524 Proceedings of the Royal IrisJi Academy. 



not typical. As a general role th.e houses on the islands are better 

 than those on the stony hills on the mainland, Trhich are very primi- 

 tiye. There are exceptions to this, ho's^ever, as examples of the most 

 primitive type of house yet met with in the coui'se of these surveys 

 are to he seen on the islands of ^"weenish and llason; these are dug out 

 of the sandhills and lined mth -walls of dry stone ; the roof is low with 

 scarcely any pitch, and the walls rise above it to the height of two or 

 three feet to prevent the strong gales of autumn and winter from bio w- 

 ing the thatch away. There is no window, a space a foot or so in 

 height being left at the top of the door to admit light and air. The 

 appearance of these houses will be best understood by a glance at the 

 photogi'aph (Plate xxrr., fig. 2) of a house onllweenish. These houses 

 are of small size, about 10 feet by 8 feet, and consist of only one room. 



As a rule the dwellings are piimitive, and much resemble those 

 seen in Gforumna and Letteininllen. Whenever possible they are built 

 on a flat of bare rock to afford a sound dry floor ; if this is not available 

 the floor is flagged, and there is a paved causeway ai'ound them. The 

 older houses consist simply of one room and are built of dry stone and 

 plastered inside. In some cases the wall is only raised to a certain 

 height all round, the gables being built of turf ; they have no chimney, 

 the hearth being built against the gable wall and the smoke escaping 

 through a hole in the roof, thi'ough which the ridge pole passes. Glazed 

 windows are often absent, their place being taken by a hole in the 

 wall closed by wooden shutters. 



The roofs ai'e low pitched and thatched, the rafters and couples are 

 of drift timber, and the thatch which is laid on as usual over " scraws " 

 is of straw, sedge, and even in some cases, apparently of hay, fastened 

 down by " sugans " to pegs driven into the walls. 



The furniture is very rude and scanty, and many houses like those 

 in Goi-umna and Lettermullen, have no regular beds in them. This 

 description of course only applies to the very poorest class of dwelling 

 which, however, forms a considerable proportion of the houses in this 

 district (Plate xxm., fig. 1). 



The second and better class of house is much larger, and has a 

 sleeping room partitioned off, and glazed windows which, however, are 

 seldom made to open. It may or may not have a regular stone 

 chimney. The kitchen is entered by two doors opposite each other, 

 the one on the side sheltered from the wind being kept open during the 

 day for air', light and the convenience of the inhabitants, human and 

 others. The cattle are taken into the house at night and the fowl roost 

 on the " couples," and there is sometimes a pig-stye outside the house. 



