54 Mr. PETRIE'S Inquiry into the Origin and 



Thus translated: 



" Fulgur corripit Ardmacham, et 11011 relinquit Nosocomium, nee Ecclesiam Cathedralem, nee 

 domum altam, nee turrim, in civitate, quod lion incendio deleret." 



And to this he appends the following note : 



" Eadem habet Tighernach ad aim. 995 IV Magistri, pro Erdam, habent cloic teacha (campa- 

 nilia.) Ergo diversa erant Campanilia a turribus rotundis, de quibus, vide not. ann. 949. Fiadli- 

 nemeadh Turris ; a Fiadh testimonium, vel Index, et nemeadh co3lorum." 



As the correctness of the etymology of the words given in the above note 

 constitutes the stronghold in which, in support of his hypothesis, the Doctor 

 has entrenched himself, it will be necessary to trespass on the reader's time, at 

 more than my usual length, in examining his proofs and arguments. I shall first 

 give the original passages from the Annals to which he refers : 



I. "A. D. 996. Hie CaipiU co pepaib Pepnmutji 7 con Gipjpallaib DO apjam Gpomaca co 

 pucpacn. c. b " Gpomaca DO lopcao ec. cigib a^uptDamliuj ajup cloicceach, agup pioneo (rede 

 pionemeo) uili oilmen, na came piamh a n 6p. 7 na cupga co lu mbpaca oijail amlaio." 



" A. D. 996. Filius Carilli, cum Fernmagiensibus et Argialliis, vastat Ardmacham, et auferunt 

 bis mille boves. Ardmacha combusta penitus, domus, etEcclesise lapideee et Campanilia, et Indicia 

 Coelestia omnia eversa. Non evenit unquam in Hibernia, neque eveniet usque ad diem Judicii, 

 vindicta similis." Annal. Tighernachi. 



II. "A. D. 995. Ardmacha do loscc do tene Saigknen ettir tighib, agus Domhuliacc, agus Cloicteac/ia, 

 agus a fidhneimhedh do huile dilgend." 



" A. D. 995. Ardmacha combusta a fulmine, domus et Ecclesise lapidea?, et campanilia, et ejus 

 turres coelestes omnes destructae." Annal. Quat. Mag. 



Now on the slightest examination of the above passages it must appear evi- 

 dent that Dr. O'Conor's assertion, that the word cloicteacha (belfries) has been 

 substituted by the Four Masters for the word erdam of the Annals of Ulster, 

 but not for fiadlinemeadh, has not the slightest probability for its support ; 

 and if Dr. O'Conor had any knowledge of the true meaning of the word erdam, 

 Avhich he guessingly translates domum altam, he would not have hazarded such 

 a strange assertion. That the word erdam signifies a building attached laterally 

 to another building, as a sacristy, and not a belfry, as Dr. O'Conor supposes, I 

 shall incontrovertibly prove when I treat, in the second part of this Inquiry, of 

 the various ecclesiastical edifices anciently in use in Ireland, and therefore I shall 

 only observe here, that Dr. O'Conor should have remembered that he was con- 

 strained himself to translate this very word by sacra domo, in the following 



