RoTHERAM — On some Caves in the Co. Meath. 309 



Close to Millbrook, near Oldcastle, is a small cave (Plate YII., 

 fig'. 5) "whicli is almost filled up. The plan I give of it is at the 

 level of the surface of the debris in the chamber. Some years ago 

 a friend contrived to get about 12 ft. along the passage marked a, 

 but this passage has since been filled almost to the top by the rabbits 

 Avhich have taken possession of the place. The passage y8 only 

 extends a few feet, and the stones which roof it are continued across 

 the roof of the chamber as if the latter was regarded by its builders 

 as an enlargement of this passage. I have met no other cave in 

 which the roof of the passage is practically at the same level as the 

 roofij]g flags of the chamber. In the elevation of this cave the part 

 below the surface of the debris is an imaginary restoration. 



The debris with which the chamber is filled' contains quantities of 

 bones said to be human, and tradition declares them to be the bones 

 of malefactors who suffered on the gallows, which gave the name of 

 Gallows Hill to the slight elevation in which this cave is situated, 

 and who are said to have been interred there. The cave lies on one 

 side of a small rath about 22 paces in diameter. I have been told 

 that traces of a passage were found across the road, about 30 yards to 

 the south of this cave. 



About a mile and a-half from here is the garden of Loughcrew, and 

 in it is the entrance to the largest and most perfect cave I have seen. As 

 will be seen from the plan (Plate VII., fig. 6), the entrance is at (a), and 

 the passage seems to have been made with a view to defence. Anyone 

 inside armed with a club could make it impossible for an invader to 

 enter, supposing the defender to have taken up his position above the 

 step, at which point an invader would arrive on his hands and knees. 

 Between here and the southern chamber, three of the roofing-stones 

 project downwards in such a way that anyone who was unacquainted 

 Avith the place, in passing down the passage, would bring his head 

 into violent contact with them. The southern chamber, 18 ft. in dia- 

 meter, is a triumph of the art of dry masonry, and is much the finest 

 chamber examined in my expeditions. The other chamber is entered 

 from the northern end of the long passage by another ishort passage, 

 the roof of which, where it joins the long passage, is level witli the 

 floor of the latter. In the plan the unshaded part is on a higher level 

 at the points of junction than the two passages communicating with 

 it, both of which are shaded. 



In all the elevations of caves which illustrate this Paper the 

 inclines are approximate, but are sufficiently near the truth to serve 

 for all practical purposes. 



