117 



kings, by which I conclude, that since the Irish had MSS. then, &c."* 

 To these of Pagan hterature, one Christian sage may be added, Celes- 

 tius, the favourite and most able disciple of the heresiarch Pelagius, 

 whom Saint Jerome-f- more than once exhibits as a Scot or Irishman, 

 and whom Usher, (Primord. pp. 208 and 786,) Noris, (Hist. Pelag. 

 1, 1. c. 3,) and Martianay, (not. ad Prol. 1. 1,) unanimously consider 

 as such. 



SECTION V. 



The Arts. 



Architecture,^ whether for comfort or defence, is the first of 

 the arts that seems to suggest itself to an infant society, and that the 

 Irish were not, even in the early period of this investigation, alto- 

 gether ignorant of it, would appear not only from the terms of build- 

 ing that occur in the most ancient specimens of their language, 

 but also from regulations in the Brehon laws, and unequivocal pas- 

 sages in the annals regarding it. These are not, however, competent 

 witnesses here, but neither is external testimony wholly unattainable. 

 Ptolemy, who wrote in the second century, mentions in Ireland the 

 renowned city Nagnata, the city Manapia, the city Eblana, (" Nay- 

 vaTa TToXig £Tn(rTr]f.iO£," — " Mavania ttoXiq," — " 'EtXava ttoXiq,") 



* M'Kenzie's Defence, p. 33. fO) i>0!iJj90 b«ii Hv 



f Prolog, ad lib. 1 et lib. 3, in comment, in Jeremiam. 



i In reference to Irish architecture, previous to the English invasion, much interesting 

 matter will be found in Miss Beaufort's able Essay on that subject, published in the 

 Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, vol. 15. 



