383 



lections of Irish Antiquities formed by the Dean of St. Pa- 

 trick's, and by himself. He observed that this class of anti- 

 quities had been but little attended to by Irish antiquaries — 

 a circumstance which he attributed to the want of general 

 collections of our national antiquities till a recent period : and 

 hence, if the question had been asked a short time since, 

 whether the Irish had the vise of signets generally amongst 

 them or not, it would have been impossible to give a decisive 

 answer. This question, however, can now be answered in 

 the affirmative ; but the period at which the use of seals 

 commenced in Ireland is still uncertain, as no Irish seals 

 anterior to the Anglo-Norman invasion have been found ; 

 or, if found, their discovery has not been recorded. As, 

 however, it is now certain that seals were used by the 

 Anglo-Saxons, it is not improbable that their use may have 

 been introduced into Ireland also — more especially as a re- 

 markable similarity prevailed between the two countries in 

 customs and in knowledge of the arts. 



The Irish seals hitherto discovered are similar in style 

 and device to the cotemporary seals of the Anglo-Normans 

 of similar ranks ; and, like the secular seals of the latter, are 

 usually of a circular form, whilst the ecclesiastical seals are 

 usually oval. 



The seals which Mr. Petrie described or exhibited to the 

 meeting were as follows : — 



1 . A drawing of an impression from the seal of Felim 

 O'Conor, King of Connaught, as published by Sir James 

 Ware. The device exhibits the figure of Felim on horse- 

 back, charging with sword in hand, and the legend reads, 



" S. FEDHLIM, REGIS CONACTIjE." 



This prince died in 1265. 



2. The seal of Donald Og, the son of Donald Roe 

 Mac Carthy, King or Prince of Desmond, who died in 1 309. 

 The device is similar to that of the preceding, and the le- 

 gend reads, 



