April, 1891. 
THE ARAN ISLANDS. 
75 
tions ; in fact, I saw in several places holes in the roadway 
quite six feet deep, which had been made in this way. It is 
a pity that the provisions of the Act for the Protection of 
Ancient Monuments have not been extended to Ireland. 
Before approaching the epoch of the introduction of 
Christianity into Aran, I have still one other relic to notice, 
viz., the stump of a Bound Tower, unfortunately now only 
a stump 4 or 5 feet high with a circumference of 45 feet 
round the base. Eiglity-eiglit years ago Dr. Petrie was told 
by an old islander that it was formerly 82 feet high. These 
mysterious structures called Bound Towers are peculiar to 
Ireland; they are cylindrical in shape, from 60 to 90 feet in 
height, surmounted by a conical cap, and are destitute of any 
entrance into the interior. The time when they w T ere erected 
is uncertain, but it was evidently long after the period of the 
duns, as they are built up of dressed blocks of masonry 
cemented together. Nothing is known with any certainty of 
the use to which they were devoted, although there are 
endless theories about them, but there is little doubt that they 
were connected with religious observances. 
I now come to a period in the history of Aran possessing 
an interest of an entirely different kind, although still full of 
attraction for the archaeologist. This period is that of the 
introduction of Christianity into the islands by St. Eudeus 
in the 6tli century. The name of this person is written 
indifferentlv Endeus or Enda in the old Latin Lives of the 
Saints, and is called Eaney or Eana in the spoken Erse. He 
belonged to the royal house of Oriel, a territory comprising 
the present counties of Louth, Armagh, and Monaghan, and 
was converted by his sister, St. Fancliea, a nun. He repaired 
for religious purposes to Italy, where he became the founder 
or head of a large monastery ; and, returning to Ireland after 
the lapse of many years with a numerous body of monks, 
obtained through the solicitation of St. Aible, the first bishop 
of Cashel, from TEngus, King of Munster, the Island of Aran, 
which had apparently passed from the Kingdom of Connaught 
to that of Munster since the time of Queen Maeve. He found 
it to be inhabited by a few Pagan Firbolgs, who fled in their 
curraghs without waiting to hear the word of God ; and he 
founded in Aran before his death, which took place about 
the year 542, no less than ten religious houses. Ara Mor 
thus became celebrated among all the anchorites of Western 
Europe. It was divided into two parishes ; over the eastern 
parish St. Endeus himself presided, while the western was 
under the jurisdiction of the most eminent of his disciples, St. 
Breccan, a son of the Prince of Thomond, and the founder of 
the old diocese of Ardbreccan in Meath. The names of others 
of these holy persons are preserved in connection with the 
