234 Gray — Irish Cromlechs. 



On the slopes of the higher hills, to the south of the public 

 road above the bay, there are no less than three very fair 

 cromlechs, as follows : — 



1. MOUNT DRUID CROMLECH. 



Sketch No. 4. 



This monument occupies a very commanding site on the 

 hill-side above the rectory, from which the headlands of the 

 Causeway cliffs can be seen. It is known as the u Druids' 

 Altar," and consists of a large block about 6\ ft. long and 5^ ft. 

 wide, supported on three of the four smaller stones forming the 

 chamber.* 



This monument comes within Sir John Lubbock's category 

 of cromlechs, because it is enclosed by two circles of stones, one 

 inside the other. The diameter of the outer circle is about 3 5 

 feet, and the stones composing it are about two feet high. 

 Where stone circles occur in connexion with tumuli, they are 

 on the outside. So small a circle as we have here is an indica- 

 tion that, at all events, this cromlech is not a mere chamber of 

 an original tumulus, because a tumulus inside the circles could 

 not very well cover the cromlech. The enclosing stone circle 

 is an unusual feature in connexion with the cromlechs of the 

 North-east of Ireland, and it is to be hoped that where they 

 occur they may be preserved from further destruction. Sketch 

 No. 4, and all the sketches illustrating this paper, have been 

 taken on the spot by the author, who recommends that they 

 should be compared with the respective monuments themselves, 

 or with photographs of the monuments, rather than with such 

 illustrations as are given in the statistical surveys for the Dublin 

 Society, or in the " Dublin Penny Journal." 



2. GLEGNAGH CROMLECH, BALLINTOY. 



Sketch No. 5. 

 This small but very perfect cromlech is in the townland of 

 Glegnagh, near a quarry on the hill-side, south of the public 



* Statistical Survey, County of Antrim, 1812 — Part II., page 58a. "Dublin Penny 

 Journal." Vol. III., page 351. 



