1310-17.) 2 g 5 



Sylvanus Wear being the conductor. At Antrim Rev. W. A. 

 Adams took charge of the party. 



The first visit was to the Round Tower, where Rev. W. A. 

 Adams, B.A., gave an address on Round Towers in general and 

 the Antrim Tower in particular. Miss Margaret Stokes has classed 

 the Round Towers of Ireland into four periods depending on the 

 style of their masonry as well as on their doorways and window 

 openings. Each successive period is charcterised by an advance 

 in style and finish of masonry, while the openings show a develop- 

 ment towards the perfect arch. The Antrim Tower belongs to the 

 first or earliest of the four periods to which Miss Margaret Stokes 

 has assigned these towers. The builder of this tower is said to 

 have been Gobban Saer. Petrie believes that this was a person 

 who lived in the seventh century, while others put the date two 

 thousand years earlier, and think that Gobban was the name 

 of a class. This tower, as regards dimensions, is fairly typical. 

 Its height is 92 feet, external diameters at bottom and top 9 feet 

 and 7 feet 4 inches, with corresponding thicknesses of wall 3 feet 

 9 inches and 1 foot 10 inches. The door is 7 feet 4 inches above 

 the plinth and faces north. All the openings are square-headed, 

 and have inclined sides. Above the lintel of the lowest opening 

 is a stone bearing a cross in relief. It has figured very prominently 

 in the controversies as to the Christian or Pagan origin of the 

 towers. The mortar inside the roof shows that wicker-work 

 "templets" were used when building the roof. The cap having 

 been destroyed by lightning, was repaired by Mr. Clarke in 181 9, 

 with "Tardree porphyry " similar to the stones used for the various 

 openings. This tower has been referred to as one of the few that 

 has no ecclesiastical buildings near it. But early last century 

 considerable remains of old buildings were laid bare, and vast 

 quantities of human bones have been found close to the tower. 

 It was here that the ancient church, as well as the town of Antrim, 

 was situated. The present more modern town was known as Gall- 

 Antrim (i.e., Antrim of the Strangers). In the garden near the 



