3 6 4 



[Proc. B.N.F.C, 



specimen of a rath is nearly 600 feet in circumference, 60 

 feet in height, with a diameter at the summit of 55 feet. It 

 is surrounded by a rampart and battlement. The trench, 

 which terminates on a precipice, has two branches embracing 

 a square fort of lower elevation 100 feet in diameter. The 

 Mount must have been in early times a place of great 

 importance. The name of the townland on which it stands — 

 Ballymaganlis— Baik-na-ceann-lios — means the place of the chief 

 rath. Twenty minor forts or mounts in two lines, half-moon 

 shaped, still exist and surround it. The party was next conducted 

 by Mr. Dickson to the Bishop's Palace, built in 1781, and 

 occupied by the Bishops of Dromore up to 1842. On the way to 

 the Palace the old Holy Well of St. Colman was passed, by the 

 side of which is a stone with a hole in it, supposed to have been 

 made by the crozier of St. Colman. The water which collects in 

 this hole is still used locally as a cure for warts. A burial mound 

 which has recently been opened was next inspected. The mound, 

 which stands near the Lagan, presents a compactly-shaped dome. 

 On being opened a few years ago a large stone slab was found 

 resting on low walls of rubble. Under the slab a few bones, 

 including part of a human skull, were discovered. The body had 

 evidently been laid on the ground, and cremation had not been 

 practised. The botanists of the party went down the banks of the 

 River Lagan and explored the Gillhall Demesne, with its magni- 

 ficent beech and lime trees. The plants noted included Cornus 

 sangi/r'nea, Euonymus europczus, Carex acuta, Asplenium Tricho- 

 manes. Geranium Phoeum, Allium ursinum, Epipactis latifolia, 

 Chelidonium ma/us, Listera ovata, and Arenaria trinervia. Owing 

 to the dryness of the day collectors of invertebrates were at 

 somewhat of a disadvantage, and only a few common species of 

 Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Mollusca were noted. Of the 

 terrestrial Isopods four species were observed, one of which was 

 the pigmy Woodlouse Trichoniscus pygmaus, which has only 

 recently been added to the Irish fauna, the first specimen having 



