Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

raised by a smaller rock. The generality of the cromlechs that survive in Ireland, like this, exhibit now no circle of erect stones; but such are often found, as if they were the outwork of the temple, and the channels or furrows, still traceable on most of the incumbent stones, make it probable that sacrifices, as of oxen, &c., might be offered upon them; but, whatever were the victims, the altar is itself thoroughly eastern and primitive. Such an altar "Noah builded unto the Lord;"—such an altar the Deity commanded, "If thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone, for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." The black mould and ashes, commonly dug up about these cromlechs, confirm the idea of their use as fire temples in the open air; nor should the circumstance of bones having been found under some few of them, as they are also found at the base of these enclosed fire temples, the round towers, militate against this conclusion, or induce a belief, that cromlechs were originally designed as mere funeral memorials. Such bones might have been those of the animals sacrificed, or, even if human, the rareness of the occurrence only illustrates the opinion, that the desire of being buried near places of worship, so prevalent in later ages, was even then partially acknowledged. The largest cromlech in Ireland is supposed to be that in the parish of Fiddown, County Kilkenny, described in the 16th Volume of the "Archæologia." It stands on one of the Walch Mountains, in the County Kilkenny,

over the River Suir, between Carrick and Waterford, exhibiting a mass of most ponderous rock, not only raised but supported with geometrical accuracy, by an application of the doctrine of mechanic pressure truly surprising. Another at Ballymacscanlan, near Dundalk, gives similar evidence, that very powerful machinery must have been employed for its construction. How else, it has been asked, could those majestic rocks have been hewed from the bowels of the earth, transported over hills and valleys, and poised on such uniform inclinations. There is also a fine one at Brennanstown, near Dublin; a larger at Labacally, in the County Cork; and the neighbourhood of Baltinglas (which seems to derive its name "Beal-tinne-glas" from the rites of fire worship), and the Isles of Aran, abound with such remains. King shews that cromlechs, similar to the Irish, exist in Syria; and Armstrong, in his history of the very ancient people of Minorca, mentions several still to be found there, adding, that they are commonly called "altars of the Gentiles."

At a short distance to the north of this, on the east side of the memorable pass of Boherboy, a solitary, upright stone, commonly styled "the Governor's monument," is all that now remains of a large pile, which, according to an erroneous but popular opinion, is said to have marked the grave of Sir Conyers Clifford, who fell in the battle of the Curlews, as hereafter especially noticed in the historical section of this work; but the monument must with more

correctness be identified with that erected by order of Lord Kingston, to commemorate the death of Captain Alexander Weir, in a skirmish there with the forces of General Sarsfield, as also hereafter mentioned. A detached portion of this parish, called Kilmacroy, the property of the Earl of Zetland, lies beyond Lough Ke; on it are the ruins of a church, and a holy well called "Tobber-Mary," which is still the scene of an annual patron, and much rural, and, happily, now temperate and inoffensive, merriment.

THE PARISH OF ESTERSNOW.

The rectory of this parish is impropriate in Lord Crofton, without patronage, while the vicarage, united with that of Kilcola, forms a benefice to which the Diocesan collates by right. The parishioners compounded for their tithes at £60 16s. Od., which sum, subject to the parliamentary deductions, is payable in moieties to Lord Crofton and the vicar. The latter resides in this parish in a glebe-house, built in 1823, on a grant of £415, British, and a loan of £86, from the late Board of First Fruits; annexed to it are ten acres (plantation measure) of glebe. In the Roman Catholic arrangement the parish forms part of the union of Killuken, as hereafter mentioned. The soil is chiefly used in tillage, but there are several large grazing farms. There are some good quarries of limestone, and a tract of bog to about the proportion of one-fourteenth of the parish. According to the late Ordnance measurement, its superficial contents

are 6,457A. OR. 16P., present measure, of which 296A. OR. 13P., are covered with water. The land was, on the General Valuation, stated to be worth annually £2,788 1s. 8d., on the total, rough and smooth. The townlands, into which the parish is apportioned, are 23 in number, 11 of which (upwards of 3,000A.) belong to Guy Lloyd, Esq., and 8 others (upwards of 2,000A.) to Lord Lorton. The population of this district was, in 1821, returned as 1,539, increased in the Census of 1831 to 1,951, of whom 116 were members of the Established Church, the remainder Roman Catholics. The late Report extends the number of inhabitants to 2,035.

The parochial church, a plain but comfortable building, capable of accommodating 150 persons, is situated in a deep hollow near the southern extremity of the plains of Boyle, of which this parish is considered to be the limit. In the churchyard is a large enclosed burial ground, with a marble slab, to the memory of Mrs. Irwin of Camlin, who died in 1840. There are other memorials to John Irwin, of Camlin, obiit 1791, aged 85; to John Irwin, of Rushell, obiit 1821; to James Lytle, obiit 1819, to members of the family of Thomas Crawford, formerly vicar of Estersnow, &c.

To the west of the church, bounded by hills and plantations, are the Cavetown Loughs, which afford an abundant supply of eels in winter, and of trouts at other seasons of the year. At the head of the largest lake are some remains of Cavetown House,

while the now neglected grounds, by which it is surrounded, still exhibit traces of ornamental architecture, an extensive garden, a massy belfry, and an obelisk, with which it was embellished in the time of a former proprietor, Dean Mahon. On the townland are several caves, from which it derives its name; they are said to extend to a considerable distance, but are only natural fissures in the limestone strata, and now partially closed up.

At Moylurg, within the townland of Clogher, is the handsome seat of Mr. Duke, one of Lord Lorton's tenants, adjoining which are discernible some massy traces of the stone ramparts and rounded angular towers of the ancient castle, once undoubtedly held by some members of the Mac Dermot sept; nature, however, has re-assumed her empire over the works of man, and the weed, and the sod, and the ivy, are thickly matted over the prostrate pile.

Opposite Moylurg, on an elevated bank in the lawn of another private residence, stands a huge stone, perpendicularly set, and popularly called, Clogh-na-stucceen, i. e. "the stone of the little hill," and by some Clogh-cam, "the crooked stone;" it measures about ten feet in height, two and a half in breadth, and one in width, while its depth under ground has not been ascertained. Such stones are very numerous in Ireland; in some places they stand single, while in others they are placed in circles, and otherwise collectively. Their use is, according to different opinions, respectively referred to four

« AnteriorContinuar »