208 



The tower of Dfumboe appears much vitrified vvithinside, as if 

 from strong and continued fires.* 



There is in the county of Mayo a town of the name of Bel, so 

 commonly called, but fully as often spelled Baal. Tliere is a tower 

 here, now only fifty feet in height, and near it a very small church, 

 of which the masonry much resembles that of the tower. The place 

 is noted for superstitious practices, particularly at one season of the 

 year, when crowds of people collect, and after various ceremonies, 

 conclude with feasting and dancing : the river is regarded with a 

 respect, the remains of ancient veneration, -and much of the pagan 

 worship is retained in their present rites. -f 



From the above details it seems a reasonable conclusion, that 

 lofty slender towers, intended like the obelisk and the pyramid]: to 

 symbolize a ray of the sun, were erected to preserve the sacred fires 

 of Bel, which appear to have blazed in the lower story, yet so 

 placed as to be at a sufficient height to admit the gazing adoration 

 of the people. And that the time at which they were erected was 

 previous to the introduction of Christianity, and during the period 

 that the worship of the sun continued to be the national religion. 



The ports of Ireland were, according to Tacitus, better known 

 for trade, in the time of Julius Ccesar, than those of Britain ; whence 

 could that have arisen but from a commercial intercourse with 

 Spain and with the East ? From this circumstance, however, we 

 may derive some clue to assist in unravelling the date of the tower- 

 building period. If at that period commerce was fully established, 

 it must have been of long standing, since it is of slow growth, and 



• Survey of Down, p. 290. ' 

 t Survey of Mayo, p. 130. 



X In Coptic the Pyramids are called Pi-re-mouc, the Sun-beam — Bruce's Travels, I. p. 137. 

 Murray's Octavo Edition. 



