A great boulder on Slieve-na-Calliaghe, one of the Loughcrew hills, near Oldcastle, Co. Meath, is called the ‘Hag’s Chair.’ It stands a few feet within the line of great stones which formed a circle enclosing the principal cairn of that locality. The late Eugene Conwell conceived the visionary idea that he had discovered in it the judicial seat of no less a person than Ollamh Fodhla, whom he describes as ‘Ireland’s famous monarch and law-maker, upwards of three thousand years ago’! The stone weighs about 10 tons, and measures 10 feet by 6, and 2 feet 6 inches thick; the ends are raised about 9 inches above the level, forming a rude seat. It has rude markings similar to those already described, but the crosses on the seat and elevated ends were made during the trigonometrical survey. The hag is traditionally said to have broken her neck in attempting a flying leap from one hilltop to another, when depositing cairns upon their summits.
‘Druid’s Judgment Seat,’ Killiney.
Ancient Stone, Killiney.
A singular pile of stones, usually called the ‘Druid’s Judgment Seat,’ furnishes a good instance of a popular error. This structure stands near the village of Killiney, not far from the Martello Tower, upon the opposite side of the road. It was formerly enclosed within a circle of great stones and a ditch. The circle has been destroyed, and the ditch so altered that little of its original character remains. ‘The Seat’ is composed of large, rough granite blocks, and if really of the period to which tradition refers it, an unusual degree of care must have been exercised for its preservation. The stones bear many indications of their having been at least re-arranged at no very distant time. Small wedges have been introduced as props between the greater stones. The right arm is detached from the other part, to which it fits but clumsily. The whole, indeed, bears the appearance of a modern antique, composed of stones which once formed a portion of some ancient monument. One great evidence of its being a forgery consists in the position which it occupies near the eastern side of the enclosure, while the back of the seat is turned towards the west and towards the centre of the space originally enclosed by the stone circle. The following are its dimensions: breadth at the base, 11½ feet; depth of the seat, 1 foot 9 inches; extreme height, 7 feet. Of several detached stones remaining in the enclosure one is remarkable, as the engraving on this page shows, for the form into which it has been cut. It is a work probably coeval with the original stone circle, and it has been suggested to be symbolical of the sun and moon.
A ‘Brehon’s Chair,’ so called by Beranger, an artist and archæologist who during the latter half of the eighteenth century paid much attention to the subject of Irish antiquities, may be seen on the lands of Glensouthwell, near Hollypark, about three miles and a half from Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin. This monument has been most absurdly misnamed. It is in fact a very remarkable example of the cromlech, or dolmen, and bears no resemblance to a chair of any description. The table, or covering, which had fallen, until a few years ago lay on the ground beside it. This, unfortunately, no longer exists, the stone having been wantonly broken to pieces and used for building purposes.
Legend and tradition associate many such objects with the saints and mythical heroes of the past, and it is only necessary to indicate one or two examples. On the shore of the pilgrim-visited Lough Derg, Co. Donegal, may be seen a large block of stone, which has always been known as ‘St. Brigid’s Chair.’ It is simply a boulder, fashioned by nature into what is at present a very chair-looking object. In the neighbourhood of Letterkenny, in the townland of Lacknacor, is a flagstone upon which St. Columba is said to have been born: the peasantry believe that whoever sleeps upon it for a night will not suffer from home sickness, and it has consequently been frequented by emigrants on the eve of their departure from their native land. Elevated on a circular piece of masonry, in the grounds of Ballyconnell, Falcarragh, Co. Donegal, is a mass of quartz rock, associated with Balor of the ‘mighty blows,’ chief of the Fomorians, one of whose strongholds was Tory Island. Balor stole Glasgavlen, a celebrated cow, from a chief on the mainland named MacKineeley; the latter planned revenge, but before he could execute it Balor landed on the mainland with his followers, seized MacKineeley and cut off his head on the stone, hence called Cloch-i-neely, ‘Kineely’s Stone.’ In local tradition to this day the natural red veins in the stone point to the sanguinary nature of the deed.
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