430 



near them; one of the latter buildings was evidently a church, and its stone 

 altar is yet standing. Here for thirteen centuries was left undisturbed 

 the stone chalice of St. Erendan ; but some years back this was abstracted 

 by a tourist. 



In the month of July every hole and cranny in the rocky shingle 

 and peaty covering of the island is inhabited by the Stormy Petrel 

 (Mother Gary's Chicken), which there performs its incubation ; and the 

 clear chirping noise of these little birds, which couceal themselves from 

 view, was a source of much wonder and surmise to the boatmen and the 

 rest of our party, till one adventurous coastguard man thrust his arm 

 into a hollow in the turfy covering of a pile of rocks, and brought forth 

 the little Petrel and its single egg. 



About twelve or fourteen years ago this island was used as a sheep 

 farm, and a married couple were left there in charge, and who lived in St. 

 Brendan's Cloghaun. An unusual spell of stormy weather having occur- 

 red, the constant visits of the Dunquin boatmen were interrupted, and no 

 communication with the people on the island could be attempted for 

 about six weeks. "When the place was at length visited, a fearful spec- 

 tacle presented itself : the woman was alone, nearly dead from hunger, 

 and a maniac ; around her in the dark cloghauu lay clots of blood and 

 lumps of putrid flesh, the remains of her husband. After a time, when 

 she partially recovered her senses, the sad story was elicited, that duriug 

 the bad weather her husband sickened and died, and beiug a very large 

 and robust man, she had not strength to remove the body from the hut, 

 up the steep flight of steps ; for many weary days and nights she sat by 

 the corpse, till its presence became intolerable; there was no other 

 shelter but this hut on the island, and in despair she dismembered the 

 decaying mass, and buried the pieces singly without. Since then the 

 place has been deserted, and even sheep are rarely left to pasture there. 



On the neighbouring Island of Innishvickillane, which lies to the 

 south of Innishtooskert, and is 171 acres in extent, there are also some 

 ancient ecclesiastial remains, but so ruinous as not to afl'ord a subject for 

 a sketch. The island is sj^stematically farmed, and always stocked with 

 sheep ; a family of six or eight people inhabited it at the time of mj visit, 

 in the summer of 1856. These people assert that during one stormy sea- 

 son their fire went out, and not having the means of relighting it, they 

 were reduced to almost starvation ; they, however, supported life for a 

 period of two months by the use of sheep's milk alone. 



Strange to say, there are not any ancient remains on the Great 

 Blasket Island. 



^0. 2. — The House of St. Finan Cam, on Church Island, in Lough 

 Curraun, near Waterville, county of Kerry. This building is noticed by 

 the learned Dr. Petrie, at p. 130 of his work on ''The Kound Towers," and 

 he attributes it to the 6th century. There is a small rectangular window 

 on the east side of this building, facing the doorway : without doubt 

 this building was the church, as well as the residence of the Saint whose 

 name it bears. 



