228 



The old ford of hurdles, which in these early ages formed the only 

 foot passage across the Liffey, and which gave the name of Ath-Ciiath 

 to the city, crossed the river where Whit worth bridge now stands, 

 leading from Church-street to Bridge-street;* and the road from Tara 

 to Cualann must necessarily have crossed the Liffey at this point. There 

 can be, I think, no doubt that the present Stonybatter formed a por- 

 tion of this ancient road — a statement that is borne out by two inde- 

 pendent circumstances. First — Stonybatter lies straight on the line, 

 and would, if continued, meet the Liffey exactly at Whitworth bridge. 

 Secondly — the name Stonybatter, or Bothar-na-g-eloch, affords even a 

 stronger confirmation. The most important of the ancient Irish roads 

 were paved with large blocks of stone, somewhat like the old Boman 

 roads ; a fact that is proved by the remains of those that can now be 

 traced. It is exactly this kind of a road that would be called by the 

 Irish — even at the present day — Bothar-na-g-cloch ; and the existence 

 of this name, on the very line leading to the ancient ford over the Lif- 

 fey, leaves scarcely any doubt that this was a part of the ancient Slighe 

 Cualann. It must, I think, be regarded as a fact of great interest, that 

 the modern-looking name Stonybatter — changed as it has been in the 

 course of ages — descends to us with a history 1700 years old written 

 on its front. 



Booterstown (near Dublin) is another member of the -same family ; 

 it is merely another form of Batter stown, i. e., Boadtown. In a roll of 

 about the year 1435 it is written in the Anglo-Irish form — Ballybothyr 

 (baile-an-'bocaip— town of the road), of which the present name, 

 Booterstown, is a kind of half translation. In old Anglo-Irish docu- 

 ments frequent mention is made of a road leading from Dublin to Bray. 

 In a roll of about 1470 it is called Bothir-de-Bree (road of Bray) ; and 

 it is stated that it was by this road the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles usually 

 came to Dublin.f It is very probable that the Booterstown road and 

 this Bray road were one and the same, and that both were a continua- 

 tion of the ancient Slighe Cualann. I am informed by Dr. Petrie that 

 a portion of this road between Dublin and Bray still remains, and that 

 it is well known as " the old road" to the people of the locality. 



It may, perhaps, be thought worthy of remark, that of the six " Bat- 

 ters" in Meath, Batterjohn, in parish of Kiltale, and Batterstown, in 

 parish of Rodanstown, lie southwards on the line of Slighe Dala, or the 

 great road to Ossory. Batterstown, in parish of Trim, and Batters- 

 town, in parish of Kilconnigan, lie in the direction of that branch of 

 Slighe Mor, or great western road, that led from Tara south-west to- 

 wards Trim, and must have joined Slighe Mor, or Eiscir Riada, some- 

 where near Clonard. Yellowbatter and Greenbatter, in Louth, both 

 lie a mile and a half nearly north of Drogheda, very probably on the 



* See Gilbert's " History of Dublin," vol. i., chap. ix. 



| For this information about Booterstown and Bothyr-de-Bree, I am indebted to 

 Mr. Gilbert. 



