(332) 
OBSERVATIONS 
ON 
THE ROUND TOWERS 
OF IRELAND. 
BY ROBERT HYDE GREG, ESQ. 
(Read before the Society, March 7th, 1823.) 
On Lough Neagh’s bank, as the fisherman strays, 
When the clear cold eve’s declining, 
He sees the Round Towers of other days 
In the wave beneath him shining. 
Moore’s Irish Melodies. 
We never regard without feelings of lively 
interest, never contemplate without emotions 
of pleasure, any monument of antiquity, 
however small its remains, or rude its con- 
struction, however obscure its origin, or un- 
intelligible its use, or whatever may be the 
story, real or fictitious, with which it is con- 
nected. The pleasure so derived is sometimes, 
it is true, of a melancholy nature. The ob- 
ject we look on may lead us to reflect on the 
ages gone by, and nations swept from the 
face of the earth since its erection. It may 
be atomb which covers the ashes of a hero 
