vi PREFACE. 



tianity more generally known to, and appreciated by my countrymen, some 

 stop might be put to the wanton destruction of these remains, which is now, 

 unhappily, of daily occurrence, and which, if not by some means checked, must 

 lead ere long to their total annihilation. I had long felt that such a work, 

 comprising, as a whole, the several classes of early Christian architectural 

 remains, was not only essential to the final settlement of the question of the 

 origin of the Towers themselves, but was also a desideratum in the general history 

 of Christian civilization in Europe ; and circumstances, unnecessary to be stated 

 here, having thrown the publication of my Essay on the Round Towers into 

 my own hands, I immediately determined to avail myself of the opportunity to 

 make that Essay the basis on which to erect it. I soon found, however, when 

 it was too late to think of diminishing it, that the labour was much greater than 

 I had ever contemplated. On such an intricate subject a popular Essay, feebly 

 supported by facts, and references to authorities difficult of access, and, for the 

 most part, hidden in languages unknown to the multitude, would have made 

 little impression on the learned, and have been of no permanent value to the 

 country : hence it became imperatively necessary to submit to the reader all 

 those passages, derived from manuscripts or scarce books, from which my con- 

 clusions were drawn; and, consequently, the work which I had originally 

 expected would have been comprised in a single volume, will, of necessity, 

 extend to two. The volume now presented to the Public will, however, 

 be found complete in itself, as a critical and historical dissertation, not only 

 on the Round Towers, but on the Christian architecture of Ireland generally, 

 previous to the Anglo-Norman Invasion. It contains all the opinions which I 

 have formed on this subject, and all the general proofs which I deemed neces- 

 sary to substantiate them. I have, therefore, considered it proper to meet the 

 wishes of the Academy and of my friends by giving it immediate publication, 

 instead of waiting to see the second volume through the Press, which must 



