2 52 Proceedings of the Royal Irish A cademy. 



man sent his coat thither, undertaking to fetch it by night ; but " whatever 

 he saw," he was so frightened that he ran for shelter to the nearest house. 

 His friends, very anxious, went in a body to rescue hini, and, only finding the 

 coat, were in great distress about him till he returned by daylight, far less 

 ready to boast or defy " the gentry " than before. 



I found no early remains in the other half of the island, save a large heap 

 of stones, which may be a cairn, and two pillars. The last lie to the east of 

 Coolport Harbour, in Garranty, near the house of Mr. Faherty, to whose kind- 

 ness 1 was also indebted during my visit. One is prostrate, 9 feet 8 inches 

 long, with three faces 9 inches wide, and a fourth of 6 inches. The other, a 

 slab of gray slate, is still standing, and is 6 feet 2 inches high, 4 feet wide, 

 and 6 inches to 8 inches thick. I heard no name, legend, or statement as to 

 their age and character, so merely record them. 



i. CAHER ISLAND. (Plates VII, VIII.) 



This striking little island, of slightly more than 128 acres in extent, with 

 its bold north-western headland, is a very familiar object from Clare Island 

 to Bofin, and from all the "opposing shores." Though barely so much as 200 

 feet high, it rises so boldly over the waves, and so far from its loftier neigh- 

 bours, that it gives an impressive sense of loftiness and remoteness, with all 

 the suggestiveness of an island monastery, set far from land in a ring of 

 magnificent scenery. 



There can be very little doubt but that the island took its name, Oilean 

 na Cathrach, from the ancient Cathair or stone ring-wall, a conspicuous object 

 near the usual landing-place. O'Donovan, in 1839, however, was misinformed 

 and misled into another interpretation. 1 He was told by Owen O'Toole, of 

 Inishturk, and by Thomas Geraghty, the former owner of St. Patrick's 

 " Black Bell," that there was no Cathair on the island. He accordingly was 

 driven to speculation, and, with his informants' polite but valueless agreement, 

 decided that it was called from the " city of the saints," Cathair na naomh, 

 " City " is a very inaccurate rendering of Cathair ; the word is used (with 

 Conghabhal) for a monastery, as in the " Tripartite Life of St. Patrick," or for 

 a bishop's see (Cathedra), and O'Donovan's " authorities " lived remote from 

 cities, and could not even tell correctly the facts about the places they had 

 seen. There is therefore no need to go beyond the obvious meaning. 



O'Donovan tells how the remains are Teamptdl na naomh or Teampull 

 Phadruig, the leachtas, or religious stations for penitential observances, the 

 Leabaidh Phadruiy, or St. Patrick's Bed, an early carved tombstone outside 



1 Ordnance Survey Letters, Mayu, vol. i, p. 471. 



