I I t was not without hesitation that I undertook, at the request of the proprietors and publishers, the task of revising the previous edition of this work. To enter upon the wide field of Irish archæology I thought no easy task; but it was all the more difficult, to my mind, from a sense of the qualifications required for revising the work of one who was an acknowledged authority on the subject. Every student of Irish archæology is well aware of the extent of the valuable contributions, by pen

INTRODUCTION​—​PILLAR-STONES​—​HOLED-STONES​—​ROCK SCRIBINGS AND CUP MARKINGS​—​ROCKING-STONES​—​DRUIDS’ CHAIRS OR SEATS​—​BULLÁN-STONES. I I reland is, perhaps, more remarkable than any other country in the West of Europe for the number, the variety, and, it may be said, the nationality of its antiquarian remains. An archæologist upon arriving in Dublin will find, within ready access of that city, examples, many of them in a fine state of preservation, of almost every structure of archæological

SEPULCHRAL REMAINS​—​CISTS​—​THE CROMLECH​—​KERNANSTOWN​—​LABBACALLEE​—​MONASTERBOICE​—​GREENMOUNT​—​CROMLECH OF THE FOUR MAOLS​—​BLACK LION​—​LEGANANNY​—​BALLYMASCANLAN​—​PHŒNIX PARK CISTS​—​HOWTH​—​KILTERNAN​—​MOUNT VENUS​—​SHANGANAGH​—​BRENNANSTOWN (GLEN DRUID)​—​GLENSOUTHWELL​—​GLENCULLEN BALLYEDMOND​—​SHANKILL​—​KNOCKMANY​—​CLOGHTOGH​—​SLIEVEMORE​—​LENNAN​—​CASTLEDERG. I I t is now admitted by all competent authorities that the works scattered throughout Ireland, varying from the rude struc

TUMULUS AT NEWGRANGE​—​TUMULUS AT DOWTH​—​TUMULUS AT KNOWTH​—​CAIRNS AT LOUGHCREW​—​PREHISTORIC ORNAMENT. In In the Senchas-na-Relec , or ‘History of the Cemeteries,’ a tract in the Leabhar-na h-Uidhre , we have a list of the regal cemeteries of Erin during a long period prior to the advent of St. Patrick. This was compiled at Clonmacnoise, and transcribed by Maelmuiri in the twelfth century. In the opinion of Petrie the tract ‘must be referred to a period several centuries earlier than that in

THE DEERPARK MONUMENT​—​CAIRNS​—​MISCAN MAEVE​—​CAIRN’S HILL​—​HEAPSTOWN​—​THE ‘BARR’ OF FINTONA​—​BIGHY​—​STAR-SHAPED CAIRN AT DOOHAT​—​MOUNDS​—​STONE CIRCLES​—​NEWGRANGE​—​NEWTOWNBUTLER​—​BALLYNOE (LEGAMADDY)​—​SLIEVE-NA-GREIDLE​—​LOUGH GUR​—​ALIGNMENTS​—​TOPPID MOUNTAIN​—​CALLERNISH​—​DARTMOOR. T T he Deerpark Monument. ​—​The interesting megalithic monument in the Deerpark, Hazlewood demesne, four miles east of Sligo, differs from any other known monument in the British Isles. It is known as

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 inscri

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. T T he 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 the

FLINT ARROW-HEADS​—​STONE CELTS​—​AXE-HAMMERS. P P rimitive 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 remo

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.’ T T he Early Irish traditions​—​so insisted on by many writer

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. T T he systematic exploration of lacustrine habitations in the latter half of the nineteenth century has achieved remarkable success; and the results are

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. I I t 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 conse

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

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

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. R R ound 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 eighte

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. W W e 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 sk

A very considerable number of ancient baptismal fonts still remain within the walls of the ruined churches of Ireland, and others are found in graveyards where churches, of which no vestige remains, formerly stood. The fonts usually found in connection with the more ancient churches are extremely rude, and of small dimensions, being rarely large enough to allow of the immersion of infants. They are almost in every instance formed of a single stone, clumsily hollowed, and having a hole at the bot

GENERAL DESCRIPTION​—​MALAHIDE​—​TRIM​—​MAYNOOTH​—​IRISH CASTELLATED HOUSES​—​SCURLOUGHSTOWN​—​BULLOCK CASTLE​—​TOWN GATES AND WALLS​—​BRIDGES. T T he castles of Ireland are exceedingly numerous and vary from the single keep-tower of the predatory chieftain to the defensive fortresses erected under the Anglo-Norman barons and their successors. All through the Middle Ages, strongholds, necessary in a land torn by petty wars and successive rebellions, were built, and as occasion required, strength

DROGHEDA GATES​—​‘SHEEP’ GATE, TRIM​—​WALLS OF ATHENRY​—​KILMALLOCK WALLS​—​WALLS OF LONDONDERRY​—​BRIDGES​—​KILLALOE BRIDGE​—​OLD THOMOND BRIDGE​—​NEWBRIDGE. A A lthough it is certain that the Danes, at an early period, encompassed with ramparts and towers several of the cities and towns which they held in Ireland, their works have long disappeared, with the exception of Reginald’s Tower, Waterford, built in 1003. Though the walls and gates of a few ancient cities or towns remain, they are obvi