1893-94.] J 3 



ANTRIM— ITS ANTIQUITIES AND HISTORY, 



BY 



Rev. W. S. Smith. 

 {Paper read at the Moy-linne.) 



From an archaeological point of view, the Round Tower is 

 the most conspicuous object. It has braved the storms of 

 perhaps a thousand years, and still survives with unbent 

 shoulders and unbowed head, to speak in a silent language of 

 other days and other scenes than those which now prevail. 

 Long the subject of warm contention between interested 

 disputants, the question seems now to have almost subsided 

 under the conviction that these structures were of Christian 

 origin. 



There are several duns, or artificial mounds, in the locality — 

 one at Crosscanan, in the direction of the hill Carnearny, 73 

 feet in diameter and 12 feet in height ; one at Dunsilly, near 

 the residence of Thomas Ferguson ; another adjacent to 

 Antrim Castle, 153 feet across the base and 37 feet high ; and 

 another at Dunagore, which stands out prominently from a 

 rocky projection, to a height of 44 feet. A most interesting 

 one stood at Dunadry until about fifty years ago, when it was 

 carted away, but fortunately, a pretty full record of its structure 

 has been preserved. The basement consisted of three circular 

 walls of loose stone, with stones in rubble fashion filled in 

 between, and a stone grave in the centre, the whole being 

 covered with rich soil. In this soil was a second grave, with 

 portions of a skeleton, and near it a stone urn containing greasy 

 ashes, with several personal ornaments by the side of it. The 

 dun was 26 feet high, 32 feet across the top, where was a large 

 hearth, and 151 feet in diameter. 



There have been many raths — sites of fortified residences — 

 in the neighbourhood, but I fear their number is gradually 

 diminishing. The principal one is at Rathmore, two miles 

 east of Antrim. It was for many centuries the residence of 



