Macalisikr — The Ilistoyy and Antiquities of Inis Cealtra. 127 



obt.ained, did not exist. In the foreground is the west wall of the nave, in 

 which only the jambs and springing- stones of the north side of the 

 Romanesque doorway are to be seen ; there is a great gash in the wall, 

 occupying the place where now we see the doorway. A small drawing by 

 Wakeman,' which shows the aspect of the church from a point to the east of 

 it, accords with this ; the whole of the chancel arch is visible, as though there 

 had been no remains of the chancel at all ; and through it we see the breach 

 in the west wall, which seems to be of about the same extent as the clumsy 

 insertion to which reference has already been made. One of Lord Dunraven's 

 photographs also shows the uninterrupted view through the church to the 

 waters of the loch. 



But even after Petrie's time the west end suffered further injury. Petrie 

 found one jamb and the spring of the arch complete. Brash' says : " The 

 masonry of the nave walls is of large-sized spalled rubble, the material a 

 light brown grit, or freestone, found plentifully on the island, with a few 

 limestone blocks intermixed. The entrance was at the west end ; where the 

 doorway stood is now an unsightly breach ; at my first visit in 1852 there 

 were about 2| feet of one jamb standing, and about 1 foot of the other ; these 

 are now gone, having been torn away by the ignorant peasantry to put as 

 headstones to graves." In his "Ecclesiastical Architecture" the same writer 

 says (p. 17) : " The doorway was in the west end, about 3 feet of one jamb 

 alone remaining. Dr. Petrie's sketch shows one entire jamb and a voussoir of 

 the arch." 



The following is the testimony of the Ordnance Letters' : " Saint Caimin's 

 Church stands in ruins next the round tower to the North East of it. 

 Attached to the East end of it, are two portions of the side walls of an edifice 

 locally called St. Columb Kille's chapel, still remaining, which were, it appears, 

 8 feet in length originally .... The East gable of this little chapel, was 

 entirely destroyed. Within it are shown the foundation stones of an altar." 

 After a description of the chancel arch and nave windows, which adds nothing 

 to what has been set forth above, 0'(,'onor proceeds: "The door which was 

 in the West gable of this Church, was built with ornamentally chiseled stones, 

 six feet of which in height remain still visible on the North side ; which part 

 alone can be regarded as in any degree of \_sic\ a state of preservation, for all 

 the rest of it is battered. Its breadth and form are not well ascertainable." To 

 this O'Donovan adds : " This doorway was certainly semicix'cular and exactly 

 like that of TeampuU naNaomh in Inchagoillin Lough Corrib." In the above 

 account the dimensions of the chancel as given are very far wrong ; and even 



' In Petrie's " Christian Inscriptions," vol. ii, p. 41. 

 ^ loc. ait., p. 12. ^loc. cit., p. 545. 



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