1883-1884.] 249 



Ireland named after the cahirs which were built in them. This 

 showed how numerous they were throughout the country. 

 Of these townlands Ulster had none ; Leinster has two — one in 

 Longford and one in Queen's County ; Munster has 151 — 58 in 

 Clare, 32 in Cork, 35 in Kerry, 17 in Limerick, 5 in Tipperary, 

 and 4 in Waterford ; in Connaught there are 91, of which 

 Gal way possesses 67 (only six of which are east of the Shannon) : 

 Mayo 22 (of which 15 are in the inland barony of Castlemaine), 

 and Roscommon 2. The presence of these stone cahirs showed 

 the necessity that existed in days gone by for having strongholds 

 in the country, but the number of these was nothing compared 

 with the forts or raths that still exist. There were no fewer 

 than 1,822 of these forts to be found at the present day, although 

 a great many of them were not marked on the ordnance map, 

 where they ought to be. These cahirs, duns, or forts were 

 sometimes chambered ; at other times they were a small space 

 enclosed. A very fine example of the cahir was the " Grianan 

 of Ailech," near Londonderry, and a good specimen of the 

 chambered cahir is to be found at Innismurry, north of Sligo. 

 Near Castle Connor, County Sligo, on the eastern coast of the 

 bay going to Ballina, was a very fine example of a chambered 

 fort, not much less than 20 feet high. In one of the walls is an 

 opening about 2 feet square, through which a person can creep, 

 and get into a chamber 7 or 8 feet wide, and about the same 

 height. The arch was constructed by the stones lapping over 

 one another, and not as at present. Earth was afterwards put 

 on them. This fort contains no fewer than six chambers, with 

 here and there little cupboards into which the long pointer 

 which he held in his hand could be pushed, as if they were 

 places in which the inhabitants could thrust their spears. Per- 

 sons go in on the side of the mound, and, after going through 

 the six chambers, emerge in the very centre of the fort. Going 

 northwards from Ballina he passed the abbeys of Rosserk and 

 Moyle, built about 1440 or 1450. Moyle was a much larger 

 abbey than Rosserk, and has several peculiar features. A river 

 runs through it, so that the monks might have plenty of water 



