150 JOURNAI, AND PROCEEDINGS 



place you live in when you're dead." In the Irish bull he uncons- 

 ciously repeated the belief entertained by our Celtic or Aryan fore- 

 fathers, viz., that the soul or spirit frequents the place where the 

 mouldering clay is deposited. Stone circles similar to the one at 

 Stonehenge in England, and Brittany, are not uncommon. What 

 they were used for still remains an unsolved problem. The same 

 may be said of the pillar stones, although in some cases there is 

 reason to suppose some of the latter were erected to mark the spot 

 where a favorite chieftain or champion had fallen in battle. 



II- 



There was one kind of burial omitted in my last notes respect- 

 ing Pagan Ireland, perhaps because it seems to have been an un- 

 usual one, viz. : — when the king or chieftain was interred in a stand- 

 ing position, as an ancient poem states, " with the red javelin in his 

 hand and his face to his foes." Two skeletons at least were discov- 

 ered in this upright position, in one instance the covering flag rested 

 on the skull apparently. No weapon or ornament was found, so I 

 think we may infer the spear-heads were iron, w^hich could not be 

 very well preserved under such circumstances, that is if the arms 

 were actually placed beside the dead warriors, as stated by the bard. 

 A great many, if not the majority, of the bronze spears and celts in 

 Ireland were obtained from fords, in deepening the beds of rivers, 

 and in bogs. Owing to the green crust which has formed on them 

 they frequently present the appearance of malachite. In fact, one 

 is led to believe the immersion they had undergone materially con- 

 tributed to their extraordinary state of preservation. Many of the 

 iron spear-heads and javelins also were discovered in like situations, 

 but I cannot say if any deposit of carbonate of lime was noticed 

 as encrusting them. I am disposed to think they must have suffered 

 more from oxidation unless they were so protected. 



At Kildrinagh Ford, on the River Nore, Queen's County, a 

 very interesting discovery was made by the Board of Works some 

 years ago. On removing about a foot and a-half of the loose gravel 

 and sand, the workmen came on the remains of a bridge of black 

 bog oak, and embedded in the harder layer beneath were three 

 skulls ; near the human remains were four bronze swords, two iron 

 ones and two iron spear-heads. As far as I can recollect one 

 skull had a skean or dagger sticking in it. However, I may confound 



