Conwell — On the Cemetery of Taillten. 83 



of solemn grandeur.* "What wonder, then, that one old bardic chro- 

 nicler, as we have seen, should have called this place " the fair •hilled 

 Taillten," and that another should have described it as " The cemetery 

 of Taillten, the select'*'? 



No wonder that the great Ultonian kings and chiefs, and other 

 kings and celebrities, at whatever distance they may have usually re- 

 sided, should have yearned to make this spot their last resting place. 

 Indeed, to us the only wonder is, that so remarkable a site for a ceme- 

 tery should have been ever abandoned, so long as pagan sepulture was 

 practised in the country. 



From the accompanying Map the distribution and relative sites of 

 the still-remaining earns can be best studied. Under the nomencla- 

 ture of the letters of the alphabet each earn has already been sum- 

 marily described by us, on 26th February, 1866, and published in the 

 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Yol. IX., p. 355, &c, to 

 which, for further details, reference can be made. 



Looking at this map of the earns, one cannot but be struck with 



* In addition to what nature has done to lay the foundation of scenic beauty in 

 this district, it is but justice to record that much of the picturesque effect, looking 

 westwards, is essentially due to the critical judgment and refined artistic taste with 

 which, during a long life, the late James Lenox William Xaper, Esq., D. L M directed 

 and superintended the various improvements carried out upon his extensive estate. 

 His benevolent disposition and his genuine kindness of heart induced him, with the 

 exception of occasional short absences, to spend his useful life upon his own pro- 

 perty, almost daily devising plans for adding to the comforts of his poorer class of 

 tenantry ; but, above all, feeling and taking the deepest practical interest in the 

 successful working of the excellent schools upon his property, as he believed them to 

 be the most effective engines for promoting social progress, with certainty and per- 

 manency, in the humbler ranks of life. The following incident may be worth 

 recording, as it affords an explanation of the origin of some of the charming views 

 about Loughcrew. 



From the opening of the singularly successful schools in 01dca£tle, a founded and 

 endowed under the will of a native of the town, Laurence Gilson, whose death took 

 place on 14th April, 1810, the late J. L. W. Naper, Esq., acted as chairman of the 

 board of trustees by whom the schools are managed ; and, up to the period of his 

 death, on 2nd September, 1868, uniformly took a deep interest in watching over 

 their efficient working. The annual public examination of the schools was fixed 

 for Tuesday, 9th June, 1868, while the writer, who acted as Inspector of the schools 

 for the trustees, was one of an antiquarian party on a visit to Loughcrew. On that 

 morning, while pacing about in front of Loughcrew House with Mr. Naper, who 

 was awaiting the coming round of his carriage to proceed to the examination, the 

 writer happened to remark, while looking in the direction of Lough Sheelin — " "What 

 a picturesque scene !" This accidental observation appeared to amuse him ; and he 

 then stated that, after the site for the house had been fixed upon, he, standing where 

 we then stood, sketched the outline of the undulating country in front, in all its 

 arid bareness of character ; and, having afterwards in his studio worked up this out- 

 line into a picture to please himself, he planted here and there accordingly, leaving 

 some hill tops bare, others crowned with wood, and, in the whole, producing the 

 present exquisite panoramic view, which he lived to the good old age of seventy-six 

 to enjoy from the front of Loughcrew House. 



* During the year 1871, of the children of the town and neighbourhood receiving an excellent free 

 education, in addition to being gratuitously supplied with all necessary books and school requisites, 

 there was an average of 615-3 pupils on the rolls of the three schools ( Boys', Girls', and Infants') 

 in the Institution; and, on an average, there were 3727 of these pupils in actual daily 

 attendance throughout the year. 



