Annual Meeting. 117 



However, Mr. S. R. Hastings, Dr. T. M. Tate, and others, 

 fortunately succeeded in i)r'escrv-ing some of the finds, and a few 

 items are in the possession of the cathedral verger and in the 

 garden of Mr. Harley, which lies close to the cathedral on the 

 N.-W. side. Mr. Hastings kindly supplied me with some notes 

 of what he knew of the excavation, and collected together for 

 exhibition such of the portable finds as he could now bring 

 together. To enable us to have the account more comprehensive, 

 we deemed it advisable to make some slight experimental 

 excavations to find out if the foss 8.-W. of the cathedral were 

 ancient, or merely composed of refuse from the old cathedral 

 ruin, as some supposed it to be, and also to examine more 

 minutely the black soil, and obtain some knowledge of its nature 

 and extent. I was not able except on one afternoon to superin- 

 tend this work myself, but Mr. Hastings did so during several 

 days in October, as weather permitted and as he could get the 

 necessary labour. 



In a most valuable Historical Sketch of the Cathedral of 

 Down, published in 1904 by "The Down Recorder," and edited 

 by Mr. Edward Parkinson, is a conjectural sketch of the original 

 plan of the 13th century Benedictine Abbey of Downpatrick, by 

 Mr. J. J. Phillips, architect. It will be of much interest to 

 contemplate the vast extent of ground covered by the Benedictine 

 Monastry and Church, of which only the chancel is now remain- 

 ing, forming the existing cathedral, the tower being new. The 

 foundation is ascribed to John de Courcy, during the quarter of 

 a century he held sway in Downpatrick. It existed with 

 fluctuating prosperity for some 350 years, from about 1188 to 

 1538 ; in the latter year it was absolutely destroyed by the 

 English, whether by Lord Leonard Gray or Thom.as Cromwell, 

 Earl of Ardglass, matters little. 



The excavation of 1913-14, when the tennis ground was 

 made, was on the place marked "chapter house" and part of 

 the cloisters." 



The results that can now be gathered of the excavation of 



