1888. ] 293 [Mooney. 
avery one passing that way throws another stone upon the heap and recites 
a short prayer at the same time for the soul of the deceasd, but in those 
‘cases where the monument commemorates the death of a man regarded 
as an enemy of the people there is reason to believ that the prayer is 
omitted. The idea of thus inviting the prayers of the traveler for one who 
has met with a sudden death is in entire accord with the character of the 
people, who regard it as a great misfortune to die without some previous 
time for preparation. When a funeral procession passes one of these piles 
it is customary to halt and lay the coffin down for a moment, while all the 
people, standing with uncoverd heads, recite a short prayer for the soul 
of the corpse, after which the coffin is again taken up and the procession 
moves on. The custom of building leachta is now perhaps extinct in the 
east, but existed down to a recent period. Thirty years ago there wasa 
cross on the road between Navan and Donaghmore, in Meath, at the base 
of which was a large heap of stones, to which every passer-by added an- 
other. According to Kennedy, Kilranelagh churchyard east of Baltin- 
glass, in Wexford, is situated on the crest of a hill and surrounded by a cir- 
cular wall formd of loose stones. ‘‘ Every man attending a funeral brings 
a stone picked up on its way, and throws it on the circular fence, and so 
the mighty ring has grown.’’* 
From an old Kerry man was obtaind the history of one of these mon- 
uments, known as Leacht-Conway, near Ballybunion, which had been 
built within his recollection. It is a good illustration of the manner in 
which such memorials originate. Conway was a tithe-server for a minis- 
ter of the Church of England, and was consequently much disliked by 
the people, who found it hard enough to pay an exorbitant rent without 
giving a tenth part of their produce toward the support of a foreign 
church. He had been several times warnd to giv up the business, but 
paid no attention, until at last the people became restless under his exac- 
tions. He calld one evening at the hous of a man known to the narrator, 
and was told that it would not be safe for him to go home that night and 
urged to stay until morning. He refused to stop, and started home, but 
had hardly gone a mile from the hous when he was waylaid and kild and 
his dead body was found in the road next morning. The people raisd a heap 
of stones on the spot, and for many years every one passing that way added 
another stone, until the pile might make ten cart loads. Most of the 
stones wer small, but some wer as large as could wel be carried. The 
leacht stil remains, but the traveler seldom throws astone upon it in these 
later days. When askd if every one who threw a stone offerd up a prayer 
for the soul of Conway, the old man replied : ‘‘I’m afraid there wasn’t 
much praying for him, becaus the people that prayd didn’t like him, for 
he was an enemy to the poor.”’ 
Along the road just outside of Cong, in southern Mayo, there ar several 
hundred of these rude monuments, the unusual number here being due 
to the fact that this town was formerly held in peculiar veneration on ac- 
* Patrick Kennedy, Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts, 187, London, 1866. 
