555 



upright at the east side of the station between the S. W. and S, E. 

 doorways of the cashel, in the hope that it might thereby be preserved 

 from farther ill nsage. There was also found among the ruins, having 

 a portion of it recently broken, a long slab, in which, on both sides, 

 were cut four holes in the form of rude crosses. These holes have been 

 remarked cut in slabs at some of the old churches in the west of the 

 county Galway, but usually in limestone flags. On the island called 

 Illaun M'Dara the remains of three or four of these holed stones were 

 observed — one was of a cross shape, with the four holes through and 

 through the stone ; this is represented in fig. 3, PI. XLIX. ; while another 

 had the holes associated with a handsome cross, as shown in fig. 4, PL 

 XLIX. The holed stone found in the cashel on Ardillaun was placed 

 upright at the station by the lake shore a little south-east of the cashel, 

 for a similar reason to that stated in relation to one of the other crosses ; 

 all the other crosses observed were shamefully misused, some being in 

 fragments. Attention should be drawn to a ball of granite observed 

 inside the cashel ; it is about fifteen inches in diameter. The use of 

 this ball was not determined, and there seems to be no tradition about 

 it. The author of these notes would suggest, that possibly it had been 

 used by the inhabitants of the settlement for grinding corn in a bullaun, 

 or rock basin. Against this suggestion, however, is the fact that no 

 bullaun could be found, and no person seems to have ever heard of one 

 on the island. It should be mentioned that in ancient times there was 

 a mill on the stream flowing from the lake to the sea ; but now the 

 mill stones, &c, are all gone, the only thing to mark its site being a 

 small portion of the milldam. The water supply is so small, that evi- 

 dently the mill should have been useless a great part of the year ; and the 

 inhabitants have had to resort to querns, or some such method of corn 

 grinding. It may be mentioned that inside the cashel was found 

 a partially-cut stone, that seemed to be a half-formed quern. 



