MACALiSTKii — The History and Antiquities of Inis Cealtra. 141 



it as such were anxious to make up the number of seven churches ; for the 

 " seven churches " legend was told here as at Glendaloeh and at ( 'loumacnois, 

 and is here as baseless as it always is. Brash (probably owing to some con- 

 fusion in his notes) calls this " the structure marked on the map as the 

 Baptist's church." He must be referring to the structure before us, as all 

 the other buildings on the island are accounted for elsewhere in his article. 

 He describes it as " a mere heap of rubbish, the form and dimensions of 

 which I could not ascertain." 



X. The Holy Well. 



Galled " Lady Well " on the Ordnance Map. It is a cylindrical shaft of 

 masonry built with mortar, 6 feet in diameter. There is a recess for offerings 

 in the south side of the shaft. The water is covered with duckweed and other 

 growths. 



Between this and St. Mary's is an old lime-kiln, now filled up and over- 

 grown with brambles and other bushes. 



XI The Enclosures (Plate VII). 



A notable feature of the remains on the island is the network of earth 

 mounds that divide the land surrounding the monastic settlement into a 

 group of irregular fields. That these mounds are an integral part of the 

 remains of the monastery, and not a later group of field-divisions, is shown 

 by the absence of such structures in those parts of the island where there 

 are no buildings. It will also be noticed when the map of these enclosures 

 is examined (see Plate VII), that roadways are formed between neighbouring 

 mounds, which radiate from the principal buildings. The roadway from 

 St. Gaimin's to St. Michael's is said to be paved, though the pavement is 

 covered with earth. O'Conor tells us, at p. 565 of his Letter on the island, 

 that " the old walks which were formerly gravelled over, on this island, are 

 now covered with grass, and still traceable " ; and that Henry Boucher, the 

 old man on whose recollections he drew, " saw rows of trees planted along 

 the sides " of these roadways. One of the earth-banks running due west 

 from St. Michael's seems intended to divide the island into two parts. 

 There is no pathway along it, nor does it lead to a place conspicuously 

 convenient for landing. A similar division seems to run north-east from 

 the principal group of buildings. At the end of this last mound there 

 is a small standing stone, marked " stone " on the 25-inch map. This 

 was erected in quite recent years by a shooting-party. A road is marked 

 on the Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, running from the north of the island 



R.I. A. PKOC, VOL. XXXIIl, SECT. C. [21] 



