94 



now placed in the wall of the national schoolhouse, Slane village. 

 The rose ornament on the breast of the figure shows it to be of Tudor 

 age, and the coat of arms on the adjoining shield — a saltier engrailed 

 with an ermine tail in each point — should aid in determining the family 

 name of the ecclesiastic. 



No. 44. Opposite view of the same corbel, showing the head of the 

 pastoral staff. 



No. 45. Plan of the small monastery of St. Ere in Slane demesne. 

 No. 46. Ornamented key-stone, from the doorway of the same mo- 

 nastery. 



A recent writer describes this ornament as a " fleur-de-lis," to which 

 it has not the slightest resemblance, it being in fact two Tudor leaves of 

 rectangular outline branching from a short stem. 



These, and the foregoing critical remarks, may be by some consi- 

 dered as of little importance, yet they correct printed and widely circu- 

 lated errors, and show with what materials some of our guide-books 

 are decorated. 



No. 47. "Window in west gable, and lighting the loft in the same 

 monastery. ' As is very common in Tudoresque buildings, the semi- 

 circular arch is often introduced in juxta-position with the pointed or 

 flat arch. 



No. 48. Carving in relief of a St. Catherine, from a stone preserved 

 in the same monastery. 



No. 49. Yiew of Fennor Castle, Slane. This building belongs to 

 that class of fortified houses which were erected over the eastern coun- 

 ties in Ireland during the middle of the 16th to that of the 17th cen- 

 tury. A stone in the adjoining graveyard bears the following defective 

 inscription, which may possibly record the erection of this structure :— 



* * &e S^ilfeenstone (£enerc;3t qua feati^rme * * * 

 tile qutfcinn ano tint 1 548 . tt 24 nus 

 iFefrruara Ula fcero 

 No. 50. Plan of Fennor Castle. 



No. 51. Niche in the east gable of the same. The acutely pointed 

 form of the arch over this recess, the tricusped decoration beneath, the 

 broad bead moulding, with external flat, narrow rib, and the angle of 

 the niche, being simply chamfered, indicate the work to be of the close 

 of the 13th century, or beginning of the 14th. Peepholes in the 

 west wall of the choir, and in the west gable, are all features peculiar to 

 this period. The west gable is prolonged to receive two bells. The 

 most interesting feature in this old church is the masonry at the S. W. 

 angle of the nave, of which No. 52 is a sketch. 



No. 52. Yiew of the S. "W. angle of the same old church. It is 

 evident that the masonry here is quite different to that of every other 

 part of the building ; it is formed of large blocks of gritty sandstone, 

 the relics of a much older church. The top stone at the springing 

 of the roof is most peculiar, being carved into the form of a broad, flat, 



