162 



Mr. Petrie on the History and Antiquities of Tara Hill. 



stone occurs in the vicinity. The stone is at present but 6 f. above ground, but 

 its real height is said to be 12 f. To exhibit its form the accompanying wood- 

 cut is given. 



The features next claiming attention as situated on the eastern and western 

 sides of the hill adjacent to Rath na Riogh are the wells called Neamhnach and 

 Caprach- Cormaic on the east side, and that called Laegh on the west. Neamh- 

 nach is described, both in the verse and prose accounts, as pouring into the 

 valley a stream called Nith, on which king Cormac first erected a mill in 

 Ireland. 



It is an interesting circumstance, that the historical fact here recorded re- 

 specting this mill is still vividly preserved, not only in its immediate locality, 

 but also in many other parts of Ireland ; and a mill — now called LismuUen Mill, 

 from the district through which it flows — and situated on the north side of 

 the river Guara, still exists on the reputed site of the ancient one. It may 

 also be worthy of remark, that the present miller considers himself, and is 

 considered by the people of the district, as the lineal descendant of the Pictish 

 millwright brought over by king Cormac, though the original name of the 

 family — Mac Lamha, or Hand — has, through the failure of the male line 

 in his grandfather, become extinct. 



