O'Eeilly— 0/f/ Chuyches of Da Ike >/ Town and Is/aml. 225- 



These several concordances between the "vara" values and the 

 metric measurements, found for different parts of the Dalkev Island 

 church, can hardly be fortuitous, and go far to support the assump- 

 tion that Spanish masons, or builders, used to the Spanish unit of 

 measui'ement, were engaged on the building of this church. This 

 assumption would be quite in harmony with the remarks from 

 Cheetham and Smith's " Dictionary of Christian Antiquities," cited 

 in the paper " On the mode of ringing or sounding bells in the early 

 churches of JSTorthern Spain and of Ireland" (Proceedings, Eoyal Irish 

 Academy, third series, vol. vi., p. 490), as to the points of resemblance 

 between certain very ancient oratories or churches of jN'orthem Spain 

 and those of Ireland. It would also go to demonstrate the activity 

 of the commercial relations between Spain and Ireland in ancient 

 times, and the frequentation of the safest ports of the Irish coast by 

 Spanish and Continental traders, most probably for fishing purposes, 

 and for the trade in salt, amongst other objects. 



A still more interesting question is raised by the considera- 

 tion of these measurements ; it is that of the tmits of length which 

 prevailed in Ireland at various periods of its history. Up to the 

 present, it has been customary to give the measurements of monu- 

 ments, no matter what their age or nature, in standard English feet 

 and inches. For practical purposes this is perfectly intelligible ; but 

 it is not to be supposed that all the monuments of this country were 

 laid down as regards dimensions in the units of measurement now 

 currently in use. It is evidently presumable that various units pre- 

 vailed fi'om time to time, according to the culture and customs of the 

 predominating races, and that most certainly the use of British units 

 of measurement did not generally prevail until long after the JN^orman 

 invasion. 



In O'Curry's Lectures, vol. iii. (Lecture XIX., " On Buildings, 

 Purniture, &c., in Ancient Erinn"), frequent mention is made of 

 dimensions of buildings in feet ; but no indication is given as to the 

 absolute length of the foot mentioned, or as to the standard implied ; 

 and the reader, accustomed only to the current English foot, naturally 

 reads it into the measurements cited by O'Curry and others. The 

 recovery of these ancient units is most desii-able, and should be 

 attempted, however arduous the task may prove to be ; and it can 

 only be brought aboiit by the careful measurement with such a com- 

 mon unit as the metre of all our monuments, still sufficiently well 

 preserved to allow of such measurements being satisfactorily taken, 

 and the comparison of these with such units as are known to have 



