much smaller than any which I have ever seen. Its height is one and a-half inches; at the mouth it measures one and a-half by one and a quarter inches, and it tapers upwards to the top, like the roof of a house, the ridge being half an inch wide, and retaining the fragments of a handle, partially broken away before the discovery (figure m). The tongue was found with the bell, but detached from it, and is one and a-half inches long (figure n). This extremely interesting relic, which was, apparently, a small bell used for religious purposes by the inhabitants of the rath, has been secured for the Society's Museum.

2. An iron fibula, much resembling the smaller of those of bronze (figure d), except that the ring is not so massive. It is four and a-half inches long. There were also several other iron pins, or fibulæ, all imperfect and much corroded. They are placed in the Museum.

3. An iron javelin-head, well formed, measuring four inches in the length of the blade, by one and a quarter inches at the widest part (figure g).

4. A massive axe-head, measuring six inches from the edge to the back, and three and a-half inches broad in the blade. The hafthole is two and a-half inches long, by one and a-half inches wide. This, when found, must have been a good specimen of the Irish battleaxe, of which, according to Giraldus, they made such destructive use; but, I regret to say, before we succeeded in securing it for the Museum, it had suffered somewhat by having been put to use in chopping timber by the finders (figure i).

5. A number of knife-blades, measuring from three and a-half to two and a-half inches in length, irrespective of the spike which ran into the haft (figure q). Amongst twelve specimens which have been obtained for the Museum, there is one which had been in process of formation, showing that they were forged on the spot. These knife-blades, to which the bone hafts before noticed belong, fully resemble those described as having been found in the curious artificial islands discovered in the drainage works in Roscommon, and at Lough Gur, county of Limerick, as well as at Dunshaughlin, county of Meath, in papers recently read by Dr. Wilde and Mr. Kelly before the Royal Irish Academy.

6. An iron goad, apparently intended to be fastened on the end of a staff, for the purpose of driving cattle.

7. A chisel, six inches long, rounded, but brought to a square edge.

8. A fragment of a small iron reaping-hook, of the antique shape and character.

9. A light horse-shoe, which evidently had been worn for some

time.

10. Some nondescript pieces of wrought iron, of various shapes and sizes, of which there are eleven different specimens in the Museum. Besides the foregoing, there were a few fragments of a very coarse

baked and glazed pottery ware found, which had evidently formed portions of the household utensils of the ancient inhabitants. There were also turned up some rather modern matters, which must have been dropped on the spot at a comparatively recent period. These consisted of a copper half-penny of William and Mary, with the date 1692; a soldier's button, of brass, apparently of the same period; a Kilkenny tradesman's token, being that struck by John Beavor in the latter end of the seventeenth century, and an ear-ring of brass, which had been gilded, of a pattern which does not seem to have been more ancient than about a century. With respect to the coin of William and Mary, I may mention that it was found about a foot beneath the surface; but in the neighbouring rath, when it was being trenched in 1842, a half-penny of the reign of Charles II., bearing date 1683, was turned up at a depth of seven feet, showing that either the fort had been previously disturbed in the seventeenth century, or that the coin, having been dropped accidentally on the surface, had sunk from its own weight to an extraordinary depth.

The result of our investigation with reference to this rath-opening has thus served to supply us with a not uninteresting glimpse of the vie privé of the ancient inhabitants of this country, at least so far as their domestic economy is concerned. Barbarous enough must we esteem their condition, notwithstanding that the ornamental work of their combs, fibulæ, and other articles prove them not to have been without a considerable acquaintance with the arts, and possessed of what may be termed ornamental luxuries; still their provision for domestic comfort, and their ideas as to sanitary arrangements must have been limited in the extreme, seeing that it was evidently their habit to squat round their rude hearths, upon the soft earth, which must have been in so slimy a state as that their personal ornaments, household implements, or warlike weapons, when dropped upon the ground, sank beneath its surface; and when their meals were concluded they carelessly flung away the bones of the animals from which they had gnawed the flesh, suffering them to lie on or sink into the floor in every direction, or to accumulate in heaps in the fosse, which surrounded the habitation, decomposing and emitting the most noxious effluvia. The finding here of articles of stone, bone, bronze, and iron, promiscuously scattered about, may, perhaps, be taken as another proof of the incorrectness of the classification made by some antiquaries, who consider that the use of these different materials in their utensils, weapons, and ornaments must be taken as marking different stages of progression in civilization. But, on the other hand, it must be admitted as very obvious, from the different matters found in the "diggings," that the rath was used as a place of habitation, not only in primæval times, but also within the medieval period. The bone and bronze pins, the "fairy mill-stones," the bone beads, &c., clearly pertain to the primæval period; the iron knife-blades and other implements evidently are early medieval; and the querns may belong

to either or both periods. The copper coins, and the soldier's brass button, are of a time when the raths must have long previously been discontinued to be used as dwelling places, and they were, no doubt, casually dropped there-perhaps at the time when the great encampments of the royal armies were held at Bennetts-bridge by king William III. in person, and in the reign of queen Anne, under general de Jean. That these raths were taken advantage of as affording good intrenched positions for out-posts on those occasions may be fairly surmised, not only from the commanding position which they occupy, but also from the fact that the inner rampart or bulwark of the great fort at Dunbel, which I have before supposed to have been the habitation of the aboriginal chieftain of the district, was undoubtedly embrasured for the use of cannon, which was, of course, no part of the original design or work of the fortification.

GLEANINGS FROM COUNTRY CHURCH-YARDS.

BY RICHARD HITCHсоск.

Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mould'ring heap,

Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,

The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.-Gray's Elegy.

DURING a tour in quest of Ogham inscriptions, in the years 1847, 1848, and 1849, I have had opportunities of visiting many of the church-yards in the south of Ireland. In these sacred places I found numerous remarkable monumental inscriptions, a few of which I have copied; and from these examples I have selected the following, which I now beg leave to present to the Kilkenny Archæological Society. I do this, not from any confidence in the worth of the communication, but in the hope that it may induce other and more competent members of the Society, who may have copies of curious monumental inscriptions, or who may be in the way of obtaining them, to send them to the Secretaries, if for no other purpose than deposit in our Library. I believe that many persons possess copies of inscriptions, the originals of which do not now exist, or, if they do, which may soon give way to modern "improvement." Indeed, the subject of a MONUMENTARIUM of even the county of Kilkenny alone, which I believe is rich enough in inscriptions for such a work, appears to me to be one well worth the attention of the Society. Independently of their great historical value, many of the church-yard inscriptions are exceedingly curious; but— and is it not a sad fact?-even these hallowed remains are every year

yielding to the destroyer! Much on the importance of a record of existing monuments will be found in the third volume of that most useful publication, "Notes and Queries." Number 12, amongst the following inscriptions, is from the county of Kilkenny; and it will be seen that No. 10, although in the county of Kerry, is connected with the county of Tipperary, a portion of the ancient Ormond. All the other inscriptions relate to the county of Kerry.

The first inscription which I shall lay before the Society can scarcely be called a monumental one; but, nevertheless, I consider it worthy of preservation. It occurs on one of the pillars of the ancient abbey of Ardfert, and is, I regret to say, much obliterated, particularly the second line:

dor... r fec.. ho. o.u.

ora . . p.. o : a:d:m:cccc:liii

Lewis, in his "Topographical Dictionary of Ireland," article Ardfert, mentions this inscription. He says:"A stone in the buttress of the arch nearest the tower bears a rude inscription, which, from the difficulty of decyphering it, has given rise to various opinions, but, on lately removing the moss and dirt, proves to be in Latin, and purports that Donald Fitz Bohen, who sleeps here, caused this work (probably the chapel) to be done in 1453." This statement is incorrect as to the name, which appears to be Donaldus Digen.

No. 2 is on a loose stone in Dunkerron castle, near Kenmare, and, like the last, though not of the church-yard class, is still curious, and very liable to be lost, as will be seen by a reference to Mr. Windele's valuable Historical and Descriptive Notices of the City of Cork and its Vicinity, new edition, p. 332, where a copy of the inscription is given. There is a slight difference between the spelling of some of the words in Mr. Windele's copy and mine, which is as follows:-IS: MARIA DEO: GRACIAS †. THIS WORK WAS MADE THE XX OF APRIEL 1596: BY OWEN OSVLIVAN MORE & SILY NY DONOGH MAC CARTY RIEOGH. I think accuracy in copying old inscriptions is a great point to be attended to. We may never again see them. See Smith's Antient and Present State of the County of Kerry, pp. 88-9; also, Croker's Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 65, where another incorrect copy of the inscription is given.

No. 3 occurs on a stone built into the wall inside the door-way of the old church of Rattoo, in the parish of the same name, the upper part of the inscription being turned towards the door-way:× MRG.. DINIGHAN E'. 1666. VXOR. HIC.. IACT. An antiquarian friend of mine in Killarney, to whom I showed my copy of this in

may

66

scription, thinks it "C be read as follows:X MARGARET O'DINIGHEN, EJUS, 1666, VXOR, HIC JACET." He also thinks that the ×, or cross, before the name MARGARET," may have been intended to connect it with another inscription, perhaps that of her husband; or the cross may have served as a mark to draw attention to this one, when separated from some other.

No. 4 is on a stone built into the wall of a house in Abbey-street, Tralee, and seems to have belonged to the old abbey there, though a learned friend of mine near Tralee, to whom I showed my copy of the inscription, thinks there were no interments in the abbey burialground so late as the date mentioned :—HERE LEVETH THE BODY OF DAVID ROCHE, ESQR CO. NCELLER ATT LAW, WHO DECEASED THE 13 DAY OF AVGVST, ANNO DOMINI 1686, and the BODY OF HIS DAVGHTER MARY DECEASED IN THE YEAR 1685. I should mention, that I do not vouch for the accuracy of the last figure, it being much obliterated. The face of this stone was completely incrusted with mud when I went to copy the inscription.

No. 5 is in Ballyoughteragh church-yard, in the parish of Dunurlin :-I.H.S.- NAGLE. PTT LNT TERRY, 1551. ATT L" FERRITER, 1642. PTT L12 RICE, 1722. LI MCC MAHONAH, aged 27, 1767.—pray for us. I cannot easily understand this curious inscription.

....

No. 6 is on a slab built into the wall of Kiltomy church, in the parish of the same name :-SISTE VIATOR, ET SI HAEC VAGOS ATTRAXERINT OCULOS SPLENDIDA MARMORA, NOLI TAM QUOD POSITUM EST MIRARI, QUAM DEPOSITUM OBSTUPESCERE, HIC ENIM PARVULA CONDITUR URNULA, MAGNA.. CO[NS]T[A]NCIA, OLIM LONGORUM DELICIÆ BO.. SIS TANDEM FITZMAURICIORUM, UTRIUS SUE TAMEN HAUD IGNOB[IL]E ORNAMENTUM. Underneath is the following:—THIS CHURCH WAS RE-BUILT AND MONUMENT ERECTED IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD GOD ONE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED AND EI.... SEVEN. There is more of the inscription, but I could not make it out. Underneath again, on two stones, are a skull and cross-bones, and over each the words, MEMENTO MORI. On the right of these, on another stone, is an hourglass between two wings. Under it is a skull, and over it the words, VITA BREVIS. I heard of another old inscription having been found in this church-yard, but it was destroyed by the masons who built a tomb for a Mr. Gentleman, adjacent to the stones bearing the above inscriptions.

No. 7 is on a slab, broken into two parts, lying in the farm-yard of The Grove, Dingle, but said to have been brought from the adjacent church-yard. Some of the inscription appears to be wanting:IMMODICIS BREUIS EST ÆTAS, ET RARA SENECTUS. H. S. E.-JOHANNES FITZGERALD EQUES KERRIENSIS, EX ANTIQUA STIRPE EQUITUM KERRIENSIUM ORIUNDUS, SUAUITATE INGENII, ET INTEGRITATE MORUM EXIMIUS. ERAT IN ORE UENUSTAS, IN PECTORE BENEUOLENTIA, IN VERBIS FIDES, CANDIDUS, FACILIS, JUCUNDUS, QUOT NOTOS TOT HABUIT AMICOS, INIMICUM CERTE NEMINEM, TALIS QUUM ESSET, FEBRI CORREPTUS, IM