58 Mr. PETRIE'S Inquiry into the Origin and 



nitely more deeply versed in the ancient language and literature of Ireland 

 than I can pretend to be I allude to my friend, Mr. O'Donovan. From 

 the first moment that I read Dr. O'Conor's explanation of the word Fidh- 

 neimhedh, I felt assured that he had given it a meaning utterly erroneous, 

 and that the true explanation would be sacred trees, or trees of the sanctuary; 

 and, having expressed this opinion to Mr. O'Donovan, he was induced to collect, 

 from the most ancient MS. authorities in the libraries of Trinity College and 

 the Royal Irish Academy, such a number of examples of its application as must 

 leave no doubt of its true meaning. I have now to lay these examples before 

 the reader, and I trust they will prove, beyond the possibility of doubt, not 

 only that my original impression was a correct one, but that Dr. O'Conor ex- 

 hibited, in this instance, a carelessness of investigation, which would never have 

 been expected in one who had such ample access to the sources from which 

 the truth could be elicited, and possessed the critical skill that should have 

 enabled him to make use of them. 



In the passage, as given in the different Irish Annals, in which the compound 

 term Fidhneimhedh occurs, Dr. O'Conor explains it, sometimes by the words 

 index caelorum, and sometimes by indicia coelestia, because, as he says, fiad sig- 

 nifies an index, or witness, and neimhedh, of the heavens ; and at other times 

 he explains it by turres ccelestes, and again, simply, by turris. Thus it will be 

 seen, that by a singular process of induction, out of two words which, as he says, 

 literally mean witness and of the heavens, he makes a Round Tower after the 

 following formula : 



1. Fidh, a witness. 



2. , an index. 



3. Fidh Neimhedh, an index of the heavens. 

 4. , a celestial index. 



5. , an astronomical gnomon. 



(5. , a celestial tower. 



7. , a Round Tower ! 



It is to be observed, however, that in this process there is only one part of 

 the compound that can be substantiated by authority, namely, the word neimh- 

 edh, which was, indeed, sometimes understood as signifying of the heavens, 

 as if formed from neamh, heaven (the nimbus of the Latins), with the terini- 



