Hj&roRicWj - i2.- ;Tbe',depl6rab]e events whieh^ha^&ffgcentiy happened in Ireland,
h a ss le d ip-n'oi^iJ.’w ^h Gyeat Britaiiy^armgafur(e ,wjjiejii it, i.s
eagerly to be hoped will be productive of great reciprocal advantages.
An'iguities. Upon a: reyi.ev® of'the njo rtj^n d en tj^th fg fe hiftpri^nl gp®phsfe a^d, o f
the mo&uiheats whfth may^hsjSft^llfiS^i?'8! beljpngksg .tgjejtGh it, mufti
be 'conhdered that the edihee^h^Vktg’ been, ro jg ^ ^ d te d j^iLfth e
eleventh or twelfth century, it cannot be expeCted that- any remains of
them fhould .exift. . Stone was chiefly employed; in the oo.nftrudtion of
j funeral erections of various kinds ; nor are barrows, wanting in-Ireland,
' being hillocks.- o f earth, tin own up in- commemoration of-the llluftnoui
dead; Oihcr monuments commonly llyled Druidic may alfh.b^JAund
in Ireland ; fuSch. as ftftgh' ft on^3,£rg$, - pircj^agjfeiijple^g gather places
ofjysdgBignt, and the. like, w h ic h m$y. .mbr? .properly ^
the lielgic colony.*
T h e cGnverfioa, o f Ireland to- Chriftianity r w^asf?fallewedt by>Mhe
preifiop o f a sa lt number • ofchjurches and ni^nafheries^ the Wfehb^Lng
eqipputed toexqee4 one thoufand in numberji.Jbut.all,thesfe eclifkqgolsere
originally fmall, ,-andT.£qnftru&§dv J;q f ,^i^«^oyeijjj|w,ithesy- car hewn
V- wood ; fo r St^Bernard, in the. twelfth century, mendons^tftpjae:tk-Urch
as a fingular. novelty in Ireland, i
, But. the Scandinavian ehiefsjfeulh Before thisperiod-hava.fnttmdjf'fv'l
the ufe o fftone into th e cpftle^: rjecelf^F-y fpr.fheirh®ffint ’oefeace^agajnft
. a nation whom they -oppreffed > and.fopreiimes even ^lftc-rraueaifs retreats
were deemed expedient, o f v^hich4W^re3nd pthers'ha.ve engraved
Specimens. T o th e Scandinavian period alfbj .bdcmV vVhatt ai^cffled;
. the Danes Raths, or cirouUr, intrenchments ;„fand.Come cfiapelsj lush
as, thofe .of G 1 pndaloch, Pdrtaferry^ 'Killal-o.e, Sard A lro jf f S|.'JDgt}lach,
and Qafhel, if we may judge from .the angularity, o f th e ' ornaments,
whien howeyer onlyiafford vug$e-aMnje4tuce.r 3 m o fth e ^d u n d ^ a ftle s,
\ called p u n s in Scotland, and o f the qbelifks engrayen:y rithhgore ^ or
.ornaments, few or hone exift in Ireland, f Undey die ,• Scandinavians
th e Irilh coinage firft dawns.
O f the eleventh and twelfth centuries many rnonumerits, paftpllated
-or' religioflji; may probably exift in Ireland. Brian Boro, king- of
, . * Se£, Ledwich/s introdnftion to Grofe’ s Antiquities o f Ireland, for Cromlechs in the county
o f Carlo w, and a cave in Meath.
thaj^manyf p i ffles churohes^&nd
c o n f t r u a e d M ^ l i ^ ^ j , |H | | h BmwmbBBm
judged, o f tie ch.onolog,c,l order, | „early „ can be
golden trinkets ‘ fn„nd l! I • Smaller reliques of antiquity, the I m ™ » *™