163 



within the fortification have been dug up hatchets of basalt) spear 

 heads of grey granite, arrows of flint, and querns made of free- 

 stone.* 



From these examples it is evident that the Dun was a mihtary 

 fortification, and that in its construction some engineering skill was 

 displayed. 



The Rath signifies the village or settlement.-f In the Brehon 

 laws, the Raths are distinguished as being of various ranks, and 

 having possessions of different values attached to them ; each Rath, 

 or village, was obliged by these laws to contribute to the support of 

 the chief, in proportion to the extent of land which it occupied* 

 The chiefs and princes held distinct ranks, and had possessions va- 

 rying in value, and the laws which regulated the contributions are 

 very curious and very minute. 



Some raths are small and round, but flat on the top, where the 

 houses were erected. Some are very large, capable of containing 

 several dwellings. Among these large raths tradition points out 

 some as having been royal, and others as the residences of the 

 chiefs of clans or septs. So in Kildare, Rath-ais-cael, commonly 

 called Rathescull, is shewn as the dwelling of the ancient chief Mac 

 Kelly.]: And the people consider the uncommonly large rath at 

 Ceanchora on the Shannon, near Killaloe, as the palace of the great 

 Brian Borumbh.§ 



On the western side of the city of Armagh there is a rath of ex- 

 traordinary size, now called the Navan Hill, which tradition and 

 history agree in asserting to be the site of the palace of Evan Macha, 



* Survey of Londonderry, p. 4;99. 



t O'Brien's Dictionary — O'Reilly on Brehon Law. Trans. R. L A., xiv. p. 208. 



:j: Survey of Kildare, Introduction, p. II. 



§ Survey of Clare, p. 115. 



y2 



