Mooney. ] 252 [Oct. 19, 
mounds of Brugh-na-Boinne wer plunderd_ by the Danes in the year 862. 
Brugh-na-Boinne was the royal cemetery of the Tuatha-de-Danann kings 
and their Milesian successors, who held their court at Tara, and stretchd 
for a mile in width along the north bank of the Boyne from Slane in the 
County Meath toa point about three miles below. Within or adjoining 
this area ar more than twenty mounds of various sizes, the largest of 
which is New Grange, while several others ar but little inferior to it, and 
the whole surface is honeycombd with sepulchral remains. 
The New Grange tumulus has sufferd at the hands of builders and 
road contractors, but is stil about eighty feet high and covers an area of 
nearly two acres. It was formerly surrounded by a circle of enormous 
stones placed about ten yards apart. Some of these stil remain, but the 
pillar stone which once crownd the summit has disappeard. The body of 
the mound, under the surface layer of earth, is formd of small stones 
gatherd in the neighborhood, while the immense stones of the interior 
passages ar generally different in character from any rock found in the 
vicinity, and some of them must hav been transported from the Mourne 
mountains, forty miles distant. The mound is enterd by a passage, running 
nearly north and south, which is sixty-three feet long and is formd of large 
upright stones roofd with immense flags, supported partly by the upright 
stones and partly by masonry on the other side. The height of the pas- 
sage for about three-fourths of its length is about six feet, when it rises so 
as to slope gradually into the roof of the central chamber. Some of the 
stones forming this part of the wall ar ten feet high. The average width 
of the passage is three feet. This passage, with three offsets running out 
at right angles from the central chamber, giv the interior the ground plan 
of across. One of these offsets is eight feet deep, nine feet high, and 
seven feet wide. The central chamber is elliptical and is eighteen feet in 
its longest diameter from the entrance to the opposit wall. The walls ar 
formd of large upright stones about ten feet high supporting a dome- 
shaped roof formd by several courses of somewhat smaller stones, each 
course projecting beyond that below it until the dome is closed by a sin- 
gle flag at the top. This manner of constructing the dome was common 
to many early nations, and shows that the builders had not yet discoverd 
the principle of the arch. The height to the centre of the dome is nine- 
teen and one-half feet. The stones of the interior, as wel as one or two 
near the entrance, ar coverd with curious carvings, chiefly lozenges, zig- 
zags and volutes, sometimes standing out in relief. A remarkable fact in 
this connection is that on some of these stones the carving not only covers 
the exposed portions but also extends over a part of the surface which had 
been completely conceald from view and out of the reach of a tovl until 
uncoverd within recent times, showing that these stones must hav been 
carvd before they were placed in position in the mound, and perhaps 
formd part of some structure stil more ancient. In regard to these stones 
Miss A. W. Buckland thinks that they ‘‘ were evidently sculptured before 
they were placed in their present position, and indeed, indications are not 
