Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, fyc. 



365 



was derived from the Phoenician or Carthaginian traders : but as the origin of 

 the form of our Irish Round Towers shall be inquired into at some length in 

 the concluding section of the Third Part of this work, I will not occupy the 

 reader's time with any remarks on it in this place. I deem it important, how- 

 ever, to state that Mr. King had no doubt that these British castles were designed 

 for treasuries and places of refuge ; and that, though their inside, or timber work, 

 might be " burnt and refitted over and over again," they could, in no other 

 way, be injured by fire. 



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2. This secondary purpose may be still further inferred from the fact that 

 many of the remaining doorways of the Towers exhibit abundant evidences of 

 their having been provided with double doors ; and I may remark that this was 

 in itself sufficient to satisfy the mind of the most accomplished and scientific 

 architect this country has given birth to, the late Mr. William Morrison, that 

 this was one of the purposes for which the Towers were designed. Having 

 directed his attention to an examination of some of the Towers, with a view 

 not only that I might have the advantage of his judgment as to their construc- 

 tion, but also with the hope of satisfying him that my opinions, as to their uses, 

 had not been erroneous, as my lamented friend had previously believed, I was 

 favoured with the valuable opinion resulting from such examination, " that the 

 means resorted to for the purpose of preventing forcible entry, namely, by means 

 of double doors, fully establish their design for places of safety and defence." 

 The opinion which I have now quoted occurs in a letter addressed to me from 



