Frazer—On a Great Sepulchral Mound. 29 
XI.—Descrietion oF A GREAT SEPuLCHRAL Mounp at AYLEsBURY- 
ROAD, NEAR DoNnNnYBROOK, IN THE County oF DUBLIN, CONTAINING 
Human anp Antmat REMAINS, AS WELL AS SOME OBJECTS OF 
ANTIQUARIAN INTEREST, REFERABLE TO THE TENTH oR ELEVENTH 
Centuries. By Wo1am Frazer, F.R.C.8.1., M-R.I.A. (With 
Woodcuts. ) 
[Read, November 10th, 1879. ] 
In placing upon record the strange and unexpected discovery of a 
great quantity of human remains obtained at Donnybrook, near the 
city of Dublin, I intend to give a simple relation of the circumstances 
under which they were found, and to describe in as full a manner as 
I am able all the attendant features of importance, and to leave 
conjectures about the cause of their accumulation, and theories 
regarding the special period in Irish history when it took place, for 
matters of secondary consideration, open to discussion hereafter, as 
subjects on which differences of opinion might be entertained. Nor do 
I purpose to treat of the special ethnology of this find, except in brief 
detail, as it would deserve a distinct investigation—contenting myself 
with mere sketches of the leading points that were ascertained about 
the characters of the skulls and other bones. 
The first intimation that reached me of this vast charnel heap was 
on the 3rd day of October, 1879, but no idea was then entertained of 
the great quantities of bones that were afterwards disinterred, or 
rather unearthed, for they were all found lying on the surface of the 
original soil, covered with a mere superficial layer of clay, not con- 
tained in graves, pits, or excavated cavities. I owe the information 
to my friend Mr. Thomas Wardrop, for which I feel much his debtor, 
as also for the liberal access he gave me to the locality itself, and for 
placing his workmen at my disposal when I required them to assist 
my researches by excavations. Mr. Wardrop had purchased the ground 
at Aylesbury-road to erect some houses, and he stated that, in digging 
up the field at the rere of his new houses, his workmen had procured 
several human bones; amongst them was a perfect skull of large size, 
that had the mark of a sword-cut upon its forehead, and they had 
found with them a spear-head of iron and an iron sword, all of which 
he had laid aside for me, and he invited me to examine the place 
where these were got. I visited the locality that evening, made a 
searching inquiry into every circumstance connected with the dis- 
covery of the bones, and got possession of the skull; of a sword, which 
was at once recognised as belonging to the Scandinavian type of 
weapon, being broad and double-edged, with iron hilt and pommel; 
and I also obtained the iron spear-head, which was likewise of un- 
doubted Scandinavian origin. 
The workmen during that day had unearthed additional human 
