ter was the formation of the lough, and not the origin of the
towers. Mr. D'Alton's (2) second argument is, that it was improbable the
Christians would have erected churches of wood and bell towers of stone,
or have bestowed incomparably more care and skill on the erection of
these towers, no matter for what use they may have been intended, than
on the churches, which should surely be their first care.[163]

The cromlechs next claim our notice. There has been no question of their
pagan origin; and, indeed, this method of honouring or interring the
dead, seems an almost universal custom of ancient peoples.[164]
Cremation does not appear to have been the rule as to the mode of
interment in ancient Erinn, as many remains of skeletons have been
found; and even those antiquarians who are pleased entirely to deny the
truth of the _historical_ accounts of our early annalists, accept their
statements as to customs of the most ancient date. When the dead were
interred without cremation, the body was placed either in a horizontal,
sitting, or recumbent posture. When the remains were burned, a fictile
vessel was used to contain the ashes. These urns are of various forms
and sizes. The style of decoration also differs widely, some being but
rudely ornamented, while others bear indications of artistic skill which
could not have been exercised by a rude or uncultivated people.

[Illustration]

We give a full-page illustration of an urn and its contents, at present
in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy. This urn was found in a
tumulus, which was opened in the Phoenix Park, near Dublin, in the year
1838. The tumulus was about 120 feet in diameter at the base, and
fifteen feet high. Four sepulchral vases, containing burnt ashes, were
found within the tomb. It also enclosed two perfect male skeletons, the
tops of the femora of another, and a bone of some animal. A number of
shells[165] were found under the head of each skeleton, of the kind
known to conchologists as the _Nerita littoralis_. The urn which we have
figured is the largest and most perfect, and manifestly the earliest of
the set. It is six inches high, rudely carved, yet not without some
attempt at ornament. The bone pin was probably used for the hair, and
the shells are obviously strung for a necklace. We give above a specimen
of the highest class of cinerary urns. It stands unrivalled, both in
design and execution, among all the specimens found in the British
isles