[90] Was.—P.
[91] But now considers as of the tenth or perhaps eleventh.—P.
[92] See his Illustrated Handbook of Architecture, vol. ii. p. 918.
[93] I confess that I should not like to adduce this stone-roofed church of Killaghy in support of the antiquity of the oratory; for I could never bring myself to believe that it was of an age anterior to the thirteenth century.—P.
[94] See Dr. Petrie's work (p. 291) for full quotations in confirmation of this date, from the Annals of Clonmacnoise and Kilronan, the Annals of Munster, the Annals of the Four Masters, the Chronicon Scotorum, etc.
[95] When discussing the history of the pointed arch, Mr. Parker observes: "The choir of Canterbury Cathedral, commenced in 1175, is usually referred to as the earliest example in England, and none of earlier date has been authenticated."—Glossary of Terms in Architecture (1845), p. 28.
[96] Dr. Petrie's Ecclesiastical Architecture, p. 133.
[97] Pointed arches, constructed both on the radiating and horizontal principles, are found still standing in the antiquated mason-work of Assyria, Nubia, Greece, and Etruria. (See drawings and descriptions of different specimens from these countries in Mr. Fergusson's Handbook of Architecture, vol. i. pp. 253, 254, 257, 259, 294, 381, etc.) The pointed arch was used in the East in sacred architecture as early as the time of Constantine, as is still witnessed in the oldest existing Christian church, namely, the church built by that emperor, in the earlier part of the fourth century, over the alleged tomb of our Saviour at Jerusalem.[99] For notices of the prevalence of the pointed arch in early Eastern and in Saracenic architecture, see Fergusson's Handbook, p. 380, 598, etc.
[98] In this opinion of Mr. Brash's I fully concur.—P.
[99] I must confess that I am very sceptical as to any portion now existing of the church of the Holy Sepulchre being of the time of Constantine, and also as to the early age of any portion of it in which a pointed arch is found. More walls of the original edifice may possibly exist; but it is certain that the church was more than once modified, and the ornamental work is assuredly of a much later age.—P.