46 H. C. Lmvlor on 



slone may be taken as the gravestone of a man who lived in the 

 5th century. 



In the South of Ireland, chiefly in Co. Cork, ogham siones 

 have been found in use in considerable numbers as roofing stones 

 in souterrains, which the late Professor Rhys and other very 

 learned Celtic scholars, have put down, from their literal pecu- 

 liarities, of the 4th to the 6th centuries. May we venture to guess 

 that from the 5th to the 7th centuries there came a race of cave- 

 dwellers who venerated not relics and pulled up the gravestones 

 of their forgotten predecessors with which to roof their houses ? 

 That they are seldom of later date than this may be inferred from the 

 fact that in several instances they are actually under the sites of 

 6th or 7th century churches. Examples of this are Donough- 

 more, Co. Down, and Kirkconriola and Connor, Co. Antrim. 



When in Larne I made some investigations in two artificial 

 caves in the adjoining townlands of Ballyedward and Ballyrickard- 

 more, both of which souterrains are situated in raths. In Ballyed- 

 ward there is a spring inside the rampart of the fort, and this caused 

 the floodmg of the souterrain and prevented close investigation. 

 The souterrain is of the usual type found in Co. Antrim, Derry 

 and North Down, built of rough unassorted and unhewn whin- 

 stones, very rudely constructed. The chamber in the rath in 

 Ballyrickardmore is much more neatly constructed, the stones 

 being carefully selected for size and arranged with absolute 

 precision, giving the idea of construction at a much later and 

 more civilized period than most of the very many souterrains 

 examined in Co. Antrim. Only one room remains in this cave 

 though local tradition says there are others. Father O'Laverty 

 mentions a second chamber as having existed at right angles 

 to the first. We probed down in many places but could not 

 find any sign of another chamber. We decided to cut a trench 

 right through the centre of the rath. The latter averages about 7 

 feet high, so to sink a trench 2 feet wide was a considerable 

 undertaking, as my son and I were working without extra hands. 

 We commenced with a section 12 feet long by two feet wide. 

 On reaching the bottom, at the level of the surrounding ground we 



