Deane — On Ancient Monuments in Co. Kerry. 101 



Lubbock's Act of 1882. Since then they have been vested in the 

 Board of "Works by an Order in Council, and a portion of the last 

 grant from the Treasury has been devoted to their investigation. 



I was fortunate in securing the services of Mr. D'Arcy, of whose 

 zeal and efficiency I cannot speak too highly ; and the result, so far as 

 it has gone, has been most satisfactory. The ruins, such as Gallerus, 

 certain cells, the Church of Kilmakedar, and others at the north side, 

 Garfinny and Ballintaggert on the southern, have for some time been 

 cared for under the vesting order of 1875 ; the funds being found by a 

 grant under the Church Act of 1885, and subsequently increased. 



To visit these ruins described by Hitchcockrequires some climbing, 

 rough walking, and knowledge as to where they lie to enable a visitor 

 to see them. The roofs of the beehive cells as a rule have fallen in ; 

 the walls are standing, and the interior filled up with fallen delris ; 

 the very fact of the destruction of the roofs has protected what remains. 

 The work I have done consists of removing this debris, and laying bare 

 the original floors, and further investigating what exists beneath the 

 flooring. 



In 1844 Dr. Petrie wrote an interesting letter to the late Sir F. 

 Larcom, pointing out the great interest of the district ; and the present 

 Sir F. Burton, who was then an official in Ireland, replied to Petrie in 

 a long and exhaustive letter, 4n which he rather doubts Petrie's fixing 

 the date of these structures so remote as he was disposed to. Burton 

 bases his objection to remote antiquity on not finding the beehive 

 structures surrounded by a cashel or wall, but I think he must have 

 overlooked many instances where such buildings are so surrounded, 

 especially at Glenfaun. 



There is considerable evidence that a great Milesian expedition 

 from Spain, some time before our era, landed in this part of Ireland. 

 Differences of opinion exist as to the exact spot, but all point to a 

 locality in proximity to Dingle. I do not venture to give any direct 

 opinion as to the origin of the structures which cover the peninsula, 

 but rather give the results of my investigations, and allow the reader 

 to form his own conclusions, and press further for a solution of the 

 difficulty. 



On the other hand, there is evidence that in St. Brandon's time, 

 the 6th century, the district of Dingle was inhabited by a large colony 

 of monks, three thousand in number ; so the remains studding this dis- 

 trict may claim the more ancient date of the Milesian invasion, or the 



^ See Stokes' Life of George Petrie, p. 163. 



