354 Observations on the 
was actually hung. If we consider, in addition 
to these facts, that the other hy potheses respect- 
ing the Towers are either in themselves highly 
improbable, or unsupported by history, we 
think that little doubt will remain on any 
unprejudiced mind of their real destination 
and use. 
_ That they were built for Belfries, and ap- 
plied to that purpose, and that alone, appears 
to us so evident, that we should not have en- 
tered so much at length into the subject, 
were we not aware how many respectable 
writers have differed on the subject, and how 
few persons amongst our acquaintance are 
disposed to admit our conclusions. 
Let us now enquire fora moment when 
and by whom these singular Towers were 
erected. 
Christianity was introduced into Ireland 
early in the 4th century, and monasteries 
established in the 5th. — 
About the middle of the 9th century, the ~ 
invasion of the Danes, or Ostmen, as they 
were called, took place. 
Tillthey arrived, it is confidently asserted, 
that the native Irish had no building of stone, 
(x) and most probably they had none of im- 
portance. The stone-roofed chapels, build- 
(x) See Ledwich’s Antiquities of Ireland. 
