210 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



with, however, a very abundant use of "spawls," and much intelligence 

 shown in their use. 



The mortar seems, indeed, to have been employed rather to secure 

 the " spawfs " than to bed the stones. 



The material is, for the most part, of granite; but here and there 

 may be noticed stones, more or less dressed, of limestone, evidently 

 dressed glacial boulders from the drift, and some slabs of mica-schist 

 from Killiney shore. As " spawls " were employed, pieces of granite, 

 mica-schist, andalucite-schist from Killiney shore, and even pieces of 

 the " epidiorite" now found in Killiney Park, and described by the 

 author of the present Paper in the Proc. Eoy. Ir. Acad. (3rd Series, 

 vol. vi., No. 1). As to the source which furnished the greater part of 

 the material, the rounded and weathered nature of which is so evident^ 

 it may be recalled here that a dun, or fort, existed on the island prior 

 to Christian times. It is mentioned in "The Annals of the Four 

 Masters," p. 6, as having been built, according to that authority, in the 

 age of the world 3501, by Sedgha, a Milesian chief of great renown. 

 This date would, according to the chronology of these authorities, 

 correspond to b.c. 1700. It may be assumed that its remains still 

 existed down into Christian times ; and there is therefore a certain 

 probability that the material employed in the construction of the 

 church was, to some extent, procured from the remains of this " dun,''^ 

 since so few loose stones or boulders are to be met with at present on 

 the island. It would certainly add to the interest attaching to the 

 present ruin if it were presumable that the materials employed there- 

 for had at one time formed part of the walls of that prehistoric 

 monument. 



That the materials for the building of the dun itself were all pro- 

 cured from the neighbouring shore is hardly likely, and such would 

 imply the use of a size and style of coasting vessel, and skill in 

 handling it, that might with difficiilty be conceded to the " Milesians" 

 of B.C. 1700; but that some part of the material may have been so 

 transported is conceivable. 



The only openings in the walls, besides the western door, are the 

 small window in the south wall described by Wakeman, and con- 

 sidered by him as ■original. He gives a sketch of it on p. 702 of the 

 volume containing the paper. This woodcut is so far incorrect as it 

 would lead to the impression that the jambs of this window are 

 vertical, or but slightly inclined. But the contrary is the case ; the 

 window is at 360 cm. from the present ground-level on the outside ; 

 it has a single-stone lintel and sill. The breadth in the clear under 



