322 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



in breadth; and to a lesser degree in height : the total length, measured from 

 rhe back wall to the inner face of the sill at the entrance, is 9 feet 8 inches ; 

 the maximum height of the chamber is 5 feet 3 inches. The construction is 

 very rough, and altogether unworthy of the fine external appearance of the 

 earn : the massive boulders of which the walls and roof of the chamber are 

 made are less carefully selected than in some other earns of the series. 



At the left-hand side of the chamber, at its inner end, is erected a cist, 

 open at the side, in shape almost like a rude altar. This will be seen in the 

 plans and sections of the structure (Plate XVII). It measures 3 feet 6 inches 

 long, 2 feet broad, and 2 feet 2 inches high. Very probably it was intended 

 originally as the burial-place proper, but as the interments increased in 

 number it was found impossible to restrict them to this part of the structure : 

 in point of fact, they were found actually to cover the floor of the whole 

 chamber. 



Bound the outside of the earn there seems to have been a kerb of boulders 

 a little larger than those of which the heap of stones itself is composed. From 

 the disposition of the kerl^-stones that remain (which will be understood from 

 the plan of the earn on Plate XVII) we may perhaj)s infer that the present 

 diameter is rather wider than the original intention of the builders. Pound 

 the south-west side, for nearly half the circumference of the earn, there runs 

 a vertical joint in the stone-heap, with a truly formed face about 2 feet to 

 2 feet 6 inches in height. The position of this face is marked on the plan by 

 heavier lines. It seems as though this had been erected as a retaining wall, 

 and the stones piled behind it, a covering shell by which it was concealed 

 being added later. 



On the south-east side, close to the end of this masonry-face, two subsi- 

 diary cists were found, just under the surface of the mound. There can be 

 little doubt that these were secondary interments, perhaps long subsequent 

 to the original erection of the earn. They were small boxes formed of stone 

 slabs about 3 inches thick. The northern cist measured 1 foot 7 inches by 

 8 inches by 1 foot 4 inches high. The southern cist was smaller, and was 

 much dilapidated. They contained nothing but a handful of burnt bone-dust. 

 These cists, and the masonry face above described, were found in cutting the 

 trench in search of the entrance. 



Ceathramliadh Gaol (" CarrmvTceel ") Tovmland. 



C. — This structure is much ruined, having evidently been despoiled of 

 stones to provide material for the field-fence that runs alongside of it. The 

 chamber has apparently been wilfully destroyed, and the large stones of 



