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hand. 0’Brien has looked on these
‘ IRELAND.
. ‘ d t . like examina-
of that town. The Tower of Diomboe has been subrnitte 0 '1
t‘ In this at several fee‘ below '1. deposit of rubbish, earth, human bones,
ion. - a ‘ ” ‘
h s and stbnes which had undernrone the action of fire, a concrete floor,
om 1 ’ ( O . Qc was
similar to that found in the towers of Ardinorc, Lloyne, Roscrea, c ,1. 1
reached Beneath this was found a stratum of dark loamy earth, under W I101;
.' ‘ , . . . - , , . -f t. Of the
even with the foundation of the ouilding, lay a SlxC1Ctf)l1 neailypei ec But WIN
skull a cast has been taken for the Belfast Natural History Society. I f
beyond all question decides the Paganism of these buildings IS the d15C0"erY 0
, . . , ' f Beehin
an urn, in the Tower of Tinialioe, and of fragments of otheis in those 0 1
. . . - ' r f een
and Abernethy, in Scotland; in the latter, beside a portion of an um 0 97‘
clay, Mr. Black, the author of a Histo
1')’ of Brecliin, says that bones Were got
laid below flat stones;
thus in the same sepulelire exhibiting cremation
inhumation together, as has been found in Etruscan tombs. These discoveries
justify the name of one of the Irish towers, Fertaglz, the sepulcliral tire-towelr,
and clearly assimilate those structures to the Nuraggi, the Goz,0.T0We1'; he
Dagobas of Ceylon, and other most ancient structures appertaining '60 S11“
worship.
It is said that large brazen and iron trumpets have been found in and 1193'’
several of them. Dr. Pocoek saw a long trumpet of iron, which was dug “P
from the bottom of one of them. “The Gentlemaii’s Magazine” (1742) Smtfis
that two silver images were found under a tower; they were three inches in
height, representing men in armour, each holding a small golden spam‘ "1 ms
as idols.
informs us, that he “had caused the fl0f3f5
burnt wood have been found, the rcmams
of the perpetual fire kept burning in the bottom, in honour of the Deity, the
Sun.” This curiously coincides with the discovery of small fragments of
charcoal at the external base of the Round Tower of Cashel, in S9Pt9:mber’
1841, by the Dean of Lismore, Mr. Abell, and Mr. VVindele, when digging to
ascertain the depthof the foundation. ,
In arguing against the original eonstiuetion of the Towersiby Christians: ""6
endeavoured to show the probability that the early missionaries, in their desire
for possessing themselves of the Pagan fanes, erected their churches 011.the"'
sites, or immediately adjoining; and this, on their part, was an act Iiighlf
politic. Those temples stood in populous and recognised localities, and; as
such, were desirable to,.‘tlie missionary; besides, in choosingsucll Situiltlollsi
they encounteredrPaganism in its strongholds. lVe shall follow out that‘
argument with the statement of a few facts, exhibiting the practiceverj’ un‘
equivocally, and thus strengthening our entire case. ‘
Vallancey, in one of his works,
of many to be opened, and ashes of