Mr. Petrie on the History and Antiquities ofTara Hill. 157 



but having two outer circles, with ditches between them. The parapet of the 



mound itself is now levelled. The measurements will be seen in the sections 



here given, which are on the same scale as the preceding. The first section is 

 from north-west to south-east, 



From the second section, which is from south to north, it will be seen, that the 

 mounds are not quite circular : 



The connections of this Rath with that called the House of Cormac will 

 appear from the section following, which shows how the two monuments are 

 united by a common parapet, or circle, at a. This section, which is taken north- 

 west and south-east, is on a scale of 90 f. to an inch. 



For determining the age of the Forradh, no distinct historical evidence has 

 hitherto been discovered. The general similarity of its construction might, indeed, 

 very fairly lead to the conclusion, that it is coeval with the House of Cormac with 

 which it is connected, and such is most probably the fact. There are, however, 

 many reasons, from which it might be inferred to be of prior origin ; as, 

 first, that it occupies the usual central position within the outer circumval- 

 lations which indicates its original and coeval erection with them ; secondly, 

 that it is a more important monument as to size, than the House of Cormac, and 

 that its form is more regular, the latter exhibiting an irregularity apparently the 

 effect of its adaptation to that of the earlier and more symmetrical work. It might 

 also be urged from the ancient poem attributed to Fintan, given above, that the 



