CON WELL — On the Cemetery of Taillten 



91 



Inside the retaining wall of large flag stones, as far as was ex- 

 amined, and, apparently, going all round the hase of the earn, was 

 piled up a layer, rising from three to four feet in height, and about 

 two feet in thickness, of broken lumps of sparkling native Irish quartz, 

 a rock which does not geologically belong to this part of the island ; 

 and which, consequently, must have found its way from some distant 

 locality. The nearest native beds of quartz rock are to be met with 

 at Howth, about fifty miles S. E. from Sliabh na Caillighe ; in "Wick- 

 low, sixty miles, S. E. ; in Donegal, ninety miles, IN". ; in Sligo, about 

 the same distance, ~N. W. ; in Galway, 110 miles, "W. ; but the frag- 

 ments used here may, probably, have been obtained on the spot from 

 some glacial deposits from Donegal, without actually transporting 

 them from any of the localities above mentioned. 



In the rifled state in which the interior of this earn was found by 

 us, during our explorations, in 1865, the entrance to the passage was 

 closed by two irregular blocks of stone ; and in the commencement of 

 the passage were dropped three large boulders, completely filling up 

 the first chamber in the passage to the height of about twenty inches, 

 and for six feet in length, up to the first stone standing across the 

 passage, and as far as the only remaining roofing stone over it. These 

 three rude boulders rested upon two flooring flags in the passage, 

 underneath which, when raised, was found a layer of very small stones 

 of different kinds, and chips of quartz. Among these loose ^™^ 

 stones on the bottom of the passage were deposited fragments f||p A 

 of bones, some pieces of which appeared to be portions of a 

 human skull, and four large molar teeth, either of a horse 

 or an ox. Although the general outline of the earn still re- 

 mains in its original state, the roofing stones covering the 

 passage, with one exception, No. 26, which is six feet in 

 length and eighteen inches in breadth and thickness, resting 

 across the third pair of uprights, have all long since disap- 

 peared, as well as the greater portion of the roofing stones 

 which formerly covered the central octagonal chamber. At 

 present there are only about thirty overlapping roofing stones 

 remaining in situ, carrying the roof over the central chamber 

 to a height of about ten feet. 



The first operation in the examination of this earn, 

 in September, 1865, was to remove the loose stones which, 

 in the vandalism of taking away the roofing stones at some 

 former period, had fallen in and filled up the passage and 

 chambers. Three large bones, probably belonging to a deer, 

 were found among the loose stones which filled up the cen- 

 tral chamber ; and near the bottom, among these stones, and 

 close to the entrance to the northern chamber, a bronze pin, 

 2|| inches in length, here represented full size, was found. 

 It is beautifully incrusted with that patina, or green enamel, lonze '"' 

 peculiar to bronze, and appears to have been much worn. The orna- 

 mentation on the head is shown at A. The stem, which also contains 





