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main amongst us — I say it with regret — too many who still cling to their 

 opinions as to the indefinite antiquity and pagan uses of the towers. 

 There is something romantic in the notion of their being monuments be- 

 longing to a race wholly lost in the mist of antiquity ; and there is some- 

 thing imposing in the parade of Oriental authorities, and the jingle of 

 fanciful etymologies, in which Yallancey and his disciples so freely 

 dealt. But I have never yet met any intelligent man, who has taken 

 the pains to read through and understand Peteie's Essay, and who has 

 also gone out of his study and examined Round Towers with his own 

 eyes, and compared their masonry and architectural details with those 

 of the ancient ecclesiastical structures beside which they often stand, 

 who was not ready to give his frank assent to Peteie's main conclu- 

 sions. I am speaking of the most remarkable essay that was ever pro- 

 duced by an Irish antiquary. You will, therefore, permit me to remind 

 you what those conclusions were : — I. That the towers are of Christian 

 and ecclesiastical origin, and were erected at various periods between 

 the fifth and thirteenth centuries ; II. That they were designed to an- 

 swer at least a twofold use — namely, to serve as belfries, and as keeps, 

 or places of strength, in which the sacred utensils, books, relics, and 

 other valuables were deposited, and into which the ecclesiastics, to 

 whom they belonged, could retire for security in cases of sudden preda- 

 tory attack ; III. That they were probably also used, when occasion 

 required, as beacons and watch towers. If it were possible to over- 

 throw, or seriously to modify, the conclusions at which Peteie has ar- 

 rived, this essay would still continue to be a pattern deserving the close 

 imitation of writers undertaking to treat of similar subjects. It is phi- 

 losophic in its method ; its style is clear and graceful ; without being 

 pedantic, it is copious in references to original authorities ; and, what 

 is rare in works of a controversial nature, it is remarkable for the good 

 temper and good taste with which the writer treats the reasonings of 

 his opponents. 



In 1840, Peteie received the gold medal of the Academy for his 

 essay " On the Antiquities of Tara Hill," printed in the eighteenth vo- 

 lume of our " Transactions." This essay was a portion of the Memoir 

 intended to accompany the Ordnance Survey Map of the county of 

 Meath. Its subject, as the title indicates, is partly antiquarian, and 

 partly historical; and it deserves special notice, because the latter element 

 is developed more perfectly in it than in any other of Peteie's writings. 

 Having gathered from our most ancient MSS. every notice contained in 

 them of the Hill of Tara — a spot celebrated by foreign as well as native 

 writers as the chief seat of the Irish monarchs, from the earliest dawn 

 of their history down to the middle of the sixth century — he proceeds, 

 in the first instance, to analyze those which record events connected 

 with the civil and ecclesiastical history of Ireland, and then goes on to 

 show the exact agreement of the monuments still remaining with the 

 descriptions of raths and other structures mentioned in ancient topogra- 

 phical poems and tracts as having formerly existed at Tara. The first 

 portion of the paper touches upon several subjects of great interest. 



