425 



Ko. 5. Interior of the window in the south wall of Eilmacduagh, or 

 the church of St. Colman Mac Duagh at Kilmurvey, on the same island. 

 This church was erected for St. Colman Mac Duagh by his kinsman, 

 Guaire Aidhne, King of Connaught, about the year 610. * The flat- 

 pointed head of this ope, and its small proportions externally, are quite 

 in keeping with other structures of this class, as well as with similar fea- 

 tures in some of our earliest Round Towers.} 



]N~o. 6. Another window, from the south wall of the nave of the same 

 church. 



JSTo. 7. Interior of St. Kevin's Church, on the southern of the Islands of 

 Arran, called Inisheer.j The view is taken looking under the choir arch 

 to the doorway in the west gable. The masonry of this church is purely 

 Etruscan, or, as it has been called, Cyclopean. The doorway is flat-headed, 

 with converging sides; the choir arch is quite plain, but the imposts from 

 which it springs are perfectly unique in the style of their decoration. 

 Their ornamentation resembles a row of short drooping feathers, without 

 the usual terminal moulding or bead. As well as I remember, this arch 

 is semicircular, and it is interesting to find such a feature in connexion 

 with the flat-headed Etruscan doorway. Our Lady's Church at Glenda- 

 lough is another example of the occurrence of the semicircular and flat 

 arch in the same building. 



]STo. 8. Interior view of the small loop or window in the south wall 

 of the choir of the same church. Without doubt, this building may date 

 to the seventh century. 



No. 9. The four grotesque masks carved over each of the windows 

 at the summit of the Round Tower on Devenish Island and the associated 

 decorative carving on the string course over the windows, and just be- 

 low the springing of the conical roof of the tower. 



Eos. 10, 11, 12. Three views of a sculptured granite plinth of a 

 cross, from near the old castle of Ould Court, county of Dublin. I know 

 of no better example in Ireland showing how decorative carving is mo- 

 dified in its character by the materials used, than in this instance. The 

 designs are boldly and simply produced without any attempt at details 

 unsuitable to the roughness of the material. These consist of figures 

 of men and animals, brought to relief by sinking the field of the stone 



* Guaire Aidhne, King of Connaught, lived at Gort, which was anciently called 

 Gort Insi Guaire, or the Field of Guairie's Island. — W. M. Hennessy. 

 f See Petrie's "Essay," p. 176. 



% The origin of the form Inisheer has not yet been explained. It is this : — The 

 ancient epithet was Iarnairther, as may be seen from a passage in the " Book of Inva- 

 sions" (A. D. 856), where the expression " o Dun Cermna co hArainn Iarnairthir' 1 '' occurs. 

 In the parallel entry the " Four Masters" call it simply airther. Now, if we compare 

 the form iartuais-cerddach (gl. etesiarum, z. 777) with the same word glossed euro 

 aquilo (" Book of Armagh," 188, b. 2), we shall find that iarnairther means south-east. 

 In this formula iar expresses a position after the cardinal point with which it is con- 

 nected, and before the next cardinal point, reckoning sunwise. Comp. the Lat. post- 

 meridianus, post-autumnaUs, &c. Thus iartuais-cerddach will mean north-east, and 

 iarnairther, south-east ; but this iarnairther having become unintelligible, airther was 

 omitted; and thus we have Ara Iar, or Inis liar (hodie Inisheer). — J. O'B. Crcwe. 



