Uses of the Round Towers of Ireland, fyc. 



451 



church of Tainlaght Ard ; the tomb of St. Muireadach O'Heney, near the 

 church of Banagher, of which he is the reputed founder ; and the tomb of 

 the founder of the church of Bovevagh, whose name is now forgotten. 



Of two of these curious monuments I have thought it desirable to append 

 illustrations ; and of these the first is an east view of the tomb of St. Mui- 

 readach O'Heney, exhibiting the sculptured relievo of this saint, with which it 

 is ornamented. This tomb is wholly faced with ashlar masonry of sand- 

 stone, and measures ten feet in length, four feet nine inches in breadth, eight 

 feet in height to the gable ridge, and four feet to the eaves. 



Respecting the age of this tomb I can only speak conjecturally, as I have 

 not been able to discover any historical reference to the ecclesiastic to whom 

 it was raised. But, as his church, which was a building of considerable archi- 

 tectural beauty, seems obviously a structure of the latter part of the eleventh 

 century, or the commencement of the twelfth, we may fairly assign this mo- 

 nument to that period. 



The next illustration presents a west end view of the tomb of the reputed 

 founder of the church of Bovevagh, which, like that of St. Muireadach, is faced 



with ashlar masonry of sand-stone, but appears to be of earlier date. It 

 measures nine feet in length, and seven feet six inches in height. 



3 M 2 



