304 [Proc. B.N.F.C., 



The second paper was entitled "The Gold Antiquities of 

 Ireland," and was brought forward by the writer, Mr. C. Winston 

 Dugan, M.A., H.M. Inspector of Schools. Mr. Dugan, in 

 introducing his subject, said that every people, civilised and 

 uncivilised, have, as it were, by a kind of instinct, a deep 

 interest in their own history ; their records and traditions form 

 a sort of national inheritance which nothing else can replace. 

 Why should not every Irishman feel a pride and interest in the 

 history of his country ? Why should he not do everything in 

 his power to bring to light and to preserve all the materials 

 which serve to illustrate and build up that history, and then 

 strive to emulate and better what is past ? The question arises : 

 What authority have we in the Present to relate what has 

 occurred in the intangible Past ? How can we arrive at the 

 truth of early history ? Clearly the answer is threefold — I, by 

 that which is spoken ; 2, by that which is written ; and 3, by 

 that which is left, as memorials of the time, in works upon 

 tangible things. It was with the third of these three sources of 

 history that the present paper had to deal, and with only one 

 section of that source, which might be divided into the following 

 heads : — Language, buildings, weapons, utensils, and ornaments. 

 The last of these heads — ornaments — was what the reader 

 proposed to consider that evening, and his remarks would be 

 confined to such ornaments only as were made of gold. All 

 authorities agree in stating that the ancient inhabitants of 

 Ireland must have been very familiar with gold, and well 

 accustomed to its use. Native gold has been found in geological 

 deposits in many parts of Ireland. Until lately the gold mines 

 of Wicklow were the most productive in the British Isles, and, 

 besides this, there are six other known gold-producing localities 

 — Antrim, Derry, Tyrone, Kildare, Dublin, and Wexford. It is 

 probable, however, that many of the earlier auriferous deposits 

 have been worked out, or are now unknown. It is a fact that no 

 country in Europe possesses so much manufactured gold belong- 

 ing to early ages as Ireland. In the museum of the Royal Irish 

 Academy alone there are nearly four hundred specimens of Irish 



