238 



■ f There are several remains of such " casiols " over Ireland, many 

 hitherto unnoticed ; one of monstrous unhewn stones, without cement, 

 and capable of containing 200 beeves, is found at Dun jEngus, in the 

 greater isle of Aran, on a cliff over the sea, and another in the middle 

 isle.* Tradition-f confirms the ecclesiastical use of this edifice, as that 

 it was built by S. Endeus, at the close of the fifth century, around his 

 little churches. There is another in the island of Inismurry,:}: off the 

 coast of Sligo, expressly called the casiol, the enclosing wall there is 

 also wholly without mortar, but the stones so admirably inserted into 

 each other as to need none ; it is from five to eight feet thick, and 

 about ten feet high, containing within it some rude subterranean cells 

 and three stone chapels, but the latter are evidently of a more recent 

 date than the rest of the workmanship. § There is a very fine specimen 

 of this species of building, called Cull-Casiol, near the village of Kil- 

 mavee, in the County Mayo, and a similar but much dilapidated 

 structure on the lands of Mr. Phillips of Clonmore, in the same 



bendam oculorum sire cogitationum lasciviam, ad erigendam in superna desideria totam 

 mentis intentionem, pius incola nil de sua mansione prseter coelum posset intueri ; quern vide- 

 licet Diurum non de secto lapide vel latere et cemento, sed impolitis prorsus lapidibus et ces- 

 pite, quern de medio loei fodendo tulerat, composuit E quibus quidam tantse erant grandi- 

 tatis, ut vix a quatuor viris viderentur potuisse levari. ***** Duas in mansione 

 habebat domos, oratorium scilicet, et aUud ad communes usus aptum habitaculum ; quorum 

 parietes quidem, de naturali terra multum intus forisque circumfodiendo sive cedendo confecif, 

 culmina vero de lignis informibus et foeno superposuit." — Vita Cuthberti, c. 17. 



* " Dun-jEngus ingens opus lapideum sine cemento, tamen quod ducentas vaccas in 

 area contineret, supra altissimam maris crepidinem e vastae molis rupibus erectum adhuc extat 

 in Aranna magna j * * * alia -similis maceries inde non procul ad ortum in Aranna 

 media insula." — Ogygia, p. 175. 



t Archdall. Men. Hib. p. 272. 



X See a rery full description of this island and its antiquities in the Antholog. Hibern. 

 vol. 4. p. 436-7. 



§ See Archdall. Mon. Hib., and Gough's Camden, vol. 3. p. 591. In the latter there is 

 a plate of the place. 



