Arrow-head.

Owing to the perishable nature of the shaft, the discovery of a perfect arrow is exceedingly rare. There are, we believe, only two recorded instances in Ireland​—​one (here figured) in the King’s County, in Ballykellan bog, and the other near Glenarm, Co. Antrim. The head seems to have been fastened into the split of the shaft by a kind of cement, and then tied with sinew.[91] Much superstition has been attached to arrow-heads in Great Britain and Ireland. They have been regarded as ‘elf-shots’ or ‘elf-stones’ cast by the fairies at men or cattle: hence they have been often worn as charms, or used as such in curing bewitched cattle by putting them into their drink, which was supposed to remove the evil.

Knives of flint are also found; the most finished examples are triangular in shape and pointed, with straight back, bevelled edge, and tang for insertion into a handle. Saws are numerous, and the serrated edges were either originally so chipped, or they became so by use. These are widely distributed, and have been found in Egypt, Greece, and through Europe to Denmark and the British Isles.

Flint Knife.

Flaking tools or ‘fabricators,’ as they are called, were used in the making of flint instruments, examples of which may be seen in the National Museum collection. These are narrow pieces of flint 4 or 5 inches long, with blunt ends and a ridge on one or both faces. A deer’s horn or other pointed bone was also used for flaking; the finer work was probably usually done with such tools. The method was by pressure, and the finest flaking can thus be executed. Though this can be imitated with some practice, yet the best work on the faces of arrow- and spear-heads baffles imitation, showing the perfection of workmanship to which primitive man reached. Among other objects are ‘bracers’: these are pieces of stone rubbed down to a smooth surface and pierced with a hole at each end. They are supposed to have been worn on the wrist for protection against the bowstring when let home.

* * * * *

Stone Celts.​—​There is a general similarity in type among the stone implements known as celts, or chisels and axes. As no well-defined line can be drawn between these, as the same object could be used as an instrument or weapon, Sir John Evans, in his exhaustive work on Ancient Stone Implements, uses the term ‘celt’ to include both, and classifies them under three heads: (1) chipped and not ground or polished; (2) chipped, with ground edge only; (3) those ground and polished completely. The last group is further sub-divided into four classes, according to shape. Some Irish archæologists consider that many of our implements present features which make this classification unsatisfactory; but as they are not yet agreed on any classification sufficiently clear and comprehensive, we shall retain the threefold division in our brief description.

The chipped implements are of flint and very rude, thick, and heavy towards the edge, with a blunt point. They resemble the Palæolithic type, and are found in the raised beaches of Larne, and are known as the ‘Larne Implements.’ Of an equally rude kind are those found in hut-sites round the coast, in the Bann Valley, and elsewhere. Implements of a similar type are found in the shell-mounds of Denmark, in Scandinavia, and other parts of Europe. They are named the ‘kitchen-midden’ type, and are considered to be the earliest worked by Neolithic man.

Of the second class many are of flint: the lower part is polished down, giving a fine cutting edge, and the upper portion is left with a rough flaked surface. Many of the larger implements belong to this class, and were the more readily fastened into the haft. These and the polished celts are made of basalt, porphyry, felstone, greenstone, shale, and other rocks; the felstone was much sought for, on account of the fine cutting edge that could be obtained in sharpening. They vary greatly in size, the average being 6 to 8 inches in length, and in breadth 2 to 3½ inches. The largest yet found is in the National Museum: it is of clay slate and about 22 inches long. They vary greatly, too, in shape, and are ovate​—​that is, of a somewhat egg-shaped form​—​or triangular, according to the general cast of the sides and edge.

Polished Celt of Felstone​—​scale two-thirds.

Various Types of Stone Celts​—​scale one-eighth.

Mounted Celt.

In the manufacture of these objects the rough shaping was done with a suitable hammerstone, examples of which may readily be distinguished by rough chip-marks at the ends. The general method of grinding and polishing seems to have been by rubbing the implements longitudinally on a sandstone slab, and the lines of the faces thus made removed by cross or oblique rubbing with a handstone. Many of the celts are as highly polished as they could be at the present day, and it is uncertain how, or with what material, the perfect finish was given to them. The smaller specimens were doubtless set in the end of a stick, and used as chisels in the manufacture of wooden vessels or other light work. Others, there is reason to believe, were simply held in the hand, and served the double purpose of cutting instruments and hammers. By the edge, more or less sharp, animal food or integuments might be cut, or at least roughly divided, while by aid of the opposite end, which is invariably blunt or flat, marrow-bearing bones might be smashed. In all probability, however, the great majority had been the heads of axes used for every-day purposes, or as weapons of war. They are very frequently discovered in ancient river fords, the passage of which had, no doubt, been frequently contested. The larger kind were sometimes mounted in a wooden handle; but, as in the case of the perfect arrow, the discovery of a mounted implement is exceedingly rare. A few, however, have been found; and the accompanying figure shows an example. The primitive inhabitants in our own day of many lands​—​such as New Zealand​—​used implements and weapons mounted in a similar manner.

Supposed Champion Stone for Casting.

It is most likely that some remains of this class were used as missiles. We read of a missile weapon called the Lia Lamha Laich, i.e. a ‘Champion’s handstone,’ which was carried ready for use in the hollow of the shield. It is described by early writers in a manner which shows that it was attached to a line of some kind, and was recoverable after each throw. O’Curry suggests that missiles of this kind were simply our stone celts. There can be little doubt of the correctness of his opinion. In the Academy collection are three stones of that description, which at their narrow end exhibit perforations well adapted for the attachment of a string or line. The largest of these stones is slightly over 3½ inches in length. Each side is crossed by an array of scorings, admirably suited for the purpose of affording a firm grip to a champion desirous of hurling the stone with force. Around the aperture are two engraved circles. The other perforated celts are sharp and well formed, but plain. Each would prove a formidable missile when cast by a trained hand.

* * * * *

Perforated Axe-hammers of Stone.

Axe-hammers.​—​The perforated axe-hammers show an advance in the manufacture of stone implements. Of these there are several varieties; some, and probably the earliest, are of the celt type; others are blunt at both ends forming true hammers; but the latter type come near to the modern axe-head in shape. They are well-designed, highly polished, and formed of stone selected for its hardness. The spot for the hole seems to have been first chipped; and the perforation was then made by rotatory friction with a suitable stone, piece of bone or wood, and the use of sand and water. The operation was usually done on both sides, as a section of the stone shows that the hole diminishes towards the middle. Many specimens show a cylindrical perforation, the drilling of which could be done with a piece of hollow wood, bone, or metal. Cores cut out in this way have been found in numbers in the Swiss lake-dwellings; but, as far as we are aware, no core of this kind has been found in Ireland. One head with an incomplete perforation may be seen in the Academy collection; this shows the cores, but broken on both sides. Many of the true round hammer-shaped heads are cleanly drilled, and with a metal tool. They are evidently late in date, and were probably used in the working of the finer metals, gold and silver. Two of the many fine examples in the Academy collection of the axe type are here figured. The larger is composed of serpentine; it is 8¼ inches long, and weighs about 6½ pounds. It has a broad hatchet-edge with a heavy head behind the handle. The other, found in the Shannon at Athlone, is of hornblendic syenite; it is 5½ inches in length, with grooves round the perforated sides. These are highly polished, and are among the finest specimens yet discovered in the British Isles.

Perforated Stone Axe-hammers.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE BRONZE AGE.

COPPER CELTS​—​BRONZE​—​ITS ANTIQUITY AND SOURCE​—​BRONZE CELTS​—​THE FLAT CELT​—​THE FLANGED OR WINGED CELT​—​THE SOCKETED CELT​—​CELT MOULDS​—​SWORDS​—​RAPIERS​—​BROAD SCYTHE-SHAPED SWORDS​—​SWORD SHEATHS​—​THE LISNACROGHERA ‘FINDS’​—​SPEAR-AND JAVELIN-HEADS​—​ORNAMENTED SPEARS​—​CRANNOG SPEARS​—​SHIELDS​—​BRIDLE BITS​—​CALDRONS​—​TRUMPETS​—​ORNAMENTS, BRONZE AND GOLD​—​TORQUES​—​LUNULÆ​—​TIARAS​—​FIBULÆ​—​THE BROIGHTER GOLD ‘FIND.’

The Early Irish traditions​—​so insisted on by many writers​—​of the successive invasions of Ireland by various races may contain a kernel at least of the truth of successive waves of the men of the Stone Age, overcome in time by a race stronger and better equipped with metal weapons.

The discovery of metal for the manufacture of implements marked a new epoch in the history of man. Copper was evidently known long before the discovery was made of using it with an alloy; but, owing to its softness, it could not supersede the use of stone. The question of whether there was, generally speaking, a Copper Age is still a matter of archæological controversy. The number of copper implements found is small, compared to the vast quantities of bronze of great variety that have been discovered. Flat copper celts have been found in Cyprus, the chief source of supply of the mineral to the Aegæan, in Hissarlik, in Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, France, Italy, and in Central India; but these latter are thought to be of late date, having been associated with objects of silver.

The National Museum, Dublin, contains 84 copper celts, the collection having much increased since the compilation of Wilde’s Catalogue, when the number stood at 30. The number found in Ireland up to the present time is about 150; and specimens have been discovered in about half the counties and in all the provinces. The copper celts are of a primitive type, and were evidently modelled after those of stone. The smallness of the number may be due either to the probability of their being recast in the manufacture of tools and weapons on the discovery of bronze; or, that the metal proving soft, it was not largely used, being inferior in consistency to stone. Bronze celts have been found of a primitive character similar to the copper, so that they may have belonged to the same period of time. From this and other considerations it has been urged that a Copper Age did not exist in Western Europe, though such, no doubt, prevailed in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, especially in Egypt. The latter country was in the Neolithic Age under the ‘New Race’; and copper came into use at the end of this Pre-dynastic Period.

In all copper celts hitherto analysed in Ireland, a very small quantity of tin has been found, varying from about one per cent. to a mere trace. Whether the presence of tin in the copper is intentional or accidental is not definitely known; but it seems likely to have existed in the ore with other impurities.[92] Copper seems to have been in general use in Ireland; for, among other objects of this metal, awls, a halbert, and blades of knives have been discovered. The existence of native ore renders it likely that it was worked as soon as its properties were known; and this is supported by the fact that the word umha, the Irish name for copper, is pure Celtic. Tin exists in small quantities in Ireland, especially in the sand and gravel deposits of the Wicklow streams; but as to the method and means of mining, and how far it was carried on in those early days, we know nothing definite. Copper workings have been discovered, of a primitive type, in Cork and Kerry, containing stone implements among the refuse.

The discovery of bronze marked an important epoch in the progress of human development; and it would be difficult to estimate its full value as an element in the economic and social conditions of primitive man and early civilizations. In Ireland as elsewhere, owing to its advantages, bronze in time came into general use in the manufacture of weapons, domestic implements, and articles of personal adornment. These passed through various stages of development; and the use of bronze, as the general material for all such articles, became in time very widespread. The percentage of tin in bronze varies, and the proportion does not appear to be absolutely fixed. About 10 per cent. seems to have been the average for the best bronze. Some Irish bronze implements yielded, on analysis, 13·88 per cent.; the Mycenæan bronze which Schliemann had examined gave 13 per cent. of tin; and some bronze from Hissarlik gave 4 to 6 per cent. The number of moulds discovered for various weapons shows that smelting was practised in Ireland; but, like the mining, it is difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain the exact method of working, and the extent to which it was carried on.[93]

Archæological opinion is divided as to the origin of bronze. It has been variously attributed to the high table-land of Central Asia, to India, to Siberia, and to the original inhabitants of the lower Euphrates valley, while some writers claim for it an Etruscan origin. Its antiquity is, however, great; Dr. Flinders Petrie found celts in the tombs of Medum in Egypt, structures which he considers lead back to the Third Dynasty; in the Fourth Dynasty, bronze came into general use.[94] It was characteristic of the whole of the Mycenæan civilization, and prevailed throughout the Homeric period, though iron was then known. Bronze spread to Europe from south to north along the established trade routes; and the theory, once held, that a Bronze Age developed independently among the rude races of Northern Europe is no longer accepted. The discovery of well-wrought weapons in early graves shows that the inhabitants of the British Isles first knew bronze, in its best form, as a foreign introduction, before they manufactured the metal for themselves. Bronze was, in time, superseded by iron; but not until the discovery was made of tempering or hardening it by plunging the hot metal into cold water. Iron was used by the Egyptians in the period from 3800 B.C. to 3000 B.C.; in depicting weapons or tools, it was the custom to paint iron blue or black​—​the colour by which it was known​—​and this is seen in the paintings which have been discovered of the time. ‘Iron,’ says Dr. Budge, ‘was certainly known to the Egyptians as early as the Fifth Dynasty; and, from the fact that iron plays a great part in ancient Egyptian myths, it is probable that it was known by them at a far earlier period.’[95] Metal tools of the best kind were known in Egypt at an early date. Dr. Petrie shows that drilling, sawing, and lathe-work were done by the pyramid-builders on the hardest stone with fine cutting points. He considers modern drill-cores far inferior to those discovered in Egypt. ‘By the side of the ancient work,’ he says, ‘they look wretchedly scraped and irregular; ... the fine work shows the marks of just such tools as we have only now re-invented.’[96]

* * * * *

Bronze Celts.​—​The most common weapons or implements of bronze found in Ireland are celts, which have been generally classified as flat, flanged, winged, and socketed. The ordinary bronze celt is rarely more than seven inches in length, and some have been found which scarcely measure an inch and a half.

* * * * *

Fig. 1. Flat Bronze Celt​—​scale one-half.

Fig. 2. Celt with lunette-shaped edge and re-curved points.

The Flat Celt.​—​The earliest type is flat and wedge-shaped, and, like the stone weapon, appears to have been fixed by the smaller end into a wooden handle. The accompanying figure (1) shows a long, narrow celt of gold-coloured bronze, ornamented on side and edges; fig. 2 is an ornamented celt with lunette-shaped edge and re-curved points.

* * * * *

The Flanged or Winged Celt was a simple development of the latter, resulting from the necessity of affording a better hold to the weapon when fastened to a cleft handle. The flanges were produced either by hammering the edges or by original casting. It will be noted, in figures 3 and 4, that a stop-ridge runs across the handle portion of the weapon, to prevent the celt being pressed into the haft when used with force. The position and shape of the ridge vary in the gradual development of the implement, until, merged in the flanges, we have a socket. The flanges vary much in size, and the term ‘winged’ is sometimes confined to celts with wide or more projecting flanges.

Figs. 3 and 4. Flat and Flanged Celts with Stop-ridge.

Fig. 5 has lozenge-shaped flanges or wings 1¾ inches wide; ‘the stops are but slightly developed, and must have been bedded into the sides of the handle, which appears to have passed below them’; this will be seen by the groove projecting into the cutting half of the implement. The external knob was probably intended for holding the tying in its place. Fig. 6 is a broad-winged and stop-ridged celt with sides and faces ornamented. To the flanged type of celt the name ‘Palstave,’ a word of Scandinavian origin, is generally applied.

Figs. 5 and 6. Winged or Flanged Celts.

The implements were mounted by inserting the handle between the flanges, and secured by a ligature of some kind tightly coiled round the butt. To secure the head from flying off the handle a loop was, in time, added to the inside edge of the celt by which it was firmly braced to the haft. The loop is almost invariably single; double-looped celts (see [fig. 7]) are very rare, and but a few specimens have been found in Ireland. The discovery of a mounted celt is also very rare, as the wooden handles, to which they seem generally to have been attached, decayed in the lapse of time. A very interesting example is shown in fig. 8. This celt was found in the bed of the River Boyne near Edenderry. The handle is about 14 inches long, and the head possessed a loop which was worn through​—​probably, as Wilde thinks, by a metal brace which secured it.

Fig. 7. Double-looped Flanged Celt with Stop-ridge.

Fig. 8. Looped Celt with Original Handle.

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The Socketed Celt.​—​In tracing the development of these celts, with specimens, it will be noted that the flanges grow bolder and more projecting, and in time curve inwards, and that the stop becomes more prominent. By merging it, as we have said, into the wings, and gradually removing the decreasing shank, the socket was formed. There was a marked advance here in casting, as provision had to be made for a core to form the socket. ‘The lip of the socket,’ says Wilde, ‘is generally ornamented, and very frequently by one or more raised bands or fillets; sometimes by a very well-cast roped ornament, evidently made to represent a cord of twisted gut. A special description of cast ornament, consisting of longitudinal raised bars, generally ending in annular or button-like projections, sometimes occupies the side of this implement; ... but in no case is the ornamentation produced either by the hammer, punch, or graver, as in the flat simple celt.’[97] There are several varieties of the socketed celt, as the illustrations show. Figures 9 and 10 are 4 inches and 4¼ inches in length respectively, and are characteristic of the plain class of Irish socketed celt, though differing materially from each other in particulars of shape, breadth, position of the loop, and ornament. Of the same variety are figures 11 and 12, drawn one-fourth the actual size. Fig. 13 represents a small and well-decorated celt, and is drawn one-half the size of the object. Fig. 14 represents a flat celt 4½ inches long, with oval socket internally, and a small raised linear ornament. Fig. 15 shows a type of celt rare in Ireland. It is a good example of the axe-shaped implement; it is 3¾ inches long, and about the same across the cutting edge. Fig. 16 is a fine specimen of the long narrow quadrangular celt: it is 5⅜ inches in length and 1⅜ inches in breadth. It is very rare in Ireland, and but a few specimens have been found in the country. Some of these socketed celts are so diminutive that they could not have served for chopping of any kind. Fixed at the end of a wooden handle, they might, no doubt, well answer the purpose of chisels. The process of development here indicated must, as Sir John Evans points out, have taken a considerable period of time.[98]

Fig. 9. Fig. 10. Fig. 11. Fig. 12.
Fig. 13. Fig. 14. Fig. 15. Fig. 16.

Varieties of Looped, Socketed Celts.

* * * * *

Fig. 1.

Celt Mould, Co. Leitrim.

Fig. 2.

Celt Mould, Co. Down.

Celt Moulds.​—​That Irish bronze weapons are of home manufacture, no one who has given the subject any consideration can doubt. Though bearing a general resemblance to remains of a similar class found in Britain, and on the Continent of Europe, the nationality of the majority of such relics found in the bogs, beds of rivers, and newly broken land of Ireland, is sufficiently indicated by certain minute peculiarities which, to a skilled observer, are almost invariably perceptible. Besides, the stone moulds in which many of the objects were cast have, from time to time, been turned up by the plough, or otherwise brought to light in various districts of the country.

The moulds are of two kinds: the first single, containing a cutting on the surface into which the metal was poured; this was used chiefly for the flat, axe-shaped type of celt. The second was a double mould consisting of two parts fitted together, and was chiefly used for casting the winged or flanged variety of celt. Fig. 1 represents a mould found in Lough Scur Crannoge, Co. Leitrim; and fig. 2 was discovered at Ballynahinch, Co. Down.

* * * * *

Bronze Swords.​—​Ireland is particularly rich in bronze swords; and a greater number have been found in it than in England or Scotland. The colour of the metal in the swords is usually lighter than that in the celt, as it seems to have suffered less from oxidation. Bronze swords are usually divided into (1) the leaf-shaped, (2) the rapier, and (3) the broad scythe-shaped varieties. On page 214 are given examples of the Leaf-shaped Swords found in Ireland. Of these, No. 1 is the longest blade preserved in the Royal Irish Academy’s collection in the National Museum. It measures 29⅝ inches in length; and as it has been drawn to about one-sixth scale, the proportion of its parts can be relatively ascertained. The covering or mounting of the handle has been lost; but six bronze rivets, by which it was secured to the tang, still remain. In the ends of each of these are small circular depressions which were probably intended for the reception of some coloured enamel.

Varieties of Bronze Swords found in Ireland.

Blade No. 2, though somewhat smaller, is in style very like that just noticed. It is finely cast, and has, like the first, a bevel-edge. Its tang exhibits five plain bronze rivets, and three apertures for the reception of others which no longer remain; its length is 28½ inches.

No. 3 is 26 inches long, and retains ten handle-rivets, and provision for the reception of two more which have been lost. It has a narrow grooved feather-edge, but no midrib.

No. 4 is a very beautiful leaf-shaped sword richly moulded, and presenting a broad and finely graduated central rib, by which great strength is added to the blade, rendering it equally fit for thrusting or striking. The tang appears to have originally possessed ten rivets, of which only two remain; the length is 23½ inches.

No. 5. This blade is remarkable for the shortness of its tang, which is pierced for four rivets only. It is not bevelled at the edges, but shows a sharp central ridge of unusual thickness.

No. 6 is 18½ inches long; it ‘has a thick flat midrib and grooved side bevels, or feather-edges, with hilt notches in the base of the blade. The handle-plate, which is slightly defective, has four rivet-holes, and has been welded by an over-lap.’ (Wilde.)

The precise manner in which the swords were hafted remained until lately a matter of conjecture. It has been shown, however, by existing examples, that the mounting probably generally consisted of bone; wood also may have been largely used. While in the northern and other parts of the Continent of Europe, bronze swords are commonly found with handles of the same metal, we cannot point to a single Irish specimen so furnished. Rapiers and dagger-knives of bronze, the blades and handles of which are of the same material, have frequently been found in Ireland. The handle-plates of swords are often found broken; and in some cases the break has been welded, which shows that this was the weakest part of the weapon. Bronze swords everywhere seem to have been used more for thrusting in close combat than for striking; and although the weapon ultimately developed into possessing a massive bronze handle, it was not until iron came into general use that the warrior was armed with a weapon strong enough at the hilt to deliver a downward stroke without snapping the blade.

Dagger hafted with Bronze.

* * * * *

The Rapier partakes very much of the character of the leaf-shaped sword, having the broad triangular and the long narrow types, and are probably from the same school of manufacture. Except in the circumstance of being usually very long and narrow in the blade, they, as a rule, differ little from the swords and daggers with which they are sometimes found. Instead of a handle-plate, the butt of the blade of the rapier widens out for the reception of the haft, to which it was fastened by two or more rivets. In some cases the blade was only notched instead of pierced for the rivets; while in others it was both perforated and notched. Like the daggers, the handles were occasionally of bronze; but there is reason to believe that their mounting was more usually of bone. Moulds of stone used for the purpose of casting this class of weapon are rare; but a couple of specimens may be seen in the National Museum.

* * * * *

Broad Scythe-shaped Swords.​—​These are usually thick, heavy, round-pointed weapons, from about 8 to 16 inches in length and several inches broad at the butt, where they were attached to the haft by two or more heavy rivets, the heads of which are sometimes an inch across. About one-half of those in the National Museum are of the peculiar curved or scythe-shaped kind, and the greater proportion have thick central midribs. These, according to Wilde, seem to have been fastened at right angles to the hafts ‘like modern halberds.’ This view is generally accepted; but their great antiquity among metal weapons is probably not so great as Wilde seemed to think.

The swords discovered in Irish lake-dwellings are very varied; but they are all strikingly Celtic in character. A few have been formed of bronze, and differ in no respect from the greater number of those discovered in districts where, apparently, crannogs did not exist. The great majority of the crannog swords are, however, of iron, and are remarkable, as a rule, for their comparatively small size​—​their handles in particular. From this it has been inferred that the race or races by whom they were used must have been diminutive people. But the same remark may be applied to nearly all the swords of antiquity of which we know anything. The bronze swords discovered by Schliemann in the shaft-graves of Mycenæ are about 3 feet long​—​small weapons compared to the long, heavy, two-handed sword of the Middle Ages. In shape the crannog swords may be described, generally, as of two kinds: the one increasing in breadth from the handle to the end, which terminates in the form of a triangle; the other shorter, with a broad blade, quite in the Roman fashion. Both are double-edged, and are usually strengthened by a central ridge, while some rare examples are fluted. Their handles were for the most part composed of bone or horn, though sometimes wood was used; they were, as a rule, finished by a pommel, or knob of a semicircular or triangular form, secured and strengthened on the inner side by a plate of bronze, curving backwards. There is no hilt or guard, properly speaking, though the haft or handle usually somewhat overlaps the sides and edges of the blade, presenting a crescent-like figure, the curve of which tends in a direction opposite to that of the pommel. Bronze mountings frequently occur.

* * * * *

No. 1.

Upper and Lower Portions of Sword-sheath of Bronze, from Lisnacroghera. Now in the Grainger Collection.

No. 2.

Upper and Lower Portions of Sword-sheath of Bronze from Lisnacroghera. Now in the British Museum.

No. 3.

Upper and Lower Portions of Sword-sheath of Bronze from Lisnacroghera. Now in the Grainger Collection.

Bronze Sword-sheaths.​—​Through the kindness of the Council of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, illustrations are here reproduced, from their Journal (1883, 1889), of several bronze sheaths which were found at Lisnacroghera, near Broughshane, Co. Antrim, in connection with at least three swords of the crannog class. Very few remains of the kind have been discovered in Ireland; and no specimen had been found when Wilde compiled his Catalogue. He, however, notices some small, undecorated objects, composed of bronze, little larger than a lady’s scissors-case, which, in all probability, were the sheaths of small knives or skeans. At Lisnacroghera crannog, four fine and nearly perfect examples of bronze sword-sheaths, which had contained iron blades, have, in recent years, been brought to light; some portions of at least four others also occurred in the same place. In Kemble’s Horœ Ferales several short swords or daggers are illustrated identical in type with that so clearly shown in Ireland, for the first time, by the Lisnacroghera ‘finds.’ The illustrations in that work[99] show both sides of a sword and sheath, and their likeness to the Ulster examples is very striking: the haft of the sword is of a similar character, and the ends of the bronze sheaths identical. This relic was discovered in the river Witham, in England. The bed of the Thames has, from time to time, presented examples of equal interest.

The Lisnacroghera remains are, in some respects, the most remarkable that have been discovered in recent years in Ireland. The special importance of the ‘finds’ lies in the interesting series of iron swords with bronze mountings and ornamental bronze sheaths, already referred to, and iron spears, the wooden handles of which had bronze knobs at the end. One of the sheaths is perfect but unornamented; of the others which are here illustrated only one side of each remains. These are very finely ornamented by sharp and clear incised lines. The pattern was evidently intended for the reception of enamel, which was probably black, and of which some faint traces seemed to remain. If this was so, the contrast, when finished, between the black enamel and the burnished golden-hued bronze must have been very striking and effective.

The advanced stage of art reached in the ornamentation of these objects has been styled ‘Late Celtic’ by Sir A. W. Franks, in editing Kemble’s Horæ Ferales. The objects on which the early craftsmen lavished this decoration, and in which the metal-workers of the British Islands were in no way behind those of Central Europe, consist of shields, swords, sheaths, horse-trappings, fibulæ, armlets, &c. These were of both bronze and iron, the latter prevailing in the La Tène period, and they were often embellished with enamel. Sir A. W. Franks, on a very careful examination of many of these objects, attributes them to Celtic sources, and not to Roman, Saxon, or Danish. He is inclined to fix the date of their production at about 100 B.C.; and as a discussion of the evidence involved in these questions is outside our limits, it is sufficient here to state that the early Iron Age was fully developed among the Celtic races of Central Europe long before the new metal was generally adopted by the inhabitants of the British Islands and the North of Europe. It is now generally admitted that the art and industry represented in the objects under consideration had their origin in the influences emanating from the civilization of Hallstatt and La Tène. Commencing about 800 B.C., these influences extended; and the results may be traced from the British Isles, throughout Europe, to the plains beyond the Alpine barriers, until we reach the shores of the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas.

* * * * *

Bronze Spear- and Javelin-heads.​—​These have been found in large quantities in Ireland; and the number in the National Museum is about 320. The classification given by Wilde is that usually adopted: (1) the leaf-shaped, either long and narrow, or broad, with holes in the sockets for the purpose of riveting into the shaft. (2) The looped, with eyes on the sockets below the blade and on the same plane with it. (3) Spear-heads with the loops formed at the junction of the blade with the socket. (4) Those with the loops in the body of the blade, on either side of the midrib or main line of the weapon. These spaces are sometimes crescent-shaped, and are considered to lighten the weight of the spear. This division seems more or less arbitrary, depending on accentuated points of difference. A more satisfactory classification has been attempted by Mr. George Coffey, showing their probable type development.[100]

Varieties of Spear-heads of Bronze.

The looped spear-head is a distinct type; and, according to Sir John Evans, it is hardly known outside the British Isles. It is more numerous in Ireland than in England or Scotland. Of the spear-heads in the Academy Collection here figured, No. 1 is, with a single exception, the largest known to have been discovered in Ireland. It is 27 inches in length, and composed of fine gold-coloured metal, run very light and thin; it is furnished near the socket with two loops, and has a broad concave bevel round the edge. This weapon was found near Maghera, Co. Londonderry.

No. 2, which measures 13½ inches in length, is composed, like No. 1, of bright gold-coloured bronze. It is remarkable for the breadth of its blade, and for the position of its loops as shown in the illustration.

No. 3 is 15 inches long, and presents a very unusual form, being concave on its curved sides. Here, as usual, we find loops upon the socket; they, however, present a somewhat rare feature, being connected with the base of the blade by narrow lateral fillets. It will be seen that the end of the socket is richly engraved with lines and chevrons, like those which are found in great variety upon many objects of the Bronze Age.

No. 4 is an excellent and typical example of the leaf-shaped spear-head so often found in Ireland. It is 13½ inches in length, and has no side loops, but the socket is pierced for the reception of a rivet, which was probably of wood, by which the head was secured to the shaft or handle. It may be observed that the sockets of this class of spear-head are almost invariably of abnormal diameter, and that the metal of the head is usually of a duller or more copper-like colour than that of the ordinary bronze of the period.

No. 5 is a curious specimen composed of pure bronze, and unique in the collection. It is 13⅞ inches in length; and its peculiarity is in the position of the side loops​—​one appearing near the end of the socket, while the other is considerably above it, and very close to the side of the blade. The loops, too, are of unusual character, being almost semicircular in form, while features of their kind are, as a general rule, of a quadrangular shape; the socket is quite plain.

* * * * *

Fig. 1. Fig. 2. Fig. 3. Fig. 4.

Ornaments on Spear-heads.

Ornamented Spears.​—​The spear-head indicated by fig. 1 in the accompanying illustration measures 7½ inches in length. It is a beautiful example in every respect, and when first lifted from the bed of the Shannon, was as bright as gold. It has no patina, and is now of a dull yellow colour. Fig. 2 is drawn upon a larger scale than that adopted in the general view of the spear-head, in order to illustrate the design with greater clearness. The work is very similar to some that appears on gold lunettes and other relics of the Bronze Age to be seen in the Academy collection. Fig. 3 illustrates the socket of a spear-head boldly and richly decorated in the same style. Fig. 4 is a full-sized engraving of the smallest bronze spear, or javelin-head, preserved in the collection. Like Fig. 4 of the group of spear-heads already given, it is composed of dark-coloured bronze, and exhibits, for the size of the object, a most disproportionate diameter in the socket.

* * * * *

Butt mounting of Crannog Spear-shaft. From the Grainger Collection.

Crannog Spears.​—​Very few spear-heads of bronze have been found in Irish lake-dwellings, while arms of that class, javelins and arrow-heads, composed of iron, are very numerous. As may be judged from examples found at Lisnacroghera, the spear-shaft was usually about 8 feet in length; but one complete specimen, now in the Grainger collection, Belfast, has, so far as we are aware, been preserved: it is of ash. Objects of antique bronze, similar in form to that of a modern door-handle, may be seen in most of the important collections of Irish antiquities. Up to a recent period they were a puzzle to archæologists. That they were mountings for the butts of spear-shafts is now certain. Indeed, at Lisnacroghera a couple were found still retaining within them portions of the handle-ends. The mode in which they had been attached to the shaft is thus described by Canon Greenwell, who had secured at least five specimens from that crannog: ‘The end of the shaft is split, and into the split is inserted a wedge of wood, so that, when driven home, the wedge expanded the end of the shaft, and kept it firm in the butt.’ Iron spear-heads are often very elegant in form; and in some instances their sockets are ornamented with chevron and other tasteful patterns. They were secured to the handle by bronze ferules, or by rivets of the same metal, or of iron, which sometimes projected beyond the sides of the shaft, as we see depicted in the drawings in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. The ferules occasionally exhibit depressions, or scorings, which would seem to have been intended for the reception of enamel. In no instance have the side loops, so common in bronze examples, been found on spear-heads of iron.

Arrow-heads of copper or bronze are rare; the metals were too valuable to be used in any general sense in such weapons. Javelin-heads, generally differing from the spears in size only, have been found in our principal crannogs; but no trace of a bow, so far as we are aware, has been recognized amongst the numerous relics formed of wood which usually accompany the metallic remains. Many of the smaller heads in the National Museum were probably used as bolts for cross-bow purposes.

* * * * *

Bronze Shield from Lough Gur.

Shields.​—​There can be little doubt that the lake-dwellers in Ireland​—​such of them at least as were able to bear arms​—​were in the possession of shields, some of which were formed of bronze. Not far from Lough Gur​—​a sheet of water with crannogs​—​in the County Limerick, a very fine shield composed of bronze was accidentally brought to light. This occurred during drainage operations some fifty years ago, when a large number of bronze arms and implements were discovered. This is known as the ‘Lenihan’ shield; it is circular in plan, the diameter being 28 inches, and slightly convex; the centre rises about 1¼ inches above the rim; and the umbo, which is 6 inches wide at the base, rises in conical form 1¾ inches above the shield. ‘The hollow of the umbo internally is crossed by a stout handle, firmly riveted to the shield, of sheet bronze bent into a round. The metal of the shield is formed at the edge into a round hollow rim by being most skilfully turned inwards into a roll ¼ inch wide; between it and the umbo are six beaten-up circular ribs, and six rows of small studs. In the circle next the rim there are seventy-three studs, and in that next the umbo twenty-two. The bronze, which is of a fine golden colour, is about the thickness of a worn shilling next the rim, and of a sixpence near the centre.’ The metal is much too thin to have been of any service by itself, so that it probably was the outer and ornamental covering of a ‘tough bull-hide.’ Plates of this kind, examples of which have been found in Great Britain, seem to belong to the close of the Bronze Age. Sculptured upon one of the crosses at Kells, Co. Meath, are armoured figures with round shields, showing that these defences were used in the early Christian period at least.

Many pieces of hammered sheet-iron, which appear to have belonged to shields, have from time to time been found in crannogs. It is probable, however, that shields were, as a general rule, formed of wicker-work, or wood, covered with a piece of animal hide. It was not until man, as Sir John Evans points out, had made considerable advance in the use of bronze that he could have prepared plates, like that of the Lough Gur type, wherewith to cover a shield.

* * * * *

Bridle-bits.​—​Amongst the rarer remains of a period when bronze was very largely used in the production of arms, implements, and objects of various descriptions, bridle-bits, remarkable for their beauty of design and excellence of workmanship, are, in some respects, of the highest interest. Some examples were evidently intended for the reception of enamel as portion of their decoration; and, in at least one instance, the cheek-pieces, or rings to which reins had been attached, are richly embossed with coloured material, in every way resembling the enamel found on some of the finest remains of the Late Celtic period.

On several ancient crosses will be seen sculptures of chariots, showing that these were in use among the chiefs or other high personages at an early date. The vehicles are represented as furnished with large-sized, spoked wheels, and drawn by pairs of high-stepping, evidently mettlesome, horses. The body of the machine is of elegant design; and we have records that it was at times artistically embellished with findruine, a white metal more precious amongst the ancient Irish than silver. At Tara was a space known as the ‘Slope of the Chariots,’ where it is supposed, as its name implies, chariot races were held.

The three bronze bridle-bits here figured, and showing different varieties, are in the National Museum, where a large number, complete and fragmentary, may be seen. Fig. 2 was found in the valley between the hills of Screen and Tara. Fig. 3, which was found near Navan, County Meath, accompanied with gilt bronze trappings, and the skull and other remains of a horse, is most likely of a later period than the others. Almost immediately with it were about a dozen human skeletons, and traces of fire. In general form and in its details, this bit closely resembles some specimens formed of iron which were dug out from the crannogs of Lagore and Ardakillin.[101] The bridle-bits here illustrated are practically identical with examples of the Hallstatt and La Tène periods, found both in bronze and iron.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

Bronze Bridle-bits.

In connection with bronze-bits of the earlier kind, spur-shaped objects, usually, but vaguely, described as ‘headstalls,’ have frequently been discovered. There is some evidence that they were attached to the cheek-pieces, or rings, and hung with their knobs downward. They may, however, have stood above the head and had plumes or some such things fixed in them. The central figure in Fig. 4 is given to show the style of ornamentation that appears upon the external side of the terminal loops. The lines, which are deeply cut, were probably enamelled. In Fig. 5 the cross-like figures are very curious, but they need not be supposed to have any connection with Christian symbolism.

Fig. 4. Fig. 5.

Trappings of Bronze, called ‘Head-stalls,’ found with Bronze Bridle-bits.

Yokes, formed of wood, by which horses, oxen, or other animals of draught were coupled, have often been found in our peat bogs. Some examples exhibit much taste in their style of decoration. There is a valuable collection of these and other wooden objects in the National Museum.

* * * * *

Bronze Caldron, Academy Collection.

Caldrons.​—​Caldrons​—​in Irish coire​—​formed of thin plates of beaten bronze curiously riveted together, were important articles of domestic use in Ireland at an early date, being mentioned among the special property of kings; and many fine specimens have been found in Ireland from time to time. Tradition tells that among the great treasures brought to this country by Tuatha De Danaan was the Coire an Daghdha or ‘Magic Caldron.’ Caldrons are usually of very graceful form, and were furnished with two rings, or handles, placed opposite to each other at or near the rim of the vessel, and held by straps, which were fastened by stays either to the inside or outside of the vessel. Most of the known specimens must have been long in use, as they are generally more or less patched and mended in places where the metal had given way. The added pieces are of the same material as the body of the utensil, and are kept in position by rivets, never by soldering. One vessel of this class was found nearly full of celts, palstaves, daggers, crotals,[102] and other objects of bronze. This discovery was made at Dowris, near Birr, in the King’s County, in 1830. The bronze of which the objects were made is of a bright golden hue, which it is supposed was due to a mixture of lead in its composition; this type of metal is known in consequence as ‘Dowris bronze.’ Bronze caldrons similar to the Irish, both of the round and elongated forms, have been found among the Hallstatt remains.

Caldrons are constantly mentioned in ancient Irish manuscripts. In the Book of Rights the following passages occur, showing that the caldron formed part of the tribute paid to a king:​—​

‘A caldron is giving to the King of Caiseal

By the King of Teamhair, the mighty chief,

To be presented in due form,

And to be brought to Teamhair Luachra....

Entitled is the King of Saithne to this,

To a steed and to two score of cows,

For his rising out is not less,

Neither is his caldron nor his vat.’[103]

Caldrons formed of iron, similar in shape and style of workmanship to those of bronze, have recently been found in Ireland. The Grainger collection, Belfast, contains two important examples from the Lisnacroghera crannog. A third, from Lough Erne, has been presented to the Royal Irish Academy collection by Mr. Seaton Milligan.

Among other bronze objects of domestic use discovered are small dishes, an interesting example of which is here illustrated. It is 7¾ inches wide, and is hammered out of a single piece of metal, and ornamented on the inside with a series of curved-line patterns.

Bronze Dish from Cloonfinlough Crannog, Co. Roscommon.

* * * * *

Bronze Trumpets.​—​A large number of war-trumpets have been found in Ireland during the past two centuries; and an interesting series of these in the Academy collection is to be seen in the National Museum. These instruments are usually classified into (1) those blown in the ordinary way from the end; and (2) those having the end closed, and sounded from an opening some distance from it in the body of the instrument. Among the examples found, some are cast, and others riveted; many are ornamented, and some have highly decorated discs of the Late Celtic period round the mouth. When not in use they were probably slung from the shoulder, some of the instruments exhibiting loops to which straps could be attached.

Bronze Trumpets, Academy Collection, National Museum.

An interesting group of trumpets from the Academy collection is here represented. The trumpet to the left of the lower central figure is of cast bronze and is 24 inches in length along the convex side. ‘It requires,’ says Wilde, ‘a great exertion to produce even a dull sound with this instrument.’ The central figure, and that immediately above it to the right, are also cast, and have holes on the inner sides. It has been thought that this type of instrument was used more for speaking than blowing; and Latin writers notice the clamour and noise of trumpets made by the Celts on the battle-field. The fourth trumpet is of two portions, and the combined length is about 6 feet. It is not cast, but made of thin sheet bronze; the edges are not soldered, but are held together by thin stripes of metal running along the seam internally and externally, and riveted to each side by alternate studs of bronze. The disc at the end is about 3 inches wide, and has a fine design of Late Celtic pattern punched on the metal. The fifth figure in the illustration represents an exceptionally fine trumpet, and one of the most remarkable yet discovered in Europe for its size. It is 8 feet 5 inches in length, and is in two portions, formed, like the last, of sheet bronze, the edges being held together by an internal strip of metal riveted to the side. This, as Wilde well says, is the most perfect thing of its kind yet discovered; and if the instrument was originally of one piece, exceptional skill and ingenuity were shown in the riveting.[104]

* * * * *

Bronze Ornaments.​—​Pins of wood or bone seem to have been the material used in the earliest articles for fastening the dress. Bone pins have been found in considerable numbers in early burial sites, and in crannog remains; many are ornamented and they were very probably used long after the introduction of bronze. On the discovery of this metal the beauty of the colour naturally led to its immediate adoption for objects of personal use and decoration. The number of these objects that have been found in Ireland is very great, and they consist of pins, fibulæ, brooches, rings, bracelets, &c. The bronze pin, which was derived from the ring-brooch, shows a regular development; first in the solid head, which is very varied; later the head was pierced for a ring, or a ring was riveted to it. The ring in time became the special object of development, similar to the process of the parent ring-brooch which ended in the production of those splendid examples of metal work​—​the Celtic brooches.

Fig. 1. Fig. 2.

Disc and Penannular Types of Ring Pins.

The accompanying figures illustrate varieties of ring-pins not uncommon in Irish collections. Fig. 1 has a ring of the disc type with a plaited design, which plays freely in the loop of the pin-head. Fig. 2 has the penannular type of ring with coin-shaped ends. Spring brooches or fibulæ of the kind shown in fig. 3 are rarely found in Ireland. This is a beautiful example of the ‘serpent’ type, and ‘is curiously frosted with a raised irregular pattern all over the surface; but whether produced in casting, or caused by sudden cooling of the metal, is uncertain.’ Fig. 4 represents a beautiful example of the hinge-brooch and one of the finest ever discovered. It was found in Ardakillin Crannog, near Strokestown. The ends show Late Celtic design; and the ornament was produced by punching from the back. The curved body of the brooch has a raised plaited design of the usual type; and this piece appears to have been cast.

Fig. 3. Bronze Fibula.

Fig. 4. Bronze Hinge-Brooch, drawn full size.

Penannular rings, more common in gold than in bronze, have frequently been found, the larger size having been used as bracelets or armlets. Two of the latter are figured on next page. One is a massive ornament consisting of a double rope-like band joined to a small ring. The second consists of ‘a double circlet of thin bronze, with free ends, one of which is perforated for looping on a stud placed behind the central enlargement; the other extremity, as well as the central space, is decorated with an embossed bird-head pattern.’ (Wilde.)

Figs. 5 and 6. Bronze Armlets, one-half real size.

* * * * *

Gold Ornaments.​—​By far the largest number of important objects for personal decoration of the Bronze Age found in Ireland are of gold. The quantity that has been discovered is very large; and Ireland has perhaps the richest collection in Europe of prehistoric gold ornaments. There are many references to gold in the Irish ‘Annals’; and, judging from them, its antiquity in Ireland is great. We are told, under date 3872 A.M.: ‘It was Muineamhon that first caused chains of gold (to be worn) on the necks of kings and chieftains in Ireland.’ In the Book of Rights, numerous allusions are made to rings, chains, brooches, and other objects of gold and silver as tribute paid by petty kings and chiefs to the reigning monarch.

The Annals of the Four Masters, at A.M. 3656, state: ‘It was by Tighearnmas also that gold was first melted in Ireland, in Foithre-Airthir-Liffe. (It was) Uchadan, an artificer of the Feara-Cualann, smelted it. It was by him that goblets and brooches were first covered with gold and silver in Ireland.’ A similar entry occurs in the Annals of Clonmacnoise.[105] The district referred to includes parts of the counties of Wicklow and Dublin. It is interesting to note that even to this day gold is found in several of the mountain streams of Wicklow. In the National Museum may be seen the model of a Wicklow nugget found in 1796 which weighed 22 ounces; in a few weeks subsequently, 800 ounces were sold for £3000. One has been found of nine and another of eight ounces. It has been computed that in the early part of the last century the jewellers of Dublin paid annually an average sum of £2000 for nuggets from the Wicklow streams, secretly sold to them by the finders. Much has been written, and various theories advanced, to show that the sources from which the ancient Irish derived gold were foreign, and not native. It has been attributed to the Levant, Gaul, Spain, and Scandinavia; while one writer labours to prove that Roman coinage was melted down to supply the material for the manufacture of ornaments. The instances here given​—​of Wicklow furnishing considerable quantities of the precious metal in modern times​—​supplies strong presumptive evidence that the main source from which the ore was derived was Ireland itself.

The recorded instances of the discovery of gold ornaments and other objects in Ireland are very numerous, and date back for several centuries.[106] The collection of the Royal Irish Academy is one of exceptional interest and value, and numbers over 350 specimens. These have been classified by Wilde as follows: ‘Diadems, tiaras, lunulæ, hair-plates, and ear-rings; those used for the neck​—​as, for example, gorgets, small torques, flattened beads, globular balls, and necklaces; for the breast​—​as circular plates, fibulæ, and brooches; for the limbs​—​as armillæ, bracelets, and finger-rings; and for the chest and waist, in the form of large torques: besides several minor trinkets and miscellaneous articles, such as bullæ, small circular boxes, penannular-shaped articles​—​supposed to represent money​—​bracteate medals, and some other objects of undetermined use.’[107]

Notwithstanding the great number of gold objects found in Ireland, and preserved in public museums or private collections, the majority of those discovered found their way to the melting-pot; some jewellers, according to Wilde, estimated that they had purchased as much as £10,000 worth. This is a matter much to be regretted, for the loss to archæology is great; and it cannot be too widely known that the Council of the Academy and the Trustees of the National Museum are prepared to pay, not only the full bullion value of any object found, but its estimated antiquarian value, which depends on its condition, rarity, ornamentation, and the very special circumstances under which it has been discovered. As examples of the losses in question, we may mention that in 1860 a letter appeared in the Athenæum from Mr. Clibborn, the then Curator of the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, stating ‘that a considerable gold find had been made near Athlone to the value of £27,000, which had been entirely lost to the antiquarian world.’ Again, in 1854, during the construction of the Limerick and Ennis Railway, certain labourers found under a rude cairn an immense treasure of the precious metal. So great was this find that four days after the discovery four men departed to America with about £6000 each. Large numbers of the objects were immediately melted down in Limerick and neighbouring towns; a few only seem to have been saved from the crucible.

* * * * *

Torques.​—​The term ‘Torque’ is applied to the various kinds of collars generally worn round the neck, by the Celtic tribes of the Continent and the British Isles. Those of the largest kind were worn round the waist, or across the breast, and the smallest on the arm or wrist. The torque, familiar to all readers of Roman history, and worn round the neck, was a twisted rope-like ornament with bulbous ends at the front. Frequent mention is made of the torque in Irish records, and their use ranged over a long period of time. Considerable numbers, and of great variety, have been discovered in Ireland; and some are among the largest yet found in Europe. ‘The simplest form,’ say Wilde, ‘is that of a square bar of gold, twisted so as to present a funicular, or rope-like figure. In the more complete forms, two or more flat stripes of metal, joined at their inner edges, are twisted spirally.’

Gold Torques, Royal Irish Academy Collection.

The subject of the above illustration is a group of four torques of types usually found. The two outer examples were dug out of a bank of earth on the Hill of Tara. This was in 1810​—​a time when little was known about Irish antiquities; and the torques were hawked about the streets of Navan for sale as old brass, but nobody would purchase them. They were found in the immediate vicinity of the monuments identified by Petrie as Mael Bloc and Bluicni, two magical stones of the pillar class. Wilde states that these ornaments were purchased by the Duke of Sussex, from whom they passed to the firm of West; and in 1839 they were purchased by subscription, and presented to the Royal Irish Academy. The outer figure represents as far as we are aware, the largest ever recorded to have been found anywhere. It is 5 feet 7 inches long, weighs 27 ounces and 7 pennyweights, and is formed of four flat bars, united at their edges when straight, and then twisted.

The next in size measures 5 feet 6 inches in length, and is twisted closer; its weight is 12 ounces, 7 pennyweights, and 13 grains. These large torques were seemingly intended to be worn over the shoulder and across the breast; the smaller examples were evidently for the neck.

* * * * *

Lunulœ or Lunettes.​—​A number of these interesting objects, which there is good reason to believe belonged to royal persons, may be seen in the same collection. In Irish they are called ‘Min’ or ‘Mind,’ and consist of ‘a thin crescentic or moon-shaped plate, with the extremities formed into small, flat, circular discs at right angles with the plane of the article.’ They are remarkable for the elaborate ornamentation worked upon them, the pattern being filled with closely engraved lines single and cross-hatched; the design is of the type found on bronze weapons and sepulchral urns. These ornaments are considered to have been worn upright on the head, and held in position by the terminal plates set behind the ears. They are similar in form to the ‘nimbi’ in pictures of saints; and in those on panels, the ‘glories’ were often represented by silver-gilt plates of metal.

Gold Lunette, or Min, Royal Irish Academy Collection.

The above figure represents a beautiful and finely decorated example of lunette; it is 7 inches high, and about the same broad, and weighs 18 dwts. 2 grs. The terminal plates are of oblong shape and not circular.

* * * * *

Gold Tiara or Diadem, Royal Irish Academy Collection.

The Diadem or Tiara is another and not uncommon type of the ‘Min.’ They are made of thin plates of gold; and the illustration here shows a semi-oval-shaped object, wide at the top and narrowing at the ends, and elaborately decorated. The ends are fixed in double plate-discs; and when worn, these terminals are supposed to have been in front of, and partially covering, the ears. This object is a magnificent specimen, and perhaps the finest of the kind yet discovered. It weighs 16 oz. 10 dwts. and 13 grs., and measures in height, internally, 11 inches by the same in breadth. It consists of three rolls or ridges, the hollows being occupied with fine rope-shaped bands. It is richly ornamented with rows of conical studs; and the discs are also decorated with rows of small studs round a central umbo.

Many penannular rings have been found in Ireland; and from these were developed a remarkable series of ornaments usually called Fibulæ, and which are typical of Irish collections. A slight enlargement at the ends of the ring gave rise to a cup-like expansion, which in time developed into such a size that the connecting ring became quite a minor feature in the ornament. The terminals are either flat, or cup-shaped; the former are usually plain, and the latter highly ornamented.

Gold Fibula, Trinity College, Dublin.

The fibula here represented is a massive ornament weighing 33 oz., and is the heaviest of its kind yet discovered. It is 8⅜ inches long, and stands 3½ inches high. The external surface of the cups is ornamented with a concentric circle pattern; while the inside edges and the junction of the handle and cups are decorated with a triangular design similar to that on the lunette.

The great interest aroused in the recent discovery of gold ornaments, the possession of which has formed the subject of debate in and out of Parliament, renders a brief reference to them necessary. They were discovered at Broighter, near Limavady Junction, on the Derry and Coleraine Railway line, in a ploughed field not far from the shores of Lough Foyle. This great ‘find’ consists of:​—​(1) A boat of beaten gold, 7¼ inches long by 3 inches wide, weighing 3 oz. 5 dwts.; it has eight seats, and 15 oars, with other fittings. (2) A bowl also of beaten gold, 3½ inches in diameter, with 4 small rings for suspension, and weighing 1 oz. 5 dwts. 12 grs. (3) Two chains of delicate workmanship, one 14¼ inches long, weighing 2 oz. 7 dwts.; and another 16½ inches, weighing 6 dwts. 12 grs. (4) A small torque, 5 inches diameter, weighing 3 oz. 7 dwts. 9 grs.; and a portion of another weighing 1½ oz. (5) A collar of very remarkable workmanship, and one of the first of the kind ever discovered. A small portion is missing; but when closed, it forms a circle 7½ inches diameter. It consists of a highly decorated hollow tube, 1⅛ inches diameter, formed by two plates soldered together. It is fastened at the ends by a T-shaped projection and slot. The ornament is in repoussé work, in the trumpet pattern of the Late Celtic period, the spaces between being filled with finely engraved lines like the back of a modern watch.

Mr. A. J. Evans had little doubt that the hoard was a thank-offering dedicated by some ancient Irish sea-king, who had escaped from the perils of the waves, to a marine divinity.’ Mr. Robert Cochrane, however, in a scholarly paper, suggests, with more reason for acceptance, that the offering might have been made to one of the neighbouring churches by Aedan, King of the Albanian Scots, who accompanied St. Columba to the Convention of Drum Ceat.[108]

CHAPTER IX.
LAKE-DWELLINGS.

ORIGIN OF LAKE-DWELLINGS​—​FIRST DISCOVERIES IN IRELAND​—​DESCRIPTIONS OF CRANNOGS​—​LAGORE​—​DRUMKELLIN HUT​—​LOUGH GUR​—​CRANNOG ‘FINDS’​—​BALLINAMORE AND BALLYCONNELL​—​STROKESTOWN​—​SWISS LAKE-DWELLINGS​—​SCOTCH CRANNOGS​—​DISCOVERIES IN ENGLAND​—​MOYLARG​—​LAKE STONE-DWELLINGS​—​ARCHÆOLOGICAL PERIOD OF CRANNOGS​—​CRANNOG POTTERY​—​CANOES.

The systematic exploration of lacustrine habitations in the latter half of the nineteenth century has achieved remarkable success; and the results are among the most satisfactory in the whole field of archæological investigation. Water​—​usually a destructive element​—​has, in the case of lake-dwellings, so far preserved these remains of early races that we are enabled to learn much of their habits and modes of life, of which we could otherwise glean but little knowledge. Man has at all times familiarised himself with water; and he readily adapts himself to the conditions of dwelling near or upon it, whenever he adopts it as a surrounding for his home. Primitive man saw easily that islands afforded a safe retreat in the great struggle for existence between him and his natural foes​—​man and beast. In selecting water, where islands did not exist he created them for himself, and brought considerable mechanical skill and ingenuity, and immense labour, to bear upon their construction. To hollow out a log-canoe, and to make an artificial island with trunks of trees, branches, stones, and earth, were but stages, though greatly advanced ones, in the development of human intelligence from its low condition in the cave-dwellers and men of the river-drift. It is evident, however, that these artificial islands had been long used in Europe before they had been adopted in Ireland as dwelling-places.

Many a desolate moorland district, and many a shallow waste of water, throughout Ireland, now showing no other signs of animal life than the wild fowl which frequent them, were at one time the sites of human habitation, industry, and even art of no mean character. A slight elevation on the surface of a bog, some bleached sprays of birch, ash, or sallow, or the appearance of a few grey or white reed-surrounded stones, rising a few inches above the surface of a lough, will often, to the practised eye, indicate the position of a Crannog, by which name lake-dwellings in Ireland are usually designated. It is, however, to turf-cutting operations, or to drainage, that the discovery of the great majority of these interesting sites must be attributed. The term ‘Crannog’ is derived from crann, a tree; but whether it was given originally to the wood used in constructing the island, or to the huts, cannot now be determined.

Lake-dwellings in Lough Eyes, Co. Fermanagh.

‘To understand,’ says Sir William Wilde, ‘or appreciate the nature of these dwellings, we must bring back our minds to the period when the country around the localities where they occur was covered with wood, chiefly oak and alder, and when the state of society had passed from that of the simple shepherd or pastoral condition, to one of rapine, plunder, and invasion. Certain communities, families, or chieftains required greater security for themselves, their cattle, or their valuables than the land could afford, and so betook themselves to the water. With infinite labour, considering the means and appliances at their disposal, these people cut down young oak-trees, which they carried to the lakes and drove into the clay or mud around the shallows of these islands, which were usually, I believe, covered with water in winter; and having thus formed a stockade which rose above the water into a breastwork, probably interlaced with saplings, they floored with alder, sallow, or birch, to a suitable height above the winter flood, the space so enclosed, and on this platform erected wooden cabins. One large flag, at least, was also carried in for a hearthstone, or common cooking-place; and one or more querns, or hand-mills, have almost invariably been found in the remains of these crannogs.’

As far back as 1810 a lake-dwelling was discovered at Roscrea, but no special attention was given to it, as its precise nature was not understood. In 1839 the curiosity of Wilde and Petrie was aroused by the very frequent visits of a dealer bringing quantities of antiquarian objects for sale to the Royal Irish Academy. These, he said, had been found in the bog of Lagore, near Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath. A visit was paid to the spot, and a large collection of weapons, articles of personal and domestic use, objects of bone and wood were seen. This collection was unfortunately soon scattered, though some of it was secured for the Academy Museum. The Lagore lake-dwelling stood at a slight elevation above the surrounding bog, and consisted of a circular mound 520 feet in circumference. The waters of the lake in which it stood had been drained many years before, and during some subsequent operations on the stream, a quantity of bones were found; numbers of bone-gatherers came and carted off 150 loads, which were sent to Scotland for the manufacture of manure. The island was formed by ‘upright posts of black oak, measuring from 6 to 8 feet in height; these were mortised into beams of a similar material laid flat upon the marl and sand beneath the bog, and nearly 16 feet below the present surface. The upright posts were held together by connecting cross-beams, and (said to be) fastened by large iron nails; parts of a second upper tier of posts were likewise found resting on the lower ones.’

The plan of the huts​—​there were probably six or eight originally​—​is described from the personal observation of Mr. Wakeman, made in the summer of 1848, at which time a portion of the ‘island’ was re-opened for the purpose of turf-cutting. Here a foundation, consisting of four rough planks of oak, each about 12 feet in length, was arranged so as to form a quadrangle. The ends were carefully fitted together, and secured by strong iron nails, with flat heads about the size of a shilling. From the angles of this square rose four posts to the height of about 9 feet. In these grooves were cut, into which roughly-split planks of oak had been slipped, so as to form the sides of the dwelling. There seems to have been no provision for the admission of air or light, except a small opening in one of the sides, which must have served as a doorway. The roofs, like the sides, were formed of oak boards, quite flat, and were probably covered originally with sods or other vegetable matter. The enclosing circles of piles ‘or hedges,’ as they were sometimes styled, at Lagore, had been all but obliterated before any archæologist had visited the place. Nevertheless, down to the period of the first visit some traces remained. These consisted of half-burnt beams, intermixed with large quantities of wood-charcoal. We gather from history that Lagore once stood as one of the safest and, as there is reason to believe, richest of the lacustrine habitations of Ireland. It belonged, in fact, to the O’Melaghlins, a regal family in Meath, and was probably their principal stronghold. Upon this place the Danes of Dublin had long set their eyes, but had never been able to place their feet; until mustering an army, and carrying with them from Dublin Bay one of their war-vessels, they were able, by aid of the latter, to take and sack the crannog. This was in the ninth century.

Other remains of log-walled huts have been found in Irish lake-dwellings, particularly in Ulster. The most interesting example yet known​—​one indeed that is unique among those hitherto discovered in the lake-dwellings of Europe​—​is that described by Captain Mudge in 1853. It lay 16 feet beneath the surface of a bog at Drumkellin, near Inver, County Donegal; and, not allowing for the lake depth, at least 26 feet of bog must have grown on the site since its erection. Within the hut was found a stone hatchet, the cutting edge of which is said to have exactly fitted certain indentations which were observable in several of its timbers, all of which were of oak. Dr. Keller found that the piles used in the construction of the dwelling at Ober Meilen had been cut with stone implements; and experiments made on green timber with the stone axes found on the site clearly demonstrated the fact.[109] The Drumkellin hut was perfectly square in plan, 12 feet each side, and 9 feet high. ‘The framework was composed of upright posts and horizontal sleepers mortised at the angles, the end of each upright post being inserted into the lower sleeper of the frame, and fastened by a large block of wood or fore-lock.[110] The interstices were filled with a composition of what appeared to be grease and fine sea-sand. The interior was divided by a flooring into an upper and a lower chamber, which were probably only used as sleeping-apartments. Portions were found of the gates of the staked enclosure within which it stood, resting on a floor of hazel branches covered with fine sand. There is a model of this hut in the Royal Irish Academy collection.

At Kilnamaddo, County Fermanagh, and other places, remains of log-huts have been found. The huts at Kilnamaddo were of a very primitive kind, and lay buried under 17 feet of peat; they were but 4 feet in height and constructed of oak beams. Some of these showed long clean cuts; and others, 7 feet in circumference, had mortise-holes pierced through, which could only have been done with metallic instruments. The remains at Dunshaughlin​—​or, more correctly, Lagore​—​crannog, though probably of later date than the Drumkellin hut, were very similar to it in character; they, however, presented no upper chamber.[111]

Soon after the discovery at Lagore, another lake-dwelling was discovered in lowering the waters of Roughan Lake, near Dungannon. Here were found many fragments of pottery and bones, some bronze spear-heads, and a fine sandstone quern, having an old Irish cross carved in high relief. To this ‘fortified island’ Sir Phelim O’Neill retired after the surrender of Charlemont, and held out until boats arrived, when he was captured in 1653. About the time of these discoveries, another ‘island’ was laid bare in Lough Gur by similar draining operations; and a large number of objects of antiquarian interest, and quantities of bones, were discovered. This is considered to be one of the earliest lake-dwellings in Ireland; and the district, as we have already intimated, is exceptionally interesting from an archæological point of view. There appears to have been no staking or surrounding timber enclosure in connection with this crannog. Other discoveries quickly followed; three stockaded lake-dwellings were found in Monaghan (1843–4). One in Ballinderry Lake, near Moate, yielded a large quantity of antiquities and bones, and two canoes. In the drainage of Lough Faughan, County Down, another ‘dug-out’ canoe was found. During the work of the Commission for the Arterial Drainage and Inland Navigation of Ireland, twenty-two crannogs were discovered in the Ballinamore and Ballyconnell districts. The report of the officers of the Board of Works may be thus briefly stated: The crannogs were generally circular, and from 60 to 80 feet in diameter; some were larger, of an oval shape. The stakes were mostly of young oak trees, from 4 to 9 inches broad, usually sunk in a single row; some, however, were double, and in a few cases treble. The portions remaining in the ground usually showed hatched marks. Within the enclosure, the surface was sometimes covered over with a platform of round logs, from 4 to 6 feet in length, on which was a layer of mixed stones, clay, or gravel. This construction was in some cases confined to a portion of the island. ‘Besides these, pieces of oak framing, with mortises and cheeks cut in them, have been found within the circle of the outer work.’ In almost every instance a hearth made of flat stones was found near the centre of the crannog; and in some instances two or three such hearths existed. One or more querns were usually discovered; and upon the enclosure or around it were found large quantities of bones, usually those of cattle, deer, and swine.

Some of the lake-dwellings were of considerable dimensions, and contained the remains of several huts. Others were of very small proportions, and capable of holding but one poor dwelling. All, however, were strongly stockaded, and were fairly secure retreats for their occupiers, who, no doubt, would have managed that no boat or currach, except those which they had with them upon the island, remained in the neighbourhood. The remains of causeways connecting the islands with the shore and with each other have, in many cases, been found. These were built in the same manner as the lake-dwelling​—​on piles, with branches, earth, and stone thrown between. In some instances, the approaches may have been submerged, as, from the winding direction they took, they could only be used by those well acquainted with them.[112]

Bone Pins, &c., from Lake-dwellings in Counties Sligo, Leitrim, and Roscommon (scale, about one-third).

The larger crannogs, like those of Ballinderry, Lagore, and Lough Gur, were of the character of fortresses, differing in little, except in position, from the dun or cahir on land. Their ‘kitchen-middens,’ when examined, brought forth exactly the same class of remains​—​stone, flint, bronze, iron, bone, wood, and glass. A peculiarity of the ‘finds,’ in connection with the greater islands, was the enormous quantity of animal remains, often amounting to hundreds of tons, with which the stockades were found surrounded. These usually consisted of the bones of the bos longifrons and bos frontosis, of the cervus elaphus, or red deer, wild boars, horses, asses, sheep, foxes, wolf-dogs, and occasionally of human beings. Intermixed with the osseous débris of crannogs, very frequently occur numerous articles of early manufacture​—​pottery, swords, spear-heads, battle-axes, knives, chains and fetters, spears, reaping-hooks, saws, gouges, brooches, whorls, small frying-pans and pots, horse-furniture, crucibles, beads​—​of jet, of glass, and of amber; combs, tweezers, pins and needles.

Glass Beads, from Lake-dwellings.

Comb, from Lagore Lake-dwelling.

Comb, from Ballinderry Lake-dwelling.

Few ornaments or other articles formed of gold or silver have been found in Irish crannogs. There is also an absence of coins, except those of very late date, the celebrated ‘brass money,’ from the mints of James the Second, being the most common. Such coins had probably belonged to outlaws or rapparees, who, after the downfall of the Stuart cause, were compelled to live in places difficult of access, and had sought the ancient crannogs as exceptionally safe retreats.

Comb (restored), from Ardakillin Lake-dwelling.

Section of Ardakillin Lake-dwelling, Co. Roscommon.

By drainage operations, crannogs were laid bare in the Lakes Ardakillin, Cloonfinlough, and Clonfree, near Strokestown, in 1852. These proved exceptionally rich in ‘finds,’ consisting of implements and personal and domestic articles of bones, bronze, and iron. The surface of Cloonfinlough seemed to have been twice laid. Here a skull was found; and among the bronze articles was a lamp of Roman type. One of the four crannogs in Ardakillin yielded 50 tons of bones. The section of another is here given. ‘Under a slight earthy deposit, there was a deep layer of loose stones, bounded by an enclosing wall, the foundation supported by piling. The lower portion of the island consisted of clay, peat, and stones, mingled with strata of ashes, bones, and logs of timber. The various rows of oak-piling are shown in the section; the sheet-piling, driven in obliquely, formed an unbroken circle round the island.’[113] The ‘finds’ were numerous and varied, including bone pins and combs, articles of bronze, beads of stone, glass, and amber. Near the crannog was found a canoe 40 feet long, made from a single oak trunk; in it were discovered a skull, spear-head, and bronze pin. The skull showed that it had received twenty cuts with a sharp weapon, and though no one cut necessarily proved fatal, death no doubt ensued from the accumulated injuries. Up to the year 1857, forty-seven lacustrine dwellings had been discovered; and since then the work of investigation of these sites has been steadily carried on; and the number now known is over 230. Of these, Ulster has about one-half, and Connaught one-third. The Lisnacroghera crannog, near Broughshane, County Antrim, was discovered in 1882; but its features had been destroyed before a proper examination could be made of the site. Most of the ‘finds’ fell into the hands of the late Canon Grainger; many of them were of exceptional value, and will be treated of in another chapter.

But the impetus given to this branch of archæological exploration throughout Europe was more directly due to the discovery of dwellings similar in character in the lakes of Switzerland. In 1829, piles were discovered at Ober Meilen, on Lake Zurich; but it was not until the very dry and cold winter of 1853–4, that the inhabitants, in raising silt from the shallows of the lake to reclaim the higher portions of the shore, laid bare the piles of ancient lacustrine dwellings, and discovered a large quantity of stone and flint weapons, utensils, broken pottery, dug-out canoes, bones of wild animals, one human skull, and portions of several skeletons. On a careful examination, Dr. Keller was of opinion that the piles formed the foundation of a platform raised above the surface of the water upon which the huts were built, and that the place had been destroyed by fire after it had existed for a long period as the site of human habitation. Many similar discoveries in other lakes rapidly followed; and over 200 of these sites are now known in Switzerland. Their area of distribution has been found to extend throughout France, Germany, Austria, South Europe, and Asia Minor. The plan of the pile-buildings (Pfhalbauten), it will be seen, differed from the fascine method of construction generally practised in the erection of the British lake-dwellings. In Ireland, however, clusters of crannogs sometimes occur​—​as in Lough Eyes, County Fermanagh​—​and were, as is evident from existing remains, connected together by submerged causeways, or by approaches raised high and dry on piles. ‘A third method,’ says Dr. Munro, ‘was to construct, in close proximity to each other, a series of rectangular basements of wood, each basement having its sides formed by horizontal beams lying one above the other, and overlapping at the four corners, like the logs in a Swiss châlet. These compartments measured only a few yards in diameter. Their lowest beams rested on the bed of the lake; and when the requisite height above the water was attained, the usual platform was laid across, and the cellular spaces underneath became covered over.... This plan appears to have been adopted chiefly by the founders of the sporadic dwellings of the Iron Age.’[114] The population inhabiting the Swiss lake-villages must have been at one time very great. The settlements were on an extensive scale; and it has been estimated that from 40,000 to 50,000 piles were used in a station of the Stone Age period at Wangen, in Lake Constance, while some still larger required little short of 100,000. These lacustrine settlements were especially exposed to the danger of fire; but, as Dr. Munro points out, this ‘was the most fortunate event from an archæological point of view that could have happened.’ In the hurry of escape, little would be carried away; and perishable articles slightly charred were better able to resist the destructive agency of water.

In Scotland the first important discovery of lake-dwellings was made in 1863 in draining operations at Loch Dowalton, Wigtownshire, by Sir Herbert Maxwell. The remains contained Roman articles, which showed that the crannog was occupied during the period of the Roman occupation of Britain. With these exceptions, the remains were precisely similar to those found in Irish crannogs. Fifteen years later, the Lochlee crannog was explored, which was the beginning of a series of excavations in the counties of Ayr and Wigtown. Among later discoveries, the Lochan Dughaill lake-dwelling in Argyllshire disclosed the remains of a circular hut, in the centre of which was the stump of an upright post, with which the radiating planks were connected. The ends of these had square-cut holes in which the ring of uprights were fixed; but how these were connected with the central support for roofing was not apparent. Here fragments of glazed wheel-made pottery were found. Near Lanark, the Hyndford crannog, discovered in 1898, yielded a polished celt, and other stone objects; portions of querns; pieces of six different vessels of red ‘Samian’ ware, and others of the grey Roman pottery; an axe, and other objects of iron.

In England the remains of lake-dwellings are few. In 1868 General Pitt-Rivers described the discovery of piles in beds of peat, 7 to 9 feet deep, near London wall and in Southwark. The kitchen-middens yielded articles, chiefly Roman; but there were other objects of bone of a ruder type. Lake-dwelling remains were found in the Holderness, in 1880, during draining operations. The most important discovery of the kind yet made in England was that of the Glastonbury lake-dwellings, by Mr. Arthur Bulleid, in 1892. Here some seventy mounds lay close together in low ground, which was once apparently under water. The ‘finds’ consisted of a large and varied assortment of stone, bone, bronze, iron, amber, pottery, glass, etc. There was an absence of any Roman influence in the Glastonbury settlement; while many of the objects were of the Late Celtic period. ‘This feature alone,’ says Dr. Munro, ‘gives to the Glastonbury lake-village an exceptional importance among the lacustrine researches hitherto prosecuted within the British Isles.’

Of the exploration of Irish crannogs in recent years, that of Moylarg, County Antrim, was carefully carried out under the personal supervision of the Rev. Dr. Buick. The clearing laid bare a quantity of well-constructed woodwork, showing a system of log-supports to the piles, radiating beams, and uprights mortised into the base beams. ‘The layers of branches, rushes, and bracken were tightly packed together; stones large and small laid in between; and the whole well pinned down by stakes of hazel about the thickness of a man’s leg. These stakes had been pointed with a sharp metallic axe, three cuts as a rule sufficing to complete the operation.’ The ‘finds’ consisted of over 250 pieces of flint, mostly chips, an arrow-head, stone celt, a number of tracked stones, whetstones, and quern remains; bones of the ox, goat, pig​—​all broken for marrow​—​and red deer antlers; of bronze, a strainer of fine type with iron handle, an ingot and its mould, and a few other articles; four glass beads; fragments of leather: of pottery, a huge number of pieces; of iron, an axe of gallowglas type, portion of a mediæval lock, a chisel-like implement, nails, knife, half shears, and spear-butt; a lead pendant of Late Celtic pattern, and portion of a cross of ninth or tenth century type.[115] Similar operations have been carried out recently by Dr. S. A. D’Arcy in several crannogs in the neighbourhood of Clones. The ‘finds’ were numerous, and generally of the various classes already described.[116]

An interesting discovery of a ‘submarine’ crannog was made by Mr. R. J. Ussher, in 1879, at Ardmore. The action of the sea had washed away the shingle, and exposed a double row of pile remains enclosing an oval space measuring 100 feet in diameter. The stratum of turf was 9 feet thick. The encroachment of the sea is due to the subsidence of the land on the southern shores of Ireland well within the periods of human occupation.[117]

Examples of what have been designated ‘Lake Stone-dwellings’ or ‘Stone Crannogs,’ are to be found in the lake-riddled district of Connemara, to which attention was called by Mr. G. H. Kinahan in 1872. These islands have been wholly or in part formed of stones, and enclosed by a wall similar to the cashel of the land fortification. That of Hag’s Castle, in Lough Mask, with a thick encircling wall, is the largest of the kind. Others exist in a lake on Goromna Island, in Lough Bola, near Carna, and Lough Cam, near Roundstone Bay, and in Ballinafad Lough, near Ballinahinch.[118] Mr. Layard has described those in Lough Skannive, near Carna; but no exploration of their contents has yet been attempted in any of these islands.[119]

It is not to be supposed that all lake-dwellings are of great antiquity; some are no doubt of much earlier date than others, but the question of their precise age is especially complicated from the fact that, at whatever period they were constructed, many were occupied through a long period of historic time. Crannogs are frequently mentioned in the Irish ‘Annals,’ and they enter into the composition of several place-names. Many of them suffered from the attacks of the Norsemen, as records tell us. We have clear historic evidence of the occupation of some of the lake-dwellings throughout the Middle Ages, and through the Elizabethan wars down to the middle of the seventeenth century.[120] In many, as we have seen, flint cores, with flakes, scrapers, knives, and arrow-heads, have been found. With them sometimes occurred stone celts, exactly similar to examples found in primitive cists, with burial urns and evidences of cremation. No doubt crannogs yielding flint and worked stone should be regarded as the oldest; yet from the fact that spear-heads, celts, and other articles of bronze, and even of iron, are at times found plentifully amongst their piling, or in the surrounding bog stuff, we must conclude that these islets had been used by a people well skilled in the art of metallurgy. It is necessary, too, to point out that year by year additional evidence is produced to show that in Ireland at least the apparently contemporaneous use of flint, stone, bone, bronze, and iron in the preparation of weapons, implements, and ornaments for the person, had existed throughout a long period of time. In addition to the mixed ‘finds’ already mentioned, there were found, in a Monaghan lake-dwelling described by Mr. Shirley, stone celts, a worked flint, apparently intended for an arrow-head, three looped bronze celts, a dagger and chisel of bronze, as also two bronze arrow-heads and a shield-boss of the same metal, accompanied by iron remains. At a place named ‘The Miracles,’ near Monea, Co. Fermanagh, in 1875, a lake-dwelling, the remains of which Mr. Wakeman had an opportunity of examining, was discovered by turf-cutters. Here a fairly polished axe-head, or celt, was turned up, together with a number of articles composed of bronze, which, from the description given by the people who had found them, were probably fibulæ. That, during some portion of the period of its occupation, inhabitants of this crannog were in the habit of manufacturing objects of iron was evident, as pieces of iron slag, quantities of wood charcoal, a well-formed crucible, sharpening-stones, and at least two grinding-stones were found amongst the débris. In the nearly-drained site of Loughavilly, the ‘Loch of the ancient tree,’ near Toppid Mountain, Co. Fermanagh, are the remains of a piled mound, formerly an island. Here were found a stone celt and lumps of iron slag. Traces of charcoal were abundant; but, from the softness of the surroundings, it seemed quite hopeless to penetrate to any extent into the mud or pulp in quest of discoveries.

Similar cases of ‘finds’ could be multiplied many times; it is sufficient to state that in nearly every crannog hitherto discovered, and more or less explored in Ireland, articles formed of flint or stone, and similar in every respect to remains usually assigned to the Stone Age, have occurred, and in apparent connection with implements of bronze and iron. The necessity for the use of stone celts discovered in the lake-dwellings is not clear; for it is certain that the long clean cuts which appear on the ends of the pilings or stakes by which the islands are encircled, could only have been made with sharp metallic implements of the axe or adze kind. Such objects are very common in crannog remains; and some have been found furnished with well-steeled cutting edges, while the remainder of the head consisted of soft iron. The mortice-holes so often found in the framework of the islets, and in the larger timbers of the huts, were evidently worked out by the use of metal chisels, which may have been formed either of bronze or iron.

The huts of Drumkellin and Kilnamaddo are perhaps among the earliest remains of lake-habitations yet found within the British Isles; but whatever claim they may have for classification among the earliest lake-dwellings of Central Europe, the Irish crannogs, as a whole, seem to have no such claim. And as regards these huts, ‘the relics,’ as Dr. Munro says, ‘are too few to justify such a sweeping conclusion as that these dwellings were constructed at a period when metal implements were unknown in the country. At any rate, there can be no reasonable doubt that the period of greatest development of the Scotch and Irish lake-dwellings was during the Iron Age, and at least as far posterior to Roman civilization as that of the Swiss Pfahlbauten was anterior to it.’[121]

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Crannog Pottery.​—​The remains of fictile ware, discovered in crannogs, afford an opportunity of comparing the pottery of the lake-dwelling inhabitants with the urns used for sepulchral purposes, which are found in the cairns, cists, and tumuli. The fragments found in the lake-dwellings have been numerous; but, owing to the fragile nature of the ware, no perfect example has yet been discovered. They are larger than the cinerary urns and broader at the base. The shoulders are provided with perforated ears, affording a means of suspension by leather thong or withe. The colour of this ware varies from light drab to extremely dark brown, though a few have been found which were slightly red in appearance. The ornament which they usually bear is a chevron, or a herring-line pattern, such as are often found upon fictile ware discovered in sepulchral tumuli, as well as upon several varieties of bronze celts and other weapons or instruments. Others have dots and lines; but in general style and finish they are of a much inferior type to the cinerary urns.

Cooking-Vessel from Lough Eyes, Co. Fermanagh.

In no single instance has there been discovered a trace on crannog pottery of what might be called Christian art or design. All the earthen vessels of this class hitherto found were hand-made, and appear to have been well burnt. They are invariably unglazed; and in many examples the action of fire would seem to have been more intense internally than on the exterior. The material is invariably sandy clay; possibly the grit was added in order to afford greater consistency to the paste. Most of the vessels show this sand distinctly; and in the ruder specimens particles of white stone, occasionally the size of a small pea, and sometimes no bigger than the head of a pin, may be noticed roughly projecting from their sides. A number of flat discs of the same material as the vessels were found with them, which seemed to have been their covers or lids. A curious provision for the escape of steam during the process of boiling or cooking is observable in some of these earthen pots. It consists of a small circular aperture in the neck or upper side of the vessel, just below the point where the lid would be supported or caught. It is not possible to determine whether these vessels, when entire, were invariably perforated or otherwise; the aperture, however, occurs in some of the specimens preserved. Vessels which were of this type and exact style of ornamentation appear to be extremely rare; but they have been discovered in some districts of North America, and in Indian burial mounds of remote but unascertained date. The principal sources of this pottery in Ireland were the crannogs of Ballydoolough, Drumgay, Lough Eyes, Drumdarragh, and Lankhill, all in the county of Fermanagh; but valuable specimens have been found at Lisnacroghera, and other places. As these discoveries were subsequent to the compilation of Wilde’s Catalogue, particulars of this ware do not figure in that work.

Horn Drinking-cup.

Wooden Mether or Drinking-cup.

The art of carving designs on bone and wood was largely practised by the ancient Irish, as many examples on the former material, less perishable than the latter, found in crannogs and elsewhere, show. They possessed plenty of timber, and were adepts in manufacturing Methers or Madders (so called from being used in drinking mead or metheglen), and other household vessels, principally out of alder, oak, yew, willow, beech, and elm.

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‘Dug Outs,’ or Canoes.

Canoes.​—​Single piece Canoes or ‘dug-outs’ may be divided into the three following classes: The first are trough-shaped, rounded at the bottom, and are from 8 to 12 feet in length. Some of these are furnished at their extremities with handle-like projections by which they were probably lifted and carried overland from lake to lake, or from river to river. Some few, instead of having handles, are furnished at their ends with slits sufficiently large to admit the fingers of a man’s hand. These indentations or incisions no doubt served the purpose of the projections referred to. The second are flat-bottomed, with rounded prow and square stern; they average 20 feet in length and about 2 feet in breadth. This class varies in depth according to their state of preservation, while the bottoms of some are rounded and have both ends square. The third class have a greater length of beam; one from Lough Owel, in the National Museum, measures 42 feet in length by from 4 to 5 feet in width. This canoe is shallow, and apparently had 12 holes cut through each side, and about 20 holes through the bottom at regular intervals; it has unfortunately been sawn across into pieces. The prow curves upwards, and the bottom is slightly rounded. Many of the canoes have been found in bogs, apart from known crannog sites, and in the beds of lakes and rivers. Some fine specimens of these may be seen in the National Museum. The largest ever discovered in Ireland has recently been added to the collection. It is hollowed out of a single trunk, is about 52 feet long, and of great weight. This remarkable canoe was found at Miltown, near Tuam, and purchased in the spring of 1902.

Oak paddles, well formed, and measuring about 4 feet in length, often occur in connexion with the canoes. It is very probable that the Currach or ‘cot’ formed of basket-work, covered with skin of the cow, horse, or deer, was in use amongst the lake-dwellers. Owing to the perishable nature of the materials none of these have been found. That they were used at an early period in the British Isles is attested by Roman writers. The primitive willow-ribbed and basket-woven cot, with water-tight covering, has been used by the fishermen on the Boyne down to our own day. The canvas-covered skiffs of to-day in Clare, Galway, the Aran Isles, Mayo, and Donegal are the survivals of a similar type which have been used by the dwellers on the Atlantic coast from early times.

CHAPTER X.
ORATORIES: EARLY CHURCHES.

EARLY MONASTIC LIFE​—​SKELLIG MICHAEL​—​GALLERUS​—​KILMALKEDAR​—​BISHOP’S ISLAND​—​HIGH ISLAND​—​INISMURRAY​—​DESCRIPTION OF EARLY CHURCHES​—​KILLINEY​—​KILTERNAN​—​ST. MAC DARA’S CHURCH​—​GLENDALOUGH AND ITS CHURCHES​—​STONE-ROOFED BUILDINGS​—​FRIAR’S ISLAND​—​ST. COLUMBA’S HOUSE, KELLS​—​ST. FLANNAN’S CHURCH.

It was long considered an established fact that the churches of Ireland, previous to the twelfth century, were altogether constructed of wood, or wattles daubed with clay. It was consequently held, on the authority of Ware, that there remained in the country not a single example of church architecture of a period much antecedent to A.D. 1148, in which year died Malachy O’Morgair, who is stated to have erected at Bangor the first ecclesiastical building of stone that had ever appeared in Ireland. The well-directed labours of George Petrie, in seeking among the archæological remains themselves for evidence by which their era might be determined, and in adducing the testimony of Irish manuscripts relative to such structures as were in use at the time of their composition, removed the veil of obscurity which had so long shrouded the subject of Irish ecclesiastical antiquities. He showed that the country not only contains examples of church architecture of the earliest period of Christianity in the kingdom, but also that they exhibit many characteristics of exceptional interest. Though wood appears to have been the material of which the first churches were built, where stone was not abundant and otherwise unused, they were subsequently constructed of stone, and from their small size and peculiar features are among the most interesting remains now existing. The buildings called oratories were evidently intended for the private devotions of the founders, whose graves are so frequently to be found in their immediate neighbourhood. The most singular of these are in the west and south-west of Ireland, and they are generally in sequestered and isolated spots, not only on the small and almost inaccessible islands off the coast, but on mountain tops and lonely lake islands.

Clochaun na Carriage, Aran Island.

Following the ascetic practices and the monastic life of the early Eastern Church, these places, far remote from the abodes of men, were selected as retreats by the early missionaries of the Irish Church. On the wild and almost inaccessible Skellig Rock, on Slieve League and Brandon Mountain, in Gougane Barra Lake, on High Island, Inishglora, Inismurray, and numerous other isolated places, stone cells and oratories were erected, alone or in connection with monastic settlements. The clochaun form of building found in use was adopted, and it was upon this type of rude structure that the first buildings for Christian Church purposes were erected in these places. The monastic cells soon changed from the pagan circular or oval shape, and became rectangular, in the first instance internally, as we find in those of the Skellig remains, which are of a very rude type, and are perhaps the earliest of the kind now existing.

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Plan of Monastic Settlement, Skellig Michael.

Skellig Michael.​—​The Great Skellig lies south-west of Valencia, and about 10 miles from its nearest point. It is called Skellig Michael, from St. Michael the patron saint of high places, as in the isolated rocks in Cornwall and Normandy, also dedicated to him. The Skellig rises magnificently to a height of 704 feet, and a flight of steps originally ran up the face of the cliff to the settlement which stood on an artificial plateau at a height of 545 feet, protected from the edge by a fine cashel of similar masonry to Staigue Fort. The lower portion of the path has been cut away by a new road to the lighthouse, but 620 steps still remain leading to the ruins. These consist of six beehive cells, two oratories, several cemeteries and rude crosses, two wells, and the more recent Church of St. Michael. Five of the cells lie close together in a row, one being at a higher level than the other four; and in a line beyond to the north is a small oratory, right on the edge of the cliff. The remainder of the buildings stand on a lower level of the enclosure. All the buildings, except the church, are constructed of dry rubble masonry. One of the cells is wholly rectangular, and the remainder shaped as already stated; the roofs are formed in the usual fashion, by overlapping, and a small opening was left at the top to emit smoke. The oratories are similarly constructed, but are entirely rectangular, and have a window facing the doorway. For centuries the Skellig was a great place of pilgrimage, and men and women alike performed it. Having visited the ruins, they climbed the highest peak, an ascent which was attended with the utmost peril and risk. The penance is not now practised.

The Great Skellig, or Skellig Michael.

Bee-hive Cells, Skellig Michael.

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Gallerus.​—​The Oratory of Gallerus stands about five miles north-west of Dingle, and is the most beautifully constructed and perfectly preserved of these ancient buildings now remaining in Ireland, and is probably not excelled by any building of the kind in Christendom. The plan is rectangular; it measures 15¼ feet in length by 10 feet in breadth inside, and 22 feet by 18½ feet outside; while its height without is 17 feet 2 inches at the west, and 13½ feet at the east end; within, the height is 13¼ feet. The roof is formed by the gradual approximation of the side walls from the base upwards. It is entered by a square-headed doorway in the west gable, with inclining jambs, 5½ feet high, 21 inches at the top and 27 inches at the bottom (outside). On each side above the lintel within is a projecting stone with square holes in which the door hung. The east wall has a deeply splayed window, with rounded top; it measures 15 inches by 10 inches outside, and 39 inches by 21 inches inside, inclining to 18 inches at the top. The batter of the walls is practically straight as high as the top of the doorway, but from this it is curved ‘giving’ as has been said, ‘an outline like that of a pointed Gothic arch.’ The surfaces of the stones within show by the tool-marks that they were dressed flat, and this was probably done after the courses were laid. At the apex of the east gable is the socket of a mutilated cross.

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Kilmalkedar.​—​About a mile to the north is the ruined Oratory of Kilmalkedar, similar in plan, general features, and nearly of the same dimensions as Gallerus. It is earlier than the latter, the masonry being of a ruder type, and the east window having a flat head, with an inward and outward splay​—​a unique feature in so early a church in Ireland. Another similar Oratory in the neighbourhood is Temple Gael, also in ruins. It differs, however, from the two former, in that the batter of the walls is straight and not curved.

Oratory of Kilmalkedar.

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Bee-hive House on Bishop’s Island, near Kilkee.

Bishop’s Island.​—​A very interesting example of the monastic cell occurs upon the rock called Bishop’s Island, near Kilkee, upon the coast of Clare. It measures in circumference 115 feet; the exterior face of the wall, at four different heights recedes to the depth of about 1 foot, a peculiarity not found in any other structure of the kind; this was probably introduced with the view of lessening the weight of the dome-shaped roof, which was formed, not on the principle of the arch, but, as usual, by the gradual approximation of the stones as the wall ascended. The erection of the Oratory adjoining is traditionally ascribed to St. Senan, who lived in the sixth century, and whose chief establishment was upon Inis Cathaigh, or Scattery Island. It measures 18 feet by 12; the walls are 2 feet 7 inches thick; the doorway, which occupies an unusual position in the south side, immediately adjoining the west-end wall, is 6 feet in height, 1 foot 10 inches wide at the top, and 2 feet 4 inches at the bottom; the east window splays externally, and in this respect is probably unique in Ireland. Several large monumental pillar-stones stand at a short distance from the church in an easterly direction, but they bear no inscriptions or symbols. Bishop’s Island, or, as it is styled in Irish, Oileán-an-Easpoiggortaig, i.e. the ‘Island of the hungry or starving bishop,’ is a barren, precipitous rock, whose sides form perpendicular or overhanging cliffs, about 250 feet in height. It contains about three-quarters of an acre of surface, to which access is most difficult, and only to be effected by a skilful climber, and after a long continuance of calm weather.

St. Senan’s Oratory on Bishop’s Island, near Kilkee.

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High Island.​—​The Island of Ardoileán, or High Island, off the coast of Connemara, is also difficult of access, and landing can only be had in calm weather on its precipitous and rocky shores. Here a monastic establishment was founded by St. Fechin of Fore in the first half of the seventh century. The ruins, now in a state of great dilapidation, are near the centre of the northern part of the island which was cut off from the remainder by a wall. The buildings were surrounded by another wall or cashel with chambers, the remains of which are still existing. The church was a small rectangular building, 12 feet by 9½ feet internally, constructed of small stones and uncemented. The door is 4½ feet high with inclined sides, but the east gable is now defaced. Many clochauns once existed, but these are mostly destroyed. North-east of the church are two; one circular without and square within, measuring 9 feet by 7½ feet high; the other is smaller. In Petrie’s work the former is suggested to have been the refectory of the latter, the cell of the abbot.

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Inismurray.​—​The Island of Inismurray, to which we have already referred (pp. 21, 181), contains within and without its cashel very interesting early Christian remains. It probably took its name from Muiredach, a follower of St. Patrick, who placed him over a Church in Killala. It is, however, entirely associated with St. Molaise, the founder of the monastic establishment in this remote spot, and of whom the Martyrology of Donegal gives the following notice:​—​‘August 12th, Molaisse, i.e. Laisrén, son of Deglan, of Inis Muiredaich, in the north, (i.e. the north of Connaught); he it was who at the cross of Ath-Imlaisi pronounced sentence of banishment on St. Columba.’[122]

Plan of Cashel and Monastic Settlement, Inismurray.

In addition to the beehive cells already mentioned there are within the cashel of Inismurray three small churches. Teach Molaise, ‘House of St. Molaise,’ named after the patron Saint of the island, is the most interesting; it measures internally 9 feet by 8 feet, with walls of great thickness sustaining a complete stone roof. They are built of stones, generally of large size, and set with mortar in irregular courses; all except those forming the doorway and window casings are rough and unhewn. Teampull-na-Bfear is perhaps more of a church than an oratory, and forms an oblong 25½ feet by 12 feet. The ground on which it stands is the burial-place for men, that for women being at Teampull-na-mBan, or the ‘Women’s Church,’ outside the cashel to the north-west. It is believed by the islanders that if a woman is buried in the men’s ground the corpse will be removed, during the night, by unseen hands to the women’s cemetery, and vice versâ. Teampull-na-Teindh, or the ‘Church of fire,’ is the most modern, and probably dates from the fourteenth century. There are three altars also within the cashel, besides others without, numerous cross-inscribed stones, two holy wells with beehive stone coverings, and the stations of the pilgrims. The last station is Reilick Odrain, the ‘Cemetery of Odrain, or Oran,’ the companion of St. Columba, who also gave his name to a burial-place, Reilig Oran in Iona. St. Molaise or Laisrén, of Inismurray, is not to be confounded with St. Molaisi Diamhinsi, or Devenish, son of Nadfraoich, whose festival day is the 12th September. In Devenish Island in Lough Erne will be found the house or oratory of this saint, the walls of which were built of massive stones, but the cell is now in ruins.

The progress of Christianity in Ireland in the first few centuries of its establishment, and the missionary zeal of its apostles abroad, brought the Church into close union with ecclesiastical foundations in Britain and on the continent of Europe. To the connection thus established is doubtless due the marked improvement in the architecture of the early Christian churches from the primitive oratories, although in these we see an advance in certain features on the pagan clochaun. The early Churches show a further development in dressed masonry, mortar-built walls, and high pitched roof, and, in point of antiquity, they may be classed amongst the most remarkable structures of primitive Christian times now to be found in Europe. Of their usual characteristics we shall here give a brief description, referring the reader who may desire more than a general sketch to Petrie’s work, the Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, in which the subject has been fully discussed.

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Doorway, Church of St. Colman Mac Duach, Aran Island.

Doorways.​—​The doorways are generally inclined and are covered by a horizontal lintel, or headed with a semicircular arch, springing from plain, square-edged imposts. Occasionally the arch is cut out of a single stone. At Glendalough are examples in which the lintel is surmounted by a semicircular arch, the space between being filled up with masonry. The stones generally extend the whole thickness of the wall. Few of the very early doorways exhibit any kind of decoration beyond a plain projecting band, of which there are some fine examples at Glendalough. The door appears to have been placed against the interior face of the wall, as in many instances the stones, for a distance of about three inches from the angle, have been slightly hollowed, evidently for the reception of a frame. Great blocks of stone form the lintels of some of the churches; that of St. Fechin, of Fore, Westmeath, measures 6 feet by 2 feet, and is the full thickness of the wall​—​3 feet. The lintel of St. Colman’s, Kilmacduagh, is nearly of the same dimensions; and the doorway of the church of the same saint within the cashel, at Kilmurvey, has a lintel 5½ feet long, 1½ feet high, and extends the full thickness of the wall​—​2½ feet.

* * * * *

Window, Teampull Ceanannach, or Kilcananagh, Aran.

Windows.​—​These are invariably small, and, with one or two exceptions, splay internally. They are headed, generally, with small semicircular arches, either formed of several small stones, or cut out of a single large one; but the horizontal lintel is common, as is also a triangular head. The sides of the windows, like the doorway jambs, almost invariably incline. They are rarely decorated, and then in the simplest manner, by a projecting band, similar to that occasionally found upon the early doorways, or by a small bead.

* * * * *

Window, Termoncronan, Co. Clare.

Choir Arch.​—​In the very ancient churches to which chancels are attached, the connecting arch is invariably semicircular, square-edged, and plain. In the earliest form the arch springs from the jambs without imposts; but later these were inserted with chamfered edges, slightly projecting, the arches sometimes rising from within the edge-line of the jambs. The arch is usually formed of stones fairly equal in size, well hammered, and admirably fitted to each other. The greater number of primitive Irish churches, however, have no chancel, their plan being a simple oblong. Where chancels, however, occur in these, they were evidently a later addition, and were not bonded into the walls of the nave.

* * * * *

Masonry.​—​Generally the masonry consisted of very large stones, well fitted together, as in work to which the term ‘cyclopean’ is applied. Many of these vary from 6 to 17 or 18 feet in length; one of the latter size runs the entire breadth of the church called Teampull Ceanannach, in Inishmaan (Aran). In some of the oldest examples no mortar appears to have been used; but these instances are very rare, and mortar is generally found cementing enormous stones, but never in large quantities. Near the sea-coast, sand and broken sea-shells were used in making the cement, but in inland places a mixture of gravel and earth. It seems originally to have been poured in a liquid state upon the walls, and allowed to filter through.

* * * * *

Roofs.​—​The roofs of most of the ancient Irish churches have long disappeared; but several of stone still remain. The pitch of these is exceedingly high, and they are constructed upon the barrel-vault principle. Examples of this kind occur in St. Columba’s House at Kells, in Cormac’s Chapel at Cashel, in St. Kevin’s House at Glendalough, and St. Flannan’s at Killaloe.

* * * * *

Belfries.​—​The Cloictheach, or Round Tower, appears to have been the most usual belfry. The ancient structure at Glendalough, called St. Kevin’s ‘Kitchen,’ supports upon its western gable a small tower which appears to have answered this purpose. Bell-turrets, properly speaking, were not common before the thirteenth century.

Such are the more usual and prominent characteristics of the early Irish churches. It should be observed that the doorway, with few exceptions, is invariably found to occupy a position in the centre of the west end. The windows in chancelled churches are generally five in number; one in the east gable, and one in each of the side walls of the nave and choir.

We shall now refer more specifically to some examples of early churches whose characteristic features come within those here classified.

* * * * *

Chancel Arch of the Old Church of Killiney, Co. Dublin.

Doorway in Killiney Church, Co. Dublin.

Pointed Doorway in Killiney Church.

Killiney Church.​—​The Church of Killiney, situated near the village of the same name, at a distance of about nine miles from Dublin, will be found particularly interesting to the student of Irish church architecture. The length of the interior is 35 feet; the nave measures but 12 feet 8 inches, and the chancel 9 feet 6 inches in breadth. The church originally consisted of a simple nave and choir, lighted in the usual manner, and connected by a semicircular arch; but, at a period long subsequent to its original foundation, an addition, the architecture of which it will be well to compare with that of the more ancient building, has been made on the northern side. The original doorway, which, as usual, is placed in the centre of the west gable, is remarkable from having a cross sculptured on the under part of its lintel. It measures in height 6 feet and 1 inch; in breadth at the top 2 feet; and at the bottom 2 feet 4 inches. The next feature to be noticed is the choir arch. This, which may be looked upon as a most characteristic example of its class, measures in breadth, where the arch begins to spring, 4 feet 7 inches, and at the base 4 feet 10½ inches; its height is only 6½ feet. The chancel windows display the inclined sides so indicative of antiquity when found in Irish ecclesiastical remains; but, with the exception of that facing the east, they are in a state of great dilapidation. The east window is square-headed both within and without, and exhibits the usual splay. The comparatively modern addition on the north side of the nave, which appears to have been erected as a kind of aisle, is connected with the original church by several openings broken through the north side wall. It will be well to compare its architectural features with those of the older structure. The Pointed doorway offers a striking contrast to that in the west gable; and its east window is equally different from that in the ancient chancel, being larger, and chamfered upon the exterior. The fact of a semicircular arch-head being cut out of a single stone is of itself no proof of high antiquity, as it occurs in many comparatively late structures in Ireland; and in England there is to be seen in the Perpendicular church of Kirkthorpe, near Wakefield, a door-head that exhibits this mode of construction.

* * * * *

Kilternan Church.​—​The Church of Kilternan, situated near the little village of Golden Ball, about six miles from Dublin, on the Enniskerry road, presents several features of considerable interest. The south side-wall and the west gable are original, and of great antiquity. The latter contains a square-headed doorway, now stopped up with masonry; and to supply its place, a Pointed entrance has been inserted in the south side-wall. This alteration was made probably at the time of the re-erection of the east end, the style of which indicates a period not earlier than the close of the thirteenth century, about which time the custom of placing the doorway in the west end appears to have ceased. There are several other churches in the immediate neighbourhood of Dublin which contain very primitive features; but they have been altered and remodelled at various times, and are, upon the whole, characteristic of later periods. Some of these we shall notice when describing the Early Pointed style, as found in Irish churches.

* * * * *

St. Mac Dara’s Church.

The Church of St. Mac Dara.​—​The almost barren island containing the church dedicated to this saint lies off the coast of Connemara, due south of Roundstone Bay. The church is one of the most remarkable examples of the small stone-roofed churches now remaining. It measures 14 feet 8 inches by 11 feet 3 inches internally; and the walls are 2 feet 8 inches thick; the side-walls project about one foot beyond the gables, into which they are not bonded. It is lit by a round-headed and deeply-splayed window in the east wall, and by a rectangular one in the south wall. It is built of massive masonry, some of the blocks measuring from 4½ to 5 feet long, and several feet wide. It had a high-pitched stone roof resting upon the side-walls, portions of which still remain. The walls of several circular clochauns, now much defaced, lie north of the church near the shore. The island is still a great place of pilgrimage, and passing boats have long been accustomed to lower their sails three times in honour of the saint.

* * * * *

Glendalough.​—​In the lone and singularly picturesque valley of Glendalough (Co. Wicklow), surrounded by high, gloomy mountains, upon which clouds almost continually rest, a celebrated monastic establishment, round which a small city subsequently rose, was founded in the early part of the sixth century by St. Kevin. The ruins of many ecclesiastical structures yet remain; and ‘the long continuous shadow of the lofty and slender Round Tower moves slowly from morn till eve over wasted churches, crumbling oratories, shattered crosses, scathed yew-trees, and tombs​—​now undistinguishable​—​of bishops, abbots, and anchorites.’

St. Kevin was of the Royal House of Leinster, and died at a great age in 618. We are told in a ‘Life’ of him that ‘on the northern shore of the lake his dwelling was a hollow tree; on the southern he dwelt in a very narrow cave, to which there was no access except by a boat, for a perpendicular rock of great height overhangs it from above.’ He attracted numbers of disciples to the place, and erected a monastery. This was repeatedly devastated by fire and sword in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, St. Kevin’s House being consumed in 1163, and the city is described as having lain waste for forty years, and as being a veritable den of robbers, ‘spelunca latronum.’ It suffered at the hands of Dermot Mac Morrough, and was destroyed again in 1398.

That several of the existing churches formed part of the original foundation, their style of architecture sufficiently indicates. A cashel, or wall, appears usually to have enclosed most of the ancient Irish monastic establishments. That such a work at one time existed at Glendalough is certain, though scarcely a vestige of it at present remains above ground. One of the gateways, however, stood until Petrie’s time, which he compares to the Roman-built Newport Gate at Lincoln; and his prophecy, that for want of care this monument, unique of its kind, would soon cease to exist, was shortly after partially fulfilled, upon the fall of the principal arch. The stones, however, have been re-set, and the work possesses much of its pristine appearance. It is 11 feet high, 9½ feet wide, and 16 feet deep; it has external and internal arches, between which rose the tower.

The Church of Our Lady (a modern name) is believed to have been the first erected in this part of the valley by St. Kevin, ‘qui ibi duxit vitam eremiticam,’ and here he was buried. It consists of a nave 32 feet by 20½ feet, and a chancel 21 feet 4 inches by 19½ feet: but the arch has fallen. The doorway is perhaps the finest of the kind remaining, and exhibits in a striking degree that early Greek form which is so very commonly found in the doorways of the most ancient churches, of the round towers, and, though more rudely developed, in the cahers of the pagan era. It is 5 feet 10 inches high, 2 feet 8 inches wide at the top, and 3 feet at the bottom, being formed of seven stones of the thickness of the wall; the lintel, 5 feet 1 inch long, has a cross on its soffit somewhat similar to that of Killiney.

Doorway of the Church of our Lady, Glendalough.

The Cathedral, standing within the enclosure, is considered to have been erected about the commencement of the seventh century, and appears, from its name, dimensions, and position, to have been originally the Domhnach-mór, or Daimhliag-mór, or chief church of the place. Notwithstanding its present state of dilapidation, there are in Ireland few structures of the same antiquity and extent that retain so many original features. The nave is 48 feet 6 inches by 30 feet; the chancel​—​25 feet by 21½ feet​—​appears to be of later date; the fallen arch has been restored to about eight courses above the piers. It is entered by a square-headed doorway, 6 feet 9 inches high, in which the weight upon the lintel is taken off by a semicircular arch. The masonry of the chancel is much less massive than that in the body of the church, and, moreover, is not bonded into the nave, thus showing its more modern erection. The east window was remarkable for its ornamental character, possessing a chevron moulding and a sculptured frieze running on either side from the spring of the arch.

The most interesting building in the enclosure is St. Kevin’s House or ‘Kitchen.’ This has been to all intents and purposes changed into a church by the subsequent addition of a chancel and bell-turret, neither of which, in all probability, belonged to the original building; the chancel has been destroyed, but it will be seen on close examination that the walls of the adjoining sacristy are not bonded into those of the main building. ‘It will be observed also that the chancel arch is of subsequent formation; for its semicircular head is not formed on the principle of the arch, but by the cutting away of the horizontally laid stones of the original wall, in which operation a portion of the original window placed in this wall was destroyed, and the remaining portion of the aperture built up with solid masonry.’[123] The arch is 9 feet high by 5 feet wide. St. Kevin’s House was thus originally an oblong building, 23 feet by 15 feet, with a very high-pitched stone roof, a barrel-vaulted room below, and a small croft between. It was entered by a door on the west side, which is now blocked up; it was square-headed, with the weight taken off the lintel by a semicircular arch, as in the cathedral door. Above the west gable is the addition of a small round-towered belfry, rising 9 feet from the roof. The sacristy was apparently similar to the chancel, being stone-roofed and ornamented with a rude string-course similar to that of the main building. It is considered by Petrie that these additions took place after the death of St. Kevin, whose name was held in such reverence that naturally it was sought to convert his residence into a church.

Trinity Church, perhaps in a greater degree than any coeval structure in Leinster, retains the original character of its various parts. It is near the entrance to the glen, and possesses a fine specimen of the square-headed doorway, and a choir arch, of its class one of the finest in Ireland. The east window of the chancel has a semicircular head, and the arch is cut out of a single stone; there is also a triangular-headed window in the south wall; in fact, the building has almost every characteristic of the more ancient style of church architecture in Ireland, and each perfect in its way. There was formerly a round tower belfry attached to the western end, which fell in 1818.

St. Saviour’s Monastery, on the opposite side of the river, near Derrybawn, is a singularly interesting ruin. It consists of a nave and chancel, measuring together about 60 feet by 30 feet. The fine chancel arch, which had fallen, has been restored; it is of three orders resting upon clustered piers; the capitals are highly ornamented with fantastic sculptured heads of animals, and the arch displays a variety of zigzag or chevron moulding, showing work many centuries later than the most primitive of the buildings.

Chancel Arch, Trinity Church, Glendalough.

Reefert Church, on the south bank of the upper lake, was the first founded by St. Kevin before he moved to the lower part of the valley. It consists of a nave and chancel, the combined length being 43 feet by 26 feet. The dividing arch is the full width of the chancel. The doorway is of chiselled blocks of granite; it is 5 feet 9 inches high and square-headed, with inclined jambs. The enclosure in which it stands has been strangely interfered with by the Board of Works, and laid out in a most artificial manner. It was the burial-place of the O’Tooles; and an ancient inscribed tombstone, popularly said to belong to the famous king of the tribe, has disappeared, having been broken up and sold, it is said, by guides in the middle of the last century.

There are other remains of churches​—​the Priest’s House, St. Kieran’s, and Temple na Skellig. There are numerous crosses; and the round tower is one of the largest and most perfectly preserved now remaining. Much attention is usually paid to the singular chamber called ‘St. Kevin’s Bed.’ That it is altogether a work of art cannot be satisfactorily demonstrated. Though, to a certain degree, its artificial character is distinctly marked, it is quite possible that a natural cavity, the sides of which have been roughly hewn and squared, may have existed previously. The Bed, which is situated in an almost overhanging rock, at some height above the lake, is said to have been the residence of St. Kevin at some period when pursuing that course of study and contemplation for which his name, even to this day, is revered; and the celebrated St. Laurence O’Toole is said to have spent much of his time in prayer and heavenly contemplation in this cavern.

The early monastic establishments had in their buildings none of the features found in the monasteries of the great Orders of a later period. No remains are found at Glendalough, or elsewhere in Ireland, of great houses, like those of the twelfth and following centuries, for the accommodation of large numbers. The abbot and other members of the community had each his own cell, with such buildings as were needed for guest-house, kitchen, and the like. These were, no doubt, of a primitive type and perishable material, as all traces of such structures have long since disappeared. A marked peculiarity of the churches in these places is their small size. It seems that as accommodation was required, additional small churches were built, and hence the many spots in Ireland noted for their collection of such buildings.

A few structures known as ‘Houses,’ of which St. Kevin’s, already described, is the best-known example, are stone-roofed and vaulted, and seem to have combined the purpose of an ordinary dwelling-house with that of an oratory, and are thought to have been the residence of the abbot. The church on Friar’s Island, Killaloe, is another and early example, showing the transitional stage from the false to the true arch. The chancel measures 10½ feet by 6½ internally, and the walls are 3 feet thick; a very low chamber exists beneath the stone roof. The principle introduced in the barrel vaulting of these buildings was to lighten the weight of the heavy stone roof. A space was thus formed between it and the upper floor of the vaulting, which was turned to domestic use the more readily when divided by walls. The stone roofs possess no principle of the arch; they are built of rectangular slabs of dressed stones, well fitted for weather purposes, the top being finished with angular coping-stones.

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St. Columba’s House, at Kells, Co. Meath.

St. Columba’s House.​—​Another example of this class, less rude than that of Friar’s Island, occurs in the structure called St. Columba’s ‘House,’ at Kells, Co. Meath. It has a barrel-vaulted roof, which is completely devoid of ornament, and springs from the side-walls separating the body of the building from a small croft, to which access was originally gained by a quadrangular opening, about 19 inches in breadth, adjoining the west gable. Two walls, crossing and resting upon this arch, and pierced each with a small semicircular-headed doorway, together with the gables, support a roof of stone; the total height is 38 feet. The lower apartment was lighted by two windows, one in the centre of the east end, the other in the south side-wall. Both windows are small, and splay inwardly; that to the east is formed with a semicircular arch, while the other presents a triangular head. The ancient doorway, which was 8 feet from the ground, in the west end, has been almost obliterated; the doorway in the south wall is a later addition. The Annals of Clonmacnoise mention, under date 804, that ‘a new church was founded in Kells in honour of St. Columb Kill.’ This probably points to the early part of the ninth century for the erection of these structures. Kells has a remarkably perfect round tower, several crosses, and has given its name to ‘the most elaborately executed monument of early Christian art in existence’​—​the Book of Kells.

Window in St. Columba’s House.

(From the interior.)

* * * * *

St. Flannan’s Church.​—​This building, which is similar to the ‘Houses’ of St. Kevin and St. Columba, is the best built of the class, and adjoins the Cathedral of Killaloe. The nave is 29 feet long, 18 feet broad, and the walls are about 3½ feet thick; the chancel is in ruins, and appears to have been about 12 feet broad. The arch is plain with inclined jambs, and is 8½ feet in height. The nave is barrel-vaulted, and the croft lit by a semicircular-headed window in the west gable, and a triangular-headed one in the east. It is entered by a remarkable doorway in the west gable; the jambs are inclined, and support a series of recessed semicircular arches. The church is attributed to Brian Boru, but Petrie considered it much earlier. The doorway cannot be earlier than the tenth century; and the probability is that Brian re-edified the building, as he did the Church of Iniscaltra.

CHAPTER XI.
EARLY DECORATED CHURCHES.

DEVELOPMENT OF STYLE​—​CHURCH OF INISCALTRA​—​KILLESHIN​—​RAHAN​—​KING CORMAC’S CHAPEL AT CASHEL​—​FRESHFORD.

Churches like those described in the last chapter, we have every reason to believe, were constructed before the Anglo-Norman invasion of this kingdom. How long the style continued is a matter of uncertainty. We find in the process of architectural development that the horizontal lintel appears gradually to have given place to the semicircular arch-head. The high-pitched roof becomes flattened, the walls lose much of their massive stone-work character and are generally higher, and cement appears to have been used. The windows exhibit a slight recess, or a chamfer, upon the exterior, and are of greater size; a small bead-moulding is occasionally found extending round an arch upon the interior. As the style advances, the sides of the doorways, though still inclined, become cut into a series of recesses, the angles of which are slightly rounded off. The addition of a slight moulding​—​at first a mere incision​—​upon the piers, would seem to have suggested pillars. Chevron and other decorations, which in England are considered to indicate the Norman period, are commonly found; but they are generally simple lines cut upon the face and soffit of the arch. Pediments appear; and the various mouldings and other details of doorways and windows become rich and striking, and, in some respects, bear considerable analogy to true Norman work. The capitals frequently represent human heads, the hair of which is interlaced with snake-like animals. To this style of architecture, which has its own distinctive characteristics, the term ‘Hiberno- or Irish-Romanesque’ has been applied. The churches, as a rule, are small in size and simple in plan, after the manner of the earlier buildings. Horizontal forms, so strong a feature in the old, are combined with the rounded forms in the new. The decoration contains elements distinctly belonging to that ornamentation which is so striking a feature of the metal and manuscript work of the period. This transition can be traced to the beginning of the eleventh century, but was not fully developed for a century later, and would lead, as Petrie says, ‘with every appearance of probability, to the conclusion that such architecture existed here previously even to the Norman Conquest of England.’[124]

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Iniscaltra.​—​The principal church in the monastic establishment founded by St. Caimin in the seventh century on Iniscaltra, in Lough Derg, was re-edified by Brian Boru (died 1014), the buildings having suffered the usual fate of destruction by the Danes. The chancel of the church is the work of that king, and the nave also was restored. The west doorway​—​a fine work though now much decayed​—​consisted of three concentric semicircular arches, ornamented with chevron mouldings in hollow lines. ‘The piers of these arches were rectangular, but rounded at their angles, so as to form slender semi-cylindrical shafts, with angular mouldings on each side, and having in capitals well-shaped human faces carved in low relief.’ The chancel-arch consists of three receding and concentric plain arches, the piers being rounded into semi-columns with carved capitals.

* * * * *

Killeshin.​—​The church of Killeshin, in the Queen’s County, lying at a distance of about two miles from Carlow, appears to have been one of the most beautiful structures of this class ever erected in Ireland. Its doorway, until very lately, retained, in a remarkable degree, the original sharpness of its sculpture. We were informed that, many years ago, a resident in the neighbourhood used to take pleasure in destroying, as far as lay in his power, the interesting capitals here represented; and that to his labours, and not to the effects of time, may be attributed the almost total obliteration of an Irish inscription which formerly extended round the abacus, and of which but few letters at present remain.

The church of Killeshin is, perhaps, late in the style of the period. The arches, of which there are four concentric, forming the doorway, display a great variety of ornamental detail, consisting of chevron work, interlaced pattern, heads, &c. A pediment surmounts the external arch, and a window in the south side-wall is canopied by a broad band, ascending and converging in straight lines. A window of similar construction appears in the round tower of Timahoe, and ornamentation similar in style to the above appears on its fine doorway.

Capitals at Killeshin.

Capitals at Killeshin.

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Rahan.​—​One of the most remarkable remaining examples of this style of church occurs at Rahan, near Tullamore, in the King’s County.[125] The monastery was originally founded by St. Carthach, afterwards bishop of Lismore, at the beginning of the sixth century. A triple chancel arch, and a circular window, highly ornamented, are the chief remaining details of the original building. The chancel is stone-roofed; and the chamber above was lit by the circular window. The piers of the arch are rounded off into semi-columns, with capitals of very singular character, quite distinct from Norman work. The bases of the semi-columns are globular in form; and the blocks are sculptured in each compartment out of a single stone. The capitals or imposts are ornamented upon their angles with human heads, the hair of which is carried back and represented by shallow lines cut upon the face of the stone in a very fanciful manner. The window, which is 7 feet 6 inches in diameter, is composed of stones unequal in size, and displaying chevron ornaments in very low relief.

Window at Killeshin.

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The Rock of Cashel.​—​Grouped upon this celebrated Rock, which rises precipitously from the plain to a height of about 300 feet, is one of the most interesting collections of buildings in the British Isles. Cashel was associated with the early kings of Munster; and we are told a church was founded here by St. Declan in the time of St. Patrick. The Annalists give the consecration of the chapel of Cormac Mac Carthy, king of Munster, under the year 1134, thirty-seven years before the date of the Anglo-Norman invasion. The buildings, in addition, consist of the Cathedral, founded by Donagh O’Brien, king of Thomond, about 1152, which suffered many vicissitudes, and the Round Tower. A portion was constructed for defensive purposes, constituting what is called the Archbishop’s Castle. There is a much-worn cross with an effigy of St. Patrick; and the ruins of Hore Abbey, founded for the Cistercians in 1272, stand at the foot of the Rock.

The Rock of Cashel.

Cormac’s Chapel is, with the exception of the round tower, the most ancient structure of the group. It is not parallel with the Cathedral, and therefore differs in orientation. It is roofed with stone, and in its capitals, arches, and other features and details, is distinctly Irish-Romanesque in style.

Interior view of King Cormac’s Chapel.

The plan consists of a nave and chancel, with a square tower on either side, at their junction. The south tower, about 55 feet high, is ornamented externally with six projecting bands, three of which are continued along the side-walls of the structure, and it is finished at the top by a plain parapet, the masonry of which is different from that of the other portions, and evidently of a later period. The north tower, 50 feet high, remains in its original state, and is covered with a pyramidal cap of stone.

An almost endless variety of Irish-Romanesque decorations appear upon the arches, and other features of the building, both within and without. Both nave and chancel are roofed with a semicircular arch, resting upon square ribs, which spring from a series of massive semi-columns, set at equal distances against the walls. The bases of these semi-columns are on a level with the capitals of the chancel-arch, the abacus of which is continued as a string course round the interior of the building. The chancel-arch causes a singular effect from its not being quite in the centre between the main walls. There is no east window; but an altar recess, arcaded, projects externally, thus forming a third division to the building.

The walls of both nave and chancel beneath the string course are ornamented with a row of semicircular arches, slightly recessed, and enriched with chevron, billet, and other ornaments and mouldings. Those of the nave spring from square imposts resting upon piers; while those in the chancel have pillars and well-formed capitals. Other churches of about the same period are found with similar arcades, such as Kilmalkedar and Ardmore. There are small crofts to which access is gained by a spiral stair in the south tower, between the vaulting over both nave and chancel and the external roof. The chamber over the chancel is 6½ feet lower than that over the nave; these are connected by a doorway and flight of steps, and are lighted by windows; at the west end is a fireplace. These little apartments were, no doubt, used as dormitories by the ecclesiastics. A somewhat similar croft in the church of St. Doulough’s, near Dublin, is furnished with a fireplace​—​a fact which clearly demonstrates that they were applied to the purpose of habitation.

The doorways of Cormac’s chapel are three in number​—​one in the centre of the west end, and one in each of the side-walls of the nave, within a few feet of the west gable. The north and south doorways are original, and are headed with a carved tympanum or lintel between the aperture and the decorated semicircular arches above. They are both exceedingly rich in sculpture; but the north doorway appears to have been the chief entrance, as it is considerably larger and more highly decorated than the other. It is surmounted by a canopy; and the tympanum is sculptured with a very singular device, representing a combat between a centaur, armed with bow and arrow, and a huge animal, probably intended for a lion. The head of the centaur is covered by a conical helmet with a nasal, and he is shooting a barbed arrow into the breast of the lion. A small animal beneath the feet of the latter appears to have been slain in the encounter. The west doorway, which is of a later date, is not canopied, and its tympanum is sculptured with a single animal, not unlike the lion upon the other.

* * * * *

Doorway at Freshford, Co. Kilkenny.

Freshford.​—​The doorway at the church of St. Lactan, Freshford, Co. Kilkenny, is one of the most beautiful now existing in Ireland; it is ‘almost classical,’ says Brash, ‘in the symmetry and chasteness of its details.’ The original church was erected in the seventh century; and, in Petrie’s opinion, it was rebuilt about the close of the eleventh or the beginning of the twelfth century. The doorway consists of a series of recessed arches richly decorated, in which the bead and chevron mouldings are conspicuous. On each side of the spring of the external arch is a piece of sculpture, much worn; one is that of a man on horseback, and the other that of two standing figures; above the imposts are grotesque lions’ heads. Two inscriptions are over the inner arch; that on the under band runs thus: ‘A prayer for Niam, daughter of Corc, and for Mathgamain O’Chiarmeic, by whom was made this church.’ On the upper band is​—​‘A prayer for Gille Mocholmoc O’Cencucain who made it.’ The latter was, no doubt, the architect, and the former the patron at whose expense the work was carried out.

Other remarkable examples of Irish-Romanesque architecture are Aghadoe (circa 1158), Tuam (1161), Clonfert (1166), and Devorgilla’s Church, Clonmacnoise (1168). The chancel-arch in Tuam Cathedral, and the doorway of Clonfert, are among the finest of their kind now remaining of the period.

CHAPTER XII.
CROSSES.

VARIETIES OF EARLY CROSSES​—​EXAMPLES AT CLONMACNOISE​—​HIGH CROSSES​—​THE HIGH CROSSES AT MONASTERBOICE​—​THEIR SCULPTURE AND DECORATIONS​—​SEPULCHRAL SLABS​—​EARLY GRAVES.

Early Christian graves were usually marked by stones nowise differing from the pagan pillar-stone, except that in some instances they were sculptured with a cross. These were of the simplest form and rudely cut, and consisted of an elementary line cross, or one slightly developed and within a circle. Plain undressed slabs or rude stones were generally adopted in the first instance, the only use of the cutter’s instrument being on the incised work. Many of the stones of this class are found in old Christian graveyards, or within the area of early monastic establishments.

The richest collection of them is to be seen at Clonmacnoise, numbering 188; and inscribed slabs to the number of 74 have been lost from this one spot alone. Clonmacnoise was founded by St. Kieran in the middle of the sixth century; and, in time, it was, as Ware says, ‘above all others famous for the sepulchres of nobility and bishops.’ Petrie, in his work on Christian Inscriptions, shows, by means of the recorded names and ‘Annals,’ that for over 600 years, beginning with 628 A.D., this class of monument was used for sepulchral purposes. The inscribed crosses are of great variety​—​Celtic, Latin, and Greek​—​many being very chaste with key-end and other patterns. The most typical form of Celtic cross is that formed from the plain Latin type enclosed in a ring that connects the arms, and leaves varied spaces between it and the corners of their intersection.

Early Crosses on sepulchral slabs at Clonmacnoise.

This style of memorial appears to have been succeeded by a rudely-formed cross, the arms of which are little more than indicated, and which is usually fixed in a socket, cut in a large flat stone. Such crosses rarely exhibit any kind of ornament; but occasionally, even in very rude examples, the upper part of the shaft is hewn into the Celtic form already described, the portions of the stone by which the circle is indicated being frequently perforated or slightly recessed. A fine plain cross of this style may be seen on the road adjoining the graveyard of Tully, Co. Dublin; and there is an early-decorated example near the church of Finglas, in the same county.

Cross on slab, Clonmacnoise.

Cross on slab, Clonmacnoise.

Cross on slab, Clonmacnoise.

In the process of development of Christian art and architecture we find an advance in the work on the memorials of the dead. The design becomes more complicated, ornamentation more profuse; and there is a change to the minuscule form of the alphabet in the inscriptions. From the rude pillar-stone, marked with the symbol of our Faith enclosed within a circle, the emblem of eternity, the finely-proportioned and elaborately-sculptured crosses of a later period were developed. In the latter, the circle, instead of being simply cut upon the face of the stone, is represented by a ring, binding, as it were, the shaft, arms, and upper portion of the cross together. The top of the shaft is usually in the form of a roof with sloping sides, resembling the shrines of the period for holding the relics of saints. The spaces between the binding ring and the intersecting arms are pierced; and these are finely relieved by rounded bands across the corners of intersection, or on the inner surface of the ring. The whole sculpture thus forms the cross, and is in striking contrast to the Scotch type of memorial, which has the cross carved in relief upon an upright slab. The inscribed crosses were sepulchral, and principally used in covering the grave; but the free standing crosses were erected either to the memory of some famous ecclesiastic or king, or dedicatory, as in the case of the SS. Patrick and Columba Cross at Kells, or terminal, marking the bounds of a sanctuary. Of these ‘high’ crosses forty-five still remain, many of which are in a fair state of preservation. The striking feature of these crosses is the ornamental and pictorial work displayed in the carving. As in the manuscript and metal work, and in the general ornamentation of the churches, this is of a most elaborate character. There is a profusion of spiral pattern, Celtic tracery, and zoomorphic design found on these crosses. The whole body of Christian doctrine finds its expression in their sculpture, intended, no doubt, by means of symbolical representation, to be great object-lessons in the way of faith to every beholder. The central idea on the face of the cross is usually the Crucifixion, and on the back the Resurrection, or Christ in Glory; the remaining spaces in the panels and on the sides being filled with various sacred and other subjects. These highly-sculptured crosses appear to have been very generally erected between the tenth and thirteenth centuries; and there are few examples of a later date remaining, if we except a small number bearing inscriptions in Latin or English, which generally belong to the close of the sixteenth or to the seventeenth century, and which can hardly be looked upon as either Irish or ancient.

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Crosses at Monasterboice.​—​The beautiful remains of this class at Monasterboice, near Drogheda, are the finest now remaining in Ireland, though nearly equalled by some of the many others scattered over the whole island. In these crosses alone there is evidence sufficient to satisfy the most sceptical of the skill which the Irish had attained, in more of the arts than one, during the earlier ages of the Church. They may be regarded, not only as memorials of the piety and munificence of the founders, but also as the finest works of sculptured art of their period now existing.

Two of the crosses at Monasterboice remain in their ancient position, and are well preserved, though one of them, in particular, bears distinct evidence of a systematic attempt having been made to destroy it. A third has been broken to pieces, the people say by Cromwell; but its head and part of the shaft remaining uninjured, the fragment has been re-set in its ancient socket. The Great Cross, the largest of the two more perfect crosses, measures 27 feet in height, and is composed of three stones. A portion of the base is buried in the soil. The shaft at its junction with the base is 2 feet in breadth, and 1 foot 3 inches in thickness. It is divided upon the western side by fillets into seven compartments, each of which contains two or more figures executed with bold effect, but much worn by the rain and wind of nearly nine centuries. The sculpture of the first compartment, beginning at the base, has been destroyed by those who attempted to throw down the monument. The second contains four figures, of which one, apparently the most important, is presenting a book to another, who receives it with both hands, while a large bird seems resting upon his head. The other figures in this compartment represent females, one of whom holds a child in her arms.

Great Cross of Monasterboice.

Compartments 3, 4, 5, and 6 contain three figures each, evidently the Apostles; and each figure is represented as holding a book. The seventh division, which runs into the circle forming the head of the cross, is occupied by two figures; and immediately above them is a representation of our Saviour crucified, with the usual figures of a soldier upon each side, one piercing His body with a spear, and the other offering a sponge. To the right and to the left of the figure of our Saviour other sculptures appear. The figures upon the right arm of the cross are represented apparently in the act of adoration. The action of those upon the left is obscure; and, in consequence of the greater exposure of the upper portion of the stone to the weather, the sculpture which it bears is much worn, and almost effaced.

Ornament beneath Arm of the Great Cross, Monasterboice.

The sides of the shaft are ornamented with figures and scroll-work, placed alternately in compartments, one above the other. Of the circle by which the arms and stem are connected, the external edges are enriched; and as an example, the compartment beneath the left arm is here engraved. The eastern side is also divided into compartments occupied by sculptures, which may refer to Scripture history.

Cross of Muiredach, sometimes called the Smaller Cross, Monasterboice.

Portion of the Sculpture on the Cross of Muiredach.

The smaller cross is the finest example of this class of Celtic sculpture now remaining. The figures and ornaments with which its various sides are enriched, appear to have been executed with an unusual degree of care and of artistic skill. It has suffered but little from the effects of time. The sacrilegious hands which attempted the ruin of the others appear to have spared this; and it stands almost as perfect as when, nearly a thousand years ago, this unrivalled work left the sculptor’s hands. An inscription in Irish upon the lower part of the west face of the shaft desires ‘A prayer for Muiredach, by whom was made this cross’; but as Petrie, by whom the inscription has been published, remarks, there were two of the name mentioned in Irish ‘Annals’ as having been connected with Monasterboice​—​one an abbot, who died in the year 844, and the other in the year 924​—​‘so that it must be a matter of some uncertainty to which of these the erection of the cross should be ascribed.’ There is reason, however, to assign it to the latter, ‘as he was a man of greater distinction, and probably wealth, than the former, and therefore more likely to have been the erector of the crosses.’ Its total height is exactly 15 feet, and it is 6 feet in breadth at the arms. The shaft, which at the base measures in breadth 2½ feet, and in thickness 1 foot 9 inches, diminishes slightly in its ascent, and is divided upon its various sides by twisted bands into compartments, each of which contains either sculptured figures or tracery of very intricate design, or animals, probably symbolical.

The figures and other carvings retain much of their original form and beauty of execution. The former are of great interest, as affording an excellent idea of the dress, both ecclesiastical and military, of the Irish during the ninth and tenth centuries. As an example, the two lower compartments upon the west side are here given; in the first are three ecclesiastics holding books, the central one with raised hand in the act of blessing. The lower panel is supposed to represent Christ being led away by armed soldiers. Within the circular head of the cross, upon its eastern face, He is represented sitting in judgment; in His right hand is a cross, indicating His Passion, and in His left a sceptre, signifying His victory over death and the grave. A choir of angels occupy the arm to the right of the figure. Several are represented with musical instruments, among which the ancient Irish harp may be seen; it is small and triangular, and rests upon the knees of David, who is represented sitting; the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, rests upon the harp, inspiring the Psalmist. The space to the left of the Saviour is crowded with figures, several of which are in an attitude of despair. They are the damned; and a fiend armed with a trident is driving them from before the throne. In the compartment immediately beneath is the Archangel Michael, the guardian of souls, weighing in a pair of huge scales a soul, the balance seeming to preponderate in his favour. One who appears to have been weighed, and found wanting, is lying beneath the scales in an attitude of terror. The next compartment beneath represents, apparently, the adoration of the Wise Men. The star above the head of the infant Christ is distinctly marked. The third compartment contains several figures, but what they symbolise is not known. The signification of the sculpture of the next following compartment is also very obscure: a figure seated upon a throne or chair is blowing a horn, and soldiers with conical helmets, armed with short broad-bladed swords, and with small circular shields, appear crowding in. The fifth and lowest division illustrates the Temptation and the Expulsion of Adam and Eve. The head of the cross upon this side is sculptured with a Crucifixion, very similar to that upon the head of the larger cross; but the execution is better. Its northern arm, to the left of the Crucifixion, underneath bears the representation of the Dextera Dei, or Hand Symbol, used in early Christian art to represent the First Person of the Trinity. It is also to be seen on the Cross of Flann, at Clonmacnoise, where it is on the right of the Crucifixion; in both cases it is surrounded by a nimbus. Of the broken cross, a boss placed within its circle with spiral ornamentation is here engraved. It is otherwise plain.

Boss of the third Cross, Monasterboice.

Inscribed Tombstone, Iniscaltra.

An early monumental stone remains in the cemetery, a few yards to the north of the less ancient church. The inscription is in the Irish language and character, and reads in English, ‘A prayer for Ruarchan.’ A simple flagstone, inscribed with a name, and sculptured with the sacred symbol of Christianity, such as the early Christians were accustomed to place over the grave of an eminent man, forms a striking contrast to the tablets which too often disfigure the walls of our cathedral and parish churches. Many remains of this class lie scattered among the ancient and often-neglected graveyards of Ireland; but they are every day becoming more rare, as the country stone-cutters, by whom they are regarded with but slight veneration, frequently form out of their materials modern tombstones, defacing the ancient inscriptions. A characteristic example of a portion of an inscribed slab is here given; it is from Iniscaltra, an island in Lough Derg, for many centuries a celebrated burial-ground.

In several cemeteries found in connection with the earlier monastic establishments of Ireland, graves frequently occur, formed of flat stones placed edgeways in an oblong figure and covered with large flags, after the pagan fashion. Were it not that in several instances the stones at either end of the enclosure have been sculptured with a cross, they might be supposed to indicate the site of a pagan cemetery, which the early Christians, for obvious reasons, had hallowed by the erection of a cill. The direction of the grave is generally east and west; but in the cemetery adjoining the very early church at Saint John’s Point, in Co. Down, and at Kilnasaggart, the graves are arranged in the form of a circle, to the centre of which the feet of the dead converge.

Plan of Cemetery, Kilnasaggart, near Jonesborough, Co. Armagh.

The cemetery at Kilnasaggart consists, as the plan here shows, of two concentric circles of low flat graves radiating towards the centre, at which stands a small pillar-stone. The outer circle is 55 feet in diameter, and at the north edge is the well-known Pillar-stone. This originally contained an Ogam inscription, which was defaced, probably when converted to Christian uses. It has a number of incised crosses, and an Irish inscription to St. Ternoe.[126]

A similar mode of interment, which occurs at Town-y-Chapel, near Holyhead, in Wales, is referred to in the Archæological Journal, vol. iii.; and it is worthy of remark that the place where the graves are found appears to have been the scene of a battle, fought about A.D. 450, in which many Irishmen were slain.

CHAPTER XIII.
ROUND TOWERS.

OPINIONS FORMERLY CURRENT WITH REGARD TO THE ORIGIN AND USES OF THE ROUND TOWERS​—​THEIR CHARACTERISTICS​—​DOORWAYS, WINDOWS AND APERTURES​—​EXAMPLES AT CLONDALKIN, MONASTERBOICE, KILDARE, DEVENISH.

Round towers of about 18 feet in external diameter, and varying in height from 60 to about 110 feet, are frequently found in connection with the earlier monastic establishments of Ireland. The question of their origin and uses long occupied much antiquarian attention. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries they had been regarded by archæologists as the work of the Danes; but towards the close of the latter century General Vallancey propounded various theories, which assumed them to be of Phœnician or Indo-Scythian origin, and to have contained the sacred fire from whence all the fires in the kingdom were annually rekindled. By those who affirmed their Christian origin they were successively declared to be anchorite towers in imitation of that of St. Simon Stylites, and penitential prisons, and thus theories were multiplied until they became almost as numerous as the towers themselves. Each succeeding writer, instead of elucidating, appeared to involve the subject in deeper mystery than ever​—​a mystery that was proverbial until dispelled by George Petrie in his great work on The Origin and Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, which was received, with good cause for the effusion, as ‘the most learned, the most exact, and the most important ever published upon the antiquities of the ancient Irish nation.’

That the general conclusions embodied in this work were arrived at after a long and patient investigation, not only of the architectural peculiarities of the numerous round towers, but also of the ecclesiastical structures usually found in connection with them, is sufficiently shown by the many references to, and illustrations of, examples scattered over the whole country. But Petrie also, with the assistance of the best Celtic scholars in Ireland, sought in the ‘Annals’ and other Irish MSS. for references to such buildings as it was the custom of the early inhabitants to erect; and from these hitherto-neglected sources of information, much light was thrown upon the subject of ancient Irish ecclesiastical architecture. The following is a summary of Petrie’s conclusions:​—​

1. That the Irish ecclesiastics had, from a very early period, in connection with their cathedral and abbey churches, campaniles or detached belfries, called in the Irish ‘Annals’ and other ancient authorities by the term Cloictheach, ‘House of a bell.’

2. That no other building, either round or square, suited to the purpose of a belfry, has ever been found in connection with any church of an age anterior to the twelfth century, with the single exception of the square belfry attached to a church on Inis Clothrann or Clorin, an island in Lough Ree, which seems to be of earlier date.

3. That they were designed to answer at least a twofold purpose​—​to serve as belfries, and as keeps or places of strength, in which the sacred utensils, books, relics, and other valuables were deposited, and into which the ecclesiastics to whom they belonged could retire for security in cases of sudden attack.

4. An examination of ancient Irish literature tends strongly to the conclusion that the people so generally recognised this use of the round towers as a primary one, that they very rarely applied to a tower erected for defence any other term but that of ‘cloictheach’ or belfry.

5. That they were probably also used, when occasion required, as beacons and watch-towers.

Petrie, while establishing their ecclesiastical character and origin, gave, however, too wide a margin to the date of their erection, viz., from the sixth century to the thirteenth. The investigations of the late Lord Dunraven in tracing such structures on the Continent narrowed their first erection down to the ninth century. He shows that they were founded on European examples, the most notable being those of Ravenna, where six of its round towers still stand. The round towers were due to Byzantine influences, and some writers trace their original source to the towers built in connection with early Syrian churches. Miss Stokes, following Lord Dunraven, assigns the Irish round towers to three periods between 890 and 1238 A.D., and classifies them into four distinct groups, according to their style of masonry and doorways.

Doorway, Round Tower, Glendalough.

The Norse sea-rovers rendered ecclesiastical establishments most unsafe. The first period of their invasions extended from the end of the eighth century to the middle of the ninth century, and the land was ravaged from north to south with fire and sword. On the sea-coast and along the river valleys the country lay waste. On the banks of the Bann, the shores of Lough Neagh, by the Boyne, and broad expansions of the Shannon, and as far south as the distant Skellig Rock, few sacred establishments escaped plunder and desecration. To protect their churches, oratories, and sacred treasures, these towers were built by the monks, from which watch could be kept, and an easy retreat made to them as places of safety; their lines can still be traced along the shores of the waters where the fleets of the Danes are known to have appeared.

The usual features of the round towers may be thus summarised:

* * * * *

Cross over the Doorway of Antrim Tower.

Doorway, Donaghmore Tower, Co. Meath.

Doorways.​—​In form these are similar to the doorways we have described as characteristic of the early churches, but they are generally more highly ornamented, and appear to have been furnished with double doors. They are placed almost invariably at a considerable elevation above the ground. A flat projecting band, with a small bead-moulding at the angles, is the most usual decoration; but in some instances a human head, sculptured in bold relief, is found upon each side of the arch. A stone immediately above the doorway of Antrim tower exhibits a cross sculptured in alto-relievo; and at Donaghmore, in Co. Meath, a figure of the Crucifixion, in bold relief, occupies a similar position. This style of decoration may have been much more common than is generally supposed, as, of the number of towers remaining in Ireland, the doorways of at least one-third have been destroyed. Concentric arches, with chevron and other mouldings, occur at Timahoe and at Kildare.

* * * * *

Window, Round Tower, Cashel.

Windows and Apertures.​—​Generally speaking, these are similar in form to the windows in contemporary churches​—​with this difference, that they never splay, and that the arch-head in numerous examples differs in interior form from that of the exterior. The windows in the earliest towers are square-headed or triangular, and in the latest they are well formed, and of cut stone. The tower was divided into storeys, about 12 feet in height, the floors of which were supported by projections of the masonry or by brackets. Each storey, except the highest, was generally lighted by one small window; the highest has generally four of large size. A conical roof of stone completed the building. The tower usually rested on a low circular plinth; the walls varied in thickness, from 3 to 5 feet; the lowest storey had no aperture, and sometimes its space was filled by solid masonry. The earliest towers were built of rubble masonry; and the spaces between the stones were filled with spawls; little mortar was used in laying the courses, but grouting abundantly. In the latest towers fine ashlar masonry was used, like the Norman work of the twelfth century; a few have external string courses, as in the perfect tower at Ardmore, County Waterford. About seventy round towers still remain, thirteen of which are perfect, of which ten retain the original conical cap.

* * * * *

Clondalkin Round Tower.

Clondalkin.​—​In the village of Clondalkin, at a distance of about six miles from Dublin by road, stands one of the best preserved of the round towers. Its height to the top of the cone is 90 feet. The doorway, which is approached by a flight of stone steps, comparatively modern, is square-headed, with inclined sides, and perfectly plain, as are also the windows and top apertures. Some years ago a gentleman of the neighbourhood caused this tower to be repaired, upon which occasion floors were added, and placed in their original position. Access may be had from storey to storey by the aid of fixed ladders, so that a visitor has here an opportunity for observation not frequently to be met with. It should be remarked that the projection at the base, about 13 feet high, and which is nearly all solid masonry, is not found in any other round tower in Ireland, and it may possibly be an afterwork. The tower of Clondalkin, though nearly perfect, cannot be considered a very fine example of its class. It is built of rubble masonry, is somewhat low, and its roof, which does not appear to be original, is wanting in that degree of lightness and elegance observable in many.

The other towers in the immediate neighbourhood of Dublin are at Swords, Lusk, and Rathmichael. That of Swords has been disfigured by the restoration of the top, and the ivy which threatened its destruction has been removed. That of Lusk has been incorporated into the west end of the parish church, and the tower at Rathmichael is a mere stump.

Doorway of Clondalkin Tower.

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Monasterboice.​—​There is a fine example at Monasterboice, within about six miles of Drogheda. The churches, the tower, and the magnificent crosses of this ancient foundation form a group of ecclesiastical antiquities in some respects unsurpassed in Ireland. A description of the crosses will be found in the previous chapter. The tower, the erection of which there is every reason to refer to an early period, is one of particular interest, exhibiting, as it does, a decorated doorway, the head of which is cut out of two stones laid horizontally one above the other. A band extends round the head and down the sides of the doorway, but terminates on a level with the sill, or rather turns off at a right angle, passing horizontally for a distance of eight inches, from which point it ascends, and running upwards round the doorway head, gives the appearance of a double band. A space between the bands, upon each side of the upper part of the doorway, and one upon the semicircular arched head, left uncut, appear suggestive of the cross. The window immediately over the doorway may be looked upon as a characteristic example of the opening found in a similar position in most of the towers, and which is supposed to have answered the purpose of a second doorway, or to have been designed for the purpose of affording persons within the tower some means of defending the entrance beneath. In this example, however, it is unusually small. The other windows are square-headed, as were also the large apertures of the uppermost storey.[127] The masonry is good, and characteristic of an early period; the stones are large, well fitted together, and pass through a considerable thickness of the wall, as was observed in the injured upper portion of the structure. The tower has been well repaired by the Board of Works, and flights of steps laid from floor to floor, by which the summit of the top storey can be reached.

A church of very primitive construction, and probably several centuries older than the tower, stands in the cemetery, at a little distance to the north-east of the other remains. Its only doorway is placed, as usual, in the centre of the west gable. It is square-headed, and possesses every indication of great antiquity; but the accumulation of the churchyard soil has buried the lower portion at least to a depth of several feet. The church consisted of a nave and chancel; the latter has been destroyed, but a plain semicircular chancel arch remains. The church immediately adjoining the round tower is obviously an erection of the early part of the thirteenth century.

* * * * *

Doorway of Kildare Tower.

Kildare.​—​The round tower of Kildare is in several respects one of the most remarkable in Ireland. Its doorway, of which an illustration is annexed, is unusually rich, of Irish-Romanesque work, consisting of three concentric arches, upon two of which a variety of mouldings appears. The external arch is quite plain, and evidently not as ancient as the others. An ornamental canopy, a portion of which still remains, once surmounted the doorway. A still more remarkable and finer doorway is that of Timahoe. The tower of Kildare is 105½ feet high, and 55 feet in circumference; it bears evidence of having been repaired at various periods. Like the round tower of Cloyne, in the County of Cork, and like those of Kilkenny and Kilmallock, it is finished with a plain battlemented parapet, comparatively modern, and added, probably, at some period when the original roof of stone had been destroyed, perhaps by lightning.

Round Tower, Devenish.

* * * * *

Devenish.​—​This tower, with other remains of antiquity, some of which are associated with the name of St. Molaise (see [p. 288]), stands on the Island of Devenish in Lower Lough Erne, a couple of miles from Enniskillen. The tower is 84 feet 10 inches high, and is remarkable for its symmetry, and the perfection and regularity of its masonry to the very apex. It has a round-headed doorway 9 feet from the ground; at this part it is 8 feet in diameter, and the walls are 4 feet thick. It has five storeys. Above the doorway is a triangular-headed window, and the top storey has four windows nearly facing the cardinal points. It has the unique distinction of possessing the only external decoration not connected with apertures. This is a cornice or band of Romanesque work, of good design, immediately beneath the conical cap. On the band, and over the apertures, are quaintly-executed heads, the beards consisting of interlaced patterns. The tower was thoroughly restored in 1835.

CHAPTER XIV.
EARLY CHRISTIAN ART: METAL WORK.

DEVELOPMENT OF EARLY CHRISTIAN ART​—​BELLS​—​THE BELL OF ST. PATRICK​—​THE SHRINE OF ST. PATRICK’S BELL​—​THE SHRINE OF ST. SENAN’S BELL​—​THE SHRINE OF ST. MURA’S BELL​—​BRONZE BELLS​—​THE BELL OF CHUMASCACH​—​CUMDACHS​—​THE CATHACH​—​THE DOMNACH AIRGID​—​THE BREAC MOEDOC​—​CROSIERS​—​THE CROSS OF CONG​—​CHALICES​—​THE ARDAGH CHALICE​—​THE TARA BROOCH.

We have seen that in the Bronze Age a great advance had been made in metal work among the Celtic tribes of Europe, showing great technical skill, taste in design, and delicacy of touch in manipulation​—​qualities not excelled in the early part of the succeeding Christian period. The type of ornament which characterised the Later Bronze Age and the Early Iron period seems to have flourished longer in Ireland than elsewhere; and with the introduction of new elements by Christianity, it found, in time, its expression, not only in metal work, but in the stone work of ecclesiastical buildings, and in the illumination of copies of the Scriptures. The latter flourished especially, as we know, and the manuscripts which were executed by the early scribes in Irish schools are the finest of the kind now existing.

* * * * *

Bells.​—​With the introduction of Christianity came new needs; and bells were among the first articles provided for ecclesiastical purposes. Considering, as we have shown, the skill that had been attained in metal work in pagan days, it is strange that the earliest examples in Christian times were of a very rude kind. That no fine example of metal work of the Christian period in Ireland can be assigned to an earlier date than about the tenth century, may be due to the fact that the country was repeatedly swept by Norse invaders, and all such objects became their prey.

We read, in the Lives of St. Patrick, St. Columba, and others, of the names of various artificers who made bells, crosses, crosiers, and shrines for churches. Frequent mention is made of bells by the Annalists. The early bells were of a peculiar quadrangular form, and made of pieces of sheet-iron fastened together with rivets. The oldest example of the kind in Ireland is the Bell of St. Patrick, or Bell of Armagh, now in the Academy collection. It is of the rudest description, and its antiquity apparent. The space between the edges of the overlapping pieces seems to have been filled in with bronze to give the body complete cohesion; and the whole coated with a thin layer of a fusion of the same metal, which not only improved its tone, but preserved it from decaying by rust. There is good reason to believe that, as its name implies, it had belonged to St. Patrick himself. For many ages it was one of the chief treasures preserved in Armagh; here it was highly revered, so much so, that, about the year 1091, it was enclosed in a magnificent and costly Shrine, which is also preserved in the same collection. The bell had its own keeper, and was handed down, as was the custom, from generation to generation in the same family, with the most scrupulous regard for its safety. The shrine, which is characteristic of the metal work of the period, is formed of bronze plates, to which decorated panels are attached by rivets. The front panel is divided into thirty-one spaces filled with gold ornament, crystals, and jewels; the setting of the crystals is evidently later work. The back consists of a fine and perfect silver plate, in open fret pattern. The sides are of gilt bronze, with open-work ornament of a highly complicated interlaced pattern. There are two arms at the sides, pierced, with rings inserted; the arms have a circular plate setting, and the spaces between them and the rims are filled with heavily-plated gold ornament. The handle portion of the shrine is highly ornamented with bird forms and interlaced design, in different treatment from the faces and sides. The shrine bears an inscription, in the Irish character and language, of which the following is a translation:​—​‘A prayer for Domnall O’Loughlin, by whom this Bell (or Bell-shrine) was made; and for Domnall, the successor of Patrick, with whom it was made; and for Cathalan O’Maelchalland, the keeper of the Bell; and for Cudulig O’Inmainen, with his sons, who covered it.’

There are many other ancient iron bells in Ireland, examples of which will be seen in the National Museum. Of bell shrines, several others exist: that of St. Senan’s is in possession of Mr. Marcus Keene, whose family have been the hereditary custodians of the Saint’s bell. The shrine of St. Mura’s bell from Fahan, Co. Donegal, after various wanderings and changing of hands, is now in the Wallace collection, London.

Bell of Chumascach Mac Ailello.

About the tenth century, iron gave place to bronze as the more satisfactory material in metal for bells. The date of one example at least is ascertained by an inscription on its outer surface. This is the Bell of Chumascach, and is also from Armagh. It is 12 inches high and 8 inches across the mouth, and is of cast bronze, but the handle and clapper are of iron. It bears the following inscription in Irish:​—​

(Pray for Chumascach, son of Ailello). The death of the person mentioned in the inscription is recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters as occurring in A.D. 909.

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Cumdachs.​—​The copies of the Gospels and other sacred writings which had been used by the early saints of Ireland were generally preserved by their successors, enclosed in cases formed of yew or some wood equally durable. Many of those cases were subsequently enshrined or enclosed in boxes of silver, or of bronze, called Cumdachs, richly plated with silver and occasionally gilt; and in several instances a third case appears to have been added. Sir William Betham, in his Irish Antiquarian Researches, describes several of those evidences of early Irish piety still extant and remaining in a state of preservation. There are two in Trinity College Library, the shrines of the Book of Dimma, and the Book of Mulling.

The fine shrine of Molaise’s Gospels in the Academy collection dates from the first quarter of the eleventh century, and is the oldest of the Cumdachs. The shrine of the Stowe Missal, dating a little later, and the shrine of St. Columba’s Psalter, are also in the same collection. A description of one example of these shrines will suffice. The Cumdach of St. Columba’s Psalter, called the Cathach, or Caha, and also known as the ‘Battler,’ is a box about nine inches and a half in length, eight in breadth, and two in thickness, formed of brass plates riveted one to the other, and ornamented with gems and chasings in gold and silver. It was long supposed to contain the bones of Columba; and a superstitious belief was held as to the evil befalling him who opened it. This, however, was done by Sir William Betham, and it was found to contain the customary rude wooden box enclosing a MS. on vellum, consisting of fifty-eight membranes. The MS. is a copy of the second revision of the Psalter by St. Jerome, and has been commonly attributed to St. Columba. The sheets were found to be incomplete and much injured: they began with the 31st and ended with the 106th Psalm. The decoration displayed upon the top of the box shows the comparatively late date of this portion of the relic. The top consists of a silver plate richly gilt, and divided into three compartments by clustered columns supporting arches. The central space is somewhat larger than the others, and contains the figure of an ecclesiastic, probably St. Columba, who is represented in a sitting posture, giving the benediction, and holding a book in his left hand. The arch of this compartment is pointed, while the others are segmental. The space to the left of the central figure is occupied by that of a mitred abbot, giving the benediction with his right hand, while in his left he holds a crosier. The compartment to the right of the central figure contains a representation of the Passion. There are figures of angels with censers over each of the side-arches. A border, within which the whole is enclosed, is formed at the top and bottom of a variety of fabulous animals; the sides represent foliage, and in each angle there is a large rock crystal. A fifth setting of crystal surrounded with smaller gems occurs immediately over the figure, which, as we have said, was probably intended to represent St. Columba. The sides and ends of the box are also richly chased. An inscription in the Irish character upon the bottom desires ‘a prayer for Cathbar Ua Domnaill, for whom this case was made; for Sitric, son of Mac Aeda, who made it; for Domnall, son of Robartach; for the successor of Kells, for whom it was made.’ The Domnall here referred to as ‘successor’ of St. Columba is named in a charter, dating about 1084, in the Book of Kells: the end of the eleventh century was probably, therefore, the date of the shrine.

The Cathach appears to have been handed down from a very early period in the O’Donnell family, of which St. Columba, the supposed writer of the manuscript which it was made to enshrine, was a member. It was the custom to wear it round the neck as a breastplate; and, before engaging in warfare, it was exhibited in exhortation to the clan, and hence its name the ‘Battler.’

The Domnach Airgid, also preserved in the Academy collection, is a very interesting relic of the kind under notice. It contained a considerable portion of the copy of the Gospels which was supposed to have been used by St. Patrick during his mission in Ireland, and which was presented by him to St. Mac Carthen. Unfortunately, when opened in 1832, the membranes of which the manuscript is composed had, through the effects of time and neglect, become firmly attached to each other. In 1892 the sheets were separated under the supervision of Dr. Maunde Thompson of the British Museum, and examined by Dr. J. H. Bernard. It was shown that the box was not made for the MS., being too small; and the writing and text gave evidence that the copy was not earlier than the eighth century.

The manuscript has three distinct covers: the first and most ancient is of yew; the second of bronze plated with silver, of about the eleventh or twelfth century; and the third of silver plated with gold, dating about 1350. The outer and latest cover possesses many features in common with that of the Cathach. It has an inscription to John O’Karbri, who ordered it; and to John O’Barrdan, who made it. The former, according to the Annals of the Four Masters, was abbot of Clones, and died in 1353.[128]

The Breac (Speckled) Moedoc, from the Petrie collection, subsequently passing to the Royal Irish Academy, is one of the most curious of the ancient shrines. It is called after St. Moedoc, or Mogue, Bishop of Ferns, and is supposed to have contained relics from Rome brought by St. Molaise. It was preserved in Drumlane, County Cavan, until the middle of the last century. It is valuable on account of the details of ancient costumes which appear on eleven of the twenty-one figures originally attached to its sides. These were gilt or plated with gold; the case is bronze: the date is doubtful. A leather satchel which contained it is also preserved in the National Museum.

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Crosiers.​—​In like manner to the bells, the pastoral crooks and crosiers which had belonged to the early fathers of the Irish Church, appear to have been regarded as holy. Their possession was also hereditary, and certain privileges, such as grants of land, were given to the custodians. Notwithstanding the frequent pillage of church property by the Danes, and the destruction of ‘superstitious’ relics in a later time, numerous examples, remarkable for the beauty of their decoration and the excellence of their workmanship, have been preserved to our own day. The Irish crosier has simply the curved handle of a staff, which seems originally to have belonged to a saint or founder of a church, on which the metal covering was subsequently laid. It is not the shepherd’s crook, so familiar as the emblem of episcopal office. The crosier usually exhibits a profusion of ornament, consisting of elaborately interwoven bands terminating generally in serpents’ heads, or in some equally singular device. In several specimens occur settings formed of stones or an artificial substance, variously coloured; but this is supposed to indicate a comparatively recent date. The continental type was probably introduced in the twelfth century, under the influences already referred to in the foundation of monastic establishments. A well-known example is the Crosier of Cashel, with enamelled circular head and figure, one similar to which, and ascribed to above period, is in the Cluny Museum, Paris.

An interesting and perhaps the oldest crosier in the Academy collection is that of St. Berach of Termonbarry, which was handed down through its hereditary custodians the O’Hanlys. The date of the Irish crosiers is probably not earlier than the end of the tenth century. From the inscription the crosier of Lismore, it doubtless dates about the beginning of the twelfth century, during the time in which Niall Mac Mic Aeducain, or Mac Gettigan, held the bishopric.

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The Cross of Cong.​—​This Cross is the chief gem of the Academy collection, not only from its historical associations, but also as it affords striking evidence of the advancement which the Irish artificers had made in several of the arts, and in general manufacturing skill, previous to the arrival of the English. It was made in Roscommon by native Irishmen, about the year 1123, by order of King Turlough O’Conor, father of Roderick, the last monarch of Ireland.

This the Annals of Inisfallen state, and the evidence is supported by inscriptions on the edges of the cross; one is in Latin, mentioning that it contained a piece of the ‘true Cross’; the others are in Irish, praying for Archbishop Muiredach O’Duffy of Tuam, who died in 1150; for King O’Conor; for Domnal O’Duffy, Archbishop of Connaught, and for the artificer Maelisa Mac Bratdan O’Echan. The cross seems to have been brought to Cong either by the Archbishop, who died there, or by King Roderick, who founded and endowed the abbey.

The cross is 2½ feet high, the arms 1 foot 6¾ inches in width, and it is 1¾ inches thick. It ends in the grotesque head of an animal, and below this is a large ball, highly decorated, forming the head of the socket for the shaft when the cross was carried in procession. The frame is of oak, and over this are laid plates of copper richly covered with gold tracery. The edges are formed into a raised rim by a covering of silver, and divided into sections, which are marked by eighteen rounded projections set with stones or enamels, thirteen of which remain. A thin silver ribbon is set between the rims, upon which are the inscriptions in punched lettering.

The Cross of Cong.

The ornaments generally consist of tracery and grotesque animals, fancifully combined, and similar in character to the decorations found upon crosses of stone of about the same period. A large crystal is set in the centre at the intersection of the arms and shaft, behind which the relic was set. The cross had been carefully preserved after the suppression of the monasteries, and was found in an oak chest in the village of Cong early in the last century. It was purchased by the late Professor Mac Cullagh for the sum of one hundred guineas, and presented to the Academy in 1839.

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Chalices.​—​Among the more singular relics in the Academy collection is a chalice of stone. Though formed of so rude a material, there is nothing in its general form or in the character of its decorations to warrant a supposition that it belongs to a very early period. Few chalices of an age prior to the twelfth century remain in Ireland; and any of a later date are not very remarkable as objects of antiquarian interest. Cups of stone appear to have been not uncommon among the Irish. An ancient vessel of this material, of a triangular form, was to be seen by the side of a holy well in Columbkill’s Glen, in the County of Clare; and another was found some years ago in the County of Meath, near the ruins of Ardmulchan Church.

The most remarkable object of the chalice class known to have been found in Ireland is the famous Ardagh Cup, or Chalice, which figures amongst the choicest examples of metal-work preserved in the collection of the Academy. It, together with a plain bronze cup and some fine silver brooches, was discovered in 1868 in a rath situated not far from Ardagh, County Limerick.

Chalice of Ardagh.

We take the following particulars from a description furnished by the late Mr. Johnson to Lord Dunraven:​—​The bowl is of silver; but gold, bronze, brass, copper, and lead are used in the fittings and ornament. The latter consists of an inscription, interlaced pattern terminating in dogs’ heads, and at the bottom a circular band with Greek pattern. The ornamentation is punched, as is shown by the raised edges. A band of two semi-cylindrical rings of silver ornamented with small annular dots runs round the cup. Twelve plaques of gold repoussé work fill the space between the rings, with beautiful ornamentation of fine filigree work of the usual interlaced pattern. Twelve round enamelled beads are set between the plaques. The handles are also ornamented with enamels and filigree work, but in different designs. On the sides of the bowl are two circular ornaments, with central enamelled bosses surrounded by gold filigree work. The stem and supports of the bowl are of gilt bronze engraved in interlaced pattern. The foot of the bowl is circular; the outer rim of the framework is divided into eight spaces, filled alternately with gold and bronze gilt plaques of open work, the designs of which are clearly shown by pieces of mica set as a background. The inside of the foot is also elaborately executed with a circular piece of crystal in the centre, enamelled spaces and fine filigree work.

There are no fewer than 354 pieces of metal, if we include twenty rivets, in the composition of this most remarkable Cup. The inscription, in peculiar square-formed letters, is a remarkable feature, and gives the names of the Twelve Apostles​—​St. Paul being included. It runs round the cup under the band already mentioned; the letters are not easily legible, as the outline is faint. ‘The spaces between are stippled so as to form a shaded background.’ The late Lord Dunraven in his interesting paper was inclined to attribute the Cup to the ninth or tenth century, taking into account the ornament, lettering, and style of workmanship.

We have already referred to the development of the bronze brooch and ring-pin (p. 237), and the process can be clearly traced from the numerous specimens arrayed in the National Museum. The earlier brooch had open and expanded ends between which the pin passed, and the brooch was made fast by twisting it round upon the pin. The ornamentation was Late Celtic, often with enamelled design. In time the enlarged ends were closed by a bar, and in the latest form the ends became a complete plate and the pin of great length, to which a chain was attached for safety. These were highly ornamented with filigree work and enamel; the design is varied and beautiful in elaborate Celtic pattern.

The Tara Brooch.

Of the many brooches of this class discovered, the finest without exception is that known as the Tara Brooch. It was found in 1850 on the sea-shore near Bettystown, Co. Louth, and was bought by Waterhouse, who gave it the name of ‘Tara’ on account of the beauty of its workmanship and the associations connected with the celebrated hill. It was purchased from him for the Academy by the Government in 1867. It is made of white bronze, a metal harder than silver and composed of copper and tin. It is gilt and divided into a number of panels, most of which are filled with filigree work in gold, with settings of amber, glass, and enamel. The fastening of the gold filigree is hardly perceptible to the naked eye, and a strong glass is needed to see the full beauty of the ornament of this work. ‘The Tara brooch,’ says Petrie, ‘is superior to any hitherto found in the variety of its ornaments, and in the exquisite delicacy and perfection of its execution.’ Attached to the brooch is a chain of the work known as ‘Trichinopoli,’ which was used to fasten the brooch when worn. The divergent spiral, or trumpet, pattern, which is so characteristic of the decoration of Early Christian Art in Ireland, is carried to great perfection on the reverse side of the brooch. If we are to judge by the general disappearance of this ornament about the beginning of the eleventh century, we get a probable date for this object.

We have in this chapter only briefly indicated the nature of the metal art of the Early Christian period, and dealt with but a few of the best-known examples, as indeed a special work would be required to cover so wide a field.

CHAPTER XV.
ABBEYS AND LATER CHURCHES: FONTS.

FOUNDATION OF ABBEYS AND CHURCHES​—​JERPOINT ABBEY, CO. KILKENNY​—​CATHEDRALS OF ST. PATRICK AND CHRISTCHURCH, DUBLIN​—​ABBEYS OF NEWTOWNTRIM AND BECTIVE, CO. MEATH​—​CHURCHES OF CANNISTOWN, NEAR NAVAN​—​ST. DOULOUGH’S​—​THE ‘ABBEY’ AND ST. FINTAN’S CHURCH, HOWTH​—​EARLY FONTS​—​EXAMPLES AT KILLINEY​—​KILTERNAN​—​ST. JOHN’S POINT​—​KILLESHIN​—​KILCARN, CLONARD, AND DUNSANY, CO. MEATH.

In the preceding chapters early churches and other Christian remains possessing characteristics distinctively Irish have been described. It has been stated that at the Anglo-Norman Conquest Irish architecture may be said to have ceased, the invaders having brought with them their own fashion of building, which was afterwards adopted by the Irish. How far the stone-roof style of building, which reached its culmination in King Cormac’s Chapel, could have been carried by builders working on their own free and independent lines we need not discuss. But never at any time could it be said that Ireland lay without the sphere of new influences, as we have tried to indicate in tracing this sketch of her pagan and early Christian remains. Irish-Romanesque work reached its highest development in the twelfth century; and during the latter half, to the beginning of the thirteenth century, a great change was witnessed in the style of architecture as applied to ecclesiastical edifices throughout the land.

The rapid growth of the great monastic orders in England in time affected Ireland. From the Norman Conquest to the close of the reign of Edward III. it has been computed that 1200 institutions were founded in England, and of these 228 were established in the reigns of Stephen and Henry II.​—​a development which was more or less felt in the sister kingdom. A complete change was made at this period in the old monastic system which had existed from the first days of Christianity in Ireland. This was due to St. Malachy O’Morgair, the friend of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, and who died there when on a visit to him in 1148. He introduced the Cistercian Order, the greatest builders of all the Orders, and founded for them the first of their great monasteries in Ireland. Mellifont was established by St. Malachy in 1142; and in nine years Bective, Newry, Athlone, Monasteranenagh, Boyle, and Baltinglas were founded and affiliated to it; and before 1172 we are told that twenty-five Cistercian monasteries were established in the land. This is sufficient to show that modifying forces were at work before the Anglo-Norman invasion touched Irish shores. As we have seen, for several centuries previous to it, Irish architecture had been gradually undergoing a development, and had in some measure become what in England is known as the Norman style. Towards the close of the twelfth century the Irish kings and chiefs, and the Anglo-Norman earls and barons settled in Ireland, appear to have vied with each other in the erection of abbeys, the ruins of which, to this day, attest the zeal and power of their founders. Most of the monastic structures of this period, in their larger arches, exhibit beautiful examples of the earliest Pointed style, while the doorways and smaller openings remain semicircular, and frequently exhibit pure Norman details. Almost the last traces of peculiarly Celtic architectural art appear to have died out in Ireland about the close of the twelfth century.

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Jerpoint Abbey.​—​Jerpoint Abbey, belonging to the Cistercian Order, in the County of Kilkenny, whose foundation is attributed, as well as to others, to Donogh MacGilla-Patrick, Lord of Ossory, is, perhaps, the finest structure of this period remaining in Ireland. The plan of the church was cruciform, with aisles on the north side of both nave and choir. The greater portion of the southern wall has been destroyed. The western window consists of three lights, with semicircular heads, surmounted by a continuous weather-moulding. A fine range of clerestory windows of the same character appears in the north wall of the nave. The tower, though of considerable antiquity, is evidently of later date than the Transition period. The only entrance to the body of the church from the exterior appears to have been a small doorway in the south wall of the nave; and this is defended by a bartizan similar to those found upon the castles of the twelfth century. Of the battlements of the tower, so conspicuous a feature in many of the early buildings, Fergusson says they are ‘identical with many found in the north of Italy, but very unlike anything either in England or Scotland. They give a foreign look to the whole building, which is very striking.’

Chevroned Pointed arches occur in the nave of Dunbrody Abbey, which belongs to this period; it was erected for the same Order in 1182 by Hervey de Montemarisco, Marshal of Henry II., who became its first abbot.

The Transition style soon gave place to the Early Pointed, and the finest existing cathedrals and abbeys belonged almost exclusively to the latter. As early examples, we may mention portions of Christchurch and St. Patrick’s Cathedrals, Dublin; Kilkenny Cathedral; Gray Abbey, Co. Down; the Cathedral of Cashel; the Abbey of Newtown, near Trim; and Kilmallock Abbey, Co. Limerick. Perhaps the finest window of this style in Ireland is that of the Abbey of Kilmallock. It consists of five slender lancets, separated by shafts, upon which are two sets of the bands so characteristic of this period. A large and beautifully proportioned arch embraces all the lights, which, both internally and externally, are enriched with a bead moulding.

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St. Patrick’s Cathedral.​—​The Cathedrals of St. Patrick and Christchurch, Dublin, were, for the most part, built about the same period, the former (commenced in 1190) upon the site of an older church, by John Comyn and his successor Henry de Loundres (1212–28), Archbishops of Dublin. Its prevailing style is Early or First Pointed, and it is remarkable as the only structure in Ireland having original flying buttresses. The nave, choir, and transepts are ascribed to London masons; and the graceful features of the Lady Chapel have a marked resemblance to contemporary work in the Temple Church. It was carefully restored by Carpenter in 1845. The Cathedral suffered many vicissitudes and rebuildings, so as almost to destroy all details of the original features. In 1869 it was restored at the sole expense of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, at a cost of £150,000. A recent restoration, under the direction of Sir Thomas Drew, includes the choir and lateral aisles, and the replacing of stone groining. Though in point of size and architectural grandeur St. Patrick’s cannot be compared with many structures of the same class elsewhere, it is, nevertheless, a very chaste and beautiful building.

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Christchurch.​—​Christchurch was originally founded in 1038 by Sigtryg, son of Amlaf, King of the Danes of Dublin, in conjunction with Donatus, the first Danish bishop; the crypt beneath nearly all the church represents the original plan. The oldest portions of the ancient building, raised by Strongbow and St. Laurence O’Toole on the Danish foundation in 1170, are the transepts, some of the arches of which display chevron mouldings, and the Norman doorway, which forms the principal entrance. It was removed some years ago from the north transept, and placed in its present position, where it forms a conspicuous feature. The nave (circa 1230) has the distinctive features of the English mason work of Glastonbury; and, as in the case of Kilkenny Cathedral (thirteenth century) and other buildings, it is very probable that the designers and builders were brought from the south-west of England and South Wales. The arches of the nave are remarkably beautiful, springing from piers formed of clustered columns, and displaying in their capitals foliage of exquisite and graceful design. An ancient inscription, recently interpreted ‘John, Master Builder of the fraternity of Parma,’ seems to preserve the name of the reputed architect of the Anglo-Norman building. The ancient wrought stone of the two Cathedrals is a very durable Somersetshire oolite, but its particular source is not known. Christchurch, like St. Patrick’s, has been thoroughly restored by private munificence,​—​at the hands of the late Henry Roe, and at an expense of over £160,000.

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Newtowntrim Abbey.​—​The Abbey of Newtowntrim, founded by Simon Rochfort, or de Rupeforti, for Augustine Canons, about A.D. 1206, and dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, though now in a hopeless state of dilapidation, was originally one of the finest of the many establishments in this part of Leinster. This can be judged from the beauty of some of the details, such as the capitals, vaulting, and shafts, which have not been disturbed, and from the numerous fragments of its once noble windows and arches with which the surrounding cemetery is strewn. Broad strips of masonry, placed at a considerable distance apart, project from the walls of the church upon the exterior​—​a feature never found except in early work, and which is generally characteristic of the Norman period. But it is within the walls that we must seek for evidence of the former beauty of the building. Several chastely decorated corbel shafts remain, and support portions of the ribs by which the vaulted roof was sustained. The windows are of the lancet form, with piers between, and the mouldings which run round them are ornamented with beautifully designed bands. Sedilia, in the Norman style of architecture, may be seen in the wall to the right of the space once occupied by the altar. The ruins on the opposite side of the river and the ancient bridge at this place are worthy of notice, although they do not possess any striking peculiarity.

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Bective Abbey, near Trim, Co. Meath.

Bective Abbey.​—​The Abbey of Bective, in the immediate neighbourhood of Trim, was a Cistercian house, founded by Murchard O’Melaghlin, Prince of Meath, in A.D. 1146. The ruins exhibit, in a remarkable degree, a union of ecclesiastical with military and domestic architecture. Their chief feature is a strong battlemented tower, the lower apartment of which is vaulted, placed at the south corner of the quadrangular space occupied by the various buildings, and in the centre of which the cloisters remain in good preservation. The cloister arches are late in the First Pointed style, and are cinque-foiled. The featherings are mostly plain; but several are ornamented with flowers, or leaves, and upon one a hawk-like bird is sculptured. A fillet is worked upon each of the clustered shafts by which the openings are divided, and also upon their capitals. The bases, which are circular, rest upon square plinths, the angles of which are ornamented with a leaf, growing, as it were, out of the base moulding. Of the church there are scarcely any remains. As the northern wall of the cloister is pierced with several windows which now have the appearance of splaying externally, it is extremely probable that it also served as the south wall of the church, no other portion of which can at present be identified. Those buildings which were devoted to domestic purposes are, for the most part, situated upon the east side of the quadrangle. Their architectural details are of a character later than those of the tower and of the other portions; but additions and alterations have evidently been made. Several of the apartments have large fireplaces covered with flat arches, the stones of which are dove-tailed into one another. The flues are carried up through the thickness of the wall, and are continued through square tapering chimney-shafts, headed with a plain cornice. In its general arrangements Bective Abbey differs from every other monastic structure in Ireland. It is, in fact, a monastic castle, and, previous to the use of artillery, must have been regarded as a place of great strength.

The smaller churches of the close of the twelfth, and of the early half of the thirteenth, century, are not different in general form from those of an earlier age. In a few examples, indeed, transepts occur, as in the church of Clady, adjoining Bective; but they are not invariably evidences of comparatively recent work, being sometimes found in connection with very early churches, to which they have evidently been added, and from which, in their architectural details, they differ in every respect.

Down to the very latest period of Pointed architecture the original plan of a simple nave, or nave and chancel, was followed; and the chief or only difference observable in churches of an early date, from those of the sixth and seventh centuries, consists in the form of the arch-heads, the position of the doorway, the style of the masonry, which is usually much better in the more ancient examples, and the use of bell-turrets, the cloictheach or detached round towers having answered this purpose during the earlier ages.

A beautiful and very characteristic example of an Early Pointed church may be seen at Cannistown, not far from Bective, upon the opposite side of the Boyne. As usual it consists of nave and chancel; and there are the remains of a bell-turret upon the west gable, the usual position. The choir arch is represented in the annexed cut. There are numerous instances of churches in this style scattered over Ireland; but they are usually plain, and the choir arch is generally the least ornamented feature of the building.

Choir Arch of Cannistown Church, near Navan, Co. Meath.

As examples, we may refer to the churches of Kilbarrack, Dalkey, Kinsaly, and Rathmichael, all in the immediate neighbourhood of Dublin. The church at Dalkey indeed cannot be regarded as a very good example, as it has evidently been altered and remodelled at various times. A portion of the north nave wall, including the semicircularly arched window, may probably have formed part of an extremely ancient Teampull, dedicated to St. Begnet, which is recorded to have stood here. It may be observed that the piscinas, or stoups, do not occur in the early churches of Ireland; they appear to have been adopted during the latter half of the twelfth century, and churches of a later period frequently contain several.

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St. Doulough’s.​—​The Church of St. Doulough, the origin of which is involved in obscurity, is unique, and the most remarkable example of Pointed architecture remaining in Ireland. Bishop Reeves was of opinion that St. Doulough lived about the year 600, and had a cell here. The church lies about six miles north of Dublin, and, owing to its incongruity, has received much attention from writers on the ecclesiastical architecture of Ireland. This church has generally been classed with the stone-roofed chapels and oratories of the early Irish saints; but in style it differs completely from those buildings; and numerous architectural peculiarities, evidently original, prove the structure to belong to the latter end of the thirteenth century. It is an oblong church, 48 feet by 18 feet, with a square battlemented tower in the centre. A projection on the south wall of the tower contains a passage leading from the lower part of the building to an exceedingly small chamber, in the east wall of which are two windows, one commanding the only entrance to the church, the other an altar in an apartment or chapel between the tower and the west gable. The body of the structure is divided upon the interior by a mass of masonry which was evidently intended to support the roof, and which contains a small semicircular arch now stopped up. The western apartment measures 10 by 7½ feet; it is vaulted, and was originally lighted by several windows with flat or trefoiled heads. The altar, or ‘tomb,’ as it is popularly called, rests immediately against the masonry which divides this apartment from other portions of the building. The chapel or eastern division measures 21 by 9½ feet. It was lighted by four windows, one to the east, two to the south, and one, now stopped up, to the north. The east window is larger than the others, and is divided into two lights, by a shaft, with shallow hollows at the sides and a semi-cylindrical moulding on its external face. Similar hollows, and a moulding, run round the arch, and meet those of the shafts. The north window is of plain early Lancet form. The windows in the south wall are unequal in size; the larger one is placed beneath the tower, near the centre of the building, and is divided by a shaft into two lights, the heads of which are cinquefoiled, while the space between them and the crown of the arch is left plain. The vaults of the lower apartments form the floor of a croft occupying uninterruptedly the whole length of the church. There are the remains of a fireplace in the centre of the north wall of this singular room, which appears to have been originally used as a habitation. It is lighted by small trefoiled opes in the end walls, and is higher by several feet, for a distance of about four yards from the west gable, than the other part. By this arrangement, and by a depression of the vault of the western division of the building, provision is made for a small intermediate chamber, to which a passage from the tower leads. The latter was divided by a wooden floor into two storeys, the lower of which contains a small fireplace. The roof of the church is formed of stones, well cut, and laid in regular courses. It has been suggested that the tower is more modern than the church; its upper portion is certainly different in style of masonry from the rest of the building, and appears to be an addition or restoration; but the body of the tower is clearly coeval with the church.

St. Doulough’s Church, Co. Dublin.

Such are the more remarkable features of this singular structure, in the erection of which the architect appears studiously to have avoided every principle of Gothic composition except variety.

The well of St. Doulough, which was probably also used as a baptistery, is quite in keeping with the curious character of the church. The spring, which is covered by a stone-roofed octagonal building, rises through a circular basin, cut out of a single stone, and was, down to our own day, thought to possess miraculous powers. According to tradition the interior was once decorated with pictures, and holes are pointed out as having been made for the reception of iron pins, or holdfasts, by which they were secured to the wall. Adjoining is a curious subterranean bath. It is supplied by the well; and even yet the water rises to some depth within it. According to J. D’Alton, the historian of Co. Dublin, the well was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, and the bath was called ‘St. Catherine’s Pond.’

St. Doulough’s Well.

There are many interesting old Churches in Fingal, the name by which the North of the Co. Dublin was known long before the Conquest. Their history is told in Canon Robert Walsh’s careful work, Fingal and its Churches. To a few of these we briefly refer.

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Howth ‘Abbey.’​—​The Church of St. Mary or Collegiate Church, more commonly known as the ‘Abbey’ Church of Howth, stands near the edge of a cliff, the base of which was formerly washed by the sea. The original foundation is said to be by Sigtryg the Dane in 1042; and a portion of this church still remains at the west entrance. This was enlarged, chiefly by the addition of a north aisle in 1235 under Archbishop Luke, on the removal of the prebendal church of Inis Mac Nessan from Ireland’s Eye to the mainland, a grant of land having been given by Almaricius, Lord of Howth, for this purpose. Placed upon a precipitous bank, considerably elevated above the water’s edge, and surrounded by a strong embattled wall, it presents a striking evidence of the half-ecclesiastical, half-military character of the time. Considerable additions were made to the east side in the fifteenth century. The church was practically a two-aisled structure, the north aisle being a little shorter than the south. The arches dividing the aisles are six in number; and with the exception of the two adjoining the east end, which are separated by an octagonal pillar, they spring from rudely-formed quadrangular piers. The three to the west end denote the earlier addition; those to the east are more pointed and show the later extension. The porch in connection with the south doorway is a very unusual feature in churches found in Ireland​—​a fact not easily to be accounted for, as they appear to have been common in England during mediæval times. A bell-turret with three apertures rose from the west gable; the bells are said to be preserved in the castle.

A tomb usually ascribed to Christopher, the twentieth Lord of Howth, who died in 1589, but which, from its style, is more probably that of Christopher the thirteenth Lord (d. 1430), stands in the nave not far from the east gable. It is a good specimen of the altar-tomb; but an inscription which it bears, owing to the neglected state in which the monument until lately was suffered to lie, has become illegible.

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St. Fintan’s.​—​The little church of St. Fintan, situated upon the Hill of Howth, not far from the village of Sutton, cannot be of earlier date than the ‘Abbey.’ This singular building measures upon the interior but 16½ feet in length, by 7 feet 8 inches in breadth, yet it contains five windows: one to the east, two to the south, one to the north, and one in the west gable. These lights are of various forms: that to the east has a semicircular head with a multifoil moulding; one of the windows in the south wall is covered with a single stone, out of which a semicircular arch-head is cut, while the other is quadrangular. All the windows splay widely upon the interior. A doorway in the Lancet form is placed in the west gable, which supports a bell-turret of considerable dimensions, and strangely out of proportion to the size of the structure. It contains one small Pointed aperture for the reception of a bell. Of the origin of this church nothing is known; and there were twelve saints of the name of Fintan; but the date is very fairly indicated by its architectural peculiarities, which are characteristic of the close of the thirteenth or early part of the fourteenth century.

There is a very ancient church remaining on Ireland’s Eye, a romantic islet, or rock, lying off the North side of Howth. The place was formerly known as Inis-mac-Nessan, from the three sons of Nessan, viz. Dicholla, Munissa, and Nadsluagh, who some time in the seventh century erected a little Teampull or Cill; the remains of Kilmacnessan still exist. It consists of a nave and chancel, and the nave is 1 foot narrower at the west end than at the east. The doorway has sloping jambs and a rounded head. An arch spanning the east end formerly sustained a round tower belfry​—​a later addition, and a curious feature, as the usual position is at the west end. The whole building was so restored in the last century that it is impossible to identify satisfactorily anything of the original structure.