328 



executed. The end is hollow, to admit a staff, by which the 

 cross was carried, like the crosier of an archbishop. The 

 height of the shaft is about two feet and a half, and the span 

 of the arms about nineteen inches. 



Having made the foregoing observations, suggested by 

 an actual inspection of the cross, Professor Mac Cullagh 

 said that he would leave it to Mr. Petrie to give a more 

 minute description of it, as well as to relate its history, how 

 it was made at Clonmacnoise, and thence migrated to Cong, 

 with many curious particulars which he had discovered 

 respecting it by a comparison of existing documents. Mr. 

 Petrie had been requested by the Academy to draw up a 

 paper on the subject, (see p. 212) ; and it was to be hoped 

 that he would soon comply with their desire. 



In presenting the cross to the Academy, Professor 

 Mac Cullagh stated, that his motive for doing so was, by 

 putting it in the possession of a public body, to save it from 

 that shameful process of destruction to which every thing 

 venerable in Ireland has been exposed for centuries, and to 

 contribute, at the same time, to the formation of a national 

 collection, the want of which, he had been told, was regarded 

 by Sir Walter Scott as a disgrace to a country so abounding 

 in valuable remains. He trusted the time was not far distant 

 when that reproach would be no longer merited ; when the 

 relics of antiquity, now scattered over the kingdom, would 

 find their way to a place where they could be appreciated, 

 studied, and preserved. He believed, indeed, that there 

 already existed in the public mind a strong disposition in 

 favour of such a plan ; a disposition that only required to 

 be awakened into action. For, no sooner had his intention 

 with respect to the cross become known to a few friends, 

 than a subscription was set on foot, to procure, for a similar 

 purpose, the two magnificent torques found thirty years ago 

 at Tara. These had travelled to England and back again, 

 and they narrowly escaped being sent out of the country a 



