Browne — Ethnograiohy of Carria and Bfweenish, Connemam. 529 



1 . Survivals. — The dress and dwellings of the people present many- 

 examples of survivals, both in form and materials, and in the imple- 

 ments used on them. Amongst these may be noted the homespun 

 clothing almost entirely made of iindyed wool, the kilt-like garment 

 worn by the young boys, and the flat caps of Tam O'Shanter shape, 

 still worn by many of the men, which, with the trousers of undyed 

 flannel, reminds one of the description of the men of H'lar Connaught 

 in their "flat caps and trousers," who entered Gal way in the year 

 1641. In connexion with the homespun are the implements for its 

 manufacture : cards, wool-wheels, warping frames and looms, all still 

 in common use. 



Many of the houses are of very poor and primitive type, and among 

 these there are a couple (Plate xxiv., fig. 2) dug out of sandhills, 

 as described in an earlier section of this paper, and probably the very 

 poorest class of permanent dwelling in use on our "Western coast. 

 Mention has before been made of the temporary sheds or boolies built 

 for sheltering those who go to the mountains to take charge of cattle 

 there. 



Querns are still used in some few of the houses for grinding barley, 

 and probably for another purpose in some cases. The baskets and 

 panniers used for the transport of fish, seaweed, &c., are also survivals 

 of the time when there were no wheeled vehicles in the district. 



2. Antiquities. — The scene of these investigations lies in the parish 

 of Moyruss (Magh ruis, plain of the point). ^ This division extends 

 over so large a tract of wild and almost impassable country that, even 

 from its appearance on the map, we might suspect that when the church 

 divisions were made the population was as scattered, and perhaps more 

 scanty, than at present. The smaller parishes were usually the most 

 thickly populated in earlier times. 



This view is supported by the archgeology of the parish; forts, 

 castles, cromlechs, and even graveyards are conspicuously absent in 

 some districts, and few in number anywhere, and in the part of Moyruss 

 extending from Mace to Lough Skannive and the adjacent islands, we 

 only found two or three "stone crannoges" or fortified islets, five 

 holy wells, five graveyards, four churches and sites, and the foundation 

 of one castle, a striking contrast to the ruin-crowded Burren in county 

 Clare, where we had recently been staying. The churches are at 

 Moyruss and St. Macdara's Island, which we must describe more fully. 

 A ruined chapel stood on Mason Island, and St. Keelan's church on 



^ Ordnance Survey of Co. Galway, sheets 63, 76, and 77. 



