237 ■ 



the tomb of Saint Brigid adorned " vario cultu auri et argenti et gem- 

 marum et pretiosi lapidis, atque coronis aureis et argenteis ;" the 

 " pictis tabulis," "parietibus tabulatis," "paries decoratus et imagini- 

 bus depictus," " multas fenestras," " ornatam portam," &c, &c. ; 

 and this edifice too, in accordance with Bede's remark, was erected in 

 the very heart of a district, which derived its name Chille-daire, from 

 the forests of oaks that covered it. 



Such were the first efforts of piety to found the simple churches of 

 Christ amidst the ruins of paganism, and while convenience or custom 

 led to a preference of wood in their formation, it does appear from 

 several existing remains, that they were frequently defended and en- 

 circled with a massy enclosure of stone. Doctor Ledwich announces 

 such as mandrae, but in the phrase of those parts of the country where 

 they are found, they are called " casiols." Bede is the only author 

 who throws light on the use and motive of such a building, and he 

 defines it to be ecclesiastical ; that alluded to by him was erected in 

 684 by Cuthbert, an Irish bishop of Lindisfarn,* and is described as 

 a round structure of four or five perches diameter, the wall of which 

 was on the outer side somewhat higher than a man erect, while within 

 it was made in effect higher, by deepening the enclosed space, with 

 the design of restraining the eyes and thoughts of the pious occupants 

 from earthly objects and desires, to look only to heaven. This wall, 

 he adds, was not built of hewn stone or with mortar, but with rough 

 stone of a huge size and the earth that was dug out of the enclosed 

 space ; in it were two structures, one for prayer, and the other for the 

 ordinary uses of a dwelling. -f- 



* " Cuthbertus legio dicitur natus sanguine in Hibernia." — Godwin de Prsesul. p. 95. 



f " Est autem aedificium situ pene rotundum, a muro usque ad murum mensura quatuor 

 ferme sive quinque perticarum distentum ; murus ipse deforis altior longitudine stantis ho- 

 minis. Nam intrinsecus vivam cedendo rupem multo ilium fecit altiorem, quatenus ad cohi- 



