392 Mr. PETRIE'S Inquiry into the Origin and 



" A. D. 1238. Cloicceac Ganaij oum DO o^narii." 



" A. D. 1238. The Ckictheach of Eanach duin was erected." 



As there is no belfry now remaining at Annadown, it may be uncertain 

 whether this doigtheach was of the usual ancient round form, or of the quadran- 

 gular shape, and connected with the church, as generally adopted in Ireland at 

 the period of the Anglo-Norman invasion ; but if it be remembered that this 

 Tower is mentioned as a distinct structure, and that its locality was one still 

 peculiarly Irish, while, on the other hand, the square belfry never appears as a 

 distinct structure, it will be scarcely doubted that this was a tower of the 

 original Irish kind, and if so, probably one of the last of its class erected in the 

 kingdom. 



But whether this cloictheach of Annadown was of the regular Round Tower 

 form or not, it cannot be doubted that some of the Towers existing, or recently 

 so, and particularly those attached to the churches, were of a date but little an- 

 terior to the thirteenth century, as that of Trummery, in the County of Antrim, 

 and the Tower which was attached to Trinity Church at Glendalough, and those 

 at Dungiven and Tamlaghtfinlagan, in the County of Londonderry, of all which 

 descriptions will be given in the Third Part of this Inquiry. Such deviations 

 from the ancient custom of keeping the belfries detached from the churches 

 are in themselves sufficient evidences that they belong to a later period, and 

 their architectural peculiarities in all these instances satisfactorily prove the fact. 

 In like manner, it might be inferred that the round turret belfries placed upon 

 the churches, of which there are two or three examples remaining, are also of 

 comparatively recent date, and indicate the transition to the more modern and 

 general usage with respect to belfries ; and this inference would be sustained 

 by a passage of great antiquity in the Life of St. Moling, preserved in the 

 Book of Leinster, a compilation of the twelfth century. This passage occurs 

 in a prophecy attributed to the saint, who, it is stated, had had a vision, in 

 which it was revealed to him that he himself was the person predestined to 

 bring about the abolition of an oppressive tax called the Borumha Laighean, 

 which the people of Leinster had for centuries paid to the royal family of Tara, 

 but which had been remitted for a tune by the reigning monarch, Finnachta 

 Fleadhach. But the king coming afterwards into Leinster, with a numerous 

 army, to enforce its payment, was met by St. Moling, who told him of his 



