ists in the world: there is nothing like it in all the books which were written for Charlemagne and his immediate

Speaking of another Irish book, Mr. Westwood says:"I have counted [with a magnifying glass] in a small space scarcely three quarters of an inch in length by less than half an inch in width, in the Book of Armagh, no less than 158 interlacements of a slender ribbon pattern formed of white lines edged with black ones." The Book of Durrow and the Book of Armagh, both in Trinity College, Dublin, are splendidly ornamented and illuminated.

Giraldus Cambrensis when in Ireland in 1185, saw ↑ copy of the Four Gospels in St. Brigit's nunnery in Kil dare, which so astonished him that he has recorded a legend that it was written under the direction of an angel.

70. The early Irish missionaries brought their arts of writing and illuminating wherever they went, and taught them to others; and to this day numerous exquisite speci mens of their skill and taste are preserved in the libraries of England, France, Germany, and Italy.

71. Metal work. The pagan Irish, like the ancient Britons, practised the art of working in bronze, silver, gold, and enamel. This primitive art was continued into Christian times, and was brought to its highest perfection in the tenth and eleventh centuries.

The ornamental designs of metal work were generally similar to those used in manuscripts, and the execution was distinguished by the same exquisite skill and masterly precision. The principal articles made by the artists were crosses; croziers; chalices; bells; brooches; shrines or boxes to hold books or bells or relics; and book satchels, in which the two materials, metal and leather, were used. Specimens of all these may be seen in the National Museum in Dublin. The three most remarkable as well as the most beautiful objects in the Museum are the Cross of Cong, the Ardagh chalice, and the Tara brooch.

72. The chalice was found a few years ago buried in

the ground under a stone in old lis at Ardagh, in the county Limerick. It is elaborately ornamented with designs in metal and enamel; and was probably made some short time before the tenth century.

The Tara brooch is ornamented all over with amber, glass, and enamel, and with the characteristic Irish interlaced work in metal. Many old brooches are preserved, but this is by far the most beautiful and perfect of all.

The cross of Cong, which is 2 feet 6 inches high, is covered with elaborate ornamentation of pure Celtic design; and a series of inscriptions in the Irish language along the sides give its full history. It was made by order of Turlogh O'Connor king of Cannaught. The artist, who finished his work in 1123, was Mailisa Mac Braddan O'Hechan.

73. A great variety of gold ornaments may be seen in the National Museum, many of beautiful workmanship. There are several torques, all pure gold, one of whichfound at Tara-is 5 feet 7 inches in length and weighs 27 ounces. The torques were worn round the neck, but of many of the other articles the uses are unknown.

74. Sculpture. Artistic sculpture is chiefly exhibited in the great stone crosses, of which about forty-five still remain in various parts of Ireland. One peculiarity of the Celtic cross is a circular ring round the intersection, binding the arms together. Thirty-two of the forty-five existing crosses are richly ornamented; and eight have inscriptions. The dates of the stone crosses extend from the tenth to the thirteenth century. Besides the ornamentation, most of the high crosses contain groups of figures representing various subjects of sacred history. The ornamentation is still of the same general Celtic character that we find in metal work and in illuminated manuscripts, and it exhibits the same masterly skill and ease both in design and execution. One of the crosses at Monasterboice is 27 feet high.

CHAPTER XII

DWELLINGS, FORTRESSES, ECCLESIASTICAL BUILDINGS.

75. Dwellings and Fortresses. Before the introduction of Christianity, buildings of every kind in Ireland were almost universally round. The quadrangular shape, which was first used in the churches in the time of St. Patrick, came very slowly into use; and round shaped structures finally disappeared only in the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The dwelling houses were almost always of wood. The wall was formed of strong posts, with the intervening spaces filled with wicker-work, plastered, and often whitened or variously coloured.

76. The homesteads had to be fenced in to protect them from robbers and wild animals. This was done by digging a deep circular trench, the clay from which was thrown up on the inside. Thus was formed all round, a high mound or dyke with a trench outside: one opening was left for a door or gate.

These old circular forts are found in every part of Ireland, but more in the south and west than elsewhere, many of them still very perfect-but of course the timber houses are all gone. Almost all are believed in popular superstition to be the haunts of fairies. They are known by various names, Lis, Rath, Brugh [broo], Dun, Cashel, and Caher-the cashels and cahers being usually built of stone. Some forts are very large-300 feet or more across -so as to give ample room for the group of timber houses, or for the cattle at night. The smaller forts were the residences of the farmers. Very often the flat middle space is raised to a higher level than the surrounding land, and sometimes there is a great mound in the centre, with a flat top, on which no doubt the strong house of the chief stood. In the very large forts there are often three or more great circumvallations. Round the forts of kings

or chiefs were grouped the timber dwellings of the dependents, forming a sort of village.

In most of the forts both large and small, whether with flat areas or with raised mounds, there are underground chambers, which were probably used as storehouses, and in case of sudden attack, as places of refuge for women and children.

77. Where stone was abundant the surrounding rampart was often built of dry masonry, the stones being fitted with great exactness. In some of these structures the stones are very large, and then the style of building is termed Cyclopean. Many great stone fortresses still remain near the coasts of Sligo, Galway, Clare, and Kerry, and a few in Antrim and Donegal.

78. For greater security dwellings were often constructed on artificial islands made with stakes, trees, and bushes, in shallow lakes: these were called crannoges. Communication with the shore was carried on by means of a rude boat kept on the island. Crannoge dwellings were in very general use in the time of Elizabeth; and the remains of many of them are still to be seen in our lakes.

79. Churches. From the time of St. Patrick downwards, churches were built, the greater number of wood, but many of stone.

The primitive stone churches, erected in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries are simple oblongs, small and rude. As Christianity spread, the churches became gradually larger and more ornamental, and a chancel was often added at the east end, which was another oblong, merely a continuation of the larger building. The jambs of both doors and windows inclined so that the bottom of the opening was wider than the top this shape of door or window is a sure mark of antiquity. The remains of little stone churches of this antique pattern, of ages from the fifth century to the tenth or eleventh, are still to be found all over Ireland.

80. Round Towers. In connection with many of the

ancient churches there were round towers of stone from 60 to 150 feet high, and from 13 to 20 feet in external diameter at the base: the top was conical. The interior was divided into six or seven stories, reached by ladders from one to another, and each story was lighted by one window the top story had usually four large windows. The door was placed 10 or more feet from the ground outside, and was reached by a ladder: both doors and windows had sloping jambs like those of the churches. About 80 round towers still remain, of which about 20

are perfect.

Formerly there was much speculation as to the uses of these round towers; but Dr. George Petrie set the question at rest in his Essay on their Origin and Uses. It is now known that they are of Christian origin, and that they were always built in connection with ecclesiastical establishments. They were erected at various times from about the ninth to the thirteenth century. They had at least a twofold use as belfries and as keeps to which the inmates of the monastery retired with their valuables in case of sudden attack. They were probably used also, when occasion required, as beacons and watch-towers. These are Dr. Petrie's conclusions, except only that he fixed the date of some few in the fifth century, which recent investigations have shown to be too early.

81. Later Churches. Until about the period of the Anglo Norman invasion all the churches were small, because the congregations were small. Towards the close of the twelfth century, when many of the great English lords had settled in Ireland, they began to indulge their taste for architectural magnificence, and the native Irish chiefs imitated and emulated them; large cruciform churches in the pointed style began to prevail; and all over the country splendid buildings of every kind sprang up. Then were erected-some by the English, some by the Irish-those splendid abbeys and churches of which the ruins are still to be seen, such as those of Kilmallock and Monasteranenagh in Limerick, Dublin (Christ church