Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, fyc. 19 



struction; and the Latin name for a bell-ringer, viz. tintinaculns, seems to be of Scythic origin; and 

 also, ft'nf inabulum, a bell. Tein, in Irish and Arabic, is noise, a ringing noise : tein-tein, is doubled 

 in both languages, to express the greater noise : bualim, in Irish, is to strike, which was the ancient 

 mode of sounding the bell. Cut, as we have shewn, is an anniversary, a round tower, a steeple; in 

 Persic, Kule: but keol, in Irish, is a musical note, music. I submit these observations to the notice 

 of the Irish antiquary, and flatter myself, they merit his researches. 



" Nor does it appear, that the modern name of these towers, viz. doghad, or doig-theac, sup- 

 posed to signify a bell-house, are any inducement to think they are modern buildings. Clog is 

 certainly a bell in Irish, so named, from clog, the cranium or skull; in which form, our first bells 

 were made, and those to this day used in clocks are cast ; but clog, the skull, owes its name to its 

 orbicular form, as we have shown before. 



" It is evident, that all our doghads have not been belfreys : in many there are no marks of the 

 wall having been broken within for hanging a bell ; nor are they always annexed to churches. 

 There are many in the fields, where no traces of the foundations of any other buildings can be dis- 

 covered round them. Had the primitive Christians of Ireland possessed the art of building these 

 towers with lime and mortar, it is reasonable to think, they would have preferred building the 

 churches of the same durable materials ; but we are positively told, that Duleek, or Dam-Hag church, 

 was the first that was built with such materials ; and was so called, from leac, a stone. Near to the 

 church, is a Druidical monument, or leac of enormous size, to which probably it owes its name." lit. 

 pp. 490, 491, 492. 



The last passage in this volume bearing on the subject of the Round Towers 

 in any intelligible way, occurs two pages after, and is as follows: 



" The name cluan, was, I believe, originally given to all these towers: it appears to be a con- 

 traction of cul-luan; i. e. the return of the moon: duan, certainly signifies a lawn; cluan, says 

 O'Brien, is a name given to several of our bishops' sees, as Cluan Umha, now Cloyne; Cluan 

 Haidhneach, Cluan Mac Nois, in Leinster, &c We meet with many places in this kingdom, named 

 Cluan, that are situated on hills, consequently, they did not derive their names from a plain or level 

 country. 



" A plain, in Irish, is expressed by machaire, magh, leirg, cathan, achadh, faithche, faithemeid, 

 maighneas, raodh, reidhlein ; and, dogad, can no more be derived from Tlachdga, than homo from 

 A dam. Le Brun describes a tower, in Turkey, which the Turks name kiss-kolce, i. e. the tower of 

 the virgins: in a few pages after, he says, they call it kses-calisi, i. e. the castle of the virgins. He 

 saw, also, the tower of the patriarch Jacob, near Bethlehem, but it was so ruinous, he could form 

 no idea of its magnitude : he gives a plate of the ruin, by which we may see, it was then about 20 

 feet high, circular, and exactly resembling the state of many of our Irish towers. The kiss-kolce 

 or Virgin's tower, of the Turks, carries the air of Oriental romance in the name : cais-caili, in Irish, 

 is, indeed, the virgin's tower, but I am inclined to think the name is a corruption of cais-cuile, or of 

 ceach-cuile, i. e. the tower of proclamation of anniversaries, &c. See Le Brun's Voyage de Levant. 

 Kiss, in Arabic and Persic, is holy, religious." Ib. pp. 494, 495. 



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