Westropp — 0)1 the Churches of County Clare. 101 



in some cases was a mere "killeen" or burial ground for unbaptized 

 children such sites form a separate list. The whole has been based 

 on the maps and letters of the Ordnance Survey checked as far 

 as possible by personal examination. 



Apart from the interest attached to our earliest churches and 

 parishes, apart from their value to antiquary and architect, apart even 

 from their importance in ecclesiastical, and even in secular history, they 

 possess in this country another and, in some respects, even greater 

 interest. They form the tide-marks of our early Christianity, as it 

 flooded the heathen lands in the fifth and sixth century ; they mark 

 the starting place of our missionaries to other lands, and the foci of 

 that light of learning and religion that shone in the dense darkness 

 that covered the peoples after the fall of the Eoman Empire. Lastly, 

 their appended districts have usually preserved, through all political 

 change, the extent of the tribal lands and petty kingdoms as they 

 existed about the year 1100, when more definite shape was given, and 

 limits set to the episcopal jurisdiction. This arrangement in its turn 

 helped to fix such boundaries by the conservatism of the Church. 



In the nearly isolated coimty of Clare — isolated by the river, the 

 sea, and the enmity of Connaught — these phenomena are very apparent, 

 so it is hoped that this Paper may indicate no less the outline of the 

 evangelisation of the district and the ancient tribal divisions, than the 

 number and age of the churches and, where possible, the name and 

 period of their original founders. It must be borne in mind that in 

 most instances, if not in all, the existence of the church preceded its 

 present remains sometimes by' several centuries. An energetic out- 

 burst of building (as was shown in a former volume of our Proceed- 

 ings) took place between 1390 and 1520, resulting in the erection of 

 hundreds of peel towers, and, as this Paper indicates, it also led to the 

 repair, and still more often the rebuilding, of thirty or forty churches. 



The obscure records of our hagiology leave us open to confusion 

 and error, and warn us to use great caution in receiving evidence as to 

 church foundations. A great nuttiber of "Lives" of our saints are 

 late rhetorical productions, frequently panegyrics and sermons, written 

 from five to eight centuries later than the time of the holy men they 

 record. Pew, indeed, approach in value Adamnan's priceless bio- 

 graphy; few precede the Danish wars, and being written, rather to 

 edify the pious than to meet the critical, it would be equally unfair to 

 judge them harshly, or to adopt their testimony unhesitatingly. Yet 

 all must preserve genuine tradition, the solid basis of their ornament, 

 and even the latest must keep some outline of its more accurate 



