Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy . 323 



LII. — Account of the Exploration of a Long" Barrow in the 

 County Fermanagh. By Thomas Plunkett. 



[Read January 10, 1876.] 



About five miles from Enniskillen, on the road leading to the village 

 of Derrygonnelly, there occurs a deep valley on the western side of 

 the road, through which a tributary of the Sillies river flows. The 

 valley is bounded on the north by a large dome-shaped hill, called 

 Tullycreavy [= "Branchy or Bushy Hill," Joyce] ; and on the south 

 side by a similar hill, the name of which is Tullycaltreagh [= " The 

 hill with the burial ground "]. 



An old road here branches off from the main road, and runs"along 

 the base of the hill, on the north side of the valley. After traversing it 

 for a quarter of a mile along the south side of Tullycreavy hill, a short 

 distance further on a romantic shady nook appears, on the north side 

 of the valley. On approaching it are seen hoary trunks of ancient 

 hawthorn trees, which, through decay have almost ceased to veil from 

 view the beautiful mound or long-barrow, on whose margins and sides 

 they have long flourished. In the summer of 1873 I paid a visit to 

 this place, accompanied by the owner, an old man of eighty summers, 

 who entertained a great veneration for it. 



Although the name of the townland on which this monument is 

 situated is Tullycreavy, yet the mound and its environments are called 

 by the peasantry " The Miracles," or the "Port in the Miracles." 

 Some antiquarians say that "Miracles" is a synonym for Ferta, 

 which, according to Dr. Joyce, means a " place of graves." Be this 

 as it may, the peasantry have always, in the memory of the oldest 

 inhabitants, regarded this place with feelings of awe and reverence. 



Being on intimate terms with the owner, I pressed him in a most 

 urgent way to allow me to explore the " fort," assuring him that I 

 would recoup him for any damage done to the place. He hesitated to 

 reply in the affirmative, and told me that several gentlemen had made 

 the same request, which he had always refused, because once in his 

 lifetime, after he had only cut a small tree in it, all his cattle died. 

 After a good deal of persuasion I overcame his objection, and he 

 granted my request. My next step was to procure men for the pur- 

 pose of exploring it, and my first application was to two able-bodied 

 men who lived near the place, and who were out of employment, but, 

 strange to say, they refused, and said they would have nothing to do 

 with that "gentle" place. Ultimately, however, I succeeded in 

 securing as many men as I required. 



Before passing on to explain the structure of the barrow, allow me 

 to say a word or two about the formation of the valley, as it will be 

 necessary to have an idea of its physical history, before we can under- 

 stand how the immense blocks of stones which compose the barrow 



• KR. II., VOL. I., POL. LIT. & ANT1Q. 2 Z 



