156 JOURNAL AND PROCEEDINGS 



a cave where Cleena, the Queen of the Fairies, is supposed to hold 

 her Court. On removing the sods and surface soil from a central 

 point the spade came in contact with a large flag resting on others in 

 an upright position. On removing the upper slab I discovered an 

 underground passage, running apparently in the direction of the 

 nearest rath. Owing to foul air I was unable to penetrate more than 

 a few yards, but I came to a small chamber, built of stone, without 

 mortar or cement, bee-hive shaped like the kists. Probably all the 

 raths around were connected in this manner for defensive purposes. 



A gentleman in Mayo, some miles from Castlebar, pointed out 

 to me a similar chamber in a rath there. He suggested it may 

 have been used for storing wheat, etc ; I thought so too. The cham- 

 ber had also a spring well. The site was in a military point of view 

 admirably selected in every way. I am inclined to believe some 

 of the raths were occupied more recently than is suspected. I 

 obtained, on more than one occasion, tobacco pipes differing but 

 slightly from clay ones now used ; a hand quern for crushing wheat, 

 etc., is precisely like the ones you may remark in the cabins of the 

 Connaught peasantry yet. I have seen coins of James II., which 

 were said to be obtained from the trench of a rath. 



In the Rhind lecture for 1889 Professor Munro concluded as 

 follows : — "The earliest lake dwellers of the stone age knew the arts 

 of spinning and weaving, cultivated the cereals, had domestic cattle, 

 paid attention to ornament, and in fact were in possession of all the 

 elements of civilization." After a period of transition the stone passed 

 into the bronze, characterized by higher refinement and knowledge. 

 He thinks the latter was brought about by the advent of a new race 

 of settlers. From the sudden appearance of the iron age and the 

 perfection which iron itself appears to have attained at once, he 

 showed it indicated a new race of people who had conquered the 

 old lake dwellers. His conclusion was that they were a branch of 

 the original Celts, i. e., the ancient Aryan stock. 



The extract above differs little from what he stated in his work 

 " Scottish Lake Dwellings." Neither does it in a general way from 

 my conclusion regarding the early inhabitants of Ireland. 



In one of the Irish cranogues, DunshaugUn, Meath, among a 

 vast number of antiquities, human remains, etc., several slate and 

 bone disks were discovered, precisely like the ones from the Canary 

 Islands, Teneriffe. The cranium of a Guanche mummy coincides 



