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



a well-broken skyline ; nearer at hand the hill Slieve-na-Griddle 

 was bright with the bloom of broom and gorse. The shores of 

 the Quoile River were soon reached. This river takes its name 

 from the woods along its banks, but future generations may be 

 puzzled to account for the name if the tree-cutting which has 

 been done in some places is carried further along the banks. 

 Quoile Castle is one of the numerous square battlemented 

 towers erected in this district by the followers of John De 

 Courcy, who strove to Anglicise the country by the building of 

 castles as well as abbeys. After examining this military work, 

 the party spent some time at the Abbey of Inch, or, as it was 

 called, Inis-de-Courcy. Time and the hand of man have dealt 

 with this abbey, as they have done with so many of the 

 architectural remains in this country, and left us but the 

 outlines in some places of what has once been a glorious 

 structure. One cannot but regret that more is not done when 

 we think of the way such abbeys as Jedburgh and others in 

 Scotland are kept and how pleasant it is to visit them. Such 

 architectural remains as are still found are of interest, as they 

 show the features and mouldings characteristic of the early 

 English period. These were pointed out in the base of the 

 transept arch, the corbel at the springing of the chancel arch, 

 in the marks on the south wall of chancel, from which the 

 moulded stone canopy of the sedilia has been torn away, and 

 in many of the mouldings found scattered irregularly over the 

 ground or buried beneath the debris that now covers the site of 

 the nave. Of the conventual buildings which existed here in 

 former times little now remains. The party then proceeded to 

 the banks of the Quoile in search of plants, shells, and aquatic 

 life. Some members crossed the river by boat, and walked 

 over the great Dun of Celtair, with its encircling fosse and 

 central fort, whilst others returned by road to Denvir's Hotel. 

 After tea, three new members were proposed and elected, and 

 the members spent an hour at the Cathedral before proceeding 

 to the train for home, well satisfied, some with the historic 

 places visited, others with the plants and specimens collected, 



