DouErty—On the Abbey of Fahan. 99 
the whole staff is much corroded, it was necessary, in order to give a 
just idea of the artistic character of the decorations on this boss, 
to represent all its ornamentation, and that my drawing should illus- 
trate it, not in its corroded state, but as it was originally.” He con- 
sidered that it was ornamented with amber, such ornature existing on 
some brooches in the Academy’s collection, or that it might have been 
ornamented with painted china, two specimens of which survive on 
the celebrated cross of Cong. The latter supposition is strengthened 
by the fact that such decorations are numerous on the ancient and 
beautiful crozier belonging to the Duke of Devonshire, a relic which 
has been illustrated in O’ Neill’s work on the ‘“‘ Fine Arts and Civiliza- 
tion of Ancient Ireland.” 
The Chain of St. Mura. 
The chain of St. Mura has been preserved; it is now in the 
Academy, having formed part of Dr. Petrie’s collection. It is of 
bronze, and may have been attached to the cloak or outer garment, as 
a badge of office in the manner of mayoralty chains. The author is 
indebted for the particulars relating to the crozier and chain to Mr. 
Wakeman, the author of the Handbook of Irish Antiquities. 
The Bell of St. Mura.’ 
Another object of antiquarian interest, supposed to belong to the 
time of the seventh century, formerly heldin great veneration, and con- 
nected with this abbey, is the Bell of St. Mura, the preservation of 
which to the present time is in itself sufficient to show the esteem 
and veneration in which it was held by its possessors. It was pur- 
chased about the year 1850 from a resident in the townland of 
Ludden, near Fahan, by Mr. John M‘Clelland of Dungannon, who 
has given a graphic description of the Bell and its workmanship, in a 
Paper published in the Ulster Journal of Archeology, with illustra- 
tions. The present locale of the Bell is doubtful; some antiquarians 
assign it to the British Museum, but the author’s recent inquiry on 
the point was answered in the negative by the Curator of that Insti- 
tution. Further inquiries to endeavour to establish its Jocale have as 
yet been attended with no satisfactory result. Unfortunately the famine 
years compelled the humble possessors of the Bell, then residing at 
Lisfannon near Fahan, to dispose of this precious and venerable sou- 
venir of bygone art, which it is hoped may, through the medium of 
this notice, soon find its way to the Museum of the Academy. 
5A drawing inthe Ulster Journal of Archeology, vol. i. Since reading this Paper 
the author received a letter from His Grace the Duke of Leinster, saying that the 
Bell of St. Mura is at present in the museum of his sister-in-law, Lady Otho 
Fitzgerald. 
© Loc, cit., vol. i. p- 274. 
