152 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 
XXIX.—SEPULCHRAL AND OTHER Preuistoric Retics, CouNntTIES 
Wexrorp and Wicxtow. By G. H. Kiynanan, M.RIA., &e. 
With Plates VIII. and IX. 
{Read, 24th April, 1882. ] 
Waite engaged in the geological examination of the country adjacent 
to the mearing of the counties of Wicklow and Wexford, I found that 
in the vicinity of the range in which Croghan-Kinshella is the highest 
peak, sepulchral and more or less allied relics have been observed from 
time to time ; and as these, or at least most of them, do not appear to 
have been recorded, I take the liberty of laying my notes, on those 
with which I am acquainted, before the Members of the Academy. 
Many of them are in the Manor of Wingfield, the property of the 
Right Hon. Viscount Powerscourt, and to these my attention was 
directed by Myles Byrne, of Wicklow Gap, son of his Lordship’s 
gamekeeper; while Lord Powerscourt courteously gave me permission 
to make any explorations I pleased on his property. In the following 
notes we shall begin with the most eastward of the antiquities now 
referred to. 
Kirtanvrra Moar.—This lies south-eastward of Croghan-Kinshella, 
in the County Wicklow. Some years ago a smith of the name of 
Sullivan dug in it for treasure, and is said to have exhumed an urn. 
At the time of the last British Association Meeting in Dublin Pro- 
fessor M‘Kenny Hughes, of Cambridge, cut a trench across it, and 
found, nearly half way up from the base, a horizontal layer of ashes. 
Mottavun Urn.—Maullaun is situated near the church and well of 
Kilnenor, in the County Wexford, to the south of Croghan-Kinshella. 
Here some years ago three men, while removing a ditch, came on a 
kistvaen, and left it, intending to open it at midnight, but when they 
returned at midnight the howling of the wind in the trees frightened 
them away ; afterwards when it was opened an urn with ashes were 
found. The common belief in all this country is, that if the urn is 
opened at the proper moment, which is generally considered to be 
midnight, it will contain gold; but if at any other time the gold will 
melt into ashes. When this is supposed to have happened, the urn is 
nearly always smashed. Some recommend that before you see the urn 
you should partially raise the top stone, and with your hand slip into 
the urn half a sovereign, as ‘‘ gold makes gold grow.’”’? If you find a 
treasure you must kill a cat, as otherwise it will bring you ill luck. 
As in this case, so also in many others in the area, the kistvaens 
have of late years been found nearly always while levelling old 
ditches. In explanation of this I would suggest the following : when 
the land was first fenced into fields, any kistvaens that might be on 
the line of a fence would not be disturbed, and would remain until 
the ditch was taken away; while all others would be discovered and 
destroyed during the subsequent tillage of the land. This idea is cor- 
