The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1914-07-25
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF
COUNTY CORK.
The Purpose of the DOlmen and the
Various Names by Which 1t Is
Known in Ireland,
By Rev. p. Power.

old theory makes the Dolmen drui-
die monument druid's altar, in
fact. In their perfervid imagination
advocates of the druidical theory
have even seen in the capstone of the
Dolmen the deep cut channels to
carry off the victims blood itself!
The theory breathes an aroma of ro-
nance, an atmosphere to which the
archaeologist of the past was de-
cidedly partial. 1t is in Difference to
this theory that we owe multitude
of Druid Mounts, Glen Druids, etc.,
throughout the country. 1t seems
pity to dispel all this fine romance
bloody and gloomy though, as in the
present case, it be. The truth is the
Dolmens are not affairs, but tombs or
cenotaphs; at any rate they are
monumental. Within the monu-
ments. when opened, cinerary urns,
with charred bones and occasionally,
hide personal ornaments, have been
found.
In connection with human remains
in Dolmens, or rather, shall say, in
connection with their absence there
from, it must be borne in mind that
the majority of the Dolmens were
rifled long years since, for evidently,
the people of long ago were no whit
less avaricious or curious than their
successors of today. It is, doubtless,
to their sepulchral character that
Dolmens owe their designation Of
Leaba, a bed. The Irish Leaba is
often bed in the sense of a grave
hence it is that the Saints grave is
generally known as his Leaba. The
Dolmens are called variously, in
Irish-speaking districts Dbl
armuda agus Grainne, Leaba ma
bFiann, Leaba Thomas Mhic Chaba,
Teach Caille Bheara, etc. The last
name, but one, of those have quot
ed, I have found used in places as
far apart as Tramore, County Water
ford, and the Middle Island of Aran,
Galway Bay. Caille Bheara is a
noted legendary female character
whose name occurs-appliedt to nat
ural feature and artificial monu-
ments- end to end of Ireland.
In the present connection it is suffi-
cient to advert in passing to the
popular English names for the Dol
men. Like the majority of modern
English place names in Ireland, they
are misleading, if not quite foolish,
v. e., Giants Graves, Druids' Affairs,
etc.
Closely related to the Dolmen-in
fact, most probably, only form of
the latter-is the Cairn, or Stone
Mound. This class of monument,
somewhat akin to the British Barrow,
is mostly confined to rock or noun
famous regions and very often it is
found crowning the submits of
mountain peaks. Explanation of the
comparative rarity of the Cairn in
cultivated country is to be found in
the value of its materials to the
farmer and builder. Many of the
cairns which have been examined are
chambered and indications point to
the early bronze age (2O00-1200 B.
CO. as the approximate period of
their erection. From the cairn,
which is of stone and usually found
on mountain tops, is to be carefully
distinguished the Mote, mostly found
in the fertile districts first occupied
in Ireland by the Normans. The
Mote is now generally admitted to
be a Norman monument. This does
not necessarily imply that the Mote
was originally built by the invaders.
In many cases these freebooters
merely seized on, strengthened and
modified an already existing Celtic
mound. Upon the mound the Nor
man adventurer erected his Bre-
tische, or small wooden castle. to
serve him as citadel till such time
as circumstances permitted him to
build formal keep of stone. Notes
are consequently found close to, or
adjoining, Norman castles. Beside
the mound, and forming part of the
Mote. is an enclosed space or court
yard, called the bailey, roughly
square or oval in shape. From the
name Bailey, by the way, comes the
Irish Bale, homestead. Ancient
earthen mounds we may roughly dis
tinguish into three classes, (a) the
chambered tumulus which bears
much the same relation to the Cairn
already described, that the Lios does
to the Cathair, (b) the mound of
ceremony, like the mound of the
hostages, at Tara. and the Norman
Mote. The character of a particular
mound may not be at all easy to de-
termine; in some cases in fact deter
mination in question can be effected
only by excavation.
For the most common prehistoric
monument in the country is the Dali
Ian. or pillar stone. sometimes also