Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, fyc. 61 



taining an example also of the word neimheadh, with which it has been com- 

 bined in the term Fidhneimhedh, under discussion. 



" A. D. 1583. Nip Dion ap an j-cnpcin pin na pop a riiumcip, NGimhSGtDh naoirii not 

 film, plODh na poirip, jleann, na baile, na baoBoun, no gup coglao an cip uile laip." 



" A. D. 1583. From this Captain [Brabazon] and his people, neither the Neimheadh of the saint 

 nor of the poet, the wood nor the forest, the valley, the town, nor the bawn afforded shelter, until 

 the whole country was destroyed by him." Annul. Quat. Mag. 



It is obvious then that fidh signifies wood, and not witness, and that the 

 second word, neimheadh, if understood adjectively, must simply mean holy, or 

 sacred, and, if understood substantively, a sanctuary, or glebe land, and thus the 

 term would mean holy wood, or wood of the sanctuary or glebe. And, as Dr. 

 O'Conor's translation must thus be regarded as demonstratively incorrect, I 

 might be satisfied to let the question rest here. But I can go further, even to 

 prove thatif Dr. O'Conor had studied the MSS., in which the term Fidhneimhedh 

 is used and explained, he could not have even for a moment dreamed of its sig- 

 nifying either Gnomon or Round Tower, for it is used in the most authentic 

 vellum Irish MSS. in the sense of sacred grove, or wood of the sanctuary, and 

 in no other in Christian times, though it may have been, and, I have little doubt 

 was, originally applied to designate the sacred groves of the Druids. 



The most curious passages in which this term is found occur in the Brehon 

 laws, in a tract treating of the classification of trees, and the fines levied for 

 committing trespass upon them. The first runs thus : 



" 6pe a caca b peata c achc d pmnemeat), 6 no 



Succidantur omnes sylvse praeter syivam sacrara seu sanctam sjlvam. 



a 6pe is interpreted by the Glossographer as equivalent to the more modern word lecpao, to cut. 



b Caca is the ancient form of 5160, each, every. 



c peaoa is the plural of pio, or pioo, a wood. According to the modern orthography the o 

 would be aspirated in the singular and pluraL 



d Gchc, but, except, is so written and understood at this day. 



e pmnemeao is interpreted by the Glossographer p" 3 cilli, i.e. WOOD of the church. Surely, 

 if Dr. O'Conor had seen this, he could never have thought of translating pioneimeo Round Tower I 

 According to the modern Irish orthography this would be written pio neiriieao, which is the very 

 form of the term adopted by the Four Masters at the year 995. Vallancey, in translating this 

 passage in the Brehon Laws (Collectanea, Vol. III. p. 107), renders fid neimead, HOLY WOODS. 



f t)ejpiD the Glossographer interprets by f 10 oepio, which would be very obscure, were it not 



