208 Fvoceeding^ of the Royal Irish Academy. 



also lies near the little rocky cove by which communication is still 

 had "with the land: and to the west of it, at a comparatively short 

 distance, stands the rock with the cross and circle described as Greek 

 by Dr. Graves, and mentioned and sketched by "VTakeman in his Paper 

 already referred to. Towards the east the ground rises, as indicated 

 hy the section, and nearly hides the structure on that side, since but 

 the summit of the roof and the points of the gables could be seen from 

 the sea. This disposition may have been intentional, with a view to 

 more completely hiding the building from the attacks of the sea-rovers, 

 who seem to have continually infested these coasts, and, indeed, those 

 of Ireland in general, more notably during the seventeenth and 

 eighteenth centuries, as would appear from the Public Ptecords. In 

 the Report of the Keeper of Public Eecords in Ireland (2nd ^klay, 

 1888), p. 23, mention is made of "the orders and letters concerning 

 principally the guarding of the coasts against pirates, Tnrkish and 

 other sea-rovers, with instructions to the commanders how to carry 

 out the orders of the State," and dating from 1631 to 1638. 



The roof of the church, just overlooking the sea to the east and 

 north-east, would have afforded an advantageous position for a look- 

 out, from which to give warning by means of a bell to those on land. 

 In this respect it may not be out of place to cite the following from 

 Chambers's "Encyclopaedia" of 1864 under the word '■'■ 2[arteUo 

 Tower " :— 



" The name is said to have been taken from certain Italian 

 towers buUt near the sea during the period when piracy was common 

 in the Mediterranean, for the pui'pose of keeping watch and giving 

 ■warning if a pirate ship was seen approaching. This warning was 

 given by striking on a bell with a hammer (ital., " maitello "), and 

 hence the towers were called (" Torri da 2IarteJlo^'). Such a look- 

 out should, of course, have been constantly kept up, and necessitated, 

 therefore, the continuous residence of an outlooker or outlookers on 

 the island. The position selected for the Oratory may also have been 

 influenced by the vicinity of the well, that of the landing cove, and 

 tlie relative shelter from the easterly and south-easterly storms 

 afforded by the ground. In any case the position was well selected 

 from all these points of view. 



As is indicated by the section, the eastern horizon would have 

 been visible from a point at the height of the belfry ; and it is 

 proposed to examine in this Paper the possibility and the probability 

 of the building having been either intended as, or at least used as, an 

 observatory for the determination, by direct observation, of the rising 



