THE IRISH ARAN. 41 
the hands and knees. Near it is still to be seen a heap of broken 
shells, the contents of which have been used for food— a so-called 
kitchen midden. It is said that such houses were inhabited here 
until the commencement of this century. ; 
At the present time these venerable relics of antiquity are in a 
comparatively good state of preservation; the great danger 
menacing them is that of rabbits. Rabbits are not very numerous 
in the islands, and the natives when digging up their burrows are 
apt to be regardless of other considerations, in fact I saw in several 
places holes in the roadway quite six feet deep, which had been 
made in this way. It isa pity that the provisions of the Act for 
the Protection of Ancient Monuments have not been extended to 
Ireland. 
Before approaching the epoch of the introduction of Christianity 
into Aran, I have still one other relic to notice—viz., the stump of 
a round tower, unfortunately now only a stump, four or five feet 
high, with a circumference of 45 feet round the base. Eighty- 
eight years ago Dr. Petrie was told by an old islander that it was 
formerly 82 feet high. ‘These mysterious structures, called round 
towers, are peculiar to Ireland ; they are cylindrical in shape, are 
from 60 to go feet in height, are surmounted by a conical cap, and 
are destitute of any entrance into the interior. The timé when they 
were erected is uncertain, but it was evidently long after the period 
of the duns, as they are built up of dressed blocks of masonry, 
cemented together. Nothing is known with any certainty of the 
use to which they were devoted, although there are endless theories 
about them, but there is little doubt that they were connected with 
religious observances. 
I now come to a period in the history of Aran possessing an 
interest of an entirely different kind, although still full of attraction 
for the Archzologist. This period is that of the introduction of 
Christianity into the islands by St. Endeus, in the sixth century. 
The name of this person is written indifferently Endeus or Enda 
jn the old Latin lives of the saints, and is called Eaney or Eana in 
the spoken Erse. He belonged to the royal house of Oriel, a 
territory comprising the present counties of Louth, Armagh, and 
