THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 171 



namented with precious stones, now in Dublin, may have belonged 

 to statutes of the Virgin. I am inclined to acquiesce in this view 

 generally. I am not fully satisfied respecting all. In the fresco 

 painted for O'Kelly, of Hymany, A. D. 1400, Knockmay Abbey, 

 the Royal personage there represented wears a crown. Donough, 

 son to Brian Boruma, is said to have taken the Irish crown to Rome 

 after his defeat by his nephew. 



What is more natural than to suppose that through barter and 

 intercourse they had acquired a certain knowledge of navigation 

 from the Sidonian traders ? Admitting that the traditions of the bards 

 are very often rather mixed and conflicting, for all that it seems to 

 me there underlies an historical page we are not justified in reject- 

 mg. I understand that both German and French antiquarians are 

 now investigating the matter. 



In alluding to Celtic dwellings I omitted to mention the artifi- 

 cial caves of North-east Ireland. Some are natural ones, but subse- 

 quently improved or enlarged apparently. The subterranean ones, 

 at least in some cases, are probably the underground passages of 

 ancient raths which have been levelled and ploughed over. I failed 

 also to point out that bronze needles were used by the inhabitants of 

 Ireland long before the useful article was introduced by a Negro into 

 England in the reign of Queen Mary. The gold-adorned shield or 

 corselet (found near Lismore), which was purchased by a Cork gold- 

 smith for ^600, I presume was melted down The golden helmet 

 from Tipperary, which Walker states was offered for sale in Dublin, 

 very likely shared the same fate. Note that the famous Durham 

 book now in the British Museum, date A. D. 698, although executed 

 by Saxon monks, taught by St. Aiden, is Irish as regards design. It 

 came from Lindisfarne. 



