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Mr. PETRIE'S Inquiry into the Origin and 



general form of this cross there is an equal similarity with that at Cashel, the 

 arms in both instances being supported by external and detached shafts, a 

 peculiarity of form not found in any crosses of earlier date in Ireland. The cross 

 of Tuam, however, is of far greater magnificence and interest, and may justly 

 rank as the finest monument of its class and age remaining in Ireland ; and yet, 

 to the disgrace of the inhabitants of that ancient city, its shaft, head, and base, 

 though all remaining, are allowed to be in different localities, detached from 

 each other. It is formed of sandstone, and measures, in the pedestal, five feet 

 three inches in breadth, and three feet eight inches in height ; and in the shaft 

 and head, ten feet in length, or, including the base, thirteen feet eight inches. 



Of the ancient church of Tuam the chancel only remains; but, fortunately, 

 this is sufficient to make us acquainted with its general style of architecture, and 

 to shew that it was not only a larger, but a more splendid structure than Cor- 

 mac's church at Cashel, and not unworthy of the powerful monarch to whom it 

 chiefly owed its erection. This chancel is a square of twenty-six feet in exter- 

 nal measurement, and the walls are four feet in thickness. Its east end is per- 

 forated by three circular-headed windows, each five feet in height and eighteen 

 inches in width externally, but splaying on the inside to the width of five feet. 



