92 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



above the falls at Killaloe. and are the main passes between the counties of 

 Galway and King's, and those of Clare and Tipperary. To improve the 

 river for navigation it was necessary to deepen its bed at Keelogue ford by 

 excavating to a depth of six feet below the bottom. A portion of the river was 

 dammed off, one hundred feet in width and seven hundred feet in length. The 

 material excavated consisted of two feet of gravel, loose stones, and sand at 

 the top ; and of four feet of a mass composed of indurated clay and rolled 

 limestone at the bottom. The loose material at the first two feet yielded a 

 number of bronzi - Bpeare, &c, while the stone celts were found towards 



the lower part of the upper two feet. The greater number of the celts were 

 stated to be made from a siliceous rock known as Lydian stone which occurs 

 in thin beds stratified I the impure, limestone called Calp, and is 



abundant in the neighbourhood of Keelogue and Banagher, but others were 

 said to be made- from a Bubcrystalline and apparently igneous porphyritic 

 rock, none of winch occurs in the neighbourhood. 



merly it was thought that th< i h a large number of 



wea] s at the - indicated battles which had occurred between 



the men of I and Connacht when disputing possession of the fords. 

 But, as many of tin- eelta are of tin- adze type, it is probable that they 

 are to he regarded as implements rather than wea] s: possibly they were 



I in making dug-out canoes. Tin- few •■•■It- which an- made of harder 

 stone, and are more perfect in shape, may have been weapons. It is.however, 

 t<> Ih- remembered tli.it only the shallow portion- of tin- river were examined : 

 the contents re unknown. 



More than three hundred celts of all types from the Shannon folds are in 

 the Academy 1 tion. Eighty-seven of these were not acquired by the 



Museum until 1911, when they were presented by Mi. T. I'. S. Orosthwaite, 

 who described them as found in the shannon River, at Killaloe, when the 



bed of tip- river was being deepe 1 some tin »r four feet by excavation 



and dr.- _ . M ■ of them ind above the bridge; but Borne were 



obtained below it. while two were obtained under it. at almost the third arch 

 from the Co. < Hare Bide. 



3hannon vary considerably ; but it is not 

 possihl" t" draw any from this, as it is uncertain whether they 



were deposited together. 



The finds of celts having l>een described, the theoretical portion of the 

 paper may now be discussed : i.e., whether the celt with a triangular outline 

 and pointed butt is an earlier form than that in which the shape is more 

 rectan.'iilai and the butl either rounded or roughly squan 



