190 The Gold and Placer Mines of Wicklow . [April, 
the inhabitants of this portion of Leinster were called 
Laighnigh-an-oir, or the “ Lagenians of the Gold A as men- 
tioned by O’Curry in his lectures (LeCture i, p. 5.) 
From the records in the Annals it would also appear that the 
ancient placer mines were principally situated in the Dublin and 
adjoining mountains. In these hills in recent times very little 
gold has been found. Now and then pieces of gold are 
picked up in Glenismole, or the upper portion of the Valley 
of the Dodder; and recently in Stephen’s Green, Dublin, a 
small nugget was found in a load of gravel brought from 
the Dodder Valley. In some of the valleys eastward of 
Blessington, on the Liffey, are broken patches of ground 
that have an appearance like the sites of ancient placer 
mines ; and farther south, workings of the ancient Irish 
were discovered about thirty-five years ago, in the placer 
mines at the Hill of Lyra ( anglice , junction or fork of 
two glens), townland of Knockmiller, nearly a mile S.W. of 
Wooden Bridge. In connection with these ancient works, 
under a depth of about 5 feet of meteoric drift, a black 
oak frame was found. It was 14 feet long by 10 or 
12 feet wide, the shorter beams being morticed into the 
others about a foot from the ends, and on the outside of all 
the beams were carving of animals, some having men 
mounted on them. These consisted of “ animals like mules 
with long bob-tails, others like goats or deer, and some of a 
nondescript character.” The beams were cut up to make 
ground joists for the east wing of Wooden-Bridge Hotel. 
The Lusceans, or the inhabitants of the Lusca or Earth- 
caves, must have been rather a primitive race, if we are to 
