116 Annual Meeting. 



black soil extended not only in the immediate vicinity of the 

 cathedral but over the fields to the south-west, west and north- 

 west, and to the plantation on the slope to the south of the 

 churchyard. In the field south-west of the cathedral, beyond 

 the new chui-chyard extension, can still be seen remains of the 

 old circular vallum, of which the apparent centre seems to have 

 been near the tower of the present cathedral. This vallum is 

 not apparent in the field to the noi-th of this one, but can be 

 indistinctly traced in the next field, lying N.-E. of the cathedral. 

 Due east of the cathedral a broad roadway has been made by 

 filling up the valley with a raised embankment ; to the S.-E. of 

 this, and south of the churchyard, lies the old plantation, separated 

 from the churchyard by a massive wall, built, according to 

 local tradition, during the restoration of the cathedral in 1790 

 from stones removed from the old ruins. It is quite impossible 

 now to trace the remains of the ancient vallum anywhere except 

 in the field to the S.-W. and to a slight extent to the N.-E. ; but 

 enough remains to show that a vallum at, one time existed round 

 the summit of the hill, with a centre somewhere near the present 

 tower, having a radius of between four and five hundred 

 feet. This would indicate an ancient rath with the unusually 

 large diameter of something like three hundred yards. I learned 

 from local enquiries that a few years ago, 1913 or 1914, I believe, 

 immediately to the north of the present cathedral enclosure Mr. 

 Martin, the lessee of the ground, removed a slight hill in the 

 construction of a tennis ground, removing in the process some- 

 thing like an average depth of from 6 to 8 feet over an area of 

 about three-quarters of an acre. At the time the tennis ground 

 was being made, the County Council Avere engaged in raising the 

 level of the Ballydougan Road, and arranged with Mr. Martin to 

 remove the excavated soil to assist in constructing the necessary 

 embankment through the marsh. During the process of the 

 excavation, unfortunately, no detailed accounts of the many 

 " finds " that were made were taken, and probably much that 

 might have been of supreme interest has been hopelessly lost, 



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