Carving on a Stone at Dowth.
Another sepulchral chamber, of a quadrangular form, portions of which show a great variety of carving, among which the cross, a symbol which neither in the old nor the new world can be considered as peculiar to Christianity, is conspicuous, has been discovered upon the southern side of the mound. Here, as elsewhere, during the course of excavation, the workmen unearthed vast quantities of bones, half-burned, many of which proved to be human; ‘several unburned bones of horses, pigs, deer, and birds, portions of the heads of the short-horned variety of the ox, and the head of a fox.’ They also found a star-shaped amulet of stone, a ring of jet, several beads, and some bones fashioned like pins. Among the stones of the upper portion of the cairn were discovered a number of globular balls of stone, the size of small eggs, which Sir W. Wilde supposed probably to have been sling stones. Further excavations under the direction of the Board of Works (1885) led to other discoveries. An opening was made on the north side of the known entrance that ‘led to a passage which terminated at either end by circular cells carefully roofed with corbelling stones’; and, where it met the entrance to the originally known chamber, a flight of steps was discovered. This and the character of the work, which is microlithic, indicate the portion of the underground passages and chambers to be a much later addition.
Among the trees between the mound of Dowth and the mansion are two smaller tumuli. One of these is open from the top; it contains a corbel-roofed chamber 10 feet in diameter and 8 feet high; round it are five cells constructed of small flags set upright. A little to the east of the house is a fine specimen of the ancient military encampment or rath, one of the largest in Ireland.
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Tumulus at Knowth.—The other great tumulus (Knowth) of the Boyne group has probably never been entered since the time, as the Annalists tell us, it was plundered and doubtlessly much injured by the Danes. It is nearly 700 feet in circumference, and between 40 and 50 feet in height. For many years it has served as a convenient quarry for builders of houses and repairers of roads. That it could be explored at little cost is certain, as, owing to the denudation it has suffered, the passage or gallery leading to its chamber has, in part, been laid bare. Its circle or circles are not altogether obliterated; and here and there some portions remain which show that the work, though less massive than that of Newgrange, was at least as striking as anything to be found in Dowth, or in connection with the remains at Loughcrew, or others occurring in the western districts of Ireland.
Among the objects found about the tumuli Lhwyd mentions a gold coin of Valentinian, said to have been discovered on the top of Newgrange; Molyneux mentions a similar coin, and one of Theodosius, as being found outside the cairn. A gold chain, two finger rings, and two gold torcs were found in 1842 close to the entrance of Newgrange; and on further search a denarius of Geta and two small brass, but defaced, coins were also found. Too much caution cannot be used in considering these as evidence in determining the date of the tumuli. A bronze pin, a ring pin, and a small iron weapon were found in the chamber discovered in Dowth in 1885. If, as seems certain, this chamber and passage are of much later date than the tumulus itself, the presence of these objects is easily accounted for. A discussion of the evidence upon which expert opinion is based, as to the date of these monuments, is outside the province of this book. It takes into consideration the character of the architecture, the nature of the ornamentation, and the objects found. Weighing these, the Boyne tumuli are assigned to the Early Bronze Period, and Newgrange is considered the oldest of the group.
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Cairns at Loughcrew.—Loughcrew is a range of picturesque hills, three miles south-east of Oldcastle. The ridge of the range is about two miles in extent, and there are three chief heights: Slieve-na-Calliaghe, 904 feet; Patrickstown Hill, 885 feet; and Carnbawn, 842 feet: but the name of the first is generally applied to the whole range. Here, within the radius of a rifle-shot, may be seen grouped together the most extraordinary collection of archaic monuments to be found in the kingdom. These for the most part consist of megalithic sepulchres surmounted by tumuli, and surrounded by stone circles. These number ‘from 25 to 30 cairns, some of considerable size, being 120 to 180 feet in diameter; others are much smaller, and some are so nearly obliterated that their dimensions can hardly be now ascertained.’ It is, we think, not too much to say that on the stones among these cairns is found the greatest collection of rude prehistoric scorings yet found in Ireland or, perhaps, in Europe.
Popular superstition has long attributed these cairns and other remains to be the work of a witch named Cailleach Bhéartha, who, in attempting a wild leap in the adjoining townland of Patrickstown, was unfortunate enough to fall and break her neck. Nothing was known of the character or contents of these cairns until 1858. In the autumn of that year Mr. Wakeman measured and made plans of several of the remains, and wrote a paper upon the subject, which was read in his name before the Architectural Society of Oxford, by J. H. Parker. We are thus particular in giving names and dates in connection with the first public notice of the antiquities at Slieve-na-Calliaghe, as their ‘discovery’ was claimed and is still erroneously attributed to the late Eugene Conwell. He, however, did great service to Irish archæology, inasmuch as, with the liberal co-operation of the late J. L. W. Naper, owner of the soil, he was enabled to clear out the majority of the chambers, and investigate what had been left by former searchers of their contents. An immense amount of débris was removed, and stones which had been buried for ages were brought to light. Many of the latter are singularly carved, and some presented designs previously unknown to archæologists. The result of Conwell’s investigations was given in papers read before the Royal Irish Academy in 1864 and 1866, accompanied with an index map of the cemetery, in which the letters of the alphabet indicate the cairns.[42] These, however, were of a sketchy nature, and the voluminous report, with the plans and sketches which he had prepared, seems never to have been published. A series of drawings of the incised markings on some of the stones of the chambers were prepared by Du Noyer; these remained unpublished until recent years, when a collection of seventy-six drawings and plans of six of the cairns fell into the hands of the late Dr. W. Frazer, and were reproduced by the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.[43]
The idea seems to have struck Fergusson, who at least on one occasion accompanied Conwell to the place, that the Loughcrew monuments represented the once famous, but long-forgotten, cemetery of Taillten, a place which was supposed to be represented by the modern Teltown, about fifteen miles distant. After weighing the evidence in reference to the supposed identification, Fergusson writes:—‘If, however, this is not Taillten, no graves have been found nearer Teltown which would at all answer to the description that remains to us of this celebrated cemetery; and till they are found, these Loughcrew mounds seem certainly entitled to the distinction. I cannot see that the matter is doubtful.’[44] According to the Annals of the Four Masters, numerous were the kings and nobles here buried. The first whose name is mentioned is Ollamh Fodhla, son of Fiacha Finscothach, and founder of the Feis at Tara. Eochaidh was his first name, and ‘he was called Ollamh (Fodhla), because he had been first a learned Ollamh, and afterwards king of Fodhla, i.e. of Ireland.’ The ‘Four Masters’ set down his death as having occurred in 1277 B.C. The oldest and most trustworthy authorities state that Taillten ceased to be used as a cemetery on the death of Conchobhor, an Ultonian king, who flourished in Erin at the commencement of the Christian era, and who, according to the Annals of Tighernach, died A.D. 33.