74 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



li It must not, however, be forgotten, that the proper residence of 

 the Ultonians, who are said to have "been buried at Talten, was 

 Emania or Armagh, forty-five miles distant as the crow flies. Why 

 they should choose to be buried in Heath, so near the rival capital of 

 Tara, if that famous city then existed, is a mystery which it is not 

 easy to solve ; but that it was so, there seems no doubt, if the tra- 

 ditions or books of the Irish are at all to be depended upon. If their 

 real residence was so distant, it seems of trifling consequence whether 

 it was ten or twelve miles from the place we now know as Telltown. 

 There must have been some very strong reason for inducing the 

 Ultonians to bury so far from their homes ; but as that reason has not 

 been recorded, it is idle to attempt to guess what form it took. "What 

 would appear a most reasonable suggestion to a civilized Saxon in the 

 nineteenth century would, in all probability, be the direct antithesis 

 of the motive that would guide an uncivilized Celt in the first century 

 before Christ, and we may therefore as well give up the attempt. 

 Some other reason than that of mere proximity to the place of resi- 

 dence governed the Irish in the choice of the situation of their 

 cemeteries ; what that was we may hereafter be able to find out ; 

 at present, so far as I know, the materials do not exist for forming an 

 opinion. If, however, this is not Talten, no graves have been found 

 nearer Telltown which would at all answer to the description that 

 remains to us of this celebrated cemetery ; and, till they are found, 

 these Loughcrew mounds seem certainly entitled to the distinction. I 

 cannot see that the matter is doubtful."* 



A little further on we hope to be able to help Mr. Fergusson to a 

 solution of some of the doubts and difficulties which he feels in esta- 

 blishing his hypothesis; and, in the meantime, we must say that we en- 

 tirely agree with him in thinking that he has truly identified the an- 

 cient royal cemetery of Taillten with the series of earns on the Lough- 

 crew Hills. So far as we can see there is no other way of accounting 

 for the extensive remains of so large a necropolis at that place ; and, if 

 a better hypothesis can be established, no one will more sincerely 

 rejoice at it than Mr. Fergusson and ourselves. If, however, this is not 

 the site of the cemetery of Taillten, of the existence of which we have 

 such positive documentary evidence, where is it ? or hy what other 

 name can this great cemetery be called ? for there are no indications 

 of burial at, or nearer to, the place we now call Telltown. 



That this latter place may have been the scene of the celebration 

 of various games, aquatic sports, races, and, according to tradition, the 

 far-famed " Telltown marriage" ceremony,f we see no reason to dis- 

 pute. 



* Fergusson's " Eude Stone Monuments," p. 219. 



f The parish of Telltown is situate in the Barony of Upper Kells ; and, according 

 to the Ordnance Survey, has an area of 4266a. Or. 34p. statute measure, containing a 

 townland, also called Telltown, of 626 acres in extent. In this townland, about 

 sixty perches north of the River Blackwater, and about twice that distance north of 

 Telltown House, is a very remarkable Rath, called Reich Dubh {Black Rath), 



