164. 



the seat of Mr. Thomas Adair, in a field which was being 

 ploughed, in the spring of 1840. After a few urns had been 

 found, there being some difficulty in preserving them en- 

 tire, Mr. Adair, with a commendable desire to avoid the de- 

 struction of remains so full of interest, caused the cairn, in 

 which these urns were found, to be closed carefully, and re- 

 stored the ground to its former state as nearly as might be, in 

 order to leave it to some skilful and experienced antiquary to 

 explore the entire in a more deliberate and scientific manner. 



The discovery was occasioned by one of the horses which 

 were in the plough suddenly stumbling, one of his legs 

 having sunk nearly up to the knee in a deep hole. On exa- 

 mination it was found he had put his foot into a fine sepul- 

 chral urn, which, it need hardly be stated, was broken into 

 shivers. 



On a slight further search a second urn was discovered. 

 Every effort was made to preserve this one entire, but in 

 vain ; it fell to pieces in the hands of the person who took it 

 up. A third urn was then exposed, when Mr. Adair finding 

 it impossible to save them, put a stop for the time to the fur- 

 ther opening of the cairn. 



The cairn in which these urns were found is situated 

 in the townland of Loughanmore, and not far from the 

 Loughan or lake (now drained) from which the townland de- 

 rives its name. It hes within a field called the cove-park, 

 there being one or more artificial caves, or coves (as they 

 are termed by the Antrim peasantry), within it. And from 

 a hollow sound which the ground gives, other caves, as yet 

 unopened, are confidently supposed to exist near where the 

 urns were found. 



The cairn in question is indicated by so very slight an 

 elevation of the surface, that it was in course of being ploughed 

 over without any particular notice, till the finding of the urns 

 drew Mr. Adair's attention to it. This elevation was then 

 observed to have a circumference of some twelve or fourteen 



