4 Mr. PETRIE'S Inquiry into the Origin and 



ance with the architectural peculiarities observable in the Towers, and other 

 ancient Irish buildings it will not appear extraordinary that they should 

 have failed in arriving at satisfactory conclusions, while, at the same time, the 

 .truth might be within the reach of discovery by a better directed course of 

 inquiry and more diligent research. 



Hitherto, indeed, we have had little on the subject but speculation, and 

 that not unfrequently of a visionary kind, and growing out of a mistaken and 

 unphilosophical zeal in support of the claims of our country 'to an early civi- 

 lization ; and even the truth which most certainly has been partially seen by 

 the more sober-minded investigators having been advocated only hypotheti- 

 cally, has failed to be established, from the absence of that evidence which facts 

 alone could supply. 



Such at least appears to have been the conclusion at which the Royal Irish 

 Academy arrived, when, in offering a valuable premium for any essay that 

 would decide this long-disputed question, they prescribed, as one of the con- 

 ditions, that the monuments to be treated of should be carefully examined, and 

 their characteristic details described and delineated. 



In the following inquiry, therefore, I have strictly adhered to the condition 

 thus prescribed by the Academy. The Towers have been all subjected to a 

 careful examination, and their peculiarities accurately noticed ; while our 

 ancient records, and every other probable source of information, have been 

 searched for such facts or notices as might contribute to throw light upon their 

 history. I have even gone further : I have examined, for the purpose of com- 

 parison with the Towers, not only all the vestiges of early Christian architecture 

 remaining in Ireland, but also those of monuments of known or probable 

 Pagan origin. The results, I trust, will be found satisfactory, and will suffice 

 to establish, beyond all reasonable doubt, the following conclusions : 



I. That the Towers are of Christian and ecclesiastical origin, and were 

 erected at various periods between the fifth and thirteenth centuries. 



II. That they were designed to answer, at least, a twofold use, namely, to 

 serve as belfries, and as keeps, or places of strength, in which the sacred uten- 

 sils, books, relics, and other valuables were deposited, and into .which the 

 ecclesiastics, to whom they belonged, could retire for security in cases of sudden 

 predatory attack. 



