32 Mr. PETRIE'S Inquiry into the Origin and 



Strabo, which 'were inclosures of great compass [|io>.oyo< worthy of mention, egregious], in the 

 middle were altars, and on them the Magi preserved much ashes and a perpetual fire.' The Greek 

 words throw not the smallest light on the figure of the Pyrathe'ia, much less can it be inferred they 

 were of lime and stone, or of the altitude of our towers. Even Hyde, from whom he takes the shape 

 of the modern Parsee fire-temples, would have informed him, that the ancient Persians had no 

 temples, nor even a name for them in their language. What the Parsees now use were taken from 

 Christian or Mahometan archetypes." 



" ' Nulla erant templa veterum Persarum, quippe qui omnia sua sacra sub dio peragebant, 

 ideoque in sua religione et lingua non habebant templi nomen.' Hyde deRelig. vet. Pers. p. 359-" 

 Ant/guides, p. 166. 



To these remarks I shall only add, that I am far from wishing to deny that 

 a remarkable conformity is to be found between many of the Round Towers 

 noticed by travellers, whether Christian or Mahometan, and our Irish Towers ; 

 but on the contrary, hope to make that conformity more evident, and to be able 

 to show, in the concluding section of this inquiry, that they are all equally 

 derived from the same source, namely, the early Christians 



In connexion with this hypothesis of the Persian origin of the Round Towers, 

 and their use as fire-temples, I have next to notice the opinions of Mr. Beauford, 

 another English antiquary, who was cotemporary with Vallancey, and one of the 

 learned Triumvirate of Irish antiquaries, who were permitted to publish their 

 works in the Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis. This gentleman's opinions are 

 given under the word CLOGHADH, in an Essay on the ancient Topography of 

 Ireland, published in the eleventh number of that work, and are as follows : 



" CLOGHADH, or Clog/ia, the Hiberno-celtic name of those slender round towers at this day found 

 in several parts of Ireland. The word is derived from the old Irish Tlachgo from Tlacht, the earth 

 or universe. The Druidic temples of Vesta in which were kept the sacred or eternal fire, were 

 called Tlachgo or temples of Cybele, being of the same construction with the Pyrathea of the ancient 

 Persians, and the Chammia of the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, some of which are still remaining 

 in Persia and Bulgaria. The Hibernian Druids erected these temples in their sanctuaries, as is 

 evident from the ruins of several still remaining in different parts of the kingdom, particularly at 

 Ballynasliebh in the County of Kilkenny, Navan near Armagh, &c. They were constructed of rock 

 stone without cement, and were of the same diameter with those towers now remaining, but to 

 what altitude they were carried is not certain; little more than the foundations being now visible. 

 After the establishment of Christianity in Ireland, among a number of Druic [Druidic] superstitions, 

 the sacred or eternal fires were preserved for several centuries, and the Tlachgo by the Christian 

 clergy removed from the sanctuaries of paganism to those of the true faith, and became appurte- 

 nances to churches and monasteries, though still retaining their ancient denomination of Tlachgo or 



