6 Astronomical Instrument of the Ancient Irish. 
Syros, tosee Pherecydes the philosopher, then to Miletus, to Thales, then to Sidon, in 
Phenicia, where he remained some time, and then to Egypt, where Solon and Thales 
had been before him, and stayed there twenty-five years. He also went to Chaldea, to 
visit Babylon. 
I am aware that Pythagoras is claimed by the Greeks, but they admit his birth and 
education to have been Phenician. The Greeks were furtive in this respect. Accord- 
ing to them, Hercules was a Greek, and at the same time, they admit the Tyrian Her- 
cules was the most ancient who bore that name. There is little doubt, that had the 
Tyrian Hercules not existed, we should never have heard of the Greek hero. The 
fact is, they borrowed their science, learning, gods, heroes, and philosophers, all from 
the Phenicians; and there are strong grounds for doubting every Greek relation 
which has reference to their national vanity. 
Pythagoras taught what he learned from his masters at Sidon—the science, learn- 
ing, and philosophy, long known and taught in Phenicia ; which, however, being newv 
to the Greeks when promulgated by Pythagoras, were by them attributed to him as 
his own discoveries, and the works of his great mind. 
Here we have a glimpse of the reality on which is grounded the tradition of the 
ancient learning of the ancestors of the Irish people—that they were a colony of 
Phenicians. If not clearly established, every advance in the inquiry seems to confirm 
that opinion. 
