O'Reilly — On the Waste of the Coant of Irelftnd, ^c. 191 



west side of Ballinskelligs Bay, has not been veiy long separated 

 from land. A little to the north of this island, the shore of the bay, 

 there composed of ' drift,' has within the historic period been so much 

 worn and can'ied away by the sea, that the foundation has been 

 washed from under part of the ruined abbey of Ballinskelligs, which 

 was probably built at some distance from the water's- edge, and the 

 skeletons of people buried in the adjoining grave-yard exposed. — 

 A. B. W." 



"The Ancient and Present State of the County Kerry." Charles 

 .Smith, Dublin, 1756. 



(p. 102.) — ** The sea towards the bottom of Ballinaskelligs Bay is 

 making great devastations and encroaching on the land every winter. 

 The cliffs are very high, but are unable to resist the fury of the ocean, 

 as they are only formed of different strata of clay." 



(p. 103.) — " At Ballinaskelligs are to be seen the ruins of a very 

 ancient abbey or friary of the Order of Augustine Canons : it was 

 formerly removed hither from the island called the Great Skelligs, 

 where there was a monastery, consisting of several cells, dedicated to 

 St. Michael the Archangel, and is mentioned by Giraldus Cambrensis. 

 The time of its foundation is not known, but it must have been of 

 great antiquity, probably as early as the sixth century. The ' Annals 

 of the Abbey of Innisfallen,' in Lough Lane, in this county, say that 

 Flann M'Callach, abbot of Slcellig, died in the year 885. At what 

 time the monks quitted the island is uncertain, but by the large traces 

 of ruined buildings, which the sea is continually demolishing, it 

 appears that this abbey had been formerly a very large edifice. 



" There are some traces of a town still remaining, besides a small 

 castle, built formerly on an isthmus to defend the harbour against 

 pirates, who had done considerable mischief hereabouts." 



(p. 187.) — "Between the Harbour of Smerwick and Eerriter's 

 Creek, the land lies low, and hath been much covered with sand 

 by the sea and wind of late years. This isthmus is hardly a mile 

 broad, growing narrower every winter, and will probably become 

 an island. 



"The Great Blasket Island, opposite to this place, is said by tradi- 

 tion to have been formerly joined to the continent, and the country 

 people show an old ditch, which they say points to an opposite one at 

 Dunmore. The sound between that island and the mainland is of 

 great depth, and the currents of both ebb and flood set through it 

 with prodigious force and rapidity." 



R.I.A. PROC, VOL. XXIV., SEC. B.] Q 



