Macalistkr — The History and Antiquities of Liis Cealtra. 165 



to celebrate Mass in the old church, aud that he had caused the altar to be 

 brought back to its old place, and had collected this assortment of fragments 

 to make a reredos. I also was informed that, for some reason which I did not 

 ascertain, the celebration did not take place. 



There is no reason to doubt that the story is substantially true, and that 

 the altar did sojourn for a while at Whitegate. It was not on the island when 

 O'Conor and Brash visited it, as they would certainly have mentioned it. 

 Mr. Champneys, I think, is the first author to allude to it.^ "When we know 

 this, it becomes obvious that the altar is really the missing lower portion of 

 the tomb, and not the church altar at all. It exactly fits the space indicated 

 by the gash on the wall, allowing for a slight rise in the ground produced by 

 recent interments ; the stone of the altar is the same as the stone of the 

 monument ; the style of art is the same ; the mouldings are identical. There 

 is enough remaining to restore the whole monument — in fact, the only 

 missing portion is one section of the sinister pinnacle.' The apex of the 

 pediment, with its very curious demi-figure, crowned with a strange cylindrical 

 cap having a rope-fillet on top and a screw ornament on the side, is not on 

 the island ; it is built into an outbuilding on the demesne of Woodpark. 

 This figure was recessed about four inches behind the apex of the mould- 

 ing. In its place the fragment of sandstone above mentioned has been 

 inserted, which measures 1 foot 1 inch by 7i inches. A sketch of it will be 

 found, Plate XXVIII, fig. A. The restoration of the whole monument is 

 drawn on Plate XXVIII. 



The inscription that was on the pediment is very seriously injured, as 

 inspection of the photograph on Plate XXVII will show. It has been made 

 a mark for stone-throwing idlers, and some of the letters are entirely effaced. 

 1 have, however, been able to make out the entire inscription, except the 

 letters contained in bi'aekets in the following transcript. The bracketed 

 letters in capitals can be restored from the context with certainty ; those in 

 italics I have taken from Dwyer's " Killaloe " (p. 481); his copy is not 

 absolutely accurate, but is useful, as it was made when the inscription 

 was less damaged. The name " Elys," which Dwyer omits, I take from 

 O'Conor. 



1 Eccl. Arch. Ireland, p. 188. 



2 There are marks on the wall extending to 3 feet 6 inches above the apex of the 

 pediment, suggesting that there may have there been an ornamental slab, with a cornice 

 at the top. Nothing that can be identified with any such details now remain on the 

 island, and, being purely hypothetical, they have been omitted in the restored drawini^ 

 Plate XXVIII. 



R.I. A. PKOC, VOL: XXXIII, SECT. C. [24] 



